#i can't keep looking at this because it's already been chopped and changed so much

[theroundbartable]

Arthur: why did you never tell me?

Merlin: you would have chopped my head off

Arthur: I don't know what I would have done.

Merlin: And I didn't want to put you in that position

Arthur: THAT'S what worried you?

I know, we interpret this scene as 'Merlin didn't want to have Arthur have to decide between his father and Merlin' and that's all good...

And while I love this and have used it myself, something always bothered me about it.

I feel like Arthur's response: "that's what worried you?" Suggests that it's far simpler than that.

It's no glorified thing like,' I didn't want you to have to make that choice.' Merlin DOES want magic to be free. He WANTS Arthur to decide against his father. Merlin has adviced him to go against Uther's teachings many times. Why would the "fight for the weak. Make commonors knights. Marry who you love" not extend to "free the druids. Except magic". Merlin has been trying to make Arthur see exactly that through Dragoon, later the Dolma.

He KEEPS putting Arthur in that position!!!

Arthur: "That's what worried you? "'That I'd have to choose between my father and you? That I'd choose between the man who threatened your life, and you?You're worried that I could potentially choose against you? '

Merlin's concern in this interpretation would be more than justified. Then Arthur's response "that's what worried you" doesn't make sense.

"You worried that I'd turn against a dead man whom I've already disappointed with all the decisions and changes I've made in his kingdom? You were worried I'd have to actually make a choice when my father already judged me, while you never would? "

Arthur is already in that position! Merlin can't put him there more than he already has. So, Merlin's "i didn't want to put you in that position." doesn't make sense.

What Merlin doesn't want is Arthur to have to look at his best friend and doubt him as he's doubted everyone else. He doesn't want Arthur to have to consider if the lie is worth killing his friend for. Because he doesn't want Arthur to kill the part of himself that was able to just let go around Merlin. That was able to trust him.

Arthur never had an equal before Merlin. And Merlin, suddenly being a sorcerer, means Arthur can't be that anymore. He has to judge him, has to be king and has to raise a hand over the one person he never had to doubt.

I feel like it's more like: "I didn't want to put you in that position." I didn't want you to have to judge your friend.' or better yet:

" I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

And that's so much simpler, so much less monumental. It's just Merlin being considerate of Arthur's feelings. It's so selfless and makes so little sense, it's such a soft reason that Arthur can't fathom it. "THAT'S what worried you?"

Yes, exactly, and I agree. What the fuck, Merlin?

[threehardcandy]

Cinnamon roll

Had a lot cinnamon roll talking on my twt today, wrote a Little short Drarry story (maybe more like an idea with drafts?) with cinnamon roll .

English is not my first Language.

Good cook Draco and Auror Harry. 

_____________________________________

Draco has excellent cooking skills, but due to his identity as a Death Eater, he can't come to daily work, so he secretly develops new recipe for some restaurants. Harry and Draco are in love relationship for a year, Harry had Draco move to Grimmauld Place to live with him, Draco said yes.

To keep Draco safe, Harry announced his love relationship with Draco, no one dare to harass Draco after that. 

Draco has just moved to Grimmauld Place, first day after Draco settled all his belongings, he start to work. 

This night, Harry has been dealing with criminals all day, exhausted and returning home from work. His stomach is growling, Auror's work takes too much enengry. No wonder his colleagues have a big appetite, and the working meals at the Ministry of Magic are not enough.

As soon as Harry stepped out of the floo, he was stunned. The entrance hall of Grimmauld Place is filled with a sweet baking smell.

Harry walked to the dining room, Draco is busy with something on the kitchen table，a plate of cinnamon rolls sat besides him. He swallowed, Draco turned around and looked at Harry. 

He asked Harry:"It's late, have you eaten yet?"

Harry said: "I've had it in the Ministry." 

Draco watches Harry staring at the cinnamon rolls, he turned around, and took a plate and a fork, pick up a cinnamon roll on the plate, scooped up a spoonful of fresh vanilla cream and placed it next to the plate, he set plate in front of Harry, then said, "I'm trying a new flavor and made a whole batch of cinnamon rolls, they're all yours. Eat."

Harry looked at Draco, swallowed, and he began to eat.

The sweetness of apples and the aroma of cinnamon danced on Harry's tongue, and the soft bread filled his mouth.

When Harry finished washing up and went to bed, Draco had already lay down. Harry hugged Draco from behind and rubbed his shoulder with his nose.

Draco's voice was blurry: "You eat so much sweets, did you brush your teeth carefully?"

Harry nodded against Draco's shoulder, Draco patted his furry head. Harry closed his eyes with satisfaction.

In the morning, Harry woke up in the smell of butter filled the room and saw Draco had already up.

The table was filled with food, a giant pot of green juice, a row of croissant that were still hot, probably freshly baked. There were two plates of smoked beef and bacon, and fried eggs in the pan.

Harry thought about how early Draco had to get up to make these things in the morning.

Draco turned around and found Harry standing at the entrance in his pajamas, he urging："Oh, you're up. Change your clothes now, you're going to be late."

Harry changed his clothes and walked to the dining room while putting on his Auror coat.

He said to Draco:"Hey, I may not have time for breakfast..."

Then Draco stuffed a large paper bag into Harry's arms and push him to the floo. "Breakfast is in the paper bag, don't be late. Chop chop!"

When Harry sat besides the office table, Harry opened the paper bag Draco gave him. Inside was a croissant sandwich with fried egg, bacon and smoked beef, a cup of fresh latte, a cinnamon roll, all a warming spell, and a bottle of green juice, cold.

There is also a note with Draco's pretty handwriting: breakfast - croissant and coffee, kale and apple juice after lunch, cinnamon rolls for afternoon tea, just in case you're hungry. Don't eat them all at once!>:(

Harry came home from work at night, today he didn't feel so tired, perhaps because he had eaten a cinnamon roll that Draco made in the afternoon.

Harry walked to the dining room and saw Draco sitting alone at the dining table.

As soon as he saw Harry, he stand up at once also try to slow his voice for some dignity, he drawls: "Have you eaten yet?"

Harry said:"I've eaten at the Ministry." 

Draco frowned:"What did you eat?" 

"My usual, chickpea sandwich, some fries."

Draco snorted with anger:"I'm going to sue the Ministry of Magic, their food is simply abusive of employees..." He waved his wand, steak, grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, red wine, apple pie, and other foods flew out of the kitchen closet and oven, "Especially Aurora is the most important force in protecting the wizarding world, they must not be malnourished!"

"It's not like we are malnutrition..." Harry watched the red wine opened itself and poured into the glass set up on the table, his voice decreasing.

Harry has never had such a full and delicious meal before.

Late at night, Harry wrapped himself around Draco, rubbed his neck, and whispered: "No one has ever done this for me before. Thank you, Draco."

Draco gently caressed Harry's face, his silver eyes shining like moonlight. He whispered: "I will take good care of you."

Harry turned his face slightly and kissed Draco's palm, saying: "Me too."

They cuddled into sleep.

[fallinghaile2857]

When someone else brushes your hair for you and it hurts way more than when you do it yourself.

(A random DW Skit idea I had to write down because it's hilarious in my opinion)

Suzie: Hey, Quincy?

Quincy: What is it?

Suzie: Can you brush my hair? I've been trying to get into the habit recently, but I can't seem to get the brush through.

*Proceeds to show her knotted hair to Quincy*

Quincy: OH MY LOUIS, WHAT IS THAT??

Suzie: My hair, why?

Quincy: WE NEED TO FIX THAT MESS RIGHT AWAY! NO DILLY DALLYING, CHOP CHOP!

Suzie: Okay, rude much- WOAH!

A few minutes later...

TJ: I'm back and I got us some snacks from-

Suzie: AHH!!

TJ: HOLY SHIT!

Quincy: SUZIE! Hold still, I'm trying to untangle this RIFFRATS NEST that is your hair at the moment.

TJ: What did I just walk in on?

Suzie: I asked Quincy if he could- ow... help me brush my hair- OW! Now I'm not so sure if I want him to be the one to do it anymore.

Quincy: Well it's too late for you to change your mind now, because I shall not cease until every last knot and tangle has been purged!

TJ: Dude, you look like you're ripping her hair out.

Quincy: Wha- DON'T BLAME ME, HER HAIR IS LONGER AND MORE DIFFICULT TO UNRAVEL!

TJ: Doesn't mean you should yank on it full force, man.

Quincy: How else am I going to brush between the strands?

TJ: Brush between the- That is literally the same thing!

Quincy: What do you mean?

TJ: Like... why would you be worried about not brushing between the strands... when a brush already does that by default??

Quincy: I don't follow.

Suzie: OW! QUINCY!! CAN YOU STOP PULLING MY HAIR?!

Quincy: If you don't want it to hurt, then STOP MOVING!

*TJ takes a deep breath, listening to the two of them argue as he suddenly gets an idea*

TJ: You got a comb?

Quincy: There's one on the dresser, why?

TJ: Can I borrow it?

Quincy: I don't suppose why not...

TJ: Cool.

*He goes to grab a comb off the dresser before walking back towards Quincy*

TJ: You don't mind if I comb your hair, do you?

Quincy: What would possess you to wish to comb my hair?

TJ: No other reason than to help a homie out.

*Quincy considers for a moment*

Quincy: Fine, I'll allow it. But if I look into a mirror afterwards and find out you made a mess of my hair-

TJ: Cool it rich boy, nothing bad's gonna happen to your oh-so-luscious locks. Now keep your head still.

*TJ starts to comb Quincy's hair while Quincy is still brushing Suzie's with the same force as he did earlier, causing her to shout another 'OW!' in the process*

Quincy: Wow, this actually feels a lot nicer than I thought it would- OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!

