#i never can remember what bait you use where/when and then what you use during the special spectral stuff

[thingswhatareawesome]

starting the irregular moogle stones with a bang X|

took monk into alliance roulette to try to get the weekly syrcus and bc leveling monk (low 50s). was super drowsy through labrynth of the ancients, bc ofc that's the one i got, then same in syrcus when doing that after. then tried to do a prae run for the stones/xp but also for my wt journal, still drowsy.

fell hard asleep. like HARD asleep. somewhere in the cs prior to nero i think. woke up standing in ul'dah confused as fuck, scrolling up to see party chat discussing whether to kick me. i'm so fucking embarassed, like i just sat there for the longest time just wallowing in how embarassed i felt. even though those people are total strangers and i won't run into them again.

tried doing the msq roulette again (no problem queueing again, if there was a penalty i'd been out of it long enough to wait it out), got prae again, finished that time at least.

but jfc i still want to hide under my desk, bc what an idiot -__- at least i only need like 275ish tomestones this round.

[blorbocedes]

Hiii - for the fic prompts:

girlcedes - 7. Trapped in a room/closet/elevator

Lewis is glaring at Nico like she orchestrated this.

"I have places to be too." Nico says out loud, in her general direction. They're standing as far you can socially distance on an elevator. An elevator that the intercom buzzed in and reported would take fifteen minutes to send in the guys to fix. That was twenty minutes ago. Such glitz and glamour to live in Monaco.

"Not you. Claustrophobia." Lewis grits her teeth. She's sitting in a corner, squatting in her Dior running shoes. Probably showing off her knees can still take it.

Nico's leaning by the glass mirror because she's wearing a white pantsuit.

Oh right. Claustrophobia. Nico always forgets because it's always funny, the cars they drive in is more cramped than the spacious elevator. But it's about control, she gets that. Lewis in a Formula 1 car is just an extension of her body. But Lewis would always keep the door of the drivers room open, back in Mercedes.

"How are you scared of this and not jumping off a plane? It should be child's cake to you. Hm, that's not right. Child's play?" Nico frowns trying to locate the metaphor in the medley of languages in her brain. She speaks mostly to keep Lewis distracted. Nico herself is not, her positive outlook mantras covered this. Negative thoughts cannot happen if you don't let it. That's why she never checked her portfolio after the AI company she invested in rugpulled millions. It simply does not exist if she doesn't give it the power to.

"Skydiving is incredibly safe," Lewis bites the bait, "It's safer than scuba diving. And you're in control the whole time."

"All it takes is one parachute not opening." Nico shrugs. Even the thought makes her shudder. Absolutely not.

"Good thing they strap you with two then." Lewis drawls. She doesn't say it, too graceful these days, but the idiot is implied.

Nico rolls her eyes but is beaten in the marketplace of ideas.

She turns to the mirror, her shoulder length blonde hair bouncing. There's a pimple cropping up under her chin, she can feel it. She presses down on it, warning it to stay there.

"Don't do that - you look fine." Lewis is frowning, looking up at Nico from where she's crouched.

Nico used to obsessively poke and prod at her face staring at the mirror as a teenager. She's a little embarrassed Lewis remembers from their days of sharing rooms during karting.

"It's the only mirror time I get. Vivi and I are very mindful of not passing any body insecurities to the girls. Entering the pre-teens is a very impressionable time." Nico explains. She doesn't need her daughters rubbing off on her complexes.

Lewis gets up, lithe like a cat, in her oversized crewneck. She looks pointedly at the lack of ring on Nico's hand. "How's the divorce going?"

Nico purses her lips. "Conscious uncoupling. Very well, thank you. How's Ferrari?" She switches the subject. "Learn any Italian yet?"

"I've downloaded Duolingo." Lewis smiles, sheepishly, the gap in her teeth is still charming even after all these years.

"I remember teaching you some." In bed, tangled up in each other, another lifetime ago.

"I'm sure none of that was usable, man."

"Hm. You should try ti va di fare dolce su e giù?" Nico smirks.

"What does it mean?" Lewis asks.

Nico just smiles in that way when she knows something Lewis doesn't. "I'm sure Leclerc will be down. Happy to... accommodate." The double entendre in her voice gives it away.

Lewis takes a step closer, her hand on the railing where Nico is standing. And suddenly, the elevator feels like a much smaller space, with nowhere to hide. She shakes her head, the rings on her tattooed hands glittering. Nico feels strangely naked without hers. "He's not my type."

Nico leans forward. "And who is?"

The elevator doors ding open. They are on Lewis' floor.

[tokutaiseichan]

I’ve pointed this out before but so far, Hotarubi is the only chapter where a Like Dove never made any appearances. Thanks to Taiga, we know that Like Dove is probably some kind of a spying device and everything points to the possibility that its duty is to monitor missions involving ghouls.

Yet it never made an appearance during the course of Hotarubi’s mission. Why is that? At first, I thought it’s perhaps because Taiga had killed and eaten the one that appeared during the Sinostra chapter. In the first place, we never found out if there are more than one Like Dove. It’s an anomaly—and a rare one at that. It might be the only one or maybe not.

But then I started thinking: what if the reason a Like Dove didn’t appear to monitor the ghouls’ mission this time is because they already have an “Insider” involved in the mission?

Zenji is automatically out. My man’s dead and Darkwick doesn't even know his ghost is still wandering around. Subaru? Makes sense since he has already lied to everyone before. What’s another secret? But after all that happened at the Ultio prison and considering his personality, I feel like what he confessed that time was everything he was involved with. Subaru’s awful at lying and hiding things, if he’s the spy he’d be a bit more obvious and feel even more guilty. So hmm… I wonder who we’re left with……

Remember how during that one time MC was trying to escape again, Haku was the one who just conveniently showed up and successfully convinced her to not defy Darkwick anymore?

Sure, we can see it as simply a considerate gesture of a senior looking after his anxious junior. Especially when it's so blatantly implied later that he had experienced the consequences of going against the rules. Still, the timing is just… too perfect…

MC trying to escape → Bumped into Rui who's about to head to a mission → Haku suddenly appeared (Rui: “But Moby said no one usually rides around this time of the day~”) → Haku scolded both MC & Rui一brought up the clause of disciplinary actions if one were to do anything funny during missions and reminded Rui of his standing (Haku: “You know it's even worse if you're the one she's with, right?”) → Haku got MC away from Rui → Haku reassured MC and convinced her to stay at Darkwick to break her curse first instead of running away (like what he did before?)

It's almost as if he was purposely sent there for damage control.

“I'll keep this incident a secret from the Academy,” when the reason MC can't even escape in the first place is because Darkwick already knows what she's trying to do? Yeah, right. If you have tried to run away before, you'd know Darkwick has eyes everywhere.

I also found his responses from chapter 2 of his Personal Story rather interesting.

If MC thanked him → “…You shouldn't put too much stock in what I said, you know.” (He acts like the ever dependable and reassuring senior to MC but when she expressed genuine gratitude, he immediately backed off. Does he feel guilty because of how MC seems to always trust his words now? Because he’s keeping something from her?)

If MC shook her head → “Looking at you trying so hard made me realize how underhanded I am.” (Now he just sounds so bitter here…)

There's also the bait and switch with Hotarubi.

During Sinostra, MC found out the existence of a spy among the ghouls. And immediately at Hotarubi early chapters, Moby told her that the Hotarubi ghouls are hiding something. This planted seeds of doubt in MC一she thought one of them might be related to the spy. But at the end of the book, it was… in a way, disproven.

The secret they kept was Zenji's existence一for Haku & Zenji一and Subaru's mission regarding Lyca and his true stigma. This, ironically, leads up to MC being much more determined to trust the ghouls and be more wary about the Academy and Institute一even more than she originally did.

The reason I brought this up? Because the narrative has now painted Hotarubi as the “innocent” house. They made us (both MC & the readers) think how the ghouls over there are just trying their damn best to protect their friends… so that you'd suspect it the least for housing any spy (whom, in Taiga's words, is supposedly trying to screw other ghouls over). They made it seem like Hotarubi must've shown all their cards by now and gave us a sense of… relief? In a way.

(Obviously, there's still the mystery of Haku's dorm transfer. But that's for another day…)

Last but not the least, I'll bring you Haku's last words he told MC before jumping into the fire:

EN: Sorry, I guess I couldn't be the guy you wanted me to be. Ha ha… Don't look like that. Never lost faith in me, did you?

JP: ……すまんね。おまえさんの期待に、応えられんかったわ。はは……そんな顔しなさんな。最後におれを信じてくれて、ありがとね (Direct, almost word-to-word tl: ……Sorry. Looks like I couldn't meet your expectations. Haha…… Don't make that face. Thanks, for trusting me even at the bitter end.)

“Thanks for trusting me to the end,” are you Implying MC has reasons to lose her faith in you, Mister Haku Kusanagi? 🤔🤨

This is probably just me reaching but, has anyone noticed how “trust” seems to be a recurring theme with MC and Haku in particular? “Trust me. You'll be fine here,” and “If you need any help, I'm always happy to lend you a hand,” but also, “Don’t take what I said too seriously.” Which is it???

Anway, since Obscuary is just around the corner, I just wanna say that: 

1) If a Love Dove doesn't appear then it means I'm just looking too much into things and that the reason it doesn't appear is simply because Taiga has killed the one during Sinostra. And everything I wrote up to this point are hogwash.

2) If a Love Dove does appear again, I'll add +1 sus point to Haku.

“Why are you so suspicious of Haku anyway?” Years of watching anime and reading manga/visual novels/etc has taught me that you should always be wary of the sawayaka oniisan type. =w=)b

If you read until this point then thank you for giving my 2 a.m. rambles a chance! But please keep in mind that they don't call me Detective Reaching #2 for nothing. 🤧 For now, I'm going to log off so 🫡 Ciao!

