#first thaw

[secriden]

Absolutely heartrending because it just hit me that before Bison's phone call, Fadel was actually began to believe that he'd been wrong to suspect Style. Because despite the evidence stacked against Style -- and remember, it was Fadel that spells out the reasons they have to be suspicious of Kant and Style -- Style is so incredibly genuine here and Fadel, in truth, wanted to believe in him.

I think it's possible that Fadel actually saw Style through the window here, but pretended not to because he had to take a moment to prepare himself. But if you see where Style is standing and the way the patio is lit up, there's no reason why Fadel shouldn't have seen him from where he was by the tables before he turns to go behind the counter.

Fadel: I was thinking of going to your place. But you were more impatient than me, huh?

This would also explain how Fadel is able to say this before Style even has the chance to make a sound. I had expected Fadel to wait and see what Style would say, to play it safe and observe; but no, Fadel immediately sets their dynamic back to the assumption of familiarity that their relationship was on before he disappeared for a week. The assumption that he could show up at Style's house unannounced and Style would welcome him.

This feels incredibly intentional. Fadel wants to see how Style is going to react to Fadel acting as if nothing strange happened. If Style was an informant, he should be confused and Fadel may catch him out in a lie.

But Style's performance is flawless:

Style: Where have you been? You didn't reply any of my texts! (punctuation added for emphasis and to mimic Style's tone)

He says this and the whine in his tone is a clear affirmation of that same assumption of familiarity. This is the tone used by someone who is secure in the knowledge that they are owed an explanation; this is the tone of someone in an established relationship who feels justifiably wronged at being left out of the loop.

And I cry a little bit more at the thought of Fadel reading those texts -- Style by turns frantic and confused and worried -- and refusing to respond. Or worse, receiving them and refusing to even read them because Fadel doesn't trust himself to tell the lies from the truth anymore.

At this point, Fadel seems to waver a little bit in his resolve to "test" Style. I think he was a little taken aback that Style didn't seem to be even a little bit weird about his abrupt disappearance for a week. His reply takes on a quality of gentle pleading and the way he's speaking is exactly like a boyfriend who knows he messed up. But because these lines are a lie, Fadel cannot meet Style's eyes as he says them. It's only when he says "I was busy, too" (not a lie) that he's finally able to squarely meet Style's gaze again.

And Style continues to be so convincingly NORMAL because all of this is real for him. This is just genuinely Style, the boyfriend, who actually wants to know where his boyfriend disappeared to without notice for a whole week. Nothing about his body language or tone has even a hint of inauthenticity because there is none. Style means every single word and meets Fadel's gaze squarely as he says them.

It genuinely looks to me like Fadel thaws significantly at this point. He suddenly looks less stiff and the way he delivers this line contains so much more inflection, it becomes cajoling. He even begins to more consistently meet Style's eyes as Fadel begins to allow himself some honesty. Fadel's logical brain knows that the circumstances surrounding Style coming into his life are riddled with inconsistencies, but he both senses and WANTS to see Style's sincerity. The shields that Fadel had up are melting in the face of Style being present and unchanged from what Fadel remembers.

Stay, Fadel all but says, let me make it up to you. Fadel offering to make food for Style (@braceletofteeth please hold me as I cry about this!!) is also significant because the last time Fadel made food for Style (the burger) is when he was softening towards Style after Style helped out at the diner during the rush crowd. Fadel is a creature of habit and all that he's learned of late are the ways Style is easy to love.

They begin to fall back into their usual, playful banter and teasing dynamic. Style leans back against the table (and the way he's all unspoken surrender and submission -- throat arched up and bare and vulnerable -- truly makes me feral), turns up the flirt and Fadel responds in kind. And yes, Fadel means his question on some level but you don't get the sense that his heart is in the interrogation. Fadel may be going through the motions, but this is just Style being himself, exactly as Fadel has come to know (and love), so nothing is pinging as wrong to Fadel.

I mean, just LOOK AT FADEL'S EYES!! His expression is so so soft and tender and wistful. He wants this. He wants so desperately to believe that this is why Style was texting him throughout the week. He wants to have Style in all the ways that include and go beyond the physical; like Style offering his affection is everything Fadel didn't think he could wish for.

It's almost cruel the way Style's touch so utterly disarms Fadel. Because, while it is part of the games they've been playing, so much of their interactions have also been grounded in genuine feelings and moments of intense vulnerability on both sides (although neither of them know this for sure!! T_T). Style's hands on Fadel's body literally removes the last stretch of distance between them and that odd unease lingered over the way Fadel spoke and held himself at the start of the scene finally disappears.

If we compare their expressions and the way they are holding themselves and, most importantly, touching each other by the end of the scene to what we see when Style first walks into the diner, it becomes apparent just how much ground Fadel has given in the span of those few minutes.

It's the way Fadel keeps holding onto Style's hand even as he's turning to leave, maintaining that point of contact until the very last second.

