#love what you did with the framing of the dialogue boxes ^_^

[rassicas]

Hello Rassicas.

I am working on a video about Nintendo’s lgbtq characters. Of course when it comes to splatoon, there’s a certain duo that comes to mind, off the hook.

The problem I���ve been having is that it seems a lot of the information, wether that be the English/japanese bits of dialogue, interviews and other bits of lore, seems to be completely scattered around.

Considering you describe yourself as the “CEO of splatoon lore” I was wondering if you could help me compile any bits and pieces of those two gay cephalopods.

(My apologies if this is moreso something I should be asking in dms instead)

i think the ask box is a good place for this, i'm not as hardcore of a shipper as other people are (more of a worldbuilding enjoyer), but i know there is so much and I don't wanna dig for all of it. I'll share a few off the top of my head. pearlina fans reading this, please feel free to share anything else in the replies/reblogs. 1. Pearl interview from Octotune: its on my mind since i just brought it up in a previous ask I think the artwork in this interview has the strongest implication that pearl and marina live together. Also the question: Q17: What is the best gift you have ever received? Pearl: The chance to meet Marina. 2. Marina's manga, "Dear Pearl". a manga that, in-universe, is drawn by marina.

genuinely i think this is one of the gayest things there is in canon like theres hearts in that LOVE letter thats directed towards pearl COME ON (i consider it canon as its drawn by seita inoue, who handles splatoon's art direction and a lot of lore/worldbuilding). you can read it here

3. Marina's tagline on Splatoon Base calls her a 恋する乙女 "young lady in love". the word for 'to love' (恋する) is specifically romantic.

4. Off the Hook didn't fight against each other in the s2 final splatfest like the Squid Sisters did because they're on such good terms with each other.

I’ve heard people saying that since the final fest for the last game was a showdown between the Squid Sisters, this time it was bound to be between Off the Hook.

Nogami: I think that’s probably the obvious conclusion, but the development team don’t actually want those two to attack one another. Since the Squid Sisters have their own talents and abilities, even though they are a duo they are also kind of rivals, so we thought we would pit them against each other. Off the Hook, though, are much more of a unit and on good terms with one another, so we didn’t want to force them to fight.

5. Marina has a photo of pearl as her desktop wallpaper. the framing of the photo very much looks romantic and intimate. there is no heterosexual explanation for this

i'll stop here, there's definitely more and I don't wanna be here for hours. I haven't even touched on any in game dialogue. again guys feel free to make additions to this with sources. is there a pearlina masterdoc or something LOL i feel like thats something that deserves to exist (someone please make it because i wont)

[cod-dump]

*paws at* bruv need more GazKönig, please, I will give you two potato, no three potato

Letters (part 1)

GazKönig

(Part 2 here)

___

If he pointed it out to Gaz that he noticed the box while laying on the floor, it'll be moved if it truly was anything worth hiding. So he kept quiet, laughing as Gaz lightly kicked his side for laughing in the middle of the floor.

Soap snoops, it's his thing really. He's nosy, too curious for his own good. Finding a secret box hidden under Gaz's bed, pressed all the way back against the wall? Well hidden behind shoes, boxes of personal items. Soap wouldn't have noticed if it sat with the rest, but so far away? Oh he wanted to look.

They were friends, Gaz knows what Soap gets into. And despite what people thought he was damn good at keeping secrets. He's Ghost's walking diary by this point and Gaz hasn't gotten a word out of him. And no one has gotten anything about Gaz out of him. So why not add a few more secrets to the arsenal? It couldn't hurt!

So, Soap waited.

Gaz eventually having to tend to his duties and Soap using Ghost's soft spot as an opportunity to snoop. He grinned, teased Ghost a moment knowing he was in a good mood, and left to slack on his duties just for a minute or two. Really, it shouldn't take that long.

The biggest challenge was reaching the box. Moving stuff out of the way and squeezing under the bed to grab it. And, of course, banging his head on the frame while wiggling out. The works.

"Stupid fucking bed-," It's the bed's fault.

Soap got over the ache and looked to the cheap shoe box now sitting in front of him. It looked like someone threw it away before fishing it back out to reuse it. Crumpled in some points before being smoothed back out. Whatever was in it needed to be hid and Gaz clearly hadn't intended on it.

Oh this was already good.

"Oh Kyle, my sweet Kyle, what secrets do you have for me today?"

A cliché comedy would've had Gaz walking by the door in that moment, overhearing Soap's unneeded spoken dialogue before bursting in to stop him. But, that didn't happen. Soap was able to open the lid, uninterrupted, and he found-

"Letters? Oh! Love letters!"

Soap couldn't help but cackle. Gaz is seeing someone? And he never told Soap? He felt the need to be hurt and upset that his friend would keep something like that from him... he will after reading a singular letter. The oldest one in the box, dated only last year. A recent thing?

Soap carefully unfolds the letter, it wasn't even in a envelope but rather folded up like those fancy letters in period movies. Except the handwriting wasn't as fancy. Soap reads the first line, grinning madly.

"I'm surprised to be writing this but I greatly enjoyed our time together."

The handwriting certainly wasn't anything special. Not horrible, Soap's was worse. But it was... familiar? Soap has seen this handwriting before but not recently. He vaguely could remember seeing it somewhere. It was work related definitely. Was Gaz seeing someone in the SAS? Why keep that a secret?

Soap read more, finding the letter lacking anything juicy other than the mysterious sender expressing their enjoyment of Gaz's couple, the feelings of the night they spent together (nothing indicated they slept together much to Soap's disappointment), the food they had, the usual boring stuff of first dates. The next line got his attention right as he was starting to lose interest.

"I was surprised you approached after you learned who I was considering we're not always friendly."

Gaz could be flirty, people tend to overlook that considering he's not as bold as Soap. Him approaching anyone wasn't the shock, but the fact that this person was surprised he did? Is he seeing an operator?

Suddenly that one letter turned into twelve, that twelve turing into thirty.

Soap searched and searched for a name but none popped up. Who was Gaz seeing?All that Soap gathered from the letters? Gaz was seeing a man, most likely an operator of a PMC (a high ranking one at that), and English wasn't his first language... which basically gave Soap shit. But, there was one more letter remaining.

The lastest letter (last fucking week) was plain out horny in response to whatever Gaz sent. Soap almost couldn't read it all considering they were talking about Gaz, his friend. But the letter gave him something, a start in his heart resembling hope. A small crown doodled at the bottom, the letter 'K' boldly drawn over it with dumb little hearts around it.

Gaz doodled it, thinking about the sender of the unsigned letters. His mistake because Soap could feel the gears turning.

"No fucking way in hell-"

Of course at that moment is when Gaz barged in. Ghost had to have said something considering his eyes were on fire. He saw the box of letters opened and Soap holding the one he doodled on. He was mortified and Soap barely had any time to react before he lunged forward. The box was snatched rather gracefully before Soap was shoved to the floor, the letter in his hands grabbed while he was stunned.

Soap just stared at Gaz as the man tried to find the words to yell at him for invading his privacy. Words went in one ear and out the other. He just couldn't comprehend Gaz of all people sleeping with someone in an opposing PMC who are only friends when they're being paid to be.

"You're shagging a merc!"

Gaz's face was on fire, "At least he's not our superior officer."

Soap gasped, "You fucking did not just say that!"

Gaz's face was still red as he stuffed the letters back in the box, holding it protectively against his chest. Soap waved his hand at it, struggling a moment to find the words to express his genuine shock over what he had read.

"You've been seeing someone over a year and you never told me anything!?"

"It wasn't an option! You would've asked too many questions!"

"Who the fuck is it!? Do I know them? Who are they working for?"

"TOO MANY QUESTIONS!"

Soap stood up, Gaz turning his body to shield the box. He was honestly starting to look panicked by it all. So Soap stepped back and held his hands up.

"I... am sorry. I shouldn't have snooped."

Gaz glared but said nothing. Soap stepped around him, Gaz turning to keep facing him. With the door to his back, Soap continued.

"Let's take a breather. This is definitely being revisited later, privately. For now... I have drills."

Soap delayed a moment, waiting to see what Gaz would do. He did nothing, just glared while clutching his box. So Soap left, rather quickly. Darting down the hall just in case Gaz decided to chase him down and beat his ass for this serious transgression.

But Soap won't say a word. He'll let Gaz come clean about it all, hopefully before the secret identity of his lover came to light in other ways.

Soap really hopes it's not who he thinks it is.

___

[chlorinecake]

Hey can you make something like "kissing I hope they catch us " but for a black reader please?

Hot Cocoa Kisses —⊹ N.RK (西村力) ☕️

Pairing… ₊˚⊹ ᰔ boyfriend!riki x girlfriend!reader

Warnings… ₊˚⊹ slightly heated make-out session, teasing, pet names, fluff, rushed

Words… ₊˚⊹ ᰔ 867 -> “Your lips taste like hot cocoa”

It was a chilly winter day when you and your boyfriend Riki sat in the living room together.

Cradled in the fluffiest blankets you two could find, you sat in between Riki’s legs on the couch, reading a manga he received as a Christmas gift out loud as he braided a tiny section of your hair. Not to style it, of course, but just out of pure endearment for you.

“So what’s happening now?” Riki asked, mostly focused on carefully overlapping the three strands of hair he was working on.

“Hmm… I actually stopped reading the words a few pages ago. The illustrations alone are much more interesting in my opinion,” you replied, just as he kissed the center of your scalp, letting you know that he was done playing with your hair.

“Let me see,” he said, taking the comic from your hands to examine it for himself. “Yeahhh… the dialogue is pretty impressive, actually. No wonder a little baby like you only wants to look at the pictures though,” he giggled, tickling the spot beneath your jawline before getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

You weren’t ready to leave the warmth of the cozy couch yet, but you understood that Riki wanted one more thing before y’all continued to spend this lovely winter evening together: Hot cocoa.

Your arms found Riki’s waist as he reached for the top cabinet, grabbing the box of hot cocoa mix from the top shelf.

“Almost forgot about these,” he said, pulling down mini marshmallows next.

You put yourself in charge of warming the milk for your drinks, followed by stirring the cocoa mix into your mugs and then waiting for it to cool.

“Are they finished, yet? It’s not like we’re making “cold cocoa” anyways,” Riki sighed, leaning over the counter on his elbows.

“Well if we add the marshmallows now, they’re just gonna melt again, see?” You said, grabbing one of the cups to take a sip, “I mean, it’s not as hot anymore, though, if you’re just tired of waiting.”

Upon saying that, Riki just stared at you for much longer than necessary, holding back a smile as his eyes glittered with amusement.

“W-what?” You asked, poking him on the shoulder which only made him laugh out loud this time.

“It’s the braid you did, isn’t it?,” you continued with a pout. He shook his head at your words, walking up to you and taking your face in one of his hands, swiping some moisture from your upper lip with his thumb before tasting it himself.

“You had a milk mustache, silly,” he smiled softly, eyes not leaving your lips as he licked his own, leaning in with a soft kiss.

Humming into the embrace, a smile creeped upon Riki's face as your hand found his neck, supporting yourself against the counter for him to only pull you closer.

“Riki~,” you mumbled while disconnecting your lips, “where’d all that come from?” you asked, still in a daze as you felt heat rush to your face.

He bit his lower lip, looking you up and down through hooded eyes as his hands rested on either side of the countertop, caging you in before his intimidating frame.

“Nowhere,” he smirked, pecking you one last time on the corner of your mouth before continuing, “your lips taste like hot cocoa and I just couldn’t resist.”

Playfully smacking your boyfriend’s chest, he released you from his arm cage, watching as you went back to the other counter, shaking marshmallows in both your mugs before sealing the bag closed.

He took so much delight in seeing how flustered you appeared now. You even fumbled with your fingers as you tried closing the bag all thanks to his actions.

“Are you sure you don’t want something cold to drink instead? You seem warm all of a sudden,” he teased, wiping the spilled remnants of sugary mix from the countertop with a napkin.

“Do I? Maybe it’s because you keep looking at me like this,” you teased back, dramatically reenacting the way he looked at you earlier, biting your lip to seal the deal.

He laughed with his entire body, leaning over the counter as soft giggles rumbled from his body. But then, his cocky side returned.

“Is that the only thing I did that got you flustered, or is there more?” He asked, voice deepening slightly as his piercing gaze scanned you once again.

“Hmm… well… you also touched me like this,” you said, cupping his face in your hands, “and then I nearly fainted when you kissed me like there was no tomorrow!”

“No tomorrow, huh? That sounds romantic,” he smirked, trying to mask how giddy you were making him feel in this moment even though the pink hue staining his cheeks and ears made it impossible to hide.

