#i'm glad that isaac came around in the end

[rockwgooglyeyes]

concept based on the “what if?” of “what if Ivan didn’t go back with Till when they ran away and instead ended up with the rebellion?”

(also based on this post from @alalnsted)

note: this is going off of the assumption that they were in their early teens during their escape attempt (~13-14)

While watching Till run back to the garden despite being given a chance at freedom, Ivan comes to the conclusion that nothing he can ever give Till will be enough. If nothing Ivan could ever offer Till would compare to Mizi, and he only annoys Till, then he has no real reason to stay. Ivan believes that Till will be happier without him around bothering him constantly and he will be forced to watch Till be in love with Mizi, as well, so he chooses to leave instead. He thinks of it as a selfish decision, leaving his friends and his beloved behind, but he also thinks that they will be better off without him, so it’s not that hard of a pill to swallow.

After leaving, Ivan kind of just drifts for a while before crossing paths with Hyuna, who he recognizes from the Garden. Hyuna recognizes him too and scoops him up off of the street because he reminds her of Luka and if she can take care of Ivan, and he turns out fine, then maybe that will mean that she didn’t fail Luka (and that she didn’t fail Hyun-Woo, by extension)

Taken under Hyuna’s wing, Ivan grows up into someone a little more crass and brusque than his charming persona in canon- as Para (@shakingparadigm) said, his child self is actually really close to his real self, and his child self is blunt, quiet and stoic- and I think that if Hyuna, Dewey and Isaac were some of the figures he was growing up around as a teenager, he would end up presenting more authentically insofar as he would kind of lean into that more brutally-honest side that we can see when he's a little kid. He might be a little more sarcastic and outright rude but he would still have some of his more playful nature we see in his canon adult self (after all, Hyuna’s definitely easygoing and witty, and she, Dewey and Isaac definitely seem like they enjoy just fooling around and shootin' the shit together)

Ivan becomes the rebellion’s bookkeeper! He would still be able to fight and go on missions himself but he would mostly make sure that the money and the documents are in order, allowing the rebellion to execute more covert missions and stay on budget. I just think he’s more of a strategist/planner than someone on the front lines.

At his canon age of ~22 (I think), the new ALNST contestants are announced and he realizes that Sua, Mizi and Till are part of that group, I think he would probably panic. The human rebellion in and of itself seems like it is focused on dismantling ALNST as an institution anyways so having a mission surrounding the upcoming season makes sense but Ivan initially removes himself from it, because it’s personal and he doesn’t want that kind of attachment to cloud his judgment. Hyuna drags him into it, either right before Round 1 or after Sua dies (I really don’t know if I want to keep Sua dying in or not because as much fun as it would be to have Sua, the whole point of this AU is kind of to have Ivan and Mizi both grow on their own, separate from their partners. Ivan would get to do that pre-ALNST and Mizi would do it afterwards). Ultimately, they save Mizi. She and Ivan have a tearful reunion. Though she isn’t happy with him for making her think he was dead, she forgives him.

Eventually they save Till, too, but that’s actually less important tbh. I mean. Ivan and Till have a reunion and Till is glad to see that Ivan is still alive and that Mizi is still alive and he has to work through his own guilt and Ivan is kind of just . . . tired because he might still be in love with Till but at the same time, he came to terms with the fact that Till would never love him back a long, long time ago and he’s way past hoping for something like that

I'm thinking of writing something with this idea but if anyone has any notes or ideas in regards to this AU please let me know! I have some doodles for it that I'm probably gonna post later today or tomorrow . . . who knows though haha

[hopefulromances]

one is on the other's lap, holding their face between their hands, kissing them and instantly forgetting everything else in the room with them + the espectacular sam obisanya and f reader pleaseeeee 😭🩷😭 I can't get enough of your writing

You were nervous. Sam was taking you to his team's annual Christmas party at a collegues house and everyone would be there. You loved Sam, you really did, but this was like jumping into the deep end of meeting friends.

Sam was walking a bit in front of you, his hand in yours leading you, telling your the names of all the people coming and a little bit about them.

So far you had Isaac, who was the team captain and acted tougher than he was, Richard, who would most definietly be bringing someone but would also try and flirt with you at the same time, Jan Maas, who came off blunt but meant the best, and Bumbercatch, who was convinced Christmas was just a corporate holiday made up by capitalists as a way to exploit people.

As you approached the house you found yourself overwhlemed by you nerves and stopping. Sam tugged slightly but then looked back and eralized you had stopped.

"(Y/N), do not worry," He reassured you, ducking his head to look you in the eye. "They are going to love you."

"But what if I say something wrong or, or, or, I'm not cool enough or whatever," you rambled, your eyes darting back and forth between his.

"I promise you that you are 100% cooler than anyone you'll see in there." Sam took you by your forehead and kissed you softly. "You're going to be great."

You smiled gratefully at him and squeezed his hand to let him know you were ready. It turned out, you fit right in with his friends. They all flocked to you immeditaly as you walked in, making sure to let you know that Sam talked about you all the time and that he was totally whipped for you.

At some point you'd gotten pulled aside by the host's, Leslie Higgins's, wife and she was talking to you about your home and family. You answered her questions graciously but kept looking over at Sam talking and laughing with his friends.

Finally, you had to excuse yourself to go talk to him. Sam saw you on approach and uncrossed his legs to make room for you to sit. You sat down so you were sideways on his lap, arms around his neck.

"So, how are you doing?" He checked, rubbing his hand up and down your leg.

You nodded at him, feeling quite content in his lap. "Good, your friends are all so kind."

You looked around at the group. Practically the whole team was there, all excited to be around each other and share in the many holidays they were all celebrating. It was so heartwarming to know how close the team was.

"They're a good guys," Sam agreed, following your gaze. "Even if they can be a little crazy from time to time."

His gaze lands on Isaac stacking empty beer cans as Richard is talking adamently to Jan Maas about something in french. You giggled as you looked at them. Sam gently brough his hand to your jaw, turning you back to face him.

"But I'm just glad that you are here," he murmured.

You smiled and brought your hands up to cup his face just as delicatly as he was holding yours. Then you kissed him and everyone else in the room vanished. It was just you and him. Forget angry frenchmen, forget the children running around playing with nerf guns, forget beer cans. Just you and Sam.

That was until you were being shot at by said nerf guns.

"No being gross at the dinner table!" One of the younger boys shouted, pointing their nerf gun at you.

"Hey! That's my girlfriend you're talking to!" He moved you off his lap gently and got up to start chasing them. You laughed, watching him run around the table.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Quick post for Ghosts 3x03

I never got around to making the post but it's almost time for the next episode so let's do this lol

Hetty's scandalous artwork xD genuinely loved that lol, so good

And Nancy's comment xD she slayed that lol

Genuinely though, getting more Hetty backstory was amazing!! It's so sad what happened though :(( I know we know her dad was Not Good but it just sucks :(. And her poor man xd.

I am glad Isaac ended up not listening to her though lol. Like sure, protecting your money in many cases is totally valid. But also like. It's 10 thousand dollars and you're dead xD. What is either of you gonna do with it without the other's say so lol. It's not a deal breaker xD. Anyway, I love Isaac and Nigel with my whole heart thank you <33.

I knew Bela would start seeing him as a bad boy after lying to her xD. I'm glad she still stood up for herself though!! Also it's just wild that he came up with that lie in the first place 💀. Poor ghosts though, they were so happy and hopeful for a second xd. Anyway, I do think it would've been interesting to see them try and communicate it without Sam! But Sam coming back made for some hilarious moments lol. Her and Jay lying about it too was wild though 💀. And him throwing himself down the stairs xD man is out of control slfjdhs. Also naur the Flower mention 😭😭💔. Also oof for blowing his cover with that xd. I am glad Bela found out, though, she deserved to know. Also the biker being a ghost XDD. But nonetheless, I am glad she's still with a mostly good guy lol. Also why didn't Jay and Sam just try and convince her that made him a bad boy instead of keep up the lie lol xD.

And I genuinely kinda expected him to start seeing ghosts for real after his fall and not have anyone believe him for a hot second XD. Anyway lol!

Ahh right his name is Eric

I saw it when I was looking up a summary to make sure I wasn't missing anything xD.

Also, I loved seeing Thor and Sass watching Hetty's flashback! A their reactions were great lol, and B it's nice when we see the older ghosts in flashbacks :)! Helps everything more connected :D. Also I'm glad they managed to help because of it.

