#they're stuff she wouldn't get to use so it would just be forgotten

[shhh-secret-time]

10, 26, and 27 please!!! 🧡🧡

Ahhhh! Yay! Thanks anon you're the best!

10) Pick an element for them! What is it?

For Jean, that's kind of a tough one but it'd probably be lightning! It's quick and flashy! I think she'd like the feeling of the crackle too! Plus she wouldn't need an Amp anymore! She would be the Amp!

26) What are their loved/liked gifts?

Oh! This isn't something I've thought a lot about! So thanks for asking this one!

Loved: Honey, pins and patches, stupid stickers, anything she can wear that will remind her of you, home cooked meals! (She cannot cook for shit, please help her.),

If you give her cds and records, she's on one knee with a ring out. Congratulations.

Liked: Any cool rock you find, plants (the only reason this isn't love, is because she's afraid she'll kill it and it'll make her sad), guitar picks, and energy drinks!

27) What are their hated/disliked gifts?

Again! Not something I thought about! This one is gonna be tricky Jean's not usually a picky person! She's just happy you thought of her.

Hated: anything too expensive - she's not a fan of people spending too much money on her, money (she'd rather you just keep it and use it on yourself)

Oh! Nuts! She's allergic! So she'll die. (Because that stupid ass will want to eat them very badly.)

Dislikes: Most gems (again, it's a bit too much. It's not that she doesn't appreciate it. It's just..not her style). Books (again, not that she doesn't appreciate it, she just won't have the time to read it.) She can't read.

And then probably things like mugs? She's never home so again it's another gift that will just collect dust.

[sharp-rosee]

Hey funny story: I haven't been around Tumblr at all for months, but today someone told me menalez had deactivated or something so I came on here and looked it up. First result was a post by you, i checked out your blog and wouldn't you know it your most recent post had you defending me post mortem lmfao. I sent an anon to the other woman too but it seems she won't post it so to clarify to you: when I supposedly said "studies showing violence suffered by bisexuals are cringe and useless" what I remember thinking about that is that those studies that I've seen are never used to try to understand why bisexuals suffer such insane rates of violence (more than homosexuals) and trying to stop it. I've only seen them be used as battering rams in discourse when homosexuals criticize bisexuals. Which is crazy for such a serious issue and totally trivializes it lol. Also that my explanation for it was that such studies show that many abused people incorrectly id as bi for a time. You can disagree or wtv just those were my points, she made it sound like I'm cheering on women beating if they're bi or something. Also your defense of me (thanks queen lol) is accurate if you were wondering. I used to be sorta pro strict separatism but I outgrew the anger/ denial phase of "most women will partner with men" and reached acceptance. Most people are built for romantic partnership, that's just human nature, I can't be hating het women just because their lot in life in that means they're more likely to be abused. Just because I'm not drawn to men, or even much to romance, doesn't mean I should act like that's everyone else too and judge them on that standard, I accept reality and want women to be safe within that rather than pointlessly hate on them and get all worked up because some women have boyfriends..

Well I'm also a mean asshole, I'm sure you noticed, and I definitely would give the bi girlies on radblr a hard time here at the time lol. I don't have the "one side" sort of takes on this divide on radblr. It was funny but I can't feel the energy to that anymore since leaving tumblr, way too few bis or gays irl to care about that stuff. But at the end of the day these are my actual takes on all that disk horse. Funny to see it immediately on such a causal stroll around here lol

-sleep3r4gent

QUEEN I used to follow you ♡ at least when I was crypto a few years back I did.

Also, I'm glad you clarified because the way some women on here seem to hallucinate things they read almost makes me feel insane as well. Like you sending an ask saying you never thought of a certain perspective is not indicative of you agreeing and obviously one can change their opinions over time.

I really have no opinion either way tbh, I myself am straight and in a relationship, and have had others on my last blog send some anons calling me a "dick worshipper" and other misogynistic BS, but they stopped once I didn't let it bother me much. It's so obviously a group of trolls that it's embarrassing that they still believe it enough to keep bringing back the same users, some like you who aren't even misogynistic, to further their persecution complex.

It even is more annoying because these are the women who made Mena/Moideater leave, the above drama is a big reason why. The way radblr will still reblog posts from very racist blogs and not bat an eye but then freak out over a clique of women who aren't even radfems really does show what demographic makes up this site.

I know it gets exhausting to be involved in arguments, but it's nice to know you're still somewhat around. I hope you, Mena and Moid come back someday. If not I understand. But I'll never forget any of them and I haven't forgotten you 😭😭😭

[gemini-sensei]

You have a point! The fight totally wouldn't happen! Along with that, Demetri also wouldn't out Eli's medical issue. Like a ton of shit would be avoided if they all decided to chill out lol

I also love how well you know Yasmine! I definitely think she'd gravitate towards the "ew" perspective of pregnancy LOL but also I can see her telling Kyler to go die if he's ever mean to the sweet pregnant girl again ��� Yasmine and Moon would definitely spoil that baby though, and who wouldn't? She'd have big blue eyes and gorgeous brown curls 🥹

I wonder how the CK people would find their way from Kreese & Silver this time, though? Maybe Aisha, Sam, and Reader find their way back to being friends again and she brings Tory around bc everyone very highkey wants to see the baby??

I think Tory, without all that romantic jealousy, would be really open to a more peaceful perspective. Like she see's Sam and is PISSED but then she notices that Sam and Robby are completely infatuated with each other, and ofc Miguel has been over her for months. And also there is just a cute baby being handed around, so she can't be all that mad??

Maybe she meets the LaRusso family and sees how kind they are- maybe she's complaining about her shithole job and Mr. LaRusso decides to give her a nice paying internship (because he's trying to be better with second chances and he can tell that she really needs it) and Aisha and Tory kind of usher in this change for the rest of the Cobras?

Ugh I love slice of life where everything goes well LOL sorry 🫶🏽

Thank you for letting me think about this for so long :) - 🌼

Sorry this took a few days to get to. I've not been sleeping well. But omg this is amazing. I still absolutely love this and you make so many great points. Also, I couldn't think of a name for the baby, so she's lovingly referred to as Babygirl so y'all came fill in with whatever name ya want 💗

All the things that wouldn't happen would mean the whole trajectory of the show would change up a bit. However, I think Kreese would still be a manipulative shit and manage to keep ahold of Miguel, Tory, and the other Cobras for a while. Aisha, not so much but she stays in CK but just doesn't take a lot of Kreese's lessons to heart.

While Reader and Eli aren't in school, getting used to having a newborn around and such, the karate drama has some time to get bad. It would get bad. With Kreese instigating a lot from his end, the Cobras would start some bullshit with the Miyagi-Dos (the school rules wouldn't have been changed so there's a lot more freedom for stuff to just happen and it be played off as a joke or some karate practice). It's a hot mess.

Meanwhile, Reader and Eli are at home with their precious baby girl who is just too cute to even comprehend. Reader never wants to leave her side and Eli never wants to leave their side. It's so adorable, they're adorable. They are such a cute family.

The first few days, Daniel and Amanda rotated staying home with them to help out, especially since Reader literally just gave birth and needs to rest. However, over time, they leave the new family to figure things out on their own when both her parents have to go to work. Eli practically lives at the LaRusso house now because he'll be damned if he leaves his little family ever. He's so sad when he has to go back to school because why would he do that? Why does he have to do that? But ever the diligent student, Eli caves and goes to school, only to learn shit with Cobra Kai has gotten bad and in all honesty, he'd forgotten about the dojo war. Of course, he did, he has a new baby at home and a girlfriend who literally just gave birth. He has better things to worry about, but he doesn't mind putting some Cobra bullies in their place while he's at school.

Sam, Moon, and Yasmine love the baby. She's just too cute not to love. Yasmine won't hold her because she's probably never held a baby in her life and the thought terrifies her. She will buy so many cute outfits for the baby girl though. She's so happy it's a girl because she buys little dresses that she'll have to grow into and other little outfits. Yasmine also buys matching outfits for Reader and Babygirl to wear because that's "so cute." Moon buys all sorts of stuff, from toys to baby books about the environment. She probably helped design the nursery with Sam in all honesty. And Sam just wants to hold her niece as much as possible. She loves being an aunt and rocking the little one. She literally gets up in the middle of the night if Babygirl is crying to take care of her because she loves her so much and her sister needs some sleep.

And while those three definitely spoil the baby, Daniel outshines them in that category in all honesty. Sure, there are some leftover toys and furniture from when Sam, Reader, and Anthony were babies, but he goes all out and buys his first grandbaby new toys and a crib because he thinks she deserves it. He and Eli put the whole nursery together, asking himself why Sam and Moon were bossing them around and telling them where to put everything. He is hard-pressed to put Babygirl down when he holds her because "no one loves her more than grandpa." He was buying so much, Amanda had to sit him down and tell him so stop because this is insanity; they didn't even spend as much on their own kids when one of them was born. He pouts about it as he's put on a limit but is still thinking about the next thing he's going to buy his granddaughter.

When Reader returns to school with her newborn, she gets to see firsthand what a shit show it's become, at least when it comes to her sister and their friends. Everyone else is pretty chill. A ton of people wanna meet the baby and she's kind to them and talks to them about how their older siblings have kids or they have baby cousins. It's a warm welcome.

As she gets used to going to school with Babygirl, her friends are right by her side. Eli or Sam had done a lot of her schoolwork she was missing, going back to teach it to her when she wasn't feeding Babygirl or sleeping. But now she has to start doing things on her own again, not that those two still aren't trying to help her. She refuses their offers to do her homework for her because she really does have to do it on her own. So, they just help with whatever else they can, and the same goes for the rest of their friends. Demetri pitches in to explain anything Reader needs help with in a subject he's superb in; Robby takes on his uncle role at school and does whatever Reader needs (usually Robby just wants to carry the diaper bag because he's still getting used to the baby, he's also a little awkward around babies and young children); Yasmine is moral support while Moon will happily take Babygirl off Reader's hands during her free period.

Their attention is completely diverted from CK and they ignore the opposing dojo a lot better with Babygirl around. The Cobras take notice and kind of don't do anything at school or when Reader is around. To cause violence or spit volatile words at the group when there's a baby around kind of goes way past what some of them are willing to do. Unless you're an idiot like Kyler, who doesn't care who is around or why it's wrong, because he's always right in his opinion.

This is when Aisha would start to come around again and Reader and Sam are very receptive to her presence. Reader would be so excited to introduce her baby girl to her longtime friend. Aisha gets to hold her and tells her how awesome her mom is. It really helps their friendship, which Reader never thought of as broken, just lost. Sam is so excited, she's taking pictures of everything as it happens. She's gonna turn into her dad with scrapbooks and photo albums, I swear.

As they start hanging out more, Aisha gets a lot of questions from the Cobras, mostly Tory and Miguel. Tory doesn't want to seem so interested in whatever the other dojo is doing but she really doesn't have a reason to be mad. Miguel hasn't mentioned Sam or the others in months, so really all she has to be mad at Sam for is being uppity and accusing her of stealing, which is so far in the past now it's barely a memory to either of them. So they're watching from afar as their supposed rivals and former friends all fuss over this adorable little baby.

Aisha finally asks if they want her to ask if it's okay if they hangout with them one night because they're gonna have a study/movie night (something they do to help the new parents get through school and relax a little). Tory and Miguel aren't entirely sure but Aisha asks anyway. At first, the MDs are a little apprehensive, but Reader is all for it. She happily says, "Sure, why not? They don't seem all that bad."

Eli is on edge because this is his former best friend Miguel and his girlfriend Tory who swore to hate them. He sits beside Reader the whole night and barely gets anything done because he's so worried about this being some scheme of CK's to get back at them for just being a rival dojo. However, as the evening goes on, he relaxes as they don't say or do anything malicious or scheming. Miguel is gushing over the baby and Tory is laidback with a smile as she watches him melt into the sappy guy she knows he is (because in CK under Kreese, he'd be a tough guy with a hard exterior). It's a nice change of pace for everyone.

In the middle of their study session, Daniel and Amanda come home and meet Miguel and Tory. They recognize Miguel from the AVT but Tory is pretty much new to them. They're welcoming because even though they are Cobras, Daniel sees the look Sam is giving him while Reader is cooing at Babygirl. He knows better than to say something to either of them even though he doesn't want any part of Cobra Kai in his home (sans Johnny who is trying to rebuild his relationship with Robby, who refuses to live with him and is still sleeping in the home dojo). Amanda walks away saying she'll order pizza for everyone and it's a great night for everyone.