[thewardenisonthecase]

About the Lucanis Romance

(this is a long ass post ok so bear with me)

So I've been meaning to adress some of the complaints/criticisms of Lucanis's romance and I was thinking on how to do it and I finally figured it out. While I don't like making comparisons because I think they're somewhat unfair, but this time, I'm gonna do it to show why I have some many complaints about the Lucanis romance.

And I'm gonna compare it to Fenris's romance arc in DA2. The main reason for that is that 1) they're both very troubled man who brood and went through A Lot tm and 2) considering DA2 also doesn't allow you to just talk to the companions whenever and doesn't have a spam kiss button and is a shorter game, it feels the fairest comparison.

'Lack of reactivity when it comes to the flirting dialogue options'

One of the biggest complaints when it comes to Lucanis romance is his lack of reaction to the flirting dialogue lines. I've seen the argument that 'oh but he's awakward, he doesn't know how to react'. I'm not the biggest fan of this because there are ways to better portray a character being bad with flirting than having 0 reaction.

During Switch and Bait, the quest where Fenris is recruited, you can flirt with him. And how does he react? He gives a nervous laugh, because he's not used to do. But that conveys that he listened to the flirt line and is responding to it, even if he doesn't actually say anything. There are other moments where his reaction is looking away, smirking, and a few times he does flirt back.

Even if small, I never felt that Fenris wasn't reacting to what was being said. Meanwhile, Lucanis has a painful moment where Rook tells him "I'm here" and he, with the straightest face ever, responds with "We need to talk about Ilario". And this is not the only time where it feels like there was no response to the flirting, its just the most egregious of them.

So, while I can understand what people mean by the fact that he's awkward, there are better ways to portray this. It's important to remember that this is a video game, which is an interactive media, and on top of that, it's an RPG. The player HAS to feel like what they're doing matters, because if it doesn't, it's easiert to just read a book.

'Not enough romance scenes'

I think this is a criticism that has been misunderstood by many people. Romance scenes do not mean just sex. I'm asexual, the sex scenes are the thing that least matter to me. Like, Fenris only has 1 sex scenes and it's a fade to black where he immediatly dumps Hawke after, so clearly, sex is not what I care about.

What does matter are scenes that establish a connection between the two character.

And while Lucanis has them, and I think they're great (the coffee scene and the almost kiss one are the highlights for me), due to the way these scenes are spread out, it feels like there's something missing.

DA2 also doesn't have a shitton of romance scenes, and considering the fact that Fenris breaks up with Hawke halfway through, its understandable. But the difference is that DA2 is a much shorter game than Veilguard, or, at the very least, Act 2 of DA2 is waaaay more concise than Act 2 of Veilguard, which is where most of the romance is happening.

That means that, even if there aren't that many romance scenes, they are better splayed out, so you don't feel like you're missing stuff. Another thing that I think happens is that you can really dive in and just ask the companion a lot of things.

Take Fenris's Questioning Beliefs quest in Act 2, which is a really important scene for the romance. Much like veilguard, its a scene that doesn't begin as a romance one but if you have been picking the flirting options, it can turn into Fenris and Hawke discussing about being intimate in the future. And in this scene, Fenris confesses to not having been with anyone in long, and doesn't remember if he actually ever has been with anyone.

This can be made so much longer by the fact that Hawke can ask multiple follow up questions from there, and that helps in both creating a connection between the two and also establishing the romance. Even if they don't do anything then, Fenris will say 'another time'.

And this happens in the act 3 version of Questioning Beliefs, which has the culmination of Fenris's and Hawke's romance, where their relationship is rekindled. And I think they do what Veilguard should have done: they let the player adress Fenris leaving Hawke.

One thing that bothered me, and that other people have brought up is that after Lucanis's runs away from the almost kiss, it's never adressed again. And I think if they could have had a moment where Rook and Lucanis talk about this, it could have been great to understand Lucanis and his history with relationships, how he feels internally about what's going on with them, heck maybe even apologize. Just something to feel that that wasn't a random scene, that was something important that happened.

Also, because you can interrogate Fenris so much in those scenes, the feeling that he was yearning for Hawke but all his trauma was stopping him felt more natural/real/explicit. I remember getting to the endgame portion of Veilguard and Lucanis pulling out the 'when i wanted to be with you but was scared' and thinking this is a lovely sentiment but why it hasn't been shown before? Because yes, the almost kiss is a good way to establish this, but if it had been actually delved in, that feeling could have been made more explicit.

I also wanted to add that, while the gift giving in DA2 is nowhere near the mechanic it was in DAO, it still helped with establishing that connection, and it gave even more chances for characters to flirt, and if DATV had used this opportunity, it could have helped a lot, instead of just having the character go "for me? thanks"

'Banter'

I'm gonna adress two issues here at once. The first is Neve.

Out of the gate, hating on Neve just because she flirts with Lucanis and gets with him if you don't romance either of them is weird, and at the very least, sexist.

So, what I want to talk about is that if you're romancing either of them, for some reason, their flirting banters still trigger and that can be uncomfortable. It sure is weird to be romancing a character and have them still flirt with another, because it comes across as 'oh maybe the choice to romance them doesn't change much' which isn't good for an RPG.

DA2 also has a couple that flirts through banter and gets together if Hawke doesn't romance them, and those are Isabela and Fenris. The difference is that, if you romance either of them, those flirty lines of banter do not trigger. At all. So much so I had no idea they got together because I've only romanced Fenris so far in DA2, so i never even knew of these banters until I looked at the wiki.

So, truly, lucanis and neve getting together is fine (i think neve should have been with bellara but that's another story) but these flirting line should not trigger if either of them are being romanced by Rook.

Still on the topic of banter, maybe I was unlucky and didn't get it to trigger often, but I felt as if, even though everyone was living together, the fact that Rook and Lucanis were in a relationship was not really ever addressed by anyone else? Like, I know these banters exist because I've seen them online, but I feel like there were just too little of them?

In comparison, the DA2 characters have a LOT to say about Hawke's choice of partner (and again, I'm focusing on Fenris here). Merrill adresses the romance through banter ('you make sad puppy eyes whenever Hawke looks away'), Varric, Isabela and Anders have specific scenes where they talk to Hawke about Fenris and give their opinions on the two of them together. Heck, in Aveline's quest where she gets with Donnic, she can briefly mention the two of them. And these all of them also have banter in which they adress the romance.

And its this sort of thing that really helps filling in the gaps of the romance scenes but also showing that these characters know what is happening. And the DA2 gang doesn't even live together!

And for Lucanis in specific, if there always was going to be less scenes with him due to how he is a person, having a few scenes where the other companions talk to Rook about it would have helped bridge that gap, in my opnion. Again, considering you can't directly talk to this characters (as in, click on them and start a dialogue), this would have been a nice touch.

And now a very personal complait of mine

'Kisses and the Commit to Romance scene'

While I stated at the very begging that I don't care about sex scenes, that is another story when it comes to kissing scenes, and I'm sorry, but it's WILD to put the ONLY kissing scene in the romance AT THE ENDGAME PORTION OF THE GAME.

Give it or take, kissing is an intimate act and it can be used, in my opinion, to show that a character is comfortable with that sort of physical touch. And for a character like Lucanis, who is just so troubled, maybe one kiss before the grand finale would have been really fucking welcomed. In fact, I know the scene they could have added that - the one in the café after Ilario is taken down.

It could have been a short, sweet kiss, that was just a follow up to the almost kiss scene. Just something to hammer in more that these characters are together.

Because let me tell you, it is not a good sign when people say they thought the game was bugged after the dessert scene.

That scene, while lovely on its own, does a bad job of making it clear that yeah, these characters are dating now, and that's due to the fact that that is not something really said out loud.

I'm rewatching this scene as I type this out and at no point, is it made clear through dialogue that Rook and Lucanis are agreeing to being together. In fact, Lucanis says that what he's doing is not enough, and Rook disagreed with the sentiment and says they're easily bribed. That's it.

Meanwhile, in DA2, not only in act 2, do Fenris and Hawke lowkey make plans about being intimate at a later date, and Fenris explicitly says he wants Hawke, but in act 3, he once again makes it clear that he wants to be with Hawke, and I feel like this only really happens with Lucanis at the endgame portion of the game.

This is all to say that: The Lucanis romance is lacking, and that Bioware has done something like this before and they did a better job then than now.

[hanasnx]

too bad i forget.

MINORS DNI 18+ NOTES: takes place during s2e2 where annie, abed, and troy break into a lawyers office | not sure how i feel about this bcos it was stuck in my head and i felt like i was trying to fit too many things in but whatevs

“You guys!” you exclaim, stamping your foot in frustration. “I’m the smartest one in the group and all I’ve been used for is bait and distraction.” With each angry bounce in place—conveying your mini temper tantrum as you complain—you hadn’t realized your chest rippled from the impacts of your stomps until their eyes drifted and remained there. Both Troy and ABED NADIR watch your curves move under the thin material of your form-fitting dress, and you scoff in offense. Your arms cross over, veiling your cleavage and breaking their trance. Finally, they meet your gaze as you frown at them. It’s humiliating enough to be looked at like a piece of meat, but you would’ve never expected that behavior from Abed.

A little later, it furthers still when you lift a box of files to prop open the door. Your little heels don’t stay under you when you crouch, sliding to a sit on the floor with your legs folded out on either side of you, and your ass jiggles from your firm landing. Embarrassed, you squeak, and whirl your head around to face the boys, checking if they caught your blunder. Troy has his back turned, but Abed’s unabashedly watching. His eyes follow the deep arch of your back, how your ass fans out sat against the floor, your smooth legs tucked in a most exquisite way. It shocks you enough to idle as he tilts his head. Only when you scramble up, face hot and deeply colored, does Abed return to his task of searching the computer for evidence. Hastily, you dust off your outfit, and make sure it’s not exposing more than it already was. Briefly, you remember the way he scanned you, and you feel a disappointment you didn’t let that linger a little longer.

