#if anyone HAS written this i would love to see it it’s been tormenting me (in a good way) for months

[un-pearable]

so.... has anyone actually reworked the pilots, s1, and the first half of s2 to make sense after the changes made in wrong place, wrong time. theres no way no one has, its too bonkers not to. at the end of the time travel episode lloyd no longer knows what the megaweapon is, implying it cancelled itself out. if so. what brought back the grundle and made him need to age up in the first place? not only do you need to somehow completely reshape the series to function without the core conceit of the entire show at that point, up to even how lloyd is deemed the green ninja, but the most immediate obvious problem is what would cause him to still need to age himself up in a world where garmadon couldn't just wish to bring the grundle back. my personal favorite option is a tea did it. i think mystake enjoys shenanigans enough to subsidize that. i can 100% see this woman hearing “i want to bring dinosaurs back to life” and going hell yeah that’s kickass

[heedeungism]

synopsis: riki knows you better than anyone else. includes: bridgerton au (barely), a little women reference, confessions of love, pre-marital kissing (the scandal!), gross old men, arranged marriage notes: @hoes4hoseok i hope you enjoy my timothee chalamification of riki, this one's for you girl🩷

there’s a thin line between love and friendship. your mother says she was friends with your father before she ever learned to love him, never in the way the poets rave, but in a way that made her life easier. in her words, “a love match is as rare as a diamond, dear. you shouldn’t hold out hope of one should it ruin your debut.”

it’s a shame, you think, that you can love someone so deeply and yet there’s no guarantee they’ll share the sentiment, nor a chance to see if what you feel is dwindling infatuation or true unyielding devotion. it’s improper to explore your options, greedy to want more than expected, and childish to yearn for love. yet you do.

your debut season approaches fast, and with it, the heavy promise of your hand to baron mortimer weighs your heart down like an anchor keeping you from daydreaming of the things you had read and researched about love.  he’s wealthy, titled, and twice your age. he would give your family a more comfortable life, save you from the shame of becoming a spinster if you do not find another suitable match your first season, and seems to be respectable enough despite his intent to marry you, a soon-to-be debutante he set his eyes upon years ago. it’s unnerving, but your mother speaks of him without disdain, so you keep your anxieties about his character at bay.

unfortunately, your dearest friend plagues your mind just so. riki’s return from oxford approaches with the same swiftness as your debut. you dread the idea of no longer having the liberty to write to him or paint him when he’s a willing muse, as it would be improper to do so while promised to another. for that reason you have yet to write to him since your last letter a week ago, where in it you bid him the gentlest farewell you could to help ease the ache in your heart.

you aren’t sure if he even received it, as he has not written back, but you suppose it’s for the best.

at least you believe that until he’s before you with unkempt hair and a haunted look in his tormented gaze. 

“tell me it is not true.” he says, chest rising and falling as if he had run from oxford to mayfair on foot, though perhaps he had been traveling by carriage since he received the letter clutched between his fingers. “tell me you are not marrying that man.”

you are unsure of how to respond, your lips parting hut no words leaving them. you turn toward your ladies maid, who blinks wildly as she receives the message, placing your hairpin down and hastening out of the room past the viscount’s son. the door clicks and yet his gaze remains unyielding, you finally speak, “you are back early, mr nishimura.”

riki had always been exceedingly easy to read, only to you, he used to pout. this moment is no different, and you can see how hard it is for him to wrap his head around his title leaving your lips instead of his name, but he recovers enough to repeat himself, “tell me.”

you place a hand on your stomach, squeezed by a corset that you suspect is why you can’t seem to catch your breath, “i will not lie to you.”

his brows furrow, his teeth peeking from his plump lips as they part in disgust and frustration, “he is old.”

“yes, i am aware of lord mortimer’s age.” you say with a similar frustration on your tongue that is heavily withheld by your propriety, “my mother saw it pertinent i educate myself before our marriage.”

“you cannot marry him.” riki says, and the frustration in your blood blooms into something more, something worse.

“that is not your decision to make.” you state, mindlessly flattening invisible wrinkles in your dress as he takes a step closer, only for you to fortify the distance with one of your own in the same direction, “not any more than it is mine.”

“you…” he loses his words as his hand clenches and releases at his side like he longs to reach for you, “you do not want this.”

“what i want does not matter to my parents anymore than it should to you,” you state, attempting to tuck the loose strand of hair that your ladies maid hadn’t the time to fit into your updo behind your ear, only for it to fall right back into place against your cheekbone, “lord mortimer is wealthy, he will give me a comfortable life.”

“do you not deserve a happy one?” riki asks, and you feel the cracks in your chest widen. instinctively, you fight the tremble of your chin and the tug in your brow as tears attempt to fit through the open crevice of your act.

“no, don’t—“ you shake your eyes, turning away from him as your arms drop to your sides, “don’t do that. i have accepted my future, i do not need you planting doubts in my mind.”

“what use would planting them do when i can see they’ve already taken root far before i arrived here?” you overlook the step he takes, nor how large his stride is. he only takes one yet it makes all the difference, as he feels infinitely closer than before. just as you feared he would.

“stop it.” you say, masked inside a heavy exhale, yet a plea all the same. “you should be visiting with your sisters, i’m sure they missed you dearly—“

“don’t marry him.” he says, and you finally look at him.

“what?” you ask despite knowing exactly what he said, you want to hear him say it again to make sure it wasn’t in your head.

he shakes his head, taking another step closer, “don’t marry him.”

“you…” he doesn't have to explain what he means, your childish hopes of love that you’d hidden so deep in your conscience do so for him. your heart sings as his eyes flick between your own and then down the bridge of your nose and lower, but your mind refuses to bend as your heart does. you shake your head, shuffling back to salvage whatever distance you can, “no.”

“yes.” he responds in kind, dropping the letter and closing the distance between the two of you to grab your hands. his next words are paired with the act of him flattening your palm against his chest, keeping it there while he grasps the other in his much larger hand, “you can’t marry him.”

“you are being cruel.” you try to pull away, but his grip is firm and you know that if you meet his gaze you won’t be able to fight it anymore.

there’s a sickening silence as his thumb draws shapes on the back of your hand, you can feel his heartbeat. it’s strong, and its pace only feeds your own heart wanton promises of devotion you had only ever been told were too rare to expect in your lifetime, “tell me you do not want me.”

the suddenness of his demand lowers your guard for just long enough for your heart to find the upper ground and force your eyes into his sights, he repeats himself, “tell me you do not want me and i will leave you to marry lord mortimer.” his words are punctuated by the hand not holding yours to his heart grasping the side of your jaw, his thumb moving against your warmed cheek, “tell me and i will never speak to you again, just as you requested in your letter. you will never have to see me and i won’t—“

“i don’t want that.” the words leave your lips without warning, but it’s too late to take them back by the time they reach his ears. you shake your head, “i don’t—i don’t want to marry, i want to paint and read and—“

he listens as your supposed acceptance crumbles beneath his gaze, chest heaving under your palm. “—i want to do all of those things with you, i do. the baron has my parents under his wretched thumb and i cannot bear it, i cannot—“ a sharp inhale rakes your body, a mix of a sob and a desperate but fruitless attempt to regain composure, “i don’t want you to go away, i want you to stay here with me and—“

his lips meet yours with a firmness that sets your heart aflame, and when he pulls away just enough to look at you your heart finally lands the finishing blow in its fight against your mind. your hand lingers on his chest as the one he uses to keep it there moves to mirror its counterpart on the other side of your jaw.

you barely glance down at his lips before they’re on yours again, a welcome experience that you hope you can experience over and over until you’re utterly familiar, but now you're not sure how to reciprocate. the novels you’ve read did little to educate you on the experience, much less prepare you for it to occur with the boy you’d found yourself longing for through the years. 

the gasp you let out when his hand moves from your jaw to your waist to tug you closer is silenced by his lips attaching themselves to yours like he’d spent a lifetime wishing to taste you.

he pulls away, yet he doesn't seem keen on keeping the distance, his nose brushing yours as he promises, “i will speak to your parents—”

the mention of them has your guts turning painfully enough to rip you away from him, nausea hitting you like a bullet through your throat, “i should not have done that.”

“i kissed you—“ his statement does little to quell your sickness, and the wavering grate in your voice as you interrupt him is telling of that. “that changes nothing.” your fingers move to your hair, the pin keeping it in place falling to the floor as you tug, “i am ruined. forget marrying the baron, i cannot marry anyone.”

“was i not clear?” he asks, and when you look at him with frustrated reluctance he continues, “should i gut myself? place my heart in your hands to have you understand how you haunt me?”

“we cannot marry.” you say, bottom lip trembling, “i will not be a consequence of your actions. it is not your duty to marry me when i am the only one ruined.”

riki’s jaw shifts as if your words brought him only fury, “i do not care for duty, i care for you.” 

“you are young, riki. you are not expected to marry for at least—“

“i want to.” he states firmly, “you said you wanted me to stay, so i am staying. i will dance with you at balls. i will send flowers and call on you every morning. i will promenade alongside you for as long as it takes. i…”

he moves towards you, thumbs brushing away the tears under your eyes as his forehead meets yours, “i am yours, do with me what you will.”

©heedeungism : do not rewrite, copy, repost, or translate any of my works without my permission.

[-tokoyami]

It's amusing how the relationship between Jonrya is treated as the most absurd and impossible hypothesis when it's a plot line written by George himself and explicitly characterized as romantic initially. Whether it remains in the story or not is the question. The point is that these characters were created to complement each other emotionally and have this absurd and intense connection from the beginning. The love they feel for each other is a big part of the characterization of these characters. They speak in union and have spent so much time together that they are able to guess what the other is thinking. Their souls are so intertwined that even their respective wolves (extensions of their souls) are in tune with each other (Wolves and women wed for life). And within the main characters, no other relationship is established as this indestructible force, being overly emphasized so many times, despite the time and vows or any forces that can separate them.

The first 13 chapters of AGOT were sent with the 1993 outline. Fans who have looked through the manuscripts have noticed few differences compared to the published version. All these iconic quotes and the relationship between Jon and Arya settling in between major narrative plots have always been here.

Girls get the arms, but not the swords. Bastards get the swords, but not the arms. Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle. The memory of her laughter warmed him on the long ride north. Stick them with the pointy end. These passages were thought with them in a romantic relationship in mind :) Got a problem with that? Go take it up with George.

Plus, “You,” Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, “will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.” > Arya kissing the cat in the brow, who is the real king of the castle and the black bastard > Jon being called the black bastard in the wall in ADWD. Grrm subtly returning to old foreshadowing? Oh interesting I guess!

