#oh and also that he doesn’t like it if someone DEMANDS to be referred to by different pronouns

[stars-obsession-pit]

Ghost King Danny with de-aged Dani/Ellie as his daughter (or possibly trapped in her core form healing after some traumatic experience)

Someone (maybe Jason Todd) encounters her while in the realms and misunderstands the situation to think Danny is keeping her captive or something to that effect (and probably also doesn’t quite realize who/what Danny is). Thus, they choose to “rescue” (kidnap) her—taking her with them when they leave.

So now Danny’s daughter is missing, and he’s on a warpath looking for her. But the multiverse is an impossibly big place, so he’s yet to find the specific universe they escaped to

During this, the Justice League happens to summon him to deal with an unrelated threat.

Upon arriving, Danny senses these summoners have connections to the kidnapper he’s searching for, so he demands that they “return what was taken from him” soon (probably within a week at most) or he’ll kill every last one of them himself.

The JL is immensely terrified. They knew they were dealing with an incredibly powerful entity, but they expected indifference (not caring about their issue beyond what payment they offer him) rather than outright hostility towards them.

Thus, there’s a panicked scramble to try to figure out what the hell it is he was referring to so they can return it before they’re all killed.

Oh and also that other threat they summoned Danny to deal with is still out there, so they have to try to manage that too so it doesn’t destroy them in the meantime.

They’ll likely also assume they have to figure out how to fully stop that threat too (since the Ghost King might not help them out even if they do manage to return the thing), but that’s slightly less immediate of a threat at the moment.

[mgu-h]

a bookkeeper for the people, thank you for your services 🫡

aww im just glad other people are crazy about them too!! i also keep track of things i heard repeatedly from both max and lando, or representative phrases, in order to make their dialogue sound better. if anyone is interested in some nortrell vocabulary quirks (and additional nortrell research and analysis):

phrases they both use:

That’s mint

You muppet

Let’s go!!!!

Waffling

[Anything], mate

Cheers, bro

We’ve sussed it

You idiot

Fuck off

Knob, knobhead

Bloke, brev/bruv

~Very good very nice~

Scavs (Tarkov)

Fluked it (golf)

GGs, chat

lando specifically:

‘Cause

[something], baby

C’mon Maxy boy

Oh my godt

Mega

It smells to / tastes to

Frickin’, freaking (less so now, he says fuck these days, but in the past he tended to avoid it)

[Indeterminate happy Lando noises]

[Annoying tapping or leg bouncing]

Nugget

Numpty

Joker

That's naughty

Why? (demanding)

Moron

Twat

[Criticizes himself sarcastically in the 3rd person]

max specifically:

Horrendous

Look at the state of you

Fucking hell, mate

For fuck’s sake

Jesus Christ

[repeats himself until Lando acknowledges what he said]

Shut the fuck up, I’m done

That is good, I'll give you that

Normal, normally

Don’t pull that face, none of that

Pal, buddy

Brilliant

No chance

We’ll fall out

That’s crap

What is wrong with you

All right!

It’s doing my fucking head in  

An absolute fucking shocker 

Are you mental

Fair play

Good lad

Honestly

other references (longer quotes, an argument transcript, relative bio of teen years, lando analysis):

Lando, mouth full, trying to communicate through just noises “mmm… mhhph mmmf” Max replies “I normally understand those to a degree, but that was another level” 

Max loses his patience “Stop, like why are you tapping so loud. You know what you’re really good at? Finding a fucking annoying noise to make, and then just constantly doing it.”

Lando said, “I don’t have it, Max.” Max replied, “The fact that you said my name there means you’re trying to lie or something, that’s weird, you don’t normally say that”

Lando said, “One of the things I hate the most is being bad at something.” 

[If you in any way question Max’s fashion or make a comment about his hair he will spiral and say] “Wha’ d’you mean?”

After Max ends the unhinged “golden cock” Sergei/Alexander banter, Lando tries to get back to the game, his voice returned to normal, and Max is incredulous. “Don’t just come in here like "what’s next?" all normal, like nothing happened.”

Max told Lando he would be “back in 27 seconds” because "i needed him to know i'd thought about exactly how long i would be gone before i left, instead of saying 30 seconds, which could mean anything,"

Max saw Lando before he knew him, he doesn’t remember why he was at the karting track, Lando was driving around in a little kart, he was “just tiny, mate,“ nine years old. Max even remembers the black and orange helmet Lando’d been wearing, and he just watched him for a few laps. (“You were just watching?” / “Yeah someone said, that kid won, or something.” / “I never won a race in cadets” / “They must have just said you were fast”) bankai asked: “have you been following bob around since he was nine” and max says “original fanboy”

Max talking about watching an unboxed with Lando, “I like watching them, but it is weird seeing you in them.” “Why?” “I dunno… just, I don’t know. Just don’t see you as that ‘F1 Driver,’ it’s weird. It’s just different for me.”—[Lando laughs]—“They are cool.”

Max taking too long to come back to the game, Lando sounded mad. “Stop fucking kissing her, Max, and hurry the fuck up.”

Monaco argument >> In a Dec 2021 stream, (chat called Max Lando's dog and his wag, he refuted both claims), they had an argument about max moving to monaco, lando insisting he's protecting max from being lonely and max telling him HE'LL get lonely. max claiming being alone in monaco wouldn't even bother him if he's streaming and offering to take care of the house. lando denying him, saying he's taking care of max and max's slightly sullen "thanks mate" and his Jokes like "chat, he doesn't want me there. he's ditched me. it's over. relationship's over. it's done." like the energy of the entire conversation is that they've had it many times before and max is not easy and compliant with lando leaving him behind, but lando is not listening because he's sure he knows better

Lando yelling at Max to kill a scav, Max did, but not fast enough, Lando was muttering under his breath and Max paused to take out an earbud, "Are you giving me attitude?" and then when Lando continued to bitch, mimed throwing the water from Lando's waterbottle on him

Lando ranting on iRacing in Sept 2024 that "people in racing think you never have to back out, no matter what, like that's somehow become a rule" (in iracing? he was asked) "no, in real life as well. Somehow it's become a Thing that you never have to back out, you're somehow always in the right."

Max saying "I don't want to be alone again" about getting into a different heat on iRacing and Lando singing back "story of my life..."

Lando will say things like "Look at my perfection, look at how well I do or did, I was unstoppable," other bragging just to piss Max off

Yes / No / Yes / No arguments (they just say the same statements with different and more pointed inflection each time as if to make the other person accept by force of will without any actual convincing or argument, just emphasis, as if the one who is more certain will win and the more unsure one will yield the point and pivot to a new one or end the argument. one of them always yields and pivots after a few back-and-forths)

Lando says Max is "struggling be cause he's not been kissed in the last five minutes" and that in his group chat "I record every time they kiss in public" (Max protests that he just makes the number up, like the time he said they'd kissed 44 times before 10am and Lando said "I swear it's true") and that he "can't describe how awkward it is going around with Max because he's freaking kissing" and like Lando will be driving the car in the front and all he can hear is wet kissing sounds from behind him.

Lando said about Max kissing "He just goes in so fast, you know like all the nerds you see on the movies where they kind of shut their eyes and like" he mimicked both Max sticking out his tongue and making exaggerated Mwah sounds

Max said Lando often struggles at golf but "every two months or so he'll have a blinder, and then he'll be in absolute turmoil again"

the whole recurring bit with them sharing a wardrobe, the Quadrant video with the "whose shoes are those?" "whose joggers are those? "whose hoodie is that?" bit, something the fact that it kept going even after they moved apart like in singapore 2022 lando claims max is wearing his pants, shoes, and top, and max denies it

Lando listens to the voice notes he gets in DMs and goes through them, sometimes with his mates, to laugh. He says sometimes they're very weird, that "Some people are up to no good in their lives and need to focus on.... other things... but they are funny, they are just weird. The voice notes always make me laugh."

Lando interview with Tom Daley->"I am a competitive guy and I hate losing. So you put that all together and I love being in control. I hate being out of control, so like I hate being a passenger in a car. I really hate it unless I'm like backseat you know headphones on watching a movie. I'm a terrible terrible passenger cuz I don't feel in control of of what's happening."

Max in July 2021 checking to make sure Lando wasn't watching his stream before saying "I gotta give my hats off to Lando for helping me, obviously with streaming, Quadrant, giving me a bit of purpose this year, you know, something to do and enjoy doing while I'm not racing, keep my mind off things, so yeah thanks to him... he's looked after me. I appreciate that."

Random Facts

By April 2023, Max had never seen Star Wars. By April 2025, Max had never seen any of the Harry Potter moves. He's seen a couple of Lord of the Rings though

Lando wears size 9 shoes or 8.5, he said his feet were a tiny bit bigger than Max's, but who knows if he's telling the truth about that as they can share shoes

When asked what animal he would reincarnate as, Lando said hippopotamus and Max said sea urchin (so he can he in the ocean and stab people when they step on you) or plankton 

Lando always tries to get off the plane fast, impatient, walking quickly, doesn’t like getting stuck behind people

Lando said Mcdonalds chicken nuggets may be the best things ever made

Lando used to play around with a lighter

Max drinks tea quite strong

There were periods when Lando was younger where he’d play games for 36 hours straight

Max's eyes are green, Lando's are blue gray (when he built his VR character he gave it blue eyes) but have some golden brown threads in the middle that I think can make them seem greenish in some lights

Lando likes to travel with a book to look smart but he never reads it just carries it around or puts it on the table.

Lando snores loudly and people have complained about it

Max likes cats despite being allergic, Lando likes dogs more

Lando's brother's dog is named Uno. Max had a cats named Lala growing up. His family has a cat named Bobby (not after Lando, allegedly).

Lando likes to wear hoodies because they make his long neck less noticeable

Lando travels heavy with every possible bag, shoe bag, rucksack, all his computer stuff (“Im such a nerd”). He's got a tablet for movies and some games, work emails but he rarely checks those 

Lando smells like Sure deodorant, and a mix of Louis Vuitton L'Immensite, Tom Ford Ombré Leather, and Dior Sauvage. He likes the smell of all of them so he puts them all on.

Lando works harder on strengthening his neck compared to some other drivers, as others can rest their head against the side while turning to deal with the G-forces, but if Lando tries that and gets his eyes off-level, he can't drive. His brain doesn't like it.

Lando will nap and his neck will be at a 90 degree angle

Max's birthday is July 29 and Lando's is November 13, both 1999

Here's the link to the bios of people who show up in Max's chat

When Lando was around 13-14yo he would spend days on designs for stickers for people's phones or visors, and would go around the paddock in karting trying to sell them to earn a little money.

Lando's favorite gifts are really big paintings people have done that he can put on his walls

When asked what kind of dad he wanted to be, he said "strict" in terms of manners and having good respectful values

In 2024 Max could check Lando's sleep stats because they're in a group with their whoop bands

Max is fine with chopsticks for everything but rice

On stream Max said that when he was at peak fitness as a driver, when he was so strong and also so light, at max he did a plank for up to 6min

Relative Biographies

So Lando’s dad’s British and his mom is from Belgium, not that it matters but I think he was raised somewhere in the country near Glastonbury in Somerset. He has an older brother and two younger sisters. Max’s parents are also from the UK but he spent his youngest years in Singapore and Malaysia, his dad’s in finance. He has a younger brother.

Max started karting in Asia, and started winning everything there, just like crazy talented and obsessed with racing. His parents decided to move back to the UK largely to let him get on the European karting track (the only one that really matters to get to the highest tiers of motorsport). He moved back to the UK when he was like 9 or 10 to kart.  I think I saw that he was homeschooled, so basically all in on karting.

While Max and Lando started karting together in 2010 with Ricky Flynn Motorsport, Max said he remembers seeing Lando practicing before they met, so back in 2009 soon after moving to the UK. They spent a lot of those formative years of 10-13 together, traveling all over for races and competing against each other. Lando became the youngest karting world champion in 2013, and Max was not, but he was competitive and they were on the podium together at that time.

Lando moved up to car racing in 2014, but Max did not. It took until 2015 for him. Lando was younger than him, but already ahead. It’s hard to overstate just how fast Lando shot up through the lower ranks to the very highest tier of motorsport by the time he was 18, with McLaren putting him on teams with Fernando Alonso and things. He won everything he tried on the first attempt and moved up. Max’s career was respectable, but it wasn’t like that. 

In 2015 Max started racing single-seaters, and Lando won British F4, and started going abroad and started winning there too, in Italy, in New Zealand. Max wasn’t there yet. In 2016 Max did British F4 with Carlin, a good team, winning the championship at the final race at Brands Hatch. Lando won Formula Renault, among other things. He won a couple awards at Motorsport Awards.

In 2017 Max’s first year of Formula Renault was mixed, winning the rookies’ title but was not super high in the championship, meanwhile Lando won F3.

The next year Max switched to a more successful team and did win the Eurocup in 2018, and got into the Renault driver academy. Lando got second in F2, despite leading most of the season, because of some unfortunate DNFs later in the season, George won. He was also on reserve for McLaren and drove in a F1 practice session.

