#it’s just how they wrote her she can be improved upon

[serrennedyanonwriter]

Me: Alright, going to start working on the fics that I have posted/need to post.

Brain: Hey, so what if-

Me: We’re not doing this, I have other stuff I need to get out, we’re not-

Brain: A complete RE6 rewrite with a dash of Serrennedy.

Me:…. God fucking damnit, I’m already writing down notes, can’t stop now-

[archaeren]

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

[starlightdreaming]

WELCOME TO LULULUNA!! YOUR SECOND HELL OF PAINNN MUAHAHAHA!!,!

Lucifer Morningstar x Reader! Ch. 2!

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel!

Content Warning: MORE ANGST! (Regret, consequences of actions and swearing and stuff idk)

Synopsis: Lucifer loved you but there was something in the way he couldn’t tell you, someone was always watching.

Further note: I WROTE TWO ANGSTS IN ONE DAY AND I PERSONALLY WANNA CRYINGNMUTFU KING EYES OUT SOMEONE GET ME THERAPYPLAES (not proofread BUT ENJOY!!) - ✨Lolo💫

Chapters!: Chapter 1 ✧ Chapter 2 (you are here) •<•)b ✧ Chapter 3 ✧ Chapter 4 ✧ Chapter 5

(NOW THIS CHAPTERS SONG IS:

to further improve reading, I recommend listening! (It helped me write this too))

｡･:*:･ﾟGoodbye Luna･ﾟ:｡*:･｡

The new job you had been assigned by the higher ups was pretty simple, just make stars, bring them to life, give them the ability to help others like the stars helped you in your depression, repeat!

You smiled down the streets of Halo city, seeing all your stars help others and help the community in general, for once, you felt rather proud of yourself, you were always working but that didn’t bother you at all, it helped you ease your mind as you made the little stars, it was your comfort and now its your job, this was a perfect absolute win - win!

After Emily came along into your life, you decided it was time for a change, she was always so bright and comforting, when you told her you were changing your name as a ‘new person’ she fully supported you! She had made sure to always call you your correct name and made sure others did as well, including her sister Sera.

It was such a new feeling.. to feel that you belong, it was heart warming. You don’t think you would change your life for anything else, seeing as Emily and Sera welcomed you like their own sister and there was nothing better than that.

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Lucifer sighed as he sat next to Lilith, crying, Lilith being there to comfort him as he leaned down onto her chest while she pat his head, “I know it hurts, dearest.” She comforts, “But we both know it was for the best, remember that..” She swoons, kissing his head gently, “It’s been so long, Lilith, I really miss her.” Lucifer whimpers before another tear fell from his face, he remembered the hurt in your eyes and that was taking a toll on his soul, “when the day comes, you can tell her everything about it, alright dear?” Lilith smiles gently, cupping his face to look at her, “I know, Lilith, it just… hurts.” he says before wiping his own tears, “But now that its done, I think it’s time we move to our next step..” Lucifer says as he stands up, taking Lilith’s hand into his own.

“Once we find Eve, give her the apple and my Luna will be free.” He smiles, walking toward the oak tree, seeing as how it was put back together with stars only you knew how to make but still definitely showed as damaged, his smile softened, knowing that this meant that he still had a chance to explain everything to you. He leaned against the tree whispering, “I’m sorry, Luna.” before he walked away with Lilith, hand in hand.

✧•✧•✧•✧•✧•✧��✧

You hummed to yourself, making stars in your office that was completely covered in stardust, you included.

You flew around your office as the stars floated around you, noting down on your white board on how to improve your stars, it was an everyday routine for you but sometimes… when you look out your office window and see all the Heaven born angels outside, you couldn’t help but miss that special somebody you could never see again, you often sat down in your chair, making silly constellations of Lucifer cause of your longing but remember the words he shouted at you would always make the constellation dissipate or shatter. You sighed before deciding maybe it was time for a break, lunch time it is!

You moved some stars out of the way as you tried to get out of your office, upon exiting your office you had to dust yourself off from all the star dust that glittered your clothes and hair, most would fall off but some would still stick to you, it wasn’t that important to clean yourself since you would be covered in the dust once you came back.

Upon flying around Halo City, a few stars had assisted you on serving your meal, taking your orders and working together as they chimed and squeaked as communication, this proving that your stars were successful to the community in Heaven, “thank you my children.” You smiled as your stars chimed at you, going back to work.

After eating, you decided to head back to work, feeling happy and full from your meal, leaving the little cafe, you flew back to your office, you paid no mind as you walked down the halls until you turned around the corner, “What do you mean I can’t see her? She’s my best friend!” A familiar voice shouted to an employee who was at your office door, You saw Lucifer who had completely disheveled hair and looked like he was in a frenzy, “Please, you don’t understand! I need to see her!” he pleaded again, you stared at them both from shock and surprise, your stomach getting a sinking feeling that maybe you should just run. The employee batted an eye at you before looking back at Lucifer, this made Lucifer to turn to your direction, the split second of eye contact he had made with you made you hide completely in the corner of the hall, ‘shit’ you thought as you started running off to who knows where, “Luna? Luna wait!!” Lucifer shouted to you, the name making you feel sick, you haven’t heard anyone call you that in a long time.

You tried to fly home, lock your doors and stay there for months until Lucifer was completely gone, but he caught up to you before you could even finish the thought, He held onto you dearly and tightly, you struggled in his grasp as he teleported you both to the garden of Eden, it was happening so quickly as you both fell to the ground, crashing, he protected you from the fall when you both imoacted into the grass, tumbling and rolling.

He grunted as he rolled into a tree, giving you the chance to kick away and crawl backwards away from him, your heart beating rapidly from the unexplained situation you were in, “What in the heavens is happening? get away from me!” You shouted, picking yourself up as you dusted yourself, stepping away from Lucifer, trying to brush off the dirt that got on your clothing.

Lucifer tried to recover but he seemed to have been hyperventilating to even care, “Listen, Luna-“ he tried to speak, “Don’t call me that!” you hissed, the name making spite fill your eyes, “You lost that ability to do so.” you say as you crossed your arms looking away in irritation, “Please- just- just listen to me,” Lucifer begged, “And why should I? after everything you did? everything you said??” You asked in a much higher tone, “I don’t have much time! please!” He begged, hugging you close in desperation, the hug was so unexpected to you, it felt sick and insulting, you pushed and punched him off you, “You think you can just touch me like you didn’t fuck up my life?!” You say as you recomposed yourself after pushing him away, tears were in his eyes, “I’m in so much trouble! you don’t understand!” he shouted, his voice cracking but that only made you more pissed, you couldn’t help but laugh as you started connecting that dots, “Oh I get it,” You say more irritated when you realized the situation, “You’re in trouble and since Lilith can’t help you, you’re asking ME for help? tch, please.” you rolled your eyes, turning away and waving him off, “That’s- That’s not it!” He cries, trying to hold you, “Luna, you have to listen! I gave an apple to Eve so she could have free will! and since she broke free from control, that means that-“ He tries to explain quickly but the Seraphim’s had arrived to your location, “Lucifer! You are to be silent!” A loud voice echoed, his eyes widening in fear, you turning to see Sera and other angels you weren’t aware of.

Lucifer looked up at the seraphim’s, down to you, then down to the ground with wide eyes full of tears, “I’m too late..” He whispers under his breath, only for you to hear, you turned to him confused as angels that looked similar to him began to hold him down, you stepping back in surprise, ‘what the hell did he do?’ you pondered to yourself, “and you, Y/n, what are you doing here?” Sera asks in her angel form, you crossed your arms looking away from Lucifer, “He dragged me here when I was trying to get to my office.” you explained, walking towards Sera and standing by her side as you watched Lucifer get dragged by a few angels, Lucifer looked at you with apologetic eyes but that only made you advert your gaze, not wanting or bothering to defend him like all the times you had done all the years you had been together, just like how he made you suffer alone, he was getting the same treatment now, karma at its finest.

Lucifer didn’t care what was happening to him, he just wanted to see you again, he wanted to look at you again, he wanted you to look at him, he did that all for you…! but at what cost…? you walked away with Sera, not even giving him a second glance. He looked down, wallowing in his guilt, “please come back to me, my Luna.” he whispered under his breath.

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You went back to your office with Sera, you expected to go back to work and do your usual, “You can’t work today, Y/n.” Sera ordered, “What? Why?” You asked in bewilderment, “Since you were with Lucifer before we could find him, you are now a witness.” Sera stated, you were shocked from this, “What do you mean? What did he do..?” You asked a little afraid to know the answer, Sera took a deep breath, feeling tired from how crazy the day seemed to have been for her, “A few days ago, Lucifer gave Adams’ new wife an apple.” Sera explained, “an apple?” you raised a brow, not understanding why an apple made the subject so serious, “Yes, an apple. It was made from the tree of knowledge, it gave her free will, she broke out of our control,” Sera continues as she paces in your office, pushing away stars that got in her way, “And because of that, evil has found it’s way to Earth.” Sera finishes as she looks down upset. You gasped when she finished, “Lucifer brought evil into creation that we spent so much time and effort into making??” You asked in complete shock, no wonder he came to find you, he wanted to use you as a defense to escape trouble, he was so selfish.

“Yes and now you will have to join us in court, since you were the closest to him.” Sera says as you advert your gaze from her, not feeling proud from the amount of years of your life that felt as they had gone to waste with a stranger far in the past.

“When is it?” You asked, “Since it’s urgent, it’s being held now.” Sera says, “Wait what-“ you say but before you could finish, you were teleported into the court room, you blinked twice before processing your surroundings, Lucifer at a table with Lilith, they both looked nervous, seeing the two of them together put you in a sour mood rather quickly.

“Since the Seraphim is here, I suggest this court meeting begins now,” A voice spoke, you look down at the person seeing a tall male that was quite charming, “Greetings everyone, My name is Azreal,” He said calmly and authoritative, “I am here today for the incident of evil breaching the creations of Earth, caused by; Lucifer Morningstar.” He states out, the public gallery gasping and whispering amongst each other as you looked at Lucifer, you felt worried for him and you hated that, he had betrayed your trust, he turned his back on you and your friendship, so why on Earth are you so worried about him? when Lucifer caught you staring you glared at him before turning away, continuing to listen to Azreal.

“We are gathered here to discuss the punishment Lucifer deserves after destroying the divine creations we had worked hard to make, do we have any ideas?” Azreal asks, waiting for anyone to answer, “Well obviously community service ain’t gonna help.” someone snarked, sarcastically.

“Yeah! all that hard work just for it to go down the drain in a blink of an eye? he deserves the worst of the worst!” A voice shouted angrily, others obliging as well, they began to argue and yell at Lucifer, you, watching as you put up a facade, staring nonchalant at Lucifer and Lilith. Lucifer hid under his hat worriedly as Lilith tried to hold his hand for comfort, you thought for a few moments, thinking about what they deserved.

Sera silenced the court room with a raise of her hand, “he should pay…” you mumbled quietly, only for Sera to catch on, “What was that, Y/n?” Sera asked, leaning down closer to you, “He should pay.. by living in his own mistake.” You say, confusing the higher elder.

when you broke that oak tree, it was the worst mistake of your life, all those memories were shattered into pieces and you tried.. so hard to put it back together, it did in the end but it barely stayed, despite that, you drowned yourself in guilt and sorrow, pain and sadness for months and you think, thats the perfect thing he should suffer from too.

“He should live in his mistake, create a realm of evil that he can drown in, it’s what…” you hesitate, hugging yourself to finish your sentence, “he deserves.” you finish, looking down at him and Lilith, you felt sadness and guilt, hatred and disgust all at the same time, you didn’t know how to react, this whole mess was beginning to give you a headache, he tried to use you to protect himself in all this mess and yet, all you wanted to do was cry and tell the court to forgive him! forgive and forget, but you were so full of hurt you couldn’t do either.

“don’t credit me for the idea, Sera,” you began to feel the tears escape, “please.” you pleaded silently. Sera understood and pat your head gently, “If you could listen, I have an option.” Sera calls, the court listening as you hid from everyone’s view, “We can make Lucifer face the consequences of his actions by making him drown in his own mistakes,” Sera says, trying to go off by your words, “we can create a realm of evil, so only it stays far away from the grasps of Heaven, Lucifer can be sent to the realm, to face the actions he had committed.” She finishes, Lucifer and Lilith’s mouths a gap, looking at Sera in disbelief, the court room began to murmur and whisper amongst themselves in a more calm manner, “That sounds like a fantastic idea!” Azreal smiled, “Very well then, all those in favor, raise your hand,” he says, raising his own as 99.9% of the court raised their hands into the favor, Lucifer looked around, fear rising in him but the sliver of hope was withheld when he saw you staring at him with dull, lifeless sad eyes, he looked at you pleading for help, but in this situation, you can’t.

“Miss Y/n.” Azreal called, “Is there a reason you aren’t raising your hand?” He smiles at you charmingly, you still stared at Lucifer before turning away from his gaze, slowly raising your hand… The small chance of hope burnt out when he saw your arm raised, the pain in his eyes showed, “Luna, please! you have to understand!-“ He begged, trying to go for a last ditch effort. When he called you by that name you glared at him, infuriated that he was desperately trying to get you back only when he needed you most, you leaned over the balcony, tired of his whining and crying for you, of all times he could have asked for forgiveness, he chose the time when he was in deep shit of trouble, “What. in GODS NAME do you want from me?” you sweared beyond the swearing of swears in front of the court, making everyone gasp but you didn’t care.

You flew down to the table he sat at, Azreal moving to the side, interested in the things about to unfold, “Of all the times you could have came to me, to ask for our friendship back, you choose the time you desperately needed to use me,” You snarled, “I’m sick of your shit Lucifer, you never needed me and you made that VERY CLEAR, the moment you told me to step out of your life AND I DID.” you said poking his chest, your angelic form appearing.

