#it's just been SO consistent since season 1 and it makes me so happy to see it

[niuxita21]

Juan Carlos doesn’t believe me that we’re a couple. I know, Pablo doesn’t believe me, either. That’s why I think you should move in with me, that way they would have no choice but to believe us. [beat] I’m sorry, I know I was insensitive. I know you were really excited about Ferrán and you’re having a really hard time letting him go. But we have two very important reasons. We can’t split them up. We’re a family, regardless of who likes it. I know it’s been really hard for both of us having to lie to the people we love the most. Remember when our only choice was to be apart for a year. Yes, you’re right. I owe you an apology, too. I am willing to stick to the plan for our family. Thank you. I promise not to try to control everything and to trust you. 

[space-blue]

Fixing Vander and Silco's story (a bit)

Using canon events! Sadly we can't actually fix it, but I hope this makes it a little better. I make my own edit proposal at the end that changes the bar scene to include Felicia without issues.

They meet in the mines, and meet Felicia and her partner there too. They end up together somehow (I think we can put the brotherly allegations to rest now, eh?) and one of them (or both) inherit/buy a bar.

Although Vander is the barman, there is no indication Silco doesn't own or co-own the place. After all he comes to take it eventually as his own, and he's still not bartending. That's just not his gig.

It's implied that Vander and Silco made it, as in, got away from the mines, while Felicia clearly didn't, as she comes home to both her daughters with mining gear and gloves.

So despite Vander and Silco building the Lanes together, the mines aren't closed, and the work "isn't done".

Felicia says they've done it, and Vander is happy to celebrate their success. Meanwhile, Silco has his "NoZ" Nation of Zaun book in which he's scribbling, still planning.

Vander's first memory that Viktor sees even has Silco holding that book.

Later, in season 1 episode 3, we see that Vander tells Silco that he had Vander's respect, the Lanes' respect, but it "was never enough".

There's also this fakeout moment in the memory at the bar, where Vander says they're done, and Silco replies with "You're gravely mistaken". And I thought he was going to go all zealous and say "We'll only be done when we have the Nation of Zaun", but no, he claims he's Bozo 1.

And imo, he is probably right. He calls out Vander in act 1 saying "I trusted you and you betrayed me", and Vander does not contest this. It makes the most in character sense as well that Silco is the brains of the operation while Vander is the brawn.

And we can conclude that Silco's goals were always "bigger" and that the Lanes were indeed not enough.

Years pass, during which we can only assume Silco keeps building his Nation of Zaun and Vander happily bartends and manages the Lanes with Silco. Felicia keeps working the mines and raises Vi, then Powder.

Vi is at least 11, if not more, by the time she's on the bridge. This is just consistent with her model, but also to make her 18+ by the time of act 2.

It's a long ass time for Vander and Silco to be running a bar and the Lanes together. Even assuming Vi is more 8 or 9yo, Vander and Silco spend all that time being together.

Sadly, their models aren't aged very well.

We are also forced here to make some unfortunate assumptions.

It's not a problem, IMO, for Silco to know Felicia and be close to her. It's a problem for him to not be close to Vi and Powder too. Close enough to recognise them at least.

It's easy to say, "Well, Felicia went back to the mines and raised her kids and wasn't super involved with Vander and Silco, who lived much higher up in their bar." Adult friendships and all that.

IT MAKES SENSE, but then it makes zero sense that Vander would murder his life's partner, a man he's been with 10 years at MINIMUM (fuck knows how long they were together while in the mines), over the death of a friend in a revolt they allegedly BOTH participated in.

The memories also imply that Silco is responsible somehow, for throwing a molotov. And yet the molotov doesn't kill the enforcer.

But Vander is shown in the opening of Act 1 season 1 pummeling one to death himself, long after the rest of the revolt has died down. That enforcer wasn't getting back up lol

So whatever we pick, because the writers made Felicia and Silco close, they create a plot hole either way.

Either Vander is whacko and murders his husband over a dead friend at a revolt he set up (since he repeatedly apologises for what he did, and claims he "lost his head after she died" and had that guilt on his hands too)

Or Silco and Vi and Powder spend ALL of season 1 acting like they don't know each other at all. Then Silco takes in Powder and somehow never comments on the fact he was friends with her mom.

Everything being triggered by Felicia's death also means that Vander's emotional thematic moment dropping the gauntlets after seeing what his violence led to is then followed up by a horrible attempted murder on the love of his life, which is... you know. Bad writing.

So I propose that they indeed drift apart. Silco knows of Felicia's kids, and they hangout a bit, but they aren't that close. She's busy mining and being a mom, and Silco is busy making the safe Zaun he promised to deliver.

The creation of that Zaun leads them to act out revolts and uprisings. Vander is happy to follow. He's angry, like he tells Vi. And this manifests in violence. Silco points his violence. It's how they create the Lanes and the moniker of Hound of the Underground. A hound usually has a master, after all.

Vander is Silco's hound, and I think, in Vander's mind this absolves him of some of the consequences of his actions.

So when his friend dies on the Bridge, even if they haven't been that close in a while, well, it's easy to put the blame on Silco.

Since we're following the new canon timeline... we'll have to have him go back with the girls, ready to turn a new leaf.

I think the best way here is to have him either dropping them at an orphanage, or back at their home (trusting Vi to look after Powder for a while) or with friends.

That way, Vi and Powder aren't immediately in Silco's legs back at the drop.

Then Vander and Silco take part in the "clean up" at the bridge. They go get bodies, and since they have no real estate in the fissures, they commit them to the sea (we have canon monsters in there, so I'm sure it all gets gobbled up).

That way, we explain why Vander is weirdly shaved, and why Silco and him are at in the Pilt: they just commited the bodies of the fallen to the waters.

There may have been many others, but Silco and Vander stay there, in the shallows, as they talk.

Vander is done. He doesn't want more of this. He thinks Silco went too far with pushing this one to the bridge. Piltover got defensive and they lost too many people.

Silco doesn't get it. Where he goes, so does Vander, but Vander is his own man, he decided to come too, and he killed enforcers too. Felicia's death is tragic, but as he later will tell Renni about the death of her son: at least she died fighting for the cause, and not some petty infighting, or worse, an accident at the shitty mines.

Vander, the Hound, is not only mad with grief, he refuses to carry the blame of his own actions. It's a character flaw and that's fine! The angry man channels that anger with violence, the only way he knows how.

Silco is probably shocked, and may not say the right things to calm Vander down.

Silco is under the assumption that Vander BELIEVES IN HIS DREAM. That he's a true believer of the Nation of Zaun, like Sevika turns out to be. A true believer would understand sacrifice. A true believer would understand too, that stopping now, after Felicia's death, would make THAT VERY DEATH POINTLESS.

So maybe he screams at Vander! What do you MEAN abandoning the fight? What do you mean, being content with the Lanes? How dare you? You'd make her sacrifice meaningless! You'd make Felicia die a pointless death!

And Vander would bellow that it's over. No more death. No more bloodshed. He rescued her kids from that bridge, and they don't deserve to die too, they don't deserve to see more death.

And Silco screams back that it's their job to create Zaun so these children won't have to see more death. Vander is just delaying the struggle.

And then, perhaps, Silco may even mock him. Say that Vander can't change like that. That he's not that sort of person, to just hang up his gauntlets and go peaceful. That Felicia's blood is on his hands too, and that the only way out is through more blood, more sacrifice.

It would be a horrible point to make, if then Vander truly loses it. Silco runs, and Vander's hound comes out, just grabbing Silco and trying to drown him.

It would be poetic, because then Vander goes home in shame. Gets his arm patched up, hides the scar under a brace, collects the kids and tries to pretend like HE CAN BE THAT MAN. Even though he surrendered his gauntlets and metaphorical violence, and tries to lean into the bartender chill persona, there's what he did to Silco.

And later he'll tell Vander "I'll show you what you really are". Because Silco knows that Vander's promises of being a peaceful good dad are flimsy at best.

Anyway, Vander goes home, and eventually the impact of what he's done really hits him. He's single now, and with kids, and the Lanes to run, and nobody knows where Silco is.

Vander slowly realises Silco was right about one thing. Just because Vander followed, doesn't mean he wasn't behind that event on the bridge. Becoming the solo leader of the Lanes has to have hammered that home for him. Suddenly so much responsibility thrust on him.

So Felicia's death was on him too, and his actions against Silco are the proof that he is indeed the sort of man Silco said he was. At any rate, surrendering violence as his first reaction to any trigger will take a lot of work.

He goes to their old hideout and leaves a letter for Silco.

In the happy AU, Silco finds it, and returns to Vander BEFORE ever meeting Singed. There is no glowing eye, no shimmer, and no cannery.

In our AU, Silco never finds the letter. He finds Singed instead. Starts helping him develop shimmer.

I've been thinking that since the goal of shimmer is a form of "keeping alive" and also "bringing back to life", then it's possible that Silco's glowing eye is a byproduct of shimmer experimentation.

And that the only way to keep it alive and function is more shimmer injections. It would otherwise be grey and dead like in the Nice AU.

So Singed is also a factor here. He gives our Silco a real way to deal scary violence to Piltover. And this changes our Silco. He's more radicalised, and more opposed to Vander, having discovered that Vander works with Grayson to keep Zaun under Piltover's boot (basically making sure the boot stays, but doesn't press down too hard).

Vander is, as always, the enforcer of the status quo.

And though this works for them timeline wise, it sadly doesn't change the fact that Silco should know who Vander's kids are.

Vi and Jinx can be excused for not recognising him, what with him being one of their mom's adult friends, and scarred. But Silco doesn't have that luxury. His great friend Felicia had two very distinctive kids, ONE OF WHICH VANDER FUCKING NAMED! And her death triggered his husband so badly he tried to kill Silco over it. If anything, Silco would be hyper-aware of Felicia's kids.

And no amount of alternate fix-its changes that. It's permanent damage to season 1's Silco.

I feel like we can fix Vander's side of things by inventing an entire scene at the Pilt as I did above, but we can't fix 10 years of knowing your friend's kids and then a lifetime of acting like you don't know them.

I think it also cheapens the found family aspect of both Vander and Silco's adoption. You're left to wonder if they took in the girls only because they were friends with the mom.

Silco's adoption of Jinx and co-dependence with her was great because it spoke of the similar shape of their traumas, and how unexpected their bond seemed.

But now it's redolent of friendly obligation. And lies.

How would I fix it by keeping Felicia in the picture?

I would fully remove Felicia's one-on-one with the boys. That night at the bar? It's a party. Young Sevika is here too!

Felicia and many others are there, all congratulating Vander and Silco over the creation of the Lanes. Eventually Silco tires of the social niceties and goes to write in his notebook at the bar. Or maybe there's a montage of the night as the crowds thin.

In the end, Silco is writing, and Vander is still socialising. He talks to 3 people--Felicia, her husband, and a random person. They thank him for all his work. They've done it! And the conditions in the mines are so much better now thanks to XYZ!

Vander is beaming, he's just so pleased. It's clear for him this is the end goal. Felicia asks him, pointing to Silco, if he's okay.

Vander laughs, says Silco is fine, but he's already got his head back in the clouds. You see, Silco doesn't just want the Lanes, he dreams of a free Nation of Zaun.

The other 2 laugh, but Felicia sobers up. She rubs her belly, thoughtful. Then she says "Sounds like a dream worth fighting for."

I don't think she even needs to say anything about being pregnant, but she could go on with something like "I'm expecting. A girl, I think. I know. And I would love if she could grow in a safe city. I'm so scared she'll have to live the way I did, growing up.'

And Vander smiles sadly and tells her, 'We've gotten this far, and we're not going back. We'll make Zaun safe for your kiddo, I promise you that.'

And that's it.

Vander knows OF Felicia. She is a community member. He knows her enough, maybe from Lanes meetings, that eventually he can recognise her children. But they're not friends, and SILCO definitely isn't friends.

And the disagreement after the bridge is fully about where to go from then on, and Vander deciding he wants to run the Lanes and keep them safe, that what they have now is good enough, while Silco wants "more".

That disagreement can turn nasty, and the fact Vander tried to drown Silco becomes a statement about how violent and temperamental he is as "The Hound of the Underground". Something he'll regret soon enough and spend the next few years working hard to try and change.

What do you think?

[cheriladycl01]

I payed my dues - Oscar Piastri x FemNorrisDriver! Reader

Plot: Y/N Norris and her thoughts on Hungary and Monza 2024.

A/N: This is fiction and I don’t want to see any genuine hate towards Oscar or Lando in my comments. I just could see a Lando sister getting really protective and this idea stemmed from my ‘My love is mine all mine’ fic …

As Lando’s little sister, you’d come into the sport two years after him. Rookie Season with McLaren in replacement of Carlos Sainz.

You basically just road your brothers bumper unless you’d out qualified him by a long shot. But you were very obviously second driver, and you were okay with that. You were an incredible driver, already rivalling your brother. However, you wanted a chance for race wins and so when Christian Horner came to you about taking over Sergio Perez, you knew you needed to take it seriously.

And you knew being in a top team would pave the way for you too go into a top team as a top driver.

You and Max stormed though the 2023 season having an incredible stint of race wins between you and for the first time since being in Formula One you had ended the season above your brother in the standings and you now had 5 race wins under your belt that you didn’t have in McLaren.

2024 and the season was starting off strong for you and Max. You and Max were behind each other in the standing and got a very high way up. You were incredibly consistent not falling out of the top 5 for any race. Even when Max had a DNF for cooling issues you still made podium.

Miami was a special moment. It was a McLaren-RedBull Sandwich on the podium. You were so incredibly happy for your brother and his first career win. He’d worked so hard with McLaren thus far and he was the most loyal person you knew for sticking by their side.