In 2019 Max drove in F3, got a couple of podium finishes, but got 10th overall. 2019 of course was Lando’s first season in F1 and the birth of the Carlando juggernaut, he was a very successful rookie and rising star. He was streaming on Twitch more regularly, and got Max to set up his own Twitch channel in September 2019, to as few as like 15 viewers, playing games and hanging out with chat and Lando’s building a platform there too,

In 2020 Max raced in F3 again, but he dropped out before the end of the season, and has said that he struggled with depression. He moved back in with his parents. Lando got first F1 podium and had a great year, got huge on twitch, and he founded quadrant, became CEO of his little brand media company thing. I think he was living alone in his house in Woking. 

2021 Lando’s career continues to do well, podiums and things. He almost wins at Sochi but misjudged the wet tires and slid in a really heartbreaking final laps thing. I don’t know what Max was up to early in the year, I suspect kind of aimless playing golf and streaming on Twitch and figuring things out, but by the middle of the year, Lando announced him as part of quadrant and had Max move in with him. 

They streamed together and were stupid domestic, sharing clothes sometimes. I think they were both single at the beginning but had girlfriends by the end of their time together. Living together ended at the end of the year before Lando moved to Monaco and refused to bring Max along because he didn’t want to be lonely even though Max obviously really wanted to come and even offered to like take care of the house etc. Just a wild convo they had on stream in Dec 2021. 

Lando Analysis

SO on one hand, lando's a simple guy in his mid-twenties with ordinary human needs, like he needs to eat, sleep, be active, play games, socialize, race, etc. he travels and stays fit, drives the car, parties and rests. most of the time he's not in distress. he enjoys life and gets to do lots of cool things. on the other hand, he’s a seething mess of ego and insecurities with complex emotional needs.

his ego is pretty big, like despite being humble about it, he knows he’s one of the best in the world at an incredibly strenuous and glamorous activity. he has the confidence it requires to get behind the wheel of an F1 car and risk all that danger to defeat legendary champions. he didn't win for a long time, but he bought into the mclaren project and stuck it out there for long enough to win.

he also has the confidence (and money) to start a company, the insight and experience about the internet to build a brand, all his years online taught him a great deal, and he has a large team of smart people around him helping him succeed. he's very young, but has quite a lot of power and authority and attention.

his ego is a bit brittle though, naturally, and there are ways in which he is vulnerable to spiraling. there are lots of reasons for that. he feels inferiority and anxiety about making people happy, and he turns inward and is intensely self-critical.

he definitely used to be small, with a big, cool older brother, in the middle with younger sisters. he has very loving and supportive parents who helped him do what he wanted to do, giving him a bedrock belief that he’s loved and special. while he gained some close friends through karting, but he was kind of a loner as a teen, a gamer, introverted and a little bit weird, until he got older and more social, getting with girls etc.

i think he's said he’s dyslexic, not interested in school, but not at all stupid, which must've been frustrating. he hates being bad at things and will try very hard to avoid it. he wants people to be happy, to please them and be accepted by them. i think he probably learned to be annoying to beg for attention, but he doesn’t want too much attention now he’s famous, or he only wants attention from a small number of people he holds close.

he just didn’t win while for a long time when he was very small, and that was formative. he didn’t really believe he could, but he did the work without having the expectation of success, because he enjoyed it yes but also i suspect as if openly wanting it would make it disappear, almost walking backward into success. even now he doesn't think of the end result, but just about what he has to do next and tries to make that as good as possible.

[analysis of lando's size kink here]

Example Argument Transcript (from here):

Max reads chat question, “Who’s better at golf?”

Lando brags. “I absolutely dominated today on the golf course.”

“But, would you say, like—”

Lando talks over him. “And, as they say in life, you’re only good, as good, as your last game.” 

Max rolls his eyes and Lando shrugs like the point he made was obvious and he won.

“You done?” Max asks.

“I mean, I have no more… that was like a mic drop moment, mate. That’s like my mic just dropped. There’s nothing else to say.”

There's a long pause. Lando grins like he knows he’s being annoying. 

Max can't let it lie. “But you said I am actually better than you.” 

“Yeah, well you were. Until today.” 

Max smiles with his mouth not his eyes. Lando grins too. 

“I love how you’re actually going to commit to saying ‘Yeah, you are,’ and then you realize—”

“I AM better.” 

“You’re not!” Max slaps his waterbottle against his hand for emphasis. 

“Today, I was better, mate.”

“Today, yes.” 

“If today was the world championship, I won.”

“No, but overall, I win more.”

“Well it doesn’t matter though, ‘cause you’re only as good as your last game.” 

“Yeah, ok, you’re going to be that—”

“I’ve made improvements!”

“Are you going to be that stubborn?”

“I’ve made improvements… I’ve just overtaken you in the game of golf.” 

A pause, but Max just can't let that go. “Well I won yesterday.” 

“That’s yesterday. No one cares about yesterday.”

“We didn’t play yesterday, the day before.” 

“No one cares about that.”

“Yeah, but I, like, if we play ten games, I’ll win seven.” 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No?”

“Yes!”

“Not with how well I’ve been playing la-today.”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

“No—”

“No, you won’t win.” 

“—I’ll win seven.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yeah, I will!”

“No, you won’t.”

“I will!”

“No, you sliced every single one of your drivers.” 

Max turns his body to face him, looking at him directly. “No, I didn’t.” 

Lando seems gleeful to have gotten the reaction, crowing, “Yes, you did.” And laughing as he said “not one driver! I think you wouldn’t’ve ended up on a fairway!” 

“Yeah I did!”

“When?” 

Max turns back forward with arms crossed, thinking. “On the…”

“Ok, let’s go, let’s do this, chat. First one? No. Second one? No. Third one? Water. Fourth one?”

Max interrupts his rhythm. “Where were you on the third one?”

Lando ignores him. “Where’d your fourth one go?” 

Max repeats himself. “Where were you on the third one?”

Lando concedes. “I also went into the water.”

“There you go, yeah.”

“Once!”

Max affects a deeply sarcastic accent “Acting like Tiger Woods out here.”

“Once! What about all the rest of my drives? That wasn’t even a driver!” 

“No—”

“That wasn’t even a drive, all good.” 

“You were good, you were good with the drive today, I’ll give you that, but you’re not like that normally.”

“That’s what I said. I’ve improved.” 

“Yeah no, you were shocked.” 

“But I have! Improved!”

“Better, but you don’t, you won’t, if we play again tomorrow, you won’t do that.”

“Yes, I will.” 

“No, you won’t.” 

“Yes!”

“No chance.” 

“Yes, mate.”

“I’m going to video your first drive tomorrow. Guarantee it’s right.” 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll try to hook it so badly—”

Max talks over him saying something else. “It’s not going to be straight. It’s not going to do that.” Max mimes a ball flying straight ahead.

“It will.”

“No chance.” 

“It will!”

“You were even like… oh my god, woah.” 

“Yeah, ‘cause I unlocked something.” 

Intense eye contact. Max smiles, almost predatory. “Yeah? What was that? What’ve you done? Do you remember?”

“Yes, I do!”

“What was it?”

“I’m not going to tell you, ‘cause I don’t want you to get better!”

Max sits up incredulously. “It’s not going to work for my swing. It’s totally different!”

“Well it is!”

“How?”

Lando throws his arm up miming a ball curving in the air. “‘Cause you’re slicing as well!” 

Max sits back and crosses his arms, looking away. 

“This is Max’s shot shape.” Lando mimes a ball shooting forward and curving in front of Max’s face, almost touching him, twice, laughing between and making a loud, adolescent rocket sound, generally being extremely annoying.

“If you do that again, I’m going to draw my hand left across your fuckin face.” 

“You can just do this.” Lando mimes a smacking motion on himself.

“Bosh.” Max pretends to hit him. 

Lando makes a few more rocket sounds.

Max is unable to let it lie. “Normally, you’re not that good.” 

“Yeah, but…”

“Today you were!”

“People improve, Max! People improve! And today, I was unstoppable.” Lando pulls out his cell phone around now, keeping it hidden, and turns on the keyboard clicking sound to prepare to annoy Max a different way.

Max rolls his eyes and repeats the word unstoppable with utmost derision. “Unstoppable… fucking hell, it’s like you’re acting like you hit nine under.” 

“I was unstoppable,” Lando insists. 

“Beat me by like four shots and I played horrendous. Four shots only!”

Lando begins typing and looks up at Max to watch his face, waiting to see him get irritated.

Max glowers straight ahead. “Is that loud enough?”

It does not stop. Max turns to face him again and glares and Lando gives him an impish smile. 

Max says “Stop!” repressively. He reaches for the phone and Lando pulls it back, smiling widely and in an indescribable tone of voice, all the lower registers gone, sounding like he did when he was younger. “I wasn’t even typing anything for the whole thing I was just trying to annoy you.”

They look at each other. Lando said something coy and inaudible.

Max smacks him. “Don’t. Don’t do that!”

Lando cackles.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Archive link because paywall but LOOK WHAT'S IN THE TIMES. CLOWNFALL BEHIND THE SCENES. https://archive.is/GdLCM

Oh DAAAAAAAAMN

God there's so much in this but let's start with:

November 7 I am blessed with the use of a car to share with Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. On its first outing, the government car service sends a very pleasant driver who has clearly never been outside the M25 and is totally unfamiliar with the rural, unlit lanes of west Wales. We crawl along, following the verge in and out of every yard and gateway until we get to a road with white lines, where normality is restored.

Lmao.

BUT HOLY SHIT THERE'S SOME GOLD HERE. My favourite entry:

January 11, 2023 Just before PMQs we get a call to say one of our MPs, Andrew Bridgen, has made a Twitter connection between the vaccine rollout and the Holocaust. No 10 is initially inclined to “demand an apology” but due to Bridgen being an utter knob, we agree the more decisive and meaningful course of action is to suspend the whip with “immediate effect”. The antivaxers go spare; to them our move confirms the Deep State is at work. The reality is he is a malevolent creep whom nobody likes, and we really don’t need him in our party. A massive cheer goes up in the whips’ office when I tell them.

Get fucked Andrew you disgustoid.

Meanwhile:

June 7/8 Harriet Harman calls by to tell me her privileges committee will publish the report into Boris [Johnson] on June 29 and hand it to him on Friday at noon. It will recommend a 20-day suspension, which will almost certainly result in a recall motion and by-election. Brace for impact. I speak to BoJo, who is questioning whether there is any procedural route by which we can kill off the report or at least vote it down. In any normal circumstances, a former PM asking for special treatment would be a big deal but this being Boris, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Worryingly, it doesn’t even annoy me that much either. So I remind him, as nicely as I can, that it was he who set up this process, he who approved its terms of reference and he who accepted Harriet Harman as its chair. “But I was in India and I wasn’t concentrating,” comes the reply. “I left it all to the whips.” Not sure that will wash, even if it were true.

GOD I'm so glad he's gone. Fucking hell, you get away from the crass incompetence of that fucking buffering pig-stuffed buffoon mask for a couple of years and your mind heals and forgets just how bad he was.

July 6 The standards committee publishes its report on Chris Pincher (accused of groping a young man), concluding with an eight-week suspension. He is finished. On the face of it, the sentence seems unbelievably harsh given he has lost his job, all his money and most of his friends. On the other hand, maybe we are all discovering that “squeezing people’s arses” is not acceptable, however fleetingly or however drunken the circumstances.

Yeah, Simon, maybe you are learning sexual harassment is not acceptable, Jesus Christ. I also managed to forget the extent to which Simon Hart is Mammy's Specialest Turd. But that's actually a good thing, because this whole thing is written as him just having the most increasingly stressful year of his entire life as Tory after Tory goes to an orgy and shits on someone's head, or goes to a party dressed as Jimmy Saville and fucks a blow-up doll, or Suella Happens Again. The whole thing is increasingly written like he wants to cry, but also like he's the One Reasonable Man in the whole place; particularly interesting is the way he tries to throw others under the bus when he was all on board with their shit while in power.

Anyway. Christ I'm glad to see the back of them all.

[mongeroffanfics]

Zagreus SFW and NSFW alphabets ♥️, for my friend @ember1224

≿———————— ❈ ————————≾

SFW alphabet

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Zagreus is extremely affectionate to his friends, as we see in the game, he offers you as much nectar as you’ll accept, and once you stop accepting nectar he’s giving you Ambrosia until you demand he stops.

Zagreus also shows his affection by standing close to you, or having a hand on your shoulder as you walk together.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Oh if you’re his best friend you’re going to get so much gossip.

He will tell you anything and everything- Achilles and Patroclus have a small argument? You know every detail before even Hermes does. Charon was caught being affectionate to Hermes? You’re helping him spread the news across the house.

