#or it's *gonna* come off like we're blaming one for the other's issues

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Riddle Rosehearts - Nightmare Suit Vignette

"Absolutely against the rules!"

[Halloween Town – Alleyway]

Riddle: We lost so much time because of that unexpected mishap. We should finish up the Halloween preparations as quickly as possible.

Jamil: Right. We should begin by checking out how the rest of the town is doing.

Riddle: I agree. While Halloween Town was mired in all that confusion, some other issues may have cropped up.

[Halloween Town – Town Hall]

Riddle: Jamil, take a look at that. The candy that we prepared ahead of time seems to have decreased in number since we last looked…

Jamil: You're right. There should have been overflowing mounds of candy in three baskets. But now, I only see one.

Riddle: Someone may have unintentionally moved it, or some ill-advised malcontent may have stolen it…

Jamil: ――Hm? I feel like I just saw something move out of the corner of my eye…

Riddle: THERE! YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME!!

[chair slams against door]

???: Waah! What's with this chair!?

???: Why'd it just appear in front of us out of nowhere?

Jamil: I see, you used your magic to move the chair to block the exit. Good thinking.

Shock: We can't leave 'cause this chair's in the way!

Shock: It's all 'cause you two were so slow in carrying the candy. You blockheads!

Barrel: I'm not the blockhead, he is.

Lock: She's talking about you!

Riddle: Oh, it's you guys… The troublemaker trio.

Lock/Shock/Barrel: URK!!!

Jamil: There's candy spilling out from the bag they're dragging. They're for sure our culprits.

Riddle: Good thing we captured them before they made off with the candy. There's no place for you three to run now.

Shock: You're so mean, cutting us off from the exit when we're trying to leave!

Riddle: Mean? You seem to be mistaking me for yourselves.

Riddle: No single person can claim all the candy for themselves. It is an unforgivable act to steal it.

Riddle: And just after causing all that chaos in town… Have the three of you not reflected on your actions at all?

Lock: C'mon, we ran around so much earlier that we're so hungry, though.

Shock: Plus, this is the first time we've seen candy like the ones you guys made, and it look suuuper yummy.

Barrel: There's no way we can wait until Halloween to eat 'em.

Lock/Shock/Barrel: [chomp, chomp] … See, it's sooo good.

Riddle: Wha… How dare you add to your crimes by eating the candy mid-testimony! Absolutely barbaric!

Jamil: They keep doing whatever they want, as if they're not to blame for any of the problems we faced in town earlier… Honestly, I can't help but be a little impressed.

Riddle: If we just leave them be, they may cause another problem sooner or later, so if I'd rather it be off with their heads…

Lock: Huh? Off with whose head?

Barrel: Probably Jack's. 'Cause he can take off his head, can't he?

Shock: Sounds awesome! I thought this guy was just a nagging bore, but he can say some fun stuff, too!

Lock/Shock/Barrel: Let's go! Let's go right now! Let's go take off Jack's head!

Riddle: Silence!! You three misunderstand me. When I say "off with their head," I am not speaking literally.

Lock: Eh, really?

Shock: Boooring, I thought it was gonna be something fun.

Riddle: Sigh… I feel a headache coming along just being around you three.

Jamil: Not only do they not show any signs of remorse, they immediately leap at the chance to start something new… They are completely out of our control.

Riddle: However, if we were to leave these children to their own devices, they may interfere with the Halloween preparations again.

Riddle: If that's the case… Jamil, the two of us should keep an eye on these three.

Riddle: And as the Housewarden of Heartslabyul, I shall ingrain into the children proper discipline!

Jamil: It's fine and dandy that you're raring to go, but you didn't need to drag me into this without asking…

Riddle: Did you say something just now, Jamil?

Jamil: …No, nothing at all.

Riddle: Well, then… Ahem! See here, you three. Listen to me well.

Riddle: From here on out, you will not run around as you please, but will accompany us. Understand?

Lock: Ehhhh! Why'd we have to be with you guys?

Riddle: That is because you all keep breaking the rules.

Riddle: In essence, this is the result of all your mischief. …Now, how do you respond?

Shock: I don't really get it, but whatever! We were bored, anyway, so we can stick with you for a tiiiny bit.

Riddle: Good! Then first, return all the candy you stole back onto the table. As soon as that's done, we'll go survey how the rest of the town is doing.

[Halloween Town – Gate]

Riddle: The first stop is the gate to confirm the state of their decorations… And already it seems that we've found the bats they have decorating it with are crooked.

Riddle: As of this moment, they are at about 160° from the ground. However, they should be kept at 180° parallel to the ground.

Jamil: You really have an eye for the smallest detail. I don't know if I should say it's too much, or what…

Riddle: I will not permit any carelessness that could ruin the perfect Halloween. Besides, adjusting the angle is easily fixed with a quick spell…

Lock: Huh? You want to fix the crooked decorations on the gate?

Shock: Then we can fix it for you… With this ball!

Shock: Hyah!

[throws ball]

Riddle: Ack!? That almost hit me! Why would you ever think to fix something like that by hitting it with a ball!?

Barrel: 'Cause we can't reach the decorations ourselves.

Jamil: Then, you should use a stool or a ladder…

Lock: We thought it'd be faster if we used a ball.

Riddle: Hmm… It seems it will be more difficult than I thought to teach these kids proper discipline.

Riddle: Listen up, you three. You shouldn't throw a ball towards where other people are.

Lock/Shock/Barrel: WHY???

Riddle: Because if it hits someone, it could injure them. It's dangerous.

Shock: But balls are for throwing, though?

Riddle: ...I see, so that's the hang up. If that's the case, we may need to begin with re-learning the definition of a ball.

Riddle: I shall start your lesson with what a ball is, and it's origins. There are many theories as to where it was originated, but at first…

Jamil: YOU'RE STARTING THE LESSON FROM THERE!?

Riddle: …And that is why you should not throw balls. Did you understand all that?

Lock/Shock/Barrel: Yup, totally!

Jamil: Liars, none of you were listening at all!

Riddle: Whether they understood the lesson or not will be apparent with how they conduct themselves from now on.

Riddle: We've finished with confirming the decoration progress. Next, we'll look in on the music…

[scamper, scamper]

Jamil: Big problem, Riddle! Those three are already gone!

Riddle: What!? We only took our eyes off of them for a second… We need to hurry and find them!

Shock: MOVE OUTTA THE WAY! YOU'RE STANDIN' IN THE WAY!!

Jamil: Hm? I hear their voices from behind… WAAH!!

[thud]

Riddle: A bathtub with legs just crashed into Jamil!? Are you alright, Jamil? Any injuries?

Jamil: …I'm fine, it's nothing.

Lock: Seeee, this all happened 'cause you're just standing there all spaced out.

Barrel: Lame-o～

Jamil: Krgh! It's obviously their fault, but they have the nerve to speak like that.

Riddle: What do you three think you're doing, now!?

Shock: What do you mean, what we're thinkin'? We were tired of walking, so we brought something to make it easier to move around.

Lock/Barrel: Yeah, it's our favorite ride!

Riddle: That may be so, but you should take care not to bump into anyone.

Shock: That's why we shouted to move out the way.

Lock: Or are you sayin' Jamil owns this road?

Barrel: You sayin' we're not allowed to use this road or somethin'?

Riddle: Well, no…

Lock/Shock/Barrel: THEN EVERYTHING'S FINE!!

Riddle: EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE!!!

Jamil: Those three don't feel any remorse at all, huh… They're so blatant that it's actually refreshing to deal with.

Riddle: Similar to the ball incident earlier, any actions that may bring harm to anyone else is absolutely against the rules!

Riddle: Furthermore, a bathtub is not something to ride in and use as a mode of transportation.

Shock: Eh, but a bathtub is totally something to ride in.

Lock/Barrel: Yeah, it's our ride!

Riddle: …What? How exactly are bathtubs utilized in this town?

Shock: So, you see, basically…

Riddle: Mhm… Mhm… I see.

Riddle: Which all goes to say that this town approves of bathtubs as transportation?

Shock: Right-o, Riddle. If it wasn't, we totally wouldn't ride in it.

Riddle: I see… My apologies, I was in the wrong on my understanding of bathtubs here. I take it back, you may ride it!!

Jamil: THEY CAN!?!?

Lock/Shock/Barrel: YAY!!!

Lock: Seee, you totally get it.

Riddle: However, you are to ride it with care so as to not injure others. And you are to apologize to Jamil.

Lock/Shock/Barrel: 'Kaaaay. Soooorry, Jamil.

Riddle: Good apology, you three.

Lock: Right, right? We did good!

Jamil: He's just letting them off with that half-done apology…? They don't look like they're sorry at all!!

Shock: Riddle! I totally thought you were just gonna yap at us non-stop, but you're actually a good guy who totally gets us.

Shock: We like you! Join our crew and play with us!

Barrel: Here, we'll even let you in our bathtub, our treat.

Riddle: Eh? No, I'll pass on―

Shock: Let's go, you two! Push Riddle into the bathtub!

Lock/Shock/Barrel: HEAAAAAVE… HO!!!

Riddle: Waaah!!!

Lock/Shock/Barrel: Nyahahahehehe! He's in, he's in! Riddle's riding in the bathtub!

Jamil: Hey, Riddle! You alright!?

Riddle: …Yes, although that shocked me slightly, I am fine.

Riddle: Actually, this bathtub isn't that uncomfortable, either.

Shock: Well, yeah, this bathtub's our pride and joy!

Riddle: I see… From my brief time with you three, I see that you have your own rules you abide by.

Riddle: I suppose I was a little too strict on you. For me to teach you all discipline, I would first need to know more about this town.

Requested by @farfalla049.

[rave-rz]

Those critiques were everything I hoped they would be. Now tell us about MHA.

Are your grievances the same as our grievances? Where'd the show lose you? What arc had the glasses come off?

A lot of my issues with My Hero Academia are pretty easy to find on tumblr, I reblog some of my favourite posts from time to time but the posts I tend to agree the most about are from Justatalkingface, Bibibbon and Saphhic-Agent, as well as A List Exists on Youtube. This is gonna be hard to explain my thoughts on so LONG RANT Incoming lmao. My thoughts ended up going everywhere so nothings really all that ordered rip.

Regarding when the show started to lose my interest? It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I started off enjoying my time but once we got to the Sports festival I started to lose the wind in my sails. I already have loads of issues with Bakugo but my main gripe with him started during the sports festival, how a big of a deal the story made his fight with Uraraka. How he was taking her seriously from the very beginning. Except that's hard for me to believe when this is pretty much the only time I can remember him ever fighting the way he did during the manga, standing still and waiting for his opponents moves. When does he ever do that?? Starting at this point in the story you realize Horikoshi has favourites and you can tell which ones lol. It's Aizawa, Bakugo and Endeavor. Now I understand these are the characters that people love and they make money but still, if I can feel your favoritism through the pages? That's not good. Horikoshi has a habit of stating things and just sorta expecting the readers to deal with it? Like there's no easing into anything it's just 'this is happening, I hope you accept it cause we're moving on, now turn the page'. He states there was GENOCIDE that happened towards people with mutant quirks, moving on. He implies quirkless people are also discriminated against, moving on. He introduces the quirk singularity and the possible end of the world, we're moving on. Hell he kills off his main 3 antagonists, having his 3 main characters effectively fail and yet we still move on, only Uraraka got to actually react to anything and even then it's not great since she's blaming herself for getting stabbed.

