#or outside of it. and it gives more to her feeling so connected to Henry quickly like there are threads there that could work nicely if

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Obviously mstief’s whole thing about confirming Blue as biracial a few years post the series being finished was… bombastic side eye. But I will say that the detail of the Vancouver crowd being mostly poc / ‘diverse’ students of Aglionby and Blue bonding with and feeling kinship with them she hasn’t experienced before is an interesting note through that lense.

[flying-fangirls]

Watching my little (half) joke post after Part 43 spark some discussion has made me think a lot over this for the past couple days, and I think I've pinpointed my main frustration with the women of Malevolent overall.

Simply put: the women of Malevolent do not get to have a voice.

Yes, literally they aren't voice-acted by Harlan. But I don't really want to get into that side of the topic here. I'm saying figuratively women do not have their own voice in this show.

Who is Bella outside of her relationships to Arthur or Daniel? Did she like music too, was she sarcastic or sincere, what was her biggest goal in life? Who is Faroe outside of how she makes Arthur feel? Who are Anna and Amanda outside of their connections to the King in Yellow? And I don't mean just a quick sentence-long description about them, I mean a genuine in-depth answer to "Who are they?"

Secondary characters that are men/male-aligned (Noel, Oscar, Collins, etc) have a strong sense of individual personality and motivations, enough that you could get a decent amount of discussion/analysis about them if you wanted. You can't get that kind of character discussion for the women if you tried because the show simply does not provide it for you, no matter how integral to the plot their characters (or concept of a character) may be. Heck, Shub set up the plot of this whole show and yet she's so nothing of a character that she's practically just a name to throw around when it sounds cool.

Almost everything we know about the women comes from men's perspectives, either through their side of relationships or through quick mentions of the women without any real substance to who those women really were. Other people have suggested the idea of finding a journal or a few more letters from Amanda to give her character more time/attention-- something similar could be done with any of the other women too, anything that lets their personalities/unique motivations be directly shown instead of vaguely mentioned or hinted at by men.

(I'll admit that I do think Marie is written more along the lines of secondary characters like Oscar, and I'm pretty happy with her character! But the fact that she's the only woman I can think of to break that pattern is... not great)

And yes I know that there are men in this show that also do not get to have their own voice (Roland, Parker, Henry, etc.) That's expected! All stories have characters that act as collateral or tools to move the plot/main characters forward. But when every single female character serves as a plot device with no strong sense of unique self, while only some of the male characters get that same treatment and the rest get plenty of personality and individuality-- that's when it becomes a problem.

The women of Malevolent get names (or, some of them do), they get roles and influence within the plot, and a few of them get small glimpses of what could be a personality if you look for it. But the women of Malevolent do not get a voice. We can see the vague shape of them on the edges of the show, but we never get the chance to hear them. And they never get the chance to speak themselves, to be heard.

I love Malevolent-- really, truly love this show. Which is why it's only so much more frustrating for me when it overall struggles to give its female characters the same respect as its male characters. Again, I'm not talking about the voice-acting, and I completely skipped the expanded cast of female characters (the wraith, the widow, the witch, etc.) and my concerns with what kinds of women are represented in the show and how they're presented. This post is really just me trying to express a genuine frustration that I (and at least a few other people) have with the writing of this show, and try to explain why those frustrations exist.

I promise this is NOT meant to be an attack on anyone and I'm not trying to deny other perspectives on this topic. This is also NOT an attack on Harlan or the podcast as a whole. I'm just trying to share some thoughts here.

[divergentmisfit-fandomsblog]

There’s something that isn’t often spoken about with grief. A phenomenon that happens that many feel often ashamed of afterwards. So I’ve put it in a one shot of this scene at a risk of getting cancelled for talking about it.

*** Trigger Warning ⚠️ Bereavement, Grief, Confusing, Seeking Comfort Whilst Grieving.***

Emma’s tears spilled over and rolled down her cheeks. Lip quivering, her eyes searched for Regina’s support knowing that of all the people most likely to understand her, Regina would, as she’d also experienced the loss of a lover.

Walking over to Emma, Regina pulled her into a hug, and Emma was finally able to give herself the permission to sob. Her knees buckled at the emotional release, causing the pair to collapse onto the floor whilst still holding onto each other.

Emma’s wailing cries became muffled, as she turned her face into Regina’s coat, shielding herself and her pain from her family.

Holding Emma close, Regina gently rocked her while she sobbed, and the sensation of being held and having the space to release for once, made Emma’s cries louder as her emotions overwhelmed her.

Hearing her parents’ familiar footsteps as Snow & David made their way over, Emma turned her face into Regina further. Regina’s body went rigid, shifting a little while shaking her head. Emma could only imagine the glare Regina was giving to her parents, but right now she didn’t care.

“No!” Regina asserted. “Let her release the pain.”

“With all due respect Regina, she’s my daughter…”

“With all due respect, Snow, you’ve never lost your husband for more than a minute. I know this pain all too well. So allow me to comfort her in the way that I know she needs to be comforted. In the way that I needed to be but never received. Regina’s tone was soft and her boundary firm. “In fact, all of you please leave.”

“Emma, honey? Do you want us to leave?” Snow asked quietly, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

Emma couldn’t speak, for her painful cries prevented words from escaping her. She nodded as she sobbed and held onto Regina with a tighter grip.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll go.” Snow relented.

“We love you, and we’ll just be right outside when you’re ready.” David assured, ushering Snow and everyone else out of the door, closing it behind them to give Emma and Regina some privacy.

“It’s okay Emma, I’ve got you.” Regina whispered, rocking her gently, one hand on the back of her head and the other around Emma’s waist. The guttural cries that came from Emma the moment she knew she was safe to release her devastation weren’t just the cries of losing Killian, but also losing Neal, and Walsh, and Graham. All of them deceased, and she hadn’t had time to process anything of the pain she’d been holding onto for them all. It had all bubbled to the surface and spilled over onto Regina’s coat. The were no words that would comfort her, no words that would soothe or give any sense of justice to the loss she was mourning. Nothing would fix it. She just needed to be loved and held.

“Just let it all out, Emma. You’re safe with me. I got you.” Regina spoke softly, and for once, Emma felt like she’d been given exactly what she needed in the moment she needed it, and the focus was all on her for a change. Not saving anyone else, and not even being rescued herself. Just having that space to feel and process actually in the moment while having someone she cares for holding her. It meant everything, because the person she’d tried to get to be that person for her, was now gone.

Exhaustion set in. She had cried more than she’d ever allowed herself to in her lifetime. Lulled by the comfort of Regina’s embrace, she could fall asleep right there in Regina’s arms.

“You did good Emma.” Regina whispered, kissing Emma’s head like she would have done had she been comforting Henry.

That little kiss felt good. Too good. Way better than she was feeling right now, and the urge to seek that connection confused Emma. Mourning the loss of the person she’d tried building a forever life with, and yet here she was wanting Regina to kiss her forehead again. Lifting her face from Regina’s lapel, Emma glanced up at her, searching for that sense of connection as her eyes faltered to Regina’s plum coloured lips, and that little scar she’d always secretly admired. Regina returned her glance, eyes meeting she offered Emma a soft, empathetic, reassuring smile .

“Though this will be feeling like it’s the hardest pain you’ve ever endured, I promise you, you will recover and build a life around this grief. It never leaves you, but I promise you that you can and will build a life around it.” Regina whispered, as she moved Emma’s wet blonde locks off the side of her face gently with her hand, she tucked the strands behind Emma’s ear.

Emma’s hand found Regina’s and she held it to her face and closed her eyes briefly, comforted by Regina’s delicate touch. As Emma opened her eyes once more she noticed that Regina had been crying too. Crying quietly as she held Emma through the agonising grief. Regina’s empathy isn’t often acknowledged, mostly because she doesn’t like other’s seeing her as weak. But in this light, she never looked so strong. And Emma needed that right now. The urge to seek an intimate connection grew stronger within her, the silence between them grew loud, and everything faded around Emma as her eyes faltered between Regina’s lips and her eyes. Regina’s gaze followed Emma as they moved in closer. Emma couldn’t hold back. Her lips pressed against Regina’s, lingering for a brief moment until Regina relaxed and reciprocated the affection.

Deepening the kiss, their mouths opened a little, taking turns to caress each other’s bottom lip. Their tongues delicately embracing yielded a hum from Regina, which only spurred Emma’s enthusiasm. But before Emma had the chance to take this further, Regina shook her head against Emma’s lips and stopped the kiss.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

“No I’m sorry, I mean… I…”

“Shushhh it’s okay. I understand. When you lose someone it’s natural to seek the connection that you’re missing from them in someone else.”

Emma bowed her head and averted her gaze, but Regina’s hand found her chin and gently guided her back to face her and face the truth.

