#obviously missing some I am adding more as I remember them :)

[diasporacorrin]

Glossary of Terms (INCONCLUSIVE)

Canto: After attacking, unit can move a specific number of spaces. Almost no characters can use an attack or an assist skill while triggering Canto

Bonus: Any positive status effect granted “for 1 turn/at start of turn/each turn”

Penalty: Any negative status effect inflicted “for 1 turn/at start of turn/each turn”

Divine Vein: Adds additional terrain. Negative effects apply to foes, but never allies. Known examples include Flame (deals damage), Ice (blocks movement), Haze (-5 to all stats), Stone (grants bonuses to Def/Res), and Green (neutralizes teleportation skills)

Panic: Converts bonuses to penalties

Savior: Take the place of an ally when the ally is attacked on Enemy Phase

Undefended: Neutralizes Savior

Charge: Can move 3 spaces in cardinal directions

Gravity: Can only move 1 space

Feud: Cannot benefit from ally skills

Miracle: Survive a lethal blow with 1 HP

Deep Wounds: Cannot heal themselves with a passive skill or be target by an allied healer

Exposure: Takes +10 damage

Ploy: Unit cannot activate Bonus Doubler, Treachery, or Grand Strategy

Bonus Doubler and Penalty Doubler: Either doubles bonuses for unit or doubles penalties for foe. What it says on the tin

Treachery: Adds bonuses to total damage dealt

Triangle Attack: If three or more flying allies with Triangle Attack are deployed, doubles number of attacks

Dual Strike: If two or more allies with Dual Strike are deployed, doubles number of attacks

Pathfinder: Allies can move through unit to gain 1 extra movement once per turn

Isolation: Cannot be target by Assist skills

Potent Follow X%: Performs a flurry of additional attacks at either 40% damage (when stacking with a natural follow-up) or 80% (when unit cannot naturally follow-up)

Dodge: If Spd is higher, reduces damage

Null Follow-Up: Foe cannot increase Special cooldown or decrease own Special cooldown

Hexblade: If a magic ally is nearby, calculates damage with lower of Def or Res

Guard: Special cooldown increases by 1

Discord: Inflicts the number of allies within 2 spaces as a penalty to all stats

Schism: Neutralizes Triangle Attack, Dual Strike, and Pathfinder

Stall: If unit tries to move an extra space, limits movement to 1

Canto Control: Limits Canto to 1 space (one-range units) or 0 spaces (ranged units)

[UNIT EXCLUSIVE]

Fallen Star and Deep Star: Claude only. Reduces damage from next attack by 80%

Rally Spectrum: Robin only. Decreases Special cooldown and grants +5 to all stats

Grand Strategy: Robin only. Turns penalties into bonuses and then doubles them

Assign Decoy: Soren only. Grants Savior to an ally

Frozen: Hrid only. Cannot follow up if Spd is less than 15 higher. Foe can follow up even if Spd is 5 less or more

Gallop: Sigurd only. Grants 2 extra movement

(Insane: me, for doing this /joke)

[rin-may-1103]

The Wrong Robin Au (part two?)

Previous | Master Post | Next

"Alright, kid." Danny sighed as he walked back into the motel. "tell you what, you tell me everything you think you know about me and bats, and I'll be Robin. Deal?"

Tim's eyes widen in surprise, "wait, really?" he asks, dropping the third Oreo he had been trying to balance on Sam's forehead. Sam snored, her nose twitching in agitation for a moment before going back to normal.

Tim leaned back, keeping an eye on her. "do you really mean it? you'll come back and fix him?"

Danny sighed, "I can't promise that I'll be able to fix him, but I can promise to do my best."

Tim nodded his head, "That's all I ask." then the kid stood up, holding his hand out for Danny to shake, "We got a deal, Robin."

Danny smirked, unable to keep a straight face at how cute the kid was being. Reaching out, he shook his hand.

"Right, first things first. Who's Batman, and why do you think so?" Danny asked, making his way over to the table. Tim followed behind him, his face brightening up in excitement.

"Bruce Wayne of course," Tim cheered, plopping down onto the chair across from Danny.

Of course, another rich fruit loop would be Batman. Why not? What's next? Lex Luther was Superman's archnemesis? Oliver Queen cosplayed Katniss Everdeen?

"I thought Dick Grayson, Bruce's ward, was Robin at first. It had made sense, or at least mostly did but I wasn't completely sold on it. I only really thought it was him because Robin was able to do a quadruple backflip, and only Grayson's family was able to do that. but then I saw you! and it makes perfect sense!" Tim smiled excitedly, leaning forward as he continued.

"You were able to do the flip, AND you acted just like Robin did! Dick doesn't act like Robin in public, or ever really. But you do! You did the flip, you make puns! you even bit that one mugger!"

Danny blinked before slowly nodding his head; Well, at least his personality wasn't going to be a problem. "right, makes sense," not. it did not make sense, but who was Danny to crush this kid's hopes. also, how long ago was this? because Danny hadn't done the flip this time... he's definitely bitten a criminal or two over the past two weeks, but the flip? that had to have been back when he first got his powers... he vaguely remembers his parents dragging him around the country on some trip Vlad set up for them.

see, it was totally Vlad's fault.

"and who was the second Robin?" Danny asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Bruce's second kid, Jason Todd," Tim replied, not smiling anymore. "The Joker killed Robin over in Ethiopia. Jason went missing and was declared dead around the same time."

"Right," Danny coughed, glancing away from Tim. "and what else do you know?"

"Well, I know Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, was batgirl..." Tim trailed off with a wince, obviously not liking the conversation anymore. Danny had to agree, the whole class had been informed about the dangers of Gotham City. Barbara Gordan had been one of the examples they used.

"I know that you're using a fake name!" Tim suddenly added, looking more lively now. Danny blinked before sighing, "Yeah? and why's that?"

"you used your bat training to make a fake identity to throw Bruce off your trail! That way you would have more time to settle in with your new team! and it worked for a while, that is until he caught up to you and your team. it doesn't seem he knows about this identity, so you've been using it ever since Jason's death. because you're mad at him."

"and why am I mad at him?" Danny asked, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. Just what had he gotten himself into?

"because he didn't tell you about Jason's death." Danny glanced back at the kid, watching as he looked away and out the window. "just like he didn't tell Dick..."

had he finally connected the dots? had he finally realized he got the wrong person?

"why would he not tell you two?" Tim asked, turning to look up at Danny. Danny shrugged, turning to look back at the ceiling. "grief makes people do things they never would have before." like becoming a billionaire and spending twenty years scheming on how to murder a single man. or it could make them more obsessed with their work.

Danny knows grief; he's had to deal with it for years now. It's the only thing he understands about why Batman has changed so much. Grief, especially for someone you love, changes you. It holds onto your heart and never lets go. It can drive you insane if you let it.

"he was so caught up in his own grief he didn't realize that there were others who needed to grieve with him."

"Oh," Tim replied.

they sat in silence for a moment before Tim spoke up again.

"I know where the Batcave is."

Danny blinked. Right. Batman. Batcave. the bat-themed vigilante had a secret lair and it was a cave. That checked out. At least it wasn't in the basement.

"yeah?" Danny prompted, "And where's that?"

"under the manor," Tim replied, crushing any and all hope Danny had for Bruce Wayne.

It was official. All billionaires were fruitloops. Danny didn't care if they didn't all have secret basements, they were fruitloops.

Next

[wlwsoccerfics]

Clingy Girlfriend (Grace Clinton X Russo Reader)

Summary: It is time England Camp and you finally See your girlfriend again. You two are doing Long Distance because she plays for Manchester United and you okay for FC Barcelona.

Warnings: some talks about siblings having to compete with one another, migraine, throwing up.

"Baby!" You hear Grace voice and then you nearly got knocked over because she was jumping on your back, but you managed to keep her up with your arms and steady yourself so you wouldn't fall.

"hey Love!" You said and smiled gently. "I guess asking If you missed me isn't necessary anymore after this!" You replied and giggled softly. Ella walked over with your sister.

"hey little Sis!" Alessia said and smiled at you.

"thank god you are here! Every day at practice she was talking about you y/n! It was getting annoying!" Tooney told you, playfully rolling her eyes.

"hey Less! Hey Ella! What can i say? I am amazing!" You let them know. Winking softly, obviously joking. "But on a serious Note, GracieBean? Where is my kiss?" You asked. Grace quickly got down from your back and turned you around. Kissing you softly. You kiss back and smile into the kiss.

"get a room!" Your sister yelled out, chuckling softly.

"These two in one room and the entire floor won't be able to sleep at night! They haven't seen eachother in a while! So they aren't sharing!" Leah stated, walking over. Smirking softly.

"hello Captain!" You answered teasingly. Hugging Leah, before hugging your best friend Hannah. "Hi Hampton!" You playfully said. "Hi little R." She answered, hugging you back. Smirking softly.

You shared a room with Beth while Grace shared one with Lucy. It did feel like the two were chosen to make sure the two of you didn't sneak into eachothers rooms. Both of you clearly weren't happy about this.

It didn't take long before there was a knock on the door of your room, which Beth opened and Grace walked straight past her, into your open arms.

"i needed some cuddles!" She informed you.

"you two saw eachother like 40 minutes ago!" Beth stated. "I know long distance sucks. But please remember to Focus on Camp too!" She added.

You and Grace look at her, frowning softly.

"playing for two different countries and making a relationship work is way harder then playing for two different Teams in the same country. Both hard but it's even more challenging for us." Grace explained. She sure didn't sound like a 21 year old. But more like someone in their 30s with way more life experience then she actually had. Same goes for you though. You are 22 years old.

"yeah Beth i agree. For you and Viv it's challenging, for us it's even worse." You replied and held Grace close.

"i know, i know." Beth answered with a soft sigh escaping her lips.

"we are very professional and when we are on the pitch or at practice we will be very focused!" You tell her gently. Offering her a small smile.

"okay good. i will be downstairs and play some games with some of the Girls. So you two can have some alone time, just remember we have practice in three hours." She stated and smiled at you before leaving the room. Leaving the two of you alone.

You cuddle with Grace, fingers intertwined. Kissing every now and then. Just enjoying eachothers company.

"i feel so lucky that i get to love you!" Grace told you. You smile at her.

"you are sweet Babe. But i am the lucky one! I can't believe how much love i always feel from you. You don't make me feel like i am second best or like i have to compete for favorite Russo." You explain to her. "I know it's not a competition and i am proud to be Lessis sister but it just sucks that people always seem to compare the two of us!" You admitted. She kissed your head. Holding you as close as possible.

"you two may be sisters but you both have your own personality! And you are different people! There shouldn't be people comparing you with one another!" Grace stated. "And if that helps, i like your sister but for obvious reasons you are my favorite Russo!" She added and smiled a little. You smiled back.

"i would hope so." You replied with a genuine giggle escaping your lips.

You two get ready for practice in your seperate rooms before meeting up with everyone else in the Hotel Lobby.

"the lovebirds actually managed to make it on time!" Tooney said teasingly.

"i am always on time!" You stated and chuckled softly.

"not always!" Alessia replied, teasingly.

"okay you two leave the little lovebirds alone!" Mary answered with a soft smile. You walked to the trainings pitch, holding Grace' hand while talking to Hannah.

You did some drills and partnerd up with Grace, no one was surprised about that. The two of you were working well together. It was like, you didn't even have to talk to one another ,but still managed to communicate with your eyes.

After that you did some practice games. 3vs3 and you played with Ella & Leah against Beth, Lucy & Jess. This was alot of fun and a good way to start of England Camp.

When practice was done you all went to shower and decided to meet up for Team Dinner later that day.

You got out of the shower and dried yourself off. Putting on some England shorts & an England Hoodie, before walking out of the bathroom and over to your bed. Beth went to take a shower next. You felt a migraine coming up so you took some meds, hoping you caught it just in time. But unfortunately around 10 minutes later you realized that it in fact was too late so the migraine was in full swing now.

You laid on your bed. Legs pulled up to your stomach. Eyes closed. Focusing on your breathing, wanting to breathe through the pain.

Beth walked out of the bathroom, dressed up in an outfit that was similiar to yours. She saw you lying there and knew right away what was going on. Having seen that many times when Viv had a migraine. Cause unfortunately the dutch Woman struggled with it as well.

"sweets, anything i can do?" Beth whispered out. You sniffle softly.

"can you get Grace for me, please?" You asked her.

"yes of course." She answered but closed the blinds before she left, walking to Grace' room. Lucy was the one who opened the door.

"what's up, Meado?" Lucy asked.

"is grace here? Y/n is asking for her. She is having a full on Migraine right now." The blonde answered.

"damn, poor, Russo!"Lucy stated, not having much time to say anything else because Grace was already walking past them. In a hurry to get to you. Beth quickly followed her. When the door to the room was opened you weren't in your bed anymore though. No both Grace & Beth could hear you throwing up.

"i will be hanging out with Leah, good luck!" Beth turned around and walked out quickly. She wasn't good with hearing people throwing up but always managed to pull through when it came to Viv.

Grace walked into the bathroom , kneeling down next to you. Rubbing your back and holding your hair. "I have got you babe." She whispered out.

After a few minutes you were finally done. Leaning against Grace.

"i am so angry with myself." You sobbed out. Grace was really confused, frowning softly.

"Love this isn't your fault!" She said softly. Kissing your head gently.

"feels like my body is betraying me! We see eachother only a few times a year and i now manage to ruin one of the times with a migraine. I am sorry Baby!" You sighed sadly and tried to stop yourself from having a full on emotional breakdown.

"hey stop. This isn't your fault! You didn't ask for that migraine!" She answered. Cuddling you and managing to calm you down. Helping you brush your teeth before carrying you back to bed. Holding you close. Laying down with you. You took a hold of her like a koala baby did to it's momma, but you didn't care how clingy you were right now. All you wanted was to be close to your girlfriend.