Because with Style in front of him -- warm and familiar and carelessly affectionate -- Fadel allows himself to slip back to the version of himself that woke up in Style's bed at the start of the episode, the version of himself that called Style's name for the first time and wanted to wake him up with the softest of touches. The version of himself that literally, physically couldn't let Style go.

Which is why, when the call comes and Fadel's heart gets broken anew, Fadel remains devastatingly empty of anger towards Style.

Because it was Fadel's own fault for choosing to believe the lie.

Because it was a decision he made to allow his heart to rule over his head.

Because Fadel understands that Style only succeeded in "fooling" him once again because Fadel let him.

So Fadel gives himself this truth, allows himself to finally take that step to bare his heart to Style, the way he promised himself he never would, but the way he so desperately wanted.

And Style kisses Fadel because he doesn't realise that this confession is not a reward, but a judgement.

For Fadel is paying penance for giving in to his own foolish heart, and in so doing renders Style's love to devastation.

[zondearts]

I guess we doing clothes now

[notkingyet2]

If Heather hadn't died at Carnivale, Tozer would've hauled Heather across King William Land until he dropped in harness himself. If he had no boat to haul him in he would've thrown him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and marched.

[salamispots]

I want more horror like the thing where you're somewhere isolated like in the arctic or an oil rig or the deep mountains or a dead planet and you're studying sciencey things or doing something mundane and you come across Something™ and it's some nasty little creature/alien/??? and body horror and chaos ensues ouuuaarghgghghgh

[sixosix]

that one anon ask got me on the grind

(im actually supposed to be doing something else rn(my plates💀💀💀) but im just so giddy rn) i was gonna make it so that thawed!mc gets up and leaves before lyney's arm could even make contact with the back of the couch😭 but i feel like he's been taking L's after L's lately so I'll let him have this (for now)

i hc thawed!mc to be kind of a nerd,,,LMAOOOOO i can just imagine her interupting a random orphan and be like; "uhm akshually ☝️🤓" and just set everything on fire.

like, shes not even book smart. she just knows random ass shit from the weird books she gets her hands on😭😭😭

thawed!mc: "did u know, a folklore in inazuma says that their sea ganodermas are transformed souls of children who died young. As a form of punishment, they must spend endless years absorbing the elements within the sand and sea using their fragile bodies, pilling them up, and forming a 'sea ganoderma'."

lyney, not listening AT ALL: "really??? omg tell me more..(heart eyes)"

sighhh coping rn w their childhood relationship before u serve us w angst and successfully rip me open and pick every bone in my body /lovingly

have a nice day six!!!! im so happy i came across your blog all those months ago<333

OH MY HGOF THEYRE SO CUTE 😭😭😭😭😭😭 THEM IN THEIR OUTFITS THEYRE SO PRECIOUS IM DROWNING FRON MY TEARS 😭😭😭😭🌊🌊 you really pitied lyney and decided to give him this victory BQHAHAHA THIS IS SO ADORABLE ❤️❤️❤️

the mission success made me laugh so hard like i heard the trumpets . AND UR HC IS SO CUTE AND SO REALLL it rlly makes sense as a child growing up in The House 😢😢😢she picks up a book when shes on break and not allowed to overexert herself and it ends up being something completely random. UGH my baby. our child 😭😭😭😭

ALSO WOW THAT FACT WAS ACTUALLY SO INTERESTING WHAHAHA though i doubt lyney even understood a single thing hes probably just screaming in his head

[mercuriart]

oh my sweet, gender ambiguous baby.

[junewild]

slams this down on my dashboard like hello. let’s GO lesbians

[oeuvrinarydurian]

It’s Snarky Baby Morse Saturday!

I submit to you, snark, an eye roll, youthful arrogance and utter contempt for our beloved Dorothea Frazil, as our baby walks off in high dudgeon after she asks him for a quote at the beginning of “Fugue”.

The smirk and eyeroll combo slay me.

[whenthegoldrays]

also I think it’s time for a little Elly Lore Update because I feel like I mention so many people on here and y’all need to understand who I’m taking about when you attend the virtual sleepovers 😌

[bonefall]

I think Nightcloud's Thaw (assuming you keep that title) is a great idea not only because your Nightcloud is so interesting and because she as a character deserves more spotlight, but also because it would be interesting to see Crowfeather begin to change from her perspective. After all, you said it was a surprise he offered to help save Breezepelt at all- and what better way to show that than for us to not be inside his head when he makes the decision to offer to help?

I'm feeling more and more confident about it. I think BB!Nightcloud is absolutely the best choice of a character to observe the events of "Crowfeather's Trial," now Nightcloud's Thaw.

Nightcloud's Thaw is an okay title for now, but I want to bat around some more names.

It's meant to invoke the way her life begins to turn around, after Crowfeather's exile; beginning with that reveal, how Crowfeather's behavior reaches a breaking point in the Clan, her reputation turn-around, and finally accepting Crowfeather's help in aiding Breezepelt.

