#maybe not a really sad ending

[tacticalsmth]

’Depths of your mind’

TW: Vulgar language, mentions of non-con/‘grape’, and character death

⚠️IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THESE TOPICS, PLEASE DON’T READ THIS⚠️

((Artist/Writer here! I decided to write some angst with Rick and Val, and this is my first story I’m putting out on here so it’s probably not that good- but I thought about writing for a while so I hope you enjoy!))

((Also just a note: Val uses They/Them, but I will mostly be using their own name to refer to them, just in case anything gets confusing and you can send Val an ask about anything that happened in this story too))

“So, what does this thing do again?” Val asks, running their hand over the dome part of the helmet looking gadget Rick had been working on for about 3 months now. Their eyes follow the long, thick, cords connected to a chair that looked like it could electrocute someone with a gentle touch of their hand, other randomly colored cords seemingly melded to the metal chair, another helmet laying on the seat.

“Let me put this in a way y-you can understand,” Rick says, running his hand through his, disheveled, blue hair. “With this bad boy here I can, in a way, transfer myself into some-urrrp- someone else’s mind and kind of see what they see.” He explains, a smug look on his face.

“So.. Like a body switch?” Val asks, raising a eyebrow in confusion.

“No.. It’s like I can kind of l-look inside someone’s brain, I should be able to see their memories and other shit that their brain comes up with.” He shrugs, flopping down in his desk chair, snatching the silver flask off of his desk next to a bunch of loose wires. Val nods, understanding his invention a bit more, slowly sliding their hand off the helmet and turning over to face Rick “Speaking of,” Rick continues. “I was going t-to test it out.” He stands up out of his seat and takes a long sip from his flask. Val crosses their arms, gently tapping one of their arms with their pointer finger.

“Oh, really? I would like to see you test it with Morty-“

“I’m going to test it out with you, not Morty.” He says, cutting Val off. Val’s eyes widen, freezing up immediately after he says this. Rick screws the cap onto his flask, ignoring the shock on Val’s face.

Val’s mind started to race as Rick gently placed the helmet on their head. Val shifts, uncomfortable in the metal chair. “Stop moving so much, will ya’?…” Rick mumbled, now working on the wires and knobs on the sides of the chair.

“Well you put me in a metal chair, what do you expect? It’s uncomfortable..” Val says, letting out an exasperated sigh. Their leg continued to bounce, still nervous about essentially being the test subject for Rick’s new invention. Sure, Rick is the smartest man in the universe, but some of his inventions don’t always go as planned. Val has seen some of Rick’s inventions explode and catch fire right in front of them, so who knows if this one will even work.

“Alright, I think we are ready.” Rick says, making Val snap out of their thoughts and look over at him. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, which he hadn’t. He was working on this new invention, which he was calling ‘The Memory Watcher,’ for months on end. He had stubble growing on his face, and his hair had been looking pretty rough. He looks over to Val and could tell they were worried, which he sighs at their worried look. “O-Oh come on, It’ll be fine. All I’m doing is gonna go into the depths of your mind, baby.”

“Yeah.. Right..” Val whispers. Rick pulls his desk chair next to Val, putting on the second helmet before sitting down.

“Alright, you have 5 seconds to pull out of this.” He says, pretending to sound annoyed. Rick knew that Val could get nervous about the stuff he does, so he tries to at least give them an opportunity to not do it. Val stays quiet, thinking about his offer. After a moment of silence Rick makes an executive decision to continue, he pulls a switch out of his pocket.

“Rick wait-” Val starts, before getting cut off by Rick.

“And awaaaayyyy we go!” He pulls the switch down, sending a bolt of electricity through both of them.

Then Rick and Val blackout.

