#i want to note i haven't actually watched it but i got spoilers since i won't be able to until

[livingprophecy]

bruh what was sab s2

[be-the-creature-fan]

Chimpanzee and Me Spoilers and Review

So I really liked this episode out of the 3 that were released, the animal facts were solid as usual and it was a good watch. It also checked off another thing that was on my "Things I wanted to see in Season 7 list from 2022.

But now for the actual spoilers...

Foreshadowing... (Chekhov's gun at its finest)

Bruh not the kid stock image 😭

I honestly thought Chris falls here and that's how he twists his ankle.

But no... "Green Grape" got ablitorated by Green Grape

Honestly I watched this scene a few times and I have no clue how he twisted his ankle like that. But I mean I haven't twisted my ankle before so I could be missing something.

I'm so glad we got another episode where an injury plays a huge part in an episode, haven't see that since Season One's (Flight of the Draco).

On a side note I love that they are teaching sign language to show how we can communicate.

Overall this is a solid episode! 8/10

[bookwyrminspiration]

Transcript of The Trade, the Marella KOTLC short story (Including the author introduction)

Note: OG pictures taken by Kenna!, provided by @fintan-pyren. Some words are obscured and the transcript may contain errors. Neverless, I hope this is useful to anyone who may need/want it :)

Hello, wonderful Keeper readers! Some of you might already know that I love to sneak a little something extra into the paperback versions of my books whenever I can (since I don't think hardcover readers should get to be the only ones who sometimes find fun bonuses). For those who didn't know that: surprise! :)

I knew I wanted to include a story from Marella's POV this time. Not only is she on the cover (looking fierce and fabulous!) and a fan-favorite character, but she also had some key scenes in Stellarlune that we only got to "hear" about. The Keeper books are limited to Sophie's POV, so I can only include moments where Sophie is present--and since Sophie didn't go with Marella to her meetings with Fintan, we only learn what Marella tells Sophie later. But what if there was something Marella didn't share?

Over the next few pages, you can watch one of Marella's conversations with Fintan play out in real time and hear all Marella's thoughts and reactions to what's happening. I've called this story "The Trade"--and I've worked in lots of fun little extra details (some of which might even turn out to be important later...*wink*).

For those wondering, this story is based a [sic] scene in chapter 31 of Stellarlune--and if you haven't read Stellarlune yet: SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Reading this first will probably be confusing and will also give away a few tidbits too early. You'll be much happier if you start by reading Stellarlune and then come back here for all the Marella fun once you're done!

Happy reading! [shannon's signature]

~

"Ugh, I hate this place," Marella muttered, shaking the freshly fallen snowflakes out of her gilded blond hair much harder than necessary and yanking her thick velvet cape tighter around her narrow shoulders.

She said the same thing every time she had to trudge through the knee-high snowdrifts and found herself staring at the icicle-crusted entrance to the now familiar cave.

Didn't matter how many times she'd gone there--or how important her visits were. She was never not going to dread making the long, slippery trek down to Fintan's frozen cell.

The cave looked like some sort of open-mouthed snow beast waiting to devour everything in its path--which was probably intentional, since the prison was designed to be as miserable as possible.

Especially for someone like her.

The goblin guards even gave her pitying stares as they moved aside to reveal the endless icy path that wound down and down--and down a whole lot more--to a place where the tiniest glimmer of heat had long since been swallowed up by the suffocating cold.

No amount of clothing could keep Marella warm in the heart of the prison She'd actually tried wearing so many layers that she'd looked like an overstuffed gulon--and she still couldn't stop shivering. And the whole "body temperature regulation" thing wasn't exactly possible when she had to use so much concentration to make sense of Fintan's ranting.

it wasn't fair.

Everyone else got to train their special abilities in fancy rooms at Foxfire, with Mentors who weren't creepy, unstable murderers.

But they weren't Pyrokinetics.

Marella was lucky the Council was letting her use her ability at all.

They could just as easily label her Talentless, kick her out of their snobby academy, and ban her from ever sparking another flame.

Or they could decide she was too dangerous and lock her away.

in fact, Marella wouldn't have been surprised at all if the Council was already building an icy cage just for her--but the thought still made her shiver and wish she could've manifested as...

Nope.

She stopped herself from finishing that sentence.

If life had taught her anything, it was that there's no point wanting things that were never going to happen.

Instead, she focused on the thin beams of sunlight streaking through a gap in the gloomy gray clouds. The light was far from warm, but if she really concentrated, she could feel a hint of lingering heat tangled among the brightness.

She called the warmth closer and soaked it in--let it pool under her skin, pounding with her pulse, swelling with every heartbeat. Growing hotter and hotter and hotter until...

Snap!

A flick of her fingers sent a small tangle of flames sparking to life above her left palm.

"Feel better?" Linh asked as Marella let out a long, slow sigh.

Marella nodded--though she definitely could've done without the whispered that were now hissing around her head.

The flames had a soft, crackly voice. And they always made the same plea.

Feed me.

Feed me.

Feed me.

Fire craved fuel--constantly wanting more, more, more--and it would've been so easy for Marella to let the fire swell bigger and bigger and bigger.

But that was the kind of thing that would lead to a lifetime of shivering in an underground ice cube, so she forced her gaze to shift to Linh, who stood in a small, snowless circle surrounded by a halo of hovering snowflakes---none daring to touch her long silver-tipped hair or shimmery purple cape.

Marella knew how hard Linh had fought to achieve that level of control, and how tentative Linh's hold over her ability still was. But the fact Linh could stand in a sea of frozen water and do nothing except keep the falling snow from settling on her flushed pink cheeks was very...

Annoying.

Then again, everyone annoyed Marella a little.

Her dad used to call her "fiery" long before he realized how accurate that description truly was.

But it wasn't Marella's fault!

People tended to be annoying.

Especially a Hydrokinetic who was currently looking all peaceful and pretty and perfect while making snowflakes flutter and spin in intricate patterns.

That didn't mean Marella wasn't also grateful that Linh was willing to tag along to her Pyrokinetic lessons. it was nice to see a friendly face after hours of Fintan's rambling. Plus, it seemed like a good idea to have someone with water powers around while she practiced setting things on fire.

They were even finding some pretty cool ways to work together. Fire and water might be opposites--but that didn't mean they couldn't be combined. Marella had actually figured out a way to ignite Linh's rain, and she couldn't wait to use that little trick on the Neverseen--assuming those black-cloaked losers ever showed up again.

For a fearsome, unstoppable rebellion, they sure spend a lot of time hiding.

"Are you going to start by asking him about the cache or do the lesson first?" Linh asked, reminding Marella why they were there.

Marella shrugged. "Depends on Fintan's mood."

Sometimes he was already babbling about some fancy new fire trick when she arrived, as if he'd started the lesson without bothering to wait for her. Other times she couldn't get anywhere with him until she'd let him go on and on and on about how foolish the Council was, or how badly he'd been wronged, or how much he missed the feel of a flickering flame--and she didn't necessarily blame him for the last one.

Part of her wanted to hold on to her fireball forever.

Make it her smoky little pet.

Instead, she curled her fingers into a fist and snuffed it out--but she didn't let all the heat dissipate. She called a single tingling glint deeper, letting it sear through her veins and settle into her heart.

She knew it was a risky move, even with all the defenses she wrapped around it. But she couldn't bear the cold emptiness of Fintan's prison without a least a tiny fleck of warmth tucked away.

A secret spark whispering, I'm here. You're not alone.

"Okay," she said, weaving a few strands of her hair together to clam her twitchy fingers. She'd picked up the nervous habit years ago--after her mom's accident--and the tiny braids were kind of her trademark now. "i guess I should stop stalling and head down to deal with Sir Creepysparks, huh?"

Linh smiled. "Probably. Unless you want to rehearse what you're going to say."

"Nah. I'm just going to offer him an ugly flower--that doesn't exactly need a big speech. Oh, but that reminds me..."

She reached into her cape pocket and pulled out the spiky dark blue Noxflare--which looked more like a dying weed than a super-rare flower--and held it up to the guards. "Mr. Forkle already checked this before I brought it here, to make sure it's safe for me to offer to Fintan. but I figured you'd want to check it too."

"We do," they agreed in unison as one of the biggest, deadliest-looking guards took the Noxflare from Marella and brought it over to the other goblins.

A lot of mumbling about potential kindling and fire hazards followed.

Eventually, the guards decided to quick-freeze the Noxflare into a block of ice in case there was any heat stored inside.

"Whoa," Marella said when the scary guard returned with the flower-filled ice cube--which had turned out as big as her head. "How heavy is that thing?"

The guard studied Marella's skinny arms. "I can carry it for you if you'd like."

"That's probably be smart." Marella was pretty sure she'd drop it, or her fingers would freeze off during the long walk--and using telekinesis would drain her mental energy. "But can you stay out of sight? I was planning to tell Fintan he can only see his weird flower thing if he gives me access to his memories, and that's kinda ruined if there's a giant goblin holding it right next to me.

Not that it made the plan any less pointless.

Fintan was obviously going to turn her down.

He's already made it super clear that the only trade he was interested in was for his freedom--which was never going to happen.

Marella doubted a dying flower frozen in ice was suddenly going to make him be like, You know what? Who needs out of this horrible prison when I can have that!

But she was out of other ideas.

And Sophie wanted her to try the Noxflare thing, so...

Whatever.

Marella didn't care about Sophie's current power trip the way Stina did.

As long as she didn't have to be the one coming up with all the plans--or almost dying all the time--Marella was fine following orders. Especially if she got to say I told you so when they turned out to be a huge waste of time.

"Sure you don't want me to come with you?" Linh asked as Marella pulled thick gloves onto her hands. "Fintan likes me."

Marella wasn't sure if "like" was the right word, since Fintan didn't seem to like anybody. But he'd definitely been impressed with Linh.

He'd demanded to speak with "the Hydrokinetic" after Marella mentioned she practiced her pyrokinesis with Linh, so Marella had convinced the goblin guards to let Linh down into the prison. And when Fintan asked for a demonstration of Linh's ability to ensure she wouldn't "hinder his training," Linh had stirred up all the ice shards on his floor and made them rain around him like he was trapped inside a snow globe--which actually made him applaud.

Apparently, most Hydrokinetics struggled to manipulate water in its solid form, and were limited to liquid water or water vapor.

But not Linh.

Of course.

Marella was pretty sure that Linh was more powerful than any of her other friends.

"Well, if you need me, you know where to find me," Linh said as Marella forced her feet to carry her into the cave. "I'll just be here, making another snow menagerie." She flicker her wrist and wove the hovering snowflakes into a soaring alenon.

"Ugh, at least make some ugly creatures this time," Marella called over her shoulder. "I want to see a row of snow ghouls when I get back here. Or a giant Princess Purryfins!"

Linh gasped. "Princess Purryfins is not ugly! I'm going to tell her you said that!"

Marella laughed. "I'm sure you will."

She would've teased Linh more about her ridiculous obsession with her pet murcat, but the frigid air from the prison hit Marella hard, and she had to lock her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering.

As least she didn't have to make the journey by herself this time.

Marella could hear the scary goblin guard keeping pace several steps behind her as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim blue light cast by a series of glowing spheres dangling from the ceiling. The downward slope grew steeper with each winding curve, and Marella was always tempted to try sliding down the icy floor instead of walking--but she'd probably end up crashing into one of the weird ice thrones outside Fintan's cell. And she knew better than anyone that injuries couldn't always be healed.

Plus, the trudge gave her a chance to add extra defenses to the heat she'd tucked away in her chest.