You ended up sleeping for the rest of the day, Grace staying with you the entire time. She even spend the night and Beth stayed with Lucy.

You felt much better the next day but everyone still was keeping an eye on you. Especially Grace but also your sister. It was good to know that you both were clingy. And neither one of you cared.

[megaderping]

A while ago, I made a post going into parts of the missable Sae Palace arc text messages, such as these:

However, that post neglected to include a full transcript. I have since transcribed all of these texts, which occur on 10/30, 11/3, 11/7, and 11/11. You must not infiltrate Sae's Palace until after these dates in order to get these.

Transcripts below the cut! Crossposted to the P5 sub.

The first of these texts takes place on 10/30. You will miss this text if you infiltrate the Palace on the first available day.

--

Ryuji: Yo, Akechi.

Akechi: What is it?

Ryuji: You got any idea who the true culprit might be?

Futaba: Oh yeah! You said you saw a masked guy, right?

Haru: I wanted to ask about that too.

Futaba: Did you really see him? The masked guy's gotta be the true culprit, right?

Akechi: If this so-called true culprit is acting alone, then there can be no mistake about it.

Futaba: I see.

Yusuke: The next question is, who is that masked man?

Akechi: Unfortunately, I do not know that much.

Futaba: Ugh, you're useless.

Akechi: That is quite harsh.

Futaba: Aw, you're making me blush!

Ann: That wasn't a compliment...

Akechi: At this point, I have yet to even grasp any clues. But once this is dealt with, I will surely capture him. I promise you that.

We'll be counting on you.

Akechi: Perfect. Leave it to me. It may sound somewhat odd for me to say this, but I am an exceptional detective. I assure you, I will catch this culprit. Look forward to it.

Can you do it?

Akechi: Hm? Do you not trust me?

[The rest plays out the same as the other option.]

--

What's funny about this exchange is how the Thieves know Akechi's deal and are just playing along. It makes some of the reactions (especially from Haru and Futaba) read as comically passive aggressive. However, the more interesting texts start coming on 11/03, 11/07, and 11/11.

Starting with 11/03.

--

Ryuji: Goddamit. People're acting like we were the ones who killed 'em.

Yusuke: I have even heard them say we are assassins hired to deal with psychotic breakdown victims.

Ann: Ugh, that's obviously not what we're trying to do.

Akechi: This must be part of the plan to shift blame onto the Phantom Thieves. After all, the true culprit is the one killing the people on that ranking list.

This is unforgivable

Akechi: Indeed. I have no intentions of letting this slide.

This is total BS

Akechi: But that is the truth for the general public at the moment.

[Both lead to...]

Futaba: Man, this culprit guy really won't let up. I don't remember ever doing anything that'd make someone hate us THIS much.

Haru: He used my father as well...

Akechi: I cannot fathom what his motive may be... We will just have to capture and interrogate him.

Makoto: But before that, we need to change my sister's heart. That's our first step toward stopping him.

Akechi: I must agree. The true culprit will be caught, but before that we must deal with Sae-san. If ranking is being taken into consideration, perhaps I will be targeted too... Just kidding.

--

This tells us that Shido is deliberately having Akechi target high ranking targets on the PhanSite in order to terrify the public with abhorrent acts of violence, much like he did in April. It's a way to make people feel scared and more reliant on Shido to be the change that Japan needs. But if you secure the treasure as quickly as possible, you will miss this added information that really deepens how cruel he truly is by ordering hits just to paint a convenient narrative.

And this is definitely Shido's idea, because on 11/7 we get this gem...

--

Haru: Do you think the culprit could be someone at our school?

Yusuke: That seems somewhat sudden.

Haru: I mean, didn't they find a calling card in Principal Kobayakawa's office? I thought you had suggested that idea yourself, Yusuke.

Yusuke: That was just a generalization.

Haru: But if Mako-chan noticed what was going on with you guys, somebody else might have too.

Ann: So you think that "somebody else" is trying to frame us? What's gotten into you so suddenly?

Haru: Nothing has gotten into me. I just think there's a chance the culprit is related to Shujin...

You might be right. / There's no way.

[Both get the same response:]

Yusuke: What is all of this about? It's too soon to be jumping to conclusions like this.

Haru: Well, I was hoping to hear a professional opinion on the matter... What are your thoughts, Akechi-kun?

Akechi: The possibility is not zero, but it does seem a bit unlikely.

Haru: Why do you ask?

Akechi: A normal person would never do such a thing. They would have no reason to callously murder your principal.

Haru: And what if they weren't normal?

Akechi: Are you implying they kill for the sheer pleasure of it?

Haru: No, not like that. What I mean is, you need certain special abilities to navigate through that world, yes?

Akechi: Ah, so you're saying the culprit is a Persona-user.

Haru: Yes.

Akehci: I see... How perceptive. Truthfully, I was considering that possibility myself. But it is difficult to think they have ties to Shujin Academy.

Haru: Why?

Akechi: There would be no motive for them to carry out such a cruel plot. Clearly our culprit is acting behind the scenes to accomplish some grand objective. He likely has accomplices. It is even possible that he is being controlled by someone.

Makoto: Controlled? By whom?

Akechi: If I knew that, I do not think we would be in this much trouble.

Haru: I see... So even someone like you doesn't know, Akechi-kun.

Futaba: Looks like our genius detective's not so much of a genius after all.

Akechi: Haha, harsh as always. If there is one thing I know, it is that the culprit behind all of this is extremely shrewd. But don't worry. I will catch him, no matter what it takes.

I'm looking forward to that. / I wonder if you can do it.

Akechi: More importantly, we need to focus on changing Sae-san's heart for the time being. If we cannot do that, everything we have done will be for naught. We absolutely must succeed here.

--

There is so much to unpack here. By far, it's my favorite of these texts because of the light it sheds on Akechi's motivations and intentions. First, we have Haru pressing the subject. She clearly wants to squeeze answers out of Akechi. She's subtly putting him on the spot because she knows...

But Akechi lets slip that no, actually, he doesn't do this for pleasure. That actually, he is being controlled and that the true mastermind is someone shrewd that he intends to take down. Amidst all of Akechi's lies and platitudes during this part of the story, we see a crack in his perfectly prepared mask. In a way, this is the most honest we've seen Akechi outside of his Royal confidant and on 8/28 and 9/3. In a way, he's sharing little slivers of himself with the rest of the team (either begrudgingly or for reasons he doesn't fully understand) the way he already has with Joker.

And it actually explains a few things that happen later. Namely, the way he downplays the need to kill the other Phantom Thieves until after the election (keep in mind, he does intend to knock Shido down from his pedestal) as well as treating Morgana as "just a cat." Obviously, this doesn't absolve Akechi of his guilt, but it does make it clear that he isn't as remorseless as a lot of people believe, even if no amount of sunk cost fallacy is gonna undo the damage he's done.

Hell, when combined with his lamentation that he didn't meet Joker years ago in the engine room and his reaction to Morgana explaining changes of heart, these texts further solidify that his feelings toward both Joker and the Thieves are extremely complex and absurdly messy.

Plus we get Haru and Futaba both taking shots at him, which is fun and also extremely deserved. :p

Moving on, there's one final missable November text on 11/11. It goes as follows:

--

Akechi: So, about the investigation... It seems they have no evidence that can truly be called as such.

Ryuji: Well duh.

Akechi: However, it seems they have no intentions of changing their plans.

Ann: They're going to investigate at both Shujin Academy and Leblanc, right?

Akechi: Indeed.

Makoto: Hm. I can understand Shujin... But why Leblanc?

Akechi: The key is Wakaba Isshiki.

Futaba: Is it cause of my mom's research?

Akechi: Correct. Her study of cognitive psience is closely connected to this case. Of that, there can be no doubt.

Futaba: Then this guy's really the mastermind behind all of this?

Akechi: That would be the case. There can be no mistake... The one who erased cognitive psience from this world is surely the culprit behind everything.

Makoto: And getting rid of the research was the only way they could use its powers?

Akechi: How perceptive of you. Yes, that is the only logical conclusion. Both Sae-san and I were searching for clues about that research. But just as we were about to deepen our investigation, this commotion began. And to make things even more troublesome... There was only one person with strong connections to both Shujin Academy and Leblanc. And that person turned out to be the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

Yusuke: So the culprit had calculated all of this in advance?

Akechi: Heavens no. That would be impossible. This was a miracle created by the coinciding of multiple chance situations.

Ryuji: Dude, you hear that? He says you got miraculously bad luck. Don't that make you feel good?

I'm so lucky.

Ryuji: Y'know, shitty luck is still luck.

That's not funny.

Ryuji: C'mon, you gotta be able to laugh it off at this point.

Haru: Yes, your luck really is impressive.

Akechi: At any rate, that's the current state of things. And that's why we must obstruct the investigation at all costs.

Makoto: Yes, that's our intention.

--

Once again, we have Akechi laying it on thick that Shido is the one behind everything, as he was the one who ordered the hit on Wakaba, stole her research, and had his own research team develop it further. And keep in mind, Shido's own words, first on 11/21...

"Those who get in the way must be eliminated at times—that's the correct way to use the Metaverse."

And later, his Shadow states, "Moreover, it was thanks to me that Akechi was able to properly use his power to begin with."

So we know that even the idea of inducing mental shutdowns came from him, even if Akechi offered his Metaverse abilities as part of his stupid revenge plan.

What this shows is Akechi wants to hint that there is this bigger puppet master, even if he's going to betray the Thieves, and this is actually really consistent with his Royal confidant. In Rank 7, he uses a billiard games as a metaphor for the upcoming betrayal kill and gives Joker an out, even if he's much happier if you assert your rivalry instead. This makes his warnings about the connections to Wakaba carry a very similar feeling, and since these texts were in Vanilla, it's likely that the Royal confidant built on this foundation.

But then there's the fact that the Thieves are fully in the know that Akechi is going to betray them, so it recontextualizes all these texts where they are genuinely trying to squeeze as much info out of him as they can and likely having to restrain themselves hard (especially Futaba and Haru).

And all of this you will never see unless you delay the infiltration until 11/12. So, the next time you play Persona 5 Royal, it might be worthwhile to delay Sae's Palace to see these in-game! They're really cool and it's a shame they aren't scripted events.

[newttxt]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you @strawhattery for @ing me, even though i do feel like it's a not-so-subtle urge to finish my current wips... (i need the kick)

for reference/those who only see my art, i used to be a fic writer who occasionally drew. that's obviously changed, but i am trying to write more, so you can find me at pseudoanalytics on ao3.

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

44, but only 35 are linked to me (9 are anonymous...)

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

347,773 😰

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

while i nodded, nearly napping (suddenly there came a tapping) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/

the inherent romance of classical conditioning (or, the fine art of emotional recognition) [haikyuu, sakuatsu]

you're really pushing it (but you're going much too slowly) [haikyuu, ushiten]

redacted :/ (sequel to the first redacted...)

4) what fandoms do you write for?

most of my fics are so old i can't bear to look at them, but i'm trying to write more for one piece. then i've written a decent amount of haikyuu, pacific rim, and star wars.

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

initially? i absolutely do! but as any of my friends will tell you, i struggle to even reply to dms or texts. so alas. i drop off pretty quickly

i LOVE comments though, and i eagerly read and reread them frequently ;__;

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh sheesh. you may only ask once (so be prepared for the reply) which is a bad end for pacific rim 2. or i guess... a worse end. it's also a bit of a role swap au, if i remember correctly.

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i... honestly don't know. i typically write happy endings. i like to write "missing scenes" and post-canon, so things tend to be rather open-ended or to just lead into the next part of canon. my memory is also not my prize-winning quality, so i can't really remember how my fics ended pre-2018ish.

8) do you get hate on fics?

i know i've gotten some ruder bookmarks, but not typically, no. i get more hate on art or in my ask box, but i honestly just delete it all, so it never sticks.

9) do you write smut?

yes, though its debatable if it's "smut" so much as "sex in such an irreverent context that it becomes humor." i cannot take sex seriously, so alas, i rarely write it seriously. i use it more as comedy and a tool for character studies. i do enjoy a stoic character's facade getting cracked open.

10) do you write crossovers?

i don't write legitimate crossovers, with characters from different medias intermingling, and frankly, i rarely do au's either.

but if i have one weakness, it's that i am ALWAYS a sucker for a pacific rim au. yes, i am rotating a one piece version in my head.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

i had a sakuatsu one reuploaded to wattpad under someone else's username. they deleted my author's notes and added their own, as if they'd written the fic, too. hilariously they even used my art for the cover.

it got taken down, but idk why. i never reached out about it.

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah! i've had 5 translated, and i've had 2 turned into podfics, which is cool.

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nope. i'd be terrible to work with, tbh. my writing process is a holdover from my journalism days, and the steps are a mystery even to me. i think i'll stick to drawing art for other ppl and their fics.

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

i will hold to the fact that it's asanoya from ao3. they were the first ship i got really invested in, and i see their impact on everything i ship to this day. they were my "blueprint," if you will. i still get smiley when i see art for them!

on the flip side... terezi/vriska was also a formative ship for me. but i won't discuss that.

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

rip go ahead and start talking (i'll pick up the slack). it's my 1-of-2-chapters ushiten fic that i should just mark as complete, since the first chapter can stand alone.

16) what are your writing strengths?

hard to determine your own strengths, but i think my dialogue/characterization are pretty strong, especially since i still regularly flex those muscles when writing comics. i also think i'm funny.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

writing.

but seriously, i am so bad at sitting down and just hammering out a fic. don't get me started on outlines or longform works. i'd rather grab my pencil and start drawing, i'm afraid.

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think there are ways to interweave words or terms in other languages, but overall, i'm a fan of just standardizing everything into one language. if your character understands it, i think all readers should be able to understand it. and i'm not a fan of when you're expected to scroll to the end for a translation; i think it interrupts the reading flow.

this is a generalized opinion though. i think there are ALWAYS storytelling exceptions, so if the other language usage is really important to your theme/intent, i can see why you would do this!