“Ughhh…” Rick groans, his head throbbing. He slowly opens his eyes. Everything around him was different. Well. It was just a white void really. He sits up on his elbows, now he was able to see the hundreds, maybe, even thousands of doors scattered across the void. It takes him a moment to process it, but once he does, a wide smile spreads across his face. “Holy shiiiit! It fucking worked!” He springs up, the switch still in his hand. He gently clasps his hands together, looking around at all of the doors, even though there wasn’t really anything to look at since every single door was the same. “I-I gotta find some fucking memories to watch! They better be fucking interesting Val.” He looks around again, expecting to see Val somewhere, but it was only him. He sighs, shoving the switch into his pocket before walking around a little bit.

He walked around for about 10 minutes, opening random doors, which were just how you could get to any memory that Val had, and anything that Rick looked at didn’t catch his attention. Most of them he looked at were just them at home, or with something with Rick in it. He had probably skipped a majority of the doors he passed but he knew he wasn’t going to spend the entire time here opening every door he passes. As he walked farther, he noticed some of the doors seemed scratched, or broken. “What the hell?” He slowly comes to a stop, not being able to ignore that all the doors around him had large scratches on it, or there was something off about the door. He is eyes dart around for a moment, before he puts his focus on one door.

The paint on it was pealing and cracked, one of the hinges was completely smashed, and there was huge gashes all across it. He stands still for a moment, then walks over to it, placing his hand on the handle. He inspects the door for a moment longer before pulling on the handle, which it was way harder to open than it had been for any other door he had opened. He groans, using both of his hands and yanking the door open, making one of the hinges completely break off. He looks inside, seeing a long hospital hallway. He cocks a part of his brow and steps through the doorway. He looks around for a moment, seeing nurses, medical equipment, and some other people walking around. He decided to walk forward, inspecting the hall as he walks down it, then he comes to a stop at an open door on the left side of him.

“Why would someone leave their hospital room door open? Especially this late at night..” He pushes open the door a bit more, seeing about 3 doctors in the room, a child in the hospital bed with one of the doctors giving them oxygen, and then a way younger looking Val sitting right next to the child, holding their hand. A heart monitor beeped steadily, which Rick assumes to be the child’s heartbeat. He could tell it was Val from their distinct blonde hair, but he’d really be able to tell if it was them from their eyes, since they had heterochromia. He tensed his body up a bit before walking deeper into the room. Rick walks up next to the bed, the doctors ignoring him. He leans down a little bit, looking at the younger version of Val. Although it was weird seeing them without the mask on, since now all Rick can imagine them with a mask on. He pauses when he looks at their eyes. They had heterochromia. ‘Bingo.’ Rick thought. ‘There’s Val.’

“It’s gonna be okay, I’m here… Mom’s here..” The Val says, squeezing the child’s hand as they lean forward, their voice sounding strained and very shaky, but with the same, strong, German accent they had in the future.

“Mom?” Rick mumbled to himself. Val didn’t have children, they would have told him if they did. “What the hell..?” The doctors in the room paced around, seeming focused on something. He looks to the child in the hospital bed, and she had looked almost the same as Val. Same hair color, similar nose, other eyes were the same color as one of Val’s eyes. “Holy shit..

Val had a daughter..” Rick says, almost a bit too loud.

He steps back, now seeing how distraught the Val looked. Their cheeks were stained with tears, their eyes red with large bags underneath their eyes. Tears swelled in their eyes, their eyebrows furrowed a bit. He winces at how they looked, since they were pretty hard to look at. “Uh, Ms. Fehr, your gonna need to leave the room. And uh, you too Buddy.” One of the doctors says, glancing over to Rick. The Val completely ignored Rick and stared at the doctor for a moment before slowly getting up and walking towards the door slowly tears streaming down their face. The three doctors crowed around the bed, all their voices overlapping each other. Rick watched the doctors for a moment before turning to walk out behind Val. One of the doctors stops whatever he was doing and yells something into his radio.

beep… beep.. beep..

The child’s heartbeat started to slow down, making Rick and Val stop and look back at the doctors crowded around the hospital bed.

beep…

beep..

