#but we haven't. so I'm just here. for no reason.

[cheshirewrites]

"Darling," a voice calls from the door, "we have another one."

Dahlia sighs, and gets to her feet. The harvest had been going so well, too, she thinks to herself, sparing a glance towards the basket at her feet. The basket, as big as it is, is barely halfway full. The bottom is lined with freshly picked fruits and fragrant herbs, the usual kinds of things you would expect to find at a witch's residence.

She had been looking forward to working in her garden, and once she was done with that, checking on the magical creatures that tended to roam their woods.

Still, Dahlia knows what her lover is talking about, and that is far more important.

When she steps into the kitchen, Ari is leaning against the counter. There's flour on her cheeks and on her dress, and the smell of something baking in the oven, and Ari is engaged in a rapid fire conversation with a stranger.

And that, of course, is where the problems usually begin.

The stranger -- a teenager, because fate has always favored youth -- looks at Dahlia and grins. "'Ello, my good lord." Their grin turns playful. "Or should I say, my dark lord?"

"Neither," Dahlia says, as she makes herself comfortable next to Ari. "It's Dahlia, no formalities needed."

Their expression doesn't change. "Miss Dahlia, then."

Ari shifts closer, like she's going to tell a secret. "Do you have a name, little traveler? If you don't, I'm sure I can come up with something to call you."

"Fox," they say, and the name certainly fits, with their pointed features and scruffy, auburn hair. When they smile, it's all teeth. "My name is Fox."

"Well, little Fox," Dahlia says, taking a thorough look at them. Worn clothes, prominent ribs, a smile sharper than knives. "Cut to the chase. I doubt you sought out a dead hero and tyrant for fun."

Fox snarls, agitation clear in every inch of their body. "You are not the tyrant here," they say, angrily. "You aren't the one tearing apart the ground and poisoning the water. You aren't the reasons that thousands of people no longer have a roof over their head. You aren't the reason my Prince-"

They cut off abruptly, lanky body curling in on itself as a frown takes over their face. It reminds her of Ari, when she still kept her hair cropped short and always had countless daggers on her person. Back before she died, and was being run ragged for months on end.

"You work with the royal family, don't you, little Fox?" Dahlia says, not unkindly. "Many people in similar positions would call this treason."

The words have an undeniable effect, as Fox straightens to their full height. "I only work for the Prince," they say, "I'd happily watch the rest of them rot."

At her side, Ari smiles. "I'm glad that the youth haven't changed," she says, and her bright tone doesn't fit her next words. "Would you kill him if you had the chance?"

Dahlia gives Ari a knowing look.

Dahlia might be the former dark lord, or whatever it was they call her these days, but Ari is not without her moments. She had to learn how to fight somewhere, after all, and she has done a lot of things that aren't written in the history books.

She hides her amused smile behind her hand, and gives the two heroes a moment to themselves. It isn't hard to check on whatever is baking, after all, and Dahlia doesn't want to see her lover upset if something burns.

Besides, Dahlia thinks, Ari knows all too well the dangers of being associated with royals, and the price that comes with their status.

Of course, it doesn't really take that long to check the bread, and know that it still has plenty of time to go, but Dahlia gives them their privacy. She catches whispers, snippets of conversations, but doesn't pay them any mind.

Ari is more than capable of having this conversation on her own, and Dahlia will leave them be until Ari suggests otherwise.

It happens sooner than she expects. Her lover tape her shoulder, lightly at first, and then firmer, when Dahlia doesn't immediately respond. Dahlia just hums, gently closing the oven before she straightens, opting to lean against the counter again.

"Dahlia, my love," Ari begins, her expression somewhere between fond and pleading. "How do you feel about committing a little regicide? Might make for a lovely vacation, hm?"

Between the look in Ari's eyes, and the hope written all across Fox's face, there is very little doubt about what her answer will be. Between a former hero and dark lord, and their new little Fox, Dahlia is certain that the king won't survive another two weeks.

Dahlia smiles.

After all, things had just gotten a lot more interesting on this little farm of theirs.

The hero and the dark lord have both disappeared after their battle, making everyone think they both perished. In reality, they are living on a farm, living the life of their dreams.

[secriden]

Not to be a Style apologist, but I feel like some viewers haven't quite picked up that Style's brand of wooing Fadel is quite likely intentionally designed (by both the writers and the character) to be as annoying and frustrating as possible.

Lets consider:

Style thinks his bff is in love for the first time in his life. He thinks Kant is genuinely down bad for Bison: let’s not forget his clear surprise when Kant agreed to give up the car. As far as Style is concerned, Kant is acting really out of character and it's because Kant desperately wants to be with Bison.

He also thinks the only thing standing in the way of True Love™ is Fadel, who according to Kant is being unreasonably difficult about Kant and Bison dating. He doesn't know that Kant has a secondary motivation, nor does he know about the mind games that Bison is playing with Kant. Worse, he has no frame of reference or context to make any of Fadel's animosity towards Kant reasonable.

Moreover, while I think we all agree that Style made a terrible first impression on Fadel, the same has to be said of Fadel towards Style. Like, yes, absolutely Style was in the wrong, but Fadel came off as not only condescending and impatient, but unreasonable (and very weirdly cagey) when Style tried to immediately offer a resolution. Again, Style has no frame of reference for why Fadel would first demand that he take responsibility for his actions and then immediately after claim to have no time to entertain Style's attempt to take said responsibility.

Also, it doesn't help Style's wounded pride that Fadel keeps 'besting' him at every turn. So at this point I think a significant portion of that initial attraction (in ep 1) has shifted to annoyance when it comes to Fadel. By the time he gets his hands on Fadel's information, I think he's more than a little invested in some payback. While I think Style very much still wants to help Kant (and Bison) out, at least a part of him figures as long as he keeps Fadel busy, he kind of meets his goal. And if he gets to embarrass, frustrate and otherwise harass Fadel along the way, all the better!

You can see him start to have some fun with it. He ramps it up SO much in ep 2. He gets to lean into that wild, brash, playful personality because he doesn't really care if Fadel likes him. Style gets to be dialled up to extremes, and I love that for him because he's honestly kind of justified because he knows so fucking little about what's really going on. I think it's only fair if the other 3 are playing 4D chess while Style only has the Uno game rules in front of him, he gets to be the most Unhinged about it.

So, yeah, while I absolutely agree with all the posts out there that recognises just how reasonable and polite and tired Fadel is, I do think we need to give Style some credit here. He's absolutely SO extra, but he's also the one, arguably, that has been lied to the most and I feel that he deserves some slack for that.

I'm so glad he figures out some things in the next episode because my darling boy deserves to at least somewhat even the playing field.

[mintaikk]

Why Morpherine should be canon

Remember: all of these are just MY opinion. In all honesty, I just want Morph's feelings for Lpgan to addressed instead of just burying it immediately. That's all I'm asking, I'm not even asking them to get into a relationship. Morph's VA even agrees that Morpherine doesn't even need to be canon, and that their friendship should be explored more. But, these are just my reasonings on why it would be good for morpherine to be canon.

It would put an end to the not love triangle between Jean, Scott, and Logan

Love triangle has been going on for a while now, and I think we're all sick of it. I like that it let's us see a softer side of Logan, but Jean isn'tinterested! She's been with Scott since high school, and there's no way in Hell that she is going to leave him.

What sucks to me is that the fact that nothing has really been where he develops abd is able to get over his crush. I get it. Feelings are hard, and they don't go away. But, nothing is going to be done with this except useless pining and have Jean kiss him for some fucking reason. I literally just want Logan to get over Jean. That's it. He gets over Jean, and find someone thar actually likes him in that way.

And that's Morph bcuz the entire post is about :).

It already has good buildup

Half of this section was just stolen from a post made by @waywardsou2 bcuz I haven't watched the original series in a while and they put it perfectly lol.

Morph and Logan were best friends, with Logan famously saying that, "He [Morph] is the only one that could ever make me laugh." But (in literally the first episode lol), Morph dies protecting Logan from a sentinel. And Logan was fucking PISSED. He didn't like Scott before, but I think Morph dying contributed to his dislike for him even more, since he believes that Scott's decision is the reason that his best friend was killed. He then goes to grieve and then later avenge Morph ("This one's for you, Morph!" Slayed so hard with that line tbh). Later, when they find out that Morph is alive, but under Sinister's control, Logan is the first one to offer and go out to rescue them, even though they all think that Morph betrayed them. He says that "He's the only one that could ever make me laugh", quote and also mentions that he's "not giving up on him again." When Logan goes to talk to Morph, the purple around Moeph'a eyes dissappear, and only return when Logan isn't around, so they're already shown to be pretty close.

