#which hasn’t been my intention at all but like i can maybe see it being that? we haven’t really gone for a hang in a hot minute

[clocky-soul]

Okay so first of all, Arcane Season 2 Act 3 Spoilers!

As much as I loved the second season I feel like it did have quite a few problems?

I pray you can make sense of this insanity, me not being a native English speaker may shine through my bad.

Here’s some things I didn’t like (it’s mainly the last episode):

- no deep talk between Ekko and Jinx?

Okay so maybe they thought that the first episode (which I really liked, might be timebomb bias but also just glad for Ekko to have his episode and we got to see what was going on with Jayce) would be "compensation" for the lack of their interactions in this episode? It didn’t, it felt like there was a scene missing, which is a feeling I get throughout the entire second season. There was a LOT of shit unsaid at least to us, now Arcane doesn’t always need dialogue but leaving the whole thing out just seems like they were rushing.

-no scene with the firelights and Ekko

While I feel like this could have easily been a montage but still, no cool lil thingy of jinx and her team coloring shit, what do all the markings mean? (Some we can guess obviously but still they are just there)

-no Sevika and Jixn scene?

Like really? Oh look they hung out the second act, they won’t notice them not interacting now? No mention of Isha at all throughout? I suppose mentioning her specifically isn’t needed but like nothing? Really?

-No Vi and Ekko scene?

They interacted like once in the entire fight and post fight forgot the other existed ig, I mean obviously she told him that Jinx "died" (I’m certain she’s alive btw, will get into that) but we didn’t even get to see that?

-characters got no conclusion (some)

Okay so maybe it’s intentional, but I feel like the only characters who got a "conclusion" are Vi and Cait (when’s the marriage btw), they have obviously stated that there will be more series similar and also in Runeterra but like, it feels like Ekko, Jinx (who’s definitely alive and am not just coping), Jayce and Vik and also Heimerdinger (what happened to the Lorax? What of the tree) are waiting for another season or something.

Now maybe they’ll use them as tools to connect to different stories (which like feels like it could work well for Jayce and Vik (if those 2 are even alive god knows what happened to em)) but I feel like it won’t work for Jinx? I mean I could see it working but like bestie just jumped on an Airship and poof ig (if that is what happened pretty sure) she just hasn’t been on her own like ever and I feel like if she was she’d just crash? Idk how to describe it, like she didn’t "heal" after Isha so idk where she’s off to, I understand the whole "breaking the cycle" thingy but, it feels just very sudden and not planned out? Like, we don’t have time to make people talk so they just have to disappear (nevermind Ekko being miserable atm, idk how close they would have gotten again in the unseen talk they had)

I just feel like there are scenes missing between Jinx and like half the cast (especially Vi, Ekko and Sevika), allegedly one of the main characters and barely talked in the final act (excluding the alternate universe thing). I don’t know maybe I’m weird but it feels like nothing happened, like I’d see Season 3 pop up suddenly.

I overall feel like Zaun and Piltover still have a lot to offer story wise (some characters from the game (that are in Zaun) don’t even appear in Arcane), now maybe they don’t wanna go over every champion (don’t feel like they need to but you never know, there were like 30 in here).

-Warwick is dead ig?

I mean fair but like really? I feel like that whole sequence at the end was not necessary? I don’t know I’m still figuring out how to feel about that specifically.

As much as I had fun and loved a lot of this season, you can tell it was supposed to have more seasons, while some things concluded well some just didn’t and new problems showed up.

-Now, I love, love, love Isha, and she fits in super well, but at what cost.

I understand very well why Isha was here and I loved her for it, however I feel like her role could’ve easily been given to a different character (mainly Ekko, and this is not me wanting Timebomb) introducing new characters in an already shortened story is kinda eh, especially if screen time for other characters suffers (Ekko, Jayce, Heimerdinger) and the small scene between Ekko and jinx kinda proved that to me? Instead of having her suffer over Ishas death it could’ve been Silcos, act 3 could’ve been Act 2 (minus the final battle obviously), I don’t exactly have a script ready but maybe some of you understand what I mean? Or get my way of thinking at least. And the everyone close to me dies thing could be like cancelled out by Ekkos Z drive (in my head anyway, just makes sense to me).

-if they intentionally left some characters "open" (read as: don’t feel fully developed or took steps back from their development)

I hope, HOPE, they make them interact with each other gain in a different series, because i feel like they aren’t done with each other, it just doesn’t feel like it. Like Vi and jinx and obviously Jinx and Ekko, not to mention fucking Vi and Ekko. (Still salty they didn’t talk afterwards but gg ig)

Characters develop thanks to the characters around them and I feel like making Jinx just suddenly bond with other characters outside of the characters we have met seems Meh? Like bro there a construction site back home go there. Maybe she goes on a journey of self discovery (which I’d be fine with as long as she goes back to Zaun in the end, idk bout everyone else but to me Jinx is the embodiment of Zaun and leaving it would destroy her character (like as in that’s bad). I feel like I should expand on this but I’m so tired rn.