But Hungary … you all could tell there was something different with the McLaren since Miami. Lando was on pole yet Oscar got around him into turn 1 and after some dramatic undercutting for the pit stop. Oscar took his first race win.

There was redemption in Zandvoort … but then Monza. Lando was on pole. Oscar was in P2. And you were in P3.

Strategy was for you to put pressure on Oscar who they thought was going to defend for Lando so that he could keep P1.

However … team orders didn’t seem to be a thing.

“And Norris makes it out of turn 1 still in first place. Y/N putting pressure on Oscar Piastri as we go into turn 2. Oscar no longer defending for Lando Norris and omg, through goes Y/N Norris into P1” the commentators say.

At the end of Monza you ended in P1, Charles Leclerc P2 and Oscar P3. Your brother out of the points but having set the fastest lap.

After watching the footage of Oscar baiting Lando and not defending him from you like a good teammate would you were beyond fucked off. It was the riskiest overtake of the month and shouldn’t have been done especially between teammates as both Oscar and a Lando could have ended out.

“So Y/N incredible race from you how are you feeling?” An interviewer for sky sports asks you and you nod.

“Yeah, really hot in the car today. Happy that I could gain places and win, and yeah I think McLaren will learn something’s after today” you say shortly not wanting your PR team to hate you for shitting on anyone.

“And what’s that? What do you think they’ll learn?” He asks cocking his head to the side.

“I dunno man, but having driven for McLaren as second driver behind my own brother for 2 seasons even when I was the quicker driver or I had the fresher tires I was still asked to defend Lando in the position he was in rather than overtake and that’s why we had such great results. Then you manipulate your diver into giving back position saying he’ll need the support in the future and proceed not to give them that support? Lando is so close to overtaking me and Max and you’d think McLaren would start to prioritise a driver … the one who is closest? No? Because I also helped Charles through today which has pushed McLaren as a constructors back even further. So McLaren really need to look at what they want to do going forward… they say my doesn’t have a championship mentality … no McLaren racing don’t have a championship mentality” you say your frown getting angrier as you continue speaking.

“And do you think RedBull have what it takes to secure the championship?” He asks and you nod.

“We already have” you say confidently.

“Some … harsh words from Red Bull driver Y/N Y/L/N there” the interviewer says just as your PR manager starts to pull you away.

“Your a menace you know that right?” She sighs as she drags you away.

“Yeah I know …” you sigh.

“Ooo what the hell was that about?” Oscar rushes coming up to you.

“What was what?” You laugh, looking over him up and down at his race suit that was loosely hanging around his hips. You had just made a comment that wasn’t wrong, and it was your opinion, one that you were entitled too.

“You’re shit talking me on interviews just because your pissy McLaren never saw your potential and that we now have the better car” Oscar says crossing his arms making you burst out laughing.

“So my freedom of speech is just gone now? I can’t make comments but you can question Stroll driving like he’s in go-karts still? Fucking grow up Oscar and then maybe just maybe you’ll be half the driver you pretend to be” you tell him, a stern look on your face.

“That’s not exactly fair, did you see the way he was driving?” He asks with an incredulous look on his face.

“Rich coming from you mate, did you see the way YOU were driving. Look I used to have a lot of respect for you, especially last year with how helpful you were … but I don’t know what’s gotten into you this year” you say, a little softer than the rest of the conversation had gone, wondering what had happened to the boy you once had a crush on.

“Your just sour that were quickly catching up top you, just like Ferrari and Mercedes are and that you aren’t as good as your brother” he says t matching your softer tone.

“I payed my dues at McLaren Oscar and that’s how I’ve ended up where I am now. It’s your turn to take the backseat once in a while and respect your teammate whose been grafting his arse of and dedicating his life to the team” you frown, once again angry that he isn’t seeing sense with you.

“I’m not a secondary driver like you Norris…” he seethes.

“Hey hey hey what’s going on here” is heard from behind Oscar as your brother and two McLaren staff come running up next to him. He stops next to Oscar looking between the pair of you, both having furrowed brows.

“Maybe tell your teammate to start acting like one if you want both championships yeah?” You frown before taking your leave and walking into the Red Bull hospitality immediately flopping down in a booth next to Max.

“I didn’t know you felt that way about Oscar…” Max sighs softly.

“Yeah well neither did I until today…”

Instagram Story Caption:

Can’t say the same for everybody!

Taglist:

@littlebitchsposts @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst t @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount

[sweetteainthesummerx]

THE LOVE LASTS SO LONG (blurb 1)

In which the happy couple reaches a major milestone...

series masterlist

★・・・・★・・・・ ★・・・・★

E-NEWS

Aubrey Yang, Oscar-Award winning actress and award-winning director is set to direct the historical series Circe, based off of the book of the same title. Recently graduated from NYU with a double major in Classics and Film, Yang will take this expertise into her directing for Netflix. Since her Oscar, Yang has directed Episodes 3&4 of PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, Season 2, Loverland and Boulevard 48. At the young age of 23, we hope to see her continue to thrive in this industry.

Her longtime alleged boyfriend, Oliver Bearman, enters his 7th year of Formula One racing, the young prodigy continuing his contract with Ferrari. Since his debut year, he has won 8 grand prix's and stays consistently on the podium or scoring points.

The two are often seen together at Bearman's races or Yang's premieres. Although nothing has been confirmed between the two, they have been spotted in Monaco, New York, Italy and Vancouver, where they have multiple estates.

Between the alleged couple, they have a net worth of over $40 million: we sincerely hope that a prenup is in their future.

See more: .....

aubreyyang & olliebearman posted

aubreyyang & olliebearman hard launch (and no prenup)

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, f1wags and 108,290 others

comments have been limited

olliebearman posted

olliebearman bagged a baddie 5 years ago, locked her in for forever

I can't believe I get to love you every single day, darling I can't wait to make you a mother and grow old with you. Also your stuck with me forever now love you aubs

tagged: aubreyyang

liked by aryansimhadri, charlesleclerc and 72,850 others

view all comments

f1wagsanddrrivers DAY ONES WILL KNOW THE INSANE PIPELINE

aubreyyangfan19 still remember when Aubrey was a wee baby NOW SHES GETTING MARRIED WHAT

aryansimhadri mama y papa

-- olliebearman im the father who stepped up 😤

alexandrasaintmleux photo creds for the last pic??

-- aubreyyang shout out to Alex our pro photographer

user1 im crying were getting so much content all of a sudden im choking

user4 just saw someone fall to their knees in a Walmart

aubreyyang posted

aubreyyang five years down, forever to go!

I love you my sweet boy, love your kindness, your heart and your laugh. You make me want to be a better person everyday, and I will walk by you for the rest of our lives

liked by oliviarodrigo, kimi_antonelli and 89,218 others

view all comments

oliviarodrigo shoutout to everyone who has had to see the ugly (all of the pda and excess cuteness)

-- dior.n.goodjohn word

-- alexandrasaintmleux word

-- alexalbon word

-- lilymhe word

-- maxverstappen word

-- charles_leclerc word

-- aubreyyang okay were getting flamed 😰

-- olliebearman its okay they're just jealous

comments have been limited

dior.n.goodjohn posted on their story

caption: in honour of ollie and Aubrey hard launching (in the most dramatic way ever) here is a content for the nation

tagged: aubreyyang, olliebearman

arthurleclerc posted on their story

caption: fav couple to thirdwheel

tagged: aubreyyang, olliebearman

charles_leclerc posted on their story

caption: finally

tagged: aubreyyang, olliebearman

alexandrasaintmleux posted on their story

caption: aunt and uncle

tagged: aubreyyang, olliebearman

Twitter

olliebearmanupppdates @olliebearnmanf1p

in honour of mother and father hard launching their 5 year long relationship, everyone comment down below their fav ollbrie moment

olliebearmanupppdates @olliebearnmanf1p

mine is that one time there was a platform w no stairs and she was wearing heels so he jumped off and he told her to throw down her purse and jump so he could catch her AND HE DID THATS A REAL MAN

user1 @ussssserrrr1

NAHHH bc this man is so down bad for her (I would be too shes so fineee) mine is when they were in Charles and Alex's wedding party and they looked so freaking good together RAHH

aubreyxollie @loverboysform1

a personal piece of ollbrie renaissance that is near and dear to my heart is how hes always touching her LIKE JRWOEJ the hand placements on her waist and back every time their out together

aubreyxollie @loverboysform1

also here is a collection of pap pics that make me sob and want to sleep in the highway

aubreyyangcult02 @aubreyyangmyqueen

mine is the fact that they're each others comfort people like every time their together they look so at ease bro

★・・・・★・・・・ ★・・・・★

Taglist: @callsignwidow @iloveyou3000morgan @honethatty12 @taygrls @destinyg237 @ilivbullyingjeongin @eiaaasamantha @1uvsptnik @yla-aira @ririyulife

© sweetteainthesummerx.tumblr. all rights reserved. unauthorized copying, translation, or claiming of my writing or any works as your own is strictly prohibited.

[bangchansgirlsblog]

Broken headsets

- Chan

Warning: A lot of Angst, slight violence?

Pairing: BangChan x reader.

Summary: where he snaps at you while working.

!Not proofread!

(This is just a trail story, I lost my first story that was actually good ☠️I’m probably going to delete this)

**

“Channie?” I call for him. My hands gently rubbing his back while playing with his hair. So soft and messy.

“Mhm” he replies softly. The sound of his fingers typing against the keyboard as his headsets sat around his neck. His brown curls fluffy and everywhere.

His silver hoops sitting perfectly on both his ears and his black shirt tight around his muscle making him look delicious.

“Baby you need to eat something. You’ve been on that computer ever since you got home.” I plead with him.

He needed to eat, he hadn’t eaten all day due to the busy schedule and lack of time on his plate. The mangers were on him 24/7 due to their comeback in a few weeks.

Comeback season meant no time for anything, no time for dates, no time for sitting around, no time for spending time with one another and I hated it. I hate it so much. It made me angry.

“Baby this is really important, I’ll be there in a second.” He quickly says not even bothering to look up.

“Chan you’ve been at it for the past 2 hours, you haven’t even looked at me.” I complain. Yes I wanted attention, shoot me!

“I’ll give you all the attention you want my love, just please let me finish this.”

Sadness fills my heart as I silently put the clothes inside the closet.

A ringing sound in my ear and a tight feeling in my throat.

I was trying not to cry. I refused to cry.

Chan was a workaholic, no doubt in that. His days consisted of waking up early in the morning to head to the JYP building and coming home very late only to do more work. Some nights he wouldn’t come home at all and he knew I didn’t like it so to make my happy, he sometimes would bring me with him to the studio but that was when he thought he wouldn’t be coming home.

Our conversations in the studio normally contained:

“Just 30 more minutes my love”

Or

“I’m almost done”

Or

“I promise this is the last thing.”

He loves his job and he puts 110% in it but that makes him lack in other areas. His health.

Some nights he doesn’t sleep, some days he forgets meals and other days his mental health is the worst but still he doesn’t care because he loves his Job. He loves the boys. He loves Stay.

“Fine.” I sigh. One minute meant 1 hours at this point. I quietly leave the room closing the door behind me. Leaving him in his little world.

The cold tiles sending a shiver up my spine as I walked down the corridor.

“What am I going to do with you Channie?” I whisper to myself while packing up the food.

The dishes in the sink waiting for me to touch them while the laundry basket sat in the living room waiting for me to fold the messy clothes in them.

The house was quiet. The A.C hitting my skin with cold air as I sit on the floor and start folding the clothes one by one.

Berry by my side watching me.

Our apartment wasn’t big but it was huge for two people.

Some days it was a real big hustle to keep everything clean especially when they boys stay over but other days it wasn’t hard to maintain with the help of Chan.

“What am I going to do with your dad Berry?” I sigh again looking at the dog who seemed to be care free.

I grabbed the last set of clothes and walked over to the room. Chan’s back facing me. Not even noticing me in the room.

“Baby..” I call for him as I set down the clothes and start to load them into the closet.

“What Y/n?” He says a little harsh. I roll my eyes, frustration starting to build in my chest but I decide to be the bigger person and ignore his little attitude.

“Baby do you know what we’ll be doing for our 2 year anniversary?” I asked him trying to atleast have a conversation with him.

“I don’t know Y/n. You deal with it I don’t have time. Just tell me how much it is and when it is.”

“When it is?” I ask him obviously taken back.

“Ugh I didn’t mean when it is, I mean when you wanna do it.” He quickly corrects himself and rubs his temples with his fingers.

“Atleast act like you care Chan.” I tell him honestly.

“I’m not starting an argument with you right now so please can I get back to my work?”

“Chan why are you being like this?” Ignoring his request I decide to push because honestly I was tired of it.

“I’m not acting like anything I just want to finish my work in peace.”

“Chan you’re acting so selfish right now!” I say now slightly raising my voice.

“Y/n” he says firm and glaring over at me. What’s the worse he could possibly do?

“Just listen-“ I beg before I’m cut off.

“Y/n i said leave me alone!” His voice booms and the sound of breaking glass fills the room. My body freezes. Hands shaking.

The now broken headsets and mirror laying on the ground.

“Did you just throw that at me?” I ask him in disbelief.

“Babe-“ his body was stood up now and he was reaching out for me. His face filled with panic and guilt.

“Don’t.” I say getting away from his touch. The clothes that were once folded no scattered on the ground. Words refusing to come out of my mouth until I force myself to get up from the floor.

“I-I’m going to leave…” I say softly. My heart hurt and I hope he knew that. I felt the tears that were all built up from frustration, anger and hurt all start to flow down my cheeks.

