#only to find out i didnt get the good ending & also i still gotta do extra stage. which i still havent started yet

[ma3mae]

No one likes syringes!

Summary : You gotta take your weekly syringe but you're afraid of needles so how can these mfs (Dazai, Kunikida, Atsushi, Aku, Chuuya) convince you to take it 🤷

Genre : bit cracky and fluff, prob lots of teasing bc u know who tf im talking about 💀

Warnings : heartattacks bc we all simp too hard for these men 🛐 maybe a bit of suggestive themes at the end

A/N : managed to inject myself for the first time (aint no drugs, need them bc HEALTH) and bro, my hands r still shaky bc fear 😭 how do ppl do this so easily 💀 also the syringe is like a pen (also for this story) but broo its still scary and i need some bsd character comforting me 😩✋✋

Dazai Osamu

Lets say yall live together and hes at work while u r home alone

cant bring yourself to do it alone bc bro syringes are scary (even if its just a pen bc NEEDLES BRO) 😩😭

So you text him and ask what hes doing and tell him if hes got time to come home asap bc we r nearly crying at this point

hes gonna be SO ANNOYING like "i was just waiting for a text from you~ dont worry, your knight in shining armor will save you"

BROO he prob knew that you gotta take them today and also knew that nothing would be going on at the agency so he couldve stayed at home but nah 😭😭 (sadistic a** fr fr)

but hes still hurrying nonetheless bc hes not that MEAN -right???-

arrives at home and finds you on the couch holding the pen with shaky hands and his heart does feel a TAD bit guilty bc fr he couldve stayed at home and u would have gotten this shit over asap

gon be all like "dw im here now, okay? Lets just get this over with and then we'll cuddle, how about that?"

homegirl is about to cry at this point bc just FREE HER from this misery

sits next down to you and takes the pen from your hands

If you do wanna try it out yourself, he'll gently guide you through it

He knows how afraid you are and teasing would just make you sob instantly bc the pressure is already too much to deal with YEAH U BETTER STFU U TEASE !! jk still love him

will try to change your mind tho by sayinf stuff like "Really? ~ i mean its brave and good of you to try it yourself but I really love helping you, you know. Want to do everything for you, darling." he knows EXACTLY what hes doing to us by saying that

Is prob gonna give us that look and whisper in our ear and shi im sorry im too down bad for this man at this point 😩

if you dont wanna do it yourself then, he'll tell you to look at him while hes pressing the pen onto your thigh or stomach

You still cant keep your eyes off of it? Sry girl, theres only one solution

He'll just click his tounge at you while having that fking smirk on his face as he says "still too distracted, I see? Well seems like theres only one way to help you"

gives you a kiss on the lips and just deepens it while looking STRAIGHT into your eyes got my knees weak for him fr

you only feel a tiny sting and as soon as a "click" is heard, he'll break the kiss and just grins at you as if he didnt trick you lol

but who are you to complain, he sees that you liked it and will def comment on that

"see, love? Wasn't so hard after all. But you still did well. Proud of you as always"

pecks you on the lips again before setting the pen onto the table and wraps his arms around your waist bc NO WAY in hell is he gonna let go after that

"i think i deserve a reward for that~" "you said you were waiting for a text so you KNEW i had to do it today, right?" ".... welp, not gonna apologize on that 🤷🤷🤷"

u can understand why kunikida has to SIGH all the time as soon as dazai opens his mouth but oh well, you're too whipped to care about at this point

wont let you go so guess you'll have to reward him 💅 no ones complaining LOL

if you tell him to help you next time before hes gone for work, he'll def do it bc he loves u but poor kunikida gotta expect him arrive at work late more often bc he wont leave home without rewards 🛐

Kunikida Doppo

You already know that he got the exact day, hour, minute and SECOND written down on when you gotta take your pen

You tell him that the day is enough and that the time doesnt matter but NOO 😤 YOU WILL take it at the exact time

If its at ungodly hours like 3am or smth, bro he'll wake you up like no mercy for his schedule 😭

If u complain to him tho then dw he will rearrange it for u bc he may love to stick to his plans but he wont ignore your needs and stuff either get urself a man who takes care of u like that 😤😤

will prefer to do it before work, so if you're not an early bird then he'll wake u up but dw you'll get a forehead kiss and bro's already fully dressed n' stuff BUT waking up to him looking at you with such a loving gaze will make u forget that its 5-6am or smth 😩

will first let you get up in peace and make u some calming tea bc he knows what will come next ✋

"Y/N, I know you don't like it but you have to take your pen today, okay?"

if we start a tanthrum then he already knows about it like bro's prepared for everything!!

"Kuni, do we really ha-" "Yes." "But you know I dont li-" "Yes and yes. I know you hate it but don't worry, I've already written everything down on how to do it and what to be aware of so its okay to feel afraid but don't worry because I'm here. Nothing will happen and I've already bought your favorite snacks so you'll feel better but dont eat too much of it when I'm gone. "

u already know he spent a night or smth just researching everything about it as soon as you told him

prob even went to a library and once came back home with multiple books in his hands, hes THAT dedicated UGH I LOVE HIM 💕

you could just sob rn bc how did the earth bless you with this man KUNIKIDA I NEED U 😭😭😭

If the pen is kept in a fridge then dw he already put that shit out for it to not be cold anymore (prob counted the minutes and seconds LOL)

he'll sit you down on the bed or couch, disinfect the place on where you'll take it (lol that sounds WRONG) and he'll give you a peck on your forehead before asking if you're alright and ready to go through with it bc no way in hell is he gonna do it while you're too shaken up for it

If you wanna try to do it alone then he'll take your hand into his as you're grabbing the pen, slowly guiding it while praising you for how brave you are for trying this and that hes proud of you IM SOBBING

will also tell you to look at him if you get more afraid by seeing it on your skin

Honestly even if you dont wanna do it yourself, he'll make sure to be there and will praise you every time you get through with it bc you KNOW he means it

Honestly makes you tear up everytime and u just wanna kiss this man fr

you thank him and tell him how glad you are to have him, he'll be smitten even more than he already is

Cup his face with your hands and kiss him bro's gonna find it really difficult to not stay at home and just be in your arms

at the end of the day, his love for you exceeds his ideals so he wouldnt mind arriving at work some minutes later if he gets to have you in his arms for a bit longer

Will arrive at work with such a good mood that hes prob gonna freak dazai out with it especially when he overlooks some dumb remarks from him the power of love YALL but who can blame him, his heart is thumping louder than dazai's rambling LOL

maybe yall will continue when hes back home, who knows 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐

Nakajima Atsushi

when you told him about the pen for the first time, he was literally thrown off like "wait, so you have to.... stab yourself regularly with that?????"

hes just SO precious bc his heart's squeezing at you asking him if he could help u bc you just feel so comfortable and just knowing that makes him SWOON

But at the same time hes panicking bc HOW CAN HE DO THAT WITHOUT HURTING U

Ngl hes prob also afraid of needles and stuff 😭 is gonna look at u like the pic above LOL

will ask yosano or even recommend that she should do it but you're like "NO!! im sorry, tsushi but im too scared of her and i feel safe with u :(((("

you got him WHIPPED and DEDICATED bc he'll def research that shit through and through

Will ask his coworkers (prob kunikida) how to best handle the situation

has everything ready but will stumble and be kinda hastily about it at first bc hes prob even more nervous than you are 💀

either it implifies your fear more or its just so ridiculous that you're legit like "ily but im not gonna die or smth 🤨🤨🤨" you cant blame him tho 😤

hes gonna be all like "OKAY OKAY, we got this. No, I GOT this s-so no worries, okay?" bro, BREATHE. Hes just about to pass out at this point jk jk

if you decide to try it out alone, he'll be a bit saddened bc does this mean you dont want him to help you after all?? :(( was he not good enough of a choice to be of help :((( TSUSHI STFU ILY

dw just reassure him that you obviously appreciate his help and still need him to be there bc no way in hell can u do it alone without ur hubby

will tell you everything he had learned about the pen and how to use it with a bit of a tremble in his voice but he pulls through with it!!