*TJ puts his hands up in mock surrender*

TJ: Sorry man, there's nothing I can do. Besides... how else am I gonna brush between the strands?

[cowgurrrl]

As It Was

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Author’s note: oh I heard we wanted family fluff??

Summary: You and Joel have an announcement [1.5k]

Warnings: pregnancy talk, fluff

It's been almost four years since the last time you were on Seth Meyer's show and the last time you were pregnant. Like so pregnant, you were having contractions that you thought were Braxton-Hicks but definitely weren't. You thought, "The next time I'm here, there's no way I'll be pregnant. I want to do the day drinking segment, goddammit." Sure enough, here you are, three months into your second pregnancy. You haven't announced it formally yet, and Seth asked if it was okay to ask you about it, to which you said yes. You anticipate lots of people having lots of questions.

As you're standing backstage, waiting for your cue, Joel runs up and kisses you. His hands rest a little too low on your lower back, and you smile against him.

"Do I need to remind you we're in public?" You ask as he kisses you one, two, three more times before leaning back to look at you.

"Can't I be appreciative of my incredibly talented, beautiful, intelligent, sexy wife?" 

"I think your appreciation is how we got here in the first place." You say, running a hand over your stomach. He smiles and puts a hand over yours, beaming with pride at you. Seth is already at his desk, cracking jokes and making the audience laugh, but you manage to tune it out and share a private, quiet moment with Joel.

"How're you feelin'?" He asks, and you sigh. This pregnancy has been so different from your pregnancy with Sam. You've been sick pretty much since you found out you were pregnant. Your back hurts all the time. The pregnancy brain has been insanely bad this time around, and you can barely sleep. As you move out of your first trimester, the nausea has gotten a little bit better, and you've been able to find things that help with your back pain. Joel has been an amazing help, taking time off to be with you and making sure you're taken care of. These days, he can't help but follow you around like a lost puppy.

"Less nauseous, so I guess that's good, but I do feel a little like a beach ball." You say, and he laughs. 

"Well, I think you look stunning." He says as he kisses your jaw, and you wrap your arms around his shoulders. 

"You better. You promised to love me in sickness and in health."

"And I meant it," he says. Seth begins to talk about your latest project hitting screens, and he takes that as his cue to leave. He kisses you once more before rushing away. "Kick some ass!" He calls, and you roll your eyes playfully. Finally, your name is announced, and you walk out to the stage to thunderous applause. He hugs you and tells you how beautiful you look, making you smile. You sit next to his desk and wait for the applause to die down before turning to him. 

"You're looking different." He says, gesturing to your baby bump, and you nod.

"Yeah, I got a haircut," you say, and Seth's eyes widen as he tries to figure out if you changed your mind. "When I'm pregnant, my hair gets really thick, so I had to chop it all off." He laughs and quickly recovers.

"Well, congratulations. How far along are you?"

"Threeish months? We've got a toddler at home, so it's a little harder to keep track than it was the first time."

"Yeah, I feel like the last time you were here, you were ready to pop."

"Because I was! I was having contractions while we were talking." You say, and his jaw drops.

"Really?" He asks.

"Well, I didn't know they were contractions at the time, but I got back to the hotel, and I looked at my husband, and I was like, "Something doesn't feel right." And sure enough, we had him two days later right here in New York."

"Wow! And how old is your little guy at home now?"

"He's three. He'll be four by the time I give birth, but our daughters are twenty-six and twenty-two, so we've got a full house."

"That's a pretty big age gap."

"Yeah, they were a little worried when we told them I'm pregnant again, but they're super excited."

"That's great! Well, we wish you all the best." 

"Thank you!" You say, resting your hand over the spot where you just felt a movement. 

"Well, let's talk about your newest movie, Someday. Now, you are by far one of my wife's favorite actresses, so when she found out about this movie, she was so excited to see it, and then it broke her heart. What can you tell us about it?" He asks, and you laugh.

"Well, I'm sorry it broke her heart, but that's kinda how it felt for me too. It's just such a beautiful story about perseverance and trying to make your time on Earth mean something. When I read the script, I had just come off of maternity leave after having my son, and I just cried and cried for hours about this story because it had so many layers and complex characters, and I was so lucky to have such an amazing cast to work with. There were several days when my kids and Joel were able to visit the set and hang out with us, which just made my heart so happy. So, yeah, it was an incredible experience." 

"And you've been in this business for a while now. Have you found that your work slows down as you've become more established and you've gotten older? Because you just finished this movie, and then your show Things We Don't Talk About just got renewed for a second season." He says, and the audience claps, which makes you smile.

"Well, it depends. I took two years off after my son was born, and I'll probably do that again, but I feel like I'm still hustling. I'm not a person who sits still very well, and Joel hates it." 

"He does?"

"Well, hate is a strong word," you laugh. "But he'd definitely rather have me rest and take care of myself than work, especially when I'm pregnant, but it's worked out for me this far." 

"It certainly has. You're hosting Saturday Night Live this week!" Seth says excitedly, and you do a little dance in your chair to show your excitement.

"I am! I'm so excited. This has been a dream of mine for so long, and I think I'm one of a small group of people who have hosted while pregnant, so hopefully, they'll give me a pair of matching onesies or something." You say nonchalantly before the words catch up with you, and you clap your hand over your mouth. You swear, you can hear Joel laughing from backstage as you watch Seth stare at you.

"I'm sorry, a pair of onesies?" He asks, and you laugh.

"Oh, God," you say, nodding. "Yeah. We were trying to keep it a secret, but we had a running bet that I'd be the one to let it slip first. Anyways, yes, Joel and I are expecting twins in August." 

"What?! Oh, my God!" Seth stands from his chair, and the band plays an upbeat tune as everyone cheers for you. You laugh and stand up to show off your twin bump in all its glory. "So, there are two babies in there?"

"I mean, I can show the ultrasound pictures if you don't believe me."

"That's just crazy! Wow!"

"I know. It's crazy being the one carrying them!" 

That night, you post the video of you and Joel finding out there were two babies instead of one. Joel is smiling as he watches the screen on the wall of the sonographer's room, and you're already talking about whether it will be a girl or a boy. Both of you go silent the second you see Baby B appear on the screen and Joel's face drops. "So, it looks like there are two babies."

"Two?!" You and Joel say in unison, and Joel looks at you wide-eyed. The shock settles over the two of you as the nurse presses a button, and suddenly you hear both heartbeats. He immediately bursts into tears and kisses your hand over and over again. "Holy shit." He breathes.

"You ready for two more, Dad?" You ask from behind the camera, and he laughs.

"Yeah, 'm ready," he says softly with a big smile on his face, tears still falling from his eyes. "What bout you? Are you ready for two more, Mama?"

"Hell no!" You laugh. The video ends as he stands and hugs you tight, the camera going black as you wrap your arms around him, and if you listen really closely, you can hear a very muffled "I love you so, so much" being whispered in a familiar accent.

[howlingday]

Can you do a Killing Joke climatic fight with the Curious Cat please?

Ooh! I think I can!

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

Ruby flinched as a branch rustled beside her. Separated once more from her friends, but stronger than she was before, she hunted her prey hidden in the shadows. Crescent Rose ready in front of her, she took slow, steady, cautious steps through the thicket of limbs and leaves. All the while, her prey called to her in an echo.

"Let me ask you something," The Curious Cat purred from all around, "what does it matter if you kill me if it doesn't matter to me?" She tried to listen for movement, but the cat was too careful to be caught. She turned, thinking she saw it's tail twitching above the leaves. "The Rusted Knight has already been driven insane, and I have proven that there's no difference between you humans and the people of the Ever After. All it takes is one bad day, and you are denied what you deserve. Just one bad day."

Ruby spun around and blocked Neo Cat clone that leapt on her. Shifting Crescent Rose she made quick work of her, only to be surrounded on all sides by more. They all jumped her at once.

"You had a bad day once, too, didn't you?" Ruby drifted around a clone and severed it apart from behind. "You had a bad day, and everything changed." The clones danced around her, swiping at her with their claws as she ducked and weaved. "Dressing up in that hood doesn't hide who you are; it screams it!" Ruby blocked another attack and threw a clone into another. "Did mother not return home like she promised?" She capitalized on their disorientation and slew them both in their stupor. "Did your sister get chopped up by a lunatic?" More clones arrived and drove her to the ground, knocking her weapon away. "You keep trying to find reason in all these tragedies, keep clinging to some hope that everything will all work out like some fairy tale!" Tanking the blows to her aura, she reached out her hand and grasped her scythe, transforming herself into a whirlwind of rose petals and blades. "You make me want to puke!"

Panting, she took a moment to breathe. Nothing hurt beyond bruises. Her aura took it all, and even then, it wasn't much lost. Closing her eyes, she concentrated.

There. Through those branches. Leaves flitted down like feathers. She approached, more determined than she was before.

"So what was it that changed you?" The voice echoed, getting louder as she closed in. "Were you too expectant of the world? Did someone abandon you in your time of need? Oh, it was something like that! I'm sure!" Around her, the voiced boomed from all sides. She closed her eyes to focus, to be the huntress she wanted to be. "Because something like that, happened to me."

Ruby spun around, ready to strike!

"Sometimes it happened this way, and sometimes it happened that way."

...But was met with a twig clattering to the floor.

"I mean, aren't the best stories told from another's perspective? My point is..."

Ruby hit the tree hard as something struck her side.

"I went crazy." Dazed, Ruby tried to stand up. "And I'm smart enough to admit it!" A paw slammed her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs. "Why can't you?!" The pressure let up, only for her to be knocked to the ground by another paw. "By clinging to reality, you deny reality itself!" She tried to stand, but was assaulted by more and more batterings on the ground, like a cat playing with a kill.

