#maybe the storyline isn't quite as over as the fans seem to think

[actual-exhusbands]

You know what? Fair play to Hollyoaks fans because I'm pretty sure they have better morals than us Emmerdale fans judging by their reactions to this whole conversion therapy storyline.

Had the Emmerdale writers tried to do to Robert and Aaron like what Hollyoaks writers have done to John-paul and Carter then we'd have been delusional and come up with the wildest theories to convince ourselves that Robron wasn't over. The McShep (I think that's their ship name) fans seem to have just accepted that their storyline has ended. Well done to them!

[tan1shere]

Double Trouble

Billie Eilish x Young Miko x female reader !

A/n: well well well, I was watching the whole interview of these fine mfs and finally got a storyline for this plot 😇 I hope you all enjoy this one. Choosing Oxytocin for the song as the lyrics fit the vibe 🤭 - also small disclaimer if the Spanish isn't correct pls let me know !! Google translate isn't always trusted lmaoo LONG !!

Summary: You're dating Billie and go with her to one of her small events, Young Miko happens to be interviewing her when later on things escalate.

Warnings: smut ! THREESOME !!! Billie and Miko are both dominant, sub reader. Overstimulation, strap usage, oral, (all r receiving) mommy kink, orgasm denial, think that's it, lmk if there's anything else. This one's going to be interesting, but enjoy 😈

Masterlist

Hearing fans scream as they call out for Billie. You were currently in the back just waiting for the interview to be done, listening to their voices. She happened to get Young Miko to interview her while she was in Mexico. Which was awesome, seeing as you had been a fan of her music for quite some time now. So there was no doubt you were fan girling just a little.

Once the event had finished they come into the back room, approaching you. "Hey baby, thought I'd introduce the two of you. Considering you're a fan of hers." You stand up, smiling at them both. "You like my music?" Miko asks, seeming a bit surprised. You nod at her question. "Most definitely, I've been listening for a few years now actually." You admit, she gives you a smile. "That's awesome honestly! Have you learnt any Spanish?" "Funnily enough yeah, I've learned a ton of new things just by listening." Your smile widens. Billie seemed a bit, distracted though. As if she had something brewing in her brain. Your curiosity got the better of you especially when she says this to Miko.

"Meet you there." Meet you there? Miko then salutes her with a small smirk. Your brows furrow, looking at your girlfriend. "What was that about." You had asked as you head for the car. "Just a little surprise we have for you." We??? There was something behind her eyes. Excitement, no? Maybe? You let your orbs linger over her own. Then it clicked you knew exactly that look and your eyes suddenly blew up in size. It was lust. She got that you were catching on, putting a hand on your thigh. "Now, I'm ok with it. But I want to make sure you are." It was all very secretive, until she catches you way off guard. Pulling into a parking lot which looked to be at a hotel. "You want Miko to touch you?"

She asks, breathing impossibly close to your face. Your cheeks heat up. I mean sure you'd have a little fan girl moment but you loved Billie, butttt you'd be lying If you said you hadn't imagined it just a tiny bit. "Go on, I know what you're thinking." Her fingers trace over your jaw. "You want her to baby?" You just nod, vividly. But her head shakes. "Uh uh, speak." Your breath hitches. "Yes.. yes I would.." Your eyes look into her growingly dark ones. "Good girl."

And that wasn't even close to the beginning of the best night of your life. Everything was very hush hush. This was incredibly wrong in many ways, but the thrill was overpowering that. "I'm a little nervous.." You admit to your girlfriend. "Don't be my girl, we are going to take good. Care of you." She speaks in such a velvet tone, making you clench your thighs. Already she had such an effect on you. That only made you wonder how Miko would be. Was this really happening.

Yep. It was. The door was being opened to her room, she lets the both of you in. Billie gives you a quick but passionate kiss. "Go strip babe." Your body felt tingly at the way she was speaking, filthy yet so damn sexy. You bite your lip. Billie loved to be in control, not in a horrible way ofcourse she just adored having that strength. "Do what you'd usually do, but listen to her. If she doesn't speak up. Make. Her." You swallow overhearing Billies husky voice saying that. "lo entendiste. - you got it." Miko says with a small smirk causing Billie to mirror that, but more evil.

You had stripped out of everything except your bra and underwear. Sitting nervously on the bed. Was this truly happening were you dreaming? You suddenly were being pulled out of your thoughts as you see the pretty Puerto Rican infront of you. "Hi angel." She smirks at your expression. You turn your head for a second to see where Billie is, was she going to watch. When you felt fingers under your chin. "She's just preparing Mami." Your eyes linger over the small bathroom door in the hotel room. "Something tells me you want her to watch. True?" She asks, going to kiss your jaw. When a shakey breath leaves your lips. "I- uhm-" Her eyes connect with your own.

"Imagine her, watching someone else fuck you. Senseless, might I add." Her kisses move lower and lower, having them on your neck. "Imagine her hearing how dirty you sound, because of me?" Your brain couldn't process this, feeling it fogging over already.

Can't take it back once it's been set in motion.

Your nerves and excitement both mix together. Wondering what you had agreed to. Miko's hands come in contact with your bra covered breasts. Kneading gently. "Can I take this off?" You nod at her question but she remembered what Billie had said to her. Her fingers press lightly against your jaw. "Do I get an answer, angel?" You swallow thickly. "Y-yes you can take it off Miko.." You breathe, her smirk grew at the way you whispered her name. Loving it maybe a bit too much. But she had to hear it again. After she removes your bra, discarding it somewhere. Her lips immediately attach to your nipple, sucking hard. Your mind goes blank at the insane feeling. But even if Billie consented to this, or if it was her idea. You couldn't help but feel bad. Or maybe that just made you feel great.

Maybe that aroused you more, the thought of her watching was something you did enjoyed thinking of. And as if on queue. Shes there in the room. Your eyes meet as her head tilts slightly, your heart races at this insane setting. Miko sucking on your tits, as your girlfriend just watches. You weren't being loud enough to Mikos liking. She then bites your nipple, sending a moan to tumble out of your mouth. Your eyes are still locked on Billie as the noise comes out, feeling your eyes go wide. But she smirks. And she does it broadly.

"Don't hide your noises baby. - we've talked about this." Billie then speaks, noticing the way you were biting your lip extra hard. "Go on, wanna hear how she's making you feel." You do as told, but God was this so incredibly filthy. Was it bad you enjoyed it very much? She continues to watch.

She couldn't look away.

Your head lulls back against the headboard as Miko travels down your body, leaving kisses. Her eyes then look into yours as she's reached the main event. Ofcourse asking for permission but silently. You go to nod, considering she hadn't spoken you'd be safe. But the look in her eyes makes you think differently. Your brain just goes to the quickest sentence you can think of. "Please take them off." Your winey voice made them both smirk. Although you weren't looking at Billie right now, when you did. You swear you could've just cum. Then and there. You hold her gaze for a bit.

Shed wanna get involved.

That eye contact remains, until Billie speaks. "Make her cum." Her eyes still boring into your own as she utters those words. You felt like you could go insane. "Heard that mama." You nod slowly. "Y-yes." Miko smirks at your reaction. "You look scared love. Don't worry I don't bite. ... unless you want that." She finishes, coming impossibly close to your cunt. It now being free from the previous fabric clinging to it. You swallow again, letting your mouth hang open as her tongue is on you. Your head falls limply at the insane feeling. Billie's smirk never leaved her face it was as if she was frozen. Getting to watch you like this from a different point of view. Your moans grew louder as she picks up the pace, causing your hands to grab her hair.

What would people say, if they listened through the wall.

There was no other sound but Miko's tongue lapping at you, your soft but powerful moans. Making not only Billie, but Miko also. Go mental. Your orgasm was quick to approach as Miko speeds up, if that was even possible. Sending your mind blank, feeling yourself cum on her tongue with a slight screech. You let out pants, trying to catch your breath again. "Overstimulate her." Billie then orders. Your eyes look over at her. Finally gaining the courage to actually say something. "Bils-" Her head tilts, once again. "Hmm?" Your mouth shuts almost immediately. "Nothing." "No no, go on babe. What is it? You don't want that?" But that'd be a lie, ofcourse you did.

"I just-" But that was cut short as Miko's back at it, having you shake at how sensitive you truly became. You let a shakey but satisfied sigh escape you, having your eyes flutter shut. "What was it you were saying angel?" Your back arches too distracted by your second orgasm to fully care about what Billie was mocking you for.

I can see it clear as day. You don't really need a break.

Billie craved to watch you writhe under Miko, the way you're almost cumming again. But Bills was having too much fun. "Deny her." Billie speaks lowly. And just like that you felt nothing. A cryish whine leaves your plump lips. "Nooo." Your eyes had been closed. "Wanna see what you can take." Billie mutters, enough for you to hear. Your lips then pout as you look at Billie. With such a defeated look in your eyes. Almost begging without words. But you knew you had to speak them you knew that's what she wanted, you to beg.

You take any extra courage floating around inside you and grab Miko's face. "Please, please don't stop. Need your tongue." Billie smirks as you say that, proudly. Miko dives back in satisfied, herself. With how you responded. But she felt like teasing you, testing your limits. Billie seemed to be proud of that also, knowing you'd start to get bratty if she kept it up. "Make her cum, one more time. Then I'll come on over." Billie states, making Miko nod in response.

You should really run away.

She kept circling your clit with her tongue, moving back and forth from there, to your entrance. Your head is rested back as she does so feeling worn out but so amazing at the same time. All you could then think of was what Billie would do. "Make her work for it, need her begging." You look over at her, giving an annoyed little look. But she returns it with a warning one, causing you to immediately look away from her. It was nearing once again, the coil was incredibly close to snapping when Miko squeezes your thigh tightly. Signaling for you to not do so yet. A slight whimper comes from you, trying to hold it. "Please let me cum please-"

Her whole tongue inserted into you suddenly, rapidly sticking it in and out at an ungodly pace. You were shocked at how good she was, nearly as good as your girlfriend. Your mouth agape as your coming close to your release. "Please, please- need to." She looks up at you with such a lustful look. Pulling away slightly to speak. "Cum now." And so you did. Hard. Feeling just as amazing the first two times if not. Better. You let out ragged breaths. Miko removes herself from you. Standing up fully, swiping her thumb over her lip to get the excess cum and put it inside her mouth. "Hm, tasty." She says. Billie comes over standing next to her. "Isnt she." She smirks at you.

You sit up on your elbows, just now catching your breath. Billie inches closer towards you, crawling ontop of your figure. Your eyes glued to hers as she looks to your lips. "I don't think you're ready for this." She spoke in a hushed whisper. Leaning in to kiss you. Ofcourse you kiss back, honestly missing any kind of touch from her. Your hands reach out to gently place them on her face. But it's as if they had already discussed this, because Miko is lifting you up slightly, sitting on the bed and placing you on her lap. Your eyes dart back to Billies. Gulping. "What? Nervous?" Your head shakes but her eyebrow raises in a questionable way. "N-no..not nervous." You speak up.

"Hmm, good." You hadn't even noticed she attached the fake dick to herself, until you felt it near your entrance. Looking back at Billie once again and taking a tiny breath in. Were you nervous? "So wet." She says as her fingers swipe along your sticky cunt, from the multiple orgasms. You bite your lip subconsciously, feeling the dildo peek into your hole. "Please Bills.." Miko's hand moves to your throat, causing Billie to get closer to your face. "What's my name baby? Say it correctly and I'll give you what you want." You take a second, letting out a few staggered breaths. "Please fuck me mommy."

And thats exactly what she was about to do, sliding it in almost all the way, making you arch your back. Slowly bringing it down again as she begins to fuck into you. God this was so insane but amazing all at once. More moans fill the hotel room, you didn't care who listened to be honest you were too caught up on the feeling of Miko's hand still around your throat and Billie's hard thrusts to worry about what others may think. Billie begins to pick up the pace, Miko's other hand coming to cup one of your breasts sending pleasure throughout the whole of your body. Head to toe shivers consume you as her hand tightens just slightly.

Billie watches in amusement as your face contorts into pure ecstasy. Eyes rolling back as she enters you even deeper. You truly were on cloud 9. It just felt too good.

I wanna do bad things to you.

Her hand rests on your waist as she continues to fuck you, feeling you suck her in as if it were her own dick. Making Billie go more feral for you. Her other hand makes its way to your clit, rubbing slowly. Whimpers filling her ears as she does, feeling like she could cum from that alone. She craved to hear such sounds coming from your pretty lips. Drove her mental. Billie didn't feel like being as nice though, wanting to make you go mental. And it sure did. "You cum when I say to got it, pretty girl?" You let out a slight whine, not before shes grabbing your face with her fingers. Smushing your cheeks slightly. "Got. It?" "Yes.. - mommy." Her once Satisfied look returns, bigger than previously.

