#plus grant struggling with love makes sense

[sunbratz]

as an old dndads frog who doesnt really even ship that much in this fandom, i think everyone is missing the potential for grant and nick.

[inconmess]

In all seriousness, in the whole Predathos conversation that happened today, a couple of things stuck out to me. I mean, most points are valid in certain perspectives and they may seem wrong but justifyingly, from the POV of who said it, it makes sense

One

Dorian with the whole "I trust us to more than I trust anyone else" mentality. True. You should trust your group to watch your back and make choices and all that. But you also put the same trust with the Crown Keepers when you took the Crown. You said the same thing when the argument of what to do with the crown happened. You kept it. And actions have consequences. Now, the Spider Queen may not have gone off the rails like that if not for the circumstances. A lot of circumstances certainly went on in the background for whatever shit that went down to happen. But it all happened because you retained the crown because you trusted no one else to keep it.

And now you say that you trust no one else than the group, this time talking about putting a god eater into the body of your friend and trusting her to control it. After watching a god take over your friend and watching her struggle to control and killing your brother and separate your friends. You trusted your friend with a Vestige then. I know it is a Betrayer God but what is the guarantee that a god eater is not equally, if not more overwhelming?

Two, as much as the Bells Hells want to be like "Let's finish with Ludinus first before going to figure out what to do with the gods", the two are linked. There isn't going to be much time to sit and ponder on what to do after the fact because repercussions are going to hit hard and fast. I do hate that most of the options they are getting are kinda siding with what Ludinus wants to achieve, which makes them hypocrites if they do pursue it?

Plus I have a lot of thoughts but they are all getting incoherent but I do want to say, talking to more gods seem like a good option but being indecisive is not an option anymore and whatever they decide, they have to do it quick. Granted, most options they are given are vague and filled with uncertainties and a lot of risks but tough choices are always like that. But combining all your options for optimal idea is not a bad idea? idk. Gut Feeling doesn't cut it. Intuition doesn't cut it. SO Collect more facts and make it work! Loved Orym and Chet's points today.

[pinazee]

The Old and the Restless

The first episode to include another Spencer! Now, granted we don’t get much here other than henry doesn’t seem to get along with his dad and maybe doesn’t like the idea of his son being around him. Plus, I don’t think he’s ever mentioned again. I was hoping the introduction to grandpa spencer would give us some kind of reason for why henry is so controlling. We could possibly infer, strictly based on his personality, that grandpa spencer wasnt the most responsible and that henry, as elder brother, took on the brunt of taking care of the family. I mean, you could possibly even go as far as to say grandpa spencer had some run in’s with the law and thats how henry got interested in it- out of spite of his own father and thus leading to the idea that spencer sons resenting their fathers is like a family curse (i think thats actually a thing? I have a vague memory of someone saying it at least). But again, this is all speculation because we never see him again. Grandpas also act differently with their grandkids than their own kids too so who’s to say what it was like for henry growing up. Either way, this flashback really emphasizes how strict henry was, and the more flashbacks i see, the more saddened i get by how downtrodden little shawn is every time he shows up. Liam visibly shrinks when he sits next to him, its heartbreaking. But im glad his grandpa stuck up for him (which is probably why he never saw him again).

The way they pop up here makes me snicker

I love the fast one they played on henry! Shawn knew there was no way he would help unless he thought he could use it as an opportunity to show him up (because his dads a grade A asshole).

I also have no respect for men who call other men girls as an insult, especially when one of those men is his own fucking son. So you gotta imagine shawns heard that kind of bullshit his whole life, so i kind of give him a pass when he makes fun of gus for not being manly enough, though thankfully that seems to dissipate in later seasons so we can call it character growth (though i think it was just the writers, or maybe james, who decided it wasn’t very funny and just hurt the character). Henry has a lot of ground to cover before he can get redeemed in my book. He’s just the worst. im having a much harder time with henry during this rewatch.

Gus is being absolutely adorable here. This episode really made it seem like Gus was henrys kid too, not only because he’s completely comfortable sleeping on his shoulder (I’ve never felt that close to my friends parents at least) but also because he’s giving shit to henry as much as shawn is and i love it! It makes sense too considering how often gus was at his house, henry practically raised him as well.

This is a semi good shawn vs. henry episode. I wish they would have highlighted better how shawn and henry gather their information in different ways but it was more like Henry got some pieces and shawn got pieces but neither had the complete picture so they ended up just working together instead of against. I think i’d have preferred if henry was seeing all the same stuff but shawn actually came to the right conclusion, or that shawn showed kindness to the right person and got the key piece of info that way because ultimately its how he connects with people that separates him from henry (simply because henry is pretty good at seeing the same stuff shawn does a lot of the times is all).

“Just this time im going to teach you a lesson” just this time??? Thats literally all you do henry! Thats like your whole thing!

The way Henry says this makes it seem like he was struggling to call Gus his life partner haha

Shawn and gus both knew of african gambian pouch rats, so i can only assume they watched a nature documentary together haha Sidenote: i randomly looked up african gambian pouch rat to see what they looked like and they’re being used to sniff out tuberculosis apparently?!? Crazy stuff man.

Lassie just wanted to straight up incarcerate a child. Thank god karen became chief over him- could you imagine??? Shawn would definitely have been locked up in the pilot. Gus wouldve been killed next to mira or something, juliet would still be in miami. Buzz wouldve been fired or killed by that serial killer. So many crimes would’ve been unsolved and so many people would’ve been locked up and innocent. So again, thank god for chief vick.

The indian blood bit gets a pass simply because of the line “they were here first” and gus’ response “im not hating on indians im hating on you” I dont think its terribly offensive but it is a dumb stereotypical joke. It just kind of makes me sigh and shake my head.

Why is gus always trying to get shawn to taste blood?? Does that show up later? Is this a consistent thing? Its just kind of weird considering gus is really squeamish around it? I think its Gus’ way of trying to prank him but he’s like really bad at it haha Also i didn’t like gus’ face there. It made it seem vaguely… nevermind. Its just weird lol

I dont like the B story with juliet and lassie. I think i did at one point because juliet put the fear of god in him and inadvertently that same fear in the others which was fun, but this kids a fucking creep so i don’t think theres any combination of words that would cause this character to suddenly become respectful and it might be the most unrealistic thing to happen on psych, which is truly saying something. Its just one of those scenes you can’t overanalyze so I won’t! Its fun! (But like, thats what im doing here so jk). I did enjoy the “scared straight” subversion moment. Prisons great kids. Its like summer camp. Also his friends name is “white slavery” and idk what to do with that information except point at it with my mouth open in amusement.

I just like how lassie does his “strike two” and im doing that from now on.

Overall its not one of my fave episodes but heres some gifs of some of my fave moments

[littlespacereader]

Hiii friend!!! I'm back again!!! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)!!!

So I started college the other day and so far pretty much every break between classes I have found myself regressing a little (despite trying not to). I was wondering if you'd be okay with writing a fic with any Moonknight character/s and maybe them messaging or phoning reader during class breaks and basically just making sure the reader is okay whilst without them and keeping them entertained.

Obviously completely fine if not!!!

Hope you're having an amazing day/evening/night!!! <333

As someone who is struggling themselves at college I can totally relate and sympathize with you! College sometimes stresses me out to the point of regression or I have so much fun I don’t realize I’m regressing. It’s a tricky situation! So reading this request made me feel a bit better knowing I wasn’t the only one struggling. I love the idea of Steven/Marc and even Jake all checking in on their little one. As per usual I gave a bit extra content to the story but I know you’ll enjoy it! This one talks about the first day at college (which is always super scary!!) and how the three comfort and help their little one.

After writing this I got the idea for another fic, maybe a part 2 to this, where the reader has a bad day at college and Marc, Steven and Jake all make the reader feel better after a rough day at college. What do you think? Let me know if you want me to write that one next😁 Anyway! I hope you enjoy this fic! 💞💞

The Little Moon Goes To School🌙

Caregiver!Marc Spector, Caregiver!Steven Grant, Caregiver!Jake Lockley & GN Little!Reader

Tags - anxiety, first day of school,

Nicknames- little moon, little one, sweetheart, love, Papa(for Jake), kiddo

Steven was a nervous wreck tonight. Tomorrow was his little one’s first day at school…well…first day back to college. He was so excited for them! Don’t get him wrong! But with the new change brought a new sense of anxiety to Steven, Marc and even Jake.

The summer had been spent with his little one close to his side. They went plenty of times to the museum together, plenty of times to the park. But as the summer came to a close both Steven and his little one started to become anxious with the new change of things.

But let’s start with the positives first! That’s how Steven likes to think!

The two of them had fun going to the shop and getting new school supplies. I mean who doesn’t love new school supplies?! Y/N picked out a cute star and moon themed backpack with a matching lunch box, a new water bottle, some notebooks and pencils and finally a rain jacket for the stormy weather London was known for having.

The next positive thing was they could take the bus together every morning. So it was almost like Steven was dropping them off at school each day on his way to work. Plus they wouldn’t be riding by themselves.

Next they could text each other throughout the day. Incase Y/N started to feel little or something was wrong, Steven was simply a text away. Despite Donna’s no phone policy, he managed to make an exception to her tough rule.

Lastly they would see each other at the end of the day, share a bus ride back to their apartment and have the rest of the evening together.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be so terrible after all?

Steven kept on a strong face, making sure not to show his little one he was just as anxious about the change as they were. I mean they were inseparable the whole summer, and now they were off to college during the day and he was off to work.

Marc was also just as worried and concerned as Steven, though he was better at hiding it. He took a tour of the school with Y/N, asked a ton of questions about campus safety, and scoped the area out. The school seemed safe enough, but nothing was too safe for his little one expect for when he was by their side. He was also interest in making sure this school was able to meet all his little ones academic needs.

Jake only popped in to explain to Y/N what they should do incase of an attack, which is the last thing Steven wanted Y/N to have to worry about. Jake provided some pepper spray and a very large knife for Y/N to carry with them to school. The knife or more like machete was soon confiscated by Marc when Y/N was asleep. The pepper spray was good enough.

Then, before any of the three personalites knew it, it was the morning of the dreaded day. The alarm clock broke the silence of the peaceful morning.

Both Steven and Y/N groaned awake, wishing for another hour of sleep. But soon the two were out of bed and rushing around the small apartment.

Steven breakfast while Y/N checked their backpack to make sure everything was still packed and ready to go. Then it was off to getting changed. Steven wore his usual, button down shirt and his grey jacket. But Y/N went through one outfit then another than another, each of which Steven thought looked amazing.

But he could see it wasn’t about the outfit their chose, it was mostly their anxiety making them second guess themselves. After the 4th outfit choice Steven stopped them.

He turned them the mirror and smiled, “You look absolutely amazing darling.”

He turned them back around and looked into their eyes with a proud looks on his face, “I can’t tell you how proud I am of you taking such a big step like going to college. You are so incredibly brave. I couldn’t be more proud of you than I already am.”

With tears in both of their eyes, they hugged. Just the two of them, Caregiver and Little, hugging in their small yet cozy apartment.

After a moment or two they broke apart, wiping the tears from their eyes. “Here,” Steven grabbed their hair brush. “Let me do your hair before we leave.”