“You’ve done nothing wrong here, you understand?” Regina paused waiting for Emma’s confirmation, and reluctantly Emma nodded. “This is not a rejection. This is me protecting you from yourself right now.”

Emma sighed, and nodded before accepting what Regina was saying. And she had to admire her for looking out for her, yet she was confused as to why Regina reciprocated the kiss initially, especially as she’s with Robin. What does it mean? In any case, Emma couldn’t stay there in the Underworld and figure this out with Regina. They had to go home to Storybrooke.

“Thank you.” Emma eventually said. “And I’m sorry I kissed you.”

“Don’t be sorry. Like I said, it’s natural to seek connection in others after losing connection with someone else. It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just part of the confusion grieving can do to someone. Now, are you feeling ready to leave?”

Emma looked back to the elevator door where she’d left Killian, then back to Regina and nodded. As Emma rose to her feet she offered Regina a hand and Regina took her offer, clasping Emma’s hand as she got up from the floor.

Noticing the mess of her lapel, Regina glanced back at Emma, with an arched brow. “I’ll send you the dry cleaning bill.” She sassed.

Emma knew that she didn’t mean that. It was just Regina’s way of putting her armour on, her Madam Mayor persona, to face the world again. As Regina headed for the door, Emma turned back once more to the elevator doors.

“Goodbye Killian.” She whispered, before turning to leave with Regina.

[waddingham]

was looking at some very old posts of mine and i just. when i finished s2 of ted lasso i was certain that a) ted would be going back to kansas and that b) ted and rebecca would not end up together on our screens. and i didn't have a problem with either of those things bc i was certain they'd be done with the same thoughtfulness that was present in s1 and most of s2. and i ended up being right about both things but so totally wrong about the execution of both??? yeah okay i hear you there was a three season arc, there was a plan, but wrt s3 you cannot convince me that plan consisted of anything that happened outside of "ted goes home". and even that decision felt shoved to the wayside.

i was dead certain that teds decision to go back was going to be informed by a deep exploration of ted and his past and his trauma and how the loss of his dad affects his own sense of fatherhood, that it was going to be ted's season entirely and would be as heart wrenching and uplifting as the rest of his story — so much so that by the time he decided he needed to go back, that we'd all be so on board. we'd all feel "oh of course he has to go back, look how much henry needs him and how much ted needs henry, how deep his fear of not being there for his son goes". why didn't we get that why did ted feel like a supporting character in his own show in his own SEASON why didn't the deeply traumatic event that informs almost all of ted as a character ever come up when it's so relevant to all of this why!!!! i need a 30 page essay from each of the ted lasso writers and a week long conference with js to explain it to me like im 5!!!!! am I stupid!!!

right anyway

when it comes to ted and rebecca i have less gripes but still am so baffled at the number of parallels drawn and connections made and support given to say "yes they're kind of intrinsically tied" for ZERO acknowledgement of it? which brings me back to the first point because that journey for ted could've leant itself so nicely to rebecca returning the kind of support to ted that he gave her? which in turn could've added a lovely extra layer to rebecca's story by seeing her find additional comfort and confidence in her own ability to support someone else and give love? it all could've woven together so neatly?? like??? am i stupid????? whether they ever hit the romance threshold or not (setting aside the fact of just how many and how often they tried to invoke rom coms but went "oh ew romance? no" when given a perfect opportunity to say something timeless but refreshing about second chance loves) continuing to see them grow together the way they had already accentuated through the whole rest of the show would've been more than enough for me personally. even if there was a heartbreaking parting it would've felt......earned? it would've felt right? just as fair to the viewer after absorbing all these things as it was to the story?

anyway......i feel like I'm missing something every time I think about it

[artistic-endchamber]

OC Profile -- Black Clover 🍀

[[ Grahhh I've had Giana For so long- I even have a blog for her!! But for whatever reason I've been putting this off for a while. So, Without further ado, My main Black Clover OC - Giana Silverstone's profile! ]]

Giana Silverstone

--

Basic Information

Giana Silverstone

Blood Type: O negative

Age: 16-18 (As the series goes on)

Birthplace & Current Residence: Clover Kingdom, and Clover Kingdom

Occupation: Magic Knight of the Golden Dawn

Affinity: Shadow Magic

Height: 165.1 cm (5'5)

DOB: November 20th

Sex, Gender Identity, and Sexuality: AFAB, Demi-Girl (She/They) , and Bisexual

Voice Claim: Kyouko Hori (From HoriMiya)

Her Grimoire is a stitched up rose cover book.

Giana also owns a pet rabbit named Loofy

Personality

Giana is a very sassy but sweet person.  She’s always quick to give snarky and absolutely hilarious remarks but she always stays loyal and helps out whenever she can. She is a hard worker, and will always push others up. However, she only lets those she is close with into her world.

Likes: Giana likes to read, study, train, and Draw. She likes her personal space and lots of Peace and quiet. When she’s feeling anxious, she likes to hold her pet rabbit for comfort.

Dislikes: She dislikes over dramatic people, and people who obsess over things and people they don’t even know about (AKA Yuno’s fanclub). She’s also scared of change, due to her adjustment disorder.

Appearance

At the start of the series, Giana has Long, Red hair. Soon after meeting and having a critical moment with Yuno, she decides to make a drastic decision and cut her hair off.

Short, and fluffy red hair that is styled into a wolf cut when Giana actually puts the effort into looking good.

Weight: 132 lbs

Height: 165.1 cm (5'5)

She has an athletic build to some extent, but also a little more on the pear body-type.

Hazel-brown eyes and a pale skin tone, leading to her Nose and ears being visibly red whenever the situation calls for it.

She wears a half-black and half-white dress underneath her Golden Dawn robe, and pairs it with her half-black and half-white combat boots.

Modifications to her Body: She has a septum piercing that she did herself when she was younger (Brave, I know), and her right ear also has the upper chunk dangerously bitten off. (Lore, am I right!)

Skills

Her Speed level Is off the charts, and it grants her brain the ability to think fast and adapt. When her severe adjustment disorder doesn't get in the way, she's able to be quick about the changes she makes to her plans. She's also very agile and skilled in Hand-to-hand combat, and has the ability to hold her own in a fight even without magic. Her witty and adaptive skills are what caused Captain Vangeance to give her the task of creating the mission plans for the golden dawn before she was put on Yuno's dispatch team. 

— 

Background

Giana Silverstone is a noble born to house Silverstone. Her family derives off of the Silvas so she has many connections to the main 3 families of Royalty in the Clover Kingdom. Giana was the youngest of the main  Silverstone family — which consisted of Adeline Silverstone, (The mother); Henry Silverstone, (The father); Mary Silverstone, (The eldest heir and daughter); and Giana. 

Everyone in Gianas family is known for possessing purely Elemental abilities at heart. Her father possessed Water Magic, and her mother possessed Ice Magic. Even her sister, Mary, possessed snow magic — So it was a humongous shock to find that not only did Gianas grimoire not have a 3 leaf clover on it.. but she also discovered that she had shadow magic. 

Rumors spread like wildfire, people began accusing Gianas mother of cheating and so on; Giana was forbidden from playing with her sister (who was drastically deemed as a prodigy for getting into the Magic knights at an early age) and interacting with the outside world. She became a beacon of terror; as her parents decided to make her a black sheep to protect their own dignity. They claimed she was a curse, a gift from the devil and forsaken due to her disgusting shadow magic. 

Giana was resented and treated like trash. They would run her through tests and training and torment her to “rid her of the devil”, and one of these sessions was what led to her right ear being bitten off. 

Giana never ran away; but took the magic Knight test on her own, and a year earlier than most people, just to join the golden dawn and get away from the horrible persona her family had created for her. At this point, Giana had already grown her hair out to atleast live up to her parents’ expectations on her looks. 

Giana goes years without using her magic unless she’s instructed to but doctors and scientists, hoping that people wouldn’t resent her if they didn’t know. This leads to her hating to be put on missions, and resenting her own magic enough to not know much about it at all. 

After a fateful encounter with Yuno on a mission, where he yells at her mid-battle about how she’s “wasting her magic” and that “there are people with no magic out there” she begins to change drastically. And because of this, Yuno is the first person she trusts, one of the people she bears her heart and soul to.

—

Spells

offensive spells -

 Shadow control magic: Poisoned Shadow latch

Giana uses her shadow magic to hook onto her opponents’ shadow, and control them. This is usually a last resort as it takes up much mana. 

Shadow Creation Magic: Aucillia’s Bo Staff 

Giana forms a Bo staff (Monk Staff) out of her shadow magic and uses it to fight. This staff can extend into tentacles on either side, and can also morph into a Scythe.