"I mean, do you know how many Red Kings, how many Rusted Knights, and how many chess pieces I've had to put up with?!" They ripped a limb free, patting and hefting it. Ruby felt it's weight as it crashed into her. "You silly girl, it's all a game! Everything and everyone that anyone has ever cared about! It's madness!"

Ruby looked up. There they were. Those same eyes that looked at her with such glee and... curiosity. With panting breath, their wavy and distorted form became clearer. "Why can't you see it through my eyes?!" Claws sprang free from their bean-like homes. "WHY AREN'T YOU MAD?!"

As the bladed appendages came down, they struck hard and deep...

...cutting a rose petal in half. Following the trail, those same curious eyes met silver ones. Between each set of eyes was a red high impact sniper rifle.

The Cat reeled from the pain as they were shot, but had little time to react as a scythe blade nipped and sliced from all angles at once, pushing them on the back foot. With a single strike, The Curious Cat rolled out of the shadows and into the light.

"Because I've already heard it before." Ruby loaded a dust round from her belt. "And it was stupid the first time."

[misty-caligula]

helloooo love yj was emotionally destroyed by latest ep but needed your take on the fact that 1) no one seemed to really react to last episodes beating? like there were some snide remarks at Shauna but otherwise hardly anything. Like I was feeling some residue anger towards her and her violence and I thought there *might* be some suggestion to sacrifice her instead. And secondly 2) how did they all get on the same page about killing through cards? Again I don't need them to discuss the steps or anything but just...some protests some dealing with the darkness of the matter....

1)

Lottie has SO much power over them at this point. Last week there was an interview with Courtney Eaton where she said that even thought Lott's on the brink of death here the other jackets still speak for her, and I think they really got this across (especially the way they keep cutting to her laying there, alone, like she's somehow following along with events she's not there for, and others are saying what she'd say, especially when Van says the wilderness chose Javi).

Nat says to Coach that if Lott did die it wouldn't be such a bad thing because of how much she's messed them all up, how heavily she's gotten into their heads. And she's completely right. The reality is that when Lott told Shauna to let it out, she wasn't just giving her permission, she was giving her an ORDER and nobody in the cabin was going to go against it. Shauna's not really held responsible for her actions, because it wasn't her choice, it was Lottie's.

Finally, Lott told her to do it because she said "We NEED you." If they'd have said "We should kill YOU to save Lottie" then they'd be abandoning everything that Lott had suffered for in the first place. They'd be saying that Lottie was wrong for getting Shauna to beat her in the first place.

2)

I think that the setup was there in terms of the way that Melissa and Gen had been talking in s2e7 about eating Kristen if they found her, Misty and Kristen had talked in s2e3 about enjoying eating Jackie, that Shauna had herself said it wasn't the worst thing, that Lottie had agreed that it was a good thing that they'd done, that they've been starving constantly ever since, that Ben's brought it up multiple times, that it's had to have been just CONSTANTLY on all of their minds.

I don't think that it's a taboo that you can break without it haunting you, and without it just... remaining in the back of your mind for the rest of your life. It'd fundamentally change the way that you look at other human beings, as potential food sources not just people. And moreover, it had SAVED them. And now they're starving, again. And they're not incorrect in that Lott's immune system is collapsing, her ability to heal from such damage is practically zero without food. In very brutal terms, she needs protein to repair.

(the actual medical reality of long term malnutrition is far more complex than that, but in the logic of the show, a solid meal will absolutely help)

And when we're talking about human sacrifice I think there's two aspects of it. The first is that they're talking spiritual. The Wilderness sees them, and helps them. If they give the Wilderness a life, maybe it'll give them one.

(Lottie herself said it doesn't work like this, but she's out of commission right now, and her grip on how it works isn't strong anyway, so in her absence this is 100% a thing they can grab onto)

The other aspect is pragmatic. A physical sacrifice of meat, of nutrients IS useful. But more than that... to the cult Lottie is the MOST important of them, the one they cannot live without, period. Van said "I can't imagine being here without her." And Lottie's already said that if she dies they should eat HER. She's already opened this can of worms, already sacrificed her own body, in theory. So they're not... so much attacking each other, as they are all volunteering to take her place on the chopping block, all for her sake (AND for the sake of each other, with the shared understanding that without Lottie they'll probably all die). Publicly acknowledging they're less important than her they're willing to sacrifice themselves for the whole.

See we're used to human sacrifice being this thing where you take someone ELSE and you kill them, for the sake of getting what you want. This is something else. This is taking YOURSELF, and sacrificing YOURSELF for a thing that's more important to you than your own life. To them... they think it's honourable, an act of love, not cruelty, or selfishness.

If it hadn't been Nat who got the queen, I doubt they would've put up any amount of fight. Because Nat's the only one at this point not really on board. Like, if it'd been Mari, she'd have probably cried or something but she'd not have argued, and nobody would've stepped in on her behalf.

The cards are just... a system they already had. If they had straws they'd have used those. They were already dividing up chores with the cards, it makes sense in their little world to use cards as a fair and random system. None of them WANT to die, none of them WANT to do the killing, they just see it as... another unpleasant thing that has to happen.

Which as a sidenote makes me think about the necklace. Jackie gave it to Shauna as an act of love and protection. Shauna gave it back as an act of love and protection. She took it back from Jackie's corpse in the same way. We're so used to seeing it as an ominous thing, but I think that when she put it on Nat it was meant in the same way, as a sign of ... this isn't personal, not malicious. It's love, it's hope that on the other side you're okay.

[opinated-user]

Latest stream: Lily’s already gonna make plans for Puppet V6. Why? Because she’s disappointed in how V5 looks. (Throwing Mikaila under the bus again. I’m surprised she hasn’t blamed Mikaila for her grey hairs.)

For one, she wants V6 to have full lip sync (much like how a certain other person did for V4). Crack the whip as you want, Lilith, but I don't think the wife has the chops to do it. You keep rushing her to the point where she cut corners on basic anatomy. How is she supposed to do full lip sync if you’re not going to give her the time to do so?

For another, she’s going back to realism—as in, she wants V6 to look like her again, as close to her as possible while still engaging in brownface, and including Dollar Store Native American trinkets.

Mikaila… I think this is your sign to say, “no.”

well, considering how about everyone said that the puppet was an obvious downgrade it was only a matter of time. i'm just fascinated because it hasn't been not even a full year with this one. we all know already how the creation of the latest puppet turned out: rushed, pressured and LO actually demanding MO to forget about anatomy because that's part of the art community gaslighting her or something. unless this time she actually gives MO more than enough time to sort herself out (since she's the one with a daily job) and do it right, it'll just end up another mess that she'll keep changing until she finally caves in and commission another artist... which she probably don't want to do because any other artist would charge a lot of money for something like full lip synching. hopefully the fact that LO wants this one to be sitting at her desk (that she bought with the money she scammed from her audience, i guess) will mean that all MO has to concentrate about is the face and be a easier (unpaid) job for her. i do appreciate that at least she finally admits that the necklace she took from her grandfather was a cheap trinket and not "a family heirloom"... it doesn't make it any less weird, racist and gross that she used it as her only accessory while stripping for YT but I'll take what I can get. of course that immediately gets eliminated when she mentions wanting to include that trinket into the new puppet because i can't even imagine why, unless she just wants to keep selling her brownface fantasy regardless even if she has to use a culturally appropriated necklace for it. her white audience won't notice anyway and that's what matters in the end for her, so at least she can still appear "exotic" enough for them. on another note, it bothers me slightly that she insist that vtubing's only appeal is that is for people who want to look like anime girls. 1. there's nothing wrong with that. there are people on the internet that want to look like anthropomorphic birds. neither is bad. again with the unnecessary anime bashing. 2. what's the difference regarding her own avatars? it has been pointed out before, but the current avatar she has, it's the one with the most anime looking influence out of all of them, down to the appearing on the screen on the classic sorry for coming late to class pose that anime schoolgirls use all the time. the next avatar will have the same issue as long LO insist on that pose, on the weird proportions or big bug eyes. an anime girl is meant to be attractive/cute usually. she obviously very much cares about her avatar being perceived as attractive. the only real difference is that one comes from Japan and the other doesn't. 3. this is a personal pet peeve, but the idea that vtubers can't be too expressive is just... wrong. it depends entirely on the modelers and the vtuber themselves how they arrange it. for what she talks about sounds like her friend sketchy went for a cheaper version, which is completely understandable because they can get expensive if you hire someone who knows what they're doing, but that is not the whole of what vtubing is. futhermore, it's rich for LO to say something is not expressive enough when her own avatar has only three expressions: bored, disgust and smug smile. how is that any better?

lastly vtubing would actually be easier to animated that a 2d image because it's all about face tracking motion and prefixed expressions with a single command. why does she think that a lot of vtubing is live content or that vtubers get to make so much content so quickly?

the whole suddenly and out of nowhere blaming Lizzy for her grey hairs and she should be able to sue... that was just petty.

[sylvaridreams]

late night posting, I am thinking a lot about disability and chronic illness and pain in my own characters now. lately with Auruim and Alba. and it's not always "I want him to suffer with it!" and it's not always "I want him to overcome it!" Sometimes it's just there. Fact of life. And these three options form a three sided shape called a triangle.

so on one side of this beautiful triangle staggering along between "suffering with it" and "fact of life" is Alba, who. y'know it's funny, I said the same thing about someone "calling him soundless," which he in the technical aspect of things IS. he would flinch and recoil from it. he would say no no no, I'm normal, don't worry about that. The guy who eats rotting, toxic hog bacon out of a hole deep in the jungle is worried you might think he's a bit too strange.

