#i got reminded of them recently and remembered how much i adored this show

[gunstellations]

calm before the storm

[infiniteimaginings]

chase davenport x reader pls the lab rats fandom is in a drought 🙏

I Missed You (Chase Davenport x GN!Reader)

Summary: Chase has been overworking himself with school, missions, his family, everything. He hasn't had time to see you recently, and no matter how he tries to open his schedule something else is added to his plate. So, you pay him a little visit just so he can take a break for a little while. Pronouns: You/Yours, They/Them Warnings: I won't lie, this is kinda angsty (but it ends on a good note!) Word Count: 1.4k A/N: THIS IS MY HUSBAND BY THE WAY. PLEASE REQUEST HIM MORE I BEG YOU GUYS! PLEASE! PLEASE, DO IT FOR ME!

One month, two weeks, one day, six hours, and twenty-nine minutes.

It’s been one month, two weeks, one day, six hours, and twenty-nine minutes, no, thirty minutes since the last time Chase Davenport had seen you in person. Along with that, it had been eight days, twelve hours, and seventeen minutes since he had last talked to you on the phone, since the last time he heard your voice. 

He had been keeping count because, god, he missed you so much. 

Davenport had him working on their next presentation of lab equipment, he had to go on a plethora of missions that have spiked up recently, there had been visits from their grandma, the house system had been tapped into three times, and he had to keep up with schoolwork on top of it all. 

He was exhausted, and all he wanted was to see you. He wanted to be in your arms, to hold you, to hear how your day was, just to be around you. But, he wasn’t. He wasn’t able to do any of that, instead he was in the lab, alone, trying not to fall asleep or pull his hair out.

Chase was the smartest person alive, he had abilities that people would kill for. He was relied on, because he is irreplaceable and a necessity to everyone around him. He is trustworthy, responsible, and far greater than he gives himself credit for.  

His family adores him, they do, even if sometimes they show it weirdly. Jabs with their words, or in Adams case their elbows, small comments, but they show the love. Chase knows they love him and that they care about him, they’re his family. Adam and Bree are his siblings that he grew up with, they love each other, even if they have a weird way of showing it. They are Davenports greatest creations and he reminds them of how important they are to him. Tasha is his mom, he finally got a mom and she cared for him like no one ever had. Then Leo, Leo is his brother who showed him, Adam, and Bree a world they never thought they’d be able to see. 

So many people care for Chase, but…None of them could ease him how you do.

You were just different. It’s as if when Chase felt the entire world crumbling around him, when all the lights got dark and he suddenly felt like he had no solutions, you held your hand out to pull him out of his drowning fears. You saw the ugliest parts of him, the most violent, the cruel, the broken parts of him that no one had tried to fix, and you still smiled at him. You still held his hand, even through the darkness, and you even said you were scared.

When you told him that, he almost blocked out every word after. The thought of you being scared of him, even a bit, crushed him. Chase almost pulled back, he almost told you to let him go, to let him disappear into that dark forest of unknown feelings but you wouldn’t.

He remembers so clearly when you told him:

“I’m honestly a little scared that you’ll go so deep into the code of your chip, looking for what’s happening to you…that you’ll forget you’re still human.”

Chase put his forehead on the table, groaning at the ringing in his ears. He needed to get all of this done. He would say the sooner he got everything done, the sooner he would get to see you, but everytime he tried, something new was thrown onto him.

It was all so frustrating that when he reached his newest project he just dropped his head to the table, hands gripping his hair shakily. He could feel tears stinging his eyes, and a bit of blood drew from how hard he was biting his lip to stifle any sobs that dared to pass his lips. 

He had never felt so overwhelmed before in his life, usually he was so used to the work. He was used to doing everything accordingly, but it all suddenly felt like too much. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong to feel like this, he didn’t know what he was doing so wrong to the point he couldn’t just finish all of the work.

As Chase thought of all this, your words constantly repeated in his head, just as they had the past few weeks. You were scared that he wouldn’t remember his own human feelings, because he was so used to being treated as if he was robotic.

Your concern just caused Chase to tear up even more, clutching at his chest. He could feel his heart beating, he could hear it through the ringing.

When did he forget that his heart was still beating in his chest? When did he forget that he was more than just the chip in his neck?

During his processing thoughts, he didn’t hear the sound of the lab door opening. He didn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching him. He was usually so on guard, he had ultra-sensitive bionic hearing, how did he not hear someone coming up behind him?

A hand was placed on his back, startling him immediately. Chase quickly wiped his tears, turning to the person swiftly, ready to scold them for sneaking up on him. That was until he looked up and made eye contact with…

You.

You stood there, a frown painting your face as you analyzed Chase with your eyes. 

He stared, agape, lips parted, pupils shaking, face flushed as you observed him. He couldn’t tell if you were actually there or if he had been working so long to the point he had gone delirious.

You stepped forward, hands cupping his cheeks, thumbs swiping at the wet corners of his eyes. “You were crying?” You whispered, mostly to yourself, but Chase heard it, you knew he did.

The brown haired boy didn’t answer your question though, he left it ignored as if there was something more important than how he was feeling. To him, there was. That something was you.

The moment he processed that you were physically in front of him, he stood up as fast as possible, his head feeling as if it were spinning for a moment. He ignored the feeling and wrapped his arm around you, placing his nose into your shoulder, squeezing you tightly, “You’re here.” He mumbled, taking a deep breath. “You’re actually here.”

You nodded against him, gently petting his hair as you wrapped your own arms around him. “I am…” You trailed off, frown still on your face, “Is everything okay?”

Chase thought for a moment, leaving the two of you in silence, was everything okay? His face felt like it was burning and he wasn’t used to it, his eyes felt sore, his throat was a bit scratchy, and he still felt a bit dizzy.

But…

His heartbeat slowed down, his hands weren’t shaking, his breathing was regulated, his mind finally felt clear, and…You were there.

Chase smiled against your shoulder, nodding and holding you a bit tighter, “I missed you.” He told you, pulling back to see your face.

You blinked at him, a bit confused, tilting your head a bit. “Okay… how long have you been in this lab?” You asked him, now noticing how pale he looked, looking around and seeing the papers scattered around. You squeezed his arms a bit, “You need sunlight.” You stated, chuckling a bit, pulling him by his hand to the doors of the lab.

“I still have work-”

“Chase, the work can wait.” You told him seriously, shaking your head. “You are human.” You reminded him, flicking his forehead lightly, “You need proper food, sunlight, social interaction, and more importantly,” You paused, cupping his face, kissing the spot you flicked, “you need a break.”

His breath staggered in his throat a bit, but he found himself once again. Chase smiled at you, his eyes lighting up, “Okay, I’ll take a break.” He told you, placing his hands over your own.

“Thank you.”

He hummed, enjoying the contact, closing his eyes slightly to just stay in that moment with you. Chase opened his eyes once again, slowly to see you looking back at him, concern in your eyes. He smiled again, glad to be able to smile again, “I missed you, so much.”

“I missed you too.”

It had been seven minutes and twenty-six seconds since Chase Davenport was finally able to see you again, and he wasn’t going to let that time stop anytime soon.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think this episode is so boring because they brought back the Nein and reminded us how good they are? I keep thinking about this as I'm absently watching this episode, saw your post and would love to hear your thoughts on it. Because like, at least to me, most villains this campaign are painfully boring. But the Weave Mind are also boring. That was fine, M9 handled it perfectly and I loved it. Ludinus is arguably the only kinda interesting bad guy and a PC's mom is in mortal danger and I can't manage to care.

I don't find Ludinus and the Weave Mind boring! I don't find Liliana boring either! And I found Ozo Cruth and Otohan Thull DREADFULLY boring but actually, the fights with them are pretty fucking great. I mean, I have a LOT of criticism about the first Otohan fight that boils down to "this was EXCEPTIONALLY poorly signaled and I'd be PISSED if my character was killed for someone else's arc at this point in the story" but Otohan being boring is about the non-combat elements; she felt very real and compelling as a THREAT, just, she could have been a giant blender of magic knives that the party was going to be dumped in for all she had an impact on the story as a person. But I do think it is because we've seen the Mighty Nein and Vox Machina recently and remembered that they're orders of magnitude more compelling.

I think it's really like...I don't even want to say Bells Hells isn't bonded, but they lack something. I think I alluded to it in the tags of one of my posts but there's no banter between party members or sense of urgency. Like, I enjoyed the whole All-Minds-Burn/Myceit scenes a lot, actually, but after Imogen's initial (justified) panic the pacing felt unbelievably slow until we got to combat. I have found that really, for a good deal of the campaign, you have to kind of take things episode by episode and enjoy the good set pieces and scenes because it simply does not make for a pleasing and rewarding whole. The reason I didn't care about Liliana is, to be fair, partly because I think having her die would be an interesting development, but also because there wasn't a sense of "we can't stop and fuck around with mushrooms, LILIANA IS DYING" within the episode itself. No one was comforting Imogen as they ran through the tunnels. The Mighty Nein showed more personality and investment in the lead up to a fight that really, they had no more stake in other than the broad world-ending ones. As someone who's been playing a LOT of Veilguard which is all about building a close-knit team, and who's had VM and the Nein the past month to compare Bells Hells with, that lack is immediately apparent.

I said, over a year ago (possibly over two, I don't recall) now about one of the relationships in the campaign that it felt like when I see a single episode from a soap opera I don't follow. The actors are imbuing lines with emotion, but everything feels kind of disconnected. Like, this is all in a deeply subjective realm, I cannot give you a strong argument based on logic here as it's very much vibes-based, but I feel like when I watched this, my thought process was "BAFTA-winning Actor Laura Bailey is doing an excellent job of conveying the emotions 'terror and anguish over a dying relative' in this line read, and not "Imogen Temult, a character I've been familiar with since October 2021, is devastated over the potential demise of her mother.' " And I never had that issue with C1 and C2. Like, you can call it je ne sais quoi or the juice or the sauce or chemistry or the spark or whatever the fuck but Campaign 3/Bells Hells simply doesn't seem to have it for a huge number of people who have adored pretty much every other Critical Role work, and that means something. My personal thought is that it's because this has been such a plot-focused campaign without strong DM prepping of what kind of characters would be appropriately invested that we've had the problems we did (rampant indecision, lack of party chemistry due to lack of early opportunities to mingle and meld, lack of investment in each others' lives due to insufficient time focused on backstory-related plotlines), but I could be wrong, and ultimately the root cause isn't super important to this question, which is just. they don't have the it factor.

[ezra-editss]

Just watched X-men Apocalypse. What the hell.

Okay, so I kinda have a take on all this and idk if that's just how it feels to me, but that's what I wanna know. (I don't think this actually happened, but it's the vibes it is all giving)

So it started when I told my mom about First Class (keep reading I'm gonna get to apocalypse eventually) and we came to the conclusion that it feels like they wrote the script, looked at it again and thought:

"Hmm, this seems pretty gay.. Erik and Charles both have no female love interests and they have those lines that seem pretty romantic. Also, Erik seems almost obsessed with Charles at the end with how overprotective he is. Let's fix that!"

