#what i can say though with absolute certainty is that you can't expect me to believe your words Just Because of a hashtag

[thedroloisms]

Also I wanna apologise for my strong words and insult. I just hate this telephone game, and also trying to be “the better person” while just throwing random shit. She (Rue) is a victim of Wilbur and she deserves support for that, but for the rest she can go fuck herself.

If she’s right, then I will take everything back, but if we look at the situation rn, it’s easy to see which one seem to be the most trustable, like I said.

honestly even if she's telling the truth going "believe victims!" when you've said nothing except an accusation is just bad form? like. i'm sorry but i stand by everything i've said regardless of the truth of the matter (not that i think this is a "situation" at all, once again, anything she says will be taken seriously when she actually makes an effort to seem serious).

going "believe victims!!!!" as a trump card that indicates to an audience that "you HAVE to believe me because of a Moral Obligation to Stand With Victims even though i've provided no proof of any of my claims and am just pointing fingers" doesn't make you seem trustworthy at all. asking people to blindly believe the words you say because they're Bad People otherwise helps absolutely no one. honestly i don't see any point in giving her or anything abt this any more attention when all we have so far are unsupported claims and hearsay, so this'll be the last ask i answer abt it. i really don't care abt what she's getting up to it's not like she's a cc im interested in

(ur ask was fine, i'm just not publishing it bc i really dont see the point of giving her and her claims any more attention)

[appalachiancowboy99]

Big Thank You and WIP Announcement!

I don't even know what to say. I'm absolutely astounded by the fact that y'all have welcomed me into this community so kindly. I never expected to be back on this site, let alone be a creator <3 If it weren't for the encouragement of my great friend, @photo1030, I would have never posted Fireside nor would I have had the courage to continue writing After Dark. I owe her and my other friends ( @rivetingrosie4 @tortureddpoett and @mr-inkslinger ) so much for reigniting my passions when I thought all was lost. Thank you so much to each and every single one of you who have liked my little drabbles and supported my ramblings. It means so much to me that you took the time to express your opinions and give me encouragement; no single like, comment, or reblog goes unnoticed <3 It's because of y'all that I'm excited to announce my first series in the works:

You can read a little bit more about The Heart of an Outlaw on my Masterlist. Though, if I can give you a little sneak peek from Chapter 1: Gone Honeymooning, I'll gladly do so!

-

He stands outside Dutch's tent, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other, a nervous and impatient energy coursing through him as he hears the girls flitting about inside to get you ready. The anticipation of having to wait until the wedding to see you is eating at him, gnawing away at the frayed ends of his patience like a taught rope ready to snap. He could barge right in there and swoop you off of your feet, stealing you away and carrying you off to someplace where you two can be wed quickly and quietly. But the instant he hears your voice behind those tent flaps, he knows that waiting for you will be well worth it.

"I'm sure we won't be long in here..."

A beat of silence passes between you, like two lovestruck teenagers, smitten and not knowing what to say. Knowing he's still standing out there, your delicate hand pokes out of the cotton fabric, outstretched and blindly seeking his for comfort. The smallest glimpse of white lace clinging to your wrist is illuminated by the morning rays of light: a sudden reminder grounding him to the certainty of what's occurring within the next few hours.

"I love you, Arthur."

He takes your palm in his and you notice the subtle clamminess there like he's nervous, for the first time in his life, at the prospect of living rather than dying. A ghost of a smile washes over his lips as his eyes are downcast to your shadow upon the ground, watching as it intermingles with his, washing the greenery in the shadow of a lover's promise, "I love you too, Darlin'. Can't wait to make you mine."

Thank you to every single one of you that have interacted! Listed are all that have reblogged and commented, and other friends I hadn't mentioned prior, I love you all <3 :

@cassietrn @twola @subpopizzy @zae-heeyyy @enchastasia @coltermorning @amorgansgal @redwritr @nubesitos @nneedynymph @galactict3a @stxrconchreblogsfics @oakarchives @amyispxnk @tinylittlereadingcorner @cloudedflowers

[rafyki]

[Percico fanfic]

*Throws more percico smut at you* (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

You know I really can't stop thinking about percico smut lately asdgsdfkas (might be also because me and @neo-kid-funk have been talking about it so much, throwing ideas at each other lmao and also her beautiful spicy art is a constant inspiration)

So anyway, have some Nico calling Percy pet names and Percy with kind of a praise kink - this is very extremely sappy, btw, you've been warned (because of course I can't help but writing them absolutely in love with each other)