When would he realize that being with him was starting to slowly ruin me?

**

Pt 2 ⬇️

[sunnybunnyy2]

Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right

Daryl Dixon x platonic!reader

Negan Smith x daughter!reader

WORD COUNT: 4.0k

TIME: season 7

Warnings: imprisonment, talk of rapists(briefly), talk of murder, mentions of Abe’s and Glenn’s deaths, arguments, mentions of saviours, mentions of what transpired in season six and seven, spoiler warning and bad writing.

CHAPTER 2 of the Dark Cell series

Series Masterlist Official Masterlist

This is long awaited! I'm sorry that this has taken so long but I have been making fanfics on Wattpad recently and if you are a fellow fanfic writer you understand how much unnecessary time it takes to come up with ideas and lines to make your character come to life. Thank you all for being so patient with me! Also, requests are open, and I will be redoing my master list, so look out for that. I have been influenced so yes, this is going to become a series so stay tuned! Now that I finished this part I have more motivation to actually write for this! I’d you want to be tagged in the series let me know! Thank you so much for reading<3

(if there is third person slip ups I’m sorry, I’m just so used to writing in third person :( )

The exchanges took place every night at around 1 a.m., and it had for the past seven days.

You would arrive carrying a plate or bowl of whatever leftover food you had managed to swipe from the kitchen or some dinner from the meals you would share with Negan. 

You had aimed to make the food before you went down so that it was still hot but it was risky as, there was a large chance that one of Negan's men would notice and alert your father, which would raise suspicion. 

The food consisted of Sandwiches, chicken, pasta, fish, soup and wraps. 

You wished you could do it more often, but you knew that it would largely increase the chances of you getting caught. 

You knew your punishment wouldn't be anywhere near how severe Daryl's would be. You also knew that as much as you pleaded your father would allow his pawns to have their fun in harming the long-haired man. You weren't quite sure why your father's men were so willing to starve and beat a man senseless to appear strong. Men and their egos you supposed. 

Your father could preach all he wanted about how he would do anything for his daughter, how he would move mountains to appease you. How he would kill anyone who dared to disrespect you (he had) but yet he couldn't try and be a better man. He couldn't put his rage and grieve the wicked world had caused him and help people instead of torturing broken people and turning people who wanted to survive into heartless killers. Turn them into him. 

You couldn't say you hated your father. You never could. But that certainly didn't mean you agreed with half the things he did. 

You could tell he cared what you thought of him. You were the last thing he had of your mother, but that didn't mean he listened to you when you expressed your opinion. 

You and your father were close before all of this happened, well before you found out about his affair. After that day you hated everything about him. Even when your mother got sick and he stood by her, did everything for her. You weren't sure if it was because of how guilty he felt for betraying her or because he loved her. 

Normally you would insist on it being the first but now she was at a loss. 

Since your mother's demise, your once childish but thoughtful father had turned into a power-hungry greedy man. At first you gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was grieving and was trying to find a way to cope with the loss of the woman he loved but it was as though he was forgetting that his daughter had lost her mother.

He wanted to make you happy, so he gifted you the biggest room in the sanctuary and allowed you to purchase whatever you desired without working, though you often helped with the growing crops in the back of the sanctuary. Your father never really liked the idea of her around the fence but he backed down after a heated argument between you. He did send some of his men to keep an eye on you, he tried to be discreet but his men were less than. 

You always made sure to bring a large glass of tap water from your room down to his cell, wanting to at least make sure he didn't die of dehydration. 

You knew that his physical health wasn't as bad as it was before but you knew that his mental health was still declining. He had been locked in the tiny cell for weeks on end, the only sound filling his ears was the constant lyrics of the song 'East Street'. 

The bags under his eyes were proof enough of the lack of sleep he had been receiving. The way his eyes could barely focus on one thing when you would bring him his meals was another important factor in your conclusion. 

Since your visits had become more frequent he had uttered his name quietly into the comfortable silence that had filled the cell as he hastily inhaled what was in front of him. It was so quiet that you had barely heard him, but once you realized that it wasn't your imagination you smiled softly to yourself before muttering your name as well. 

In your mind, you were friends. You knew his name, he knew yours, you would bring him food, he would be thankful and you were both the highlight of each other's day. 

Daryl- because he wasn't rapidly dropping weight as he had been before from his lack of food, which in turn kept his brain running so he could coax his thoughts into coming up with a plan to escape his captivity. Plus your company wasn't so bad he reckoned.

You- because you got to meet another survivor from a rivalling group, you had heard your father angrily ranting to his soldiers about how this mysterious group had taken out one of his many posts and killed everyone in it. 

You were shocked at how brutal this group could be but you knew that your father could be even more heartless and it was proven when a week later whispers were passed along through the sanctuary that your father had partaken in another one of his lineups and had bashed in two members of Daryl's groups heads in with Lucille. 

You knew that Daryl's group had killed countless people, saviours but at least their families and friends didn't have to see it, as apparently the people from the outpost were killed while they slept. It was a very cowardly way to kill but it was better in a way, they didn't see it coming. 

You clutched the tray of food which consisted of a slice of ham from a pig the saviours had recently slaughtered as a way to celebrate the new community they had under their control, standing with the other few that they had taken over. With a side of carrots that you had picked herself to give him some energy. 

Then finally a generous helping of mashed potatoes to fill him up, as you knew that a small sandwich was going to get him through the day. Well, you guessed it was two, as Dwight had made sure to feed him a dog food sandwich every other day to keep him going. A dark pork gravy from the brand Bisto (clubhouse is better but whatever) that was covering a large portion of the potatoes. Your father did always say that you made it taste even better when you made it.

Your eyes peeked around the sharp corner to make sure Arat was on her way to her break that she always made sure to hide, always quick on her feet to head to her room to get several strong minutes of shut-eye. 

Your eyes caught sight of Arat quietly creeping her way further and further away from Daryl's new home. You waited a couple of minutes until you were sure she was in her room, possibly already captivated by sleep. You placed one foot in front of the other as you too, crept down the hallway, the fear of getting caught burning fear into her veins.

You balanced the tray on one hand as you reached into your left pocket, to pull out the cell key that you had stolen from Laura, well it wasn't quite stealing, she had dropped it and hadn't even noticed. You could still remember her confused face when she caught you on the ground after catching you mid-grab. You smiled at her and played it off as if you were tying your shoe, which she bought as she shot you a smile and continued on with her ranting. 

You turned the key clockwise into the rusting metal, smiling in satisfaction when the lock clicked quietly as a sign that it was now unlocked.

The creak that was loudly pulled from the door as it was opened left you cringing as you quickly shuffled into the room, closing the door until there was only a fragment of it for a little bit of light but it wasn't large enough to draw suspicion towards your meetings. 

You could already see Daryl gazing up at you as you pulled the door closed, before lowering yourself to the floor, holding your hands out as a sign for him to take the plate which he did. He had loosened up a large amount since you had started being him food a week ago. 

He was still stand-offish and didn't like to talk about his group which you didn't blame him for, you were with the enemy, you were his daughter. You weren't sure if he knew of your status at the sanctuary but if he did, it didn't come from you. It had already taken a great amount of effort to gain his trust and you wouldn't want it broken just because of who your father was. 

If he brought it up, you would talk to him about it, but for now, you didn't want to risk losing one of the only people that didn't just suck up to you because they wanted more points or because they were scared to face your father's wrath if they hurt your feelings. 

"Hey, sorry I was late, Arat took longer than usual to hit the deck." You quickly explained as expected the food in a curious glint in his eyes. "It's ham. Sorry, I didn't know if you liked it but they just killed a pig and me and my-... I had some for dinner earlier, it was good... and there's potatoes obviously, there's some cheese in them too with carrots and gravy." His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you in question just as he had been since you had almost slipped up. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned well... at least I hope it isn't because I ate the same thing but I guess we'll find out."

He let a harsh breath out of his nose that sounded similar to a laugh before he picked up the metal fork before shoving a large bite of potatoes in his mouth, a barely audible groan fell from his lips as he continued to inhale the food, not even bothering to use the knife that you had brought to cut the meat, opting to just pick it up with his hands. 

If it was anyone else you would find the wild eating disgusting, but you understood. He was being starved as a torture method to force him into submission. You had seen this countless times, but nearly all had caved within the first few days. It was shocking to you how strong he was. If it had been you... you weren't sure how long you could last if you were in the same position. 

From how wild he was eating you could only assume today wasn't the day he got fed from Dwight. 

You assumed you did well with the amount of food you had given him. 

You kept your eyes trained on the opened part of the door to make sure the coast was clear still. Normally this side of the sanctuary was almost always deserted, but since Daryl as been held here, you had noticed a lot of working people wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the Alexandrians who had killed numerous soldiers. You weren't sure if was from fear or awe. 

"Why are you doing this." He asked as he looked up from his half-eaten plate of food, to examine you while you spoke as if to see if you would lie to him. 

"I don't like how he's handing this. I mean... what your group did was wrong. Really wrong. But what he's doing to you isn't right. No one should have to deal with this. I mean other than rapists, pedophiles, or child killers. I mean murder is really bad but there are some ways to excuse it, like self-defence but I mean the worlds over. People kill each other every day to survive. Don't make it right but it makes sense. You did what you thought you had to, to 'save' your group." You ranted slightly as you looked down.

"So you're doing this because I deserve better?" Daryl asked with a quiet snort as though he couldn't fathom the thought of someone actually thinking he was a decent guy. 

"Everyone deserves better in some way. But no, some people just need a little help sometimes. You do, so I'm trying to help you." You said as watched him proceed with eating.

He looked up at you after he took yet another bite of his food. "I ain't need no help." He dismissed with a huff as he finished the last of his food.

"Obviously you do. Everybody does. You're no exception." You disagreed as he watched for any signs of Arat possibly returning earlier than usual.

"So why ya helping me? I'm sure the big man has more bitchs." He all but growled as he thought about your father causing your face to drop slightly as he kept your eyes away from him, in hopes of him not being able to see your full life story from just the shine in your eyes. Daryl looked like the type to be able to, you thought.

"He has some other... people in cells-" You were cut off by Daryl as he let out a dangerous scoff that should have had you scared. You were in a closed space with someone who wanted your father dead, I mean sure he didn't know that you and the man he hated most shared the same blood but it didn't matter. You were a Smith and that would never change. No matter how much you hoped and prayed that your father would suddenly turn a new leaf, it never seemed to happen. So at some point, you just saved your previously wasted breath. 

"Ya mean prisoners?" He spoke sharply, his words not a question but a statement, showcasing how enraged he truly was with her father. 

"Yeah...prisoners. There is some down here, yes. But they deserve it." You said while shaking your head as you thought about the awful people that were locked down here.

"Ain't nobody deserve this shit." He said with his whole chest as his eyes scanned your face with a mixture of hate and disgust at your words. You couldn't blame him though, he was locked in a cell and you had just said that the people locked in them deserved it. 

"They're awful people. Rapists, child killers, people who kill without reason-"

"I ain't no rapist and I ain't no child killers. Me and my people had every righ-"

"Nobody has a right to take someone's life. Who made us god? When did we get to choose who got to live and who got to die?" You argued as you furrowed your brows at the man's words.

"How bout' ya tell yer buddy that? He killed my friends." He raised his voice louder than necessary which earned him a dirty look from you as you peeked out of the sliver of the door that shined light into the cell and once you were sure no one was coming with guns raised you turned back to face him. 

"You killed dozens of his men while they were sleeping. You do realize that, right? I'm not saying what he did was right either, but you're lucky he didn't kill more of your people." You ranted slightly as you looked at him in confusion, he was so stuck in his own misery that he wasn't thinking about how other people were affected by his and his group's actions. 

"Lucky? He bashed my friend's heads in." He said angrily but it was quiet. As if trying to scare you into submission but you didn't back down.

"And I'm sorry for your friends. I really am. But you couldn't have thought that your group could get away with slaughtering- and it was a slaughtering,  his men and get away scot-free. You killed his soldiers. He takes that shit as a personal attack. So when I say I'm surprised he didn't kill more of you I mean it." 

"One of my friends' wives was pregnant' ya think she deserved ta see that? Now tha' kid's gonna grow up without a father."

"Of course not. That's awful and I'm so sorry...but some of the men and women you slaughtered had kids. Wives. Parents. They had people who loved them too. One of the men, Mike, had a pregnant wife at one of the other outposts. She was eight months and gave birth to her baby girl two days after he died. Alone. And a woman, Mel, just got married to the man she loved, they were trying for a baby... He killed himself last week. Hung himself in his room all alone." You paused for a moment to see if he was going to speak up but when he didn't, you continued.

"An-and a woman named Willow had a baby at another outpost. Now that baby has to grow up without a mother. Another man named Carlos was an only child and had to work for points to provide for his parents. They're old and can't do it themselves. Now they're barely eating and are so depressed that their health is deteriorating, we're not sure how long they have left. So I'm sorry that your friends lost people they cared about but you didn't just get your group hurt with your guy's actions. You guys ruined so many lives that night." 

You finished your rant as you shook your head, looking up at him only to see him looking down at his hands, his overgrown hair hung low to cover his eyes, masking his true reaction.

"I'm not trying to say that your friends' deaths don't matter but you can't just go around acting like you didn't kill people either. Like everyone else's pain doesn't matter to not feel guilty. But it does." You said quietly before deciding you had spent long enough in the stuffy cell. You reached over, grabbing the plate from in front of him before pulling yourself to your feet. You waited for him to speak again but he didn't bother and once you turned around he noticed that he hadn't moved from his place. 

