#or maybe we would've also made each other worse just like how her and her current gf are.

[cryolyst]

~

[sethsclearwater]

Okay possible imagine/blurb idea: Paul gets into a fight and gets arrested (by chief swan maybe??) and calls reader to pick him up and she’s pissed that he got in the fight in the first place so she takes her sweet time going to get him, she gets her nails done with Emily, she does some shopping, she gets a coffee. She finally picks him up and he’s about to be pissed off about her taking so long but she’s like ‘do it again and I’ll leave you there’ and he’s like 😔sorry ma’am😔

i'm obsessed with this lol

...

"you what?" you repeated back into the phone despite the fact that you'd heard your imprinter loud and clear the first time he said it.

"princess," paul sighed through the line and you almost lost your composure but quickly pulled it back together.

"don't call me that. what the hell were you thinking getting in a fight?" you asked, already knowing it was going to be something dumb. although paul had definitely learned to manage his temper once you came into his life, he still had his moments - especially when someone as annoying as your ex was involved.

"30 seconds remaining," an automated voice cut both of you off before either of you could continue.

paul let out another heavy sigh before continuing, "can you just come pick me up? i don't think incriminating myself over the phone is the best idea," he grumbled and you rolled your eyes, also letting out a loud sigh.

"i'll be there in a little bit. don't do anything stupid," you spoke into the phone before you hung up and emily, who had just picked you up from your apartment, burst into laughter.

"he got arrested? at 9 in the morning?" she laughed and you rolled your eyes, also cracking a smile when you realized just how stupid it was that he managed to get arrested by none other than chief swan (who had taken a bit of a liking to him recently too which made it all the worse that paul was currently sitting in some cell with chief swan monitoring him).

"apparently," you sighed, letting out a breathy laugh, "we can still go to port angeles though, i have until 5 to come get him." you added and emily's smile somehow got even wider.

"let's do it," she laughed before putting the car into drive so the two of you could continue on your shopping day.

--

by the time you had gotten back to la push, grabbed your car, and gotten over to the forks police station, it was 4:45 and paul had been stuck in there for almost an entire work day.

you did feel a tad bit bad that you'd left him in there for so long but you also knew he'd most definitely learned his lesson and wouldn't be doing this again anytime soon.

so, when you walked inside and filled out all the paperwork, chief swan brought your imprinter out who looked quite bothered to say the least.

"is that all you needed me to fill out?" you asked charlie as he uncuffed paul.

chief swan nodded, "you're all good to take him home," he reassured, "i just got off the phone with the other party and it doesn't sound like they're going to be pressing charges so you two should be all good. i'll come by if there's anything that changes," he added and you let out a sigh of relief, happy to know paul wouldn't be stuck doing court ordered community service or anger management classes thanks to a dumb one-off event.

"thank you," you flashed charlie a smile before you were grabbing your purse and heading outside, already knowing paul would be following shortly behind you.

as soon as you got in the car and paul got in the passenger side, you both finally turned your attention to each other, "8 hours? you know if it was you i would've-" he started but you quickly cut him off as you turned the car on.

"i wouldn't have been dumb enough to get myself into that situation in the first place. you're lucky i even came and got you - next time you're staying there," you threatened, suddenly much more annoyed with the fact that he was annoyed with you.

paul seemed a bit caught off guard by your sudden burst of confidence, staying quiet for a moment while he considered the pros and cons of getting into a fight with you about this.

after a few moments, he let out a sigh, nodding, "yes ma'am," he mumbled, dramatically leaning away from you so he could rest his head against the window while you drove the two of you back to your apartment.

you cracked a smile at his choice of words, reaching your free hand over to give his hand a gentle squeeze which he seemed to appreciate, quickly interlacing your fingers together so he could hold your hand for the ride home.

[hairmetal666]

It's a fluke that Eddie ends up a gymnast. Wayne only signs him up for summer classes at Hawkins's tumbling gym to burn off his excess six-year-old energy. Nobody, lest of all Eddie or Wayne, expects him to be talented at it.

And now, somehow, he's at his first ever elite gymnastics competition. His coaches all said he was good, but he hadn't really had a frame of reference for what that meant. Not until now. Not until he's in 3rd place after high bar, right behind Steve Harrington.

They tumbled together, as little kids. Steve a tiny boy with an absurd pompadour, monopolizing the mats for insane tumbling passes and lording his high-end competition shirts over the other kids (none of the rest even wore actual gymnastics gear; they were six and it was Hawkins).

Now, he's a swaggering fifteen year old with the same pompadour and bad attitude. They're not on the same rotation, but as Eddie moves on from his floor exercise, Steve makes a point to ram into him.

Eddie doesn't react and maybe that would've been the end of it, but he ends up placing, and Steve corners him in the locker room.

"Come to congratulate me?" Eddie smirks.

"You better watch your back, Munson." Steve shoves him into the lockers.

"I knew you were an asshole, Harrington, but I didn't realize you were a sore loser."

Steve leans close, heat melting into Eddie. "You better count yourself lucky you've gotten this far. Not really a sport for poor kids."

Eddie bristles at this. Yeah, sure, his gear is secondhand, and he and Wayne learned how to sew to mend his competition shirts, gymnastics pants, and warmups, but they work hard, together, for Eddie to do this. "Don't worry about how I afford to be here." Eddie checks him as he brushes past. "Just fix those wobbly flairs on pommel."

The rivalry is hot and fierce and mean, made even worse by the fact that Eddie has an enormous hate-boner for Harrington. It's not, Eddie reasons, his fault. He's gay and surrounded by guys whose bodies are honed for a sport based on strength, endurance, and agility, Steve the most beautiful of all. So he looks, and he longs, and he hates Harrington with every fiber of his being.

Eddie's sure this would continue for their competitive lives, but everything changes the summer before their junior years of high school. They're at a training camp, the kind for world champion, Olympic hopeful types. Steve is practicing ring dismounts when he loses himself in the air, lands hard off the mat, destroys something in his knee. He needs surgery, the recovery time 6-8 months, if he's lucky to be able to compete again.

Maybe a year ago, Eddie would be excited by this development, but now it's kind of devastating. He doesn't bother examining why.

--

Steve comes back and he's--different. His first competition, he comes up, asks, "Eddie, hey, can we talk?" And, well, they've never been on a first name basis before and Steve is so so pretty, so he agrees.

"I just want to say, I'm sorry how I treated you back before. I was a real piece of shit and you never deserved it."

Eddie truly doesn't know how to respond, never foresaw this day coming. "Thanks. Uh--yeah. Thanks."

They stare at each other for a few seconds longer before Steve taps him on the shoulder and walks away.

It's not the only thing that's changed about Steve. There's this big group of feral children that follow him around everywhere now. Apparently, Harrington told them Eddie plays dnd and now they follow him around too.

He also. Has a girlfriend now. She's pretty; delicate looking. Her name is Nancy. And she's nice, or whatever. Eddie definitely isn't jealous. It's just. He's been with Steve in locker rooms for years, and he thought--well, he'd seen the way Harrington's eyes sometimes lingered on a bicep, a well-cut thigh, the intrigue of a pelvic v, and he thought--not that it matters, but he thought--

Anyway, Steve has a girlfriend.

---

They're at the winter classic, when it happens.

Eddie is doing good. Like. Really good. Like his routines, they're not flawless, but he's hitting the big skills and sticking landings, and stays in 2nd throughout the majority of the rotations.

It's not a huge shock when he finishes his final rotation, vault, and winds up finishing in 2nd. What is a shock, though, is that, when the scores go up, Steve is wrapping his arms around Eddie's waist, hoisting him into the sky. And, even after he's back on solid ground, Harrington doesn't loosen his hold.

And it's, like. Nothing, right? It's nothing because he has a girlfriend and, sure, maybe he's bi, but that doesn't stop Nancy from existing.

He's not going to think about it, is the thing. He knows it doesn't mean anything, so he isn't going to dwell. It's definitely not all he thinks about during the podium ceremony, or after when he talks to media, or even later walking into the empty locker room.

Or. He thought it was empty. But Steve is there, smiling, saying "you were amazing out there."

They hug again, and Eddie tries not to enjoy the warmth of Harrington's body, the comforting strength of his toned biceps. Eddie pulls back and Steve is--he's so close, gazing at Eddie's lips and--

Steve's mouth is hot and sweet, like he's wearing cherry chapstick, and Eddie can't--he thinks of Nancy; she's nice, doesn't deserve this, they should stop--

But he's sucking on Steve's tongue and Steve is making the sweetest sounds, hard against Eddie's thigh, and nothing else matters.

---

It goes on for months.

Eddie knows he needs to end it, vows to as soon as they're apart.

It all goes out the window as soon as they're together again. He can't get enough. It's Steve. How is he supposed to resist?

(He needs to. It's horrifying, what they're doing to Nancy)

---

The children who follow Steve around invite him to dinner after the first day of the USA gymnastics championships.

Nancy is there.

It's the worst three hours of his life. He can't look at Steve, can barely speak to him.

Nancy is beautiful and smart and kind and strong. She doesn't deserve any of this.

And when Steve drops by his hotel room hours later, Eddie greets him by saying, "I can't do this anymore."

Steve's shoulders drop, eyes squeezing shut. "Right. Yeah, I--Yeah."

"I like you, Steve. A lot. But I can't--you have a girlfriend. And I can't keep being whatever this is for you."

Steve nods, won't meet his eyes. "You're right. It's not fair to either of you. I--My parents expect--And I--I'm sorry," he whispers the last part.

Eddie smiles, heart aching. "Sweetheart. I get it. But. Figure out your shit, yeah? Maybe then we can talk?"

The smile Steve flashes him is a broken thing. "Maybe. Sure."

And that's it.

Eddie cries himself to sleep that night.

The next day, he wins first in the all-around.

---

He and Steve stop speaking.

Somewhere around, ohh, the very first time they hooked up, he caught feelings. So sue him if it kills him, seeing Steve at every competition.

They don't speak again until the Olympic trials. And isn't that ridiculous? Eddie at the Olympic trials. It's such an insane pipe dream, being an Olympian, that he doesn't actually have any expectations whatsoever.

So knock him over with a feather when he fucking makes it on the team.

And so does Steve.

The announcement rings out, and Steve is there, out of nowhere, pulling Eddie into his arms. And Eddie's so hyped, so excited, that he just shouts and hugs Steve right back.

He pretends the proximity, the musk of Steve's cologne, the tangy saltiness of his sweat, doesn't bother him, doesn't transport him immediately back to Steve's bed.

They're teammates now; he can keep it casual.

Right before they leave for the games, news breaks that Steve and Nancy have broken up.

