#the weird plot did distract me from. Whatever This Is but now im focusing on it again and im dying

[xxplastic-cubexx]

im forcing you all to look shady-car-salesman erik

[What If Magneto Had Formed The X-Men With Professor X?]

[calpalsworld]

Not "autistic anon," but also autistic, (being called maybe ableist made me want to put this out there before go to bed) i thought Zane was depicted that way purposefully by the writers. He has stereotypical traits like taking things literally, and has an actual humor switch. The writers have done things with Zane before like have him lose bodily autonomy (during that one Wu's teas short) and did something with his voice be it making him unable to be understood or talking too loud and the forced pirate voice by Jay. (what you're doing isn't too different from that, right?) I thought it was just a little iffy to distort his body and memory bc that could be interpreted as something not that I'm sure what exactly, it's some kind of disability. I dunno. I'm not good with putting this to words. I hope this makes sense.

Sorry I went to bed but now I’m awake 😭

Also I ended up totally spilling all my thoughts here rather than only specifically replying to you please forgive me context: my scary zane concept design, & my ninjago rewrite i refer to a lot 

Im a little confused but I think I get what you're saying? You're saying the Ninjago writers absolutely DON'T write Zane well (you listed examples of this) and you don't want me to fall into the same trap?

I had the opposite logic earlier. I thought: If Ninjago writers made Zane have stereotypical autisitic traits while also being a dehumanized robot, I may as well embrace it, say he is autistic blatantly, while also making him do funny/cool non-human robot things, so its clear as possible the two aspects of his character are literal and separate and not a metaphor for each other. But you're right! I do have a choice and I dont have to embrace things! :)

Like there were a couple ways I was gonna reject the original, for example, I never wanted Zane to have a funny switch, and I hated how other characters could fuck with Zane and he didn't even care 😬. I want to change that stuff. So youre right, if I am changing shit like that, it would be counterproductive for ME to GIVE him MORE traits along that theme. 😬😬😬 I should try to feel less obligated to portray Zane like he originally is. I still like the concept of "scary zane" (for reasons i explain below the cut) but I might tone it down a bit like with the claws and weird proportions and shit. I’d def make him look more skeletal and undead. That was my original intention, but i didnt execute it as good as I could have.... idk if anyone could tell thats what he was supposed to be like...my bad! But rn I dont wanna redesign him I wanna draw other stuff like normal alive Zane. Sorry LMAO 😳. Like I said in some earlier asks I think, I think Im gonna focus rn on how I should portray season 1 normal not dead Zane so thank you and feel free to share any other Zane thoughts ^_^ SOME OTHER THOUGHTS:

Also I Wanna Argue Some Stuff But I Understand its a Weak Argument Since All of This Context was Just In My Brain (so don't take this as an argument, just as me rambling): I don't want messed up things to happen to Zane and for it to just be ignored. I think if Zane is going to have fucked up things happen to him, as all characters must, its best for it to happen during a season where he actually addresses his feelings about being a robot (learning to accept that he will always be himself, regardless if hes "human" or the "original" or whatever. (thats how I always interpreted his emotions)). But I wouldn't have the other Ninja be very phased by Zane's looks because the whole point is they already love who he is (seasons 1-3 were about getting to know Zane) and now Zane himself just has to learn the physical, robot part of him is okay. Its about person-hood rather than humanity. Because the season focuses around Zane's soul, and because he lost his original body, I feel like I could mess around with his current, temporary body and have fun and make it scary. Because that body should be irrelevant. I understand it possibly being upsetting for an autistic character to be designed like this, but other people I talked to see it the opposite way. They find it comforting for him to look so different but still be himself and be so loved. SO IM ABSOLUTELY NOT saying its wrong to be bothered or to hate it or to feel any way. Just that I personally think it would be cool for Zane to be portrayed with a little spice lol, so thats why I like scary Zane for season 4.

Another Thing I Wannna Say But Is REALLY Hypocritical: (this isnt directed at anyone I just REALLY want to say this) I know I say "this is Zane but scary, he looks like fnaf" so he's obviously dehumanized, but I always felt like "scary" is more of an objective fact. Its an instinct. But what's "not human" is subjective. I think there is a problem with saying anything different from "average" human is dehumanized because that could extend to real people. Lol I know its bad for me to compare FNAF-ass Zane to real people, but I mean he could be real. People can have exposed teeth, and people can be shaped weird. And when someone first sees a person who looks like that they'll probably think "woah those features are scary" by instinct. And that surprise doesn't make someone ableist obviously. But bring that person’s humanity into question is NOT an instinct, and is fucked to shit. This is kinda a bad point for me to make since its about the fictional FNAF Zane I drew, and I am NOT implying ANYONE was thinking like this. [especially not the original asker anon who I am totally forgetting about at this point OOPS]. But I just thought it was an opinion of mine I couldn't go without mentioning when talking about dehumanization and disabilities.

^^^ I think you (anon) understand what I mean and might’ve said the exact same thing as me if you were writing a long ass response? I think this because you started to bring physical disabilities up and you said it was "a little iffy." ^_^ So we agree, but I don't see Zane's relation to real life disabilities as "a little iffy" I see it more like "complicated"? IF THAT DIFFERENCE EVEN MAKES ANY SENSE?????? I feel like a lot of things about Zane are really just complicated and need the right context, rather than the concepts necessarily being wrong -- NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT! THATS THE WHOLE REASON I DO THIS STUPID REWRITE! XD thats why a lot of my rewrite SO FAR has been the same concepts and plot beats, but different dialogue n specifics and such. I like a lot of concepts in Ninjago but I dont think they were presented correctly.....! :( So I guess all we can do is wait and see if I make Zane offensive or not....???

Also something about the memory part - yeah i agree i was surprised no one thought that was weird to make jokes out of his memory issues..... BUT I am like 100% firm on making his memory take longer to come back because I think its stupid how quick Zane was able to recover from literally dying. Like its just dumb to me. Hate it. (also bc memory & soul mechanics is ummm kinda important in my rewrite.... for reasons). Another memory thing btw, I was going to make his original amnesia come from hitting his head in an attack against the Skulkin when they stole his dads corpse, rather than his dad fucking choosing to make him forget. (its a sweet & iconic scene, but Um, WHY?!!!?!?!?!?) He has to follow data recovery instructions he finds in his dads diary. I think in that context it makes moments of memory loss somewhat different for Zane's character? Instead of loss of autonomy associated with disability, its a literal violent loss of autonomy associated with being traumatized by physical force. Idk how to phrase it exactly but I think that makes some vibes different?

Sorry, I think I got really distracted, and I don't know if I responded well to your points. Because uhhhh I think I agree with your stance actually? If I understand correctly? Fuck Ninjago writers for making the robot lose autonomy (a stereotypical robot theme) while also making him seem clearly autistic (NOT A HAPPY THEME FOR AUTISTIC PEOPLE) and not addressing it. And also auuugh Zane with a weird body is a difficult topic - kinda sussy pretty iffy.

Lol anyway idk if this made any sense and I REALLY rambled on you. but this was nice 👉👈 more Zane criticism pls love you and i love zane. i hope u dont feel mad at me because then it would be weird that im saying that lol. if you do feel mad at me tho you can send another ask (ILL TRY TO JUST LISTEN NOT RAMBLE NEXT TIME) but assuming ur chill rn, love you thnx

Take this page, don’t mind cole’s ass.

[ambootyos]

Deception Pt. 1

Is There A Rule Book?

Adam x Reader x Finn

Plot-No strings attached always gets messy when new people get involved

Tags- @reigns420 @glittercupcakes-and-squats @capwasright @originalbish98

If you wanna be tagged, ask.

Warnings- language and sexual themes

A/N: I’m back! *return of the Mack plays*

“Y/N, come on. It’s been three years, if he’s not calling you his girlfriend by now, he’s never gonna.” Kyle sighs, Bobby nodding silently in agreement.

Roderick cocks his head.

“This is why you should’ve just hooked up with me, I’d have married you by now.” He teases.

I love these guys, I truly do, but they never could understand that my ‘love life’ was my concern, and my concern only.

“It’s called a fling for a reason.” I reply, trying once again to steer them straight and make it very clear that it’s not up for discussion.

“For three years?” Bobby judges. “Three years is not a fling.”

“I know this is Adam we’re talking about, but at some point you guys are just gonna have to use the word ‘dating’ and get the fuck over yourselves.” Kyle chuckles.

That’s the thing, did he know who we were talking about? Did he truly understand it? Adam wasn’t exactly who I saw fathering my future children. He was hot, and we’d known each other for a long time. It was exactly what we needed it to be.

“Can you guys just stay out of it? Like for once?” I huff.

Kyle rolled his eyes, and Bobby shrugged me off. Roderick never really gave a shit, and was more or less just talking about it to get under my skin, so his reaction was a sly smirk of satisfaction.

“Let’s just, talk about work, mkay?” I suggest, rubbing my forehead.

“So Finn being back is odd, right?” Roderick states.

The group nods in agreement.

“I’m glad to have him, but yes, it’s odd to see him in our neck of the woods.” Bobby replies.

Finn was a nice change of scenery in my opinion. New competition, new storylines to be had, etc. However, Finn was different. We’d never really interacted. Not personally. Sure he’d had his moments with Adam, or with the other Undisputed Era guys, but I didn’t play any part in that. I didn’t know Finn from atom, and it wasn’t like he was dying to meet me either, so I just thought it best to steer clear.

“Y/N, what do you think?” Kyle asks pulling me from thought.

“I think he’s good for the brand.” I shrug, nothing else to say but that.

We carried on without conversation a while longer before they left to do media, or whatever else. Adam was busy resting up from the long week he’d had that ended at Survivor Series, which left me as a party of one, to drink alone at the bar for who could say how long.

“Well, it’s good ‘ta see a familiar face.”

I heard a voice I recognized say I glanced over to see the talk of the brand himself, Finn Balor, sitting not too far away from me. I smiled, and took his hello as an invitation to sit next to him, though maybe it wasn’t, because he seemed confused by it. He didn’t say anything about it though so it didn’t bother him too much.

“Y/N, right?” He asks, his face expressionless.

I nod.

“Yep, that’s me.” I shrug in response, before sitting my drink and phone on the bar close to his.

“How’s ‘ya boyfriend? He ‘ad a pretty rough week.”

It takes me a few seconds to realize he means Adam, and I breathe a laugh, it seems I can’t escape the assumption me and Adam are more than what we say we are.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I explain, ignoring the question. He cocks his brow.

“Oh?” He starts. “So ‘yer single ‘ven?” He asks.

I clear my throat, and tuck my hair behind my ear.

“Well..not exactly..we have a thing..we’re just not exclusive.”

He tilts his head, and gives me a cocky smirk, that tells me he either doesn’t believe me when I say we aren’t ‘exclusive’ or that he wouldn’t care if we were.

“So..single.” He states, not asking me this time, just declaring it to see if I’ll argue. I don’t. I am technically single. Though, I didn’t really want another fling with someone else either. I didn’t want my workplace getting too complicated.

“So, Adam, hm?” He chuckles.

“What’s funny?”

He shrugs.

“I coulda seen ‘ya dating ‘im. But, he doesn’t seem fuck buddy material.”

I can’t help but chuckle.

“And, why is that?”

“I dunno. He seems too..childish? Like I can’t imagine ‘im being any fun in bed. He seems too focused on making ‘imself look good.”

“He’s plenty fun.”

“Plenty?” He questions. “Are ‘ya suggesting there’s more fun ‘ta be ‘ad?”

I clear my throat and roll my eyes.

“Why? You have someone in mind?” I mock.

His smirk grows, and he looks me up and down, before biting his bottom lip.

“I might.” He flirts.

I feel heat creep up my face onto my cheeks, and I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Um..oh..I didn’t realize you wanted-”

He cuts me off.

“I said, might. I gotta know ‘wha ‘yer up for first.” He teases. “So, if ‘ya are interested,” He starts, before scribbling something on a piece of paper, and sliding it to me. “‘Dat’s my ‘numba.”

“Putting it off for another time?” I question, puzzled as to why he only made an agreement to make a move in the future and not just doing it now. He chuckled, and gave me a look that almost felt like a judgement.

“Darling, ‘ya aren’t ready ‘fer ‘wha I can do ‘ta you.” He winked, before taking his leave.