You’d undoubtably meet him by being a servant to the house, someone he’s known for a long time and already has a small bond with.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Zagreus adores cuddling, he cuddles by literally yanking you into his lap, putting his head on your shoulder while he yaps about his day/night. He’s so giddy about it, arms loosely around you as he holds a new book of legends and myths that he’s had edited and he’s reading it to you.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Zagreus is absolutely down to settle down with a partner, the only bad part is he’s very uh… well he has no culinary skills and his ‘cleaning’ is mostly shoving clothes under his bed and into whatever crevices he can find.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Zagreus would definitely be far more polite than most when it comes to breaking up. He’d probably bring you into his room and apologize, comforting that it wasn’t your fault but he’s just no longer interested in you. He’d still be down to be best friends, but if you didn’t want to be he’d understand completely.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Zagreus, as we all know, is impulsive as FUCK. He’d be down to get married if you even show a little attraction back to him. He will commit if he thinks you’ll commit.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He’s uh.. he’s a little dense, but that’s ok. He’s not the most emotionally gentle guy out there, I mean, have you seen how his dad deals with everything?

Nonetheless, he’s very physically gentle, he knows his own strength very well and he (somewhat) knows when to use it.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Zagreus adores hugs, he will yank you into a bone crushing (not literally) hug every time he sees you, grinning like an idiot.

Zagreus will hug you every time he sees you, even if he only saw you a few minutes ago, you will not escape the hugs from the Prince of the underworld.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He says “I love you” very quickly, right as he confesses, actually. Every morning he will wake you up with praises, kisses all along your shoulder and neck, and him mumbling “I love you” against your skin.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Zagreus will only get jealous if you’re getting ‘too’ close with someone he knows, then he’ll basically turn into a ‘big scary dog’ and hover over your shoulder pouting.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Zagreus’ kisses are soft, but quick, usually on your forehead before he goes off on a run and literally jumps out his window.

He loves when you kiss the palms of his hands, just adoring the scars on them.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Please don’t let him around kids, he doesn’t know what to do. The way his dad treated him is his ONLY reference- he will hand them Stygious and try to teach them how to use it if he’s unsupervised.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Mornings are spent in bed- he will not get up. Good luck leaving his bed if you’re there, he’s holding you hostage until his dad comes in there and shouts at him to get up because he’s late for his duties.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Nights are spent cuddled up against each other, him somewhat flopped on you as he reads the Iliad (one of his favorite stories as it’s about Achilles) to you until you both fall asleep and the book falls to the ground.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Zagreus won’t be super quick to reveal things about himself, but every time he talks he mentions some little thing about himself. He honestly focused more on trying to understand you, rather than trying to vent about himself and all of his trauma.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Zagreus has decent patience, but if you do something royally idiotic you’re getting an annoyed interrogation from Zagreus. I think the only way to truly piss him off would be to hurt someone dear to him or break something important.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He remembers random details about you, whatever his brain considers interesting. He remembers your important details along with when you first became friends, to the last time he saw you interacting with a random shade. But he won’t remember your birthday- for some strange reason.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite moment is when he first gave you ambrosia, how you put your hands over your mouth and stared in shock at the bottle he was handing you. You were so, so flattered and shocked that Zagreus cared enough to give it to you.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Zagreus is extremely protective of his friends, and he’d absolutely protect you against everything he could. He’d do the same with all of his friends- and he’d honestly laugh if you tried protecting him back. He understands that you care about him, but believe me, he’s far stronger than you.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

As much effort as he can possibly use, he’s going to Elysium, beating Theseus’ ass into the ground, and bringing you back some fine ambrosia for you to drink in celebration- and if you like fish then he’s beating the shit out of his dad and bringing back a fish from Greece.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He has a bad habit of just yoinking some of your gold. He’s gotten so used to sparring with Charon after stealing from him, that hes started unconsciously pick pocketing stray coins whenever he sees them.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Not at all concerned- he’s already the underworlds biggest nuisance and the biggest pain in his dad’s ass. Any worries about his appearance is long gone.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

I think Zagreus would definitely feel lonely without you, I mean he knows plenty of shades, but each of them takes up space in his heart. He’d definitely feel a part of him missing, and would undoubtably search for you.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Zagreus has a diary with little notes on everyone he’s met, usually it has things that they like and little interesting facts about them written down so he knows what to get them.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He doesn’t like someone who lies for no reason- it just tells him you can’t be trusted with anything. He can tell a lie immediately, and will probably tell you not to lie to him because he likes to trust his friends, but if you keep doing it he will cut you off completely.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Insomniac king- he almost never sleeps, but when he does it’s the heaviest sleep ever and he will sleep for a day and a half if he’s not woken up. You’ll find him curled up in his blankets, face down in his pillows and chances are he still has his clothes on.

NSFW alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Zagreus is so sweet after sex, giving you sips of nectar as he bathes you, gently massaging your sore muscles. He’s a gentleman, albeit a somewhat clueless one. He takes care of you and even tucks you snuggle into his bed before he dares to care for himself.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Zagreus’ favorite part of himself is his hands- they’re strong and durable, after all. He uses them to hold you close as he fucks you, or even to gently tug your hair. He will absolutely melt if you kiss along his callouses and compliment the scars on his palms.

His favorite part of you? That has to be your lips, he loves how they trail along his scars, or leave gentle marks along his immortal skin. He also loves feeling your soft lips against his own, it’s almost enough to make him moan.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Zagreus’ loves cumming down your throat, feeling your throat constricting around his cock and milking all of the cum out of it. Breathless praises would leave his mouth as he loosely holds you there.

His second favorite place to cum is between your thighs, not necessarily in your pussy (if you’re female) or in your ass (if you’re either gender), but he likes seeing the white liquid staining them and slowly dripping down onto the bed/couch.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

I can’t really see Zagreys having a dirty secret, if I’m being honest :P

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Zagreus is not the most experienced man in the world, considering how I think he’s only ever been with Meg, but that taught him a lot. He… well he somewhat knows what he’s doing, but he’s a quick learner and can improvise on the spot.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

His favorite position is the lotus position, with him slightly reclining back in a chair in his room , arms around your waist, your legs and arms wrapped around him as he gently fucks into you.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Zagreus is not the most serious person in the world- I mean he won’t just be a complete dumbass during sex, but he is absolutely not stoic and serious during sex. He’s definitely the kind of guy to lightly joke around during sex.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Zagreus is not well groomed, at least not until after you get together. He has some thick hair down there, but he’s drummed it down quite a bit. The hair along his crotch is dark, like his hair, and slightly curly.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Zagreus is so sweet, generally he has one hand cupping your jaw, making your eyes stay on his own as he praises you and asks if you’re alright. He is the definition of attentive, even the slightest show of discomfort and he will stop to check on you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Zagreus doesn’t really give himself the time to jack off, but if he’s been on a particularly long run, once he’s cleared a room he’ll start jacking himself off to hold himself over until you can be in his arms again.

All in all, Zagreus doesn’t masturbate often, but if he gets impatient for you he will.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Zagreus has a mirror kink, he loves holding you close while he glances into a mirror across from him, watching himself fuck you, watching your face if you’re turned away from him, or just eyeing all the marks his nails have left across your back and sides.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Zagreus will only do it in his room- he loves you, he really does- but he’s not going to fuck you anywhere but his room. It’s completely out of his comfort zone to have sex outside of his room.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

He gets turned on by the simplest things, you could be brushing his hair and say some simple compliment and he’d have a hard on, if anything the sweeter the compliment or comment is, the more horny he gets.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He will not share, he will not hurt you and he absolutely won’t do it anywhere but his room. Zagreus has boundaries and if you push them, or try to push them, he’d be turned off pretty quickly.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Zagreus loves receiving Oral, he will do almost anything for a quick blowjob from you, but if you want oral you’ll have to guide him through it. He’s a quick learner, and honestly adores the taste of you- and might (will) become addicted.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Zagreus lets you control the pace most days, if you want it fast and rough he’s holding you close and fucking you until your throats gone raw from moaning.

If you want it slow and sensual, he’s going to murmur how much he loves you into your ear and slowly roll his hips against your own.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

The quickie king, always willing to give you a quick fuck before going on another run, always making sure to at least clean you up before leaving.

Quickies happen at least four times a week, if not more.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Zagreus needs quite a bit of convincing to take risks during sex, as he’s very content to just coddle your smaller frame as he fucks you. Needles to say if you do risk something and he doesn’t like it, risks are off the table for a while.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Zagreus is a god, he could last for days if he tried hard enough, he can last for a decent amount of time each round. On average he’ll go for two or three rounds, just so you stay conscious and thinking while he fucks you.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Zagreus owns a few dildos and plugs, all gifts from his uncles (he will never use them, he does not trust them), but they’re locked away in a safe and you will have to let him watch you boil them for literal days before he willingly uses them.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Zagreus will be in a teasing mood about half the time, playfully slowing down whenever you’re on the brink- or just stopping and going on a run to make sure you’re ready for him later.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Zagreus is not exactly loud, but he’s very vocal. Hes grunting in your ear, gasping whenever he’s about to cum and if you’re lucky, he might start whimpering in your ear.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Zagreus is honestly embarrassed about any mention of you being his mate, or any conversation about sex. He does not want to talk to his dad or uncles about his sex life and he would love if they stopped asking about it.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Zagreus is almost seven inches long, and slightly tapered towards his tip. His cock is almost a pale orangish red at the tip, giving off a little heat. Hes about two inches wide.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

He has a very high sex drive, willing to go whenever you are. He always craves your body against your own, wanting nothing more than to have you in his arms and your body pressed against his own.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

He takes at least two hours to fall asleep, just because he wants to take care of you and make sure you’re perfectly taken care of before he even thinks about cleaning himself up to go to bed.

Im gonna be honest i got really tired like halfway through the NSFW half, but i really enjoyed making this :)

Hades is up next

[emeraldstorms]

Born Again Trailer and Foggy

Under the cut, I will be addressing rumors, leaks and (potential) spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again.

I have been doom-posting about Foggy’s fate in DDBA as much as the next person. If he dies, I will curse everyone involved. delete my NMCU based fics and art and demand nobody talk to me about the MCU ever again.

But for now? The trailer actually gave me hope. And I wonder why so few fans seem to see this? I wasn’t the only one to notice, of course, but the pessimistic posts didn’t cease and I see few who talk about the scene in question.

So, I will talk about why I think Foggy lives/has a fake death after all. Bear with me.

Let’s start with the scene itself. (The screen in the trailer captures more, but everything relevant is visible in my gif)

First: the stretcher. I think the person on it, that’s Foggy. 

Yes, it’s far away and zooming in you can’t make out a face. But hair and clothes match, in my opinion. I know an Elden Henson superfan and she is also convinced it’s Elden as Foggy. Looking closely, I think you can see the pattern of his scarf.

The head piece of the stretcher is lifted. For a dead body it would be flat and he most likely would be covered with a sheet. Or they would have put him in a body bag.

But I admit, it’s hard to see and the stretcher argument may not appeal to everyone. lol

So moving on to “Foggy’s Bloody Spot”. From the leaks we know roundabout where Foggy lies after getting shot

In the helmet fall scene, that should be here. 

For one, Foggy isn’t here. I don’t think ambulance crews would move dead bodies on a crime scene. They’d leave them in place for the police investigation. But since the ambulance isn’t done yet, the police haven’t even started investigating. Some say, the falling helmet hides Foggy’s body, but… why? Why would he be there?

For two, the stuff left behind. Yes, that is a lot of blood. But also what looks like wound dressing, bandages etc. Someone tried to stop the bleeding and it wasn’t a passerby with makeshift tools. This looks like medical supplies. So at least one paramedic thought Foggy was worth spending time and resources on. Which probably means he was alive when they arrived on scene and someone tended to him. At the site of a mass-shooting that has to mean something. You know, triage- wise. Paramedics have no time for dead people when many others are injured.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he survives. But I think it debunks the rumor that he died on scene while Matt was fighting Bullseye. Because then he would still be lying there. 

And if he makes into the ambulance or even the hospital, a fake out is possible. If he is close by, Matt couldn’t be fooled, but out of Matt’s hearing range, they can in theory do a switch.

But then what line was crossed??? 😱

Oh, of course, the “line”. Before the scene with the falling helmet is shown, Fisk asks Matt why he stopped being a vigilante and Matt answers “A line was crossed”. Many, many people interpreted this line crossing as Foggy being killed.

But to me that makes no sense at all. Criminals like Bullseye always cross lines. That’s Matt’s problem with them and the reason he does fight them, not a reason to stop fighting them. 

However, of himself Matt expects to stay on the right side of the line. So I think he isn’t a vigilante anymore because he did something that crossed a line. Especially since Fisk answers “It’s hard to come to terms with our violent nature. Hating the power it has over us.” That only makes sense when Matt’s “violent nature” is responsible for whatever he is referring to.

Which is why I don’t believe the line that was crossed is what Bullseye did to Foggy but what Matt did to Bullseye.

So yeah, new hope for Foggy.

If you read this far, thanks for indulging me in my rambling.

[skyward-floored]

Happy appreciate a dragon day, more hdw au. This takes place sometime after this fic here, but beyond that I don't have the exact timing down. It doesn't matter too much though. (Injury/blood warning, also a bit of vomit)

Part two

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link wakes up to his head pounding so intensely it feels like Darunia is stomping around inside of his skull.