---

The Team competition at the fucking Olympics is going well. They've had good routines, with no huge errors, stay consistently within the top 5 scores. But then they're on the last rotation, parallel bars, and he's the very last competitor to go. They'll win bronze if he can score above 14.933.

But

He's inconsistent on parallel bars, always has been, something deep and psychological he can't quite let go of, and now their medal chances are all on him.

He salutes the judges, jumps into his starting position--and his mind goes quiet. Muscle memory, skill, years of training take over--he's flawless.

Eddie sticks his dismount, and the place erupts. He doesn't have a score yet, doesn't know if he's done it, but the rest of the team screams like he has.

They pull him into their arms, but Steve is closest, his grip the tightest. Their eyes keep catching, holding, and Eddie can't really breathe but he doesn't think it's the anxiety or the excitement.

The score goes up.

Not only is it high enough for bronze, it puts them in silver.

Eddie has barely a second to process before he's being hoisted into the air, Steve's arms bracing him up. The crowd's going crazy, his teammates screaming and hugging him, each other, but all he sees is Steve beaming up at him.

He's slowly lowered to the ground, Steve's arms still around him. "You were perfect, baby," Steve whispers. "Never seen anyone like you."

He wishes he could stay right there, Steve beaming at him, but they won the silver--they won the silver at the goddamn Olympics--and they have to get medals, do interviews.

They don't have a chance to be alone together until they're back at the Village, where Steve is just waiting in Eddie's room when he gets back.

"Is this okay?" Steve asks. "I wanted to talk to you and Jason let me in, but I can--I'll leave."

"Please don't." Eddie swallows. "Stay."

Steve smiles, a little. "I needed to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did to you and Nancy. It was unfair to both of you. I love her, you know? But she's not who--I'm not in love with her."

"No?"

"No. I thought it would make my parents happy, settling down with a nice girl. But it turned out it didn't actually make a difference to them, who I dated. And she isn't who I wanted to be with."

"I'm proud of you for figuring out what you really wanted. It's brave."

"I wish I could've been brave earlier." He gives a little laugh. "Before I hurt you."

Eddie doesn't know what to say to that. He wishes the same thing.

"Um, which is also why I'm here." Steve plucks at the waistband of his Team USA Nike joggers. "I wanted to see if maybe we could try again? Officially this time?"

Eddie can't keep his smile from taking over his entire face. "Sweetheart, I would love to."

"Yeah?"

And Eddie just--after all this time, he just--pulls Steve into his arms and kisses him. The silver medals, still around both of their necks, clink together with the force, but neither of them really care.

Steve sighs, nuzzles his nose to Eddie's. "Missed you so bad," he whispers. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," Eddie smiles. "But kiss me a while."

Eventually, they fall back onto Eddie's bed, which makes a horrible noise as their combined weight topples onto it, and they break apart to laugh. Steve smooths back his hair, wrapping a few fingers through his curls to keep Eddie close, even though he's not about to go anywhere.

"Can't believe we made it all the way here." Steve's looking at him like he hung the moon

"Cause we're taking medals home?"

"Honey," he laughs. "Because I'm taking you home."

[willbyersabyss]

What's your level of confidence in a Byler endgame and what evidence can you use to lead towards it?

I have 100% confidence in byler endgame.

Sorry this is longer than I expected, so evidence under here:

Like I said in this other post, the storytelling simply wouldn't make sense if byler was unreciprocated. There would be no reason to give Will feelings for Mike in the first place. If this were an unrequited love story, it would've concluded at the end of s3... maybe s4. They would've given Will a different love interest in California, which they alluded to at the beginning of s4 before settling for Mike again. They know how easy it would be to give him someone new. But they didn't. And they won't.

What's the point of giving Will an unrequited love arc? There is none. It gives Will something for Vecna to chew on? He already has plenty of trauma for that. They didn't know what to do with Will in s4? Sure, but why not explore how everyone is distancing themselves from Will? We could've had him feeling like an outsider because of his queerness and trauma once more, but the distance from Joyce, Jonathan, and Mike exacerbates it. He could just be afraid of losing his best friend because he's gay, not because of his feelings. The rain fight would factor into that. But no. That's not how it's written. He's in love with Mike.

"I'm not going to fall in love." And he did. It's not a crush, it's love. Will said himself that he'll always need Mike. That's not something he's going to get over on a random Tuesday. If this were unrequited, Will would have to move on. But he already admitted he can't. There is no satisfaction in rejection for his arc. It would do nothing but make him feel more ostracized and unaccepted. There's no lesson. It just confirms what he already believes: he won't find love because he's gay. He needs to be proven wrong.

There would be no reason for Mike to struggle with his relationship with El for two whole seasons, with Will being the only one he opens up to about it. Why can't they fix it on their own? Why does he need constant outside reassurance to understand his feelings for her?

Mike has a lot of insecurities and Will is the only one who helps him feel better about it. El makes it worse. El's struggles are also made worse because of Mike. They don't understand each other enough to help because they never try to understand. The one time they did, it ended in more misunderstanding. Then Will's confession "solved" this through... lies. Those weren't El's feelings. Why would someone else's feelings fix Mike and El's problems?

Even El's arc is fulfilled through their break up. Her story was never about romantic love. From the beginning, she's been longing for familial love. People think it would be unfair to El for them to break up, but romance was never needed for her arc in the way it is for Will. And Mike keeps trying to put El into a superhero box even though it goes AGAINST her entire self-identity arc. Mlvn's relationship does nothing for either character but set them back.

Byler endgame is the most fulfilling conclusion for Will, Mike, AND El.

[nebbyy]

A list of my most unpopular ASOIAF opinions and theories

Please remember this is all based on the books alone, and there also might be SPOILERS for Fire and Blood and the Game of Thrones book series.

ALSO I might open the requests for Game of Thrones fics and headcanons, and maybe for Baldur's Gate as well once I get back into it.

Okayyy so here we gooo.

1. Maegor's story doesn't add up

Don't get me wrong, he must've obviously been a horrible king and a shitty husband, but reading the chapters that talk about him in Blood and Fire, it all just felt like a list of rumours and versions of all nefarious crimes he would've committed. There are about five versions of whatever he did with each wife of his, each of them more depraved than the one before.

Again, I don't think he was an angel or anything, but my theory is that his history was written by biased sources. His reign was made illicit by Jaehaerys, so it would've been in his best interest to have him remembered as nothing more than a viscious monster.

It's a form of "damnatio memoriae" that we've already seen, in a way, with Mushroom and the Dance of Dragons. When in a conflict, and especially after a victory, each side wants to depict the side they beat as badly as possible Caesar did a similar thing in "De Bello Gallico", the book about his conquest of the modern French and Swiss territories. In this book he excuses his conquest with the supposed preparations for an attack by the Helvetians, a fact that was proven to be misinterpreted as it was a mere pacific migration. And again, he did the same thing when he accused them of cannibalising each other while being under siege, another untrue fact made up to just make them seem worse.

So in a way, Maegor's reputation could've been made worse by following historians to legitimate Jaehaerys' reign over Aerea's claim.

2. Incest has no effects on Valyrians

Okay, this is a bit weirder. My theory is that Valyrians practised incest because it had no effect on their offspring.

Looking at the Targaryen family tree, I noticed that the cases of madness increase the more Targaryens marry with other houses. Baelor the Blessed was the first mad Targaryen, and he had a grandmother of house Harte and a great grandmother who was half Arryn.

Before Baelor, Helaena is questionably considered mad as well, which would prove my theory furthermore had it not been for the amount of trauma she endured in her life so I'm honestly not gonna count her as "mad". Rhaegel Rargaryen was the second confirmed mad Targaryen, with a Martell mother; his daughter Aelora is questionably considered mad too, and her mother is an Arryn.

Aerion Brightflame was another mad Targaryen, with a half Martell father and a Dayne mother. The last two mad Targaryens were Aerys II and Viserys III, but at this point, the bloodline was mixed with others enough to make the Targaryen madness an unpredictable factor.

3. There is no good or bad in the Dance of Dragons

So I think we could theorise that Valyrians can perform incest so long as it remains within pure Valyrian blood.

Edit: some of you have pointed out how there were other signs of incest complications in the Targaryen family such as malformities and stillborn babies. I really am no biologist and I don't want to dwell into that "Valyrian race supremacy" craziness, but those cases are once again always correlated to marriages between Targaryens and other houses, for example all of Maegor's stillborn and unborn children (as 5 out of his 6 wives were not Targaryens/Valyrians) or the following cases.

Rhaenyra had a claim on the throne because of Viserys' will, but Aegon had a claim on the throne because of the laws of Westeros themselves. You can argue that Alicent wasn't the nicest stepmother, yet you can't look me in the face and tell me a woman in the middle ages married to a KING to whom she had given THREE SONS wouldn't complain when the king dismisses all of them and their claims in favor of his firstborn daughter.

Otto may have manipulated Alicent, but that was just how a Lord was supposed to act in that situation: have her marry the best candidate (the king), have her birth at least a son (she did) and make sure those children are first in line for the throne (as it should be, by the laws).

Viserys shouldn't have remarried if he already had his heir, period.

At the same time, Rhaenyra had every reason to fight for her claim and try and go against the actual laws of Westeros, but it was inevitable that many would've seen badly her attempt at claiming what was Aegon's birthright.

Lucerys was an asshole for mutilating Aemond and never showed remorse, quite the opposite. Aemond was an asshole who shouldn't have had all the power he had, plus I hardly believe his and Alys relationship was really consensual so there's that..

In the end, they all had their rights and wrongs, but that doesn't matter at all. The only point about the Dance is the fact that a pointless conflict led to the downfall of one of the strongest families in Westeros history.

4. Rhaegar didn't love Lyanna

I hate the series for making them marry. Like, seriously, have D&D ever read the books? Have they not read what happened between Maegor and the Faith when he took another wife??

Never, not even in the most twisted of universes, would the faith let Rhaegar kidnap and marry a Stark girl while he was still married to Elia. That just wouldn't be plausible.

And I also don't think he'd just fall in love at first sight with a random girl at a tournament. She was a beautiful soul and had many qualities, but she had nothing that could truly make a man throw away his whole life to pursue her.

He needed another child. The dragon has three heads. He had Rhaenys and Aegon, but Visenya was missing (I just made up the name for the third possible child considering he was naming them after the three conquerors lmao). He needed Lyanna to have that third child, and he knew how to get her to get what he wanted.

Perhaps we'll find out this isn't true. Perhaps Rhaegar really was head over heels for Lyanna, but I honestly really really doubt it.

5. There is no certainty on who the Prince that was Promised is

No matter what the show wants us to see, we still don't know who it is. It could be Daenerys, it could be Jon, it could even be Stannis and we're not gonna know it until Martin reveals it.