Another thing is that when Morph and Logan are fighting, Morph turns into Sabretooth and Jean to get under Logan's skin. It's already and open secret among the X-men thst Logan has feelings for Jean, but he hadn't told anyone about Sabretooth. Morph turning into Sabretooh implies that Logan gold Morph about him. I find it sweet that Logan trusted Morph enough to tell them about Sabretooth.

Morph wanted to get revenge on the rest of the team, but with Logan, they just explained what they were going through. And Logan understands them because he wants them to feel better.

And then, in X-men 97, they're just attached by the hip and are literally always seen together. Morph cheers Logan up when he's upset, Morph is always the first one to save him, etc. They're even like this in the comic, being the first one to notice that Wolvie is upset during Scott and Jean's baby shower.

Oh yeah, the thing that made me go "HOLD UP" and got me into this ship: Morph's (confirmed) love confession to Wolverine.

And that fuckass shower scene.

We could just leave it at that, but I'm a fanfic reader and writer, meaning that I latch onto ANY angst I can find. So, here's the stuff this scene implies.

-The illusion of Logan was made by Mr. Sinister when he was bringing out the worst fears of the X-men. And Morph’s worst fear? Logan finding out their feelings for him, and Logan finding them repulsive

-Mr. Sinister is aware of Morph's feelings for Logan, which implies they've had feelings for him for a while now

Those two things are very important for me, and just adds to their relationship more. Imagine a scene where Morph tells Logan expecting him to be grossed out by him, but instead, Logan accepts them and hugs them or smthn. I'd honestly cry if I saw that.

Happy ending for the gays :D

So, so many stories of unrequited gay love or "burying your gays." I don't think they're gonna kill Morph as a lot of their time was spent being dead, but I can see them being rejected by Wolvie. Which is completely fine! Again, I'm not saying that they need to be together! Having a scene like this or this would be great!

But also, I think a lot of people are just tired of having gays get unhappy endings in media, be that rejection for a straight relationship or just straight up dying. Morph's VA believes that it's important to have a gay character be rejected by a straight guy since it's happened to so many people in real life, and I do agree with it! But also, this is fiction, and escapism, and goddamnit, people just want their favorite characters to be happy!

Good queer rep

Imma br so fr: Marvel shows and movies are shit when it comes to queer representation. It's getting better, but it's still shit. It's either a one-off comment or queerbaiting. Apparently, Loki is genderfluid? That's great! Would've been nice to actually see! Bucky Barnes is implied to be bisexual (he mentioned a lot of tiger photos on Tinder, tiger photos are mostly posted by men, it implies he was looking at men's profiles on tinder) but again, that's only implied, and you gotta dig deep to realize it, so really, only people who are actively looking or are in those communities know. America Chavez is gay, (haven't read her comics, but I think she's also gay in the comics :D), but I didn't even know that until I saw it on the wiki. I don't feel like going through all of it, so here are some links to posts that talk about it. Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

Honestly, it'll boils down to wanting to appease the cishet male audience.

X-men is a bit different though, as the series was literally MADE to be woke. Like, here's a post I made that talks about it bcuz I don't feel like repeating myself. Except Marvel shows are cowards, so they'll probably tone-down the wokeness. Smthn about "Wolverine can't be queer bcuz he's mainstream" and they gotta appease that cishet audience! Except that's exactly WHY it would be great for Wolvie to be in a queer relationship! Because he's mainstream! He's already a super popular character, and having him be queer would be great, because a lot of queer people will look up to a character that they already liked before! Straight men have a shit ton of characters that represent them. What's wrong with queer men having a character thar can represent them? Same with lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, literally anyone under the queer umbrella.

I latched onto Morph so heavily because they're nonbinary and gender-nonconforming, which matches my gender expression so heavily. And if I can be so extremely happy with a character that gets a couple minutes of screen time being queer, imagine how happy people will be when a main character whose in a queer relationship gets even more screen time?

Also, Wolvie dated the literal actually Hercules in one comic. Don't come at me yall, it can happen.

And if Marvel wants to add queer rep but is still shy about it, Morph would be a great start. It's like putting little kids into the shallow end of the water because the deep end is scary.

Morph only exists in the X-men cartoon and Exiles comics. Unless you're this tiny community on tumblr, no one gives a shit about Morph. When people think about their nostalgia for X-men 92, no one thinks of Morph. Their ass literally DIED in the first episode, wasn't even in the goddamn intro, and only appeared for like, 6 episodes, and they didn't even exist in the comics. So, paring up with Wolverine would be the "safe" option. It wouldn't be like pairing up Bucky with Sam or Cap (no matter how many people would love that), because no one knows who Morph even is. People would say, "Oh, Wolverine got with Morph!" and most people would reply with, "Who?" Safer option so less people get mad. Just dipping a foot into the pool of queerness, lol.

Yeah, it sucks that there has to be a "safe" option, but I'm also very attached ti this ship and Marvel needs to learn that queerness isn't some evil thing that drives away customers.

Tldr; Morpherine should be canon bcuz It would put an end go the Jogan love triangle, it already has good buildup, it leads to a happy ending for the gays,

[quill-of-thoth]

The Saga of Great Uncle Asshole And The Priest From Hell

It's thanksgiving (in the US) so have a family gathering disaster that is old enough to be funny. Almost a decade ago, after a life of stirring up drama everywhere she went, my grandmother died. She was an unhappy woman who tried to be better to her grandkids than she was to her kids, and didn't always succeed, and she's the reason that when I smell cinnamon tic tacs they're accompanied by the reek of an illusory cigarette. This is not a sad post. This is a post about the fact that her funeral was a fucking disaster and it was ultimately about 50% her fault. See, my whole family was at one point or another catholic. Grandma really enjoyed going to church in her last years because it got her out of the nursing home, and priests have to listen when you tell them about the husband you divorced and the children who think they know better than you. Grandma did not consider the fact that the local priest she'd latched onto like a talkative moray eel in a cloud of nicotine smoke was an unmitigated bigot. She left instructions that she wanted her funeral to be at that specific catholic church and for that priest to do the sermon. It didn't occur to her that the person who would be organizing her funeral would be her gay daughter and her daughter's wife.

Shit started getting real about when the doors opened to recieve mourners. Over the course of ten minutes, my aunt summoned:

her elder sister, a paralegal

my father, who has never seen a conflict he would not cheerfully walk away from

Their younger brother, in order to swear at the priest

My mother, who hadn't had a good opportunity to fight a priest since we left our own church and was game to do it again.

This left me, the eldest grandchild, in charge of the receiving line, despite the fact that I knew approximately no one there. My brother and cousins were woodenly shaking hands and then whispering "who's that?" "I don't know." My aunt's husband was escorting the elderly and infirm up the stairs one at a time. My uncle's wife was also around but she knew even fewer people and was mostly listening at the door of the ongoing argument.

So when my brother and Boy cousin went to see if we could pry someone who knew who was related to us out of the argument and I was busy trying to convince an octegenarian that she did NOT need to figure out which of her cousins had married one of grandma's siblings before sitting down, Girl Cousin was alone at the door.

Great Uncle Asshole arrived in a storm of curses and a faux-coonskin cap. He blew past Girl Cousin, thumped his cane up the steps, and seized my hand. It was like shaking hands with an extremely strong mummy. "You look just like your mother! It's the hair, what a bird's nest. Where's your daddy? And the rest of Helen's brood."

I muttered something about them finalizing details with the priest.

"Well, they'll come see me soon enough. Bet you don't know who I am!" I didn't know who anyone was. Everyone older than me was having a verbal cage match with a member of the clergy or escorting some other old fogey to their seats, everyone younger than me had even fewer clues, and my only hope was to wrap this conversation as fast as possible. "Nope!" I said, "I haven't seen most of the people here in years." If I had ever seen them in the first place. He was going to be mad, but I figured if I had to be the bouncer I could probably take an eighty-something year old guy who breathed like the surgeon general's personal warning to smokers. I could at least shut the door on him.