I just feel like it should have ended differently? Like I feel like Vi would definitely stay up Topside with Cait, and Jinx and Cait could’ve easily just had a truce? Like I’m not expecting Jinx to become Silco and lead Zaun (Ekko or Sevika are clearly much more qualified, jinx is more of a mascot.) but I feel like she could easily become an ally to The Firelights, and as Viktor stated, she could use her capabilities to build. A healing jinx easily could, she did repair and modify Sevikas arm so that’s something she could do (she clearly had fun and as she said "its something I could fix"). I feel like you could still expand here either way.

-Also Mel didn’t even get to speak one last time rip. Ambessa is also dead ig.

If they carry on with Noxus I feel like this works fine, Mel is after all now the new Queen or whatever Noxus has. Warlord? Idk with this I’m actually fine? Like I find this acceptable just wish she’d had more time (they could’ve made the last episode 2 hours long and I feel like we would’ve had something better).

-Overall, even if it was only the last act, they had a lot of meat on a bone that’s too short.

They had a lot of things they wanted to do (needed to do) but didn’t give themselves the time, one extra season would’ve given characters more development and would have made a lot of this stuff better in my opinion. I know a lot of hardcore fans are looking at the season through rose colored glasses and I did too, but because I love arcane as much as I do, I can actually admit when stuff wasn’t good, I don’t need to convince myself everything was done well when it wasn’t.

Now it wasn’t anywhere near bad or even mediocre it just wasn’t what it could have been.

The way they could maybe fix some things is with an extra collection of small episodes? Imagine this (maybe I’m delulu, did not sleep)

A collction of 3 short videos that cover some stuff I wish I saw: 1 (Caitlyn deciding she didn’t wanna be besties with Ambessa), 2 (Ekko and Jinx preparing for the battle, (I feel like maybe they had no idea how to make jinx act in this but I digress)), 3 (more conclusive aftermath of the battle we have been building up to for 2 seasons)

Overall it is not what it could have been if you ask me, now maybe they aren’t done with the characters (not the world, these specific babies), which I am hoping, as I said earlier I feel like there’s some people that still need character development. And also I don’t wanna say goodbye but that’s a different ache in my chest, also the way Caitlyn was talking it sounds like we should be expecting a second series with these characters (with some new ones why not), I just feel like THESE CHARACTERS ARE NOT DONE YET. And I’m not talking abt a cameo in the background, I’m talking abt a role as at the very least a side character.

These characters are the ones that introduced us to this world (unless you play the game obviously, I do not). And I feel like that gives them the right to have better written conclusions.

Feel like I’m repeating myself at this point. Probably forgot something too but whatever maybe if I remember I’ll add it.

I also just get so sad at the thought of Jinx being alone after everything she’s been through like Ekko will absolutely take you in rn sweetheart, we miss you come home (please tell me I’m not wrong abt ur ass being alive pleaseee)

If anyone read through all of this disorganized mess, I hope it made at least a bit of sense.

[nasa-parker]

best friend just said she feels hurt by our friendship and wants to talk about it but hasn’t replied back to me 😀👍🏼

[akirathedramaqueen]

There's one piece of concept art that made me see the entire Apology Tour disaster in a different light.

So, we've been talking with @warblogs17282 about Stolitz and how their break-up ended up playing out in the 'Apology Tour' episode.

Why ended up? Well, there's a collection of concept art which, to my limited understanding of this craft, is one of the first steps in the production process of animation. This post by @birdy-babe includes a great chunk of it, shared by artists after the episodes aired (like storyboards, but much more stylised, showing how different some original ideas were). Long story short, one of the concept arts from the 'Apology Tour' episode suggests their quarrel was originally meant to be much harsher.

A short summary of the concept art to see what we are dealing with

In the background, you see a lot of apology postcards and silly cutesy stationery, suggesting Blitzø is in the middle of his Apology Tour.

The contact name isn't 'Stols' but 'Bird Dick,' implying their relationship is at an earlier stage, with less respect—at least on Blitzø's part.

There's a photo partially cut by the edge of the messages screen. From the signature gloves and boots, cowboy hat covering Blitzø's private parts, and visible nipples, it appears to be a nude image—replaced in later stages of development with stupid gay affirmation memes (as hard as it is to believe, I couldn't imagine there could be anything worse than the Striker horse gay jokes... well, it could, my dudes, it fucking COULD).

There are three messages, one of which is unsent:

"Stolas, cum awwwwwwn, u no u want it :)"—likely attached to the nude;

"Dude just talk to me"—desperation crawls in; he finally realises the shit has hit the fan;

"Im sowwy :("—an apology, but the text remains unsent, perhaps because it seems pointless, given that the 'Not Delivered' notifications and warning signs indicate Stolas has blocked his number.

