#chronological order so it's like oh fuck me i have to figure out where to start

[donut-entendre]

what is your “spaghetti donut AU?” it seems really cool

OUUUUUGH okay the best I can summarize without spoiling too much is basically I looked at Donut's numerous "deaths" and looked at a lot of weird lines from him and said this man is a horror movie monster (the og joke 'theory') And then it spiraled out to an AU where Donut is in fact a weird spaghetti monster that I am... still actively figuring out how he works BUT I can summarize with "what if the Thing and the carrion monster had the personality of Donut" and uh now he's a worm to me. forever. a worm (he is many worms but they all ID as the same guy so?) who's carrying around the world's most mentally ill ex-villains because it's hilarious. they;re all scared of him. he eats cat food and raw yeast and he is a man who will see a mouse and eat it. at some point I decided he was a cat before he got his hands on a human shape because his name is donut. look me in the eyes and tell me that "Franklin Delano Donut" is not the most cat name you have ever heard in your life. anyway hes sooooo normal [donut violence happening loudly in another room but i close the door with my foot]

I have sideblog for it where I mostly rb things that make me go ah yes the worms and I also have an ask blog but I have been a tired little boy lately

[hoe4sports]

How this ends p3

Alexia Putellas x reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

Thank you to @karsonromanoff for giving me inspiration and ideas for this part.

A note from the author: This is the third part of how this ends based off of Lewis Capaldi’s how this ends. Read the part’s chronologically. I have changed the age of them becoming a pair to 13, in order to make the story make more sense. Part four coming soon.

Also, fuck me, this was really shit.

Warnings: A lot of talking.

Summary: It’s been a few months since Alexia broke up with you and you handed over your promise ring to her. You and Frido make plans for the summer.

-

You found yourself sat in Frido’s spare bedroom, but by now; it was practically your bedroom. The thing about Fridolina was that you met her ages ago. Frido had been in the room when Alexia had told you that she had to miss out on an event she had promised to be a plus one to. It made you feel sad, but as the good girlfriend you were; you kept it inside. Fridolina had then suggested that she could tag along, which you happily agreed to. It was your first time being invited to such a big prestigious event so having someone familiar there was a big safety thing for you. The event was an invitation only charity event by the Red Cross. To your luck, Fridolina had actually volunteered for the organisation back in Sweden which lead her to be your first reserve.

The pair of you instantly hit it off, and from that moment; you were inseparable. She was what could’ve been described as a soul sister, the kind of friend that just gets you.

It had now been 2 months since you walked out of your Alexia’s apartment with everything you ever knew packed up in cardboard boxes that was shipped off to a storage unit until you could figure your life out. You hadn’t seen Alexia, not that you had made much of an effort. It felt like an emptiness, that slowly had started to close. The costs of it were clear, you stayed away from her part of the town. More so, you had avoided going to the places she would usually go.

Being the girlfriend of a famous athlete wasn’t for everyone, and you sure felt the statement in your bones. You see, you and Alexia had been together since you were teens. She had promised you a ring, a big white wedding, kids and a real house. Instead you got 10 years worth of waiting, a cat and an apartment not suitable for children. People had made up competitions based off of when Alexia would purpose to you, when you would have kids or what your next pet would be. The plans you had were now placed on the back burner.Life had just spun out in the worst possible scenario, but Frido was on a mission to help you heal.

“Y/N! Are you awake?”

You huffed and covered your head with the fluffy pillow hoping she would go away.

“Ugh, you are taking to long. Hide your titties, I’m coming in!”

You looked over at the door which a second later had Frido barging out of it. You giggled at her silly little manoeuvre. Her face showed off a surprised grin before she walked to the window and pulled the curtain apart to let sunlight in. She then turned around and laid down in the big bed next to you, while you kept looking at her.

“How are we feeling today, Y/N?”

“Like shit”

“Y/n..”

“Okay, fine. I’m feeling a bit less empty. More like, half full than half empty actually.”

“Do I sense a sliver of positivity? Have I just discovered something we thought was extinct?” Frido teased with a fake surprised grin, and you playfully shoved her shoulder while staring up at the ceiling.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I’m not sure where to begin. What to do about my job, you know? My job is social media, sadly built on being the girlfriend of a famous footballer”

“I have a solution”

Frido looked mischievous, and you could see the trouble a million miles away.

“Oh god, now what?”

“Until I can find a way to become keen on women so I can wife you up, then I’m sure some of the girls on the team would be happy to bag you! How about Jenni? Cata? Ona? Or, I think I even have the phone number of Leah Williamson and Mary Earps!”

Frido fished the phone out of her pocket and demonstrated by going through her contact list loudly. You just rolled your eyes at her again before giggling.

«Oh, Mackenzie Arnold! No, wait, she’s dating that aussie Girl»

«Okay wait, Ada Hegeberg? No, no. She’s straight and old.”

“Maybe this is the one! Lucy Bronze! No, that would be so weird”

“But, what about Alana Kennedy or Claire? You’d get to hang out with the Mathildas and I’m sure mini’s wife would love a extra set of hands”

“Wait, no, girl! Here, Jessie Fleming! She’s hot, and I’m pretty sure she likes all the photos you post!”

Frido was ass deep in her phone which made you smile at her. You loved her silliness. It always seemed to bring some joy into your life. Her suggestions were out of pure love and you could spend forever listening to her.

“Fridolina, I appreciate the effort but unless you are about to turn gay, then I think I’m taking a break from the whole dating a football player thing; didn’t seem to work out for me”

Frido stuck her tongue out playfully at you, before looking down at her phone again.

“How about that rugby player from the Olympics?Ilona Maher! Oh, wait. Straight. But then, what about the rower from Germany?”

You playfully smacked her in the back of her head with a pillow before Frido put her phone down and sighted. Frido dramatically threw her hands in the air while gesturing dramatically.

“You are gonna be alone until you turn 50! That cannot happen! I wanna be your bridesmaid, i wanna be a moster!

“Well, you might have a chance now since I’m not with alexia anymore. She wasn’t planning to purpose anytime soon, and she was for sure not having kids within the next 5 years. She’s gonna die alone with a bunch of cats while refusing to retire”

You looked at Frido; Frido looked at you while holding her head up. There was a silence before a smile appeared on both of your faces. You both broke into a laugh and laid down next to each other again.

“How about we go to breakfast? I’ll treat you”

You smiled. If there was anything you loved, it was to go out for breakfast. You hadn’t gone out for breakfast since you and Alexia were at least 2 years younger. The truth was that you missed it.

“I haven’t gone out for breakfast in forever. Alexia didn’t want to because of the calories”

Frido furrowed her brows in annoyance of Alexia.

“Fuck the calories, Fuck Alexia, I work hard to be able to have them”

You let out a chuckle.

“I think I have had enough of fucking Alexia for a lifetime, babe”

-

You found yourself sat down by the window in this beautiful little cafe. It had an almost magical view of the park with a river slithering through it and a view of the little playground. The sun was beaming outside, and it was peaking out from the lace curtains hanging from the ceiling.

The coffees you ordered arrived, and you took a sip of yours before breaking out in a disappointed grin. The grin on your face caused Frido to giggle, nearly spilling out the contents of her cup. She looked at your cup, and back at hers before pushing her cup towards you. You took a sip and instantly felt satisfied. Your eyes were practically seeing stars. Frido smiled before accepting your cup as hers. The gesture made your heart swell with pride of your bestfriend. Alexia hadn’t done anything like that for you since you were teens.

“You know how they say that women see it coming? I honestly think that I did see it coming, and that’s why I’m doing okay. It’s weird, but she was spilling away for years. She forgot all dates and dinners, and she would tell me that i could just go to be because she was gonna be home late. Like, it feels like the love died before our relationship did.”

“I get that, isn’t it like an intuition thing? I’m pretty sure i saw a tiktok about it from a psychiatrist earlier.”

“Intuition? Interesting. I guess you could say that, I mean, I’m sad of course. Anyone would be. But then again, I’m okay with her decision. I’ve come to terms with it. If she didn’t love me anymore, then it’s better that she ended things.”

“It’s just so odd, Y/N. I don’t understand why she ended things with you. She makes it seem like you weren’t together for over 10 years.”

“That’s actually funny, she never gave me a reason! Perhaps I didn’t do her laundry well enough or maybe my cooking is shit.”

You frowned a bit when things about all the things you probably did wrong. Frido raised an eyebrow before letting out a short laugh.

“What are you even on about, you mad woman! Your cooking is elite. You have better housewife skills than my mom. Gud, if i ever encounter the woman then i might have to end her.”

You laughed softly at Frido until you noticed that the server was coming over with two steaming plates. She sat them down in front of you and you looked up at Frido who were grinning from ear to ear.

“This looks delish! Devine! If I were out on the deathrow, this would be my last meal.” Frido joked while studying her plate.

“Let me take a quick story of you and the food, pretty please?”

Frido raised her brow at you in confusion. The worry in your pit appeared, but was quickly erased by Frido’s reassuring words.

“Babe, you don’t have to ask. I’ve already said that! You support my work by coming to games, even Sweden games. I support your work by appearing on your socials. Alexia really did rearrange your head, is that why she suddenly never appeared on your socials?”

You nodded before raising your shoulders. Your phone was grabbed from the table and Frido did a wink to you when you turned the frame in her direction. You placed down you phone before stabbing the pancake with your fork and dipping it in the Canadian syrup. The meal went on, and you talked about everything from your work to when Frido’s next international match was going to take place.