You and Abed aren’t a thing, but you know how upset he sounded when he heard Jeff had kissed you that night, after the dance. The big reveal right in that study room had him practically storm out after verbalizing Jeff’s blatant disregard for human decency. It was mortifying to say the least, you’d never seen Abed so upset. His voice had a subtle edge that you may have never noticed if you didn’t spend so much time with him. Additionally, there was that one time that Pierce had described you and Britta as—what he believed to be—your most identifying features: one of you was “flat-ass” and the other was “the one Abed wants to nail.” One million questions had flooded your head all of them having to do with the latter. Another time was pottery class, and you hadn’t realized it in the moment, but sculpting a defined phallic shape accidentally had caught the eye of both Abed and Jeff. Running your wet hands up and down the shaft of the clay had brought them both to pensive silence as they observed your graceful movements. All this evidence kept piling up to explain Abed’s strange behavior tonight, but you keep denying it.

You keep denying it right up until you can’t take it anymore, right up until you’re back at his place, straddling him. Your lips against his, you find him oddly stiff. The kiss itself isn’t unpleasant, but you can feel his hesitance. Or maybe he’s just nervous, manifesting in rigid movements. Nevertheless, you find it appealing. A guy who gets worked up kissing strikes your fancy because you’ve always imagined yourself as the one to take it slow. It’s refreshing that he’s beating you to it. Your dress is cascaded over his pelvis, and his head is propped up on the armrest of his couch. Sweetly, he’s returning your kiss the best of his ability, even parting your lips with his when he slips you a glimpse of tongue.

You pull away to speak, but he interrupts your path. “Did I not do it right?” he asks, but his tone is characteristically devoid of concern. Instead, it’s calculative, as if he’s been measuring your enjoyment inside his head and is surprised to have been incorrect just now.

“Oh, you’re doing fine.” you reply with a relieved grin, clutching onto the front of his shirt. “I just wanted to say…” You lean down, pecking his willing lips. “you could… you know, touch me a little.” Those hands of his have been faithfully laying atop your thighs this entire exchange, and he glances warily down at them. So you help him. “Like this.” You palm the backs of his hands and gently glide them along your body, riding up your dress as they come to sit at the space right above your ass. Searching his eyes, you can see a glint of enthusiasm pass through them, and then those curious hands invite themselves to take a generous grope of your backside, incidentally rutting your core against the crotch of his jeans. You exhale, disbelief mixed with pleasure, and you could predict he was gonna say he saw this move in a movie once. Didn’t give him the chance though, pressing your chest against his to recapture his lips.

Strangely forward, Abed experimentally rocks you. Shallow jostles back and forth which is not at all what you expected from him. It’s unnerving until a twang slips from his lips, “Gonna ride me like a cowgirl tonight, huh?”

It becomes clear. You can tell he’s getting nervous treading into unknown territory, and falling back on a reference you don’t understand playing a character you don’t know is a way to diffuse that. “This is not a movie, Abed.” you chide.

“Sorry.”

[spidernuggets]

Hi! :D

I was wondering if you could do a jason x fem reader where jason just rescued reader from being kidnapped and he has to calm her down from a panic attack?

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Warning‼️: threats of rape

Note: I apologise in advance, I don't have much experience of comforting or calming someone down during a panic attack

You couldn't see. It was dark. You were sitting down on a hard, cold surface. Wherever you were, you were moving. But, you couldn't moce your arms or your legs. Your wrists were bound together behind your back, and your ankles tied together.

You were whimpering and crying, tears rolling down youe face as you heard someone, a man most likely, scoffing at your state.

"This is the girl big, bad Red Hood is hooking up with? I expected someone... Feistier. Definitely wouldn't mind a feisty gal," he grunted and you sniffled at his comment.

So you were kidnapped as bait for Red Hood?

You were scared. This never happened before. You couldn't even remember what happened before you got kidnapped. But you knew your boyfriend was already out on patrol. Yeah. And he checks up on you ever half hour. He'll find you. He'll figure out where you are.

The vehicle came to a stop. The ropes from your ankles were cut. Someone harshly grabbed your arm, forcing you up and shoving you out of the van, almost tripping over when you couldn't watch your step.

"Move it, bitch," a different man said, pushing your back every two seconds, guiding you to a cliche located warehouse.

You were gagged with an itchy rope tight around your face, dribbles of saliva running down, mixed with your salty tears.

"Ugh, fucking disgusting. Did he answer yet?" Asked one of the men.

"No, sir. It's been 17 minutes since our message."

"Tsk." The man who seemed to be the one in control of this situation leaned down by your ear. "Looks like you don't mean as much to him as both of us thought. You know, if he doesn't come, we can still make good use of you," he sneers, grasping a tight hold of your jaw.

You snarled, refusing to take any of this bullshit, anger rising in your chest. You took the close proximity as a chance to kick him as hard as you could in the crotch. You can hear the loads of guns being pointed towards you, but no fire. You assumed their boss refrained them from pulling the triggers.

"Oh, ho, you fucking whore!" He yells, giving you a brutal slap across the face, making you topple over, your head hitting against the cold, concrete floor. Luckily, though, you were still conscious, aware of your surroundings.

The man pulls you back up and grabs you by the throat. "That was your only warning, you little bitch. Make a move like that again, and the next time your little Red Hood fellow sees you, you'd be branded by someone else," he threaten as the other men snickered and laugh at your vunerable state.

But then, there was a sound of a creek of a floorboard in the distance. You can hear the mean aiming their guns to where the sound was coming from, up at the catwalk.

Suddenly, one of the men dropped dead. As some of the men closer inspected the now dead body, they saw a small hole in the middle of the dead man's eyes.

A few seconds before they could react, three more of the men got shot. Unusually, though, there were no gunshot sounds. And you knew Jason was there. Jason once told you that if you were ever kidnapped, he would use a silencer, so you'd be less startled.

You weren't, to say the least, but then one of the men was ordered to grab you and bring you back to the van. You felt the harsh breeze slap your skin, struggling and wriggling in the man's grasp.

"Shut uo, would you-" The boss yelled and was about to throw a punch if his head wasn't then filled with lead a split second after.

You felt the grip the man had on you loosen. You were so shook, you fell to the ground, crying and whimpering, still unable to see or speak.

You felt like you couldn't breathe. Your heels were digging against the dirt and gravel, and your nails pierced cresent shaped dents in your skin.

"Y/n!"A voice called out. But you couldn't register whose voice. "Darling- Hey, princess, I'm here- I'm right here, it's me, don't worry," the voice said frantically.

You were in a state of shock, you kept kicking, and your screams were muffled. You looked like a mess. Snot was running down your nose, your wrists were red and bruised, and some of the skin was peeling off, and foam of saliva filled the corners of your lips.

Jason quickly untied all the bounds. He started with the rope around your face. Once it was released, you wasted no time to beg for you life.

"No- No, please! I'm- I'm sorry, please, please," you wailed, choking on your sobs in the process.

"Wh-what? Darling, it's okay, it's me! It's Jason!" He tried to assure, but to no avail. You were still squirming against him as he tried to take off your blindfold.

But once he did, your eyes were bright red and closed tight.

"Please!" You sobbed. "Please, let me go, I won't tell anyone, just- please." Your breathing began to quicken and became unsteady.

Jason started to panic, cutting the ropes off your wrists as fast as he could. Once your arms were free, you put them in front of you in defence.

"I'm sorry, please! I- I can't-" Your sobs grew loud, your hands grasping at the dirt on the ground, gravel pieces digging into your nails.

Jason carefully places his hand on your knee. "My love, please look at me. It's me. Jason. Look," he took his glove off and held his hand in front of your shut eyes, hoping you'd open them for at least a second. "It's me, your husband. You're safe. I came. I promised you I would always protect you," he continued to assure you.

You peeked and saw the glistening band that rested around his ring finger. You still couldn't pricess that it was Jason who was in front of you, but you called out his name.

"Jay?" You whimpered. Jason nodded, his free hand slowly reaching out to hold your cheek, his rough textured glover softly caressing your face.

The hand on your knees takes your hand, and he puts it against his heart. "Breathe with me, doll. I'm here for you, okay?" He says, taking deep breaths in and out.

Your breath continues to shudder but manages to slowly follow his deep breathing patterns. "That's it, love. You're doing so well."

Finally, you can see the face of the love of your life, kneeling in front of you, eith glassy eyes and a scared and concerned look on his face.

"Jason," you said quietly while sniffling. You weakling reaching your arms out, and Jason immediately understood. He leaned towards you, holding you in a secure embrace, a promise showing you that he'll always save you.

"Did they hurt you?? Did they touch you?" He said, fury sparking in his eyes as you weakly nodded.

Jason clears the damp hair away from your face. "Listen to me, sweetheart. They're dead. They're all dead. Every single one who laid a hand on who, and those who were an accomplice to it. They're dead. And I'll kill anyone else who thinks they have a right to do so," he says.

You were never afraid of Red Hood. Why be afraid of someone who loves you so much that they'd kill someone who put you in danger for you?

And that's why you love him just as much.

soz this fic is shorter than my usual ones, hope you lile it!! 😭😭

[aliceinborderlandsquidgame]

Sangwoo x Wife!Reader In the games HCS

Summary: How would Sangwoo be with his Wife in theg games Warnings: Death - Canon violence - Angst - Mentions of suicide -

At first Sangwoo will try his best to hide the fact that he is in debt. He feels shame over it, how he lost his composture and ended in this type of situation.

Sangwoo its someone who fakes and hides his feelings a lot. He alwyas as felt like he needed to be the best for his mother to get a better life. Later on you came into the picture and the pressure got worse.

However, you are his wife and can tell something is off about him. As soon as he admits what is happening you will be reasuring him that everything will be fine, and that both of you will find a way out.

During games we can see different routes:

He has two things in mind, win and protect you. He tried to stop from coming with him but you insisted.

"Till deat do us apart, remember?"

You are the only one who he truly cares about besides himself. He will tell you to be close to him all the time and to not trust others, not even Gi-hun. He also tells you to follow him in every game, whatever choise he makes you must follow it.

