#plus were getting them in a different series anyways <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[mooninagust]

no no bc i get being sad we won't see gem and fotfot in 23.5 but come on, it means more girls, MORE GIRLS, what could be better than MORE GIRLS 

[aethelwyneleigh27]

Cowboy!141 x Noble's Daughter!Reader (My Version of the AU)

(How you meet them)

Synopsis: Being the daughter of a noble is a jarring task as you must be always able to keep up appearances, so what exactly happens when your family hires 4 men? Men who seem dangerous yet you know nothing about, all happening to be part of the same group of people. What happens if they take an interest in you? Someone unattainable, forbidden yet also undoubtedly tempting..

Hi lovelies! Lia here again, apologies for the delay and inactivity, I had exams, projects and the recent release of part one of Bridgerton season 3. Speaking of the series, this was inspired by that and RDR2 (none of the elements are historically accurate, I think?), I genuinely hope this does well because this account has not been doing well as of late. With my mutuals leaving Tumblr and some friends are currently ignoring me, I genuinely don't know what to do anymore. From what I know, @ghouljams was the first one who created content in the cowboy!CoD AU but mine is a lot different? So please don't kill me 😭

This will result in headcanons for the next few posts because my brain is attached to this AU so you will be seeing more Cowboy!Outlaw!141.

(Really FEM!Reader, maybe also Plus-size!(Chubby??)Reader?? I don't even know anymore)

More content: My CoD Masterlist

Bless your noble mother's heart, although your was seen as this very respectable and intellectual man of nobility, your mother had this heart of gold having no idea that these rugged men he has newly hired were outlaws, criminals.. murderers?

Yet your father did, something about him felt sinister, well all noble money comes from not so noble cause.

Although your mother wanted you to get to know and be familiar with the newest staff members who would do all the gnarly, energy consuming and physically challenging tasks, she did not want her daughter interacting with men who would be considered improper like seemingly mysterious men who happened to be from a far town looking for a living.

Well without your father's or mother's knowledge, that rule was thrown out the window the moment you saw one of them carrying over some of the crates that contain given by some men to your father for his services and connections, particularly drawn to the one who never seemed to take off the cloth on his face.

Something about the way he stared at you, not seeing the rest of his face, depriving you of clues as to how he felt upon seeing the only lady of the house. You gave him a warm smile, for a moment you thought you saw his lips through the mask perk up, before walking off to the lounging hall for your tutoring on language.

It was odd, you observed them from afar a lot, your personal garden was your sanctuary and you can't help but do so when they talked so loudly, no sign of inside voices.

They called each other names.. Price, Gaz, Soap and Ghost. The man you encountered was named Ghost? Surely it's some alias. Well that wasn't something you should fixate on anyway so you leave for your tasks.

You find yourself feeling a little out of it after your lessons, hoping that a little stroll through the stables behind your family's estate would either help the information sink in or keep it shun out of your mind. Either way you'd find yourself in tranquil, you heard a thud behind you and turn to find so called "Ghost" behind you.

He had dropped a crate, one filled with weapons and uncharacteristically hastily picked up all of them without paying much attention. Such an action caused him to unknowingly cut his finger on one of the blades that fell out of it's sheath.

Your eyes filled with concern as you rush over to take his hand in yours before he tried to brush off the cut and get back to his duties. You knew it was dumb to be worried over something so small that the grown man doesn't even flinch and yet there you were, practically cradling his hand in yours.

A white handkerchief that was embroidered with your favorite flowers by your own mother, something you held dear and kept pristine.. using it on his finger to keep the blood from further gushing and wipe off whatever of the red residue was left on his hand.

As the blood stopped to your relief, you brought his finger and spontaneously pressed a feather-like kiss on the wound. You were so used to doing that for your little cousins, nieces and nephews that it was just a force of habit, your face flushed the very moment you looked up to meet his gaze, what possessed you to do that?

You placed the handkerchief in his hand and composed yourself, you told him to keep it and to bring the wound to the physician to get some antiseptics before running off to god knows where.

A few days after that incident, you meet another one of them except..

You couldn't help but rush, you were late for this supposedly short promenade your family has spontaneously planned. Your favourite gloves are no where to be found and with the three sisters you have, you checked room to room, seeing who might've borrowed the lacey white fabric with the sewn in bows.

Without looking your body slams into a wall, is it a wall? You softly groan, your delicate fingers brushing on your forehead that felt like it would bruise later on. Your eyes remained closed for a few seconds as the impact caused you to feel shaken, light headed.

You open your eyes to one of the outlaws, you blink up as your vision adjusted a bit, his dark skin against the light from the window really did something..

"Are you hurt, my lady?" He asked, his deep voice was smooth and rich, almost velvety. He held you up from falling.

"N-no.. Thank you, uhh..."

"Kyle, her ladyship can call me Kyle. Although I hope it's not too informal to your status, my lady." You smiled at his words, certainly a respectful fellow despite him and his group's reputation.

You felt warmth on your sides, his palms against the fabric that separates his skin on yours, he was only being kind for steadying you after you almost fell from the earlier impact but his touch felt addicting, too much as it continued to linger.

"Kyle, it is then" You said softly, suddenly a bit more aware of your surroundings.

Fuck. He was sure he felt something just by hearing the way his name fell from your lips. Normally he'd give people, employers only and only his last name. He was so used to having been called by "Garrick", he had no idea his name would sound different, so sweet coming from a pretty maiden's lips.

He stutters for a moment, realizing that his hands are touching a lady inappropriately, something only someone she's married to would have the privilege of doing. He swiftly removed his hands from your waist and formally excused himself from your presence with the excuse of his duties.

The next time you met one of them was through your mother's ball, she was always the first to throw one to bless the upcoming season of hopes that you, your sisters and brothers shall wed soon.

You had no taste for it after having a lord step on your feet at least 20 times and not even bother to apologize with how high of a pedestal he puts himself in, you found yourself escaping through the back of your estate to the gazebo in the center of your beloved garden.

You took your tight, restricting shoes off and felt the grass on your feet as you walked toward the gazebo, now close enough to see that you weren't alone but you still continued, your feet against the cooling marble platform. You sigh as you prop yourself to sit on the stone railing next to the stranger who was currently taking a puff of his cigar.

You turned your head away, you were thrown into a fit of coughs from the strong scent of the smoke while you swatch some of it away. You tried not to heave for actual air to breathe while the man next to you chuckles, making you feel irritable.

"M'sorry love.." his gruff voice whispers which make you turn towards him, the man offering you a comforting smile.

"Shouldn't you be in there with your family, miss?" Price asked. To which you hum, "I wanted some "fresh air" and silence" you answered. Moments of silence have passed, nothing but the sound of wind that rattled the trees a bit and each other's breaths.

You look towards the light of windows of your home, the ballroom filled with laughter and talk of celebration. You sighed, knowing you must return as your parents would come looking for you, also not wanting for them to punish you for sticking around unchaperoned with their new hires.

He knew you were about to leave, it would be rude for a gentleman to leave a lady without help, hmm? He wasn't a gentleman though, an outlaw, one of the worst titles one can ever bestow a man. He was considered to be of low honor but who cares?

He kneels down on one knee in front of you, gently taking your leg in his huge hand using his thigh as leverage so he can gently slip on you shoes. For a moment you felt his forehead on your knee before he pulls away and offers you his hand..

You took it hesitantly as he helped you off the railing, you look up at him meeting his eyes. Something about them burned, making your stomach churn but not in a manner of discomfort.

You watched his back as he walked away, his footsteps on the cold marble the only thing to be heard as the noise died down..

The morning after, you've barely had enough sleep, was it the events of the previous night? Nevermind, at least you had a day or two for yourself after conducting a proposition to your parents. Free time was worth it for the sore feet you had to endure.

Not really in the mood to change into anything tight or itchy, you remain in your night clothes. Finally, some well deserved time alone, comfortable and flipping pages of a book was your type of thing.

Sure, socializing has it's benefits however nothing beats your time alone or so you thought you were alone..

A table and a few chairs were set up by the servants to your request at the gazebo, giving you the perfect view of the greenery that you have planted the seeds of.

You had your head comfortably leaned onto lounge as you continued reading. Buts something was just so distracting, a few minutes of the constant snipping and twigs breaking, you look up wanting to see who was there tending to the garden.

Your eyes widened a bit, it was improper for a lady to stare a man who has very less clothing. Nothing but his jeans, belt and hat keeping his face shielded from the heat is toned, muscular and tanned torso and arms exposed.

A little later, you hear a grunt coming from the man, Soap was it? You can't quite remember much from the night you eavesdropped on them. You heard his footsteps on the grass nearing the gazebo but you didn't bother to look up, not until..

"Ma'am? May I stay 'ere a moment? Afraid the heat is getting to me" You look up from your book and sit up to see the same man breathless. You nodded and watched as he sat on the stairs, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Excuse me.." You said, loud enough to hear and catch his attention, he looks back from his position. You moved one of the chairs to face your lounge, "Please invite yourself here, I can only think of how uncomfortable the floor might be, especially when you are working at a weather like this one" Signaling him to take a seat on the chair you adjusted.

He gets up yet reluctantly makes himself comfortable on the seat, you pick a drinking glass on display from the silver tray and poured some of the cold lemonade into it, you place it down on the table and slide it to him, offering a warm smile. Your fingers on the base of the drinking glass slightly brushing against his as he takes it.

He thanks you for it and you both enjoyed the tranquil and peace.. yet you can't go back to your book, asking questions and being further interested by the man each minute passes.

The way he talked was something else, it was alluring, comforting and oddly lively, he's told you about his "past" and how he used to be a child.

"Was quite the troublemaker you see, though my family was poor and food was scarce, I found a way to feed the street animals I adore—"

You look at him, so invested on what he was about to say next, it was refreshing to have someone to converse with who isn't interrogating you and practically forcing their ideals of how many babies they want you to birth for them, practically wanting you to die for them.

"I used to steal bread from my neighbor, not a very nice man, selfish really. So I'd often sneak into his shack, leftovers, scraps and anything light enough for me to carry. I'd bring it to Lassie, my favorite stray dog. You remind me a lot of her Bonnie" He said.

"I remind you of a dog?" You weren't so sure if that's a compliment, then again he just called you "Bonnie", what exactly does that mean?

"Home, you remind me of home. Can't say I have felt this comfortable in years, friends and I are usually reserved yet you bring this side out of me, Bonnie. So what spell or witchcraft did you use?" He joked raising a brow at you, for a moment his attention falters as he looks down at the soft mounds of skin exposed on your chest.

"Eyes up here, Johnny."

You warned as you laugh at his question, you notice one of the servants coming out from the estate and into the garden, Johnny smiles and tips his hat to you to excuse himself so that he could get back to work.

Well this is interesting.. isn't it?

Taglist: @wishesforyou @puff0o0 @simping4konig @simp4konig @blingblong55 @azereus @rustic-guitar-notes @snowdjinnofpalestine @09maruchan @anonymuslydumb @skeletalgoats @icarustypicalfall @ghosts-cyphera @connorsui @capuccino192 @miss-gms-and-the-rotten-womb @celestialhole @the-second-sage @starryylies @everlastingmoonlightsworld @keiva1000 @iexiam @drewsmusee @konigceo

[lilislegacy]

Hot take: The original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is NOT fit for being a TV show. At all. But Heroes of Olympus is.

Why, you may ask? Because although PJO technically takes place over the course of few years, each individual PJO book takes place over a very short period of time—usually only a few days, maybe up to a week (with the exception of parts like Calypso’s island). Nearly all the scenes and events take place back-to-back. But with a TV show, you have to find places to break it up, and there’s a whole week between every single episode. So it’s basically taking us two months to watch an awkwardly fractured series of continuous events that actually take place over the course of a few days. It’s weird. It just feels off. Unless Rick decides to release all the episodes at once (which I don’t think he will), it’s just gonna feel weird asf no matter how much he tries to fix the pacing.

Heroes of Olympus, on the other hand, is MUCH BETTER for a TV show format. It takes place over the course of several months and has a bunch of little time jumps woven throughout. Plus, the characters are older and there are more mature themes, so it caters to older audiences a bit more too. (Don’t even get me started on how Rick is shooting himself in the foot by refusing to acknowledge that most of his fans are older teens and adults now.)

Now, you may be wondering, ‘aren’t the first couple of HOO books only over the course of like a week?’ Yes, which is why they should show the two at the same time. Don’t do one season for each—flash between the two! The first episode opens with the lost trio on the bus and is all about Jason getting to camp, and ends with them finding out some guy named Percy is missing. Then, the next episode opens with Percy barefoot, running in the forest with the wolves, and follows his journey to Camp Jupiter. For the rest of the season, the scenes constantly switch between their two POVs throughout each episode, showing their stories side by side. It would be clear that their timelines are different because it would be freezing winter for Jason’s scenes and summer in Percy’s. Then [input slow motion montage of the Argo II being built over the course of several months] the season finale is when their timelines finally meet up, and the Argo II arrives at Camp Jupiter—just like how Son of Neptune ends.