Textually, Jon and Arya are platonic soulmates. They are each other's heart, home and priority. Their bond defies death, is unique within asoiaf and is magnificently written as something no one else has. Trying to level down their relationship only reveals an inability to read the text and the narrative arc of these characters, who have been deeply connected since book 1. They yearn so much to be reunited, regardless of any factors, that it is painful. These are feral loves that simply shake the readers and imply visceral emotions and actions. Like Jon breaking his vows to rescue "Arya" and suffering the consequences for it. It is insane, but this is the true representation of love. An unstoppable force that can drag anyone down. The things we love destroy us every time. He, along with Nymeria, are the reasons that allow Arya's identity to be preserved and that's why she never loses herself. Her desire to reunite with him, even before all the tragedy, is the factor that motivates her to continue living. And she has such overwhelming faith in him (Jon will want me, even if no one else will.) that she knows she will be safe in his arms. Arya's physical home as it was... simply doesn't exist anymore, but JON is her home. And most of all, her pack. In Braaavos she never thinks of any other alternatives besides him. And she would never abandon him.

The abundance of love between them not only brings significant transformations to their internal and external worlds, but also resonates in the narrative. The forbidden love between them would defy logic, social and moral conventions. This is the kind of conflict that George loves to explore and enhance. George is not a conventional writer. His more vanilla romances are not overly explored by the text. He likes drama, complex and contradictory feelings, relationships that involve some degree of moral complexity and that torment his characters. That's why it's so funny to see fans so shocked by his initial ideas because his text itself reveals where he takes things, to the utmost of the heart in conflict with itself. He seeks to address these issues because he likes it. Asoiaf would be much less fun if he only cared about the readers' feelings.

In a scenario where the zombie apocalypse has wiped out everything and everyone, why wouldn't they be together? If, even when they're apart, they still yearn for each other? Why wouldn't they choose to live their lives together, if that's already a desire expressed by both of them? And share their pains and joys with each other. And grow old together? I'm not even talking in a ship sense. It's just that these two characters explicitly inform readers that they love each other above all else and unconditionally. If they have no hope because they've changed so much and nothing will ever be the same, what relationship does asoiaf have a chance of thriving? No one else? If 90% of the relationships established in the books don't have even half of this devotion, loyalty, and affection. How would they be in a better position to thrive?

I'm not saying it will happen exactly as he initially planned. There are obstacles, of course. However, I think those obstacles are magnified to the extreme even in hypothetical scenarios. If the lack of time skip is a hindrance (in a saga that is still ongoing and can last for years), then it is a problem for other relationships as well, in Arya's case perhaps except with Ned Dayne. "But, he can write off-page around the end or in an epilogue". In other words, this narrative device can also be used for Jonrya? Right? "Oh, it's so controversial". Since when did this stop George from writing anything? I find it funny when people say they can't see her reciprocating the feelings. When GRRM totally can and wrote it that way initially 😁 He is a writer fully aware of the universe he created, you don't need to tell him. Platonic soulmates falling in love after a reunion and being horrified by it is exactly the kind of emotional mess that GRRM likes to explore. Regardless of whether they end up together or not.

I am of the radical opinion that, if George wants to write something, he will simply find a way and do it. If Jon and Arya somehow end up together in the end, it's part of the endings he's been dreaming up since 1991 and he won't change them, so it's going to happen. We can only wait for the end of the saga to know for sure. I'm not very creative, but maybe Arya looking for Jon north of the wall, spending some time with him, an open ending with the two of them together or maybe implying that the Stark bloodline continued with them and that they had several Stark looking children. Maybe she could be like the Mormont women, claiming that the fathers of her children are bears, in Arya's case, a wolf. Or, for magical reasons, Jon making a pact with The Heart of Winter and being able to meet her only in the spring. If he wants, there are so many narrative paths that can be presented.

It's very obvious to me how much George loves and values ​​their relationship. His favorite quote is something between them. And he constantly elevates and builds on. He revisits old ideas, makes these characters think about each other all the time. He puts extra emphasis on their bond. Like Jon was supposed to die at Hardhome, but he went there and wrote the Pink Letter, just to put more focus on the relationship between him and Arya once again. Idk, but it doesn't seem like he's written off Jon Arya the way ppl think and I think their fates are more intertwined than fans believe. The guy has tripled down on their relationship. So it's going to be very impactful and relevant.

Arya is the most important and beloved person to Jon. While he is the most important and beloved person to her. And that is why it is difficult to visualize them voluntarily separating. Regardless of the direction their relationship takes, they are undeniably made for each other and are the true soulmates of asoiaf.

Granny: Are you trying to say something to the reader by drilling into us how much Arya and Jon love each other?

George RR Martin: “Say something to the reader?” No, I’m just reporting how the characters feel. Of course, everything in the book says something to the reader. -GRRM

[catsharky]

Are we still gonna get more of the Rolan comic?

I've gotten a couple of asks about this, so sorry to the other people who asked previously and didn't get a reply!

There is absolutely going to be more! The rest of the Rolan comic is completely written and partly roughed out, and I do intend to see it through to the end. Unfortunately this has been a pretty accurate depiction of how 2024 has been treating me:

It's been Flat Stanley-ing my ass.

I will get back to it, it's just been a case where something had to give and unfortunately my comics wound up being the thing I had to put on the backburner 😭

If anyone is curious, I rambled about what's been up under the cut:

The long and short of it is that early this year my partner and I very suddenly and stressfully went from being part-time to full-time parents, in a house that is not big enough to have a family of 4 living in it full time. We also gained 2 additional pets at the same time, bringing us up to a total of 4 (2 cats, 1 snake and 1 hamster).

While that would make it cramped enough, my partner and I have lost a combined total of 5 family members in the past 3 years, and ignoring the emotional toll, we wound up being responsible for the belongings of three of them. Every time we manage to get our house a little bit cleared out, another person dies and we have to find room for another house's worth of stuff!!!

So I have been hanging on to my sanity by a thread cause it's hard to concentrate on comics when I am stuck working in a room where Fortnite or Minecraft youtubers or worse are all but constantly playing in the background.

On top of all that, all of the windows in our house had to be replaced because they hadn't been updated or well maintained since the place was built and the frames were rotting and growing mold. So we got to spend a couple of months trying to tetris our house into a state where the window company could have room to work last week.

And if that wasn't all enough, my little old man of a cat (who is my baby and largely my responsibility) developed keratitis- which despite all efforts continued to worsen over the last several months-, was diagnosed with diabetes, and finally had to have his eye removed this week. I've discovered new stress responses I didn't even know I had thanks to that, and I've been sick with a hellcold during both this and the window replacement 🙃

I've also been unemployed since December, which is both a blessing and a curse because on one hand I think I probably would have had an actual mental breakdown by now if I'd had to deal with all this while working full time, but on the other hand we can't move until I have a job again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So basically this year has been very AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA and I would really love it if whoever is controlling the game of the sims I'm living in would stop putting me in the torment nexus right about now, please and thank you.

Joke's on them though because I'm both a creature of spite and incapable of giving up, so in the words of Disco Elysium, 'Life gets hard but we go on' and we do!!! 😤

[thewisedoge]

Jimmy from Mouthwashing and Judge Claude Frollo from Hunchback Of Notre Dame are the same character but in a different font. (A short analysis)

Okay. I only recently played and finished Mouthwashing. (Masterpiece btw)

I could not shake this off after I had a long ass time to process it, but I'm gonna say it.

Jimmy and Judge Claude Frollo are VERY similar... And I don't mean with how they look. (Even though they do have an identical face shape and hairline.)

Let's get the obvious similarity they share out of the way.

They're both manipulative pieces of shit.

They always want to feel bigger, or more important than everyone around them and the people they know. How Anya treats Jimmy post... the incident, is pretty reminiscent of how Quasimodo acts around Frollo. They both don't want to set them off, or to anger them in fear of what they might do.

They also try to play themselves up as a "savior" or a "misunderstood hero" as a way to deflect blame or to excuse their actions. Whether that be with Frollo proclaiming himself using the good old "holier than thou" technique, using his own status as Judge to excuse his horrid actions under the guise of "justice".

(They weren't subtle with Frollo doing this in the movie either. This is a lyric in Hellfire.)

Or with Jimmy trying to be the self appointed "captain" after the crash, trying to assert his authority and make the others feel like they're being unreasonable, while also being outright RESPONSIBLE for the injuries or torment of others, excusing it as him "doing his job" in his head.

One of their biggest similarities however is how their lust and fear of consequences (or taking responsibility lmao) blinded them. Jimmy lusted over Anya, Frollo lusted over Esmeralda. Their depravity led them to their own downfalls.

Frollo was very creepy towards Esmeralda and didn't actually do anything to her on the same level as Jimmy did to Anya. But this also explains another similarity.

How they both saw their female victim as an object.

In the hallucinations, Jimmy encounters that giant slit mouthed monster with bulging eyes that birthed that creepy baby centipede thing. That's how he saw Anya, just a literal sentient BIRTH CANAL with eyes that was going to bring upon consequences to his own actions.

Frollo also saw Esmeralda as nothing more than an object, he quite literally offers that if she gave herself up to him he would spare her from her "rightful punishment" and not burn her at the stake. He didn't LOVE her, he wanted to OWN her.

It's even said outright in the stage adaptation by Quasimodo, when Frollo stands with him as he mourns Esmeralda when she passes from her injuries and says that he "even loved her". When this happens, Quasimodo yells in pure anguish and hated...

"What do you know of love?.. WHO HAVE YOU EVER LOVED?!"

I adore this game and how it was written. I adore The Hunchback Of Notre Dame despite my sheer hatred for corporate Disney's bigoted and overall stupid practices nowadays. I love complex villains!!!!

... Anyway why did I make this post?

Oh yeah.

Someone should draw or make an animatic of Jimmy singing Hellfire it would be perfect.

Please.

(Edit: I added some more images to the post to covey my points a bit more, but I am so happy with the reception and attention this post has been getting. It means a lot that there's a group of people here that will listen to my interpretations or analyses on my favorite pieces of media. It made me so happy to see this post rack up this many likes despite it not being much. Tysm. <3)

(Edit 2: In case anyone who sees or likes this post, I want to let you know that I have written scripts for media analysis videos and I'm in the process of finishing and recording it! Feel free to follow to hear any updates or what media I will cover in my videos. :3)

[lilmarshie]

Forgive Me | D. Malfoy x Reader

A/N - This is a slightly angsty oneshot featuring a regretful Draco and a hesitant, but willing to forgive reader. Also, sorry if this rambles on a bit I had an idea and I needed to write it. I hope you enjoy!

Y/N - your name, H/C - hair color

The experiences that you had during your time at Hogwarts have changed you for the better. In more ways than one. It helped boost your confidence and sense of accomplishment being one of the top students during all years of school. But with that, it brought torment and frustration, from a very prideful and arrogant Slytherin. Draco Malloy. The boy with hair as bright as starlight that made your anxiety increase tenfold.

You never expected to see the man that you so desperately hated again. That is until you ran into him during an internship at the Ministry of Magic. You were in the department of Regulation and Care of Magical Creatures due to the love you had for the creatures that are abundant in the magical world.

