#maybe this is a trust the process kind of thing so IN THE CAST AND CREW AND CASEY WE TRUST

[rosesareredrosa]

So Obvious part 2

Theo x fem reader

Summary: Y/n realizes her feelings and mistakes and now comes to Theo to apologize and slowly restart their friendship and maybe become something more.

w/c: 920

The days following Theodore's confrontation with Y/N were agonizingly slow. The weight of his confession hung over him, and the uncertainty of Y/N's response gnawed at his thoughts. He replayed their conversation over and over, wondering if he had been too harsh, too impulsive. His friends noticed the change in him, but they respected his need for space.

In the Ravenclaw common room, Y/N was equally tormented. Theodore’s words echoed in her mind, the raw pain and frustration in his voice a stark contrast to the calm demeanor she had always associated with him. She had always admired Theo’s quiet strength, his unwavering loyalty, and his subtle kindness. She had been so focused on her studies and her own world that she hadn’t seen what was right in front of her.

Determined to make things right, Y/N decided to find Theodore and talk to him again. She needed to understand his feelings better and share her own. She found him in the Slytherin common room, sitting by the fireplace, staring into the flames. Gathering her courage, she approached him.

"Theo, can we talk?" she asked softly, her voice tentative.

Theodore looked up, surprise and a flicker of hope crossing his features. He nodded, gesturing for her to sit down.

Y/N took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about what you said. About how you've been trying to show me how you feel. I’m sorry I didn’t see it. I was so caught up in my own world that I missed the signs."

Theodore's gaze softened slightly, but his expression remained guarded. "I didn't mean to be so harsh, Y/N. I just... I needed you to understand how much this has been affecting me."

Y/N nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I know, and I appreciate your honesty. I’ve been blind to what was right in front of me. But now that I know, I want you to know that I care about you too. More than I realized."

Theodore's heart ached at her words, a mix of relief and lingering pain. "You do?"

"Yes, Theo. I do," Y/N said, reaching out to take his hand. "I just didn't think you'd ever feel the same way about me. I thought you were just being a good friend."

Theodore squeezed her hand gently, a sad smile playing on his lips. "I’ve always felt more than that, Y/N. I’ve just been too scared to say it outright."

Y/N's eyes filled with regret. "I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to hide your feelings. I want to make it right, Theo. I want to try, if you're willing to give me a chance."

Theodore studied her for a moment, his emotions a turbulent mix of hope and hesitation. "It’s going to take time, Y/N. I’ve been hurt, and I need to trust that things will be different."

"I understand," Y/N said softly. "I’m willing to wait, and to show you that I care. You deserve that."

Theodore nodded, his heart swelling with a cautious optimism. "Alright. Let’s take it slow. We can figure this out together."

Over the next few weeks, Theodore and Y/N began to rebuild their relationship, taking tentative steps toward something more. They spent more time together, sharing their thoughts and feelings openly. It was a process of healing and rediscovery, and while it wasn’t always easy, it was worth it.

One evening, as they walked along the edge of the Black Lake, the setting sun casting a warm glow over the water, Y/N looked up at Theodore. "Thank you for giving us a chance, Theo."

Theodore smiled, a genuine warmth in his eyes. "I’m glad we’re trying. I’ve always been a fool for you, Y/N. And I think I’m okay with that."

Y/N laughed softly, leaning into him. "I think I am too."

As they stood there, watching the sun dip below the horizon, they both felt a sense of peace. It wasn’t the end of their journey, but a new beginning. For the first time in a long while, Theodore felt hopeful about the future, knowing that they were facing it together.

Days turned into weeks, and their bond grew stronger. Theodore found himself opening up in ways he had never imagined. The quiet moments they shared in the library, the walks by the Black Lake, and the late-night conversations in the common rooms all became precious memories.

One afternoon, while they were studying in the library, Y/N glanced up at Theo. “You know, Theo, I’ve been thinking about us.”

Theo looked up from his book, curiosity in his eyes. ���What about us?”

Y/N smiled softly. “About how we started, how oblivious I was. I’ve come to realize how much you mean to me. How much you’ve always meant to me.”

Theo reached out, taking her hand in his. “I’m glad you see it now. It’s been a long road, but I wouldn’t change a thing if it brought us here.”

Y/N’s eyes sparkled with emotion. “Me neither. I’m grateful for your patience, Theo. For everything.”

Theo leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “You’re worth it, Y/N. Every moment of doubt, every second of frustration. You’re worth it all.”

Y/N’s heart swelled with affection, and she leaned in closer, resting her head against his shoulder. They stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s presence, finding solace in the unspoken words between them.

In that moment, Theodore knew he was no longer a fool. He was simply a man in love, and that was more than enough.

[the-winter-spider]

Invisible | Part 17

Pairings: Bucky x reader AU 🥰🥰

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Sad steve, a little angst, fluff 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

A/N: ugh finally is all i gotta say

Masterpost

Steve stepped into the apartment quietly, the door clicking shut behind him. The living room was dimly lit, a single lamp casting a soft glow. Sam was sprawled out on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his lap, the TV playing a muted rerun of an old sitcom. He looked up as Steve entered, his brows knitting together in concern.

“Did you find her?” Sam asked, sitting up and setting the popcorn aside.

Steve nodded, his expression unreadable. “Yeah. She was sitting on a park bench not too far from here.”

Sam leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “And? She okay?”

Steve hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck before walking over to the couch. He sank down beside Sam, exhaling deeply. “She knows,” he said quietly, his voice heavy with resignation.

Sam froze, his jaw tightening. “Knows what?”

Steve looked down at his hands, clasping them tightly as if trying to hold himself together. “That I’m in love with her.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Sam sat back, his expression unreadable as he processed the weight of Steve’s words. Finally, he cleared his throat. “And what did she say?”

Steve let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “She said she doesn’t love me back. I asked her if she thinks she ever could, and…” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard before continuing. “She said at one point, maybe. She believes she could have. But now, with everything going on with Bucky…”

Sam nodded slowly, his eyes softening with sympathy. “Man, I’m sorry.”

Steve leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes as the ache in his chest deepened. “It’s eating me alive, Sam. Knowing that if I’d just made a move sooner, she could’ve been with me. Maybe she wouldn’t be so hung up on Bucky. Maybe we could’ve been happy.”

Sam let out a slow breath, choosing his words carefully. “Steve… you can’t do that to yourself, man. You can’t sit here and play the what-if game. Trust me, it doesn’t help. And honestly? If I’m being real with you, this was always going to happen.”

Steve frowned, his eyes opening to meet Sam’s. “What do you mean?”

Sam gave him a sad smile, his tone gentle but firm. “The universe was always gonna have it be her and Bucky. You’ve gotta know that. They’ve got that messy, complicated, meant-to-be kind of thing. And yeah, it sucks for you—it sucks for anyone standing on the outside looking in—but some things just… are.”

Steve looked away, his jaw tightening. “It doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

Sam nodded, understanding the weight in Steve’s voice. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he stared at the muted TV. “No, it doesn’t. And it’s not gonna for a while. But you’ve gotta find a way to live with it, man. Letting it eat at you? That’s not gonna do you any good.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped, and he let out a heavy sigh. “I thought… I thought maybe if I just held on, if I waited long enough, she’d see me. But she never has, not like I see her.”

Sam leaned forward again, his tone firm but not unkind. “Steve, you can’t do that to yourself. I know it hurts, but you’re stuck in a shitty situation. The universe has always been rigged for her and Bucky. That’s not on you.”

Steve’s lips twitched in a faint, bitter smile. “You think so?”

Sam nodded. “Oh, I know so. Hell, I figured it out back in college.”

Steve glanced at him, his brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”

Sam gave him a pointed look. “Remember when I asked her out that one time?”

Steve’s eyes widened slightly, the memory rushing back. “Of course, I remember. You came back, said it wasn’t gonna work, and then you two were best friends from then on.”

Sam chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, well, that’s because thirty minutes into the date, I realized she wasn’t just talking about Bucky—she was glowing every time his name came up. I sat there thinking, ‘How the hell did I not see this before?’” He paused, his voice softening. “Doesn’t matter what she says or doesn’t say about him. She’s always been his, Steve. And I think he’s always been hers too. They’re just too damn stupid to admit it.”

Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. “You’re probably right.”

Sam smirked, shaking his head. “Oh, I know I am. You should’ve seen Bucky that night I took her out. He didn’t say anything, but the guy didn’t sit still for hours. He kept pacing around our dorm like he was waiting for her to come back. And once I started hanging out with you and Bucky more, it was even clearer. Bucky looked at her like she hung the stars, and she was over there looking at him like he was her entire world. You couldn’t miss it.”

Steve leaned back, rubbing his hands over his face. “So why didn’t he do anything? Why didn’t she?”

Sam shrugged. “That’s just who they are. Stubborn as hell, both of them. And I think part of it is fear, you know? They’re both so scared of losing what they have that they’ve been too chicken to reach for more. But, Steve, that’s not on you. It’s not your fault they’ve been stuck in this endless loop.”

Steve’s lips pressed into a thin line, his blue eyes clouded with doubt. “Doesn’t make it easier to watch.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Sam agreed. “But here’s the thing—you’re not second best, Steve. You’re not just a fallback option, and you shouldn’t let yourself feel like one. If it wasn’t meant to be with her, that’s on the universe, not you.”

Steve let out a small, bitter laugh. “That’s easy for you to say.”

Sam gave him a pointed look. “Not as easy as you think. But I’ll tell you this—there’s a world of people out there who would give anything to have someone like you in their corner. Someone who sees them the way you see her. And maybe one day, you’ll find someone who looks at you the way she looks at Bucky. She may be closer than you think….You deserve that, Steve. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Steve’s chest tightened at Sam’s words, but he nodded slowly, the truth of them settling in. “Thanks, man.”

Sam clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a warm, reassuring smile. “Anytime. And hey, remember—there’s plenty of fish in the sea. You just gotta let yourself cast the line.”

Steve let out a weak laugh, but there was a hint of hope in it. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Sam said firmly. “Now, ill grab us a beer and lets figure out what the hell we’re doing tomorrow because I’m pretty sure the group’s about to implode.”

Steve rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips. “Sounds about right.”

The two friends settled back into the couch, the weight of the conversation still lingering but lighter now. And as Steve stared at the muted TV, he couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Sam was right.

College First year

It was a crisp fall evening, the kind where the air had just enough of a chill to make you wish you’d brought a scarf. The campus was alive with chatter and laughter, students hurrying to and from the dining halls or bundling up for late-night study sessions. You’d agreed to go on a date with Sam, mostly because Wanda and Natasha had been relentless about it.

“Come on,” Natasha had said, practically throwing your coat at you. “He’s great. He’s charming. And let’s be honest, he’s got arms that could carry you out of a burning building.”

You’d rolled your eyes but agreed. Sam had always been easy to talk to, Steve said he was the better roommate out of him and Bucky, so that was a good sign and you figured if nothing else, it would be a fun night.

When he showed up to pick you up, he greeted you with his signature warm smile, a casual button-up, and a bouquet of flowers that was just the right mix of thoughtful and not overly formal. “Ready to go?” he asked, offering his arm.

The two of you ended up at a cozy Italian restaurant just off campus. It was charming, with string lights and the soft hum of an acoustic guitar playing in the background. The warm glow of the string lights outside the building made it feel like a scene straight out of a rom-com. Sam opened the door for you with a playful bow.

“After you, milady,” he said, flashing that signature grin that had most girls on campus swooning.

You rolled your eyes but smiled back. “Don’t push your luck, Wilson.”

Sam was, as expected, funny and kind, and the conversation flowed effortlessly. You laughed about your classes, swapped embarrassing stories about your friends, and commiserated over the sheer insanity of trying to balance everything college threw at you. He was cracking jokes and telling stories that had you laughing so hard you nearly spilled your water more than once.

“So, let me get this straight,” you said, trying to keep a straight face as Sam recounted an embarrassing story from his freshman year. “You really thought sneaking a chicken into your dorm room was a good idea?”

Sam held up his hands defensively. “In my defense, it was my chicken. His name was Nugget, and he was a gift from my uncle. You don’t just abandon family.”

You snorted, shaking your head. “I don’t think a chicken counts as family, Sam.”

“Clearly, you’ve never owned a chicken,” he quipped, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin.

As the food arrived, the conversation shifted to classes, mutual friends, and campus gossip. Everything felt easy—until Sam tilted his head, his playful smile fading slightly.

But somewhere between the second course and dessert, Sam tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly. “You know, I’ve noticed something about you.”

You blinked, caught off guard. “Oh no. What? Is it the way I hold my fork? Natasha said it’s weird.”

Sam snorted, shaking his head. “No, nothing like that. It’s just… you talk about Bucky a lot.”

Your fork froze mid-twirl, and you blinked at him. “I do not,” you said quickly, your voice a little too defensive. “Do I?” you asked, trying to sound nonchalant as your heart skipped a beat.

Sam nodded, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah. I mean, I get it—you’ve been friends forever. But it’s not just that. It’s the way you talk about him. And the way your eyes kinda… linger when you bring him up.”

You felt your cheeks flush as you quickly looked down at your plate, twirling spaghetti around your fork. “It’s not… I mean, Bucky and I, we’re just friends. Best friends, that’s all we’ve ever been.”

Sam gave you a look, one that was both knowing and a little amused. “I'm sensing that maybe someone, not naming names, is feeling a little more than just friends?” He paused, his smile fading into something more serious “Does he know?”

Your stomach twisted, and you set your fork down, your appetite suddenly gone. “No,” you admitted softly, your voice barely above a whisper. “And please don’t tell him. I don’t even know what I want, and the last thing I need is for him to know that I’m…”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “In love with him?”

Your head shot up, and you glared at him, though there wasn’t much heat behind it. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to,” Sam said gently, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I don’t know how I didn’t put two and two together before, but it’s written all over you.”

You sighed, leaning back in your chair and rubbing your temples. “Well, great. Now you know my secret. Are you gonna tell him?"

Sam laughed, reaching across the table to gently tap your hand. “Hey, I won’t. But… you should probably figure out what you want. For your sake, not his. I don’t think I’m the guy you’re supposed to be out with tonight.”

You felt a pang of guilt, but Sam’s easy grin quickly soothed it. “Sam, I’m sorry—” You sighed, your fingers gripping your fork tightly. “It’s not that simple, Sam. Bucky and I… we’re complicated. And I’m not even sure he thinks of me like that.”

Sam let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Man, you’re both blind as hell. But hey, that’s not my business.” He reached across the table giving your hand a squeeze “Don’t be, I’m glad we did this. I mean, it’s not every day you go on a date and realize the person you’re with is completely hung up on their best friend. But hey,” he added, his smile widening, “I can already tell we’re gonna be the best of friends.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, the tension easing from your shoulders. “You think so?”

“Absolutely,” Sam said with confidence. “You’re stuck with me now.”

He leaned forward, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Now, if you’re done breaking my heart with all this Bucky talk, I have an important question for you.”

You frowned, tilting your head. “What question?”

“Do you believe in ghosts?” he asked, completely serious.

You blinked at him, caught off guard. “What?”

“Ghosts,” Sam repeated, his grin widening. “It’s a make-or-break question for me. We can’t be friends if you’re one of those ‘ghosts aren’t real’ people.”

You laughed, the tension from earlier easing slightly. “I don’t know, Sam. I’ve never seen one.”

“Classic ghost-denier response,” he said with mock disappointment. “But it’s okay. I’ll convert you.”

“Oh, please,” you shot back, rolling your eyes. “What are you, the Ghost Whisperer?”

“Exactly,” he said, winking. “And by the end of the semester, you’ll be a believer too.”

The rest of the evening was spent walking around campus, talking about everything and nothing. Sam made you laugh so hard your sides hurt, and by the end of the night, you felt lighter—like you’d gained not just a friend, but someone who truly understood you.

As he walked you back to your dorm, he gave you a warm hug, whispering, “Don’t wait too long to figure out what you want, alright?”

You nodded, feeling both grateful and a little overwhelmed. “Thanks, Sam. For everything.”

“Anytime, Ghost Denier,” he teased, pulling back and giving you a mock salute. “Now go figure out your complicated Bucky situation before I have to knock some sense into both of you.”

You laughed, shaking your head as you opened your door. “Goodnight, Sam.”

“Goodnight, Y/N” he said , turning and walking down the hall. “And remember—ghosts are real!”