Tory blows off her homework in favor of complaining about work and hating her job. She's tired of her boss being a creep and at hearing this, Miguel gets super protective and looks so mean. His Cobra is showing but she tells him to calm down because he knows she can take care of himself. He's still a little mad though because he just doesn't like hearing that women get treated badly by creepy bosses, especially his girlfriend. Reader suggests finding another job but Tory explains that it's not that easy because everyone wants something different from her.

Daniel can't help but overhear the conversation but doesn't do anything about it that night. He lets the teens enjoy their movie and pizza after their homework, the first movie a kids movie for Babygirl before Reader puts her to sleep upstairs and then they watch a movie everyone wants to watch.

The next time Tory comes over, he offers her that internship with pay. He talked about it with his daughters first, asking their opinion and if they'd be okay if Tory came to work for him. They were okay with it and he offers the position to Tory, who takes it only after asking a ton of questions - like if Reader put him up to this. He explains that this was all him and that everyone deserves to have second chances, then adds in how Eli works for him half-time to build workplace experience and give him some money to put away for other expenses down the line. The next week, Tory is wearing a nice dress and working under Amanda only to realize she doesn't like it that much and asks to be put in the shop where she can actually do something (mechanic!Tory anyone?). Daniel doesn't mind going in and working on cars with her and it's actually really nice, and he promises her that if anyone is creepy toward her, he'd beat them up himself before firing them.

It wouldn't be long after that, Miguel and Tory leave Cobra Kai with Aisha. They would start to see some things that just weren't right, and especially hearing some stories about Kreese from Daniel and Johnny. They'd apologize to Johnny for not listening to him and thinking he didn't know what he was talking about. They probably take a step back from karate for a bit until Aisha suggests they all join Miyagi-Do. It would be a welcome change for the teens and they'd happily do it.

Behind all the slice-of-life cuteness and warmth, Kreese is still building up Cobra Kai to his image of former glory. He'll still have people like Kyler and loyal Cobras under his thumb, and use his manipulation to recruit more students and later Terry Silver. A baby can bring a lot of people together but he swears it won't stop him. So what if that baby girl took away his best students? If they were persuaded by a baby, then they weren't strong enough to be in Cobra Kai anyway. So, unfortunately, Babygirl won't be enough to stop this all-out karate war...

[set-wingedwarrior]

I should have known that people would have acted annoying about the Team's reunion and, after the dumb takes I saw, here I am to make a breakdown of their reactions in relation to the context because that's defenitely how my psychology majoring is supposed to be used apparently

Before I dig specifically to each character I'd like to remind people that, like Weiss herself said, everything happened so fast. It's not just that the time itself wasn't that much. In between the fight and them trying to find each other in the Ever After it would have been, what? An hour?

It's been 2 years for us guys, for them it isn't that much time to justify the super touchy and hugs reunion like we got in V5, or V6 in Argus, or V8 when they meet back (except for Blake, but I'll get there). You all need to remember that media in general for stories like this aren't your fluffy fanfic full of feelings and hugs and kisses all the time.

Now, welcome to my psychology class! First on our list, our one and only traumatized team leader child, Ruby Rose.

"Why didn't ruby rush to hug her sister?"

Well, let's see it from her point of view; actually, we litterally saw it at the start of the episode! We saw how fast everything went from her eyes!

She had to go in fight mode in a fucking instant because, differently from Blake (who was trying to jump after Yang) and Weiss (who was busy stopping her), Ruby has been attacked immediately by Neo after her firt attempt at her life failed. She didn't even have the time to process what happened because she was already fighting for dear life!

Our brains are very resourceful machines that always try to save energy (it's why stereotypes exist, it's our brains identifying stuff by one thing to not think about it too hard), and considering how complex and crippling the feeling of loss is, and how much it takes to process, in a life or death situation our brains would just shut it down.

Because we're all different people it might not work the same for everyone, but Ruby is a trained fighter, she's a huntress, her body and mind falling in fighting mode is actually the most logical reaction in the given situation because it falls both on habit and instinct.

And given that she didn't even have the time to process the the thought that Yang might have been dead (even during the fucking fall she had to fight Neo still, give my girl a break!!), it's very reasonable that despite the frustration and stress of everything else in the Ever After, she wasn't too worried about Yan'g safety. Because she never got time to even think "I lost her" that she got in the very same situation. So, "If I fell and I'm here and I'm okay, then Yang is too, she must be fine".

Besides, Ruby did run towards her after fighting the thing!

Yang just interrupted her with her "Dammitt! You're not supposed to be here!" before Ruby settled to get near her and "If you thought we wouldn't come for you then you must have forgotten who raised me", so any argument about them not caring is just really dumb.

In conclusion, considering that she found out that her sister was probably okay before her brain could have even processed the concept of her loss, and all happening in a very short spawn of time, it makes 100% sense that Ruby wouldn't need to jump in her arms and cry or whatever. They're in a weird place but they are okay and that's all that matters (before Ruby will discover the horrors of what happened after she fell and the horrors of her quickly approaching breakdown, but that's for another time!)

Blake on the other hand.

Blake is the one that speed into action the moment she saw Yang fall. When chaos wa around nobody went to attack her, she saw Yang disappear in the void. Now, she got to feel the loss, the pain, the weight of failure because she failed to save her!

And her first reaction was to fucking jump after her. Because she couldn't fail, she couldn't lose her, she must save her! And Weiss had to drag her up the platform herself to stop her from doing so because they had a job to do and Blake was blinded by pain!

Then, she got blinded by rage. It wasn't her fault, it was Neo! And Cinder! And I think that in that moment of emotional disregulation it's reasonable to think that Blake wasn't acting for the good of Mantle, of the plan, or anything else. We all saw it in her eyes, it was pure rage, she wanted revenge! And that's completely reasonable in that given moment. She saw the love of her life DIE because of them, OF FUCKING COURSE SHE'S BLINDED BY SUCH POWERFUL EMOTION.

As you can probably already tell, Ruby and Blake's actions are dictated by very different feelings! Even if the action itself, fighting, is the same, the mindset and motivations differ completely!

So, what happens when she meets Yang again? That after the danger is over (because it's not like she dropped everything, they fought the thing and waited for the situation to calm down and be safe. She also waited for Ruby to say her things first tbf) she fucking runs to tackle her!

Because Blake actually got to see and feel the loss! She thought she had lost her! She thought that she died because she wasn't fast enough! So, even regardless of the romantic feelings (that obviously play a part because come on, they've been inseparable for volumes now, it's obvious that she would have felt it all that harder), it makes sense that Blake's the one to feel pure utter relief in seeing Yang still alive! And she'd need to go to her, feel that she's there with her!

Now, probably the most complex one to explain: Weiss.

In a way, she's middle ground between Ruby and Blake. Weiss wasn't attacked right away either, but she had to jump in action to stop Blake. That means that she stopped to see what was happening and at Yang's "death" she just assumed what Blake was about to do or else she wouldn't have ad the time to stop her (we saw how fast Blake was)

That means that, in some way, she got to take in what was going on before going in fight mode, but she still didn't get to process it herself because she needed to act on the others' behalf. Where Ruby was litterally just hanging in there and Blake was blinded by her pain, both of them against Neo, Weiss saw what happened and told to herself "I must keep going with the plan, I must protect who's left, I can't let Yang''s sacrifice go to waste" and went to fight Cinder alone (until Penny arrives).

Weiss during the fight is the one more "emotionally stable" (more like she efficiently locked them to be functional in the fight), she's well aware of what is going on and doing her best. In this mindset, she got to fight but also to see more clearly everything that is happening.

She's also the one who stayed there the longest. She's the one who saw the worst because she's been there long enough to witness more horrors, but despite the awareness she didn't get the time to really feel them. When does she though?

After she saw all of her teammates, her family, die. When she's almost completely alone. Only her Penny and Jaune left, Cinder towering them while she's using Gambol Shroud, everything she has left of her family, to try keep fighting. Because at that point there's less chaos, less things to prioritize her focus on, the evacuation is done, she just has to not let Cinder get Penny's powers.

We didn't see Weiss and Blake finding each other, but my guess is that either there was a hug off screen or, more likely, she kept it together because they logically needed their weapons and teammates back first. She then chooses to stay focused (and cheer for Blake, bless her), and work, and shuts down every question about what happened because she knows that talking about it would break her down and be a distraction from their objective.

Which is why she doesn't speak until they're all together: withouth a distraction, she's crying before she even got to start.

The pain added up and got to her, and I'm pretty sure that Ruby's big reaction wasn't just because of the news on their own, but also the feelings Weiss was letting out while telling them (you know when you feel someone is feeling bad even when they don't tell you nor openly act up on it? And you still feel deeply bad/uncmofortable?).

I got overboarded here, but in short Weiss didn't act too clingy in the reunion either because she was busy staying focused first and then dealing with EVERYTHING that happened earlier and that she needed to tell them. Like, after getting both to Blake and Ruby, Yang's safety was basically 100% sure anyway, so. And, again, everything happened so fast.

It's been 2 long years for us. Not for them. So, to the people who have been complaining, you're just projecting your own personal feelings on them and then calling it bad writing when they're not acting like you feel right now.

Class dismissed.

[jolalibrary]

Hi, Jo💜 for #mmvalentinesevent can i request back hugs with Ghost and Helen? Preferably something as simple when they're on their rarer days off and just doing their thing spending quality time with one another? If you're up for it, I'll leave the rest of the details up to you. 🫶

gimme your hand. your heart.

simon ghost riley x f!reader (helen!reader)

part of the #mmvalentinesevent || wc: 1k an: helen is her callsign. not her name.

Ghost likes her being next to him.

He's thought it for a while. Letting it thicken at the back of his throat, almost dripping from his tongue when she suggests going to her own room. He never says it, just tugs her close, a silent declaration.

Now, whenever time allows, she is here. Her room becoming a place she only goes when he isn't here and when the hours are ‘inconvenient’.

Sometimes, she goes there when it's been a really shit day. When she says she can’t people—her eyes glassy and her skin drained. If he's around, he always pulls her to his, let’s her lie in her usual place, in one of his t-shirts.

Ghost doesn’t see the point in her not sleeping in his room. The space she takes up is never used anyway. Even if heavy sleep pulls him under, he unconsciously doesn't move into it. Lets reality kiss the tips of his fingers when he wakes up and she’s not there—feeling cold when it should be warm, allowing himself a moment to miss her, before he stuffs the longing deep down.

He's thankful those days are few and far better. Just like he's grateful more of his days off duty line up with hers.

"You know," she says, taking his hand in hers. Her body pressed against his, mask forgotten, draped over the inside door handle. "You didn't have to injure yourself to have a day off with me."

"Didn't."

She squeezes his hand, watching his eyes as he grimaces. Bitch.

"It would hurt less if you moisturised the area. It stings because it's scabbing and your hands are as dry as sandpaper."

"Y'weren't complaining earlier."

She gives him a look before her body twists, turning her face from his—sliding from his hold as she grabs the bottle she always leaves.

"Wouldn't have hurt if you didn't fuckin' squeeze it, either," he adds.

She shoots him another look. He's getting good at understanding each one, each slight infliction of a brow or curl of her lip. Her hand holds the obnoxiously large bottle, the one that looks normally-sized in his own. The one which has found itself a permanent residence in his room, and not hers. Ghost is sure she'll never reach the bottom, even if she's always squeezing from it, covering her hands, arms and legs in it.

He doesn't hate it: the smell or the way it makes her skin feel. Liked how it felt when he pulled her close when he kissed his way from her fingers to her wrist to her elbows.

The noise of the contents spilling into her hand fill the space. It almost tugs a childish smirk from him—almost. He could always watch her do mundane things.

Watching her swirl a white pattern into her palm before gesturing for his hand. One he gives, all with a half-roll of his eyes.

"I think you're a masochist. Enjoy feeling the injuries from your latest adventure."

He says nothing, which only makes her smirk, all light and knowing—and more than enough to make his heart skip.

He lets her run the cream over his skin, over his fingers, bones and knuckles. But then, he lets her do so much that he'd never allow others to do.