…

Then a flatline tone fills the room.

Val’s eyes widen.

“CLEO!” Val screams, making Rick jump back as they start to bolt back into the room until nurses run into the room and grab Val under their arms, trying to pull them out of the room. They struggle against the multiple nurses pulling them back, still screaming. As they are pulled out of the room, another nurse gestures for Rick to leave. He walks out of the room, a nurse closing the door behind him. He looks over to Val, who was trying to be calmed by a few nurses.

“No… YOU HA-hic-HAVE TO LET ME GO BACK IN T-THERE!” Val screams at one of the nurse, now sobbing.

“We can’t do that honey…” A nurse responds, rubbing their back as she sits them down in a chair. Val takes both of the palms of their hands and hits their forehead with them, trying to say something to the nurses, but it was all unintelligible from their sobs. Rick just stands in the hall quietly, watching Val scream and cry. He couldn’t really even do anything, since it was a memory after all.

A few minutes later the nurses around Val had left, and they were more calmed down, but they were still crying. Rick sighs. He slowly starts to walk up to Val.

“Hey, y-you okay?” Rick asks, sitting down in a chair next to Val. They look up at him. “Shit..” They looked completely screwed. Their hair was a mess, it looked like they hadn’t slept in days, and their face and eyes were redder than they ever had been.

“S-Sorry… I-I just..” Val starts, pulling their knees up to their chest.

“Don’t be sorry, you have n-nothing to be sorry about..” Rick says, patting their shoulder awkwardly. “Uhm.. You look.. a bit to young to be here by yourself.” “I’m 19..”

“WHAT?” Rick shouts. “19? WHO’S KID WAS THAT?” The kid, which Rick guessed to be Cleo, looked like they were at least 4-5 years old, and if it really was Val’s daughter that would have meant they were 14 when they had the baby. Plus, they were in their late thirties to early forties now..

Val stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke up. “Cleo?.. S-She’s my kid..”

Rick’s heart drops.

‘How the FUCK did Val have a kid?’ Rick thought, staring at them in shock.

“You.. How old was she?”

“5 years old.” “Then that means..” Rick does the math in his head, and his eyes widen. “Y-You had Cleo when you were 14?…”

…

“Yes.” Val answers quickly, sounding a bit ashamed. Rick had so many questions. “Why do you want t-to know..?” Val mumbles, hiding their face in their knees.

“Uh.. I-I just thought you would want someone to talk to.. You don’t look too good so..” Rick says, coming up with a half-assed explanation. Val sighs.

“W-Well thank y-you.. I.. You are not wrong. I do want someone to talk to..” Val admits, leaning their head up to look at Rick. He looks at them with a confused but sad expression.

“Who’s the.. Who’s the dad..?” He asks, crossing his arms.

Val freezes for a moment, then slowly says. “My father… He uh..”

Rick completely stops. The look of disgust and anger on his face made Val stop talking.

“are you saying your father… forced himself on you..?” He says, trying to ask it in a better way then just full on saying it. Val looks away. Then they burst in to tears, nodding.

Rick stands up, “excuse me..” He says, then walks down the hospital hall and turns a corner. He quickly pulls out the switch from his pocket and pushes it up without hesitation.

Both Val and Rick gasp as another electric shock is sent through them. Rick frantically looks around and sees he is back in the garage. Val groans, taking the helmet off of their head before slowly standing up, feeling really dizzy.

“Did it work? I blacked out..” Val laughs a bit, holding one of the arms of the chair they were sitting in for support. They slowly look over to Rick, and they immediately feel concerned. “Are you.. Crying?” Rick look over to Val, tears slowly falling down his cheeks. He stares at Val for a moment, then slide the helmet off and stand up from his chair, placing his hands of Val’s shoulders.

“Val..” Rick mumbles.

“Rick? What happ-“

Rick pulls them into a tight hug, not saying a single word. Val stops for a minute, very surprised, but then they slowly return the hug.