Shadow Spirit Magic: Aucillias Bow and Arrow

Giana Uses her spirit dive (Merging with her Shadow spirit, Inei) and in that form has enough mana to create a bow and never ending arrows to supply it. These arrows have the ability to drain mana from their target. 

defensive spells -

Shadow protection magic: Protective shadow dome

Encovers ither a chosen person or a chosen area in a shadow dome ; with an adjustability of how thick the shadow mist is around the user. It can be used as a force field, or as a confusion factor for anyone who enters. 

healing spell -

 Shadow Magic: Mana restoring shadow cells

Infuses some of Gianas mana into a different person to heal their body by creating shadow clones of cells and helping them perform Mitosis faster.

binding spell - 

Shadow binding magic: Binding tentacles 

Giana uses her shadow magic to create tentacles and pull at her far away targets; she usually pairs this with a punch LMFAO

Mana Zone - 

Mana zone: Aucillias Graveyard 

The field gets shrouded in mana draining Shadow mist, that makes Gianas opponent delirious. It’s is also a depiction of a haunted graveyard filled with many flowers.

~~

OTHER REFERENCES!

~

^ Above Art Made by @sketchist-art & @Yukiblob !!

[tailsbeth-writes]

💙(turquoise, I didn't see it) and/or 💛

I had way too much fun with this AU, maybe I'll come back to it in the future. Find it on Ao3 here 🩵

‘When I said bring me to your dungeon, I was talking about the sexy kind.’ Alex declares as he stops in the stairs. Henry’s in the doorway, Alex thinks he looks smaller than usual, like he’s hunching. It seems unnatural in comparison to his princely posture. Henry bites his lip, looks behind him into the room and then back to Alex. There’s hesitation, Alex wants to pull the words that are threatening to spill from Henry’s lips.

‘Maybe I’ll take you to the sex dungeon later…’ Henry lets out a shallow chuckle, before his tone turns darker.

‘But before I bring you in, you must promise to never speak of this to anyone. Not your sister or parents. Not even Nora, even if she tries to drag it out of you.’

Alex almost trips over a step, his body automatically backing away. His hand grips the railing tightly. He gulps and he swears he can see Henry watching his Adam's apple bob. Henry steps forward and offers his hand with a smile. Alex studies his eyes, there’s something there he doesn’t see very often outside of their sexcapades if he’s honest; excitement. Alex takes the final couple of steps and takes Henry’s hand.

‘Okay, I promise.’

‘Good, you’ll see why I asked in a moment. This way.’

Henry guides Alex through the doorway, it’s pitch black despite the light from the hallway. It’s like there’s something shielding it from getting through when he looks, there’s just a void of dark grey.

‘Just a moment, stand still.’

Henry drops Alex’s hand, and he instantly feels off balance. His breathing quickens, he focuses on the footsteps he prays are Henry’s.

‘You might want to close your eyes for a moment, it will help adjust you to the light.’

Henry’s voice echoes straight into Alex’s ears and he finds himself oddly soothed, as if someone put a blanket around his shoulders. He closes his eyes as instructed

‘And let there be light… Okay, you can open your eyes now.’

When Henry asked if he wanted to see something off the beaten track, less touristy, this is not where Alex saw them going. He opens his eyes to so much colour. The ceilings are draped with chiffon that somehow sparkles without Alex moving, the stone floor seems normal until Alex releases where his feet stand, the stones are in fact glowing. There’s shelves filled to the brim with books, are some of the titles… moving? Like text on a news ticker. On the other side of the long thin room is a wooden table with a camping stove and cabinets that look fit to burst. Alex peers through the glass panels to see jars of varying colours, some of which Alex wasn’t in a rush to find out about. At the end of the room there are targets with lots of tiny holes. Alex turns back to Henry whose shoulders are tensed up as he waits on Alex’s reaction.

‘So this was… this was, um… Yeah, I don’t have words.’

Henry’s eyes flash panic until Alex gives him a big goofy grin. He loosens up as he joins Alex by the table, his hands lean back on it.

‘Gran always thought my mum married beneath her. Dad was a low life actor, a peasant to her essentially. Funny thing is, it was my mum who was marrying into power that wasn’t even in Gran’s wildest daydreams.’

‘So I am connecting the dots right… We’re talking like magic powers? Or is this some elaborate scheme you and Percy have cooked up?’

Henry barks out a laugh which does things to Alex’s tummy. More than normal actually, it feels like he’s soaking in Henry’s happiness. He smiles at Henry, his eyes fluttering a moment. Henry straightens up.

‘Shit, I should have warned you about that. First of all, this isn’t a prank. My dad was a mage. And a rather powerful one at that. Secondly, this room works as an echo chamber for power and well, I seem to be rather gifted when it comes to emotions. At least other people’s emotions.’

Alex thinks of the feeling of calm he got before the lights came on, Henry was looking after him. He takes another spin, gazing around the room before he gathers Henry’s hands in his.

‘Thank you for showing me this, baby.’

‘Thank you for making me feel like I could. It’s been too long.’

They smile at each other and lean in for a chaste kiss. Alex giggles when they back out of it. Henry cocks an eyebrow at him.

‘Well if this is your regular dungeon, I can’t wait to see what the sex dungeon looks like!’

Alex breaks out into laughter, feeling like he’s somewhat high and Henry slaps his chest lightly while rolling his eyes.

‘Such a bloody rascal…’

[amournoir]

ok first, i just wanna say i absolutely love your writing and i'm so excited for you to write henry characters! second, is it okay if i request a fluff prompt for #8d and #8e for Napoleon Solo?

i'm sorry for asking for 2 of them 🙈 xx

Fluff Prompt | N.S {request}

℘ prompt — neck kiss (#8d) / shoulder kiss (#8e)

℘ warning — none, just fluff

℘ pairing — napoleon solo x f!reader

℘ count — 1.1k

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow through the open concept living room and kitchen, Y/N sat at the counter, her eyes fixed on Napoleon Solo, her charming and dashing boyfriend, as he gracefully moved around the kitchen, preparing a delightful dinner for the two of them. Napoleon's culinary skills were as impressive as his spy tactics, and watching him chop vegetables and sauté ingredients filled Y/N's heart with both admiration and affection. The aroma of the sizzling food enveloped the room, teasing her senses and making her stomach growl with anticipation.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Napoleon took a spoonful of the simmering sauce and walked over to where Y/N was seated. "Care to taste and give your approval, my love?" he asked, extending the spoon towards her.

Y/N gladly obliged, her lips parting to let the rich flavors dance on her tongue. She nodded approvingly, a contented smile forming on her lips. "Mmm, it's perfect," she praised, earning a pleased grin from Napoleon.

"Excellent," he replied, leaning in to place a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I aim to please."

But Napoleon wasn't satisfied with just a kiss on her cheek. As he retreated to the kitchen, he couldn't resist the temptation to return to Y/N's side. He sauntered back into the living room, his eyes never leaving hers, and without a word, he extended his hand, inviting her to stand with him.

Intrigued and excited, Y/N rose from her seat, slipping her hand into Napoleon's. With the soft melody playing in the background, he pulled her close, and they swayed to the rhythm of their hearts. His hand rested on the small of her back, guiding her movements with effortless grace.

The world outside seemed to fade away as they danced, locked in each other's gaze. Napoleon's touch was electrifying, sending tingles down her spine, and Y/N found herself melting into his embrace. As their bodies pressed closer, she felt his warm breath on her neck, and a shiver ran through her.

He couldn't resist trailing soft kisses along her neck and shoulder, and Y/N couldn't suppress the soft gasps that escaped her lips. The intimacy of the moment heightened, their hearts beating in unison. Napoleon's lips found hers, gentle yet passionate, and they shared a lingering kiss that spoke of their deep connection.

Their slow dance turned into a dance of passion, the flames of desire slowly igniting between them. But this was more than just physical attraction; it was the intensity of their love and the trust they had in each other that made every touch and every kiss meaningful.

As they swayed to the music, their souls seemed to merge, and the world felt like a whirlwind of emotions. Y/N could feel Napoleon's love for her in every caress, every whisper, and every stolen glance. It was a love that made her heart soar and brought tears of joy to her eyes. They moved as one, perfectly attuned to each other's desires and needs. The steamy atmosphere filled with their shared affection, yet they moved with an unspoken understanding that there was no rush, no need to hurry. This moment was for them alone, to revel in their love and devotion.

Their bodies moved in perfect harmony, a seamless dance of love and affection. Napoleon's arms wrapped around Y/N's waist, holding her close, while her hands rested gently on his broad shoulders. Their steps were graceful, each movement deliberate yet effortless, as they swayed to the soft melody that filled the air.

Y/N's head rested on Napoleon's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, a comforting sound that made her feel secure and cherished. His lips brushed against her forehead, leaving a trail of tender kisses that made her heart flutter.