Anyway, Alberta, Pete, and Trevor also slayed <3 we just didn't see as much of them. Though of course there's still Trevor being hung up on Bela lol. Good for him I guess xD

Oh and the idea to bring Flower back with a seance!! I'll talk about that in a minute but for now just AAAHHHH that would be so slay :'D

I also watched the promo for the next episode, and WOW it looks wild lol. A seance, AND CAROL DYING?? I'm wondering if maybe she'll die but go up to heaven, and the seance will bring her down (briefly). But, who knows I guess ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠∵⁠ ⁠)⁠┌. I don't think we're going to see Flower, but it would be really nice :')). Especially for Thor :'D :'( 🥰🥰❤️. I miss her so much 🥺😭❤️. But, I'm just not sure that I believe we will.

Anyway, I loved this episode!! It was great :D. It was fun seeing Eric and Bela again, and thinking, if even just for a moment lol, there might be someone else who can see ghosts xD :). And it was great to see more of Hetty's life! Also, just, Nisaac <3. But yeah :DD! I had a lot of fun watching this episode :)).

I'll see y'all for the next one!!

[emberapatow]

ember runs into an unexpected familiar face, aka @vallaurent

The clinic was, once again, pretty quiet. Renee had been out for part of the day, so it was left up to Val to care for any incoming patients. Of which, so far, there had been very few. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Val had, luckily, taken one of her books with her to pass the time. Completely occupied with it, she only noticed that someone had entered Redwoods little clinic when she heard the footsteps coming up to her desk.

"One sec, hun, this is just getting interesting-" she called out, casting a quick glance upwards to check whether the person standing there was dying or in any state that would require her attention - which made her pause.

"Oh, Ember. Hey." Val smiled, a little bit awkwardly. Shaking off the surprise at seeing the other woman there, she closed the book. "What can I help ya with? Got hurt?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Saying Val was the last person she expected wasn't fully true, if her mother or sister showed up suddenly at the clinic, that would have been more of a shock, but Ember certainly didn't expect the person to turn around to be Val, and it only really confused her more when the other seemed to be less of a surprise than it was for her.

"I-- Val. Hi," she stumbled over her words, blinking rapidly. The world was such a small place for sure. "It wasn't really me, there's a little girl outside, she fell and hurt her knees and I came in to get some bandages but-- I'm sorry, what are you doing here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I work here?" Val responded, slightly surprised at Ember's confusion, before realizing that Ember probably had no idea that Val had even made her way to Redwood. Val knew everyone who came and went, because she knew how to get information out of people. But Ember hadn't been here for that long, and why would anyone mention to her that Val was here?

"I came here a few months ago, after I split from my last group." The honest answer. Val sighed softly. "I heard you made it here not too long ago, yourself. Congrats on makin' it back to civilization, by the way. Heard you have some family here, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"...Thank you?" Val's been here for a while, of course. Of course. And it was a big thing when she showed up, everyone knew about Isaac Apatow's daughter, and Val knew about her family status, knew about the dad who hasn't been there since she was four, it wouldn't have been hard to put it all together. And then casually stay out of Ember's way, considering everything.

It made sense, of course it made sense, but still, it stung.

"Sorry, all of this is just a surprise to take in, I didn't think-- well, I guess that's obvious." She forced herself to get over it, it was really not helpful to keep being the human equivalent of a question mark. (She didn't think about why meeting Val actually surprised her more than, say, meeting Orion here.) "But yeah, I kind of came looking for my father, so that was a positive find. And to be clear, I'm glad you're okay, and not zombie food."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Val felt her own bad conscience tug at her. The fact thet she'd been avoiding Ember was, probably, pretty dang obvious. Should she have acted surprised? Pretended that she didn't know that Ember had been here all along? Somehow lying felt wrong in that moment, but maybe that would have been the better option.

"Thank you. I appreciate that, hun." Val smiled her typical smile, because she was glad to see Ember. The fact that she was alive was a miracle. Val hadn't thought she'd be seeing the other woman again. But then the knowledge of why they hadn't even been together in the first place weighed heavily on her. Shaking those feelings off, Val quickly turned her full attention to Ember.

"What about your mom? I... I know she isn't here with you. What happened? If you don't mind me askin'."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Val was simply making conversation, Ember knew that. Was trying to be nice, asking about her mom, but Ember's stomach lurched at the question and felt like running away. Like maybe Val not telling her she was here was a good idea, actually.

(It was for both of their sakes.)

"It was the age old story, really. Zombies came, zombies chomped, only one got out bite free, life intact," she said, trying to keep her voice casual even though if one person could see through it, it was Val. Her dad knew her mom decades ago for the most part, aside from the phone calls, Orion barely knew them to really get to know her mom, but Val-- she came to dinners at their place, chatted with Izzy while she waited for Ember to get ready. She knew how close the family was. "It happened over a year ago now, so it's been a while.

"...anyway, did you arrive here alone or with somebody?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Val found her heart cenching when she heard Ember tell her about her mom. It was something Val had been afraid of, but now had her confirmation. Seeing the casual way Ember was talking about it felt worse. Not because it was disrespectful to Isabelle in any measure, but because Val knew Ember enough to know it was a facade.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." The pain in her voice was genuine as she stood up from behind the desk. Their relationship right now seemed unstable, unsure, or at least Val didn't quite know just how to handle Ember, but even now, she felt it was right to pull the other woman into a hug. "She was real special. I'm sorry you lost her." It took Val a moment to pull away, hands pressed gently against Ember's shoulders.

"I came here alone. My survivor group disbanded, and after that I stumbled here. Ember... I hope you know this but... I'm so glad you're here."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I-- thanks," Ember said because really, what could she do to such a genuine show of sympathy that came from Val in that moment, seeing right through the walls she tried to put up and then Val even came up and hugged her and it was so easy to just let everything else fall to the wayside and wrap her arms around Val herself, enjoying it for a moment before Val pulled away.

Pulled away but not too far, her hands still on Ember's shoulders as she explained how she got here and then added that she was glad Ember was here too with those dark, deep soulful eyes of hers looking down at her and Ember was moving before she could really register what she was doing - leaned forward and pressed her lips against Val's, gently, almost like a question.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Val wasn't sure what she had expected - what she'd hoped for - but when Ember suddenly leaned forward and kissed her, she realized that this had been part of it. Ember was gentle, questioning as if she didn't quite know whether this was okay or not. It still felt the same after all that time. Val couldn't help herself in that moment. She reached up, cupping Ember's face with her hands and kissed her back, letting her thumbs trail over the other woman's cheeks as she did so. Only for a few seconds before she pulled back enough to look back at Ember's face.