Why do I find this fascinating, and why does it fill me with immense hope?

Because they still fucking care so much, and neither has completely closed the door on the other. By comparing the concept art to the final product, you can see how many intentional choices were made in dialogue, visuals, and behaviour to make it clear that these two idiots still want things to continue. Stolitz is meant to fucking live.

Now, if you want to see some comparisons—evidence, really—let's dive into each other's changes, focusing on what we can gather from the concept art.

Blitzø's side

Change 1—thank gods, no nudes. The gay memes are sillier and a bit lighter. Of course, they still showcase utter disrespect, a horrible prejudice against sexuality, and a poor understanding of how deeply Stolas was hurt, but I find them... less bad.

Change 2—no more 'Bird Dick.' Blitzø has actually come up with a real nickname for Stolas! Feelings are boring for you, huh, Blitzø? I can almost hear the song’s lines: "O-oh, hooked, addicted you might say, conflicted in a way…"

Change 3—Blitzø's attempts to apologize now show much more contemplation. Since Stolas hasn’t blocked him, Blitzø knows his words aren’t just being thrown into the void. Although the 'unsent' detail remains, it now carries real weight and impact.

All three changes are seen in these two GIFs.

He knows he did wrong. He knows he wants to salvage it. He might not yet know how to do it healthily, but he tries—he tries so fucking hard!

Look at the range of raw, cutting emotions as he speaks to Stolas and finally delivers his apology—probably the only one he genuinely meant. Well, maybe except for Verosika, a bit later.

It's not that it's hard for Blitzø to say 'sorry'—we've seen him do it a lot lately. He's actually quick to apologise and take responsibility, so Stolas's remark about him not feeling any remorse couldn’t be further from the truth. But the fact that he isn't running away this time—chasing after Stolas and trying his best to mend things—is drastically different from how he treated Verosika back then.

Stolas's side

Here’s the moment that struck me deep. It’s the only change, since the concept art shows Blitzø’s POV, but it’s such a significant one.

Do you think Stolas has moved on? Do you think he’s done with Blitzø? Not convinced, even when he’s literally singing about still wanting Blitzø?

Well, here’s your proof—he didn’t block Blitzø. They scrapped that.

More than that, the entire interaction emphasizes that Stolas isn’t pushing Blitzø away for good.

How do I know this? Stolas is very insistent on using phrases like 'for now,' 'right now,' and 'now' throughout his attempts to tell Blitzø off.

Here are some citations:

"I was hoping my lack of 'ha-ha's' in response to the photos you sent me would be an indicator I didn't want to talk right now."

"Seeing you right now is hard!"

"I'm tired of this! I'm uncomfortable with how you're speaking to me now!"

Why is this so important? Because he isn’t asking Blitzø to leave him forever. All he’s asking for is time.

Even while hurt, Stolas gives Blitzø plenty of chances to explain himself civilly. Look at the hopeful glances each time Blitzø shows any glimpse of genuineness.

Stolas fucking hopes Blitzø will take back all the cruel things said and brash actions done.

You know, Stolas... I've spent the entirety of this morning listening to love ballads, and that was...

For what?! You want me to be like, "Oh sorry, this entire time I assumed the worst because I was convinced a prince could never love someone like me and I've let my self-hatred stop me from apologising to anyone I could ever care about!"

You see the furrowed brows and the sad look? Stolas hopes for the best... but gets the worst because Blitzø isn’t there yet.

I’d even go so far as to say Stolas is acutely aware that Blitzø uses his brashness as a shield to protect himself. He literally sang about it in 'Just Look My Way.'

Unless it's me? And no matter what in this world I could give, it's not enough to get through these walls you've conjured up to live.

So, what gives?

Is this the behaviour of people who want to give up on a relationship they still clearly hold dear?

No. Even when they’re angry, aggressive, hurt, or drunk, they still seek understanding and forgiveness. They continue to listen and try.

They might lack the skills and may choose the wrong time, place, or words to express what truly matters...

One person, scared of being rejected so much that he unconsciously conveys this message by saying, "You don’t have to stay here with me," and carrying it throughout the whole conversation...

The other, coming to terms with his feelings, admits them, and his fears, a bit too late—when his romantic interest is too drunk to comprehend anything…

And in both cases—self-loathing, self-hatred, doubts, scars, trauma… and a lack of hope.

But there is hope. No, this is reassurance, my folks.

You know when it's hardest to stay in a relationship? When it’s hardest to come and say, "I am sorry," when it’s hardest to still love the person?

When you’re hurt. When they’ve hurt you.

And, despite that, you still come to them and still want to talk to them.

If this isn’t ironclad evidence that this is more than just a fling or a couple of fun sex dates, I don’t know what is.