Their eyes locked, and in that gaze, they communicated without words, their love flowing between them like an unbreakable bond. As they danced, the world around them faded away, leaving only the two of them in their own intimate universe. The room seemed to fill with a warm glow, as if their love radiated like a beacon, enveloping them in a cocoon of affection.

Time seemed to stand still as they danced, lost in the moment and in each other. Each step they took was a testament to their commitment, their devotion, and their unwavering love. In that moment, nothing else mattered but the person in their arms, the one they held so close to their heart. Their love was a dance of tenderness, a symphony of emotions that left them breathless and filled with joy.

The world outside may have been filled with chaos, but in each other's arms, they found peace and serenity. Their dance was a celebration of their love story, a tale written in every movement, every touch, every stolen kiss. With every turn and every dip, they felt their souls intertwining, becoming one in their shared affection. They were lost in the sweetness of the moment, savoring the beauty of their love, as if time itself had granted them this moment of bliss.

Their dance was a testament to the depth of their connection, a dance of love that transcends all boundaries. It was a dance that spoke of a love that would endure any challenge, a love that would last for eternity.

As the song came to an end, they held each other close, unwilling to break the spell they had woven around them. Their hearts beat as one, their breaths mingled, and they knew that in this dance, they had found their forever. In the arms of the one they loved, they found home. And as they gazed into each other's eyes, they knew that every step they took together would be a dance of love, a dance that they would cherish for the rest of their lives.

As the last musical note rang out through the room, Napoleon dipped Y/N slightly, and their eyes locked once more. "I love you," he whispered, his voice tender and sincere.

"I love you Leon," she replied, her voice filled with adoration.

With a smile that could rival the stars, Napoleon lifted Y/N back up and held her close, their foreheads touching. They knew that this dance was just one of many they would share in their journey together, a journey of love, trust, and passion that knew no bounds.

In each other's arms, they found solace and strength, knowing that as long as they had each other, they could conquer any mission life threw their way. And in this intimate moment, they felt more invincible than any spy mission could ever make them feel.

As the night continued to unfold, they savored their dinner together, basking in the warmth of their love and the knowledge that in each other, they had found their home, their safe haven in the chaos of the world. And so, in the tender embrace of each other, they embraced the beauty of the present, cherishing the love that made every moment a masterpiece.

🏷️ taglist:

⤷ @mrs-maximoff-kenner @thatfanficstuff @elijahmikaelsontrash @mxacegrey @thatfictionalwh0re @catmikaelson20 @loverswillowed @sweetwrathoflilith @panic-at-the-fiction @iiskittles16ii @original-siphon @onlyfreds @onlyfredslibrary @imgoingtofreakoutnow @slinthoex @mikaelsonsdeservedbetter @i-love-nora @multiversediaries @decoffinated-vamps @hopester08 @aloneatpeace @hopes-wife @dreamingwithrafe @softcoremaybank @klaustopia  @sweetestdesire @cottontears @cottonreads @buckysbabydoll-x

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[bethanydelleman]

Can the Prices be considered part of the gentry? Mrs. Price was part of it when she was young but what about Mr. Price?

And assuming they're not, does Fanny become gentry when the Bertrams take her in? She keeps her last name and they're set on not raising her like their own daughters so I'm not sure if Fanny was actually adopted or just taken in.

Okay, so as a former Navy Marine Officer (which is distinct from a Naval Officer, think military on a ship), Mr. Price would probably be considered gentry or at least have an entry into the local gentry, but here is the problem: it's not just your birth/profession, you need to act like gentry.

The Prices do not. Mrs. Price does not entertain from her house at all. Yes, Mr. Price's drinking buddies come by, but we are explicitly told that Mrs. Price meets her friends outside after church. Gentry visit each other's houses and sit down inside. We also know she basically doesn't leave the house during the week. So they are not participating in gentry society.

The Bates, poor as they are, do participate though they have trouble reciprocating (they would not be able to host dinners). Mrs. Dashwood actually both hosts and visits, so she is a full participating member of the gentry (though she deliberately establishes a very small circle of friends, probably so she can afford to host properly for a few).

I have a whole post about how complex the bottom section of the gentry seems to be, but I would say here that if the Prices decided to act like gentry, they could be accepted, but they don't and have no real connections, so they probably would not be considered gentry.

As for Fanny, as far as I understand she is not adopted, this whole thing is very informal. Even with Frank Churchill, it's not totally clear if he is legally adopted or just tacitly confirmed to be the heir:

He had only himself to please in his choice: his fortune was his own; for as to Frank, it was more than being tacitly brought up as his uncle’s heir, it had become so avowed an adoption as to have him assume the name of Churchill on coming of age.

Avowed means "stated publicly" but it does not mean "legal" and it seems clear to me in the novel that Frank could still be disinherited (then again, Edward is and he's a real son, so I guess even adoption isn't rock solid...).

Anyway, in raising Fanny, it seems that while she benefits from her uncle's social standing, it does not erase her actual origins. After all, Mary kind of gives Henry the line they will use to introduce Fanny as his wife:

She is niece to Sir Thomas Bertram; that will be enough for the world. (Ch 30)

which does not mention her parents. Better to focus on the rich uncle and not the Price Family.

Lastly, it is not entirely clear if the Ward sisters were gentry, their uncle is a lawyer which might mean a gross, middle-class lawyer who works, not a gentry lawyer (barrister)... However, their former status doesn't really matter, it is far more important where the husband stands in society. While Lady Catherine may feel fancy with the courtesy title she has from being born as an earl's daughter, her marriage into the gentry makes her gentry as far as I understand. The Ward sisters married into the top, middle, and bottom of the gentry, that is where they exist. That is part of the reason why marriage was such a huge choice for women!

[imaginemyreality03]

🚇💜 If you’re not willing to risk your heart for someone you know you’ll lose, what love do you have? 💜🚇

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Read: March 13 -> March 15, 2024

BRA Score: 76/100

Favorite Quote: “…she got off the train and you led with kissing? God, you are the most useless bisexual I have ever met in my life.” - Myla, Pg 168

~~~~~~~~

Book Gist: August moves to NYC on her quest to find a place that fits, with no hope that this is the place. But 3 roommates, a job slinging pancakes, and a one girl on the subway later, she starts seeing things a little differently. Subway Girl, Jane, also happens to be the biggest challenge to her childhood detective skills, as she is trapped on the Q, outside of her time, the 1970’s. With the Q getting shut down for maintenance at the end of August, they only have a few months to figure out how to get Jane unstuck before she disappears, and August is determined to save her… even if that means sending the girl she’s starting to love back to the 70’s.

Tags: Sapphic, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Found Family, Racism, Homophobia, Modern Universe.

~~~~~~~~

Overall review:

Pre-Read:

I tried to read this book back in 2021, and I just couldn’t get into it, the pace and August’s character were not hitting right for me. But that was also before I came out myself, so knowing I am obsessed with Casey McQuiston, I decided to give it another go.

I liked it so much more this time around. I liked the roommates of 6F and the staff at Billy’s more than I liked August and Jane, but that’s fine.

Plot:

The story was a very fun premise and the way it all overlaps historically was just so well structured and revealed. I called a couple connections overall, which always makes me feel good, so bonus points.

Cast:

I love being able to sense hints of other stories in various works by the same author. August has definite ACD vibes, which I love for her. And I really want to see Jane’s reaction to Alex and Henry in the year of our lord (fictionally) 2021.

[majaloveschris]

I live in the NYC area and recently received a local newsletter from my neighborhood showing outdoor summer movies in the local public park.

The reason I’m telling you this is bc something kind of interesting happened. One of the movies they were showing this summer is mrs Harris goes to paris.

In the neighborhood newsletter blurb discussing the movie, they mentioned Lesley manville (the star), AB, and then isabelle huppert.

No mention of Lucas Bravo, Jason isaacs, etc.

It was really bizarre to me bc AB being listed as second billing for a random local newsletter makes little sense to me as she was very clearly not the star or even second star. Lucas B technically should be bigger than her as he has a pivotal role in Emily in Paris which is still going on and hasn’t been canceled, and he was just in a romcom hit with George Clooney and Julia roberts last summer. He’s also a professional model and has been on runways and mag spreads this past year alone.

Ab had WN that got canceled and she didn’t even do any interviews for the second season. She has not been in any large endorsements or gotten any super prestigious roles since, but she did go public with a more famous actor.

If anyone is questioning if the PR is working…there’s your answer. Her name is getting out there and the search algorithm for her name is getting more and more out there as well.

Is any of this due to her own talent and success? (LOL)

Or is it more likely the huge PR boost given to her by someone else’s name?

I think the reason some ppl, esp team real, is doubtful about PR bc AB herself is not doing the legwork to put her name out there for more positive professional recognition. Her very actions/inactions seem to point to her hoping that the PR boost will do the work for her.