"Good night." You shook your head before he pulled the creaky door open a little more so the gap was large enough to fit your body through, closing it until you felt the metal clank quietly against metal. 

You pulled out the key and shoved it into the lock, twisting it quickly before you heard quiet footsteps walking down the hallway from where Arat had left from. It seemed like you had left at the perfect time, you supposed.

You quietly but hastily quickened your pace until you were at the same corner you had looked over from around fifteen minutes prior. 

You watched as Arat ran a hand over her short black and bleached blonde hair as she let out a yawn, swaying on her feet slightly from the over-tiredness she was experiencing, which was probably in full swing by the shortness of her sleep. 

You let out a quiet sigh of relief before you quietly made your way in the direction of her room, the plate held tightly in your grasp as you walked past the mostly deserted sanctuary, sending a small smile to some of the saviours on watch duty. Most sent one back your way, while others seemed annoyed at the fact that they had duty at all, leaving them too aggravated to bother.

You were about to turn the handle of your door when you heard a voice stop you.

"Baby? What are you doin' up? It's late." Your father's voice stopped you in your tracks. A part of you wanted to run into your room and pretend that you had been sleepwalking but you knew your father knew you better than that and could almost always tell when you were fake sleeping. It was an odd talent if you were to be frank. So you turned around with a smile and spoke.

"I couldn't sleep. Decided to take a walk." You lied.

"With an empty plate of food?" He asked with raised eyebrows a sarcastic smirk on his face.

"...I got hungry on the way. Just heated up some leftovers from dinner. Didn't know that was a crime, Dad." You huffed in an attempt to sound believable.

"It's late. You could have woken me up. I would have walked with you." He said as he studied you. 

"Seriously, dad? Literal armed guards are crawling the place. I think I'm okay walking to the kitchen. Plus you barely sleep as it is." You rolled your eyes at his mindset.

"I always have time for you, hunny... so who's the boy? Or girl. I don't discriminate. Hell, ya could be in love with a goddamn pumpkin and I would still approve. Maybe a little weirded out but hey, we all have our kinks." He smirked but his nose scrunched up slightly as he realized he was talking to his daughter and not one of his henchmen. 

"Oh, wow, you figured it out. His name is Donteatmyseedsplease. I didn't want to keep it from you but I don't think you would approve. I'm so very glad I have your support, father dearest." You said in an overly happy voice even your eyes rolled with almost every word you spoke. You turned back to your door and turned ten knob, not going in as though to not give your father the opportunity to join you.

"You'll have to bring him over for dinner sometime we'll have squash." 

"That wasn't funny Dad." 

"Damn, you know how to wound a man's ego. Good girl, I taught you well." He said in a proud tone.

"I'm exhausted. Can we talk tomorrow? I wanted to talk to you about something actually..." You spoke as you pushed your door open even wider than it had been and started to make her way into your large room.

"That's never good." He groaned before he leaned over to land a kiss atop your head. "I'll see you tomorrow, baby. I'm busy but I always have time for you." He pulled away and sent a smile your way which you returned before closing the door and leaning against it. A sigh of relief left your lips as you realized you were in the clear.

TAG LIST: @cult-of-norman @book-place @ilovespiderpeople @kazunish @mysouleaten

(let me know if you would like to be added to the tag list for the future chapters!)

[comicaurora]

I watched Castlevania: Nocturne the otger day and liked it a lot less than you seemed to, so I want to hear a more detailed opinion if you have one. Am I in the wrong to think it was more shounen and less "deep" in some way?

I'd say it's definitely more shounen. Introducing the "Richter can't do magic because unresolved trauma" thing right from the jump meant a Believing In Yourself powerup was pretty much inevitable, but I liked the execution of that scene enough that I didn't mind much.

It doesn't quite have the backbone of the original Castlevania, which was grounded so strongly in Dracula's apocalyptic grief - a motivation the audience is directed to find deeply understandable from minute one - that it gave the characters a solid thematic core to play off of. This let the writing stay pretty tight by letting Trevor serve as a foiling mirror for Dracula in their mutual disgust with the failures of human kindness, Sypha for Lisa in their altruistic use of their knowledge and their vilification for "witchcraft", and Alucard in the middle torn between worlds.

Nocturne is more loose and character-driven, but it still has a core theme - the argument over "the natural order" and how that plays into a fear of change from those currently on top. However, Richter doesn't really have a horse in that race, since his motivation starts and ends at Kill Vampires while everyone around him is more complex, trying to overthrow the aristocracy and free the enslaved and such. I think this makes Richter feel a little less important than Trevor was, narratively, because he sort of stands apart from the core philosophical debate at play. It took me a few episodes to get what his deal was and start caring about his self-actualization, and I think he's definitely got further to go. Possibly Alucard's presence in season 2 will give him more to play off of.

I think Nocturne has several independently interesting villains instead of one really good villain, which is a complaint I also saw about Castlevania season 4 - I liked Death just fine, but he really didn't work for everyone, and the secondary villains like Saint Germaine were much more interesting and complex. Nocturne does, however, pull off something Castlevania didn't as much, which is most of the characters acting on their own internal consistent motivation without cleanly falling into the "good guy" or "bad guy" box, causing them to slide into and out of conflicts and alliances depending on the circumstances.

I feel like Bathory is kind of a weak core villain with almost no human-level motivations or ideas beyond General Villainy, and the extent of her development being a darkest hour shonen villain powerup/frieza transformation doesn't help much, which is why I'm kind of holding out hope that they just bite the bullet and bring back Dracula. He's the nemesis from the Castlevania games, and while they gave him and Lisa a happy ending in Castlevania season 4, I don't think they need to keep him on the bench forever. It's been 300 years, Lisa is almost certainly long dead again and Dracula doesn't need to be full Mad With Vengeance Burn Down The World to still be a credible problem in need of a little Belmonting.

I had fun with season 1 of Nocturne with the understanding that the first four-episode "season" of Castlevania wasn't representative of the final shape of the story either. Sypha's character, for instance, was very flat before she and the gang went on their season 2 bonding adventure, not much more than some banter and infodumps. I think Nocturne did solid setup of the cast and the theme they'll be unpacking, and it has lots of room to explore these characters in interesting ways once they energy-ball-tennis Bathory out of the way first.

[crooked-wasteland]

I just saw your essay on the codependency of FizzOzzie and it cleared up a lot of things I've been thinking about this ship and to be honest, I myself thought it was the most healthiest ship in the whole show even better than the trash that Stoliz is but well... (btw, I was trying to scroll through tumblr to find it but can you just link it for me so I coud read it again)?

It also brings me to an idea of the possibility brung up in two fics each with different ideas:

#1 if Hazbin's events every leak in Helluva's since they're the same universe, there's a possibility that Lucifer would want to have precautionary heirs for the defense of Hell and outright force Ozzie and any other relationships with lowerclass apart since it's "not compatible with angelic DNA" or some thing, so Ozzie could in fact leave Fizz because of his status

#2 Ozzie getting tired of Fizz... Ozzie is the sin of Lust after all and Lust can be ever-changing and capricious in its nature as a sin. Ozzie’s character, embodying Lust, might lead to a fluctuating commitment level, influencing his interactions and relationships. In biblical lore, he did end up causing a lot of sinful things like fucking a human named Sarah or so I remember?

Again this is the same guy who humiliated Blitzø in Ozzie, S2 just rewrote him completely (btw, in my rewrite I'mma change him to be more evil and instead give the whole "lovey-dovey Sin" idea to Satan who is female and thinks Asmodeu's "fake-love" is like a slap in the fact to her idea of realistic and true romance)

I'd just feel like Fizz would be better off with Blitzø tbh or Striker or all in a threesome... the possibilities are endless, and why is the show making love seem too fairytale and unrealistic?! Like Blitzø shouldn't have to fuck Stolas just because he was his arranged playmate for just one day??? The show did the childhood friends trope dirty and would be better if Stoliz was a thing until mid-teens broke up for [insert reason] and reconnect but honestly, Stolas should've had his own seperate season/arc dedicared to himself if HB was an anthology show

Also the fact that Asmodeus couldn't just burn the contract, one-shot the lawyer and go on a rampage to save Fizz is just beyond me... the Sins are supposed to be these scary demon lords so why aren't they, hm?

Sorry for rambling and what do you think or want to add?

Absolutely here you go.

The consistent failure of Vivziepop is to commit to a mature story. She describes her own protagonists as "Deeply flawed but understandably traumatized people who just need love to fix them" while the villains of her shows are "irredeemable" (and women, but that's a tangent).

I mentioned before that trying to use the excuse of the setting being Hell and playing that out to the logical conclusion would end up exactly like Good Omens. The whole moral of said show being that imperfect humanity is worth saving, that life is worthy and beautiful for its own sake of existence. That is why the story of Good Omens uses the Bible, angels, and demons to tell it's story, to make that point.

Why is Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel set in Hell? What is being said by the plot, themes and story? So far we have that demons are better people than the Angels in Hazbin. That sacrifice is the only virtue worthy of redemption and thus reinforces backwards Christian ideals of penance.

Personally, I would have made Hell less absurd. Less a place of debauchery and chaos and more a mere continuation of life. We see in the Hazbin Pilot a character falls from the sky and says "I'm alive?" Before being hot by Travis' car. The point being that people just transition from one life to the next and in that they keep living life the way they always have.

My personal criticisms of the series' use of Hell is that it established this idea that people only behave if they have a god to fear. Once in Hell, there is no salvation, so why bother. It's like a Christian asking an atheist why they wouldn't commit murder if they don't believe in God. The answer is that people like order and security. People dying would seek to maintain their status quo from life. A lack of salvation wouldn't change that for them.

And frankly, I wouldn't have redemption be a thing. This story and its messages are actively devalued by the act of redeeming sinners when the Angels are just the same as them. By having Hell just be a warped continuation of life on Earth, it makes the message more universal: Life is Hell. Life is suffering in a way Hell can never hope to be. Physical anguish and torment for all eternity can never amount to the pain of the fleeting and the terror of change and uncertainty.

I would have made it impossible to be redeemed because the fact is, regardless what you believe happens after death, what we know we have is life. We fear death so much we have created salvation throughout history, the wish to keep living forever in some way. But, especially for young people, life is harder now than ever before. It's more terrifying and uncertain and cruel and uncaring.

So if life is Hell, how do you be happy?

That would have been my thesis for the show. The message underneath is all about finding happiness in the absence of salvation. Even the idea that maybe salvation is something we should reject to really feel what it means to be alive. Giving up on our deaths and seeking our own fulfillment, and in that finding community, love, and hope. To see true humanity as something selfish and kind at the same time.

That's how I would have taken the concept.

[smokersdilemma]

SMOKER'S DILEMMA

(1)

It was a cold night in Crossroads, expected as the seasons were changing from the warm summer to the cool fall, as evident by the recent changing of colors of the surrounding foliage. Rocket walked down the pathway with Sword, who insisted on walking him home. It was a usual routine, a comforting one, even though they both knew they could protect themselves if anything were to happen.

…Not that anything would, of course. They were high enough up from the lower rings that it was extremely uncommon. Still, there was always a chance, and Sword was determined to protect him. Rocket smiled to himself.

"Call me if you need anything, 'kay?" Sword stopped in front of Rocket's house, giving a small kiss to his temple. Rocket made a feigned indignant huff, pushing Sword's face away from his own with a pout. "I got it, I got it! You let me know that a lot." Sword only smiled and pushed him forward. "I know! Can't blame me though." Sword winked and Rocket rolled his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips, as reluctant and hidden as it was. Rocket walked up to the front door, waving goodbye to Sword and unlocking the door.

Preparing to take off the bandanna that was covering his mouth and nose to protect it from the cold and crisp air, he unlocked the door. He knew Zuka would probably be waiting by the door, disappointed in him being home so late. Though, it was mostly just parental instincts, Rocket figured. He's an adult now, so he'd calmed down on the worry. Or maybe he would be happy to see him, seeing as he hasn't been able to be home for a few days since he's been busy with Phights-much to Zuka's disappointment. Though, when he opened the door, he was instead met with the darkness of the house. Odd.. He could have sworn Zuka would have been home. These thoughts scattered when he was hit with a pillow of some kind of heavy air. He recoiled quickly, stepping back away from the door and to the side, coughing as the sudden shock of a bit of strange gas filled his lungs. It… smelled familiar, in a strange way. He'd smell something similar on Zuka before, but… this was different. Something made a chill go down his spine. Something wasn't right, that much he knew. He watched this strange gas flowed out from the door and move across the concrete with a thick fluid-like consistency. As Rocket watched it, he only grew more confused. But he knew one thing was for certain-

This was smoke.

And not just any regular smoke from a fire, but.. why? Zuka didn't smoke around him or in the house, he knew how bad second-hand smoke was. And… this was too much. How did the smoke condense so much that it filled the house like water? It shouldn't be possible. He couldn't imagine what it was like inside the house. The smell of the cigarettes outruled any other possible explanation for what it could be. He froze when he heard a shift from inside the house, made more clear with the silence of the area.

What if that was Zuka? Was he okay?

Gripping his trusty rocket launcher with a newfound resolve, he entered his home, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Why was he so nervous? Phights were much more dangerous than this, and this was his own home too! Steeling himself and making sure the bandanna was secure around his mouth and nose for his own comfort, he stepped into the smoke-filled home.

It was dark, and the air was suffocating. His lungs felt like they were being pressed down, the fresh oxygen being wrung out of them like a wet rag. He suppressed a cough, not wanting to inhale much of.. whatever this is. Making sure to breathe shallowly, he continued on.