"Of course you wouldn't! Your gran wouldn't have told you. I'm your great uncle Roger, and I'm here to bury the hatchet, by which I mean your grandma! She and I swore over our father's casket we'd never be under the same roof again while we both lived, and by god I kept my oath!" People were starting to stare, and it was at this moment that a thirty-something man in a suit sprinted up the stairs, and my uncle's wife, with a look of dawning horror, called her husband. "Roger's here." The middle aged folks descended immediately. Here is a snapshot of the ensuing conversation: "Roger, why don't we find you a seat?" - my mother in her best teacher voice "Glad to see you're doing well enough to make it" - My father, in his best 'good god I want to be anywhere else' voice. "Take me to the coffin! I want to see her with my own two eyes!" - Great Uncle Asshole, "And hang up my **** hat! Killed it myself!" "I'm so sorry, I didn't know he could walk that fast" - strange suit man "If you are QUITE finished, I am starting the ceremony in ten minutes" - the priest

As my father and his brother towed a grinning and cursing old man to the furthest reaches of the family section, my mother and my oldest aunt caught all the cousins up on the argument with the priest. My youngest aunt was still crying while her wife stared fixedly at the stained glass panes and periodically handed over tissues. The upshot of it all was that my aunt and her wife would be allowed to attend the funeral (on pain of the whole family literally walking out on the priest) but would not be allowed to take communion, because the priest didn't believe in their marriage. My aunt's wife had neglected to point out that, being Jewish, she wasn't going to take communion anyway. "That's fucked" said boy cousin, and the four of us immediately resolved in whispers to refuse communion as well. The priest opened his sermon with pointed remarks about the older generation's devotion and respect for the church. He continued on through psalms and all that until he got to the blessing of the eucharist and asked the family up to receive communion. My father, who hadn't taken communion since I could remember, stayed seated. My mother stayed seated. My aunts and uncles stayed seated. The cousins stayed seated. About a third of the church didn't move. "Well father, I'll have mine! These young folks think hey have all the time in the world to get right with the lord, but you and I know better!" The priest, who had been visibly hoping god would smite us, turned a wincing glare on my great uncle and the series of distant relatives and nursing home neighbors who were now shuffling up. The service dragged on. We were lined up to say goodbye to everyone, while the suit man (who would turn out to be my second cousin) bodily hauled great uncle asshole and his coonskin cap down the stairs. "I should have known my sister wouldn't manage to raise any good Catholics! Horrible woman." he said loudly as he was stuffed into a car driven by suit man's apparent twin. The priest approached as we were finally ready to leave, to ask why we were so stubborn that we deprived ourselves of communion. After all, unlike my youngest aunt, we weren't obvious sinners! "Oh, I'm Lutheran" - My eldest aunt. "I'm an atheist" - My uncle "I don't think you're qualified to bless anything." - My mother, who learned her religion primarily from a horde of socialist-leaning nuns.

With that, we left the wreck of my grandmother's funeral behind. "Helen," said my mother, very deliberately, when we were safely in the car, "would have HATED that." My dad started laughing. "Are you kidding? She would have loved that! It would have been all she complained about for years!"

[crabs-with-sticks]

Trick Q+A on the solavellan ending

Haven't seen this going around much, I'm guessing because it was originally posted when everybody had their veilguard spoiler defenses up. But I did find it interesting.

Trick is answering some questions over on Bluesky and here are the questions and answers decoded from the rot13 cipher. Hopefully this provides more clarity and eases people's anxieties here and we can move forward in a more positive light with discussions: Q: Will where Solas and Inky end up in the Fade be strictly regret-themed or will her joining and their love influence it into something a bit less bleak (hence the specific elven phrasing)? rooting for my girl not to be in fade jail A: She's speaking both romantically and literally. It won't be terrible if they're in there together. Q: In the Solavellan ending, it says that Solas is Lavellan's true love. I know you've said she represents his future, but do you think she's his true love also? A: Yes. We framed it the way we did because the Inquisitor was your character last game, and because some people, we imagined, were doing this to give the Inquisitor the happy ever after she deserved, not Solas. Q: Did solas just Fade-mail it to her and it appeared? A: Inky and Morrigan have their ways. Q: Could you please tell us, if it is possible, why it was only Mythal's words that allowed Solas to stop this train of endless regrets from rolling into the abyss? I'm sorry, but it seemed too easy to me after so many centuries. Perhaps I don't understand the core of their relationship. A: That's what he needed to hear. Not because he loved Mythal more, but because she was the reason everything went wrong. She, the past, tells him to let go of all the mistakes of the past. And then the Inquisitor he wanted to be with is there to show him a better future. Q: Does Solas love Lavellan as much as he loves Mythal? I know Mythal is kinda all things to him- leader, oldest friend, maybe lover, and that's hard to overcome. On the other hand, his love for Lavellan seems less all-consuming, but purer. Anyway, love to hear your thoughts! A: Mythal is his past, where he made terrible mistakes. A romanced Lavellan is a bright future he doesn't think he deserves until he fixes all of those past mistakes. Q: When Solas tells Lavellan that the place he is going is terrible, where exactly sre they going? Back to the regret prison or somewhere else? A: The implication is that he's going back to the prison, and now that he'll be working to try to heal the blight while he's there.

Source (its to a reddit thread not the actual original quotes, and I'm going to trust that they did their due diligence because I don't have the energy to do it myself lol)

[postcardsfromheapside]

No. I wasn't missing the point of most criticism. Literally, I saw post after post of people saying they wished the characters could be mean to each other. Some posts were more specific, like "I don't like Taash," (and I'm sure you can imagine what THAT'S about) and some were more ambigious but cited DA2 and how everyone was bitchy toward each other.

I honestly don't care where you work and what you do, because hopefully most of us after the age of 30 have experienced an adult job where we have to be reasonable with our coworkers, even if we strongly disagree, or outright dislike them. I had the suspicion that most people who think that there is "no conflict," or "low conflict" or "bad writing" in this game haven't experienced this kind of setting in any capacity. What I'm now hearing is that you might have, but you didn't absorb any of the dialogue, or switch out your party to listen to banter, which is an essential function for picking up information in any DA game.

I walked around Arlathan with Lucanis and Harding, and they have a whole ongoing conversation in which she threatens him with one of her special arrows. And he agrees that if Spite should take him over, she should do something about it. Harding isn't frightened, because Harding isn't a pushover, but she's not taking any shit either. Did you walk around with just the two of them right after recruiting Lucanis? Did you frequently visit the rest of the companions so that you could see just how much Lucanis and Davrin *didn't* get along? Neve mentions what sounded like a knock-down drag out fight.

**Just because this isn't explicitly mentioned to you doesn't make it bad writing - it means you haven't had the time we had with Inquisition to play the game over and over and switch out your party so you can see everyone's interactions with each other. You will actually have to play the game multiple times and switch your party out a fair amount in order to see these interactions. Or wait for people to post them to tumblr. You can complain about how unfair this is, or remember that Inquisition has 10 years on this game, and it's been out for just shy of a month.**

Why in the absolute fuck would Davrin manufacture conflict between himself and someone he could easily conjecture isn't pro-slavery based on the fact that within five minutes he could find out she's from Dock Town, she's a private investigator working with the Shadow Dragons, and LITERALLY WHEN YOU GET ONTO THE DOCK WITH HIM, her first priority as she's running back to Minrathous is to say "if the dragon wrecks havoc, the Venatori will take over." Davrin isn't an idiot, he could pretty well surmise that she's not "pro slavery" with only the barest of interactions and Rook saying "yeah Neve's cool."

Why would Neve yell at you? Why is it bad writing for the writers to give Neve a personality you don't agree with, because you're uncomfortable with how she reacts? Neve's an adult who is used to working on her own and people not showing up for her - she says this MULTIPLE TIMES - it's actually a large arc of bonding with her, as a friend and a lover. She's not going to scream at you, she's so far past the point of being loud about disappointment, she's on the other side, for one, and for another, she does in fact understand that the entire North of Thedas is on fire and blighting Treviso is pretty fucking bad when it has no major defenses. Rook doesn't endlessly apologize. She came back after a short pause and while I didn't have her healing abilities after that, it didn't take long for me to boost my bond with her back up and feel like we were friends again.

This honestly feels like you're having a personal reaction that you need to examine, and it's not something to do with the writing, since the game mechanics and the dialogue don't actually bear out what you're putting down here.