He also seems to develop a hatred for introspection as the series goes on? By the end we're left mostly speculating on major character's thoughts and motivations, we don't really know why Deku decided to become a teacher or what he thought of Shigaraki and what happened to him, we don't know how Dabi felt in his last moments, or more importantly how Shouto felt about the ending of the fight (I mean, he specifically invented a move to beat Dabi without hurting him (cold fire, sure) but not only is his brother going to die but his 'failure' caused his other siblings and mother to step in and get permanently injured, how does he feel about that??). Characters slowly become a hivemind towards the end, all having the same opinions on the events (Everyone reacted pretty much the same to Aoyama's traitor reveal, despite no one ever really interacting with him and if they did, they didn't seem like him all that much). Characters just aren't allowed to be wrong it feels, in the sense that if they come to a conclusion and it's not the factually correct one, it's pretty quickly corrected by another character like Deku. Admittedly this one might be spotty since I remember thinking this but at the same time my mind cannot come up with a specific example, it might be in the todoroki family sub arc.

Now when it comes to the characters, I actually like the idea of characters more than the actual characters since I don't like how Horikoshi decided to write 90% of his characters. Like Hawks could've been really cool if he wasn't regulated to a sidekick by the end. One character I have very strong opinions on is Dabi, I hate how he was written and by extension Endeavor and the rest of the Todoroki subplot.

Now uh, here is a hot take: I didn't like Dabi's dance (as a reveal). As a chapter it was really cool! But as a reveal of Dabi is Touya it felt less like a reveal to the characters and more of a confirmation to the readers that they were right and this chapters a little treat for waiting so long for this reveal to happen.

Cause let's be honest, almost everybody pegged Dabi as a Todoroki, even before people knew Shouto had multiple siblings and Touya was revealed to be 'dead'. It was practically treated as canon for fanfic writers. But as the manga went on it never brought up Touya or the traitor at all until the last sprint and boom we got Dabi's dance and THEN we'll get his backstory. Because readers got Dabi first, tying him to Touya who we don't get any info on until after he's revealed to be Dabi. A lot of their reactions end up being

because logically, why should they care? Who Touya was has been essentially a non-factor to the entire story. No one has every talked about him, we know absolutely nothing regarding who he was until after Dabi's dance. The reader's opinion on Dabi has been made by this point in the story (290 chapters in) and it's too late to change it with just a sad backstory. (haine-Kleine made a really good post regarding it). Not to mention everything Dabi did meant literally nothing since not a damn person reacted to him brocasting that he was 1. a murderer, 2. the #1 hero's supposed dead eldest son (now a murderer), and 3. abused by said hero along with the rest of the family. Like nothing came from that at all, even the main character told him that Endeavor's trying to change as a rebuttal. So nice going Dabi, your on roll with failing lol. Onto Endeavor cause I'm gonna be quick lol. His atonement arc sucks since not only did he not really do anything to acheive that. He just kept repeating how he intends to atone, and the best (and probably only) way to work towards that would be for him to confront Touya as a father and not a hero. Except no, he not only sends Shouto to deal with Touya (so he and hawks can fight the more important thing), but when he does deal with Touya it's cause he had too (and it was done as a hero). In the end he just sorta lost nothing of significance? He's in a wheelchair yeah but that's not really what I call a concequence to his shitty behavior. He retired as a hero sure, but he was always gonna do that. Bro could've been cool if the story kept him as a heavily flawed individual who actively tried to improve knowing he'd lose more than he'd gain, but instead every character gasses him up lol. This is getting too long so I'm gonna touch briefly on 2 more things and that's it lol. The ending 'solves' most of it's issues by essentially saying 'our people are in charge so we're doing it right'. Hawks is HPSC president and he's just better at it I guess, Uraraka is expanding quirk counseling (despite not know what the issues were? And also just not mentioning Toga ever) and Shouji is helping stop the heteromorph racism peacefully. Again, we're back to 'we're moving on' since these guys are fixing these issues! How? Don't worry about it, turn the page. Finally, a I would've loved to see more focus on the 'academia' part of the story. Despite Horikoshi clearly being uninterested in UA as a concept. He tries to make you believe 1-A is this found family which given their interactions, I don't believe for a goddamn second. We know barely anything about the any character and any tidbits we do know are from character sheets outside the story. The 'academia' in My hero Academia could've been the time to learn about characters and develop them/their relationships. Learn why each of them wanted to even be there. Cause every character is quite literally a 'good person' in the 'I wanna be a hero to save people' way. Which isn't inherently bad but if every character is like this? No thanks. This is why I don't like Stain (Man showed up in the end, was a hinderance and then died), he's introduced along with the idea that people in this world choose to be heroes for multi reasons. Some do it to save people but some also do it for the paycheck. Yet every character we see has that 'instinct to save those in danger' no matter their attitude, the only exceptions to this are Endeavor and Mineta. One of which is admired as a good hero or person who's trying to be good by the cast and the other is someone no one takes seriously. Even Uraraka was introduced as being in it for the paycheck, but pretty quickly overshadow by her learning how much she wants to help others. Okay I'm cutting myself off there lmao. But yeah, A lot of my complaints are pretty common I think. I started having issues with the story starting at the Sports festival/Stain arcs but Overhaul was awful. Final arc was even worse lol.

[grandlinedreams]

|| hey remember that thing I said abt boot riding and condescending, mean Coop :)

|| notes: unestablished timeline, could be seen as pre or post s1, reader can be whatever they want, waves hand something something idk man I've got it so bad for this guy also HEY. MDNI. BIG TIME. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

|| warnings: pretty much pwp, oral (m receiving), cum eating/swallowing, cursing, boot riding, Cooper is mean, hair pulling, afab reader i guess

Cooper isn't sure if it's the oppressive heat, the lack of decent drinking water or food that isn't roasted radroach to blame for your attitude, or if it's something else entirely ㅡ but you've found his last nerve over the last couple hours and are determined to rip it to shreds.

Part of him says he could save himself some long term trouble and put a bullet in your head, but he won't for two reasons. One, that's a waste of ammo. And two, he likes having you around.

You're a good companion, when you aren't in such a piss-poor mood. But it's that mood that's the current issue ㅡ and so, Cooper comes up with his own solution when you get just a little too mouthy for his liking.

"Come on now sweetheart," he grunts, voice low as he watches you, "you can take it, can't you?"

Your answer is garbled for the length currently occupying your mouth, tip of him pushed far enough that it threatens to gag you. Cooper doesn't think he's seen anything prettier than the tears in your eyes over his cock in your mouth.

He groans when you swallow around him, fists a hand tight into your hair to guide you ㅡ and the way you squirm also catches his attention. But one thing at a time, and he isn't about to give you whatever it is you think you deserve until after he's done.

He tells you so, eyes glinting as you whine around him, sound silenced by the rough jerk of his hips. "Come on, sweet thing," he coos, mocking as he cups your chin, thumbs at the bead of drool that slides from the corner of your mouth, "not gettin' shit if you can't behave."

This isn't the first time he's been in your mouth, nor will it be the last ㅡ but the pitiful look on your face only furthers his pleasure as he bucks, listens as you choke and gag around him.

His head tips back as you suck, fist tightening in your hair as you slide your tongue over the underside of him, the steady pulse as his breath hitches a little. "Fuck," he huffs, "see? Told you I'd find somethin' for you to do with that mouth of yours other than bitch."

You squirm again, thighs rubbing together to try and give yourself a little friction as his already rough rhythm turns choppier ㅡ and then he's spilling down your throat with a low groan that only adds to your own arousal.

Cooper pulls free of your mouth and watches as you swallow before he tucks himself away and snorts when you give him an expectant look. "What's that for, sugar? Never promised I was gonna help you out."

Your lips part like you want to protest, but he's right ㅡ he'd never said he was going to do anything afterwards. He smirks, makes a show of debating before he crouches in front of you, tips your chin up so he can meet your eyes.

"Poor thing, did suckin' me off get you that hot and bothered?" Your cheeks flush, and his amusement grows. "I guess I can help you out. But we're doing this my way, hm?" You blink, watching as he moves to settle a little ways away, then gestures. "Well? C'mere, babydoll."

Cooper watches you, tracking you as you settle over him in his lap. He reaches for you, pulls you flush to him before he cups your face with gloved hands. "You wanna get off so bad, you'll take whatever I give you, hm?"

Your cheeks burn, betraying you as you nod and listen to him click his tongue, sizing you up before he leans to kiss you. It'd almost be sweet were it not for the way he anchors you to keep you from withdrawing, muffling your soft noises before pulling away.

"Alright, sweetheart," he breathes, "I'll give you somethin'."

ㅡ

"Come on sweetheart, I thought you wanted this."

Your cheeks blaze, a mix of embarrassment and arousal as your hips rock, bitten off whine that makes Cooper snicker as he watches you rut against his boot. The dusty leather is far from what you'd been expecting, but Cooper had been adamant ㅡ either you got off on his boot or you didn't get off at all.

He at least pushes it against you, offers that modicum of reciprocation beyond the dark, hungry way he watches you grind against the only thing he's willing to offer.

The edge of it digs against the ache of your core, makes you groan and grind down harder.

"Look at you, honeybunch," Cooper drawls, determined to keep up a steady stream of commentary and make this all the worse for you, "that needy for me you're willing to hump my boot like a bitch in heat. Pathetic."

It should annoy you, but all the insult does is send heat curling in your veins to join the needy, sticky slick between your legs as you whimper and continue moving. Your thighs ache, your head spins with the way you're panting ㅡ but you're so close.

Cooper knows it to, doesn't miss a beat as he listens to you whimper, noises arching to something more pitched before you're shuddering, rocking your hips in rough, tiny little movements before you're panting, body trembling with the force of your orgasm.

"See, sugar? Wasn't so hard, was it?" His tone and words are a playful taunt, one that has you glaring at him.

"Fuck you."

Cooper grins, eyes dark. "That's the plan, babydoll."

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

I was gonna rant about the election because it has stressed me off, but I have decided to edit draft posts and send them out. All of my other main social media accounts have been draining me ngl and I miss this acc. Anywho:

I have always argued that a lot of Feyre stans are essentially Rhys stans in disguise. Recently, I think I would like to amend this idea: I do think that Feyre stans earnestly like her as a character -- I just don't think they're honest about why.

I do recognize the possible rebuttals and/or contentions with this argument -- I'm always aware that if argued incorrectly, the argument can birth misogynistic and/or victim-blaming ideas.

But, I think it solves a lot of the issues I've observed when engaging in these conversations. Because, for the life of me, I couldn't quite reconcile people's almost-parasocial relationship with her character, while seemingly hating the discussions we have -- especially when we're arguing that she is a victim.

This leads into a bigger conversation about tropes in romance, especially, dark romance, but I think I actually think you all like Feyre just the way she is. And I do not mean this postively - I think a lot of you realize the direction of her character, and the love that is that is birthed from that: that she will always operate a palpable position. Feyre's character will never meaningfully challenge anything. Feyre will never have complicated conversations, and will never actually be treated as a complex, morally ambiguous character. I think a lot of people are quite comfortable with the deference she consistently shows Rhysand + the Inner Circle and always will. That is the appeal of Feyre's character - she will always play power, and will never have to deal with the complexities that come with it.