Draco was an Auror and a highly successful one during his few years of being in the Ministry. He was respected and you hated that he was so revered. You scoffed and rolled your eyes every time his name was mentioned in the Daily Prophet. Little did you know, that Draco was hurting desperately and spiraling down into a deep depression due to the guilt he felt.

He hated that he mistreated you during your years at Hogwarts and was wanting to find a way to make it up to you. Draco cared about you and had cared for you every moment that he saw you or heard about you in passing. Draco, now a changed person, wanted to make amends for his past mistakes. He wrote a letter addressed to your office in the Ministry and had the owls deliver it to you when he knew that you were working that day.

Upon arriving back to your office after a particularly difficult and stressful morning you notice the letter neatly placed on your desk. It was in a green and black envelope elegantly wrapped in gold ribbon and your name was written upon it in shimmering gold letters. Surprised that anyone would write to you, especially here at the office, you shakily open the letter.

“Dear y/n,

I have always wanted to apologize for the way that I treated you when we were students at Hogwarts. I realize now that what I did was extremely hurtful and I never knew how badly I hurt you until years later. It has caused me to become very angry and depressed due to the way that I treated you. I hope that we can make amends and that I can formally apologize for what I did to you.

Please reach out to me if you would like to talk. I will always be here for you.

Sincerely,

Draco

You are a bit wary at his true intentions and are worried that this will be a repeat of what happened in the past. But you decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. You hastily write Draco a letter asking him to meet you at your office in an hour to have a conversation about what happened. Not even five minutes had passed before you had a written response elegantly written and placed on your desk. Draco wrote back that he would be at your office in an hour to talk to you. You sighed a deep sigh and waited for the next hour to come.

An hour passes and there is a brisk knock at your office door. You open it to see a disheveled Draco standing there his hands in his black coat pockets and his eyes looking like he hasn’t slept in weeks. “Draco, come in. It’s been forever that I’ve seen you. How have you been?” You say, with a light and slightly forced smile. You were still a little on edge with the whole situation that was laid out before you.

Draco steps into the office and sits on the armchair that is placed in front of the roaring fireplace that is in your office. It was grand and very beautiful. Elegantly decorated with dark green leaves and soft white roses. It was a nice contrast against the dark wood of the fireplace, Draco noted. You always had a knack for decorating and he admired that.

Draco crossed his legs and stared at you for a moment before saying again that he was sorry for the pain that he may have caused you. “That was never my intention, y/n. I was blinded by my pride and I was held to high expectations by my father. It caused me to look down on those that my father didn’t deem worthy. “

You sigh and look over at him sitting across from you. “I know, Draco. I know you didn’t mean to but you should’ve realized how that made me feel. You hurt me continuously. Over and over again. Why didn’t you stop after the first time? You knew how it affected me! So why didn’t you stop it!” You say, your voice raising as it trembled slightly with the bottled up rage that threatened to all flow out of you.

“I know. I know. And I’m so sorry. I was struggling too at the time and I didn’t know how to overcome the stress and high expectations that my father had for me. I truly didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m so sorry, y/n.” Draco reached out across the space between the two of you and laid a hand on your knee in a comforting gesture. You hesitated but reached over and placed your hand on his.

“I want to make it up to you, y/n. Please I’ll do anything. I have so many things that I want to say to you but first I need to prove my worth to you. I need to show you that I’m capable of doing the right thing.” Draco said, softly his hands trembling in your grasp.

“Please forgive me and give me a second chance. And even if you don’t give me a chance now, I’ll always be here to support you from afar.” Draco continues his voice trembling as if he’s about to start crying.

“Ok, Draco. But this is your final chance. After this, I will no longer trust you if you decide to break my trust again.” You say, your arms now folded across your chest your head held high. You had to have a little bit of fight in you otherwise you knew that your world was threatening to crumble around you if you didn’t make a stand.

Draco nodded and held your hands in his tightly. He was no longer trembling but he had a newfound sense of purpose and a brightness to his eyes. Draco looked happier than you ever seen him before.

“I promise, y/n. I won’t break your heart ever again.”

[anukkuna]

Day 6: Favorite Line(s) from Spatort

So, for this one my answers would differ depending on if you ask me in earnest or if you ask the part of me that's responsible for the crack videos (because, let's be real, some of these lines just sound Tatort-written-ridiculous).

I'm gonna answer this in earnest here though and name three (under the cut):

1.) "Hast du nicht gehört? Du sollst die Fresse halten!"

- Leo, Der Herr des Waldes

Love it, because it's Leo backing Adam in a moment where so many things are crashing down on them at once.

Adam would probably have been fine with Leo not intervening - letting Lausch kill Roland and simply arresting him afterward. No one could have told; it would have been easy. Hell, he even stopped Leo from shooting the first time.

But Leo had to shoot.

Because, if Leo hadn't shot Lausch, it would have meant something unbearable for him: actually having the death on his hands that he'd feared for years he already had: he would have been the one responsible for letting Adam's dad die. (If you're into philosophy, you could start an interesting discussion here about doing, allowing and omissions btw.)

It all comes crashing down on them afterward. Leo stares desperately at Adam because what the fuck, yes, Adam would have been fine with Leo killing his dad (in Adam's perspective, probably freeing them from him), but Leo isn't. Adam realizes that and apologizes immediately.

Yet, Leo is hurt. He stares incredulously at Adam, again, so many thoughts and emotions crashing down on him.

He flinches away when Adam tries to touch him.

I feel like Leo's character arc is, in many ways, about justice and guilt. To him justice means not only protecting the weak but also fighting every crime, because crimes are inherently wrong and need to be stopped. So, Leo has to stop Lausch, who is about to commit murder, even if he is going to murder someone who is an abuser and a criminal himself. (We see in E04 at the hospital that Adam is, once again, different in that regard. When Leo points out that it's two criminal acts walking away just there, Adam doesn't really care.)

So, when they approach Roland and he says "Herr Hölzer, ich möchte Ihnen meinen aufrichtigen Dank aussprechen." it's clearly mockery. He's basically rubbing it in Leo's face that Leo saved him, allowing him to torment Adam some more (and potentially Leo as well).

When Adam spitefully tells Roland to "Halt doch die Fresse" Roland knows he still holds power over Adam because Adam still wishes him dead and still fears him - even though he is lying on the ground and Adam is standing over him, holding a gun.

Roland also remembers now that it was Leo and Adam in that garage fifteen years ago, putting him in a coma - and doesn't that give him so much power over both of them right now? And Leo, after hearing Roland say "Hast wohl gedacht, diesmal klappt's, hm?" realizes as much.

But here's the thing about Leo… At the beginning of the episode, he was so angry and afraid he even lashed out at Adam for not telling him that Roland had woken up. ("Dann verjährt das nicht, dann geh' ich in 'n Knast!" - "Wir, Leo.") There's so much at stake for them, but Leo will still choose justice. Leo isn't one for tyrannicide because, in his eyes, no one deserves to be murdered in cold blood - not even a tyrant.

Yet, he recognizes the mockery when Roland thanks him.

So, Leo's reply "Hast du nicht gehört? Du sollst die Fresse halten!" is him backing Adam (in front of Adam) while staying true to his principles. He is on Adam's side and really wishes for Roland to shut the fuck up - but he can't let anyone be murdered, not even Roland.

Leo remains, after all, a protector.

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

2.) "Dein Herz gehört sowieso schon mir."

- Esther, Die Kälte der Erde

Arrrsfffggdddhhh. This made my brain go 'blub'. Please, please, please, SR, I'd love for them to be canon. I feel like we have seen far too little interaction between Esther and Pia in Der Fluch des Geldes. And I seriously hope for more Pia/Esther in the next one.

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

3.) "Der König ist tot." - "Ja... lang lebe der König."

- Leo und Adam, Das Herz der Schlange

This exchange is so great because, once again, it’s incredibly ominous!

Leo delivers his line, "The king is dead," so warmly, as if it’s meant to provide some kind of closure. But it’s one of those lines... the kind where you feel like the other half needs to be said, too. (Just as in "Alles hat ein Ende" - "Nur die Wurst hat zwei" (looking at you, Polizeiruf: Hildes Erbe, haha)).

Just after a short pause, Adam replies, "Yeah... long live the king." In this moment (as confirmed in E05), Adam realizes where Roland hid the money. We see him digging it up from underneath the tree in the final shot of E03, leaving us as viewers with an ominous, open ending: what kind of trouble will arise from this?

Adam dug up his "inheritance" - both literally and metaphorically. In E04, Manuela calls him "The King's son," and parts of the criminal underworld recognize him as such. Does this mean he will follow Roland's path? Is he kind of destined to do so?

The proclamation "The King is dead, long live the King!" historically both announces the death of the previous monarch and asserts continuity by saluting the new one. In a monarchy, there shall never be a moment without a ruler, mind you. Is this meant to remind us that there will always be a new crime boss once the old one is dead or put to jail? Or is it meant to highlight the "line of succession", where Adam is forced to decide whether he will accept or reject his "inheritance"? So, yeah... one of my favorite Spatort lines as well!

[randomgods]

--downpour spoilers for anyone reading! i know you have a tag but just to be safe :3!! but you mentioned in your favs post that the only thing you'd change about saint's campaign was the ascension dialogue between moon and pebbles at the end and i think i do agree with you but i can't quite put my finger on what bothered me about it. i'd be curious to hear what fell flat for you and how you would change it if you had ideas? ps. ily and so good to rain rot concurrently with you

I have much to say about this!! Big spoilers for the ending of The Saint Campaign!!

Ok this may come off as a bit harsh but it’s only because I’m so passionate about these two and their story.

I think the reason why the dialogue in rubicon between Pebbles and Moon fell so flat is that it is so impersonal! I recognize that this is the moment that Pebbles and Moon both realize the solution to their entire purpose has been found, and thus it makes sense that they would be focused on it. But JEEZ! Are they not shocked to see each other in the same physical space for the first time? Are they not relieved that they’ve both been freed from the immense amount of physical and mental pain they’ve been in for millennia, eons even? Due to both of their states they haven’t even been able to contact each other in who knows how long. Where’s the EMOTION!

So much time and so much strife has passed through their lives that at this point in the story they’ve moved on from simply being computing machines. The iterators have full, human emotions. The tragedy of Rain World comes from how individual and human every iterator is. They are sentient beings trapped and tormented by their physical limits and their great task burdened to them by a society who abandoned them long ago. In this hardship they grew to know and love each other like real family. How could you not display that in the final moments of their existence? I find it so reductive of their characters to just make them soullessly monologue about the solution of ascension. It would mean so much more for their characters if they thought of each other first rather than focusing on the task their apathetic creators forced upon them. All their character development and agency is just gone in this scene.

There is also no distinction between Moon and Pebbles. We get none of their character. They’re just waxing poetic about the solution of ascension and the state of The Saint’s fate. It reads as if one monologue was written with no voice in mind and it was just broken up between the two.

I would have to think a while on how I would rewrite this part, maybe one day I will! Of course I would have them address that the solution to ascension has been found, but only after they actually emote over what’s happening to them. I would have them reconnect, celebrate, and grieve over all they’ve been through together.

