#i'll post my team's builds later too

[justabiteofspite]

Not to sound too Dark Urge-y, but a huge part of the fun of doing harder difficulties and honor mode in BG3 is finding new, scary ways to kill enemies that play out like a horror movie.

For example, let me introduce you to the melee combination of Astarion as a open hand monk/thief rogue with the Sussur Dagger and Lae'zel as a warlock/paladin with the Doom Hammer.

So imagine this. You're a guard at Moonrise Towers Minding Your Damn Business. Suddenly, you feel the sharp sting of cold steel slip through your ribs, and you can't move (stunning strike) and can't speak (silenced condition from the Sussur Dagger). You can only see out of the corner of your eye a glimpse of a silver-haired twink punching you multiple times in the kidneys.

Then, a scary gith lady beats you over the head with a massive hammer that prevents you from healing yourself or getting healed by anyone else (bone chilled from the Doom Hammer).

You can't move, can't scream, and realize far too late as everything goes dark that these were the last six seconds of your life.

[reiderwriter]

Hating You Is The Easiest Thing I Can Do

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female Reader

Summary: When your boss pulls your case out from under you and gives it right to the BAU, you're pissed. You're even more pissed when Doctor Spencer Reid suggests you can't do your job properly. After a week in his company, you decide to give him a piece of your mind

Warnings: Day One of Kinktober - Hate Sex, enemies to lovers, dom/sub, Mean!Dom!Spencer, Brat!Reader, spanking, degradation, spanking, spit kink, sir kink, vaginal fingering, slight creampie, Reader's boss is an asshole, typical office misogyny. Spencer is also an asshole, but that's just because he's a dumbass.

A/N: Special thank you to @reidmotif and @mrs-dr-reid for proofreading this one for me! I wrote this when on a major Pride and Prejudice moment, which is why there's a whole lot of plot before the sex. I hope you like the build-up just as much as the smut! <3 If you like it, don't forget to leave a like, reply, or reblog and tell me your thoughts! ((just as a reminder, apart for Sundays and Tuesdays, I'll be posting all the kinktober fics on AO3 exclusively, so check out my writing there - reiderwriter))

My requests are also back open now, so if you like my writing and have an idea, check out my request guidelines and drop me a message in my inbox! You can find the rest of my masterlist here :)

To say you were angry was an understatement. You were seething, the anger bubbling up inside of you and threatening to lash out at anyone who so much as crossed your path as you made your way down the crappy motel corridor. You'd only known Spencer Reid a week, but you could think of no one you despised more.

The FBI had always been a boys' club, you knew that. There were some goddamn strong women in your field office, of course, but you were outnumbered 10 to 1. Which was why you were so determined to do well on the first case assigned to you as lead Agent. The first week of the case, you'd made sure you were thorough. A body had been found in the park by a jogger, and you darted to the crime scene the moment you got the call. A woman in her early twenties, like you, had been raped, tortured, and then dumped here, her body posed in a demeaning way to make it seem as if she were performing a sexual act. Your entire body shuddered at the sight, but you couldn't let your coworkers see you weak so you powered through. Collecting evidence, getting an ID on the victim, interviewing potential witnesses, and yes, even breaking the news to the poor girl's family, you had been so attentive to every detail of the case and you felt you were making progress, your boss delivered a humbling blow.

"Another body has been discovered. I've invited the Behavioural Analysis Unit in from Quantico because you're in over your head." He'd told you, not even looking up at you from the file he was reading on his desk.

"What? I wasn't told about another body, why wasn't I notified?"

"I didn't think you needed to know, now that the BAU is coming in."

"So I'm off the case? That's it?"

"No, I want you to assist them in their investigation. Tell them everything you've gathered so far, get them situated in the office as best you can."

"Get them coffee when they want it? Rub their feet if they ask for it? This is bullshit, I was making progress, if you'd only have given me more time-"

"Agent, I suggest you walk out of this office right now and get your PMSing under control before I have to suspend you from fieldwork." You pressed your nails further into the beds on your palms then and bit back your tongue from replying, simply giving a terse nod and exiting the office.

It wasn't even an hour later before the new team arrived, and you offered a tense smile and welcome as you got them set up in their own office. The Unit Chief didn't seem too bad, but Aaron Hotchner couldn't exactly be described as the most welcoming of people, and you felt an instant camaraderie with JJ, the other agent who'd come into the office with him. There were more agents apparently, but they'd gone out into the field to check out the new victim and reinterview the family, something you weren't exactly happy about. But, if you were going to be their little bitch for the next week, you were at least thankful they were tolerable and polite.

"So here's everything I've got so far. I've been pretty thorough in my interrogations of potential witnesses, and there are no CCTV cameras in the general vicinity of the dump sites, so I don't think you'll find anything else there that'll aid in your profile."

" If you'd have been thorough you'd have found this though, right?" A new voice popped up from the door, and you felt yourself tense up under the sudden accusation. Looking up you saw he was holding up his phone, a picture of a strange marking on a tree lighting up the screen.

"Excuse me?"

"This was left on a tree roughly thirty feet from the first dump site. I called Rossi and Morgan and they found a similar marking near the second victim. It's a Mesopotamian symbol relating to the worship of prostitutes and sex workers to promote fertility." He spoke plainly, but all you could hear was the condescension in his tone, and your blood boiled with rage.

" Agent Y/L/N, I'm sorry about him, this is Doctor Spencer Reid, he's another member of our team." JJ introduced the man, sending him a warning glance, as if letting him know that he hadn't just put his foot in his mouth directly.

You looked at the man then, really focusing on him now instead of the pictures, and almost cursed out loud again. He was a jerk, but fuck was he attractive. Tousled hair, dark eyes, and a perfectly sculpted jaw, it was as if he were sent from hell directly to piss you off and tempt you. You pushed the attraction aside for the minute then, choosing to be the bigger person and introduce yourself.

"I'm Agent Y/N Y/L/N. And I'm sorry that I'm not an expert on Mesopotamian prostitutes, but I guess that's probably your specialty, right, Doctor?" You held out your hand for him to shake, but he just looked down at it.

"If you're referring to my doctorate, I actually didn't study classic civilizations. I hold PhDs in Math, Chemistry, and Engineering and additional BAs in Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology. And I don't do handshakes." He glanced straight past you after that, walking back over to Hotch and filling him in on other things you must've overlooked during your brief time working the case.

You glared at his back, finally letting your hand drop to your side again as you let out an angry chuckle.

"Don't take it personally, Spencer is just… He’s He's not great with people. He'll warm up to you." JJ put a reassuring arm on your shoulder and you nodded. But inside you knew there was not one thing the man could do to reverse the bad opinion of him you'd just gained.

–X–

After the initial anger of having the case seeped out from beneath you wore off, you actually began enjoying your time with the BAU. You hadn't put much thought into profiling before, it usually being so far off your radar while you were working in the field office but you were actually coming to enjoy how they worked, and you'd learned a lot.

Your relationship with Spencer, however, only degraded.

Your hatred had reignited the moment you'd been joined by the rest of the BAU Team. Your boss has finally come down to greet them, and, almost as if making you pay for your earlier comments, had genuinely sent you on a coffee run for them. You could deal with the fact that the man had the most annoyingly complicated coffee order you'd ever heard of in the Bureau, but what you couldn't forgive were the sly comments you walked in on when you returned.

"Come on, Reid. That Agent is easy on the eyes, you should talk to her, get you a slice of that." You'd been introduced to Derek Morgan earlier and you'd instantly pegged him as a flirt, so this wasn't exactly shocking to you. What was a bit surprising was the other man's reply.

"If she's attractive I hadn't noticed. I've been too busy trying to clear up her mess with this case."

You walked in the door then, coffees in hand, and slammed his drink down on the table for him. You handed Morgan to him, double-checking that you'd got both of their orders right before shooting another glare at the man and walking away to find the rest of the team.

But not before hearing Morgan chastise Reid in another whisper: "God man, you gotta be nicer to the kid…"

To say that your working relationship had soured totally after your two personal encounters with the man was simply an untruth. You didn't have a working relationship, you had a working rivalry.

From then on, you'd slyly interrupt the man when he was speaking, telling him to cut his genius rambles in half, that you didn't have all day to sit around and wait for him to stutter his way through his theory while there was a murderer on the loose.

He didn't hold back either, constantly asking you questions he knew you didn't know the answers to, just to smile slyly down at you and make you admit that you weren't as good as him. It was getting so detrimental to the office atmosphere that you had to be genuinely separated after only three days, Hotchner bringing you into the field with him on multiple occasions and forcing Reid to stay behind with JJ to work on a geographical profile.

You'd been with Hotchner at a family interview, working with him to gain details of the second victim's actions and whereabouts leading up to her murder to establish a timeline when you got a call.

Excusing yourself from the room, you quickly picked up the call.

"This is Agent Y/L/N."

"Hotch isn't picking up his phone." That was all the explanation you got from the man on the other side of the phone, his voice instantly grating.

"Yes, I'd assume he isn't, Doctor Reid, because we are currently interviewing a bereaved mother and father and he put his phone on silent. Is there something you need?"

"I need to talk to Hotch."

"Well, you called me. What do you need?" You heard him breathe out a frustrated sigh on the other side of the line, and you rolled your eyes, slightly enjoying being this stubborn and getting under his skin.

"Just tell him we're ready to give the profile, okay?" He hung on you after that and you cursed him down the line, receiving nothing back but the empty beeps of the dial tone.

–X–

It didn't take long after delivering the profile to get your guy, but as he hadn't been in the middle of committing any felonies when you picked him up, you'd had to spend a few days in the interrogation rooms.

Hotch had taken a crack at him and gotten nowhere, and so had Rossi and Emily and Morgan. JJ had been the one to make the arrest, so she went in last and still came out with nothing much. He hadn't layered up yet, as they'd suspected he wouldn't, too egotistical to allow anyone else into the room that he thought he was going to talk himself out of.

"We're getting nowhere with this, Hotch. I think I have an idea that could get him to start talking." Reid said as you all stared at the man through the one-way glass.

"What, you think you can charge in there and get him to talk?" It was petty, but it'd been a stressful week, and he was used to this flow of conversation between the two of you.

"No, you are. Hotch, she fits his type, she's attractive, same build and coloring as the previous two victims. I think it'd work." You scoffed at his suggestion.

"Oh so now you think I'm attractive? I thought you hadn't noticed because you were, what, too busy cleaning up my mess?" You crossed your arms as he gave you an incredulous look, and you realized that he didn't think you'd heard him.

"Spencer's right, Y/N." Hotch nodded, looking between the two of you to see if he needed to pull you apart to keep you from fighting or to keep you from jumping each other. You personally weren't sure which you'd like most at that point, cursing yourself as you let your eyes trail down his body.

"It's going to excite him having you so close, you should pop a few of those buttons, too," Reid suggested looking down at your chest as you scoffed and crossed your arms.

"Oh you'd really like that," you mumbled under your breath, but a swift look from Hotch had you shutting your mouth again as he began to brief you.

Going in you felt a surge of pettiness seep through you. You were going to nail this guy, get him to talk about every little nasty thing he did to those girls, and prove to your boss that you could do this when every member of the BAU had tried and failed. But a small, dim, and annoying reminder at the back of your head whispered in your ear that you'd be pleasing Spencer then as well. Proving him right. You weren't sure if you wanted to succeed to hear him or your boss say "good job" to you after you finally succeeded, but when you imagined it with him, he was a whole lot closer, right in your ear, body pressed against yours.

You focused on your anger over your attraction and pushed into the room, ready to stare down a monster and escape unharmed.

–X–

It had worked, of course. It had taken a few hours of building rapport but you'd done it. You'd had him eating out the palm of your hand while he confessed to the three murders you knew about and an extra four that you didn't.

A day of retrieving bodies later and by 10 pm, the case was finally closed.

"Well done, kid, you really got him in that interview. That was some great work." Morgan nudged your elbow as he grabbed his duffle, exiting the makeshift office.

"Don't forget we're getting drinks at the cocktail bar in half an hour. Shower off that mud and change into a hot dress, Agent, and I'll buy you your first shot." Emily called back to you from the exit too, leaving you in a fit of giggles as you promised her you would.

Once they'd all gone, you started packing up your things ready to leave yourself when there was another knock at the door.

" Hey, I need to grab my bag." Reid stood in the door awkwardly, and your smile dropped into a politely neutral face as you nodded to him.

"Don't let me stop you, Doc."

"Spencer."He said, stepping a bit closer to you.

"What?"

"I want you to call me Spencer. You keep calling me Doctor or Doc, I want you to call me Spencer."

"No. Doctor Reid is just fine for me."

"And what if I want more?" He grabbed your wrist as you turned to go, using a bit too much force and leaving you stumbling into him, hitting his chest as you looked up at him, your noses almost touching with the proximity.

"Let me go," you growled, but his grip loosened and you didn't move an inch.

"What if I want more?" He asked again, a little more insistent this time, his eyes dark in the dim room, expression unreadable.

"Why should I care what you want, Doctor Reid?"

"Because I think you want it, too. Because I think that despite all the odds, you want me just as much as I want you."

Your anger burst out of you in a sarcastic laugh then at his presumptuous words.