And then they gave both of them a kiss with a woman they weren't interested in and added the line "We're brothers, you and I" and then were proud of how well they "saved" it.

And then they made Days of Future Past and didn't even think of it, but when it came out they saw how people were shipping it and then they were like "oh shitt"

And in the first hour of the movie, I thought they were just doing all of this stuff to "erase" any potential gayness people thought there was and wanted to make sure nobody got the wrong idea about the recent movies. But it was more the reminder they like women, before the EXTREME GAYNESS in the second half.

(This is getting so much more unserious than initially intended💀)

Anyways, Apocalypse.

Either I missed something or Erik settling down and HIDING makes NO SENSE. In the last timeline it was 100% clear that he'd never stop believing in what he did, he would never stop fighting his war. So yes, this is a different timeline, but there is no reason given why he suddenly decides to try Charles way. He failed in Days of Future Past and Charles let him go, but there is no way that's enough. And they played this off like that isn't the thing they both wanted since forever and never seemed possible. Being on the same side. Erik switching to Charles side is insane, why wouldn't he talk to Charles in all those years then?

I can't believe they threw away everything that IS Erik, just so he had a reason to be angry enough to join the guy.

(They also died in such a weird/lame way)

And Charles and I still don't really know her name😭.. I have to admit the scenes where Charles was nervous were cute, but that's just because Charles is adorable. But in First Class she was obviously only there for the plot, in Days of Future Past, she wasn't even mentioned and in Apocalypse, she was, again, only there for the plot. She literally doesn't say anything the entire movie after the beginning. She has like two lines. And in the end fight, she's just standing there. And then Charles makes her remember and the flashbacks are soo bad, BC THEY HAD NO MOMENTS. (Especially bc you can compare it to Erik's flashbacks, we're gonna get to that)

(I don't think I have to say it, but to be sure. I have absolutely nothing against straight couples. I don't care if it's gay or not. But if one of them were a woman, I wouldn't be writing this. I just hate how often they prefer to write a heterosexual couple that has no chemistry at all instead of making the two guys/girls kiss.)

Let's talk about the ending. Sometimes when I talk about this stuff I'm a little worried that I interpret things wrong bc I want it to be like that and I'm not being objective anymore, but I was proven right so many times in this. When Mystique and Erik kissed in First Class, it felt really weird to me because Erik obviously had no interest in her. (I suppose it was to show her she's beautiful) And that was pretty much proven right when she talks to him and he barely reacts to what she's saying. I also thought that he probably didn't know Charles was dying, bc he wouldn't let that happen. Then Mystique says "Charles" and suddenly he does show a reaction and when she's gone, he has those god damn flashbacks. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T A ROMANTIC PLOT?😭 and then the specific one of Charles turning away and leaving him. (Could be a metaphor for Charles giving up on him) THAT'S WHAT GOT HIM.

And they make it even more clear when Mystique is dying and Erik doesn't react, but when Charles is dying, is when he steps in.

Ending was cute, but damnn the "you can make me do anything" was crazy.

(This turned out soo long, I've never been so obsessed with something.)

[heloflor]

Ok so last week I saw the videos/screenshots talking about fop Peri which got me a bit curious about this show, and after seeing “Battle of the Dimmsonian” and especially the Cosmo-Wanda-Peri part of “Lost in Fairy World” (there’s someone on Tumblr posting clips of all the Peri-centric moments since his debut), I was genuinely impressed with how the characters were written and I wanted to gush about them! On top of doing some overanalysis of those characters. Btw I also saw some clips from “Operation: Birthday Takeback” (again the Cosmo-Wanda-Peri side of it).

So here’s a post talking about Cosmo and Wanda’s relationship with Peri, Peri in general, Peri with Dev and a few other random thoughts about the early episodes given this made me start to watch the show (ended up making it its own post), though I haven’t gone far yet (I’m on like episode 5-6, which is episode 4a or something). On that note, take what I say in this post with a HUGE grain of salt since I don’t have the full context for Dev’s character arc.

Tl;Dr: The Fairywinkle-Cosmas are adorable, loving but also realistic in their portrayal.

Peri is the definition of “20 years-old who recently left his parents’ home” and I love him for it.

Dev and Peri are a terrible match due to Peri’s inexperience, Dev not taking him seriously, and Dev’s daddy issues making it hard for him to connect with a fairy who has loving parents.

(Btw on top of the characters moments, what made me start to watch the show is also the fact it’s apparently incredibly wholesome and fun + apparently the writers of “Infi//nity Train” worked on it (and if that’s true it’s crazy how nobody is talking about it to bring in new fans; I mean remember when the Duck//tales reboot came out and everyone pointed out how the writers of Gra//vity Falls worked on it? We should do the same thing here, at least again if it’s true) + Hartman isn’t involved and it’s hilarious how the creator of those characters not getting involved is a good thing)

Oh and spoilers for “Battle of the Dimmsonian”, “Lost in Fairy World” and “Operation: Birthday Takeback”! (4.6k Words below)

--

Ok so “Lost In Fairy World” and why I love its characters’ writing so much. I’m actually going to start by the lesson at the end and build from there as it seems like the best way to get a train of thought going.

So the lesson of the episode for me was basically a “new hire vs experienced employees” with a second layer added due to the three fairies being family, and that’s already something I really appreciate!

By the end of the episode, Cosmo and Wanda learn that they need to back off and let Peri do his thing. He’s an adult, he got hired for a reason, let him do his own trial and error and learn his own way. But at the same time, Peri shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help or advice if he needs it, the more experienced people are here for that! And again, there’s the family layer to that discussion that I really like, with Cosmo and Wanda being particularly clingy bc Peri is their son, while Peri is particularly embarrassed to ask them for help because they’re his parents, probably not helped by the fact he likely very recently left their home and seeks his independence.

And that’s another thing I absolutely love after watching this episode and “Battle of the Dimmsonian”, with “Operation: Birthday Takeback” adding to it as well: Honestly, Peri has to be one of the most realistic depictions of “20-something who just left his parents’ house” I’ve ever seen (yeah I don’t watch much stuff outside of cartoons, working on that). They somehow managed to make him very clearly be an adult with adult responsibilities, all the while giving him a level of inexperience and immaturity that reminds you he’s still young.

Giving some examples, the way he talks in general makes it obvious he’s an adult, and when introducing himself to Dev + telling him he can’t visit Fairy World in “Lost in Fairy World”, he has that suave put-together personality to himself. But at the same time this suave personality crumbles the second Dev opens him mouth.

And on top of that, Peri’s one day into his job and his already exhausted, spends the entirety of his debut episode worrying about what his parents will think of his career choice, and in stressful situations tends to turn towards others for help very quickly (reading Da Rules, low-key panicking a bit and looking at his parents in “Lost in Fairy World”, hiding when facing Vicky, moments like those).

There are also those moments where he either acts or sounds childish (with his voice even getting a bit higher), like when Wanda asks if he has a godkid plus him hiding behind his wand right before that, and earlier on when he didn’t want them to see him, the “my wand is missing” line and tracker line in “Lost in Fairy World” (the “sowwy” when telling them his tracker is off tho), the ending of this episode as well when he apologizes to them, also when his parents tell Jorgen that Peri did nothing wrong and he lets them take the fall, or that moment in “Operation: Birthday Takeback” when he goes “moooom” with a whine.

That’s actually something I absolutely love about those interactions, and why I find them realistic. It could have been SO easy for the writers to make Peri act like an adult all the time while his parents are the coddling cringy kind that make him look like a kid. But instead, it comes from both sides. You can clearly tell from how Cosmo and Wanda act that he’s their baby boy, but you can also see from Peri’s dialogues and actions that they are his parents. And I am so happy they took this direction!

So yeah, Peri is the most “young adult who just left the nest” ever and I absolutely adore this characterization. He’s an adult with a job and responsibilities, but he’s still young and can find himself relying on his parents or talking to them in a childish way. Such good character work!

Another thing I love about their dynamic that we see very well in “Lost in Fairy World” is just how much those three love each other. That’s something I did hear about this show, that it was a lot more fun and sweet (compared to the og which could be very cruel and cynical when it wanted), and you can really see it with those three.

With Cosmo and Wanda taking over Peri’s job, you can tell they’re not doing it out of any malice or feeling that Peri can’t do it. Heck if you pause at the scene where Peri tells Dev he can’t go to Fairy World, after he’s done talking and right before Cosmo takes another picture, you can see Cosmo and Wanda looking at Peri with the biggest smile (and it’s adorable!). And it’s the same with the rest of the episode. If anything, they’re so used to taking care of godkids that they just do it out of habit, without realizing they’re causing an issue.

Heck I’d even theorize that their behavior is partly due to their time with Timmy, hence it being a force of habit. For a long time (possibly 50 years if that one secret wish is canon), Poof/Peri was with his parents helping with Timmy, but he wouldn’t do much besides granting wishes. Poof couldn’t talk, so most of the time he’d just stand there while his parents did all of the talking. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of this was the reason why Cosmo and Wanda are straight up talking over Peri in “Lost in Fairy World”, they just got used to do so when taking care of Timmy and are now getting back into this habit.

On top of that, Cosmo and Wanda are just excited to finally be with their son again after their 10 thousand years-long vacation. Plus, when Peri does call them out, by the end of it they acknowledge their mistake and apologize, promising to back off. And while they remain cuddly towards him, from the looks of it they did stop coming in-between Peri and Dev, letting their son do his thing.

Also worth noting that, despite doting on Peri, they still very much talk to him like they would talk to an adult. Yes they hug him a lot (and I mean a lot) and call him pet names, and they were definitely excited to see him again in “Lost in Fairy World”, but other than that they clearly respect him as an adult, listening to him and trusting him. I’m not going to list examples because it’s basically every dialogue in which they don’t “baby” him. That being said I feel like “Operation: Birthday Takeback” displays it the best from what I’ve seen of it.

As for Peri’s side on this, he’s annoyed by his parents stepping in but it’s obvious he doesn’t hate them at all, quite the opposite. He just wants them to take him seriously as an adult, which is understandable. Also the fact he isn’t afraid to call them out is a very good sign. On that note, I love how when telling them his tracker is off, he actually apologizes (though he doesn’t have to, his reasoning for turning it off is understandable, and I appreciate he tells them those reasons!).

Also I live for that scene at the beginning of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” when his parents ask for a tour of the house (btw love Wanda telling him they’re ready to get him out of there if needed), they show interest in his suggestion, which makes Peri smile sheepishly. It’s such a cute moment and to me really shows Peri wanting to be seen as an adult and enjoying being seen that way by them, but also how he’s clearly attached to them! Idk it’s just a very cute moment! I love those three!