"Honey, I-" Val looked at her, realizing that she'd missed this in ways she hadn't even realized, but also remembering why they hadn't had this. Why she hadn't seen Ember in all those years. "You know I'm no good for you, hun."

~~~~~~~~~~~

There was that first moment of the kiss where Ember wasn't sure if Val would kiss back or pull away - both understandable and possible reactions, given their history -, but then Val leaned into it, cupped her face and kissed back and Ember let out a sigh as she lost herself in those few moments before Val pulled back again.

Ember chased her lips for a second before looking at back at Val - fuck, that honey just rolled off her tongue so easily and it was so incredibly distracting. Val was probably right, she knew that. They were bad for each other, they've come to that conclusion plenty of times before. But they've been in this exactly situation after those conversation just as many times, and Ember in that moment didn't - just couldn't - care about the past. "I don't really care right now," she said and when she kissed Val again, this time there was no hesitation, no question, just the desire to keep doing it and not let her brain overtake her.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Val had expected their past to overcome both of them. Make them pull back and realize that after the many times they had split up, they should have learned their lesson. To not get too close again. But it was hard, not getting pulled in when Ember was so close, when she said she didn't care with no hesitation. And when she kissed Val again, the woman knew she lost that internal battle, at least for the moment.

Val kissed back with the same determination, one hand still cupping Ember's cheek, the other trailing into the other woman's hair, gently. Ember still kissed the same way she did back then. She let herself get lost in it, until she needed to pull back to breathe. "Did I ever tell you I love the way you kiss me...?" Val muttered, close enough that her breath ghosted over Ember's lips. Biting her own lip, Val pulled back enough that she could look into Ember's eyes. "Do you wanna get outta here? I like kissin ya, but the clinic entranceway probably ain't the best place for it."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ember kept her eyes closed for a moment after Val pulled back, smiling before she peppered a couple of feather light kisses on Val's lips. "I am pretty sure you have, but I still love hearing it. And right back at you." And when Val asked if she wanted to get out of here, she let out a small chuckle and nodded. "That's smart, this is-- don't get me wrong, pretty awesome, but yeah, not the kind of place for that."

Still, she gave Val one last kiss and then pulled back. "Good to see you in an environment like this though, it makes sense they snatched you right up here." She slid her fingers through Val's. "Fuck, I really missed you, you know?" She ignored everything else - they could deal with other realities later, for now, "Lead the way - where do you live?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

It felt so, so good. The small kisses, the little affections, so familiar to her. Letting her hand run through Ember's soft dark hair, Val looked at her with the awe and affection she hadn't allowed herself. Lettinger her fingers thread Ember's, she chuckled. "Yeah, it... feels good. Normal. The way it was before, kinda."

Especially with Ember here, now. Val would let herself forget and be happy, for just the moment. She deserved that much, right? And Ember did, too. "I missed you too, lovely. Now, let's get outta here. My apartment ain't that far away." Quickly radioning Renee that something had come up and she'd be out, Val pulled Ember with her, outside of the clinic into the sunshine. Still holding her hand, as if the other woman might just disappear.

It was a 10 minute walk to her studio apartment. It was in a somewhat lonely part of Redwood, but Val liked the size and just because she was a chatterbox didn't mean she didn't like the calm and quiet. Opening up the door, she led Ember into a spacious apartment. Tall windows letting the sun in, shelves and other furniture lining the walls, filled with books and other knickknacks to make the place cozier. A makeshift bedroom made with a portable divider, and, in the middle facing the outside, a small Island of couches, chairs and a table. Normally Val would've asked if Ember wanted to drink something, offer her to sit down, along those lines. But now she just reached up, cupping Ember's face and pulling her into a kiss, loving and gentle and a little bit deeper than she had allowed it to be back at the clinic.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was so easy to fall back into walking next to Val, holding her hand, Ember's fingers gently caressing the back of the other woman's hands. There was something calming and excitable at the same time to be heading over to Val's place - something she's done plenty of times before and yet, it was all new, in a new place, unknown territory.

They were on the same page, though - when they arrived, Val didn't linger, didn't do pleasantries, they went right back to kissing and Ember sighed into it, the neediness that she didn't show too much before coming out now.

She's seen the place just enough that after a few moments she started leading the two of them towards the couches and once Val's legs hit the couch, Ember pushed the other down onto it, standing there, watching her for a few moments, taking in the entire woman - the frizzy, curly hair, the desire in her expression, the lanky body, those breast that curved and fit right into her palms, Ember knew from experience. "Fuck, you're still so gorgeous," she breathed and then climbed into Val's lap, straddling her and kissing her again, deep and full of desire.

~~~~~~~~~~~

They picked up where they had left off. Like there hadn't been several years that they hadn't seen each other in, they just slipped back into their old rhythms. And Val didn't mind it. Kissing Ember with the same desire and need, not holding back as if a barrier had been broken.

Val followed Ember's lead, let herself be pushed onto the couch, meeting Ember's gaze as they stared at each other for just a moment. Things may have changed but she was still as beautiful as ever. Those warm, brown eyes that Val could get lost in. Her beautiful brown hair, sometimes tied up, sometimes falling onto her shoulders. Val remember how she played with it when they were half-asleep in her bed, strands between her fingers. "Can only say the same to you, honey." Val immediately reached out to Ember, kissing her again, letting her tongue gently trace Ember's lips. Her fingers found skin, soft and warm beneath her fingers, just from where Ember's shirt had slipped up. Her fingers traced the familiar curve of the other woman's hips, before pushing upward her back. Val pulled away enough to let her lips trace the gentle line of Ember's jaw, placing kisses, soft and feathery, down to her throat.

"Mh... Can I...?" A lingering question muttered against the crook of Ember's neck as Val's tugged on Ember's shirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ember chuckled against Val's skin, eyes closed, leaning into Val as her head tilted, giving space for Val's lips to caress her skin softly, gently as she asked Ember whether she was okay with going further. It was all so familiar and so new somehow at the same time and Ember didn't want either of them to stop. "Fuck yeah, please. I want this. I want you." There was no uncertainty after, both of them getting lost in the pleasure of each other, not caring about the past or the future, only about the other person, about feeling good and feeling close, feeling that intimacy and closeness they've known well over the years between the two of them.

END.

[becharm-27]

Mother(figure)s of Stargirl

screenshots credit: @StargirlWiki on Twitter; gif credit: @stripesysheaven

Barbara certainly lives up to the phrase on her mug. Not just for the kids who live with her, either. It's so sweet the way she takes care of their friends as well.

While Bridget started out the series among the ranks of moms who don't deserve their titles, she certainly gets her redemption arc as the story goes on. My favorite moment of her supporting Beth comes from Summer School: Chapter 8, but I also love that she becomes a sidekick.

Speaking of redemption arcs, watching Paula turn her life around was one of the most pleasant surprises from Stargirl. She always loved Artemis, but seeing her become a hero cemented that. How her story ended hits even harder today. I'll explain more at the end of the post.

Wouldn't dare go this whole post without mentioning Maria, and no I don't mean Montez. Maria Carmen Saravia was a better mom to Yolanda than her biological mother will ever be.

Now for some mothers I wish we could've seen more of. Denise is up first because, like Joey, I was invested in her character very quickly. They were like my Henry before Henry, because he took time to earn my respect. I dunno, there was just something about her.

Anaya's main trait was coddling Isaac. There had to be more to her story. I'm assuming she wasn't always so smothering, and that developed after the death of her husband. I really would've liked to see who she was beyond her affiliations. And that power set was worth exploring.

My jaw hit the floor when I heard Christine's dying wish. Nice subversion. Evil as she and Jordan might've been, they clearly loved their kid (the latter up to a certain point, anyway). If nothing else, I'm thankful she gave Cameron his talent.

I couldn't find or make a decent screenshot of Wendi. Her only scene goes by so fast. You can feel the panic as Rick's parents left him behind. There's no way she knew JUST how bad her brother was. I wouldn't name a legacy OC after her otherwise.

Neither Suzanne nor Bobbie ever got to be happy, and I blame Dragon King for that. He made Cindy into the monster she thought she was, which is probably why Eclipso was able to manipulate her. I'm sorry they suffered.

Merry's early JSA affiliated days would've been so cool to see. It's a shame her only appearance is in a single picture.

And lastly, two mother figures I was glad to be wrong about. Nurse Love was revealed to be just trying to help for decades. She just had the wrong idea about how. And once Miss Woods got put in check, she really came through reminding Rick of his worth.

An honorable mention, Maggie. What she did in her past put her on top of the list of mothers who don't deserve to be called such. But the last thing we see her do is try to be better. I really wanted to see her earn her happy ending.

To close, I wanna talk a little about my mom.  She shared qualities showcased by some of these characters:  Sweet, hardheaded, creative, caring, smart, beautiful, funny.  She passed away in 2005.  I miss her always, but today more than usual.  She's my greatest inspiration. 

[iturbide]

Unrelated to FE, what did you think of the recent dragalia event with Luca and Isaac?

LOOK. I LOVE MY BOY. I WAS SO HYPED THAT HE GOT TO STAR IN A SIDE EVENT.

BUT OH, MY BOY FUCKED UP BAD.

I know he wasn't being malicious, but he made a huge error while he was trying to help, and there were major consequences for it. The fact that he had to grapple with this was really engaging, and I liked that the core conflict that the siblings ended up on opposite sides of was a grey one, rather than there being an obvious 'right' and 'wrong' take: there's clear value in what exists here and now, but there's equal value in old traditions that keep us connected to our individual cultures and heritage. I kind of wish we'd gotten to see more of the actual practices and traditions from that Sylvan village, but there's only so much hard worldbuilding they could do, and I respect that.

But probably my favorite thing about it was that my boy managed to kick a hardline traditionalist into recognizing that he was thinking about everything wrong. Frankly? Luca was right: tradition isn't dead until every last practitioner is, so Isaac's immediate defeatism when Yggdrasil withered, as though the root of Sylvans' entire culture had died with it, didn't make any kind of sense. The fact that Yggdrasil comes back just adds to this, especially since Isaac made it so clear that the dragon was so sensitive to the feelings of its people: it seems entirely possible to me that Yggdrasil's widespread withering might have been partly the fault of the traditionalists, who gave into despair as they rigidly clinging to the notion that change is cultural death; and its rebirth came only after they let go of that mindset and embraced the notion that they were the heart of their tradition and could endure with the support of Sylvans from outside the village who share in that bond of kinship and cultural heritage.