She often wondered if Fintan had hidden a few sparks of his own when he was arrested. After all, he had to know the Council would put him on ice for the rest of eternity. Wouldn't he try to preserve what little heat he could?

But Marella had stretched out her senses a zillion different ways and never felt the slightest tingle of warmth when she was around him. So either there was nothing to find or Fintan was that good.

She had a horrible feeling it was the latter, and he was waiting for just the right moment to reveal his grand plan--but that wasn't the kind of thing she should be thinking about before having to face him.

Still, she spent the next few turn trying to figure out what she'd do if she were right.

Her feet turned numb while she plotted, and her bones were officially aching by the time the path widened-- the only warning that they were getting close to Fintan's cell.

A few curves later, his cage came into view: a stark, icy bubble in the center of a circular cavern.

The round wall was reflective on the inside, so even though Marella could see Fintan pacing along the edge of his frozen barricade, he wouldn't be able to see her until she triggered the sensor by sitting in one of the freezing thrones positioned at the only point Fintan could peer through.

He looked extra tired that day--his sky blue eyes sunken by more shadows than usual, and he kept muttering under his breath about incompetence as he tucked his messy blond hair behind his pointy ears with a bit more force than necessary.

Marella glanced back at the scary guard, making sure he'd ducked into the shadows near the back of the cell before she made her big appearance. Then she took a deep breath and pressed her hand against her heart, reaching for her secret spark of warmth one last time before plopping into the closest ice throne.

"Awwwww, looks like you missed me," she said, tossing back her hair and flashing her brightest smile.

She liked to start her visits by showing Fintan she wasn't afraid of him--even if she totally was.

But Fintan didn't glance her way.

"I'm not in the mood for games," he warned as he continued his slow march around his cell.

"Neither am I" Marella assured him, deciding that was her cue to start with the cache. She sat up taller, trying to look extra confident as she added, "But I do have an awesome trade to offer you!"

Fintan sighed. "If this is about my cache, I already told you what I'm willing to accept. Unless you're here to grant me a day of freedom--"

"I'm definitely not. But! I found something you should like even better." She paused, hoping the extra bit of anticipation would somehow make her offer should more exiting when she told him. "Noxflares!"

Fintan scrunched his slender nose. "What are Noxflares, and why would I care about them?"

Marella tilted her head, trying to tell if he was faking.

She hadn't expected him to jump around or applaud or anything--but she had expected him to at least know what Noxflares were.

Then again, his mind had been shattered and pieced back together so many times, his memories had to be in shambles--and Ancient minds tended to be a total mess anyway, since they were crammed with thousands of years of information and the past and present blurred together.

"Would it help if I told you I stopped by your old estate on my way here?" she asked, "Your garden could use some gnomish help, by the way. All the plants have turned into a giant dying tangle. But I dug around and managed to find this scraggly vine with dark pointy flowers--and I hear that plant is special to you, so I picked a few and--"

"You picked my Noxflares?" Fintan snapped, rushing to the wall of his cell and pressing his palms against the ice. "You must let me see them!"

Marella's lips curled into a huge smirk. "I thought you didn't know what they were."

Fintan gritted his teeth so hard, it sounded like cracking ice.

"Hey, I'm not saying I won't share. Buuuuuuuuuuut it'll cost you--and I'm pretty sure you can already guess what I want." She paused for another beat before she added, "Just so we're clear: I'll show you one of your Noxflares if you open your cache and show me what's inside."

Fintan's jaw tightened even more and his hands curled into fists.

But he didn't say no.

He didn't say anything--which was definitely new.

Marella had already offered him a long list of trade suggestions that she, Linh, Maruca, and Stina had all come up with--some really cool ones! And Fintan had shot down each one down before she could even finish the offer.

She couldn't believe he looked so tempted by an ugly flower.

but as the silence dragged on, Marella started to wonder if she'd misread the situation.

maybe she'd pushed him too hard--taunted him too much--and now Fintan was letting her sit there in the cold, knowing the icy throne was turning her butt and legs numb.

She was trying to decide if she could make standing up look like a power move when Fintan told her, "Fine. You have a deal--but since you're only offering one Noxflare, I'll only show you one memory."

Marella barely stopped herself from blurting out, SERIOUSLY?

"Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr," she said instead, wanting to kick herself for not bringing more Noxflares with her. The whole thing had just seemed so silly--and the first few she'd picked had crumbled to dust. But the vine had lots more flowers, so she could fix the mistake super easily. "How about I go back, grab eight more Noxflares, and then you show me all nine memories?"

Fintan grinned. "Tempting. But one Noxflare is really all I need."

Need?

Marella wasn't a fan of that wording.

But before she could ask him what he needed it for, he added, "My offer expires in ten seconds," and started counting down.

By "six" she decided that one memory was better than nothing.

"Fine," she said, pulling the cache from her pocket and holding the marble-size orb up to the light. "But you go first. How do I open this thing?"

No way was she going to risk letting him back out--especially since he probably wasn't going to be happy when he saw his precious flower was stuck in the middle of a giant ice cube.

Fintan held out his hand. "Give me the cache, and I'll open it."

Marella laughed. "Hard pass."

"Ah, but you don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can access the memories. And I need to make physical contact with the cache in order to do so."

Marella squinted at the tiny gadget.

She didn't know much about caches--aside from the fact that only Councillors used them and that each colorful inner crystal held a single Forgotten Secret. But she did know that Dex had already tried everything he could think of to open the cache and failed--and he was one of the best Technopaths ever.

"Do I need to start counting down again?" Fintan asked. "I believe we'd gotten to five..."

Marella chewed her lip. "Uh, how do I know you're not going to destroy the cache or try to hold it for ransom or something?"

Fintan's smile was colder than his cell. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening."

Fintan shrugged. "Then our deal is off."

Marella rolled her eyes. "Come on. Even if I wanted to, it's not like I can open your cell door and hand the cache to you."

She wasn't even sure if his cell had a door. The wall looked like one big solid piece of ice.

"You've proven to be very resourceful during our lessons," Fintan reminded her.

"Yeah, but--"

"It's your call," he interrupted. "If you want a memory, you'll have to trust me."

She snort-laughed--but before she could get another word out, he repeated, "You'll just have to trust me." And she could tell that was the only response he was going to give.

She turned to the scary guard, who had started pacing in the shadows. "Is there a way to pass Fintan a small item?"

"Ah, you have a hidden goblin escort--I knew you were resourceful!" Fintan clapped his hands. "And yes, there is a way to pass me my cache, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it. Any guard can open the disgraceful tube they pass my horrid, frozen bits of food through. The cache should fit nicely."

The guard gripped his sword. "I cannot allow any unauthorized item to enter his cell."

Fintan clicked his tongue. "Clearly you're not considering the fact that I've already had plenty of chances to make this trade--and turned them all down. Do you think I would do that if the cache was even remotely useful to me?"

The goblin couldn't argue with that logic.

Neither could Marella.

And when Fintan went back to counting down, she told the guard, "The Black Swan knows I've been trying to make this trade--and they're working with the Council now. No one would let me do this if they thought the cache was dangerous."

Then again, they'd never discussed the possibility of handing the cache over to Fintan--but surely someone must've considered that during all their endless talking and obsessive overplanning...right?

Besides, if anything went wrong, she could always remind them that this was Sophie's idea.

"I don't like this," the scary guard growled. But Marella gave him her I-totally-know-what-I'm-doing glare until he set the frozen Noxflare down with a particularly dramatic thud, snatched the cache, and spent an eternity squinting at the tiny crystal, spinning it all different ways. "If anything happens, my priority will be subduing the prisoner--not protecting you. Are you certain you want to take that risk?"

Marella absolutely wasn't.

But...this might be their only shot at seeing one of Fintan's Forgotten Secrets.

Plus, she had her tiny little spark buddy she could call on if she needed. Surely she could use that to...

To what?

Take down a superpowerful, much more experienced Pyrokinetic with a history of murdering poeple?

But...did she really want to wimp out?

Sophie wouldn't.

And yeah, Sophie had, like, a permanent bed in the Healing Center. But Marella was pretty sure their whole group would vote "DO IT!"

There were also a dozen other armed goblins who would rush down as backup.

And Linh could attack Fintan with her cutesy snow animals.

It'd almost be worth it to watch Fintan get swallowed up by an ice wave shaped like Princess Purryfins.

"I can handle myself," she decided, using a tone that hopefully sounded intimidating.

Fintan's gleeful laughter echoed of the ice.

The scary guard muttered something about the arrogance of elves as he reached toward the top of Fintan's frozen cell and felt around for a specific spot. A faint clicking sound followed, and a tiny round door slid open--far out of Fintan's reach.

"I can neutralize you within seconds," the guard reminded him as he held the cache up to the opening. "By numerous means. Some far more painful than others."

"Yes, I'm well aware of the absurd lengths the Council has taken to keep me contained," Fintan assured him. "But I don't plan on giving you a reason to use any of them. Not today, at least."

The guard bared his supersharp pointy teeth, and Marella wanted to shout NEVER MIND, JUST KIDDING! But she let the guard shove the cache through the tiny opening--and then it was too late to change her mind.

All she could do was watch the glass orb make its slow descent, rolling around and around and around--down some sort of invisible path etched into the wall of the cell.

Her stomach backflipped with each rotation, and she felt more than a little vomit-y when the cache dropped low enough for Fintan to catch it. But he simply held it up and studied it.

Then he coughed on it.

And sneezed on it.

"Ewwwwwww," Marella groaned when he followed that up by drooling on it. "You know, there are better ways to give it your DNA."

"Yes, I'm aware." Fintan cleared his throat and launched a slimy blob of spit at the cache. "I also know your little Technopath friend is going to ask you how I accessed the memories, so feel free to give him a detailed list." He wiped the cache dry with his fingers and then ran it through his greasy hair before sneezing and coughing on it again. "Some of these methods are vital. Some are distractions. None can be re-created without me--but it'll be fun if he tries, don't you think?"

He laughed so hard, it brought tears to his eyes, and he smeared them across the cache before sneezing and spitting on it again--making Marella very glad she had gloves to keep her hands clean once he returned the cache.

Assuming she actually got it back...

She tried to make out what he was saying when he started mumbling a bunch of stuff into the crystal, but the words were all mushed together. He also tapped the cache in so many different places that she doubted even Sophie and Keefe with their fancy photographic memories would be able to re-create the patterns. And he looked so smug as he did it all that Marella decided to look as bored as possible--which was why she was barely paying attention when the cache flared to life, projecting a small hologram of Fintan standing alone in a wide, empty field.

"Huh," Marella mumbled. "Gotta admit, I was expecting something a little more exciting than a tiny glowing Fintan in the middle of nowhere doing...nothing."

"Then you should learn to be more observant." Fintan pointed to the swaying grass around the hologram's feet, and after a few seconds, Marella realized there was a vine of blooming Noxflares. "I figured I'd show you what Noxflares can do, since you're so generously bringing one back into my life."

Marella squinted at the tiny flowers, waiting for something to happen.

And waiting.

And waiting.

"So...they...blow in the wind?" she asked.

Fintan sighed. "No, they do this."

The hologram of Fintan waved his arms, and all the Noxflares erupted with searing white flames.

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah, still not seeing why this needed to be a super-hush-hush Forgotten Secret," Marella grumbled as the Fintan hologram flicked his wrist and added purple fire to the white.

Sure, the flames were pretty--but all flames were beautiful.