He drags his eyes open with a groan, squinting against the pain, and tries to focus through the blurriness of his vision. Someone was talking, he thought, but the voice didn’t seem familiar. There was also a rag over his mouth, and Link grunts, wishing he could take a deep breath.

Where was he? What had happened?

He didn’t remember... much of anything, but he must have gotten here somehow. Wherever here, was.

Link focuses on trying to get the blurriness of his vision to fade, blinking and attempting to focus. It works somewhat, and his vision clears enough for him to see when a man walks up to him, a smirk on his face.

Uh oh.

“The glorious hero finally decides to grace us with his presence,” he says, and another blurry figure walks up, tearing the rag from his mouth.

Link winces, and someone laughs, and ice slips into his stomach. His vision focuses a little more, and Link looks around, taking in the dingy room, the group of men in soldier uniforms, the... tools on the table.

He can’t help but swallow at the sight of those.

“Where am I?” he demands, pulling at his tied wrists. They're already sore. “What do you want?”

“All kinds of things,” the man closest to him sneers. “Grant over there wants his hand back. Marc wants justice for his family. Me, I want to see a pretty scarfed traitor on his knees, screaming and begging before we kill him.”

Link’s stomach churns but he ignores it. “If you’re referring to me, I’m no traitor.”

The man laughs. “No? Bold words, considering who you are. Half beast. The son of the dragon that the sorceress had leading her army, a half-monstrous brat.”

Link pales.

“Who told you that?” he demands, still pulling at his wrists. A very small circle of people are aware of that secret, and he trusts all of them not to have spilled it. How does this man know?

The soldier merely crosses his arms, a smirk on his lips.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s obviously true though, one only has to look at you to know you’re not true Hylian,” he sneers, and Link bristles, ignoring the hurt the words ignite in him. “The son of the sorceress’s pet attack dog.”

“Volga did not join Cia willingly,” Link says coldly. “And his actions have no bearing on mine.”

“Don’t they?” the man says in a mocking tone, putting his face close to Link’s. “You’re the son of a murderer. I saw him burn men alive with his flames and then tear the corpses in half. He’s nothing but a scaly weapon that likes to pretend it’s a person.”

Link’s blood boils. His relationship with Volga is more than complicated, but that’s just wrong.

“Don’t talk about him like that!”

The man punches him in the face.

“You’re no better,” he scoffs as Link reels, pain throbbing across his face, warmth dripping from his nose. “Killing anyone who turns on you. Letting the sorceress use copies of you to kill your men. Letting a dragon fight at your side, knowing he’s a murderer.”

He draws his sword, and holds it near Link’s neck.

“You’re a beast, and you deserve to die like one.”

“Killing me won’t solve anything,” Link says quietly, resisting the urge to swallow. “Cia is dead. Hurting me won’t heal your scars. It won’t get your families back.“

“No. But your screams will be satisfying all the same,” the man sneers, and pulls his sword back. “Don’t worry, I’ll do it slowly. Shall we start with your hands? Maybe a finger or two...”

“How about we give him marks to match Caydin’s?” a voice says from further back, and the man with the sword grabs Link’s chin, tilting it to the side.

“Good idea. We’ll make his bigger though,” the man grins, and pulls a dagger out and sets it against Link’s cheek. “Maybe remove an eye while we’re at it.”

Jeers and laughs follow the comment, and Link takes a steady breath as the steel caresses his cheek, forcing himself not to react.

They’re looking for a reaction. And he won’t give it to them.

Even when the blade begins to drag down his cheek, Link bites his tongue and tries not to voice his pain. He won’t react. He won’t.

The blade just starts to flirt near his eye when a noise echoes somewhere outside of the room, distant but loud. Link is so startled that he forgets to force back a reaction, and he gasps as the blade digs into his cheek.

The man grins, dragging it down his face all the way to Link’s chin in a slow movement. A small whine escapes Link without his permission, and the man positions his weapon right beneath an eyebrow, eyes glinting maliciously. Link glares back at him, determined not to cower even though his cheek aches and throbs and there's blood tracing down his face and the blade is right over his eye and he’s trembling in anticipation of losing it.

Then a roar booms through the hall, and a dragon bursts into the room, half-destroying the doorway.

The man closest to him hisses with rage and snatches something off the table nearby, jabbing it into Link’s arm without any hesitation. Link feels a sharp prick even as relief hits him at the sight of Volga tearing his way into the room, and the man beside him looks...

...Smug?

The other men scatter with shouts and screams as the dragon leaps for them, blue eyes blazing. A single swing of his claws is enough to knock most of them out of commission, and the rest flee when he turns on them, the man who had been on the verge of removing Link’s eye narrowly escaping a blast of fire.

The room is quickly void of enemies, and Volga turns to Link, melting out of his dragon form and into a human one. He rushes over to him, and Link dazedly watches his eyes dart across his form, pausing on his bloodied face. Fury flickers in his gaze.

“Are you injured elsewhere?” Volga asks sharply, slicing away his bonds with a claw. Link is too stunned to speak, relieved and reeling from the events of the past several moments, and Volga takes his shoulders in his hands and gives him a shake. “Snap out of it Hero, are you hurt?”

“I don’t— I don’t think so?” Link says uncertainly, having finally found his voice. His arm hurts, and his face, and so do a few other parts of him, but he’s pretty sure he can walk. It’s nothing too serious. Hopefully.

Volga stares at him, then huffs and quickly removes his hands from his shoulders.

“Good. We need to move quickly if we’re going to get out of here. Follow me.”

Volga stands and turns, and Link gets to his feet, wobbling a little at the stiffness in his limbs. Volga starts moving though, so Link is forced to move to keep up with him, ignoring the pounding in his skull and aching legs.

He feels like someone got a rolling pin and went to town on him, aches all over his body, the pounding still keeping up behind his eyes. Link wipes some of the blood from his face, cheek stinging and throbbing, and he swallows. His chest feels tight as they move, and despite how he’d like to ask Volga exactly how he found him and got in here, he saves his breath for running.

His steps trail further and further behind Volga’s though, the odd tightness in his chest increasing, his legs wobbling the further they go. His arm starts to ache, then numb, and it hangs limply at his side. And as if that’s not worrying enough, his vision starts to wobble as well, especially when he turns corners. His more than certain concussion must be worse than he thought if he’s having this much trouble.

They reach some stairs and Link’s breath wheezes, and his steps drag more and more, despite how hard he tries to keep up through endless tunnels and passageways.

Finally, he can’t do it anymore.

“Volga,” Link coughs, leaning heavily against a wall, “V-Volga wait.”

The dragon stops and looks back at him, and concern flickers over his gaze as he strides back to his side.

“I-I just... need a second,” Link wheezes, and Volga leans down so he’s nose-to-nose with Link. He looks him over again, more slowly than the first examination he’d given, then breathes in long and slow. Link waits for him to say something, unsure of what he’s doing, and slightly afraid to ask. Is he... smelling him?

Volga’s expression suddenly darkens.

“...Safflina,” he growls, something flashing in his gaze. “They weren’t taking chances.”

Before Link can ask what that means, Volga lunges forward and pulls him into his arms, resuming his quick stride down the hallway. Link scrambles to hold on with only one working arm, head spinning from the sudden movement.

“Whoa, wh—”

“You’ve been poisoned, hero,” Volga says without looking at him, speeding his pace further. “Time is of the essence.”

“What? But... safflina isn’t poisonous,” Link says, blinking a little dizzily.

“There is a rare strain of it that is poisonous for dragons in high concentrations,” Volga says curtly. “But that knowledge isn’t well known. Those fools who captured you would have no method of obtaining such information.”

“So how did they..?”

“I don’t know,” Volga growls, his grip tightening just a little. “But it doesn’t bode well.”

Link frowns, then coughs, his breath a little tight in his throat. His stomach is churning now, and he goes a little more limp in Volga’s arms without meaning to.

Maybe it’s his imagination, but it feels like Volga holds him a little tighter.

Lantern light flickers off the walls as Volga’s steps pad rapidly through what Link guesses is an old outpost that got phased out of use. He’s not entirely sure, especially since his vision is being rather unreliable suddenly, but he can’t think of where else they’d be.

He wishes Proxi were here. She’d probably know.

“Hero, stay awake.”

Link blearily reopens his eyes, not even realizing he’d closed them, and sees Volga is looking at him rather intensely.

“You will not wake back up if you fall asleep, stay awake,” he repeats, and Link summons what strength he’s got left, trying to fight against the dizziness and darkness that threaten to pull him under. The torchlight flickering off the walls makes the space behind his eyes hurt, and keeping them open becomes a monumental task.

His arm stings and cold trickles into his chest, stealing his strength as it feeds. It’s merciless, and growing rapidly, and Link finds his eyelids falling no matter how hard he tries to stop them.

“Link,” Volga snaps, and if Link were more awake, he might pick up the fear in it. “Do not sleep.”

“F...ive minutes...” Link mumbles, and gets a shake for his trouble.

“No. Wake up right now,” Volga snarls. “I will not lose another to safflina, wake up.”

Link peels his eyes open again, dark blots clouding his vision. He can vaguely make out Volga’s face, see the horns on his helmet, but not... really. The blue of his eyes stands out, but that’s all he can truly see.

They look strangely panicked.

“Link your mother will kill me if you die, WAKE UP.”

Volga shakes him again and Link’s stomach revolts, bile rising in his throat. He gags, and the shaking immediately stops, a muttered curse flicking past his ears.

Link feels himself get tilted to the side as he vomits up what little is inside his stomach, weakly retching before falling limp with a pathetic whine.

Volga’s arms tilt him back the moment he’s finished, and hold him tight. Link thinks they might speed up after that, the sound of steps pounding in his ears. He feels dizzy and cold, throat burning, hurting deep inside. A twitch runs through him, and Volga shifts his grip, holding him even tighter, his arms radiating warmth.

And some long-forgotten instinct in Link’s mind recognizes the warmth Volga is giving off as safe, protection.

Maybe it’s the dragon in him. Maybe it’s the poison addling his brain, or the blood loss. Maybe it’s the way Volga is cradling him to his chest with a hand in his hair and still shouting for him to stay awake, even if the exact words aren’t really reaching Link.

But whatever it is, despite how horrible he feels overall, he also feels... safe.

So Link curls into Volga’s hold, and drifts.

[mariamakeslemons]

Spooktober 2024: Day 6 Ghost

Warning: Non-con voyeurism, non-con touching, breaking and entering

You move around your apartment, ignoring Johnny’s whining and grabby hands. He’s trails behind you as you throw out the paper plate you used for breakfast, pouting at you as you try to make the apartment viewable for the man’s friend.

“Listen, I’m not letting the first impression your Lieutenant have of me is as a trash gremlin,” you remind the man.

“But, booooniiieee,” he whines, trying to grab you, “Ah jes wan’ a kiss.”

“Absolutely not,” you declare, spinning around to point at him with narrowed eyes, “If I let you kiss me, I know exactly how that situation will escalate. We don’t have time for that.”

“LT won’ min’,” Johnny states, causing you to sputter and flail at him.

“Absolutely not!” you repeat with a shriek, feeling your face burn as you scurry into the bathroom. Soap cackles, following behind you as you start the shower.

“Then, how aboot we have a lil’ fun?” he purrs, wiggling his eyebrows. You scowl and toss a spare towel at his face, ignoring his laughter as you start up a quick shower. You feel filthy after only two hours of sleep due to stress and nerves about work and this visit. The email you got from the Lieutenant only made it worse.

“Yeh sure Ah cannae help yeh in there?” Johnny asks, peeking his head through the curtains.

“Out,” you intone, grabbing your shaving kit and carefully start shaving.

“Och, tha’s right, bonnie,” he purrs, “Git proper smooth fer LT an’ Ah.”

“I will get the salt, you horny fuck,” you threaten, which only makes him pout and finally disappear. You’re pretty sure he’s still watching, but when Johnny turns invisible, he can’t talk to or touch you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a week after you moved into your new apartment when weird shit started happening. Nothing malicious, but still, weird shit. Your keys moving around when you know you’ve set them in a certain spot, your water bottle filling and emptying at random times, the music suddenly cutting on or off (luckily at reasonable levels of volume). You went and got one of your friends, one who’s always been sensitive to medium bullshit, to show up.

“Oh, this is rancid,” they said and immediately stepped back out of your apartment, refusing to go back in. They explained that your apartment is haunted by the last owner, a soldier who was killed. The spirit wouldn’t leave, there was still too much energy for them to just disappear into the ether. So, you now have a roommate who doesn’t pay rent. Fucker.

Of course, having grown up watching horror movies way too early, you know the best thing to do is research. Low and behold, you got a lot of information with a few careful questions and searches. One Sargeant John “Soap” MacTavish, also called Johnny due to serving under Captain John Price, was killed on a classified mission, leaving his apartment for sale once everything was processed with the family. It took a little longer, but you managed to email someone who knew the spirit. A Lieutenant Ghost, who was initially dismissive, at least, until Johnny started talking to you and demanded you type something only he’d type with a reference to a mission with a moment that didn’t make it anywhere near the report. Then, the Lieutenant started to ask questions, ones that you could answer and Johnny eagerly answered. From how the two men would converse with only each other, you’re pretty sure they were together together. Which makes Johnny’s obvious flirting and the few lines that the Lieutenant typed specifically for you all the more awkward.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh, yeh shoul’ wear that!” Johnny chirps, pointing at a particularly short pair of shorts, “LT’s always liked a pair o’ legs.”

