#it’s important for me to have a place where i can just have bitchy thoughts

[deityofhearts]

Im glad I can be a bitch in xenas server

[actual-changeling]

See, but there's something about the first fight in episode 1 that just doesn't really. fit. It very much feels like we are missing information here.

I have been thinking about this show all day, as one does, but in particular why Crowley gets angry enough to shoot literal lightning at a nearby building. We have experienced him upset before, but never to that specific degree, and their disagreement over Gabriel just does not explain it for me.

My hypothesis: a big, important fight happened right before season 2 picks up that left Crowley feeling rejected and Aziraphale neglected.

The biggest clue is the snippet of conversation about myself vs. ourselves.

"I thought we had carved it out for ourselves"

He almost sounds offended when he says that, yet Crowley reacts with equal parts hurt and anger, like he is referencing something that we, the viewer, do not have any knowledge of.

"So did I"

However, Aziraphale seems to understand whatever Crowley is referring to and does not respond with anything in return. Yet whatever wound they just opened keeps bleeding, and when Aziraphale tells him, packaged nicely, to fuck off, Crowley seems more sad than upset to me.

The to go? is almost said softly and with an initial confusion that hides a LOT of unspoken pain. Plus the HAND MOTION? The gesturing between the two of them while saying "oh, so this is how you wanna do this?" - call me insane, but to me that very much sounds like "oh so this is how you want to break up?"

The funny part is, if Aziraphale had simply shut up after saying "I want you to help me take care of him", I can GUARANTEE YOU that Crowley would have begrudgingly agreed. But he doesn't. He keeps going and this is the first moment this season where he is genuinely and truly bitchy.

"But if you won't, you won't" with the demonstrative sit-down and turning away from him, eyes forward. It pokes at whatever wound is still open and bleeding between them. Aziraphale wants Crowley to jump over his shadow and come help him, ignoring his boundaries. Meanwhile Crowley feels fundamentally misunderstood and rejected and wants Aziraphale to SHOW that he cares about Crowley more than he cares about fucking Gabriel of all people.

That he cares about them more than about heaven.

And now we have finally reached Crowley's breaking-point. he is so deeply hurt by what Aziraphale just said and did, choosing heaven over them, that the pain turns into anger because he has no other way of expressing or feeling it in the first place.

You're on your own with this one.

That last look is filled with such disappointed heartbreak, he turns around simply to give Aziraphale a chance to ask him to stay, to apologize, something. Yet again, he does not. He doesn't even meet his gaze, he is looking away.

To me, he seems almost spiteful, like this entire argument is only superficially about Gabriel but about something entirely else deeper down.

Which - that's the point, isn't it?

Crowley comes back and apologizes because Aziraphale matters more to him than stupid arguments or choosing sides, keeping him safe is the only thing he cares about when it comes down to it. He swallows down his hurt and betrayal and does what Aziraphale wants: ignoring the entire argument and pretending nothing ever happened so they can continue like before.

Only that they can't. The entire season shows just how much they cannot go back to their arrangement, no matter how hard Crowley tries to mold himself to Aziraphale's will. Their final argument simply reflects all of that and more. The same wound that first one was about gets reopened very violently and they're bleeding all over each other with no way to stop it because they're too fucking stubborn to admit that it exists in the first place.

Aziraphale and Crowley can only fix their relationship when they acknowledge the reason the rift between them opened up. Until then, Crowley feels truly rejected and Aziraphale feels entirely neglected, and there is nothing anyone can do to make them confront that.

[ladylokilaufeyson5]

Where The Shadows Dance (iii)

Bodyguard!Azriel x AutumnDaughter!Reader

CHAPTER III: The Princess

SUMMARY: Azriel and the Princess of the Autumn Court have spent two weeks together now, and yet Azriel's shell is one not easily broken

WARNINGS: once again more misogyny! yay! and also both y/n and azriel can be real bitchy

NOTE: once again special thank you to my moots @icey--stars and @fieldofdaisiies for reading over my work! <33

WORDS: 1.7K

You sat at your desk, pouring over the book you were currently studying. It was the most thorough study on rare Fae abilities you could find, although it was not thorough enough to understand the shadowsinger who sat behind you, reading a book of his own. No, Azriel was a different puzzle altogether.

You had truly enjoyed spending time with the Night Court members — Cassian was an absolute menace and you loved him already; Rhysand was a cunning leader, and you were fascinated by his rule of the Night Court; Feyre was beautiful inside and out, and her powers intrigued you; Amren was scary, plain and simple — although she was also wickedly intelligent; and Azriel, while soft-spoken, added insightful comments to each conversation.

Well, at least he did, until his court members had left two weeks ago. Now he just seemed to brood everywhere he followed you. Indeed, that was what the male was currently doing, his eyes on the window, a frown tugging at his lips and brows, book open but unread. You wished the book in front of you would tell you whether it was a shadowsinger trait, or simply an Azriel trait.

“Stop brooding,” you chided him.

Azriel looked up at you, brows still furrowed, a slightly annoyed expression crossing over his face. “I’m not brooding,” he huffed.

“You are so. Your broodiness is distracting me from my reading,” you replied with a delicate sniff.

Azriel rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. You weren’t sure whether you preferred this side of him — of course, you definitely enjoyed the side of him you experienced within the company of the Night Court, but something about his broodiness… Well, it was kind of hot.

“I can’t read with your brooding,” you sighed. “You’re crowding this room with negative thoughts.”

“That’s not even a thing,” he muttered, and you pretended not to hear.

You closed your book and stood up, the action prompting Azriel to rise as well. You watched him carefully, the male watching you right back. Those hazel eyes bored into yours, and you could have sworn you saw a flicker of something, beyond cold disinterest.

“Would you like to accompany me on a walk?” you asked, knowing that he would have to agree.

Azriel dipped his head slightly, ever the polite and respectful male, despite his sullenness. “Of course, Lady. Where to?”

“I was thinking the main street–”

“Not this again,” Azriel groaned, rolling his eyes. 

You crossed your arms and glared at the Illyrian male. Unfortunately, your father had given Azriel a rather long list of rules, dictating what you could and could not do, where you could and could not go, who you could see and could not see, and on and on and on. You honestly thought that your father had more important things to do than write a silly list to trap his daughter with, but apparently not.

One of the places you were strictly prohibited from visiting was anywhere outside the castle. Not that you’d really ever done that much before, as your father liked to keep you ‘protected’, but even with the security of your Illyrian bodyguard, you were not allowed beyond the palace walls. To be fair, the ‘attempt on your life’ — as your father liked to put it — did happen during a parade on the main streets, but you had been perfectly fine.

“I don’t understand why—” you began, but Azriel interrupted, politeness gone.

“Your father strictly stated that you are not to leave the castle,” he reminded you harshly.

You scowled at the shadowsinger. He seemed so much more… willing to comply whenever his friends were around. Now that he was alone with you, it was as if his heart was made of stone, and he felt nothing — no compassion for you at all.

“So you will aid in the entrapment of another female?” you frowned. “Didn’t you try to save your friend Morrigan from the same fate?”

You knew you’d struck a nerve when a sliver of glittering rage shone in his eyes. You felt a tad bad, as it was a low blow — really, there wasn't anything he could do to help you — but you were honestly sick and tired of being stuck in the castle. Had the shadowsinger not been present, you would have snuck out already, as you tended to do quite a bit. You were lucky enough to have inherited your mother’s ability to create perfect glamours, and it came in handy when you wanted to sneak out.

But the shadowsinger would not leave you be. He shadowed your every step, always lingering and watching. He was clearly taking this bodyguard role seriously — too seriously, in your opinion.

You sighed at the shadowsinger and crossed your arms. “The Orchards?” you suggested.

Azriel’s polite mask slipped in place, but you could still sense his anger at your words. “Of course, Lady Vanserra.”

 You decided not to worry yourself about his feelings. It didn’t matter, anyway. He would be gone as soon as this threat was terminated, and then you would have to marry whatever nobility your father deemed worthy. You’d never see Azriel or the Night Court members again.

At least, that’s what you were supposed to think. But you couldn’t stop yourself from daydreaming about running away from the Autumn Court and living in Velaris, the City of Starlight, for the rest of your immortal life.

You allowed Azriel to lead you down to the Royal Orchards, while also trying to converse with him. As per usual, his answers were short and clipped, perhaps more so due to your hurtful words. However, no matter what you asked, you just couldn’t break past his walls.

“You don’t like my brothers very much, do you?” you inquired as you walked through the apple trees.

“I do not know them well enough to form an opinion,” Azriel answered politely.

You snorted, knowing that was not true. No one really liked your brothers, as most of them were too similar to your father for anyone’s liking, even yours. You only had two brothers who you actually liked, because they treated you like a person, not an object.

You were only six when Lucien left the Autumn Court, but you remembered him fondly. He was easily the nicest of your brothers, with much more of a resemblance to your mother than to your father. And it wasn’t just physical likeliness — Lucien showed the compassion and kindness that your mother did, which was why he was one of your favourite brothers, even if you hadn’t seen him in decades.

Your other favourite brother, contrary to popular belief, was Eris. You knew for a fact that Azriel despised Eris, as most people did. They just didn’t know him like you did. Eris had a soft spot for you, a side that no one besides your mother ever saw. Yes, while you could admit that he was a sadistic asshole to most people, he’d never been anything but a great older brother to you. He’d taught you how to protect your mind from Daemati, and he’d also trained you in combat for a few years, until your father had found out.

The rest of your brothers took after your father, so they paid you no mind. You didn’t really care, as they were all dim-witted brutes anyway. Although it would have been nice to have a few more family members who actually cared.

“Do you like your brothers?” Azriel inquired.

You blinked at the question, then shrugged. “Eris and Lucien, although I haven’t seen Lucien in decades.” 

Azriel nodded and said nothing more, and you internally groaned. Every time you thought you’d come close to breaking down his walls, he would go silent and, once again, disinterested. You wondered why he acted this way.

An apple hung on a branch ahead of you, and you reached up, only for your fingers to brush against the bottom of the fruit. You frowned in frustration, tempted to burn the whole branch off, when a gloved hand reached up and grabbed the apple. Azriel held it out to you, and you took it from him without a word.

