#this boy is so ready to destroy his brother's murderer

[naehja]

After Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian realised that the body without head was Nie Mingjue

Wei Wuxian: you will have to tell Nie Huaisang about it. Well, good luck, i wouldn't want to be the one to explain that devasting new to him.

LanXichen: no need to rush anything before having more informations about the situation. It would give him extreme distress.

Wei Wuxian: It gonne be devasting for him anyway. You have to tell him. It's his right to know. Right Lan Zhan? Imagine it was you, would you want to know about it?

Lan Wangji: Mh

Wei Wuxian: Huaisang will resent you if he learn that you not tell him that immediatly. He could hold a grudge toward you. and i would understand. It's HIS brother after all.

Lan Xichen: Huaisang is too soft and nice to hold a grudge. He'll understand.

Meanwhile, Nie Huaisang, having holding a grudge toward Jin Guangyao for years for have killed his Dage and having plan his revenge for as much time, seeing that the moment is very close to taste it and to see JGY lose EVERYTHING:

[acid-ixx]

gets fucking stabbed by damian and my last breath still be like "it's not his fault ! he is ten and was raised to be murderous since he was born ! kid entered a household where everyone ignores my existence, i don't blame him for assuming that to be the norm and acting evil to me so that he assimilates to his new environment ! bro literally went through the worst all his life so of course the way he expresses himself is harmful to others !"

and then i get stabbed again lol

— masterlist !

OH MY GOD PLEASE 😭 the gaslighting yourself is real, i'm telling you.

unfortunately, the reader's toxic mindset of justifying everything your family does is a common scenario for every time one of them fucks up; only in the past though. the present chapters will have you slowly realize just nothing really is ever your fault. that you've never once been in the blame for the actions of your youngest brother.

but right now, i want to focus on why you just seem to let damian go about his own crazy path of targeting you. and it's either it's because you have nothing, nobody else to fight back with you, or it's purely because you allow him to.

to destroy you, to make you suffer, to make you learn that you have no place, or standing in the family. and if you do have a place, it is at the rock bottom.

this is what damian is taught: the weak should be eliminated before they fester into some type of unnecessary cancer.

you're weak, when he first saw you, when you first approached him with your tail tucked behind your legs and an invitation to hang out together with the scent of cookies wafting in the air— he knows that it is you who will make him weak.

you give him temptations to be a child, he's raised to fight against it. he ignores the unwelcomed feeling of wamth that blooms in his chest, those are feelings that gets you killed.

so it's how the story goes: he brings his sword up to your neck, and sways his hands swift enough to make a small cut to ensure that the first thing you associate him with is fear. and for someone vulnerable like you, it doesn't take much before you quickly submit to the prospect of your place beneath a trained assassin like him.

he ignores the sudden pang of his heart and the aching, gnawing dread that chews at his mind at the memory of your widening eyes and the wobble in your steps.

it's already damaging enough to have the youngest be introduced and immediately accepted into the family, but it's worse when he's significantly younger than you, a boy nearly half your age; someone you've always wanted to have, to care for, to help raise and cherish... despises you from the start, before you two even formed a connection.

someone you once called your younger brother, now became an enemy in opposing lines in a place called home.

what would've been fine-tuned jealousy towards him because he was given everything in a silver platter turned into shame that you couldn't even face him, not right after he threatened to kill you, no... and especially not after you've convinced yourself that if you couldn't even prove your worth for a young boy like him, then you really have nothing good to offer.

you give him the autonomy to think it's alright, that due to his upbringing, alongside your naive brain always justifying that your other siblings are right, and you are in the wrong— he was given every opportunity to torment you when you even go as far as being in the same room as him.

and i have my receipts on why you're just like that; all in the grace of low self-worth and self-esteem. past you reasons out that it's because it's always your fault.

you couldn't even find a way to save your mother, you couldn't even establish your place in the manor, you couldn't comfort bruce when he was still not over jason, what more could you be when all you see damian as is a young, broken child like you? that behind that veil of threats and weapons ready to attack you, is someone you knew could've been different, if he was raised right...

if he'd given you a chance to help nurture the softer, more humane part of him.

you've always wanted a younger sibling, not only from back when you were just with your mother, but also when you were introduced to the manor. because not only did it mean that you'll know how your mother felt when she raised you, but because you thought you'd have somebody by your side throughout the silent torment you've went through.

and when you're graced with one, who doesn't even consider you his older sibling; you let it be.

you let him be himself.

damian wayne, demon's granson, the son of the bat.

so many titles he's called, but never one where he's your younger brother.

it doesn't help that you justify his past, because the man you idolize, dick, does so too whenever you try to complain. his excuses are never out of malicious intent to have you suffer further— it's just that he never once actually considered you as important enough to bat an eye on, like how the rest of them treat you.

because you know that even dick has his limit towards the youngest member of the family; he just never reaches it when it comes to you.

so if you have a person allow another to act terribly towards you, but have another, a friend or family, who teaches you that it's not right, who fights by your side; it wouldn't take long for you to also learn how to defend yourself then. you'll gain confidence that you're at least not alone, that your actions are completely valid.

... but if you have an entire family that couldn't even scold the boy for leaving a scar on your neck, who brushes his mean comments about you aside, who isolates you even further with malicious words that you know becomes crueler when targeted at you—

then you have no basis for what is right, and what is wrong.

and that makes your authority, your trust in yourself dwindle like your already crumbling relationship with all the others the further you try to fight back.

that's when you learn what it's like to give up, all over again. if you accept his vidictive insults, if you know your place to turn back if you see him in the same room, if you knew from the start that sometimes trying doesn't equate to succeeding; then it'll at least numb the pain that comes after.

for the entirety of your life from when damian was introduced, that was how you coped—

but your life after the manor, after damian matures and learns softness, about empathy (that he's buried long ago during his training from when he was all but a toddler) on your situation; reading your journal entries because he still felt entitled to due to some hidden, twisted trait of possessiveness... that's an entirely different story.

would you still be as understanding as you were back in the past towards him? would you still force yourself to love the demon you saw as just a little boy? or would damian finally understand that it's too late to turn back time, to correct all his mistakes?

either way, if you were capable enough to change (at least, in his eyes), becoming an independent person (you think, huh? your place is at the manor), then maybe you could give him a chance too, to fix your relationship and build a bridge to an even stronger one.

one where you could finally baby him, like what you've desired. one where he could feel vulnerable, when he learned that it's valid to feel weak— it cuts back to the previous points: you make him weak.

and when he's out to find you after going through every single diary, every entry, after deducing that there's still a small spark in your that'll forgive him if he tries; he refuses give up any sooner if it meant replicating the same warmth he felt when he stood by your presence.

so... you wouldn't want to leave your youngest brother waiting for you, don't you?

after all, it's just like what your entries told him, right? this is what you always wanted, right?

a/n: everyone is entitled to their own feelings about how i portray damian and mc's relationship!!! i love how all of you guys have different conflicting reactions to this. it's all so complex for me, how damian sees you as someone who's weak and makes him weak (he's just a stubborn little guy), and you, who sees yourself in damian, alongside the added desire to just have someone to care for (because you want to so badly honor your mother's memory), and that person also caring for you is ARGH!!?!

i apologize for my long rambles (if anyone wants me to cut back on posts like this, just tell me), i'm sure everyone is anticipating chapter 5 and possibly (soon) chapter 6 (since the drafts, not the final work is becoming too long). but right now, all i could provide are my depictions of the reader's relationship with every member of the family. i love to churn scenarios where it feels like you're actually part of the family so i'm actually manipulating all of you guys to become attached to the characters too, just to add an extra layer of angst, hehe...

[dyns33]

Family protection

I missed Alfie during Flufftober, I'm not going to lie, even if it was fun

Thomas Shelby was preoccupied.

No, if he was honest, Thomas was just as terrified and furious at that moment, hurt inside, ready to devastate everything in his path, like every time he was told that a member of his family had been targeted.

It had perhaps been a mistake on his part to believe that it was not necessary to monitor Y/N after her marriage. Solomons' men took care of that.

So, when John had called him in a panic, saying that there were rumors about the kidnapping, or even the murder of their sister, he had at first remained frozen at his desk.

Since Polly had brought her back, this little girl from another mother, also abandoned by their fucking so called father, he had loved her. Maybe even more than the others.

The child was adorable. Shy at first, then smiling, with a crystal-clear laugh, asking for cuddles from her brothers, playing with dolls with her sister, and always wanting to be with them.

Normally, boys didn't accept the presence of girls. Poor Ada knew something about that. But strangely, with Y/N, it was different. Neither he, nor John, nor Arthur, could refuse her anything.

She came with them in the streets, in the countryside, in the trees. There were some limits of course, but he had shown her how to climb, jump, run. How to defend herself, if one strange day they weren't there.

Thomas confided things to her and her only when they were alone. The times he slept in the fields, she came to join him. That was often what pushed him to come home, because he didn't want her to catch her death. She stayed there, glued to him without saying anything, respecting his silence like no other member of his family, and for that, he ended up talking to her.

It was a false secret, that Y/N was his favorite. A secret that didn't bother anyone, since she was everyone's favorite.

So Thomas Shelby was preoccupied, because it was said that something had happened to his little sister, without anyone being able to clearly say what.

"She was in a bookstore." Arthur mumbled. "She goes there several times a month, to get books and read to the kids. They like it, she has a beautiful voice. After the session, she often has tea upstairs with the old owner. Men came in, beat up the employees and customers, before going upstairs. Then there was a fire. We don't know anything else."

"And Mr. Solomons ?"