“You deserve this and we. both. know. it.” you finished as he looked at you with guilt in his eyes, hurt and regret, “I didn’t ask for things to turn out like this,” He said weakly, you stepped back from him to give him space, “I love you, My Luna.” He confesses in complete heartbreak, his hand to his chest as he cries, Lilith watching as she comforts him, your eyes widen from his statement as the court gasps, “What the fuck are you saying? you love Lilith!” you shouted at him in full confidence, “See? you don’t understand,” He cries, you were puzzled and insulted from his confessions, it put your mind into a frenzy, “Lilith and I were secretive because-“ “I don’t want to hear your sorry, pathetic, excuses!” You shouted at him, your chest huffing from the stress he keeps pressuring you into, “My name is NOT Luna, YOU never loved me, you chose Lilith over me, you chose EVERYTHING ABOUT Lilith over me! you love me? what a fucking joke!” you barked, Lucifer sitting down in his own chair, “I’m going to say it since you can’t seem to understand, if you want me out of your life,” you say pointing to yourself, walking to him, “then I don’t want YOU in my life.” you finish pointing to him, hatred in your eyes as he looked at you with tears falling.

it was silent in the court room, no one dared to speak up from the tension, until Lucifer swallowed before saying one simple word that forever decided what would happen between both you, Lilith and Lucifer, “Please…” he begged one last time, you squint your eyes, understanding that no matter what you say, it will never get through to his head, so you decided to be the final push of this pure broken relationship.

“Azreal, send them away.” You ordered, turning away from them both, standing behind Azreal as he walked up to them, “Guess it’s done and over then, you heard the seraphim.” Azreal smiles, Lucifers eyes widening, “Luna, Luna! please!” Lucifer begged but you ignored his calling as Azreal opened a portal.

Lilith and Lucifer held onto each other as angels forced them to go into the portal, angelic spears making them walk into their own fate, “Going down?” Azreal joked as he made Lucifer trip backwards, falling into the portal with Lilith at his side, his wings holding her up as he held onto the edge of the portal, left hanging with Lilith in his arm. Azreal smiled and waved before standing back.

“Lilith hold on, okay?” He says, looking down at her as she held onto him with his other hand. When he looked back up, his eyes widen when you appear above him, your demeanor was just pure sadness, lifeless and dull and finally for once in years, he sees a smile crack on your face, one of just pure neglect and hurt, he couldn’t look away, although he did this all for you, you would never understand why, this was not the smile he wanted to see on your face, this isn’t what he wanted or what he was trying to do for you, he wanted you to be free… and now that you are, he couldn’t share it with you…

You held his hand gently, slowly sliding it off the edge, taking it into your own, he looked at you desperately, “Just let go, Luci,” you said with a soft voice and a lifeless smile, as you slowly slid his hand off your own, loosening your grip, “Just let me go, Lucifer.” you begged, the tears falling from your eyes and onto his face made him cry as well, “Please.” You say as you let go of him, he only stared at you as he hugged Lilith, protecting her from the long fall he was going to have to endure, despite falling, his hand reached out to you still, his Luna, disappearing before his very eyes…

that’s when he realized…

he will never get the chance to give you a proper goodbye, a proper explanation… a proper confession.

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(sorry if anything is confusing, my brain likes to confuzzle itself so ask me any questions!!!3$3$)

TAGLIST WWEOOEOO:

@ag-cookiebat800 @meow-meowo @kyo-kyo1

[kiame-sama]

Can you give us some Human Lore related to the Great Seven? As you mentioned how the Queen of Hearts is very strict about Humans being protected, even making a bunch of rules to protect them (So no doubt if Reader gets bullied while Riddles’ around he’ll instantly collar the perpetrators)

I’m curious as to see if there are any myths about how the other Great Seven treat or view Humans

This AU has me in a chokehold and I can’t wait for more parts! I love every part and your art of the characters is amazing!

I kinda wrote a little idea for the Righteous Judge and how he felt about Humans (You can ignore or change it if you want! Since this IS your AU)

The Righteous Judge was known for being fair towards Humans as he believed they should be treated equally, as he’d saw how Humans could not only adapt, but even help Monsters settle their differences, and they could do it all without magic

As such he made laws to protect Humans as he thought highly of Humanity being the key to improve civilization, as while they didn’t have any magic, their bonds with each other and other Monsters helped accomplish any task or threat thrown at them

He believed Humans were pure because they weren’t born with the savage instinct like many Monsters have, as he saw Humans more likely to show compassion, mercy, kindness and empathy, unlike Monsters who are more prone to use violence, aggression and pure power to get what they want

Legend has it the Righteous Judge wept in sorrow when Humanity went Extinct, as he believed Humanity could’ve helped Monsters learn how to better themselves

It’s also believed that the Righteous Judge’s son was a Human, which could explain why he was so devoted to defend and help Humans

Maybe because of this Fleur City is known for their rituals, celebrations and festivals to honor the legacy Humans left behind, to honor how the Righteous Judge strived so hard to help Humans

Sorry, my brain went ham as I’m prone to overthinking because of my Autism (I love your Autistic Works as they’re incredibly relatable, like with Floyd and his squeezes since I love extra tight hugs)

Absolutely agree for the Righteous Judge and this would no doubt translate to Rollo's own infatuation and obsession with this little Human. I would bet that if Human MC from the AU visited Fleur city during the Topsy Turvey Day, they would be automatically crowned and honored in the festival as even the Righteous Judge loved the Humans he wept so heavily for.

The Queen of Hearts was known for her love of Humans and had several Human pets that she cherished deeply. She was known to only pardon her Humans from being beheaded as they were such an endearing little species and she couldn't stay angry with her Humans for long. There are no less than 50 rules regarding the proper treatment of humans as The Queen wanted to ensure her beloved pets were kept safe no matter what. All Humans were declared as a protected species in the Queendom of Roses, and harming or abusing one was punishable by death. These laws are still in place despite Humans being extinct for centuries just in the event that a Human could possibly still be alive somewhere.

The King of Beasts doesn't have any mention of humans in any of his stories, hence why many beast men were content to treat Humans as cattle and regarded humans as a delicacy to feast upon. Over the years as Humans became more and more endangered, the Black market for Humans became more than a little cut-throat. Humans were food for so long, that when they were declared extinct, literal riots broke out and what small remaining meat sold for millions. Knock off meat was popular for a while, and Sunset Savana (and various other locations with high beastman populations) admitted to being somewhat at fault for the rapid extinction of Humans. Now there is a global ban on the buying, selling, or trading of Human artifacts/remains.

The Sea Witch's story is deeply intertwined with the presence of Humans, as it was a Human the princess wished to see and marry, leading to her making a deal with the Sea Witch. Many merfolk regard Humans as the peak standard of beauty as a result of this story and see Sirens as merfolk who have been blessed with Human blood. Since sirens look very close to Humans- minus their ever present gills and abnormal aquatic forms- sirens are believed to be the step between merfolk and Humans. Many Human-like monsters are treated with the same kind of awe by merfolk for being so close to a Human in form.

The Sorcerer of the Sands had many tricks and was very knowledgeable, so of course he knew about humans in great detail. Some stories even claim that the Sorcerer sought the council of Humans for their unusual ability to resolve conflict in warring species. Despite their lack of Magic, humans were admirable enough to be in the council of the Sorcerer and were considered to be quite wise for their continued persistence among stronger species.

The Fairest Queen- the most beautiful of all and a wickedly powerful Harpy in her own right- liked the featherless bipeds known as Humans. Though they were clumsy and sometimes pig-faced, she viewed their ambition and tenacity in high regard. Such creatures that held on so tightly to their place in the world despite the other species beating them back certainly earned the respect of the Fairest Queen.

The Thorn Fairy was known for her many boons granted to Human kind. As Humans did not posses magic, they needed all the aid they could get and the Thorn Fairy was all too eager to aid. It is said that any Human the Thorn Fairy blessed became a member of her court, if not in title than in spirit, as the Thorn fairy adored the ignoble little species despite their fragility and flaws. Though she is the spirit of nobility and power, the Thorn Fairy herself smiled kindly upon her little Humans and offered aid to them when she could.

[moncharrow]

hii!! i saw you were taking requests so can u write an knight!ellie x princess!reader period piece?

it was never meant to be

a/n: thank you for the cool request! i don't know how i feel about this- never wrote for this time period before. it was a fun learning curve!! i hope you enjoy it. requests are open <3 please. please. tell me. smut or fluff or angst idc

-content/warnings: 1.8k words, fem!princess!reader x knight!ellie, arranged marriage/political marriage, mentions of reader having to marry a man, slight angst? happy ending though, feminine reader i suppose

You were a goddess amongst mortals, treading the Earth lightly and gracing the barren ground with flowering spring beauty. There was an elegance to your touch. Anyone blessed enough to know you were changed for the better, your kindness and charity caressing their soul like hundreds of dandelion wisps in the wind. Heads turned when you walked down the pathways, villagers hoping to get a glimpse of their beloved princess, to catch her stray gaze as she passed. You were the kind of person who would never be subject to malice; even if someone wished they could despise you, the love behind your eyes would soothe their violent minds. Your soul seemed to be sculpted by the hand of a creator who endowed you with pure goodness.

Ellie’s skin was etched with years' worth of hardship, mental fortitude carved into her perpetually crinkled brow. Dirt caked her bloodstream, poisoning her soul as it moved through her heart. Behind her eyes was no mercy, no forgiveness, only seeking vengeance on some imaginary being that had seen no value in her from the moment of creation. It seems the same deity that sculpted you had been corrupted as it created her, molding her heart of ashes and skin of rotten wood. She was a decades-old shattered, rusty sword thrown into a river. No value. No hope. Only a broken promise of a better future that had been forgotten.

​​But your merciful, generous sight had befallen her by some stroke of luck. You recognized something good within her and gave her the chance she'd always dreamt about. You sponsored her induction into knight training, looking past her fiery faults and into the essence of her spirit, finding a spark of virtue. You tended to it until the ember became a blaze, and Ellie Williams became a force to be reckoned with. Despite the whispers of naysayers around the castle, there was something honorable and just inside her. There would never be enough words in the English language for Ellie to express her gratefulness to you properly. Even if there were, she couldn't string them together- she was never skilled with words. Instead, her every step carried a purpose: to echo your goodness through her actions.

Every so often, she'd find a quiet moment and reminisce upon the years of hardship she'd endured in training. Initially, she'd been one of the weakest pupils, lanky and malnourished but with a lust for improvement. She would cry herself to sleep the first year, and every night, she'd sneak out to see the dear princess, who would hold her and assure her that she belonged. It took time, but Ellie began to believe her. She sought comfort from you night after night, conversation topics turning personal after Ellie’s mental health had begun to improve. You’d talk about nothing and everything: silly hypotheticals, stories of growing up. The juxtaposition between your upbringing and hers was comical, but you both found comfort in learning about each others’ lives. 

When Ellie was with you, she felt like her social status didn’t matter. She was just a girl, and you were just the girl she was in love with. The class difference didn’t matter and neither did the impossibility of being together. Just two girls in love, neither with the courage to admit it. 

The lingering touches turn into shy smiles as Ellie sits in your room. Ornate tapestries adorn the walls and silk kerchiefs cast you in warm golden light- you look like a sun goddess in a long linen dress, your well-manicured hand coming to rest on Ellie’s knee as you laugh at something she said. Her rude humor was a welcome change to the sterility of castle life. You grew tired of the roles forced upon you by your authoritative parents and court, and vastly preferred Ellie’s brash personality. Your parents would have a collective aneurysm if they knew you were mingling with the ‘peasant knight’ (their words, obviously), so the two of you were reduced to sneaking around. 

Ellie’s smile dropped a bit as she felt your touch through her trousers. Her head felt dizzy and she attempted to compose herself, finding it hard to focus when your touch was so delicate and warm. Your call of her name was like a siren song, impossible to ignore its dulcet velvety tones. “Ellie?”

“Yes, Princess?”

You scoff. “Stop with the title. You know I hate it.”

Ellie smiles. A selfish thought crosses her mind- she wishes you were born normal, born in the village like her instead of in an ivory tower. Maybe then, things could have worked out. “That’s why I use it.” You laugh again, and she feels her stomach turn. Why couldn’t you be like me?

-

A week later, Ellie’s thoughts are the opposite. You sit in the throne room, grandiose decor embellishing the great chamber. Lavish royal purple flags and bright maroon banners drop and fold along the walls. Opulent chandeliers of pure wrought iron hang from the ceiling, supporting crystal fixtures through which valuable beeswax candles bathe the room in light. Stained glass rose windows and fleur de lys seem to further isolate Ellie, who stands guard by your throne. Invasive thoughts plague her as she keeps her professional face. I don’t belong here. I never have. I wish I was like you- then I could take you away from here. The thoughts are heightened when she sees the reason the entire town is gathered under the concave.

Four suitors from across the land vie for your hand in marriage. Ellie bites her tongue, her taste buds flooding with a familiar metallic sting. 

They don’t really want you, not like I do. All they want is power. They don’t treasure your time or your kindness. You deserve more. 

She clutches her spear, posture erect, seeming the quintessential knight. Only you noticed how her hand shook with nerves, how she seemed to hold onto the weapon as if letting go would kill her.

Each suitor takes time to introduce themselves. They focus on their own qualities, never talking about why they would be honored to be with you. And they would be. You sit on your throne, deep purple taffeta draping your body elegantly as you cross your legs. Aphroditic, a Hellenistic Roman statue come alive. Romantic, expressive, nymphlike in every way. If you were Euydice, Ellie thinks she must’ve been Orpheus. The anticipation of witnessing you choose your husband (and thus leaving her) was beginning to affect Ellie physically. Her heart felt like it would die in her chest: she swore she felt an arrhythmia. 

First, the suitor from the East describes what he would gift you if wed. As if you would be swayed by material possessions. The suitor from the South notes his conquests. The changes in your expression are minute, but Ellie knows the look. You’re entirely disgusted, and she clears her throat to catch your attention. You look over, the unimpressed look still donning your face, but your eyes light up when you see her. Ellie smiles- a silent reminder: I’m still here for you. It’s like you’re the only two people in the room.

The Western suitor wears his pants inside out, and your eyes immediately meet Ellie’s. You cover your mouth with your hand, appearing classy while chuckling and snorting behind your cover. 

The Northern suitor is handsome and decent, Ellie reluctantly admits. She’s not blind. She hates that she doesn’t hate him. He expresses interest in you and vows to give you autonomy. It’s basic, but more than the others offered. She tries to read your expression and for once, she can’t. It makes her heart drop. 

After every suitor is introduced, you and your court go into the back room to discuss your final decision. The decision that, whomever you choose, will ruin Ellie. She stands guard before the door, straining her hearing to find some clue that you won’t marry these men. She begs silently to whatever immortal being watches over her. 

You haven’t done much for me. I haven’t asked for much. But I’ll do anything to stop this. Please. 