As you closed the door, his words echoed in your mind. Figure out your Bucky situation. If only it were that simple.

The city was quieter now, the usual hum of nightlife softened as you made your way back to your apartment. It was late, the chill in the air biting at your skin as you wrapped your coat tighter around you. Natasha’s words echoed in your head, their weight pressing heavily on your chest. Stop wasting time.

When you reached your building, your hands were shaking—not from the cold but from the uncertainty of what waited for you inside. You hesitated for a moment, staring at the door, before finally gripping the handle and pushing it open.

The apartment was dark, save for the faint glow of the lamp in the living room. Bucky was still there, sitting on the couch in the same spot you’d left him hours ago. His posture was slouched, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped tightly together. But now, his eyes were red and puffy, the streaks on his cheeks betraying the tears he’d shed.

His head snapped up when he heard the door close. For a moment, neither of you said anything. You couldn’t bring yourself to meet his eyes, your gaze fixed on the floor as you tried to steady your breathing.

You swallowed hard and turned back toward the door, pressing your back against it as you shut your eyes tightly for a moment. You inhaled deeply, gathering the courage you needed, and when you finally opened your eyes again, you faced him.

“Do you mean it?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper, trembling with the weight of everything unsaid.

Bucky blinked, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. He stood slowly, his hands hanging at his sides, and took a tentative step closer. His voice was hoarse when he spoke, raw with emotion.

Bucky’s voice cracked as he answered, “It’s the only thing I’ve ever meant.”

His words hung heavy in the air, the weight of them wrapping around you like a second skin. You stared at him, your breath hitching as every wall, every defense you’d built, threatened to crumble under the sincerity in his voice.

He stepped closer, his movements slow, like he was afraid any sudden motion would shatter the fragile moment between you. “I love you,” he repeated, his voice breaking. “I’ve loved you since the day you tied your shoe in kindergarten and told me you’d be my best friend forever.” A hollow, broken laugh escaped him. “I think I loved you even before I understood what love was.”

Your lip quivered as tears pricked at your eyes, threatening to spill over. “Bucky…” you whispered, your voice trembling.

“I mean it, doll,” he said, his hands twitching at his sides like he wanted to reach out but didn’t dare. “Every girl, every date, every time I tried to move on—I couldn’t. Because none of it felt right. None of them were you.”

His words hit you like a tidal wave, the sheer honesty in his gaze cutting through every doubt, every fear.

Your voice broke as you finally said, “You can’t just say this now, Bucky. Not after everything.” You wiped at the tears streaming down your face, frustration mixing with the flood of emotions. “Do you know how hard it’s been? To watch you with other girls, to convince myself that what I felt didn’t matter because you didn’t feel the same?”

He winced like your words physically hurt him. “I know,” he said softly, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ve been such a coward. I’ve spent years too scared to say it, too scared to ruin what we had, and instead, I ruined it anyway.”

You shook your head, tears spilling over as you looked away, your voice rising. “You didn’t just ruin it. You hurt me, Buck! You let me believe I was just your backup, your best friend who didn’t measure up to everyone else.”

His voice cracked as he took another step forward. “You were never my backup. You’ve always been my first choice—always. I’m just an idiot who didn’t know how to show it.”

You let out a sharp laugh, the kind born from heartbreak and exhaustion. “And Steve?” you asked, your voice trembling. “Did you ever think about what telling me about him would do? How I’m supposed to face him now, knowing what I know?”

Bucky ran a hand through his hair, his jaw tight. “I know I shouldn’t have said it. I know it wasn’t my place, but I was desperate. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you again—to Dean, to Steve, to anyone.”

“Steve doesn’t deserve this,” you said, your voice softening, your heart aching for the friend who had loved you quietly and selflessly for years. “He’s been nothing but good to me.”

“I know,” Bucky said, his voice barely above a whisper. “And that’s why I hate myself for saying anything. But I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I couldn’t watch you slip away again.”

You pressed your hand to your chest, feeling the frantic beat of your heart as his words washed over you. “You don’t understand what this does, Bucky. To us. To all of us. What if this destroys everything, friendships...”

He closed the distance between you, his hands reaching out but stopping short, hovering near yours. His voice was low, desperate. “Maybe it will. Maybe we’ll burn everything to the ground. But I can’t lie to you anymore. I can’t pretend I don’t feel this—don’t feel you—like a part of me I can’t live without.”

The dam finally broke. You couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I love you too,” you cried, the words spilling out in a rush, raw and unfiltered. “I’ve loved you for so long it hurts. But I don’t know how to trust this, Bucky. How do I know you won’t hurt me again?”

“You love me” He breathed out like it was his last breath, he blinked away the tears of relief his hands finally found yours, his touch warm and grounding. “You don’t,” he admitted, his voice trembling. “But I swear to you, I will spend the rest of my life proving I won’t.”

The tears were falling freely now, both yours and his, as the weight of everything settled between you. His hands tightened around yours, and he looked at you like you were the only thing that mattered. “I’m all in, sweetheart,” he whispered. “No more games. No more running. Just us.”

The room felt like it was spinning, your heart pounding so hard it hurt, but when your eyes locked with his, everything else disappeared. In those piercing blue depths, you saw it. The truth. The love. The promise. The years of unspoken feelings and tangled emotions were laid bare between you, and for the first time in so long, you let yourself believe it—believe him.

Your body moved before your mind could catch up, surging forward, your lips crashing into his with a force that nearly knocked the breath out of you. It wasn’t just a kiss—it was a release, a culmination of years of pain, longing, and unsaid words. Your hands gripped the front of his shirt, clutching him like a lifeline, while his arms wrapped around you, pulling you in so tightly it felt like he was trying to meld you into him.

The kiss was messy, frantic, and raw. His lips were warm, firm yet trembling with emotion as they moved against yours. His hands roamed, one tangling in your hair while the other settled on your waist, holding you steady against him. You could feel the desperation in the way he kissed you, the silent plea for you to believe him, to stay, to never leave again.

You broke the kiss for a second, gasping for air, but Bucky didn’t let you go. His forehead pressed against yours, his breath mingling with yours as you both stood there, trembling. His hands cupped your face, his thumbs brushing away the tears you hadn’t even realized were still falling.

“Doll…” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “You and me… we can make this work. We have to.”

The intensity in his voice, the sheer vulnerability in his gaze, made your chest tighten painfully. You nodded, your tears blurring your vision, but a soft laugh escaped you—shaky, but real. “You and me, Buck. Always.”

A flicker of a smile broke across his face, small but genuine, as if he could barely believe this moment was real. His arms tightened around you, pulling you so close that you could feel the steady thrum of his heart against your chest.

“I’m never letting you go,” he murmured, his voice low and hoarse. His lips brushed yours again, this time slower, softer. It was as if he was trying to memorize the feel of you, the taste of you, as if he couldn’t quite trust that you were truly his.

Your hands slid up to cup his jaw, your fingers grazing the faint stubble on his cheeks. You deepened the kiss, letting it linger this time, savoring every second. His lips were gentle yet unyielding, like he was pouring everything he couldn’t say into the way he kissed you. It wasn’t just a kiss—it was a promise.

When you finally pulled away again, your breathing uneven, he rested his forehead against yours once more. His voice was soft but resolute, every word laced with a quiet, unshakable certainty. “We’ll be okay. We’ll always be okay. It’s us.”

You closed your eyes, letting his words wash over you, and for the first time in years, you felt truly whole. “It’s us,” you repeated, your voice a whispered vow.

[brainddeadd]

Introduced to Love

based on this song

You sat on the edge of your bed, staring at the wall, lost in a mix of memories and hopes. The light filtered through the curtains, casting soft patterns across your room. But despite the warmth of the sun, you felt a chill in your heart that you couldn’t shake. Your father’s words echoed in your mind, the way he had made you feel small and unworthy, how he had left without a second glance.

Quinn’s soft knock on the door pulled you from your thoughts. You looked up to see him standing there, his familiar smile lighting up the room. He had a way of making everything feel a little more manageable, a little more hopeful.

“Hey,” he said gently, stepping inside. He sat down beside you, the weight of his presence comforting. “You okay?”

You nodded, forcing a smile, but you could see the concern etched in his features. Quinn had been patient with you, always understanding, always there, even when you didn’t know how to let him in completely.

“I was just thinking about… you know, my dad,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper. “How he always made me feel like I wasn’t enough.”

Quinn’s expression shifted, his brows furrowing as he processed your words. “You’re more than enough, you know that, right?” He took your hand, his fingers intertwining with yours, a small gesture that sent warmth through your veins.

“I want to believe that,” you confessed, squeezing his hand tightly. “But sometimes, it’s hard.”

His thumb brushed over your knuckles, a tender reminder of his presence. “I’m not going anywhere, Y/N. I promise,” he said, sincerity pouring from his eyes. “I want to be the one to show you that not everybody leaves.”

You turned to him, searching for the truth in his gaze. “What if I can’t trust you?” you asked, the fear of opening up holding you back.

“Then I’ll wait,” he replied, his voice steady and calm. “For however long it takes. I want to help you learn to trust again. You deserve that.”

His words wrapped around you like a soft embrace, filling the cracks in your heart. You admired how he saw the little things—like how you always kept your books organized or how you’d hum quietly to yourself while studying. He appreciated you in ways you never thought possible.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m still being introduced to love,” you admitted, a blush creeping onto your cheeks.

Quinn’s gaze softened, and he leaned closer, his voice a gentle whisper. “Then let me show you what love can be. I want to hold your heart in a way that heals it, not bruises it.”

His promise hung in the air between you, heavy yet hopeful. You could see it in his eyes—the determination, the kindness. Quinn wanted to be the man who would put your heart back together, piece by piece.

“How could you ever see something in me?” you murmured, the vulnerability spilling out. “After everything?”

“Because you’re amazing,” he said without hesitation. “You light up every room you walk into. How could I run from somebody like you? You’re worth so much more than you know.”

As the walls around your heart began to crumble, you realized that maybe, just maybe, Quinn was right. Maybe it was time to believe in yourself and let him in.

“Okay,” you breathed, a small smile breaking through. “I want to try.”

Quinn’s smile mirrored yours, his eyes sparkling with hope. “That’s all I need to hear.”

He leaned in closer, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, sealing the promise that he would be there for you—no matter how long it took.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I can't stop thinking about how IWTV spent a LONG TIME in pre-production hell until it only actually got made VERY SUDDENLY once Anne Rice died. I think there's a correlation.

Those of us who have been around long enough to remember what Anne Rice was like about Lestat know she was hyperfocussed on him much more than any of the other characters.

I think this affected production. I think she might have been indecisive and controlling, and possibly unable to fully commit to letting a team play with her vision. I think that would have really ground casting and other creative processes to a standstill. I don't know, I just know how it felt.

I remember READING ABOUT a Vampire Chronicles series for about ten years or so and thinking it would never happen because she'd never let anyone have Lestat as fully as is necessary for a series unless she was show runner herself, but that wasn't going to happen because she was a writer, not a show runner, she was old, and she couldn't decide on how to best do her characters justice, and didn't trust anyone else.

- (maybe understandable, given as she originally wouldn't watch the IWTV movie, and QotD was objectively an awful adaptation) -

I stopped caring because I didn't think it would ever happen, and if it did I expected it would be the Lestat Show and nobody else would be more than supporting cast.

Aaaaaaaand then pretty much as soon as she was dead it seems like they SUDDENLY got greenlit for everything, like yes start rolling, Sam come out of hiding, period change is approved, 1900s NOLA go go go!!!

I'm asking because I genuinely don't know what Anne Rice ever knew of the actual series, and I feel like the long pre-production period was kind of tied to her not being entirely down with it?

Hey!

Soooo... Anne knew. Christopher knew / knows, too.

Both likely signed an NDA I would assume.

This show has a history, as you point out, and I talked about it (ages ago) here (with links):

(Do read @cbrownjc's excellent addition that is linked in there, too!)

And this history likely resulted in an NDA when AMC bought all rights... and did not use Christopher's script. Imho.

So Anne knew I bet, and if she hadn't been so (fatally) ill then, she would have come to adore the show I think. Because, as you know, she also hated the movie, and the casting, and and and... and ultimately, she loved Tom Cruise's Lestat. And so on.

I mean, it was a very personal thing for her - as we all know she modeled them on herself and Stan and Michele... and throughout the years and the decisions wrt fandom and fanfiction and so on that always came through.

Anne knew, unfortunately she died just when they started filming.

But, you know... I bet, if she were here, she would see it as a handover of Lestat to Sam. Because everybody keeps saying he is possessed, and I can only agree :))))

[crystaleevee4]

going crazy (forgive the ugly-ass colors, I had to try and find good color coding for 14 people, and still have it have enough contrast against the background to be readable). for the record I had to transcribe these lyrics myself in Google docs offline mode using the downloaded file I had of the song. with no wifi, so no spell check or googling lyrics I wasn't sure about. which was hell on my audio processing disorder brain

anyways I am very far from done and I want to try and get each soulmate pair in at least once, so far as you can see we've got scar & Grian, Martyn & kind of Cleo but not as a pair yet, Pearl & Scott (and kind of Cleo), and then impulse (and bdubs but that line isn't in this screenshot)

anyways if anyone has suggestions for all the remaining people. hmu in reblogs (please). also these aren't all the lyrics to the song ofc, i'll put them under cut with my notes (this song is just very double life to me so i'm hoping some day I'll be able to animate it):

Separate faces help him to walk and cross the tiles As he justifies existence with flinches and false smiles

^ something something maybe Grian and scar? unsure

And the hand he used to feed his hunger shriveled from the cold He's borrowed more than he can pay, his debts are getting old

The cracks had always been on show,

^ referencing martyn's lore?

the spirit always broke The bottle always emptied well before the candles smoked Tobacco always there on cue in someone else's glass

Someone else's secrets become someone else's path [past?]

^ martyn's lore? w/ grian

I know you well, I know you felt Like it should've been someone else who fell But I'll never forget your face You melt into my life [light?]

I want the attention that she's getting From your loving arms

^ Pearl, Scott, Cleo

You let me soak your face into my memory Like you want me, and you kept me Wanting more as I don't know you I don't own you, I just sew you Into pieces of this fabric that I wear over my shoulder

Like a dream, you fill me up

And make me cold, just like a soldier Trains her mind to do the killing Even though he isn't willing I have pain, and I am cold Without your heat to make me bold

^ pearl and scott

Just forget that we're not molded We're just solitary soldiers

^ Grian and scar?

Given [giving?] up on all this love stuff It's made up and we're just older I give up on you, we're over [I gave up when you were over?]

I want reciprocal lovers I want trust, and I want safety

^ pearl

I want space, and I need chasing

^ impulse if you know his character and see DL!impdubs in the toxic way. please. someone see it

I want to feel that I'm the only girl Around you who can know you

But I want to see you luring Other women who can't own you I want to see their faces When you make them lose their graces

When you make them feel they're placeless

^ pearl

Like a chain around an object that keeps moving You're a concept of a man and of an object

You are everything I wanted All I seem to crave Like a hero needs to save

Except when I get up close There is a maggot on the rose

^ again. impdubs. they're picture perfect until they're not

Like a magpie stealing shiny things There's [they're?] sometimes diamonds, sometimes tin

You are my darkness, and you understand I don't want anything but your hand Just hold [pull?] me steady, hold me steady (hold the frame) And I'll shoot again, now

I can't stop thinking about you

And if you're stripping me down to My brittle bones and crumbled joints These open wounds just need some salt, oh

^ impulse and bdubs (I am big on clockduo/impdubs DL toxicity ok)

It would be better if you left If I can't see you, I can't step Into the light you've cast about you I can't have you, but I want you

This obsession is not letting me slide I feel I'm damaging myself to stay alive I am destroying all I have to let this burn This little flame is not so dangerous on its own

[bodycountgame]

Hello! I was a big fan of the series a while a go and it is lovely to see that you are back. I'm terribly sorry that other anons put you through a lot with the voting aspect of the game. Absolutely no one deserves death threats for a story that they are bringing to us for free. However, I am not going to lie, I always feel a bit worried when a fandom majority vote is what has long lasting effects on character life/death. It was ok when it was everyone voting with an equal effect. Now there will be a wealth gap to vote. Only people that pay can contribute. And at least where I'm from wealth looks a certain kind of way.