"Dad?" He called out into the darkness, the light from the door illuminating some of the curling smoke that filled the room. It was impossibly both hot, cold and humid in the room, that or it was from the cold sweat he started to get. Something about this was really, really wrong. He hesitated as he started to walk around the living room, wanting nothing more than to find his dad, or just leave. But he couldn't.

He listened as he looked around, the shifting of the sound he heard of earlier starting to become louder. This continued, until eventually he started to hear breathing.

… Breathing?

Something was behind him. It was coming from behind him, there was something breathing behind him. He could feel the air on the back of his neck, the way more smoke seemed to curl up from behind as well, confirmed by the light that poured in from the still open door and the streetlights. He could feel his heart start to speed up, the feeling of icy fear and hot adrenaline coursing through his veins simultaneously. Something was telling him to run, telling him to GET OUT-

He lifted his gaze up to a wall mirror instinctively, gazing into the reflection. The soft, idle blue glow illuminating a small area around him. But one thing caught his attention. Not the smoke, or the haunted look in his eyes, but the confirmation that something was behind him. He recognized the figure and he knew it well.

…He was missing his horns.

He didn't hesitate any more. In a burst of movement, he quickly exited the house, not even daring to steal a glance behind him, he just couldn't. He just wanted to go, go somewhere safe, because something was seriously wrong here.

He quickly dialed Sword's number once he was a large distance away from the smoke-ridden home, just praying that he'd pick up. Tapping his foot and pacing, he just wanted to hear his comforting voice. Eventually, Sword picked up, sounding a bit groggy. He must've woken him up by accident.

"Mmnh? Rocket..?" Sword's voice rang out from the speaker like a soothing balm, making Rocket exhale a breath he didn't know he was holding and relax his tense shoulders slightly. "Sword! Something's wrong with dad-with Zuka- I-I don't know what it is, there was all this smoke and-" Rocket was cut off from his nonsensical rambling by Sword, his voice cutting through his thoughts like a sharp knife. "Rocket! Slow down!"

He explained the situation to Sword while pacing around the area he was currently taking refuge in. Passing demons probably thought he was insane, on drugs, or both. He didn't blame them either. Sword decided he had heard enough of this over the phone and offered for Rocket to come over for the night, and maybe stay until everything gets figured out. Sword has suggested getting Medkit, but any decision would probably have to be made tomorrow.

Honestly, he was surprised he hadn't seen Broker, knowing he tended to linger around him and Zuka. He never trusted him, but he was.. worried that he might've been related to this. For now, he decided that he would deal with it in the morning, the totally responsible adult he was, and headed to Sword's who welcomed him with opened arms. And also a thorough check to make sure he was okay. In all honesty, he still felt like his lungs were tight. Maybe it was the cold, but he had to fight down the constant urge to cough constantly. He was sure he'd feel better in the morning, but Sword only shook his head and told him that he'd have Medkit check him out as well tomorrow.

Well, there was no arguing with him once he set his mind to things.

He couldn't get the previous sight out of his mind. He didn't know if he was going insane, or the fatigue of recent Phights catching up to him, but… seeing Zuka without his horns haunted him. It shouldn't be possible. He'd be dead, right? Right..?

…

He shook off the thought. He didn't want to think about it right now.

[coraniaid]

OK, so, for context:

I don't like Agent Riley Finn, at all. He is one of my least favorite characters in Buffy, by quite some distance. I hated him even before the events of Season 5, and I only continued to hate him afterwards. I think the show would be significantly improved if his character had never been introduced. I think Whedon's idea that Buffy and Riley represent the show's one "happy and healthy relationship" is nonsensical.

I don't like As You Were. It's arguably Doug Petrie's worst episode (well, worst so far, anyway: let's not forgive him for his Season 7 episodes just yet).

I don't even really like Season 6 much (certainly not as much as so many people on Tumblr pretend to do). I think the concept of the season is very good but the execution is often decidedly lacking. It is not a season I often feel the urge to rewatch.

But, that being said, I'll confess it is somewhat bizarre to see so many people reblogging a post that says As You Were would have been improved if Riley showed up contrite and humble and openly ashamed of his [yes, unquestionably terrible and indefensible] actions in Season 5, or that the episode is one last attempt by the writers to force the audience to like him. To me, that is just ... obviously not true. I don't even see how it could be true.

As You Were is barely about Riley Finn at all. It's about Buffy. Specifically it's about what most of Season 6 is about: Buffy being miserable and depressed, struggling with bills and a soul-crushing mininum wage job, resenting her friends for having brought her back to life, romanticizing her past and (wrongly) convinced that she somehow 'came back wrong'. Riley is only in the episode to further that aim.

So, yes, the episode ignores all of Riley's [very real, very irritating, very hard to forgive] flaws and past failings and instead presents him as a dashing and attractive ex-boyfriend; as the perfect guy who somehow got away. Yes, it focuses on how much Buffy's own fortunes have declined since they broke up. Yes, Buffy is meant to find him attractive and be sad that he's married to somebody else already. Yes, the show deliberately sets up Riley as being competent and put together and high status while Buffy herself is none of these things. But this isn't because the writers are somehow trying to trick you into liking Riley (it would obviously be a very stupid and ineffective way to do that if it were! it demonstrably doesn't actually make anybody who didn't like Riley change their mind! why assume that it is trying to?). It is because this is how Buffy sees things herself.

The episode is about Buffy first, and Riley ..., not even third. He is a plot device. Just as in Season 3's Gingerbread (when Joyce is possessed and tries to burn Buffy at the stake as part of her campaign to cleanse Sunnydale of all things supernatural), or Helpless (when Giles puts his loyalty to the Council above Buffy's own safety and well-being), in As You Were Riley exists primarily to tell us something about Buffy. In Season 3, Buffy was afraid that being a Slayer would ruin her relationship with her mother and that Giles didn't really want to be the replacement father figure she clearly wanted him to be, and those episodes have her fears come true. Both Joyce and Giles act in pretty repellent (and arguably out-of-character) ways in their respective episodes, but those actions are justified in that they are consistent with Buffy's own view of the world. You could replace both of them with nightmare versions of their characters (like Hank Summers in Season 1's Nightmares) and both episodes would play out the same way (and have the same glaring lack of follow-up in later episodes).

So too in As You Were. The writers are probably more sympathetic to Riley than the average Tumblr user in 2024, but they don't particularly care if you like Riley or not. He's not been in the show for a year and after this he's never going to be in it again. This isn't about him. What is important is that Buffy herself misses Riley and her relationship with him: not necessarily because Riley was so great [again, he wasn't: Riley sucks] but because he's a part of her older life that she wishes she could go back to. A time when she had a 'normal' relationship and was still in college (and doing well academically!) and her mom was still alive and things seemed to be going well for her. Because she misses the version of Buffy that she used to be. (Who exactly are we supposed to think the 'you' of As You Were refers to? I don't think it's Agent Finn...)

Sure, I'd personally think better of Riley Finn as a person if he showed up looking sheepish and told Buffy he was sorry for how badly he behaved in Season 5 and he said he'd fund all her future bills and help her get back into college before dedicating the rest of his life to campaigning against both missionary work and US-backed (para)military actions in South and Central America. I'd think better of Joyce if she'd ignored the two demon kids only she could see and supported her real daughter better, too. Or of Giles if he hadn't ever gone along with the plan of hypnotizing and drugging a teenage girl he'd sworn to take care of and protect and who, less than a year earlier, he'd promised his unconditional "support and respect".

But Riley being a decent human being and making Buffy feel better about herself wouldn't make As You Were a "better" episode. It would make it a completely different episode, one that belonged in a completely different season. It would make it something that was utterly at odds, tonally and thematically, with the version of Season 6 that actually exists. This is not a season where nice things happen to Buffy, and if you think it should be I honestly don't think you like the story the season is trying to tell very much.

As You Were is not primarily "the episode where Riley comes back" (in which the writers then decided to talk about how great Riley was with the aim of making the fans like him while Buffy ends up feeling like shit and being embarrassed about how her own life is going as some sort of collateral damage). It is an episode where Buffy continues to feel like shit and be embarrased about how badly her life is going (and, in order to further Buffy's arc, this time Riley is there too to make her feel worse).

Do I think that it works to have Riley fill the role he does in this episode? Well, no, not really. Like I said at the top of this post, I don't like Riley and I don't enjoy seeing him on my television screen. Into The Woods' awful ending makes me pretty angry and it is a shame we never got any pushback on the idea that Buffy "letting Riley go" was a mistake. Riley wasn't ever the perfect boyfriend As You Were has Buffy remember him as. This isn't one of the better episodes of Season 6. But an improved version of the episode wouldn't have Riley act like a better person. That more palatable, more fan-friendly version of Riley just isn't compatible with the story the show is telling. An improved version of the episode that was still trying to tell the same fundamental story wouldn't have Riley Finn in it at all.

[dub88dab44]

I finally caught up with season 10 and I have some thoughts. This might be an unpopular opinion, but.....

I really like this season! I originally stopped playing after the first volume cause I created a sweetheart of a character, and that just wasn't working. So for the first time since season 1 I decided to wait until I could binge the season (I got impatient, oops) and let me tell you

S10 works so much better when you're playing it as one big story, rather than having the same issues week after week. But as a whole, here are some more specific thoughts:

(under the cut cause this got looong)

First of all, design. I like MC's design. We've come a long way since whatever that s5/s6 MC mess was. I understand that Fusebox, in order to make this game work, has to prioritize. And keeping essentially the same MC sprite over multiple seasons for the sake of the other characters' designs seems reasonable to me

Speaking of: For the most part the other characters' designs look great! They actually look like real people to me the obvious exceptions being Sophia (why... just why?) and kinda Franki (idk, she looks odd to me) and sorry Hayden (why does he have a hamster mouth)

Moving on to plot: I actually like that we don't couple up with someone straightaway! This plot point is a big one where being aware of it ahead of time helped a lot. I was growing tired of every LI immediately being all in with MC. In past seasons, as soon as you couple up, every LI just turned into the same lovesick mush. Let us work for people's affections!

This also allows for actual character building. I feel like I actually know Ethan, Milo, Hayden, and all the others. Characters having their own consistent personality? Unheard of since s4! I refuse to acknowledge s5 You have to make the coding work somehow and I feel like this is a smart way of doing it and stopping the personalities from melting into each other without doing a forced couple à la Miles/Jasper from s1. If a season wants to draw me in, distinct personalities is one of the most important factors to me.

Jesse!!! That's all.

No but seriously. Jesse is (so far) what Nicky/Seb from s3 was supposed to be. I have been craving a character like Jesse!! A male best friend whom you can genuinely come to for what would otherwise be girl talks. With the option of a friends-to-lovers route but also the option to just hype each other up!

Jesse thinking MC was the cheater during the dirty laundry challenge bc Sophia was spreading lies? Yes please! This is the type of drama that is genuinely important to me. No character, even your faves, are without flaws. This was a genuine fuck up on Jesse's part but I think it's so good for character and relationship building. More drama like this please!

Speaking of characters I love: Lisbeth. First of all, her character design? A+, give whoever did that a raise! Her character? The whole witchy, wanting to live in a overgrown castle, plays in a band and smashed her guitar vibe? A++! Calling her partner a good boy, giving dom-mummy vibes, but also nervous around her crush? Please let me marry her!

Okay hear me out.... I like Sophia as a character. Shitty person! Good character. Because I feel like she makes sense? I've seen many people basically call her cartoonishly evil but I don't think that's true. I think she is just self-absorbed. She genuinely doesn't think about how her actions might affect other people. Not in a fuck-you type of way, it just genuinely doesn't occur to her that when she is happy other people won't be happy for her, or that they might be hurt by the chaos trail she leaves behind. I find that compelling as an antagonistic character, especially since you can choose how sassy or understanding MC is of Sophia's narcissism.

If I were to ever make one of those TikTok hear-me-out cakes, I would put Tristan on it. What can I say, I like a good ratboy! Visually he reminds me of an early Damiano David from Måneskin, and I think that man just fundamentally changed something in my brain chemistry

What I like about the dates is that they are more than I generic "I like you, and I see myself with you and only you, you changed my entire outlook on life, now kiss me". Cause after a while that just gets boring. I feel like we actually get to learn about the LIs on the dates (partially due to them being given actual distinct dialogue!). Please, yes, actually tell me something about yourself! And that boat/snorkeling date? That shit was good!

The challenges have also been really fun so far. I particularly loved the dirty laundry challenge and the fairground (can never go wrong with a blindfolded kissing challenge, and combining that with the tea from the rest of the challenge was a cool thing to do)

Speaking of, the drama is delicious! Genuinely reminds me of s2 (maybe too high of a compliment, but whatever). I feel like we get to be a part of the drama, like how Jesse confide in MC about his feelings and doubts about his couple. I also love the Ethan/Hayden rivalry. And getting to split up a couple? I thought that was a cool new twist although I agree it probably should have come later in the season. I love that as MC, you kind of get to decide how seriously you want to take everyone coming to you with their issues

This is a minor thing, but it makes such a difference to me: Whenever a Thing has happened (date, tea got spilled, announcement, etc.) it's often the boys (lead by Jesse, my heart) who say "let's go for a debrief" FIRST. In past seasons I have been a little frustrated by the constant girls chats, cause like... I might not trust the girls?? Why are you making me do this?? *cough* Amelia *cough* But seeing the boys leave to chat males it so that (a) well, they're busy, might as well go chat to the girls instead of it feeling do forced, and (b) implies an actual bond between the boys - which makes the characters and the world feel more real. Male characters having relationships with each other? Outside of rivalries? What a concept!