Overall I loved the event, I loved that Luca had a chance to shine and show off what makes him so great, and I loved that it ended on a hopeful note even though things changed. Luca might not have been the main focus, since Sarisse was the character we spent most of our time following in the story, but he was still a key part of that satisfying resolution because it was his perspective that opened Isaac's eyes. It was so much more nuanced as a story than I usually expect from a mobile game and I just found it well-handled on the whole.

[angel-ixily]

Tao’s Torment

Pairings: None (Platonic) x gn!Reader

Pronouns: They/Them

POV: First Person

Fandom: Heartstopper

Warnings: Language, heavy sarcasm

Summary: A movie night at Tao’s is always an interesting scenario. Joking around and sarcasm is always a must when dealing with Tao’s specific taste in movies.

Movie nights at Tao's were always the worst. He wouldn't let us watch anything interesting like Marvel, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, or even some good ole Disney movie.

He'd end up making us watch some weird movie about how James Bond saved the world with curriculum and the logic of League of Legends. That's what it felt like we were watching anyway.

We watched Deadpool once, which is the greatest movie of all time, and the only thing he did was shit on it. The entire time!

"Yeah, Ryan Reynolds is a good actor, but what is the point of the movie? I don't see the big deal!"

"Tao come here."

"No. Why?"

"Tao, I said come here."

"No, you're gonna hit me!"

But nonetheless, it was just one of the things that made our little friend group special. Even if Tao hated Ryan Reynolds because Elle simped over him more than Tao, it was always a fun time.

Today, though, we didn't let Tao pick the movie.

I picked it...which was a bad idea because we have entirely different tastes.

Charlie and I arrived at Tao's house at around the same time. The both of us, which were extremely late by 20 minutes, were for sure going to be shit on by Tao. That in itself was destined to be set in stone.

We knocked on the door, almost in sync. Instead of Tao's mother greeting us with her usual warm smile and the offer of tea, Tao slammed the door open, glaring at us.

"You two are 20 minutes late!"

"Were you just waiting by the door until we knocked?"

Tao was silent for a moment, thinking about Charlie's claim. "I... that's beside the point. You guys are both 20 minutes late. Y/N, you literally live two houses away!" Tao exclaimed. His hands were on his hips, standing in a mom pose.

"I wanted to be fashionably late," I gestured to my outfit. "And here I am!" I lightly pushed past Tao to get into the house. Charlie chuckled, following me in. We took off our shoes at the front door and Elle came down the stairs, wrapping her arms around me happily. I hugged back.

"I'm so glad that you're here!" She exclaimed excitedly, pulling away and hugging Charlie. I turned to Tao and put my arms out in a hug gesture. A nagging smirk on my face.

"Huh?" I teased him.

"You. Are. Spiteful." He seethed. I placed a hand over my heart, faking my offense.

"Oh, golly gee! Just because I'm picking the movie for the night doesn't mean you have to get your panties in a twist." I sassed. Tao tried hiding his smile, rolling his eyes.

His mom rounded the corner at the commotion and smiled brightly once she saw me and Charlie. "Oh Y/N! Charlie! I didn't know you guys were coming, today!" She greeted. Charlie and I put our attention to her.

"I didn't really know we were coming over either, ma'am." Charlie replied. He gave a smile to Tao before giving his attention back to his mom.

"Oh, well I'm glad you guys did! If you need anything at all just come right down and ask me, alright?" She offered. We gave her our thanks before Tao pushed us all upstairs. Isaac was sitting on the bed, scrolling through his phone. He smiled once he caught sight of us.

"You know Tao, I love your mom." I announced. "Is she married?" I asked him. Elle snorted.

"Ha ha, very funny Y/N. You've known her since we were babies. Yes, she's married!" He argued. I put my hands up in defense.

"Listen Tao, listen. Freedom of speech, okay?" I reminded him. His mouth formed into a wide O; his eyes dead. he didn't speak for a moment. He was probably wondering how he had made friends with such a dumbass.

"What do you think this is? America?" He asked me. He just stared at me for a little longer before shaking his head. "Let's just...let's just get this over with. What terrible movie do you have in mind for us to watch?" He asked, tired of my bullshit.

I scoffed. "How dare you assume that my movie choices are terrible. Personally, I think they're top tier, must watch, films." I defended. One of my hands were up sassily, while my eyes were closed to look like I was offended. Tao rolled his eyes.

"We're going to be watching Harry Potter!" I admitted. Elle gasped excitedly, Charlie nodded in approval, Isaac gave a thumbs up, and Tao groaned.

"Out of all the movies...that one? I would have preferred to watch My Little Pony!" Tao complained. I turned to Charlie, raising an eyebrow.

"If you would have wanted to watch My Little Pony...My Little Pony it is than!" Charlie compromised. Tao's eyes went wide with regret as Charlie leaned for the remote. Tao stopped him.

"No! No! No! Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" He exclaimed quickly. Elle laughed.

"Damn, Tao. You could have just said you wanted to watch Harry Potter." Isaac joked. Tao sighed.

"I get bullies too much by you guys..." He mumbled in defeat. i happily placed a hand on his shoulder.

"But you know that we love you." I spoke, the only kindness heard in my voice that you'd hear all day. I smiled up at him while he just gave me a look. I pat his shoulder before Isaac threw the remote at me.

I didn't catch it, but the floor did.

We all stared down at it. I nodded and picked it up, examining if it had any cracks or broken pieces.

"Good going, Y/N." Charlie said, sarcastically. He had a smile on his face. I smiled back to him.

"Oh, for sure! I should 100% join the Rugby team! Nick Nelson would welcome me in with open arms!" Nick Nelson would indeed not welcome me in with open arms. But at this point in time, Nick Nelson had no idea I existed. This was before his and Charlie's romance.

I faced the TV, turning it on. I scrolled past Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Peacock to get to HBO Max. I clicked it and we waited for it to load.

"Huh...almost like waiting for Tao's stubborn ass to-"

"Shut up."

"I love you, Tao."

"Ew! Go away."

HBO Max loaded, and I went to the search bar, looking up Harry Potter. As soon as I clicked H A R, it popped up and I clicked on Sorcerer's stone. We all got comfortable and began to watch the movie.

That silence and comfortability didn't last long.

"What houses are you guys in?" Isaac asked, I tore my eyes away from the movie.

"You do know that 'Hogwarts Houses' don't define you, right?" Tao asked. I cut him off before he could say anything.

"I'm a (Your House), Elle is a Hufflepuff, Charlie is a Hufflepuff, Isaac's a Ravenclaw, and Tao is a Slytherin." I said rather fast.

"I... what? Aren't Slytherins the bad guys?" He asked. I looked up to him.

"No. It's just that most Slytherins easily get manipulated and convinced to join dark sides because of how society views them." I explained to him. "They're not the bad guys, either. Just very stubborn and resourceful." I finished my statement. Tao grabbed his phone, probably to search up signs of a Slytherin.

We were quiet again, just watching the movie. That's until Tao spoke up again.

"The Hogwarts quiz says that I'm a Gryffindor, so HAH!" He laughed in my face, pointing his phone towards me. Elle looked concerned, amused, and confused.

"Did you just take a quiz to prove Y/N wrong?" She asked him, crossing her arms. Tao blushed, his face flushing.

"I do admit, I may have been wrong. But Tao does carry some traits of a Slytherin. You can search it up." I offered, not taking my eyes off of the movie.

The movie was almost over when Tao got up to pee. That's the excuse that he told us anyway. The movie ended and he still wasn't back. Charlie got up off of the floor, stretching. He was the first to notice Tao's disappearance.

"Didn't he say he was using the bathroom 23 minutes ago?" He asked as I had gotten up. I stretched.

"Mans is probably taking a dump or something." I assumed. Elle reached down to Tao's phone, which he left on the bed, to check the time. As soon as she tapped the phone, it opened, revealing a 'What Harry Potter character am I?' Quiz." I snorted, covering my face in my hands.

Never in my life would I think Tao would be the one to take these types of quizzes.

When Tao came back, he had 3 buckets of popcorn. He looked at the Tv. "Oh, it's over already?" He asked. He seemed fine until he looked at all of us, crowded over his phone, dying. "What are you guys doing?" He asked, placing down the popcorn.

"You're Animagus is a Blobfish?" Isaac asked, laughing. Again, Tao blushed. He quickly ran over and grabbed his phone, hiding it in his chest.

"I just wanted to check because they mentioned it in the movie." He defended himself shyly. I shook my head, a huge smile on my face.

"If you enjoyed the movie, you should have just said so. We could have made plans to watch the second one!" I proposed. Charlie looked over to me.

"It's only about 8:30. We still have time." He offered. I looked at Elle and Isaac, who nodded. I looked up at Tao.