Will talk to you away from the rest and tell you to rely on him. And to not question him.

During the first night when everything went to chaos he has you at his side through all of it.

If you two go with someone else at the marbles game and end winning Sangwoo is keeping himself close to you and thanking heavens he decided not to team up with you, even if you were a bit ofended by it at the start.

It ends with both of you hugging each other after it. Sangwoo does not want to be seen as "soft" or "weak" so he will take you to the bathroom where he will let you cry in his arms and even him will cry a bit, the idea of losing you and the fact that it was a close call was too much.

If you two went together then Sangwoo will insist you are the one who must survive and get out, making you promise him to take care of his mother and telling you to live a better life. He will call you names and say things like he never loved you to make you angry at him so you will decide to let him die in there.

"Cant you see we are here because of you? Because you always wanted things that were out of our reach? I tried my best and look around now. We are surronded by bodies because of you"

"Do you know why i decided to date you? Because Gi-hun dared me and I accepted. You just were so dumb and fell right for it. I never wanted to marry you, but i could not pass the chance to get a better image for my friends and mother"

Bet you wont believe him and will pull him down for a kiss. You would bait him into thinking that he lost but at the end he sees with desesperation how the guard is going to take you instead of him.

"I love you Sangwoo, and i cant imagine a life without you, so please, please win this game and live for the both of us"

He will be heartbroken after it but wont consider suicide since he promised you to live for both and not for himself. He gets more distant and cold toward others for the rest of the games.

With the game of the glass bridge he will try his best to protect you. Does not mind a bit once he pushes down that player to save you. If he needs to calm you down after it he will do it.

"It was our only option, we would have died otherwise"

For the final night pre final game he will still go and kill Sae-byeok only feeling bad about it because she was close to you in the games. If the game master insist other has to die then it will be a fight till death with Gi-hun.

If he wins and both of you have to fight against each other in the last game, Sangwoo will still sacriface himself for you, even if he is the one with better chances of winning.

If it comes down to Gi-hun and you its going to be a serious fight. Gi-hun knows you and likes you but he cant help but see Sangwoo on yourself and how he acted in the games. He also wants to see his daugther again.

[pedroshotwifey]

Lesson

Pairing: Din Djarin x F!Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Tags/Warnings: NO use of Y/N, dom!reader, sub!din djarin, extreme over-stimulation, pregnant reader (not mentioned until the end), reader is a badass and we love her, restraints, aftercare, fluffy fluff, slight bdsm, Din whimpers bc I want to see Din whimper, im sure im forgetting stuff but oh well

Summary: Din chooses to put himself in danger by changing plans during a mission, and you decide it's about time he learns a lesson.

A/N: Hello lovely people! Hope you enjoy some subby Din for a while. I don't really have much to say this time, so just ignore my rambling I suppose. As always, requests are wide open and reposts, comments, and likes are very much appreciated! <3

***

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” 

You’re absolutely furious. In all the years that you’ve been with Mando, he’s never made a mistake this detrimental. Not only did he almost lose the bounty with his random change of plan, but he also put himself right into the path of danger. This shouldn’t have been a dangerous mission, but somehow, Din found a way to make it life-threatening. 

The bounty the two of you were after had been hiding out in an old, abandoned ship on an old, abandoned planet. The main objective was to get the target outside of the ship to capture him in case there was any kind of fuel left in the corroding ship. 

You thought you were both stationed in your respective positions, the bait set to lead the bounty out, when you had noticed something was missing. Din. Din was missing. You curse under your breath as you stand up to get a better look at his empty post. Fucking bastard. 

You spot a gleam of beskar in your peripheral and turn to follow it. He’s too far away from you for you to yell at him or try to grab him, practically at the opening at the ship already. There's nothing for you to do but wait and see how everything plays out. You groan as you crouch back down behind the rock you had been hiding behind. 

Then you hear a deafeningly loud bang.

Your heart drops to your stomach as you shoot back up to your feet. 

“MANDO!” You hear yourself scream his name but you don’t remember making an attempt to do so. 

You immediately know what had happened as you get closer to the ruined ship. The first thing you see is the absolute wreckage laying around where the ship used to be, some of it still smoldering. The second thing you see is fucking Mando emerging from the smoke, target in hand. 

His armor is coated in a black film, likely from being so close to the tank when he fucking shot it and blew it up. You stand in place and let him walk to you, keeping a firm expression the entire time. You can tell the moment he sees the way you’re seething. His movement falters and he lowers his head ever so slightly, continuing toward you with his tail tucked. 

You wait until he is a few feet away from you before turning on your heel and starting the way back to the Crest. You know he’ll follow, so you don’t look back or say a word until you reach your shared ship.

When you climb aboard, you wordlessly signal for Mando to put the bounty in carbonite before you climb up to get the ship into the air. Once you’re out of the atmosphere, you climb back down the ladder to find Mando standing in the middle of the hull. 

He doesn’t say a word to you, just stands there awaiting your orders. Smart. You point to the bedroom and wait for him to start walking before you trail behind him, still fuming. He stops in front of the bed and watches you walk past him and into the closet. You throw a single word his way as you start digging for the restraints. 

“Strip.” 

He shudders at your tone but does as he’s told.

***

“Please, Cyar’ika, please!”

The sob that slips from his mouth is delicious even though it’s a bit muffled by his vocoder. You chuckle darkly as you look down at him, The Mandalorian, clad in nothing but his helm and the binders around his wrists and ankles that secure him to the corners of the bunk. 

His cock, throbbingly hard and flushed almost purple at the tip, jumps as you speak. The twitch is overstimulating enough to have his whole body try to curl into itself, but it doesn’t budge with the way he’s binded. 

“Aww, you poor, sweet boy,” you say with a mock sympathy as you fold your hand to rub your knuckles along the inside of his thigh. “Want to come so bad, don’t you?”

You both know the answer to that question. You’ve been going at this for hours now. You denied him at first, bringing him to the edge and then denying him as soon as you felt him about to bust. You lost count at about nine times—around the same time Din started to cry. After close to an hour of that, you did let him come, just like he wanted. But then you didn’t stop. 

The last hour and a half or so have been spent working him up just softly enough to get him hard and leaking again, and then edging him for a while before letting him come. Each time, he grows more sensitive, and each time, it becomes more fun for you. 

You know your panties are ruined with your arousal at this point, but you don’t pay too much attention to the fact. This is about Din right now, about teaching your Mandalorian a lesson.  You want to rip his helmet from his head so you can see the way his tears streak down his ruddy cheeks, so you can hear his whines for mercy without the modulator warping his voice. But you don’t, not yet at least. You want him to feel humiliated by the way he is being punished and violated while still in his beskar. 

He begs you to stop, but you know he doesn’t mean it. You have a specific code for these types of things—if he really wants to, all he has to do is say the word and you’d have him out of the binders and in your gentle embrace within seconds. He hasn’t said the word yet, though. He’s too stubborn to let you win completely, but that's okay, you don’t plan to break him. You just want to make him think that you will. 

He tilts his head back and whimpers in response to your taunting question and you take the opportunity to grab his cock. Din’s head comes back up with lightning speed as he shouts at the contact that causes his body to shake once again. Though he orgasms, not much trickles out. A small dribble of cum escapes the tip of his cock and leaks down his softening shaft. 

He’s a whining, whimpering mess beneath you, and you can’t get enough. 

“Think you’ve learned your lesson, sweet boy?” You pet his flaccid cock, making him sob as you ask him the question. He nods to the best of his ability and you tut down at him. “Use your words for me, baby.” 

“Y-yes, I’ve learned my lesson,” he tries to keep his voice unwavering but fails miserably. 

“Yes, what, honey?” 

“Yes m-ma’am, I’ve l-learned my lesson, I’m s-sorry.”

You hum in consideration for a moment before speaking again. “Good boy. I think you deserve a reward for that, don’t you?”

He nods and you figure you’ll accept it this time. 

“Okay, baby, I’ll be right back.”

With that, you sit up from where you had been perched on the side of the bed and stride into the closet. As soon as you go through the threshold, you hear Din let out a shuddering breath. Poor thing must be exhausted. You smile at the thought. He’s not done yet. 

You open a drawer and dig around until you find what you’re looking for. Once you have the wand in your grasp, you walk back out into the bedroom. You hold the object behind your back so he can’t see while you sit back in your original position. He’s quiet as he waits for you to speak. 

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” you start, trying to hold your smile back. “I’m going to help you with a little toy, and you’re going to tell me why you’re so sorry.” You wait a moment to watch the way he tilts his head back in defeat. When you hear a small blubber of regret slip from his lips, you continue. 

“If you can give me the right answer, I’m going to be generous and let you come, and then we’ll be done. If you can’t… well I guess you’ll just have to wait and see, pretty boy. How does that sound?” 

“S-sounds fair, ma’am.”

You nod at him and reach your hands up to his helmet. “Can I take this off, sweetie?” He hesitates but gives you a small nod after a moment. He doesn’t want you to see the mess of tears staining his face. 

You release the airlocks and lift up, slowly revealing his pouty lips, his prominent nose, his beautiful, begging eyes, and finally his soft, brown curls. He looks up at you slightly parted lips as you set his helmet to the side. 

“There’s my pretty boy,” you say before leaning down to place a gentle kiss to his lips. You don’t wait any longer to move down the bed to where his swollen cock lays against his stomach. You smirk and take the vibrator you picked out into your hand, flipping the switch to turn it onto a low setting. Din flinches at the sound. 

“Okay, honey, I want you to keep your eyes on me while you speak, just so I know you’re not lying to me.” A tear slides down his cheek and you can see him gulp down his anxiety. “Yes, ma’am,” he says after a moment.

Bending down, you place a kiss to the tip of his dick, and he tries his best to get away from the contact. When you look up, he’s staring at the ceiling. You lightly slap his cock, making him shout. “Look at me, baby, I’m not gonna tell you again.” 