Steven, Marc and Jake all had their favorite things to do when it came to their little one. Steven was the snuggle bug of the three. He loved to hold or be close to his little one all the time. The three also realized that Steven is the best when it came to doing their little one’s hair since he’s the most gentle.

So it because a routine of Y/N and Steven that he would do their hair in the morning for them. A cute way to start the day! With Y/N all nice and done, the two started to walk towards the front door of their flat.

“Wait!” Steven called from behind them. “We’re forgetting something I just know it.”

Y/N looked at Steven confused, “I don’t think we are…I checked my backpack before getting changed.”

But Steven shook his head, “No I think we’re forgetting something I just can’t…OH!”

Steven ran over to the fridge and took out Y/N’s lunchbox and water bottle. “There we are. Can’t forget your lunch.” He went behind Y/N, putting their lunch box and water bottle securely inside.

“Now are we ready for school?” Steven asked only to get a sad smile from Y/N and a nod of their head.

~~~

I walked out of the flat with Steven and down the hall to the elevator, the entire time holding onto his hand tightly. Reality was kicking in, I would have to leave him soon.

Now I know what you’re thinking “Wow this is very dramatic for just being gone the whole day. It isn’t like you won’t be seeing him at the end of the day.” And you’re right, while it is nice that I’ll be seeing him at the end of the day, it didn’t help my anxiety that I would be away from him the entirety of the day.

We spent the summer together, me right at his side. So to have the majority of my day without him scared me. What if something happened? What if I started to feel Little again? There were too many possibilities.

Faster than I would’ve liked, we made it to the lobby of our apartment building. As always the guy who sells brooms was right outside.

“He’s here this early in the morning? Who wants a broom at this time?” I asked Steven.

He chuckled, “I can’t say I wake up and go: you know what I need right now? A broom.” The two of us laughed.

As we walked down the street we saw our bus arrive. The two of us looked at each other and started to run.

“Wait!” Steven waved with one hand to get the bus driver’s attention. I held onto his other hand tightly as we ran to the runway bus.

Thankfully the driver saw us in time. As the doors opened Steven and I caught our breaths before hoping onto the bus.

“If we made the bus without running to it, I’d have to check if it was a dream or not.” I joked.

“We do not have a good record with the bus schedule.”

“I think they do it on purpose to us.” I added.

We both too a seat towards the back of the bus. And as the bus pulled away and started down the road, the reality of leaving Steven started to hit me some more. I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. Steven immediately took note of this and wrapped and arm around my shoulders.

“I know today is going to be tough. But just know I’ll be here if you need anything. You can always text me or call me and I’ll answer right away. Even if it’s not an emergency and you just need someone to talk to I’m just a text away.” Steven tried to reassure.

That definitely made me feel better. I nodded my head and remind resting against Steven.

“I’m going to miss you so much today. I’ll miss my little museum helper.” Steven kissed the top of my head.

“I’m going to miss you too. The summer was too short.”

Steven signed, “Yeah it was too short. But we did have a lot of fun, yeah? And now that the summer is over we have the fall to look forward too. You’re gonna love London in the fall Y/N.”

“Next stop University Parkway.” The bus announced.

Immediately without realizing I grabbed Steven’s hand and held it tightly in mine. My heart picked up speed. I wanted to go to college sure, but I didn’t want to go without Steven. Infact I didn’t want to be without him.

Steven held me closer, his arm still wrapped comfortably around my shoulder and his other hand rubbing small circled on mine.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright. The first day is always super scary. But you’ll be okay. I’m sure you’re going to have lots of fun and make tons of friends. I can’t wait to hear about it all tonight.”

I looked up at him and nodded, tears threatening to spilling. “I don’t want to leave you.”

Steven had to fight it in himself not to cry as well, “I don’t want you too either, but I know you’re going to do amazing today. I’m so very proud of you.”

With that he pulled Y/N into a hug, wrapping one arm around their back and the other holding their head.

The moment was interrupted by the bus coming to a stop. The two broke apart and walked to the doors of the bus.

“Make sure you text me when you get to your class alright?” He reminded me.

“I will.” I ran over and gave him one last hug of the morning. “I love you.”

“I love you to my little moon.” He broke apart from our hug and kissed my forehead. “Later gators.” He smiled.

With one last smile I exited the bus and took in the university. I turned back around and waved to Steven as the bus took off. Then it was just me, by myself, to take on the university.

All it took was that first step. So with one deep breath I took my first step and started walking to the main building to go to class.

~~~

Steven smiled and waved Y/N off as the bus pulled away. Once he was out of sight, he moved to sit back in his seat and finally let go. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to pull himself together. But at the moment he couldn’t.

It broke his heart to see Y/N so anxious and afraid. He wished he could take it all away, all the worry, all the sadness, all the anxiety. He wished he could spend every second with his little one.

But as soon as he knew it the bus came to a halt at his stop, the museum. He got off and clipped his name tag on as he made his way to the entrance.

“Hello Stephan! Where’s your little one today?” The security guard asked.

“It’s still Steven,” he made a point of correcting. “And Y/N won’t be working with me for a little bit, she’s at college.”

“Aw! What a shame! I miss that little bugger running around.”

“Yeah me too.” Steven sighed.

Like clockwork, Steven’s phone pinged. He lifted it up to see Y/N’s text message:

Just got through all the new student orientation and info and I finally made it to my class. Marc was right it was on the left side of the building.😂 But I found it and I’m about to start class. Text you after! 💞💞

Steven smiled at his phone. A wave of relief filled him. They made it to their class alright! He sent them a text back:

So happy to hear you made it there safely! Have a fun class sweetheart! Love you lots!💘

“Stevie!” Donna voice rang out.

“Donna, how are you?” Steven tried to ease in.

“You’re 4 minutes late. And no phones at work.”

“I understand I’m late today. But we already talked about the phone rule. I have to check it incase Y/N needs anything or anything is wrong.” Steven wasn’t someone who had too big of a voice, that was usually Marc or Jake. But when it came to Y/N, he was as loud as me needed to be.

“Right, right, it’s kind of odd seeing you without Y/N here. I almost miss them.” Donna said before she walked away.

Steven smirked to himself, he would definitely have to tell Y/N that later.

~~~

Another text pings Steven’s phone while he’s behind the counter of the gift shop.

Just got out of class. Super nice Professor and the subject is really interesting! I met this girl who sat next to me. She’s super nice. I think I made a friend! :)

That’s wonderful sweetheart! I can’t wait to hear about this new friend and the class!😄 I gotta funny story for you, but it’s going to come as a bit of a shock.

Lay it on me! I’m dying to know!

Donna said she actually misses you.

WHAT?! 😱

I’m dead serious. I almost had a heart attack myself!

Well I had a heart attack and I’m dead now😂💀 Is she feeling okay?

I think she better see a doctor honestly. She’s being almost too nice to me today.😬

Maybe it’s an imposter Donna?👀

You could be right Y/N! I gotta keep a close eye on her.👀

I just found my next class! I’ll text you after that one. Have fun at the gift shop! Talk to you soon!💞

Later gators🐊💘

In a while crocodile🐊💞

~~~

After my second class it was off to lunch. The school had food for sale at the food court but Marc insisted it was all terrible junk food. So he packed me a lunch instead.

I sat down at a lone table and pulled out my lunch box. Right upon opening it was three notes on top, one from Marc, Steven and even Jake.

Hope you have a wonderful day at school. If anyone gives you a weird look or says anything to you, let me know. I promise I won’t kill them. Love you el amado

- Jake :)

Have an amazing day at school. I hope you have a lot of fun and make plenty of friend. I also hope you enjoy the lunch. It’s all your favorites with a cookie at the bottom. (Don’t tell Steven;) ) Love you kiddo!

- Marc

Have a great first day of college Y/N! I love you so much my little moon! I just know you’re going to have so much fun and I can’t wait to hear about it! Love you from the bottom of my heart!

- Steven ❤️ xoxox

Tears started to sting my eyes. Despite my caregiver only being one person, I felt the love of three Caregivers. I couldn’t believe they all took the time to write me a cute little note in my lunch box! I grabbed my phone and started to text Steven:

Thank you for the notes in my lunch box! It was really sweet of you guys! 💞

It was Marc’s idea. He wanted you to have a little piece of each of us on your first day.

What does ‘amado’ mean?

Jake says it means beloved.

That’s sweet of him! Tell him I said thank you. And Marc too!🥰🥰 Can I call you? Are you on lunch too?

Yeah! Just give me a second to clear it with Donna and I’ll take my lunch break. That way we can have lunch together. 😁💘

True to his word, after a couple of minutes my phone began to rang. I picked it up and answered it.

“Steven!!”

“Y/N!! How are you doing? How’s school been so far?”

“It’s been fun! I met another friend in my last class. His name is David. And he offered to show me around the campus one day. He seemed pretty nice.”

There was a bit of silence on the phone for a second. Before I realized it someone spoke again.

“Who is this…David.” Jake’s voice came through the phone.

I sighed and rolled my eyes playfully, “Jake it’s nothing to worry about. He seems fine. I promise! Plus I’m wayyy to busy for any tour today.“

“Alright fine. But if this David starts to act a bit odd you just let me know cariño.” (dear)

“I will Padre.” The nickname slipped out before I realized it. I wasn’t regressing…was I? No, no I was just saying that to Jake as a sign of endearment…yeah…totally…

I quickly changed the subject before he could comment on it, “Steven! Can you ask him to make his special mac and cheese tonight?”

“What’s wrong with my Mac and cheese?” Steven asked.

“There’s nothing wrong! I like yours too…but Marc’s is the best. Sorry!”

It was the honest truth. Marc was more of a chef than the other two personalities. There was a bit of silence until…

“I’d be happy to make it for you tonight. It’s the perfect night for it too, a bit chilly. That way the mac and cheese will warm you right up.” Marc said.

I giggled and kicked my feet under the table. I love Marc’s mac and cheese so much!

“Thank you!! And please tell Steven not to be be down. He always make the best desserts!” I explained, hoping not to hurt Steven’s feelings.

Marc spoke up again changing the subject, “Y/N, are you starting to regress a little bit?” He asked in his normal stern tone. Steven was the pushover, but Marc and Jake were…stern to say the least.

Now was my turn for silence on the other end of the phone. After a moment I answered, “Yeah. I just…I miss you guys.” I looked up in the hopes of not crying.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s alright! You’re okay! You’ve only got one more class after this and then you’ll hop on the bus and see us again! Look how far you’ve made it on your own today! You should be so proud of yourself.”

“Thank you,” I said wiping my eyes. “Just one more class.”

“Exactly, just one more class and then when you walk onto the bus we’ll be waiting there with open arms for you sweetie. You got that?” Marc asked.

“Yeah.” I smiled at the thought.

“Alright then, I’ll give it back to Steven.”

Now that was funny, as if to give him the phone and not the body, which is what he really meant.

“Hi darling! Still doing alright?”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see you later!”

“Oh I can’t wait to see you my little moon! I can’t wait hug you and hold you all night.”

Despite Steven best efforts he was making feel more and more little by the second.