Also kind of a last minute addition before moving to Peri and Dev but looking at “Operation: Birthday Takeback”, I can’t help but laugh at how at the very beginning, the second the godkids are doing their own thing, Cosmo and Wanda throw themselves at their son. It’s very sweet. Also I love the implication that they’re here bc they’re Hazel’s godparents and need to stay with her, but also they really wanted any excuse to see their son!

And the reason why I say last minute addition is because this made me realize that Cosmo and Wanda do act pretty differently towards the godkids compared to Peri, which I find to be an interesting detail that makes their characters more complex in a way. Like yes, Cosmo and Wanda are very parental types, but to an extent you can see a line between them being with their godkids, who they are here to mentor and steer in the right direction for a few months until the kid is happy, and them being with their son, who they raised from infancy and isn’t going anywhere.

Now that’s not to say that Cosmo and Wanda don’t love their godkids, it’s obvious how much they adore those kids and care for them and probably remember each and every single one of them, but yeah you can still see a bit of a difference. At the very least, from what I’ve seen so far they can’t help but hug Peri literally everytime they have an excuse to do so, while having a bit more boundaries with Hazel.

But again, that’s a last minute thought and I’ve only seen a handful of episodes, so I might be wrong on that. Take it with a grain of salt. Still, I find it interesting to have those characters who are basically social workers and how there’s a bit of a difference between the kids they take care of for their “job” and the kid they have in their personal life. Again, that’s not to say they aren’t attached to the godkids, they are.

But yeah, all of this to say, the way the Fairywinkle-Cosma family is written in “Lost in Fairy World” honestly blew me away and really got me invested into watching this show, with “Battle of the Dimmsonian” and “Operation: Birthday Takeback” only adding to it (and I’m probably looking way too much into this and making it sound like the writing of this episode is much deeper than it actually is; I’m obsessed with this disaster (affectionate) of a family, help).

As for the part about Peri and Dev, basically there’s an element of Cosmo and Wanda talking over Peri in “Lost in Fairy World” that I wanted to explore, but then “Operation: Birthday Takeback” came out and there’s that moment in the “breakup” scene where Dev talks about his father not noticing his fairy while Peri is being hugged by his parents in the background. And while this is a visual gag, Cosmo and Wanda’s action in this scene actually fits very well thematically and made me realize something about how Dev might feel about Peri.

So now you’re getting a whole section about how Dev and Peri are a terrible match for each other, due to three main reasons:

1. The one everyone already talked about, Peri is severly underqualified. While you could say he’s been a godparent since he was a baby, back then all he did was grant wishes while his parents dealt with the talking + emotional support. Not only was he doing a small part of the job, he also had his parents, other more qualified fairies, helping him. Also the scene with Vicky tells us that Peri doesn’t have the best memories of his time as a baby, which is fair enough.

(note that I believe he was 7-8 years old when he had to say goodbye to Timmy, so he does remember him. As for Vicky, Timmy’s parents likely stopped hiring her once their son was 13-14, hence why Peri only has blurry memories of her, he would’ve been a toddler at best by then)

So yeah, Dev is Peri’s first kid, and Peri is not qualified for him. He loses his patience with the cupcakes, bites back when Dev is short and snappy with him (the classroom scene at the end of the “under//tale” episode, yeah I haven’t watched this one outside of this scene; and the beginning of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” with the flying shoes) and don’t get me started on Peri telling Dev in “Battle of the Dimmsonian” to give the staff back because “what will my parents say if my first godkid dies on me!”

Like PERI??? MAYBE DON’T SAY TO THE KID WITH ABANDONMENT ISSUES THAT YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT HIS WELLBEING BECAUSE YOU WANT TO IMPRESS YOUR PARENTS??? JUST A THOUGHT???

(note that I do believe Peri cares for Dev, it’s just that what he says here really comes off as him not caring, and since Dev is the one hearing what Peri says in that scene...)

Also obviously there’s the ending of “Operation: Birthday Takeback”. Tbh I don’t blame Peri much for this one since, again, he’s severely underqualified, but yeah his response to Dev’s wish was not the right one, which is reflected by Dev reacting with a frustrated scream which honestly made me feel bad for this kid. Peri going “as you wish” is just too distant and “professional”. That’s a kid in a vulnerable state! He needed comfort! Sure Peri had to go because Dev literally wished for it, but a more qualified fairy would have known what to say, if only something along the lines of “take all the time you need, I’ll be there for you once you feel better”.

So yeah, Dev is deeply hurting and a complete newbie who doesn’t have the patience or positivity for it was not going to make things better.

2. What I originally wanted to say about “Lost in Fairy World” before 3. showed its head: I think Cosmo and Wanda being around inadvertently makes things worse for the duo.

Thing is, Dev is a difficult kid. Because of that, I think that in order for him to open up to his fairy, said fairy needs to earn his respect so to speak. And not to say Dev’s fairy should be full on authoritative, but yeah they definitely need to be someone Dev respects and listens to, which is not the case for Peri. And I think the main reason why has to do with Peri’s relationship with his parents.

Basically, kids are smarter than we give them credit for and are observant as well. And what did Dev see his fairy do? Spend the first day on the job being terrified of meeting his parents who turned out to be incredibly sweet people. Then in “Lost in Fairy World” it honestly looks like Peri, Cosmo and Wanda just wanted to catch up and brought the kids for the heck of it, and Dev gets to see his fairy being babied by his parents, along with said parents talking over him. Then as said before there’s also Peri going “mooom” in front of Dev in “Operation: Birthday Takeback”.

And about “Lost in Fairy World”, there’s that moment in the beginning where Cosmo and Wanda tell Dev he can’t go to fairy world, only for Peri to step in and basically repeat the exact same thing as his parents (the “trial” part from Cosmo and “I can’t let you go” from Wanda). And while this line is a joke, I do think it’s important for Peri to put his foot down like that.

Because yeah, Peri is the one Dev should be listening to. It’s not just a question of “this is Peri’s job”, it’s also about Dev seeing Peri as an adult. But with Cosmo and Wanda, it’s a bit more complicated.

This is also another element I really like about this episode, Peri needing to be the one doing the talking so that Dev can take him seriously as a potential guardian.

But yeah, the thing is, it’s not working. Peri’s immaturity shines with his lack of patience for the kid, which Dev picks up on, leading the two of them to get snappy with each other on “even ground” in a way, which doesn’t help Peri’s case. And on top of that you have Cosmo and Wanda, who even with their eccentric side remain mature adults (and I love how them being eccentric doesn’t make them seem any less adult; love adults being allowed to have fun and be themselves without being shamed or called childish for it!).

Now as far as I’m aware the show never really talks about this, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Cosmo and Wanda being around played a role in Dev’s perception of Peri. Not only because of them being mushy parents as previously discussed, but also because they are clearly older and more experienced than Peri, making it harder for Dev to take Peri seriously. Hopefully this makes sense?

And speaking of Dev with Cosmo and Wanda, I actually get the feeling he somewhat respects them? At least more than Peri? And on that note, there’s that scene at the very beginning of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” that I find both adorable but also pretty depressing when it comes to Dev.

When Cosmo, Wanda and Hazel show up, they ask if Dev’s dad is here, to which he mentions “Project H”. And at that Cosmo makes a comment about this project being a big surprise party, and yeah this moments gets me.

Because for a second there, Dev actually smiles. He knows that what his dad is doing has nothing to do with the party, he says so himself in response to Cosmo, but he still smiles, because he understands that Cosmo is trying to cheer him up and appreciates the effort. Idk this gets me, especially also seeing the way Wanda and Peri are looking wary as Cosmo keeps talking, clearly unsure of how Dev will react.

Like am I making a big deal out of a ten seconds moment? Probably. But there’s just something about this sad kid closing himself off whenever his problems are brought up, acting like an entitled brat most of the time as a coping mechanism, yet when this random adult he vaguely knows tries to cheer him up, he’s able to understand it and appreciate it. Idk, again, it just gets me. And sadly it really shows how bad of a match Peri and Dev are. Peri hasn’t been able to get any sort of progress with this kid, but the second his dad shows up and talks a bit suddenly the kid is giving a sincere smile. Yeah…

Now granted in regards to Dev respecting Cosmo and Wanda more, it might also have to do with them not being his godparents, considering Dev is basically using Peri as some sort of servant at times since he’s a spoiled brat and all.

Finally for this part, I want to bring up that scene in the secret lair with Vicky showing up, because to me this is a very good example of Peri actually failing Dev, which in this case will make the kid not take him seriously (on top of not earning his trust and being frustrated with him).

Now I will say, I can’t blame Peri for panicking the way he does upon seeing Vicky (btw I forgot to mention it earlier but the way he goes “lalala” and continues while turning into a drone and looking at the banging door in horror is so real. Again Peri is peak young adult energy). He’s had to deal with that woman since he was a literal infant, of course he’s going to be traumatized!

Still, Dev doesn’t know that. All he knows is that there’s this scary lady his and Hazel’s fairies know about, but he has no idea what history is between them outside of “she was terrible to our previous kid and scares us”. Also he’s 10 and has a bad home-life making him selfish, I don’t think he can fully understand the adults around him being traumatized.

But yeah, all this to say, in this scene, Peri is completely paralyzed, hiding behind the others waiting for Vicky to leave, letting his parents do the talking. And yep, we yet again go back to Cosmo and Wanda being the mature adults around here. Also worth noting that once Vicky puts on the nice act, Hazel stops being afraid of her but Dev still looks intimidated!

In that moment, Peri should have been there to protect Dev. That’s his job as a godfairy. His kid was scared and in potential danger. Yet Peri did absolutely nothing. Instead he stayed hidden, technically behind his kid which means using Dev as cover, and who came to both his and Dev’s rescue? Cosmo and Wanda, the other two fairies in the room, who are clearly more mature and are Peri’s parents.

And again, I don’t blame Peri for being paralyzed in fear like that, but how do you explain that to Dev? How do you tell that kid that he’s braver than his adult magical all-powerful fairy? That while he had to stand and somewhat confront Vicky, that adult fairy that’s supposed to protect him went hiding behind mommy and daddy? Hell from what I’ve seen, earlier in the episode the kids do stand up to Vicky, which makes Peri’s actions worse!

So yeah, hopefully this whole part makes sense as it feels a bit like a mess. The main takeaway here is that Dev needs a fairy that he can see as an almost parental figure, someone he clearly views as an adult and respects as such, that way he can have someone he can trust and be comfortable with, easing him into breaking down his walls. But Peri isn’t any of that. He’s a young adult which makes him still quite immature, and on top of that his parents basically live next door, thus leading Dev to see his fairy getting treated like a kid. It just can’t work out between them as long as they stay like that.

3. Finally, the part related to that moment of Dev talking about his dad while looking at the fairies: Dev has some serious daddy issues related to his father never paying attention to him on account of being a piece of shit who only cares about himself. And the thing is, Dev doesn’t have anyone he can relate to on that front (saying this since it’s hard for him to open up, so having someone with similar issues could be a bit of a push for him).