“Absolutely not,” you declare once more, trying to dry your hair before giving up and stomping over to your clothes. Pulling out a sweatshirt and sweatpants, you pull them on before sticking your tongue out at Johnny childishly. The ghost whines as you head into the living room, only to freeze. Standing in the middle of your room is a mammoth of a man, wearing a skull balaclava and dressed all in black. He turns his head, dark eyes taking you in before humming.

“Yer a looker,” he rumbles, taking a step toward you.

“Oi, LT! Boots off! Bonnie thing likes th’ flat clean!” Johnny calls, perching his chin on your shoulder. The man, the Lieutenant you think, looks at your shoulder and his eyes widen a bit.

“Well,” he huffs, “Bett’r listen t’ their rules, yeah?” He bends down and pulls off the giant boots he’s wearing as Johnny shoves you toward the giant. You swallow around a bundle of nerves as Johnny’s hands trace over your sides.

“Um,” you choke out, “How did you get in?” The behemoth pauses and looks at you, pulling out a key from his pocket.

“Was Johnny’s,” is all he says as explanation, before grabbing you by your hips and shoving you onto the couch. He clamors on top of you and pulls his balaclava up enough for you to see his mouth, “Now, yer gunna be good and let us have a little fun.”

“Donnae worry, bonnie,” Johnny coos, his blue eyes glowing ominously above you, “We’ll make sure yer havin’ a good time.”

[lightlycareless]

Okay but im so curious

how would the zenin household react to seeing naoya become affectionate/simp for y/n?????? the thought of it already makes me kick my feet in the air

I will start with the fact that everything Naoya does with you is like a huge shocker to the whole clan.

From him finding a partner that willingly wants to be with him, to demonstrating affection to said partner… yeah, no one believed Naoya could actually care for anyone else but him, at least in a way that doesn’t denote making fun of them or something.

But he does, and when you came along, it brought out that side many wished he would’ve kept hidden.

I never envisioned Naoya to be very fond of PDA, at least not with people he knows, because he gets somewhat embarrassed (lol). Even holding hands with his wife when his relatives are nearby is like a big no-no. He feels like he needs to uphold this untouchable image of heir before them, demand their fear respect and so on.

However, as years go by, he’ll eventually just stop caring, especially if the two get married. He just… doesn’t give a f*ck lol.

And the thing he’ll do though at this point, oh, they’re going to be far from sweet. Let’s say that Naoya is a huge pervert when it comes to you lol. I don’t have any other way to put it, he’s just obsessed with you.

Naoya is the kind of person to slap your butt when passing/approaching you. He doesn’t care if you’re in the company of your staff, or if his uncle/cousins are there, or anyone really—he just had to do it, couldn’t hold himself, and you absolutely hate him for it because it makes you go through embarrassing moments!! Having to apologize in his name in order to do some damage control, people looking at the two and immediately looking away because they can’t remove that mental image!!! Oh boy.

You’ve talked to him about it and agreed to at least… keep it to a minimum, be more discreet if possible. Of course, that only applies in public places. In the bedroom… that’s a completely different story 😏

And let’s not forget he’s known to be a loudmouth, so the things he’ll tell you are not short of indecent either. This is probably the thing you dislike the most out of his affection. The other you could tolerate, act like no one saw anything (even play the fool if someone alleged they saw something) but THIS???? Nah, it’s just too much—and childish too.

“I don’t think it’ll fit, Naoya” you say, probably about something mundane like a new couch you got for the house.

“Really? But I saw how well you fit me yesterday.” And the way your face turns red is almost comical, more so when the mover was right there, listening to everything, Naoya just had to laugh.

“Shut up!!”

“What? I was referring to the conversation about the couch we had last night, pervert.” lies. The sneaky bastard will act like you’re the indecorous one out of the two for having understood his words like that!! As if you hadn’t known him for years now!

It’s safe to say that it’s really hard to have important meetings when the two are present, so his family would often try to get you or Naoya alone.

But… it wasn’t all that bad, because even when Naoya can be mildly infuriating, he’s also capable of being sweet.

That is something that mostly happens when in private, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world, more so when he’s spent a long time away from you.

Naoya will reach out for you first thing upon arriving back to the estate, gently cup your cheeks and pepper your face with kisses, telling you how much he missed you and your pretty face.

He’d wrap his arms around you, rest his face on the crook of your neck, taking in your scent as he relishes the fact that he’s finally back to your embrace.

Another thing I think he’ll enjoy doing (you as well) is when he rests his head on your lap, telling you of his day as you thread your fingers along his hair.

Bottom line, Naoya is overly shameless confident when in the eyes of others, but vulnerable with you :>

As for the reactions of the Zen’in clan….

Ogi, Naobito, and Jinichi would stare at him in complete silence/shock as Naoya goes on with his supposed displays of affection. I think that out of the three, Ogi would be the one more comfortable when showing his distaste for it, scowling whenever seeing you and Naoya together, quickly leaving the room as soon as he gets the faintest idea Naoya is to do his usual nasty shenanigans. The rest wouldn’t really care that much, asides from a “Really? Naoya? Ooookay” (and they know better not to interfere at this point 🤪 he's crazy protective of you)

Ranta would remain speechless, face completely red as he catches Naoya’s innuendos. He definitely feels a whole lot of empathy (pity) for you. But when his friend isn’t being nasty, he’s happy that he’s found someone to be vulnerable/happy with 😊.

Junko, Mai and Maki’s mother, is just the same as Ogi, only that she’ll openly tell both of you to “stop it”, and to “hold some decorum” for that’s no way the future leader of the clan should behave. Naoya just laughs it off, you apologize to her in private. At the end she knows it’s futile to even hope to change him—the two were young, after all, (IMAGINE IF HE WENT ON LIKE THAT EVEN WHEN OLDER? Hahahahah, Oh poor Junko) and contrary to her marriage, this was one made out of love so… good for them, she guesses.

Naoya’s brothers would be the ones to openly, even more than Ogi, show their disgust whenever catching his PDA. Naohiko would be the one to exclaim “EWWWWWWWWWWWW” as loud as possible when he sees them, maybe do some puking noises too? haha

Naofumi would initially not understand what the hell Naoya is going on about and why you’re so embarrassed all the time, but when he does get it, oof, he’ll disappear as soon as it begins.

And Naoaki… well he’d just try to avoid the two as most as possible in general lol. He never liked seeing people making out anyways... (uh who does???)

At the end, Naoya’s behavior would worsen become more and more obvious, especially when the two have their first kids 😊 He just loves you too much, he needs you to know that—that the others have issues with it he doesn’t care 🥺 all that matters to him his you and his new family.

ajgfakghagk Thank you so much for sending in this ask!! I hope it was to your liking ❤️

[daemon-in-my-head]

Disclaimer that this is my personal opinion, but to me Durge never seemed like gods most special princess, at least not in the sort of ‘Bhaal spoiled them and they never suffered’ kinda way. The way people talk to/about them just never seemed to fit that claim to me.

Like, Bhaals introduction to them was killing everyone they ever held dear. Bhaals influence on just ‘normal’ Bhaalspawn that hold not nearly as much divine essence as Durge is enough to drive the individual mad and he genuinely enjoys sending nightmares and shit their way. Bhaal at the very least used the Urge to control their body 2 times but possibly far more often. The slayer eats away at your sanity/humanity every time you use it. The way Bhaal and Scel talk, the ‘oh my beloved master/masterpiece’ but the second Durge tries to question something or wants an explanation Scel gets absolutely mad or dismissive and Bhaal just demands you to bent the knee.

Scels confrontation of a failed Durge. The aggression followed by self pity; read: I too am scared of bhaal and what he’ll do to me now, u should feel bad cuz I’m immortal and ur failure pissed him off so ill suffer for it. Scel just straight up imploding without giving Durge another chance to speak as he weeps. Also his refusal to talk afterwards despite chilling in ur camp.

Generally speaking, Bhaals whole ‘domination thru fear’ bit hes got going on. Be so extra and so purposefully cruel that people are too scared of defying you. One of his prayers ‘Bhaal embrace thee, Bhaal awaits thee, no one escapes Bhaal’. The looming threat of him being all encompassing.

That doesn’t sound like prerequisites for ‘spoiled child’ shit. It’s more so peak manipulation. Durge wasn’t rebellious cuz every time they were Bhaal or Scel would make it about them and fucking guilt trip Durge to Gehenna and back. Bet your ass anytime Durge ‘failed’ in even the most minor ways Bhaal and Scel would torment them and then pull the ‘it hurts me to do this but u understand why I have to do this’ card and just chip away at their being until basically none is left. Just, manipulating them into fearing a rebellion and shit under the guise of love and care. After all Bhaal extends his own will as a servant, one apparently direly needed, how could u ever defy his goodwill like that, yk? The urge must’ve undoubtedly protected you from the horrible upbringing ur adoptive guardians would’ve put you through, daddy just saved you from being ordinary, can’t you see?

They were conditioned to be the chosen they became. There is no love or some shit despite what Durge nd the other Spawn may claim. I do love my boy Scel but he too is abusing Durge in plain sight w the way he talks, omits information, forces a visibly painful transformation on a Slayer Durge and then just calls it fucking jimjams as though transforming into a gods avatar isn’t confirmed to eat away at your fucking sanity and humanity and having ur body ripped apart just fucking visibly hurts.

The fucking failed ending. Durges inherent death wish/desire for their own obliteration. Being referred to exclusively by a title and worshipped not for their own achievements but for their heritage. Thats not a loved or healthy kid, that’s someone who has absolutely 0 ego left and no chance of reclaiming any because the second it even seems like it their ‘guardians’ would pull yet another ‘but what about me’.

Tldr; I wanna talk more about the cult conditioning and the very much abusive sht going on there.

[dragonsdendoodles]

What do you think the children would watch on YouTube? What would their favorite youtubers and content be?

Oh god time to just scream my age on the internet

Also for the record if any of these people are problematic I don’t know about it or what happened my entire YouTube feed for the past six years has been Reddit stories and video essays I use for background noise when I draw so if I mention someone sucky I’m sorry I haven’t consumed their content since at least middle school

For starters, I think Emma, Millard, and Horace avoid it altogether out of principle. Emma and Horace because people are stupid and they cannot believe this is what modern entertainment is and Millard because he has ruined many videos by pointing out every inaccuracy he could find and he got sick of the cesspool of misinformation that is the internet.

Jacob has been watching Minecraft videos since the beginning of the damn site. Specifically he discovered iHasCupquake and DanTDM a couple years after joining the loop and now when he’s bored and in a time with internet access he watches Minecraft Oasis and DanTDM’s Custom Mod Adventures on repeat. Noor is the exact same way, but with life hack videos very obviously aimed at middle school girls that have stuff like painting staples with nail polish and sneaking candy into class via empty glue sticks. Think Wengie and SaraBeautyCorner. They actually grew up with this so it’s more about the nostalgia than anything else

Enoch likes history videos. And videos about games like War Thunder and World of Tanks. He also likes Vine compilations, discovered when Jacob and Noor were quoting vines to each other and Enoch joined with them having absolutely zero knowledge he even knew what that was. (Horace also begrudgingly knows what Vine was, but instead of saying “yeah I sure hope it does” to Enoch’s “road work ahead???” he goes “I hate you and everything you stand for” and Enoch laughs.)

Olive, Claire, and Bronwyn watch Gacha Life/Club/whatever the fuck they’re on now I don’t know anymore music videos and Vine compilations. Bronwyn is here for quality control. (Bronwyn’s favorite YouTube series is Rosanna Pansino’s Nerdy Nummies series, even though she has no idea what any of the references are. What she does know is that she showed Jacob the Angry Birds cupcakes and he demanded they be made that exact day.)

Hugh is fascinated by all this but has little to no idea what’s going on. He did however get very invested in Sanders Sides and is very impatiently waiting with me for Orange to be revealed.

Fiona also doesn’t know what’s going on but she thinks Warrior Cats AMVs and multi-animator projects are INSANE she loves them and gets very sad when Noor is helping her look them up and they find out yet another creator is problematic

[shimmeringweeds]

剪刀石头布. jiǎndāoshítoubù. Rock, Paper Scissors: English Translation!

In which they verbally rip each other to pieces before making up with a bestie handshake and declaring that, yeah, actually I’d rather live with all your faults before finding a new partner.

Video link: here starts about 1 min, after 算了把

As always I am a novice translating for fun. I do not speak any dialect of Chinese, this is not fluent, but I hope it is reliable enough to be insightful.

CXS

石头, 剪刀, 出不��拉倒

Shítou, jiǎndāo, chū bù chū lādǎo

Rock, scissors, can you even play them?