And the 'Apology Tour' fucking proves it, rather than ruins it. It only strengthens the point. It’s easy to live in happiness, but it’s so hard to go through it while you’re in pain. When you see them doing that, you realise it means everything to them.

Stolitz is to live.

[lawchwan]

love alphabet (sanji)

summary: just another alphabet for our favorite perverted romantic chef

disclaimer: there are some spoilers of skypiea and Whole Cake Island in some alphabets so be warn with that. and obviously some alphabets have nsfw content. Also some alphabets have fem terms, which was not my intention, i’ll edit them once i have the free time.

crossposted on ao3

A = Affection (PDA, what sort of affection they give)

You are talking to the king of PDA. If you’re someone who cannot handle pda, then you need to start handling it with Sanji. He loves to be hands-on with you, literally, declaring to the entire world how much you mean to him. This man just outright loves you, and he’s not shy of showcasing it.

Bonus: he loves to be extra in front of Zoro, just to rub it in his face, only to get a groan and an eye roll of disgust from him (and the entire straw hats really, even Luffy couldn’t stand it)

B = Babies (Anything you want about babies)

“Oh, you want babies? Say less, ma’am, I’ll throw all the condoms and contraceptives away. When and where and I’ll give it to you” he says, with heart eyes and nosebleed as you mentioned in passing about babies.

In all seriousness, Sanji does have a soft spot for kids. He is a very gentle man and often really caring towards kids. If you remember at the end of enies lobby, the way he handled Chimney with such care after her exclaiming about how hungry she is how I imagined he’d be with his own kid, and maybe even extra doting and caring. Also chopper and Sanji’s interaction during skypiea… I don’t think I need to add more… (Although Chopper is 17 years old/was 15 during skypiea, it still applies)

C = Cuddles (How they cuddle or are cuddled)

Oh that man loves to cuddle. He may not be the most fleshy, he does however have the warmth that can counteract as a blanket and that’s enough of you. He, like law in my previous love alphabet, loves to be the small spoon, except he is more open about and doesn’t care about one says about it.

D = Darling  (Pet names) 

He’ll throw in any affectionate nicknames that he could think of at the top of his head and will say it with no shame. But I do think he’s the type to say “darling,” “my love,” “my sweet,” and “angel.”

He also has more pet names/nicknames in the bedroom and calls you goddess/god and mommy/daddy. He one time slipped up and called you mommy/daddy in front of Zoro, and Zoro mocked him for all eternity until you confronted him… : )

E = Enamored (how hard do they fall when in love)

It's Sanji we’re talking about… this man will lay his eyes on any woman and he’ll fall head over heels. But when it comes to you, there’s a slightly subtle change. While he still maintains his chivalry and flirtatious act, he does put in extra effort with you. If he makes Nami and Robin a parfait, then you’ll get extra toppings and flavors of your liking. Honestly, their food—still being better than how he would serve his male crew—would start looking underwhelming next to yours, but it's not that they’re complaining. Matter of fact, they, mainly Nami, thank you for having reciprocal feelings since Sanji hasn’t been going at either woman.   

F = Firsts (A first on anything you pick)

The first time Sanji cooked for you was special. You were sitting in the kitchen, alone with him, as you happened to catch a case of “midnight hunger,” and there he was, a handsome cook cleaning the dishes as he hums to himself. When you made your presence known, the blond man turned with his usual charismatic smile and turned the sink before doing so.

“hey, (y/n) darling, what are you doing here?”

He seemed genuinely to be ecstatic to see you in the kitchen, even though it was god-awful late at night, he didn’t seem bothered for some reason. You were about to mention how hungry you were, until the grumble of your stomach spoke for you, only for you to look away, flustered. Sanji simply chuckled as he stated sweetly, “I guess I know why…”

And there you were, as much as you didn’t want to wear him out, he was very insistent and ended up cooking up something upon your request. You just sat there, ogling at the cook as he worked his magic. You stare at his hands, veins popping up handsomely due to the force he is exerting, whether through cutting vegetables or holding onto the sizzling pan, as you place your head onto your hand. You didn’t say much to not distract him, but, man oh man, was he attractive just cooking for you.

“oh, how I wish those hands were on me…” you thought to yourself as you began analyzing his physique with your eyes wandering from his blond locks to his tiny yet built waist, down to his thick ass. Your head was heading to perverted places where you might need a quick shower afterward.

He seemed to have noticed that you were staring at him, so as he finished with his finishing touch, he began declaring, “Voila!”  as he handed you the dish. You were brought back to reality after he spoke up, and you looked down at your dish.

“Oh, wow does that look good,” you say, softly yet excitedly. He just shrugged and hummed with a confident smile before handing your utensils. As you had your first bite, you closed your eyes as you moaned in glee; you truly never doubted him when it came to food because that was perhaps the most delicious dish you ever had. He simply just looked at you admirably, as he mimicked your look towards him when you saw him cook, even down to the head-on-chin position.

