#it’s been long enough we can have a fandom renaissance

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

Your posts got me digging through my ao3 bookmarks and now I'm back in my vld brain rot

Gonna go rewatch everything and reminisce about what could have been

I’m a #influencer

Good <3 join me. We are having FUN

And like cultivate a joyous experience, if there’s a point you don’t like the direction the show went at all, just stop watching ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[manicpixiefelix]

head, heart, hand. {Felix Catton/Reader/Oliver Quick}

Part 2.

Summary: Felix and Y/N's first year of university means being more open with how close they are, while perhaps growing a little more distant than Felix would like. Also the Catton family have bestowed Y/N their own title, which Felix hates, and Y/N and Farleigh have a moment of connection over Christmas.

{ masterpost }

Need to Know: They/Them. Explicitly NB Reader. FWB!Reader with Felix, Venetia, and Farleigh in this chapter. Reader is from a well off family but has pretty much been adopted by the Cattons.

Warnings: Smut (reader bottoming but their gender is not made explicit), Degrading language (reader is referred to as as dog & pet)

A/N: 3071 words. i definitely meant to get to the start of their second year/first run in with Oli..... but this chapter got long enough, so instead we'll meet Oliver at the start of the next chapter and instead we get Felix and Reader at university, best friends who hook up shenanigans, Venetia being a pot-stirrer because she likes to rile up her brother, and Farleigh and Y/N bonding and boning. i feel like the pacing is a bit strange so id love some feedback <3 ALSO I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT UK COLLEGE CALANDERS IM SO SORRY LOL

Taglist: @strangemaximoff @renaissance-mama @tsach @malscorner @xhoneymoonx134 @yelchinweasleylothbrok @tarriea @florencediet @butitsbetterifyoudoittoem @belladonnadarksshade @fandom-multiamory @snazzynacho @jubileexoxo @soocore @be-lla-vie @nightingale2124 @willow-sages @null4ndv0id @gracieluvthemoon @day2dream @marvellover98 @navixfr @bitxhinthecomments @daintylovers @alesunsets @noturningbacknow @d0llysposts @alilcloudy @callsignwidow @moviequotes23 @325575 @bonnieblue0606 @osoqueen125 @hot-dino-nuggies @darkness-falls-xo

----

To absolutely no-ones surprise, least of all yours, Felix takes to the social aspects of college like a duck to water. Neither of you missed a single day or night of activities during first year orientation, and you both left the various pubs and bars with a different hook up each night.

Felix sees a poster for a band in town, and crows with laughter as he talks about how his mother would hate if he ever got a piercing, but you know the look in his eye too well, and tell him there's a piercing place a block away.

"God I miss Farleigh," you sigh with a smile, watching him size himself up in the mirror of the tattoo parlour where the piercer had drawn approximate dots to mark his soon-to-be eyebrow piercing.

"Oh he'd love this, wouldn't he?" Felix agrees, grinning from ear to ear, catching your gaze in the reflection. Despite the piercer's reassurance that it doesn't actually hurt that bad, Felix plays up the bit of being concerned, insisting that you hold his hand.

It's easier in this environment to be affectionate. Perhaps its the way that all nights liked to blur together, lips and teeth and tongues and hands, and you find yourself invited to parties and into bedrooms and Felix is in the crowd, pupils wide and drugs in his blood and knowing you can take care of yourself.

Fruit flies mistaking his light in the night for the rot they're used to.

That being said, while of course Felix is gorgeous and the life of the party, your own magnetic aura and love features draw in your own crowd of admirers; you proximity to Felix was merely a perk.

You yourself find yourself blooming at college; with a far stronger sense of identity than you'd had for most of your teenage years, you shed many of your adolescent insecurities and begin to embrace yourself and the people around you as more than just Felix's friends.

"I miss you," he teases, eyes shiny and pupils huge, looking at you with that look that made everyone else weak in the knees. The two of you are crammed too close in a booth at a club, everyone else having left to dance or find something interesting to snort in the bathrooms.

"I'm always around, Fi," you murmur, just as high, lips twisted into a bleary smile, your finger beneath his chin to lift his face to you.

"They love you here," he grinned, lips inches from yours, skin glowing with sweat from the adrenaline and high of the night, "knew they would," it's not especially jealous, more proud, and you sigh against his lips with the kind of warm contentment his praise always brings you.

"Don't care if they love me," you say, very tellingly, voice low and flirty. Anyone could see the two of you, but the unspoken rules of high school had fallen away; the rules of college seemed to prioritise a lack of judgement, especially with the people you surrounded yourself with. Felix giggles, flushing red, leaning into your touch, leaning even heavier against you in the little, otherwise empty booth.

"You miss me, Fi?" You prompt, letting his face go as you wrap an arm around him, drawing you in close to him. Despite his height, he folds himself up to lean into you. Felix giggles again, mostly to himself, clearly shitfaced, without answering, he angles his face up to press a kiss to your neck, "we see each other every day, we still fuck around, we -"

"Do you think I could live without you?" He asks suddenly, and surprisingly frankly. His chin is on your shoulder, eyes wide and demanding an answer. It's not a joke, nor some strange attempt at flirting, and your throat turns dry as the lights spin around you both.

"You're drunk," you tell him gently, "and high."

"Why would I ask that?" He frowns, suddenly, sitting up, as if he's talking more to himself than you, "that's a fucked question actually, sorry Y/N, I shouldn't have -"

"I think it's more about how you feel about it." You tell him gently, "we should get water. You sit here, I'll get it."

You're unsteady on your feet when you head to the bar, collecting two cups of water, almost overflowing, from the end, trying not to think about it all. It didn't matter either way, how he thought or felt about it. It was a foolish, drunken question, it doesn't matter. Right?

Except he's bopping back and forth in his seat, tapping the rhythm with surprising success on the table top, eyes shining in the light where all he seems to look at is you. Felix grin wide and bright, thanks already in his smile before the words reach his lips as you sit back down next to him.

You could live without him, but you know you'd never want to, so long as he'd want you around.

"Think I'd rather die than live without you," he says with little prompting, holding the cup with both hands as he downs half in a single gulp. What?

"What?"

He turns those perfect, brown eyes upon you like you don't already live your life in his shape, like he hadn't validated every choice you'd made since you'd met him. He smiles.

"You're my best mate, you're always good to me and help me with shit and never get mad at all the dumb ideas I have and you've made sure I haven't gotten kicked out of any schools, even if I probably deserved it," he rambles and takes another drink, this time choosing to look out at the nauseating crowd of haze and lights and bodies, "I love you, I don't think I could live without you."

"Is that why you miss me?" Your voice is barely audible above the music, but Felix still hears it. Putting his mostly empty cup on the table, he shoves his shoulder against yours, refusing to let up until his full weight is against you, the two of you toppling down in the booth, him draped over you wearing the absolute goofiest grin. It's a good reminder that you're both incredibly drunk.

"Just miss you."

You stumble out of the bar together, and back to the dorms. Felix is insistent that you stay with him.

"No funny business," he mumbles against your ear, breath hot and smirk in his voice, "promise."

"You couldn't get it up if you tried," you snorted, "whiskey dick." Though he tries to protest, you gently elbow him in the ribs and he sulkily admits that you're probably right. Still, in the warmth of his room and the two of you stripped to your underwear, it's kind of irresistible to not make out like teenagers for a good while. You get you both glasses of water to put on the nightstand, and Felix tells you he loves you while on the brink of sleep.

"Love you too, Fi."

"Couldn't live without you, meant it," he hiccups, cracking an eye to smirk up at you from where he's splayed out on the bed, "probably."

"Don't think I could live without you either," you shuffle yourself into the bed beside him, letting him roll over to wrap an arm around you, "even if you are a fucking wanker sometimes," you grin, and hear him laugh into his pillow.

Felix has more game than anyone you've ever met without even trying, stealing and breaking hearts from all areas of the university. You watch it happen with amusement as you find your own slew of pretty guys and girls to keep you company when you feel like it. Still, for all the charisma and charm Felix had been blessed with, his touch-starved nature becomes both a blessing and a curse when he finds himself drunk and tactile and desperate for touch.

A desperate, affection Felix loses all of those carefully-curated social barriers that the two of you had put between yourselves as teenagers in public. Girls are more open and supportive around here; perhaps you should be offended, that many, once they learn he's prone to clinging to you, to kissing you, they end up rationalising it. It doesn't count.

Or perhaps they think they can shift the affection to themselves. Felix always learns to be more affectionate to them, but will find himself with you more often than he's not.

And those girls don't even know about the sex.

"I think about you," he huffs between short, jagged breaths, with you bent over the end of his bed, "is that weird?"

His latest breakup isn't even twelve hours old yet, but when you'd showed up at his room with a six-pack of beers and the offer to let him vent, he'd taken it without hesitation. While they hadn't been going out for long, she'd been pretty, but an apparently lousy fuck. When you'd jokingly offered to remind him what a decent lay was like, Felix had genuinely jumped at the chance.

"A bit - ah," you mused for a moment, hips rocking back to meet his in a pleasant rhythm. He takes a pause to tap one of your ankles with his foot, and you adjust your stance to be a bit wider, "what context? Just in general - fuck, Fi, there," and you find yourself lost for words as he presses his hand against the small of your back. His pace remains steady as he fucks you, and you obliging lean further down; he knows you well, know how to fuck you just the way you both enjoy.

Then you're in his bed, straddling him, riding him with his hands on your hips, your thighs, bouncing as his nails dig pleasantly into your skin.

"Think about me?" You finally continue, breathless, and something about the way he holds you steady, lets you pause as he laughs, flushed cheeks growing even more read, makes you grin too, "you mean like this, don't you?" And you rolled your hips, eliciting a groan from him that was like music to your ears.

"Shut up," he'd laughed, giving you a squeeze, unable to meet your gaze.

"Did you ever call out my name?" You lean down, across him, and for a moment his hands slide up your body to wrap around your neck, bringing you in for a gentle kiss.

"Thankfully not."

"Still, those poor girls," you teased.

"Poor me," Felix argued, "having to try and power through terrible sex while thinking about someone who's not even there, just because I know you're better at it," and he played at pouting for a moment, looking for sympathy.

"You really didn't have to tell me all this," you laughed, sitting back up and setting a gentle pace, smiling down at him, "you're such a perv." When his fingertips trail down your body, a shiver runs down your spine. There's this look in his eyes for just a moment, something knowing, something teasing, something you'd seen on occasion that made you feel so wanted and seen and -

He likes you knowing.