你的底牌就这一招

Nǐ de dǐpái jiù zhè yī zhāo

This hand is the only move you make

LG

摆烂, 自闭, 冷战又绝交

bǎilàn, zìbì, lěngzhàn yòu juéjiāo

You give up, close yourself off, break off another relationship (he’s referring to “rock” and “scissors,” symbolism… but ouch????)

你底牌也很无聊

Nǐ dǐpái yě hěn wúliáo

Your moves are also quite senseless

CXS

论阴阳怪气你第二没人第一

Lùn yīnyángguàiqì nǐ dì èr méi rén dì yī

Talk about eccentric, you are second to none.

LG

翻旧账你第一别谦虚

Fān jiùzhàng nǐ dì yī bié qiānxū

But to bring up old scores you’re first, don’t be modest ꉂꉂ◟(˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅๑)༡ god, I hope I translated that right

CXS

既然没诚意就和好暂停

Jìrán méi chéngyì jiù héhǎo zàntíng

Since there’s no good faith, let’s take a time out to make up. <- (oh? CXS being the bigger person?)

(Nope. They take a breath, then right back to it lol)

CXS

毒舌, 古板, 冷酷, 傲娇

dúshé, gǔbǎn, lěngkù, àojiāo

You have a venomous tongue , you’re old-fashioned, calloused, tsundere (no, really, apparently it’s a loan word. … CXS has a bit of a hard time saying truly mean things doesn’t he? He’s just spitting hard facts lol)

顶着扑克睑看谁都像没有还你钱

Dǐngzhe pūkè jiǎn kàn shéi dōu xiàng méiyǒu huán nǐ qián

Wearing a poker face like everyone owes you money <-okay, maybe he’s a little mean :)

LG

幼稚,冲动, 抠门 又愚蠢

Yòuzhì, chōngdòng, kōumén yòu yúchǔn

Childish, impulsive, stingy, and foolish.

相馆沒倒闭是奇迹

Xiàng guǎn méi dǎobì shì qíjī

It’s a miracle the photo studio hasn’t shut down

CXS

失败就怪我成功的全都归你

Shībài jiù guài wǒ chénggōng de quándōu guī nǐ

If it fails then blame me, success is all due to you

下次穿越你自己搞定

Xiàcì chuānyuè nǐ zìjǐ gǎodìng

Next time we traverse (time) you can handle it yourself (ooooh ouch. No, he knows what game he’s playing.)

LG

说到底这才是你的底气

Shuōdàodǐ zhè cái shì nǐ de dǐqì

In the end, this ability is your “breath,” (as in CXS is the one who breathes life into their ability? LG really switch back to complements in a hurry, huh)

合二为一是前提

Hé èr wéi yī shì qiántí

Combining two into one is the prerequisite

Refrain - accompanied by bestie handshake

揭开底牌

Jiē kāi dǐpái

Reveal your hand

契约绑是不可分离

Qìyuē bǎng shì bùkěfēnlí

This contract binding us is inseparable

彼此能力要共赢

Bǐcǐ nénglì yào gòngyíng

Our abilities demand mutual benefit

LG: 我预知末来

Wǒ yùzhī mò lái

I predict the future

CXS: 我穿越归去

Wǒ chuānyuè guī qù

I traverse back (in time)

Both: 若命运洗牌新的能力

Ruò mìngyùn xǐ pái xīn de nénglì

If fate reshuffles new abilities

新的伙伴到来

Xīn de huǒbàn dàolái

A new partner arrives

Xīn de huǒbàn dàolái

Huòxǔ bùrú nǐ

Perhaps not as good as you

这样想来你勉强可以

Zhèyàng xiǎnglái nǐ miǎnqiáng kěyǐ

I presume you can struggle through as it is.

(I’ll take your weaknesses to someone else’s strengths, is that how it is??????)

—————

That is where the encore bit ends. This next part must have been reserved for the play. I’m going to make guesses on who is singing in these lines and you are free give opinions .

—————-

Both: 旧账放一边

Jiùzhàng fàng yībiān

Set side old quarrels,

CXS: 我只是在意不被认可

Wǒ zhǐshì zàiyì bù bèi rènkě

I just take to heart disapproval (not sure on this translation, but ouch my heart?)

我来协作

Wǒ lái xiézuò

I will cooperate

不甘心我总是闯祸

Bù gānxīn wǒ zǒng shì chuǎnghuò

Unresigned, I always bring trouble

??? 旧账都翻篇

Jiùzhàng dōu fān piān

All old quarrels turn a new page

LG: 也怪我曾经主导太多

Yě guàiwǒ céngjīng zhǔdǎo tài duō

It’s also my fault for controlling to much

??? 放眼未来不计前嫌

Fàngyǎn wèilái bu jì qiánxián

Look to the future, forgive and forget

解开底牌

Jiě kāi dǐpái

Unravel the (player’s) hand

契约绑是不可分离

Qìyuē bǎng shì bùkěfēnlí

This contract binding us is inseparable

彼此信任是唯一

Bǐcǐ xìnrèn shì wéiyī

Mutual trust is the only way

别回望过去

Bié huí wàng guòqù

Don’t look back at the past

别回望过去

Bié huí wàng guòqù

Don’t look back at the past

别在意将来

Bié zàiyì jiānglái

Don’t worry about the future

(别在意将来)

(Bié zàiyì jiānglái)

(Don’t worry about the future) <- current opinion? This is CXS. But I haven’t checked the poll.

面对将来无所畏惧

Miàn duì jiānglái wú suǒ wèijù

Face the future without fear

新的挑战到来

Xīn de tiǎozhàn dàolái

New challenges arrive

我终于明白

Wǒ zhōngyú míngbái

I finally understand

朋��才是最后的底牌

Péngyǒu cái shì zuìhòu de dǐpái

A capable friend is my final hand.

[supercriminalbean]

Bookstore

Aaron Hotchner x GN!Reader.

Summary: Aaron runs into the reader at the bookstore and has to ask them on a date.

Words: 1.8k

Warning: Kissing otherwise just fluff. (Let me know if I missed anything)

Aaron smiles as he glances back at Jack, enjoying the way his son rumbles about the book he’s looking forward to getting. Aaron chuckles softly in response as he focuses back on the road, driving to the book shop. The book shop, he was going to one a little far from his house, and why is that? Well simply because he knew someone

else was going to be there today, and even though he only saw them yesterday he couldn't help but want to see them again. He soon pulls up outside the shop, getting out, helping Jack out of the car seat, his boy full of joy as he pulls his father into the store. Laughter erupts from Aaron as he follows his eager son inside, taking him straight to the children's area.  They both look through the books, Aaron finding the books Jack has wanted forever, pulling them off the shelf for his son. 

“Oh you wanted ‘Charlie and the Chocolate factory’, right?” Aaron hums softly, a light smile across his face as he finds it on the shelf, his eyes leaving his son for a moment. Aarons eyes narrow when he doesn’t get a response.

“Jack?” Aaron calls for him, just as his eyes drop down to his boy, well where his boy is meant to be. “Jack” Aaron calls more panicky, his eyes scanning around him, but no sight of the small boy. Aaron has to hold himself back from going full agent, his mind spinning with every single missing kids case he has ever worked. He moves quickly to the end of the aisle looking around, to see where he could have gone. Luckily his panic vanishes quickly as he sees Jack in the arms of his coworker. A huge smile on your face as you hold Jack in one arm and a pile of books in the other, laughter filling the gap between you and Jack. 

“No need to panic Aaron, I got him” Smiling softly as your eyes land on your boss, making your way over to him, putting Jack on the ground who runs over to his dad with a sheepish look on his face. 

“Jack, you know better than to run off like that” Aaron gently scowls at him, pacing a soft hand on his shoulders.

“I know, sorry dad, I just saw them, and wanted to say hi” Jack pouts softly, glancing up as he gives his dad his best puppy dog eyes. You can’t help but laugh lightly at them, the way Aaron worries and fear just eases from his face as soon as he sees his son.

“He’s a fast one” Smirking faintly at him as you meet his eyes, your stomach feeling as it explodes as you do. Aaron can’t help but chuckle in response, a warm loving smile spreading across his face. 

“That he is, I swear I only took my eyes off him for one second” Aaron's smile grows as he looks at you, thinking back to how comfortable and lovely you looked while you held his son. 

“Can we go look at books now” Jack groans, squirming under Aaron touch, just wanting to run back to the kids section.

“Sure buddy let's go” Aaron smirks at his son's impatience.

“Wait, (Y/n), join us” Jack grins up at you, excitement boiling out of him.

“Oh I don’t want to intrude kiddo” You glance over at Aaron, hope that he also wants you around.

“You would never intrude, come on” Aaron eyes flicker down a small blush flutter over his cheeks, before he looks back at you. 

“I would love to then” Smiling brightly at him, before moving closer.

~~~

The rest of the afternoon is full of joy as you three search for books, Jack and Aaron demand to help you find the books you were looking for. Mainly because Aaron didn’t want this afternoon to end so soon, didn’t want the relaxation and comfort he feels with you to end. It's always different when he hangs out with you outside of work, or even at work, you are the only person to refer to him as Aaron, not Hotch and it feels nice. 

“So, Aaron” You smirk at him as you three make your way out of the store, and towards his car. “You know if you want to spend more time with me after last night, you could of just asked instead of running into me at the bookstore I mentioned to you” Smirking teasingly at him, your heart fluttering as you see his blush creeping up his neck at being called out. 

“I have no idea what you're talking about (Y/n)” Aaron smirks at you, a cocky look over his face.

“Yeah right Hotchner” Rolling your eyes as you laugh lightly, smiling happily as you read the emotions he’s trying to hide from you. “See you Jack” Smiling at the young boy, as you kneel down to give him a hug.

“Bye bye (Y/n)” Jack wraps his arms around you tightly with the biggest grin on his face, which just makes Aaron's heart soar and his mind made up. 

“See you monday Aaron” Turning to look at your boss, his face covered in  a smile full of love.

“Or tomorrow, maybe for a cup of coffee” Aaron clears his throat as his nerves start to show up, his eyes flicker down as he speaks, before glancing back up at you with hope. A smile breaks across your face as you bite your lip softly, your heart feeling like it's going to collapse with the love it's feeling.

“Are you asking me on a date Aaron Hotchner?” You can’t help but tease him, seeing the nerves of this man has got your heart wrapped around his pinky.

“Well I’m trying to” He lets out a small chuckle as he looks into your eyes, feeling at home in them.

“Then it's a date, I’ll see you then Aaron” Grinning happily to yourself, before walking towards your car, but just before your out of ear shot you hear your two favourite boys celebrating.

“Go dad” Jack cheers, followed by Aarons beautiful laughter.

~~~

The next morning, you couldn’t contain your excitement as you got ready for the day, but most importantly your date. This date feels completely different to all your other dates, for once you're not full of nerves, you're not worried about what to wear or what topics to speak about or avoid. Maybe that's because you're already friends with Aaron, or maybe because it's Aaron. The most sweetest and thoughtful guy you know, the one who isn’t afraid of deep conversation, the one who has seen you at your worst and never left your side. Maybe because you two already know each other so well so all the cards are already displayed, you both know what you're getting into.

When you walk into the coffee shop a couple hours later, your eyes automatically land on him, sitting by the wall in the middle of the shop. Your smile widens as your eyes meet, a grin erupting over his face as you make your way over to him. 

“Hey” Taking a seat across from him.

“Hey, you made it” Aaron grins back up at you, enjoying the view of you in front of him.

“What afraid I would stand you up, huh?” Laughing softly as you lean back into your chair.

“Not at all, I even ordered some drinks. I hope you don’t mind” Aaron smiles as he looks you over.

“You know what I drink?”

“A large caramel latte, extra shot and not too hot” Aaron smirks when he sees the impressive look on your face. 

“Good job profiler” 

“More about being around you too much than a profiler” Aaron laughs as they call out his name, which he politely excuses himself to go grab the drinks. He returns shortly with the drinks and conversation starts to flow on by.

“I always forget how much of a bookworm your kid is” Laughing at the story he’s finished telling you, about how he couldn’t get Jack to stop reading last night before bed time. 

“I don’t know where he gets it from” Aaron chuckles, before sipping on his coffee.

“Well seeing as your nose is normally stuck in a file I could probably tell you” Teasing the man again, enjoying the way his eyes roll backwards.

“You just love to tease me don’t you” Aaron licks his lips as he looks into your eyes. This is his first ever date that he has ever felt at home when looking into his partner's eyes.

“Oh I truly do” Chuckling lightly as you glance away from him.

