#to bring a little levity this evening <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[puckpocketed]

thank u so much for this..... caps land is a beautiful and kind place auhh...... transcript below the cut :D

Alexa Landestoy: — those new faces that have been out there on the ice making D.C. now home.

[graphic showing recent Washington Capitals acquisitions]

AL: Tarik, there was a lot of trades, a lot of things happening in free agency, so you could take a look at this list. We brought in a new goaltender, Logan Thompson, via a trade; Mangiapane is brand new, Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois. You see the bottom three coming to Washington via free agency; Roy, Raddysh, Duhaime. A lot of names there, Tarik, I don’t know if many people thought this was what the Capitals had in their future, but when I saw all these moves it only excited me for this season and what the future will hold.

Tarik Al-bashir: Alexa, you’re not alone. I mean, I am not in the hockey community a lot and I’ll tell you people are genuinely excited. I mean, you know, there was some momentum from last year; making the playoffs — I know the playoffs didn’t go very well for the Capitals, but just getting in, I think, after missing the playoffs, was really good for this organisation. And then they go out in the off-season and they acquire seven players, including some really big name guys.

I mean, Pierre-Luc Dubois is a potential star; Jakob Chychrun is a one-man breakout, he’s gonna bring people out of their seats; Andrew Mangiapane is exactly the type of player you want in the playoffs to help you score those goals that you need in order to advance. And then some other depth guys, I mean, Matt Roy is gonna be enormous on this blue line, he’s gonna help John Carlson by bringing down some of his minutes. Remember, John Carlson last year at 34 years old, he led the entire NHL in time-on-ice —

AL: Iron-man

TA: That’s suboptimal. That’s not great. I mean, I know he kinda said, “I’ll just go over the boards as much as they want,” but you know what? At his age, they need to start mitigating some of those minutes, and by getting Chychrun and getting Roy, those guys are gonna take some of the power play time and a little bit of the penalty kill time. And, you know, Roy can match up against other teams’ best players. I bet John Carlson’s minutes are gonna come down to 21, 22 — a much more manageable number for him.

But getting back to just the excitement, you can feel it. I mean, people are excited for this season. I didn’t get that sense at this time last off-season. And, Alexa, Alex Ovechkin is 42 goals away — we didn’t even mention…

AL: Unbelievable!

TA: 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. I mean, there’s a lot to look forward to this season.

AL: Well, a lot of guys when they talked about coming to D.C. in their opening press conferences with the media were asked, “What’s it gonna be like to play with Alex Ovechkin,” Pierre-Luc Dubois said, “Hey, if I can assist in any of those goals that’s gonna be awesome.”

[cut to hockey footage, a match between the LA Kings and Minnesota Wild, with a focus on Pierre-Luc Dubois]

AL: — friends from home talking to him about it… But PLD, Tarik, he’s a guy that’s moved around the NHL a little bit — couldn’t quite find his footing with the LA Kings, comes to Washington via the trade, we send Darcy Kuemper to LA — what do you think the upside and potential is going to be here for him in D.C.?

TA: He’s got so much upside, Alexa; he’s only 26 years old, he’s 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, got great hands, can score goals, can set up linemates. He can play any way that you need him to play.

[cut to Pierre-Luc Dubois training with fellow Capitals players]

TA: The question has always been: can you get him to be sufficiently motivated to be the best version of himself on a nightly basis? And that’s been an issue throughout his career, it’s why he’s bounced around a little bit. That said, Spencer Carbery did an amazing job getting Anthony Mantha to be the best version of himself last year, and I feel like this organisation feels like Carbery is gonna be able to have the same impact on Dubois.

And look, Dubois is also now, at his age, 26, has bounced around a little bit, he’s probably looking around and going, “How come I can’t stick with a team? I need to, I need to get myself together and, you know, capitalise on all these skills that I have.” And I think having Carbery, who’s really good with young players, and also skating in the middle of a line that’s gonna have Alex Ovechkin on the left, or maybe even on the right this year — I think that’s gonna motivate him, because, who knows? I mean, at the end of the season Dubois might be the guy passing Ovi the puck to break Gretzky’s record, and then he’ll be the first guy to go over and celebrate with him. I know a lot of guys wanna be that guy but I think Dubois really holds the key.

You know, when I look at this Capitals team and the areas where they need to get better, I look at Dubois as being a guy that is — if he is able to raise his ceiling and reach his potential that’s gonna really help this team. And remember: Nicklas Bäckström, on LTI (Long Term Injured Reserve), probably gonna be on LTI all year this year; Evgeni Kuznetsov, he’s gone, [the Capitals] need a lot of help in the middle, especially in that top-6, alongside Dylan Strome, who’s probably gonna be the second line centre to start the year.

And then Chychrun, I mean, he is just a guy who, like I said earlier, can bring fans out of their seats.

[cut to hockey footage, a match between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins, centering on Jakob Chychrun]

He’s got dangles, he’s got size, he can score goals. You look at the Capitals’ blue line last year, with regard to offence, they never really replaced what they lost in Dmitry Orlov. This team was 31st in the league in goals from defencemen — only team worse than that? The Chicago Blackhawks. You don’t wanna be mentioned with the Chicago Blackhawks right now. Getting Chychrun out there, he can score goals — 14 last year — Roy can also score a little bit; he had five, he had nine the year before that. I think that’s really gonna help this team in terms of getting that secondary scoring that they lacked all season last year.

AL: Yeah, I love seeing the Chychrun-Carlson, are they paired up, what’s the hashtag for that duo? ‘C-C’?

TA: It’ll be high event!

AL: You mentioned Chychrun, you’ll be coming out of your seat. The two of them together is gonna make you come out of your seat. And also when you talked about PLD it made me think of — you talked about Anthony Mantha, what the coaching staff got out of him — also Dylan Strome; found a home here, top rated draft pick, found home in D.C.; I’m hoping we can get the same out of Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Well, another guy we’d love to see a lot out of is Logan Thompson coming to D.C. from the Vegas Golden Knights and, Tarik, quite the…

[end transcript]

for @puckpocketed! the beautiful tarik al-bashir and alexa landestoy on pld (among others), their belief that carbery can motivate him, and that he can pull a dylan strome. they're slightly critical, but they basically think he can do it and it's an exciting time 💖

[moonstruckme]

hi author !!! if it is okay with you i wanna request a fic in the same universe as the Big Brother!Sirius one where in reader gets a (secret) boyfriend and then they break up or whatever u want i just want hurt/comfort 🥹

Thanks for requesting <3

big brother!Sirius + little sister!reader ♡ 996 words

When you hear the door to your dorm open, you assume it’s one of your roommates or Regulus coming to shame you for missing dinner, but then your mattress shifts with the weight of someone else sitting down and a familiar teasing voice says, “If you’re dead under there, everyone’s going to think it was me.” 

You peep your eyes out from under the covers. “How did you get in here?” 

Sirius isn’t even looking at you. He’s making himself comfortable at the end of your bed, both legs crossed under him and hair falling in his face as he unwraps dishes and utensils. 

“Reggie let me in. He seemed to think you might need some company.” 

“He’s such a narc,” you grumble. 

Your brother only snickers. “Sit up, I brought you dinner.” 

You’d much rather stay under the covers, but know Sirius would only wrestle you into an upright position anyway. He always gets his way. 

“Yikes.” He makes a face as you sit up, revealing your bedhead and swollen eyes. “You’re having a rough one, huh?” 

“Shut up.” You glower at him and take the plate. “It’s not that bad.” 

Despite your grumbling, a bit of vulnerability sneaks into your tone. Sirius softens.

“No, it’s not,” he agrees, reaching forward to brush a piece of hair away from your face. “We’re always pretty; it’s in the genes.” 

You can’t help the small smile that fights its way onto your face. This is exactly the sort of thing your older brother would say when Regulus was twelve and sulking over getting his first pimple or when you nearly broke down in tears trying to style your hair. Despite his tomfoolery and general ridiculousness, Sirius’ levity actually provided a voice of reason in your family, reminding his siblings and cousins that things weren’t always so dire. 

“Thanks for bringing dinner,” you say.

“No problem,” Sirius replies softly, as though worried his gentle tone will be overhead and his rapscallion’s repute thusly destroyed. “Is it good enough that you’ll tell me what’s gotten you so upset?”

You blink at him in surprise. “Reg didn’t say?” 

Sirius’ mouth twists, dissatisfied. “He didn’t. I guess I would’ve been more likely to find out if I’d just pretended I already knew, huh?” 

That makes you chuckle. “Probably, yeah.” 

“Well, come on. Now you’ve gotta tell me.” 

You feel your shoulders hunch inwards. “Do I really have to?”

“Yes.” Your brother’s voice is firm, but his eyes are hopeful. 

You want to tell him, you find. You don’t suppose any harm can come from it now. 

You eye him carefully. “I broke up with my boyfriend.” 

Sirius’ eyes pop. He nearly topples your plate leaning forward, like you’re back in your childhood beds trading secrets. “You were dating someone?” 

“I was.” You can’t quite look at him, focussing on cutting your meal into small bites. “Or I thought I was. It doesn’t matter. I’m definitely not now.” 

“Wha—how did I not know about this?” 

“Because obviously I’m not going to talk about my dating life with my brother,” you huff a laugh down into your lap, and you swear you can feel the force of Sirius’ eye roll burning into the top of your head. “No one really knew. He wanted to keep it private.” 

Sirius tilts his head, slotting a piece of his hair behind his ear. “Private in an avoid-the-gossip-mill way or private in a dirty-secret way?” 

You close your eyes, shame curdling in your gut. Even your idiot brother knows enough to be suspicious of something like that. Maybe if you’d told him all those weeks ago, you wouldn’t be where you are now.

“In the second way,” you admit in a whisper. “I, um, sort of assumed it was because of the first, and I liked the idea of keeping things private too, but it turned out he had other reasons.” 

You try to take another bite of food, but it feels soggy and unappetizing in your mouth. You set your plate aside. 

“What happened?” Sirius asks. 

Your face feels miserably hot. “He just didn’t like me as much as I liked him. He didn’t want his friends to know.” Tears burn in your eyes, and when you try to speak again they show up in your voice, too. “I feel really stupid.” 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Sirius sits up on his knees, bending over you to fold you into a hug. His hand presses reassuringly between your shoulder blades, and you let out a little sob. “That doesn’t make you stupid, it only makes him a prat.”

You hug him tightly. “I just feel so silly being upset when he probably doesn’t even care.” 

“You are being silly,” he chastises, but there’s fondness in your brother’s tone. “Of course he cares. He may not be regretting things right now, but I’d bet ten galleons he will be by the end of the month. Trust me, babe, boys are idiots. We don’t know how to act, we almost never know what we want, and we’re ten times more likely to fuck something up if it’s important to us. Just ask Remus.” 

Your laugh is a soggy thing. Sirius rubs your back encouragingly. 

“So, what’s the sod’s name?” 

“Oh, no way.” You laugh even harder, pulling out of the hug to wipe under your eyes. “I’m not telling you.” 

“What?” Sirius throws up his hands. “But we were doing so well!” 

“I’ve handled it, Sirius. I don’t want you to go and turn his skin green or make him sprout nose hairs down to his chin.” 

A giddy grin. “That’s actually not a bad idea. Does Regulus know who it is?” 

You fix him with your sternest stare. Most other people would soil their pants, but because he’s your older brother, Sirius only raises a brow. “If he did, he wouldn’t tell you.” 

“That’s alright.” He steals a roll off your plate, biting into it insouciantly. “I’ll find out.” 

[mimisempai]

Quiet, Gentle and Romantic Omens - Day  109

Crowley is amazing in this scene. At the same time, he tries to bring a certain levity to what he knows is a tragedy for Aziraphale. By telling him he's not taking him to hell because he knows he won't like it, or mocking his curly little... and neat white... when the angel says he's a demon. 

And at the same time, he doesn't lie about the reality of things, yes Aziraphale lied, and if he chooses not to say so then he must know that this path is just as hard as going to hell, because it's lonely. Crowley knows it.