I cleared my throat and swallowed. I felt a strange sense of anxiety walking hand in hand with excitement. I didn’t know what to think about Finn’s offer outta nowhere. It was tempting. But would it be okay?

I know it’s not cheating. But, is it still wrong? Adam is my friend, and even if this is just sex is it wrong to have sex with someone else we work with? Isn’t it at least weird?

Who could I even talk to about this? Roderick never had solid advice, and certainly not Kyle or Bobby. They’d act like my cocerns for what might be considered an ‘unspoken rule’ is just repressed feelings for Adam. Or, they’d get mad at me for asking them because they-for some dumbass reason-probably think it’d hurt Adam’s feelings.

Would it?

It’s not like he and Finn were besties, but they didn’t hate each other. Was there any clear reason he’d be upset? One that doesn’t exist only in Kyle’s head, of course.

I pushed it from my mind for the time being. I decided it was best to just go to my hotel and sleep away the thoughts I had.

I didn’t hear from the guys again that night, so I was able to sleep peacefully, though, Finn’s smirk when he said I wasn’t ready, was still fresh in memory.

---

The next day, I sped through my morning routine. Shower, hair up in a bun, little to no makeup, jeans and a t-shirt, and out the door to meet my friends at the arena.

Adam seemed to be in a better mood now that he’d had some, even if it was just a few days of it, healing time.

He smiled when he saw me.

“Good to see you’re alive, since you didn’t answer any of my texts last night.” He teased.

“Well Adam, to be fair, you can only answer that ‘u up?’ text so many times before it gets old.” Roderick chuckles earning an eye roll from Adam.

I cock my brow.

“You didn’t text me..” I trail off.

“Yeah I did! Like twenty times!”

I take my phone out of my pocket and realize it isn’t mine, meaning it must be Finn’s.

“Shit! I grabbed the wrong phone at the bar last night.” I facepalm. “Excuse me.” I walk out of ear shot almost like I have to hide who’s phone it is. I call my own number, only to hear it ring from down the hall.

Finn, shows me that he has it with a goofy smile on his face as he hands it back to me.

“For a not-boyfriend, pretty boy seems ‘ta blow ‘yer phone up a lot.” He says, not giving me a chance to grab my phone myself as he slides it into the back pocket of my jeans, letting his hand linger, for a second longer than he should.

My back stiffens, and he cocks his head, and hums like he’s making an assumption.

“Still not ready ‘fer me.” He shrugs. “Dat’s okay. I can wait..” He flirts.

I feel like he’s challenging me in a way, and it makes me wanna prove him wrong. He goes to take his phone and I pull it back causing him to raise his brows, and await what I’m gonna do next. I grab his belt loop and pull him closer, before using my other hand to put his phone in the waistline of the front of his jeans, and smiling up at him.

“Don’t wait too long.” I wink, causing him to bite his lip. I give him a devilish grin before walking away. Back to my friends. I feel the blush creep onto my cheeks, as my thoughts tell me I should’ve kissed him, or let my hands travel even further.

The guys are talking about something, I’m paying no mind to.

“This is what happens when you don’t answer your phone!” Roderick teases, pulling me into the conversation I was too distracted to of heard any of. Now I feel guilty for being elsewhere, like I’ve let Finn overshadow my friends, overshadow Adam.

“Huh?” I question, hoping they’ll repeat it without asking me what my thoughts were consumed with seconds earlier.

“He hooked up.” Kyle states rolling his eyes.

“Oh!” I reply, a little surprised by it.

Don’t get me wrong, Adam was allowed to fuck whoever he wanted, but since me and him started sleeping together, we barely slept around at all.

“I didn’t know you weren’t getting my texts or I would’ve just went and saw you. I thought you were asleep.” He explains, like he needs to justify it.

Kyle clears his throat.

“Why would she care? She’s not your girlfriend.” He says, waiting for my reaction.

I roll my eyes at him, something Adam doesn’t see because Kyle never bothers him with his ‘big brother bullshit’ talk.

“I didn’t think she’d care. But it would’ve been easier to see her, so I’m just trying to give her shit for grabbing someone else’s phone.” He laughs.

Like I assumed. We were nothing. So why the hell was I so worried about Finn? There aren’t any rules if you’re nothing but friends.

Kyle still has an ‘I told you so’ aura wrapped around him. Gosh, I just wanna fucking scream at him I was with someone else too.

“Sorry! I was busy, stealing some hot guys phone by accident.” I say, pretending to be embarrassed.

“Ooh, phone guy is hot?” Adam chuckles, while Kyle furrows his brows, still unconvinced as if he ever would be anyway. I shrug with a smile.

“Devilishly.”

[jilyss]

what happens in greece shouldn’t stay in greece

my take on “2 people I know who broke up years ago are on separate romantic vacations w their partners iN THE SAME GREEK TOWN and Im just sitting here watching it unfold on ig, where they have each other blocked. ”

read on Ao3

Lily stretched out onto the warm sand, letting it settle around her fingers and toes. Sighing happily, she shifted so that her head was resting on her boyfriend Blake’s stomach. His fingers moved to play lazily with her red hair tied back in a messy bun, and she closed her eyes, letting the sun coat her skin. 

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Blake murmured, and she could feel the rumble in his stomach as he spoke. They were on a vacation in Lindos, Greece, a small town on the coast. While it was still a touristy town, it was relatively quiet compared to the busy city of Athens they had visited yesterday. At the moment, there were only a few families and couples scattered along the beach, splashing in the water and enjoying the sun.  

“The best place I’ve ever visited,” Lily replied, falling into a peaceful quiet. But within a few minutes, she was already hot, feeling a light sheen of sweat break out on her skin. Sitting up, she pulled off her shirt, revealing a yellow bikini. “Do you want to go in the water? I’m a little hot.”

Blake shook his head, reaching for his phone. “I’m good. Maybe in a minute?”

Lily nodded, shifting again so that she was lying sprawled out next to him, and forced herself to relax in the sun.

XXX

Marlene was sitting next to her roommate Dorcas, watching the newest episode of the Bachelor, and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when she saw Blake’s newest post of his and Lily’s Greece trip. She double tapped it, not thinking much about it since Lily had sent her a nearly identical picture a few hours ago to prove they were still alive. 

She tossed the phone onto the couch and stood up. “Lily seems like she really likes Blake,” she called as she opened the fridge. “Think they’re gonna move into together after their trip?”

Dorcas shook her head. “No way. I mean, she might be ready, but I don’t think Blake is the type to commit this soon. How long have they been dating?” 

“I think they took this trip because it’s been a year. I don’t think that was the ‘official’ reason or whatever, but yeah, it’s been a year.”

“Hmm,” Dorcas said, eyes focused back on the tv. “I hope Lily isn’t expecting anything.”

Marlene closed the fridge, holding a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Sitting down next to Dorcas, she propped her legs up and pulled out her phone again. “I don’t think so. She’s been warier this time around than with her other boyfriends. She always goes into everything headstrong, you know? Loves first and asks questions later? I think she’s trying to take it slower with Blake.”

Dorcas nodded, tucking her legs underneath her. “Hopefully Blake sticks. I mean, he’s a little arrogant sometimes, but I think he’s been my favorite so far, besides James, I mean.”

Marlene snorted. “Just don’t tell Lily that. She’ll blow your head off.” Dorcas grinned. Marlene went back to scrolling through Instagram, bored. 

As Dorcas reached for the chip bag next to Marlene, Marlene suddenly sat straight up, eyes wide and staring at her screen. 

“Wha - Mar, what’s wrong?” Dorcas said, tugging at the chip bag. “Let me have some chips - “

“It’s not that,” Marlene said, waving her free hand frantically. “Look at this.” She shoved the phone into Dorcas’s face. It showed a picture of James and his friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, snorkeling just off the coast of a beach. Dorcas’s eyes flicked up to the location at the top of the picture. Lindos, Greece. Her eyes narrowed. 

“Isn’t that where -”

“Yes! Lily and James are in the same town.” Marlene bolted out of her chair, pacing anxiously around the room. “And I’m pretty sure James still has her blocked on Instagram, and Lily barely checks anyway. Dor, do you know what this means?”

Dorcas rolled her eyes. “So what? The probability that they run into each other is super low, and even if they do, it’s going to end up in a big fight, just like every other time they’ve seen each other since.”

Marlene’s eyes flashed excitedly. “I’m calling Sirius, right now.”

Now Dorcas jumped up, reaching out to grab the phone from Marlene’s hand. “Marlene! You can’t just -”

Marlene jumped out of Dorcas’ reach, standing on the couch. Dorcas followed her, and practically leapt on top of her, laughing as she pulled her down and wrestled the phone out of her hand. 

Holding it above her head, Dorcas used her other hand to push Marlene away. “If we interfere now, it’ll throw both of them into a nervous wreck and ruin their vacations.” Marlene lunged at Dorcas, who stepped neatly away, grinning. “It’ll be much better if we let them just find each other. It’s a small town, there’s a good chance they will run into each other at the beach already.”

Marlene stepped back, eyes widening as she understood Dorcas’ plot. “What happens if they don’t run into each other?” 

Dorcas shrugged. “If they’re meant to be, they’ll run into together sooner than later.”

Marlene snatched her phone back and sat down heavily on the couch. “Fine, I won’t call Sirius. But, if Lily hasn’t seen him by her last day, I’m calling him.”

Dorcas shoved her legs off the couch so that she could sit down. “Deal.” 

XXX

At exactly 8:00 am, Remus’ alarm went off and four men collectively groaned. James, who was sleeping closest to alarm, tapped at the phone’s screen aggressively until he hit the snooze button. No one moved otherwise until it went off a few minutes later, and Remus finally sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “We gotta get going if we want to make it anywhere before all the tourists get there.” When no one moved, he pulled the covers off of Peter, who he was sharing the bed with, who instantly groaned and curled into a ball. 

Remus shuffled out of bed and pulled the covers off of James and Sirius, who reacted similarly. They had been out late the night before, at a local bar and had had one too many drinks, but Remus was determined to make the most of their vacation, so despite his hangover, he was getting up. 

Their Airbnb room was already littered with various clean and dirty clothing items, and when James finally got up, he had to sort through until he found a clean outfit. Head pounding, he got dressed and wishing that he hadn’t gotten so crazy last night. He hadn’t meant to drink as much as he did, but it had been a long time since he had gotten that wasted that he had let himself get carried away. By the time he was finally dressed, Sirius was still in bed. James chucked a pillow at him, and when Sirius didn’t even flinch, jumped on top of him. 

“James - urgh!”

A few minutes later, Remus was pushing everyone out the door, ready for another day in Greece. 

XXX

“Hey babe, look at this,” Blake said, grabbing Lily’s hand, and pulling her over to a vendor’s stall filled with tea bags and glowing candles. Instantly, she broke out into a huge smile. She had always loved candles, especially the smell just after lighting them. 

Lily let her fingers slip from Blake’s to pick up the one closest to her, taking a deep breath of the lemon lavender candle. She spun around, intending to show Blake when she thought she saw a figure pass by in the corner of her eye. Confused at the familiarity of the figure, she tried to step out of the vendor’s stall to get a better view of the person, but Blake stepped in her way, handing her another candle. 

Shaking her head, Lily focused back on Blake. She had to have been seeing things - the chances of seeing him in Greece, were impossible, and it had to have been someone who had a similar body type. 

“You want to get anything?” Blake asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Lily shook her head, still distracted. 

“I’ve got plenty already. Do you want to go get lunch soon? I’m starving.”

XXX

Later that afternoon, Lily had almost completely forgotten that she had seen her ex-boyfriend’s lookalike in Greece. But not quite. Every dark-haired stranger that was taller than her caught her eye for the rest of the day, but finally, after dinner when they had wandered down to the beach to watch the sunset, she managed to forget about it as she stepped side by side with Blake. 

They had just sat down on a pier bench, with a view of the boardwalk and the beach in front of them, when Blake cleared his throat. “Can we talk for a minute?” 

Lily gave him a questioning look, suddenly nervous. “Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

Blake glanced at his hands, which were twisting in his lap and cleared his throat again. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking… about us.” Lily’s heart rate skyrocketed, and she couldn’t breathe. Blake reached into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box, but didn’t open it. “A lot of people wanted me to propose on this trip. But you - I don’t think we’re ready for that yet.” He laughed lightly. “But I am ready to make a promise and move in together. I love you, and I know it’s cheesy or whatever - but I know how I feel about you, and I know where I want us to end up.” 