So when we have these discussions around Feyre as a political being - or as a individual person - the expectation is always that we shouldn't take Feyre that seriously as a political being. You all don't expect Feyre to actually have to operate as a character, moreso an extension of Rhysand. You don't expect us to even care to have the conversation - and when we do, we're dubbed 'too woke' or 'taking fairy smut too seriously'

So, when we question Feyre's decision as High Lady to lock Nesta up in the manor - we are never meant to look at the complexity of that. Of the parallels. Although Feyre in the text assumes the role of High Lady to lock Nesta within the HoW, we aren't ever supposed to judge that decision from a political, or even complex position. Although the decision to intervene with Nesta is tangibly justified by the text as a political decision. Even earlier moments in the series, such as Feyre's decision to manipulate the Spring Court, stealing the book from Summer, or her outburst at the HL meeting -- these are not moments we're earnestly supposed to look at as tactical, intentional moments to judge. We only suppose to look at the internal, emotional justifications, but never the implications of those actions. Because objectively, those are all political blunders, but we're always suppose to keep in mind that Feyre is never quite suppose to 'be the one in power.'

In short, I think a lot of people aren't honest about what makes Feyre a desirable character. I think a lot of people provide answers that they perceive to be good, but they don't earnestly believe that about her character. Because when we have these conversations, they never genuinely want to have the conversation about Feyre as a character - we're only suppose to think about the emotional, intrinsic reason, never the tangible consequences that result from the actions. To end, I always use Dany as an example bc...she's that girl -- but one of the things that did warm me up to Dany (asoiaf) was the fact that though she's a budding political genius, she often faces the consequences of her mistakes - she's always weighing her past experiences to inform new ones. She has to make a lot of complex decision - and sometimes they aren't good decisions even when she means well. Even when her intrinsic motivator is, for all intents and purposes, honorable. And so - when people exclaim they love Dany, they oftentimes have tangible reasons for why they believe she should be the queen. And when people don't like Dany - as a political being - they also have tangible reasons why they don't believe she should be queen. And that's okay, because that means that at the very least operates as a complex character. Because - Dany operates as a complex character - some people agree and sympathize with her decisions, while the people presumably on the receiving end of her decisions might not.

[shiraishi-kanade]

AWAKE NOW: an (almost) line by line analysis by yours truly, pt.1

If you've been following me at all, you probably know that Awake Now is my favourite An Shiraishi commission and that I always ramble how symbolic and incredible its lyrics are, among other things. Well, it's time for me to actually explain why I think it's so great!

This is part one tackling only in-game version; I'll later make an addition to this post expanding on the full version lyrics, because there is also a lot to unpack there and I don't want to do all what work in one sitting. Sorry.

[Disclaimer: for a quite a long time, the commonly accepted translation of this song has been facing criticism, and quite a lot of lines have been changed into what I believe is more accurate later. More corrections may be yet to come, but this post will use the translation available at 27.10 by Hiraethie, with edits by Violet and 25239x.]

Lazy Rainy My Soul is

now in a bad mood

From this new feeling called Lament

(New feeling called Lament)

The first verse of the song is referencing An's growing unease she experiences during the time of Bout to be Beside you; while she doesn't know why she feels that way at the beginning, a big emphasis is made on how she never felt that way before, because even having a partner is something that is a new experience for An.

The supposed relationship full of perfection

got complicated on its way

This line references the way An perceives her own and Kohane's partnership, as well as just their general dynamic: they started off strong but already faced some conflict during Singing in Sync, the very first event of VBS, during which An had to confront her overprotectiveness; now this relationship is starting to get even more complicated with An's anxiety and "hazy feelings" thrown into the mix.

Not only that, it's also important that this line went to Touya - who went through his own issues in his relationship with Akito.

Still staying passionate, I Try

A general callback to An's attitude to losing and having roadblocks:

🎧: I hate to lose, but I usually take a more positive approach to think and work harder to do better next time.

(btby episode 4, official tl)

As well as, in this particular situation, she only sees one way to get over her feelings: to stay passionate and keep singing. This line is later brought up again in Rekka with "My silence and passion, I kept them inside my heart" line.

It's not like you're the one at fault

This is An's admitting that Kohane is never at fault for making An feel the way she does; that she has the full right and ability to make progress and keep improving as much as she wants to, and An could never blame her for it. At the same time, An is bitter at herself for having these feelings at all, which we later see in WTWG.

Trip Step, I want to do that again and again

If we could light up the night together

For eternity, then...

An wants to be Kohane's partner and keep singing with her despite the anxiety she brought into her life. If we look at the phrase "light up the night" to mean performing and bringing excitement to people (which it very well could be, seeing the overall symbolism of fire and light has in VBS's story), it becomes apparent this refers to An wanting to stay partners with Kohane forever, especially considering these lines in the event itself:

👤: Have you found a good partner yet, An?

🎧: No, not yet... It's taking longer than I expected...

🎧: But I have a feeling that we're gonna be singing together forever once I do!

***

🎧: That she's [Kohane] the only one who can be my partner...

(same event, chapter 5)

An is willing to go to extreme length to keep being Kohane's partner - so they can "light up the night" together.

Falling in love with the sound of my wings

that I outstretched to the skies,

This line goes to Kohane as well as Touya, but refers primarily to Kohane's discovering her own talent and (rightfully) enjoying all the new experiences and emotions it has brought into her life. It's also a clever play on Kohane's name, seeing as if she had a kanji spelling instead of hiragana, it most definitely would have included the character 羽 - "wing" or "feather". This same wordplay is then later used in Hollow:

預かる背中のその羽が

azukaru senaka no sono hane ga

This is confirmed by the song's producer and the very same character is used in Awake Now, so it's very unlikely it's just a coincidence - at the same time, "outstretching her wings" definitely refers to Kohane gaining new abilities and exploring new opportunities with Taiga.

the flowers of my dreams start overflowing.

I’ll make them sublimely

beautifully bloom so,

Seemingly, An has gotten everything she's ever wanted: she found a partner and a team, and townfolk are starting to take her dream more seriously - but her feelings about Kohane are overwhelming and distracting her from that, even during practice. Even so, An is determined to make that relationship work.

The first line here also went to Kohane and Touya, likely reflecting how their dream was found somewhere later than An and Akito's was, so that development is even more spontaneous to them than to the first two.

don’t forget that I’m right next to you, okay?

This is both reassurance to Kohane that An will always be by her side and believing in her, and a plea by An for Kohane not to forget her as she keeps growing and moving forward, and for Kohane to keep An by her side. It's a very nice double edged sword of a line and probably one of my favourite ones in the entire song.

Also, it also has Akito in the background, which is just... *Gestures at Stray Bad Dog event*. And this moment in BTBY too:

🥞: She's having an effect on the rest of us, including me, which means you, her partner, probably have it worse...

🥞: You feel like you're getting left behind... Like I did a while ago...

Akito went through something very similar, though not identical - that's likely the reason he was able to notice An's worries and help her in the first place.

Even if our touching backs begin to separate

Kohane is starting to pursue training with Taiga outside of An's reach, and An is starting to bottle up her feelings about Kohane - they're no longer as emotionally close as they used to be, and that's okay. Might also refer to the difference in skill level that is not there yet but will become quite apparent soon: their touching backs begin to separate... Perhaps even going in different directions.

Awake Now

The name drop and the meaning behind the song title: An is now aware of the feelings she experienced back in Awakening Beat and the true reason behind it, as unpleasant as it may be.

This doesn't end with my longing alone

This is perhaps one of the most interesting lines in the song, as it's the one that has faced the most misinterpretation, previously being translated as "I will never stop yearning for you."

Nevertheless, a corrected translation makes a lot more sense. An refuses to be the only one "yearning" in her and Kohane's relationship; she wants to keep inspiring Kohane and make her go even further, for Kohane to keep yearning for An and her singing, too.

🎤: Since you want to be someone she can “respect and be proud of”, An, you want her to like and be excited by the way you sing.

(same event, chapter 6)

This later comes back as a major theme in WTWG:

🎧: (But you know what, Kohane?)

🎧: (I'm not satisfied with that.)

🎧: (I want to drag it out of you, too.)

🎧: (This new power of yours, all sorts of feelings you've never felt before, all of it, all of it!)

🎧: (I want to drag it out of you, with my song!)

(WTWG, chapter 7, tl by Lozy Bug on YouTube)

...and more throughout the same chapter. In other words, while Kohane's singing make An experience new feelings and emotions, An doesn't want to be the only one of the two this happens to - so... She starts working towards doing it right back at her. But in BTBY, this specifically refers to the "I want to keep singing with you forever" feeling, too.

In other words, even the game version of Awake Now is basically An's Shiraishi character arc condensed into one song; it breaks down the point of conflict in BTBY down to it's bare essentials, and expands on motives that will later come back in play over a year later - and that is why I consider this song to be the best An Shiraishi comm.

And we haven't even gotten to the full version.

[rocksibblingsau]

ok so the villain hog au was rattling in my brain a lil bit so im just gonna suggest my own ideas and see what sticks.

branch after being in so many loops things the strings are to blame and tries to destroy them, hence destroying the loops. only for plot twist! he gets split up into 6 grey versions of himself.

i think having relives so many loops so many times he knows exactly where the strings are due to being shown their locations. i think it'd hurt him to steal from people he'd once considered family (and in a way still does) but he can't keep living in an endless cycle of love and loss.

my question is how would you pick the story from after the 6 branches are separated. like do they have memories of only their time in that genre or do they remember their pasts lives aswell as they did during that time (the last genre remembers the lives of all the others while the first remembers none). and for pop branch which pop branch would it be? cannon like in movie branch of the villain branch or that's the generic pop troll?

Okay so I'm thinking of this AU an here's the sequence of events.

Branch lived his 5 lifetimes with Techno, Classical, Country, Funk and Rock, resetting each time the day of the Rockpocalypse arrived.

His Pop life went a bit like canon except before the Rockpocalypse could happen, Branch got the idea that it must have something to do with the strings. Branch believed that if he could take the strings before Barb showed up, maybe he could fix time.

The first string he obtained was Techno, as he wanted to go in order as closely as he could, thinking that might have some affect. He wasn't sure if he should start with Rock or end with it, but decided to end with it because Barb would be a pain to run from.

Going back to Techno Reef after so long hurt, and it hurt for Trollex to look at him like a stranger. He faltered, which led to Trollex managing to corner him. Not wanting to get caught and for the plan to fail, he snatched Beat Drop out of the air and threatened him if Trollex didn't let him go. He was 100% bluffing and on the verge of tears, but it worked.

It goes like the every time, ending with Branch coming back and searching for the Pop String. He finds it with a bit of help from Peppy (not that Peppy meant to help him) and he goes back to his bunker. He doesn't know what to do with the strings, or if they're even the answer. He spirals and is shouting with the strings in his hand. He slams his fist down and the strings flash and then he's split into six.

At the same time, the leaders arrive in Pop Village and they meet with Poppy and realize this isn't a Pop plot, that Branch has gone rogue. Peppy is forced to take them to the Pop String and when it's missing that's when the leaders realize Branch has unknown plans.

They go to the bunker and find it open. They all go down only to find six Branches arguing with each other.