All of the companions who have conflict initially have to figure out how to trust each other and it sometimes takes most of the game for them to do that. If you didn't spend the time listening to their banter as they work their way through it, that's not Bioware's problem. That's you. And...I don't want to have repeated conversations where I go into Emmrich's (my romance) room and "vent"? I didn't do that with Cullen. I didn't do that with Anders. Why would it suddenly be a thing here? But if you listen in to people's conversations, they do express dismay and doubt and fear about the various quests they've been on. Again, it feels like you didn't spend the time eavesdropping or taking people out and listening to banter.

I have no idea what you're talking about with flirting. I flirted with every companion at first even though I knew I was running for Emmrich, and all of them responded according to their personality. I romanced Cullen in Inquisition, and he was pretty quiet initially, until you get to Skyhold, and similarly, most of the companions here retain a certain reticence until the game progresses. But if you're looking for people who get flustered - Lace and Bellara absolutely do! And Emmrich isn't flustered, but he's taken aback a few times before he collects himself and flirts back - though whether you'd actually recognize it for flirting, I'm starting to wonder. The fact that you can't tell with Neve is actually making me tilt my head at the screen, and I say this as a self-confessed disaster who is very very bad at knowing someone is interested. Even I can tell what's going on in DA romances.

This is probably a lost cause, but I urge you to either spend time playing the game again, or watch someone else who really loves DA (and is Veilguard positive) play so that you can watch without being in the thick of it, and hopefully experience more dialogue and different choices.

No, I'm not done yet, I'm house sitting and she left me snacks and soda and not even god could keep me from venting my spleen at this point.

"I wish the companions were meaner to each other in this game, like in DA2."

While I think there's a larger argument to be made discussing the similarities between DA2 and Veilguard, I need everyone to get so close to me right now about a glaring difference:

DA2 involved a ragtag group of assholes with their own agendas coalescing around Hawke's personality or exchange of favors. There was no larger "goal," except maybe Varric's expedition - everything else is encountered as circumstance. You wend your way through your companions' stories while a city winds ever tighter into itself, a spring about to literally explode.

There's zero reason for these people to be nice to each other. They have no point in being around each other except Hawke. They can bitch at each other all they like.

Rook becomes Varric's second in command (I've seen one post say it's about 6 months before the events of the game) with an explicit purpose: find and stop Solas. Harding and Neve are recruited as experts in their respective fields for this particular goal. When it all goes to shit, Neve recruits another expert, Lucanis, to deal with the fallout, and Harding finds Davrin, *also* an expert in his field (monster hunting). When Rook has to make a particularly consequence heavy decision, two more are added to the crew: Emmrich (Fade expert) and Taash (dragon expert). All of these people are extremely competent, and know from the jump that they have one particular goal in mind.

They join ready to work together on Day 1 because if they don't, there's simply no other alternative. It's lights out. Even when they mistrust each other, the direness of the situation is not lost on them. Infighting serves no purpose. That's why the struggle is directed inward: clean up your own house, so we can move as a single unit.

Honestly the fact that what people took away from this game was "I wish my friends were meaner to each other" and not "wow, I wish we all worked together to keep evil dictators from taking over" is fucking mindblowing when I sit back and reread this.

[pedrosgrogu]

Born Too Late - Chapter 7

pairing/au: neighbor!joel x reader // no outbreak

Warnings: MDNI!! angst, child “abandonment” (idk how else to explain forgetting Sarah at school im so sorry), mentions of sex, readers family being assholes, drinking, let me know if i missed something :)

Summary: Sarah’s mom forgets her at school, leading to a girl's afternoon. Joel still refusing to face you, makes for great conversation with Tommy. (1.5k+)

a/n: heyyyyy. *late*  but as promised. this is more so a filler for next chapter which i will hopefully have within the coming days. also, love finally hanging with tommy and developing his character into more than just the drunk, in trouble younger brother. this is getting more and more traction every post or so, thank u!! its my first fic and im still v nervous but im glad you’re all enjoying it. i <3 feedback so pls feel free to always leave it. xoxox 

“Okay everyone! Please dont forget about our test next Wednesday, and have a great Thanksgiving!” You yell as the bell rings, dismissing your students. Its the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and your school did early release today. Since its a holiday break, teachers can leave as soon as all students are gone, and next weeks plans are turned in. 

You open your laptop to finish next weeks math lesson, and notice a new email from your dad. 

Subject: Happy Thanksgiving 

To: You and 15 others 

You open the email and it's an attachment, a picture of your mom, dad, and your brothers and their families, all together in Spain. You scoff and delete it. Thanks for the fucking invite. Clicking back to your tab, you finish next week's lesson, adding slides to a PowerPoint, and worksheets to the file itself. You send it to the office printer, and close your laptop; tucking it away in your file cabinet. One goal you set is that work does not go home with you, especially not on holiday breaks. 

You grab your bag, turn off the light, and shut the door behind you. You walk into the office and see Sarah sitting there. Weird, Joel is never late you think to yourself. “Hey Sarah!” you say, shooting her a wave. She looks up at you but doesn't wave back. 

You print out your plans. All the slides, and copies of the worksheets, are stacked neatly in a manilla folder and left in your boss's box. Walking back up front, you notice Sarah is still sitting there. You walk behind the front desk and get close to the receptionist, Mrs. Johnson.

“Mrs. Johnson, Sarah is one of my students and neighbor. Has no one called about being late?” 

“No ma’am.” she responds “She told me her mom was coming but we can't seem to reach her on the phone.” You look at Sarah, and then back at Mrs. Johnson, and sigh. “Yeah, Mom's a piece of work. I'll call her dad.” 

You reach around in your purse, nervously pulling out your phone. “Excuse me for just a minute.” and you step into the empty conference room down the hall. You search for Joel's name in your contacts, you haven't spoken to him since you screamed at him on your porch. You click call and put the phone up to your ear. It only rings twice. 

“Hey, can I call you back? I'm at work and we’re trying to wrap up so we don't have to be on-site all day tomorrow.” His voice is as smooth as molasses, but you know it isn't Joels. 

“Tommy? Can you tell Joel that Sarah is still at school? Her mom never showed up.” You say, worriedly. 

“What?! Goddamn it. Joel, Sarah is still at school. You need to go get-” You cut him off. 

“Tommy, I can take her home. I'm still here, she's in the front office.” 

“We won’t be home til’ late. I’ll come an get her, an she’ll just have to come to the jobsite with us.” The frustration in his voice is peaking out with every word. 

“Tommy, realistically there is no reason for that. I live right beside Joel. I don't mind bringing her to my house, and she can just hang out until you get home. I’ve got some frozen pizza, snacks, and a TV. She’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure? I really hate to inconvenience you but it would be a tremendous help to Joel.” you’re quiet. Funny that it would help Joel but he cant even come to the goddamn phone. 

“Im sure Tommy. Just have Joel call the front office and let them know she's alright to go home with me.”

“I owe ya one. Thanks pretty girl!.” and before you can correct him, he hangs up. You laugh. Hes such a flirt. 

You compose yourself, putting your phone back in your bag and opening the door. By the time you’re back in the front, Mrs. Johnson is on the phone. 

“Uh-huh, no worries Mr. Miller. I understand. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!” and she clicks the office phone down. She looks at you, smiling and nodding. “Come on Sarah! I'm gonna take you home.” She jumps out of her chair. “Really? Yay!!” She throws her backpack on, basically running out the door in front of you.”I've been telling my dad that I wanted to have a girls day with you but he always says you're busy. I told him you told me to come over whenever I want, even without homework but he didn't believe me.” You laugh. “Sarah, you can always come over. No matter what! You know that.” Your relationship with Sarah is slowly starting to develop more. You see her as the little sister you never had. 

You start your car and plug your iPod in. “What’re you in the mood for Ms. Miller?” you ask, swirling the dial through your artists. “Do you have any Jesse McCartney?” She asks, her smile as bright as the sun. “Duh!!” You scroll to his name and click Shuffle. Leavin’ starts playing. “Do NOT tell my dad. He would die!” She says. You laugh, “Our little secret,” you say. 

Once home, Sarah works on a book report for her english class. You give her some water and some chips. She finishes her snack, and puts her books back in her bag. You spend all afternoon doing whatever Sarah wants. Watching Hannah Montana, doing each other's nails, and making cookies. Before you know it, its 5:30. Sarah stirs on the couch, asking what's for dinner. “I’ve got pizza! Cheese or pepperoni?” you ask her “mmmm…. Pepperoni!” You preheat the oven, and listen for the beep. 