You manage to do it and BOY get ready for a rant on how proud of you he is

will want to pamper you with kisses on ur face "tsushi, i know that look. Go ahead and do it, dont hold back" "really, y/n!!?" "😩 bro do it ok" will try to hold back with gluing himself onto you but how can he NOT

If u dont wanna do it urself then it will prob go like this:

its time for yk what and he sees the genuine fear in your eyes but dw he got you

hes prob gon be like "my s/o need me rn and i have to help them!!!" hes actually gonna remember everythinf he looked up and prob memorized for you bc hes AN ANGEL will put his forehead against yours and tell you to look at him "i wont let anything hurt you and happen to you. You're afraid and honestly im afraid too but you and i will get through this, okay?" gives you the most lovestruck smile ever before he looks down and counts to three

"breathe in, y/n. It will be okay" he ignores his slightly trembling hands and at the count of three inserts it. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER📸📸📸

as soon as yall hear a click, he quietly counts to three before pulling it out and BROO the relief is refreshing af

"WE DID IT, Y/N!!!" Is hella giddy bc how can he not be proud of the both of you!!!! You did it!!! will honestly pull you in a hug bc hes just so happy

prob gonna realise that he just did it without asking u and will be sheepish all like "o-oh sorry, i just got too excited" "no tsushi. We should be happy about this so dont let go!!" no need to say it twice bc hes gonna wrap his arms even tighter around you and nuzzle his face into the crook of your neck ILL GIVE U A KISS TSUSHI 🛐🛐

will he feel bad for arriving at work a bit later? Maybe but a scolding from kunikida wont hold him back from holding you for a tad bit longer

He'll be a bit less nervous for the next times and it will surely decrease with each time bc practice yk but will obviously still hold you until he made sure that you're feeling okay afterwards

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke

Bro's nearly flabbergasted bc why are you making such a FUSS 🤨🤨 im sry dont sue me

"Calm down, you idiot. It's only a pen. You dont even SEE the needle."

dont ask him why hes staying with you if its JUST a needle then bc bro will prob just straight up get up and leave if you point it out 💀

will prob be the first to not even suggest but just TELL you to do it yourself aku im hurting over here 😩

will prob make an effort in atleast roughly skimming through a website about it prob smth weird like wikihow LMAO

If he does see you how afraid you really are of it, hes rly trying his best to ignore the small ache its giving his heart bc he takes no pleasure in witnessing u be so afraid✋ its still JUST a pen in his eyes at the end of the day lol

will just sigh and snatch that shit from your hands bc he cant bear to see you like this any longer are we looking that pitiful, probably LOL

But he'll be surprisingly soft with his touch, nearly just ghosting you with his hands is that even a term, nvm yall know what i mean

Hes just gonna be straightforward with it bc the faster its over the better. He wont admit that he just wants to help but cant convey it bc what even are feelings 🤷

He'll tilt your chin towards him and just say "Look at me, Y/N. Stop overthinking it. You won't get hurt from this stupid thing, okay? If smth does happen, I'll just destroy the factory thats making this."

You dont know if hes joking to lighten the mood or if hes serious bc its aku

But hes prob joking

anyway hes gonna ask you like smth rly random like "What do you wanna eat later" which will confuse you but you'll answer nonetheless bc hey hes initiating a convo!!

as you start to talk and he notices you're relaxed enough for him, welp yk whats happening

Actually makes you wince a bit bc it just caught you off guard

"Ryuu, what the f-?!" "Just bear with it." ok we have been silenced 🛐

yall hear the click of relief, he counts in his mind to three and quickly pulls that shit out

you're slightly trembling from relief from finally getting it over you and bro just clicks his tounge like "You're such a fool. Cant believe something insignificant like that makes you nearly shit your pants."

you lowkey glare at him for that bc BRO needles r spooky 😭 but dw before you even open your mouth to tell him off, he'll look to the side and say "... You did good for holding that out though... but its still stupid."

just give him a peck on the cheek or smth bc this boy is prob craving some praise after having helped you like that

"Thank you, Ryuu. I couldnt have done this without you. You're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for"

Give him a tight hug, kiss and boom you got him around your finger

he'll take a second to wrap his arms around you and will just hide his face in the crook of ur neck like our other boy tsushi

"Of course, I'd help... I'll still blow up the factory for scaring you like that."

"NO!!" jk he wont if u tell him not to but hes just trying to say he doesnt like seeing u like that we know aku, dw 💕💕

if his coworkers ask why hes arriving a bit later at work, he'll just tell them to shut up and continue with their work

If you look closely you'll see his ears turn a bit pink as he keeps thinking of you and your words 💕💕😭

Nakahara Chuuya

Honestly its gonna be a mix of every reaction possible I think

Like if you tell him about the pen, hes first gonna feel a bit pressured like "O-Oh wait so you want ME to help with it??"

Like no offense hes obviously feeling pretty happy about that you are asking him for help especially for smth important as your health

But he knows hes not the most gentle person and does have his worries that he might accidentally hurt you or smth

wont ask anyone for advice bc its his love of his life can i be that pls that asked HIM so he'll do it at the end of the day!!

but if hes feeling rly unsure then he wont mind slipping a question about it when hes reporting to mori

which means being not subtle at all

"So was that all for today's report of the mission." "Yeah." "Then do you need something or why are you still standing there?" ".... *pulls out a picture of your pen* do you know how to use this?..."

you def know that chuuya's feeling so embarassed that hes asking his BOSS but its a sacrifice hes willing to pay

mori will have mercy on him and tell him what he should be careful of and summarise on how to use it

Will prob throw in a "good luck~" bc how can u not TEASE him

anyway our boy's done his research and now comes the hard part

"Okay, dont panic Y/N." "HOW CAN I NOT WHEN YOU'RE HOLDING IT LIKE YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME" "JUST DONT PANIC, FFS"

dw as soon as he sees you trembling, he'll be softer than a marshmallow

a chuuya one

"Oi, look at me. I'll make sure nothing's gonna happen to you, alright? Will just sting a bit and thats it. Will take care of you after this so you'll forget this ever happened."

HOW CAN U NOT SWOON AT HIM 😩😩

he'll even take off his gloves so you'll be more relaxed if you can feel his skin bro the gloves are giving off doctor vibes in this scenario, will make us panic more LOL

if you really cant keep your eyes off it then well....

"Damn it, love. Stop looking at it." will just press his lips onto you for a second before breaking it and inserting that shi*

"Ch-Chuuya!" "I know, i know. Dont worry, its gonna be over real soon."

And boom thr click is heard and yall are finally done

Honestly his shoulders are gonna relax instantly, boy was tensed up even more than you skskskks but who can blame him

"OMG chuuya we did it!!" "Yeah, you did it, doll." bro's gonna latch onto you again bc that kiss from earlier wasnt enough for the both of u 😩

is it riling yall up? Probably but welp you 're already either shirtless or pantless so only one clothing to pull off less work for yall

Mori's just gonna be like "I see, you managed to get through it" and chuuya just tiltd his fedora down so u cant see his face bc he REALLY wants to ignore that his boss knows whats been holding our boy up cant blame him 🤷🤷🤷

***************

Lol that was WAY too long but honestly this was so good to write 😩 now im just gonna be sad that none of them r here to do it irl but oh welp, will just read more stuff about them ✋💅

[wlwanakin]

I gotta get ur pov on Anakin and Padme after the war(no empire situation) Some ppl seem to think they wouldn’t work out, like divorce, but I don’t agree with that bc Padme didn’t even want to leave him at Mustafar and the only thing that kept her from him was dying and there’s no way Anakin hasnt given her his whole heart to never take back. I think a lot of ppls reasoning is based on wondering how Anakin would handle his mental state(these ppl then ignore Padmes traumas) and how much self sabotage he might do, with a smattering of them never truly getting to be a couple since it had to be so secretive. And then I’ve seen ppl say he wouldn’t be a good dad bc he’s too possessive to a degree of destruction. I dont know tho bc what we got to see was Anakin at his worst and having a mental breakdown. I think abt how he was as a child with his mother and I wonder if he had room to breath and didnt have to lie anymore if he would reconnect to the best of Shmi and what she taught him. Not being groomed by a sith lord anymore would also be a pretty big game changer

this is one of my favorite things to think about!! i don’t think there’s any universe where they aren’t together til the end honestly, though they’ll totally inevitably run into problems because they’d previously spent their marriage not really able to find out how they work as a normal couple. there’s no getting around the fact that they’re both traumatized people who don’t have any experience that lends itself to a non-hierarchical romantic relationship like theirs, especially not under non-strenuous circumstances. but them being able to give each other that escape is what drew them to each other to begin with so it’s a learning curve they’re on together.