And Crowley's gentleness throughout this exchange adds even more depth.

And what's not said, but felt, so strongly: I lied to you, but because we're the same now, I don't have to hide it anymore. Yes, it's lonely. It’s lonely but I'll be with you all the way. We'll be alone together. 3/3

Master post : here

[peachesandcreames]

Look What I Found?!

A/N : Slight spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie yet enter at your own risk (and go see the movie!) Reader Beware: angst, fluff, A Little bit of spice 😉. Mention of scars/scaring. Self defense against 3 would be assailants. Y/N is basically a badass 😎. As always read at your own discretion and hearts, likes, reblogs and constructive criticism is always welcome. All mistakes are solely my own. Happy reading 📚 everyone!!! 💞💕

You'd been hesitantly working with Tyler and his ragtag team of Tornado chasers for about 6 months, traveling all over the country gathering data and trying to help the people stuck in the path of death and destruction. Tyler drove as you stared out the passenger window not really seeing the passing scenery, you were beyond exhausted and you could see Tyler taking glances at you out of the corner of his eye. You wanted to let him know that you were ok but you didn't have it in you. He took his phone and started looking for something and when he found whatever he was looking for he smiled. A megawatt smile that made his dimples pop and you felt your heart stutter in your chest.

He really is handsome you found yourself thinking as he turned to face you in the seat, those green eyes and dimples are starting to make you feel things, things like desire and lust. It's been five years and a girl definitely has needs and Tyler definitely could help you out with those needs. You found yourself staring at his lips as they moved but you had no idea what he was saying to you. You found yourself imagining what his lips and rough, calloused hands could do to you. You felt your body heating up and you slid down in your seat and cracked the window for some fresh evening air.

The humid southern air hit you like a ton of bricks and you took a deep breath, hoping to bring yourself back to the here and now. "How's that sound?" You turned your head to glance at him ever so briefly, hoping that he didn't notice your self induced agitation. Tyler was looking at you with those green eyes and you found yourself getting lost in them. You shook your head, trying to clear out the cobwebs and said, "I'm sorry?"

His eyes filled with sympathy and his smile faltered. "I said that there's a Target not to far away from us. You want to go and look around while I fill up on gas? You can look at books and candles. Maybe some snacks?" Tyler stuck out his bottom lip in an attempt to garner sympathy but it had the opposite effect on you. You wanted to kiss it, maybe suck on it while you rode him like a wild horse in one of his rodeos.

You didn't want to be alone even if you couldn't express how you felt. You shook your head no and you could see that he was disappointed but tried to mask it. You reached across the center console and placed your hand over his, which might have been a mistake. His skin was warm like the setting Oklahoma sun and tan from working outside. You locked eyes with each other and Tyler glanced down at your hand barely covering his.

He watched as your thumb moved over his knuckles in an attempt to soothe him. He got lost in the sensation of your cool skin on his and didn't want to break the spell of you coming out of your shell and opening up to him. He was more than willing to wait you out until you felt comfortable. You glanced up at him and took a deep breath, it was now or never and if he's told you once he's told you a million times that you have to face what scares you. The words tumbled from your lips in a jumble "I just don't want to be alone."

A single tear escaped and Tyler caught it with his thumb as his hand came up to cradle your face and you leaned into the warmth of him. You needed comfort and Tyler was more than willing to offer whatever it was you needed. "New plan. We'll both go together but you're not getting out of the truck while I get the gas. Understood?" His whole demeanor changed and the air inside felt as heavy and hot as the air outside.

In an attempt at levity, you saluted him and said " Sir, yes Sir". The look in his eyes turned a different kind of darkness. The kind that spoke of twisted sheets and untold hours of passion and pleasure. You visibly and audibly gulped and Tyler shot a smirk your way as you pulled into a nearly empty gas station except for a group of men standing on the outskirts. You felt uneasy seeing them standing in the dwindling sunset and rapidly approaching darkness as their cigarette smoke wafted above their heads and they started laughing at something one of them had said.

Tyler must have sensed your uneasiness as he unbuckled his seat belt. You turned to look at him and then back at the group of men who looked like they were looking at you but you couldn't be sure. "Hey," he nudged your shoulder with his and you brought your attention back to him. You gave him a small smile and he nodded as he got out of the truck. He locked the doors behind him as he started to pump the gas and you watched the numbers go up as the smell of gasoline filled the country night air. You forgot about the possible threat that the men could pose as you watched the way Tyler's muscles rippled under his white t shirt.

It was a welcome distraction as you watched him walk away and you cranked the AC and turned the radio on, a Luke Combs song filtered through the speakers as you watched through the glass window as Tyler sauntered up to the counter and waited his turn in line. You saw movement out of the corner of your eye, one of the men threw his cigarette butt in a nearby puddle and you watched as the water extinguished the already dying light. You felt your anxiety start to rise as one of the truckers pointed in your general direction and they started to haphazardly make their way across the broken pavement. You watched as they stumbled and their silhouettes started getting closer and closer. Your suspicion was confirmed when they finally got under one of the street lights, they all carried bottles wrapped in brown bags.

Tyler finally made it to the counter to pay as soon as the trio of drunken truckers reached your window. You felt frozen with fear and didn't know what to do. You wanted to get Tyler's attention and thought about laying on the car horn but changed your mind at the last second. One of them knocked on the glass with what you thought was his hand but turns out it was the really sharp tip of a hunting knife. You could barely hear him through the glass, you think that he either called you pretty girl or city girl and you weren't sure if you couldn't understand him because of the ice cold fear gripping you by the throat or if it was because of the window separating you two.

Then it hit you. The perfect way to scare off them off. Before you and Tyler hit the road he had you refill the fireworks launchers on his truck. It was a good thing that he left the keys in the ignition, you cranked the engine to life and let the fireworks fly high into the sky. It had the desired effect of startling the men into leaving you alone.

The second the fireworks went off it caused the man to drop his knife and you saw your moment and you took it. You opened the car door with as much force as you could muster and slammed the door into him causing him to lose his footing and stumble backwards. Before he could recover his balance you struck his nose with your open palm and you felt the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking and warm blood came gushing out and he dropped at your feet. You saw the glint of the knife blade at your feet and you quickly snapped it up and held it loosely at your side. The remaining two men saw their friend writhing in agony and looked between him and you, you who was holding a knife and covered in blood from your wrist down.

They put their hands up and slowly got their friend on his feet. "You stupid bitch. You broke my nose." It looked like he was going to come after you again so you braced yourself. He stumbled as he pushed himself away from his buddies and you reacted on pure instinct.

You met him halfway and used his momentum against him and punched him in his already broken nose. He bellowed out in pain and as he bent over you brought your knee into his face for a third time and it thankfully knocked him out. You threw the knife at him in disgust as you looked up and saw that Tyler had joined the commotion. The two buddies saw that the odds weren't in their favor and took off running into the night. Tyler looked from the bloody man at his feet to see you standing in the harsh lighting of the parking lot, sweaty and covered in the man's blood.

He could see that you were visibly shaken but not hurt. "You look so incredibly hot right now." Tyler said with awe and pride in his voice. That got a smile and a laugh out of you and he took your hand in his and led you towards the gas station bathrooms to get cleaned up. He gave you a change of clothing and left you to it.

15 minutes later you came out of the bathroom and it brought a gentle smile to your face to see that he was waiting for you right outside. You cleared your throat and he turned to face you, he looked you up and down appreciatively. "Are you ready to get out of here?" You nodded and he offered you his arm and you walked towards his truck together and he opened the door for you and made sure that you were buckled in before he locked and shut your door. You rode in comfortable silence towards the store and Tyler jumped out and had your door open before you could even unbuckle yourself. You laughed quietly at his antics and let him help you down.

Once inside, Tyler snagged a cart and followed you throughout the store. He definitely enjoyed the view as you stopped by the candles and tried to find the best smelling ones. You held out a candle for him to smell and laughed as he crinkled his nose. You both decided on Strawberry and lemons and you put them in the cart.

You wandered around the store and felt yourself relaxing. It felt oddly right, doing domestic activities with him. Something so ordinary as shopping with this man had butterflies dancing in your belly. After checking out and Tyler refusing to let you pay, he helped you back into the truck and loaded the bags in the back. He slid into next to you and looked at you expectantly.

You had a standing reservation at a local hotel on the outskirts of town and you watched as Tyler's attention was on entering the location on his GPS system. Bone tired you leaned against the leather seat and felt your eyes drifting shut and you must have dozed off because the next thing you knew was that you were being shook awake by Tyler. You lifted your head off of his shoulder and realized that you had drooled a little bit. "Oh my God, " you muttered in mortification. Tyler laughed quietly as he got out and grabbed the luggage bags and slung them over his shoulder and with his other hand he grabbed the bags from your shopping trip.

You jumped down from the passenger seat and met him in front of his truck. You slid your arm through his and led him towards the nearly vacant hotel. You checked yourselves in and took the key from the hotel clerk. Tyler followed you down the dimly lit hall and you stopped to open the door. He nudged you out of the way gently and his big frame filled the door way, you heard more than saw him set the duffle bags on the floor.

You slipped into the room besides him and shut the door and slid the lock into place. You turned to see Tyler looking at the only bed in the room, you risked a glance up at him and he was frantically rubbing the back of his neck and he shot you a sheepish glance, "I can take the floor. You can take the bed." You took the shopping bags from him and pulled out two fluffy blue towels and pushed him in the general direction of the bathroom. "Go and wash the road off of you and when you get out I'll have the sleeping arrangements settled."

Tyler shot you an incredulous look and did as he was told. "Yes, ma'am." You watched appreciatively as he ducked his head and and closed the bathroom door behind him. You heard the shower turn on and you got to work, stripping the bed and putting your own fresh bedding on after you sprayed everything down with lysol. You lit the candles hoping that would mask the lysol spray.

The bathroom door opened and you turned in time to see him drying his damp hair, grey sweatpants hung low on his hips. Just enough to show off his prominent v line. He tossed the wet towel into the corner and looked at the freshly made bed. "So, how's this going to work?" Tyler looked at you expectantly and you pretended to mull it over. You shrugged and started digging through your bag for your pajamas.

You felt his warmth as he stood behind you. "Did you even save me any hot water?" You looked over your shoulder at him. "Yes, ma'am. I surely did." He was laying it on kind of thick and you stood up and walked in front of him. You placed your hands on his chest and looked up at him. "And they said that chivalry was dead, clearly they haven't met the infamous Tyler Owens."

He winked at you as you grabbed your pajamas and made your way into the bathroom. You locked the door behind you and leaned against it just long enough to slow your rapidly beating heart. You wiped the steam off of the mirror and looked at your reflection. You looked ten kinds of tired as you set your clean clothes on the toilet seat and quickly stripped and stepped under the warm water. You let the water work its magic as the knots in your shoulders loosened.

You let the water run cold before you stepped out, wrapping a fluffy purple towel under your arms. You dried off and put on a pair of blue pajama shorts and a matching t shirt. You took a long breath in an attempt to calm your nerves before you stepped into the room. You opened the door and saw Tyler sprawled out on the bedside nearest the door. You attempted to make yourself busy with picking up the dirty laundry.

He muted the weather report that he was watching and looked over at you pretending to be busy in an attempt to delay the inevitable. "Hey, Y/N. It's really OK, I have no problem taking the floor. Hell, it's a step up from some of my previous sleeping arrangements." You put the dirty laundry in a garment bag and turned to look at him.

"Am I that obvious?" You asked with your hands on your hips. Your righteous indignation was enough to amuse Tyler and he patted the empty space next to him. He smirked at you as he held his thumb and finger so that they were almost touching. "Lil bit, come here. I promise you that I don't bite. Unless you ask me too."

Groaning you shut off the overhead light and crawled into the bed but didn't get under the covers. You attempted to get comfortable as Tyler blew out the candles and turned to face you. You copied his movements and slid your hands under your pillow. The movement caused the strap of your shirt to slide down your arm and Tyler's rough fingers chased the slip of fabric and continued down, gently pausing to toy with the hem of your tank top. He paused to let his knuckles lightly graze your lower abdomen and looked at you with hesitation and you nodded slightly as he continued even lower to the prominent scar on your upper thigh.