“The match is set for July 11th, it’s a home game at first before the return in Ireland.”

You nodded eagerly while having strawberries filling your mouth.

“I’m planning to head out a few days earlier. You know, to see Morsan and Pappa. My grandparents have also been missing me.”

You swallowed down the berries before taking a sip of coffee.

“Oh, how are things with Simon now? Is he still busy being needy?”

“Haha, I guess I didn’t tell you! I ended things with him, it just wasn’t working out”

You raised your brow in confusion before putting your fork down.

“But you were so in love just a few months ago go? What happened?”

Frido shrugged her shoulders while leaning backwards to her chair.

“It wasn’t really love, more like a friendly kind of love. I don’t really think I ever felt in love with him, you know. The butterflies kind of love?”

You nodded at her while giving her a sincere smile.

“Hot girl summer it is then!”

Frido laughed at you before smiling widely. The pair of you started eating before Frido’s head suddenly popped up towards you.

“Girl, you should come with me to Sweden! You can meet my family, I can show you my childhood memories and you can join me to Ireland! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

You looked at her, slightly skeptical.

“Are you sure? Not to be a party pooper, but have you asked the team?”

“I’m sure they’ll just be happy to have a social media specialist joining us! Besides, there are some pretty good looking girls on the squad.”

Frido winked before you giggled again. Nobody could make you laugh like Frido.

-

A few weeks later you were sitting in your temporary bedroom at Frido’s while editing some content for your social media. It was an event you did a few months prior with an organisation that has volunteers who cleans the beaches. It was all done as a part of their summer campaign, and the deadline was creeping up on you. The issue was that Alexia had tagged along on the event, and you watched clips of you filing vlog style while other clips were filmed by a crew.

The clips made you feel numb, but this was work and it was already a done deal. You had already signed it, and Alexia had agreed to it earlier. You made a mental note to send Alexia a text about the video coming out before it was live. It was the last content you had of the pair of you together and quite a few of the huge amount of followers you had, had started questioning it. You had always been all about transparency, but this time it was different. This was personal, and it was something that needed time. At the same time, you felt like the fans deserved honesty from you.

You write down in your book to talk to your PR adviser about how to address it in the meeting that was coming up in a few days. But what was also coming up in a few days, was your trip with Frido. The excitement has finally started blossoming when she got the green light from her national team, and the trip could’nt have come at a better time.

“Y/N, hide your titties, I’m coming in!”

You giggled as Frido walked in with her hands over her eyes.

“You are all clear babe, no titties out. Besides when have I ever had my titties out?”

You asked in a sassy tone. Frido peeked through her hands before looking at you innocently while shrugging. She flopped onto your bed right next to you and pulled out her phone. She sat for a moment while you edited before she broke the silence.

“So, Alexia came to practice today”

You could feel your stomach drop to the ground. Your suddenly good mood turned into clouds and thunder.

“Good for her”

“Well, yes. But that’s besides the point. She asked about you.”

You felt yourself becoming protective and hostile when her name was mentioned. How dare she ask about you when she broke up with you? It made your blood boil, and your cheeks rushed with blood. You closed your MacBook before looking at Frido.

“What did she want?”

Frido looked at you.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth or what you want to hear?”

“The truth”

“She asked if she could come over to talk to you, and she handed me this. She said it belonged to you, that you forgot it behind.”

You looked at Frido with anger in your eyes. It was building up rapidly, like steam was about to come flying out of your ears. You couldn’t form a sentence, not even say a word. Frido looked apologetically at you.

“I’m sorry babe; but this is all yours. I’m gonna hop into the shower, i have dinner with Cata and Caro soon”

She moved to stand on her knees in the bed before she kissed the top of your head and walk out of the room, closing the door behind her. You looked at the box Alexia had sent with her, and you wanted to burn it up. You wanted to destroy it, to throw it off a cliff and to hand it in to a charity shop. Whatever was left in the box was something that you had been perfect without.

You sat and stared at the box for a good 30 minutes debating on whether to open it or not. The decision ended up on leaning into your natural curious side. You pulled the lid of the box before closing your eyes and holding the box infront of your face.

Your eyes opened up with a squint, scared to see what was inside.

The first thing you pulled up was a picture of your cat. Gosh, you thought to yourself. I’m going to get him back.

You reached into the box and found a picture of you and Alexia. It was taken at a water park when you were 14, and your families had decided to do a shared vacation.

Then your hand found a little box.

You picked it up and shook it.

You immediately knew what was inside.

The lid was pushed off.

There it was.

In all its shining glory.

The band of Alexia’s promise ring.

You instinctively closed your eyes.

You picked it up and turned it around to face you while having your eyes closed.

You flipped it around towards you.

You opened your eyes in agony.

Wrong.

It is your promise ring.

Or.

It was your promise ring.

[applejuicewerewolf]

Just watched M27 (in cinema! That was cool!!) And oh boy, thoughts!

First of all, I was sooo excited to watch this anime movie in an actual cinema, with other people who were also there to watch an anime movie (in an actual real cinema). Idk, I often still feel like liking anime is something embarrassing, even tho it becomes more and more mainstream, so seeing 20 or so people who also openly announced that they liked it was amazing.

Now, to the actual content of the film:

Love Love LOVE Heiji and Kaito's dynamic here. He was so angry that he drove his fucking motorbike through a window!!

The fact that the KaiShin same face thing is something Heiji is surprised by is very weird, considering that he knew that Kaito always disguises as Shinichi in movies (and yes, the movies have their own continuity, see the fireworks-soccer-ball!!)

Additionally, I watched this film in the German dub. In German, Conan and Shinichi have the same VA, and Ksito has a different one. Still, Heiji makes a note of Kaito sounding similar to Conan (their German VAs do NOT sound similar!!!)

(On that note, they replaced the German VA for Kogoro and I am scared to google why :(( )

Also in the German introduction, Conan LITERALLY calls Kaito his "fated rival" ("schicksalhafter Gegenspieler"), which is very gay for the movie that completely reveals them as cousins.

Kaito feeding seagulls. Just that. It was funny. This is what happens when he has to leave his doves at home. He is a disney princess but only for birds.

Loved the scene where Kaito was attacked while on the ground and was shown to be out of his depth. Catch him on the ground and he is a wingless bird.

Additionally loved that scene because Heiji and Conan jumped in to save him. Their dynamic was so good, with Heiji attacking front and center, Kaito trying to shoot the attacker, and Conan coming clutch with his soccer ball. These three are so much fun together, and I love how throughout the movie they hunt Kaito in one scene, and work with him in the next.

They also alway immediately recognize his disguises??? That was hilarious. These three are one the same wavelenght and I'm all for it.

Oh speaking of disguises, I am VERY surprised nobody even mentioned Okita being the third same face triplet. Would've probably taken away from the KaiShin cousins reveal, I guess?

Minor mention: idgaf about Momiji and I never will. Useless character. Why does she even exist at all. Focus on the main characters...

Okay, I cannot keep quiet about it anymore. The entire "Ginzo gets shot" scene was THE BEST THING EVER. Kaito literally reliving the trauma of losing his parental figure again, and being unable to even SHOW IT OR VISIT HIM? Him having to silently watch as Aoko (MY GIRL IS ON THE BIG SCREEN I ALMOST CHEERED) is going through this all alone??? She probably was still in Ekoda. Did she get a phone call and was flown in to Hokkaido? WHERE THE FUCK IS MIDORIKO IN THIS?!?!?! GOD. This scene. I want 500 character studies of this scene on my desk by tomorrow morning.

That being said, with the Toichi reveal at the end, NOT ONLY did Kaito hide his emotions as he visited his mortally injured father figure in the hospital, his actual father was RIGHT THERE??? TOICHIIII YOU RAT BASTARD I WILL KILL YOU!

Why even WAS Toichi there. Legit. Ugh, I wanna do this in chronological order.

Anyways, AOKO SCREENTIME MY BELOVEEEEED

I feel like she was underused tho. Her only contribution was calling Conan Kaito's twin, and that was it. Feel like that's a running theme with DetCo focusing too much on random murder of the day and not its actual characters (something that also HIGHLY annoyed me during the Scarlet Schooltrip >_<)

Speaking of, that plotpoint was also kinda never mentioned again after the half point of the movie?

Coming towards the end of the story, the car chase with like 5 different parties through the city was hilarious. This is the stupid Shounen action I expect from DetCo movies (but not the stupidest Shounen action we'll get!)

As for the actual plot, I don't really care for that in DetCo movies, I'm more interested in the established characters doing fun and wacky shit.

Also so not a fan of the "murderer misunderstands or misreads a situation, making their murders pointless" storylines in DetCo. Tho M19 was probably the worst one in that reguard (girl what!)

Okay, so the Kendo guy. His mother died to a bombstrike, so he wants to blow up a mountain with lots of civillians on it. Because he's anti war. Girl what.

And now to the peak of Stupid Shounen Battles: swordfight atop a flying airplane, one of the combattants wears no shoes.

Absolutely LOVED Kaito catching Heiji midair. He does it with Conan, he did it with Heiji. Hakuba, you're next.

Sure, Iori just randomly DROPPED A FLASHBANG right in front of Heiji and Kazuha. Tho shout out to my girl Kazuha who was quick and smart enough to cover Heiji's ears as she "Get down Mr President"ed him.