Hazel has caring parents whose main issue is being busy, on top of her fairies who clearly love her and spend a lot of time taking care of her. Now I haven’t seen much of the school kids but also Dev isn’t exactly close to any of them apparently? Meaning that in any case he can’t relate to them.

Then there’s this fairy that shows up, meant to cater to him but also help him emotionally, and wouldn’t you know this guy talks about wanting to impress his parents and being afraid of them! No but seriously, thinking about it, I can’t help but wonder if for a moment Dev thought he and Peri could bond over family issues, at least subconsciously. But nope! As soon as Peri reunites with his folks, turns out they’re the sweetest most loving parents ever.

I’m actually surprised that from the looks of it the show doesn’t draw a parallel between Dev and Peri on that front. I mean you have a kid with an incredibly absent parent who wants nothing more than to get his dad’s attention, being taken care of by a fairy who finds his parents’ attention suffocating and just wants them to leave him alone. There’s interesting storytelling potential here, especially when taking into account how much those two struggle to get along (basically Peri’s family situation making Dev feel worse in a way due to his confusion as to why Peri puts a bit of distance between himself and his parents)

Which loops back to that scene at the end of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” with Peri getting hugged by his parents while Dev is opening up about his daddy issues and how this visual gag fits the theme of the scene. Dev is feeling like shit about his father not loving him meanwhile the fairy that’s supposed to take care of him is being cuddled by his incredibly loving parents who adore him.

On that note, there’s an element I haven’t touched on in this episode, and it’s the fact that Hazel and Dev were in trouble with Vicky but didn’t have their fairies to protect them due to the trio visiting the house. While this scene is another example of Peri failing Dev, what I find most interesting about it is the fact that Peri “abandoned” Dev to spend time with his parents. Idk, I can’t help but think that this detail twists the knife even further for Dev. Not only was his fairy not here to protect him, but his absence is due to him hanging out with his parents who love him and wanted to spend time with him.

Speaking of which, I wonder if Dev is also angry at the fact that Cosmo and Wanda are able to take care of Hazel and be there for her whenever she needs while still finding the time to hang out with their son and be involved in his life. In a way it’s further proof that Dale is an atrocious parent, at least when taking into account Dev’s pov since I doubt a kid his age spends a lot of time hanging out with other parents, so Cosmo and Wanda are basically the only couple he can compare his father to. Basically I could see Dev noticing how much Cosmo and Wanda do and it making him feel even worse about why his dad doesn’t love him the same.

But yeah all this to say, just like everyone else in his life, Peri can’t understand Dev’s issues with his father, issues that are the core reason why he has a fairy in the first place. On top of that, Peri not only has the one thing Dev wants, but the kid sees him push it away on numerous occasions.

And that’s the end of what I wanted to say here. Hopefully this isn’t too much of a mess since I’m writing this while sick + sleep-deprived due to illness + haven’t watched much of the show past a few episodes and the clips on Tumblr.

On that note, yet again please take this post with a grain of salt, especially the Dev-Peri part. I originally just planned on gushing about “Lost in Fairy World” and how much I love the Fairywinkle-Cosma in it, but seeing the ending of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” made me want to talk a little more about Dev. That being said given how little I’ve watched there’s probably a lot I’m missing about this kid, so by no means do I think this analysis is perfect (also, the fact I’m writing this while ill…). Now Dev does seem to be a “predictable” character, hence why I feel somewhat comfortable writing this despite seeing so little, but again I might be wrong.

(Btw when I say Dev is predictable I’m in no way saying it negatively, quite the opposite! I love that him getting a fairy low-key made him worse, and I’m very curious as to how they’re going to resolve him spiraling the way he’s currently doing.)

In any case, thanks for reading!

[badaspebble]

ah i’m loving your writing~!! i would like to request something where reader is a trainee on a survival show, since swf dancers often become judges, bada being a judge/mentors, and maybe reader gives her secret love letters? or flirts with her off camera because she has a crush. it doesn’t haven’t to be a whole oneshot or something headcanons would be cool too ! ty~

✎ To My Secret Admirer

A/N: Hey babe! Thank you for the compliment and the ask 🫶🏽. I hope you’re doing well. This is like super short and rushed I’m sorry :(

Warnings: Swearing. It’s all just fluff.

Bada Lee x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Who am I?” Those were the first thoughts you had when you saw her. She was beautiful. Absolutely fucking captivating. Her tall stature made her seem unapproachable, but Bada was really just a giant puppy. Who were you? A contestant who was hopelessly in love with this woman. You were somebody that couldn’t have her, right? You pondered on that thought until you were reminded of the way her face would light up when she found your notes towards her. Your notes, not anybody else’s. Of course, she didn’t actually know it was from you, but let’s be honest. You’re way too obvious when you’re around her.

Tripping over nothing? Are you serious? Stuttering when you’re trying to impress her? Lord. Even if she was blind with no sense of anybody taking a liking to her, she would still know it was from you. Might as well write your name on them too. It wasn’t long until you remembered that did actually know.

The little glances towards you, along with the way she’d take any chance to be in contact with you…it made you keep going. You were glad you did, because you started receiving notes too. They weren’t much, but every single word that was written on them really brightened your day.

It would be stuff like “You look so beautiful today,” or funnier ones like “Your hair looks so good! (Please kiss me)” and “Tbh you shouldn’t let others perceive you in my honest, humble opinion that is not biased :)”

You especially loved those ones. Communicating through notes was good at first, but you craved her direct attention. You wanted her eyes on you, wanted her to smile while talking to you.

You’ve been recently feeling very courageous, sending more bold things her way. You’ve even left your lipstick mark on your newest letters. You figured since she basically already knew, might as well go up to her.

Your eyes were glued onto her as you walked up, ignoring the conversation she’s having. Which was a bit rude, but who knows when you’ll be this brave again. You took a deep breath as she turned to you, and swallowed harshly.

“H-“ Your voice cracked, embarrassing you even further. You both just stared at each other after that, with Bada trying not to laugh and you trying not to run away while looking at her blankly.

You didn’t try to speak again, but Bada thankfully spoke up. “Hey..” She smirked, holding in her laugh. Your voice was cute, and it still sounded cute with your voice crack. You were adorable. “How’s your routine going?” She asked, still smiling bright while trying not to laugh.

You swallowed again, threatening whichever higher being that existed to not let you embarrass yourself again. “It’s good…uhm it would’ve been better if you were there to help..” You coughed awkwardly.

Bada looked at you, slowly letting her smile brighten even more, if that was even possible. “Was that your attempt at flirting?” She said with a giggle.

You just looked at her and pursed your lips. “Anyways..” You said, turning your body around and walking away.

You heard Bada’s laughter behind you as it slowly got louder the closer she got. “Don’t run!” More laughter followed. “I thought it was cute, I pinky promise.” She grabbed your arm, turning you around to meet her twinkling eyes. “How about I teach you some stuff later? My studio is just around the corner.”

You looked up at her, letting a shy smile take over your face. “Are you sure that’s even allowed? You’re gonna get me kicked off this thing.” You say jokingly, avoiding her stare.

“I won’t let them. Don’t tell anybody but…you’re my favorite.” She leaned in to whisper jokingly, before she giggled.

Swallowing harshly, you finally met her eyes. “Okay..” You mumbled, still a little bit unsure. You felt her pat your head, subtly messing up your hair and running away as you noticed. “Hey! Bada??” You yell out, hearing her giggles down the hallway.

Sighing, you fixed your hair as you felt your heartbeat increase. Would she actually take the time out of her day to teach you? Are you guys just going to ignore the fact that you’ve been sending letters to each other? You laughed at that, not realizing how weird it sounded out loud.

You sat on the ground next to the set, realizing you don’t have her number nor do you have the location of her studio. “Am I a dumbass?” You laughed at yourself, probably looking crazy as hell. You were about to get up and wallow in your self pity as you walked home until you heard a motorcycle in the distance. It rolled up to you before slowly stopping. You were about to tell them to fuck off before they took their helmet off, revealing Bada.

“Are we in a movie?” Was the first thing you said. “This is the most cliche thing ever.” You continued saying, looking at her in disbelief. Her smile graced her face as she laughed. “Just get on, I promise it’s not that far.”

She handed you a helmet as you looked at her in even more disbelief. “Girl…” You mumbled, putting the helmet on and sitting behind her. She started off going slow before revving her bike and going faster. “How do you even know my head size? That’s very weird of you.” You yelled so she could hear you over the wind.

Silence followed, and you guess she might’ve not heard you. “…Next question.” You finally heard her mumble. You laughed, the arms holding her waist securely started to hug her tighter as you rested your head on her back despite the helmet. It was quiet the rest of the way, both of you just basking in the comfort of each other.

It wasn’t long before you made it to her studio. She was fast as she got off her bike, taking her helmet off before pulling you off too. You giggled despite yourself, loving how unnecessary that entire act was.

Bada played it cool after that. “Yeah I’m like super strong and stuff. I workout occasionally…you know.”

You looked at her. So much for playing it cool. You tried really hard to keep in your laugh, your face turning red and your eyes looking anywhere but her.

“Interesting…” You said while giggling subtly. “Yeah..” Bada said with an awkward cough. “Anyways, let’s go in.” She hurriedly switched the subject, ushering the both of you inside. Once you both settled your stuff, you looked at each other. “Soooo…” You looked around.

Bada looked at you sheepishly, looking kind of guilty. “To be honest, I only did this so I could spend time with you..” She mumbled, looking like a kicked puppy as she looked around.

Smiling, you sat on the floor facing the mirror. You patted the spot next to you. “So let’s get to know each other some more..”

Bada giggled again, looking like she just won a million bucks as she sat next to you. The night went on, as the both of you talked about anything. From favorite colors, to wondering if aliens exist, to theories about the multiverse.

“Do you think we’d meet in every universe?” You questioned. Bada looked at you, her eyes sparkling brightly as she took in you, your soul…your existence in her life. “I would hope so…I think you’re the only one I’d want to meet in every universe.”

She held your hand, interlocking your pinkies together as you guys giggle. “You're actually probably stalking me in every universe” Bada says jokingly.

You look at her with wide eyes and an offended expression. “Way to ruin the moment dummy..”

A/N: Tony Ann is so perfect to listen to whenever I write. Def check him out

[ode-to-spring]

˚⊹₊ ⋆ MISC. BOYFRIEND HEADCANONS ...ꜜ

genshin boys as significant others, what are their little quirks that make loving them all the more worth it?

ੈ♡˳ ayato, diluc, gorou, heizou, itto, thoma, venti, xiao, & zhongli x reader (romantic, separate !) yes they're in alphabetical order cause i'm me

ੈ♡˳ category :: fluff :)

ੈ♡˳ warnings :: n/a, please tell me if i missed any !