I think the gems are well spent. Season 10 still has a bit of an issue with interesting drama only being introduced to you if you spend gems. But that also means that spending gems actually gets you something worth your money. Be it drama, intimate scenes with your LI or an extended scene where you get to clap back - I much prefer this over the alternative aka gem scenes being essentially meaningless (so essentially s5-s7)

I partially created this list because I've grown exhausted with the negativity in this fandom. Sure, there is also a lot to criticise. But despite all I still love litg. We've had unplayable seasons (s5) we've had mid seasons (s6 & s7), but recently we've also had some really good, replayable material (s8 & s9) that rivals the early stuff. And I think that deserves acknowledgement. So I'm gonna be cautiously hopeful for the rest of s10 and the future of litg.

[mytalemyworld]

YABANI / ASI & ALAZ SEASON 2 THOUGHTS

It's been months since I wrote here: a very busy real life schedule, a finger injury, not any tv show that piqued my interest caused me not to come here but escapism is very much needed right now. And Yabani is like that your old friend you know you should stay away but as long as it's there, you don't have power to run away.

I seriously didn't expect much from the show considering what we've got so far. Also I really understand the difficulty the new head writer has to live. She took over a wreck, nothing they would write could save the show. So that's why I just watch Asi and Alaz and care about only them. They still make me emotional even though their scenes last only like 5 minutes. Yeah yeah, the new plots, the new characters etc. These are just excuses, because they already have a good, exciting story potential yet the writers choose to ignore it. Once again.

For example, the new bearded guy and the evil lady. You know those old casettes which have two sides: A and B. A side is always aimed to give you the best tracks and as for B, it kind of exists only to fill the casette. To me, no matter how hard the writers try to make them look like an A side track they are just so useless and end up B side. I don't even want to know what their stories are.

The other problem, just for the rating, Asi's long lost family turned out to be a bunch of lunatics. No need to say they're the second B side track for me to skip endlessly.

I am not surprised anymore, I just want to express my frustration.

So let's take a look at our problematic couple.

The things I like:

The fact that he has never moved on.

It's kind of realistic. He's an extreme character, always going back and forth over two opposite edges, and turning any emotion into an obsession level of craziness. Be it love or hatred.

So, it's not surprising to see him like this, desperate, aimless, lost and tired.

The guy has never had a life purpose, not even in season 1. His journey is not about finding himself or his potential etc. He seeks love and wants to be loved. So the first conflict was about the lack of parental love, then Asi (he even chose her over his brother, I mean, it should give you an idea)…and now it's also about his baby.

If the story gives me a wrecked man, I would like to see a consistent behavior. Otherwise all scenes about how lost he is wouldn't matter.

To avoid this kind of problem, the confrontation between Alaz and Asi shouldn't have been his dream. It MUST have been the real one.

Because it would make sense.

Because no effing one could hold himself back after going through a never ending torment for these two years.

Because the actor killed it.

I am not good Asi. Not at all. Every day I've thought this moment. If I found you, If I saw you what would I say? There's not even a single moment that I don't regret, Asi. We could have been so happy. If we had a baby…I always thought it would be a girl. We could have named her Ece. Then we, three of us, would set off by a caravan. You'd sing and I'd play the guitar. Maybe she wouldn't have a perfect life but would be so happy. Because we would love her so much. Because we loved each other so much. And I still love you so much. Please…please, forgive me. I can't do without you. Please don't give up on me.

The fact that he realised he could be a good father because he loves the mother of his child and she loves him back, because he could give all his love to their kid and make him/her feel loved. The fact that he finally realised they have what his parents lack: a mutual love which could make the child literally a love child (he knows this makes a difference) and of course caring about the kid you make, putting his/her needs first.

And he probably came to understand why Asi wanted to keep the child: The need for having a family which he felt like he lost two years ago.

This kind of desperation is so hard to come by on tvs right now. And let me tell you, I've been watching tr dramas for almost 25 years and this is one of the most intense scenes I've ever seen. So raw and so strong.

His soul is on his knees, he wears his heart on his sleeves, he is dying to find out if he has a second chance. He looks like a candle burning and perishing slowly.

However God knows for what reason they chose to keep this scene only in his mind and gave us this:

You still love me.

Sometimes I feel like he has a serious personality disorder. Look, he kind of slayed this too, however it didn't go over well especially after 37th episode.

Maybe I am right maybe he's really unstable, I mean look at him. He has this selfish side that doesn't seem to get healed even after 2 years. He loves being loved, he enjoys seeing being wanted, he has this telling look which says he's glad that she can't move on either no matter how painful it's for her.

Well, he's kind of saying he wants her back and is ready to do anything for it but the scenes are so short which makes the effect weak.

STILL.

They have an effect on me anyway.

[ninapi]

°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。

- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛ Frantically in love ❜┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌

Premise: Nanami Kento wasn’t one to fool around with girls like his fellow first year classmates, yet one girl managed to drive him crazy enough to do things he never thought himself capable of.

Word Count: 3821

Note: This will be a two part story~ ✨

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Chapter 1: Classmates

Nanami Kento was a man of few words.

His team consisted of only him and one more guy, Haibara Yu, just the two of them and they couldn’t be more different. The moment they were assigned into their team on their first day of their first year at Jujutsu Tech, they didn’t really get along, yet they could work together very well, hence, they ended up in the same team and no less than assigned as backup for the strongest sorcerers just weeks after their arrival at the school.

Yu was a very well mannered, soft natured man. He always tried to cheer Nanami up and push him out of his comfort zone, something Nanami didn’t really appreciated much, yet it helped him quite a lot in the long run.

Though, their team was incomplete.

There’s a reason why the teams are composed of three members at the beginning of every sorcerer’s carrier, and that is to guarantee everyone’s safety and the success rate of every mission.

So the news of the new addition to the team later that year didn’t come off as a surprise to any of them.

The surprise was the fact that you were a girl, as pretty and graceful as one can be.

The rumor was that a very fat ugly older man was to join their team, he was a senior businessman who had recently awoken his powers out of nowhere and was in need of training.

However, he ended up being sent out to the Kyoto facility for Mei to train. His technique was closer to her own and she would be a better fit to develop the new abilities of said asset.

You on the contrary, were a beautiful young woman, seemingly the same age as they were at the time. Your eyes glowed with enthusiasm, your skirt a little shorter than it should probably be.

Nanami’s eyes were on you the moment you opened the classroom door.

It wasn’t a special day, just a random Monday at the beginning of the fall season. The wind was starting to get chilly, the colorful leaves on the background making your lovely face shine even more, it was like being in a museum admiring a highly rated piece of art.

“Oh my God! Hi! I’m Haibara Yu, are you our new teammate?” he was on his feet within seconds, smothering you with attention. Right behind you was Gojo Satoru, who had been entrusted to deliver you safely to your new team.

“Back down, will you? Isn’t it too early for you to be this loud? Yeah, she’s your new classmate, be nice to her, she could actually kick your ass easily.” you smiled shyly at both of them, waving your tiny hand.

“I’m (L/N)(Y/N), I will be joining you as of today. Please take good care of me.” bowing politely, all that could be heard in the background were Yu’s screeches and wails. “You’re so cute! Oh my God. We are the luckiest in the entire school, aren’t we Nanami-kun?” he had been quiet since your arrival, not a sound could be heard leaving his lips, yet you could feel his eyes on you from the moment you stepped into the classroom.

He just grimaced at his obnoxious outburst, eyeing you up suspiciously.

“Nanami Kento.” the moment he graced you with his name a blinding smile adorned your beautiful features, causing him to choke in his own spit. He just gave you his name, it wasn’t something important enough to gift the world such a lovely sight, but it did anyway, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nanami-kun. I’ll be on your care.” to this he scoffed, while Yu felt like a bucket of icy water fell on his head. “What about me, (Y/N)-chan? Are you happy to meet me too?” his outburst made you chuckle, dropping your bag on an empty desk while waving Gojo goodbye. “Of course!” that was enough to get his spirits back up.

The beginning of a wonderful friendship.

══✿══╡°˖✧✿✧˖°╞══✿══

A few weeks after your arrival, your first mission had been already assigned to you, panic was visible in your face since you’ve never really had to fight a curse in your life. You were excited about it as well, but fear won the battle.

Yu had been assigned to a reckoning mission, nothing fancy or dangerous, all he had to do was gather information for Geto, nothing he needed your assistance with, so Nanami volunteered himself to train you personally that day, his hopes were to ease your nerves, to make you realize you were ready to fight, that there was nothing to worry about, your first mission would be a success.

But it wasn’t working.

You were very much distracted, getting a few hits from him along the way, you were meant to avoid them and counterattack him, but your head was just not present.

After getting beaten down for a third time, he suggested you take a short break, go for a drink or so. Since you didn’t react, he grabbed you by your wrist, gently pulling you towards a bench that was covered by the shadow of an old enormous tree while he jogged over to the vending machine. He grabbed a black iced coffee for him and brought you a can of your favorite drink along the way.

When he got back to the bench you were still spacing out, not even noticing you were now sitting down, and the practice time came to a halt. Worried, he rested the cold end of the can against your cheek, making you look back at him startled by the icy sensation on your soft warm skin. “For me? Thank you, Ken-chan. I really needed this.” you started calling him by that ridiculous nickname a few days back, the first time you had really spent some quality time together in the training grounds. He got to learn your back story, the way your powers awoken at a very early age, how being born out of non-sorcerer parents felt like and the insecurities that came with.

Even if he couldn’t relate to your story, he got to understand you more, made you look more of a normal human in his eyes and less like the fairy tale princess looking sunshine that got into their team not long ago. And to you, he also felt less constipated and more like a regular boy his age. It was an eye-opening experience for the both of you, one that had gotten you closer without any of you noticing.

Yu did notice, though.

And even if that meant he would probably not get a chance with you, he wanted his friends to bond and explore that feeling of belonging both got to experience that day.

“Why are you so stressed out? It’s a lesser curse, (Y/N). It’s probably not even necessary for the three of us to be there. It’s more of a mission for you to see how a real one goes and for you to be ready for later. You won’t have to do much.”

“But what if I mess up? What if one of you gets hurt because of something stupid I did? What if I just can’t move and the curse comes right after me even if you guys were the ones fighting it?” your palms were sweaty, your face pale as a ghost. Nanami could see very well how this was causing you to lose sleep and wanted to try and ease your mind once more.

“If that happens, I will cut it in half before it dares to even breathe the same air as you. I will be there; I won’t let anything happen to you.” there was so much conviction in his every word, his eyes were showing you how serious he was about this, how he really would protect you even if the worse came to happen. Your eyes began to water, your cheeks tinting of a lovely shade of pink at the implications of his statement.

“Y-you will?” you mumbled while sniffing, Nanami’s thumb coming over to wipe a stray tear from one of your cheeks acting on its own accord. “Yeah…so don’t worry, ok? Everything will be fine.”

You’ve never seen him this soft before, yet so assertive. You could feel his resolution, protecting you was more like a promise, not just to you but to himself, he’d do what was necessary for you to be out of harm ways, for you to feel comfortable with your own techniques and to feel safe at all times.

Smiling adoringly at him, you opted for resting your head on his shoulder while sipping on the cold drink you still held in your hand. The sunset that afternoon being one to remember, mixed shades of orange and pink hues turning the sky into a beautiful work of art for your eyes only. Taking off his uniform blazer, he covered your bare legs with it, making you snuggle closer onto his side. It was a chilly fall afternoon, but there was nowhere you would rather be at.

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Your first mission went out well, even with Nanami’s attempts on hurting Yu as he kept on pushing you towards the curse; exposure training was the best in his eyes, he wanted you to gain experience, to learn through failure, while Nanami wanted to keep you safe and have you just look from the sidelines until you felt ready to participate in the missions.

You were still new to this and so, they wouldn’t take you to every single mission, just the ones Nanami deemed safe enough.

Today’s mission seemed easy enough, yet for some reason Nanami wasn’t feeling it. “Can I go? Please? I promise I won’t get in the way.” your pretty puppy eyes were digging holes in Nanami’s stomach, but he kept his ground refusing profoundly. “Not today, Ieiri-san wanted your help dissecting a curse.” pouting you turned on your heels, going for Yu instead. “Oh no, no, no, don’t give me that look, don’t want to be fed to a curse by an angry boyfriend. Listen to him, (Y/N).”

“B-boy f-…what?…whatever…” plopping on a chair, he grabbed the newspaper, trying his best to cover his crimson toned face.

“Tch.” grabbing your backpack, you headed over to the lab for a day full of the stench of death and zero to no conversation with your quietest senior.

When Gojo burst the door of the lab open, you could see it on his face, something bad had happened.

“(Y/N)….I…um…the mission your team went into didn’t come with a good outcome…I…” Shoko was staring at him in disbelief, you had been blabbing all day about how you wanted to go with them, how you felt underappreciated and how you wanted to help your team become stronger. This would certainly be an awful blow to you.

“Senpai…where are they?” you were taking off your lab coat, running over to the morgue. Your eyes were dripping with sadness, your knees almost failing you as you ran. You didn’t let Gojo tell you the whole story, you just ran as fast as you could, you couldn’t wait any longer.

“KENTO!” slamming the door open, relief filled your lungs as you saw the blond sitting on a chair with a towel over his face. He seemed ok enough.

You ran over to his side, throwing yourself to your knees, and burying your face in his stomach. You didn’t even notice Geto-senpai was in the room and how there was a body laying over the table. “Please tell me you’re ok…”

“I’ve been better, but I’ll live. (Y/N)…I did everything I could…we just weren’t a match for that curse…” you looked up to see his face, he sounded broken, his voice was raw, his eyes full of unshed tears. “What happened?” you were rubbing soothing circles onto his side patiently, your heart sinking at his words.