Then, Mark of Athena has its own season since that takes place over a few weeks. Most events take place on different days, and there’s no exact timeline for most of it. House of Hades and Blood of Olympus probably combine into one season. Percy and Annabeth were only in Tartarus for a few days, so maybe HoH makes up three or four episodes, and Blood of Olympus is five or six. These 3 books work for the same reason that shows like The Walking Dead work. The timeline isn’t always exact, but you know stuff is happening somewhat close together but also not on the same day or even the same week.

And with LONGER episodes. Give me hour long episodes, not freaking 33 minutes like season 1 PJO kept doing.

Anyway, that’s how I would do it. However, for many reasons, most of which I won’t get into, I don’t think there’s much hope for Heroes of Olympus even making it to the screen. But I hope I’m wrong.

[achilles-rage]

Good Luck Charm: Chapter 20

college football player!buck x plus size!reader

summary: you go back to school early to attend a new year’s eve party.

word count: 3.5k

previous chapter

series masterlist

a/n: the last chapter!!! screaming crying throwing up fr. i’ll definitely post an epilogue though, and maybe some other short drabbles because i’m gonna miss them :// i also wanna thank everyone who reads this fic, i appreciate it so much!!! anyway, enjoy<3

warnings: a hint of smut, no use of y/n, fem!reader, plus size!reader, race inclusive!reader

MDNI- 18+ only!

Two long weeks later, it’s finally time for you and Evan to go back to school. You continued to sneak into Evan’s room each night, and had managed not to get caught each time his hands started to wander, innocent touches becoming something entirely different.

While you did tease him about keeping his hands to himself the first night, you were a little surprised when his hands traveled down your soft tummy and traced the waistband of your panties. You almost stopped him; the fear of getting caught clear in your mind, but your words were cut short when his hand dipped under the fabric and ghosted over your clit. His lips were on yours before you could make a sound, and when he finally pushed his cock into your dripping cunt, his lips were replaced with his hand as he whispered how good you were being into your ear.

This morning is no different. You wake up early; earlier than either of your parents, Evan’s bare chest against your back warming you up immensely.

“Are you sad to be leaving?” he whispers, his hot breath hitting the back of your neck. You hum softly, shrugging as you think about it. You turn in his grip before you answer, unable to fight back a smile as Evan’s face studies yours with a lovesick expression.

“I love my parents, but I think I get along with them better when we’re apart. Spending some time with them is nice, but I’m glad I’m not living here all the time.” you tell him in the same hushed tone. He nods, seeming to understand where you’re coming from. When he’s at school, sometimes his parents call to catch up, and he can almost pretend that he’s close with his parents when that happens.

“I’m glad. Because now we can go to the New Year’s party at Delta Phi.” he says in a teasing tone. You roll your eyes, laughing softly. He practically begged you to leave a couple of days early so you’d be back for the party once he found out that the theme of the party was to celebrate the university’s sports teams. “Now I can see you in my jersey again. Like old times.” is how he put it when he asked, and you couldn’t say no.

It had been a while since you were able to wear his jersey, and the last time you had, he ended up in the hospital, so a part of you was eager to get some better memories of wearing it.

“You really do like to party, don’t you?” you tease, laughing as he scoffs.

“Come on, they’re fun. You can’t tell me you didn’t like the parties I brought you to, other than the first one.” he says, his jaw clenching when he speaks about the first party you went to a party with him. He still has to see Jared at practice, but for the most part, Jared tries to steer clear of him, and he’s thankful. As much as he wants to fucking kill him for what he did, he knows that wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Alright, they’re not as bad as I thought they’d be. But that doesn’t mean I’d pick going to a party over, like, a movie night. But I like when you get all protective.” you tease, leaning in to kiss him softly. You can feel his fist clenching at your side, where he was holding your hip, and you know what he’s thinking about. You’ve stuck close to Evan at every party since then, and he always has to have a hand on you. Either an arm around your shoulder, or his hand in yours, or on the small of your back. He won’t let you leave his sight.

“Gotta protect my girl. Always.” he tells you earnestly, his hand unclenching as he lets out a breath. He knows he’s more upset about the situation than you are, even though it happened to you, but he can’t help it. He still feels a little guilty for even losing you in the first place.

“And you always do. From people and from the dark.” you tease, and he chuckles. Then in an instant, he moves to pin you to the bed, his body positioning itself between your legs, making you squeal softly in surprise as you giggle. He shushes you softly, lowering his face to the crook of your neck as his hands pin your wrists to the bed beside your head.

“Gotta be quiet, baby. I’ve gotten through two weeks without your dad hating my guts. Can’t start now.” he murmurs against your neck before beginning to trail kisses across your skin. You bite your lip as you tilt your head back, reveling in the feeling of his lips on you. Truth be told, your mom has caught you a couple of times in his room, not that either of you have been awake to notice. She stands near the door with a smile on her face each time, seeing you cuddled up together. She thinks it’s sweet, and she’d never tell your dad, anyway. This is not one of those mornings, evidently.

“We can’t have that.” you whisper, meeting his gaze as he pulls away from your neck. He smirks, moving your wrists up above your head and grabbing them with one hand, then his other moves down to push your shirt up over your plush tummy and chest.

Once your shirt is bunched up above your tits, his eyes trail down your body as he licks his lips. He’s so glad you only ever sleep with an oversized shirt and panties, like you’re just begging him to take care of you.

He leans down and gives you a short, but passionate, kiss, then moves down to your neck again. You bite your lip as his kisses move further down your neck, and he moves his face away for just long enough to move below your shirt, then begins to kiss down the valley of your breasts to your round tummy. He hums softly as he presses featherlight kisses to the skin littered with stretch marks, nipping and sucking softly as he goes.

He loves marking your tummy; he loves seeing the marks that are for his eyes only, and he likes the way it makes you squirm, but he also loves it seems to make you feel more confident. He loves your soft belly, and he’ll keep leaving marks across it until you love it completely, too.

His hands move down to your hips, grabbing and harshly pulling your panties down your legs with a low grunt, now leaning back on his knees to look at all of you.

“God, I love you.” he whispers once you’re left in nothing but your bunched up shirt, his fingers moving up your inner thighs.

You inhale a shaky breath as he leans down until his face is directly in front of your core. He smirks as he keeps eye contact with you, and the last thing he says before his tongue makes contact with your slick folds is “My gorgeous girl. I’m gonna ruin you.”

You get back to your apartment at around 6, which is still much earlier than when you have to go to the party, but after waking up early and driving all day, you feel like you need a nap before you get ready. Buck dropped you off, and after insisting on carrying your bags up for you, he gave you a sweet kiss and told you he’d be back around 10:00 before he went back to his place.

Your eyelids flutter open an hour or so later, and since you showered this morning, and you know you’ll probably get some form of alcohol spilled on you tonight, you don’t bother showering. Since you now have some time before Evan picks you up, you drag yourself out of bed and into the living room, flopping down onto the couch your roommate isn’t currently sprawled out on.

“How was your break?” she asks innocently, although her expression is anything but. She knows you brought Evan to meet your parents, and she has been patiently waiting since you left for any little detail of your visit. You didn’t want to tell her over text, so you kept telling her you’d update her when you got back. And since she got back four days before you did, she had begged you to tell her, claiming she was too bored and lonely all alone to wait.

“Well, my dad doesn’t hate him.” you tell her with a smile. She laughs, rolling onto her side to face you with a smirk.

“Tell me everything right now.” she urges, and you roll your eyes. She watches you intently as you begin to tell her, leaving out the parts about you sneaking into his bed every night, for the most part.

Just like promised, Evan buzzes your apartment intercom at 10pm, and your roommate lets him in, as you’re still finishing up your makeup. It’s nothing crazy, just some mascara and lip gloss, but you waited a little too long before you started to get ready; instead spending your time catching up with your roommate.

He walks into the bathroom, eyes trailing down your figure as you bend over the counter to touch up your lip gloss. You’re wearing your favourite pair of jeans and a white long sleeve shirt, knowing you’ll get cold in just Evan’s jersey on the walk to and from the party. You jump slightly in surprise as Evan lets out a low whistle, turning to see him leaning in the doorway. He’s wearing a white hoodie under his own jersey, and you can’t help your eyes traveling down to his broad chest. God, how did you get so lucky?

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” he asks in a teasing tone, closing the distance between you and dropping your jersey onto the counter before he pulls your hips against his. He meets your lips in a kiss, and you whine softly as you pull back, frowning.

“I just put on lip gloss.” you say, fighting back a smile as you look up at his lips, now shiny and glittery. You reach up and wipe it off with your thumb, and he chuckles softly once you pull your hand away.

“And you can put on some more. I wanna kiss you.” he tells you sternly, then leans in for another kiss.

“Your teammates are gonna make fun of you if you keep doing that. You’re gonna walk into the party with lip gloss all over your face.” you tease once you lean back again, but letting him kiss you for longer this time. You wipe off the lip gloss again, then push him away by putting your hands on his chest. He rolls his eyes, but lets you push him back, then watches you intently as you turn back to the mirror and fix your makeup.

Once you’re finished, you grab the jersey off the counter and throw it on, tucking one side into your jeans so it doesn’t look so awkwardly long.

“You ready, princess?” he asks once you turn to face him. You smile, nodding as you grab his hand and maneuver around him to lead him out of the bathroom. You meet your roommate near the door, ready to walk over with both of them. She’s going to the party anyway, and you’d rather her walk with you and Evan than walk over alone, even if she’s meeting some of her other friends there.

It’s a quick walk over, as your roommate is already a little drunk, and cannot seem to keep her mouth shut. You walk hand in hand with Evan as she walks in front of you, barely even paying attention as she rants on and on about the party.

“Is she gonna be okay once we get there? I kinda don’t want to leave her alone.” Evan whispers to you as she keeps talking. You look up at him, your heart swelling in your chest. You know he’s protective of you, but him being protective of your friend as well makes your heartbeat quicken.

“She’s meeting a few friends there; she should be fine. One of them is staying sober too, so she can keep an eye on her.” you tell him, and he nods slowly. Although this calms him, he still feels a little nervous about it.

“And, her friend’s boyfriend is on the lacrosse team. He said he’d keep an eye on them.” you tell him, and he nods, letting out a breath. That makes him feel a lot better.

“Yeah! He’s gonna set me up with a hot lacrosse player! It’s a sports party, and I don’t have a jersey. Gotta get one somewhere.” your roommate tells you as she turns her head to look over her shoulder at you two. You both let out laughs as she smirks and raises her brows a few times.

“I have faith in you.” Evan responds, and you roll your eyes, shaking your head. You watch as she turns on her heel and walks up to him, forcing you both to stop in your tracks. She raises a hand and puts it on his shoulder, looking up at him with a serious expression.

“You don’t know how much that means to me.” she says, swaying gently side to side. Evan furrows his brows as he lets out a confused laugh while you laugh loudly. Her head snaps to you as you laugh, then takes her hand off of Evan’s shoulder and puts it on yours.

“You’re so lucky you already have a jersey. I love you guys.” she tells you, then throws herself at you, wrapping her arms around your shoulders. You stumble back, shaking your head as you wrap your arms around her torso, hugging her back.

“Alright, let’s go get you that jersey.” Evan says in a teasing tone, making eye contact with you over your roommate’s shoulder. He winks at you as she finally pulls away, mumbling a quiet “good idea” as she turns and starts walking towards the party again.

The party is in full swing once you drop your roommate off with her friends and Evan says hi to a bunch of his teammates throughout the party. You’re staying close to Evan, getting jostled around as people sway to the music and shove their way through the crowd around you. He keeps his arm firmly wrapped around your shoulder, only letting you go when he grabs both of you a beer. You aren’t a huge fan of the taste, but you take it with a smile, figuring that you’d rather be a little buzzed and deal with the taste than have to endure the lights and noise around you sober.

Just like clockwork, Evan starts to get more handsy when he’s a few drinks in, keeping his front pressed against your back as he holds you close to him. His arms are firmly wrapped around your waist, and his chin is resting on your shoulder as he sways you back and forth with the music.

“Have I told you how good you look in my jersey?” he says in your ear, practically having to yell in order for you to hear him over the music. You laugh softly, rolling your eyes. You’ve had a few drinks, but you’re nowhere near drunk, not as drunk as him, and his clinginess makes your face heat up.

“Yeah, a couple times.” you respond in a teasing tone, turning in his grip to angle your face towards his. He grins, then leans down and gives you a sloppy kiss on your neck, mumbling a “good” as he does. You tilt your head to the side as he kisses you, grinning as you shake your head.

You continue to dance with him until it’s almost midnight, and you only stop when the party around you starts to feel even more chaotic, if at all possible. You turn in Evan’s grip, wrapping your arms around his neck once you’re face to face with him.

“Hi, baby.” he says over the music, and you giggle softly.

“Hi, my love. It’s almost midnight.” you reply, tilting your head to the side as he continues to sway you both back and forth.

“Yeah? What’s that thing people usually do at midnight, again?” he asks in a slightly teasing tone, then gives you a wink. You roll your eyes, shaking your head.

“I’m not sure, why?” you tease back, laughing more when he scoffs.