Once his glossy eyes are on you, you bring the vibrator to the tip of his dick. He immediately bucks his hips away and starts to whimper and pant. “Now tell me, what did you do wrong today?” 

Mando is too busy gritting his teeth through the blinding overstimulation to answer your question, and you turn the wand up to a higher setting. It’s a fair warning, you think. He screams and thrashes in his restraints. 

“I’m sorry, Gods, I’m sorry, p-please!”

“Sorry for what?” 

“I’m sorry I went ag-ah-against the plan, Gods, I’m s-sorry,” he tries his best to ignore the way the sobs muddle his speech. 

You run the vibrator up and down his shaft before bringing it to the tip and applying pressure. 

“Good boy… Are you going to do it again?” 

“No, no, please!”

You smile and figure that he probably means it. If he ever pulled a stunt like that again, you’d have him chained to the bed for days. His beautiful brown eyes stay on you the whole time.

“Okay, baby, I believe you.” Even though he’s still squirming beneath you, he looks visibly more relaxed at the knowledge that this is almost over. “I want you to beg for it baby, beg me to let you come.” As humiliating as it is, he doesn’t have to be told twice. 

“Please let me come, p-please! I’ve been so good for you! Been s-so good!” 

You chuckle at the desperation in his voice as you lean down one more time. Keeping the vibrator on the tip of his cock, you turn it up to the max setting and take one of his balls into your mouth, sucking harshly. 

He lets out the loudest shout of the night as he comes. He shakes and sobs underneath you as you prolong it as best you can. You hear him speaking, but it’s so slurred through his cries that you’re not sure what he’s trying to say. 

Once he’s done orgasming, you lift up and turn the wand off before casting it to the side. When you look at his face, Din has his bottom lip between his teeth as he tries to keep his tears from falling from his closed eyes. Taking pity on him, you decide to wrap it up quickly. 

You look down at his belly, covered in his own cum. You take two fingers, being careful to avoid his poor cock, and swipe up a glob of it. Bringing it up to Din’s lips, you tell him to open up, and he does so, licking his own spend off of your fingers. 

“What do you say, baby?”

“T-thank you,” his words are breathless but filled with relief at the same time. You bring your forehead down to touch his before kissing him one more time. He gladly reciprocates, chasing your lips once you sit up again. 

You tell him to wait just a second as you work at the restraints. Once free, Mando lets his limbs fall into comfortable positions. You smooth his hair down in a soothing motion as you assure him he did good. You stay there with him for a moment before getting up again to get him a glass of water and a fresh set of sheets. You turn the shower on while you’re at it. 

Once he’s in the fresher, you change the sheets and grab some snacks for when he comes back. When he does, you’re waiting in the clean bed with open arms. He smiles warmly at you and crawls in, letting you wrap yourself around him. The two of you lay there like that for a while before you break the silence. 

“I hope you know I genuinely want you to be safer, baby, that wasn’t just for show.” You know he knows, you just want to be sure. 

“I know… I’m sorry I did what I did today.” You can hear the guilt in his voice and you turn to look into his eyes. 

“It’s okay, Din… I just…” you trail off as you try to find the right words. “I don’t think I could live with myself if something ever happened to you.” You can feel tears stinging your eyes at the thought of it. 

“And now, with the baby on the way…” you trail off, looking at your distended stomach. “ I don’t want our baby to grow up without a buir, Din.”

“I know, my sweet riduur,” he says before placing a soft kiss to your head. You can see the guilt in his eyes as he looks at you. “I never mean to put myself in the way of danger, I don’t know what I was thinking.” You stay silent, but he knows that you’ve accepted his apology. 

“And for the record,” he continues, shyly. “I enjoyed what you did tonight.” You look at him and can’t help but giggle at the smirk on his face. It’s not often you take charge in the bedroom, so you were glad to have the confirmation that he liked it just as much as you. 

“I love you, Din,” you say softly as you turn off the light and then snuggle into him. He laughs and hugs you closer. 

“I love you too, cyare.” 

[yumekittyships]

♡ an in depth analysis on floch forster's character ♡

{ very tired of people treating floch like a fascist nxzi, so i have decided to write this. please note that i am not agreeing with the things he did. this is an examination and analysis of a fictional, non-existent character. you do not have to agree with me, but please keep any hateful or unkind comments to yourself! }

- First and foremost, I'd like to address how I feel that Floch reached the point of the man he'd become in the events of the final season. I'd like to note that, when the events of the final battle at shiganshina happened, Floch was only 15. In addition, he is the ONLY person from that mission that lived to remember Erwin's final speech. It's also important to note that Erwin is not meant to be a good person. He is written as a man who sends child soldiers to their deaths on suicide missions for "the greater good". This is not an attack on Erwin's character, but I firmly believe that this detail is important in Floch's development.

- Now, I'd like to touch on Erwin's character a bit. Anyone who knows Attack On Titan knows that it is a story that is not meant to paint any one side as good or bad. The moral grounds of any given character are more or less very grey, and open to interpretation by the viewer. Erwin, despite being a commander, is not meant to be a good person. That said, I'm not saying he is meant to be a bad person either. That is entirely up to viewer discretion. What i will state about Erwin are the facts. He has sent hundreds of soldiers on suicide missions, he has used his soldiers as bait, he is 100% the type of man that treats his soldiers as sacrificial lambs for a greater cause. Commander Erwin can be viewed as an island devil with justifiable reason. I believe that this is what Floch saw him as.

- Now, before anyone gets mad and says Floch never thought Erwin was a devil, I encourage you to continue reading and/or give Floch's arc a rewatch. He and his comrades learned of the Marleyans, and learned how lowly they thought of Eldians. He learned that Marleyans viewed Eldians as "filthy island devils". This is where Erwin's influence comes into play. The final battle at shiganshina was a MASSIVE turning point for Floch, because it was likely the single most traumatizing and life changing thing he had ever experienced. He was the singular, sole survivor, having watched every last one of his comrades AND his commander die at the hands of one of the Marleyans. Now I will leave Erwin's speech here for reference.

Everything that you thought had meaning: every hope, dream, or moment of happiness. None of it matters as you lie bleeding out on the battlefield. None of it changes what a speeding rock does to a body, we all die. But does that mean our lives are meaningless? Does that mean that there was no point in our being born? Would you say that of our slain comrades? What about their lives? Were they meaningless?... They were not! Their memory serves as an example to us all! The courageous fallen! The anguished fallen! Their lives have meaning because we the living refuse to forget them! And as we ride to certain death, we trust our successors to do the same for us! Because my soldiers do not buckle or yield when faced with the cruelty of this world! My soldiers push forward! My soldiers scream out! My soldiers RAAAAAGE!

- These final words are something Floch carries with him, and even references later on in the show iirc. Even later during Erwin's memorial service, Floch says something along the lines of "I know I'm just titan fodder, that my life is meaningless,". This shows how much Erwin, and his time as a solider affected him. He has internalized the belief that he is an expendable body in the field, that it is his duty to die for the cause. Floch decides later on that the cause worth dying for is protecting Eldia, at ANY cost. He does not have any regard for the lives that will be lost, because he has been taught and shown that death is inevitable, and has internalized the belief that everyone must sacrifice themselves for the greater good. If not everyone, then at least himself. This is proven by his sheer resilience and the way he fought until the bitter end, even knowing he wouldn't make it out alive.

- Why did Floch choose to become a yeagerist instead of being part of the alliance? That much is simple. We can assume from canon interactions between him and Eren that the two were close when it came down to the final years before the rumbling. Not necessarily close as friends, but as comrades. We can also assume that Eren passed on his beliefs to Floch, that Eldia would fall if it did not defend itself against Marley. I believe it's during this time that Floch decides that, in order to save Eldia, he must become the devil that the Marleyans say he is. This belief is only solidified by looking back at Erwin, and the sacrifices he made, the soldiers he sent to their deaths, all for the sake of Eldia's future.

- Floch grew to be ruthless towards the enemy and anyone who stood in his way, because in his eyes, it was the only way to save Paradis from falling into a sea of blood. He believed that Paradis NEEDED to become the devils they were perceived as, because if they didn't, they would all die. In his eyes, it was either "submit and die, or become the devil and win". He was willing to sacrifice anyone and anything if it meant fighting for his home. While it's not canon that Eren manipulated Floch, it can certainly be perceived that way. Whether Eren manipulated him or not, there is no denying that Floch was heavily influenced by Eren. This was not because of some personal bond or connection, this is because Floch viewed Eren as a savior for Eldia. He believed that Eren's plan to start the rumbling was the only way to save Paradis, even if it meant killing everyone else. Because to him, everyone outside the walls was an enemy. In Floch's eyes, this was a fair sacrifice if it meant a safe and sound future for Eldia.

- Now, once again, I am not telling you that Floch's way of thinking was correct or justified. This is an analysis of how he reached that point, and why he did what he did. I may have missed some things, so if I did, feel free to let me know.

[fountainpenguin]

Mind Over Magic

Crocker stuffing the cafeteria ceiling full of Fs...

So funny that A.J.'s reaction to Timmy getting answers right on a quiz is that he's lucky and Chester just assumes Timmy cheated somehow.

Wanda really has no filter... She'll just call her godchild a jerk with no hesitation. lmao.

I love Veronica's crush on Timmy.

Elmer has life so freakin' rough. There's just one kid in this class who's inexplicably possessed... incredible. <- Has a sudden urge to binge "Never Had a Friend Like Me" again.

I totally forgot Crocker knows about Elmer's mind control situation (or at least, we know Elmer asked him about it and Crocker promised to help him).

Wanda holding an entire armful of candy while Timmy gets only one piece... lol.

Hard Copy

Remembering how afraid Cosmo is of the doctor... Me glancing awkwardly at my 'fics like "Yeah, that tracks."

Cracks me up that Wanda and Juandissimo have an ongoing relationship of her using him "as bait." That's just what they are and he will play along every time... They are so funny.