You can also read it on AO3!

~~~

Nico came back at exactly eleven minutes past two a.m.. Percy knew that with certainty because he had been alternating between staring at the door and at the clock for the most part of the day, since the moment Nico had contacted him via Iris Message to tell him he would come home today.

He had looked so tired, smiling softly at Percy when he told him he missed him, and Percy wanted nothing more than to cradle him into his arms, kiss him wherever he could reach, and make sure he was really okay.

Of course, he knew that Nico wouldn't use the door to get inside the house. Instead, like every good son of Hades, he materialized in the shadows in a way that would have scared anyone who didn't know him. Percy was used to it though, and he did expect to see him stumble into the room from the shadows - he had kept the room dark enough precisely because of that.

What he did not expect was for Nico to choose the shadow on the ceiling and to literally fall into the room. But it didn't really matter, because Percy's senses were so used to be tuned on Nico's presence and his every movement that his body moved before he even registered it, catching the falling man easily into his arms.

“Welcome back”, Percy said. He didn't let Nico go, holding him close to himself, bridal style - the weight in his arms was familiar and welcome, as was the beautiful eyes looking into his own.

“I'm home”, Nico murmured back. There was mirth in his smile as he looked at Percy, hugging him around the neck, head resting against his shoulder. He looked as happy to stay there as Percy felt. “You caught me”.

“Of course”, Percy said. “Was it a test?”

Nico hummed in assent. “You passed”.

“Of course I did”.

“I knew you would”.

Oh, Percy had missed him so much. Here, standing in the middle of the room with the man he loved in his arms, Percy thought that this was what home felt like. As dramatic as it might have seemed, he had been feeling like a part of himself was missing for the whole three weeks Nico had been away. They had kept in contact through Iris Message as frequently as they could, but it wasn't the same; it wasn't enough to lighten the burden weighting on Percy's heart, a weight he knew Nico shared. 

Nico seemed to read his mind. He hugged Percy closer, hiding his face in the crook of Percy's neck, leaving a feather soft kiss there.

“I missed you”.

“Me too”, Percy said. “So much. I'm never letting you go again”.

Nico let out a soft laugh at that, and Percy felt it tickling on his skin. “I don't think my father would agree with that”.

“I have some experience in defying you father, I think I can manage”.

Another laugh. Oh, how Percy had missed the sound.

A beat, a moment of silence. Percy buried his nose in Nico’s messy hair, breathing him in. 

“I really really missed you, Neeks”. 

He had been worried, too, but he didn’t say that out loud. It wouldn’t be fair, not when Nico had his job as the ambassador of Pluto to do, not when Percy himself sometimes had quests to participate in to help the Camps - it was their job, and being worried about each other came together with it, it was a given in a demigod’s life; they couldn’t help it and they both knew, but it didn’t make it any easier. 

When their eyes met, Percy knew Nico was thinking the same thing.

When they kissed, they could taste relief on each other’s lips.

They had been together for long enough that kissing and being into each other’s arms should have probably lost its magic; it should have been familiar like something that you have always there, that is such a huge part of your everyday life that it becomes an afterthought. It wasn’t. Instead, it was familiar in a way that made it impossible to take it for granted, it was familiar in a way that Percy needed, in the way that made their everyday life worth living. They kissed, and every time Percy thought this is why I survived everything I have. To have this. 

Percy kissed him now, and thought that he would never get tired of doing it, even in a million years spent together.

Nico melted into his arms, lips spontaneously opening against his. The sound of a content sigh got lost in between them, and Percy wasn’t sure if it was his or Nico’s. It didn’t matter, they were breathing into each other’s mouths anyway, the sound swallowed in between them.

They stood there in the middle of the room, Nico still cradled in Percy’s arms, kissing and kissing and kissing until they had no breath left in their lungs. 

“You can put me down now, you know”, Nico said after a moment of silence.

Percy just adjusted his hold on him, hugged him closer. He would probably need to do it in a short while when his arms would inevitably start to complain, but for now he was perfectly happy and comfortable like this. “Don’t wanna”.

Nico looked at him, smiled, and kissed him again. Percy knew what the light in his eyes meant, felt it in the heated way their lips met this time, in the way Nico was holding onto him almost desperately, the way he pushed his tongue into Percy’s mouth like he wanted nothing more than to devour him. 

It was different from the languid sweet kiss from just a few moments before. This was a different kind of I missed you, a different kind of I need you, another face of their I love you.

It was the kind of kiss that made Percy feel like Nico was touching him everywhere all at once, that demanded everything from him, every bit of attention, every bit of his soul.

When Nico kissed him like that, it made Percy want to give up everything just to fall on his knees and worship Nico like he deserved.

He kissed back, just as hungry, just as desperate, giving Nico everything he was asking for. 

It had always been like that, between them - one single glance, one single word, and things escalated. That was how they had found themselves falling into bed together even before confessing and getting together properly; it had caused problems, back then, but now they could allow themselves to give in to it without a second thought, could get lost in the feeling of want eating them up without worrying about what waited for them on the other side of it.

Percy only forced himself to move back when he remembered, amidst the haze that was filling his mind, that Nico had just come back after a three weeks long job. Nico whined at the loss of contact. 

Percy took a moment to catch his breath. 

“Wait”, he said. “Have you eaten?”

Nico nodded. The way he was clearly a little annoyed made Percy smile. 

“You sure?”

This time Nico rolled his eyes fondly at him. “Hazel was with me, you know what that means”.

“Mh, yeah, I can trust her to take care of you”.

“You should trust me”, Nico said. Anyone else would have thought that his frown meant he was seriously mad, but Percy knew him too well. 

“I do, with everything”, he said, kissing his nose gently. “But I also know how quests can go, and how they can distract you”.

Another kiss, long and sweet. The heat from before was still there, boiling just underneath the surface. Honestly Percy just wanted to give in to it.

“You sure you’re not tired?”, he asked, in between shared breaths. He could feel the heaviness of Nico’s tired bones, had noticed the way his eyelids had looked heavy earlier when he had just arrived; and he knew how tiring a quest could be, especially such a long one. Nico could sleep, and they could just start again the next morning.

“I am, a little”, Nico replied, and Percy was about to put him down and let him get some well deserved rest. He stopped when Nico held onto him tighter, got his lips close to Percy’s ear, and murmured, “So, take care of me tonight?”

And it was like a fire was lit inside of Percy.

How could he deny him?

Just those words were enough to make arousal fill every inch of his body, strong and prepotent and impossible to ignore. Nico knew the effects it would have on him, of course, knew exactly what to say and do to make Percy do whatever he wanted. And Percy loved it.

Barely suppressing a groan he changed his hold on Nico, moving his hands under his thighs as Nico wrapped his legs around him. Kissing him was easier like this, the new angle making their lips fit perfectly together, the higher position allowing Nico to push for more as Percy opened up against him. Hands were buried in Percy's hair, touching and pulling on it impatient and demanding.

Without breaking apart, with his eyes still closed and lost in the malestorm that was Nico, Percy started walking towards their bedroom. He didn't need to see to know where he was going, and the house was coated in shadows anyway - still he was too busy to worry about bumping into anything. There wasn't anything that could make him separate from Nico right now.

Only when they did reach the bedroom Percy moved back, putting just enough space between their lips that he could catch his breath. He could feel Nico's hard breaths mixing with his own.

Gently he let him down, resting him on the bed. Their bed, sometimes it was still hard to believe it. But there they were now, in their home, on their bed, hands still touching each other like they couldn't bear to separate even for one instant - and Nico was looking up at him, looking beautiful and ethereal in the moonlight coming in from the window. There was lust and anticipation in his eyes, and so much love Percy felt himself drown in it.

Under that stare he took a moment to take off his shirt, then his trousers, and finally his underwear, leaving himself naked and bare for Nico to see. Oh how he loved this, how he loved to be the only object of those eyes, the only one who had the privilege of being at the receiving end of that passionate and devoted look. He could feel himself grow harder just by the weight of it.

Nico reached out, and Percy joined him on the bed. He helped him out of his clothes, slow and gentle, as he could feel the weight of Nico's weary bones, the tiredness of his every move mixed with the need for this, the need for the contact and the touch.

It was a familiar thing, that of taking off each other’s clothes, slowly getting bare before one another, as familiar was the sight of Nico’s beautiful scarred pale skin - yet it never failed to make Percy’s breath stop in his throat, his heart beating like crazy in his chest and blood boiling in his veins. Even in the heat of the moment he could never deny himself a few moments just to look, hungry eyes caressing every inch of skin they could reach, hands following behind shortly after on the same path. He pulled Nico in closer, and the kiss that followed was heated and slow at the same time. Nico’s hands left a burning trail where they moved along on Percy’s skin. They moved on the bed until Nico was on his back and Percy on top of him.

It never failed to amaze Percy how perfectly they fitted together, skin against skin, bodies finding where they belonged against each other. Nico was still smaller than him, and Percy loved that he could cover him like that, having him underneath himself, swallow him whole. He loved that despite this, Nico almost always had the reins of the situation anyway.

They broke the kiss in a moan when their half hard lengths pressed together, leaving them panting into each other’s mouth.

“Are you going to show me just how much you missed me?”, Nico said, whispering the words directly into Percy’s soul.

Percy could feel his pleased smirk against his own lips. Even in his tired state, Nico knew perfectly well how to push every one of Percy’s buttons.

“As if I could ever deny you”, Percy replied, blood rushing into his veins. “Whatever you want”.

“I want you”.

It was such a simple thing to say, such an obvious truth that Percy knew already, had known for years, and it had been so long since the last time he had doubted it. But it still got his heart running, jumping into his throat like it wanted to escape and leap into Nico’s waiting hands.

Percy moved back enough to look into Nico’s eyes. He couldn’t see him properly, as he was coated in the shadows casted by Percy’s own body; it didn’t matter, Percy could see the look in his eyes even in the dark, would see it in his dreams and with his own eyes closed. “You have me”, he said. “Always”.

Another kiss. Nico tasted like everything Percy wanted, now and forever. 

He moved his lips to Nico’s neck, sucking on the sensitive skin, taking it in between his teeth, soothing the bruise with his tongue. Every little sound that was coming out of Nico’s mouth pushed him to bite a little harder, to leave a more permanent mark. Bite marks looked especially pretty on Nico’s neck, their color a stark contrast against the pale skin.

Nico moved to give him better access, one of his hands buried in Percy’s hair, keeping him in place, his legs around Percy’s waist, pulling him closer. Percy could feel the breath catching in his throat every time a movement made their hard cocks slid between their bodies, the pressure and friction so good and not nearly enough at the same time.

“I’m gonna make you feel so good”, he said into Nico’s ear, before taking the lobe in between his lips.

“I- ah, I know you will, baby”.

Percy couldn't help it - he preened at the word,  an unintentional pleased sound escaping from his throat. There was just something about Nico calling him that, something that made Percy lose himself a little more every time. He loved getting lost in Nico, forgetting himself for a little while and just focusing on him, on how to give him pleasure, how to make him feel good.

And so he moved from his neck to his collarbone to his chest, kissing and biting every inch of skin he could reach, letting himself get lost in the taste under his tongue and the sweet sounds coming from Nico and filling his ears. Tomorrow Nico's skin would be a beautiful map of every heated touch, and Percy would wake up and trace it with his fingers, marveling at how beautiful he was.