It soaks in quickly, but her thumbs continue. Lightly applying pressure to his joints, to his muscles and ligaments. It's nice, different. Her eyes fixed on his skin, and his fixed on her.

She could stop his heart if she tried.

If she compelled him to, he'd stop it for her. Rip it out his goddamn chest and hand it to her. He'd show her all the places inside of him she's taken up—that he's willingly allowed her to carve as her own. Places he's longed thought would never be filled.

"Could do this more often..." Her eyes flick up to him, washing him in shades he'll never be able to name. "Massage you. Do something other than have you moaning my name."

Fuck, he wants to kiss her.

Smother his mouth over her fucking smirk and taste the words she's just said.

"Think you'd miss how good I make you feel, Helen."

She slows her touch, digging it deeper into the space between his index and thumb. "Your ego astounds me. It should be studied."

"I don't have an ego." He places his other hand over hers, feeling the leftover cream soak into his palm, "Just know what I'm good at."

She bites back a smirk. He can tell. Knows from the slight narrowing of her eyes and the way she dips her chin for a moment before she pretends she's defiant. If he touches her cheeks, he knows they'd be searing, likely soaked her underwear too, if he were to check.

"What? Getting scars..."

His tongue darts into his cheek as her hand lets go of him, kneeling up before stepping from her place on his bed.

It's fleeting, the urge to pull her back to him, crash his lips against her mouth, but he doesn't. Letting her go, hating the emptiness he feels sitting on the bed when she heads into his bathroom.

He stands because of it. Stands because he has to.

His eyes peer through the gap in the door, settling himself at the sight of her. Fingers twitching, ever so slightly until she turns, and smiles.

"What?"

"C'mere."

Her lips curl up, smiling, running her hand briefly over a towel before crossing to him. He turns her when she's in reach, her back to his chest, her little oof lost to the room as she melts into him. Just like he knew she would.

Slowly, he rests his chin on her head, sliding his arms around her waist, pulling her wrists close to her body. Taking in the scent of her hair, the way she hasn't moved—allowing him this.

"You're getting good at this. Hugging."

He digs his chin a little into her hair. "Shut up, Helen."

Her fingers brush over his, looping themselves in between his as she sighs. Not in annoyance, but more in content. Something he does himself a few minutes later.

"Thank you."

"What was that?" her head twisting, eyes looking up at him.

Sparkling, shining—like the stars do when the sky is dark and empty of everything else but them.

"Thank. You."

"For..."

Everything, he thinks. Instead, he turns his hand slightly in hers, and she smiles—softer, sweeter. "Y-you're welcome, Simon."

She motions to move, but he simply holds her tighter. His eyes looking at her, pleading almost—Don't make me fuckin' ask you to stay, Helen.

So she doesn't.

She just remains, back to his chest, head under his chin, fingers in between his.

[james-stark-the-writer]

rewatching The Conjuring series for the first time since like 2019 (when Annabelle Comes Homes released in theaters i binged the whole series and it's probably on my twitter archive if you go scrolling back enough, but i haven't seen any of these movies since) bc i honestly do not remember most of what happened in the movies, and Alanda Parker just started getting into the series so figured i might as well get a refresher. and i'm just getting to the title card for the first The Conjuring movie and like i had forgotten how good the title card itself was just as a piece of typography and how it felt to see like it's a great title card, but also just how desperate the opening was to get you scared. like even Insidious let us breathe with the characters a little bit, like The Conjuring is so desperate to get you scared from the first second, it even plays loud sounds in the opening studio credits, and it's only partly effective as an opener bc it's James Wan behind the camera, but the framing really doesn't help it shdhsdhsbd, and the whole opener is just such an odd structural choice and such a weird way to open the movie.

so much of this opening 6 minutes is just exposition after exposition that's completely irrelevant to the rest of the movie, and only really matters as an introduction to Ed and Lorraine — which could have been done better with like actual introduction to them as people, see the second movie — and the idea that demons only possess people, for that third act "twist," and the rest of the sequence really is pretty meaningless to the rest of the movie, if i remember correctly. it's interesting worldbuilding but Insidious did it way better. like it's just strange that it's really barely even an interesting or important opening bc those two things are really the only relevant part of that entire sequence because the rest of the information is just in the text crawl that comes before the title card. fuck, the text crawl gives you more info about Ed and Lorraine than the fucking scene does bc it doesn't give you much of their dynamic. it's a fine tone-setter ig but i'd rather see the actual relevant stuff, or get a longer scene of the actual talk, instead of it being weirdly mediated through the video, which has the same framing as the fucking movie bc it does a match cut to outside the video so i'm confused on why the hell the Warrens would ever put so much emphasis on the doll's face (and where the camera is bc we don't even see it in any frame like when Ed leans forward like shouldn't the diegetic camera be visible? like it's the 60s, that shit would be huge and clearly visible. but then the placement of it would make it an odd choice in-world too since, wouldn't you want to capture the actual faces of the people since they're giving the testimony? like the whole framing and reveal that it's an actual video just raises more questions than necessary imo) bc like. she's not even sitting across from them. also, ngl, Vera's dialogue delivery... oh she was completely checked out.

sigh. anyway, now that movie's actually started, excited to see what Wan was cooking.

[textingtroublesanswers]

The same lil she gremlin sees medic and drops her stuff she was carrying. WHOA… he is the THE LUDWIG… she drops all her engie stuff and races to him and hugs him. She’s never seen THE LUDWIG, before. She looks like this is the best day of her life. She’s clearly young and very impressionable. But she looks like the engie debockle has completely been forgotten meeting The Doc. She looks elated

Ludwig looks down at the little gremlin hugging his leg.

"Doktor?" Mikhail sits up in their bed, looking over. Maria, who had been sitting on his chest & playing a very chaotic game of patty cake, slides off him & onto the bed, right into the semi-neatly ordered line of organ plushies. Emil lets out a little growl & begins fussing at having his toys messed with.

"Ja? I'm coming." Ludwig picks up the little gremlin by the scruff & sets her down on the cot near Heracles. He's not happy that the two gremlins are here, but Heracles refused to move from his spot, & the baby gremlin clearly doesn't want to leave him either.

"What is doktor thinking about?" Mikhail asks him, opening his arms for Lutz to slide right into a cosy hug.

Ludwig rubs his face against Misha's cheek, humming, "I'm thinking about what this would be like if we hadn't returned to work for Mann Co. If we had moved to a cottage somewhere where it is warm for most of the year, but not stiflingly so, & we were just far out enough to not be bothered by civilisation. Just the two of us, & the Kinder, & all the time in the world for napping together & playing chess & reading & cultivating strawberries."

"Doktor wants strawberries?" Mikhail asks with a chuckle.

"They're my favourites. We would have a little garden, & I would learn how to make jams, & juices, & I would make us strawberry popsicles to have in the summer. Or I could make strawberry syrup to put into our tea, & we might sell the extras to our neighbours even though we wouldn't need the money after our contracts ended. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Mikhail smiles down at him softly, leaning down until he is certain his husband can see every little detail of the love in his eyes, "Da. Would let babies play in strawberry bushes & then laugh when they get juice all over them."

"Misha?"

"Yes, муж."

"Sometimes, I want to just run away with you & start my life anew. Change my name, cut my hair differently, & forget about that entire period of my life since I first joined the army. I want to be with you, as if I was still a young man & we were only just beginning to fall in love." Mikhail adjusts them both, until they can comfortably press their foreheads together, breathing in tandem & their hearts beating in unity.

"Four years. Four years, & then we do leave. We do whatever we want, doktor, even change identities."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Ich liebe dich."

"я тебя люблю."

[dragonagitator]

I started out just wanting to write a "Modern Girl in Faerun" author self-insert fanfic of BG3 in the tradition of all the "Modern Girl in Thedas" fanfics I've enjoyed over the years in the Dragon Age fandom. You know, someone who has played the game gets transported to the world of the game and uses her foreknowledge of events to steer for the best ending and pursue her favorite romance, yadda yadda yadda.

And then I thought, oh, I should also write a sequel from Gale's perspective that runs parallel to the first story that's about him trying to figure out if she's just crazy or what.

I decided that while my MGIF character will be successful in using her foreknowledge of events to achieve the best or even better outcomes for the main events of the game, it would be hilarious if that same foreknowledge of events also led to her inadvertently flubbing every single scripted romance progression scene with Gale so that it ends up being an even slower burn than canon.

Meanwhile, most of the companions (including Gale) don't believe her story about how they're fictional characters in an interactive story she's played as a game because there are so many other plausible in-world explanations for why someone would have her foreknowledge of events. So Gale thinks she's mentally unwell, and he struggles with the ethics of pursuing a romantic relationship with someone whose interest in him is at least partially predicated on (what he believes to be) delusions.

It works out in the end, but Gale's perspective of what the fuck is going on is so divergent from hers that it would be a fundamentally different narrative.

And then as I was researching Forgotten Realms lore for the first set of stories, I realized it would be hilarious if I wrote a post-canon sequel about Gale and the MCIF trying to plan their wedding in Waterdeep while the events of the D&D modules Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage are unfolding in the background.

And then while I was researching stuff for that, I learned that it's Forgotten Realms canon that Elminster knows about Earth, has a portal to Ed Greenwood's house, and regularly visits Ed and few other D&D authors to give them more lore to write about.

So then I realize that while the Elminster we meet during BG3 is actually a Simulacrum and thus wouldn't be privy to anything Elminster didn't think it needed to know for its mission, presumably the real Elminster would show up for Gale's wedding. So if Gale happened to mention his new wife's unfortunate "delusions" to Elminster, Elminster could rock Gale's world by confirming no she's been right all along. Thank you, Elminster, for the best gift a bride could ever receive: the opportunity to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" to her husband. Lol.

And then I thought if Elminster has a portal to Ed's house in Toronto, what if Gale and the MCIF eventually used that portal to flee to Earth for some reason? Either to escape the reach of Mystra, or maybe because their child has a condition that's treatable on Earth but not with Faerun magic/medicine ala Outlander?

Then we could have another story in the series that's a reversal of the first story's trope -- a "Faerun Character in Modern Earth" story of Gale going through culture shock while also losing his connection to the Weave and thus losing all his wizard powers AGAIN. Mmmm angsty.

This is my first time writing fanfic, I've only written a fraction of the first story so far, and I've already come up with at least three sequels I need to write too.

What.

The.

Fuck.

I now fully understand what fanfic authors mean when they cry about "the plot bunnies are multiplying."

[submarinefleet]

Can you do the ladies of PFL with an s/o that is just a civilian but is impossibly durable? Like if they got shot by a bullet it wouldn't go through them/barely would or if they got run over by a tank they'd get out mostly fine except for maybe a sprained or broken limb, not an absolutely crushed one. They could probably take a point blank explosion and walk away with only slight burns and minor pain from impact.

Tex actually really appreciates how durable her partner is. She's used them as a meat shield before in a pinch, but she doesn't like making a habit of it, and generally doesn't involve them in her business to begin with. She likes that she can wrestle and be rough with them and they can take it like a champ, even with her enhanced strength. She does get a little huffy that she can't leave bite marks and hickeys on them that easily, but she doesn't dwell on that. She gives them affectionate punches in the arm as often as kisses.

Carolina is honestly a little disturbed whenever she bears witness to her partner's freakish durability, but seeing them survive is still more of a relief than anything else. She feels guilty about it, but she's used them as a meat shield at least once. It's on instinct! Somewhere along the way, some wires got crossed, and she subconsciously put them in the mental basket Maine used to inhabit of being the bulwark at her back. The absolute last thing she ever wants to do is make them feel like she doesn't care about their well-being, though, and the shame makes her get defensive and try to hide. She always comes around in the end though, with apologetic kisses and some kind of present.

South ABSOLUTELY uses her partner as a meat shield-- but never in combat. She just goes out of her way to instigate things, so she can dive behind them with a cackle. She's like a kid with a toy that doubles as a stress ball. Whenever she's in a good mood she'll give them a few punches, whenever she's antsy she'll given them a few punches-- she'll gnaw on them, wrestle them, pick them up and toss them around like a beanbag. Maybe lay on her back and treat them like she's rolling a barrel with her feet whenever it's leg day. It gets pretty excessive, but she'll stop and pout if they get annoyed and tell her that's enough. They're her hyper-durable teddy bear, and she falls asleep squeezing them more often than she'd care to admit. Having them on hand relaxes her.