19) first fandom you wrote for?

please don't do this to me. it was maximum ride. yes, the james patterson books about the kids with bird wings. i wrote 4-5 fics, i was in middle school, and — as far as i know — they are still up on ff dot net. no, i won't elaborate.

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

hands down, it's the sakuatsu domesticity simulator. it's not necessarily my best work in terms of writing skill, but i also drew over 50 images for it and html coded it into an interactive story. i'm just proud that i started a big project by myself and i actually finished it!

it's my dream to someday make a whole visual fan novel. i feel like the domesticity sim was the first step.

oh boy i'm bad at tagging but if @syrupfog, @lawsbbygirl, @macabrekawaii , @bmouse, or @cooknumber3 want to go for it... :))

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

My Bonnie Gallops Over the Ocean 

Mermay 2025!

Summary: A follow on from mine and Gallifrey's collab known as Crab Boil. This can be read as stand alone but that fic Will ad some extra Flavor~

Link to my Reblog of That Fic Here

Warning: Unintentional microaggresion, Social Awkwardness, Arson, Accusations of witch craft, execution, a massacre (I Mean It, It Gets Brutal) self doubt, self hatred and fear of judgment. 

Edit I Forgot the Tag Lists!!

Ahhh!

@moodymisty @boop-le-snoot @angronsjewelbeetle @jaghatai-khock

@passionofthesith @bispecsual @bleedingichorhearts @beckyninja

@sleepyfan-blog @egrets-not-regrets @legionsofthehungry @i-am-a-dragon34

@bookandyarndragonwritesdark

Khopesh hums to himself as he waits on a rock outcrop above the water. The mid to late day waves swish baaaaack and fooooorth, baaaaack and fooooorth. His sharp teeth turn up into a smile as he recalls what brought him here. 

“It's called a metronome.” Lullaby excitedly discussed, showing him the old human gadget. “I haven't touched it in Years, but I spent ages in front of a piano with this little thing helping me learn.”

“It can go Sloooooooow.” And thus does Lullaby set it as such and places it in his hands. 

Tock……

…… Tock

Tock……

The electronic beats are small, and would be grating if they were louder, but the feeling of the mechanism's beeps and rhythm is strangely calming. 

“And they can go-” You crank the dial to the fastest apex. 

TockTockTockTockTockTockTockTockTockTockTockTockTock…

The little device makes Khopesh's tail flick with interest as it makes beats faster than he believes a baseline human playing an instrument could conceivably move. How strange! 

“Older ones have a swinging pendulum. It kinda reminds me of the waves…tick tock tick tock.” They smile, tilting their head in sync as they turn the dial to make the pace more moderate. “and it reminds me how You also come and go to a perfect beat.”

Khopesh giggles to himself, it tickles him that his Lullaby was reminded of him even when he wasn't there. 

He remembers being fascinated by the little item. Especially the satisfying scritch of the dial as he turned it back and forth. 

His Lullaby had noted his interest. “If you like it… I was thinking…if you wanted, I could give you one? It would be a New one of course! And waterproof obviously.” They say. “I just figured you might find it kinda cool since songs and music seem to be important to your kind.” They offer. 

Khopesh perks up. A gift?? A Gift? THIS IS A GIFT FOR HIIIIIM??? Khopesh's ear fins wiggle with excitement! Not realizing he missed the offer of a completely New item. 

His expression may not be the best because Lullaby fumbles over their next words. “Ah not implying you need help staying on beat, I just thought you'd think it was a cool item so ah so-”

But Khopesh is already trilling with delight. He hugs the small item to his chest with happiness! 

A gift! A gift for hiiiiim! He's so Happy! He literally flips over backwards in the air. 

“I am honored to be given this!” He proclaims, and his spiking energy goes even higher. He suddenly (but carefully) grasps his Lullaby's face and gets in kinda too close. Lullaby's face goes Very red but Khopesh kinda misses that too in his haste. “Oh! I Must find a proper gift to give you in return!!!” He turns already thinking in his head about what or who he can contact. 

Lullaby protests. “Woah woah wait a minute that one is Waaaaay too old to be used as a gift. You deserve a nice new one! Not to mention one that's actually water proof!”

But Khopesh doesn't fully hear Lullaby calling after him as he air swims off to start his quest for a nice gift. And because they will have exchanged Gifts maybe then he could…a blush erupts over his skin. 

Maybe he could ask them about entering into a proper courtship. He already Adores them as a friend and confidant so…maybe they could be more. 

Oh he hopes he isn't pushing too hard! He wants so badly to be in their life. 

But! Before he can even Have that conversation he needs a proper reciprocal gift. And so here he is now…waiting, the Metronome is still in his hands and he happily turns to the different settings to feel and hear the ticks until a familiar dark shape and new Less dark shape appear on the horizon of his vision. 

“Claudy! -Oop!” He calls happily, and Almost slides into the water until he catches himself and makes sure he and his treasure are flying above the water. 

“Brother Cousin.” Claude trills happily, and beside him is…an Ultramarine. “It is good to see you!”

Khopesh chimes back with the same voice in response. The large (possibly another Pri-mar-is??) Ultramarine seems confused and slightly taken aback.

“This is the one who has requested our help?” The big blue bean counter asks with both interest and hesitance.

Claude nods. “Yes! Worry not Olly. Like I said Khopesh is eccentric, but very generous.”

Khopesh grins genuinely with his full sharp teeth. He's…trying to look friendly. 

“Is that a Seiko Quartz SQ50 Battery Powered Metronome?” Olly asks, his eyes drawn to the object held lovingly in Khopesh's hands. 

Khopesh, on habit, pulls the item closer to himself. He remembers items being stolen from him as a neophyte, and how his tormentor's blood tasted when he snapped his jaws closed on their impolite hands. He lets out a low growl. “Why do you want to know?” 

Olly glances away, suddenly self conscious. “Oh ah…no reason…I was just curious...sorry.” He mumbles, his face dipping partially below the waves. 

“Oh Olly it's okay! Nightlords are just protective of their things! He knows you're not going to try and take it.” Claude comforts the larger Marine. 

Oh…he got overly defensive again. Dammit. Something in his heart tugs. 

“Here, come out of the water cousin.” Khopesh gestures, and asks in a much calmer, kinder voice. 

Olly looks to Claude, who nods, and the Ultramarine comes to float above the water. Claude follows too. 

“This is my treasure.” Khopesh explains. “It was given to me by someone Very special to me so I do not want others to touch it. But I will let you hear its song.” He turns the dial to a slow moderate pace. 

Tock…Tock…Tock…Tock…

Claude…doesn't Fully get it. It's not really a Song but it makes beats to keep pace With a song. They gave him an old teaching tool as a gift?? Maybe it's his preference for shiny or handmade things, but it being a mass produced mostly plastic item seems like an odd gift.

“OoOh,” Claude glances over to see Olly is Completely fixated, gently swaying his head and even the end of his tail with the beat. “I see…” His eyes are almost sparkling. “I've seen this model before as I happened to find it while reading about items named after Quartz minerals. It's not Nearly as old or venerated as the wooden and metal metronomes from before the industrial revolution, but many young music students used these about a decade or two ago. They were a common tool for many across the globe and the brand still makes new versions today. Many of the older versions were not well kept and often ended up discarded.” Olly rambles with a smile. 

“This is a tiny piece of Terran history. So small…but So fascinating! Made for such a simple purpose and yet part of so many lives and stories!” 

Khopesh smiles, his ear fins wiggle with delight at Olly Getting it (at least from a broader perspective). “See! That's why it's so precious to me! It was part of my Lullaby's life that they look back on fondly!” He exclaims. “It's like they're trying to share some of themself with me. Letting me see a piece of their past!” Khopesh snuggles the old item to his cheek and purrs. 

Ah, that makes more sense. Claude thinks, sentimental value is one of the highest aspects of value for a gift after all. 

“And That is why I called you both Here! I require your aid in finding the Perfect reciprocal gift!” Khopesh's wriggling energy returns as he thinks excitedly about all the possibilities! He turns his attention to Olly. 

“Claude told me You have skill with finding good rocks cousin!” 

Olly perks up. “Ah! Yes, I love a good rock. I know many that pair well with different fish and certain types of seaweed.”

Khopesh tilts his head in confusion. “Ah…what?” 

Claude gently bumps Olly and whispers. “I don't think he or Lullaby can eat rocks Olly.”

Olly blushes in embarrassment. “Ah! Sorry cousin.”

Khopesh snrks a bit, but not out of unkindness. “It is alright cousin! I am actually curious what rocks taste like myself! But well…” He pulls his lips back with one hand to show his sharp rows of teeth. “My maw isn't quite built for such things.” 

Olly again, calms and actually smiles genuinely. “Ah…I would be happy to show you some time, if you are amenable to that…I wouldn't want to presume.”

Khopesh cackles, and claps the nervous Pri-mar-is on the shoulder. “I will gladly take you up on the offer another day! For now I require a rock that is beautiful for the eyes, not the mouth.” 

“In fact I have the perfect idea! But I need help finding it. Tell me, have either of you heard of Ammonites?”

Olly nods excitedly. “They are common but venerated fossils of hard shelled animals from the past! Is that what you wish to find as your gift?”

Khopesh nods. “Yes! And Even better I have heard of a certain phenomenon that occurs in certain fossils.” He gets in close and whispers as if it is some grand secret. “Opalization.”

Claude has heard a little about such fossils as they trade for a slightly higher price than those without it. 

Olly meanwhile cannot contain the excited swishing of his tail, and his hands begin to flap a little. “Yes! Rather than normal stone replacing the biological parts of the animal, the minerals that compose opal coalesce into the shape of the extinct creature Or become embedded along with other minerals! It leaves a beautiful shine behind and on some specimens makes them akin to sculptures made of the jewel!” 

“Exactly! It is the Perfect reciprocal gift for my Lullaby! They adore creatures of the land and sea and have told me of their love for fossils and gemstones!” Khopesh gestures animatedly while still keeping careful hold of his treasure. 

Claude takes notice. “Brother Khopesh, I think you should place your ite- I mean your treasure in your water proof storage pack.”

Khopesh sighs a bit. “I Know but well…” He clicks the small compartment on the waist of his utility belt, and shows that the interior Does have water in it…which it shouldn't. “When I fell here I was unharmed but my armor and storage packs took a beating, that's why I haven't worn my armor in some time. I've been meaning to get them fixed, but just kept pushing it back.” He slumps down a bit. 

Olly chimes in. “Would you like a boater's lanyard?”

Khopesh perks up, as Olly continues, shuffling through his own pack. 

“It's another niche Terran item I found at one of the seaside settlements. It allows baselines who work in and near the water to keep electronic items on their person. It can also be used to hold items they generally do not want dampened.” Olly explains bringing out the small plastic shell that has a cord attached. 

Before he hands it off, Olly dunks the shell into the sea water while it's still closed, then brings it back up. He opens the shell and shows that indeed there is no water in it. 

“Ah yes! Thank you!” Khopesh's tail swipes back and forth happily as he takes the shell into his hands. He places his treasure inside, and hangs the lanyard on his neck. He likes how it rests against his hearts.

“Alright!” Khopesh claps his hands together. “Let's go! Lead the way Cousin!”

Olly smiles nervously, his hands tap the fingers together as he thinks. “Hmm..well the best place to look is on rocky shorelines. Opals can form almost anywhere there is silica and moisture, so the type of rock isn't as great an issue for that part.” He details as he begins to swim, Claude and Khopesh follow. “But Ammonites are more commonly found where there are sedimentary rocks. I think I know a place that might have what we're looking for.”

“It's also near a human settlement! I've done trade with some of them before! If we cannot find the perfect ammonite ourselves, we may be able to trade for it!” 

They cut through the waves, Claude and Khopesh exchange news and sounds and gossip. Olly chimes in occasionally with his own tidbits, and Claude is grateful to see Khopesh respond kindly to this. 

They come to the larger human port that lies down the coast from his Lullaby's farmhouse, and specifically they start scouring the rocky ledges and tide pools. 

“We need to look for round stones. Ones that look almost spherical. They are called nodules and can even be attached to or found inside larger rocks! Those could have fossils embedded inside!” Olly exclaims as he flits from spot to spot, eager to help his brother and cousin with this task. 

Claude finds his heart warm seeing Olly so eager and happy, and is further gladdened that he decided to take a chance when interacting with Khopesh. 

Soon they do find a few of the nodules Olly spoke of. Khopesh finds two in a tide pool, and attached to a larger rock respectively. Claude finds one on a high rock face near where the seabirds nest. Olly finds four all on his own as he flits about and cracks open larger, mostly flat rocks. 

“Alright Olly, let's see what we've got!” Khopesh rubs his hands together with excitement. 

But the Ultramarine hesitates. “Ah well…it might be better if we take these to someone with the proper tools.” He explains shyly. “Breaking them open isn't difficult, but we might break the fossil inside as well.”

Claude nods astutely. “Ah you're right. We wouldn't want to find the perfect gift only to break it before we can properly see it.”

Khopesh sucks in some air at the thought. “Ouch ah No you're right…well who can we go to?”

Olly smiles. “There's a shop in this town, a blacksmith and jewelry shop run by a Salamander and his partner.” His expression becomes a little…unsure. “They’re…a bit of an odd pairing so Please let me do the talking. And don't make any odd comments.”

Khopesh huffs, and waves his hand with a humorous dismissive gesture. “Please! I will be on my Best behavior!”

Claude also smiles wryly. “Yeah Olly, I think we can handle ourselves.”

10 Minutes Later Now Standing in The Hooved Drake's Smith Shop. 

Claude feels he's about to eat crow as he looks over the happy couple in front of him. 