Lily gasped as he opened the velvet box to reveal a small diamond encased in a silver ring. He held the ring out to her, and Lily took a deep breath. 

Unbidended, a memory of the man she thought she had seen earlier popped back into her head. Late one night, she and the man she had been almost positive she was going to marry, had snuck to the top of a building and stayed until the sun had gone down. Wrapped in a blanket together, and laughing together was the happiest Lily had ever felt. 

“Lily?” Blake’s voice brought her back to the present, and she rapidly blinked away the image of James’ unruly black hair and sparkling eyes. “Are you ok?”

Lily smiled, trying to shake off the weird feeling surrounding her. “Yeah, you just surprised me.” She took Blake’s free hand and squeezed it tightly. “I think a promise ring is a great idea. Um…” 

He raised an eyebrow as she trailed off. “Is something wrong?” 

Lily bit her lip, glancing up at him. “I don’t want to put the ring on my ring finger if that’s alright with you? You know how my friends are, and I still want to take this slow so -”

“Oh yeah, of course. I wouldn’t expect you to.” Blake grabbed her right hand and put the ring on her ring finger. “We’re taking it slow, I know.” 

Lily pulled him in for a kiss, taking her time to show him how much she appreciated the gesture. The longer kiss was definitely not because she had thought of her ex-boyfriend when she thought her current boyfriend was proposing and she felt guilty. 

XXX

Earlier that afternoon, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had rented bikes to go up and down the boardwalk as the sun had gone down. The cool air from the ocean mixing with the heat of the day had made everything seem calm and peaceful amongst an orange sky. Letting the wind push their backs, they took their time biking home. 

XXX

Blake stood up, grabbing Lily’s hand. “Let’s go back to the hotel?” He whispered in her ear, sending goosebumps down her arm. Lily nodded, laying her head on his shoulder as they began the walk back. His fingers wandered down her back, and although at any other time Lily would have loved the attention, tonight, she couldn’t stop comparing Blake with James, and she hated herself for it. The unwanted memory that had popped up had brought emotions she had forgotten about to the surface, and the whole reason she was taking it so slow with Blake in the first place. Pushing the thoughts aside once again, she planted a kiss on Blake’s cheek. 

XXX

Sirius brought his bike to a screeching halt, nearly causing Remus to crash into him. As the rest of them stopped, he reached out with one hand to get James’ attention. “Is that Evans?”

“What?” Peter asked. “Are you out of your mind? We’re in Greece.”

“No, no - over there, by that bench. Is that Evans?”

James’ heart rate quickened, and his breath caught as he caught sight of Lily Evans. There was no doubt in his mind that that was her. Her red hair caught in the golden hour lighting, and her skirt swished around her long legs that he knew so well. Swallowing hard, he shook his head. “Nope, not her.” 

Sirius shot him a pained look. “That’s Evans.” He sat back on his bike and stood up to pedal. “I’m going to go say hi. Oi, Evans!”

“No, Sirius! No!” James called after him, grabbing onto the back of his shirt. “You can’t -”

But it was too late. Lily glanced over her shoulder and spotted the Sirius pedaling towards her, and the three men standing sheepishly behind him. 

“Sirius? What are you doing here?” Lily detached herself from Blake, only holding onto his hand now. As her eyes took in the four men that used to be her best friends, her heart twisted painfully in her chest. When James and Lily had first broken up, they had done their best to stay in touch, but it had gotten too hard for Lily to stay near James, and she had eventually stopped returning their calls. 

“I just couldn’t stay away, Evans,” Sirius smirked, stopping right next to them. He glanced over at Blake and stuck out his hand. “Sirius, Lily’s former friend.”

“I’m Blake, Lily’s boyfriend.” Blake tightened his grip on Lily’s hand, pulling her closer, but shook Sirius’ hand. 

James, Peter, and Remus made their way over, and each introduced themselves to Blake. “How’ve you been, Lily? We haven’t seen much of you lately,” Remus asked. 

“Good!” Lily said quickly, trying to break the awkward tension that hung around them. “I got a new job at Time, so I’m keeping busy.”

“What are you guys doing here?” Peter asked. 

James looked away from Blake and Lily, having not said much. They had broken up over a year ago, and he had gotten over her, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt that she had a boyfriend, and especially since he still couldn’t bring himself to date seriously. 

“Couple’s getaway,” Blake said, kissing her cheek and pulled her even closer. Lily tried to smile, but no longer felt comfortable with him in front of her former friends. “What about you?”

“Remus just finished up his medical school, and the rest of us decided to take a vacation before he went into residency,” Peter said.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Evans?” Sirius blurted out, eyeing Lily and Blake carefully.  

“Um, yeah sure.” Lily let go of Blake, sending him a quick smile, and followed Sirius a distance off to the side, leaving Blake with the three other men. 

“What’s up?” Lily said, folding her arms and watching Sirius carefully. Knowing him, she knew he wasn’t going to be gentle, so she prepared herself for whatever blunt fact he threw at her. Not being one to hold back, Sirius started talking immediately.

“What’s up with you and Blake? Are you guys engaged?” 

Lily shook her head, holding up her right hand. “Promised, I guess. As of today.”

“Hasn’t it been a year?” 

Lily frowned. “A year isn’t a very long time -”

“And yet when you were with James you were ready to say yes within a year. What’s the difference?”

Lily shrugged. “I guess I learned my lesson. I need more time.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “That’s bullshit, Lily, and you know it. What’s Blake holding out for?”

“It’s not him that holding out, it’s me,” Lily whispered, her eyes suddenly stinging. Sirius always had a way of making all her emotions come out at once with his honesty. “I’m just not ready for the next step.”

“You mean he’s not James?” 

Lily glared at him. “What are you trying to do Sirius? James and I broke up because James freaked out over marriage, and said he was never ready to get married and didn’t want any type of long term commitment.”

Sirius shrugged. “I’m not trying to do anything. All I know is that it’s been over a year, and James still barely smiles or goes on any dates. You got a boyfriend three months later, Marlene says you aren’t as happy as you were with James, and you don’t even talk to us anymore.”

Lily let a single tear slip out and brushed it away angrily. She looked over her shoulder, at James and Blake, standing side by side, talking politely. “You know I couldn’t hang out with you guys anymore because James is always there.”

Sirius was quiet for a minute. “Come back, Lily.”

“What?” Lily choked out, brushing back another tear. 

“Ditch Blake. You and James are meant to be.” 

Lily swallowed hard. “You’re talking for James? If he wants this, he should man up and come talk to me himself.”

“No, I’m not… he’s not - look all I’m saying is that-”

“I’m with Blake now,” Lily said firmly, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. “James and I are over. I’m not sure how we ended up here, at the same time, but I would really like to just… not see James again.”

Sirius shrugged, turning on his heel. “Fine.”

As they rejoined the group, Blake tucked Lily under his arm. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, all good,” Lily said, sneaking a glance at James, who was staring at the ground. She waved at Remus and Peter, both standing with their hands shoved in their pockets. “I’ll see you later, I guess.” 

They murmured their goodbyes, and then Lily and Blake walked quickly away. As they made their way to the hotel room, Lily checked her phone and saw that Marlene had called her. 

“Hey, Marly called, I’ll be right in,” She told Blake, and made her way down the elevator and into the hotel lobby before she called. 

“Hey Mar, did you call me?”

“Yeah, Sirius just called me. Said you might need some help. What’s up?” 

“Huh, that’s surprising coming from Sirius. Did he tell you what happened?” Lily collapsed heavily on a plush red chair. 

“That you saw each other on the boardwalk in Greece, but that was it.”

“He thinks I should get back together with James.”

“What?” Marlene shrieked so loudly that Lily had to pull the phone away from her ear. “James wants to get back together?”

“No, no. At least, I don’t think so. Did you tell Sirius that I’m not happy?”

The other end of the line was quiet. 

“Marlene.” 

“Ok, don’t get mad at me, but he called like two months ago? Just to catch up, you know, and I might have mentioned that you were happier with James than you are with Blake.”

Lily wanted to reach through the phone and strangle Marlene. “What does that even mean?” 

“It means that Blake is nice and all, but you and James… you guys were just meant for each other.”

Lily groaned, leaning back, and kicking her feet up on the coffee table. “I’m so confused Marlene.”

“Wait, you’re actually considering this?”

“No, yes, well, no, definitely not, but I thought I saw James earlier today, and then Blake gave me a promise ring, but there was this moment James popped into my head during that and I haven’t been able to shake it all day, and I love Blake and I don’t even know if James loves me anymore, and I can’t just leave Blake because he wants to get married and James doesn’t and -”

“Lily, Lily, Lily, can you please just calm down for a minute? “Look, James wasn’t ready back then. But maybe he is now. And I know you love Blake but are you completely over James? In my opinion - Look, you got together with Blake three months after you guys broke up. I don’t really think you were ever over James.”

“You’re just telling me this now?” Lily sighed. “So what do you think I should do?”

“Call James.” 

“Are you out of your mind? While I’m with Blake?”

“Lily, sometimes you are too good for your own good.” Lily could practically see Marlene’s face through the phone, exasperated and impressed. “You can explain to him later. But you never know what could happen. If anything, it will get you some closure.”

Lily sighed again, sweeping her fingers through her hair. “Fine. See you in a few days.”

After hanging up, she pulled up James’ contact information and set the phone on her lap. She sat staring at the phone for almost half an hour, tapping her finger on it occasionally as the screen went dark. Her brain was a jumbled mess. 

When she had first met Blake, it had been an accident. Marlene had invited Lily to a party but had left twenty minutes in, leaving Lily alone. Blake had taken pity on her and talked to her for most of the night, and before Lily really thought about it, they were dating. Thinking back, Lily wasn’t even sure that she had consciously made a decision to date him, it had just kind of… happened. Obviously, that wasn’t the start to a healthy relationship, but Lily, still in a James induced post-breakup fog, wasn’t thinking straight. 

The more Lily thought about it, she more she realized that she hadn’t been entirely truthful to Blake, not that she had even known. At the beginning of the relationship, she still loved James, and if she was completely honest with herself, she still did. 

Admitting that simple fact, that yes, Lily Evans, still loved James Potter, gave Lily more questions than answers. What if James didn’t love her anymore? Had he gotten over her? Was Sirius right? And if Marlene and Sirius were right about James being ready to move forward, what was Lily going to do about it?

Before Lily could do anything, Lily’s phone lit up with a text from Blake. 

wya?

A second later, her screen changed, indicating a call from James. Heart racing, Lily picked up the phone, at war with herself over what to do. Squeezing her eyes shut as if she could block out the ringing, Lily tapped the green button and pressed the phone to her ear.  

“Hello?” She said softly. 

“Hey,” James murmured. There was some shuffling on his end of the line, and then silence. “Um, Sirius said you needed to talk to me?”

“That bastard,” she swore, sitting back in the chair. 

James breathed heavily on the other side of the phone, and Lily could picture him running his hands through his hair in the angry way that he so often did. “So you didn’t need to talk to me?”

“Um, no. Yes - I mean, no, not really.”

James stayed silent on the other end, knowing that she needed a minute before she could speak. 

Lily bit her lip again, bouncing her knee up and down. “Sirius told me that you haven’t been yourself lately.”

James cursed bitterly again and Lily instantly felt bad. She hadn’t meant to start so abruptly, and that wasn’t she even wanted to talk about. “He said that? Things have just been really busy at work lately, and you know my parents are getting older. I guess I’m just a little stressed. I’m fine.”

Lily nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “That’s not what I wanted to talk about, actually.” She took a deep breath as if to say something, but couldn’t form the words of what she actually wanted to say. 

“Ok, I’m listening…”

“Do you still love me?” Lily cursed herself for starting so abruptly again, but kept talking anyway. “Don’t answer that. I mean, when I first started dating Blake, I still loved you. And seeing you today, and talking to Sirius, made me realize that… I might still love you.”

“Fuck Lily, I - you can’t just come out of left field and say that. You - We broke up over a year ago and I - you broke it off because I was scared, how are you still - why would you still love me?” Lily could hear James’ anger in his voice. “You wanted marriage, and I wasn’t ready for it, so you broke it off. And now you want it again?”