Down, and he took a pink hard nipple between his lips, sucking and biting just hard enough, just how Nico liked - and he was rewarded with a high moan and a hand gripping his hair so tight it almost hurt.

Few things felt as good as having Nico underneath himself like that, all bare and waiting for him, all for Percy to taste and touch and give pleasure to; tired and exhausted and yet waiting and wanting nothing but Percy. Percy wanted nothing more than to be good for him, to give him pleasure to the point he couldn't take it anymore, to make him arch under his touch at the plea of his name.

A kiss, just where Nico's heart was. A kiss, long and lingering.

I love you so much, he thought, and believed that Nico could feel it, hear it in the sound of his own heartbeat.

Down, again, leaving a trail of soft gentle kisses behind, on Nico's sternum, on his belly, on his hipbones. Nico's legs opened to accommodate him, and Percy moved to his thighs, beautiful and sensitive and so easily marked up. The soft skin tasted perfect under Percy's teeth and tongue. He kissed over a few scars - that was a habit they both had, that of wanting to leave marks over scars, like an attempt to rewrite with something better whatever painful moment had left a sign on their bodies.

“Percy…”, Nico called, breathless already. The name always sounded so beautiful on his lips. It was a request, and Percy understood. 

He licked his lips before finally bringing his mouth on Nico's hard length, wrapping his lips around the head, teasing with his tongue that spot he knew would help to drive Nico crazy. Just a little, not enough to make him come, but enough to make him arch under Percy, to make him moan and cry out asking for something more. 

The broken moans of Percy, and baby, went to Percy's head and groin, and he moved down a little more, taking more of Nico into his mouth, closing his eyes as he drowned in the sounds and taste filling his senses. Nico's legs were wrapped around him, his hands on the back of Percy's head, forceful yet careful at the same time.

Percy loved this, loved how he knew perfectly where to touch to make Nico come undone under him, loved that he could just do this, could love him and show it with every part of his body and every part of his soul. Loved that Nico's taste was so engraved in his senses that it almost felt like his own.

When he could feel that Nico was about to come, he moved back, letting him fall out of his mouth. A whine escaped Nico at the loss of contact, and Percy, breathless, let his tongue run over the length of his cock one last time, a final kiss lingering on the head.

Nico brought his hand under Percy's chin, pushing to make him look up at him. Fingers brushed against his lips, thumb stroking his lower lip, gentle at first then harder, pushing in between until it was inside Percy's mouth.

Nico was beautiful - there was no proper word to describe him, but beautiful was what always came up to Percy's mind whenever he tried to find the right way to describe him. Sometimes, the word was almost enough - never quite able to encompass everything that Nico was, but close, almost good enough. Now though, the sight before Percy's eyes was more - more than beautiful, more than perfect, mesmerizing in a way that the word itself couldn't catch; there were no words that could describe the way Nico looked right now, bathed in moonlight, with his sensitive skin flushed pink, white and shining with sweat, marks starting to form on it, his swollen lips parted, breathing hard. And his eyes, soft and intense at the same time, fixed on Percy, lust and love tangled together in them, and so strong Percy found himself unable to breathe. He knew that the same look was probably mirrored into his own eyes as he looked back at Nico. 

There were no words to describe Nico like this, and there was no need for them - this was a sight no one but Percy was privy to, it was his.

“Come here”, Nico said, his voice raw and breathless, and it pulled Percy out of his own dazed thoughts.

They met in a long messy kiss, mouth opened against each other, like they couldn't get enough, like they wanted, needed, to devour one another. 

“You're being so good for me”, Nico said, and Percy melted at the words. “You're so good at taking care of me”.

A whine escaped Percy and Nico swallowed it in the next kiss.

Hands were traveling all over each other, legs tangled together, every inch of their bodies pressed together. Percy couldn’t wait to be inside him, feeling Nico surrounding him completely. It didn’t matter how many times they did this, it always felt as heart-stopping and significant as the first time.

Nico always seemed to be reading his mind, because the next thing he said was, “I really need you inside me now, Percy”, with a low and clearly affected voice, speaking the words against Percy’s lips.

“Yeah”, Percy breathing, nodding.

He moved back enough to reach out and take the lube and a condom from their bedside table, opened the bottle and coated his fingers in it, then went back to kissing Nico. He really couldn’t go too long without doing it. He kept kissing him as he opened him up with his fingers, careful and slow, taking his time both because he didn’t want to hurt him and simply because he loved doing this. 

As they kissed, Percy could feel on his lips every breath broken in pleasure, every moan and every whine as he kept moving his fingers inside him. 

“I’m- ah, I’m good”, Nico said. “Come on, baby”.

One more kiss, heated in anticipation. 

Nico’s eyes were locked on him, hungrily following his every move as Percy put on the condom and coated himself in lube. The heat and weight of that stare would end up driving Percy crazy one day - crazy with need and passion and so much love that he didn’t know how he hadn’t gone mad yet; or maybe he had, and Nico with him, but as long as they were together in this nothing mattered anyway.

Nico pulled him down and Percy went willingly, putty in his hands. Their lips were made to kiss each other.

“I love you, Neeks”.

Percy had to say it. The words weren’t enough, but he needed to say them, just three little words to describe something that was so big, impossible to really put into words. Their hands found each other, fingers interlacing naturally.

“So much”, Nico replied, squeezing his hand. “So much, love”.

When he finally slid home inside of Nico, they stayed there, panting into each other's mouths for a handful of long moments, getting adjusted and just feeling each other.

“You feel so good”, Nico said, voice row and broken. “You always feel so good”.

A moan cut him off when Percy shifted a little, the movement enough to make his eyes roll back.

“Move, Percy, please”.

And Percy did. Slow at first, then harder and faster, as control started slipping from his fingers and Nico kept pulling him in with the legs wrapped around his back. They were one, joined in every possible way - this was what made Percy lose his mind. It felt impossibly good, to be with Nico like this, a gift so precious it had taken Percy a long time to believe and accept he really could have this.

Their mouths were still pressed together, the kiss broken by moans but they still kept breathing together, swallowing each other’s every sound.

Percy wrapped his free hand around Nico’s cock, and the next moment Nico was coming with a moan and a broken plea of Percy’s name.

It took barely another few thrusts, and the whisper of “come for me, baby”, from Nico, to push him over the edge, and then Percy was coming too.

Time slowed down as they caught their breaths, long moments of stasis that stretched over as the intense heat from before gave way to the slow and lazy intimity that always came after.

Slowly, gently, Percy pulled off Nico, kissing his cheek at the weak sound of protest that elicited. He tied and threw away the condom, and then he was back with Nico, pulling a blanket on top of both of them and wrapping him tight into his arms.

Nico looked content and spent, his eyes already threatening to fall shut as he looked up at Percy with a soft smile on his lips. It seemed that exhaustion was catching up to him all together, and he looked seconds away from falling asleep. Percy leaned in to kiss him again, soft and chaste. These were some of Percy’s favorite moments, the slow lazy moments in between, when time seemed to stop existing, like it was waiting for them to catch their breaths.

“I really missed you”, Nico said, the words coming out slurred. “I never want to be away for so long again”.

Percy agreed. It might have sounded dramatic and silly, but he hated it - he could be away from Nico, but he simply didn’t want to.

“Next time, I’m coming with you”.

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t easy, they would find a way.

Nico hummed happily as he got comfortable with his head pillowed on Percy’s chest, Percy’s hand on his head, caressing his hair slowly. The weight of Nico’s body on him was everything Percy needed after way too many nights spent sleeping alone.

“You should sleep now”, he said, leaving a kiss on top of Nico’s head.

Tomorrow, as time would start moving again, Percy would kiss him good morning and make him breakfast, they would stay in bed the whole morning kissing lazily, and Nico would tell him about his quest, and Percy would tell him about the little mundane things that had happened while he was away. And they both would think that that was what they wanted from life.

Tonight, Percy fell asleep thinking that this was the forever he wanted.

[flurry-of-beaus-pop-pop]

Over the past few weeks, I have seen a lot of people struggling with the fact that the parties aren't just immediately on team "stop the deities from being destroyed".

The irony is that these same people got upset with Orym, Laudna, and Ashton for just blindly following/joining this assault on the Temple of the Dawnfather, but on the flipside, want them to just blindly follow the path of those that want to stop the deities from being destroyed.

We, as viewers, know that deities being destroyed would be bad, but we have to separate what we know, and what the players at the table know, from what the characters.

This isn't like campaign 1 or 2 where you had characters with strong connections to the deities. This is very much a party that doesn't. They don't know anything about the deities and what they do and how they integrate themselves into the world, and because of that, they have zero idea of why it would be good to get rid of them or why it would be bad.

If you don't know anything about something, you can't make an informed decision one way or the other, and that's what we're seeing.

Honestly, I think Orym's response is the most realistic... that he has zero idea whether or not it's a good idea to get rid of the deities, but what he does know is that Ludinous, the person behind all this, is a horrible person and that gives him the answer he needs, gives Laudna and Ashton the answer they need.

Deni$e, Prism, and Bor'dor though? They don't have any experience with the deities, nor do they have any experience with Ludinous and so again, why would we expect them to blindly follow?

Bor'dor, does in a way, blindly follow, but I see it as less of a "blindly follows" and more of a "he listened to Orym, has no idea what's happening, but trusts Orym" situation.

Prism wants more information, wants to know as much as she can, and that's perfectly valid. How can she make a decision on something that she knows nothing about?

Deni$e's response makes sense too. She doesn't know anything about the deities, nobody can truly know for sure whether getting rid of the deities is bad or good (we can all guess that it would be bad, but we can't say with absolute certainty) so all she can do is put one foot in front of the other and deal with what's in front of her in the moment.

Personally, this storyline thrills me because it's offering so many different perspectives we've never seen before... but above all, the most interesting, and difficult, aspect of this storyline is watching the characters battle between wanting to do the right thing, but also realizing they might also have to do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing.

[blackjackkent]

Another visit from the dream guardian.

In the past, when she has called him into the Astral Plane in his dreams, it has felt like a peaceful interlude, a moment of respite from the chaos of the waking world.

Something has changed, though. The pocket dimension is no longer placid. There is an impressive, almost inaudible thumping hum at the bottom of his hearing range. His skin tingles. There is an uncomfortable feeling of anticipation, like a nail waiting for the hammer-blow.

The guardian is standing nearby, watching as he wakes. She is not in her usual armor, but instead a short, pale lavender dress. She looks inexpressibly tired; her eyes sunken into her head, jutting jaw twisting her lips into a harsh frown.

"The voice of the Absolute is stronger here," she says quietly without preamble. "I don't know how much longer I can resist it."

A pause; then she lifts her head and musters a weary smile. "But it's good to see you're making progress."

With visible effort, she takes a few steps to turn and sit beside him on the ground, looking out at the endless sea of stars surrounding them.

"You took an unexpected route here," she goes on, a bit more conversationally. "You did a brave thing, saving those people in the grove."

Hector lifts one shoulder and lowers it again. "It wasn't even a choice," he mutters. "They needed my help."