“I’m gonna kiss you so hard.” he says with a cocky tone, smirking. You rest your forehead on his chest as you laugh, closing your eyes. He’s such a dork when he gets like this, but you wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Whatever you say, baby.” you tell him once you look up at him again, a smile spreading across your face. He’s about to reply when everyone begins to countdown, and he grins, moving one hand up to your jaw, tilting your head up further.

“I love you.” he whispers right as the clock strikes midnight, and then he meets your lips in a searing kiss. You smile against his lips, hands gripping the front of his jersey as you rise onto your toes, momentarily forgetting that you’re in a room full of people, not that anyone notices, or cares.

You keep one arm around his torso as you both walk up the walkway to his house, his arm wrapped around your shoulder as he leans against you. You fish his keys out of his pocket and unlock the door, which proves difficult as Buck leans against you from behind, hands and lips attached to you, and finally get him to his room. You push him back onto the bed, and he falls back with a low grunt, then smirks as he sits up on his elbows.

“I like where this is going.” he says, licking his lips as he eyes your soft figure. You roll your eyes, then walk over to the edge of the bed, urging him to sit up. You pull his jersey and hoodie over his head in one go, and he raises his arms to help you as you do. You then grab his hands and pull him to stand in front of you, telling him to take off his pants so he can change into sweats to go to bed.

“What are you doing to me? I am not that kind of girl.” he tells you sternly, but his hands move to make quick work of the button and zipper of his jeans. You giggle, watching him pull his pants down and then lay down to let you pull them off of him completely.

“No? Not even for me?” you ask in a sweet voice, a smirk on your face. He shrugs, pursing his lips as he studies your face, then after a moment, a smile erupts on his face.

“Alright. Maybe for you.” he murmurs. You hum softly, then grab a pair of his sweatpants from his closet and toss them at him. He puts them on haphazardly, then stands up and reaches for the hem of the jersey across your chest. “Your turn.” he mumbles as he begins to pull your jersey and your long sleeve shirt up and over your head.

Once your shirts are off, his hands move to your jeans, tugging them down. He watches as you step out of them, and then he grabs your jersey off the bed and puts it back on over your head, humming softly as it falls down your body.

“Perfect.” he murmurs, then cups your cheeks with his hands and kisses you sloppily. You kiss him back, hands resting on his chest as you part your lips, and he eagerily pushes his tongue into your mouth. Once his hands start to wander, grabbing your ass and pushing you against him, you break the kiss, looking up at his puffy lips and blown pupils.

You push him away, muttering a soft “lets go to bed.” He exhales a loud sigh, but obliges, laying down on his back on the bed, and holding his hand out for you to take. You grab it and let him pull you down onto him, resting your cheek against his chest. Once you’re comfortably laying on him, and your leg is thrown over his legs, he sighs in contentment.

“I think I’m gonna keep you forever.” he drawls, his eyelids beginning to grow heavy as he feels his body sinking into the bed and his sheets enveloping him in warmth. You smile, humming softly.

“You better.” you whisper, and he squeezes your thigh softly in response. You can hear his breathing becoming more steady, and you can tell he’s almost asleep, but you speak once more before he falls asleep.

“I love you.” you whisper.

“You know I love you, princess.” he mumbles before sleep finally overcomes him.

next chapter

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[afalconfromalcyoneus]

"sei que vou perder um grande amor e um bom amigo." — eu sem você by lilian

"I know I'll lose a great brother and a good friend"

***note: "grande amor" in the og lyrics means "great love", but I changed it to fit better w/ Ashfur and Ferncloud <3

Extra below to hear my yapping ↓

OK. I've been seeing this trend recently using this song (Em Sem Você). It's a Portuguese song that I'm like 99% sure has to do with a break up and how you handle that & not knowing how you'll act/be like when you're out of the relationship. HOWEVER. I also saw this song used with Squrrielflight & Leafpool, so I was like "oh my God this song is Ivypool & Dovewing" but then, a greater idea floated in my head...."This is Ashfur and Ferncloud." They're my favorite characters OKAY leave me alone 😭.

Anyway. I think some of the lyrics represent them pretty well. Mostly with my own versions of them bc, as usual, my imagination is bigger than what the actual series gives us.

I'm just giving the English translations here bc that's easier:

"You're going away with my dreams

You'll forget me, you'll forget me

I know I'll lose a true love and a good friend

I'm wondering what I'll become

Without you, without you"

Under my interpretation of course. This is about how, after Ashfur died (aka was murdered by Hollyleaf) a part of Ferncloud died. Even after she learned about how much of a GIANT incel he was, she feels deeply upset by his lose. She wonders how she'll live without her twin brother (that's also a thing I hc btw,,) or who she'll become. Will she be different? It feels like a hole is missing from her soul.

She's afraid that up in Starclan, Ashfur will forget her. Maybe she even suspects she wasn't that important to Ashfur at all, due to his actions he committed in life that she learned about.

"Will he forget I ever existed? Will my face in his mind disappear into the winds of Starclan? Because was I really that important to him?"

(skipping a few lyrics)

"This night, I've barely slept thinking about

How happy we were and what I'll become

Without you"

Ferncloud can't sleep days, week, months after Ashfur was murdered. Although she's a Perma Queen, Ashfur would sleep next to her still (mostly so he could get away from Squrrielflight in the Warriors den, this is also headcanon btw this didn't happen canonically). Ferncloud didn't fully see how unhappy Ashfur was in life, she was happy but he wasn't. She's become so depressed and lonely, even if she has friends, without her twin.

"I know there's no point in even thinking about what happened

It's not going to be easy because I know I'll suffer

Without you"

Everyone knows Ashfur got murdered at this point, especially they know it was Hollyleaf because she spilled it out during a Gathering (I'm pretty sure?). Ferncloud doesn't want to think about "what happened" (Ashfur's murder, plus Hollyleaf's outburst and death as well as confessing to murdering Ashfur). She's angry at Hollyleaf, but since Hollyleaf is (presumably) dead she has nobody but herself to direct that anger towards. At the same time she thinks about the cats he hurt, Squrrielflight, Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, maybe even other cats...she cannot stay truly mad at Hollyleaf. But she can stay mad at herself.

There's no point in thinking about what happened because she doesn't even want to think about it. She's suffering without Ashfur next to her...but he hurt so many cats and she feels that guilt of wishing he was still alive.

Ok bye.

[thera-daydreams]

SCARLET & SHADOW

ᱬ The Darkling x Scarlet Witch!Reader ᱬ

[aleksander morozova x wanda maximoff!reader]

Warning: This will be very canon-divergent, considering that it will be a fix-it fic for the Darkling's story. Will contain elements of violence, manipulation, and gore present in the series. Plus, mentions of depression, trauma, regret (as W. Maximoff) and the inclusion of possible adult themes in the later chapters.

Majority of this will also be based on the Netflix show since I haven't read the entire books yet. There may be inaccuracies and a whole lot of changes. You have been warned!

Otherwise, proceed and enjoy! ♟️🌹

(Sidenote: So... okay. I'm deciding to write this and make it a formal fanfic—as per previous post one and post two—because I seriously cannot sleep with the overwhelming inspiration I'm getting from shipping these two characters. Aleksander and Wanda are practically the same person in different fonts. They both did shitty, selfish things but I need to give them a happy ending. Together. Somehow. And hate it or love it, I firmly believe this idea should be shared to the world. If you know my other JJK fic, you'll know Wanda is an obsession of mine. Also, also, also! Please bear with me if updates are scarce. I'm juggling my academic review, work, another unfinished fic, and my daily fangirling. 🥹)

1. once upon a dream

Aleksander had dreams of you long before he even knew you. Maybe it was the stress of this neverending war. Either way, you weren't real anyway... were you?

(3.9k words)

2. coincidence

The Black General finds himself magnetized by the seemingly inconspicuous gardener in the Little Palace. He gets to know you, contemplating life. Just when he thought you were just a strangely wise, young otkazat'sya woman, he finds out why exactly you decided to work in the Little Palace.

(2.5k words)

3. reflection

You are confronted by a certain Shadow Summoner about your motives in bringing the kids to the Little Palace. He realizes that you've loved and lost so deeply, eerily the same as he had. Perhaps that's the reason why he was so drawn to you; he could see his reflection in your eyes. But the more answers the Darkling got, the more questions he had. Unfortunately for you, Aleksander was a patient and persistent man who would stop at nothing to get what he wants.

(4.8k words)

4. haunted

You were no powerless otkazat’sya, Aleksander finds out the hard way. He’s pushed you too far, and he’s left to deal with the aftermath of the new knowledge he half-regrets he gained. On the other hand, you see something bad about this new world that wished you had never seen.

(6.0k words)

5. ?

(tba)

... more chapters?

Synopsis:

"No more magic." You swore to yourself after the madness that you'd spiraled into; the chaos you'd wrecked upon the Multiverse under the influence of the Darkhold. Now, you had destroyed the Darkhold in every universe.

The last universe that had a Darkhold? Safe. Book of the Damned, gone. It was a land with no heroes, gods, or sorcerers... just... normal people and... Grisha? Either way, it was time for your atonement. Your repentance for your mortal sins.

But when you save and bring three orphaned Grisha children to the Little Palace, working as an otkazat'sya gardener to secretly keep an eye on them, it turns out that a certain Shadow Summoner begins to have his eye on you, instead.

taglist: @idohknow @robertthehoover @the-desilittle-bird @pearlstiare

[amberlynnmurdock]

Neighbor Pt. 3

Matt Murdock x Reader

Summary: Matt hears her come home from a date, and interrupts when he hears it go south.

Words: just above 2k

A/N: So this series is basically different excerpts, so the chapters may not fall right into each other if that makes sense... so here's another night of them being neighbors! Hope you enjoy :)

Genres: light angst, comfort, fluff

Part 2

Matt came home to a quiet and cold apartment. After jiggling his keys in the lock a few times, his musty old door finally opened, and he was met with the cool draft that came in from his even older windows. Pushing the door closed with his back, he sighed deeply and dropped his suitcase on the floor. He hung his head low. 

Today was long. Too many papers at the office, too many people to talk to… or maybe, the night before, he spent too much time out as Daredevil and barely got any sleep. Or maybe he had trouble falling asleep. Matt wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. He was finally home. 

It seemed like everyone else in the building had livelier apartments than he did—he could smell spaghetti from an apartment below him, with jazz music playing in the background. Another apartment had children laughing at a cartoon. Another one was having guests over for dinner. Even Fran, the apartment’s snoop, had brownies in the oven. Of course—it was Friday night, and people like them had plans. 

Their apartments were all warm and inviting. But not his. It was cold and empty, and nothing played in the background—only these heightened sounds in his ears and his thoughts. His ever so dreadful thoughts. 

But what about hers?

He cocked his head against the door to listen closely to her apartment. What was she doing? Nothing seemed to be going on. No tea was on the kettle. Not even the sound of pages being turned in a book. She wasn’t home. 

Matt furrowed his brows at this—he knew she had the morning shift today because they had their usual morning greeting and walked each other out. Part of him was disappointed he couldn’t share his lonesome with her, but the other part felt guilty because, of course, she had plans. While Matt was reclusive and preferred the dark, she was friendly, inviting, and liked to be out. Why would she waste her radiance on being locked up in her apartment? 

So, Matt did what he normally did. Instead of being at home alone with his thoughts, he changed into his Daredevil gear and waited on his rooftop for something, anything, to call for him. Eventually, it did, but something was missing tonight. 

***

He wasn’t out for long. 

He was missing punches, throwing them too soon, otherwise just overall thrown off. Something was off. After stopping a robbery, and nearly taking a bullet to his shoulder, Matt tapped out. He sulked in his gear all the way home and stomped down the steps from his roof, back to his cold and empty apartment. 

It was nearly midnight. Some people in the building were awake, and others getting ready for bed. And still, she wasn’t home. 

Is she okay? 

Matt pushed any thought of worry away. Pushed any thought or feeling of attachment away. After all, she was just his neighbor. His neighbor who sometimes said hello to him, who sometimes dropped a book off in braille for him. Not his emotional support neighbor. Just a neighbor, whom Matt couldn’t keep himself from listening to her calming presence. 

So what if he liked her anyway, just a little bit? 

She would never get involved with a complicated man like him, who held so many secrets and even more baggage. 

Plus, they were neighbors. It could neverwork out. 

Matt immediately stripped himself of his Daredevil gear and stepped into a hot, steaming shower, to wash these thoughts of her away. Wash this awful night away. Wash the dried blood on his skin away. 

He lay in his bed, silk sheets sprawled over his half-naked body. He had his hands behind his head on his pillow, senseless eyes staring up at the ceiling. The building was winding down, finally. No loud conversations, no ovens beeping. Just people getting into bed and soft snores. 

And then, he heard it. 

The front door of the building unlocked. Footsteps make their way up the stairs. That familiar and therapeutic scent of warm vanilla filled his senses. Finally, she was home. 

But she wasn’t alone.

“I had a good time tonight,” he heard her say on her way up the stairs. Heavy footsteps followed closely behind her. Matt listened to her heartbeat and furrowed his brows—she wasn’t telling the truth. 