As the conversation carries on smoothly, full of laughter and comfort there is no doubt in either of your mind that you want to do this again. 

~~~

Of course Aaron's phone has to ring and pull you both away from this precious moment.

“We have to go in?” Your smile drops just a little as you watch the expression on Aaron's face, his professional boss face. 

“Yeah we got a case, it's a bad one” Aaron groans as he stands up, his face full of trouble.

“Hey, at least we don’t have to explain to each other the difficulty of our job” You joke, trying to lighten the mood, which you happily succeed in, a soft smile picking at his lips.

“I guess you're right” Aaron smiles, leading you both out of the store and towards both the cars. 

“Well I don’t know about you Aaron, but I really enjoyed today” Smiling up at him as you lean against your car, your eyes glancing down to his lips before settling back on his eyes. 

“So did I, maybe when we get back from the case we can do it again?”

“I would love that, ohh maybe we could go to the movies, the new spiderman is coming out and I know Jack would love to go to it” Beaming up at him as you remember how much his kid was rambling about it yesterday.

“That sounds perfect, I’ll see you back at the office soon then” Aaron smiles.

“Sure, I’ll race you” Laughing softly as he turns away, heading to his car.

“Don’t break any laws” He calls back.

“No promises sir” Laughing as you go to open the door, before someone is grabbing your arm and pushing you into the car. Your head swings up to see Aaron staring down at you, his hand cupping your jaw, before pressing his lips against yours firmly. You can’t help but melt into the kiss, closing your eyes as you enjoy his touch. Eventually he pulls away from you, a playful smirk playing on his face as he glances down at you.

“Don’t be late” He chuckles as he makes his way to his car, leaving you there speechless and breathless. Oh that man is going to be the death of you. 

[rovingotter]

My Wish Rewrite

Everyone under the sun has done a Wish rewrite at this point so I thought I’d try my hand at it.  I’m going to try to keep both Magnifico's and Asha’s characterizations relatively intact while giving Asha a more compelling motivation, and also keep the structure fairly similar to what we got in the movie.

Note:  I use he/him to refer to Star for the sake of clarity, though Star has no official pronouns.

Much of the setup is the same:  Asha giving a tour, going to her interview, etc, with the major difference being that rather than Saba and his wish, the focus is on Simon.  Why?  Because he’s the only person we see in the movie who’s suffering some kind of negative repercussion from losing his wish (aside from just disappointment at it not being granted).  And in this version it’s made clear, in the scene with all the friends gathered in the kitchen, that Simon isn’t just sleepy:  he’s depressed.  He’s lost interest in most things, even the cookies he used to love.  Asha is troubled by this.  Dahlia says something like, “I’m sure things will be back to normal once he has his wish granted.”

Gabo replies, “You mean if he ever has his wish granted.”

“Gabo…”

“You don’t really think everyone’s wish gets granted, do you?  Asha, your saba is one hundred and he’s still waiting.  There’s only a ceremony once every month. How many people do you think live in Rosas?  Do the math.”

Asha:  “Right, but…the good and worthy wishes get granted.”

“And?  We don’t know what Simon’s wish is.  Even he doesn’t know, now.  Maybe he wants to rule the world.”

“Gabo!”

Simon:  “It’s true.  I don’t know. It could be something awful.”

The scene with meeting Magnifico and seeing the wishes goes much the same, but then after “At All Costs,” Asha asks for Simon’s wish to be granted.  And when Magnifico is obviously disappointed that she would ask for favors when they just met, she clarifies:  “Oh, I wouldn’t ask, except…since he gave up his wish, he just hasn’t been himself.  He seems so…sad.”

Magnifico softens visibly.  “All right.  Let me take a look.”

I’m also changing Simon’s wish:  he’s the one who wants to inspire people through music (or art or writing or whatever) but specifically, he wants to inspire a great change and to create a new dawn for Rosas.  As Magnifico examines the wish we can see that this hunger for change is what disturbs him.  He flinches back, quickly sends the wish back to the ceiling, and gives Asha the speech about how some wishes are too vague to grant:  there’s no telling what could happen.

“…then can’t you just give it back?”

“Excuse me?”

“His wish.  You could just give it back.  Then if it’s dangerous, it could be stopped, but if not—”

“That's not how it works. The wishes stay here until they are granted.  The system only works if everyone follows the same rules.  That’s the only way I can keep us all safe.  Look at this kingdom.  I’ve drawn together people from all over the world, and they live here in harmony, wanting for nothing.  Where else do you think that happens?  Do you believe that’s a coincidence?  I don’t just grant the good wishes.  I keep the bad ones from hurting anyone.”

“But Simon is hurting now.  Surely, in this case, you could make an exception—”

“If I make one exception, then everyone will start demanding their wishes back, and the whole system will crumble.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

The argument keeps escalating to the “I decide what everyone deserves” line.  And this is what causes Asha to start questioning the system she’s believed in her whole life.  She’s always seen Rosas as a paradise—and it is, for most.  But now that same system is harming her friend and Magnifico is unwilling to rectify this due to vague fears about the potential consequences of Simon's wish. 

She doesn’t get the job. Magnifico grants someone else’s wish at the ceremony.  Asha’s not just sad, though:  she’s pissed.  When Magnifico takes the newcomers’ wishes and gives her that little smirk over his shoulder, we see her eyes narrow, we see her maintain eye contact with him until he looks away, a hint of something like confusion or regret in his expression.

That night, she talks to her family about what happened, and they urge her to trust the king’s judgment.  It escalates to a furious argument and she storms out.

Asha doesn’t just wish upon a star, though.  She summons Star, deliberately.  How?  Her dad was a philosopher, but also secretly studied magic, specifically star magic, and Asha alone knows where he kept his books of spells.  Before his death, her dad also cautioned her to never to use the magic unless there’s no other choice:  it’s too difficult to control, and it can have unforeseen consequences.  Asha decides that desperate times call for desperate measures; she’s going to steal back Simon’s wish from the vault, using this power…which is still not a great plan, and she hasn’t even talked to Simon about this yet.  But here, her recklessness is driven by anger and desperation, not a vague sense of unfairness.  Her “I want” song also becomes a spellcasting song.  And—somewhat to her surprise—it works.

This gives Asha more agency in her own story, but also, I think it better reflects the attempted theme of Wish:  self-determination.  If you’re going to write a story about the importance of people pursuing their own desires and being in charge of their own destiny rather than waiting around hoping for someone else to give them what they want, I think it’s kind of hypocritical to have the main character get a necessary power boost by essentially praying and receive divine aid because the heavens judge her to be good and worthy. Here, Asha makes the decision to cross a line for the sake of her friend.

Star is still a cute little glowing bob who doesn’t talk, and he’s still whimsical, but in this version he’s got a bit more of a mischievous edge.  He’s a chaotic little gremlin.  He does things that are a bit more bizarre than just giving animals and plants the power of speech:  maybe he starts swapping body parts, giving a rabbit’s head to a bear and vice versa.  Maybe he gives consciousness to a mushroom and it starts experiencing existential confusion ("Who am I? What am I? Why am I stuck in the ground?") and asking about its purpose, only for Star to giggle and kick his stubby little appendages in the air. 

“You’re a Star” wouldn’t work in this context, since it’s too straightforwardly empowering, and in this moment, Asha is experiencing some genuine anxiety over what she’s unleashed.  Maybe she can sing about that. The song is called, "What Have I Done?" Some of the animals can chime in.  The mushrooms sing about their existential angst.  The song wraps up, Asha decides that, now that Star is here, she’s going to go ahead with her plan, despite her many questions.

“Star.  Listen to me.  I need your help to…”  She takes a breath.  “To commit a crime.”

Star squeals in delight.

“But it’s a good crime.  We’re helping my friend.  We have to retrieve one of these bubbly ball things from inside a locked room in King Magnifico’s castle.  Okay?  Can you help me?”

Star produces a small flame.

“No, we’re not setting anything on fire.”

Star’s little face droops in sadness.

“I’m serious.  No arson.  Okay?  Just some light breaking and entering, and then we’re done.  And once King Magnifico realizes the wish is gone…well, that’s a problem for future Asha.”

Star nods in agreement and winks.

* * *

Meanwhile, King Magnifico has seen the burst of light in the sky.  He’s tearing his study apart looking for answers.  Amaya asks him what’s going on.  And he tells her.

He recognizes that light:  he’s heard of this.  It’s star magic.  Very powerful, very rare, and most of all, unpredictable.  Such magic has brought down entire kingdoms, in the past.  Who in Rosas could possibly have the knowledge to summon such a thing?  Who would dare to so brazenly break his law against unauthorized sorcery?  He thinks of the interview earlier.  “Asha?  No.  No, surely not.  She’s just a child.”  But the suspicion has been planted.

The scene of him almost turning to the book, then being talked down by Amaya, would play out similarly.  But here it parallels the scene of Asha finding and using her father’s book.  Both Asha and Magnifico have flirted with a kind of Faustian bargain, but so far only Asha’s actually taken the plunge.

Asha introduces Star to her friends, including Simon.  Star causes some more mayhem, including briefly transforming Dario into a donkey and Hal into a wooden marionette. (There's some Disney Easter eggs for you.) Star cures Safi's allergies and then gives them back. One of the chickens now constantly sings opera solos and cannot be stopped.

Asha promises to get Simon's wish back.  He’s troubled.  “Asha…I never asked for this.  I don’t want you getting hurt for my sake. I don't want to cause trouble.  I can wait—”

“Simon, you don’t understand.  He’s never going to grant your wish.  He thinks it’s dangerous.  But I know that it’s not.  What he’s doing—it isn’t right.  Please.  Let me help you.”

They argue back and forth a bit, with Simon ultimately agreeing, though still obviously nervous about the whole thing.  Dahlia helps Asha get into the study, and here, Star starts setting things on fire and creating havoc…not accidentally, but because Star really likes fire.  Asha manages to put the fire out and distract Star from what he’s doing (turning Magnifico’s collection of rare books into squalling, pointy-toothed purple blobs).  Star then helps her get into the wish room, where she locates and retrieves Simon’s wish.

While this is happening, Magnifico—heeding Amaya’s advice to look to his people—calls the gathering, and things play out pretty similarly to how they do in the movie, with him becoming increasingly agitated when his citizens start questioning the system.  He storms back into the castle, telling Amaya he’ll be with the wishes. 

And here, now, we see an unexpected side to the king, who has (up to this point) always appeared as dignified and serious:  to unwind, he plays with a set of toy people and does a cute little dance to his “villain song,” acting childlike and rather silly as he sings about wanting more respect, embracing his own personal chaos as an escape from the pressures of leadership…similar to the movie, but it’s more obvious that the song’s silliness is a deliberate stylistic choice.  We’re seeing an aspect of himself he normally hides from people, and even from his wife.  (The vibe of the song remains the same, just imagine the lyrics are better-written and reflect this theme.)  At some point, Amaya comes to check on him—because she doesn’t like the way he’s been eyeing that book lately—and catches him in the midst of his goofy dance.  He freezes.  The music stops.  They’re both embarrassed, and she makes an excuse and quickly leaves.  Kind of like that scene in Spaceballs where Dark Helmet is playing with his dolls and Colonel Sandurz walks in on him.

The song resumes, the lyrics now shifting to King Magnifico being self-critical—why is he messing around with these stupid toys?  There is a traitor in Rosas!  A dangerous magic is afoot! He needs to Get Serious.  It is at this point that he starts working himself back into a panic, with his reflections in the mirrors (which previously praised him) now chiding him, yelling at him and egging him on.  He turns to the book.  Like Asha, he’s now been driven to the breaking point of using a power he’s been cautioned against using.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Asha, meanwhile, has successfully stolen back Simon’s wish.  She gives it to him, and we see him healed.  We see the spark of life come back into his eyes.  We see him smile for the very first time.

Then Magnifico bursts in, and it’s clear something has changed.  He’s not acting like himself.  He tells Asha that he knows what she did.  In this version, see, it’s not Simon who tells Magnifico the truth about her:  it’s her family.  Except they didn’t even see it as a betrayal.  They have total trust in Magnifico, and Asha’s been acting “strange” lately, so when the king comes to their house asking about her, they tell him about the forbidden book of star magic they found in Asha’s room, hidden beneath the bed.  They’re so embarrassed and shocked that their daughter/granddaughter would experiment with such dangerous magic.  Magnifico reassured them that he didn’t blame Asha—she’s just a child, after all—and that once the star was destroyed, their daughter would go back to normal.  (Of course, the irony being that Magnifico’s made his own bargain with the devil at this point, and they have no idea.)

Magnifico, Asha, and Simon—who’s got his spark back now—have a heated argument.  Magnifico demands that they turn over Star, and they refuse.  He becomes more and more enraged as they hurl accusations at him, telling him that the entire system is rotten and they’re not going to take it anymore.  When his fury reaches its peak, he growls, “You gave this to me…and I’m taking it back.”  He wrenches Simon’s wish out of his chest again and crushes it…and then he gets the unexpected rush of power from the magic.

Star emerges from hiding.  He grants life to a table, which goes ballistic and attacks Magnifico.  They flee.  Simon’s depression has returned, even worse than before. He's practically catatonic.  They search for a safe place to hide him and go to Bazeema’s sanctuary (let’s just say they already know where it is—no need for them to conveniently stumble across it by chance). 

Much like in the movie, Magnifico starts putting up wanted posters for Asha, he creates his wish-powered staff, Amaya stumbles across him and is horrified.

Asha and co. sing “Knowing What I Know Now.”  Amaya bursts in to tell them about the forbidden magic.  She asks for their help in finding a way to break its hold on her husband.