"Where'd you get this from, pretty girl?" He asked you quietly and you shrugged trying to appear nonchalant. You cleared your throat and took a deep breath, "nobody goes through life unscathed. It's not possible but I fought and I survived." Tyler risked a glance up at you and saw that you were smiling at him. "What are you smiling at?"

"You. I'm smiling at you, Tyler Owens. You make me happy." He reached out for you and pulled you towards him, his large warm palm cupped your cheek and his thumb gently traced your lower lip. "Is this ok?" You nodded and leaned into him.

With zero hesitation Tyler claimed your lips with his, they were surprisingly soft and he smelled like sandalwood and sunshine and he tasted even better. He rolled with you under him and you deepened the kiss and moaned against his lips. You writhed underneath him, desperate for his skin on yours. You could feel him growing hard against your soft center and it brought another smile to your face. You brought your hand to his face and peppered small kisses over him.

Tyler looked down at you with adoration in his eyes. "You're doing it again, Lil' bit." He nudged his nose with yours and you pointed to your face. "What? Oh, this little ol thing. I couldn't find it for the longest time."

"Yeah? Where'd you find it?" You pretended to contemplate his question. "It was the weirdest thing, I found it where I least expected it to be." Tyler waited for you to finish what you were saying, eyebrows raised expectantly. You smiled up at him and kissed him lovingly. "I found it in the heart of Oklahoma."

~Fin~

❤❤

[sophies-junkyard]

NOBODY ASKED but… Obviously Simon’s arc in adventure time solidified the series as one of greatest of all time (and I’m so hyped for this ice king sadness renaissance) but now I’m thinking of OTHER Adventure Time moments that rewired my brain as a kid. In no particular order:

1. “Once the strong guys got it how they liked it they said ‘this is fair now. This is the law.’ Once they were winning they changed the rules”. They really had the cartoon dog say that on tv in 2014.

2. “People get built different. We don’t have to understand it, we just gotta respect it”

3. The entirety of All The Little People. That shit was absolutely nuts for a kids show but also like…. I can’t articulate the lesson I just know there was one and it haunted me. The danger of the human ego. Hubris. Irreverence. Don’t play god bro.

4. Lady and Peebles. When PB ripped Ricardio’s leg off and bashed his skull in with it. And it was so hardcore they edited it out of the episode. Bro. I remember watching that after school one day and how my jaw just DROPPED at a PRINCESS being so brutal. They let her be so fucking angry and that was a game changer.

5. [Finn, about a horrific memory] “that one’s going in the vault. Aaaaaaaaaandd. It’s gone.” I quote that CONSTANTLY. It’s a great way to bring levity to a bad situation, but also forces me to go “hey wait a sec that’s not gonna work forever”. Things don’t stay in the vault.

6. Puhoy. He lived an entire life in that pillow world. He had kids. And then it’s just gone like a dream.

7. The deer. It was probably my first real introduction to horror. The hand wiggle. You all know exactly what I’m referencing. Were the candy people stuck in that well for 6 months???

8. What Was Missing!! Obviously now because it foreshadowed (and confirmed past) Bubbline, but back then just because it was so good??? IMO, this is the episode that defined WHO our main cast was, and how their relationships needed to grow for them to be content. It set up the next 6 years of the show! Plus it gave us 2 absolute BANGERS. Ugh i rewatched that recording so many times it wasn’t even funny.

9. Ghost Princess. Really just for the line where he sounds like he’s gonna shit his pants remembering his death and then in a clear narrator voice he’s like “I was a broken man.”

10. The pajama war episode. Now I’m doing this from memory so I could be wrong, but I think this really marks the start of Finn growing up. “I’ve really enjoyed just… hanging out with you.” The ability to start over with someone you’ve got complicated history with. The kindness. The growth from both of them!! It’s a direct parallel of episode 1 but their tones couldn’t be more different and I love it.

11. The slow and horrifying realization that The Mushroom War was nuclear Armageddon. Mushroom clouds. That went so far over my head as a kid even though they reference it constantly. It finally clicked during “I remember you”. Which I am NOT gonna go into because holy fuck that’s like 18 posts on its own.

12. Goliad! A child mirroring EVERYTHING they see, for better or worse. Seeing Jake in a bad moment screaming at the kids and goliad absorbing that behavior. Seeing she can use fear to control people. Also PB was Fucking Crazy! Her line “I’m not gonna live forever… I would if I could” is even more unhinged when we learn (like years later) that she’s already 900 years old. But she does physically age so I guess there’s that. The Suitor also falls into this category of episodes.

Ok getting into some of the more talked about moments

1. OK I LIED I have to talk about I remember you. I was 11 years old. I turned on the new adventure time episode like usual. 10 minutes later I was grappling with a grief I had never imagined before. Absolutely BAWLING not just for Simon and Marceline (the PLOT), but for what it showed me. The reality that every kid tries not to think about: your loved ones will leave you someday, even if they don’t want to. It’s an episode that becomes more powerful with every year I get older. To get a bit personal, dementia has completely taken my grandparents from me. I’ve seen sides of my grandfather that should never have existed, and I must constantly forgive him for what he does… now that he doesn’t remember me. And someday it’ll be my parents. That’s just the way of the world, ya know? Anyways, I remember my mom got home right as the credits were rolling and we had a long talk about keeping people alive with memory, mortality, and how the future was far away and we should decide on dinner lmao.

2. The Hall of Egress. I was almost 15. Life was changing. I was changing, and it was strange and frightening. That feeling where you know you’re losing your childhood but you just want to cling to it. Follow the same old familiar path, stick with what’s comfortable. But life doesn’t work that way. It took me years to really understand this episode and it’s symbolism. Honestly I still don’t think I could fully explain it. It’s like. How do I put this. I was so glad to be in the target age group in that moment. I was so glad that something I was growing up with was assuring me “you’re changing, but we’re changing too”. And isn’t that the theme of adventure time? Everything stays, but it still changes.

3. The absolute horror of Ferns existence. He’s Finn, but he’s wrong and warped. All those memories of the people he loves and they can’t stand to be in the same room as him.

4. Susan Strong. The introduction of a RUNNING PLOT. The show up to that point had really been so goofy and so monster of the week. I think the only really plot heavy episode before this one was It Came From the Nightosphere? And then suddenly they call into question the fact that Finn really is the ONLY HUMAN in all of OOO. And then… is he? It was SUCH a departure from the usual tone. Ending that episode with him reaching below her hat and gasping in shock, but never telling the audience what he found. And then she’s just gone. Which leads us to Islands!

5. Min and Marty. Second saddest episode in the entirety of adventure time, made worse because you know exactly how this family is gonna end up. There’s SO MUCH to dissect about Martins behavior in the series. A reformed con artist receives a traumatic brain injury while attempting to save his son. They’re both lost at sea, and he never looks for him. Was it the emotional trauma? Was it the physical damage? Meanwhile a mother loses her husband and her child in a single night and never EVER learns why. Nobody but Martin knows what happened that night. Also Finns fear of the ocean from season 1 is finally explained. 7 years of ignoring Finns origins and then they throw you THIS??? Watching it live was unreal.

Anyways I’m sure I’ll think of more. I might add on to this later for my own sake lmao, but I’d love to hear other peoples formative moments, quotes, episodes, etc. I really just needed to dump this information out of my brain so I can get on with my week.

[queerfandomtrifecta]

So a lot is bothering me about the narrative structure of season two. If I didn’t have my own novel to work on and didn’t have several more edits commissioned, I’d write a fix-it fic for all of season two to fix the narrative stuff and to really delve into character arcs that felt off. Maybe I will anyway. Idk. If someone who actually has time wants to take any or all of this and write a fic, go for it. Can’t wait to read it. Anyway, this is a very rough outline that’s subject to change if I do write the fic, but from a developmental editing perspective, here’s my two cents nobody asked for on season 2:

Thematic elements: Atonement and coping with trauma, the crew leaving (especially in regards to Stede’s emotional wound where he’s worried about people being better off without him) and identity (especially in regards to Ed/Stede/Izzy). These are present in the show as-is, but they don’t play out well just yet. I’m focusing on these to make things cohesive.

Episodes 1-3: mostly perfect. Loved these and the pacing felt correct for the most part. I would keep the tone from these episodes through the season. Ricky would be introduced here. Zheng is fantastic and all of her stuff stays here.

What I’d change: Ned Low would be the primary antagonist for this season. Ricky would be set up through this season to be the primary antagonist next season. Ned Low’s record is Ed’s original suicide by proxy plan, and that needs to be introduced here. There needs to be a scene showing how Ned tortures people in these episodes. Izzy needs to bring it up as a concern to Ed. Ed doesn’t care about the crew’s safety, obviously, someone (Izzy) needs to mention Ned’s record and possible repercussions here. I’d also NOT play Lucius’s trauma reveal with Stede like a comedy beat. (Like seriously, I HATE that the show played SA as a comedy beat.) Black Pete would be shown crying of Lucius so it’s not just told randomly after the fact. Olu would be shown missing Jim.

Episode 4: The unicorn thing with Izzy was beautiful and I’d keep that. Stede and Ed going to Mary and Anne’s is fine. Buttons can APPEAR to turn into a seagull.

What I’d change: The Kraken Crew and Lucius need to stay paranoid longer. They need to tally things up and realize that Low’s record has been broken (I think Ed was too checked out from reality/high on rhino horn to even realize he’d broken it; Izzy has bigger things going on and likely also lost track) but that record being broken was NEVER shown in the original, just told after the fact. In order to NOT switch to a speculative genre randomly for a convenient metaphor, Buttons appears to turn into a seagull but he doesn’t literally. Revealed to the audience but not to Ed/Stede (more on this later). Stede doesn’t put it to a vote that Ed can come back. He’s the captain and decides that that’s how it’s gonna be. The crew is also gonna look to former first-mate Frenchie (whose trauma is in a box) for direction when Izzy is struggling. It’s Frenchie’s idea about the leg. Izzy is still struggling a little more after his new leg, and I think he should be shown happy at the end but with a bottle of something not far from him (but more in that later).

Episode 5: Ed’s influencer non-apology clearly written by Stede works. Ed and Stede need time apart. The cursed suit can stay for the levity of it. Ed and Fang can go fishing. The moonlight kiss scene works for the most part.

What I’d change: Izzy can be sassy with Lucius, and a bit of a mentor to Stede, but he’s going to be drinking in this episode. Not plastered drunk like ep 4, but it’s gonna clearly be a struggle and everyone is just Not Talking About It. Lucius might start to parallel that a bit and I’d like to see more interaction with them there. I’d also like to see the Kraken Crew (all the crew really) treating Izzy as their captain. Stede says he doesn’t feel like the captain and there should be a reason for that. If he forced them to let Ed back on the boat in ep 4, that can be addressed here. Izzy is following Stede so he can eventually persuade everyone they have to as well, though Izzy’s earned more trust than anyone at this point. I’d delve into him doing for Stede what he did for Ed pre-season one (“massaged the crew” when Ed’s moods seemed off to keep things running (I can’t remember the exact quote past that, but that’s essentially the idea). The Kraken Crew needs to be wary of Ed longer. They do not believe Buttons is a seagull. They all think Ed killed him and Stede says he didn’t see Buttons turn into a seagull, but he takes Ed’s side and doesn’t think Ed killed him. That starts a rift and an “us or Ed” thing that’ll play out later. Ed can try to interact with the crew and get the cold shoulder. He’s done nothing to restore his reputation. As far as the cursed suit goes, I would have them receive some sort of warning from Ned Low when they go to pawn the suit off on the other ship. Stede or/or Izzy would keep it quiet from the crew, who are only just now starting to follow Stede as the captain. Ricky needs to be shown here wanting to end piracy, and interacting with Zheng. After the moonlight kiss, I’d have them holding hands as they walk off. I think maybe Lucius would want to leave the ship here. The Swede and Buttons are gone already, and it makes sense for Lucius to want to leave but Black Pete to want to stay. They’ll both still be on board here though.