"Good girl, that's exactly what we like to hear. Isn't that right Miko?" She then replies. "Without a doubt Bill." Your breathing becomes irregular again, trying to gain that focus. "I- I'm so close." Billie just shakes her head. "Don't even think about it." You then feel Miko's soft fingers dance over your skin, moving their way down to your pussy to mess with your clit. "Bi-" You let out the filthiest moan ever, trying so hard to hold it. "C-cant.. please." You speak on the verge of tears. Bingo. Just what Billie was after. The little pout on your lips almost makes her give in. But she keeps drilling into you, so much harder making your head spin. "I-" "hold it."

"B-b..u." A near pornographic moan then ripped out of you, feeling your body shake. "Be a good girl baby. Know you can." - "hold it mama." Miko then whispers in your ear. Another whimper comes from your mouth trying so so hard to keep it in.

I wanna do bad things to you.

Billie goes close to your ear, close to Miko. They then kiss one another making you stare, as your girlfriend comes back into view. There was no denying how hot it was. Billie catches your eyes. She chuckles softly. "You enjoyed that didn't you bub?" You couldn't even speak. She lets that one slide, knowing how much you were struggling. "Precious girl can't even reply to you." Billie shakes her head at Miko. "Shes too busy crying over my dick huh baby?" Your head just rests back on Miko's shoulder. Almost screaming at the insane euphoria you felt. Miko's other hand quickly covers your mouth, tightening her grip on your throat. "Shhh baby not too loud."

I wanna make you yell.

Wanna do bad things to you.

Your eyes roll back again, letting out a groany whimper.

Don't wanna treat you well.

It was getting nearly impossible. Until Billie says the three words. "You can cum." And you gladly do, gushing all over the plastic dick inside you. Squirting a little over Billie. Your brain felt empty, having your eyes closed to try regain stability.

If you find it hard to swallow.

"Just one more angel, know you can." Your eyes snap to Billies. "S-so sore." Miko wipes the lingering tears on your face. But as she starts to move slowly, the need for more is inching its way back. Grabbing onto her hips. "Fuck!" You then scream, making Miko's hand return on your mouth. She eventually got an idea. "Open." She says to you. You do as told going to let her slender fingers enter your mouth. You suck needily, feeling Billie speed up yet again. Her thrusts go at an ungodly pace eventually sending your body to writhe and shake underneath her. Those tears coming back, you cry out of pleasure. Sucking harder on Miko's digits.

I kinda wanna look away.

Her grip on your neck loosens, keeping her fingers there for you to greedily suck on. She honestly enjoyed the feeling of it. Bringing that hand down from your neck to your nipple giving it a pinch. You moan around her fingers, feeling your fourth or fifth. You honestly lost count. Orgasm of that night.

Kinda wanna get involved.

Billies hands grip your waist, completely railing the fuck out of you. The sight infront of her making her moan, herself. Low, lustful. Filthy. Your eyes continue to gloss over feeling it coming closer and closer. But you listened to what she had said earlier, only when she says to.

Other people don't obey.

Her thrust continued, her stamina was impeccable. But you knew that already. Your hands reach out to touch her, grabbing at her tits. She smirks at you, knowing their your favorite. "Can feel how close you are. Tugging me in." You accidentally bite down slightly on Miko's fingers. Little did you know she didn't mind that, one. Bit. Your teeth retract from doing so, continuing the sucking motion.

You should really run away.

The coil was close to snapping, it got harder for Billie to even thrust at how tight you had became. She needed it, you needed it. Miko needed it. "Cum." She breathes.

Bad. Things.

You did with yet another scream, of who's name? Well ofcourse both. They both, made you cum. They both, made you scream. And there was no doubt this wouldn't be the last time this would happen.

It was your little secret.

[teenage-fleabag]

Some thoughts on the Life is Strange franchise

To be fair I'm not really up to date with recent Life is Strange discourse, but since the somewhat recent announcement I've had so many thoughts and I just wanted to ramble a bit.

I've been a huge Life is Strange fan for years now, falling in love with the first game when I played it at fourteen. Since then I've played every game that has been released in this franchise. But the first game has always felt special, like a little glimmer in time that no other game has been able to replicate, but that doesn't mean that the other games suck though!! I've quite enjoyed them!! I just think that Deck Nine aren't really living up to the standards set up by the games made by Don't Nod.

Even though one of the critiques of Life is Strange 1 is how the choices made throughout the game don't really matter in the end, seeing as they all can be easily erased by the last choice, it still felt as though they all had a purpose? They contributed to the sentiment of ''your choices matter'', letting the players see the butterfly effects that they themselves were responsible for. And all of this culminates with the final choice - being dictated by how you played the game and which relationships mattered the most to you, creating an incredibly heart wrenching ending.

And I was so excited to see how Don't Nod expanded on the choice mechanics in the second game!! Life is Strange 2 isn't without fault or criticism and I understand why many people didn't love it, especially if they played it while the episodes were being released, but it was so refreshing to see a new story and mostly, to see that the creators were trying to improve and make something different. Especially knowing that they probably saw the love for Max and Chloe, but stood firm that their story was over, which I think creatively was the best choice.

Before the Storm is difficult to talk about, because even if I do genuinely love it, it still suffers from the ending just not being as strong as you'd expect from a Life is Strange game. But I've always kind of written that off as something that you just have to deal with when creating a prequel. But then True Colors came out, which I was very excited about, even if the storyline seemed a bit similar to the first game (small town, mysterious death - I know it's kind of a reach, but still), but once I finished it I felt quite disappointed. I loved the characters, but I thought the ending absolutely sucked. So did the big reveal. It felt as though Deck Nine had learned nothing from the progress made by Don't Nod.

Since the release of True Colors I've had this feeling that Deck Nine ar just trying to recreate the magic of the first game without making any bold creative choices themselves, just juggling around elements of Life is Strange 1, trying to figure out which one will grant them the most success. This point being further proven by the announcement of Double Exposure.

Don't get me wrong, I love Max, but her story was over, she had her arc. And yeah, sure, maybe a part of me is saying this because I don't want to see her suffer anymore than she already has, but there's a reason why Don't Nod have been so adamant that her story is over for now. I know the new game isn't out yet, and I'm still holding out hope that it'll surprise me, but I truly cannot see how they can make a Life is Strange game with Max as the main character, while basically ignoring the events of the first game. I get that it has to be stand alone for commercial purposes, that a direct sequel probably wouldn't sell as well, but that makes this game just feel like fan service without actually serving the fans.

I truly have no clue how they plan on just explaining away Chloe if a player chose the bae ending, especially since they were still mentioned as being together in Life is Strange 2. I'm aware that they mentioned that the player will be prompted to input their ending during a conversation, but Max's story is so much more than just a simple conversation. It makes it seem as though a whole part of her is just being erased, a whole games worth of trauma just ignored for the hope of selling a game to as many people as possible.

I don't really know how to end this, but I'm not sure that Double Exposure will really hit the mark for many fans of the franchise. I'm still excited to play it, but I'm staying cautiously hopeful that I might be pleasantly surprised.

[vanmarkus]

You seem to be on neutral ground about the ship war (I try to do the same) and you also seem relatively well caught up on all 911 news. So I wanted to ask, do you think Buddie might actually still go canon?

Personally I don't think it's likely for several reasons, but a lot of other fans seem pretty convinced it's still on the table maybe even soon.

when it comes to shipping itself i am pretty neutral, yeah, when it comes to fandom behaviour... idk i have a bunch of people blocked and muted on both sides, so make of that what you will.

i will say that though that i personally have not seen death threats and slurs thrown around that much on one side, while on the other it's... yeah. we all saw how the common talking point is either "well he's a bad person so i am clearly a good person if i wish terrible suffering on him" or "we've always been hateful, but it's just for fun so you should all lighten up" and i'm not exactly down being associated with people like that.

the way i see it is that Tim wanted to (maybe still wants to) take the show into the direction of canon buddie eventually, (but this is where i remind everyone that we might get 7 more seasons or s8 might be the last, cuz you never really know)

i think he was setting things in motion for a lot of different things this season and that was supposed to be one of them, especially if you go by the interviews and how he talked about just doing what he wanted to do, without letting the fans' interpretations get to him... however that was before he was receiving death threats over a 3-minute cut scene that would've cost thousands of dollars in licensing fees to release, according to him.

it was before bt gained quite a sizeable fanbase, before people started to lean into his accidental invisible string theory, which is frankly a writing goldmine to stumble upon. he was incredibly excited for the bi Buck storyline according to Oliver and that storyline will forever include Tommy, as both Tim and Oliver mentioned as well (Oliver going as far as saying he hopes the character stays around regardless of where the relationship ends up going, because Tommy is now a core part of who Buck is).

certain part of the fanbase seems to think they know the actors personally and know exactly what they think and how they feel about each other and the storyline

(see: people saying that Oliver is upset about where the bi Buck storyline is going, even though he literally didn't comment on it at all since he's been on hiatus and now isn't contractually obligated to promote the show and give interviews.

also claiming that Oliver doesn't like Lou which may or may not be the case, though he only ever said majorly positive things about him, so did the rest of the cast and Tim. but even so, do they think Oliver is such a bad actor that he can't be a professional and still work with him? genuine question. it's a part of the grownup world to work with people you don't like, but actors aren't their characters and whatever Oliver feels about Lou, Buck still likes Tommy, so that's the end of that discussion imo)

anyway, my point is that Tim and Oliver and even Ryan to some extent were talking about not giving in the hysteria of buddie fans and just keeping the story on the track they want to set it on and only going into that direction if it makes sense for the characters and is a truthful way of telling their stories.

again, that was before the overwhelming aggression, general homophobia (which, wow), death threats made against Tim and Lou and (seemingly) chasing Lou off of social media.

i'd say it all depends on Tim and if he feels petty enough and enjoys writing for bt enough to take it away or if he wants to go with his original vision (which, obviously i don't know him or what goes on in his head, but i personally get the sense that canon buddie was the direction he wanted to go into)

all in all, it's all speculation, but the behaviour shown by some people in the fandom is truly disgusting and disturbing and i really don't think it's justified over some fictional men dating or not dating.

and as a sidenote: acting entitled towards a queer ship becoming canon is the dumbest fucking thing in fandom history. you do know that the ship that started it all, that appeared in countless media over the last 60+ years is still not canon, right? what makes you think that we "deserve" canon buddie? especially based on everything i just outlined above.

[rainbowsky]

Review: Born to Fly

I saw DD's new film, so here are my thoughts on it. I'm going to have a spoiler-free section and then a more spoilery section. Please pay attention to that if you haven't seen it yet!

Spoiler Free Section

I have to be honest: I had pretty low expectations going into this film. These kind of militaristic, nationalistic, 'heroes and glory' films aren't really my thing. I like the action and excitement, but that tends to get eclipsed by cliches, macho posturing and manipulative melodrama.

These kinds of films tend to take themselves too seriously, and the audience is supposed to go along with that and take it all equally seriously. A lot of the promo for the film showed officials and military figures crying in the audience, which could have gone a few different ways depending on what was happening onscreen.

Given the political situation in that region right now, with China escalating their military aggression against Taiwan, I was also worried this film might push a narrative that I'd find offensive.

Thankfully this film wasn't quite what I feared it might be. Yeah, it had some eye-roll worthy cliche moments and some unintentional humor, but for the most part it was just an engaging, suspenseful and surprisingly funny film. The political angle wasn't great but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

For the most part the special effects were pretty good. Definitely strong enough to give a sense of immersion, and all the actors gave good performances.

Of course DD was the star of the show, and he really stepped up to the task. His performance was convincing, his character was sympathetic, and of course he looked amazing in every frame. I was so proud of him.

Overall I think it's a film most fans will enjoy immensely, and any family or friends who get dragged along for the ride will not have much to complain about.

If you haven't seen it yet, I recommend you stop reading now and maybe come back once you have.

Spoilery Section

I'm not going to go into too much depth, here, because if I get too ambitious this post will run the risk of languishing in my drafts folder, never to see the light of day.

What I Liked

I loved Lei Yu. DD was well cast - he had a lot of DD-ish traits. I enjoyed his plucky, often conflicted personality. He was smart, talented and very human.

While we didn't get much depth from him or the other characters (typical of the genre), the relationships he had with his crew mates were at least convincing enough to drive the story forward and make me feel invested in what was happening to them all.