“That’s because it was romantic, Riki,” you smiled lovingly, kissing your finger and placing it on his rosy nose before walking back to the living room, warm mugs in both your hands as you returned to your seats on the cozy couch.

The same place you knew Riki would eventually start to kiss you again the moment you sat your cup down.

❆ Thank you for reading this quick little fic, and special thanks to my bbygirl for requesting this !!

❆ Feel free to check out more cute and fun reads like this at the pinned post on my blog :3

❆ Taglist: @squoxle @ashgonedash @nikisdubblchococake @yourmomscuntis2tighy @watamotee33 @noodlesimp @microwvdstrawb3rri3s @star-yawnznn

[nabi-unveiled]

Nabi Notices (June 4, 2025)

We have a slew of BL stuff airing, but I'm not fixating on anything. Which means...I'm treating shows like a buffet. Basically sampling everything. I'm not admitting how many different shows I watched this week. But suffice it to say -> I'm taking full advantage of the buffet which means I'm probably gorging myself more than I should.

The Things I Noticed This Week:

Fabulous Fit

The looks that caught my attention this week were not full outfits but rings and necklaces.

The Next Prince

I'm intrigued by this necklace that Paytai wears. It's a bit hard to tell, but it might be a green rose which are symbols of the cobra clan. I really need a better shot of it to be sure though.

Did Ramil give it to him? If so, is it a version of a day collar? Or is it more like the other gifted necklaces we see in BLs. Because a lot of information about their dynamic could be hiding in that necklace.

Also in the category of "Does this mean anything", choir boy Jay not only starting sporting a ring after he started getting close to our hidden prince. He started wearing a necklace too. One with a ring style pendant (although it seems too small to be a ring).

Trapped in Osaka

And the necklace that's actually about "fit" rather than symbolism. I didn't realize a man wearing pearls would be a big deal for me. But now I know that I like it. I like it a lot.

Fascinating Find

I'm breaking my rules and repeating a show (and rehashing a post). I haven't researched a lot of new stuff this week. But this throw away line in The Next Prince triggered a bit of research about the cost of ambulances in different places around the world. I'm truly glad for all of you who get free or low-cost ambulance rides. That's wonderful. But I'd be giving the same look as Jay if someone asked me this question. Speaking from experience, those rides are expensive here.

Fantastic Frame

I'm cheating this week in this category too. I'm choosing scenes rather than frames.

The Untamed

I've made it to episode 10, and there are numerous beautiful frames. But I particularly enjoyed this scene. There's symbolism with the rabbits and multiple levels of underlying meaning to the dialogue. And I appreciated the framing too with a noticeable separation between Wei Wu Xian and the siblings. We already know that something bad goes down in the future to wreck this picture of harmony. They may be dressed the same. They may be representing the same clan. They may be enjoying their time together, but there's still a distance between them.

Followed by Lan Wang Ji looking up to say farewell. We know he wasn't just saying farewell to the rabbits.

Knock Out

Just like the other one, this is more about the scene than any particular frame.

I appreciate the chemistry between this pair, but they also keep subverting the norm. Keen is upset about the ex calling and interrupting what was a really good time, but he doesn't pitch an absolute hissy fix. And Than chooses to let Keen have his feelings while still showing that he's there for him. The hard moments are the test of a relationship, and I loved how this was handled. For a show that features boxing and some darker themes, this pair has been much softer than I anticipated.

Fun Flourish

Reset matching Armin's outfit to the poster in his room was a great detail. The movie Rebel Without A Cause has a lot of symbolism for Armin. There are so many potential quotes and parallels that could apply. It'll be fun to see exactly which ones are relevant as the show progresses.

I loved The Little Prince cake in Moon and Dust. Honestly, this show is probably my favorite thing I watched this week. References to the Little Prince already get me, but this one was even a bigger grab than normal. Enough so that it triggered a reread. After all, if we're going to have dialogue references (which we already have) and use it symbolically, I don't want to miss any of the connections. I'm almost certain big bro is our rose and there are so many delightful implications in that. Plus, the imp is majorly unhinged. I'm here for it.

Favorite Fragment

It should not come as any surprise that my favorite dialogue segment this week was the one between Kenta and Kim in Pit Babe 2. Like many people, I live for the crumbs. Would I even be watching it if this pair wasn't in the show this season? Maybe, but I make no promises.

The delivery of this line just worked. Just a simple statement of fact to show Kenta's resignation that he is unlovable 😭 and Kim's disbelief to remind us that he really did grow up in a completely different environment.

Feral Fan

The special category that only comes out every so often when a moment either just really shocks me or causes a very very strong reaction from me. And this week there were TWO. I appreciate my mutuals that let me hash out all of my thoughts on these scenes.

The Next Prince - There's an essay here.

My Stubborn - I enjoyed this lift. I also really expected them to cut away, but...they never did.

People have had very different takes on both of these scenes. But regardless of whether you loved it or hated it, it had an impact.

My Queue for the Coming Week:

As always, this is up to whim and fancy. I'm going to watch a lot of things that are NOT on this list. But here's the ones that I'm fairly certain I'll watch.

Moon and Dust (Ep 3)

My Stubborn (Ep 8)

Two Husbands, One Wife (Ep 9)

The Untamed (at least a few more)

LFLS -> Finishing up Ep 6

[comically-callous]

Hey! Can I request a Willy Wonka x reader? I don’t know if you’ve ever read the Anne of green gables series but there’s a dialogue where Anne tells Gilbert “I don't want sunbursts or marble halls, I just want you.” and if you can, can you put that in with fem reader saying this to Wonka when he’s worried he won’t be able to make it big from just starting out and providing for them with all his setbacks and of course it’s all fluff and soft?

"Yes anon." The fanfic writers all say in unison.

Willy Wonka x gn!Reader (Wonka 2023)

A/n: Since Valentine's day is coming up, I sort of made this post themed around that. My requests are open 🤠

Willy had been very self conscious lately. Which was not something he was very used to feeling.

It all started one day when he'd overheard a couple men having a conversation on the street. They were talking about the lavish gifts they planned to give their wives for Valentine's day. Diamond rings, expensive dinners, personalized portraits, on and on.

Before then, he'd had no problem with his plan of giving you flowers, chocolate, and a card. But, now? That felt like nothing compared to what other guys were doing for their significant others.

His insecurity grew from there. His chocolate business had only just started out, but he felt like he wasn't making enough money. That's why he couldn't get you a fancy gift. And if he couldn't get you a fancy gift then how would he ever be able to even support you? You'd never want to marry him if he couldn't support you.

His insecurities snowballed until he was absolutely dreading February 14.

The day arrived and saying Willy was nervous to see you was an understatement.

The two of you had agreed to meet at your house. He knocked on the door, his heart racing and his hands feeling a bit sweaty. When you opened the door he swallowed nervously.

You smiled at him sweetly. "Hi, Willy!" You wrapped your arms around him in a hug and he relaxed a bit. "Happy Valentine's day!"

"Yeah, happy Valentine's day."

You pulled back from the hug and led him inside. "Can I give you your gift first?" You asked excitedly.

"Uh- Sure. Yeah." He sat at your kitchen table and watched as you left the room, seemingly to retrieve the gift.

"Close your eyes." You instructed. He did as you asked. After a moment he felt your presence behind him as you put your arms over his shoulders to hold something in front of him.

"Now open."

He opened his eyes.

In front of him was a framed picture. It was his favorite picture of the two of you. When it had been taken, Willy insisted that you kept it.

"I made the frame myself." You said with a proud smile. "Turn it around." He flipped the frame to see a heartfelt love poem on the back.

"This is amazing." He gushed, smiling as you sat next to him at the table. "Thank you." He pecked your cheek and you giggled.

The sweet moment was soured a bit when he realized he had to give you your gift now.

He handed you the bag your gift was in mumbling a quick "It's not much." as you eagerly looked inside.

First, you pulled out the chocolates. They were in a heart shaped box with a card attached.

You read the card before opening the box of chocolate.

"About half of them are your favorites, and the other half are ones I think you'd really enjoy." He says as you popped one into your mouth and let out a satisfied hum.

"I'm sure I'll love them all." You said as you reached into the bag and pulled out the bouquet he'd gotten you.

"I grew those for you."

"You grew these for me?" You repeated, astonished he'd put in that much work for you. "Willy, I love them!"

"You don't have to say that." He shakes his head.

You tilt your head, confused. You gently put the flowers on the table with your chocolates. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to pretend you love the gift." He shrugged. "I know you've probably gotten flowers and chocolate dozens of times before, and I know it's not extravagant or-"

"Willy." You say his name softly. He gives his attention to you. "Why would I not love this gift? You made me my favorite chocolate! You grew me flowers! That's so romantic!"

"But..." He trailed off, looking away nervously.

"But, what?" You asked.

He paused. "It's not expensive, or fancy, or... Any of that stuff."

"Why would I care about that?"

"Because-" He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "Because if I can't even give you a nice gift how am I supposed to buy you a wedding ring, or a house, or pay rent? How am I supposed to take care of you?"

You blinked. You couldn't believe what you were hearing. You'd never heard him be this distressed over anything.

After a moment, you gently cup his cheek with your hand. He gazes at you with his big, brown eyes that are wet with tears and it breaks your heart a bit. "Willy... I don't want sunbursts," you say. "I don't want marble halls," you continue. "I don't want diamonds, or pearls, or any of that!" You pause. "I just want you."

Willy's speechless. He stares at you for a moment and then his lips crash into yours.

The two of you share a sweet kiss for a long moment until you break away. "I love you, okay?" You assure him softly.

He nods, a small smile on his lips. "Okay." He says. "I love you too."

[fraeuleintaka]

AAIC Gameplay Video (Switch)

This is the 56th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 25 days left until release!

Today's topic: some Gameplay footage from the Switch version of the collection!

Along with all the new information and previews there have also been two gameplay videos of the Investigations Collection released, one for the Switch (which today's post focuses on) and one for PS5, showing some initial parts of the first cases of both games in the collection. Of course, the gameplay is the same as it was for the DS versions, it's still fundamentally the same games after all, but there are some neat things to be discovered in these videos anyway.

First of all, we get a look at the title screen and main menu of the collection and - WOW! - is that main menu music aka the Investigations Collection theme an absolute banger! I love it! Especially the initial few seconds when it kicks in, so hype! It's gonna feel so amazing just to start up this game every time!

The title screen and main menu look amazing as well, of course. The design is so fancy and elegant! I especially love the prominent logo, the courtroom background (taken from Investigations 1) and the way the selected option is highlighted. That burgundy-coloured box with the gold framing is peak Miles Edgeworth!

Continuing to the title selection screen we see that the fanciness doesn't stop there. The two screens for the two games have similarly prominent logos and also specific backgrounds to them. The courtroom background, viewed from a little bit higher up, for Investigations 1 and the PIC meeting room background for Investigations 2. Very fancy and gives the two games a very different atmosphere already only from the title screens. I also love the arrows for switching between titles, they're black with a similar gold framing to the highlighted boxes and it fits perfectly! They really just went and coloured everything after Miles' own outfit and preference 😄 So not complaining, it's brilliant!

During the shown gameplay we also already get to see two of the many accolades that are in the game: "Doing Things My Way" (awesome name) for using Logic for the first time and "Checkmate" (very fitting) for successfully completing the first Mind Chess segment. Here you can also see that the phrase appearing on screen when finishing Mind Chess is "Checkmate" (instead of "Complete" like in the fan translation). I really like this change, it's much more specific and fancy this way.

Speaking of translation changes, since we see some gameplay from Investigations 2's first case we also get a more continuous impression of how the official translation compares to the fan translation. I don't have many screenshots of this part of the game with the fan translation on hand and don't remember all the lines specifically so I'm not going to do a direct line-to-line comparison between the two versions but I can definitely say that I like what I see from the official translation! The lines and dialogues flow naturally and there are already some wonderfully phrased moments from just this short amount of story alone! As you can see from the screenshot above, they definitely carried over how hilarious some of the wrong answers in Mind Chess could be 😄 Maybe they even added unique dialogue when picking them? I doubt it but I still hope.

One phrase that stood out to me in particular was this one for when Miles finally checkmates Nicole (Tabby Lloyd). It sounds so badass and poetic! 200% how Miles would phrase this and I love it. I don't remember how the fan translation did this line but I doubt they beat this one. This makes me even more excited to see how the rest of the official translation stacks up! Maybe we'll lose some amazing lines, and I'll be sad about that, but, judging from this, we'll definitely get some new ones, too.