It’s 8:30 and Sarah is asleep beside you on the couch. She was knocked out after 2 slices. Your phone beeps and you check it. 

Joel: We’ll probably be here another hour or so. How’s my girl? 

You missed seeing his name pop up on your phone. The butterflies you feel never go unnoticed.

You: Shes fine. She had dinner about 2 hours ago and fell asleep right after. She’s half in my lap so I can’t move, but I don’t mind.

Joel: Thanks again. Tommy will be over to get her when we finish up. 

You scoff. Not even man enough to face you. 

You: Okay. 

You start to doze around 9. In and out of consciousness, waking every little bit to check on Sarah. You hear a knock at the door that jolts you awake. Checking the clock, its 10:00. You carefully move Sarah’s head from your let to a pillow. You quietly open the door, hoping for Joel. Unfortunately, God isnt on your side tonight, because its Tommy. You invite him in, turning the entryway light on. 

“Thanks again, Joel and I really appreciate it.” 

You look at him, rolling your eyes. “You, I believe. Joel? Not so much.” 

“Damn diva, whats with the attitude?” Tommy says, smiling. 

You weigh the pros and cons of dumping your emotions onto Tommy. And honestly, you’re at the point that you don't care. “You got a minute?” you say, walking to the fridge and grabbing 2 beers. “I always got time for you girl.” he says, swiftly. You roll your eyes again. You check to see if Sarah has moved and she's still in the same spot you’ve left her. 

You start at Joel but somehow end with your crazy family. Before you know it, its borderline midnight. You and Tommy haven't stopped talking- or drinking. He realizes the time. “Shit, I better get home. Joels gonna lose his fuckin’ mind.” You gather Sarah's belongings and hand them to him. He lifts her off the couch and cradles her like a baby. “And I meant what I said about Thanksgivin’. Come join us. Joel’s smokin’ a turkey, and Ill be there, so will Sarah.” he says with a warm smile. “What about Joel's girlfriend?” you ask, trying not to hold him up but desperate for the answer. “That shit was over the minute it started.” He says laughing. You stare him down, not knowing if he is serious or not. “Don't look at me like that, Im serious. Come over, bring some beers and a side. It’ll be great.” He walks out the door, Sarah in his arms and her backpack on his back. 

You fall asleep, weighing the options of Thanksgiving at the Millers. You wonder if Joel even knows he invited you. You want to call him, you want to hear his voice. The way his pet names for you roll off his tongue with his southern drawl. The way he looks into your eyes when you’re moaning his name over and over. The way he holds you when you cum. You turn your light off and drift into a slumber so deep, you don’t even realize it came. Thoughts of Joel bleeding into your dreams, making you smile in your sleep.

[neoameba]

"You're not right! I'm right! And I'm Uzumaki Naru-" "Shut up, dummy."

Kids!Uzumaki Naruto w/a Male!reader

Summary: "These kids... [Name] wasn't like that, his friendship with Naruto changed him. Or maybe he was always a bit mischievous and Naruto just let it out. Anyway, it's good to see them together again... I think." - Kakashi Hatake

It's just that they understand each other very well. It's not that Naruto doesn't have friends, he has a lot. But none of them understand him as well as [Name]. The boy was always with him, even when he discovered that Naruto had the nine tails beast inside him. But beyond that, they shared the same single neuron that they both had. They had the same sense of humor and made the same jokes, they even looked like the same person.

It was part of everyday life to see [Name] and Naruto Uzumaki around Konoha, whether on the rooftops playing and eating, or on the streets, playing pranks on people and sometimes, making a mess of everything around. No one was surprised by this anymore, but that doesn't mean people don't run away when they see this duo.

So Naruto and [Name]'s happiness was noticeable when they found out that they were on the same team. Well, a team should only have 3 kids, but honestly, it's better to have two chaotic kids in the same place than one on each team.

.

.

.

But, it wasn't always like this. Naruto was always a brat, but [Name] was different. He was so quiet and shy. He didn't get bullied like Naruto, but he feared it with all his heart. He didn't make any noise and for a long time people thought he was mute. He was afraid of being judged, of being excluded and so he ended up excluding himself first.

Maybe that's why he got along so well with Naruto. The two were complete opposites at first, and Naruto was like a sun to [Name's] moon. He made the shy boy's personality shine. [Name] knows that this is the main reason why he loves Naruto, his personality is everything to him and his way is honestly amazing.

.

.

.

[Name]'s parents, Kakashi, Sakura, Iruka, and many other people don't know if Naruto and [Name]'s friendship is that good. Well, they have to put up with the two's pranks all the time. And Iruka, Kakashi, and [Name]'s parents can't stand the boys talking about themselves all the time anymore.

"Iruka sensei, today [Name] and I climbed onto the fourth Hokage's head and-" "Naruto, you haven't even touched your ramen... It's already cold."- Iruka, who doesn't even care about the things Naruto and [Name] do anymore, he just wants Naruto to eat soon because he can't stand hearing the boy's stomach growl while he ignores his hunger to talk about his best friend.

...

So just imagine everyone's surprise when...

...

"[Name] San...? Why aren't you talking to Naruto?" Sakura looked genuinely worried. Naruto was standing aloof and clearly refusing to talk to [Name], while the boy looked completely sullen. Even Sasuke noticed this and for the first time in a long time he spoke to Naruto without telling him to stop yelling. Well, he didn't because Naruto simply wasn't yelling, he was just serious and didn't say much. "Hmph, I won't talk about him, not even to him. I don't want to hear anything about him."

Kakashi was close to the two kids, reading a weird book while taking care of them on his day off. Despite being unconcerned, even he looked at Sakura with wide eyes, which were returned by the girl. Looking at Sasuke, he also seemed surprised as he talked to Naruto. Sakura couldn't tell what was going on here, but it was definitely about Naruto and [Name]'s friendship.

.

.

.

The three reunited later. They loved the silence and calm that the fight between Naruto and [Name] had given, but it was much better to see the two boys being friends. Sakura was the first to speak in the circle. "Kakashi sensei, Sasuke kun... I know we were finally at peace now that Naruto and [Name] stopped talking, but they need to be together again." Kakashi agreed, and soon began to think about what could happen between the two boys so that they would no longer talk. The trio was silent for a few seconds, but Sasuke was willing to speak his mind. "I don't think it's anything serious." The pink-haired girl and the team's sensei immediately raised an eyebrow. "... It's like you don't know the two of them. They agree on everything, but when they disagree on something, they always end up arguing."

Kakashi seemed to think again, and came to a slightly different conclusion. "I believe the discussion was more serious this time. They've never gone so long without talking to each other." The trio comes to a conclusion: They fought over something they disagreed on, and now they don't want to talk anymore.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, the two brats returned home, and unfortunately for both of them... They lived in neighboring houses. The whole time, they didn't look at each other and had their arms crossed, trying to avoid simply looking at each other. "You know it's wrong. You live it, so you know better than I do that it's not fair." He needed to speak, he had to win this argument and convince Naruto. "You don't know anything about my life, I like my house and the way it is!"

[Name] wouldn't take that for an answer. Yes, the reason for the argument was more than a bad board game that [Name] liked and wanted to play all the time. The boy saw Naruto's situation, and knew that he deserved something much better than what he was living. But Naruto didn't see it negatively. He always had the bare minimum (and sometimes not even that), so for him, the bare minimum was enough.

They enter their respective houses, still fighting. Naruto throws himself on his bed and stays silent, while [Name] runs to his room and locks himself there, without greeting anyone in his house. The situation was serious.

.

.

.

It was a new day. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura spent the entire night coming up with a plan to bring [Name] and Naruto together again. When Sakura had to leave because of her parents, Kakashi and Sasuke began to put the plan into action. It was simple, because the two boys didn't have enough brains to realize it was a trap. It was simple: lock the two boys in the same room. They wouldn't make enough effort to get out of there just so they wouldn't talk, Kakashi was sure.

The new day arrives, Sasuke went to call Naruto for Kakashi's 'new' training, while Sakura went to take [Name] to show her new move that she learned from Kakashi. The two fell, and when they arrived at the place (which was something like a small house with a lot of junk behind Kakashi's house), were locked together. Naruto and [Name] only heard the door lock close as they turned to face each other. They ran to open the door, but only heard a "I'll only open it when you're friends again."

.

.

.