Again she smiles slightly. "Not everyone would have helped."

She flinches, inhales sharply with sudden pain, then hisses the breath out like an unspoken curse.

"It just doesn't stop," she groans. "We are being bombarded by waves of telepathic energy. Wave after wave with hardly a breath between them. I almost dare not rest..." The pain seems to ease slightly, and she goes on with less effort, "Each wave...a new set of orders to the infected." A pause, and then she adds grimly, "The order for *your* transformation has been given many times already."

Hector feels a chill shiver down his spine. So it is not only a threat, but a certainty, held only at bay by this woman, whoever she truly is. "My transformation?" he asks hollowly.

She nods. "Yes. But the orders are oddly...erratic, as if the Absolute cannot make up its mind. I don't fully understand."

Well, if you don't, I certainly don't, Hector thinks sardonically.

"In any case," she goes on. "the Absolute knows you carry me with you now. It wants to retrieve me."

"Why does the Absolute want you?" Hector asks. At this point, he doesn't expect a clear answer - but he still hopes against hope that she will give him something concrete to explain the field of safety she is still able to weave around him and his companions.

She hesitates, then shakes her head and pushes herself to her feet with a grunt of effort.

"I am the only one who can resist the Absolute's influence. Hence its fear of me, its desperation. Unfortunately, that also means it is dedicating more and more resources to my retrieval."

She looks down at him with sudden intensity. "The task ahead is monumental. But we're all that stands between victory for the Absolute and freedom for all. This is not just about you and I anymore. It has become far bigger than us."

Hector swallows. It is difficult enough to think about his own little problems, the threat of abduction, transformation, death...but to know that their actions affect the safety of so many others as well...

Selune help me...what if I can't do it? What if I fail?

"You must infiltrate Moonrise Towers," the guardian says. She recites it like a litany, their only creed, as if either of them could have forgotten the destination that lies ahead. "Discover the secrets of the Absolute and put an end to it, so we can finally be free."

Her shoulders sag, and her eyes drift half-shut. Hector feels reality going grey at the edges as the dream begins to fade back into the emptiness of sleep. "Now I must rest," she says, her voice following him back into the dark. "And you must carry on. Do not let my efforts be in vain."

[mdhwrites]

You know what's so frustrating about the ending to me? It's the time skip. I was mad enough about the lack of planning, interaction, development from the characters that I knew I would never get.

The time skip just puts salt on the wound, some of the cast don't feel like the same cast from the two episodes prior (I don't take growing up as an excuse) I want to SEE IT ALL, not just the beginning and the end, I need the middle. How Hunter learned to carve palismen, what has been Boscha doing after all this, when did Lilith master harpy mode???

I would've been fine without the time skip really, but nope, they just had to copypaste Amphibia at the end for the lack of ideas.

If they expect me to hate disney after hitting me with a "this is what we could've have with more time" because of the shortening for the hundredth time, no. And that excuse is getting old already.

So there's a lot of nice elements to a time skip ending. It allows you to move past the wreckage of a high action climax, it lets you let the audience know with 100% certainty that the characters will be okay and it allows enough time to pass that small shifts in who people are from the show can blossom into glorious flowers of development.

Not to say TOH succeeded in those strengths for the most part but there's a reason a lot of media uses it. The big thing I want to talk about though is... This isn't a fair criticism. I am willing to talk shit about TOH all day long, don't get me wrong, but this is simply unfair. TOH is an adventure comedy after all (as a note, I get that from its listing meaning it places itself in those genres. That's not me ascribing anything to it). That genre necessitates certain elements to its formatting, such as fight scenes, gags, etc. like that. This isn't The Ghost and Molly Mcgee. That show is a comedy, yes, but its half sized episodes and slice of life focus would have absolutely made character exploration like you wanted possible, even after a big climax like the one TOH had for its finale. But TOH can't do that. Unless there were plans to have the archivists eventually show up (which... No. Just no. Don't go and try to rip off Steven Universe even harder from my understanding because the people of the Isles just can't fight those beings properly. There's already enough bullshit to making it so that Belos can beat The Collector.) then Belos is the fantasy, action climax. You can't go beyond that. And even that one was poorly setup because of the show's lack of focus. So an episode of Hunter talking to Dell, facing his insecurities, exploring what palismen mean and especially mean to Hunter until he makes his new palisman? That simply wasn't going to happen. And that's also more than okay. One of the problems with TOH is not being willing to cut any idea out. To have no focus and that's not the job of a professional piece of media. A good story knows as much what it isn't as it knows what it is after all. A story like Hunter becoming a carver simply isn't what TOH's style, tone or focus wants. And that's what fanfiction is for. You want that story? See if a writer takes requests or commissions. Or take a crack at it yourself. I honestly tried for the past couple days after first properly reading this ask to do something of my own to pimp my capabilities but a mix of sickness and depression stopped me. I also want to add that I do complain a lot about TOH not exploring certain elements of itself. The difference between that and complaining about wanting something like development on Boscha, a character who has NEVER mattered, is that I try to target elements that it claims are important to itself. The Boiling Isles, Luz's magic, magic in general, the character arcs that aren't properly done or explored, etc. like that. Again, I can shit talk TOH all day if given an excuse to. But we shouldn't hold it against a show for not covering what we want covered. Not if it never gave us a reason to expect those moments in the first place. It's unfair and it's how you get a series that goes on for ten seasons when it really only had five seasons worth of material. And TOH's writers struggled with keeping any sort of consistent quality for three so do you REALLY want to see how they fucked up giving Lilith, a character turned into mostly a gag post S1 for no reason, her harpy form? Because I don't think I do.

[andytheauthor]

Talking about the boys (Robin and Jaden)

Robin is one of those kids that hits the threshold of trauma real early and simply attenuates to it. Sure, the horrors are unrelenting, but so is his optimism. He's still alive, and things sometimes get better instead of worse, so things are fine. He also has a bit of a complex about being The Goodest Boy, because he's a little bit terrified that showing that he has worries or problems will get him abandoned. This gets better as time goes on, and when Corvin and Nicky get him medicated for his panic disorder. His sunshine demeanor is about half real, half coping mechanism.

Originally I wrote him as being completely aroace, in book 2 when he's old enough to actually understand himself and the concept of sexuality. (He's a traumatized 10 year old in book 1, he doesn't have the bandwidth or prefrontal cortex to think about these things.) This stayed true long enough for me to actually finish writing book 2, where I thought I was going to be done with the series. Then what started as a self-indulgent little short story spiraled into an entire au, and Robin very politely informed me he would actually like to have a love interest, please. And then pointed at the most annoying character in the lineup. His name is Donner, he's a jackass, and he keeps stealing Robin's things and/or challenging him to duels. Basically just pulling pigtails like an elementary school crush. Don't worry, Donner learns a lesson about not being a pos before he and Robin can actually get together. It's a whole character arc he gets in book 3.

Jaden. Poor fucking Jaden. I'm going to be real, like five days after I created Jaden, I knew he was going to go off the deep end. You can't exactly destroy a kid's entire worldview, faith, life plan, and purpose, and not expect him to react poorly. The moment I knew I was writing book 2, I knew how his story was going to go. He's probably the most visibly and vocally mentally ill character in the series, and that's purely because he's too angry to seek help from anyone who's there to seek help from. Most of his life, he assumed he was going to die at 18. The fact that he doesn't absolutely destroys the part of him that had any certainty in life. So, he tries to destroy the rest of himself with drugs. I tried to make his depiction realistic, in that he's angry, bitter, and not the perfect baby victim that people want him to be. He says rude shit to people just trying to help him, blows up when people are nice because he thinks it's all fake. He hates everyone involved in the whole mess, and the only person he starts to actually be nice to and listen to is someone who has absolutely nothing to do with the events of book 1. His love interest, a guy named Angel, is a soft and sweet marshmallow of a person that has a high tolerance for his weird mean bullshit. (Angel has a younger sister who is relatively similar in personality, though much less traumatized. He thinks it's funny.)

Angel was also based on a cat I owned that had just passed at the time of writing book 2. Rest in kitty heaven Mike.

Cat tax, because I want more people to know about my giant sweet memory foam boy. (He was a 20 pounder. He was fucking huge.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I don't watch a lot of US tv shows. Not because I think they are "bad", but more because they barely hold any appeal to me.

The last few I tried were like : let's start with a pointless sex scene, because dang, regular american boy loves that! Also, let's not pay anyone to do the light. Better if it's too dark to see anything at all 60% of the time, wow we're so gritty.

That said, I happened to stumble on Night Sky. And the reason I got interested was that for once, our two heroes were old people (and it's sci-fi, which I have always loved). And as the heroes, the tone of the first episode was very much slower, calmer and yet super interesting.

It had zero useless sex scenes the whole way, the plot unraveled at a pretty slow but good rhythm, the acting was good. Lovely.

and then.

and then, the number one reson why I've been mostly staying as far from US shows as humanly possible.

The reason why I absolutely despise 99% of all american TV shows.

They can't ever write a freaking ending, and you never know if a show is going to be "renewed" or not.

I've been watching so much shows from other countries where the show is clearly bought to last a set number of episodes, so there is always an ending. Good, bad, I don't even care, as long as it's there.

Now I'm left with no ending, more questions than answers, and the absolute certainty that this was my last ever foray into "made for the US" series.

What are your thoughts about that format? You obviously watch older movies, so I'm not sure if you are into shows at all. I'm curious.

Pfff, I watch sort of everything anon. And definitely tv series.

I wasn't sure how to answer your questions because there is a lot to unpack and honestly? In order to get an encompassing answer, I'd have to write a thesis. But I'll keep it short.

In terms of American shows not getting an ending and in turn, becoming a frustrating viewing experience, I'd say that it has more to do with current production practices and the industry at large, rather than the shows being American. The US has produced most of the greatest tv since its invention and we have experienced the golden age of television for the first couple of decades of the 21st century.

I'd say that the problem is represented by the streaming services and the run of the mill and cancelled shows are a product of that culture. Binge watching, too many projects getting a green light leading to a lot of trash as well, focusing too much on algorithm and quick social media response lead to abrupt cancellation. And sometimes they do it for tax purposes as well. It's the same in the film industry.

Getting out an entire season to streaming immediately hurts the people behind it. With cable tv, writers had a more long-term job, each season had more episodes, the episode was written specifically to fit in commercials as well. Direct to streaming changed that for the worst, hence the writers strike. There's a lot more to be said on this and you can watch this as well, it will help

Poor lighting has indeed been another criticism which I can understand. It's because they're shooting on digital and somehow it gives this illusion that it's more "realistic"? It's not, it's just lazy and it's a shame. Lighting in cinematography is an art and there's plenty of examples out there.