“Me too,” a smooth, masculine voice said. “Are you sure you don’t want to have some coffee?”

“Oh yeah,” she said nervously, masked by a high-pitched tone. She was being overly nice. Cautious. “We had so much food at that restaurant. I’m stuffed. I’m honestly ready for bed,” she laughed, again, a quiver in her laugh. Matt sat up on his elbows as he listened closely. 

“Me too,” the man repeated, in a tone Matt didn’t like. Conniving. Entitled. There was an underlying message. 

“Well, here’s my place,” she announced, placing a hand on her door. Matt noticed she often forgot to grab her keys when she was nervous. Matt had made her nervous that one morning, but nothing like this. She was… uncomfortable now. She wanted this man to leave. “You didn’t have to walk me up.”

And there it is. 

“I wanted to,” he said, leaning against her door, blocking her from the lock. “I thought maybe you could show me the inside.”

“I, uh,” she stammered, fidgeting for her keys unsuccessfully. “I don’t know, it’s late…”

In an instant, Matt throws on a shirt, gray sweatpants, and his dark glasses and hurriedly walks to his door to meet her and this stranger in the hallway. This stranger who won’t leave her alone, who takes the hint and ignores it, this stranger who’s making his neighbor uncomfortable. 

Her heart leaps when she sees Matt suddenly coming outside his door, brown hair disheveled and a smile on his face. 

“Matt!” She exclaimed. “I’m sorry, was I loud?”

“Not at all,” Matt smiled through gritted teeth. “Just thought I forgot my mail. That’s all. What are you up to?”

“Um…”

“We’re on a date,” the man states plainly. Matt pretends to be shocked, that he didn’t know someone else was there. He feigns surprise and lifts his eyebrows. 

“Oh,” Matt said, “Sorry. I didn’t realize.” 

“There’s no mail,” the man said curtly, clearly upset that Matt interrupted whatever it was he had planned. “You can go back into your apartment now.” An icy tone. 

Matt took a step forward, eyebrows tightening, jaw clenched. He wants to tell this man that he can break every bone in his body. He wants to tell him that if he ever hears him in this building again, he’ll make him beg for mercy. He listens to the man's body muscles tightening, his heart rate is fast in anger. Whatever his plans with her were, they weren’t pure.

But Matt remembers she’s here, witnessing this, scared. He doesn’t want to be whatever that man is. He wants to show her he cares enough about her to walk out of his apartment at midnight and save her from whatever is happening. 

So, instead of answering the man with a threat, he looks in her direction—concern etched in his expression, care in his voice. 

“Is everything all right?” Matt asks her. 

She shakes her head, mistakenly. She quivers a weak “no.” 

The man stood menacingly over her. If she didn’t open her door for him, he’d manipulate her into doing it eventually. And Matt was interrupting his plan, he knew it. The man didn’t like that. Well, Matt wasn’t going anywhere until he left her alone.

He walks up to Matt, close enough so they’re standing face to face. Matt can smell the rum on his breath, which reeked with bad intentions. His hands turned to fists as the man began to speak whatever bullshit threat he tried to come up with. But Matt cuts him off.

“If you don’t leave this apartment in the next thirty seconds, I will have Detective Brett Mahoney and the entire 15th Precinct outside for your arrest for harassment and intimidation. Or worse—I’ll have the apartment snoop named Fran come out and scare you herself. Have I made myself clear?” Matt spoke through gritted teeth, keeping his voice calm and even. 

The man was looking at Matt like he really had the nerve—and he did. She stood there, watching this all unfold, wanting nothing more than to lock herself in her apartment and shut her phone off for a week. 

He stared Matt down, trying to find any glare behind his dark red glasses. All he saw was his angry expression in the reflection. How can he be intimidating to a blind man? Matt is blind to an extent, but he’s not blind to people with malicious intentions. 

All he does is scoff at Matt. He turns on his heel and looks at her as she cowers into the corner of her door. Matt takes a step forward immediately to stand between him and her. He scoffs again. 

“Didn’t know you were fucking your neighbor,” he spat before bounding down the stairs, slamming the door behind him. 

Matt stood for a moment, listening to the man curse to himself outside, kick a random can on the ground, and walk himself down the street before entering a taxi and returning himself to whatever hell he came from. It wasn’t until Matt was sure he was gone from the vicinity that he heard a loud stomping again, booming in his ears, that he realized it was her scared, frantic heartbeat coming from behind him. 

Matt turned around to face her, taking a step back to give her some space. “Hey,” he cooed. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” she lied, placing a hand over her heart in an attempt to calm herself down. “Well, now I am. Goodness… he wouldn’t take a hint.” 

Matt sighed. “I think he was ignoring them on purpose. Who was he, anyway?”

“Some guy I went on a first—and last—date with,” she answered sheepishly. “I didn’t even want to go. My friends encouraged me to get myself out there. Clearly, it was a mistake.” 

“I’m sorry he treated you like that. You don’t deserve that,” Matt replied in a soft tone, your usual calm heart beating frantically still. “You should never do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Even if it’s as simple as a first date.”

“I know,” she said, defeated like she’d told herself this before. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come out. Thank you, Matt.” 

“No need to thank me,” Matt said, shaking his head. “That’s what neighbors are for.”

She smiled softly. “You’ll save me from my next bad date?”

Matt laughed, glad that she seemed to calm down and was back to her friendly, unafraid self. “It’s late,” he said softly, deflecting from her joke. He didn’t want her to go on another bad date—she didn’t deserve that. But he also didn’t want her to go on a date with someone other than him. Which was why he was about to wish her goodnight. 

“It is,” she yawned. “Well, maybe I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Matt whispered. “Don’t forget to lock your door.”

She giggled, already letting herself inside. “I won’t.” 

“Hey,” she said suddenly, half inside her apartment, half out. From this alone, Matt was looped in her scent. “You don't think he will come back, do you? Now he knows where I live.”

“He won’t,” Matt shook his head, “and if he does, I will deal with it. Don’t worry. Get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you again, Matt.” 

She closed her door softly, and Matt waited until he heard the lock click before he went back inside his apartment. 

Laying in his bed, he listened as she crawled into her bed in her apartment. Her heartbeat told him she was still awake. When he heard it slowed down, signaling she had fallen asleep, he closed his eyes and drifted into a slumber himself. 

TAGS: @mattmurdocksstarlight @yentroucnagol @danzer8705 @allllium @i-marvel-bitch @mattsgirlsworld @babygrlmurdock @writtenbyred

[fatalhoon]

with love, the kids from yesterday

welcome! here you’ll find a collection of fics inspired by my favorite emo/pop punk albums from the 2000s/2010s!

— starring lee heeseung, sim jaeyun, and park sunghoon

✩ starring — 𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆

✩ featuring —

A FEVER YOU CAN'T SWEAT OUT by panic! at the disco

↳ heeseung x burlesque dancer!reader ; 1920s au

THE BLACK PARADE by my chemical romance

↳ ghost!heeseung x ghost!reader

COLLIDE WITH THE SKY by pierce the veil

↳ demon!heeseung x angel!reader

AMERICAN IDIOT by green day

↳ heeseung x reader ; zombie apocalypse au

✩ starring — 𝐒𝐈𝐌 𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐘𝐔𝐍

✩ featuring —

DEATH OF A BACHELOR by panic! at the disco

↳ jake x reader ; 70s au

DANGER DAYS: THE TRUE LIVES OF THE

FABULOUS KILLJOYS by my chemical romance

↳ killjoy!jake x killjoy!reader

FROM UNDER THE CORK TREE by fall out boy

↳ greaser!jake x soc!reader ; outsiders au

A LESSON IN ROMANTICS by mayday parade

↳ surfer!jake x mermaid!reader

✩ starring — 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍

✩ featuring —

TOO WEIRD TO LIVE,

TOO RARE TO DIE by panic! at the disco

↳ royal guard!sunghoon x princess!reader

THREE CHEERS FOR

SWEET REVENGE by my chemical romance

↳ vampire!sunghoon x vampire hunter!reader

NOTHING PERSONAL by all time low

↳ nerd!sunghoon x band member!reader

BRAND NEW EYES by paramore

↳ detective!sunghoon x detective!reader ; paranormal au

authors note (sorry its long lol);

hi everyone! this entire idea from the very beginning has been in the works for a very long time (i originally got the idea for something like this back in 2019) so i’m so happy its finally in the works!! this is gonna be a very heavy task for me but my goal is to get these all out by the end of the year <3 also i don’t know if all of these bands are considered “emo” but these are all bands that i listened to during that phase of my life. and its my series so idc LMAO. its heejakehoon centric cause that’s my bias line and i knew i would need a lot of inspo if i was going to commit to this series (plus a lot of different things in terms of planning and organizing that we don’t have time to get into rn lmao) soo i’m sorry to the jay/sunoo/won/riki stans :< p!atd (fuck brendon tho) and mcr were my favorite bands growing up therefore i know most music from them so that’s why each of them has one album from both bands! i don’t expect these to change very much but don’t be surprised if i switch any of them around. anyway i’m yapping SO i hope you guys are excited for this as much as i am!!

with love, judah <3

[loolilyumm]

I am screaming. Sobbing. Girlboss and fail-wife is my favorite dynamic. The way you draw is so pretty and your colors are so good plus people who draw 3 with sanitization scars are literally so cool I mean look at acht, there’s canonical examples of it. But literally going aaaa rn because I love your ocs.

We got Reese and Margot, how about 4 and 8?

OMG AHH IM SO SOSOSO HAPPY YOU LIKE THEM..AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASKS I LOVE ANSWERING THEM!! 🫶🫶🫶

I want to yap about my agents in separate posts so this one will be all about 8!

THIS IS OLIVE! She became agent 8 in the deepsea metro and has been a super active agent in the NSS ever since! They are like family to her - she lived with Pearl and Marina for almost 3 years before moving in with Reese! (Captain/Agent 3)

She was 14 during splatoon 1, and 16 during the events of octo expansion. Now in splat 3 she is 19!

She mains the dark tetra dualies but can use any weapon. She's super fast and agile so she likes weapons that work well with her speed.

She was an elite solider in the octoling army - she had just become one before she was ambushed by Cuttlefish and agent 3 (Reese) and they all fell into the metro.

None of them ended up falling in the same area of the metro, and Olive ended up being found by Tartar’s sanitized octolings and taken to the sanitation chambers to have her memory erased.

Side tangent - I have a specific idea in mind about how octolings are sanitized. If you want to watch this video, it explains it really well - https://youtu.be/zu4czvg5ClI?si=wFz1lABgkv7hz8Wk

But TLDR, there are 2 stages of sanitization. Stage one includes being wiped of all memories. The subject then has to go through a series of tests and trials before Tartar decides what to do with them based on how well they did. Then they get either blended or brainwashed into oblivion! 😆😆 woohoo yay! J think based on the side order diaries it kind of confirmed that 8 went through that first process…it just never said how so I made that part up. Lol

ANYWAY..!!! At the same time Olive is taken, Reese wakes up and begins searching for captain Cuttlefish. He doesn’t find him, but you know what he does find??!!?!?

WHOAAA WOWWW HE FINDS OLIVE

He’s like holy cow..! That’s the girl that was just attacking me…😦 and he’s like ahhh! I gotta help her!

But by the time the two of them make it out, he realizes that it’s too late. Her memory was completely wiped. The sanitization doesn’t leave any physical effects on her except for her eyes - they turned turquoise. The same color as the sanitized ink.

The two of them needed to find a way to find cuttlefish and get out of this creepy place, so they kept moving. Pretty soon they made their way into a train station and found cuttlefish waiting for them there!! And there was also a weird telephone that told Olive she was the newest test subject - and that passing all these trials was the key to getting her memories back and getting to the “promised land.”

Reese just went along with it because he assumed that was what octolings called the surface. He wanted to be a test subject too so he could help Olive, but the phone rejected him. No inklings allowed!

She was forced to go through hundreds of rigorous tests. She wanted more than anything to get back her memories and reach paradise. As she regained more memories, she realizes how different her old life was from the kindness these inklings were showing her now (and the two people on the radio called Pearl and Marina!). It just propels her toward finishing the tests, pushing herself to her limit, doing it not just for herself but for all of them.

She forms a really deep bond with these inklings. Cuttlefish is like a grandfather to her. Reese makes her heart flutter in ways she doesn’t even understand.

As the tests go on, she regains muscle memories from her days as an elite solider. She’s good at fighting. Really good. But these tests are really hard. 8 knows she can do it, but they’re really, really hard. And all these bad memories aren’t helping.

Through blood, sweat, and tears, Olive finally collects the 4 thangs and they can finally go to the surface! She is so proud of herself and feels on top of the world. Cuttlefish and Olive take the thangs to the telephone and wait for Reese, who’s out exploring the metro (one of the things he does to take up time and secure their safety). But the telephone is telling them they gotta go NOW and they can’t wait for Reese!

Cuttlefish and Olive say nope, nope, not happening. So they are forced into the blender and AHH!! OH NO VERY BAD!! EVERYONE FLIPS OUT AND…!!!