A knock at the door signals Ellie to move away. She takes your hand and leads you back to the throne. You sit, and Ellie has to will herself to let go of you. What if this is the last time she’ll be able to hold you? The thought nearly brings her to her knees. Her joints ache with every step she takes away from you, returning to her post in front of the chancel. Your father stands, his creaking bones the only sound in the room. Everyone holds their breath as he speaks.

It’s detached apolitical jargon that Ellie can barely pay attention to. She thinks that if she doesn’t listen, the situation won’t become real. To her dismay, your father ends his aloof speech and presents you. Sir Williams has never felt so sober.

Ellie watches with wide eyes as you stand. She peers up at you from below the stage, and she can’t help but realize what a perfect metaphor this is. You stand above her, gilded and unobtainable, while she looks up, dreaming of what could’ve been. Of course, she’ll support any decision you make, but she’ll never be happy with it. It seems time moves gruelingly slowly as she awaits your voice. At any other moment, she’d be hanging off your every word, waiting excitedly for what you have to share next. But now, she hopes the words never come.

You open your mouth, words leaving in slow motion. She wants to close your mouth to shut you up and kiss you so hard that you never think about anyone else again. She doesn’t.

“Dearest suitors, I thank you for coming here today. Your travels are long and treacherous and your efforts do not go unnoticed. As noted by my father, I have come to a decision regarding my spouse. I am firm in my choice, as this is the most chivalrous, goodhearted, and impressive person I have met. The only person who understands me.”

Ellie is used to you switching from your formal persona to your true self, but she never gets over it. It’s you, but it’s not you. You stroll along the chancel, in thought, and Ellie takes the chance to admire everything about you as if this is the last time she’ll be able to. Posture, gait, the way you hold yourself as if you’re sure about every action. She doesn’t know you’re terrified beyond belief.

Your finger comes out to point to a suitor. The great hall inhabitants draw a collective breath, Ellie included. You drag your finger from the right side of the stage, passing over the suitors of the East, South, and West. Ellie knows where this is going. Of course, you’ll choose North. He was the obvious choice, and she couldn’t fault you for that. And suddenly, your finger passes by him.

Ellie’s mind races. What’s happening?

Your body turns, and soon, Ellie stares down your hand, furrowing her brow. Her eyes are filled with childlike hope.

“Ellie Williams, if you’ll have me?”

[yuri-is-online]

I imagine Deuce!Yutu is either A. The Ultimate Honor Student with perfect grades and a plsmile that makes old nannies and mothers swoon (Yutu: "Thanks, its because me and my parent are the local "weirdos" I had to overcorrect and become a golden child (':") OR B. just as bad as pre-NRC Deuce was, a gang member who'd jump anyone who'd look at him wrong (but still cried until he was sick when he watched My Girl (1991) behind Yuu's back. They told him not to because they knew it was sad, he didn't listen).

I imagine Yuu's main memory of Deuce to their Yutu was how much Deuce believed in self-improvement and redemption, always trying to be a better man, which either version of Yutu can't help but admire or respect, despite their complicated feelings over their absent father.

Upon meeting him in the "current" timeline as a student, A or B either can't help but give Pop's an A for effort, despite missing the goal sometimes or finds him a little cringe for being such a tryhard.

I had to google the movie you mentioned and got jump scared by it taking place in Pennsylvania. Pretty sure I have driven through the place it's supposed to be set before... and fuck just reading the synopsis made me cry I don't think I could watch it ;-; poor Yutu should have listened to his parent.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, for context on the fyuuture kid au can be found here and here.

I feel like I have read too much Tokyo Revengers because... we can have both: an honor student with a delinquent mean streak sounds like a good set up for Deuce! Yutu. Not that I think he would behave like Kisaki does exactly, but still. Dylla mentions in the White Rabbit event that she wasn't on the best terms with her mother when she was a teen, and we know about how Deuce was in middle school, so the idea of Yutu having a bit of a temper and rebellious streak to him does make a degree of sense. Sadly, I think that extends to his interactions with Yuu... so things are about to be angsty on two fronts today.

Much like Deuce, Yutu was just the cutest baby. He loved all things cute and fluffy. Bunnies, kitties, puppy dogs, he was such a sweet little kid who really loved chasing around butterflies in the great outdoors. He really loved to read, and learned how to do so at a very early age. When Yuu was having a bad day he would pick out one of his favorite books and insist on reading them a bedtime story so they could take a nap without any nightmares. If he was especially worried he would bring his favorite nightlight with him.

Not that anyone would ever dare to suggest it given what Yutu is like now, but he was very afraid of the dark as a child. He still is, there's just something about the void that exists in the darkness that screams danger to him. When he's isekaid to Twisted Wonderland it evolves into an extreme fear of blot and phantoms. I'd like his unique magic to have something to do with light or stars, something inspired by the Second Star to the Right from Peter Pan? I think it would be cute for someone afraid of the dark to be able to provide their own light.

When Yutu reaches middle school there's a noticeable change in his relationship with you. He's still polite, still bringing home good grades and unoffensive comments from his teachers. But he's a bit cold, as if he is purposefully putting emotional distance between you. His friends all treat you respectfully, but you just have a feeling, left over from somewhere, that you know what is likely going on but you can't put your finger on what. He gets angry when you try to ask questions, yelling something about how you just don't understand, maybe even throws in something about this being your fault...

I wrote about Riddle! Yutu having some fights with Yuu, but Deuce! Yutu's fights are so much worse. While Riddle! Yutu typically comes out of his room blubbering big fat tears ready to apologize, Deuce! Yutu feels the need to double down and save face. He does believe his parent has amnesia, he's seen how they act, but what he does not get is why they insist on feeling so fond of his dad and refuse to move on. In his mind their life could be a lot better if Yuu was willing to be honest with themselves about who his dad probably was. Yutu is very hung up on why Deuce felt the need to be redeemed, focusing on self improvement is all fine and good if you are someone worth redeeming but he's not around for Yutu to judge. And Yuu doesn't remember...

He's young, stupid, and angry, and he takes it out on anyone who looks at him wrong. What's worse for authority figures who want to help is that he's veeeery smart about how he does it. When he jumps someone you can bet there won't be cameras around to see it. When the police start troubling Yuu about what he's doing it's mostly just in the hope that they'll be able to talk some sense into their kid rather than to arrest Yutu or anything like that, but it doesn't work. Yutu gets to see the same thing that his dad did all those years ago, his parent crying because of his behavior but there's no grandparent Yuu is asking advice of. Since I am in the mood to be extra cruel, let's say the day that fight takes place, the day Yutu sees Yuu crying is the day he hears a very important name for the first time.

Deuce. His father's name is Deuce and the reason why he wasn't around was because he was from the other world that came to swallow up him and his parent the instant they began to remember. He doesn't get time to cover up the signs of his rebellion, or really a chance to say sorry. He has to look Grandpa Crewel in the face and admit that he made Yuu cry and added to the overly stressed mess their life had become. Everything they said about Deuce was true, and what's worse he was like him.

I feel like Deuce would be the sort of person who wanted to make a lot of home videos. Cater probably would be too, but he'd store most of them on his phone and I think that would be lost to time by the time his Yutu came home. Maybe it's because of the ghost camera, or his desire to be an "honor student" evolving into wanting to be an "honorable husband and father" but Deuce totally bought a video camera to take cheesy videos to show Yutu as he grew up. Instead the kid gets to see fragments of a life he could have had as he listens to his dad tell him about his life and how he met Yuu.

"Honestly I have no idea why they said yes." Deuce is a dork. A complete dork who looks so... young and life like in the video. He knows what features he took from Yuu but watching Deuce talk, he can pick up on the ticks, the way his mouth sets when determined. The look of shock that always made Yuu laugh, it bursts into view when he hears Yuu laugh as they enter the frame to snuggle into Duece's side, to press their face against his cheek with a happily contended sigh. "Y-yuu you're making me look uncool in front of the baby."

"He's not here yet!" You giggle and for the first time in a long time Yutu feels himself choking up as he watches his dad get all silly looking at the thought of his arrival.

"We're really looking forward to meeting you kiddo. I promise, nothing will ever happen to you. I'm not going anywhere."

"Well. Technically kept that last promise didn't you." He tries to play it off like a joke, but Crewel isn't laughing and neither is Yutu.

Gets put in Heartslabyul, but isn't exactly determined to be an honor student like his dad. While Deuce enjoys a good fight or the feeling of the wind in his hair... Yutu mostly got into fights because he was angry and needed someone to take it out on. Because of that temper he struggles with learning and controlling his magic but he still does pretty well with the practical academic side of things. He's proud of his ability to understand these things, and takes a lot of comfort in knowing his dad would be excited at knowing he was good at things like math and science.

Like with the other Heartslabyul boys, he had to fight his father's phantom. He sees putting Deuce to rest as part of his penance for how he treated Yuu in the years leading up to getting isekaid. He refuses to go back in time until he's able to lay this version of his father to rest next to Yuu so he can promise both of them, to their faces, that he'll create a world where they all can be together and live as a family.

Deuce is extremely friendly to Yutu! He wants to learn as much about Yuu's world as he can so he can help them feel as at home in Twisted Wonderland as possible. He makes sure to let Yutu know that extends to him too once Yuu warms up to having him in the friend circle, Uncle Ace is much less enthusiastic but it's clearly from a place of care towards Yuu. He starts to warm up when he sees Yutu trying his hardest to tutor Deuce, though he claims it's because he just thinks it's funny but really it's because Ace wants to see Deuce succeed.

Very correct on his feelings about Pops. His dad is so wildly cringe it's unreal. His effort is inspiring until he starts getting embarrassed for losing his temper and stuttering, or seven forbid you look at his grades. The more he interacts with both of you the more certain he becomes that Deuce would never have abandoned him... and that he is so getting grounded when Deuce learns about how he treated Yuu. And what's worse is that Yutu sort of wants him to.

Surprisingly that's not what happens at all. When Deuce learns who Yutu is, whether by sleuthing or through a violent confrontation with a monster from the future, when the whole story is laid out before him and his son bows to beg for his judgement it doesn't come at all. His Pops yanks him up by the collar and turns him towards Yuu.

"Say all of that again to your parent." Deuce's voice is as stern as it is serious. Yuu looks distraught, not quite to the point they were on the day everything changed but getting there as Yutu immediately breaks down and chokes, crying and begging for your forgiveness and saying he's sorry as Deuce brings all three of you together into a strong embrace. "I'm not the one you need to make things up to, but it's ok. I know exactly how you feel and we'll work through things together."

Deuce doesn't feel like he can be overly angry at Yutu for taking after him. He does feel the need to apologize to Yuu, profusely and in private, for putting them in so much danger and not being there to help Yutu work through his temper. If I was writing this as a story, I'd make Yuu sort of afraid of Yutu's feelings? I could see them blaming themselves and things being a bit awkward within their relationship with Yutu where they had been very good before the reveal. With Deuce being the loving and understanding partner that he is, the bridge is once again mended and the whole family gets to indulge in hobbies that aren't beating the shit out of other people.

Yutu gets back into reading, and starts looking up manuals and histories of blastcycles so he has something to talk to his dad about. He was right about his dad being extremely proud of him for being smart, he's that classic mechanic working class dad who can't stop talking about his kid who went to college and has pictures of him in his garage he makes sure to point out to everyone who comes in. Said person is really just Ace who really wants to make fun of Deuce and Yuu for being cringe together but is too focused on this whole world ending thing and wants everyone to be more focused on that.

Deuce promises that he is, he has a lot of confidence in the ability of your little group to be able to win against stacked odds. You've done it before you can do it again. Yutu couldn't have picked better allies, he's really determined to show him that and be a dad his son can be proud of. He repeats his promise to Yutu that he's never going anywhere, even though the kid never told him anything about the tapes because he really means it. He wants that world little Yutu dreamed of and older Yutu swore to fight for to be a reality, and it's his job as an honorable dad and future husband (he gets so flustered when he says that) to be the one on the front lines of fighting for it,

... just please please please do not tell Yutu about the egg incident. He doesn't think he could handle that embarrassment.

[heartgold]

Something ingenious about ep3 is how Battler is at his worst here but in a markedly different way from his ep1 characterization... Also it's meta!Battler who acts that way rather than his piece, which marks not only the author shift but also this depiction being deeply allegorical

Like. Ep3 meta!Battler is super dismissive of Beatrice even as she tells him about the most horrific parts of her trauma through a fantasy lens that doesn't even obfuscate the worst of it (and Battler actually... manages to decipher it with some prodding from Ronove), and yet he still brushes it off. His relationship to Beatrice in the meta layer is super antagonistic at this point. He correctly figures out that she's confessing to something very painful but doesn't care to think about it or why she's bringing it up because she has already been characterized as a heartless cruel monster in his eyes, therefore she hasn't earned his sympathy and good faith. It might as well be a trick just to confuse him

The way their relationship improves the moment she starts "reforming" and acting all cute and pitiable is important because it shows her both playing into his fantasy of "fixing" her and making her change her ways just to sweep the rug from under his feet and prank him about it at the end AND playing into this good victim fantasy for herself and genuinely relishing in the understanding and good faith he was willing to extend to her once she played the role he wanted her to (this is blatantly Sayo's complex with becoming the person others want her to be in order to deserve their love... It hurts........)

This marking the author shift and being a meta-only dynamic is super interesting to me  because it can mean so many things. I like to think of the metaworld as a representation of the journey in understanding the story from within. We know that from the IRL angle Tohya wrote ep3 while not knowing the full truth and believing Eva to be the most likely culprit based off snippets of memory and her survival. You could read Evatrice claiming the role of the antagonist while Beato goes through a "redemption arc" as Tohya struggling with his memories, deep down knowing the painful truth but being unable to access that memory or accept it, therefore pointedly scapegoating Eva to process his feelings of guilt and grief towards the witch

But by wishing her to be blameless and pinning everything on someone else he is neglecting her heart and looking away from her true feelings, from all the things she wanted to communicate and from all the circumstances that brought upon the tragedy (and ultimately, from Battler's sin). I can see this internal struggle being meta-translated as ep3 Battler being selfish like that and refusing to engage with Beatrice until she becomes "good"... You can feel a lot of self loathing in it. It's a rocky start to their parallel journeys until they both Get It and it's so interesting to me how, in hindsight, it's very clear that it truly starts when the stories change hands

Overall it's a VERY good discussion of projection, with the added lens of how we engage with stories. How only seeing what you want to see flattens the complexity of humans into characters. Beato's "redemption arc" is tropey for a reason! She even shouts out dating sims and anime as the inspiration for it to make it clear this was just her reducing herself to a character archetype! Umineko is very critical of the idea of redemption in the first place and it really shows here

[echo-bleu]

Disability pride request? Two characters of your choice hanging out, maybe one using two forearm crutches and one using two canes. They can be friends or partners - I just generally love seeing disabled characters interactng with one another!