"Despite all the odds? What odds are those Spencer? You treat me like shit, ignoring me, refusing to even shake my hand, and downplaying the hard fucking work I put in before you got here? God, you are so fucking narcissistic." You finally stepped away from him then, turning away to regain your composure.

"Me? I'm not the one who missed some vital fucking evidence in a murder investigation, Y/N, so I'm sorry I wasn't the most welcoming person, but God if we're talking egos, you should probably check yourself."

"Forget it, you're impossible. I really tried to be nice to you, but more fool me for making messes you had to clean up."

"Are you still stuck on that? Y/N, I'm sorry, but Derek just has a way of-" He stepped closer to you again and you could feel the oxygen being sucked from your lungs.

"Don't you dare blame this on Morgan. You're attracted to me and you fucking despise that, and it's none of Morgan’s fault. Now please, just get out of this fucking office and go back to your motel room." You practically hissed those last words at him, holding back the urge to scream in frustration. Your lips were so close now, as his chest heaved, hands clenched by his sides as he resisted the urge to grab you.

"Forgive me… for suggesting something so obviously repulsive to you." With that, he brushed past you and walked out, leaving you reeling at his almost confession, head light from the lack of air. He'd taken your breath with him as he left the room.

–X–

The promise of free shots had convinced you to get back out to the bar as promised, not letting Reid and his fickle moods control when and where you'd be enjoying yourself.

You finally showed up at the bar and were greeted by hugs from JJ and Emily, already one drink in as they immediately handed you a shot from the bar. Guiding you back to the table, you paused as you saw him there.

Morgan was sat at the table, happily chatting away with Reid, who'd since grown quiet, eyes meeting yours before leaving to rake down your frame. You resisted the urge to cover yourself, confidently standing tall as he devoured you with his eyes. Changing out of your work clothes, you'd decided that you needed some fun tonight, donning a short red dress, barely hitting the tops of your thighs, hugging your curves tightly, and pushing your chest up so it nearly spilled out completely. You'd completed the look with thigh-high black boots and a red lip, looking the absolute image of lust - or anger - personified.

"Whew mama, you look good, Y/N." Morgan greeted you, standing up to give you a kiss on the cheek. Reid still said nothing but kept his eyes trained on you as he took another sip of his drink.

"I was promised shots and dancing, I think I'm dressed pretty appropriately don't you think?" You smiled and giggled up at Morgan, letting your touch linger on him a little longer to see if it would spur Reid into action.

"Have I ever told you about my very good friend Penelope Garcia? I think you two would get along just fine."

The rest of the night continued in a similar vein. You'd stepped out onto the dance floor with Emily and JJ, letting whatever man wanted to sidle up close, begging one of them to be a distraction from the man whose eyes were boring into you from the other side of the room. It didn't work. Their hands were on your hips, guiding you to the sound of the music but in your head, all you saw was him, doing the same.

It didn't help that he was getting hit on constantly from his perch beside Morgan, and you watched with a bitter feeling at the bottom of your stomach as women tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to pay attention to them. After another frustrating invitation for a tryst with a local man, you excused yourself from the dance floor, finding Morgan in the bar, letting him know that you were calling it a night.

"Where's Reid?" You asked, trying and failing to sound casual as you glanced around the now crowded bar for signs of him.

"He left like ten minutes ago. Said he was tired and went back to the motel."

"Was he…" You didn't want to finish the question, not knowing which answer you'd prefer, but Morgan filled in the gaps himself with a wide grin.

"Alone? Yes, kid. Here, it's the address of the motel we're staying at and his room number." You hesitated before grabbing the paper and grabbing your stuff, practically running from the bar and hopping in the nearest taxi.

–X–

That's how you found yourself stomping down the corridor of the motel, pounding on his door at 1 a.m., unashamed in your brazen actions. He opened the door, slightly shocked to see you there, and you pushed your way inside and turned on him as you shut the door.

"What the fuck was all of that?" You demanded as soon as he turned back to you. His shirt was open now, jacket and tie discarded on the floor somewhere deeper into the room, but you forced yourself to look up into his eyes, away from the pale plains of his skin.

"What was what, Y/N?"

"You, staring at me like that the whole night and then just leaving."

"Did you want me to stay?"

"I want you to stop answering my questions with questions, Reid. This is bullshit, you can't act like a dick to me all week and then look at me like I'm a piece of meat you want to rip apart, for fucks sake."

"You made it very clear earlier tonight that you wanted no part of this, Y/N. Are you saying I should've done something else?"

"That's another fucking question, Spencer! If you don't start actually talking to me, I swear to god, I'll-" You ran a hand through your hair, and when you looked up again, he was closer than ever. You backed up into the wall, but he followed you, pressing a leg between your own. Slowly and with that condescending grin plastered across his face, he drawled out his next words.

"You'll what?"

Your lips crashed against his with the fury of your frustrations, a mess of teeth and tongue and biting anger as you surged forward into him.

With a rough push of your hips, he slammed you back into the wall, taking charge of the situation, coaxing his tongue into your mouth, battling you for control, and winning. Grabbing you by the neck he slowly pulled his lips away from yours, leaving you gasping for breath.

"Don't be such a brat, Y/N. When I ask you questions, it's because I want answers." You moaned as you tried to regain his lips, but he chuckled and kept you pinned.

"Tell me, baby, what should I have done earlier instead? Got down on my knees to beg your forgiveness, or thrown you over that desk and used you like a cheap little whore? I think I know which one you prefer."

You moaned at his words, but kept your mouth twisted in a grimace, choosing not to answer. He got tired of waiting, and, with a swiftness you didn't know he possessed, twisted you around so your hands were planted against the wall, your chest pushing against it too as he pulled your hips up and out, effectively baring your pantie-clad pussy to him as your dress pushed up and over your ass all by itself.

"So fucking slutty. You let all those men in that club touch you while you stared at me the entire time." He ran his hands across your ass massaging you underneath your underwear before pulling his hands away again and grabbing your hips. He pushed his clothed cock against you from behind and you moaned at how hard and big he felt already.

"Was this what you wanted, brat?"

"Go fuck yourself."

"I think you'd much prefer it if I fucked you, don't you think?" He turned you around again, lifting one of your legs up to wrap around him, the new angle pressing your core further into his cock.

"Open your mouth, now." Against your better judgment, your body reacted to him quickly, your tongue dropping out of your mouth as he ground his cock into your core, effectively dry-humping you. With a swift motion, he spat in your mouth, your eyes going wide as you instinctively shut your mouth and swallowed.

"Good girl," he stroked your hair, lifting you up and carrying you to the bed. His lips locked with yours as you tasted his spit on your lips, letting him take control and move you in any way he pleased.

"But you've been a brat," he said pulling away. "And brats need to be punished."

With that he forced you over his knee, pulling your panties down as he positioned your hips higher, your ass raised. He fisted one hand into your hair and began softly stroking your ass with the other.

"You're going to count for me, baby. If you lose count, we'll start again. With each number, I'll tell you what you did wrong, okay?"

"Fuck, yes, yes sir." With another soft touch, he pulled his hand up and bought it back again down sharply, letting it cup your ass as you hissed from the sting.

"O-One."

"That was for being a brat in the office. Being so confident you missed some vital evidence that was staring you right in the face."

He did it again, and you squirmed under his touch.

"Two."

"That was for teasing me in front of Hotch. Making me get hard right there in the office before you went to interrogate that creep."

"That made you hard?" You gasped out as he cracked out another slap to your ass. "Three."

"That was for talking. You need to stop fucking talking." He stroked your ass again, delivering a fourth, fifth, and sixth blow in quick succession as you felt yourself leak your arousal all over his lap.

"That was for dressing like a little whore tonight. That was for flirting with Morgan. That was for letting another man touch you. What do you have to say for yourself now, brat?" Your breaths stuttered out of you as you tried to compose yourself, confident that he'd finished your punishment now.

"G-Go…. FuckFuck yourself." He growled and threw you back on the bed, ripping your dress off over your head and letting his lips return to yours as he trailed his hand to between your legs, finally pushing two fingers inside of you as you moaned and writhed beneath him.

" I hate you," you moaned in his ear as his lips trailed down to your breasts.

"You have a funny way of showing it." Your orgasm was rapidly approaching, so close you could practically taste it. He sensed it as well, though, and pulled his fingers out of you before you could reach that bliss.

"You thought it would be that easy, brat?" he whispered in your ear with a low chuckle before flipping you over to your front and thrusting his fingers back into you from behind, causing another moan to rip from your throat, uncontrollably loud in the otherwise silence of the motel at night.

Unzipping his pants and freeing his cock, you felt the weight of it on your ass as he rubbed his precum against your now bright red asscheeks.

"You're going to look so pretty with my cum decorating your ass baby. It's going to make your ass feel better, too."

"You're disgusting," you spit at him, but your hips push harder into his dick, trying desperately to capture him inside of you and force him to use you.

"No more talking, bitch. Take my fingers." He pushed a hand into your mouth and you started twirling your tongue around them, using your distraction to finally violently thrust his dick all the way inside you. You screamed at the sudden filling, cumming around his cock in an instant, trying to milk him for all he was worth. But he clamped a hand down over your mouth so that all that fell from your face was escaped tears and muffled pleas for more.

"Gonna use you like this baby, gonna make you admit you love me."

His thrusts gained a steady pace as your brain emptied beneath him, desperate for more of the pleasure his body was supplying you with. He released your mouth then, content that all your energy seemed to be spent on pushing your ass back into his, listening to the wet, sloppy sounds of your activity.

"Do you like that, brat? You like me making you feel like this, huh?" He slapped your ass again as he thrust, and you moaned back with a nod.

"Yes, Spencer, don't stop… Don't stop." You moaned again, another orgasm rolling over your body, causing you to clench unconsciously around his cock.

"So good baby, you're responding so well to my cock." He trailed a hand underneath you to your clit and started rubbing it in time to his thrusts.

"One more for me. One more and I'll pull out, okay? Just one more."

"I can't, Spencer I can't do it.." You whined underneath him, face fully buried in the motel pillows. You were surprised he even heard you through the tears as the material.

"Yes you can, baby, look you're so close already, just do one more."

"I hate you," you moaned again, feeling your third and final orgasm wash over you, your eyes rolling back in your head as your body started twitching and didn't stop. You felt a small twitch from him too, as he finished thrusting inside of you, letting a little bit of his cum escape into you before pulling out and decorating your ass with his ejaculation.

He fell by the side of you and gasped desperately for a few minutes, before grabbing a hot wet towel from the bathroom and cleaning your ass off.

"Spencer…" you croak out eventually, regaining some clarity, but still not moving much from your spot in his bed.

"Spencer, I don't hate you."

"I know. I don't hate you either. Which is probably for the best."

"What? Why?"

"Hotch just requested your transfer to the Quantico Office so you could start training with the BAU. You did a good job this week, Y/N." Your eyes started watering again and you gently pushed away tears as he laughed at you, asking why you were crying.

"I'm not happy," you joked.

"I just realized that means I have to work with you more." You both laughed at that. You didn't hate each other exactly, but that didn't mean you could work together well either.

And you didn't want to if this was the outcome of your bickering and hatred.

[buddierecs]

amnesia buddie fics

this list has different rated fics, so please look at the rating make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

i'll feel you forget me like i used to feel you breathe by: turningthepages "just another hollywood amnesia story the fandom probably didn't need but lived in my head rent free for too long." word count: 128k rating: mature important tags: married!buddie, car accidents, hurt/comfort, family feels, insecure!evan buckley, future fic buy back the secrets by: allyasavedtheday "after getting hurt on a call, buck wakes up thinking it's 2018. aka buck can't remember who eddie is but he's pretty sure everyone's lying when they say they're "just friends." word count: 18k rating: teen and up important tags: hurt/comfort, oblivious!eddie diaz, friends to lovers, love confessions you've got the antidote by: hattalove "in which buck is a little high, and shirts are difficult." word count: 4.2k rating: teen and up important tags: anaesthesia, pining, fluff, getting together i think i belong to you (hope you feel the same) by: ran "the one where eddie wakes up from the shooting only to think he was hurt in a certain 7.1 earthquake years prior and learns to appreciate the life he's created for himself since then." word count: 41k rating: teen and up important tags: ptsd, therapy, falling in love, hurt/comfort, angst, love confessions, post-shooting (s4e14) house of forgotten memories by: not1_2write "eddie decides to take a risk. he's a grown man. he can ask Buck out on a date. what could possibly go wrong? three weeks later, clutching a comatose buck's hand and waiting for him to wake up from a traumatic brain injury, eddie gets his answer." word count: 35k rating: teen and up important tags: coma, hurt/comfort, angst, hurt!evan buckley, team as family, getting together, family feels, whump, mutual pining forget-me-nots by: withmeornotatall "eddie wakes up from the ambush, not in the deserts of afghanistan, but the deserts of los angeles and finds out he's missing eight years of his life. somehow, that's worse than falling from the sky and three gunshot wounds." word count: 13k rating: general audience important tags: established relationship, hurt/comfort, internalised homophobia, fluff, angst, team as family what do i say (to make me exist?) by: cuddlyobrien "buck gets hurt at chim & maddie’s wedding, earning some temporary amnesia and thinks he was marrying eddie. the doctor advises they let him believe it. eddie is stressed from day one" word count: 27k rating: explicit important tags: fake dating, mutual pining, post season 6, anal sex, blow jobs, riding come back to me by: jayjay__884 "an accident at the job lands buck in hospital after falling through a 4-story building. his loved ones are by his bedside when buck is placed in an induced coma to help his recovery in hopes he will eventually wake up." word count: 191k rating: explicit important tags: married!buddie, soft!buddie, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, coma, falling in love, parenthood something that i missed by: foxwatson "the one where buck and eddie get together the night before a shift - and the next day, an accident erases eddie's memory of the last 24 hours." word count: 8.5k rating: teen and up important tags: idiots to lovers, angst, getting together, first kiss your memories feels like home to me by: goforeddie "in which eddie loses about eight year of his life and things are… heavily different than he last remember." word count: 29k rating: mature important tags: married!buddie, angst, girl dads!buddie, fluff, eventual smut remember to remember me by: daffi_990_ao3 "buck and eddie finally get together only for lightning to strike a few days later, leaving buck with no memories of them ever becoming a couple." word count: 31k rating: explicit important tags: getting together, fluff, emotional hurt/comfort, angst, boys in love, anal sex, blow jobs, riding, dirty talk

[mama2bears]

Starting Over Again Chapter 8

Warnings: Sexual content - not too much detail, (ONLY FOR 18+), Talk of bruises/injury, sharing shower, nakedness

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updated. Been busy with work. Next chapter will be the last chapter. I already have it finished and just need to do some editing on it. Hopefully I will have it posted later today or tomorrow. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8

“So what is everyone doing today,” Tyler asked, taking a seat next to you at the table. Most of the team had already finished their breakfast.