Each Branch has knowledge of the recent events, but other than that they mostly have their own memories. So Funk can't really remember his time in Techno but he does know he spent a lifetime in Techno.

The arguing goes something like.

Techno: it was your idea to threaten Beat Drop! How could you hurt our buddy like that! Pop: Me? You're the one who supplied the knowledge that Trollex would react that way! You must have been on board with the plan! Classical: I have to agree with my fellow lyricless compatriot here, your handling of father was most heartless. Pop: Why am I the one getting blamed for all this? None of you did anything to stop me! Funk: We tried, baby, you just didn't listen to us.

The leaders are all very confused by the fighting, so Poppy steps in to try to get them to stop. The Branches start to explain the issue but Delta Dawn is like "Save it. We're just here for our strings."

Pop Branch is like "Hang on, I had them... here somewhere..." And looks around. The other Branches look around and can't find them anywhere, which kicks off another fight.

Rock: Oh great going, Branch. Now all our music is gone! Country: Oh kinda like when someone's sister came and took our strings you mean? Rock: You got something to say about Barb, cowboy pants? Country: As a matter o' fact, I do! Techno: I wasn't gonna say anything but uh... she does suck. Rock: Okay you know what-

Trollex and Delta Dawn pull Rock and Country off each other and Delta says "Does anybody here wanna explain what in Sam Hell is going on here?"

Pop explains he was trying to fix the resets by getting the strings. Quincy asks what resets and Funk explains that they've experienced five resets that have led to them leading six different lives, which is where the Branches reveal that they were raised by the others. Pop Branch is very quiet during this bit, since he's been alone.

Quincy and Essence mention that they remember being told about an anomaly 20 years ago, which must have been the point where things reset to, and they'll look into it. They ask if there's a specific day things reset and everyone goes "The Rockpocalypse" and explains what Barb did. Barb is being stared at Hard and she goes "Hey don't look at me like that, I'm not the one who stole all the strings... this time."

Pop Branch explains that he thought the strings might be the cause of it all, so he decided to gather them and try to figure things out, but it led to a mess. Essence asks why he didn't just come ask them for help and Pop Branch has a little breakdown where it becomes clear that all his issues weren't resolved in this timeline. Essentially he thinks his family wouldn't want him this time around and that they'd be disgusted by him and so he would rather have just taken the strings and been hated for that.

The Funk Trolls look into the timeline issue and everyone is kinda just left stuck with the Branches, where they find out a bit about them and learn more about Pop Branches issues. Pop Branch tends to get blamed for everything that went wrong and he serves as the example of what the Branches used to be like.

[froggo-333]

ARCANE SPOILERS

sorry this is about to be longwinded asf but is anyone else kinda disappointed with the last arc. this is mostly gonna be about vi and jinx although i think them teasing sevika stuff but her showing up like twice and not saying shit was also weird. from the start i didn't like caitvi on like a yay shipping level but i didn't mind them that much. the lesbian situationship bit in the first two acts of season 2 were funny, i actually enjoyed it cause hey girl i've def been there before, but the third act is where i really begin having issues. at the start of the season vi becomes a cop. i know she is one in league but with the story in arcane it feels a little bit of an odd choice but i digress, its coming off like she once again is shouldering the blame for jinx. she is vi's problem. she is trying to fix things. obviously this doesn't work, cait starts changing, there is the whole isha protecting jinx moment (isha's character in gen), vi crashes out. the build up so far feels like vi and jinx are going to reconcile at least somewhat to have an understanding of each other, the crashout for vi aiding in this with vi completely changing and then starting to have an understanding of her sister. the vander and isha moment in ep 6 was what i thought to be the climax for this. then act three starts. we're in a different universe where vi is dead but everyone lives in the memory of her. jinx has a huge memorial and pink in her hair, vander has a vi tattoo, ekko paints the mural. we go back to our universe and vi is rightfully yelling at cait not mincing her words at all, sure cait explains herself but never once has she shown any change with her actual actions. Vi learns jinx turned herself in and later when she goes down to find jinx she sees her suicidal and depressed. when jinx tricks her and escapes locking vi in why, after cait gets vi out, does vi not go running after jinx? why does she proceed to have sex with cait randomly in the jail cell her sister was in???? the line of jinx "supporting" caitvi felt like she was bitter and added to her depressed state. remember she became jealous that vi showed up with cait in s1?? that should've been ekko AND vi saving jinx later on. whats the point of jinx coming back with a haircut JUST like vi's and with pink in her hair for barely anything. what was the point of any of this. it does an incredible disservice to vi and jinx as characters and their entire relationship. its weird after all this vi would go back to cait. the final line for them comes off soo unbelievably laughably classist after everything i legit have no words for that shit. "i am the dirt under your nails cupcake nothings gonna clean me out" to the upper class person whose family was gassing zaun and who knows what else historically we as the audience don't know. i simply just do not think a character that is supposed to be embodying the hardships of the zaun would do all that.

[ac-19]

Can I get a Jason Hayes imagine where the reader is short and chubby and doesn’t think she is good enough for him? If not, no worries 🙂

Navy Ball - J. Hayes (Bravo 1)

disclaimer: body imagine, not liking your body, etc.

summary: you don't feel pretty enough for jason, but he proves you otherwise.

"(Y/N) come out here we want to see."

I struggled my whole life with my height and weight and body image and today was no different even if I was the smallest I had ever been. I stared at myself in the mirror as I tried on probably the tenth dress today only to hate it as much as the others.

I sighed as I walked out of the dressing room to show Naima, Stella and Lisa yet another dress I hated on myself. At this rate there was no way I was getting a dress for the Navy ball by Friday.

"Oh my god, you're so pretty."

"That colours suits you so well."

"Jason won't be able to keep his eyes off you no matter which one you pick."

I nodded as I looked at myself in the full length mirror and swallowed the lump in my throat because all I saw was how wide it made my hips look and my stomach bulging out.

"I don't know guys, I think I'm gonna sleep on it."

The girls nodded.

"Don't wait too long the ball's only in a couple of days."

I nodded.

"Yeah I know I just don't want to buy soemthing I'm not hundred percent on you know?"

Naima nodded.

"Of course, but for the record you looked fabulous in all of them."

I nodded and headed back inside the dressing room and swallowed the lump in my throat. I handed the lady the dresses back and headed out with the girls. We stopped at the mall food court for lunch and I ordered myself a salad and pushed it around more than I actually ate it.

After spending the rest of the afternoon at the mall we all headed back home. I smiled as Cerberus greeted me excitedly as I unlocked the front door.

"You missed me didn't ya?"

The dog barked almost in agreement and I smiled as I took a hold of his leach and decided to go on a small walk around the block before I started dinner only for my phone to start ringing. I pulled it out of my purse and smiled as I saw Jason's name starring back at me.

"It's dad Cerby."

I slide the answer button and smiled as Jason's face popped up on the screen and Cerby jumped up un my lap as I sat down on the couch.

"I think Cerby misses you more than me."

Jason chuckled.

"I miss you both, but we're gonna be here for a few more days."

I nodded.

"Well I'm glad I didn't spend any money on a dress for the ball then."

Jason chuckled.

"You would of looked fantastic in whatever you picked."

I nodded.

"I've got to go, sorry for the short call."

I shook my head.

"Of course go save the world."

"I love you."

"Love you more. Be safe."

"I know buddy, I miss him too."

Jason nodded before he ended the call and I sighed as I looked down at Cerberrus who was now laying in my lap. I could always tell that he missed Jason when he was away.

A few days turned into two weeks and the Navy ball had come and gone and I was weirdly relieved that Jason wasn't home and I didn't have to go.

I unlocked the door to Jason and I's place and smiled as Cerby came running up to me.

"Hey Cerby."

I kicked off my heels from work and bent down to pet the dog and that's when I noticed he was wearing a bowtie.

"What the..."

I looked up and saw Jason standing in the bedroom wearing his dress blues and I smiled.

"You aren't supposed to be home for another six hours."

"Is that what I told you? Uh. Blame it on my memory issues."

I nodded.

"What's all this?"

"Since I missed the ball, I thought I'd bring the ball to you."

I shook my head as I pushed myself up as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

I shook my head.

"I was relieved that you weren't home Jase and I didn't have to go to the ball."

Jason nodded. He knew I struggled with my body image and he knew that when it came to stuff like I always had a hard time picking out a dress.

"You would of looked perfect in anything you would have picked."

"That's the thing, I didn't. All the dresses I tried on make me look worse than the one before. My hips looked huge and my stomach bulged out and..."

"And I love everything about you (Y/N). You are the perfect woman for me. You look amazing in everything you wear and I will remind you of that everyday if I have to."

I nodded.

"I might just have something to pull this night together, close your eyes."

Jason nodded and closed his eyes while I hurried to my closet. I dug through the back of my closet and pulled out the bag that sat at the back of my closet and laid it down on the bed.

I didn't have many formal dresses but this was my favourite dress ever and I think was the perfect time to bust it out again. I quickly changed into it, fixed up my makeup and pinned my hair halfway back and smiled at myself in the mirror and slipped my feet into my light pink heels and walked over to the kitchen were Jason was still standing.

"Okay you can open your eyes."

Jason slowly opened his eyes and the smiled that formed on his face made my heart melt just like the day we said our vows.

"You look perfect Mrs. Hayes."

I smiled.

"And so do you Mr. Hayes."

Jason extended his hand out.

"Shall we?"

I grinned as I laid my hand down in Jason's.

"We shall."

Jason pulled out his phone and put on our first dance song and I smiled as he twirled me around before he pulled me to him while I laid my head on his chest as we swayed back and forth.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"And if you ever doubt how perfect you are just give me a call and I'll always remind you."

[calisotaducks]

DCRC Week #01

Hello DCRC! I know everyone is technically on week 14 now, so I hope you don't mind a late entry. I may or may not have gained a new hyperfixation lately.

With that said, let's get into the very first issue!

These guys really love their beak-shaped architecture huh. Do you think they find earthlings slightly more superior to Xerbians because at least some of them have beaks? Imagine if we put human mouths on every vehicle and building we created. Actually, don't imagine that, I just tried it and I hate it. Let's never do that ever.

jhkj he thinks he's so cool. Are you going for brooding and mysterious or are you just cold up there? It looks like he's wearing a blankie.

You know, having read a few issues ahead it actually surprises me how little we see of coolflames in the next issues. Sure, they're brought up but 90% of the time when PK is fighting anyone it's always just Evronian warriors. You'd think they'd throw in at least a couple of coolflames to boost their numbers, if nothing else.

They've got some pretty neat powers too. Or is that just whatever species these guys used to be? Are these guys not originally from earth? I thought they'd started coolflaming some Duckburg residents already, but maybe not?

He really just went home with a "huh. That was weird. Oh well." after all that.

So we're just gonna throw a tarp over those and call it a day then? Extreme nonchalance runs in the family apparently.

Lyla. Honey. Lyla what have they done to you. Why is your face shaped like that. Why are you so square. You look like you've swallowed a boomerang Lyla I am so sorry.

Wow hold on, is Angus actually pulling a big brain move here? Bringing up the Anxieties story and telling Donald about the supposed disappearance so he'll tell PK? His boss can't blame him for investigating PK OR the disappearance if PK shows up at the party and gets involved with both!

Oh never mind. They're just dumb. That's what I get for giving Angus credit. RIP.