If someone openly addressed Alba as "disabled" he would do the same. he would deny it, yank himself away from it fully. and partially out of a desire to be seen as "functioning normally." Optimally, even. There is nothing out of place. There is no issue with my body or mind. and partially out of some bizarre fear that if he said "well, maybe," everyone would turn their heads and say STOP THAT MAN FROM COMMANDING RIGHT THIS INSTANT. (and then the other "partially" is just denial. i don't want to have an issue to deal with.)

as if he hasn't proven himself capable enough in the 10+ years since his initial injury in the Silverwastes. which he never allowed, never was able to allow to heal because he had to go after the Pact, into the jungle, right away. It was a couple of weeks tops of resting a leg that the medics were in quiet debate over whether or not he would keep, the way it was mangled and broken, and then he had to go. He never had any time to rest it and heal it properly, and his bum leg has always been a point of shame and annoyance. He's not good at growing and shaping new things-- he did a full set of armor, one time. and that took a lot of work and time and mistakes. He still occasionally does shoulder armor pieces-- or else he might have healed better, or maybe just said go ahead and chop it off and I'll regrow.

so he limped his way into the Heart of Maguuma and no one really knows what to say when the guy in charge shows up already broken and in agony and on a crutch, but you certainly can't tell the Commander he has to turn around, go back. With the Pact in the state it is? No, if he's willing to clock in, let him. we need him. and by the time part of the group headed into Rata Novus he'd ditched the crutch and was just brute forcing it and rationing pain pills, chewing on them as often as he could between point A and point B.

He's had over a decade to figure out how to hide it but it hurts. still. it still hurts him when he walks too long or runs too much or sits or moves wrong. which frankly is kind of devastating to him. He's learned to hide it. to walk at a pace that's normal enough. a pace that kind of annoys faster people, but that can't be helped. at least it appears normal. at least he has practice the motion of taking a step enough times to know what looks normal.

and for the most part it's a well kept secret. Dragon's Watch is mostly aware that he broke his leg and had it torn into shreds and nearly lost it. But you can see how normally he moves now. and he's always running around saving the world, so you have to assume he's doing fine. and he's doing fine, he tells people if they walk in on him changing, see his scar. what happened to your leg. old injury, it's fine.

but people who know his mannerisms and know him on a deeper level know he's lying and grinning and bearing it over something that, frankly, treatment wouldn't be PLEASANT for, or fast or easy or without a huge amount of risk. or you could use a cane, someone suggests sometime and he gets defensive. I don't need that! do I look like i need that? needing that would be showing a weakness, admitting a defeat to this wound that ruined how you walk until you die or until the leg comes off. that's that. that's it! it's just a fact, a part of you that you live with and lie through your teeth about. and it sucks.

Rytlock and Canach both know before the end of HoT that this is going to be a bigger, long term issue, and both of them know how hard it is for him to keep under wraps. and BOTH of them have told him to do something about it, whether it IS amputating and spending a year or more, maybe more, regrowing the limb, and then maybe it grows wrong and you do it again, or whether it's a cane (you don't have to use it on a good day, they always try to tell him but he's not listening, he stopped listening as soon as the topic came up and he got argumentative) or whether it's quit your job. Just stop doing this kind of work and let's go somewhere where there aren't always problems for you to fix. We can go there together.

Meisi and Bourbon both joined (or for Meisi rejoined) the guild between the end of HoT and the end of LWS3 -- so before Alba is dead on the plateau, by the time the group is moving into Elon, they've realized, or are Starting to realize that the way he moves isn't how he means to move. that he's struggling to hide his struggle and keep up with a normal pace when walking. getting him on a raptor is some kind of gods-send, per Kasmeer, because he's not struggling to walk. Meisi knew about his injury, but I think Bourbon is just flabbergasted the first time he sees Alba's leg bare and is like IS THAT WHY? WHY DID NOBODY TREAT THAT? OR LET YOU REST? and then it's a defensive maneuver again, getting out of this line of questioning. there was no resting. people were dying. don't be selfish.

Taimi's offered help. a mobility aid. No, because there's no issue. It becomes a matter of his pride. I don't have a problem because I haven't ever looked down. and I won't start now. and frankly he gets upset if you press it too much. and frankly Taimi doesn't like Alba when he gets cold, or when he snaps. no one likes him much then.

and by the time we hit the start of EoD, a lot of people have withdrawn in terms of how much they can worry and care about someone who won't let them too close, or who has several times now disappeared for months at a time, no contact. and at some point people also forget. you get used to not thinking about it, so you forget that it was an issue. they don't offer help anymore, help that was always refused anyway, because they forget. and that's when it becomes an issue, because everyone can move better, faster than he can. even Taimi, in Cantha. and he finds himself jealous of this sick girl, the jade tech that allows her to move normally, walk at a steady pace. faster than he manages a lot of the time. and he thinks of how he'd broken his back in Dragonstorm, how he'd had to be rushed back to Rata Sum in agony after Aurene wrenched him out of the battlefield, unable to feel either leg, wondering if he'd walk again at all, later. everyone panicked. Taimi by his side, don't worry, Poobah, they'll get you back on your feet.

but I guess there was nothing to be done about the leg. or maybe they forgot it.

and at this point it feels too late. you didn't rest it when you were supposed to but what choice did you have? did you have a say in the matter at all? does it matter at all, now? your body is ruined. you don't look at yourself naked, all the scars and ruined pieces of yourself. you try to avoid letting lovers see them, let alone try to touch them.

what I'm saying is that Alba doesn't cope well. and he doesn't get treatment. and maybe he never will. or maybe once he retires from the titles, he can be bullied into it. time will tell, or it won't. time can keep a secret.

[wildwoof]

I saw some artwork && it got my brain buzzing tbh. I've talked about firs year Koga & his baby ponytail before, how I'd love to know if there's a reason on why he went from growing out his mullet to suddenly having short hair. While there's a chance that there wasn't ANY reason for his actions aside from just getting a haircut. Say maybe his mom or family in general decided he really needed to get his hair cut.

Or.... it had some symbolic reasoning for what he decided to no longer done the small ponytail. Did it perhaps have something to do with the ultimate change in Rei's outward demeanor? After all, Koga didn't know ALL the details of what Rei went through. The trials & tribulations, the constant pleasing of others up until a breaking point. KOGA DIDN'T KNOW. Clearly from later conversations, he knew SOMETHING transpired. After all, he shown through words he was aware of what Rei went through being labeled as one of the 5 Eccentrics during that first year.

But he didn't KNOW the details of the crack between Rei & Keito at the time of Crossroad. He also wasn't caught in the middle of the crossfire, thanks to being left out of the details. Keito "disbanded" DEADMANZ while Koga sought out Rei during one of the times he returned from abroad to bring Adonis in & form UNDEAD, which Koga admitted later he named due to crying out to Rei to keep going.

But we don't actually know what all HAPPENED at the end of the that year, aside from fine's ultimate victory of the War into the next year before Anzu transferred into Yumenosaki. There's an uncertain period of what HAPPENED. Because Koga would have had to come face-to-face with the drastic change in Rei's outward persona that'd ultimately trigger a switch inside Koga. There's a POINT that's missing. A small detail kept out, because when Anzu meets Koga in game, he's already solidified his wall he built up around himself.

He's already easily agitated with sharp tongue & dangerous mouth. His expressions are already so cut-throat with aggression ( even if most people tend to see past it eventually ). He's also never outwardly honest. But also ??? HIS PONYTAIL IS GONE.

Some artwork I saw depicted Koga cutting the ponytail off himself, which automatically had my brain just buzzing. Like imagine the first time Koga comes into contact with someone who's not the man he used to know. Someone who's changed so drastically from the way he looked up to. It's clear in Resurrection Sunday's story that Rei's still the same at that point in time. His personality hadn't changed yet, but Koga was already dedicating the group's name to UNDEAD. So, at some point, Rei came back from constantly going abroad, the 5 Eccentrics were beaten down completely by Eichi & fine, && the school was reformed. Which then Rei finally decided he was tired, switching how he acted on the surface.

The very change from the person he aspired to be like. So it's no surprise as emotional as Koga is that he internalized. I can picture him at home, standing in front of the mirror, && realizing so much was crumbling around him that he had no way to control. With that all in mind, can't you just see Koga grabbing up a pair of scissors && just cutting his ponytail off ??? It's very fitting for Koga to have been growing it out thanks to how much he looked up to Rei, how much he strived to be recognized & taught by Rei, to stand by Rei's side.

To just GRAB all that hair in his hand & chop it off without question. Perhaps at the same time he was doing it, he also had tears in his eyes ??? Like Koga's EMOTIONAL. His temperament revolves around the emotions bottled up within him. It took until the Repayment Festival for those emotions to burst over & finally open up. If it wasn't coming out as anger over something else, Koga clearly bottled stuff in. He aspired to be like who Rei used to be. Even in Succession match, he shot down when Adonis said he was acting just like Rei. Like Koga said himself, he's only taking INSPIRATION, but he's still HIMSELF. Because yes, even during his second year in the academy, he wasn't EXACTLY like how Rei used to be. He took some of Rei's mannerisms to attempt to keep hold of something & show Rei who he used to be, but it was not him BECOMING Rei, he was still himself.

Thus, I can just see... him in his emotional state with Rei so drastically different from how he remembered & aspired to be, that he'd take up a pair of scissors && cut his own hair off. Though, it's a given if he did that, he'd end up going to a barber to get his hair fixed because that would not have cut well himself.

[jaywalkers]

twenty questions for fic authors

i was tagged by @decaflondonfog! thank you, i loved reading all of your thoughts on your own writing so i'm vv excited to do this.