anakin specifically is never gonna be 100% mentally healthy because he has led the kind of life that fucks one up forever but plenty of people who are similarly mentally ill are still able to successfully have relationships and be decent/good partners. and the thing about anakin is that he had an unfathomably awful childhood but then when he escaped his old circumstances he never actually stopped being traumatized, but even while getting pretty regularly re-traumatized he was a pretty good husband for the better part of three years. so i don’t see why that would change drastically in a world where that’s not happening and he’s not getting pushed to a breaking point all day every day. he’s constantly stuck in a context that’s enabling pretty much all his worst traits and stunting any healing he could do because you can’t really process childhood trauma while going through even more trauma on the daily that you’re also not processing, so if you took him out of that context he’d pretty automatically be in a better place by nature of no longer having an occupation that traumatizes him faster than he can think about it and requires him to do lots of violence. even if hypothetically he had a full-blown breakdown and self-sabotaged to hell and back in a post-war au, if you remove The War and palpatine from the picture that sabotage is probably going to look a lot less like murdering a bunch of babies and a lot more like regular instability and padmé has proven herself to be so forgiving and understanding of anakin’s issues that she can and will forgive baby murder so long as the motive is sympathetic so why wouldn’t she be understanding about non-mass murder forms of acting out.

i actually think their biggest problem would be that they have pretty polar-opposite relationships with systemic power and hierarchy. they both understand dehumanization and having immense age-inappropriate responsibilities placed upon them, but anakin has spent his entire life in positions of subservience whilst padmé has spent most of hers in positions of power (rather complicated ones where she’s often reduced to a pawn but still). and they’d absolutely clash on those grounds, because they’re stuck in this place of almost understanding each other but not quite and that’s frustrating, and also because they probably have habits related to this that set each other off (i can totally see anakin short-circuiting at padmé slipping into her more authoritative political persona by accident during an argument or something or that turning into an explosive fight). and this is just the kind of thing that would slip out more and more the more time they spend together, but it’s also not relationship-ending.

in general they’d also struggle with working through things because they are both quite stubborn and their previous circumstances forced them into a position of not really being able to linger on any issues or clashes because their time together was so limited and precious, but they love each other so deeply and also just like each other and for two people who want each other in their lives as much as those two do that’s absolutely something they’d learn. it’s really just leaving the honeymoon phase except the honeymoon phase was…war. i really think that especially in a situation where anakin left the order and padmé stepped down as senator they’d have a lot of space to work through it and it’d be more of a matter of learning to be people together after a lifetime of being denied normalcy.

(the question of what kind of parent anakin would be is a more complicated one imo but i do tend to lean towards “decent” because as much as he’s possessive and destructive his ability to be a loving husband and his relative success at training ahsoka tells me he wouldn’t be violently nuclearly bad. you can’t really use darth vader as a basis because his brain looks like swiss cheese at that point and you can’t really call being on the opposite side of a war as your adult son “parenting” even if attempts at creating a familial bond were made. but that’s a whole other convo.)

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

The arc with the resistance in ml season five???? Is so good????????????? The way that???? Its been going on low-key for a while????? But theres this Massive Shift this season where literally the entire miracuclass stops running away from akumas or hiding???? And its like???? The fear is GONE by the end of the season???? Theyre not scared anymore theyre just pissed off????? At the system???? Not at the akumatized victims???? But also its not a “babying the akumas” thing either like when gabe is akumatized theyre like “WRONG BAD” at him????? Same with chloé???? But like the entire class will see a butterfly and start running TOWARDS it because theyre like “oh no someone needs help goddamit i gotta get there before hawkmoth” and they dont always win and they dont beat themselves up about it???? Like in confrontation, Juleka got akumatized despite their best efforts and theyre all like “ugh this sucks” but no one’s giving up hope or anything???????

And!!!!! The way that the anti-akuma charms work in that episode??????!?!??!?? The way the fandom has this trend of thinking like,,,, the only way to escape akumas is to push emotions away deep deep down,,,, thats how marinette and adrien have kind of been operating?!???? But then it’s revealed on no uncertain terms that the powerups of the anti akuma charms are reactive to emotions?????!?! That pushing things down doesnt help?? you have to Fight Back and FEEL on your own terms and accept others’ help and feelings?????

Juleka shutting down and curling up into a ball and trying to disapear didnt work!!!but her yelling about how its not fair and shes proud of mr damocles despite it all???? like??? Catalyzed the entire anti akuma charm shield thing???????

The way that this season has shown time and again that it’s okay to be mad and frustrated and hate the system and its okay to feel trapped and scared but you have to learn to reach out and find a good outlet for those emotions even if that outlet is yelling with your friends???? instead of isolating yourself and pushing away people who have your best interest at heart????? And lying and pretending it’s okay doesn’t help but looking for bits of real joy and support amidst the chaos does???

The way that ladybug and chat noir started this season as The Most Alone Theyve Ever Been with the miracle box stolen??? and realized by the end that no one needs powers to be heroes??? they just need to be able to trust each other and take turns carrying Hope for the group and remembering whats worth fighting for!? and as long as theres a drive to fight theres always little victories to celebrate??????????!??

(Also the way that Nino—who heads the resistance—literally calls everyone in his group including Bustier Comrade and the way that they talk about how sometimes it feels like no one’s listening and revolution is the only way?? and the way they address fears about spyware and technology only benefitting the elites and the school system being designed without students’ well-being in mind and environmental terror and the police being corrupt and they take all of that and they say “it is Still a worthy battle and it sucks but you are going to be okay,,, just do not give in to hopelessness… find the people who will help you keep fighting and keep believing in a better future and Cherish Them”)

People complain about this show going “off the rails” as it’s switching its target audience and addressing more “mature” themes or whatever but like do you guys understand how much every single narrative decision makes me scream

[claitea]

i did grusha's rematch battle and now i just feel like talking about him. specifically the way he kinda subverts how all ice type specialists have been so far by... actually being properly prepared for cold weather.

almost all the ice type specialists do NOT dress well for freezing weather. i thought lorelei was a fire type trainer for a while, glacia's dress might be kinda cozy the sleeves are short and the gloves dont cover her whole arm, candice wears a short skirt and ties her jumper round her waist, brycen's half shirtless, gaeric is ACTUALLY shirtless, you get the point. pryce, melony and zinzolin have been the only characters besides grusha so far that look prepared for chilly weather, and ngl i didnt know zinzolin was an ice trainer at all until i checked lmao. the plasma sages are really forgettable to me i'm sorry. still though they're outnumbered by the rest

for grusha specifically though, its the fact that he says "Brrrrr... I'm freezing..." before your first battle with him. he's all bundled up in a puffy jacket and a scarf that covers half his face and he's still freezing?

combined with the fact he actually seems afraid of the mountains now to some extent (i get the impression that bad weather is what caused the accident that ended his snowboarding career), the game's going out of its way to imply grusha doesn't feel like he belongs up on the mountain anymore.

however he also needs to be up there because being a gym leader is all he feels he has left. in his rematch he's obviously scared that if he loses this job, he's got nothing else he's good at, he'll have absolutely nothing.

he's one of the few ice trainers that seems to Overprepare for cold weather because it actually scares him. it ended one of his passions, he's gotta desperately cling to the one he has left.

on a related note i think its interesting that pokemon has this character with a dashed dream like grusha. like this series is kind of all about making your dreams come true no matter what the obstacles, chasing your passions till you succeed — see: N's Parting Words At The End Of Black And White. its cool seeing a character who loses a dream because of circumstances out of their control, but still finds something else to be passionate about, with some help.

[wildshadowtamer]

Ok i gotta share this. So, im rewriting the warriors books, right? Like every writer in this fandom has at least thought of doing. And i got to the end of the new prophecy, where hawkfrost didnt get killed but instead dragged into living in thunderclan.

But i'm making book 7's for each of them, for extra content and to explore what happened inbetween the arcs. So, Hawkfrost joins Thunderclan after the firestar assassination attempt, and obviously hes being held prisoner, but Ashfur's still around and was the one to help orchestrate that plan, but no one knows it. Unfortunately, Ashfur is the least subtle man in existence, so hes being really bad at acting like he doesnt know Hawkfrost. And Squirrelflight, who is aware of her sister's whole thing, looks at the two of them and goes "Ah, that must be his mate" bc why else would Ashfur be acting so weird around Hawkfrost

So she asks Leafpool about it, who, without missing a beat, responds "Yeah i saw them at Riverclan's border a few nights ago, i think their together" and it takes Squirrel a good 30 seconds before she says "wait, why were you near riverclan border at night?" And leafpool is just like "😬 no reason hahah"

So then Squirrel is like "ohhh ok so both of them have riverclan mates, boy am i glad Ashfur isnt into me"

This belief continues until the po3 fire scene and only then does it click that ashfur was, in fact, in love with her. Hawkfrost never clarifies if they were mates.