Once you were done, you sighed and let out a phew due to your fullness. “How’d you like it?” Sanji spoke up with a smile as he took your plate.

“That was amazing, Sanji… Thank you so much,” You say with gratitude as you hold his face with one hand, and he leaned against it. He mirrored you, only this time he leaned in before he wiped the corner of your lips the remaining sauce while he maintained eye contact.

“Missed a spot,” he whispered to you before licking his finger, winking, and taking the plate to the sink. He then had his back to you with a smirk while you looked at him in awe.

God, does this man drive you crazy…

G = Good Morning (How do they wake you up)

You best believe that you’ll be getting your morning kisses daily from him. If he wakes up before you, he’ll just lift himself and stare at you with love sparkle all over his blue eyes, he’ll probably even run his fingernail against your skin before kissing you awake. He’ll paint that beautiful smile as he says with his gentle morning voice, “Good morning, sunshine.”

That’s on his lazy days though, other days, however, he might just wake you up with breakfast in bed. He’ll set aside the tray before he gently shakes you until you wake up and informs you that he made you breakfast.

He is such a romantic, it warms one’s cold heart.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs?)

His hugs are so warm… I don’t know what else to add. He just adds a layer of comfort to him, just like his cuddles.

I = In Labor (Labour and Delivery)

He’s an absolute mess and honestly, you might have considered kicking him out during delivery. It’s not that he’s a dick about it or whatever—matter of fact, poor dude’s just trying to help—, but he’s acting like he’s the one giving birth due to his nervousness and is making you feel worse about the situation. If he wasn’t your love and/or the father of your child, you’d have kicked him out and had Zoro or Robin fill the role for support (you’ve thought of Nami as well, but she’d probably be squeamish and leave the room).

And once that child’s out, he’ll probably cry at the sight of your beautiful creation and kiss you on the top of your head while he praises you and compliments the beautiful bundle of joy.

“You did it… You’re so amazing,”

J = Jealousy (Are they jealous? How do they handle it?)

And the winner of the most hypocritical individual award goes to; Blackleg Sanji. You might have to beat him for it, because how the fuck is he allowed to flirt with other women, yet he beats men whom you’ve given the same energy?

All jokes aside, this man will probably glare at the person who’s attempting to get closer to you. He’ll probably start causing chaos if anyone were to lay a hand on his partner and he doesn’t care, he’ll stop when the one who gets the beat down promises he won’t look at you again.

K = Kisses (How do they kiss? How often?)

You finally understood the addiction to nicotine when you first pressed your lips against his. No matter a peck or a full-on passionate, his lips were simply addicting and you just crave them every time you look at him. He places a cigarette on his lips, and you envy the tip of the cigarette for it is covered by his lips when it should be your skin that is covered by his lips.

He kisses you very often, maybe a little bit too often, disgustingly often. But he’ll tone it down if you ask, and he’ll give you kisses throughout the day, he can never leave a day with no kisses for you.

L = Loyal (How loyal are they?)

Contrary to popular belief—and the jokes I’ve been making earlier—, Sanji’s pretty loyal. Sure, he may flirt with multiple women, which is a bad habit, but he never thought of sleeping with them now that he’s with you. He mainly claims it as just acts of chivalry, but truly he never intends on coming off as overtly flirtatious nor does he have any intentions of cheating on you, and he will always find a way to prove it.

M = Memory (Their favourite memory about you?)

The first time you declared your love for him. Underneath that charismatic aura, Sanji’s a broken man who believes that love is not by his side. Sure, he is aware that he has platonic, or rather familial love from the straw hat crew, Zeff, and the workers at Baratie, but he never would have thought that he’d find genuine romantic love and he was on his journey of accepting that.

Until you came along and ruined it, and Sanji couldn’t have been more grateful that you did. When you two happened to be kissing each other after an intimate session, you held him and uttered those three words, only for him to be gasping and widen his eyes in astonishment.

“What?”

You looked at him with a loving smile and holding onto his delicate face, “I love you, Sanji…”

You made Sanji’s heart flutter as he looked at you with glossy eyes and he laid on your chest and you began stroking his locks. You didn’t want him to respond if he didn’t want to, you simply just wanted to let him know, only for you to hear a whisper,

“I love you too…”

N = Never! (Dealbreakers)

Never mention his biological father, and don’t you ever try to reunite them. Sanji considers Zeff as his real dad, he taught and treated him like a father would to his son, so if you’d reunite them, he’d be over the moon. Reunite him with Judge and Sanji will feel betrayed that you would put him in a room with his abuser.

No amount of “but you guys are family” will cut it.

O = On the Rocks (How do they make up?)

Sanji’s the type to apologize through meals. He’ll obviously talk to you, but no matter how mad he is/you are, he’ll not leave you hungry. You two will start apologizing to each other and admit your mistakes. The one thing you love about Sanji is that he respects you too much for you to be upset, even if you’re in the wrong.