Since you have characters that are in a minority it feels... Bad. Maybe I'm projecting how racist and transphobic my home country is on the vote for this game. I also don't want you to feel like this is an attack on you because that is not my intent at all! I love the diversity in the love interests and it was what brought me to the game initially. I am worried that if you do a majority vote on Patreon that characters that aren't white/cis will face a harsher vote. Trans lives are in danger and I was not surprised when a nonbinary character died first. I was part of the fandom and people treated them very grossly (it actually made me step away for a bit as well). There were many options but the vocally out and proud person got the boot first. What I'm saying is I trust you more than your Patreon supporters. If the people can't all vote as one, due to the actions of some terrible people, then maybe we shouldn't vote at all

anon, i totally understand your concerns because i absolutely shared them. to be completely honest with you, i had totally misjudged which characters i thought were popular or not and watching the three non binary cast members struggle through that first vote felt Bad. my personal disappointment about ellis being the character to receive the least votes in the vote contributed in no small part to the twist in chapter 3 and their revised arc (which was Not planned when i set out writing body count hahaha). howeverrrrrr, i did learn a lot from the process.

my main motivator behind making the vote patreon exclusive was that the voters would be genuinely invested in the game and that the polling would be much harder to game or manipulate. selfishly, i also think it will reduce a certain amount of the absolute barrage of wild anons from the first time around haha!

in addition to that, though, i think its important that i reaffirm what i have said from the start: i am acutely aware that in interactive fiction in general and particularly on tumblr there is a strong preference for white male characters, and i am not here to write some kind of gross POC/women/nb slasher. as much as i want the audience to have a say in the direction the story takes, i ultimately have final say on what happens in the story that i am writing.

the main way that i intend to have oversight of the voting process is by who appears on the polls in the first place; the first poll was the last time the whole cast will be available for a vote at the same time. since ellis, one of three NB cast members, was the first character to die, i've said that neither of the other NB cast members will appear on future polls. if it's women and POC suffering in the next vote, then i'll be applying similar logic. if that means we get towards the end and we need a white boy only poll then so be it!

that said, if people cannot behave then i will simply take away their toys. although i consider the voting mechanic to be one of the things that makes body count unique and fun, i'm absolutely not above doing away with it if there are Shenanigans that spoil it, ya know?

anyway, i hope that assuages some of your concerns! sorry for another giant wall of text wow i simply cannot answer a question concisely atm

[blueisquitetired]

The Birth of a Shadow

Context for this one: This was the originally planned chapter 15 that….. obviously didn’t work out. The original conceit was that Emmet was having trouble using magic, so he had to dive through his brother’s memories to learn what it felt like. It was supposed to be a journey backwards in time, featuring different times of Ingo’s life before he met Emmet.

Unfortunately, that didn’t really work out, and I ended up cutting the whole thing. We didn’t lose too much in the process, just the exact specifics of Ingo’s past and an explanation for his beef with moms. 

So yeah, here’s what got written out, featuring Ingo’s origin story and a tone that really doesn’t match the rest of the fic.

Length: 2,000 words

Rating: G 

CW: Child endangerment? I guess???

Deep breathes. In and out. Reach inside and-

Opening his eyes, Emmet threw out one of his hands, attempting to channel some unknowable energy. 

Nothing happened.

“Any luck?”

Mai sat on the grass next to him, idly plucking strings on her guitar. This was his third day of magic lessons with her and so far….

“No. Nothing.”

Sighing, Emmet lay down on the grass next to her, looking up at the bright blue sky. At least it was a nice day.

“Maybe it did work, but you just didn’t notice?” Lady Sneasler was sitting a bit away with the rest of the peanut gallery. Not close enough to get in the way, but still easily reachable. “It’s supposed to be kind of subtle right?”

“He would feel it. Probably.” Mai sighed. “At least that’s how it works for me.”

“Right. Because that’s been such a good indicator so far.” It was Melli who spoke this time, the warden having joined the group to help Elesa with her embroidery and just enjoy the show. Emmet was starting to understand why Lady Sneasler didn’t like him much.

Still, he had a point. As much as Emmet appreciated Mai’s assistance, one just couldn’t escape the fact that their magics were completely different. Mai’s were nature spells cast via music, and Emmet’s…

Well it certainly wasn't that.

“Well, does Ingo feel his magic when he casts it?” Mai asked, bringing the group back on track. “His magic would certainly be more similar to yours than mine.”

“Not sure.” Shrugging, Emmet tried to remember times that his brother had used magic- and came up frustratingly short. “He does not like using it. Or talking about it.”

“Too bad.” Mai sighed. “That would have been helpful.”

“Hang on.” Elesa finally spoke up, having been far too concentrated on her embroidery to join in the conversation so far. “Didn’t you say you had Ingo’s memories? Doesn’t that mean you can learn straight from the source? Maybe even figure out how he learned magic originally?”

“Wait what do you mean he has his memories-”

That…. was a good point actually. Emmet had been kind of avoiding touching that part of his psyche at the moment, but there weren't any actual barriers. Still, he was still sort of… put off by the idea.

“Those are private.” He managed finally, working around the bitter taste in his mouth. “I have not received permission. Snooping is a breach of trust.”

“Normally yeah, but this isn’t exactly a normal situation.” Pointed out Lady Sneasler. “You’ll need to be prepared for whatever comes our way. I think Ingo will forgive you for a bit of snooping if it helps save his life.”

“I suppose…”

It still didn’t sit right with Emmet. Sure, they could read each other’s minds whenever they wanted- but that didn’t mean they did! Boundaries were important, and privacy was to be respected. Still, Lady Sneasler was right that this was a special situation….

“….alright.” Taking a deep breath, Emmet attempted to calm his racing heart. “I will look through Ingo’s memories. Try to find out how magic feels. Or how he learned it.”

“Attaboy!” Lady Sneasler grinned. 

Mai seemed a bit more skeptical.

“So how exactly does that… work?”

Emmet shrugged.

“It is like meditation? Kind of? I close my eyes and….” He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, going boneless. “This will take a while.”

“How long is a while?”

But Emmet didn’t answer, already beginning to tune the rest of the world out and sink into his own subconscious. Carefully, he reached for his brother’s soul, embracing it and sinking into his brother’s memories. He wasn’t exactly sure where to start- memories had a tendency to be a bit finicky after all, but if he just started somewhere familiar and worked his way back….

He thought of the first time they met, an old and messy memory colored by time and his subpar human recollection, only still around because of how many times he’d watched his brother’s version.

A version that was responding to the memory he had fed it, sparking up around him and begging to be recalled.

So he let it.

oOo

Someone was crying.

The monster stopped and listened for a moment, the sound of soft sniffles and a human in distress. It really shouldn’t get any closer, shouldn’t approach, especially not after last time- but there was crying! Crying was something it knew well, and if it could help…

Maybe it could assist from the shadows. As long as it wasn’t seen, there would be no reason for the human too….

This time would be different.

It followed the sound.

As much as Emmet would love to relive that particular memory again, now wasn’t the time. Instead, he honed in on that mention of “last time” pulling on it and looking for the related memory. It wasn’t hard to find.

oOo

[This section would contain several scenes from Ingo’s past in reverse order. This would include him disguising himself as another child and getting run off for being a duplicate, trying to take a human form and not doing a very good job (and getting run off), and him visiting Hisui and having a bad time.]

oOo

First, there was nothing.

Not pain, or sorrow, or even emptiness- no, there was just nothing at all.

And then-

“Oh. It’s beautiful.”

There was something.

A… a face? Yes. A face. A… a red face who was…

“Dude it just looks like a blob with eyes.”

A different voice. A different person? Yes, there they were, behind the face-

“That’s just because you can’t appreciate the sheer craftsmanship on display here.” The face moved, getting taller and… further? Further away. (From what?)

“Sure. Whatever. But does it work?”

“Of course it works! I made it after all!”

“…so you haven’t tested it yet.”

“What’s the point of a test? It’s a changeling. They aren’t complicated.”

There was a conversation happening. That’s what this was. Understanding was… difficult, but possible. The whole thing was quite alien overall.

“Anyway, I’m releasing this bad boy today. You wanna see?”

“Sure I guess. Don’t have anything else planned.”

The face came back(?) bending forward and-

SENSATION!!!!

THERE WAS TOUCH HAPPENING!!!

WHAT?!!!

And with touch came feelings!!! Pride and confidence and-

“Huh. It’s being more squirmy than normal.”

Squirmy? Movement? Was something moving?

“Maybe cause you finished it? So it’s ‘coming to life’ and all that?”

“Yeah maybe. Let’s get going before it gets harder to carry.”

And then.

AND THEN.

Movement! Lots of movement! The squirmy apparently! So much movement and things that had names but there was no time to ponder such things as MOVEMENT WAS HAPPENING.

And then movement stopped happening.

And everything was dark.

“This place good?”

“I think so. I checked out a few houses beforehand and this one had a baby.”

“Cool.”

Movement started up again, going a bit before-

THE TOUCH WAS GONE!!!!

Where did it go?!!!

“Now what?”

“It’s supposed to eat the baby.”

“….maybe you need to move it closer?”

The touch returned briefly…. before disappearing again, replaced by-

Different touch?

Calm touch. Sleepy touch. Touch full of dreams, muted sensations of lightssoundscolorsemotions. Touch that-

There was hunger.

Hunger. Hunger. Hunger.

And emptiness. Something that needed to be filled. Something that could be filled if- if-

If there was eating.

And so there would be eating. There would be devouring. There would be biting and tearing and-

yes

YES!

Yes! There was taste, there was warmth! There was energy and magic and-

PAIN

Pain that caused screaming, pain that caused crying. Pain that was more intense than hunger or pride. Pain that encompassed all else and-

Light.

“Yes yes Johny. Mommy’s here. Now what’s got you so-”

A sharp gasp, thudding footsteps and-

“GET OFF MY BABY!”

Touch. But not gentle touch- rough touch. Pulling and grabbing and flinging. Flying before impact, new fresher pain as-

New impact. New pain. New-

This was danger.

Danger. Danger! Pain meant danger and there was so much pain, so there was so much danger but how was-

And then something happened.

Something happened and suddenly the shadows reached out, sweeping in and pulling out of danger. 

The shadows were gentle. Calm. Quiet and dark and-

Grabbing, pulling, RIPPING and angerangerANGER

“What was THAT!?”

There was laughing.

“I believe that’s what we call a failure Alimar.”

“Shut up. Shut up. This is just- just a slight hiccup. We can just try again.”

Try what again? Why was there anger? Why was there failure? Was it the danger?

And why was the pain still there?

Movement. More. Movement that made the pain stronger. Movement that pulled at somethings. Somethings that could be felt. Somethings that could be moved.

“Stop squirming.”

That wasn’t the only somethings. There was more! More somethings that could also be moved. Easier even, since the voice was not holding them. They could be moved, and they were moved because it was fun and made the pain less noticeable. Oh! Fun! That was new!

“What in Titania’s name has gotten into you?!”

More yanking. The face was back! But it was dark. Because it was night. Strange. Night. Had night existed before? What was night?

“Looks like yelling at it worked.”

“Yeah I guess.”

Night was something that came after day. But day came after night. That didn’t make sense. How could it come before and after?

“Okay. Here’s a new place. Let’s try this again.”

That was how time worked right? Yes, day and night were based off of time. Which was. Harder to understand then day and night combined.

The touch that hurt was gone and the somethings were dropped. They were dropped and-

Huh.

They felt.

The somethings were moved, and where they moved they felt. The feeling was soft. Soft because it was a blanket. That’s what it was. 

“Eat the ####ing baby already.”

The somethings were- they were tendrils? Yes. That’s what they were. The tendrils moved and felt and they felt each other and oh! That was not soft! That was… smooth! Smooth! And both tendrils could feel the other tendril and wasn’t that strange. What were tendrils anyway?

…limbs? Right. And limbs were… uh. They were attached to something alive! And they could do things! 

Obviously. They could move and feel.

But what were they attached to?

“….What is it doing?”

“UGH.”

Touch again! Not good touch!! But! There were more tendrils! More! And they were attached to-

Uh-

“Dude I don’t even think it sees the baby.” 

“Yeah I noticed.”

Actually, what was ‘it’ anyway? There was the human baby- but that couldn’t be ‘it’. And the blankets could not see so. Maybe the tendrils? They were attached to something alive, and if it was alive it could probably see!

But what were they attached to???

They were- They-

???????

No seriously what were they attached to.

There was hunger.

Yes but the tendrils!

Hunger.

The tendrils lead to something but that something did not exist but it could be felt which meant it did exist-

Wait.

Was that seeing?

Hunger

If seeing was happening then seeing was ‘it’ and the tendrils were attached to the it (which was seeing) and seeing happened with eyes that could be moved-

MORE MOVEMENT!

Hungerhungerhungerhunger

Movement that changed seeing!! Yes! Good! Good! That was-

Pride! Pride for figuring it out! Pride for-

hunger

Okay okay hunger. Hunger which meant movement which meant-

What was that?

“…is it broken?”

New thing to move!!! It could be moved and it moved a lot and how many more movement-

HUNGER

Right, right, okay. Movement again which was biting and biting on the baby which brought warmgoodenergymagiclife- AND PAIN AND CRYING!!!

PAIN AND CRYING MEANT DANGER!!! DANGER MEANT SHADOWS AND LEAVE AND AWAY!!!

“Wha- hey where’d it go?!”

“#### it shadow sneaked again. I have to catch it before it-”

NOPE!!

IT WOULD NOT BE GRABBED!

GRABBED WAS PAIN AND PAIN WAS BAD AND IT DID NOT WANT THAT!

“Come back here you little-!”

The shadows pulled it far away. Far far away.

Where it would be safe.

[operationslipperypuppet]

Ooh how about top 5 Emily moments for each PC (i.e. top moonshine moment, top fia moment, etc etc) because we know Emily is incredible and can do no wrong!

Real and true. I’ll do like 2 moments for each naddpod pc and then it’ll be like 10 moments lol. Full disclosure: this is long as hell.

Moonshine:

“You can be quick with kindness, too” and then grabbing Bev and jumping off into the Astral Sea. That whole thing, where she was trying to understand Thiala despite knowing she likely couldn’t be reasoned with. An absolute peak of Moonshine. Holy shit.

Not to be the guy who brings up “how long do half elves live” at every opportunity. But it needs to be said. Because it’s also Moonshine grappling with how her lifespan is going to work. Emily was never going to take 18 levels in druid, she didn’t want timeless body for Moonshine. But she got it. And then there’s this poignant moment where she’s grappling with everything that will mean to the only other person she knows has or will experience it. Moonshine doesn’t fear death. But she doesn’t want to live in a world without her family and friends. And that’s why it matters. Plus the hardshine of it all.

Fuck it, third one. The conversation with Deadeye. She saves him. She’s the catalyst that stops him from continuing a spiral he’d been part of for possibly 100 years. And he stopped her from going down a similar path, which was Brennan’s plan when he made the character. The Cybin siblings are something that can be so personal.

Fia:

“Maybe I don’t want to be her sister, okay!” Fia was closed off to the other third mates in a lot of ways. She was never hiding anything deliberately, she just kept a lot of feelings close to her chest. She hadn’t had friends in years. Blurting this out to Hank and Zirk was her last wall crumbling and a moment of true trust. Plus like the beauty of girlhood friends falling in love wlw wish fulfillment.

“You were my fucking dream for so fucking long. But these people are my reality. And it is by your actions that one of them has died, and you tried to kill more of them. And I will miss you so much. But I, I cannot support this. Mr. Henry. Kill Her.” Truly an Emily moment of all time. The beauty. The cold hearted commitment. The sobs from both her AND Caldwell.

Tarragon:

Only gonna do one here because she’s in so few episodes. The atonement to help redeem Moxora at the end of Cerenysus. “She may have rotted but she’ll make good soil”. Devastating.

Billie:

Also gonna do one here because of the shortness of her time. Her insane antics in the Grimdung/Beeto cave fight. Trying to convince Grimmy that she was worth more than his allegiance to the cause. Being completely wrong about his thought process. And the interactions with Hank and Zirk during that fight. Too fun.

Onyx:

Pretending to be Porker Harris for the entire Merry Metal Mayhem two shot. Insane choice. She was dressed as him dead I think actually. And tried to convince Sonic that she was him. The triplets are too good.

Befriending KT. Getting her plane seat upgraded while sitting in the bad seats. Asking for her opinion on everything. So dumb. So incredible.