“Dani and I have claimed the gaming system.” Boone stated, “but if anyone wants to join us..we can split into teams!”

“I want to send up the drone, get some shots of the area.” Lily said.

“I am going fishing!” Dexter added with a smile. “I see there's a pier a few miles down the road. Maybe I can bring some fish back for dinner.”

Everyone cheered at that idea and started clearing the table to go about their day.

“What about you?” Tyler looked at you with a soft smile, “What would you like to do today?”

“Stroll on the beach, collect seashells, play in the waves a little.” you smile.

“And build a sand castle.” Tyler added with a grin. “Let's do it!”

“Really?” you asked, “You don't think it's boring or stupid or anything?”

“Darling, I'd do anything with you, and to be honest, that sounds like the perfect day.”

“Hey, Y/N..come with me to the RV for a minute?” Lily asked.

“Sure.” you stand and place a hand on Tyler's shoulder and a light kiss on his cheek, “I'll be back in a minute.”

“Okay.” he squeezed your hand and watches as you walked away, lost in thought.

“Earth to Tyler...” Boone was saying.

“Huh? What?” Tyler looked at his friend.

“I said Dani and I are going to grill some burgers for lunch. Lily is coming back for lunch, but Dexter said he wants to grab a sandwich or something at the prier. I was asking what you and Y/N are doing for lunch so we know how many burgers to grill.” Boone grinned, “But you weren't paying any attention to me.”

“Sorry.” Tyler apologized. “We'll probably come back here for lunch. We are just going to be right down there.” he motioned to a stretch of beach that was just out the front door.

“So...I hear you and Tyler are spending the day at the beach,” Lily flashed a smile, leading you into the RV. She rummaged though some boxes and pulled out a bright red bikini. “Here, you can have this...go knock his socks off.”

“Oh..I don't..I don't know about that.” You blushed.

“Girl...go for it!” she winked. “You can even change in here and just completely surprise him once you are there.”

“Thank you.” You smile ducking into the tiny RV bathroom and replacing your bra and underwear with the bikini before slipping a dress back on.

A few minutes later you and Lily come back in the house laughing, causing Tyler to raise an eyebrow, “What's so funny?” he looked at you confused.

“You'll find out later.” you wink at him and Lily giggles.

As everyone parts ways to go about their day, Tyler collects a blanket and you got a few towels before heading down to the beach.

You loved the feeling of the shifting sand under your feet. You know as the sun rises and the temperature heats up the sand will soon become hot, but now, in the early morning hours, it was a just starting to warm up from the cool night air.

“You okay?” you asked, grabbing Tyler's hand as he stumbled and grabbed his leg.

“Yeah, I am fine. Just lost my footing a little.” he gave you a smile, not wanting to ruin this perfect day. Truth was, he would be okay once they got off of the shifting sand, but right now, it was hell on his leg.

You grab his hand and squeeze it tightly, “We can go back if you want.” you offer.

“Never.” he smiled, “I am looking forward to giving you the date you deserve.”

Gradually you both make your way down close to the water's edge and lay the blanket down, tucking the corners into the sand and laying the towels out.

“How are you feeling?” Tyler asks, gently placing a hand on your left side.

“Sore, but okay.” you give a smile, “How about you?”

“Nothing that a little time at the beach won't fix.” he pulls you into a kiss, then takes your hand, “How about we go for a little walk, look for those shells you wanted to find?” he asked, “I hear first thing in the morning is the best time.”

“Well, actually....the best time for shells is after a storm. More shells wash ashore during a storm...but morning would be second best.” you grin as you two walk along the shore line, the waves washing over your feet.

“Oh there's one!” you see a big conch shell rolling in the waves.

“I got it.” Tyler reached for the shell as the waves pulled it just out of his reach.

“Ah, you missed it!” You hurry and reach down to try and catch the shell, only to have the waves pull it out father.

“Oh, well...maybe we'll find another one.” you give in, a hint of disappointment in your voice.

“I'm getting you that shell.” Tyler chased the shell further out into deeper water and made another grab for it, losing his balance and falling into a wave, his head disappearing under the wave for a moment.

“TYLER!” You screamed, “you okay?”

“I got the shell!” He grinned, holding it up.

You push though the waves and run out to the waist deep water where he was and grabbed his arm, “Oh my God, Tyler, are you okay?” you practically were yelling at him.

“Yeah, I am okay. The wave gave me a softer landing.”

“You scared me to death.” you grab his hand and help him stand, “I was afraid you hurt your ribs again falling.”

“I am okay.” he confirmed handing you the shell, “for my beautiful lady.”

“Thank you.” you kiss him softly and hold his hand back to shore. Tyler stops at the blankets and slides his wet pants off, revealing a pair of dark blue swim trunks, then he tried to pull his shirt up over his head grimacing in pain. “What's wrong?” you ask concerned.

“I am trying to get this shirt off.” he sighed, “but it's wet and sticking.” he gasped.

“Here, let me help.” you help him pull the shirt over his head and your eyes immediately go to the bruises covering his back and chest. You carefully run your hand over his chest “I am so sorry.” you whisper.

“Darling, there's nothing to be sorry for. I would rather deal with this pain and these injuries then see you get hurt.” he leaned over and placed a tender kiss on your lips, “I owe you my life. You saved my life that night.” he whispered, “I'll never forget that.”

“You saved my life that night as well.” you whisper.

“And I'd do it all over again.” he leaned in closer to you and captured your lips in a long slow deep kiss.

“Do you need to go back to the house and change?” he asked.

You smile at him, stepping back a few paces, “No...I think I'll change here.” you slide your dress up over your head, revealing the red bikini and heard Tyler suck in a breath.

“Wow...” he whispers.

“You like?” you asked.

“No...” Tyler shook his head, “I don't like it.”

“Oh...” you look a bit taken back.

“I love it!” he grinned, pulling you towards him for a kiss.

You grimace and he pulls back, “Sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you.” he leans over to look at the stab wound, “Is it bothering you?” he asked, softly.

“Little..but not bad.”

Tyler carefully runs his hand down your side and then he notices all the bruises and scars running across your stomach and up your back. “My God, Y/N...I didn't know it was this bad.” anger flashed in his eyes. “He did all this to you?” he asked.

You nodded, “Yeah, but let's not talk about him, okay?”

“Alright, Darling.” he kissed her softly. “What shall we do next?”

“Take a mid morning nap on the beach?” you grin, sitting down on the blanket and stretching out. At least a little rest.

Your side was starting to bother you, and you were sure Tyler was in pain by the look on his face, even if he denied it.

“Sounds good to me.” you laid down next to you and wrapped his arms around you. As you were staring out across the ocean, he was looking at you with a grin.

“What?” you turn towards him with a smile, catching him staring at you out the corner of your eye.

“You're just so beautiful.” he whispered, kissing your lips softly, trailing his lips from your mouth, down your neck.

“Tyler...” you moan as he tenderly brushes his hand across your stomach and pausing at your bikini top.

“Want me to stop?” he asked, desire deep in his eyes.

“What if someone sees us?” you ask.

He glanced up towards the house, “We are far enough down the beach. They can't see us from the house and no one else is around. “Hold on.” he held you close to him and rolled off the blanket, laying directly on the sand and the blanket now covering you. “Better?”

You nod, “Yeah, but we shouldn't be doing this, not with your broken ribs.”

“My hands aren't broken.” he grins, pressing his lips firmly against yours in a long deep kiss. “If you want me to stop, tell me now.” he moaned, ducking his head under the blanket to remove the bikini top.

“Don't stop...”you moaned, feeling his lips and hands caressing your body.

* * * * *

“Hey Boone!” Dani called, looking at her phone.

“What's up?”

“I was just checking our YouTube feed. Someone posted videos and photos of us leaving the hotel and picking up Ty and Y/N at the hospital.”

“Yeah..we got about a million followers. They probably were interested in how T was doing. We never did update them.”

“Maybe...” Dani said thinking, “But they keep asking questions about our whereabouts. It just doesn't seem right to me. Our fans know we are chasing the storms, and if we aren't, that's our private time. They don't ask a lot about where we are if we aren't chasing. This person has posted several times a day.”

“You're right. That is suspicious.” Boone frowned. “Has anyone said anything about us being down here?”

“No. Everyone just assumes that we went back to Arkansas to rest up for a bit.” Dani informed him.

“Good.” Boone nodded.

“Should we tell Tyler?”

“No, that's just going to cause a lot of worry for no reason. As long as no one suspects we are here, then let's not worry them about it.”

Dani agreed, “I'll keep an eye on it and make sure no one discloses our whereabouts if they do see us.”

“Maybe I should do a quick video, give people a heads up?” Boone suggested.

“Yeah...good idea.”

Boone fixed his phone and made sure nothing was in the background to give away his whereabouts and then began, “Hey Hey fan base! I know we have been flying under the radar lately, but as you know, a lot has happened in a short amount of time. Listen, I need ya help. One of our team members has a crazy guy after them. It's personal business and I don't want to get into details, but we haven't had much luck with the police. That's why we've been laying low. Tyler and the team are all doing good, but listen, if you do happen to see us out and about anywhere, please don't disclose our location...for the sake of the team. We'll update you when this situation has been solved. Thank you fans! We love you!”

The sound of the door opening caused them to look up. Boone smiled, seeing Tyler and Y/N come though the door, hand in hand. Both of their hair was ruffled and they were covered in sand, breathing hard with their faces were flushed.

“Hey guys, I am just about to start the burgers.” Boone called, trying his best not to look at the couple. He wanted to say something smart, but he also didn't want to embarrass either of them.

“Yeah, I bet they've worked up an appetite.” Dani giggled.

“We are hungry.” Tyler shot them a look, “Thanks Boone. We're going to take a shower and then we'll be out.”

“Hmm hmm...no problem.” Boone held his laughter in until Tyler and Y/N had went into their room.

“Whoa boy, I bet they're going to have an active week.” he giggled and Dani playfully slapped his head, “Oh hush! What if they hear you!”

“I'll start the shower for us.” Tyler states, kissing you softly, “You wanna head back down to the beach or stay here?”

“Right now that bed is looking awfully inviting. I vote we stay here and watch a movie after lunch.” she said.

“That sounds like the perfect ending to a perfect day.”

You pull out your pajamas and a pair of shorts for Tyler before meeting him in the bathroom. He had already stripped down and was getting in the shower when he extended his hand towards you, “Join me?” he asks.

You let the bikini fall to the floor and enter the shower, where Tyler pulls you into another long slow kiss. He runs his hands slowly over your body, kissing every scar and every bruise as if he could kiss away the hurt.

“You're beautiful and I love you so much.” he muttered against your skin, moving his lips up to your neck and reclaiming your lips as his own.

Boone, Dani and Lily were already eating the burgers by the time you and Tyler finally emerged from the bedroom. All three of them passed knowing looks.

“Your burgers are over there by the grill. We did save you some.” Boone smiled.

“Oh, and don't worry about anything that might of happened on the beach today.” Lily grinned, “I didn't fly my drone over that way.”

“Oh my God, we didn't think of that!” you muttered into Tyler's ear and he laughed.

“So...um...how's the water?” Boone asked as you guys sat down with the burgers.

“Perfect.” you say.

“Well, it was a bit salty.” Tyler grinned.

“And there was a shark.” you grinned, looking over at Tyler.

“I bet that shark's name was Tyler, wasn't it?” Dani laughed and the rest of the team joined in.

“Yeah..it was...it was.” you blushed.

Once lunch was finished, Tyler stood and took your plate and his into the kitchen. “Y/N and I are going to lay down for a bit and watch a movie. When Dexter gets back, tell him we expect fish for dinner!”

“I'll help make something. Don't worry.” you tell Dani and Lily as Tyler leads you into the bedroom.

“What movie?” he asked.