"You gonna give me something to think about?" That tone of voice, the teasing, the faintest hint of authority, like he's pretending like he doesn't know all the ways you'd debauch yourself if only he asked.

Venetia gets you a collar for Christmas, and Farleigh's already been kicked out of several universities by the time your first Winter break had arrived.

"Oh Pet, that's so cute," Elspeth coos at the designer, velvet collar that Venetia had smugly handed over while Felix had scowled, "is that Cartier?" Much to Felix's dismay, Elspeth and Sir James have apparently taken to calling you Pet as a pet name. He blames his sister entirely.

"Pet's easier, sweetheart," Elspeth had tried to argue when you'd sat down at your first breakfast of the Winter break at Saltburn, and she'd asked Duncan 'don't forget about our dear pet'. Naturally Felix had frowned the entire time while arguing with his parents, who insisted it's easier to use Pet than a whole new set of names and pronouns.

"It's been years mum, how have you not adjusted?" He demands, while you have shrunken in your chair and tried to divine life's secrets from your breakfast.

"What do you think, Pet?" Venetia said with a venomous kind of sweetness. Looking up at her, she's wearing this smug kind of smile, directed not at you but at Felix next to you. When you look to him, you see Farleigh across the table trying to hide his amusement in several pieces of toast eaten with no break in between.

"I think," you paused, looking past an annoyed Felix to his mother at the head of the table, "that if you want to call me Pet, you can, I think it's sweet, but please don't expect Felix to refer to me as such," you said with a surprising amount of firmness. Then after a beat of surprise from the rest of the table, you took a deep breath, "and for events and guests, I really wouldn't appreciate being introduced as such."

"Of course," Elspeth quickly amends, adding, "Y/N," for good measure.

"It's a pet name, Pet," Sir James gives an awkward little smile, nodding in agreement. Farleigh met your gaze for a moment, and you could see only the bread was keeping his laughter from spilling out. Beside you, Felix relaxes, and finally you look at him. Dark, serious eyes, with something grateful shining faintly in the morning sun.

Of course you let him throw Venetia's collar gift in the fire in front of her, despite her protests.

You get used to the sweet way the Cattons refer to you as Pet; as much as Felix despised it's connotations when it came from his sister, there was something comforting, something almost secure about the way the whole family had picked it up so easily.

"Was wondering where I'd find you," Farleigh's voice is warm while you're raiding the expansive kitchen for some kind of easy midnight snack. You could have asked one of the many staff members who reside on the property, but you hadn't wanted to bother them over probably some crisps.

"Farleigh!" You light up upon hearing his voice, turning, refrigerator door still open in your hand. He approaches, and you close the refrigerator, hugging him tightly, "oh this is great, it's been so long since it's been just us!"

"Darling pet," he says with a surprising amount of gentleness.

"You should come to Oxford, Fi and I miss you terribly," you tell him, leaning into his touch with a sincere smile as he holds your face gently, while you still hold him is a loose embrace.

"I've already been accepted into another college; you'll be fine without me," and he grins, kissing you on the nose, pressing a kiss to each cheek, "pet." He adds, almost to himself, and your face falls as you think about what he'd said.

"Everything's better with you," you insist, "and you'd love it; we could party like we did that Summer in France, but every weekend -!" Farleigh cuts you off with his lips against yours; you can taste the sweet smile he's wearing before he deepens the kiss.

Later, in Farleigh's bed, bathed in moonlight and the afterglow, you light up a cigarette and open his window.

"Fucking freezing," Farleigh mutters.

"Sorry," but you don't close the window. Silence stretches out between you both. You hope Farleigh enjoyed himself, hope he's happy -

"You don't need them," he says quietly, staring up at the ceiling. After a moment, you breathe out a lungful of smoke and turn to him with a frown, "this family; we all know where you're from. You don't need them." There's something strange about his tone, clearing his throat when he finally looks at you, "but you still want them to love you."

"They're good to me," you finally say, dropping your gaze as you reach back to offer the cigarette, "to us," you tell him, and he hums with the smoke in his lungs. Then, taking back the cigarette, you inhale the sour-sweet smoke and tap off the ash off the window sill.

"I'm not their fucking dog, Farleigh," you mumble, surprising frustration escaping you, anger you hadn't even realised you were holding on to.

"I know, pet," he says softly, pressing a kiss to your bare shoulder, "you'll let them think they have you kept, but you're not their dog, I know."

"I like you, Farleigh," you say with a faint smile, leaning back to see the way he's grinning too, "and I love you a bit as well I think."

"I know, I love you too, Y/N."

"We miss you a lot." There's something about the quiet that follows your words that you know all too well; Farleigh's about to tease you for something. Probably Felix related.

As if on cue;

"Does he know you like being his dog?" Grin widening, Farleigh gives you a slight shove, though the truth of his words has you hiding your own embarrassed smile.

"He thinks it's an insult to me, which is sweet of him," you chuckled, and Farleigh eases the cigarette from your fingers, "but it's like he has no idea the effect he's had on me for over a decade now. Yeah, I'm my own person, I have hobbies and friends outside of him, but -"

"You're a service bottom and desperately in love," Farleigh cuts in with a surprisingly sage tone, nodding like he hadn't absolutely called you out. Shocked with his vulgar kind of accuracy, you practically shove him out of the bed, laughing that he needs to fuck off, and the discussion is left at that.

The next morning, sitting down to breakfast, Duncan quietly informs Sir James that there had been a disturbance during the night. Immediately you throw Farleigh under the bus and declare that it's his fault.

"Hey!" He shouts back, grinning, "it takes two to fuck in the kitchen!" Which has all four of you, Venetia, Felix, Farleigh, and yourself, cracking up with laughter as Elspeth and Sir James were exasperated by your collective antics.

There is so much affection in Felix's eyes in this moment, this simple, strange moment of admitted sexual deviance. Except it's never felt like that to either of you. It's one of the ways you've both shown love, and he loves that you love those closest to him.

And you love to make him happy.

Farleigh was right, not that you'd ever tell him.

[temporaryrose200]

Hello sweetie! How are you? Firstly, let me tell you that your blog aesthetic is simply ✨awesome✨

I'd like to request headcannons/oneshot (whatever you prefer) with William J. Moriarty, having a relaxing bath with his fem! s/o.

Thank you very much, have a good day

(´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`)

✩Lavender✩

✟pairing: William James Moriarty x Fem Reader

✟genre: Fluff

✟warning: No use of Y/N, Not proof read

✟One-Short

✟fandom: Moriarty The Patriot

✟a/n:Hello I’m doing really good and thank you! I really love Renaissance paintings and just aesthetically pleasing blogs:) Anyway sorry, this took sooooo long. I’ve just had no will to write things much for the past few months. This request tho was really fun to write after months of writer’s block. Hope you enjoy<3

Hearing the door creek open, William looked up from his paperwork, watching as he saw your head peek out from behind the wooden door. Upon entering William’s office, you strolled over to where your husband sat. “And what can I do for my lovely wife?” your husband questioned with one of his charming smiles that would make any woman swoon over him.

William had been very busy these past few weeks, from going to social events, working at the university, and his other job…So after growing tired of waiting for your husband to finally be available, you took matters into your own hands.

Placing both your hands upon William’s shoulders you began slowly massaging. Feeling how tense the man in front of you was, a pout makes its way on your face. “My dear, you’re so tense” you gasped, placing a hand over your ‘frown’. “Why don’t you take a break?”

Gazing down at the unfinished paperwork, William thought for a moment. It couldn’t be so bad taking a small break and anyway, how could he say no to his darling Wife? Not when you’re staring at him with your doe eyes. “I suppose I could take a small break,” William muttered but it was loud enough for you to hear it. Joy overtook your body and you couldn’t help but let out a squeal of excitement.

Wrapping an arm around your husband’s neck, you couldn’t help but pepper kisses on his cheek. William sat there with a pleasant smile, marvelling at the affection. Moving towards the blonde man’s ear, he could feel the outline of a smirk against his skin. “How about we have a bath” you suggested.

With a raised eyebrow William turned to you, a viable smile making its way on his lips. “We?” Your husband repeated, seeing if he heard what you said was right. Once William saw you nod to his question he stood up from his comfy leather chair. “Well then” William started, clapping his hands together, your husband giving you one of his closed eye smiles. “Lead the way my dear.” You didn’t need to be told twice, grabbing William’s arm, you lead the man down the corridors of the manor towards the bathroom, that you had set up only 5 minutes ago.

Opening the door, William was met with the relaxing scent of lavender. Feeling the stress of the day being washed away and replaced with tranquility. Scented candles flickered in the corners of the room and scarlet rose floated in the warm watered tub. Guiding William into the bathroom, shutting the door while doing so, you strolled over to a bucket. Hearing the sound of rattling of ice, William knew exactly what was going to be inside the mystery bucket. Spinning around to face your husband, you held two empty wine glasses and the bucket with an wine bottle sticking out. Picking up the bottle, William began observing it. “45 year old red wine, good choice my dear” he smiled, handing you back the wine.

It was finally time to get undressed and unwind in the sweet scented bath.

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

Five years ago today,

I was sixteen years old, and had accidentally deleted my entire tumblr account the day before. With me trying to start anew on here, I had joked a few days before with a mutual that I had been sharing so much Def Leppard stuff in the past week, that I should just make a Def Leppard side blog.

This mutual said "you'd have my full support", and that was kind of all I needed.

I was laying in bed five years ago tonight, talking with this mutual, and we were on this same topic again. I told her I was actually gonna make a Def Leppard side blog, and that's exactly what I did.

Part of me knew this seemingly dead fandom needed a renaissance, as I couldn't find any memes or new content or fanfic or whatnot. And even though I was only into them for about a week, I was full-blown obsessed, and needed a place to gush and gush to my heart's content.

When I was picking the URL for my new blog, I wanted it to be memorable and something I would want to keep forever- I wanted it to be something that sounded good in case it got popular. I was ambitious to gain attention because I wanted this new fandom to notice me so we could all go crazy over this band together. I knew I wanted to combine my two favorite DL songs- Hysteria and Photograph. One URL I considered was all-ive-got-is-hysteria, and I honestly can't remember any others?

In the end I thought the "I don't want your-" "Hysteria" was funny enough and sounded catchy, and thus my obsession had its own property.

And it was through this obsession that the rest of my life began. It was from here onwards that I got fully into the classic rock culture; I started a record collection, I started teaching myself guitar, I started collecting artifacts, I made SO MUCH fan art, my fashion sense changed, my ENTIRE music taste changed, I became a walking encyclopedia, I started making a dozen and a half amazing friends completely online, I started going to concerts, I started dabbling in concert photography, I started meeting celebrities. I really wouldn't be who I am today without Def Leppard and this stupid little side blog I made.