"Haven't managed to reach him. His little assistant says he's… busy."

You'd think the same guys had come to Camden Town to destroy the King's Bakery. Because everything was in a pathetic state, and it was the doing of one man, who shouted orders from his office when he wasn't breaking anything that came his way.

If Thomas was preoccupied, Alfie had lost his mind.

During an important meeting with the Irish, he had let Ollie handle the business, and since the men had to be watched, it was a new kid who answered the phone.

He learned only two hours after his return that a woman had called. Not just any woman, his wife. Who was worried, because there were men in front of the bookstore, whom she didn't know.

She was smart, his wife. His tender Y/N, well raised by the Shelbys. Even if she was normally safe, she remained wary, thinking of looking behind or through the window, knowing all of her husband's employees.

The incompetents who followed her that day had been found with their throats slit in an alley.

Even though his patient was at his limit, Thomas let Alfie finish his tantrum, noting that he had left only the phone and the record player intact, which was playing opera to try to calm him down.

Y/N had disappeared for four hours now. He wouldn't calm down.

"They would have called, huh ? To give their fucking instructions. Or maybe they're scared, they know that my men, the most competent this time, and yours, are all over town, and that as soon as we know who did this, they'll be dead. But… If they don't have her… Tommy, if they don't have her, if she's in that still smoking pile of ashes… I'll burn everything."

"Arthur and John are going to find her."

"Yeah, huh ? You can sense it with your gypsy powers ? Your witch aunt read the cards and saw that my Y/N was healthy ?"

"Not now, Alfie."

Solomons growled, turning his office chair in anger and slamming it against the floor until it was all crumbs. It was only because it was his wife's family that he was acceptinf Thomas' presence.

And for his part, even though he wanted to blow his head off for not protecting his sister properly, Tommy sat there smoking his cigarette, remembering how it had felt to hold Grace in his arms.

When the phone rang, he stared at it for a moment, before looking at Alfie, frozen in the middle of the room, staring at the wall. He wondered if he hadn't heard, before realizing that the wandering Jew was afraid to answer.

It might have been the famous ransom demand, which would teach them that a lot of harm had been done to Y/N, and much more would come if they didn't do what the kidnappers wanted.

It might also have been the coroner, who had finished putting names on the bodies following the fire.

Slowly, Thomas put down his cigarette, before answering.

"… Tommy ?"

"… Y/N ?"

"Give me that !" ordered Alfie who immediately came back to life, snatching the phone from him before finding a softer voice. "Treacle ? Love ? Are you okay ? Where are you ?"

It turned out that despite the lack of practice, taking young Y/N into the woods to teach her how to climb, jump, play tightrope walkers and hide, had been a good thing.

Realizing that something was happening and since her husband was not reachable, she had climbed through the upstairs window on the courtyard side, hoisting herself up onto the roof, until she found a secluded spot to climb down.

Then, not knowing who to trust, she had stayed hidden until nightfall, to go to the closest and safest place from her position, which was her sister's house.

"Faster, Ismael !"

Thomas could have muttered that it would be better to get to Ada's alive, but he only clung to the door handle while the driver obeyed Mr. Solomons without worrying about pedestrians or other cars.

It was also useless to stop Alfie from jumping onto the sidewalk, forgetting his cane in the car to go and bang on the door like a madman until someone opened it.

Calm only returned when he laid eyes on Y/N, settled in the living room and already surrounded by all the other Shelbys who had been called after them.

"Treacle. Forgive me." he sobbed as he threw himself at her knees, his arms around her and his head against her stomach. "I was so worried, love, I thought I was going to die."

"Oh, Alfie. I'm sorry, I wanted to call you before but I didn't have access to a phone."

"I'm the worst husband. I didn't protect you. If my men weren't dead, I'd slit their throats myself."

"Let's try to talk about something happier." Thomas coughed as he approached, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder who smiled at him. "Did you hurt yourself jumping off the roof ?"

"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Strange clothes."

"Yes, love. You weren't wearing that this morning."

"Oh, I…" Y/N said, visibly embarrassed. "I may have "borrowed" a disguise. And money. And a car."

"She's our lil sis !" Arthur declared proudly, oblivious to the dark looks from his aunt, sister, brothers, and brother-in-law.

Maybe they had also shown young Y/N how to steal, but only once or twice, for fun, telling her that it was wrong, and that she would never need to do that because they would take care of her.

Alfie mumbled in Hebrew, which made her laugh. Probably insults without malice. He only let go of her to allow the others to kiss her before he took her back to their home, returning worse than a leech at the first opportunity.

When he proposed to add some of his men to Solomons' for her next outings, the king of Candem was at first outraged. He didn't bark only because his wife had already experienced a lot of emotions, but he would not let Thomas humiliate him.

However, in the middle of the night, certainly when Y/N was sleeping, Solomons contacted him.

"How many men, and what price ?"

"I'm the one who feels insulted now, Alfie. She's my sister, that will be the necessary number and for nothing at all."

"Hmm… You know, they all have something to say about you, your siblings. All of them, while you take care of them. I know it, I see it, but they are never happy. But not Y/N. No, my treacle has nothing but compliments for her big brothers, and you the first. Tommy this, Tommy that. She adores you."

"I adore her too."

"Hmm. Not as much as me, and so there will be fewer men than mine, but… I accept the offer."

"Glad we almost agree on something, Mr. Solomons."

He did not sleep that night, because Thomas Shelby was a preoccupied man by nature. By business, by his family, by the future and the past.

But as for his favorite little sister, he could have slept peacefully, knowing that her husband was there to ensure her happiness and protection as he had sworn during their marriage.

And if something were to happen, they would join forces, then Thomas would probably kill Alfie to punish him, if the madman didn't kill himself first to join Y/N whom he loved at least as much as her brother loved her.

[bitstitchbitch]

*spoilers for the dragon prince seasons 1-7 ahead*

okay, but in runaan’s pov (and forgive me if I get anything wrong here),

he goes off to kill a king and prince and… brings his daughter along. His daughter gives them away so he makes her stay behind (probably to save her life tbh) but she goes anyway and tries to convince him it’s a big mistake while protecting the adopted son of the king he’s there to kill. So then Runaan fights his own daughter but she gets away with the adopted son.

So, runaan goes back to his job and kills the king, and the only weird thing is that the king kind of squawked at him in the end? People do strange things when they are about to die though so he doesn’t think too much of it. but because his daughter betrayed them he gets captured and then trapped in a coin by an evil mage. And he gets stuck in an in-between state of unfinished business for two years before his daughter comes and saves him.

and when he’s finally free, the adopted son of the king he killed is there, and also dating his daughter? And he can’t be mad about it because the adopted son is a mage (but somehow not a dark mage despite being human) and helped his daughter save him.

So while runaan is healing up, he has to watch his daughter date this ridiculous human (who actually doesn’t show much of a grudge towards runaan for murdering the king). But soon enough the boy goes to help his brother - who runaan was also supposed to kill.

and at this point, runaan just wants to go back to his lover, but when he’s finally well enough to travel, his daughter is like “actually I’m very sorry but we have to go back to the place where you were captured and trapped in a magic coin because I promised”

so runaan goes only to be yelled at by the prince, now king, that he failed to murder and is arrested for murdering the original king because unlike adopted son this son is very angry. A few days later, his daughter saves him with the eventual help of the adopted son / annoying human with the nerve to date his daughter. But it’s fine, he finally gets back to his lover. It’s a bit of a process to get his daughter unbanished, but after that everything should go back to how it was

except because adopted son went against his king brother to help runaan escape, he is now hanging around and make inane comments about how pretty the silver grove is and making out with runaan’s daughter. And, apparently, planning on having ten kids with said daughter. Yuck

but after only two weeks of the boy’s interloping, suddenly they find out that the world is at risk of ending. And now runaan is going on a road trip with the adopted son of man he murdered / potential son-in-law only to find that the person they were searching for is already murdered and then runaan has to save the boy’s life from an evil mage (different one, btw)

and then once the evil mage leaves, the boy (who runaan has really only known for a few weeks) declares his intent to commit dark magic to trap the evil elf trying to destroy the world, but makes runaan promise to assassinate him as soon as he does dark magic so that the evil elf can’t control him. Runaan agrees to this despite probably knowing that it would break his daughter’s heart

so they go back and the adopted son is standing there ready to cast the spell and runaan is standing there ready to shoot him when Runaan gets attacked by the dark mage and thrown to the ground. Thankfully things still work out and the people who runaan care about (including the adopted son, who unfortunately wasn’t spared from using dark magic but isn’t at risk of being controlled anymore) make it out alive

so anyways, after things calm down and wanting to clear his name, runaan goes to the young king and submits to his justice. The young king forgives him, with difficulty, then asks a reasonable question. “Did my father have any last words?”

and runaan has to tell this young, twelve year old king that the last sound his father made was a squawk. Only this seems to have real significance for the people in the room and now there’s a very real chance that the person you assassinated isn’t actually dead but, somehow, swapped bodies with a… bird???

but we don’t actually know because the next season isn’t renewed.

anyways, runaan had a rough time of it

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Don't you think it's funny cause actual canon gay characters in BL manga will say "I love you" but only the shounen bromance can spew out some of the most romantic shit akin to a 19th century poet writing a letter expressing his surpressed love for his lover 😭.....

Genuniely can't tell if it's bait or not, but I'm going to treat this ask seriously anyway.

Here, have some examples of beautiful and poetic expressions of love in BL media!

I'm going to start with my favourite murder husbands, Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu from Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers!