I honestly think Daenerys is Azor Ahai, but I'm still curious to see why we would need to revive Jon then. And considering Stannis' sword possibly being Azor Ahai's sword, is it a fake one made by Melisandre to get what she wanted from him, or does he actually possess the original sword?

Well, these are the first theories and opinions I could think of right now, I might post more in the future. Again, please don't slander me in the comments, these are just my personal opinions and I respect all others.

[cherries-in-wine]

SPOILER WARNING FOR AOT JUST SOME OF MY RAMBLES

English is not my first language please don't be mean okay thank you <3

honestly I didn't hate eremika as much as I thought I would- both of them are emotionally immature idiots who feel a lot but have no idea how to deal with said feelings. their relationship is definitely a lot of wasted potential but idk they are cute in their own imperfect and somewhat uneasy way. was that ending scene weird definetly but like eh gothic romance fan I've read and seen much worse things and called it peak romance so it's like weird but like okay also im very drunk slightly tipsy and I just finished aot just cuz I wanted to feel something and man I feel a lot of things also I think there might be a cultural difference too because in the west it's all like gulululu sloppy kiss gulululu fucking and like I grew up with old Bollywood romance where mfs don't even kiss so stolen glances and flushed cheeks and "ill always wrap your scarf over and over again" means wayyyy more than an infinite number of kisses. I get why people don't like it but yea I like them they are so fucking embarrassing and stupid. Eren's randi rona (hindi phrase exact translation is whore crying but semantics is probably bitch whining) was so funny and pathetic i've never laughed so hard but it is embarrassing in a way that makes so much sense for this suicidal maniac. I thought I would hate mikasa because I linger in the subreddits because social media kalesh and lafda is something I feed off of like a vampire sucking blood after escaping the coffin that held them for centuries (kalesh/lafda is hindi for fights) anyways so silly goofy fun idk what y'all are on about she's so kool not really a Mary Sue because she sucks at emotional intelligence and as a leader like definitely too driven by feelings but tbh I love that about her and her bond with other characters is so precious to me. I get why she's unlikable she is so flawed but idk I love her. the fanfic writers are so mean to her like oh my god why is she always this weird obsessed stalker that gets in the way of eren and y/n and historia is always someone y/n is insanely jealous of like please why can't we all be best friends and braid each other's hair

A little something about erehisu too- tbh I don't think its obsessive desperate fan behaviour like it's a very good ship imo. I have mixed feelings about it but idk lowkey makes sense. not in a "these people are great for each other and will be so cute as more than friends" way but more like a "oh wow they have a lot going on, they are good friends and the people they love are people they can't be with so it would make sense if they both are emotionally vulnerable enough that they end up doing something" kinda way. would've definitely made it more interesting because I thought sidelining a character like historia who had so much potential would hopefully have a bigger meaning and some greater part of Eren's plan but no bro is an idiot who has no idea what he is doing.

Mixed feelings about historia too- I liked her arc but the amount of plot armour that surrounds her kinda pisses me off. also the irl jaegerists and incels on reddit are so annoying they've made her into chaderen loser's trad wife who sits at home with the baby and shakes her head with a disapproving pout when he returns home after genocide like I know for a fact canon historia would be disgusted by this narrative. also oh my god the lengths these people go to prove that her relationship with Ymir was just a one sided obsession and not a lesbian romance is insane. like yea historia doesn't have to be lesbian she could be bi but that relationship was definitely mutual and romantic

I have sooo much more to say maybe when im sober ill organise everything and make it pretty but im in my senior year of high school with like no time on my hands so idk will see please stick with me but always thank u for reading meri jaan have a lovely day/night :))

[iocaisaint]

Random ACOTAR takes

cw*: my unsolicited opinions

I agree with #that woman that canon Lucien and Nesta (and I mean pre-ACOSF) would've been terrible for each other sorry

As of right now Nesta is the only Archeron sister with direct connection to the Dusk Court, like her and her alone 🤷🏾‍♀️

Out of the love square (?) Lucien is lowkey the only one with a storyline that isn't made out of paper mache and hope. There's so many angles you could go: Beron, Eris, LOA, The Autumn Court or Spring Court, Tamlin, or Day Court, Helion, being an heir, or helping Vassa with Koschei + his overall friendship with Jurian + Vassa + humans as a whole and that's without touching on the mating bond even once. Real set-up wished she'd done that with everyone else

That being said, I disagree with a bunch of Lucien's stans when it comes to his characters, y'all have a power fantasy for him that's in direct contradiction to how he's actually written (I mean I get it the books treat him like trash)

If Nesta is pregnant I'll have a crash out to end all crash outs.

Everybody in this fandom bar maybe Feysands are shipping fanon, the scenes that y'all talk about and the ones that exist on page are either not the same or straight up don't exist.

I hate the HK/HQ plot even for Nesta, like is blatant colonialism.

Everybody here is a hypocrite when it comes to their faves we'd all be happier admitting then bending over backwards.

I do not care for Elain, simply because fanon Elain is so far removed from what's on page, that most her pro arguments simply don't make sense to me.

There's no reason for Helion to give up his Pegasi but I know HOFAS was a mess but when the place was revitalised after the Asteri were murdered they came back, my guess is that place and the prison are mirror worlds so the same will happen once the Prison is liberated

Azriel isn't boring but he also isn't extremely interesting. If he was a girl no one would gaf about him, but there are enough concepts of an idea where I could see his book not being awful.

Neither the pro or the anti side gives a fuck about Emerie, double points if you're engaging in that ship war. No I won't expand on this, I'm right.

Nessian sucks, that's all.

Actually no I'm expanding on that point, the fact that people defend no "I love you" from the MMC is crazy, that fact that people defend Nesta being threatened without Cass stepping in even worse, the fact that Rhys knows he can berate Nesta in Cassian's presence....like they had an 800+ page book and I'm still having to hear about how they need to "grow as characters" y'all aren't serious people

I've become more neutral-positive to Feyre because some of the arguments against her are just crazy but on that note she'd be deeply more entertaining if the narrative wrote her refusal for self reflection as a flaw

Gwyn cannot be a evil light singer and irrelevant at the same time please pick one.

Also I don't hate the light singer theory, sorry. Monsters not actually being monsters is this series's bread and butter. It'd be great if a woman finally got that treatment

I can already tell Eris is about to be retconned to hell because SJM hates a character not being vindicated by the narrative to redeem them (she already started by implying Eris wants his father dead for #feminism). Let it be known I like/d him as is

I don't get into arguments about Rhys cause I find him boring. Y'all are fighting day in day out about faerie Ronald Reagan

Nesta should've been bi, how tf did we get stuck with Mor

I have more but that's it for now.

[neverchecking]

I have a brain rot for sage, hes challenging the chain for their time with player/reader, he basically wants all His/Her/Them's attention, of course none of the chain and sage are going to "play" fair their going to cheat no matter what. the only ones he might not win against is time, FD and maybe twilight. wind, four, Hyrule, and sky would do sad puppy eyes to get cuddle time, twilight and legend turn into their animal form to get pettings, sage and wild would cook food to get points for being delicious. (etc.etc.) just some yandere shenanigans for attention. the challenges he did were sword fighting, bow and arrow targeting, sparing, arm wrestling, and so forth.

-Eevee

Okay, last one for the night! I figured since this isn't really a request, I could spitball some more of my headcanons for our beloved Sage.

Jk it delted itself so I gave up and went to bed bc last time I tried to push through I wasn't happy with the end product, so sorry for the delay!

For those of you who don't know, Sage is another name for the Tears of the Kingdom Link--dubbed Hero of the Zonai-- should we decide he is not in fact Wild.

For the Wild and Facesitting request, it's in progress I promise! I try to go in order with my requests, but like I said, this is more headcanons versus a scenario. It should be out tomorrow later today so look out for that ;)

ANYWAY-

Y'all. The amount of Sage requests in my inbox right now? You guys are feral for this man and I love it. So I'm here to feed you guys.

TotK spoilers below!

・❥・Okay, so lemme start this off by saying. I have done you all wrong. And for that I apologize.

・❥・Because our wonderful @wayfayrr has opened my eyes to new possibilities that I would've never even thought of. So everyone say thank you rn >:(

・❥・So let's make some amendments!

・❥・First off, let's talk about nicknames. I love the idea that Reader, and only Reader, can call him anything other than Sage. And calling him other herb-related nicknames? Kills me. He is a flushing red mess the first time it happens. You had deemed him worthy of a nickname? You considered him person enough to have a moniker that wasn't also a title? If he was down bad before, it's so much worse now. Because you see him as a person. He's sure the others just see him as a means to the end. The second one of them, maybe save Wind, try it, he's shooting them daggers and snarling at them for even daring to try and impeach your privilege. (I also love the Calm, Wild and Feral thing, I thought that was so freaking clever.)

・❥・And you know how each of the hero's have their own 'sword' right? Well, what if Sage's was the Master Sword Remastered? Like Sky's (Like most of their Master Swords actually) but now it's been boosted by ten thousand years worth of direct light magic. (Does the Zonai time fall before Skyward Sword or after? I have no idea where they fall on the timeline tbh.). Just a thought. It could also be a gloom sword which probably wouldn't effect him as hard in other timelines because there's no demon king to power it, but it probably does hurt the others if they try to touch it.

・❥・Now, the juicy part. Let's retouch on Wild's and Sage's relationship. I originally said that Sage was okay with him? I lied. Wayfayrr has opened my eyes.

・❥・Sage probably can't fucking stand Wild. As they said, this is a version of him that didn't have this second adventure. Got to rest and distant himself from the Hero Title. And that just pisses him off. Why did he get the shittier hand? Why did he have to do it all over again? Why when this failure got to get off easy? Why couldn't he have the same grace, huh? What made them so different?

・❥・And if we're using the past oneshot (Here!) as they're 'canon' meeting, this filth let you get hurt. You were hurt before meeting him, which means that they can't be trusted with you. Especially Wild. So Sage cannot stand you being near Wild. At all. It eats at him and he doesn't last long before splitting the two of you up.

・❥・Calamity is even worse. There is probably an active hate towards Calamity (In this Yandere world, in a normal, not toxic world? They probably work out their differences a little better). This was a version of him who didn't even have to die to complete his quest. And this just shows that Fraud has favorites and it's not him.

・❥・You know who else he probably doesn't like? Twilight. Now, hear me out. This is purely me just spitting this out, but Sage has to be aware. He listens when they don't think he does, he's awake when they think he's not, he's watching when they don't even know he's there.