“Steven…what should I do if I’m feeling small at school?”

“Hmmm,” Steven hummed in concentration. “That’s a good question darling. Well, first you’re making the right choice letting me know. That way, incase of an emergency, I know what headspace you’re in.”

“Secondly,” Steven continued, “I would put your headphones on. Whether you listen to music or not it will block out the outside noises and make it a little less overwhelming for you.”

“Finally, if you feel too little and want to hold your stuffie you have two options. You could outright hold your stuffie or you could stick their arm out of your backpack. That way if you want to feel their presence, all you have to do is reach back and hold their hand.” Steven explained.

I nodded and took a deep breath. I could do this, just one more class and then I could regress the night away. Steven was right and his idea were just what I needed. “Thank you, I needed that.”

“Of course darling. I’m always happy to help. Listen, I’ll let you go because your lunch is probably ending soon but I’ll see you tonight. If you need me feel free to call or text. Alright love? I love you my little moon.”

I held the phone a little tighter in my hands. Oh how I wish I could just jump through the phone and be with him right now. But I will be strong, just one more class.

“I love you too. Later gators.” My voice broke a bit on the end of that sentence. With that we hung up.

I took another deep breath and tried to level myself. I grabbed my headphones and put the over my ears. Without music playing I kept them on and tried to stop myself from crying. I’ve had a great day! I don’t understand why I’m so upset suddenly.

But then it hit me, the fight against my regression was weighting heavy on me. My body and mind were frustrated with the resistance of not to regressing immediately. But the headphones started to help tremendously.

I grabbed Steven, Marc and Jake’s notes and put them in my pocket for some reassurance. I put my lunchbox away and back into my backpack. There inside I met eyes with my stuffie of Taweret. She stared back at me with her sweet hippo smile. My heart tugged at me to pull her out and hug her. But instead I took Steven’s advice and stuck her hand out so I could hold it every I felt I needed to.