Many women who started dating more famous men usually had their own careers or would leverage the association to their professional benefit. Examples: Kaia gerber (mother is supermodel Cindy Crawford, boyfriend is Austin butler), Gigi hadid (already famous in her own right) and whatever her thing is with Leo DiCaprio, Hannah Davis (model) and Derek Jeter, Natalie V (works in the industry) and Henry Cavill. You’ll see most of these women have their own personas and social media and continue to do their own thing outside of being connected to famous men. Even if you feel they dated/married up or are opportunists as well, they still have their own thing going on. They didn’t just go into hiding so all ppl will ever think of is that they’re spending all their time following their man around.

By contrast, the dating rumors began for AB and she immediately pivots to “never being seen” unless it’s to let ppl speculate she’s with him.

She gives the vibes of a person who very much hopes the offers will fall into her lap bc she got her name attached to an A lister. She forgot that she is not marketable by herself and has no IT factor so ppl are still not checking for her. Being pretty on a basic level and attending one fashion show does not make you a star.

I know ATP the discussions on this have hit beyond the point of broken record. But I stand by it - she never wanted to work for fame. She wanted it handed to her, and still does. Her little friends JA and his sister also wanted to reap the benefits by association, and really believed all of their statuses would magically elevate due to their “association” with an A lister.

No wonder CE has spent this entire year mentioning the “industry” and what it makes you do. This was a hint, y’all.

This whole "relationship" definitely gets her name out there. WN was successful, but not enough to give her a name in HW or in America.

I think one of the other really good examples of how big of a boost it is for her can be seen on WN's number. So the official People article came out on November 10, 2022, exactly on the day the show's second season debuted. The first season had never been trending before that. Not when it came out, not when they announced the second season. However, after the announcement, not just the second but even the first season started trending, with the first season in 32 countries and the second season in 70. I've seen that a lot of people have said they only started watching the show because they wanted to see who the woman Chris is dating is. And I will also admit that back in, like, January 2022, I also checked the show because I was interested in who she is.

Obviously, I'm not saying those people didn't like WN or that they just watched two seasons because she is dating him. I'm pretty sure there were people who did it because of that, but I'm also pretty sure there were people who liked the show and the characters, but maybe they didn't even know about it before that. WN is not my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's a bad show. Not at all. But I think the fact that it started trending and that more people started to watch it has to do with their relationship. It has to do a lot, in my opinion.

A lot of Chris fans love them together, support them, and even defend her and their relationship. So yeah, the fact that her name is now connected to his helps her out big time.

It always bugged me that she never really promoted her work. I guess she did a little more when the second season of WN came out, but it wasn't anything special. She also seems reluctant to engage with her fans. They keep tagging her; they write sweet messages for her, but no reaction. Not even a thank-you or anything like that. They were trying so hard to save WN.

I just don't like her or her personality. I mean what we can see from it.

[cabeswaterdrowned]

Was looking up every mention of Aurora in the books for the char study piece I want to write about her and my jaw dropped here because I had been misremembering that “She was the only person who he could not dazzle, and he loved her for it.” line as being a Bluesey quote when it’s about Niall and Aurora… yikes @ myself. But really when you isolate just that line it is very romantic and fits the definition of romance we see for the other main couples. Bluesey Pynch and Jordeclan are all structured as 

character A (Gansey/Adam/Declan) who is a social masker and disconnected from the ‘real them’ to some degree in a lot of interactions with the world around them x character B (Blue/Ronan/Jordan) who in Blue/Ronan’s case especially is very authentic and blunt and fearlessly themselves, that’s a little more complicated with Jordan who also has to perform as a version of Hennessy and then kind of find herself outside of that at the same time she starts her relationship with Declan, but she’s imaginative and creative the way Blue and in a less artistic way Ronan are and that proves an “authentic” contrast in a similar way, and she’s a helpful relationship for Declan in some of the same ways as Bluesey/Pynch.

 So understanding that’s a notion and type of dynamic this verse generally paints as romantic, Niall and Aurora’s relationship being a warped take on the formula is pretty interesting! Niall wants to be with someone who sees the truth of him and wants the truth of him, which was Mor who is also too complicated and sharp-edged for him to understand or to give him the type of love he wants, so he has to craft someone both much sweeter who is a more conventional housewife for him, but she couldn’t be someone who agreed with him 100% of the time because she had to be fundamentally different from him and also provide him with the faintest, most easily controlled glimmer of what he liked about Mor’s challenging nature, without any danger of her actually leaving or overpowering him. So Aurora can contradict him or call him out when she says he’s lying about the way Ronan was born, but she can’t truly Challenge him there’s a difference. I do get the sense from the way the brothers talk about her and the few flashbacks to her in that time she was more dynamic and complex pre Niall’s death than the Aurora we meet in trc present, which makes sense based on the mythology, and I don’t see a reason for her to not have an individual personality the same way Mathew and Jordan do although it would still be comparatively muted by her role. 

But basically, Niall wanting the same thing Gansey/Adam/Declan do but not being willing to actually build a recirprocal connection with someone with autonomy and offer them support too. There’s no Gansey comforting Blue after Persephone passes or Bluesey connecting over their similarly curious natures and wants and strange-loving relationship with Henrietta, and also none of their arguments which are honestly quite integral. If Niall’s… well does Niall have friends probably not, but theoretically if he had a male friend who made a comment like Henry’s very unfortunate r*pe joke in BLLB Aurora’s wouldn’t take Niall to task for putting her in that situation at all she would probably just smile along… None of Adam and Ronan’s conflicts or their viewing each other as equals would be able to occur same for Jordeclan.

I feel like seeing how that desire to have someone unconditionally understand you can be warped to the point of not respecting your partners agency or seeing them as a person outside of what they provide you really puts the main relationships into perspective for how they’re different, is what I meant to say. That’s not to say they’re without flaws (and they would be boring if they were), and I think some of the notion that perfect understanding is possible is one I would have liked to see questioned a little more than it is in canon, because I think these relationships provide the chars with types of understanding they crave and Might know them better than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean said understanding is absolute. As much as I love Bluesey I do think it’s fair to point out there’s sometimes a gap between how much Blue is encouraged by the narrative to understand Gansey and how much he has to reciprocate because of some misogyny and classism in the narrative, so there’s that. Or rather I’d say he reciprocates the understanding but less so when it comes to gendered conflicts. I think the ideal version of the Pynch arc in TD3 would be that it’s meant to challenge the notion we should rely on one person / our partner to always understand us fully by making it clear how terrible their communication has become and the gaps in their understanding related to their contrasting life goals and desires. It would actually be a really fascinating thing to deconstruct with them and if it had panned out I think that storyline could’ve been something truly special, but then either because of an audience feedback loop or just Maggie getting cold feat about some concepts, there’s a major backtracking to actually-love-solves-everything, Like, in isolation Adam telling Ronan that he’s the only Real thing in his life at this point and that’s worth too much to let go of is really romantic …. but then if you truly think about everything in the text around it and where Adam is at this point, and your reading a tad more cynically, you could also say that it reads less as high romance and more as a sunk cost fallac- but I digress the point was that Aurora & Niall’s relationship functioning as a mirror to these protagonist relationships is interesting, and there’s more to be said about the Mor&Niall/Adam&Ronan parallel and how it intersects with the comparison but I don’t have the energy.

(Also worth noting that while comparatives exist the m/m relationship is obviously never going to operate under the same gendered lines as the m/f romances and so any of those comparisons would be imperfect). 

TL;DR Niall and Aurora’s romance is a warped mirror of the protagonists (Bluesey Pynch Jordeclan) romantic dynamics in that they show how a relationship built on a similar dynamic premise of desire to be understood could be horrifying if one stops respecting the other party as an autonomous being outside of the understanding they offer them.

[colemonroe]

WHERE: A dive bar outside of Tonopah WITH: @taliah-tezel

Diana had always been the larger than life entertainer of the Monroe family. She had a way of connecting with people that only came around once in a lifetime. In the midst of grappling with all of her demons, she knew how to command a stage, how to ensnare an audience and sweep them up in quite the love affair with her before they even knew it was happening. Cole? Not so much. He avoided the spotlight like the plague and nowadays, he’d only be caught singing in the shower. But it hadn’t always been that way. Once upon a time, Diana had been able to talk him into singing with her, especially if she bribed him with chocolate cake, and so as a result, Cole had been on stage a handful a couple times. But that was then, before Diana’s untimely passing. Ever since then, he’d give some half-assed karaoke attempt every now and then, especially if he could prod another drunken Son into doing it with him, but he’d never truly sang. He’d kept that locked away, right along with nearly every other memory of Diana Monroe.

Except for tonight.