“...You have Horse Legs.” Khopesh points out cheerfully. 

Olly…facepalms. 

Claude feels a mix of mortification, and embarrassment. Partially because of Khopesh's bluntness, and because he was also thrown off by the same thing. 

Khopesh simply smiles, utterly unaware of the odd comment he made. But it is made less odd by the fact it wasn't said with malice. Khopesh is just too curious for his own good. His tail wags while he holds the nodules in his arms. 

“I've never met someone with your features before! But I suppose if avian humanoids exist in the form of the harpies it is not Too great a surprise.” Khopesh supplies.

Pyrus, Olly's contact, hums and gives a pointed Look. “There are indeed many diverse magical creatures on Terra. They may be different but they are All part of its splendor.” 

Khopesh does Somewhat realize he must have said something bad given the protective posture the Salamander has. His long lava rock patterned tail has been lightly wrapped around his bonded since they came in. 

Luckily the saytr with beautifully braided hair, and warm brown skin smiles. Their hair shimmers with different ornaments that are clearly all handmade. “Well I suppose I can say the same for the two of you. I've never seen a mer with black eyes, let alone two of them.” They say with a charming warmth. “My Name is Ogun, I am of the Saytr people. And specifically I have the features of a Friesian horse.”

Khopesh smiles, trying to look less scary despite his teeth. “I am Khopesh, Night Lord Scout. I have patches on my tail that fluoresce in the dark, and hide venomous spines. And I have a request for you.” He dips his posture to show off the nodules he carries. 

Olly chimes in. “Khopesh wishes to find an ammonite with opalization so he may give it as a gift. We found these and hoped you could help us open them so as to not damage the fossils that might be inside.”

Pyrus's partner smiles and giggles. “Ooh! Sounds Very familiar.” 

Pyrus in turn blushes fiercely. “Well to be Fair, I fetched You a piece of coral, not a fossil. But the sentiment is quite sweet to come from a…”

“A Nightlord?” Khopesh smiles, now giving a pointed look. 

Pyrus excuses himself with an embarrassed Ahem, and that he will fetch the tools so they can unearth the fossils. 

Meanwhile Ogun takes the rocky spheres to a work table, and begins examining them, trying to find the best places to chip at them. 

The boys give Ogun some space to work. Meanwhile, Pyrus mentions letting them peruse the other items in the shop, and even offers some refreshment to them in the form of homemade fruit punch and water. 

It's an offer the boys see akin to being let loose in a candy shop! Olly and Claude peruse the weapons, ores, and decorative items. Khopesh quickly takes the offered fruit juice, and joins in.

At one point Khopesh does ask something of Pyrus while Claude and Olly play. 

“May I ask, did I say something untoward to your mate?” Khopesh asks, he's not trying to stir more trouble, but he feels he should still ask. 

Pyrus sighs a little. “Not…technically. But there Are others who have said such things.” He murmurs.

Khopesh is confused slightly. “They spoke badly of your partner?” With an unspoken In front of You?? Following the statement. 

Pyrus grimaced. “Yes, because to some the idea of an Astarte being paired with anything but a baseline human, or paired at all, is aberrant.”

Khopesh snorts. “How does that make any sense? This world is full of humanoid magic creatures. Surely some would bond with Astartes. Claude's family is full of Harpies for Curze's sake.” 

Pyrus shrugs. “Does prejudice for such things Ever make sense?”

Khopesh hums. “True. We Nightlords have a saying ‘All flesh bleeds the same. Most important is what's beneath…And how it stitches.’” He purrs.

Pyrus…looks a bit disturbed, but he understands the idea Khopesh is trying to illustrate. “Ah…I see.” He coughs to clear the tension. “At any rate we knew your words were from curiosity, not spite. Just be careful in the future not to blurt out other's features at random. Others may not take it as well.”

Khopesh nods. “That is good advice cousin. I will be sure to follow it.”

After about an hour, Ogun calls them over to see what they've found. But their expressions are a bit mixed. And due to the spheres behind them it makes sense. 

Khopesh's shoulders slump as he sees that half the nodules they brought in are empty. “I don't understand.”

Olly puts a hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry Cousin, nodules can also form without fossils inside, it seems we were unlucky.”

The others are fortunately inhabited by ammonites, but they have very little opalization if any. They're lovely fossils, and one is even bursting with layered Ammonites but none are exactly what Khopesh had hoped for. 

Ogun sees his disappointment and chimes in. “Well none of These may be exactly what you wanted, but you've still got some nice finds here.” They say, holding up the nodule that is filled with ammonites. “Especially this one! Once it's polished it'll be a beauty. Perfect for decoration in a house. Are you sure your gifted person wouldn't like it?”

Khopesh thinks for a moment. “No…I think they would be grateful. They're always so kind and enthusiastic…” He hums. “I suppose I wanted one with opalization because they love fossils And gemstones. So it would be even more perfect than the fossil alone.”

Ogun thinks for a moment. “You know…you Could take a look at some of the fossils and jewelry we have in stock. Depending on the price, we may find one you could trade these for.” 

Khopesh perks up. “Do you have ones with opalization?” His tail wags with excitement. 

Ogun nods and laughs with delight. “Indeed we do, my friend. Indeed we do.”

A little bit later Khopesh has found it. The Perfect gift for his Lullaby. He holds the small (for his hands) ammonite up to the light. It is polished and smooth, only a few rough or rocky patches remaining as grinding further could damage the specimen. 

And the Opalization! Rather than crystalline blue the lines appear firey with gold, red and green reflection as if mimicking the placement of the creature's stripes in life. 

And though others might dislike it, there is a perfectly natural pin prick hole, perfect for binding a jewelry wire to. His Lullaby will be able to wear his gift just as he wears theirs. 

Pyrus whispers to his partner. “Is that not one of the specimens we discounted due to the imperfections?”

Ogun shrugs. “Is anything truly imperfect if it is Exactly what someone wants?”

Pyrus smiles. “True.”

Khopesh doesn't really hear the exchange, and is immediately and eagerly asking “What is your price? And ah, would it be possible to purchase your labor to make this a necklace?”

Ogun nods. “I'd been happy to do a simple set up for you, I'll even make the cord water resistant And adjustable so your special person can shorten or lengthen it as they please.” They take the ammonite and proceed to their work table as Pyrus negotiates the final trade parameters. 

Khopesh is happy to hand over all the nodules to them for their trouble, even the empty ones can be broken further for materials or sold to Iron Hands as snacks. Although he withholds one of the empty ones, when he notices Olly staring at it longingly. 

“I will part with all but one. Brother Cousin Oleanderos, choose whichever suits your taste.” Khopesh declares. 

Olly perks up, but smiles gratefully. “Thank you Cousin Khopesh!” He gleefully grabs a mid-sized empty nodule and stows it so he can snack on it later. 

Soon his gift is stored away and their group is swimming back, it is already deep in the evening with the last flickers of the dazzling sunset coloring the horizon. But if they all hurry they can arrive in time for a Crab Sing. 

“What is a crab song?” Olleanderos asks. 

“Crab Sing.” Claude corrects and then smiles. “You'll see, it's a lot of fun. And will give Khopesh a good opportunity to present his gift.”

Khopesh is about to laughingly hush his cheeky brother but…something stops him. A scent on the breeze. 

Smoke? 

It's not the smell of cooking food. Or even of burning food. It smells…larger, of wood and…

Hay…

Khopesh doubles his speed, the others follow behind and call to him in confusion. 

“Something is wrong!” He calls back. “I can Feel it! Don't you smell that?”

Once it's pointed out the two younger mers catch on, and their speed takes on further urgency as they can See the smoke plumes rising. 

Dark, Black, Choking and Acrid…

My Lullaby! No No No NO my Lullaby! Please! Please don't let it be them!! Khopesh begs but his prayers go unanswered. 

The Mer Astartes enter the small cove-like beach where Khopesh had visited just mere hours ago. And what they see shakes them to their core. 

The farmhouse is engulfed in flames, the barn is beginning to catch due to the wind blown embers and it’s filled with the sounds of panicked horses. A small shape throws the main doors open and runs inside. 

Khopesh flies from the water without thinking, and immediately storms into the barn. 

“LULLABY!” He cries with relief seeing his Lullaby throwing open stall doors so their beasts can escape. They turn to him. 

“Khopesh! Oh thank God you're here! I need your help!” They cry. “Open the doors!”

Khopesh doesn't hesitate, he begins ripping doors open and the large beasts plow past him into the forest and land beyond the farm. 

“Go! RUN AWAY!” They cry out, begging their animals to save themselves. 

Luckily the beasts have a sense of preservation, some even flee in the direction of the water. All of them are released as not a moment too soon as the smoke is beginning to fill this space. 

“T-thank-Cough! Cough! Thank goodness you're- Here!” Lullaby says, ducking lower to escape the smoke. 

Khopesh doesn't immediately respond, instead sweeping his Lullaby up into his arms, and carrying them out of the barn. 

They slump against him, he in turn purrs in relief, trying to soothe his Lullaby. “My…my home. My barn…anyway to -Cough Cough!- save it?” They rasp. 

Khopesh whispers quick fervent promises. “Of course! Of course, just let me get you to safety! Claude! Olleanderos! WHERE ARE YOU!?” 

Khopesh looks around, seeing nothing but the shape of dancing fire. Hearing nothing but the snap of timber and crackles of the flames. The water in the cove is still. 

But how? They were right behind me! 

“Claude! Olleanderos! ANSWER ME!” He bellows, then turns to his vox in desperation. 

“Alliance, Alliance Forces come in! I am Khopesh Nightlord Scout, a fire has broken near the port of Gannet Point and two of my fellow Astartes have vanished! Please send hel-”

SMACK! 

A hard blow catches him off guard, not a piece of falling timber, but a concussive armored fist that sends him reeling. 

He drops your limp body, as he ends up splayed before your burning domicile. His head spinning, he tries to get up, only to find himself forcefully pinned by armored hands. 

“If you had let the witch burn. You would not have been struck, Nightlord.” A stern yet seethingly smug voice announces. 

The mismatched images of his vision try to focus and he realizes he isn't alone. 

One…two…three…four…five…

Fucking Curze shit five Black Templars in various levels of armor. A Chaplain and his Toothache of squirming little Emperor's choir boys surround him. 

And being held prisoner by them as well is Claude and Olleanderos. Their captors have them held physically, and bound with Astartes grade restraints; including the kind that disables their air swimming ability. Khopesh notices they've clearly had to use double the amount for Olly.  “They ambushed us as we tried to follow you from the water.” Claude shouts. 

“They overwhelmed us with numbers! I'm sorry Brother!! -Ahrg!” Olly cries, only to have his tail stabbed by one of his captors with a “Silence Abomination!” snarled for his trouble. 

Khopesh struggles and snarls and bares his fangs, but the Chaplain doesn't even pay him any mind besides a quickly spoken “Silence his mouth.”

“I'LL RIP YOUR SPINE FROM YOUR BACK AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR-MRPHPH!” A restraint is slapped across his face, were it not for the armored hands he'd have sunk his teeth in and ripped them off. 

“I do this for your own salvation. Though I firmly believe you are unworthy of such.”  The Chaplain states as he grabs your body with a single hand, and hauls you to your feet. “For this Wretched Witch Whore has beguiled our brethren with their saccharine disguise!”

“Burn the Heretic!” “No Mercy for the Witch!” “Death to the enemies of mankind!” The Templars cheer. 

Khopesh can do nothing but watch as the Chaplain roughly tosses you to the cliff of the cove. 

Where you'd always feed them crabs. 

Where you'd sing songs with him. 

Where he'd mimic the sounds of sea creatures for you. 

Where he truly fell in love with you. 

And now he watches helplessly as you stumble to your feet, lit by the smoldering inferno of your house. 

“Feeding and enchanting our brethren with your poisonous wiles! Turning them from the Emperor's Light, softening their souls so they may be corrupted. But No More!” The Chaplain snarls. “I will Purge this evil from Holy Terra's shores! One foul heretic at a time!!” The Chaplain unsheathes his chain sword as his followers cheer. The other Black Templars continue their cheers and surround the cliff, in a half circle. He can hear Olly and Claude fighting against their binds, but everything fades to the background. 

You stare at your fate, seeing your haggard and fearful reflection in the blade. 

“Any last words, before I deliver you to the Emperor's mercy?” The large Astartes asks. 

You look to your house, now fully bloomed into an oppressive wall of heat. You look to your loved ones, then to the ocean below you. 

You make your choice. 

“Please…If you're Really a man of your word, let my friends and my animals go in peace once you've killed me.” You say. 

The Chaplain doesn't reply. So you continue. 

Olly and Claude protest only to be cowed again. 

“You claim to be a savior! A man on a Holy Crusade so Please, Please offer them your mercy once your bloodlust is satisfied! No one else deserves to die for my transgressions!” You beg, “And let my body return to the ocean. So it's waters can wash away my guilt.” 

The Chaplain seems satisfied with your groveling, even taking Enjoyment in it. “Very well.” He agrees. 

You turn to Khopesh, he still struggles, screeching and begging despite the gag in his mouth. You look to Claude, and the other Marine who must be their friend. 

You smile. “I'm…So Happy I got to know you Khopesh. I'm so happy to have had you in my life. I just wish…I got to know you m-OrRk!”

Blood. 

Pain.

A sword plunged right through your middle. 

The Chaplain's uncaring hand, pushes you back off his weapon. 

You fall into the waves. In the distance you hear the sounds of hooves and frantic horse calls. 

Khopesh breaks, both his heart and the cover on his mouth. 

"Nnmph! NO! NOOOOOAAOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

His screams echo, his innate power as an Angler coming through despite his lack of other gifts. His voice bounces and amplifies as he screams. It causes the Templars around him to flinch and tremble. 