Lily’s throat clenched, and she swallowed tightly. “I don’t know what I want anymore.”

“Do you love Blake? He seems like a nice enough guy.”

“Yes,” Lily whispered.

“Then it seems like you have a problem.” James' voice was hard and cold. “I’m not your second option Lily, and you weren’t willing to just wait  -”

“What do you want now, James?” Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you still love me?” 

The question hung between them, fraught with tension and longing. It was silent on both ends, and Lily let out a silent, shaky, breath. 

“No. It’s too late. I - sorry.” 

Lily had to hold the phone away as she felt tears stream down her face. “Alright. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah. Bye.” James hung up, and Lily stifled a sob through her hand. The hotel receptionist sitting on the other side of the lobby cast her a sympathetic look, and Lily realized that she hadn’t exactly been quiet while talking to James. Wiping her eyes, she straightened out her shirt, stood up, and walked back to the hotel room. 

XXX

Lily was able to successfully avoid any questions about her phone call when she returned to Blake but spent the rest of the trip trying to stay as positive as she could. Two days after seeing James and Sirius, Lily and Blake were packing up to return home. 

As Lily haphazardly tucked the last of her swimsuits into her suitcase, Blake wrapped his arms around her from behind, lifting her off her feet for a second. Lily laughed, using one hand to push him off while she used the other to zip the suitcase. She turned around in his arms, giving him a quick kiss before dodging his next attempt.

Blake righted her suitcase, then turned around, folding his arms. “Is everything ok with you? You seem… off.”

Lily flashed a small smile. “I think I’m just a little jetlagged. It’s finally catching up to me.”

Blake raised his eyebrows. “C’mon Lily, I know you better than that. What’s really wrong? Is it the promise ring? Was it too fast? We can always -”

“No, no - I just - Seeing James here really surprised me. It kind of threw me for a loop for a minute.”

“Oh.” Blake took a step back, looking disappointed. “A lot of people told me that you weren’t over him yet when we started dating.” Lily’s eyes darted up to look at him. “I didn’t want to believe it because -”

“Blake.” Lily took a deep breath, stopping him before he could say anything else that hit too close to home. “Looking back on it, I don’t think I was a hundred percent over him before we started dating but I didn’t realize it at the time.”

“So… I’m a rebound?”

“No! I mean, no - I always wanted to be serious.”

Blake took in a big breath, leaning back against the wall behind him. “Were you only interested in me because I eventually wanted to get married? I mean that’s why you broke up with James, right? Because he didn’t want to get married?” Lily felt his eyes bore into her and she shut her eyes tightly. When she didn’t reply, he said quietly “Talk to me, Lily. Do you still love him?”

Lily’s chest felt like it had been wrenched open and her heart had been smashed to pieces. Because it was true. She was still in love with James, despite ignoring it for the better part of a year, and seeing him again had opened that hole in her heart once again. 

“Maybe we should just go home. I think we’re both a little jet-lagged -”

“Damn it, Lily, just tell me!”

Lily threw her hands into the air, shrugging. “I don’t know! I thought I was way past it, I was in love with you, and then I saw James and now…”

“You love James again.”

Lily stayed quiet while Blake moved to sit behind her on the bed. Voice cracking, Lily said, “Maybe we should take a break.”

“If you still love him… I think this is over, Lily.”

“No - Blake, I don’t - Give me a week, and I’ll-” Lily stopped herself. Looking at her current situation, Lily couldn’t see herself marrying Blake, and James wasn’t going to talk to her again. There was no way a ‘break’ could make any of this work out, and she needed to move on - from Blake and James - and accept it. “I’m sorry,” she choked out, tucking a strand of loose hair back. 

“Me too,” Blake said quietly. “Was any of it even real for you? Or did I just waste a year of my life?”

“It was real, all of it.” Lily smiled through her tears, standing up and giving him a hug. “I’m sorry it ended here.”

Blake broke the hug rather abruptly, brushing a tear back himself. “I’ll uh… catch the first flight back. Goodbye, Lily.” He grabbed his suitcase, gave her one last quick smile, and walked out the door. 

And just like that, Lily was alone, in a lonely hotel room, on the other side of the world as her friends. 

As soon as the door closed, Lily fell back on the bed, using a pillow to muffle her sobs. She cried so hard that she could barely breathe, gasping for air through the wave of tears and snot rolling down her face. 

It must have been hours before she was finally able to pull herself together enough to remember that she was had a flight to catch. Assuming Blake had already caught a flight, she was going to be able to take their already scheduled flight home. She pulled up the boarding pass on her phone and realized that the plane was scheduled to leave in less than an hour. 

Checking the time was enough to almost make her start crying again, but she was drained, and no more tears came out. Instead, she stumbled her way into the bathroom, where she stripped off her clothes and turned on a cold shower. 

Over an hour later, her face still red and puffy, she emerged from the bathroom, dressed in loose shorts and a t-shirt. She grabbed her phone, took a steadying breath, and dialed Marlene, who promptly answered. 

“Hey! Did you talk with James yet?” Her bright cheery voice made her burst into tears immediately. Trying to cover her sniffles, she tried to answer, but when nothing came out, she hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed. Marlene was going to kill her for it later, but she couldn’t care less at the moment. 

Lily forced herself to drink a huge bottle of water to try to calm her pounding head and rehydrate after crying so hard. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she evaluated her options. All in all, she really only had one: book a flight home. 

But like Marlene had said, sometimes Lily was ‘too good for her own good’, so Lily decided to add a completely out of the blue second option: not go home yet. She couldn’t go home yet - Marlene and Dorcas would want to try to persuade her to get back together with James or Blake, and would refuse to accept Lily’s decision for at least a few days. Right now, Lily couldn’t handle that when she didn’t even know what she wanted for herself. She knew she couldn’t be with Blake, and although she was still in love with James, he had made it clear that it was too late. And even if it wasn’t, how would they pick up the pieces of what they had together? 

Opening her phone back up to see eight missed calls from Marlene, four from Dorcas, and two from Sirius, nearly threw Lily for a loop again. She bit down hard on her lip to check her emotions, opened her browser, and booked a cheap hotel in Athens for two more nights. She didn’t have to checkout for another three hours, which meant she still had a little bit of time to kill before she needed to leave. 

As her phone lit up again with a call from Marlene, she glanced in the mirror to see that her face, for the most part, had returned to normal. She switched her phone to airplane mode, pulled on her shoes, and walked out the door. 

And right into James. 

“James? What are you doing -”

“Why aren’t you answering anyone’s calls? Marlene has called me three times now to ask if she’s seen you,” He said flatly, arms folded against his chest. His face looked tired, and his hair more scrambled than usual. 

Lily took a small step back, looking down at her feet. “Blake and I broke up. I’m actually about to head home right now”

“Without your suitcase?”

Lily opened her mouth, ready to lie, but she knew James could see right through her, like he had always been able to. “Plane doesn’t leave for a few hours.”

“Why did you two break up?” 

Lily leaned against the doorway. “We… things were moving too fast for me. And I wasn’t-” She rolled her eyes, sighing. “You already know the rest, I guess.”

“And now you’re just going back home?” His tone was even colder than before, and he looked angry. 

Lily shot him a look. “Why did you say it like that?”

James took a step towards her, lowering his voice. “You’re just going to give up?”

“What do you mean give up? I realized that I wasn’t being honest to Blake, even if I didn’t realize it. So, we ended it.”

“And that it’s?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“You’re always the good girl, Evans, the one who always does the right thing, even when it hurts you. Why didn’t you just keep Blake and do the wrong thing for once in your life?”

Lily stepped back bewildered. “Are you serious?” Her voice raised a notch. James glanced down the hallway as a family walked by them, and pushed both of them inside, closing the door behind them. Lily continued. “Why do you even care? I made the right decision, and now I’m moving on. And for the record, I’m not doing the right thing here. I’m not going home.”

“What?” James asked, as if he hadn’t heard correctly. 

Now, Lily felt stupid. “I mean, I am, just… I decided to take a detour to Athens before I go back.” She paused, not knowing what to say next. “Why does it really matter that I did the right thing here? I’m confused.”

“Because - this would all be a lot easier if you just… stayed with him.” His eyes were downcast, and Lily suddenly realized what he was trying to say. 

“Because then it would be an easier decision for you?” She whispered. His eyes shot up to meet hers and he thrust a hand in his hair. He shrugged. 

“You left me, Lil, after one of the best years of my life. And you moved on so quick, and I thought I could never be that happy again.” When he looked up at Lily again, her heart wanted to break all over again. His face was so troubled and shattered, and it was clear that he was in pain. “If you were still together with him, I could have just checked on you and left.” His voice choked a little and he threw his hands in the air. 

“What do you want me to say, James? You freaked out - in a major way - after I mentioned marriage once, and then went AWOL on me.”

James tipped his head back, leaning into his heels. “I messed up, okay? I never pictured myself getting married when I was little because I was always with Sirius, and we never thought about the future. It wasn’t on my radar.”

“Then why were we even dating?” Lily could understand that he hadn’t thought it about marriage a lot. James wasn’t the type to get caught up in romantic daydreams, he liked to do things headfirst, and think later. But what had hurt Lily so much a year ago was that he didn’t think about the future of them together.

“Because I’ve been in love with you since we were eighteen, Evans!” James burst out. “I’ve always loved you, and -”

Lily stood up, taking one small step towards him. When he didn’t move, she took another, and another until she was close enough to feel his heat. “Does it still scare you?”

James looked down at her, glancing at her lips, then looked up to the ceiling, tipping his head back. Lily held her breath. He released his breath slowly, lowering his head so that he was looking directly at her. “No.”

Lily didn’t move, not sure that she was comprehending what was happening. She didn’t want to make a move if he didn’t want it, so she stayed frozen in place, staring at James’ hazel eyes. James inched forward so that their fronts were touching, glancing down at her lips once more. An instant later, Lily grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her, crashing her lips onto his, and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down to her level. He responded instantly, leaning into her and putting steady pressure on her hips with his hands. Lily took a step forward, forcing him backward until he was leaning against the wall. She used one hand to thread through his soft hair - something she had missed more than a little since they had broken up, and used the other to feel the strong muscles in his back.

A second later, James flipped them around so that Lily was the one against the wall. He pulled away for a second to catch his breath and used his arm to prop himself against the wall, still inches from Lily’s head. 

“We’re really doing this?” Lily asked, letting her hands trail from James’ back to his front, up to his chest, and back into his hair. 

“Oh, hell yes,” James sighed, lips crashing down onto hers once more. Lily grinned at his eagerness, biting down softly on his lower lip. He groaned and reached down to grab her legs. She settled on his hips, pressed against the wall, just slightly taller than him. He used the height to litter her neck with kisses, and Lily knew that she would have more than a few marks in a couple of hours. 

James pulled them off the wall and lowered her down onto the bed. As Lily fell back, James stood over her, reaching up to pull off his shirt. He had just leaned down to kiss her, her nails gently scratching his tan skin, when he stopped. 

“James?”

“You were here. With Blake. In this bed.” His eyes clouded heavily, and although he was still on top of her, he lifted himself a few inches from her. 

Lily let her head fall back into the bed and closed her eyes. “I -”

“It’s fine, Lil, it’s not a big deal. Your choice of what you want to do with your body. But…”

“You don’t want to stay in the same room,” Lily finished. She sat up, and James rolled to the other side of the bed. Straightening her shirt, she tucked a loose piece of hair back. “Maybe it’s a good idea that we don’t rush right into this.”

He sat up next to her, their shoulders just brushing. “I mean, you did break up with him… three hours ago?”

Lily smiled, although a little guilt crept into her. “Almost four. But yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“We’ll get back to London, and figure everything out there. I think we both need some time before we go back to how it was.”

“Hmm,” James murmured, leaning over to kiss her again.

“Want to go to Athens?” Lily said, pulling away once again. “I mean, I know we’re not trying to rush anything, but I did book a hotel and I already paid for it, and checkout is in shit - fifteen minutes - so -”

“Lily, hey Lily!” James cut off her ramble, laughing. “Yes, yes, I’ll go to Athens with you. We don’t have to go slow on everything.”