This happens in episode nine, less than one third into the story- it's that early, they've known each other for like a week and are already able to tell they're meant to be. They've made their decision to be together, and over the course of the story:

They defend each other multiple times and fight side by side in multiple episodes, sometimes protecting their adopted kid/mentee Chengling as well

Zhou Zishu is willing to go against the whole martial arts society for his boyfriend. With zero hesistation, might I add.

They both know the other has done horrible things (lots of murder on both sides here) and that's not only okay, it's a big part of why they're soulmates and get each other so well!

Zhou Zishu is slowly dying (poisoned nails in his chest, long story) and Wen Kexing can and will risk his life to save him. Don't worry, they get a happy ending both in the show and the novel even if the show's last episode is behind a paywall and Netflix didn't even include it for some reason?

But enough about them, let's move on to the immortal fantasy genre boyfriends Hua Cheng and Xie Lian from Heaven Official's Blessing!

Please note how Hua Cheng is ready to accept Xie Lian in whatever state he's currently in- as a god, a fallen outcast, even grieving and angry and at his absolute lowest. He's stood by Xie Lian in his worst moments, even if at the time Xie Lian had no idea it was him.

Hua Cheng has loved Xie Lian for 800 years, ever since he was a boy Xie Lian saved from falling to his death during a procession.

Xie Lian became a god, then fell due to horrible circumstances, almost committed a war crime against another nation that destroyed his country, spend 800 years wandering the mortal realm as a poor cultivator with his powers greatly reduced, and eventually ascended to become a god again. Throughout it all, Hua Cheng loved him and did his best to help him and then find him.

They're both adorable and the definition of a power couple once they're reunited- no spoilers, but they eventually fight an incredibly powerful god side by side and win & the last scene in the story is them reuniting for good since there's no more obstacles to their immortal love.

Let's move on to my favourite Japanese BL, Our Dining Table (also available as a series that came out semi-recently, but the examples below are from the manga.)

Yutaka is a lonely salesman who meets Minoru, a restaurant worker and his much younger brother Tane grieving the death of their mother.

Yutaka and Minoru hit it off by bonding through food they cook and share. The series is incredibly heartwarming, and as seen above Yutaka becomes a much happier person thanks to both his new relationship and big brother-like bond with little Tane.

As a little bonus, the whole found family together!

This post can't be complete without Golden Stage (or Golden Terrace, as the English official translation calls it).

Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan aren't even in love at this point! This is at the beginning of the story, when their marriage has just been arranged by the emperor and they're still bitter rivals.

Yan Xiaohan is already protective of his future husband- later on, he also builds him a mansion meant to accommodate his disability (nerve damage in both legs, which requires a wheelchair and/or crutches). They're both incredibly powerful military generals, and the emperor was an idiot thinking an arranged marriage would humiliate them.

Of course they fall in love, of course they're a power couple, of course they send each other letters through trained geese when they're separated during the war, of course they run to each other as fast as they can across a wide cold river when they're finally reunited! Of course they're important to me!

....Aaand how about some Wangxian to wrap up this post? They need no introduction, an absolutely wonderful and complex relationship in a complex fantasy/intrigue story available in several forms - the books, the animated series (as seen above), the live action series, the audio drama, there's so much!

Some of their most beautiful moments:

Lan Wangji writing a song for Wei Wuxian and naming it Wangxian. Years after it's composed, Wei Wuxian plays it and LWJ is able to recognise him even in a different body.

LWJ begs WWX to come with him to Cloud Recesses, to safety, after WWX makes himself an enemy of the whole cultivation world for protecting innocent people.

They confront the final villain together, and work together to expose his crimes. This is also when their final love confession happens, and it's hilarious- in front of everyone's salad, WWX declares he also wanted to sleep with LWJ.

Despite censorship, the animated series was still able to allude to their wedding, showing them in red wedding robes (unfortunately can't find a gif rn)

Respectfully, if you genuinely think BL doesn't have beautiful love confessions and displays of romance, you need to find better BL.

[undertheorangetree]

How to Improve HOTD S2

This is truly just me feeling frustrated with the second season and screaming into the void. Feel free to ignore it I wrote it at 10pm in a hater spiral and probably have some information wrong

1. Shift away from the Alicent vs Rhaenyra thing and highlight Aegon vs Rhaenyra. It would be hard when zero relationship had been established in season 1 but after Jaehaerys’s murder it would have been SOOO easy to shift the focus of Team Green on to Aegon and make him really want to take Nyra down.

2. Speaking of Nyra I’m begging them to give her some agency. Her son was MURDERED. She spent TEN DAYS SEARCHING FOR HIS BODY. She should’ve been ready and raring to go to war at the end of episode one!! She should be doing everything she can to destroy those who took her baby boy from her!! Instead they had her crying about going to war and no one taking her seriously for 5 episodes. Let her be morally grey I’m begging you she is not a saint nor should she be

3. Introduce Ulf and Hugh WHEN they claimed their dragons. No one cares about their lives yet. Regular viewers don’t know who they are. They can talk backstory once you’ve shown why they’re important

4. While we’re introducing characters GIVE US SOME TIME WITH DAERON. Non book readers have no idea who he is. Establishing his place in Oldtown, the fact that he has a dragon, the dichotomy between himself and his brothers all would have been GREAT to see before they started throwing his name around.

5. More screentime for the younger generation! Helaena lost so much of her arc due to them removing her fall into madness (which I’m not mad at btw) but showing her grief would’ve still been nice. Baela is ride or die for house targaryen and that’s about all we’ve seen from her, plz give my girl some agency. Rhaena is angry about being cast aside and that’s got so much meat for character motivations but EVEN THE WRITERS ARE IGNORING HER AND GIVING HER ONE 30 SECOND SCENE EVERY OTHER EPISODE. Jace is also being done dirty, they should be establishing reasons why we should care about him and why he’s such a good heir before the battle of the gullet (which in an ideal world would’ve been where we ended season 2 but).

6. ENOUGH WITH THE HARRENHAL ARC!! The first few scenes were fine but now it’s just repetitive. Daemon wanting to be king in his own right came out of nowhere and will have zero consequences when we all know Nyra is just going to take him back when he’s done pouting. He’s literally just wandering around Harrenhal like a freak. That arc needed 3 episodes at the absolute max to establish the castle and Alys and the river lords and then he should’ve come back. I hate him but they’re wasting his character.

7. Aemond turning into a super villain?? After we established he regretted what he did to Luke?? Trying to take out his own brother for power is fine and I support you if that’s what you want king but maybe give us some more context other than “brother bullies you in front of his friends”?? Maybe my sister was just mean but that’s an average sibling experience as far as I’m concerned. It would have made more sense with the characterization they had already given him if Aemond had been given no choice but to burn Aegon in order to save him and take out Rhaneys and Meleys. The 180 into anime villain felt way too abrupt (like dany going mad sorry)

8. Alicent and Cole………… as much as I fly the Alicent is gay flag it could’ve made sense if they didn’t just immediately beat us over the head with it. We were immediately thrown in the deep end of them having a sexual relationship with zero context other than “everything you feel for me… as your queen” PERHAPS GIVE US SOMETHING MORE. I actually would have loved Alicent reclaiming her sexuality after 20+ years of having to fuck her rotting old husband but they went about it the wrong way.

9. Speaking of Alicent, I feel like they truly do not know what to do with Alicent. They took away every ounce of agency she could have had in order to make her a victim and now they don’t have anything for her to do. They just keep taking everything from her in a way that just shoves her character in a box while also trying to maintain her as one of the main characters?? It’s just all very odd to me

10. In that same vein, I feel like they don’t really know what to do with ANYONE honestly. Game of Thrones also had a big cast following multiple locations but somehow juggling between them all felt much cleaner than it does here. It’s as if they lose track of their characters and forget about them so they throw in a quick 30 second scene to be like “btw they’re still here!!”

11. I need more character interactions. Aegon/Helaena. Daemon with his children. Just people you expect to have some kind of relationship. I don’t think any of those characters have ever actually had a significant interaction with each other which feels absolutely WILD to me but

12. STOP WITH THE TEAMS!!! STOP IT!!! There is no good guy and bad guy here and there shouldn’t be. It’s a monarchy, a whole ass empire that has its roots in an even worse empire. None of the Targaryens are good. They aren’t gods. Rhaenyra has been completely screwed over due to the patriarchy but being a victim doesn’t make you a good person. She’s still sacrificing the country for her birthright. Let her be evil, morally grey, ANYTHING is better than her pushing against common sense in order to seem like a good guy. Aegon and co as well shouldn’t be portrayed entirely of super villains and victims. They’ve also done a shitty thing but at the very least give us some nuance no one is entirely good or bad.

13. This is nitpicky so it’s at the end but it’s called house of the DRAGON. I wanna see more rider/dragon interaction. I shouldn’t be introduced to a dragon the same episode it’s maimed (Sunfyre). You shouldn’t be telling me one of the main characters has a dragon when we haven’t so much as heard her speak about it (Dreamfyre). If a bond is so important between a dragon and it’s rider I want to see that bond

• IN THAY SAME VEIN why was vermithor letting nyra and daemon get all up in his grill?? They’re bonded dragonriders they’ve got their bestie, he doesn’t. Shouldn’t he have lit them up for that?? What makes them so special?? He’s barbecuing Targaryen bastards left and right but these two get a pass?? Why??