“GAG HIM DAMN YOU! IF ANY OF HIS KIND HEARS HIM THEY'LL BE DRAWN HERE!” The Chaplain yells. 

The armored altar boy holding him moves to put another gag on him. 

Khopesh whips his tail, he cannot air swim due to the restraints but he's still able to flip upside down and catch the templar's neck and helmet-less head in a bind. He jerks his entire body, so the venomous spines on his tail shoot out.

“RrRAAAAAGH!” The little bastard screams as his head and neck are skewered. He falls to the ground writhing and twitching. 

His venom will work quickly but it may not be enough to kill. Another rushes to his brother's side until the Chaplain barks to stay where he is. 

The Templar hesitates, but leaves his brother on the ground, seemingly too fearful to challenge his chaplain. 

“You fucking Traitor Bastard!” The Chaplain snarls and grabs Khopesh. He's still restrained and cannot move as swiftly as he normally would. “You've just ruined whatever mercy your Witch Whore's begging earned you, Traitor.” 

Khopesh doesn't answer but struggles and snaps, utterly overcome by rage. In his desperation, the Chaplain notices his lanyard. 

“Well well…what have we here?” He growls, easily breaking the cord from the Nightlord and tossing him to the ground. 

The Chaplain rips open the shell and pulls out his treasure. 

The last piece of you. 

The Chaplain grins. Power tripping bastard, I'll flay you! I'll flay you while you're still awake and breathing! 

“This carries the Witch whore's scent. Nothing may remain of their Filth, so this too should be eliminated.” The Chaplain begins to tighten his fist, causing the plastic to begin to Crack.

“No! NO! DAMN YOU STOP IT! STOP IT YOU BASTARD!” Khopesh snarls, with the restraints suppressing his air swimming ability he can only snarl and flop uselessly. 

The Chaplain laughs wretchedly and slams his long tail into Khopesh, sending him reeling back from the strike to his gut. He ends up next to the poisoned Templar ironically. “Worry not Curze Spawn, you'll be joining them soon.”

…splish…drip…drip…

The Chaplain continues his gloating, but Khopesh's dark sensitive eyes pick up something moving in the darkness behind the now smoldering light of the fire. 

Beyond the cliff you'd fallen from, in the light of the moon, long…arms?

Two wide spread hands too distorted to be human. Ten wicked curved claws glinting in the moonlight. 

And the color, deep, bleeding red, like flayed flesh. 

“Chaplain! Look out!” One of his underlings screams. He turns but it's too late. 

The long strangling arms ensnare the Chaplain, wicked claws digging into whatever flesh they can pierce and one even breaks the lense of the Chaplains helmet and by the sounds gouges his eye. 

His cries become choked and gasping, like the very presence of those limbs is paralyzing him. He trembles, as a horrific form climbs up the cliff and slowly becomes more clear in the dying fire's light. 

It's entire form appears flayed and skinless, it's face has sunken dark eyes and exposed teeth akin to a human skull. Kelp like structures stand in for hair as Flayed skinless equine legs find purchase at the top of the cliff, pulling the creature's body and second head up to show it has the form of a literal night mare. 

No one moves, the aura of the ghastly thing seems to pin everyone in place. It's damp dripping face comes to whisper in the Chaplain's ear in a voice that makes Khopesh's heart jump. 

“You broke…your promise...” 

“NEIGHEEHEHHEHEARGH!!” An inhuman cry rips through the night, a sickening stomach twisting mix of equine and human vocals that overwhelm the Chaplain's cries.  

“Templars! Save-meUrglel!” The Chaplain is yanked off the cliff and into the waters below. 

SPLOOSH!

““Chaplain!”” Two of the Templars abandon their hold over Olly and Claude to chase their leader, the other begins to follow but hesitates, then turns to his poisoned brother. 

Olly uses his new freedom and his impressive strength to break his restraints. Then he rips them off Claude followed by Khopesh. 

“Thank You!” Khopesh says with shaky relief.

“What the hell is that Thing?” Claude asks, actually trembling. 

Khopesh feels a similar cocktail of stress, but rather than feeling fear he feels exhilaration. “I think it's on our side.”

Flashes from ammunition being spent light up the cove as the Templars fight this being in the dark. 

“And I, for one, am Eager to lend it my aid.” Khopesh snarls, diving off the cliff and immediately ambushing one of the Templars, who screams as the Nightlord begins to rip him apart. 

“Wait!” Olly says, holding Claude back. “What about them?” He gestures to the injured Templar and the attending Templar. 

“We should restrain them. For questioning.”

“We should make sure they cannot interfere.” 

“...”

SMACK! Olly uses his snack rock and whams it into the conscious Templar's head, he crumbles on top of his other brother. 

“Good work.” Claude compliments. 

“Thank you.” Olly responds before slapping the same restraints that bound them onto their captors. 

Now onto the main battle. 

The two join the fray, Claude moves into the shadows. Teleporting behind one of the Templars, while Olly takes the front as a distraction. 

Claude sends a bolter round point blank through his enemy’s head as Olly moves out of the way. 

Khopesh's Templar is bleeding out in the water, his face and mostly unarmored torso violently shredded. Olly doesn't hesitate, and crushes the Templar's skull so he cannot rise again (though Olly is fairly certain he's already dead…fairly certain.).

While Claude and Olly fight the others all that remains is the Chaplain, facing two enemies in the water. Long arms and claws strike out at the desperate half blind Astarte, while Khopesh swims circles around him and uses hit and run tactics as he lacks armor. 

On the next jump Khopesh screams using his powerful Angler voice to stagger his enemy and Crack the Chaplain's remaining helmet lens. He recovers but just before the Templar can pull his bolter. 

The malevolent voice and form of the flayed creature erupts from behind him, huge elongating clawed arms snatch the Chaplain as equine hooves bear down.

“NO! NO! EMPEROR! SAVE ME!” 

CRaCk SPLASH! CRACK SPLOOSH CRACK! CrACK!

CRACK!

The sickening sounds of a splitting skull and cracking bones fills the air as the creature beats the Chaplain's body to a bloody pulp. They even continue until the water fills with the swirling red of the Chaplain's blood. 

Soon, the rampage ends, the equine monster pants with exhaustion, it's human and horse parts moving in sync. They're both slumped in the water. The arms retract but still hang low, at their shortest length they would be able to lay their large palms on equal ground to their horse's hooves. 

No one moves for a moment. 

Claude whispers to Olly. “Should we…should we approach it?” 

“I don't know…it doesn't seem hostile? Ah to us I mean.” Olly responds. 

Khopesh…can't believe his eyes, the more he looks, the more sure he is. He swims toward…

You. 

“"Don't,"” A layered voice tells him, and that does cause him to stop for a moment but oh! Oh he knows that voice! Or one of those voices! "“Don't come closer.”"

“Lullaby?” Khopesh asks, feeling as if any moment his fragile hold will break and he will burst into grateful tears. 

The creature turns more, and Khopesh sees it. The structure of your face and  your torso has a large mark through the middle. 

A Scar. 

“Oh my Lullaby! My Lullaby!” Khopesh cries, unable to stop himself from flying and grasping for you. 

““Wait stop!”” You cry, keeping your fists balled as your equine half rears back out of his reach. “"We don't want to hurt you!"”

Khopesh pulls back and watches your…transparent face? In the moonlight he can see the watery shine on your skin; it's just less visible at the moment. “Why would I fear you my love? You Saved us!”

Your face emotes disbelief. “”Are you JOKING!? LOOK at us! LOOK at what We are! LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE CAPABLE OF!”” You gesture to the dead mangled body in the water. ““We are dangerous! We shouldn't! We shouldn't be like this…””

Khopesh's expression falls for a moment, you turn away. “How did you…become like this?” He isn't sure what else to say or ask. 

You glance back, before answering. “”We are…Fey Touched. Our whole family holds this trait.””

“Fey touched?” Claude asks. 

““Some creatures of magic are born. Others are…made. Some families hold a trait, whether it's due to genetics, a blessing, or a curse placed long ago…we receive gifts. We don't get to choose them, some are benign, some are beautiful and even useful and others…”” You look at your reflection. “”Others are like Us.””

Your invisible eyes meet his as you speak. “”We are Nuckalavee, we are two that become one when plunged beneath the waters together. The Ocean heals and protects us, and Our ancient legends say that our urges to drown and devour led us to be hunted to extinction. It is why…it is why we do not go in the water…””

“This…Fey touch? It would've changed you if you'd gone swimming with me, wouldn't it?” Khopesh suddenly understands why you seemed to be adverse to it, passing it off as not wanting to get wet. 

You nod. “”Yes, we are stronger together, but our human side would still change had they gone into the water. We…did not want you to see us this way…”” Your head hangs low before him,  ““That Chaplain was right about one thing…we should not exist.””

“Don't say that!” Khopesh snarls. Your form reels back in slight shock but he continues. “You are not Wrong! You are not Evil! THAT!” He growls pointing to the Chaplain's corpse. “THAT IS EVIL! BURNING YOUR HOME ON THE ASSUMPTION YOU WERE MAGIC! MAKING YOU GROVEL FOR OUR LIVES, FUCKING IMPALING YOU WITH A SWORD AND MAKING US WATCH!”

“YOU protected us! YOU saved our lives when that dead meat BASTARD went back on his word!” Khopesh urges coming closer. “You were protecting yourself and Others. You are not evil. You do not enjoy killing. Trust me I've seen what that looks like.”

“You are Not wrong for existing.” Khopesh declares, relieved tears coming to his eyes. “And I for one am so…So happy you are like this because it means I get to live more days with you.”

You pause for a moment, and your human and horse faces look at each other. Then…to his surprise, you dismount. 

“Oh so…they can still be separated in this form.” Olly examines. 

“That's…a relief.” Claude replies, still very unsure about what he's seeing. 

The water comes up to your waist as you approach Khopesh, you could walk on top of it if you wanted but…you don't. 

Your flesh is still translucent from the seawater. 

Your hair is still tangling, unnatural kelp. 

Your arms are long, and strange, and clawed, And stained with blood.

But in that moment, you cannot find it in yourself to care. You wrap them around Khopesh, who gladly returns the gesture, trembling and purring with all he has. 

“Lullaby! My Lullaby! You're wonderful!” He croons. “Precious and strong! I love you! I've loved you for so long!” He babbles, almost madly. 

You look up at him. “How long?” 

“I liked you when I first met you. You were interesting! Fun and hesitant, but still willing to play with me.” Khopesh cooes. “Then I came to love you as a friend, I wanted to spend more time with you! I cherished every moment! And now…” He looks at you, seriously. “And now my hearts burn for you- Ah wait bad word for right now! My hearts Yearn for you.”

Despite your pain, you smile. 

“You were my small joyful fascination. Then my cherished friend. In fact you still Are that!! But regardless what we have or haven't been I Love you all the more now because…” His shoulders begin to buckle as the sobs come. “B-because, I almost Lost you.”

You feel your own crying start up. “I…I feel the same way! I was just so scared!” You hold him tighter. “I was scared! If you knew my secret, you'd never want to speak to me again!” 

““IF YOU HURT RIDER. I BREAK YOU ON ROCKS AND RAKE YOU ACROSS SHARP SEA BEAKS!”’  Your voice suddenly comes out more distorted, which startles Khopesh until your human form turns back to your mount. 

“TUMI!” You chastise. “I'm sorry Khopesh, you know how protective Turmeric is…”

Khopesh…can't help but laugh with delight. “I'd sooner gouge my own eyes out with barnacles dear Mare.”

The horse doesn't send a message through you this time, instead snorting and stamping in the water. As if saying he damn well better keep his word. 

He will, oh by the stars and heavens above he Will keep his word. He purrs more, simply so happy to be holding you and that you are both alive.

“I'm sorry I couldn't save your metronome too. I actually had two of them but…” You glance back to the smoldering embers of your once prosperous home. 

It's then that Olleanderos chimes in. “Ah well, I happened to snag this before we jumped into battle.” He digs in his waterproof pack and holds up Khooesh's cracked treasure. “The Chaplain dropped it when you pulled him under.”

Khopesh's entire expression brightens further, his ear fins wriggling happily as he takes the item in his hand while keeping the other around you. 

“It appears mostly intact, though it may still need repairs if it is to sing again.” Olly explains. 

Khopesh smiles, holding the small device, and you close to his hearts. “Thank You Little Brothers, for helping me save my Treasure, Both of them.”

You rest your head on his chest, the sea water is starting to dry on certain areas of your skin, turning it more opaque as it does. Your slowly shrinking hands gently trace along the metronome as well. 

To think it's all that remains of your home is startling, but at least in this moment, you have hope. 

You have Tumi, your other horses and animals can be found and collected, and you have dear friends, a family, and a beloved who will help you get through this. The boys are speaking about contacting their friends and battle brothers to help clean up and rebuild at this very moment. 

You take the ammonite necklace as Khopesh finally has a chance to present it to you, and you gratefully place it on your throat. 

You love it, just as he hoped you would. 

Authors Note: HOLY SHIT WHY MY FICS ALWAYS END UP SO LOOOOOOONG!

[obitinenovelwhen]

Obitine Week Day 6 - Free Day

The Happiest Man in the Galaxy

Although he hadn’t been married to Satine for long—less than a month, in fact—Obi-Wan had known her now for over a year. And not just any ordinary year of dating or courtship; they had spent the past year on the run, living hand to mouth and never sure whether they’d live to see the next day. As a result, they knew each other far better than most newlyweds, to the point that Obi-Wan sometimes wondered if he knew Satine better than he did himself.

Meaning he could tell when his wife, who had slipped back into bed after a morning trip to the ‘fresher, had something to tell him.

Blinking some of the sleep from his eyes—the sun was out, but they’d had a long night talking through treaties with representatives from the Houses of Mandalore—Obi-Wan rolled over to study her. “Has something happened?”

She smiled. “In a matter of speaking, yes.”