"Try thinking like a Pyrokinetic!" Fintan snapped. "Tell me, are there any other flowers that could remain intact under such an inferno?"

Marella couldn't think of any.

And the Noxflares still didn't burn when the Fintan hologram added yellow flames to the fiery mix.

but other than clearly being fire-resistant, Marella didn't see the Noxflares actually doing anything--and the hologram of Fintan must've been equally unimpressed.

He frowned at the flaming petals and dragged a hand down his face, mumbling "something's missing."

"Still not seeing the point of this," Marella noted. "I mean..."

Her voice trailed off as the tiny Fintan waved his arms again and blasted the Noxflares with pink flames--which made the flowers spray sparks in every direction.

The effect was breathtaking.

Kind of like the sky during the Celestial Festival.

But that still didn't necessarily scream, THIS MEMORY IS IMPORTANT.

"How come the grass isn't catching fire?" she asked, grasping for anything that might be significant. "Do the Noxflares protect it or something?"

"No, I was protecting it. A pyrokinetic should always be in control of their flames."

He sounded so smug Marella was tempted to remind him that he let five Pyrokinetics die when he tried to teach them how to call down Everblaze and they all lost control--but that would probably make him throw one of his tantrums and send her away.

She needed the cache back first--and to hopefully find something useful in this boring memory. But sadly, all Fintan's hologram did was stare blankly at the stars and mumble "something's missing" again before the image flashed away.

"That's it?" the scary guard demanded, beating Marella to the complaint.

"Yeah, so...you put on a little fire show all by yourself with some spark-shooting flowers," she added, trying to sum up what she'd seen. "You were clearly disappointed by that little show. And then you must've remembered you needed to..."

She waved her hands, cuing Fintan to fill in the blank with whatever was "missing."

But he just stood there, staring at the cache with the same glazed look he always got whenever he started rambling about the beauty of fire--and Marella wished Linh had come with her after all.

Linh could pelt him with snowballs or something to snap him out of it.

But then she realized...

"You never figured out what was missing--did you?"

Fintan blinked and met her gaze. "Noxflares are full of possibility. But they need to burn."

"That doesn't answer my question," Marella noted.

Fintan shrugged. "Context was not part of our bargain."

"yeah, because I figured when I saw the memory, it would be obvious why it's this big Forgotten Secret. How does you setting some flowers on fire and then realizing you did it wrong matter to anyone?"

"I did nothing wrong," Fintan assured her, with a particularly haughty smile--butt Marella wasn't buying it.

There was a tightness around his eyes that was way too familiar.

Her dad had that same tightness every time her mom was having one of her "bad days," and she knew exactly what it meant.

Disappointment.

Frustration.

A hint of helplessness.

So she marched over to the guard and grabbed the frozen Noxflare from the floor--too irritated to even notice how heavy the ice must've been as she hauled it back.

She plopped it in front of Fintan's cell. "Ta-da! One ugly flower, as promised--and I'm sure you're not surprised that I had to freeze it before i brought it down here."

"I'm not." Fintan dropped to his knees and gazed at the Noxflare like he was seeing a long-lost friend.

He pressed his hand against his cell, trying to get as close as he could. "Such power. Such...promise."

"Uh-huh," Marella agreed, letting his stare and stare, hoping it would help him let his guard down.

When his eyes turned a little teary, she went in for the kill.

"But there is something still missing, isn't there? That's why you saved this memory--to remind yourself to keep looking."

A whole lot of painful silence passed before Fintan slowly nodded.

Marella wanted to feel triumphant.

But all she'd done was prove the entire trade had been pointless.

There was no game-changing clue.

No dirty little secret about the past.

Certainly nothing to help them stop their enemies.

And she had a pretty strong hunch the other eight memories in the cache would be just as ridiculous.

"The answer is out there," Fintan murmured. "I can feel it. I just can't grasp it. Perhaps..."

"Perhaps?" Marella prompted when his eyes locked with hers.

Fintan stepped closer to the ice, keeping his voice low, like he didn't want the guard to hear him. "Perhaps a different Pyrokinetic is meant to find the truth. One who's already convinced the Council to trust her."

Marella laughed. "The Council doesn't trust me."

"The fact that you're here for a pyrokinesis lesson says otherwise--particularly since the lesson is with me." He started circling his cell again, mumbling under his breath and nodding. The only words Marella caught were "possible," "improvising," and "best option."

After three more times around the cell, he stopped in front of Marella again, leaning even closer to the icy wall as he whispered, "I believe it's time for me to offer a trade of my own."

"A trade," Marella repeated, not missing the way the scary guard gripped his sword.

Fintan glared at him. "This conversation is between me and my prodigy. She stands here of her own free will, shielded by who knows how many different kinds of protections--and she can leave anytime she pleases. Your presence is no longer needed."

"You still have her gadget," the guard argued.

"I suppose I do. but that can be easily remedied." Fintan set the cache on whatever invisible ledge it had slid down in the first place and gave it a good shove, sending it spinning up the path toward the top of the cell.

The guard had to scramble to catch it when it launched out of the ice bubble.

"See?" Fintan said, shifting his gaze back to Marella. "I can be trusted."

"Pretty sure the only thing I can trust is that you'll do what's best for you," Marella countered.

"As long as you get what you want, why would you care? After all, no matter what, I'm still stuck in here, aren't I?" He waved his arms around his little ice bubble, which suddenly looked way less secure than it had during her other visits. "Oh, relax--all I'm asking for is a little information."

Marella crossed her arms. "Right--and information has never gotten anyone hurt or killed."

"It's not that kind of secret. It's..." He frowned. "Honestly, I don't know what it is--and for someone my age, with my connections, that says something, doesn't it? I doubt any of the Vackers even know the full truth."

"Then how am I supposed to find it?" Marella demanded.

"As I said, you've proven to be quite resourceful. Particularly when you team up with your little friends." He scowled at the guard again before motioning her to step closer--until her ear was practically pressed up against the ice.

A voice in the back of her head kept screaming, WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO HIM?

But...she was curious.

And there was nothing wrong with hearing his offer, was there?

Fintan's breath fogged the ice, obscuring his face as he whispered, "All I ask is that if you ever find out what's missing from the Noxflares, you share it with me."

"Why?" Marella glanced at the frozen flower, wishing she could see something more than just ugly shriveled petals.

"Because I want to know," Fintan said simply. "And because I can give you what you want in return."

"The rest of the memories in your cache," Marella clarified.

Fintan nodded. Then his lips curled into a smile. "And one other--something you've long wondered about, even though you probably don't admit it to yourself."

Marella raised one eyebrow, refusing to show any more interest than that.

Fintan cupped his hands around his mouth and pressed them to the ice before he whispered, "I know what happened to your mother."

Marella sucked in a breath.

"Yes," Fintan added. "I'm talking about her 'accident'--if we can really call it that. I know why she fell. And why her injuries were so incurable."

Marella stumbled back, collapsing into the nearest throne and hugging herself to stop her body from shaking with tremors that had nothing to do with the cold.

A tiny, terrified part of her had always thought the story she'd been told about her mom's fall hadn't totally made sense.

But everyone--everyone--was convinced it had been an accident.

Even her father.

And if it wasn't...

She leaned toward Fintan. "I don't need your games."

"Oh, this definitely isn't a game. But it's the only way you'll ever know the truth, and before you start overthinking everything, consider this: You have all the power here. Make the trade, don't make the trade--it's totally your call. You also don't have to make a decision right away. I'm trapped in this prison. I'll never find the answer on my own--and I'll never know if you find the answer unless you decide to tell me. So there's zero pressure. No one even knows we've had this conversation--and don't worry about the guard. See how frustrated he looks? That's because I made sure he only heard what I wanted him to hear. The rest is our little secret."

Our little secret.

Fintan was probably the last person she should have a secret with.

And yet...he had a point.

No one knew he'd made her this offer--and it wasn't like she'd come to any decision.

She didn't even have the information Fintan wanted anyway!

And with the way their investigations always seemed to go, she'd probably only find a whole lot more questions.

So there was really no point in telling anyone about this.

She could tell them whens he needed to.

If she needed to.

That wouldn't be wrong...would it?

It didn't feel wrong--or it wouldn't have if Fintan's smile wasn't so creepy.

"I'm not agreeing to anything," she said, wanting to make that very clear.

"You're not," Fintan assured her. "So how about we put this out of our minds and get started with our lesson? I'm sure your Hydrokinetic friend is wondering why you haven't come up to practice yet."

Linh was probably starting to worry.

She'd probably also built enough snow animals to make a frozen Sanctuary.

"Fine," Marella said, standing up and dusting ice off her cape. "What do you want me to work on today?"

"How about I teach you how to make those colored flames you saw in the memory," Fintan suggested. "You know, in case that ever comes in handy."

He winked, and the guard groaned and held out the cache to Marella. "Sound like I'm no longer needed."

"You aren't" Fintan agreed.

The guard growled--looking scarier than ever--and turned to march away. But he spun back after a few steps. "He's right that I don't know what he offered you. But I can tell you're tempted. And I hope you're smart enough to reject it. Never make a deal with someone who has nothing to lose."

"I'm not," Marella promised.

And she wasn't.

She hadn't made any decisions--except to keep this to herself. But that didn't mean anything.

She was just trying to avoid a ton of drama and arguing and having people give her advice she didn't need.

Plus, everyone has secrets.

Shoot--the great Sophie Foster had more secrets than anyone.

So it was fine.

Everything was fine.

Nothing had changed.

Time to focus on controlling her fire.

And yet, for the rest of the lesson, the tiny spark in her heart burned hotter and hotter and hotter. Whispering a new plea.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Trust me.

[machinesheart]

(spoilers for ONE, since I know some people that follow me haven't watched ONE, there will be a cut before the spoilers)

plain text: spoilers for one, since i know some people that follow me haven't watch one, there will be a cut before the spoilers

-

something really interesting about ONE is that when people tell you it "subverts the original object show formula" They arent lying. Like, at all.

Its obvious that "hey! this show is kinda messed up actually" as soon as you learn that the first six contestants had actual lives outside of being teleported to The Plane.

They all have or had jobs, they have family, and they have names. Airy assigns them a name that's solely based on their object, which is normal for shows like this, but Scenty and Moldy were definitely Not Happy, and its understandable, basically being reduced to your object is not the best. and for Moldy, being named after a infection she has on her is also pretty shitty too, but we were guessing that Ary was just lazy

I love this show, dont get me wrong! but holy hell dude!!!!! this show is fucked up, and it messed me up but in the best way possible.

this show is downright slightly terrifying at times, this show tackles mature themes you don't see in many object shows, and the only other show that handle stuff like this is LOVE OF THE S*N!

obviously all object shows handle things differently, and they are becoming more mature as time goes on, but its amazing to see.

spoilers below, but know that this is a long post.

In the later episodes, that is it really when it breaks the formula for these shows. Backpack is eliminated and brought back to the real world, and it's shown that he's literally homeless and jobless. He sits in an alleyway as it starts to hail, and he spends weeks riding across the United States to Bridgeport to find Soda Bottle.

Put yourself in Backpack's shoes (or lack thereof, I guess??). He's newly homeless and most likely got fired because of his absence at work.

He has nothing but some notes and maybe some money if he had a wallet in there. He travels in multiple cars across the US, only for Bryce to slam the door in his face! It's understandable for him to panic, he was eliminated so much earlier than Liam, and he never even expected to see Liam again.

When watching the show, I was, at first, confused as to why Soda Bottle slammed the door on Backpack, but then I realized, "Oh my god. Of course, he doesn't want to see Backpack. That's the last person he would expect to see. Soda Bottle would have no idea how Backpack even got his address too."