I loved the action. The aerial scenes were so exciting, and mostly well produced. I had been a bit worried that we'd spend most of the film watching the guys work out and do all these endurance tests (which might make good eye candy but isn't a story), so when those things just ended up being quick montages I was relieved.

I mean, that's what's most exciting about a film like this, right? The planes, the action, the suspense, the crashes.

I also really loved the humor in this film. There were some genuinely funny moments, and it helped relax me into the story more and become more invested in the characters. We all know a film like this is going to play with our emotions a bit, but too many writers forget that just like pain, laughter can be a gateway into people's hearts.

The story was pretty good. I wasn't expecting much, but I think they did a good job of making the mission seem important, of making the struggles seem real, and taking the viewer on a journey.

The film was over 2 hours long, but never at any point did I look at my phone or wonder how much time was left. I was engaged and excited throughout the story. That alone is a pretty big accomplishment. My attention span isn't stellar.

I was grateful that there wasn't much of a romantic storyline. I guess we can thank the censors for that, because they recently put stronger limitations on romantic storylines in nationalistic media. 😐

It was fine for there to be a spark of interest between characters - it makes the stakes higher when things get tense - but I showed up for an action flick, not a romance.

I can't really comment on the technology or anything to do with the planes, training, etc. I have no clue about any of that. It all seemed plausible enough to me that I wasn't being pulled out of the story every time that stuff was being discussed.

I especially enjoyed the parachute packing scene. I had never before put much thought into how parachutes are put together, but the way the guy was talking about it lent gravity to the story while also just being really interesting both topically and visually.

While I felt that the 'background-building' scene with his parents was a bit too rushed to give us a strong sense of their relationship, I wasn't too upset about it because I was more interested in the action.

The relationship between Lei Yu and Zhang Ting (his commander) was very satisfying, and I loved the chief engineer guy who he packed parachutes with. What a great character. Both Hu Jun and Tian Zhuang Zhuang gave strong performances.

I loved that Lei Yu was something of an engineer himself. I don't know much about military aviation, but I know astronauts are serious engineers and scientists, so why can't top tier pilots be too?

This whole aspect of participating in the design of the aircraft was so interesting, and gave us another angle on Lei Yu. Brains, beauty and brawn rather than just a hot macho soldier.

The commander's child was also a smart choice for the story. He was cute and relatable, and gave us another angle through which to view all of this. The enthusiasm for planes. The connection with his dad. It added some fun and human interest to the story (and some pathos).

Little Bai Ze Ze was so cute and he gave a good performance!

I like that I can look back on a movie that was over two hours long and feel that some things were rushed. They packed a lot into those two hours, and the pacing was such that I never got bored or lost interest, and always felt like something interesting was happening.

That might sound like a small thing, but to me it's huge. It's so rare for me to watch a film where I feel engaged all the way through. Especially not a movie in this genre. They did a good job with the story and pacing.

There were some good emotional moments. Going to the tomb to pay respects to the fallen comrades, of course was so emotional, and it helped give a sense of the stakes of what they were doing and the magnitude of the mission.

The death of the commander was also so powerful and heartbreaking. I liked that they weren't afraid to show all these guys bawling their eyes out. It made it all more believable.

Like the success of the mission, the redemption of the relationship between Lei Yu and his rival Deng Fang was totally predictable. The salute at the end "I owe you" could have come off as cheesy but was played well and felt sincere and meaningful. Overall I liked Yu Shi in this film, he did well.

What I Didn't Like

There were some things that I found weak, cringey or even offensive.

The number one thing that bothered me was the glorification of tragedy, and the characterization of terrible accidents as a noble and heroic self-sacrifice, as though it was a price worth paying for the competitive mission of building a frickin' plane to outdo the other guys' technology.

There is never a time when that kind of thing is not offensive to me. The 'noble, self-sacrificing heroism' of soldiers is not an accidental sociocultural perception. It's something people are taught to believe so that the state has enough people who are willing to come forward as cannon fodder, and so the loved ones left behind don't mutiny against those who put them in harm's way.

Yes, there are some dangerous jobs out there and people put themselves on the line to do some important things, but the way this film framed loss of life as an acceptable - even valiant - price for getting a jet built (that is itself just a killing machine)... ugh.

If the value of their lives was put above the value of the technology being built - and above the value of the mission - their goals would still be achievable, but with less loss of life. This isn't about getting the planes built, it's about expediency.

As I was watching a lot of the action scenes I couldn't help but think of DD and everything he went through to make it all happen. I don't like how much danger and injury he ended up with during this film shoot. Seeing the car crash where I knew it was REALLY HIM in the driver's seat was stressful.

And that goes alongside the overall message of 'necessary, noble sacrifice'. The film promo glorified DD's accident and the danger he was put in, his willingness to keep filming even when he was injured or in pain (such as the way the shoulder straps tore up his shoulders when he was in the spinning machine), as heroic and noble rather than irresponsible and unnecessary. It's just so offensive to me. Actors shouldn't be expected to risk life and limb for the sake of creating entertainment. Such things shouldn't be glorified.

So there's that whole tone to the film of people's lives and welfare being an accepted - even natural - price of doing business, which really bothered me.

Another thing I didn't like - and which I knew going into the film would be a problem for me - was the way the whole thing was framed politically. The whole "East vs West" thing was cringey and at times unintentionally hilarious. The American pilots were totally slapstick funny in their characterization, to a degree that came across as childish and embarrassingly propagandistic.

"We can come and go whenever we want and you can't stop us! Hahaha!"

Said the evil stick men with curly moustaches.

This is where nationalistic films often cross the line into creepy or ultra cringey. I think the goal of creating a powerful stealth fighter jet is exciting enough on its own. The audience would have been there for it without the villainizing and the 'us vs them' narrative.

Painting China as an underdog was also so laughable and totally offensive. They are one of the top military powers on the planet. They are leading in technology on many fronts. This had no believability whatsoever, and came across as blatant propagandizing. Which of course I knew to expect, but that didn't make it any more palatable.

And of course, the scenes where they were patrolling the seas were exciting, but when you think about what's actually happening in the region right now it all takes on a totally different tone.

So while the propagandizing wasn't as overbearing as I thought it would be, it still had a pretty strong presence in the film, and that detracted from my enjoyment. I knew that going in, though. It's inevitable with a film like this.

There were a few other moments in the film where I rolled my eyes at the heavy-handed melodrama - the totally predictable and cheesy tombstone fly-by after the big save toward the end of the film, for example - but none of it was unexpected. It's all par for the course with these kinds of films.

Some of the crisis points in the film were a bit much, too. Like that bird strike, which felt sudden and unintentionally comical. The people sobbing in the control room when you know damn well the pilots are fine. That kind of thing. But again - typical fare for this type of film.

Final Thoughts

This film is admittedly a bit shallow, but that's something one can expect from this genre. Films like this tend to put a few hooks into viewers - pull a few emotional strings - and then deliver a bunch of high impact moments to give a sense of payoff. It's all very predictable and formulaic, but that can be part of the appeal. Sometimes I just want to see a cheesy action film.

As far as these types of films go, Born to Fly really wasn't too bad. It was watchable and enjoyable, and the things that bothered me didn't bother me enough to pull me out of the story. My fear was that DD would be associated with a really trashy, awful film and I am hugely relieved to say that didn't end up happening.

This film was a totally respectable effort for what it was, and I enjoyed it, although it doesn't hold up as well internationally as it probably would in China.

That might sound like a tepid summation, but all things considered it's practically a glowing review. 😅

Most importantly, DD gave a really solid performance, and I think that's going to bode well for his career moving forward. There really wasn't a moment in the entire film where I felt he fell short. I am so proud of him. He's doing so well!

[chromatic-lamina]

hi there!

I always see you commenting on OP chapters and analyzing them, which makes it a great joy for me to read some without the typical op fans hate.

Anyhow, I would like to ask for your thoughts on Law's current situation and his rule in the future #spoilers

I personally don't think his rule is over yet, Oda went out of his way to declare Law's new goal, which many ppl said after dressrosa he is irrelevant?

besides, Law isn't a rival to Luffy, if anything he's an ally, so there is no point in tossing him out of the story like he did with Kidd - which is a shame and lazy writing honestly - But I don't like to use '' he's a D too'' argument either, because:

a) Ace, b) not every D is essential to the plot.

I can't predict what Oda gonna do with him in the future, maybe join Luffy again ( the fan in me talking) or join Crocodile and the others (stampede foreshadowing ?)cuz law doesn't seem to care who he works with as long as his goals are accomplished.

I just feel like Oda wanted so bad to get rid of his crew and focus on him - and bepo cuz he's cute- it seems like a pattern that Oda is doing every time Law is on screen.

P.S. I'm sick of people saying law gonna die, like, what's the point of him dying, they've been on it for years lol.

I hope this massage isn't too much

thank you !

Hi Nonny,

Thank you! Wow—that's quite an ask! (I don't mind). My answer will probably not be that long (haha) and obviously I'm not Oda, so everything is speculation. I'm not answering in any particularly order, but

I don't think Kid has been cast aside. He might not be a contender for the One Piece any more, but Oda put a lot of work into his character too, making it one of the main subplots of Wano, and a lot of work into his design, and Kid and Law appeared on two of the volume covers for the Wano arc, so I think he's temporarily disposed, but I think we'll see him again (plus he named all of Kid's crew?). Killer as well, having appeared on that colour spread with the first hand men of major players (Shiryu is there as well; but I do think that King and Katakuri might not be playing roles).

2. I think the D. should be focused on, actually. All of the Ds, in that, perhaps the Poneglyphs the Hearts carried did survive in their own possession (wishful thinking!), and the crew themselves. I've written elsewhere that I think that Oda gave them a marine animal theme, and named them after marine animals (some of which can dive very deep) for a purpose (I call them National Geographic Hearts). However, this is more a head canon for my creative purposes, and I do cede that Oda separates Law from his crew on the regular, cos' 20 characters plus 10 characters + 1 is far too many for a storyline to maintain cohesion, and it's Luffy's story.

3. Okay, this is a spoiler for my fanfiction, Bioluminescent Hearts: BUT, what if through marine animal shapeshifting devices, ALL Hearts & Law & Bepo end up on Elbaf, which, according to Artur at Library of Ohara, is not too far from Winner Island (I'll put a visual below). The poneglyphs survive, somehow (actually, might have them wrapped in seal skin. Might edit that into my story!) ie: one of the crew always kept them on their body, nearby, etc.

Saul (a D.) recognises Law because he follows the news and Robin's life, and takes in both the Hearts and "returns" the poneglyphs to Law. (Also, probably knew a young Rosinante). From there???

4. I doubt Oda is gonna take that path. But that's my alternative path. Law will probably hook up with Luffy and I don't mind Kid doing that either. I don't

want Law to do it as an extra Straw Hat though, or as a (relation)ship or as a subordinate to Luffy. Robin and Law will still be able to pursue their wish to seek out true history through their interest in the Void Century, Will of D. etc., and Saul will help fill in the blanks if this path is taken.

I believe the Kid and Heart crews will still play a support role to Luffy, but it will be sketched into the background. I believe that Killer will also have a role (like Bepo). Possibly the next best-known Hearts and Kid pirates might appear. Again, I don't think it will be that detailed.

5. What I started to say above but didn't, is that I think that all Ds are essential to the plot, especially now that we've discovered that Saul is alive, and Ace's death obviously drives the story, as do Law's parents' death, but Law isn't going to die because he's a D or pursuit of knowledge about being a D, etc., or for any other reason imo.

I don't think that Oda would want anything to overshadow Luffy's story at this point of the narrative, and killing Law off would do that. The angst train is strong, though, anon! So let people have their hand-wringing. It can be fun.

Also, I totally understand the deeper tragedy of losing a home/house (and in Japanese, Law refers to his crew as うち uchi , which is a word for home, when they meet the Straw hats on Zou), BUT I feel that Oda will not kill off the Hearts, and even if they're captured, I don't think the focus will strongly be on them (time constraints).

But, it will be cool if the hook up with Koby again in Hachinosu, etc. (there is that sub-story too!), considering the role they must've played in the Rocky Port Incident. Law too.

The Polar Tang was destroyed. And I love her. And I loved the Victoria Punk too, but through writing about the Polar Tang, probably had a deeper attachment to the submarine. However, the Hearts and the Kid Pirates are pirates, and part of the game is plunder, attack, destruction. Law got lucky (or had the skill and resources) with destroying the factories at Punk Hazard (and destroying the island and navy resources), and unlucky this time. He didn't invite the attack, and was up against an emperor and his crew, but Smoker, Caesar, etc. didn't invite the attacks (whether justified or not) on their person, peoples and possessions either. I'm not saying the attacks carry equal moral weight (which, Oda does a very good job of asking us to question), but pointing out the world they all inhabit.