Episode 6: Calypso’s Birthday will be the plot for 7/8.

What I’d change: let me preface this by saying I haven’t worked Zheng’s plot fixes out fully. But. If we’re moving this to the next two episodes, something has to happen here. I’d keep the bit with the guilt room and with Ed giving away treasure to the urchins saying don’t be pirates, but have him say more in front of Stede about how piracy is bad for specific reasons that Stede just doesn’t clock as Ed wanting to stop. I think the plot will be along the lines of Stede engaging in more piracy. Ed will quietly be struggling with the fact that Stede is becoming a more and more proficient pirate in his own way, Ed himself not wanting to pirate anymore, and his tentative new relationship with the captain of a ship he is definitely not wanted on by anyone other than Stede. Zheng needs to interact with Ricky here about him wanting to end piracy. Izzy is a good first mate here but he’s still drinking. Lucius may start to parallel that here. Former first mate Frenchie picks up the slack and falls into a leadership role when Izzy is struggling too much, and this is eventually gonna cause him to have to deal with his trauma that’s bottled up, when he has to talk to Izzy about clearly not handling his own. Eventually, things will come to a head with the crew not wanting Ed on board. It becomes an “us vs him” thing with the crew threatening to leave if Es doesn’t. Stede will try to smooth things over but Ed will interrupt and say don’t bother, he’s leaving. He doesn’t know who he is but at least fisherman would be better than pirate. Episode ends with Stede heartbroken and Ed going off to fish in something that isn’t his leathers, so he wouldn’t be recognizable from a distance. Low pinpoints Stede’s ship but doesn’t see Ed on it, and plans to bait him out by boarding and torturing the crew.

Episodes 7-8: Nope. I’d keep almost none of this.

What I’d change: This part is also still rough and I need to flesh it out a bit more, BUT: Calypso’s birthday would be episode 7. The crew would wanna party but also wanna cheer up their sulking captain. They’re glad Ed is gone. Izzy is a good first mate here but still drinking. He encourages the party to Stede who agrees. They’re spending Ed’s treasure that he’s left, turning the poison into positivity by getting rid of the bad memories the Kraken Crew has of obtaining it. Stede and Izzy bond a lot here. Ned Low does interrupt the party (I think maybe he’s also “working” with Ricky but not really, he has his own agenda) planning to bait Ed back. The scene in Stede’s quarters would be Izzy and Stede, not Ed and Stede. Once again the crew are suffering for Ed’s actions, and THAT is how Ed can atone for it. He can save them, probably with the help of Zheng who he’ll have met when he goes off to be a fisherman. So there’s some camaraderie going there. Also, with help from Lucius and Black Pete, who will have to trust him in order to save the crew/themselves. Stede will be the one to kill Ned Low, and he and Ed will still impulsively sleep together as a coping mechanism at the end of episode 8. Izzy is still alive and well (though still drinking a lot; and I think this could be a key to Frenchie having to confront trauma instead of locking it in the box), and things aren’t smoothed out with Ed and Izzy yet, that’s for next season, Ed has ACTUALLY done something to earn the crew’s trust back, and it appears to be a happy enough ending for Ed and Stede. Also, IF Ed says “I love you”, Stede is GONNA say “I love you too” because WTAF was that in the show?! But I’d end the season with La Vie en Rose and fireworks, Izzy happy and celebrating with the crew, a happy moment for Ed/Stede, the antagonist defeated, and Ed actually having atoned for his previous actions.

All of this is rough, but it’s my original thoughts. If anyone wants to use the base of this to write a fix-it fic, go for it. I may do it myself if I can find the time between work writing responsibilities.

[yiangchen]

it's so tragic funny that while i was watching t100, jroth was so adamant that there was nothing romantic there with bellarke, that it literally made me doubt what was very clearly being written as romantic (and it actually was. like, we know this now. it has been confirmed).

looking back, bellarke could have kissed at so many different points in the show, without changing anything else but having them kiss, and it would have made perfect sense. it would have flowed. it would have aligned with their relationship development.

just think about it. 1x09. unity day. is this a bit early? yes. but do they have the chemistry? yes. and have they had sufficient build up for two characters to have their first kiss? yes. honestly more than a lot of ships that happen in the first season of their show. especially since day trip just happened! plus, the flirting during unity day was...not subtle.

listen...she wanted to kiss him here so bad. seriously though. clarke could have and that would have been a very natural progression of this scene. it would have especially fit the early drop ship days vibe.

(or you could add in a scene where clarke finds him later, now sufficiently buzzed, they flirt some more, then she kisses him, and bellamy's like, "woah, woah, princess, what are you doing?" but he's smiling and she just shrugs with a smile and goes in to kiss him again, saying "having fun", and bellamy says, "you're drunk" and clarke is exasperated saying, "well you told me to!" and bellamy laughs, very amused, and from the look in his eyes, you can tell that he is also very very VERY smitten.)

if you still think that's too soon, yeah, i tend to agree. i love the idea of s1 bellarke in fanfic, but for the show, i prefer a bit more of slowburn. so let's push it to season 2. no, that's not a true slowburn, but still, you had to wait a little for it, and a lot of shows do this successfully. so anyway. 2x05. post iconic reunion hug, shot in a very romantic way i might add.

bellamy is watching clarke sleep by the fire, she wakes, we have some platonic gazing with firelight flickering across their faces...

we all know how the scene goes. he reassures her. he confides in her. she reassures him back.

i'm sorry, but the way they are looking at each other here? dude, if they had been sitting any closer, they could have kissed. i tend to think it would be more in character for clarke to initiate a first kiss with bellamy in s1-4, but in this scene, i 100% could see bellamy going in to kiss her after this.

(and yes, i'm aware that octavia was pretending to be asleep this whole time, but honestly, her reaction to them would have added some much needed levity to the situation. octavia is a bellarke shipper, after all. also, some people might say that this would make clarke's "i love you" to finn less believable, but i disagree. you can have feelings for two people at the same time. i mean, she literally kisses lxa very quickly after finn's death sooo yeah...plus, it would have made the bellarke angst of s2b/3 even better.)

maybe you still want more of a slowburn though, and that is perfectly fair, which brings me to s3, which in my opinion would have been one of the best seasons for canon bellarke. alright. 3x05. hakeldama yup! it was prime time for a first kiss. i mean, all the build up of s1/2 obviously, but also...this had just happened:

but anyway...back to hakeldama. this is the peak of their angst. nothing tops it.

but then, after the heat of the moment, the softness comes in. as it always does with these two. they wind up sharing the softest, most romantic scene in this entire show (fight me).

that last gif, man...at this point, i think they would both go in for the kiss. mutually initiated. god, it would have fit the scene so well!

(some people might say that this would invalidate clarke's love for lxa, considering everything that happens two eps later, but again, i disagree. like i said before, you can have feelings for two people at the same time. people might also say that this would undermine bellamy's relationship with gina, but you know what? the whole fucking narrative undermined that relationship, so i really don't care. i loved gina, but if clarke can kiss lxa right after finn's death, then bellamy can kiss clarke right after gina's death. this show is messy, okay? and bellarke are messy as fuckkkk.)

still think it would be too early? okay. season 4 then. very recently, i realized how easy making bellarke canon in s4 would have been, holyyyy. starting off in 4x03. bellamy is sleeping on the couch and clarke watches him sleep with the softest smile on her face (i'm still crying about this btw). i can't find the right gif, but you all know the smile! then clarke is struggling so bellamy wakes up and is there to support her, making a declaration that has romantic undertones, it just does!

and then clarke lowkey makes a move on him lmao. for real though?? what was this???

i would only change one thing here. he takes a seat beside her first and then puts his hand on her shoulder. so that way they are eye level (aka kissing level).

when she lifts her head off their hands, their faces would be so close. maybe bellamy would tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, not realizing how intimate that kind of thing is until he does it. i could see them kissing here. clarke would initiate. although, i think it would be so much better if it was just an almost kiss. bellamy tells her she should get some sleep right before it happens.

and then in 4x06...

it's actually so funny how she says that and then she's like 'oh no. that sounded like it implied something. i did not mean to imply.'

and bellamy's over here like 'omg she's implying.'

which leads to him literally about to confess. i'm sorry, but there is no other way to interpret....

and of course clarke interrupts, but this is the moment, you guys! this could have been the moment.

right after this, before roan's interruption, there's a pause, and then clarke kisses him. it's a quick one. the kind of kiss where she has both of her hands on his face and he's so stunned by it that his eyebrows raise in surprise and before he can even process that it's happened, she's pulled back and they're looking at each other, a bit in awe, both surprised that she just did that.

then in 4x09, we actually get to see the reunion!! and it's the running kind. just like 2x05. only this time, after they run to each other and hug, bellamy pulls back and takes her face in his hands to examine her for injuries, and once he realizes she's okay, probably after she reassures him and puts a hand on his face, then he kisses her, but they both go in for it (and i cry).

in 4x13, i would change the location of the head and heart scene. somewhere more private...a bedroom (!). so, after this moment:

and bellamy turns away, upset, clarke pulls him back to face her and takes his face in her hands. his eyes are watery. so are hers. she kisses him. one thing leads to another and we get the sex scene we deserved!! then they're lying in bed, cuddling. bellamy's head is on her chest and clarke's playing with his hair. that's when she decides to ruin the moment lmao and continues the head and heart convo with "we've been through a lot together, you and i." i can just see it so well. they would shift so that they're laying on their sides, facing one another. maybe clarke's fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck now. when she says he has a big heart, her palm rests on his bare chest. when she says he has to use his head too, her fingers of her other hand shift from his neck to his temple. when bellamy says, "i've got you for that," clarke kisses him. their foreheads stay touching for a few breathes, then she pulls back to look at him and says that raven's premonition came true. like...am i crazy or would this have worked so well?? literally the same dialogue but...they're together.

(plus, this could have led to clarke raising bellamy's kid--august--along with madi over those six years they are separated, i'm just saying!)

maybe you still think that season 5 was the ultimate time for bellarke to go canon, and you know what? i honestly might just agree. the set up was there with clarke calling bellamy every day for 2,199 days. the potential was there. madi was the biggest bellarke shipper i swear. she wanted them to be together even more than all of us combined i think. for a bellarke kiss though, you would almost have to drastically change the course of events...unless you go with 5x13 and blecho have broken up earlier in the season. after clarke wakes bellamy from cryo (still crying about this moment, yeah!), i could see them having a moment.

before jordan walks in, maybe clarke helps bellamy out of the pod, and once they're both standing, bellamy would finally make his move. instead of bellamy asking why they're the only ones there, clarke does. bellamy tells her, "we'll figure it out, clarke, but first, i have something i wanna say." maybe he does something soft, like take her hand or brush her hair behind her ear. clarke is staring at him, not quite believing what is happening right now, but deep down, she knows. he tells her, "those six years without you were the worst of my life and i don't wanna waste any more time." clarke is wearing a watery smile, still not quite sure she believes what she's hearing. she tells him, "i radioed you every day you were gone." bellamy's whole face lights up and he tells her, "i know." their foreheads touch. both of his hands are cradling her cheeks, her hands are cradling his wrists. she whispers his name. it's the kind of kiss where the time before the kiss is excruciatingly long, but once they kiss, it becomes much more urgent as they finally give in to all of the feelings. god. would have been ICONIC.

plus, they both looked absolutely gorgeous in this scene. hello???

would have been one hell of an aesthetically pleasing first kiss holyyyy. then jordan interrupts and makes some comment about how his mom and dad were right all along :)

if not season 5 though...moving onto season 6. 6x10 to be exact. i know i've said that other times were the ultimate time for canon bellarke, but this episode is too! or right after it in 6x11. there are two scenarios that i see playing out here. (in both, blecho have broken up previously.)

in the first scenario, it's 6x10. as soon as bellamy saves clarke and she wakes up, instead of going in to hug him, i swear when i was watching it that i really thought she was going in for the kiss. that was the one and only time where i legitimately thought they were about to kiss while watching. it had never made more sense than in that moment. even with all of jroth's attempted brainwashing, my mind was stronger in that moment. it saw it coming. or at least i thought i did lmao. i know they didn't actually kiss.

but listen.

they really should have.

clarke is literally looking at him like this:

come on, man.

i usually say that bellamy should be the one initiating post s4, but in this moment, it would have been clarke.

and if not then, the other scenario is that they hug as usual. clarke gets some rest as usual. but when she wakes up in 6x11 and bellamy is at her side, they are in a separate private tent. they have that same conversation that they do. they argue about clarke risking her life again. but then...

he tells her, "hey, i just got you back." he says it firm but soft. i see bellamy initiating the kiss here, especially since he's almost lost her twice now, but once clarke realizes that this is really happening, that after all this time he wants her just as much as she wants him, she would for sure be the one initiating everything else. she would be sitting in his lap making out with him so fast jfsldkjfaslk and you know what? good for her!! they either just kiss a lot here, laying down on the bed, all tangled up together, and then they're interrupted, or maybe, just for once, they're allowed to be happy, uninterrupted, and they sleep together. either way. natural progression.

that's really the point of this longwinded post. so many times it could have happened. all of them a nature progression of the story that was being told.

then comes season 7...

there are no words.