And I thank all one thousand and thirteen of you for wanting to obsess with 16 year old me over our beloved boys over the past 5 years!! Can you believe it's been that long??

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

ngl when i came back to tumblr i was forcibly pressured into adopting certain headcanons and relationship dynamics and ships from the sonic fandom. and i hold this grudge VERY strongly. because (un)thankfully, i’m a longtime fan and can at least be free to my own interpretations having been here long enough. like, i can VOUCH for something being popular at another time because i saw it myself. i’ve played all the games at some point or other, i read archie and fleetway albeit it’s been a while, and i have a good grasp on lore.

but what about new fans? what about the people who DONT get to choose. who DONT know that their headcanons are valid and fun and work with other canons. when you have popular fanon dictating what is acceptable and what isn’t, you have new fans who feel scared to say things like “oh i always interpreted silver and blaze to be a romantic pairing” or “i take shadow’s physical age literally and headcanon him as 50” because a) it isn’t what everyone else says and b) there are people who will attack them for this.

and look, i get that this isn’t the biggest issue in the world, it’s just fandom stuff. but god, it bothers me how 2022 was the sonic renaissance and we have all these new fans joining, an entire generation, and before they even think about or manage to experience the games and comics themselves, they’re being told to not read archie because penders is bad, and that amy has comphet, and shadow’s game sucks. stuff like that. and to just embrace the fanmade content that’s there and popular, because it’s cute and wholesome and the angst isn’t problematique.

idk, it feels wrong. it bothers me a lot. i love when people get to make their own little worlds with new headcanons and variety, because even if i don’t agree, i like that freewill and expressionism and personal touch. sometimes i feel like we don’t get that anymore. i know it wasn’t a perfect place in the fandom’s past, it was actually just as aggressive at times, but i expect more from the future fanbase when it comes to free expression and the coexistence of different fanon interpretations. but i guess i expect too much lol

note: i’m not proship. i have shipping boundaries and this isn’t a dogwhistle for people to make gross shit like the stuff you see when you google cream and vector without safesearch on. THAT is fucked up. i’m talking about having literally any opinion that isn’t squeaky clean aka espio is… a morally grey person who is arrogant, hotheaded, violent, and wishes death on people… because that’s canon and i like it and stuff like that. not everything is cute y’know?

[chayacat]

Hideout, Sweet Hideout. (Oneshot Fiction)

Fandom: Road96

Characters:  Stan, Mitch, Sonya

Context: After several weeks of work, our two robbers can finally return home, to their hideout, renovated to new. A gain in comfort that can be achieved and a space where they can store and repair their motorcycle ... and plan their next crime safely. And discuss a little between closed doors.

***

It’s difficult for a Petrian to not know his country in every nook and cranny, since during their "vacation" people could not leave the country. Every mountain, every forest, every dark corner, abandoned tunnel is known and noted on the map. Yet there is one place, one and only place that no one knows. A closed road that should have served as an outpost but was abandoned after a landslide. Hidden by a forest road, next to a small river, stood a building, surrounded by trees that gradually rose from their ashes, which was once in ruins. Yes, in the past. Because now this building that was supposed to be the outpost, just like the trees, has also undergone a renaissance. The walls of the building are white, a simple color, sober, but which always gave charm.

It had a ground floor, two floors and at the top, which at the base, was to be an observation point, a kind of terrace. Yes, now this building, potential symbol of Tyrak’s power, has become a simple, but adorable uninhabited house...

“Phew! It feels good, to take a good hot shower”

Well, almost uninhabited. Because it’s in this place, well isolated from everything, where no one will ever be able to find them, according to them, that live a duo ... Not like the others. Yeah, Stan and Mitch live here. How did they find this place? That's a very good question... of which even they don't really have the answer anymore. Mitch will certainly tell you that it was luck, Stan will say that it was his very good sense of direction that guided them to this place. Go find out which of the two is right.  

Stan stepped out of the shower, wrapping a long black towel around his waist while stretching his arms to the sky. For his height and age, one could say that his physique was more than correct. Not too fat, not too skinny, and a rather normal musculature. Without his robber's outfit, Stan was really a handsome boy, just like his brother. If only someone could convince him, just one day, to wear something else... the Sanchez brothers would have their little success with women. More they could ever imagine. Mitch tried, more than once, to explain to him that they didn't need to wear their outfits all the time... without success.  

Stan used another shorter towel to dry his hair, then he took the opportunity to look at his reflection in the mirror. He had inherited everything from his father, from the body to the temper. Mitch was more like their mother, even if he had a slightly more imposing body than Stan. But when we looked at him, we saw above all a big teddy bear with a tender heart. That's what got him to be called by Stan: "baby brother." Sonya, well, was the mix of both. Over time, she had learned to assert herself. He styled his short black hair properly and then began to dress quietly. If there's one thing the Sanchez brothers don't have to worry about, it's their facial hair. If Mitch sported a weak, even very weak little goatee, Stan also had one with a very weak mustache. As much to say it clearly, they had only a few hairs, well-disposed however, on the chin.  

Mitch was in the garage, under the motorcycle with goggles on his eyes. The bike still needed repair, it must be said that it’s no longer very young, it has been 10 years that it rushes on the roads, taking our two brothers to the scene of their robberies. She had lived quite a bit. And not often without a scratch. But each time, Stan and Mitch took care of it, repaired it and pampered it. Over time, it had become a bit their baby.

“Well... Luckily, I saw it, otherwise you would have let us go in the middle of the road. How long will you be able to ride huh?” said Mitch sighing.

“I hope enough until we're too old for all that.” said Stan who just arrived, adjusting his hood. “So? No bad injuries?”

“Not really. But if I hadn't put a few keystrokes, some parts would have dropped, as well as the sidecar. After all, we've owned it for ten years.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it. In general, a bike like that, it lasts no more than 5 years. And we managed to do twice as much. Like what, stealing a mechanics manual... It wasn't that stupid.” replied Stan, laughing a little. “Well, let’s get down with business.”

Stan walked to the old office they had kept from their lair. It was in good condition then... Why throw it away? He opened the drawer and took out the road map of the country. On it were surrounded thousands of areas, some were crossed, a sign that they had surely passed by. Stan took a marker and took a closer look at the map.

“Good! This shop here is making a pretty good turnover now! I think that after a good little scouting, we can make it our next target! and we'll fill our pockets! And we will have to escape the police too...” say Stan pointing a spot on the map.  

“Hm hm. Yeah why not.” responds Mitch a little sad.

“...Something’s wrong?” replied the older brother, seeing the younger one looking a bit the other way. “Mitch. You know I'm here for you, and Sonya. If you have a problem with something, you can tell me what it is.”

“It’s just that... Well...Look, I know that you always said that no amounts could make us quit the game Stan but... How long are we going to live like criminals?”

“What?”

“it’s been...since you know what, that we started robbing to survive and... for Sonya's sake. But she grew up and made her own way. We are lucky to be free or to get by every time, but I don't want someone to go to her house one day to tell her... that she lost her brothers for good. And then sometimes... I feel...”

“You feel ashamed because you know that Mom and Dad see us from up there? Yeah, me too.” said Stan, sitting next to Mitch. “Sometimes, I feel Mom and Dad’s gaze from heaven, and if we had the ability of hearing dead people, I'm sure they would be a little angry. Very angry indeed. But like you said, we did it because we had to survive, and do everything so that Sonya could... have at least the minimum. And you're right, we could have largely stopped all this when Sonya went to GNN. But to do what? We were... Already quite famous at that time, and we were at least once in prison, no one would have wanted us. We could have... create our own business too... But here too, no one would have come.”  

There was a long silence between the brothers. a silence that allowed Mitch to analyse in depth the words of his eldest. And he had to admit that Stan was right. When Sonya left to work at GNN, the two Sanchez brothers had made a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. And they went to jail. Even with all the best will in the world, even if with Florres, things were finally getting better in the country, one thing was certain for them: in the eyes of all, their place was in prison. No one would have wanted to hire them, and even if given a chance, in the end, they would have been fired with a bogus excuse. And if they had created their own shop, no matter what services they offered, no one would have come, because of their criminal past.  

“...you right. I must believe that somehow, we were destined to end up like this.” said Mitch sadly.

“No. If we hadn't had to run away, if mom and dad were still here, we'd be very different today. Trust me.” responds Stan.

“I wonder what would have become of us. I think we would have made our lives on our own. Each on his own.”

“Heh. Yeah... I can see you at the head of a restaurant. behind your stove.”

“Oh, come on...” replied Mitch laughing.

“Mitch, you have a talent for cooking! I still remember when you treated me with your soups. You spent your days reading all of Grandma's cookbooks, as well as everything related to cooking and medicine. I'm sure you would have been a great chef.”

“Heh. Thanks. Since we have to be frank with each other... I would have seen you either as a talented mechanic, or a racing driver or.... as a model.”

“Model?? Really??”  

“Come on Stan, you spend as much time as Sonya in the bathroom. And with the physique you have, I think girls would not be indifferent to you. This was already the case when we were teenagers.”

“First, that not true... not totally true. I just take care of my body and my health. We get older and believe me, time will not give us gifts when we start to have white hair. And two, I can say the same for you. More, you are a real teddy bear, and there were girls at school who thought you were too cute. I still remember the Valentine's Day card in your bag.” Replied Stan with a smirk.  

Mitch blushed under his hood and punched Stan in the arm, who was laughing loudly. Oh yes, the Sanchez brothers had little lovers as children. Sonya as well. But they were school loves. Nothing real. This provoked jealousy, especially in the case of the two brothers. Their parents took a little guilty pleasure in talking about it in front of them by the way. If only they realized their current charm...

“At least... There was at least one of the three of us who realized her dreams. Sonya always wanted to be a star. And she has become one.

“And I have two wonderful brothers without whom I would probably not be here.” Said suddenly Sonya behind them leaning on the door with a sweet smile.  

The two brothers turned sharply to catch a glimpse of their little sister and in panic Stan stood up to put the card in the drawer. If they could prevent her from knowing about their next robbery location. But seeing her smile followed by the chuckle, she understood. She stepped off the door and approached her two brothers.

“I would act as if I knew nothing. Promised. Then? Your... New hideout. Do you like it? It's nicer to be warm to sleep, eat and wash than to have holes all over the walls, right?” She said smiling.