How about three disabled characters?

Once upon a time @camille-lachenille sent me a prompt about Míriel having Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. I had already sketched a disabled Celegorm with EDS in mind and, thinking about how it's genetic, had an epiphany about Celebrimbor (and the meaning of his name) and I drew him as well. So I wrote a fic about all three of them dealing with chronic pain, but I still hadn't drawn Míriel. That oversight is now fixed!

They have more in common than just chronic illness xD.

This is still titled "The EDS gang" in my files, I'm going to stick to it. Set sometime in Fourth Age Valinor, when most things are good again...

Disabled Tolkien characters series

(Feel free to send me more disability prompts! I love drawing them.)

More ramblings about disability aids that devolved into bullet-point headcanons under the cut. ID and transcription at the end, but they're also in alt text.

[CW: this is all fairly light but discussion of death and trauma and you know, everything that comes with these three.]

I do not know how to make comics. I'm sure that's very obvious but, you know, learning new things and all that. One thing I learned was that my usual style of rendering does not work with it as well so I rendered them entirely twice.

It was meant to be day 21 and 22 of my October challenge, because surely I can draw and colour a full page in a day (spoilers: no). In the end it was a combined 15 hours of work over 3 and a half days because I made it as complicated as I possibly could 😭 Still, I had fun and learned a lot.

Note: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a connective tissue disorder, affecting basically how your cells are glued together. There are a lot of different symptoms (and different types of EDS) but a frequent one is joint pain and hypermobility, and it's at least partly inherited.

Míriel:

Red was Míriel's colour first. She's not into gaudy things and rarely wears vivid colours, but almost always something red. She barely wears any jewellery since reembodiment, mostly for sensory reason (She is very autistic. That's something she gave Fëanor, Curufin, Caranthir, Ambarussa and Celebrimbor, at least.)

She died of post-partum (and general) depression and energy depletion from childbirth or something, but the chronic illness that was taking all of her energy and keeping her from her craft certainly didn't help.

Also pregnancy was horribly rough on her, partly because EDS can be affected by hormonal changes.

She's actually been better since reembodiment, because she has better accommodations (Finwë did his best but he was very lost) and also a Vala on hand who makes her very good painkilling tea.

She wears knitted compression gloves that she designed to help with hand pains.

Her wheelchair is of Noldor make, but I'm sure Celebrimbor will have suggestions for improving it.

The tapestry that she is weaving is actually this painting of Finrod that I did a while ago. I figure that she's representing calmer, nicer things now that she doesn't have to weave her grandchildren's downfall and deaths.

Celegorm:

He was in a relationship with Oromë before the Exile. After his reembodiment, it took them a while by they talked it out and forgave each other. Oromë doesn't quite get elves, but he's really supportive.

He has a pair of wolf-head canes carved by Nerdanel. He alternatively uses both, just one and sometimes none depending on activity/pain level.

He wears bandages as compression garments because this is a world without elastane. His leggings have reinforced knees for support.

He's always heard about Míriel having the same thing as he does from Finwë, and he knew that when he started showing symptoms, Fëanor was terrified that he'd fade too. So for a long time, Míriel's story was kind of hanging above his head.

That's why it takes him a while to go seek her out after he's reembodied. Celebrimbor understands why it's important to him and he pushed him to it a little bit, so Celegorm dragged him along.

They're going to get along great. Míriel is both the quintessential grandmother and also she has a twisted sense of humour that Celegorm will just love.

Celebrimbor:

Celegorm was always his favourite uncle, and they became very close when Celebrimbor started having symptoms in the early years in Exile, and Celegorm stayed with Curufin in Himlad for him.

It took Celebrimbor a while to forgive him after Returning (not as long as Curufin but still) but they've gone back to being really close.

He was really unlucky with reembodiment: while he wasn't reborn with the physical aspect of his torture, the memory of pain and the trauma made his chronic pain a lot worse than it was before, and he can no longer walk unaided.

He designed the silver ring and wrist splints back in Eregion with Narvi's help, and ended up literally living up to his name (which means "silver fist/grasping hand").

Paradoxically these were a great motivation for him to work through his trauma and go back to the forge, because he couldn't find a silversmith in Valinor who could make good enough ones for him, even with all of his sketches and specifications.

A lot of his work since reembodiment has been designing and making disability aids for people.

He uses platform crutches to spare his hands as much as possible. He invented and designed them, of course, as well as the KAFO brace that he wears here. He's also a part-time wheelchair user.

He is still wearing dwarven beads in his hair. He obviously didn't bring anything back from Middle-Earth but he asked Gimli to make them for him in remembrance of Narvi. His tunic is also dwarven-inspired.

He is pretty chill about Sauron here. I don't know if there was a redemption (I have feelings about @chthonion's The Harrowing and @mynameisjessejk's Otter Mayhem) or if he's just been through enough elf-therapy to be able to joke about it. Celegorm's sense of humour is just Like That.

Celegorm and Celebrimbor are about to try Vairë's special painkilling tea for the first time 👀

Between all of them they should really open a disability aids shop or something. They just might! Míriel doesn't really ever leave Vairë's house but I think Celegorm and Celebrimbor will keep visiting her a lot, and eventually all of the grandkids will as well.

Image description and transcriptions:

Two digital comic book pages.

Image 1: The first case takes the whole width, showing two pairs of feet with each two canes/crutches on a tiled floor, with a speech bubble saying "Do you think she'll want to see us?"

The second line has two cases in 2/3 and 1/3 format. The first shows two hands in red fingerless gloves working on a tapestry on a loom. The second shows part of a light-skinned face in profile, with curly white hair. Three speech bubbles say "My love?" "Um?" "There are people here asking for you."

The bottom part has one case off-center showing the same hand undoing the brake of a wheelchair, with a speech bubble saying "Your grandson and your great-grandson." above and one saying "I'll be right here." below. Then a full-length off-case portrait of Miríel, a light-skinned elf with shoulder-length curly white sitting in a wheelchair and pushing herself. She's wearing a pale pink embroidered dress with red accents, red fingerless gloves and elbow pad and brown boots and smiling.

Image 2: A single large case shows two elves standing in a room with a tiled floor, with a large door and two tables behind them. There are thread spools on one table and a tea set on the other. One elf, Celebrimbor, is brown-skinned and slightly chubby, with long black hair in a braided bun, wearing a red tunic and dark green pants. He is leaning on two decorated platform combo crutches made of wood and metal, with a KAFO brace on his leg. He wears finger and hand silver splints. The other elf, Celegorm, is pale and has long white hair in a high ponytail with small braids, he has tattoos on his neck and arms and he wears bandages on his shoulders, elbows and wrist. He wears a green tunic, leggings and wrap-around gaiters. He is leaning on a cane and holding up another cane, pointing at the first elf. Both canes have handles carved in the shape of wolf heads.

The speech bubbles are arranged around and below them, giving this dialogue, with the speakers distinguished by the shape of the bubble (the parts in parentheses are smaller text in the bubbles):

Celegorm: "My lady, my name is Tyelkormo, and this is my nephew Tyelpë." Miríel: "I know who you are, my wonderful children. Come sit." Celebrimbor: "That would be nice, thank you." Miríel: "Vairë, my love, would you make us some tea?" Celebrimbor: "My lady!" Celegorm: "A Vala who can make tea! (I could never get Oromë to do it.)" Miríel: "It was a long domestication process." Vairë (off screen): "Hey!" Celebrimbor: "Instant hot water! That’s nice. (I wonder if I could replicate that.)" Miríel: "She makes wonderful hot water bottles." Celegorm: "Oromë just uses his hands as hot pads." Celebrimbor: "Ew, I didn’t need to know that." Celegorm: "What? Just because your Maia burns everything he touches–" Celebrimbor: "Shut up." Miríel: "You must both tell me everything about yourself. And your partners!"

[alessiathepirate]

Far Cry 6

EL CAZADOR Y LA PRESA: Vaas Montenegro x fem!reader

Summary: La Raja Bar - the place where two old acquaintances finally meet again...

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I may have made while I wrote this short story.

My Spanish isn't the best so if you find a word / phrase used in the wrong context or anything please let me know so I can improve :)

I can't believe I finally finished this piece, I've been working on it for such a long time. I think the Michael Mando brainrot helped a lot.

I hope you'll enjoy this <3

Warnings: swearing, my Spanish, referenced and mentioned violence, heavily suggestive themes, also mentioned and referenced plot of Far Cry 3 and 5

•••

Juan knew many people and he for sure knew his way around them.

He knew when and how to strike a great business deal, and how to get out on top with more intel and money than the other had initially offered.

But more often than not, when he got tired in the workshop, he just went out to have a drink or two - or more, it was almost always more - with an old friend. And he had many old friends. Some even more dangerous than the potentional business partners; many were ex-guerrillas, ex-CIA, ex-KGB, ex-terrorists... The list was endless.

She liked to join him sometimes; sitting down to try and make the stupid businessman talk or sitting down with a beer to listen to Juan and his old pal fool around.

That's what she planned on doing once again, after finishing a run for the man to steal some uranium from the last few remaining anti-aircraft sites. After taking the iron chest back to Zamok Archipiélago, she went straight up north, to La Raja Bar - where she knew she'll find the one and only Juan Cortez.

Arriving there though... a surprise was waiting for her there. A big fucking surprise. Juan wasn't the one sitting at the bar, waiting for her, already drunk. In fact, Juan wasn't anywhere in sight. Instead, she found an old friend there, hunched over with his elbows on the table.

She could still recognize him even after all those fucking years, even if the time had taken its toll on both of them.

And just by knowing who he was, she was sure he was the one Juan had met up with before leaving without telling her not to come.

And thank God he didn't tell her that.

"Holy shit!" she cursed as her lips turned upwards into a smile. "What's the fucking chance?"

The man turned around slowly - much slower than he did in the past -, but the very dangerous kind of calmness was still seen in the way his muscles moved. The look on his face upon realizing who was speaking to him, wasn't really surprised - she had never seen him being surprised at anything -, although it was close to it. She was pretty sure he had been going on with life like she had done, thinking they'd never see each other again. To be completely honest, for a time she believed he died - until she realized nothing could kill him, only himself.

"Long time no see, Jefe."

Vaas grinned and she took a seat right next to him, asking the bartender for two more beers. The old lady just cursed under her breath, but in the end, gave her what she asked for.

She gave one beer to Vaas and then took a sip from the other one.

"Fucking Hell, chica!" he took the bottle from her and gave her one of his signature little chuckles. "I thought the jungle ate you up alive."

"The jungle?" she questioned. "Like it had a fucking chance."

"It had one in the beginning."

They smiled at the other in a very twisted and scary way. The bartender chose to stay far away from them, and decided to mess with the old radio in the corner.

She liked knowing that nothing changed.

It all felt the same; the drinking, the talking, even the fucking looks... Although they had more scars - more than the ones they had given each other back then -, more grey hairs and a more serious drinking problem, it was as if they were back in some part of the Rook Islands, in a shitty bar.

She leand in more, her lips turning into an even wider smile, until it was a grin, and said: "It doesn't have one anymore, Jefe."

She carefully watched as his expression went through different phases. She could see the almost-smile as his lips twitched when she said that last word.

Jefe.

It was easy for her to tame him just by saying that. For some reason he liked to hear that word from her. Only her. She remembered all the times she had been tackled to the ground, rough fingers digging into her skin. It has always been easy to get what she wanted.

"I can fucking see that, chica."

His gaze was upon her knuckles, which were bruised. Small cuts littered her hands.

"Good for you." she said as she took another sip. "Nowadays not many people get to keep their eyes to look at me with."

Vaas chuckled.

"You still got your claws, tigre." his smile turned into a smirk. "No one broke them before, huh?"

"No one other than you." she teased. "Believe me, no one could do it better than you."

"Careful now, chica." his voice was just like hers, it had something to it - some teasing and some danger, just the things she liked. "You still think you can just run that mouth of yours without any consequences, ey?"

"I know I can't." her tone became low. "That's why it's fun."

Silence followed. The unsettling kind.

And then after a smirk, Vaas laughed.

And she felt as if she was on the Rook Islands again, being intentionally teased and angered, Vaas just chuckling at her reactions. But he had loved it more when she escaped. He loved her fight, he loved her nails more - enjoying when they broke his skin, leaving red lines behind. And in return, she got some thin cuts as well, mostly around her collarbone, making it impossible to hide them.

As they sat there, drinking and laughing, she wanted nothing more than to jump on him and leave marks behind again. And she was sure he wanted to do the same.

"So, what are you up to in Yara, chica?" he asked, his voice turning serious as much as it could. "Causing trouble again?"

"Sí, Jefe. Juan seemed to enjoy it so I decided to join in on the fun. Besides," she pulled down the neckline of her shirt so he could see the scar on her chest. "I got tired of Montana pretty quickly."

"Nice tattoo. You got more?"

"Only this one." she let go of her shirt. "You gave me better ones anyway."

"That I did chica."

She felt a chill run through her as he looked at her.

The want, or rather need was undeniable. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. He needed her as much as she needed him.

They've been far away from sanity for a long time, and their shared insanity met them each and every time they chased the other again and again and again... She was never really sane, especially with Vaas around. He made her the person she has become. He made her want him more than she wanted anyone else.

She still remembered the time Vaas gave her the tattoo she knew he was referring too. They went out to hunt - in reality he just wanted to see her face when she hit a living, moving animal; he wanted her to know she was the one who killed it. And she shot - perfectly. She only had to give the doe one more bullet to put it down and as soon as the animal was dead, her chest started to raise and fall quickly. Yet she didn't have time to think, because one of his arms was around her waist, pulling her close. His face was burried in the crook of her neck as he laughed.

"Ahora ya no eres presa, chica." he had said. "Eres la cazadora." and his teeth broke the skin on her neck.

She had asked what it meant, not quite understanding Spanish back then.

Vaas chuckled, but translated it.

"You just became the hunter, chica. You are not prey anymore." his nose touched her ear and her breathing hitched. "Mi pequeña cazadora."

Mi. She knew that meant 'my'. And from the way he acted she knew he liked that idea. He liked it a lot.