At this point, shoutout to Ran. She gives it her all to make this Ship a thing. Loved her "casually but ominously deduce Heiji's true intentions" thing she did. Go be a love detective, honey!

Okay, the after credit scene. VERY NATURAL REVEAL you guys did there. Just casually have Yusaku suddenly say "yes, my wife whom I have been married to for at least 18 years, I have a twin brother i haven't seen in 2 decades." Wow.

HE REGULARLY TEXTS TOICHI??? TOICHI WHO FAKED HIS DEATH. THEY TEXT! THEY! TEXT!

YOUR SON BELIEVES YOU DEAD AND WANTS TO AVENGE YOU YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE

WHY WERE YOU THERE! WHY WERE YOU IN DIGUISE THIS ENTIRE TIME!

I HATE TOICHI EVEN MORE NOW WTF

Conan kill your uncle with a soccer ball please.

[omennatural]

What we know + a little speculation - eccles cakes, Gabriel, and Crowley's anger

Okay so with the past two teasers, a lot is put into context. I've finally sat down to put it all down for anyone that would like it, and a little spec on what could be related to the scenes we have, I'll be going in chronological order. I'm listening to Crowley's playlist as I write this so I'm going a little insane.

Okay first off we got a new teaser here, where we see their little coffee date happening, but the interesting thing to note here is that Crowley comes into this scene already pissed. Aziraphale is taking Nina's suggestion, eccles cakes, in hopes to calm Crowley.

So then Nina, darling Nina, asks about the NAKED MAN IN AZIRAPHALE'S SHOP and Crowley's very interested in this. Crowley doesn't know about Gabriel at this point, Aziraphale (probably) is taking this time to figure out how to tell Crowley Gabe's crashing at the bookshop, that he's even here on Earth at all. Nina's forced his hand, he's got to explain himself, I mean did you see the guilt in his face?

So it's safe to assume Aziraphale needs to show him, an explanation is a matter of great importance, they take those place of cakes to go (I imagine Aziraphale very sincerely promised to bring the plate back, washed and in perfect condition post haste) and we get, well, you know, the best discovery of my life. Original eccles post here.

So we all know what happens next.

SOME SPECULATION NOW

Okay now that that's established, I think the newest little teaser here, aside from sending me into a tailspin, comes pretty soon if not immediately after Crowley finds out about Gabriel. It makes sense, does it not? Gabriel introduces his presence, Crowley says, "A word, Angel. In private," or something of the like and they go upstairs and Crowley says he's gotta get the fuck out. It all fits.

Now my favorite little bit of spec about this whole thing is the scene where Crowley has his lighting outburst. He's pissed, to a degree we've never seen before. Angry enough to fucking smoke and summon lightning. Armageddon didn't even piss him off that bad. I think what could bring him to this level is someone messing with that fragile peace he's they've carved out for themselves, possibly. That makes a lot of sense if this outburst is after the discussion where Crowley says Gabriel's gotta go. Maybe they did have a little spat, didn't resolve it immediately, Crowley left and is so pissed that, well.

Boom.

The other option for this fitting into this bit with the cakes and Gabriel is if this happens before the coffee shop date. If that's the case, it explains why he's so damn angry. Maybe something with Hell, his car (he is living out of it), I don't know, but if this is the case then he has the outburst, maybe Aziraphale notices, comes out in a rush and takes Crowley into the shop to calm down? Does Crowley try to suggest they go into the bookshop but Aziraphale says no, takes him to the coffee shop? But oh, Nina forces the Gabriel reveal.

I really go back and forth on before or after, the scene looks right for the other ones as far as it could be the same day, continuity and all that. I could be totally wrong, this could come later, but I don't think so. But who knows.

Wait and see I guess.

[malk1ns]

"Sidgeno taking in a rookie" prompter here - that was delightful, thank you soooooo much!!!!! :D :D if you would like to write anything more in that mini-verse, may I request a) how does Mack handle it when Sid goes into heat? does they politely kick him out of the house for a few days? or does he have to listen to them bone all day? or b) Sid teasing Geno about how the baby obviously has a massive crush on him or c) maybe Mack does walk in on them at some point? all I'm saying is it baffles me how little fandom makes of the potential hilarity/awkwardness of "oh no we can't move till the knot goes down". But no pressure as you've already given us such a gift!!!

thank YOU for an incredible prompt!!! i feel like maybe we could put these in some form of chronological order....

c) mack walks in on them

Sid and Geno are usually pretty discreet. It's not their fault that Mack's going through dynamics puberty, after all—the dynamics counselor with the team said he'd have elevated sensitivity to scents and pheromones for at least a year, but it will eventually settle. Mack can't blame Sid and Geno for not realizing just how sensitive he is—they keep it to their bedroom, and Sid's got pheromone neutralizers plugged into an outlet in every room. Mack's learning to deal with it, doing his best to get to his room and shut the door when Sid starts looking at Geno like that.

Sometimes, though, they're not careful.

As soon as Mack walks into the house, he groans—it reeks, Sid's little air fresheners doing absolutely nothing to dispel the cloud of horny alpha and seductive omega permeating the entire entryway. He'd been at the mall with Brayden, poking around for Christmas presents for his parents—he was gone for ages, haven't they done anything else this whole afternoon?

Sighing, he hangs his coat on the rack and takes off his shoes, remembering just in time to not just kick them off into the wall—one time catching Sid cleaning off the scuff marks was more than enough guilt for a lifetime. He thinks vaguely about getting a snack, but figures that distracting himself with some television until they're done is the better choice. He's felt even more attuned to Sid and Geno's scents recently, and there's an itch under his skin that he's trying not to worry about too much.

The living room isn't empty.

"Oh god," Mack yelps, freezing in the doorway. "Oh no."

"Fuck," Sid gasps, grabbing at Geno's shoulders to stop himself from tipping back onto the floor.

One of the couches in the living room, the one Geno always claims during movie night and coaxes Sid into cuddling with him on, is angled so that it's half-facing the door into the room. Mack has an unimpeded, perfect view of the way Geno's slouched against the back cushions, arms akimbo, staring up at Sid with heavy-lidded eyes as Sid rides him.

"Oh my god," Sid says frantically, leaning forward and grabbing for a blanket. He and Geno both hiss in discomfort, and Mack cant help it, he looks down at where Geno's dick is—fuck, he's knotted Sid already, and Mack can see where it's stretching Sid wide.

He snaps his eyes away, but Geno catches him looking, and Mack just knows what he must smell like right now, knows there's no way Geno misses his reaction.

Sid's muttering frantically to himself as he drapes the blanket around his naked body, as if that's going to help at all. "Mack, I'm so sorry, just—" he starts.

Mack flees. It's the only sane decision.

Maybe if he opens every window in his bedroom and sticks his head under ice-cold water in the shower, he can shock this boner away and hopefully purge the entire incident from his mind.

b) sid teases geno about mack's crush

"Oh god," Sid groans, tucking his face into Geno's neck. They'd been so careful until today.

It's been an adjustment, having Mack in the house. Of course it was the best choice—the only choice, really—to have their draft prize who also happened to be an omega live somewhere he'd be taken care of properly, with someone who understood—that didn't make it any easier to get used to.

There had been a lot of close calls at first, when Sid was halfway to sliding to his knees in the kitchen when Geno looked at him a certain way before realizing that Mack was just one room away setting the table, or Geno was about to push Sid's thighs apart on the couch when Mack shuffled in with a bowl of popcorn. They'd gotten used to it, though, making sure to get up to their bedroom before starting anything—Sid even set up a bunch of scent-neutralizers, he remembers what it was like at that age.

All that hard work, totally undone because Sid's a week and a half out from his heat and starting to get horny at the drop of a hat, and Geno got too worked up to remember to chivvy them up the stairs.

Mack looked mortified. Poor kid. And of course Sid's been knotted in Geno's lap for the last half-hour, with no signs of it going down any time soon.

Sid can feel Geno chuckle under him, and he can't help but relax, letting his body go heavy against Geno's. Geno slips his hands under the blanket and rubs them soothingly over Sid's back. "He ok," Geno rumbles, pressing a kiss to Sid's forehead. "He's adult, not like he doesn't know. He's have a computer, internet." One hand slides down Sid's back to tease at his hole, where Geno's knot is stretching him, and Sid shivers.

"He's barely an adult, he's practically a baby," he mumbles into Geno's skin, trying to keep focused on the conversation instead of melting at Geno's touch like his instincts want him to. "And even if he's watching porn, that's not the same as walking in on us. I'd be traumatized if I ever saw Mario like this."

Geno laughs outright at that. "No, you see Mario do this, you run up to room and get off," he teases.

He's not wrong. Sid bites down on his neck a little anyway. "Who's to say Mack's not doing the same?" he asks, arching his back a little and pressing against Geno's finger. He should probably go get his levels checked tomorrow, his heat might be early this month. "He's got the world's biggest crush on you, and now he's seen you in action. Probably made his day."

"Sid!" Geno sounds shocked, and Sid grins. Geno talks a big game, but he's a prude at heart, and Sid loves scandalizing him a little bit. "You don't say this, he's kid, like, he's not think—"

"Oh, he absolutely does," Sid says. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed. He's no good at suppressing how he's feeling, and he's got it bad for you. Not that I can blame him."

"Oh, you like too?" Geno says, sounding smug. Sid wants to keep talking, try to figure out with Geno how they should address this with Mack, but Geno's sliding his finger into him, and the pressure is sparking stars in his vision, and they can talk about it later.

a) how does mack handle sid going into heat?