Lol thats a lot, I am just so passionate about this story. The rest of Saint’s campaign really hit hard for me though. Especially finding Pebbles in the state he’s in.

[darkfire359]

What could have been: sympathizing with Ed in season 2

I've talked before about how much I love Ed and all his complexity. I've written more fanfic about him and Izzy than any other characters, in my entire history of fandom. And unlike many people, I wasn't unprepared for the dark direction his arc took in season 2; I wanted him to commit MORE atrocities, and I happily made comparisons between him and another one of my favorite characters, Hannibal Lector.

But one of the key things I wanted after he committed atrocities was for him to feel bad about it. And I thought we'd see that! After all, S1 Ed was so tormented about killing his dad (who was abusive and violent towards) him that he never killed (directly) again! He was so broken up about trying to kill Stede in s1e6 that he ended up crying in a bathtub. Just like he cried in the window sill after committing all the kraken horrors in s1e10. It seemed like this was a guy scared of his own inner darkness, convinced he was a monster, who would go around saying things like "I'm not a good person" and "You were always going to realize who I am."

And so even when s2 went darker than anyone expected—when he cut off more of Izzy's toes, and shot him in the leg, and made crewmen fight to the death for experiencing love, and sailed the entire ship into a storm to murder-suicide his crew—I was still ready to accept all that moral ambiguity and give him a hug afterwards. Because of course, I figured that after Ed was brought out of that dark place and those suicidal urges, he would feel horrible remorse. How could he not?

I was looking forward to seeing him break down crying, convinced he was an irredeemable, unforgivable monster. (Which of course, would make it all the more touching when people inevitably did forgive him, and when he did redeem himself). Maybe Ed would even go too far with trying to atone, like in Mercy, one of my favorite post-s1 fics. Probably, I figured, Ed's quest for redemption would be one of the main themes in the second half of season 2.

So it was strange to watch e4, when Ed looked nothing but annoyed at everyone for chaining him up and banishing him, and then he went to hang out with his old friends like he'd done nothing wrong. When after the crew unanimously voted him out, Stede brought him back to the ship literally that same evening, and Ed saw no problem with that. Okay... maybe he's still processing?

Then e5 came, and that episode was about Ed's redemption. Yay! Except... Ed didn't seem to care? Other people made him wear the bag and the bell. He asked how long it'd take people to get over it, guessing "like a day." He gave an influencer-esque non-apology to the crew. He said "I took a man's leg" rather than calling Izzy by name. He literally doesn't remember the circumstances of pushing Lucius off the boat. He does ultimately give a real apology to Fang—for tormenting him years ago, rather than anything from his actual kraken era. I love e5 for the Izzy+Stede dynamic, but watching Ed be an unrepentant asshole here is painful. There is nothing about this that convinces me Ed wouldn't slide right back to being evil if Stede were to leave again.

And the thing is, it didn't have to be like this! We could have gotten Ed breaking down crying with guilt like in s1e6, and it would have made him much more sympathetic—not to mention the fact that Ed really is just an adorable cryer. Alternatively, we could have had some real deep diving about why Ed never apologizes (is he afraid of seeming weak?) or why he's so uncaring about others' pain (has he seen too many friends die over the years, to the point of going numb?)

By episode 6, it seems like most characters have moved on. Stede says something about Ed turning poison into positivity, which feels completely unearned. He pays for the party—but he'd previously tried to make the crew throw their cut of the loot into the ocean. He makes some attempts to best Ned and protect Stede, but Stede ends up saving the crew instead—from a pirate who only showed up in the first place because Ed was intentionally trying to piss him off. Ed is sad that Stede kills someone, and this would be a great time to again make Ed sympathetic! To have him talk about how he doesn't want that for Stede, because his own violence has weighed on him so deeply. But nope.

E6 does see Ed actually apologize to Izzy—and he's terrible at it. He's just like, "Sorry about your leg," makes no eye contact, and flees immediately afterwards. We do see some hints that this shitty apology isn't really indicative of Ed's true feelings, given how he has those flashbacks to the scenes of hurting Izzy seemingly haunting him; but it's very brief. It would be a great time to address Ed's horrific tendency towards conflict-aversion and avoiding awkward conversations in relationships—the same tendency that made s1 Ed never inform Izzy that the plan to kill Stede and the Revenge crew had changed. This would be another great opportunity to help us sympathize with Ed again—to have us see how it's not that he doesn't want to communicate these things, it's that these conversations are terribly stressful and anxiety-inducing for him. But nah, why would OFMD need to include those things for Ed?

E7 happens, and still nothing. If anything, there was a great opportunity for Ed to at least show himself to be a kind person to Stede—maybe nobly stepping in to save the day, even though he's annoyed that Stede's getting all this attention now. You know, like Stede did for him back in s1e5, when the situation was reversed. But nope, Ed runs off to be a fisherman, not having learned any of the earlier season's lessons about whims. He only stops being a fisherman because he's bad at it.

I was still hoping for something big in e8–some huge selfless, gesture that Ed would do to cover for all of his inability to do the little gestures. Ed is good at grand gestures! Swimming back to the ship after he left, then taking the Act of Grace in s1 was HUGE. Very selfless, very sweet! He could have done something like that for Izzy, Lucius, and the traumatized crew. Some kind of heroic gesture to help others more than himself. But nope. In some sense, Izzy dying is one of the greatest indications of Ed's wasted potential, because we narratively had a great opportunity for Ed to be able to save someone... but he didn't.

(Admittedly, Ed is not a complete dick here—he helps Izzy when he's limping, he says some genuinely apologetic stuff when Izzy's dying, and he finally gives Izzy his attention and care. But then after the funeral, he's still like "Well, that's that.")

It's so frustrating. It's not that I don't want to like Ed, or that I don't want to sympathize with him. I really, REALLY do! I don't even need Ed to successfully do anything to earn forgiveness! I'd take Ed trying and failing. I'd take him wanting to try, but being so convinced of his monstrousness that he never makes the attempt. But give me something. Anything other than the unexamined apathy that he has so much of the time.

The thing is, s2 lost the ability for Ed's mistreatment of people to be just another "of course he's violent, he's a pirate" quirk. They were pretty explicit about how abusive Ed was (Jim's comment in e1, the joke in e4 people assumed Ed had hit Stede) and how much he traumatized people (Lucius and the whole crew very clearly have PTSD in episodes 4 and 5). This is serious stuff, which he did to other main characters, which is going to make a lot of viewers look at him pretty harshly.

And that's manageable—Hannibal Lector managed to be most textbook-abusive asshole in the world, committing atrocities and generally being unrepentant left and right, and viewers STILL found him lovable and sympathetic. You can do that! But you need to:

a. make it clear that anyone with the relevant information calls them out for being awful, even multiple episodes later

b. make it clear that they care deeply and genuinely about their wronged loved ones

c. make them willing to actually make REAL sacrifices

I watched so many people start to dislike or outright hate Ed in season 2. It made me really sad. But I couldn't blame them for feeling that way. For all that Ed is supposedly one of the two protagonists in OFMD—a character whose mistakes should be the most understandable, whose mental state should be the most resonant—the show seemed to entirely drop the ball on writing him as such.

[yuseirra]

I jotted down in my notes yesterday before I had no clue how 164 was going to unfold: I'll just leave this here before things grow any worse in the manga

I'm not sure if I even hate it, like how every chapter's been beyond.. 154? It's like I have to wait and see just what is it supposed to be and mean. But I don't like it of course. At this point the whole plot of onk feels like a fever dream and it ACTUALLY MIGHT BE, considering how the story itself started on a note that "Everything is fiction" or whatever. That truly isn't a good sign. That particular chapter where Aqua and Ruby was having that one peaceful day was super ominous too. Everything might just be their dream or something at this rate, what I want this manga to retain is the message. What they want to express and say through having created this piece. Will that be good? I have no idea how that's going to happen, if they do manage to do a splendid job after all this then, I'll still be able to respect this work but you can't blame me for having no idea. I'm baffled lol.

Okay, I digressed.. Please keep in mind this was written before I encountered 164.

I don’t know if my empathy is kicking in the wrong direction, but every time I listen to *Mephisto* and *Fatal,* I can’t help but feel, "Ah, this fits Kamiki’s story and emotions so perfectly..."

So,

When he’s this tormented, aching to see her again, drowning in sorrow like this—was it really his fault that Ai died? Did he truly bring this upon himself? Will it all just be resolved by catching him and ending his life? Will killing him solve the tragedy in the story? And if that’s the case, why are they so insistent on not showing us his story clearly? And if that’s the conclusion, then what is this work even trying to say? It’s fine if I can accept it. Really, it is, but…

He’s all alone, isn’t he? Why is there no one there to help him? Why, when he’s suffering this much, did no one understand him enough to keep him from getting to this point, just leaving him like that? From childhood to adulthood, apart from Ai, he never had anyone who genuinely helped him—so it makes sense that he became someone who misses her so deeply, unable to see anyone else. I can sense that his true nature was genuinely kind, but even that is unclear...

Why is he so alone? Why has the author pushed him to the point of complete ruin with no one left? If it were me, I’d have a reason to take it that far. This is a story, after all.

It hits me every time I listen; I can feel everything so intensely that it’s almost haunting. But am I really wrong? The lyrics aren't just ordinary; there are hints within them.

It’s just... the story is so sad... It’s crazed on the surface, but inside, it’s about someone so deeply heartbroken after losing someone they truly loved...

"I’d do anything if it meant you’d come back; I don’t care if it kills me. I just miss you so much"—that’s what the song’s about, right? And Kamiki’s story fits that exactly. I wish the manga would at least touch on that. It’s just bothering me too much. That’s the story here, isn’t it? Why is it like this… it’s just so heartbreakingly sad… why make the song this way?

And Aqua—no!!! I’m really annoyed that Aqua gave up on Ai’s wish! Fine, go live happily with Kana. You went through enough, I get it. But really... if I reread it, will I be able to immerse myself in Aqua’s side again? Why is the story like this?

Why are they locked in this cycle of killing each other? Why did it have to turn out like this? I don’t even think he killed Ai. He’s suffering so much after her death—what’s going on...

Isn’t his story worth the page space?

Actually, I feel like I understand what the author is trying to do. I know I’m playing along, even though I can see it all coming—it’s so frustrating to watch it unfold. But can I really trust the author this much...? What do I really know about them? I’d need to understand that to make any real guesses... Though I feel like I know what this is all about. Sure, if it’s going to drag on endlessly, I’d rather it just end quickly. Then I can move on and find something else to read.

But really, I know exactly how everything could all come together, like beads threaded on a string. I get why things are this way. So, if they would just do that, everything would fall into place... there are so many hints and foreshadowing for it. But the absolute constraint of the remaining page count is something I don’t think they’ll overcome, so maybe I should just let go of this story in my heart. Whatever happens, I’ll be fine either way. Even if they don’t get it right, that’s okay too.