For a long time, they remained silent. Deep down, they knew that they wanted to resolve things, because they had enough strength and power to break down that door or the fragile roof of that little house. But they didn't do that. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke couldn't hear anything coming from the room, and Sakura even considered calling a Hyuuga to use the byakugan and see what was going on in there. Time passed slowly for them.

Meanwhile, Naruto and [Name] finally talked. "...Naruto?" "What is it?!" The boy sighed, and seemed to want to give up on the conversation for a few seconds, but soon continued. "Sorry."

Naruto looked at him for the first time, he seemed surprised. It was the first time [Name] had apologized for something. Normally neither of them did, and they just went back to being friends normally. "You're right, I shouldn't interfere in your life. It's just that I can't find it normal that you have to eat only noodles and milk that are almost always expired. That's not fair, you shouldn't live like this." And for a few seconds, Naruto even looked like he wanted to cry. He missed his best friend. He wastes no time in throwing himself at [Name], nearly making him fall. "... I'm sorry too, okay? You only want the best for me and I treated you with so much contempt..." There, it didn't even sound like Naruto speaking. That came from his soul.

They stay in each other's arms for a while. They were tired of so much arguing and being apart, this distance wasn't good for them. It's not like Naruto will understand what [Name] is thinking right away, and it will take him a while to get used to the idea that he needs to cry out for a better life. He just needs his friend for that. His best friend.

.

.

.

The next day, the two were already doing crazy things around the village, running around Konoha and messing everything up. Kakashi didn't even listen to people's complaints, because in a way, everyone was happy that the two were back together. He remembers when he opened that door because his curiosity piqued him, and saw the two hugging. Of course, they let go of the hug immediately and Naruto almost fell to the floor in embarrassment. At least it's a happy memory for the two of them, without any fighting. Sakura looked irritated with the two, as usual. But Kakashi knew the girl, and knew that she was very happy with the two of them too. Sasuke seemed neutral, but if you have good eyes, you will see a smile.

☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:

It was refreshing to see these kids happy again, and together. Naruto and [Name] are complementary pieces, they can't live without each other.

☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:☆*:.｡..｡.:*☆ ☆*:.｡..｡.:

Author's notes: It can be read as ftm! Reader, since there are obviously no genitalia being specified. It could be interpreted as a romance between the two, but I didn't want to make it explicit to be more open to interpretation. They would simply give their lives for each other, they are best friends because they complete each other.

[risingsoleil]

Linzin trying for a baby and it’s taking longer to conceive than they thought it would. Tenzin soothing an anxious Lin ?

I've been really liking this idea of Lin actually being super confident that she's gonna give Tenzin airbenders.

The reason I say that is because Lin strikes me as the type of person who will do something out of spite and to prove people wrong.

"She'll never give Master Tenzin airbenders. She's a Beifong and a powerful earthbender. She'll give him 10 of them before she has 1 airbender."

Lin is like "Fuck all of you, I'm going to have 10 airbenders and 1 earthbender."

She's not gonna pop out 10+ kids just to repopulate a nation and not raise them properly. But pairing this with, "Oh you don't think I"ll be a good mom? Watch me" mentality would be sooo interesting to see more of.

So back to the ask, young Linzin gets married and Lin has incorporated motherhood into her life plan. She's hoping to have 1-2 kids within 8-10 years, and open to 3+ depending on what's happening.

She's 26 and after a year of marriage, no baby.

"It'll be fine, Lin. We'll have a baby."

"But why haven't I gotten knocked up yet? it's not like I'm 50! Maybe something is wrong with me...."

"Nothing is wrong with you, Lin."

She eyes him. "...is something wrong with you then?"

"Well, i can get checked out too. But you're stressing too much about having a baby. That's why it's not happening. We have to not try in order to get our child."

"Ugh, that's ridiculous."

"You know I'm right. So many couples conceive when they're not trying at all. Which means, we just need to enjoy loving each other and then when the time comes, our little baby will be here in no time."

"So we just enjoy fucking like rabbits without a care in the world?"

"Yes. You just need to relax and enjoy it, love."

Lin sighs.

Tenzin holds her hand. "We'll definitely have a baby, Lin. Right now it might be hard, but I'm sure our future babies are going to come into our lives so easily and quickly."

"Probably. Knowing our luck," Lin chuckles.

"Maybe it'll be twins."

Lin makes a face. "Eh, I don't know about twins, Tenzin...that might be a lot."

He kisses her cheek. "But then it'd be double the love forever."

Over time, Lin does let go of her control on conceiving a baby.

After a wildly drunken night, Lin and Tenzin have the hottest sex ever on a boat. And they're so focused on each other. Not the world, expectations, responsibilities....just Lin and Tenzin.

Not long after, Lin finds out she's pregnant.

With triplets.

Lin rolls her neck and shoulders. "I'm going to kill you, Airhead."

Hint: all 3 babies are airbenders :3

[tarheelsk]

Tim, standing inside Jazz's apartment in costume: "Ms. Fenton?"

Jazz, who nearly swung at him before realizing a.) who it was, and b.) she would lose her Chinese in the deal: "You're... Red Robin, right? What are you here for, I just finished getting here, unless you're giving parking tickets for the moving truck."

Tim, grinning: "No ma'am, we have a potential case, and after checking some records, you seem to have a connection to our target. We can't get any info through our usual channels, so I got pulled to check you."

Jazz, eyebrow raised: "...alright, sure, I'll bite. What could I help you with when I haven't been in Gotham a full week yet?"

Tim: "So, there's a new psych at Arkham. And as soon as she started, we haven't had any breakouts in weeks. Which, obviously, weird, so we checked it out, and there's some almost unnatural depression. Even among those who have never shown signs of depre-"

Jazz, slowly showing recognition: "Is it Penelope Spectra?"

Tim: "...yes, it is. How did you know?"

Jazz, now in a bit of panic: "And she's been at Arkham for weeks?!"

Tim: "I'm guessing that's bad?"

Jazz: "Bad? She gets more powerful when she consumes emotions! This might be as bad as her getting into my high school! I need to call my brother, gear would help your group but it won't be enough if she's been here that long."

Tim: "Do you mean Daniel? Why would we need to drag a civilian into this, we are all combat-trained, and it's one therapist?"

Jazz, glaring: "Danny is the only reason we didn't have mass suicides, and is a powerhouse in his own right. Our gear is the only way you will be able to stop her, and you will not get it without us helping you."

DPxDC #17

Arkham Asylum has been quiet. No outbreaks have occurred in a few weeks and the bats and birds are suspicious. The only new thing about Arkham is a new therapist, Dr. Penelope Spectra.

[mj-iza-writer]

Note on the story. I called these lab rats lab babies because they were raised in the lab, and are a little better cared for than rats.

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating. If you are not celebrating for whatever reason that you have a great day. -MJ

"D-do we get special food today sir?", Whumpee eagerly followed Whumper down the hall to Test Room 2.

"Hmm.. special food? What are you implying my dear?", Whumper looked over their shoulder to see Whumpee, "why would you get special food? I'm not testing anything with your diets right now."

"Oh, uhm... you told us about this thing where tables of food are set out. All you have to say is something you are thankful for and you get a lot of food", Whumpee eagerly walked in front of Whumper causing them to stop walking, "we were wondering if we could or maybe would have something like that. The past doctors never told us about this, though they never really talked to us anyways. You are the only one who has told us about stuff on the outside. We've never seen the outside world."

"Yes, all of you were born here in the lab.... I should say made here in the lab. The other doctors thought it would be best for you all to not know what you were missing. Plus, they didn't care to have a relationship with all of you", Whumper stepped forward, "come along, we have plenty of test to conduct, and little time to do so."

"Why did you tell us about the outside world then?", Whumpee followed.

"Why are you full of questions today?", Whumper frowned as they opened the door.

"I don't know. You say yourself a questioning mind is never bored. You haven't said no about the special food", Whumpee grinned.

"I haven't exactly said yes either my dear", Whumper grinned, "undress and climb on my table please."

Whumpee nodded and started to disrobe.

"I told all of you stories about the outside world so you can know and dream about what it looks like. Though Max thought the sky was purple until I took them outside to see that it was in fact blue", Whumper pulled out a step for Whumpee.

"Max went outside?", Whumpee looked up curiously.

"Yes, we had gotten into an argument about the sky. Max got the best of me, and I dragged them outside to prove it", Whumper sighed, "though looking back, that was probably a ploy to go outside. You were raised by scientists, so you are all quite smart."

Whumper reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of crackers. They took one out for themself, then offered the bag for Whumpee to take one.