Reese appears and THROWS HIMSELF at the blender. Surprisingly, it works. The three of them leave the telephone and super jump through the hole Reese made in the ceiling. They’re going to get to the surface themselves.

Somewhere around the 4th phase, they are ambushed by a group of sanitized octolings. Olive gets separated from Reese and Cuttlefish. She is forced to keep moving and hope that they have made it to the elevator before her.

They have, but not in the way she thought! When she sees Reese’s partial sanitation, she doesn’t want to hurt him and holds back, resulting in herself getting injured very badly. She realizes this isn’t the friend she knows, and manages to defeat three and rescue him from brainwashing.

Soon after that she also saves the whole world and defeats Tartar. PERRIOODDD!! #slaythehousedown #girlboss

Reese and Olive got into a relationship soon after the events of octo expansion. They help each other through all the trauma of what happened down there and are the bestest friends and love each other so so much! Yay!!

And Olive got a new family that she loves so so much. YAYYY!!

AS OF SPLATOON 3…EBERYONE IS DOING AMAZING!! YAY!! Agent 4 is Olive’s new bestie. Margot (New agent 3) is like the little sister she never had. She and Reese have moved in together. She still does regular missions for the NSS and treats it as a full time job. She’s so proud of Reese for becoming captain. She couldn’t think of anyone more deserving.

I still haven’t decided what really goes down during the events of side order - I didn’t love that it was all a simulation, so idk how I’d write around that. I’ll figure it out! But for now, Let’s just say it’s not very fun for Olive.

BUTTTTT after the events of side order, she regains all of her lost memories (she left a few behind in Kamabo) and rediscovers herself.

HOLY CANNOLI I wrote a lot. I think about Olive so much and I hope you guys love her as much as I do.

If you guys have any questions about them whatsoever, please PLEASE feel free to send over an ask! I love answering them!!

IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR…I love u. Mwah!

[raaorqtpbpdy]

What a Night

Internet-famous musician Danny Phantom is doing a collab with Ember McLain! Six weeks, twelve concerts, twelve cities across the American Midwest. Go online and buy your tickets today!

The performer Danny Phantom has teamed up with Ember for a legendary album. Their first show is overwhelmed with cultists looking for the ghost king. {from @iwillhissatyou} Valerie Gray and Sidney Poindexter have finally met and…oh boy. {from @silverwing013} and Danny is tired of keeping secrets from his parents, but he still doesn’t know how to actually break the news to them, so instead of actually figuring something out like he probably should, Danny goes “fuck it” and proceeds to have some fun with it. Also, no Jazz, he’s definitely not coping with humor. {from @neutralgoodhyena}

Read Also on AO3

[Warnings for anxiety and mentions of cults]

Today was the day of the long-awaited Ember McLain/Danny Phantom collab concert in Amity Park, and it looked like the whole town had turned up for it, and a good number of out-of-towners as well. It would be the first in a series of six twelve concerts in 6 weeks across the Midwest, and the whole region had been talking about the highly anticipated team up for months leading up to it, and the day it was to begin had finally arrived. 

To say Danny was excited for it would be a massive understatement. To say he was nervous would be even more of an understatement.

"You'll do fine, Babypop," Ember reassured him, sensing his anxiety as he set up his keyboard and triple-checked all the settings. "It's not like you haven't performed before."

"Yeah, in front of a camera," Danny replied. "YouTube fame is totally different from sold-out concert fame. The biggest real audience I've performed in front of was, like, thirty people at a café with open mic. nights. This is a big step-up from that."

"Your most popular video has, like, 3 million views, today's audience is less than 3 thousand. You may not have been able to see them all, but you've effectively performed in front of 10 times as many people as you will today. Plus, with the stage lights and the visual effects, you'll barely be able to see any of them anyway."

Danny nodded. "You're... you're right, yeah."

"Danny!"

He perked up and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he heard a familiar voice calling his name from a distance.

"Will you tell your stupid manager to let me backstage already!"

"Excuse me a minute," he told Ember, hurrying toward the backstage entrance.

"It's cool, Sid, she's with me," Danny said, taking Valerie by the hand and leading her toward the performer areas.

"Well how was I suppose to know when she did have a back-stage pass?" Poindexter huffed, crossing his arms and scowling. 

Danny hadn't regretted his decision to appoint Sidney Poindexter as his manager for live performances yet, but he'd never had the chance to introduce him to his girlfriend before, and clearly he should have made the time because Valerie was pissed.

"Sorry about him, Valerie," Danny said. "Poindexter's a good guy, really, he's just super serious about his job and maybe he goes a little mad with power when he has a clipboard in his hands. I'll make sure to get you a special girlfriend backstage pass for the rest of my concerts."

"You'd better," Valerie said curtly.

She eyed him up and down, apprising his look for the concert, and he took a step back, opened his arms, and gave a slow turn so she could see it better. Her scowl slowly morphed into a small smile and she nodded her approval.

"Looks good," she said at length. "I see Ember's make-up artists really had their way with you, but the dark makeup creates a cool contrast with the white hair. You're wearing the accessories I picked out for you. You look good."

"Glad I have your seal of approval," Danny said. "There's another half-hour 'til the show starts. Want some snacks? The venue set up a whole complimentary spread, even though we're ghosts and don't need to eat. Guess they were just really excited to have us."

"Don't mind if I do," Valerie said, traipsing over to the buffet table and helping herself to some mini blueberry muffins and mini quiches. 

Most of the food was miniature versions of normally larger foods for some reason. Danny was partial to the mini pig-in-a-blankets... or would it be pigs-in-a-blanket? Pigs-in-blankets? What parts of that hyphenated phrase had to be pluralized?

He mulled over the conundrum with Valerie, but they didn't come to a satisfactory conclusion before Poindexter came rushing into the room with a wild-eyed expression.

"We've got a problem, Danny," he said. "The venue is filling up with cultists."

"What? What do you mean cultists?" Danny demanded.

"I don't know, they'd all got black robes and strange tattoos," the ghost continued. "Security stopped some of them, and told me they said they're looking for the ghost king, but they can't kick 'em out 'cause they've all got tickets, and they technically haven't done anything wrong. What should we do?"

"Woah, slow down, Sid," Danny held out his hands. "What do you mean ghost king?"

"He means you."

He turned around to see Ember standing behind him. She approached the buffet table and popped a mini eclair in her mouth. Just because ghosts didn't need to eat, didn't mean those eclairs weren't damn good.

"Me? What are you talking about?"

"You defeated the old king in single combat," she said through a mouthful before swallowing. "You possess the royal artifacts."

"Yeah, in a shoe box full of junk in the bottom of my closet," Danny argued. "I'm no king."

"Well, duh," she said. "I mean, not in the practical sense. The Ghost Zone is pretty much self-governing anyway, so it's not like we ever needed a king, but magic is as magic does, so from a technical standpoint..." she trailed off, making a so-so motion with her hand.

"You are the king," Poindexter said. "We ghosts may not need one, but the Ghost Zone needs a vessel or it becomes too weird and unstable to be habitable, and right now, that's you."

"Why am I the only one who didn't know about this?"

"Uh, hello?" Valerie raised her hand, her face a mask of surprise and confusion.

"Okay, why am I the only ghost who didn't know about this?"

"Not our fault you never bothered to learn about ghostly culture," Ember said with a shrug.

"Does this make me the ghost queen?" Valerie asked.

Ember snorted a laugh, "You become a ghost some time since we last talked?" she asked sarcastically.

Valerie glared and her hand instinctively went to her thigh for her ecto-gun, even though she wasn't wearing her ghost hunting suit and she'd promised not to hunt ghosts anymore ever since she learned the truth about Danny and the rest of them—that they weren't really evil, just trying to act on their ghostly .

"Ember's just razzin' you," Poindexter said flippantly. "There's only one royal position in the ghost zone, so even if you were both a ghost and married to Danny, that would be it. You'd just be the king's wife and nothing else."

Valerie scowled at him, as if he even had the presence of mind to intend that as a personal slight against her. 

Poindexter barrelled on, not even noticing her irritation, which of course only pissed her off more. "But the semantics of royal titles aren't nearly as important as the fact that there are literally hundreds of cultists out there looking for Danny and they won't say what for, or what they plan to do if they find him. I hate to suggest cancelling the show, but—"

"We can't cancel the show," Ember cut him off severely. "Not this last-minute. Double security around the stage and tell them to watch out for any movement on the part of the cultists. If they see anything weird and suspicious, like artifacts, glowing tattoos, weird chanting, have them tell the lighting crew to flash the stage-front lights red three times. That'll be the signal for Danny to get the hell outta dodge. With any luck, they're just here for the music, but even if they're not, the show must go on, right Danny?"

"Red three times. I'm on it!" Poindexter said, then vanished to attend to spreading the updated procedures.

"Uh... right," Danny agreed. He was not expecting Ember to be so on top of the situation.

"Valerie, I know you were looking forward to seeing your boytoy perform live, but if you wouldn't mind gearing up and providing some extra security—"

"Say no more; you got it," Valerie said. "I'm not about to let a bunch of creepy cultists run off with my man. I'll catch you after the show, babe." She gave Danny a peck on the cheek before darting out of the backstage area.

Danny followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight then turned to Ember with a frown. "I'm not her boytoy."

"Sure you're not," Ember said. "Ten minutes to curtain. Time for last minute sound checks and staging."

As if Danny's anxiety wasn't already through the roof, now it was amped up even higher.

Ten minutes felt like an eternity, until their names were announced over the loudspeakers and the curtains rose.

If it weren't for all those hours of practice, Danny was sure he would have choked, but as Ember hyped up the crowd and they started in on their first song, Danny's fingers danced across his keyboard as if on autopilot.

Ember was right about the stage lights and the crowd. It was so bright he could barely see a thing, let alone make out individual faces, though he did not swaths of black robes in the crowd—cultists grouped together. Plus, between just those two factors, the heat onstage was stifling, and Danny's ice-powers kicked in instinctually to cool him off, creating an unplanned mist effect across the stage.

He looked up with wide-eyes, checking for reactions from Ember and her band, but they just rolled with it and kept playing, so unperturbed as to make the audience think it was intentional, made with dry ice or something. They were so professional, it made Danny feel like he really had to step up his game to deserve his spot on this stage with them.

When his part of their duet came up, Danny sang his heart out, belting the words with more emotion than in any of their rehearsals and really giving it his all. But all the while, he kept glancing at the stage-front lights, waiting for them to start flashing red, telling him to run.

Ancients how he wished he could see what was going on in the crowd. This anxiety was killing him all over again.

Danny was on edge the whole time, but the concert ended without him having to run offstage in a hurry.

He got to take his bows alongside Ember and her band and then walk off just as planned. As soon as they got the the green room, Hawk, Riff, and Thump (Ember's bassist, rhythm guitarist, and drummer respectively) collapsed on the sofa pretty much simultaneously and Ember laughed.

"They always do that," she said. "It's like a post-concert ritual for them. Flop down on the couch in the green room and not move for ten full minutes."

"Can you blame us?" Thump asked, rubbing his forearms. 

Danny guessed that banging on a drum set for nearly two hours straight took its toll, even for a ghost. He knew his own fingers were starting to tremble after that long playing keyboard.

"Thump, you were sitting the whole time," Ember pointed out.

"Yeah, but me and Riff weren't," Hawk pointed out. "My dogs are barkin'."

"At least it wasn't as hot as it usually is," Riff commented. "Thanks for that, Phantom. It kinda caught me by surprise at first, but we done concerts with smoke machines before, so not that big a deal."

"Oh, I'm with Riff on that one, big time," Hawk agreed, and Thump nodded as well.

"You should do that at every concert," Riff said.

"I don't know if I can help it," Danny said. "With my ice core, the second I started to overheat, it just kinda happened."

"Well, no complaints here," Ember said.

"Amen," her band chorused in agreement.

The five performers rested up in the green room while the roadies packed up their equipment to transport it to the next venue. Ghosts didn't really have the same travel time as most vehicles, so their stuff traveled without them, and they met it there the day of the concert.

After a few minutes, Valerie came in, dressed in her ghost hunting gear and looking like she'd barely escaped an explosion. Her hair, which was normally well kept, was frizzing, and she had soot marks all over her suit.

"Hey babe!" she greeted, sidling up to Danny and sitting on the arm of his chair. "You were great out there."

"You too, I assume," Danny replied, looking her up and down. "What happened? I couldn't really see anything with the stage lights in my face."

"Oh, just a little scuffle with the cultists. Security and I handled it. No big deal."

"Val, you're awesome."

"I know it," she said. "We're gon' have words about your manager though, he tried to stop me from coming back here again after the show."

"I promise I will get a pass for you before the next show," Danny said. "He'd just trying to do his job."

Valerie huffed in irritation, but didn't argue the point further. Danny could sense that her beef with Poindexter wasn't about to end any time soon. This was gonna be a long summer.

That night, Danny went home on cloud nine. He couldn't wait to tell his parents how well the concert had gone. He'd been scrolling through social media in the green room, and people were raving about the show. They thought Valerie fighting the cultists was part of the act, and they ate it up. It couldn't have gone better.