ੈ♡˳ a/n :: ouuuu emilia's writing again OUUUU

. . . boyfriend! ayato, who always delivers gifts for you when he's on trips abroad. it's a secret he'll never tell his peers, but he hates going on business trips. not because he dislikes the notion of traveling, or that he isn't willing to fulfil his duties as yashiro commissioner, but he doesn't like how it takes him away from you. thus, even when you're an entire ocean away, he sends you little souvenir and delicacies from wherever he visits to let you know that you're remembered. an embroidered fan from liyue, world class pies from mondstadt, delicious sweets from sumeru... nothing is too lavish for his love, who never leaves his mind no matter where in the world he may be.

. . . boyfriend! diluc, who leaves you little notes at the winery for you to find. sometimes, his duties call earlier than he'd want them to (much to his dismay, if he decides he hasn't spent enough tine with you yet). on those days when he'll have to leave at dawn without being able to give you so much as a goodbye, he takes time to scribble down a message for you before he takes off. messages of love, little reminders, a brief on where he's going and why-- anything he can to show you that he still cares no matter where on teyvat he goes.

. . . boyfriend! gorou, who likes laying on your lap after a long day of training. at first, you teased him for it, saying his dog genes were getting the best of him, but after a while you noticed he genuinely seemed comfortable with you that way. more often than not he'd fall asleep, even. kokomi explains it as him seeing you as his comfort person, that he'd be at ease when he was with you despite how tired he'd be from duties as general. you found this phenomenon quite adorable.

. . . boyfriend! heizou, who claims he can think more clearly and work much better when you're by his side. a childish claim from he who claims to be the best detective in the world, but he couldn't care any less. he always manages to make up an excuse for you to come along on his cases. when investigating, sometimes he asks for stupid things under the guise of asking for your help. holding his hand so he can lead the both of you closer to the answer? undoubtedly logic in his eyes! grabbing you by the waist to keep you near him so you won't get lost? don't see the problem with that! kissing his forehead so his genius brain can work better? ...alright, maybe that will take him a bit too out of commission to focus on the case.

. . . boyfriend! itto, who has the ataraki gang help him to set up your dates. knowing him, he won't allow anything involving you to be simple and sweet, no no, he's all about extravagance! only the best for the love of his life, he says! last minute planning and execution with the arataki gang has become a recurring factor when it's his turn to decide on dates and the nature of them. admittedly, they don't quite always go well... maybe a little fire here from burning food they cooked, or a horrible attempt of a live musical performance going south because of the members sheer lack of skill... but it's the thought and effort that counts! and they certainly have a lot of that ♡

. . . boyfriend! thoma, who always makes you handmade and homemade gifts. whether it's a little origami craft he learned how to make, a pastry he got the recipe of recently, or a flower crown with blossoms he picked himself while out to do errands-- he's willing to give anything he can to you. they aren't just random little trinkets either, not for him at least. each one he makes with the intention of giving it to you first and foremost. love and care are carefully put into the craft, and you always get first look when he tries something new. after all, you deserve nothing but the best in his eyes!

. . . boyfriend! venti, who embarrasses you by singing songs he wrote for you in public. as a bard, he considers it his duty to entertain the people of his city, but does he really need to make it obvious who his songs are for specifically? he sings with such a smile on his face that you know he knows what he's doing, annoying bastard. his excuse? well, he wants to proclaim to the whole world his love for you! songs dedicated to you will reach across the seas of teyvat and be sung till the end of time, he promises. for as long as his music lives and his lyrics never die from peoples memory, memoirs of his love for you will live for ages to come.

. . . boyfriend! xiao, who never fails to make time for you. work as a yaksha is terribly busy-- even when there aren't any demons around liyue to eradicate, he spends a great amount of his days patrolling and protecting the nation however he can. but still, he makes sure that his work doesn't keep him away from you for too long. he isn't quite used to this relationship thing, and frankly might not know his way around making you feel loved, but he tries. even the simple moments of rest he has with you he appreciates, he can only hope you feel the same.

. . . boyfriend! zhongli, who takes you out to gorgeous places in liyue. barely anyone would have discovered otherwise. he has governed this land for a great many centuries, and in turn have seen the rise and fall of many beautiful places due to change in geographical landscapes. but still, he's bound to have a few with beauty preserved throughout the years, and he's more than happy to take you to all of them. on top of tourist worthy spots, he sometimes brings a bit of food, wine,  and flowers to present to you on these dates, as well as a great many stories if where you're visiting to keep you both entertained.

[cielcreations]

Hazbin Hermits - Prologue

AN: Hermitcraft/Empires/3rd Life Series X Hazbin Hotel AU.

Meaning lots of cursing, fighting, blood, violence, flirting, shipping, sexual innuendos/implied sexual content, and pretty much everyone is a bad person to some degree.

If you don't like your favorite characters made to be not so great people, then do not read.

"Good afternoon! I'm Katherine Killjoy!"

"And I'm Joey JaxHammer! Chaos outside pentagram city today, as a turf war is raging on the west side between notable kingpins Lord Fwhip and self-proclaimed spunky powerhouse Mythical Sausage!"

"That's right Joey! After the recent extermination, many areas are now up for grabs! Demons all over Hell are already duking it out to gain new territory!"

"Those two seem to be really going at it, huh?"

"Looks like they're fighting tooth and nail for that hotspot!"

"And I'd like to nail their hotspots, am I right, fellas~?"

"Haha, you are a limp dick jackass, Joey! Or should I say-" Katherine poured her hot coffee on his lap, the man hissing and moving before she could actually spill it on his dick, "-no dick?"

"Bitch." The man hissed.

"Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the younger son of Hell's own head honcho, who's here to discuss his brand-new passion project!"

"All that, after the break!" Joey exclaimed, taking his mug and pouring his coffee on Katherine's head.

"YOU LITTLE SH-"

The two looked away from the TV. The blue haired demon tugged the tie a bit tighter, just to make the prince look more presentable.

"Okay." He finished, stepping back, "Are you ready? You remember what to say?"

The blonde took a deep breath, his purple eyes widening in excitement as he exclaimed, "Yes! Let's do this!"

"Just, look at me, and I'll mouth it to you, Zed." The man grabbed the prince's shoulders.

Zed had light blonde hair with brown ram horns, pale skin, wearing a black suit with a red tie, no shoes so his hooves could breath.

"Ugh, come ooooon, Tango, I know what to say!" Zed reassured, smiling, "But, I do think we should make it a bit more interesting! I-I mean, I don't want to go up there and sound robotic, you know?"

Tango, normally, had yellow hair, that could change into different colors depending on how hot he got. Since he could control fire and such, his hair would change colors to match the fire type and, sometimes, it could even turn on fire. His skin was pale with a bit of a blue tint, his nails sharpened into claws. He wore a black crop top and black shorts, long black heeled boots. He also had black belts wrapped around his waist with golden buckles, black cloth to create an overskirt. (Art of Tango by @/lunarcrown)

"I get that, babe, but this is serious." Tango reminded him, "You can't go up there and squeal and giggle the whole time. It's adorable, yes, but not all sinners are going to trust and believe in your project unless you look serious and you know what you're doing."

"I told you through a fit of excited squeals."

"Yeah, and I listened because I know and believe in you." The demon motioned to the others, "These sinners don't. They don't know you, they barely know your older brother, and they certainly won't believe in you at first. It's why you gotta go up there, show them who's in charge, and act like this plan is full-proof!"

"But we don't know if it is..." Zed reminded.

"Your right, and neither do they." Tango booped his nose, "Which is our advantage. No one knows if this works, but if we act like we're the experts, people believe."

"Prince Zedaph? Five minutes before we're live." A demon called.

Tango smiled at the blonde, kissing his forehead, "You got this! I'll be right behind the camera, so if you need me?"

Zed nodded, smiling, "Don't worry, I got this!"

He turned around, walking to the desk and smiling, offering his hand, "Hi, I'm Zed-"

"Katherine Killjoy." The female anchor hissed, "You can put that away. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that would be a lie." She then sneered, "Look, my time is money, so I'll keep this short. You're not here because we wanted you here. You're here because Jeffery couldn't make it to his cannibal cooking segment! You may be some royal bigshot, but that doesn't mean shit to me! I'm too rich and influential to giving a flying fuck about some tux wearing demon 'prince'-" (she put "prince" in quotations, as if Zed wasn't one) "-wants to advertise."

Zed narrowed his eyes, "Listen-"

Katherine leaned forward, glaring, "So don't get cute with me, or I'll fucking break you!"

"And we're live!"

Katherine zoomed to her seat, tilting her head so much, it sounded like she broke it, "Welcome back!" Once Zed was sat down, she spoke again, "So, Zedaph!"

The blonde's eyes twitched as he smiled awkwardly, "It's Zed-"

"Whatever! Tell us about this new passion project you've been insistently pestering our news station about!"

"Welllllll..." Zed looked around at the demons, Tango standing by the camera man with a smile and thumbs up. He smiled and took a deep breath as he spoke, "As most of you know, I was born here in Hell and growing up, I tried to see the good in everything around me. Hell is my home and you are my people. We just went through another extermination and we lost so many souls! It breaks my heart seeing my people being slaughtered every year!" He slammed his fist on the table, sighing, "No one is even given a chance and I can no longer stand idly by when the place I call home, the place I love, is constantly being destroyed!"

He stood up, smiling, "So, I've been thinking, isn't there a more humane way to hinder Hell's overpopulation? Perhaps we can find a new alternative way to save souls through redemption? I think yes, and that's what this project aims to achieve! Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, I'm opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!"

Everyone was silent, staring at the man.

Everyone outside stared at the TV.

One in particular tilted his head in curiosity.

Everyone in the news station... started laughing.

Zed shrunk in on himself as Tango moved to stand beside him, his blue hair turning into flames as he glared at everyone.

"What in the nine circles makes you think a single person in hell would give two shits about becoming a 'better person?!'" Katherine cackled, "You have no proof that this actually works and you want people to be good just because?!"

"You have no proof it doesn't work!" Tango hissed, flames surrounding his body, "Besides, we already have a patron who's showing incredible improvement!"

"Ooooooh, and who might that be~?" Katherine sneered.

Tango leaned forward, intentionally burning her wooden table with a smirk, "Oh, just someone named, SmallishBeans."

"The pornstar?" Joey asked.

"You fucking would, Joey." Katherine glared before snickering, "In any case, that's hardly an accomplishment! I'm sure you can get that hooker to do anything with enough lube and sugar!"

Tango continued to burn her table, the woman looking ready to scratch his eyes out as he drew little doodles, "I beg to differ."

Zed also perked up, smirking, "He's been behaved, clean, and out of trouble for two weeks now!"

"Breaking news!"

Katherine perked up before she smirked, pushing the men away, "We just received word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let's go to the live feed!"

They turned to the TV and Tango pinched his temples as he tried to control himself, Zed muttering out, "Oh shit."

"Oh shit, indeed!" Katherine exclaimed, "It appears the one to join is none other than porn actor Joel, aka, SmallishBeans!" She looked at the two, "What a juicy coincidence! I bet you feel real stupid right now! How does it feel to be a total and utter failure?!"

She began laughing, everyone did, once more.

Tango tried to control himself as Zed clenched his fists.