Mack avoids Sid and Geno as much as he can for the next few days.

'As much as he can' isn't all that much, considering they live together and carpool to work most days, and Mack's mom would yell at him if he took the meals Sid made and ate in his bedroom. So he's still around them a ton, but he keeps quiet when possible, and after Sid tries to coax him into conversation the first day, they let him be.

The problem is, the itchiness under Mack's skin hasn't gone away. If anything, it's gotten worse, and Owen's been acting weird around him too, lurking near him in the locker room and looming behind him on the ice when the guys start roughhousing with him.

Mack's heat isn't due until the All-Star break. Rookies always have their heats suppressed until they have a decent amount of time off, they can do it safely now, and it's easier—he has a few months to get used to playing in the show full-time without having to add in a heat on top of it, and he's got ten full days to take advantage of the facilities and recover when he's done before he's back to game play.

But Mack had two heats before the Penguins medical team got him on his shots. He knows what it feels like when he's getting close. It feels like this.

Watching Geno fuck Sid on the couch only made it worse.

Geno's been watching him too. Mack can feel the weight of his attention, the way he's keeping watch in the room. It keeps Mack up at night, intrusive thoughts about what he'd do if he were a little less nervous and Geno was a little more single.

He's moping in his bedroom after dinner five days after The Incident when someone knocks on his door.

Mack considers ignoring it, pretending he had his headphones in, but the manners his mom drilled into his skull won't let him, so he reluctantly gets off his bed and slumps to the door, cracking it open and hoping Sid will accept a brush-off if he smiles big enough.

It's not Sid. Geno pushes his way into Mack's room, barely glancing around before sitting at Mack's desk and staring at him pointedly until Mack sits back down on his bed.

"Um," Mack says, darting a glance at his nightstand and breathing a quiet sigh of relief when the drawer is shut. "What's up?"

Geno purses his lips. "I'm not talk about...before," he says, grimacing a little. Mack watches in surprise as his face turns a dull red. "It's fine, we don't talk about. But, I need to come say to you, it's heat soon for Sid, and I think maybe for you too, after."

Mack swallows. Shit. "I'm not due until break," he says weakly. "They're giving me the—"

"Shots, yes, I know this," Geno says impatiently, waving a hand in dismissal. "Shots not perfect, like, for Sid they not work at all my rookie year. And for you, I think because you're with Sid so much, it's making like...link, maybe. I don't know, it's for doctors, but I can smell. You talk to Dharmesh?"

Mack cannot imagine addressing the stern team physician by his first name. "Not...yet," he says haltingly. "I was hoping maybe it would go away."

Geno sighs. "Podrostki," he mutters. "No, it's not work that way. Look, I think for Sid's heat you're go stay with Jake, maybe, if it's okay. Not good for you, to be here when he's...I think maybe it's worse for you."

Mack thinks back to how being in heat felt, the way he needed so much, and flushes, imagining that same want creeping up on him when he's locked away in his room, listening to Geno give Sid everything he wants down the hall. No, he can't be here for that. "Is Jake okay with that?" is what he says, ducking his head so he doesn't have to meet Geno's too-knowing gaze. What they're dancing around is that Geno knows how Mack feels, maybe has known the whole time, and that it's not just Sid's heat that's accelerating Mack's own.

Mack wonders if it's too late to ask to be sent back to juniors.

"Jake offers," Geno says. "He say, maybe it's good for you to be with betas for a while, especially then—it's hard for the guys, even the ones who know Sid for years, and you're new."

Mack takes a breath. Being around someone who isn't involved in the drama surrounding dynamics sounds like a breath of fresh air, even if Mack's going to be going through all this for himself soon. Maybe a break is exactly what he needs.

"Yeah, okay," he says. "If they're alright with it, that's probably a good idea. I'll go whenever you guys think I need to."

Geno nods and gets to his feet. "It's maybe another few days," he says, pausing before he leaves and clapping a hand on Mack's shoulder. "You good kid. It gets easier, Sid says."

The next morning, Sid's practically in Geno's lap at breakfast, and when Mack walks into the kitchen Sid growls at him, territory-marking in a way that Mack's only read about. Geno looks half-drunk on the flood of pheromones, pulling Sid in close and licking over his bond bite.

Mack runs up to his room and shoves as many clothes as he can manage into his travel bag, hoping that the Guentzels are ready for company sooner than anticipated.

[blind-alchemists]

sorry, Zagreus, I've had your sister for five hours and I already like her more than you.

anyway! I did treat myself and bought the game early and. it's just very good!

in somewhat chronological order, my thoughts after yesterday's session

the music! the music is even more amazing than in the first game and if I'm done, I need to listen to the whole OST on loop

the art!! also even better than in the first game!!

Melinoë is a great protagonist

it's incredibly funny the first god we encounter is Apollo, because Apollo is the guy people modded into the first game years ago

... boy, I wonder what the speedrunning meta will look like for this game (I have very obscure knowledge about Hades I speedrunning meta)

I love the little backgrounds that pop out with the art

oh, right, I jumped into the Hades I EA late, so I never saw the place holder graphics in-game before

the environments!! beautiful.

I shouldn't have played the first game last week. It's fucking with me. where's my second dash??? Why do we start with 30 HP??? where are my death defiances??? weapon mechanics???

of course there's a fishing mechanic again.

I like Hecate's design.

saluting??? what's the lore behind that?

OH. this tone of the story isn't ... quite what I expected. A lot more serious. a lot more severe.

Melinoë doesn't remember her family??? Hello??? what the fuck???

and she keeps talking about her task with such a dutiful determination ... no, I'm not crying. But. That's such an interesting conflict.

NEMESIS!! She's holding her sword aspect!! her design!! her resentment!! her vengeance!! her rivalry with Mel. how Mel calls her Nem. please. tell me she's a romance option. PLEASE.

oh, hi odysseus.

hey, there's hypnos! ... why's he sleeping??? (funny thing is, I got the Charon dialogue that implies he's more useful this way lol)

I cannot. Take. Skelly serious. It's worse because Mel does.

I like Moros' design. The long hair going over the horns? Yeah, that's good.

Mel gets an AXE??? a heavy, double-bladed axe??? (I love women wielding heavy weapons, and as long as the rail doesn't make a return, I'm good with anything after enough time)

I like the new art sprites for reoccurring characters!

ahhh, the good old "we don't trust Olympus so we're not telling them everything" line. understandable, but I figure that's going to blow up sooner or later.

I love Mel's bond with Artemis and Selene and the implication that both helped raise her.

... and I like the predominantly female cast so far

Nemesis can show up in Erebus???

BABY MELINOË omg

why does every chthonic goddess / titaness sound like they have a thing for Persephone. Nyx already had a few lines like that in the first game. Why does Hecate also have these kinds of lines.

the Hecate fight frustrates me to no end, because I'm very used to more dashes, more health, and more death defiances, and very different weapons :( (I have bet her twice in total so far)

unrelated, but I didn't know I needed a sheep in the Hades art style but it's so damn cute and I want a large art print of it

Archane!! I love how her silks change Mel's avatar

Oceanus is beautiful

... except for the traps. Really not digging the traps. or the maps.

CHAOS??? why are you holding your old form's head??? and why is there an embryo coming out of it??? why do you have wings??? why do you wear a suit??? the new design unfortunately checks all the boxes but upon reflection that is because it fits into that very niche character design trope I've seen in manwha recently and I couldn't put a name on it if I tried

on that note, I also adore Aphrodite's new design!!

not quite sure what I think of the gathering / farming mechanic yet

I do like the incantations, magic, hexes, and arcana though!

HERMES! I also adore his design.

wait, what? Mel's going to Olympus? You're telling me one part of the game is descending into the House of Hades and the other is climbing to Mount Olympus?? (that's my speculation, at least.)

god, I hope the cast of the first game is alright/alive. :(

I hope we also get to see Athena, Ares, and Dionysus at some point :(

on that note, I can't wait for Mel to meet her brother and realize he's the opposite of her lol. I love siblings and mirrors.