Whether it was the alcohol swimming through his veins at a dizzying rate or the thrill of a long overdue getaway with Taliah, Cole wasn’t sure, but he’d done something he hadn’t done in what felt like a lifetime tonight– he let it all out. Stepping onto that makeshift stage with a purposeful stride, he’d belted out his own Tennessee drawled rendition of Tim McGraw’s Real Good Man, owning the moment much like his mother would have had she stood in his place, without a care for how anyone might’ve glimpsed him and focused on losing himself in the music– and in the brown eyes of the woman he loved beyond measure. Was it good? He didn’t know, but he hardly cared when it left him feeling like this– free and connected to his mother even years after her passing. 

Making his way over the bar once the music stopped and the lights dropped, he grinned wide at the bartender as he shuffled a pair of shots Cole’s way, “One for you and for the lady,” he chuckled, reaching across the bartop just to clap Cole on the shoulder. Henry and his wife had run this bar for as long as he could remember– in their own way, they’d watched Cole grow up from a distance, making this night nostalgic for more reasons than one. Shots in hand, he slipped through the crowd, one destination in mind. 

Just as soon as he drew to a stop in front of her, Cole set the shots on the tabletop next to them and hooked an arm around her waist, hauling Taliah in for a kiss while the other hand lifted to cradle her cheek in his palm. Like always, he savored that contact, sliding the tip of his tongue along her bottom lip before catching it between his teeth. “On a scale of one to ten– how embarrassed are ya right now?” Cole laughed against her lips before leaning back and handing over her shot. “Be honest, babe,” he teased, rubbing his lips together in a tight line to fight off his wide grin as he lifted his own shot, gently clinking the small glass against hers in a mock toast, “I can take it.”

[phantomoftheorpheum]

A specific issue I had with season 2 (summer school) is the relationship between the liars. I understand that they all work and have individual lives. However, the pattern of them getting together once an episode at a big table to discuss what each other them has been up to highlights their lack of connection.

Why did Mouse pretend to be Bloody Rose without telling the girls first? Why did Imogen go to a cemetery with Dr. Sullivan without telling the girls first? Why do the liars not know that Noa was cheating on Shawn in juvie, then had him pay for Jen to get out of jail, then smashed his car?

The “after the fact” communication between all of them was so frustrating and repetitive.

It feels as though without all of the murder, the girls wouldn’t all be friends. This seems harsh but hear me out. Tabby and Imogen are actually close. That’s of course how they became bonded in the beginning, but their friendship with the other 3 doesn’t seem very deep. They comfort each other, support each other, and hype each other up during their “group meetings” but it comes across as a bit unauthentic to me at times. We never see them hang out just for fun or bonding over their non-murderous interests. I can’t imagine Noa and Faran hanging out on their own, or Mouse and Imogen. The only pairing that I can see doing that is Imogen and Tabby because they do!! The other girls just feel so separate. It was fine in the first season because Imogen and Tabby were already friends but I had hoped to see a closer friendship between all of them by now. It feels underdeveloped despite the fact that the friendship between these girls is supposed to be the heart of the show.

I hear you on this!

I think they need to focus on having 2 or 3 of the girls hanging out in various scenes for various reasons next season. I thought they tried to get the group together a little more for non murder reasons (like having the film screening for Tabby, visiting Imogen at work, Mouse's surprise birthday party, making Tabby's short film, etc.) than in season 1, but the individual connections (outside of Tabby and Imogen) do feel lacking. The rest of them never get to hang out or bond 1 on 1 and just talk about stuff in their lives, their love interests, etc.

I think the closeness of these relationships is a casualty of the format (only 8 eps), but that doesn't mean it can't be better. Imo, cut some of the love interests screen time and spend time building the friendships between the girls in more 1 on 1 pairings. Like... imagine if Noa and Shawn broke up between seasons & Jen was a very bg storyline and Faran and Henry broke up early in the season & she didn't have a thing with Greg, and instead we got a lot of Noa and Faran hanging out?

This could even play into Mouse's insecurity around her birthday, because Tabby & Imogen are so close, and Faran & Noa are hanging out a lot this summer, and Mouse (while she has the best romantic relationship) feels like maybe she's not important to their group.

Then have one of the other girls (literally any of them, I'd have to think about it to decide who I think works best) realize and take on a more "big sister" kind of role in Mouse's life, because she genuinely does feel the youngest and I think that would work.

Give some of the girls common interests, so we can get scenes of them doing those things together, while moving the plot forward. Like maybe instead of Noa running with Shawn this season, she's running with Faran (who is really in to all things fitness). Maybe Mouse becoming obsessed with SpookySpaghetti gets her interested in horror films (instead of her saying she doesn't like them??) and she and Tabby start bonding more over that, with Mouse getting into the genre and Tabby giving her recommendations and them watching stuff together that the other girls are like "no, thanks."

I think it's good to keep the girl's individuality. I'm not saying that Mouse should suddenly want to be a filmmaker like Tabby, or that Faran has to join the track team, or anything. I just think there's ways to get them involved in each other's interests that makes sense, and would make the individual connections feel stronger.

And, personally, I think to do that, they need to sacrifice some of the love interest screen time. I'm not saying no love interests. I would have kept Christian this season for sure, he's a great red herring and this season being Tabby-centric means her having a love interest seems fitting and keeps more potentially suspicious characters around her, and I would have kept Ash (and maybe have him hang out with the group more. I know they want scenes of JUST the girls sometimes, but they all like/trust him, I just think he should be around more). I like Johnny as a character, and maybe you could still fit him in and have those other scenes, since he had the least amount of screen time of the new love interests (I think), but I wouldn't be totally opposed to not having his character in season 2 (or having him strictly be the guy that Imogen is flirting with at work & maybe he gets a bigger role in season 3 if there is one) if it means more bonding time for the girls. And yeah, I would 100% absolutely have cut the love triangle. Cut Henry, have him and Faran break up early in the season over the dance thing. Cut Shawn. Say he and Noa broke up in the 6 months between the seasons. You can still bring Jen in! Just without the love triangle so that whole romantic arc doesn't take that much time. She can still be a suspicious character with her stealing & lying & mysterious past. Keep Greg around for Faran's individual arc about inner/outer strength and her confidence at the pool, but make him more background and use his limited screen time to set up a redemption arc for his character next season (and even his crush on Faran, if you want) and don't waste time trying to get her to a place where she likes him back this season. Then you have time for more stuff with the girls in pairs or trios!

Anyway, I see what you see!

[blimbo-buddy]

You know what?

I'm actually happy that Henry was mentioned in passing and never brought up again. He deserves to be obscure and not because I don't like him. I actually do love him to bites and wish he and Purdy met.

I am happy he's never brought up because this series is an absolute train-wreck and we were taught to hate kittypets and dislike anyone from the outside and love the clans despite glaring flaws.

Also, despite the clans being treated like a community, so many cats in the clans are like strangers to each other and don't have any form of connection and it's weird because they're all trying to survive and it's like, "Oh hey! You met Vineslash yet?" and they're all like, "Oh them uhh.. never talked to him outside of patrols and stuff."

Like I get it but also don't get it?

Also, I'm so excited to see Henry again from your sneak peek art!!!

I love your art and you give justice to the deserving and it's so goood!!!

Yeah I get that, as much as I would have loved more Henry stuff, I know that they'd only use him for more fatphobia. But it's funny you mention him and Purdy because I headcanon that they're brothers, Henry is the eldest brother and Purdy is the youngest brother. Not from the same litter though.

It's definitely odd that while they're viewed and treated as a community, they barely know each other. This is a fault of the writers of course, remember how much the deaths of characters impacted everybody in Arc 1 compared to TBC, remember how devastated FireHeart was when he sat next to a dying YellowFang and spent her last dying moments sitting by her and talking? You do? Good, now remember when RosePetal died and BristleFrost was just like "Oh no, RosePetal!" and didn't go beyond that. Do you notice the whiplash between the two comparisons? The Erins never write any meaningful relationships anymore and we're reminded of that anytime a character dies.

And it's so funny because when we see more into Twolegplace, they feel like more of a community than the clans do, cats actually know each other, they have pasts with each other, cats have reputations good or bad. Even with Warriorclan, you feel that great sense of community. Bone actually knew Boulder beforehand, most cats still knew about each other in Bloodclan. It's ironic that the biggest senses of community we get in Warriors are from groups of cats that are both not even real clans and have either brief appearances (Warriorclan) or an entirely antagonistic role in whatever story the Erins want to write (Bloodclan). The Twolegplaces we briefly see have more community than the clans ever had, which is sad because the entire series centers around the clans.