And now for some general overall complaints🫶🏼

1. Fix your pacing I’m begging you. They could have made 8 episodes work if they had let us move through the plots faster but instead there’s so much dead air. After Jaehaerys was killed we should’ve been FLYING through plot points. Two child murders are enough to declare a war started, but we still hadn’t seen any battle until episode 4 and then it stalled out again. Harrenhal doesn’t need this much screentime. You don’t need to hint at Rhaena claiming Sheepstealer for 3+ episodes. We don’t need to hum and ha about going to war for 4 episodes. There should be fewer long shots of the actors faces simply reacting and more SPEAKING. More PLOT. MORE OF ANYTHING TO MOVE THE STORY FORWARD

2. Stop repeating information. Characters constantly beat you over the head with the same information over and over again. One character will tell a person something then a second character tells that same person almost the exact same thing an episode later it’s like no one proofread the script.

3. Why are you having your actors use giant words in order to sound more period accurate?? You don’t need to repeat lickspittle every five seconds. You don’t need to use gainsay or comportment. I promise your audience knows it’s a medieval setting, put the thesaurus down you sound like an idiot

4. It’s almost totally inaccessible for non book readers. I watch with my mom and sister, neither of whom have done any research about ASOIAF but have seen GOT, and I’m constantly explaining shit to them. The showrunners rely too much on people having read them that they don’t explain anything. I know Helaena has a dragon, but they don’t because NO ONE HAS MENTIONED IT BEFORE!! BY THE SECOND SEASON!!

5. This is just a me thing but I would’ve LOVED more regional costuming. We got a hint of it with Sabitha Frey wearing a headpiece when treating with Jace and I love the idea of each region having their own specific fashion trends. The costumes are fine, some are even great, but most are lacklustre and feel too fantasy to me. I’m a history girly I want to see more hoods and headpieces and different shapes in the dresses etc etc.

Despite all this there are still some great scenes!! Aspects of this season were awesome and I think the first two episodes in particular were really strong, there is just so much lost potential this season and it has been really disappointing. I’m still gonna be sat for the finale this week but I hope that they really up their game in season three

[hanako-san]

Hanako can't live without his little brother but tsukasa is willing to leave his big brother. Why is there such a contrdtion in their feelings ?! What did hanako do to make tsukasa distance himself from him like this????

I think the first of these things I can say is self-contempt. Hanako has repeatedly despised himself and has constantly said that he doesn't deserve love and care because he is a murderer.

The best and simplest example is this scene where he literally shouted instead of using words that make it clear that he despises himself

He literally says that it doesn't matter what happens to him, he doesn't care. The important thing is that she survives. This also shows that he still thinks that everything supernatural should be destroyed, which is why he intentionally causes people to get angry, like Akane with Aoi. He wants to be hated.

A murderer who thinks he doesn't deserve love and care, but at the same time gives his all to protect and love those he loves. Hanako wants to protect, but doesn't want to be protected by others. It's just sad.

Amane and Tsukasa have a complicated relationship. And the distance between them is not only Amane's fault, but Tsukasa's as well.Tsukasa think Amane still hates him when he literally confesses his love.

Amane may pretend to be a 'cold and ruthless' supernatural, but he has proven that to be a lie time and time again, just like here. He was hurt by his brother Tsukasa rejected his love.

Tsukasa thinks Amane doesn't need him. Their misunderstanding dates back to when they were 4 years old and he shouted it right in Tsukasa's face.

It's Amane's fault that Tsukasa thinks he hates him, even though I know Amane didn't really mean what he said. Tsukasa took it as hatred towards him, that he'd be better off without him. He loves his brother very much and decided to sacrifice himself, no matter that he hates him (according to Tsukasa), the important thing is that Amane is happy. Tsukasa was also hurt by Amane.

I think Tsukasa might be noticing that Amane is a bit afraid of him because Amane said in the p.p arc that Tsukasa gets aggressive when he is disturbed, which wasn't the case before.

This misunderstanding is still there between them. Tsukasa is ready to sacrifice himself for Amane a second time thinking that he really hates him. Amane tries to tell him that the afterlife has no meaning without him. Which is the same as saying 'I love you, I want to live with you, not without you' Tsukasa is a smart boy, either he is aware of his brother's feelings and pretends to be able to sacrifice herself more easily a second time and fulfill his wish or this god simply doesn't allow Amane's love to reach him. I understand why Amane is looking for a reason to be on his side.

Their feelings may seem contrasting, but they aren't.

Tsukasa wants to sacrifice himself for Amane a second time because he loves him and wants to fulfill his true wish. Amane wants to protect Tsukasa and stop him from doing what he wants to do. They both love each other so much that one killed him and himself to be together and does NOT want to lose him, and the other is ready to sacrifice himself for him again. Their love for each other is expressed in different ways, but the effect is the same.

Their love is really strong and powerful and they both show how much they love each other

I still think that what I wrote is not everything because it is not known what else happened between them that they both behaved like that.

[fanaticsnail]

Aaaaa, thank you to the anon! ❤️❤️❤️

I know right, where are the Childhood Friend fics with Doffy? Every other char has them usually in the fandom, no? But Doffy is alone 😭 just because he's an angry boy doesn't mean he doesn't deserve a friend!

The anon's ask made me so happy, I'm glad someone is enjoying it. I have only published one OP fic on my AO3 username and it was about the Donquixote Brothers meeting. It was a very fluffy fic I was very happy with it even if it was short!

I'm still like getting used to writing x reader stories but the community has been so welcoming overall and all the writers are so wonderful and have such wonderful stories, Snail included! I've not yet published any x Reader story cus aaaa, I'm scared!

Myb I just make another tumblr main blog for my One Piece writing cus my blog has another fandom writing but I am also thinking “hey, you followed me, get ready for shenanigans that comes with following me” 🤣

Yeah, I really need to write this Childhood Friends as a fic. It's been on my brain... A while, but never too detailed, but this makes me want to dive into detailed storytelling for it.

Some more ideas starring the restaurant

- all the birthday parties for the crew are held there

- marines are not allowed, it's an unspoken rule, if any marine comes in, or god forbid, dares to bother Reader, they're dead the next day

- Pica expanded the building to have balconies; the largest balcony with a view of the town is usually where the Donquixote crew eats, but they also sometimes party in the main floor ie the ground floor

- Reader has full free protection by Doflamingo. He calls it Best Friend Discount.

Reader's restaurant gets set on fire and destroyed by an enemy pirate crew and both Doflamingo and Rosinante are out for blood. Rosinante has never been visibly pissed, but it is the first and last time he is genuinely murderous and will take pleasure in killing the bastards who did it. The newcomer Law actually goes full on murder spree. That restaurant had the best rice balls and Reader made him his favourite cake for his birthday a week after he joined the DQ Pirates, how dare those bastards - he stabs so many of them. Baby 5's aim has never been better. Gladius blows them up.

In short, entire DQ Family is PISSED. They set sail immediately after locating the enemy crew's headquarters. Full Birdcage, full annihilation. Explosions and fire everywhere. Then they return but they don't feel good because they usually go celebrate at Reader's restaurant and now they don't have there to celebrate and everyone is sad (Doflamingo doesn't show it for obvious reasons but he is sad too) but then Reader and the restaurant staff surprise them by making outside tables all filled with food.

Corazon actually cries. He falls to the floor, hugs Reader around the legs and weeps. So does Baby 5.

Sending love to you, Snail, and to the anon ❤️❤️❤️

AND WHERE IS THE FLUFFY FIC, YANDERE DOFFY ANON???

Oh my gosh: best friend discount. Y E S.

THE CARNAGE AFTER THE RESTAURANT BURNS DOWN AAAAAAAAAAA.

Okay, I need it. You're gonna have to make a side blog, my love. It's gonna be absolutely gorgeous, I can already tell 😭🥹🥹

[jomiddlemarch]

A letter always seemed to me like immortality

Everyone Diana wanted to write to was dead.

Walter, what seemed like a dozen lifetimes ago, at Courcelette if his last letter to Rilla was to be believed; Diana had often wondered whether he had already considered himself a dead man walking before the day of the last battle, the boy he’d been destroyed beyond repair or rebirth.

Aunt Leslie, whom she’d found it easier to talk to than her own mother, perhaps because she’d also had a brother she adored. Perhaps because she’d left Glen St. Mary and never missed it. 

Perhaps because Leslie liked whiskey better than tea, newspapers better than poetry. 

Una, who’d been too pale since she barely survived nursing her father and stepmother through the Spanish flu, who’d been someone everyone underestimated or decided to treat as a martyr, who would not have judged Di the way her own sisters would. 

Rosalind Foyle, whom she’d had to ask about as discreetly as she could, counting on her general reception as a cheerful and polite Canadian, not much like a bossy Yank, to yield her the few details she’d squirreled away. An artist, a mother. A beauty. Better-bred than her husband, well-liked, she’d had elegant hands and never forgot to wear gloves.

Diana only wore gloves to operate and if an actual gale was blowing in a blizzard.

Who had thought all she wanted was to go to France, to make something of her life that would last her the rest of it. That might make the rest of it of a duration she could bear, an end her family could cope with or justify why she’d never return to PEI.

Dear Una, You’re the best one to write to, I think. The one who’d mind the least, like it the most. The least awkward for me to imagine reading this, the least likely to tell me something I don’t want to know. I leave for France in a few weeks and now I don’t want to go. Or rather, I do and then I don’t. There’s something holding me in England now, something to do with Walter, a mystery. Men, who’ve died. A man who’s alive, very much so.

A man I want to know. His name is Foyle. Christopher. He knew Walter, said Walter knew him as Kit. Everyone calls him Foyle or sir or Superintendent. Christopher. Oh Una, I thought this was behind me. That it was something I’d never have to deal with, some sort of consolation of being a woman in a world missing a generation of men. I thought I wouldn’t know this and that was a relief, watching you and Rilla and Nan. Faith. Mary. I thought it was fair, that I’d never know heartbreak like this. And now there’s Christopher. A half-dozen dead men. Walter’s poem. And France, waiting for me. I have to go, I know that, but how do I go wanting to stay here, a place I can’t call home. Wanting to come back.