6x13 left them off in a perfect place...

the set up was literally right there! they should have kissed in 7x01!! they should have lived happily ever after with madi in a seaside cabin situated in a field of gold!!

[gnashingwailing]

GIRL (gender neutral) HELP NOT THE PEER REVIEWED HOMOPHOBIA

@fireflywritesgt sending u my ch 24/25 thoughts <3

⬆️How Harry looks processing how upset he is that Joe nearly died in a lake while lovingly making him tea for his hangover

Meanwhile, Joe: I hope sober Joe knows how to deal with this Sober Joe:

First off. this is primarily a reflection on Joe & Harry throughout these last two chapters but I would be remiss not to mention how EXTREMELY fed I am by the Gutters lore ... was HE a pet or was it someone he cared for... either way... woof. Plus Calloway coming to Joe's rescue once again... even though there are now rumors and Gutters saw something. In parallel with the marking scene ... this story does such a great job of balancing the horror with the levity. maybe it's for the best Joe isn't telling Harry the particulars of his visiting Calloway's bcuz Harry might just have a heart attack if he stops and thinks through the implications of all this. Wonder if he realizes how much danger he might have put Joe in... he seems to kinda forgor everything else where saving/supporting Joe is concerned (as seen in ch21 when he wanted to bring Joe to see O'Grady...)

(Btw I love the way (sober) Joe will NEVER admit anything re: Harry saving his life lol. “You just threw me into a curtain 🙄“ “I don’t even remember the turtle 🙄”)

“He knew what the medical journals had to say about homosexuals; hell, he had read them! He had to give himself some credit, however. The little bastard had been drunk as a skunk, lying helplessly in his hand, and the worst Harry had done was march him straight upstairs to tuck him into bed. Whatever pathology Harry himself had, it had not gotten the best of him yet.”

GIRL (gn) HELP NOT THE PEER-REVIEWED INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA… The Harry chapters always hit soooo hard for me when you read between the lines of what he’s thinking. He is SUCH a poor little guy… We can see pretty clearly that Harry thinks of his affections as something poisonous but Also apparently as something predatory? “his pathology” “getting the best of him” being like… what? That he’d take advantage of him because he’s attracted to him ? Is that the kind of thing the research said? UGH IT BREAKS MY HEART. I hope he’ll reject his coping mechanism of rationalizing and dissecting everything and just let go and trust Joe to know what he wants! It would be really tragic if Harry tried rejecting Joe much the same way Georgie rejected him :’(

“Harry, though he hated to admit it, was afraid – not of Joe himself, but what Joe represented.” - OUUUUUGHHH THE PARALLELS… the way Joe thought the exact same thing after the night of the thunderstorm… ouuuuughhhhh save meeee...

And the parallels continue in their tendency to self-harm… Joe may be more overt about it (lol if Harry ever learns that Joe has purposefully eaten poisoned chocolate three. times. and fully thought he was doing it a 4th with Harry’s own offering … #girl…) but Harry’s absolute repression of any self-expression or vulnerability is equally a form of self-harm… questioning Joe’s ability to make his own decisions is such a sad expression of how Harry (maybe unconsciously?) views things — safety and staying alive is worth more than authenticity. Maybe he won’t stick Joe in a cage anymore but he still wants to exert control over him — in the relatable way many of us do when we feel like our loved ones are making bad decisions. And Joe is making some of those! But so does everyone! And in Joe’s case the worst of them are likely driven from years of internalized self-loathing and self-neglect !! He would probably chill out if he just had a good man waiting for him at home……. Taking Harry by the shoulders and shaking him. U are both two sides of the same coin

Except

“Unseasoned. The word crept back into Joe’s mind. Calloway had a point, he realized; Harry wasn’t acting all that different from some of the lesser-experienced boys of Joe’s own size that he had toyed with. Surely, though, Harry didn’t find Joe attractive. That would be absurd!” Holy shit this whole chapter is so good but this part is hysterical. 1. TOYED WITH⁉️ 2. Watching Harry’s brain overheat in real time while 3. Joe getting to enjoy flirting shamelessly (clapping and hollering that he got to do that AND got to be sober to remember it) WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING LIKE 🤨 there’s no way he finds me attractive tho. How do they both manage to be such conniving little bastards and also so innocent. So clever and yet soooo dumb. 💕

But even tho he’s somewhat in disbelief about how Harry feels about him, Joe knows himself so very well lmao. At first I thought he was lying about not remembering their conversation but. I don’t think so. Harry telling him he said “something very nice” to him and Joe being like. Was it that you had a nice ass. LIKE HE WAS THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO THE MARK BDDJSHHD but ALSO even just calling Harry handsome made him a blushing mess!! It fascinates me that Harry is so terrified of receiving affection but he felt much more at ease when he was giving it. I mean, he was calling Joe handsome two chapters ago‼️ I think Joe can be forgiven for his romance-novel-brain idealizing Harry as a seductor. It says something interesting about Harry’s character that he’s been so comfortable complimenting Joe until it might lead somewhere … Is that open, easygoing kindness, the sort that compliments other men readily, the ‘real’ Harry? Was Joe seeing his unvarnished personality before it got hidden under the internalized homophobia that has come out in force since ch22? I get the sense Harry is just the sort of guy whose true feelings sometimes spill out of him in a way he is barely cognizant of. We know that’s true for his anger, but I could see that being true for his affection, too. I’m guessing that is why his internal monologue goes “wow! He’s like a movie star :) and he’s so brave and cool and I respect him so much. He looks like a dancer. And his clothes look so good on him. And I notice his haircut and whether he’s getting enough sleep and every scratch and scrape and other intricacy of his appearance immediately. Yeah, I can’t help but love him - you know - like a brother or a friend!!” 👈 UNSEASONED

"“So you admit it. I’m up here because I manipulated you, and not because you manipulated me.” Joe said." — omfg. On the one hand, I love that these two are so good at unhanding each other, and it’s very cute to me that they’ve both at different points felt proud for “catching” one another. On the other hand, Harry & Joe when they are tasked with cultivating a mutually nurturing and vulnerable relationship:

WHAT IF NEITHER OF YOU ARE MANIPULATING THE OTHER AND DOING THIS BECAUSE YOU LIKE ONE ANOTHER AND YOU’RE BOTH CHOOSING THE UNKNOWN. WHAT IF THAT WASNT BEYOND BOTH UR KEN RN. What then. One day they will quit playing Tom and Jerry-esque mind games with each other but not today. I know the rituals are intricate. I know. I know they’re intricate 😔😔😔

On a lighter note so glad to see Joe’s other go-to behavior is back. If he doesn’t wanna Just Walk Out then he wants to Fuck Around & Find Out <3 I luv how compatible the two of them are… Joe is not only moving in he's turning Harry into the u-haul service and Harry is just enamored with him for it. Faithful hunting dog retrieving game indeed. Submissive in the way a livestock guardian dog is submissive to its sheep. 10/10 Joe got his ass so good.

"“I’m sure you[‘ll listen to me]. You have to. If I’m gonna be the tiny, then it means you have to be the giant and do everything I say all the time.” He said." — Hmm. Joe and I have the same g/t fics bookmarked I think 👍 I sort of get the same sense that Harry got when Joe was talking about “luck” — that maybe the idea of “being the tiny” vs “being the giant” has some cultural connotations for him we don’t quite grasp.

OH this reminds me of the question I meant to ask you and promptly forgot about. If miniatures have a taboo against taking things without giving something in return… what does it feel like for Joe when Harry just keeps giving him stuff? Does “paying me in sleep” really work in borrower cultural norms? Hazarding a guess, I’m assuming romantic partners don’t necessarily operate on the same principle of equivalent exchange… given “Joe’s got a rich boyfriend that’s spoiling him” being something Calloway reads as normal/expected … That is to say. Hmm. Is Harry giving Joe all these things something that a romantic suitor would do? 🤔 Harry the unknowing seductor…

Parting thoughts… Miss Wilkins’ dad suddenly came down with tuberculosis, huh. Gang, do we know how Harry’s mom died, other than that it was sudden and traumatic? How do we think Harry is doing re: pushing all his feelings & unprocessed trauma down at this time. 👍/👎?

[didsomebodysaypancakes]

Some thoughts after rewatching the Turn Pilot:

Overall, the pilot is a lot more grim than I think the rest of the show ends up being. Turn is a serious show, but it lets itself have fun with the setting and how theatrical the characters are. But I think the pilot is still gripping and does a great job of setting the scene and establishing the characters.

Abe gets beat up every episode of this show, but man does he get his shit wrecked in the pilot. Every other scene, that farmer is getting stomped on, punched, manhandled, or just straight up tortured. Half an hour of this hour long pilot is Abe being a punching bag. Was every day like this for him before the show starts?

Ben's introductory scene hits every time <3 The pilot emphasizes his cunning but doesn't really incorporate his idealism yet.

I only realized during my last rewatch that Robert Rogers hated Ben because Ben killed one of RR's men during his escape. Before that I had no idea why he was so obsessed with him lmao. I still think his vendetta against Ben is kinda insane, but i can at least understand the logic of it now.

Why do they make John André so mysterious in the pilot lmao. Glad they switch from the wig to the Jedi padawan hair for him.

The only levity in this episode comes from Caleb and Hewlett. Caleb brings the warmth while Hewlett is just so over the top as almost a caricature of a British officer, it's beautiful and mesmerizing. Burn Gorman saw this character and knew exactly what he needed to do. Even Baker running late and out of Abe and Mary's home doesn't hit as a comedic beat because they look so uncomfortable about being forced to house a British soldier (and understandably).

Why are the faces of the men who catch Abe smuggling covered? I don't think either Ben or Caleb were in the boat, so what was the purpose of hiding their identities from the audience and Abe?

Selah and Anna are rich af wtf

Simcoe is a real creep in this episode. I think it's to the show's and the character's benefit that they pretty quickly change course to Simcoe being a scary, homicidal, immortal cartoon villain instead of the potential sexual predator the pilot makes him out to be.

I don't have much to say about Mary rn except that I never hated her and I always believed in her and when the ending of the first season finale aired i was so vindicated and I cheered bc i always knew that Mary was That Bitch. Mary puts the LOYAL in LOYALIST.

I don't really know why Turn decides to throw in a little murder mystery into the beginning of season 1. I guess just to cause conflict and eventually rub in Abe's face that everybody hates spies? To show how different Abe is at the end of the first season when he does actually take another man's life? We will see!

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Gerudo Misandry Is Not Funny Or Okay

I find it really damn odd that so few people talk about misandry when they bring up the Gerudo or the societal norms of other Amazon-esque races.

And even when they do, it seems to always be done with a tone of levity behind it.

As if it isn't every bit as terrible as misogyny.

As if their biological situations don't make men absolutely vital to the continued existence of their people & culture.