“I don't care.” you crawl into bed and snuggle down into the warm covers and soft pillows.

“Okay.” Tyler flips on Pet Sematary.

You pull the covers up over your head and hide, “That's going to terrify me! The original scared me!”

“Nothing to be scared of when you got me here, Darling.” he crawls into bed next to you and holds you tight. “I think we need to put this day on repeat for the rest of the week,” he whispered, kissing you softly.

“I wouldn't complain about that.” you sigh, snuggling into his side a little closer as the movie began.

Chapter 9 (Final Chapter)

Tag List

@itsdesiree86 @sarah-bear706318 @darksparklesficrecs @forpunishers @notanordinaryprincess95 @luvivey @zedis2007@maverickdesperado@love2write2626

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@samanddeaninatrenchcoat@rebelatbay@snackthatsmilesbackchlldren@anjalireji95@everwhovian @turtleshavesoulmates@lizzyreads15 @cevans-winchester

@i-heart-marvel @itsdesiree86 @sarah-bear706318 @darksparklesficrecs @forpunishers @notanordinaryprincess95 @luvivey @zedis2007@maverickdesperado

@love2write2626@drewvgue@nbee-baguette@emma8895eb@elisabethbathgate

@zedis2007@samanddeaninatrenchcoat@rebelatbay@snackthatsmilesbackchlldren

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@i-heart-marvel @djs8891 @thedonswife13 @velyssaraptor @jrenn10 @new-author3 @hookslove1592 @smoothdogsgirl

[f1crecs]

Fic Rec List - Action AUs (Giveaway Winner Post)

if your fic is on this list and you don’t want it to be, please let me know and we will remove it immediately, no questions asked. we have contacted most of the authors on this list, but sometimes people fall through the gaps - just pop us a message🤍

have a pairing you want us to do next? please read the faqs and then head to the inbox.

don’t forget to give the authors featured on this list some love in the form of kudos, bookmarks, and comments!

hi @onboardsorasora thank you SO MUCH for your request, and congratulations again for winning the giveaway ❤️ we are so sorry that this took such a long time to get to you... unfortunately the mod team have been rather busy with all sorts of things: wedding planning and driving lessons and travelling abroad and writing copious amounts of smut. we hope this was worth the wait ❤️

Daniel/Max

nsfw: I struck a match and blew your mind by @33max | Not Rated | 4.1k

Max is a getaway driver and starts to work with Daniel on jobs. I loved the pacing of this fic. There's so much detail and progress within this and the author really did a great job of picking which parts to highlight for the plot progression. I loved Max's commitment to Daniel.

“I am, I promise. I think it’s just a broken rib or two.” Daniel says, and his hand comes up to squeeze Max’s shoulder from the backseat. There is blood on his knuckles. “C’mon Maxy, be a good boy and get us out of here.” So Max does. He gets them out of there, but he feels sick. Not because they almost got caught, but because he knows that if Daniel really had needed to go to the hospital he would not have been able to leave him there. He would have let them both get caught over leaving Daniel alone and hurt on a hospital doorstep.

nsfw: strangers by bloodmoonforme | E | 37.9k

Daniel, a detective, is on a not-quite-dead-end murder case when they bring in Max from out of state to help him solve it. They have history and havent seen each other in four years. I loved the tone in this so much. The author has a very coherent narrative that build just right, its really intriguing. I also love how the reader almost solves the case too. Not only the murder case, but the /what happened to Max and Daniel/ case that gets revealed throughout. Its a truly well written fic with a lot of action and feelings!

He gets up, his stomach feeling heavier and colder by the second. There's something creeping all the way from his fingers, up his arms and to his belly, a prickly sick thing. Then he looks towards the center of the room, marked by a well-worn rug. Daniel stands there, alone in Esther’s bedroom, standing in the half-light. He's there, and suddenly he’s not.

nsfw: Bite Down and Taste Red by @mysticalbreadcollective | E | 46.5k

Max works in a bar, and Daniel is the Mafia Boss who keeps buying drinks. This story is absolutely captivating - from beginning to end, it is so beautifully written and paced, with just enough angst to make things truly delicious. Daniel is so much fun here - hot and charismatic and so very head over heels for his bartender!

He finds out that Max speaks several languages, and he’s from a place called Hasselt, which means absolutely nothing to Daniel. He’d looked it up later, on the map on his phone, squinting at it. Compared with the US, its miniscule. He can’t imagine Max being born in a place so small. When Max is so – much.

Carlos/Lando & Daniel/Max

i'll race you for pinks by @chubbydinosaur | M | 30k

Lando is brought on to a heist by professional criminal, Carlos. Sparks fly. This story is such a fun ride - as always, this author perfectly balances humour, emotion, and high stakes action, and it makes for a thrilling read. Lando is so disarmingly charming in this - I adored him!

Daniel/Lando

til the bone crush by @clementiaes | T | 19k

Pacific Rim is perfect for Formula 1 AUs, and this is one of my favourite examples. Daniel and Lando are paired as Jaeger pilots. Both are coming off of other drift partners with baggage - Daniel from Max after Max’s career ending injury, and Lando from something that could have been a relationship with Carlos, had Lando’s insecurities not buried it before it started. Lando is prickly, closed-off and miserable at the start of this story, convinced he is unlovable. This story is about him gently and gradually being opened up to the realisation that people love him, and that he deserves to be loved.

The point is, no one is getting tired of you any time soon,” Daniel says. “Seriously, who even told you that?” Lando looks down at his hands, picking at a hangnail. “No one. I just — I know I’m not easy to get along with.” Daniel frowns. “You deserve to be happy,” he says, finally. “You know that, right?” Lando looks down at his knees. “Look at me, Lando,” Daniel says, but Lando doesn’t. His shoulders are starting to creep back up near his ears again. Daniel’s moving before he quite knows what he’s doing. He gets one hand on Lando’s shoulder and one on his chin, turning his face so that he’ll look at him. Lando sucks in a sharp breath, eyes wide, but to Daniel’s surprise, he doesn’t pull away. “I don’t know how you got it into your head that you’re like, unlovable, or something, but it’s not true,” Daniel says. “Really. You think you can believe that for me?”

Charles/Sebastian

He Is All, And He Is More by @effervescentdragon | M | 15k

In this AU of The Old Guard, Sebastian and Charles are immortals that meet on the battlefield during the Crusades. They kill one another over and over, until they reach a tentative understanding. Their relationship deepens over the centuries. It can be difficult to write characters as ancient and make them feel ancient, and Akira really does. I love the tentative way they negotiate one another, and the understanding they gradually come to. Battlefield enemies to lovers is quite the relationship arc.

"And if we only met a thousand of years from now, you would still be wearing red.” “Why?” Sebastian shrugs, a grin evident in the dark. “Your red string dictates it. Fate, or something. Destiny. Red suits you. You look good in red.” Charles bites his tongue. “So do you.”

Lewis/Nico/Sebastian

on golden sands by sionisjaune | T | 6.2k

Lewis Hamilton is planning the heist of the century and he wants Sebastian Vettel on his team. The target - Baron Nico Rosbergs car collection. Sounds simple on paper but reality never is. Oceans Eleven heist!au. Who doesnt love a good heist!au? This author writes some of my favourite sebcedes, the characterisations are spot on and the vibes are at turns wholesome and rancid. Perfection in a fic!

Rosberg greets Seb at the gate, behind the windshield of a pale blue Bentley. The paint job sparkles in the golden sunlight, and the hood ornament gleams chrome. The gates roll open at his whim with an ear-splitting, metallic sound. Rosberg beckons animatedly from behind the wheel, and Seb gets the message that he should leave his car and join Rosberg in the Bentley for the ride up to the house. […] Before Seb can slide into the passenger's side of the Bentley, Rosberg has to shoo a pudgy English bulldog into the backseat. It clambers, ungainly, over the console and waddles into the back, collapsing in a happy, wrinkly lump on the leather seats. “Who’s this?” Seb asks, watching long strings of drool ooze from the dog’s flabby mouth onto the pristine interior of Rosberg’s classic Bentley. Seb once saw an R-type Bentley much like this one go for two and a half million at auction. “This is Roscoe,” says Rosberg, long-sufferingly. “The result of an unfortunate affair.”

Charles/Pierre

Hic Svnt Leones by @cerona10 | M | 32.6k

Charles is different to how Pierre remembers him. The world-building in this fic is second to none - it’s absolutely stunning! The world feels so full and alive, and it’s easy to get completely sucked in. The way they build in exposition is so clever and natural feeling, and the action is exhilirating and fun to read. Perfect!

His shadow isn’t his own, not anymore. It shakes and shimmers, fighting against its own shape. His shadow’s head twists and breaks before mending itself into that of a horse, neighing and trashing, a single horn jutting out from its forehead. Its jaw unhinges and it begins breathing heavily, drool escaping its mouth like a waterfall.

Fernando/Lance

nsfw: Venus Flytrap by @pitconfirm | E | 25.7k (wip)

Professional criminal Fernando Alonso is recruited for a job. His mission: seduce Lance Stroll. This fic is RED HOT. From the very first few sentences, Fernando exudes this confidence that is so much fun to read. Contrasted with Lance - pouty, privileged, and surprisingly vulnerable - the dynamics are gorgeous. This author is so fantastic at dialogue and pacing, and this fic flows so beautifully. I can't wait to read more!

Once they reach the games room, it’s easy to spot him among the crowd. For the past few days, Fernando has been memorising every freckle on Lance’s skin. He could recognise him from just the curl of hair on his tender nape, but the most striking thing about Lance is his demeanour—elbows rested on the roulette table while he boredly holds his head in his hands, huffing in disappointment when he loses again. His carelessness stands out starkly against the opulent golden trims and old paintings covering every wall. A boy like Lance doesn’t belong in a place like this, but money talks.

nsfw: green light, red wine (and i don't feel fine) by @vicsy | E | 18.8k (wip)

Fernando is the Mafia boss who owns the club that Lance Stroll - son of his biggest rival - wanders into. This story is SO HOT. The tension between them is palpable, and they bounce off each other so well. You get the feeling that both of them are underestimating each other, and it makes for so much delicious tension. Amazing!

There aren’t many opportunities Fernando deliberately missed in his life. He wouldn’t be on top if he did. Right next to him, clad in a tight white t-shirt, sits an opportunity for a power move, the one Fernando would take all the way.

[vanessalocke]

Why is official APH France an underrated character?

Today, I would like to repost a post about France that I wrote a long time ago. Please note that this post does not reflect my current views. Next, this is considered my personal blog, so if you disagree, please click back. And this post will only talk about what I (used to) felt about France in the official version, not exactly the France in my current headcanon and fanfic (even though that is the foundation for today).

.

[This post is controversial and has a personal opinion. If you disagree, just skip over it. But also because this post is mainly to express my secret thoughts that I don't dare tell anyone, so it's completely hypothetical]

Okay, this is a post about why I like APH France, and why I don't see him the way most people see him.

In short, because his aura looks very bright and when he smiles he is very cute (like the photo below).

I wonder when I fell in love with him, because it's been so many years, I can't remember. I will never be able to remember exactly how I fell.

Yeah pretty sure when people first watch Hetalia everyone thinks he's the typical sweet badboy, some people even say he's ex f^ck boiz and I'm no exception. But... damn, the more I follow this guy, the more I see his stereotype being wrong.

At this point it should be noted that when I talk about APH France, I am talking about France from 2011 onwards. It must be clarified that in the early days of APH, Hima's expression was quite dark. Maybe at that time Hima drew APH to be satirical or something, so not only was the plot quite ironic at times (and a lot of times he was sarcastic wrongly) but also the characters he built were very... But c'mon, MORE THAN 10 years have passed, just 1 year is enough to change people's way of thinking, let alone 10 years. Not to mention, APH does not have a specific plot or spirit to be consistent from beginning to end, so the later APH compared to the first APH has a completely different atmosphere and attitude, otherwise I want to say that APH has almost transformed into a new shape and only takes the first period as the root to develop. APH later became much gentler, lovely and brighter.

(When I wrote these lines, I still liked APH so I still defended it. Oh, what beautiful old days)

And I'll say it straight out that I didn't like the early APH. I also didn't like the way Hima built his characters in the early stages.

Okay, back to the main point. France is a very special character in APH. Why do I say France, not Italy - the central character, Germany - the king carrying the team, or Japan - the artist’s mother country? That's because when I read the early APH comics, I had a pretty clear feeling that the artist didn't like France.

It's not that he hated him, but he didn't like him and looked down on France a bit. Not to mention that Hetalia is strongly influenced by America's point of view and men often dislike France, think that French people are sissy. Basically, back then the way this artist looked at France was no different from the way everyone make memes "the white flag is the flag of France", "France is useless", etc. It was like everyone feels that this guy is very perverted, very annoying, very colorful, like a vase and can't do anything else. But like I said above, more than 10 years is a long process. Although the entire APH series does not have a consistent plot, Himaruya had a "development" in the way he views the main character he created. Partly because this is a series that takes references from real life and is not completely fiction, it is completely understandable for Hima to change the way he builds or even the perspective of his own character.

That's why later on France had a few solo episodes, all the deep emotions were attributed to France - something that is very contradictory to the "dark humor" stories he drew about France in the beginning. I don't know if it was to "compensate" for Himaruya pushing France down too much before.