“Holy shit.. I thought I was going to die..” Rick says.

“Is that why you’re crying..?”

“Yep..”

“Huh.. A-Alright..” Val shrugs, patting his back a bit before pulling away from the hug. They glance out the garage door and see it’s pitch black outside. “Oh god.. It’s late, I’m gonna head home Rick..” They say, Stil, trying to steady themselves a bit.

“Alright, I-I’ll see you tomorrow..” Rick says, crossing his arms, now back to looking annoyed. “Alright, bye!” Val says, waving to him as they walk out of the garage.

As Rick watches them walk home, he can’t help but feel horrible for them. Bitting his lip, he wipes his eyes with his sleeves.

“Why didn’t Val ever tell me about this..?”

[patchworkcuddlebug]

A Parasite

Norae was always... resistant to having a doll. Her covenmates tell her about theirs like they're little slave-things, always wandering around your house and doing things you should be doing on your own. It's creepy, and (she would never say this out loud) enabling laziness.

But as her power grows, so does her manor. She begins noticing hallways stretching out longer than they once did, with protrusions shaped like doorknobs emerging from the walls. There's already a set of stairs leading uselessly into the ceiling, no doubt where the second story will begin to grow.

The effort she put into keeping things in order used to be paltry for a witch as powerful as her, but she's starting to get annoyed by the distractions. She is growing tired of pruning new furniture like weeds.

She knows nothing of clockwork, and she never developed her skills in magical dollcraft for obvious reasons. But she will sometimes catch sight of a stray, trying to find purpose in picking the wild berries just beyond her yard. She wonders if she'll be helpful enough, before quietly correcting herself and wondering if it will be helpful enough.

She told her coven how she was thinking about leaving a sort of trap for it, a cup of tea under a cardboard box held up with a stick, only half serious. Regardless, they told her that dolls are much more trusting and docile than she was assuming, and that she simply needed to approach and talk to it.

She waited with a book, just on the edges of her property. The wide brim of her hat helped block the glare of the sun as she'd occasionally look off through the trees. Soon, it came walking past her unceremoniously, seeming as if it's trying to ignore her. It's walking to the bush. There's already a few ripe berries piled neatly in its hand.

It was made with porcelain, with a more tattered version of the maid dress they all seem to wear, walking with just as much rigidity and poise. But this is the first doll she's seen with a wind-up key. It slowly turned just a few degrees for every moment that passed. She could see a little rope tied to one of the sides, presumably so that one could wind it on her own.

"Excuse me? ...Doll?" Just as she starts speaking, it perks up, looking ready to leap into action. "Y... yes, Miss?" Its voice is timid, but eager.

"Would you like to, uh..." She hesitates for a moment, feeling ridiculous. This is the first time she's had to say something like this out loud. "Belong to me? I have tea."

It gasps. "Yes! Oh, yes, thank you Miss!" She runs up to the witch as if to give her a hug, only to skitter to a last-second stop just in front of her and give a polite bow, with proper curtsy.

"Right. Um, follow me, then." She closes her book and begins walking back to her door, her movements awkward as the doll followed close behind. She can't stop looking back at it, at its bizarrely serene face and excited steps. "So, do you have a name?"

"This one's old witch called it Lullaby, Miss!" It seems so happy to say.

"That's... still your name then, I think."

"Yay! Thank you Miss!"

. . . . .

Colloquially, the word "doll" is often used to describe any construct that obeys a witch, with considerable variation thereupon. Perhaps the most infamous among these variants in classification is the combat doll. These ones can often be identified by their more metallic exterior, such that they can easily be confused for androids at first glance, but there also exists combat dolls that

"Excuse this one, Miss?" the thing knocks at the door to the witch's study. It lingers in the doorway, not wanting to intrude further.

Norae tries to stifle a sigh of annoyance as she turns away from her book. "Yes, Lullaby?" She just noticed that her its hair just a little dishevelled from working, but it's not nearly as matted and gnarled as it was earlier today. She's glad it looks so much more... healthy.