THERE HE IS THERE'S MY BOY!!! HI UNO I LOVE YOU WELCOME TO THE PARTY!!

Have you ever considered not giving your creations claws, teeth or angry eyes maybe? I feel like that might help.

I can't decide what's funnier. If Uno's already messing with him or if he really was just going to shoot him on the spot, no questions asked.

He really said "I need to make fun of you in every color of the rainbow at once for this one."

Uh ohh, interrupted the world's worst sleepover

by the way, whats this funky little pose all the coolflames keep doing?? Do the raptorhands come with being coolflamed or are these guys just like that? Good for them.

I love how much they're immediately trusting each other and working together. Uno lets Donald run off with Ducklair's tech even though he's never heard of him until today. He even goes out of his way to make him breakfast! And Donald telling him about his nephews right away. I'm sure Uno could have found out about them on his own if he really wanted to, but the fact that Donald trusts him with his identity right away says a lot.

Also those tiny PK nephews are adorable. Get them their own little outfits STAT. At least for Halloween or something!

Look at him go!! I'm so proud of him, he's doing so well. Plus Uno in the background hitting that guy over the head with his little statue, I see you.

Well. That's embarrassing.

Go give your new boyfriend a smack on his bubble Donald, he worked hard too! He deserves one!

He says, as if he didn't JUST find out about any of this a few hours ago.

SQUARE LYLA JUMPSCARE

He thinks he's so cool. But alright, just this once, he's earned it.

Angus starts his career as professional slanderer. Nobody is happy about this.

And we end with Uno lying to Donald to make sure he gets a good nights sleep and doesn't get abducted by aliens. What a pal.

And that's our first issue! Really fun setup, we got to meet our main cast of characters, and square Lyla will not haunt me again after this issue so all's well that ends well. It's fun looking back and seeing PK still finding his footing with both his new friend, his new gear and his new enemies, especially when compared to later issues when he's gotten much more used to all three.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Skip & Loafer 71: Showtime

It was pretty fun getting to read this in Russian first for a change. Happy to say my basic understanding of the chapter from that was right! We do pick up with Shima and his stepfather, which is an interesting relationship when he has an abusive mother but I love him here. It was a shorter term thing but I remember one of mom's boyfriend's after the divorce who was like this. He respected I was old enough he wasn't gonna be dad but was available to chat about music or teach me a couple of things along the way.

We get this flashback to set up stepdad reminding Shima the deal is still good. He's always there for advice and wants to go to the play tomorrow. Very sweet and we need that because hoo boy do we have to really get into Shima's backstory here. Which means you know...we're going to be talking about (but not seeing) abuse. You've been warned:

God dammit. This has to be a good, nuanced mother wound doesn't it? We kinda could guess this. She never seemed like an out-and-out neglectful parent. The opposite actually. This is very realistic. Shima's mom did not start off with wicked intentions. She wanted to foster her son's talents and support him. But we see a flashback of when his issues came to a head and mom confronts the boy Shima snuck off with. Who...drops the bomb while Shima pre-emptively guards himself from the inevitable meltdown that...never comes.

This is the reaction of Shima's mother when she realizes she's the one with a bad reputation that sank her son's acting career. To her credit she actually has the realitization pretty quick and I can't say the issue is inaccurate when it's a lot like my own rocky relationship with my mother. Somewhere along the way a mother's love became resentment that if she's giving up so much you owe it to her to live for both of you. It's so much sadder that she realizes this quickly, earnestly apologizes to Sousuke, and I'm guessing "going to the hospital" means she's in therapy which is still very stigmatized in Japan.

It's too late. She practically begs Shima for something she can do to mend the wound but he just doesn't care enough to. And it eats her up enough that she even stops herself from wishing Sousuke does his best in the play. This is actually where things broke down with my own mom. She didn't really hate the idea of me being trans in and of itself, I do think she was legitimately more fearful about how it would limit my potential. And by extension her legacy. I think she realized this was unfair. Where the final rift tore open was actually after this point. She couldn't handle me having the same cool, detached attitude towards her.

I get it though. What? Is he going to fake warmth? Why? What is even the point when his mom is legitimately one of the people who know him well enough to know he's acting. Shima has every right to wonder if she only cared about the idea her abuse was so visible it stymied her little child star. Any other relationship would you even care to hear a word from someone who did that to you? Fuck the schmaltzy bullshit about a mother's love, how loving was it to start wailing on Sousuke?

At least Shima's mom accepts it. If you really do love him as much as you think you do you'll try and keep trying and be patient even when there's no guarantee he'll ever be able to fully get over it. You need to accept there's a good chance that's the best you can hope for. It doesn't help us to show abusers as these people who are just inherently evil and did it for the evil. I like this isn't even framed as replicating her own trauma. This isn't Frieren where that kind of black-and-white morality can work just fine. Skip & Loafer is all about being incredibly real beyond the cuddly fluff. Shima's mom fucked him up for life. I can have a little sympathy seeing her so shattered by the realization wishing her son good luck at something is overcomplicated but I'm glad we take this approach that suggests she only has herself to blame.

[noirsfantasy]

On the fifth day of Christmas…

𝔄 𝔓𝔲𝔫𝔨 ℜ𝔬𝔠𝔨 ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔰

𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 ➛ Hobie Brown x Black!Fem Reader

𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔥 ➛ Fluff

𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱 ➛1.5K

𝔰𝔶𝔫𝔬𝔭𝔰𝔦𝔰 ➛ It’s time to decorate the tree, although it’s not going according to plan. You had the perfect idea of how a Christmas tree should look. However, your boyfriend, Hobie, had other ideas. You both begin to argue and it seems to be going no where. Words are said and feelings get hurt. Will you be able to fix this?

𝔞/𝔫 ➛ Guys, I can confirm that Hobie is just a big kid on the inside. But while some might think he’s spewing nonsense, he might actually have a point. I hope you enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas Masterlist

“No, Hobes! It doesn’t go there.” I swat Hobie’s hand away from the tree as he attempts to place one of his Star Wars ornaments in the center. It's Christmas Eve and Hobie and I are facing off in front of a pile of decorations. This familiar argument about how to decorate the tree is playing out for what feels like the millionth time. My preference leans towards a more structured and organized aesthetic, while Hobie leans towards a free and chaotic approach, arguing that an orderly tree is a submission to capitalism.

“Right, how 'bout this, then?” Hobie holds up some blue tinsel, and I immediately push his hands away from the tree once again.

"I'm not putting that on the tree, Hobie. It goes gold and then red! Blue shouldn’t be anywhere near this tree." I explain while wrapping the red tinsel around the tree. Hobie rolls his eyes.

“What’s the issue? Blue’s a good color.” He throws his hands up, looking at me incredulously. Ignoring him, I continue sorting through the decorations for matching ornaments.

“Oh, so you're just gonna let the suits dictate your every move, huh? You gonna let the capitalist drones run your life?" Hobie accuses, snatching the tinsel from my hands and wrapping it the opposite way.

"Oh, don't start that, Hobie. I just want our tree to look nice and neat this year." I argue, reclaiming the tinsel and wrapping it correctly. Hobie persists, emphasizing his disdain for conforming to holiday traditions dictated by corporations.

“Yeah, you're just a conformist sheep, ain't ya? No clue what's really goin' on, just followin' the herd. Wake up, man!” He says angrily, wrapping the tinsel even more so. He looks at me as if I am completely clueless.

"Conformist to what? Santa Claus's evil agenda?" I mock, yanking the tinsel out of his hands. Hobie snickers, but he doesn’t look impressed.

“The corporations are manipulating the spirit of Christmas, so you’ll buy presents! Can’t you see that, you wanker?”

"Who gives a damn? It's Christmas for Christ's sake!" I throw my hands up and it seems our conversation is getting out of hand. Hobie scrunches up his nose as the argument escalates.

“Exactly! It’s Christmas! The day when you’re supposed to be spending time with people you love, not maxing out your credit card on useless junk. Can't blame ya, it's that corporate mind game. Same goes for Valentine's Day—just another cash grab, man!” He starts to enter into his rant about how Valentine’s Day is pointless. Ignoring his conspiracy theories, I redirect our focus.

"Don't even start! Listen, we're not putting your stupid Star Wars ornaments on the tree and that's final. Now stop arguing and hand me those angel ornaments, will you?" I huff as I hold out my hand, determined to maintain order.

“These Star Wars ornaments are rad! Come on, just a little—” Hobie protests, attempting to convince me to allow at least one Star Wars ornament. "How 'bout just the Baby Yoda? Stick it in the back, it'll be lowkey." I sigh, contemplating the idea for a moment.

"Fine, you can put it right there." I relent, pointing to the spot on the tree. Hobie's face immediately lights up when I give in and allow him to put a baby Yoda ornament up, near the back. Despite his punk rock appearance, he actually has a soft side.

"Cheers, luv," Hobie smiles at me. He quickly unwraps the baby Yoda ornament and carefully placed it where I pointed, and then steps back to admire the result. I cringe at the way it clashes with my previous work.

“So what do you think?” He asks, looking over at me. I don’t really respond, instead looking off to the side. Hobie’s smile begins to fade when he realizes that I am unimpressed by the result of his handiwork.

“What’s wrong with it?” His facial expression turns into one of confusion. “I think it turned out pretty nice,” He said, defending his choice of decoration.

"It doesn't match, Hobes. It looks out of place like I knew it would." I grumble, crossing my arms. Hobie looks at me, genuinely hurt, and his expression turns sad.

"Sorry, luv..." He apologizes, his voice soft and sincere. "I just thought it would be cool... But I guess I don't know anything about aesthetics." He puts his hands in his pockets and lowers his head. He seems genuinely upset that I didn't like his contribution. Hobie turns away from me, deflated as he walks out of the room. I feel a twinge of guilt as I turn to look back at the tree.

His shoulders are hunched up and he is obviously disappointed. As he leaves the room, he mutters, "Stupid Christmas tree..." under his breath. I can't help but feel a bit guilty as I continue to look at the tree.

I stare at it, watching the out-of-place ornament, and thinking, 'Is it really worth it?' I just made a whole argument out of something we were meant to be doing together. I'd put my need for perfection over my own boyfriend and now he's upset. And why? Because some baby Yoda ornament didn't match my idea of what a Christmas tree should look like.

It really clicks in my head. Hobie wasn't just being a nonconformist or trying to ruin the tree. He was trying to have fun with his girlfriend and decorate the tree in a way that shows both of our creativity. I sigh as I turn away from the tree and run to the kitchen to where Hobie is.

"Hobie? Babe?" I find him sitting at the kitchen table with his back towards me. He seems to be focused on something, probably sulking. I call his name again and he slowly turns to look at me.

"Yeah, luv?" He asks, trying to sound cool and nonchalant, but his hurt expression betrays him. I sit across from him and look into his eyes. He avoids my gaze. I place my hand gently on his and bite my lip as I try to find words.

"Hobie, I'm sorry." I start. Hobie feels a wave of relief wash over him when I apologize. He looks up at me and his expression softens. He's clearly still hurt, but he seems much more relaxed knowing that I still care about his feelings.

"It's alright, luv," Hobie replies, giving my hand a little squeeze as he looks into my eyes. "I might've gone a bit overboard, I get it. The Christmas vibes hit me hard, you know? Just wanted to make it extra special 'cause I know it's a big deal for you. And-" He pauses as I press my finger to his lips.