“Why are you so gloomy?” you asked.

Azriel paused, looking at you boredly. “I’m not gloomy.”

“You definitely are,” you hummed, turning the apple in your hand. “You seem bored.”

Azriel rolled his eyes. “I came here under the impression that I would have to protect you against a possible assassination, rather than walking around and doing nothing with you.”

“I know of a few things we could do together,” you purred, looking at Azriel from beneath lowered lashes.

Azriel’s stare hardened in annoyance, and you grinned at him. It was moments like these that you loved, when you could get under his skin with just a few words. It happened more often than Azriel would probably willingly admit.

You sighed deeply and picked up your skirts, heading back to your quarters, Azriel only a few steps behind. The castle came closer much too quickly, and a plan began to formulate in your mind. You took the sweeping staircases up to your chambers, and opened the door to your bathroom. Azriel was still only a step behind you, so you raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you going to join me?” you asked.

Azriel’s eyes took in the bathtub, and a mortified expression took over his face for a split second, before it was once again neutral.

“My apologies, Lady Vanserra,” Azriel murmured. 

He turned away, but you caught a glimpse of red on his cheeks as he shut the door, leaving you alone in your bathroom. You smiled to yourself and began to undress, the layers of your dress fluttering to the floor.

You walked over to the furthest wall from the door and tapped lightly on the red and orange wallpaper, feeling around for the secret nook. Once found, you pulled out the red tunic and black pants, something your father would probably have a fit over if he caught you wearing. 

You turned back to the door, sensing Azriel’s presence. You heard the whisper of a page being turned over, so you grabbed your gown and a pair of scissors.

TAGLIST: @honeybee54321 @marigold-morelli @lucky7rosie @itsswritten @paankhaleyaar @bubybubsters @5onedirection5 @lilah-asteria @sheblogs @thelov3lybookworm @blushingfawnsposts @thisiskaylin @morganisheree @sleepylunarwolf @bakananya @bookishbroadwaybish @namelesssaviour @glitterypirateduck @sfhsgrad-blog @ash-mcj @feyres-fireheart @ib525 @azrielswhore @copenhagenspirit @eternallyelvish @teenagellamaangel @thisiskaylin @littleladdty @tele86 @talesofadragon @fandom-crashlanding @mybestfriendmademe

[hellobitchlet]

Thoughts on Kinich's quest:

- from the moment the quest started, where Kinich revealed that Trindad wants to kill the Mountain King, and Paimon and Traveler immedietaly went to "Oh no! Killing = bad!", with no mention of Enjou or Ajaw whatsoever, I knew this quest wasn't going to be as good as I hoped. I don't know why I had hope in the first place.

- I like Kinich accidentally entering a beastly rift and doing his own research on abyss stuff, without automatically knowing the names for things like most characters. It was pretty neat to watch him explain beastly rifts to Traveler and Paimon while referring to riftwolves as "purple dogs". It made me feel like I understood how his brain works a little better.

- actually, the funny thing about Kinich, as a Natlan character, being the one to do this research is that Natlan is the nation that is at war with the abyss. Like. This is literally the only nation where it would make sense for the average person to know what riftwolves are. This isn't reeeally a complaint, I just find it funny.

- I'm really not a fan of how killing the Mountain King was automatically seen as bad despite their suffering bc tradition is 'more important', but to be fair to the main conflict, it would've been much worse if we were supposed to see Trindad as a bad person. The writers didn't villainize him for not wanting his people to die bc of a tradition, and his point of view was treated as equal to the npc's that Traveler and Paimon agreed with, and that is pretty good for a Genshin npc.

- though, I am a little suspicious about how they're suddenly willing to do this for a light skinned npc, when Mualani's quest villainized a brown skinned npc in the same update.

- I do actually like the Turnfire Night plot. One of the only things I like about Natlan is that it combines the abyss lore and nation world building more than other places. I just feel like the writers can't decide whether they want Kinich to be morally gray (sending the MK to the ABYSS just to avoid killing it to Avoid Drama) or have great morals like the rest of the cast (Traveler and Paimon being so focused on killing = bad that they don't have a problem with this).

- I am extremely annoyed at the fact that a decent chunk of this quest was spent helping npc's and giving Traveler over-the-top praise while Kinich did the actually important stuff. I don't care about these guys! I care about Enjou and the abyss! This isn't even about the turnfire night! We already do this kind of stuff in every single world and archon quest, for fucks sake!

- why do we learn how Kinich and Ajaw met from a random npc? Who just brings it up out of nowhere?? Why??

- it's not that important I guess, but Kinich calling Paimon gentle natured was the stupidest thing ever. I can forgive him bc he's comparing her to Ajaw and hasn't seen her be bitchy yet, but please don't tell me that the writers actually see her like that. She's an asshole.

- in comparison to the Turnfire Night plot, what little we got of Enjou and Ajaw was suuuuper interesting. I am loving whatever they have going on (and Ajaw's lore overall), and I wish we got more of it instead of fooling around with less important npc's. I am very glad that Enjou is back, but that makes it sadder that he's probably going to be forgotten about again.

- it took me a second to realize that his name changed to The Thing Calling Itself "Sanka". That's a neat little detail.

- "cliche, I know - the hero's trusted partner sells him out to the Abyss in a shocking act of betrayal. Cue bad-guy speech and drawn-out death sequence..." "Abyss Boarding School" "I could never beat you in a straight-up fight, but when it comes to running away, I won't lose to anyone" Enjou I love you.

- my favorite part of this entire quest is probably the fact that Enjou now, officially, has a relationship to a playable character other than Traveler. And man, is it a fun one. Deadpan, serious Kinich caught between silly little assholes Ajaw and Enjou both wanting to take his body is really fun. If Genshin itself refuses to expand on his relationship to Ajaw and Kinich, then I better see the fandom doing it instead.

- back to the Turnfire Night stuff, it's convenient that the Mountain King isn't corrupted anymore and decided to live. I wonder if the ending was just done like that bc the writers weren't sure what to do with a story where one side isn't necessarily wrong. Overall though, it's not that bad, just boring.

I'm enjoying making these overall thoughts posts. Maybe I should make more? There's no guarantee of me doing every single archon quest and story quest, though. Especially when I'm focusing on both Genshin and hsr.

[gettinshiggywithit]

Finished reading that s/o being stalked and I must admit it's a chef kiss. If you have free time can you do part 2 with Fyodor,Nikolai and sigma if you write for them? Or if you can't, can you do where the stalker still stalks the s/o ?

!Nikolai Gogol With An S/O Who Has A Stalker!

Scenario:Nikolai finds out you have a stalker!how will he deal with it??

Pairing: nikolai gogol x gn!reader

Genre: im rly not sure tbh...

Type: oneshot

A/N: Hi anon! Okay soo,here’s the deal,i dont rly write for any of them but i also dont think the stalker would ever come back...buttt i also dont wanna ignore your ask or just not give you anything sooo,imma do a nikolai piece!also disclaimer it might be ooc cos im not rly sure i hv his personality down right so apologies in advance :’) i hope you like it and feel free to lmk what you think if you want!

Nikolai gogol was an observant individual,and even though many people just took him to be an eccentric and impulsive clown(which he was) he did in fact have the ability to be calculated and observant,he just didnt wanna be~

So when he came home from a looongg assignment,he noticed how on-edge you seemed.how scared,uptight and jumpy you were.

He also knew you wouldnt tell him what it was for fear of either boring him or coming off as bitchy and childish.

So he dug;his curiosity was piqued and he was bored soooo he made it his mission to find out what was haunting you.

After not a lot of digging he found the root cause of your paranoia!

A stalker~

Honestly when he found out you had a stalker he was overjoyed!

Now he had a new plaything~

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

The next day your stalker was preparing themselves to send you another 'love' letter.

But after they'd dropped it into the box to be collected and delivered the next day,they ran into a young man.

He looked to be in his early to mid 20s and he had dual coloured eyes and snow white hair.

Your stalker excused themselves and was about to be on their way when the young man grabbed their wrist and ,whispering in a happy tone, said, "do you like quizzes????? " before enveloping them in his coat.

Your stalker then found themselves in a dark room that smelled like dust.

They tried to get up,but were repeatedly knocked down by an invisible attacker,eventually they stopped trying and just crouched down.

“WHO ARE YOU!” Your stalker asked, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?!”

‘Ha!’ Nikolai thought to himself, ‘they look really upset,the audacity on this one is marvellous!’

But all he said was “Shhhhhhh, i’mmm the one asking the questions here~”

“And if you’re even hoping to escape,you’ll listen and answer them well”

He heard a gulp and a shakey breath being drawn,which caused him to smile from his hiding place.

“Now then, why dont we start with an easy one, what do you want with y/n l/n?”

“Who??i dont know what the hell youre talking about!!”

“AEKK! WRONG ANSWER!”

A golden vortex appeared and swallowed your stalker’s leg.

they were left one leg short.

After realising what had just happened, they screamed out!

“Hehehehee sorry,did i forget to tell you the rules????? Oh silly me!always forgetting important things! The rules are simple! Tell the truth,”

“Or lose a limb!”

He cackled maniacally and your stalker broke into a cold sweat.

They were in deep shit now...

“So~ go on, second chance! What.do.you.want.with.y/n l/n.”

Nikolai wasnt even asking anymore,he was demanding.

“I’M TELLNG YOU THE TRUTH I DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!”

“AEK!! WRONG AGAIN!Gosh i really thought you’d answer when you knew the stakes....But i guess your appendages must mean nothing to you~”

Your stalker’s other leg was swallowed up.

Another scream pierced the air.

Nikolai yawned.

“OKAY-OKAY FINE! I LIKE Y/N OKAY! I JUST HAVENT HAD THE COURAGE TO TELL THEM!”

“Ooohh suddenly compliant are we? Well then! Sad to say you’re answer wont save you~”

“Huh???”

“Oh yeah.i cant have you bothering my love now can i?? Sooo you’ll have to die!”

And with that another vortex appeared but this time a man pointing a gun stepped out.he pulled down the hammer down and cocked the gun before holding it right to your stalker’s head.