The main difference here is that when she’s introduced to Star and learns that Asha summoned him, Amaya isn’t charmed and delighted, she’s appalled that Asha’s first action was to start experimenting with a magic she didn’t understand.  “If you had come to me, if I had known, I could have done something.” 

We then get the story of Magnifico’s past, from Amaya:  we see it on the wall in the form of shadows and light.  His family was not killed by thieves or invaders, but by revolutionaries.  In his homeland, there was a bloody and chaotic uprising.  The rulers were overthrown, but countless ordinary people were killed as well.  And it all started with a seemingly benign wish for change, with songs and poems about freedom.  This is why Magnifico finds Simon’s wish so threatening and why, when he saw Star's light, he interpreted it as a threat.

Dahlia starts to defend Asha, to say that it wasn’t her fault, it was Magnifico's, but Asha speaks up—“No, Dahlia.  Amaya’s right.  I should have talked to you, first—to all of you—instead of taking things into my own hands.  I was just so…so angry.  And scared.”  (Look, see, I gave her an arch.  This also emphasizes the thematic parallels between her and Magnifico.) "I need to fix this.  But I can’t do it alone."

Cut to Magnifico, who’s now having a conversation with his reflection—a reflection clearly meant to represent the forbidden magic and its influence.  He’s rattled by his own actions, asking himself whether he went too far, but the magic shows him the horrors of his past in the mirror, reminding him of what happens when order is not maintained…though again, we see only vague shadows and light, hear distant echoes of screams.  “Look at Simon as a sacrifice for the greater good,” the mirror said.  “Nothing is achieved without sacrifice.  You called upon me.  Put your trust in me, now, and I promise—you will never feel that despair again.  I will protect you…at all costs.”

Amaya and Dahlia, meanwhile, are looking through the book of forbidden magic and find the passage saying that there’s no way to break its hold.  Once someone embraces it once, they commit for eternity:  it’s a rule of nature.  But Asha interjects:  “That only means no one has found a way yet.  And we have a star.  Star magic is all about breaking the rules.  So let’s break some rules.”

Asha and her friends infiltrate the castle to free the wishes so Magnifico can’t crush and absorb them. Amaya, meanwhile, goes looking for Magnifico, hoping she can still reason with him, but when she finds him, he says, "You're too late." He uses a blast of magic to put her to sleep.

Magnifico—who now fully under the magic’s sway—ascends to the top of the castle, absorbs all the wishes, pulls Star into his staff, and uses its power to block the sky.  He hauls Asha to the top of the tower with his magic and tells her that he’s going to add her wish to the collection.  When he pulls the wish from her chest, it’s an image of Asha sitting quietly with her father in the tree.  His rage falters.  His own wish emerges, unbidden, from his chest—the family he lost so long ago.  He stuffs it back inside his chest, but the reminder of the shared loss between them pierces his armor.

His breathing speeds up.  His eyes shift from green to blue, green to blue.

It is at this point we get the Reprise of “This Wish,” but this time, Amaya (who reappears at the last minute, having woken from her sleep) is the one spearheading it, and they’re singing to break the magic’s hold, using the combined power of their wishes.  The staff glows, Star and the wishes burst free. 

In a spasm of panic and horror, Magnifico throws himself off the tower.  Asha cries out to Star to save him.  Star shoots straight into Magnifico’s chest and slows his fall, and he drifts down like a leaf, landing in the midst of his people.  There’s a burst of green and gold shimmers from within him, spreading outward, mingling and then winking out like fireflies.  The forbidden magic’s hold is broken, but the cost—as he soon finds—is that he can no longer use magic at all.  He’s powerless.  He stares at his hands and laughs until he weeps.  Amaya comforts him and gives him one of the toy people she found in his study.

The freed wishes return to their owners…including Simon’s now-restored wish, which has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, having inspired Asha to bring great change to the land.  And Simon finds to his surprise that his wish, too, has changed:  he no longer wants to be a revolutionary, but a healer.  Star returns just long enough to say goodbye.

There’s no magic wand.  Some of the animals can still talk, the mushrooms are still questioning their existence, but Rosas can no longer rely on magic:  its gods have departed, and the people are left with themselves and their own choices, their own fragile wills and hearts. 

[heliphantie]

"Inside Out 2"

I've watched “Inside Out 2”, and there’s my notes:

Conflict expands on themes of first movie, and if the moral of first was, difficult and discomfortable emotions and memories are as important for personal growth as positive ones, here it is about not giving away basic emotions and good memories even while growing and building personality and ambitions. I’d say conflict of IO was executed in better organized form and it was easier to follow as it unrolled, but it’s a general flaw of sequels. It wasn’t so bad.

Interestingly, antagonist is motivated by striving for better future, which mainstream media usually reserves for protagonist. As someone who is critical to “destroy the past, build future on the ruins of it” philosophy pushed by media as role model, I can say I welcome this twist in formula. Pixar in general seems to handle “Well-Intentioned Extremist” trope decently, be it antagonists or antiheroes. Even characters who could be villainous in regular media defied expectations. (I honestly expected Val ending to be “bad influence”, in typical fashion for “cool kids” trope, but she’s ended to be sympathetic character throughout the movie and not the source of conflict.)

Main 5 kept (mostly) together for the length of movie gives room for interactions and dynamics that were limited in first one. Breakout star, unexpectedly for me, is Anger, he had the funniest scenes. I generally like the characters like that (Grumpy the dwarf, octopus Hank, Gabo in Wish… you got idea), but can’t say he was enjoyable to this extent in first movie. Maybe he just better works as foil for someone with opposite personality, rather than with somebody like Disgust and Fear.

Speaking about antagonists, I felt there was potential in Envy, even guessed if she ends to be twist villain before the first trailer. In the end, new emotions somehow turned less interesting personality-wise compared to old ones. There are still opportunities for the franchise unfolding, so likely their spotlights are in due course.

References/memetic moments in regard to first movie are scarce, but ones that happen are fairly unexpected (like cameo of certain brick joke), and don’t linger too long. There is also some shipteasing sprinkled over (but not too overt), which wasn’t a thing in original. (Mount Crashmore was a biggest surprise, by the way.)

One thing carried on from IO is, fairly hilarious one scene wonders, my favorite is one that wasn’t spoilered by promos, you know which if you have seen it) Worthy successor of Brazilian helicopter pilot. (I feel fans are going to have a field day with them…)

Another unexpected moment is the scene that seems to be an explicit dig at industry of which the movie is a product. Animators that rebel when main five encourage them to let imagination run free as opposed to following demands of Anxiety who’s obsessed with sticking to trends in pursuit of success. One can wonder what it was about…

Conclusion: enjoyable movie, which doesn’t even seem forced, as it happens so often with sequels. It even appears to left open for further expansion, and I smell mini-series, maybe? It’s a good concept to be mined, frankly.

Oh, and I’ve got idea I couldn’t wait to work on so I didn’t wait for the movie to get released and started it in advance and almost done with. So… does it count as fanart if it doesn’t involve the setting and characters of thing, but deals with central concept of it? Anyway, soon.

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Malfunction (Steam Powered Giraffe)

What's their malfunction?/It's a start; can we teach them not to fall apart?/Their malfunction isn't us, it's all the clamor and the fuss/When I say that I love you, damn it Janet, take it as truth/Everything's a little broken/To be pristine well you must be jokin'

"Please please listen to it oh my god. oh God. aauauagh. it's about feeling imperfect and how that sucks but it's not like "oh everyone's perfect" it's "so what? everyone's imperfect!" it's also just. bunny (the writer and main singer) said it can be interpreted as dysphoria as well"

Famous Last Words (My Chemical Romance)

Cause I see you lying next to me/With words I thought I'd never speak/Awake and unafraid/Asleep or dead

I am not afraid to keep on living/I am not afraid to walk this world alone/Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiven/Nothing you can say can stop me going home

"Living as yourself is fucking hard! Coming to terms with love and grief and pain all at once! And if you fuck up enough you DO die. There's no second chances, and it's hard to believe even if you're living it!"

"To me this song is like. “Man. Life is fucking difficult and there’s so many things being demanded of me but fuck it we ball I’m gonna keep going even if I have to go at it alone sometimes, even if people I love have to leave my life eventually, through death or something else. Keep living.” And that fucking got me when I first entered a really low point in life. And it still gets me, especially now. It’s a song that will always be there for me and many others. Fucks my shit up but puts it back together too."

"Without context: this is an insanely beautiful and powerful song that calls for the listener to keep going even when they’re alone and incomplete. Unlike a lot of songs off the album, it doesn’t have nihilist or defeatist undertones; it’s a direct call to keep moving, to feel everything and know you’ll be okay if you just keep MOVING. With context: the band recorded this album in a famous haunted mansion whose dreary atmosphere wreaked havoc on their already very stressed psyches. Mikey Way, the bassist and younger brother of the singer, suffered a mental breakdown so severe he had to temporarily leave the band and the mansion. Before that, he would sneak into his brother’s room at night and sleep on the floor to feel safe. The band wrote this song for him while he was away. It directly references the nights spent on his brother’s floor, the conversations they had, and the long-standing fear that the singer has of losing Mikey (a fear so strong it’s present through all four albums major as a significant theme.) Mikey himself later said that when the band played the song for him, he immediately felt better about the album than he had in months, and was able to record it with them soon after. When you know why the song calls you to keep walking this world alone, to not be afraid to keep on living, to forgive - what was already a powerful anthem can move someone to tears easily."

[spade-riddles]

Submission (Re: People hating on him):

Anon, not being rude or anything, but wanted to give you an honest opinion and hopefully good response.

If someone’s first assumption about this whole thing is that people who are calling it PR are “hating”, then they are in the target group that this stunt is being catered towards. Especially when you look at Travis’ dating history, because oh look! that search shot up right after Taylor attended the game. lol

No one is hating on Travis. People who are and aren’t Taylor OR Travis fans are just calling out the blatant transparency of it. A host from The View called it a PR stunt. A popular sports host has called this a PR stunt.

People Magazine even said she “heard about the invitation”. So….she heard about this friendship bracelet story….shortly after learning about the invitation? Now, who do we think gave her the heads up about the invitation? Because didn’t she say during her Nashville show that she doesn’t Google herself but Scott told her about the bench named after her in Centennial Park? She was more than likely out of the loop about it until someone brought it to her attention. Because she doesn’t Google herself.

For example:

Patrick Mahomes said Sunday he hoped to meet her. Then he later said he’d met her before at the NFL Draft when it was in Nashville, which is true because that’s when she wore that rainbow colored dress/robe during Lover era.

However, it was also said that Travis/Taylor had gone on TWO double dates with Patrick and his wife…before she attended the game Sunday. So if he met her in passing at the draft, a double date means he had time for a conversation with her, right? But today he said he met her at the private dinner. lol

Travis was with his ex girlfriend, Kayla, for 5 years. Never blatantly made it a point to talk about her publicly even though people knew they were together and attended events together. Now all of a sudden, he’s openly talking about his personal life? On his own podcast and on Pat McAfee’s show? Taylor suddenly owns a Chiefs jacket when she’s only ever referenced the Eagles? She doesn’t even reference the Tennessee Titans. Lol

The cheat sheet incident? Who else in that suite would’ve needed such detailed notes (especially on what to wear to a football game? Unless you’re trying to figure out what to wear to not make it look too obvious). Assuming the people who are usually in his suite are friends and family…who have been to many of his games before (and would know things about the team and fanbase traditions)? His publicist was right behind her and made it a point to hop in Deuxmoi’s comments and say the cheat sheet wasn’t Taylor’s and that she was his publicist. Why? Because she’s paying attention to the demand for her client on a popular gossip blog.

Travis’ jersey sales suddenly going up 400%? When he’s a two-time Super Bowl winner? Heinz making a custom label (“seemingly ranch”) for a product (Kranch) that they’ve had on the market since 2019?

The NFL seeing a boost in ratings off this game against the now 0-3 Bears, a game the Chiefs SHOULD have won? When the Miami Dolphins dropped 70 points in their game?

The man JUST signed with CAA. He wants to expand his brand because he is about to be “old” in NFL terms. CAA is a talent agency. We all know that when celebrities sign with agencies, they are expected to open up about their private lives somewhat because that’s what the audience they are aiming to reach is interested in.

Adele dates (and may be married) to Rich Paul, who is LeBron James’ longtime agent. How often do you hear them speak about each other? How often do you hear LeBron James speak about Adele?

Last. Look at the picture on TMZ from their PRIVATE dinner. The picture wasn’t a sneak picture. Look at the positioning. Look how clear it is. Look how close it is. Taylor, who is talking to someone, would have seen the person taking the photo. There’s another couple in the background facing that direction who would have seen the picture being taken. Their body language is saying “act natural”.

She is allegedly attending the next Chiefs game on Sunday Night Football (which is a prime time game, btw) against….the Jets who are the home team. Watch how the things getting called out this week—- are “cleaned up” for that game and after.