Callie:

Fucking. Crown of Dreams. Right at the end. She finally isn’t confused or a nannerfly. And she takes a turn to Lay on Hands Sol (who was 2 death save failures in the hole and it really felt like Caldwell’s skin of his teeth luck had finally run out) and then casts compelled duel on Ultrus to save Glen. Gets me every time. God what an episode.

Little strange, but when they’re fighting the Bronzebeards and that guy who was controlling people with the worms in the woods on the way to Irondeep. She like climbs up something, Fey Steps, attacks or casts a spell, then asks Hardwon to catch her. And Hardwon “nods like he’s seen this kind of bullshit before”. Just a very fun moment.

So sorry for going off like that. Hope people enjoy reading this insane list lmao

[ash5monster01]

Perfect To Love Part 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x FemReader!PlusSize

Warnings: fluff, mentions of bullying, body image issues, fat shaming, angst, trust issues.

Summary: Beth Walker was used to living in the shadows. She had only one friend and anyone else who paid her mind usually bullied her for her size. So she learned to keep her mouth shut, her head down, and her heart closed because she had to accept the fact that she would be nothing more than the fat girl to people. That is until Robin decides Beth needs more in life and that might just include a boy who she never would’ve thought could see her for who she truly was.

word count: 2,427

Part 3 ←→ Part 5

Masterlist

That night Steve drove with no destination in mind, it wasn't until he found an empty spot next to Lovers Lake did he pull the car to a stop. When Beth questioned his choice he quicky assured her it was just by chance with pink ears from embarassment which Beth thought was cute. So they laid by the shore, eyes cast over the sky of stars, and talked about anything and everything. It surprised them both how easy conversation was between the them. It was as if they had been friends for years, not an awkward beat of conversation anywhere. Despite the hiccup at the party Beth found herself having a great night, Steve's presence being more comforting than expected.

They had talked so well together Beth didn’t end up getting home until late, all the lights off in her home, Steve cutting the engine and rolling to a stop in front of her house to not alert anyone. She teased him for a moment, how it must be a trick from years of sneaking out girls. He just shook his head, big dough eyes staring her down as he told her a quiet goodnight and she slipped out the car. Nancy was long gone now, but Robin was piled in a heap, snoring away on the side of her bed to which Beth just chuckled and got ready to join her in slumber.

“God, you better not of screwed me Rob” Beth muttered, dipping underneath the covers beside her. Robin continued to breathe peacefully but she was awake. She heard her and she hoped that it wasn’t the case either. Beth and Steve deserved this kind of love.

Despite Beth's original plan to find things about Steve she didn't like she couldn’t seem to find anything worthy of being a reason. There was only one thing she had, one reason, huge enough, to avoid him at all costs. Yet when she tried to remind herself of the reason the image of his big dough eyes, floppy brown hair, and lopsided smile made her start the process over completely. So that’s how she went through the entire week, trying to remind herself to not get to caught up in the world of Steve Harrington because she had watched hundreds of girls do it before and get hurt all the same even if she wasn't in the same league as any of them.

Steve Harrington doesn’t have a good past.

It was reason enough. It’s not right to judge someone by the mistakes they have made, but Steve’s was hard to ignore. Years of using women, bullying other students, popularity so ego inflating it was blinding. Yes he very clearly showed he didn’t act that way anymore, but forgiving someone for things that they’ve done can be hard no matter how much they’ve changed or how regretful they are. It didn’t help Steve seemed to not remember her entirely and that was the only point to prove that maybe Steve wasn’t regretful at all. He may have changed but he hadn’t bothered once to clean up his past, and that past included her.

By the time the weekend rolled around Beth was thankful to be out of school, so it could provide her opportunity to do things to keep her distracted. Daydreaming in class made it easy to slip into questions surrounding the Harrington boy, but a sunny Saturday in her driveway working on her car kept the haunting thoughts away. He couldn’t reach her here, or at least that’s what she thought.

“You weren’t lying, you really can fix a car” Beth jumped, leaning up out of the hood to see Steve standing beside it. A reason Beth had liked this car so much was the hood opened from the back instead of the front, a shield from others, but apparently a shield for them as well. Considering she didn’t have time to notice the boy was approaching her.

“Somewhat, yeah” Beth nodded, wiping her hands of grease, suddenly self conscious about the fact she was dressed only in some comfy shorts and tank top. Not enough coverage to hide her fat she thought.

“You break down?” he asked, curiously looking into the car to see what she was doing. It didn’t matter anyway, he didn’t understand the inside at all.

“Not exactly, she started clicking this morning so I borrowed my Moms car to go get a new battery. I’m hoping it solves the problem and isn’t the alternator” Steves eyes widened as the foreign language left the girls mouth, shock painting his features.

“I uh, what’s an alternator?” Beth giggled lightly, unable to stop herself and Steve realized how damn cute she was. Like a cuddly teddy bear that made him feel safe, he wished he could keep her forever. A safe haven from the nightmares in Hawkins.

“An alternator is this” then Beth was pointing to a part under the hood, finger tapping it lightly. “when it’s running it’s helps charge your battery and the other electrical components of your vehicle. If that doesn’t work, your car doesn’t work”

“Seems simple enough” Beth laughed again, shaking her head lightly and pushing some hair back with her arm so she didn’t get grease on her.

“Simple but expensive to replace. She’s only two though, and this is her original battery. Doesn’t help the car sits all winter to avoid salt on the roads. It’s more than likely reached the end of its life, and this will solve our problem” Beth told him, now pointing to the new battery on the pavement beside her.

“Could you teach me?” Beth’s heart stuttered as the boy looked down to her, so innocent and curious on how to change the battery in the car. She couldn’t say no even if she wanted too.

“Yeah Steve, of course” Beth placed a hand on his back, nudging him to take her place, and his stomach erupted with butterflies that he wished he could ignore. This was never the plan, falling for a girl to pure for the world.

“What do I do first?” he asked curiously and Beth smiled as she grabbed a socket wrench and handed it to him.

“Well first we have to remove the bar holding the battery in place. So use this to remove these two bolts. A battery can’t work sliding around” Steve nodded, that made sense. So he listened to what she said and began to loosen the bolts until they slipped right off.

“Look at that, you’re a master at it already” Beth praised and he blushed fire truck red, hiding his face by looking down at the battery. Beth removed the plate and smiled softly at the boy.

“What’s next?” Steve asked, a bit nervous about doing work on a nice brand new corvette.

“Now you remove the cables, negative first, positive second, and once they’re removed make sure they don’t hit. I don’t need you electrocuted” Steve’s pulse went faster at the notion but nodded nonetheless as she handed him the wrench to loosen the bolts on the cables. Once they were removed she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Alright, go ahead and lift it out” Steve nodded, hands gripping the side and freeing the battery from its confinement.

“That wasn’t too bad” Steve said once he set it down, his hands a bit smudged with grease but a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah, it’s easy. Now do exactly what you did in reverse. This time positive first and negative last” Steve nodded, lifting the new battery and placing it inside. Slowly and carefully he accepted tools from Beth, connecting the positive, negative, and then bolting the bar back in place so the battery wouldn’t move.

When Steve turned to Beth for confirmation that he did good he was met with a large smile, her big bright eyes crinkled from how huge the grin was, and he wished he was allowed to kiss her right then and there. It was the first time in his life he realized someone was proud of him and that alone made him want to love the girl forever. The feeling was enough to overwhelm him, chest tightening.

“Go ahead and try it out” she told him, nudging him towards the corvette. Steve ducked down, almost knocking his head on the roof before settling in the seat and reaching for the key. As he turned the key the engine revved for a moment and then it sparked to life, a loud rumble and proof he had done it right.

“You did perfect Steve” she praised as he turned it off and got out. Much to his surprise she wrapped him in a hug. Steve stood for a moment, unsure how to respond before slowly wrapping his arms back around her, his chin resting perfectly a top her head.

“Thank you” he told her softly and Beth smiled and pulled back before handing him a cloth to wipe the grease from his hands a bit more.

“Now that we’ve been thoroughly distracted, what’re you doing here Steve?” Beth asked, her hands propped on her hips. A nervous hand flew to the back of Steve’s neck, now at a loss for words because he forgot he had to explain himself.

“I uh, um. I just haven’t seen you all week. Robin and me usually hang out but she took an extra shift. I wanted to stop and see you, I had fun the other night so I just figured you wouldn’t mind” Steve rambled softly, Beth’s eyebrows raising the more he talked and heart racing faster due to each word. She hated that he made her nervous. Now that was another reason.

He makes me nervous.

“You wanted to hangout?” Beth asked, surprise that he had actually wanted to see her again.

“Yeah, if you wanted. The kids wanted to go see some new movie and I was gonna drive them, I figured we could do something while they did that” Beth’s eyes widened just slightly, mouth gaping for just a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, okay. I mean we can watch the movie with them too if you want. I just need to get changed” Beth pointed a thumb over her shoulder and back to her house. Slight panic set in over the fact Nancy wasn’t there to help her pick an outfit.

“Okay, yeah” Steve nodded, realizing he was acting like he did in middle school when he talked to a crush.

“Come on in, you can wash that grease of your hands” Beth was telling him as she closed the hood to the corvette and grabbed the battery off the pavement. Steve followed her into the garage where she set it down and then led them into the house. He was shocked to see she could lift the battery with ease considering how heavy it was.

“Bathroom is down the hall to the left, I’m gonna run upstairs” Steve nodded and Beth rushed off as he looked for the bathroom to wash his hands.

Once she reached her room she quickly searched her closet for a decent pair of jeans, removing the shorts and slipping them on all while trying not to topple over. The real issue was her top. She didn’t own very many nice shirts and without Nancy’s opinion she didn’t feel comfortable grabbing one. Then she realized she shouldn’t be something different for Steve, so she grabbed one of her T-shirts, a Goonies on to be exact, and slipped it on. After some new deodorant, perfume, and fixing her hair she was rushing back down the stairs.

“Ready?” Steve asked sweetly and she nodded, grabbing her wallet and following him out the door. It was surreal being in the front of the BMW again but comforting nonetheless. They shared easy small talk the whole way to their destination, Steve asking more about cars that he was curious about.

Then they were pulling up in front of a house Beth had never seen before, and Steve was honking the horn leisurely like it was something he did everyday. Then Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were clambering out the garage, yelling ‘you’re late’ while clearly bickering about who got shot gun until they spotted Beth already inside. “Beth’s here?”

“Hey Beth” Lucas smiled widely, in hopes to cover up Dustin’s confusion about her presence.

“Hey boys, you excited for your movie?” she asked sweetly, looking back at them all pushed together in the back seat.

“Were you two hanging out or something?” Mike asked curiously, ignoring her question completely.

“Beth showed me how to change a battery in a car” as Steve said this the boys immediately erupted into giggles in the backseat.

“He can barely rewind the tapes at family video and you let him put a new battery in your corvette?” Dustin asked between laughs and Beth smiled widely.

“I did, and he did really good” all the boys watched as Beth’s arm lifted, her hand landing on Steve’s arm that held the steering wheel and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Dustin did not miss the way his ears turned pink. That’s when he realized he liked her.

“Whatever you say Beth” Lucas chuckled as Steve pulled back out on the road, heading for town to a theater he had once vandalized.

“You guys going on a date or something?” Mike asked curiously since he knew Steve wouldn’t sit through the movie with him.

“What? No, we’re just hanging out. I’m allowed to spend time with people while I wait around for you shit heads” Steve shot back and Beth’s stomach dropped. Of course Steve couldn’t see her romantically, she was too fat. Beth’s head dropped, gazing at her legs and wishing they weren’t so big, small thighs just like Nancy’s. Dustin noticed and made a mental note to yell at Steve about it later.

“You could always watch the movie with us” Lucas muttered and before Steve could respond Beth was lifting her head.

“That actually sounds like fun, let’s join them Steve” she said and he looked to her with confused eyes, wishing she wanted to go get something to eat or coffee instead. He liked talking to her. Yet he knew not to put up a fight.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s do it” he nodded while agreeing and Beth gave him a pressed smile before turning back to the road. Steve now sad because he had to sit next to her for the next two hours without saying a word.

Tag list: @kindablackenedsuperhero @rinarecommends @starryeyedpoet17 @crustless-toast @loverofmarsss @alexa-33 @bethanysnow @middle-of-the-earth @princessadriana4-blog @mochminnie @legendaryhumandiplomatgoop

Comment if you want to be added to the tag list :))

a/n: I actually own a blue two toned 1984 corvette and I work as a parts girl in a mechanic shop so I write most of this stuff from my knowledge. if you guys would like pictures of the corvette described in this series I would love to provide them so you guys can get a better idea on the car that is a key part in this series <3

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Batgirl (2024) #1

writer: Tate Brombal artist: Takeshi Miyazawa colors: Mike Spicer

I guess the comics creation process has changed in the last 20 years, because there's no longer separately credited pencils and inks. Is inking just not a job anymore? If not, who does that part now? "artist" or "colors"? Lettering is still a separate job - Tom Napolitano for this issue. I haven't been listing letterers with these reviews... should I be? & should I be calling out editors, for that matter?

Just a heads up: I didn't dislike this issue overall, and I do call out the stuff I liked, but I spend a lot of this post comparing it negatively to Batgirl 2000. If you're a Cass fan who's just hyped that she has a new solo title, and don't want to read a bunch of negativity while you're still celebrating then maybe skip this one.

Anyway, Cassandra Cain finally has a proper new solo ongoing title as Batgirl again, and the Cass fans on tumblr have seemingly been pretty hype about it. I'm considerably more trepidatious going in, because my reread of Cass's original appearances (link) has mostly shown me that I'm maybe not so much a 'Cassandra Cain' fan as I am a fan specifically of the initial Puckett/Scott run of Batgirl (2000). Of the unique tone and story-telling style of those issues, of the particular relationships between Cass and her main supporting cast at the time - Bruce, David, Barbara, later Stephanie.

I recently wrote a too-long post about what I was hoping for out of the new book (link) - but to recap I DON'T want to see a return of OG Cass's character and continuity - that version of the character is too tied up in her particular relationships with other characters that either don't exist or don't exist in the same form anymore. Plus, the impulse of middle age comic creators to try to force continuity back to whatever the status quo was when they first became fans is exactly what led to original Cass getting tossed aside and trampled over in the first place. New Cass is a new character, and I don't want her fans to have to go through what I went through just because people my age are in charge of editorial now.

What I DO want is a return of original Cass's storytelling style. Self contained stories, sombre tone, focus on emotion over action, leaning into Cass's personal motivations and fraught interpersonal relationships (just those of new Cass instead of old Cass), with a heavy emphasis on the individual humanity of all parties involved, with story and emotions conveyed primarily through the art - especially the facial expressions - while minimizing the reliance on dialog and especially narration blocks wherever possible.

That's a tall order, especially the last bit. There's a reason Batgirl 2000 caught my attention and stuck in my head. It takes a special kind of artist to be able to convey all that visually, and a special kind of writer to understand that less is more, to trust the artist to convey these things and trust the reader to pick up on them without spelling it all out explicitly in text.

So that's all what I want. But what do I expect? I'm a old school Cass fan. What I expect is disappointment.

...............................

So, first two pages, and we have some positives and negatives right off the bat. The art & colors are good. I mostly like the way Miyazawa draws Cass. It's a solid take on her costume, even if I prefer the wider angle ears from the recent Birds of Prey run. I like the classic chonky yellow belt pouches, though I'm not as big a fan of the yellow outline bat symbol. Yes it's also a classic, but it's a bit fiddly and doesn't read terribly well when she's smaller in the panel, like on that second page, so I always though a solid yellow bat symbol would have been better. I like the white eyes.

Cass's proportions feel a bit off. I like the emphasis on her musculature, but the overall figure feels too hour glassy, and the head to body ratio kind of visually implies a much taller Cass that I'm used to, especially for her post-reboot incarnation. This is an issue in Birds of Prey as well, if maybe not to the same extent.

New Cass was apparently supposed to be 16 when she was first introduced in B&RE & her earlier Detective run and like 17 or 18 in later Detective, outsiders, and Batgirls appearances - through from the way she was drawn and depicted I had thought she was like three years younger than that the whole time. Now she's 18 or 19, and has apparently gone through an extremely late and extremely sudden puberty? Eh, continuity in Bat books especially regarding canon ages was never good and has been an absolute wreck ever since new 52, so that's not something to fault this book in particular for. But even so, the body type feels a bit off.