“NO! YOU CANT!! I PROMISE ILL STOP!!”

“Ehhh no~ id much rather kill you.eases my conscience~”

“BUT IT ISNT RIGHT! I HAVENT DONE ANYTHING WRONG!”

“Sure sure,threatening letters arent anything wrong but also,regardless of if you did that or not id still kill you.because i want to.its my will.and unlike you im not restricted by the bonds of morality.I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!”

“And right now,i want to shoot you”

“NO!PLEASE WAIT!”

“Toodles~”

BANG!

Nikolai gogol got home that day and saw you sat at the table doing some work.

He hugged you from behind and burried his head in the crook of your neck,his stray hairs tickling your ear.

“Hello y/n~” he said,peppering kisses all over your your cheek,neck and shoulder.

You raised your hadn to let it sit in his hair,ruffling the white floofles you loved so much.

“Hey kolya....how was your day?where were you?”

“Oh you know,taking care of some business.”

“Hmm” you sighed at his response.

“Oh and about that stalker of yours,”

You suddenly went stiff,you hand which had come down to lay over his arms which were wrapped around you,gripped them with sudden tension.

“Dont worry,i took care of it.gave them a stern talking to!they’ll never bother you again!” He said.

And you deflated at that,sudden tears of relief streaming down your face.

You got up and turned around in his arms to face him.the smile on your fave was as radiant as ever.

“Thank you,kolya” you said before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

You both smiled into the kiss.

“Anytime dove~”

All rights reserved © 2023 gettinshiggywithit . Please do not repost, modify or claim as yours.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

okkkk its been a day or two, gonna talk abt funy warptrain event ^_^ i didnt think i would but ihave thoughts and im chatty. notmany, but what ever. my house. yipy ^_^

honestly? wholly neutral abt this one. it sure was an event ! woah.

more genuinely, i mostly just think it couldve taken its environment+happenstance and made it hit harder. isuppose its just a side effect of Already Knowing, both in-universe and out, but the whole Everything felt very secondary to the character's.. characters. which isnt bad! its just specifically how it was Executed that kinda gets me about it.

specifically, in that it feels like its going to be much more important than it actually ended up presenting itself. nuance nuance, side chapter event, etc etc but even Still. what we got from the characters felt very very Mild, even from side-stuff pov. (again nuance, im not fully caught up, im simply talking about how i feel.) which may be a side effect of riding off th coattails of tkt wrt rodya having... All That. it felt like all that stuff w faust just Happened, and well. thats it! the most we got from it was dante+faust's brief dynamic, and yisang's comment towards the end. which was sweet and i liked a lot! i just wish they pushed the wound a little harder. juuust a little. give us (read: them) something to think about, rather than hint and drop.

ithink my main problem with the writing, specifically character writing, is how... sitcom-ish it ended up feeling, for lack of a better term. it felt very blatant in its winkwink nudge kind of execution of dialogue, specifically with the sinners re: faust's de-faust-ening. like its not Awful, but it did kinda take me out of it a bit. (though they didnt push that execution of it as far as they couldve, which i Am thankful for)

it Is very much a kind of hinty setup deal, but man. really really light on that one. the reconnection on mephi Was necessary plotwise, but i wont say i didnt feel at least a Little disappointed. let them struggle!!

(i think what i was more hoping for was exemplifying more strongly on the "This Is Objectively A Pressing Problem, But One We Cant Solve Just Yet" front. the 'we rely on Faust too much' was a little dip into it, but again, very light. i want to see them Objectively Kind Of Fuck Up about it. Really press those implications to give us something to be worried about when we Do address faust proper. yknow?)

and, admittedly, th thing that bothered me most was the keycard melting. that was the whole Ordeal! the pressure all kinda hinged on that being an Important Item! but then they just kind of all.. "oh no the keycard :( well, time to get on mephi its all cool ^_^" like... yall couldve done that th whole time? it really defangs the entire situation. both in-text and kind of retroactively. (which is something i could chatter on about, but i dont think id do it well, so i wont.)

like yeah, silly silly, but again. it does kinda make the tone go all over the place in a way that felt really jarring to me.

(also this is very very blatantly my own Immense Bias but its still my house; there is inevitably going to be a Lot of faust-angela comparisons/etc coming i can feel it in my Bones and iam inevitably going to be very Very bitchy about it. sorry about this in advance, but ive already said my piece re: rodya/ishy's realization egos and the same sentiment applies here. i am going to be Immensely picky about it and id apologize but you all know what im about. thats all.)

im wholly indifferent but Mildly Fond of team bloodfiend just on principle of Theyre Fun And Interesting. in the way where i wish we could delve into the implications of their dynamic (them making a fun little home on th warp trains is interesting!!!) but th nature of th story means we wont be able t see it. sad :( cmooon theyre just little guys cmon be niceys to them come onnnnn.

what Really shone this chapter for me though, surprise surprise, was donqui. she was FANTASTIC this event and its everything i couldve ever asked for, even with the bias aside. mmmmostly aside. i am easy to please on that front. i loved getting to see her be excited and Important to the group and not just brushed aside re: the beginning!! her and meur getting to genuinely just be silly!! (this one Is my bias speaking but also heath + don friendship win. in my heart.) also the bit where she gets to just... talk herself up in front of th kid. she was genuinely so happy and proud! it lets her Actually shine without dimming it with the "ah there goes donqui again, dont mind her" thing. which is intrinsic to her character, and i wont say is strictly bad, but im glad to see just Her. (Especially shoutout to the "she hesitated till the last second attacking the passengers" thing, that was a great detail for both her And faust)

but my Favorite thing by Far was the gap between the end of the bossfight and What Happened On Mephi. girl KILLING!!! girl MAIMING!!! getting to see her really push at her values and show off that part of her was Fantastic. the sheer stubborn vitriol was Excellent; and her standing by her own values even Past her own physical limits is Such a great way to exemplify that character trait. and most importantly, her direct decision to pretty much just ignore the direction to stay behind following her own morals was!! fantastic fantastic. Deeply delighted when she entered the scene again on mephi. i love seeing her be silly and excited. but what i love more is seeing that part of her. i want to see her be a Fucking Problem! a Serious Fucking Problem! she deserves it.

i cant... really say much on the uh, reveal at the end though. i probably wont, either! that'll have t be for the next canto. but im holding. im waiting. that is probably one of the funniest things they couldve pulled and i so desperately want to see what the fuck theyre going to do with it. let them cook or whatever. absolutely Not the direction i thought they were gonna focus on, but huh. Huh! huh. ok girl!!

. anyway all in all,

[theboarsbride]

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" Reading Update I

Page 101 - 24%

So, some major notes so far:

-I refuse to believe SJM knows how to write poor people. I refuse to believe that Feyre's family has been poor for a decade. How tf can the sisters be so dainty and act so oblivious and bitchy about work for survival after NEARLY 10 YEARS OF ECONOMIC DESTITUTION???????Just their mentalities, how they react to being poor, how they treat their belongings, how they treat their food, how they handle their money, etc. doesn't really line up.

-I can't stand SJM's writing style. SO MANY MF EM DASHES HOLY FUCK AND THEYRE IN PLACES WHERE THEY'RE UNNECESSARY. And also she reuses the same sentence structure, and it bothers meeeeee. (ex.- i was going to the bathroom, which was white and clean and shining. Then, I went to school, a place that was dull and bland and boring.) Like jfc. I wholeheartedly believe the conspiracy that no one actually edits SJM's book because good LORD.

- Feyre is dumb and deserves death. Like the instance with the Pooka. She suddenly sees her crippled father on Tamlin's land in Prythian in the middle of the night??? Given the wary hostility and aggression and distrust she's been displaying towards everyone and everything so far in Prythian, why isn't she doing the same in this instance???? She's said herself she is wary of faerie tricks, and acknowledged that not even whole, able-bodied humans are able to survive in Prythian without the help of a faerie, so why would she think her DISABLED FATHER, who is helpless in the mortal realm, be any different??? And why would she CARE that her father has come for her??? Did she not hope that her family starves without her, so that they realize she's important to them and she holds them in such an embittered contempt?????

- I LOVE Lucien <3 I like this fox-boy, he is funny and actually treats Feyre like the murderer she is (because yes, she's a murderer, and takes PRIDE in having killed a faerie. Which Feyre has some nerve being hostile to faeries who have been nothing but courteous and gracious with her, and thinking THEY are in the wrong when she was the one that MURDERED their friend).

- why couldn't Tamlin remain more like his beast form, making this more of a BATB retelling? I literally imagine him looking like Legolas but JACKED. This is where my ire of 'BATB but the beast is just a hot guy that growls or has behavioral problems' first began. It's such a shallow version of the story and completely misses the point. And the fact that this is also a retelling of The Ballad of Tam-Lin, a Scottish folktale, and does really nothing that's an homage to the story aside from Tamlin's name, the fact he shape-shifts (albeit BARELY), and there's (poorly written) fae really irks me.

-for once I want SJM to actually describe paintings rather than describing what the painting is of. I don't believe for one minute that SJM did more research into art, style, etc. because for the life of me I couldn't tell you what Feyre's art style is, nor do I really care because her having painting as a hobby is so pointless and has no effect on her character whatsoever.

- SJM is lazy as fuck with her world building. ex.- Lucien saying capital 'h' Hell, as in Christian Hell, when humans are agnostic/atheist with a sparse number of fae-worshiping cults (and were once implied to have had a polytheistic religion) and fae worship the Cauldron and other faerie deities so like.....why not use a few extra braincells to create her own version of Hell rather than using lazy cultural shorthand that, by the logic of this book's world, doesn't work????; underutilizing fae lore so now they're either underdeveloped spectral entities or LOTR elves... BORINGGGG!! GIVE US ACTUAL FAE IN LITERATURE AGAIN!!!! (*applauds Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries and Krystal Sutherland's House of Hollow*)

These are my major thoughts for the first quarter of the book.... See y'all again at 50%!

[muddyorbsblr]

consult an expert

Drabbles Masterlist See my full list of works here!