How many works do you have on AO3? 21 revealed, and then my super secret fic for the @aftgthenandnow fest (which people should totally go and check out if they haven't already)

What's your total AO3 word count? 443,022 words, which is horrifying and likely to hit 500,000 by the end of this year. lord have mercy

What fandoms do you write for? i'm currently very happy in my tfc shaped hole and have been for the last while but i do have some wips floating around for the likes of teen wolf (long live cringe) and mdzs still!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? these bad boys! total pick'n'mix of fandoms here a made thing [10k, sangcheng, T] sunset, like survival [86k, kandreil, E] postcard mouth [7k, matchablossom, G] the post-impact stage [3k, andreil, G] work song, crawl home [3k, sangcheng, G]

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not? in all honesty once i've written a fic it's out there in the world and i am absent from anything going forward of it. i dearly, dearly appreciate everyone who puts time into commenting because it truly is the thing i stick around fandom for, but i don't have the time or energy a lot of the time to reply effectively and to not just keep repeating thank you's!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? considering it uses the 'Bad Ending' tag, it'll have to be a room full of knives! it is canon-compliant though, so is the angst really my fault?

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i feel like most of my fics have a somewhat happy ending, if not just a simple open-ended one, but i might say sunbreak for this because the ending of it is very joyful and there isn't much else left to say to hide the happiness.

Do you get hate on any fics? not really! i did get the worlds most insane comment on NOSTOS a couple years ago that was kind of horrible to read but it was anger at a character and not my fic lmao.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? i'd never written it until this year because it was on my writing goals list for the year! i can't really say what kind because i've only written a couple of scenes so i'm not sure where they sit in the grand scheme of things but i have written some!

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written? not really! i am a big AU fan — the kandreil teen wolf au i wrote this year with the beloved and highly esteemed @dayurno is probably the craziest, but i have a kandrew 'gideon the ninth' au planned too! if we're talking actual crossovers, there was a hilarious in-joke au partially written in a group chat a couple of years ago that was a WOH and MDZS law firm au. xue yang owned jby's soul. wei wuxian had bitcoin. i have a customised t-shirt for it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? yup! and it's the reason i put writing away for about four years when i was in high school because i was so demotivated to share my stuff.

Have you ever had a fic translated? i think there's two or three of my fics that i've given permission for russian translations! i don't think they've been finished though so it would be cool if that ever ends up happening!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? as stated earlier, i spent eight months in an echo-chamber with @dayurno in which we went into a mutual fugue state and came out with wet-eyed banshee kevin and his high school boyfriends. maybe one day we'll get to the twinyards sequel of it i do also have to shoutout @picturedframes who was half of the mastermind behind sunset, like survival, and has contributed an insane amount to other works like diachronic and all that looking down.

What's your all time favourite ship? don't ask me this,,,, it chops and changes from year to year! i think in favour of being nice to myself i'm going to just say percabeth — they're the OGs from day one and they still hold up in my heart

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? either my 'the old guard' wenzhou au, or the other installments of the nostos 'verse! i loved them dearly at the time and i do think they would be well worth writing still, but my interests have moved on fandom-wise slightly! maybe one day i'll revist them, but not any time soon i don't think.

What are your writing strengths? ohh. digging my teeth into a character, i think. i use fic as a way to kind of just write thesis' and loveletters and stories all at the same time, and i think i'm good at holding up a character and writing out what makes them tick! and maybe a weird one but fleshing out the wider world? i'm very proud of like, my background characters. describing people who take coffee orders and who are studying in the library too and who are one-line classmates.

What are your writing weaknesses? this time last year i would have said dialouge but i think i've gotten better at it this year! probably being too verbose. i think i have a tendency to get carried away with thoughts and descriptions and i think sometimes that means they lose their potency when i really need them! it's a goal for next year i think; learning how to pare back my writing and make it more effective.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? ahhhhhh aha ha ha aha . you're talking to the bitch who's current fic is all about kevin relearning gaeilge/irish so you bet there's a lot of dialogue in other languages in it! also diachronic and sunset, like survival both have a substantial amount of other languages: diachronic uses french, gaeilge, and japanese, while sls throws german into the mix!

First fandom you wrote for? the bible just kidding lmao though i did write stories when i was in catholic school with biblical characters. i think it was fairy tail!

Favourite fic you've written? noooooo don't make me answer this one. there's many different questions inside of that one question (what one i'm most proud of, what one i feel the most for, what one i had the most fun with), and i don't think there's one that works for them all. i think i'll say diachronic, maybe, for now. my first forway into the head of my beloved kevin day and certainly not the last.

i don't know who has/hasn't been tagged in this so it's an open invite, but i am going to tag @dayurno @sunriseinorbit @moondal514 @kamyska

[chrismerle]

so, I like horses (was a certified Horse Girl growing up and took lessons for several years, shelves are still full of horse knickknacks). I like video games. I played a handful of horse games when I was younger and I've observed enough conversations on horse games to agree that a lot of them suck, but also I really disagree with a lot of things people say should be mandatory for good horse games. I think a lot of the hyper-exact controls and minutia of endless competitions and keeping track of strides and pacing makes for boring games. the horse game I played the most as a kid was Equestriad 2001 because it had cross country and I could use cheat codes to ride a flaming death horse with metal hooves and send the rider careening 50 feet before ragdolling every time I missed a jump.

every time I see a game where it's like 'breed however many horses, master these incredibly fiddly controls' it's like ... why. if you have 72 horses that are all basically interchangeable except for coat colors and you're just maximizing stats, then it could be a motorcycle racing game and very little would change. like, no shade to people who do like those games, they are just not what I want and I get tired of hearing 'I found an ACTUALLY GOOD horse game' when I know it's going to be something that I won't like. see, I like narrative-heavy games. some horse games don't have stories, some do, but if you can buy, sell, and breed horses at the drop of a hat, then the horses can't actually be included in the story. they can be props or macguffins--you own a stable, you own a ranch, you inherited a farm--but if there's a revolving door of horses then they can't be an integral part of the story. the game may as well be about running a chop shop and racing on weekends.

so what is my personal ideal horse game, then? picture, if you will:

at the start of the game, you get to design one human character and one horse. they can look like whatever you want, within reason. the human is the player character. you're a courier in the apocalypse. i see no reason why a horse game can't be fantastical. if i wanted to play RDR then i would.

your character already knows how to ride. they've been a courier for a while. the horse is already trained. but the horse is not your horse. you and the horse are strangers to each other. you had a previous horse. the horse had a previous owner. but it's the apocalypse and shit happened, and now you and the horse have each other. as you get to know and trust each other, you adapt to each other, are willing to do more, and improve skills you already have.

but you can choose how you treat the horse. you can camp at designated milestones and take care of the horse, or you can choose not to. you can be kind to the horse during gameplay, or you can choose not to. if you bond with the horse and treat it well, or if you treat the horse like an automaton that's just to get you from point a to point b, that will impact the game.

for instance, certain skills aren't available without a certain level of trust; the horse will refuse to do them. if you dismount and wander off on foot, a horse that doesn't like you will eventually start to wander off on its own, so you'll need to track it down again. a horse that doesn't trust you will spook more easily and be slower to calm, so getting through the Designated Apocalypse Zones unnoticed is much more difficult. if you decide not to use designated camps for too long, eventually the horse can't go on any farther and you're forced to just camp where you are, without a proper camping set up and no effective way to make sure the area is truly safe, so once morning comes you're as exhausted as your horse.

if you camp properly, you're both well rested. if you and the horse trust each other, the horse is willing to do weirder shit without balking. if the horse trusts you, it's calmer and more cooperative in Designated Apocalypse Zones, so getting through without being noticed is easier. if the horse likes you and you dismount to check something out on foot, then the horse will be waiting more or less where you left it when you come back or will come to you when you whistle.

I don't know what the actual STORY is, but at the end of the game, there's a good end for a courier and horse that have a strong bond, a bad end for a courier that the horse can't fucking stand, and maybe a neutral end where you're basically polite coworkers with the horse.

basically I want a horse game where the minutiae of strides and leading legs and how you're holding the reins are whatever, but you are incapable of forgetting that the horse is, in fact, a living, breathing character that can't be replaced with countless reskinned clones.

[overnightheartbeats]

"Oh, no. That was a one-time story, I'm afraid." Though, it kind of felt messed up to deny him a retelling when he was incapacitated the first time around. It wasn't much of a story. Her childhood teddy bear, a gift from her parents, which already made it special. Laurel had told him about how she took that bear everywhere, a friend and unofficial sibling really. But, the amusing part of the story was how she lost that bear once and raised hell with her parents until they did everything possible to find it. He poked her nose, and as expected, her nose crinkled and a soft laugh escaped her. "Hm, that makes sense. Yeah, some scents are just very memorable. You do spend a lot of time with me, so I could see why it was recognizable." Rationalizing was all her brain had been doing for weeks, seems she still hadn't kicked the habit. "Or, the tickling, that probably worked. Um, the hair got a little neglected while we were there, but funny you say that, I was debating chopping it off."

To some extent, she knew that to be true. He would've jumped in regardless, it's what Julia kept reminding her of, but there was a whole list of actions that happened before that had cemented that she wasn't guilt-free. The way he held his pinky out brought a smile to her lips, impossible to say no to that. He could say that again, about his stubbornness. So, her pinky finger intertwined with his. "Sealed, but in case I haven't told you, thank you for saving my life."

The hold on his pinky loosened, and after a moment, she moved her hand away. Lying was a skill for the job, yet it was one she sucked at when she was in front of Eli. He always could figure her out, pros and cons of being so close to your best friend. "True, I don't, but he did. You'd think I suggested eating dirt, the way he reacted sometimes. Maybe it just sounded more intense because the whispering? To begin with, we really shouldn't have been discussing over your bed. But, I mean, what else could we be talking about? First time meeting, remember?"