One of Law's hobbies is apparently wandering, and he was the wandering monk in Wano (komusō). I think part of this might be cos he has been seeking a purpose, and that it's also tied to a fear of putting roots down, because they continually get usurped, but maybe it's also just part of his nature.

I think that he's learnt by now just how resilient he is and that he can come back and also that he won't betray the faith—and recognises the love—that love has had in him (I'm in the minority there, but I think the novel supports me, and various statements Law makes elsehwere).

Anyway, did I answer anything? Probably not. And absolutely NO shade on the interpretations anyone else has, and I find if I get frustrated with fandom takes I usually just stay clear of that platform, that tag, that topic for a while! Law lives, don't worry. If he dies, I'm wrong, and I'll eat Law's hat once I wrest it from Blackbeard' grip. However, I do also cede the symbolism of him losing his hat. 3rd time is the charm/death knell?

PS: I don't really want him to join up with Croco and the boys, but Oda has a way of endearing me to any premise he's come up with, so basically, I'll wait and see what unfolds. Too, great metas on this topic over at @purplehairedwonder — for chapter 1081, but I also really liked their meta on chapter 1079. @ninhaoma-ya's chapter analyses are great too, and I enjoy @roydeezed 's write-ups. I don't read anything as closely as these guys do!

[whorror-barbie]

Clean my wounds(Lloyd Hansen x bimbo! Reader)

Summary: after a fight, Lloyd calls you up for some healing

Warning: rough sex, degradation, blow job, humiliation, he's more mean than angry really, name-calling, bimbofication, dub-con possibly. this fic is 18+, so you better be 18 or older.

A/n: I'm alittle nervous about writing him. I tried, but anyways I hope y'all still like it, Enjoy !:)

Btw this is just pure smut, there isn't much of a storyline, I just want him and I'm down bad 😅😭

p.s. sorry it took so long, my personal life got in the way and I was overthinking this fic tbh...,anyways I'm going to post it, don't expect me to be Shakespeare or whatever lol

my masterlist

It's pretty late at night and you are spending time at Lloyd's mansion. the two of you are in his massive bedroom, laying down while watching a movie together "I'll nurse you back to health, and then I'll kiss your wounds all better!" you giggle playfully as you putting rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab, preparing to put it on his left bicep. "I'll Just put it right here..."

"ow, ow fucking shit! " Lloyd grunts through his teeth."Oh sorry, Hun.. I'm almost done," you tell him softly as you finish up, looking at him with caution." hey umm, is everything ok, babes? You just seem off" You ask with worry, but soon regret it immediately. He takes his attention off the movie to look at you with his dead cold eyes and you swallow the remainder of your spit out of nervousness." I lost a fight to a Ken doll with an 8-dollar haircut... I'd say I'm quite dandy" he responded with sarcasm.

You tilt your head in confusion "how is that possible? is ken actually real?" you ask him seriously, Lloyd trying to keep his cool by clenching his jaw "oh, well its a good thing you called me, I'm a nurse after all." you continue in a bubbly tone while cleaning his wounds, "I don't think role-playing as a nurse for your onlyfans counts, sweetheart" you look at him with worried eyes "is that part of the job description? Because I don't remember that...oh no"you think about it but then your face turns back into confusion "wait.. whats an onlyfans? is that a place where they only sell fans? I could use a good fan in my bedroom!''all of sudden you feel him grab your face with a good amount of pressure, and It makes you wince."I'm getting tired of hearing you talk" his deep voice makes your body tingle.

"I should have called up Rachel, she's definitely miles prettier than you and she actually knows how to suck dick" your face slowly changes into sadness as tears threaten to fall. you're not sure why he's being so heartless when all you ever do is be there for him. Lloyd starts to smirk with the movement of his mustache, he feels himself getting painfully harder while looking into your pretty eyes in despair.

"you know what? Maybe I should call her now, and kick your ass to the curb...sounds like a good idea to me" He says with a mischievous deep tone. "No, no, please don't. I'm your desperate ugly whore.. I need you, Lloyd" you start sobbing more, and he looks at you with amusement "oh you are? I mean you're not wrong" He taunts you then continues"well, your body is better" his eyes scan your curves in lust "and that pussy is way tighter, so you're in luck this time" he finally lets go of your face with a hum of approval. You look over to see how rock hard he is in the blanket, and it makes your pussy squeeze on nothing. "so how about you suck me off and let daddy finish watching this movie in peace, ok"

You nod in agreement, wiping your tears away then scoot your body onto him, lowering yourself as you analyze his shirtless form down to his gifted boner. You start pulling his boxers down slowly until his big dick boing out, almost hitting you in the face. you go cross-eyed trying to focus on it with your tongue out. " You look so fucking stupid and adorable... now Get to it" he demands with a wink while flexing his dick.

You start to do kitten licks then wrap your mouth around just the tip to suck on it. Lloyd is visibly annoyed while looking at the movie though you don't pick up on it. you start to only suck up and down on just the tip, he's just way too big for your mouth, but you're not very good at giving head in the first place" umm..I'm not sure what I'm-" Lloyd grabs a good amount of your hair to make you deep throat his dick. You're struggling to keep up as you gag and choke while He's using your throat to jerk himself off.

"Ah fuck.." he sighs out in pleasure, trying to focus on the tv. Tears start to stream down once again, trying to keep up with bobbing your head up and down repeatedly against his pelvis with the sounds of your muted moans and saliva. you're soaking up your thong as he's treating you like a sex object, you need him inside your greedy, and ready pussy so bad. "you're enjoying this, aren't you? disgusting" he teases as he pulls you out of your mouth to slap your face with it while looking up at him with puppy eyes. "Mmm.. lay on your back for me" he demands.

"but what about your injuries?'' you ask him with genuine concern, though Lloyd wasn't having any of that, he pushes down in position and starts to tear off your expensive lingerie as you lay there helpless whelping"shut the fuck up or I'll definitely give you a real reason to cry, princess ". He threatens with a unnerving smile as you feel chill throughout your body, his threats are definitely turning you on. laying in position, you feel very nervous under his gaze. It's been so long since you've had sex, you've been waiting for him this whole time to call you back. Lloyd hovers over while he rubs his tip onto your wet folds until it reaches your hole.

"Oh my god.." you bite your lip and close your eyes to prepare for the pain, he starts to push the tip inside you slowly, making you moan out then immediately you shut your legs on his waist. " Aww, what's matter?you can't even take the tip?"he taunts you, playing with one of your boobs "oh well, that's just too bad" he opens your legs wider to sheath the rest of himself inside your pussy, and he breaths out at how tight you are. "Oh, fuck!" You moan as he's thrusting in and out faster, not giving you a chance to really adjust to him.

You get a good view of him and how some of his hair dangles from his face while he's completely naked over you, giving your poor walls a violent beating "ah yeah" he grunts softly, still looking down at your pussy taking his thick dick, going in and out of you, feeling your walls getting tighter and tighter. Lloyd finally looks at you and your tits bounce with every thrust then smirks, you squeeze on him in reaction. " Ah, I can be in this all night.. best fucking pussy..I might even buy that stupid pink purse you keep begging for earlier" he laughs, slowing down a little bit. Your eyes lit up " oh? Really, babes I would love that soooooooo much." you whine while you cum so hard, but he gets mad, pulling out to manhandle you on all fours" ow, hey!...that hurts, you big meanie!" you yell at him. he pushes your face further into the bed and your ass up so high while giving you a very hard slap on your ass "ow!".

he bends to whisper in your ear ''I'm so tired of your squeaky fucking voice, just moan for me, you ugly bitch" you whimper at his words of cruelty. he gets into position behind you, grabbing your hips firmly. feeling his dick inching back in until he's fully inside. "Ooooo yes! " You moan out like a ditzy whore as he's now picking up speed already, all you can hear is pornographic loud skin slapping, your own moans, and his grunting in-between. Meanwhile, Lloyd is getting a great view of your ass bouncing against him, creating waves." That's right, just like that," he says in between breaths while feeling you clench around his dick more.

"oh my fuck, my pussy feels good right now." you turn your head to the side to see his face contorts into pleasure then He pushes your face into the bed, "this pussy is mine, not yours, you dumbfuck" he spanks your ass and squeezes your cheeks as his dick going in and out once more with such hate. "I'm almost there, whore... get ready to be sprayed with my cum all over your face," he announces while still not slowing down. hearing your pathetic moans and whimpers is driving him crazy, he wants to inside of your tight channel but he pulls out anyways. You pout at the emptiness of your walls, missing him already. " turn around and say ah!'' you do as you're told, and look up, watching him beating himself off. "aaaaaah! I'm your cum dump!" you say happily with your closed eyes now" yes you are.....fuck!" Lloyd grunts loudly as you feel the warmth of his cum on your face dripping down to your boobs. you swallow most of his load that sits on your tongue. " mmm yummy" you giggle flirtatiously.

Lloyd grabs his boxers to put them back on while he stares at you. "well, time for you to go, sweetheart" you look at him with confusion then it gets replaced with sadness, realizing you're not going to stay and cuddle with him all night. "I'm pretty tired. I have a busy day tomorrow...places to be, women to fuck" he taunts with his deep sexy voice. why is he such an asshole? "but I got here by uber, sir" you tell him with a soft, and defeated voice. " well, that's not my fucking problem" he shrugs as he gets back in bed to continue watching the movie " bye, bye now" he tells you cheerfully, and your anger builds up. you get up from the bed to grab your purse and coat. putting on your coat then start walking to the door. " oh and by the way" you turn to look at him,hearing what he has to say "we have dinner reservations next Friday, I want to discuss some stuff with you, so be ready" he demands still looking at the tv with remote to his mouth. you nod and open the door, leaving the room.

walking down the hallway, you feel your face start to smile with tears. you're screaming happily inside, finally a date! though what does he want to talk about exactly? you're not really sure, but you're just glad to spend more time with him instead of waiting another two months again. at the end of the day, you're his and that's all that matters.

[sortasirius]

what makes you think the writers want deancas? not trying to be an asshole, i'm just genuinely curious as to why you think that. i know berens' episodes are pretty heavy with subtext so i can see why you'd say that he wants it, but i'm not so sure about the rest of the writers/dabb. it seems like meghan isn't a huge fan either, given her "they twisted it so fast" tweet :/ of course she's a very new writer (think she's only writing one ep this season?) but still

OKAY this is a great question, welcome to my dissertation.

I’m going to address the end of your question first. Meghan is actually DeanCas positive, she has been for quite a long time. She actually, a few years back, posted a picture of her reading a literal book about Destiel and captioned it “writing reading” or something like that.

This whole thing just comes out of a boiling over of tensions because of how nasty fandom twitter can be. Like I said here, I think this has just gotten blown out of proportion, they shouldn’t have posted all this randomly disparaging stuff, but also like...can you blame them? The fandom is a lot, we always have been, and they’re probably also under a gag order not to talk about the finale, and are annoyed that people keep asking.

So nah, Meg is not anti Destiel.

To the first part!! So let’s take a look at the show runners since Cas has been around.

Seasons 4 and 5: Kripke

Seasons 6 and 7: Gamble

Seasons 8-11ish: Carver

Seasons 11ish-15: Dabb

So starting with Kripke. Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit that we have some pretty incredible Destiel moments in these seasons, but it’s less directly written into the plot and much more from Misha and Jensen’s uhhhh ~chemistry~. The only times it was directly written into the script was when the episode was handled by someone like Edlund (“On The Head Of A Pin,” “The End,” “My Bloody Valentine”). And you have to remember, if in season 5, there are moments here and there where you’re like huh that’s suspiciously romantic dialogue, remember that Cas took Anna’s place. Anna was supposed to be endgame for Dean, but due to a myriad of issues and Misha’s general greatness, Anna was replaced with Cas.

Onto 6 and 7. Hmmm. Gamble. 6 and 7 are my two least favorite seasons and that’s no secret, and that’s not only due to the plain old weird shit in the overall storyline, but also that homegirl killed off Cas in s7 and then Bobby like four episodes later. (Also it ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way they couldn’t have Baby in that season lol). We still had some great DeanCas moments, but again, it wasn’t really written into the overall arc (until they had to change the end of season 7 because of tanking ratings and bring Misha back lol, anyone remember the fact that Dean kept Cas’ jacket and would randomly dream of him? Yeah.). But we still had those moments, those distinctly romantic moments, probably the best example in these two seasons is from Edlund again, specifically “The Man Who Would be King,” I wrote a little about that here.