Also thank you so much! Henry is a major insignificant favorite of mine and I wanted so badly to integrate him into PineStar's Choice. I wish that book was a SE instead of a Novella because I would have loved to see more stuff in Chelford, we could have gotten a Henry appearance, we were robbed. Henry and Pine have a close bond with each other in the rewrite, and it's funny because it started out not the best. Basically, PinePaw scented a Kittypet and when he found the source of the scent, it was Henry who had caught a robin. PinePaw was furious and chased him out of the forest. Later on they meet again and Henry goes "Oh wait, I know you! You chased me out of the forest over a robin, haha!" and PinePaw's sitting there sweating nervously. Henry apologizes for taking the clan's food because he didn't realize it wasn't good to do that but PinePaw splutters out that Henry shouldn't be apologizing, and he says sorry to Henry. PinePaw, well, to say the least, feels really bad about that whole thing. But they grow closer nonetheless! If making art of insignificant Kittypets was a job I'd be rich, thank you so much again dude, I appreciate it!

[prosperdemeter2]

So I feel a little dumb because it just clicked that you were the same person who wrote the Rewrite series, Day by Day series, No one knew series etc etc. I have no idea why it never clicked before lol. I’ve read them all, some a few times, left comments on them, I even mentioned how Rewrite was my now top 3 favorite buddie fics on Ao3 on one of the chapters. Obviously read the author name on them all, but still never actually connected the dots until the bts on day by day series I just read ☠️ so now that it has connected I can easily say your my top 3 favorite buddie authors as well!

Anywho, can I humbly submit for day by day either a pov change for Adriana during her and Eddie’s big fight (either the hospital after the accident or his backyard ) or bts of your favorite part in the Day by Day series. Or if I can be greedy and ask for both I will 😅😂 otherwise I am perfectly fine with which ever option you decide to go with!

Oh my god, don’t feel dumb at all. You’re so sweet and I’m so happy you enjoyed all of those series so far! It means so much that you’ve read them and taken the time to comment and the time to bring it up and follow and engage here! I can’t thank you enough for that. It’s crazy to think that people my like my writing that much. 

I really wish I had the energy to give you both tonight gosh sufhsdfh. I hope a BTS is enough? I just finished a run after working and I have dinner on so I figured this is the perfect time to try and answer this. 🙂

This argument. This argument! I wasn’t sure which big argument you would prefer so I’m going to go into the one at the hospital because oh my gooooooood I had some lines in that that I absolutely broke myself writing. It’s directly after the Sunday scene of Buck and Eddie’s fight which I wish I could say I did on purpose but really it just ended up being there. I remember sitting on my couch writing it at, like, ten at night when I had work the next day and this being when I realized that I really needed to make this two parts instead of one. That being said, let’s dive into it. 

The entire time Adriana was at the hospital, she very clearly had a one track mind. And, like Eddie, I wanted us to sort of rationalize it. Her kids had just been in an accident - it makes sense that she would be more worried about them than she would be about anyone else. And it’s important to note, in my opinion, that Adriana wasn’t really forgetting Buck was there out of malice. Her mind literally didn’t go there. It was very much centered around her children, the same way Eddie’s would have been if Chris was in the accident. And Eddie, before the accident, very much falls into this… role that he’s always been placed in with Adriana and Sophia and rushes to comfort her even when he needs comfort himself. He’s the big brother, it’s what he does. 

But he’s clearly not thinking straight. He saw Buck at the scene, he knows how bad he was. Eddie can conceptualize everything that’s happening with the doctors and that them having no news is, for the moment, good news because it means they’re still working. He’s not worried about Henry or Liana and Vince. He was at the scene with them, he knows they’re, for the most part, fine. 

Their argument starts with a misunderstanding and it’s during that confrontation of it that Eddie realizes that Adriana, visibly, doesn’t care at all about the man that saved her children. Adriana dragged him outside to have the confrontation because, like Eddie, she doesn’t like to argue around her children. They were raised in a house where their parents fought loud and they fought long, they’re both products of the same upbringing they just… internalized what happened differently. 

“So you lied.” Adriana set her jaw and glared in his direction. “You lied to me.” 

“I didn’t lie to you!” 

“You did!” 

Realization was like dawn breaking. He froze, his eyes searching for some clue on her that told him he was wrong. Adriana wasn’t selfish, not like this. Perhaps she was worried, and that worry was clouding her judgment. 

But Eddie was so tired of being rational with her. He was so tired of having a thought out, restrained response to whenever Adriana said or did something wrong. He was tired, he was frustrated, and Eddie was very much clouded with fear and worry himself and so he threw rationalization out of the window. “No estaba hablando de Vince.” He said with gritted teeth.

This right here is a big changing point in this series. So far, Eddie has been very passive in how he’s stood up to his family. He left Christmas dinner, he told Adriana to leave, etc. But this frustration had been building up and it all exploded due to a number of reasons, the main one being stress. He’s not okay. His boyfriend isn’t okay. Eddie doesn’t know how to handle being the one on the outside waiting for news that everything is going to go back to normal. And he snaps, the same way we’ve seen Eddie do in canon, only he snaps verbally instead of with physical altercations (re: fight club, baseball bat). And Adriana? She’s not used to it. 

She’s the sort to bait Eddie into a fight but then quickly back down when he decides to fight back. It’s not necessarily that Eddie is passive, more that he doesn’t really see the point in arguing so he ends it before it can really begin by just… walking away. So the moment he snaps back at her, Adriana recoils and tries to fix the situation. 

“What?” She shook her head. “No, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Vince is fine, Liana is getting a cast -.” 

And the next part, oh my god, had I been dreaming about adding in the next part for weeks. 

“I don’t care!” A couple passing by halted, stunned by the crack in his voice. Eddie didn’t yell, as a rule of thumb he didn’t yell. Buck didn’t like it, Chris didn’t like it, Eddie didn’t like it. Yelling didn’t solve a problem. But yell he did, and it ripped out of him like a rawr, Adriana flinching back like he had shot a gun in her face. “I don’t care that Liana is getting a cast! I don’t care that Vince is fine!” 

Adriana pulled herself together quickly, though, far too used to trading him blow for blow. They used to argue all the time when they were children, about stupid things and about meaningful things and about everything in between. It was a side effect of their age, or maybe Eddie had always disliked her the way she disliked him. “You don’t care about your family?” She asked with her chin held high and her eyes flashing in danger. She stepped closer and Eddie didn’t step back, tilting his chin to stare almost defiantly back in her direction. 

“I care about my family!” He was on the verge of tears, he realized, the sting pulling at his eyes like bees. He swallowed them down. Adriana used to make fun of Sophia when she cried when she was angry - crying when you yell really ruins the effect, she had teased. It had just made Sophia cry more. “My family is in there -.” 

"Your family is Vince and Liana!” 

“My family is Buck!” 

Adriana has a lot of gumption. She’s got a lot of gall. And she’s never really had Eddie fight back with her and, if he did, it was never in this manner. He didn’t like yelling and so he usually didn’t do it. She wasn’t used to Eddie getting on her level. 

Moreover, it’s got to sting, right? To have someone yell at you and say they don’t care? Especially when you’re trying to scold them? Adriana was embarrassed, but she was also floored. Eddie is trying very hard to hold on before this, but Adriana confronting him and not accepting his very understandable mistake and, once again, overlooking Buck’s place in his life, sends him over the edge. 

I can’t tell you the amount of times someone has confronted me with something and I’ve had to think about things logically even when I didn’t want to. Where I had to put their emotions ahead of my own even if the situation involved me. I figure Eddie, in this series and in canon, is much the same. So him shouting I don’t care isn’t because he doesn’t actually care that Adriana is worried, it’s that he doesn’t care that she’s angry. He doesn’t care that he accidentally upset her. He’s upset, he’s been on the verge of breaking down since walking into that hospital and, like Sophia points out, it’s bringing up a lot of memories he’d rather keep buried. So he doesn’t care. Because Adriana’s family is going to be fine. Eddie’s family might not ever come back home. 

“You know the guy that was driving the car?” Eddie moved so that he was in her way, forcing her gaze onto his. Her eyes were swimming with tears but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. Even if he wanted to. The words poured out of him like someone had pulled a stopper from his throat. “I told you not to ask him. And you still did. And because he thinks he’s not worth anything if he’s not useful he agreed. Because he wants you to like him.” 

“I never -.” 

“Shut! Up!” 

Adriana’s mouth hung open, like his rage had stolen her breath. “You have been terrible to us since you found out. And I don’t know what it is, Adri, I really don’t but Buck has done nothing to deserve this… this… disregard from you.” 

“I didn’t think -.” 

“No!” He swiped his hand through the air. “I don’t care what you thought or what you didn’t think! He is in there dying because you didn’t think!” 

“That’s not fair!” Adriana countered. “I wasn’t driving that car!” 

“He was only in the car because you asked!” 

“He agreed -!” 