"This one has finished sweeping the first floor, Miss!" The doll smiled, clearly proud of herself. The witch is caught in her own head for only a moment, ruminating on owning someone... something so close to a human. "What would you like it to do next?"

"You..." it takes her a moment to stifle her shock. She's read enough to know that such a task is to be expected from dolls, but it still seemed to work so hard so fast. "Then you've completed your chores. Treat yourself to some tea." She tells it matter-of-factly and turns back to her book, trying to match the professionalism of her literature.

"But, Miss!" The doll says. Norae turns back, and sees the doll has a very human, very concerned look. "This one has barely worked today! Would you like it to scrub the floors as well? Or organize your bookshelf? It can cook for you, Miss!"

"Hey, calm down, it's alright." The doll's owner tries to sound reassuring, as one would to a friend. "I don't know how your last witch did it, but I don't want to overwork you. Do you like to read? I have a library."

The doll tried to swallow its apprehensive look. "This one will read for you, Miss." It nods dutifully and runs along.

That... went well, she thinks. She understands that dolls are... eager, to a certain degree, but she's sincere about not wanting to exhaust the poor girl thing. She also thinks about her own autonomy, and how listless she'd feel if left without her own chores.

. . . . .

Norae lets out a bored sigh as she watched the vegetables sizzle in their pan. She tries to stir them around, spreading them evenly in the oil, but it's more to entertain herself than to properly cook.

She hears Lullaby quickly, yet still with a polite reservation, hurry up the stairs.

"Miss!" It calls out, drowning out its footsteps before it turns the corner. As it emerges into the kitchen, it looks... mortified. "It's so sorry, let this one, good dolls should-"

"Lullaby, it's okay!" She holds the frying pan up, higher than the doll can reach. "You don't have to do everything for me just because you're a doll."

"But, Miss, this one wants to!" It looks desperate and pleading. "Please, Miss, you've been so nice, and this-"

"Hey, calm down, there's no need for that." Norae tries to sound reassuring. She sets the pan down and turns to give Lullaby her full attention, kneeling to match her its eye level and placing a hand on its shoulder. "I know you want to help, but I enjoy being able to take care of myself, too. You already do plenty, and you should be proud of that."

The doll trembles, only as much as its docility will allow. "Yes Miss, Thank you Miss." After a quick bow, it gets out of Miss's way, leaving her to return to her monotonous stove-watching.

Lullaby takes a seat on Miss's couch. eyes forward and hands on its lap. It's so comfortable, the soft cushioning much more enveloping that the stumps it was used to sitting on. It tries to find a place to rest its eyes. On Miss's roaring fire, magically permeating a tender warmth through the room? On the door to the maid's quarters, where Miss had cleaned it and told it all it had to know? On Miss's beautiful and intricate grandfather clock, which it is letting collect a thin layer of dust?

It shouldn't cry. Miss is being nice, after all.

. . . . .

The doll shakes itself from a stupor. It wasn't still; there was no comfort in its emptiness, just effortful restraint fading into a half-present miasma.

Norae gestures for it to face away, gently guiding its shoulders to face where she sat on the couch. "Lean forward, please."

"It's okay, Miss." The doll sounded groggy, words tumbling heavily out of its mouth. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

The witch leaned to the side, showing the sympathetic look she had on her face. "Why wouldn't I wind you up? It's no trouble at all, and... I can't just let you pass out."

Lullaby slowly, heavily, shook its head. It wanted to be polite, to word itself delicately and reserve itself, but its clockwork was moving too slowly to stop it before it spoke. "No, please. It's a bother. This one doesn't do enough, it's not worth it."

Miss places a hand on its shoulder. "Oh, Lullaby, no, that's not true at all. You do just as much as you need to."