This is such a good episode for Wanda... All the magical mistakes and poor choices in this episode are hers. I like when she pulls a jar of jam from the copier and starts eating it, completely forgetting what Timmy asked for... or when she and Timmy eat cake instead of solving the magical mishap affecting them. Very Season 7-esque when they have a tea party while Cosmo's gone ("Super Zero").

RIP Flipsie's indoctrination into a life of crime.

Parenthoods

Still so funny that Cosmo loves Canada in this episode and then in Season 7, you learn he's convinced his brother invented Canada.

I want Hazel to meet Schnozmo so bad...

Every time Mr. Turner calls his wife nicknames like Snugglebutt I lose my mind. Man just loves fawning over his wife.

Lol, there's a scene in Frayed Knots I wrote years ago that we're almost upon, and it draws directly from this episode (Anti-Wanda convinced the Anti-Fairy legal system will see her through).

Timmy has some really cute body language in this episode.

Honestly, this is one of my favorite episodes- it's just so silly and cute. Good use of magic and shapeshifting, lots of fun jokes like magic bending the fabric of the world like a map (or Timmy trying to assist with a theft).

-> I have a draft somewhere where I note down odd things that aren't against Da Rules, and I think "Assisting with crime" is one I need to add.

THERE THEY ARE! Cosmo and Wanda turn into rats at the end of this episode, and I think that's the shape of the rat I saw during my first watch of "1500 Minutes of Fame" and wondered if I'd seen it before. I'll have to compare these sometime.

The Big Superhero Wish

I have a soft spot for "Big Superhero Wish" because it's one of the first episodes I ever saw (during a visit to a pizza place when the sound was muted).

-> I think it's a fun one in the way it looks at relationships between random schoolkids (Especially Veronica). I also enjoy how Chester gets to chew through matter in this episode and then when you get to Season 5, he's trying to chew his way out of the F.U.N. Academy with the same "Munch munch munch" dialogue he does here.

Apparently Nega-Chin can tell Timmy and Remy apart even though regular Crimson Chin can't.

Timmy drowning in papers marked F followed by "Cool, there's a D in here!"

I like watching Timmy's average problems like getting picked on and wanting a glass of milk to cheer him up, but not even getting that.

Minotaur Francis is everything to me...

I like how Crocker knows a lot about comics, but specifically because he's confiscated them from kids during class. Playing that against his miserable child upbringing is kind of funny... I wonder if he read many comics as a kid, or if that's not something he ever really wished for.

Actually, Timmy being cut off before finishing a wish is something I would've liked to see more often. It's just silly. The tension balance in this episode once the heroes are wished away and villains stay is pretty good.

ksdlkfj, "I used my regular kid window-opening powers!" Elmer...

Totally forgot Chester ran up to Vicky and bit her on the leg, oh geez.

"My nega-vision will cut through your bodies like nega-vision!"

I would've loved an episode where Timmy goes into the real world to rescue the writer of the Crimson Chin comics since this episode ends with the Nega-Chin taking him captive. Alas. I guess I could write a 'fic about that, but I think it defeats the point a little when the visuals aren't going to change, haha.

I really want to watch "Masked Magician" again now, but I think that's later in Season 5 so it'll come up later in my binge.

Vicky Loses Her Icky

Ooh, Sanderson head gag means "Pixies Inc." is coming up after this!

This episode is so goofy. Timmy's parents hire Vicky to babysit Timmy while they sit in the car in the driveway, waiting to be hungry enough to leave to the restaurant.

I wonder why I always see people complain this episode is annoying for "giving Vicky the backstory of being evil due to being bitten by a bug," because it's clearly stated that the bug came about because she was mean and Cosmo and Wanda had to give it physical form to remove it [Wanda claiming "All that evil has to go somewhere"]. /shrug

Here it is! I've been trying to remember what the "corn on Pluto" episode was.

I don't... I don't love Vicky saying she's leaving to donate organs. Are they HER organs?

Alarm bells instantly ringing when Vicky offers to dig people basements. I don't think Dale would like that.

Shout-out to Timmy's dad being rescued from the evil bug and immediately saying, "Hey, we're at the Cake 'N Bacon... Are we at least being nice?"

President dressing up like George Washington was such a funny way to avoid depicting a specific president.

Pixies Inc.

My boys are in the house!!

How have I literally never noticed Timmy's in the Future Business Leaders of America club...

Y'know, I always thought H.P. was just blatantly losing the golf game despite cheating, but watching again, the reason he has more strokes than Timmy in golf is because he went first.

Never not funny how many emotions the Pixies show when they're actually spooked or sad. They talk in monotone, but still make expressions... and that's not even counting their silly dialogue. I love them.

Dale Dimmadome & H.P. dynamic is so silly to me... Dale grew up around Dimmadome Farms [implied] and runs a burger chain, and the soy- & rice-loving Pixies aren't exactly known for eating meat. I just want them to try getting on the same page and continually hit roadblocks that make it weird.

Baby Face

I had no memory of "Baby Face" coming immediately after "Pixies Inc.," but oh my gosh does that make the "Gary and Betty seemingly knew about Pixies the whole time" theory funnier.

There they are! My other sillies are in the house!

Wait.......... hold up. Were Gary and Betty in the room when Timmy made his baby wish? -> There... there's no door behind them when the camera pans over.

They are so dang sus. Why were these babies unsupervised. Why did they not hesitate for a split-second before cramming Francis in a teeny tiny cage..... They are my everything.

crying at the huge crash sound effect that hits as Gary and Betty open the door off-screen. Why are they like that...

I say this every time I watch this episode, but Gary and Betty opting not to help a crying child and instead lock him in a soundproof dome is so dang funny. These two should not be left with kids. If they show up in New Wish with the Pixies, I will die actually... I still can't believe we got a Flappy Bob cameo. My son.

I feel like Vicky knowing Gary's and Betty's fun box song by heart is such a neat detail. Why is she hanging out with them. Why would they ever hang out with her. Fascinating...

Mr. Right

Another of the episodes I watched muted at a pizza place once upon a time...

Timmy and Melvin shoved into the same locker is giving me Leonard/Tammy flashbacks.

Elmer really doesn't keep his problems secret, huh? ("The boil doesn't like to be touched!")

Shout-out to the running gag of Francis scheduling his beatings.

I wonder why Vicky didn't go to school. The elementary school got out early. Maybe "recording Timmy's pain for future generations as a short film" was her homework.

...... Okay, actually.... I can TOTALLY see why A.J. goes on to found the Galax Institute in A New Wish based on his sudden uptick of interest in Timmy after noticing he's right all the time. I guess he really will chase the unexplained!

I love Francis... "Guess what I have behind my back. And don't say scorpion, because I checked." <- Guy who's really itching to finish my "Francis with a fairy godparent" 'fic...

lol, is Wanda's signature in her poof cloud the same as her signature when she signed papers in "Pixies Inc."? I think it might be.

That's all for now.

[sanctum-of-ramshackle]

🦈Rocking The Boat🩸

[Synopsis]: Azul offered MC/Yuu to perform a gif at the Monstro Lounge and let them choose what kind of performance they would do. Except he didn’t console with them as the Octo-schemer learned too late.

[Gender Neutral Reader]

[WARNING]: Foul language in the song and best advise to lower your volume when listening to the song.

[A/N]: This is one of my favorite songs from Ice Nine Kills when I first listened to their album, “The Silver Scream.” I highly recommend to lower your volume settings since the song can be loud in some parts and wouldn’t want to damage your ears.

[Ice Nine Kills - Rocking The Boat (ft. Jeremy Schwartz)]

[Monstro Lounge]

MC/Yuu: Are you sure you want me to perform?

Azul: Of course! You must have songs from your world many never heard of until now. It should bring more customers in.

MC/Yuu: Alright, but fair warning: it can get loud. Best to give a disclaimer if there’s anyone who may be sensitive to hearing and flashing lights. We also need a heads-up to any Mer-shark people who are present during the show.

Azul: Why would you need to add that?

MC/Yuu: You’ll see.

[8:30 p.m.]

Jade: Evening everyone. Tonight will be a grand show starring The Prefect from the Ramshackle Dorm. Before we start the special night, there will be warnings of high volumes and flashy light effects. We may also warn Mer-Shark civilians of the show.

Mer-Shark People in the audience: Why would they warn us?

Jade: They informed me it is a song about a great white shark that kills people.

Mer-Shark People: Oooh yeah.

Jade: Now, let the show begin.

[The lights dimmed and smoke effects cover the stage. Then reveals MC/Yuu, with a microphone in hand and inhales…]

MC/Yuu:

SHARK!!!!

Coast guard, this is the Orca. Do you read me?

Four and a half miles due east of Amity Island

This is an official distress call, over

We all know a place

That appears so sublime

But if you dive a little deeper

You'll hit the real bottom line

The head of the town is out there flashing his teeth

A telltale sign about to surface

That there's a monster lurking underneath

They're thrashing around but found

They can't contain the leak

'Cause I've got a fish to fry

That's feeding on the weak

So cast a line for every life they took

It's time to set the-

Lilia, as the supporting lines: Hook!

We're all just floating in a shallow grave

Lilia: Buoyed by the blood of the masses

They'd rather sell out that instead of save

We're all so starving that we've taken the bait

Lilia: You think we would've learned from the past

That the predator will soon become-

Lilia: The prey!

We all know a place

Where the calm flees at night (night, night)

And safe is just a shadow

So we swim towards the light

If this voyage of valor

Put us on deck for death

We'll compare scars with each other

Until our very last breath

Lilia: Yeah!

They're thrashing around but found

They can't contain the leak

'Cause I've got a fish to fry

That's feeding on the weak

So reel it in with every trick in the book

It's time to set the-

Lilia: Hook!

We're all just floating in a shallow grave

Lilia: Buoyed by the blood of the masses

They'd rather sell out that instead of save

We're all so starving that we've taken the bait

Lilia: You think we would've learned from the past

That the predator will soon become-

Lilia: The prey!