She was grateful for the change in focus back to their pumpkins. The serious conversations were putting her on edge. His chuckle made her beam with pride, the same feeling taking over each time she made him laugh or smile. Laurel looked back at her creation one more time, before she met his green eyes. Her pumpkin was him, wasn't it? She was being so obvious, but how do you put your feelings neatly back into the box? "What? No way, what could it be missing?" She watched as he began cutting paper, smiling to herself as the sleeves of his jacket rolled up. On second thought, her pumpkin might be missing more things. Could she ask him to keep cutting paper? It was a pretty...entertaining sight. "Right, a whole mess of pumpkin seeds and what not just coming out. Good call on the bandaid doctor," she teased with a wink. "Absolutely. These masterpieces are ready, just give me a sec." Laurel brought their two pumpkins together on the countertop before reaching for her phone to snap a picture. "Perfect! Lifting anything is off-limits to you, I'll do it. They'll look great on our balcony."

"I hate to be that person, but I think it's time you go back to bed. Or the couch, if you really wanted to negotiate." Laurel stood up after him, standing near him as he gripped the table, just in case he needed the extra support. He was much better now, but recovery was still a lengthy process. "It's tiring to stay in bed for so long." Five days for her, and she had already been losing her mind. "You can't wait?" her brows furrowed in slight confusion. "You're missing the stale cookies they leave in the break room? Yeah, I'm still good. For a few more days anyway. I basically requested to use all my accumulated time off, so I've been drying that up." The mention of her partner made her roll her eyes. Calhoun. She hadn't really spoken to him since the incident. The last update she got was their mission had been successful, at least in retrieving information. "Well, considering he basically left me to perish, I highly doubt he misses me. But, your partner definitely misses you. She came around a few times to the hospital, you know."

"So am I. You've got a great flare for your stories. You'll need to recount the bear story again. Now that I'm actually awake. Start from the beginning too. No shortcuts. I'm in for a long story." His finger poked her nose liking how hers would crinkle at the touch. "Mhmm. There is something about scents being recognized even if your memory bank gets a little wonky. I suppose it's the same as when you walk around a department store and smell one of the colognes and it takes you back or brings back a memory. Your hair did tickle. It smelled nice. You changed it?"

He shook his head to stop her reverting back to her guilt. "None of that please. I would have done so whether I got your blessing or I didn't. I'm stubborn like that. I was never mad at that." He pulled out his pinky and held it out to her. "Seal it."

"I don't know if I believe you." Eli muttered as fragments of that came back to him. "It seemed really intense. I don't know. You don't get intense over food choices. I do." There was something Laurel was hiding. That he was sure of. She had a tell when she didn't want to talk about something.

Eli couldn't help but chuckle. He was amused and that made her pumpkin that tiny bit better. The incision that would have made anyone else recoil and shut down, to them showed that they had survived. They were here. A small smile he flashed at her when his eyes finally looked up from her pumpkin. "Very nice. I like it but it is missing something," he reached over the table for a blank piece of paper and started cutting it out into a tiny bandaid. The sleeves of his blue jacket rolled up that showed the veins on his arms constrict with every movement. When he was done he stuck it on the tiny incision and pulled back. "Can't forget the bandaid. Otherwise you'd have a whole gush of things coming out." An amused laugh escaped him as he sat back and sighed. "I think these two are very ready to see the light of our balcony. We can put them on the little wagon wheel we have for some reason since I still can't lift heavy things."

He got up slowly and held a tight grip on the table edge. "You'd think being laid for a whole while would have re-energized me but instead I feel more tired. Can't wait to go back to work. Things you'd never think I'd say. So are you still okay to stay home? Hasn't your partner missed you?"

[riddlescrownpin]

TWISTED WONDERLAND BOOK 7 SPOILERS !

Now with that out of the way HOLY FUCK- I just finished a video on the chapter *still hasn't even finished book 4 on my jo account* AND AAAAAAAA I had to use a translation app and rush so I didn't get things completely in my brain BUT OMG LILIA IS LEAVING?!? THERE IS A RING THAT MADE SILVER SLEEPY WE FORGOT ABOUT IT TO MUCH UMMMM MALLEUS IS MAD? Malleus 'oh yeah I change the weather off my emotions' Draconia, it feels so weird having Sebek speak full sentences in the story. Okay on the a tiny actual sumary

The book starts out with Yuu dreaming about the fairies giving Aurora the wishes and Maleficents spindle profecy. Then they wake up and instantly notice that they dreamt about the Thorn Fairy. They run to the statues where we find Malleus, Sebek, and Silver. We talk with Malleus about the Thron Fairy and get interrupted by Sebek yelling about 'Tsunotaro'. Then Lilia comes running saying something about him being late, Malleus asks and supposedly all third years have to assemble to a meeting and choose what their internships. CUT TO THE STAGE Cater and Trey snoop around not knowing what to chose for their internship, (the video was rushing so I don't know what some guys picked) Cater wanted to pick something in the field of entratainment, Rook and Vil where taking separate internships, Leona already picked a mining thing (?), Idia is going to work in a famous company called Olympus co.(?) Inc. (?), and Malleus doesn't know. Cater asks Lilia where he is going to intern but he reveals that he is going to leave the school due to him losing his magic since sometime before he was at the school. It's lunchtime and Yuu tells all the first years about Mickey, Ortho tells them how it could be a (Sweet tooth?) And that he probably comes from another dimension. He tells the story on a magic mirror which allowed to show anyone asked (beauty and the beast refrence) and how Yuu's mirror is similar or made of the same thing the old mirror was made of. The first years (more like Adeuce and Grimm, Jack can't go because he sleeps at 10 and Pomefiore has rough sleeping schedules) agree to stay up and try to see Mickey in person. There is a sudden yell in the diasomnia table coming from Sebek, apparently Lilia is not only leaving for school he's leaving to the other side of the world. Everyone tries to make him stay but the decisions been made and he's leaving in a week. Silver and Sebek agree to help clean his room before he goes and they all chat away. Meanwhile Malleus is a little mad about it all and it suddenly starts thundering outside. The first years rush to their class and the story cuts to Lilias room. Lilia leaves Silver to help clean out the wardrobes while he goes get something and Sebek cleans outside ( he just isn't in the room apparently) . While Silver cleans he finds a tiny candy box that appears to have a bracelet with a ring in it.

Once he takes a good look on it the ring start making him a bit sleepy until Lilia barged in. Silver showed Lilia the ring and yelled to 'Not!' And said it was given to him by a lord a long time ago just when he found Silver. The color of the gem represents Silver's eyes, they keep talking until Sebek bursts in with a (butcher knive?)

(Didn't pay attention until they mentioned how he only truly used it to chop wood) The game cuts to Ramshackle with Ace, Deuce, Grimm, and Yuu waiting to Mickey to appear (I think they where studying in the meanwhile too?) Until Adeuce and Grimm give up and end up falling asleep. Yuu notices green lights and goes outside to some chilly weather. It was Malleus being upset at Lilia leaving bot noticing that he's changed to weather to snow. He tells Yuu how when he was a child he always used to make the halls snow like that due to always being alone and sad. Then Lilia appeared and offered him some Ice with syrup (Ice Cones!) And everything got better. Once he stopped his story Yuu told him about the mirror and how there may be a different dimension or universe like theirs. Malleus hears that and now all he can think about is how now everyone is leaving him again and how he'll always be the uninvited friend.

Can I celebrate something we've all been waiting for. . .

LONG HAIRED LILIA OML YALL JSNENDNDNRBRHRHE HES SO 🤭 at first I thought he was just a random woman until I saw his little hair horns 😭 this chapter is starting to hit like a truck but God I DONT CARE HIT ME WITH ALL THE ANGST PLEASE I WANT TO SEE TEARS RUN DOWN PEOPLES FACES AND WANT not death . . . Extended. sleep. Yeah

[achillestiel]

the parent trap only works if you’re identical | part seven of eight | ao3 link

Tag List: @littlerachelbee @imthedoctorlove @deancas-handprint @castiel-loves-dean @wanderermatthews @thelahatiel @priscillahc @mridzyp @multi-fandom-dark-lord @thefantasyfiend @harmonyhelms @imlivingliferightnow @kara-merlin @still-clowning-in-this-house @never-forever-more @continuezmesfilserrants @2musiclover2 @castiels-bitch @stjimmie @cmths5 @chamomilecas @syrille

“Just stay. I don’t know how but we can work something out.” Cas said. “Please.” He said pleadingly. Dean’s reply was to bring their lips back together. Cas sighed happily as they just sat on the couch kissing for a long time. “Dean, come to bed with me.” Cas said breathily, his lips hovering just over Dean’s ear. It sent a shiver of excitement through his whole body.

“Of course.” Dean replied, taking Cas’ hand as one of the phones on the coffee table vibrated loudly. Claire’s phone. Dean was about to ignore it until he saw Eileen’s name on the screen. With a roll of his eyes, Dean grabbed the phone off the table, looking down at the screen and smiling.  

Hey! We haven’t heard anything from you for a while. Guessing you’re still in DC. Did you do the car thing? Gotta keep the rest of Team Parent Trap updated!

“You ever feel like your whole family is plotting against you?” Dean asked, showing Cas the screen. “Those kids are seriously doing to be the death of us if they’ve roped Eileen, Sam and Gabriel into this.”

“I think it speaks volumes that they all want to see us together.” Cas said, smiling down at the phone screen as he scrolled back up the messages. “Why are they called Team Parent Trap?”

“You...you’ve...wow. Cas, you’re lucky you’re hot.” Dean said, shaking his head. He threw Claire’s phone onto the couch while Cas flicked off all the lights downstairs. They walked hand in hand upstairs, stopping by Jack’s room and knocking on the door. Jack and Claire were sitting watching TV, looking like butter wouldn’t melt. Claire grinned smugly at Dean when she saw his hand laced with Cas’.

“We’re going to go to bed kids, don’t stay up too long.”

“And don’t even think about touching the car again.”

“We’re innocent until proven guilty with concrete evidence.” Claire said with yet another smug grin.