He returned her smile, bemused. “Something positive, then, I take it?”

“Something wonderful…but perhaps a bit surprising.” Her smile widened. “Do you remember when I began feeling ill a few weeks ago, just before our wedding?”

“I do. You said it was probably stress from all the negotiations you’d overseen.”

“That’s what I thought at the time, but I’ve continued to feel ill at random points since. And no,” she added before he could open to his mouth to reply, “I don’t believe it’s simply stress. Not for this long.”

Obi-Wan frowned. “Why not?”

“Because as it happens, I’m more than 8 weeks late on my period. Which could also be explained by stress if it weren’t for this.”

Satine a held out small bio-reader device, the same as the ones he had seen used in the Temple Halls of Healing to check for signs of infection, hyper- or hypoglycemia, or any number of conditions that could be detected through small fluid or tissue samples. As he leaned closer to squint at the tiny display screen, Obi-Wan could just make out a single word in basic: Positive. Nothing more, nothing less.

His frown turned to one of mild confusion to one of concern. “Satine, you’re starting to worry me. You don’t have a blood infection, do you?”

“Obi, I know you can be a bit daft sometimes,” she said, giving him a playful slap on the stomach, “but this is a bit much, even for you. I’ve missed my period for more than two months and I feel like retching nearly everyday—I’m obviously pregnant!”

Obi-Wan stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, the words trying to set in. It wasn’t all that long ago that it seemed impossible for them to even be together; it had been his split-second decision a month ago to ask to stay with her, to let her know that he would leave the Order for if she’d have him, that had saved their relationship. And now she telling him…she was saying that she was…

He sat up, mouth agape. “You’re having a baby!”

She laughed. “Yes, that’s generally what ‘pregnancy’ means, my dear. I know the Jedi taught you that much, at least.”

“They did, I just—“ He laughed to himself, gazing at her with a renewed wonder. “I just wasn’t expecting this. How long have you known?”

“Known for certain? Only just now, with the test. But I began suspecting when I was more than two weeks late for my period—although we were both so busy, with all of the treaties and negotiations, it…never seemed like a good time to know for certain.”

He cupped her face, running a thumb back and forth over her cheek. “I, for one, am glad that you know for certain now, and that you were able to share it with me.” He paused a beat to regard her. “I take it by your reaction that this is…good news?”

“It is now—but if we were still on the run or if the war was still going on, I doubt I’d have been able to continue the pregnancy.”

He nodded. “I understand. And if at any point you change your mind, I would still support you.”

She smiled up at him, covering the hand cupping her face with her own. “I know you would, Obi. I wouldn’t have married you or asked you to stay if you wouldn’t support me in that way.”

“I love you,” he said, bending to kiss her forehead.

“And I love you,” she said.

“And you’re having a baby,” he said again, unable to contain his grin.

“I’ll need to have some scans with my med droid to confirm, but yes, I hope so.

He let his hand slip from her face as he lowered himself back onto his side. “And assuming everything goes smoothly, we’ll be parents in precisely…how long would you say?”

She glanced down at the bio-reader. “I’m not certain, but based on my last period, I’d say a little less than…7 months?”

“Then in 7 months,” he said, pausing to give her another kiss, this time on the lips, “I shall be the happiest man in the galaxy.”

@weekofobitine

[39nyx]

so. i just finished the winter soldier: cold front. and oh my god.

background: I never got into Marvel before Marvel Rivals gave me an excuse to. And I have specifically become really into Bucky/The Winter Soldier. I was so close to watching just the Captain America movies purely for him, but my best friend wanted me to properly watch all the MCU movies together. Problem is: he’s been sick for a bit, I have a newfound obsession with Bucky Barnes, and I can’t watch the movies he’s in yet. So I’m sitting here like a poser reblogging Bucky fanart with no prior knowledge save for a short rundown of his lore.

UNTIL I find out from a YouTube comment about this book. And that it seemingly has its own canon separate to the comics/MCU. So obviously I picked it up from my local library that day.

Therefore awkwardly enough this is my first real source of official Bucky content. I don’t know what’s changed here besides the book-exclusive characters. But I seriously enjoyed this so much. (spoilers ahead!)

I looove the back n forth between 1941 young Bucky + 1954 “Agent Vronsky”/The Winter Soldier, all the subtle parallels between the chapters and the way we slowly start to piece information together.

I think Ginny was a fun character, and seriously added to the heart-wrench. Especially when we see her die before we’re even through with their backstory T-T

I also oddly really loved Rostova. She was an interesting character because the way we see her, sorta through Bucky’s perspective, she was pretty much the only person seemingly there for him/backing him up. So even I found myself liking her before I remembered, like, where we are LMAO. That mixed with the small bouts of suspicion that would come up… Obviously I knew we couldn’t trust her, but she gave the illusion that she was different, that maybe she cared.

Which makes the end of the book. Oh, so much better.

It’s funny, knowing how the story will end, but still finding yourself rooting for Bucky to make it out.

Bucky struggling against Rostova, literally shot in both legs, talking back, being the most defiant and human she’s probably seen him, and it actually affecting her. How much easier it must be for her to do her job when he’s nothing but their soldier, an empty shell of a person. And when she finally gives in, and they exchange names, a piece of who they really are, SHE DIES, TOO— Everyone around this man just gets taken from him.

Another part I’m obsessed with is where Bucky starts realizing he’s missing memories and checks for all his scars, none of which he has any recollection of. Like, this whole idea is so terrifying, seeing these permanent marks of traumatic injuries and not even knowing where or when they came from. And the fact that one of them is from a suicide attempt??? When he was describing all the scars he found, and the one on his wrist was described, I was like… Am I misunderstanding?? Is that actually what it sounds like, only to be later confirmed, and ughhh. There’s something that just hits so different about a character who wants to die because they should have died, where death would actually be a mercy. But, still, he’s denied even that. (God, where he begs Rostova to kill him…)

And STEVE— oh my god the crumbs of Steve we get in this book. I almost wish there was more, but I guess that’s where the comics/movies come in, huh. But I can’t get over the way he was described in the small scene we did get. Bucky’s in such a low/lonely place and is immediately so enamored by/drawn to Steve. (not in a ship way bc the book goes by what i think are the comic ages but)

“His eyes were the blue of a gas-range flame, and Bucky felt himself leaning toward the warmth.” (367)

LIKE HELLO?? omfg

And another random thing in the 1954 chapters, he seems to nearly always have some sort of pain or discomfort in general/regarding his arm. Like, he’s just never comfortable, I really liked those little details that add to the terrible setting/vibe.

Ugh. This is a very messy jumble of my thoughts but I really really enjoyed this book, I nearly finished it the day I got it. I don’t know how it holds up in regards to greater canon depictions, but as something who is new here… so good!!!! so painful!!! I love my tragic characters and oh god is Bucky Barnes a tragedy. I actually want to buy this book at some point to own it bc 1) the cover art is sick 2) i wanna reread it now 3) i’ll definitely wanna reread it after watching the movies

I also want to draw, like, all of that second to last chapter. ack.

[evilmafuyu666]

does anyone else feel like regretevator has a problem with tonal mismatch, or am i just getting upset over nothing ?

i feel like the best example of this is the way they handle mark and wallter's divorce. they keep jumping between "haha funny i miss my wife tails mark is sad and cringe" and "this was a deeply traumatic event for both of them and was the culmination of unaddressed problems in both of their lives". obviously i enjoy a good Divorce Joek here and there but it gets to a point where i genuinely can't tell if the writers want us to take it seriously or not. it feels like they're pointing at mark, somebody who is suffering immensely not just because of his divorce, but because of his own trauma related to trying to free himself from a hivemind and form his own identity, and going "lmao get a load of this fucking bozo", when he has plenty of potential for funny interactions that don't revolve around that topic. remember when mark had interactions that weren't about his divorce? i remember. that was nice.

infected and melanie are also good examples. pre-release, melanie was a source of constant jokes along the lines of "MELANIE IS DEAD LOL" and "MELANIE IS NEVER GETTING ADDED TO THE GAME LOL", and it got to a point where it started to. not be funny? and felt more like they were intentionally taunting people who liked her and wanted her to be a real npc. obviously now we know that they'd been working on her the whole time and the jokes were only meant to lead people astray, but her release caused a whole new problem by depicting her as somebody with crippling ptsd and anxiety as a result of what folly did to her, while still adding tons of stickers that make jokes about her being decapitated. like i said, a few japes here and there would be fine, but we've just ended up in another situation where the event that they're joking about is depicted as something very bleak and horrific in-universe, which makes all of the jokes about it feel in poor taste.

aside from wallmark, infected is probably the next worst offender here. they can NOT decide if they want his illness to be treated like a gag or as something genuinely horrifying. it's funny at first when you see the interactions involving people going "ew you're yucky" and him going "n4h m4n 1m n0t yucky -_- l0l mudk1p5", but then you delve deeper into what's really happening with him and. JESUS CHRIST? he's not just some ucky yucky guy, he is somebody whose psyche is rotting away as the result of a parasitic infection that caused him to lose his sense of identity, and if we take the floppies into consideration, is leaving him at risk of eviction and is causing him to scream in agony in his sleep. when you consider all of that, it makes the fact that he seems to be one of the designated comedic relief characters really uncomfortable. he's also a victim of the same jokes they made about melanie pre-release, yeucc and makos both saying things like "KASPER IS DEAD LOL" as a joke like it doesn't have horrific implications in-universe. not to mention everything with poptart, any pet owner can tell you that the idea of their pet being eaten alive and killed is a HORRIFYING THOUGHT, and yet there are dozens of stickers depicting unpleasant either eating poptart, or about to eat poptart. this complaint definitely leans more into the "i am a sensitive weenie baby when it comes to animal death", but i can't imagine i'm the only one who feels this way.

i'm not even gonna get into everything between him and lampert. "skaterlight queerbaiting is dangerously close to no longer being a joke and becoming a valid complaint" could be its own post at this point.

this could all just be the result of autistic empathy cringe, but as regretevator leans more into serious storytelling, i feel like this is becoming more and more of an issue. i have no idea what's supposed to be taken at face value and what's supposed to be taken as a joke, and what are supposed disturbing and upsetting events in the characters' lives are having their narrative weight taken away by the writers treating them like a funny gag, which only serves to annoy the fans of those characters who are invested in their stories without the sense of ironic detachment that the devs seem to have. i think it's possible for regretevator to have a balance of haha funnies and serious writing, but what it's got going on right now? this ain't it chief.

this probably reads like those rants 2010s cartoon reviewers would go on about how modern spongebob is too mean to squidward, but who give a fuck.

[restinslices]

If Kuai Liang Was A Sub

This has been sitting on my docs and for whatever reason, I didn’t post it. Anyway imma make the same disclaimer I did for Bi-Han’s part. I am a virgin. I get zero bitches. Absolutely zero play. Take everything I say with a grain of salt and if you think it’s inaccurate then damn. Idk. Minors MOOOOVEEE.

I feel like unlike Bi-Han, he'd be way more accepting of his role. Bi-Han is like, "sub? could never be me!", and Kuai Liang is like "yeah, absolutely"

I could see foreplay being his thing. To him, what adds up to sex is just as important as sex. 

Honestly I think he'd see all parts of sex as equally important. The leading up to, the actual act, and the aftercare. 

Remember when I said Bi-Han pissed you off on purpose because he enjoyed punishments? I don't think Kuai Liang would be like that. 

Don't get me wrong, he could do stupid shit at times or break rules but I feel like it'd legit be on accident. 

Like you'd tell him he can't touch you as you ride him, but he'd completely forget that and do it anyway. 

Your pleasure to him would be the most important. If he doesn't cum, it's a bummer. But you not cumming? Absolutely not. 

He moans loudly and gasps. idk why I get this vibe, but I do. 

He's also shameless. I feel like if someone was like "I heard you having sex last night", Bi-Han would be confrontational. Tomas would be embarrassed. Kuai Liang would apologize but would turn around and ask you to fuck him harder this time. 

Because let's bffr, what is anyone gonna do to him? 

He'd be into being tied up by his own ropes. It'll be all he could think of when he's using them in other situations and honestly? Gets him determined to return home to you. 

Kinks I'd think he'd have would be restraints, overstimulation, roleplay, orgasm control, praise and/or degradation (idk if he'd like one over the other. pick whichever you like), and dare I say a knife kink?

Obviously don't fucking stab him but some threatening? He's into it. 

He loves making you feel good and loves when you use him to make yourself feel good 

Adding onto that, idk why but he's giving "ride me in my sleep" energy. consensually of course, this would obviously be something discussed. 

I can't put my finger on why, but I just really feel like he'd enjoy waking up to you using him. Maybe he enjoys the thought that you constantly want him. Once again though, this would be something discussed beforehand. Don't just try this shit at home. This would require lots of talks, boundaries, knowing when it'd be ok, shit like that. imma say it again, do not randomly try this shit. 

A punishment I think he'd hate is not being able to touch you. He'd be away a lot on Liu Kang's orders, so when you're together he wants to touch you so he remembers it when he's away. When you're having sex, he especially wants to touch you. So you saying "no" would be hard for him

I know we're mainly talking about sex but I think it'd be more than that for him. I'm not saying you control everything he does but this man is probably stressed out all the time. He has two brothers who have constant beef (which is one sided fr), he's probably still missing his dad, he's constantly risking his life for others, and life just has a lot of bullshit going on. 

Serving Earthrealm means he's always doing stuff for other people. So sometimes he likes when you're the one choosing what he'll do for the day because he knows you'll pick stuff that would benefit him. Does that make sense?

Like, non sexually you may say “hey I want you to go take a long bath, then put some clothes on. I already have the water and your clothes ready”. Shit like that. Don't get it misconstrued, you're not becoming his mom. You're just taking more of a leadership role, which he appreciates. 