Whumpee happily munched on the treat as Whumper started to their test.

Whumpee eagerly sat at the front of their cell. They looked up with sad puppy eyes as scientists and nurses walked past.

"Give it up Whumpee, it isn't going to happen', someone looked at them, "you look like a pitiful dog begging for scraps."

"He didn't say no though. I've been dreaming about this since Doctor told us about it", Whumpee watched as another nurse walked past.

"I've been hoping that we could try that uhm... something -mas. That would be really cool", Pipsqueak, the youngest of the lab babies spoke up, "I would love to have a toy like one of the ones I colored in the book Doctor gave me."

"I think you mean Christmas", Max spoke up.

Whumpee nodded.

The lights dimmed slightly, a sign that a new part of the day was starting.

Whumpee sighed and slipped back against the wall. Everyone who worked there was set to go to dinner. It would be a while before someone would walk past again.

"See, I told you. They will just come by later with our meal trays. All of which will contain our specific diet regimes", they looked at Whumpee sadly, "in the end, we are only property. You got yourself excited for nothing, and even a few of us got our hopes up because of you."

Whumpee looked down, "I just wanted to know what it was like.... to be... a.. normal person", they looked up awkwardly when the door opened.

"What's going on in here?", someone came into the hall where the lab babies were kept.

"Nothing sir.... just talking", Max spoke up when everyone else kept quiet.

"Oh?", Whumper turned to look over them all, "you know there is a pretty cool party happening a few rooms over. All the scientists, nurses, and doctors are there. Even maintenance, housekeeping, and, of course, the kitchen staff are there. We realized, though. An important group is missing from the party", Whumper leaned against the wall close to the button to release all of the lab babies at once, "I suppose it wouldn't be a real family meal without our babies present. Would any of you like to come join us for Thanksgiving?"

Everyone's hand shout out of the bars of their cells.

"I thought so", Whumper chuckled and reached to press the button.

"I want you all to follow me to the room. Once there, you will get with your respective nurse, who will help you get your food together. That way, your allergies and dietary needs are met", Whumper sighed.

Whumpee excitedly skipped to Whumper.

"Yes I will help you get your tray since you don't technically have a nurse right now", Whumper grinned.

"I knew you were doing something", Whumpee looked at them excitedly.

"Did you now?", Whumper chuckled, "I did say you were all smart. Come on now get into line."

The babies got into a single file line and looked up at Whumper.

"Very good. Come on, let's get some food", Whumper grinned.

Inside of the cafeteria, everyone went to their nurse and started to look at all of the food options.

Whumper carried a new tray to Whumpee.

"Do you see anything you like?", Whumper watched as Whumpee looked over the table.

"Everything", Whumpee whispered, "I've never seen so much food", Whumpee looked up, "Is this when we say what we are thankful for?", Whumpee looked at everyone's trays.

"You can if you like", Whumper smiled, "you can't have any of the cranberry sauce, it will have a negative effect on your medication. That's your only limitation, everything else is fair game."

"I'm thankful that you are in charge of the lab now. We've never had a doctor that cares about us like you do", Whumpee looked at Whumper with innocent eyes.

"Even when my tests hurt?", Whumper started to scoop out some food.

"Yes, some the tests hurt, but that is what we are here for. In the end, we know you care, even if it's a little", Whumpee smiled.

Whumper scooped a spoonful of everything Whumpee had pointed at. Their tray was heaping when they finally sat down.

"Now, do not feel like you need to eat all of this", Whumper looked over the group, "this is your first time deciding on what you want to eat, and I think all of you went a little overboard. Especially you Pipsqueak. That is a lot of potatoes. Just eat what you can."

All of the babies looked at each other's trays.

"Do we get to eat dessert too?", Max smirked.

"Let's see how you all do with dinner first. Then we can talk about dessert", Whumper chuckled.

Whumper checked in on the babies.

Everyone had fallen back from their trays and was laying on the floor.

"My what's happened here?", Whumper chuckled.

"So much food", Pipsqueak groaned.

"You were right. We over did it", Whumpee looked up sadly, "I can't eat another bite."

"Well, it was easy to see you guys overfilled your trays. I told everyone to let you do it though. I wanted all of you to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner. The best way to do that was to be like everyone else and overindulge. We will serve dessert tomorrow for one of your treats so you won't miss out."

Everyone nodded, "thankyou Doctor", they said in unison.

The lab babies watched and listened as everyone gathered together and talked amongst their meals.

Whumper even pulled out a few games and toys for the group to play with. The nurses and scientists joined in with the activities.

Whumper led everyone back to their cell rooms.

The nurses helped get the overfilled lab babies ready for bed.

Whumper sat down next to Whumpee's bed and played with their hair for a few minutes.

"Did you enjoy your first Thanksgiving?"

Whumper's eyes gleamed happily as Whumpee nodded.

"How about the rest of you? Did we enjoy Thanksgiving?", Whumper called to the rest.

"Yes", everyone spoke in unison.

"I am so full", Pipsqueak peaked into Whumpee's cell then followed their nurse to their own cell.

"I'm glad everyone enjoyed", Whumper stood, "tomorrow is a day off for all of you, so you all get to relax. Sound like a fair deal?"

"Thankyou", Max called from their bed, "I don't know if I'd be able to move tomorrow."

"Well, goodnight to all of you", Whumper closed Whumpee's bars, "we will see all of you in the morning."

"I'm so happy we got to experience that", Whumpee whispered loudly after the door closed, "I'm so full, but that was amazing."

"It feels strange to be allowed to do this stuff. All of our lives have been in the dark. Having experiences like this feels so wrong", someone could be heard shuffling around their cell, "is this what it feels like to be a real human?"

"I don't know. I can imagine something like this wouldn't make some as excited as it has made us", Max spoke, "maybe it's just another day for some. I'm sure others didn't have a good day today and I'm sorry for them."

"I would love to have more potatoes tomorrow", Pipsqueak giggled.

"Doctor gave us a day off tomorrow even", Whumpee remembered, "I hope this doctor never leaves us. I don't know if we'd be lucky to get another doctor like him."

Everyone sighed happily.

"Well goodnight", Max rolled over to face the wall.

"Goodnight", everyone repeated.

Pipsqueak started to giggle.

"What's so funny Pipsqueak?", Whumpee whispered.

"I wonder if that means we will get to have Christmas", Pipsqueak whispered.

"Both of you go to bed", someone warned.

"Sorry", Pipsqueak and Whumpee giggled again, "Goodnight."

Taglist. As always please let me know if you want to be added or taken off of the list. It's not a problem at all.

@villainsandheroes @the-beasts-have-arrived

@sacredwrath @porschethemermaid

@monarchthefirst @generic-whumperz

@bloodyandfrightened @freefallingup13

@notpeppermint @cyborg0109

@idontreallyexistyet @painfulplots

@whumpbump @everythingsscary

@skittles-the-whumpee @expressionless-fr

@theforeverdyingperson @legendarydelusiongoatee

@candleshopmenace @whumpanthems

@lavndvrr @ivymyers

@starfields08000 @a-living-canvas

@lumpofsand @watermeezer

@indigoviolet311 @whumpy-mountains

@3-2-whump @risk606

@electrons2006 @paperprinxe

@whumprince @kaz-of-crows

@mis-graves @decaffeinatedtimetraveler94

@sausages-things @castiels-favorite-hunter

@isikedmyself878 @daffyduckcommittedtaxfraud

@valravnthefrenchie @glennemerald

@jasperthecapser @does-directions

@deafeninglittlecrown @jumpywhumpywriter

@blackbirdsinatrenchcoat @mylifeisonthebookshelf

@thenormalestever @whatwhump

@galatic-worm @starmoon-constellation

[gayofthefae]

The biggest scam was spinning Mike's van speech as "fear is the reason I can't" instead of what it actually was, "I'm afraid of what happens when I can't".

The only way consistent with the other things he's said that he would be saying it is obliviously. He doesn't behave like he's having an epiphany and he doesn't behave like he recently discovered the answer to the question he's been killing himself over for months. He doesn't behave like he knows he has an answer before during or through his speech. So at absolute best, he is giving us the reason not realizing it's the reason and the idea is that he realized it was the reason during/as a result of Will's speech.

In that case, what prompted the speech then? If he's just sitting there scared she won't need him and has been sitting on this information the whole time, why bring it up now? That would have still been true three days ago and it wasn't what Will said because most of my conversations don't go "what if me and your girlfriend robbed a casino" "Now that you mention it, do you think she'll break up with me?"