We move onto Carver, who gave us, at this point, the most overt DeanCas season with season 8 (season gr8 is a better name imo), and this is the first time Dean and Cas’ relationship is directly written as an arc of the season.  I mean, you have everything in Purgatory, Dean “seeing” Cas everywhere, the fact that he felt so guilty that Cas stayed in Purgatory that he manipulated his own memories to think that he was the one that failed Cas, because he couldn’t comprehend that Cas would want to leave him, and let’s not forget Dean snapping Cas out of Naomi’s hold on him in “Goodbye Stranger.”  It was a very obvious shift, not enough to alert the general audience, but more than enough for most of us in fandom.

It’s also important to note that this is when Andrew stopped co writing with Loflin and started writing his own episodes (”Hunter Heroici” anyone?)  I like Loflin fine, but Dabb was able to stretch his legs a little bit more once he stopped co-writing, and we also began to see some DeanCas themes in his solo episodes.

In any case, them and their issues being a big part of the seasons continued with Carver, and Berens entered the scene, his first episode (”Heaven Can’t Wait”) is one of my favorites, with human Cas and the fanfiction gap and Dean and Cas just generally being awkward and funny and sweet.  This is Bobo’s FIRST episode, remember that.  He comes right out of the gate with it.

Also in Season 9, this is when Dean takes the Mark of Cain, and the Cas/Colette mirror is born, so obviously, Dean and Cas are the fabric of the season once again.  This is also the season where Metatron says Cas is “in love with humanity,” and then immediately refers to Dean as Humanity so uhhhh yeah.

Onto season 10, Dabb and Berens continue with their greatness (I could write pages on the DeanCas date in “The Things We Left Behind” alone).  And then we have one of the best scenes in the entire show in “The Prisoner” where the Cas/Colette mirror continues and Dean, driven by grief and pain and rage and the Mark, still doesn’t kill Cas.  He still can’t kill Cas.

Season 11 is important because it takes choice away from both Cas and Dean, and shows us, as the audience, how much losing each other takes out of them. We saw in season 10 how much losing Dean takes from Cas, but what about Cas losing Dean?  Dean loses his choice with his connection to Amara this season, and loses even more when Lucifer reveals he’s been possessing Cas, and plays on Dean’s connection to Cas like a mockery.  It’s also worth noting that, similarly to season 8, Dean breaks out of the connection with Amara when he’s worried about Cas, and that’s something that even SHE is surprised by.

But then season 12, the beginning to the Renaissance.  This is when we get the writer’s that become important for what Dean and Cas are today, and, truly, why I believe they want canon Destiel as much as we do.

This is the first season with Dabb’s writers: Davy Perez, Meredith Glynn, Steve Yockey, and of course Bobo all come in with their incredible talents and gave us episode after episode of good content.  “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” is probably my favorite, probably the best example of what I’m saying.  An episode where Dean is called out by an enemy directly, told to “roll the dice” on Cas’ life.  And Dean won’t, it’s not even really a hesitation.  And this comes from a character that has known Dean for ten seconds.  I also wrote more in depth about this episode here.  There are also some.....distinctly domestic details we get this season, specifically in “The Future” (written by Berens and Glynn) with the mixtape.  The most tropey of tropes mixtape.  Yeah, I’ll just leave that one here.

And then season 12 ends with Cas’ death, but also with the parallel between Sam and Dean with Jess and Cas.  Sam literally has to drag Dean away from Cas, just like Dean had to drag Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot.  The episode drives it home in every way that it can: Dean is the one left kneeling by Cas’ body, while Sam goes to find out what is upstairs.  Dean is the one who stares at the sky, finally broken.  This isn’t a random thing, this is Dean’s whole arc, it’s the entirety of the beginning of 13.  Dean’s pain, his anguish, his anger.

Season 13 starts with them burning Cas, with Dean, who has begged God to bring him back, who has split his knuckles punching a door, standing, staring at Cas’ pyre with brokenness on his face.

I mean.....

Anyway, season 13 is where it gets interesting (well, I think all of this is interesting but I’m a writer nerd so).  So Cas comes back from the Empty in “Advanced Thanatology” written by Steve Yockey, and then a wombo combo of “Tombstone” by Davy Perez next (”Brokebacknatural” as the PR said at the time).  Listen.  This is the part that SPN crossed a line that they couldn’t come back from.  With Cas being Dean’s “big win,” the fact that Dean and Cas watch movies together, “I told you, he’s an angry sleeper.  Like a bear.” Talked about it here.

This is where, in my opinion, the network stepped in, but the damage was already done.  They had already established that Cas was Dean’s big win, that Dean’s poor coping was not due to Mary’s disappearance, but solely due to Cas, and that Dean and Cas have more married energy than anyone else.  The network had nixed blatant canon at this point, and they writing room had been pushing the boundaries of what the network would allow. 

After these episodes, we see a marked drop off of DeanCas heavy scenes.  They’re still there, still a part of the fabric of the season, but not as...obvious as it had been in early season 13.

And this continued through season 14, we’re back to scraps of Destiel scenes here and there, but to me it always felt like there was something bubbling under the surface, something distinctly unsaid in the themes of the season, even after the walk back of obvious “Dean and Cas are in love” scenes.

And then we get to season 15, which, y’all know I talk about all the time.  What’s important here is that Bobo and Glynn are both executive producers, calling more of the shots than ever before.  Additionally, it’s important to note that, though they only co write occasionally, Glynn and Berens refer to each other as “work husband” and “work wife.”  Each episode has just turned up the volume, and, not for the first time, but certainly the most obvious, Dean and Cas ARE the season.  Sure, they’re trying to beat God, they’re trying to finally find peace, defeat the final big bad, but really?  This season has been about Dean, and Dean’s relationship to Cas.

And not only do we have obvious and clear Destiel in nearly every episode, but we have episodes like “Last Call” which canonize bi!Dean (wrote about that here).

And, maybe most importantly so far, we have “The Rupture,” the breakup, and “The Trap,” Dean’s confession (both written by Berens).  And here’s the thing.  These episodes feel connected, but also feel like they’re missing something.  Beren’s last episode is 15x18, “The Truth.”  We’ve all spec’ed about what could happen in this episode, and I think *I* know what it’s leading to.  But for it to be leading to that, it means that the network has to have approved what we’ve all been waiting for years for.

Who got this change to happen?  Who got the network to change their minds?  It wasn’t us.  It was them.  I am fully convinced that Dabb and Berens quite literally put their careers on the line for Dean and Cas.  They believe in them, they’ve shown that from the beginning, but the only thing standing in the way was the network, never allowing them to take the final step. 

So, to answer your question: I think the writers want canon DeanCas because they’ve already shown us that they do.  Take a look at their episodes, at Dabb’s, at Beren’s, at Glynn’s, at Perez’s, at Yockey’s.  They’ve been telling us what’s going on with Dean and Cas for years.

Sure, I’m not in their heads, I guess I don’t know for *sure* that this has been their thought process, but if we put it all together, from the marked shift when Dabb fully took over in s12, to the change right after “Tombstone,” to the new shift, the blatantly romantic shift in season 15, what else is there?

I’ve said for a long time that we, the SPN fandom, are beyond lucky to have the writer’s that we do.  They’re all going to go on to have prolific careers and we were lucky to get them at the end of our little show.  I give them a lot of credit for what we have in the show today.

Just remember, they’ve been telling us in all of s15 who Chuck is.  He says he’s the writer, right?  But a writer who doesn’t have control of his characters?  A writer who wants to do the same ending over and over because it “works”?  That doesn’t sound like a writer, it sounds like a network exec.

They’ve been showing us what they want for years, and the way s15 is going?  I think they may have convinced the network to let us have it.

[ariendiel]

Maybe sometime next year, I’d like to do a series involving fairytales and characters from season 2. I was thinking of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Snow White, etc. What storyline do you think fits each character? I’m having trouble trying to place each character in each story. Boys and Girls if you could :) I’m asking others as well just to gather information 💛

I love love love this ask, Diamond, thank you 🥺 I'm a big fan of fairytales (an extension of my love of fantasy I'm sure), and this ask reminded my of one of my favourite comic book series Fables. It's a great one, so if you like comic books I recommend checking it out! Now, which fairytale/character/story do I think suit the LITG characters...

Here's what I came up with, and please click the links if you want to read more about the fairytales mentioned!

LITG Characters as Fairytales

Bobby - Aladdin

Yeah, this one isn't an original take at all, but it just suits him so well, you know? Instead of the Disney film, think the fairytale though. Less "innocent", and with plenty of variations, there's a reason it's a classic.

Carl - Ugly Duckling

I'm sorry, but Carl seems like he was a later bloomer, and he's so shy and lovely, and I can see him having been super insecure growing up. Then to find out he's desirable must've been a turning point for him.

Chelsea - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's whimsy just rather suits her, I think. It's sweet, nonsensical, with more hidden allusions and depths.

Elisa - The Princess and the Pea

Beautiful and definitely very real princess who knows exactly what she wants, and what she wants is nothing but the best? Sounds like Elisa to me, and I love that for her.

Gary - Beauty and the Beast

Something about Gary, with his body issues and more misunderstood side makes him fit this story I think. Like, he can come of as a classic lad, but it's more to him than meets the eye, just like Beast.

Hannah - Snow White

Pretty, innocent, and loves cottage core, so Snow White fits her well. Not the smartest of them all, and dreams of marrying some nondescript prince because that's what's expected of her. However, see Lottie below.

Henrik - The Boy Who Had an Eating Match with a Troll

A classic Norwegian fairytale. The main guy in these tales (Askeladden or Ashlad) in general just really suits Henrik to me, and I'm sure @deuchess will agree.

Hope - Cinderella

No mother figure, a loving dad that means well and loves her dearly. Hard working and someone who never gives up, I think Cinderella (I mostly know it as told by the Brothers Grimm) would match our dear Hope well. She also very much deserves her happily ever after.

Ibrahim - Sinbad the Sailor

There is something about this tale being adventurous and fantastical that fits him well I think. Rahim wants to be a superhero after all, and do find him a bit restless even while he's reserved, so I think this would be a perfect fairytale match for him

Jakub - Labours of Heracles

Ancient heroes in general suit Jakub quite well, but I'll go with Heracles and his labours for him. He's strong, weak to pretty women, and can be clever to get what he wants.

Lottie - Snow White

Yes, I know what you might be thinking and that I already mentioned it for Hannah, but I see her as The Queen, rather than Snow White herself. The Queen is also just a much more interesting character, and I'm pretty sure Lottie would love to be her – also we all know Lottie/Hannah had an interesting dynamic going on in the Villa.

Lucas - Bearskin

Handsome ex-soldier who finds himself lost after the war and makes a pact with the Devil. I love this one, and it's similar to Beauty and the Beast in a way, which I think fits Lucas as he'd always want someone to love him for more than his looks.

Marisol - Bluebeard

She's beautiful and clever, and I can see her being the one to survive Bluebeard and just take over his castle and fortune to live her best life. Of course, I don't think she would need much help to defeat her husband, but you know...

Noah - Cupid and Psyche

There are many fairytales similar to this one, and I almost went with East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but this is the "original" one. With Noah as Cupid of course, I think a story of obstacles in the way of immortal love would suit him.

Priya - The Frog Prince

A slightly spoiled princess who slowly befriends a frog (you can imagine the sass between Priya and that frog lol), and then have that frog turn into a handsome prince? Yeah, I think it works.

Rocco - Pied Piper of Hamelin

Random "street musician" shows up to lead rats away from town, ends up getting very annoyed when they just won't pay him. That and stories about Pan from Greek mythology says Rocco to me. I was also thinking Peer Gynt, but it's not exactly a fairytale.

Please feel free to send more suggestions, as I'm of course very limited in fairytale knowledge (being nothern european and all...)

[hellsbellschime]

Why Did R'hllor Really Resurrect Jon Snow?

Although Game of Thrones left off with many unresolved plot threads and intentionally unaddressed questions, one of the most interesting twists in the entire series that still remains a bit of a mystery is the resurrection of Jon Snow.

Clearly the sequence of events and Jon's role in them could be drastically different within A Song of Ice and Fire, but in the TV series at the very least, the actual purpose behind Jon coming back from the dead isn't quite as clear as it should be considering what a massive moment it really was.

Yes, there is a consistent theme in both the books and show about the intention of the gods being mysterious and unexplained, but it's extremely interesting that in contrast to Beric Dondarrion, a fairly minor character who was also resurrected by the Lord of Light but whose ultimate purpose in the narrative was directly stated my Melisandre, Jon Snow's ultimate purpose was sort of left up in the air at the end of the story.