Lastly, the "useless sex scenes". I wonder what constitutes as useless for you though? The existence of a sex scene is not just for some "regular american boy". It's part of a lot of people's lives and being depicted in fiction is to be expected. There's nothing wrong with watching it, for everyone. Would it have a point only if it advances the plot? Could it not be another means of characterization? Of setting a mood? A commentary? Perhaps a glimpse into a life? There's plenty of reasons, even if it appears "pointless". It's unfortunate to see this trend nowadays, but at least it creates debates from people on all sides. I'd actually say that the lack of eroticism and the abundance of sexless characters in a lot of mainstream cinema/tv is creating a false, artificial image of a world that gets boring really fast and certainly a fictional Hollywood subpar to everything that came before.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #107

I got lost in Blender all day today.

Well, no. That's not wholly true. I also wrote a little today. And also I made some food:

It's mushrooms sauteed in rendered bacon fat, and rice with black beans. I cooked the mushrooms, and J did the rice and beans. I ate these with a bit of that salmon I made recently. Or, well… mostly the skin of the salmon I made recently. Because J ate the salmon meat and left the skin, since he doesn't like the skin. But that's okay; the skin is my favorite part anyhow. My body craves collagen all the time, and I think it might be due to the Ehlers-Danlos, but I dunno.

…I have not eaten nearly as much as I should have today, so it's a little hard to think coherently enough to write to you. Got too lost in an attempt to do various things. This is the result of only going without eating for maybe 10 hours. How in the hell did you go for a whole freaking WEEK??? Don't EVER do that again, okay???

I have zero clues about what I'm doing. But I'm more scared for your safety than I am scared of what my brain likes to think it means about me when I try something new and I'm not immediately amazing at it. Got a lot of vicious self-criticism going on about my intelligence level and worth as a human being, stemming from years of traumatic one-trial learning and expectations of perfection imposed upon me by others until it was internalized. Still, I'd rather endure ten times my own inner critic than have you permanently stuck someplace where you're not safe, though. I'd rather live my whole childhood again. I'd rather live it 100 times over. I'd rather… gods…

…I wish I could just ask you to promise me that you'll make it through all this okay, that you'll try to fix all the things that got wrecked, that only a minimal number of people will be hurt, that someday you'll live in a peaceful place and learn all about what it's like to heal from a wretched set of life experiences, that someday you'll understand what it means to be happy and close with a diverse group of healthy-minded people who love you very much.

…If you truly are strong in the real way, then you'll be taking steps towards what I've described; Square Enix said you are the strongest ever, but that's only true if you grow past and become more peaceful and loving than even the most healed of those of us who have been traumatized. You will always be weaker than me if you do not reclaim your original kind and caring nature. But I'm not sure if the people of Square Enix are going to let you. So I have to do something. Anything… I…

I can't let it end for you like this. Not again. I was too small in 1997 when the original story came out, and too young and dumb in 2003, when I saw you for the first time, to do anything about it… Just like I was too small and powerless to do anything to protect my brother when we were living with my stepmother. Just like I was too small and powerless to do anything to protect my mother when her husband at the time was hurting her almost every night.

...Do you have any idea how traumatic it is to have to sit and watch as some kind person you've come to know, understand, and appreciate gets hurt, and not be able to do ANYTHING about it? No matter how much you cry, scream, beg, or try to bargain? I've been through this more than a few times with various folks, and I can say with absolute certainty that getting beaten hurts less. Do you have any idea how long 13-year-old me, defeated and powerless, wept for you after you were slaughtered?

…But I'm not powerless now. I will help you, somehow. Even if I don't really know how just yet. But I'll find a way. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life trying it, I…

…I should maybe start by doing a better job tomorrow of making sure I'm hydrated and fed. I'm not going to get anywhere if my brain is running on fumes. I gotta learn from your fail. I gotta do a little better. Not just for you, but for the people around me, and for everyone I've failed in the past as a result of all the things I didn't yet know and couldn't yet do…

I love you. Please don't get yourself killed; you gotta read tomorrow's letter. Okay? Promise me.

Your friend, Lumine

[always-andromeda]

White Chocolate Truffle for Mr. Johnny Wilcox heheheee … what would your Valentine’s Day look like with him? (What kinds of gifts would he give you, where would you go to celebrate, all that good stuff) -🌟 ;)

– 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐱 𝐱 𝐆𝐍!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: star. I need you to know that I love you so very much for allowing this to happen. I know with absolute certainty that I am the only person who will thoroughly enjoy this thing, but I am so glad you gave me an excuse to write it nonetheless. this was one of my favorite things to come up with. and lmao ignore the fact that this is in headcanon formatting even though the prompt says I'll write a blurb; I thought this one suited headcanon formatting so much better lol.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: this is absolute self indulgence because I adore this man, 100% fluff, one singular suggestive mention, nothing else I can think of!

To be fair, our dearest Dr. Jonathan is typically very self-centered. He would, for the most part, probably expect his partner to be romancing him. It truly wouldn't strike him to put much consideration into doing something for Valentine's Day unless his partner stressed the importance of his participation.

If you're willing to feed into his ego, by all means, spoil him. He loves it when all eyes are on him and he'll definitely make watching him worth your while. He doesn't do simple thank yous. No, he is an eyes wide open, jaw dropped, screeches of excitement kind of guy. 

You could honestly probably get him anything. He just likes being thought about. And he'd cherish having someone who feels so strongly for him that they'd want to give him something physical to represent all of that love.

He'd open up your present and say, "For little old me?" as if he hadn't seen the gift coming from a million miles away. Probably because he didn't. He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

But if you need the romancing, make it completely clear to him. Because the man can't take a hint. Passive aggression does nothing but make him feel guilty. He needs it spelled out in bold letters that he's expected to reciprocate with his own efforts.

And that would be a real challenge for him.

Mostly because he's never...he's never had to do that. He doesn't know how to do much if he isn't being told how to do it.

He is the first person to consult Google for Valentine's Day ideas.

Write your partner a letter or a poem. Who does Google think he is? A wordsmith? No. He had scriptwriters for that.

Take them on a picnic. Oh yeah, because sweating beneath the burning sun, eating shoddily made deli sandwiches, while getting chewed up by flies and mosquitos sounds so romantic! Try again, magical algorithm of answers!

Surprise them with flirty photos. Now...that...that could always be an option. Until he realizes how ridiculous he'd look if his singular offering to you for Valentine's Day was a collection of tasteful nudes. Besides, he'd need costumes and lights and cameras for the whole production. And he's long since outgrown his Animal Magic days.

Then the idea hits him. Animals.

The majority of the effort Johnny puts into figuring out an activity from there goes into finding a contact from his celebrity days that won't immediately hang up on him as soon as he says hello. Even when he puts on his serious television voice, as soon as someone hears that the disgraced Dr. Johnny Wilcox is inquiring about– click, there goes another contact.

He goes down the list of zoos and aquariums and other organizations that once provided his production with animals for him to interact with. Over and over and over again he feels the sting of rejection. And part of him knows that he deserves it. But...he's trying. He's doing better. 

It isn't until he gets to one of the last contacts that he gets a hit. Someone who is – against their own best interests – willing to take a chance with him again. And he couldn't be more excited to finally give you something too.

Now, Johnny is terrible at keeping surprises on the down low. So when he says that he has a surprise for Valentine's Day and not so subtly hints that you should pack away that one outdoorsy set you have in the back of your closet for Valentine's Day, you know he has something big planned.

You're just not sure how big it is. Not even when said Valentine's Day present requires a weekend trip to Africa. With Johnny being in the animal business, it's normal for travel to take him from place to place.

But you couldn't have guessed how big it was really going to be until you're faced with an elephant that weighs over ten thousand pounds.

"What...is...this...?" you say, the shock in your expression is clear.

"It's an African bush elephant!" Johnny replies excitedly, still managing to carefully approach the creature with a handful of grass. The gentle giant takes the food from him and brings it to its mouth to begin chewing away.

"I can see that..." you trail off. "We're allowed to hang out with it?"

Johnny sends you a pompous look. "Yes. We're allowed to hang out with her. This is Lucille and she's going to be taking us on an adventure around the grasslands."

You raise an eyebrow.

"...and we'll have the conservation team following in the car just in case we get into any trouble. I promise you, we'll be safe. I wouldn't make you do anything that I wasn't willing to do myself," he says.

You roll your eyes and steadily approach Lucille. "This is coming from the man who was almost eaten by a bear on television."

"Oh, that was nothing," he whines dramatically. "That bear was trained and he knew exactly what he was doing: showing off for the cameras. Everybody has to get their five minutes of fame."

You laugh before letting the conservation team help both you and Johnny onto Lucille. Almost immediately, you wrap your arms around Johnny's torso, trying to keep balance. And he doesn't even try to hide his pride at having you depend on him just that little bit.

Sure, he likes that you're independent. He's so much of a mess sometimes that he doesn't know what he'd do if you were more codependent on him. But in little doses, he adores knowing that he's the one you lean on when you need it.

He loves being able to talk about everything he knows as you both ride along. Because he might not be the most intelligent man. But he loves animals. He's a bit wild too, just like them. And for that reason, he's always been more interested in learning about them than connecting with people.

So the fact that he can connect that love to you fills him with absolute joy. He talks for hours and hours about elephants and the grasslands and the times he got to work with both things on Animal Magic. 

For hours, you both ride along until the sun starts to set. And when Johnny feels like he's run out of things to say, he says aimlessly, "Thank you for entertaining me today. For all days, really. I know it's not easy being with–"

"Being with one of the only men on this earth who would take me to another country in order to watch the sunset? I don't know, I think that's pretty easy. It's actually fun."

Johnny laughs before swallowing the lump in his throat, "You know what I mean. I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with and somehow...you deal. I'm grateful for it."

"Jonathan Wilcox, I do not deal with you. I love you." You say it once more, firmer this time, "I love you." Then, taking his chin and turning his face slightly, you press a kiss onto his cheek, making him scrunch his nose.

And Johnny might not be great with words and hints or any of those things. But this is the biggest, boldest, in his face sign ever. He feels your grip around him tighten as you lay your cheek against his back and sigh contentedly.

He whispers back, "I love you too."

[gildedmuse]

Despite all appearances otherwise, I'm still (like barely) alive. I'm actually all caught up with the anime right now and there is just so much I've been needing to scream into the electronic void talk about. (I've even got screenshots/gifs for most of it, it's just a matter of finding a time when work doesn't drain every inch of my health by the end of day.)

But I didn't stop by to complain! No, I just wanted to share a minor clip from one of the more recent episodes. Nothing big or spoilery or anything, promise. It's just this small, otherwise unimportant, entirely missable scene....

You know, the one with Zoro being so unbelievably sexy that I haven't once stopped thinking about it in DAYS.