"No, Hobie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, or tried to shut down your ideas. This isn't my home and that isn't my tree. It's our home and our tree. And it should reflect both of our creativity, not just what I think it should." Hobie's face brightens as I say that. He is a bit taken aback by my admission, but also really appreciates it. His expression turns into a smile as he stands up, pulling me with him.

"That's... really sweet, luv." He says in a soft voice and pulls me into a warm hug. "And you're right, this is our home, and it should reflect both of our tastes." He pauses and then speaks again in a more playful tone. "Even if you have bad taste."

I push away from the hug, feigning a look of offense as I playfully swat his shoulder. "I do not have bad taste!" Hobie pulls me back in and leans in to kiss my lips.

"Yes, you do. But at least you're pretty to look at." He says in a joking manner, then gives me another kiss. His lips press against mine with a tender and passionate intensity. His tongue brushes along my lips momentarily before he pulls his head back, keeping his lips close to mine.

"So, do you wanna take a break from decorating the tree and, you know...?" He trails off suggestively with a smirk and I laugh, rolling my eyes.

"Babe! We need to finish the tree!" I manage to say between giggles as I try to escape his grip. He doesn't let me pull away, instead he picks me up, wrapping my legs around his waist.

"Tree's not going anywhere, luv. We can decorate it tomorrow." Hobie mumbles against my skin, kissing my neck and starts walking towards our bedroom.

"But tomorrow's Christmas!" I shout before the door slams shut.

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: A New Beginning (X-Men #1-3)

The true beginning of Rogue and Gambit's story really comes with the new and somewhat iconic era of X-Men. X-Men: The Animated Series drew its inspiration from the relaunch designs, and for someone who grew up with this era, it feels nostalgic as well as historic. Rogue looks and sounds like the character I grew up with. Gambit being crucial to the line up and no longer an afterthought feels pivotal. I feel like we've finally arrived.

And while I know this era isn't void of problems -- believe me, I know... I kind of enjoy this early Rogue and Gambit dynamic. It's fun and flirty and has a little bit of an edge to it. And the angst. So. Much. Delicious. Angst.

The funny part is... there really isn't a whole lot of it in these first few issues. Things don't really heat up until issue #4. Not only that, I'm gonna have to bring up Rogneto again... I'm so sorry, guys. Blame Chris Claremont.

Alright, let's dig in...

X-Men #1

Rogue in her now iconic new uniform -- this is going to be a standard for quite awhile. Get ready to see this pose a lot - Jim Lee, and artists after him, really like to do the whole one leg up, one fist out thing. Anyway, despite the fact that I (shockingly) don't like that much yellow on her - she's so pretty. I've always loved this era's hair.

Anyway, you want plot details you say?? This is Chris Claremont's last hurrah on his initial, epic 17 year run with the X-Men. And of course you can expect two things -- space shenanigans and coming full circle with Magneto as the villain. The crux of it is about Magneto possibly being a threat, despite the fact that he wants to be left alone, and of course, the X-Men get sucked into the drama.

X-Men #1

Gambit's redesign - which uses his initial costuming but man does he look so much better. He looks 'cool' in the way that all the X-Men look cool in this era. The dude can pull off the color fuchsia. That isn't easy to do. I do like, however, in color theory that the pinks and purples of Gambit goes well with the greens of Rogue's coloring. But more to the point - Gambit is pretty now, which is what we're all really here for. ;)

Anyway - because this is a relaunch, after our initial Magneto based prologue, we get a (re-)introduction to the entire team in one of my absolute favorite sequences of X-Men comics. The teams will eventually be divided into two groups; the Blue Team -- Cyclops, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Psylocke, and Jubilee and the Gold Team -- Storm, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, Forge, and Colossus, but for now, they're one happy family doing a classic danger room sequence as designed by Charles Xavier.

X-Men #1

The whole sequence is really pretty awesome, but it leads to one of my favorite comic book moments -- where Gambit just goes for it and kisses Jean. It's a fake, robot Jean, but it's a bold move. And leads to Cyclops wanting to drop a truck on him. It's such a classic moment and I love it.

X-Men #1

Our first Rogue and Gambit panel happens right after Wolverine wins the whole training sequence (because of course he does). (Also - Claremont can't quite resist and we get a final 'bang, you dead' moment.) Meanwhile, Rogue and Gambit still haven't spoken to each other - but at least they know the other one exists. Progress, right?

X-Men #1

I really need to take a moment and appreciate the fact that most of the time during this era, when Gambit isn't in his uniform, he's running around half naked.

X-Men #1

Ug, alright, let's talk about Magneto again. This whole arc is about Magneto kind of having an existential crisis (which, you know, happens when they need to reset you to villain again). And, unfortunately, we'll get a few of these moments scattered throughout these issues of Rogue trying to talk sense and reason into him due to their 'spark' in the Savage Land. I get that someone should be a reasonable voice -- especially when the rest of the X-Men are attacking the guy before any kind of provocation. But I'm still rolling my eyes that it's Rogue. Notice he calls her 'child' during this? He'll do that throughout. Eesh.

Magneto claims that he has no beef with them and offers them all safe haven on his floating asteroid base -- Asteroid M. And guess who doesn't join him? That's right - Rogue at least has enough sense to stick with the family she knows and cares about over a possible, not really fling. Btw - I hadn't mentioned it back when I was talking about the Savage Land, but there was nothing to suggest Magneto can actually touch her. (I think that might be an Age of Apocalypse thing?)

Also, in case you think any of this sounds familiar - pretty sure X-Men '97 drew heavily from this arc for their Season 1.

X-Men #1

The first time either of them mentions the other one, and it's Gambit being sassy about whether or not Rogue should be a considered a lady. I kind of love it, actually. And love that Beast is like -- oooh, you're playing with fire on that one.

X-Men #2

They're getting more on panel togetherness! Granted it's group shots and they're taking down Magneto, but I'm taking all the scraps!

X-Men #2

Alright, well as much as I'm not a fan of the Rogue/Magneto dynamic, I'm still going to be fair and talk about it. Because it is part of Rogue's development. The key thing here though is that Rogue isn't going to compromise her values and beliefs because she may feel something for Magneto. And this will continue to ring through always through the comics. Of course, how nice of Magneto to swat her away like an annoying fly. Romance for the ages, guys.

X-Men #2

More on panel time! They're really going for all the group shots these days - probably to milk sales. But I mean, Rogue and Gambit look good just standing next to each other, so who am I to complain?

So, back to the plot... Magneto is getting pissy because the world governments are seeing him as a threat. He kidnaps Moira MacTaggart and berates her and blames her for all of his issues (because, you know, she messed with his genetics after he was de-aged, in an attempt to make him /not/ a villain). It was... a whole thing don't worry about it.

Anyway, he has Moira (somehow) brainwash the Blue Team into joining Magneto's side. Because they can't otherwise be convinced. Which, oh my gosh - what's with all the brainwashing lately?? Of course, this means it's Gold Team to the rescue...

X-Men #3

I'm going to try to document every time they're on the same cover. Also, it isn't X-Men unless there's at least an X vs X brawl every other month.

X-Men #3

Another group shot with Magneto in between them?? What can this mean??? Actually, nothing, I think it's just a coincidence. But - I really like the art here.

But.. you guys! YOU GUYS! We get our first real Romy moment in this issue! Granted - they're still brainwashed! But it's another first! Here we go...

X-Men #3

So, they're all hanging out on Asteroid M, taking it easy because - apparently that's what you do when you're a brainwashed Magneto fan. I love that Cyclops is still in his full uniform while Gambit has managed to strip down to his undies. I'm sure we can all tell who is the real fun one of the group.

You know what I like about this exchange, though? Gambit was casually complementing her diving skills and Rogue is the one who decides to get flirty about it. Of course, Gambit's going to push it further - see how far she wants to really go, and that'll cause her to run -- a dynamic that we're going to see a ton of as we go through all of this early stuff.

But for all that Gambit's going to push - it's not completely unwarranted or completely out of nowhere. Yeah, he gets flirty with the ladies on principal. Yeah, he went for kissing (fake robot) Jean unprompted because he thought he could. I won't defend some of the ickier aspects of these comics.

But... I'm fascinated by the idea of - what if she could touch? Would it still be a game to him? Would she have let it continue? Would they just have had a little fling right off the bat? Are her powers what really pushes them to have a deeper relationship than what they might have had? Just all the thoughts I'm throwing out there.

I also like that, that little moment of humor, where she knocks him into the pool, is so genuine it shakes her out of her mind control.

I also like that Gambit's genuine concern for her stops his playfulness.

It's such a tease of some great stuff coming up, and I am here for it.

X-Men #3

And that's really all we get guys. The Gold Team shows up to save the day but not before some X-Men fighting amongst each other. Magneto monologues for a while. Charles tries to get him to see reason. The people of Earth try to nuke Asteroid M and everyone gets outta there while Magneto decides to go down with the proverbial ship.

X-Men #3

This is in the closing moments of the issue - and I'm putting it here because it is Rogue talking about Magneto again -- but kind of seeing reason and how their ideologies do not work. She's trying to get Xavier to see this, and it's funny that Xavier is having a very hard time trying to let his old 'friend' go. Rogue, however, is fine. Maybe there had been a small, romantic spark of being caught up in close quarters in a shared moment. But that was all it was.

There is more to a longer lasting romance than fleeting moments due to circumstances. ;)

The X-Men take off leaving Magneto and his real followers to their fates. Of course... we know that it's never the real end of Magneto. Asteroid M may blow up, but he'll be fine.

However, I'll take a moment say that it's a poetic ending. Chris Claremont closes it out with a sort of goodbye. His tenure on X-Men is now complete, and we've fully stepped into a bright, new era!

X-Men #4 is gonna bring it. Let's do it! ;)

[agent-barnes40]

Can't Catch Me Now

Part 1 here and Part 2 here

13th Doctor x Reader (Platonic by Reader, Romantic by Doctor)

Dhawan!Master X Reader (romantic)

Kinda jumps around this time but ends up at Timeless Child episodes. It took ten days, but I got this part finished!

2,242 Words

You had been happier the last couple of weeks, running around with the Fam and The Doctor. It was like a switch had been flipped in your brain with that headache you had, you had become who you were during the start of adventuring with her. You still talked about your boyfriend, mentioning that you hadn't heard from him.

Today's adventure was meeting Mary Shelley. You had dressed for the occasion, something Regency era. Of course, you were the one that really dressed for the occasion, the rest were supplied with whatever The TARDIS had given them. You spun in the console room, catching the Doctor rolling her eyes at how over the top your outfit was. "You always say fit in to the time period. Thought I'd actually do it this time."

Yaz rose a brow and looked at you. You were still you but it was different to the rest of the Fam, you went from being like this to hanging off The Master's arm and then being back to that happy, trying to fit in person you are, it was a hard adjustment. The TARDIS landed and Yaz just shook her head, when Graham had sent her a look.

The group of you stepped directly into a downpour, drenching all of you. You groaned and looked over at The Doctor who also was just as drenched as the rest of the Fam. "What's wrong with a little rain?"

"We're humans, we get to cold and then we get sick. I'm gonna end up with an illness from 1816!" You weren't really that angry but you wanted it known that you didn't want to die from an illness that she couldn't treat.