I don't have much to say about this portion of the show, so lets move onto when Soda Bottle is taken back to The Plane and Backpack is left alone to find out more about ONE.

Backpack, who is very obviously struggling (in more ways than one) is left alone, and Soda Bottle was basically the only person in the real world who was there to witness the show with Backpack, so they could talk about it, but now that he's alone, Backpack, in a way, lost that crutch that Soda Bottle provided. He's got nobody to talk about this with now!

When he gets to see Airy, Backpack has basically "lost it", he's spent so much time and effort looking into the show only for nothing to show up, so when he pushes Airy to the ground, its like all his rage and pent up emotions bubble up and he just attacks Airy.

It's understandable to attack him, to me. Being forced to compete in a show you want no part of, being taken away from your life and, in Charlie (Tomato) 's case, being taken away from his mother.

I'll probably add onto this when I feel like it, but let me know your thoughts!

[sovonight]

I've been considering playing Baldur's Gate because of you. Do you recommend it What is a good order to play the games in??

absolutely i recommend it!

first off, it's important to know that bg1 & bg2 are their own story, and bg3 is practically separate from them. bg3 is set a century after the events of bg1/bg2, and just has a few character cameos and references from bg1/bg2 (though from what i've heard some of the cameos aren't very good interpretations of the original characters). bg3 doesn't enhance the bg1/bg2 story in any way, and knowledge of bg1/bg2 doesn't matter when playing bg3.

i'd suggest starting with bg3 if you:

are used to modern rpg games, and 3d visuals are particularly important to you

know you don't/won't like infinity engine games (for a spoiler-free preview, look up walkthroughs of icewind dale 1 or 2 and watch a couple minutes of travel, dialogue, and combat gameplay)

i'd suggest starting with bg1/bg2 if you:

don't have a strong preference for starting with bg3 instead

enjoy the potential for mods to expand the game--not just in terms of gameplay, but in story/quest additions and companions, too

are interested in knowing the story that i'm drawing all my fanart of

have a limited budget (you can get these games for very cheap, they frequently go on sale)

if you want to start with bg3, you're all set! go ahead and get started. if you want to start with bg1/bg2, i have a bit more to add:

if you've looked into buying these games, you may have noticed that there's bg1/bg2, and then there's bgee/bg2ee (ee meaning "enhanced edition"). there's also a new dlc that's ee-only. so here's the original playing order:

baldur's gate (bg1)

baldur's gate: tales of the sword coast (tosc): bg1 expansion, adds new side quests and areas to explore during bg1

baldur's gate ii: shadows of amn (bg2, sometimes abbreviated soa to distinguish from tob below)

baldur's gate ii: throne of bhaal (tob): bg2 expansion, directly continues the story from soa and officially ends the series

and here's the enhanced edition order:

baldur's gate: enhanced edition (bgee): contains bg1 and tosc

baldur's gate: seige of dragonspear (sod): bg1 expansion released in 2016 to bridge the gap between bg1 and bg2 (i haven't played it yet, but if you're just testing out the series i'd say don't bother getting it yet, it was released 15 years after the story concluded so how necessary can it really be)

baldur's gate ii: enhanced edition (bg2ee): contains soa and tob

the enhanced edition also adds 4 new companions, an arena side adventure, and overall provides a lot of fixes/improvements/updates on the original games. obviously, considering all these additions and the ee mods that have come out since the ee series release, the ee series is where you should start.

side note--if you buy the ee series on gog (maybe on steam too, but i've only checked it on gog) you'll actually get downloads for the original, non-ee games as well. if you enjoy playing old games for the feeling of time-traveling into the past a bit, and you have the patience to fuss around with troubleshooting and mods, they're a perfectly fine place to start as well! (i personally am still playing the non-ee trilogy even now, but that's for a whole mix of reasons, including that i like using the physical cd's i bought them on lmao)

now finally, if you got this far and are thinking "okay, i'm cautiously interested in bg1/bg2, but which one of the two should i start with???"

start with bg2 if you:

just want to jump in and see what all the fuss is about

don't care about having context in the beginning (you'll gain some context as you play, though not all)

want vampires, technology, and more sewers in your d&d experience

prefer a story with darker tones and a lot of driving urgency

start with bg1 if you:

like starting at the beginning to have context for everything that happens

want a standard, classic adventure with camps, forests, and bustling cities

don't need the plot to engage you if your companions are there with conversations, commentary, and banter

are willing to install at least one mod, BG1NPC

i found bg1 to be kind of a slog to get through on my very first playthrough, but adding in character interactions via BG1NPC really livened the game up for me and made it my favorite game out of the series. (imo this works best if you're willing to do a romance though, bc unfortunately romanced companions tend to get the most interactions & care put into their conversations.)

you don't strictly need BG1NPC on bgee bc the ee adds those aforementioned companions who do have conversations with you, but iirc they don't talk as much or provide as many opportunities for interaction as some of the modded companions do. (for context, in the original bg1, companions don't talk to you or comment on events at all; that only became a thing in bg2.) playing bgee without BG1NPC means you'll have to get at least 1 of the 3 ee companions to hear any conversations at all.

anyway, hopefully this wasn't too long or confusing. i hope you try the games out!

[witch128chick]

i watched the toh pilot episode, here's my reaction

ooookay i so wasn't expecting what i just watched- I WANT MORE

(if you haven't watched it yet but want to do it without spoilers then don't open this)

alright alright i lost my shit actually

Amity stood up for Luz and the fact that she said this was the first time anyone had done that for her is just so sad...

and Luz gave her a drawing as a 'thank you' ( ꒦ິ ཀ ꒦ິ ) she's so sweet

oh and also!!!! first bigger change is that Amity was an exchange student in the human realm! i wonder why her parents sent her there and if there's any angsty reason for that (cuz yk yeah i'm a sucker for angst esp if it's Amity related)

my first thought when i saw this frame: "if i could picture how my mind looks like this would be it"

girly just casually grabbed a key and travelled between realms- do most witches and demons have a portal key or is it exclusive??

Luz met Eda!!! also they teleported later- so cool (ง ◉ _ ◉)ง

i heard that the Owl House was meant to be a shop first and now we can see how it would've looked like!

awww Luz is so excited!!! i love her (˶˃⤙˂˶)

that ceiling looks so prettyyy

Luz i have to say it again and i will never stop saying it: i love you you're amazing pls never change

another bigger change!! Lilith is headmistress in the high school!!! and everyone's afraid of her- shes's a boss bitch and ik she's evil but i love her

girllll--- (ง ͠ಥ_ಥ)ง why are you like this???? you had no business being this mean-

she threw away Luz's drawing from earlier whyyyy (·•᷄∩•᷅ )

side note: the demon on the left is Boscha's pilot?? yk 3 eyes and everything...

i loved this scene! Lilith is so cool and everything! and i absolutely love the sibling mocking between them it's priceless-

and said mockery pissed Lilith off sm that she turned into a beast ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽ does she have the curse in this version? is it really a curse or can Lilith turn into that thing whenever she wants to??

soooooooo omg- i can't Lilith got trapped... somewhere!!!! and her hand is chopped off now

i am soo curious about this like what happens to her after this??? where does she go? how does she get back? will she seek revenge??

oh uhm all i wanted to say regarding this frame is that guys- yes. relatable

Luz is literally this emoji 🧍🏼‍♀️just in a lying position

noooooo this was sooo sweet!!! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)♡

i love how it was Eda who screamed bc the drawing that Amity threw out the window hit her in the head-

Eda complimented Luz's drawing and omg it touched her sm (っ˃̣̣̥ -˂̣̣̥ς) she only felt accepted and understood by Eda i'm so sad rn

and the biggest plot twist happened

i am not okay

EDA'S WORKING FOR THE EC??????? since when? how? why???

i'm guessing Lilith is also working for the Emperor but like Edaaaaaaaaaaa

i can't get over this

i saw someone say smth about a betrayal and this scene but i wasn't expecting THIS

tho i'm pretty sure Eda wouldn't hand Luz over (but i do have some alternative ideas for how this could play out)

is Eda cursed here too? how would she get another key to send Luz back to the human realm? what happened to Lilith??? where's Camila? we saw Amity starting to change her mind about Luz but how different her arc would've been here from canon???

i am so fixated on this rn this will occupy my brain for a good few weeks i think

and i absolutely hate myself for wanting to write a fanfic for this- I HAVE TOO MANY PROJECTS AND IDEAS ALREADY!!

but guys pls if you see anyone writing a fic for this lmk!!!

so yea i'm crazy rn i loved this and will definitely watch it again

the lore, the questions...

[kachikirby]

So last night I finished playing Namco X Capcom.

This will be a kinda long review and opinion thing, so I'll put some of it under a cut.

I do want to note that I did play through the fan translation of this game, and I will be discussing that because that definitely needs to be discussed for reasons you will soon find out.

Do note that I will be showing screens that include spoilers in this post.

My overall thoughts on the game goes like this: If you're already a big fan of Project X Zone and its sequel, you're probably going to like this game, but if you don't, you're probably not going to like it. I can definitely see some things where PXZ improved like not giving every single enemy basic attack animations and reserving them only for a Boss's Special or multi-attack. Those really made the turns feel long. This is why I have to note that it's most enjoyable to do only like a few stages a day.

While the story is like nothing spectacular, it was engaging enough for me to want to see it through to the end. Remember that this is pretty much Namco and Capcom's officially licensed crossover fanfic. This sort of does tie in with another thing I like about this game and that is the cast. I really enjoy Reiji and Xiaomu as characters and their banter is extremely entertaining to watch. As for the main villain, Saya, while she is also entertaining, I'd also say that she's at her best when she's playing the "villain working alongside the protagonists" role like in late-game PXZ1. (and I think the Endless Frontier games, but I haven't played those.)

I also want to discuss the actual Namco and Capcom characters chosen to crossover. Note that this game came out in 2005 so they of course couldn't use anything releasing after that year or in that year. The result is that this game is a time capsule of games that both companies thought were important or popular enough to put in a crossover and definitely would not be put in a PXZ3 if it ever got made. I'm not just talking about the obscure arcade game characters when I say that, I'm also talking about games like Klonoa and Resident Evil Dead Aim. While yes, PXZ also has to take into account Sega, I still wouldn't think they would really show up if it was just Namco and Capcom games, especially since both companies have a lot more popular franchises to draw from when choosing characters.

Now I do want to talk about the translation of this game. Now I want to let you know that it is a fan translation, and I know it's a lot of work to work on these and kudos to everyone who took their time to work on this, but I do want to give an honest opinion on it as someone who has worked on translations.

The nicest way I can say this is that the translation is very half-baked. There is a lot of times where the writing and translation is good...

Then in the next immediate piece of dialogue... well, I heard machine translation was used on some parts of this game, and you can really tell in some moments because of how awkward the dialogue is.

(Not shown: the fact that Ogre from Tekken 3 is now named "Olga" according to this game's translation)

Yeah, you can tell that the translation wasn't proofread, or quality checked. Like again, I know it's a fan translation and it's a lot of work, but at the same time, I don't really think subpar work should be excused. Especially since it can be a turn off for some people.

There are also a lot of simple spelling errors sprinkled throughout the translation that could have been avoided if someone simply proofread the work. Like I know this is a game with a lot of dialogue, but this is all the more reason why proofreading it is important.

Trust me when I say these are just two examples of many. Not to mention as you get closer to the end of the game, the translation starts to get more awkward and spelling errors become more common.