Just look at him! That smirk! (Are they sure Enma is the sharpest blade because that smile could cut right through a Mihawk's cold, haki infused heart.) Actually, you don't even have to look at him, that voice alone is easily more powerful than Gears 1 through 3 (and hey, I won't claim it could take on the god-like powers of Gear 4, we don't really have enough material to judge. Oh, here's an idea! Let's put them both in front of Law, see which one destroys him faster. I don't care if Gear 4 is Buggy-Bunny-But-The-Rock, The Rock still has to wind up his punches. But that look directed right at you? The devastation is likely immediate and irreversible.)

Like, the way he starts out almost defeated, the gravity and soberness in that initial "No" as he turns to face this seemingly unbeatable force. He's put the weight of Luffy's dream and the promise he's made to his captain on winning this battle, and taken along with how serious and direct he's been with Franky so far it helps create an expectation we're going to see that determined, unemotional, unbending Zoro from Thriller Bark or his battle with Kaido. He'll probably say something somehow very self centered while appearing selfless with that grave steeliness he gets when he's resolved against all odds like, "No, I have to do this alone" or "No, what good am I as a swordsman if I can't do this for my crew and our captain?" or if he wanted to go with the typical overly dramatic swordsman tone: "No, Luffy is trusting me - to defeat this man, and make him king of the pirates!" And we'd all swoon because even though Luffy's default introduction/greeting/phrase to yell out regardless of the circumstances is, "My name is Luffy D Monkey and I'm going to be the king of the pirates!" when it's someone else saying it, fans get all emotional. Especially if it's one of the core characters who has a reputation as being more mature or is typically more reserved and private or is, I don't know, someone who tends not to waste his breath correcting stupid people who are being stupid because what does Zoro he care what these nobodies think, Zoro he knows with unshakeable certainty that what Luffy says is true and has enough confidence in both his captain and his own abilities that other's opinions aren't worth addressing.

And even though Zoro turning all seriousness and focused marks some amazing moments in battles, the way that at the last second he is staring straight ahead at this natural disaster level foe and that smile just cuts across his face, completely slicing through that more serious mask Zoro sometimes wears to reveal that bloodlust and pure unadulterated love of the challenge is so absolutely gorgeous and perfect and satisfying.

Like, yeah, of course I love when Zoro gets all Business-Only, For-My-Crew-Name-And-Captain and just doesn't back down or lose focus because he understands this is something he has to do and only he can take on this fight. It fills me with so many, many emotions all of which Zoro is doggedly ignoring because it's all about The Fight but in my heart I know it's because he feels so much for his friends that he's decided that this is his role on the crew to act as both attack and guard dog and take/deal the hits they can't. Beautiful.

But man, oh, man, can anything beat when Zoro goes full "fucking brat who thought learning to hold a katana between his teeth and stumbling his way through a handful of forgettable bounties meant that when the worldwide champion, a warlord, a man so unmatched he's become bored of the very art he master just happened to be passing by he immediately thought to himself, yeah, I'm MORE than ready to kick this asshole off his throne. Hell, just last week I was stabbed and nearly killed by some shitty clown but look how that turned out. I can take on anyone, this bastard included. For fuck's sake he's only got one sword. Fucking amateur."? And whose sole reaction to having his chest sliced in half was, "yo, captain, if you've got a fucking problem with me being fucking UNSTOPPABLE speak up while you can because after this, it's all kicking ass all the time."?

Like, man, you are one cocky little idiot. Never change.

And he didn't.

[todayisafridaynight]

SO! I've wanted to talk about The Clip all day but felt like I should wait until the tumblr "premiere" (even though I think you were literally one of the first people to see it on Twitter lol). Thank you for defending my honor btw even if I am just Someone <3

But. Yes. Yeah. Yokoyama's absolute certainty in saying that??? Without anything to even buffer it? No maybe. No "don't expect too much." Just point-blank in front of a huge fan (whom I believe he's now going to be working with), a staff member, and a massive audience. As if that part isn't the matter of contention. I WILL be injecting those words directly into my veins for some time.

I was on the verge of choking and/or spewing blood and/or crying before posting it though lol, so I really appreciate the vote of confidence regarding the translation and I love your redraw! The reception as a whole has been really nice, although I wish people would keep it to themselves if they'd rather have Nishiki or Ryuji back or whatever. Not like it's a race, but even if it was, Mine's been in last place for ages lol.

And while I enjoy Y3's writing more than most, Mine's death wasn't some Grand Meaningful Statement, it was the decision of a fledgling studio that never knew if it would be able to keep making these games trying to tell a self-contained story. It did have far-reaching consequences for the series, but those consequences are also... not really relevant anymore?

Like, I can and have argued that Mine's death caused the fall of the Tojo Clan, but the clan has already fallen. So I don't see why some people are acting like revisiting his character would be A Spit In The Face to the saga somehow, but I guess I've never really been against characters being brought back...? A quote from the staff that's always stuck with me from the staff is that RGG is always going for RGG-ism, not realism.

Ranting aside... I honestly don't know if I should be saying this, but there's this new guy working the counter at Survive in some LaD8 behind the scenes footage. Now, upfront, I'm 99.8% sure it's not Mine (I happen to have a 100% accuracy rate so far identifying major RGG characters from extremely blurry images and silhouettes lmao), and I have no idea who it is, whether it's a new character or an old one heavily redesigned or Just Some Guy.

But he's not Kashiwagi. And he happens to have slicked-back dark brown hair with what appears to be an ahoge in some angles. And, unless the materials are temporary, he also dresses A Lot Like the celebrity Mine's design was based on. And his features... line up closely enough to piss me off, even though they don't fully match in the end, which is why I don't think it's him.

I'm in argumentative essay mode 100% of the time which is why I'm saying this in a "convincing" tone despite literally not believing it myself, but like... wouldn't that be something? To just have Mine part-timing at Survive or whatever and no one makes a big deal of it because they don't know any better? If nothing else, I really do think he should get The Bartender Treatment.

I dunno, I might post about it with a comparison tomorrow because it's been on my mind lately, especially with The News, but I really don't want people to get the wrong idea either. Or embarrass myself if it was too tenuous of a link to look that deeply into from the start lol

I remember seeing it two minutes after you posted it, so I can imagine I was one of the first to the scene of the crime (so my friends put it LMAO). AND OF COURSE I- and a lot of us- can't be any more grateful for all the work you do than we already are. I'd go insane trying to document and manage everything you do! especially when you have insane people like me ready to pounce on the smallest thing like I know I'd cry FJLKAJ The least I can do is give a proper title/credit to you when I can o7

If Yokoyama had any remaining hesitance about Mine being alive, then he REALLY would have fumbled by sounding so certain. Like in his old tweet, he certainly sounded more ambiguous, but this time he really had no extra notes and sounded more sure of himself. I won't expect RGG to do anything with Mine, but the concept is still very much exciting and the idea that Yokoyama almost seems earnest about the idea of bringing Mine back for whatever reason is very nice to know :] And thank you about enjoying the art I did! I can't lie in the slightest, since the last ask where you alluded to posting the clip, I had that drawing saved in the back of my head ready to make once you had that posted LMAO

But oohh not to touch drama since I generally try to Not touch it, but yeah I can't act like I haven't seen some people be. ""Interesting"" about the idea of Mine being alive. I won't dive too deep into it, but I think my major issue with the few grievances I've seen is that RGG hasn't done anything with Mine's alive status. As of right now, it's just a thing Yokoyama said, so I don't understand the need to be so angry about it (it's especially weird to say Ryuji hasn't been back when he not only got to be a playable protagonist in Dead Souls, but he was also the protagonist of RGGO- though I suppose I can understand wanting him in the mainline series again. Still, it's weird to act as though Mine's back any more than he is and being upset about it just because Yokoyama said he was alive)...

Moving on though, I'm really curious as to this 'mystery figure' you mean. I've been missing out on LaD8 production material, so I haven't seen this bit myself but I'd love to take a stab at it and analyze myself too. I agree though: if Mine does come back- whether he's working at Survive or anywhere else- I would greatly prefer if he had The Bartender status and was just never really called attention to and only existed in the background

[umichenginabroad]

Week 11: Farewell Aachen 👋

Well, we’ve made it to my final blog post. Buckle up folks, because it's about to be a sappy one. I know it may sound cliche and maybe you’ve seen these words on one too many IPE study abroad advertisements or fellow travel blogs and perhaps this is about to be your last straw, but I wholeheartedly mean it when I say that “life-changing” and “unforgettable” are the best ways I could possibly describe this experience.

Looking back on my first blog post, I remember all the nerves I felt while writing it. Will I make friends to travel across Europe with and make this new country feel less far from home? Will I ever be able to truly understand the mysteries of Deutsche Bahn and navigate the buses or trains independently? (Ok ok, I still can't…) Will I be able to meet the expectations of my supervisor? Honestly, what even is my project anyways…? Now, on the other side of it all, a successful research symposium completed, and 10 weeks full of travel memories to share, I am filled with both satisfaction and sentimentality as I say my goodbyes to Aachen and this incredible experience.

Photos from the Symposium

One final (mildly-chaotic) group photo from all of UROP

It's crazy to look back on everything and realize that even with all of the breathtaking castles and abundant nature, world famous museums and specialty foods, I already mentioned castles, but c’mon Literal. Castles., I can say with complete certainty that the people I’ve met and relationships I’ve developed here are what I will cherish most. There's something about being left to your own devices in a new country, growing (and occasionally embarrassing yourselves) together, making eyebrow-raising amounts of Doener runs, overcoming failed German conversations and escapades through pouring rain, that really bring you close to one another(and of course, visiting castles together never hurts). Every last memory, both from the big trips to fancy cities and seemingly insignificant details like laughing over questionable Mensa lunches and impromptu boba runs (unfortunately for my wallet, there were many of those…) will be ones that I treasure in great part due to the people I made them with. Though its sad to say goodbye to these relationships, a wonderful German quote I learned here: states that „man sieht sich immer zweimal im Leben“ (man always sees each other twice in life)  and these are words I hope ring true as everyone in my program and those I met here in Germany go their separate ways.

One last hurrah: singing a top notch rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody at Karaoke on my last night in Aachen 

Knowing I may never have another opportunity to do something like this again in my life just serves as a further reminder that I have absolutely made the right decision in studying abroad this summer. Maybe this is just an unfortunate, unavoidable factor of Bargfrede Family Vacations™, but with so much to see, especially throughout Europe, traveling for me has always been defined by a constantly “on-the-go” mentality with an overflowing itinerary. Settling in for over 10 weeks here has given me the rare chance to relax and truly take everything in at my own pace, even if that means wandering aimlessly through the streets with no destination in mind. It has provided me with an entirely new perspective to the places I’ve visited and traveling as a whole that I truly believe was an invaluable part of this experience.  

Photo from my first night in the beautiful Aachen, Germany

Some of the most incredible sights from my travels during this program

Speaking of Bargfrede Family Vacations™ though, my family did come up to visit me following the end of the program for one last week of galavanting through Belgium and new regions of Germany. With no more deadlines, working hours, or German courses to attend, it was the perfect opportunity to embrace the full vacation-mode mentality while also making up for lost time with the people I missed most back home. We visited Brussels, Bruges, Nemur, Cochem, and other adorable towns with entire identities built around all the best things like top tier chocolates, beers, and wine. 