"It's not enough." The doll rested its elbows on its knees, leaning forward and cupping its face in its hands. "Miss is so nice, and this one just... takes it all in without giving enough back. It feels so useless, and pathetic, and... i-it just wants to be helpful." Its voice falters just at the end, hitching into a repressed sob.

Norae felt a pang in her heart that deepened with every word. Of course, she's been such an idiot. She feels like a bum when she doesn't keep herself busy, how would a being purpose-made to be helpful feel? It finally dawns on her, what the extent of a doll's inhumanity means.

"I'm so sorry, I... had no idea you felt that way." There's a sincere sorrow in her voice, the doll hearing Miss's confidence drop for the first time. "I never meant to hurt you, I just didn't want to be too hard on you."

She placed a hand on her doll's back, careful to leave room for its key to turn. "From now on, you get to do whatever you like. Cooking, cleaning, anything. I might still make you take some breaks so I can do something myself, but I'll never leave you with nothing to do."

Lullaby slowly, hopefully, lifts its head to look at Miss. "This one doesn't want to make you do anything you don't want, Miss, it can-"

"Lullaby, if you do everything you can to never feel like this again, you'll make me the happiest witch in the world." She put on a reassuring smile.

Norae didn't have time to see the grin widening on her doll's face before it latched on for a hug. All it could say was thank you as its tears left wet marks on the witch's dress.

"I'm just happy that you're happy." Miss hugged back, making the doll feel more loved than it could remember. "Now let's get you wound up, you've got some dishes to do."

[ruporas]

wolfwood redraws (ID in alt text)

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

so five and lila being a thing is going right next to allison literally sexually assaulting luther in the box of things we are absolutely under no circumstances accepting as part of canon right

[pokimoko]

haunting the narrative -> haunted by the narrative -> haunting the narrative -> haunted by

[myokk]

Hi! I'm still feral for these two, would you mind giving us some art of them in their later years together!?

Hello angel!!!!

Sorry it’s taken so long to respond🫶🫶 but I wanted to draw some new art for this ask💓

We have: Sebastian and Eloise trying out their new fancy camera with a selfie, pictures of them with their daughter, and finally…idk I just always felt like this drawing is when they’re a bit older💓

I want to take this ask as an opportunity as well to talk a little about how I imagine their future (I have no chill & you can ignore this and just enjoy the art if you want😇).

I am a COMPLETE pantser - I never know how a chapter’s going to end when I start writing it (I always just have a few scenes I know I need to include to keep the plot moving forward). Although I have different *big* scenes I’m always writing towards, and themes/plot elements I’m always foreshadowing (shout out to @elliecutte for catching *almost* all of my hints and appreciating my general no chill😆), IM STILL NOT 100% SURE HOW I WILL END THINGS !!! 😳 I have a lot of endings I see as possible, and I think soon it will become more clear to me what will work the best💓

HAPPY ENDING:

Eloise and Sebastian become Unspeakables. I have a LOT of thoughts on this profession that could be its OWN post, and I feel like Unspeakables are generally specialized in one or two departments, but as their interests/research change they also change.

Eloise becomes an Unspeakable in the Mind and Death departments, with the occasional foray into Time. Her ancient magic is connected with all of these things (my version of AM is NOT like the game) & the Department of Mysteries is one of the only places that gives her any useful information about these things. Plus she thinks too much (it IS her hobby after all😆💓) and is very introverted so a hermit job like this is a perfect fit.

Sebastian becomes an Unspeakable as well, but I feel like it takes him a long time to specialize in anything, if he ever does. I just feel like becoming an Unspeakable is the adult equivalent of sneaking into the Restricted Section🥹🫶

They grow old together (I won’t explain TOO much) & have a lovely little family🥹 at least one daughter that they both dote on. Sebastian had an amazing childhood (idyllic until it wasn’t), and wants to give his daughter the same, and Eloise works hard to make sure their daughter feels the love that she never had growing up🥺

When Sirius is burned off the family tree, Eloise and Sebastian take him in🥹🫶 (they’re like 100 years old but WIZARDS LIVE LONGER…) The same happened to her all those years ago, and she wants him to know that his whole family hasn’t abandoned him.