With that I swung my bag onto to my back and went off to my next class.

~~~

Steven anxiously waited on the bus. His shift was over and how he was on his way back home. But first was picking his little one up from their stop. He was lucky enough to get a seat this time, the bus being crowded with the rush hour crowds.

He couldn’t wait to see Y/N. He was nervous the whole rest of the evening with Y/N explaining how they were starting to feel little as the day went on. He hoped he gave them good advice, he hoped they were alright.

Just as he boarded the bus they texted and said they were out of class and heading to the bus stop. So hopefully that meant that by now they were waiting at the bus stop.

But what if something went wrong? Or what if they weren’t there? Steven shook his head and listened to both Marc and Jake yell at him internally. No, Y/N was alright, and they would be right there waiting for him.

Sadly it didn’t makes his nerves feel any less at ease than they didn’t before. The only thing that would make them better is seeing Y/N. Luckily for him he was only one stop away.

His foot bounced anxiously as the bus rounded the corner to the college. Steven stood up and held the handrail as the bus came to a stop right in front of the university. And there Y/N stood.

Y/N smiled through the window at Steven. They ran into the bus and right into Steven’s arms.

“Steven!!!” They hugged Steven so right he could barely breathe.

“Y/N!!” Steven said, hugging back just as tight. “It’s so good to see you! I miss you so much my little moon.”

The two broke apart when the bus started again and they both almost fell over. Steven ushered them to sit while he held the rail next to their spot.

“How was your day darling?” He asked.

“It was amazing!! College is awesome! I met so many nice people and my classes seem like a lot of fun! I met this one girl and she has a pet frog! Could you imagine having a pet frog?!”

Steven laughed. “No I definitely cannot see myself having a pet frog. I’m so happy you had such a great day!” He ruffed their hair a bit.

“I’m happy I did too. I missed you! A lot! But I did have a good day. But now my day is the best!” Y/N said kicking their feet under their chair on the bus.

Steven smiled at his little one, who at the moment was regressing after a long hard day. But they deserved the little comfort. And boy was he planning on spoiling them when he got home.

[loafthecat]

Welcome to fun oc facts with loaf!

I remember doing one for Ollie- so why not do one for another oc of mine I love-? (Might also do more in the future for the other’s too idk-)

Today’s Subject is Mavy or Maverick Johnson- lol-

- Mavy is around 26-27 years old, and by the time of ctm he’s been contained within the ccc for 3 years max.

- current voice claim for mavs is Dogday, (yes the one out of Poppy playtime, sue me-), this goes for both cartoon and bigger bodies dogday as cartoon dogday fits pre-ccc mavy’s voice and bigger body dogday fits in with current Mavy’s voice. (Being more weak and deep? Idk- I still think Mav’s voice would remain gentle-)

- Mav first came from a dream @toxsradioactivelocks explained she had on discord, and I went- “hey- what if I made this character from your dream into a oc-?”, …..and that’s how we got mavy-

- best way to describe Mav would be- tired pessimist. He’s not really rude or mean- he’s just… lost all hope in ever being found or rescued- so much so he’s completely given up the idea of escaping himself- …he’s just so tired….

- he does tend to lose his temper when under a lot of stress…. While it’s hard to get Mav to that point- it’s not advised you push him that far as well- I think trev could tell you exactly what happens when Mav is pushed to his limits.

- dislikes basically everyone in the ccc- (except for one exception) it isn’t personal- he just can’t find himself having sympathy for people who continue to let his torment continue-

- speaking of sympathy, Mav has a lack of sympathy for others. He lost his sense of it over time in the ccc, ESPECIALLY towards the ccc’s employees. If anything bad happens he’s probably just silently watching from his containment cell, besides- what’d he be able to do anyway-?

- dispite all the above, Mav isn’t a angry or shouty person. He displays dislike more akin to how (best comparison) Burt would, which is blunt and quietly, instead of loudly.

- Mavy is a sweet boi- He’s just- not really like that to a majority of the ccc-

- Mav used to be a gov pilot- at least before the ccc. He……he misses his friends….he misses his old partner…….not that any of them probably remember him……

- yeah he has abandonment issues, specifically when it comes to the government and the fact, they haven’t rescued him. (Granted the gov thinks he’s dead but still-)

- ^ the above issue becomes worse after ctm.

- he can’t remember what his own face used to look like, before he turned into his current form.

- depresso espresso

- he eeps a lot-

Abilities:

- Mavy is able to shapeshift thanks to the black goo covering his entire body! Granted, Mav doesn’t become a perfect replica of what he’s trying to turn into, as the goo’s black colouring and his eyes and diamond like spots stay the same. (As seen in the poorly drawn cat at the bottom of post)

- Dispite his ability to shapeshift, mavy struggles to control this ability while under stress. Often if made too overly stressed his form shifts on its own, into something mavy can’t control, a form which makes mavy turn in the best of words- feral.

- mavy doesn’t shapeshift often either. Partly because he doesn’t like to and partly because there’s no point in doing so

- said goop is a result of a package “gifted” to mavy from someone called “gadget gabe”-? (Or maybe it wasn’t…..), It attached to him and now is unremovable from his body, so the change is permanent.

- due to what happened to him, Mavy’s legs are now slightly managled, becoming more akin to a animal’s legs then human legs, because of this Mavy always walks with a limp, although depending on what he’s doing and how fast he’s walking it becomes more or less noticeable.

Relations:

- current mavy isn’t friends with many people. He USED to be close with plenty of people within the government- but in the ccc- not so much-

- he only really has one proper friend in the CCC, Pluto starstick (other oc.) he likes Pluto because well- Pluto is actually just a decent person really- plus- Pluto actually talks to him and has a reason towards why he can’t do anything to stand up against the ccc. <- If I make a post on Pluto I’ll explain that more but for now back to Mavy.

- He’d be close friends with Dave if they met (or when they met.) I feel like they’d just understand eachother well- ESPECIALLY when it comes to the pain they’ve both been through- shared trauma and all!

- weirdly enough, Mavy is the only experiment in the ccc, Trevor will avoid and NOT act cruel too…. Now believe me it isn’t out of care or love or anything. In fact- Trevor actually fears Mavy. Hm, maybe I’ll explain why one day too ;3.

- the last two current relations Mavy has aren’t good ones either- …what..? Mav wasn’t the only gov agent fcked over by the ccc- …..too bad those two old friends are less then friendly now…. Or at least…. One of them certainly aren’t… and the other……. ……what a dirty traitor.

So yeah!!!! There’s all of Mavy’s base info! Feel like I should do more of these to explain each of my thsc ocs more- I’ll probably do one of the ccc gang or maybe trev or Pluto next-

Anyway, enjoy poorly drawn cat mavy!

[giggly-squiggily]

sooo i'm on a seminar for the whole week and i bring you kny modern au characters going on a six hour canoe trip because that's what i'll be forced to do tomorrow

hi hello btw how's life :D

super excited for the trip: mitsuri (it's all she talks about for days), kyojuro (has never been canoeing before and is really eager to learn it), douma (hopes to see boats capsize), akaza (his gymbro brain is trained to be excited about every sporty thingy ever), nezuko (she's an otter she's a mermaid, the real challenge is keeping her out of the water and inside the boat)

prepared to the point of paranoid: aoi (aggressively reminds everyone to put on suncream at least ten times), tanjiro (brings water for the whole group and then some), shinobu (a first aid kit for you! and a first aid kit for you! first aid kits for everybody!)

lowkey scared of the trip: zenitsu (i'm lying, he's highkey scared of the trip), sanemi (deep water be kinda sus okay), senjuro (kyojuro talks him through it tho), kanae ("something will go wrong i can feel it")

capsizes ten minutes into the trip: muichiro (wasn't paying attention and paddled right into the reed), genya (had the great misfortune to share a boat with muichiro), sabito (was too busy laughing at genya and muichiro to pay attention to where he was paddling), makomo (saw the obstacle coming and gladly let sabito paddle into it just to wipe that grin off his face), inosuke (it's a miracle he didn't take the whole fleet down with him)

chilling at the beach: tengen (if you think he's getting his hair wet for this you're out of your mind), gyomei (some risks shouldn't be taken), kanao (busy preparing the picnic for when the others return), giyuu (going into a tiny shaky boat when you can't swim is just. not a great idea.)

fakes a migraine and stays home: obanai (thank you but no thank you)

KJRKJEKJRJEK REY I LOVE THESE! (Oh goodness canoeing! Hope that's going well/gone well for you friend! Here's to you being a pro and not ending up like Sabito and co akjrkjearjke)

Oh gosh team all in makes me laugh akjrekajrje Mitsuri's absolutely delighted- she's got a waterproof camera so they can take pictures for her scrapbook; Kyojuro's a fast learner and ends up helping Akaza after the redhead struggles with it (gymbro brain ajkrekrjej I love it!) Douma's got his own waterproof camera so he can make a powerpoint presentation of everytime someone capsized over but ends up taking lots of pictures of Nezuko just living her little mermaid life cause she's so freaking cute! (Granted things get a little messy when she almosts gets into a fist fight with a tuna but that is neither here or there)

KJRJERJE THE BUTTERFLY GIRLS KJERKJEKJ Aoi's got that industrial sized can of spray on sunscreen and just coats everyone like it's a game of Splatoon- meanwhile Shinobu's forces them all to watch a CPR/First aid video so they're all informed on what to do if someone goes down (does it accidentally turn into that scene from the office? Yeah. It does) Tanjiro on water duty with his aggressive kindness being all "TAKE THE WATER!" and then sweetly saying "Thank you!" when they do is EVERYTHING KREJRJKERKJ

Oh God I feel Sanemi on that kjarkaejrkej He's seen all the deep sea scary movies and documentaries to know he doesn't mess with deep water- that plus Kanae having her sixth sense that something will go wrong is enough to have him almost back out of the trip altogether. I like to think the only thing keeping him in is Genya- the idea of him getting snatched away by the Kraken makes him sick ("Sanemi the Kraken isn't real-" "I SAW IT! I saw it at the aquarium! It was huge!" "Sanemi that was squid- and a statue of one at that.")

ERJEJKRJE SABITO! He's such a dork- he'd go "HAHA!" before absolutely capsizing himself. Poor Genya gets Muichiro's hair on him and is all "THE KRAKEN!" while said boy is just trying to untangle it from the paddle. They're not even five feet from the beach and still on shallow water so they all just kinda sitting in chest high water panicking while Makomo laughs. Inosuke's likely just floating by on his back like a castaway, someone has to tie a rope on his ankle so he doesn't drift out to open sea.

KJREKJRJKEKJ Tengen is all out in a speedo on the beach getting a tan- someone draws a dick on his chest with sunscreen that he doesn't realize is there until the next day (it was Sabito. Giyu might have helped.) Gyomei's the guy who walks along the water in a big sun hat like a traveler from another world- just enjoying himself but ever confused when people come up to him asking what world he's from. Kanao's making lunch with Shinobu and Kanae while Senjuro's pulling Inosuke back to shore via the rope, etc. etc. They're all just so cute AH!

Obanai is me akjreakjreakjkjre I love the beach but put me in a group that big and I'd fake a migraine too and stay curled up in my bed kjarkjekjreakj He'd absolutely love the pictures Mitsuri sends him though- they plan a little one on one vacation to the beach together down the road.

Thanks for sharing friend! I'm doing alright! Life's good, I'm good- it's storming as I type this (yay!) and I'm feeling my best self! I hope you're doing alright!

[deprivedmusicaljunkie]

tlc couples as hozier songs

i’m feeling nostalgic and i love hozier so bear with me <3

kaider

explanation: tooooootally not teasing @winterrhayle’s newest artwork that will debut in a few months……. but i really do think this song suits them. kai’s malewife energy PLUS the uncanny lyric parallels to luna. i mean,,, he was forced to marry the queen of the moon and compared his true love to the sun. isn’t that metal

lyrics:

betray the moon as acolyte / on first and fierce affirming sight

and at last can grant a name / to a buried and a burning flame

wolflet

explanation: this song is literally comparing the narrator to a stray dog begging someone to not show them too much kindness. self-explanatory. wolf in his lsop era.

lyrics:

jesus christ, don’t be kind to me / honey don’t feed me, i will come back

you should never know how easy you are to need

i’ve known the warmth of your doorways

give me mercy no more / that’s a kindness you can’t afford

cresswell

explanation: i kinda struggled with finding one for cresswell. i’m not the biggest fan of their relationship. personally, i think the age gap combined with both of their maturities doesn’t make for a healthy relationship. i chose this song because 1) its a falling from the sky metaphor like hello and 2) it’s about relying on codependency to save you from yourself, and placing your trust on something that will lead to your downfall. this song could be coming from either perspective, but it makes the most sense coming from cress.

lyrics:

if anything could fall at all / it’s the world that falls away from me

if you need to darling, lean your weight to me

if these heights should bring my fall / let me be your own / icarian carrion

jacinter

explanation: jacin has this deeply deeply repressed longing and adoration for winter. they also have soulmate energy. i think abstract represents that really well, because the journey of love and decline is way more subtle but also more inevitable. and i definitely think that the person showing compassion to a run-over animal can be compared with winter and her wolf.

lyrics:

the poor thing in the road / its eyes still glistening / the cold wet of your nose / the earth from a distance

streetlights in the dark blue / the moment i knew / i’d no choice but to love you

all my love and terror balanced there between those eyes

[who-the-fuck-knows-blog]

So glad people are seeing that Izzy is supportive of who Ed wants to be, as proven by his statement to Ed in 2.07 about following what makes him happy, what feels good, and that Izzy’s brushing off Ed’s “feels like a storm’s coming” is because:

1. Izzy is wasted coming to confront Ed, that doesn’t tend to lead people to be super non-abrasive especially if they have previous severe trauma with the other person, caused by the other person. He’s not super receptive to Ed’s advice. Ed rarely listens to his. Do we know if Izzy would have still rejected Ed’s advice about the storm if Ed had provided something other than a feeling? (actually, additionally, 2.06 is about Izzy learning to trust his feelings and that they’d lead him somewhere safe. The last time we see him with Ed the next episode — the next day — is him saying ‘trust your feelings’ as opposed to the beginning of the episode when Izzy —allbeit drunk— was brushing them off.)

2. because his previous job was to provide pushback and alternatives for Edward. sure, he should also believe him (although i’m sure an amount of trust has been broken in that relationship and ed just got out of a time period where his judgement -to Izzy- was severely compromised) but if a first mate believes anything and everything you say without any pushback, you have negative outcomes. Plus, even though Ed was right that things are gonna get fucked up, he was actually moping at that moment. Ed wasn’t giving Izzy any concrete evidence anything was happening, just “feeling” like a storm is coming, unlike the cloud shapes in 1.04, its not based in a reality that Izzy is perceiving. (Also see above in Izzy’s lesson from 2.06 being that sometimes things feel right or wrong and that leads to him being supportive ultimately of whatever Ed chooses for himself.)

it got a little long so more below the cut

Also that Stede doesn’t love Ed for who he is right now, distinct from Izzy who does love Ed for who he is right now. (I’m not sincerely making the argument that Stede doesn’t love Ed for who he is, this is just exactly how Edward feels currently) Izzy still loves Ed so clearly that he’s encouraging Ed to do whatever makes him happy instead of trying to make Ed do something he doesn’t want (piracy) unlike Stede who is telling Ed who he should be, who he is, and that is someone Stede wants to be with. Izzy is also trying to comfort Stede and tells him openly that he thinks Stede and Ed balance eachother out, and all he wants is for Ed to be happy, and he didn’t realize Stede was healthy for Ed before but now he does and he’s supportive. When he knew something or someone was better for Ed, he went out of his way to both keep it safe, and bless the union, even if it didn’t entirely make sense to him, he’s learning things don’t always make sense to everyone and that doesn’t invalidate them.

And Ed is a complicated man (to others) who is simple (to himself). Mostly because he struggles to communicate with the people around him about how he’s feeling and why he’s feeling that way. He’s never told Izzy why he shot him, how is Izzy supposed to know? Ed’s behavior looks contradictory to everyone on the outside and it’s only because we are granted access to Ed’s internal world that we know why he does things. To someone not being told, that would be confusing. (As far as the average viewer goes, people who dig into Ed and his character and study him would likely know his motivations without being so directly told) To us, he’s not complicated because he’s not being contradictory. Also, Izzy has a very small amount of emotional intelligence (he’s working on it), but he is trying to reassure Stede, and what’s better proof that Edward is complicated than his relationship with Izzy?

Currently as it stands, Izzy is the one pushing for Ed to be who he wants to be, whatever that is (—not to separate Ed and Stede, but because he wants what makes Ed feel the best and who Ed feels he should be—) and Stede is the one telling Ed who he is and who he isn’t. (“you’re not a fisherman!”) Because he thinks he knows who Ed is better than Ed does and it’s paralleling Izzy’s statement from 1.10/his general sentiment.

Even if Ed is meant to be a pirate, he has to come to that conclusion on his own away from people telling him who he should be and who he is. In this case. Izzy is providing healthier advice to Ed because he’s not worried about keeping him close the way Stede is.

In conclusion I would like people to not tell me who I should or should not be shipping. If I want to ship edizzy or steddyhands I can. And I wouldn’t even be doing it because it’s not healthy. Edizzy could end up being healthy with the trajectory they’re on— Ed’s taking responsibility, Izzy’s not trying to dictate Ed’s identity— and they do care about eachother. If anything, these past episodes have proven to me that Izzy will love Ed no matter who he decides to be. That’s the vibe I got. I still think Stede cares about Ed and with help from Izzy who went through a similar thing with Ed, he can work on the issues arising. He has to also learn to let something go.

Steddyhands is not at all unrealistic or unhealthy (if we are applying all these lenses to it and obv it would be tumultuous and rocky but I find those relationships more compelling personally) inherently because of Izzy’s presence.

Edizzy is a perfectly acceptable ship whether or nor you prefer them in their toxic marriage or their ex-ex-divorcee status learning who eachother are outside of the narrow scope of piracy and realizing those are still people the other can love. It can be both!

Edizzy was, after all, intended to be read as a form of love story, so it’s not going against the narrative to ship it.

edit: also will add it’s obviously fine to not ship edizzy for any reason at all

dni if you’re here for an argument

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

My thoughts on Trolls 3 & that Adam Sandler Lizard movie Leo (and also my thoughts on Wish)

So there's a lot to unpack here; let's start with the most basic, Trolls 3! It's adorable, nothing bad to say about it, good movie to watch with your family! For once I don't have a lot to say about a DreamWorks film, other than it was so cute and funny. I still prefer the first two but this was great and I loved the songs. I thought the 2D scene was a little bit weird my uncle thought the same. Didn't care for the villains' design but Velvet and Veneer were funny! I like how they had colorful lipsticks tho haha XD anyway, I recommend Trolls 3, see it in theaters if you still have time.

As for that Adam Sandler Lizard movie, it was great! It's called "Leo" and it's on Netflix. It kind of gets heavy when Leo finds out that he one year left to live and when he talks to the kids, it's amazing. I love how they tried to show different types of kids and different struggles they had. One girl talked to much, the other girl whose parents were going through a divorce, there was also a boy who was insecure about his voice and another one who was insecure about body hair, and I even liked how they didn't make the rich blonde popular girl be mean, they even showed her struggle too! There was also this one boy whose mom didn't allow him to play outside and be a kid and he had this drone follow him around all the time, and she even made him wear a hazmat suit inside his house which to me, was the most depressing. The part with the teacher, was on and off. I hated her for most of the movie but she even had redemption. The teacher at the beginning was really nice but it was the old lady teacher, idk man I didn't like her for most of the movie but at the end she's okay. I still think characters get redemption way too easily sometimes. Just my opinion... btw the humor was really good! It had that 90's Nickelodeon type of humor (like from CatDog or Rocko's modern life or Angry Beavers). Like, there were a few dirty jokes and just a few fourth wall breaks. Also, the movie had a good message. I wasn't expecting it to be a musical but it was. Let's just say that the songs weren't as good as Under the Boardwalk, but they weren't bad songs. Honestly, I even think the songs in Wish were better but Leo is over all a better movie and has a way better message.

About my opinion on Wish now, I don't recommend you watch it in theaters, unless you're a really wealthy person who can afford to see movies all the time. I mean, in my opinion it's a waste of time and money. It's better to watch it in the comfort of your own home on a free website, don't even watch it on Disney plus. There's a few reasons why but here's one of them https://www.instagram.com/reel/ but the other reason is because I don't think Disney deserves to make a lot of money form this. Part of me feels bad because I LOVE the character design, and the diversity. I feel bad for black girls, they can't get at least one modern Disney princess who from a good movie. Tiana's movie is old and she ends up marrying the dumb hunk prince when she just wanted to be a restaurant owner, Ariel is racebent but she's pretty cool even tho there's a war over her being black, and Asha's a sweet character but her movie doesn't make sense. Like, Wish's plot was all over the place; at first you were kind of on the king's side but they did make him out to be evil enough that you were on Asha's side. The hardest thing for me to understand was that at first she wanted the king to grant everyone's Wish because she wanted her grandpa to be happy since he was 100 years old, then she wanted to get her grandpa and mom's wishes back from the king, and then she wanted everyone to be happy but I was so lost... the only time I laughed was that one song and it showed the bear and the deer, and they called the deer "Bambi" as a joke, but really, it looked like Boog and Elliot from the Open Season franchise. The dancing chickens was pretty funny too, it reminded me of the Flip flop and fly scene in Chicken Run. Honestly, Wish isn't the worst Disney movie ever, but it's not that good. If you're planning on seeing it, know what you're in for. The story was incredibly boring as well, and the background characters barely had any personality or lines but were still cute (I like Asha's friends, especially the plus size girl in the red and also the girl with the yellow dress and blue thing in her hair). And like, the best thing about this movie had to be the character designs. Not only did it show race and skin color diversity, but it showed body type diversity as well! Some shows and movies just show skin color diversity and make the plus size characters the joke (like **cough cough** Total Drama show) but this movie actually have TRUE diversity! It's a shame that the story's a disaster because the designs were a 10/10... as for the story, it's a 4.5/10.

We've come to a conclusion. Watch Leo on Netflix and if you don't have Netflix, you can use kisscartoon, actvid, or whatever other free movie website you have. If you want to watch Wish I don't recommend seeing it in theaters but I'm not stopping you. (Please click the link to the video I sent). Also, Wish is better than most of the old Disney movies, don't go comparing it to peter pan or something, we know that movie's outdated and way worse than Wish. If you're a Trolls fan or just have any interest in seeing Trolls 3, GO SEE TROLLS 3 in theaters! I recommend it! And also, if you have any thoughts, whether you agree or not, just let me know. Even if you have different opinions than me, just let me know!

[quibbs126]

dark cacao x golden cheese fan kid???

All right, here you are, this is Santafereno Cookie

Edit: his name is now Dark Cheese Cookie. I know this really is the epitome of just mashing names together, but I dunno, I came to a realization that maybe I don’t need to have the names be all completely different. I mean yeah, let’s not have them all be two names combined, especially if it doesn’t make sense. But for some of them, I think I’m fine. Also he’s supposed to be named after this black cheese I found called charcoal cheddar, only I made the name more vague, sort of like how Dark Fondue is supposed to be dark chocolate fondue. I suppose I could name him Charcoal Cheese but then there’s the question of where the charcoal came from. I realize this means he is not longer technically made of chocolate despite the fact that he is, but whatever. I’ll keep the original explanation for posterity

Edit edit: heck it, I’m changing it to Charcoal Cheese, I don’t give a damn about the naming scheme anymore. Also it sounds better. But he’s still chocolate, not charcoal

So my struggle with his name has been documented, but eventually I went with @midi-san ‘s suggestion of Santafereno Cookie, mostly because I liked the way it sounded. Though I’ll be honest, I’m also not sure about that name, since everyone else in the family has names that are relatively simple. GC is simply cheese, Dark Choco is just dark chocolate, and Dark Cacao is cacao beans (and his is probably only more specific because he was made after Dark Choco to be his father/ancestor). Santafereno to me sounds a little too complicated and specific compared to everyone else, plus there’s no adjective in front. But I also realize that maybe I’m complaining for the sake of complaining, because I can’t find that perfect name (maybe I should have just gone with Choco Cheese…). Anyways, santafereño is basically hot chocolate with cheese

Charcoal cheddar:

Anyways so on to his design, so I envisioned him with black as his main color but with gold/cheese accents, and yeah I got that, but when coloring it felt like his colors were a bit too bright. Now though, I think I’m happy with what I got

All right, now onto Charcoal Cheese himself. I have quite a bit on him

So he’s the prince of the Golden Cheese Kingdom, and is its loyal guardian. Granted the problem with him is that we haven’t seen the Golden Cheese Kingdom yet, so I have no idea how it operates or how he’d fit in. But he worked as essentially the Queen’s right hand, and currently (assuming that GC is missing/dead) he guards the kingdom from trespassers. He’s a serious person who treats his job very seriously, and has a deep love for his kingdom, but he can also be a bit of a prideful bastard sometimes, and unlike his father and brother, he can actually clearly show happiness. He’s usually a pretty chill guy outside of work, but in current times since he’s always working and is under a lot of stress, he’s more serious and irritated then he is friendly

He’s also the older half brother of Dark Choco. I say half because they share the same father, but Dark Choco’s only parent is Dark Cacao. I don’t know where he came from, maybe he just spawned in one day. These two have a…complicated relationship. Growing up, Charcoal Cheese didn’t like him much, because he didn’t really want a younger brother. He’d still tolerate his presence and antics, but he’d complain about doing it. In current day they don’t see each other much, with the last time Dark Choco saw him was on his quest for the Strawberry Jam Sword (I don’t know if Charcoal Cheese knows what went down in the Dark Cacao Kingdom, he doesn’t hear from them much anymore), and if they meet, there’s gonna be some tension. Charcoal Cheese might make impersonal remarks or criticize his lifestyle, and while Dark Choco may think Dark Cheese hates him, in truth he doesn’t. And deep down somewhere, Dark Cheese does care about him, he’s just bad at showing it. Charcoal Cheese probably had a bit of resentment growing up that Dark Choco got to live with and spend more time with their father while he didn’t (Charcoal Cheese mostly lived with Golden Cheese and the two had agreed on Dark Cheese being heir to the Golden Cheese Kingdom while their next kid would be for the Dark Cacao Kingdom, which ended up being Dark Choco), as well as probably some resentment that Dark Choco was his half brother and has no real syrup connection to his mother, which considering that’s who he lived with and he was definitely a mama’s boy, meant quite a bit to him (I should probably also note, Golden Cheese doesn’t have a problem with Dark Choco or the fact that they aren’t related. He’s just kid 2 to her). Even now he will make remarks that Dark Choco is his half brother, not full. He’s come around to the fact that none of these things are really Dark Choco’s fault, and even back then he didn’t really hate him, it’s just that all of these factors made him act out as if he didn’t like him. Also maybe I should clarify, in my head they meet in some alternate timeline where the CoD go to the Golden Cheese Kingdom before the Dark Cacao Kingdom, and they basically make Charcoal Cheese their guide, not telling him of their true purpose. I mean things probably wouldn’t be too different if they met now, just that the whole thing would be quicker to deal with since it’s just them and they can just talk