Jon Snow's rebirth is something that was anticipated for a very long time by some fans, and the immediate presumption behind R'hllor's decision to resurrect him is that it was because he was the chosen one who could defeat the army of the dead. While Game of Thrones messed with this particular storyline quite a bit and invented a Night King where none existed, the writers specifically stated that Arya defeating the white walkers was a twist that they came up with on their own.

But with that said, the notion that Jon will come back to life because he is the lone hero destined to save humanity never quite rang true either. Rhaegar Targaryen may have believed that Jon, or at least one of his children, was born for this gig, but considering that people almost always interpret prophecies incorrectly, it seems safer to assume that Rhaegar was wrong and his child almost certainly won't be the prince that was promised.

And from an even broader perspective, the idea that any one person is fated to save the world doesn't seem to mesh well with the overall themes of A Song of Ice and Fire. Not only does a singular hero seem uncharacteristic of the story, but having one single person who saves the world seems unlikely, no matter who they are.

So that really begs the question, why is it that the Lord of Light saw fit to bring Jon Snow back from the dead?

The most obvious answer that I think most Game of Thrones fans presumed was that Jon was meant to kill Daenerys and protect the world from her fire and blood wrath. But there are other possibilities. Perhaps Jon was brought back to save the wildlings beyond the wall, or maybe he was just the man who was meant to raise the alarm about the threat of the white walkers that was looming over Westeros. However, there is an incredibly dark possible interpretation to Jon's resurrection as well.

Ultimately, Jon did many good things and saved many lives over the course of his character arc, but truth be told, there were many people who could have potentially fulfilled Jon's role in these heroic feats. Someone else could have saved the wildlings, someone else could have warned of the coming storm, and someone else could have killed Daenerys Targaryen. But what was the one role in the story of Game of Thrones and likely the story of A Song of Ice and Fire that only Jon could play?

Again, the easiest presumption is that Jon was brought back to life because he was destined to stop Dany's tyranny and prevent her from conquering the world. But one particular aspect of that notion that I couldn't really wrap my head around was simply, why would the Lord of Light want Daenerys to die?

Yes, she slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people, and yes, she was a threat to humanity. But the followers of R'hllor certainly don't see her that way.

The red priests and priestesses of the book series don't always adhere to the same beliefs or interpret prophecies in the same way, but they all seem to universally agree that fire is awesome, and killing people with fire is even better. Both in the books and in the TV show, there are followers of R'hllor who directly state that Daenerys is some kind of holy savior, and Kinvara very unsubtly states that Daenerys is meant to "purify" non-believers by the thousands.

And it's entirely possible that those who worship the Lord of Light almost universally interpret their religious texts and prophecies incorrectly. They certainly wouldn't be the first to do so. However, if we are to take anything that the followers of R'hllor believe at face value, the one thing that seems to hold true for all of them is that fire and blood equals power, and that sacrificing human lives in fire seems to make R'hllor more magical or more powerful.

So with all that in mind, an obvious question seems to be, why in the world would the Lord of Light want Daenerys to die, and why would he bring Jon Snow back to life in order to do it? And the obvious answer seems to be, he wouldn't.

Although I'm not entirely convinced that Young Griff isn't the real Aegon Targaryen, it seems safe to assume that Daenerys will think he's a fraud. And from that point of view, that means that the only thing that Jon Snow seems to be that no one else can fulfill the role of is a Targaryen who Daenerys will believe is a Targaryen who has a better claim to the Iron Throne than she does.

Undoubtedly the burning of King's Landing will be more complex and nuanced in the books than it was in Game of Thrones, however Daenerys burning a city to the ground has been foreshadowed quite a bit in A Song of Ice and Fire, and it stands to reason that the discovery of Jon Snow's superior Targaryen claim could be a major contributing factor just as it was in the show. After all, if Daenerys can't take the Iron Throne through a blood right, she can still take it by right of conquest just as many kings have done before her.

So then, if Jon Snow is the only man in the world who can make Daenerys feel like her claim to the throne is threatened, and that threat leads her to burning an entire city full of people, what could that possibly mean? If Jon Snow was resurrected by a god of fire that seems to be fueled by people dying in flames, doesn't it stand to reason that the purpose of his rebirth wasn't to stop Dany, but was actually to ensure that she would burn King's Landing in the first place?

This is certainly the darkest timeline interpretation of Jon's role in the narrative, but it would make some kind of sense in the broader themes of the story as well. The gods of the world of ice and fire are not kind. And, after an entire character arc building up towards Jon being some epic hero, it would certainly be a massive subversion of expectations if the mystical chosen one that Rhaegar read about in prophecies and R'hllor decided to resurrect was resurrected specifically because he could trigger the largest fiery blood sacrifice in human history.

It seems obvious that Game of Thrones likely meant to imply that Jon's heroic character arc was meant to end when he killed Daenerys, and thus he was brought back to life for that purpose. However, there is a lot of obvious ambiguity to that notion, and there is nothing within the narrative that contradicts the possibility that the Lord of Light's interest in Jon was driven by his potential to trigger the destruction of King's Landing. And while George RR Martin's explanation of why the gods do what they do is likely to be even vaguer than the explanations offered in Game of Thrones, it seems unlikely that A Song of Ice and Fire's narrative will ever say anything to directly contradict this theory either.

But ultimately, I just think it makes more sense. Considering what R'hllor's believers seem to think, and considering what R'hllor seems capable of, it just seems more logical that the Lord of Light would have much more of a vested interest in ensuring that hundreds of thousands of people die in fire rather than preventing the queen of fire and blood from using her dragons to burn even more people alive.

[plasticnightmaredoll]

(art commission by the lovely and talented @curious-menace)

It is a time where I would like to see what my followers think about various concepts I have in mind pertaining to alternate versions of one my fics. It may take some time to write out any alternate versions since I've been busy and stressed out so much lately, but I am very curious as to what others would find intriguing to read.

But first, some backstory so be patient. We'll get to the voting at the end of this post.

I've been having a lot of bad days lately, and my mood has plummeted to a major low. This includes my self-esteem, which has always been in the dumps but is now basically a dumpster fire.

However, I don't want to be entirely cruel to myself. I deserve some sort of happiness, some sort of reprieve, and writing can be a good coping mechanism. I put a lot of my own thoughts, emotions, struggles, opinions, etc. into my works, as they serve as a way for me to get things off my chest. Sometimes, it's just cute and funny stuff, other times angsty but eventually fluffy stuff, and other times it's quite depressing and dark.

One fic, in particular, stands out, and that is the Mortal Kombat/Batman Arkhamverse crossover, "Volunteer," (trigger warnings: mentions psychological torture and suicide...more about this fic in a bit for those who would rather not read it because of those triggers) which features Arkham Knight Edward Nigma and Jonathan Crane, as well as a lady friend for Edward named Sara. It also features Erron Black and Cassie Cage from Mortal Kombat (Cassie is only mentioned in the story a few times).

If you read the blog intro/self-introduction post pinned at the top of my Tumblr, you know very well how I feel about Cassie Cage (particularly in MK11) and the Erron Black x Cassie Cage (BlackCage) pairing. Those negative feelings are mostly due to a very bad experience with a pushy BlackCage fan who just wouldn't relent one bit on their stance and it was emotionally and mentally draining to try and talk to them, including providing counter-arguments.

I've come up with alternate versions for "Volunteer" recently due to the spike in stress, depression, anxiety, and insecurities I've been dealing with as of late. This is where my followers come in!

I would like people to vote on which alternate take on "Volunteer" they would be interested in reading. Now, I can't guarantee when I'd get to it because, as I mentioned already, I've got a lot going on. However, I really want to try and write at least one alternate version of that fic, just to get some insecurities and negative thoughts off my chest.

Now, for those who are wary of reading "Volunteer" because of the trigger warnings, here's my advice: Just read the first chapter, if you want to. Chapter 2 deals directly with the sensitive subject matter, although, you can probably guess what happens anyway just by reading Chapter 1 and if you know anything about Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow...well, he likes to mess with people...mentally. To put it very mildly.

Now it's time for the voting. I have three different scenarios I've come up with that are variations/alternate versions of the current "Volunteer" fic's concept/storyline. I'd like followers to select 1 (one) alternate telling of the fic. I will open anonymous asks again, so if you are shy or just want your vote to remain a secret for some other reason, then that's fine by me. Otherwise, you can reply to this post with your choice.

Edit: if you are turned off by the idea of a Mortal Kombat/Batman Arkhamverse crossover, I get it. I don't read crossover fics myself, and that's usually because the crossovers either make no sense or do make sense but the ideas are poorly executed.

This crossover I'm talking about, though, isn't a full-on crossover of MK and Batman. There's no world-building, no larger plot, and no other characters in MK even appear or are mentioned except Erron Black and Cassie Cage.

If anything, it's more of a Batman Arkhamverse standard AU with Riddler and a female oc, and Erron and Cassie are the only concrete elements of MK brought in. I mean, yes, the other MK characters exist, I guess, but they have no purpose in this crossover I've written, and won't make any appearances.

So, if you had any concerns about the crossover aspect, I hope this clears things up

Choices below the cut!

A) "Don't You Wish"

This version is inspired by a song from Pink, called, "There You Go." In this alternate telling, Erron manages to survive Scarecrow's fear toxin, and escape (most likely because Erron is out of his mind and panicking, thus not a threat, and he has no one to help him, so Scarecrow doesn't give a damn what happens to the dude). The first thing Erron does is go to Sara's place, having already broken up with Cassie after realizing dating her was a mistake, and Sara means more to him than he thought.

Well, it's been several months since Sara basically pushed Erron out of her life for his poor choice in women, and (Arkham Knight) Edward Nigma has proven to be a much better (and, wiser and more sensible -- yes, I know, but he's not a skirt chaser, Guys) friend to Sara. While Erron ran off with a blonde selfie princess, Edward offered genuine comfort and companionship, and now Sara has been in the process of moving on from Erron even further.

Sara humors Erron and lets him tell her -- while sounding terrified, confused, and conflicted beyond belief thanks to the fear toxin -- what happened to him. Now, Sara doesn't know Edward asked Scarecrow to take care of Erron as a means of getting revenge for her. Doesn't matter anyway. She's unsympathetic towards Erron's plight, feeling as if he didn't even give her a chance to confess her feelings towards him, nor did he even seem to notice how she felt; it was like he was too busy with thinking with his privates to realize he had someone in front of him who would have treated him better.

Sara tells Erron -- in a flat, disinterested tone -- that his situation is tragic and all but wtf is she supposed to do? Why not go to his dumb blonde gf? Oh, they broke up? Well, how predictable. And Crane is also a (sort of) friend to Sara, which shocks Erron and leaves him feeling worse than before.

Sara sends Erron on his way, and he wanders off in a daze, unsure of what to do with his life now.

Sara and Edward meet the next day, and they have a pleasant time, obviously moving towards becoming a couple. She chooses not to mention Erron as she is completely severing the cowboy from her life.

B) "I Don't Even Miss You"

This alternate telling is similar to the previous one, but this time it's inspired by a Miley Cyrus song, "WTF Do I Know" (Hey, her Plastic Hearts album is actually fantastic!), and Edward is with Sara when Erron arrives at her place in a distressed state. At first, Sara deals with Erron in the hall of her apartment building, unsympathetic to his plight and basically telling him, "I told you so," and "too bad." Erron is getting more and more upset, even angry at Sara's callous tone, and starts to raise his voice, demanding to know why she is being so cold at a time like this?

Edward overhears Erron raising his voice to Sara, giving her a difficult time, and he gets pissed. Edward steps out into the hall and not only mocks Erron in various ways, but demands that he leave immediately, or what Scarecrow did will seem like a trip to Disney Land. Erron has caused Sara -- who is currently moving on and growing closer to Edward -- enough problems and heartache.

Edward reveals he set up Erron, and while Sara is stunned to find this out, she handles it better than expected. Edward said it was his way of getting revenge for her, and he'd do it again if need be. Erron is sent away feeling so much worse, feeling lost, hopeless, and betrayed.

Sara and Edward talk and she admits she's upset that he did something like this without speaking about it to her first. However, he explains that he genuinely did it for her and he doesn't want her to feel pain at the hands of some "idiotic cowman," who doesn't consider the feelings of others and who behaves like a greedy, violent Neanderthal. (And yes, Edward does care for Sara, and he didn't send Scarecrow after Erron out of jealousy -- maybe a little jealousy but it was mostly rage over Erron causing Sara so much emotional pain)

Sara means more to Edward than he can express, and he may not be the best when it comes to emotions, but he does care about her and wants her to be safe.