His hand was on the doorknob when he remembered that he couldn't tell his parents. They still didn't know he was a ghost.

Ancients, this was getting frustrating. All the accomplishments he was most proud of had to do with his ghost side, and he couldn't share any of them with his parents. He was so tired of keeping secrets from them. Maybe now was the time to finally loop them in.

He walked in the front door. The concert had gone on until one in the morning, and after that he'd hung out with Ember, Val and the guys until the after-party, which went on until not long ago. He'd been out all night, but since it was summer, he didn't have to worry about his curfew.

His mom was in the kitchen making pancakes for breakfast, and his dad was half asleep at the kitchen table while Jazz sat beside him reading a book. The table had already been set. 

As Danny sat down at the table, he thought that he should probably come up with some kind of plan for how to tell his parents he was half ghost. But at the same time, he also thought "fuck it", and it had been a long night, so after almost no deliberation, "fuck it" won out.

"Welcome home, sweetie," his mom greeted. "How was your night? You went to a concert right?"

"It went great! I almost got attacked by cultists and it was so hot onstage that I accidentally iced it over, but the audience seemed to think all that was planned, so all in all, I can't complain. Plus my band mates seemed to appreciate the cool-off."

Jazz looked at him over her book with a look of complete shock and borderline fear.

"That's nice, Danny," his mother said. "Do you want chocolate chips or blueberries in your panca—wait what the hell do you mean you were almost attacked by cultists?"

His father, who'd been pretty much asleep by that point jerked awake at the sound of his wife yelling. "What? Who's a cultist? Attack?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "I guess I'm, like, the ghost king or something. It was news to me too, but I had a concert to put on, so I just let security deal with them. Also, I'd love some blueberries, please."

The number of shocked expressions in the kitchen tripled.

"Put on?" his mother repeated. "I thought you were attending a concert."

"No, I had to perform that big collab concert with Ember and her band last night."

"But... but wasn't that... wait are you...?"

Danny nodded.

"You're Danny Phantom?!" His mother all but screamed. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"I didn't?" Danny asked with an exaggerated tone of surprise. "Well gee I could've sworn I told you guys. Remember that accident in the ghost portal back in freshman year? Ever since then, I've been half ghost. I thought you knew." He gave him his best expression of mock innocence. 

It was clear that he absolutely knew this was the first time he was telling them, but he was also clearly having fun with it. His parents, on the other hand....

"You're half ghost?!" they shouted in unison.

"Did you die?" his mother asked. "How can you say that so casually?"

"He's just coping with humor like he always does," Jazz said dismissively, finally getting over her shock at her brother's sudden honesty and looking back at her book.

"I am not!" Danny refuted aghast. "I would never do such a thing! Name one time that I have ever used humor to cope?"

"Is that a serious question?" Jazz asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow. "Because I could give you an itemized list. Would you like it chronologically or alphabetically?"

"Ugh. I'm good thanks," Danny said, rolling his eyes. "And no, I'm not dead. Or... I guess you could say I'm half-dead? I'm not sure, really. I can transform between a human and ghost form, and I use my ghost powers, along with the ghost hunting training you guys gave me, to keep Amity Park safe from ghostly threats, and more recently to become a YouTube famous musician and get a concert deal with Ember McLain."

His parents obviously had no idea how to respond to all this new information at once. Honestly, Danny didn't even know how he wanted them to respond. As long as they didn't try to capture or kill him, he'd be happy.

"Uh... congratulations?" his mother said finally.

"Thanks!"

Yeah. That worked.

[door-insurance]

So I played Life is Strange 2 for the first time ever

I didn’t wanna play it for a long time not cause it didn’t have Chloe or max (tbh I got sick of their asses around BtS they’re not even my faves)

By that point I was in college and had lost interest in the whole franchise but also I was very apprehensive of white creatives writing racism with no input from the group they’re portraying, they don’t usually do a good job

Sometimes they make it cartoony, sometimes they trivialize it, sometimes they romanticize it

So years later adulthood kicked my ass and I came back crawling to this franchise for some comfort, I finished True colors annnnd I finally started 2 after hesitating annnnd

^sketched this while playing

SPOILERS

I actually liked it

I liked Sean, the drawing segment he does- he was such a likable main guy, deserved better honestly.

I also liked Daniel, he was very adorable and I never got it when people called him annoying like no shit the 9 year old is gonna act like a 9 year old- just don’t be a jerk to him, I know he can be frustrating but that’s what taking care of a kid is like

And lis had always been about realistic complex characters, y’all can’t handle a traumatized nine year?

I have two younger siblings and two nieces plus I’ve been a bratty younger sibling to two older sisters

Maybe I’m just used to it?? But honestly Daniel wasn’t that bad

The racism portrayal in the first few episodes was not all that cartoony and it actually felt real at times, like I can check for American news rn and find stories similar to what you see in episodes 1-3 (minus the telekinesis)

Although the gas station racist hick spouting trump slogans was a bit on the nose, it’s more of dialogue thing

Some people thought the gas station detainment was egregious but it can happen unfortunately, especially to vulnerable people in rural areas and by someone of a higher systematic advantage

One other thing I did not like was the love interests, I thought Finn and Cassidy were alright characters on their own but why do we need romance in this game where the protagonists are always on the run?

I don’t like to compare lis 1 to 2 but when it comes to the romance the former did a better job as it spent more time establishing it, plus max stayed in the same place for the majority of the game- but you know what? Sean doesn’t have to be in a relationship right? It can be a one off thing, that’s fine

Which brings me to my next point

How old are Cassidy and Finn?

Cause Sean is still 16 and no, being on the road didn’t mentally age him- he’s not “mature” for his age

He is still a kid

So for some reason Dontnod never really specified their ages but some articles described them as teens (they look 30 to me) and they can be around 18 right? Their lives are hard stress ages you- it happens, we can with live that, it’s just a two years difference

But teens or not

why did they animate a whole knocking the boots scene???

Of all the games in the series, the only one that gets a sex scene is the one with the much younger protagonist and his ambiguously aged older looking love interest and I think it’s only with Cassidy you get to do it in the tent

Alex Chen was robbed of a on screen booty call from a beanie wearing lesbian with a sexy radio voice or a buff ass Adonis of a man who was Smokey the bear’s regional manager or something

Anyways I’m gonna move on I’m uncomfortable lmao

*im not hating on people who ship Sean with either Finn or Cassidy, I’m not even tagging your ship names- im just stating my personal preferences on my blog

One last thing I did not like about LiS 2 and it was the one thing that kept me from playing it for years

That one scene from episode 4

So at this point Sean Diaz went through the following:

-lost his father, had to abandoned his loved ones, education and home

-was accused of killing a cop

-had to take care of his little brother on his own while on the run, the same brother with telekinesis and none of them know how to control it

-was harassed, beaten then detained by a racist white man

-had to take refuge in an abandoned cabin with little resources

-the dog that they adopted at the gas station eventually gets mauled

-the one time they found solace at their grandparents house they had to leave abruptly cause the police was hot on their trail

-on their way out they can potentially witness the neighbors kid that they befriended get hit by the police car that’s chasing them

-they find shelter at a nomad campground but oh no they get involved with drug trafficking cause they barely have any other options to make money (unfortunately this happens a lot IRL this isnt egregious)

-Sean now has to deal with the trafficking, making sure that Daniel doesn’t get into any trouble with his powers while fake ass giancarlo esposito is breathing down his neck

-and guess what happens next… Daniel gets robbed into pulling a heist on temu gus fring and it goes badly, Sean can potentially lose a love interest/friend in Finn

-Sean gets hurt, Daniel goes so mad that he blows the whole place up; a shard glass flies into Sean’s eye and he ends up losing it

- Sean wakes up from a coma and learns that his brother is missing and he’s about to be taken to jail

- the one thing that consistently brought him joy during this trip was his art and because of the missing eye he can’t even do it the same anymore cause it hurts now

- Sean has to escape the hospital with a hot wired car, little money and has to drive across two states just to get to his brother

-on the way he dreams of his father, he wants him back he wants his old life back but that’s not gonna happen so he has to move forward

Im not listing all this as examples of bad story telling, a lot of these are real life experiences of homeless people. im just painting a picture of the shit that Sean had went through so far

Cause right after the dream sequence, Dontnod didn’t think all that was enough no you had to see Sean get hate crimed by two lifetime movie, sitcom special of the week racists- be made to either sing or suffer a brutal beating

It added nothing to the plot, it didn’t need a choice system either- it’s a hate crime, you’re not asking Joyce for fucking pancakes or eggs n bacon at the whales diner or hosing down Lisa the fckin plant.

This to me went straight to trauma p*rn category, it’s wheelchair Chloe all over again

I hated it then in LiS 1 and I hated now in LiS 2, this is why I don’t dick ride Dontnod that often

They always had this tendency right before the end they single out a particular character and mentally whip them, they become the writing teams punching bag- they think we didn’t get it the first time that this character is going through it, they just hammer it in with the subtlety of a heart attack and I hate it

“Yeah but it’s there to show Sean’s resolve to find Daniel-“

HE ESCAPED FROM THE HOSPITAL AND THE FEDS, HE HOT WIRED A CAR TO DRIVE ACROSS TWO STATES

He’s starving, dehydrated, suffering from chronic pain

That’s enough

Let the character breathe

You ask why not a lot of people wanna play this game and I’m gonna tell you, as much I enjoyed it myself it’s not an easy game to play- it gets brutal, especially right around the end

I’m not against bleakness or extreme conflict, I’m into that but sometimes that doesn’t translate well to any gaming format- especially a choices matter game that’s meant to be replayed

Some people have asinine reasons not to play LiS 2 like it dealing with racism and those people suck, lis had always dealt with progressive themes like calling out objectification, cyberbullying and sl*tshaming

Racism shouldn’t be the exemption

but misuse of racial trauma and not knowing when it’s appropriate to invoke it is a huge turn off and hella triggering to a lot of non white players and I remember when LiS 2 dropped I’ve seen (mostly white) lis fans at the time proclaiming that not wanting to play it meant that you were racist

Like I said there were probably racists who didn’t wanna touch the games cause of the main characters skin but there were people like me who were apprehensive of the “Let’s go to the mosh pit Shaka brah” people handling racism

This is the same studio that had Ms Grant (one of the few black characters from LiS 1) claim that the white settlers peacefully shared the stolen land with the native Americans

I find that shit harder to believe than the time traveling powers

And they were doing alright in the first episodes they covered stuff like unconscious biases slipping through, dog whistles, polite racism from the grandparents segment, police brutality, racial profiling and being targeted/othered- some of these things I went through when I visited western countries

Then they did the bullshit I feared theyd do…

I really don’t blame myself for being hyper vigilant at the time and honestly I was going through a lot then, even if I wanted to I wouldn’t have touched LiS 2 cause it’s a very heavy tasking game to play

I know I kinda made it seem like I didn’t like this game but I did, its the best one in terms of the choice system

It had more weight to it, seeing Daniel internalizing what you say to him or how you act around him was so cool

Also what the second game has over the first one aside from the choices system is the ending selection- I never liked picking the endings for max, I wanted her to pick the ending or her coding/script to do that

Its definitely more fleshed out technically even though LiS 1 has a special place in my heart it’s always gonna be no. 1- but im also glad that I got to experience the 2nd game for the first time, I liked it

Personal lis ranking

1: Lis 1

2: Lis 2

3: True colors

Discount bin: BtS

My personal fave moments from LiS 2:

- beating up the racist bully and giving him a concussion

-mushroom (rip icon)

- victorias letter

-winning that that bear from that claw machine

-gorillaz song that was not feel good inc

-Brody pointing at a fucked up looking arcadia bay yelling “that’s the past!”- that was hilarious

-Sean paying tribute to Arcadia bay in his sketchbook (this fucking kid man, he’s so sweet he deserves the world- what did he do to make DONTNOD mad at him)

- the wolf animation and the story that plays before every chapter

-this was the worst hate crime in the whole game

[dc-marvel-life]

That Dang Snake

Pairing: Hermione Granger

Summary: Hermione starts to get the attention of an unlikely Slytherin girl

Word Count: ~2.1k

A/N: I see some people like this series so far. If you want to request a Hermione x reader, go right ahead. I enjoy writing this

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Narrator P.O.V

Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny walk together to the Slytherin party. They walk down the stone steps to the entrance, and the music gets louder as they go down the steps. They end up at the bottom of the steps staring at the bare stone wall of the Slytherin entrance.

“Gosh, how are we supposed to get into the party when we don’t even know the password to the place,” Ron says irrtated. He already doesn’t like Slytherin because of their bad representation, but he does know they throw the best parties in school. 

“Just be patient, they will figure it out that we are out here,” Ginny says having some hope that they will get into the party soon because it sounds like a great time. Right after Ginny says that the entrance opens and the gang sees Y/N there with a drink in hand. 

“Hey, guys! I can’t believe you all came. You all look great! Please come in, come in” Y/N says then moves out of the way to let them into the common room. When they enter the dungeon, the smell of alcohol hits them. There are students everywhere with cups filled with different drinks in them. 