“That's for sure... Stan spends more time in the bathroom than I do. I think soon it will overtake you.” responds Mitch with a smirk.  

“Hey!” replied Stan.

“It doesn't surprise me strangely.” said Sonya.  

“Raah forget it. But thanks Sonya. It feels good to have a roof over our head again and not hear animals or thunderstorms. or any sound.”

“And sleep in a REAL bed. I really feel at home.” Mitch pursues.  

“Me too...in some way. It feels nice.” said Sonya.  

“...Home sweet Home. Do you eat with us?”

Sonya smiled as she nodded. The three of them left the room and headed for the dining room, with Mitch going into the kitchen, the two rooms being separated by a small bar. With the radio on, they could hear the information from GNN concluded.

* Remember, next week is the National Day. For this occasion, all the inhabitants will be invited to the foot of the National Mountain. For those who will not be able to travel, our journalists will be on site to film and broadcast this event. It’s also expected that many tourists will arrive from neighbouring countries. GNN wishes you a great day and will see you soon for new information.

Stay alert. *

***

(Happy New Year to all! Who says new year says new beginning, after quite difficult years. I hope, despite the current situation, that you are all doing well, that you have been able to enjoy it to the fullest, and you have been able to achieve some of your dreams and goals! For my part I was able to take the opportunity to rest, and I admit that resuming writing, when you have spent days without writing, it is difficult! But I'm back! I hope you’ll like it like the other ones! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)  

[jamiewrandall]

(2021) Entertainment after isolation: a sudden shift or acceleration of the inevitable?

I wrote this article in 2021 as a piece of A-Level English Language coursework, it reflects on and evaluates the state of entertainment media after and during the pandemic.

Everybody was affected by COVID 19 and the subsequent lockdowns. The restrictions put in place resulted in many things we took for granted changing, amongst these being the way we consume media.

Audiences fulfil many needs by interacting with entertainment mediums however the pandemic changed our priorities. The social impact of a hit show has been amplified far beyond the water cooler, expanding across the internet, but in a world without social events and workplace chat Tweets counted more. An example of this social importance during lockdown can be seen with Marvel Studios first TV escapade, Wandavision, which for all its viewers spawned an inescapable current of rumours and debate which a lot of people seemingly felt the need to be a part of hence Wandavision being 2021’s most pirated show.

It’s been easy to spot trends in a society deprived of anything non covid related to talk about, we’ve seen some surprise viral hit; you must remember watching Tiger King or at least seeing Tik Tok’s take on the Netflix show. It’s not a shock to see outlandish content entertaining people especially with the phenomenon of ‘News Blues’ hitting hard as people tune into weekly broadcasts and controversy.

Through all of this what happens to cinema? The new Spiderman proved that audiences are still willing to venture into the frightening wild as long as you have enough fanfare around a product however if you’re not pushing an action epic it will be a struggle, with the reopening of cinemas in August 2021 only seeing 50% of pre pandemic profits. The return of the entertainment industry as we remember it won't happen, rather an evolved form will take its place.

Television can continue to prosper

COVID restrictions were in force and headlines reported news of disease and social unrest but shows like It’s a Sin and Line of Duty still garnered high viewership even with stories focussing on health and corruption, topics you’d assume had been saturated by current affairs. However, with the suspense carried by episodic dramas and social discourse generated it begins to make sense why people would be interested, and having relatable topics isn’t a bad thing. It’s not only hard-hitting dramas delivering quality entertainment. As identified by the Thinkbox the ‘doing shows’ show of the past have gone through a renaissance with hits like The Repair Shop and Clarkson's Farm taking the instructional, informative style but infusing drama and emotion whilst maintaining some reality. Even with the heralded demise of broadcast television it’s clear people will continue to tune in given that your show has the social impact, relevance, and gravitas to interest viewers. Niche products do still have a place when they can connect more with viewers.

2. Viral Viewing and Cultural Relevance

Not everyone will consume your product based on supposed quality alone, especially when a trip to the cinema could be risky, or its exclusive to a new SVOD service, this requires any release to have some ‘hype’ and with all the spare time people have had to tweet about and meme things we’ve seen even more devoted fandoms and viral successes. This is why unique iconography and memorable musical motifs are even more important when trying to create mainstream content and the mockery of your product not necessarily being a bad thing. Social media trends allowed some releases to transcend their target audiences notably with Squid Game’s popularity on Tik Tok leading it to reach primary school playgrounds despite its 15 rating.

3. Social Connections in the digital world

 As everyone’s day-to-day lives adapted, so that they could be conducted from home, the take up and development of various online platforms was greatly accelerated and it’s no surprise to see companies desperately leveraging this market with new communications features and the elusive but vague promise of “The Metaverse”. These changes are easier to observe in the videogame industry where convergence of social events, general discourse, and entertainment has already taken place inside huge online experiences like Fortnite and Roblox where concerts and even businesses are taking place within them. It's no longer just enough to offer entertainment, audiences will be expecting more of an expansive social experience that fulfils all their needs. As this way of socialising becomes more common, we can hope for enhanced awareness as to the effects and dangers that could come from this future. Though all the events proceeding the news of lockdown in March 2020 have been controversial we all can agree that the restrictions on our lives have irreversibly accelerated some inevitable changes in the media industry and primed us for a future where we become an active audience in all forms of entertainment we interact with. As we move towards this, we can continue to look back on how TV, film and videogames changed and attempted new things as they tried to figure out entertainment after isolation.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here goes!

(And, as is often the case with these, I'll be keeping an eye on my askbox for an Open Question Night. Anything I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game; I do take prompts but am not necessarily very fast at filling them)

Year of the OTP

I'm still behind on all of these, haha...I still have to do the three origfic ones for June (but...honestly, I didn't...really like most of the June prompts, ah well) and all five for July, plus get caught up on August. Goal is to get all of that done by the end of the month, but we'll see how it goes (especially since this month involves the Actual Moving sooooooo yeah)

Other SW Fic

Mostly putting this here to say that Precipice is not dead because I refuse to let it die; granted I haven't been actively working on it as much as I should lately, but I will update Someday, I promise. Unless I end up falling out of the fandom entirely, that fic continue.

BSG Fic

Once again plugging the Big Bang/Mini Bang event! There's still time to sign up! We are particularly low on betas, and could also use a few more artists. So given the numbers I'm not going to participate as an author myself (though I'll beta and probably jump in to podfic). Also the idea I had I'm not sure how to structure it (Zarek character study; the general idea was him looking back on his first arrest as he waits for his execution; drawing some on that great quote of his from Kobol "It's a lot easier to get blood off your hands than on it" or something like that; sort of approaching the questions of how much of his rhetoric does he (still) actually believe; some things about charisma and leading other people to their deaths; I was going to title it 'The Blood of Angry Men'...)

Other projects--aside from the OTP stuff, I am still slowly putting The Other Battlestar together. No real ETA on that, but it is coming. And it is going to be. Extremely Long, lol. Even if I do end it after Pegasus, which is my current plan (because while I have Some thoughts, figuring out how drastically things would shift after that is. A Pain. I can more or less do In Spite Of A Nail between Atia and Kimble to get the fleet in Close Enough to that same position by the time that encounter happens but. After. Man.) But yeah, very long, because...I don't need to cover/rewrite everything, but there's a Good Chunk that does need to be reworked, plus covering those six months from the Pegasus side...It's probably going to be Precipice-length (200-250k) by the time I'm done, lol.

There are always other things noodling around in my head, but that's pretty much all that's sort of Actively In The Works.

(But sign up for the event! Join us!!!!)

Les Mis Fic

Yeah so this is the current primary brainrot, lol. Papa and J... is picking up again; Ari will start learning some things in the next chapter! And will find it way easier to identify J than initially expected, lol.

For the stuff Ari won't be able to learn (due to letters/records being lost, either deliberately or because...just...::gestures at the 19th-century French governments:: ), I'm going to post a companion piece after P&J finishes, working title Provenance.

The other project which I'm hoping to start posting soon is a Groundhog Day AU, working title Acheron. I'm excited for that one but. uh. Definitely heed the warnings when it comes out because. Yeah.

Other Stuff

I'm doing the occasional origfic snippet that's not connected to the OTP fills; plus bouncing back to some of the AtLA projects I started on at the beginning of that fandom renaissance, but nothing super concrete coming up.

But also pod_together! Writing is done, recording is mostly done (I think?), I'm really excited for how this one's turned out. Leverage in the style of Shakespeare, it's a delight. (Three scenes; one with Eliot and Parker set fairly early; one with the whole crew in the Exposition scene; and a soliloquy from Sterling which was actually the first thing I wrote XD)

I also haven't forgotten about Incinctus, especially since Nocturne finally has an actual Trailer. But I think I'm going to need to rewatch the show and get in the right headspace in order to actually update it (which I do want to do! I just. Got stuck on the next chapter that needs to come out, haha...)

fun fact: watching castlevania was actually how i ended up getting actively back into bsg fandom XD

...I think that pretty much covers it! Like I said at the top, Open Question Night, and I'd love to hear about what you guys are working on, too!

also this is a reminder to me to finish putting together the Story Details form/do a reminder post about the first GBB checkin coming soon...

[stylesunchained]

I was looking through my concert pics and videos and it’s just so incredibly weird to realize how much the vibes during Harry’s tours have changed throughout the years. I was lucky to have seen him in 2018, when he only had one album out and the venues were still smaller and loving Harry Styles™️ wasn’t popular on the internet just yet. I remember how incredibly different it was to be in the same room as him then, to hear him sing those songs he clearly loved and connected to so much and how meaningful it was for the fans that were there and had waited years and years to see him.

I had such a meaningful experience with him during those two concerts in my country that along with friends I was crazy enough to fly out to LA to see his last concert of that tour and it was one of the craziest, most fulfilling experiences of my life. The videos I got were shitty, the seats even worse, but I was there and seeing him do Thriwi for the first time because HE refused to leave the stage and say goodbye to us was a moment that really stuck with me throughout the years.

In 2019, I was lucky enough to see him again in two different but very meaningful moments in his career and I watched as he transitioned from the popular boybander to a respected artist and a beloved “celebrity” (I hate the word but it’s the only way to explain it) that moved crowds with his music and the kindness he preached.

But as the years went by, not only did he change and evolve, but his fandom changed too - except they changed in a not so great way. I was fortunate enough to have seen him for LOT a few times and the difference in the crowds across all of the Harry concerts I’ve attended is *shocking*, to say the least. Everything I see now, post the Harry TikTok Renaissance era, is fans competing over who’s getting more clout on the internet by attending the biggest amount of shows, getting the closest to him in pit, getting the most outrageous interaction/reaction out of him or getting noticed by the most amount of people for their choreographies/outfits/whatever the fuck they did that time to get people’s attention.