The prince looked at Tango with glowing red eyes, "Fucking, show them who's boss."

Tango smirked, his teeth sharpening to points, "Gladly."

He jumped across the table, lighting everything on fire as he began to beat Katherine and Joey.

***

The prince and his boyfriend sat in a limo, across from the other sinner. The sinner had brown hair with a green streak in the middle of his hair, matching his green eyes and green antenna. He wore a long white and light green suit blazer, the top unbuttoned and showing off his muscular chest. He had black shorts and long, knee length black heeled boots. To top it off, he had green transparent fairy wings on his back.

They watched as he rolled the window up and down, clearly in his own little world. Eventually, he seemed to notice the two were staring at him.

The brunette stopped, leaned back, and shrugged, "What?"

"'What?' 'WHAT?!'" Tango screamed, his hair turning to blue, almost purple flames, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, JOEL?!"

"Ugh, I had too, I owed Sausage a solid!" Joel huffed, "Isn't that one of those 'redeeming qualities'? Helping friends and all that?!"

Zed leaned into the window with a groan as Tango reprimanded him, "Not in turf wars that result in genocide?!"

"Meh, you win some, you loose a few hundred!"

"Joel, that was really not cool." Zed groaned, "You just... You made us look like jokes!"

"Nah, chill out, jokes are funny! I made you all look sad and pathetic!"

"Oh, cause that's any better?!" Tango growled.

"Look, I had to!" Joel argued, "My reputation was on the line! You know what people would say if they found out I was trying to go clean?! Not to mention, people would know where I am and try to break into the hotel to get some of me! Do you want a whole mob down there?"

"Listen, if you want to stay here, you need to take this shit seriously!" Tango demanded, walking towards the brunette, "We're not going to give you a free room, free food, free whatever else if all you do is fuck around! So, you either sit down, buckle the fuck up, and try to redeem yourself and help the hotel's reputation, that you burned to cinder!" He glared, flames coming out of his mouth, "Got it?"

Joel groaned, "Okay, fine, whatever."

"C-Calm down, Tango." Zed offered his hand, Tango moving to sit beside him again, "I-It's not over yet, we can still try! It'll be okay!"

The limo stopped at the hotel and the three went inside. Tango flopped on the couch with a groan, Joel grabbing a popsicle and sitting in a chair. Zed groaned and went to go upstairs, only to stop.

Someone knocked on the door.

He walked towards it and opened the door.

In front of him stood a tall dirty blonde man with his eyes closed, wearing a blue striped coat with dark blue sleeves, the coat falling to his knees. Underneath the coat, he wore a white dress shirt with a black upside down cross on the chest, as if to resemble a tie, long black dress pants with bright blue cuffs. Over his feet, he wore black heeled boots that rested under his pants. Behind his back, he held a long thin cane with a sentient vintage style microphone attached to it.

The whole time, he smiled.

Zed shrunk a little as the man opened his eyes. He had black sclera with blue eyes, staring down at the prince.

"HELLO!" He spoke, his voice altered to sound like that of a broadcast.

Zed shut the door on instinct, "Uh, Tango?"

"Whaaaaat?" The flame demon groaned.

"The Radio Demon is at the door!"

[technicallycleverdetective]

7 for Jance and 29 for Bojere please? :)

Thank you so very much for these TWO prompts :) It really gets the juices flowing. It's a little imbalanced in terms of length, but I hope you enjoy <3

7…to shut them up. (Jance)

When Jan was interested in something, he liked to understand everything about it. When Nace was interested in something, he liked to tell people about it. They were a good match, a talker and a listener.

Talking was a sign that Nace was comfortable. He usually spoke for a little bit and then, as if hyperaware of the fact that he might bore people, would clam up sharply. If the listener wanted to hear more, they had to ask. And Jan did ask, not because he had any great interest in turtles or Pokémon, but because Nace was so happy when he did. After they’d been together for a few months, when he seemingly felt confident that Jan wasn’t going to tell him to shut up if he was overly enthusiastic about all the little facts he knew, he started to talk for longer without being asked.

“Oh, and there’s also this thing…”

“I just remembered something else…”

“That reminds me, did you know…?”

Jan didn’t really understand a lot of it, but Nace’s eyes were so bright and his smile was so wide when he spoke about his interests, and he was always the picture of attention when Jan talked about his thesis or tried to explain the workings out of a maths problem. It was only fair to give the same courtesy in return.

That being said, Jan did have his limits.

Nace had recently discovered the joys of online Pokémon games and was spending entire afternoons on his laptop, going through round after round. Jan had tried to be a good boyfriend and ask questions, because showing an interest seemed to be the only way to get the pleasure of Nace’s company, but he was really struggling to understand how the game worked. Nace had been explaining it for several days – the different creatures, their abilities, their strengths and weaknesses against each other – and Jan had been trying not to let his fatigue show, but really, there was only so much he could listen to when he had no actual interest in any of it.

Nace had been talking about it throughout breakfast this morning, throughout washing the dishes, and Jan had just walked into their bedroom to find him on the laptop again. He glanced up with a sunny grin.

“Jan, come see, I got my Eevee to evolve.”

Jan was vaguely aware of Eevee. It was very cute and apparently very versatile with its evolutions.

“Well done,” he said, hoping Nace wouldn’t try to explain it any further. No such luck.

“I’ve been trying to get an Umbreon for ages,” he said, turning the laptop screen around to face Jan. “Look, it’s a black cat. And do you know they’re really protective of their trainers as well? It’ll be like having a Pokémon version of you.”

He looked at the strange alien-feline creature and then at Nace, who was visibly excited at having a Pokémon that reminded him of Jan. Or maybe just a Pokémon that had good stats. Hell if he knew, and he didn’t care, but Nace was being irresistibly cute right now. He crawled across the bed, forcing Nace to put the laptop aside to make room for Jan in his lap, and held his face between his palms. Nace’s eyes were fixed on him, as if an invisible string had looped them together, and Jan savoured the unbroken attention before the string pulled taut and he leaned in for a kiss.

He could feel Nace still smiling against his mouth while his arms circled Jan’s back, pulling him in and parting his lips. Maybe Jan wasn’t the only one who’d missed the togetherness, the way he often didn’t realise how hungry he was until he actually ate something.

They were parted only by the need for air and Nace blinked up at him, less excited now, more contented and a little bit dazed. “What was that for?”

“You’re adorable and I wanted to.”

Nace turned a little red and tried to hide his face. Jan grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek, continuing to the sensitive spots beneath his ear, on the side of his neck, in the hollow of his collarbone. “How about you leave the Pokémon version of me for a while and play with the real thing?”

“Mm…” He felt Nace’s hand slide under his shirt even as he pretended to think about it. “Okay, let me save the game and then I’m all yours.”

All mine. Yeah, he liked the sound of that.

*

29…as a promise. (Bojere)

There have been a lot of promises made over the few months since they met.

“I’ll come to Finland,” an easy promise said with a kiss on the cheek, an affectionate expression of pure delight.

“Everything is going to be alright,” whispered in between dozens of hard kisses pressed to cheeks and brow and mouth and temples, not sure whether the tears were for the loss or the impending separation, but trying to be an anchor even as his own emotions threatened to spill over.

“I’m here,” said as arms wrap around the shorter frame, planting a kiss on top of black hair.

“I’ll see you soon,” said all too soon afterwards, a gentle press of lips as Jere’s head tilts upwards, eyes closed.

And then again, like deja-vu, the same promises made all over again, the same hellos and goodbyes with a kiss to mark each one.

And then the promises stop.

The vague suggestions start. “I’ll try. Maybe. If there is time.”

The kisses no longer find their way to warm skin, instead flying and dying against the cold plastic of a webcam.

What are they? Officially nothing has changed, but how can this be sustainable?

Bojan asks the question. “When do you think we can meet up again?”

“Hmm, you tell me.”

He asks again.

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

And again.

“No, we are not doing this today.”

And again.

“Not this question again.”

Again.

“Last time you ask about this, we argue.”

He stops asking. He doesn’t give up, but he lowers his expectations. Long distance was always going to be difficult. He was always the one to make promises. A part of him is scared that if he stops trying, Jere will do the same, and losing him is worse than having him for only short periods of time. He loves him. Even despite the distance, even despite the feeling that he’s no longer an important part of Jere’s life, a piece of his heart still lives in Finland and keeps calling him back.

He goes back, mainly to capitalise on the success of their last visit, because he is a professional before anything else. But when he sends a text to say the band have a couple of Finnish dates and he hopes Jere will be able to see them – just to say hello, just for a little while, he’s not trying to make demands on his not-quite-lover-but-still-kiss-and-have-sex-sometimes friend’s precious time – he can’t concentrate from nerves until the reply comes through to say that Jere does have time, that in fact his schedule is miraculously empty for those exact dates, and Bojan breathes and wonders if it’ll be okay after all.

It’s okay. It’s always okay with Jere. Time and distance have allowed Bojan to forget how good it feels to be around him, but now he remembers and forgets how he learned to be okay without him.

It’s the part that comes afterwards which kills him.

Finland is only the start. The rest of the tour beckons and after that…Bojan doesn’t know what’ll come after that. A holiday, he hopes, and where will he spend it? What does the rest of Jere’s year look like? They haven’t talked about it very much lately, haven’t really talked about anything that would risk upsetting the joy they find in each other. Their lives are so stressful and both of them want the other to be a source of relief, not another worry, so they never touch the difficult topics.

He doesn’t know how much longer he can ignore it.

He is not watching the TV, focused more on the feel of Jere’s hair through his fingers and the hands of the clock in the corner. The guys are in the hotel and Bojan is here, a guest in Jere’s apartment. It was never a question that they’d spend every available second together. The knowledge that it’s all temporary is torturous.

“Do you think you’ll have time to meet up again this year?” he asks.

“For you, yes, always. Tell me when is good.”

He sighs deeply and Jere pulls away from him, sitting up. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing.” Everything.

“You sigh like this when you are sad. Why?”

“I’m just…” He rubs his hands over his face. “I’m tired.”

“Okay,” Jere turns the TV off. “We go to sleep?”

“No.” Yes. He can’t be exhausted tomorrow, but sleep is an admission of defeat. He’s back to being a schoolchild on a Sunday night. “Why don’t you tell me when is good next time?”

When he turns, Jere looks confused and a spark of anger ignites. Is it such a foreign concept that he might take initiative instead of waiting around for Bojan to come to him?

“I am busy…”

“Yes, I know you’re busy. I know you’re a lot busier than I am.”

“I do not say this. You are busy too.”

“I am. Do you have any holidays this year or is your calendar just packed all the way to December?”

Jere blinks and looks at Bojan like a kicked puppy. “My holidays maybe don’t match yours.”

“You can make them,” Bojan suggests. “After our tour, we’ll be in the studio for a while. You can take time off and stay with me in Ljubljana. I know I’ll be working, but we can still hang out.”

Jere shifts uncomfortably. “It is difficult.”