So "thaw" is one way to put it... but if I could capture something more related to the change of seasons or time, that would be good too. Nightcloud's Daybreak, Nightcloud's Horizon.

We can go through Nightcloud's process of unlearning with her.

The dread and fury at the reveal, the shock when Crowfeather actually sees a consequence, and the way that suddenly the Clan is sympathetic towards her in a way they'd never been

How this newfound empathy feels somewhat insulting to her, but, how it helps her start to realize that she DOESN'T deserve how Crow treats her.

Makes it easy to truncate most of OotS, can quickly be described as "they stayed together slightly longer, but if it wasn't dead, their relationship was quickly dying."

And really get to the meat of the story with how Crowfeather deflecting the blame of their son's Dark Forest training on her was the LAST straw. For everyone. Including Crowfeather himself.

(I think I'll actually change around the fight in the BOTTE to be Breeze attacking CROW, and Lionblaze STOPS him. Because killing his pathetic dad, in the end, wouldn't fix anything and would ruin his life forever. Really change it to stress that no one likes Crowfeather because of how he keeps treating people. If Crow wants to turn that around, he has to CHANGE.)

(Plus, something just feels nice about letting the two have a bond. Something about how they were both pulled out of the dirt at the Kitty Olympics and washed clean by Nightcloud, starting this deep, brotherly bond somehow. I'll have to revisit this.)

Nightcloud alone can link the way that Crowfeather is trying to change himself, AND the way Breezepelt is getting worse, in the way I want

She's cautious of Crowfeather, for good, obvious reasons. He hurt her, and has only ever used her good faith as leverage against her.

And she's charitable to Breezepelt, because she knows exactly what pain is behind his rash, emotional behaviors.

SO I can frame them both in the way I want through her eyes.

Plus, I need a place to put her childhood. If it's not here, I wouldn't have a good spot to put it.

I could link all the flashback segments with having Addersong pass away, since he would be VERY old at this point. It could be very bittersweet for her

She spent so much time away from her beloved mentor, who taught her so much.

She could have had so many wonderful years with him, his advice, and his songs. But now he's an elder in his last moons

All because she let her heart be hardened after the death of her family. Pain lead her astray so many times...

I'll probably rework a LOT of the stoat stuff. I know right away there's a lot of actions in CT I want to rip away from Crowfeather and hand over to Breezepelt; a lot of the loud, openly argumentative moments he has with Onestar for example. SHOW the way that Breezepelt interprets Harespring/Darkseeker's diplomatic responses as "sniveling and traitorous" to him.

Have Nightcloud be trying to bridge this gap between Breezepelt and his Clanmates with her new reputation, and it just not working.

Maybe shuffle Nightcloud's disappearance near the end of the book, around the time that the Kin appears. Show that his mother being suspected dead was a BIG reason Breezepelt made such an emotional choice to join the Kin, and bring his other allies with him.

[usertoxicyaoi]

"I'm sorry I broke the promise. I really had something important to do. Feel free to scold me, but please don't be like this. It makes me uncomfortable, First."

TWINS (2023). Episode 6.

[kvroii]

December 27th is Saphrin's birthday! Here is a collection of art of her from 2020 and 2021.

[sand-rose]

New fic posted to ao3!

Try - When America invites himself to stay with Russia and his sisters, Belarus is less than pleased. The idiot is always annoying her, saying dumb things and flirting with her when he knows her heart's set on Big Brother. But after he surprises her with a kiss and she finds herself kissing back, she starts to think that maybe… Maybe she might like to try loving someone else. Even if that someone else IS an annoying American idiot…

(AmeBela, Hetalia, rated Explicit, no archive warnings apply, smut, one shot, angst & feels, drama & romance, complicated relationships, coming to terms with emotions)

This is another fic that has been on my laptop for ages. My other AmeBela fic, Thawed, reached 100 hits though! So to celebrate I'm publishing this one ahead of some of the other fics I still need to publish. Enjoy!

[0fps]

Thawing Fates from Thawing Fates AmaLee, PelleK, jixwang, Qiandan Zhang

[doefrost]

just added pepper where a recipe called for sugar wish me luck guys

[sixosix]

hi everyone!! its a bit late but THAWED is getting so much attention recently and it’s really so so cool for me to see and hear how interested people are in literally what is a side hobby for me

it is a little intimidating because i went into it genuinely believing like three people would care about it (and those three would’ve been close friends already) and now i get asks from people asking whens the next chapter (!!!) but i think its a good kind of intimidating? it showed me that people care about this so i should keep up the good work

we still have 11 chapters to go through and it’ll be a long one—so i hope u stick through until the end !!! dont let lyney flop so easily now !!!! until then, you’d have to be patient with me w the updates so i can make it the best it can be for you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

sorry to get so cheesy around this hour lol its 10:30 and im feelinf a little emotional 😭😭😭😭😭