Another moment I loved, and actually laughed out loud at, is this one for when Miles talks to Payne about the chief prosecutor (who he's referring to in his thoughts). Just that singular little "Rude..." at the end there is a-ma-zing especially coming from Miles! 😄 Gah, I'm so excited to play this already!!

[orchid-mantis-petals]

WHEN HOME BECOMES YOU CHAPTER 9

/ Well Hi!! Heyo!! Soooo..I may or may not have been hit with a wall of inspiration. I also may or may not have cranked out the entirety of chapter 9 for you..Whoops??

/ Anywho..Shes done, unlike a lot of the other chapter this one has a TON of dialogue which was incredibly fun to create for all of you.

/ My usual thanks go to @maximumkillshot for helping me do the segment with Lix and Minho. and @taeminsung, I LOVE your live comments as you text me..hehe

/ I will stop gabbin here we go!!

/ Genre: angst, fluff, comfort, MORE cuddles

/ Warnings: Talks of DV, Family history, talks of injury, Lee Know is kinda mean, Felix and Reader cry, and Swearing.

/ Summary:

Your conversation with her was brief before she paged forward Himora, the old friend of Ivory. He was tall, fair skinned, with neat slicked back hair. His attire was not  far off from a classic 70’s suit and tie detective in an older tv show. Something about it looked and felt familiar. All those years you’d been plopped in front of a tv watching those cheesy cop shows caught up to you now.

When you woke the next morning you weren’t sure what you expected. The night before flooded back with eased disregard for your own mental wellbeing. Just the idea of sitting up from your plush bed was terrible. It was only when said bed lifted and relaxed under you that you thought to make a move. Slowly with caution you turned to find your head was rested against Changbin’s chest. You remembered having asked him to stay with you, sleep beside you. A nightmare startled you both awake. It was rare you wanted company in your bed. Rarer you’d cling to them. You distinctly remember having fallen asleep with your hand in his. This..wasn’t how you fell asleep. With your legs tangled into his hand still clasped together beside your head that rested just below his pecs. It explained why your bed had felt as though it was breathing under you..Because it literally was. Changbin groaned above you as he blinked his eyes open. You allowed him a moment to scan the room. To give himself the chance to remember where he was. When he did he looked down at you his eyes sparkled to have found you cuddled up against him.

“Good morning Whimsy,”

“Morning,” you smiled back before you sat up. You laughed when he protested you getting up but he didn’t stop you. “Come on sleepy head, you have NIZI,” he groaned once more before he followed you out of the bed. You didn’t have any clothes to offer him. To which you apologized for. He waved you off and headed downstairs to let you get ready for the day. As you looked through your closet then down at your phone. The boys had a photo shoot later in the day one you would attend to keep them safe across the sets. While JYP always did his best to have areas blocked for his artists you never know what could happen. You had a feeling after going to the police station you’d go straight to work. With your uniform on you joined Changbin downstairs. He was settled in your kitchen as he whipped up a quick meal for you both. Quietly you stood beside him to watch as he took what very little you had in your kitchen into a meal. It wasn’t much but you loved every second of it. You allowed your eyes to wander his frame as he mixed the yogurt and granola in one of your smaller mixing bowls. It was there you spied the scratches over his wrist. Slowly your hand reached to clasped over his hand to pull the wrist toward you. “I’m so sorry. Changbin..”

“Oh, Whimsy. This is nothing compared to your hands. Barely noticeable. Don’t worry about me,” the hand you took moved from your fingers to caress your cheek. His thumb rubbed over the apple of your cheek. You turned your face into it and sighed softly before he moved away to finish breakfast. “You never meant to hurt me. Are you ready??”

“Almost,” you moved away from the kitchen to the stack of boxes. Hidden at the very bottom of the small stack was a box that didn’t quite fit in with the rest. Gently you pulled it free from the rest. It was a filing box, the contents from within heavy..Filled with the details of your life in America. You set it aside on the kitchen counter as Changbin handed you a bowl filled with your parfait. “Ready, come on Bin. I don’t want you late,” he laughed as he followed you out the door with his own bowl in hand. In the car he let you pick the music he laughed when some of their music came on. “What?? You think after a month of being your security I wouldn’t have your music on my playlist,”

“Nah, I just. I wasn’t sure what songs of ours you liked. I haven’t heard your taste in music yet,” you smiled as you fed yourself the breakfast he made you sighing happily at the taste.

“Thank you Changbin. I really needed the company last night,”

“All you ever have to do is ask Whimsy. I’ll come everytime, so will the rest,”

“Not all of them,” you both chuckled at that.

“You’ll win them over Whimsy. Those two knuckleheads just need time,” you watched as he pulled into the drive of the Danceracha house and parked to let you out. “Hey, Y/N??”

“Yeah Bin??” You turned to look at him, his eyes soft the minute you met them. For once you didn’t flinch as he reached out to caress your cheek.

“I like it when you call me that. Be safe today, I’ll see you later,” unknowingly you leaned into his gentle touch. Your eyes fluttered closer a moment before you nodded.

“I will. Thank you Binnie,” without anything further you slipped from the car face slightly red with the blush on your cheeks. Before you could even knock on the front door Felix flung it open to greet you. He took the box from your hands and set it aside to hug you. “Good Morning Lixie,”

“Starlight!! Did you sleep well??” You nodded as you stepped into the threshold. “I won’t take long. Promise we’ll go in just a minute,”just beyond Felix you saw Lee Know in the kitchen threshold he regarded you with a Curt nod before he disappeared inward.

“Where are you two going??” He asked, you noticed the sharp lift in his tone. As though the only reason he asked was to make sure Felix would be safe. You didn’t want to lie to him. It was easy to see you were on thin ice with him. So you spoke the truth as Felix shuffled his shoes on.

“The police station,”

“Why??” He now stood in front of you, his steps fast as he too began to put on shoes.

“To file a report on someone. I take it you’re coming,”

“I’m driving,” he grumbled as he took the keys from the bowl at the door and stepped out ahead of you and the young blonde.

“Sorry Starlight he’s..”

“Protective, I get it,” you reached for the box Felix set aside but he beat you to it and carried it out the door you followed with a shake of your head. The car ride to the designated police station was quiet. You wondered if it had been just you and Felix if maybe the two of you would chat away. But with Lee Know at the helm you felt uncomfortable to speak out. And Felix must have understood that as he fiddled with his phone in the passenger seat.

“Do you want me to go in with you??” He broke the silence as Lee Know parked the car at the station.

“No..please..ah..” you stumbled over your words, you weren’t ready for him to see you fall apart in the ways at which you knew you would in front of this detective. “Can you wait for me outside?? I-I won’t be long,” both boys nodded as you slipped out of the car, your box in hand as you went. Your steps were slow and hesitant as you walked in the front door. It was different from a police station you had gone to in America. Much more clean and organized the front receptionist was alert and receptive of your arrival. Your conversation with her was brief before she paged forward Himora, the old friend of Ivory. He was tall, fair skinned, with neat slicked back hair. His attire was not far off from a classic 70’s suit and tie detective in an older tv show. Something about it looked and felt familiar. All those years you’d been plopped in front of a tv watching those cheesy cop shows caught up to you now. You were thankful to find his office was closed off from the prying ears of others, he was even kind enough to shut the door behind himself before he joined you in a seat across from you. Your box on the floor beside your feet.

“I was surprised to hear from Ivory. But then again when one of her own is in danger she’s quick to act. Y/N was it??”

“Yeah..”

“She shared a little of our situation but left most of the details out. She wanted you to tell me,” you couldn’t bring yourself to look up, to look him in the eyes. Part of you wished you had let Felix join you in this. But you weren’t ready for the younger to hear this story yet. You weren’t even ready for this detective to hear it. “Look, I’m not here to force you into telling me what’s wrong. I just need the basics so I can begin your file and create a protective order if it is needed,”

“It’s needed,” you sighed the inside of your lower lip now raw from anxiety. “All of it..the last five years, is here. In this box. My entire life for all it’s worth rests in your hands now,” you reached down for the box and gifted it to him with a gentle push across the wooden coffee table. “It has all my hospital records, pictures, police reports. I-I think there’s even some old journals I kept. I documented everything..He’s..He’s trying to find me..and he will kill someone if he doesn’t..”

“If I file a protective order you know it will reveal your location right??”

“Will it keep him from hurting those I care about??”

“I can’t guarantee that. But I’ll do my damned best to try,” you nodded, eyes watering at the idea of him finally having an idea of where you were. All those months he’d tried to find you, it would fall into his hands with ease. But..when you thought about Felix, when you thought of the boys. How much they wanted you in their lives, their desire to make you part of their family. It was an easy decision, because it protected them. And you hoped it would protect you. “Do you have any family I need to add to the protective order??” Himora sat forward with pen and pad in hand ready to write names down.

“What do you consider family??” You sniffled as you blinked away the tears.

“Ideally blood related. But if you fear the safety of others I can take those names down,”

“I haven’t spoken to my family in five years. Not since..” you paused at the thought. It had been so long since they drove you away. But you didn’t have to wonder why, you knew what it was that cast you out. “Not since my elder sister died. The golden child, we were in a car accident. She died on impact. Because I survived, my family blamed me. So I was disowned. I doubt they’ll take the protection. They always liked Logan. Despite knowing what he had done to me they always adored him,” through it Himora only nodded he listened intently to you speak your truth to him.

“Aside from them is there..”

“Stray Kids..the members of the band..I work for them. But we’ve become close. We’re becoming close. As well as Axel and Ivory,” there was no hesitation in your voice as you spoke, you even interrupted Himora. You watched as he wrote it all down every bit of it. Afterward he closed the pad and set it aside.

“Y/N you are always safe here. I want you to take my card and have my phone number. Any information you want to give. Even if it feels meaningless to you, tell me. I can also offer counseling services for what you’ve been through. But I won’t force you. Give me a few days to pour over your files. When I have your number I’ll let you know the next steps,” you nodded slowly before you stood from your seat to shake his hand. “It takes courage to do this. I will protect you and the rest with all the power I have,”

“Thank you,” your voice has no strength left. You were quiet as Himora walked you to the front to make sure you made it to the car safely, his card tucked neatly into your pants pockets.

**** **** **** ****

Every so often Felix found himself pressing two fingers to the pulse point in his wrist. A random habit he picked up when he was younger to curb his anxiety.

“Talk to me Lixie. What’s going on in your head??”

“I am just worried about Starlight, you know??”

“No, not really,” Felix sighed, he knew that his Hyung didn’t like their new friend but he couldn’t figure out why. It nagged at him with every scoff and huff Minho let out when you got any kind of attention from the rest. Seungmin admitted he wasn’t sure of you yet due to the lack of quality time he had with you. Even made a snide remark of ‘its hard to like someone when others monopolize their time,’

“You know..With someone who is the second oldest of our team, your approach to this is rather childish. Does it really bother you that someone gets the opportunity to protect us AND get along with us?? Or does that job solely belong to Mister Lee Minho,”

“I know you did not just full name me..” he laughed beside Felix, the younger turned and bowed in his seat.

“I mean you are my elder,” the response back was a playful shove back into his seat from Minho.

“Alright enough out of you. Truthfully Lix, I want to like her. But I am having a hard time when she continues to ask us for trust but then hides from us,”

“See Hyung, was that really so hard to tell me?? Oh look!! The sky didn’t fall,” they both laughed, their usual deep belly deep laughter. With it Felix’s anxiety was swept away with the wind. “You aren’t patient. But with Starlight we have to be,”

“I’ll try harder Lix, but only for you,” it wasn’t long after the back door opened and you slid into your seat in the middle. Felix lit up at your presence, his entire being turned to take you in.

“Hey there, how did it go??” he asked calmly as he reached into the back to wipe away some of the tears left on your cheeks.

“I..I think it went well..” There was silence from the oldest in the car before a heavy sigh left his body. Felix braced for impact of what his Hyung might say to you.

“Good, it’s hard to see you stressed out. It upsets the others,” both you and Felix let out a collective breath you seemed to have both held when it came to what Lee Know might say. “What does this detective do?? I mean what is his specialty??” Felix lifted his brow as he looked at the man he considered his older brother. It was a look that read ‘just couldn’t help yourself could you??’ they both knew that answer, plain as the question he asked you. “What?? Was that too invasive?? I’m trying here Lix..” Lee Know snarked nose scrunched lip turned up. Your laugh broke the tension once more as you sat back in your seat and fished out a card from your pocket.

“Detective Himora is a Domestic Violence and Homicide detective,” your admittance shocked them both. Felix felt his heart stop a moment, only to begin again at a rapid pace. Sure, he had his guess as to what happened to you, even understood someone had hurt you in a cruel way. But to hear you admit it, in front of him and Lee Know. It took Minho a second before he turned to look at you.