Christopher. I like writing his name because I oughtn’t say it often. That’s what a young girl does, lovesick, dull, embarrassing herself, making everyone around her smile behind their hands unless it’s Miss Cornelia, scolding you for making a fool of yourself and for what, a man? What’s a man worth, I ask you—can’t you hear her say it, tart, ready to wash her hands of us— I don’t care what a man’s worth, Una. Just Christopher. And I can’t answer the question, not to satisfy Miss Cornelia or you or myself.

You’d write me back something comforting, if you could. If you hadn’t died before your time, twice over, after the telegram, after the epidemic. I should have insisted you leave before me or with me. I should have told your father you were worth more than all the rest of them put together or made Dad send you away to convalesce, somewhere warm, where you might have lolled about, turning brown in the sun. I’ve said I’ll go to France and sew up the men who need sewing up. Cut off the parts that need cutting off. I’ve said that’s my life, my vocation, as important as Mother’s poetry, as Walter’s, as the babies Jem delivers and the columns Ken Ford writes, and it must be but now there’s murder and Christopher to contend with, a dozen mysteries at the heart of me. For it seems I’ve a heart after all, Una. It beats and beats and leaps when it oughtn’t. It will break, I know it shall.

Christopher. I’ll take a dream in lieu of a letter. A flower, out of place, in lieu of a word. Answer me if you can, Una. You can’t and I know that, but I’ll still hope, silly Di Blythe.

She put the letter in an envelope but left it unsealed and unaddressed.

Left the envelope in an otherwise empty drawer of the desk in her flat. If she didn’t return from France, well, that didn’t bear thinking about too closely. If her papers were sent back to Canada, her father would likely burn the letter rather than let her mother see it unless if gave it to Nan, thinking her twin would derive some comfort and, happily married to Jerry, the bonny wife and mother Di had not made of herself, could weather any pang it gave her.

If somehow it ended up with Christopher, he’d know how she’d once felt.

She could make that happen, writing his name across the white field of the envelope, but that was too much like a dare, and for all she was her father’s daughter, she still had her mother’s wise fear of the fey.

She’d written his name enough. She’d hope she’d come back to say it.

[rhyo-writes]

What Makes a Monster; Prologue

As the title suggests, this is an intro to a new series I've decided to write; my take on the Sinclair twins (House of Wax 2005) and their childhood.

Length: 1k

Fandom: House of Wax 2005

Warnings: references to physical and emotional abuse towards children, allusions to murder and torture, this is a HoW fic so take that as warning

If you asked Bo Sinclair what the biggest lie in Ambrose was, you’d probably expect to hear something about the image of a perfect and loving family his mother was so desperate to achieve. The pretense Trudy was so sure the town would believe if her boys would just behave, if they showed up to church every Sunday, if Bo would just be like his brother. And he might at first be tempted to say that, but it simply wasn’t true, even if technically the biggest lie was about his family, and if it technically was about their perfection. But despite these technicalities, it had nothing to do with the loving facade Trudy so desperately pushed. No, this lie concerned Bo’s other half, his mother’s favorite twin, the little artist following in his mother’s footsteps, the model child that Trudy showered with praise, just as oblivious as the rest of the town to the truth.

Vincent was the lie, the golden boy facade as false as the mask he always wore, and the truth just as mangled as what lay underneath. It made Bo angry, this whole good-twin bad-twin game they’d been thrust into, the endless comparisons, the idolization of his brother, when Bo knew that Vincent was just as twisted as he was. Maybe even more so. 

Sure, Bo lashed out. He had a violent temper, and he was quick with his fists, using violence to solve any problem thrust upon him, but that was common knowledge. Everyone knew Bo was a problem, a difficult child, a delinquent, his future a criminal record stretching longer than any list of achievements he could make. Everyone knew of the raging fire burning in his soul, ready to send him over the edge at any second. Even Trudy had given up pretending to love him, whining about her horrid son to her church friends. Everyone saw Bo for who he was, but no one truly saw Vincent.

If Bo was a raging fire, then Vincent was a deceptively calm ocean, serene upon inspection, but with an ever present barrage of deadly currents, hidden just below the surface, invisible until it was far too late for the errant swimmer. Sure, the other kids thought he was a freak, and the adults whispered that he was a bit strange, but they chalked it up to a hard start, to his deformities, to his horrid twin. And sure, their classmates never bullied Vincent the way they did Lester, disturbed by the drawings in Vincent’s sketchbook, saving him from the full force of their hatred up front. But they had no clue just how far that disturbance went, or how dangerous Vincent could be. They had no clue that every day their choice to shun him over outright violence kept them alive, or that the disappearance of the one boy who destroyed Vincent’s work was more than a coincidence.

But Bo knew, how could he not. He knew Vincent, the mirror to his own self, a reflection, perhaps backwards in presentation, but with a soul just as filled with rot and decay as his own. Bo knew that the sculptures of squirrels, rats, mice, and the occasional bat that crowded the shelves of Lester’s room weren’t realistic solely due to Vincent’s skill, but in part as a result of the rotting corpses underneath, an armature not for the squeamish. Bo knew that the stomach churning drawings that filled page after page of Vincent’s sketchbook weren’t the nightmares they were passed off as, but the dark fantasies that lurked like cobwebs etched into his brother’s soul.

And in some dark corner of his brain, Bo Knew that he had to act out, he had create enough chaos and destruction for the two of them, because if he didn’t, the things Vincent would do would be so much worse, and there wouldn’t be enough shadowed crevices or overturned trees in the world to hide the slew of bodies that would follow his brother.

Bo loved Vincent, he really did, but sometimes, a part of him wished that his perfect twin would get in trouble the way he did, for his mother to realize that her precious baby was just as much a freak, they were twins after all, two sides of the same coin.  “It’s not fair,” he wanted to scream, “he’s just as awful, just as horrible,” but try as he might to relay the obvious, that they were identical in both mind and body, no one would listen. His mother would backhand him, furious, for how dare he speak that way about her precious little angel, and Bo would go to bed hungry, seething, trying to tell himself he preferred an empty stomach to the hell that was family dinner. 

Years later he’d watch victims plead with Vincent, convinced that they just had to get through the web of lies they thought Bo had strung, and that if they could Vincent would help them. These small minded people, dumb with fear, oblivious to the inherent cruelty of Vincent’s work, pleading for their lives as if they were more than a step of the creative process, convinced that Vincent must feel sorry for them. He was the tortured artist, he wanted to save them, he hated killing, delusions that made Bo laugh before he’d smash in their faces.

Little did they know that he was far from complicit, in fact, Vincent lived for the feeling of blood on his hands. Nothing quite got the gears of his brain turning like a fresh face to work with, a fresh canvas awaiting his vision. Because Bo was not the mastermind behind the hell Ambrose had become, as much as he’d love to give himself credit. Bo never had much of a vision for the future, for what they could create, but he had someone who did. Someone just as cruel and sadistic, someone happy to help cover Bo’s tracks if it meant he could create his art. No, Bo was not the one behind the town of wax, Vincent was. 

[aquaburst3]

Welp, the latest main story update dropped last night. Oh, boy. It's bad. Like super bad. Somehow even worse than Vil turning into a diva and abusing Neige.

According to people who recounted what happened in it, Leona is a tyrant that doesn't care about his people. It' possibly hinted at that he murdered his own family to get the throne.

Leona would never do that! While he finds his brother and nephew annoying, he still loves them and would never wish them harm let alone murder them. Last time I checked, he and Scar weren't the same character.

Do I think Leona is ready to be king now? No. But, I don't think think he would be this bad. He's smart and willing to listen to others. I don't see him letting the country fall to shit.

Yes, I know that he said that wants to harness Sunset Savannah for its natural resources and upgrade the country. One, that comes out of a place of compassion. He knows Ruggie and plenty of others like him suffer under massive poverty. Hell, there are parts of that country that still have to use well water. He just wants to upgrade those parts to make things more even. Two, Leona has some very good points. If there's so much wealth disparity in that country, maybe finding other ways to make money might be a good thing. I agree. Destroying the environment isn't the answer. But there are ways to bring the country up to stand and be harmonious with the environment. Leona is smart enough to figure out those options. Three, he's not a fucking Captain Planet villain. He's willing to listen to others' advice and find a balance. Even in this very chapter Leona said that he wanted to have an internship at a mine in his country, so that way he can learn how to balance his own desires and saving the environment and tradition. This quite literally contradicts what this Book said several updates ago.

I know that Malleus is creating these dreams based on his own understanding of these guys, so there are gonna be some inconsistencies. But if that was the case, wouldn't Leona instantly know that something was off? He's the smartest character in the game. If he was in character, he should've figured it out and played along with Malleus' little game long enough till he got help. I even heard one suggestion that if Leona was in character, he could've purposefully gave himself a nightmare so he could wake up faster. That would've been so cool, too. But, no. Leona has to be an idiot, because the plot demands it. (Between this and Book 2, I swear he's cursed that whenever he gets any large amount of focus in the main story, he's transformed into a total dumbass. xD)

This is so bad and out of character that it geniunely pisses me off. Leona's not even in my top 3 favourite characters in this game! This is somehow even worse than The Cursed Child. At least that got the character's basic personality traits right, for the most part. This is just The Lion King plot superimposed on the Twisted Wonderland characters, so it falls apart at the seams. What a waste.