Connie is nonplussed. She's the only one of the PFL ladies who has never used her partner as a meat shield even once. It was a shock the first time she saw them survive something crazy, and she questioned them thoroughly--ex-SPARTAN? Another unethical UNSC project to try and win the war?--before she added the new information to her mental dossier, and continued on as if nothing happened (although that's not true at all. She's still to this day digging into their background and family history in her spare time trying to figure out where they got it from, to find out if there are any unpleasant side-effects to watch out for down the line). She's relieved they survive what they do, but plans meticulously to keep them out of harms way all the same. The fact that they're a civilian is never forgotten.

479er goes from a verbal "what the fuck?" the first time she witnesses her partner survive an explosion, to thinking it's the absolute funniest shit ever. Whenever company's around and she's had a few beers, she wants her partner to do stunts to show it off. She cackles at all the shocked expressions. Otherwise, it doesn't really come up, beyond her insisting they be the one to climb ladders, and stick their hand down the garbage disposal to fish stuff out whenever she's home. She hasn't needed to use them as a meat shield before, but absolutely would without a second thought, if it ever came up. Don't look at her like that! Some of us are ordinary, non-bulletproof humans, okay?

[horizon-verizon]

I liked the fight itself, but I was like: girly what’s the plan tho?????

Jace is politically astute and a great diplomat but he’s still a teenager, Rhaenys is going to die...The funny thing is even after saying that she cannot trust him he’s still going to raise an army and take Harrenhal for her. Has she forgotten he was going to stay in Pentos forever until she BEGGED him to stay because she needed him to fight a war for her ?

In F&B, Daemon kills Vhagar and eliminates the Green’s blockage in the Riverlands. The Winter Wolves and the knights of the Vale came down to aid the Blacks in the Riverlands. Reaching King’s Landing, making the Greens panic, poison their own king, and crown Rhaenyra’s son. Daemon’s efforts might not have saved Rhanerya in time but they did aid their son and his daughters’ safety.

I believe the sort of "trust" Sara Hess was trying to define and reveal in this scene is the faith that Daemon would not use his proximity and relationship to her to do stuff that she cannot fix or direct the effect on herself. But she makes it focus more on Daemon trying to rule through her and not him deciding things on his own/perhaps failing to do as he actually wishes which is to protect his family....as was canon and already hashed out even in this show's universe/writing.

Rhaenyra's reasoning is being put to question--for how she'd think to allow Daemon to be around her first 3 kids if she actually didn't trust his ambitions comes into question, and no Rhaenyra was not utterly stupid in canon. She marries the man knowing that he would support her and only her claim as well as be non-murderous or threatening to her and their eventual kids. The true story is that Daemon is a principal element to how Rhaenyra was able to garner support and in good time in critical spots of the realm--he was a good political partner as well and she espied that. So them being together at all or why she chose him (as the character she is now) is also called into question, just as Rhaenys and Corlys do not make sense together in the show.

The other issue is that even with Jaehaerys being a child, this isn't a world/society that will consider a child's death as reason enough for them to pull back support, or it's not an unconditional deal breaker. They may have some personal qualms, but many would see this as "blood for blood" for the death of Lucerys AND/OR keeping their oaths to Rhaenyra/Viserys. And especially what voluntary designation of heirs vs traditions over their ability to name an heir and that heir being able to keep their seats they way those lords intended. As rhaenin-time pointed out once, it's pretty dangerous to set the precedent that anyone could just accuse the heir of things and then carve out their way towards the seat not assigned to them. All this would rather motivate the lords over a child's death, esp when Aegon has another son to be his heir. Does that make them cruel and amoral, duh. But Hess and Condal are not actually being that true to the story/setting we got. They're acting like everyone is in this tightly interconnected, very tiny bubble of a community where the relationships between houses across the entire realm are very very personal and that their ethic system is similarly human-prioritized based as we try to make our own and it disrupts the logic of the story.

*EDIT* [7/13/24] This is not to say that child killing is wrong, I'm trying to point out that in the context of political support and Rhaenyra's ability to gather her own loyal vassals, that this wouldn't be the biggest turning factor for her to lose followers and potential ones, so the argument had to be about something else, which is was. *EDIT END*

It also contradicts how Ned rationalizes his treatment towards Cersei ("honor" over actual safety of vulnerable people) in the canon world, and don't get me started on how we make a double standard, as a fandom and reader, in how we praise Ned for how he tries to follow the line of honor or save his family by what he intended to allow to happen with Cersei--or risk happen--but suddenly Rhaenyra can't be the type of protagonist who marries Daemon for her own interests, love, to protect her family, etc.

Them and the rest do not really understand Daemon's character in relation to Rhaenyra nor the weight of all those social elements I described bc they didn't really bother to ponder over all these rules implications...they didn't even bother to really consider the effect of Aemond's kinslaying and the taboo around that (or some are just making this as immediately understandable to a 2024 audience, idk). Sure the court may not shame Aemond but there's the factor of them being in close proximity and immediate danger. And it still is in the back of their minds that this dude is too "crazy" to really follow sincerely....at least some of them. Which could affect the entire greens' standing and image.

Thus, while I do think that there's always a chance bk!Rhaenyra didn't trust Daemon to not mess up her own image in his own impulsivity (having some internal conflict of her own bc I don't think she'd be angry at the act to get blood for blood and still resent him for the outcome), show!Rhaenyra questions his hold on his ambitions instead of what he desires. We already went over his ambitions back in season 1 and he already proved that he wasn't with her or made a family with her to rule anything through her (so yes, his scene with Rhaenys in the first epi didn't make sense esp with how dumb it is to make him try to go to KL to kill Aemond...there's a reason why he sends B&C in canon instead!!!). The show should have really made Rhaenyra question his present desires and not past ambitions. Which is what Branwynwith of Twitter speaks to in their review of the episode.

But now, the team didn't think about how this would look to multiple different groups of people, thus, you know.

*7/14/24* I forgot to include that Daemon actually leaving for Harrenhal before getting their particulars and priorities in order, making any sort of plan as to how he's going to "make it up" or fulfill...not even him yelling out something along the lines of "watch me" concerning Harrenhal and his intent is insane even for him, this version. Again, does the show expect me to think Rhaenyra often has to plan around these events he causes whenever they fight and he crashes out?

[felikatze]

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.

[eisforeidolon]

Question: So I just rewatched the whole series again with my husband, who's over there. And it's so beloved for us - just like everybody here. And so I was wondering, do you guys have any shows or movies you rewatch or books you reread that are really cherished, and that - why do they mean something to you?

Jared: Awesome. Thank you. And where's your husband?

Question: He's over there.

Jared: [to husband] Hey, hey, thank you, buddy. Yeah, so twice? Y'all have seen it twice? Amazing.

Question: More than that, more than that.

Jared: I wasn't judging!

Jensen: I am.

Jared: Uh, yeah, I have some, like, feel good shows. I try not to reread books, believe it or not? I just feel like there are so many that I would love to read but I try to reread. I have reread Into Thin Air, John Krakauer. Awesome book. Yeah. And then when I find myself rewatching shows, it's from my childhood. I haven't forgotten Garfield, or Simpsons. Don't judge.

Audience member: Turtles!

Jared: Ninja turtles, for sure. That was a a special time -

Jensen: Which one?

Jared: Which turtle am I?

Jensen: Mmm-hmm.

Jared: Who's my favorite? Probably Michelangelo, but my favorite was Donatello. Yeah, and I always regret - I think it was because I could always find a stick and hit people with it? It's hard to find num-chuks, or a scythe, or swords - my parents wouldn't let me have those. I'd find a stick, though. I'd find a stick and pretend I was Donatello. And he was in the purple outfit, which was pretty good - [to someone in audience] No, I - Leonardo was pretty cool.

Jensen: Donatello was blue.

Jared: No, Leonardo was blue! How dare you.

Jensen: Raphael was red.

Jared: Raphael was red, Michelangelo was orange -

Jensen: Why are we talking about this? [to questioner] Thanks a lot, thanks a lot. And I see you, yeah, your wife's still pregnant, you might want to take care of that. She's been pregnant for ten years.

Jared: So when I do rewatch things, it's from my childhood. What about you?

Jensen: I have - this was unintentional, the show is just always on. But my daughter, my ten year old daughter, has found Friends. And I had forgotten how entertaining that show really, really is. So it's been fun to, y'know - and it's just 'cause it's literally, I don't know what station, TBS or whatever - it's just always open. Any time we're in the kitchen, she'll come in and she'll throw it on and sit down and we'll be just doing stuff, but it's on and I'll just hear PIVOT! and I'll just start laughing.

Audience member: We were on a break!

Jensen: Yeah, we were on a break. And that's another thing, I forget how many iconic sayings came from that show. I mean, what a powerhouse of a show that is. But, um, as far as like a genre-type show, I don't know. I'm kinda like Jared, like once I watch it, I've - going back and rewatching it, I feel like I'm missing out on the opportunity of seeing something new? There is - I do have films that I keep on my iPad and whenever I'm travelling or something they're downloaded. And there's one particular movie that - I don't watch it, from beginning to end? I usually will just fast-forward and watch scenes? Of No Country for Old Men. 'Cause I just think it's a master class in filmmaking.

Jared: I'm like that with Inglorious Bastards.

Jensen: Yeah. Oh, anything Tarantino. Like, I got Hateful Eight, I've been rewatching -

Jared: Oh really?

Jensen: rewatching scenes in Hateful Eight. Which, I mean, that could be a stage play. I think it was originally - he wrote it for almost being able to do that, but. Um, it's uh - yeah. So I get the wanting to go back and kinda revisit those things, 'cause it does give you those nostalgic emotions, but also, you know, new experiences, like I'm sharing this with my daughter, so that's kind of a fun new experience.

Jared: Yeah. It's also - So I guess I question my earlier statement about how I want to read new things? 'Cause it's very interesting if you watch the same show or movie or read the same book at different points in your life where you pick up. So maybe I'll just start binging [pause] Supernatural. See where it ends up. I do, I will say, I will say, not a word of a lie, I've probably watched fifteen or twenty reaction videos to the finale. Cry every time. I'm like - I start out like, they don't know what's about to happen, neener neener. And then once Dean meets the post and they go [huge gasp] I'm like, same, same! So I have watched, I think, every single one. But yeah, yeah, that'll be interesting to go back and revisit that show that we worked on that one time.

Jensen: You just talked about a scene from it! [dramatically hangs head, big sigh] We're gonna get cancelled by our own union. Shh.

Jared: I said that show. Super-normal show.

Jensen: No, it's not Supernormal, it's Anything But Normal. It's Unnatural. It's Abby Normal.

[imsogayyippee]

18 and 40

hi i am SO sorry ive been ignoring this ask for like a month and a half. i wasnt feeling like answering asks idk why😭

Song 18: Again by Crusher-P (sorry if this is a cover and not the person who actually made it, I've seen other versions and idk if this is the original but this is the one I listen to lol)

this is more of an alex song than a timlex one but anyways!!!!!!!!!!

"I haven't been myself lately/I don't blame you for not wanting to stay/Saying things that I don't mean, not meaning what I say" "What am I supposed to say/When I end up driving everyone away?"

pre mh alex slowly growing more like,,, aggresive or whatever because of the operator

"Cause I am on fire/A crying, burning liar/Seeing nothing/Nothing/But myself/And I'm the one with the lighter!"

self explanatory. I do feel like this kind of works as a way to show their parallels though

"God, what happened to my heart?/I'm about to fall apart/Again, again"

Alex thinking he's unfixable/incurable from what he's done. Maybe this would be post-MH and the fall apart thing is like falling apart even when he tried to better himself.

"And you're never coming back/And I'm not okay with that/And I should've never let myself get attached/Again"

I wasn't really gonna include this but since this is supposed to be about Timlex. I will. Tim and Alex separating, each going their own ways, after Alex dropped the production of MH and maybe Alex eventually thinking back on that?

"What's done is done/And nothing's gonna change/I should be moving on/But I still feel the same"

Alex forcing himself to not think about the people he's killed/what he's done.