Sara forgives Edward, understanding that, through his heartfelt but very nervous and shy confession that he is sincere about his feelings for her, and they make amends. She of course tells him to never do something so extreme without consulting her first, though, because what happened to Erron -- while she doesn't care what happens to him in the slightest -- was a bit too much.

C) "Listen When the Devil's Calling"

Another title inspired by a Miley Cyrus song, "Night Crawling," and this alternate telling involves Telltale Riddler and no Scarecrow. Almost a year has passed since Erron went with Cassie and Sara, out of bitterness and heartache, refused to speak or see him. This didn't sit well with him as she was his only friend, and his relationship with Cassie dies within a few months.

He goes looking for Sara, realizing she has moved out of her apartment. It doesn't take him long to find out where she is, and she's with The Riddler, a notorious criminal genius and one of Gotham's elite villains. Erron is worried for Sara and seeks her out.

Turns out, Sara's just fine. This isn't one of those scenarios where the girl is with a guy who just using her and taking advantage of her vulnerability. No, Edward does actually love her and takes good care of her. He finds people like reckless, selfish, and ignorant people like Erron to be a disgrace but also amusing because of how pathetically primitive they are.

Edward also doesn't appreciate how Erron pushed aside a good thing in Sara to pursue a girl who is a social media brat and has more selfies on her phone than brain cells in her, well, brain. It defies all logic to Edward, but he's also not surprised because of how much of a disappointment Erron is as a human being (hey, this is Riddler we're talking about, and he's not one to be sweet and gentle to those he can't stand). Edward doesn't say these things out loud, though, as it's a bit too vulnerable and personal for him to do such a thing with someone he doesn't know or trust.

Sara is upset that Erron has resurfaced and she remembers how heartbroken she was when he went after Cassie Cage. She wants Erron to leave her alone like she asked, so she can move on. She can't trust him anymore, because he's just a skirt chaser in her eyes.

Erron tries to plead his case, tries to apologize to Sara, and expresses how he really feels, but this just distresses her further. Edward steps in and tells Erron he's done enough to Sara, she clearly doesn't want to see him, and he needs to take his leave.

This isn't a request.

Edward pulls Erron aside, telling the cowboy that the only reason he's going to walk away from this alive is that Sara hasn't asked for him to be killed. Should she tell Edward to take care of Erron, well, you all know what Telltale Riddler is like.

And those are the three variations on "Volunteer."

If you could be so kind as to:

leave a comment with your choice or

send an ask (even an anon ask) with your choice or

suggest your take on this story.

I'd appreciate it immensely!

Thank you all so much for supporting me and my writing and being patient with my sluggish publishing schedule!

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Good morning/night/afternoon/evening/day/time hello!

So after seeing how many friends mc have, like wait let me count-----

26! in the friendlist not including, the unofficial friend like Corey,...

With how many friends there are, are there any friends that you would delete in favor of flashing out the other characters or would you like to keep it that way?

I have some ideas on who to delete in favor of flashing out the more main characters, but i fear that this might be a bit... yikess.. I understand that people like this characters and me saying that they "should not exist" might get people mad, i hope this does not give you to much problem.

1. Tulip to Penny ( thks one is still debateable)

I know we have too much Penny especially at year 5/6, sidequest and all tht, but I feel like Tulip doesn't have to exist because her existance can be taken by Penny which flashes her character more.

Hear me out, Tulip is great. But after year 3 or maybe 4 her existence is uneeded anymore. In year 3 we can instead use Penny, Penny is a popular person with many friends. It wouldn't be out of character for her to try to understand Merula maybe try to befriend her ( i mean she did befriended Talbot, who isn't exactly the nicest or the most approachable ) but later, on something happend and now there is more substance in Penny hating on Merula rather than yeah, she such a bully or smth.

2. Barnaby to Ben

Ben is really untouched at the early years ( 1 to 3) I feel like the whole ark of Barnaby can be dealt with Ben. Like imagine Ben was Merulas lab dog, but because of Jacob's sibling kindness and all that, he finally have the courage to stand up to Merula proving his Gryffindor side. This could also explain Rowan sudden suspicions of Ben in Year 4, (its quite mean of Rowan tbh) I mean like after year 3 aside from the dating tlsq, Barnaby doesnt really do much does he? I mean you can argue that he have some influence on the last curse vaults but nah-

3. Badeea Ali to Rowan

Simple, we need more Rowan! I think the thing Badeea did in year 5 can easily be done with Rowan, i mean she just disappears later on anyways.

4. Instead of Bea, Rowan should be in the potrait.

5. Talbot as Ben? I'm not so sure about this one but yeah, they could put aside Talbot so we can flash out Ben. The flying solo quest can be switch into Ben losing his Bear again but we get more background to what the Bear meant to him ( maybe about his muggle life?? ) the tlsq could be at around year 5 or 6 to help Jacob's Sibling understand more about whats going through Ben's mind.

6. Diego = Ben

Ben is told to be good at charms we never really get to see it until around year 4 with the red cloak shenanigans. I would like to see JC explore more of his charms ability by teaching mc.

Anyways im not here to bash on your favorite characters im just saying that a lot of the characters are wasted pottential. To much characters can kill a story, rather than adding more characters jc should focus on the current one.

Sadly, they never did

Year0 Rowan

Year 1 Ben, Penny, Merula, (Chiara)

Year 2 Bill, (Chiara)

Year 3 Barnaby, Ismelda, Tulip, Andre Tonks, Talbott. Year 3 is definitely the worse case of it.

Year 4 Charlie

Year 5 Bea, Jae, Badeea, Liz, Diego

Year 6 Alanza

Year 7 Corey

The problem is, the more jc adds the characters the more they just stack up in the background, clogging the story. Imagine the characters as dept and the currency is good writing.

Anyways love your content, keep it up!

Personally, I couldn't begin to imagine doing this.

Not that I'm saying it's a heartless idea, mind you. I've worked with this line of thinking before. I work in children's theatre, and when we adapt scripts for different sized casts, we have to often cut characters or absorb them into others. So this isn't unheard of, and I get it. Still, having grown emotionally attached to each and every one of these little misfits, and feeling like they all have potential in different ways...cutting them is not what I would do at this stage. I believe the TLSQ system should be completely overhauled, and in doing so, used to give screen-time to characters that don't always get a lot. Imagine if each character had a TLSQ that starred them at maybe LV 5, and then a sequel quest at LV 10. Might seem excessive, like too many quests...but again, this goes back to the idea of a revamp. Allow players to hit pause, and put a TLSQ on a "waiting list" so to speak. Allow them to reroll so they can skip one if they want to for whatever reason. Stop having TLSQs disappear forever if they're failed twice.

As far as your first suggestion...I realize that my status as a Tulip fan might be affecting my reaction, but absolutely not. I have no issue with Penny, but if it comes down to omitting one of these two...well, Penny does come with Beatrice, and that whole emotional arc during Years 5 and 6. But I'm not sure if keeping that is worth losing Tulip. Because her storyline with Merula is quite compelling, and it adds to the backstory of one of the mainstay characters. Plus...Tulip is kind of way more interesting than Penny, if I'm being honest. Actually, if I was to have anyone be "absorbed" into anyone else...I feel like Tulip could have easily been the "detention" character in Year 5? And that would have been a way to keep her relevant? Again though, I love Jae so much that I couldn't imagine doing this. But it's one example of how this idea could be done give more focus to fewer characters. You know who could be absorbed into Penny, though? Andre. Just, so long as we're actually thinking about this.

Barnaby is a character who sadly has not done much since his arc ended in Year 3, you're right about that. However, I feel like Ben is just too complicated and too tied to the main story for him to be shuffled with anyone. We still have unanswered questions about the gaps in his memory from Year 2. Did he cross paths with R? With Merula? Then there is the question of his time as the Red Cloak in Year 4. His transformation into "New" Ben, after going into the Portrait Vault with MC. I suppose these things could be transferred over to Barnaby, but that would leave the Year 2 stuff up in the air. And as for transferring it the opposite way, cutting Barnaby to give Ben more prominence...I mean, it could be done, but Ben already has plenty, if you ask me. And I don't see him being able to take on the role of Merula's lapdog, given their history from Year 1.

I'll never say no to getting more of Rowan, and this is something I could actually see working. The idea of Badeea being absorbed into Rowan and that screen time being given to them. I love Badeea, but it's definitely tempting. By in large, the Year 5 characters did feel at least a little gimmicky. They're all wonderful, but the fact that there were four of them, one for each House, and they all had a specific interest that was central to their character? The fact that all things considered, they didn't really matter to the story apart from perhaps Jae? Yeah, I would never want to lose any of them, but I can see why that might work. As for Rowan taking the place of Beatrice...well, that's an idea. For sure. It could give MC the same kind of immediate emotional context. Allow Rowan to be heavily relevant without them actually needing to have any lines. But their entire character would have to shift after that point. If they're absorbing Beatrice' character arc...I mean, the Forbidden Forest comes to mind. Does that still happen? Does Rowan's personality change? What becomes of them after Year 5?

I still believe Ben is doing just fine in terms of his relevance, but I'll admit there's definitely something to the idea of Diego being absorbed into him. And I've grown to truly like Diego. Ben having talent at dueling could show how far he's come. If they depicted it prior to the end of Year 4, it could be foreshadowing of him being the Red Cloak. If he still helps MC prepare to challenge Rakepick in Year 5, it could play into his fear of her. And I like what you're doing with the idea of Talbott being absorbed into Ben....but no, I can't endorse that one. It's just not needed for Ben's story, and Talbott is already so fascinating on his own. I dig the Ravenclaw representation, I dig the Animagus representation.

Either way, it's an interesting topic to think about. Not to worry, I don't take offense at all. I get that people have different opinions and there are certainly valid critiques of this game's writing. I still enjoy it though, and I think the characters are the strongest suit. Their placement in the game, perhaps not quite so much. But it's because of this that I wish for all of them to be handled better, without having to lose any of them. Thank you for the kind words and I hope to hear from you again!

[amenomiko]

Thank you for the request and so sorry for the late reply. I didn't realize that there's such request in my inbox ahdhhssjsjf and I'm busy with work ahdjshsjajsjsjffaksddf thank you for waiting GAD 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I choose certain lords only, if you don't mind.

KPOP MC / IDOL MC

Shingen

It has always been a curiosity for him. There was one time when they came to the future, they were chased; particularly her, until they have to hide from those random strangers.

She will always receive a call;majority searching for her, even though she have refused such invitations that they offer. Invitation such as "Special Comeback" Performance or maybe to lead an upcoming movie.

He didn't pry, he decided that he will wait until she tells him herself.

And when she did, he was speechless. It turned out that she is famous in her time, and the moment he watch her performances in the thing called "laptop",.. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Her singing, her graceful dance, it mesmerized him until he is blushing.

"Do you regret it?"

She tilt her head. "In meeting you? No. You are my biggest happiness, than those fake love when I have something for the world."

He nearly melted right there right then.

"Ironically my name is called as "Goddess" too, you know." She blushed giddily.

NGH ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!

Masamune

"....."

Her lips opening and closing, wanted to call out for his name, but couldn't do so. It has been almost 3 hours straight he fixed his only eye on the laptop screen, watching her old concerts and solo dance on the stage.

Why? He is in disbelief. Because,..

She, who seem to appear innocent and timid, manage to make his heart thump louder than ever, louder than the first time he declare his love for her.

In that video, those expressions that he never saw from her is there. Clearly. Her grin, her way of winking while licking her lips, was so alluring.

"Kitten..?"

"Y-yes, Masamune?"

"I think I have become your biggest fan now."

Ieyasu

He stare at her, who has been pursing her lips tight and eyes darted from him, and to the floor, and to him again. Right now they are sitting in the middle of the only space they could find, as there are pile of presents all over her apartment.

"Well..?" Her body startled slightly, he can see that when he breaks the silence. "You said that you have a secret to tell me. What is it?"

It is a thing she brought upon herself when he asked why the presents were filled all over her place.

"I- I- aushagsgsjjf am an idol in my time! You- you see-- I was actually running from my agency-- I can't take the stress anymore so I ran to Kyoto and well, the rest is history. A-and I didn't expect for them to still wait for me when we come to the future and--"

"Meaning this 'idol' thing is something like career that makes you well known?"

"..." Her eyes darted away again, before nodding nervously at him and turn on her laptop for him to watch one of her music videos.