So you’ll simply just talk it out and kiss afterward… which may lead to more action if you get my drift.

P = Playtime (Any headcanons on sex)

Sanji loves to call you goddess/god, no matter if he’s domming or subbing. He just loves the thought of worshipping you and gliding his tongue all over his skin.

He also enjoys giving you oral or fingering you, doesn’t matter where you guys are, he’ll always find a way to have a taste of you, claiming “It’s the best flavor I’ve ever tried.”

Q = Quiet Time (How do they wind down?)

The perfect wind-down for Sanji is simply cuddling in bed or cooking alone with you. Sure, it may seem very cliché, but Sanji’s a cliché man and he knows it, especially when you call him out on it, but he doesn’t care.

What better way to spend some quiet time than when you have your partner with you, am I right?

R = Rapture (What makes them happy?)

When you value him and remind him how loved and important he is. Given his childhood, it is easy for him to slip through the mindset of self-loathing and ending himself, which resulted in his sacrificial personality. While you were never a cure for it, you did help him ease through those tough times, and he grew to appreciate you for your effort and how you don’t perceive the way others do.

Your overall love and appreciation for him means so much to him, thus resulting in making him happy.

S = Soulmate (What do they think of soulmates?)

Oh, he hands down believes in soulmates. First off, he’s a Pisces, and every Pisces I’ve met believes in soulmates. Secondly, he is a romantic at heart, soul, and body so he believes that there’s someone out there that will complete his soul.

T = Together (What do you like to do together?)

Cooking, of course, and also shopping. This man will go broke for you and he’ll be happy to go into debt for you, as long as you are happy and content, please, by all means, make his pockets hurt (but you won't because you love him too much to ever go through that).

U = Unyielding (How do they handle interlopers on the relationship?)

Sanji will karate kick them on their way out. “How dare you to try to meddle in OUR perfect. Beautiful, loving relationship?! Who gave you the absolute right to try and take my sweet partner away?! I’ll beat you to a pulp!” Sanji would exclaim as he proceeded to ambush the person who tried to interlope.

V = Vulnerable (Are they vulnerable often? How do they handle it?)

Sanji would not be as vulnerable as you’d think when you first met. Sure, he’s very emotional in tune and can hold you days on end when you just want to cry out about whatever’s bothering you, past or present.

Just like Law, once he gains trust, that’s when the floodgates are open and he starts becoming vulnerable and talking about his trauma. Please hug him and promise you won’t throw him under the bus with all of that, he needs emotional support and love.

W = Wedding (Wedding headcanons)

He’ll make sure he’ll make your wedding a day you won’t ever forget. I imagine your guys’ wedding being extravagant yet still intimate, inviting only the straw hat crew—yes including Zoro—, Vivi, Zeff, and most of his workers of Baratie from his end. He made sure you had some cake testing before the wedding and was mostly in charge of the catering, despite it being his wedding day.

Despite you were the bride, Sanji was more of a bridezilla than you were, and you had your fair share of freak outs, but not to the extend of Sanji’s to which you had to calm him down. Eventually, however, everything was settled—thanks to you and the rest of the straw hat—and you had a beautiful wedding by the beach.

(idk he seems like someone who would want a beach wedding.)

X = (E)x (How do they handle exes? What do they do if they see them)

He’d act the same with interlopers when it comes to your ex, especially if that ex had done unimaginable heinous things to you.

Meanwhile, his exes might have to run away because otherwise, he’ll start acting “too friendly,” and may slip up a few details about their previous relationship, which results in you being insecure.

He eventually apologizes, genuinely avoids his ex, and never interacts with them.

Y = Yearning (What do they do when they miss you?)

Another pillow sniffer and clothes (panties) stealer. Yup, that’s it, nothing else to add there. Just read my law’s one and just switch law with Sanji and you’ll get the same effect.

While he’s always snatching your pillows and clothes when you’re away, whenever he’s in the kitchen, he’ll even cook your favorite food to remind him of you. Even though he cooked it himself, he can’t help but be reminded of you and your sparkling eyes of joy when you see him cook your favorite meal.

NSFW

 He loves your enthusiasm so damn much, and God does he crave to see it again, especially when you have that similar sparkle when he undresses in front of you and showcases his pink-tipped cock to you.

Where were those panties when he needed them?

Z = Zzz… (Sleeping headcanons)

He loves it when you guys are in spooning positions. While he prefers being the small spoon, he loves to wrap himself around you with your chest on his. The feeling of you being snug beside him makes him feel like he can protect you and there’s no better feeling than that.

characters are owned by oda. i will not tolerate nor accept translation, reposts on other websites, or plagiarism. divider made by mmadeinheavenn.

[asimpwithfreetime]

!Spoilers for Avatar:The way of the water!