Sexually though, it'd tie into orgasm control. You'd tell him what to do, where to touch, when to stop, where to look, etc. He knows whatever you're having him do is to make him feel good. To put himself first, which he has a hard time doing. 

I'm not saying y'all don't have straight “I'm tryna fuck” type of sex, but I think he'd enjoy some soft stuff occasionally. Helps him relax. 

As for aftercare I think unlike Bi-Han, he'd enjoy talking after. Especially depending on what was going on. 

Softer sex probably results in cuddling then talking about whatever. Something more intense would include a breather, checking in, then whatever else he needs. Sometimes it's a bath immediately, sometimes it's playing with his hair to bring him back down. 

Sometimes it's you reminding him that he's doing his best. Sex can be a good way to relieve tension, but it's not a permanent fix. You like to remind him that he's a good person and sometimes bad shit happens to good people. Just a nice deep chat. 

He gives me “I'm tryna find my wife” at the club vibes, idk. is that outta line?😭

He's not as soft as Tomas but he's not as hardheaded as Bi-Han. He's a nice in between. 

Y’all already know Tomas is next. Stay tuned

[agatharkn3ss]

Hi! Maybe I missed it but how do you think: what could have caused "the battle" between Agatha and Rio? I mean besides the fact that Rio could have done something to Nicholas (as we believe), at the beginning she came to Agatha with a specific reason, was doing her job. And it seems that closer to the end of the show we may see the outcome of this battle.

Does she really want to hurt Agatha or it was just, ahem, foreplay? What if her "job" is a hidden mission like serving someone or following the code of The Death if there is one.

Everything is complicated by the fact that there is obviously a blood or some other marital connection between them because of which they cannot kill each other, therefore, she needs Agatha alive but for what purpose?

AGATHARIO AND THEIR FEELINGS

Hi! Sorry it took me ages to respond! I am still mulling over this and I can only provide some thoughts rather than a coherent theory. The more I rewatch the episodes and read Jac's amazing insights, the more I feel that "the battle" was because of Nicholas.

Agatha and Rio have such an amazing chemistry and it is very clear they have long history and are drawn to each other like magnets. So for them to be apart, something big must have happened. I believe Nicholas died in some tragic circumstances and maybe more recent than we think. I am still torn between what could've caused his death. I don't think any complicated Darkhold trade was involved, but rather it was a much simpler cause, which makes it even more painful to Agatha that she couldn't prevent it. So I think maybe he was hit by a car (which would explain Agatha's extreme reaction when Teen was hit in ep.1). There is a theory that maybe Nicholas, being a Blood Witch, had some powers himself. And that he used them when playing with Agatha. Since she couldn't control it, she syphoned his magic and he died. However, generally in Marvel we see that kids don't get their powers until they become teenagers and it sounds like Nicky was a toddler.

Either way, he dies and Rio has to take him because it's her job as Lady Death. Agatha would be pleading with her not to do it and bring him back, but there is nothing that can be done. So Agatha shuts Rio off, blaming her for taking away her son, but really it's just a way to block the truth that it was her own fault. She hates herself but projects it onto Rio. Runs away, acquires Darkhold and hides from Rio - as a revenge but also to hide from the memory of that tragedy. The only thing that she holds on to is Nicky's hair in that locket. And it HAS to be Nicky's hair, because every single time she pays any attention to it, we hear Nicky's theme playing in the background.

The thing is, Nicky was Rio's son too. She is also in pain and had to go through the torture of sending her own son to the underworld. And yet, instead of finding some comfort in each other, Agatha doesn't even give Rio the chance to express or talk through her grief. Even worse, she acts as if Rio did it on purpose, adding even more hurt. And then just disappears (literally ghosting Rio), without any explanation or hope that she will come back. Rio seems to always be so in tune with Agatha - we see the glimpses of it in the spell reality in ep.1. But when Agatha hides, Rio can't even "feel" her any more (similar to when Wanda cried over Vision's body and said "I can't feel you").

So when Rio can finally feel Agatha again and finds her, her first thoughts are probably that of absolute anger for the pain that Agatha's disappearance caused. But then she realises that Agatha is not herself. She's Agnes O'Connor and doesn't even remember Rio. So for Rio to get her revenge or any kind of closure, she needs to bring Agatha out of it. But in this process, as she gets to spend some the time with her, and she realises how much she missed her companion. And that anger slowly starts to give space to yearning.

So when she finally has the change to confront the real Agatha, she has this total mix of emotions - she is oh so angry and hurt, but she has also remembered why she fell in love in the first place. And that's why we get this "playful" fight.

For Agatha, this is the first time she sees Rio since Nicky's. So her initial reaction is "I hate you". She doesn't know what to expect from Rio and probably doesn't realise her pain - maybe she pushed the truth so far away and still believes that Rio taking Nicky away was a clear sign that she didn't care and didn't have a heart (seems like she only realised that during the "she's my scar" confession). So when Agatha chokes her, she means it, because she thinks she's fighting for her life. She knows she can't actually kill Death, but she will do whatever she needs to buy some precious time.

But Rio states "I missed you" and seems to be toying with her. She seems to be enjoying this because she is no longer as angry as she was when she first saw Agatha. She no longer intends to kill her. But she enjoys the physical punishment, taking the rare opportunity that Agatha can actually feel this pain for once and can't just magic it away. It feels like a little victory to be able to humiliate her.

Yet at the end, she probably realises this victory doesn't actually feel like she thought it would. Maybe she even feels sorry to be taking advantage of her when she's not even able to defend herself. And deep down she recognises that this hate and pain all come from the simple fact that she was denied Agatha's company and maybe there is still a chance to repair that.

So she softens her stance, drops the blade, gives in. Agatha is relieved but surprised (there is a tear). She doesn't know what to think about it. When Rio heals her, she doesn't know if this is an act of love or just to mock her.

I think this is why, when they re-join on the Witches Road, we see a completely different dynamic between them. They are confused. But also maybe enough time has passed that they can be near each other again. I think they are exploring it and are probably surprised at how easy it is and how well they still know each other. So when Rio next threatens her in ep.5, we see Agatha reacts differently - she immediately responds with a joke because she knows Rio is not going to hurt her. They enjoy the fact they can flirt and play with their dark humour "death" jokes again.

I think Jac Schaeffer pretty much confirms this in her ep.5 interview when she says "They’re exes, and so it’s that thing of, like, you haven’t seen an ex in a really long time, there is a lot of anger, there’s a lot of resentment, and a lot of heat in a negative way that comes out at the top. But if you are then put in a situation where there is, like, time in, and exposure to, and feelings are still there, and there’s also the muscle memory of that love, then you slip in to those behaviors."

Now. After all that, I still don't know what Rio's end game is. Why she came to find Agatha and warned her about Salem Seven. I think that maybe she has a job to do, one that Agatha won't like, but she's playing a triple agent so that she can protect Agatha in her own way.

They have yet to reconcile and have a proper conversation about Nicky. I think Agatha holds on to the locket because she still has a hope that she can bring him back somehow. Maybe the hair has some sort of spell that still binds Nicky to this world, making him a ghost. But Rio hates ghosts and could not bear it. She knows this would just hurt Nicky even more, so she needs Agatha to destroy the locket. So I don't expect them to just fall back into each others' arms. But I also think it would be highly inconsistent to just have these two battle to the end again.

Hope this makes some sense! I will have to take a break now and reread it after some time...

[transhetanybodys]

As I am going through my Hamilton phase now for some reason, I've been having a lot of thoughts about it that I'll try to concisely gather here. It's faced criticism for romanticizing the founding fathers and portraying them as more sympathetic than they really were (i.e. Hamilton married into a slave owning family and wasn't actually super pro-immigrant), which I think is fair, but I would also respond to that point by arguing that with the themes of legacy and looking ahead to the future where people who never knew you will be telling your story and you'll have no control over how they do it, it makes sense on a meta level why the characters come off as more sympathetic than they did in real life.

They seem to be semi-subconsciously aware of the audience and purposefully trying to present themselves sympathetically because of that, with the fourth wall breaks and stuff like Hamilton not wanting to refer to the play Macbeth by name even though he in universe is not in a theatre which kind of suggests to me that he knows on some level that he is in a theatre out of universe (the rule about not naming the play Macbeth only applies in theatres) and Burr directly introducing characters to the audience and trying to sell himself as a good person to us/do damage control/lamenting his fate to us in The World Was Wide Enough. And then of course Eliza's gasp at the end is her becoming fully consciously aware of the audience.

I do not know to what extent Lin Manuel Miranda intended for the characters to be semisubconsciously aware of the fact that they are in a play and that they have an audience or if he intended this at all, but with death of the author I think that I can gather sufficient evidence to support this interpretation as a viable one. Still, I have gotten really attached to this concept/interpretation to the point that I've been considering trying to do a rewrite of Hamilton where I take it much further than it's taken in canon if I ever get the time. My ideas are pretty out there and I recognize that, but I think there's some good potential with them.

Imagine if there was a framing device where the characters were temporarily brought out of their afterlives after their deaths (mostly Heaven but there could also be a joke where it's implied that King George didn't come from there) to an extradimensional plane/stage, created by a historian/history writer in some kind of deal with the devil that he struck where he got to bring all of the relevant players in the period of American history that Hamilton covers (some like Benjamin Franklin are obviously missing from Hamilton and thus wouldn't be in this iteration either but let's just ignore that) into this extradimensional plane so that he could get the story of what happened over that period of history directly from them. Hamilton in particular is one of his main specialty areas, so he wants it to especially be centered around him.

After the characters freak out about the fact that they've been randomly summoned from the afterlife, they quickly turn to being concerned about their legacies and start to bombard the historian with questions about what the people in his time think of them. He tells them that answering their questions before they've told him their story would bias how they tell the story, and thus he won't tell them until after they're done telling it. He's going to write a book based on what they tell them, he says, so they can directly influence how they'll be remembered going forward by how they tell their story to him. This is what primarily gets them interested in this exercise of telling him their story, although of course there would be immense variation in how the different characters respond to this situation and how their responses evolve over time with added information.

They realize that Philip, Hercules, Lafayette, and Peggy didn't get summoned with the rest of them because they were off doing something that is beyond the comprehension of mortals on a different plane of existence at the time that the summoning ritual took place (in my head when the other characters explain what they're off doing the descriptions are replaced with eldritch-esque sounds that the historian can't comprehend), and thus Laurens, Madison, Jefferson, and Maria respectively volunteer to play both themselves and them in this musical about their story. Insert jokes about Laurens playing his lover's son and calling him daddy here.

The musical proceeds in a similar way to canon, except the element I described earlier of them trying to sell themselves as sympathetic to an audience they're semisubconsciously aware of is ramped up to 11, because they are obviously consciously aware of the historian. Characters who like each other like Hamilton and Laurens hype each other up as good people who deserve to be remembered fondly, while characters who don't like each other like Hamilton and Jefferson trash each other and each other's attempts to sell themselves as sympathetic to the historian. For example, during the first Cabinet Battle, something that could happen is Madison stage whispering to Jefferson that Hamilton married into a slave owning family in life after Hamilton roasts him for having owned slaves, Jefferson triumphantly pointing that out, and Hamilton trying to defend himself.

For some additional concepts I have for this, Hamilton and Burr reconciled their differences at some point in the centuries they've been in Heaven and became friends again, but the fighting they do over Burr trying to sell himself as sympathetic while describing why he killed him reignites their rivalry and causes them to hate each other again. Hamilton was willing to forgive him for the whole murder thing until he tried to say that he (Burr) couldn't let him (Hamilton) make an orphan out of his grown adult daughter while Hamilton in contrast had small children at the time, at which point he started to reconsider that forgiveness. Hamilton, Laurens, Angelica and Eliza (and Martha Laurens but she wasn't one of the people who was summoned, so she would just be mentioned to also be a part of the relationship) have all at some point formed a polyamorous relationship in Heaven where the only two that aren't dating are Angelica and Eliza, obviously, because they're sisters.

When they're done with the production/telling their story, they all stand for a moment contemplating everything before Eliza goes over to the historian and asks him to answer their questions about their legacies and what people in his time think of them, now that they've fulfilled their end of the bargain. He responds something like "See for yourself" and gestures towards the audience, and the characters all see it for the first time. They realize that they've been performing for us, the audience, this entire time and not just the historian. There was never a book, the point was always this play. After the play, during the time when the actors interact with the audience, they stay in character and ask them questions about what they think of them and what they thought of their performance. Maybe there's some jokes like Hamilton and Jefferson still trashing each other and asking people some variant on "You liked me better than him, right?" Anyway I think all of this would be cool and I might write it at some point.

[animation-is-my-jam]

How do you see something like bigotry in Fair City? In your headcanon, is it like nonexistent or are they're like homophobes in this gay city?

Thank you for the ask!

Tw: Discussion of speculated bigotry(?)

Interesting question!! And one I've thought about, too, since it kinda is part of any worldbuilding I think of even in AUs, but also in the show itself since, of course I like to just think about the society of fair city in general.

But to answer, there's not really bigotry in the way that it's prominent or normalized, or some forms of bigotry just don't exist. Why? Because im going to use the meta logic of fair city being such a hilarious case of being sanitized in a way that absolutely no way that there would be realistic forms of hate and history in that universe to reflect a climate that would facilitate those forms of bigotry. The Wordgirl earth is so strange and obviously its a cartoon from pbs so I think it would be funny to still have that energy within Fair City at least to keep up the feeling of being a silly PG town. Like you think the citizens of fair city who aren't the villains or Becky know curse words? No! It's why I bring up the joke that Fair City itself is kind of like an innocent sheltered kid since the city seems so sheltered already. Outside of Fair City is its own story, I think then the rest of the world is relatively more ordinary, or i guess yucky realistic in how people are and society despite living in this dumb cartoon world. I do tackle themes that are in part because of bigotry bc more than ever it is in an issue I really care about, and of course it'll affect my writing, but that's more outside of fair city. Because I do want to give the impression of that weird, naive whimsy Fair City has in show. Also, jokes of outsiders genuinely getting culture shocked that yes, the citizens are stupid disloyal idiots BUT they don't even know what rascim is.