"I guess. I mean, I made all this popcorn for nothing if we didn't watch another movie." He confided. I smiled.

"Awh so you do like the movies!" I exclaimed. Tao cringed.

"What? No! I just...I... just play the movie!" He said, sitting on the bed. He handed me and Charlie a bucket a popcorn, him, Elle, and Isaac a bucket. The third one was for refills.

"Ready to watch the movie, wand with kelpie hair, troll whiskers, and 3 hairs off of a unicorn?" I asked Tao teasingly.

"Shut up and put on the movie," Tao paused for a moment. "And stop looking through my phone!" He ordered. I played the movie.

"The day that I stop teasing you will be the day I stop going through your phone. And that won't happen until I'm dead." I joked around.

"Good thing I poisoned your popcorn..." He mumbled.

"What?" Charlie asked.

[booppooo]

Body Guard: Chapter Five

Abby Anderson x Fem! Reader Series

AN: Hehehehe I'm glad y'all like this, but you won't for very long

Warnings: swearing, mentions of intense pain, hospital setting, seizure, lethal weapons, blood and injury

Word Count: 2145

-

June 12th, 13 hours remaining

Y/n's hands came up to cover her ears and her eyes screwed close. Abby's ears rung as the roar bounced off the walls and continued to shake the floor. Heavy footsteps boomed and more ceiling crumbled around their feet. The soldier swore under her breath; no amount of training could prepare her for what was next.

-

Isaac writhed in his bed, grasping onto his stomach and drenching his sheets in sweat. For the first time in his life he found himself begging for mercy from God. Whether the divine power was real or not in this world, it was all he had left as he felt the blood drain from his face with each labored breath.

Mel carried a tray as she passed by his room, sending a quick glance in to check his status. It was the dead of night and most of the patients had been long asleep. From what she could spot he had been peacefully dreaming with his back faced her direction.

The ill man coughed and struggled to catch a full breath as the pain crippled his body. He now trembled from the agony surging through him and was far too weak to call for an extra dose of anything that would put an end to this. Then his lids grew heavy and the pain grew to much to bare forcing his world to grow black.

Mel heard the alarms beeping loudly from his monitors. Tossing the tray full of food onto the nearest surface she raced into his room as fast as her feet would carry her. A few more nurses rushed in behind her, all of them breathing hard from the adrenaline.

"His oxygen is dropping." Mel reported.

"He's flatlining!" another nurse cried.

Mel crawled on top of Isaac's limp form, careful not to put pressure on his tender stomach.

"Starting compressions!"

Just like she had learned many years ago, she laced together her fingers and began to press the heel of her hand into him rhythmically. A sweat broke out on her brow as she focused. Still the monitors wailed mockingly in her ear and the hurried footsteps of the nurses meant things were going downhill and fast.

"Clear!"

Mel hopped from the bed and his shirt was ripped open before the defibrillator sent a jolt through his body. They all stared at the screens intently, hoping and praying for anything but the blaring beeping. The short haired woman grew antsy and stated she was ready for compressions but was held back.

The monitor showed a heart beat and a sigh of relief was shared. Mel wiped the dripping sweat from her forehead and took a satisfied deep breath. A few nurses stepped from the room proudly, but were too quick to celebrate.

Isaac shook and convulsed in his bed as white foam slid down his cheek.

"He's seizing!"

-

It was clear now why the exit doors hadn't been mauled or torn from their hinges. The monstrosity responsible for the roaring and the blood stained floor wasn't just roaming like normal infected:

It was hunting.

And Abby and Y/n had essentially called its name from the commotion they caused in the room behind them.

The grotesque creature rounded the corner with speed, its horrifying body reaching for the two cowering women. Both of them reacted with differing instincts.

Y/n was cemented to the floor and let out a blood curdling screech as her mind numbed from the absolute nightmare closing in on her.

However, the soldier next to her (despite also being close to wetting her pants) grabbed her wrist and ran as fast as her strong legs would allow her.

"The supplies!" Y/n heaved using everything in her to keep up with Abby.

"Fuck the supplies!"

The mutation tailing them grew closer and closer as it's dying hunger for them multiplied. Abby and Y/n were jumping over beds and prying open doors, but it did them no good since the only real exit was the other direction. Another door became an obstacle and the blonde cried out as she used all her strength to pry its rusted metal, not noticing how her stitches had ripped open and began soaking her coat.

Another scream of terror came from behind her. She whipped around and saw the doctor in the lethal grasp of the infected feet above the ground. She swung and kicked at it but she was pitiful against its massive form. From an outside perspective, Y/n was soon another victim who faced death in the most gruesome of ways. And Abby did the only thing she could think to do and shoot at it until her clip emptied.

Y/n wailed, "You shot my leg! Fuck!"

The floor underneath them crunched and snapped loudly, but this didn't initially deter anyone. With another loud crunch it sunk and jerked the monster and the soldier shooting at it. Abby jumped from the crater toward the door seconds before the floor caved in. Next she heard a great splash and another petrified scream.

[realityescapee01]

You Got It Good, Stiles

Steo as Isaac sees it

"You need someone like that, Stiles. Exactly like him." Isaac clapped Stiles's shoulder. Towering over him. He was back to Beacon Hills for a while. He just went when he heard about Erica and Boyd. He just wanted to pay respects.

He then stayed a few days to see how things are. How things changed. And sees that one change in Stiles's life: Theo Raeken.

Isaac thought, if this guy had been around earlier, Jackson being the kanima would've been found out quickly. Jennifer wouldn't stand a chance. The alpha pack would've been definitely played and sent out somehow.

"So, where do you wanna go, Isaac?" Stiles settled in the drivers' seat.

"What's the best hangout place here right now?"

"Okay, I'll bring you there. But we gotta pick up Theo first."

Stiles told Isaac who Theo was. All of it. Including what happened with Scott. Liam. Lydia. and Stiles. Then the wild hunt. Then the civilian hunters. And how he got to work off all those bad things and how he was reformed. But Isaac could tell that the smarts, and the cunning is still there. Stiles just left out one detail when he was briefing Isaac about Theo. That Theo is his boyfriend now.

Theo came to view. "Oh... Damn, Stiles!" and Isaac had his mouth wide open. "He's very good looking."

"Yup, Isaac." Stiles and Isaac's eyes dragged from Theo's head to toe. "Fucking beautiful, huh?" Stiles boasted a little.

Theo got in and greeted Isaac. Isaac greeted back then smiled back to Stiles. Stiles just grinned and began driving. And showed Isaac everything new in Beacon Hills. Isaac listens but observes Theo closely. And he could tell Theo knows he's observing him. He just doesn't give him much thought, probably because Stiles already told him who he was.

When they got to the hip mall uptown, Isaac asked Stiles about what has been itching him since the 3 of them got in the jeep. He smells Theo on Stiles. And Stiles on Theo.

"Whoa! Boyfriend, Stiles? I never thought."

"Me too! I would've never imagined." Stiles rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you two... did he, you know."

Stiles just grinned and tipped his head a little to the side, allowing Isaac to look at his neck with werewolf eyes.

"Yeah. There is his mark."

"By the way, Isaac, do you know a way for me to mark Theo? I mean, humans don't really 'mark' like that. But I want to."

"How about the tattoo?"

"Nope. He heals very fast. No. Oh boy. Nope." Stiles shook his head violently, a tell that they already tried the tattoo.

"I'm afraid that's the only way I know. Sorry, Stiles."

"It's okay." Stiles dropped the topic.

They went around some more and ultimately ended up in the woods where Erica and Boyd... passed.

Stiles and Theo stayed back a little, giving Isaac some privacy. Then Isaac asked...

"Theo, if you were here back then. What would you have done?"

Stiles had told Theo about what happened before, Theo then began telling Isaac what he would've done back then. Isaac listened attentively. Theo's plans were good. They would've definitely worked. If only... maybe Erica and Boyd are with him in Paris right now.

Isaac was glad to know that the one who have Stiles right now is that guy named Theo Raeken. Stiles really needs someone as smart as him. And Isaac could tell Theo is devoted to the mole-speckled boy. Scott isn't exactly a great alpha. Honestly, Isaac thought Derek would be the ruler of Beacon Hills now, but after everything that happened to Derek, it's alright to just follow what he wants and live a free life as much as possible. He's glad Derek is out there in the world, with his sister. They deserve something else other than Beacon Hills.

Isaac doesn't hate Scott, it's just that from all he's seen and heard from Stiles, Scott isn't doing well as alpha. He hoped it had changed when he gets back from college. For Liam and the new pack members' sake. For Stiles, that boy is covered real well right now. Hell, if Theo ain't a chimera, he well could've been an alpha.