Many moons later, Leafpool has a laughing fit when she finds out Jayfeather also has a riverclan mate.

[kiwibirdlafayette]

Hey there! What happens in your Mamma Mia/Trollhunter AU? And how do you feel about the Childhood Friend Romance trope, have you seen it done poorly or good? I’m thinking of how to write Draal’s death for my own fanfic, but what kind of heroic sacrifice should I give him?

Heya! Sorry its taken me a hot minute to get to this ask I honestly kinda forgot I had a TH Mamma Mia AU its been so long xD

From what I can find (since I dont believe I ever wrote anything down and only really made one drawing for it xD) I remember it mainly followed the plot of the musical, with Deya as Donna, and Aaarrrgghh as Sophie (and ofc Blinky is Sky because troll dads solos i've never faltered on that) IIRC, the changeling trio (Otto, Strickler and Nomura) were the mystery dads, but it was more about who 'created' him because I might have been goin by canon troll creation headcanons with the whole rock magic shit xD I also didnt ship any of em with Deya but it still couldve been crack at that. GummGumm experimentation couldve been a thing too.

It was nearly a fully troll dads AU but my OTP brain was like nah man I don't wanna make potential other pairings besides Blink n Aaarrggghh so theyre Soph and Sky (plus. lay all your love on me troll dads. can you just imagine AOUGH /pos leavin yall w that image)

Childhood friends to lovers is a really good trope! I've definitely seen it done really well and also not that great, and I've used it myself as well (Trollhunters marching band AU, c!Skizzpulse, origins Syndisparklez) I find it tends to work better when its not so much a blatant "ok now were older and adults we obviously have to go beyond just friends its obligatory" but more like "ive known you a long time, and maybe i fell in love you for other reasons then that but you're still my friend and we just get each other because we're already so close", like its gotta develop beyond just growing up in someway for me to really be invested in it xD

and oo sacrifice love me a good sacrifice :eyes: I don't know the plot of your fic, but if ya do wanna have him sacrifice himself, doing so against the will of the others is always peak angst (i.e., like Jim is meant to die or something, and Draal takes the fall instead before anyone else or him can give in)- that could be stuff like being the vessel for taking in the evil to prevent it from harming anything else, or taking out the big bad with him to save the rest of them :3 Trading his soul for someone else to live would also be kinda cool, or if you want it a battle scene, using himself as the weapon that ends the final boss smiles

[didiash]

*Takes the leaf from my mouth*

IF ALL OF THEM WERE GONNA DIE AT THE END WHY DIDNT WE GET TO SEE

A: BETTER MOTIVATION FOR THIS END CHOICE (why didn’t we spend the the season with them realising they missed their powers and were better off with them and actually (ACTUALLY) hated their life without them, subsequently realising that because it would inevitably lead to the end of the world, they’d actually prefer giving up their life to save the world. Just change the choice (Sake) at the start to all of them voting to get their powers back and then it’s an ACTUAL tragedy)

OR

B: HAVE A SCENE WHERE THEY (at least (at FUCKING least)) LAY THEIR LOGIC OUT, about their end.

Also: the world is grim enough as it is. I don’t need a blob swallowing the heroes, without them getting bare minimum a semi-happy ending.

(Why didn’t anyone (Viktor/Allison) believe Klaus when he talked about how Ben died??? Why were they all apparently clueless? Cuz RH could’ve messed with Klaus’s white matter, but Klaus has been hanging out with Ben ever since)

Also, also: how tf does the family exist without them? Like… that doesn’t track at all? How? And why/how is Reggie the voice-over, for the end?

Furthermore: I don’t necessarily agree with the read that Lila and Five would not have started a relationship. What I don’t get is

1) why it would’ve taken them so long (Lila and Five have had a whole Enemies/Lovers thing since she showed up) (In my opinion this should’ve occurred during the time-skip (I don’t agree with Lila/Five, but the “sub”text has been there))

2) Why Five would’ve withheld the fucking map. Like. Why? It makes no f*cking sense. (AND WHY WOULD HE NOT JUST HAVE LOGIC’ED IT HIMSELF. THEY WERE THERE FOR SEVEN. YEARS. If we were gonna have a betrayal, make it his own work that Lila then finds, for crying out loud.)

Also what happened to the Ben on the tube in Japan? Or is that me just having a Mandela effect memory?

Adding: If you wanna give me a tragic ending, give me one. But then you gotta make it so that it is all of (or bare minimum, most of) the heroes choice, that we end up there. Like… The simple quick fix here is that a way back in time is found, to stop Ben with the sake, and subsequently everything else.

(If you wanted to make Abigail Hargreeves an Anti-hero/villain type, then make her “adopt” all of them, the second they came to this timeline. Would’ve made the twist WAY better.)

Which brings me to my last point:

2 ways the series could’ve ended, that would’ve been way more interesting/dope:

1: Everyone (semi-)unanimously vote to get their powers back. The season follows much of the same plot, except they’ve all SELECTED it. It becomes a tragedy, about heroes so unwilling to let their powers go, that they would rather not live at all/end the world, than be without them.

2: Abigail is the “mastermind” in the “true” timeline. This still leads to the Umbrella Academy, but the Jennifer Incident does not play the same:

A) Reggie is killed before ‘89, leading to Abigail (who honestly seems WAY smarter and more caring than Reggie), to not lead them on the Jen mission, but something else, way more juicy happens (cue ep 7 & 8, a)

B) She “instructs” Reginald to only kill Jennifer, since Jen&Ben do not touch skin to skin. The Durango is still loose (cue ep 7 & 8, b)

I will come back to my to proposed 7&8’s soon. Promise.

Also what’s up with good series f*cking up their endings recently? The hells going on???

[vaporsystem]

The other night I felt like i was gonna have a panic attack so i was like "someone please take over idc who" and someone actually did i was like "oh damn i didnt expect that to work." :)

I think it was that one thing that appeared a while ago that didnt like talking. I still dont really know who that is. Also i dont really remember drawing that last post so ermm thats also kinda interesting.

I need to take more time talking to people and figuring out whos whos cause I still dont know who the usual me is. Im a little afraid of finding out the me who i think i am is like 7 people but like it feels wrong to keep just pretending the body is like its own thing, cause like im pretty sure im not who that person is right now even, but theres not a good or easy way to express that if none of us know who we are!!!

I know who """""the girl in my head""""" is even though ironically shes not around that often, i know helix is in here and they like actually talk sometimes. I know that one person is in here that we havnt talked about, we can call them Z i guess, i think theyre like the closest thing we have to a "gatekeeper" or whatever. Theres another girl that showed up, asked for a room, then just kinda never came back out but we like her she can have a place to live. Like i think its pretty obvious Raven is in here at this point right like we dont really need to hide that do we. Fictives seem really common so we dont need to like pretend. Im not sure who i am rn but :). but then theres like that one fucking person who says theyre the me that is me but thats not all of us!!! youre jsut you!!!!