Geto left the room to give your team some privacy after confirming the demise of the young sorcerer, his heart heavy with regret and hatred towards humankind and the pest they produce by their uselessness.

Nanami pointed over to the table, unable to find the right words.

The sight of Yu’s lifeless body was more than heartbreaking. He was the best of the three of you, the most loving friend you’d ever had, a great man with a bright future. This couldn’t end this way…you knew this could happen any time, to any of you, that’s just how this job is, but Yu…no, that had to be a mistake, maybe he was just cursed, not dead yet, maybe there’s something that could be done to save him.

Nanami could see right through you, he knew exactly what you were thinking, “Geto-san confirmed his death (Y/N), there’s nothing we can do anymore. It’s my fault, if only I was stronger…”

“It’s not your fault, Kento…” you hiccupped through your words, the wall of tears in your eyes not letting you see him for what he was now, thankfully. “If only I had gone with you guys, maybe I would have helped defeat the curse, maybe Yu would still be alive…” you felt a strong pair of arms circling your waist and pulling you flushed against his chest, sitting you on his lap as he wept silently against your back. “Never…never repeat those words again…you hear me? If you had gone with us…what if you’d had die instead of him? No, this was the right decision, I’m glad you stayed…I’m not sure if I would have been able to protect you myself, I couldn’t protect Yu. I can’t lose you, not you…” his words were dripping with love, his feelings coming out in the open in darker times, you let him cry on your back while you stared at your fallen partner.

This isn’t how you wanted things to end. You always imagined Yu marrying a lovely, beautiful woman, having at least four kids and meeting them in the supermarket while you and Kento shopped together. Grow old together, the three of you. Knowing that won’t ever happen finished breaking your heart and turning it to dust. He didn’t deserve this.

“(Y/N) let’s quit. I can’t lose you too…what if this happens again? What if I can’t protect you?” your back was now drenched with his fresh tears, his shaky hold around you tightening every passing second.

“Let’s get out of here, Kento. I can’t see him like this anymore. He looks like he was in so much pain, he’s probably cold…” gathering himself together, Nanami stood up with you in his arms, reaching over for the sheet covering his fallen friend to shield his body completely from the cold air in the room. Even if he couldn’t feel it anymore, this wasn’t for him, it was for you.

Saying your last goodbyes to your friend you headed over to Nanami’s room. You were just aimlessly walking beside him, letting him guide you to wherever he wanted to be right now.

You stumbled out of your shoes, plopping on his floor and collapsing at the weight of the situation. Nanami went to sit behind you on the floor, resting his back on his bed and cradling you over to his chest, letting you cry out all your pain.

He wouldn’t let this happen to you. He had to do something.

Once your tears had permanently dried out, you looked up to see a very distraught Kento, lost in his own thoughts. He was trying to form a plan to get out of this dangerous world and bring you with him, this loss was too much for him, he didn’t want to experience this ever again, let alone have you succumb to the same fate.

“Kento?”

“Hm?” he looked down at you, resting his forehead against yours waiting for your reply.

“Don’t beat yourself over this, I know you did everything you could. Thank you for coming back to me in one piece, I don’t know what I would have done if you were the one laying on that cold table…” tears found their way out of your beautiful eyes once more, the terrifying image of the man you loved dead on that desolated table all alone shattering you completely.

“I can’t die. I have to protect you...” It’s all he said before feeling your lips crash against his own. You were crying, sobbing really, but you needed to feel every bit of him, unite your souls, mush them into one.

He held you as close as he could, returning your kiss while tearing up. He knew this wasn’t about Yu anymore, he could feel how frightened you were right now, how it terrified you that he would end up the same way Yu did, and he felt the same way, he would rather die than seeing you on that table covered in blood and without a heartbeat.

“Seriously though, let’s run away from this (Y/N). I won’t lose you too…” you just nodded in between kisses, fisting his uniform blazer as to hold yourself together.

“I’d go anywhere with you, Kento. Just please, don’t die…don’t get hurt…don’t leave me…” your desperate cries made his resolution grow, he didn’t want this any longer, he wanted safety, a nice home, a car, even kids maybe, one day. This dangerous life was to be put behind, as soon as possible. And he would drag you with him.

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Trying to get out of the business wasn’t easy. Turns out you could only quit once you graduated from the school, and you still had a few years to go through for that.

In return, the headmaster promised to send you both only on clean up and reckoning missions, if you two didn’t want to be involved anymore, the least you could do was to clean after your seniors. To this the two of you agreed and your bond strengthened as time went on.

You were officially together at this point and the rest of your school life remained just that.

Daily classes, some physical training, every so often a reckoning mission in the countryside which always turned into a lovely rendezvous with your boyfriend and of course the disgusting clean up missions where you would end up covered in guts and goo, though were as rewarding as any other. At least you were still of some sort of help, at least you were safe.

Nanami had applied for an internship in a very big well known company, his new goal was to become a salaryman, one with a high pay rate, get an apartment for the both of you and be good enough to keep them as he gave you time to figure out what to do with your life.

He imagined you would become a teacher of some sort, you enjoyed helping others and were great at explaining things, a kindergarten teacher maybe, that would fit his lovely girlfriend just fine, yeah. Then after a couple of years of hard work, he’d get promoted and ask you to officially be his wife, consummate the marriage by putting a baby in you, then maybe get a car and another promotion so you could stay home with the child.

You could say he had your life planed with intricate details, he even had ordered some furniture already that he was able to pay while working a part time in a coffee shop, unbeknownst to you.

He of course, got the internship and was able to find a lovely apartment not far from his office building, everything was ready for you two to venture out of the sorcery related world.

Or so he thought until you knocked on his door one night, a complicated expression on your face. “Is something wrong, love?” he moved to the side so you could go into his room, everything was mostly packed by then.

“The Kamo clan…they sent for me. They want me to raise their child, basically. Train him, teach him all he needs to know, from basic school subjects, to how to develop his blood technique. The headmaster…he agreed to this without my knowledge, I must depart tomorrow…” tears were running down your face, your eyes unfocused.

“No. This isn’t happening. We are leaving right now, go get your things, the apartment will be ready tomorrow we can just crash in a hotel nearby. Let’s go baby, don’t waste more time.” he finished packing his last bag, being stopped by your shaky hand.

“I can’t Kento. They said they’ll get your head on a plate if I ran away. I’m not putting you in any sort of danger, my love. I’ll go to them and be back as soon as I can. Maybe you can transfer to a Kyoto branch later on…I…I’m sorry, this is the only thing I can do to protect you…” you collapsed on the ground, his arms quick to catch you before you hurt yourself.

“Who said you had to protect me? I’m strong enough to kill them all. Nobody will get in our way. We finally made it this far, they can’t do this to us…” he punched the floor in rage, his anger materializing in the air.

“The Kamo clan is very powerful…I talked with Gojo-senpai, he didn’t recommend testing their patience….”

“I couldn't care less what he recommends or not, I won’t let you go, (Y/N) how am I supposed to live out our life plan without you in it?? We’ve worked so hard to get to this point…”

“Kento look at me.” you cupped his face gently before pressing a tender loving kiss to his lips, “I love you, nothing will ever change that. We just need to wait a little longer to get to the main goal. Let’s start by saving some money, if things get ugly we’ll figure out an escape route, ok? I don’t want you to lose your internship, I know how hard it is to get in. We can do this, love.”

And with a broken heart…you parted ways.

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Turns out long distance relationships are a pain when you work twelve hours a day and your girlfriend has to put a young child to sleep early.

Nanami Kento got the promotions he wanted, his house was bigger now, his car the one he always dreamed of getting, yet the space beside him in his very large bed remained empty, cold, and could never find an owner since the day you left from Kyoto… ten years ago.

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Masterlist Next Chapter

[rabbithaver]

‎‏I am mohammed ayyad of Gazans, living in very difficult conditions because of the war that the Gaza Strip is under. Since the outbreak of the war on the seventh of October we have been evacuating .‎‏Then the journey of suffering and separation began,because my children were separated and evacuated from our home without covering or clothes., From here they became infected with diseases, and what increased our fatigue was the constant upbringing due to the different areas in which we were displaced, as we were displaced 9 times, and this was very expensive, the last of which was the 9th of this August from Hamad Town. In addition to that, we have lived in the summer season in a tent that did not exceed three meters, closed with nylon, so it is like an agricultural greenhouse atmosphere. It is very hot. All in all, we live difficult days that no human beings can affordWe have no work because of the war, and we do not have any kind of money and this is accompanied by a crazy and horrible rise in prices.Although water is not suitable for drinking, this is the cause of many diseasesThe last suffering is that we are out of Hamad without taking our purposes or our tents and now we are searching the earth in the roads and our children and our elderly parents are suffering..So we use direct donation including what they can or share links fully so people can know our tragedy and pain. Remember a small contribution can make a difference in the lives of many children who are dealing with their health condition all. Leave their details and make them happy with your generous contribution.

just €2,419 raised of €35,000 goal!!!

[azure-firecracker]

The X-Files Season 3 Review (First-Time Watcher)

Wahoo, we’re back! And just in time before I head off to school. I don’t know if it was the pre-college nerves or just the consistency of this season, but I blazed through this. It’s either the fastest I’ve ever binged a season of this length or close to it (barring times where I’ve been sick).

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure where the show was going to go following the high drama of season 2. I said in my Season 2 Review that the season resembled an alien soap opera, a tone I felt suited the show extremely well. But the events of Season 2 were so incredibly high-stakes that I wasn’t sure the show could keep up the high-drama tone. I mean, you can’t get much more high stakes than the Season 2 abduction arc.

As it turned out, the show’s solution was yet another tonal switch. While Season 1 (read my review of that here) felt like a riff on campy sci-fi stories, and Season 2 felt like a dark alien soap opera, Season 3 adopted the tone of a fast-paced film-noir action style movie. Our agents were in fights! They were running after villains! They were firing at bad guys!They were jumping onto trains! It was very high-stakes and exciting, but in an adrenaline-rush sort of way rather than mimicking the desperate, melancholic vibes of Season 2.

While my personal subjective tastes do tend more towards the high-drama vibe of Season 2, I think the action-movie energy suited the show (and the writers) well. The episodes in this season were consistently good at grabbing my attention and keeping it. Due to the fast pace and the constant reveal of new information, I felt like I was always running right alongside Mulder and Scully, racing to find new information and uncover each twist and turn. And if I were to describe this season in one word, it would be consistent. The show writers clearly perfected this fast-paced-film-noir vibe and found a comfortable rhythm creating it. This season had the longest unbroken stretch of fantastic episodes yet, and VERY few misses. More on that in the individual episode reviews.

I think this season’s new energy served Scully well as a character. I said in my Season 1 review that I was irritated with Mulder always taking the lead in investigations, and I felt like it was his mental journey that we were watching, since he was the believer and always right. While that wasn’t my main problem with Season 2, the Mulder-sole-protagonist feeling was still somewhat present. It makes sense: Mulder, as the more angsty and openly emotional of the two, is well-suited to being the main character of a cosmic drama. But Scully, with her sharp observation skills and calm demeanor under pressure, is well-suited to being the main character of a film-noir-action case. I was happy to see her taking the lead several times this season, both in solving cases, but also in becoming more assertive in going after information and figuring out a ton of clues. Her intelligence was showcased so well across so many episodes! I even felt like she got more camera time this season - a testament to the fact that she and Mulder are becoming equals in the eyes of the show. This was the first season where I 100% felt like they were equals (and the first season where Scully outnumbers Mulder in rescues! Yahoo!)

My whump-addicted heart did miss all the saving each other, but at the same time, I’m glad we got a break after Season 2. (A WHOLE SEASON WITHOUT SCULLY GETTING KIDNAPPED! I REJOICED!)

I don’t have many gripes about this season. It was just very consistently high-quality and consistent with itself, though I will say that its consistency made me more irritated with less stellar episodes than I would have been in Season 1 or Season 2. This is probably reflected in my episode ratings. I also think that, while it made sense to do a tonal shift, I could have used just a few more emotional moments in the vein of Season 2. While the stakes aren’t quite so dire this season, it’s still MSR and raw moments between them are part of what keep me coming back to the show. I could have used a little more of that.

My biggest complaint is that I felt like the mytharc episodes got a lot worse after Blessing Way/Paper Clip. I loved the Season 2 mytharc episodes because they directly tied into Mulder and Scully’s story, and the emotional stakes were just as high as the physical ones. Season 3 mytharc episodes had a little too much infodumping and not as much emotional weight as I would have liked. We got SO MANY scenes of Cancer Man or someone else from that group of old white men that I don’t care about talking on the phone and being ominous. A little bit is okay, but at a certain point, I ceased to care.

But overall I felt that this season was VERY strong and VERY binge-able (look no further on your next sick day!) Especially the middle-end of the season I felt was pretty damn near flawless.