Stiles is good, pure, loyal. Would go deep into the woods in the dead of night for his friends. He needs someone that would kill for him. Literally. Balance. The light and the dark. Yin and Yang That's how it works.

That's why Isaac thought he'd be good for Stiles. Honestly, Isaac thought what happened was good in a way that Scott should put more importance and weight to Stiles's value in the pack. And Scott ought to know better. Mygod! Anyone would be wary. A beta suddenly showing up? Stiles got proofs. Stiles has a hunch. Oh, Scott. What were you thinking?

Anyways. He's time is up now. He must leave and go back to Paris. Stiles and Theo drove him to the bus stop.

"You got it good, Stiles."

"I know. I know, Isaac."

Isaac looked back at Theo. "You got Stiles's back, right?"

"As long as I live. And if I die before him, I'll find a way to get back." Theo answered him.

And Stiles was all blushing and flattered and thinking 'Oh, you're so gonna get laid later, Theo baby!!! ' Actually, Stiles wanted to jump him right there and then.

Isaac kinda knew what Stiles was thinking.

"Okay, hold up, Stiles. I'm leaving."

-+-+-+ ( complete ) +-+-+-

thank you. more on my master list here

Like the gifs used here? See source under them. Reblog, do not repost. Thank you all gif creators here ♥️

[dailyreverie]

Happy New Year to everyone!

It has been a crazy year for me in here. I joined baclk during the first months of the year, after being away since around 2016, and I never imagined how amazing and welcoming the community would be in here.

To every person who followed me: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! We are now 2.2k people in here and I can't even begin to process that. I love you all so so much! Either you came here for Oscar Isaac or Bucky Barnes (or both, hopefully lol) I love and appreciate you all so much 💖 and hopefully 2022 will be a good, happy year.

I gotta thank some of my mutuals and favorite people too...

My Bucky girl, @chouettedubois , your fics live rent free in my head, the way you write Bucky has definitely been the fuel of my Bucky thirst for most of the year. Every single one of your fics lives forever in my head. I can't wait to keep sharing Bucky thoughts with you the next year.

@jobean12-blog you were one of the first Bucky writers I followed in here and now we are mutuals 💞 your fics always put a smile on my face, your way of writing Bucky is so fun and sweet, and I can't wait to keep reading your work next year!

@mariesackler GIRL, I thank you every time for the endless Oscar thirst, but I have to give you an special thanks now that the year is ending 'cause you made my days so so much better with your asks full of pics.

@edencherries bestie! You end up on both the Oscar and the Bucky fandoms and I love you for that 💖 Finding you in this mess of a site was one of the best things of the year, I would love nothing but to give you a big Zemo hug!!

@castleamc sharing Poe headcanons with you is one of my favorite things ever, even if they sometimes make me emotional lol thank you for sharing those with me! I can't wait for you to see what I have planned for next year (Yes, it is that fic 💍)

@thedukeofcaladan Lorena! Mi paisana! So weird to find another Mexican who's also thirsting for Oscar Isaac, and yet here we are! I'm glad to have find you here! Feliz año nuevo ✨✨

@the-little-ewok you are such a lovely person in here, always inviting people to feel included and invited, and joining the Oscar Isaac community with you was the best thing ever. Thank you for being so great and friendly, you are the sweetest! Also, thank you for writing such amazing moments this year, they will carry on with me in 2022.

@starryeyedstories @anetteaneta @fisforfulcrum your writings made my days a thousand times better and brighter. You all have a way with words that I can only hope to get one day, I love you all so so much! And I hope 2022 brings endless joy to you!

@beydameron @salome-c your creations always amaze me, and seeing all of your work going around in my dash always makes me so happy! I also still can't believe we are mutuals lol You all have amazing talent and I'm so glad that I came across you this year 💞

I'm definitely forgetting people, and I'm sorry in advance lol but in conclusion, I hope 2022 is a fantastic year for you all, mutuals or not. I'm sending you big, warm hugs to a of you, and I hope you all have a safe, healthy, happy new year.

Here's to one more year of being together on this weird site 🥂

Love, Jul xx

[loominggaia]

Question for each of the FGG: how would you describe your childhood?

Evan: "Things certainly could have been better, but I was a very sick boy. My family did their best. My sister was like a second mother to me; I don't know where I'd be without her. She and Mama sacrificed a lot just to make me happy. And my papa, well...I know he loved me too, even if he didn't like to show it. I had the best childhood I could have had, given the circumstances. I only wish I had shown more gratitude. I was a nasty little brat."

Lukas: "Miserable. I don't want to talk about it."

Glenvar: "I grew up without a Pa. It was just my Ma and two sisters, so I was the maska of the house. Of course that don't mean shite when yer knee-high and gettin' knocked around by punks half yer age...Feck childhood. I'm glad it's behind me."

Alaine: "It was great! I mean, my family was really poor, but money isn't everything, you know? There was a lot of love in that crappy old house. My parents worked so hard. Sometimes I'd help Dad find scrap metal or I'd go help Mom catch critters for dinner. But mostly I just ran around the village and played with my friends. Mom and Dad wanted me to go to school in the big city so I wouldn't be a peasant like them when I grew up. I always wonder what they'd think of me now."

Jeimos: "Oh, it was dreadful! What a depressing little existence I lived! Looking back on it now, it almost feels like a bad dream. My parents were quite wealthy and I realize I was privileged in many ways, but that wealth couldn't buy me happiness. My parents did their best with me, I suppose. It's just that their best was simply not good enough. I was a difficult child. I can't imagine trying to raise a pest like me, especially in a dystopian empire like Damijana. I used to resent my parents for the rotten childhood I had, but I've come to realize it wasn't exactly their fault. I just wish I could see them one last time..."

Isaac: "I don't remember most of it. All I remember is waking up in a weird black place, then the Guys took me away. My childhood with them was the best, I wouldn't change a thing! I used to get mad 'cause they wouldn't let me come with them on contracts when I was little, but I know why now. I wasn't ready yet. They taught me everything I know, and I know a lot of stuff! Sometimes I think I know too much stuff. The more stuff I know, the more stuff they make me do, so like, maybe I should get rid of some stuff so I can go back to being a kid?"

Linde: "I never knew how good I had it until it was gone. My parents gave me everything--and I mean absolutely everything a girl could want! I had a loving family and a beautiful house in Zhoulcha, I was enrolled in school at the World Athenaeum, I had my whole future laid out in front of me and I didn't appreciate it at all! All I did was whine and complain. 'Boohoo, I'm so ugly!', 'Boohoo, I don't want to study floemancy!', 'Boohoo this, boohoo that!' Ugh! If I could just go back in time, I would never complain again."

Balthazaar: "Me 'n my brothers didn't have a lot growing up, but we appreciated what we did have. My parents were honest, hard-working people. I had a lot of respect for them. Not a lot of respect for my brothers--we fought like animals--but at the end of the day we always put it behind us. Those were simpler times then. Sure wish I could go back..."

Skel: "It was the last time I was--and ever shall be--happy. That's all I have to say about that."

Javaan: "My childhood? Pff, I was a never a child! Back where I'm from, you become a man the moment you fall out of your mother! I came out swinging 'cause the world was swinging on me from the start. I had to fight for my life every day. But you know what? I'm a better person for it. Soft lives make soft people. I'm hard as stone, baby!"

Elska: "My mother died when I was young, and my aunties raised me for a time. This was a bad time. I was not happy with so many mothers. They could not agree on anything, and nothing I did could please them. When I started refusing their milk, my father took me away from them and raised me himself. The times with my father were the finest times of my life. I hope I am making him proud."

Mr. Ocean: "That was all so long ago...I can hardly remember it now. I had many difficulties, as I recall. I was a slow child. My parents worried that I would struggle all my life. I suppose I do struggle still, but it is my own fault. My mother always told me that people would be unkind to me because I was different, so I must be kind to myself. I should have listened to her."

Zeffer: "My good-for-nothing father took off when I was still in diapers. Mother worked her hands to the bone for me. I was all she had after Father left, and she was all I ever had until I met Evan. We lived in a bad area. She was afraid the filth around us would drag me down and swallow me like it swallowed my father and all the other men in that shit-hole town. She begged me to rise above it. Spent every coin she had just to send me to school, and half the time I just skipped class to drink with my hoodlum friends anyway. I know she was disappointed in me. I wanted to be better, but I just...I didn't believe I could be anything more than a worthless punk, I guess."