Coastguard, this is the Orca again

We need you out here now

The boat is under attack, it's a great white, over

Roger that, ETA fifteen minutes, over

In fifteen minutes we'll be fucking shark bait

Last chance to make amends

Lilia: So try to stay afloat

With sharks like you among us

Lilia: We'll need a bigger boat

Sold us down the river

Lilia: So the rich could stay rich

But now you've been caught

Lilia: So smile…

You son of a bitch

Sinking with the burning embers

Should be any sign of doubt

That this tale will be remembered

And the tide will forever flush them out

We're all just floating in a shallow grave

Lilia: Buoyed by the blood of the masses

They'd rather sell out that instead of save

We're all so starving that we've taken the bait

Lilia: You think we would've learned from the past

That the predator will soon become-

Lilia: The prey!

[After the song was finished, the audience applauded and whistled.]

[After the show]

Azul: Prefect, that was…

Floyd: AWESOME! Shrimpy surprised everyone tonight.

MC/Yuu: Thanks, but you can compliment Lilia for his vocals.. It wasn't easy screaming the parts and had to practice. It woke the Ghosts up because they thought a Banshee came by.

Azul: The song came from your world and based on a killer shark.

MC/Yuu: Yeah, from Steven Spielberg's movie "Jaws". I still get excited to watch parts where Bruce gets his victims in the water.

Azul: You scare me sometimes, Prefect. You really do.

✨[Reblogs helps creators and creates for more content]💫

[rynris]

Dungeon Meshi: Thoughts and Impressions

I've been thinking about how quickly I consume media these days and I feel like I've been desperately binging shows in order to keep up with the times. I hope this will be a series where I can thoughtfully absorb everything from a show that made a lasting impression on me and have something to come back to and review. This is more for my own fun and journal keeping - all thoughts are my own musings and can change over time. If there's something you'd like to add, please do! I'd love to hear your impressions as well.

*Minor spoilers below*

Overall Impression

What a well thought out and interwoven story with fairly interesting characters and a great hook/ mystery! I think rescuing Falin as a plot device works really well because the heart of the story is about relationships and everything around it caters to the journey and development of these characters and how they work together.

Cons/ Issues

I still don't really buy the world building, the dungeon idea seems a bit weak, but it's anime, so some plot holes are forgivable. The beginning felt weak, it was hard to buy into the stakes of losing Falin without knowing the characters but thankfully the exposition was rather quick (1/4 of an episode it felt like) which is good. The dragon fight scene seemed a bit off. I felt like the shots were framed too close - probably to emphasize chaos and keep the red dragon mysterious until the final reveal but with my tunnel vision, it felt messy.

Ok one big con is the character tropes. They sort of make up for it in the middle, but it was enough to make me want to stop watching. I've seen these tropes a million times now and am TIRED of it. And there's so much good stuff out there that it's so easy to dismiss shows these days.

Pros/ Love

CHARACTERS! I was surprised to see more depth in the characters and I love how the mysterious were presented depending on the encounters. Thought each scenario were expertly crafted and it didn't feel too forced.

FOOD! Besides the glorious food p*rn, I was definitely taken aback by the later recipes. I didn't expect food to be woven in during some scenarios, but when it was, I was very pleasantly surprised!

At first I thought Laios was kind of unrealistic, but then I remembered that my ornithology prof was passionate about eating every single bird in the world at least once and I was like... this is real. There are DEFINITELY people like this. +1 for the representation!

On representation, I like the potential LGBTQ representation and was surprised the show took that route. The show itself is coded to be super straight so I wasn't expecting it. This is a con, but it does feel a bit like queer baiting or for the male gaze unfortunately.

Later action scenes were good/ interesting.

The pacing between comedy and darkness was well done, Trigger never fails with good comedic timing.

Shots economy is good, I feel like there are not a lot of unmotivated, extra shots, and talking/ dialog/ exposition were all well done. The used the same layout for the exposition scenes from the manga and the added animation punched it up and mode those scenes interesting. - **I'd like to study these scenes in particular more.**

Final thoughts

I think this is a great show to study how you can make a slice of life comedy and weave in some darker themes without overwhelming the audience. A lot of shows usually stay in their chosen genre, or lean very heavily on the dark/ edgy themes. I like how this show isn't reliant on solid world building, but focuses on creative storytelling to keep audiences coming back for more. Overall, the design/ setting feels basic, but it is the creativity behind the idea of monster food and how well thought out every dish is that makes this show shine. The manga and show have pretty good pacing and doesn't linger too long on mysterious or draw things out, dropping enough tidbits and lore to keep you watching/ reading.

TL;DR I think this is one of the better amine series I've seen this year and I love that this show feels refreshing with very creative storytelling. The concept is feels surprisingly unique and original but you do have to commit to a few episodes before it kicks in.

**I only read a few chapters of the manga so my opinion is not 100% and may change if I have time to read more.

[shuusagi]

Would you be willing to write a short-story involving cnc with Brahms? (totally okay if you’re not comfortable with the concept!!)🫶🏼

Ohoho yes I can!!

Tw: f!reader, consensual-nonconsent, dubious consent, biting, primal play, general roughness.

"Ok Brahms, remember the safeword. What is it?"

"Lavender." He says quietly.

"Good boy."

You don't remember how it started, perhaps it was you two playing hide and go seek, or from him purposely scaring you every second you got. You knew he loved preying upon you, for someone so submissive he can get into a predator roll quite well. One thing turned into another, and you wanted to try cnc.

You told Brahms, "don't go light on me. I want you to do whatever you want- despite anything I might say. But when I say lavender, promise me you'll be a good boy and stop?"

"Mmm- yes ma'am.." He said, already lost in thought.

/

It was pitch black all throughout the manor, with some of the windows open during a rainstorm to gather more atmosphere. Here you were, hidden under your and Brahms shared bed. You know he had been watching from within the walls, so why isnt he coming now, you wondered. Peeking from out under the bed, you look around squinting in the darkness. Huh. Maybe this was too much for him?

It had dawned on you that this might be stepping over boundaries for him, but the way his eyes lit up at the idea and his quick nods in agreement say otherwise.

Quietly, you slither out from under the bed. You place one foot on the floor and push yourself up, trying to keep the creaking to a minimum. You slowly tip toe your way to the door and open it, taking a glance behind you once more. You begin to walk out of the room and are met with a lean yet very sturdy- and hairy chest.

"Oof- uh oh." You look up to see his eyes pitch black behind the mask and squeal, running to the other end of the bed before he can catch you. You will never get used to how quiet and patient he can be, you were under the bed for damn near 10 minutes, was he waiting this whole time?

He slowly stalks over to you, placing his large hands on the bed, leaning his weight against them. His hands sink into the mattress. You try to bait and switch him and run right, he takes the chance running over to your side. You turn back left and run over the mattress and as you jump off, a muscular arm snakes its way around your waist- just under your breasts. You're kicking and flailing to get away, when that proves to be useless you pretend to be tired out, going lax against the 6'3" beast. He begins to carry you to the closet where one of his hideaway doors are, and you catch him off guard with a bite to his forearm.

He hisses and let's go, you scramble to your feet and run for the door. He's quick, you can feel his fingers graze your back but you're just enough out of reach.

Running through the hall, you debate on going to the storage room, or downstairs to the kitchen. Quickly you make up your mind and head downstairs, with him trailing not far behind you. Panting, you race to the island and gain distance between yourselves once more. But he's so fast- he grabs the back of your neck and pushes you into the wall. All the air within you is pushed out as you slide down the wall, he grabs your neck pulling you up. You can feel his hard cock pressed against your thigh, his chest heaving up and down in exhaustion- or maybe excitement? You groan and he releases his grasp on your wrist, pushing you so that your face is now against the wall and he's pushed squarely against your back.

You hear the familiar sound of his mask being tossed onto the island and before you know it, his fangs are dug into your neck. You yelp out, "Brahms- ah.. easy now.."

All he does is grunt and grab your hands within one of his own, pinning them above your head. He's learnt so much in the short amount of time of you teaching him to harness his dominance.

With the other hand he's quickly unbuttoning your pants, you squirm against him feeling his cock twitch against your ass. He pushes his hips forward, pinning you down from any further movement.

"Brahms- ah.. wait, please don't.." you beg.

He pauses, his thoughts becoming very confusing. On one hand he'll get punished for not listening to you, but on the other you're begging is like music to his ears. He flips you back over and crashes his lips into yours. In one fluid movement he yanks your shorts off of your hips.

"Please- wait.. don't be so- so rough!" He bites down on your neck once more and you squeal out in pleasure.

He hikes up one of your legs, and forces himself in with one fluid movement. You cry out, and he hushes your noises with another aggressive kiss. You know your lips are going to be swollen tomorrow.

The snaps of his hips are punishing, his hand twisted in your hair is aggressive and the way he has his other hand around your thigh is soaking his cock with how wet you are. You can feel the bruises forming now, its almost as if he's getting back at you for the times you scolded him or denied him his pleasure and release.

"Say my name." He growls into your ear.

"B-brahmsy..." His hand tightens around your hair, yanking your head up to look at him. "Say. My. Name." He enunciates each word with a thrust that has you seeing stars.

"Brahms... please, I'm sore-"

He hits harder and deeper. You're lightheaded, beyond aroused and teetering on your own orgasm. Then it hits you, your leg goes weak and you slide down the wall. He follows you, his cock still deep within you. He continues snapping his hips into yours with you laying on the cold porcelain floor.

"Ah... brahms.. lavender!"

He stops instantly. Looking you over he begins to scan your body for any signs of injury. He whines and nudges his face into the crook of your neck. You're rubbing his back and giggling.

"God.. that was- so so hot." You feel him snort against your neck.

"Mmm- you ok?" He looks into your eyes.

"Yes Brahmsy, I'm ok." You grab his face in between your hands and kiss him gently.

[manytoonepoet13]

"May My Body Carry Time and Unwanted Emotions." (Cielomort Vessel Theory) – Aozora no Memory.