“Spoken like the niece of a lawyer.” Cas said, chuckling. “You may have gotten away with it if your Aunt hadn’t thrown you under the bus.”

“Dang it Aunt Eileen.” Claire muttered.

“Yeah well, we’ll talk more about your punishment in the morning. Night kids, love you both.”

“Love you too dad.” The twins said in unison. Dean grinned at them as Cas also wished the twins goodnight and headed to their room.

“I honestly don’t know whether to be proud of them or question our parenting skills.” Dean said as Cas led him not to the guest where they had slept the night before but to Cas’ room. He smiled to himself as he walked into the room. It was just so Cas. Nearly every available surface was covered with books, nick nacks from around the globe and photos of him and Jack.    

“What?” Cas asked, noticing Dean’s smile.

“Twelve years and you still manage to make any room you call your own a museum of stuff. ” Dean said, looking around the room and smiling at various ornaments. “It’s like a cross between a gift shop and the library of congress.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Cas said and Dean just laughed, pulling him close for another chaste kiss. “I was serious by the way, I want you to stay come the morning.”

“Cas, I want to stay but I need to go home. For starters, I’ve been wearing the same boxers for two days but I also have a garage to run.” Dean said between kisses. “How about we just enjoy tonight and try to work something out come morning?” Dean asked. Cas sighed but nodded, letting Dean pull him in for another kiss. Clothes were soon discarded on the floor, both men losing themselves in the touch of the other.

“Dean…” Cas whispered. Both of them moments away from drifting off to sleep. “I...I love you.” he said. Dean was silent for a beat before Cas felt him wrap his arms around Cas’ waist.

“I love you too.”

When Cas awoke the next morning it was to Dean’s arms holding him close, the distance of twelve years effectively dissolved over the course of two days. Dean’s face was burrowed into Cas’ back, making him smile when he felt Dean’s gentle breaths against his skin. Cas knew their time together was drawing to a close, because even he knew that Dean needed to go back to Kansas. He didn’t want to think about it but it was inevitable. Dean and Claire would have to return home, leaving both Cas and Jack heartbroken.

Downstairs, Cas could hear the sound of laughter and clanging pots. He was warm and cosy in Dean’s arms but if he didn’t get downstairs soon then there was a high chance something would catch on fire. Careful not to wake Dean, Cas slid out of bed and dressed in a simple sweater and pants combo. From the bed Dean let a contented sigh, smashing his face into one of Cas’ duck feather pillows. Cas smiled to himself as he looked down at Dean. Even after all these years Dean really was the most beautiful person he had ever met. Another loud clang from the kitchen pulled Cas’ focus from him. He prayed that his kitchen was still standing as he hurried downstairs.

"Hey Pops!" Claire called as Cas walked into the kitchen.  

"Pops?" Cas asked, glancing around the room. Pots and pans littered the surfaces

"It was getting confusing calling you both Dad. If you don't like Pops there's also Daddy-o or Padre." Claire said with a grin.

"Pops it is." Cas said.

“How long have you two been up? You haven’t been playing mechanic again have you?” Cas asked the twins.

“Not long, we’ve only just got up.” Jack said. “We haven’t touched the car, we promise.”

“I have a hard time believing that when it comes to you two.” Cas said. “What exactly are you two up to?”

“Making pancakes.” Jack said, grinning brightly.

“And yet it looks more like you’re making a mess, scooch over. I’ll make breakfast while you two try to stay out of trouble.” Cas said as he started to make breakfast. He was just plating up a huge stack of pancakes when Dean came into the room.

“I smelt pancakes.” Dean said between a loud yawn. He stretched out his arms as he walked over to Claire, giving her a high five before ruffling Jack’s hair.

“You could smell pancakes from a mile away.” Cas retorted. “There’s fresh coffee in the pot.”

“Thanks.” Dean said, shooting Cas a warm smile as he filled up two mugs, passing one over to Cas. Neither Dean nor Cas missed the smug looks on the twin's faces. “Shut up and eat your pancakes. You two are still in trouble for yesterday.”

“Yes, we’re now contemplating whether to go old testament or new testament god.” Cas added. The four of them sat in comfortable silence, eating pancakes and drinking coffee. The fact that Claire and Dean were leaving still felt like it was hanging over their heads and Cas noticed just how slowly the twins were eating. Drawing out the departure for as long as possible. After nearly half an hour there was no more putting it off.

"Claire, why don't you go and grab your bag? I just have to talk to your dad for a second." Dean said. Claire nodded but she and Jack walked away Dean heard them both sniffling. Dammit, all it took for Dean was to hear the twins sniffling and his eyes began to water. "Um...how about we come here for Thanksgiving? You and Jack can spend Christmas with us...I know it's not the best but..."

"I can't leave DC right now and it's not the best for you to leave Kansas?" Cas offered. "I want you and Claire to stay so much but..."

"We can make something work, right?" Dean stammered as tears welled in his eyes. He tried to blinked when but when he saw Cas' eyes filled with tears that sent him over the edge. "Dammit Cas, you just had to be so easy to fall in love with didn't you?" Dean joked between tears.

"I'm going to kiss you but it's not a kiss goodbye ok?" Cas said, cupping Dean's tear-stained face.

"Ok Cas." Dean replied. Cas pulled him in close and their lips met. They only parted when they heard coughing. Claire and Jack stood their awkwardly, both of them with red-rimmed eyes. "We...we best be heading off...traffic...you know." Dean stammered out. "Come here dude." He said to Jack, holding out his arms. Jack ran into his arms, hugging him tightly as Claire sprinted towards Cas. The four of them just standing there and hugging for several minutes.

"So, Jack and I will be seeing you at Thanksgiving." Cas said to Claire. Claire nodded but Dean could see the tears in her eyes.

"And then you're gonna spend Christmas in Kansas with Claire and me, that's cool right?" Dean said to Jack. He too was crying as he nodded. Dean pulled his son back in for another hug. Holding on tightly until it was finally time to go. "Love you kiddo."

"Love you too dad." Jack said.

"This is going to be hard but try to stay out of trouble." Cas said to Claire. Claire let out a sniffling laugh and nodded.

"I'll try. Love you Pops."

"I love you too Claire-Bear." Cas said. "We'll walk you out to the car." Cas said to Dean. The four of them walked out to the Impala, Dean towing their bags in the trunk. Claire and Jack exchanged a tear-filled hug. Dean wiped away a tear and felt Cas lace his hand through Dean's. Cas gripped tightly, silently telling Dean that he loved him. Dean squeezed back and watched as Claire gave Jack and Cas one last teary look before she got in the car.

"Um...I'll call you when we're home...maybe we can talk more when Claire and I are back in Kansas." Dean said, giving Cas one last kiss.

"Drive safe Dean." Cas said. He and Jack stepped back as Dean got into the car. Cas and Jack stood in the driveway waving to them until Dean was halfway down the street.  

"Are you mad at me?" Dean asked a still sniffling Claire. She turned to glare at him with her red-tinged eyes. "Gonna take that as a yes."

"Yes I am mad at you and I think you're an idiot! You love Pops, I know it and you know it. Heck, Jack, Uncle Gabriel, Uncle Sam and Aunt Eileen know it! Even Pops himself knows it! You love him and he loves you! YOu've always loved him otherwise you wouldn't get drunk and cry watching cowboy films." Claire yelled, her eyes filling with tears again. "I just want my family to be together and instead we're driving away from them! I know we have Uncle Sam and Aunt Eileen back home but Pops and Jack are our family. This whole thing is so goddamn stupid!"

"Claire, we'll see them at Thanks-"

"I don't want to wait until Thanksgiving to see my dad and brother. I want them with us! Don't you want them with us?"

"Of course I do Claire!"

"THEN WHY ARE WE STILL DRIVING BACK TO KANSAS ?" Claire yelled, her voice so loud that Dean nearly slammed on the breaks. "Just answer me that Dad!"

"I...I don't know...holy fuck you're right. I don't know." Dean said, slamming on the breaks and doing a completely illegal u-turn.

“What are you doing ?” Claire hollered, sliding around on her seat as the drivers behind them blared their horns.

“Chasing after your dad...kind of...ok I'm going to your dad...either way, I'm doing something I should have done twelve years ago.” Dean said, racing back down the road towards Cas’ house. The Impala had barely come to a stop but Claire was unbuckling her seatbelt and leaping out the car.  

“Dad! Claire!" Jack called, sprinting out of the house and running up to Claire. They both hugged tightly as Cas stood in the doorway just staring at them with disbelief.  

“It took us about 30 seconds after we left for us to realise we didn't want to lose you two again.” Claire said.

“We?” Cas asked.

“We.” Dean said, climbing out the Impala and striding over to Cas. “I made the mistake of not coming chasing after you all those years ago. I didn’t want you to have to chase me this time.” Dean said, shrugging like his words were far more casual than they were. Cas let out a chuckle and just shook his head.

“How is this going to work?” he asked. “I’m here in DC and you're in Kansas. What about the kids? How is this going to work?”

“We can make it work Cas, I know we can 'cause...I love you Cas. Always have. Always will.” Dean said, pulling Cas in for a kiss.  

"And I love you too Winchester. Until the end of my days." Cas said, grinning from ear to ear.

“I can’t believe we actually did this.” Jack said, high fiving Claire.  

“Yes...you two are still grounded you know?” Cas said.

"Aw dang it." Claire and Jack said in unison.

[sp00ky-scary]

It's Harley Quinn's turn !!

Design rant time!!! (I wrote way too much about her just a warning)

She actually has two more looks, her dating Joker era, and her post breakup era, the one shown above is her once she finds herself, so here are the other two:

Harleen Quinzel's backstory is barely changed. She grew up in a shitty home and spent her time outside of school doing gymnastics, and developed an interest in psychology and psychiatry. She became a psychiatrist at Arkham and fell in love with the Joker who she helped break out of Arkham. He then forced her to take a quick swim a vat of chemicals at Ace Chemicals which bleached her skin and hair and drove her mad (although she was already a little unstable). From there she was in a codependent and somewhat abusive relationship with the Joker. After many breakups, during which she often seeked support from Ivy, they eventually broke up for good and she started her solo criminal career (although it's not very solo considering her tendency to work with Ivy or as a part of the Sirens).