Z thought they were them because when we tried to start building our mind place or whatever they were there and took over and tried to sort all of us out, but it seems like the they that them there was a different person when they werent inside so like ???

i KNOW at the end of the day were all the same person i GUESS but like...bitch you gotta figure out your own shit so we dont have to keep like pretending to be you just cause youre confused! also anyway can we stop using psuedonyms please its getting stupid and hard to keep up with no one is going to like dox your head people like "ohhh their headmate is named steve now ive got them" only three people see this anyway unless this shows up on someones fyp in which case ermm hiii

oh maybe we should liek start doing that thing where like we start signing off with emoji or whatever so we can keep track of whos who when we start talking on here cause like. its obvious to us right but like it probably looks nutty to everyone else, but also we kinda like hate all the cliches and stereotypes and stuff that people do on here like the people with people in their heads on tumblr are so obsessed with emojis we dont really get it, but i guess we dont know all of our names yet so it makes it a little easier. i dont know how to open the emohi menu 🌼🌻💐🌺these all kind of suck...🧁🎀👚🦄🦑we can pick one later i guess i like the cupcake and the horse, we could let outrselves be a pony....we could be pinkie pie if we wanted to be like no one could stop us but then people would think of that one screaming one probably but like.......................pongey.......

anyway i like being happy!!!! its so fun to come to the front because like that they that is them is so fucking like dull and they dont want to believe in us so like fuck it were gonna keep interuppting when they come over here. Helix did it first we can all have a turn!!!! theyre gonna be like "what if im wrong :((((((" when were literally fucking like loling and lmaoing rn. like sorry we dont all have epic backstories about like showing up in times of need im sorry we cant all be the girls you have a thing for 🙄 maybe i can just want to like eat candy for once instead of like saving you from depression or whatever WHICH LIKE ITS GOOD that the others were there for that im not like evil but like we dont ALL have to be that to be real!!!! im gettin very tired noww ppl will read this and be like woahh but itll be cool because theyll be like new bitch?? and youll be like ouuu ermmm nooo dont looook but its too late!!! hiiiii hi hi hiii

[ragnarssons]

Hi! Can i send another small rant?

I still get annoyed when I think about the hypocrisy in episode 6. The way Maria judges Joel. There is no way that she didnt do anything wrong in the years before Jackson. In this world one thing is certain that being a good person doesn't save you. In this world you have to do what you can to survive. And it's easy for her to judge Joel because she now lives in the comfort of Jackson and not in the world where morality has a different meaning now. And it seems like Tommy didn't even tell Joel that he was alive and well, because in the first episode Joel and Tess were looking for a battery for a car to find Tommy. And Maria protecting Tommy by saying "Tommy just followed Joel" He is a grown adult! Joel didn't force Tommy to join the Fireflies and he sure as hell didn't force him to kill people. We can't compare the world in tlou with our world.

Oh anon, the worst part remains the whole "only people who you trust can betray you" and then dun dun duuuun! Joel did exactly that! At least that's how the writing of the show wants you to see, like they're gonna rub everyone's faces in that Maria quote: "wELL MARIA WARNED ELLIE!!" *shrugs*

And then they certainly won't have the time to delve into that, Maria and Tommy's relationship cuz *checking watch* we gotta speed through yknow, the awesome events of TLOU2 and we sure aren't gonna adress Joel's brother backstory or his relationship, huuuh! (even tho by the time of the beginning of TLOU2, and Joel's confession to Tommy, Tommy will probably be a father too... but oh will they adress that? Nooo because we gotta paint Joel AS THE BAD sElfIsh GUY- and yknow, he'll have enough on his plate, hum)

Dark!Sasuke Neil Druckmann thinks his story about revenge bad, violence bad and girls suffering is so gRoUndBrEaKiNg, what you gotta do, good writers who can maintain consistent writing and respect their characters for more than 2 seasons tops, aren't on HBO *side eyes at D&D*

The most brutal part really tho, is the fact that they literally said they don't want to steer from the source material (so the games) but even if they take idk 5 years to adapt TLOU2, there still won't be enough time for a new game to have come out (if ever). So they're literally end their show Like That. I really hope Neil Druckmann gets torn to shreds by public humiliation.

Anyway, to come back to your rant, anon: don't you get it? You're supposed to think that Maria was actually right! Because see, she threw a prophetic quote at Ellie!

(Also yes I do think how Maria was presented on 1x06 was a little too black and white for the whole setting of the show, the fact that they made her into a prosecutor being like... "i put bAd gUyS in jail" didn't help either...) (cuz rotten prosecutors don't exist *cough*) (cuz at this point she seemed so self-righteous and preachy that I was like "how the hell did she end up with Tommy??" because that's some heavy mental gymnastic you gotta do to see that man as an innocent baby dove who was just forced by his brother yknow) (I do hope they give her, and the relationship, more depths later on the show, but me thinks they'll barely care)

[honeyxgang]

im slowly being forced outta retirement bc nobody is writing the fic ideas i have in my head so to start here’s some waka headcanons. mostly sfw but gets spicy toward the end so yktv mdni

Short King Waka Headcanons 🤲

SFW

doesnt just like trolling people, he can also be very playful

actually did really well in school just didnt like going relatable

shit almost went left in his youth with alcohol but his friends helped him through shoutout to the final timeline

loves kissing and his favorite feature on a potential love interest is lips so hope you’ve been hydrating. bonus points if you have on a gloss instead of lipstick. the shine catches his attention

is eternally grateful to rihanna for fenty gloss he’s now willing to go to war for her

if he really likes someone he gives them a nickname

is very physically affectionate. hugs, cuddles, holding hands, etc he doing allat

since he has an oral fixation he actually takes really good care of his teeth + makes sure his lips are always moisturized

aka straight, white teeth + and a literal perfect smile 😩

wears cologne. he smells delicious. probably the mixture of the cologne and pheromones

doesnt enter into romantic relationships often instead being more likely to flirt casually with absolutely no intention of it going anywhere/the occasional one night stand

believes in letting girls down gently if they do catch feels though

team his parents are alive. no sibs though

gets mistaken for a child me too

has a motorcycle and a car (i see him as a man with money idc idc idc)

deflee into rap, hip hop, and r&b

comes off very very very aloof until he gets to know someone. he’s not shy through

some girls are disappointed to get to know him and find out he’s not even the stereotypical bad boy/fuckboy. dude watches documentaries and enjoys learning new things and is completely unashamed of that and would probably be first to apologize in a fight. his version of netflix & chill is him putting on a wwii documentary and you not being there

that’s one way to pique his interest though teach him something he didnt know before

wears other jewelry too (necklace, bracelet)

the type of bf who would lose his mind if you got a necklace with his name or initials

very laidback and slow to anger

he fought in his youth because he was targeted for his height. then he kept fighting bc he liked throwing his weight around 🤷‍♀️

hates bugs to the point where he might make you go kill whatever has got in 😐

could use some work with verbal communication (“im glad manjiro died” cmon bruh. ik that happened in one of the fucked up timelines however im sure he still sucks bc he only talks to 3 people)

by that i mean he can come off sounding harsh af when that’s not his intention. unfortunately he’s a straight arrow. hope you have tough skin

NSFW

keeping in line w black twitter’s “dudes w the best d” ranking since he is both skinny and short he is hung like a horse that’s where his height went and knows what he’s doing when laying pipe 🤌

high school was a very horny time for him

you would not fucking guess that just by looking at him and idk where he tucks his third leg

seriously theres always a moment of silence when he gets his pants off. whoever is about to have their spine realigned is like 👀 and he’s just sitting there like 😏

tripod is long and thick good luck sis 🫡

doesn’t do one night stands often or at his place bc once somebody gets a taste they’re ready to commit to his dick marriage

uses condoms bc he’s not ready for fatherhood. if he doesn’t have any he’s not penetrating. yall can do oral though

1000/10 in bed because he likes eating pussy AND will fold you into the mattress 🧎‍♀️

loves getting his dick sucked and he 100% believes in dsl’s 🫦

they gotta look natural though. he has a grudge against kylie jenner for influencing so many people to get botched lip injections 😒

he’s gonna watch bc the way somebody lips stretch to fit him + get all red and plump from putting in work? >>>>>>>

100% the type to grab hair

and the headboard

also will push your knees to your chest if yall in missionary seriously he’s small but man’s is strong

comes to the slow conclusion that he’s an ass man and therefore loves anything from behind

if you’re sending nudes gon head and send something in a thong or g string. if you haven’t heard from him in a few days he might call you

will spank you. just be ready for that

believes life is too short for bad sex and therefore is permanently on demon time 😮‍💨

you’re going to question all of your life choices once youve survived finished. also good luck walking

maybe take a day off work

in conclusion i am down bad

[ghostbusterscantcatchme]

OKAY turns out gram has a Big Gay Crush on black and is not in fact secretly dating his girlfriend lmao

also yoks persistence in finding unar is so fucking funny like bro ran into a burning building to save this guy hes never met (which, a valiant thing to do obviously) and even without seeing his face hes instantly entranced ?? and hes like i gotta find out who he is no matter what im not gonna give up no matter how long it takes all from that One interaction they had and he keeps finding him and hes so obvious its embarrassing tbh :/ turns out his guys a cop though so we'll see how that goes 😭😭

also also i really like seans girlfriend shes cool as fuck i wanna be her when i grow up . + the thing at the end where those masked motherfuckers got black fucking got me by surprise even though it was obviously coming lol

why didnt he go with Something (anything) to defend himself with though 😭😭 which probably wouldnt have helped in the long-run but STILL

also i dont think i trust todd very much tbh :/ i mean he seems like a pretty chill dude but k also wouldnt be surprised if he was the one who orchestrated the whole black getting injured thing 乁⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠_⁠•⁠ ⁠)⁠ㄏ except that seems too obvious so idk But i cant wait to find out

ajfnsklf i only watched one episode this time but i Couldnt Help It i Had to share my thoughts :P

omg the Gram/Black/Balck gf (who I cannot remember the name of) love triangle is so good but also doesn't have the most satisfying resolution I don't think.