Post-UROP travels (aka summer vacation 2.0)

Now that I’m actually back home in the lovely, picture-perfect state of New Jersey, I can finally return to all the other things I’ve been missing: my dogs, taylor ham egg and cheese sandwiches (and honestly most food in the US tbh), my air conditioned room and comfy, actual mattress… But there truly was a lot in Germany worth missing as well. Living there for the summer has taught me so much about the importance of balancing independence and reaching out for support. I've learned to trust myself when needed, trust others for guidance when offered, and to never trust the Deutsche Bahn.

Though my incredible summer has come to an end, the memories and relationships I have built here are ones that I hope will last me a lifetime. I couldn’t recommend embarking on this experience more. 

Tschüss! 👋

Sarah Bargfrede

Computer Science

UROP Program in Aachen

[fictionplumis]

Listen, I know Dream winning his duel with Lucifer with hope is like... A BIG DEAL and super symbolic and beautiful, HOWEVER I have something that may not be better, but would definitely be FUNNIER. 

Dream loses. He's been locked in a bubble and had his hopes dashed again and again, even though he's still fighting and still hopeful, it's harder for him to reach that and it doesn't come to mind in time for him to win against Lucifer. He's to stay as a servant in Hell and there's no Endless or divine being that can or will come to his aid. He's trapped. Again. 

Only Matthew isn't Jessamy, Matthew knows when the best way to help is a tactical retreat to gather reinforcements. So that's what he does, going immediately to Luciene like, "Hey, so, uh..." And there has to be some way they can help him! Luciene makes it clear that none of the dreaming denizens can. None of the Endless can, no deity would be of any help there against Lucifer. There are Old Laws dictating that Dream lost fair and square and no one can interfere with that. And Matthew's like, "Well what about someone who can challenge Lucifer to win him back? Someone not bound by the Old Laws?" 

"The only beings not bound by the Old Laws are humans. There's no human--" 

Except there is. There's one. One human that Dream would go off once a century to meet, and it's a long shot, but-- 

That's how Hob Gadling finds himself being approached by a talking raven asking him to trek into hell to rescue his boss. "You know, Dream of the Endless? Lord Morpheus?" 

Hob doesn't know who the hell the bird is talking about until Matthew describes him. "Oh, my Stranger!"

"...He seriously didn't even tell you his name?" 

Now, the idea of setting foot into Hell itself to do battle with Lucifer Morningstar is, y'know... Not something he wants to do. He confirms over and over if Matthew is SURE he doesn't have to die to achieve this, because he's not ready to leave yet, and Matthew is like, "Yeah, buddy, shouldn't be a problem." He's lying. He has no idea if it's a problem. (It's not.) 

Hob is like, "Yeah, but... I can't FIGHT Satan himself and expect to win, I AM still human." 

And Matthew's like, "You don't actually have to fight her, it's like a game! But uh... Pretty sure you still feel all the pain and stuff." And he explains the rules, and like, okay, feeling the painful death of whatever kills whatever you decide to be in your round SUCKS, but Hob's been through that before. It's actually a pretty intriguing game, one he thinks he might win. 

See, the way he sees it, it's a combination of the "times infinity" type of game (I love you, I love you more, I love you times two, I love you times a thousand, I love you times a million-- so on and so on) with that counting game where you either say one or two numbers, back and forth with someone, and whoever says 21 loses. Basically, there's one logical conclusion the game is going to reach. Someone is going to bust out the "times infinity" or in this case, "heat death of the universe" or some other completely life-ending thing. And like with the counting game, if you can get your opponent to say specific numbers on the way to 21, you can make sure they're forced to say it. 

There's a strategy if you think ahead enough, and he has an entire walk through Hell to plan it. 

(It SUCKS. He sees Robyn there. It breaks his heart. It's meant to, it's meant to keep him from reaching the palace, seeing his son in Hell, but they don't know Hob. They don't know the grief he's had to overcome in order for him to say, with absolute certainty, that he still wants to live even though it hurts. He reaches that citadel.)

Dream is, of course, horrified to see Hob there. Hob meanwhile is like a jilted exe all, "Yeah, yeah, we're not friends, you stood me up, but I'm still here for you because I'm the bigger person and I fucking care." 

He challenges Lucifer for Dream's helm and their safe passage out of Hell. Lucifer is... Intrigued. She just beat Dream of the Endless, and this human thinks he can beat her when humanity's collective unconsciousness couldn't? His immortality has made him cocky, clearly. So she accepts, and bargains that if Hob loses, he has to give up his immortality. 

There's a good minute where Hob pauses at that and has to really think about whether his arrogant, condescending not-friend is really worth that but yeah, yeah he is. Meanwhile Dream is off to the side. "Don't do this, Hob Gadling. It is not your responsibility to fix my missteps." Basically his version of pleading for Hob to leave and not risk this up until Lucifer is like enough out of you and shuts him up. 

They play. Lucifer starts out with the wolf again, because it's a good starting point to see what direction her opponent plans to take, to get a glimpse into Hob's mindset entering this game. Her plan is, of course, to cause pain enough that Hob will have a hard time thinking, but Hob makes that really fucking hard from the get-go and throws everyone in the room for a loop when his answer is...

"I am the over hunting of the local deer population. Ecosystem destabilizing, predator killing."

Well. Okay. Yeah, sure. Fucking fine. It's hard to kill that painfully. Lucifer manages to come up with, "I am hunting restrictions, nature preserving, ecosystem balancing." 

Hob, by that point, is like, I got this, actually. This might be fun. "I am the expansion of civilization. Forest destroying, hunting law nullifying." 

Matthew, who had been feeling pretty iffy about calling this guy in to help, is no longer questioning that choice. Dream is a little starry-eyed. 

Eventually Hob is the head of the Home Owner's Association. Lucifer is a bear, scrap hunting, person killing. Hob is family, revenge-seeking, bear euthanizing. Lucifer is Pride, argument starter, family destroying. Hob is friendship, blood covenant, thicker than womb water. Lucifer is jealousy, friendship rending, relationship ruining. Hob is personal growth, jealousy ending, apology giving. Lucifer is relapse, progress destroying, confidence killing. Hob is perseverance, step taking, progress rebuilding. On and on until finally Lucifer decides to end this the way she did with Dream and Hob leads her along until it reaches that natural conclusion, the death of all. 

Now there's some temptation there to go with the obvious, since he can't die even if the universe was destroyed. At least he doesn't think so. But he had already decided that it was an obvious choice to go for and he could think of a few clever ways Lucifer might get around that. So instead, Hob goes the far better choice and personal insult of being God, universe creator, life giver. He's very proud of himself when the demons erupt into boos and Lucifer looks about ready to rip his fucking throat out with her teeth. 

The way he sees it, there are two choices for her there, unless she really pulls something unexpected out of her ass. Option one is the whole "what's a god to an atheist" thing in which Hob would have then been a miracle, faith affirming, god-proving. Not much can destroy a miracle. 

But Lucifer, livid and prideful, goes with option two. "I am Lucifer Morningstar, God defying, His Kingdom ripped sunder!" 

And Hob has the absolute glee to grin and go, "I am Hob Gadling, clever, death defying, and triumphant over Lucifer Morningstar."

He and Dream are promptly kicked out of Hell on their asses, Dream's helm is thrown at his head with a force strong enough to break the sound barrier, and the gates are slammed shut behind them. The whole thing is so humiliating that Lucifer has to change their gender and moves to LA to open a nightclub.

[celestialholz]

Le Cirque du Soleil (a meta ft. Celestial dying)

... Well shit, folks. Let's have a chat about this fucking sun.

(My thanks to @porgthespacepenguin for discussing this idea even further and making this a more rounded post, and for providing the screenshots. Bless you dear. <3)

So, let's start with this...

This is, quite clearly, a sun - the same sun that's outside the ready room, in fact, and the same one at the centre of this picture:

Now, considering that this story is about Q's potential fate if our darling fool of an admiral doesn't get his shit together (see the evidence of that over here), coupled with the fact that the sun's a celestial object, a life-giver (quite literally - how many times has Q saved Picard at this point? Because it's at least four and I can argue for more), ridiculously powerful, and ultimately a capricious bitch with its day/night and winter/summer deal, we can safely conclude that this sun is our Q representation for the episode - our soleil, one might say.

... But this sun is more than just a sun. Even for a basic model, it looks, well... veined.

Thing looks bloody weird, to be frank.

Now, I probably wouldn't have thought much on this... well, until this. Until it became very apparent as we went on that Maurice Picard is a perfect mirror of Q - someone I genuinely thought was Q for half this episode - in both mannerism and the fact that Jean-Luc realises his motives aren't anything like what he thought they were, and that the point of this whole episode is to get to Jean-Luc's 'heart' through his parents... for him to realise that actually, Q isn't his enemy either.

... So yeah, this sun's also a heart. I hope that was fucking coherent, because I'm dead and thinking's hard.

... But what is a heart, to a man who does his absolute best not to feel... and lest we forget, has a mechanical one himself?

... It's a brain.

So, let's recap: we've got Q as the sun - essential, warming, life-saving, powerful; we've got Q as the heart - accepting oneself, 'following your heart', love, affection; and we've got Q as the brain - the logic, the rationale, the decision-maker... the part that fucks up sometimes, or doesn't understand, or perhaps puts a little too much faith upon someone.

Which makes this shit just about the most ridiculous singular image I've ever seen in this ship:

... Dear fucking god, who allowed this? I'm done. I submit to you: Jean-Luc Picard, literally holding Q's fate in his hands. It all relies on him working it out - which, you know, doesn't go brilliantly. The complete idiot. I adore him, and I also want to throttle him.

Anyway, this sun follows us around the episode: it's floating just about everywhere, but there's two examples that I need to draw attention to.

There's the part where Baby!card drops his precious notebook, filled with things he 'loves':

... And the fact that his dad's the one to give it back to him...

Oh, and also, the real killer:

Here it sits, beside his 'secret shame'. Beside that dark, horrible, awful thing that even in an episode set largely in his head, we never get to see. That thing he can't admit, even to himself, that's desperate to get out.

... Yeahhhh. Don't even bother trying to tell me that Q isn't behind that door. Q, and all he represents: complete freedom, total acceptance, a realisation that love isn't destruction, it isn't vulnerability... it isn't becoming his mother, and losing all sense of himself. The brain, leading him to the heart, to the essential - to the inevitable, perhaps. The knowledge and certainty that he needs to finally move on, when he feels he never should... that a part of yourself, however little you like it, is never worthy of being ignored.

... You know, I wasn't expecting this take out of Tapestry 2, but I'm not mad. Q's engineered all this, by the way. Kill me, thanks in advance.

And as though it wasn't obvious enough already...

Q's fate doesn't just lie in Picard's hands. He's made this happen. He has given him his fate. In saving him from fucking up with Queen Agnes in episode one, in offering him another chance (again), it's time for him to save Q, for once - it's time to flip a well-established dynamic, before Q dies for his own faith in this man.

Time to mirror it, even.

... And in the end, Picard's made progress... but he still doesn't get it. And he's running out of time to.

Everything orbits the sun. Just this once, Jean-Luc, realise that yes, the sun is dangerous, and unpredictable, and wild... but, much like you, and much like your father, it's never out to cause harm. It's here for you.

... Preferably before your mother's story comes true.

(Oh, yeah: and if you're not already as convinced as I am as to who's behind that door, let Porg retroactively explain it to you further. Because I'm dead, and I can't handle any more. 😂)

[rafaelblackbird15]

Teen Wolf Fic Recs Part 4: Sterek