“So welcome to the party! Over there,” Y/N points to a table filled with different bottles and a tub filled with who knows what, “are the drinks that are for everyone. There is also some jungle juice and to be honest, I don’t know what’s in there but I am pretty tipsy off of one cup,” Y/N says and laughs. Y/N points in a general direction of a few different tables.

“Now all those tables have different drinking games. Relax, grab a drink, and have a great time. If you find the drink people here, you can get high off of whatever too. Let me know if you need anything” Y/N says and the whole time she was talking she was looking at Hermione. 

Hermione seem to notice too and didn’t break eye contact with Y/N. Ron took notice of this and put his arms around Hermione’s waist. Y/N sees this and looks between Ron and Hermione then walks away with a grin on her face.

Fred and George see the gang and come up to them. They hand Ron and Harry a drink and tell them to follow them to join a game with them. Leaving Hermione and Ginny to wander around the party. Hermione was shocked to see how many other houses and people from the Triwizard tournament were at the party. 

“Alright Hermione, we need to get very drunk tonight because it is not every day that you get invited to a Slytherin party. Maybe if you start hooking up with Y/N, we can come to more” Ginny teases Hermione. Hermione shoves Ginny a little bit blushing.

“Stop that Ginny! Y/N and I aren’t anything; she just starting to talk to me this year anyway,” Hermione says then looks around to see who’s near and comes closer to Ginny, “You know I have never been with anyone, so I don’t know what to do even if she does ask” Hermione says quietly in between the two girls.

“I mean do you want her to?” Ginny questions and Hermione thinks for a second. 

“No, I mean yes….. Well maybe. I don’t know really. This is the first time I have really felt something for someone. I thought I had that with your brother, but ever since she talked to me in the library the other day something has awakened in me. It made me realize that I might have a crush on Y/N” Hermione says then gets interrupted by Greengrass with two drinks in her hands.

“Here you guys go, drink up,” Greengrass says handing both girls a drink.

“You didn’t put anything in this did you, Greengrass,” Hermione says hesitating to drink the strange liquid in the cup.

“No, I didn’t. Look at a Slytherin party we are all friends because we all just want to have a good time. Alcohol makes that ten times better. Plus I have noticed my best friend has taken a liking to you recently” Greengrass says with a smile on her face.

“You and Y/N are best friends?!” Ginny says in surprise.

“Yes we are, I know it is surprising since I am the forgotten Slytherin girl and don’t really hang out with Parkinson and her little gang of girls and neither does Y/N” Greengrass says rolling her eyes at the thought of Parkinson. 

“I thought Y/N and Parkinson were friends?” Hermione asks taking a sip of her drink. 

“No, Parkinson just hangs on Y/N’s shoulders hoping that they will fuck again and date. Y/N said that was the worst drunk mistake she has ever made,” Greengrass says and covers her mouth, “I was not supposed to say that out loud. I am drunk anyways. Well, you two have fun” Greengrass says and walks off leaving a shocked Ginny and Hermione. They start to laugh and start to drink.

They go and find a drinking game to play to start to get drunk. After a while and a few drinks, Hermione starts to wonder where the famous Y/N Y/L/N is. She looks around and sees that she is talking with Luna very closely. Ginny turns to see what Hermione is looking at.

“Are you going to go up to her and talk? Nothing is going to happen by just standing by” Ginny says laughing already drunk. Next thing you know Y/N takes Luna’s hand and walks away somewhere.

Hermione saw this and was a little sad that it wasn’t her being taken away my Y/N.

“Looks like I lost my chance now. Let’s go take a shot!” Hermione says and Ginny cheers for the shot. They go to the table of liquor and pick up a random bottle and pour a shot for each of them. They do a little cheer and pour it back.

Hermione feels the warm liquor goes down her throat starting to feel the effect of drinking.

“This is the best night ever!” Hermione yells and Ginny yells back agreeing. Hermione turns around and bumps into Luna. 

“I am so sorry Hermione, I didn’t see you there,” Luna says with a smile on her face and bloodshot eyes.

“Omg Luna! You are high aren’t you!” Ginny says budding in laughing. Luna just smiles and nods her head too high to speak.

“Oh did you just come back from fucking with Y/N too,” Hermione says letting it slip out of her mind. She didn’t mean to say it, including in such a mean tone.

“Y/N and I have never fucked actually Hermione. Y/N treats me very well because I get picked on so much by everyone. She is the nicest person that I know. You should go and see her though Hermione” Luna says and starts to walk away but turns back.

“Plus I have only made out with Y/N a couple of times,” Luna says and walks away. Hermione looks over at Ginny who is trying to whole back her laugh.

“You were so jealous of Luna weren’t you?” Ginny teases.

“Now why would Hermione be jealous of Luna,” Y/N says standing behind Hermione scaring her and making her spill her drink on herself.

“Oh gosh, are you okay Hermione? I didn’t mean to scare you” Y/N ask Hermione.

“Yeah, I am fine Y/N. I just didn’t know you were behind me” Hermione says trying to get most of the drink out of her shirt.

“How about you come to my room and I give you a new shirt,” Y/N says to Hermione. Hermione looks at Ginny.

“Go! I’ll be fine, I will find my brothers and hang out with them,” Ginny says shooshing Hermione away. Hermione mouths ‘thank you’ and takes Y/N’s hands following her to her room. Y/N opens the girl’s room door and closes it behind them. 

When they enter the room, the music can only be heard faintly. Luckily the room was empty so it was only Hermione and Y/N. At this point, Hermione smells weed coming off of Y/N. Looking into her eyes, you can see that they are a little red.

“So you smoke with Luna?” Hermione asks while walking over to Y/N's bed which is labeled.

“Yes, I do, only sometimes though. Is that why you were jealous of her?” Y/N says unbuttoning her black button-down shirt.

“That was not the reason, but why are you taking off your shirt?” Hermione says getting nervous.

“I am giving you this so you have a bigger shirt to have on for the party when you go back out there. I can get another shirt from my closet for myself. I just wanted you to have this one on because you will look good in it, and it will have my scent on it so you will always remember that you are wearing my shirt” Y/N says smirking shirtless.

Hermione was too shocked to react to what Y/N said because Y/N’s body is covered in fresh scars.

“What happened to you?” Hermione questions.

“Like I said earlier today. Some stuff happened over break and now I am a different person. It was all for the better though. Maybe I will tell you what happened over some butterbeer?” Y/N says and hands Hermione the shirt.

“Are you asking me on a date?” Hermione says while taking off her shirt leaving both of them shirtless and staring at each other.

“Yes, I am,” Y/N says and gets closer to Hermione looking her in the eye and asking for permission to kiss her. Hermione says yes with her eyes and Y/N leans in and kisses Hermione slowly. Hermione was stiff at first, but relaxed in seconds and leans into the kiss.

One of Y/N’s hands gets tangled in Hermione’s hair while the other hand goes to Hermione’s waist. Hermione leans back onto Y/N’s bed so that Hermione is on the bottom and Y/N is on the top of her. They deepen the kiss but then the door swings open. Y/N and Hermione break apart to see Parkinson at the door.

“Gosh Y/N, you don’t want to hook up with me so you can get into bed with some mudblood,” Parkinson says drunk stumbling into the room. 

Y/N gets up right away and grabs Parkinson’s arm and drags her out of the room.

“You will never call her a mudblood again or I will ruin your life. Do you understand me?” Y/N says angrily.

“Don’t threaten me Y/L/N! Or can I even still call you that now after everything?” Parkinson says then walks off leaving Y/N alone. Y/N takes a deep breath and goes back into the room. Hermione is still on Y/N’s bed with her black button-down shirt on.

“Sorry about that. She can be very annoying” Y/N says sitting next to Hermione.

“It’s fine, it’s not the first time someone has called me that,” Hermione says.

“It’s not fair though, people shouldn’t be called that. She was just mad because she thought you and I were going to sleep together, but that wasn’t going to happen” Y/N says laughing to herself.

“So you weren’t thinking about sleeping with me though. I mean I am not ready for that at all, but I heard that you get around,” Hermione questions.

“No, I wasn’t! Hermione, I do really like you and I want to do things right with you. I don’t even know how the rumor got around that I sleep around with a lot of people. Sure I make out with girls and accidentally slept with Parkinson once. I only did anything with two other older girls here” Y/N confesses.

“Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Well, I am happy to know that you actually like me and do things right. I am still confused about even if I like girls. All I know is that I can’t get you out of my head and I want to see where this goes” Hermione says looking away from Y/N to hide the blush that is creeping up on her face. Y/N turns Hermione’s head to look at her.

“I am happy to go as slow as you want. Let’s have the date next Saturday at Hogsmeade” Y/N says smiling at Hermione.

“Sounds great I can’t wait,” Hermione says and they seal the deal with a kiss.

Taglist: @fanficaddictcore

[scruffyssketchbook]

…Go on...I'm listening...👀

(Bro I’ve been obsessing over him for DAYS. It’s not HEALTHY.)

No one wants to engage with me with my rambles about them tho 😭😭😭😭 LIKE WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND PEOPLE TO YAP ABOUT SSEC TO??? I just want to TALK BRO, but everyone is like “no I don’t want to DM her, I’ll be bothering her” or “I don’t care about ssec, I just want to talk to you” or “I’m just going to talk to her in the discord servers (WELL I CANT SAY SPOILERS IN TGE DISCORD SERVER)” LIKE, THANK YOU FOR CARING BUT DM ME ABOUT SSEC PLZ PLZ PLZ, I’LL TALK WITH YOU, PLZZZZ?????? (This invitation is for adults only btw.)

LIKE ITS GETTING SO BAD THAT I’M THINKING ABOUT GOING BACK TO SOMEONE WHO LITERALLY CONSTANTLY WRECKED MY MENTAL HEALTH FOR YEARS!! but like, they were really into ssec and helped me a lot, and was NOT in love with me, so was it really bad? 🥺🥺🥺 I am totally normal about SSEC. Yup yup. Yes sir. Very much normal. Let me at least TRY to keep my peace. This is a last resort.

anyways, I’ll be rambling here. Not sorry!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

OK SO LIKE. IN SSEC, Teal is dating an eevee named Ryuu, and since they are dating in ssec so I made them date in Box 31. NOW, THEY ARE SO CUTE LIKE RAHHHHHH.

Spoilers below ❤️

They are total opposites, with Teal being a BIG and calm and sweet fisherman while Ryuu is a short and spicy fashion model (don’t call him short tho, he will get mad LOL). Anyways, Before they got together, they knew of each other vaguely, but like they didn’t get to actually know each other until Teal started dating Miku. Ryuu, who had just broken up with Miku, was trying to warn Teal about her, and he got really REALLY invested in Teal’s wellbeing because like- Teal is so kind and sweet. 🥺 So after Teal inevitably breaks up with Miku (Miku has like- ten Exes at the start of Box 31 ok, it’s wild) the two start hanging out more with each other, and Ryuu falls for Teal HARD. Teal’s quiet confidence, the way Teal’s life is so much more different from his, more quiet, more simple. After always being in chaos, whether it’s at home (cause Icedrop) or as a model, the quiet calm that’s just being with Teal relaxes him. And Teal just finds Ryuu to be adorable. The way Ryuu pushes him out of his comfort zone and the way Ryuu is just so unapologetically himself, thriving in the spotlight and sharing his thoughts with no hesitation is so admirable to Teal. Ryuu is also super funny as well and makes him laugh so that’s a plus too. They both just bring a light to the other’s life that they didn’t think they were missing.

SO RYUU ASKS TEAL OUT AND THEY START DATING AND BECOME BOYFRIENDS AND ARE BOTH VERY IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER AND THEY ARE SO CUTE BRO 😭😭😭 I’M GOING TO HAVE THEM GET MARRIED TOO AT SOME POINT IN THE SERIES!!! (Mostly cause I want a certain character I’ve also been obsessing about to start thinking about Marriage :3) TEAL IS THE ONE WHO PROPOSES BTW ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thank you Miku for fumbling the bag so hard you brought two of your Exes together 🥰

She’s such a girl failure and I love her for that.❤️❤️❤️

Ryuu and Teal are side characters who have very little influence on the story btw.

Edit: I forgot to add. TEAL CALLS RYUU “HIS HONEY” AND RYUU CALLS TEAL “POOH”

AACCCKKKKKKKK

[utilitycaster]

Thank you for writing up that post about the engagement of the alleged themes in campaign 3. I've seen the argument for them and honestly that plus some of the C3 stuff has almost made me feel weird playing a cleric in this setting. The implications just are so unfortunate if it really is the angle they're going for?