Story 'Universe': one look and they'll know

Summary: You decide to lean in to the notion of you having 'domme vibes' and look into how to embrace that newfound side of you.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word Count: 523

Warnings: none…this is a humor piece

"So if you could just fill out this form, and then Lady Heather should be with you shortly." You registered the movement of someone occupying the seat beside you out the corner of your eye, the woman thanking the receptionist while you focused on your own form.

"Why are you here?" you read the next question out loud. "Where's the option of 'my boyfriend constantly calls me goddess and I know nothing about this world but I wanna meet him halfway'? Maybe I'll just check 'Other'." 

"Oh God, I'm honestly here for the same thing," the woman beside you spoke up, her voice vaguely familiar, like you could've sworn you'd heard it on TV or something. "My ex used to call me 'Mistress' and I thought it was kinda hot, and now my boyfriend calls me 'My Queen' and I'm just curious now if maybe I have a type because…I'm into it?"

You resonated a little too closely to her sentiment, a chuckle escaping your lips before you could stop yourself. "Gotta be honest, hearing him call me 'Goddess' has done wonders for my self-confidence," you told her with a light laugh.

"Oh I can imagine. My ex said that 'Goddess' was reserved for someone that he'd feel inexplicably tethered to, as if the cosmos themselves crafted her for him because that would be the woman he knew he'd love and worship for the rest of his life. Kinda grateful he only ever called me 'Mistress', considering we only lasted a few months." She laughed when she finished, no traces of pain or longing in her voice. "Me and my boyfriend though…I see that type of future with him. Loving him for the rest of my life. If my life doesn't scare him off, that is." 

"Mine's scared that his life's gonna scare me off," you told the stranger, a fond smile stretching across your face as you remembered your conversation with Tom this morning when someone on Twitter made the offhand comment about them expecting him to wear an "I Heart" shirt with your initials in the next few weeks. "Something about people not letting him forget his ex. I love him, though. And I've faced much worse than bitchy people on the internet." 

"I know what you mean. The only important thing is that you're keeping each other safe, you know? Be in your little bubble. Actually I think Mad Men has the perfect term for it. Your little lavender haze." 

"Oh I love that." You turned to face the woman so you could introduce yourself, a lump immediately forming in your throat as your eyes her brilliant blues, taking in her perfectly styled hair, the impeccable minimalistic clothing that screamed money, the sweet smile depicting the clear fondness she was feeling over your conversation. "Holy fuck. I love your music." 

Her smile grew brighter as she held out a hand toward you. "I have to admit…a dominatrix house isn't the weirdest place I've met a fan, but it might just be the most interesting. I'm Taylor." 

You took her hand and introduced yourself. "I'm Y/N. And I'm dating your ex." 

A/N: I've been toying with this idea but never could find myself to expand on it further. But after creating my first drabble today I realized that maybe I don't have to 🤣🤣

[spotsupstuff]

What do you think about the RW ships? just curious is all.

hmmm.. well! first i do wanna preface this with the obligatory "i'm not hating on anybody with this, u do u and i do me is my genuine philosophy. i'll respect u from the distance if you do the same for me"

aight so i'm not gon list every ship in the fandom that has spawned in outta the stardust n give my specific opinion on it, cuz i'm not exactly keepin up

the only two ships i don't mind n find cute on the paper are NSH x Moon and Arti x Gour cuz both of them have that Old People Love Each Other in Easy Peace Despite The Circumstances Surrounding Them kick to them. i'm a weak bitch for that type of troupe for romantic relationships. not gon do anythin with 'em in my own stuff, though

i find myself more interested in the entirely and wholly platonic interpretation of everything in the game. platonic love is a matter of course, makin the story flow feel more smoother to me for that while also stayin nicely close to that religious narrative of the game (u can fight me on this but the Ancients' religion isn't *wrong*. the bad thing that happened with it is that it was taken to extremes and variety wasn't allowed. i could tell you why riddin oneself of the third and fifth sin isn't a bad idea at all- afterall, i kind of live by that myself!- and what they probably meant by riddin yourself of the sins without the extremist approach)

for the other ships... 🤔

well, the iterators are far too rooted in my head as sibs to vibe with ships with them, but more properly told: • Suns and Pebs are too much of "teacher and naive student" to me and i also find this dynamic more interesting to explore. uuuuu how spicy it is to think of Suns brainwashing Pebs but meaning it well uuuuuuuuuu • Suns and NSH are... let's just say that if i was in NSH's place and Suns talked to me like that i'd slap them so fuckin hard n if i WAS in a romantic relationship with them i'd dump them then and there (not in a bitchy ex kind of way, i'd be still down to talk, but i can't imagine bein in a relationship where the other half calls the most likely inevitable death of your closest friend a "setback" to their brainwashing of that friend's little brother would be Very healthy) • n i think what is the only other iterator ship left, Sliver and Moon... i find it kind of silly, honestly? like as far as *i* know the main reason why that exists is cuz Moon remembers what happened with Sliver after being given her own pearl about some notes she wrote herself on Sliver despite being baround three gazillion bagillion braincells short. i don't really see that as a strong incentive to start shippin 'em cuz like. you give Moon a very solid memory jogger and right in her second set of monologue she states that Sliver is literally a legend among the itties-titties. the best i can compare it to a real life thing is asking an american if they have any idea who Abraham Lincoln was at all. or asking a slovak if they knew who Finally managed to solidly establish our language after centuries of oppression. like of Course you're going to know That even on ur deathbed??? those are incredibly important historical figures for you n your home!!! also c'mon she remembers the feckin bug pupae, if THAT stuck in there this big boy info is def gon be kickin around

as for the slugcats... well ehh..... you can probably guess from what i mainly draw that i'm not Too focused on the slugs, only maybe Hunter so my slugshippin lore knowledge is p weak. when i first saw the slugshippin take off before i started postin bout RW again i thought it was silly to ship animals n still kinda do? 🤷‍♀️ doesn't help that canonically they have no business meeting each other except Monk n Surv (that is a strong No to shippin) and Hunter's writhing corpse n Gour (we are Not ducks we do not support necrophilia). i generally like to stick to the timeline, personally. good world-building. i respect good world-building too much to deviate too hard

BUT! i am going to use my status as pre-Downpour RW veteran and tell you to not listen to the whiny wrinkly babies in the tag that wail about how slugshippin is ruining the fandom. fuck 'em bitches, you do what u wanna (within moral common sense)

[msmargaretmurry]

Matthew curls/slutty collarbone-appreciating anon again - BOSTON!!! Home of another rat king! My home! (Not living there at the moment, but I miss it so, if you’ve seen Letterkenny/that one episode with the two dudes from Newfoundland getting all melancholy and homesick when Newfoundland is mentioned, that is me rn. No hard feelings re: Ratthew et al. knocking out Boston, though, I was still cheering for my slutty rat boy in the final.) I hope you and all of the other scholars are having an excellent time! Are you attending/watching any games? Don’t know if the Bruins are home or away tho, I haven’t been to the Garden in years, it’s such a fun venue. Bummed the PWHL team won't be able to play there, but I get it, schedule's packed. (Much as I love Boston, I will readily admit that the fans are… eh. Basketball is probs the best of the bunch.)

Matthew is only escalating his slut phase and I am living for it, that French girl lounging, Matthew is not beating those submissive and breedable accusations (or at least the breedable ones, he’s down for a fight first, if someone wants to wrestle him down and sink their teeth into the back of his neck and hold him there he/I will not be opposed, you know.) And you know, in a post-trade Matthew/Leon scenario, what’s a rat boy to do when he’s surrounded by men who want to fuck him up/probably also fuck him, when his former ?? hookup/fuckbuddy/fuckenemy/boyfriend/baby daddy (????) is all the way in Edmonton, not flirt with them? And of course when you’re a bitchy tank who only gets to play his… whatever Ratthew is to him, best not to think about that, twice a year, you’re not gonna not seize the opportunity/nearest storage closet to chew him up a little. It’s just not done.

I am very here for this vampire AU and neck/throat appreciation/biting. I am also generally here for Matthew the problem child and/or Matthew the generally good and together child whose one moment of rebellion is bringing home a nightmare boyfriend and/or Matthew with daddy problems or at least an adrenaline/danger kink whose constitution is incapable of not goading hot vampire into trying to bite him. And hot vampires cannot be blamed, he is flashing an irresponsible amount of collarbone as is.

hello again anon! yay boston!! absolutely one of my favorite cities. i am home now and even though i love home i am missing it already. just a lovely place to spend a lovely long weekend with lovely friends (whom i also miss already 😭😭😭). i am, i'm sorry to tell you, anti-boston sports (me being an east coaster NOT from boston, i feel like this shouldn't be a surprise), but y'all do always seem have a handful of players i love anyway, and even i must admit fenway is one of the most fun ballparks i've ever been to. the bruins sadly were not in town, but we went to the bc vs. denver game on saturday, and on sunday we schlepped out to worcester for a railers game, and both of those were very fun 💞

but onto the more important topic: our beloved rat boy. a concept related to your original ask i am currently mulling over is one where they are Totally Just Frenemies Who Occasionally Sleep Together (they used to be rivals who occasionally slept together but leon is not going to call anyone who plays in florida a "rival") which means that matthew can fuck whoever he wants. and does. and tells leon all about it while they hook up, and for some reason comes out of these hookups looking like leon tried to eat him alive. perhaps he will need to invest in a tshirt that he hasn't mutilated so that he can talk to the media in the days afterward without showing off all the teeth-shaped bruises he seems to have acquired. surely this all means nothing. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

i have a couple of other asks about the vampire leon extended universe so i am going to save my thoughts about THAT for answering those so i can stick them all in their own tag 😅 thank yoooouuuu for the ask though!! 💖

[starscelly]

hi cel!! was just going through ur 42455 tag and wondering if you’ve been having any Thoughts about them recently .. also. miro in that pic on roope’s ig story- he looked so so good!!

miro my beautiful wife. he did look so good if im remembering the correct photo!!!!!!!! apolocheese as this has been in my ask for Weeks now and i’m finally ready to approach it whole heartedly with my arms wide open …. i am always having thoughts abt Them unfortunately.... cracking my knuckles….. thank u for asking abt my Guys <3 please take a little essay