"Can't believe we're fighting in the rain." The Doctor grumbled and you laughed softly, the Time Lord seeming to brighten even more at the sound.

You shook your head and pointed to the Villa in front of you. "I'm going to see if we can get shelter there if anyone wants to join me."

Graham had immediately joined you on your trek up to the villa while Ryan stalled for a moment before rushing to catch up, leaving Yaz and The Doctor to trail behind. You didn't hide your flinch when a lightning strike happened and The Doctor started to speed up, leaving Yaz behind to grab your hand. That instinctual need to protect you still raging in her hearts.

~

Of course you all had to investigate what was wrong with the villa. Of course Byron had to start flirting with The Doctor and each time The Doctor ignored him, he had turned to you and started to try on you. The man had stepped up next to you as you watched The Doctor check the walls.

"You really are beautiful." Byron whispered.

Your head whipped around and you didn't even think and slapped him. "Excuse me! I am happily in a relationship!"

The Doctor whipped around to see what had happened and sighed at the sight of you glaring at Byron while the man held his cheek. "Now Doctor, I think you need to get your companion under control!"

Your mouth dropped open and you glared at him. "No wonder you can't return to London! All you do is flirt with everyone and at the first sight of someone actually disgusted at your actions, you try to blame it on the person!"

~

Byron and you did not get along well after that and of course you got separated from The Doctor and The Fam, instead stuck in a room where the only entertaining thing was to stare at the wall. You tried to ignore the headache that was brewing, one that you thought was caused by the moving villa issue and being constantly annoyed.

You noticed a purple sleeve and a familiar hand waving at the other side of the room. "Hey doc!"

"Yeah? What's wrong?" The Doctor shouted back.

"Have any of you seen a purple sleeve coming out of the wall yet?" You shouted.

"Do not grab it! I mean it!" The Doctor yelled.

You turned to face the wall where her voice was coming from. "The hand looks familiar, Doc. Are ya sure I shouldn't grab it?"

You barely had time to think before that arm and hand turned into a grumpy looking Renegade Time-Lord, his eyebrow raised and staring right at you. "Come on, pet. Its time to go."

You heard thumping on the wall next to you as you stared at The Master, your brain raising alarms as he walked closer. "Come on! It's time to get you home."

"Do not go with him! Just stay there, love!" The Doctor shouted.

Your body made the choice for you and grabbed his hand, and he pulled you tight to his body, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "Sorry, Doctor! Took your favorite pet!"

~

You were curled up under a blanket in The Master's TARDIS, on his couch and you just stared him down. Your body seemed to relax around him and yet your brain was giving you warning signs left, right and center. The Master just ignored your stare as he piloted.

"Why did you take me?"

"Because you are mine, love. I don't know what she did to your head but you have no memories of me." He said, turning to look at you.

"You look like my boyfriend, but he doesn't wear all purple." You had turned your head, you couldn't look into his eyes.

"Yeah, he does. Sure, I didn't wear it undercover because that would be just way to obvious."

“Why me?”

“Because I am dating you, I swore to protect you and she did something to your head to make you forget all about who I actually am.”

It took a minute for your brain to catch up. His face was oddly familiar and suddenly you were surging towards him to pull him into a hug. Your brain was still figuring out pieces but you got the major factor, O and this Master guy was the same. The Master eagerly clutched onto you and pressed multiple kisses to your head. He wasn't about to tell you how long he had been just in your peripherals the last couple of weeks, trying to get your attention. He certainly wasn't going to tell you about how much he had missed you.

The two of you just clutched onto each other for awhile, you finally pulled away from him when you started to think about The Doctor. "What do you mean she did something to my head?"

The Master grabbed your hands, rubbing them with his thumbs. "I think she removed every bit of me using my name and who I am from your brain while keeping my alias there, and of course, my real name. Probably a big shock for her to realize you knew the name I used all those lifetimes ago."

You just listened to him, you hadn't heard from him in so long, at least in your brain it felt like it had been forever. You barely noticed how tired you had started to get. The Master kept his eyes on yours, gently, very gently pushing on the block he had assumed The Doctor had made.

"It's okay if you fall asleep, I still have your room ready." He quietly said, his eyes catching how yours had started to go distant.

You could feel that headache starting to build again and you absentmindedly started to fight against him. His grip tightened on your hands. "I know, I know. Its probably going to hurt with how much you were in pain last time."

"W-we thought you caused that one, Master." Your voice breaking as you tried to focus on him and not on the pain in your head.

"Wasn't me, sweetheart. I wouldn't knowingly cause you that much pain unless I absolutely have to, like right now." The Master mumbled, closing his eyes to focus fully on breaking apart the block.

~

You waited for The Doctor to show up, you were sat next to Feekar, a soft smile on your face. "The Doctor will come. She always will. She likes saving humanity even if it's at the last second."

You could hear her from a mile away, she was never able to keep her voice quiet, even in battle fields. You slowly stood up and looked for her, catching her jacket in the distance. "Doctor!"

You watched as she stopped, head twisting in your direction, and you waved your arms. The Doctor stilled and it was like she physically relaxed when you jumped so she could see your face.

The Doctor practically ordered the Fam to follow behind her while she hurried to get to you. You were running to her and you smiled at the sight of her. "How long has it been for you guys?"

"We've been hunting down Ashad, from the villa!" Yaz snapped and your brows furrowed.

"Who?" You asked, looking over at her.

"There was a Cyberman inside the villa, it was crazy!" Ryan chimed in and you smiled.

"Okay, makes sense why you guys are here in the future then, during a Cyberman invasion." You looked over at The Doctor, whose brows furrowed.

"How long have you been here?"

You shrugged and then pulled a little writing pad from your pocket, looking at the marks on it. "Like a month or two. Days get blurry when the attacks happen."

The Doctor's face fell and she reached out to grab your hand and you pulled your hand away, shoving the pad back into your pocket. "No time for sentiments, Doc. I have people I'm trying to protect. These people are the last of humanity here. I'm not having my people die and be upgraded because we're here chatting."

"How did you even get here?" Yaz and Graham asked at the same time.

"I'm guessing The Master. I mean, the last thing I remember is him grabbing my hand at the Villa." You replied, turning to head back to Feekar.

The Doctor hurried to reach your side, pressing next to you, her hand grabbing yours. "Did he hurt you?"

You shrugged. "Probably, he's the Master. He doesn't like humans."

"But he likes you." The Doctor pointed out and you scoffed.

"Oh yeah, enough to dump me in the middle of humanity's last stand against the Cybermen with no protective gear, no way to get in contact and I'm the only one in this group who knows how to contact you. It's by sheer luck I've lived this long, and kept my race alive. So if you are truly here to help, then ask me questions later, save my people now." You ordered, pulling away from her and looking up at the sound of the whirring.

"Whatever you guys have in your hands, I hope its enough to keep them safe." You snapped.

You turned to Feekar and nodded. "Lets get people into buildings!"

~

You all were separated. You stuck with The Doctor, Ryan and Ethan, as you all headed to Ko Sharmus, to the boundary. The Doctor kept looking over at you, it was like you had vastly changed from back at the Villa. You had held yourself more confidently, and more secure in who you were. Something had changed, and it probably had to do with The Master.

You were wearing 21st century clothing that had been patched up with other fabric, which led her to assume you had gotten hurt during the attacks. You looked like you had aged a lot during the month or two you had been fighting the Cyberman, but it was probably just stress.

The shuttle landed and you all got out, she watched as you took a moment to straighten your clothes.

You watched as the sky started to shift to purple as the Boundary started to open up again, you took a deep breath. You were going to get at least Ethan to safety, that's what matters.

"Yaz looking for The Doctor on all frequencies!"

The Doctor rushed over to the radio. "Yaz! We can hear you! Can you hear me?"

"Doctor!"

"Where are you?"

"We're on a cyberbattle cruiser, with that cyber guy, with a lot of cyber troops that are waking up."

"Yaz, get off that ship now."

"We can't! We're trapped and they're about to break in."

The sky started turning a deeper purple and you took another deep breath. Everything was just about to start. You could see the capital city of Gallifrey.

"What is that?"

You turned to look at Ethan, shrugging. "Looks like home."

The Doctor turned to look at you, her eyes widening. "That's not possible."

"That's my home planet." The Doctor mumbled, turning back to look at the burning city through the portal.

You turned to look at Ko Sharmus. "That's Gallifrey."

"Well I've never seen it look like that!"

"How is Gallifrey here?"

The Master suddenly appeared, stumbling forward and groaning a small bit. "Wow!"

"Great entrance, Master! Right on time!" You called, starting to step forward towards him while The Doctor stared in shock.

The Master held his hand out and you grabbed it, smiling. He turned to face you while keeping an eye on The Doctor, subtly checking you for injuries while you turned to face back toward The Doctor.

"You should be afraid, Doctor, 'cause everything you thought you knew, is going to change. Forever."

[pillarsalt]

Anon who said we should admit there are extremist wackos in radfem communities here, I'm sorry it wasn't targeted at you specifically!! You're one of the few who keep the focus on women's rights, safety, and freedoms, which is why I sent the ask to you.

You finding the "vaginas don't have nerve endings" lady is what spurred my ask. Because she's a perfect example of nearly everything wrong with some people in radfem spaces:

- Taking correct observations other women have made about sexism and using them to say controversial, incorrect, often-sexist things for attention because they don't know how to get attention for *insightful and good* observations because they don't know how to make their own. "Women's biology is sidelined and causes a ton of medical issues and misinformation" becomes "Because of the above, I can take any random fact we *do* know about female biology and claim it's a lie made up in ignorance."

- Taking the fact that, because misogyny is so normalized, a lot of feminist messaging comes off as radical (in the other sense of the word) even if it's not, and turning it into "Every belief I have that causes a huge uproar... that uproar is proof that I'm right."

- Taking the above and combining with the stubborn, "I won't let you get away with your misogynistic arguments" radfem activist mentality and turning it against other feminist-minded women. "If you disagree with me, a feminist, on how to handle this topic, you must be anti-feminist, hate women, and want us to suffer misogyny forever."

And now the comments section!

- Taking the fact that there are a lot of mansplainer asshole men who don't argue in good faith and turning it into "Everyone who disagrees with me, a feminist, is a male MRA troll."

- Taking the fact that so many TRAs lie about what radfems believe and are willing to create fake proof of us being alt-right and/or wanting to genocide trans people, and turning it into "Whenever someone who posts in radfem circles says crazy shit, it's a TRA impersonator."

Just the way women on here reacted to this poster alone is evidence to me something's rotten. You've got different women saying she's a troll, she's a man, or both... and no one is willing to believe that maybe she's genuine? No one sees how there are factors in the community, especially when a lot of the popular posters exhibit a lot of these negative things and outright state "Yeah my feminism isn't for all women fuck you lol", that might lead to women like this poster genuinely thinking this way? No one in a feminist community is willing to believe the misogyny we constantly talk about being so pervasive and insidious might not just affect "normie" women and conservatives, maybe well-meaning women trying to be feminist, too?

Thanks for your input, anon. It's a weird complicated situation. I think really the reason people are wary of this account being bait or a troll is because, well, we're on the internet and feminists are a big target for men who want to fuck with us. There have always been (and will probably always be) bad actors trying to sow discordance between women in these spaces, so understandably many of us are wary. It happens very often. And a pretty featureless (as in generic looking and unpersonalized) account aggressively defending inflammatory views that are just unreasonably removed from reality, despite being shown evidence to the contrary, and supposedly in the name of feminism, I think that pings a lot of people's "shit disturber" radars.