"And it's like everyday is a fight for my life/To get some self-control/And when you've forgotten who I am/It just feels, it just feels/Like I'm nobody at all"

Again, post-MH Alex being encouraged to try and better himself (by Tim), but after what's happened, he's never gonna go back to what he was before MH. Even if Tim probably wouldn't expect this, knowing that after what they've both gone through, they probably couldn't "go back to how they were before", Alex would still think that's what Tim thought would happen.

"I found myself hitting the ground/I held my breath incase I drown"

Kind of a stretch, but it's like implied(? that the operation sickness symptoms mimic drowning, such as the coughing and stuff. I mostly got this from night mind's videos lol

"I should've known when to let go/And when to see who I was being"

Alex maybe thinking back(? to how he should've tried to get help when he noticed himself growing more paranoid, aggressive, etc because of the operator.

--

Song 40: Dead Girls by Penelope Scott

This song to me is more "Tim after MH" than anything else but yeah. It's more in here specifically for timlex because of like one line so. oopsies :3

"Sometimes I see her on the sidewalk/Biking on the wet chalk/Spelling out their names/And I feel insane/Cause I know it's just a game that I'm playing with my brain/I don't see her, but I see her/And I know it isn't real"

Tim after MH hallucinating/having nightmares about Jay/Brian/Alex.

"But I fake it anyways/Pull a smile and wave/Nod and look away/Wait for it to fade/But it happens all the time/People say it's fine/My roommate says they're killing us/But we're killing ourselves"

Him ignoring the hallucination/nightmare or maybe playing along with it(? to at least pretend that they're still alive. I know they don't really interact much in post-MH, but the roommate thing could refer to Jessica? Since it's kinda like. excluding her from "people say it's fine", which would make more sense since she actually went through MH too lol

"I'm surrounded by/Dead girls on the road/Dead girls on my phone/Dead girls, where do they go?/All of the fucking/Dead girls, all around/Dead girls in my town/Dead girls, I don't know/Dead girls, where do they go?"

"On the road" could refer to Jessica, still alive but a reminder of MH. "On my phone" well. marble hronets channel. "Where do they go?" could refer to the ark? lol

"And it'd be wrong to say I miss them/I didn't really know him/I just had a couple friends who say they knew him well/He'd seemed like something special/Really, don't they all?/I guess before you're gone, it can be kinda hard to tell"

THIS IS THE TIMLEX LINE!!!!!!!!! Tim might start feeling like he misses Alex even if (in this song's case) they didn't date before MH nor did they really know each other. He'd probably start thinking about how Alex was literally just some guy and then he had to go through something similar as Tim, but he just 'couldn't handle it well'.

"And if all you ever see are dead girls/If all you hear is terrible news/Maybe it's not all about them, the dead girls/Maybe it's more about you/The living need attention too"

In a way, this could be seen as how Alex said that Tim was the source: "if everyone around you gets operator sickness, why do you think it is?"

--

YEAH if you wanna add anything. go ahead!!!

[festivalofthe12]

SO this is probably something covered in the manga which I have since entirely forgotten, but. The Juunishi thing is reincarnation, right? As in, whenever the old Horse or Dog or whatever dies, they're soon/immediately after reborn as another new Sohma family baby?

Obviously there are metatextual reasons why the main characters are mostly grouped around the same rough generational range... but if you think of it that way, it makes more sense: in modern days, there's not that much variation in how old people get before they die, so it kinda makes sense that they tend to die and therefore be reborn at within a couple of decades of one another? maybe????? (of course this has been going on for a Long Time and stuff like infant mortality or just death at a young age due to injury/illness used to be much more common but. ignore that. maybe.)

ANYWAY my point is. Could Sohma adults potentially try to game the system and time it such that their kids will be born around about when older Juunishi members die? Thus giving themselves a way better chance of having their kid be one? (For those who would care about that, which we know at least some do.)

Specifically, I'm not sure if we ever got a stated reason for the huge age gap between Yuki and Ayame... but this sure as hell sounds like a plausible one, giving everything we know about Yuki's mum. Like, IDK if she deliberately tried to get the Snake (the Snake, Dog, and Dragon are all very similar in age, so presuming that their previous reincarnations' deaths weren't super sudden, that'd offer better than usual odds of getting at least one) and then realised she could do better, or if she got the Snake but wasn't satisfied and started planning things out for the Big One...

Though. the Rat would most DEFINITELY have been a high risk/high reward goal. Because. This time around, at the very least, the Rat and Cat both ended up the same age. :'D

Which, now that sounds like a fanfic idea just waiting to happen... but in practice, IDK if it would've really changed all THAT much? Yuki's mum would almost certainly have just disowned Kyou lmfao (possibly while trying to hide that he was even hers so she wouldn't be associated with the Cat??? no clue how she'd manage that though. I feel like the two options are some other random woman gets him and immediately the curse is revealed [and the main house would find out about that, ofc] or Kyou fjucking dies. I guess she could try to pass him off on a single father????????)

anyway uhh I know less about Kyou's parents. but. his dad doesn't seem the type to NOT send his kid off to Akito, especially if there was something in it for him.

So if this isn't that wacked-out 'the Cat gets weirdly lost for a while because he grows up with a random dude who doesn't even figure out about the curse for several years making it way harder for the Main House to track him (and honestly given that the juunishi transform when they're too weak and babies are Definitionally Defenceless even this doesn't seem all that realistic)' scenario. I guess the main difference would be just that Kyou and Ayame are siblings. Presumably in this case Kyou still gets raised by Kazuma and everyone knows his mum is his mum but she maintains some level of status by having the Snake. And I guess in this world Ayame gets treated more like Yuki because she doesn't have a better option this time round and is desperate to distance herself from the Cat lmao.

That's about as far as I've thought it through hahahaha because in the end this is more of a Kyou-centric thought experiment than Yuki really. But it's still kinda interesting (to me)!!!!!

[fratboykate]

Celebrity!Kate and Bodyguard!Yelena after the ten years when they're happy. Please, Papi. We've had enough angst the last few days.

---

Kate giving birth in kybgau and Yelena being her usual neurotic self?

---

Okay but papi 🥺🥺🥺 remember the very first post introducing us to this wonderful thing called the kybgau? You said there was a lot of material like and I quote: “RED CARPETS WITH YELENA?! A comedy. YELENA IN A ROOM FULL OF DUMB ACTORS DRUNK AT AN AFTERPARTY?!” and “But also the albums Kate writes about her and the corny acceptance speeches thanking her???” Can we—can we have that now? Please? Papi? 🥺

---

kybgau - pain idea: Kate really struggles with the concept that Yelena would rather be anywhere but in the spotlight. Countless red carpets; parties; charity events; and Kate wants a little Russian on her arm for all of them and she has a hard time taking no for an answer or understanding that Yelena is uncomfortable with being in front of cameras all the time.

///

Okay, this is like a mega prompt combo. Here's 7.3k of fluff...

---

“Just tell me what you want.” Yelena hastily stuffs her keys, wallet, and phone into the pockets of her form-fitting joggers. She's ready to head out the door.

“I could use the ride. And seeing people.”

Yelena scans the dresser, ensuring she hasn't forgotten anything, before turning and making her way to where Kate stands. Kate - dressed in casual maternity sweatpants and a hoodie, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her face free of makeup - rests her hands on either side of her swollen, thirty-nine-week pregnant belly as she gazes at Yelena. With the baby due any moment, Kate looks like she's about to burst.

“We’re going to the show tonight. You’ll get a ride there and back. And plenty of people. You should rest now.”

Kate’s smile grows with every word.

“So I’m only allowed out of the house once a day? Like a puppy you take on a walk?”

“Exactly. One big, reckless, loud puppy. Well…two puppies.” Yelena glances down at Kate’s stomach and Kate beams in response.

“I want to come.” Kate insists, almost whiney.

“It’s so much simpler if I go. I can do it alone. If you come, I have to get a pair of guys for a follow car and…”

“We’re going to get coffee. We don’t need two guys in a follow car.” Kate interrupts.

“They’re there in case anything happens.” Yelena retorts, serious.

“We’re going a mile down the road...to a coffee shop. What would happen?”

“It’s my job to make sure nothing does.”

“Are you going to be this neurotic until the baby falls out of me?”

“If the baby is falling out of you, I can guarantee I’ll be even more 'neurotic' because that doesn’t sound like it should happen.”

Kate chuckles and steps closer to the blonde, then gently drapes her arms over her shoulders and smiles.

“I need to get out of the house. I’m going stir crazy.”

“We’re going out tonight.”

“In like…eight hours. I’m stir crazy now.”

Yelena stares at Kate.

"Why do you make my life so difficult?"

Kate's teasing grin spreads wider as she leans into Yelena.

"Do I?"

"No doubt."

Yelena's eyes initially roll but can’t help the smile that tugs at the corner of her lips. After a beat of staring at each other, Kate turns on her heels and heads for the door.

"Come on. Let's go. Baby needs her coffee."

"Decaf."

"I'm allowed two cups per day. I've had zero cups."

"Caffeine can lead to low birth weight..."

Kate starts interrupting and rebuffing all of Yelena's points.

"They think she's almost nine pounds. For my vag's sake, she could do with losing a bit of weight."

"...Not funny. It can affect her brain..."

"That's what she's got your genes for. Perfect, smart, cranky brain."

"It could reduce her blood supply, inhibit growth, and make her lethargic."

"She's been kicking my kidneys like she's got a vendetta against them for about three hours, so I wouldn't mind her being a little lethargic."

"Kate."

"That’s my name, yes." Kate responds playfully. Yelena grunts in frustration.

As they approach the stairs, Yelena quickens her pace and takes the lead, extending her hand for Kate to hold.

"Railing. Hand on railing."

Kate can't help but roll her eyes at the familiar routine, but she complies, takes Yelena's hand, and holds onto the railing with the other, following closely behind her as they descend the steps. Yelena moves with confidence, always one step ahead of Kate, making sure they both stay safe.

"I've gone up and down these stairs thousands of times."

"And it only takes one time for something bad to happen."

"You're being crazy." Kate can’t resist poking fun at Yelena’s anxiety.

"I'm being cautious and having foresight." Yelena counters.

"That's a lot of words to say 'crazy'...Can I drive?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"I'm trained in evasive techniques. You're not."

"We're going A MILE DOWN THE ROAD. To a coffee shop that only serves vegan pastries and milk alternatives? What are we trying to evade? Gluten and dairy?"

"I'm driving."

"Can't blame me for trying.”

"You’re impossible, Kate Bishop.”

They hit the bottom of the stairs, Yelena still in front and Kate behind her. Kate takes advantage of their closeness, holding Yelena from behind and pressing a series of kisses to her neck as they clumsily walk forward as one conjoined blob. Yelena melts into the embrace, momentarily forgetting her neuroses and everpresent concerns for Kate and their daughter’s safety.

"My crazy, crazy Russian." Kate presses another kiss to Yelena's neck and murmurs into her ear. "Я тебя обожаю" ["I adore you."]

Yelena and Kate step outside, with Kate still holding onto Yelena as the blonde takes measured steps, scanning the surroundings for any hazards. Two of Yelena's guards stationed in the yard immediately approach them.

"Morning." One of the employees pleasantly greets them.

"Morning, Lang. We're going to Grinders. You and Kaplan follow."

Yelena opens the door for Kate, making sure she's comfortable in the passenger seat.

"No 'follow'. No need for that. Do you guys want anything? We can bring you something back." Kate leans out the door and offers with a friendly tone.

Lang eyes Yelena, who remains perfectly stoic, before replying.

“No, ma'am. We’re good. Thanks. We'll get the car."

"Don't. Don't get the car. We'll be back in fifteen."

Lang glances at Yelena, who rolls her eyes and shakes her head, silently indicating that they should back down. She's got this. Yelena hops into the driver's seat and starts the SUV.

"Seatbelt." Yelena reminds Kate as she puts the car in reverse.

She won't move the car until Kate buckles up. Kate shakes her head and smirks while buckling up, making the whole process theatrical and exaggerated. Yelena huffs, exasperated by Kate's antics.

The guy manning the gate opens it, and Yelena skillfully drives the car onto the street. As they hit the road, a car parked a few houses down starts tailing them. Two men with professional cameras sit in the car, eagerly waiting to capture the first photos of global sensation Kate Bishop's baby.

---

The instant they step out of the car the paparazzo in the passenger seat promptly jumps out of the sedan and begins recording, bombarding Kate with questions.