If you can figure out what this means, please let me know.

But it gets worse. There are times where the translation messes up the formatting of the text. This leads to things like MOMO's dialogue being written in the victory and defeat conditions screen and... well whatever the hell is going on in the second screen here.

The worst part is that whatever the hell is happening in the second image also happens in an EXTREMELY SERIOUS SCENE where Xiaomu is attempting to tell Reiji the truth about his father's death and kills ALL TENSION because of it! Honestly, you can see why something like that is unacceptable!

For another example, this scene has dialogue that is voiced.

In this scene, Saya's voice actress, Ai Orikasa is saying something along the lines of "You really have... become a good man... Rei...ji..."'

This is what the translator team wrote it as:

Yeah it's basically another example of an extremely serious scene being ruined by the shoddy translation work on this game.

But the next thing I want to talk about is a bit more of a complaint compared to the rest of what I've discussed so far and that is the fact that the fan translation seemingly using a dart board to decide who gets to use their official English names and who uses their Japanese names.

So, for those who don't know, a lot of Capcom's character names change based on if you're in Japan or overseas. The most famous of these examples is how Rockman in Japan is known as Mega Man in the United States.

To put it simply, except for only two characters, every character in this fan translation uses their Japanese names instead of their official localized names. I'll be completely honest, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with this if they just either did all Japanese names or all localized names instead of being wishy-washy and only picking two characters to keep their localized names.

For example, in the Japanese version of Street Fighter, M. Bison is named Vega, but then instead of using Gouki, the Japanese name for Akuma, they use his English name. It's an annoying inconsistency.

For those of you who are more into Nintendo games, let me explain it like this:

This is like if someone did a fan translation of a Japan-only Mario game and they didn't bother to change Bowser's Japanese name, so he's constantly being called "Koopa" throughout the entire game. Meanwhile, Birdo is also in this game, but instead of translating her name as "Catherine" to stay consistent, her name remains as "Birdo". That would be weird, wouldn't it? Yeah, that's essentially happening here.

It also of course happens with the Darkstalkers characters because of course it does.

I do hope that they somehow release a patch or an update for this translation to fix all of these issues but I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, I can pretty much conclude that if you can get past the subpar fan translation and you like Project X Zone, you'll probably like this game.

[beeeinyourbonnet]

Unbowed | Chapter 1

Rating: E

Pairing: Develle (Danny Devine x Belle) and some Ivelle for fun (Colonel Ives x Belle)

Summary: Belle works nights at the Parrot Club to pay off her estranged husband’s debts to Danny Devine, and days at a bookstore where she has struck up a friendship with a gentleman named Ives. Belle is just supposed to do Danny's books and keep the office organized, but when Something Happens, the she gets drawn into a world she never expected.

Some notes: 1. Pls remember Ravenous is about cannibalism and Ives is a cannibal x] So I'm squeamish, there won't be any gross descriptions here, but like. You know. Sometimes shit has to happen xD 2. Develle is endgame here! 3. You should watch Ravenous if you haven't. It's so good. If you haven't seen Dead Fish...maybe just watch the Danny scenes xD But I try to make it so you don't HAVE to have seen either to read this. 4. If there's anything else you're worried about re: triggers, pls message me and I will gladly tell you! I don't want to give spoilers too broadly but I am happy to give them. 5. I know that the queerness of Ravenous is one of its big themes and draws, and I am taking that into account. But if you got here from the Ravenous tag and are looking for m/m, that won't be here. Just a heads up!

ANYWAY HERE'S THE FIC

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

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

-William Ernest Henley

Belle hated the Parrot Club. It wasn’t the club’s fault—actually, Belle liked the theatrical, glittering floor shows and psychedelic decor and talented dancers—it was that she was trapped here five nights a week, stuck in the well-decorated but windowless office of her employer, Danny Devine.

She hated it in particular tonight, because it was her twenty-ninth birthday, and even if she hadn’t been in the club pretending to sort through receipts, she wouldn’t have had anyone to spend it with. She might as well spend it alone in their office while Danny drove all over trying to collect payments. At least it wasn’t with Gaston.

“Oi.” Danny burst in from the club side, and Belle’s spirits perked up for a second or so at his presence before plummeting back down. “Did anyone come in here? Mr. fucking Beatty said he fucking dropped off a hundred quid and I told him he was a fucking liar.”

“He was a fucking liar,” Belle agreed. “No one dropped anything off.”

Danny muttered to himself as he stomped to his desk, a little tempest in a teacup. His ostentatiously tight suits had irked Belle when she’d first met him six months ago, but now they were as familiar as Danny himself. 

“Some good news, though.” He shuffled through some papers on his desk. “Your fucking good-for-fucking-nothing husband paid me for the first time since fucking July.” 

Read on ao3

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 5)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut… Spoilers ahead!

For anyone with emetophobia or gets grossed out by vomit, skip from 24:11 to 24:17 if you haven't already listened to the episode

“Holy maker in a bread pan” this is the real reason I listen to this podcast

kapok = type of tree, presumably tropical

“Taash says west, and if you know her as well as I, you'd know to take her word over a map” So what I’m hearing is, if Taash says jump from a bridge, I should jump 👍

Declan: “Her treasure hunting is an art, Lord Mondraine. And I assure you, her instincts are a thing of beauty” 🥰 Mondraine: “No, Declan, actually real art is beautiful and she and this place are not!” 😐😡I hate this guy

Taash 🤝 Bellara = threatening violence against the openly racist dudes

Bloodfire Stones = sacred rubies fabled to have been forged from the scales of a dragon, in the “Ancient Temple of the Lost Dragon”. “The shadows reveal the path to the Bloodfire” 

Nooo why is there no subtitles for the “foreign tongue” 😭 at least let me read the words :( (I want you to imagine now: me in the wiki page for qunlat, pausing and rewinding the episode to carefully piece together a translation word by word, only to then realize halfway through that there’s already a translation for the entire sentence because it’s a Qunari Prayer for the Dead said by Sten in DAO🤡) “Shok ebasit hissra. Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit. Aban aqun. Maraas shokra. Anaan esaam Qun.” = “Struggle is an illusion*. The tide rises, the tide falls. But the sea is changeless. There is nothing to struggle against. Victory is in the Qun.” *illusion or deity. In this case, since it’s said near an altar to “summon” a Temple, it’s possible that it’s intended more as the second meaning?

Ooooh Taash just casually has secret correspondence with the Orlesian nobles of the court? Woowieeeeee 

Come on Declan, all that “And what would you have me do? Mutiny against my friend?” for this? Not cool dude

Ah Drayden, never change

Pyramid? 🧐

I am once again loving the dynamic between Nadia and Drayden

THEY KNOW EACH OTHER? Did Nadia dabble with the LoF? Awww step aside Drayden, it’s Nadia’s turn to have a fun synergy with one of the Veilguard companions

“Remember our favorite dance, Nadia?” “The Dairsmuid two step? [...] As much as I'd love to, I'm in no condition to stage a jailbreak at this moment” they broke out of a prison in the capital of Rivain together?! (Psst psst Hollix in “Luck in the Gardens”, was in Dairsmuid)

Gamordan Stormrider was also in DAI in the Exalted Plains… And her location was unlocked after completing the war table mission “Gain Access to Ghilan'nain's Grove” 👀🫢

I’m assuming the qunlat that Nadia knows was taught by Taash? Awe

I JUST GOT SHIVERS. DID THEY CASUALLY PUT IN THE “IN HUSHED WHISPERS” SOUNDTRACK??? Timestamp is 21:42 in case anyone needs the info 

Drayden is afraid of spiders, can’t swim and gets seasick. They created the perfect nerd meowmeow I know people would go insane for them if they’re in the actual game

BONE SAND?

I actively avoided “kill dragons” missions in DAI but I like that Taash is not just skilled at hunting them but clearly knowledgeable about their habits/motivations etc. It feels more empathetic compared to The Iron Bull who just liked to kill them

“you're the one who brought daggers to a dragon fight” LMAO 

New Taash&Nadia lore drop: “we fought the undead in the tombs beneath Clagan's Hollow” (I wasn’t able to find any previous ref to this place, might be new!)

Taash not liking corpses. Destroying hearts of various interested Ingellvar Mourn Watch Rooks. Poor Manfred too lol

“I see your lightning, now feel my fire!” 😳 Taash don’t listen to those two you’re doing great

Yippee an episode finale that ended on a hopeful note!

I initially leaned more on Tal-Vashoth Taash, but as the episode went on I’m not so sure, they might be Vashot?

Btw no idea what to make of Taash saying the dragon is female because of her spine/coloration. Except that whoever wrote that part forgot that all winged dragons (not dragonlings or drakes) are female? That or the species underwent a major mutation these past 10 years lmao

[teethoftheeditor3]

Fav anime?

A very difficult question my friend, and one that I don't have a definitive answer for. I haven't made my list of things I want to talk about yet because it's gonna be long, but anything I've drawn is from something I love.

I can give you a few of my favourites, and I'm definitely going to both leave out and forget a lot of them. And I don't want to give spoilers either, so the descriptions will be short. For the record, most of these I recommend reading if you can, though if you can only watch them then I understand. Apologies for the sloppy grammar.

In no particular order:

Akudama Drive - a cyberpunk heist plot (anime original)

The Ones Within - a thriller/mystery type thing

The Eminence in Shadow - good goofy fun

Akame Ga Kill - a classic revolution with a twist (I haven't read this but I plan to, the manga is apparently better than the show)

No Game No Life - no war, only war games

Log Horizon - The best isekai ever. really well written and worldbuilt but the author is mildly sexist and was arrested for tax fraud.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (Season 1) - Isekai, I've only seen the first season, but i read the lightnovels

Hellsing - a vampire that hunts other abominations

Hellsing Ultimate - the later adaptation of Hellsing that actually follows the manga because they actually had the manga to follow

Horimiya - cute romcom

Infinite Dendrogram - a very interesting premise, executed slightly above average

Charlotte - by Jun Maeda, if you know that name that's enough to know if you'll like it, very sad

Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion. Do not give the movie and newer stuff the time of day. the story was complete at the end of season two where it was intended to end.

Trigun - a western

Cowboy Bebop - wikipedia calls it a neo-noir space western. and yeah, that's accurate

Yu-yu Hakusho - one of the first shounen

Mirai Nikki/The Future Diary - what if your diary started making entries for tomorrow

Overlord - evil d&d isekai

Yu-Gi-Oh - a card game replaced all other everything

Yu-Gi-Oh GX - card game highschool

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's - CARD GAMES ON MOTORCYCLES

Psycho-Pass - a crime/thriller

Tokyo Ghoul - basically vampires, very edgy

Assassination Classroom - the title kinda says it all

Terror in Resonance/Zankyu no Terror - thriller, difficult material that probably requires a trigger warning. it was removed from my streaming site before i could finish it. Beautiful music, look up the motorcycle scene

B: The Beginning - supernatural crime drama/police procedural, i need to watch season 2

Death Note - you know what that is

Hunter x Hunter - a very fun shounen with a cool power system

Violet Evergarden - very sad

Re:Zero - Return by death isekai

Jujutsu Kaisen - season one is amazing, i read the manga instead of season two so i can't attest to that

Haikyuu - volleyball

Kuroko no Basket/Kuroko's Basketball - What if basketball had naruto eye powers

Tower of God - based on the webtoon, the anime is really good

Mushoku Tensei - isekai with really good worldbuilding, but a main character and plot that are not for the faint of heart

In the Land of Leadale - cozy isekai

Remake Our Life - guy gets the chance to redo his life... but time travel has consequences

This very long list is just for anime which I have seen. if I were to open the field to books that have gotten an anime you'd have things like

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Chillin' in another world with level 2 super cheat powers

Berserk of Gluttony

I'm In Love With the Villainess

The Detective is Already Dead (read this one the anime is apparently terrible)

Solo Leveling

There are probably a whole bunch more too that I can't remember. It's been almost 5 years since I pretty much stopped watching anime altogether in favour of reading the original novels or manga. This list is by no means comprehensive and there are a number of things I left off because I like them but they aren't really... good. Like Seirei Gensouki.