THE THING IS…. and i’ve touched on this previously…… everything abt 42455 begs you to be like. roope jealousy. easy. him and miro have history and then harls comes in drooling after his boyfriend. of course he’d be rude. but i literally JUUUUST discussed that i don’t actually find roope bitchy. necessarily. like i think he would do so in a chirpy manner (see: him always being like ughh i hate esa esa is a big freak weirdo. and then he sees esa and is like ^-^) that would actually bounce off of harls chirping really well! like theyre actually Pretty similar in the regard imo

and then we also consider THIS second quote here abt the bubble ….. and this opens new doors 4 meee. like what do you mean actually that he got close to miro and roope in the bubble? why did he specifically name miro and roope??????? but anyways . harls even says himself that he normally wouldn’t get to get close to the europeans but that closed in environment Let him do so . and it lets me live in a world of pre established friendship and crushes. and isn’t that stunning. i also think it’s fun that like. harls was a black ace. from my understanding they didn’t really overlap with the team for practices? like they were separate (correct me if i’m wrong) so that can affect the dynamic a lot imo! like we All remember this saad tweet (i am the only person that thinks of this regularly) and how it - along with those harls interviews gushing abt miro - set up a kinda. hero worship to friendship to lovers. but if we consider harls was a black ace during the covid bubble and didn’t have the same access to follow miro on the ice all day. that means they got to know each other like. casually. obviously not Outside the context of hockey because of the environment but closer to that than not. i think u can still get hero worshippy abt it bc harls would’ve been FRESHLY 19. actually turning 19 IN the bubble iirc so literally probably 18 when they met? miro would’ve been freshly 21 and roope 23. which in pro hockey world is Old Enough to be considered Older and Wiser and Cooler. BUT ANYWAYS. yeah enough outside of the context for it to be a Relatively Normal Friendship Plus Some Admiration. like there’s an article where they talk abt how the black aces would hang out with the main rosters guys at dinners and other Activities and pick their brain abt stuff and i can def see harls doing that with miro - and by default roope - but obviously that could and likely would devolve into Normal Conversation as well.

u can also maybe get into some fun stuff that, if u struggle with repositioning roope as not a jealous hater, could help. like we Saw bubble miro (so insane so good). maybe harls was a good luck charm. something like that. etc etc. 

i also want to just. placing roope aside maybe for a second. not something i like to do frequently but humor me. if we could take a moment for the dress and such. re:

idk if i have much more profound to say about that but. 3 boygirlfriends who can skate soooo pretty and play such similar games..... idk im into it!!!! conceptually!!!!!!!!!!!

also idr how much i discussed this last time but. as someone insane + always miro centric. it is very quite important to me that miro has two men just aaaabsolutely obsessed with him. and i think the difference in the way theyre obsessed with him is really silly and fun as well!!!! harls is . seemingly. relatively sane abt him off the ice (well. insane abt him but in the way he is insane abt everybody) but is SOOO obsessed with him as a player. insert every time he talks abt miro playing hockey. and roope is relatively sane abt him as a player - so much so that they played together for a full ! year!!!!! without the having their names linked forever and the being attached at the hip - but absolutely insane abt him off the ice. like will not leave him alone. like half of his insta posts include miro atp (not fact checking so just trust me). like it's truly sickening.

ANYWAYS..... sorry this was especially all over the place... i have a lot of big feelings and thoughts! i hope this was appreciated regardless of the Mess of it lolll

[atopvisenyashill]

general thoughts-

this is ep 4 & 5, which means i’m onto ep 6 and beyond and that’s usually where i start falling asleep and go “actually there’s another show i could be watching” so that’s gonna be fun aksjdj

if jory has a million fans, i am one of them. if he has one fan, i am that fan. if he has no fans it means i am DEAD.

i think john bradly is kinda awkward at first but i definitely remember him improving. he comes off a bit insincere in some spots to me but he has good chemistry with kit - when sam is like “so you DIDNT know where to put it” and jon runs over to whack him, that feels very genuine, just two boyfriends besties fucking around.

i do love alliser thorne walking in like “i know what you are” can a man not have a giggle with another man. he’s such a hater.

just the immediate, zero hesitation “you’re too fat for your armor” oh i Know ned desires that man carnally

i have completely forgotten why hugh hammer was important i had to go look him up ajsjdh

ned looking back at littlefinger like “alright we’re friends but let’s not get unserious here” when he puts his hand on sansa’s shoulder

JOFFREY STANDS UP IN ALARM (and interest) WHEN SANDOR JUMPS IN, and joffrey keeps looking at robert to see what robert is going to do, he’s like impressed, slightly concerned, excited, then you see robert kinda look joffrey’s way before he says to stop. jack, mark……………deserved award nominations dammit…….

the little fish pin bran is playing with while he’s thinking of his mom…… “from the moment i placed her in your arms to the moment she dies, she will love you” “sometimes i think you are too smart for your own good” IM GONNA SCREAM ACTUALLY.

not i moved closer to the tv to get a look at the lil fish pendant and then ros’ boobs were just right there 😭😭 i’m not saying i don’t respect sexposition but i am saying we could have gotten nedcat sexposition instead of making ros do all the heavy lifting here.

Conleth Hill is so funny as Varys. He’s got perfect comedic timing, his cadence when he’s going back and forth with someone else is always spot on, you’re always getting the feeling he’s laughing at you.

me and my sibling like to decide out loud if it’s a “good enough” reason to use that word and i’m sorry “they say the eyrie is impregnable” “i’ll impregnate the bitch” Not A Good Enough Reason To Use That Word

Ramin is a genius for this score, the way the music in the scene in the Eyrie is so unsettling but never loud, staying at the same low level until tyrion gets to the sky dungeon and THEN starting to crescendo? i love him i would die for him

this renly & loras scene is the sexiest scene in the whole series. the focus on the hair around renly’s nipple. the bitchy way they snipe at each other in between trading new pieces of hot goss. loras bullying renly into committing treason. “if you want hairless maybe you should find a little boy” “i want you” RICH coming from the man who groomed his squire.

jory’s death & this fight scene always stands out in the series and the show does a great job making it stand out too. that absolutely visceral eye horror where jory’s still aware for a few seconds & the way they REALLY let sean bean & ncw start warming up with the sword skills only to CUT THAT SHIT OFF and jaime is so upset but not enough to do anything different. really fun.

changes i noticed

i feel like they made theon much less weird. where is his inappropriate giggling. why is he not flirting with robb’s mom. i do like this convo between him and tyrion though, don’t get me wrong, i love the dynamics of it, and i love the way it’s in conversation with theon’s story as it goes on - both in that he enters another absolutely stupid ass war bc of pride, and also that he’s going to become physically disabled, but here he invokes an ableist insult towards Tyrion to soothe his own wounds over Tyrion taunting him specifically about his fondness for the Starks being so pathetic considering his status as a hostage. Tyrion says something cruel and Theon is cruel right back; this is traumatic and yet just another Tuesday for both of these men.

i remember so much discourse about this tyrion/theon scene and like which one is more ~problematic~ in this scene and it’s like bro. they’re both being huge assholes here for a very specific reason and they both deserved to get clouted what do u want from a convo between two of the most maladjusted characters in this series aksjdj

Having Petyr creepily whisper Sandor’s backstory which he shouldn’t even fucking know in Sansa’s ear instead of letting Sandor tell that story himself. Beyond that I just Don’t understand the fascination d&d seem to have for aiden’s acting and littlefucker as a character, i just don’t get the point of taking like The Foundational Sandor/Sansa scene, which is also Foundational to Sansa’s changing concept of morality and honor, as well as the overreaching concept of what a True Knight is, and giving it to a character who just Does Not Fuck With Sandor Like That. i hate this. it’s one of my favorite scenes and they just destroyed it for what. for a dude otherwise known for being the Worse, Less Sexy version of brian kinney?? rory mccann would have Killed This Scene!! I FEEL RAGE!!!!!!!

ONCE AGAIN they take the kill catelyn makes to save tyrion’s life and give it to tyrion for…..WHAT. FOR WHY. I WANT THEM DEAD FOR WHAT THEY DID TO CAT OMG.

Okay here we go, weird Theon. I think this Theon/Ros scene starts out good but it could have ended better. Like, the way he can’t even go to a brothel without being mocked for being a hostage. His fixation on Tyrion’s sex life. The way he is too close to Ros’ face when he’s talking to her. I like that last “i don’t want to pay for it” “then get yourself a wife” exchange but i think his comment about his father and her return should have been sharper. It’s missing that Pizzaz that the other added scenes have.

They changed up the Council scene by changing the wording to include the “honorable fool” nonsense, and also cut out barristan so ned doesn’t have someone on the council who he actually gets to come around to his argument, as well as cutting several points of his argument. It’s so stupid. They think Ned is so fucking stupid. ugh.

This next Robert/Cersei scene isn’t imo as good a setup as some of the other ones, because I don’t think Robert OR Cersei are emotionally in a space where she could come up there and argue that much with him and still get him genuinely explaining why he feels a certain way to her. On the other hand, the actual dialogue is VERY in character - Robert breaking down his worries about Dany is good, Cersei being both angry but also deeply curious about how to lead the realm, the way they both start drinking together and cracking up at the idea that their marriage is holding the realm together. Amazing. I love the way the redness seeps out of Robert’s face as the conversation turns serious. It’s almost like he wants to reach out to comfort Cersei, but he does it once again in the most selfish way possible by laying this horrible emotional burden on her shoulders. “does that make you feel better or worse?” “it doesn’t make me feel anything.” it’s so good. i can’t believe neither of them were nominated for this.

i also really like this scene for the later parallel they do with Aemon - the way Robert’s love for Lyanna is so meaningless, an excuse for him to disappear into his vices, she was so nonexistent as a person to him that he can’t even remember anything but the idealized stone statue of her face, and here is Aemon so much further removed from his loved ones, so far removed from even when his memory involved seeing, and he pours over every detail in his mind to remember her face

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Cut Through It

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy Summary: Rivalries are very common within sports, especially ones that are as important as the Olympics are. They're going to figure it out, especially now that they have all these weird new feelings in addition to the original rivalry. Warnings: Mentions of sex, implied substance abuse/crimes, and referenced athletic transphobia Word Count: 3,064 Ship(s): Diego Hargreeves/Viktor Hargreeves

Archive link!