"Good morning, ladies. Great day to get coffee. When are your fans getting that new album, Kate?"

The camera lens is less than two feet from Kate's face, so Yelena rushes around the car and rams herself between the videographer and the younger woman. Yelena reaches out for Kate's hand and clasps it tightly as she drives them forward to the entrance of the coffee shop. She extends the other hand, using it to block the man's camera lens and force him to back off.

"Give her space, man.” Yelena orders firmly.

The paparazzo laughs dismissively. The driver of the car has clumsily double parked and runs to join the man with his photo camera. He moves even closer to Kate than the first guy.

"Who are you going to give the newborn photoshoot to? Have you decided? Your fans are curious when they're going to see the baby."

Yelena glares at the guy directly across from her and pushes him forcefully without saying a word.

“Why are you acting like her security? You still on the payroll?"

"Because you're acting like a fucking prick. Back off." Yelena grits through her teeth.

"We're doing our job. We just wanna take a photo or two."

"Back off before I make you." Yelena almost growls at the men. Kate decides it’s time to intervene before things get out of hand.

"Okay. She hasn't had her coffee yet. Which she will, if you guys let us through. Please."

Kate speaks kindly and smiles at them, giving them the one good shoot they think they can sell. The paparazzi exchange a look before reluctantly taking a step back, still holding their cameras at the ready.

"We like you, Kate. You're the nice one. She's the rude one."

"If you're still here by the time we get out, you'll learn how rude I really am." Yelena threatens.

Kate softly chuckles as they step into the coffee shop.

---

Upon entering the quaint and charming mom-and-pop cafe, all eyes are on Kate and Yelena, and hushed murmurs instantly fill the air. Despite the attention from patrons, the staff remains unfazed. They recognize the pair as regulars and are accustomed to seeing them here often. A brief and discreet debate about regular coffee versus decaf takes place at the register. Kate ultimately gets her way and settles on her go-to: a pour-over made with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans, almond milk, a dash of hazelnut syrup, and cinnamon sprinkled on top. She also indulges in an assortment of enough delectable pastries to feed a small army, including almond flour muffins with blueberries, vegan gluten-free apple cider donuts, scones with lemon glaze, chocolate cake with avocado frosting, and cherry pie bars. Yelena prefers her coffee strong and black, so she gets her usual: dark roast with no sugar or cream.

After placing their order, Yelena leads them to a table to wait for their drinks and treats to be prepared. She pulls out a chair for Kate.

"You sit." Kate tells the blonde.

"You're going to be on your feet for a while tonight. Sit."

"I never said I wasn't going to, but you sit. Then I'll sit on you."

Yelena half huffs, half groans before reluctantly taking a seat. Kate wastes no time and settles herself onto Yelena's lap before wrapping her arm around the older woman’s neck. Yelena's hand instinctively finds its way to Kate's abdomen, feeling the chaotic movements of their unborn child under her palm. Triggered by Yelena’s touch, Kate’s fingers begin caressing slow circles on the blonde’s robust shoulders, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

“Kate, tone it down. We’re in public.” Yelena whispers, glancing nervously around the café.

Kate simply chuckles and nuzzles her face into Yelena's neck.

"Let 'em stare. Who cares? You're mine and I like to show you off." Kate whispers into Yelena’s ear before playfully nibbling on her earlobe.

Yelena pulls her head away and scowls at Kate. Too far. Despite her reservations and mild hatred of PDA, Yelena can't help but feel a sense of warmth and safety in Kate's embrace.

"They were being nice." Yelena looks at her, confused. "The guys. They're some of the nice ones. Don't make their jobs hard."

"Stalking you isn't a job. And they were being invasive...If the follow car..."

Kate cuts her off with a dramatic groan, leaning in to kiss the side of Yelena's head.

"They backed off the moment I gave them a good picture. That's all they want. Is it ideal? No. We just gotta work with it."

"Or I could break their cameras and they'd be too scared to come back." Yelena suggests, half-jokingly.

Kate chuckles.

"No breaking anyone's things. My lawyer would not be happy about that."

"I would." Yelena tells her with a smirk.

"I know you would. You're a little rage machine. Like this one..."

Kate places her free hand over Yelena's and shifts it slightly so she can feel where the baby is currently kicking.

"Woh. That was a strong one."

"Very much looking forward to her being lethargic." Kate tells her with a playful smile.

"It's not funny."

"Your reactions make it a little funny."

"You live to push my buttons. I know."

"I live to make you RELAX."

One of the servers approaches them with a bag and two to-go cups.

"Hope you enjoy! See you next time."

"Thank you." Kate takes her beverage and the bag, leaving Yelena to grab her cup. Kate takes a long sip, but Yelena doesn't drink hers. Kate looks at her. "I need you to have your coffee so you don't kill someone outside." Kate takes another gulp of her drink and stares at Yelena, who eventually relents. "You want to eat here? We can stay?"

"No. We have a big night. You need to take it easy.”

"Why are you treating me like I'll snap in half any second?” Kate complains, evidently vexed now.

"I'm not."

"You are. And frankly, it's a little condescending and a lot annoying."

Kate stands with a groan and makes her way to the door. Yelena follows close behind while the curious onlookers stare. Yelena’s neck grows red and hot as she can feel the weight of everyone's eyes on them.

"Kate. Kate, wait."

"I can handle opening my own door." Kate snaps as she pushes the door and exits.

The paparazzi are not far and spring back into action, swarming them anew.

"Did the coffee help?" The older man asks, trying to start a conversation.

Kate, her mood now soured, doesn't answer.

"I guess not." The other paparazzo remarks snarkily

"What are your thoughts on America's new girlfriend? The internet is saying she looks like you. Do you agree? Do you think she's not over you? Do you think she’s trying to copy your style?"

Yelena opens the door to the SUV, allowing Kate to slip inside without having to utter another word. Yelena closes the door and glares at the guys.

"What do you think? Do you think Kate and Ramone look alike?" The man points the camera at Yelena.

Yelena starts the car and revs the engine, eager to leave the paparazzi and their annoying questions behind. She maneuvers the car out of the parking lot and onto the busy streets. As she drives, she keeps an eye on the rearview mirror and notices the paparazzi following them, evidently determined to get a picture or a comment.

Yelena's grip on the steering wheel tightens as she navigates through traffic, trying to shake them off. She takes a few quick turns, hoping to lose the tail, but they persistently follow them.

“They’re going to end up at the house regardless. Stop getting yourself worked up about it.” Kate places her hand on Yelena’s thigh and squeezes reassuringly before having another sip of her coffee.

Yelena nods, taking a steadying breath. She focuses on the road ahead, determined to get them to their destination safely and away from the paparazzi's prying eyes.

---

Yelena crosses the security gate into the driveway, parks the SUV in front of the mansion, and steps out as the gate closes. She can see the paparazzi in the car across the street, rubbernecking her. She fixes her gaze on one of the guys. He lifts his camera and snaps her picture through the last sliver of open space before the gate closes.

“Richards, get rid of those idiots. And until further notice, I want at least one of you patrolling the street every couple hours. Make sure none of those leeches are hanging around. Call the cops if you have to."

"Yes, ma'am." With a nod, Richards scurries off to follow Yelena's orders.

In the time it takes Yelena to give those directions, Kate has vanished into the house. Yelena walks in to find her hurrying up the stairs without holding onto the railing.

"Kate, you..."

"I would suggest you don't finish that sentence." Kate cuts her off, fuming.

Kate keeps moving, ignoring Yelena’s pleas to slow down. Yelena chases. Kate storms into their bedroom and turns to face the trailing Yelena.

"You don't think I can take care of myself, do you? Or her, for that matter. Are you going to hire someone to look over my shoulder whenever I'm with her to make sure I'm not fucking it up?"

"What? Of course I don't believe that. The thought has never crossed my mind. You're going to be an amazing mom."

"Then start acting like it."

Yelena steels herself, trying to guard her vulnerability.

"I'm trying to make sure you're safe."

After a beat, Kate drops her shoulder and walks over to Yelena.

"And I love you for it. I do. So much. But you're suffocating me. Sometimes you also make me question my sanity. I need you to trust that I wouldn't do anything that would put her at risk. Okay?"

"You can be careless, Kate."

Kate's lips curl up in a sly grin.

"Only sometimes…and within reason."

"More than sometimes.” Yelena rebuffs.

"Trust me."

"I do."

"Then stop being insane please." Yelena grumbles under her breath. "I'll let you hold my hand going down the stairs, but you have to chill it with the rest."

"I can TRY." Yelena tells her, frowning.

"Good." Kate pulls her toward the bed. “Now come nap with me."

"We JUST had coffee."

"She kept me up half the night. I'm exhausted. Nap with me...I'll let you get a little handsy if you ask nicely." Kate teases with a naughty tone. Yelena smiles and shakes her head.

"I have to go work out. I won't have time later."

"Ooooh...can I watch? That sounds more fun than sleeping. You look yummy when you're all sweaty."

Yelena nudges Kate onto the mattress.

"Sleep. You have some time before it gets crazy."

"Sleep with me." Kate pleads with a pout.

"I'll go work out, shower, and if you're still sleeping, I'll get in bed with you. Deal?"

"But I'll be asleep. I won't know you're napping with me. Why don't you get in bed now, then go do other stuff after I fall asleep?"

Yelena sighs and slips off her shoes, incapable of resisting a Kate Bishop request.

"You can't get mad if I wake you up when I'm trying to get out of bed."

"I won't. Promise."

Yelena lies down on her side of the bed, hoping to get comfortable, but before she can do so, Kate scoots over and throws her leg (and most of her body) over Yelena's. This new position causes Yelena to bear almost three-quarters of Kate's weight, making it onerous for her to move or adjust.

"This is going to make getting up later very difficult."

"No idea what you're talking about."

Kate smiles contentedly against Yelena's chest while Yelena lets out a dramatic exhale, realizing she has fallen into Kate's trap. She plants a soft kiss on the top of Kate's head and wraps her arms around her, one over her shoulder and the other around her belly. After a beat, Yelena feels a solid kick through Kate's stomach.

"That was a good one."

"You felt it?"

"Yeah."

"It's like she's opposed to me laying down. Starts going crazy every time I do. I think it pisses her off or something."

Yelena chuckles and starts running her hands up and down the side of Kate's stomach.

"Давайте сделаем сделку. Дай ей поспать сейчас, а я позволю тебе... я не знаю... чего ты хочешь? Мы могли бы договориться об условиях позже?" ["Let's make a deal. You let her sleep now and I'll let you...I don't know...what do you want? We could agree to terms later?"]

The baby delivers two consecutive, strong kicks, causing Kate to hiss in pain.

"Ow! What are you saying? She's clearly not liking it." Kate complains.

"That's confidential." Yelena switches back to Russian. "Ты выставляешь меня здесь в плохом свете. Работай со мной. Сделай это сейчас, а мы с тобой уладим это позже. У нас будет много времени." ["You're making me look bad here. Work with me. Do this now and you and I can settle it later. We'll have plenty of time."]

The kicking suddenly stops. They both hold, staying immobile for a long moment, trying to see if it will recommence...but it doesn't.

"I think she liked that better." Kate mumbles into Yelena's shirt with a smirk, her voice sleepy.

"She's a hard bargain. I know who she gets it from." Yelena quips.

Kate tilts her head to look up at Yelena with a goofy, sleepy smile.

"Were you negotiating with her?"

"As I said, that's confidential."

"You're very cute. VERY grumpy, but cute."

"I'm not." Yelena replies grumpily.

"Let's hope she doesn't have your temper, or we're in trouble."

"У тебя есть мой характер, сколько хочешь. Наш нрав в порядке." ["You have my temper all you want. Our temper is fine."] Yelena grumbles as she caresses Kate's extended midriff.

Kate's breathing eventually evens out, but the smile remains on her face. After a long moment, Yelena realizes that Kate has fallen asleep. She pauses, then cautiously attempts to move out from under the weight of the dozing brunette with measured movements. Suddenly, as she tries to shift, the baby kicks again. HARD. Yelena feels a second equally solid kick, causing her to momentarily stop and hold her breath.

"Хорошо. Хорошо. Я слышу тебя. Я никуда не поеду. Я останусь." ["Okay. Okay. I hear you. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay."] Yelena whispers in reassurance to the baby, her voice soft and gentle.