So, treating men as less than is as terrible as men treating women the same.

And, honestly? I can't help but see this disregard by fans (especially the feminist fans) as very spiteful.

Like, how do these people not see how this isn't okay?

I mean, no wonder Ganondorf always ends up such a sack of shit!

Seriously girls, imagine what it would be like growing up the only female in a society of all guys.

No maternal figures, no female role models, no female friends, or even acquaintances. And you're unlikely to ever even see another woman until you reach 18-20.

Separated from the most important woman in your life at 3-6, if not birth. To be raised by a pair of warlocks who despise their neighboring kingdom & are intent on turning you into a vile, tyrannical witch.

And every guy around you knows nothing about actual women, just misogynistic stereotypes, so all you can do is apply those same stereotypes to yourself & there's just this general consensus that women are basically unnecessary beyond producing children.

They don't have a single clue about what it means to be a woman. They don't know anything about women's health. No one to explain things to you when you need them most. So, in the end, you're mostly left to figure it all out on your own.

And the only real examples of women you have are people that your adoptive fathers say are oppressing you & your people. So, all you can do is quietly just assume that all women = bad. And that includes you too.

So, all you can do is frantically do everything you can to make yourself useful to these people who, knowingly or unknowingly, look down upon others of your sex.

And therefore, unconsciously, you as well.

And you're expected to rule these people. To lead them into a golden age.

I can't even imagine how damn isolating it must be. I can't imagine the pressure. These are your people, yet even so, you are still alien to them. Still other. Still "not one of them."

And in many ways, a commodity.

Based entirely upon something that you have zero control of.

And upon reaching 18, you're likely used as a breeding mare.

And the only people who could ever truly understand your situation & the pressure that comes with it... are all dead...

Now, switch the sexes & you basically have every Gerudo Voe's reality.

It's no damn wonder that Ganondorf always becomes evil.

There's also the ridiculous superstition that "men bring about disaster."

And then we get into the detrimental affects this shit has on the Vai!

Look at how these women react to just seeing a dude!

And this chick can't even look a man in the eye!

Because, apparently, she's never even seen a real man in person before! So, Link has to freaking wear a full-face mask in order to get her to manage to speak to him!

And let's not even get into what the little Vai wear! The sirwal are fine, it's the tops that need to be changed.

Kids aren't supposed to show that much skin!

LoZ Cultural Masterlist 2

[miitgaanar]

Whumptober prompt! Requested by @serpenthyne!

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | “It’s not your fault.”

Do not read this <3 I cannot stress that enough <3

***************

Winter’s bite had begun to fade by the time Mikaila was well enough to be out and about.  Patches of green poked through the slowly shrinking piles of snow, and once near absent songbirds could be heard even within the densely populated streets of Durlyne.  It was as if Ssael himself wished to welcome his favored daughter back to the land of the living with a splash of color.

But Addilyn couldn’t help the frown that pulled at her lips as she spied the girl’s pallid features, her tell-tale Soud green eyes dull and lacking that familiar mischievous gleam.

“Oi, lass,” Addilyn said, forcing a playful lilt into her voice.  “Don’t you be scheming over there.  I won’t have you spelling my sword soggy when I have to assist in training later.”

Mikaila looked up from where she sat on one of the stone benches lining the temple’s pathways, the barest smile painted upon her pale lips.  Even so, it didn’t quite reach her eyes.  Addilyn’s heart nearly split at the sight.

She hadn’t seen the little spellwright since the weeks following that harrowing night, and even then Mikaila had spent much of it in a fitful slumber, burning with fever and writhing in terrible pain.  Addilyn had felt so helpless, the vibrant little troublemaker at death’s door with naught but prayers to be said in the hope that the doctor could keep her from the khert’s grasping hands.

But the wee lass was strong, a fighter if she had ever seen one, and she’d beaten back the very same khert that had taken her father.

And yet the sight before her left Addilyn at a loss.  It wasn’t grief or fear that lined the girl's features.  She seemed… troubled.  Haunted.

Addilyn hadn’t known what to expect when Lemuel announced that he’d be bringing his newfound daughter to the temple, but this somehow felt worse than a hysterical child’s weeping.  

A sigh escaped her as Addilyn moved to sit beside Mikaila, the stone’s cold surface seeping into her trousers and making her shiver.

“You’ve been awful quiet since your doting uncle left you in my care,” Addilyn said with an air of levity.  “And here I’d been ready to be wowed by tales of your valiant victory over the Crescian invaders.”

Mikaila’s small, gloved hands clenched into tightly balled fists, her gaze averted to the ground.  “Can I ask you something, Addie?”

Addilyn blinked in surprise, her brow raised.  “Of course.”

A quiet moment passed, one in which Addilyn could hear the distant sounds of a hound’s baying.  “Do you think I did enough?” Mikaila finally asked.

“Enough—?”  Addilyn was struck speechless.  Among the short list of things she expected her to ask, that was not among them.  “What do you mean?”

“Everyone talks about that night like I did something special.  Like I fought them off and saved the day.”  Her voice was low, but sharp as a knife’s edge.  “But I could have done more.  I know I could have.  But Papa was hurt and there were so many of them and—”

Mikaila trailed off then, her little shoulders trembling.  Addilyn thought she had begun to cry, expected to see tears streaming down her pale cheeks as hiccupping sobs built up in her chest—but her eyes were dry, and there was a deep anger and frustration in her brilliant green gaze.

“It’s all my fault,” she said darkly, and it was with that that she sniffled softly, though Addilyn suspected she would blame it on the still brisk air.  “Had I not been there, Papa would still be here.”

“Miki—” Addilyn tried, but Mikaila cut her off.

“Had I been born a boy, Papa would have taught me how to fight.  He wouldn’t have told me to run.  He would have told me where to aim.”

She said it with such rancor, such bitterness.  Addilyn had thought the girl would be wailing for her lost Papa, but instead she harbored a profound guilt for his demise.

“Miki,” she tried again, reaching out to place a hand upon Mikaila’s uninjured shoulder.  There was little she could give her in the way of comfort, and even this felt like a paltry offering.  “Your Papa didn’t like me much.  Especially when your uncle would bring me around you.  But even I know that he loved you so very much.  Fiercely enough that he fought to the death to keep you safe.”

Mikaila sniffled again, her eyes still trained on her hands.  The gloves were new.  A darker blue than her old pair.

“And,” Addilyn continued, sensing a rebuttal building upon the little wright’s lips, “I would never dare say that he’d have done anything differently had it been a lad at his side that night, rather than his beloved daughter.  He’d have told that boy to run to find help, to find the guard, to get home.  Just as he did you.”

It was then that a stray tear finally spilled over Mikaila’s lashes, and her hands began to shake.  Addilyn did not hesitate to pull the girl toward her in a tight embrace.

“It wasn’t your fault, Miki,” Addilyn said gently, but with an edge that brokered no argument.  “You scared off a horde of Crescians all on your own.  And you fought your way back to us.  You are strong and bright and so very brave.”

Addilyn pulled back slightly, a small half-smile upon her lips as she brushed the stray tears from Mikaila’s cheeks.  Mikaila met her gaze with a watery smile of her own.

“Never doubt that you did more than most lads older than yourself would have managed,” Addilyn continued.  “You sitting here right now is proof that you did more than enough.”

Mikaila sniffled again, nodding stiffly as she buried her face in Addilyn’s tunic, her voice muffled as she simply said, “Thank you, Addie.”

[cinderswife]

a companion piece to my previous outfit ref of rose, here's cinders!! i had so much fun designing her a variety of outfits <33 cinders my beloved cinders my wife :3 i will also do one of these for snow because i can't not!

design notes and lore info dump under the cut

nude

so cinders was design to be a complimentary opposite to rose as well as heavily fire themed. she's tall, she's lanky, and she's one of those people who is uncomfortable to hug because they're so bony. she's also a wolf girl. wolf girl rights <3

cinders is a trans woman !! this is very important to me.

the scar on her torso is actually where a sci-fi hrt implant was implanted so she doesn't have to worry about taking hrt cuz she's got so much other shit going on

cinders has had a hell of a time in cole's prisons over the past 10 years. her tattered ear and lip scar come from some of the several times she has stood up for herself and met violence with violence and she is notably malnourished

the gradient in cinders' hair is a very common trait among the people of her planet Perrault and is also very pretty

the dots on cinders' face are skin picking scars

fun fact: other than the eye color, having been amab, and a few environmental factors, cinders looks exactly like her mother. wonder what that's about

prison uniform

the prison uniform of cole's prisons is pretty standard across the empire: grey with a red triangle on the front. realistically, this should be the only outfit on the sheet because cinders has been in prison for an entire decade but that'd be boring.

cinders' uniform hangs off her body. uniforms her size are designed for peope with a lot more meat on their bones

princess party dress

full disclosure: this was an excuse to design cinders a disney princess dress. lore wise, this is cinders' favorite party dress imported from one of the four planets perrault was in a close trade relationship with. it's also the dress she was captured by cole in. it was her 20th birthday party which was meant to bring a little levity to the people of her planet in the midst of a terrible war. unfortunately, the combination of her stepmother marguerite's betrayal and a promising young soldier named rose grimm accidentally discovering a secret tunnel meant that the party went down in the most tragic way possible.

this dress is made up of lots and lots of orange gradients and was designed to match her hair

the tiger lillies on her dress and gloves are detailed fabric replicas

her tiara and necklace are made of rose gold, which on perrault is its own naturally occurring metal. it's very difficult to refine correctly, so this small amount of it is a fabulous flaunt of wealth and power

the tiara has no special history compared to other royal jewels, this one was commissioned specifically for her

the glitter was painstakingly hand beaded in by an artisan (and was drawn with a glitter brush lol)

queen of perrault

hey wait a minute, isn't cinders a princess? well. this is entirely delving into headcanon/lore territory, but my particular cinders was queen from the ages of 12 to 19 because her father, the heritage king, was old and ailing and her mother died unexpectedly (cough reneged on the deal with a witch that created cinders cough). in order to keep the people from freaking out, her advisors took advantage of her looking exactly like her mother and made her queen. transition by becoming your mother, you know how it goes. this was not approved by her father, who did not die, and it turned into a whole political mess that ended with her as princess instead of queen. she was the best queen her people had had in a very long time, even if she had to lead her people to war in the latter half of her reign. i'll get into the details some other time but. lore!

this is the only outfit on this sheet that reflects the cultural fashion of perrault, specifically in the floating capital

this is an extremely goth outfit by perraultan standards. red is the color associated with mourning and ties heavily into funerary traditions and bone white is the color of death and evil. cinders' reign was haunted by grief and mourning

the gold is just an accent color. all of the embroidery was hand embroidered, which in an era of perfect machine embroidery is a huge flex and considered very fashionable

she is wearing two veils. the first one is mostly to make the crown more comfortable on her head (that sucker is heavy and tugs at her hair) and features elaborate designs on the inside. the second, translucent lace one is to obscure her features so people don't notice she's a lot younger than her mother

the crown cinders is wearing is the rose gold crown of the perrault! it was designed for one of her distant ancestors, the first queen of the grimsnarl dynasty, after perrault formed a coalition with the other four trader planets. aside from being made of pure rose gold and thus the world's biggest flex of wealth and power, every aspect of it has meaning.

the seven peaks of the crown represent the seven great nations of perrault that cinders' rules over. the peaks aren't assigned to any specific nation because one might get mad about being tiny while another flaunts how big it is. the size variation of the peaks is designed to mimic the towers of the castle, which is on a floating island unattached to any nation.