But yes, the benefit of the doubt is usually best... I tried to explain why I disagreed and why her line of thinking is harmful, but when it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere, I decided to let it go. I didn't mean for it to get so much traction, and I don't think arguing incessantly with someone who has a foundational difference in beliefs and who is not willing to consider other viewpoints is gonna go anywhere. But I also really can't blame the women who are offended by the "dick worshippers" thing, and that she's now insisting any lesbian who likes sex toy penetration (with no male involvement whatsoever) is actually not homosexual but in fact secretly bisexual, and that lesbians who use toys to pleasure their partner are mimicking men instead of just... having sex in a way that feels good. It's genuinely hurtful rhetoric. Calling it when you see it is part of holding each other accountable, no matter where the vitriol stems from in the first place. Now, just saying "you're not a radfem if you do/think _____" is not the way to go about it, I agree. That's really just identity politics again. But yeah, insulting a bunch of women on an aspect as personal as sexuality, that's going to create a lot of backlash in any circumstance. I understand the reactions, but I also think it's better for everyone to realize that a stranger's opinion of you is not actually important, and can be easily ignored and moved on from.

I also have to disagree that no one has considered she genuinely holds these beliefs, you can find women in the post's notes talking about their own experiences with OCD and other dark mental places that previously led them to similar patterns of illogical thinking. I've had a couple asks and replies to asks with the same thing. I think we shouldn't be antagonistic, but I also don't think anyone's required to be friendly with someone who's lashing out at them with misogyny and lesbophobia. I really hope that she can heal and find solidarity with other women and other lesbians, the women who talked about their own blackpill experiences in their younger days give me hope that she will find her way out.

But hostility towards others with similar longterm goals WILL isolate you, and I'm not sure what the solution is for someone who functions like that. The only thing I can think of is that hopefully she will continue reading and learning from other women and open her mind to the full spectrum of women's views and experiences, and maybe finally understand exactly WHY what she said has had such a negative response.

You sound like a compassionate person and I appreciate your dedication to nuance.

[violetganache42]

Be sure to watch the season 2 premiere of Moon girl and Devil Dinosaur because the show is in danger of being cancelled

Yeah, everyone at the Disney Beat server and I saw a couple of nights ago, and we've all been so fucking ANGRY at Disney. 14 episodes getting dropped all at once on Disney+?! What the fuck were they thinking?!

(Rant under the cut.)

It's bad enough they release batches of episodes at once like what Netflix did with Sonic Prime, but they plan to drop around half a season there to where they're making the main channel do two episodes per week?! You seriously couldn't do weekly premieres on TV and have the new episodes get released the next day on streaming, like what HBO Max did with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman?! The fact they reveal this on the MGDD Crew TikTok and paint it as a good thing does not help either. "How could you not celebrate" HOW COULD YOU NOT REALIZE YOU'RE BEING SO FUCKING DENSE RIGHT NOW?! LOOK AT THIS SHIT!

You cannot make this up! Streaming as a whole has seriously fucked over entertainment. Netflix made the binge format the new norm, and it's not working anymore. If you thought shows getting shorter-lived hype through binging compared to a weekly release was an issue, the quantity is a-whole-nother problem. If it was 5 or 6 episodes getting added at a time, that would be less infuriating, but this is 14 half-hour episodes we're talking about! That's 308 minutes of straight-up binging Disney expects us to do! No one is gonna binge this many episodes in a timeframe like that! And keep in mind, this isn't an earlier season from a finished or ongoing show; this is a whole new season we're talking about. People who haven't watched MGADD yet or don't have Disney+ and/or cable are gonna get exposed to a fuck ton of spoilers. Not to mention Disney Channel is gonna have to spend 7 weeks catching up to Disney+ with the episodes they air on TV. That will do a serious number on the TV views! And don't get me started on the international releases because I was told MGADD has been delayed so much to where S2 of dubbing is done (hence the promos in Japan), but considering the company's crapass handling of international releases, people won't be able to watch it until a much later date. Oh, and there are also countries that don't have the show despite it being dubbed in their language. Right off the bat, that's international views down the drain and the strong possibility of people in the other countries being exposed to spoilers depending on what they come across and who they're following.

You know what the absolute kicker is? They had the fucking audacity to reveal this shortly after they treated The Ghost and Molly McGee like garbage. No joke! The very minimal reruns they gave it throughout its run, its cancellation as season 3 was being drafted, the shitty promotions, them releasing "Jinx vs. the Human World" on iTunes and "The End" on YouTube ahead of their TV and Disney+ releases. I am not kidding about the last part; because Disney didn't temporarily remove them, SpoilerTV reported both episodes received only 63K and 56K TV views! Now compare that to the 375K views "Watching and Dreaming" got; all three TOH specials weren't released on YouTube or Disney+ until after the DC/XD simulcast premiere! And this is the same show that got shortened by the now retired Gary Marsh! The upsetting part is Bill Motz is blaming himself for putting too much pressure on the fans for watching TGAMM and appointing ambassadors to help promote it. No, it's not your fault, Bill. It's the Disney executives and their shitty marketing strategy's fault your show got cancelled. You care about the show you and Bob Roth created, and you wanted it to do well. The higher ups didn't bother to continue promoting the show after it premiered, and that alone just forced you, the ambassadors, and the audience to do their job for them. They're the reason why it underperformed on D+ and DC. Now, it may potentially happen again with MGADD thanks to them!

Why did they pulling any of this shit was a good idea?! The show got ample marketing, from an advertisement outside the Days of Christmas store in Disney Springs and Moon Girl herself appearing in Disney California Adventure to merchandise such as a Moon Girl Funko, a couple of books, and even a graphic novel! It has received nominations and won awards, and the current lead executive Ayo Davis said season 1 performed well in ratings! Yet they turn around and pull all of this bullshit as season 2 approaches! Seriously, what is preventing you from doing next-day weekly releases and continuing your marketing, Disney?! All your other Marvel shows have gotten weekly releases and so much promoting, and regardless of the reception of each show, they all get high ratings! That even includes What If…?, the MCU's first animated show! Just because MGADD is adjacent/not entirely connected to the MCU and is a Disney TVA show doesn't give you the excuse to treat it like crap post-season 1!

I'm sorry for the ranting, but this multi-whammy has been so fucking frustrating. I have been a big fan of MGADD since the beginning, and like I previously said, it helped fill the DuckTales-shaped hole in my heart. I'm glad that it has such a strong start, and I want it to continue doing well, but the upcoming 14-episode release was such a fucking gut punch. The more the active Disney Beat server memebrs and I ranted and vented about it, the more furious we grew to where a few of us—myself included—were in tears; it is such a horrendous decision the Disney executives made! I'm at least glad the past week has gotten people to talk about how shows are getting treated nowadays thanks to streaming, and Disney Beat tweeting about the 14-episode bomb release announcement got deleted. Unfortunately, the higher ups most likely deleted it just to save face and won't reverse the decision in the end. Regardless, more people are catching onto the pitfalls with streaming and are noticing how shows no longer have the opportunities to build audiences over time. They are treated as nothing more as a means of gaining views and instant gratification rather than a medium made for one's enjoyment. With the Animation Guild's contract having been expired for around a few months, I hope one of their demands is to stop the shows' mistreatments and lack of sufficient marketing because streaming left a devastating and worsening impact on the entertainment and animation industries.

[golbrocklovely]

If Sam and Sofie are really together or plan to be (idk), i just hope Sam won’t make the same mistake as with Katelyn. If he’s not ready to make everything public, he might need to rethink what he wants. I don’t mean that he NEEDS to make his whole relationship public, what i mean is that he is a public figure and if he won’t be clear this time as well, things might escalate again as last time - starting with fans who once again will start assuming things, without proper confirmation of the situation. I just wish for Sofie to not face the same situation as the previous “alleged gf of Sam” - i hope you understand what i mean. I’m not trying to force Sam into anything

i get him not wanting to share everything with the fandom anymore. the man is almost 30. i know sure as shit this fandom has gotten on his nerves over the years and he himself has regretted oversharing as much as he has. so it makes sense to take things slow. i don't think there's anything wrong with that.

i will say, is it a bit weird to see both him and her crop each other out of things so no one knows they're together even tho they clearly are? yeah. we're not dumb. we know you guys are together in paris. you don't gotta tell us anything. but like… don't try to play games either sksks

he doesn't have to tell this fandom anything he doesn't want to. but i also think continuously hiding any gf is never gonna play out well in the end. either the girl is eventually gonna be upset that fans don't know about her or think he's single, and resentment can and will grow. or fans are gonna bother her and him constantly bc they NEED to know what's going on. now, if they're on the same page and are okay with not sharing one another, that's cool. bc that was kinda the main issue, i think with his previous relationship ie katelyn.

i think she was an outlier when it comes to any of snc's significant others. even kat, at the very beginning, didn't get that much hate. there will always be someone that doesn't like who snc date, that's a given. but the level at which certain fans take it is completely insane.

sidenote, i'm gonna go on a rant about katelyn for a minute so ignore me if you don't care lol

i think the reason why the fandom turned on katelyn so quickly was bc of rumors and drama that was happening in her own life that caused everyone to hate her instantly. not only that, but sam had only just gotten out of an almost decade long relationship with kat, someone almost everyone in the fandom loved and figured he would be with forever. also, reality is a lot of ppl (whether they could admit it or not) hated katelyn bc she introduced malia to colby, thus taking him off the market possibly forever.

i also think that katelyn was a bit of a try hard. i don't mean that disrespectfully, but it was obvious from the jump that she wanted this fandom to like her. and you can't do that. especially being the new gf of the guy that was supposed to be with and marry someone else before you. i think if she would have kept her head down, i think the fandom would have eventually been okay with her.

but there was a certain subsection of fans that honest to god believed that she shaded kat, when she wholeheartedly from what i've seen never did, and that immediately made any kat fans still hanging around hate her forever. and it just soured everything real fast.

no matter what she did, it was seen as clout chasing and weird. like "omg she's wearing xplr merch. clearly she wants attention" babe… i don't know how to tell you this, but her wearing merch sam gave her is not attention seeking. that is literally her bf lol

where she did fuck up was getting in a gc with fans when her and sam had broken up and trying to fix what was already too far gone. and then the stuff she did during "idk why she posted this" gate really didn't help. but i can't blame her for acting that way. i too would be a bit crazy if (allegedly) my ex kept going on trips, not inviting me but letting my bestie come along since she's dating his bestie, only to come home for a week at most, break up with me, leave again for another trip, and then not even a month after we broke up be seen with a new girl. i can't imagine how petty i would be in that moment. and to top it off, this fandom hated her since day one and sam never stood up for her. so again… i kinda get why she snapped.

controversial yet brave opinion of mine: i truly think a lot of the anger and hate she got was more supposed to be directed at sam, but bc that man could almost get away with murder, it was easier to push it onto her than to him. that's not to say he didn't get hate. bc he did. but this was also the first time ever that ppl truly seemed to dislike him. and the moment he broke up with her, he was back in good standing with the fandom. now it's like he can't do any wrong once again (for some fans, not all).