[delicatenightfury]

Fight's On

2022 Month of Writing: Day 19

Pairing: Robert 'Bob' Floyd x reader

Prompt:

Word Count: 1,672

Author's Note: please don't steal my work! you can choose to respond to the prompt as well, but don't steal my work

Also, slight spoilers for Top Gun: Maverick if you haven't seen it

y/n sat back in her chair, listening mindlessly to the radio as she stared outside. Maverick had been shooting the team of aviators down pretty much all day, despite all of them being the best of the best. It was getting tiring. However, to an extent, it was entertaining. But only to an extent. Those two hundred pushups were killer. y/n had already done hers; she had been one of the first groups to go. And while she and Coyote had put up a good fight, Maverick still got them.

Now, Hangman and Phoenix and Bob were taking their turn. 

“Say, Phoenix,” Hangman called. “How’s about we tell everybody Bob stands for something? Other than Robert, I meant.”

“Don’t take the bait, Bob,” Phoenix said. “Want to know why we call him Hangman?”

“Oh wait wait. I got it. Baby On Board.” Hangman’s laugh echoed through the radio’s speaker.

y/n shook her head.

Ever since they had been assigned this mission, Hangman had been picking on Bob. Hangman had been at Top Gun a year or so before Bob, and had been there with Coyote and Phoenix. Bob was also a few years younger than Hangman, which Hangman obviously saw as an opportunity to pick on the younger WSO.

“Shit!” Hangman suddenly said.

“Greetings, aviators,” Maverick said. “Fight’s on.”

“All right, Phoenix, let’s take this guy out. Break right!”

“Breaking right.”

“Where’s he going?” Bob asked.

y/n glanced at the radio.

“That’s why we call him Hangman,” Phoenix said. “He’ll always hang you out to dry.”

Not long after that, Maverick targeted Phoenix and Bob. Hangman tried going after Maverick by himself, only to get targeted himself. y/n couldn’t help but smile when she heard Hangman calling for assistance from his wingman.

“Phoenix, I can’t see him. How close am I? Phoenix?”

“I’m dead, dickhead,” Phoenix replied. Her smirk could be heard through the radio.

“See you in the afterlife, Bagman,” Bob said.

y/n laughed under her breath. She watched the next group get up to get ready for their run with Maverick. y/n looked back outside. Phoenix and Hangman were landing their planes. She watched as they got out of their flight gear and started doing their pushups with Hondo.

Eventually, they finished up, gathered their belongings and came inside. Phoenix was glaring holes into Hangman’s head. y/n shuffled over on the couch to make room for Bob. The WSO groaned as he sat down.

“Tough flight?” she asked, glancing between him and Phoenix.

“He’s good, I’ll give him that,” Bob said.

“We might have done better if someone hadn’t abandoned his wingman.” Phoenix threw another glare at Hangman, who ignored her.

Bob ran his hands over his face, pushing his glasses up slightly as he did.

“Question,” he said, his voice slightly muffled. His voice was soft enough that only y/n heard him. “Is it still murder if I give them a heads up?”

y/n smiled.

“That’s called a threat.”

“Damn.”

y/n burst into laughter at that. She could feel most of the room looking at her, but she didn’t care. She had missed Bob’s sarcastic comments.

The two of them had trained at Top Gun. They had become close friends during their time together, so when they eventually had to go their separate ways, y/n had been extremely disappointed. They had kept in touch with one another, but it was just different actually being in one another’s presence.

“Everything all right over there?” Hangman asked.

y/n glanced at him, still smiling.

“Doing just fine, Bagman,” she said. 

“It’s Hangman.”

“Oh I know.”

A few others, including Bob, chuckled. y/n winked at Bob, resting her arm on the back of the couch. They listened to the rest of training, everyone on the edge of their seat when Hangman and Rooster went back in the air. Everyone could tell that there was beef between Rooster and Maverick, but the group wasn’t expecting them to go below the hard deck trying to best one another in a training exercise.

Training ended when they got back. Rooster went to do his push ups and Maverick dismissed the rest.

“I don’t know about you all,” Payback said, “but I need a drink after all that. Anyone up for heading to the Hard Deck?”

Dagger Squad ended up claiming one of the pool tables at the back of the bar. They had gotten their drinks from Penny and settled in easily. y/n had chosen one of the stools by the pool tables to sit at. Bob sat next to her and Natasha stood nearby, waiting for her turn.

y/n had her arm around Bob’s chair, her fingers lightly running up Bob’s neck and into his hair. She glanced at him with a smile; his own fingers were tracing small patterns on her leg. 

“So what were your thoughts on training today?” y/n asked, glancing between Natasha and Bob. 

“Maverick’s a good pilot,” Natasha said. “He managed to shoot down every one of us today.”

“No kidding,” Bob said. “I barely saw him coming. Didn’t help that someone decided to abandon us.”

y/n gently rubbed his neck, trying to calm him a little. They hadn’t been working with the team very long, but they needed to be on good terms with everyone if they were going to work as a team.

“If this mission is as impossible as they’re making it out to be,” y/n said, “Maverick might be our best shot of preparing for it.”

The two nodded in agreement. They watched the others joke around, poking fun at one another as they drank and played pool. Jake sunk another ball, a smirk on his face. He stood up to look at the group.

“Who’s up next?” he called.

Natasha stepped forward, taking the cue from him as Javy reset the table.

y/n looked at Bob.

“You doing all right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Just getting used to the new crew. Phoenix is a really good pilot. And I know everyone else is too, but I think some people are going to have to work through some things before the mission.”

“I know the feeling. We’ll figure it out though.”

Bob nodded. Just as the two went to turn their attention back to their friends, someone cleared their throat. y/n glanced to the left, noticing a man leaning on the wall where Phoenix had just been standing. He had a confident smirk on his face and his arms were crossed over his chest.

“Can we help you?” y/n asked.

“Mind if I buy you a drink?” the man said.

y/n exchanged a brief glance with Bob before shaking her head.

“Uh, I think I’m all right. If I want a drink, I can get it myself.”

“Then how about we play a game of pool?”

y/n rolled her eyes. She shifted her in seat to face him more, but left her arm around Bob’s shoulders.

“Listen, I’m really not interested. I’m here to have a good evening with my friends. And if you can’t tell, I’m also here with my boyfriend.”

Bob squeezed her leg. They could feel eyes falling on them, but they elected to ignore it.

“Seriously?” the man said. “This guy?” He motioned to Bob. “You can’t be serious, sweetheart.”

“She is being serious,” Bob said, glaring at the man.

“And I’m not your sweetheart,” y/n said. “What about that is hard to believe?”

“Honey, girls like you don’t go for guys like him.”

“There a problem over here?” The group turned to find that Jake had wandered over, Coyote behind him.

“No problem here,” y/n said. She offered them a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes at all.

The man looked at Jake with a small smirk. 

“I was just telling her that she would be better off with someone other than this baby-faced twig here-”

Suddenly, Bob was out of his seat, gripping the front of the man’s shirt, and landing a punch. The aviators quickly jumped into action to separate the two of them. Payback and Coyote grabbed Bob while Hangman and Omaha got the other man. y/n pulled Bob away, running her hands up his arms and to his face to try and calm him. She glanced over at their friends.

“Make sure Penny has him buy rounds,” she said.

She grabbed Bob’s hand and pulled him out onto the deck, away from everyone. When they were outside, Bob wrapped his arms around her waist. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with his hair. They heard the bell inside ring and a cheer go up from the patrons. But the two stood quietly for several minutes.

“You beat me to it,” y/n said eventually. “I was probably gonna kill him.”

She felt him chuckle against her.

“I thought you said murder was bad.”

“No, I said giving a heads up to murder was called a threat.”

Bob pulled away slightly and smiled down at her.

“Ah, I see.” He sighed. “I’m sorry about all that. I think I was still wound up from training and needed to punch someone.”

“I get it.” She pushed his hair out of his face. “Think you’re ready to go back in? I think we’re going to have to explain to everyone what happened. None of them knew we’re together.”

“Phoenix knew.”

y/n tilted her head in confusion.

“How?”

“I told her. She’s my pilot, and I didn’t want there to be secrets.”

y/n smiled.

“I can appreciate that.” She leaned up to kiss him. “Are they watching?”

Bob glanced at the window and chuckled.

“They’re curious.”

“I’m sure.”

Bob leaned down the rest of the way to kiss him. He held her close, happy to have her in his arms. 

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too. Let’s head in before they start demanding answers.”

[irritablepoe]

favourite poe hcs??

:))))

oh anon i don't think you know what you've done

okay i'll list some headcanons and then i'll make a cut and list some further headcanons which contain spoilers for my fic that i haven't published yet, so they'll be major spoilers of what's to come!! you can decide if you wanna read them before ranpo finds these out hehe >:3

(if you don't read the fic that's irrelevant tho, enjoy the hcs ^^)

also pls note these are my personal hcs you ofc don't have to agree with them :3

ok first of all poe is absolutely unscareable, he could watch any horror movie and be deeply fascinated by it rather than afraid

exceptions are when there's a scene where many people talk over each other, he gets very overstimulated by that (also like in general not only in movies)

he can hear heartbeats more sensitively than a normal human being

he has relatives in america but doesn't talk to them a lot, especially since he isolated himself after ranpo defeated him

similar to irl poe i'd say his father left and his mother died when he was young leaving him and his siblings behind - they get adopted by their aunt & uncle, tho henry and poe move out quite quickly to get their own place

used to host big events in his mansion, he is very prideful of his deduction abilities after all and he's actually quite famous for solving multiple big crimes that got a lot of attention (like scandals and stuff)

(that's why he's so bummed out when ranpo defeats him too)

karl lingered outside his mansion before poe took him in; poe realised he was injured and took him to a vet; they bonded over that and karl just stayed bc poe got him food and was comfortable to sit on

always has candy for ranpo everywhere despite not being a big fan of candy

deals with dissociation and intrusive thoughts; has problems with idealization of people (see ranpo)

has been dealing with some sort of substance addiction in his time between his duel with ranpo and his revenge part

has issues with chronic pain bc of that as well

has a raccoon plushie for karl for when he's gone

loves writing with an actual quill but has been made fun of

has some odd knowledge about the human body that might or might not be concerning

hates swimming. i mean hates. loathes, in fact.