The big tragedy, is, of course, the way Cass's mask blocks her face - especially her mouth. This is another throwback to her original batgirl costume, but Damion Scott was still able to convey a full range of emotions on Cass by just ignoring physics and drawing her face straight through the mask. Miyazawa seems to be going for a slightly more... I don't know, 'realistic' maybe isn't the right word. And there is some expression still showing, but given how much more expressive Shiva's face manages to be in this issue, it really feels like breaking from tradition to go with something that keeps her face exposed, like the domino mask of the Blackbat costume, would have better served Miyazawa's style.

Speaking of Shiva...

Yup, that's post reboot Shiva there, looking basically exactly how I expect her to look. Which is to say she looks fine. Good even. Her face is very expressive throughout the comic, which I really like, and I also like that she's deliberately drawn a bit older - something about the lines on her face, the sharpness of it. This is a woman with a history, been around the world, killed a lot of people, and that experience shows on her face. This in particular I can credit Miyazawa above Scott on, because in their first few meetings in particular back in Batgirl 2000 Cass and her mom looked about the same age.

There's a deliberate choice in this first introduction to pose her away from Cass, despite the fact that in the narrative she's the one going to Cass and Cass is rejecting her. But while it doesn't fit the narrative, it does play into some of the underlying character dynamics between them. It ties into the idea that since she understands body language like Cass does, she can 'speak' that language deliberately, allowing her to deceive Cass in a way that normal people can't. Her interior emotions are closed off to Cass - not because Shiva isn't expressing emotions but because her ability to lie means Cass can't - and doesn't - trust what Shiva 'says'.

That's all good stuff. The kind of interpersonal dynamics that I want to see out of Cass stories, so in that at least I'm happy. Most of the Cass-Shiva stuff in this issue is really solid. It was a natural and imo correct choice to start the book with a narrow focus on Cass's relationship to Shiva, given how core that relationship has been to both of their characterizations since Cass's post-reboot reintroduction. But that's for both better and worse, especially in Shiva's case. I know there are fans of Shiva out there who don't like how much of her individual character and motivation has been pushed aside to just make her 'Cass's Mom'. Unfortunately, that particular problem isn't one that's going to be fixed in a Cass Cain solo title.

Less good is how much Brombal relies on blunt narration blocks to explain this dynamic between Cass and Shiva to the reader, instead of allowing the reader to pick up on the emotional undercurrent through the art the way Cass perceives it through body language.

I'm willing to cut Brombal some slack here, because where they're working with Shiva - a reserved, withdrawn, calculating, and emotionally deceptive evil parent - Puckett & Scott were working with og David Cain. He was original character they crafted specifically to fit the kind of story they were trying to tell, so they made Cain the kind of man that never had a sincere emotion that he didn't wear all over his face for the world to see. Like, here he is in Batman 567, Cass's first appearance, with the Puckett/Scott creative team.

look at this man

Look at his face! See how expressive it is!

And yeah, Shiva's just not going to be expressive in the same way. So it really is honestly impressive how good a job Miyazawa does with her face in this issue:

Those are some good & fun faces. It's a good thing Miyazawa is doing such a good job with Shiva's face, though because it's near about the only face we get to see in this issue. Which is a problem I pitch a big old fit about below regarding the antagonists, but even more than that it's kind of frustrating that we don't get to see Cass's face even one time in the first issue of her new ongoing.

And while these Shiva faces are good, they're rarely the focus of the page. We're never given the kind of close up faces that take up half a page or more to really let us drink in the characters' emotions like Batgirl 2000 used so effectively.

.....

That's about as much as I can wring out of those two pages. Unfortunately that means I have to get to the actual content of the book.

First, what the hell is Cass doing in that first panel.

Second... come on. This book wants me to believe that Shiva is worried about some random assassins killing her and Cassandra? In this continuity the League of Assassins are the worlds top evil ninja society that every other random evil ninja society is afraid of, except for the League of Shadows who are the super secret even more ultra evil ninja society that even the League of Assassins is afraid of, and Shiva and Cass are each individually established as being so far beyond even them that either of them could outfight and take down the entire League of Assassins on their own. "Faceless ninja mooks Trained killers are coming to get us" is so far beneath either of these characters as far as threats go that Shiva should feel insulted, not afraid.

And I guess that's supposed to be the point? Like the writer is saying "these guys who you've never heard of are so scarry that even Shiva is afraid! Aren't you intrigued?" And, like, no. I'm not. If Shiva isn't feeling disdainful and insulted, then I'm just kind of forced to feel insulted on her behalf. This isn't something Shiva should think Cass needs help with, and if Cass did end up needing help I'd expect Shiva to help, but also to make a big show of how disappointed she was that Cass couldn't handle it on her own the entire time.

That last panel with Cass and Shiva is cute. Again, most of the direct interactions between them in this book are good, and they're the ledge I'm desperately clinging to in order to say I don't actively dislike the whole issue altogether.

On the other hand when I say 'faceless ninja mooks' I mean it. These guys are as generic as mooks get, with no individuality at all. Store bought ninja halloween costumes, swords and bows instead of guns or anything serious. These guys aren't people, they're the putties from Power Rangers. They don't even have real dialog, just a corny mantra.

Compare to these generic thugs from Batgirl (2000) #1. Even without names and almost no dialog, each one is a completely unique individual, to the point that we easily recognize 'Merc' in the middle when he shows up later in the issue.

Mob guys, bank robbers, just random civilians on the city streets, everyone who shared a panel with Cass with under Scott's pencil had a unique face, and whenever any of these background characters stepped forward to actually take part in the story Puckett invested them with personalities and motivations and lives of their own.

And I'm not just harping on it because I like that kind of storytelling better, it was part and parcel to Cass as a character. Her unique superpower, her whole body-reading gimmick, essentially amounts to super-empathy. It's why she doesn't kill, it's why the one time she did kill as a child messed her up so bad. It, along with the guilt from that murder, forces her to connect to even the villains she interacts with, to see them as full human beings and not just enemies that need to be stopped. It's why Bruce once characterized her as 'gentle', despite all the killing skills that were trained into her. And yeah, new Cass is a new character, but these core elements are, or at least should be, shared between both versions, between every version of this character, even as the specific details of that history vary from continuity to continuity.

Emphasizing the individual humanity of all the characters in a Cass story - from Cass herself to the primary antagonists to the random mooks to the background extras - is essential to conveying that aspect of Cass as a character.

And these guys are the literal opposite of that.

Now, they're not all bad. We do get a bit of a fun fight scene out of them. Very 70s hong kong martial arts movie vibe, which Cass and Shiva can play into. And a faceless crowd of ninja mooks makes sense in that context. This isn't as fundamentally obviously a terrible decision on the creative team's part as I'm making out.

But there are any number of martial artist characters in the DC canon that can be used to do this sort of thing. IMO it just doesn't speak to what's uniquely compelling about Cassandra - old or new. Which is a problem for the first issue of her new ongoing title.

And nothing here illuminates why Shiva would be in any way worried about these guys. They're not uniquely skilled, they're not uniquely anything, and they're not portrayed as being on Cass or Shiva's level.

Cass and Shiva eventually get bored of fighting generic nobodies & make their way down to the street via window and hang-glider-cape, where we get this bit... that I actively kind of hate?

Because, see, the incident Shiva is talking about is something that happened in Batgirl (2000). This shouldn't be in continuity anymore, and it doesn't fit into current Cass timeline at all - unless there was some other shiva-worshipping temple in gotham death/revival incident with Cass post-reboot that I don't remember.

I've seen people celebrating this exact line as marking the return of pre-reboot Cass's continuity and the wholesale erasure of post-reboot Cass. Apart from the frustrating indifference of that sentiment towards any fans of post-reboot Cass, especially coming from fans who should know better, it doesn't even work. Because the Shiva we've spent this whole issue with is 100% post-reboot Shiva. This IS NOT the character that Cass fought in that temple. As out of character as it is for this Shiva to be afraid of random mooks, we can at least accept her behavior IF we suspend disbelief about those mooks representing any sort of threat to her and Cass in the first place.

But the Shiva og Cass fought in Batgirl (2000)?

Death matches, putting her own life on the line to test her skills against the deadliest martial artists in the world, was her whole deal. Batgirl (2000)'s contribution to that deal was that Shiva was such a skilled fighter because she had the same body-reading ability as Cass, and just like Cass that ability forced Shiva to experience the deaths of those she killed as they experienced it. And just like Cass had been consumed by guilt from that experience, Shiva had been consumed with... well, not guilt exactly. But a burden of karmic debt. She had killed and she deserved to die for it. But her martial pride didn't allow her to just take her own life, so she traveled the world looking for someone who could give her the warrior's death she deserved.

After Shiva "killed" and then revived Cass, she hoped that Cass would be, at least for a moment, sufficiently freed from the sense of guilt that prevented her from killing again to go all out against Shiva and finally put an end to her. Cass, recognizing how much they had in common, was then able to use her new understanding of the death wish they shared to defeat Shiva without killing her.

All this is to say that if the Shiva Cass fought in that temple had been confronted with an ancient secret order of martial artists out to kill her and so skilled that they could actually do it, she would have relished the chance to finally meet the end she had been chasing across the world for decades. This Shiva is not her, so the comic deliberately invoking that story via this temple reference is kind of jarring to me.

This is part of why I didn't want this book to try to revive pre-reboot Cass's history, whether in part or in whole. That character was founded on relationships with a bunch of other characters whose present versions are all as different from the versions og Cassandra knew as the Cass of Batman & Robin Eternal was from the Cass of Batgirl (2000).

The clock only turns the one way. You can't turn it back, you have to build forward from where you are.

If we ignore this line, and the inclusion of this temple in the story, then I'd argue the comic at least begins to do that with the relationship Cass and Shiva's have built up in Detective and Outsiders and Shiva's brief appearance in Batgirls... but are any of those events even in continuity anymore? I don't know, and that's pretty frustrating.

We do get this cute moment of Cass disappearing on Shiva and Shiva blaming 'her father's influence' - by which she obviously means Bruce. Again, mostly good character interaction between Cass and Shiva. Unfortunately this cute moment is immediately undercut by Cass just being there anyway in the next panel, but still.

....

I'm getting tired, and this has taken way too long already, what's left?

Yeah, Shiva's temple explodes, Cass & Shiva go there and meet the temple keeper from the same story back in Batgirl (2000) as he dies, the faceless ninjas attack again. There's at least one more really good bit with Cass and Shiva worth calling out:

This is good. This is a good moment, calling back to the start of the issue when Shiva was trying to convince Cassandra how much she she meant her, and Cass accused her of lying, while here she is trying to convince the putty patrol that Cass doesn't mean anything to her, and Cass can tell that that's the real lie.

This is probably my favorite Cass & Shiva bit in an issue that has a lot of good bits to point to in that regard.

Unfortunately the comic pretty much ends here, which brings me to my last big complaint about Batgirl (2024) #1: It doesn't tell a complete story. It doesn't even come close - hardly anything even happens. Cass & Shiva barely talk in a pent house, fight some random nobodies for a few panels, barely talk outside, and then end on a cliff hanger fighting the same nobodies in a burning building. That's it. We barely recap Cass's backstory at all, we don't find out who these guys are or why they want Cass & Shiva dead, we hardly interact with any characters, and they end on a cliffhanger after hardly doing anything only 20 pages in, wasting like 6 pages on an adds for wrestling comics after that.

Batgirl (2000) #1 managed to do so much more with only a few more pages - giving us flashbacks to Cass as a child beating up 'Merc' & the thugs as part of training with David, training with barbara, Barbara trying and failing to connect with her, another flashback to cass after she had left david encountering Merc again, patrolling with batman, barbara and bruce talking about her abilities and disabilities, the little wham moment of Babs being like 'No wonder she's so good at stick fighting, I just thought it was from Cain training her', and Brucy replying 'Cain never taught her stick fighting, I did, last week, took five minutes', Bruce & Cass sparring - which the comic doesn't even show because the page space was better used on close ups of their faces to convey their emotions afterwards, Cass patrolling again and starting to find herself as batgirl when she meets Merc for a third and final time, how that final meeting tied the rest of the issue together in a satisfying way, tying together the drifting life that led to her becoming Batgirl, before closing on Batman laying down the rules for Cass as a crimefighter (no costumed criminals, etc) which also served as a message to readers about what to expect from the book.

....

I get that it's not fair to compare this book to the Puckett/Scott run of Batgirl 2000, one of my favorite comic book works and probably my absolute favorite mainstream superhero comic work ever. I will stick with this book and post my reactions to it going forward, but I don't intend to do this kind of expectations-laden comparison to Batgirl 2000 again. I hadn't even intended to do it this time, except that while I was working on this post I kept seeing "Cass is so back!" style reactions from old school Cass fans at the kind of sort of maybe restoration of an unspecified amount of her pre-reboot continuity, and that's just frustrating to me.

Because to me what made og Cass special wasn't a fan-wiki style breakdown of her lore, it was the way her stories were told, and how that storytelling style brought the characters and relationships in it to life. Batgirl 2024 #1 isn't a bad book at all. In terms of modern Cass appearances, so far I like more than B&RE or Outsiders or Birds of Prey, but a bit less than Detective or Batgirls or Spirit world - though there's plenty of room for Batgirl 2024 to surpass those books in my estimation going forward.

But one thing it absolutely isn't is the second coming of Batgirl 2000.

[quetzalpapalotl]

What made you think Megatron/D-16 the most complex character in tfone? :0 (not hate, I'm genuinely curious and I really loved reading your analysis/insight)

If I recall correctly I said that in the context of complainign about the Spanish dub casting, by which I mean that Megatron requires a comparatively wider range and that the movies hinges a lot on selling his character, given that the crux of the movie is the megop fallout and this fallout was caused by the ways in which Megatron changed.

Orion and D-16 are the characters who have the most going on and are given more depth, this isn't to say that every other character is bad, but the story is about the megops and so they are given more screentime and explored more throughly. But compared to D, Orion fundamentally remains the same through the whole movie, while D ends a completely different person that he was at the start.

There is a simplicity to Orion, he sees a bad thing, he wants to fix a bad thing. His motivation through the whole movie is always to get a better, fairer life for himself and his fellow miners. He routinely sneaks into the archive hoping to find clues about the Matrix in the hopes they can get the energon flowing again and miners can do something else with their lives, he wants to participate in the race to show that not having a cog doesn't make them lesser. Finding the truth doesn't affect his person, if anything it validates him, because he already thought the system was unfair. He's still mainly concerned with getting people a better life and the path to that now seems harder, but it's also clearer than ever.

That is not to say Orion is a one-note character with no depth, or that portraying him is easy (all acting requires skill). He comes more into himself, he is deeply concerned and then hurt by D/Megatron, he has a wide range of emotions. And I already talked about how I think his flaws are very consistent with his virtues, his strong sense of justice makes him stubborn and one-track minded, he bulldozes through D-16's opinions and the fact that what must be done feels so clear to him makes him unable to handle D's feelings. He's young and eager, maybe an experienced Optimus Prime would have handled things better.

In comparison, there's a lot more going with D and his feelings aren't as straighforward. In the beginning he does confess some corcerning belief and he was talking more in terms of "I" and "me" and more concerned with personal gain than Orion, but he was still a nice, kind guy who stayed to help Jazz and cared about his best friend, helped him and put up with him even when Orion can be a missguided jerk. D-16 had genuine belief in the system and Sentinel Prime, was happy to work and go higher within its parameters. So when he finds out everything he thought he knew was a lie, he flips out, his value system is turned over creating a potential for change taht circumstances direceted in a negative direction.

He has all this anger that he doesn't know how to handle and doesn't have an outlet for, so he starts by blaming Orion for leading them to the truth as unreasonable as that may sound because on an emotional level, he is upset by the things he has learned and he learned them because of Orion's actions, he wouldn't have to suffer if he had remained ignorant. He figures that violence feels good and that he can use it so no one is in a position of power over him again, so he can never be made a fool again. He projects his own feelins of not wanting the truth onto everyone else and decides he can only trust himself. And he just keeps on indulgin in his anger and newfoudn thirst for power more and more.

Megatron's internal process of change is communicated not only through dialogue but also through some amazing body language thanks to the animators which should be supported through and equally adept voice delivery. These are sometimes hammy, sometimes subtle but we need to feel them. When Orion wants to stop Megatron from killing Sentinel because they already won and extra-judicial murder sets a bad precedent for their new world and also because he's worried that if Megatron indulges more in violence there won't be going back and when Orion fumbles that because he's Orion, the audience needs to not only fully buy that the guy we met at the beginning has changed enough to let Orion die for the sake of the person he now wants to be, but also to feel it enough that it hurts us as well.