Oh, I thought I knew. I think I still do a little? but well.

I'll draw another version of "where everything is happier" but AQUA EDITION this weekend. I can draw it out :) They better make this story make some kind of sense but GOD I hope they don't ruin my favorite characters, I'm scared...no character is safe anymore after seeing what they made out of Aqua. I feel really sorry for saying I was angry about him earlier, did he die because I said that? Did I jinx it or what.?. Oh the writer better have something really good on their mind. Because this is a really loved piece right? They won't be able to do it though if they're going to use these remaining page space this meaninglessly. And it's too short anyway. I really am the type that holds onto hope, I was still hoping till the last chapter but now I just want them to.. Keep from ruining the message any more. I do want to see a point in all this, if that can convince me, I can take it, but I cannot see it happening if the rest of the chapters are as empty as this one. I'm genuinely disappointed. I really wish I could only cheer and hope but I can't believe I'm crossing my fingers FOR THIS instead. I wish they had at least seven or eight chapters, but there is no way. I don't see it getting any sort of fulfilling ending if they're going to devote half those precious chapter space left to Aqua suffering for air, that was PAINFUL to see. I didn't sign up to see THAT, and we still don't know if he's really justified and if his actions were really worth putting himself and everyone else through the potential sufferings, I don't see ANY good coming out of this.

I'll draw something happy for Aqua I haven't drawn him for awhile, I really used to care for him and god while I am pissed at what he's done I'm just...so baffled. I didn't want him to suffer, that's one of the reasons why I was angry with the choices he's made?? Oh he's a fool. I agree with everything Kamiki's said!! Like, the things he told his son was legit kind and words of wisdom!!! He told him he had a life to live???? He-he told him to go live for Ruby because killing him would hurt her? Right?? He was trying to convince his son to go live?? Did I read it wrong? Kamiki knew about the things that his son cared for and smiled when Aqua acknowledged he wanted to live??? Would he be the one to ruin that if he's the one who's provided those reasoning? It doesn't?? Make sense to me. He was being calm and kind even while being threatened with a knife from his own son. So was there really no hope for this man. I swear Kamiki's a corrupted god then and his EXISTENCE cannot be allowed for he'd cause misery just by existing from being TOO broken and way past recovery at this point.

If they ruin him and Ai's character in the following chapters...I have no control over it ofc but.. I'm not sure if I'll be able to comprehend what this comic is even trying to say. If there are gods.. They should take pity on the characters and SAVE them.

Ai, save your husband and son, or Ruby, do it. Why is she Amaterasu. Why was that a thing? If she's that powerful of an entity in essence then maybe she'll be able to turn back time and save everyone hgsggk it's about time she does do something as one of the most powerful god in Japanese Mythology

[duchi-nesten]

Right?

Summary:

After a talk with Jazz, Danny realizes that he maybe kinda procrastinated confessing his feelings for Tucker. Just a little bit.

He was waiting for the right moment, okay!

Wordcount: 4135 || AO3 Link

-

My first phic for Phic Phight using the prompt by @hpwot !

Danny had wanted to tell Tucker that he had a crush on him the day of the accident. It never went away, but in all the chaos since that day, he's never been able to just say it out loud. A talk with Jazz helps, there's never going to be a right moment, he just has to do it.

Also first fic I have written in literal years, so I hope it’s alright! The plot has escaped me so many times it’s unreal lmAO

-

She knew.

Danny knew very well that Jazz knew. Of course she knew. She was always incredibly perceptive and caring. All she had to do was look at him to know something was up, reading his emotions like an open book. She was a very loving and overprotective sister and that is exactly why she just couldn’t keep her annoying nose out of his business.

She tried to corner him for a few weeks now, but he always managed to give her the slip. Sometimes even using his ghost powers to do so. Yet Jazz wasn’t known for simply giving up. No matter what he did, Danny knew that sooner or later he would be dragged into an impromptu pseudo therapy session with his sister.

He could at least try to prolong the inevitable though.

He was down in the lab on a Tuesday afternoon. His parents have finally had enough of waiting on him to start on his chores, so they threatened to ground him if he didn’t do it today. Not the worst thing they ever threatened him with, but still.

He was scrubbing on a very persistent ectoplasm stain when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Danny turned around just in time to see his sister descend the last steps into the lab.

Oh Ancients, here we go.

‘’What do you want, Jazz? I’m cleaning.’’ he stated flatly, turning back around to the stubborn piece of ectoplasm. Why was it not coming off? Maybe he should add more peroxide to the cleaning mixture?

He started making his way to the bucket and cleaning supplies laying on a counter in the corner of the lab, but was stopped when Jazz moved to stand in his way.

‘’When are you going to tell Tucker about your feelings?’’ she asked with a pointed look, arms crossed over her chest.

Ah, cutting straight to the chase. She was probably making sure to not give him any chance of running off again. Though it’s not like he would run off this time. He had to clean this god forsaken lab and she knew that. It was exactly why she came down to torment him right now when he couldn’t leave.

Only thing left to do was play dumb.

‘’Who’s Tucker?’’

Okay, not that dumb.

Judging by the flat stare he received from her, Jazz was not amused by that answer either. 

‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about.’’ he tried again and made a point to not look at her while he swiftly slipped by to get to his bucket. ‘’I don’t have any feelings. None at all. Ask mom and dad, they’ll agree.’’ 

‘’You’re not fooling anyone, little brother.’’ 

He knew that very well. He knew he was extremely obvious about it, Sam has already pointed it out to him on multiple occasions, thank you very much. 

That didn’t mean he would let Jazz meddle though.

‘’Just leave it Jazz, it’s none of your business.’’ he huffed and for a while the lab remained silent. He focused on adding more peroxide into his cleaning mixture instead and …oh great the bottle was empty. 

He looked around for something else he could use. There was a can of SpriteTM on dad’s working bench. If it’s carbonated would it bubble like peroxide? He needed something that bubbled right? 

Yeah, that sounded about right, it could work.

‘’You should tell him, you know.’’ Ah right, Jazz was still there.

He turned around, ready to tell her to get lost again, but stopped when he saw the look she was giving him. Her gaze was softer than before, a little smile on her face. Almost as if she knew something he didn’t. But behind that was also determination. She was tired of his bullshit and would not let him off the hook this time around.

He sighed loudly, throwing his head back in a dramatic fashion. He put the cleaning rag away knowing that he couldn’t avoid this conversation any longer.

‘’Yes I know.’’ he admitted, still slightly irritated. Taking off the cleaning gloves and throwing them on the counter, he fully faced his sister. ‘’I want to tell him. I’m going to. I’m just… waiting for the right moment.’’

‘’And how long have you been waiting now?’’ she asked raising one of her sharp eyebrows skeptically. 

‘’...Since… around the accident?’’ 

It wasn’t just around the accident. It was specifically on the day of the accident, but she didn’t need to know that. He was supposed to tell Tucker all about his little crush on exactly that day. He often wondered, if the portal didn’t decide to fry him, would he have confessed already? It was the plan after all. 

In his defense the accident complicated everything by a lot. Becoming half-ghost was a terrifying experience at first. Not even mentioning all the ghosts that started attacking the town shortly after. There was always something else to worry about.

So yeah he kinda procrastinated confessing his feelings. A little bit. Death does that to a mf.

‘’Danny! That was over a year ago!’’ 

Okay, he might have procrastinated slightly more than just a little bit. Sue him. 

Now it was Jazz’s turn to sigh loudly. She uncrossed her arms and moved to sit on one of the metal tables.

‘’There’s never going to be a right time you know.’’ she said beckoning him to sit beside her. 

‘’What?’’ he gruntled, begrudgingly following her lead. They were really going to talk about this while sitting on a table he might get dissected on one day. Joy.

‘’Tell me now’’ she started putting an arm on his shoulder. ‘’when you think of a right moment, what does it entail?’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ 

‘’What would you call a right moment?’’ she tried again.

He considered her question for a second. 

He’d definitely want them to be alone for this. It’s personal after all and he’d rather spare Sam from witnessing this. No matter how many times she said she can be there for him as mental support whenever he gets the guts to do it. (Which he did have, by the way.)

School was unquestionably out. Even when Sam wasn’t with them, there were still plenty of other students around. Not to mention Dash, who would not let him live this down. Besides it was school. Who does this stuff at school?

And their usual after school hang outs weren’t special enough. Like hell was he going to confess in a Nasty Burger. Or what? His stinky bedroom? 

The cinema? Well they did go to the cinema often, but they went there to watch the movies. And after the movie ended it was time to either have an excited geek out session over it or diss it entirely. No good time for deep conversations.

During fights was obviously also a big no-no. After the fights? They hated their existence after fights. (At least Danny did.) He also often got hurt during those and sometimes Tucker got to tend to his wounds and-

Yeah, after fights was not the right time.

‘’Can’t think of anything, little brother?’’ Jazz’s sudden soft giggles brought him out of his thoughts.

He focused on her. He was sure he looked like a lost puppy at that moment.

Whenever he thought of the right moment he always saw some abstract concept. Something along the lines of you’ll know when it happens. Tucker was important to him, he deserved the best god damn confession. A perfect one, like in those romantic movies they watched sometimes in secret.

But as crazy as his life may be, it wasn’t a movie. And now that he thought about this from the perspective of actual real life…

‘’No moment will ever feel right, Danny. I know you’re scared-’’ 

‘’I’m not scared.’’ he reacted on instinct.

‘’-but open communication is very important, not only in romantic relationships, but in platonic ones as well.’’ she stood up from the table to stand in front of him instead. Putting both of her hands on his shoulders, she continued;

‘’If you want your friendship with Tucker to be healthy you need to talk to him about your feelings. No matter if he feels the same way or not. You can’t put it off forever.’’

He wasn’t going to put it off forever. Only until the right moment. Which apparently might never exist.

‘’You just have to do it.’’ she shook him a bit for emphasis. 

Danny scrunched his face and looked away. He hated when she was right.

He did just have to do it.

-

He still wasn’t going to do this at school or the Nasty Burger though. He had some dignity.

It wasn’t until a few days later when a true occasion presented itself. 

It was a Saturday, he and Tucker decided to sneak some of his parents' inventions up to his room. Finally try to find some way of making them ignore his ecto-signature like they did with the specter deflector. It was way overdue at this point.

It would be very nice to not get attacked by his own parents for once. Plus Tucker looked cute while he worked. Danny almost got his fingers caught in the lock of one of the guns while staring at him with his tongue out in concentration. He always did that when focused hard on a task. Idiot.

Danny even had a thought to confess right at that moment, but they were actually doing something important. He couldn’t interrupt their work, right?

Yeah, exactly. He could tell him later.

With that in mind he continued unscrewing another metal plate from yet another device before handing it to Tucker, who worked his hacking magic.

They didn’t even notice that it got late, too invested in their work. The sun had long set when they sneaked the last of the updated equipment back into the lab.  Danny offered Tucker to just stay the night over if he’d like and after a quick call to his parents they were pulling out the inflatable mattress.