Lily gave him a devious look and kissed him once again. James pulled away, laughing a few minutes later, checking his watch. “I uh... I better give the guys an update if I’m leaving mid-trip. I gotta cancel a flight, tell the guys, and pack my bags.” 

Lily pecked him once again but stood up. “I should probably call Marlene and tell her I’m okay.”

“I bet twenty bucks she won’t forgive you for a week.”

Lily grinned, picking up her phone. “Hm. Well, when I tell her I got back together with you, she is going to literally knock Dorcas out with her screaming.”

James opened the hotel door, tousling his hair with one hand. He leaned over and gave Lily another deep kiss, and when he finally pulled away, he winked. “Poor Dorcas.”

“Hm,” Lily murmured, swaying into him as he kissed her neck. Then, laughing gently, she pulled away, pushing on his chest gently. “Go, go tell Sirius that I’m fine. I’ll call Marlene, and meet you out front in an hour.”

“Sounds good.” James kissed her once more. “See you in a bit.”

As James walked down the hallway, Lily quietly closed the door. She collapsed on the bed, picked up her phone and dialed Marlene. The sudden changes - breaking up with Blake, getting back together with James - would take some getting used to, but the instant James had come into her hotel room, she felt a thousand times more comfortable than she ever had with Blake. And with that happy feeling, Lily gathered the last of her things, checked out of the hotel room, and went to go meet her boyfriend.

read on Ao3!

[nightfayre]

I just LOVE your Pacific Rim AU fic. You write so well! Really! I sent some of the anons that have been highlited here and im so glad you liked them so I'm kinda fan girling a little!!! *0* Also: What do you think the boys want to be in the future? (like, profession wise). And Q2: Do you have, like, a method for writing??

oh jesus, asks like these always make me want to cry! thank you so, so much!! it makes me insanely happy & grateful to hear that people are enjoying F&F, and i’m so excited to continue the story!! thank you!

and as for your questions:

1. oof, this is a hard one. the one thing i know for certain is that He Tian wants nothing to do with his family or their business. he’s been through enough trauma and heartache — especially as a kid — and those broken bonds will not be easily repaired. and while i believe that He Cheng will always be there for him, i don’t see He Tian working in close relation with his brother, either. in some of the chapters Old Xian has released where the boys are older, He Tian is always dressed in attire that suggests he works some kind of office job. however i just can’t imagine someone like He Tian confined to a cubicle for 7-8 hours. the most plausible/reasonable answer i can provide is that He Tian works with some kind of surveillance/security company. he’s never been one for “minding his own business,” and so i think this line of work would suit his power-hungry and nosy personality. he’d be able to work in a profession that is practically the opposite of his family’s business, and maybe that’d help ease his mind as well. in general, i think the opportunity for He Tian to not only work in an office environment but also in the field would suit him perfectly.

as for Guan Shan… oh lord. let’s just imagine that this poor boy has finally shaken off most of his family’s debts and can start focusing on a stable career rather than jumping back and forth between part-time jobs. i can definitely see Guan Shan as a gym trainer and/or weights instructor — especially for kids and teens. it’s obvious that Guan Shan has an athletic streak in him and he’s also been in his fair share of fights due to bullying & the family-related feuds that he got into as a kid. despite the everlasting scowl on his face, i’m positive that Guan Shan wouldn’t want any kid to go through the same shit he did. but since he can’t control the fate of others, at least he can make them strong enough to deal with whatever comes their way. i can clearly imagine Guan Shan offering lessons to middle schoolers, high schoolers, and young adults. plus, the exercise would work wonders for Guan Shan himself, too. all that simmering anger has to be dealt with somehow, and i think Guan Shan would find more value in putting his talents towards a good cause rather than letting himself waste away.

now, Jian Yi. with all the time and education he lost when he was kidnapped in high school, i don’t see Jian Yi working in a career field that demands a higher education. don’t get me wrong — Jian Yi is not stupid and he certainly has an inkling of street smartness in him when drastic times call for drastic measures. however, the world continues to move forward even if you were kidnapped and trapped on a deserted island. so, with all that considered, i see Jian Yi as a small business owner. of course, it would take many years and a lot of hard work and discipline, but the idea of Jian Yi managing a cozy coffee shop or a family-friendly restaurant is too appealing to ignore. he would be a favorite among his regular costumers, and the competition of bigger companies wouldn’t be too daunting for him. honestly, i think he would have a blast as a business owner because now he gets to make all the rules instead of having his life dictated for him.

Zheng Xi, surprisingly, is the easiest one for me to decide. with everything that happened to Jian Yi and what followed in the aftermath — including Zheng Xi’s overwhelming feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, powerlessness — i can 100% see Zheng Xi working in law enforcement. the trauma of Jian Yi’s disappearance will initially crush poor Zheng Xi, but i believe that he’s strong enough to get back up again and work hard to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else without there being an answer for it. of course, additionally, he would also have the authority and support to protect Jian Yi and his other loved ones. Zheng Xi is protective, strong, intelligent, strict, and caring — he will work wonders in law enforcement. of course, he’d look great in the uniform too :)

2. and now your second question! i will put my answer to this question under the cut because this post has already gotten, uhm, tragically long. but read on if you want to see my answer!

this is going to sound a bit weird, but i write the best when i have an enormous bottle of water at hand. it helps me focus and refrain from getting distracted by other things around me. also, it forces me to take breaks when i desperately need to go to the bathroom, lol. getting a healthy amount of sleep also prevents my eyes from getting too tired whilst staring at a computer screen, and a blanket is always around my shoulders to help me feel more comfortable in my stiff chair.

otherwise, for my actual writing style — that’s harder to describe. i guess i try to have an even mix of vernacular and embellished language. it’s hard to explain, but i suppose that i’m always striving to allow the characters’ voices and personalities to shine through in my writing. i never write in first-person but i want it to feel as if it were in that perspective because it allows my audience to feel more connected to the story and better understand why the characters act/think the way they do. however, this often makes my chapters/stories a lot longer than planned because i strive to capture the essence of the boys’ thoughts and actions. it’s painful but it’s really a lot of fun, because one moment i can have a three-bullet list of what i want to accomplish plot-wise in a chapter — and the next moment i’m 10 pages in and have only accomplished the first bullet point…

with 19 Days, all four boys have a distinct voice/personality that makes it so much easier when i’m writing F&F. although they will eventually and literally be in each other’s minds, i want the audience to already have a general idea of how the individual boys think and feel without the aid of the Ghost Drift. it will make it all the more dramatic when two different personalities/mindsets collide (cough cough tianshan cough cough) because the audience will already know what to expect of a character’s personality. idk; i hope that makes sense to you?

TLDR; i start with a bullet list of plot points for each chapter, i keep writing and writing and writing until my fingers start to cramp, and then i’m still never satisfied with what i produce. it’s a hard life…

anyway, this was a long f-cking post but i hope i answered your questions!! and thank you so much for sending me your headcanons — all of them are so amazing and heartwarming!! thank you!!

[medievalcat]

ok. I finished Children of God (sequel to The Sparrow), and while I was able to follow it better than when I first read it (I think I was really distracted a few years ago, and had trouble focusing).....I didn’t like it as much as the first one, which I’m aware isn’t an unpopular opinion, even though I didn’t hate all of it. Here are my thoughts on why it didnt work imo and what I did like about it.

The Sparrow would naturally be a hard act to follow, and I get that sometimes sequels do different things than the first installations. book one is about Emilio and book two is about Rakhat. Okay. I think there’s a lot of interesting material that could have been made of Emilio, John, and all the new guys visiting Rakhat years after the first expedition. It’s what the author did- and, really, this was present in the first book as well, and one of the first book’s issues, but here it’s really one of the main points of the story and far more prominent than ever before- that didn’t succeed. It’s the story of Rakhat....but given how Rakhat is written, maybe it shouldnt have been. This book honestly ranged from “enjoyable” to “disappointing” to “implicitly or explicitly expressing horrible views”.

It’s one thing to make an oppression storyline in a fantasy setting- FMA for example does this. But in that, the victims are humans. In this, not only does the story do an oppression narrative about fantasy creatures, which is already a very difficult thing to pull off, she repeatedly draws comparisons between nonhuman aliens and things like the Holocaust and genocide and oppression of Native Americans. She even has her one native character draw this comparison and *stay behind on another planet instead of going to earth* for some “reservation” plotline at the end.  This is a good example of why when we criticize media sometimes we have to focus specifically on the writers who choose to make these events happen, who choose to write certain stories and who choose to frame them in certain ways. I’m kind of glad this book doesn’t have a fandom, really, because tumblr types would focus on which aliens’ side is “right” and not on the fact that the author chose to write some fantasy creature oppression story with incoherent imperialism commentary while trivializing real genocides. I remember a really uncomfortable paragraph in the first one that implied the Ottoman Empire was some kind of safe haven for all ethnic/religious groups as well as a line (keep in mind these were written in the 90s) about how Bosnia is violent because of ............ “blood feuds”. Many people have said this story is weak because it focused on these new alien characters and the Rakhat storyline so much. This, for me, is the main reason why that storyline was so weak.

One thing I liked was some of the new characters. I liked Danny and Joseba and Nico and Sean and Gina and Pope Gelasius. I think this book kind of did a “later season of Vikings” so that there were suddenly all these new people but few of them got good development. So that was a weakness but I didn’t mind many of the characters in and of themselves and enjoyed these new additions. Sure they weren’t like the people in the first book but that’s okay. They added new perspectives. Danny had a lot of interesting stuff about forgiveness that I liked. I also liked initially how Sofia was revealed to be alive but....she was shafted. We barely see her in favor of her badly offensively written written son (I know this was written 20 years ago but. the way he and his disability are portrayed as like...literally “alien” even though ths is supposed to be a “positive”.... is honestly....why  the living fuck did she do this....) and Supaari’s daughter who he CONCEIVED FROM RAPE and we’re just supposed to be ok with that bc the author very conveniently wrote the victim to be as unsympathetic as possible and because “uwu miracle of life!! yay children!” I’m supposed to buy that Sofia, a child trafficking survivor, is allies and friends with a man who not only is a rapist but sold a person she loved into sex slavery.......after the narrative called to attention how similar Sofia and Emilio’s experiences were, and the first book was an imperfect story but a deep introspective exploration of the effects of SA.....lol ok. And then she gets killed off at the end offscreen in a single sentence.

There’s also....I really doubt she intended some of this but it’s clearly in the story .... it really has bad implications, that the only relations between men are abusive in both books. there are literally no other relations between men, even though there is a gay character (who I understand  is a celibate priest, and having a gay priest is cool!) but....it just doesnt have good implications that relations between men are only ever presented as bad. especially because the thing that truly “heals” Emilio is being with a woman and I think in our society (and thus our media) we have a real problem with thinking that “healing” as a sexual abuse victim means having sex with a man if youre a woman and with a woman if you’re a man, and that male sa victims of men are only really victims if they like women (and, of course, women sa victims in general just have to like men). Of course there is nothing wrong with Gina, I loved her, and nothing is wrong with writing an sa survivor who is able to have a relationship after. But MDR killed her off for no good reason. The other crew members dying in the first book, those were well written character deaths. and how many times did she do the “this woman died but thats whatever narratively, because she has a kid uwu miracle of life” thing in this sequel. I think MDR is like GRRM in that she has good intentions clearly, and has such good sff works/characters and takes oh the Human Experience and everything, but doesn’t always know how to handle issues in a responsible way and it’s really glaring even if there are obviously worse people in media. To be honest (and again, here Im glad there’s no fandom, because people are so weird about this stuff) MDR should have just had Emilio and John be together. “Your friendship should have been proof enough of God” ???????? hello??????  Their relationship was one of  the things that actually was well fleshed out in the sequel until John and all the other guys who weren’t in the Camorra  just.....stayed on Rakhat forever.