There’s been a shocking shift in fan behavior that went from gratitude to entitlement. Camping culture also has become increasingly competitive and the same people keep hogging barricade every night and shaming those who can’t or won’t camp for an outrageous amount of time, are taking away other fans chances for a GENUINE interaction with Harry.

It’s really come to the point where people have become more obsessed with the fame they can get out of being at a Harry Styles concert, than the joy of getting to be in the same room as Harry and singing the songs you love so much with him. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning people who post about their shows but it’s the fact that’s so clear that getting the perfect photo or the perfect video to post on the internet for clout has taken precedent over being intentionally emotionally and mentally present, in the moment, sharing that experience with Harry, that breaks my heart. It’s just so sad to me that this is what it’s come to.

What I missed the most when we were all in lockdown and forbidden to be in the presence of other human beings were concerts. The sense of community, of coming together for the love of that artist or band that means so much to you. Of screaming and crying to the songs that made certain moments in your life or gotten you through the most difficult days.

I understand the financial practicalities of the residencies, especially given how much Harry and every artist lost when they couldn’t tour, but I long for the day we’ll be able to go back to the normal type of touring, where everyone can get excited about seeing him and sharing those moments with him and his music instead of clout chasing on the internet. And I hope, for his sake and well being, that he puts his foot down the next time so he can get rest time but also get back to doing more unique things for himself and for his fans.

[mostthingskenobi]

DO YOU LOVE PADME AND PAINTING?!?!?!

We are so excited about tomorrow's podcast episode!! Our dear friend Jennie from Jennie Marie Studio joins us for our first Women on Star Wars roundtable. We have an in depth conversation about Padmé Amidala, a character LeeAnn, Jennie, and I all struggled to like when Phantom Menace first came out. Our minds have all been changed - check out the episode tomorrow to find out how and why!

A STAR WARS ARTIST YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!

For those of you who are not familiar, Jennie is an incredibly talented painter, who, over the past year, has combined her love of Star Wars with her artistic skills. She has been hand-painting votives and planters with elaborate, magical scenes from a galaxy far, far away (and other fandoms like Spider Man, Suicide Squad, and Jurassic Park to name a few). I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her a few times (and I’ve purchased several votives from her, including the iconic duel of the fates, duel of the heroes, and Luke vs Vader in ESB).

The care and detail she puts into every piece blows my mind. Jennie collects reference pieces and has to scale them perfectly to fit on the tiny candle cups that serve as her canvas. Then she painstakingly builds layers of paint, developing the perfect opacity and color blend. She will even scrape away tiny specs of the paint, giving the finished product a starry, glittery, night sky effect, adding beautiful dimension to the scene.

I can’t rave enough about this amazing artist, and I hope you will all head over to her Instagram and give her a follow. You can find her at jenniemariestudio  Keep your eyes open for a long, in depth interview coming out in the next few months. She was kind enough to sit down with Most Things Kenobi for a chat about art, Star Wars, and Luke Skywalker kicking ass at Jabba’s palace (one of the many things we both love and have in common).

PADME FANS PREPARE TO GET YOUR FIX

Tomorrow’s podcast episode is timed perfectly because on Wednesday, Jennie is doing an all Padmé shop drop on her Etsy. You can see a sample of what she’s selling in the photos above. Her hand-painted candle votives are truly breathtaking! And the story/meaning behind this series is wonderful (especially if you're an art history nerd like me!!!). They are influenced by 7 panels painted by Renaissance artists Piero del Pollaiolo and Sandro Botticelli.

[ultraimaginez]

Mornings with the Demon Brothers {Pt.1}

Fandom: Obey Me!

Characters: Lucifer, Mammon, Levi

Warnings: none

A/N: I’ll post Satan, Asmo, Beel and Belphie next! If y’all want the undatables that are now datables lmk.

Lucifer

There is a softness to Lucifer’s sleeping features that you never get to see when he’s awake. 

It’s the only time you can be sure the mental chess game is on pause-- the peace of his relaxed brow and soft lips feels out of place but it’s stunning. 

You didn’t think he could look any more like a renaissance painting come to life and then he has to go and look this prefect unconscious? Unbelievable. Unfair. God *clearly* had favorites.

You may not have been a morning person in the human realm, but in the Devildom you pick up the habit of waking up early enough to watch Lucifer in those few blissful moments before he’s back to thinking cicles around everybody else.

Some mornings you sneak out of bed to make him coffee and wake him with mug in hand.

On those mornings he sits up, pulls you into his bare chest, thanks you in a low, gruff voice still dripping with the remnants of sleep, and sips at his coffee while you curl into him.

Other mornings you can’t help yourself. You gently kiss at his closed eyelids, the spot between his brows that’s usually pinched in concentration, his cheek bones, his nose--

Until finally he’s awake enough to grab you by the nape of your neck and pull you into a long, slow, good morning kiss. 

Those are your favorite mornings.

Mammon

It is physically impossible to move if you wake up before Mammon.

Everything he cannot say when he’s conscious is expressed in his sleep-- he is wrapped around you so tightly you swear he’s trying to merge the two of you together.

His legs are slotted between your own, one arm thrown over your waist and pulling you close, the other somewhere in your hair. His face is burried in your neck, mumbling in his sleep as he snuggles closer each time you try to move.

You cannot feel at least three different body parts that have gone numb and it’s at least 1000 degrees.

But god he smells so good, and he’s so warm, and you never ever wake up cold or lonely or feeling like the bed is too empty. Not when you have a personal space heater clinging to you like a literal fuckin’ snake.

He simply will *not* wake up unless you try untangling yourself. Then there’s about a 5 minute tug of war between a half-awake, half-asleep clingy boy trying to drag you back into the bed and you, who really just has to pee!! Mammon jesus christ let goooooooooo 

Eventually, when he starts losing, he’ll be pissed off enough to actually wake up. “Eh? Where do ya think you’re going?”

“The bathroom! Let go, you big baby.”

It’s at least another 20 minutes before you get to leave the bed as he drags you back in and wrestles you back into the perfect pillow position. “Yeah, yeah okay... you can do that later. First, we sleep.”

Levi

You live in constant fear that one day Levi is just going to completely forget to eat.

He reminds you constantly about the “rations” he has in his room but that doesn’t do a whole lot to comfort you. You’re no expert on Demon physiology but living on those doesn’t seem particularly healthy.

So each morning you take the time to wiggle out of the tight grip Levi has around your waist-- You sort of have to pull an Indiana Jones maneuver and slip his Ruri-chan body pillow in while he’s still sleepily grabbing around for you, but you’ve pretty much perfected it at this point.

Then you head downstairs and put something together. 

Most mornings whoever’s on kitchen duty will give you an odd look, but if Levi decided to do online classes and skip school for the day (which is most days) then you know he won’t be coming down to join everyone and you’re not risking him not eating.

You’ll bring back whatever you’ve made for the two of you and then put on an episode of an anime. The theme song almost always wakes him up.

Then the two of you will sit in the bathtub, bodies pressed side by side, eating breakfast, and watching anime while he tells you whatever obscure trivia he knows about the episode.

He doesn’t know how to thank you for taking care of him. For loving him so deeply. For prioritizing his needs. 

He doesn’t have to though. You can tell the way he watches you more often than he watches the screen and the way his cheeks go bright red every time you catch him staring tells you all you need to know.

[sortasirius]

what makes you think the writers want deancas? not trying to be an asshole, i'm just genuinely curious as to why you think that. i know berens' episodes are pretty heavy with subtext so i can see why you'd say that he wants it, but i'm not so sure about the rest of the writers/dabb. it seems like meghan isn't a huge fan either, given her "they twisted it so fast" tweet :/ of course she's a very new writer (think she's only writing one ep this season?) but still

OKAY this is a great question, welcome to my dissertation.

I’m going to address the end of your question first. Meghan is actually DeanCas positive, she has been for quite a long time. She actually, a few years back, posted a picture of her reading a literal book about Destiel and captioned it “writing reading” or something like that.

This whole thing just comes out of a boiling over of tensions because of how nasty fandom twitter can be. Like I said here, I think this has just gotten blown out of proportion, they shouldn’t have posted all this randomly disparaging stuff, but also like...can you blame them? The fandom is a lot, we always have been, and they’re probably also under a gag order not to talk about the finale, and are annoyed that people keep asking.

So nah, Meg is not anti Destiel.

To the first part!! So let’s take a look at the show runners since Cas has been around.

Seasons 4 and 5: Kripke

Seasons 6 and 7: Gamble

Seasons 8-11ish: Carver

Seasons 11ish-15: Dabb

So starting with Kripke. Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit that we have some pretty incredible Destiel moments in these seasons, but it’s less directly written into the plot and much more from Misha and Jensen’s uhhhh ~chemistry~. The only times it was directly written into the script was when the episode was handled by someone like Edlund (“On The Head Of A Pin,” “The End,” “My Bloody Valentine”). And you have to remember, if in season 5, there are moments here and there where you’re like huh that’s suspiciously romantic dialogue, remember that Cas took Anna’s place. Anna was supposed to be endgame for Dean, but due to a myriad of issues and Misha’s general greatness, Anna was replaced with Cas.

Onto 6 and 7. Hmmm. Gamble. 6 and 7 are my two least favorite seasons and that’s no secret, and that’s not only due to the plain old weird shit in the overall storyline, but also that homegirl killed off Cas in s7 and then Bobby like four episodes later. (Also it ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way they couldn’t have Baby in that season lol). We still had some great DeanCas moments, but again, it wasn’t really written into the overall arc (until they had to change the end of season 7 because of tanking ratings and bring Misha back lol, anyone remember the fact that Dean kept Cas’ jacket and would randomly dream of him? Yeah.). But we still had those moments, those distinctly romantic moments, probably the best example in these two seasons is from Edlund again, specifically “The Man Who Would be King,” I wrote a little about that here.

We move onto Carver, who gave us, at this point, the most overt DeanCas season with season 8 (season gr8 is a better name imo), and this is the first time Dean and Cas’ relationship is directly written as an arc of the season.  I mean, you have everything in Purgatory, Dean “seeing” Cas everywhere, the fact that he felt so guilty that Cas stayed in Purgatory that he manipulated his own memories to think that he was the one that failed Cas, because he couldn’t comprehend that Cas would want to leave him, and let’s not forget Dean snapping Cas out of Naomi’s hold on him in “Goodbye Stranger.”  It was a very obvious shift, not enough to alert the general audience, but more than enough for most of us in fandom.