the jewels on the crown are the national jewels of the coalition of five trader planets and represents the strong ties between them. the big topaz represents perrault, the morganite represents telemaine, the heliodore represents anea, the ruby represents charn, and the amethyst represents quaria. all of these planets fell to cole's rule after perrault did

cinders isn't wearing any other jewelry because the embroidery on her dress is worth more than any jewel in the kingdom

the fabric of this dress is very heavy because it gets chilly on a castle on a floating island

day dress

this dress is not of any of the trader planets' fashions. rather, it comes from the six month time period between cinders and rose's marriage (aka signing a piece of paper to get cinders out of jail) and their wedding (the ceremony that kicked off ouatis). this fashion style comes from the star system of delinore, the duchy snow rules over and that snow and rose are from. this is actually my favorite outfit on this entire sheet; cinders in pink gingham is something that can be so personal

look, you actually get to see cinders' feet! she doesn't usually wear dresses this short haha

turns out that this particular pastel pink is cinders' favorite color <3

this dress is a lot lighter weight than cinders has worn previously; the capital city of delinore, chel, is a lot warmer than perrault's capital

the rose necklace was something snow got for her as a wedding gift. cinders like it so much she found shoes to match

big floppy hat rights for cinders !!!! i want her in so many hats you don't understand

this is a gingham dress! its so pretty

the ring on her finger isn't The Glass Ring TM, it's just the one snow grabbed for the impromptu courtroom marriage/pardoning. don't worry, the glass ring will show up at the actual wedding. consider it like an engagement ring

ballgown

i wanted to give cinders an homage to disney's cinderella (who was my favorite disney princess growing up), hence this dress! much like the previous outfit, this one also originates from delinore. cinders wore it to balls and other formal events that snow hosted that rose was required to be at.

turns out that when cinders has complete control of what she wears (no royal duties or prison) she really likes monochrome pastels. she is my pastel queen.

this dress is made up of a very lightweight silk that shimmers in the moonlight

the glitter on the medium blue is actually baked into the fabric, but it makes her sparkle more

the cowl and the hair fascinator are part of a matched set, hence the matching flowers

cinders does Not like having her arms out, hence the big long gloves. also they're pretty !!

basically cinders is very pretty and i love her

[anderstrevelyan]

Was tagged by @mxanigel for a WIP word search game (thank you!), looking for the words night, comfort, and tree.

(I'll try and do this on hard mode, aka pulling from works so in-progress @effelants hasn't seen them yet) (...I 2/3 succeeded, I don't write about trees enough apparently)

1. Comfort (13-year-old Valas)

Valas doesn’t want to talk to him. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone. Talking won’t change anything. It won’t bring Mother back, and won’t turn Father back into himself, and, gods below, it won’t make him feel better. He’d rather sit and stare at the chair’s fabric like it’s fascinating, twisting a loose piece until it unravels entirely. Father, at least, seems uncomfortable with the silence. “Valas,” he says, in a tone half admonishing, half unsure. “He asked you a question.” The Doomguide had asked him a question, the same inane question he was asked by his tutor, and the other children there, even the member of the Watch who stands sentry on the local corner. And what a question. How is he? How else could he possibly be? But the strange man waves it away, the bones and skulls carved beautifully into his bracers catching in the afternoon light. “Oh, it’s okay. You can talk as much or as little as you like, son. In fact—” he turns to Father, still fretting with some pages on his desk “—I’m fine here, if you wanted to get some work done elsewhere. All afternoon, even, if it takes you to High Hall.” “I—” he starts. But then the protest dies on his lips. He nods, gathering some of the pages, with no seeming rhyme or reason.  A few minutes later—a grasped-for coat, a quick kiss to his hair—and Valas is alone with the Doomguide.  Great. Just great. The seat’s thread loosens a little more from the stitch, uncoiling quickly into the tension of his hand. He doesn’t look up. He’s still not going to say anything.

2. Tree (15-year-old Valas & Jaheira)

There’s something in his voice that brings Jaheira so firmly to the past, she has to stoop to find a smooth pebble of her own to gather her thoughts. “Can I tell you something, cub?” She tosses the rock, watching it bounce a few times before disappearing into the depths. This is usually a story she holds close, hidden behind a careful glare. “I lost my parents, when I was a girl.” He turns to her with wide eyes. “Really?” “Really. That’s when I found myself at a druids’ grove. When I found my faith in Silvanus.” “Really?” “Would I tell you a lie?” He looks at her sheepishly—looks down at her, she notices fully, now that they’re still—and she leads him to sit on a fallen tree. “It was far from an easy time, and it’s pained me to see you go through the same, but it showed me much about this world.” “About respecting all parts of life? That there’s nothing to fear in rot and decay.” “Indeed,” though she wishes she could help him see all the flourishing sides of nature, too: the optimistic twist of vines, the vigor of wolves as they run through the woods, the soft touch of a meadow’s grass. She’s always found the followers of Kelemvor a touch morbid, with their focus on the end of life’s cycle. But far be it from her to challenge the boy’s interest in a god still committed to neutrality, to balance, when she once feared he’d fall into the evils of his mother’s Shar. Still, she has a suggestion. “I did find,” she says with deliberate levity, “that while a quiet life of faith may suit some, a way to take action is much more satisfying. Not that I mean you to become a Harper,” she adds quickly, “but to find something—” “I’d like to be a cleric,” he interrupts, decisive. “To help others.”

3. Night (51-year-old Valas & Jaheira, in Act 3)

“Is it true?” [Jaheira] asks. There’s pain in her voice. “You know I don’t know the answer to that. Not really.” “Is it true?” she prompts again, and he knows what she means him to do, the same thing they did on the long nights of their journey here, testing and talking, trying to see if they could shake more loose from this mangled, ruined mind of his. He digs his boot into the dirt, sits straight on the hayloft he’s been using as a bed, and breathes.  Tries not to force it.  “It feels true,” he ventures. “I didn’t recognize him, back in the colony beneath Moonrise. I didn’t recognize him when we walked into that room today. But there’s something about his voice. The way he talks with his hands. It almost felt…” He hesitates, but Jaheira lets him find it. “Safe, to be near him. Not far from how it felt with you.” “Well, that concerns me.” 

[sonicasura]

Well after all this time we finally have the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Movie Trailer and in celebration of that I wanted too make the Pokemon crossover with the Sonic Movieverse

This gonna be a lot of fun

Green Hills, Montanna

The Little Town with a Big Heart as the people living here liked too call it. Sprawling green fields, vast mountains, beautiful lakes, Green Hills really was a beautiful town too live in.

It all reminded Trainer of the vast lakes and fields in Galar and the beautiful Mountains of Sinnoh and Alola. The towns people were also very nice too Trainer too, and they had a lot of fantastic stores with a whole bunch of knick-knacks and such. There was an old Comic and Games shop which sold a lot of old items from this world. Trainer had ended up buying something called a Gamecube that came with some old games. Then there was this nice little Coffee Shop called the Mean Bean, however since Trainer was still a bit young for a Coffee, Trainer got quite a few well done sweets and a beautifully made Hot Chocolate. The Hot Chocolate even had this funny villian looking guy's face expertly made into it with the foam.

Though the bartender had a face of broken-hearted face the entire time they made Trainer's order. Trainer wanted too ask what was wrong but decided that it was best not too pry. After a bit more sight seeing and getting farm fresh fruits that had a strong reseamblence too some berries from Trainer's world. Trainer decided too head back home, though if any saw the way Trainer was taking they would be confused as too why such a yound kid was walking into the woods carrying so many items, all by themselves.

Which is what one Super Speedy Hedgehog thought as he trailed the kid into the wilderness

After a bit of walking Trainer made it back too a small opening in the woods were camp was set up and all the Pokemon were currently doing there own thing. Oshawatt and Meltan were currently playing next too the small little stone creek Trainer had set up camp near. Kubfu was currently practicing there punches and kicks on a nearby tree, and Grimmsnarl was currently making a fire pit with stones they had smashed apart. Mewtwo was standing atop of a tall tree over looking the forest too make sure they coukd see any approaching danger, along with Greninja who stood atop of another tree acting as a guard. Blaziken was currently kicking back enjoying the sun and the breeze and Pidgeot was currently flying high above the campsite, wanting too get some fresh sky air. Hoopa meanwhile kept jokeing with Mewtwo too bring some levity too the stoic Pyschic Type. When Trainer called out too everybody that they were back, everyone stopped what they were doing and went too hug and say hi too Trainer along with asking how there trip into the town was. Trainer told them all about Green Hills as they got together the cooking equipment for the Curry dinner they all were gonna have. Unbeknowst too them all that they were being spyied on by one blue hedgehog.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic currently had his eyes glued on everyone, being both surprised and exicited at this revalation of there being so many unquie creatures just camping out in Green Hills. Sonic of course wanted too go and say hi to them all but didn't want too startle or scare any of them so while Trainer was cooking and all the creatures were talking amongst themselves, Sonic spent the next 5 minutes coming up with a friendly greating.

Sonic: * Hides behind rock* Ok maybe a, Yo what's up saw you all having a cook out and wanted to come say hi. Hmm, sounds a bit too plain maybe a, Hey how's it going ya new around here? Need a tour guide? Someone too show you were too get all the best Chilidogs, well I'm your Hedgehog. Ya that sounds good maybe tell them all about how awesome Green Hills is, introduce yourself. Yup that sounds like an amazing plan, * peeks head above his rock hiding spot* just gotta find the perfect time too introduce myself too them all. Oh Man, this is gonna be so cool... wait a sec there a only 8 of those creatures now, I was positive there was 9 of them. * Counts them all up* Yup only 8...so which one is missing ummm oh I know it's that Ninja Frog dude.

While Sonic was trying too figure out which Pokemon was missing, he failed too notice Greninja was right behind him, not being able too hear swift and silent movements of Greninja.

Trainer and everyone definitely were shocked to hear " WOW" ring out and too look towards the direction of the shout, only too see Greninja holding Sonic up by the by his leg.

For a while Sonic and Trainer and Co. just starred at one another in awkwardness before Sonic broke the Silence.

Sonic: Hey just wanted too step in and say hello and welcome to Green Hills * Upside down thumbs up*

Tom and Maddie are definitely going too be surprised at Sonic's new friends

Considering this is before Sonic 2, looks like the Blue Blur got his first batch of friends. Also Greninja catching him while he's brainstorming an introduction is so on point lol. Movie Sonic tends to be such a goofy bean at times that things have a chance to slip by him. Or in this case the Ninja Frog Pokemon.

I can just see Tom and Maddie's when Sonic introduces Trainer to them. Nothing like children from different universes to reaffirm how weird your life has become.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e62

The party heads off through the wilderness toward Hevestro's place of residence. The first day's travel goes by without issue.

Ashton asks Orym to guide them through a meditation. "I've decided it's time to start thinking aobut my situation... how I got here, what it means, what happened to me. The Hishari shit, the helmet... yesterday kind of threw me, a couple of days ago kind of threw me, and I'm trying to recenter." Both of them are starting to wonder what fixing looks like, what it might mean, and both are doubting whether anything can be fixed at all.

"I think the best we can do right now is, if you see me go down, pick me back up, and I'll do the same for you."

Knowing that they deal with pain, Orym starts to slowly massage the palm of Ashton's hand, in that pressure point that relieves migraines (I think?).

Prism inscribes a couple runes onto Bordor's crossbow. Runes are just the containers and foci for magic instilled within them, so she puts a 4th level dragon's breath into it; when Denise fires it, it gives off a gout of flame, but the magic is expended. Because of the solstice, the runes can hold a spell for a short time and expend that spell when fired, but after a time the magic will dissipate.

"So you studied for years and never cast a spell, and Bordor, you only kept sheep and had never cast a spell, so really you're on the same playing field?" Orym calling out both Prism and Bordor in the same sentence in the nicest way possible is the most on-brand thing--

Prism has the sacred flame cantrip. She could only have gotten this from a magical item or from the magic initiate feat.

Bordor casts calm emotions on Ashton, and that ever-present anxiety and bubbling anger that exists in the back of their mind just fades away. They have a similar reaction as Imogen when she put the circlet on.

During the next day of travel, they come upon a lush, crater-like formation in the landscape, and in the middle they find a petrified skeleton that's embedded in the stone. By extracting the skeleton, they deduce that this was a githzerai who was placed here intentionally and then impacted by a meteorite as a form of punishment. They also find a ring made of an unfamiliar (likely meteoric) metal; identify reveals it as a ring of volcanic flesh, which gives the wearer +1 AC. It also has 3 charges; when the wearer is dealt fire damage, they can expend a charge to reduce the damage, and when the wearer is hits with an attack they can expend a charge to add both fire damage and knockback to the attack.