Yelena tries to resist falling asleep, but after some time, she eventually succumbs to slumber. They sleep soundly in each other's arms for a few hours, unaware that this would be the last time they would nap together as a family of two.

—

The house is madness. The energy is frenzied and there’s an endless flurry of activity, as it typically happens on award show days. Kate is perched in a comfy, plush chair while her team buzzes around her, attending to her every need while they get her glammed up. Kate’s focus gets yanked from the amiable conversation when her lower back spasms. She winces and shifts positions trying to find relief from the discomfort. Kate assumes she must have slept poorly because her back has been cramping and sore since she woke up. Kate's stylist hands Kate a champagne flute and starts pouring champagne. Kate looks at her, perplexed.

"Zero alc. Duh. Totally safe. Cheers..." The stylist toasts, tapping Kate’s flute with the bottle. "To the last one before the little princess gets here."

"Cheers." Kate smiles and takes a sip.

"Anyone wanna go in on a $20 bet that Yelena loses it if she sees Kate with a flute in her hand?" The hairstylist asks.

"Make it $50." The make-up artist retorts.

As if on cue, Yelena walks in, looking sweaty and breathing heavily.

"When do you..." She stops in her tracks, her expression quickly turning to horror when she sees Kate with the flute. "Kate..."

For an instant, everyone looks at each other in stunned silence, as if Kate has been caught doing something terrible. Then...they all crack up simultaneously.

"It's non-alcoholic, isn't it?" Yelena presses, thinking out loud.

"It's non-alcoholic." Kate confirms, still chuckling.

"Right...What time do you need me again?" Yelena doesn’t dwell, clearly embarrassed.

Kate glances up at her hairstylist, the same one who will be doing an intricate braid on Yelena's hair later.

"An hour, maybe?" The hairstylist responds.

"Okay. Should I change before or after?"

"After, babe." Kate offers a tender smile.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll go shower." Yelena walks off.

"She's seen you get ready for how many shows? And she's still asking if she should change before or after her hair." The stylist adds, amused.

"She'll never get the hang of it. But ask her what kind of rounds some weird gun no one's ever heard of uses and she'll tell you."

"You could've had anyone in the world, and that's who you went with..." The nail tech jokes.

"Might not seem like it, but it was an easy choice." Kate replies, laughing.

As they continue to prep for the ceremony, everyone jokes and laughs, making Kate forget about her back pain and any other worries. It's the last awards show of the season, and it is likely also her last event in general for a while, so Kate is determined to enjoy the moment.

---

The Academy Awards are the pinnacle of glamour and excitement in the entertainment industry. It’s the biggest night of the year. It's hectic and outlandish and there are people everywhere. Kate and Yelena sit in the back of the SUV, waiting for their moment to step out onto the red carpet. Kate looks ravishing in a long, flowing green chiffon dress with a pleated bodice and a low-cut V-neck that shows off her pregnancy curves. Her hair cascades in black waves down her back, and her makeup is flawless, perfectly complementing her ensemble.

Yelena is equally impressive in her monochrome outfit. She sports a printed and textured charcoal grey double-breasted jacket over matching shirt and trousers, and grey suede chukka boots. Her hair is styled in an intricate, show-stopping braid, and she wears minimal makeup, highlighting her natural beauty. There’s nothing visible on the eyes and just enough on the skin to make sure she isn't shiny.

[***For reference:***]

Kate's back spasms once more, and she huffs while quietly shifting in her seat, hoping to alleviate the pain inconspicuously. She doesn't want Yelena to notice and make a fuss about it. Kate knows she'll have to tend to it later with a warm pad or a massage when they finally return home.

"Can you do something for me?" Kate asks timidly, her voice quivering with a hint of nervousness.

"Of course. Anything."

"I want a good photo of us tonight. On the carpet."

"Kate..."

"You always disappear the moment we step out, but this one means a lot. Moms last big night out."

Yelena ponders for a moment before responding.

"The first part of the carpet." Yelena relents.

"What if the photographers on the other end are better?" Kate asks cheekily.

"They're all great." Yelena replies with a chuckle.

"You get dressed up and look super hot but won't let anyone see you. How am I supposed to brag about having the hottest baby mama if I got no pictures to post?"

Yelena chuckles.

"Unfortunately, everyone knows what I look like."

"Periodic reminders are good." Kate offers puppy eyes. "You've NEVER walked a whole carpet with me."

"Because they’re interested in you, not me."

"That's not true."

"I'm nobody, Kate."

"Also not true."

The car comes to a stop and within seconds, the door opens to the madness outside — there are people screaming, reporters interviewing, and hundreds of cameras flashing simultaneously. Yelena steps out of the vehicle first and holds out her hand for Kate. Kate shifts her clutch to her left hand so she can hold Yelena with her right. The instant Kate steps out, the crowd explodes, and she turns on the natural charm, flashing a wide smile. Despite being heavily pregnant and therefore uncomfortable, Kate is a natural at these affairs. She leads the way to the beginning of the carpet, with Yelena following closely behind.

Social and public events are one of the few times Kate takes the lead. It's an unspoken agreement they have, as Yelena is out of her depth in such situations and defers to Kate's expertise. Kate is excellent at working the crowd; she's been doing it for half her life. It would be foolish of Yelena not to let her take charge. Moreover, Yelena enjoys watching Kate dominate a space and draw all eyes to her. Frankly, it’s a bit of a turn-on for Yelena to know that at the end of the night, she gets to take home the one person that everyone else wants. It's been especially great with Kate being pregnant because that makes the marking of her territory extra prominent. That's Yelena's — all of it.

Kate leads them to the beginning of the carpet, holding onto Yelena's hand tightly. This is the point where Yelena would normally skulk away and suddenly reappear out of nowhere on the other end of the carpet when Kate was ready to go into the event. But this time, Kate isn't letting go of her hand. She lands on the first mark for photos and wraps her arms around Yelena's waist, anchoring her. A million flashes and screams of her name and directions on where to look go off simultaneously.

Yelena must pay more attention than Kate thought because now that her feet are to the fire, she’s acting like a natural. Kate can’t help but gawk at her with a giddy smile. Yelena feels Kate's eyes on her and pivots from looking at the sea of photographers to find blue eyes boring into her. Yelena locks her gaze with Kate’s and reciprocates her smile, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. She's not used to being in the spotlight, but seeing Kate overflowing with shining admiration and love makes her feel like she's on top of the world. The cameras keep clicking, and the reporters keep shouting, but Yelena only has eyes for Kate.

"What?" A smile creeps on Yelena's face.

"You're kind of good at this."

"GIVE US A KISS!"

One of the photographers shouts from inside the mob on the other side of the barrier. Kate doesn't hesitate to comply. She probably would've regardless. Yelena stays put long enough not to make it look awkward but then immediately backs away. PDA is so not her fucking thing. Kate brings her thumb to Yelena’s lip and tenderly wipes the remnants of her lipstick off.

They walk about a dozen feet of the carpet then Kate's publicist approaches.

"ABC, E!, and ET want you."

"M'kay." Kate nods and turns to Yelena. "I'll be right back."

"Do your thing." Yelena responds with a forced smile as Kate is dragged away.

Within seconds Kate's in front of a camera and, now alone, Yelena instantly looks uncomfortable and out of place.

"You are one hot mama in that dress, Kate Bishop." The live reporter says while placing air kisses on each of Kate’s cheeks.

"Thank you. It's stunning and comfortable. Can't ask for anything more on a night like this."

"Are you excited to be presenting tonight?"

"Absolutely. I'm thirty-nine weeks, so it's been 'this can happen anytime' for a bit now. None of us were sure if I'd be here, and there were backups in place if I wasn't. My personal backup was to stay a little longer than I should've during rehearsals to get a sneak peek of the show's run-through in case I had to miss the real thing, and...let me tell you... People are not ready. The level of spectacle is insane.”

"That must be exciting for everyone at home to hear. So knowing your angel could join us any minute, are you taking advantage of the night out and hitting some after-parties?”

Kate smiles mischievously.

"That's our plan. At least for a little bit."

"I have three kids. Take advantage of all of these nights while you can." Says the second presenter.

"You say 'our' plan. Who did you bring with you tonight?"

Kate glances over her shoulder, expecting to see Yelena where she left her, but to her surprise, Yelena is nowhere to be found. It's not the first time Yelena has done this, disappearing without a trace. Kate is well aware of Yelena's habit and is amazed by her ability to find the one spot where TV cameras (or Kate) can't spot her. She feels a bit proud of her girlfriend's ninja-like skills but also a little irritated that Yelena has vanished once again. Kate turns back to the interviewer, trying to mask her momentary distraction.

“My partner, Yelena. She’s around here somewhere.”

The interviewers laugh.

“Did you lose her?”

Kate shrugs.

"She’s like a magician. Just...poof. Vanishes. All the time."

"I think it might be a secret power all partners have. My husband always does the same thing whenever we’re in public."

"It's slightly infuriating."

"It is. But you know what I'm not mad at? The color of that dress. Tell us more about it. Who are you wearing? What was the process to get this piece made?”

Kate smiles and eagerly shares the details of her ensemble.

Not too long after, the segment is over. Kate steps off the platform and her publicist immediately ushers away for more press opportunities. Before they get to the second interview, Kate feels yet another sudden shooting pain in her back. She can't wait to stop being pregnant. These random aches all over, and all the damn time, are some of the worst parts of it.

After Kate completes all the interviews and poses for all the photos, she realizes Yelena is still missing. She reaches the end of the carpet, and suddenly, Yelena wondrously reappears.

"I asked you for one thing." Kate mumbles, slightly irritated. "Where did you even go? I was looking for you."

"I was around. You looked great." Yelena replies nonchalantly. "And we did take a ton of photos at the beginning. I'm sure it's easier when I'm not in your way."

"Whatever. I wanted you there tonight." Kate retorts, her frustration palpable.

Yelena looks contrite as they cross the doors into the impressive theater and move to find their seats.

---

The Dolby Theatre hums with excitement as the Academy Awards are well underway. The opulent grand hall exudes glamour, decked out with dazzling crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and majestic golden statuettes lining the stage. Every guest is the embodiment of elegance, clad in their finest attire, from shimmering gowns and sleek suits to immaculate hairstyles. The air is thick with anticipation and elation as attendees eagerly await the announcement of winners.

The audience erupts in thunderous applause as Kate and her co-presenter step onto the stage. The stage lights dim and the cameras focus on the duo as they stride arm-in-arm towards their marks. The energy in the room is rousing as Kate takes her place at the microphone, gazing out into the sea of famous faces. She clears her throat and begins to speak, her voice amplified throughout the theater.

“A loving husband forced to confront his mortality, a courageous civil rights leader fighting for justice, a brilliant inventor battling his demons, a serial killer attempting to redeem himself, and an artist dealing with their most stubborn partner yet...I can relate to that last one..." Kate ad-libs and glances at the blonde sitting in the second row, suddenly looking particularly frowny. The entire audience guffaws. "...These are the performances that landed these five talented actors on the nominee’s list."

The very end of the last word gets caught in Kate's throat when her back spasms particularly violently. Suddenly, a thought flashes through her mind: was…was that a contraction? A moment of panic sets in, but she keeps a winsome smile on her face and remains composed as the man beside her naturally takes over reading his lines on the teleprompter.

---

About fifteen minutes later, Kate makes her way back to her seat and intertwines her fingers with Yelena's. As a new pair of presenters take the stage to introduce the next category, Yelena leans over at her.

"You did amazing. The dig was unnecessary..." Yelena tells her only half in jest. "...but still amazing."

Kate musters a strained smile and leans back on her chair, trying to stay composed as she feels the start of another contraction.

"I'm pretty sure I'm in labor."

Kate doesn't think she's ever seen Yelena's head move so fast. Her eyes widen to the size of plates and color drains from her face. She immediately tries to stand, but Kate grips her hand firmly, indicating she should stay in place.

"We're live." Kate reminds her in a whisper.

"And you're having a baby!" Yelena mumbles back, alarmed.

"It's fine...I think. I don't think she's coming right this second."

Kate grimaces in pain as the contraction peaks, but she tries to reassure Yelena. However, Yelena’s eyes haven’t left Kate and she notices when the brunette scowls.

"We're leaving."