Anyway, that's about the background. Below I will list the reasons I like this character:

- As for the character's personality, as I said, France has a very bright aura. I'm not talking about literary history or French reforms in real life, but just in the main story alone, I can see that there's something very... intelligent about him. Not trivially clever, but intelligence like, knowing a lot and understanding deeply. The fact that he is sharp and intelligent is also confirmed by the strip where he holds a knife to Prussia's neck and laughs.

- Then there's the emotional aspect. From Jeanne d'Arc to Napoleon, it is completely obvious that France is a very emotional person, a bit childishly attached to those he loves. Yes, that's right, he always says "I'm the big brother of Europe" but when he's with people he loves, he's EXTREMELY childish, likes to act spoiled, likes to attract attention (For example, he was cheerfully excited when he was with Lisa or was chased by Napoleon).

- France's way of expressing emotions is very vivid. When he is angry, he will say that he is angry; When he feels sorry for himself, he bites the towel; If he likes attention, he acts like a clown;... but never once has he lost his temper to attack others just because he was hurt. I mean, from all the symptoms I've seen in France so far, I can determine that France can be arrogant, picky, and difficult to please, but I've never once felt like he lost control of himself.

- Yeah sure, when he broke into England's house, was talkative, wore a pink dress and had eyelashes, you can see that he no longer has any shame, but I like people like this. Funny, optimistic and extremely confident.

- He really likes to care and take care of others. This is based on:

1. He is very attached to his previous bosses (as mentioned above),

2, He cooks very well, people who like to cook and cook well are people who like to take care of and see joy from others,

3. On America's independence day, he not only patted America's head but also gave him the Statue of Liberty,

4, Italy often confides in France. France also works as a newscaster giving love advice to others, and he is one of the few people who not only is not afraid of Russia but even comes up to ask about the other person's health,

5. Do you remember the Christmas episode where England called and scolded France? That evening France was alone and looked down at Paris. In the episode about a soldier meeting France and wondering about the life and death of the nation, the ending is also a scene of France sitting and watching the flow of people passing by. France is not only proud of himself, he also loves being close to people and

6, I didn't include this but if you want to take an example from APH in the first few years, there is this scene: when England was so sick, France was really panicked and worried. Even without bringing a romantic perspective here, for me it is a genuine concern between human.

- He is mean, meticulous, and profiteering. Damn him. I don't understand how he can play with Spain. One person remembers that people owe him every penny, one person "Huh? Do I have debt? When did I owe it??"

- Actually... sometimes this guy's EQ is unexpectedly low, especially with things related to England. I don't know how, every time England shows a little interest in him, he always "?:D huh? What's going on? You're planning something with me, right? Let's get to the main point, why are you rambling on?". I don't know how many times Mr. Kirkland has sighed at this guy.

- He is only mean to other countries, but to ordinary people he is very gentle and loving. With women, he has distance but is not impolite.

- It looks radical but is actually extremely conservative. In fact, no matter how much his country reforms and changes, he always seems to be somewhat attached to the monarchy, always recalling his past. Not to mention that he is one of the oldest men in Europe, and he is always nostalgic for previous bosses. As an old man and a secret royalist, it can be expected that France is quite a conservative person.

- That's why the aristocratic blood is deeply ingrained in the personality. Except when he is in a joking mood, every scene of Hima drawing France always has something quite aristocratic. Not the type of strict and meticulous aristocrat like Austria, but the type of guy who wakes up and carries his messy hair out into the street but still looks beautiful.

- France has "an iron fist covered in velvet". He seems very easy-going and pleasant. There are many cases where others just need to beg him a little and he will give in. But in the cases where he said no, it meant no. When he is serious, he is very decisive and does not compromise. One time America broke down and asked for a drink, but he firmly refused (Yes, the fact that America doesn't know how to drink alcohol has been confirmed in official). When he met his idol's reincarnation, he disappeared completely after talking, leaving his idol to live her own life. When he collects debt from others, he is also very decisive LOL.

- He is very beautiful in a feminine way. Beautiful in a feminine way to the point of having to grow a beard and body hair to make people feel masculine. I bet he has endured sexual solicitation from old men.

- He has a lot of part-time jobs, from waiter to announcer to stylist. Was hired by England to be a chef at his place for a while => didn't go to work because of lack of money, but because he was multi-talented => liked to go on strike probably because he was "tired of being too good", because he is afraid that the world is not chaotic enough, because he is bored. He's not lazy, because if he was lazy he wouldn't go to work so much, and with his great body, I think he works out quite hard at the gym.

- Sometimes he's quite silly and weird. America just has a childish personality, but this guy is sometimes inexplicably euphoric. He cares too much about auxiliary things like clothes and hair accessories, but forgets about the main things. He argues with people about silly things. When he fights with people, he asks where the fabric comes from to make such beautiful clothes instead of focusing on fighting. When people asked his opinion, he always talked off topic. When people criticize him, he looks away, covers his ears, and whistles, "The weather is so beautiful today." He also raises dozens of silly birds.

In general, this man is not what he appears to be. He looks like a typical Don Juan but in reality he's mostly just an embellishment, seems mature but actually has a very childish temperament, seems to be sociable but is the type of person who can restore his own energy and doesn't need too much human attention. He doesn't seem to care about his appearance but is actually very proud. He seems heartless and shallow but is actually a thoughtful person. He likes to talk off topic, collect debts, drama queen- no, drama king. Extremely crazy and silly.

This guy's mind is so contradictory and complicated that the more I dig, the more interesting things I find.

And that's why Francis Bonnefoy is loved.

Ps: let me tell you a little about the Zodiac: Francis is a typical Pisces.

[miss-musings]

"Not Alone; We'll Do It Together": A Mini-Analysis of the Bad Batch's Roles in Their S3 Family Structure

A few weeks back, I did an analysis on the metaphors and allegorical readings for The Bad Batch 3.05 "The Return." (If you haven't read it yet, please do so.)

I said it'd become Part 2 of a much longer analysis on the episode, and the soon-to-be Part 1 is still in the works. But, I decided to spin this part of the analysis off into its own post.

So, consider this Part 1.5 of my in-depth analysis on "The Return."

I wanted to look at how the five characters in the episode -- Hunter, Echo, Wrecker, Crosshair and Omega -- divvy up their roles and responsibilities when tackling the Ice Wyrm and reactivating the sensor beacons. Because I think it basically encapsulates how their roles in their family work out during the rest of Season 3, and presumably their post-Tantiss life on Pabu.

I'll state that these are just my opinions and interpretations. So, we may disagree on some points. Feel free to discuss and share your thoughts.

Of note: If you're not familiar with the Five-Man Band trope, I recommend you check out this video, because I'll be referring to the characters' roles in the Five-Man Band structure throughout the analysis.

A summary of the Ice Wyrm confrontation in 3.05:

After deactivating the sensor beacons and being attacked by the Ice Wyrm, the Bad Batch realize they need to reset the energy grid and get the Wyrm outside the perimeter so they can reactivate the beacons and eventually leave the Outpost safely.

Wrecker is the first to volunteer, saying he'll go to the back of the compound to reset the grid manually.

Omega then affirms that she will stay inside the base to reactivate the sensors once power's back.

Hunter says someone also needs to go out front and draw the Wyrm outside the perimeter, and Crosshair volunteers. However, Hunter tells him, "Not alone; we'll do it together."

Crosshair apparently accepts Hunter's help, as Echo volunteers to spot both of them from the tower, which we later see is sort of in the middle of the base.

So, we have: Omega inside the main building; Wrecker at the back of the compound; Echo in the middle but outside; and Hunter and Crosshair out front.

Now, let's take a look at each character and see how their roles in this particular conflict parallel their roles in Season 3's larger narrative:

Omega

Within the Five-Man Band structure, Omega is definitely the team's Heart. We can see that here: she's the most protected AND she's coordinating with everyone else (except for Echo). She's also in the middle of the base, while everyone else is on either one side or the other.

Because she's a kid -- namely their kid -- it makes sense that the brothers would want to keep her safe while putting themselves in harm's way.

We see this play out later in Season 3 as the brothers work together to keep her safe and later rescue her from Tantiss.

Within their family structure, Omega is definitely The Kid.

Wrecker

Wrecker is the team's Big Guy in the Five-Man Band structure.

As we've seen throughout the show, Wrecker really doesn't have much in the way of ego. In sports terms, he'd be a Role Player: someone who's willing to do whatever needs to be done for the team to succeed, even if it's grunt work or behind-the-scenes type stuff. He doesn't need to be front and center. He doesn't need to be a decision-maker.

So, he volunteers to go to the back of the compound. He's more exposed to danger than Omega is, but he's still relatively safe compared to Hunter and Crosshair. But, that's fine by him.

Within the family structure, I see Wrecker as being the Big Brother. He's still older than Omega and wants to look out for her, but he defers to Hunter's judgment and even Crosshair's too on occasion.

During the rest of Season 3, we see that Hunter and Crosshair are often paired together to have important discussions or make decisions while Wrecker is elsewhere.

In 3.06, he's hanging with Omega while Hunter and Crosshair talk to Rex & co. about Tantiss and the CX operatives. In 3.09, he distracts Omega while Hunter and Crosshair talk to Ventress. And in 3.11, he's loading the ship while Hunter and Crosshair find Omega and get the remaining supplies.

Just like he's mostly coordinating with Omega -- not so much the others -- during the Ice Wyrm confrontation, he's fine with looking out for her even if that means he's not a decision-maker the way Hunter (and to a smaller degree Crosshair) is.

Echo

Echo is a bit tricky to talk about.

Within the Five-Man Band structure, I'd argue he was the team's substitute Lancer during S1-2 while Crosshair was off with the Empire. (Crosshair is the team's True Lancer, as we'll talk about more in a second.)

Echo was the closest thing that Hunter had to a co-parent for Omega, and was Hunter's (un)official second-in-command within Clone Force 99.

However, Echo leaves the Bad Batch as a full-time member in 2.08 "Truth and Consequences," and basically only rejoins them on a PRN status.

Within the family structure, I'd argue he's like a Godparent. Or maybe like a Big Brother who went off to college or something.

He's not a member of their household anymore. Heck, you could argue he's not an immediate family member anymore. He has his own life and goals, but he still loves his family and is definitely the first person they call when shit hits the fan -- as we see in 3.13 "Into the Breach."

The reason I argue he's like a godparent is that he definitely looks out for and is still a parental figure to Omega, just part-time now. Plus, he also supports Hunter (and Crosshair) as someone who can step into that parental role when needed, while also supporting them as parents in their day-to-day lives.

That's exactly what happens in 3.05. He is supporting Hunter and Crosshair, but from a distance.

In fact, Echo is now taking the military/tactical role that Crosshair used to have -- he's the Eyes in the Sky, the lookout, the person watching everyone's backs from a distance.

Because, as I'll talk about more in a second, Echo and Crosshair have essentially switched places. Echo is off doing his own thing now, and Hunter has Crosshair supporting him like Echo used to.

Just as he does in this episode, Echo still supports the Bad Batch but from a distance. He still loves them, but he's not as involved as he once was.

Again, like a godparent: He’s not in the household, but he still supports the family in a distant but parent-like role.

Hunter and Crosshair

Ah, Leaders and Lancers. They're either the best of friends or the worst of enemies, and there's not much room in between.

Hunter is the typical Leader. He is the Bad Batch's chief decision-maker, although in Season 2, he started deferring to his family's decisions if they all wanted to do something that he was reluctant about (like going after the War Chest in 2.01 or trying to find Hemlock's base in 2.15).

So, as a Leader, it's no wonder that he feels he needs to help Crosshair draw the Ice Wyrm outside the perimeter. He's more than willing to step up and help take on the most dangerous task.

Just as Hunter is a typical Leader, Crosshair is a typical Lancer. I know he was initially separated from his family unwillingly, but he had at least one opportunity to come back but didn't. However, in 3.05, he's physically and emotionally returning to his brothers after going their separate ways in 1.16 "Kamino Lost."

As I said before, Crosshair is actually stepping into an unusual role for him from a military/tactical standpoint. Normally, he's the one at a distance, keeping a lookout -- the role Echo takes in 3.05.

However, he now feels compelled to step outside his usual role in the interest of protecting his family, showing how far he's come since 1.01 "Aftermath."

In 3.05, Hunter and Crosshair are coordinating more with each other than they are with anyone else. They don't really coordinate with Wrecker once everyone heads out, and they only coordinate with Echo and Omega a few times.

Plus, after Hunter falls in the tunnel, Crosshair provides Hunter physical support by pulling him out.

This episode ultimately marks a turning point in Crosshair's relationship with Hunter, and by extension, the larger Bad Batch family. Omega, Echo and Wrecker have all welcomed Crosshair back in their own way, but he's really looking for and needs Hunter's acceptance. Once they fully reconcile at the end of 3.05, it's clear that Crosshair has fully reintegrated back into the family.

(As we see in the very next episode, Hunter has fully accepted Crosshair to the point where he defends Crosshair to Howzer.)

In Season 3, Hunter maintains his role as the family's Head of Household. He also remains Omega's dad -- her de facto guardian and primary parental figure.

However, after 3.05, it's clear that Crosshair steps into the role that Echo once had:

He becomes Hunter's primary emotional support and co-parent to Omega. He also seems to become the squad's unofficial second-in-command (at least over Wrecker -- I don't know about Echo).