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

[heliads]

yes and i'm obsessed because yesterday i basically watched all of season 2, i'm only 2 episodes away of the ending and i just NEED to know what happens next. it's a really great show, thanks for the recomendation <3

YES I KNOW ABOUT THE MOVIE I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT, i want to watch it with my friends when it comes out because they are big fans, so i'm trying to watch everything really fast. and about the spoiler, i think i know what it is because my friends hate me and told me about that one character who dies so yeah and i've seen that she came back

i do like scott a lot too, i think he's so cute and kinda dorky?? i don't know, the way he literally gets so dumb around allison it's so adorable, he's really cute and i agree that he's genuinely a good guy. he's trying to save the town because he cares, not because he's somehow responsible. so far i'm liking season 2 better than season 1!!

and yes i LOVE allison, she was my favorite but lydia just stole my heart she's THE CUTEST and i love her sooooo much, also love her friendship with allison, even though sometimes i feel like she gets a little excluded but i get it, she doesn't know about the whole werewolf thing, but she's in a moment where she really needs help and no one seems to notice?? i just want to help her 😭😭😭😭

i've never thought about scott x isaac but now i definetly WILL pay attention to they, i feel like they would work really well. AND I LOVE STYDIA i love stiles so much and lydia is my baby so they're MY FAVORITE COUPLE, but i think i understand why stiles annoys you

oooh i will comment everything with you i promise! just wait and i'll be back <3

- 💫

YESSSS it's just so good!! omg i'm so glad you like it. season two is also so fun bc of the dynamic between derek's edgelord pack and scott's normal pack just existing. i mean, the scene where isaac rolls up to the lacrosse game and scott's like "you're here to help?" and he just does that smirk thing and is like "i'm here to win"???? POETIC CINEMA

it's a comfort show i cannot make the rules but i do enforce them. i do love stydia though because it's just such a cute ship?? the whole trope with the guy falling first is one of my faves and it's done so well in teen wolf.

basically, <3333

[oscarseyebrow]

Came back here to say two things and I already apologise because I'm spilling my guts here lol . First: I confess that started watching The Mandalorian few months ago mainly because I've found your blog - I was obsessed with Aphelion and thought 'Oh, this story might be very good as well, let me watch the series first to understand' - and now I am so obsessed with the show I even started watching The Book of Boba Fett (which I didn't intend to watch at all). Until the pandemic, I've never was too drawn to the Star Wars fandom, I watched the last triology of movies in the cinemas more because of my father - I went to watch all the movies during the lockdown, but even after that I didn't get THAT exiceted about it, just started developing a small crush on Poe Dameron (and Oscar as well). It was only this year when I saw the trailer from Moon Knight that I started to search for fanfics of Poe (makes no sense, but I had to supress my need for Oscar Isaac lol) and that's when I found your blog haha Anyway, such a long story to say that I'm very thankful for your amazing, excelent, incredible, perfect writing that got me motivated to watch these amazing series. Not even my dad, or friends or ex boyfriend had this power of persuasion lol And about chapter 6 of Hurricane that I read this morning: I thought that everything would be fine and then Mando it's threating to kill her - but I'm glad that it seems that they're good now, I'm little afraid of what comes next on chapter 7 lol

P.S.: This gif represents my inner self while reading the beginning of the chapter

okay, so. i read this as soon as you sent it and i've been thinking about it ever since but i wanted to wait and give it a proper reply. it still makes me so ALSDHASDASJDHAD whenever i think about how lovely this is 🥺

i absolutely love that you started watching the mandalorian after finding my blog. i'm so incredibly thankful that you found me and decided to stick around in the fandom, your thoughtful messages are so kind and i really love that you take the time to share your thoughts.

i hope that you continue to enjoy the content that you find in these fandoms and i also hope that hurricane doesn't break your heart too much by the time you reach the end of it haha.

have a wonderful day 💖

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2021 - September

I successfully completed the Magical Readathon (MR) prompts! I didn't actually finish the tbr I set up I did swap out book that still met the prompts. Honestly, I'm shocked I was so restrained!

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma was, obviously, a reread for me - and a second reread in one year so I’m just not going to say anything about it. I have no new thoughts, just 🥰🥰🥰

MR - The Mist of Solitude

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

I have a lot of issues with Peter Pan, and I’m not sure I have the space to talk about it here. I won’t promise to elaborate on this in a full review because I have a VERY LONG backlist to write at this point... I might do one in the next 5 years!

However, I feel that Peter Pan isn’t aging well in terms of race, feminism, etc. For me it was an uncomfortable read and these issues got in the way of me enjoying the story, particularly when it came to Wendy and the Native American tribe who live in Neverland. The language Barrie uses and the ideas around gender roles doesn’t come across well in the 21st century.

I can understand why Peter Pan is so well loved and remains influential. I genuiely love the imagery involved in the story and a lot of the adaptations (Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook is just...perfection!) But the novel itself isn’t for me. I’m glad I’ve read it but I’m never coming back in this form - I’ll stick to the 2003 film, especially as a lot of my intertest in Peter Pan is centred around Captain Hook at this point, adolescent boys going feral is not something I’m particularly interested in to be honest...!

MR: Ashton Tree

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Tragically this was another disappointing read for me, I don’t enjoy ghost stories for the most part - however, everyone I’d spoken to about Henry James was convinced this was going to be my thing. It’s the gothic elements mixed with James’ language and open endings, that’s usually my cup of tea.

I just didn’t care about this one? I didn’t love James’ use of language (it felt over written), and the ambiguity just left me frustrated. I can see why people would enjoy it, and I understand why my mum in particular thought I’d like it, but it just wasn’t for me. I also found the main character incredibly unappealing to read about, so that definitely didn’t help!

MR: Ruin of Skye

Etiquette and Espionage, Curtsies and Conspiracies, and Waistcoats and Weponry by Gail Carriger (Finishing School #1, 2 & 3)

I’ve got reviews of this series already - somewhere in 2019 if you really want to go and find them - because these were rereads. This series makes me so happy. I’ve said several times that Miss Gail is my comfort read author. I pick up one of her books and I just enter my happy place, so there’s not a lot of critical thought going on when I talk about them.

If you want a fluffy (yet socially aware) romp about a teenaged girl attending a Victorian finishing school for assassins and spies then this is the series for you. They’re lighthearted, hilarious, and incredibly entertaining. They’re also very fast to read with some fantastic characters, seriously these books have the most accurate representations of teenaged girls I’ve read - minus the espionage of course!

MR: Orilium Academy Arc

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

I have mixed feelings about Jamaica Inn. I enjoyed reading it but I was still somewhat disappointed. I do think it was slightly inevitable, I ADORE Rebecca and whatever I ended up reading next from du Maurier wasn't going to live up to that book.

Jamaica Inn was a fun read, it was atmospheric and slightly creepy with similar vibes to Wuthering Heights! (Might be why I enjoyed the atmosphere now I think about it...!) It would make for a fantastic cosy winter evening read - you know where you curl up with a blanket, cup of tea, and the book to ignore the world for a few hours while it's cold and miserable outside? It's that kind of read.

However, the atmosphere was by far the best bit of this novel. The characters felt like flat puppets to facilitate the predictable plot... Nothing in this book was a surprise, I'd even managed to work out who was the ultimate bad guy as soon as they were introduced 🤦‍♀️ It's just not a book that keeps you guessing or engaged that much in the characters. Which is fine, I still loved the atmosphere and writing, but it's not a new favourite. It didn't make for a fantastic book club discussion either...

MR: Obsidian Falls

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #3)

I need to talk about Lord of the Rings even less than I do about Emma... Obviously I adored it 😅 If you haven't read the trilogy yet do so!

I'll definitely be writing a reflection on annotating the entire Lord of the Rings so I'll leave all I have to say for that post.

MR: The Novice Path

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft (Books of Babel #2)

I did this book a disservice... I read it as I was annotating The Return of the King and I was on such a Tolkien high that I didn't Arm of the Sphinx the best chance to wow me. It did feel a bit lacklustre - but that is completely on me.

Arm of the Sphinx is a huge step up from Senlin Ascends, and I really liked Senlin Ascends! The world started to make sense, the character development was fabulous for everyone, there was more plot, and the pace gave us more time to ruminate on what was actually helping! This book was all round more coherent, the parts went together well (rather than feeling like 3 separate novellas), and I came to understand what the hell is going on. It's a fabulous second installment to the series, however, I struggled to connect to it? And it's completely because I read it next to Lord of the Rings, nothing can compete with Tolkien for me.