And Brian Tyree Henry does an amazing job of delivering all aspects of Megatron!! He really elevates the TF One experience through his voice acting. Meanwhile Eduardo Capetillo Gaytán just doesn't fit Megatron (even my non-tf friends commented on what a terrible voice match he was), not all his lines are awful but he just doesn't provide any nuance to Megatron's performance, he doesn't sound really different at the ends and also he sounds like he's throwing a tantrum. Which I guess is not entirely wrong given how Megatron acts like he personally is Sentinel's biggest victim, but Capetillo is more on the line of spoiled brat than Megatron, the dreaded leader of the Decepticons. I mean

[slxsherwriter]

Find You Here

Fandom: Heartstopper 2006, Robert Englund characters

Pairings: Sheriff Richard Berger x female reader

Word Count: 2,947

Warnings: Mentions of previous robbery/assault

Author's Note: I couldn't not write for this character. The character doesn't really fall into the realm of things here, but the movie certainly does, so here is Richard. Apparently, there is something about RE characters that hit the sweet spot of my brain for writing. Gif made by me (on my phone so please excuse the cruddy quality) Tagging: @slashingdisneypasta

Flipping the closed sign to open felt like a small victory itself, even if you were a little jittery and nervous about it. The incident two weeks ago had left scars both physically, mentally, and financially. The small bakery that you ran was repaired, your body was healing physically, but your mind was taking a little to catch up. Still, you couldn't stay away forever or let them have that power over you. It was that fierce determination that had led you to open your shop in the first place and you couldn't let go of it now.

An extra set of hands in the form of your neighbor and best friend, Tony, helped in the back since you couldn't do much with one hand in a cast. Manning the counter and making the occasional cup of coffee was what you had been relegated to doing. You would have much rather been in the back to avoid the stares, murmurs, and passed along sentiments of sympathy. At least for a little while. But, it was what it was, and maybe it was just part of the process of healing post robbery and near death experience.

“Everything's gonna be fine, doll.” Tony slung an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into a side hug. “Business will boom like it did. You'll see. Know it ain’t back to normal, but it will be soon.” You smiled, returning the squeeze in a silent thanks.

“We'll get there.”

“There's that tenacious spirit.” He kissed your temple and headed to the back once the oven started to alert. “Until then, I'm your humble servant.” You rolled your eyes with a laugh. Trust him to bring a smile. If it wasn't for him, who knew when you could have reopened.

Slowly, business began to trickle through the door. Mainly, it was a few regulars that were surprised to see you open again. They passed along a few sympathies, but most were far more supportive and angry on your behalf. It actually felt good to know that you had made such an impact within the community and were so supported. A familiar routine soon overtook everything else, and the smile that rested on your lips felt more genuine and less forced. There were still moments when the door opened that your breath caught, and your hand shook just a little. A reaction that likely would take a long time to fade. If it did at all.

It was just prior to lunch time when the door opened, and you found yourself feeling a bit nervous for an entirely different reason. In walked one Sheriff Berger. You hadn't seen the man since the last meeting at your home, just a few days after you got out of the hospital. He had been kind, compassionate, and understanding throughout the entire ordeal. Check-ins throughout the recovery process had been routine, including the meeting at your home. Most of it for whatever part of the investigation that needed to be finished. But, it had also felt like there had been a genuine concern about you. He had also been the one to respond to the shop during the initial incident. If it hadn't been for him, who knew if you would have survived everything.

He pulled his hat from head and made his way to the counter, a smile appearing on his face.

“Glad to see everything back up and running. How are you feeling?” There wasn't anyone else that needed to be seen to, so you had a few minutes to be able to talk to him.

“Hi, Sheriff.” You lifted your hand in the cast. “Feeling a little bit useless but all in all, it's nice to be back to something that's almost normal.” He nodded, as if it had made the most sense in the world.

“Routine is a good thing, helpful.” You imagined that he was speaking from experience. Dealing with what he had couldn't have been easy, even if he dealt with it more often than you did. There was some sympathy there for the man, and you realized that as much as he helped, did he have someone helping him?

“How are you?” He seemed a little surprised, brow raising for a split second. Well, there was the answer to that question.

“I'm doing fine. Things will hopefully be a bit quiet for a while.” You moved to start a cup of coffee for the man. While you didn't know how he took it, you had seen him drink it. The least that you could do was provide him some free caffeine. “How much longer are you stuck in that?”

“Another three weeks. But it could be worse, at least it isn't my dominant hand. And now I have some use of my fingers.” You paused and glanced up. “How do you take your coffee?” You nearly laughed as he set his hat down and seemed unsure how to answer. It wasn't a difficult question, but maybe the anticipation of you being ready for the request had thrown him.

“Black, four sugars.” You nodded and set about adding the sugar to the steaming cup.

“On the house.” Really, it wasn't a huge loss of revenue between a cup of coffee and whatever sweet he may have wanted. “That and whatever treat you want.”

“That's not necessary.”

“Maybe not, but I want to. So, what will it be, sheriff?” There was an argument on the tip of his tongue before his shoulders dropped, and he gave in.

“How about one of those chocolate chip cookie sandwiches?”

“Hmm, good choice. I gotta admit, those are definitely a favorite.” They often sold out quick, so you made a mental note to have a batch sent over to the department as a whole. Assuming that he had to run, you packed it up so it was ready to go. He pulled out his wallet as if testing your resolve and you shook your head. A sigh came from the man before the wallet was once more tucked back into its pocket.

“Thank you. You need anything, just call.”

“Will do. Have a good rest of your day, Sheriff.”

******

He started stopping in the shop daily. Some days, you were able to talk uninterrupted for a bit while on others, his business or yours kept the interactions brief. But the routine was there. He had gone from Sheriff or Sheriff Berger to Richard at some point. You found yourself looking forward to seeing his face. Even the quick hellos and see ya tomorrows on the days when you couldn't spend time talking brightened your day. Enough so that Tony started to tease you about it. Yeah, there was a bit of an age gap, which he found hysterical. But he also encouraged you to say something and go for it, trying to give you the confidence to say anything. The worry was, did he simply see you as someone who had been saved and was a friendly face or something more? That concern gnawed away at any chance of building confidence.

It was a Thursday that he missed his usual stop in time, and you were worried. He had a dangerous job. Did he get hurt? Was he sick? A million thoughts flew through your head, leaving you more than halfway distracted for the day. Yet another thing for Tony to tease you about, but it went in one ear and out the other for the entire day. It felt silly on one hand. He was a friend at most and a polite customer, at the least. Nothing more. Even if it would have been nice. You didn't exactly have any right to call up the department and ask if he was okay. Maybe there was something planned. He didn't have to tell you.

Friday rolled around, and you found yourself a little more bothered by it than you cared to admit. If he didn't show today, you weren't sure what you would do.

The cast was finally off, and you had clearance from the doctor to resume light activities. Apparently, there was a concern that you would have a little weakness and risk hurting it by jumping right back in. That was taken as allowed to be back in the kitchen and moving carefully with heavy things. You could take sore and sorry. So, you were doing your best to focus. Slipping and hurting yourself now would be embarrassing and damage your pride.

The act of baking had always been soothing to you, even on this sort of scale with timetables and deadlines. There was a flow that you could lose yourself in until the rest of the world melted away. That nagging worry about Richard, though, kept you from falling completely into the zone. No mistakes yet, but it was frustrating, to say the least. Tony had decided to stick around and help out up front until he was sure you were one hundred percent back on your feet. You were so thankful to have him. It meant the front was handled while you found your rhythm again in the back.

Tony came back around noon, looking for you. Something you missed as you cursed, dropping the hot pan in the sink. Thankfully, it was empty. Burning yourself was a commonplace injury on the job, and after a while, you were able to ignore or work through most minor things. This? Well, it hit the tender part of your forearm that had been in the cast.

“Shit,” he laughed and moved over to you as you cursed yourself for the silly mistake. The laughing caught your attention, and you flipped him off as he pulled your arm gently towards his body. “It doesn't look that bad. You gonna treat it?”

“No, it isn't that bad. I'll put something on it later. What's up?”

“Ah, right. Well, there is someone up front requesting to see you. A certain someone in uniform…” Richard was here? Well, shit. Your head shot up, the burn forgotten about for the time being.

“What?”

“You are seriously adorable when you are crushing on someone.” You smacked at him. Brushing some flour off of your hands and your apron, it was the best that it was going to get. Oh, well. Letting out a small sigh, you double-checked that there was nothing that needed your immediate attention. Everything was cooling or had time still in the oven. “Go, there isn't anything back here that needs you. I'll make sure to take care of other customers. Go.” He shooed you up front. Richard was standing at the counter, hands in his pocket, and glancing around.

“Hey, Richard.” The greeting may have been a little too bright, but it was what it was. You were happy to see him. So what? He smiled, face brightening up as you leaned against the counter.

“Finally back there again, huh?” He propped his hip against the counter right where you were leaning. “Good thing for the product, little sad for all of us up here.” There was no denial that there was a blush. Your cheeks felt hot.

“Oh, I'm sure my customers will be far happier to have me back there and not up here, causing problems.”

“And miss that beautiful face every day? I hardly think that is the case.” By far, that was the most direct he had been, and the heat increased. Maybe Tony was right. Because right then and there? You felt like a teenager with their first crush.

“Or you'll just miss your free coffee and treats.” His smile faltered for just a second. “Missed you yesterday. Everything okay?” You watched as a hand moved from his pocket to rub at his cheek. Whatever the first comment had done seemed to be erased by the fact that you noticed he hadn't shown up yesterday.

“Yeah, everything is fine. Had to be in court most of the day. Wasn't able to get away for anything.” You made a face.

“That sounds miserable.”

“One of the least enjoyable aspects of the job but necessary.” He paused and seemed to be debating just something as his eyes wandered the little seated area that you had. “Are you doing anything tonight?” You swore you could have heard Tony made some sort of sound behind you, but you didn't dare pull your attention off of Richard.

“Didn't have any plans after closing the shop.”

“I was wondering if you would want to have dinner with me…” It took your brain a second to catch up to the fact that he had asked.

“Tonight.”

“That was the thought.”

“I would love to.” His body sagged just a little bit against the counter, and it was hard to miss the sigh that came from him.

“How long do you need to close up?” You glanced back to the kitchen and tried to think how quickly you could manage your usual closing routine. Tony was watching, and that was obvious as you saw him walk by the entrance of the kitchen. As if he could have made it any more obvious.

“I would say, depending on how busy it is, I could be done about a half hour after close.”

“So, seven could work?”

“Yeah, that would be perfect.” It would give you enough time to get home and get yourself properly cleaned up.

“Would you mind if I picked you up, or would you prefer to meet me?” A considerate question and the mark of a gentleman. Given that he knew where you lived, it wasn't like you had to give him the address.

“I don't mind at all.” His knuckles rapped against the counter, and he offered a bigger smile.

“All right. I'll see you around seven tonight then?” You nodded, fighting back a sound that would be rather embarrassing.

“I'll see you tonight.” He headed off and it was only when the door closed that you realized he hadn't gotten his coffee or his treat for the day. You could make up for that tonight, but for now, it was a countdown until seven tonight.

*********

Tony had insisted on cleaning up the little bit that was left as it ended up being far past the expected time for you to leave. He hadn't wanted you to miss getting ready for your date. Not that you needed a lot of time, but you also didn't know where you were going, and you wanted to look nice.

Cutting it close, you were just setting your shoes by the door when the knock came. A quick check told you it was the man you were expecting. Out of uniform for the first time, he looked nice dressed in a nice sweater and blazer.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening. You look lovely,” he complimented before anything else. “All ready?”

“Yep.” He offered his arm, and yours slipped through his as you stepped out the door. The evening air was cooler but not unpleasant. Leading you to his car, he opened the door and waited for you to get in before shutting it. It may have been quite a bit since you had last been on a date, but this was worlds better than what you had last experienced. Not that you expected every moment to be like this, but occasionally, it was nice to be treated by a man who had some manners.

All seated in the car, you did your best to relax despite some of the nerves bubbling in your gut.

“Where are we going?”

“Well, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?” He shot a smile in your direction. “I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” A jab at his own age? You decided to let it go for now, instead of bringing it further to the surface by pointing it out.

“It would ruin the surprise. So, I won't ask again.” You kept your tone light and teasing, not wanting him to think you were at all upset with the fact. The drive was nice, the windows down just enough to let the cool air in and not leave the car stifling hot. He asked about the rest of your day and you about his. Stories traded back and forth of various occurrences. Mundane sort of things but entirely comfortable.

It seemed you were leaving the city. If it were anyone else that you were with, you probably would be a little concerned, but with Richard, you felt safe.

The car stopped at the end of a dirt road, an opening to a small lake. The sky was clear, and the moon danced off the water, creating a gorgeous night-time atmosphere. This had been very planned out.

“Wait here, one minute.” He slipped from the car and rummaged in the truck for a moment before heading off towards the edge of the lake. The headlights were off, so you couldn't entirely make out what he was doing, but after a few moments, a fire blazed to life. Manners and thoughtfulness on top of every other quality you had found out about him so far. How was this man not taken?

He was back at the car and opening your door.

“Few tricks indeed.” He chuckled softly and once more offered his arm.

“Gotta do something to stand out a bit.” Homemade food and wine on top of a little campfire lake side. A lot of thought had gone into it. How could you not let your heart melt for the man a little more than it already had? There was no doubt that you had it bad and this would simply seal the deal.

[mecachrome]

k, hear me out… on my dream au. what are the thoughts™️ on 814 detective au. like. oscar as the newly appointed detective in the precinct (prepare for zero (0) appropriate vocabulary regarding the matter,,,, worse, even : plainly erroneous terminology) where lando’s been working for some years. he just graduated whatever school u go to to do that and he’s like this rule follower, in the law we trust kinda guy who wants to do things the right way. THEN he gets paired up w/ lando on this like murder cold case or whatever & they start out not really getting along that much (osc is sorta freaked out by lando’s whimsical approach? his breaking of the right process/bypassing of the stuff u should do in order to get warrants ect) and along the way, they make progress on the case & osc realizes he needs to kiss him on the mouth or he’ll die. something like that, u know?

HELLOOOO z how do the kids these days put it...... i am spinning this around in my mind like a microwave!!! or however it goes.

well i equally have zero working knowledge of any appropriate terminology so i will join you there LOL. but anyway i know it's such an obvious dynamic atp but i will truly never tire of just like....... T__T any instance of oscar having to put in the work 2 understand lando's particularities (and/or vice versa) and over time learning to understand his intentions and really essentially to Take Care Of HimTM without it being a whole thing or even really a conscious development.... we need the usual supporting cast of like logan (coworker) genuinely horrified at their obliviousness. he's like Mate he's got his shirt half unbuttoned you CANNOT be serious and oscar is like ? what it's hot in here. in the middle of winter literally -5c out with no heating on. ok ANYWAY basically lando wants someone who can push back on his bullshit but who also takes him at face value and understands where he's coming from when he's saying something in good faith and as they begin working together all of oscar's initial antagonism fades away fairly rapidly because well it's clear that actually lando really isn't like any of his preconceived notions... and that the Real World is complex and oscar can be gracious about someone else being right. no other reason of course

& like i don't think necessarily that oscar would be lawful good to the point of being like, we Have to do things this way all the time, he's just been taught that standard procedure is usually good enough and gets the job done so why would he challenge that for an unnecessary risk with not always tangibly more reward...??? ok i don't even know what i'm saying but i just loveeee the complementary dynamic of >oscar realizing that lando is Capable and maybe actually knows more than him and is good at his job and also Why is he so stubborn all the time but also why does that kind of make oscar like him more...??? + >lando realizing that oscar Gets Him and actually listens to all of his ideas and isn't just deflecting his suggestions but actually trying to work through them with him and also Oh hmmmm why does he get red every time lando reaches over him to grab a file . anyway things of that nature

also i never watched the x-files can someone pls tell me if the mulder and scully dynamic is even vaguely translatable to 814............ if not you can blow me up with your mind and I'm sorry for asking LKHDSFLH

[thenewfuture]

Ranking the Masterminds of DanganRonpa and Fanganronpas

Hey everyone. During this break, I wanted to do some fun rankings that have been scrambling around in my brain for a while now. And the first one we got is ranking all of the DanganRonpa Masterminds.