It’s also important to note that this is when Andrew stopped co writing with Loflin and started writing his own episodes (”Hunter Heroici” anyone?)  I like Loflin fine, but Dabb was able to stretch his legs a little bit more once he stopped co-writing, and we also began to see some DeanCas themes in his solo episodes.

In any case, them and their issues being a big part of the seasons continued with Carver, and Berens entered the scene, his first episode (”Heaven Can’t Wait”) is one of my favorites, with human Cas and the fanfiction gap and Dean and Cas just generally being awkward and funny and sweet.  This is Bobo’s FIRST episode, remember that.  He comes right out of the gate with it.

Also in Season 9, this is when Dean takes the Mark of Cain, and the Cas/Colette mirror is born, so obviously, Dean and Cas are the fabric of the season once again.  This is also the season where Metatron says Cas is “in love with humanity,” and then immediately refers to Dean as Humanity so uhhhh yeah.

Onto season 10, Dabb and Berens continue with their greatness (I could write pages on the DeanCas date in “The Things We Left Behind” alone).  And then we have one of the best scenes in the entire show in “The Prisoner” where the Cas/Colette mirror continues and Dean, driven by grief and pain and rage and the Mark, still doesn’t kill Cas.  He still can’t kill Cas.

Season 11 is important because it takes choice away from both Cas and Dean, and shows us, as the audience, how much losing each other takes out of them. We saw in season 10 how much losing Dean takes from Cas, but what about Cas losing Dean?  Dean loses his choice with his connection to Amara this season, and loses even more when Lucifer reveals he’s been possessing Cas, and plays on Dean’s connection to Cas like a mockery.  It’s also worth noting that, similarly to season 8, Dean breaks out of the connection with Amara when he’s worried about Cas, and that’s something that even SHE is surprised by.

But then season 12, the beginning to the Renaissance.  This is when we get the writer’s that become important for what Dean and Cas are today, and, truly, why I believe they want canon Destiel as much as we do.

This is the first season with Dabb’s writers: Davy Perez, Meredith Glynn, Steve Yockey, and of course Bobo all come in with their incredible talents and gave us episode after episode of good content.  “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” is probably my favorite, probably the best example of what I’m saying.  An episode where Dean is called out by an enemy directly, told to “roll the dice” on Cas’ life.  And Dean won’t, it’s not even really a hesitation.  And this comes from a character that has known Dean for ten seconds.  I also wrote more in depth about this episode here.  There are also some.....distinctly domestic details we get this season, specifically in “The Future” (written by Berens and Glynn) with the mixtape.  The most tropey of tropes mixtape.  Yeah, I’ll just leave that one here.

And then season 12 ends with Cas’ death, but also with the parallel between Sam and Dean with Jess and Cas.  Sam literally has to drag Dean away from Cas, just like Dean had to drag Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot.  The episode drives it home in every way that it can: Dean is the one left kneeling by Cas’ body, while Sam goes to find out what is upstairs.  Dean is the one who stares at the sky, finally broken.  This isn’t a random thing, this is Dean’s whole arc, it’s the entirety of the beginning of 13.  Dean’s pain, his anguish, his anger.

Season 13 starts with them burning Cas, with Dean, who has begged God to bring him back, who has split his knuckles punching a door, standing, staring at Cas’ pyre with brokenness on his face.

I mean.....

Anyway, season 13 is where it gets interesting (well, I think all of this is interesting but I’m a writer nerd so).  So Cas comes back from the Empty in “Advanced Thanatology” written by Steve Yockey, and then a wombo combo of “Tombstone” by Davy Perez next (”Brokebacknatural” as the PR said at the time).  Listen.  This is the part that SPN crossed a line that they couldn’t come back from.  With Cas being Dean’s “big win,” the fact that Dean and Cas watch movies together, “I told you, he’s an angry sleeper.  Like a bear.” Talked about it here.

This is where, in my opinion, the network stepped in, but the damage was already done.  They had already established that Cas was Dean’s big win, that Dean’s poor coping was not due to Mary’s disappearance, but solely due to Cas, and that Dean and Cas have more married energy than anyone else.  The network had nixed blatant canon at this point, and they writing room had been pushing the boundaries of what the network would allow. 

After these episodes, we see a marked drop off of DeanCas heavy scenes.  They’re still there, still a part of the fabric of the season, but not as...obvious as it had been in early season 13.

And this continued through season 14, we’re back to scraps of Destiel scenes here and there, but to me it always felt like there was something bubbling under the surface, something distinctly unsaid in the themes of the season, even after the walk back of obvious “Dean and Cas are in love” scenes.

And then we get to season 15, which, y’all know I talk about all the time.  What’s important here is that Bobo and Glynn are both executive producers, calling more of the shots than ever before.  Additionally, it’s important to note that, though they only co write occasionally, Glynn and Berens refer to each other as “work husband” and “work wife.”  Each episode has just turned up the volume, and, not for the first time, but certainly the most obvious, Dean and Cas ARE the season.  Sure, they’re trying to beat God, they’re trying to finally find peace, defeat the final big bad, but really?  This season has been about Dean, and Dean’s relationship to Cas.

And not only do we have obvious and clear Destiel in nearly every episode, but we have episodes like “Last Call” which canonize bi!Dean (wrote about that here).

And, maybe most importantly so far, we have “The Rupture,” the breakup, and “The Trap,” Dean’s confession (both written by Berens).  And here’s the thing.  These episodes feel connected, but also feel like they’re missing something.  Beren’s last episode is 15x18, “The Truth.”  We’ve all spec’ed about what could happen in this episode, and I think *I* know what it’s leading to.  But for it to be leading to that, it means that the network has to have approved what we’ve all been waiting for years for.

Who got this change to happen?  Who got the network to change their minds?  It wasn’t us.  It was them.  I am fully convinced that Dabb and Berens quite literally put their careers on the line for Dean and Cas.  They believe in them, they’ve shown that from the beginning, but the only thing standing in the way was the network, never allowing them to take the final step. 

So, to answer your question: I think the writers want canon DeanCas because they’ve already shown us that they do.  Take a look at their episodes, at Dabb’s, at Beren’s, at Glynn’s, at Perez’s, at Yockey’s.  They’ve been telling us what’s going on with Dean and Cas for years.

Sure, I’m not in their heads, I guess I don’t know for *sure* that this has been their thought process, but if we put it all together, from the marked shift when Dabb fully took over in s12, to the change right after “Tombstone,” to the new shift, the blatantly romantic shift in season 15, what else is there?

I’ve said for a long time that we, the SPN fandom, are beyond lucky to have the writer’s that we do.  They’re all going to go on to have prolific careers and we were lucky to get them at the end of our little show.  I give them a lot of credit for what we have in the show today.

Just remember, they’ve been telling us in all of s15 who Chuck is.  He says he’s the writer, right?  But a writer who doesn’t have control of his characters?  A writer who wants to do the same ending over and over because it “works”?  That doesn’t sound like a writer, it sounds like a network exec.

They’ve been showing us what they want for years, and the way s15 is going?  I think they may have convinced the network to let us have it.

[abrieenthusiast]

so i think a good chunk of us can agree that in the most recent era of sander sides episodes/fandom in general "POF-Finale", the funniest and funnily unexpected thing has happened. that my friends, is the prinxiety renaissance part 2.

like i gotta say weve been having a drought for a while since early-mid s2, with s1 being pretty much our prime. what i did NOT expect was for there to be a whole-ass asides video with just them, have a Shoulder Touch, for roman to mention that he's gotten along better with virgil AND THEN have his face light up when saying hes gotten to understand virgil better like.

WHAT.

AND, in the WTIT end card we even see virgil kind of backing up roman? depending on how you interpret that whole scene which has got to be one of my favorite end cards just because it sets up the current dynamic and what it will be like in the finale (but thats a wholllleeee other topic for another long post)

not to mention we all know whos gonna be on romans side in whatever the finale brings us right?

hint: virgillikeweallknowitsgonnabevirgilright?

i just think that FWSA to prinxiety shippers was like getting hit by a truck but youve been waiting for said truck to simply arrive for a good 4-5 years.

SPEAKING OF FIVE YEARS. is this,,gonna be the first time roman and virgil are 100% on the same side if the finale goes the way its expected to? like. BRO. i guess sometimes they have somewhat agreed to one another every now and then but they still didn't get along (ex: the end of the dark side of disney).

in conclusion: its so random, yet so funny for this renaissance to happen and its also a really cool opportunity for the finale and see how they work as a team on one side, their biggest reason for being on the same side being, funnily enough, hating a dark side.

[astaroth1357]

Artistic MC Wants the Demon Brothers to Pose for a Portrait

This one was inspired by and goes out to all the fan-artists out there. Seriously, you all are so creative, talented, and bring so much color to the fandoms you enjoy. Never stop showing us just what you can make! 😁

Check out the Masterlist for more!

Lucifer:

A little amused and, of course, his ego appreciates the stroking. Won't jump on the opportunity though. He's got better things to do then stand in place for a who knows how long?

It will take some begging coaxing to get him to pose for one. If they do a good job they might get two!

Prefers to be in his demon form, beautiful and imposing, with all wings on full display. Think something from the Renaissance-era and that's about how he wants it. Very high standards.

Maaaay pose topless but that's only if it's the second portrait which means that first one better be a masterpiece. Everything else stays on like they’re locked in place though.

Will be very patient and still for the first hour but if it starts going longer than that he's going to get a little restless. He was serious when he said he has a lot to do and sitting/standing in place too long gets him anxious.

Mammon

Turns into a blushing boi at the question. Tries to cover it up with a "W-well of course you'd want to draw the Great Mammon! I'm not surprised at all!"

Embarrassed but lowkey flattered and totally into it. He’s done modeling in the past so he’s used to having his image out there after all.

He likes looks that show him as either sexy or mischievous, bonus points if it's both. Might try to sneak them into places they shouldn't technically be in, but would make a killer background. Or just places that will annoy Lucifer. Demon Lord’s Castle, anyone?

Gonna blush if they want him topless. Gonna REALLY blush for nude. Might demand a little Grimm in exchange for the last one but would do it.

Stays still enough through the process. He usually does photo-shoots so he's used to doing more movement but understands these things take time. Will try to talk to them the entire time which may or may not be distracting.

 Leviathan

*Levi.exe has crashed* Rebooting...