Because he really goes down a full tangent of thoughts he has clearly been sitting on and mulling over. And there is a specific energy to those other situations we can weed out from delivery. It isn't "I almost have the missing piece for why I can't tell her I love her, your input?"

He's venting. He isn't confessing his insecurities, he's just venting. The concepts have been sitting with him but the words haven't. Those are just flowing out. He barely looks up at Will and they use multiple head on shots to convey that he isn't super aware of his presence or reactions. He's just word vomiting here. He isn't doing it for Will's input but he also doesn't seem to get anything out of it informationally.

He knows everything he's saying already. He just needs to say it to destress. He's venting.

This situation makes no sense for him to vent and accidentally spill the reason he can't say "I love you", and then also...not even notice. The turning point in this scene is the painting, not his fear. Regardless, that is universally known. We all feel it based on the structure of the scene. Some who argue the fear the reason try to argue that it had no bearing because it was just for Will but...well that's not how narrative structures work so moving on.

The turning point - the change to him being able to say it - is the painting, not his speech, and is treated as such. So for us to earn treating his vent as the turning point, he would need to treat it that way. He doesn't. He has no visible change during that monologue. It has changed nothing. He was just getting something off his chest.

He vented a fear. It was comforted by Mike. That comfort shifted things.

NOT

He explained the reasoning which was based in self-doubt. Will corrected his self doubt.

That second one also just totally undermines Will sacrifice. Will made a major sacrifice and it was not in vain, which it would be if it had been "realization!...compliments, that's nice" as opposed to "issue, solution".

[liebelesbe]

rehearsal started almost 2 hours ago. we still haven't reached a single scene where I have to do anything. 😐

[nebuladreamz]

A little different than last year's, but here we are again. To say that this past year hasn't been absolutely wild would be a lie, cause HOLY SHIT MAN

This year's birthday is. A little different for me, but you already have the silly comic to show that so I won't make like a broken record oops

But, despite the changes and hills that life's decided I should climb or throw at, it hasn't changed the fact that I'm so genuinely fucking thankful to the people that I've known since joining this fandom. I'm not even kidding when I say that being here has actually changed my life for the better. I know I said something similar last year, but this time, hoo boy it sure turned up the AMP and test how far I could go.

So, to everyone, both new and old; thank you for being here :D

@garbagechocolate @darkxsoulzyx @smoljeanius @bunmuffin @skizabaa

@tuzesdays @sleepykas @fernzwing @kandidandi @starsketchez

@just-a-drawing-bean @notdysfunk @ilsole @amberluvsbugs @cloudyvoid

@nomsthecat @alfinefalf @nosleepygay @theblog-with-thestuff

@cacaocheri

(Edit: ty kibbits for informing me of the. Fuck ass tagging system)

AND TAGGING OTHERS BECAUSE. POINTS. BONKS WITH HEAD. GETTING TO EITHER INTERACT OR TALK OR WHATEVER IS ALWAYS A DELIGHT

@ohno-the-sun @kibbits @ink-yy @saltyfryz @kaprisvn

@hierba-picante @sunny-sophies-garden @cookiiemancer @sneeblbop @justaduckarts

@pepethehumanz @crystalmagpie447 @woolysstuff @mocha-illustrates @duhsty1

@sanchensky @pillowspace @victarin @witherfide

[I DEFINITELY GOT SONAS WRONG AND THESE AREN'T ALL THE SILLY PEOPLE I KNOW BUT IM SITTING HERE AT 2:30 IN THE MORNING JUST KNOW YOU'RE THERE IN SPIRIT HANDING YOU ALL POPTARTS WAUGH]

[celtrist]

Why does Vassago already have merch, we haven't even met him yet

[atreefullofstars]

So like, in my case, it's because I haven't been on board with the narrative's framing of the moral landscape since like episode... three?

This narrative is just PLAGUED with rules for thee but not for me. Is it wrong to assassinate the enemy kingdom's ruler who has blood on his hands? Depends on who does it. To send an assassin after the innocent young prince? Depends on who's doing it. To BE a magical assassin? Dunno, are you aesthetically pleasing while doing it? Is it wrong to kill bugs? Depends on who's doing it. Is it wrong to want power? Ditto. Is it wrong to use slurs and do unflattering impersonations of another species? Shocking and unforgivable if you're human, hilarious if you're an elf. Almost point for point, everything the "evil" characters have done that was bad, the "good" characters have also done and never been held to account for it by the other characters or by the narrative. And the "bad guys" have done a lot of GOOD stuff that the narrative refuses to acknowledge.

One of THE villains of the series is a man who worked tirelessly and sacrificed his physical health to not only defend his people from natural disasters and from incursions from invading forces, but ALSO defends the actual lives of said people from a king who would blithely throw thousands of them away for a feel-good moment with the queens of a foreign kingdom. Harrow FAILED as a king right there, it would have been DISASTROUS to his rule if they'd actually carried our that edict, Viren snatched that situation right out of the fire, and he's VILIFIED for it! And the reasoning is that they had to kill a big, possibly sentient, possibly unique creature to save thousands of (ordinary, common, boring) lives... ... but THEN when it's RAYLA AND CALLUM setting out with the intent to kill a big, possibly sentient, possibly unique creature -- not even to save lives, but to restore a cultural practice and claim the reward for it -- THAT'S FINE. Yes, they found a way not to kill it, warm fuzzies all around, but the narrative completely fails to grapple with the fact that they were GOING to and it NEVER treats that as wrong the way it does with the magma titan. (Caveat: I'm not saying Viren did nothing else wrong, but I take issue with the way sins were heaped upon him by the writers in later seasons because frankly they're just trying to retroactively justify the vilification that was already present in season 1.)

And the BIGGEST injustice at the heart of all these injustices is this idea that humans have no right to want magic, even when they're dying for lack of it, even when the people who have it are abusing them instead of helping them, humans have no right to call anybody out or take anything they aren't given or even wish for it to be different. Every human who ever did dark magic for any reason was wrong, every human who ever fought back against an elf or dragon was wrong, humans are supposed to accept their place at the bottom of the pecking order and in the reservations they've been force-marched to and they're supposed to be the ones to absorb any lingering anger from the conflict and set down their weapons first even when being actively invaded --

-- and then we get told the story of the FIRST time this happened, when a sweet innocent child motivated by love was the only one who wanted to help humans, and she was KILLED for it in the name of the natural order --

-- I'm on Team Aaravos here, not because I think he's righteous (he's not) or because this is nobler than vengeance (it's not) but because I'm disgusted with the so-called morality of everyone the show is telling me to root for. EVERYONE in this show has sought revenge for something at some point, which makes Aaravos no worse than any of them in terms of motives. Everybody's got blood on their hands, and the numbers just depend on who you think 'counts' as a person. He's manipulative in a way that obviously creeps some people out, but this show has failed to give me any character whose behavior I'm happy with, so pick your poison.

Aaravos is railing against the entire moral order of this little fictional universe and so am I. He wants to take that world apart with his teeth and I'm going to be over here with my popcorn. Fucking get 'em, babygirl.

Obviously he's going to lose, and we'll get some speech about how it was because of the desire for peace and unity or something, and it'll be super super gross, and the show will never actually address the fate it consigns the human race to, and everything will all work out because the writers said so, forever and ever, amen. Whatever. I'm here for the food at this point.

Someone explain to me why there are so many posts along the lines of: "Aaravos can do whatever he wants now that we know he lost his beloved daughter and has trauma"

My brother in Satan that's someone else's daughter he's going after and exploiting now.

I know the answer is He's Hot So He Can Do Whatever He Wants which- yeah like I'm here for the fandom's poor-little-meow-meowfication of him, too. Fandom gotta fandom, I guess. but still- I don't fully get that on a logical or emotional level.

The whole Leola thing did humanise him, yes, but that added complexity didn't change my mind about him being kind of a dick.

There is this song in Sweeney Todd, Johanna (Quartet). Sweeney grieves the loss of his daughter but that's still secondary to how focused he is on using that grief to fuel his desire for a revenge- Revenge that's destroying countless lives of innocent bystanders who mean nothing to him. The story he tells himself about his innocent daughter's faith is the justification for his actions. That's my perception of Aaravos. And that's ultimately more interesting to me than him being a perfect lil' victim of this all.