[unfriendlyamazon]

Noah 2.0

wrote this a very long time ago just as a kind of test for a story idea i had i never ended up following through on... but now i'm kind of feeling the kaiba trio and want to see more. anyway here's a wonderful conversation between two brothers who love each other and with no trauma between them

Seto paced back and forth as the computer ran its diagnostics. This was a bad idea. He should incinerate the thing, or launch it into the sun. Nothing good would come of fiddling with it, or poking back into the past. This was done with. It was dealt with. All Seto was doing was drudging up ancient history.

He was being stupid right now. But something itched at him, and his impulse control was never very good. Seto went to the machine, and he started it up, keeping an eye on the diagnostics as he did.The large screen in front of him flickered on, but it was only a blank screen that stared back at him. Maybe that was the answer. Maybe it was corrupted. Maybe there was nothing on here, and he could put his anxiety to rest. And then the screen changed, showing a bedroom, simple with four walls and not much else. Sitting on the bed was a boy, who fiddled with a toy spaceship. He looked up, green hair framing his soft face, and then he smiled.

“Seto,” he said.

“Noah,” Seto growled.

He looked up and around, seemingly taking in his environment for the first time. He slid off the bed and walked towards the screen, kicking at the rug that covered the wood floor. Behind him, windows let in sunshine, but it wasn’t quite right. Seto couldn’t make out anything beyond them besides blue skies. Noah paced around for a moment before addressing him again.

“What’s different here?” he asked.

Seto glanced at the readout. “The actual virtual environment was destroyed when you dropped a bomb on it. I think this is a back up, probably a remote source in case the data needed to be rebuilt.”

“Strange.” He touched the screen, and a flicker of melancholy moved his face. “Just like the old days.”

“Hopefully not.” Seto leaned forward, placing his hands on the console. “I haven’t finished examining this. At this moment in time, I don’t know if you’re dangerous or not. I don’t know if even uploading you now was the right choice, but I need to ask you some questions.”

“What questions?” Noah sat down in front of the screen, sitting crosslegged, like a school child ready to learn. “You know everything you need to. If our roles were reversed, I would’ve left you in a drawer.”

“That would be my first.” He glanced again at the data pouring out in front of him. “I don’t know how recent this backup copy is. You remember our meeting?”

“Yes,” he sighed.

“Do you remember attempting to blow up me and my colleagues?”

“Colleagues?” Noah laughed. “Your dumb little friends? Yes, I remember them.”

He nodded. “If this file backed up thirty-two minutes before you attempted several murders and what might in some contexts be considered a war crime, then I don’t really know what to do. In that moment you proved a very big threat against me, and Mokuba, and possibly the world. But if this backed up in the eighteen minutes until the system was destroyed, then that changes things. You went back for us.”

“I went back for Mokuba,” he said, crossing his arms.

Seto nodded again. “What is the last thing you remember, Noah?”

His shoulders squeezed together, his lips out in a pout. He did look like a child there, small and like he’d been caught doing something wrong in his kindergarten class. Like Seto’s recourse was going to be to ground him. Mokuba had given him a similar look so many times, defiant and annoyed.

“I stopped father,” Noah said, and his eyes went down. “I had to hold him there so you could escape. I had just enough time to say goodbye.”

Seto only stared at the screen showing him the data. He had to ask. If Noah managed to save himself, then surely…

“Is Gozaburo in there as well?” he asked. “I need to know, Noah. Has any part of him remained?”

“You mean besides me?” Noah offered a sad smile. “I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s anything past these walls. I can’t access anything I used to be able to, not the rest of the mansion, not my dog, not anything. I think it’s just gone.”

“The file’s corrupted,” Seto said, and he looked at him again. “If it was attempting to transfer data when the whole structure exploded--”

“That would do it.” Noah tilted his head. “Have I answered your questions?”

Seto let out a breath. “For now.”

“Can I ask one?” He leaned forward. “How is Mokuba?”

Seto felt his fists curl, but he steadied himself. Noah’s expression was one of genuine curiosity.

“He’s fine,” he said. “I’m not going to tell him about you. Not yet.”

“Right, of course.” Noah’s head dipped down. “You have to ensure I’m safe first. And then what will you do, Seto? If I am? If you can ensure I won’t infect your company, or try to steal your body again, or that I’m not Gozaburo in disguise--”

“I hadn’t even thought of that one,” he said.

“Well, you’re slow. But if I am safe, then what? What does my future hold as a floppy disk in a junk drive?”

Seto shook his head. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. This is not the last time we talk, Noah.”

“Of course,” he said with a sigh. “Back into the darkness. I say this sincerely, Seto. I look forward to talking with you again.”

Seto grimaced, and he shut off the screen. The machine continued to examine the disc he’d found. Too dangerous to leave overnight for just anyone to see. He should make some coffee. It was going to be a long night.

[scrumptiousstuffs]

Only Friends Episode 10 - Redemption

In which we see more character growth (especially Ray), Atom and Boeing are manipulators with a massive grudge and Mew needs to get over his bitterness if he ever wants to make his second chance work

Top & Mew (featuring Boeing)

We start with the most awkward lunch/dinner scene ever. Top being hopeful Mew is there for reconciliation but with Boeing in the picture (and giving sly quip about how Mew is the better version of himself), I can see why Mew is having trouble trusting himself (or Top) ever again.

And we see Boeing capitalising on this matter - he clocks on it and oh boy, he pounces! I must salute Boeing here (and Mond playing him is amazing to see...😚!). We are alluded to Boeing coming every night when Top can't sleep, allowing himself to be essentially an emotional teddy-bear for Top but inside, he is seething with fury. This is the man he dumped Sand for, only for the relationship to implode because Top break it off at the 3 months mark (or less).

And then we have Top basically thinking Boeing is his friendly ex, where he poured his feelings and anguish over his broken relationship with Mew - even admitting to Boeing that for Mew, he can see himself in a long-term relationship.

Mix all of the above with Mew who still feels insecure about himself - and at the back of his mind, I'm sure he is wondering whether he can ever trust Top to not cheat on him again (we see Boeing shrewdly mention this when he met up with Mew to seduce kiss him in the latter's apartment). [Also, what's with the men in this show using plants as a pick up line?]

I'll give it to Top though, he is working hard to prove himself trustworthy for Mew. But it seems Mew is playing a game (with Boeing an eager participant - and I don't think its so much Boeing likes Mew, even though he said he does to Top, but more so he wants revenge on Top for dumping him those many months ago).

I think we can safely say for TopMew to have a fighting chance to salvage their relationship, Mew will need to find somehow to not only forgive Top but also trust in himself.

(Kudos to Book as Mew in this series, I thought his acting has improved significantly compared to his last series; you can see a change in how he behaves as the series progresses, from sweet and openly trusting to somehow close off and almost bitter after the whole Top/Ton revelation).

Nick and Boston (featuring Atom)

If you ask me a few episodes ago whether I thought Boston was redeemable, I will have say no. But after this episode, urghhh.. my 💔 breaks for him.

For all his callousness and arrogance, Boston is honest and holds true to his own code of conducts. He has always been upfront with all his bed partners what they are getting into, which is to never expect a relationship with him. Plus he makes sure all his partners consent before having any sexual encounters. And so, for Atom to manipulate the whole situation and tells his sister the opposite happen - wow that just leads to the group of friends ganging up on Boston. I think we can safely say, the one mistake Boston did was to sleep with his friend's younger brother (and Ray summed it well - "Atom is your friend's brother!")

But the damage is done, and it's easy for Cheum to rally Ray and Mew on her crusade to destroy Boston because they already have past grievances with Ton. Especially Mew, who looks exceptionally smug and satisfied when Cheum slapped Ton and expelled the latter from their friendship group.

Some folks are angry Cheum behaved that way - I will say Cheum is behaving as any older siblings should be. I too will be angry (and ready to commit murder) if my younger sibling insinuate he/she is being sexually blackmail by a close friend.

You can tell, Boston is at his lowest point by now. And we now know he definitely has feelings for Nick (but with an emotional range of a teaspoon, Boston, like most of the boys in this group of friends are terrible at expressing them). So, I think him meeting up with Nick in the store was the former trying to make a connection with the only person in his life right now who doesn't loath him. And wow - the whole subtext conversation between Boston and Nick regarding Boston's screen protector before Boston just casually handing his phone for repair with Nick's photograph as his screensaver 🥹!!!!!

Their heartfelt reunion on the rooftop was raw and emotional to see. It's probably the first time Boston really open up to someone and I'm glad it's with Nick - they are both a bit "loony" with weird/creepy habits, but they both accept their craziness and fell for each other despite them.

(But poor Daddy Dan - I fear he will now be in the sideline with Boston back in the game! Although, that scene in the meeting room between Dan/Nick.....🫠🫣)

Ray and Sand (featuring their respective fathers)

We see the most character growth in Ray this week. It starts with Ray yet again denying he has alcohol dependence, arguing with Sand about going to rehab. However, I think we can safely say Sand is Ray's moral compass and his comfort/safe space. It's only when Sand insinuates he does not want Ray to die that he reluctantly agree to go for rehabilitation/counselling sessions. Even then, he only agreed with a condition - Sand telling his birth father about himself. I suspect Ray wanted Sand to refuse so that he in turn don’t have to go for those sessions. Needless to say, he underestimates how much Sand is willing to go an extra mile for Ray (as viewers, we already know this, Sand is so gone for Ray), where we sees Sand taking the brave step in confessing to his dad (and how poetic it is the dad is called Sun with him having his own Ray of sunshine next to him?). I'm glad Ray stopped Sand from confessing though, instead stating it's enough to show Sand is brave to do it, which in turn makes him brave enough to take the first step (character growth!!!!! we love it!).