・❥・So he probably picks up on all of their little secrets. Meaning he knows Twilight is Wolfie. And (I think this is Canon is LU but I'm not sure) Wild had Wolfie as a guide. Which means Sage had Wolfie as a guide. The difference? When he needed him the second time, left stumbling around like a newborn fawn crawling out of the shrine all over again, he was left alone. He was fighting robots with a fucking Stick. He fused a mushroom to a shield just to buy himself more time. At one point, he was fusing a long stick to another long stick just to fight from a distance to save his battered body. Rauru did as much as he could, but there were some times he wished he was left for dead.

・❥・Not anymore as that means he would've never met you, but then? different story.

・❥・They also brought up that Sage probably doesn't stop at just cooking your food and I agree. When on the road, he for sure goes straight to the source. If he doesn't know exactly where it came from, it's not going anywhere near his Goddess. Nope. Not a chance in the gloomy depths from hell.

・❥・He's going to farmers themselves rather than merchants for produce, hunting any protein himself, climbing trees for eggs, he probably even makes his own butter. Now, because he's also cooking savy this for sure makes the rivalry between him and Wild widen. Wild is set in his cook for the chain, not you. Sage can't trust them to not hurt you again. Whose to say they don't over spice the food? Or undercook the fish? Or drop shells into the egg?

・❥・He can't trust them and may force you to pick one of the other. Depending on who you chose, he'll either hold his victory up high or work even harder to separate you from the chain. Can't you see, Reader? They aren't good for you.

・❥・When it comes to the Gloom, he for sure uses to his advantage. You know he's been infected, but you don't know how much light he's gathered to dispel it. At this point, he's probably gotten most, if not all of it, out, but you don't know that. And he preys on that fact.

・❥・Oh, the Traveler wants to down to the river with you? But, Reader, there's something rotten in his chest and he's stumbling against trees, exaggerating his steady steps just in case to really sell it. He needs you by his side, can't you see?

・❥・Oh, the captain is trying to get you to settle with him for the night? But, Reader, he's tossing and turning, feigning sleep and acting just enough to catch your attention. He's listening, ears pricked, just to hear you swiftly apologize before your gently hands are laying on his shoulders and he's won again.

・❥・And because his Hyrule is one of, if not the most dangerous Hyrules, he's given so much ammo to keep you tethered to him. You can't trust anyone, don't you know? The Yiga uptake has skyrocketed and they are everywhere, along with Ganon's new ability to make puppets? Can't you see how you can't trust any of them?

・❥・He even entertains you when you come up with the idea to have a secret saying between just the two of you as a fail safe. (It's probably something like 'Deforestation Enthusiast' because of how the two of you met.) Anything to have you pulling further away from the Chain and into his arms.

・❥・If it begins to take longer than expected, Sage is not above letting you wander just enough in his Hyrule. Maybe you set off a bit of Gloom hands (Or maybe he nudges them in your direction, hard to tell, really) and they go charging at you. The others don't know how to deal with them, but he does. He saves your life before the others even know what hit them. He's cooing into your ear, reassuring that where the others fail, he would never dream of it. He's whispering that he knows how scary the feeling of those hands are. He knows how freezing the feeling of sudden restriction, only accompanied by the burning sizzle of malice, is. He knows and he understands, but he's right here. He'd never let anything happen to you. Not like the other frauds.

・❥・Now, all that being said, Sage for sure does not play fair. Oh no. He does challenge them in his own ways, but does it in a way that can only reflect badly on them should they call him out on it.

・❥・He's fighting (Picking apart) with Wars and Calamity on their sparring routines, angling it in just a way that should they snap back he can turn on the innocent little look with a 'But I'm just trying to protect you. I don't know how any of you fight, I'm still learning.' Just in time for you to catch them barking at him to 'Learn faster' and it just falls perfectly into place.

・❥・He's calling out Twi and Four every time they try to wander off (Probably to bring out Wolfie or split to relieve a headache of sorts) because 'The woods are dangerous, what are they doing going off alone?' and now they can't leave because all eyes are on them and he's restricting their movement without even really trying. They wanna go foraging? But he and ...Wild were their best foragers and they were busy with dinner (That was something bitter to get out).

・❥・And wow, Time, Legend and Fierce have so many secrets, can you really trust them? Sage has laid down his entire adventure to you, and regardless if Reader is a LoZ player and knows of them regardless, Sage told you. Those two are trying to hide from you. He would never.

・❥・Wind, Hyrule and that filthy disgrace want to drag you along to go Shield surfing? Reader, do you know how dangerous that is? Especially with someone's track record. Here, you wanna go riding on this motorized wagon he just happens to have on hand? (Between the Zonite in his Purah pad, he can build any component necessary.)

・❥・Not even Sky and First are safe as he uses carefully laid words to sully their once golden image towards you. Afterall, they're so close to Hylia, whose to say they aren't behind all of this?

・❥・Now, you said that the only ones he may not win against are Time, Fierce and Twilight, but like I said, I can imagine him loathing Twilight, so instead, may I suggest First.

・❥・Time and Fierce are both pretty burly dudes that demand some semblance of respect and while Sage has muscles, he's not overly tall. So while he doesn't bow, he may just back off from their forefront for a while.

・❥・Now, First. He's probably the only one who can put Sage back in his place of the hierarchy. It's the first in the timeline, versus the last (As of right now). And it's not pretty. They probably go to blows a few times when you're out of ear shot.

・❥・The problem is that First can only push him back when you're out of ear shot and Sage makes it a point to keep you as close as humanly possible.

・❥・And while yes, some of them may use puppy eyes, Sage is not above using pity to get what he wants because he just hurts so badly don't you know?

・❥・He unfortunately can't do anything about wolves or rabbits. If they manage to disappear before he can call them out on it, he's left bitterly sulking as Wolfie laps at your cheeks or dumb rabbits nose at your hand. He may know who they are, but not even he's cruel enough to call them out (Yet) because that would just pit you against him. They weren't his secrets to tell, you would scold, and he just couldn't handle that possibility.

・❥・The biggest difference between Sage and Wild, one that the chain will fail to realize right away, is that Sage is much more experienced. He is on his second, THIRD if you count the pre-calamity, adventure. He knows everything Wild does, and more. Wild knows how to improvise and adapt, Sage can do it faster. Wild knows how to forage and concoct incredibly potent elixirs? Sage can do it tenfold with half the ingredients. He knows all the little tips and tricks and is not only backed up by the champion's gifts-- should they have remained-- but now he has the sages with him.

・❥・Like imagine their mid-battle, they had forced you away from Sage just to create some distance (At long last) and mans comes rolling in a giant fucking robot. He's using Sidon's sage to shield you over and over again and decimating a battle field using nothing but Riju and an arrow. Hell, the bigger enemies are struck down by Yunobo crashing into them. Sage alone is enough to cut the enemy hordes in half through recall and sending their own attacks back at them or fusing together weapons they wouldn't have ever dreamed of with new abilities. Even his outfits give him benefits far beyond anything they could think.

・❥・You saw him as someone more than just Link. He wasn't just the Swordsman to you when that was who he was to everyone else. You dubbed him something far beyond what a damned sword made him.

・❥・And he would have to be four days dead before letting you go.

・❥・And as he's proven before, Not even death could truly kill him.

I am so glad I waited bc I like this one so much more than the one that was deleted.

[capedcaretaker]

It's What She Does Best

This got very drawn out. Agatha's sick voice popped off, if you don't like that, here's your warning. Can you have too many sneezes? Detective Harkness and Agent Vidal coming together after an, emotional, divorce: F/everuary Day 3

18+ content, thank you

Three unanswered bodies; it was the perfect excuse for Agatha to hurl herself into a case. Long nights at the office, even longer nights at home, with only take out as her companion, going over every inch of evidence on repeat. Bringing evidence home, technically, against policy, but who was Agatha Harkness without a little rule breaking? Maybe if she moved it around, from one location to the other, some secret angle in the light might reveal something she missed.

It hadn't. Not yet.

Agatha was good at a lot of things; testing people's patience, sarcasm and smartass quips, both of which aligned with the former. She was also exceptionally good at giving way too much of herself to her job, not the establishment, but the title.

Forgive and forget, those were not things Agatha was good at; It was easier to get results with the dead than it was to get along with her coworkers. Especially, when she swore they were all incompetent or only served the purpose of getting on her first, and last, nerve.

She had a responsibility the moment she earned her badge. She wasn't going to settle for mediocrity and half assed excuses.

Which all lead to Agatha feeling as though she were backed into a corner. It was the last thing she wanted to do; If she were being completely honest, it didn't even make it on the list of things she wanted to do. She was stubborn, oh boy, was she so fucking stubborn, but she had a job to do.

Which meant, unfortunately for her ego, she would have to put some pride aside. Some, not all, leaving her in her current predicament, it was starting to feel more and more like trial by fire with each passing moment.

Rio nibbled her lip, she knew it was wishful thinking; allowing herself to consider that it might've been a ploy. Receiving the e-mail: an act of profession. When Agatha could just have easily called, that would've been too friendly, too familiar...too personal. She had to assume that was the point. Calling would've felt like an olive branch, a two birds situation: solve the case and find a way to rebuild their broken bridge.

Looming in the shadows and constantly running through Rio's mind, like a hamster on a wheel: the reality that Agatha didn't like many people and made herself likeable enough to keep at arms length, usually nothing more. It hadn't been the case for her. She didn't know what was different about her, what Agatha saw, allowing Rio into her life. Allowing her to become a part of her life.

Whatever it was, it was all in the past, she knew the same approach wouldn't work. Couldn't work. They had history now. History that was soured like weeks old milk.

Was it worse to have never been liked or to have thrown away the trust and closeness they once shared?

Rio cleared her throat with some caution, sitting in the driver's seat, fingers strumming along the steering wheel to fill the silence. The radio, playing something she didn't really care for, didn't seem loud enough to drown out the tension that hung thick in the air.

Then, there were the sniffles and the way Agatha cleared her throat every few minutes, an itchy little irritated sound, her discomfort borne from something else.

Rio had the partial mindset to ask how long she'd been carrying that cold around, even if a year or so passed since they last saw each other--many, many, months that felt like multiple lifetimes--she knew Agatha would only deny any sign of illness. Deny any sign of short comings, especially when it came to the job; stubborn and determined. A little bit self destructive by design.

Any attempt at making small talk was instantly stamped out like a rejected cigarette:

"Anymore stalling and the rain will wash away the crime scene, Harkness." Formal greetings weren't really their thing, Rio leaned up against the doorframe to Agatha's office, studying every inch of it. Familiar, practically unchanged, with an added feeling of uneasiness. The door was opened, but something told her she was unwelcome.