“Wait..Someone did that to you?? Someone hit you??” you chuckled, it unsettled Fleix. This topic wasn’t something you chuckle at, yet you had. He wondered why..Who had hurt you so bad that it was almost funny to even regard.

“Hit was the least of my problems in the five years I was with him,” Felix felt tears well in his eyes, to him it was unimaginable that someone could ever hurt you. He had come to adore your presence in every moment you granted him. The Starlight beacon he wanted to shine over him with every chance given. To admit that someone tried to take that from him, to squander the open love you give, it broke his heart. He hadn’t realized he was crying until you reached over from your seat to wipe away his tears. “Oh Lixie..I’m trying to fix it I promise,”

“Fix it..You shouldn’t have to fix anything..” he sniffled as he leaned into your bandaged hand. After a moment he turned to kiss your palm. “I’m sad someone hurt you,and for so long,”

“I am making sure it can never happen again,” he nodded in your hands, slowly he took a steady breath in and out until he felt himself calm down. Beside him Lee Know was silent, his own eyes a touch red from tears that welled in the rims of his lids.

“You are so strong to have survived that Y/N. A warrior through and through,” With gentle hands Lee Know reached back to squeeze your shoulder. Felix watched as your free hand came to rest over his Hyung’s. In that moment the ice had finally broken. He could see that Lee Know had finally let go of his petty attitude toward your being in their life. After all of you calmed down the oldest finally started the car and headed toward the company building. “Thank you for trusting us Warrior,” Felix knew he was hooked now, he may not have smiled at you fully but Felix noticed the soft crinkle in the corner of his eyes as he spoke to you.

“Thank you for listening Minho,”

TAG LIST: @taeminsung @maximumkillshot @feybin @alex--awesome--22 @liknws @palindrome969 @newbbystay @highlydestiny

[metallicaislife]

Daydream Pt 3

A/N: This is the third, and final installment of Daydream❤️ -p.s. sorry it is story heavy and light dialogue. p.p.s. I cried writing this lol

Requested by: Anon

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 759

Warnings: All the feels

Daydream Daydream Pt 2

The first time I invited Y/N over to hang out with me and the guys, she panicked. She thought Kirk and Lars would be angry at her. I hadn’t told them I ran into her, I wanted to surprise them as I had been with our chance encounter. I reassured her they would not be. I knew they had missed her a lot, not quite as much as I had though. 

When she showed up, the look on their faces was priceless.

“Are you fucking real?” Kirk asked, “like are you who I think you are?” He questioned excitedly. Her laugh was heavenly. Kirk hugged her tightly.

“What are you talking abo-“ Lars started as he walked into the room before his eyes landed on her. “Y/N!” He exclaimed and hugged her. 

We cried together, and laughed, lots of laughter. We almost felt whole again. 

After that night I found any and every excuse I could to see her nearly every day. Whether we went out and did something or stayed in and watched tv. Days we couldn’t see each other we’d call and talk about everything and nothing. 

I finally told her about my crush, that I developed feelings for her shortly after we met. Cliff had started bringing her around. I was having a tough time and she took the time to listen to me. She is such a genuine and caring person I couldn’t help but fall for her. 

Months after that, she was curled up with me on the couch. My arm around her, my fingers dragging up and down her side softly as we watched a movie. I felt her gaze on me, so I turned my head, our eyes met and she had the most precious expression on her face. 

“I like you, James.” She said sweetly. My heart swelled, my lips stretched into a wide smile as she leaned up to kiss me. I’ve kissed many girls, and this simple sweet kiss has to be the best one I’ve ever had. 

The first tour I had after we started dating was hard. She couldn’t get away from work, and I understood. We talked every night. She surprised me half way through the tour by flying out for a couple nights. 

As we laid in each other’s arms, I asked her to move in with me. She happily agreed. 

“Are you sure? I’m not rushing you, or us am I?” I asked for the millionth time. 

“James, if I wasn’t ready I wouldn’t have agreed.” She scolded as she brought another box in from my truck. She paused, “unless you’re having second thoughts, then it’s too late to go back to my apartment but I can find another.” She rushed out her eyes wide. 

“No, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think that.” I said taking the box from her and setting it down. I wrapped my arms around her waist, her hands rested on my chest. “I’m more than ready, I just want to make sure you are too.” I told her softly. She smiled up at me. 

“I appreciate that. I am ready, if there was anything I wasn’t ready for, I’d have said something.” She reassured me. I smiled at her and kissed her forehead. 

We finished bringing her things in. She unpacked a little but decided she would tackle that a bit more tomorrow.

I sat on the couch with a beer. 

“Look at this.” She said, sitting next to me handing me a picture. “This was the day we met.” 

I studied the photo. She was on a couch sandwiched between Cliff and I. We were having a party the first time Cliff brought her around, and Kirk was snapping pictures. 

“I miss him.” I said, my throat closing in. 

“I miss him too.” Her voice was as wobbly as mine. 

“Let’s buy a frame for this and we’ll put it up.” I offered. 

“I’d like that a lot.” She replied, she got up to put the photo away and returned to my side. 

She weasled  her way under my arm. I chuckled holding her close.

“I love you.” She whispered softly into my chest.

 “I love you.” I told her and kissed the top of her head. 

When I met her all those years ago, I could’ve never imagined we’d end up here. Not only was she my best friend, she was the love of my life. I look forward to the many years we’ll share, and the memories we will make.

Thank you for reading! Feel free to request or chat :)

-Isa

[luffysprincess]

HI AMIRA ❤️ I’m here for the interview game!! I’d love it if you would interview my boyfriend Kisaki 🤭 we’ve been together for a couple months now!

Three things I love about myself would be….my smile for one hehe. I really love that my friends feel comfortable talking to me when seeking advice or a shoulder for comfort. And I also love that I’m willing to try new things!!

And then three things about my selfship right? First, Kisaki was the one who helped me get my ex’s stuff out my apartment; he stood by my side while the cheater tried to blame Kisaki of all people for breaking us up! Crazy right? Second, Kisaki has been showing me how to use a gun 🫣 he says it’s important I know how to defend myself since people will come after me if they know we’re together 🥺 And third….whenever we have the day together, we start off by making love and having breakfast in bed 🥰

a/n: kisaki’s dialogue is bolded for an easier reading experience

“Is there a reason why you’ve got two men standing in the corner glaring at me?” the interviewer begins.

“There would’ve been five but I sent three to watch my girl.”

“Your girl? You mean Andy, correct?”

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“She didn’t come with you today?”

“No, she was pretty tired after this morning. I decided it was best for her to sleep in.”

“What happened this morning? Is she okay?”

“Andy’s perfect. She just can’t walk and probably won’t be able to for the rest of the day.”

“Oh is this a normal occurrence?”

“No, usually our morning activities are more gentle, so to speak. But this morning, the sight I woke up to filled me with the sudden urge to completely ruin her.”

“I don’t know whether to feel bad for the girl or not.”

“Don’t worry she’s fine. This wasn’t the first time. Besides, if anyone can take it, it’s her. She was meant for me,” he grins.

“Okayyy moving on to our next question: How serious are you about your relationship with Andy?”

“As serious as the men behind me who are willing to put a gun to your head if you ask a question that stupid again.”

“Woah okay, no need to get hostile. I'm just reading the cue cards. Don’t shoot the messenger…” the interviewer mumbles the last part, “...literally.”

“Next question, I don’t have all day.”

“What has you so busy today?”

“I’ve gotta buy a new bed frame, since I broke our current one just a few hours ago.”

“Goodness– how did y– no you know what. Nevermind.”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said she’s bedridden from our morning happenings,” Kisaki smirks.

“ALRIGHT, lets move on to something less inappropriate. What’s an ideal date with your girlfriend look like?”

“Well…” Kisaki smirks again, hinting at a not so inappropriate thought. He laughs at the interviewer’s incredulous expression before he continues, “An ideal date would most likely start with the two of us getting ready for dinner together. She teases me with the new dress I bought her, and then I fuck her in it. We show up just a tad bit late, but enjoy our time there nonetheless. I may or may not fuck her again in the restrooms, depends on if we’re truly enjoying the food or not. And then we end the night enjoying some drinks on our penthouse balcony. No scratch that, we stick to the infinity pool instead. Either way, I’m having her against any surface there is. Finally, we fill the night with endless love making.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“One last question. That’s been there since you walked in here.” The interviewer points to the cube shaped protrusion in his pants. “It doesn’t look like a gun, and I know sure as hell you’re not excited to see me, so what is it?”

Pulling out the box, Kisaki answers, “This morning really confirmed a lot of things for me today. So this is your sign that the next time you see Andy, you’ll be addressing her as Mrs. Kisaki.”

[divinekangaroo]

Currently, you are my favorite fic author as I’ve probably mentioned multiple times lol. Sorry in advance if this rambles, but your writing always makes me guess and look closer and it’s nice when you can ask the author your questions:

In reading your latest, I audibly gasped when Michael thought of Tommy as a priest when he was talking about his cock under the ROBES?! Crazy. I loved it. Also Michael asking about Lizzie was insane, but it’s also insane to give your aunt who’s like a mother to you’s son a list of vetted prostitutes.

Also! The little dialogue between Tommy and Lizzie where Michael is just sitting there. I can just hear her say his name, it just charged with so much emotion and AUGH. What sort of tension were you going for in that situation? Especially with Michael wondering what Lizzie does with her money— the payout money.

And I might just be stupid and tired right now, but why does Michael seem scorned (other than the fact that he was the bottom rung) that Tommy fucked Lizzie at the office? What made him ask for Lizzie, if nothing but a power play? What does Tommy retracting the card and saying that he couldn’t afford Lizzie say about him and their relationship?

Again, thank you for writing all these fics, they bring much joy <3

@lethargicmouse Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! When I did my re-watch, I jotted notes of what was going on at every point in time and I try to keep some allusion or reference to as many moving parts in any of these fics as feasible.

And then there's the format of these little fic-bits/flash fics, too, which I love because they lend themselves to being like a little puzzle box for both writer and reader, packing so much meaning into a single sentence such that one isolated word carries weight.

On top of the attempt at canon-integration, though, I also carry a lot of headcanon into this, so pls forgive if I speak about matters as if personal headcanon is canon because it's not always...

So answering your questions/thoughts -

After being taken away from his mother by the Church, Michael was canonically sexually abused by Father Hughes. There's also a strong allusion that he was (maybe sexually but also physically/verbally) abused by his adoptive father Mr Johnson, given his adoptive mother Mrs Johnson tries to bring him back home later in S4 by informing Michael his adoptive father has died. On top of this, Michael appears to have the same kind of intelligence/metacognition/ambition Tommy has and was able to do his night business school for further learning, but was nevertheIess then stuck on the farm with the white well he wanted to blow up -- this boring, abusive presentation of the pastoral 'ideal' that comes up so often in British literature and which is always subverted in Peaky Blinders.

Into this pastoral hell walks Tommy, dripping with wealth, the trappings of class, modernity/cutting edge thinking, lying to Mrs Johnson as smooth as breathing and with no shame when she calls him on it. He doesn't exactly rescue Michael but creates a framing which is: if you want this, come and get it. And Michael does, where he then discovers the layer of violence which enthralls him - here is where he fits in, here is why he wanted to blow up that well, here is his blood.

In S2, Michael is taken into prison by Campbell in a powerplay between Campbell and Tommy. He was 100% definitely physically abused in prison and likely targetted by Campbell if not other inmates, we see that in him being beaten up. He may have been sexually abused, but this seems less likely from his reactions. But to be released from prison, it's not Tommy who does anything, it's Polly who has sex/is raped by Campbell to secure Michael's release - and Michael is told this, mockingly, by guards (power figures) who probably laugh about his whore mother. Michael reacts badly to this for many reasons, but I'd guess a part of it is shame from his own past abuse - a sense of victim blaming. He takes a long time to relate to Polly again and S2 is framed as a series of choices for him, where he decides to stay with Tommy (and Polly) out of ambition for wealth despite now knowing and experiencing the consequences (prison, rape, abuse).

S3 he rises through the ranks accordingly but also takes the fall back into prison at the end of S3.