And then his fingers grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulled it up and his knife cut into her skin. Droplets of blood ran down her hip, making her jeans red. She whimpered and grabbed onto his arm, trying to get it away, but he wouldn't move.

The letter V he had carved into her that day could still be seen just above her hip. She thought about touching it - like she always did when she was thinking about him -, but held herself back.

He didn't need to know how much she enjoyed the thought of that scar.

She finished her beer. He did too. She thought about asking for another, but since the bartender wasn't anywhere in sight, she decided against it.

She didn't know what to say.

She wanted him and she was sure he felt the same, but after all those years they both became tame. It was actually surprising to not hear him shout orders.

In the end she reached into her pocket to pay for the drinks, but just as she was about to throw the money on the counter, Vaas grabbed her wrist. Out of reflex her other hand was immediatelly on the knife which was attached to the back of her belt. Vaas just grinned.

'Good reflexes, chica.' she could hear his voice in her head.

She raised one of her eyebrows.

"No need for that, cazadora." uncomfortable tingles ran through her at the nickname and at the touch. "The puta won't ask for money. I made sure of that."

She looked at him with excitement.

Her hand let go of her knife and she concentrated on the feeling of him holding onto her wrist, almost crushing the bones.

Cazadora. He remembered, didn't he? Of course he did. He remembers fucking everything. Especially the things he had done in the past.

She knew he made her. In the jungle, in the heat. Every single time she fought him and he cut her, he made sure she'll become something else. Something... loco.

And every time she let him tackle her, cut her, kiss her and bite her, she let him form her into the insane bitch she has become.

Mi pequeña cazadora. She remembered that day in the jungle when they were hunting the doe. She remembered the dull pain when he drew the V into her skin. She remembered his breath on her skin and his grin when she leaned into him, accepting her own insanity next to his.

She felt the need grow in the pit of her stomach as Vaas held onto her.

Perhaps they weren't too old to hunt again.

"You make me fucking crazy Jefe." she said as she dropped the money, letting it fall, the coins rolling far away.

And soon they were on each other. Hands roaming free, teeth biting lips. His thumb found the letter V above her hip and she whined.

She let herself be tackled, she let him break the skin with his teeth.

No matter how different she has become, next to Vaas she didn't want to be a hunter.

Not when it was too enjoyable to be the prey.

[fanfic-chan]

A/N: Soooo, I just wrote this after waiting way to long and wanted to share it. Hope you guys like it!

If you asked Lyney what his favorite part of performing magic was, he would say it was seeing the reactions of the audience. This was partially true. There was no beating the satisfaction of seeing people's faces light up in wonder at the spectacles before them, but what was even greater was the smiles on their faces. Growing up, he and his sister had little to smile about. Life on the streets leads to a lot of mistrust, both on their own parts and of others. It was at his first magic show that, through his amazement of the showmanship and miracles before him, he turned to his sister and saw an even greater miracle, a smile on Lynette's face.

From that day forward, both he and Lynette dedicated themselves to the craft of magic. Lyney might have made the excuse that it was for money, but he knew the real reason was to get the chance to give others a sliver of joy through their day.

That love of seeing his sibling happy extended as he and his sister were adopted into the house of hearth. Upon meeting his new little brother, Freminet, he recognized the same seemingly expressionless look on his face as the very one Lynette seemed to have. He never thought he would want to see anyone smile as much as his sister, but he felt the bond of family towards this quiet, shy boy almost immediately, as if the three of them had always been siblings. And for the first time, Lynette felt the same need to make him smile as well.

Maybe it was an older sibling's instinct, to protect and provide while also making sure the youngest was the happiest they could be. Or maybe it was the fact that Lynette saw a bit of herself in him. Someone who was quiet and preferred to work in the shadows while the real star of the show shined in the spotlight. Though he didn't participate in their shows, he had other ways of bringing joy to the masses while staying out of the limelight. For instance, he designed Pers himself, and he allowed a local toy company to sell miniature versions of his adorable machine. That way, he could share this small joy he had with other kids around Fontaine.

Needless to say, both siblings were always determined to see Freminet happy. They would commonly rehearse their shows and workshop new magic tricks in front of him, looking to see what made him smile the most. They would always ask for his feedback, both for their own improvement and to give him a chance to feel that he contributed to the show. Almost every rehearsal left him in amazement, no matter how many times he had seen it. The only suggestion he had ever made was adding Peres to the show. Both twins thought it was only fitting that they added what was essentially their brothers mascot to some of their performances.

After workshopping some new tricks, they settled on one where he would pop out of Lyneys hat, waddle over to Lynette, then walk into her hat and disappear, only for it to reappear and waddle offstage.

"So," Lynette asked after his bow at the grand finale, "What do you think?"

Fremite was already smiling ear to ear as he watched his creation cutely walk away.

"That was amazing! How did you even get him to wind back up again?"

Lynette smirked as she went to retrieve the mechanical penguin. "You know we can't tell you the answer to that."

Freminet sighed as Pers was handed back to him. "I suppose, but that won't stop me from wondering."

"Wonder is all part of the show," Lyney chuckled as he went to ruffle his brother's hair. "I can tell this trick will be a hit. I think Pers makes a wonderful addition to our performance."

Freminet swatted his hand away and attempted to fix his hair. "Why are you so sure people will like it? I thought you guys go through tricks all the time, and you hardly ever settle on one so quickly."

"Well, if it could make you smile then it could make anyone smile." Lyney gently grabbed back Pers and held him out, making it look like he was walking towards Freminet. "I think it's a great trick." Lyney spoke in a high pitched voice, his impression of what he believed Pers sounded like.

Freminet struggled to suppress another grin. "You're so childish." He turned to Lynette for some support.

"He's right you know," She gestured to Lyney, "If something can make you happy then it's surely worth adding to the full show."

Fremite gave a groan as he snatched back his beloved penguin. "What is it with you two and mentioning me smiling whenever you get the chance. Do I really smile that rarely?"

Lynette huffed in amusement. "I'd say it's pretty rare. Even when you were a child you wouldn't smile all that often."

"True," Lyney chimed in, "it seemed like the only thing that ever made you really laugh was the games we used to play."

A pink blush appeared on Freminets freckled face, remembering him and his siblings acting out various myths and fairytales he had read about. The previous director had berated Freminet for reading these fairy tales, claiming he was too naive and needed to grow up. After that, he had hidden away his stories, that is until his siblings were adopted into the house of hearth. It was their companionship that made him want to share his stories with them. Though they didn't believe in fairy tales themselves, they saw how happy it made him, and of course they found ways to incorporate the stories into games. With their help, he slowly conditioned himself out of the habits imposed on him by the previous director and started nurturing that part of himself again. As he grew, he had less time for games, and sometimes felt he was too old for them. Even so, he still found joy in these stories.

"T-that was a long time ago." He responded.

"Not to us," Lynette said, "and last I checked you still love reading your books. Why should enjoying games be any different?"

"Because, they're..." He really had no defense. If he was being honest he did find a part of himself missed playing those games. But another part of him found it all too embarrassing. No, embarrassed wasn't the right word for it. Flustered. That's how he felt remembering those games. Still, he couldn't say he hated it.

"If I remember right, there's one fairy tale you were always particularly interested in." Lyney said.

Freminet racked his brain trying to remember which story he could be referring to. That's when he noticed the creeping grin on his brother's face and his wiggling fingers.

"The story goes that there lives fae's in the woods that love making people laugh."

His eyes widened suddenly as memories flooded back to him. The tale of the tickling fae's had been one of his favorite stories. So much so that his siblings started making up games where they would act as the mischievous creatures and do everything they could to get him laughing.

"I'm sure you're starting to remember the tickle fae's. You must, you're already turning pink. You must remember how fae's love finding people who are grumpy and tickle all the grumpiness right out of them."

Freminet felt a grin starting to form as he covered his face. He had always been extremely susceptible to teasing, which Lyney was exceptionally good at.

"Lyney, plehehehease!" He giggled, already feeling ticklish from the teasing alone.

"Please what, brother of mine? Please tickle you until you can't stop smiling?" His grin could have been mistaken for one of pure evil, but Freminet knew it was all a part of his "Fae persona", where he and Lynette would become ruthless tickle monsters.

"I-I'm already smiling!"

"True, but we've hardly gotten to see it lately. I say we should make up for lost time." He had been getting more and more occupied diving and going on missions, hardly getting the chance to spend time with them. The more he thought about it, the more he felt himself missing getting to laugh with them. Still, tickling was just so childish and silly, he wasn't sure he could handle it all without dying from being so flustered.

Suddenly, Lynette seemed to be right behind him, swiftly grabbing both his wrists and pulling his arms above his head. Freminet tried to hide his face, now with a full smile, by turning his head into his shoulder, but Lynette's grip held strong and he could only cover half his face.

"Well well well, it looks like this grumpy gus has fallen into the tickle fae's trap."

"Whahahait, lets talk abohohouht this!"

"Laughing already?" Lyney chuckled. "Seems like nothings changed, you're as ticklish as ever. And you aren't even trying to get away, just trying to hide your smile from us."

Freminet couldn't even bear to open his eyes, fearing that just looking at his siblings would cause them to attack. Still, the anticipation was killing him, and every second that passed felt like an hour.

"Stop teasing! I cahahan't help it!"

"I'll stop teasing you when you stop hiding your smile from us. The tickling fae's will get to see it one way or another, you might as well show it now."

He knew that his siblings wouldn't let up any time soon, and the build up was killing him. Against his better judgment, he turned his face to look at Lyney. "Fhihihine, are you happy no- NOHOHOHOHOHO!"

Just as he had suspected, the moment he made eye contact Lyney started scribbling under his arms. He tried to pull them down but Lynette kept his arms up and high. She wasn't usually one to tease, but she had a soft smile on her face as she looked at the hysterical boy.

"There's that smile! See? That wasn't so hard."

"Yehehehes it was!"

"Well, you've done it at least. Now, which of the fae's games should we play?"

There were a few games the twins had come up with over the years to entertain their brother. Counting ribs, tracing shapes, having to choose which spot to be targeted, you name it and they had played it.

"Hm," Lynette finally chimed in, "How about we let him choose for himself."

"Nohohoho! Dohohon't make me chohohohose!" He giggled Lyney hovered his hands over him in suspense.

"If you don't pick then we'll just have to play all the games! Better choose fast, grumpy gus, or the fae's will choose for you!"

Freminet could hardly think straight through his laughter. He had extensive experience diving, and with that came good control of his breath, but these attacks always tested that ability, and he found it hard to concentrate on anything when he was this breathless from laughter.

"We'll give you till the count of 3 to choose, then the fae's will go through all their games on you!" Lyney teased. "One..." He wiggled his fingers ever so closer to his ribs. "Two..."

"THE SHAPE THING!" Freminet shouted.

"Hm? Not sure what game you're referring to, you'll have to say the name."

"T-the one where you trace shapes, and I have to guess what shape it is..."

"Oh! You mean constellations."

The name came from an old version of the game where they would trace Freminet's freckles. One day after reading a book about mythology, Freminet became sad that they couldn't see the stars from the city. To cheer him up, the twins pretended his face was the night sky and traced their own constellations as they made up their own stories, and when they ran out of room on his face they started tracing the freckles that lined his back and stomach. Freminet proved to be too ticklish to pay attention to anything, so they began a new game where he would have to guess what shape they were trying to make.

"It's been so long since we played that one. Here, I'll start with something easy."

Lyney lifted his shirt up to trace across his stomach. He used a single finger to trace out a circle right around his belly button.

"Hehehehee, I thihihihink its a circle?"

"Ding! That's right." Lynette smiled. "Hey, you shouldn't peak, that's cheating."

"Ihihihi wasn't lohohohoking!"

"Hmm, alright. I'll let you off the hook this time," She teased as she switched to holding his arms with just one hand. "It's my turn now." Right where the bicep met the under arm, she began tracing what was supposed to be the shape of a cat's head.

"Ihihihis it a house?"

"Nope." She suddenly scribbled his under arm, making him squeak.

That was one part of the game Freminet had forgotten: if he guessed wrong, they would unleash a sudden tickle attack wherever it was they were tracing.

"WAIAIAIAIT! A PERSON!"

"Still wrong." She continued scribbling her fingers over his bicep.

"IHIHIHIHI DON'T KNOW!"

"Giving up already?" Lyney laughed.

"YEHEHEHES, JUST TELL ME!"

"How unfortunate, it was supposed to be the face of a cat." She decided to show some mercy and went back to holding his arms with both hands.

"That's way too complex," Freminet wheezed through his remaining giggles.

He still hadn't thrown in the towel yet, and the twins knew that meant he was having fun, even if he wouldn't admit it. Lyney glanced to the side and saw Pers lying on the ground and an idea came to him. He snickered to himself as he picked up the mechanical penguin.

"Look at that, it seems that Pers wants to help make you laugh as well." He held out Pers, this time slowly walking him towards the younger brother to participate.

"Come on, friend," He once again said in his high-pitched impression of Pers, "I love seeing your smile, too." He slowly moved the penguin closer to Freminets torso and suddenly had him 'pecking' at his tummy.

"Nohohoho! Thihihihis is tohohoho much!"

"You used to love Pers' tickle attacks, remember?" He continued gently brushing Pers beak across his torso. Freminet would never admit it, but he did in fact used to love when they would pretend Pers wanted to join in the tickle attacks.

"Ihihihi cahahant!"

"Can't what? Can't stop giggling? That's the whole idea, little brother."

Lynette, deciding to up the game and join in the fun, suddenly releases his arms to squeeze at his ribs. Freminet threw back his head in laughter, trying his best to swat away the hands now scribbling all over his torso.

Before Lyney decided to set Pers aside, he had one more trick up his sleeve.

"I think someone could use some raspberries," he said in his Pers voice while moving him back and forth, "but I can't because of my beak." Lyney pretended to have a conversation with the little bird. "Well that just won't do. I'll just have to give him some raspberries on your behalf."

Freminet started giggling hysterically as Lynette once again took his arms to hold above his head.

"Whahahahait! Nohohohohohot thahahat!" Raspberries we're something he was especially weak against. Something about the silly noise accompanied by the ticklish sensation sent him up the wall every time, to the point he would get tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Even just the threat of raspberries against him made him turn to a mess of hiccupy laughter.

"I'm just doing this on behalf of your friend," Lyney sang, "he's the one that wants to give you lots of raspberries. Who am I to turn down his request?" He lifted up his shirt just high enough to see his belly.