She was probably the only one who knew every inch of that office, inside and out. Knew it better than Agatha herself: the tissues Agatha left stashed in the bottom draw, not a box or anything special, more like a bunch shoved into a Ziploc bag as some form of makeshift travel companion. Then there were the boxes of allergy meds; some were empty and some weren't, organization and practicality seemed above Agatha's paygrade when it came to those things. Finally, there was the picture of Nicky that she kept below the stack of current cases in her top drawer.

Agatha wasn't one to plaster his face around her office, like he was some trophy that she was begging someone to ask her about anytime they stepped foot in it. He's her everything, her entire world, but he was not a gimmick. Rio wondered if half the people she worked with even knew she had a son.

Maybe she was crazy, like cutting her palm and jumping into shark infested waters; This was a sore subject, their most sore subject, and yet, "how's Nic?"

It was the only aspect of Agatha's life that came with no complaints. Came with no resentment or soured feelings. Rio couldn't imagine being a single mother, while also navigating their line of work, with the added weight of this, visibly, awful cold. Her eyes glancing to chance a look, watching Agatha press her index finger along the underside of her nose, pinching it between her thumb.

"Don't call him that." She bristled, out of shock more than anger, doing her best to recover and mask her emotions, the bitter resentment flooding in like liquid nitrogen. "You didn't want a family, remember? So you don't get to ask about him." She turned to face the window, leaning a bit closer towards the door, putting as much space between them as possible.

"H'ngxt 'nGxt. iih'NGxT" Her best attempt at silencing, her shoulders scrunching up to her ears with each mangled release.

Rio made a noise of confirmation. It clearly was not a small talk subject, not that she ever cared much for small talk, but some talk would've been better than uncomfortable silence. And those awful stifles. They felt like a punch to the gut.

Rio didn't do uncomfortable silence, lucky for her, they had a case...cases to solve.

"All work," Rio noted, tacking on a quick, "bless you."

Agatha grunted, snuffling and rubbing her finger against her nose with some added pressure, pressing into the ball of her nose, "that is why I emailed you...for work."

Work for the sake of work. Rio personally didn't like the sound of that. All work and no play? Where was the fun in that, but she would be respectful, relatively speaking; she reached over to turn up the knob on the radio. Unease and some 'Hottest 20s Hit' would be the background sound for the rest of their ride...with the added instrumentals of Agatha's cold: drippy sniffles, squelching nose rubs and the ever rare soft cough when her nose got too bungled with congestion.

+

Pulling up to the scene, Rio cut the engine, getting out almost immediately, the cool air felt like a punch to the face; whipping gently against her cheeks. She inhaled deep, the chill felt good against her lungs, a refreshing change. She glanced back, Agatha hadn't moved from her seat, she contemplated teasing her, asking If she planned to stay in there all day, but the unfocused gaze was all she needed to know. Now wasn't the time.

There were tissues in the glove compartment, that wasn't a new revelation; it was something she started doing when her and Agatha were--not so officially--dating. Hayfever was Agatha's torturous soulmate.

Her only course of action left, closing the door behind herself, leaving Agatha to tend to the four horseman of her cold, or how ever many there were.

"HiiH'GKsSHHHiiUU! 'EGKssSHHiiEWW! hHIIh! iihH'KSSHHH!"

"Bless," Rio smirked when Agatha finally gathered enough composure to join the crime scene, earning herself a glare, a warning.

It wasn't her fault the car wasn't sound proof.

"Whatever," Agatha cleared her throat in some discomfort, shoving a soiled ball of tissues deep into her pocket, ducking underneath the crime scene tape. "Thang you," she added, muttered from the side of her mouth, she was sick and miserable, but she still had some manners. Only as many as she had before the sniffles and sneezes set in, nothing more.

Rio effortlessly pinned her hair back into a neat ponytail; a very notable contrast to the way Agatha's fell down and framed her face with loose messy waves. Not messy in the traditional sense, but definitely the kind of fraying and fly-aways that came from being slept on, not so unkempt that it looked like she just rolled out of bed, just notable enough to tell she hadn't gone through it with a proper brush that morning.

They listened to the short briefing from one of the officers who was already on scene, well, Rio listened; Agatha was examining the body. As much as Rio was listening, there was an equivalent exchange of tuning out the officers voice, swinging back and forth between catching key details and watching Agatha's attempt at discretion: rubbing her nose into her sleeve with vigorous annoyance, scrunching her nose from side to side, partial hitched breaths as an attempt to keep her nose at bay.

All of which proved useless in the end, if Agatha had to sneeze her nose would make sure it happened one way or another, "ehg'scuse me," Agatha stepped away, just enough to be polite to the dead body, and, to a lesser extent, Rio.

She took a few rushed and unsteady steps before crumbling against her coat sleeve.

"HiiH'NGSHHH! 'EGKSSHHH! hHiiiH? hHii...EK'ssSHHHiiEEEW!"

"Grea'hd," she glared at the offending smear of snot, she was planning to wear that coat a couple more times before washing it, that wasn't the case anymore. To hell with it, she finished cleaning up the rest of her drippy nose, shamelessly creating another notable spot. "Fu'hg this." She grumbled before walking back.

Rio straightened herself out, watching Agatha return to the area near the body. "Are you sure you're up for this," she scrutinized, "you look one sneeze away from passing out." Eyes focused on her swollen, snot rimmed, nose.

For her part, Agatha was doing well enough playing it off--for anyone who wasn't watching her with biased intensity--or she had been. Her physical appearance waning, Rio wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it up, although, it wouldn't be from a lack of trying.

"This is m'by case... reh-meh'ber." She snuffled, scrubbing her nose in defiance, congested with an audible wall of snot.

"Our case." Rio corrected, "And you should really blow your nose...I have some tissues in-"

"I know-" Agatha sniffled heavily, nose scrunching with effort, "hHiih... I d..ohhhih!" She swallowed, thick, eyes watering, "I d..dohHih! n...ne..ehHh...iiHhh!" Her lip trembled with desperation.

Rio scoffed; was it pride or petulance? "Will you at least let yourself sneeze?"

Agatha glared at her through watery eyes, "Hi'Nxt 'NgxT. 'nGXTT. eh'GKXT!" hunching into the space between them.

They were sneezes, in the technical sense, but those weren't Agatha Harkness sneezes. Not by any means. A painful stifled, garbled, mess. She pinched away the mess and wiped it on her coat.

"Habby?"

Rio's lips parted in something that resembled silent disbelief, "don't do that", the words were right there and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say them.

It was a painful lump at the base of her throat. It wasn't just Nicky. Agatha backed herself up so far out of Rio's life that this was what remained of their relationship. Closed off, painful, self inflicting stunted sneezes.

"Salud," Rio tried not to sound like she was barely keeping her heart from shattering. If it was even still in there at this point. It probably jump shipped long ago.

Agatha was right; Rio rejected the idea of a family, hadn't even given it consideration. She wanted something a little less...strings attached. That's what she thought at least. Now here they were, every string seemed to be pulling her right back to Agatha, while tightening around her like a Boa Constrictor.

"I... uhg...i'mb fih'de," Agatha dabbed at her nose while she straightened herself back up, she couldn't even bring herself to believe the lie. But what else was she supposed to do.

Rio knew, if she wanted to, she could order Agatha to go home, as much as it was their case, she still held a higher rank. That move, however, would only dig her grave deeper. Only solidify the 'no going back' on what was already broken. It would give her peace of mind, knowing Agatha wasn't out working herself to death, on the other hand, here she could keep somewhat of an eye on her.

That was her original plan: allow things to play out.

There was a small crack of thunder, a battle siren, Rio took a deep breath, the sky splitting open; It wasn't a light rain, it was everything all at once. Cold, heavy, rainfall spilling from the clouds above.

She was a bit of a sadist, the way the cold merged with the already present chill in the air relaxed her, like hot iron submerged in water.

Though, the sentiment wasn't universal. Agatha immediately shivering, the rain toying with her nose, the air now cold and wet, burned at her sinuses with each sniffle. She barely got her hand up, fist clenched, catching gritted teeth sneezes.

"EKSHHH! k'SHHiiEEWW! 'hEE'GSHHHUU! heHHh... nG'KSH'IIEeww!"

She didn't try and stifle them, she wasn't even sure her body could handle it, thankful for the rain offering some form of sound barrier to her misery.

"C'mon," Rio took her by the wrist; she couldn't say, "you'll catch cold", as Agatha brought her own, instead, "you'll catch your death."

Stumbling underneath the small shelter that protected the equipment, Agatha tugging her hand away, venom on the tip of Rio's tongue, she could only take so much, but her expression softened to one of sympathy.

Agatha's elbow hovering near her face, nostrils flaring with each unsteady breath, a small stream of liquid threatening the edge of her nostrils, a crease of discomfort set between her twitching eyebrows.

"Fu...hhiIHH... ehHh..." Lips parted, her chest rose with a sharp moan, "HNG'SHHHiiEWW! EGK'SHH'HIEWW! F...uHiiH'gsSCHHhUu!"

Yup, she was perfectly fine.

Rio shook her head. She could've swore they had more time before the rain was supposed to hit, checking her watch, realizing she'd lost track of time, glancing up at Agatha. She was distracted from the moment they got there--distracted from the moment she got that email.

One sniffling, sneezing, Agatha Harkness could rip a hole into her entire psyche.

"HnX'TCHH! HxG'KSHH! EH'xGSCHHHhh! HhixNG!"

Speaking of, Agatha turned around, the kind of sneezes that felt detrimental to her condition. Watching her shoulders tense and rise with rigged motion, hunching ever more forward with each one, as if she were using her entire body to subdue them

She was trying to real herself back in. Trying to return the lid to a soda bottle that had been shaken and opened up; it wasn't impossible, just high improbable.

"For fuck sake, here," Rio took off her coat, ignoring Agatha's protests and ignoring any questioning looks from their colleagues that joined them underneath the temporary shelter.

Once her coat was draped over Agatha's shoulders, Rio moved around, partially shielding her from the wall of watchful eyes. Not that she needed it, she might've resembled a wet cat, but she was more like a tiger.

"Let's rap this up," her tone was commanding. A notable shift, all work, except this time it was for certain. "Get the crime scene cleared out and gather whatever you can before it gets washed out!" 

Twisting around in bleary confusion, Agatha started to move in a direction, on autopilot. Her body in motion to make herself useful, but her mind was foggy and stuffed up.

"Not you..." Rio nibbled the inside of her cheek; she was so pale, a harsh red flush speckled across her cheeks, matching the edges of her nose. She didn't want to let her out of her sight, but that was her selfish worrying, not her voice of reason. "Head back to the precinct. My keys are in the pocket...don't crash it."

Agatha blinked bleary eyes, a pinch growing between her brow, there was not a snide remark to be found on her tongue, for once;

"EK'SHHIIEWW! eeh'SSHHHU! 'SHHHiiEWW...'KSCHHIiih!"