The real true culprit behind their respective killing games, the ones forcing everyone to kill and distrust one another. The big final boss!

Quick rules to explain the process here:

-While their core character will be taken into account I will primarily be ranking their status as a mastermind first and foremost obviously. How they handled their killing games, hiding their identity and motivations for doing so.

-Only masterminds from fangans I have seen will be ranked, so if there's any one you don't see here it's most likely because I haven't seen it, so don't bother asking.

-Oh, and one final thing of course...The following will contain massive spoilers for the main DanganRonpa series, and certain fangans, take with your own risk.

#8 Akira Tsuchiya and Narumi Osone

DanganRonpa Rebirth holds a special place in my heart; it was the first fanganronpa I had heard about being a big April Fools joke, but soon I discovered the fanmade rework and dubbing for this project known as Rebirth Voices. Remaking the series in a new way with new twists, new class trials, and of course new-ish masterminds. I say new-ish because Akira was the original mastermind of Rebirth vanilla while Voices added Narumi as an extra mastermind.

And while I do indeed like Rebirth and its cast, the masterminds here leave a lot to be desired... And maybe that's because the series was cancelled before their roles of masterminds could get rolling, but these two aren't much compared to others. While we may never know what could have been, I will instead rank them based on the outline the Rebirth Voices crew provided.

So first Akira is your basic despair-filled mastermind fare. Influenced by his grandma's teachings of despair, made him the next generation of despair, and said grandma was killed by Kego and he wanted revenge, yada yada yada. Like I said, standard fare. And in Rebirth Vanilla, I hear he made it so Ayumu never really had any bad luck which is...a thing I guess.

Compared to him however, Narumi is......interesting... So she was in a rights group for Ultimates but lost her dad due to riots and so....joined Akira to make a killing game for.....f-for the sake of hope and.....and intended for Ultimates to be seen as saviors just like back then-

What the Nagito Komaeda, Hope Bagel Bullshit?!

Like....like why?! What? What for any of this?! I kinda get that in order for them to make this series they couldn't just have Akira be the mastermind, but seriously, what kind of reasoning is that?! And in chapter two, she used a corpse of one of her siblings to save Kego by have him swap places with him; WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?!

Maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion because like I said, the series is cancelled and maybe they could have salvaged this storyline, but as it stands; these two don't have going for them and as a result, DanganRonpaRebirth seemingly ends right back where it started; as one big joke no one talks about anymore...

#7 Tsumugi Shirogane

Oh man guys! Are you ready? This is it, a new chapter for the DanganRonpa franchise, a killing game without Junko Enoshima to be a part of us! Sounds spectacular! How could they fuck this up?

Oh, I'll tell you how. Maybe it starts with having a story so gut-punchingly meta it basically hurts any form of theorizing and creation of any fanwork and community building, also pull the rug under the players' feet and into a ice cold pool of water so many times they develop psychological trust issues along with hypothermia, and to cap it all of, have the mastermind be so, FUCKING, BORING!

I'll go into my feelings about V3 as a whole another time, but for now I'll just stick to talking about Tsumugi, and oh my word, is this girl a whole bag of nothing true to her word. Like, I should feel something she's revealed to be the mastermind just like Shuichi was, but I just don't. I should feel some sort of betrayal and anxiety from the sheer thought that it could be someone we spent so much time with over the course of the game, THIS IS WHAT MYSTERY GAMES LIVE FOR, and yet that feeling never comes with her. You know why?

Because Tsumugi has nothing going for her.

Name me something she did over the course of this entire game. Anything, anything at all, anything of note. Go ahead, I'll wait. I'll be right here.

...........................

You can't think of anything can you? Not one single solitary thing Tsumugi has accomplished. Not one character moment. None, hmm?

"Well she was apart of the Bugs Meet and Greet" So were other characters and even Himiko and Tenko had a funny moment in there, next. "She was in Angie's students council group" Again, so were others and that cult accomplished a grand total of nothing as a result, try again. "That...that one cg in her Ultimate lab" You're addicted to porn. "Oh, what about that one time in the NWP with Shuichi" That moments amounts nothing more than establishing an alibi for the two of them and even when it comes into question the lie Shuichi told to get Kokichi to cough up his involvement, Tsumugi sweeps that shit right under the rug. Meaning this whole game, the mastermind has left virtually no impression until the very end. Do you realize how messed up that is!?

For out the entire duration of the killing game, Tsumugi has thing of note, "being so plain" It's her whole schtick.

Plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain. Plain plain plain plain plain plain. Plain. Plain Plain Plain Plaaaaaaain.

Plain, plain plain plaaaaaain

Plain!

PlANE!

PLAINE!

PLAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

And it wouldn't even be that bothersome, if we were SHOWED how she was plain. I think this video goes into detail why Tsumugi just saying she's plain doesn't work too well. Because all she's doing is saying it. No examples whatsoever about this phenomenon. In Fire Emblem Awakening, there's this character Kellam, who has many supports dedicated to how he doesn't stick out and how others easily don't see him, Tsumugi doesn't have that. In Blowback, Akeru is so good at being a silent and invisible ninja, that hardly anyone sees or hears her, Tsumugi doesn't have that. Even Makoto, Komaru and Hajime, admit to themselves and others that they are so ordinary to others based on the things they like; Tsumugi gets none of that!

Why can't Tsumugi be shown being plain and forgotten? Be shown taling and being ignored by others, being shown that she heard or witnessed an event or conversation and wasn't noticed because she's so plain and inactive. Or be shown wearing something ridiculous and no notices her at all. Show, not tell, people, show, not tell!

Another thing I want to address real fast is how many think that Tsumugi is dangerous because she helped the killing game go on for like....53 seasons. And like.......no. At least I don't think so. Tsumugi kinda gives off the vibes that she was just an intern at TeamDR and was given the chance to participate in a few killing games, and mastermind the V3 one. But apparently fucked up so much that she ended the series in its entirety. Oops. In the pregame world that V3 is trying to tell, I just get the vibes that Tsumugi is just a massive DanganRonpa fan and nothing more.

We could had great things coming from having a brand new mastermind this game, but if we were just gonna get stuck with this bluenette plain Mary Jane here, I'd rather have it be Junko for the 53rd time honestly. At least then it'd be consistent.

#6 Kazou Tengan

Hey guys, DR3 sucks.

*Wooing and clapping ensues from the audience*

Thank you, thank you. Good, now that I've gotten the easy bait out of the way. Onto Tengan.

I will give props to the DanganRonpa 3 team, it's not Junko Enoshima again; let alone a young girl this time. But an old man. Okay....okay...it's different at least. Why did he become a mastermind in the place?

"He became brainwashed by watching a despair video given to him y Chisa" ......Huh....? O-Okay, I guess... H-His motivation for the game at least...?

"He wanted Ryota to use his talent to brainwash the world into hope" ..................huh.....? What...what....what the fu-

This seems like a last minute decision, like they just chose a random name out of a hat or flung a dart towards a spinning wheel. Of all characters they could have chosen to be the mastermind of the final killing game, all the Future Foundation Heads, and all past characters leading up to this point. They choose...Tengan... Why, exactly? Up until this point, Tengan has been a side character, his only moment of note is kicking Juzo's ass(to the praise of many), and fighting with Kyosuke. Again, none of this sets him up to be swayed towards despair. Even after his death he's rarely talked about, suppossedly left a dying message in his blood, but again, even then, Tengan leaves little to no impact on this story.

He shows up so few times in Despair Arc for him to matter, and like I said, does very little in Future Arc. So it really is like they just chose him randomly. And so unlike my huge rantings about Narumi and Tsumugi at their roles of being the mastermind, Tengan doesn't even warrant enough to invoke any emotion out of me. He's just mastermind simply cuz...that's all. It says a lot about this series when even Kodaka doesn't like that the anime made Tengan the mastermind. But in any case, if we can take away one thing from this dissapointing mess; it's that NicoB was right once again with his crazy bullshit predicting powers.

#5 Izuru Kamukura

Top five baby, woo!

Now Izuru is interesting because, even though he techinally counts as a mastermind, he really......isn't in the grand scheme of things. Let me explain...

He is the one to plant the virus into the Neo World Program, that much is true, but in DR2 we're simply told about his actions and technically don't even get to meet the guy face to face. So one could make the argument that is really was just Junko, again. It wasn't until Despair Arc of DanganRonpa 3 that we truly get to see Izuru's character and what he's like. And I do like Izuru as a character, I think he's incredibly interesting. But as a mastermind....eh...

Izuru is neutral, let's just get right to the chase, Izuru is true neutral. He could care less about any ideals of hope or despair, he just lacks any empathy or any human emotions for that matter and just wants to go with whatever doesn't bore him. He's not overly edgy, evil, dark story, Shadow the Hedgehog person that most portray him as. He really is.....just neutral about everything. He only goes with Junko because she proved to him how unpredictable despair can be, which is why if literally anyone else got to him first, like Chiaki or Chisa, maybe the Tragedy wouldn't have occurred!

Wow guys, could you imagine that. What if we treated Izuru as an actual person, and not some lab experiment. Fascinating!

Izuru was quite literally a means to an end for Junko Enoshima, and I've feel like we've just scratched the surface of his potential. But as it stands, Izuru isn't really evil just misunderstood.

#4 Utsuro and Akane Taira

There is quite a lot to talk about with both Utusor and Akane, so I'm just going to break them up first.

-4a. Utsuro.

Utsuro is....fascinating to me. There are time where I like him more than Izuru; a much more interesting and relatable backstory, a proper hand in the story he derives from, and we do see him emerge at the final trial of DRA rather than just others talking about him. And then there are times....when I don't like him as much as Izuru. It's no surprise that DRA is literally just DanganRonpa 0.5, with A LOT of characters and trials mimicking the first game and even pulling from UDG and DR2. "A somewhat demigod bored of the world helps out Junko Enoshima just to see what despair is like and helps her achieve her goal" Golly, where have I heard that before?

And to make matters worse comes his innate ability, what he's known for; Divine Luck. Unlike Izuru who has multiple talents and therefore has many abilities at his disposal to take care of any and all threats that could come his way, Utsuro just has luck. And not just any luck, mind you. Luck so strong it nearly bends reality itself like the Netflix's Live Action Death Note movie to make whatever Utsuro wants, when he wants it. And therein lies the problem.

Utsuro's Divine Luck is so great, you can ask literally how he did anything and the answer is simply: Divine Luck did it.

"How did Junko's plan go so smoothly?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro swap places with Yuki so easily?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Utsuro get so much food and money when he was alone and starving?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Tsurugi survive getting shot point blank at his temple?" Divine Luck did it.

"How did Akane survive with her wound and nearly drowning in the ocean?" Divine Luck did it!

"HOW DOES THE DAMN SUN AND MOON RISE?!"

WHO CARES?! ANAKOS DID IT! DIVINE LUCK DID IT!

It really gets worse in SDRA2 when basically all of Void, Mikado especially, are just sucking his dick dry essentially because emo demigod boys are just that damn hot. It really is a coin flip on whether I like Utsuro or not.

-4b. Akane Taira

Now onto the hyper energetic and emotional side to our blank and emotionless trouble maker.

Akane Taira I can say is much more fleshed out and interesting compared to her master. First off, her story of being lonely and on the streets forced to make ends meets by doing jobs as a maid is honestly really sad and compelling. She's Yuki/Utsuro's main support throughout the killing game and helps him on many occasions. So to ultimately reveal her true nature by the end of chapter five is such a gut-punch to my emotions. (Take notes, Tsumugi!)

That being said; there isn't really that much different compared to what we've seen of Akane previously and her despair persona. Just that she's really acrobatic and horny, I suppose... Which isn't really bad thing I'd say, she gets the jobs done well.

Her legacy spreads and haunts the Kisaragi Foundation in SDRA2, Akane has left a lasting impression on the surviving trio that the mere thought of her coming back sends them into shivers and willing to do anything to prevent that from happening, and you can mainly see it from how they treat Sora when they finally come together. But Akane is mainly following orders and whatever Utsuro wants, so like Izuru if Utsuro was just found by literally someone good, I'm sure Akane would've turned out fine as well.

And the interesting thing about Akane is much like how others are hurt by Akane's betryal, Akane has come to grow close with her classmates as well. She wants Master Utsuro back but at the same time she doesn't want them to die either. She has a heart, she's compassionate, she understands, she empathizes.

These two are really quite something, and I do like them. But there are things about these two that hold them back for me and just shy away from making the top three.

#3 Junko Enoshima

Here she is everybody! Junko-MotherFuckin'-Enoshima! The bitch that just keeps on coming back! The one that started it all!

Junko has a rep for coming back so many damn and being ludicrously tied to DanganRonpa's man lore and literally every other's story. Started the Tragedy, blackmailed Juzo, basically groomed the Warriors of Hope and leaned demigods like Izuru and Utsuro to her cause, all so flawlessly that one would call her a "Mary-Sue" in any other sense. So with all this in mind, why is she so high on the list?

Well, one of the reasons is that most of the other candidates SUCK! And the other is that......she just works.

Junko Enoshima is shallow, incredibly so. She causes Despair, just for the fun of it. She has no sad or tragic backstory, no reason to this other than cause she can. She is despair incarnate, causes Despair for Despair's sake, and there's nothing more to it than that.....and that works.

Sometimes, you don't need a relatable villian for your story. Sometimes, a bitch just evil. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that.And because she works so well it good explain why she keeps coming back. She's the Bowser to our Mario, the Dr. Eggman to our Sonic the hedgehog, the Ridley to our Samus Aran, the Xehanort to our Sora. We've peaked with her and there can hardly be any other villian to replace her. And with a story as wacky sounding as DanganRonpa, a hammy and almost cartoony villian such as her can only live in this strange world.

Junko works when you just stop thinking about her. Her motivations, her character, her personality, they all answer for the simple sake of despair. Like I said, incredibly shallow like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. But they're typically the best and most impressionable villains around.

#2 Monaca Towa

Pickle Satan!

I said we've peaked with Junko and none can really compete with her as a mastermind of a villian for this series, and I do mean that. But Monaca Towa here just may come close.

She's like Junko in almost every possible way. Sociopathic nature, manipulates people psychologically, and uses others like tools with no remorse for her actions. Saying Monaca here is FUCKED UP, would be a huge understatement of the century. But on the other hand, unlike Junko; you can kinda understand where Monaca is coming from. Abandoned by her birth mother to live with her abusive father and step-brother who obviously don't give two craps about her and make her know it. And apparently the treatment is so bad, when Monaca shows up one day with a wheelchair, they don't question why. Telling, isn't it?

While she's immensely smart of her age, she still is just a kid. Throwing temper tantrums when things can't go her way and using her cute looks and status as a child to trick others into working for her. She is vile, Chapter 4 will make you know this with what she did to Nagisa. And was already showed signs of being heartless when she nearly got the WOH to jump off the school rooftop, remember, this was BEFORE Junko showed up.

Monaca was perfect to be a complete mastermind, Ultra Despair Girls set her up to be the next Junko Enoshima, and when she finally comes back in DR3....they just throw it away anticlimactically and send Monaca into space.....sure I guess... Though it is kind of funny in a way, like she did not DR3 so much she yeeted herself out of the plot. I respect it.

I do like Monaca being as unsympathetically as Junko, but there are times when I do want her to be better, she is still just a kid after all. It's not her fault that she grew up in a shit environment. But then again, that's what makes Monaca so fascinating. There are many sides and many layers to dissect her, to pick a part bit by bit, it's intriguing to me.

It's with these reasons why I think Monaca is an amazing mastermind going by the main series timeline. .....Buuuuuutttt....if we were to include fangans into the mix. I think one does beat her.

#1....Mikado Sannoji

Behold, ladies and gentlemen! The master of dimensions the pleaser of crowds, Mikado Sannoji; Charming Magician!~

Mikado checks every box for me. Cool design? Check! Great personality? Check! Hammy? Check! Unrentlessly eeeevil? Checkity check check!

I do believe it was a stroke of PURE, GENUIS to unviel Mikado as the mastermind in the early prologue. Like, HOLY SHIT! The mastermind's right there! Oh my god! What a fucking twist to start off with!

Mikado is so charming with his eccentric personality and unhinged abilities as a magician, that for like two chapters you kind of forget he's the mastermind!

Like look at him! Look at this silly dude!

So funny, so witty, so goofy!