A/N: I just wanted to put a quick disclaimer at the beginning of this: I have never been to the Olympics nor am I very into sports. I just wanted to write a fic where they were at each other's throats in a competitive way but weren't in school. There are likely a lot of mistakes and inaccuracies in how this all works, but I just wanted to make something silly! I hope you can all enjoy. Stay sissy and bitchy anyone &lt;3

“I’m going to kill him.”

The heavy door of the hotel room that he had been put up in by his team swung shut behind him with a resounding ‘click’ to let him know the lock was in place. Despite the fact that it was almost ten o’clock in the morning, the blinds and heavy curtains were still drawn over the window that overlooked the courtyard. There was a mess of clothing and technology spread out over the floor from the two open suitcases, along with a violin and the music stand that came with it. The bed on the right was made in the way that a normal human that didn’t work with housekeeping could manage while the one on the right was occupied with a lanky-looking body.

Viktor stepped up onto the bed and then nudged the figured underneath the blankets, which earned him a groan from the occupant. As soon as he was sure that he had actually woken the other man, he stepped onto his bed and then down onto the floor. “What?” Klaus asked when he poked his head out of his cocoon just in time to get blinded by the sunlight when Viktor took a curtain in either hand to wrench them open so that the daylight could come pouring in. 

He whirled around and then clambered up onto his bed. He didn’t even care about the fact that his swimming shorts were soaking through his sweats. “I’m going to kill him,” he repeated.

He slipped off of the bed so that he was standing in the space between them and then began to dig through his suitcase despite half of the contents already being spread around the hotel room from the previous days that they had stayed together. He got out a comfortable pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt that he was going to wear his favorite flannel over.

Klaus let out a low grumbling noise as he burrowed further into his blankets, pulling them up over his head so that he could hide from the light. “You’re not going to kill him,” he sounded like he was yawning, but the sound was muffled by several layers of fabric.

“I am, he’s so fucking insufferable,” Viktor seethed. He didn’t even think about it as he stripped off his shirt and then his pants. His swimming trunks were peeled off of his skin and laid out over the crinkly plastic wrap that had already been put over a chunk of his bed so that he could dry them without having them in the bathroom since that was what made his last pair go moldy. He then shimmied into a pair of boxers and shoved his jeans on over the damp patches on his legs.

A lot of people that Viktor had dated when he was in college had thought that his ability to do that made him abnormal and weird, to the point that two people had actually broken up with him for it. Viktor had never really thought about it because he had been swimming since for as long as he could remember. His mother often joked that she had given birth to him right next to the pool because of how eager he was.

“I mean, who does he think he is? His coach was just sitting there while timing him, wasn’t even doing that whole pissing contest that they always do. It’s just him by himself being an absolute piss-poor person,” Viktor snarled.

“Careful there, Vik, you’re starting to sound like me,” Klaus laughed. He had seemingly realized that he wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep and clawed his way out of his cocoon. He stretched his arms above his head so that his entire back popped loudly, tilting from the left before he moved to the right.

The warning did nothing to deter Viktor from his rant. He paused only as long as his shirt was over his head while he was jamming it onto his body before it picked up again. “I mean, does he think that he’s better than me just because he made it to the Olympics? Because newsflash! We’re both at the Olympics which is why he has to share the fucking pool.”

“I think that you just uncovered the true secret, dear,” Klaus slouched onto the floor as he began to search for the sundress that he was going to be wearing until they got to the archery range where he would meet up with his coach. Viktor still wasn’t sure how he had met Reginald Hargreeves in the first place or how the two of them managed to get along when the man was the most insufferably vile person that Viktor had ever met, but he worked well around Klaus’ issues and got him to actually show up for practice on time.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Viktor asked, flopping back down onto his bed now that he was effectively dressed. He had only started when he did so that he could get Klaus in a bit of a rush, but the other man was going to take far more time than he did.

“We’re at the Olympics. People don’t use that as a metaphor for when someone is being way too over the top about something or competing too hard for no reason,” he laughed. “He also probably thinks that you’re hot as shit.”

“What, with my brand new top surgery scars and unstable entry?” Viktor snorted as he flopped both of his arms over his face. He was a good swimmer and always had been, which was why his mother made the jokes about him being a rusalka reborn, but the committee that had entered him wasn’t sure about him on the grounds of his gender identity. It didn’t matter that there was photographic proof of him beating both of his parents times when he was seventeen or that he had tested the top out of a team of biological men, they didn’t like having his controversy supporting their country.

“Your entry is only unstable because of bigots and I know that Diego isn’t an entirely despicable human being,” Klaus said. The dress went over his head and then fell into place along his lean body just in the perfect amount of time for Viktor to fall in step behind him so that he could get the laces tied into place.

The smaller of the two men let out a little huff. “That’s it, I need to find a new best friend. Maybe Five can come with me the next time I go to the Olympics.”

Klaus let out a whine high enough to make a dog cringe. He whirled around and threw his arms messily over Viktor’s shoulders so that he was basically hanging off of his friend. “You don’t mean that, Vik, promise me that you don’t mean that,” he begged.

“Of course I don’t mean that, you absolute drama queen,” Viktor laughed. He wrapped his arms around his best friend’s waist and began to dance them back and forth in the space between their two beds. “Now get off of me so that I can finish tying your dress.”

“Gotta look nice for the paps that are convinced that we’re dating,” Klaus laughed.

Viktor groaned at the reminder of the article that had been spamming their private messages since they had stepped off of the plane several days ago. Having grown up with two semi-famous parents and being from Russia, Viktor wasn’t exactly new to the obsession that the world had with his personal life. Another couple of partners had broken up with him because they couldn’t stand the attention that he got on social media concerning his love life. The article stating that he had to be in a secret relationship with his best friend, going so far as to speculate that they had eloped or that he was pregnant, was enough to piss him off again. “God, I hate America.”

“But it’s where I live,” Klaus whined again.

“I know, and you also hate it here. Weren’t you just complaining about how Dallas is a million degrees and you could feel each one of the hairs on your balls because of how sweaty you are? Which is not how water works, by the way,” Viktor clawed his best friend off of him and then made Klaus turned around.

The other man stretched his arms up and changed the subject again, but Viktor barely blinked when he did because he was used to his friend doing that. It was one of the perks of having known Klaus since they were both too young to know each other’s languages. “Man, talking about your secret crush really does make you grumpy.”

Viktor pulled harder on the laces than he needed to as he finished the bow. He snarled, “I do not have a crush on Diego.”

---

As much as Diego loved swimming and had never felt more alive than when he was in the water, the breath of fresh air that he got whenever he stepped out of the locker rooms and into the streets was his favorite part of practice. It was like he was emerging back into the world from the safe cocoon of chlorine and lapping water.

He stood there for a moment, soaking in the noon-day sun and the sound of bustling people. He had showered and toweled off back when he was in the locker rooms, so he was dressed in his favorite jeans and a baggy letterman jacket from his college days. His mother had sewn a couple of good luck patches on it before he had left for the Olympics, which meant that he tried to wear it whenever he could.

“How was practice?”

Diego blinked and turned to the side to see his best friend standing there. She must have gotten out of practice early, or her coach had dragged her out of bed before the sun had even risen so that they could get to the range before Klaus and Reginald did. The Handler, which was the only thing that she allowed herself to be called anymore, was very competitive and that meant that all of her athletes also were.

Lila was wearing  short tartan skirt that was pleated enough to flare out even when she was standing still. She had a ripped crop top underneath a leather jacket and fishnet gloves, though she had ripped them enough that they were basically just an outline of gloves clinging to her arms.

“It was alright,” he shrugged. Neither of them had to say anything as they peeled away from the front of the pool and began to walk towards the hotel where all of the athletes were staying. “Viktor was there.”

“Oh?” she asked, turning towards him and waggling her eyebrows.

“It’s not like that,” he shook his head. “He’s a fucking prick.”

Lila cackled at her own joke before she managed to get it out of her mouth, “I bet you would like to fuck his prick.”

His cheeks began to heat up despite himself. He was trying to push back the thoughts of the toned abs coming up to accentuate silvery-red half moon scars underneath his pectorals. Viktor was objectively good looking, which wasn’t that surprising given who his parents were, but he was also borderline cruel when it came to competing. Diego knocked his shoulder against Lila’s a little harder than necessary as he asked, “Can you take anything seriously for more than ten seconds?”

“No,” she shook her head, catching his eyes to hold his gaze for an uncomfortably long time.

He grumbled as he broke the eye contact and led them across the street. “I just don’t understand why he seems to think that he owns the pool. Like no one else can swim when he needs to. We’re all at the Olympics, we all need to practice so that we can do our best when we actually compete.”

“Maybe he does think that he’s better than you,” Lila shrugged. She was entirely unhelpful when it came to talking Diego out of holes that he tied to dig himself. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that she actively wanted him to get in trouble.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, seeing as both of his parents are fucking gold-medal Olympians themselves,” Diego rolled his eyes. It felt a little reverse-classist in a way to call Viktor conceited or claim things that he didn’t know if the other man actually felt. However, he did know that it was going to be easier for Viktor to make himself a name in the world of swimming because his mother had won at least three medals for Russia in her lifetime.

“I think that you just want to fuck him,” Lila shrugged. “Do you remember that boy with the red hair least year that you got in a fight with? You ended up knocking teeth with him so hard in the locker room that we had to go to the dentist.”

“You and Ma are never going to let me forget that,” he groaned. He could feel the tips of his ears and the back of his neck growing warm with embarrassment as he remembered what had happened. He hadn’t meant for the interaction to be so violent, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins from the match that he had just finished and the win that was so close to being within his grasp had made him go absolutely feral. He had ended up at the dentist for a chipped tooth, but it was also one of the better experiences that he had in his life.