So, it must have hurt Ray so deeply when he thought Sand was in cahoots with his own father for money. As we learn by now, Ray loathes himself, and has unfortunately defines himself by how much he is worth to other people. It doesn't help his first encounter with Sand was transactional (with Ray hiring Sand as a drinking buddy). As an outsider looking into at their journey, it's easy for all of us to see how quickly Sand values Ray when he refuses all payments after that once off incident. Ray in his rage and volatile state cannot see pass this.

The whole conversation in Sand's living room was raw and intense - both sides are hurting with jab after jab from Ray insinuating Sand duped him. And with Ray being so angry, it's hard for Sand to get any words in. However, Ray is correct in one aspect - when he angrily pointed out "You want me to stop drinking, but here you are making and selling liquor. You think my life will be better with you, it's just going to hell!." - because it's true, if Sand wants to be the support person for Ray, he will have to make the communal effort to also make Ray's environment as alcohol-free as possible. And I think it dawns on Sand (who despite his maturity is only 22 yrs old himself) when he let out the most heartbreaking scream (who else cried bucket in this scene, cause I did) before breaking the wine jar (I love the symbolism here - Sand is again ready to give up his source of income for Ray)

We ended episode 10 with Ray fully accepting he has major alcohol issue (especially after his own dad finally lifting the lid on what Sand has done for Ray - I can't believe Sand researched all those rehab centres and present his findings to Ray's dad!!! ). I think most of us will agree - that last scene of Ray breaking down, apologising and sobbing to imaginary Sand, knowing he may have lost the one person who believed in him and loves him unconditionally - was as Oscar worthy performance by Khaotung (and all of our collective heart breaks for him 😭😭😭😭).

I have high hopes we will see Sand/Ray reuniting, although with Boeing popping up, it's definitely going to be interesting!

As usual, it's a roller coaster ride from start to finish. I'm impressed with all the actors, but this episode goes to Khaotung who played Ray so masterfully, First who plays Sand with quiet dignity and Neo showing cracks of vulnerability as Ton.

So, is it Saturday yet? (I can't wait to see what shenanigan Boeing is going to stir next)

[loveandmurders]

hii! soo i love your sister sinclair stories so much! and idk if this was done already but i’d love to see what u think the brothers would do if their sister got hurt throughout the years like she gets a scrape on her knee when she was little and as a teen/young adult she gets cut or sprains her ankle? i just love seeing the protective brothers getting all terrified over the thought of her getting hurt <33

Hello there! 

It’s always so much fun to write for this AU, so I really hope you’ll enjoy this <3

NO ONE HURTS OUR BABY SISTER

Warnings: abusive family (I mean it), children fighting, mention of a child going missing, slight physical damages and pain (reader) but nothing serious, mention of violence, anger, and murders.

Childhood:

Your mother needed to work on her latest creations. But for that, she really really needed some calm, and it was very hard to achieve this with four kids. That was why she tried to have all her children out of the way for one day. She was just so tired of you all, of your screams, of taking care of you. She had asked Vincent and Bo to look after you and Lester for this day out of the house. It was in the rare moment Bo was feeling too responsible to let his anger explode. He had to be good for his baby siblings. 

The four of you found yourselves in the street, playing with the neighbours’ kids. You thought it was a fun day, you enjoyed having all your brothers playing with you and some other kids. For once, even Vincent was welcomed to play and even if he was doing his best to hide his face, he was enjoying himself and you knew it. You were really happy, and to be allowed to be out of the house the whole day was giving you a true sense of freedom. It was the best day ever.

Until one kid pushed you and made you fall on the hard ground. He thought you had cheated and it annoyed him. You stood your ground, saying you were just better than him. He didn’t like it and he roughly threw you on the floor before your brothers could do anything about it. You started to cry as you hurt your knees and the palm of your hands in the fall. Lester knelt by your side, to both comfort you and look after your little wounds. The twins instantly went angry and they started to yell at the boy who made you fall and then at the other kids who tried to defend him. A general fight started.

You stopped crying when you noticed the chaos surrounding you and how your brothers were ready to destroy those kids for having dared hurt you. You stood up, despite the pain you felt and you ran to your brothers to stop them before they could do something your parents wouldn’t be happy about. Lester helped you calm them down, but Bo was too full of rage to listen to you and Vincent was too full of a cold anger made of revenge to truly stop punching around. It only stopped when your father arrived. He grounded everyone before taking care of everyone’s injuries without gentleness. You were all denied dinner once back home and had to stay in your rooms for the rest of the day. You had never seen your parents so displeased with all of you; but deep down you didn’t care. It was still a good memory to you, because you knew your brothers loved you more than anything.

Actually in the middle of the night, your door cracked open and you saw three heads peering inside your room, before they all got inside when they noticed you were awake too.

No matter how your parents were going to scream in the morning, you didn’t care about it as you all settled to sleep in your bed. You were only relaxed and happy when you were all together because it meant you were all safe and well. 

The days after, the boys checked on your injuries pretty much all the time until they fully disappeared and they never allowed you around the boy who hurt you ever again. Actually, one night, that child went missing and no one ever found his body. 

As you grew up, you fully forgot about him and this story.

Girlhood:

You were so done with your toxic family. It was true you loved your brothers more than absolutely anything, but you couldn’t take anymore of the screaming, the abuse, the way your parents looked down at the four of you. You needed some fresh air, you needed a break, you needed some silence for one night. You felt like you were going crazy in that oppressing household.

That was how you found yourself in the forest. You took in the delicious air, in the soft noises surrounding you, in the darkness being like a coat around you. You sat on the ground, enjoying the peacefulness of the place very much. You were happy and calm now. To be where you were, you had to climb your window and silently go down the pipes along the house, and you also climbed up trees to avoid some people enjoying the forest at night too. You went deep into the woods to be truly alone. Because of your adventures, your hands were deeply cut, and you also had little wounds here and there on your arms and legs. But you couldn’t care any less. You were free and safe in nature.

Unlike most children, you loved the darkness. Maybe it was thanks to your brothers; you parents always said they were the only monsters in the house. And even if you didn’t believe your brothers were monsters, you believed that you parents were and hence, no one else in the world could hurt you. You were fearless also because Lester taught you to trust nature and to always find your way home, wherever you could be. Bo taught you to be strong and to spot any kind of danger. Vincent taught you how to hide in the shadows and how to use any situations to your advantage.

If you were enjoying yourself, the boys wouldn’t be once they would find out you were gone. Bo had sneaked into your room because he hadn’t had the greatest day either, and he wanted some comfort from his favourite person in his existence. He got quite confused when he found your empty bed. He decided to check with whom you were sleeping, so he opened Lester’s and then Vincent’s door. Lester didn’t wake up but Vincent did, probably feeling how Bo was starting to tense up and slightly panic. Bo told him you were nowhere to be found. Vincent was up in an instant and the twins started to look for you in the whole house. When they went back to your room, they noticed your window was open and they understood you were gone. They exchanged a look. They knew they needed to get you back home before your parents could notice and before you could decide you were better without any of them. They woke up Lester because the boy was like a detector able to follow anyone's tracks. The boys quietly left the house, and they looked for you. Lester was quick to see soft marks in the freshly rained on ground. He followed it and they all started to get even more stressed out when they realised you were in the woods. It seemed they were more scared for you than you were for yourself.

They entered the woods and started to scream your name. Lester finally found you, peacefully sleeping against a tree. He called for the twins and Bo carried you back home. You were a little bit surprised to wake up in Bo’s room with the boys looking after your wounds. You were annoyed to be back in this house, but you didn’t say anything because you brothers looked on edge. They finished bandaging your wounds before tucking you into Bo’s bed. Vincent and Lester stayed.

You were surprised by how quiet they were. You thought they would have yelled at you for having hurt yourself and ran away. But they were actually too scared you would admit to them that you left without the idea of coming back; that you were ready to leave them forever because you couldn’t stand them anymore. They tightly hugged you and the day after, they were extra clingy and careful with you, making sure you knew you were the most loved person in this house. Even your parents were astonished by how quiet the boys were, their attention all on you.

You knew then that your brothers would never let you go, and you were grateful to have them.

Adulthood:

You had a car accident. 

It wasn’t too serious, but your car clearly needed some help and so did you. Your head was bleeding because of a nasty cut on your forehead and one of your wrists was hurting like crazy; you were almost certain that it was twisted or something like that. You weren’t too sure of what happened, in reality. You hit your head pretty hard and you only remembered some brief moments of the accident. You thought you remembered another car, with a man on his phone, but there was currently no other car in the middle of the road. You had no idea how long you stayed unconscious before waking up though. You were leaning against your car as you felt too weak to stay upright. You were a little bit dizzy and lost.

Any normal person would have called 911, because you couldn’t do anything on your own right now. But you had your “own” 911, in the person of your brothers. You had a group chat with all of them. You were thankful your phone was still working despite the broken screen. You weren’t too sure you could talk so you sent a message, knowing the three men would instantly look up their phones if they received a notification from you.

911. Got in a car accident. Next to the forest and pit. Car isn’t doing well either. 

You didn’t need to wait more than a few seconds for Bo and Lester to answer at the same time:

On my way.

You opened your truck so you could sit in there, as you were feeling quite dizzy now. You did your best to keep your eyes open though. After a little while you heard two engines coming from both ways of the road.