[queenofbaws]

hi queenie i find myself humbly at your doorstep again (if there was a bowing emoji i would put it here) so question! do you outline your stories? and if so, how? another writer i admire was nice enough to lay out a "tutorial" of sorts but i have so much trouble with the small stuff. like i have so many Big Moments planned and tiny tiny moments planned but the medium moments? do you have any idea on how to plan the medium moments???? i'm going crazy! 😩

(as always, your answer is appreciated and cherished)

why hellooooooo quill!!! what a treat to find you on my doorstep! please know it is i who is bowing and scraping - it's always a delight to be visited by THE hawke/varric queen! ;)c

extremely long story short: i do outline my stories! i live in constant awe of people who can write by the seat of their pants. alas, like the humble ant, i am always digging out pathways to follow later...usually the pathways are intricate. maze-like. bottomless. 😫 hehehe but i know E X A C T L Y what you mean, finding ways to connect everything can be...so much, especially when all you really want to do is get to those big, juicy moments, AHHH!

i'll throw my general process under the cut, and i hope it'll help in some way/shape/form!!! 💖

OH FUCK, I THINK I HAVE A FIC IDEA an outlining process by theicyqueen

hehehe okay, so as always, this is my general process, and what works for me might not work for others, so by all means take EVERY LAST THING I SAY with a boulder-sized grain of salt ;P

for the most part, my outlining process for oneshots and multichaps is roughly the same: (1) i get a central idea i want to expand on, (2) i write that fucker down in as much detail as possible, (3) i sit squinting at it like that kate beaton comic with edgar allan poe for a week or two waiting for a divine vision to hit, (4) profit. in all seriousness, though, this is typically my order of operations:

get the main idea down: this could be an overarching idea for a story (e.g., hawke and varric attend a fancy party and a murder mystery occurs) OR a big, juicy influential scene (e.g., incensed at hubert being an asshole, varric hurls a pillow at him and uncovers a secret door hidden in the wall!)

think about where you want to go from there: do you want this to be a oneshot? a multichap? how much MORE do you want to add to that main idea, essentially, or how far do you think you can stretch it?

get the biggest scenes down first: you know the ones. the ones you REALLY want to get to. write them down NOW. just trust me on this. WRITE THEM DOWN RIGHT NOW I STG!!!

if there are little scenes in your head, get those down too: don't worry about getting them down IN ORDER, just get them down! you think you'll remember them later: you will not. i love you. you will not remember them later. you're so smart. you will not. remember. them later. this is the writer's curse.

put those scenes into some sort of skeleton: here's where you start thinking about the order you want scenes in. where do you want those big, juicy things? where will your smaller moments fit in between them? what KEY POINTS need to occur before juicy scene b so it makes sense to the reader? what KEY POINTS will have to come AFTER juicy scene b to make sense? if you don't quite know where to put something yet, keep it separated, either in a separate doc, or just off to the side; don't touch it again until you have an idea of where it should go chronologically

look at what you have so far: sometimes, if you're lucky, the way to connect these pieces together will become apparent once you see what you already have laid out in one place. life is beautiful when this happens, but it doesn't always, so don't beat yourself up if you just CAN'T figure out how to get from point a to point h - let it sit. let it simmer. let it STEW. maybe eat some stew. it can't hurt.

consider the evil bits >:)c : what this means FOR ME is usually foreshadowing. is there some big twist you want to drop breadcrumbs for throughout the rest of the story? think about what that might look like! if you decide, for example, that you want to reveal a character was evil the whole time by the end of the story, think about what little nugget of foreshadowing you could insert sneakily into the beginning - a lot of the time tiny, almost insignificant details like this can help trigger bigger scenes in your head, "connecty" scenes, if you will. other examples of "evil bits," might be winks to canon material, easter eggs referring to other works of yours (or a friend's!), wordbuilding info that doesn't fit anywhere else, or not-so-subtle inclusions of your own headcanons that you have no earthly reason to include other than to make yourself smile (for example, in the project i'm working on right now, i'm making it a point to have travis hackett smell a girl's hair against her will! this is not a necessary detail by any means, but god help me my characterization of that freak will be known 🙃). it sounds fake, but seriously, sometimes the tiniest details can help you connect things later. the human brain is inscrutable.

determine whether you NEED to fill every gap: if you can't think of a way connect two scenes no matter how hard you try, it's ENTIRELY possible that they just don't need to be connected. at all. the reader doesn't always need to see characters move from one classroom to another, and we don't always need to see their skincare routine before they go to bed. those might be important scenes to include for what you're writing, don't get me wrong, but if they're not??? just...just skip 'em. DON'T connect the scene before and the scene after. if you're writing a oneshot, ask yourself: could i put a line break in here and just keep going? and if you're writing a multichap, the question is similar: can i just end the chapter here and pick up with the next one? sometimes you just don't NEED a medium-sized scene at all. just skip it!!!!!

talk to a friend who has no idea what any of this means: i'm. i'm so serious. if you're writing fandom stuff, please ask a friend with little to no knowledge of that fandom if you can talk at them about your story for a minute. if you're writing something original, please ask literally any friend at all if you can talk at them about your story for a minute. you will be. shocked. the words that come out of your mouth once you start doing this. shocked. sometimes there's stuff up in your brain you didn't even know was up there. i can't recommend it highly enough asldkjflakdjf

when in doubt, consider a humble "blanket paragraph:" i feel like...i feel like a lot of us...who got into creative writing...and who took creative writing classes...came to hate the simple blanket statement. but we shouldn't. we should love it. sometimes you don't need a scene at all - sometimes all you need is, "and then they ate dinner and watched some movies before bed." that's it. that can be your link. it can. i promise. i promise.

i really, truly hope that helps you in some way! or, if nothing else, kickstarts something in your own way of planning 💜

what a hobby we chose, huh? what a hobby. :P

[bi-bard]

Harry Styles Songs That Would Describe a Relationship with Dick Grayson - Dick Grayson Imagine [Titans]

Title: Harry Styles Songs That Would Describe a Relationship with Dick Grayson

Pairing: Dick Grayson X Reader

Word Count: 2,180 words

Warning(s): argument, mention of violence

Summary: Three songs by Harry Styles that would describe a relationship with Dick Grayson [HBO's Titans].

Author's Note: I just went back and listened to "Harry's House" again, so... here's this.

**Not intentionally written in chronological order**

-------------------

Sweet Creature

And ohhhh, we started Two hearts in one home It's hard when we argue We're both stubborn, I know

I was leaning against the counter as Dick spoke with Dawn and Hank on the phone. I was biting at my nail. The two of them had been attacked by Dr. Light, someone that we had met back when the original Titans occupied the tower.

That with the sudden appearance of Slade Wilson's daughter... it all felt too familiar.

"Dawn and Hank are on their way here," Dick explained as he walked over. He leaned against the counter across from me. "I'm gonna call Donna too."

"She's not gonna want to come back," I muttered.

"I know," he replied.

I took a deep breath. "I can't fucking believe that I agreed to this idea."

"What," he asked.

"I... I was so scared about coming back here," I explained. "This place... the Titans didn't exactly separate on good terms, Dick. I was scared of dragging these kids into this."

"That's why we're training them as intensely as we are. When something happens, they'll be ready-"

"We don't get the luxury of knowing that we have enough time for that!"

I saw Dick's jaw clench.

"We took a huge risk coming back here. We knew that it would draw attention," I continued. "And now... Now Dr. Light is back and... We both know that it's a matter of time before Slade figures out where the fuck his kid is. It just..."

"What?"

"It feels like we're setting history up to repeat itself," I shrugged. "I can't deal with another loss, Dick. I can't."

He closed his eyes and tilted his head for a moment. "Do you think this was a mistake?"

"I... I don't know. I don't want it to be... I just think that there are still a lot of ghosts here."

He nodded. He paused for a moment before speaking up again, "I still think about him too."

"So you understand my reluctance to drag Donna back."

"Yes, but this... this is bigger than all of that. I can't risk the potential harm."

"Don't pull the 'good of many' argument with me, I've watched you turn your back on that logic."

"For you."

"For someone you love," I hoped that he could understand the parallel that I was making.

He nodded. "You're right."

I crossed my arms over my chest, looking away from him.

"I still want Donna here," he explained. "Fighting with us or not, she'll be safer with us than on her own."

"You sure about that?"

"No... I just hope it's true."

"Okay," I muttered.

I still wasn't looking at him.

I don't know why. I don't know if it was my stubbornness or my nervousness... I just couldn't get myself to pull my eyes from the floor.

I closed my eyes as he kissed the side of my head. I reached up and placed my hand on his forearm as a heavy sigh escaped me.

He could always do that. Pull me back from my panic and worry. Allow me to see everything through a steady lens. It was something that had seemingly been an instinct for him. Through any argument, any disagreement, we were able to find each other and get past it.

It was something that I hoped I could do for him.

It was one of my favorite things about being with him.

"We're going to get through this," he muttered, pretty much speaking against my head. "We did it once, we can do it again. I promise."

I nodded. "Okay."

He moved so he could look me in the eye. "I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered. He leaned forward and pecked my lips.

And as he did, I begged whatever entity in charge of the world to just let this all work out for the best.

Adore You

Oh honey I'd walk through fire for you Just let me adore you Like it's the only thing I'll ever do

In the moment, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion.

After the fact, it felt like it all happened within half a second.

But no matter what lens I looked at the situation through, I was still angry.

It was back when the original Titans were still working together. We had stopped a pretty big weapons deal from going through the city. It should have been a surefire way to catch and question the closest thing to the leader of the crew that we knew of.

However, while the deal had been prevented, we didn't get our hands on him.

Dick had a chance. He was maybe two steps from getting him.

And then, the guy that I had been fighting nearly got the better of me. In the brief moments that I thought would be my last, Dick ran over and stopped him. For just a second, I was thankful... until I saw that the man that we had been trying to get a hold of had escaped.

I kept my mouth shut until we got back to the tower, hoping to maintain appearances in public.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you," I asked as we stepped off the elevator.

Dick was a few steps ahead of me. His eyebrows were furrowed as he turned to look at me. "Excuse me?"

"We had a shot," I explained. "A good shot of taking down that operation for good instead of following them from deal to deal and just causing them to go farther underground. You had your hands on him but you fucked it up. What the fuck was that?"

"You were almost killed!"

"Trolley problem, Grayson," I snapped back. "One life in exchange for a million saved!"

"(Y/n)'s right," Hank spoke up from behind me. "And I don't say that often."

Hank had a point there. We could work together, but our techniques- and morals- were a bit different from each other. We had pretty common arguments. Him admitting that I was right was a huge deal.

"Doesn't matter," Dick muttered. "We keep going. We'll get another shot. Without someone dying in the process."