His eyes instantly went wide; his lover is beautiful, but in that moving pictures of that particular device, she is.. astounding. She wore an unfamiliar dress, singing so beautifully, smiling and laughing, but her eyes fixed on the camera all the time.

"Uhm.. How was it..?"

He cupped his mouth, gets all red and look away. That reminds him of the same moment of her daily gesture towards him, and he can't help it but to fall in love more and more.

Kenshin

It took all of her to stop and persuade him that she is not being used, that it is a career of her choice, and she never regret to quit when she is in Sengoku era (which also make him somehow depressed and guilty when she decided to stay with him).

She cheered him up by showing one of her video clips.

...Wrong move. Next she have no other option but to distract him with a kiss (Yeah. That bad.) when he almost, ALMOST slice her laptop into 4 pieces when it was a music video of her singing and crying as the storyline is about the man cheating on her.

When he calm down, she showed another video clip of her dancing sexily. He look from the screen, to her, and back to screen. "You look different here."

"Hm? Oh, yes. That's the vogue style they dress me up."

She tilted her head, confused to the grin on his lips. "Kenshi--""Will you dance like that for me tonight?"

"Oh okay. Wait WHAT-"

Sasuke

Well.. This guy had known her since he is from the future. But the first thing he said to MC is

"(Brand name), unleash your inner beauty." And uses chopsticks to imitate her pose.

Which... Is about lipstick commercial. Yet, she didn't find him weird, but hilarious. That's why they become a best friend before lovers.

Before they become lovers, this happened:

When MC randomly sing while sewing, he suddenly pull out a light stick and swing it to cheer for her. ..With his monotone voice obviously. "Yay, yay, go MC go."

"Hmm? Where did you get those? Isn't that the limited light stick that my agency sell during concert? I can't believe you can still use it."

"..Actually I'm your Fan Club's President, MC. So this is my No.1 treasure and I cherish it so much, that is why."

"*Gasp* Aww Sasuke QAQ✨✨✨~"

"I'm sorry for not telling you, MC. Actually I.."

"No, don't say it. I love you too..!"

"MC..!"

Babam. INSTANT LOVERS IS BORN.

Which also the same day where Yukimura's misery begins. Because this two will randomly quote from any songs or commercials for their love language.

[oatmilkovich]

Ik s7 could’ve been the last season, and while im someone who isn't really a fan of s6/7, def not as bad as 8 , but i found them kinda boring, ik they're very popular, and theres dissoucion on wheatehr or not that would have been a satisfying end to the show. And i know that the other arcs were wrapped up well enough, I would've disliked it for mickey? the show seems to have a weird view of prison/’mexico’, with how they keep talking about how much ians could get laid, and so maybe think mickey could be fine. But with the fact that they had him work for a cartel I don't really see how that could be possible. Hes only there for a year or so probably was only doing the lower-level stuff, dealing and the like, in tourist areas because he's could get the white rich people to trust him or something, but that's still crime. If he'd stayed there, he probably would've been arrested, or killed, and even if neither of those things happen, hed constantly be under threat. Mickeys only 22ish, and that would be him ending up exactly where he thought he would, a life of crime and dying young. And maybe I'm overly sensitive about him but I feel that's not a place where he can work through his issues and be happy. I like to think that he had a friend while there, maybe a girl who worked at a bar or with the cartel and he didn't tell her everything about his life but she liked him and they had some sort of friendship, and if he'd been there longer a boyfriend or something, but the environment they painted doesn't seem like a place where this actual kid can properly heal. Maybe im thinking too much into this but idk, something feels off about it to me

lol anon, you've come to the right place with this one.

whilst i like the episode and do think its a good conclusion for the season, i'm against the idea that 7x12 – as it stands – would've been a great place to end the show and that's 100% purely down to where it would've ended mickey's storyline. i hate the idea that everyone else has a nice hopeful ending and mickey's stuck in a foreign country, heartbroken and working for a drug cartel. that's not a happy or hopeful ending for me and mickey deserves that too, just as much as the gallaghers do.

'maybe I'm overly sensitive about him' me too anon! and that's okay! he's my favourite character and means a lot to me, i think it's perfectly valid to want him to have an equal shot at a happy ending – rather than being overlooked for the gallaghers, like he so often is. mickey and his treatment on the show does impact my overall opinion on it and i'm well aware of that (hell, i quit the show because of it).

season 7's a good season (a lot better than s6 imo – which is all over the place) but i only would've been satisfied w it as an ending point had mickey been released from prison legally and given his chance at a happy ending. he's worth so much more than, as you so painfully put – 'ending up exactly where he thought he would'.

[athenagrantnash]

I read a review on IMDB where someone criticized Oliver’s acting when it comes to bucktaylor scenes and now I can’t stop thinking about it. That person is so right, honestly. All those expression Oliver does are so unnecessary and out of place? He’s getting so bad. I was so excited for bucktaylor at the end of season 4 but now I’m just … I feel nothing. I think he doesn’t like this storyline and he finally seems okay with buddie happening. Which good, people are entitled to like or hate a ship but like it doesn’t make sense with him now? I could understand if he was on board with buddie from the beginning but as we all know he definitely wasn’t ( to clarify: I used to ship buddie too but I’m okay with it happening only if and when they finally recast eddie but since it seems unlikely I don’t want it) So what’s all this, then? And I’m not talking about him liking buddie edits on instagram, that’s quite nice, but that story he posted after the episode aired with his face covered by this emoji 😣? Like that can’t be a coincidence ahaha he had no reason to post that.

Buck used to be my favorite character but Oliver is making it very hard to keep liking him, just like I used to love Eddie so much but the moment g*zman turned out to be problematic I stopped liking him and I stopped shipping buddie and now I can’t even stand that face on screen anymore. Also, Oliver apparently supporting the ship involving the problematic actor doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t care how much the fans want buddie to happen … let’s not forget what an awful person R*an is and how he shouldn’t be employed in the first place after what he said last year. Oliver hates bucktaylor and wants to give us bi representation? He can push for the buckravi agenda, that would be something I would watch with extreme happiness.

I honestly don’t know how Megan manages to work with him and his expressions but kudos to her because she was the only one who made me feel things in all their scenes ( her face when she says I love you to buck??? She’s so adorable 😍😍)

Sorry about this huge rant ahahah it’s just that I’m so disappointed in him. What do you think about this?

Okay so... I actually spent a while mulling over whether or not I was even going to answer this, because I really don't think you're being fair to Oliver here.

And yes, my opinions on his talent are fairly well documented (briefly - I think he has potential but doesn't seem to care to utilize that potential as much as he should, which results in some performances that are very good and others that are... mediocre at best). But like? I thought he was fine in this last episode, and he's been fine for most of this season with only a few cringey moments. I think what he's doing with Buck is trying to portray the overlaying sadness that he's going through this entire season over Maddie being gone and Chimney currently hating him. That doesn't mean he can't feel joy with Taylor, and it doesn't mean he doesn't love her. It just means that his prevalent emotional state is sadness and grief over his family being gone.

Here's the other thing. Oliver is allowed to like buddie. He's allowed to dislike BuckTaylor. What he likes or doesn't like isn't going to have any impact on what the show itself is going to do, and it's very clear which ship the show is going with. And the fact of the matter is that, even if he HATED Ryan and hated working with him, he would still need be able to make the fact that he HAS to work with him bearable. And if that means trying to view Buck and Eddie through the lense of the fandom, well that's his prerogative.

And honestly? Oliver just seems to be a really weird guy, so if I were you I wouldn't overanalyze everything he posts to social media (and then immediately deletes) that much. For all we know, he's trolling people. Or maybe he's not. I'm not inside his head, and can't tell you where he's coming from.

And while I do get being frustrated that he apparently hasn't been showing much support for BuckTaylor (especially with all of the BS BuckTaylor fans get from buddies ANYWAY), I'm not sure it's quite fair taking it out on him. Because if nothing else, we know that buddies would make his life hell if he actually was as supportive of BuckTaylor as some fans would like him to be.

[hopevalley]

Don't see how Mike will have time to run the petroleum company AND be Mayor, so hoping that job goes to Lee. Apparently Lee isn't kept very busy running his own business, so let's toss him this bone. Being mayor probably isn't a full time gig anyway. As for he & Rosemary having kids...why does everyone think their life can't be complete until they have some? I think it's a very realistic to feature a childless couple getting over that disappointment & having full & happy lives anyway.

I’m sure the job will go to Lee, or they’ll do a huuuge dramatic plotline about it where there are cutthroat politics afoot. Personally I think it’d be a little insensitive to do that type of storyline right now, but 99% of this town would suck at being mayor.

If Bill wins: he’s the objectively BEST choice because he knows the most and is the most fair/likely to do the right thing always, BUT he’s also a judge so that seems like...a conflict of interest. If he quits being a judge it could work really well, though.

If Lee wins: he’s maybe a little too passive for mayor and would think too long and people would get annoyed with that. He is really level-headed, though, so he won’t be impulsive, but I hate the suggestion that his job doesn’t keep him busy enough. In most previous seasons Rosemary worked because Lee worked so much and she was lonely, so it feels stupid to throw that away now. He’s always been a workaholic...let him stay one.

If Fiona wins: she doesn’t feel like a part of the town enough to me to logically get elected, but it sure as HELL would reek of Hallmark pretending to be feminist just like they did when they randomly decided Abigail was head of the town council and thus Henry’s replacement in S4. No thanks... At least she’d be bossy about it, though.

If Mike wins: he’s a good guy and likely to listen to people but I don’t think he has the backbone that’s necessary, and he sure as heck doesn’t have half the knowledge he needs. He’d mean well, but meh.

I wish Dottie had stayed on because she would have made the BEST mayor: a big part of the town, she’d know everything about it from being married to a mayor (and having worked with Henry when he was one), she’s smart, she’s got good sense, and she’s decisive without being hateful. She’s always been written that way. She always made more sense than Abigail.

(I’m not saying there aren’t other choices, of course. Joseph would be so good at it with the right knowledge but he’s not integrated enough into the town yet. Neither is Minnie. I hate the idea of Jesse and Clara getting more screentime at this point. And on and on.)

Anyway, after this awful triangle, the LAST thing I want to watch are characters I like tearing each other down (or lying) to try and win. I can see the plotline already... Bill, Lee, and Fiona all at each other’s throats and either Mike wins by default because he’s too sweet to lie or be mean to anyone, or Fiona wins because Mike accidentally talks her up so much. I mean it’d be in character but I’d rather not see Lee and Bill look like jackasses for a whole season, thanks.

--

I absolutely HATE the fan desire to have Lee and Rosemary reproduce. I’m not a big fan of children to begin with, but the whole infertility plot needs to mean something. If they just magically get pregnant ~wow what a miracle~ I would never watch this show again. Just like the whole Becky plotline (where she magically didn’t need the wheelchair wowzer it’s just mind over matter haha!) it’s just cruel to dangle that in front of the faces of people who have experienced that kind of heartache. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE an adoption plotline, preferably of a young teenager (or several kids). They did that in Avonlea and it was incredible. Imagine Rosemary latching onto like, three orphaned siblings. It’d be so sweet. 

Like, if children would make Rosemary and Lee feel fulfilled in life (and that IS the case for some people out there!) then they can adopt. Yes, it sucks that they can’t just have their own kids, but this is a time period where it was cheap and easy to adopt children, so there’s no real reason not to do it. They even know the right people to help them find the perfect kid match(es) for their personality and lifestyle!

(By this I mean, they had their infertility plotline, and now they’ve had a break from that to think about their future and themselves and with no baby in sight maybe it’s time to consider adoption as a valid way of getting what they desire. My favorite part of this is that it feels SO SO SO in character for both of them to be on board adopting because they could adopt kids who were a little older, better at communicating, not so messy and disruptive in their day to day life, and...they get to CHOOSE...so that kid (or those kids) would always know that Lee and Rosemary CHOSE THEM.)

I get emotional thinking about an adoption storyline. I just think with the option right there, and with it feeling like it would work SO well for the characters, it’d be silly to go the baby route with them. And I’m tired of the fans who want another pregnancy. Clara can get pregnant if they want that. It makes sense, it could kickstart an adoption plotline for Lee and Rosemary, and then everyone is happy.

Of course they could be childfree forever, and happy that way! But only if they’ve come to terms with the infertility thing and how it feels to have that choice taken away from them. Maybe they could conclude that it doesn’t really work very well with their chosen lifestyle anyway, and it’s for the best that it didn’t happen for them, but still feel upset that it wasn’t an active choice they were able to make. I just seriously do not trust the showrunners/writers to handle this in a sensitive way.

I’d prefer adoption if the plotline was going to be carried forward, though of course they could do that poorly, too.