Could I get a story about yandare!Tsireya and yandare!Lo'ak being head-over-heels metkayina!reader who is completely oblivious to them? where they're going to confess but when they are done making her gifts and meat to give them, they're missing? Could they confess after she randomly goes missing for hours and the entire village is looking for them? Could she be found ranting to an akula(it's the animal that attacked lo'ak in the movie)? Pretty please🙏

Finally I can develop my yandere headcanons of Lo’ak and Tsireya 😈

-Is she mine or yours? -Ours (communism, ahem!, I mean, Yandere! Lo’ak x Metkayina! Reader x Yandere! Tsireya)

Content warning: English isn’t my first language and this hasn’t been proofread yet, I might be delusional at this point, sometimes the things I write make it seem like Lo’ak is horny for the reader, but my intention was to make him look obsessed, maybe I should practice my English more and actually learn more words.

General warnings: yandere behavior, oblivious reader, aged up! Lo’ak and aged up! Tsireya, polyamory, courting, double courting, cursing

Another day started for the Metkayina clan the Sullys had decided to stay with. War was over finally and everyone was happy and alive.

Neteyam ruffed Lo’ak’s hair. “So Tsireya and you are a thing now?” The eldest son smiled while laughing.

“Shut up!” Lo’ak shushed him while punching his arm. Neteyam laughed wholeheartedly, wincing when he felt the pain of his wounds still too fresh to move properly.

Lo’ak got up and went down to the beach where Tsireya awaited for him. “Lo’ak I must tell you something” she said hurriedly. “I do too”.

“I see you, Tsireya, but I also see someone else. I don’t know how to explain it is just-“ he was cut off “a connection, as if Eywa wanted us three together” Tsireya continued for him. Lo’ak was dumbfounded.

“So you also feel like this?” He asked. His eyes shone, he couldn’t hide his excitement. “Yes” she smiled, in response he kissed her forehead. “Is it Y/n?” Lo’ak asked.

Tsireya looked surprised, “Y-yes”. “We could court her together” he said.

“She could be ours” Tsireya said, the tone dropping. As they continued to talk their yandere side got wilder, but they both loved each other and had put their target on Y/n. Something else shone in their eyes every time they planned it.

Y/n was a normal Metkayina, with her duties and chores here and there. She had helped alongside the others in the war and she had tended Neteyam’s wounds. That way, Lo’ak got to know her. As he was often visited by Tsireya she also got to know the sweet Metkayina that stole their hearts.

But her sweet nature and her soft act made them both fall in love. And maybe even more than in love. She sparked a new sensation in them, making them obsess over her, they need to know where she is, who she is with and everything.

Speaking of which, when she saw Lo’ak and Tsireya on the beach she swam towards them. “Hey guys, how is it going?” She asked. “Is Neteyam doing better?” The way she worried, the cute concern written all over her face, she was perfect.

Even though, when they heard of Neteyam, the way his name rolled out of her tongue, they almost scoffed. “Oh, he is doing okay and we were going to look for cool shells, care to join us?” Tsireya said, smiling up to her. She nodded. “I have just finished my chores so, why not”.

Lo’ak helped her up to her ilu, even though she could have done it herself. He wanted to hold her. Just the short lived feeling of his hands in her waist was driving him crazy.

Once they were all riding their ilus, they took Y/n to a reef full of beautiful shells. And while Y/n was distracted looking at some fish, Lo’ak and Tsireya took it upon themselves to find gifts for her.

“Y/n! Look!” Lo’ak said, he gave her a (your favorite color) shell. It sparkled under the sunlight. “Oh, it is beautiful, Lo’ak” she responded. He saw the stars, he loved her voice and the way she said his name and the way her eyes looked at him. Her body, her frame, her personality, everything was a blessing from Eywa. He loved her and wanted her.

When she was about to give the shell back he said “you can keep it, it is a gif”. That was the beginning of the courting, even if Y/n didn’t have a clue.

From that they on, the would appear around her at random points of the day, asking to help her, gifting her stuff or showing off their skills. She thanked them with a smile, thinking it was just friends giving gifts to friends. She even returned the gesture with shells she had found and things like that.

“Bro” Neteyam called Lo’ak over in one of his and Tsireya’s courting sessions. “What?” The younger sibling huffed. “I think she isn’t noticing your advances, she is just being friendly” he deadpanned.

“No she is not! She is accepting our advances” Lo’ak responded angrily. “Look at her” Neteyam said. Lo’ak turned, it was true. You were playing with Tsireya on the water, splashing around.

Tsireya was blushing while Y/n played with a child-like nature. She was just having fun with a friend, while Tsireya didn’t notice.

After that, they planned the day that they would confess to her, no more playing.

The day came and as Lo’ak and Tsireya prepared everything, time passed. When it was time to search for Y/n they came with the surprise that she wasn’t there anymore.