"Lyney wahahaHAHAHAHAHAH!" He was cut off as Lyney finally blew the biggest raspberry he could right above his bellybutton. He instantly started squirming like his life depended on it, kicking his legs and shaking his head back and forth. He heard his siblings laughing along with him.

"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time," Lynette chucked. "We should do this more often."

"NAHAHAHAHAHA WE SHOULD- BAHAHAHA!" He was immediately cut of by another barrage of raspberries, all in quick succession and all over his tummy.

"ALRIGHT! TIME OUT!" He squealed as he kicked his feet in the air.

Lyney couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face, eyes squinted and cheeks bright as tomatoes. Nonetheless, he stopped immediately, as they always did when he officially asked for a time out. Lynette followed, releasing his arms and allowing him to curl up into a ball, residual tickles still making him giggle like mad.

"Are you alright?" She asked. She was usually the one to check first to make sure their brother hadn't been pushed too far.

Between his remaining laughter he replied, "Y-yeah, I'm alright. Its just... been a while since I've laughed like that."

"I'll say," Lyney chimed in as he handed him back Pers. "We have to start bringing more games back." He laughed as Freminet covered the blush returning to his face. "Only if you want to, of course. The whole point of this is to make you happy."

Freminet groaned. "I-I like the games, I just... Don't know if I'm getting too old for them."

"I don't think there should be an age limit on something that brings you joy," Lynette said as she wrapped her brother in an embrace.

"Agreed, dear sister. And what did the fae's say about covering that smile?" Lyney poked him in the ribs, causing him to put down his arms with a squeak.

"Ohohokay! I'll try not to cover my face anymore."

By the time he had finally recovered, Lynette had made tea for the three of them.

"Isn't it a bit late for tea?" Lyney asked.

"It's the non-caffeinated kind. I believe it's an herbal blend from Liyue, it's actually supposed to help you sleep." She took a sip herself, taking a deep breath in to get a full scent of the aroma. Her brothers followed, feeling relaxed already.

It wasn't long after they had finished that Freminet let out a yawn. The tea really did wonders.

"I don't think I can stay awake long enough to change out of my clothes," He said, eyes already drooping with sleepiness. The twins appeared just as tired as he did.

"Well, we can always shower in the morning," Lyney said as he laid back on the couch.

"Are you at least going to sleep in your bed?" Lynette said as she walked over to him.

"Nope, too tired."

Lynette and Freminet were about to leave to their own rooms when they both felt a hand pull them back to the couch. They both yelped in surprise, falling back and being pulled into their brother's embrace.

"Lyney, we have to go to our rooms!" Lynette stated, though amusement was evident in her tone.

"Lets sleep out here tonight," he responded. "Or I could just tickle the both of you until you agree."

They both felt a sudden squeeze at their sides, sending both of them into laughing fits.

"Ohohohokay! We'll stay!" She answered. "Just give us a break!"

Fortunately Lynet was too tired to dish out the same treatment on her as he did their brother. They both relaxed into his embrace as they closed their eyes for the night. Not even a few minutes later Lyney could hear the soft snores of both of them, and Friment could be seen holding Pers close to his chest. He smiled softly at the two of them, letting himself slowly drift off to sleep.

Yep, seeing his family happy and safe in his arms was all the magic he needed.

[novoaa1writes]

(half) anniversary

img source

pairing(s): ramonda x reader, shuri x riri williams (background), shuri & ramonda (familial), shuri & reader (platonic)

summary:

“Oh. Um,” you pause, sounding taken aback. “Our six-month anniversary. Y’know, since we started dating?”

“That’s not an anniversary,” Shuri protests. 

“I guess not technically,” you concede, “but to me, it kind of is?”

“That’s the gayest shit I’ve ever heard.”

contains: fluff

(cross-posted on ao3.)

word count: ~1,900

rating: teen

warnings: cursing, fluff, reader being super moony-eyed and in love... i tried to limit the use of ‘y/n’ but there is one (1) instance of it in this

notes: reader is referred to with they/them pronouns, but they aren’t referred to too much in the third person in this... this was a request i got post-ruth e. carter’s oscar win. and—look here; i actually wrote it! miracles DO happen! never give up, kids

— —

Shuri’s holed up in the lab on a Thursday afternoon, puzzling over improvements for Riri’s suit when she gets your call. 

Without looking up from her work, she tells Griot to accept it. “What’s good?” she greets.

“Shuri!” your voice, bright with contagious enthusiasm, filters seamlessly through. “How are you?” 

“Busy with work, as always. You?”

“A little stressed, but good. Did you eat today?”

Shuri rolls her eyes. “You sound like Riri.”

“Riri cares for you,” you correct with only the gentlest note of reproof in your tone. “I do, too.” A short pause. “Granted, somewhat less than she does—”

A flush threatens to heat her cheeks. “Yes, thank you.”  Riri and her are… new, still. Your relentless teasing is less so. (She’ll never admit it to you, but it warms her to the core.) “What do you want?”

“Oh, you’re no fun.”

“I’m plenty fun,” Shuri grumbles, closing out the schematic on her screen in favor of another. 

“Uh-huh. Anyway, listen. I called ‘cause I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Mm?”

“Ramonda and I have plans in Wakanda this weekend. It’ll be our six month anniversary!!”

Shuri nearly chokes on air. “What ?”

“Oh. Um,” you pause, sounding taken aback. “Six months since we started dating?”

“That’s not an anniversary,” she protests weakly. She has finally looked up from her work to give her full attention, staring incredulously up at the screen display as though she’ll be able to see you if she looks hard enough. 

“I guess not technically,” you concede, “but to me, it kind of is?”

“That’s the gayest shit I’ve ever heard.”

“I want to do something nice for her. I want it to be a surprise,” you prattle on as though you didn’t hear. “So I’ve got a gift and everything, but I need your help.”

Shuri blinks. “Right…”

“I know she’s got her schedule cleared for Friday at least, but could you move some things around to clear up her Saturday, too? Without telling her, that is. I want her to have as relaxing a weekend as possible. She’s earned it!”

Well. Shuri can’t very well argue with that. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“God, you’re the best,” you enthuse. “I owe you one.”

“Nah.” Shuri waves the comment away, feeling a fond grin tug at her lips in spite of herself. “We’re straight.”

A snicker from the other end. “Good one.” Then: “Alright, I’ve gotta run. Don’t work yourself too hard, yeah?”

“No promises.”

“See you this weekend!”

“See you.”

The line disconnects with a gentle noise, leaving Shuri alone in her laboratory, her brain working a hundred miles a minute. 

“‘Six-month anniversary’?” she mutters to herself incredulously, then heaves a quiet sigh. “Lesbians.”

— —

Shuri goes straight to her mother’s quarters.

“Mother!” she calls upon entering the royal wing. 

“Yes?”

The curtains are open when Shuri arrives, allowing her to stroll right in. Mother sits at her vanity, reading through a document projected onto the mirror in glowing blue script. 

Mother has just barely disabled the projection with a tap to the beads encircling her wrist when Shuri announces, “Clear your schedule. And start working on a gift, while you’re at it. It’s your anniversary this weekend.” 

Mother turns to look at her, features mild but incredulous. “My what?”

“Your anniversary. With Y/N.”

Mother blinks. “It has not been a year.”

“It’s your six-month anniversary.”

“The whole point of an anniversary is that it happens annually,” Mother articulates slowly, like Shuri’s an imbecile. 

Shuri sighs. “This is just what gay people are like, Mother,” she explains dismissively. “They called me just now. They have plans, a gift, the whole deal.”

Silent panic flits across Mother’s face, though she’s quick to smother it—there one moment, gone the next. “Bast,” she murmurs to herself quietly, so quietly that Shuri nearly misses it. 

“It’s not too late. We can still make this work,” Shuri assures her, beginning to pace. “Now. I’ve got Griot compiling all activity on their Etsy, Depop, and favorite shopping sites over the past three months. If they’ve so much as looked at anything, we’ll know. Also—” She cuts herself off at Mother’s raised hand. 

“Thank you, Shuri, but no thank you,” she defers, an inscrutable look on her face. Shuri hasn’t the faintest clue what she’s thinking. “I will handle it.”

Shuri stops mid-step and turns to give her a look. “What does that mean, you’ll ‘handle it’?”

Mother doesn’t waver. “It means that I will handle it.”

“You are very confident all of a sudden,” Shuri observes, gaze narrowed. “Is it jewelry?”

“Thank you for the offer,” she reiterates firmly, turning back to her vanity and appraising her reflection with renewed (read: feigned) interest. “But I am more than capable on my own.”

As cues to leave go, this one’s not terribly overt, but Shuri gets it. She begins inching towards the door, eyeing the woman up and down all the while. “You are not the best team player, you know?”

Mother slants her a stern look. “It’s my anniversary.”

Shuri smirks. “I thought you said it wasn’t an anniversary.” She’s nearly halfway out the door now, which she thinks is probably for the best. She’s pushed her luck enough for today. 

(Or has she? )

“It’s not,” Mother calls back without looking. 

Shuri lingers for a moment longer, long enough to say, “If you’re thinking engagement beads, I’d dial it back a notch.”

“Shuri.”

(There. Now she’s done. )

— — 

Time seems to flow as molasses, making you feel like a fly encased in amber until Friday. You go through the motions of everyday living, barely present, and heaven help you but it’s not for a lack of wanting to be. 

But, well—you can’t help it. You’re so very excited. And nervous. And excited. 

But eventually, finally, Friday arrives. 

When you clock out from work, Shuri’s waiting at the curb in front of a sleek black car with gold rims. You stop by the kitchens to grab the groceries you’d prepared over the weekend and bid your coworkers adieu before heading out. Bags in hand, you manage a wave, which Shuri returns with a shallow nod even as she continues speaking to someone in her ear. Riri, probably. 

It’s a short drive to the warehouse, where you’ll board a Talon Fighter to fly the rest of the way. You know the drill; you’ve done it quite enough over the past 6 months. You’re content to tune out Shuri’s end of her conversation as she speeds down the freeway, wind in your hair and the sun on your face.

— —

When you arrive in Birnin Zana, it’s mid-afternoon.

You’re early. Ramonda will be in meetings for the next couple hours, but that’s all according to plan. You accompany Shuri to her lab to drop your things, chatting mindlessly all the while, before making your way over towards the kitchens.

The plan is clear in your thoughts, the recipes practically burned into your brain. You’ve been practicing for weeks, now—madombi and chicken groundnut stew. Ramonda’s favorite entrée alongside the flavorful stew she’s always professed to love. You’re no slouch at cooking, but you want it to be perfect. Only the best for her. 

As you wash and rinse your hands thoroughly in preparation, you hail Griot. “Griot, bud, will you put my playlist on? The cooking one?”

Griot—bless him—obliges. 

Falling into the motions is a pleasantly diverting task—browning the chicken, sautéeing the vegetables, kneading the fresh dough. The music is a constant aid, and the scents that permeate the air are immensely comforting in their familiarity. Minutes turn to an hour, then two; you hardly notice. You’re laser-focused on the task at hand, intent on making it all perfect—or as perfect as perfect gets, anyhow.

You don’t notice the clock striking 6:00pm, or the way Griot’s speakers lower their volume to accommodate—

A yelp leaves your throat as sure arms curl ‘round your waist and warmth presses into you from behind.

“S’thandwa,” Ramonda murmurs into your neck, her lips warm where they brush your thrumming pulse point. Gods above. “I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”

Willing your thundering heart rate to slow, you let out a breathy huff and allow yourself to melt in the familiar embrace. “A bit,” you divulge, inhaling deeply to catch her scent—shea butter and lavender incense and her, her, her. “I suppose I lost track of time.”

Ramonda’s arms tighten ever-so-slightly at that, her thumbs stroking the juts of your hipbones in something like apology. “Mm,” she hums. “You’ve been busy.”

Affection blooms in your chest, warm and big and true. “I wanted to do something special.” Your breath catches in your throat as you turn to face her. 

She’s divested her isicholo for the evening, leaving springy, short-trimmed strands of platinum-blonde on display. A deep purple halter gown frames her elegant figure, its corset clinging to her like a second skin. Her makeup is light today—lips painted a deep, rosewood red; eyelids accentuated with black liner and dusky eyeshadow. It’s a simpler ensemble than those she’ll don on any other day; the diminished tension in her shoulders is evidence of that. 

It matters not; the effect is the same. You are absolutely enamored of her. 

“Darling,” Ramonda’s low, bemused voice draws your attention. “You’re staring,” she admonishes, guiding your gaping mouth shut with a gentle touch. The twitch in painted lips betrays her amusement. 

You don’t have an answer for that—no witty retort, no comeback, nothing. You lace your arms around her shoulders until you can clasp your hands at her nape, voicing, “Can I kiss you?” 

Ramonda presses her lips to yours in lieu of answer, all slow and gentle and mild until it’s not—until her kiss turns insistent and you’re parting your mouth to let her in, dragging your tongue against hers, nipping at her lower lip to coax forth a shuddering exhale. Arousal sparks a lit match in your belly, burning a fiery trail from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. 

It takes all your will (and then some) to pull away, but you manage it. Heat prickles along your skin. “Right, so…” you trail off breathlessly, chest heaving. “I made dinner.”

Ramonda chuckles, dark eyes alight with mischief and want. Her lipstick is barely smudged, but you’ll take what you can get. “Is that madombi I smell?”

A broad, bashful grin splits your features at the hopeful lilt to her tone. “Maybe.”

— —

Dinner is everything you hoped it would be. The madombi comes out perfect; the stew is even better. With the table set, candles lit, you usher Ramonda over. She brushes a kiss to your cheek when you pull out the chair for her, murmuring a quiet, “Thank you, baby” that makes you choke on air. 

Flustered beyond belief, you scurry back into the kitchen to whip up mojitos—one of two cocktails you can actually make—for the pair of you before taking them to the table. Ramonda accepts hers with a pleased hum. 

With steam rising from both dishes and nothing left to fuss over, you take your seat, too. 

“Shall we?”