Becomes a blushing, stuttering mess trying to rationalize why they would ever want to draw/paint/etc. a yucky, awkward, unattractive otaku like him. Are they messing with him? Getting his hopes up? Is it a prank? A dream??

It’s going to take a lot of assurances, compliments, promises, and probably a bribe or two to get him to even consider. We’re talking limited edition TSL or Ruri-chan merch, at least.

Even if sufficiently incentivized, the nervous bean doesn’t make the best model if they want to pose him. He feels awkward and fidgets constantly. If he poses himself, however, now they’re getting somewhere.

His most comfortable poses tend to be just him playing some games or lounging in his room, pretty much just Levi in his natural habit, but… better. More attention to detail, position, composition, etc. If it's a snapshot of his life, then he's the most eye-catching thing in it.

Clothes. Stay. On. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Even if he were comfortable going nude (which he is not), he doesn't want people to just… see that you know??

Satan

Is actually flattered at the suggestion and is not afraid to state so. 

He’s very appreciative of the arts so he’s more than happy to lend himself over as inspiration.

Likes contemplative poses or ones that imply inner depth/calm. They’re the parts of himself he'd most like to see… or doubts he has.

Will try his best to stay still and keep composure for as long as possible, but he may start to feel the fatigue after a bit. Even demon bodies are used to, you know, moving after a while.

Going to probably go flushed if they ask him to remove any clothing. He knows that nudity is just another form of artistic expression but it's so… intimate. He may agree, but ask for a modesty covering like a sheet or well placed prop.

Asmodeus

He's been waiting so long…

The day has finally come…

*strips down on the spot and drapes himself across the nearest piece of furniture*

"Draw me like one of your French girls~! ❤❤❤"

They get forced to take the project to his room because no one wants Asmo's naked ass cheeks to stay on the dining room table a second longer than they have to.

Asmo is a perfect model. He follows instructions with ease and can hold a pose almost like a statue with nearly limitless stamina and patience. You think this is his first time modeling? He's an old pro.

Will let himself be drawn anywhere and in almost any way physically possible. The dude doesn't get embarrassed easily.

Asking him to pose is like opening a Pandora's Box though. Now that he's had a taste, he will not stop. He is their one and only muse from now on. For life.

Beelzebub 

How long are we talking? Can there be snack breaks? If so, deal.

Boy will say yes to pretty much anything with food involved so bring snacks and buy him a meal afterward and he's all in.

Not terrible at holding form and his stamina certainly helps. Doesn't really have a preference on how he gets posed though it's best if he can easily drop it and get back into it because you know. Snack breaks.

Not bothered at all being shirtless but nude is a big ask… The poor boy would be embarrassed, even if it's all for art. May say no, honestly, even if bribed with more food.

They may have to constantly brush off crumbs or remind him to wipe his face before returning to form again. He's not the cleanest eater when he really gets going.

Belphegor 

Sure, but does he have to stay awake for the whole thing?

Only willing to pose if he can hold it in his sleep. Literally. No standing. Comfy setting. You know what, can he just stay in bed? That can look nice, right?

Well he's going to stay pretty still because he's pretty much unconscious. May roll over at some point and require the MC to wake his ass up and get him back into position.

Doesn't care how it comes out really. He gets a free nap either way.

Shirtless? Sure. Nude? Eh, why not. He likes sleeping in the nude. Just don't try any funny stuff on him, human.

[firelxdykatara]

gods, ok, apparently i’m not done.

atla fandom? we need to have a chat.

(....ok that made me sound pretentious as fuck. and maybe i am, but this needs to be said, cause i’m getting....real, real tired of a Certain Corner of this fandom and as a result, this is gonna be a discourse-heavy post so feel free to scroll past if that’s not your bag. as always, my salt posts all carry the catch-all #salt for ts tag, which you’re free to blacklist/filter at your leisure. i’m Very Annoyed at the moment, which will probably come through in the following post, so just. yknow. be prepared for that. or ignore it, that’s perfectly valid too.)

under a cut bc i do care for my followers and their sanity i swear lmao

there’s a real serious issue in this fandom with not understanding what queer terminology actually means or implies, especially when applied to a fictional narrative.

i’m specifically talking about ‘coding’, here. (if i were in a more meme-y mood, i might have said ‘the atla fandom found out about the term “gay-coding” and haven’t shut up since’.)

to the people who say ‘zuko is gay-coded’, i have this to say: you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means. because he isn’t. i’m sorry, but he’s not! and the fact that this is such a prevalent claim in this fandom is distressing, bc it says to me that none of y’all know what gay-coding is or when and how to apply it! please, i’m begging you, go and look up these terms and what they mean and when they should be used before actually trying to plug them into your critical analysis, because when you misuse them and then call other people delusional for disagreeing with you it casts a pall over the entire fandom and is, i think, the root of some of the worst toxicity this fandom has to offer.

and the thing is, there are cases where gay-coding would apply--for instance, a couple series that are famous for queerbaiting their audience by coding their main characters as being attracted to one another (sometimes even despite their openly stated sexualities) come to mind, but those shows bare no similarities at all to atla and how zuko was written and portrayed! (and it would be funny, if it weren’t so obnoxious and infuriatingly wide-spread throughout the fandom, because the only queer couple we actually seen on-screen in either show wasn’t even queer-coded in any respect, and they’re canonically bi! [yes, i’m shading korrasami, or more accurately i’m shading bryke for refusing to give ka the build-up and development they deserved].)

this absolutely isn’t to say that headcanoning zuko as gay is a bad thing or invalid in any respect. (although the tendency for zukka shippers to do this specifically to keep zuko away from katara and/or invalidate his canon relationship/attraction to girls is more than a little eyebrow raising. especially since sokka is usually allowed to be bi, bc fans have no problem letting sukka stay in the background bc it’s no real threat, while jetko shippers are happy to have both boys be bi. [possibly bc katara is less a threat to jetko bc jetkotara is every bit as valid as any single ship between the three, but zukka can’t exactly let katara join in, and if the potential exists for zuko to be attracted to her then canon giving them the far deeper emotional bond becomes a threat to zukka’s existence? idk for sure--you be the judge.]) i prefer to hc zuko as bi (and always have, long before the atla renaissance), bc i don’t think zuko being attracted to boys is outside the realm of possibility, and it isn’t a threat to my ship since zuko&katara had a deep and emotional bond in canon that is very easy to develop further into something that becomes explicitly romantic--but the headcanon itself isn’t really the problem (although what it’s often in service to can be).

it’s the strange insistence that this is the only way to read his character, bc he was coded that way and so anyone who doesn’t see it must be too straight to understand--and i really shouldn’t have to say why and how that is so incredibly fucking insulting. (the ‘hetero lenses’ comment wasn’t cute when it came from bryke six years ago, and the same sentiment being repackaged and delivered by zukka shippers ain’t cute now.)

calling zuko gay-coded not only demonstrates ignorance as to what the term actually means, and how to usefully apply it in critical analysis, but also validates the frankly bullshit insertion of institutionalized homophobia in the world of atla where it was neither needed, nor wanted, nor ever hinted at in canon. as a queer woman i’m still infuriated by one fucking comic panel shoving institutionalized and systemic homophobia into a world where it was entirely unnecessary (and doing this in the first installment of the franchise showcasing a queer relationship??? making korra and asami worried about ‘coming out’ when they could have just gone on to have cute adventures together and tell people ‘hey we’re dating’ and have everyone else be ‘that’s awesome =DDD’ [because it is, in fact, possible to just have a world without homophobia i promise!!!!!] double yikes, i’m still pissed at bryke about it), and i doubly hate that ‘zuko is gay coded’ has become so widespread that ‘ozai hates him bc he’s gay’ has become a staple in that part of the fandom.

not only does making zuko gay and implying (or outright stating) that ozai hated and abused him because of it completely undermine zuko’s character arc by making his abuse about his sexuality rather than ozai’s toxic pride and anger at seeing himself reflected in his ‘weak’ son, but it comes very close to outright stating that abuse and trauma are inherently gay experiences, and they aren’t!!! they really aren’t, i promise!!!

abuse and trauma narratives exist outside of ‘my dad hates me because i’m gay’. and, quite frankly, there are MORE THAN ENOUGH queer trauma narratives out in the world. we do not need to start trying to retroactively make them canon in a series where they didn’t exist! if you’re gay and see yourself in zuko and project your own experiences on him, that’s understandable and valid. that does not make zuko gay-coded. and honestly, the insistence that he is makes very little sense to me, because you’re essentially trying to give the show credit for work you put into interpreting the characters! why would you want to do that? why not own your own headcanons and take credit for them, rather than insisting they are canon and everyone else is wrong for not seeing them??? like, i’ve said before that i’ve always headcanoned zuko (and katara) as bi, and even support it with my interpretations of evidence from the show, but the difference between ‘i think zuko is bi’ and ‘zuko is definitely gay-coded’ is that i know that bi zuko is my interpretation of canon, and that it is work i’m putting into the show that wasn’t actually intended by the creators/writers, no matter how much sexual tension i read into the jetko swordfight.

and like, zuko’s character arc doesn’t actually parallel a queer one all that well to begin with. it’s easy enough to do the work and twist it sideways just enough to make the general points fit, but the fact is, zuko’s arc is not one of self-discovery. it’s not one of coming to understand something fundamental about himself that he can’t change, that he was hated for, and coming out to his father in a dramatic confrontation where he shows that he understands himself and doesn’t need his father’s acceptance to be fulfilled.

zuko’s arc is actually one of trauma and healing. and those can (and often are--like i said, there are more than enough queer trauma narratives in the world, atla really doesn’t need to be one of them) be part of queer narratives, for sure! but they aren’t uniquely queer. and zuko’s confrontation with ozai during the eclipse doesn’t read like a ‘coming out’ at all. (yes, i’ve seen that post. yes, i rolled my eyes and moved on, bc unlike some people, i’m capable of not clowning on correctly tagged posts i disagree with.) zuko is specifically confronting ozai over his abuse, because his arc wasn’t about discovering anything fundamental about himself (and therefore realizing that ozai was hating him for something he couldn’t change)--it was about realizing that he was not at fault for the way his father treated him. it was also about realizing that the fire nation was broken and corrupt at its core, and that his father was an aspect of that he needed to break away from so that he could help the world begin to heal.

he says it himself:

Zuko: No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness.

making this about zuko being gay and rejecting ozai’s homophobia, rather than zuko learning fundamental truths about the world and about his home and about how there was something deeply wrong with his nation that needed to be fixed in order for the world to heal (and, no, ‘homophobia’ is not the answer to ‘what is wrong with the fire nation’, i’m still fucking pissed at bryke about that), misses the entire point of his character arc. this is the culmination of zuko realizing that he should never have had to earn his father’s love, because that should have been unconditional from the start. this is zuko realizing that he was not at fault for his father’s abuse--that speaking out of turn in a war meeting in no way justified fighting a duel with a child.

is that first realization (that a parent’s love should be unconditional, and if it isn’t, then that is the parent’s fault and not the child’s) something that queer kids in homophobic households/families can relate to? of course it is. but it’s also something that every other abused kid, straight kids and even queer kids who were abused for other reasons before they even knew they were anything other than cishet, can relate to as well. in that respect, it is not a uniquely queer experience, nor is it a uniquely queer story, and zuko not being attracted to girls (which is what a lot of it seems to boil down to, at the end of the day--cutting down zuko’s potential ships so that only zukka and a few far more niche ships are left standing) is not necessary to his character arc. nor does it particularly make sense.