Lila cackled, throwing her head back like she was some kind of evil witch. Diego vaguely remembered seeing a picture of her dressed up like that for one Halloween when her parents had actually managed to fly out for one of her competitions. She had fit the bill pretty well, which made him wonder for a moment if that Halloween was the only time that she had ever taken off her costume instead of putting one on. “Why would we let you forget it when it’s one of my favorite things ever? The Handler may have been pissed that I posted it all over my socials but I think that the people deserve to get to see what we’re really like instead of some stupid curated image. We’re not robots.”

“Yeah but she is,” Diego snorted. Lila was semi-protective over her coach but they had known each other long enough that he felt comfortable making statements such as that about the woman. He struggled to find the lines with other people, but Lila wasn’t one of them. She had very few lines drawn in the sand and all of the ones that she did have were closer to brick walls, so they weren’t hard to find.

The other athlete yawned and stretched both of her arms into the air. “I don’t know, her robotics have managed to get me out of several tight spots in the past, maybe she’s got something going for her.”

“I think that she wouldn’t have to get you out of any tight spots if you could just keep all of your clothes on in public,” Diego teased back. If she was going to bring up his kiss-induced dentist visit then he was going to give her a taste of her own medicine.

“That was one time, the other holes she had to dig me out of were me making inappropriate jokes about arrows where reporters could mishear me,” she stated immediately afterwards.

Diego resisted the urge to pout at her reaction. After years and years of friendship he had only managed to get her flustered a couple of times, but that was never going to stop him from trying again and again. Lila let out a semi-wistful sigh, like she was thinking about something that made her happy. “Maybe you should just fuck him and then you can get over whatever it is that’s going on with you,” Lila shrugged. “Then I don’t have to hear about it anymore.”

“I’m not going to fuck him, we’re going against each other in literally the most important tournament in either of our careers,” Diego rolled his eyes. “And you should stop talking about it so that I’m not distracted.”

Lila waved her hand at him dismissively, “There will be other Olympics. I think you should kiss him so that he’s distracted tomorrow.”

---

The locker room was quiet when both of the swimmers entered. They had competed with several other people, but they were the only ones that had peeled away from their coaches so that they could get warmed up before they waited for their results to be in. The room echoed with every step and movement that they both made.

Viktor walked to his locker and tugged out a fresh towel, one that wasn’t already soaked in chlorine. Diego hung back by the door and watched him as he moved. He stepped forward and stuck his hand out in front of the other, “Whoever wins, I just want to say that you did a good job.”

“Thanks, you too,” Viktor replied flatly as he took the gesture and shook. “Just wish that you didn’t have to be such a prick yesterday when I came down to use the pool.”

“Me? You were the one that was acting like I couldn’t be in the same body of water as you,” Diego scoffed. Neither of them noticed the way that their hands were still linked together, their minds racing with a number of other thoughts spurred on by anger, adrenaline, and their proximity to each other.

“Yes, you. You were the one that was taking up two lanes when you should have picked one. That way you could have at least competed with your ego instead of hogging the pool to yourself,” Viktor seethed, taking a step closer to the other swimmer.

“Have you ever considered just talking to someone about what’s going on in that head of yours before you just start saying shit?” Diego asked.

Neither of them were given much opportunity to speak to each other outside of that before their lips were crashing together in a deeply passionate kiss. 

[frogsare-friends]

I'm Not Built for Helping Myself

chapter index | chapter 6 (you are here)

- JEREMIAH -

I don't even remember what I said. I just remember being so mad at him. At him thinking he was some victim, him acting like we were holding him back from moving on. Moving on from what? That's the real question. His dead wife that he cheated on? The house he doesn't want? Kids he doesn't care about? But before I can answer the question Conrad is there. I think I might punch him again if he starts acting like his usual self.

"That was intense," is what he goes with. The punching is still undecided. "I've never heard you go off on dad like that."

"You've never heard a lot of things." Jesus Christ, what am I? Some emo kid in a 2000's movie?

"Was that what it was like? When I was at Brown?" He almost looks scared to ask. Maybe he's more scared of the answer.

"No," I answer. I leave off the fact that he wasn't around enough to fight with. Conrad already knows that. He just gets so focused on the fact that I don't fight with dad much, he doesn't care why.

"What was it like?" I get that he's trying. I want him to try. But you have to have been trying, to build up a place where you can ask things like that, before you ask them.

"Why are you down here, Conrad?" He walked all the way down to the beach to ask how it feels to take care of your dying mom and her medical bills? How it feels when your dad doesn't even think about you? When your brother won't actually talk about what happened, just what he wants to happen? When your best friend, not even including that you've been in love with her for half your life, makes you feel exactly how she knows everyone else has made you feel your whole life? When you can't even talk to the two people you thought you'd always have because one is dying and has more important things to worry about and one is too painful to talk to?

"If I had said that, he would've killed me." So, none of the above, then. He's getting dangerously close to the punching decision being made, though.

"If you had said that, he would've cared," I shoot back at him. I wish he'd just let me wallow in pity alone.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fucked up, isn't it? He should- should care about you. You're pretty fucking awesome man, he's missing out" he tells me.

"I'm not the one doing pre-med at Stanford." Because how could dad care about someone like me with someone like Conrad right there.

"None of that shit matters, man." I can't fucking believe it.

"That's rich, coming from you." Maybe it's mean and bitchy and something I shouldn't say. But it's true.

"Why do you have to be such a dick man? I'm trying to be nice," he sounds mad. I don't think I can deal with the shit he says when he's mad.

"I know man, I know. Just…" I don't even know what to say to him. I need him to know that the shit he says hurts, that I remember it. But I can't tell him that. I really don't wanna fight.

"You always say I'm a dick but have you met you?" I think he's joking. But he says it so quietly that I can't be sure.

"Yeah, I have." I tell him before taking off. Talking to him was nice, it was nice having him there, trying, caring. But it didn't help. Nice isn't always helpful.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie and I'm afraid it's time. It was bound to happen at some point during the hiatus, but I feel like now that it's here we should rip the bandaid off and talk about all the reasons the sperm donor arc is some if the stupidest shit I've ever seen. So let's start with what really pissed me off this week which is KR's comments about this storyline. Can't remember the exact quote but something like "Buck needs to be happy with himself, figure out what he wants, it's important to

do that before being happy in a relationship, blah, blah, blah" to which I thought "Why indeed KR this is true which is exactly why WE SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN LAST YEAR WITH THE WHOLE TAYLOR RELATIONSHIP!!" This is exactly how that story was set up, constantly showing Buck's misery, his half-hearted ily, the chance to realize he needs more than just a person that doesn't leave to be happy. And absolutely nothing came of it. We spent a whole season with this BS only to have it end with no growth for Buck. And NOW you think it's time to address this 🙄🙄🙄??!! Also this leads into my second bitchy observation. Part of the appeal of having a break up growth arc was it was relatable. Maybe we haven't all experienced it but I'd argue most people can relate to the idea of leaving (or being left) a relationship that isn't bad but isn't what you want. Eddie's breakdown arc last season was relatable, not because we all know what PTSD like but we can all appreciate the idea of bottling up hurt and pain because we don't want to face it or keep a brave face for those we love. What exactly am I supposed to be connecting to with this donor BS?? We all don't have an innate desire to have kids, or do a big favor for a sorta friend we once knew. I have a complete emotional disconnect from this storyline and don't see that changing. So next let's talk about how fucking illogical every part of this story is (on a side note I laughed at the fans out-googling the 911 writers on so many things, reminds me of my science RNM  science sin compilations). Anyway, just why would anyone approach their friend they barely keep contact with to do this particular favor (maybe they explained but honestly I've blocked so many of those scenes from my long term memory)?? Why not a close friend (or relative even)? If you're going for emotional distance why not just an anonymous donor? The whole premise feels so contrived. Probably gotta leave it here for now since I'm getting sleepy. But i'm not close to being done (i'm not even done with this one point) so i hope ypu're ready for more of an inbox full later. Feel free to respond to what I do have because honestly bestie, this may take awhile.

My friend, as always your thoughts are perfectly on point! First, YES that growth was what SHOULD have come out of Buck having a relationship where he recognized he was clinging to something that wasn’t fulfilling for him and being the one to call it quits. But with the cheating added into the mix and then the Jonah mess, Buck didn’t end the relationship on “his” terms, he was pushed by her actions and needing to protect his friends. And ya know what? It might have worked if they had it end in 5a, and then spent 5b with Buck figuring out how to be happy with himself and what he wants. Also, what TF was 5x18 if not TWO instances of it being stated what Buck wants?! First with the Maddie “isn’t that what love is?” conversation and then the firefam “someone to have your back” conversation. 

ANYWAY, fine, Buck still needs to learn what the key to happiness is, but please tell me why after how much we had to suffer through that BT mess, we are having yet another season of Buck clinging to something that isn’t right for him and won’t make him happy, just because he thinks doing something to make someone else happy is important even if it hurts him. If the WHOLE point of the BT mess was showing Buck being a “settler” and a “clinger” then why are we right back in the same place with him settling for being a donor not a dad, and clinging on to this couple like he’s going to be ‘fun uncle Buck”? You KNOW that couple isn’t going to want a constant reminder of how they “failed” to make a baby “on their own”, or risk their kid (or Buck) getting too attached. Not to mention how awkward it would be for them to explain their sperm donor just being around all the time. Also what was the point of Hen asking if he could have a child out there and walk away, if he can JUST be a donor and nothing more, if the storyline is showing him constantly acting like he’s going to be fulling involved in this kids life? How is ANY of this helping Buck figure out how to be happy with himself when he’s still putting himself and his needs behind other people’s who are using him for parts? What happened to him figuring out the right “couch” and how to be “at ease” and Lev’s death being something that hit him super hard and made him start thinking about his life? Because all of that got abandoned in favor of this soap opera level pointless “drama”. Thanks, I hate it.