“Will you stop justifying yourself!” A tear trickled down his cheek without his notice and Eddie swiped it away with a vicious fist. Adriana tracked it with wide, watery eyes, her bottom lip quivering. “I don’t care that mami and papi thought I was the perfect kid. I don’t care that you hate me now. I don’t care that your kid has a broken arm or that your husband is okay. I don’t care that you asked him and he agreed. I don’t care because we got into a goddamn fight this morning because he was worried about your kids. Because he is in there fighting for his life and you don’t have the decency to ask how he is.” 

Adriana doubles down. She’s not used to being the one to say I’m sorry. Usually Eddie will give in first just to stop the argument, or Sophia or Helena would come in to smooth over the edges. She even thinks about it, for a moment, when people start coming outside. She even feels guilty when she realizes Eddie’s crying. Goading someone into an argument doesn’t feel nearly as much as fun as it could when the person starts yelling back, and they’re actually making a point. 

But this is a big moment for Eddie. He’s never argued back with her. She’s been rude and she’s been entitled. She’s shouted things at him and she hasn’t respected him, his relationship, or his authority in his own house. As much as it hurts to have his pain so visible, it’s such a big step from him hiding it inside just to explode outwards later. 

And it all cumulates in the next part: 

“It’s not about the fucking car!” Her shoulders jumped. “Buck had a seizure when we got here. He didn’t know where the fuck he was at the scene. And he still made sure your kids got out of the car safe.” Her own tear blinked out of her eyes, trailing down her cheek and curling over her chin to drip onto the collar of her shirt. “I need you to get something, Adriana.” She didn’t look at him but fine, fine, Eddie would tell her his terms anyway. “I don’t care if he’s okay or not, you’re done.” 

“What?” Her question was small, her eyes flipping open to finally meet his own. 

“You’re done.” Eddie said around a sardonic laugh, shrugging as though the words were stabbing him in the heart. “I’m done. We’re done. I don’t… I love you so much. But I can’t do this anymore.” 

“Eddie -.”

“No! You did this to Shannon. You’ve done this to Buck. I deserve better than this.”

Eddie is rightfully enraged on Buck’s behalf but it’s important to note that he’s mostly hurt on his own. Adriana is his sister. He always believed that, if he needed her, Adriana would put aside their differences and be there for him - largely because he’d do that for her without ever being asked. But he’s come to realize the thing that he always feared to be true - Adriana doesn’t extend him the same kindness and she never will. So while the backdrop of this entire thing is this horrible accident and this gripping fear for whether Buck would be okay or not… the main theme is learning to let go of someone you love. Mourning someone who hasn’t died. Making the decision that you deserve better than the way you’ve been treated. 

Adriana doesn’t even believe him at first - she actually needs to hear it for a second time later on in the chapter for it to really sink in for her that Eddie’s not playing around but setting a hard boundary in place with her

Deciding to leave a family member is incredibly difficult and I haven’t met one person who has gone no-contact with a family member that would tell you that it’s easy. But sometimes it’s necessary. 

[damnhotmsimmons]

Episode 8-Forget Me Knots

the AJ directed episode, this is gonna be interesting

caution: spoilers below

47 minutes? That short, come on....

Rossi trying to identify Elias, demanding Garcia to help him but to no avail

“I know you didn’t get any sleep last night” tbf Rossi, she was too busy fucking Tyler, a material witness

Garcia trying not to say anything about last night to Rossi, cause he’s Rossi. Normally, I’d laugh at these moments but this pissed me off given how selfish it made Garcia, seeing how she risked sleeping with a witness that could jeopardize the case and endanger hers and her friends’ careers and the BAU’s image

Rossi knows that Garcia doesn’t sleep well when she drinks three cups of tea. He’s such a dad, will be a disappointed dad if he knew what happened...

Elias in California stalking another potential victim? Oh no...

If only the lady knew that the guy that was calling her is Elias watching her from outside

Oooo, JJ’s house

Another typical day at the Jareau-Lamontagne household

JJ looks good in her suit

Jesus Christ, Henry is taller than JJ

I forget how time flies so fast, Henry was only a baby in s4 and now he’s a teenager, what is time...?

JJ worrying if Henry has an attitude. He’s a teenager now and considering all that has happened to the family and the pandemic, had a feeling this was expected

Will offering JJ some coffee and asking about the Sicarius case. He is such a good husband

JJ telling Will what happened and how the BAU can never catch a break

Will reassuring JJ that Rossi will be alright and that they’ll be able to stop Sicarius/Elias as he’ll have to slip up soon

oh shit, JJ talking about the case just as Henry walks back inside the house

Oh no, Henry listening in onto JJ and Will’s conversations, not good

The realtor lady giving Elias a tour, if only she knew....

said lady telling Elias she has kids after he showed her photos of his daughters, yea not good

The lady offering Elias a ride to the house on Wind Ridge, again, that’s a bad choice 

oh shit, Elias took photos of the lady’s family

the lady’s name is Ramona

why is Elias telling Ramona that he killed 61 people? is she a surrogate for his wife, Sydney? no.....JJ? jk....but what if?

Elias will spare Ramona as long as she helps him fix his marriage? Yea this will go well, though I have a bad feeling about Ramona

Captain Ballard offering to help Emily, that’s nice

Ballard telling Emily about Cyrus Lebrun’s (Elias’s uncle) death and helping the BAU with the Sicarius case by letting them investigate Cyrus

That’s pretty nice of Ballard helping the BAU with their case

Tara and Luke discussing the Cyrus case and how Maria Jones is the only connection between him and Sicarius. Tara and Luke need more screentime

So Elias used to be named Lee and his parents died in an apartment fire in second street

Luke knows something is wrong because Garcia is not being snarky. If only he knew......Luke you deserve the world

I love how Luke knows something is wrong when Garcia doesn’t insult him. He’s too good for her

Pffft hahaha, Luke and Tara realizing that Garcia had sex. If only they knew it was Tyler Green, which sours the mood. Again, it should have been Luke

Awww, the Jareau-Lamontagne family having a movie night and getting all cuddled up on the couch

Henry asking JJ about Will’s diagnosis, and wants his mom to know what’s going on, even making her promise that he’ll be okay

JJ talking to Will about Henry and the promise she made to him

Why is Henry going through the laptop, this will not go well

and......back to Elias and Ramona

Elias sparring Ramona all cause she said some terrible shit to him

Elias visioning Sydney, with her saying she’s his better half

Yay, more Tara and Luke

The BAU discussing Ramona’s disappearance and the connection to Sicarius 

Emily and JJ staying behind to discuss the Sicarius case while Rossi, Luke and Tara go on the jet

Oh god, Elias calling one of the members of his network, is he gonna have him go after Ramona’s kids? set him up as a fall guy

Tara and Luke visiting the crime scene

so Elias did something to the cctv footage to ensure he’s not seen

the female Lieutenant looks similar to Rebecca, mostly the hair

I appreciate her helping the team and listening to Tara when she says not to mention Sicarius at all

Elias letting Ramona go home and live, it still feels like a trap

and he injected her

....yep, that man is gonna kill her, there’s no way Elias would let her live

Rossi realizing that Elias was looking at his phone in the cctv from the hardware store

“You actually need to go to therapy...” Bitch, Garcia, so do you, considering the way you acted after kissing Tyler

“Forgetmeknots”, quite the title drop

Kiel making Ramona suffer before escaping

It’s been a while since we saw an unsub chase scene, and Luke chasing after them

The team better get to Ramona in time

Thank god, Luke and Tara rescued her

Ramona remembering Elias’ words when Tara asks for a sketch on the man who kidnapped her

Back to willifer. I was worried when Henry confronts JJ and Luke about the doctor but I love seeing how Henry just wanted to look out for his family and that he cares about them. JJ and Will comforting Henry about Will’s diagnosis and condition

Elias calling his wife and wanting to tell her everything, even saying that he’ll come home tonight, poor Sydney

Oh shit, Rossi is at Sydney’s door, what does that mean?

 This episode is okay, not too bad, I’d give it a 6/10 or 7/10 if I’m being nice. I do hate how short it is especially since the previous episodes were more than 50 minutes long. I love that Tara and Luke got more screentime but it was a little too late, since the writers had all of the previous episodes especially 6 and 7 to give them more screentime and this is the last opportunity since we’re near the end of the season. Very disappointed at how underutilized Luke and Tara are, especiall Luke, and the chance of seeing more of his personal life this season is unlikely, seeing with only two episodes left. I’m glad there’s no Tyler Green or Greencia but I’m annoyed at the lack of acknowledgement there is seeing how there’s serious repercussions on an FBI agent sleeping with a material witness, and Garcia being hypocritical by telling Rossi to go to therapy when she also needs more of it seeing how reckless she is. I still love all the willfier moments and Henry looking out for them cause he loves them so much Kudos for AJ making a decent episode