‘’I swear to god whoever lost our pump will pay for this.’’ Danny ranted before taking a deep breath and continuing to blow up the mattress. No one in this family has seen that god forsaken pump in years now. His parents always said they’re gonna buy a new one, but no one remembered to do that until the mattress was needed again. Which was always too late. 

Actually, how did his inventor parents not have a pump in the lab?

All this blowing was making him dizzy. He paused and took a look at the barely half blown mattress spread across his lap and the floor. This was going to take ages.

The fact that Tucker was laughing at his misery didn’t make it any better.

‘’Don’t faint on me dude.’’ he chuckled from his position on the bed. He was watching Danny struggle while scrolling on his phone and refused to help him whatsoever. ‘’You’ve got so pale in the past 5 minutes, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.’’ 

Danny would punch him if he didn’t think that his giggles were adorable. And also because he was wearing glasses. You don’t punch people with glasses. 

‘’Actually, why am I doing this?’’ he asked instead, raising the corpse of a mattress by its valve. ‘’It’s your bed for today.’’ 

‘’Because if you don’t provide me with a comfy place to sleep I’ll just steal yours.’’ he said that while cuddling up to Danny’s pillow like it belonged to him.  ‘’But here, I can help you stay awake.’’ with an evil grin he shoved his socked foot right in front of Danny’s nose.

‘’wHa- DUDE-’’ Danny yelled startled. It reeked so bad. ‘’Get it out of my face, do you want me to fully die?’’ he pushed the foot away but Tucker just moved it back in front of his face. While Danny was busy wrestling with his leg, he swiftly took off his other sock and threw it at him unexpectedly missing his head by an inch.

Nevermind the glasses. This was clearly a declaration of war.

Danny turned intangible to phase through the attacks. The moment Tucker realized what was going on he retreated, rolling off the bed from the other side.  He barely managed to escape before Danny threw himself on the bed sheets that Tucker was occupying just a second ago.

‘’CHEATER!’’ Tucker screeched while he scrambled to his feet. He ran to the desk chair and put it in between them like a shield. As if that could stop someone who can phase through solid matter.

Actually, in this house it was quite a safe assumption to have. Nevermind.

Danny was about to give chase, but stopped when out of the corner of his eye he spotted something laying on the bed.

‘’Oh no, would you look at that.’’ he said smugly, picking up Tucker’s beloved phone and showing it to him. ‘’What’s this?’’

‘’...No..’’ Tucker’s eyes widened at the sight of his poor little electronic device in the hands of enemy.

‘’Looks like your phone…’’ Danny teasingly turned the phone in his hand as if studying it.

‘’Danny...’’’

‘’Would be a shame if someone… hm I don’t know… posted something embarrassing onto your techno geek forums…’’ 

‘’You wouldn’t dare…’’ 

Danny just smirked at him and started unlocking the screen. Honestly Tucker did this to himself by letting Danny know what his passcode was. And by sticking his stinky sock into his face.

‘’NO.’’ 

Before he even managed to sneak a glance at Tucker’s unlocked phone he was being tackled by his best friend. He stretched the arm holding the phone out and used the other one to keep Tucker from reaching out. 

‘’Give it back!’’ 

‘’No, I don’t think so.’’ he laughed. He had half a mind to phase the phone into the wall, but before he got to do it Tucker jabbed him in the hips. Hard.

His grip on the phone faltered for a small second, but it was just enough for the other boy to steal it back. 

‘’HA! I WIN!’’ he threw his hands out in victory and started coddling his phone. ‘’Don’t worry my sweet child. I won’t let that menace touch you ever again.’’ He didn’t even notice that he was pretty much sitting on said menace’s lap. 

Danny did notice though. He felt his cheeks warm up while he stared up at his best friend.

Should he say it now? 

…

But they were having fun right now. He can’t do it while they’re having fun. What if Tucker didn’t feel like having a serious conversation right now? It was silly goofy time…

But it was always either silly goofy time or serious ghost related issue time…

So was this a right moment after all?

It didn’t feel quite right.

No moment will ever feel right, Danny. His sister’s annoying voice rang out in his head.

Right.

‘’Uh… Tuck-.’’ he tried, but no more words came out as his throat closed up. He could hear how his heart started beating faster. His core following right after by vibrating uncomfortably out of sync. A sudden and unexpected dread overcame him out of nowhere.

What the hell.

‘’Yeah?’’ Tucker looked down at him finally realizing what position they were in. He blushed as well and quickly moved to sit beside him instead. 

Danny barely noticed though. He still struggled with finding his voice, not understanding what was wrong.

Why couldn’t he just say it? He wanted to tell Tucker. He always planned on doing it. He wasn’t afraid to tell him about his feelings.

…right?

‘’Uh… Danny? You good man?’’ he heard him ask. His voice was filled with concern. Danny would feel bad for making him worry if he wasn’t busy trying to sort out his feelings.

Tucker was very important to him. That’s why he always waited for a perfect moment to confess. But he knew he could do it at any time. He wasn’t afraid to say it out loud. 

Or that’s what he thought at least.

He realized now that waiting felt like a shelter. He didn’t have to worry about Tucker’s reaction if he just waited for the right moment. He didn’t have to fret change or be anxious over losing what they had if he just waited instead of fessing up. 

Nothing would ever change if he put it off forever.

‘’You’re actually scaring me man.’’ 

Danny’s eyes focused back on Tucker. He was staring right back at him worriedly. 

‘’Yeah- uh.’’ he cleared his throat. He felt like he was about to throw up, but at least he could speak again. ‘’I just… realized something.’’ Danny said, slowly raising into a sitting position.

‘’Are you okay?’’

Danny looked at his best friend and for the first time wondered if there’s even a slight possibility that he likes him back. Sometimes it felt like he did, but he wasn’t so sure now. 

He never dared to think about it much. Maybe that’s what helped him keep his confidence for so long. He always knew they would be fine no matter what. They were best friends for goodness sake. Some silly feelings weren’t going to ruin that.

…

…Right?

…

Jazz was right. He was scared.

‘’Danny?’’

But she was also right when she said that he just needs to do it. He can’t hide it forever. It wouldn’t be fair to Tucker. Just say it out loud. Rip the bandaid off. Now or never.

Just look him in the eyes and say ‘’I like you.’’

…

Wait shit he actually said it out loud.

‘’What?’’

Danny quickly hid his face in his hands. Curse his impulsiveness. He didn't get to overthink it fully yet!

The room was quiet. It felt like neither of them were breathing. Which Danny probably actually wasn’t, since he didn’t need to. It was hard to tell when the silence slowly suffocated him.

He had to finish what he had started though. He was a big boy, he could do it.

After what felt like years, but was probably only a minute, Danny finally took a deep breath and lifted his head.

‘’I like you.’’ he repeated with a little more confidence. It took a lot to stop his voice from shaking. ‘’As in… you know.’’

He chanced glancing at Tucker’s face and saw his friend’s shocked expression. His mouth agape and eyes wide staring right back at him.

Danny looked away.

‘’What?’’ Tucker asked again softly, cocking his head to the side.

‘’It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way I just- I just needed to say it because well I-’’ he was interrupted before he could stutter any more.

‘’No. No no no. It's fine, I just….’’ a quick glance back at Tucker made it clear that he was unsure of what to say as well ‘’...You just surprised me, is all. Did you… realize this now or…?’’

‘’Pft. No.’’ he said like it was obvious. ‘’… I… I’ve- uhm it’s been like this for a while and I.. I wanted to tell you for a while too, but… turns out I was scared. And that’s what I realized now.’’ he explained lamely. 

‘’You realized you were scared to tell me…now?’’

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’And right after realizing you were scared… you went ahead and did it…?’’

‘’...Yeah..’’

‘’What.’’ Tucker laughed a little bit. ‘’You’re dumb.’’ 

Danny didn’t waste a second throwing a pillow at his face. ‘’You’re dumb.’’

Tucker laughed a little bit more, but Danny could hear a slight nervousness in his voice. They were quiet for another second, but it was only getting more awkward again.

He told him. It took all his courage (or more like impulse) to say it out loud and he did. What else was he supposed to do? This was not how he imagined it to go at all. He was supposed to be confident god damn it.

Tucker looked like he wanted to say something, but struggled. Great, Danny made him uncomfortable.

Good job, Fenton. You ruined it.

It was time for his favorite coping mechanism. Ignore it and pretend nothing happened. 

‘’Anyway… uh… gotta finish …with the mattress.’’ he started climbing out of bed, picking up the abandoned piece of vinyl monstrosity.

Tucker didn’t say anything. He just continued looking at him as Danny sat down on the floor, back turned to the bed, so he didn’t have to look at him.

It was another few minutes of silence. The only sound being Danny slowly blowing up the mattress and some small fidgets from Tucker.

Ancients, he shouldn’t have said anything. Should’ve just kept it to himself. And now Tucker had to spend an entire night here too. Should he offer him an escape? Offer to fly him home so he doesn’t have to be here and be awkward with Danny? Or would that be more awkward?

Really he should’ve at least waited until morning. No such thing as the right moment, screw you Jazz. He could think of at least 3 better moments than this.

‘’Danny?’’ Tucker said weakly. Danny flinched a little bit at the sound of his voice, but slowly turned around to face him.

‘’Yeah?’’ 

They once again stared at each other for a while. This time Tucker broke eye contact first.

‘’I-uhm… like you too…’’ 

…

What.

It was Danny’s turn to be shocked. He just continued staring. Blinking. Absolutely dumbfounded. 

‘’Oh. Uh… Cool.’’ he replied like an idiot.

Tucker nodded slowly, gaze still directed elsewhere.

‘’Yeah…uh… cool.’’ 

A pause.

Tucker picked on his fingernails.

Danny played with the valve of the mattress.

They heard a car drive past, right under the opened window outside. A muted explosion sounded from the lab.

The phone they were previously fighting over chimed with a new notification.

‘’God this is so awkward.’’ Tucker muttered, followed by another nervous laugh.

‘’I KNOOOW.’’ Danny whined, slamming his head face first onto the bed. He dropped the mattress to tug at his hair. 

‘’Why are we so awkward?’’ Tucker asked. Danny could hear him anxiously playing with the bedsheets now.

He lifted his head back up, putting his chin on the bed instead.

‘’I don’t know man.’’

It turned out he didn’t screw up after all. Apparently they both liked each other. 

He felt relief flooding him when his brain finally registered what this meant. His heart was still beating loudly in his chest, but at least the vibrations of his core became softer. Almost like a very quiet purring.

He liked him back. They liked each other back.

So why were they being so awkward about it? Both of them knew now how the other felt. It shouldn’t be awkward anymore.

But on the other hand both of them were also clueless nerds with little to no experience in dating, too shy and afraid to initiate anything.

At least they were afraid together.