loves to rot away in bed and think while drifting in and out of consciousness (sameee)

is always cold (uses ranpo as a heater lol)

can solve basic code

loves bitter tasting things (tea, dark chocolate, strong coffee etc)

is insecure about his face + his body in general that's why he wears his hair like that and so many layers

ok now for the spoilers (if you don't want to read further than this, ty dear anon for letting me ramble about this and ty ty for reading :3)

i love the theory that an ability manifests as a kind of response to either trauma or a major change in their life, so - my theory or hc, whatever, is that poe wasn't an ability user before he met ranpo. obviously the first time they meet ranpo doesn't know about his ability and hasn't experienced it before. poe seems to find confidence in his ability and i think he'd have mentioned it before if he'd met ranpo in a setting that would also be in relation (in terms of mysteries and stuff) to it

i'm very sure or i'd like to think poe manifested his ability as a way of escapism but also as a way of determination (drawing people into his story i mean, you can't get further in being a successful detective writer than this ability yk)

also poe was a detective before they met, i'd guess he still wrote stuff but he switched almost completely once he was defeated by ranpo and barely solved any crimes anymore (maybe only over text or sth idk)

all this results ofc in a feeling of inferiority in poe who before ranpo came along was probably quite prideful - which leads me to believe he thinks of ranpo as a rival that has corrupted his mind but also as someone he is thankful for, which makes all of this wayyyy more complicated than it seems on the surface

poe thinks he's tied to ranpo and therefore cannot say no to him or pretend for long enough that he doesn't care; he actively puts himself in situations he doesn't like bc of ranpo and helps him when he really doesn't have to - he could just walk away. but he doesn't

he also exclusively uses his ability for or against ranpo, we've not seen him use it outside of it and tbh i don't think he's ever used it otherwise (except when it manifested, tho i don't know how it could've manifested tbh. like how do you find sth like this out?)

in my fic henry (his brother) knows at least a fraction of all this and asks for poe to get himself something unrelated to ranpo, which he does, which is why i think poe is also an artist, tho less skilled than in his writing but he finds fun in it

he keeps it a secret from ranpo (he will eventually open up tho)

yea. i think that's it for now, ty again anon and ty for everyone reading so far, i hope i'll not disappoint in putting this into the fic :D

[maxphilippa]

So from one person who finished Fionna & Cake to another, how was the show for you?

i was very tired when i first got this ask so i didn't quite exactly answer it but now i am feeling a bit better so. okay:

Fionna and Cake. I actually just watched the whole series yesterday LOL. I got spoilered from the beginning but i didn't mind. On a general perspective it is what I needed emotionally to be fair. I came back from an vacation that was for my mental health and the series helped me realize about a very much awful friendship I had and how I gave so much of myself to them.

One of the main topics that resonated with me the most is how it treats the search of finding who you are through two characters that are different yet so similar in their struggles: Simon and Fionna. Both of them want their lifes to be different because they're afraid of change and also are running away from their feelings. Seeing their friendship go from complicated yet on decent terms to an genuine friendship/found family type of thing on which they've grown a lot and care deeply for eachother was so important to me.

"Shouldn't they get to die as themselves?" Is a line that stuck with me in a way I didn't expect that it would at all. I haven't really been feeling like myself in months and that got to me very deeply.

And, oh, don't get me started on Simon and Betty... oh they make me so miserable (especially since they were the ones that made me realize that I gave so much of myself to an ex friend). Their whole thing broke my heart on so many ways. I knew that they wouldn't let it go like that and transform their thing into something toxic, because they're not. They're complex. They obviously love eachother, but Simon recognizing that Betty gave so much of herself to him, and how he didn't even notice it as much, how he didn't stop to think what was the best for both of them broke my heart.

People can say whatever they want about the finale being underwhelming but. It is what Simon and Fionna needed. Simon didn't exactly move on just yet, but he accepted that he could still keep going, and that getting help wasn't something bad. And Fionna started to accept that her life is just as normal as it can be and is ACTUALLY appreciating her life for once too. She's not like Finn in anyway, but that's what I like of her. She's her own person.

Both Simon and Fionna go through a lot of stuff together but with general different approaches on said topics. And I related to them A LOT. I think that watching F&C was what I needed because I was just kind of giving up on everything y'know. Life is not easy but you're not alone, and eventually things will get better.

The takes on grief and self discovery, the search of purpose and so much more made me EMOTIONAL to say the least. It was all done so beautifully and with cleverness.

On more silly notes. Farmworld Finn. I love him. He's such a good dad. I live in denial so he's alive for me. A cracked skull never stopped Finn. I love his kids. I loved Jay and Little Destiny. I really did. Loved Cake. LVED GARYLEE. Winter King and Candy Queen were so funny too. AND OH MY GOD THE STAR TIMELINE. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. AND AND. UGH. and i kind of hoped that finn and fionna could have met eachother but it's fine mdkhj

fionna and cake was a great series in general and it has so much details and so much love and so much going on i love it. it's also been a main fuel for making aus rn haha. 10/10

[phantomoftheorpheum]

Okay, I got a chance to watch the School Spirits season finale (1x08) and I have so many thoughts and feelings! As usual, I'll be placing them below a cut to shorten the post & to hide spoilers.

Okay. Okay. I literally just finished watching so this is me processing in real time. idk how I feel. Because there are some things I like a lot, but others that I just... I'm not sure. I haven't been convinced.

Let's start with this- I don't love that the entire money/blackmailing scheme seemingly means nothing?? I thought it would at least factor in a little, since we spent so much time on it. The only way it ties in now is that Janet is using the money Nicole stole to get away. I think it's a bit unsatisfying that we get to uncover all these clues & 90% of them just go completely out of the window.

I also don't love that Maddie's "death" ties entirely back to Mr. Martin & Janet. While, obviously, there are still some questions there as to precisely what is happening, I think I would have liked this plot point a lot more if an actual living person "killed" Maddie for a real world reason, but it didn't actually kill her, but the vulnerability of the moment/being injured is what allowed Janet & Maddie to essentially switch places. Then what happened to Maddie has ties to both life & death. And there's still a person out there who did attack/attempt to kill her (and also adds a dimension of them only having some of the info & not understanding what's going on), but there's also this whole supernatural situation going on.

I'm super conflicted about the Janet situation as a whole. While it definitely opens up some interesting possibilities for season 2 (pls, I need it), I am always nervous about anything that potentially makes death less permanent. I've said before that I don't want Maddie to be alive & even with this revelation, I'm not sold on a potential conclusion that would end with her alive/back in control of her body. Obviously this would be a distinct possibility, since it's unclear exactly how/what happened with Janet/Maddie and presumably it could be reversed. I know everyone will feel differently about this, but I personally tend to feel emotionally cheated when I'm asked to invest in a character's death and then it's walked back. So much of this season has revolved around emotionally plucking at our heartstrings, either by having characters hope that Maddie's alive when the audience has been told she's dead (like with her mom & Nicole), or with a character like Simon who is processing knowing she's "dead" & grieving her loss, that I wouldn't want to feel like those scenes exist to get an emotional response from the audience, not because they have weight long term in the story. Like I said, everyone has a different tolerance level for this, and I know mine is pretty low. That being said, I am staying cautiously optimistic that this could go in a really interesting/satisfying direction, if handled delicately.

Ngl, I wish we'd gotten more ghosts in the most recent episode. I just love the ghost characters & would have liked a little more time with them. I also now feel like I need to rewatch & try to figure out exactly when Rhonda became suspicious/found the info on Mr. Martin. I know we saw her in the fallout shelter earlier, but I'm wondering if her "I wanna cross over" thing was entirely an act, or if she only found out later.

Mr. Martin. Okay, what exactly is he trying to accomplish & what abilities does he have? He somehow managed to lock Charley, Wally, & Rhonda up. He's able to make notes and collect objects, even when he isn't interacting with them. Maddie saw him before anything happened to her. It doesn't seem like he and Janet planned what happened to Maddie (at least not in this way) because he yells at Janet not to move when they are interrupted by Maddie and Janet had been yelling for help. Why are there no notes on Janet? What does the "thinning" note that Wally found mean? Thin the ghosts or thin the veil? How is he trying to use this?So many questions here.

I think, given a little time, Simon has to come back around on the idea that Maddie can't just be a hallucination pretty quickly because she gave him info/led him places, etc. that he would never have been able to puzzle out without her help. One of many examples- if Maddie isn't "real" he wouldn't have known Mr. Anderson's phone code. He got that info from Maddie who got it from Dawn.

I actually found myself warming up to Xavier (as a character, not ever again as a love interest for Maddie, to be clear) more than anticipated in this episode. He has made some shitty mistakes, but he does seem to be trying and I have to give him credit for that. Plus, the scene of him, Nicole, & Claire in the truck arguing was genuinely pretty fun.

Loose threads: I know I've brought it up before, but wtf is going on with the social media thing? Was it really accidentally Mrs. Nears? Was it Janet? But how could it be Janet, she didn't have Maddie's phone (I guess she could know people's log ins like Dawn, but why would she do that?), and Janet doesn't actually gain anything by making people think Maddie is alive if she's staying hidden & trying to run away in Maddie's body. I assume the reason she didn't leave town sooner was because she didn't have the means? It's hard to speculate too much about Janet, since we don't know anything about her personality/wants/involvement with Mr. Martin/moral compass/etc.

I'm not surprised that possession became a plot point (Dawn talking about it just seemed too important for it to not), but I wasn't sure if they were going to dive into that with this season or if that was set up for season 2. Obviously it came into play for season 1. Like I said, still processing that.

I do really hope we get a season 2. While there are some elements (particularly the stuff surrounding how permanent death is) that make me a little nervous about things going off the rails, there are so many interesting things (and characters) they could explore & I want to see where they take things. There's a lot of set up for season 2, but also a lot of the mystery/whodunnit elements are currently wrapped up (since we see the scene of Maddie's.... I'm gonna keep calling it "death" because I don't know what else to call it), it feels like we might need another external mystery for season 2.

Anyway, definitely still processing things. More thoughts to come in a bit! Also I still adore Wally & need him to be happy.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: The Odd Squad UK Promo

Now, before reading this, I need everyone to give a middle finger to Firefox for repeatedly flashbanging me throughout this entire followup whenever I went to take a screenshot. This has never happened before. I don't know why it's happening. I do know that I am inches away from throwing that inflamed vixen in the trash and moving to SlimBrowser instead.

Okay, so now that you've done that, let's discuss this 30-second promo that someone on Discord was very polite enough to dredge up. (Since there's a lot of...sensitive stuff that happens in that server -- in an "inner workings of a television network" kind of way -- I will refrain from naming names. If you see this, you know who you are, and thank you.)

At the time of this writing, there are no teaser images, nor have all the expansive synopses been released yet. It'll take a while for TVO to get through all of them, BBC doesn't have any expansive synopses, and my other sources are...dead in the water.

I don't think I need to say this, but I'll say it anyway: there are spoilers abound in this. If you haven't seen the promo yet, it's best if you view it here before proceeding with this followup.

Let's dive in below the break!

The only reason I'm putting this here is because the plehn started in Arlington and it's goin' to the United Kingdom and to Britain.

Because PBS's Headquarters is in Arlington.

MOUNT VIRGINIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Am I fuckin' trippin' on some shit or are we inside Big Ben? Because I mean the clock to the left there is confusing my pea brain. And if we are in Big Ben, some agent is going to go clear through these doors and wind up doing the Peter Griffin death pose but...y'know...they're dead. So.

On another note, I see we're ditching Apple computers and going straight for Microsoft. I know what iMacs look like. I have Google. Those are not iMacs. Sorry, Cook, but you're not cookin' in the UK.

We can also see the breakroom that was spotted in the gadget competition briefing video, which...kinda makes all my cracks about the shitty editing age poorly. (The video editing, mind. Not the audio editing. Those cracks stay. There is no excuse.)

So there's a lot to take in here -- and I mean it's a disgusting amount; I have to go frame-by-fucking-frame -- but let's focus on Captain O and Ozzie specifically. We have Captain O holding a letter of some kind, while Ozzie himself is still in his Department of Help uniform. The letter could be something along the lines of "congrats, you're hired", but who's to say. Hard to tell from a simple zoom-in and an "attention, everyone!"