Individual episode reviews under the cut:)

The Blessing Way/Paper Clip: A BANGER of a season opener. Easily the best opener the show has done so far. This is what I mean when I talk about balancing infodumping with emotional stakes. We learned so much about the government’s shady behavior and its history, but its ties to Mulder’s father and Scully’s abduction kept it emotionally relevant enough for me to stay invested. Mulder’s borderline-afterlife stint was giving hardcore protagonist energy in a bit of a clichéd way, but it’s okay because at least the Blessing Way ritual is real and they didn’t just make it up (I wouldn’t put it past them). Skinner came through this episode - I know he’s a bit morally ambiguous but I like him! And God, Melissa😭 This death hits so hard because it’s deeply unnecessary, and that’s what makes it so tragic. The scene at the end with Mulder and Scully in the hospital was absolutely beautiful. 10/10

D.P.O: This is what I mean when I say this season made me less forgiving of mediocrity than I would have been back in Season 1. This would have been a totally fine Season 1 episode, but here, especially coming off of Blessing Way/Paper Clip, it was just kind of meh. Not much to say about anything here (except Jack Black! Cool!) 4/10

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose: Hooray another comedic episode! But also deeply emotionally poignant, and walking the line very well. Peter Boyle was a phenomenal guest star, bringing a mix of humor and genuine grief that was absolutely perfect. Also my comments about Scully being more of a leader this season? This is what I meant! She got so much camera time! She was the one bonding with their important magic person! She solved the case based off of A THREAD OF FABRIC LIKE SOME AGATHA CHRISTIE DETECTIVE! She shot the killer and saved Mulder! What an icon she is. Obviously 10/10

The List: I know this is a well-liked one, but for me, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it. I watch this show for supernatural angst and escapism, not to watch prisoners get unfairly treated and beaten up in a way that feels a little too real. Plus Scully was acting lowkey OOC this episode. I just didn’t enjoy watching prisoners get horrifically beaten up, and even though I’m not supposed to enjoy it and the episode is making a point, what can I say? I didn’t enjoy it. Objectively this is probably an 8/10 but closer to a 5.5/10 for me subjectively.

2Shy: Another one where I have to admit my own biases. I did not appreciate the way this episode treated fat people, as a chubby girl myself who can get a tad insecure when watching shows from this era. The episode kept trying to pretend all of these not-even-that-fat women were ugly when they were not (not that being fatter is bad, but it just goes to show how insane 90s body standards were). It just…was not a good time for me, even though it’s objectively a decent monster of the week, I guess. I propose this alternate ending: the fat women being targeted all actually have fulfilling lives, do not need this creep for anything, they all band together and get to beat him to a pulp. Army of beautiful fat women saves the day. Anyway, objectively probably a 6/10, subjectively at more of a 2/10

The Walk: What happened in this episode? I think I fell asleep. But also it was yet again unnecessarily dark and realistic! This is a 2/10

Oubliette: I have mixed feelings on this one. I know what it was trying to do, but for the first time in terms of Mulder trauma episodes, I think it missed the mark a bit. Scully was acting weirdly mean for half of it, and I wish that they’d developed Mulder’s relationship with Lucy a little more. The ending scenes were fantastic, but would have been even more fantastic with the proper buildup. I’ll give this one a 7/10

Nisei/731: And so begins this season’s phenomenal streak! This was an excellent two-parter! While not as emotional as the opening episodes, it was a well-done, high-stakes, fast-paced action story with lots of twists and turns. I loved the ambiguity around what was aliens vs. the government, those super tense scenes between Scully and X (that’s what we call him, right?), Mulder jumping onto the train, Scully getting the exit code from the tape (another noir detective moment!), and of course, X getting Mulder out of that train, adding to the moral complexity of his character. I did feel that Nisei was mostly 731 setup and couldn’t stand as well on its own (a theme of this season), but I still adored this. 9.5/10

Revelations: An episode I don’t see brought up a lot, but I adored! I loved the role reversal of sorts between Scully and Mulder, the episode really allowing Scully to take center stage and be the hero, exploring her relationship with life and religion and her job and her science…all wonderful! Also her relationship with Kevin was so sweet, and her getting the answer off the recycling bin…once again, noir detective moment! And the ending confession scene? Poetry. This was a 10/10 for me!

War of the Coprophages: Comedyyyy! Lmao this was hysterical from start to finish. Some of the scientist scenes were a little boring, but every scene Scully was in was comedic gold. She’s so funny, and we don’t talk about it enough. Her at home is such a mood. Also some truly iconic lines. “Her name is Bambi?” *said with barely concealed jealousy* and of course the iconic “this is no place for an entomologist.” Hilarious. 9.75/10

Syzygy: Apparently this isn’t very well-liked, but I found Mulder and Scully’s bickering to be hilarious. Every duo fights sometimes! And I appreciated the withering humor of this whole episode. Also I liked that the villains were two teenage girls. Given the way they were talking about the other girls in their class…did they even need supernatural involvement to be pure evil? 9/10

Grotesque: I am immediately filled with a deep need for more Mulder profiling. I loved how much it brought out his darkest instincts, and how obsessive he can get about it! What an interesting and phenomenal character exploration! And I really didn’t know if he was possessed or something! Wonderful suspense! And some nice MSR moments, too! This one opens the door to SO MANY fanfic possibilities. Honestly 10/10

Piper Maru/Apocrypha: This is where those problems with the mytharc episodes that I mentioned began to show up. I loved Piper Maru, and thought it was an intriguing setup with lots of suspense, but the payoff in Apocrypha was less fulfilling. Possessed Krycek was such an interesting idea, but we barely got any of him, and the climax of them going to the empty silo was very weak in my opinion. We also got WAY too many old white men on the phone scenes to keep my interest. On the bright side, I loved everything Scully did in this two-parter. Her speech to Skinner at the beginning, her childhood nostalgia, standing guard over Skinner when he’s been shot, and then fully taking down and SCREAMING at Melissa’s killer. We NEVER hear her yell like that - major props to Gillian Anderson. Anyway this was a mixed bag. I’ll give it an 8/10

As I write this, I’m realizing that this is just Scully’s season, isn’t it? As it should be after what they did to her in Season 2.

Pusher: Favorite episode of the season (tied with one other, anyway). I love a Sherlock/Moriarty cat and mouse dynamic, and this pulled me in just like a good old murder mystery novel. Modell is a terrifying villain, his roots in normalcy just as horrifying as his power, and the way Mulder just walks right into his game because he can’t refuse, even though he knows the extent of the danger - DAMN good writing. Plus the way Scully follows Mulder into that hospital without a second thought-her loyalty knows no bounds, and Modell knows that and it makes everything so much worse. And the climactic scenes in the hospital are some of the series’ best (probably the show’s best climax so far). Of course this is a 10/10

Teso Dos Bichos: And so ends the longest streak of greatness. Oh well! This episode was pretty boring, apart from me yelling at the powers that be to please keep the composers away from what I have dubbed the ethnic flute (you know, that one instrument they play every time they’re dealing with a non-White culture). Killer cats is kind of funny I guess? And I do appreciate murdering colonizers. I guess I’ll give this a 4/10

Hell Money: Once again, please take that flute away from them. They need to stop trying to make political episodes about non-White cultures. They’re not good at it. At least they used a real Chinese festival (I looked it up!) and all of the episode’s side characters were actually engaging. I thought Detective Chao’s speech about being American-born and not fitting in with American or Chinese culture was actually pretty interesting and poignant. A small detail, but I also appreciated the use of the lesser-known Cantonese rather than Mandarin (at least according to the subtitles). I’ll give this one a 6.5-7/10 for effort.

Jose Chung’s From Outer Space: My mom said this was her favorite episode and I can see why! Some of the show’s absolute best comedic moments (all of Blaine’s narration, and of course the phenomenal pie scene-which I saw in a compilation and mentally inserted into S1 for months until I was corrected). I will say I got a little too tripped up in the unreliable narrations and alien plot to 100% appreciate the comedy, but I guess that’s kind of the point. 9.5/10

Avatar: I don’t know what the general consensus is on this one, but I really enjoyed it. I think that we’ve now spent enough time with Skinner that it was time for a look into his life - and what a compelling look it was! Characters who close themselves off seemingly for the greater good but end up damaging what matters most are so fascinating, and I liked the moral ambiguity of his guardian spirit thing. My favorite scenes were the ones in the hospital with Sharon - some DELICIOUS parallels to One Breath that had me screaming at the television. 8.5/10

Quagmire: Okay, this was hilarious and poignant and so quintessentially X-Files. But why did the dog have to die? I loved Mulder being sort of desperate for there to be a horrific monster so he could catch it. But why did the dog have to die? The conversation on the rock was amazing and has so many implications for Mulder and Scully both as individuals and as a pair. But why did the dog have to die? Scully winking at the sheriff to get resources was hysterical. But why did the dog have to die? 9.5/10, especially for the 1000/10 conversation on the rock. But why did the dog have to die?

Wetwired: My one complaint about this is that the emotional climax took place so long before the end, and I think the scenes with Mulder and X could have been in the next episode. But GOD, the rest of this?! The ACTING?! The PARANOIA?! The TRAGEDY?! Everything Gillian Anderson did in this episode was perfect. Mulder’s quiet but profound pain when he goes to ID the body, and the way he abandons his quest for her sake in a heartbeat even though he thinks she’s already dead. The scene where Scully tears her room apart, and my God, she’s got SO MUCH trauma for this paranoia thing to tap into, and holy shit Gillian Anderson. The emotional climax. “He’s never trusted me.” “Scully, you are the only one I trust.” And what if I died? Right there? Tied with Pusher for season favorite. 10/10

Talitha Cumi: As a precursor to Herrenvolk, this is fine. As a season finale, it’s weak. Not much happens, most of it is setup, and it doesn’t feel epic. Yes, Anasazi is impossible to follow as a season finale, but this feels the least like a finale of all 3 finales so far. I think Wetwired (with a few tweaks) should have been the finale, and this along with Herrenvolk should have been the Season 4 opener. As a 2-parter with Herrenvolk, maybe an 8/10. As a season finale, 6/10.

That’s it for the season review! Once I go off to school, I’ll be posting much less frequently but still around, so please feel free to send asks, fic requests, etc. Keep an eye out for more meta, fanfic, live reactions, a master post of all my content, and a special post to celebrate 3 seasons (vote on that here) in the coming days:) Until then, the Truth is out there👀

[devastatinglygreen]

I really like hearing your opinion on the things the fandom is hung up on and I haven't seen you say anything yet so I wanted to know what you thought of Colin's entrapment comment?

ohhhh interesting (and thank you tho i am sure you will regret it). i am here to provide 24/7 personalized hot takes so don't worry i will bother everyone with my opinion.

why do i, personally, think he said it? aside from being hurt? i sort of have a very nebulous idea of it that i noticed on a rewatch (yes i will rewatch this season consistently, it's now my among my favorite comfort tv shows along with 2005's p&p (which is a movie i know), that one season of friends, that flea market show i hate (don't ask), and the entirety of bob's burgers) but colin has no idea penelope loves him until episode 6 so it's connected to that.

i am very sorry you were brave enough to ask me a question and now have to read all the nonsense below. god speed.

like, he's flying blind and after the carriage (insert pitbull music...and fingers here) he's pretty insecure that's he's moving a lot faster than she is. it's unsettling to be head over ass in love and feel like you're not worthy of it and then not even be sure where the other person is. that penelope doesn't reciprocate when he first says it to her is noticeable but he moves on so quickly you can sort of assume he doesn't want to give her a chance to, like he's scared of the answer if he asks.

colin waxes poetic about love, about penelope, etc all through eps 5 and 6. he's consumed by it and to be fair, they were on different wavelengths in part 1. she was trying to let him go and move past him and he was stumbling and staring and wanting to die with wanting her while she was like, "hey this guy you hate for no reason likes me, isn't that cool?" and it's pretty fresh for him so i would think something like that lingers.

when she tells him she loves him in ep 6, he's happy. and relieved. i also think he's been expecting bad news (which, you know. it, uh, will be later) so it's a relief to hear that they're on the same page but, and this stuck out to me the first time i heard it, she says she loved him while pretending to be his friend. she corrects herself because of course she was actually his friend but she loved him underneath of it all as well but penelope isn't always the best with words when on the spot and it takes her a moment to calm down and gather her thoughts. the relief (and guilt of him not knowing/reciprocating) is very obvious in the moment and i think he was thrilled to hear that she loved him back.

which leads us to the LW fight. which makes him question if he ever knew her at all. he does, of course he does, but she's been this secret second person who has written about him, his family, her best friend, and her own family for years. penelope's intentions are never malicious when it comes to protecting the people she loves but the execution can leave a fair bit to be desired. she doesn't lie but she isn't always kind, either.

so you have this man beyond in love with a woman he doesn't think he can trust who just admitted she'd loved him for years. it's easy to live in that hurt and anger and assume the worst of someone when they've just betrayed your trust so deeply. it would probably be easy to feel manipulated. i don't think him questioning her motives is beyond the realm of possibility but i do think penelope is better than me because if i get accused of something i didn't do i would act up something fierce (see this is why my husband had to marry me, he had to keep me from terrorizing the rest of the population with my dramatics. a hero of our times, really).

anyways, what i mean is, i think it's easy to ignore the lead up to that betrayal as an audience since we know penelope's anguish and hurt over what she's done but colin has no idea and it's very fresh for him so it's easy to lash out and think everything had a motive. penelope as LW is very calculating and pointed. i think it's smart of her, actually, to continually tell him she loves him and not constantly poke at the argument. she's not giving him anything else to hold up and use against her after the fact. she's very frank and open even when they have their argument in the street.

this idea he has of LW is this hurtful, manipulative person playing with people's lives. like, LW would entrap him but penelope wouldn't so it's easy to hate one and love the other and i think his inability to bring them together as one person could play into that dynamic of feeling insecure of what her intentions were. you can sort of see each time he breaks because he knows penelope loves him but he steps back each time he's reminded of LW and how it comes between them.

something i also think plays out in his inability to communicate effectively and how deeply his self-loathing goes into his jealousy of her success and how he's incapable of being intimate with penelope until he's in a better headspace. he loves penelope. he wants to marry her and be with her and live a life with her but there's a 3rd person in his marriage in his mind and what does one do with all of that when you're so firmly penelope-sexual you're staring at the walls in a brothel when you're still single? idk man.

just remember if you're sorry for having read this, i am sorrier for having written it. except for the penelope-sexual part. that's still funny to me.