Hi anon,

So I have two thoughts on this. The first is that like...it's actually really difficult to make a story set in a fantasy world that deals with racism and colonialism because you have to develop fantasy racism and colonialism, which is a really fucking unpleasant headspace to exist in! And then, if you do, you have what I alluded to in tags on a different post today, where you will get people up in arms about how D&D or an actual play show or a fantasy work depicts orcs or goblins as racist or antisemitic stereotypes and then it's crickets when it comes to any real-world support of black or Jewish people. Chuck Klosterman said sci fi is philosophy for stupid people, and I disagree, but I do think speculative fiction is frequently sociology, anthropology, and geopolitics for stupid people, particularly if it's a setting with a lot of magic and fantasy races vs say, works like Butler's Patternist series, or a lot of Latin American magical realism, or (girl who just finished Disco Elysium voice) Disco Elysium, where there's a lot more grounding in our reality. I think this post covers the concept of real vs mythic, and I think the Critical Role stuff with the gods is in the realm of the mythic and people are trying to force it into a very human narrative. And yeah, the implications are really unfortunate if you do.

I think it's worth noting that a lot of high-profile (and beloved) TTRPG/AP projects from actual people from colonized cultures imagine a world in which they were never colonized (I am far from an expert but just off the top of my head: Coyote and Crow; Into the Motherlands; Desiquest; Islands of Sina Una) rather than make a story where a bunch of mostly white characters explain how they are the victims of colonization from two separate sources and only really focus on the one that's way less obvious and true but don't worry they're GONNA FIX IT, maybe, idk, should we open this door? I just don't know! golly gee this is tough!

The second related thought is just that D&D isn't a game that is well-suited to dismantling complex political structures either on a narrative or literal level and also it's pretend so you can do what you want forever. I mean don't call other people slurs while playing it but if we're talking in-world? I genuinely think that people who are unabashed murderhobos in D&D are often perfectly fine, generous, and lovely people in real life, and a lot of people who are like "I unionized the goblins! We're playing non-combat D&D! I de-escalate every situation" are often the sort of person to claim it's ableist to suggest that perhaps you should try to use reusable shopping bags. Like, are you living your values in your real life and capable of critical thought? then who cares if your D&D character is kind of a dick, or the show you are watching doesn't align perfectly with what you believe? And I find people who get overly hung up on how good and virtuous they are for their media consumption tend to be compensating for a lack, or at best a deep insecurity, about how they comport themselves in their real life.

so anyway yeah if the cast actually is like "yes i see this as a decolonialist work" I am going to have Thoughts and Pretty Harsh Critiques but to grant the CR cast the benefit of the doubt here, I think it's just...a mythic, epic scale story that draws from interesting sources (creation myths, the idea of a world created as an envious reflection by a sealed hunger) and didn't come together very well. I cannot extend that same benefit of the doubt to those fans who have argued otherwise, however.

[swaps55]

Hi! I'm actually obsessed with Opus rn (like I'm daydreaming about it at work. You broke me). Anyways, I was wondering about your writing process for it! When did you first get the idea for it, and when did you start writing it? What does your revision process look like? Did you plan for it to be a full trilogy + more retelling or did it spiral out of Sonata? It's so amazing and I'm so happy that you're writing it :)

Talk about a dream question!!! I could go on about this for days.

Opus was directly inspired by @urrone, who back in 2019 had the lovely idea of creating a playlist and writing a short fic for each song. I'd been itching to get back into writing fanfic after a long hiatus, but hadn't found the right story to write. A songfic playlist suddenly gave me some direction. In the past I'd written a lot of short stories about a generic mshenko Shepard, and I knew certain things about how I saw that romance unfolding (such as them serving together before the Normandy), but I had never written anything consistent with a particular Shepard. So I figured I would try my hand at a short story collection tracing an mshenko relationship across the trilogy.

ONE work. Maybe 15 or so chapters, each one its own self-contained short. I still have the outline somewhere.

Now, let's be clear, this was never going to be how it actually worked in practice. This was a pipe dream. XD

As soon as I wrote the story that became the first chapter of Cantata I realized how much context I would need to set up their relationship before we ever got to the Normandy. I continued on in my delusion, however. ONE story. All 3 games plus the pre-trilogy roots. ONE.

Then I got stuck at Sharjila, and that's how Sonata, which was intended to be a silly one-shot diversion, happened. And once Sonata was written, it wasn't silly, and it wasn't a one-shot. But to fit it into my 'canon' relationship timeline, I'd have to change how I envisioned what I was doing. Sonata was a novel. So the other stories in it would have to be, too.

Each one has had a slightly different writing process. Sonata was chaos to write. I wrote an entire 30k word draft that I threw in the trash. (I was so rusty and had let some bad habits and lazy storytelling get in my way.) I wrote it out of order. I had no idea where the story was going or what I was doing. I figuratively closed my eyes and just let it come out on the page. It was a possession, from start to finish. It was 100% pantsed.

Instead of going back to what was now Cantata (which was also a mess, thanks to all the aforementioned rust), I rode my momentum into Fugue. But it was so brutal, and I knew I was eventually going to hit a point where everything that had happened on the 'Yang was going to become very important to Kaidan. At this point in time NO one but me knew who Pendergrass, Aslany, Beaudoin, and Captain Oseguera were, aside from a couple of references in Sonata. But for Fugue to work, people needed to care about what had happened before ME1, and miss those characters. So I put Fugue on the shelf to let myself recover, and went back to Cantata.

Cantata is closer to my original idea than the rest of Opus - it is a series of interconnected short stories. Each one tells a pretty complete story that stands on its own, but together they all create a bigger whole. While I had a rough idea of what I wanted to achieve with each story/chapter, I had no idea how I was going to do it until I started writing it. My 'outline' for Fall From Your Ladder says, "N5 training is a bitch. Fuck Benning," with no further notes.

Cantata was a joy to write. I miss writing it more than any other story. Even when it was hard (looking at YOU, scene transitions in Facing Giants), it was fun.

I think once Cantata was finished I was still scared of Fugue, so I did a quick detour to Concerto, which was a wholly different writing experience because I was adapting something I had already written, an ME1 novelization called Exordium, to tailor it for Sam. I only took on the Virmire piece of it, because it felt important. I have had no interest in writing a different take on ME1 from what I'd already done, because I love what I did. Someday I might do the rest of it, and make Concerto a larger story. But the bite-sized challenge of identifying what worked for Sam, what didn't, what needed to be added and what needed to be dropped or modified was a lot of fun.

Fugue was work. The first half before I took the break was still mostly pantsing: having a vague idea of what I wanted to accomplish and figuring out how as I went. The second half was...whew. In addition to managing Kaidan's grief and making his journey through it feel authentic, I had to start setting a chess board for a re-wired ME3 ending that I've been pondering for over a decade. I had to get more organized than I usually do when I write. I didn't do detailed outlines, but I did write thought dumps so I could think my way through all the different threads and how they needed to connect. Fugue was emotionally and technically VERY complex, and I did a lot of agonizing over each piece of it. The Weight of Everything and Remember We Flew were two of the most complicated and difficult chapters I have ever pieced together.

And now we're at Mezzo. Mezzo has been a different kind of hard for personal reasons. I'm burned out on a lot of fronts, so writing just isn't the sanctuary I can retreat to like it has been. My commitment to it is unwavering, but it just hasn't gone as smoothly or quickly as I would like. It doesn't help that ME2 is a disaster of a narrative - it's like a 24 episode TV season with monster of the week episodes peppered with the occasional overarching plot, which is great for a TV series but terrible for a novel format. Too many characters, too many disconnected plot lines, and a thin central narrative that ultimately has little impact on the overall trilogy. It's a great game, but it's a nightmare to turn into a conventional narrative.

It's also a very different experience writing through on-screen game events. I don't like regurgitating what readers already know, so when I need to do it, I try to find a different angle or perspective that gives you something new to chew on. My main approach has been to more or less let the plot and game events happen in the background wherever I can. If I don't have anything meaningful to add or change, there's no reason to put them in present action, so they happen off screen (like Freedom's Progress). The beauty of fanfic is that I can do that, because I know the reader already has the information I am leaving out.

Another tricky thing about Mezzo is telling a story that centers on someone's downward trauma spiral without access to their POV. Every time the story has gotten stuck, it's been because I have forced the POV character to fixate on Sam rather than let them be the hero of their own story. When I go back and instead let the POV character put themselves first, Sam does what the story needs him to do in the periphery, and the writing imitates what's happening to Sam: he is spiraling out of control and people aren't seeing it. But the reader does. :)

I could say so much more, but this is SO long and you deserve a cookie if you have read this far. Thank you so much for asking!!

[emmitaaa4]

Addressing some fandom BS inconsistencies

Gwyn was shadow mommy, Az was shadow daddy, they were gonna have shadow babies with her extra super pliable bones.

I audibly chocked when I read this @nikethestatue (btw everything said in this post was on point). No but seriously this is how they sound, too many of them insisting that there is nothing wrong with basing the likelihood of a ship on who has the more suitable uterus to be with a man... cause supposedly they're just picking up on the hints SJM wrote for them? She likes babies for HEAs so ofc children are the end all be all of a relationship, plus there's absolutely no way that she could ever write an adoption plot SJM is literally adopted and has done it in other series. Selective reading strikes again.

A minimum amount of critical thinking would tell you that 1) the infamous *magical uterus change* scene was about nessian (& feysand), not about any ship; 2) if SJM had written Nesta changing Elain's uterus, it would have given too much away, not to mention 3) how disturbing/violating it would have been for Nesta to change her sister's reproductive anatomy WITHOUT HER CONSENT?! None of it makes sense narratively; my girl Nes would never, especially given the trauma they both suffered from having their bodily autonomy--and so much more--ripped away by the Cauldron.

This argument is so trivialized that I see it every other day on reddit/tiktok/*insert media app*, and yet elriels are the toxic side of the fandom? The ones whom people are allowed to insult, to ridicule for theories all made in good fun, the women that are villainized over a difference of opinion? Don't get me wrong, there's assholes on both sides and people keep calling one another variations of delulu (and the nastier personal attacks). But by painting this fandom-wide villain there is such a lack of accountability for the plethora of harmful talking points spread by other portions of the fandom. (I've been silently reading the anti-elain & anti-elriel tags for like a year, and I'm on tiktok. Yes, I have self-destructive tendencies).

Anyways.

I never understood either how people ever actually thought (or well still think) that gwynriel would happen BEFORE elucien?? It makes no sense logically, narratively, or in terms of characterization & the arc she's set up for Elain, Azriel, and Lucien. Yet it took one controversial bonus chapter for people to decenter Elain in her own story, that is make her choice of romantic partner--which SJM spent 3+ books setting up--Azriel's. It took one bonus chapter that soo many readers are still unaware of, to brush Elain off as a "sexual object" Az is using to distract himself until his therapist-extraordinaire Gwyn comes in and heals him all up. Because ofc she will: she's badass and not the "passive and weak and boring" Eplain (aka "Plant" or "brain dead gardener"), she fits the YA archetype of the spunky warrior-girl so she can handle his darkness, and SJM supposedly spent time fleshing her out because she wrote her as a LI for Azriel; she's made for him, she is what he needs to grow (I actually enjoyed Gwyn's character btw, just pointing out how silly it all sounds). “Next book is a love triangle between Elain/Az/Gwyn” “Elain will turn evil or is secretly evil”. So you're telling me that SJM would pit Elain & Gwyn against each other in a love triangle over a man... all because of a necklace that was not even mentioned once in the actual books? Please, let's be logical for a second.

All this because instead of reading the bonus chapter in the context of the books, some people are reading the books in the context of the bonus chapter. Which now that I think of it is probably why so many people mischaracterize Az the way they do--because yes we know enough of his character to know half of the stuff the fandom diagnoses him with is questionable. Azriel? Entitled incel x fuckboy hybrid (gotta be the first of his kind, minute slay ig)? Interesting tell me more. No joke I saw a semi-popular post on here where a gwynriel said they read the bonus WITHOUT HAVING READ ANY OF THE BOOKS. I'm sorry, ship wars are silly and believe it or not idc who ppl ship, but it makes it hard to take some of the things they say seriously.

All this to say that the fandom isn't even debating the right thing. If you consider everything SJM has said in her interviews:

(she's been planting seeds for Nesta & Elain's book since acomaf; she knows who she is writing the first 2 books about + is keeping things open for the 3rd one--with 5 different ship options--which automatically rules out "Elain will close the series"; she said she's doing research for Elain's book in the ACOFAS bonus & there's seeds for future bookS in acofas; all she said recently about her beloved *heroines* and the themes of fate/true love/choice she finds *very* interesting & wants to discuss)

and if you also consider all she's written in the actual books (elain's characterization + the overarching plot in general & how she fits into it), then it's pretty evident that Elain's book is next.

The question then would be who is the MMC / 2nd PoV in her book, aka would acotar 5 be an elucien or an elriel story? Because logically, gwynriel was always a consequence of elucien. I honestly do not understand how people don't see that.

Oh and they always think they're gagging elriels with the "obviously Azriel is the next MC" as if elriels aren't saying the same thing? And we're the ones twisting info and not making sense. It's just funny at this point.

---sidenote: I realize that this post generalizes some things, and I just wanted to say that I have interacted with lovely eluciens / people on either side of this headache of a ship war. My hard limit is Elain haters though... back off I say 🤺 BACK OFF 🤺

---sidenote 2: I would have written this as a reblog except im not entirely sure how tumblr works and I get no visibility from them rip.