Me, I just wanna know what the knitting needles on Captain O's jacket are for. Watch it not be answered in 12 episodes and then I'll be staying up Googling when I have a car to drive and cry in.

People in the Odd Squad Discord server are, by general consensus, not happy with this British-fied Odd Squad logo. And really, I don't blame them. This is pure "graphic design is my passion and I get paid for it handsomely, motherfucker".

Look, I liked it better when it looked like a sun. The sun, at least, is symbolic from a certain standpoint. This is just making it British because we're in Britain, and it's not funny.

Pure excitement written all over that girl's face, right there. He's gonna be the poor schmuck just being dragged around everywhere in town.

Kind of like the guy who was my "boyfriend" in high school and then literally dragged me through the halls showing me off like he got the most valuable plushie in the world. (Yes, that actually happened. Yes, the quotation marks are intentional. No, you don't want me to elaborate, trust me.)

Only the guy is a tourist, I'm the poor schmuck who has to help the tourist, and the guy probably can't drag me because I outclass him by about a hundred pounds.

It took them ten years, but we finally have magic effects for when agents combine gadgets.

Oscar is shedding a tear of joy somewhere. He's never been able to make that happen, but a tourist and a Brit somehow made it work, and he's so proud of them.

I could've sworn I've seen this structure as a filming location, but I can't for the life of me figure out whether it was in the Season 3 days or if it was last year. My memory's trying to make me think the former.

Taken out of context, though, this is a monster that sees Orli and whom I have to assume is either Onom or Orwell as two fresh-blooded meals. Which ups the danger ante of the entire franchise considerably, because there is a line between "I'm going to hurt you" and "I am going to kill you".

This octopus...thing is just...more direct about the latter.

In the medical industry, that would be classified as a brain disorder.

...In the real world.

Here in the Oddverse, you can have electricity shooting out of your head and it's as much of a minor inconvenience as an item being out of stock at the store.

(Also, someone mentioned that this guy sounds like TomSka, and...I mean, I'm inclined to agree. Not exact, but it's pretty close.)

This is William Ocean's brother, who finally emerged out of the depths of Monty Python. Good for him!

I'm sorry, I just noticed this...but they have a steel rotating door?

Like...like a captain's ship...like it's...

And it's automatic...

I'm sorry, but I'm just so damn used to seeing metal doors that seeing one in a completely different color, material, and shape is sending me for a whirlwind. Holy cheesin' Jesus.

"I wanna be a cooowgiiiirl, baby!"

"Heeeell yeah!"

"I wanna be a coooowgiiiiiirl, baaaaabyyyyy!"

(Or, alternatively, Smoothest Bitch in the East.)

And finally, we get to my favorite part: the gay triangle villain. Gay villains, if you want to count the one on the left, but since they don't speak, it's hard to tell where they fall on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

I could make an entire Seren's Study on Odd Squad and LGBTQ+ representation, and I probably will one of these days, but I need you guys to understand something for a moment.

So in the aforementioned Discord server, there was talk of an episode of Season 1 of Alma's Way called "Say I Guess to the Dress". It involved Alma struggling to figure out what dress to wear to a party she's attending. It was meant to air in January of last year, but got mysteriously pulled and replaced with a different episode, and hasn't aired in the US since.

You might think this is not normal fare. You'd be right.

But in one scene of the episode, Lucas, one of Alma's friends, models a dress that -- and I am going off of the Wiki here -- was worn by Julia, his late cousin. Only for one scene. Only for a bit. Nothing more, nothing less.

This led to speculation that the episode got banned, hence why it hasn't aired yet. In Australia, it aired fine. However, we are on Season 2 of the show, and all we've gotten is pure crickets. We don't know for sure what happened, but with PBS, it's a minefield -- since they get a lot of money from donors, adding in an LGBTQ+ major character would sap up a good financial origin because people would be too pissed off to donate. So they relegate it to tiny sprinkles.

I'm not sure what the BBC's rules are on LGBTQ+ people in kids media. They could be strict, they could be lax, who knows. I still need to do some research on that. But for how much PBS is trying to make Gay Triangle Villain straight...he's not. He's really not.

Because let's be honest here: they're called the Triangle Sisters. That already says enough on its own.

Oof...didn't wanna make this super long-winded. But I'll discuss this at length later in another Seren's Study, once the episode airs.

I really might as well come out and really say it: I'm really not really a fan of the "really" gag. For a really short episode spanning really 11 minutes long, they really don't have time really for something of really this long and really painful.

...Really?

Really.

*distant ding*

Ahaha...ahaha...haha...aaaaaaah...

Mmm...

Cute. Real cute. Fuck you. But real cute.

And also, fuck PBS Kids execs for only putting out promos of new episodes of shows the day of. Remember when they used to put out promos earlier than that? Pepperidge Farm remembers, and for how much my memory sucks ass, so do I. Those were the golden days. Now we get stuff like these, because not a day goes by where they're stuck under the feet of Netflix and Hulu. Big competitors. Target and Walmart kind of rivalry.

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

Overall, not a lot of beef to this promo. I wasn't expecting anything mindblowing like, say, the trailer for the first movie (and that was epic in its own right), but it's pretty standard as far as PBS Kids promos go. I'm fairly positive CBBC will put out something far better that pulls in viewers, though I can't attest to how great their promos are because the last I saw one was...whoof, a long time ago.

But hey, look at it this way: Odd Squad UK and Pokemon Horizons will air on the same network, which means I can be an insufferable "Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon is my life" bitch all I want.

As for the contents of the promo itself...aside from gay triangle villain, there wasn't really any spark that caught my eye. Nothing to make my jaw drop or make me go "wowee kazoo". At this point, I'm watching for two reasons: curiosity, and to give them another chance at making a franchise going stale a lot better. And also the fanfic ideas. Lots of fanfic ideas.

I doubt I'll put out another Seren's Study before this one (my PBS Kids one isn't done yet), so the next one will come sometime after the first batch of episodes releases and will be an episode followup for "Odd Ones In". Once that's done, I'll work on followups for the other episodes.

Thanks for reading. Seren out.

[cat-loves-music]

Apple Pie Life

Warnings: Character "death", mention of previous character death (SPOILER!!!), blood, let me know if I missed any!

A/N: if you haven't watched Seasons 9-10 of Supernatural, proceed with caution cuz of spoilers.

Summary: Reader confesses fantasies of an "apple pie" life to Dean and he does something unexpected 👀.

I can see myself and Dean being thrown against the wall as we watched Sam, possessed by Gadreel, stalk over to Kevin. I scream at the top of my lungs for Gadreel to stop, but my pleas are not heard. Gadreel places Sam's hand on Kevin's forehead and a bright light shines from inside Kevin's body as he screams out in pain.

"No!" I shriek, my body immobilized out of fear and panic.

Kevin's screams cease as his lifeless body falls with a thud to the ground, his eyes burned out of his head. Gadreel places a small note with Kevin's name on his body and leaves. Tears stream down my face as I rush to Kevin's side just to feel the remaining warmth fade from his body.

"Y/n!"

I wake up to the sound of Dean calling my name and I'm instantly aware of the light sweat seeping through my pajamas. Turning my gaze over to Dean, I notice a look of worry is evident on his face as he searches mine for some sort of sign.

Kevin died about a week ago. While Dean, Cas, and I were looking for Sam and trying to find a way to cast out Gadreel has been the priority, which meant that none of us had time to grieve.

"Was it the same one, sweetheart?" Dean asks, his voice bringing me out of my thoughts which causes me to burst into tears.

He pulls me in to a knowing and comforting embrace, letting me cry into his chest.

"It's so hard, Dean. Why did it have to be him?" I sobbed.

Dean strokes my hair comfortingly, saying, "I know, Y/n. He didn't deserve it."

I pull back from him and look into his forest green eyes, "None of us deserve this pain, Dean."

"I don't know, sweetheart. If it weren't for me having Kevin stay with us, he would be alive right now," Dean replied.

I sit up, "Dean, this isn't your fault. It was Metatron's fault for telling Gadreel to kill him and Gadreel's fault for actually going through with it."

He sighs, putting his hands behind his head on his pillow, looking like he's deep in thought as he stares into the void of the dark motel room. His eyes look glossy as if tears are about to spill.

"Do you ever think what life would be like if we didn't hunt?" Dean asked, eyes searching my face for an answer.

I study his eyes, trying to figure out what's going on behind them as I answer, "I try not to so I don't get upset about the things that could have been, but sometimes I can't help it."

"What do you think about?" He asked.

I'm suddenly thankful for the darkness of the room as I can feel my face heat up. Dean and I have been dating for what feels like forever and the topic of the apple pie life fantasies have never come up. Needless to say, we've never discussed how much further we wanted to take our relationship.

"I think about having an apple pie life. You know, white picket fence, a nice house, a kid or two, maybe a dog," I answer.

"Ever think about getting married?" Dean inquires.

I smile, "Yeah. I do."

Dean flashes me a soft smile, the first real one since Kevin passed, and says, "I think about all that too. Especially getting married...to you."

I can feel my heart flutter in my chest, "I mean we could if we really wanted to get married, but since we have a lot of stuff going on with Sam, Metatron, and Abbadon, we kinda got our hands full."

"Yeah, you're right," Dean agrees, sitting up and lifting himself off the bed, turning on his bedside lamp.

I somewhat think I've upset him until I see him searching through his bag and coming around to my side of the bed.

"I guess I have a confession to make," Dean states, fiddling with the small object in his hands, "I've held onto this for so long and everytime I've seen this in my bag it has reminded me to keep going. To keep fighting so we can end all of this and I'll actually live to be with you forever, so..."

He kneels down on one knee in front of me, holding out what I can now see as a ring and instantly my eyes are filled with tears, "Dean..."

"Y/n L/n, will you marry me?" Dean asked, his eyes hopeful and his hands presenting the ring.

I nod my head frantically, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you."

Dean grins, sliding the ring on my finger and stands up, pulling me into an embrace and kissing me.

"After all of this, I swear to you that we'll have our apple pie life," Dean promises.

I smile, "Just gotta live through it first."

He smiles back at me and kisses me again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~《W》~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a long and difficult road when we've finally reached the final battle with Metatron. Abbadon is finally dead, since Dean now bears the Mark of Cain and we are in possession of the First Blade, and Sam is back to normal.

Fire burns around the homeless encampment and smoke filters into my lungs as I see Sam and Dean. Dean looks bloodied and bruised as he rests against a pile of something I can't quite make out and Sam is assisting him with balance.

My gut immediately tells me something is wrong as I approach them and when I get closer, I notice that he's bleeding profusely from his abdomen.

"Hey sweetheart," Dean greets, his eyes fighting to stay awake.

"Dean you're gonna be okay, there's gotta be some spell or something to heal you," Sam says, frantically.

"Baby, come on fight," I plead, "you gotta stay alive for me."

"I love you," he replies, his eyes closing and his last breath leaves his lungs.

"Dean!" I cry. "No, no, no, please baby wake up."

And just like that Dean and my future with him was gone...

Hiii, lawd it's been a while since I wrote anything. I know I have another series to do but I am currently watching Supernatural and I just finished season 9 and I'm about to finish season 10. I got inspired to do this since this is basically the last half of season 9 and beginning of season 10 will be the next part if y'all want a part 2. Please like, comment, reblog if you liked it and on to the next one!