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure of the specifics, I just want them to have an awkward/tense relationship but in truth Charcoal Cheese cares. Dark Choco does as well, he just doesn’t see his brother that much

Now as for Dark Cacao, Charcoal Cheese doesn’t really have strong opinions one way or the other about his father since well, he hasn’t seen him all that much and barely knows him. Yes he did see him when he was younger, but after the Dark Flour War, each of his parents sort of isolated themselves and didn’t talk, leaving him in the Golden Cheese Kingdom and Dark Cacao and Dark Choco in the Dark Cacao Kingdom. If they were to meet, it would be incredibly awkward since well, they’re the parent/child they don’t really know. They could probably come to some understanding, but again they haven’t met in a very long time

Meanwhile Charcoal Cheese has a very close relationship with his mother, and when they’re together he tends to act sort of like a mini Golden Cheese, though occasionally being the voice of reason

I think that’s about it for his relationships. Now on to random stuff, in that scenario where he meets the Cookies of Darkness, I have this idea in my head that Licorice finds him very attractive, particularly because he doesn’t wear a shirt. But it’s nothing more than one sided attraction (Charcoal Cheese has no interest), and Licorice would still betray him in this scenario, he just might lament the loss of the abs. Also that the CoD see him as “Dark Choco but with wings and shirtless”

Also random fact, he can’t stand the cold. Or more accurately, the cold of the Dark Cacao Kingdom. Mostly because he grew up in a desert. If he ever wants to visit, he has to bundle himself up to the point where he’s basically entirely covered

I think that’s about it for him, I hope you like him! Honestly I do, and I definitely want to draw him more

[spinningbuster98]

Fusion may just have my favorite intro of the series

Just the intro cutscene where, without context, we see Samus crash into an asteroid belt while the music rises in a creepy pitch, followed by the classic title theme, which has a delightfully unsettling undertone now, good stuff! Really sets up Fusion as being a much scarier experience than usual

Also contributing are the ambient noises of the station when you enter, again: really good stuff, the kind that I guess is what Metroid 2 wanted to go for with its blips and bloops

I do have a couple of problems with that intro monologue however

The first is that, like others have pointed out in the past, given how quickly the X are shown to assimilate other creatures in both this game and Dread, it's weird how they take their sweet time with Samus, who gets just enough time to be given a vaccine, with the game not really giving a clear cut explanation

I used to thing that the whole explanation about her armor slowing down the X infection was pure headcanon, but to be fair Samus here does say that the X were infecting her Power Suit first, so maybe that's indication that they were struggling to get through its defenses, plus later on in Prime 2 if an Ing tries to possess you the armor rejects them

However we are also shown that the X had reached her nervous system, meaning that they had managed to get through the armor and reached her actual body....so by all accounts she should have died right there.

Granted, given that Fusion is the game that establishes the bio-organic nature of Samus' suit and how it's intrinsically tied to her biology (though I think that the Super Metroid Comic had already established something similar though that thing isn't really canon as a whole) I guess you could kind of speculate that the armor was still slowing down X infection even at that point

Dread will kind of put a wrench in this explanation by having Raven Beak be instantly infected by an X....but eh, we could explain that one away by saying that either his armor had been drained of too much energy by Samus' Metroid powers or that the X that infected him was a more powerful variant given that we had never seen a purple one before and that the resulting abomination took and extensive dosage of the Hyper Beam to be defeated rather than die on the spot like the other X during the escape sequence. That whole section is honestly a bit dumb and unneccesary but eh

Probably my biggest issue however is how Samus, right after having this weird gelatinous thing she had never seen before enter her armor, seemingly just...carries on like it's nothing and boards her spaceship

There's being reckless and then there's being just fucking stupid, are you seriously telling me she wasn't worried about that just because it had no immediate ill effects? And what about her armor? Shouldn't it be flashing all sorts of Warning messages? Barring Other M this is probably Samus' dumbest moment, at least with how it's presented here

Moving from that am I the only one that thinks that the "Elephant Bird" boss holding a fake Morph Ball makes no sense? You get the Charge Beam from this Core X so....why doesn't it have a fake Charge Beam power up?

Speaking of which, I LOVE the Charge Beam in this game. In Super it was mid, not really needed and it took a while to charge

Here it charges more quickly, it does great damage, has a deliciously crunchy sound effect (Fusion's sound design is actually my favorite in the series purely for how crunchy every attack sounds, which makes them feel more satisfying) and even slightly improves your uncharged shots!

[driverlando]

hi! love your blog and would love a 💍 please

I'm a few years older than most of the drivers but I don't mind a younger man. I love music and sing to myself a lot without realizing, and it's important in my line of work (I'm a dancer). I'm no nonsense but love to have fun if that makes sense, like at work I'm focused and when I'm off I'm at a party or hosting a binge watch session with my friends. Speaking of binge watching I love a good trashy reality show but I adore romcoms because I'm still holding onto the hope of finding my true love. I'm outgoing mainly because my job forces me to be, but I don't let people in easily. Sports wise I'm not into much of it as a fan but I like a good round of golf to unwind after a stressful week (I'm absolute shit at it but I still enjoy it). I try my best to be a happy person but I do struggle with my self confidence at times - I'm working on it though, and try to seek out people and things that bring me happiness. 🥹

hii!! thank you, ilyyy 🥰

I’d ship you with Oscar!! his approachable and down to earth nature would compliment your outgoing personality a lot I feel like. plus I feel like he has this relaxed demeanour and would definitely unwind when he’s with friends and you hehe. he’s also so focused on driving and doing the best he can, sort of how you have this no nonsense stance when it comes to dancing. you’re both very career focused and absolutely love what you do which is the best. you could teach him how to dance (granted he won’t be very good at it but it’s him trying that counts right?) his supportive and understanding nature would align with your journey toward self-confidence and happiness really well, he’d be your number one cheerleader and would love up on you the times you’re feeling down but also uplift you and make you feel like the most beautiful person ever because you are!! 💘💘

[qwuilty]

Since we'll be living here, we might as well dump some P1 Dude headcannons as an offering.

— Because of he horrible sleep schedule, his eyes are always slightly red and eyelids droopy. His hair creates a shadow over his eyes too, making him look more menacing than what he wanted to.

— He's an math person, It's logic is simple to understand and it never changes. History and Biology are the subjects he struggles with the most.

— Despite being an "wolf person" this loser just Oozes sad wet cat energy. Pathetic little meow meow if i must say.

— Would do the Undertale's pacifist route if he could play it and would cry if he ever did the genocide one.

— Is interested in more "feminine" things but, because of what others would think of him, he mostly keep it to himself. On that matter, he thinks skirts are Awfully comfortable.

— He's super easy to fluster. In this state he tends to nervously play with his hair.

— This is mostly because of a oneshot on AO3 but i thinks that he would be willing to share a bath with his partner, even though he would be nothing but a blushing mess.

Have a good day/night

– ☕ | 🐰 | ☀️🌙

OOO i love these, they feel very in line with my own headcanons for him! I've personally imagined him more in those long librarian style skirts in the fall, or at least he would have been if the 90s wasn't.. The 90's and all. Also imagining him fidgeting around with his hair all red in the face is absolutely what i needed after 9 am classes today |D I think him liking math more also makes sense, sure it's a lot at first, but there's a sense of consistency to it that others might take for granted

In return i'll give one of my own headcanons, i'm kind of coming around more to the idea of him trying to enlist as his last ditch effort "i need to make something of myself or i'll be a failure forever" (Also since admittedly it does make sense now that i think over it more, mainly related to potential ptsd related gunshot hallucinations and his use of military terms, plus the war journal thing), and i think he'd have kind of a teasing name of Big Bird because of how tall he is and how he kind of shuffled around everywhere. (Also partially ableism because he had a harder time catching onto things like sarcasm or lying, making him seem 'stupid' despite having a lot of book smarts)

I'm still admittedly kind of considering ideas for it, but i think he got discharged after issues with trauma and insomnia after dealing with the horror of war lead to him accidentally attacking another solider, leading to him being deemed unfit to continue serving and sent right back to rock bottom. I'm also admittedly dealing with low spoons brain due to a rough day, so i hope that made sense <:D

(btw if anyone is curious about the fic, i think it's Nothing Out To Get You by lobotomyy on Ao3 /correct me if im wrong/, i personally read it myself and it's very cute, i would absolutely reccomend it <3)

[jessmalia]

Do you ship scalia or is it just something that you don’t mind seeing?

I ship scalia in a vacuum. I think it's a sweet dynamic with a lot of potential. Shelley and Tyler do have a lot of chemistry, so I can see why the writers wanted to explore that pairing. They have a very similar awkwardness/cluelessness that feeds into each other well (I think the same can be said about stira, which is a ship I like in a similar way, actually even more because of the tricksters/kitsune angle in their dynamic, and I also think there's some sciles meta in there about how they both got girlfriends that are so similar to the other lol) and I'm happy with how they really utilised that during their scenes in 6B. I've only seen the season once, so I can't even recall what the scene was about, but I remember the scene that sold them the most to me as a couple was that Malia face palm one lol. Where Malia is trying to communicate something but they're both just totally clueless.

This one:

The problem is the circumstances of when this pairing was explored. The messy way stalia broke up, the unfair way Malia's feelings about st/ydia was completely disregarded. Granted, this makes a part of me go "Stiles unfairly dumped you and got with Lydia without asking how you'd feel about it? Fuck yeah you should get with his best friend! Give him a taste of his own medicine! Fair is fair!" but that's more about me being a Malia stan than having to do with any ships lol. When viewing the show as a whole, it's just impossible NOT to compare scalia and stalia, and when you do, scalia so obviously comes in short.

Like, every single argument I can come up with for scalia potentially working better is disproven by what stalia was in canon. Like, "oh maybe Scott could help her with her werecoyote struggles and do it better because as a werewolf he knows what it feels like" but we literally saw Stiles help Malia with that and he did it perfectly! After hammering in for 2 and a half seasons that Stiles is Malia's anchor I can't see anyone buying how Scott could just replace him in that aspect. Also "Scott is so good and anti violence that he could help Malia get over her kill first ask questions never coyote thing in a way Stiles can't because he's very similar to Malia in that regard" doesn't work for me either. We saw throughout their relationship that Stiles and Malia felt the best about their violent tendencies and trust issues with each other because the other one could understand. They could tell each other "You're still a good person" and the other could actually believe it for once. They opened up to each other and told the other aspects of their trauma that they never discussed with anyone else! "But when I came through it, I learned something else... Control is overrated." "I said, 'I wish you were all dead.'"

Then there's the scira of it all too! I'm not gonna go too much into it since I'm mainly a stalia stan lol, but the way Kira was pushed out of the show is honestly so horrible, and the fact that scira was so huge and how Tyler and Arden kept talking about how in love they were AND the fact that the writers said that they didn't actually break up and Scott was gonna wait for her... it's all very frustrating. Add the fact that Shelley is a white woman and Arden isn't and, yeah... it's all very bad.

Plus the way season 6 not only sucked in general, but also how the writing was really bad at actually selling st/ydia and scalia. I really like what @bericas said in the tags of this post: #like on a real level#i just don’t understand what they wrote it like this#like#why would you do this#6a outside of the narrative telling us stydia showed stalia and scydia like crazy#and it’s so weird#if you’re gonna lie to me at least do it well. If they really wanted to make the endgames make sense, they really needed more time to do it. You can’t just decide to completely change your character dynamics for the last season of the show. Don’t know what the writers were on during that decision. 

TLDR: I think they’re a nice ship in theory but they just don’t work in canon. 

[justmeinadaze]

I hope this doesn’t come across as rude but have you written any plus reader fics that don’t involve fat shaming? Fat shaming is triggering for me but most plus size reader fics include it I was really excited when I found your steddie fic but the first part I don’t think I can read. Would the story make sense if I just read the other two parts?

Hey you. I'm assuming you only read Dont Be So Hard? Granted Take It Out On Me goes through the struggles of a big girl and things I've dealt with from people but it's not as blatant as that other one.