— —

end notes:

i enjoyed writing the dynamic between shuri and ramonda, and also shuri and reader. did my lil heart some good

anyways. love to receive requests and then just vibe with them for months before actually sort of doing them... like to be clear, mostly, requests end up going unfulfilled due to my selective writing preferences and ever-limited time. but i stand by my mission to populate the ramonda x reader tag—singlehandedly, if need be! 

s’thandwa | love, sweetheart

sources:

queen ramonda | an additional source to inform upon ramonda’s character and canonical background... it seems she comes from south africa in the comics, and considering the use of isiXhosa in the cinematic ‘verse, i’ve decided to write her using the corresponding terminology when necessary

traditional south african dress | i used this in my previous ramonda fic in order to determine the implications of the traditional south african headpieces, as i understand the isicholo worn by queen ramonda is typically worn by married women in south africa, and i didn’t know if i wanted to have her be married or not in this. but as i understand it, her headdresses (in the 2nd film in particular) are also worn to indicate her queenly status, so i kept it

royal talon fighter (wakandan aircraft) | the wakandan aircraft in which shuri and reader travel to wakanda. appears in black panther, avengers: endgame, and black panther: wakanda forever.

“illuminated signs: style and meaning in the beadwork of the xhosa- and zulu-speaking peoples” | an article from african arts (vol. 36, issue 3) by gary van wyk. an interesting insight into exactly what it says on the tin!

chicken groundnut stew | typically attributed to west africa, though several variations exist across the continent. ingredients often include chicken legs, peanut butter, sweet potato, garlic, and ginger, among others.

madombi | traditional african steamed dumplings. the link leads to a youtube video demonstrating the process!

— —

link to masterlist

[seventeenlovesthree]

I know you wrote, you have a ton of projects till the end of the year, but! I saw Ruki/Jeri in your poll and would you care share your two cents about them girls? Only if you have time. I loved them since Ruki was teaching Jeri to play the digimon card game 🥺 I think they are my fave f/f ship in digimon

First things first: You can ALWAYS drop messages in my ask box, I'm always happy and up to discuss and share my own meta about ships and characters!

While my personal favourite f/f ship in Digimon overall will always be Sora/Mimi, I can actually draw some parallels between their dynamics, particularly when it comes to the similarities between Sora and Ruki - I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but the main aspect here is: Both Sora and Ruki have incredible soft spots for Mimi and Juri respectively and thus break through the initial trope(s) you associate with them. You would not expect the more introverted tomboy (who start off actively rejecting typical femininity) to care so much, be so protective of and overall get along so well with the supposed girly-girl at first glance, would you? While Sora is having more of a big sister vibe going on towards the other/younger characters, it's less likely for someone like Ruki, who used to push everyone away and wasn't even seen interacting with girls prior to meeting Juri.

You would expect her to look down on "card game newbies" the same way she used to ridicule Takato and Jenrya for being "too soft" - luckily for Juri, Ruki had already started contemplating her approaches and view points and, probably for the first time ever, seemed to feel some kind of pride in being able to teach someone. It's interesting how she just... Immediately feels drawn to Juri, how softly she talks to and smiles at her and has all the patience in the world for her. Sometimes I feel like some scenes/moments didn't make it into the final product, because Ruki's softness increases a lot faster during the midpoint of the series (and it's really a shame because the more the cast grows, the less you see individual interactions between certain characters). Either way, looking at how she treats Juri, it's no surprise that, aside from mimicking Takato's card slash pose, Juri also copies Ruki's initial card holding pose. Juri is admiring Ruki greatly and through the course of the series, whenever possible, she does cling to her - whereas Ruki is there to protect and comfort her, but without EVER belittling her. She knows Juri isn't weak, but worries for her for very understandable reasons after the loss of Leomon.

Tamers overall has a very interesting framing theme when it comes to Ruki, her reltionship to her family (mostly influenced by female figures) and to Renamon - as mentioned, she is initially rejecting feminity due to a difficult relationship with her mother. Not only does she not want to be "like her" (a model obsessed with beauty and not having time for family anyway), but she's also obviously rebelling, lashing out due a sense of having to prove herself and displaying strength. We know she longs for the attention of her father and can assume that there is underlying trauma of feeling rejected as a daughter that causes her to bottle up. She appears incredibly detached and/or lashes out when others show her affection, which is why she is initially still tough towards all the boys around her. But she improves almost all her relationships upon accepting Renamon more and more as an equal partner and friend, culminating in their Matrix evolution to Sakuyamon, which definitely represents the beginning of Ruki being able to embrace her own sense of femininity. One might argue that there are also potentially romantic undertones in how her behaviour changes towards Takato and Ryo (which, as we know, is a typical trope in media to portray boyish girls becoming more feminine). But I'd really like to add that the first human character that brought out her gentle side was Juri. And thus, my verdict is - Ruki wouldn't even have gotten that far if it hadn't been for Juri contributing to her soft side coming to the surface. (Renamon still has the biggest impact here and despite being proof of Digimon having no gender, Renamon is still associated with the female gender and thus being another female influence.)

There is... A lot of wlw subtext here in my opinion (the RenaRuki subtext in particular is INSANE, if you think about it), but unfortunately, Digimon has never dared to cross that line officially. I do see the appeal in people shipping Ruki with the aforementioned Ryo and Takato (though I personally feel like the former is a little forced, disruptive of the group dynamics and also a bit too stereotypical - the latter is somewhat difficult when you see Juri as semi-official love interest for Takato, it makes the whole thing a little messy). But in my opinion, it would have been nice to at least show the girls being important to each other. Because they absolutely are, even if my memory on the final Tamers episodes is a bit rusty.

[renstears]

Nightbringer theories (Obey Me; SPOILERS!)

Alrighty so I decided to play Nightbringer after being scared of it for the past few weeks; so far, I have some questions and theories in mind. I’m still on Lesson 8 so I’m not sure if most of my theories here are gonna be right or just straight up wrong.

Questions & Theories:

- Since Solomon came with us to the past (or more like came to the past to come aid for our ass), wouldn’t there be a chance the Solomon from THAT timeline/past meet the present Solomon we know of? Wouldn’t this create a whole time paradox….?

- Lilith’s body got disappeared by Diavolo so that she can get reincarnated as a human; would there be a chance we get to see her reincarnated form at least if we don’t see her angel form? Also, reminder that Lucifer is the only brother who knows she got reincarnated, so most likely the other 6 brothers will have a huge fucking melt down like last time in the previous Obey Me game.

- When the game first started, we hear Solomon narrating a bit about Barbatos and this human Barbatos went to. Solomon used they/them pronouns for the human, at first, I thought it might be us/MC—but then it occurred to me, why would the devs only now reveal our/MC’s appearance and the timeline that Barbatos met this human must’ve been a very very long time. Either 1. They used they/them pronouns for the human to keep their identity hidden until revealed later on 2. The human is either one of our ancestors/related to Lilith’s reincarnated form or 3. This human might be a Biblical figure from the Bible; if you go to the official Obey Me Instagram; they illustrated Barbatos controlling a puppet that looks like a king (some speculated the king is David as he is the father of Solomon).

- In another illustration made by the official Obey Me cast on Instagram, it shows Diavolo gesturing to a red apple. Either this is indicating he was the one that lured Eve to eat the apple and regretted that decision which is the reason why he decided to improve his behaviors later in life.

- Man when I heard Raphael’s voice during Asmo’s arc I thought it was Adam, but nvm, it wasn’t. We may see Adam in the story though, like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Adam was Lilith’s ex husband, so I don’t doubt that the devs would add an element of it to the story.

- There isn’t much information about Barbatos in demonology and from mythologies, but it's ironic that from said mythologies, Barbatos has the ability to reconcile arguments between friends/rulers but he seems to have this heavy dislike towards Solomon and refuses to speak about it. I seriously wonder what Solomon did bc this man fucking forgot what he even did to the butler.

- While I was doing research on Barbatos, I stumbled upon this (credits to Myths and Folklore wiki editors!) according to the The Infernal Dictionary (a book of demonology). This is stated about Barbatos:

"Barbatos, great and powerful demon, count-duke in the underworld, a type of Robin Hood; he is shown in the form of an archer or a hunter; He is found in forests. Four kings sound the horn in front of him. He's acquired the knowledge to divine the speaking of birds, the roar of bulls, dogs barking and screaming various animals. He knows the locations of buried treasures, say magicians. He reconciles quarreled friends. This demon, who was once of the order of Virtues of Heaven or that of dominions, is reduced today to commanding thirty hellish legions. He knows the past and the future."

I personally don't think in the game, Barbatos is an angel (or maybe he is an angel but man's disappeared for so long everyone forgot him and my guy turned into a demon afterwards/hj). It'll be interesting to see his lore and how the devs wrote his backstory. In mythologies, he's illustrated looking like Robin Hood, so maybe Barbatos (in the game) went to the human to give them justice??? Take my theories with a pinch of salt.

And that's all I can think of, I'll make more theories as I continue playing in my free time.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Stumbled upon your master list of SW meta you wrote, and enjoyed reading through some of them, especially the ones that examined and defended the jedi order. I point to the jedi order in particular because when you pointed out that the number of jedi in the galaxy are proportionally smaller compared to a planet with a population in the trillions, it reminded me of a bad take regarding the order (which is conflated with the whole "the jedi are actually the bad guys" in SW): that the jedi are eugenicists because their adoption of force sensitive children. This never sat right with me given that the jedi never seemed the type to be concerned with propagating their numbers in some form of "purity" (genetic or force sensitivity wise). Any chance you can gleam into the nitty-gritty of this take's unsavory implications?

OOf, that's an old ask, and that reminds me that I really need to update that masterlist 😅 (and me saying that is an even older draft, oops 😂)

Okay, the idea of the Jedi being *eugenicists* is SO out of left field that I feel like it doesn't even deserve to be really addressed so much as mocked, because words mean things.

To be quite fair, I don't think I've ever seen anybody seriously use that word. (It may very well have happened tho, I just can't remember somebody seriously making the claim and sticking to it.) Even the infamous KT rant (see below) doesn't call them that - the extremely weird and frankly absurd take is that they embody supremacist ideas and that people who are into them believe there is such a thing as an inherently superior person. She does use the word "Nazi" (just wow), but I don't think she was going for the eugenics part, just the run of the mill white supremacy theories. People on both sides of the argument may have misquoted/misinterpreted her on that though.

(Seriously woman, why were you even writing for Star Wars?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN LIKE IT!)

Now, eugenics? (This post is so weird to write, I can't even) ⇊

It is LAUGHABLE to use it in relation to the Jedi Order, because as you accurately put it, the Jedi just aren't interested in... making babies.

Do they force their members to procreate, even artificially? Absolutely not.

Are they seeking to improve the Order by only taking in the healthiest, strongest, most powerful children? No. They were ready to reject Anakin, for one thing.

Are they studying how to arrange reproduction in the rest of the galactic population? No.

Is there a ban on non-Jedi Force sensitives having children of their own? No. Are they forced or even strongly encouraged to have children of their own? No.

Do Jedi control who Force-sensitives are allowed to have children with? No.

Do Jedi test for Force-sensitivity and keep records of it? Yes. But they don't seem to keep genealogies - there's nothing that says the list in the Holocron is a permanent one either - rather, the way it's phrased and the way there's only babies on it, names are probably erased eventually. And the purpose of the list has nothing to do with increasing the occurence of Force-sensitivity.

Are non-Jedi Force sensitives forced by law to give up their kids? No.

Do Jedi automatically take in Force-sensitive children anyway? No. Bardotta and Dathomir are right there and nobody's bothering them.

Is the Order ableist? No. We even see plenty of disabled Jedi and nobody is throwing them out. (Amputees like Anakin and elderly people like Yoda and Tera Sinube, for starters. Also Prosset Dibs, or Tahl in Legends).

The Force isn't even proven to be reliably 'transmissible' from one generation to the next - the Force 'being strong' in particular families may just as easily be for more spiritual reasons depending on how you want to look at it. Because, you know, Star Wars isn't all literal.

IT'S JUST SO DUMB.

NOTHING ABOUT HOW THE ORDER WORKS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT THAT WORD MEANS.

(I'm sorry I'm not dissing you for the ask I just don't get how anybody could ever have said that 😂😭)

[igotanidea]

Inspiration: Matt Murdock x fem!writer!reader

request : poet reader who has a blind sister/father, so she publishes her poetry also in braille, she and Matt met in a park and he unknowingly became her muse. He doesn't know about it, that's until Karen takes him and Foggy to some poetry night and then the cat is out of the bag

Thank you for the request @somest1. <3

***

When the words does not fit in my mouth

I found a way to let them out

Without speaking out loud

Just barely above the whisper

Scribbling on paper

“Hi, Dad.” A young girl appeared in the door of the day center room, throwing her backpack on the couch and focusing solely on the person sitting by the table “How was your day?”

“Surprisingly busy” the man answered smiling widely “I’ve been reading your newest works. Good thing those come in Braille now. Otherwise you would be forced to spend all your days here and read it to me.”

 Y/N’s father started losing his sight when the girl was about 15, and three years later became fully blind. With Y/N’s mum gone and her being an only child all the duties and the care responsibility of her dad fell upon her. Those were dark times, when they were both struggling to keep afloat since the annuities were never enough for the expenses. The girl was studying and working, leaving her dad with the unhealthy amount of guilt that were to stay with him forever. However, one good thing came from all that situation. Y/N started writing. Poety, prose, all of it. It was her emotion outlet,  a way to escape the reality. Initially, she kept it a secret, but one day, her English teacher found the notebook she left on the desk, leaving school in haze  rushing home to take care of her dad. With the slight amount of guilt the lecturer read a few paragraphs of her work and got thunderstruck – this girl definitely had talent. The one he hasn’t seen for a long, long time and he made it his personal mission to help his student show it to the world. Knowing her family situation she could use help in the matter.

Next day, when Y/N got to school, tired, stressed and sleepy, much to her terror she was called to the teacher’s office.

“Mr. Thompson? You called for me?” she peeked through the door, concern on her face. She didn’t need trouble.

 “Y/N, yes, come on in please, we have something important to talk about.” The teacher pointed towards the chair in front of his desk and the girl sank in it.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Wrong? Why would you think so?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m rather the quiet student. I try to keep a low profile so if you called me here that must mean I’m in trouble….”

“Oh my dear girl. It’s quite the opposite.” Y/N frowned not sure if she could trust the words coming out of her teacher’s mouth. “I think you left something in the class yesterday.” Thompson continued, reaching for her notebook.

“Oh….” She gasped, her eyes growing wide

“I hope you can forgive me, but I couldn’t help peeking inside …..”

“It’s fine.” She muttered retrieving her property and hugging it close to her chest. “Those are just stupid thoughts of a stupid person. A waste of time and paper.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Yes. I have a lot on my head and this graphomania keeps me sane. However crazy and pathetic this may sound.”