Prism also determines that the impact likely happened for hundreds of years -- long enough for the undergrowth to equalize.

Talisein "what the fuck is up with that?" Jaffe has gotten ahold of a pipe that re-enacts the smoker's greatest achievement in smoke clouds. Prism's is a memory of her essentially showing off to a mage and impressing them so much they offer to bring her back to the Cobalt Soul, and thereby escaping the gloom of the Shadowfell.

On the second night's watch, Orym sees dozens of little spirits floating around them that seem oddly, unnaturally comforting. He wakes up Prism, who identifies them as local spirits of the woods who are growing more comfortable with the party's presence as they spend more time in the forest. As Orym runs through the Zeph'erahtam, the spirits gather and swirl around him, almost like a cloud of fireflies.

"There is something about the nature, the energy here that is both ancient and playful." Orym thinks about how, even in the most terrible times, moments of levity and happiness still exist, and must be appreciated all the more when they are bookended by hardship and strife.

"Are your friends as powerful as you are?" (Ashton, Orym, and Laudna all:) "More."

Matt just straight-up gave Prism a 1,000gp mirror that she can use as the material component for scrying.

Prism casts it for the first time on Bordor's brother. She finds herself in an empty cabin with furniture. Dark, shaded, vacant. Nearby, there are some leatherworking tools and hand hides; she sees no signs of a "sick person" being there, and Bordor notes that this cabin is where his brother stays but the way he says it implies that this house is separate from Bordor's own.

At the end of this day of travel, Prism attempts to scry on Ludinus. As expected, her consciousness gets stuck in the grey expanse of clouds, like it hit a wall -- he's warded against divination, presumably similarly to the rest of the Assembly, their annexes, and the Volstrucker.

"You think the six of you are strong enough to stop a god-killer?" "I don't think of it that way... I would feel pleased if we slapped [Ludinus], or at least got some people who shouldn't be there out [of there]."

Laudna thinks they've become numb to killing after having killed a few dozen people. Can someone give me a count on how many sapient humanoids Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein had killed by episode 62? It's gotta be more than that.

Bordor asks the question of the night. "Are you trying to kill a god-eater, or are you trying to stop a man who people believe in? Are you trying to stop them believing in him, or are you trying to stop the god-killer?" Prism notes that oftentimes, wizards predicate beliefs on things they don't know for sure, and asks whether Ludinus is in the same boat, whether anyone knows for sure whether there's a god-eater in the moon.

Ashton thinks the teleportation was an accident.

Denise asks another excellent question. "He's been planning this for centuries, so what makes us think he's any closer now than he was before?"

"I think, as time goes on, maybe we need to except that Exandria is going to change, and maybe it's just about not making a change for the better, but not making it change for the worst." They are definitively against Ludinus being the one to fill the power vacuum killing the gods would create, but are not necessarily against the formation of the vacuum itself.

Denise is tired of fighting. Ashton is caught in the sunk cost fallacy. Orym just wants to get his friends back. Bordor doesn't want to die because of the Bells Hells. ("You have people you love, and you know where they are. That's more than most.") Prism is infected by youthful optimism and the prospect of being important. Prism doesn't want to put the knife in Ludinus' back, but Bordor volunteers, if they can get him behind his back. But regardless, though they all have different opinions of the deities, they all agree that Ludinus is a bad person, that he needs to go away -- and in the end I think that's what really matters.

I think, for multiple meta reasons, that the gods are going to change, if not outright disappear or be replaced. (The pantheon is the most difficult hurdle in the way of Critical Role as a company distancing itself from Wizards of the Coast's intellectual property.) And the issue I've been having with this narrative so far is the idea that the gods being changed has to correspond to Ludinus rising to power. So if the Bells Hells can separate the changing of the gods, Ludinus rising to power, and the dismantling of theocratic oppression, then I'm happy.

Bor'dor smokes from Ashton's pipe. Specifically, it "re-enacts your most impressive and heroic achievements." For Bordor, this is him standing in front of the Bells Hells, standing in front of the dummy they made earlier as Bordor casts firebolt for the first time. Then, they see him lifting his arms and feeling for the first time like he belongs.

Ashton smokes from it too, but it only works once a night so it doesn't display anything for them. Still, in regards to Bordor, they get the feeling that it's "all up hill from here."

In the dead of night, Orym plants Seedling in the ground and whispers a prayer. "I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you can hear any of us anymore. I hope you can. I've heard too many stories first-hand, too many tales to discount the good that you, many of you have done in this world. I don't know if you have anything left in you, but... I'm praying. We could really use a little help down here. I know you will too -- we'll do our best, but any miracle you can spare."

Two notes during the break: first of all, I'm starting to piece something together. Maybe the Bells Hells read as NPCs not because they are the background characters of someone else's story, but because they are the antagonists of Ludinus' story. Secondly, another layer of nuance suddenly makes sense: the Bells Hells don't care about the gods, they have no reason to. Whether the gods are killed or changed or replaced, it doesn't matter to them -- so long as Ludinus is not the one who fills that vacuum. To them, the gods dying is not the primary issue at hand, it's the power vacuum that their deaths would create; they want to prevent Ludinus from filling it at any cost, so they don't care whether they stop that by saving the gods, replacing them first, stopping Ludinus, or whatever else. That layer of characterization, I think, is what's been missing from a lot of fandom discourse surrounding this issue.

*Denise and Prism making secret slight of hand rolls complete with secret whispers* Liam: "Orym is in the back doing pushups with a 31 passive perception"

During the next day of travel, they come upon a crevasse with a river cutting through the middle. Though it's a sheer drop, the eidolon cougar who's been leading them walks down the cliff and sits at the base, looking at them expectantly.

"You could use that disc--" "It actually can't do altitudinal changes,,,," ah, the hardships of the wizard. (at least you get to choose your magic source and discipline, you entitled hubristic motherfucker /lh)

However, they identify this canyon as the one they're looking for, and note that they're on the lookout for blueish flora on the north side of it.

With double natural ones, Orym -- because he's a fucking halfling and the halfling racial trait is worded very strangely -- rolls a 30 on his check to use Mother as a hang-glider and survey the canyon. Around a mile from where they stand, there's a glimmer of blue.

(Unless I'm missing a weirdly specific rule, if a halfling has advantage or disadvantage on an attack, check, or save and manages to roll a nat1 on both dice, they can reroll both of those dice due to the lucky racial trait. This is because of the way the ability is worded in relation to the wording of rolling multiple dice at the same time.)

They come upon a stretch of land with blueish plants leading to a hill. Traveling along it, they come to a beautiful grotto with a stream and a little pond; Prism determines that there is nothing illusory about her immediate surroundings, but something about the hill itself feels off and shimmers slightly.

Pate goes to investigate and finds that, on the side of the hill, there is a carved opening to a cavern that leads into the side of the canyon. There are small grooves, like writing, intentionally written into the sides of it; Laudna recognizes it as Primordial (which, btw, she can technically read because she has eyes of the runekeeper).

As she approaches, Denise's whip is "warm on her hip," indicating potential danger as they, with pass without trace, hear a steady, rhythmic breath -- the hill itself appears to be breathing.

Beyond it, the blue flora encompasses the entirety of the rock and ground, and bits of prismatic crystal protrude from cracks in the canyon. With a nat20, Bordor pries a piece out with his dagger -- it's a beautiful, opalescent, refractory crystal. Prism immediately wonders what would happen if she were to cast a spell through it.

Ashton gets close enough to read the Primordial. "Within the verdant tomb, we keep her spirit enduring."

Prism casts ray of frost through the crystal Bordor picked up, just to see whether it's some kind of "elemental refractor." The spell gathers within the crystal and refracts out, almost like the force of it has been separated into "nine separate rays that scatter at different angles," causing everyone (within 60ft, the range of the spell) to roll against the cantrip. Everyone dodges it, but it still split it nine ways; each ray is not as strong as the individual cantrip, but the crystal did disperse the effect more widely.

The spirit enters the cavern, turns back to the party, bows its head, then -- having completed its task -- dissipates into the wind.

Orym definitely gets the sense that the "hill" is one massive illusion concealing something.

As they enter it, the cavern appears to be a structure in multiple parts designed to support a community of people. (I think Matt took inspiration from Derinkuyu for this setting! Which is awesome to see, as an archeology nerd.) (As a note, this also feels very much like the stone giants' fortress that the Mighty Nein visited in C2E5 9-61.)

With a 22 investigation, they note that the people who have traversed through this area are both barefoot, and also elven or half-elf. (Prism has a foot fetish, confirmed. /j)

In elvish, Bordor says, "hello, I'm here with my friends, we mean you no harm. Have a good day."

Bordor's brother's name is Jesper. Also, a detail that may or may not be important later: there are pine trees in the Cyrios Mountains.

There are flower boxes with fresh soil and vibrant blue plants in these tunnels, and within them, bands of vibrant metal as part of the décor.

Eventually, they find what can only be described as an interior living space, where the ceiling levels out and there is a majestic chamber where mineral and rock cascade over eons beneath a multitude of crystals. Water runs along and between them, forming a small pool in the center. In the middle is a 12-foot monolithic obelisk that gives off a dull green glow, obscured toward the center, smooth. Markings on the walls resemble recently-set ritual markings, drawings recognized as glyphs used to channel magical energies. The chamber is a shrine, as well as something prepared for a magical moment, a major event.

There's no language, only runes and magical inscription. With an arcana check, everything here gives Ashton a similar vibe to residuum -- everything here looks very much like residuum. However, this crystal looks like natural, not processed or refined, residuum.

1:40:00, the emerald tree, residuum is emerald

Orym sees the same ritual markings, the melted candles, the herbs and natural offerings -- but no people, no person, no living being. The central crystal almost looks like a space where a body would be -- among the crystals, he almost sees a smile.

"We must keep her spirit enduring..." and both Laudna and Ashton see that this shrine is a battery, a setup.

[ordinaryschmuck]

You know what i wished to see in amphibia season 3? Sasha and plantar's reconciliation, where sasha try to make up to plantar for being horrible and try to kill who are basically her best friend's family and plantars would be like "We might not forgive what you did but we're happy that you try to be better for real this time." and two make peace with each other That would really convinced sasha's redemption to me

Yeah, and I can definitely think of a few episodes where that they could have replaced to do this. Like the episode about Sprig and Ivy trying to be a couple during war or Toadie trying to “man up” during a mission. You can argue all you want about how these episodes were fun or that they added levity to the drama, but to me, it shows a fatal flaw in Amphibia: The show goes to great lengths to be episodic, even as the story is wrapping up, but feels as though it picks the worst characters to focus on. Sprig and Ivy are cute, but an episode of Sasha making up for the past to the Plantars, not just Anne, would have been beneficial to her redemption. Heck, more episodes towards Sasha in general would have worked to her benefit. You want to know why characters like Amity or Zuko works so well? Because we get to spend time with both of these characters, getting to see who they are, why they act like the way that they do, show them develop, bring out their worst behaviors, and give them time to show that they changed. In Zuko’s case, it’s the struggle TO change. We got very little of that with Sasha, to the point where I just…didn’t care about her bettering herself. That moment where she makes a connection with those two Olms, saying that everyone deserves a second chance, my mind immediately went, “You’re on your third or fourth chance now. You don’t got much to say.” And the thing is, if I saw more of Sasha, the way her home life explains her mentality (Not excuses, EXPLAINS), show a desire to change but not sure if she can, have her feel remorse for her actions, and make up for the past, I would have liked her a lot. Again, we get SOME of that, but never enough to make it feel like this is one of the best character arcs in the show. Because if all the stuff about Sasha bettering herself, the CRUCIAL part of her development, happens offscreen, then it tells me that the writers prioritized goofy nonsense with Anne, the Plantars, and some frogs in Wartwood than they did for Sasha. And if the writers don’t care about her, then why the hell should I?