Yok is so me in meeting the guy one time and becoming obsessed lmfao. I also love that Unar is a cop cause it adds so much to the activism and conflict of trying to make change from within a system or choosing to work from outside it. Which is really one of the big reasons I like the show, it explores all the challenges of activism and how different types of activism all have pros and cons. Someone on reddit descibe the show as being "political but intimate" which I think sums it up quite well.

Namo is one of my favourites, I'm pretty sure she's Seans ex? their relationship is honestly really ambiguous.

Really interesting that you don't like Todd, though to be fair he is rich (in contrast to Blacks gang) which is immediate bad vibes.

Dude you are seriously binging this and I love that for you. making me want to rewatch it AGAIN.

[neonsbian]

hi vinnie <3 since you’re like my resident writing oomf i gotta ask: do you have any tips on motivating & inspiring yourself to write and get through a writer’s block? seeing you post about your writing is so inspiring but i’ve been struggling for months now rip </3

hmmm tbh i dont rlly have a good answer for you other than teach yourself self-discipline. ive been writing for almost a decade (crazy to think abt lol) and in that time ive basically had to teach myself to commit to writing.

writing is just like any other artform, it's a skill that you build gradually by practicing consistently. the best way to do this is to come up with a goal in your mind and actually work towards this. i don't mean like, deciding you want to write a novel and just writing right away (though that does work for some people) but building steps to slowly achieve that goal.

let's say you want to write a novel. great! the first thing i would do is find time in my schedule to write. a lot of people assume that means sitting down for hours at a time and just typing away but finding time to do that in todays society isnt easy and personally, it's more effective for me to find gaps and short moments to just write for a bit. for me, the most writing gets done when im constrained for time. and you don't have to do it all at once! you can write a little bit at different points of the day too.

i also plan what im going to write before i write it. this doesn't mean i outline necessarily (i don't do that until the second draft) but before writing a scene, ill have a vague idea of what i want to happen in that scene. sometimes it changes as im writing but i never go into writing without a vague idea of what's going to happen.

i think setting a daily goal for yourself is really important. i know writing everyday seems kinda daunting, especially if you didnt do that before but like i said, writing is a skill you build gradually by practicing consistently and you have to be consistent. your daily goal can be a certain page count, word count, or chapter count. whatever works for you. i personally don't rlly like using quantifiable units as my daily goal bc that makes me like check the word count obsessively and prefer to use story markers as my goal instead. basically, i decide before writing i want to reach a certain point in the story by the end of the day. sometimes im in over my head and have to adjust, but it's more useful to think abt it that way for me.

also, if you're just starting out, i would make my daily goal relatively simple and easy to achieve. if word count is how you're counting it, then i'd set it to like 500 words. you might feel frustrated with how slow your progress is but it's more effective to slowly build a story than to write a huge chunk in a short amount of time and then never touch it again. and even if the progress is slow, at least progress is happening!

i know a lot of people have said this but you're also gonna have to allow yourself to write badly. i feel like this something that's difficult to implement into your mindset but it's essential to teach yourself this or else you'll never get anything done. shitty writing doesn't mean you're a shitty writer, it just means that your writing needs more work and the only way to achieve that is by working on it consistently.

i also personally think it's helpful to read the writing processes of other writers and try doing them yourself. lauren groff, for example, writes her entire second draft from memory which sounded absolutely insane to me but i tried it for one of my short stories. that method didn't really work for me but from her method helped me improve my own system. basically for scenes that were in the first draft but were going to be changed pretty drastically, i don't open my first draft at all and just write the scene. every writer's process is different and what works for one writer isn't always going to work for you, but it's still worth a shot to try it and one way or another, it'll help you understand yourself as a writer better.

to me, writing is self-discipline as much as it's art and building a system that works for you is going to take some time but it's necessary to achieve what you're hoping to achieve.

this ended up being longer than i expected but tldr: set a goal, do it everyday 👍

[philtstone]

My kingdom for hopeful-verse Miles and Kamala (platonically preferred) - any prompt you want, but I think 43 could be nice?

#43 -- piggy back rides part of this au im like 394834 years late answering this but i do finally have something to offer. what was originally meant to be a touching scene where the gang finally runs into kamala's family ended up as ... this ... because the pacing was a disaster and i couldnt salvage it. hopefully i will eventually write the other thing. thank u to @foolgobi65 and @firstelevens for being good friends and talking me thru some of my "uuuugh i hate writing" moments. we didnt quite make it thru but something definitely was achieved.

They break into Walmart through the smelliest part of the garden center. Miles has to carry Kamala piggy back style to do it, and so almost doesn’t catch AJ when he slips and falls face-first towards a big bag of fertilizer. AJ starts giggling upside down beneath the greenhouse window, one leg held up by last-second webbing and the other gripped in Bucky’s right hand. 

When Miles has pictured post-apocalyptic Walmarts in the past, he’s always imagined them to be abandoned. Like maybe some trashed empty shelves, or flickering lights. Spooky wind blowing through the place. That kind of shit. If they wanted to enter one, they’d break the door down, badass style, with the butt of their cool post-apocalyptic rifle.

Miles played through The Last of Us with Uncle Aaron and only got creeped out like, twice; he knows how this stuff works. 

They’d sneak through the empty place all vigilant (that’s a word Dad loved) and he’d grab all the Tylenols from the top most shelf no one else had reached while Peter or Bucky or Sam kept a careful eye trained on their surroundings, and if bad guys showed up, they’d do badass stuff and then drive away tires screeching in their cool getaway pickup truck.

Miles – who should really know better, given the multiple months of this world he’s lived through by now – thinks the reality of life is exponentially more stupid.

“Exponentially,” recites AJ, who has recovered from his near-fall (though Bucky still looks stressed) and is evidently getting more and more bored of holding tightly onto Aunt Sarah’s hand by the minute. “When somethin’ grows by means of a ma-the-matical component.”

He sing-songs mathematical, though he’s a smart enough kid to keep it all to a whisper. While AJ drags his feet, Aunt Sarah, who has been tense since they stepped foot out of Madame G’s house five hundred cross-country miles ago, and is tenser now post AJ-in-fertilizer disaster,  continues flicking her eyes around sharply. She’s fisted her free hand in her hoodie pocket where Miles knows she keeps her knife. Miles wants to tell her that he’s sure his spidey sense would notice if there were any bad guys behind the ant-be-gone displays, definitely, but a niggling little voice in his own head is also stressed out. 

“Is that right, baby?” she asks in an absent whisper.

“Momma, you gotta tell me if I got exponentially right.”

“You got it right, AJ,” says Miles.

AJ heaves the quietest Loud Sigh Miles has ever heard, “Like, we are exponentially not finding any drugs.”

“Pain medication,” Kamala mutters immediately, from over Miles’s shoulder. She twisted her ankle when they all jumped off the moving train.

… Yeah. Life’s been pretty crazy recently. Miles wonders what Dad would say about it.

“I don’t need drugs.”

“That’s exponentially false,” AJ offers.

“Technically,” agrees Miles, “ibuprofen is a drug.” 

“Um, there’s a total difference between necessary medication and drugs?” 

“Morally?”

“Yes,” Kamala hisses. Then she frowns. “No! Wait, no. Sometimes. Ugh – Miles!”

“You’re the one bein’ a hater,” he says, low voice, grinning. “It’s okay, we’ll steal you Tylenol instead.”

“Good,” she mumbles.

“... Which is also technically a drug –” 

Miles gets the last word before all three of them are quelled by Bucky’s silent raised eyebrow.

The reality of life — so much less cool than Miles’s imagination and video games — is that while the old Roxxon big box by the pier in NOLA had been ransacked and half cleaned out ages before Miles and Peter started sneaking in and out, this place is stocked. 