Eloise LOVED her nieces - Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa - when they were younger, but as Voldemort becomes more powerful & people realize WHAT he’s doing, she has to separate herself from them. Her heart breaks seeing Bellatrix go mad, and seeing Narcissa engaged to a Malfoy out of obligation😔 (iykyk)

I haven’t thought any more about happy ending but I think it’s fun to think about how their future story might weave in with the actual canon events, ESPECIALLY since Eloise is a Black🥹💓

SAD ENDING:

After Sebastian gets his hands on Slytherin’s relic, it really starts to consume him and makes him even MORE obsessive than his natural tendencies - I imagine it similarly “talking” to him like Slytherin’s locket/horcrux did in Deathly Hallows (😳)

Eloise is deathly afraid of the changes she’s seeing in Sebastian and steals it from him (he would never willingly give it to her ESPECIALLY if it starts to feel like a precious item to him)

BUT the relic triggers the latent Black Family Madness in her - the madness that afflicts almost every woman in her family since…🤭 - and she herself starts to lose touch with reality. Her body and soul are already destroying themselves between the curse and the ancient magic inside of her, and the relic is what triggers it in her.

Sebastian becomes an Unspeakable, focusing on the Mind, in a desperate attempt to find a cure for his Eloise🥺

He never gives up his research, and sometimes when he comes home she is lucid and they talk about his research - otherwise, he just loves and takes care of her.

(He’s never successful in finding a way to reverse what he feels he caused in the first place - his ambition and single-mindedness is, to him, the reason why all of this happened)

Honestly who knows if I end their story either of these ways😌 I just love thinking of AUs and different endings and I have a few others I’ve considered as well!!! And whatever endings I don’t write will be immortalized on this blog and in my art as well🙏

[ricky-mortis]

Curtwen Week Day 6: Happy Ending

[squigglywitch]

Based on Kristen’s entire vibe in the first episode I’m 99% sure she and Tracker are over and yes I am sad but I KNOW Ally is going to deliver to us the most juicy, delicious, messy, toe-curlingly cringe high school lesbian break up drama that has ever existed and I’m so fucking excited

[sincerelyrf]

me: *seeing people yell about how they did Glintshore & Percy's death in the show*

also me: ..................anyway

[lyxchen]

SOMETHING JUST HEALED IN ME BECAUSE CHARLEY AND YURI KISSED AND IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND THIS IS GOING TO FUEL ME FOR MONTHS!!!!!!!!

[dreamsy990]

YAY I GOT THIS DONE ON HIS BIRTHDAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAJIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOU RUINED MY LIFE AND ALSO MAYBE SAVED MY LIFE. WHO THE FUCK KNOWS I DO LIKE YOU A LOT THOUGH

[puppppppppy]

AND I MET THE CHANGE GOD TOO. OKAY. COOL OKAY

[aerithisms]

i think my problem with this dw season arc accusing the audience of fanbrain for theorising about ruby is that it both feels deceitful and isn't actually that compelling from a character perspective. the season goes out of its way to build up supernatural mystery around ruby and even invokes susan more heavily than ever before in a way that is deliberately trying to get the audience to make those connections. and then it turns around and says you stupid idiot why would you ever try to connect these dots i have deliberately tried to get you to connect.

building up a mystery only for the character to be ordinary is an impossible girl arc redux only this time accusing the viewer of failing to see the humanity of the companion, whereas the impossible girl arc was turning that accusation on the doctor. 7b didn't really blame the audience for viewing clara as a puzzle and in fact several times spells out the fact that clara is perfectly ordinary before the big reveal to give the audience a chance to catch on. as 7b goes on, instead of laying the mystery on thicker, the audience just gets more and more affirmations that clara is a normal human being (rings of akhaten, journey to the centre of the tardis, hide). i found this approach compelling because it was rooted in character, focusing on the doctor's disconnection from humanity/the gendered dynamic of a man treating a woman as his manic pixie mystery to pull him out of grief. s14's meta approach of accusing the viewer feels both unfair, given it has deliberately led the viewer towards theorising, and personally less compelling to me because it wasn't tied into character in any way.