Things like queerphobia though is a contentious thing since obviously being queer is not really a thing that seen as too strange, but remember that I am basing some things from within the show and the culture outside of it (plus time period lore). Fair City is a sheltered baby, but we're still in the 2000s (in show and in my au), and some things do remain in forms of societal rudeness. Aka fatshaming or beauty standards in gendered binary. So you'll still get things like incidental internalized queerphobia of some kind or insecurities in physical presentation (esp from teens). And of course just because most are happy naive silly goobers there's not to say there aren't any bad apples in fair city that have shitty ideas or opinions or that they could take the empty brains of the citizens and malleable them to something hateful. I mean look at how miss power just started with being rude and now everyone wanted to be 💀, I swear the citizens could be convinced to join a cult. oh man its a good thing that most of them at least know that deep down they could never be genuine homophobes or anything because they have a culture of just being respectful to anything. Like you could tell them about the added genders and they'll just go sure and think it's fine. Most of them are fucking queer anyway they just need to get past the 2000s/lh

[khaoala]

I can’t believe it’s over. What am I supposed to do with my Saturdays now? What am i supposed to do without all the emibonnie content we’ve been blessed with these past 12 weeks (I know they have that fanmeet coming up but…).

Ok, let’s see if i can try to collect my thoughts and make them sound semi coherent.

I was a little surprised by the 4mo time jump but i guess i get why it was necessary. Kawi has mostly recovered, pamrak continue to be fucking adorable with their postcards, and the oat/rak team up to go visit nene was sweet. All of that leading up to the greatest and sweetest sibling hug of all time. Rak really does have healing hugs 🫂 (I think I could use one right about now 😭).

Rak never fails to make me so proud every time she stands up to her dad and talks back to him, she has me fist punching the air and yelling “Tell him, Rak! TELL THAT SON OF A BITCH OFF!” And of course I can’t not mention nene sweeping in (im gonna miss my little lurker) going on about “WE this” and “WE that”. She blamed khem for taking away her family AND THEN CAME IN AND TOOK HIS FAMILY AWAY. Congrats, Nene you got your revenge, and as an added bonus, got yourself some siblings and a mother figure (and possibly a gf too). Khem may still be alive after all of that (at least he didn’t get redeemed) but here’s to hoping one of the maids steps up and poisons his food 🤞🏽🤞🏽.

You know what happened next….poor old, sweet, precious grandma bua. GONE TOO SOON! SHE DIDNT EVEN GET A CHANCE TO SEE RAK ONE LAST TIME AND THAT IS JUST UNFORGIVABLE! Last week when I saw the ep preview and saw that pamrak would be separated I had joked about the reunion sex but god to have their reunion to be at grandmas funeral!!!! DOUBLE UNFORGIVABLE!!! I think I cried the most during that scene compared to the rest of the episode. One good thing that did come out of it was at the end when everyone was ganging up on poor puppy dog rak 🥺 and we were blessed with the another ever elusive Nene smile. Happiness and having friends and family looks good on her 🥹.

Ok, so the first time jump I understood but then putting in a four fucking year time jump???? What was the purpose of that? 4 years of pamrak was taken from us!!!! And am I to believe that in 4 years oat and nene weren’t already dating? Did we witness the start of a first date??? FOUR WHOLE YEARS JUST SKIPPED RIGHT OVER!! The biggest blow for me was that we WERENT GIVEN A WEDDING!! What the actual fuck. I mean yea they were adorable as ever waking up in the bed together with their rings on and telling the kids that they were WIVES!!!! But but but the wedding 😔.

I don’t remember every aspect of the Pluto finale other than them getting back together and getting married but one finale I remember quite well was the Reverse 4 You finale. They had a part four fumble in that finale and wasted time by showing us four forgiving that girl instead of giving us more fourwa scenes. Feel like that aspect was repeated here.

That’s my only gripe; I obviously loved every other thing about this show. It has skyrocketed to the top of my gl list and will probably remain there for a long time.

-🤫

I lied. One more thing

All those years of dental school and she ends up volunteering to teach kids about brushing their teeth????

i left this one to answer today because i was a zombie yesterday and since it was the last episode, it deserves all the brainpower i can muster.

i'm afraid emibonnie and pamrak might have changed my brain chemistry forever (i'm sorry milklove, you'll always be special to me, but i think i have a new favorite). they were phenomenal. i could talk all day about them and how much they delivered flawless chemistry in their very first project together. they are the blueprint to be followed. they deserve all the praise and success that i know will come their way. i love them dearly, and i'm so glad they were who gave us this pamrak.

time skips in gmm shows have become a standard at this point, not only in gls but their bls too, so i wasn't so surprised by the 4 months jump (i was however surprised by the 4 years jump, but more of that later). seeing rak focusing on her studies and helping her mom and brother out and later bringing nene to see kawi was just very sweet. i was very pleased with that tbh. i wasn't so sure how they would bring nene to the family core, but we knew she felt guilty bc of kawi suicide attempt, so bringing her to help him heal was very sweet (and i 100% agree, rak has healing hugs and we should all get one).

rak really is someone that speaks to me in spiritual levels. i have a huge (personal) problem with the "this is a matter between me and your mother. don't get into this" kind of narratives, bc you had this manipulative asshole making everyone bend to his will the whole time, and he wants rak, who has seen all of that (and experienced it firsthand too) to stay quiet? when she very much knows better than just lower her head and let him step on them? no no. my girl has made me proud every single step of the way. so brave. i love this woman with every fiber of my being and i'll miss her tremendously. nene also was so girl boss when she got into that house and told khem to wait and see who was going to come out on top. SHE KNOWS SHE HAS PEOPLE TO SUPPORT HER. SHE HAS A SAFETY NET AND HE DOESN'T. TAKE THAT ASSHOLE.

at the time, i was so heartbroken that yai bua didn't get the chance to see rak one last time, but next day thoughts and i'm okay with that now. not everyone gets the chance to say their goodbyes, but yai knew how much rak cared for her, and how much they enjoyed their time together, even if they only had video calls to see each other. it made pam telling rak about yai's passing a lot sadder too. the two of them crying in the phone in complete silence? absolutely destroyed me.

now again, the four years jump was something really. i assume they did it to make sure rak had graduated and could teach alongside with her WIFE. but i suspended belief for very much everything else. do you want me to believe that in four years the cafe gang is only the three of them still? and that they even have jobs yet? hasn't pheem been trying to become an actor since the beginning? and it took them all four years to move on? i don't buy it. someone in the tags of my (first) oatnene post said that they pretending to not be together must be some type of roleplay before they go on dates and i'll believe that's the case bc there's no way aot wasn't insistent enough not to take nene out on a date after a few months after she joined rak's family. also, i've said it in the tags too but i'll say it again, i'm finally convinced of viewmim's chemistry. all it took was nene stop being a vengeful single minded person and start letting herself be cared for to convince me that they'll work amazingly well together.

not getting a wedding was a choice though. the moment they woke up in the bed and i saw the rings in their ring fingers i was 👀👀👀, but i thought they were engaged since i always mix up which hand is wedded and which hand is engaged. can we hope for an our skyy with the gls couples? maybe we get to see more of their married life or the wedding. i really want to see emibonnie in wedding gowns.

i think the us finale was probably the most solid finale we've had tbh. from all the recent gls i've watched at least, they had the most solid plotline and satisfactory end. something that happened with most of the shows i've watched in recent times is that i'd lose interest in the story as they got to the end of the story. but they had a grip on me from start to finish. even if i wish we've got more pamrak being domestic af, i feel nice that they tried giving us closure for all the stories they told. even khem being alone in those expensive stairs. ohh, that was delicious.

i also feel like pam teaching kids how to brush their teeth was more of a side thing. you know, you can't be cute in a pretty finale montage while someone has their mouth wide open and you're with full dentist gear, so this was a fun alternative.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello :-) I was just wondering if you have overall thoughts now on how you feel about The Drop in series one now we’ve seen all of Louis’ perspective on what happened?

I’ve been mulling it over (and trying to separate it from the fact I find the discourse in fandom about it (Lestat) annoying). I can see why the show runners wanted to do it; it makes the relationship’s toxicity much more clear and Lestat was abusive in the books, just not as clearly as 1x05 lays it out. So I can see why they wanted to give Louis (and especially Claudia) that much more motivation. I did also find Sam’s reasoning - that it’s important to show Lestat’s underlying toxic masculinity more clearly - compelling too. But I also just don’t like that they did that to Lestat. I do think it’s something that changes who he is and what he’s capable of. But maybe I’m just too much a Lestat girl and it is better for the story and it’s actually just laying out some difficult truths about him in a way that’s not comfortable. Obviously he’s a monster, even if in the books he’s a monster that generally tries his best to help and care for those he loves. Where do you land on it?

(I totally understand if you don’t want to open this can of worms, but I’d be interested in the discussion or you pointing me in the direction of your previous thoughts if that’s easier)

Hey!

All good. I have talked about this a few times, so I'll try to... condense where I am at this moment :)

So, re that "toxic masculinity" and the arc they're aiming for... I think it's important to remember here that Akasha does aim for Lestat as her tool because she does see "everything wrong with the males" in him. So that arc makes a lot of sense for them to set up.

Ultimately this is what she misjudges Lestat on though, and why she, why her quest fails - he actually isn't, and he turns against her because he isn't.

I said it before, the abuse is in the (first) book - but not at this level. And not with the added layer of domestic violence, and I think that level will come back to bite the show in the ass again and again (and the fandom is a mess because of it), because what the show showed - and what they let stand for almost two years - is something decidedly different than "two vampires fighting". Which we're supposed to take away from it now. And which is "only" the inside part of that... fight.

The outside has been hinted at in the video with Sam you're referencing now as well, totally apart from the missing blood everywhere which makes the scene unlikely to have happened as shown, there was also the hint re... something else, that Sam caught himself on. I have theorized early on that the outside might be connected to Amel, and I do think that might hold true. Which is no excuse, btw, since Amel uses certain skills and tendencies. We'll see.

So now the drop.

I am not sure if we have seen all, tbh. There were comments about something about the "blood of Akasha" that was cut from that scene, for example. It would certainly makes sense with the tower scene. Also Lestat being so frustrated with Louis and whatever discussion they had up there to drop him? Still doesn't make sense to me, but I guess that's more or less confirmed now. Still reeks like the tower drop parallel to me (that we might get in s3, who knows).

I think there is something quite powerful they could do with the drop vs certain upcoming book canon "flying scenes". I know some fans said that they destroyed that scene with 1x05, but I actually disagree. The level of trust needed would actually only enhance where they are with each other then, but we'll see.

So. After the comments re "toxic masculinity" etc (mostly by Sam) it made click for me.

I think I know why they're doing this, I think I know how they'll spin it. But I don't particularly like it.

Still, it will likely work. In the end.

After a lot of (fandom) pains.

[hexxedundead]

Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t seen it — This is my person thoughts on the movie and my own Movie Review.

Feel free to comment and give your thoughts too.

Trigger Warning: SA/R, Violence, Blood, Drug Use

Movie Review-ish (more so my thoughts and opinion) :

I just wanna say, this move truly was great.

I’m not sure why but watching the trailer I felt like it wasn’t gonna be great. I had low hopes for it for some reason but obviously my thoughts have changed.

At first, when watching the trailer, I thought that casting choice for the men were so strange. I felt it was weird Channing Tatum was playing such a creepy dude. But while watching the movie… I get it. It was on purpose. They guys were suppose to be a weird choice and now I really liked that they casted them. Men that people were fond of. My personally, I love Channing Tatum. I have watched his movies for a long time. I watched Haley Joel Osment movies when he was a child. Simon Rex from scary movie 3, my favorite out of the franchise. Men who I loved watching. Men who felt “safe”.

Just like the main character, Frida (Naomi Ackie), who was fond of Slater King (Channing Tatum). She was essentially a fan of his who she felt an attachment for. She felt safe enough around to accept his invitation to go to his private island.

It was sad and scary… as much as the movie didn’t really seem like it throughout, once it got to the relieving of what’s actually been going on… it was very sad and scary to know that people seem one way and are totally not how it actually is. I think it truly had a great message.

I also loved the change in Sarah (Adria Arjona) who was very much about herself and trying to get the man and against other women; then coming to the understanding that women can be there for other women and sometimes that’s all you have to help you are the other women. That you need to stand will women to help them.

Another thing I liked that they added were the other characters that weren’t exactly part of the abuse, but sat back and watched. Slater King’s assistant Stacy purposefully chose to forget. Stacy representing women who stand by and let men do bad things to other women. The same thing with the character Lucas. He didn’t do anything to the women but he also didn’t do anything to help the women.

I think this movie was a wonderful representation of abused and power some men have over women. I love the symbolism within the movie and each character. It truly was a great movie.

Questions I still have:

I do wonder what the red symbolized or if it was just a creative touch throughout the movie. There was a lot of white and placements of red in just about every single shot.

What did the raspberry’s symbolize? They were constantly being shown and I felt they were a part of a bigger picture that maybe I just didn’t get.

Maybe I’m just reading into things more than I should 😂

I also am confused how Frida was there on the island before, I believe a year prior. Similar things happened and she obviously got out and didn’t remember the whole trip. Obviously the time she was on the island was lost and when she was back at home… where does she think that time went? I wish they would have explained that. She was there once before, she was brought back… but where does she, or anyone else in her life, think she was? Especially her job.

Im big on movie breakdowns and “let me explain” type videos after watching a movie. Finding things I might of missed or seeing it from another perspective. Here are a few that I enjoyed.