Part of the handling of Sofia seemed like a broader pattern of the plot being completely forced. Everything happens for some sake of The Plot- this is something later seasons of GOT have been criticized for. This plot in particular, in addition to the alien oppression metaphor, seemed to want to make everything about the story in particular its end be some kind of “bookend” to mirror the first book. Sofia dies (for real this time. honestly....her death in the first one was good writing!), Emilio and his unlikely escorts go home, no one else gets to go home, there’s a huge societal upheaval on Rakhat because of the humans, a huge reveal about Rakhat’s “divine” music. I have nothing against this kind of narrative device but when it’s this forced to the point where the story is blatantly constructed for the sake of this......it didn’t work. The “music” plot twist was like..............really??? All of that? They’re staying on this planet? If they had all gotten more time in the story (because this book is the same length as the first book but has far more different subplots and far longer of a timespan and far more narrators) we might  find that more plausible. I don’t think everything needs to be spelled out for us. In the first book when everyone is stranded, it’s clear that they think this is tragic, but they are trying to make the best of it because they all love each other and are together. In this one they don’t all have that kind of bond and it’s dependent on the long-winded and incoherent Rakhat political storyline. Because a lot of it isn’t even that well developed in addition to the earlier addressed things. We go between random one-off characters. So much is about the war but it’s written so anti-climatically. Sofia broke down in the first book when she learned they were stranded, and now she doesn’t care at all about returning back to Earth because the Runa are “her people” now, but how much of that is really what she tells herself to cope with what she lost- and what she experienced on earth in her youth? we don’t know. The Pope just....sent Emilio who became probably the most infamous person on Earth, back into space, and it wasn’t a big deal for the Church or at all? And all it took for it to happen was a handful of Camorra men with Vatican connections, who were just adapted so well to space travel and extended time on a new planet that initially made the people in the first book sick when transitioning into life there? And let me reiterate we’re supposed to accept that the divinely ordained reason all this happened was because Isaac wrote music inspired by human and alien dna and it sounded wonderful? 

This just felt very forced. “Emilio never wants to go back to Rakhat so obviously this book has to be about how he goes back there and accepts that it actually happened for a Good Reason bc of some music, and music was the way they found it in the first place.” How about how he accepts that it happened and comes to terms with what happened to him without either hating himself for his actions or thinking it was all For The Greater Good Actually, because you cant undo the past, aka what the first book was building up to and culminated in? idk. the first book was all about how bad things happen and that this doesn’t mean we have to give up our faith even if we question our faith. this was more like “every cloud has a silver lining lol”.

There were many nice things- Emilio’s friendship with Nico, many of the moments with Sofia towards the end and her reuniting with Emilio, John getting more to do, the new Pope, Celestina ending up having an important job as a theater and leaving a trail of men in her wake lol. I don’t want to say don’t read this. But if you like the first book you might not like this one, and if you’re considering reading the first book, it.....works best as a standalone.

[ariyadaivaris]

artemidi replied to your post “boy oh boy i sure hope nobody asks about the embarrassing sappy au i...”

I need......more info on this.....blease

i’ve GOT more info on this don’t you even worry your sweet fred head about it !!

nxt’s tag team division is, to say the least, KIND OF...UH...BORDERLINE NONEXISTENT AS OF LATE and so when the time comes to set up the dusty rhodes tag team classic they really end up needing to Scrumble something together! the original plan was that tyler (bate) (to name specific tylers) and jack would team up however long they needed to for the tournament, but oh NO tyler’s been gravely injured, probably by pete because he’s a motherfucker

jack is stuck without a partner and the tournament is stuck without the final team! regal puts out a desperate call for help and ariya decides to strike a deal because why would he team with jack motherfucking gallagher without something to gain from it

the deal is this: ariya teams with jack, withstands whatever mockery comes his way this time, carries the team through the tournament and when he wins, he gets a shot at the cruiserweight title. ariya is a difficult person to work with but desperate times calls for desperate measures, and so ariya and jack end up being the newest addition to the tag team classic! Oh What Drama ! 

things are TENSE, TO SAY THE LEAST

they have to take a bit of a hiatus from 205 so they can travel with nxt, some of the tournament matches take place at house shows and live events and they do still need to work together as a team outside of the tournament if only because they’d be completely fucked otherwise! jack still can’t drive so ariya (dear sweet ariya who can’t drive for shit) is the official pilot in their travels, and jack is...an...interesting co-pilot

the first few weeks are mostly ariya giving jack Ze Silent Treatment while jack refuses to shut up ever and it’s kind of an awkward uneasy dynamic, even after they win their first tournament match through SOME MIRACLE

ariya finally talks to jack during a drive because jack stumbles onto the topic of musicals and says some things and ariya gets very heated very easily and it MIGHT turn into a cutting discussion about the accessibility of theatre and of bootlegs, and about who and what gets visibility in mainstream media and who and what gets nominated for tonys, etc, but its the most fun ariya’s had in awhile and they both kinda learn smth from it and from then on ariya’s more willing to like. at least talk to jack. and it’s...disappointingly...very nice

i feel like during a house show ariya gets trapped in the corner and almost gets dropkicked but jack manages to get to his corner and use his umbrella as kind of a makeshift shield to throw off their opponent and give ariya time to collect his wits and it’s maybe a silly thing to think about but its cute imo! my city now! 

after their second round match, which they almost accidentally win (against reDRagon, no less, bc let’s be real while we’re being self indulgent here i DO care more abt this storyline than about those two probably very talented but uninteresting slices of white bread), jack compliments ariya’s performance in the match and ariya doesn’t take it well because like. to this point he’s only thought jack’s just been humiliating and mocking him for no fucken reason since they met, and why wouldn’t he turn up this opportunity to backhandedly insult ariya now. and jack doesn’t KNOW that, and so ariya starts giving him a cold shoulder again for no reason as far as jack knows. OOH this drama. OOH this suspense

after they make it to the semi-finals (which no one was expecting, and certainly not them, honestly), they’ve gotta go to a press event with the other semi-finalists and it’s maybe not the most plot relevant thing but ariya does clean up really nicely and jack is maybe a little distracted the entire time because holy shit

and maybe then jack kinda realizes he hasn’t been engaging in a rivalry with ariya so much as maybe he’s had a dumb awful crush on him this entire time and not known how to realize that or express it and spends the night trying to keep his composure (because who is jack gallagher if not composed) while internally just writhing in embarrassment and agony and going “oh nnnnNNNOOOOOOO oh my goddd what did i DOOOO why did i DO that oh noooooOOOOOooOOooOoo” and its a rough night! 

and ariya sees jack being less than 100% during all this and sees it as Oh He Doesn’t Care, Of Course, Why Would He, and he’s pissed because he really thought they were getting somewhere as a team, and alas here they are and jack isn’t even paying attention to what’s happening, what a rude asshole as fucking always, and ariya MAYBE--just maybe--maybe just fuckin clocks jack in the face after jack tries to tell him he handled that really well

and jack sincerely admires that ariya remained pretty composed and serious and focused even when jack was busy trying not to wither into embarrassed gay dust but ariya only hears that as jack intentionally leaving ariya to his own devices and mocking how shitty a job he did

(not that ariya would ever say he thinks he did a shitty job, but in his heart he DOES want to do well and be a worthy contender, and opponent, and partner, and he knows he gets lucky a lot and so when he DOESN’T and when he’s painfully in control of the things that happen to him everything feels amplified and clumsy and Wrong and jack’s not helping lmao. i love drama)

obviously this isn’t received well and jack and ariya get into a brawl and they have to get broken up by their coworkers in attendance and ariya’s just yelling WHAT DID I EVEN DO TO YOU ASSHOLE, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM

jack stays with mustafa and lince for the night because ariya straight up threw his bags outside the door of their room and locked him out and jack plays the words back and he’s like Wait...Maybe I’m Misunderstanding The Situation Here

and the next morning he goes to talk to ariya 

(who answers the door looking just fine and who hasn’t been alternating between uneasy sleep and furious tears all night, ariya’s fine) 

and he doesn’t like...get the nerve to go “hey i think i might be in love with you a bit” but he does manage to tell ariya he hasn’t been mocking him, and he’s been sincere this whole time, and he’s genuinely sorry he’s been a dick to ariya since they started on 205, but ariya, to be fair, has also been a dick, maybe more in terms of beating people up but jack’s sorry about what’s been happening, and ariya doesn’t have to accept that apology, and if ariya wants to forfeit their semi-finals match, he understands entirely

and ariya’s just like “yo what the fuck are you kidding i’ve still got a title shot on the line and we’re gonna win this, get in the car, it’s cool or whatever cmon lets GO” and he’s a bit flippant about it but for some reason he wants to...start grinning like an idiot and never stop again? for some reason? weird

things aren’t just all Cool suddenly after that because when i say i love slow burn shit i MEAN like, years, they’re still only barely allies but something’s There and that’s endgame, don’t play with me, we’ve gotta get face!ariya calling for a parlay with heel!jack in between here and The Datening for me to feel truly alive but thats just my humble imho

also they lose in the finals but ariya puts on enough of a performance to merit a title shot anyway and after the loss they might not work as a team anymore and they’re back to their own stories on 205 but before they get back to the hotel and get cleaned up and wash off the grime of bitter bitter defeat ariya finds jack sitting with his chin on his knees in the stairwell and sits silently with him and they maybe hold h*nds for like the BRIEFEST of minutes and never talk about it again but like. we’ve gone this far with this shitty badly written self-indulgent embarrassing post right? try and stop me

just kidding im stopping myself now. i hate that i wrote all of this. im gonna kill myself thanks

[yuissamidare]

aight aight lets do this

zombie au

i wanted??? to develop the side characters more because i love them and they make me super happy when they get on screen and i went to sleep and woke up in the dead of night like. Ah. I Know.

the gist was dekapan creates a virus that mimics those weird wasp things that inject venom in caterpillars and wasps and leave them zombie-fied until they end up sacrificing themselves for the wasps babies. it works like my theory for gakkou gurashi and idk the zombies should follow their everyday routine expect that they also kill people. i’ve scrapped that idea and like, recreated how the zombies work but shhhh this part is a Super Secret.

he’s having trouble with money and! he loves science! he loves messing up and starting over and finding that one xyz fit that makes everything click how he wants to! but that costs money, and it’s money he doesnt have, so? he calls a kid he used to babysit and get along with for some help. hatabou gets him a job with a sketchy government probably trying to cure the common cold or make it impossible to burn your skin in the sun or something so of course he does the work given to him, because money is money, but the moment it gets on tv and is announced to the world dekapan calls everyone like 'hey guys dont take the vaccine something fuckys going on' and then the zombie outbreak starts and everyone gets split up and they find each other eventually after Bad Things and everyone gets fucked up about it.

people who we dont get to see pair up find each other and begrudgingly work together.

jyushimatsu and todomatsu are w matsuyo!! she has them go on a trip to the mall with her, and it’s very densely packed and a trains ride from home  (jyushimatsus here to carry bags and todomatsus here bc oohhh a mall far away). the outbreak happens while theyre in the mall, and momma and todomatsu get separated from jyushimatsu for a little while -- they do find him again, and momma decks a zombie in the face. todomatsu cries. if i were to write this, i’d focus like??? 2 - 3 chapters focusing on them being in the mall, finding a group of other survivors, and then leaving the group. depending on length and my Stamina which is. not good.

next group is totoko and karamatsu!!! and. its not because of.... anything. but totoko!! if anything is really strong and i can see her carrying an iron will and inspiring other people to follow he lead and! i like the dynamic they had with that like One Interaction. idk the beginning all too well?? like how they meet up and stick together, but i have everything after that pretty clear in my head. this would be??? the second arc of the story maybe? it take a while for them to actually get along and things go Bad in the start because ahaha karamatsu is a Fuck Up, and after that karamatsu just stops trying to talk to her and just trails behind while totoko vehemently refuses to let him help her with anything. and i actually?? dont wanna say too much about this because. ITS SURPRISE. but after they start getting along karamatsu gives her a fishbone braid, and she talks about missing her brother and they do some Feelings Talk.

idk what the fuck to do with osomatsu, ichimatsu, and choromatsu??? someones learning medicine and surgery from dekapan, someones getting yelled at by chibita while hatabou mediates, and someone starts stealing things with iyami and then starts crying in the back of his van after a close call, but idk who because they all keep flip flopping positions in my head. like, at first ichimatsu was getting yelled at, but then i put him with iyami, but then im like ‘ohhh doctor ichimatsu’. then osomatsu was with chibita n hatabou, then i was like ‘but oh he and iyami have a great dyamic’. and choromatsu was with dekapan at first bt then i was :/ with that and put him with chibita. those three are hecking me up idk what to do.