the thing about rey's parentage in tlj is that the reason rian johnson chose to go for that reveal was that it was the only answer that was interesting. none of the theories - rey is a skywalker, rey is a kenobi, and even the eventually canonical rey is a palpatine - were interesting or satisfying because they brought nothing compelling to the table for the story being told. the only satisfaction to be gained from those answers was a fanbrained "omg rey is important because she's related to that guy from the other movie." on top of that, rey desperately wants her parents to have been important, to give her life and her abandonment some kind of significance. so them being ordinary provided the most compelling trajectory for her character because it was the thing she least wanted to hear. it forced her to do the most introspection and growth, as well as tying into the film's themes about the capacity of ordinary people to be special. it wasn't just a choice made to "gotcha" the viewer, it was rooted in character.

i don't think ruby's mother being ordinary accomplishes the same thing. by invoking susan, s14 is engaging with the most egregious example of the doctor's streak of abandonment, which has potential to be very compelling in relation to ruby (and now also the doctor's) own abandonment issues. theories that ruby might be susan, or be somehow related to susan, or somehow related to the doctor, weren't just fanbrained "omg she's related to that guy i know from the classic series." they were theories genuinely rooted in character and the potential to explore both the doctor and ruby's issues with abandonment. and this is something the show willingly led fans towards by invoking susan so much in the first place. so for the show to turn around and act like they were shallow out of nowhere ideas when they were not shallow and were based on potential character conflicts the show itself deliberately invoked, feels misguided.

as well as that, ruby's mother being ordinary does not require that same growth from ruby as it did for rey because it is exactly what ruby wanted to hear. she never wanted her mother to be important, she just wanted to know who her mother was and have a connection with her. so finding out she was a normal woman who still loves her and wants to be a part of her life is everything she's ever wanted. it doesn't introduce interesting conflict for her the way rey's parents being ordinary did for her, because they were written as different characters with different hangups over their abandonment.

tl;dr i don't necessarily dislike ruby's mother being ordinary as an idea but compared to the things it was inspired by - 7b and star wars - it is not nearly as compelling in terms of how it relates to the characters or themes. and the meta angle, while conceptually interesting, doesn't quite work for me because it feels a little manipulative of the audience.

[doverstar]

actually I love Tentoo and he is the Doctor and it was the only ending for Rose that worked and it is a huge gift to be able to have the man she loves grow old with her, they were always heading for that, y'all be quiet. I 100% understand the angst but it's okay, they're okay, good ending-

[firenati0n]

people ruin people, i don't wanna ruin you // i am just a sickness and you seem to be the cure

by firenati0n on ao3

M | 4/9 | current wc: 6.9k

tags: musician au, orpheus & eurydice references, a star is born au (very loose), angst with a happy ending, icarus references, alex pov, singer!alex, singer!henry

No one could resist his soulful brown eyes, framed by doe lashes, sitting pretty on a face one could only describe as biblically gorgeous. Dark curls, a chin dimple, the cheekiest smile—Alex was marketable perfection in the sweetest package. But fame comes at a heavy cost.

Or, Alex is a washed-up singer who finds salvation in Henry, and Henry is both his loving disciple and his greatest punishment.

xoxo roop

[inksandpensblog]

Still fascinated by how much hate Mitsi gets for the whole "dead fem-coded loved one backstory" thing and all the hangups surrounding that when Purple's mom is arguably a much more egregious instance of the thing everyone is upset about Mitsi for but she ultimately got a pass because...idk, she was The First?