"This does matter, Dick," I said. "You just threw the team objective to the wolves. Risked so many that can't even count-"

"None of them matter more than you," he cut me off. "None of them."

"Why?"

He shook his head, looking away from me. He went to walk away.

I stepped in front of him. "You don't get to ruin this mission and claim that I am so important, then not explain yourself!"

I saw the other four walk around us, going to give us some kind of space to have this conversation.

"Just stop," he mumbled after a few moments.

"No. Not until you can tell me what the hell happened tonight."

"I made a choice."

"But why?"

"(Y/n)-"

"Tell me."

"Stop it-"

"No, fucking tell me-"

"Because I love you," he finally snapped. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh.

I felt my mouth fall open in shock. I couldn't find a way to collect my thoughts enough to respond to him for a few moments.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I... I didn't want this to be how that came out. I just... I would sacrifice everything if it meant that I could keep you safe. And I always will. No matter what happens in the future... no matter what happens because of this. We can forget that this ever happened-"

"I don't want to," I said, finally finding my voice again as the shock wore off. "I don't want to forget about an ounce of this."

He didn't speak up. He just stared at me for a few moments.

I stepped forward, finding myself a few mere inches from him.

"Can I..."

"Please," I answered as his question trailed off.

Dick leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back slowly. It was strange. I had kind of accepted that the chance of me and Dick ever ending up together was gone. I had thought that my crush was almost childish. But here I was, sharing a kiss with him in the middle of the hallway.

I pulled away first, smiling at him as I did.

"I love you too," I said quietly. "By the way."

He smiled back. "I'm glad to hear it."

I stepped away, going to walk away and change out of my suit.

"(Y/n)..."

I turned back to Dick.

"I need you to know that I will always pick you," he explained. "No matter the consequence or the danger. I'll let the world burn as long as I can keep you."

"I just ask that my word means as much as your desire to protect me," I replied. "You love me enough to let the world burn. I love you enough to make sure that you recognize that you can't always do that."

He nodded. "Okay."

"Okay."

I continued walking out of the room.

Everything changed in those few moments. Everything between Dick and me, everything between me and the team, everything about my work as a hero.

And I couldn't quite tell if the butterflies in my stomach were excited nerves about all that was changing or scared nerves about just what Dick meant when he said that he'd let the world burn.

Keep Driving

Maple syrup Coffee Pancakes for two Hash brown Egg yolk I will always love you

-- Season 4, Episode 8 --

I never thought that I would experience the moment when someone stands in the middle of my living room and tells me that everything I knew was a lie.

But that was exactly what I was experiencing in that moment.

The man that I had known as Ted was telling me that his name was Dick and my name was (Y/n) and that everything that I knew about my life had been created to keep me from stopping the end of the world.

I didn't believe him.

I was in this perfect life. I was in this peaceful life where every single thing was predictable and safe. It was a dream that so many people longed for.

What Dick was telling me about was anything but.

It was scary and dangerous. Every day was the risk of another heartbreak. A risk of losing anyone and everyone that I had ever cared about.

The choice felt obvious, yet he felt so committed to getting me to willingly walk back into that life.

"Why would I do that," I asked.

Dick didn't reply.

"If... If I was angry and scared and stressed... If I was left with so much heartbreak... why would I ever go back? Why would I have ever stayed in the first place?"

"Because you got to help people," Dick finally answered. "More than you could imagine helping in any other career. And you loved the family that you had found. And... And you loved me... I hope."

I felt like my head was going to explode. There was this constant weight pushing on it. I didn't know what I wanted.

If I truly remembered what this man wanted me to, then I had to say goodbye to this peace that I had found. This little life where nothing was truly wrong. Not that I had to think about, anyway.

But if I didn't, then I would always wonder about the boy that looked at me with so much love that it felt like I was suffocating.

I didn't stop Dick when he stepped even closer to me and cupped the sides of my face. I just watched him as his eyes danced around my face.

I stunned myself when I didn't stop him from leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine. I stood still as he gently kissed me. Careful and hesitant. He was waiting for me to shove him away. I could feel it.

He leaned back, pushing his forehead against mine with his eyes still shut. He whispered to me, "Come back to me... please."

It felt like a shell cracking. Whatever had been created for me slowly crumbling away as I looked at him. I felt a grin forming on my face.

I leaned in and kissed him again, hands reaching out to pull him closer by the fabric of his shirt.

This cast only lasted a few seconds longer than the first. I smiled a little further than before.

Dick's thumbs ran along my cheekbones. "(Y/n)?"

"Hi," I muttered, reaching up to hold his hands in place. I let out a shaky chuckle.

He did the same. "Hi."

We both shared a heavy breath, any remnant of the false life fading completely.

"How do you feel?"

"Better."

"Good," Dick stepped back, taking my hand. "Come on, Rachel needs our help."

I nodded. "Do you know where she is?"

"Not quite..."

"Well then, we have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah."

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Worth it."

-------------------

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[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Your chronological doctor who watch is fascinating, and any time you watch an episide with Christopher or Tennant I am immediately transported back to the mid 2000s and my love for those doctors blooms afresh. One thing though is I can't figure out if you've seen any of these episodes before? Do you really not know who Jack Harkness is, or what happens to Rose?? If so, I am incredibly excited to watch you find out :D

Oh that's fun! It hadn't occurred to me that might not be clear!

The answer is yes and no. I've seen it all - EXCEPT for a chunk of Capaldi. His first series was just... so abusive, and so upsetting, and then there's that episode where he just forces Clara to fix everything without help or guidance while going "It's not my responsibility! I'm not human!"

At the end of that episode, Clara finally loses her shit with him, tells him to fuck a geode, and leaves. And I knew it wasn't going to be the end for her, but I decided that was going to be my jumping off point. The show had become a miserable and gross trash fire, I wasn't remotely enjoying it, so I chose to believe that was how it ended.

I started again on... either the second or third Bill and Nardole episode. Steff had kept watching, and he assured me it was much better now, and it certainly was better than the nadir it had reached, so I carried on and celebrated hard when we got Whittaker's era next as aftercare.

BUT THIS MEANS that I legit don't know how Clara actually leaves, or how Bill and Nardole join, or what Nardole... is. Very mysterious. I'm sure Steff told me at the time, but I have forgotten all details. So I'll be discovering those organically, as it were!

But the rest is stuff I know. I'm just writing it up from the point of view of what the show is like and what it tells us if we watch it in this order. In this very, very stupid order.

Although, as a side note, I have to say... Watching it this way is really fascinating for changing my views on the companions. Clara was so badly served by her eras that I didn't rate her at all at the time - she was just another Moffatt Spunky Woman. But watching this way around throws into stark relief how much she has to deal with Capaldi's shit and make him actually do anything, and it's catapulted her into the stratosphere in the companion rankings. Meanwhile Amy has plummeted through the floor for being so utterly wet and useless, which was a slow burn at the time but super obvious this way around. That's been a very fun and unexpected side effect of this project

[triflesandparsnips]

While I was busy writing one response, I realized this belonged in a whole separate post, so--

Y'all know we've got three separate illustrations of Blackbeard in the first season of OFMD, right?

You can see the tldr helpfully demonstrated in this three-panel remix comic from @asofterflag:

Figure 1. The three separate illustrations of Blackbeard seen so far, in chronological order from left to right. Also some text about sexy pirates.

Getting into the nitty-gritty: the first image is an extant depiction of Blackbeard with minimal editing (and is the one in Stede's book when he's talking to Frenchie):

Figures 2 and 3. Left: Blackbeard, as pictured by Benjamin Cole in the second edition of Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates. Or so Wikipedia tells me. (Also, lol: six guns and a sword.) Right: Blackbeard, as shown opposite "Captain Kidd" in episode 3.

For reasons that I will expand on momentarily, I should also point out the following:

The background of the original image depicts three ships.

It moves too quickly to really clock, but we can be sure that at least one of the three ships is also depicted in the image that appears in the show-- you can see the mast touching Blackbeard's left sleeve, which is identically depicted in the original.

Keep this in mind.

The second image (what Stede shows Ed when they meet) is also based off an extant depiction of Blackbeard -- particularly in terms of the leg stance, trousers, bandolier, multiple weapons, smoking beard -- but there's been some hefty editing to get closer to what our Ed looks like:

Figures 4 and 5. Left: Blackbeard, as pictured by Joseph Nicholls in 1726/1736 in A General History of the Lives and Adventures of the Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers. (Six or maybe seven guns. And a sword. And. A big stick.) Right: Blackbeard, as handed to Ed Teach in episode 4. (I count eight guns, plus a dagger, a sword, and Ed's bare right arm.)

Once again, I would like to point out the following:

The background of the original image only depicts one ship...

And the edited image, besides changing Blackbeard's appearance, has two.

So: Three. Two...

Again, keep this in mind.

But then we get to the third image. The one that Izzy rips out of a book and shoves at Ed, and that Ed then uses as a reference to fully embody his sad vampire clown image.

The third image? That fucker is completely original, and also very much our Ed.

Figure 6. Oh dang. Full Blackbeard. Fingerless gloves (hm), no guns, no knife -- just a sword and a skull.

And let me point out:

Only one ship now.

And. A lighthouse.

(This is Ed. Not the Kraken.)

But those ships, huh? Three. Two. One--

OH HEY remember how I said to keep some stuff in mind from earlier? YEAH.

So that first image of Blackbeard! The one with the matching ships in both it and the show version!