Pre S4 timeskip, Tommy's now made good his promise to release everyone from prison/criminal conviction, but Michael's nearly died as well as suffered in prison again. In my headcanon, he's also had to listen to John expounding viciously on Tommy's behaviours and history in a less than flattering way; John is almost 100% convinced Tommy will purposely let them die so he can get on with his clean, non-criminal life, and because Tommy's desire for this seemed to increase with Grace and post-Grace, John doesn't hesitate to also slag on Tommy and his women, his use of prostitutes, his sleeping with Tatiana, his getting the cream while they get shit, his fucking of Lizzie when Lizzie was supposed to be John's wife, etc -- I also theorise Michael hadn't realised Tommy x Lizzie was going on in front of him. All stuff that Michael hasn't really thought about Tommy before. Arthur doesn't want to think Tommy's purposely abandoned them, but also thinks maybe John's right, so says nothing at all, internalising and feeling completely impotent and lost. This doesn't help Michael, as Michael is the only one sitting there with a thought of, but Tommy promised he'll save us, but he has no history to rebuff John's rancour, and as well, Michael's own belief is being rapidly eroded away.

Then Michael goes home and his mother, too, is completely (and embarrassingly for him) emotionally and mentally (and spiritually) adrift, also bitching about but conflicted about Tommy, and all that entails. Michael returns to work with Tommy because he still wants this wealth, this life that Tommy represents, and Michael still kind of respects Tommy and knows he hasn't learned enough yet, but there's also this sense that the illusion is fully shattered: Michael now looks at Tommy and what Michael sees is a very flawed man who's barely holding it together, and who takes risks (in business and personal life) and abuses his power to do so without considering the cost on others/family. (Note it's not about whether this is true or not, it's what I think Michael is seeing.)

So then we hit my flashfic with Michael back at work, but looking hard at Tommy with a very different, disillusioned and non-idealistic lens.

When Michael thought of Tommy as a priest - so Michael's first encounter with power/authority is a priest who abused his authority. Michael now has a sense that Tommy has abused his authority and created situations of sexual abuse (for Polly, maybe for Michael, and also by fucking 'his secretary' who isn't even 'Lizzie' at that point in Michael's id reaction, just someone who is not in a position to say no to her boss the way Michael couldn't say no and Polly's no wasn't heard). Let's not also think about that mythos where you 'inherit' the power of the man you kill - and Tommy was the one who had the power to give Michael the order to kill Hughes; that sense of Hughes' power/corruption transitioning to Tommy.

Michael asking about Lizzie was insane -- 1000% a gut-level power play, not actual desire for Lizzie. But also, Michael doesn't ask for Lizzie. Michael says 'What if I asked for Lizzie.' Michael is instinctively pushing a sore spot (his own, Tommy's,) trying to call Tommy on his hypocrisy and power abuses, not actually want Lizzie. And Tommy recognises this immediately.

but it’s also insane to give [your younger cousin] a list of vetted prostitutes -- not for Tommy? I wrote an earlier flashfic where Tommy's father takes them all to a brothel ridiculously young after possible abuses/sexual abuses in the Parish's care. This sense of 'you feel unmanned, come fuck a woman and feel like a man again'. Forgetting that apart from Arthur who didn't get taken away, they were...not men yet, even in the measure of the day. This is unusual (at least all in the same room) but not unheard of for working class men to set their sons or younger brothers up with whores, partially because of the sexual mores of the day regarding keeping good girls virginal until ready for marriage but men expected to have ample experience to bring to the marital bed. Tommy in the future demonstrates this with Finn, too. However, this peace offering by Tommy is instantly repulsive for Michael because 1) represents abuse of power for sex again, and 2) it represents a low class thing to do no matter how classy the whores are and is an overly simplified offer to address all the complexity Michael's feeling now about Tommy, and 3) Michael's sexual experience prior to this was with Charlotte, a rich, upperclass girl, not a prostitute. Be like Tommy but with more class? Michael sees himself sleeping with upper class women, not classy prostitutes.

Also! The little dialogue between Tommy and Lizzie where Michael is just sitting there. I can just hear her say his name, it just charged with so much emotion and AUGH. What sort of tension were you going for in that situation? So this is Lizzie doing what she genuinely was trying to do in S4 early - make Tommy speak to his family again in person and get over the current estrangement. My headcanon is Lizzie has no family of her own she connects to, and while she came into the Shelbys via John or Tommy as a sexual partner, she's fallen in love with this entire Shelby family, this sense of everyone everywhere all at once, and she just wants them all to be connected again. However, all she sees is Tommy being proud and prickly, not hurt. Tommy is very hurt, and while he is proud and prickly and won't cave in, there's a bitterness there that Lizzie doesn't see or respect. So the tension was Lizzie speaking from a place of love but also annoyance at what she sees as childish behaviour; Tommy's speaking from hurt and pride and authority to shut her down. What is also behind this, too, is that I think Tommy has withdrawn from any sexual or soft encounters with Lizzie and probably did so immediately after handing her that money at end of S3, a closure point. So she has a level of longing in her outreach which he also shuts down and will not indulge. He regretted being weak, I think, and needing to lean on her, and probably hurting her too, and is trying to build up walls against being so vulnerable, exposed, used in the many, many ways he was vulnerable and exposed in S3.

Especially with Michael wondering what Lizzie does with her money— the payout money. So this line was tying into the sexual power/sexual abuse of power layer for Michael in a few ways. There's classism: 'What's a lower class bint do with this much money' is one part of it. But more significantly, Michael witnesses Lizzie getting a wad of cash for Tommy fucking her, and then Tommy gives everyone else a wad of cash for...services rendered (Tommy fucking them, if in a different way.) So Michael is looking at that money somewhat bitterly because of what he had to lose to gain it - basically self respect and respect he might still carry for Tommy, who let Polly take it and Michael take it and his brothers take it, all tainted with this strange sexual layer due to the various abuses Michael perceives.

why does Michael seem scorned (other than the fact that he was the bottom rung) that Tommy fucked Lizzie at the office? A combination of Michael's soreness at his own blind spots, at being kept blind, and a slight disgust that Tommy was exercising that kind of authority/abuse in locations Michael now has to look at daily and be reminded of. I theorise the grand imprisonment at end of S3 struck Michael as a huge surprise; he knew dodgy busienss was happening but the extent of it -- and then the fact Michael was imprisoned for Hughes' murder, which Tommy authorised -- really stung.

What made him ask for Lizzie, if nothing but a power play?

Tommy's behaviour around Lizzie is visibly out of character, which suggests there is something there that can be exploited. He employs her in a very visible, important position when she doesn't really add much class to his outfit. She can't spell. She has no prior experience. He admits she helped him; he effectively admits he's soft because of her (heart breaking comment). Michael's lashing out at evident weaknesses, similar to what Mosley does in S5. It's also poking at the prostitution thing and the fact Lizzie was supposed to marry John and that they went to the extreme with Angel: purposeful or not, every act Tommy's taken with Lizzie so far has been to make her unavailable for other men, the huge power play piece is if you really want to reconcile with me would you make her available for me.

What does Tommy retracting the card and saying that he couldn’t afford Lizzie say about him and their relationship?

Tommy recognises Michael is sore about something but conflates it to the 'unmanning' / loss of power of being imprisoned. After all, Michael's come back to work so he can't be really sore at Tommy, acn he? So Tommy does what his father did and offers the women/whores as a way to feel like a man again. Michael's response immediately makes him realise he's misjudged why Michael is sore and that it's far bigger than that; Michael, too, is pissed off at Tommy but unlike the rest of the family, Michael is ignoring that for reasons unknown and is coming back to work. Tommy's distrust starts now: what is Michael doing and why is Michael doing it? Tommy immediately withdraws all offer of easy reconciliation from the negotiating table. XD He also uses the term 'you couldn't afford her' as a counter play: all right, Michael, let's assume Lizzie is still a purchasable sexual commodity; you, you little jumped up shit thinking you can dig at me, you couldn't come anywhere near the amount of money and prestige that I've given her. Get back in your box.

After which let's imagine Tommy promptly heads over to the Midland and fucks in a fury all of his rotation of prostitutes and keeps fucking them with widely varying levels of interest through to start of S4.

(And this doesn't really touch on the Michael-wants-Tommy / Michael-wants-to-be-Tommy / Michael-wants-to-be-better-than-Tommy themes either, but there's a strong undercurrent of that, sexualised and not, in any of my Michael & Tommy flashfics)

Thanks for your questions and the opportunity to do a mini Director's Cut! Hope it was entertaining.

.

Link to the flashfic referenced above: and not one god his fury spares

[blackjack-15]

finishing up ep 4 --

return of the love scene lighting while marcus is making the cake. they're really not subtle with how any shot is framed, which as a lighting/set direction geek i appreciate

i keep calling pete paul gosh dangit this is what i get for pirating without subs...the feds were right

pete's very slurred speech about him following carmy's career and how sugar did too? so cute. carmy has no idea how to handle praise that's directly tied to him rather than tied to his cooking directly and it's a little heartbreaking. it's not just that he doesn't have the language to express himself, he doesn't have the ability to receive it from others -- we're hitting another repression and abuse flag right there

"we spilled a whole bottle of xanax in it?" "...are they dead?" "no, just sleepin" "keep up the good work" hilarious outcome, i'm giggling like a schoolgirl carmy's relief is Palpable

"i can't be in [the Beef] five minutes before i start thinking about dark shit" "that's prolly why i like it so much" carmy i love you baby you have Got to not self-flagellate, the world does it enough to you

cicero's dream about carmy's father is another great example of the bear's ability to have a stripped down, simple scene full of dialogue with a present, dark undertone. carmy's "what happened to the kid" is so sweet and soft -- i wonder if, like a lot of youngest children, carmy has a soft spot for/always wanted a little sibling. his sadness at hearing the kid in the dream sat there waving as his father is palpable

syd learning that being rougher, not more hesitant, with tina being the way forward is wonderful, and a hugely important lesson for bother her and the viewers. people are like ingredients -- they each need to be treated in individual ways in order to bring out the best in them

"thank you jeff. chef." THERE WE GO TINA YES GIRL

"love you, bear" "love you" WE GOT AN I LOVE YOU FROM CARMY HUZZAH not quite an un-asked for i love you but close enough. he's like a skittish deer combined with a raging asshole (deer with boxing gloves for antlers?) -- you gotta let him come to you or you're gonna regret it

carmy trying to hide his laughter at pete being zonked is really cute

"sorry, pete" i'm calling it now end of S3 pete/carmy bromance bring it in

syd watching carmy in the restaurant before marcus comes in with cake....the crumbs are Delicious thank you

super solid episode all the way around -- i think ep3 had higher highs? but way lower lows, while ep4 is good all the way through

let's keep truckin halfway through s1, so the Problems are gonna start cascading p soon, methinks...

[crystalelemental]

I've actually been playing two games in parallel, depending on whether my wife is using the Switch. Final Fantasy 9 was my turn on the console, but while she's playing, I picked up Bravely Second. I'll be honest, Bravely Default was...very bad, in my estimation, to the point I consider it one of the worst games I've played. But I got both on what I considered good authority at the time that these played and felt like classic Final Fantasy games, and since I own it, I have to beat it at some point. So I've been playing through it, and have finally completed it. If finishing FF9 today was like finishing a delightful meal, finishing Bravely Second is like chasing it with a nice glass of bleach and lighter fluid.

So yeah, I did not care for this game very much! Unless you wanna stick around for me bitching for 15 paragraphs (it's actually 19, I can't believe I went over estimate), there is no reason to read further, I am just venting at this point. But if you do want to hear it, welcome aboard.

Bravely Second is, thematically, fixated primarily on second chances and the means of accomplishing them. Specifically, a big portion of the game is on the notion that you can't change the past, but you can change the future by working on the present to correct past mistakes. The final arc flows around concepts of hope and despair, the notion that nothing can change and falling into anguish and creating greater problems for yourself, or finding hope and moving forward. Conceptually, the pieces are there, and I see what they're trying to do. Bravely Second's problems, at least narratively, come from a complete lack of dramatic weight, coupled with intense cast deficiencies.

I need to talk cast to explain the failure in drama. Bravely Second's primary four suffer intensely from being genericized. I mentioned FF9, and have been playing all of the FF games (through 12) this summer, and one thing that really stands out is that, for every game, characters feel dynamic. They can have quirks and particular frames, but dialogue is varied and organic, in a way that makes them all feel alive. Bravely Second does not do this. Character dialogue is highly repetitive and pigeon-holed into particular gimmicks and tropes with little embellishment. Yew is going to go on about gravy, Edea about her sweets, Magnolia will say something in French then translate for us, and Tiz will have just the worst opinions you're likely to hear. The characters never really grow past these little boxes for themselves, and this hinders the drama.