There’s stuff from the floors to the ceilings, and it’s making Miles a little dizzy with the sensory feedback. 

“Maybe it’s ‘cause we’re almost in Texas,” Kamala whispers wonderingly into his ear, as they peer around a corner at a giant car tire display.

It’s not like there are customers inside or anything, which makes the whole thing stupider. Just a big ass Walmart full of shit being guarded by bad dudes with guns, but just for that, they gotta sneak around.

“B.”

“Hm.”

“You know I don’t like splitting up,” Aunt Sarah’s voice comes out in a tense whisper.

They’re camped by electronics, trying to map their route. Miles can’t sense anyone in the aisles immediately close to them but they can still hear the occasional walkie talkie sound off and the distant opening and closing of the warehouse doors on the other side of the building, where the real action is happening. 

Aunt Sarah’s expressed this sentiment before, twice by now actually. The first time was when the whole idea was introduced. Like, hey, wouldn’t it be easier if we split up, and you guys grabbed groceries and jacked one of the big cargo trucks they’ve got sitting in the back lot with GreatValue: Part of Your Community plastered over the side, while we got Kamala’s pain meds? 

There was a whole thing where everyone argued about who was the best at hotwiring trucks. Peter and Sam eventually won out over Bucky, who Miles has a niggling suspicion wouldn’t have left Aunt Sarah and AJ and Kamala anyway. Ned and MJ are doing groceries, with the help-slash-protection of their new and terrifying Wakandan friend Captain Ayo, who Miles thinks actually probably has great taste in snacks.

“I know,” Bucky says, a very quiet statement out of the side of his mouth. His eyes are on the aisle in front of them, and the giant tire display, but something about the way he says it is like, he gets something Aunt Sarah isn’t saying that none of the rest of them can. Kamala claims they’re madly in love, which she told Miles about in the strictest confidence. Kamala is a big believer in being madly in love. Miles isn’t so sure, but the exchange does remind him of his mom and dad, which is an emotion so strong Miles’s already tripping senses stumble over themselves to cope with it, so he shoves it down and ignores it entirely. 

He focuses on Kamala’s uncomfortable squirming instead. The piggy-back ride is because her ankle hurt too much to walk on, and Miles figures it’s probably really sore by now.

“You okay?” he whispers, just to her.

“Ugh,” she admits. She wouldn’t have said anything like that to the adults, he knows.

“So I shouldn’t put you down?” She’d spent ten minutes arguing that she was too heavy for him, outside.

“I’d have a really bad limp,” she sighs, sounding miserable. Bucky’s still kind of limping too, on account of getting mauled by a giant rat thing. That’s what Sam said, anyway.

“Besties in limping,” Miles says, which is worth it for Kamala’s quiet giggle. Aunt Sarah hears them and reaches out her free hand to rub Kamala’s back.

“Escalator route,” Bucky decides on finally. AJ looks up with large and solemn eyes, hopeful that they’re finally gonna get a move on. “There by the freezers, there are enforcers. We go behind the escalators, we won’t run into anyone.”

Aunt Sarah stares hard at the frozen foods aisle, then at Bucky. “How do we know, behind the escalators –?”

“Miles,” Bucky whispers. It’s so low Miles could pretend not to hear him if he really wanted, which is kind of impressive given that they’re sardined so close together Miles is basically breathing in the poor guy’s ear.

“I don’t sense anyone,” Miles says, maybe a little less confidently than he means. Kamala shifts her hands nervously where they clasp around his neck, and the plastic beads from one of her bracelets dig into his collar bone. He clears his throat. “Remind me again why I couldn’t have just grabbed us this shit on my own and got out?”

“Zappy invisibility doesn’t make up for the power of friendship?” Kamala offers.

Bucky shoots them another look over his shoulder. 

“No. Interstate is on the other side of the lot anyway. Going around would’ve been more dangerous.”

“Dude,” Miles says, “how do you do that. You’re like barely moving your mouth.”

“Uncle B used to be a ninja,” AJ whispers solemnly from the floor, now completely resigned to his boredom.

“It’s ‘cause his mom was from New Jersey,” says Kamala. “Everyone from Jersey has mad skills.”

Bucky makes a face, like, why did I ever tell a bunch of kids about my life. Miles is sympathetic.

“I think being from Jersey should count against you in a court of law,” Miles says. “Anyway, no way, B’s a New Yorker.”

“His energy gives matrilineal skill adoption,” Kamala whispers.

“What’s matrilinear?” asks AJ.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” mutters Bucky.

Miles and Kamala grin; AJ makes a shocked Pikachu face at the cuss.  

Aunt Sarah looks tense again. “James.”

He sighs, recalibrates, turns to her: “We’ll be fine.” The hard staring thing resumes. After a second Bucky’s mouth moves, and this time no sound comes out at all, except it kind of looks like he’s saying honey. At any rate, Aunt Sarah’s expression softens. Miles feels Kamala breathe in sharply and dig her fingers into his shoulder like dude, dude, see?! 

Bucky turns back to look at them and Miles tries to school his expression into something totally chill and not interested in the grown-up drama.

“Clear line of sight. You guys good for the rear?”

Miles puffs his chest out a little. “You kidding? With our combined powers?”

“Me and Miles are like a quadruple threat for government watch lists,” Kamala whispers, a crooked tilt to her grin.

Miles tries very hard not to snort out loud. He makes a dumb choking sound instead; Bucky sighs.

The reality of dystopian Walmarts might suck, but it's kind of nice that he has Kamala around, to make dumb jokes about it with. With that thought, they plow forward, to secure the drugs.

"Pain meds!" Kamala hisses, and Miles grins.

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

random thoughts about gravity falls fics i wanted to write down before i forgot and since im writing them down i might as well post them too. please enjoy and/or hate my ramble-y brain thoughts

warnings here: theres a bit of talk about self-destruction and issues with eating. both are about characters. well, one character. i put them at the end, so its easier to scroll past or block without seeing them

so ive noticed that all my favorite types of fics are- idk, a bit harder to find then a lot of other types of fics?

so of course youve got fics where they make the characters into creatures, which we love. much easier to find then the other ones here, but still something to get excited about whenever we find one.

'well what about monster falls? theres gotta be plenty of fics for that'

not that many with ford, and most with ford include billdip, so youve only got a few fics that arent. gross. monster falls is overrun with billdip, fun fact. blegh

oftentimes stan is made into a creature, but not ford. which is fine, of course, theyre still very fun to read most of the time. fics about ford getting creature'd are more rare but tend to include different creatures than stan, which is interesting. ive found exactly one fic where both of them get creature'd and its one of my favorites.

anyway. fics where stan meets bord are always fun. the interactions are always fun. love that shit. its much more common to see with mullet stan and paranoid ford, which makes sense. ive come across exactly one fic where post-portal ford gets possessed by bill and uhhhhhh?? hm. hm.

of course its understandable why theres less with post-portal ford. hes got that plate in his head and its not exactly good for his health to remove it. but it does make for some real good angst if bords walking around with a head cracked open and now stan has to figure what the fuck thats all about. good shit, good shit.

and then- well. it makes a lot of sense why you dont see as many of these- fics that deal with ford and his problems with eating. theres a lot of fics that make note of it, but not many where its the focus. the two that i know that do that both deal with him recovering from it, which is really just the best way to end a fic like that. also both favorites theyre really good.

if i can find both the fics again, ill link them here in an edit

the last one- fics that explicitly deal with ford and his self-destructive behaviors. seems to me a lot of people didnt really. notice? that hes self-destructive? a lot of people include stan's mental health issues but dont do anything with ford's. there are of course some fics like this and there are fics that vaguely hint towards it, but. the guy didnt just light his face on fire, he exploded something on it. hes not exactly subtle about it. he probably gets intrusive thoughts about it, too. you never see that in fics

well this really just turned out to be a list of types of fics i want to write at some point but probably never will

[itsbenedict]

ok so im reading through Almost Nowhere and i have Complaints about it's structure and wanted to vent but also not to the point of actually commenting on the thing itself. (its a Well-made story. this all comes from a place of admiration/love for the thing so i didnt want to put it in a public tag)

So after seeing you reblog the ending announcement i started reading it. current spot is chapter xxi, or sylvie vs hector's forces. (is sylvie just a jadesprite expy. is hector just a Dirk/Dave. is that what is going on. ugh it figures. anyway.)