So I have a bunch...in my Eddie section Eye Of the Beholder where the plus size reader helps Eddie deal with his negative body image. So far in Secret Underneath there is not body shaming. She does mention them probably only wanting a certain type of girl but it's very brief. I think Playing the Game in my Steve section doesnt have any at all.

I didnt take your question as rude! I get it and I get how it can be triggering. That's why I put those warnings there. I try to be really careful when it comes to all kinds of triggers because I know what it's like to watch a show or something without one and then an hour later you're like 😳😭. Lol.

I appreciate you continuing to stick around and asking those questions. Alot of people would see the one story and just be like "Bye!".

Like with alot of my stories anything involving weight and the body comes from my own personal experiences and feelings. While in high school and even now I was proud of my body but society, dating, and my biological mother constantly belittled me and made me feel insecure.

I try my best to convey that even though these things are going on around the reader that shes still beautiful and loved (And not just because Steddie love her).

I hope you know, anonymous angel, that you ARE beautiful and I appreciate your question.

[seyaryminamoto]

When you posted the first chapter of Gladiator how far ahead were you in terms of planning the path the story would take? Are there any great changes from the original outline?

Uuuuuh... X'D

For me, planning stories isn't a linear journey. I DO write linearly as best as I'm able, because if I don't, I'm going to fuck up the continuity of my stories. I really am not good at just writing the big moments first and stuffing the rest of the content in later. All the power to the people who can do that, but the few times I've tried, I fucked up so badly that I always end up having to rewrite the scene I wrote beforehand anyway! So, yeah, I build up on things and try to have all cards on the table by the time I write the big stuff.

But planning? Oh boy, planning is WAY messier than that.

Let me see if I can illustrate this properly:

The core idea for Gladiator was suggested to me by a reader over at FF.net back in February 2013. One day, a month later, I gave the idea a little more thought than I had when he first offered it and my brain went into overdrive when I concocted these specific concepts that, at the time, were the very core of the story:

Azula and Sokka as partners with thicker sexual tension than anything I'd written in my life until then, in a will-they-won't-they situation that, of course, results in "THEY DID". In this setting, the war didn't end on time, meaning that a lot of things changed, including that Azula's got a blank slate in a lot of regards, so both her and Sokka need to be developed from scratch. Initially, I wasn't sure of where exactly I'd take the relationship aside from knowing that they'd obviously get together, but the specific concept of what I'd do with their relationship only arrived sometime later (as in, when I realized I was too addicted to this story and had too much to do with it to "cut to the chase", unlike what certain people wanted me to do). Also, of course, major potential to make them an epic battle couple, something I'd never gotten the chance to write them as until then, so big plus there!

Their biggest rival throughout the story would be Toph, banking on a very different portrayal than the fandom usually likes in Sokka and Toph's dynamics: she would be the big enemy inside the league that he struggles the most with defeating because, let's be real, it feels like no one could have ever imagined that Sokka could ever beat Toph in a fair, one-on-one battle until I outright wrote it in the final arc of Part 2 X'D Hence, I figured that giving him that HUGE initial goal to pursue (defeating Toph) would give us a solid story thread to follow for a long time.

Iroh as Toph's sponsor because of The Chase and their canon bond, with Toph basically being Iroh's biggest fan in the Gaang due to their bonding scene in that episode. I would then be expanding on a bond that, back in the day, was a fandom favorite and that, these days, seems to have gone completely under the radar because it feels like nobody even TALKS about it anymore. It's kinda taken for granted, I'd say?

Combustion Man as THE TOP DOG of the Ranking. The final hurdle both Sokka and Toph need to outdo to become the best gladiators in the league. Why are they trying to do that? In Toph's case, she loves fighting, this story basically gave her a chance to go wild in that sense and measure herself against all kinds of enemies. In Sokka's case? As proposed by that reader's initial pitch, he'd be forcefully taken from the Fire Nation and would want to go home: his deal with Azula solidified then as the reason why he wants to be #1. Once he wins and beats Combustion Man, Azula will consider their contract fulfilled and she will let him go back to the Water Tribe.

Zhao as Combustion Man's sponsor because I needed someone relevant to do it, it didn't feel right to just make an OC for a role so important, back in the day, and in this setting, Zhao wouldn't have died/vanished in the NWT so he was available for my needs -- all of which then led me into building a backstory where Azula held some manner of resentment towards Zhao that pushed her further in her need to find a gladiator and become the best sponsor in the league.

These five story elements were the first things that came to mind. As I liked the idea of Azula and Sokka having an immensely conflictive relationship at first, where they couldn't trust each other 100% but they LIKED each other way more than they wanted to, I switched the "Sokka gets captured by randos" from the original pitch to "AZULA captures Sokka", and that resulted in a LOT of extra chaos than what was part of the story's original concept :'D I'd dare say the main positive element about this was that the story felt more dynamic in the second chapter (when they meet for the first time) than it would have if Sokka had been caught by any other Fire Nation military officer. It even puts forward the deepest layer of rivalry in the story too: the one person in the Fire Nation settlement who could have outdone Sokka is Azula. If he had faced anyone else. he might have had chances of success... but not when he faced her.

This, then, means that Azula HERSELF is a big goal and hurdle Sokka has to overcome. Partly, their relationship would've granted Sokka the means through which he could achieve that goal, but the point is that, from very early on, I realized that I wanted the story to chronicle the gradual journey of how Sokka went from... uh, a hundred to infinity X'D because no, he wasn't a zero, he just wasn't THAT good just yet. I wanted this journey to become a full exploration of Sokka's potential as a warrior until he was strong enough to go toe to toe with Azula and defeat her one day...!

... And once I realized that, one of the first core scenes of Gladiator came into shape. As in, the day Sokka finally defeated Azula.

Also known as chapter 96 :')

On the day Sokka beats her, EVERYTHING changes. This change is primarily fueled by the fact that he DOESN'T want to defeat her, at that point. He is so done with their frequent conflicts when the one thing he REALLY wants is... her. And Azula wants HIM. So when he impulsively kisses her instead of dealing a killer blow...! Yeah, uh... pfft. God, I had done so little plotting of their character arcs that I ACTUALLY thought, back then, that there'd be tension in terms of the readers thinking "omg, is he going to kill her?!" ... yeah, that was dead in the water so fast x'D I sincerely doubt ANYONE ever imagined that he'd do that when that scene came around, but you asked about how the plotting went in the initial stages of the story, pretty sure this specific hilarious tidbit illustrates that fairly well x'D anyway, Azula surrenders and the whole underlying theme of a war between them finally gets resolved in the best way it could! :'D

But... how would THAT particular fight sequence come about?

And that's where the lead-up to the scene started to take shape! Sokka has been trying to beat Toph, but he can't! She beats him when it FINALLY looks like he might win. When that happens, Sokka seems to be ready to give up on everything, and Azula lashes out at him because she won't let him quit on her just like that. BINGO!

... And that, dear asker, was the first genuine scene and arc plotting that I did for Gladiator.

After this? I thought Sokka would go on to fight Combustion Man after a final fight with Toph in which he finally beats her. This fight with Toph, back then, was bound to take place within maybe a few months of his last defeat at her hands, I thought, but with the power of getting laid, Sokka was totally going to kick ass this time and then go on to defeat the BIG DEAL, COMBUSTION MAN HIMSELF.

And then he'd kill him. Paying a bit of homage to canon :')

It slowly came together, however, that a fight against Combustion Man quite so soon after defeating Toph was probably not going to be... well, completely reasonable unless the situation REALLY called for it for... some reason. While I'm not entirely sure that I came up with this right away, it probably wasn't over a week after I started plotting the story that I figured that Iroh would vindictively tell Ozai about Azula and Sokka's relationship after witnessing what he shouldn't have witnessed when they celebrated their triumph over Toph a little more enthusiastically than would have been appropriate :'D Then, since Combustion Man would be serving, in a sense, as Ozai's executioner of bad gladiators for sponsors who need a lesson, he'd be the one tasked with killing Sokka only for Sokka to kill him right back (?)

At this point? There was no Xin Long. The idea of Sokka killing Combustion Man through a volatile bomb predates Xin Long! I boldly snuck in a reference to how Sokka would defeat Combustion Man as early as chapter 2 because I'm crazy and wanted to make it a useful callback in future chapters, unaware that "future chapters" meant ALMOST 250 CHAPTERS LATER! X'D Anyway, point is, I wanted Sokka to defeat Combustion Man through different means than in canon, seeing how in canon he had advantages he wouldn't have had in this story (this is a controlled environment, a one-on-one fight, there's no cover where Sokka can objectively hide, he wouldn't have the opportunity to just fuck up Combustion Man the exact same way, he's not going to fall to his death, for there's no abyss nearby...). So, I came up with the volatile bomb for that purpose, and that tells you that I spent around 7 years with the image of Combustion Man burning to his death living rent free in my head before finally writing it :'D

OKAY! So! What else did I come up with...?

I think Sokka and Azula's first kiss was relatively early plotting too. The idea of Sokka carelessly flirting with Suki in the ring came to mind, and Azula being Azula, she wasn't going to appreciate that at all, so she would have kissed him recklessly in a very inappropriate and territorial bid to stake a claim over him that she really shouldn't have... but Sokka would've thought it was hot and gone with it anyway (?)

Funny reveal time here: back in the day, I was determined to ensure that they wouldn't kiss again after that first kiss, not until they were ready to bang in chapter 96. Can you believe I thought I'd have the self-restraint to pull that off? x'D I laugh at my innocence in those regards to this day.

The second kiss I planned, probably MONTHS later, was actually the one on the way to the Slate. I wanted them to go out of control at one point and for them to be like "omg that was very inappropriate of us! How could we! But omg does that mean you like me tooooo?"

And isn't it HILARIOUS that my plotting was soooo naïve that I STILL didn't realize how far the early chapters would take them in their relationship? x'D

This, in a nutshell, is the exact reason why I CAN'T write out of order: if I'd written the Slate's trip situation as early as when I first thought about it? You can bet it would've made zero sense with all the character progression we saw through the rest of the story. And then I would have had to rewrite it anyway :')

Xin Long, I won't lie, was a bit of a whim on my part, no doubt motivated by my frustrations with canon and how Azula seemed to only get screwed over. So I said "she gets whatever the hell she wants in Gladiator because I hate the world" and once the idea of helping her find a dragon came to mind, I just rolled with it (?) It took me a while to actually integrate Xin Long with the Rough Rhinos arc, I wasn't sure about when I'd introduce him once the idea came to mind, but there was no better chance than to do so while Sokka and Azula were lost in the forest.

About other stuff, I liked the idea of Piandao training Sokka more extensively than in canon, but I didn't want him to be Sokka's host FOREVER because that meant less chances for Sokkla interactions. So... I had to get rid of him.

Believe it or not, I didn't sort out the in-world reasons to explain why I'd gotten rid of him until well around 3-4 years into plotting the story :')

Piandao's connection to Ursa felt natural after I really started thinking about it, but that took AGES to properly plot. Initially? I just needed him to go away. And in a sense, the excuse was that Iroh was on his way home, meaning, there was a Grand Lotus near the Fire Lord's court, way closer than Piandao ever was, so he didn't NEED to be there anymore.

... And that kind of led into Zuko.

While I was absolutely overtaken by the wild plotting involved in soooo many other aspects of the story, my good friend @jordanalane, no longer active on tumblr or the fandom, put up with my rambling about ALL THESE IDEAS and went "Yay! This story sounds fun! What's going on with Zuko here?"

Me, internally: "... Well shit I forgot about Zuko."

I won't say that she singlehandedly set up Zuko's journey in Gladiator, but saying that she gave me about 65% of the ideas for what I'd do with him would probably be fairly accurate, unless the percentage is larger than I thought. I actually toyed with the idea of setting up Zuko and Aang on a way bigger, political journey that we'd only occasionally glimpse while we focused on Sokka and Azula's partnership within the Fire Nation culture and all the gladiatorial chaos. Very early on, the plan seriously wasn't for Sokka to become... well, what he is now xD So I was genuinely going to leave all the heavy lifting of the war to Aang and Zuko because, ultimately, the Fire Nation has to be defeated and they're the ones who usually get up to that, right?

I think I've mentioned that, post Combustion Man's death, I had no idea wtf I was going to do. Like... I knew that was far away. I knew I'd have the time (or at least, I faithfully believed I would) to figure out what I'd do before we got to that point. I absolutely knew the story could not possibly end there.

So at this stage of plotting, I toyed with Blue Spirit Zuko joining the Gladiator League briefly as a destabilizer within the system (and then I started writing Zuko in the story and realized that... no. There was just no way this guy wanted anything to do with the Gladiator League as a fighter or even as a sponsor. Nope). Then, I thought he should go south (though I had no idea how I'd get him there!), where he'd find Aang eventually! There was a veeeery small window of time in which I considered keeping Aang at 12-years-old, which would've made Kataang waaaaay too unsettling since Katara would've been over 20, and I thought maybe Zuko and Katara could be a thing? But the idea never really solidified into anything I wanted to write between those two, it felt like an older Katara would've focused even more on protecting Aang (becoming the actual mother figure the fandom and even canon are obsessed with adultifying her into at 14) because she'd be too aware of how young and fragile he was...!