Pulling up Rio's coat to bury a fit--there wasn't time to figure out where it ended and her own jacket began--it was Rio's own fault for handing her things off to a cold riddled Agatha.

Not that she cared, gentle hands holding her in place, one on each arm. "Now. I mean it." Keeping her voice level was anything but easy, her throat felt like it wanted to cave in on any words that came to mind.

"I'mb go'ig...asshole." Agatha swiped at her nose.

+

Agatha cursed, slamming her palm on the table, why did coffee makers have more than one button: on and off. That was all they needed. When did everything get so complicated.

She gasped, hunching into a damp sneeze, gripping the edge of the counter to steady herself, her other hand shooting up to cup her face.

"eh'GKSHHHhiiEWWW...!?" One? She tried to make a sound, only managing a dissatisfied snort.

Disgusting. She reached for the paper towels; where was a biohazard sign when she needed one, wiping the spray from her hand before blowing her nose into the harsh material, it ached at the sensitive edges of her nose.

"Bless you,"  

Agatha tensed; feeling like someone who got caught sneaking dessert before dinner.

"Why are you still here, Aggie?" Rio sounds exhausted and Agatha can feel a pinch of guilt in her stomach. She's not even sure what she's supposed to say.

Her footsteps are silent, the air around Agatha goes warm, Rio leaning into her space to set the Keurig.

Agatha bites at her lip, hearing the machine come to life feels like a saving grace, the coffee isn't intended to keep herself awake--she'd need the opposite of an elephant tranquilizer for that--it was the only thing she could think of to soothe her throat. Tea was the obvious option, but it was such an acquired taste, and the only acquisition that came to mind was Rio's fancy herbal teas.

"HhiiH... eehhh..." Her breath catches and there's a beat of silence, "HiiH'tcHH'SHHHhiiEEWW!"

Her eyes are go bleary. The sneeze is tired and drawn out, she doesn't do much to cover it. If she were more awake she would scold herself. 

"You shuh'd muhh'ake yourself scarce," Agatha pushed against the underside of her nose with the balled up napkin, "I do't thih'gg I cad control theh'm ady'more." Eyes squinting.

She was still trying to fight them.

"Let me take you home," It's as close to begging as Rio can get, "you look like absolute shit, Agatha."

Full name.

Agatha presses her lips together, "One mihh'serable car r'hiih'de wasn'd ehHhh'duff?" She doesn't laugh, doesn't even quirk her lips, Rio considers that it's not intended to be a joke or lighten the mood.

This was Agatha after all; when was she ever one to lighten the mood?

When the silence stretches on she sniffs, "i'mb s'huh'posed to pi'gg Nicky uhh'p tomorrow af-derh-doon..." It's not a question but a statement that hangs in the air.

Agatha wants to take Rio up on her offer, but she's not willing to get herself burned again, even if it means she ends up sleeping on the couch in her office. As uncomfortable as it is, it would be the lesser of two evils; one night of bliss with Rio would not be worth the heartache that follows.

Now was not the time to get struck by deja vu.

Rio hums, taking Agatha by the hips and pulling her in, "Whatever way you'll have me." She swallows, combing Agatha's hair aside with her fingers, unsurprised by the touch of fever. "I'm right here...for you and Nicky."

Agatha tries to clear her throat and winces, she'll definitely be loosing her voice sooner than later, if she's not careful; every grating sneeze bringing her closer and closer.

"Wha'd are you wai'digg for? I'mb not dr'hih'v'ig"

Rio bit down on her lip, ducking her head, she wasn't going to be running any victory laps, but this felt like progress. 

+

"Ignore the m'bess" Agatha inhaled sharp, snorting and coughing in protest of her bungled sinuses.

"You should be in bed," Rio closed the door behind them both, making sure to lock it, "not worrying about me."

"I'mb not worried about you, i'mb worried about the m'bess." Agatha corrected sharply.

"Whatever you say," she tugged carefully at Agatha's jacket, still damp from the rain, "lets get you out of this thing."

"Stop,"

"Why does everything have to be a battle?" If she were being honest, completely so, she liked it that way. Agatha being feisty and self assured. Even when she was bogged up with an absolute monster head cold.

Rio felt Agatha convulse and shudder, rubbing her upper arms and shoulders "Oh...salud, babydoll."

Agatha glanced up, eyes unreadable, clicking her teeth, accepting the name temporarily. If she were being honest, she was exhausted, tired of fighting it. Deny as she might, Rio did bring her comfort, and that was the part that hurt.

"Th'aggs," she grumbles.

Rio perks, shrugging out of her own jacket--Agatha refused to wear it on the car ride over--hanging them up side by side on the door hooks.

A shiver runs down her own spine, following behind farther into the house; everything is familiar, like a warming hug. So much time has passed, how can it feel just like yesterday?

Her fingers run across the furniture, "go get changed, I'll try to figure out dinner...and something for that throat of yours."

"You're s'daying?" Agatha's nostrils flare. A warning. If her jagged breaths weren't enough. "Grou'd zero." Simple and straight to the point. She doesn't wait for an answer, disappearing up the stairs.

"EH'KSHhhiiEWWW 'EGKshh'HIEEWW! K'SHhHIII 'KSsHHHIEEWW!"

"Fu-huh-ck!" the curse is drawn out and visceral, cutting right through any congested consonants.

They sound more open. Poor thing.

"Bless you!" Rio calls with a soft chuckle.

Tea and pizza. It wasn't the dinner of champions, but Rio wasn't here to win any awards, not any official ones. The pizza from Agatha's favorite place; she just hoped she had enough of an appetite and hoped the shower cleared her sinuses enough that she could taste it.

"You're still here," Agatha had a handkerchief now, a statement to herself more than a question for Rio. She definitely looked a little better, gaining back some of the color in her skin, her eyes less itchy and watery.

"I got pizza."

"You go'd pizza?" Agatha echoed.

"And tea."

"And tea." she blinked, crushed a sneeze into the tissue and cleared her throat. That put an end to their little game of parrot.

 "Wha' do you ge'd out of this," She looked wary, one eyebrow raised, waiting for the rug to be pulled from beneath her.

"Do I need a reason?"

Agatha snorted out a laugh, "motive." Plain and simple: she always had one. Usually manipulative and self serving. 

"Lets call it an Olive branch." 

"Oli-"

Rio held up a hand, "just... " she sighed, worrying her lip for a split second, "let me take care of you, okay?"

Agatha rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if she couldn't believe herself, digging the dry corner of the handkerchief at her nose. "God that feels good," she moaned shameless, looking back up to meet Rio's unwavering gaze, "if you catch this I don't wanna hear a word."

Rio mimed zipping her lips, locking her mouth, and throwing away the key. Not a word.

+ 

The last thing Agatha remembered was watching a movie on the sofa. Scratch that, she wasn't watching it, she was mostly doing what she did best: sneezing through the whole thing while Rio seemed to know every word. Lingering in her own living room, an excuse to spend more time with the woman she was determined--ultimately failing--to keep at arms length.

Now? She was in her bedroom. Her mind lingered on Rio and the way her bed felt too big for just herself. The way she could still smell Rio's scent lightly clingy to her clothes. An Earthy sweetness.

It was stupid. It was stupid. But she did it anyway. Kicking the covers off and getting out of bed, pausing; a fresh box of tissues, some cough drops and a bottle of sports drink were set on the night stand.

It was so stupid and embarrassingly hopeful.

Every step solidifying the lump in her throat and the rise of her heartbeat, until she was back downstairs, hovering over the sofa. Hovering over Rio's sleeping form.

Relief struck with the sudden need to sneeze, just barely managing to twist away in time to keep from sneezing directly on her, but not enough time to muffle the sound.

"Salud," Rio mumbled, rubbing at her eyes before squinting up at her. 

"Sorry...I didn't mean to wake you," except that was exactly what she came downstairs to do, after confirming she wasn't alone, in a house that circumstantially felt too big for one person.

"You didn't?" there was a knowing tease, Rio stretching a bit, like a cat, propping herself up on one arm.

Agatha's lip twitched, "I didn't mean to wake you like that" she rubbed at her nose as if giving it a soft reprimand. Holding up a finger, turning away, what she was best at.

"EH'KSHHHH! 'KshHHI'IEEW!"

Her nose was the star of the show. She wondered how Nicky got any sleep around here. Then again, she was never so recklessly self indulgent and under composed. She might consider it a, subconscious, overdramatization to garner sympathy.

"Will you come back to bed with me?" She sniffed. pushing her wrist against her nose, staving off anymore potential outbursts.

"And risk catching that cold?" Rio looked at her and Agatha's cheeks warmed, her breath catching, she turned to cough.

Right, the risk of passing her damn cold around like pieces on a chess board.

The only reply she could muster was a pathetic stifled sneeze or two...three...teetering on a fourth only for her shoulders to sag "lost id," she scrunched her nose.

Rio sat up fully, taking Agatha by the hips with one hand, pulling her hand away from her nose with the other, "such an ugly habit." She tsked, pulling Agatha's hand to cradle her own cheek, "I don't care about how many times you sneeze or how snotty you are...I only care about you. Idiot." Turning to kiss Agatha's palm, "of course I'll join you."

[blackphanto]

Chucky predictions

SPOILER WARNING FOR CHUCKY S3E5!

I wanna make Chucky theories so bad, but I can't think of any! This show is so crazy that I can't even predict or speculate on what could happen next. There are some people teasing on twitter though and all they've been doing is making me even more hyped for how this season is going to end. So here are some of my predictions based on everything that's been teased so far.

Jake will enter the spirit realm:

I don't think he's necessarily going to die, but he's so fixated on ending Chucky for good to the point where he refused to run away from it all like Devon suggested. And we've heard the doctor, the only way you get to the spirit realm is by dying, but what if you didn't need to die? I believe that thanks to all the supernatural shit occurring there, the White House will become some sort of passage between the two realms. Jake will cross it to try and destroy Charles' soul, but if he will fail or succeed is still debatable...

Caroline helps Chucky get young again:

If Jake fails in permanently killing Chucky, Caroline will come to the rescue. We know she'll be back, but what role will she play in this mess? When she'll return, all hell already would've broken loose and she'll just make it worse. Her sudden entrance at the White House will cause quite the emotional reunion for Lexi and her. Yet, Caroline didn't come alone. Armed with the Voodoo for Dummies book, sure, but she brought another friend, who's none other than the Good Guy Doll creator played by John Waters. He came with a new doll, a new vessel for Charles and with Caroline's newfound knowledge of Voodooism, she'll get Damaballa's blessings and give Chucky a new body, a new chance to not disappoint the almighty Iowa and if he plays his cards right, he might even become forever young.