paranormal investigators

 We Are All Dependant On Our Brothers

the matsuno bros start up a ghost bustin company thats set up in a run down project and they’re all crowed up in a shitty apartment funded by hatabou and todomatsus part time job with equipment provided by dekapan because after high school it was decided that ‘shit lets hunt some ghost’ and everyone was like ‘yea sure.’

it was spawned by a dream i had where choromatsu and karamatsu are on a case and choros like 'k we gotta distract the ghost' and karas like 'got it' and while choros doing. whatever. karamatsu comes out in a bathrobe and sashays like 'ooh noo ;)) i sure hope no ghosts are going to get me while im naked and vulnerable ;)))' and choros like. 'who gave you permission to be such garbage.' and. oh. he did. 

and then later in the day a stray thought where osomatsu and karamatsu got confronted by a ghost thats like ‘ICHIMATSU MATSUNO!!! YOU, MY ENEMY WHOVE IVE TRACED DOWN FROM BARBADOS TO THE ARAN ISLANDS TO-’ then osomatsu cuts him off like ‘bro we arent ichimatsu’ and the three of them stare at each other for ten minutes before karamatsu offers to call him for the ghost and the ghost is like ‘!!!! could you?? i mean, im still damning you both to hell but’ and then ichimatsu picks up the phone, and as soon as the ghost starts talking he expels it in 0.0000000000000000000000001 seconds.

superheros

the brothers are b-rate superheros who end up in the newspapers sometimes. iyami and chibitas That Dude who ends up in hostage situations all the time and begrudgingly drive them home and make sure they eat even though they claims to hate them. its actually.... based of the storyline for my ocs so i wont actually talk about that again. nnu9mubvufe8n.

again, they live in a shit ass project but they live right next door to each other instead of crowding in One Apartment, its two with three each. they are all actively looking for day jobs because while the government pays well they struggle being adults. but this time adults with superpowers.

rpg/video game

like. back in the naru.to fandom there was a point where video game aus were really popular, like the whole grinding/gaining stats/unlocking new areas thing n all that and it surprisingly worked really well when written right?. so i was thinking about that and spacing out and i was like Oh Fuck. so this au got birthed. osomatsus the king, karas the knight, jyushi is a prince who gets kidnapped, ichis prince #2, choromatsus a wandering mage, n todos the royal advisor. 

jyushimatsu gets kidnapped in the dead of night, and osomatsus like ‘what the flying fuck karamatsu get over here lets go get him back.’ so they leave, and have ichimatsu look after the kingdom for him. hes like 'wait what please im' and is thrust into power anyways. he and todomatsu are surprisingly competent leaders and the kingdom does really good under him, even better than with osomatsu?? though he locked himself in his room for the first week and todomatsu just kept banging on the door OPEN UP YOU FUCK YOU HAVE PAPERWORK. and its an insanely huge amount because osomatsu keeps putting it off unless someone watches him and he does all the stuff like funding the armies and expanding territories before stuff like regulating taxes and funding schools and hospitals.

jyushimatsu escapes on his own after a day n is like HMMMM HOW TO GET HOME..... but then he enters a little run down village and meets homura and falls In Love and they spend time together and he eventually just forgets to come home because hes so happy with her

meanwhile with the idiot eldest duo. karamatsu doesnt know how to fucking.... spend money so when they meet choromatsu whos like the stop n shop npc he gives him all the money he has for an enchanted pair of ankle warmers that he could put his face on and that can react to his emotions. osomatsus like ‘what the entire fuck bro’ and goes to get their money back, but then ends up spending all his money on a charm thatll increase his gambling luck.

‘we’ve been bamboozled, my dearest king. our money taken right before our eyes as a miser deceived us and robbed us of everything we’re worth,’ ‘wanna beat him up, karamatsu?’ ‘of course i do.’

choromatsus like ????? wtf its not my fault you two dont know how to spend money. but they fight, and osomatsus like ‘join our party!!’ and they take a few days to convince him but he does join and he and osomatsu hit it off really well, and osomatsu decided after everything, hes going to adopt choromatsu. 

(’but we’re the same age, my king’ karamatsu says in response to his proposal. 

‘FINE, then ill get mom to adopt him, geez.’ 

then they meet chibita and n chibita and karamatsus like ‘if youre taking choromatsu, im taking chibita in if he says yes’ and osomatsus like ‘ask mom first’)

the three of them go to the place jyushimatsu was taken to, beat everyone up, and then realize he isnt there. so they just. dejectedly walk into a nearby village for rest and chibita gives them free beer.

they meet jyshimatsu an hour later on a date with homura and yes. they decide to adopt her as a sister too. (is someone marrying into your family considered adoption?? idk but everyones family now, no excuses.)

royalty/split at birth

i hate angst i just wish everyone could be happy, i say as i look through my notebook with angsty plot points as i reference my life.

the gist is: the cold color trio living in slums rather than a palace but then oso finds out OH SHIT WE HAVE MORE BROTHERS WE GO GET THEM and everyones stressed the fuck out

as soon as osomatsu finds out he has troops scour the kingdom for the them, with the directions ‘there are three more people with my face, go get em’ and he sends troops out. to everyone outside the castle this is a very ?????!!!!!!!!!! thing???because the royal family has solidified themselves as Bad Selfish people who tax unfairly and dont care about the poor. like, the rich people are all like oh! i wonder what the royal family is planning theyre so good to our kingdom ha ha! while the poor people are freaking the fuck out.

the cold colors only get a brief warning about the troops coming and the first thing ichimatsu does when he hears this is go and break all the fancy plates and choromatsus like ‘wtf are you doing!!!’ and ichimatsu just looks at him like ‘i love and respect my family so im doing what i need to’ and karamatsu takes that as his cue to take his mothers valuables and hide them under the floorboards and in the walls where the stucco breaks away and choromatsu writes a note to their mom Just In Case.

they actually do get taken and theyre fucking shocked. like, instead of the royals taking everyones valuables like they expected, theyre taking them??? and the troops are no help theyre just like ‘kay go take two sets of coats and three sets of day wear’ and they have them leave straight away.

an abrupt abduction is gonna stir up shit in the village especially if they only take the boys and leave their parents and friends. imagine how paranoid they'll be. ‘oh no what if im going next' 'i hear that theyre taking our boys now and selling them off to foreign labor' 'theyre taking our children as punishment for not being able to afford tax' ‘i heard things breaking in their home what if they got taken away for resisting’

imagine all the drama and discomfort theyll feel when they see the other bros living in the lap of luxury why their friends and family suffer like :)))

its frustrating and tense for everyone because osomatsu expected them to integrate without issue. jyushimatsu doesnt understand why they get so mad at him and refuse to be his friend. todomatsu doesnt understand why all these poor people are a problem. as long as youre happy and healthy it's fine! theres no need to concern yourself with what doesnt directly affect you. if you dont see it its not happening so its best to ignore it.

ballet

osomatsu does ballet again and is happy and has found something he loves and enjoys and everyone supports him. basically, he starts feeling nostalgic and then starts watching youtube videos and goes ‘haha pah! i can do that’ and then he realizes ‘holy shit this is something i wanna spend the rest of my life doing’

sophie even wrote a fic about it and its great and every time i read it my heart pounds ten thousand times a second and i start smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

detectives

jyushimatsu’s an overworked forensic scientist, choromatsu’s an exasperated detective, osomatsus is watson, todomatsu’s head of the branch, and ???? ichimatsu where are you??

karamatsu’s fucking dead but he aint important.

they solve mysteries n do detective stuff.

theres also another au thats like platonic soulmate thing but eh 

[throwingideasatthewall]

The Clone Wars         Duchess of Mandalore

                Season 2 Episode 14

......

You know      I want to believe     this is going to be an episode    focusing     on Duchess’s actual character        . . . .      But the track record     of writing female characters    (Never mind blam   ing trauma for their personality )

Doesn’t     leave     much       Good      Faith      Or     trust       . .          (especially how often their    Characterization gets to     Ret-conned.   to fit the     episode,)

(Padme turned into a nag,               Ahsoka      In     unchildlike     abomination       that goes with a plot needs    her       to)

Duchess;

From     Relat     iv-ely        Reas        On      Able     Leader         .  .   .       Turned        exquisite          and       Ex-      - cess         -ive         (Pe        tty)

Con      trast-      With      Semi-     Constant      Smart   “laziness”       avoidant      Obi-wan       And     “Do      It     Sky   wal   -ker-

 I don’t expect this to     stick

     (Al-ways     the female  characters,”

Any. Way

And war,  truth is the first casualty,

[It’s actually   accountability    but good try]

 Deluding them selves of the     goodness usually comes after the bad action

 Any way.

The     terribly designed ship

(I’m sorry but that thing doesn’t even look even slightly      aerodynamic) 

(The shark    ship at least had that)

   ?

[it was one apparent smoke bomb and she wasn’t allowed to        do anything to try and fix it,]

  But sure...    let’s go with that        .      Allies

[Never got a feel for that and    one dude was always    snarking at her,] No  shit 

everyone can see that

And     it was one dude

  [They haven’t     heard of this yet]

 [This plot-     isn’t very good]

Right     -      ok now they’re   im-portant-

 Sit and and wait 

 As Duchess makes her case that this is just one splinter group that she can handle

Some thing you wouldn’t think would     need a trial

[Only     becoming a problem when it affects other people]

        [suffering from the Luminara               problem, where if she doesn’t meet up to      high unreasonable standards.             In an unreasonable               amount of time                    (Little)                     Instantly lambasted by         her colleagues.                             With the     nar-rative showing no signs of painting this is wrong                                Or the fact of the   male characters can feck around     screw       everything       up,        And that   isn’t considered      serious

    [Narrative’s              a           Cheater. .)

        How long

These are   actual good evil minions    

(No this could actually be good with them becoming something like the clone troopers to the, Darkside

   Making up for a lack        of human faces in the ranks         up to this point,

   Establishing that while they may be the          instigator of tox,          Actions are about   ~now~          Less abhorrent than the     Empire’s            /       Coun-       cil-

‘the       Plot,’

 Completely irrelevant

   (And stupid)

Relying on everyone   being a complete       un-     accountable-       Idiot.

  Great plan you got there      Dooku,

 How’s Duchess’s explaining that’s-not-at-all-what-happened-and-we-don’t need a foot hold and all security,     going?

Like you think he’d be more mad   Considering what seems like the only plot,          Intercepting the        vehicle in transit,         Failed       horribly,

   Unless, the guys didn’t tell     him - And he still thinks they have      Duchess -which would make     sense...because of course they sent troops for the lost     foreign    leader

    (Would’ve been a     good episode for both        of them)

    (Not sure that would cause      a riot though-)

   (-Which would make sense if Obi-Wan was the last         one they saw around here-      Thinking, that a Jedi      captured their leader,

]

 But I’m getting ahead of myself      let’s focus on the       actual plot.    .

Whoa rows

To Coursant

I thought you just said to    . . .sit still and leave.

         What?                ...     

          What

Oh so we’re focusing on another     cliché plot instead of the actual characters

  (*Note;           Cliché             As              in              a           badly        established           already       done plot              . . .           There’s        nothing          wrong           with          doing         repeat          plot           so           long                as         you          do        them         well

    What you bring     into it is the fun part           (Ideally)

     Aight?

      How?

They’re just         there

Also yeah you already know that there there you already know what they’re doing you still haven’t done anything about it

    So?

      [I was about to say where is the courier guy     but he’s dead]

     R.I.P shortly lived villain          Killed off for a shitty       written romance-

 -He deserved         better

    Ok

  Whatever 

    Why

 [i’ve seen that image multiple times        but I never realized the city was in the ball

     [also how is this the palace     where several important officials meet         And the nice forest is supposed to be this            mining hell hole

The environments-           They’re-

  So yeah we know it’s there, but like last time we’re not going to do anything about it

   [like I said Saltine did get back at some point and          everyone’s logic was just ok let’s go complain to the council        for no reason,]

           [I     dislike this logic)

          Why?

           Just...?            Why

             Also yeah who’s in charge     while she’s away?

               I mean we’ve already got like a lot of      senators’ sus

    What?

    Things         Happen          Ing

    Also yeah palace   right back to the way it was,

    I guess it was a smoke       bomb. .

   Right?

    You left     the Boomer in control?