My one genuine criticism for Arm of the Sphinx is the writing. In opening up to other perspectives, without having dedicated chapters for each character, Bancroft has a weird habit of fluidly moving between several different individual's thought processes within a single chapter. It made it hard to follow at times, I just didn't know who was thinking or seeing what in places and I was left confused.

This little issue aside I did really like this book, it was a marked improvement on the first novel, and I'd highly recommend the series so far. I'll definitely be continuing in the near future!

MR: Tower of Rumination

[azazelsconfessional]

(Ya know, seeing that anon ask thing dealing with the game master's "guild leader" made me remember that I was wanting to make a Housamo OC that fit the guild leader role until the actual one was released. But I could never figure out how to make them since no info has been revealed about them. Hell, there might not even BE a guild leader for the GMs. I always invisioned them as someone like jevil from deltarune though for some reason. Just chaotic and insane, while also being locked up out of fear from the other GMs.

Anyways, it's good to see you mun! I hope you're doing alright! Honestly, I'm glad you've had this long rest. It's good to rest your bones every once in a while~. Unless you like cracking bones... I don't know where I was going with this lol. Either way, yeah, good to see ya again!)

((Good to see you all again too! o/ I do like cracking bones a little bit since I have like. Stiff joints and I'm always trying to pop them lol. . .but I rest all the time and that's still the case, so that's clearly not the problem lol I should really be more hydrated I suppose.

On the subject of a Game Masters guildmaster OC, I don't have a problem with it tbh--the problem there was more like. . .besides the lack of notice or discussion on the matter, it just had such a. . .idk. No offense to the person who sent the ask, but it felt forced? And kinda like they didn't know what they were talking about? Like I don't expect people to know every little detail of the game because I sure don't. But it felt like they may not have had been up to date with the story or aware of the lore in question so to speak??? Am I making sense without pointing out the issues I percieved?

Idk maybe I'm being unnecessarily critical of it because it aggrivated me a little bit because it felt like it was shoved at me like that without asking me if I was on board to begin with.

Rambling about lore and theories about a GM gm under the cut

Idkidk. I don't have a problem with the idea of such an OC ofc but I feel like you'd need to really think that kind of thing through, y'know? Like really be on top of the lore for it to work. Idk if they'd be chaotic--I can see them being like. Crazy and morally ambiguous? Because they've sent out Bertro, Curren, and the other kid(probably Alice but we don't know that for sure) to study like human advancement potential through means of War/Violence, Education, and uuh whatever the last one that "Isaac" is supposed to be studying through the Invaders, idr if we know off the top of my head. And that kinda suggests that they had part in their creation as Genius Record Collectors and all, and running the game kinda suggests they may have had something to do eith the experiments in Chiyoda that Arc was part of. . .someone chaotic probably wouldn't have records being kept of everything like they are. :|a Like, what's happening doesn't seem random enough to be run by a chaotic person to me. And a chaotic person would surely not lock away the exceptions for being too powerful/game-ruining, right? They'd let them run around and have op kaiju type battles or something lmao. But that's just my perspective. It'd be a hard OC to make/work with, I think, just because of how little we know like you said. At the same time we know so much that it's just as hard to like. Work something out with all the details we do have.

Tbh I noticed we don't have a Rep for Utopia yet and Curren and Bertro both have robots and they're like manufactured children so I kinda imagine they might be the rep for Utopia? At the same time, someone from the advanced future probably wouldn't want to study evolution/advancement from an angle of the past--how would that benefit the future which already has everything figured out, y'know? And we know that the Exception Solomon is the one that's making the Gates and all work(I think that was the end of Chapter 11. . .I may be remembering what I've read about 12. . .) which is why MC now has to unlock all the Exceptions to get to him--so surely he has something to do with all of this. And the Game came after the Gates did, so the Game is just being used for the convenience of the Reps, right???? And it's somrthing separate that's like. Conveniently in line with what they're trying to do which could also mean it's somrthing that's made/run by someone with a Pillar/who knows/knew what they were trying to accomplish and remembers what's already happened and all and i'm making myself dizzy trying to theorize like this lmao. . . .

But uh. Yeah. Idk. An OC like that would be difficult to make but like more power to people who do really go in and try and make that kind of thing, tbh lol

Anyway, it's good to see everyone, and hopefully i'll be back on top of things soon. I got distracted in the middle of coming to answer things again and ended up spending several hours reading Alice's character and date quests and i'm feeling scatterbrained again lol i keep inconveniencing myself. But i'm working my way back here. I have no sende of the passage of time so it's like. I have no clue how long i've been off but it's probably longer than it feels haha. . .but yeah. I'm doing okay. I'm surviving. I just have adhd up the ass lol. . . .

[seven-oomen]

Hey, it's Elle again! I hope you don't mind me immediately replying and basically spamming your ask box because of it, I'm currently trying to distract myself from boring uni stuff. (And don't worry, I'm alright, my brain just immediately went into overdrive and kept replaying 'oh god I screwed up, how do I fix this, I need to fix it' which is why I felt the need to clarify so quickly.)

I also love Petopher a lot! And that might just be the greatest fic premise I've ever heard, so if you do end up writing it, I'd love to read it.

Exactly! It would've been so amazing. I basically live off of fix it fics at this point, to be honest.

(I figured I'd just reply to the ask from a couple days back about the metas as well, because that was actually also me)

I'm glad the formatting wasn't too horrible to read, I was only just figuring out how the whole ask thing worked.

I'm really sorry to hear you're not feeling well at the moment, and I hope you'll feel a bit better soon. Please don't worry about answering my asks and take all the time that you need!

And yeah, you have already figured me out, because I am a sucker for soft stories, I could literally read them all day, so that one-shot was just perfect.

Thank you so much for the kind offer! I might take you up on it one day, but never feel bad for not replying when you aren't in the head space to deal with it, alright?

Hey Elle, that’s okay I don’t mind at all. I actually smiled this afternoon when you replied quickly. And I get that feeling, it’s taking me a lot of reprogramming to suppress that anxiety, and even then, I have a lot of those moments too. Nothing’s broken, we’re okay, you’re golden <3.

So my Petopher idea is a combination of these two aus:

i don’t think babies are supposed to do that au where our muses are completely clueless about the supernatural world and they adopt/find a baby and as the baby grows it does a bunch of weird things depending on what kind of creature it is omg.  (Werewolf baby, a born one that activated right after being born.)

does the paper boy deliver babies now or what au where our muses get home after a lovely evening or wake up to a baby on their front door with a note saying “i can no longer care for my baby, but i’m sure you two will do a great job.” uh oh what will they do.

So Chris has his adopted pack consisting of Isaac, Allyn, Alysia, Ben, Carina, Donovan, Marilène, Yasiri, and Loïc. Just a bunch of kids who are between the ages of 12 (Loïc) and 21 (Yasiri), all the others are around 15-16 or 18-19, and all of them have been bitten at some point in their lives. They’re living in peace, just chilling on a giant farm in France that Chris bought at some point. He's got more than enough money to sustain all of them and the farm helps out with providing as well as they have a range of crops and livestock. 

Chris has also started a shelter of some sort, one that is known among the supernatural community. Kids of all ages, who have nowhere else to go, still come to him and the pack. They rehabilitate them and get them on their feet and the kids either stay or find a new pack to live with.

The newfound fame is also what leads Peter Hale to them. Peter has left Beacon Hills after the whole Deadpool thing, he never worked with Kate, and now that Malia is safe for the time being he feels the need to leave, grab his remaining millions of money, and settle down somewhere in France. 

He’s looking at castles and whatnot when he picks up on the news of an Argent starting a rehabilitation program for young werewolves. He comes across the farm and shenanigans ensue. 

The pack doesn’t trust Peter, though they are very interested in Peter’s apparent past with their dad Chris. (They were ex-lovers, even Isaac didn’t know that.) But as time progresses Peter becomes a very valuable member of the pack and wins them over. Things with Chris also start heating back up again and neither of the two really know what to do with it. There are still feelings, but so much has happened between them...

And then, someone leaves a werewolf baby on their doorstep. Chris is panicking, Peter’s cradling the baby and being surprisingly nurturing and soft (he’s raised two nieces and a nephew, thank you..), and the pack is so disgruntled that the first week is absolute chaos. And then the baby starts shifting too...

Even Peter knows that’s not normal. This is a kid from an old bloodline. The card the kid came with has no clues whatsoever either.

But even with all of that, there’s something there between Chris and Peter. And while taking care of a newborn and a bunch of teenagers, sparks start flying once more.

-

I’m very curious to hear what you think. Would that be a story you would read? How about others? Lemme know! <3