Grant will survive:

I don't have any evidence to back this up, I just like him and think it's unfair that Lexy always has to say goodbye to someone she loves each season and I just don't want it to happen again. From a psychology standpoint it just desensitized her and would lead to her not getting attached to anyone else besides Jake & Devon next season, in fear of someone else always having to die because of her. And from a writing perspective it just gets repetitive, predictable and boring. So please Don Mancini don't kill him, also I love Jackson Kelly.

The past will haunt everyone:

Charles Lee Ray isn't the only ghost the Terror Trio will have to deal with in the newly supernatural possessed White House. We've seen the past of the Collins family haunt them time and time again, we've seen Henry talk about ghosts and fearing what they told him almost every single episode. Why would that stop at Joseph or Charles? Wouldn't it be horrible for our trio to be faced with the lives they lost thanks to a doll they couldn't stop? How would Jake react upon seeing his father again, disappointed at him for being gay. And Lexy, the poor girl, facing Junior, the boy she watched die, trying to save her... Not making at least one ghost of the past come back would be a wasted opportunity.

Tiffany will survive, but Jennifer's body might not:

Tiffany's possible death has been brought up in every interview Jennifer Tilly made following the comeback of Chucky season 3. At this point it even became a ‘will they, won't they’ situation. Does Mancini really have the guts to kill off a cult favorite character and actress he loves so much? Or will we just say goodbye to seeing Tilly on screen and welcome only her voice? I mean the trailer kinda made it clear for me that this isn't the end of Tiffany's story, but maybe that of Jennifer's body.

[moltensmusings]

@ladydoe8, I did see your ask and went to respond but made the post private and it has since disappeared into the void of my blog. I have no idea how to find it and I'm not sure if that's because this is a side blog or not.

That said I still wanted to make a response.

Part of my issue with some fights in the grand magic games is how much they lack the feeling of being random. Obviously we get made aware that the king has the ability to pick and choose what fights he wants to see, but in the case of a battle like Wendy vs Cheria, it didn't feel like the king himself actually chose to make it happen and instead Mashima just decided to pit those two against each other because he didn't want Wendy to fight anyone else.

I think maybe the king telling Arcadios that towards the end of the games he wants Yukino to battle Lucy would work and set the audience up to be hyped for the confrontation, only for it to never happen because both of them are forced out of the games for different circumstances.

I like Kagura vs Yukino I just wish it was written in a way that allowed Yukino to show her strength more than giving us an "I'm just better" kagura fight. Yukino should've had one fight before this that took no effort for her to win and didn't result in her using any of the Zodiac keys so that her loss to Kagura would allow us to understand how strong Kagura is without anyone having to whisper it in our ear.

As for Lucy, she should've fought someone else for sure, but not Yukino. I've said before I don't think Raventail should've competed and I stand by that. Whatever group takes their place should've contained the enemy Lucy fights and wins against. I hate the cheating plotline because it requires every single character in universe to be so insanely stupid for it to work at all. It makes the guards seem incompetent at their jobs and brings into question why Lacrimas even exist in the first place if not to keep an eye on mages in the stands and stop foul play. Not to mention there should be a barrior protecting the audience anyway because of how dangerous magic is. Anti-magic exists, you're telling me no anti-magic shields could've been used?

I still would've wanted Lucy fighting Flare, but in a fight that doesn't take place in the arena. Flare comes to either take out or kidnap Lucy under orders from Ivan, and we get a parallel to Phantomlord where this time Lucy holds her own and comes out on top, or at least manages to escape largely unscathed.

I want Lucy to actually be on top of the world before the Naval battle. I want to see her feeling good about herself and actually winning before Minerva gets thrown in because not only will it make Minerva more effective as an antagonist, it'll be actually horrific to watch what happens. Now first note is I would never draw or show the Naval battle with Lucy in a fanservice way because that takes away from the emotion the audience should get from the scene.

For Minerva, the elements are interesting in canon but the execution is BS. I want Minerva to be incredibly good at sticking just enough within the rules to never get Sabertooth penalized while skirting the edges in a way that infuriates her opponents. Instead of wailing into Lucy, she simply keeps her from leaving the bubble until she passes out. The rule as given by the announcers is that all enemies must either say they forfeit or be knocked unconscious, as long as Minerva doesn't kill her they won't intervene. Aquarius would actually care about Lucy in this version and only be forced back into the spirit world when Lucy's lack of oxygen makes her magic far too unstable to maintain a gate. Minerva doesn't kill her enemies. She knows it's a game so why would she kill anyone. But the horror of the scene is what I'd lean into. I think this set up for Minerva would also make her eventual reappearance in Tartaros a bit more terrifying because if she was willing to essentially torture in opponent before becoming a Demon how much worse will she be afterwards.

I think setting up Minerva in this way with her first battle in the games being something that sticks with both the rival guilds and the audience in such a harrowing way is a good idea. It makes her stand out and really sets the tone for her future involvement in the story.

[koyue]

Finished uploading all the chapters of Fragments! Normally I struggle with endings, but the ending was actually the first thing I wrote and I really love how it turned out, so if you'd like, please check it out ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

Random trivia for this fic (with spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen and the fic itself) and personal ramblings are all under the cut (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

—

I've been wanting to write a SatoSugu fic for a long time and it was really the ending of JJK that made me start writing it. I actually liked the final chapter because I love that Nobara, Megumi, and Yuji just got a breather with a silly little case, but I was definitely unsatisfied with a lot of the lead-up and I didn't like how we didn't get any proper closure on Gojo (Plus, isn't the world of JJK a lot worse off now? And nobody really talked about it? And Sukuna had some sort of backstory that never became relevant until the last three pages? Plus Yuji found out the truth of his parents offscreen?? Huh???)

So I wrote this to cheer myself up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

—

I had fifteen chapters written out before I posted it because originally, I'd done the outline for twenty chapters. Then stuff happened and it somehow ended up being thirty five chapters long. I couldn't decide whose POV I wanted it to be from, so I settled on switching between Gojo's and Geto's POV

—

I loved Riko's character from the get-go and, even though I knew it was going to happen, I was heartbroken when she was killed. So I had to include her in and give her the happy ending she deserved. I like to think she would've been good friends with everyone at Jujutsu High had she lived. I also gave her a water-based cursed technique because a lot of her happier times in JJK seem to revolve around the water (the beach, the aquarium, the river)

—

Somehow this fic turned into a little personal contest to see how many of my favorite characters from JJK I could include. I just wish I could've expanded on Yuki's character since I really liked her too, but I just couldn't figure out how

—

Shoko was supposed to appear at some point, but by then, the story had gone in a whole different direction than what I had drafted, so I had to cut her scenes out because they no longer made sense

—

I made Gojo and Geto childhood best friends just because I love that trope so much. I love the idea of them being reincarnated in a peaceful world where they got to grow up with each other. I'd like to write a oneshot one day set in this universe where they're kids getting into trouble

—

God, I struggled with chapters 29 and 30 and rewrote them several times. Everything sounded a little OOC because there's a lot of emotional vulnerability and neither Gojo nor Geto (especially Gojo) seem like the sort of people who would allow themselves to be that vulnerable with another person, but eventually I came up with something I liked. Plus hey, maybe they're a little more emotionally intelligent in this world ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

—

I like writing dream scenes. They show up in a lot of the fics I've written and there are a ton in this one. They're not prophetic dreams, but mainly manifestations of the character's fears coupled with past and present memories

—

I'd always planned to include original characters since it's a reincarnation AU, but I didn't plan for Satoko (Gojo's grandmother in this fic) to have such a big role. I made up a whole story of what happened to her during her first life as a member of the Gojo clan, but it was too much and just didn't fit with the rest of the fic, so I had to cut it out. I really wish we could've learned a little more about the previous Six Eyes users in canon (actually, I wish we could've learned a little more about everyone in canon, particularly their families)

—

I wrote most of chapter 31 while listening to the Digimon: The Movie soundtrack (yes, that "so bad it's good" pastiche of three different movies that came out in North America). I'm a Digimon fan myself, so I had to include a few references in the fic

—

The final chapter is my favorite. The idea of the trio somehow seeing Gojo's ghost when they visit his grave is hilarious to me. I also wrote it while listening to "Ao no Sumika/ The First Take" because it's just perfect

[dunmesh]

falin/marcille for the ship ask game 😌

yessss the one and only dunmeshi ship 🥹 loved them since ever theyre the only ones i truly care abt besides chil and his wife ig lol. i was always a sucker for the childhood best friends to lovers trope so they won me over easily. with that said... i feel like i haven't paid enough attention to their relationship in canon? idk how to explain it but it's really easy to kinda assign farcille certain tropes or label them in certain ways and then not think much deeper abt them. i think the first time i started to really Get it was when i thought a lil more abt marcille blaming laios for falin leaving and infantalizing her during their reunion. sure, we know she has a problem with understanding how much falin has grown, but what if there's a part of her that simply refuses to direct her anger towards falin because she can't believe falin would ever choose to hurt her like this? she's the first real friend marcille ever made besides her dad, so it's understandable why she put her on a pedestal. and if falin knows about her father- which i bet she does after over a decade of friendship- then it becomes even more painful. because she's supposed to understand, right? how marcille doesn't want to be left alone? how fucked up it is to leave in a hurry, without any regard to marcille's feelings, without a word, without even the knowledge that falin is alive and well? i mean, do you think falin even thought about sticking a note on her desk before rushing out the window? so then, how many days had passed until falin sent her a letter? how agonizing it was for marcille to wait for some sign that her best friend is still out there? so of course it can't be falin's choice. it's that brother of hers that made her do this, made marcille go through this terrifying experience.

but it was falin's choice. she did this of her own accord, even if only because she had to prioritize her own brother at that moment. and when falin died in the first chapter, leaving marcille behind again- she hurt her worse than ever, and marcille refused to accept it again. but at some point she had to- she had to realize it was falin's choice to leave her like this, and she had to accept how much pain that caused her. she had to, in order to also accept that because of this, she found joy and meaning in things and people she otherwise would've never thought could become so dear to her. and it's a step in the direction, i think, of separating falin from her own idealized viewpoint. she's her everything, the person marcille always dreamed of having by her side and maybe didn't even believe she could actually find after losing her dad. but she's also just meat and skin and bones, and a soul that may never come back. she's not bound to her. but she'll always be a part of her, from the memory of rearranging her bones to the taste of her flesh in her mouth. in short, i think farcille would be pretty similar to marcille's parents in the way it would take a few more years until they can fully understand and appreciate one another. falin needs to grow on her own, marcille too. and they will have to discover each other again, learn and accept these versions of themselves they don't know as well as they used to. loving again and again. anyways yeah i love them

[believingispowerfulmagic]

Miracles Can Happen

Summary: On July 16, 2013, Regina Mills and her son Henry boarded Storybrooke Airlines Flight 815 from Orlando to New York. Robin Locksley boarded the same flight. During the flight, a moment of bad turbulence rattles the passengers. But it gets worse when they land and find out that they’ve somehow flown five years into the future.