As Harleen Quinzel she wore fake glasses to make herself look smarter, spoke with a different more "acceptable" accent, and maintained a calm and collected demeanour. This was all in an attempt to be taken seriously by others. (Note she is prone to unhealthy relationships, the Joker was not the first shitty relationship she had been in but thankfully was the last). After becoming Harley Quinn her personality became erratic and hyperactive, often having mood swings, and experiencing extreme emotions, but is only prone to violence if provoked. She started using her actual accent although she spoke using a higher pitched voice when with the Joker. As Harley Quinn she started wearing exaggerated makeup, dying her hair and wearing almost solely black and red. With the Joker she donned her iconic Harley Quinn costume and used an oversized mallet found at Amusement Mile (Where the Joker would often hide out). She also got some tattoos during this era. After their final breakup she let the hair dye grow out (her hair was split dyed fully black and red) and chopped off a lot of it, she began wearing a modified version of her Harlequin costume and got a new mallet (to note this outfit has wheels in the soles of the shoes). Just to mention during one of Joker and Harley's really bad breakups is when Ivy gave her the shit to make her immune to toxins and poisons.

Eventually Harley found herself donning a new outfit which is more casual, keeping her second mallet, and occasionally wearing a mask. The mask does nothing to hide her identity but when she eventually began working with the Batfam more than commuting crimes she wanted to fit in with everyone and they all wear masks. She also began dating Ivy (once again not exactly healthy but as healthy as possible). Although despite this her personality hasn't mellowed out whatsoever and if anything she's even more joyful and optimistic. After dating Ivy she got Ivy's name tattooed on her and some roses to cover up an old Joker tattoo, Ivy thinks it's stupid but Harley thinks it's a display of affection (Note Harley thinks body modification is really cool and as a result has a lot of tattoos and more then a few piercings). Also after years of using gymnastics to fight people and swinging around a fucking giant mallet she's muscular, specifically her arms, I'm just not great at drawing muscle. And somewhere in all that is shit to do with the Suicide Squad which she's a member of for a while. In Arkham her hair dye fades, she can't wear makeup, and she gets out of having handcuffs or a straight jacket because she's surprisingly compliant and doesn't cause too many problems. (Note with her Arkham outfit the shirt is cropped because she has a habit of fashioning her clothes how she wants to wear them, but also tearing off strips of fabric to braid with when bored).

Personal details, she's bi and fuck it she's trans mtf because I said so. As stated she's in a relationship with Ivy and Ivy is probably the person she's closest to (aside from her Hyenas Bud and Lou). She's friends with the Riddler and they bond over both being found really annoying by the rest of the rogues. She's also friends with Catwoman, and Penguin has a soft spot for her. She's a member of the Gotham City Siren's, occasionally helps out the Birds of Prey, and both unwillingly and willingly helps out the Batfam. Just to note as is often canon she's still incredibly smart specifically in psychology and psychiatry, and is a super talented gymnast. And that's everything, I really didn't say anything unique, she sticks pretty close to the character Harley has become over the years. Oh also obviously she's Jewish and is practicing.

[squarebracket-trickster]

Okay, here's what I've got:

At one point in chapter 2, Feyre does outright say that Nesta is cruel but I can't find any evidence to actually support that. I used the term, mean, to describe her before but upon reviewing the source material I actually think a better term for my problem with her is ungrateful.

Now, the thing is, I would only call her ungrateful for the first four chapters of ACOTAR. The next time we see her is 3/4 of the way through the book and she doesn't really do anything else from that point on that I take issue with (that I can remember). Which, of course, is the thing we were discussing - SJM making a character mean when she wants that character to be mean, and then suddenly making them good when she changes her mind.

But yes, for most of the series Nesta is blunt, brutally honest, confrontational, negative, and unpleasant. She has a tendency to use deliberately inflammatory language without good reason or regard for how it affects others' feelings (and when she could have said the exact same things, just much kinder). But she does have a strong moral compass underneath it all. Also, she doesn't owe anyone politeness or pleasantness. She isn't someone I would personally want to spend time with but... it's not a moral failing. It's just who she is.

What I take issue with is how she acts towards Feyre in the first few chapters of ACOTAR, because it is ungrateful, selfish, and leech-behaviour.

Now, this could just be because the story is from Feyre's perspective. Maybe Nesta was doing the cooking and cleaning. Maybe Nesta had a job in town, or was looking for one, and trying to bring in money. But nowhere in the text is it mentioned that Nesta made any contribution to the household. In fact, Feyre repeatedly talks about how she is the only one hunting, cleaning, preparing, and preserving the food. The other three (Nesta, Elaine, their father) never help.

Except for one scene where Nesta chops firewood. And she only does so because Feyre has to ask her repeatedly. It becomes an argument. Now, Feyre has just come back from a dangerous hunting trip. She is tired, has brought home two weeks of food for the family, and, frankly, has done her fair share of work. She asks Nesta to add some wood to the fire, then sees that the firewood hasn't even been chopped, even though Nesta said she would do it that day. Nesta's only response is essentially that, "I don't like chopping wood and my rich-lady hands are far too delicate. You should do it." Feyre asks her to do it a second time. Nesta refuses. Feyre tells her, "either do it or you are eating a cold breakfast." Nesta does not acknowledge her.

In the end, Nesta does chop the firewood but it was not fair to Feyre to even have to ask, especially to have to fight her on it. And frankly, Nesta and Feyre grew up in the same wealthy household. The only reason Feyre's hands are "more suited" to chopping fire wood is because she has been doing all the manual labour the other three are refusing to. It is extremely ungrateful of Nesta to tell Feyre essentially, "you're already doing all the work, you should do the rest too so that I can keep my hands soft." What about Feyre's hands??

And there was also the time Nesta wanted to use the money Feyre earned from her (Feyre's) hunt to buy herself (Nesta) a new pair of shoes when she already had a completely serviceable pair and Feyre's, which were sitting right beside hers by the door, were completely falling apart. Not to mention, Feyre would be hunting in those shoes while Nesta would just be walking around town. If this was my family, the shoes of the person bringing in the food would be prioritized. Why Nesta seemed completely oblivious to Feyre's needs, despite Feyre (at least in Feyre's perspective but we are never given any evidence to the contrary) being the only reason she hadn't starved to death yet reeks of entitlement.

I've added the specific quotes I am referencing below.

I also added one more which is the closest Nesta gets to outright mean. Now, I get sisters can be nasty to each other and that's normal, but the reason I take issue with this quote is that Nesta says Feyre stinks and then calls her an ignorant peasant, right after Feyre had come back from hunting for their food. The same day Nesta had promised to chop firewood and then didn't. The reason Feyre stunk was because she had been out hunting for Nesta's food. Like, how much more entitled, bratty, and ungrateful can you get?? Like, geez Nesta, would you rather Feyre be as proper and dignified as you? Would you really rather she let you starve?? And, this isn't even the first time Nesta has made this comment.

And, the other thing I would like to point out here is that Nesta is not a child. At the start of ACOTAR, Feyre is 19 and Nesta is three years older than her. This isn't the behaviour of a teenager having trouble adjusting to her new reality. This is a full-grown 22 year-old adult who has had eight years to get used to it, and for four of those years she has been a hole-ass adult. Feyre, on the other hand, was still a child when she started hunting and caring for her family.

Personally, I think Feyre should have run away years ago and left her ungrateful, spoiled sisters and her deadbeat father to die or smarten up. Feyre herself said the only reason she stayed was because she made a promise to their mother.

If Chapter 2-4 Nesta had behaved that way in my family, she would not have been given any of the meat to eat, let alone money from the sale of its pelt.

But, of course, I have different opinions about the Nesta we meet 3/4 of the way through ACOTAR. I actually really like that character and think she is very interesting and strong.

My sources:

"Will it take you long to clean it?" Me. Not [Elaine], not the others. I'd never once seen their hands sticky with blood and fur. (ACOTAR, p. 10)

"We can eat half the meat this week... we can dry the other half," I went on, knowing no matter how nicely I phrased it, I'd still do the bulk of it... No one bothered to confirm they'd heard me anyways. (ACOTAR, p. 12)

...Nesta rose and declared: "I need a new pair of boots." / I kept quiet, knowing better than to get in the middle of their arguments, but I glanced at Nesta's still-shiny pair by the door. Beside hers, my too-small boots were falling apart at the seams, held together only by fraying laces. (ACOTAR, p. 13)

...I looked up in time to see Nesta crinkle her nose with with a sniff. She picked at my cloak. "You stink like a pig covered in its own filth. Can't you at least try to pretend that you're not an ignorant peasant?" / I didn't let the ache show. I'd been too young to learn more than the basics of manners and reading and writing when our family had fallen into misfortune, and she'd never let me forget it. (ACOTAR, p. 14)

"Can you make a pot of hot water and add wood to the fire?" But even as I asked, I noticed the woodpile. There were only five logs left. "I thought you were going to chop wood today." / Nesta picked at her long, neat nails. "I hate chopping wood. I always get splinters... Besides, Feyre," she said with a pout, "you're much better at it! It takes you half the time it takes me. Your hands are suited for it -- they're already so rough." / ..."Please get up at dawn to chop that wood... or we'll be eating a cold breakfast." / Her brows narrowed. "I will do no such thing!" (ACOTAR, p. 14)

being a writer means being almost 4k into a rewrite of a book you disliked because IT HAD SM POTENTIAL