(and before anyone brings up his date with jin--a) he enjoyed it when she kissed him, and b) he was a traumatized, abused child going out on a first date. of course he was fucking awkward. have you ever met a teenage boy????)

anyway, uh, that was a lot of words, so have a tl;dr: zuko is not gay-coded. there is nothing uniquely gay (or even uniquely queer) about his character arc or characterization, and he was certainly not coded gay in an attempt to sneak a queer character past the censors. if anyone involved with atla was gonna try that, it would’ve been in lok, and as established, they didn’t even manage to queer-code the actual queer relationship before the last few minutes of the final episode. headcanoning zuko as gay is absolutely fine (though if it’s only done to keep him away from female characters he may otherwise be attracted to, that smells more like misogyny than anything else), but insisting that this reading is the only one that makes sense, and anyone who doesn’t agree must be straight (hello, queer woman here making this insanely long thinkpiece) is very much not.

ship what you like, but stop trying to invalidate other ships and other interpretations of characters just to make your ship seem more plausible. it’s really not a good look.

[my-robot-heart]

@fictober-event 2021 | Fandom: the blacklist - lizzington

Day 3: "I've waited for this." | Rating: T | Warnings: none

Late at night, Lizzie thought about him.

When she couldn't fall asleep, she would let her mind replay over and over the interactions they'd had. The ones where he'd slung an arm just casually enough so as to remain inauspicious across the back of a seat they'd both shared. Or when he'd lingered just seconds too long when clasping her hand, or placing a guiding hand on her back. The ones where he'd said things like, we're gonna make a great team, or just pretend you're my girlfriend from Ann Arbor.

The scenes would replay in her mind, and she'd let herself imagine them playing out differently: stopping his hand before it could leave hers, or leaning back into the arm that was slung across the back of the seat. Replying yes, sure, that sounds like fun to his challenge, and showing him that she, too, knew how to be mischievous.

Late at night, she thought about these things, and wished things were different. And knew that, if they ever were to be, it was up to her to do something. Anything.

But when the sun rose, and brought with it a new day, full of possibility, Lizzie found herself unable to conceive of what she would do if something went wrong. If she reached out to him, and he refused. In that case, she was better to just let things remain status quo; at least then she could be certain of their friendship. At least then, she knew she wouldn't have to face the what ifs.

Their next assignment was supposed to be easy. Posing as a couple on an undercover mission at a museum gala, while waiting to pounce on their Blacklister: a Renaissance art thief.

It was supposed to be easy, but from the moment she stepped out her door and into the waiting car, accepting Red's proffered hand lightly as she did so, Lizzie knew it would be anything but.

Red slid into the backseat beside her, waving to Dembe to start driving, and as he buckled his seatbelt he gave her a look that warmed her even more than the sunlight coming in through the window and playing on her skin.

"Lizzie."

"Red."

"You look... dazzling," he said, and before she could react he finished with, "the perfect foil for our plan tonight. All eyes will be on you rather than me, which means we shouldn't have to worry about my being recognized."

Typical, she thought. Undo her with a compliment and then follow it with business talk. It was maddening, because it meant she was never quite sure whether she was interpreting him correctly, or just reading into things. That they were business associates was a fact, but whether there was the possibility for something more...? Perplexing.

"You look very dapper as well," she returned. "As expected."

"Agents Mojtabai and Navabi should be there already," he commented, fiddling with one of his shirt cuffs. "We'll tap into their communication system as soon as we arrive."

Lizzie glanced over at what he was doing with his cuffs, noticing that a button had come undone and he was attempting to refasten it with his non-dominant hand. And failing quite badly, she saw.

Reaching over, she gently took his arm and made quick work of the button, tucking his cuff back into the tuxedo jacket as she did so.

Was it her imagination, or did he let out a quiet huff of breath when she let go of his arm? It was almost as if he'd been holding his breath while she fixed his cuff. She watched his expression for a sign that he was unsteady in some way, and found none.

Nevermind, Liz, she told herself sternly. Just focus on the task at hand. But, as usual in cases that involved working closely with Raymond Reddington, just focusing on the task at hand was never as easy as that.

This situation in particular: pretending to be a couple, this was going to be tough. Because it's what she was doing, what she had been doing, wasn't it? But now, now she had to both pretend to be his girlfriend and pretend that she hadn't thought about that very situation over and over until it became as familiar to her as her real life. That was the real challenge.

They arrived at the museum, and Red came around to give Lizzie a hand out of the car, easefully letting his arm slide round her waist when she stood beside him.

We're a couple. She reminded herself. He's doing this as part of the job.

Giving him a smile she hoped was bright and not wary, she walked with him into the gala.

They were immediately handed glasses of champagne. Lizzie sipped hers quickly, hoping for some fortification.

Red, maddeningly, appeared perfectly at home. The nerve of him, being able to fall into character like that every damn time.

They found themselves standing near a large triptych, and Lizzie decided they should at least appear to show interest in the artwork, so she leaned in to take a closer look.

Red leaned in as well, keeping an arm around her waist. This proved so distracting that when she noticed he had asked her a question, it was already too late, and she had to ask him to repeat himself, embarrassedly.

"I said, are you a Renaissance art fan, Lizzie?"

"It's Caroline," she whispered back, giving him the alias she was supposed to be using tonight. Just then she heard a crackling from her earpiece. Aram was listening.

"Hello Aram," she said in a low voice, wriggling free from Red's arm for a moment.

"Yes, we're in place. Okay. I'll keep watching for our guy."

"So sorry, Caroline," Red said. "Are you a Renaissance art fan, then."

"No, not really. Are you?"

"I prefer the Surrealist period, myself," he replied.

Of course he would.

The evening passed uneventfully and with no sign of their Blacklister. Lizzie was beginning to wonder if the entire thing would turn out to be a bust, when she heard Aram in her ear again.

"On your right, two o'clock."

She turned slowly, hopefully inconspicuously, in that direction. A tall man was eyeing one of the paintings. That was their guy.

She tried to nudge Red, but he was deep in conversation with another couple, regaling them with some story of his own invention.

"Ahem." She tried clearing her throat. He didn't notice.

Damn it, she would have to interrupt.

Walking right up to his side, she took Red's outstretched arm and gave him a pointed look.

"So sorry to interrupt, but-"

"Ah! Perfect timing, Caroline. May I introduce you to my enchanting girlfriend, Caroline. She's the light of my life," he announced proudly, causing Lizzie to raise an eyebrow in surprise before falling into character as best she could.

"What a pleasure to meet you all," she said with a smile. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak to you, alone."

Red caught the emphasis and smiled at his new friends before excusing himself. He followed Lizzie to a secluded corner.

"It's our guy. Over there by the da Vinci sketches." Her eyes flicked towards him.

Red nodded.

"Yes, I know."

"You know? What do you mean, you know. We're here to apprehend him, aren't we?"

"Apprehend? Oh heavens no. We're just here to have a quick chat. And while you were grabbing a refill on your champagne, I did exactly that."

A beat passed.

"Exactly what."

"Had a quick chat. Made my negotiations, as it were. So, we're free to either leave, or spend the rest of the evening here, in pleasant company and with wonderful food. The choice is yours, Lizzie."

She stared at him.

"Alright. Let's stay."

To her delight, he looked surprised.

"What?"

"You said we can leave, or spend the rest of the evening here. And I said, let's stay. The food is good, I've drank a few glasses of very nice champagne, and the night is young." She grabbed her earpiece and threw it into a nearby potted plant. "Let's stay."

It was a challenge, and he knew it.

Giving her an appreciative glance, he tilted his head in agreement.

"Alright."

He led her away from the secluded corner, and, with a very charming look, suggested that they dance.

"Dance?"

"Yes. Everyone's doing it," he noted, gesturing to the many couples who had filled the centre of the room.

"Okay," she agreed, wondering if it was the champagne, or if her lightheadedness was due to some other reason.

One hand taking hers, Red placed his other hand on the small of her back and pulled her what felt like very close, but was in fact a perfectly normal distance away.

They started moving slowly with the music, and soon Lizzie felt her cheek gently come to rest on his lapel. It felt easy, and she wasn't going to question it if he didn't.

"I've waited for this," she heard him say, or did she? That seemed oddly out of character. Pulling away from his jacket slightly so that she could see his eyes, she couldn't find anything in them to confirm either way.

"What did you say?" she asked, figuring if he'd said something else at least she should know what it was.

"I said, I've been waiting for this, Lizzie," he repeated, and she felt her cheeks warm once again.

"Waiting for what?" her voice was a whisper. He couldn't possibly mean what she was thinking.

Momentarily, he stopped dancing and looked her in the eyes.

"This. All of it. With you."

She definitely felt lightheaded now, and it wasn't just the champagne.

"All of-?" she repeated, and he cut her off, his mouth covering hers and reminding her that, although they were in full view of everyone in the room, they were anonymous here, and so the kiss could take place without any implications, or complications that came from their regular lives.

Leaning into the kiss, she returned it with the pent up energy from months of thinking about just this moment.

"Oh," she exclaimed when they finally broke apart. There didn't seem to be any words for what had just happened.

Red was looking at her with concern, perhaps wondering if she'd gone mad for a moment and suddenly regained her faculty of thought.

"Are you..." he began, but this time she cut him off with another kiss.

In a minute, she managed to pull away long enough to whisper, "I've waited for this, too, you know."

The look of realization in his face was enough to confirm for her then that she hadn't been the only one wanting this to happen.

As they continued to dance, Lizzie knew that the circumstances would immediately change as soon as this evening was over, and they had to return to their lives. But for now, at least, they had this chance. And they were both eager to seize it.