These are Sterek, Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale fanfictions.

I really love these. They are some of my favourite Sterek stories, and ALL of these are absolutely beautiful. Without a doubt. Send the authors some love, because that's what they've given me and us right here. :)

If there is a problem with any of the links, let me know and I will fix them.

For appropriate reading check the hashtags on the actual fics.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

And check out my other Steter fic recs [Part 1] and [Part 2] and Sterek fic recs [Part 3]

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God Brings The Wounded by CallieB on Archive of Our Own

Words: 4938

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

“Jesus,” Stiles says, when he sees Derek for the first time, and feels his face do that thing where it tries to smile. Derek, or the weirdly fresh-faced teenage version of Derek that he is now, doesn’t flinch at Stiles’ exclamation.

He’s too busy flinching at everything else.

 

Requested by the lovely nohomohomie, who asked for something angsty post-nogitsune.

Has got to be one of my favourite canon teenage/de-aged Derek fics, with beautiful, angsty Sterek, of course.

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You're Not You by CallieB on Archive of Our Own

Words: 5266

Chapters: 1/1

Part 9 of the Sterek Bingo 2017 series

Summary:

Stiles lifts his head slowly, meeting Derek’s gaze. His eyes… they’re always clever, bright, perceptive, but today there’s something in them that Derek doesn’t recognise. He’s pale, but not defeated. He looks stronger than Derek expected. And unexpectedly, he feels it flash through him in a bolt of absolute, though surprised, certainty.

That's not Stiles.

 

Written for the Dark!Stiles square on my Sterek Bingo card.

This story is possibly one of the best EVER Void!Stiles stories I have ever read. The idea is complex and fascinating and unique. After I read this for the first time I was left stunned and I kept coming back to it in my mind as well as to read because I couldn't get over the idea. It's beautiful.

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Yeah, Pass The Salt, Stiles by CallieB on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3609

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Yeah, pass the salt, Stiles.

They're not particularly inspiring words. Not like the long stream of goo spilling over Scotty's arm. But somewhere, Stiles' soulmate is out there, waiting to say them to him.

If only he could stop thinking about the mysterious hot stranger he met in the woods...

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Author: CallieB

This author has 15 Teen Wolf works, most if not all are Sterek. Some of them in particular really hit somewhere special.

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Behind Locked Doors by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 11128

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Derek often showed up in his room—at least he used the fucking door now that he knew where the spare key was hidden—and he couldn’t escape people in general in the Jeep since they could see him through the window. His dad was home, and when he wasn’t, there was always the risk of other people showing up.

His bathroom, on the other hand? No, his bathroom was a small room with no window in the middle of the house with a lockable door and no judgement. He could sit in the bathroom for hours, and no one would question it. Was he watching porn on his phone and jerking off? Was he taking a massive dump? Did he have constipation? Was he stitching up the millionth injury of the month in private? Who knew? No one but Stiles!

The locked door at his back felt like a safety net for him sometimes. In the bathroom, he didn’t have to pretend. He didn’t have to smile and wave people’s words off, insist he was fine, laugh and act like everything was okay. In the bathroom, he was allowed to sit on the floor, his expression tight, and his body falling apart on him.

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Author: isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

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Should Have Looked on Craigslist by Akiruchan on Archive of Our Own

Words: 27217

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Derek is rash and self-sacrificing, everything that will one day get him killed. Stiles doesn't want that. He's become too accustomed to a life with Derek Hale in it. To live without, well, it just doesn't seem to be an option.

or...

The five times Stiles' expectations fall short, and the one time he's glad they do.

This is an incredible, slow burn, build of the winding relationship between Stiles and Derek and the world they now live in, side by side. It's wonderful and blessedly long.

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Bless You by Ankiruchan on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3070

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It all started with a sneeze...

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Lend Me Your Eyes, Give Me Your Heart by Ankiruchan on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3057

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Stiles’ life sucks. He’s honest enough with himself to admit to at least that. More often than not he spends his free time running for his life, saving people from creatures who want to rip his face off, and all around having a distinct lack of self-preservation. It sort of comes with the territory. Not something he can avoid when his circle of friends happen to be werewolves.

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Nobody's Fault But Mine by Akiruchan on Archive of Our Own

Words: 26552

Chapters: 4/?

Summary:

Stiles has always been good at ignoring his problems. Preferring to wait them out until they are nothing but a distant memory. But when a midnight stroll leads to a nasty scratch to Stiles side, courtesy of Derek, Stiles finds that some things just can't be ignored, not that he doesn't try. Better hearing and improved eyesight, that is something he can ignore for now. The sudden urge to touch and smell Derek all the time? Not so much.

This is werewolf!Stiles, and it's one the of the laid back, kind, intense versions that I enjoy very much. Unfortunately, I think it's been discontinued, but I believe even so, these 4 chapters are worth the little heartbreak that comes with the knowledge it may not be finished.

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Author: Akiruchan

This author is responsible for some of the best slow build Sterek stories I've read.

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Lock All The Doors Behind You by entanglednow on Archive of Our Own

Words: 25960

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

He has no idea what you're supposed to say when you find one of your...werewolf acquaintances, completely out of their mind, growling like they're about to see what your insides taste like. There's no handbook for this. Stiles is thinking that if he survives he might write one.

I've come back to this so many times. The relationship is so vulnerable, down to earth and open and kind, extremely kind, which is something Derek really lacks in his life, someone to be kind to him. There's a feeling, somehow, that this is quite natural for them.

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In Case Of Emergency by entanglednow on Archive of Our Own

Words: 1826

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Derek falls through Stiles's bedroom window at ten past midnight.

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By Any Other Name by entanglednow on Archive of Our Own

Words: 33090

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

He doesn't know his name, he doesn't know who he is, and neither does the werewolf he's on the run with. But he's pretty sure they hunt monsters, because they seem to be really good at it.

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I Could Find My Way Back by entanglednow on Archive of Our Own

Words: 6250

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

What's the worst that could happen?

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Author: entanglednow

This author is responsible for so many amazing fics out there. They have 55 Teen Wolf fics, all with really interesting ideas and takes on the characters and supernatural world.

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You want forgiveness (I'll give that to you) by dearericbittle (dutchmoxie) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 2806

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Derek is running from the Alpha, suffering from wolfsbane poisoning and he’s clearly losing it. Why else would he be seeing his mother - and everyone else he might as well have killed himself. But Stiles can’t just let him get what he deserves. Stiles never leaves him behind, even when he should.

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(Fuck you they said) As they threw their threads from their wedding bed by dearericbittle (dutchmoxie) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 96199

Chapters: 9/9

Summary:

First Son Stiles Stilinski just accidentally caused an international incident. And apparently the only way to save human-werewolf relations is to marry him off to Prince Derek of Triskele. Stiles is going to need all of his acting skills to make the marriage look real, because the Prince is kind of a fucking asshole.

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Author: dearericbittle (dutchmoxie)

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fake empire by Poe on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3685

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Stiles hadn’t meant for any of this to happen. He was going to tell Derek. The whole truth of it. He was halfway through when the phone rang. A half-finished sentence, left hanging in the air as his life crumbled around him.

*

(or: Stiles gets so, so lost. But he finds himself again.)

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you all over me by Poe on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3705

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

The thing about Stiles is, Derek thinks, is that he has no idea how enthralling he truly is. He’s easy to overlook, right up until the point he isn’t, and at some stage, Derek started looking, and now, it’s all he can do.

(or: the one where the pack is happy, healthy and alive, and Stiles and Derek are sort of inevitable)

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Author: Poe

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For If Dreams Die by veritas_st on Archive of Our Own

Words: 24169

Chapters: 8/8

Summary:

“I had a dream about a boy last night,” Mischief says through a mouthful of pancakes. His dad points the spatula at him and he swallows before he says anything else. “His name was Derek. He called me Stiles. I want to be called that from now on.”

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Author: veritas_st

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About Today by rufflefeather on Archive of Our Own

Words: 8901

Chapters: 1/1

Part 1 of the inside these arms series

Summary:

Stiles is having the worst day of his life and it keeps happening.

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Until Tomorrow by rufflefeather on Archive of Our Own

Words: 9016

Chapters: 1/1

Part 2 of the inside these arms series

Summary:

Derek's worst nightmares didn't prepare him for this.

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Let it be me by rufflefeather on Archive of Our Own

Words: 1495

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

After everything that happened, Stiles goes to see Derek.

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Even the stars they burn by rufflefeather on Archive of Our Own

Words: 5770

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Derek finds out quite by accident what makes Stiles shut up. If he reveals along the way that he didn't always carry this darkness around, then that's entirely Stiles' fault.

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Solstice. by rufflefeather on Archive of Our Own

Words: 4119

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It's the first total lunar eclipse during winter solstice in three hundred and fifty years and Derek has no idea what's going to happen.

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Author: rufflefeather

This author has some intense, sometimes heartbreakingly endearing, and wonderful Teen Wolf fics.

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Hear The Wheels As They Roll by crossroadswrite on Archive of Our Own

Words: 44919

Chapters: 2/2

Summary:

“You can’t be here. This is private property,” someone calls out and for some reason that voice sounds painfully familiar.

When it hits him why, Stiles almost chokes with the realization, “Derek Hale,” he says, unbelievably happy because he remembers Derek when they were young.

Derek looks grumpier, sadder, angrier. Stiles can’t really fault him for that. He also looks surprised that Stiles knows who he is. He squint/glares suspiciously at him, his nostrils flare for a second before he widens his eyes almost dramatically.

“Stiles,” he says quietly, like he can’t really believe it.

Stiles beams, “Yeah, you remember me!”

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Author: crossroadswrite

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