Sooooo, I've theorized that Ciel used his body as a vessel to store all of those negative emotions, to store the essence of the things that are important to people so he can lure the SEEDS and take them out once and for all in one go.

This came to mind because of the lyrics:

"The rippling bitterness, just drink it all up quietly..."

"Even though things may change during these dizzying days... Leave only your smiles for I will tuck away your loneliness into those clouds."

"Cut out the clouds and the blue sky... For they are the footprints of this waving memory, this memory of the blue sky."

"Even if those clouds that rode on blowing wind will never return... We'll continue to believe that the future will allow us to meet you again."

Let me discuss it lyric by lyric.

So, "The rippling bitterness, just drink it all up quietly." refers to how he used his body to store the negative emotions, therefore the flavor of those emotions being bitter when he "drink it all up quietly" as the lyrics would suggest. Now, I have no idea how this would work, maybe if he'd subject himself to immense hatred? Or if he uses some kind of spell to store all of those negative emotions instead? I have no idea, I just know that he will be using his body as a vessel, or more fittingly, as a bait.

"Even though things may change during these dizzying days... Leave only your smiles for I will tuck away your loneliness." - this still refers to him using this body as a vessel, but here, it's more of talking about the process in preparing his body to be used as a vessel.

"For I will tuck away your loneliness into these clouds." again, using his body as a vessel and how he's planning on doing it.

"Cut out the cotton clouds and blue sky... for they are the footprints of this waving memory, this memory of the blue sky." - so here, basically what I initially wrote for this line is that the cotton clouds and the blue sky symbolizes the bad memory of the past timeline, and to cut them out means to shut those bad memories and emotions away to make room for better ones. But I still think my hypothesis was true, there's one thing that I missed, which is the meaning of Cielomort's name; dead sky. So, if my theory is correct, and that he indeed used his body as a vessel to store the negative emotions to lure in the SEEDS then sacrificed himself, then to cut out the cotton clouds and the blue sky not only means to shut the bad memories out, but to also kill Cielomort, to kill the dead sky to give way to the new, blue sky that will cover Fragaria in only happiness for eternity.

Think of exfoliating to remove dead skin cells to make way for newer, healthier ones.

And finally "Even if those clouds that rode on the blowing wind will never return... We'll continue to believe that the future will allow us to meet you again." basically your usual 'he may not be with us physically, but he will always be with us in spirit and in our hearts because he's always looking down on us and his memory will continue to live on.' this especially applies to Ciel's fame. You have that then add in his sacrifice, his legacy would be one for the books, the blue sky symbolizing his sacrifice for the betterment of Fragaria even if he's not there to witness it himself. Which actually relates to yet another line "I wish to share it all with you, it would be nice if I could be within that "everything". But it's alright if your sky continues to remain blue." so long as the people of Fragaria will be happy, he will be happy himself as well en if he physically, and emotionally can't. He will.

Also, this essence of things stuff talks about Willmesh's involvement. So, remember my poem "The Genius of a Novelist"? Where basically I talked about how Willmesh had a bigger role in all of this and that's why there are books in the mv. And since, according to the website, Willmesh can grasp the essence of things, I believe that is his role, to grasp the essence of said things and store them into Cielomort to execute their plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The knights ask nothing in return for their love."

More theories + poems:

Blue Bouquet — A Bittersweet Love. "May the Clock Strike Thrice." Aozura no Memory – The Genius of a Novelist.

[phregnancy]

I wasn’t sure if it was you who mentioned that they are rich but not rich enough to build another house when they eventually get into an “actual” relationship in central London prove that they are just like any other normal gay couple, but I just need to yap about it. I don’t know why people still deny the fact that they are just lame and in a long term relationship?!? I think their living situation throughout the years just tells us so much. In their first London apartment… yes everyone “assumed” that they were roomies just like any other brit crew. It makes sense that they had separate bedroom. They were closeted, and their whole apartment was their filming set. There were enough speculation as it was so why would they share a bedroom? And when they moved to the second London apartment, they still chose to live together when they have earned more than enough to live separately. But no. They would rather rented two different apartments so that they can have work/ life balance than to live in different apartments on their own. I also remember them mentioning in some liveshows where 2017 was a year for them to take it slow career-wise and do some life stuff… when we all know now that they were trying to buy a house during that time. Besides, they were going to end the Dan and Phil brand in 2018 after the II show. They didn’t have to bait us into believing them with the “best friend” branding anymore and can live with their “respective partners” finally. Yet, they chose to built a customized house in central London and share a mortgage together. They could definitely afford a nice house on their own where they can design it however their hearts desire but no…the two people who are known to have vastly different taste would rather compromise designing their house and build a home together. ALSO. I don’t know if a lot of people notice. Throughout the years, the way they decorate their apartment is like…they are building a home that filled with the things they love and the memories they created together rather than just two bros living together trying to create content and cannot afford the expensive rent. I know the fact that they never straight out admit it makes us backtrack a lot and just think they could just be really good friends. However, when I was typing this… i just thought to myself… what more proof do I need…? sorry for the yap. feel free to ignore.

i’m not the person who said that, i’m of the belief that big confirmed their relationship and then also confirmed again with the wad interview where dan acknowledged them as a normal gay couple. but also weirdly enough literally as i opened this ask i had been thinking about how funny it is that people think they’re not a couple because they really could afford to live alone and have had that option for a decade but instead chose to build their lives together. i haven’t seen anyone talk about them not being rich enough to buy two homes but that is sooo fucking funny to me because if they couldn’t afford their own homes, wouldn’t you think they’d wait to build their forever home then? they literally bought and built a house together for their combined personalities and aesthetics and are choosing to live together forever. that is not what platonic friends or exes do. tbh i’m so over people needing more proof, i think it’s homophobic to continue ignoring what dan has plainly stated and continue to speculate that they’re anything other than what’s been said and shown to us. straight couples do not have to experience this.

[raayllum]

"My mom used to do that." for claudiez 👀

as always they're in their 20s... Plus send me a number with a ship and i'll write it &lt;3 accepted ships are tdp canon ships + rarepairs (claudiez, sopreli, corvus/terry, sorvus)

There's very little that Ezran remembers about Sarai.

He remembers the warmth of her smile, he thinks. The softness of her hair in his chubby little hands. But beyond that, there's not much else—too recently weaned before her death for more than stories he's heard to take hold, and even then, it feels like every year Harrow (until he couldn't) and Callum, or even Aunt Amaya, would bring up something new, something small, that they remembered, and he was learning it for the first time.

Mom always wore little gold beads in her hair.

Those were her favourite pair of earrings.

She planned out the castle gardens, with those hedges over there.

Soren, even, citing that she was his first sword-fighting teacher back when she'd been captain of the guard, before she and Ez's dad had fallen in love.

Her birthday is always hard, an added winter chill growing throughout the castle. Ezran ensures more fires are lit, and Claudia enchants little glass jars of orange light with her Sun primal, for people to carry in their pockets to keep them warm. He dons his more heavily furred royal cape and keeps Bait close while he writes letters to his brother and Rayla in Xadia, climbing the cold steps up to the rookery to send them.

Claudia joins him more often than not in his study, to save on candles, she says, as they do their work long into the night, but Ezran thinks she just likes his company, his heart doing a hopeful little dance in his chest. He steals glances at her atop the rim of candlelight dancing in her green eyes, now with that spark of light in them that'd been gone for so long during the war. After the war, too.

"You know," he begins, when they're heading to the study after lunch, "we could go to the library. The fireplace there is warmer. There's more comfortable chairs."

We used to always sit up in the library when it got cold, his dad had said, and Callum would play on the floor with you in your mom's lap.

Claudia thinks for a moment, then grins adorably. "Why not?" she says.

They settle in with tea and jelly tarts as an extra bonus, Claudia easing off her prosthetic and letting her stump be close to the fire; Ezran knows the cold makes the phantom pains worse this time of year. (Terry still sends over a herbal remedy that helps with it from where he's set up an apothecary on the border of Del Bar and Katolis with Corvus.)

More of her dyed black hair falls in front of her ears while she works, making notes on charts for what magical goods will be imported once the ice melts, and Claudia pushes it back impatiently until she sits back and begins braiding it. It's still shorter than it was in their teens, no longer all the way down her back, but long enough to braid as she starts the process, fingers jolting.

Dark magic took a lot from her, but one of the things it left was permanent nerve damage in her hands. (The cold makes that worse, too.)

"My mom used to do that," Ez half-remembers, half-recalls. Another story about the differences from their royal portrait—the one real non-Callum produced picture of their mother he has, the way he pictures her in his mind's eye—and how she'd worn her hair in a braid just as often loose or in a bun.

Claudia smiles then, softly. "She did. She's actually the one who taught me, after..." Lissa, another woman Ezran has never really met, isn't a wound anymore, but it's still hard during this time of year. "After my mom left and I grew my hair out."

Ezran sets aside his letter to an Evenerean diplomat, rising when she struggles again. "I can do that for you, if you like."

"Oh. You don't—"

He steps around easily to stand behind her armchair. "Let me?"

Claudia turns to the front fully, exhaling. "Alright."

He gathers her hair gently, hands confident due to the way his father had shown him him growing up, but styled a bit more the way Moonshadows do their braids, like how Rayla had demonstrated. For love and affection, she'd said, having small, long ones tucked away behind thicker locks for each of them—Callum and Ez and Soren, her boys, and then for each of her parents.

"There," Ezran says, finishing. He takes off his cape too for good measure, and drapes it across her shoulders. Claudia is looking at him wide-eyed when he walks back around to face her, and he passes a hand self-consciously over the patch of hair he's growing on his chin.

"Thank you," she says at least, tugging his cape further over her shoulder. The royal red brings out the green of her eyes and black of her hair. It suits her.

"Don't mention it," Ezran says, sitting again. They catch each other's eye, briefly, and share a smile, before she blushes a bit and looks away.

He feels warm for the first time all day.