pros: premise fills that timeline bullshit appetite, and has some fascinating evolutions of its timeline and the puzzle therein. the actual setup and climax of the Annes escape story was very exciting, and the notebooks are a fascinating conceit. and the entire story could be summarized as "hey aliens put everyone in mini The Matrix realities and people gotta figure out how to deal with that/escape?" which is a pretty good premise. the Annes were my favorite part.

cons:

due to being about timeline bullshit and specifically miscommunication causing disaster, it also is incredibly hard to parse even when it's trying to be clear. i get the multiple narrator conceit, and i get that Azad is glued to a thesaurus, but it feels like its getting in it's own way way more often than not. Its doing the "im using the more complicated word to sound smart rather than be accurate or communicate my message" thing, and its hard to parse how much of that is purposeful. I found it exhausting after a few hundred pages.

as time loops are a core aspect of the story, most of the characters feel like they have very little actual impact or agency on the plot. they're protagonists as designated, but grant and cordelia do very little of note- where i am now Grant's basically just a guy to get explained at and he got addicted to a sub-reality game for a while. he is important because sylvie is his dog, but beyond pining for Azad and getting things explained to him, Grant doesnt feel like he Does anything

however Grant is still my favorite character because he's the only one who actually says "what the fuck are you talking about, explain it better" which the entire text desperately needs.

its gotten to the point that the text's own coy obfuscation of itself has made me disconnect from caring about the characters- and that's Poisonous.

the story makes its Stakes either too big or too small. its either about a characters self doubts or its about finding a way to escape a reality by killing it's god. but theres very little in-between, or focuses on how one relates to the other. its hard to care when the stakes are too high (unrelateable), and its hard to care when theyre too low for too long (character feels whiny and passive).

its best done in the Annes story- her personal turmoil over her incredibly bizarre circumstances leading to resentment and action- killing her father-god- were united and flowed into each other. usually an escalation of stakes is accompanied by development of character. but beyond the Annes, i feel like there are no characters who have developed. theres no proactivity that feels like itll actually change things. its just characters that have been acted upon (not-entertaining). (and i get that time loop bullshit makes that point hard but its also sapping the enjoyment of reading the overall story itself and needs to be addressed.)

at this point i feel like the plot has become concerned with it's own telling, which is arguably what's actually happening- everything is being written because timeloop bullshit demands it and everyone caught inside is powerless to struggle against it, including the audience- but im not finding it entertaining anymore. I want to care about the characters more, but the text is reinforcing it's own disassociation-themes to the point where its getting unfun to read.

to be fair- i did read up to where i am over the course of two days, which is a Lot to take in at once. even on release this wasnt a story thats binge-friendly and im probably bouncing off of it's weirdness because i havent had time to digest it. However it's fascinating in its setups- in the questions it asks and the puzzles of the world, its just failing to provide characters that match. and maybe it has, and has just been presented deliberately obtusely and i missed the point- (which is an in-text theme! But also I can't explore that theme if the audience's participation is lost so it still is a Bad Thing!) which i would also argue is a Problem, not a success.

anyway anyway Flower that Bloomed Nowhere slaps and its mystery structure serves as a great device to convey the otherwise Intricate worldbuilding (and i like how said worldbuilding is usually introduced only as it has context to a Motive or as a Clue because it makes said worldbuilding feel meaningful which is nice) and im excited to see what happens next hope you have a good day byeeeee

hm- well, uh, i think a pretty good chunk of AN's readership is in my general orbit on here, so you're gonna get roughly the same effect as putting it in the tag, but-

i mean, the thing with AN is that... the main thing you're down on it for is sort of the whole game it's playing. first it introduces a concept in a bizarre, flowery, obfuscatory way that's playing around with language- and then it does that again, and again, from various angles, with different sorts of obfuscation, so you slowly get a picture of the concept through a sort of blind-men-and-the-elephant process. that's the fun of it, that's the game, doing a deep dive on the presentational tomfoolery to try and figure out what's going on before it just tells you.

that's what Grant's there for- he says "what the fuck are you talking about, explain it better", after it's already gone a few rounds of deliberately not explaining it clearly, and given you a chance to chew on it and try and piece it together for yourself. he's the answer key at the end of the puzzle, the way the story signposts "okay, so by this point you should pretty much Get this concept".

if you're just blasting through it to try to absorb the content as directly as possible, i can see the way the story presents itself kind of working against you, yeah. it's not trying to be obtuse for no reason- it's being obtuse because the process of grappling with the obtuse is the main selling point. if you don't like doing that, if it just bugs you when the story won't just say what it wants to say, yeah, it's not gonna be a good fit.

i kind of agree that some of the character arcs seem a little weak- like, i'm not entirely positive what Cordelia's doing here? what the point of her is? and- oh, god, don't tell Cordelia i said that, that's exactly what the poor thing doesn't need to hear.

but i think that's a product of... like, these aren't all supposed to be protagonists of a story. they're primarily lenses into the story, different perspectives on what's happening. they're part of the mechanics of the game, sources of new narration to use as part of the puzzle. grant doesn't really do anything, in-story, sure- but he's extremely active in nailing down concepts.

"the plot has become concerned with it's own telling"- yep. that's what it's doing. it's kind of always been doing that. personally, i like that!

i might have a bias here due to... having been following it on a serial basis for years since chapter 1? like, that's a format that lends itself well to the way the story wants to be engaged with, the slow and meticulous reading that leaves lots of time for contemplation. i'm not sure if i can evaluate how well that all works archivally- whether this is just a matter of differing preferences in how to consume fiction, or if structurally it's somehow encouraging a shallower reading that it doesn't reward as much.

[flockofdoves]

obviously there is no time that is Good or Convenient to have covid and i guess technically its good that this isn't happening to me in the middle of a time where i have more active work or school responsibilities

but also it just feels like Such bad timing in a lot of other ways

i literally Just was recovering after unrelated health problems over the past couple weeks that were making me so so fucking stir crazy i had plans to go out and really start planning my days for the rest of the summer doing things like going to rhode island again and going birding more and going to museums and stuff because i was at my fucking limit with being cooped up in my apartment recovering. but now i just gotta do that all over again for at least another 9 days from today

kinda sad about ending my summer this way. and also i'm gonna have to miss my niece's christening party when i really would like to see her again i've only seen her once since she was born :(

also there are just so so many issues surrounding my lease and roommate situation. my symptoms started on tuesday the 16th which means i should isolate til the 26th (i do not trust the new recommendations saying you can even go to work if you have covid after 5 days i think thats fucking insane and would be irresponsible of me with how extremely symptomatic i am right now)

my current lease ends on the 26th. so so lucky i don't have to move but every single thing about my roommate situation and how shes supposed to move out on the 26th is made so fucking complicated by this

because my roomate is still here the whole time i have to isolate i have to stay entirely in my bedroom outside of wearing a mask to go to the bathroom (and shutting the door and taking it off to shower or brush teeth) or quickly get food to bring to my room

and my girlfriend didnt test positive yesterday but it feels kind of inevitable considering that we sleep in the same room (and cpaps even aerosolize viruses further apparently) so its not like she can even stay in the other room for the time being while periodically checking to see if she's gotten infected

and also i put in repair requests earlier this week for issues with the apartment that preexisted me and my gf moving in but that over the past year i'd been too nervous about having maintenance come in and see how bad things were bc of my roommate until me and my gf deep cleaned last week

but the repair requests were not fulfilled within a few days and then i had to cancel them obviously once i tested positive. and so now that means i cant have maintenance fix anything til after the new lease starts... which means that we're gonna have to pay back my roommate the her entire portion of the security deposit and then pay for the repairs during our new lease for things that happened when she lived here before us...

it also kinda puts a wrench into any hopes i still kinda had of trying to reach out to anyone she knows to try to help her cat

and im sad bc i realized cats can get covid so i shouldnt even really be playing with or petting her cat over the next 10 days :(

also its gonna be so so weird bc ive already doubted that shes actually gonna move out at all and now its even more ambiguous bc like. if she ever communicated with me at all i'd find it very reasonable for her to ask to move out a little later so she doesnt have to deal with that or expose anyone shes potentially bringing to help her move or anything. but like i know shes not actually gonna communicate anything so if the 26th comes and goes and shes still here its gonna feel even weirder than it was gonna originally because i'll feel more unconfident about asserting like. you need to get out of here. when i can find a reason to understand why she'd unexpectedly need to stay a little longer