So, waitwaitwait, go back-

Waitwaitwait, this isn't right. Go back, go back!

OHMYGODGOBACK!!!

...ahem....like I was saying. even though Mikado is silly, I don't think he's so silly he ruins the narrative. It's a perfect balance if you ask me.

The mysteries surrounding him and his power of the other Void members are not to be trifled with. He's the boss for a reason folks, don't forget it. But because he was revealed so suddenly there are at times a lot of humorous moments with the cast where they either ignore him, kick him out of activities, or just straight up tell him to die.

And what I like most about is....finally...FINALLY GUYS....it's a mastermind....WITH NO RELATION TO JUNKO ENOSHIMA WHATSOEVER!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WE DID IT! WE CAN HAVE A GAME WITHOUT HER! FUCK JUNKO ENOSHIMA! HE DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT BITCH! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

...I mean he does kind of copy her plan to use the Neo World Program, but Mikado could not literally give a fuck about Junko. He's all about that Divine D as I said before.

If there's one thing I can say I don't like about Mikado, its that once chapter 6 rolls around he just becomes another typical, "human are inferior to my AI genuis. Gwahahaha" stereotype that kind of kills his whole magician he vibe he had going. And his plan literally factored on him not even thinking that Akane would be the one to have Divine Luck when she emerged from the ocean. My man has linear thinking. If you pointed this out to him I'm pretty sure he'd explode.

But despite all that, Mikado is clearly set on his goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it, and DAMN NEAR SUCCEEDS I WILL ADD! He won the chapter 5 trial and everyone would have died had the Kisaragi Foundation not intervened, by all accounts, Mikado won. That is INSANE! And I love SDRA2 for breaking the molds of past DanganRonpas! With all that said, I tip my hat to the AI magician.

Mikado Sannoji is my favorite mastermind, personally.

-Mod

[rosietrace]

Jealous Girl

(Central) Characters Featured: Camilla Marigold, Mitch Reiss

↳ { Mitch belongs to @/authoruio }

Others mentioned/featured: Davidson Novellion, Neige Leblanche

Pairing: Camilla Marigold & Mitch Reiss

Event: Valentine's Day 2024 💌

↳ Type: Non-requested Oneshot! 「 Displaying Jealousy 」

Synopsis: He wasn't hers, and neither was she his. So why was it that when Mitch spent more time with people who weren't her, Camilla wanted to turn them to stone?

Warning(s): Camilla /j /j, Cami's a bitch but what else is new, Neige is oblivious to all 😔, Mitch thinks Cami's a witch but you just need to replace a letter- 💥🔫, potentially ooc

[ Apologies for any out of character moments ]

[ Reblogs > Likes ]

†•°•══════ஓ๑「𓆙」๑ஓ══════•°•†

Camilla never got jealous. She always told herself (and others) that, and usually she's entirely truthful about that fact about herself, in particular.

While Camilla was never the most honest among her peers, when it came to how she expressed herself — especially around people she considered ‘friends’ — she's an open book.

Unfortunately for the students of Royal Sword Academy, it seemed most of the student body had to walk around with a blindfold over their eyes; Camilla Marigold’s in a sour mood and that never ended well.

It was during lunchtime when Camilla spotted Mitch. The girl was quite enamored with the young man, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Mitch was… Well, Mitch was a lot of things, and one of those things was that he happened to be Cami's type.

Tall — taller than she was —, spoke his mind, pushed himself to his limits, intelligent (to some degree), and had an attractive face.

… Okay, maybe the details were pretty vague about why Camilla was attracted to him other than his looks, but trust that she liked him for more than that!!

Anyway! To transition into a more important topic, Camilla leaned against her table, grumbling to herself with narrowed eyes.

Neige had taken it upon himself to give Mitch some company, babbling about boring kinds of topics like… Whatever it is bland prince charmings like Neige talked about.

Ugh, Camilla hissed beneath her breath, the scales beneath her uniform beginning to itch. That little brat just doesn't know when to shut up, huh?...

“Are you watching Mitch again?”

Camilla released a large hiss, her hair on the brink of turning into her gossip-loving serpents. Upon seeing that it was just Davis — “blander than his color palette” — Novellion, Camilla just rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to Mitch and Neige.

“None of your business,” she retorted. Then she processed what Davis said before. “Also- What do you mean, again?”

“I thought it was obvious.” Davis was a lot of things, but at least he and his pompous ass knew what boundaries were and didn't try making himself comfortable on Camilla's table. “You like him.”

She hissed again. “I do not!”

“You do.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not!”

“I'm not having this conversation with you,” Davis exhaled, exasperation evident in the way he carried himself.

Probably because of that jousting incident last week, Camilla elicited a series of pitiful yet disgusted sounds at Davis' injured arm hanging from its cast.

That wasn't important, however. A different story for a different day. Whatever Davidson Novellion had going on in his life wasn't any of her business.

“Just-” Whatever words tried to get out of Camilla, she preferred not getting in trouble for offending a prince. “Just leave. Seriously, just leave.”

Davis gave her a knowing look, then shrugged his shoulders, letting them relax once he walked away from Camilla's isolated lunch table.

Not before telling her one last thing, though.

“If you think you were being subtle about your jealousy, Marigold, do keep in mind that you were never good at being subtle.”

•𓆙°─────────°𓆙•

Camilla wasn't the jealous type!

Whatever nonsense Davis was spouting, that's all it was. Nonsense. Camilla wasn't petty enough to stoop down to that level!

To prove any accusers wrong, she decided to try and be nice for once! Approaching Neige and Mitch with her best attempt at a polite smile.

A half-assed attempt to convince Mitch she wasn't someone to be wary of, but an attempt nonetheless.

“Leblanche!” Camilla ran up to Neige with a hearty grin, nearing the urge to gag at the way she ran like a befreckled lovestruck schoolgirl.

Neige turned to face her, that sickeningly sweet smile of his never seeming to fade. “Ah, Mari! It's so good to see you again!”

“Yes, quite!...” Camilla clasped her hands together, her smile painfully close to twitching away. She looked to Mitch, trying to gauge a reaction out of his impassively handsome face and getting next to none.

She harrumphed, pushing past Neige to stand before Mitch, face to face.

Mitch’s eyebrow raised in suspicion. “What is it that you want, Camilla?”

“Aha,” she smiled, cocking her head to one side and feigning coyness with him. “I'm not sure I get what you mean, Reiss.”

“Your presence isn’t welcoming.”

“I'd beg to differ, but I suppose we all have our opinions.”

“Your smile. It's-”

Her grin widened, and eyelashes batted at him. “Dazzling?”

Mitch straightened his stance. “Half-assed.” There remained his no-nonsense, emotionless expression.

Oh, how I wish to kiss you, Camilla thought whilst looking into his eyes. And strangle you all the same.

“So!” Neige just had to chime in, didn't he? “Mari, did you need something?”

“Yes, actually!” Camilla grit her teeth, her attitude becoming notably less sly and more forcefully cheerful.

“I've been meaning to spend some time with Mitch.”

Her gaze wanted to meet Mitch's, her smile having turned genuine with a simple turn of her head towards him. “If he would care to join me.”

“Oh! I'm sure Mitchy wouldn't-”

“That won't be necessary.”

Ah. It seems Neige was delighted by the prospect that needn't involve him, yet Mitch? Not so much.

“Oho? Why is that?” With her patience wearing thin, Camilla's attention remained solely on Mitch. Whatever Neige had to say could wait to be processed later.

Mitch sure wasn't persuaded. Then again, he never was when it came to Camilla's venom-laced tongue. “I'm sure you know exactly why.”

“I don't quite follow,” one step forward.

Another step forward. “I believe that to be false.”

“Is that so?” Camilla's smile faltered. Just the slightest bit closer, and Mitch could note the detail of scales on her neck. Perhaps even feel her breath against his chin.

“I'd prefer keeping things brief,” Mitch began escorting Neige far, far away from her. “But after what had gone down during VDC, I don't feel inclined to leave Neige to his own devices.”

“Apologies, but I must decline your offer.”

That didn't feel, nor sound, like an apology.

Camilla watched, with an inferno of aggravation lighting up in her eyes, as Mitch and Neige’s silhouettes slowly became colored shapes in the distance.

Her unique magic activated all on its own, mostly due in part to the way her emotions were affecting her current state of mind.

Her golden blonde locks lifted, the feeling all but unnerving when they melded together and became the serpents she both loved and despised.

“Oh, my darlings,” she whispered, practically hissed. A poor try at recovering her bearings. “You won't believe the gall of that man…”

No one dared draw near Camilla, especially not with her serpents around. Eye contact became something to avoid, and any greetings from friends were all but brief — no matter her efforts, Camilla couldn't help but tempt fear into the hearts of her peers.

She grit her teeth as she entered the comfort of her bedchambers. One of her many ways of relaxing was to hold one of her rifles.

Not shooting it, not loading it with ammunition, not even toying around with it… All she had to do was just hold it. And she felt content.

But a plethora of thoughts came to mind. Many of them unwanted, particularly in the topic of impassive little Mitch; A man who wasn't quite so little.

Camilla laid down on her bed, wrapping a blanket around and curling up pathetically — repeating the same words in her head like it was some mantra.

I am not a jealous girl.

•𓆙°─────────°𓆙•

She wasn't jealous!!

Camilla was a lot of things: Hypocritical, cunning, a bit too persistent for comfort, but not jealous!

With a need to blow off steam after that encounter with Neige and Mr. “I must decline your offer”, Camilla went to the beach that stood near RSA’s campus building.

With her pistols in hand, she swung and spun them around between her fingers — taking deep and heavy breaths to allow a sense of calm to wash over her.

That was when she began firing shots.

There wasn't much land or transportation near Sage Island. It was one of the reasons why Camilla was being so careless about where she was shooting.

However, when the sounds of footsteps over the sand drew near, Camilla pointed one of her guns at whoever dared approach her.

Mitch stopped in his tracks, an unsurprising face of neutrality as Camilla pointed her gun at him; A lack of fear at the possibility she'd get pissed off just from looking at him and pull the trigger.

“What are you doing here?” Camilla forced the words to come out.

“I could ask you the same thing,” said Mitch, “Isn't it unsafe for you to be firing those shots so carelessly?”

His tone was so matter-of-fact it made her want to hurl. “There's nothing and no one nearby. What am I gonna shoot? The seagulls?”

“You could if you were sufficiently motivated enough.”

“Don't test my patience, Mitch.”

“And,” Mitch continued, lowering her gun and taking another step towards her, “I don't remember us being on a first-name basis.”

“I don't remember you having the privilege of interrupting me while I was blowing off steam, but I'm not making any remarks, am I?”

“It sounds like you are.”

Camilla scoffed, putting one pistol into the holster to give Mitch a dismissive wave of her hand.

Mitch had a lot of opinions about Camilla Marigold — some good, many of them bad. But one of her key figures of interest was…

Well, she was pretty. Not even someone like Mitch could deny something like that. Especially not when her golden hair seemed to glow under the light of the sunset.

Whatever blabber Camilla was saying, Mitch couldn't hear it. He didn't feel the need to. Not with the way she stood there so horribly prettily with her shining hair blowing in the wind.

It was an oddly specific, yet significantly romantic setting. The kind of scenario Mitch refused to bring up in whatever conversation he was having with her.

“... You said you were blowing off steam?”

Her ramblings fell short at his words, and they both stared at each other for longer than what seemed necessary.

She coughed, avoiding his attentive gaze. “Yeah… Why, you got a problem with that?”

Mitch huffed. “I don't.” He then looked down at the ground, at the soft sand beneath them, before looking up once more.

“... May I?” He reached out to gently touch her face, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

Camilla felt heat rise from her neck up to the tip of her head. “W-What are you doing??” She nearly stumbled as she stepped back.

“Apologies,” Mitch said briefly, “but I asked you a question?”

“Well sorry, Mr. Personal Space, but I didn't quite follow.”

Silence soon fell upon them yet again, lasting far longer than it did before. So unnerving even with the contrived peacefulness of it all.

Camilla pouted. Both her pistols were in their respective holsters, her arms folded over her chest. “Well?”

Mitch’s eyes flickered their attention between her, her eyes, and the pistols safely tucked into their holsters.

He said nothing for a long while, doing nothing but gaze at her with that attentive, almost lost look in his eyes.

He gestured to one of her pistols. And when she — very cautiously — handed one of them to him, he aimed at the far distance.

“... Would you allow me the honor of joining you?”

†•°•══════ஓ๑「𓆙」๑ஓ══════•°•†

Taglist

—

Written for

@authoruio

—

🥥

@starry-night-rose || @jasdiary || @nem0-nee || @fumikomiyasaki || @sakuramidnight15

—

「 Etteilla ♢」

@hallowed-delights || @geminiiviolets || @twsted-princess || @twistedsongstressofstarz / @absolutelyobsessedkiya || @mystery-skulls-ghost || @abyss-wonderer

[safekeeperscosm]

tell me EVERYTHING about the SVTFOE cleaved AU, it's so good

OUGHFJFK UMM.. OKAY!!

Cleaved AU is a self-indulgent canon-divergent hypothetical rewrite @saik0m0che and I have been working on (passively 💀) since the end of svtfoe s3. but I've always had this sort of idea/concept from mid s2

other than maybe a few minor changes for s1-2, post battle for mewni is straight up where I take the reigns

first of all. Toffee doesn't die.

but star DOES still "kill him" at the end of BFM, it's just that I refuse to let his soul pass on (for unfinished business!)

the premise here takes from s2's emotionally charged magic of star's wand crystal being cleaved apart, to then cleaving her & toffee's souls together. which means they share all of each other's pain haha! so bcuz they're together, you can't kill or crystallize toff since that would harm star

but how? idk man something abt the two of them being in the realm of dying butterfly magic at the same time. something abt how toffee is no longer flesh, only decaying essence. something abt how star sorta died and came back to life just as she saved the realm. he's like a parasite!

I hc he wasn't gonna live long after BFM if star hadn't killed him off anyway. but still :(

not only does this "murderer" have to live with star at the castle (likely in the dungeon first, they'd want to break the bond of their souls), he's missing 90% of his memories — because star brutally obliterated him & he spent a very long time in the magic realm alone chanting the same spell over and over again

on the bright side, eclipsa later finds company in him, even doe he doesn't remember her (but very much trusts her 🥺)

oh yeah he & eclipsa dated in the past and became good friends after (Globgor was the one who introduced them shsghsj)

second. Glossaryck stays dead.

or rather isn't physically there with the main cast. he can't die, he just decided to let things unfold and watch at a distance

he does come around for Meteora's Lesson

rest in pudding is when star & toffee are officially cleaved! she starts asphyxiating from time to time after the funeral scenes and especially while chasing Glossy's "ghost"/reflections. he leads her to a crystallized toffee and THAT'S when they meet again. it also gives me a fun reason to do a parallel scene (redraw lol) of moon & eclipsa

you just KNOW rhombulus is gonna go through the hardest time here and he is my boy <3

lastly, SEPTARSIS!!!

this needs some episode rearranging, but maybe after Butterfly Trap, star & toffee go on a trip to septarsis with yvgeny to find a way to cleave their souls and potentially get toffee's memories back. star introduces herself as Star Johansen since everyone there hates the Butterflys. she sticks with the name from that point on

toffee does regain his memories (but can't recall them all at once, it's a process that takes time) and star is met with the revelation that he & celena were in love, making him her great great grandfather. it's also revealed how toffee managed to make the magic realm decay, and that celena was the one who helped him

oh yeah. other things;

marco pretends he's fine for his friends & family, trying to hide the fact he misses star, so his parents convince him to be the exchange student for once. but since he has dimensional scissors anyway, he visits every 1-2 weeks? not sure abt jarco. long distance? still breakup? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ���)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

he might still be an unofficial squire cause that's for fun

Pony Head CAN get a prosthetic horn. but she actually goes through some kind of character development 😭

Ludo ??? I wanna do something for him I just dunno what. Yvgeny doesn't leave so ???

the Meteora arc ??? is paced better ???

Tom is fine Tom is great

this is ofc mostly s3 as s4 makes me so angry and bored fgshjs,, in the end magic is still "destroyed" and that's how star & toffee are finally free of each other. toffee gets to fight & kill mina while the redemption spell is cast, and he's reunited with celena to peacefully pass on :)

also the MHC aren't killed off nor is "Earthni" a thing 🤮

I'm definitely forgetting a lot of other stuff! plus the au's not wholly developed aha