I've pointed out in other posts how certain shots and narrative choices frame Hunter and Crosshair as being on (near) equal footing. Or at minimum, within the team/family structure, Crosshair's role is the most similar to Hunter's even if he's not exactly his equal in terms of decision-making.

As 3.09 "The Harbinger" makes clear, Hunter is still the family's head of household and primary decision-maker. But, the finale shows that Hunter does defer to Crosshair's judgment when the situation calls for it.

In regards to Omega, after this episode, it's clear that Crosshair wants to take on a more parent-like role and be "in the know" regarding Omega's well-being. Even if Hunter makes the final decision, Crosshair wants to have a say, and Hunter doesn't seem opposed to that. In fact, he seems to welcome it after he and Crosshair fully reconcile at the end of 3.05.

In the latter half of the season, the two seem to have an unspoken understanding regarding Omega. When one can't be with her, the other one takes over. And they have full trust in each other to look after her when the other one isn't available. This is best seen in 3.07 "Extraction," as Omega bounces back and forth between Hunter's side and Crosshair's side.

I know that a lot of folks argue that Crosshair is Omega's big brother or little brother. And while I agree that Season 3 has some moments where their dynamic feels like that, I will continue to argue that Crosshair transforms more and more into a dad as the season progresses. (I've already outlined why in a separate post.)

ADDITION: The typical Lancer mindset is “I’m gonna do whatever the Leader does, but better” (although it usually doesn’t pan out like they’d hoped). So in 3.07, when Omega tells Crosshair that he’s as much of a Helicopter Parent as Hunter is, Crosshair gives her a quintessential Lancer response: “Oh, I’m much worse.”

To clarify: when I say that Crosshair is Omega's dad, I don't mean that he's her dad instead of Hunter. I mean that he's her dad in addition to Hunter. The final showdown with Hemlock and their group hug basically confirms this in my mind.

As I said previously:

I don't think Hunter or Crosshair could've navigated that situation alone, especially given their injuries and how high-stakes it was. They HAD to do it together, which has been their approach since 3.05: "Not alone. We'll do it together."

They are a typical Leader and Lancer duo. They have no better friend or greater ally than each other.

And Omega could have no better dads.

In Summary

Hunter is Dad #1 and the family's head of household.

Crosshair is Dad #2 and Hunter's main co-parent.

Wrecker is the Big Brother (who's still at home).

Echo is the Godparent (or the Big Brother who moved out).

And, of course, Omega is the Kid/Little Sister.

I mean, Hunter basically confirms that the entire Batch raised her to some degree during the epilogue:

Hunter: You're our kid, Omega. You always will be.

As I said, this will become Part 1.5 of a longer analysis of 3.05 "The Return." So, stay tuned for that. And share your thoughts in the comments/reblogs! Cheers, TBB fam! :)

[7-ferrets-in-a-coat]

crawls out of my cave, im normally a lurker but i’m a lil crazy over ur new au

what are the bishops personalities like??? i would love to know especially heket or leshy

gnawing at the bars of my enclosure

Answering Both at once since they're quite similar :3 (also @lionacuty bcs i'm not directly answering your ask but yknow)

As previously established in this Au the bishops are Scientists that created the Narinder Ai to study how lifelike an Ai could become, and later on trapped him from being able to access his robot body :3

Shamura was originally the first (and only , at the time) scientist working on the Ai, with the others being sort of test subjects that they were meant to study to try and emulate life, but they realized that these folks would be more useful on the team. Also Voluntary subjects do not give the same lively reactions as.. unvoluntary ones.

The crowns aren't really a thing in this Au at All, but they have enhancements (which stand in as both the crowns AND to cover and protect their wounds that they got from an incident caused by Narinder so he could escape

Alright now personality time and their roles + Ref sheet

Kallamar is still a coward, he is like the one who is super good at fixing computers (Software mostly) products. Arrogant. Shamura is still the smartest out of the four, but Kallamar is great at fixing computers/software

Shamura is great at building computer and software, the main lead on working on Narinder.

As for personality, stone cold, very logical, not super emotional

Leshy is probably the one who came up with the fire wall ideas! He maybe is a little bit of the reason Nari is messed up. Maybe a little. Also was the lead on building the robot body.

As for personality, still a chaotic little fuck but more professional. Usually is the one to lighten up the work space. Obsessed with plants and bugs.

Heket is probably the most blunt of the group and hardest on security measures. She is head of security I'm a sense? She checks EVERYTHING.

Personality wise, she is blunt, hard headed, and she always thinks she is right. She always is stricked on security and is probably is really trying to find Narinder before it's too late. (Also she still cooks and brings food to the lab)

urhhhg i woke up and immediately started writing the answer heart

I kinda want to post Narinder already but also urhhhg i don't think i'll reach the silly note goal on this one, so maybe this saturday ill just cave and post him

ALSO Special thanks to @itsartlee for helping with the characterization of the scientists and an other good friend with helping with Shamura, Kallamar and Leshy's designs :3

[meazalykov]

redirection II

esmee brugts x barcaplayer!R

last chapter: redirection I

next chapter: redirection III

walking into my apartment, i shut the door and place my black nike sports bag on the bench in the foyer. there was a light breeze in the kitchen because i left the balcony doors open when i left home this morning.

i didn't want to do anything right now since i had a busy morning. i had to wake up at 6am, eat breakfast, get to ciutat at 8am, complete paperwork and contracts, do medical tests, take pictures for my first day, and have my first training practice with the team.

the excitement in my body wouldn't go away though. barcelona is the best club in the world currently, i had high hopes for this season and just want to contribute to the team.

turning on my phone that was in my back pocket, the time read 1:23pm. well, in europe it's 13:23. however, it would take me a while to get used to that as an american.

i saw a few texts from a phone number i didn't recognize too.

hi y/n!

what time are you free later?

we should go to la selva. it's a restaurant in the city. i haven't been there before but ingrid recommended it :)

i blushed as i remembered the conversation with esmee earlier. i appreciated the idea of going out to eat with her, i want to build bonds with my new teammates the same way i had with my old teammates back in washington.

considering that i've met her today, i couldn't say that i had a crush on her (yet). that would be too fast. however, i thought about her on the drive back to my apartment. i'm excited to spend time with a new friend and teammate.

y/n: esmee!!!!

y/n: i'm free around 17:00/5pm. i have to do some things for my apartment and i'll be ready.

y/n: i just looked up the location to la selva restaurant. it's not too far from my apartment. it's a 6-minute walk from me :)

i added esmee's phone number into my phone as "esmee :)" before i clicked off of imessage to go on instagram. clicking on my notifications, i saw "esmeebrugts followed you 5d" meaning that she followed me five days ago.

going on her profile, i see that some of my friends back in america follow her and she follows a couple of them back. everyone kind of knows each other in this sport so i am not surprised.

i don't go on instagram when i am not posting, so i felt bad when i saw that she followed five days ago. i followed her back immediately.

s/n went back to america earlier with our mom and i miss her already. we walked on the barceloneta beach before dinner last night, celebrating my new life in spain. she took pictures of me and i feel happy enough to post them on instagram.

(pretend this is you in the pictures)

y/n.l/n

barcelona, catalunya, españa

liked by esmeebrugts, sscofff, and 41,375 others

loving barcelona already 🌞💙

comments

y/nhive THE PRETTIEST

ingrid_engen So cool 😍

malpugh obsessed with you 🥹

woso21 when she scores in her debut I will be there

leahwilliamsfan8967 ME TOO!

randomuser267 Golden girl '23 ❓

janafernandez3 🥰

trinity_rodman 🔥🔥🔥

-

when i told esmee that i had to do things for my apartment before the dinner, i wasn't lying. throughout the past week i've been decorating my apartment so it felt like home. i know it will take a while to get used to this place, since i am across the atlantic ocean in a new country away from my old home.

three hours had passed and i've finished completing everything for my apartment. i picked up my phone from the coffee table and the time read 4:12pm/16:12. i saw i've received 5 text messages from different people:

esmee :) 2hrs ago: la selva isn't far from me as well, see you at 17:00!

trinity r 2hrs ago: heyy girl! how's barcelona?

emily f 2hrs ago: sent 2 tiktok attachments you at camp 😭💀

unknown number: hi its ingrid!

the first person i texted back is ingrid, i gave her my number before she left training earlier with mapi. i changed her contact name to just "ingrid e".

y/n: hi ingrid!

i texted trinity back as well, saying that barcelona is great and asked her how she's doing back in washington. i reacted to esmee's message with a like and emily's with the "haha" reaction.

i had about 45 minutes until i had to meet esmee at la selva, so i quickly went into my bedroom and changed into a different outfit than what i had on this morning.

deciding to do my usual hairstyle (imagine whatever you want, reader <3), i placed on a bit of brow gel, concealer, mascara, blush, and lip balm as part of my makeup routine. i constantly checked the time on my phone, making sure that i am not late to meeting esmee. i promise this obsession over the time just isn't due to my interest in her; with friends i'll try not to disrespect their time by being late to an event.

after putting on my outfit (photo above^), I checked the time and it's finally 4:45/16:45. i grabbed my purse, put on my sandals, made sure to lock my apartment door, and followed my phone gps towards la selva.

stepping outside, the warm weather with the nice breeze made me smile. my white oversized button-up shirt flowed with the soft breeze. usually, my social anxiety would plague my thoughts about hanging out with someone new in my life. i used to feel shaky and hesitant about these situations. however, i promised myself that i would be more open with others once i came to spain.

i turned the corner away from my street, heading to walk straight for about a quarter of a mile. suddenly, i saw a group of girls. one girl had box braids with a nice orange sundress on. another girl was a redhead with freckles, wearing a pair of jean shorts with a green shirt. the third girl, who was closest to a restaurant door they were standing out of, was a brunette and wore a 22/23 barcelona kit with a pair of light-washed jeans. these girls were a few years younger than me, if i had to guess.

when the girl in the barcelona shirt saw me walk by her, she gasped before coming up behind me and tapping me on the shoulder. i didn't walk past her to ignore her, i figured that since i'm new to barcelona i wouldn't be recognizable yet.

"are you y/n l/n? you look so pretty in person. sorry i- um- wow i am such a fan of your talent." the shy girl spoke with a spanish accent. i smiled at her as her two friends stood behind her, looking at me with admiration too.

"thank you so much! i appreciate your kind words." i responded.

the girl pulled out her blue-cased iphone to give to her friend, "can i take a picture with you?" she asked. i responded yes kindly.

after taking pics with the three girls, i continued to walk to the restaurant. turning onto the street where la selva was, i heard my imessage notification go off in my back pocket.

i clicked on my lock button to see that i received a text message from esmee. the time is currently 4:57/16:57. the restaurant is in view from where i am walking so i wasn't late.

esmee: i am here! i got us a table already so i am inside.

y/n: i am right outside. heading in now :)

as i approached the restaurant, i stopped and took a deep breath as my nerves started to increase in unfamiliarity. my social anxiety won't ruin this potential friendship i want to have.

i smiled in awe when entering the steakhouse. the place has beautiful lighting, nice vinery, and was pretty spacious. there was nobody up front at the hostess station, so i continued to walk into the restaurant to find esmee.

as i turned the corner, i saw the dutch girl sitting. she had her familiar braids with her back facing towards me. she's looking down towards her lap so i know she is on her phone.

if i knew her well enough, i would've scared her from behind. a "boo!" could've been funny. oh well, next time i will.

"esmee!!!" i said, going to sit down in the seat across from hers. the chairs in the restaurant were hanging from the roof, the whole area was pretty.

"y/n hey!" esmee clicked off of her phone and placed it upward on the table. i placed my bag in the chair beside my left leg before i fully acknowledged esmee's appearance.

i cannot deny it. i found her attractive since seeing her at training this morning. she had this shy and sweet aura to her. don't get me started on her adorable smile…

she wore a black nike hoodie and had on a nice gold necklace. i can't see her pants from below the table, but i believe i saw black cargos when walking towards her from behind.

"i'm sorry i am a little late, a fan recognized me and asked me for a photograph." i giggled. i knew i didn't have to apologize because it was exactly 5:00/17:00 when i arrived, i just hoped that she didn't wait long.

"it's totally okay! i just sat down when i saw your message about you being outside." esmee responded. the dutch accent when she speaks english is pulling me in, emotionally, as i look at her with a smile.

be cool, y/n. i thought to myself.

"okay that's good. i didn't want to keep you waiting." i commented.

"you're fine, no worries… so i see a fan recognized you already." esmee said with her recognizable smile.

i laughed lightly and was going to respond until a waitress came up to our table.

"hi, i'm maria, i will be your server tonight. can i get you started with any drinks?" the brunette, who had french braids in her hair, smiled at us.

i looked at esmee, seeing if she wanted to answer what she wanted first. she nodded her head at me, offering for me to go first. we nearly laughed before i said to maria, "i'll just take a water." esmee wanted the same thing and maria smirked at us before walking away.

"yeah, a fan did recognize me. she had on a pedri shirt and stared at me walking by her before she stopped me for a picture. she had her friends with her and they were so kind." i said.

esmee nodded her head, "that's good. i'm glad they were kind to you."

"same, the last thing i need for the end of my first week in spain is a mean person coming at me." i shook my head at the possible thought.