     Also, so yeah I’m surprised he didn’t run out to be a     mastermind either

     Like, yeah        That        can happen

  But given the      “legacy and proud of everything      thing,”

     You’d think he’d be the main target

    [Makes a lot more sense than Random     Sen   ator       #4

   And he was the only one in that     hallway with Obi-Wan-

 -

During their   argu-     ment-

Prime      Minister-      It      Makes      Sense          -

You found     the deathwatch     armies         -    isn’t   hard         -           It   was like five guys last time

Now just like them, you have allowed, the situation       to get worse

Good job     smart guys.

Battle

Really because they seem like the same group of nerds

?

What?

??...

   ?

  Deathwatch will never be strong enough

 Yeah, no shit  

 Guess you      shouldn’t do anything stupid

     [how long until something           stupid happens?]

       Beyond          the normal               . . .

       Here

Seriously how does this   plan make any sense?

Jedi- come here      - everyone-         Loses         their         shit  

  How?                - like      I know it be unpleasant to have some guys     stomp into              Your               House

         But there’s literally no need for     that..

    Considering         the situation            isn’t out of control

     And       Satine should be fully capable of handling the situation

       - And telling the Senate to feck off

       - And don’t tell me he’s doing this because she’s       passive because he’s been everything but passive in defending her passive beliefs,

   [Something        not really      elaborated          on]

  Stop

  NOT BE        AN IDIOT!

  Also,

    [I really don’t like this      plot        it makes no sense,”.     ]

Whelp-

  Fuck-

  That        Got        Dark-

[but possibly make sense if this is how she   sees members of the republic,        As a dark   brooding force that will hurt everyone if     she’s not careful,

Significant deadly threat

How?

They-     smoke bombed one building

[That’s   juvenile]

  [The situation is not out of control]

 In the narrative’s attempt to over blow this isn’t done     ,correctly

   You need to have         self     aware     ness.

Bumper cars

Good

[Also you had to come to the      Senate to say that]

(This could’ve been an email)

  Or a photo       op/        State       -ment-

    ?

  Duchess why did you come here   you knew they were going to pull this shit

Like this helped     nothing

And the narrative,

What was a good     situation that was supposed to come out of this?

You stand before a council of people who decided to fight, saying I don’t fight

   [ and these are toxic people         mind you]

There was   no way this is going to end up good;

And I don’t.. know what the     narrative?

Padme?

Also what is with the weird bumper car      rules?

Because it seems like anyone can come up at any time and ask   any question?

    [Like,      how is that not chaos?]

   Wo rking under           toxic assumed authority.       .

 “People-

   ‘ I call to the stand        Obi-Wan (Kenobi)          and Anakin             Of the Jedi         order, to      provide testament,”

      That’s all    that had to be said..

        On top              of;

“My government will submit to peace keepers   actual peace keepers -      Un-armed-        For        Eval     -uation,’

   That would make sense

 And work off     Satine’s      Ad-       vers         Ion-         To Obi-Wan,    and the Jedi Council,

   True

  Dick,

  -Jedi

Yeah, she didn’t reject, she allowed the Jedi to do a full   investigation,

Also as     brutal as the scene is,    it is a good show of you     reap what you   sow       and enablers  turning on a enablers

 Even though Satine   should’ve known better than     to argue peace     with a war   council...

Obi-won      says   nothing         . . .

  Fuck        You          (Good)

     Bad         Ass

    Lots of politicians            speaking,

     Wait-

     Dick-

   Appro      priate-

   Ser-iously       touching         someone     without         their        consent?

       Dick       entitled         move.

   Spec.    Ifically.

   After        he      stood        by       and    watched      that     happened     -       Senate          -         Yeah cause you were there       and you did nothing

Better;

  Saltine calls Obi-Wan as a witness        (Both Obi-Wan and the others.        (Anakin) standing watch      over her       home planet

    They failed to respond         due to being in the middle of some thing

   Or just distracted

    This makes looks     Satine          Look     extremely        bad,           That           Jedi            are            not     Re-sponding           On         her home planet

     The vote gets passed

    Satine is more than     distressed

    When Obi-Wan     Coms her                  In

       They            argue,           Satine           Sni,pping.               A.                Bro-ken           Promise

        “You said            you’d be there              for me                (This                Time)]

    “You’re never there when I need you,”

   “You’re never there when it         matters          most,”

       With that,        the conversation ends

       Satine possibly getting ready to defend herself against the   republic

     Coming to invade   her home

        Im-bittered               Sweet

Didn’t help at all but    okay,

We’re friends

 Good

[To be fair        the romance was so forced,      that friendship is honestly best,]

Ah,         Lady,           You just got a friendship last   block,

  No need   to act       surprised.

  Nothing        More

    Good because there was no chemistry    between you      up to this point,

   State of mind  

  ....

  What?

  What state of mind?

  ...

 She’s       fine!

  Yeah she      over reacted to the dude

   But - got everything together when it         mattered-

   THANK YOU!

 That was an         asinine statement

    Hysterical

No   they wouldn’t be

That isn’t a   compliment.

That’s      Invalidation.

  Dick   Obi-Wan

  Point!

  So much  

point in this!  

  I am so  

pleased.. 

 (Though

   regular,”    

 I only - 

 Gas-    

lighting

 “I’m-  

 Yes!

  Mhm

This is some  

Bomb ass tea

De-licious

(I just realized       my phrasing           of words             I’m so-)          

     It’s good is the point

(Doesn’t it make up what happened in the   previous episodes,     

   But,           Makes                it           easier            to              forget                        . . .    

 Accoun-           tability                 -                 Is        the     word        you’re        looking         for        (The    character,       not       the     writer,”)        They’re          doing          good                   .    ... You   live with a child       groomer          (Are           One)

Does make sense.  Obi-won closest to the problem       (Groomed       specifically       in benefit of it)            Still sad      that they just gave up

     Even if he does   have a point   That Two generations    have essentially         grown up          Anakin        and   their time   as the present     is over

   Bit too late to have a     regrets

    (Only   when it   screws      you over..

  Not      the     future   generations)

    And...

    My     sympathy        is    officially       gone         (Not       the   storytelling’s      fault,             I         think       they           work      -ed       this   conversation      pretty         well            -          Just         the        facts          to        narcs          arguing              -             Still         made          me           think        about         what       exactly         what         was        wrong             -           That’s       good       (narc)Con   versation,

Any way,

  I love       this song

   Obi-Wan gets roasted for all his bad         behavior 2.0...

  It’s nice

Crusade

This   Convo was good

      (It made me feel better about all the times the   writers used cheating tactics)

        *Not for                      giv-ed

just- better

?

[That expression-   was concerning]

 There

Aight

That-      Was-

  Chilling

[You just spent the whole time getting yelled out      for his deeds, just continued on,    emotion     less]

The       “respectable”          kind       (Approp-riate       for an           adult)

Aight

  [Oh- no are they going to have the Obi-won rescue her and that proves that all her opinions are wrong?

 Not actually; she made some really good   points

  But in the       narrative   treating?

    (I don’t    want to see     that)

Okay,    whelp,

Coursant has the   worst security ever,

  How?

Damn      Frick

  Is a     bad day for her,

  Filed

Some random dude   hijacked your car

Who are you going to     sue?

Bitch

Queenie,     dude’s obviously an asshole

Leave

Also if there was no proof then why aren’t you charging her for vandalism terrorism, etc?

(See his logic is       bullshit,)

also this is a good example of   obstructive   bureaucrat          . . .

    Or avoidant

Because how do three people       nearly dying not constitute as proof?

   [Like if she       died.]

   Also, what’s the plan      if she did?

   Like; Oh yeah deathwatch is such a threat that they killed     a senator

     Those     dudes      don’t care

They only pissed at her because she’s a pacifist coming into  a      Offensive summit

  Accident

[she accidentally    drove her car.     [Yelling      at the     villain]

Not     what      she   said

This dude could give     Obi-Wan a run      for his gas lighting,

   Whelp

    Fuck         Off

     Oh yeah the council   of war mongers will really respect the       pa-   cifist

No bias     here

None   whatsoever

Satine 

   Hey    at least this time he had the   common decency not to      grab her-

 dick

  ?

Oh yeah defender of the   gaslight-ing committee  she’ll definitely help

Worry     You

Don’t give into the gaslight-

Also guilt tripping

 “ i’m afraid on that account,”

   No,

 Dick

 Valid     re-ac-     tions

 Shit-

“Victim   blaming”       (Toxic    blaming)

    Pretty sure     they’re all enablers      at this point

        Tox-

Ma’am

Leave the   ball of tox     known as Obi-Wan

Man has turned from a     garbage fire      to a         gas       fire,

Coursant

  Yeah,       you should leave,

  Also,        That       Moment,

    You        are        one         of         them.

    You’re not   backing down

     👉       This       Not,

Con

Don’t listen to     Obi-Wan      He     sucks

Also none of the guards are going to zap him for     touching their queen     unannounced?       - - - Friends

You’re not her   friends

You’ve been   nothing      but a dick

   Gas       lighting

    Nope

    Tox.

   [like listen to that   ag-gressive tone,          How he’s holding     her

        Tox

    [Still   good on the animators who did that scene,          Very good            work,]

     Occ-upation

          Shit

        Happen

Oh     Shit-

Obi-won     distracted         her?

   Aight

 Meeting

   What

    How-

Hm,

Wait-      Huh

[this is some kangaroo Court      logic

   It’s        Good.]

    Before

  “Relying on the Republic is a mistake,”

    Yesssss

      More           Acc-        Toxic      initiative         (Since there’s         no to         little         way         they         end             this)            Based               on       circumstance            only             (No            different          sources)

       Any-way                Um

          Okay

           Right                      Just                Vibin’g

          Aight              Whelp,

           Am                 I?

Oh is that the           Senator             guy?

Death   watch?

Also-      okay

Al-     right.

   ?

  Wait        What?

     Hm?

    Green

      We know       two greens             And one   changeling            That should be in   custody- 

     Wait-           ?

       ?

     What?

      ? ? ?

    EXPLAIN

        ?

      Who-

      What

        ?

       At-

    This was a pretty a’ight episode

     (Trust me I wish      I could give it higher praise)

   However the           unfortunate           clankiness of the introduction

           Keeps it stubbornly between a decent          and good

       With that            being            said;

           That does not        take away from the fact that is           a ____ whatever it is

    -it has good characterization         for Satine

   - it handles heavy morals like enabling, tox,       abuse and        pro-         blems      With        Assumed           Autho rity-     Includ        Ing       Police          Bru-       tality        And        Fram       -ing          Very        Well

   (With the   appro-       priate       dignity it deserves,

 [there’s a small bit of better done romance/      fond-ness, near the           End]

   *Villain was neat

   [More of sidious      and on the [Main] villains

     There           were             few         Moments            that            Made              Me              Go              Wtf            (Obi              Wan’s          Abuse                  Of               The              Word               “Saw                 You,”                  The               Insist              Ence                 That               Death               Watch                Was              In                  Tim                   i-                dating

            As                For                Fix                -ing;

Episode;  Instead of to defend,   Wise        Saltine is called                           To ident       ify a               Death                           Watch                         Member-                             Or                             Re                             New                              Her                              Neu-                             Trality                             Pledge                               In                              Person                             (Due to                              Change     ling    (Over       Lap)                           Attack

                         Episode                               Pro                               Gress                                  Es

Arc     Fixes;

          Obi- won delivers news, that he’s supposed             to escort              her             Pers               On                 Ally,                Saltine expects everything to go over    swimmingly after all she hasn’t done anything wrong,                 Quickly find out otherwise,                Loyalty over her              vs the government  

           Leads to a small                break               (Episode continues as   normally)

            (Death watch-                 if want)

     Fix        Arc       Continue;        (Note no offense to the author meant     I just started some thing and I should finish it as an     accountable      writer)

  Satine          Is        Forced          Into        Either      Defend        Ing        Or     Leaving         Anakin         To        Her         Irate        People,        Soon         After      Obi-won’s        In-       Cid       ent           Pri     med

Hope      Spot        Or      Depres.       Further.     Push          Ing           Ana     -kin’s       Dec-       Ision        To      Snap)     End

[Generally I thought this was a pretty       ____ episode, the animation and set design will really good/      On par and it seems to have made up.      (Corrected)        A majority of flaws      I had with previous       episodes              . . .        Moving               On...