Danny took a chance and very slowly reached his hand out to Tucker’s. The other boy flinched a bit when their shaky hands made contact, but instead of retreating he just awkwardly adjusted the position, so they were softly holding hands.

Danny smiled at Tucker and he smiled back. 

It was something new for them both, but they’ll be fine. They’ll figure this out at their own pace. Small steps and all.

Before Danny could voice his thoughts Tucker pulled on his hand and pushed his sock under his nose again, laughing maniacally. 

‘’EW TUCKER. Way to ruin the moment!’’ Danny yelled laughing and threw himself on the other boy.

‘’You were being too awkward!’’

‘’Says Mr. Confidence!’’

Yeah, they will definitely be just fine. 

They wrestled again. Maybe it was still a bit awkward. Maybe they were more aware of the other's movement or where and how they touched. But it was fine. Danny felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest. And judging by the genuine smile on Tucker’s face the feeling was mutual.

When they got tired of playing around, they laid down on the bed and talked a bit more under the cover of darkness with Danny’s glow in the dark stars acting as a source of light. (They’ve had so many sleepovers at his house that even Tucker learned to ignore the big, bright FentonWorksTM sign casting neon light from the window by now. Only the stars mattered.)

They fell asleep like that, the god forsaken half-inflated mattress laying forgotten on the floor. 

And when they woke up the next morning, cuddled up to each other, everything finally felt right.

…

‘’Dude, is that you purring?’’ Tucker gave a half suppressed laugh. Danny only hit him with a pillow in response.

[seriousbrat]

Ah, so glad you answered them, it did pick up my mood.

One could argue that James is the one who can't flirt to save his life, seeing that it was he who canonically decided to shoot his shot while tormenting his suitor's best friend. But alas, I prefer to think that he was generally more charming than that. Also worth remembering Peter seduced every single classified piece of information about the Triwizard Tournament out of Bertha. Sirius may call it pathetic, but some people like a guy who hangs on every word you say and thinks the sun shines out of your ass. Maybe in his maturity he mastered and refined the art of simping.

I can see that Remus would flirt accidentally. I think he'd be so utterly convinced nobody would or should ever like him that he'd say suggestive things without even registering the effect they may have on people. Stuff like "let's hang out just the two of us" or "I can take you to see the grindylows" and genuinely mean he wants a quiet platonic hang-out, or to show someone a cool water demon.

I actually had two more questions, but as I wrote them, I realised they were answered in your fic! One of them was who was the most likely to have an affair with a muggle (I don't want to spoil this for anyone), and the other one was who was the most likely to have exciting summer flings. My hot take that I'll leave you to agree or disagree is that I think Remus would do most of his (very scarce) dating during the summer. People with commitment issues always seem to choose dates with obvious obstacles that will eventually justify ending the relationship (like dating someone who lives really far or is always busy). I think Remus would do that to ease his own guilt for daring to go out with someone. So brief summer romances that he can forget all about and pretend it was someone else would suit him fine. Hah, look at me, blabbering on. I'll have to go think of more questions for you now, but it may be that I finally exhausted them.

I'm glad to hear it helped a little! Hope things are better ❤️

I will say I think circa fifth year James would not have been good at flirting, because let's face it, few 16 year olds are, and especially when it came to Lily he probably had no idea how to approach her so it all went terribly. He was pretty charming, though, and likely got better as he got older.

Great point about Bertha Jorkins and Peter!! I definitely think this is something that would have come with age, though, and with no longer being an awkward teenage boy. I've always written Peter as very observant so he probably picked things up throughout the years, and I think his ability to ingratiate himself was definitely something he'd learnt early on. Btw I absolutely love the idea of Peter winning Bertha over through being a massive simp, that makes SO much sense.

About Remus-- I think that makes sense! I don't know how much socialising he'd be doing with Muggle girls in his town, but maybe if he was dragged along by Hope to a summer fete or something he'd meet a nice girl and they'd go out a couple times! I still think he'd feel incredibly guilty about it all. Without spoiling anything, Remus has got a little mini-romance coming up in this next part, actually!

[notmeowse]

💜 this fic has huge spoilers for Astarion’s ending! 💜

Word Count: 1550-ish

Characters: Custom Tav, Astarion

A certain version of Astarion’s ending had me feeling some kind of way, and I wanted to get some practice writing his perspective before I leap into a full-blown fic. Shaking off the rust as I haven’t written much at all this summer!

Her gaze had come to torment him, of late. Every single fucking night, she was there; the firelight dancing across her soft features, the curve of her pursed lips, the trace of her jaw. Some internal debate warred inside her, that much was clear, and there could be no doubt it concerned him. Astarion was aware now, more than ever before, of the quickening of her heart when he spoke her name, or the blood that rushed to her cheeks when they met eyes. How transparent she seemed, so desperate for him, for his attention, for his love.

How he loved it.

How he reviled it.

He knew Anora would never turn for him, never take that final plunge into eternity. It just wasn’t who she was. Yet that question lingered in her brow, furrowed as ever, and her easy smiles no longer graced him with their presence: Would he still love her, and the years she had to give?

He truly didn’t know. The thought seemed only to pass through him, rather than take root; he could hardly cling to the idea before it was drowned out by the symphony of blood, pumping through oh so very many bodies. Practically begging to be drained. But more than anyone, he wanted her. Her presence, her blood, her soul. Disentangling those desires had proven… difficult, if not impossible. His preoccupation with her had taken something of a turn since his ascension; he was consumed, in no finer terms, with a need for her to be his. It was worse when she was so near him, as she was now; her heart leaped as she sauntered over to him, beating faster with each footstep. He could practically taste the copper, feel the warmth of it passing his lips. The thought alone brought a lazy smile to his face, and a tightness to his trousers.

“You’ve been distant.” He blinked, and her lovely face swam into his focus. Her heartbeat rang in his ears; it was practically slamming into her chest. Yes, he had anticipated this conversation, waited for her to come to him, begging to be changed. She would be his consort, his beloved, and he was more than ready to grant her such a generous wish. But her next words tumbled out before he could speak. “Ever since you… changed.”

“Have I? I hadn’t noticed… the world turns rather differently, now. A mere daydream feels like an age passed.” He waved a nonchalant hand at her. “I suppose I’ve been rather lost in the splendor of it all.”

And it was true. Disappointment colored her features in slow motion; a downturned gaze, the curl of her lip, the tightness in her brow. His awareness was instinctive now, razor-sharp. She could not hide from him, no one could. Thoughts of her robes blooming with red returned to him, the tender flesh of an exposed neck, mere inches from his waiting lips… her neck. Gods, he was free from vampiric thirst, but this? The desire to drain the life from her, to fully ruin her… it haunted him day and night. He wanted to make her his, to mark her as his own, in body and in soul. He wanted her to bend, to his will and his whim. He wanted her to stop fucking looking at him like that.

“Astarion, I…” she sighed.

What was this hesitation? He had waited somewhat impatiently for her to come to him — he wanted her to be at his side, wanted her to want to turn. But something was off in her features, that tightness in her brow, that set in her jaw.

“I don’t think I can be with you like this. The things you’ve said, your plans for us, together... It isn’t what I want. I’m sorry,” she said.

“What?” He blanched at that, his composure faltering for just a moment. But the mask returned to him quickly, instinctively — he wouldn’t let himself be weak, be affected by this. She would not see it.

“You’re different, you’re not you.” Her words were uncertain, her amber eyes wide. She didn’t want to do this; she loved him. Surely she loved him? She had remained at his side all this time, after all. And the things she had done…

“No, I’m better. I have everything I’ve ever wanted; my freedom, power, control, I can walk in the sun. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

She paused at this, her gaze faltering.

“I wanted to save you,” she said. He knew her thoughts lingered on those seven thousand souls, the legion of spawn she had sacrificed, all for him. He could see their reflection in her eyes, which held that same disgust for him that Sebastian had, mere moments before his death. So she regretted it, then. Regretted saving him, regretted giving him the sun. Something vile twisted in his heart, something that dared him to rip her throat out, here and now.

“And save me you did, darling. Your hands are as bloody as mine. Why play the innocent act now?”

“Don’t fucking throw that in my face, Astarion. I did it for you,” she said. “But now I’m scared that… you’re just turning into him.”

He laughed, a cold and mirthful sound, but her words stirred the rage and hatred that boiled inside him. How dare she say that to him? After everything they’d been through?

“And it seems the ‘real you’ has finally made an appearance, Anora. Who knew you were so hypocritical under that sweet, mewling facade?” He spat the words, mocking her kindness. Her foolishness. He would make her hurt, as she had done him; he wouldn’t take this shit from her, of all people.

“I thought you had at least learned something from our time together. I thought a sacrifice like that would mean something to you. How can it not matter to you, after everything?” Her voice cracked with emotion as she spoke, her eyes growing heavy with tears threatening to spill over. “How have you changed so much?”

“And what lesson should I have taken from this? They were all dead long before we stepped into those chambers, darling. And I’ve gotten everything I ever wanted, I’m exactly who I always wanted to be,” he said, reaching out to her absently. Some pathetic, simpering part of him longed to change her mind, to convince her to stay. To his surprise, she allowed him closer, taking his hand in both of hers, holding it to her like it needed to be safe, be protected. It nauseated him. He sighed, gazing at her through his lashes, putting on some of his best work, if only to convince her to stay. “Now, I have the power to give you everything, in return.”

She reached out with one hand, brushing it against his cheekbone. It seemed a lifetime ago that such tenderness would make him shiver, make him melt into her. How she had coerced him, as easily as he had done to her. It was marvelous, really, how artful she was at this game, even with far less practice.

“I... I miss the man you were. That sweet, uncertain boy who wanted to make a new life for himself. Astarion… I can’t bear the thought of you alone, in that horrible palace. Please listen to me. Please don’t go back.”

He was on her in a moment, gripping her arm with such force that she gasped, her lovely heart threatening to burst from her chest. She seemed frozen in surprise, for just that instant, one hand held to his face and the other held securely to her chest.

“I could make you my spawn right now,” he whispered, leaning into her, mere inches from her lips. “If I wanted to.”

He inhaled deeply, drinking in her scent, her fear. That alone was intoxicating, even dizzying. Something buried deep within him tightened at his own words, a muscle he hadn’t flexed in the days that had followed Cazador’s true death. Something that felt wrong.

“Don’t,” she breathed, her voice high and pleading at first, before she found that fire he so loved. Her next words were a threat, the kind she saved for those doomed to die at her hand. “Don’t make me kill you.”

“Only joking, darling,” he said, straightening himself and letting her go. She flinched as he did so, and he was reminded of the first night he’d come to her, the way her eyes had flitted open just before he sank his teeth into her neck. If he had killed her then, he would have never become this. But he also wouldn’t have had to deal with that hurt in her eyes, the way she held herself as she backed away from him. The ghost of her rested against his cheek, its warmth fading with each second. “And I won’t be alone. Soon the dark halls of my palace will be filled with my children, and all of this festering, pustulent city will be mine.”