"have you had any fan interactions here since tuesday?" i asked esmee. it's monday today so esmee arrived in barcelona before i did.

"i had a few actually. a few oranje fans saw me and asked for a picture. i went to mexico with the team for a friendly on thursday and was able to meet more fans there too." esmee commented. the barcelona team had a friendly in mexico against club america from what i saw on their instagram pages. my contract wasn't signed until a few days ago, when they came back to barcelona, so i wasn't able to go.

"you're so lucky! how was mexico?" i smiled.

esmee looked up, thinking about her few days for the club america friendly, before looking back at me with a smile.

"mexico was fun. we didn't walk around or do much. however, i saw an old teammate from psv that plays at club america so that was nice. uh… it was nerve-wracking too." esmee said.

"i understand, it was your first time playing with the team. friendly or not. being nervous and excited is normal." i validated her feelings.

"that's true. i did good in mexico so the worry was for nothing." esmee lightly laughed as i looked at her with a blush.

maria came by with our waters and asked what we wanted to eat. realizing that we spent most of our time talking instead of looking at the menu, we asked for a few extra minutes. the waitress accepted it and smiled before walking away, giving us time.

esmee and i looked through the menus deciding what we wanted. most of the menu was in spanish, so we had to flip to the english part of the menu. while looking through the menu, esmee and i didn't talk. the silence between us wasn't awkward since there was a nice jazz song playing throughout the restaurant.

"have you ever had salmon?" i asked esmee. the girl looked at me with a smile before nodding. i smiled back before saying, "i never had salmon before. the salmon with pineapple and avocado sounds good though."

"you never had salmon before? you should try it, it's good." esmee said as she looked back at her menu.

"okay, i'll try that." i closed the menu and placed it in front of me on the table. esmee looked at the menu for a couple of more seconds before closing it as well, "i'm going to get the same thing." she smiled.

"copy cat." i joked.

"i am not copying you… you just have good taste." esmee rolled her eyes playfully which made me laugh.

"i'm just kidding es. you can copy me as much as you want to without me feeling annoyed." i smiled before freaking out internally, "oh my god, i hope she didn't take that as flirting. i don't want to freak her out already." i thought. my face still had a smile and esmee lightly laughed so i dropped the thought.

after maria came back and we ordered our food, esmee and i took the opportunity to talk a lot more. we discussed our soccer/futbol journey before coming to barcelona, our families, our upcoming game with madrid cff, and our love for video games. we have a lot in common.

the dutch girl never mentioned having a girlfriend while she talked about the people close in her life, i took note of that.

maria came back with our food around 45 minutes after we ordered. esmee and i didn't talk much as we had our food but it's okay. again, the silence wasn't painful or awkward to me. other conversations from people around us and the light music kept my mind occupied.

i didn't want to stare at esmee, since that would be weird for our first time hanging out, but she looked so pretty. sometimes when i looked at her, she already looked at me with a shy smile. this made me blush, she noticed it but didn't say anything.

the check came back and the price wasn't expensive at all. esmee and i forgot to ask if we could split the check but we didn't want to bother Maria who is helping with other tables.

"I can pay for it!" I said as I placed my silver credit card on top of the receipt on the table.

esmee shook her head no as she placed her credit card on top of the receipt, handing me my card back.

"I offered to take you here so it's on me." the dutch said. she wasn't lying but i didn't want to make her feel obligated to pay for my food when i can.

"yeah but-"

"y/n, it's okay." esmee spoke softly before Maria took her card and walked away. I blushed knowing that I couldn't debate with the girl.

"okay but next time I am paying."

"there's going to be a next time?" esmee teased, her eyes filled with admiration.

"oh absolutely!" I said enjoying her company.

Next Chapter: Redirection III

a/n: long chapter, hope you enjoyed :)

[aqua-dan]

hello!! Do you have any Garth comic recommendations for someone (me) who has never read a Garth comic outside of a handful of TT issues before?

Hi!! I definitely have some recommendations! This definitely isn't a comprehensive reading list by ANY means (although I do want to make one eventually!), but rather a small smattering of Garth centric comics that I think are fun or noteworthy! (These are also not in any particular order, just written out as they come into my brain lol)

Tempest (1996) - Obviously the Garth holy grail! There is no better Garth comic than this. It is peak and honestly one of the best books DC has ever put out. It's short, too (only 4 issues), so it's not too intensive of a read.

Adventure Comics #269 - "The Kid from Atlantis" - Garth's first appearance! Don't get too hung up on the lore here, as it changes later on, but it's a sweet issue and obviously important!

Adventure Comics #270 - "The Menace of Aqualad" - I love this issue for a multitude of reasons-- including the fully unintentional foreshadowing,-- but mainly I love it because it showcases what a sweet person Garth is and always has been.

World's Finest Comics #133 - "Aquaman's New Partner -- Aqua-girl" - Again, the lore needs to be disregarded, but this issue fascinates me as an early iteration of Garth's insecurity about where he stands with Arthur/feeling useful.

I probably shouldn't list everything individually so this post doesn't end up being a mile long, haha! So I'll start putting some groupings together:

Aquaman vol 1 #14, 18, 23, and #33

The Brave and the Bold #54

Teen Titans vol 1 #11 (not particularly Garth centric but just especially fun to me lol), #17, #19, #28, #29, #44-end of series. (Side note that @ttwasteland has a really good podcast covering volume 1 of Teen Titans! Actually, they have a lot of Teen Titans podcasts! Which is really useful for those who struggle to read Silver Age comics + I am immensely pleased with Hub's Aqualad enthusiasm!)

The Brave and the Bold (vol 3) #10

Death of a Prince (Technically, I recommend reading all of it, since it'll help you understand how things got to this point. But especially Adventure Comics #452 and the Aqualad stories in #453-455.)

Tales of the Teen Titans #85 & #86 + Teen Titans Spotlight #10

Teen Titans Spotlight #18

Teen Titans Spotlight #21

Aquaman vol 5 (Yes, all of it lol)

Showcase '96 #1

Teen Titans (Vol 3) #12-16

JLA/Titans

Titans (vol 1) At least the Devin Grayson portion, but I don't dislike the later stuff either!

There are also storylines that I think are fun or important that happen in across various books/stories (Obsidian Age, Aquaman vol 6, other (Teen) Titans stories, Blackest Night, CoIE, dare I even say Sword of Atlantis...), but I'll save those for a more in-depth reading list some other time! These ones are just popping up in my head rn.

If you want N52/Rebirth stuff, there are also a few stories that are pretty good. Sadly, they're pretty few and far between since canon changes and DC tossing their character bibles have left poor Garth in an odd, largely OoC limbo for years. Although I don't /love/ these stories as much as others, they still manage to vaguely pass the vibe check:

Nightwing & the Titans in Team Building (Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular) It's not super Garth centric, but it's fun!

Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 - “It’s a Family Affair”

Aquaman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 - “Lady in the Lake”

World's Finest: Teen Titans & DC's Spring Breakout "Relay for your Life" Garth's characterization in these... isn't right, but I feel like it has the spirit more than the vast majority of things published in recent years.

Titans (2023-) I... don't totally feel right putting this here, but I feel like slowly... extremely slowly... they are starting to fix Garth's characterization. We're not quite there yet-- and it is sadly written by Tom Taylor,-- but I feel like it's going to lead to something that's actually good for Garth again. (Aka so many hints towards a potential new Tempest mini-series or one-shot have been dropped lately, and I feel like this series will be context important.)

Ok, to try to finish this out: Also consider watching some stuff with Garth in it like Aquaman (1967) TV show / DC Super Hero Girls (2019), or reading some cute, non-canon series such as Tiny Titans! It's just good fun!!

Anyways, thank you so much for the ask!! I hope this helps!!! (And thank you for allowing me a chance to ramble lol!)

[kafus]

okay i just talked to every NPC in veilstone because it's been a long time and man sinnoh's NPCs are peak, at least out of the 2D games i feel like they provide the most humor and the most random lore tidbits and stuff. i love this region. i'm going to talk about it

first off sinnoh is full of little things like this. random dialogue/flavor text that ties back to the mythos of the region. i love how widespread the sinnoh myths are

i'm also obsessed with when there's two NPCs that link together like this. you talk to one and you move on and then you talk to another and you're like oh! lmao. by the way the rage candy bars being here is cool because sinnoh is canonically connected to johto through the sinjoh ruins and the rage candy bars are from johto, which means they're imported and sold here. in general i'm obsessed with the locations in pokemon that have special treats associated with them, like the pewter crunchies of pewter city in kanto, or the lava cookies from lavaridge in hoenn. iconic

btw don't worry lady literally everyone sucks at making poffins. unless you have four players it's pretty much impossible to make poffins that are better than the storebought ones. good luck getting four people with rare berries who are good at the minigame to play with you, ESPECIALLY in 2023 jesus christ. the basement poffins are OPTIMAL

anyway in speaking of linking NPCs, these two - i wonder if the dialogue in the french version of this game is turned into english? they did that for lt. surge's french pikachu trade, the french versions of HGSS make the pikachu english instead lol. but anyway as usual it's very fascinating to me how much pokemon loves to drop foreign language in its titles, and fittingly i know a lot of people with english as their second language got interested in learning english from a young age due to wanting to play pokemon. how many kids do you think got interested in french because of dialogue like this. the girl even implies what the meaning of his words is

veilstone isn't short on game hints either, useless to me now as an adult longterm pokemon player who knows all this stuff already but still really cool to see. if sinnoh is your first time playing pokemon, those hints on trade evos and stuff are always appreciated.

of course, funny dialogue too that got a wheeze out of my nose, not uncommon for pokemon NPC dialogue SDKFSFDK some of this shit takes me so offguard it's like extra funny

like GIRL ISN'T THAT WHAT A PARASOL IS FOR????

edit: my DUMB ASS (lighthearted) has been reminded that parasols are for the sun and are NOT an umbrella equivalent. okay she makes more sense now LOOL

also LOOKER JUSTIFYING HIS GAMBLING :skull emoji: this shit is taking me out. see this is useful because it's like oh galactic is really all over this city huh. not only their massive building but they have their logo in the fucking slot machines, they probably have some amount of ownership over this place like team rocket did over the celadon game corner. but also it's funny because SDFSDFK

OH AND MAYLENE'S DAD IS JUST... HERE? generic NPC. generic sprite. no name. he's just here. maylene's dad. you know, one of the gym leaders. help girl

anyways i'm aware i basically just posted most of the dialogue in veilstone city verbatim but I JUST THINK IT'S INTERESTING! I MISS WHEN POKEMON GAMES WERE FULL OF DIALOGUE LIKE THIS AHHHH i have more to say about the galactic lore but i'm running out of image space and i need to use the bathroom and get some food so i'll post about that a little later

[soupermarket]

AAAAAHHH!!! Mer au be upon ye

Been working on designs for my fanfic (that I'll probably be rewriting I don't like how I characterized them).... fish archie.

He's based on a Demanson's Cichlid :3 which are. really difficult to draw for some reason

More under the cut!!! Fish rambling and lore stuff. Plus fish maxie that I am currently too lazy to color or otherwise finish

Man I love mer aus. Uhm. FISH BEAM BLAST AUGHHH!!!

Archie is currently 37 years old in this au (unless I change it. LOL)

Him, along with Matt and Shelly (and maybe other members of team aqua in the rewrite. idk), live in the wreckage of a ship fairly deep underwater, choosing to stay as far away from humans as possible. In contrast to this, Maxie and his group take more inspiration from humans in their little settlement thingy, choosing to take scraps of metal and other things to build their home.

Most merfolk live in groups called pods, in the rework of the fanfic I'll elaborate more on this but. I'm lazy right now. Sorry.

Anyways Archie is generally more like??? adventurous and stuff, and him and the other members of his pod are like. really tight-knit. They're also generally more muscular than the members of Maxie's group, choosing to hunt fish & other prey using their own strength and speed, whereas the magmas use traps and stuff.

Also. Maxie has a collection of little human trinkets and stuff. Most of the space in his den/house thing is just like. trinkets. He also has a very unfriendly relationship with dolphins. I admittedly haven't done much with it in the original since it's... y'know... one chapter at the moment... but ill do more in the rewrite i prommy.

ANYWAYS!!!! Fish beam blast MAXIE

He's a common mudskipper. I love common mudskippers and just mudskippers in general really. Top tier fish.

He doesn't have glasses because. reasons involving the fact that he lives in the ocean.

However. I plan on giving him glasses eventually, he'll probably find a pair and think "Oh joy!! A new human invention I have not yet seen! Joyous day!!" and he decides to constantly wear them even though they make his vision like, ten times Worse.

Goodbye for now. I will inevitably post more Fish later. like when i finish the maxie design. LOL!!

(If you would like to read the fanfic even though it's like. ugly at the moment. It's "Sunlight on the Ocean's Like the Scars on Your Skin" on a03. Enjoy.)

[bad-traffic-smp-ideas]

Welcome to Bad Traffic SMP Ideas, an experimental gimmick blog with a twist!

Hello! Instead of showcasing the many good ideas this community has come up with, this blog highlights all the "bad" ideas created with our beloved smps in mind.

I, the Head Watcher, will be your guide on this journey through the wonderfully horrific concepts I've collected for future traffic series smps. Enjoy your trip! ^^

[QnA + tag system + more below the cut!]