Aside from trying to experience a profound emotion while three separate people keep unironically using the phrase "my coup de gravy," this creates situations where character developments follow expected and obvious lines. "Aha Yew, don't you see? Your family history is awful and the organization you support has done terrible things to the world, and we wish to unmake them!" This could be grounds for many directions to begin taking things, as we delve into specifics around a theme. But it's always in generic and immediate terms of "my parents died because of corruption" and "I've seen so many things you wouldn't believe." Would you care to elaborate? "No." So it's all met in equally generic terms, as all Yew has to do is go on about how yeah sure, but that's the past, and he's gonna change things going forward! Which flops ethically if you know literally anything about reform efforts or certain institutions, but this is just what happens when your narrative wants to play at being deep while wading in the kiddie pool.

I can't even say the others have relevance. I imagine Tiz and Edea are supposed to just carry over from last game, but there's no real substantial reason for their presence here. Magnolia gets hit hardest, as I can't for the life of me figure out a good reason for her, specifically, to be there. Beyond her job busting Ba'als, it's not like her presence adds much more than just "Yew's love interest." A big thing the game wants to play with is romance and not letting your feelings go unsaid, which realistically only applies to Yew toward Magnolia, but it's not like she presents with much of her own. Which...alright.

It would be one thing to leave it at just "boring concept, boring execution," but there is, unfortunately, more to the problem. Despite its focus on "you can only look forward," your party fails, the Kaiser takes Agnes back in time, and the fairy shit obliterates the moon, leaving you all in a dark, dead world. What is your solution to this? You use some magic time powers to boot New Game+ at the Kaiser fight, use the SP skill, and get your party back, changing the events of the start of the game. Ie, the past. Because yeah, it turns out you can alter the past here. Which thematically undermines the point, and dramatically reduces any tension to 0. We had potential quences to conse, but instead of sticking to your storytelling guns and having protagonists sincerely think of a way through this, you just circumvent the problem like it never happened, redo the whole world so no one died or had anything bad happen, and boom, problem solve. See? Second chances.

This inability to just live with a decision also leads to what I am now calling, without question, the single most cringe scene in any video game ever. Not even in an arguable "cringe is dead, let things be sincere" way, but in a way that's just...sad. The final boss is a literal god of the world, who is tormenting a dead soul for giggles I guess. It just wanted to mess with someone. When you interfere, your party starts winning against the true form, only for it to look directly at the camera and start talking to you. The player. Talking about how making them fight is only hurting them. Then it switches to the title screen where every input moves to delete your save data, until Yew cuts through it, producing the title of the game, now saying "Bravely Second: Send Player," with the SP taken away as a source of time power to show the proper title, "End Layer." We then have to cycle through every antagonist character talking to you, player, about how your actions saved all of them and you can surely beat this god thing, until you do. When I say "cringeworthy," I mean I actually, physically cringed. This then plays into more scenes of some third moon spirit coming around to bring your time compass where it needs to be to save Tiz and shows all the couples getting together, exactly zero of which I care about since I dislike Tiz and Ringabel, and Magnolia and Yew's romance kinda fell stale after like one chapter.

Seriously, the romance aspect sucks. Early on, I was kinda alright with it. A social faux pas had Magnolia interested in Yew from what she clearly thought was a marriage proposal, and it's clear he's taken with her too. While they have a few cute scenes early on, it kinda just...fizzles away into people telling him not to keep his feelings bottled in and to tell her, but they never do anything particularly cute after that, so there's no longer connection. Especially given, again, Magnolia brings nothing to this table aside from "is girl." Zero chemistry hetero romance strikes again.

But now we must shift gears, to possibly the worst part of this game. Throughout the first three chapters, you will get access to side-quests, where Edea specifically must resolve an ethical dilemma between two of the former asterisk holders. Each dilemma will give you the asterisk of whoever you side against. In the early dilemmas, the game just feels like it's throwing softball tosses at you, or it has a really messed up sense of ethics, because you'll get choices like "provide water to the orphans of the desert, or potentially blow up the entire continent in hopes you'll harness free energy for real this time," or "allow this man to pursue his passion career in a field he studied for and excelled in, or force him back into a dead-end job because he needs to learn the value of hard work I guess." Given that choosing the obvious decision results in some gnashing of teeth from the other side, it may be that the game has a fucked sense of ethics, but it could also be they felt they needed to present it like a legitimate dilemma, so I'll let it slide.

The worse ones are the middle ones, where the stakes are far, far lower, but the game kinda reveals it has no clue what it's talking about. One involves the performer and pirate classes. A new song from a famous old composer has come to light, and the pop start girl wants to remix it in her style, while the pirate thinks it should only be performed as is, as a ballad for the men of the sea. In ordinary circumstances, I feel both positions are fair. Different genres arranging music is a thing that happens, but some people do feel like one version reigns supreme because of its artistic merits. The game go over both sides, then hits you with the grandson confirming the grandfather wanted this song to only be in this style, dedicated to the men of the sea. And just like that, problem resolved. The ethical dilemma is no more, the creator specifically requested no alteration to this music. To do otherwise is unethical. So I sided with pirate. Only for the game to spend an insane amount of time harping on "Yeah, that gross girly pop music is so vapid and uninspired," as if (1) that isn't misogynistic as hell, and (2) the actual problem at hand. The game just completely misses the point of where ethics are.

I can't even say that's the worst one. Another is between Monk and Valkyrie. In Florem, they're making a school, but they're deciding whether it should be an all-girls school, or a co-ed school. Given the history of the place favoring women, the co-ed angle is initially posited as a sort of equality measure. Which...correct. Moreover, you can't really have school segregation without creating inequality, it's the entire problem driving private education, homeschooling, an charter schools. You kinda need to dump everyone in the same pot, or the rich will voluntarily exclude their children from the public to receive more favorable conditions to the non-rich. The ethical angle is integration for these reasons. However, the game frames the co-ed side as "students should be able to pursue romance!" This argued from a character literally named "Sweaty Tracksuit." It is so viciously disgusting on an emotional level I almost sided with segregation on principle. But I stuck with the ethical decision, and was greeted with the reveal that Sweaty over here has the hots for the lady arguing for all-girls, and felt a deep sickness in my stomach.

But don't worry! When you go back in time, you can just do these decisions over anyway! How else would you get all classes in one run? Good thing none of your choices mattered!

Ugh. I'm done with this. We have to talk mechanics.

Bravely Default, as a series, wants to emulate Final Fantasy 5. The focus on jobs, the focus on abilities and mixing and matching, they want to be FF5 so bad. But they are not FF5. They are much, much worse. Because they don't understand what made FF5 so good, and want to insert their own idea of difficulty that hinders the experience.

FF5, as a game, is fairly challenging because there are a lot of unknowns, and bosses are rough. However, with a bit of foreknowledge and some experimentation, most bosses can be trivialized without much investment. A major late-game boss, the Omniscient, can be rendered entirely impotent just by having two Reflect Rings equipped. One of the hardest bosses, skeleton dinosaur, can be instantly killed with Raise because undead. Shinryu can be Berserked, allowing Blink to just trivialized the fight. Even early game bosses like Garula can be hilariously circumvented with the right tools. Did you know it can be hit by Pond's Chorus if your Blue Mage learns it in the tower, negating its counterattacks and boosting your damage? FF5 is a difficult game, but the puzzle aspect of its boss fights is you with a ton of tools, against an opponent that will cream you if you don't put together a solid counterplay.

Bravely Second, conceptually, does not do this. Your skills are both largely unavailable, and functionally useless half the time. For example, let's say you picked up Black Mage, but you decide to keep working a different class for skills. When you shift to Black Mage in the endgame, you will find out that the only spells you can use right now are the basics. It turns out, to get the high-level -aga spells, you must grind out job level to 8, something unthinkable in FF5 if you're main is BM. Every aspect of this game involves grinding, and I will get back to complaining about that soon. But the other issue is skills are useless. One combo I hit upon in my choices was Red Mage + Ninja. Red Mage has a skill to grant 1BP when you dodge an attack, while NInja has a skill that caps evasion for six whole turns, wow! I don't think I ever dodged a boss attack. Despite maximized evasion, that didn't translate to any functional effect. Both the points I put into learning Ninjitsu, as well as the time spent getting that Red Mage skill, were meaningless. The puzzle box aspect of solving boss fights is no longer against the boss, it's against your own characters, finding out what you can get access to and what actually does anything.

This leads to grinding. Not just any grinding, mind you! Bravely Second has a system where, if you win a fight in one round, you can fight another right after, with boosted points added. The longer the streak, the better the boost, up to 3x EXP, gil, and AP. This is where the problems start. Early on, I was into this system, because it felt sane. I can farm a bit at each location before pushing on. But this stalled out in Chapter 1, when I realized nothing was as efficient as training on the high seas in the row boat. See, enemies past that point now have an assload of HP, and it is very difficult for one character to win in a single round. Comparatively, it is very easy to do so on the sea. And the level of multiplier made this unquestionably the best AP farming location. The majority of the game doesn't even offer better AP for random encounters, so it's not like single fights later on outpace this. Its bigger problem is scale. Again, FF5 has slow AP gains, but the tradeoff is that you always have your passives when you main a class, and the highest job level is 7. Bravely Second? No passives until unlocked and equipped, and hell no actives until unlocked, also there are ten levels in each class, and the scale is broken. In FF5, when you get 1-2 ABP per battle, and have a 500 ABP need for your final level, that's rough, but achievable. When you get 10 AP in Bravely Second and your seventh level costs 1500 points? You see what I'm saying?

It's not even just EXP and AP, god no. Catmancer, you Blue Mage equivalent, as well as the Confectioner, a sort of debuff-centric class, both require consumables to use their skills. Yes, their Blue Mage, not content to just track down these spells to learn from enemies by having them cast on you complete with Reflect demands, also demands you farm out resources to use them at all. "But they have a skill to search during comba-" I AM NOT DOING THAT! No one should have to do that!

This doesn't even touch on the two major combat issues. BP is everything in this game, and its management is more important than any other form of strategy. Most of the time, your solution is Defaulting to 3BP, then unloading on the enemy. I'm not going to lie, almost none of them can do anything about this. The toughest fights are the two who can. One of them can't if you know his move pattern, the other is only a problem if you continue to use Healing Mist because he'll possess your character and get like 14k HP back each round. The other is that, because of the dearth of actual skills, there's not a whole lot you actually...do. Combat is the same every time, and there's very little variance. You just find the maximum DPS number you can hit and move on with your life. My Ninja never stopped just dual-wield attacking, my Fencer never stopped stance changing, and my mage never stopped Hammer Spellcrafting for 9999 damage. Every fight, without question, went the same way. Which, again, does not fit the FF5 puzzle box mode, where switching your classes and altering your approach to suit the given battle is paramount. It's just a DPS check. It's not even that hard. Once I hit a certain point, I just turned encounters off and swept bosses until I couldn't anymore, and a quick lookup of the most efficient training grounds got me what I needed.

For my final gripe: I have been historically positive regarding turning off encounters. I do not like the random encounter system, I think it's butt when I'm trying to explore and get jumped by enemies I don't want to deal with, only to find run mechanics don't work this game. But turning everything off also yields disappointing results. I couldn't tell you anything about the dungeons in this game, and the exploration phase feels even more annoying because instead of something I'm experiencing, it's just a block to the next boss fight as I try to piece together how to get all the treasure. I do think this game has a bit of an issue where puzzles are overly complex, but even beyond that, removing random encounters entirely does remove a sense of identity from locations.

"It's optional." It's also smart. Because the game inflates HP values like fucking crazy. In random encounters, it's to prevent abuse of the multiplier, but it makes all encounters frustrating as hell. If I can't take down a random mob of three enemies with all four characters unleashing four attacks in a row, then I do not want to deal with that mob. But oddly, this also happens with bosses. While I mowed down the majority, I did notice that, without fail, my mage ran out of MP every single time, while my physical units tended to lag behind the DPS curve. I found this strange, because often, I was at the forefront of the level range recommended for the zone, and I'm only playing on Normal, so what gives? It's possible I failed to maximize DPS somehow, but I think there's another reason. See, there's a way to break the 9999 damage cap, and to sneak in extra damage and actions for free. Through your Bravely Second system. Which you accumulate up to three points of, one for every 8 human hours of gameplay, or by purchasing them with actual, literal human dollars. There are microtransactions in this game. As if things weren't bad enough, they have microtransactions, and I suspect put in some frustrations to try and sell them. It's absolutely possible to do without. I did. But good god.

*sigh* I think I'm done. God I hated this game. Bravely Default stays losing. Can you believe they tried to sequel hook this game, then had to release Bravely Default 2 with an entirely different cast? And that these initial games were so bad, that even though that one is also generic as shit with equal problems, I wound up giving it a pass for managing to be okay?