... But then? I thought it would've actually made sense for Aang to be more than just the little boy who saves the day and everyone protects:

Why not make him an opportunity for Katara to learn her Tribe's traditional and lost waterbending styles?

If I aged up Aang, and made it so he had been frozen in the South Pole, not out of sheer chance but out of him actually BEING IN THE AREA when the storm struck him? That could do the trick! If his journey as a waterbending master was already underway by the time he was frozen, then he'd have two elements down... and he could be Katara's teacher instead! While there were downsides to this decision, of course, it actually made a ton of sense to me mainly because I don't love the way it feels like Katara, in canon, never truly reclaimed the traditional southern style of waterbending. This, then, meant that Aang could provide her with a connection to her own people and their past, something he can't offer her in canon.

So! With that in mind? I aged up Aang and made him 19, and Kataang could be preserved and be developed this way. Part of it is also motivated by my genuine confusion, when I first watched the show, over the old Air Nomad leaders deciding that Aang, already declared an airbending master, "needed to master more advanced airbending techniques" right after revealing that he was the Avatar. I mean... if he's already a master, doesn't it make more sense to send him to the next element he's supposed to learn? Especially considering it's water? And considering that the storm clouds in the horizon were coming from the Fire Nation, so the more water to fight them, the better? :'D

So yep, that was another reason why I made the choices I made.

Lo and behold, slowly and surely, the core bones of Gladiator were starting to take shape: Azula and Sokka start as contentious allies, joining forces for a common goal and very different motivations, all of which would lead them into falling in love over time. Their biggest threats in the league are Toph and Combustion Man, but perhaps bigger still would be Iroh, who would rat them out to Ozai (I'm 100% serious when I say this specific element of the story has been part of Gladiator's DNA since the very start, the whole journey I threw Iroh into was basically "how do I get him to the point where he would be THAT pissed off as to do something like this with no regard as to the consequences of his own actions?"). Zuko, Katara and Aang would more or less stick to being involved in fighting the war, they wouldn't be all that connected to the Gladiator League or anything to do with that.

Worth noting that my friend started to come up with ideas for Zuko and Suki to get together and make sense as a couple in the story, and while at first it was just a casual thing that I figured would work alright, her ideas became... so much more poignant than I ever imagined they would be.

About one year, maybe a year-and-a-half, after I started plotting Gladiator, I actually figured out what my endgame would be.

At that point, I actually knew where we were going and I started to focus my attention on plotting how to get there. New concepts started to pop up, things that I absolutely hadn't thought about from the get-go: I DID have my alternate idea on what was going on with Ursa since ages ago (the swamp concept, as you'll likely have read already...), and after The Search thoroughly disappointed me, I chose to stick with that path without looking back. But while this was in the background, something I knew had happened but that I doubted I'd be able to work into the story productively, I realized it would actually be something I could explore IN the story once Part 3 stopped being a big nebulous blob of mystery for me. I decided that Sokka and Azula would be torn away from each other, that HE would be the one leading the war faction out of the South Pole and into the chaos of war, that Piandao's tile for Sokka, mainly done as homage to canon back when I wrote that, could actually represent something FAR GREATER if Sokka joined forces with the White Lotus to fight the Fire Nation and return to Azula...!

... And one of my most evil advisors of those years also very casually inceptioned into my head the very wicked idea of pregnant Azula in the middle of this mess :'D

I could go on and on, honestly! I have one funny thing to bring up, and it's that the scene from the Northern Air Temple arc, where Sokka tells Azula his true fears and feelings about his family, how he doesn't think he's worthy of going home and is genuinely apprehensive of returning because he thinks his dad will be disappointed in him? That... was repurposed from a very early idea I had for Sokka and Azula, once they were properly together, traveling to Whaletail Island, and spending a casual day/night in bed talking about a lot of things, which then led into Sokka talking about his family and what he actually felt about them, which Azula wasn't supposed to know about until then :'D That was, ironically, the origin point for the Whaletail Island arc. The scene that originated it just... never happened x'D

As you may be able to tell... the progress of their relationship, the evolution and development of the characters, caused a LOT of things to move forward way faster than I thought they would. Hence, Sokka wound up telling Azula about all those things WAAAY sooner than I originally envisioned. By then, Whaletail's scene was kind of broken down and spread into other situations and arcs instead! Again: this is why I can't write out of chronological order xD

One funny thing to look back on was my confident belief that Sokka and Azula would spend the bulk of Part 1 doing a mutual pining thing where neither one realized the other felt the exact same way about them... when I was in the middle of their best conversations in the Rough Rhinos' arc, the THIRD ARC of the entire story, I was like "yo... they're 100% aware of the fact that they're down bad for each other already. There's literally no mystery about how they feel, THEY OBVIOUSLY ALREADY KNOW." And that hilariously changed A LOT of how things developed later, because I sure as heck didn't plan for them to kiss in the Rough Rhinos arc at all (it kinda happened on a whimsical plotting session, a few days before writing it :'D). I did NOT plan for them to kiss at Ty Lee's backyard, either (oh, this one was basically them getting out of my control and doing whatever they wanted, same evil advisor I mentioned earlier told me to go with it while I cried to her about how I apparently just COULDN'T STOP THEM FROM MAKING OUT???)...

Ember Island's arc, so poignant and crucial and such a KEY element in their relationship, was probably plotted well after... six months since the original idea of Gladiator came to my head. I did not think about this one until A WHILE into writing the story already. I was probably almost done posting the Rough Rhinos by the time the full concept of that arc materialized in my head! The beloved Pairs Tournament arc? That was 100% a reader's suggestion, from an ask I got one day! x'D I told them that sounded like a fun concept, and then, once I pondered it some more and fleshed it out, it ended up becoming a highlight for me, it's gone on to become a fan favorite arc of the entire story, as well as The Arc where Toph finally became friends with Sokka and Azula properly!

So. Yep. Basically... I do not plot anything linearly. I can't. If I did, I wouldn't have a clue of where I'm going and I'd lose my steam so fast that I would just crumble under the weight of not seeing the point of what I'm doing. I think I can write without a huge endgame, to a fault, with less demanding stories... but Gladiator was ALWAYS so much bigger than anything my brain could wrap around back when I first started to plot this story, and it's no joke to say that it's really taken me ten years to not only write it, but actually plot the story as thoroughly as I can (hell, only a few months ago I got struck by lightning with A PLOT TWIST that I just wrote yesterday! A crazy development I absolutely HAD NOT thought about, and that I fell in love with completely when it came to mind!). The amount of threads and possibilities and ideas that I've been juggling for AGES is probably a little crazy, honestly.

But yeah, in short, it's wild to think that even though I absolutely planned several things YEARS before they came into fruition, ultimately, the final arc of Part 1 came together before the first one, in many senses. It came together before every arc, basically, and all the material in between was just a matter of building a huge, solid bridge to the point where Sokka and Azula would finally act on their feelings. The process through which I got there absolutely changed me in a thousand ways, my ideas and my plans often wound up switched up whenever a random, crazy idea came up, and I thought to myself "... and why not?" after a few moments of indulging it and being on the brink of discarding it.

As another fun tidbit of information? That's kind of what happened with something as vital to the story as Rei has been, throughout Part 3: she is a character I came up with, not really on the fly, but at relative random once I was planning on having Azula seek Zhao for help over Toph's predicament back in Part 2. I loved the idea of a teenage, dorky maid who had NOT expected to meet the Princess, but initially? She's nothing to make a fuss over because we've been seeing heaps of people who are starstruck by Azula by then. She only stands out for having the dorkiest reverence ever x'D and part of why she stands out too, instead of getting written off, initially, as Zhao's nameless, aimless home staff, is because I had thought about the potential of making her Zhao's illegitimate daughter at this point in time! But I DIDN'T go all in with it on her first appearance... because I wasn't sure. Because I didn't think I could juggle ANOTHER plot point and new character on top of everything I had to set up (at this point I was particularly preoccupied by figuring out how to establish Shaofeng and Renkai as important characters for my future purposes with both of them :'D). So I said "nah, you know what? She's just the cute and quirky maid. We like her. Zhao is decent to her. He doesn't need to be her father."

... About two weeks before going all in on the Hahn's Gambit arc, I was pondering Part 3. The idea of Rei being Zhao's illegitimate daughter returned to mind. My impulse was dismissing my own thoughts, frankly, along the lines of "I mean, wtf would she even do once Zhao becomes Crown Prince? She'd be abandoned in the estate anyway, like, what, she would inherit it or something?" and then... then it struck me. I realized that she could very well just come with him. As his maid. And then, she could become Azula's maid...

... What followed was about three days of plotting that suddenly brought LIFE to Azula's Part 3 early storyline and I suddenly could not BELIEVE I had ever let myself think I could let go of this character and make nothing of note with her x'D

The situation with Rei is, indeed, something that happened often throughout Gladiator. Some ideas I've clung to, some ideas I've dismissed, some ideas have terraformed the groundwork I'd already set up... and instead of panicking about it? I've done what I could to work with it. Hence, that the will-they-won't-they did NOT include the agony of "but would he/she return my feelings?!" wound up being a result of the build up, something I didn't plan all along but that worked perfectly for my purposes. The idea of making Sokka and Azula's relationship not be just some powerful high, the be-all-end-all of the story once it was crystallized and once they were together? That wasn't immediate, either... but it certainly came along as a result of my greed, I'd dare say x'D

When I realized how long this story was going to be, I told myself this fic was basically the landscape upon which I could very well turn all my Sokkla dreams come true. And it wasn't ONLY the Sokkla dreams related to their fluff, or smut, or angst... no, it was even the fact that, for ONCE, I could build a story where Sokka and Azula were NOT the B-story to Zuko and Aang's A-story, unlike how it might have felt in most any other story, hell, even in my long defunct plans for how to conclude the story (and thank God that I dismissed that mess, honestly). Suddenly, I realized I could bring the ENTIRE Avatarverse together, reconfigure every character, repurpose as many of them as I cared to... and create a scenario where the story, every single major beat of it, was connected to THEM. Where the battle against Ozai was no longer some distant conflict with unexplored emotional stakes, it's a PERSONAL one, not only for Azula but for Sokka as well. And while I'm not going to pretend that I'm the only person who has ever rewritten ATLA to this extent without centering the story on Aang or Zuko, I can certainly say that I've never seen anything of this scale elsewhere (... which can be kinda literal too, considering this is, indeed, the longest fic in the fandom...).

But I REALLY didn't start out with that idea in mind. Back when the concept came to me... I really didn't know where I would be going, honestly. I knew this would be a HUGE commitment, but I didn't know how big, exactly. Now that I do know, that I have the full scope of the story in my grasp... I can tell you that yeah, I had no idea what I was getting into and I'm glad I jumped in anyway x'D

If anyone gets all the way through this long post and wants advice on how to cope with ridiculously long stories that are that difficult to plot? I think that my advice would definitely be to give it time, let it simmer, find the moments, the scenes you REALLY look forward to writing. Don't settle for powering towards the endgame without advancing the story beforehand: push things at other points of the story and if, when you reach your big story climax, you find that the leadup is different from what you were expecting you'd have in your hands, once you got there? ... Roll with the punches. Reconfigure the scene in your head. Improvise, to a fault, and build up FURTHER on what you already had... because the likelihood is that the outcome is going to be a thousand times better than your OG plans were. Don't let yourself get lost in enforcing a plot stubbornly: nothing makes a story come to life as vividly as surfing along with the new highs and changes that hit you at the spur of the moment, figuring out how to make your story the best it can be. I won't pretend Gladiator is anywhere close to perfect... but after just looking back on everything that has led us to where we are? I can definitely say I'm very proud of this story's journey, very proud of having jumped into this madness even when my vision of it, at the time when I started plotting, could have never informed me of every crazy thing I'd end up achieving with this story. While some important elements of the story 100% stayed true to my OG concept... I'm really glad that I let myself change certain aspects because it enriched everything I was doing well beyond the scope of what I could grasp back then.

Anyway. Sorry for the long rambling. I got a little hyped haha. Thanks for the ask!