“You promised you’d come to Slovenia,” Bojan blurts out. “Why have I come to you three times and you’ve never bothered to come to me? Why is it always me who has to get on a plane?”

“I have no time.”

“You had time to go to Thailand!”

Jere’s mouth falls open and Bojan knows that was a low blow. “I go with my family, Bojan!”

“I know…”

“I know you know! You leave your boys for family. You know it is important.”

“I’m sorry…” He leans forward and grips his hair in both hands, taking a few deep breaths before he speaks again. “I just want to know, will you ever come to Slovenia? I understand if it’s not a promise you can keep anymore, but I’d like to know so I’m not waiting forever.”

He feels an arm rest around his shoulders and Jere’s face against his, the ends of his hair tickling a little. “I mean it when I say it and I still do, but maybe not now. Maybe when all is less crazy.”

“Things will always be crazy if you keep doing so much.”

Jere sighs. “I maybe need you to make me take holidays. It is hard, always too many things and not enough time, but then you tell me you are coming here and nothing else matters. Only you. Then it is easy to say no. Nobody else can make me do that. Even Mikke has to book Thailand first to make me go or else I keep putting it off.”

Bojan lifts his head, something painfully close to hope stirring in his chest. Jere’s face is so close to his, peering at him with concern, and then he cups Bojan’s cheek and wipes away a tear that he didn’t realise was there.

“If I create some free days, can you do the same and fly over?” he suggests.

Jere nods. “I would like that. Then you can have fun time cancelling things and not me for once.”

Bojan giggles, realising he’d never considered the situation from that perspective. “It’s a deal then.”

He offers his hand to close the agreement. Jere looks at it dubiously, and then takes Bojan’s hand in his and presses his lips to the knuckles, staring up at him through his eyelashes.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

hi ari!!!! hope you’re doing well!! 🐟🐟 these days the weather is so so nice and the sea is so tempting……………… i went ahead and took some days to swim like the fish i am! surprisingly the water wasn’t so cold and it seems i wasn’t the only one who thought of swimming because the beach was full of people 🙂‍↕️ it was really fun!

anyway!! i wanted to ask you, which films and/or cinematic universes you think your jjk favs would suit the most??? :33 if it is too restraining you can name tv series, of course!!

(p.s.: oh, i’m glad you liked my silly rant about statue!gojo TT 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 it has been rotting in my mind for months now but i’m a procrastinator and i have too many wips… i think it might be that summer is near and i’m super inspired but i don’t know where to begin lmaooo. my notebook is overflowing with half-finished prompts and chapters that are waiting to be completed……. 😭😭) — 🐟 anon

HIIIII MY LITTLE 🐟 ANON!!!! :33

i’m so happy that it’s getting warmer where you are!!!!! the weather is starting to take a turn for the better here too hehe….. but wahhh!!!! beach trips!!!!!!! i miss them i do…. you’ll have to have double the fun for both of us!!! <3333

AND . GULP. that’s a super fun question and also super tough bc i don’t watch …. a lot of movies……… 😔😔 i’ve been watching more recently!!!! but honestly i have a lot of trouble remembering series and movies that i’ve watched….. my brain doesn’t store a lot of them. HOWEVER . yk what i do watch??? and adore????

……. musicals >:33

so here are some musicals that i associate w my jjk favs!!! I HOPE THAT’S OKAY… i got a little too into it i think 😭

gojo - legally blonde

I JUST THINK HE WOULD LOVE IT SO MUCH……….. i know him personally . honestly i would’ve given him the movie if i had followed your original assignment bc it just screams gojo to me either way!!!! i think he loves chickflicks. :3 and this is definitely one of his comfort movies…… the musical is also just SUCH a bop i knowwwww this man is terrorizing his coworkers by singing ”gay or european” in broad daylight (specifically to nanami)……

sugu - the phantom of the opera

THE PHANTOMMMMMMM OF THE OPERA IS HEREEEEEEEE 🎶🎶🎶🎶 …. <- sugu doesn’t sing along to musicals + doesn’t rlly like them that much in general but i know in my heart and soul that he would hum this part quietly to himself . what can i say….. this is just a very classy musical that i think would appeal to him <3333 he’d read the book beforehand too. he’s a lil pretentious but it’s okay :3 he’s veryyyy picky abt what musical renditions he enjoys tho…….

shoko - the guy who didn’t like musicals

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE MUSICAL OF ALL TIMEEEEE <333333 i just know she’d adore it. the blend between horror and comedy is soooo shoko and i feel like she wouldn’t like musicals at ALL lmao so she’d appreciate the meta commentary!!!! it’s just. suchhhh a good musical….. i love starkid so much it hurts………… AND THE WHOLE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE THINGGG she would eat that up!!!! pls watch this one if you haven’t 🐟 anon you can find the full thing on yt and it’s INCREDIBLE i’ve watched it like 10 times!!!! it’s my most beloved!!!!

kenny - beetlejuice

BEETLEJUICE 👏 BEETLEJUICE 👏👏 BEETLEJUICE 👏👏👏 okay so i actually lied this one is ALSO my absolute favorite . and i’m giving it to kenny solely based on vibes :3 HE REMINDS ME OF BEETLEJUICE OK…. and i think he’d love it a lot. the songs are so fucking good and i know he’d appreciate them. the theme of life/death is also very kenny obv !!!!

toji - black friday

ANOTHER STARKID MUSICAL. this one is just…… soooo good and funny and also . tragic. one of the characters reminds me a lot of toji :’3 former veteran w a dead wife…. who struggles to show his son how much he cares…… and the theme of capitalism and money and how it corrupts ppl also feels in line w toji’s character!! but above all else this musical is abt. Family. and that’s more toji than anything!!! :((( this is another musical that i rlly recommend checking out, it’s set in the same universe as the guy who didn’t like musicals but like . an alternate timeline. it’s not my favorite in the series but the songs slap and it made me cry so <3333 yeah.

nobara - heathers

was lowkey considering six the musical for my beloved nobara (bc of the gorgeous women and catchy fun songs) but . i think heathers fits her more!!!! i just feel like she’d ADORE it…… i know she’s singing along at the top of her lungs too LMAO especially to dead girl walking <3333 it’s just such a fun badass musical and i think she’d be obsessed. she does NOT like jd tho god bless 🙏🙏

[chrishoughton]

i have been a big city greens fan from the very beginning and i recently just started rewatching it with my best friend who’s never seen it before. she lives over a thousand miles away in another state and it’s so hard being apart, but every night we get on the phone and watch BCG together through disney+. it has been one of highlights of my weeks lately.

I relate so much to Gloria, more than i wish i did sometimes, as a barista currently trying to make it as an artist and dreaming of going to paris hahaha. I love her.

all of this to say that i am so thankful for big city greens and the characters, it is so real and so funny and such a comfort to me. when BCG came out i had just started art school and it was a huge inspiration and continues to be today as i have grown and learned. my dream was and still is to make something as heartfelt and genuine as BCG one day. I’ve come close to giving up so many times and this year especially has been really difficult in a lot of ways, but rewatching your show has reminded me of what i set out to do in the first place. it has helped me find that motivation again.

thank you and Shane for creating such a gem, you have no idea how much it means to me. I hope you and your family had a wonderful thanksgiving!

(and since this wasn’t a question and you got on me for that last time i sent you a message, I’ll end with this:

what are cricket and tilly’s favorite songs of all time, respectively, and why? I would love to know so i can add them to my big city playlist :’)

thank you again!!)

Oh man, this made my day! Thanks for sharing. It makes me really happy to hear that BCG (and Gloria) is so special to you. I love that you watch it with your friend over the phone. That's adorable??? And it's surreal to hear that BCG is such an inspiration to you because I remember being in art school and wondering the same questions. "Will I ever be able to make something as cool/inspiring/original as ______??"

As cool as it is to be inspired by stuff you like, it can easily become discouraging (at least this is my experience.) Think of all of the artwork/songs/films we've missed out on because artists have talked themselves out of completing their project. Tragic!

It's important to remember that you'll never make anything like BCG (or anything you're inspired by) and that's a good thing! Whatever you create, will go through your individual "filter." It really will be unique because there's no one like you. No one has your exact experiences, perspectives, and outlook on life. Just keep making stuff that feels personal and honest to you and you're bound to make something interesting and unique.

And to answer your question (thank you for finally following the RULES)... Cricket's favorite song would probably be ever-changing depending on his current mood. But I like to think that Gene Autry's "Don't Fence Me In" is quietly playing on loop in the back of Cricket's brain. I could see Tilly loving Mama Cass's "Make Your Own Kind of Music."

Best of luck with the rest of art school!

[anticidic]

Can I just pop in to say I adore your DOA Dazai fics! I absolutely love them. I have been waiting to see him as a member for so long and you realized that dream in a way I never even considered. Stunning, truly amazing. Chuuya and Atsushi showing up and revealing that they know him even if he can't remember them was perfection. Really twisted the knife off the situation he's in. Not to pressure you or anything but I was wondering if you might be planning to write more in the series?

Ahhh, this is so sweet of you to say, thank you!! And I'm happy to hear you enjoyed them! 💖

(related info but mostly me yapping: I started DOA!Dazai as a 'what-if' spin-off because I wanted to explore how catastrophic the butterfly effect would be with Dazai taken out of the equation in canon events. So he never got arrested by Jouno, his crimes never came to light, he never even set foot in Meursault and eventually Fyodor was re-released without issue and is continuing to kinda threaten Fukuchi's plans as a result. Mushitaro still walks free, he ended up evading Ranpo+Poe. IT'S JUST A WHOLE MESS. But I thought it was really neat and I kinda ran with it, and here we are!!)

There's definitely a lot of mind-fuckery going around in the second one. 👀 Dazai will remember he had an actual past life before the DOA but then it recedes until something disastrous occurs and he's reminded all over again like a vicious cycle.

But anyway, I do plan to add more to the series! ✨ The latest manga chapters have been fueling me so much, hehe. I meant to circle back around to the DOA AU for a few months but I was weirdly struggling for inspiration for a bit until recently. (Fyodor+Dazai+Nikolai are SUCH a chaotic trio but I love them with all my heart)

Thank you again, that was so nice of you!

[izzythehutt]

Hello! I just wanted to say that I really love In the Black and Black Mask! I adore your take on the Black family because to me it makes so much more sense than the usual Walburga and Orion casually Crucio-ing Sirius at every mistake take. I really enjoy seeing how history tends to repeat itself in terms of familial relationships, because it's something I see often on families. Also most of their relationships with one another are complicated, and never clear cut.

I loved the most recent chapter, it was honestly hilarious. Ted is absolutely the hero of this chapter, he's the only sane man there and I love how he takes the Blacks being well... The Blacks, in stride. Also Dora just latching onto Cygnus was wonderful and him getting offended when Dora said "but I thought you didn't like us?" was so funny. Seeing Walburga break down was so painful, I think in part because she always appears as strong. Sirius calling her Mama and then hugging her was so wholesome. Also, his 'Reason You Suck' speech to Arcturus had me gasping with both awe and horror in real life because all of these characters are so alive they feel like actual people. Your dialogues are absolutely brilliant, and so much of their personalities shine through from how they speak and react to things.