[00katrinka00]

Not A Love Story Update #21 Part 2

I'm going to add a Trigger Warning to the beginning of this part. There are a few scenes that involve violence, and some dialogue that alludes to SA.

Ainsley skidded to a halt as soon as she flung the bookstore doors open. She needed a moment to catch her breath, but between pants she asked "when did he come home?" "On Bunny Day." "Why didn't you tell me?" "He asked me not to, said we'd make it a surprise when you came home this summer."

Not knowing what else to do, AInsley just stepped forward pulling her sister into her arms. Fiona began to sob, "I don't know what's happening. He's never gone off the rails like this before." Ainsley didn't feel like telling her sister that this was completely normal for Paul, so she just held her.

"It's going to be okay," Ainsley tried to comfort Fiona. "We'll wait down here until they're done, okay." Fiona nodded before adding, "I think he hit her." Ainsley opened her mouth to respond in the same moment Garreth came skidding through the door, panting the same way Ainsley had been

"What are you doing here?" Ainsley asked. "I told you to stay at the restaurant." "I just told you I'm in love with you," Garreth replied. "I could hear the screaming through your phone. I didn't know what you were running into, of course I'd follow. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Ainsley ignored everything Garreth had just said and turned to her sister, "stay down here with Garreth, okay? I'm going to make them stop, alright." "What if he hits you too?" Fiona asked. "It's okay, I've stopped their fighting before. I can handle this, just stay with Garreth, alright?" "Okay."

After Ainsley disappeared up the stairs Garreth asked, "you still have your phone on you, yes?" Fiona nodded. "I'm not letting Ainsley walk into that alone, so I'm going upstairs, but I need you to call the police." "What if he gets in trouble?" "He hit Susanna yes?" "Yeah." "Then he'd deserve it."

When Ainsley slipped into the apartment, Paul and Susanna were still screaming at one another, it was a wonder their voices hadn't gone horse yet. "You always pull this shit!" Susanna was screaming. "Was she better than me, huh? Younger." "Get over yourself," Paul scoffed. Ainsley cleared her voice.

Paul whirled around to find his step daughter standing there, "looks like the little slut decided to pay us a visit tonight." "I'm here to tell you two to stop," Ainsley said. "Fiona's heard everything, and frankly I don't think she'll ever look at you the same way again." "She's my daughter" "And?

Paul took one step towards Ainsley in the same moment Garreth slipped through the door, "don't you dare get any closer to her." "And who might this be?" Paul sneered "Her little boyfriend," Susanna explained "You really think you can tell me how I can and can't treat MY step daughter?" "Yeah, I do."

"If you knew what that bitch did to me, I don't think you'd be defending her so valiantly." "I don't really care what you think she may or may not have done, you're not getting any closer to her," Garreth replied. "Oh really? She tell you she framed me? Planted the drugs on me so I'd get caught."

"I don't care what you think Ainsley did," Garreth replied. "You're delusional, stay away from her." Paul took a few steps towards Garreth, and Ainsley tried to put herself between them. Paul ignored her as he swung for Garreth, knocking his glasses off onto the floor as Fiona entered.

"OMW, Garreth!" Ainsley slid to the floor beside him "Are you okay?" "Caught off guard, but fine" he admitted, and it was true. He'd been using boxing for the better part of a decade to control his own anger at times, and it was clear to Garreth that Paul couldn't throw a good punch to save his life

"What the hell!" Ainsley yelled as she stood up and confronted her step father. "Are you fucking crazy! You could have hurt him." "Get out of my face, you little whore," Paul snapped. "Otherwise you're next." "You're an awful person. Prison is exactly where you belong, we're better off without you."

"You know, you're over 18 now. Think of all I could do to you if you don't do as I say." "Stay away from me, pig," Ainsley spat and as she finished her sentence Paul slapped her. This hadn't been the first time he'd hit her like this, so Ainsley was used to the sting.

As Garreth stood up an icy rage came over him, a feeling he hadn't felt in 10 years. As a boy he'd been taught how to control his anger, to find safe outlets, like boxing, to use when he felt it bubbling over. That comment Paul had just made, and how he'd just hit Ainsley. Garreth felt himself snap.

Without another thought, Garreth charged towards Ainsley's step father, punching him. As Paul fell to the floor, Garreth continued to hit him. "Stay the hell away from her," he said between punches completely unaware that two officers had just entered the room.

[superectojazzmage]

A Handy Summary Of The Star Wars Franchise:

The Phantom Menace: Two hours of political babble interspersed with cool fights and annoying CGI characters. Introduced the world to George Lucas’s… interesting dialogue. Not as bad as you remember.

Attack Of The Clones: The real worst movie of the Prequel Trilogy. Obi-Wan Kenobi IS Philip Marlowe while Natalie Portman makes an admirable effort to act like she’s turned on by child murder. Worse then you remember.

Revenge Of The Sith: Depression - The Movie. The bad guy wins, the good guys are dead or turned to evil, the Galaxy falls to darkness, and the asthmatic cyborg will never get to finish his lightsaber collection.

A New Hope: The one that started it all. The heartwarming story of a himbo farmboy who joins a radical terrorist movement at the urging of an old man who says he’s a wizard. Really more of a framework and jumping off point then a real story, so everybody says they love it but don’t have much of anything to really say about it.

The Empire Strikes Back: Aw yeah, now we’re talking! The best of the mainline movies. The Rebels come out swinging and get their shit kicked in while James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill have a touching father-son reunion and Boba Fett steals the show. Not as shocking as it used to be considered because everyone copied it.

Return Of The Jedi: The OT movie everyone has mixed feelings about. The epic conclusion to George Lucas’s personal story in the setting, dragged down by the addition of hideous funk singers from my nightmares and militant Care Bears. According to Disney, nothing that happened in this one mattered btw!

The Force Awakens: Brace yourself for disappointment. J. J. Abrams blows up the Star Wars universe to get everything back to the “Empire Vs Rebels” status quo and set up his mystery boxes. Tricked you into thinking the Sequel Trilogy would passable.

The Last Jedi: Subverted your expectations that it would be good. Rian Johnson tries to salvage what Abrams did to the Star Wars universe and do something edgy and new, to severely mixed results. Luke Skywalker drinking alien titty milk was kept in but him mourning his brother-in-law’s death was cut as “unnecessary”.

The Rise Of Skywalker: Disney tries to stick the landing and breaks their legs instead. J. J. Abrams throws a shitfit over what Johnson did with his mystery boxes and torches the Star Wars universe down even more. Somehow… this movie is not good. How is this possible? Dark business, corporatizing, secrets only the Mouse knew.

Rogue One: Everybody’s dead, Jim. The Dirty Dozen if it was set in the Star Wars universe. A giant continuity filler manages to be infinitely better then the entire Sequel Trilogy.

Solo: Now the story of the smuggler who lost everything and the acclaimed director who had to film his origin story. It’s Solo Development. The tragically underrated and unlucky one, guilty of nothing but being released at a bad time and quite good removed from that.

Droids/Ewoks: Ah, yes. “Droids and Ewoks”, the first two Star Wars television series made back in the 80s, of generally poor quality and so painfully divorced from the Star Wars aesthetic that nobody acknowledges their cursed existence. We have dismissed that claim.

Clone Wars Microseries: The real first Star Wars TV show. Genndy Tartakovsky makes one of the most kickass cartoons ever in one of the most limited time frames ever. General Grievous gave you nightmares as a kid.

The Clone Wars: “This is for kids?” - The Series. The sprawling, epic story of a failing decadent government’s final days, occasionally interjected with painfully out of place juvenile comic relief. One of the big reasons for the Prequel Trilogy’s salvaged reputation.

The Bad Batch: Immediately after the Clone Wars, a crack commando unit was persecuted by the Empire. These men promptly escaped to the galactic underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them... maybe you can hire The Bad Batch.

Tales Of The Jedi Cartoon: Dave Filoni wants to get those unmade Clone Wars episodes finished and he WILL goddammit! Totally dickteased you by making you think it would be a TOTJ adaptation.

Rebels: The wacky, fanciful, fun-filled story of a terrorist cell waging guerrilla warfare on a tyrannical fascist government. Fights an uphill battle to meet the standard set by Clone Wars, and ultimately succeeds.

The Mandalorian: Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau show Abrams and Johnson how it’s done, God bless them. Pedro Pascal is sent on an epic quest to recreate “Lone Wolf and Cub” using a Yoda-themed Cabbage-Patch Kids doll. Meanwhile, the Mandalorians continue to uphold their most important cultural tradition; hating other Mandalorians.

The Book Of Boba Fett: They fucked with the wrong Māori! Boba Fett tries to become a crime lord but accidentally becomes a civic planner instead, while also going on drug trips and learning the ways of the proud “Native American Metaphor” people. Probably not what you expected it to be, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Ahsoka: Ahsoka and Sabine’s Excellent Adventure. Lucafilm decides to finally resolve plot threads from Rebels over a decade later. Tremble in fear as Rosario Dawson makes the women in your life question their sexuality.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Live footage of Obi-Wan aging terribly due to the stress of his awful life and getting sassed by little girl Leia. Meanwhile, the Inquisitors have some office drama. Shockingly weak despite a lovely premise and some great performances. Tremble in fear as Ewan MacGregor makes the men in your life question their sexuality.

Andor: Disney starts scraping the bottom of the barrel for Star Wars spin-off ideas. Nevermind this show fucking slaps. A treat for all those fans who wanted more dark, gritty Star Wars. Sex becomes canon to the Star Wars universe as Cassian Andor re-enacts Ocean’s Eleven and some more Imperial office drama leaves numerous people dead.

Resistance: The crappy Sequel Trilogy equivalent of Clone Wars and Rebels. Shows great potential but is hobbled at every possible turn, fails utterly to mature, and ends with a whimper. At least the animation’s nice.

The Holiday Special: THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN.

Dawn Of The Jedi: The painfully obscure origin story of the Jedi Order and the chronologically earliest Star Wars story. Both more and less interesting then you would think.

Tales Of The Jedi: The awesome as fuck and woefully underrated comics that form the backbone of the whole Star Wars universe. Civil wars, tragic falls from grace, hot Sith-On-Sith action, crazy battle sequences, great characters, and a surprising amount of busting ghosts. What more could you want?

KOTOR Comic: John Jackson-Miller bridges the gap between Tales and Knights using the most pathetic failure of a Jedi ever and his quest to not get murdered for bad grades. None of the characters are who you think they’re supposed to be, except when they are.

Knights Of The Old Republic: You were Space Hitler all along and you didn’t even know! Now redeem yourself by completing side quests and beating up your disabled former friend… or screw that and use Force Persuade to bully people into giving you free stuff. BioWare makes the best Star Wars game ever and ever amen.

Knights Of The Old Republic II - The Sith Lords: Winner of both the “Unnecessarily Long Title” and the “Tragically Unfinished But Released Anyways” awards. Drew Karpyshan’s adventurous writing is replaced with Chris Avellone’s edgy nihilism. An annoying old shrew badgers you to question things while never letting you question her ever. APATHY IS DEATH.

The Old Republic: Post-EA BioWare begins their long and glorious history of shitting on their legacy by refusing to make KOTOR 3 and instead producing a Titantic-shaped MMO that inexplicably did NOT sink and die. Enjoy it for what it is, just don’t regard it as canon for your own sanity.

Knight Errant: A Jedi becomes a social activist in Sith Space. Kinda cool comics and books set between the Old Republic era and Darth Bane. Could’ve bloomed into something more interesting but Disney hates fun.

Darth Bane: A based and red-pilled Sith Lord decides the other Sith are doing it wrong and sets out to do it right. An entire novel trilogy built out of a character and backstory detail that didn’t even make the final script of Phantom Menace, and it’s awesome.

The High Republic: Novels and comics about the Jedi spending their glory days fighting evil plants and a bunch of a anarchist rednecks who know hyperspace magic. Still finding it’s feet but wins lots of points for creativity.

Darth Plagueis: A sweet old evil wizard gets backstabbed by his apprentice after getting shit-faced. Probably one of the most important novels.

Open Seasons: Jango Fett’s Life Fucking Sucks - The Comic Book. Contains vital lore for the Mandalorians which Disney took over a decade to acknowledge.

Jedi Apprentice: The prequel to the Prequels. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan squeeze as many quirky stories as they can into the timeframe right before Phantom Menace.

Starfighter: A pair of great flight sim games set in the Prequel Era. Play as a various mercenaries, soldiers, and privateers and engage in direct action against Space Amazon the Trade Federation. You WILL love Nym.

Bounty Hunter: Jango Fett battles criminals, monsters, fallen Jedi, Mr. Krabs, and annoying level design in this sweet video game tie-in to Attack Of The Clones. Have fun getting distracted chasing after side targets!