Let's go look at it more fully! In close up!

Figure 7. Oh hey look! Guess what's on fucking fire. Looks awfully familiar, where have I seen--

Figure 8. OH YEAH. IN THE PICTURE ABOVE STEDE'S BED. ONE OF ONLY TWO PIECES OF GODDAMN ART LEFT IN STEDE'S CABIN AFTER THE KRAKEN HAD IT PURGED.

YUP

JUST A SHIP

(ON FIRE)

AND A GOD DAMN LIGHTHOUSE.

[lusthurts]

6, 11, 62? Writers ask

thank youuuu :)) fanfiction writing asks

6. What's the last line you wrote?

“Fuck,” Blaine mumbles, suddenly experiencing so much humiliation all at once that he thinks he should put his pillow over his head and hold it there. “I’m gonna go.” 

“B, no, wait, we should talk—”

Blaine hangs up before he can finish. 

^^^ this is extremely vague lmao good luck figuring out what fic this is even part of (very sorry about that, had to stay true to the question!!)

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

For the most part I write in order, although sometimes the first thing I'll write for a fic will be a climactic scene from later on in the story which is what inspires me to go back and start from the beginning. I also sometimes write scenes I'm excited about that won't happen for a long time chronologically (one of the first things I wrote for one of my current long fics doesn't come until chapter 17)

62. In [insert fic], is there a deleted scene/idea you wish you would've included? Why did it get cut?

There are tons of things I have thought of that I retroactively wish I'd included in How Bright We Burn. I think if I could rewrite it, it would be an even slower burn with more angst and the enemies period of the fic prolonged a little bit. I also wish I'd included more bonding between the Warblers, specifically with some of the one liners from canon Blaine mentions, like lock ins before competitions, Pavarotti, stuff like that. I've tried really hard to include more platonic affection in the sequel, so hopefully that makes up for it. I think it just got cut originally because it seemed less important to me than the romance, but now I have a different outlook and see the platonic relations and the Warblers as very core to the romance, so idk.

oh, also, there was originally a smut scene of Sebastian giving blaine a hand job under a blanket during a warblers movie night that I cut, and I liked it for kink value but just could not get myself to keep it

and there's another one where before they've hooked up, Sebastian and Blaine make out as a dare in a game of truth or dare with the warblers, and everyone cheers them on because they all ship them...it was a cute scene, but I cut it because it ended up being that Klaine broke up right before Seblaine started hooking up, and I didn't want Blaine to cross a line that clearly before the breakup happened

[lord-squiggletits]

Hi! Hope it's not a bother to ask, but since you seem highly well-versed in IDW Megop... have you (or anyone) made a kind of Megop-focused comic timeline or a chronological rec list for what comics to read if you want to get into IDW Megop? Sorry if there's one already out there that I'm missing. I'm new to the Transformers franchise (haven't even ever watched the Bay movies) and I've chaotically been watching different things, but what I've read and seen of IDW Megop seems fascinating.

Your Pay Unto Evil was one of the first fics I got recommended for getting into the ship, actually. I read that with zero knowledge of any kind of Transformers canon and it made me cry at 4 AM after I couldn't put it down, so just... many thanks for writing and sharing all your amazing work!

No, not me nor any of my mutuals have made a timeline for IDW MegOP. If you're interested in it though, I'd definitely start with Chaos Theory + Police Action (The Transformers 2009 issues #22-23) as that's literally Peak IDW MegOP Being Gay Old Men for each other. It was also literally the first thing I read of IDW1 myself, hahaha.

And then to get more IDW MegOP, I would recommend just...reading more of the comics? Because the thing about IDW MOP is that it's not like, say, TFP where Megatron and Optimus interact frequently and get a lot of cool teamup/fanservice/etc moments together. IDW MOP is the kind of MOP where they get a few key moments together, and the rest of their chemistry just comes from...... the way they think about each other when they're apart, the way that each other's actions as leaders/people affect the trajectory of each other's lives, the respect and easy casualness they have with each other despite their position as enemies. There aren't really many "ship" moments like "oh, they have this conversation together that's super gay" except for Chaos Theory, rather it's a ship where you have to read between the lines a little and observe the way they interact with each other/talk about each other to see the chemistry they have together. And in order to understand the significance of those interactions/thoughts/reminders between each other, you have to actually read the story as a whole and understand the things that contextualize IDW Megatron and Optimus' close orbiting of each other.

As pretentious as this sounds, IDW MegOP isn't the kind of ship where you can point at a few moments in canon and go "here's proof they're gay for each other/have romantic chemistry," it's more like a bunch of reading between the lines and thinking about their histories together and coming to the conclusion that these guys are so fucking intertwined together.

And that's really one of the main appeals of IDW MegOP to me; it's that, tragically, they never really GOT chances to interact with each other as people and mostly existed as diametrically opposed military/political leaders. They have parallel character arcs that involve rising as heros, falling into villainy/moral grayness, and coming back up into some semblance of goodness. They share a lot of the same grief about the pointlessness of the war and the way they're individually, uniquely responsible for things getting as bad as they did.

Their personalities and struggles are similar enough that they're basically two sides of the same coin, where you see a few of the same core values (desire for justice/equality, passion, anger, keeping emotional distance from others) and it makes you go "IDW Megatron and Optimus are basically the same guy, just put in two completely different life situations and fucked up by what happened to them and the shitty messages they got from their mentor figures." And in the end it creates this really tragic version of MegOP where you feel like they COULD have been great together, if the trajectories of their lives and their fatal flaws hadn't conspired to separate and pit them against each other at virtually every turn.

It's not something that I could really recommend specific series or issues to you, it's just an overall vibe that IDW MegOP has. That being said, I and my mutual @quetzalpapalotl have a lot of good posts about IDW Megatron, IDW Optimus, and IDW MegOP (mostly she has the good posts, I just babble shit on my blog and post fan fiction) that could possibly intrigue you into reading specific series?

[motheatenscarf]

oOOOH MY GOD, FINALLY

I found out about Beast Tribe quests back when I was still in ARR, tried doing them, realized what a miserable slog it was gonna be, and then avoided them like the plague until I got to Shadowbringers and loved the Pixies SO MUCH that I would do literally anything just to get more of them. Started doing some others too because I liked them, Namazu (my exact brand of like, goblin muppets kind of stupid, i love them so much), Ananta, Omicrons, etc, basically anybody who didn't want me to craft and wasn't from ARR.

Maxed out like 4 or 5 that way but then I found out that there are allied beast tribe quests that give you special emotes, but you can't do those until you max out EVERY faction from a specific expansion.

And I went, oh no, I'm going to have to CRAFT.

So then I spent 2 months grinding all crafting to get to omnicrafter, and figured, well, I'm suffering and determined already, and I know I can withstand a lot of punishment NOW for a good reward later, but I might lose resolve after too long of this, may as well get these done in chronological order.

So I spent every day doing 12 missions a day for the FUCKING IXAL. I am not gonna lie, y'all... I just started skipping cutscenes halfway through. I was so burnt out. I hated them by proxy. I have no idea what happened there.

And then I had to do the others. Amalj'aa quests are alright. Would love to introduce Loonh Gah to uh, clothes, eventually. And not in the condescending way the Allied Tribe quest does. Slyph quests were cute, I like the Sylphs, they're like bargain bin pixies. Kobolds were also cute, the least awful grind imo because all their quests were like, right there, and nobody made me go tear assing off to the other side of the map on special mounts or timed mission carries where I had to click a stupid mushroom to make it in time or some bullshit. And then the Sahagin, who were my personal favorites, because it's the #1 fish dad and his army of idiot children and one of them sings Golem's fish song and also he said he'd be my dad too and I love all of my idiot fish brothers.

So after all that I did the allied quests and met uh... bargain bin catboy Zenos?

Complete with "weirdly misogynistic introductions," except he doesn't even get redeemed by going off the rails bugfuck insane. Oh well. At least now the ARR tribes have figured out intersectional solidarity so that one scene in Endwalker feels more earned.

Now I just have to do the Vath, the Moogles, and the Vanu, who are all located in 3 of the worst zones for getting around easily in the game.

I love Moogles so I really hope they'll remind me what joy feels like as I get through the rest of these. I miss the Pixies and Namazu so much...

[hekateinhell]

ok so i'm sort of a noob and have only read iwtv + tvl + qotd and i've found myself kind of at a crossroads bc i have a lethally strong obsession with armand - like, it's bad - and can't wait to finally get to read tva but feel like i shouldn't skip ttotbt and memnoch out of fear of missing out on significant chunks of story key to the overall chronology leading up to tva.. so i thought i should ask you your thoughts on whether it would be detrimental to the reading to skip those two (for now)

Hiiii, welcome to our fandom! 🖤

Okay, look...

I'm not gonna lie to you! I was around 12/13 when I got into VC and the very first book I read was TVA -- I didn't realize it was a sequential series; my thought process was "oh this looks like a cool historical fiction yay vampires let'ssss goooo" but I'm also the kind of person that looks up movie plots on Wikipedia and always flips to the end of the book before getting too invested because I don't like not knowing!

So, like... I don't know, I always hate when blogs act like fandom authorities and tell new fans: "DON'T READ XYZ BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE IT/IT RUINED MY HEADCANONS" (let people read and decide for themselves!). I'm not saying that LOL please read them all! And read some of Anne's other stuff once you're done with VC, because I think having that additional context paints a much richer picture of her canon and where she's coming from.