“I can’t believe it” Thompson shook his head “Listen to me, Y/N. This is really, really good. You don’t even realize the talent you have been blessed with.”

“Wha…. What?” she heard the words but somehow she lost the ability to understand the meaning behind them. “What are you talking about?”

“Take it from the person who read a lot in their life. Classic, modern, students’ essays, poems…. Some better and some worse. What you wrote has a huge potential. We may have to work on your grammar, punctuation and descriptions, but apart from that…. Y/N, have you ever considered becoming a writer?”

She did not. But she became one. Putting a lot of hard work into perfecting her creative workshop, improving metaphors and becoming lighter and more fluent with words. It came with a cost of rearranging her own life, making some ground rules for herself and her father and learning to accept help, but due to her persistency and ambition she finally published her first novel. It did not become a bestseller right away neither did it make her famous, but it helped her gather some much needed money to bounce back and cover some of the medical bills. A ray of sunshine she needed, a push towards her next novels  and the very first poetry book. Slowly, yet stubbornly she warmed her places into the heart of readers and started making real money. In her early twenties she had enough to provide her father with professional medical help and put him into special daycare with people who have been helping him during the day, while she was at work. Apart from her creative writing Y/N also had a job as a freelancer, writing for some magazines. She claimed it was giving her inspiration. Her dad was so proud and yet, so sad that because of his condition he was not able to get to know his daughter’s work. He was not a fan of audio recording, so after a while Y/N made it possible in her publishing company that every time her work came out, they made one personalized copy in Braille for her dad. And he loved the idea, using all of his free time to catch up on reading.  He was at the facility for a couple years now, becoming everyone’s favorite patient.

“You know I’m just a call away if you need your own lector, dad” she smiled, grabbing his hand. “I am never too busy for you.”

“Nah. I would never bother you with it. You gave up so much for me when you were a teenager. And now, you build a life for yourself, you should enjoy it. However, I would be even happier if you had someone special in your life….”

“Dad!” she gasped

“What? Is it a crime to care about one’s daughter well-being? I know you are strong, but carrying the weight of the world on your shoulder alone is not good. You deserve someone who will care about you and love you. Not just your characters, even if they are relatable.”

“good thing I did not decide to write fantasy.” Y/N laughed. “Bet you wouldn’t like that.”

“I would love everything coming out of your stable, honey. Speaking of which, are you going to publish something new soon?”

“I don’t know…. “ she sighed “I’m struggling with afflatus lately. Which is bad since my agent is staging a reading night for my fans and without consulting me, promised them I would present something new. A start of a new novel, unpublished and highly involving. I could kill her for doing shit like this sometimes.”

“Seems like you like her.” Her dad smiled, knowing his daughter well enough.

“She keeps me on my feet, that’s for sure” Y/N shrugged “but now, I have like three weeks to produce a few chapters of new book and I’m getting nervous.”

“Maybe you should take a day off from work? From what I remember, a solitary walks in the park were always beneficial for your inspiration.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right…. I mean, what do I have to lose, right? If nothing better at least I will have a free day away from the work mayhem.”

***

Next day she took her notebook and favorite pen, bough a giant and ridiculously expensive coffee and went for a walk. Just letting her thoughts flew though her freely, feeling the spring air and chirping birds, trying her best not to get frustrated.

“Come on….” She muttered aiming at her brain “work…”

Sighing deeply, she sank onto the bench, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.

“You mind if I sit here?” a deep, male voice came from above her and she nodded. “I need a verbal confirmation” he laughed lightly and those words made her look up, realizing her faux pas.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…..”

“It’s all right. It’s actually a bit relieving knowing not everyone notice my blindness as the first thing. So, may I …..?”

“Yes, please, of course. I was just leaving anyway.”

“Why? Did I startle you?” he asked

“I’m not easily intimidated” she smirked “Just a bit frustrated.”

“And why is that?”

“Lack of inspiration. By the way I’m Y/N.”

“Matt” he reached out and she shook his hand “nice to meet you. Inspiration, huh? So what, you are a journalist?”

“Sort of. What gave me away?”

“You have ink on your fingers. And your wrist is slightly swollen, a clear sign of writing too much on the computer keyboard. And I heard rustling of the pages in the notebook. So, clear conclusion.”

“Oh, wow. Are you sure you’re blind or is that only a way to get girls interested and entice her to your house?”

“You got sharp tongue. Definitely a journalist. My friend, Karen is quite similar.” he grinned “I can assure you, I’m not a creep. I am blind, it just comes with heightened other senses.”

“Let’s say I believe you. I mean, my father is sightless too and his hearing is just incredible. But now let me guess, you are a detective, right? With such perceptive skills I can’t see you doing anything else.”

 “Close enough. I do a lot of detective work.”

“Really?”

“You wanna hear about it?”

***

Both of them believed this was a one-time accidental meeting and they would never see each other again. However, living in the same city, even big, led to another and another and another. Y/N never looked for Matt, never searched his law firm or stalk him on the Internet and Matt did not search for her name in the magazines. They were just meeting in the part occasionally, even if those occasions were more and more often. They just felt good in each other’s company. Simple as it was. What Matt didn’t realize was that those meetings where somewhat helpful in the light of her upcoming reading.

***

“Matt! Foggy!” Karen burst through the door to the office “have you ever heard of Y/N Y/L/N?”

“The writer?” Foggy muttered “meet my ear. Why?”

“Met your ear? Huh. She’s really talented and a lot of people try to reach to her but she just avoids interviews like a plague.”

“Seems like a reasonable person” Matt muttered, not connecting the dots. He knew Y/N, but not her last name and the fact that she was a journalist just slipped his mind.

“She has a author’s evening today and I was wondering that maybe I could get her to talk…..”

“Why do I have the feeling like you will force us to join you?” Foggy groaned

“Cause I will.”

***

Y/N was pacing nervously watching more and more people gather around at the meeting. Up to this point she didn’t realize how many fans she actually had and it sort of freaked her out.

“I hate you.” She mumbled towards her glowing agent “I hate you, Abby. You’re gonna put me in my grave. Or cause all my hair to go grey at my 20s.”

“Stop it. You’re gonna love it. These people here? They came because they love you.”

“Noooo. Correction. They love my work.”

“You are your work.”

“But…..”

“No buts…. It’s time.” She pushed Y/N towards the stage and followed right after her “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome at the very first reading by Y/N Y/L/N!” the crowd cheered and Y/N blushed heavily “Are you excited?!”

“Will you calm down, Abs?” Y/N hissed through her smile “this is not a carnival and I am not a movie star.”

“You are a writing star, honey. Deal with it.”

***

“There she is” Karen smiled wildly and made her way through the crowd, getting closer to the stage.

“Remind me, why we agreed to that?” Foggy mumbled to Matt

“We didn’t. But she’s our friend.”

“A friend who forced us to join.”

“What were you expecting. It’s Karen. Besides, maybe we should catch up with some other kind of writing then statutes and cases?”

“Since when are you fond of prose? Does it have anything to do with that mysterious journalist you have been meeting?”

“I don’t meet her. I happen to cross paths with her from time to time.”

“Yeah, right, whatever you say, Murdock. Whatever you say.”

***

Life is funny.

Sometimes the most important and life changing events happen when you least expect them only because you were in the right place in the right time. Like when you meet a stranger in the park. A stranger who makes you change your view on so many things. Who, despite the fact that you only know his name, and truly cannot be sure if it’s the real one, becomes someone you dare calling a friend.

At some point I found myself waiting for those little meetings. He didn’t know it, but I was walking through that park way too often, wondering if people would consider me crazy for visiting it so often. I couldn’t care less tough. I just wanted to see him.

“Um, Matt?” Foggy whispered turning towards his friend who’s face suddenly became pale “Is there something you want to tell me about?”

“Shit!” Murdock hissed

“Why is she describing the way you have been acting for the last three weeks in a fem perspective?”

“She might be the journalist I told you about…..”

“Wait, what? You didn’t know her name?!”

“I did. Just not the last name!”

“God, Matt. How could you not connect the facts when Karen mentioned the reading by the writer Y/N Y/L/N?”

“I don’t know, all right!”

“You can’t lie to me, my friend.” Foggy patted Matt’s shoulder. “She’s cute and I know you can sense it even without your sight.”

“Stop it, Foggy. She is just making fun out of me there.”

“Is she really?”

***

After two hours Y/N felt like she would never say another word in her life and there was still Q&A session coming up. Thank god, Abby realized what was happening and run onto the stage (almost tripping over her own feet due to the enthusiasm) announcing that Y/N would be only answering a couple of questions because of the lack of time.

“Where you describing real-life events there?” Karen used the opportunity “I mean is the park where the action is placed the park in Hell’s kitchen or is it purely fiction?”

“It’s a mix, actually. Some of those meetings happened in real life. The rest, the rest that you don’t know about is just a variation of possibilities.”

“So, the main male character was based on someone you know?” Karen insisted

“A bit. It was just a nice guy I met. Smart and kind. I think I can call him a friend, but possibly I’m just another unimportant girl to him.”

“I would beg to differ” at this point, the blonde girl knew who Y/N was writing about as much as Foggy and Matt.

***

“Y/N?”

“Yes?” she turned around and her eyes grew wide “Oh… it’s you.”

“So, you are a writer. The writer, apparently. “

“Don’t be angry” she started

“I’m not.”

“No?”

“No. If anything, I would like to know how the rest of the story plays out. Did your characters end up together?”

“I…. I don’t know yet. The book is not finished and …..” she stuttered

“Is it because you lack inspiration?” Matt asked referring to their first conversation from weeks ago.

“Maybe a bit” she smiled “I’m Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N. I’m a writer.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Matt. Matt Murdock. I’m a lawyer.”

 “So much of a detective work, huh?” she smirked

“Detective –like. I told you. But I know a few things about copyright if you need any advice and want to discuss it.”

“Is it your way to seduce girls?” she narrowed her eyes.

“At this point, only one.” He answered making her blush a bit “So? What’s it gonna be?”

“Let’s taste your knowledge Mr. Murdock. You already know what type of coffee I like, counsellor.”

@pinksirensong

[crazykuroneko]

The Newsreader S2 Ep 6 (Finale)

A well-written, well-acted, and well-produced season. Anna and Sam showed their range. The whole cast is such a treat to see when they're all working together for a bulletin. Love how they wrote other characters/relationships to be a foil to Helen, Dale or their relationship, especially Rob/Noellene. The set and the fashion are impeccable. My only criticisms are I wish we could see more of how Charlie/Helen crash and burn in more than a montage and a scene and the score, which could have been better imo. Anyway, this should sweep AACTA idc idc

My unnecessary note on the episode under the cut

Sam is such a great actor, because we see Dale's acting like he's okay all smiley etc but you know he's breaking inside

Geoff looks sincere with his speech about Kay, but I bet it's Evelyn's idea to put that on the news. Idk I'm still sceptical about those two

GOD DALE he's really doing everything he's been dreaming of as if that would make him feel better about himself

that montage of Helen and Charlie doing drugs is insane. Especially when you remember their relationship started right after she covered a drug addict news

ugh yes Rob we know you're homophobic thanks

"He's turning into Helen" well more like Geoff

Oh fuck you Lindsey. he's the one without any principles at all and alway takes/turns anything into personal. He and Evelyn are my big villains UGH

Okay, Rob proposing her in Korean is sweet. A sign he's willing to learn

Don't forget Rob is someone who refuses his promotion even when he gets it because he's too comfortable in his place. OF COURSE he won't understand Noelene's ambition to develop her career. I'm so sorry Noelene. i wish you didn't fall in love with a loser

At least The Walters know when they have to pay back a favor

Helen really said don't talk about my bisexual almost-husband! She's so real for that. But I do wish we saw how the relationship with Charlie crashed and burnt in more than just two scenes.

"Just do your work" also "Do nothing" in the previous episode. Insanity

Poor Dale, no one can back him up. It hurts that Tim won't help him but it's very understandable after how Dale has been using him after all this time. Plus Tim is in a different relationship with his sexuality than Dale. He's not out, but he has embraced it and doesn't want to hide it anymore. Meanwhile that's impossible for Dale if he still wants a career in front of the camera with a good pay in that era. Which is why I don't see them get back together anymore. In my eyes, it's more like infatuation than love between them, with/without the internalized homophobia. And Tim does deserve to live free from all this drama

14 hours plus on the desk? it's insane. Dale is turning into a robot wtf

Dale Jennings disappointing the whole queer community. Where did that come from? Yes, season 1! Upon reflection, I don't think Gerry did it, but it's definitely someone from the gay club. Someone who saw he's dancing with Tim before. Could be that stranger he slept with. There's no way he didn't know who Dale was. Anyway, Dale feels like the community has betrayed him, so now like a naive child he's getting back at them. (He's still my baby though ❤️)

Oh Noelene was definitely going to say no even without Helen's problem. Of course she was. 💔

Could we unalive Lindsey pls? Like he's the epitome of a white man who only knows how to scream and take advantage of any situation. A lot of people's temper would be improved

Okay, maybe Rob does deserve some rights. The fact he has achieved his peak in sport really helps. I guess that's why he's so chill about his news career

I guess the only person Lindsey really appreciates is Dennis cos who would manage everyone if not him? Lindsey can only scream and scream. He'd really be nothing without Denis and Noelene

Dale has definitely been looking up to Geoff. So it's insane when Geoff, who has sacrificed his career for his daughter, is now congratulating Dale, who has sacrificed all of his relationships for his career. It's like the passing of the news desk trap

Why is it with this couple and believing marriage will just solve all your problems? No, I understand they know that they're the life raft to each other, so when they're in a dire moment, they want to make sure they'll have each other always. Forever. And it's insane. And it's so heartbreaking that the moment Helen realizes that Dale has always been fully committed to her and fully supported her is the moment Dale got a confirmation that he really has It to be the king of news, and he won't sacrifice that. Not right now when he's finally had it in his hand

You know, when you think about it, Dale's rejection protects Helen's principle. Because here she's about to use their potential engagement to placate the gossip writer to not publish Dale's story, which would lead to them having to feed her stories on their relationship forever. Which Helen has said before that her private life is not something she would trade. In the end, Donna only gets Dale's life.

It's insane how this episode starts just like Ep 1 and ends just like how season 1 ends.

Also, this is very unnecessary, but please know I worship Sam's and Anna's acting. They're insane throughout this season.