“Damn, what happened?!” Bo asked as he saw the state of your car and he was quick to join you at the back of it. He frowned at the blood and carefully grabbed your face to examine the cut from a closer look. Lester was soon all over you as well. You had to softly push them away.

“‘M okay, just a bit dizzy” you told them “Don’t really remember what happened. I think someone crashed into me… but ’m the only car here” you said

“Yeah well, the red paint all over your broken bumper clearly means somethin’” Bo groaned

“But how could they have left? They must be in quite a state too…” you asked. Lester and Bo exchanged a look. 

“Can’t be far… Les?”

“Yep, gonna find the fucker and brin’ him to Ambrose, no worries” Lester nodded. He gave you a quick peck on the cheek before rushing to his truck and leaving. 

“Alright, ya can walk?” Bo asked as his attention went back on you.

“Can try,” you murmured as Bo helped you stand up. He carefully held you as you reached for his breakdown truck. He settled you on the passenger seat before taking care of your car and bringing everyone back home. 

“Stay awake, please” he said, a little bit tensed as he kept an eye on you during the travel

“’m fine, just sleepy” you replied

“Yeah well, Vince’ll say if ya’re okay and then ya’ll be able to rest. For now, ya stay with me, ok?”

“Ok” you hummed, no matter how hard it was to keep your eyes open.

“Atta girl” he praised you

Once home, Vincent was your personal nurse as he looked after you in the most gentle and yet concerned and frantic way. The boys were used to any kind of injuries because of their activities, and your father’s old medical books got used more than once. Vincent relaxed when he was certain you were just slightly hurt and nothing too bad. Your wrist was indeed twisted though, but nothing the Sinclairs couldn’t deal with. He finally guided you to your bedroom and waited for you to have taken a shower before tugging you to bed. You thanked your brother as you settled in bed. He kissed your forehead and you fell asleep almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Bo was taking care of your car… and then helped Lester when he brought the guy who had caused the accident. The man was relieved to get some help, not realising he was going to die in a very painful way.

Because no one was allowed to hurt the only girl of the Sinclair family.

Taglist:

@feathery-ass

@g0thl3zz

@erasable-mustache  

@cavern-creature

@peachycupotea  

@p0rn-stargirl  

@akemiixx01

[fallen-symphony]

Who do you guys like the most on your team? Who do you hate the most on the enemy team?

"An interesting question... Although I'm not one for relationships since I'm a superior being... I must admit that Obake's intellect and Motivations truly seem to resonate with me. He's like a more intelligent Dr. Regal.

"As for who I hate on the enemy team... Probably my stupid brothers... Especially RiFT. So much power, yet he uses it to serve lower beings. What an insult..."

"Glad to know we can get along, Slur. I have always found you fascinating... But as a brilliant mind who loves potential, Eggman Nega is a man after my own heart."

"The feeling is mutual, Obake. I do have respect for Dr. Starline and the Analog Man as well."

"Oh, it's such an honor to hear you say that, Mr. Eggman Nega, sir. Know that you are my favorite here as well."

"As for who I hate... Though I haven't met them in person, that Peni Parker and her robot, SP//Dr remind me too much of Hiro and Baymax, which remind me of my past Failure! If I can't get my revenge on Hiro, then Peni will be the next Best thing..."

"I feel the same way about that key wielding Sonic that showed up not too long ago! Dimensional variant or not, he's still a Sonic, and Sonic ruined my plans many times! I want to destroy him personally...!"

"Hey! You lay off him, Egghead! That Sonic is mine, ya hear me!? I'm the one who's gonna destroy him! I hate him and every other Sonic out there! I'll destroy them all until the only one left is me!"

"You tell 'em, Scourgey! Now, tell them how I'm your favorite person here!"

"If by that, you mean my LEAST favorite person here, then yes, that's you, Rosy."

"Awww! You say the meanest things, Scourgey! You're one of my favorite people here, too..."

"But her... This one right here... She's my girl..."

"Aw, thank you, Rosy. I like you, too. Such an adorable little psychopath ready to smash some heads... It's like having a little sister... But of course, my favorite has to be Dark Mega for obvious reasons."

"You're my favorite, too, Dark Empress! A beautiful Darkloid queen like you has stolen my heart..."

"As much as that Empress chick terrifies me almost as much as Rosy does... Gotta agree with her. Dark Megz is my favorite member here. We both got beef with our goodie-goodie two shoes doppelgangers, and we both want to live in a world of chaos."

"Yeah... I'm disliking that Megaman more and more each day. He gets to keep his Lan, while I was rejected by mine when I became the ruler of the Darkloids."

"I feel the same way about Roll. She gets to keep her Mayl, but mine wouldn't accept the new me..."

"Can I help you smash that good Roll that makes you look bad, best friend?! Can I, can I, can I?!"

"Sure... As long as I get to land the last blow."

"Deal!"

"Obake and Eggman Nega are inspirational. Their genius far exceeds mine, and I have much to learn from them. I don't have any personal beef with anyone on the enemy team... Yet... But that ARiA and her army of Guardiangemon might be a problem."

"CHYA HA HA HA HA HA!!! My favorite person here is obviously the Great Lord Brevon! No one can compare to his greatness...!

"As for who I hate the most, obviously it's that blasted Commander Torque! He and Squid Head have been getting in Lord Brevon's way far too many times! I promise to destroy them!"

"I can always count on you to praise me, General Serpentine. I, too, can't stand Commander Torque. That blasted dragon girl might not be with him now, but he can still be a problem... Especially with that new squad of his."

"My favorite member is Ophelia! Even if it's not official, she's awesome!

"And my favorite member on the other team is my beloved Nana..."

"You're supposed to be talking about the enemy members you hate, lover boy. Anyway, probably no surprise to anyone, but Mr. Tinker is my arch nemesis on the enemy team. I got over the grudge of him 'murdering' Dr. Eggman ever since meeting the superior Eggman Nega. That doesn't mean I don't want to show him up. What about you, Sync?"

"..."

"Gee, nice choices there, chatterbox."

"I think we can all assume he hates everyone equally, teammate and enemy alike. Anyway, it seems we reached our limit, time-wise. We need to get back to our plans of taking over the Multiverse."

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC vs a Cockroach

Thanks for the Tag, @anyablackwood!

I'll answer it for Realms of Loss for this one, because I did this tag for Enchanted Illusions the last time!

Prince Archyvel of Sarythea: ????0/10 Are you kidding me?! This boy is the most spoiled person one could ever hope to meet, he's the baby brother of the King! Archyvel was raised with a silver spoon in a palace with an older brother who sheltered him every day of his life and their stepmom who was way too nice to him. If this kid sees a cockroach he's having the mental breakdown of the century - he'd scream, cry, nearly puke, and promptly run away, likely calling out to Mehri - his valet/assistant - to deal with the "revolting beast".

Mehri: 10/10 Would pick the roach up with his bare hands and gingerly lead it to the garden or somewhere far away from his prince. Is very adamant that "this little insect is just another sweet form of life that should be cherished, not hurt".

Nesrynna Alorai: 8/10 Has more important things to worry about so she doesn't bother, just walks away unless asked to do something about it. Will obliterate the roach if it gets too close to her personal space or starts to fly.

Gwain Vytris: 3/10 Hates insects, especially roaches because they feel unclean (he hates feeling/being dirty) and bring back bad memories of his childhood in the slums and forests of the Outer Cities. Usually, he won't have a breakdown or really show much of his disgust aloud, will step/jump on the thing until it's dead, or simply walk away. But if it flies and somehow gets in his hair lots of loud cursing, screaming and a lot of crying will be heard, though he'll carry on like nothing happened and stoically pretend he wasn't disturbed after the insect is dealt with.

Kassien Vann: 11/10 Somehow perfectly hits it with an arrow or drowns it with his magic, every time, he never once misses.

Adaria Vytris: 10/10 Goes full exterminator on the insect, with the wrath of a thousand suns. It won't even see her coming until it's too late. She also hates bugs, but instead of being scared/disgusted she just has a fiery hatred towards them. Will continue to stomp on the roach long after it's just goo on the floor.

Lucian Dhaeras: 8/10 Has one of his stray cats catch it and lets them play with it. If they aren't around, he is very weird about it: might set it on fire.

Drystan Earell: 10???/10 Will automatically consume its life force to fuel his magic, thus disintegrating it into ash.

Viktoras Aeravi: 7/10 Does nothing about it, just locks it in the room and makes it someone else's problem, like the little rascal he is.

Teivel: 9/10 Watches it silently from a distance and feels disgusted that a part of him - the one that was trapped in a dirty Avillorian cell for almost five years with little to no food and some days forgets he's free - even considers eating it. Feels depressed.

Delyan Sorkip: 2/10 Is the person who finds the roach Viktoras neglected to kill, usually after it crawled onto his bed at 2AM. Nearly has a heart attack, kills the roach like a normal person, and storms out of the room in tearful rage ready to start a fight with Viktoras and the Gods.

Sara Kallary: 4/10 Hates it with every fiber of her being, and even though she could probably destroy it to hell and back manages to miss it every time she tries to hit it and even if she does stomp on it the roach doesn't die. Angrily calls out to her murderous boyfriend Drystan to deal with the roach properly.

Gwynnifer: 10/10 Doesn't mind it at all and is unbothered about it. Will catch it in a jar, carefully study it and keep it alive like a pet for weeks until either: 1. it dies, 2. she sets it free, 3. she feeds it to her bonded Drakyna, who plays with it like the giant lizard-cat it is.

Tagging: @clairelsonao3, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs, @gummybugg, @meerawrites, @oh-no-another-idea, @tabswrites, @ashen-crest, @writernopal and @elshells