“No,” Anora said, taking a long look at him. “No, Astarion. I don’t think you’ll have anything.”

She left him with those words, and for once he had nothing to say to her, no final word to get in. When she woke in the morning, she wouldn’t be his. She never would be again. Her warmth faded from the clearing as it had faded from him; slowly and then all at once.

[fizziepopangel]

A Fizziepop Take: Let's talk about the (soon to be) ex-wife from hell

I’m not sure about everyone, but I personally have always loved villains and morally gray characters. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a lot of fucked up situations where no one was every really the “good guy”, not even the people I loved and trusted…. So I learned early on that bad guys aren’t always bad and even when they are, being bad isn’t always as bad as it seemed to be made out by everything on tv and in books. Having this way of thinking from a young age, it’s no surprise that some of my favorite characters in books and movies tend to be the villains. Now, as much as I love Stolas (and want his relationship with Blitz to work), I’ve kinda into Stella on this ‘I want my husband dead’ trip, and after watching “Western Energy” a few times, I think I figured out why and I can’t be the only one who feels like this, so let’s get into it!.

If you know how most villains are written and portrayed, a lot of them have some sort of reason for doing whatever fucked up thing they're doing. Sometimes the excuse is a tragic backstory, or an unrequited love, or a fear that they just don’t seem to deal with very well, or to gain power over another being/beings or even keep power they already have, in some cases mental illness is even villainized in the media (which sucks since it’s not always portrayed in a realistic manner when it’s used as a reason for someone being "villainous" and ends up stigmatizing an entire group of people who suffer from the illness in ways that aren’t dramatized for the entertainment of the masses.).... But all of these reasons tend to be on the list of the reasons the villain, and the audience, try to justify whatever messed up shit they’re doing…. But here’s the thing, sometimes a person doesn’t have a reason to be an absolute fucked up beyond repair, horrible person, they just like being that way. That’s what we see with Stella.

See, Stella doesn’t have a horrible tragic past to blame her cruelty on. Stolas never abused her, if anything he did his best to try to make their marriage work despite the abuse she put him through for what seems to be the entirety of their relationship. And it seems she’s never even had to smell poverty or what fear would smell like when it’s her own. As of right now, there is no reason for her cruelty that we can see except for pure enjoyment, with her even at one point telling Stolas "I like tormenting you!" when asked why she's still in his house despite having moved out pretty much completely at that point. She enjoys making Stolas’ life miserable and she hates the man enough that she tells her brother that she’d laugh when he dies and even has to be convinced to keep him alive to figure out how to get money from him since she’d likely get nothing when he dies. The woman has no regard for anyone’s life but hers unless she’s making someone else feel beyond miserable.... And, as much as I love Stolas, I love the cruelty Stella processes and how she seems to aim it all toward him, especially because she doesn’t in anyway try to hide the fact that she’s an evil bitch and she doesn't even try to. Whether she’s telling her husband that she likes making him miserable or badmouthing him to friends and family with him standing a few feet away, or even giddily admitting to her brother that she’s hired the assassin that kidnapped and off her husband, the woman has zero shame and as easy as it is to dislike her for actively hurting a fan favorite character, the sheer size of Stella’s metaphorical balls makes me love her. Despite being a ditzy, bitchy ex-wife and a bad mother from what most of us believe, and her literally torturing one of my favorite characters for sheer pleasure, Stella has earned a spot as one of my favorite villains, and moved up in the ranking of my favorite Helluva Boss antagonists. 

The woman is a horrible, cold hearted, monster on the levels she’s been placed on within the show and it's literally shown that it's been that way since she was a child…. And I think that’s what makes her such a good character despite her being written very flatly otherwise. Viv made Stella a character that’s so easy to love to hate, which is something I believe every show needs. I think that’s awesome considering so many people still think that a villain needs to be made; forged in tragedy, warped by trauma, and bathed in fear and heartbreak when in reality, cruelty isn’t always something people are gifted through bad experiences. As much as we hate to admit it, some people just enjoy the way cruelty tastes and hate the way happiness looks on someone who isn’t them. Stella is a wonderful example of a villain who chose to be the way they are just because they find amusement in it. Nothing else. And call me crazy, but I love that for her and I want to see more scenes like in “Western Energy” where you can see that she knows what she’s doing isn’t just cruel, but villainous and she enjoys it. But like every post I make ranting and over analyzing the fictional world of imps and hellhounds and all of this, this is just a Fizzie take on things I probably spend too much time thinking about. But let me know what you think about Stella, and villains in general. It’s always a topic I’m down to see different perspectives and opinions on.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Historical romance with doggy style, please 🙈

Lol I got you. I love a good doggy scene in a sweeping beautiful love story lmao. I feel like doggy style is often written on the page (and onscreen) as being like... less connected or whatever, but I don't know, I think we need more of it, fictionally and probably societally.

(Not all of these are true blue doggy, I shall specify when I can remember)

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas--I think technically it's a "stomach to the mattress" moment versus true hands and knees doggy, but Lisa's big twist to sex scenes is usually the hero flipping the heroine onto her stomach lol. I really like this one because it feels very true to Westcliff and Lillian's dynamic. Specifically, "and you called ME a savage".

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas--Obviously Derek Craven fucks Sara from behind idk why anyone would think otherwise

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare--The famous "fuck her over the desk while making her say his courtesy titles" scene. It's GREAT.

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden--Another "fuck her over a desk" scene, albeit of the more "emotionally tormented" variety.

Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard out 1/9--This has a doggy scene and I think additionally face sitting, and so much fun great stuff. I think at one point he comes grinding against her ass. Which we need to see more of in romance, tbh.

The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley--Pretty sure this has doggy with light bondage.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare--It's been foreeever but I'm pretty sure this has it.

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette--Not only does it have this, but it has this and it is SO. FUCKING. HOT. Like this is a ridiculously hot book, I don't think I give it enough credit. I think he spanks her during? Not sure. More of that in historicals please.

Olivia and The Masked Duke by Grace Callaway--Pretty sure this has it. As does Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl. I mean, most Callaways. Grace writes REALLY good sex scenes, y'all, and is also one of the only historical romance writers I've read who has butt stuff in a lot of her books.

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall--Has doggy with pegging :)

The Recruit by Monica McCarty--The heroine definitely sees him fucking someone else doggy style in the beginning (that said, it's all about him and the heroine... He doesn't come until they make eye contact and she's suuuuper into it). Pretty sure they also do it later due to... changes in her physique.

The Chief by Monica McCarty--The hero being really into fucking her from behind is literally a plot point lol

The Wolf and The Wallflower by Stacy Reid--I mean. He literally operates like a wolf. Fuck yeah he does it doggy

Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard--Bends her over in front of a dinosaur skeleton, iN PUBLIC no less

The Duke in Question by Amalie Howard--Heroine loses her virginity bent over against a tree

When a Girl Loves an Earl by Elisa Braden--The "PUT YER FILTHY SCOT INSIDE YE" scene (I have absolutely zero ragrets re: my love of it)

Scandal's Bride by Stephanie Laurens--Laurens heroes often LOVE hitting it from the back. But I don't know if I've yet read any that are quite as committed to it as Richard, who fucks Catriona like 72 times in this novel, with many of those times being when he has her on her hands and knees or otherwise bent over.

A Rake's Vow by Stephanie Laurens--Pretty sure this happens or a variation of it at least when Patience follows Vane into the solarium to confront him about him seeing another woman, to which he goes "that's my niece actually" while locking the doors, and when she's all "why are you locking the doors" he's like "IT'S A SOLARIUM" because all Cynster heroes know they're in a romance novel

[fabeong]

My Dear Revyn - a letter goodbye(?)

Apparently 2am is the perfect time for my OC Ryesandeii and his hopeless crush on Revyn Sadri to take up space in my brain.

Enjoy this angsty letter, likely written right before Ryesandeii accepted Odahviing's offer of help to reach Alduin, knowing full well he might not return from the confrontation...

Quick shout-out and thank you here to the lovely @thana-topsy, @argisthebulwark, and @nejackdaw, all of whom are joys to see on my dashboard and whose writings are my current inspirations!

***

My dear Revyn,

I hope I am not overstepping with such an address. Over the past months you have been a source of unending joy and warm companionship for me, and not a single journey to Windhelm has been bearable let alone complete without a visit to you.

It would be at the very least rude, and at worst unforgivable, if I did not write to warn you therefore that you may not see me for a while. Or perhaps ever again.

I have spoken little of my apparent destiny as Dragonborn, or even of the effect it has had upon my already tumultuous life. Please do not think this to be a reflection of any distrust in yourself, but rather I have up until now done a shameful amount to avoid this calling and the responsibilities it brings out of little else but sheer cowardice. Perhaps there is some logic in wishing to avoid a fate that demands I face the dragon known best as ‘World-Eater’, and yet I can no longer pretend such foibles justify allowing Skyrim and all those who dwell here to suffer a worse fate than I witnessed levelled on Helgen, so long ago now.

And so I am preparing myself to face this World-Eater. If all goes well he shall never return. Whether I shall is unclear to me. But I have run from my past and my fears for too long, and if there is even the slightest of chance that I may prevent the world from meeting a terrible end then even my meagre effort must suffice.

I hope once more that I do not overstep here, and if it is so then I beg you to cast this letter into the fire and speak no more of it. But I confess the thought of saving you above all served as a final throw of the dice that has committed me to my destined cause, because if whatever sacrifice my pitiful life provides can ensure you live in a world free from endless torment and tyranny then I shall consider it worthy. I have long considered you a dear and close friend, Revyn, and were I a braver mer I would have confessed to feelings beyond friendship. I would confess how I have searched every ruin or forgotten treasure for something that could compare to even half of your beauty, only to come up with nothing capable of it. I would confess how it has long been you that brought me back to Windhelm time and time again, diverting through that bitter cold and cobbled paths to bring you whatever spoils have come my way and indulge in your company. Truly, you are a ray of the brightest sunlight and most comforting warmth in a city with dire need of such goodness.

I can do little more but apologise for my persistent cowardice, if no longer in an apparent heroic destiny than in relationships, that I never could summon these word whilst with you. If they are not something you could accept from me then I once more implore you to cast them aside guiltlessly, and will only beg that you remember me kindly. And if somehow I do return then I promise I shall return to you, and show you the decency of hearing your reply in person.

My friend Karhjo, whom you have seen with me many a time, will return to the caravan and family he travelled with before our paths crossed. I have tasked Meeko to stay with him too, but you know as well as I by now how wilful and of independent spirit that lovable mutt is, and so who among us knows where he may roam? What little else I have remains with Winterhold.

I have not prayed in a while to anyone other than Arkay. I hope he is listening, along with every other Divine and Daedra as I pray for your health, for your family, and above all for the joy you shared so generously with one who deserved it the least.

I remain in life, death, or anywhere in-between, faithfully yours.

Ryesandeii.

***

And no, I'm not sure at which point I decided Ryesandeii's writing style is that of a Regency noble on his deathbed.