What is a "bad idea?"

It's whatever you want it to be! The "[blank] Life, but _" format works really well for series concepts as a whole, but "bad headcanons" are welcome too! Go wild, friends <3

"Someone already sent in my same idea! Can I submit it again?"

Sure!! Most of the time, I won't even realize it's been said before. This blog has been going for so long now and I have bigger priorities, I won't penalize you for sending in a "repeat" ask :)

(There is also the #additions tag for adding onto specific ideas, although it isn't used very consistently. If you would like your ask to be added to a previous post instead, just ask!)

"What does the queue look like for this blog?"

Currently, it posts once per day, and there's usually ~100 posts in the backlog waiting to be posted.

For complicated personal reasons (but mostly me being a busy uni student), that most likely won't be changing anytime soon. I don't get around to stocking this blog very often and I would rather have it be slow and consistent than have random bursts of activity then silence. I know this is frustrating for people, but this is my personal passion project, and I don't want to needlessly stress myself out over something I started for fun :)

"I sent in my idea two months ago! Where is it?!"

Probably still in the askbox! Very rarely do I actually delete asks, I promise I don't cherrypick the ideas I like and discard the rest. But since I know the wait is frustrating, this is my policy to deal with it:

If you've sent in an idea and it hasn't posted yet, you can send me an ask describing your idea and ask to have it moved up in the queue. You can also send in a separate ask when submitting an idea if you want to have it posted sooner rather than later.

(If your idea is connected to recent events in smps, etc it will most likely be moved up anyway so it posts while still "relevant," although this is somewhat limited to my familiarity with the event. It never hurts to ask!)

"Wait, this blog has a TV Tropes page?!"

APPARENTLY. I didn't make it, but I'm a HUGE fan of it, and it's probably more organized than my actual blog. Go check it out, I'm famous guys <3

Housekeeping + Rules:

Mostly common sense things + be a decent person, etc. This isn't a place for discourse, so please leave that elsewhere. There haven't been any serious issues, but if there ever are I'll create a more cohesive list of rules.

Admin Info:

You can call me Pho! I saw the @/badmccideas blog and got inspired to make this around the end of Last Life in November 2021. My main is @phosphorus-noodles :)

Currently, I'm the sole mod running this blog. This may change in the future, but please don't ask to join the team unless I ask for more help! This project is my baby, and I'm very protective over it ^^'

Tagging System:

#bad traffic idea - catch-all tag for bad ideas

#bad headcanon - specifically for headcanons, not concepts (not consistently used, so if you can't find a headcanon tagged with this it's probably under the previous tag)

#not a bad idea - anything that's not a bad idea (announcements, admin notes, reblogs, etc.)

#good idea - personal favorite submissions <3

#admin - posts from yours truly :)

#ask - ideas sent in via ask

#submission - ideas submitted

#reblog - anything reblogged

#additions - inconsistently used, but meant for building upon existing specific ideas

#life series predictions - used whenever there's a new season on the horizon to try to predict where apollo's dodgeball will fall

#blog lore - mostly for fun, not that serious or consistent lol, feel free to filter this tag or join in with the fun! :)

If you've made it to the end of this post, congrats! I love you <3

[cbrownjc]

HOTD possible spoiler (as well as some Fire and Blood ones) under the cut:

The person who posted the initial rumor/leak/spoiler is clarifying/sticking to it.

I've already talked about my problems with how this show has handled its black characters here (wrt Laena) and here when this Nettles rumor/leak first happened a few days ago.

Honestly, if this rumor really is true, I will pretty much be done with the show. Because aside from the racist angle the show just falls right into by doing something like this, it's also just lazy AF writing.

If the show wanted to make Rhaena a more active participant in the war that very easily can be done without making her a dragon rider. They could have her play a bigger role in helping in the survival of her family members, seeing that she, her sister, and her two little half-brothers are the only ones who do so (along with Corlys). Let her become the more politically savvy twin, using her status as a princess and such to form alliances, keep the Vale on the side of The Blacks, and things like that. Maybe even leading up to things like having her take the lead in ensuring that Corlys doesn't get executed for treason after the war is over.

But nope. Just make her a dragon rider during the conflict too. And hey, since she's black now, just have her replace the only book-canon black character in the story of the Dance, who was already speculated by some to be Daemon's bastard daughter anyway. Because all black people are just interchangeable anyway, right? 🙄 (That is if we're even bothering to give them character and story arcs in the first place; especially in comparison to their originally white book counterparts *cough*Laena*cough*).

So yeah, NGL I was already growing apathetic about the show before this, given how Leana, Rhaena, and Baela's characters were all handled in Season 1. Cutting out Nettles and just having Rhaena take her place? When the two characters are nothing alike, personality-wise?

Yeah, if this really is true then no thank you. I'll check out clips of the big moments -- Rook's Rest, Blood and Cheese, and whenever The Battle Above the God's Eye happens in some later season -- on YouTube or something. But actively watch episodes in full? Nope.

Again, I'll wait to full-out rant on this when it's 100% confirmed in some way. (And yes, such a rant very likely would include talking about how color-conscious casting & writing > > > > > > color-blind casting & writing; and using that to properly world build -- because yes that is possible even wrt a fantasy world like Westeros, which already has established places in its world where black people prominently lived and originated from.) Maybe waiting to do so is just me being in denial, IDK. But I'm kind of having deja vu wrt how I felt about the rumors circulating about Season 8 of GOT again. I just couldn't believe the writers were going to be that level of hack-lazy. And yet . . . .

I really had hopes that HBO had learned from that mistake and that the writing team and showrunners for this show wouldn't do something similar. But ever since I saw what happened to Laena's character, (and how her role in Rhaenrya's life -- when they were young -- was basically given to Alicent), I've been questioning if they really have . . . . or ever did. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[sageandred]

Ranking LS Disasters *by personal preference

(only doing the major ones that were big and/or filled an entire episode // I didn't include the GraceJudd car accident, because I wanted to do natural disasters, but I did include 4x09 because it takes the whole episode of Marjan trying to get to safety // maybe i'll do a gigantic post of every single event later down the line)

1) Ice Storm (3x01)-The fact that this was a 4 part event (A pregnant Grace stuck in the storm, Carlos waiting for TK to wake up from a coma, Paul..it was all very good)

2) Marjan runs for her life (4x09)-such a good solo episode (mainly focussing on 1 character the entire episode can usually be a miss, but Lone Star does good in all of their character-focussed ones)

3) Dust Storm (2x14)-speaking of solo character-focussed episodes...Mateo getting his time to shine(!), but also this was a well-constructed episode and every found family based show needs an episode where the characters are split up due to unforseen circumstances out of their control, like being reassigned to different work locations. (#3 and #4 were switched originally, but I just found this episode a little more entertaining all the way through)

4) Wildfire (2x03)-They took on a big task with such a packed episode, with this being the crossover event, and with [character] death being just 1 episode before it. I like the stakes and the team moments coming together, with their own and the LA force. (we also get the mention of Mateo's LA doppelganger cousin)

5) Volcanic Eruption (2x02)-for the shock factor (+ all of the graphic gore from the opening to the episode highlight), and we get great solo character moments + support for each other at the end

6) Arsonist Fire (2x12)-We get that great tarlos plot. It feels wrong to put this above #7, because the fire's such a small part/factor to the episode, but points since there were some episode shocks and the entire arc wasn't completely predictable the way that I thought at first]

7) Tornado (1x04)-There's a sense of togetherness and feeling like a family; the disasters got better with this being so early in the show. loses points for the car between the buildings, but the story of the man with his two kids was heartbreaking, even being as stupid as he was.

8) Solar Storm (1x10)-a pretty solid plot; as an episode it fell flat in some places.. but that radiation case from space on the phonecall with Grace 😭 (this episode and the plot was flawed, but this idea was promising and I was interested to keep going into season 2, so that's why it's higher than a couple)

9) Building Explosion (3x18)-(this previous episode end leading into the big finale is purely ranked on preference) not their best disaster, and not their worst...This moment was eventful and provided some good moments for Judd/Grace and even Wyatt due to Judd being trapped in danger. This might be higher if the Judd main plot wasn't so short, although a good fake-out with a new conflict of another one of their own going down, but that Owen hallucination arc was a miss for me. The explosion itself (at the start of 4x18/end of 4x17, especially) was epic, though!

10) Plane Engine (3x08)-I really liked the response to the emergency on the plane, the father-son stuff, and the help on Tommy via phone. Episode was great; the disaster itself falls last on my ranking. It was interesting, just not that intense; this being lowest on the list is solely because there are more mishaps that ended up being more intense. Though, it was a good emotional moment. (led to the great emotional tarlos reunion, too). The parallel of the flashback to present day that led to TK confessing to Owen was beautiful!

[nephriteknight]

Thoughts on Daggerheart!!

I'll admit I haven't really been following it until today, but after watching the videos released today I got very excited and ended up building a character and reading a lot of the book, as I am wont to do (might post about them later lol).

Now, full disclosure, I wouldn't say I'm all that familiar with the TTRPG space outside of D&D, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. That said, I've played D&D, Wanderhome, Alice is Missing, and the fan-made Hollow Knight TTRPG, and I've watched some AP of Kids on Bikes, Call of Cthulhu, Monsterhearts, and Candela Obscura, which is a longer list than I was expecting. Huh. Anyways, my thoughts!

I really like the duality dice! It's such an interesting way to do mixed success that incorporates story/character into mechanics, which is great.

Related to that, I also like Hope as a fluid resource, and I think that Fear is a nice way to both prompt GM action and to just create a fun sense of dread as the GM takes more tokens

The lack of turn order/action economy is... cool, and a really interesting idea, but my thoughts on this are complicated. As we're seeing in the oneshot right now, it really helps to keep combat as part of the story and give the players and GM room for creativity. (For example, Bunnie describing a counterstrike as part of her dodge, and being able to take it as soon as the GM's turn is over, as well as the tag team feature, which is very cool.) That said, I think this mechanic might not work so well with less experienced or less confident players, who might have trouble taking the initiative (heh) to act in combat (I know I certainly would if I wasn't playing with close friends). That's not really a criticism though -- this is a collaborative storytelling game, and part of playing it is making big moves and taking turns guiding the story. If that's not for you, then you might prefer a different system, which is fine! I think this mechanic has the potential to be really, really dope, but I also think it's the bit that has the most potential to go poorly in my eyes.

The art, design, and general aesthetic feel of this game are so unbelievably up my alley. I love it. That's all.

I'm excited to see that they're working on mechanics for playing disabled characters, but since they aren't out yet I can't really comment. (I did notice that the character in the bard art is in a wheelchair, which is dope.) Also, as others have noted, Daggerheart uses "heritage" and "ancestry" rather than "race", which is a small but good choice.

Personally, I also really like the choice to move away from precise measurements of distance and gold. This one is very much a personal preference, and I know some people will rightfully disagree, but I like it! As a DM, trying to determine the appropriate costs and rewards for things has always been a headache, and this seems much easier to manage; measuring distances with convenient and tangible measurements like the short side of a playing card or the length of a piece of paper also feels much easier to use.

The downtime mechanics are great! Each of the activities you can take prompts you to describe how you heal yourself or another, destress, repair armor, or prepare yourself for what's ahead, which really encourages quieter character moments both introspectively and with others. I'm a big fan of this. This combining of role play and mechanics is also present in other features, such as one of the major level 1 healing abilities, which is more effective if you spend the time it takes to cast learning something new about the person you're healing or sharing something about yourself.

I didn't look at this too closely because I was just making a character for fun and don't have a party to play with, but as part of character creation you're given questions about your relationships to your party members to answer. Wanderhome also has these, and they were MASSIVELY successful in creating depth and meaningful connections between players -- after our table's session zero I was already so invested in all our characters, and when we actually played them they really came to life. I haven't looked to closely at Daggerhearts version of this, but I'm very excited to see them.

The experience mechanic seems really fun and creative, and I especially like the idea of using a phrase rather than something specific. That said, when I played the Hollow Knight TTRPG, which also lets players create their own skills, the open endedness of it was more confusing than inspiring, and there was a lot of potential for a usefulness disparity between players. I do think Daggerheart explains it better, though, and limiting the use of experience with a Hope cost helps to counteract any choices that might be too broad, so hopefully it will work better

I probably have more thoughts, but it getting late and I have a headache, so that's all I'm saying for now :D

Overall, Daggerheart has combined a lot of things I've liked in other games with promising mechanics I haven't seen before, and I'm very excited to try it out. I'm now realizing that I just made a list of things I like without any negative feedback, which isn't what I wanted to do, but I'm not really sure what to criticize without having played it myself.

I'm most curious to see how the non-initiative mechanic works; it has the potential to be a really excellent solve for a major problem in D&D (plenty of people have talked about how initiative limits teamwork, can be boring when its not your turn, etc, so I won't get into it here), but I don't think it's a solution that will work for everyone. Of course, games can't work for everyone, and shouldn't try to. It's working really well on CR's oneshot as I write this, but making choices and sharing spotlight in TTRPGs is literally their job, so I'm not surprised this works for them. I could see this going really well with some tables I've played with, and really poorly with others. I'm still really optimistic, though; it seems like the kind of thing that with the right table could be really excellent.