Now the passengers must navigate a world that has moved on without them and find where they belong in it. While they started as strangers, Robin and Regina soon find themselves relying on each other as they try to figure out what happened to them. And as they do, they start to wonder if maybe it all happened for a reason.

Chapter 1: FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Chapter 7: A Beach Day

FFN | AO3 | Wattpad

Excerpt:

"So, what do you want to do today?" Regina asked Henry, setting a plate full of eggs and bacon in front of him.

Henry shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, we could get some back to school shopping out of the way," Regina suggested. It was getting closer to the start of the school year and she knew it was going to be difficult for him to go back to a class full of kids who were all younger than him while his friends were in high school. She wanted him to have everything he needed to look good and be prepared.

"I don't want to go shopping," Henry grumbled. "It's too nice out."

She sighed, knowing he had a point. "Well, then, do you have any ideas about what to do outside?"

"How about the beach?" Robin suggested, entering the kitchen. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I thought I'd help."

"That's okay," Regina replied, glad someone had an idea. She turned to her son. "What do you think?"

Henry perked up. "I think the beach sounds like fun."

"Alright," she said, smiling. "Rockaway or Coney Island?"

"Coney Island," he replied. "We can do the boardwalk as well!"

She nodded. "But first, you need to finish your breakfast."

Henry grinned, eagerly eating his eggs now. She sipped her coffee as Robin joined them with a bowl of cereal. "Do you want to join us?" she asked him.

"Yeah, Robin," Henry replied. "You should come."

Robin grinned. "I would love to."

"Would Roland be able to come too?" Henry asked before shoveling another forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Careful how much you're putting in your mouth," she warned him before glancing at Robin. She knew that she was still a sore spot between him and Marian and that was limiting what he could do with his son.

Robin shook his head, wiping his mouth. "He has preschool and it's too short notice to pull him out. Maybe another day."

"Okay," Henry said, turning back to his breakfast.

Once he was done, Regina sent him upstairs to get changed. She placed her hand on Robin's arm. "I'm sorry," she said.

He looked up at her, frowning. "For what?"

"The whole mess with Marian," she replied. "I hate that I fucked things up for you."

"No, that's not your fault," he insisted.

She gave him a look. "You don't need to protect me. We talked about this and agreed I made a mess."

"We agreed you overstepped," Robin reminded her. "But this is now on Marian. She acknowledges that you had a point but is still just lashing out."

"And you're suffering, not me. That's not fair," she told him.

He shrugged. "I'm pretty sure these things aren't supposed to be fair."

"That doesn't make it right," she reminded him.

"Well, no," he agreed. "But it also doesn't make it your problem. Don't worry about it."

She sighed. "Easier said than done."

He nodded. "I know. I worried about you when you were going through your issues with David."

"You were?" she asked, surprised.

"I was," he replied. "It took a lot for me not to come over here and deck him."

She chuckled, touched by his desire to protect her. "Well, I'm glad you didn't. That would've been a headache you didn't need."

"You think he would've pressed charges?" Robin asked.

"He's a cop," she told him. "So most likely, yes."

He winced. "Okay. Glad I didn't then."

"Me too," she replied, standing. "Anyway, I'm going to go get ready for the beach. I guess we'll leave in about twenty minutes?"

"That sounds good," he said, standing as well. He reached out and took her hand. "And thanks for letting me come."

She smiled, giving his hand a squeeze. "We're happy to have you. You're family now, whether you like it or not."

"Then it's a good thing I like it," he told her before releasing her hand. He left the kitchen, no doubt to get ready.

Regina cleared off her bowl and went to the kitchen, trying to ignore the flutters in her stomach at his statement. She had no romantic interest in Robin. They both were coming out of a relationship that had ended in disaster and both needed to heal their broken hearts. And they were also trying to piece their lives together after the same disaster that had destroyed their relationships.

A disaster that still remained unexplained. It was likely they would never get any answers and Regina wondered if they would truly be able to move on without them.

She pushed that thought aside. Today was supposed to be a fun day with her son and Robin. And that was all she was going to focus on.

[majaloveschris]

Maja I think I understand why some people believe this marriage is PR but from my point of view it's just people's way to try to cope with the fact that Chris is not the man they thought he was, so they try to paint it like he was "forced" to be in this relationship like he's not a millionaire who can do whatever he wants with his life...see I could write an entire essay about "why this makes sense" but I honestly think it wouldn't matter 'cause people will believe what they want to believe, I guess once the rose colored glasses are off people will finally see the obvious reality in front of them which is, he married a younger woman just like most man in Hollywood and he's happy with his choice otherwise he wouldn't have married her, and he's talking about his marriage and showing off his ring at every opportunity because he wants everybody to know that he is a married man, that's why all the articles about the wedding and so on...now I don't know how long this relationship is going to last due to the big age difference, only time will tell.

I see where you are coming from, and I agree that one of the reasons why it's so hard for some people to believe in this being real is because it would be hard to accept that he is okay with their behavior or that he is just like them.

However, I find it simply impossible that he would've been able to keep his true side hidden. And I don't care how good Disney's PR team is; there is now a way, in my opinion, that he would've been able to act like a whole different person for the last 20+ years, every time, in every situation. I know we don't know him personally, but I think his being racist or antisemitic would've made quite a buzz. And he wouldn't have friends or wouldn't have dated someone if he despised something in them; that is a really determining attribution to the person they are.

If there is a contract, he is indeed "forced" to be with her if he doesn't want to have its consequences, and I'm not talking about paying a certain amount of money, but other things too, which I won't mention since I don't want to give ideas. He could've been, however, pressured into this PR shitshow by his team for whatever reasons. If it's PR and if there is a contract, then yeah, he was stupid to get involved, but that is Hollywood, and people have done way worse things for roles or money than being involved in a PR relationship. So yeah, if it's fake, he was stupid to sign anything or to think it's a good idea.

What you don't understand is that most people have bigger problems with her than her age. See, their age when they met (23; 39) is problematic since she was in her early 20s, and if there wasn't any other problem with her, maybe I would also be fixated on their age gap. But the biggest problem, and why a lot of people don't support their relationship, is her and her friends' behavior. Their antisemitic, Nazi-supporting, fatshaming words and their immaturity are the biggest problems. People (women and men both) get married to younger or older people every single day, and while I don't agree with most of those, here we have much bigger problems.

But why does he want people to know it this much? Why? Why does a relatively private guy need this much buzz around his relationship when he hasn't felt the need for it for years? What are they trying to prove? That they are legit? Or that they are happy?

Considering everything that has happened and how they look when they are around each other, I'd rather believe this is fake than that they are happy together or that he is like them.

[yumedoca]

Heres a ransdom thought experiment

Yoy are now rumiko takashi writing UY , what is a story beat youd chamge or just a story youd like to read as you have control of the characters

Hai there, hope you're doing great!!

Yay, I love questions like these!! Thank you for the ask anon and here we go ;)

Ryunosuke. Just mostly Ryunosuke, haha. I've never actually found her dad's joke of preventing Ryu from getting what she wants funny and it was more irksome than anything, and it sucked cuz Ryunosuke's great! But what's worse is that she never gets a proper resolution about her feminine wants (even though that was the main point of her character in the first place) and it was just dropped and ignored in the end, so it never felt like her character got a true resolution. I feel like a good way to write Ryu would be to keep the relationship with her dad the same for the most of her story. And then in her last few chapters have them talk out and be in proper understanding for once. Shigeru Chiba, Mr. Fujinami's remake voice actor (and Megane in the old anime), states his view on his character in his character comments:

(Also Shout-out to Shigeru Chiba, he's awesome. He's just so great lol, literally the guy ever.)

And the idea of Ryu's dad raising Ryunosuke to be male because he doesn't want her to leave him is a great idea!! I'd make it like that's the true reason why he does it and somehow they're pushed into a corner where he's forced to admit it to Ryu. He has shown to genuinely care at least a little about her (I'm pretty sure he protected her from the boys of class 2-4 that time she lost her chest wrap) despite how he usually acts. So have them reconcile, have Ryunosuke say she'll stay with her dad if he accepts her for who she is and have him accept her feminity as a result and allow her to act and dress the way she wants. Boom! Problem solved, both sides win and Ryu's dad is made more likeable while Ryunosuke's story has a proper conclusion.

RyuNagi. It's still about Ryunosuke, I know lmao. Anyway, I've discussed how I feel about the ship and other stuff about it here (read it if you haven't so what I say about them would make more sense). It's a bit all over the place discussing various stuff about them but I'll just copy-paste the bit where I talk about how it could be done better..

It had so much potential. Nagisa had to be introduced much earlier and they should've had more chapters together. Maybe, they could've made Nagisa and Ryunosuke discuss and bond over their stupid upbringing, maybe Nagisa could feel bad for Ryu, after hearing how much she wants to be a proper woman and how much her dad stopped her from enjoying herself and maybe help her enjoy things that her dad didn't allow her to (Christmas, Chocolates, etc.) and Ryunosuke fully falls for him because of his kindness... Then their romance would've felt even more natural.

I think the RyuNagi growth would take place before Ryunosuke's reconciling with her dad in case you want a timeline and by that time Ryu would properly be into Nagisa so the romance between them still stays, even after her being effeminate.

Introduce Inaba a bit earlier and give him another storyline with Shinobu. I feel like we still don't know much about Inaba and his dynamic with Shinobu entirely and that's like my only issue about Inaba and InaShino really, so have a storyline after they started dating where we can see how they bounce off each other and truly show that they're perfect couple, idk I just want more cute stuff for them, maybe Shinobu stands up for Inaba when the other bunnies bully him, maybe we get to know more about Inaba's interests and hobbies and maybe we can have the gag stuff be silly interactions between them and maybe Ataru (and Lum) spying on them or something idk.

Give great characters who don't have much spotlight what they need. Oyuki is a good example of this since she appears the least among Lum's alien friends. I saw someone online state that Kurama should've been brought back later on, instead of just disappearing, and could've attempted to mate with Tobimaro or Shingo; and I totally agree with it.. For the former, it could worked as an Asuka plotline and could've been a great arc and for the latter, it could be chaotic since Shingo doesn't know how to respect women. These two are the main examples but there may be others..

And that's all that comes to mind now. These are like the major, main ones and there might be others but they're probably incredibly minor or I just forgor about them..