Also I absolutely love Colette, she's definitely someone who keeps Sirius grounded. Her touching his wrist and telling him to speak to James was so intimate, it felt much more intimate than a spicy smut things or things like that. It reminds me of Pride and Prejudice where there's not actually much PDA going on, but it's infinitely more romantic to me because you can feel the affection between these two people. Also, Colette just shamelessly kissing Sirius in front of everyone (including her own parents!) and calling him darling got me grinning.

I'm excited to see how her parents will react (her mother in particular), because Fabienne (I'm sorry I can't remember her mother's name) strikes me as not having much hope for Colette as long as she marries a respectable pure-blood wizard because she set her sights on Rabastan who is a second son, thus unlikely to inherit, instead of someone like Evan Rosier who is already the head of the family. But then Colette went and snagged the heir to one of the most powerful families in Britain.

I'm sorry for the long comments. Kudos <3

This is a very sweet comment! Thank you!

To be compared with Austen is so flattering, because tbh she is a major inspiration to me in general as a writer and storyteller and in particular for this story. I was re-reading a section of the story and realized that I had flat out stolen phrases from Austen/Austen adaptations (1995 P&P in particular.) Sorry, Jane!

Sirius's rant to Arcturus was peak Reasons You Suck speech, good use of the trope.

I'm glad you enjoy my interpretation, I find it far more interesting (and frankly, fun) than the popular fanon portrayals of over the top abuse and crucio-ing etc.

It's become a bit of a sticking point for me, because I've been accused directly/publicly of putting the blame for the dysfunctional family relationships on Sirius/white-washing abuse more than once. Which I resent, a bit—I don't think I've ever presented the Black parents as healthy or good (though they are entertaining in their problematic manipulativeness at times and I can't deny that I do occasionally play that for laughs.) What I've tried to show (with mixed success, clearly) is that Sirius's coping mechanisms are the product of their bad parenting and don't actually make him a happy/healthy person because he still loves his family, in spite of them being objectively awful. Which I think is probably relatable to many humans on the planet? There's a desire for a relationship with our parents.

As it's a version of characters who never appeared in canon, I would call my softening of them "alternative character interpretation", though I will maintain until the end of time that there's nothing in BSDU characterization directly contradicted by canon.

[sunhated-a]

Okay I got more questions…. (hope I’m not annoying you in any way. I’m the same guy who asked the nihilists question.)

This is more directed to muzans canon backstory.

So a observation, since one of narcissisms root causes is also being emotionally neglected as a child, i think that muzan was never giving enough emotional attention by his parents or anyone really.

But did he ever think about his past and know that he was abused in someway? Or did he just surpass everything about his times as a human that aren’t useful? Or did he just ignore it since it was a long time ago and he thinks it doesn’t really matter at this point?.. or does he not care about it?

Hello anon, I'm glad to see you back! And please, don't worry about annoying me with questions like these, I adore them. They are a huge reason why I made this blog so feel free to come and ask anything whenever.

NOW! To answer your question. For canon Muzan? I absolutely think you're onto something there. I don't know about diagnosing him with Narcissism as a personality disorder. NPD is a very complicated and extremely misunderstood disorder that should be approached with empathy and care. However! He does display some of the traits of what we colloquially call narcissism.

I think Muzan deludes himself into thinking that perfection is his own escape from his past. The way it reminds him of weakness, but the way that he forcibly makes his demons dependent on him does indicate a need to be needed, and his demands to be worshiped by them definitely comes across as someone who deeply craves attention, love and respect. To be seen as perfect in their eyes and nothing less. The way that lack of control over a situation or one of his demons will lead him into a rage, to the point that he is exacting and utterly merciless.

It all leads me to believe that he is deeply affected by his human life.

I went back to the extended flashback scene that we were given in the anime recently. And while Muzan did live in lavish conditions (especially for the time) and was surrounded by servants, we never actually saw any of his family members. We never really saw a scene between himself and his mother or father, or his siblings, or much of a relationship between him any anyone really. So it's not too much of a reach to say that he did suffer from emotional neglect, or some sort of abandonment. Which would explain his resentful and hateful feelings towards much of the world.

Now why he seemed to face this abandonment-- if at all-- is still up in the air. Maybe his parents just weren't sure how long he'd be alive for, maybe they didn't want to get attached, maybe they sucked, maybe they're dead. It could be a lot of factors there.

I think that while canon Muzan remembers his past with stunning clarity, he engages with it with the same cold logic he does with everything else. If he has some resentment towards his family, he doesn't seem to show it. Didn't even mention them whenever he narrated his own story.

I, however, think Muzan's past affects him deeply still. He just doesn't show it. Or at the very least, in an outward way. He's far too fixated on his future to really think back on his past, and the person that he once was. Maybe he isn't even aware of how neglect and abandonment has affected him because he shows a lack of introspection throughout the series, especially when it comes to his relationships to others.

But we do see him display a deep fear of abandonment at the end of the manga, which I won't get into detail to avoid specific spoilers, but if you know you know.

But it lends credence to the idea that Muzan never had any substantial relationships.

[black-arcana]

HALESTORM's LZZY And AREJAY HALE Open Up About Mental Health

In a interview with Keen Eye 4 Concerts, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale and her brother, HALESTORM drummer Arejay Hale, opened up about their personal experiences with a diverse array of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, and how music has helped them get through their hardest times. Arejay said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My life greatly improved four years ago. Going through immense heartbreak and a terrible breakup with someone you thought was your forever person really makes you a songwriter. Immense heartbreak and tragic life things that happen really, really force you to turn to music to help you cope with it, help you to get through it. So I'm thankful that I went through all that because it made me figure out how to express my emotions in music and how much better it made me feel, how much it helped me get through it. So now that I'm at a place now where my life is more stable and I have an incredible partner, I've got an adorable little dog, I'm glad I was able to kind of bring those things that I learned to the table now and utilize them when I'm writing for either HALESTORM, [my side project] KEMIKALFIRE or myself. Yeah, I think that you can get to the point where you're more mentally balanced, but you can still keep on being creative and keep on bringing things to the table."

Lzzy, who co-founded HALESTORM in her teens and has become an advocate for women and mental health in recent years, said: "And I'm so glad to see [Arejay] happier. We've all seen each other in our lowest lows and our highest highs and helped each other work through them. Arejay has been immense in my ups and downs and healing.

"Something that I try to remind myself of, I think it's helpful to remember that we're on a seesaw," she continued. "There is immense darkness and immense light on either side and one cannot exist without the other. You can't be all one way; there has to be a balance of the two. So I think that for me, if you try to flip the rhetoric and say, 'Well, I'm very grateful for the low times, because those low times were integral in making me who I am. And I like who I am today.' If I had made the best decisions in the world, it would have led me somewhere completely different and I wouldn't appreciate the fact that I've overcome that.

"I think that we have this misconception that we have to be these perfect beings, and we're just not going to be that way, and we shouldn't be that way, because without us failing, falling on our face every single time and trying to move forward, we wouldn't find, we wouldn't recognize our strength," Lzzy added. "And in a selfish way, on a personal level, regardless of whether we're musicians, songwriters, rodeo clowns or strippers or whatever we wanna be, I think that it's important that nobody's expecting you to be perfect, 'cause nobody is. So if you are, in fact, flawed, which we all are… So let's just get that out there — we are all flawed. We are all imperfect. We all make terrible decisions. We all have darkness in us. We all get to the deepest depths and think that we're the most terrible person in the world. We all are there. But as we recognize that and overcome that, you're going to be getting so much more from people. We get so much more from our fans, from our family by admitting to all of that and by showing all of that, because anyone who is looking at you for inspiration or looking at you, especially with us, with that imposter syndrome situation, and if they're looking at you like it's somebody that they want to be, how cool is it that you can say, 'You know what? I'm just as fucked up as you are, and I'm still here.' And that says something."

HALESTORM is currently working on a new album with producer Dave Cobb after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

Lzzy and Arejay formed HALESTORM in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

Last May, HALESTORM teamed up with country singer Ashley McBryde for a reimagined version of the band's song "Terrible Things", which was originally featured on HALESTORM's latest album, 2022's "Back From The Dead".

[colorlesschristmastree]

“It’s not Elriels’ fault that they spent months preparing for Elain’s week and therefore have a lot of content to show for it while you don’t. “ This just reminded me of how many Feyre stans never spend money on arts for her, another fault with this fandom. The main sister who saved everyone has the least art.

Art is a key reason why people enjoy fandom, it brings the storylines and characters to life. Maybe that’s why people aren’t active as Feyre stans because not only is the fandom toxic but there’s barely any decent looking Feyre arts while there’s tons of pretty arts for her mediocre sisters. There’s so much fan art of Feyre’s sisters I thought they were bigger characters before I read the books. How is it that so much time and effort is put into making art for two sisters that barely deserve it? I appreciate any art we have gotten! But…Why bother being in this fandom with barely any Feyre arts being made on top of the fandom being toxic and weird? So many Feyre or Feysand scenes in the trilogy haven’t even been drawn yet all these years later. But you have Feyre stans doing nothing but reblogging sister art. Weirdest fandom ever foreal.

Elain Elriel week meanwhile a bunch of art for characters that barely do shit. Just in case you wonder what may play a role in people not wanting to be active as Feyre stan’s. The author ignores Feyre and the fandom does arts on the sisters that never did shit. Again a very fucking weird fandom. Sorry for the rant I just got triggered by this art topic. People can do what they do what they please with their interests and money this is just a bitter rant I guess, post it or not I rly don’t even care 👌🏼

You are always welcome to vent in my anons!

I do understand the frustration and being saddened by there perhaps not being as much new Feyre art recently and I used to get similarly salty myself. I think it's important to remember though that we don't need to compare ourselves to the fandoms of other characters. A lot of the appeal of other acotar characters comes from how incomplete there stories still are. Many of these other characters still have a lot of unanswered questions and theories surrounding them and in my experience the acotar fandom has always been the most excited about imagining future plots and things for their characters.

I don't think Feyre has the least amount of artwork at all, I'd actually argue that if one were to count every single piece of acotar art that's been released since book 1 came out, so so much of it would be of Feyre or include her! Feyre is the main character of the acotar series and has three books and a novella where she is either the only pov or the primary pov. We Feyre stans are already so spoiled by the author that we don't need to care what other people are doing. Feysand is the center of everything, Feyre got a perfect story and a happy ending, three books, a mansion, and everything she could dream of.

Don't get too hung up on thinking about what other people are doing love. Feyre stans have so much and I personally have cultivated a really lovely circle of close mutuals who all adore her and we all just spend time talking about her and appreciating her. I'd rather the people making content for Feyre be people that are actually stans anyways and not out of some obligation or curiosity. Just focus on the people who really love her and ignore everyone else!