"Stay. Put." Kate clenches Yelena's hand tighter. "Two more categories until commercials. It's fine. I can wait." Kate offers a faint smile. Yelena tilts her head, concern written all over her face. Kate forces herself to smile wider, for Yelena’s sake. "Trust me." Kate mouths before turning her attention back to the stage, clapping when the winner is announced while doing her best to hide her discomfort.

---

After enduring twelve excruciatingly long minutes and two agonizing contractions, the show finally cuts to commercials. Yelena wastes no time and grabs Kate's hand, practically dragging her up the aisle. The room seems to spin as Kate struggles to keep up with Yelena's frantic pace. The world around her somehow also seemingly moves in slow motion, her senses numbed by the intense pain. The blinding lights and noise of the show fade into a dull roar as they make their way to the doors. The rush of adrenaline keeps Kate going even as her body screams in protest.

They burst through the doors into the relative quiet of the lobby, and Yelena immediately puts her phone to her ear. Kate's heart races as another contraction starts to build, and she squeezes Yelena's hand tightly. Yelena's panic is palpable as she speaks into the phone.

"We need the car. Right now...Now." Yelena turns to Kate. "I made sure they let him stay up the block just in case. He's on his way." Yelena expresses urgently as they walk down the mostly empty red carpet.

"Your stress is stressing me out."

"I'm not stressed." Yelena retorts, very much stressed.

Kate stops in her tracks, solidly planting her feet on the carpet, forcing Yelena to turn around and face her. Yelena looks at her bewildered.

"I need you to calm down. Please. You're...giving off vibes."

"What vibes? I'm not giving off anything."

"Calm down."

"Kate..." Yelena steps closer so she can whisper and grit through her teeth. "...You're having the baby."

"Yeah. ME. I am. And what I need from you is chill, peaceful, zen vibes."

"I'm not zen. I don't do 'zen'." Yelena admits and Kate can’t help but smile.

"I'm very aware. But I'm asking you to try. You're wound too tightly and you rub off on me. I need to be the opposite of wound right now."

A text comes through. Yelena looks at her phone.

"Car's here." Yelena tries to pull Kate again.

"Nope. I'm not moving until you loosen up." Kate utters, looking Yelena in the eye.

"This is serious, Kate." Yelena pleads.

"I will have this baby right here. Don't think I won't."

Yelena grumbles under her breath. She takes a breath and exhales. All for show.

"There. Relaxed. Can we go now?"

"I need you to do it for real."

"Kate...this isn't a game."

"I'm the one feeling this. I know it's not. Relax. In..." Kate takes a deep breath. "...Out." She exhales.

"You’re being ridiculous. We need to get you home."

"In...Out." Yelena swallows a groan before inhaling and exhaling with Kate. "In...Out."

Kate inhales and exhales slowly. Yelena reluctantly follows suit.

"This is a little absurd." Yelena tells her, but visibly more relaxed.

Kate looks around, taking the Dolby Theater, the still set-up cameras, the straggling crew, producers, and publicists milling about, wholly clueless to their current situation. She can’t help but smile.

"It is. But...she's our kid. I don't know why we expected she would want anything but a grand entrance."

Their eyes meet, and time seems to freeze as they share a moment. It's only the two of them here. They both realize that their lives will never be the same after this instant. But the moment is fleeting as Kate's face contorts ever so slightly. Yelena is the only one who could detect a change this subtle in Kate’s expression. Another contraction. Yelena breaks the silence. Impatient.

"Can we PLEASE leave?"

Kate shakes her head, trying to suppress a groan. Yelena gets the implied message. Not right now. She squeezes Kate's hands, offering the only support and comfort she can in their current predicament. The contraction fades away and Kate exhales before standing up straight again. But then, her face changes.

“She's coming. Right now." Kate tells the blonde with panic in her voice.

Yelena doesn't know what to do with herself. Hysteria is literally radiating off her. After a moment, Kate chuckles and returns to her usual casual and relaxed self.

"YOU'RE NOT FUNNY, KATHERINE."

"I'd like to think I am. Just a little...You should've seen your face." Kate teases. Yelena grumbles under her breath as she turns on her heels and pulls Kate toward the sidewalk and waiting car. "It was a dry run for later. I know exactly what you'll look like when she's actually coming now."

"Not funny." Yelena says curtly.

"We need to text Ash and Laney." Kate reminds Yelena of the midwife and doula they've been working with the entire pregnancy.

"Texted them inside. Told them contractions were about five and a half apart. They're on their way to the house."

"You timed my contractions during the show?"

"Obviously."

Yelena says matter of factly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Kate catches up to Yelena to walk beside her instead of being dragged behind her. She plants a kiss on her cheek.

"Always on top of everything."

Yelena spots their driver. He opens the door for them. Yelena guides Kate inside the SUV, and as she sits down, she gives the driver a quick glance.

"Home. As fast as you can."

"Yes, ma'am." The man replies.

Yelena hops inside, joining Kate in the back seat, and closes the door behind her. Kate immediately links their fingers and rests her head on Yelena's shoulder.

---

Some five hours later, as the clock struck 11:53 PM on a chilly late February night, Eleanor Archer Belova makes a rather dramatic entrance into the world and into her mothers' loving arms.

The long list of first names they discuss while trying to conceive quickly becomes irrelevant after the unexpected passing of Kate's mother only days before they learn they’re pregnant. As soon as they discover they’re having a girl, only one name feels fitting - that of Kate's biggest champion.

Kate's breakout role as a fierce and skilled world-class archer in a blockbuster dystopian film trilogy not only marked the beginning of her illustrious career but also served as a defining moment in her life. For years she joked about naming one of her future children after the character that had brought her so much success, but it wasn't until they were discussing names that the idea took root. As they debated name combinations, Kate mentioned it in passing and the comment took on a life of its own. It suddenly became clear what the baby's middle name had to be regardless of gender. It was a fitting tribute to Kate’s past and journey.

Ellie Belova will never know what it is to go a second without feeling utterly loved. No matter what challenges come her way, she'll always feel the warmth of her mothers' devotion. Yelena's intense nature and unwavering determination will drive her to protect her daughter at all costs, even if it means taking extreme measures. On the other hand, Kate will offer Ellie staunch support, guidance, and endless laughter as they navigate the ups and downs of life together. As Ellie grows older, she'll come to realize that her mothers' love is infinite and limitless. They'll always be there for her, cheering her on through every success and comforting her through every setback. And even when they're no longer by her side, Ellie will carry with her the knowledge that she was always cherished beyond measure.

[iamacolor]

At the end of the day this was an epic love story and I genuinely believed that these two people would and did do anything for each other however I still felt the show focused a lot more on sunjae being in love/romantic than sol, they gave him all the clinginess (that's not a word lol)/whipped "looser" in love behavior , all the sweeping romantic speeches and declarations (just in the last 2 eps he had at least 3 and we didn't get that from Sol) and I wanted more of that more Sol because sometimes it felt like it was 80% more focused on what he was doing in that regard. Their actions were offset by each other, she traveled time to save him and he loved her for decades and died for her multiple times but otherwise I wanted her to talk about her time spanning epic love for him like he did, I wanted her to be as clingy as him and as prone to dramatics sometimes when it came to their relationship, I wanted them to give her as much as they gave him.

hi anon! that's a really good point actually and i do think some of it is in part due to this specific story (which i liked) but some of it is also due to the genre (romance/kdrama) that has its limitation in how it portrays the dynamics between men and women and often has this imbalance between the leads (that often annoys me).

kdramas often tend to portray men as more proactive in their declaration while the women (who are often supposed to be more emotional because well...they're women :))) ) are reacting to these declarations or grand gestures - it might be because romance as a genre still mostly cater to a female audience and they're trying to make it "dreamier" for the women by having men saying swoony lines etc (which is a shame because as a viewer i love seeing a woman actively in love, loud about it and proactive, it's fun, it's touching. I support women being stupid in love. and being in love isn't just about having someone tell you romantic stuffs and kiss you in the rain it's also about feeling in love and getting to share that and to love someone anyway i'm getting sidetracked) and it might also be because a lot of the times women are "used" as a plot tool to chanel a man's journey and emotions. (same with "skinship" for which a similar dynamic is mixed with how korea seems to value a certain idea of modesty for women and how most of the time the man is the one initiating it no matter who fell first and the women tend to shy away from it in a lot of dramas and don't really get to show that they're excited about it...).

in regard to that i felt that lovely runner kind of was a nice change because although you can see these patterns of writing and storytelling in it like you said and how sunjae is definitely written to be dreamy and make people go "omg what an ideal bf who wouldn't want a man who's so devoted and so overwhelmed by his feelings he acts stupid", sol gets to be a very romantic lead with her own version of several grand gestures, her own sacrifice for the good of the man she loves, her love for him is driving the plot, she defends him from bullies directly and killers more indirectly, she has much more agency than a lot of female leads from the beginning to the end (a lot of the time the female lead's storyline just gets sidetracked or forgotten around ep12 lol), she literally writes an entire movie about him and once she's free from the fear of driving sunjae to his death she is actually much more like him in her behaviour (and also more proactive with physical touches!!). and the moments when sol is like that are some of my faves! i was watching ep16 like omg i love this sol so much why didn't we get more and well the answer is because before she thought if she did something as simple as talk to him he'd die so that kind of dampens the mood.

but then i would say there is an imbalance inherent to this very specific story that i don't mind since it makes up for more angst - and i love that - because a) sol was just his fan at first so it took a while for her to even get in that mindset while he was already crushing on her hard - like when he tried to confess when inhyuk threw the petals and she was like ok maybe we can't be fan and athlete anymore but we can be friends! because in her mind she was thinking about how to stay close to him so she could save him for sure while he was like sol please be my gf b) and then sol was never free from the burden of what she saw as her duty (ie. saving him) the whole time they interacted until ep16 and so she never could let herself be too clingy (clinginess is a word i think btw and if it's not it should be!) or super romantic (although she did allow herself some very cheesy puns) because most of the time she was either trying to make big changes in his life or trying to stay away from him as much as possible and so she had to show restraint constantly (and that's actually a very common trait in a male character in romance - not just kdramas but also like romance novels which i read a lot of lol - they're always like no i have to stay away because i could bring danger to my loved one, because i have a dark past or i'm not good enough for them, too dangerous or tainted to say i love you and to shackle them to me and my fate etc gosh life is so hard when you're a romance lead) while sunjae was literally just a guy standing in front of a girl he liked and trying to make it happen most of the time, he didn't really see anything else at stake lol and even once he did you could tell he was just a 19 yo trying to cheer his girlfriend up knowing she's also trying to save him and he kind of walks into his big gesture without really planning it.

and that to me is what truly created this imbalance because she did her sacrifice but unlike his that was very visible (he literally got stabbed in front of her and still made sure to not let go until she was safe) her own sacrifice was to make sure he never saw her (which obviously plays into the less proactive type of representation because her grand gesture is to walk away but also that makes it all so tragic because she choses to endure her pain knowing it's going to last rather than risk death which stops everything ). And all of that meant also she could only say she liked him - either "too late" (but thankfully not really because he still liked her) when they were already adults or "before it's too late" when she prepares to say goodbye to him at the seaside and she doesn't want him to feel too entangled with her, she doesn't want him to be too sad this time - or when she made speeches about her love for him, how big and strong it was, how steadfast she stood in her desire to see him safe before anything else, how much she loved him...(and especially in those last 2 eps - and to me that cound as declarations) but she had to say them indirectly by pretending she was either talking about her character or someone else because she couldn't tell the truth directly to sunjae. so technically sunjae heard her say (and also read her) that she loves him very much, that she's ready to sacrifice her own hapiness for his live etc but it was all retroactively which is quite bittersweet. i do wish we could've had her say these things directly to him but at the same time i understand that once he remembers everything and understands she was talking about him and they can finally be together, they prefer to focus on their future rather than on their multiple pasts.

also i like that by the end they both waited so many years before reuniting - because when it was just sunjae who had done the yearning from afar and who still had feelings it made him stand out in a way because wow look at the sheer size of his feelings no wonder he gets a little stupid when she comes back into his life and clearly he's the big romantic once between them. and now they both did the waiting, the yearning, the let me sacrifice my life (or at least life as we know it) for you, the "omg what do i do now that they're back!!!!" and that kind of eases the differences between them.

all this to say i mostly agree but also if it brings more romantic angst i quite like it dghjdfgqsjk