As far as connecting to the storyline, I don’t even think it’s just about some people not wanting kids and therefore not being able to connect, it’s about the way this story is being told. Because you’re right, even people without war-related PTSD could relate or at least emotionally connect to Eddie’s arc. But with Buck, we aren’t given enough/consistent info about his thoughts and feelings to connect with! He seems unsure when he talks to Hen and that “donor not dad” line really seemed to throw him for a loop. So the audience was prepared to see him struggle with this decision a bit, maybe saying “let me think about it” and then an episode or 2 later (after some interactions with a call and/or Eddie/Chris, or Maddie (and maybe Jee) make him re-evaluate things), he tells them no, because he’s realized he can’t just donate and walk away. (Even weighty arcs like the lawsuit and Eddie’s fighting arc only lasted a couple episodes so this would be easy to wrap up within the confines of 6a) Instead he says “yes” immediately without talking to Eddie, Maddie, or Bobby or taking into real account what Hen said. Okay, fine, so he’s said yes, now it’s time for the family history to come into play or a talk with Eddie or Maddie or Bobby right?! Wrong! It’s time to forget about it for a month! Then, when it finally comes back, it’s got two conflicting things happening at once. Thing one: It’s all a big joke! Buck is telling Hen about his masturbation habits (which as everyone has pointed out is actually NOT what you should do which Buck would know if he was doing all that research on what to eat and everything, but that would require the WRITERS to do that research and OPP! Either they didn’t bother, or decided this was “funnier” than the facts 🙄). Buck is getting cock-blocked by the sperm bank! Buck’s firefam is eavesdropping on the reveal when Buck get’s accosted at work and they get caught staring! How funny is that?! (🙄🙄🙄 NOT actually funny but of course it’s never addressed) But then we have thing two. Which is the fact that despite the writing playing this off as a joke, they’re also making sure Buck isn’t telling anyone besides Hen, and makes it clear he doesn’t want her to tell anyone else. Why not? Why would Buck keep this a secret from his sister that he always goes to for a listening ear? From his best friend who isn’t afraid to give him tough talks when he needs them? From his father figure whose advice he respects? The answer if this was in an earlier season with better writing would be that he knows he’s not making the right choice and isn’t ready to confront the truth. But we don’t get any indication of that either! Just Buck desperate to do his donation, apologetic to the couple when he can’t get it done and doubling down on his commitment and excitement to do this for them, and a continued joy in the whole thing, with no indication that anyone is gearing up for a big talk with him. So why was Buck sooo desperate to not let anyone know? The audience is being given two different messages at the same time! Buck is super excited about doing this in his words, and Buck is also super concerned about the people closest to him finding out that he’s doing this in his actions. But since we don’t see him expressing that worry, and we don’t see the team expressing any worry behind his back about it, the audience doesn’t know how they are supposed to be emotionally connecting to this story. I know you’ve got another ask planed on how we’re past the point of being able to satisfyingly wrap up this arc now that a baby has been made so I’ll save some rant for that, but just focused on what we have seen, the arc doesn’t make any sense on what Buck is truly feeling and therefore what the audience should be connecting to within the storyline. 

As for why they asked Buck, his buddy said it was because Buck was a good, kind, selfless person and you can’t tell that from a genetics facts sheet at the sperm bank. Which is....a) grossly manipulative, especially for someone like Buck which dude HAD to know, and b) isn’t even a tiny bit factually true! Yes kids have their own personalities and what they like and enjoy may not always line up with what their parents do, but your child being a good and kind person is sorta down to you teaching them to be good and kind. It isn’t going to just *happen* because of “genetics”. My guess is they approached him because he IS good and kind and they figured he would say yes, with the added bonus of him being a physically healthy person with on the surface level, probably “good” genetics.

Anyway, I tried to give this storyline a chance, just like I did with the impending BT breakup, but just like last season, it’s reached a point where pretty much whatever they do is going to result in Buck being the “victim” again and being the one to be “left behind” instead of being able to make the choice himself to leave a situation that isn’t good for him, meaning again, no real growth, and more of Buck being stuck having scenes and arcs entirely outside the firefam/his job. And as we saw with 4x14 and 99.9% of s5 and the BT relationship, KR doesn’t like anyone in the firefam being involved in Buck’s personal arcs. (Probably because if they WERE, he might actually learn something and be able to grow a little and we just can’t have that.)

[daisiesflower]

So some thoughts, hopes, theories for stranger things five. Not gonna tag this spoilers cause like it’s all coming from my own brain none of this is leaks or anything

I know the actor has claimed he isn’t but I wish Argyle would be coming back. And for more than like a guest character the way Suzy is, he was literally a main character of season 4 and if Robin could join the team permanently why not him

On that note I want him and Steve to be besties. I want Steve to have healthy male friendships of his own age but also it would be soooo funny cause Jonathan clearly still has petty beef with Steve after all this time but Steve’s totally moved on and considers Jonathan a friend and he would get along so well with Argyle, I think it would be hilarious because Jonathan would be fuming like he’s bitched to Argyle so much about this guy and Argyle is his best friend and now him and Steve are hitting it off. But he knows he doesn’t have any actual valid reason to be mad so he’s just really bitchy about it

Literally anything about Steve and Robin’s home lives. Literally anything. I am begging for scraps here.

I mean we all know Holly Wheeler’s going to go missing and play some important role in the plot. Is that even a question anymore. This one has always been a matter of when not if

I think there’ll be an episode of the Upside Down invading Hawkins using Vecna’s victims. Like I think it’ll be an episode dedicated to zombie flicks as characters come face to face with corpses of people who had major impacts on them and have to kill them all over again to protect Hawkins. I don’t think that’ll be part of the climax though I think it’ll be like mid-season to ramp up the stakes. Think that’s where we’ll get an Eddie cameo, think we’ll see Barb, we’ll see Billy, we’ll see Chrissy, Fred, Patrick, maaaybe Jason. The real question mark is Bob - he didn’t die in the Upside Down, his body was either completely eaten or it was moved by humans and buried so question mark whether Vecna has any control over him

As far as stancy vs jancy goes I want Nancy to end up single, with acknowledgments that none of them are in a place in their lives to be able to have relationships with each other for various reasons and an emphasis on stoncy moving on and coming together as friends. Most likely though I think jancy will end up together

Duffer bros are for sure going to kill someone off. Ideally for me it would be Jonathan (and I do have well thought out reasons if anyone wants them) but I don’t trust them to do that. Think it’s more likely to be Steve so that Nancy can be with Jonathan without guilt or whatever (would hate that)

I think the Duffer bros are invested in the romances they set up at the beginning of the show. The show started with mileven, jopper, and jancy so I think that’s how they’ll end it. Jancy I think is the most at risk due to them being very aware that Steve is more well-liked than Jonathan (by both general audience and themselves)

I so think Robin will be Will’s gay mentor. Cannot emphasize enough how much I Do Not Want This

I want Kali back. I know it’s not gonna happen. In my rewrite of Season 4 she joins the team permanently so she’s be there in Season 5. But unfortunately the Season 4 rewrite only exists in my head

I would love to see a Joyce-Robin team up. They struggle with so many of the same issues that I would love to see them find strength in each other. Plus Robin could use an adult figure in her life since she apparently doesn’t have parents (sarcasm). I feel like maybe I saw a pic of Maya and Winona filming so this could become a reality but it could also be my hopeful subconscious making shit up

I want Murray and Erica in the same grouping for an extended period of time. With Lucas there because I don’t want Murray alone with her (yikes) and also for the good good Sinclair sibling interactions. Max and Robin can pop in occasionally. I just want like sixteen straight hours of this man being bullied by teen and preteen girls. Would love to see a moment of Sinclair bickering and then Murray steps in and it becomes “oh hell no, no one gets to bully my sibling except me”

I want the season to start with a grouping of Max, Steve, and El. I love the Steve-Max relationship (he’s so older brother coded to her) and I feel like we’ve gotten little hints that Steve and El are close, that he considers her one of his little nuggets but we’ve never actually seen that

On that note I think it’d be funny if we make it through five straight seasons without Will and Steve interacting once

I want Nancy and Mike to find out about their mom nearly hooking up with Billy. It feels so weird and random to include as a plot point if nothing ever comes of it and neither of her kids ever find out. I think it could work for Nancy to find out in order to help her maybe make a decision about her future and her relationships, to really cement what she’s known all along which is that she doesn’t want to end up like her parents. I think for Mike it would affect his friendship with Max, I think he wouldn’t know how to behave about it and it would make thinks difficult between them for a bit

On a similar note I want Mike to have some time away from Will and El. Spend some time with Lucas and Max. He has other relationships that also impact his life besides just those two (even if they are arguably the most important)

I don’t think it really matters what grouping Dustin ends up in since he’ll be awesome no matter what. But since they’re obviously going to make the Wheelers more important, I want sixteen straight hours of him bullying Ted Wheeler

Actually since I also want Dustin and Erica being besties, let’s make that the foursome of the season. Dustin, Erica, Murray, and Ted Wheeler. Just Dustin and Erica bullying these middle aged men who also hate each other - Ted regularly calls Murray a communist and a kook (despite literal proof of other dimensions being right in front of him) and Murray hates him for voting for Reagan

I think that there will be like no reference to Russians. Firstly because this season is gonna be very centralized in Hawkins, I don’t see any plot points that aren’t about Hawkins’ direct focus happening. But also because the Duffers are quite good at listening to audience critiques and adjusting in ways that give the audience what they want without sacrificing their story. And last season they know damn well that the Russia plotline was the least favorite of anyone and that in Season 3 the only reason it was a favorite was due to the grouping of characters

I think Dustin’s plot and character specifically will be inspired by Eddie’s death in the way Nancy’s was by Barb. I wish with all of my being that this would be Mike’s story since he makes the most sense to idolize and emulate Eddie but alas I doubt that will happen. One day I’ll write a post about this. That day is not today

On the one hand I don’t trust them not to kill Steve. On the other hand, killing Steve means he can’t be used in any kind of spin-off…much to consider

I highly doubt byler will happen. I think it’s more likely the season ends for Will the same way Season 4 ended for Robin. I think he’ll spend the season learning to move on from Mike, then in like the second to last scene of the show will meet and bond with some random guy also implied to be gay with the clear subtext that this is Will’s future boyfriend

I want Tommy H and Carol back. I miss them