But I will say that if you're desperate and frothing at the mouth for Armand (which believe me, it's the story of my fucking life) then you're not going to find him in TotBT and the plot points there aren't directly relevant to his story/characterization.

However, MtD, while being absolutely wild, does have some of my favorite Armand moments of all time (in my heart that book is only the Armand moments) and the events that happen are pretty important leading up to TVA. Armand sadly isn't in it a whole lot but his parts are gold! And I mean, baby me could figure out what was going on in TVA without having read MtD, but you'll definitely be less like that meme of Julia Roberts doing math if you do just go ahead and read it.

So it's really up to you! And if you skip TotBT this time in your rush to get to Armand (🥹), I would strongly suggest reading it some point because imo it is an excellent psychoanalysis of Lestat. And I'm not just saying this because I ship them or whatever, but in order to fully appreciate Armand, I think you have to understand Lestat, and TotBT really is that book for me.

But you can always come back and do a chronological read through later, I was all over the fucking place when I started and I'm fine!

[bigmack2go]

Another snippet of my fic because something is very wrong with me and i cannot keep shit too myself

Spoiler warning for ‘thin ice’ chapter 15 and some light angst warning lol but this is also lowkey crack so I’m probably gonna change it later.

[…]

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Albert yells off the balcony. Two figures dressed in green and black start gasping, giggling and whispering in french while they run as fast as they can. They carry a huge as box with them and as they turn a corner it becomes even more apparent that its a camera.

“Fuck!” He hits the railing, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Albert hits temples. He can barely contain the anger about his own stupidity. He could have expected that! What the hell did he think would happen, going outside during a worldwide shitstorm against him?

“What happened?!” Spot comes hurrying out from inside where he just told Niamh good bye.

Albert and Race turn to.

Racer speaks first, his voice still trembling, “We— someone— I don’t— I mean I didn’t— and I— we were—but then they— I- Someone just—“ he points in the rough direction their paparazzi ran and gestures around.

Spot steps forward fast and cups Races face in his hands, “Woah, woah, woah, chronological order?”

“I was just… trynna cheer him up and then- and we kissed— I was just— I wanted to help- and then— it worked and then we kissed— just short, and then… I don’t—“ It just all happened so fucking fast…

“Fuck, someone took a fucking picture, Spot! They must have been there the entire time and heard everything and then they fucking took a fucking picture, Fuck!” Albert shouts, breaking down against the wall.

Oh shit.

Two panic attacks

One Spot

What will he do?

He runs inside to the front door, leaving them alone, “Niamh wait!”

“Did I forget something?”

“No, just hurry!”

“Can’t you guys be left a lone for twenty fucking seconds?”

“Niamh, please!” Spot pleads and she understands this is serious, “They’re both panicking and,” She has to calm HIM down too now before anything, “No fucking time, if we wait another five minutes, they won’t be able to stop anymore—“

“Spot. Shut the fuck up and listen to me. If YOU wait another five minutes, you won’t be either so you’ve got to calm down first so we can handle this together okay? Cause either it’s two for two or three for one. And I CAN NOT handle three panicking 20-year-olds alone okay?” She holds his head to her chest, “You are Important too. You have to stop putting their needs before your own or you’re gonna end up where you were a few years ago. We’ve been over this like half a minute ago, I can’t believe I’m already repeating it… one…two…one-walk with me- two… one… two… there you go. You good to go?” She says calmly.

He nods, having caught himself and they both just start sprinting.

Race is weird.

Apparently kissing is a very good way for him to slow his breathing because it forces him to stop.

And as fucked up as that may be -Spot isn’t about to deny him that.

And apparently older sister magic also works on people who aren’t your younger sibling because Albert is peacefully sleeping in her lap right now.

Spot pulls back, “That was way too fucking easy.”

“Tell me about it…” Race giggles, “Like when a panic attack is inevitable but the author is too lazy to write another one…”

“Pffth, yeah and they’re very aware so they include it by you saying that.” Spot grins.

“Mh but not aware enough, because now that they put that explanation there, it looses its effect because now the reader knows.” Race nods knowingly.

“Except what if they’re just very SELF-aware and mock themselves right now?” Spot smirks.

“Or maybe they’re just trynna say all that stuff, so much back and forth, that the reader is just absolutely confused and doesn’t know what to believe anymore…”

“Mhh, kinda like a Ronny-Paradox?”

Race nods.

“Or maybe, you two are just fucking idiots.” Niamh chimes in.

“Thats exactly how an author would end that situation…” Race whispers in Spots ear and they giggle.

“Oi, dickheads, what’re ye two talking about me?”

[…]

[therealbeachfox]

Hi, I have another ask about stuff in TCAK series!

I'm so fascinated by all the bits and pieces that you drop about Con's past and Gotham in general. We of course have all the reddit stories in part one, like all the times people thought Con was dead, but there's a whole bunch of things that are referenced but not fully explained. Off the top of my head: however Con ended up with Caleb (something about ending up trapped in a demon worshippers basement?); posing as a kidnapping victim; a bunch of things listed at the very beginning of TCAK Meets the Second Robin. How do you come up with all of those and how do you keep it all straight? And, selfishly I want to know, are we going to get backstories or will they remain mysteries?

Also this section from TCAK Meets Matches Malone which was so evocative that I am dying to know how you came up with it.

This wasn’t an uncommon experience for Gothamites.             It was rarely openly acknowledged, never actually discussed, but everyone had the experience. The way that the world would seem to unmoor itself and slip an inch or two to the side as you stood there, looking down an alleyway that you knew had never been there before, the shadows in it deeper and darker than they should be. Or listened to the intermingled thrumming warbles of pigeons and calling of crows and hearing the shapes of words behind the noise. Or looking at graffiti and seeing the hints of riddles that hadn’t been asked yet beneath the chaos. Strange shapes that’d lurk on rooftops that weren’t Bats. Voices from sewer grates, faded and green-stained copper plaques on the sides of buildings that’d never been there before and would never be there again. Looking through a gap between buildings and for an instant seeing a skyline you’d never seen before. Gotham was filled with the unexplained. It was built from mysteries.

Thank you!!

Alright, let's take this in sections!

Part I: Untold Stories

I really need to figure out a way to rewrite the opening to TCAK Meets Robin because enough people've been confused that I was obviously unclear.

Basically, everything mentioned (Chained in some demon-worshiper's basement, standing on top of Wayne Tower, getting held at lasergun-point, the ice-covered skyscraper, the reality-rending) are all future events (laid out in more or less chronological order) that will be happening down the line. All points in the future where Conrad's going to be going "How the FUCK did this become my life? ...Oh right, when I found out that Boss was Robin."

When I was half-way through Reddit Posts, I decided that yes, I was absolutely going to try and make a huge thing of this, and sat down to at least try and sketch out a plot-arc to follow. Which is where all the future events came from. And so far, I've managed to stick to it pretty well. The plot-beats have just managed to expand on me despite my best efforts. :)

Plot beat 2: Some-asshole w/ magical artifact attacks Red Hood's shit. Conrad beats down. Matches should be there, why not (Con thinks Matches = Batman?) *good place to have Con "die" onscreen

Basically, anything that shows up as a passing reference or Noodle Incident is something I have a fuller version of in my head, the details just aren't important at the time. A number of things will probably only stay references just because showing them onscreen would really harsh the vibe (the details of Bianca's Joker-Gas bombing and the aftermath, the shelter fire Conrad survived at 17) but I keep them in mind in case there ever does come a good point to include them and to guide how I portray Conrad.

Don't know if how Conrad and Caleb officially met will ever get a place to slide in, but in summery: In the wake of the shelter fire, Conrad was back to living on the streets, not doing the best with his situational awareness, and gets kidnapped by the same assholes who'd grabbed Caleb and buddies from their abandoned building squat. They figured Conrad and Caleb looked enough alike that they could be rented out as "brothers", so they got put together. Once Conrad pulled himself back together (figuring this was just a week or two at most since he'd watched a bunch of his friends burn to death, so he's not at his best), he goes all Conrad at the situation which ends with whatever building they were being kept in aflame, a bunch blood everywhere, a bunch of kids back on the street, and a fully adopted little cousin to take care of.

The "Posing as a kidnap victim" was actually a whole side-digression I'd written out, but it was almost a mini-story of its own only without a point or real resolution, just 'and here's another way my parents fucking sucked but also taught me how to be utterly terrifying', so I wound up cutting it out and just left the side reference and the dream of that persona taking over his life and kicking him out. It might come up again later, or I might sit down with it and work it into an actual Side Story, but not currently.

Part II: Creepy Gotham:

I -love- urban horror/suburban creepy shit. I blame 1990s tabletop RPGs, but I keep the vibes fed with a steady diet of "Creepy /AskReddit Compilations". That specific section you quoted, however? I'll admit, I was pretty much channeling the vibe and writing style of "Unknown Armies", an utterly -fantastic- tabletop RPG that is just one of my favorite things and I find hard to describe without descending into an hour-long ramble.

Basically, a modern world with a secret occult underground of very disturbed people. Everything happens for a reason, but fuck if you're likely to ever know what that reason is. The stuff I wrote back in the day for online forums in the Unknown Armies style merged with the Gotham spooky atmosphere, the occult horror element of DCU that's gotten more prevalent since Constantine and friends became central elements, and particular future plot-points I wanted to seed hints of so you get the urge to throttle me when you re-read that section a year from now.