Republic Comics: Quinlan Vos is a loose cannon Jedi who doesn’t play by the rules! Also, lots and lots of war crimes happen. One of the few EU works to be fully endorsed by Lucas himself but surprisingly (and undeservedly) obscure despite it.

Republic Commando: SWAT but way cooler because it’s Star Wars. Your tactics will confuse and frighten your men. There’s some supplementary novels too, if you feel like listening to Karen Traviss bitch about the Jedi and suck Mandalorian cock for several hours.

Battlefront: Call Of Duty but way cooler because it’s Star Wars. Watch out for those wrist rockets!!!!

Empire At War: StarCraft but way cooler because it’s Star Wars. Have fun making rancors eat people.

The Force Unleashed: God Of War but… well, it WISHES it was cooler because it’s Star Wars. Fun gameplay is held back by a completely ridiculous story resembling a terrible fanfic that is so embarrassing its barely considered canon, if it is all (it usually is not).

Purge: Rubbing the salt into the wounds of Order 66, starring Darth Vader!

Dark Times: That title ain’t a fucking joke. A Jedi struggles to keep his morals in one of the darkest, bleakest, edgiest Star Wars comics ever written. Seriously, this will give you depression.

Jedi - Fallen Order: The Dark Souls of Star Wars. Cameron Monaghan gets his ass kicked by Oogdo Bogdo so you can get that new poncho.

Vader Immortal: Battle Darth Vader himself with the power of a gimmicky thousand-dollar VR video game accessory that almost nobody owns!

Han Solo Trilogy: The ORIGINAL secret, depressing origin story of Han Solo. If you don’t feel like reading books you can just watch Solo, it’s basically just a distilled version of this.

Marvel’s Star Wars Comics: Comes in two flavors: batshit crazy 80s-era Marvel or bland and worthless 2010s-eras Marvel! At least they do great reprints.

Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye: A really really really weird early novel. Notable for being one of the first EU works and for the copious amounts of accidental incest-shipping.

Tie Fighter/X-Wing: Simulate being a pilot in the Star Wars universe, complete with getting killed by Darth Vader for minor mistakes.

Empire/Rebellion Comics: A cool and underrated little pair of comics depicting the day to day of the war between the Rebels and Empire.

Agent Of The Empire: SECRET AAAAGENT MAN! SECRET AAAAGENT MAN! James Bond comics in the Star Wars universe.

Shadows Of The Empire: Is is a comic, a video game, a book, or a toyline? The answer is yes. Important mostly for how it helped establish how the Star Wars EU could actually function.

Aftermath/Shattered Empire: Disney’s clumsy, boring attempt to make their own Post-ROTJ canon and justify the Sequel Trilogy that will be subsequently contradicted by the Sequel Trilogy itself. Roundly ignored by just about everyone aside from Cobb Vanth and periodic vague token mentions of Operation: Cinder as a thing that happened we guess.

X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Michael Stackpole sends Wedge Antilles and his merry men out onto zany, continuity-fixing misadventures and ends up creating the Chad Fel Empire that makes the Virgin New Republic look bad. Comes in comic, book, and video game forms for easy consumption!

Crimson Empire: One of those Amogus-looking red guys that follows the Emperor around takes center stage and surprises you by being totally awesome.

Squadrons: Disney’s discount version of the X-Wing/Tie Fighter games, but now with an immersive first-person perspective and a yawn-inducing story.

Luke Skywalker And The Shadows Of Mindor: The awesome novel everyone forgets. Matthew Stover fixes Star Wars continuity by pitting Luke Skywalker against his mightiest enemy yet; bad fanfiction.

The Thrawn Trilogy: The REAL Sequel Trilogy. We got military competence and clones all up in this joint! Timothy Zahn sets a standard that future Star Wars will constantly struggle to meet. You WILL root for Thrawn.

Dark Empire: Somehow… Palpatine has returned several decades before Disney did it. Generally viewed with withering contempt by everyone, which makes one wonder why Disney copied it so much over the rest of Legends. Surprisingly not the worst thing looking back.

Dark Forces Saga: KOTOR’s main competitor for title of “Best Star Wars Games”. Kyle Katarn and Jaden Korr spend four increasingly awesome video games torturing stormtroopers with the Force, solving frustrating puzzles, and busting ghosts.

The New Rebellion: Another awesome novel everyone forgets. Luke Skywalker fights one of his students turned evil. That, uh, happens a lot.

Young Jedi Knights: A fun little series of novels about the Skywalker kids becoming real Jedi, and also war crimes. Yet another example of what people WANTED the Sequel Trilogy to be.

Hand Of Thrawn: Weekend At Bernie’s, Star Wars edition, guest-starring psychic furries. Timothy Zahn sits down the EU writers class and shows them how writing for Star Wars is done.

Union: Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade get hitched and promptly get caught up in an international incident proving once and for all the power of the Skywalker Gene.

New Jedi Order: The Star Wars universe is invaded by Warhammer 40K rejects in the epic novel series that breaks all the rules, for better or for worse. Of variable quality for large stretches but ultimately settles down on being pretty awesome, if overly dark at times.

Dark Nest Trilogy: The Jedi fight a bunch of evil bugs. It exists, and that’s about all it has going for it.

Legacy Of The Force: Jacen Solo’s No Good, Very Bad Fall To The Dark Side. Has WILDY varying quality and is mostly just the nightmarish location of a huge spat amongst some of Legends’s writers. Still not as bad as Dark Nest and has some cool bits sprinkled in here and there. But really, you’re better off just skipping to FOTJ.

Fate Of The Jedi: The Jedi and Republic battle corrupt politicians, Cthulhu, and the backwoods yokel version of the Sith in the real sequel to NJO. Things get back on track after the disaster that was LOTF. Deeply flawed in some respects, but ultimately pretty good and a fitting finale for the Post-OT era.

Legacy: The spectacular chronologically final story. Politics, war, redemption, and Cade Skywalker getting high off his ass on deathsticks in the grand final battle between the Jedi and Sith.

Visions: Star Wars finally achieves its lifelong goal of becoming a kawaii as fuck anime. It’s an anthology so quality is all over the place.

Infinities: What If… Star Wars had a terrible ripoff of Marvel’s “What If…?” comics?

Tag And Bink: Abbot And Costello Meet Darth Vader.

LEGO Star Wars: Your childhood comfort food. Spend countless hours of non-canon fun killing Lego Jar Jar and trying to find all the goddamn unlockables.

Legends Canon: The original continuity. Free and experimental but wildly inconsistent at times.

Disney Canon: The new continuity. Relatively consistent but often stifled, bland, and overly-safe.

Your Personal Canon: The only real continuity.

[dizzyingdaze]

late at night

a/n; when youve consumed all the sevika content there possibly is and crave more...THIS is the outcome.

summary: a soft moment between sevika and her long time lover.

═══════════════════ ☾ ══════════════════════

The shared bedroom was dimly lit, a steady flow of raindrops pattering on the metal roof above a quiet lull falling over the scene. A candle flickered in a lamp in the corner of the room which casted a golden glow of shapes and shadows.

Sevika laid on her back next to you in bed, her metal arm gently caressed your face as the other held open a tattered book. The withered spine of it pulling the pages together with great strength as the curling corners begged to touch one another. The destructive nature showcased her true love for the book and its plot, certain passages underlined and phrases circled.

Her fondness for the written stories was something you loved about her, how she was able to sit down for hours reading a book from cover to back. She never said to you but when a certain story found a place in her heart, it ended up on the nightstand you both shared.

You were cuddled tightly into her side, your cheek finding a home atop her chest as your arms cuddled tightly into her lean side. Sevika's lack of shirts around the house never ceased to please you.

The cover hung low between you, which you didn't mind as you kicked one leg up to hook around your girlfriend's who merely grunted in reply, her cold arm moving from tracing your features to your hair.

You simply melted under her skilled fingers, combing through your scalp and massaging so well, the sharpened ends doing that bit more. Her dark lips moved silently, mimicking the character's dialogue when she was really immersed, her strong nose exhaling ever so often when something she liked happened.

She really trusted you to let her guard down so low. Her usual half bun hair hung loose, framing her face even more. She had become so used to you, the one constant in her life that made her feel something real, something safe. She didn't even mind when you reached up to peck her scarred cheek, the now blue lines shimmering under the low light.

You watched as her steel eyes skimmed one last line then turned to you, seeming to almost twinkle for a second at your fast affection. "You're usually never this quiet when I'm reading, where's your pout that "I'm ignoring you" gone?' She teased and your face went a shade darker at her words. You merely grumbled in reply turning your face into her neck, her shoulder's moving slightly in laughter. You heard the skim of her fingers as she doggy eared a page, shut it with a 'bang" and placed it on the stand next to her, a leaning tower of tales growing bit by bit.

Her hands gripped your waist as she flipped you completely onto her, thighs straddling her own thick ones. Her hand's met around your back pulling your forehead to her's as she gazed up at you. You mirrored her smile, splitting into a giggle as she attacked your neck in a flurry of kisses. Twisting and turning did nothing to aide your escape, her year of street fighting and carefully planned escapades put your attempts to shame.

A few moments later you found yourself placed on your back gazing up at her, Sevika's body weight supported on her forearms as she laid above you. Her hair tickled your eyelashes as she steadily let her body press down onto yours, bare chest to chest, fingers interlocking together, palms against palms, then so leisurely you could have imagined it, a delicate press of lips to yours.

You wondered what the raindrops streaming down the windowpanes outside saw. A warm picture of two woman entangled in bed, a golden hue surrounding them, the scent of coffee and smoke ever present swirling between them.

Nude legs entangled in white covers, a heap of clothing on the end of the bed, two empty mugs on the small table next to each other, the compact room reeking of a domestic home life. A secret plush box the encased two simple silver bands, hidden by one partner to surprise the other.

But most importantly they heard the whispered "I love you" as the candle wax bled down to its last drop, the flame to its last flicker and the hushed words to a bid of sweet dreams and then, silence.

[thetrap]

episodes that were Game Changers for destiel that is episodes that took the romantic narrative to a whole new level:

- the man who would be king. no but really this WAS the first big turning point for destiel imo this episode was framed as a love story like even if it wasn't intentional it was. it was. sorry mr. edlund you can't brother zone your way out of cas watching dean rake leaves and dean's orpheus turn.

- the born again identity. i've said it before and i'll say it again: the moment cas showed up on that porch he became the love interest. like. "what's your issue?" [insert one of the most baffling acting choices jensen ever made]. the trenchcoat. he kept the trenchcoat and moved it from car to car. i can't BELIEVE that aired on network television.

- a little slice of kevin. was almost tempted to put 8.02 instead purely because "where's the angel?" and "i prayed to you cas, every night!" are both fucking insane but what can i say dean hallucinating/seeing cas in a scene so romantically framed it makes me black out every time i watch it and repressing his memories so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of cas choosing to leave him won out. i've always said that s8 was the point of no return in the sense that it made destiel so blatantly romantic on both sides that it could never be truly removed from the narrative moving forward - prior to this they had at least like. SOME plausible deniability re dean - but this is always the episode i think of in particular. like i think there are a lot of reasons that the spn writers decided not to make cas' love explicitly unrequited and i won't get into it all now but i am fairly certain that dean's "i did not leave you" being a line that exists was among them like. they KNEW that it would be bullshit they knew it wouldn't fit.

- goodbye stranger. like. literal power of love breaks the curse à la ella enchanted. AND. as if that wasn't enough. the titular needle drop and sam vs. dean's reactions like guys it has BEEN canon. and god that's not even mentioning the fact that "i need you" was originally "i love you" like robbie thompson was NOT messing around.

- the future. a mixtape is not platonic. especially considering the context it was used in. moving on!

- lost and found. i mean widower arc as a whole obviously but the intensity of dean's reaction to cas' death in this particular episode is fucking stunning. the scene where dean prepares his body was NOT needed they very easily could've had dean walk in uncover him look sad and then cut to the funeral pyre. they didn't. instead they had dean prepare cas' body - alone - because cas was his significant other. like it's really that simple.

- the trap. insane episode especially in hindsight because we know the romantic dialogue/framing was purposeful. i left but you didn't stop me i should've stopped you ever since the mark made cas go crazy ever since i had to BURY him in a ma'lak box ever since then etc. etc. anyways for me this was a game changer because it's a huge part of why i started watching again at all like. yes the august promo got me interested but it wasn't until i watched the destiel scenes from this episode on youtube (+ the breakup scene) that i went. oh fuck. and promptly created this blog.

- despair. no explanation needed ❤️