“Where the fuck is Y/n?” Lo’ak grunted desperately. “I don’t know” Tsireya sighed. “We should look for her”.

Soon the whole village was searching for her, nobody could find her. Tsireya and Lo’ak went way over the reef to find her. Tsireya signed towards Lo’ak underwater “I see her, let’s be quiet”. Lo’ak nodded and followed her.

They hid behind some rocks and saw Y/n swimming supposedly alone. Until a huge Akula came over. Lo’ak started swimming towards her until he felt a tug on his tail. The Metkayina girl signed for him to stop and wait. He, pretty against his will, went back down.

“You wouldn’t believe it” Y/n signed to the akula. “There is an omatikaya boy and a Metkayina girl who are always with me” she told her friend happily. Lo’ak and Tsireya were dumbfounded.

“They are nice and always friendly, but I think I like them” she signed with fast movements. Tsireya and Lo’ak smiled at each other. The akula softly pushed against Y/n in a loving and caring movement. “You know how excited I can get” she laughed.

[beenbaanbuun]

i think i sent you a request sometime earlier and if you didn't want to answer it that's totally fine!! you can look past this one as well if that was the case!!

but i'm still thinking about mingi bringing you to his studio to keep him company while he works and then he gets distracted by your presence and just ends up eating you out and fucking you on the couch there 🫣

mingi just being obsessed with his partner and everything about them makes me go a little crazy

also hope your hangover isn't too bad! take care <3

ah! no you deffo did send it and i meant to answer but i just got sidetracked 😭😭 like it’s literally half written in my drafts but imma just go ahead and freehand it now bc this is way too good not to talk about…

like he definitely takes you to the studio with the intention of doing work and he definitely has to tell you to behave before he even starts working but like… how are you supposed to behave when your hot boyfriend is literally right there?? so he can hardly blame you when you start doing things to tease him.

like imagine you just start moaning a little, and when he turns to you with a cocked brow and a scowl on his face, you tell him the couch is uncomfy and the moans are because your back hurts. if you want to push it a little, you might even ask him if you can sit on his lap instead. and obviously because mingi can’t say no to you he just rolls his eyes and pats his legs.

but then when you’re sat with your ass against his half-hard crotch, you can’t help but tease him a little by rolling your hips. obviously he tries to ignore you and get on with whatever he’s doing, but you can feel his dick getting harder with every roll of your hips, and you can hear the little grunts he lets out every so often.

it doesn’t take much to push him over the edge, and when you do, he’s lifting you up and literally throwing you down onto the couch. like you don’t even have a second to think before his hands are tugging at your jeans and your panties, and his lips are attaching themselves to your clit.

and while he’s eating you out like you’re his last meal, he can’t help but literally moan into your pussy. it almost feels like he’s getting more pleasure out of this than you are, which should be impossible because he has your thighs shaking in seconds. like, you cannot tell me he doesn’t know what to do with his tongue because that man 100% does. he’ll have you cumming in record time, and then carry on for more.

and i’m a firm believer in the fact that he is insatiable when it comes to eating pussy. he’d be down there, slurping and moaning and just making the most vulgar sounds known to man forever if you’d let him. but obviously overstimulation is a thing, and eventually you have to push him away for a breather. but i can that guarantee that even when you’re literally on the verge of passing out, this man will find some way to complain about wanting more.

but when he realises just how tired you are, he realises maybe you’re right and maybe he can’t just carry on eating you out until he himself is satisfied. so instead, in the softest voice he can muster - as if he hasn’t just been ravaging your pussy like a wild animal - he asks if he can fuck you. he’s fumbling over his words and fiddling with his fingers and practically begging you to let him fuck you, all while your juices are spread over his mouth and chin.

and you say yes, because you’re not evil, and he just smiles at you. doesn’t even bother to take his sweats off, just pushes them down to let his dick spring free before railing you into the couch. i can guarantee he tries to start off soft but the man has zero self restraint and actually ends up fucking you so incredibly hard that you’re seeing stars.

but he’s still so kind and so mingi with it because he knows you’re overstimulated, but he still feels like he can’t just fuck you and not let you cum, so he asks you if you want to. the second he sees you nod your head, he starts to play with your clit, but it’s so gentle compared to his thrusts because he knows you won’t need much to cum this time around.

and he’s absolutely right because his finger is barely on you before you’re squeezing tightly around him and creaming over his dick. and seeing your face screw up at the same time is all he needs for his own hips to stutter to a standstill as he releases his load into you…

[piniatafullofblood]

disclaimer: these are just my raw feelings and immediate reaction because I’m feeling really hurt and sad about this and I can’t talk to anyone irl about it. this is a vent post, not me genuinely trying to psychoanalyze this ending in good faith.

mha 430 leak spoilers and the uncut unfiltered feelings of a physically disabled teenager about it

oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god okay.

so I’m fifteen, right. I’ve been caring about this show for 1/3rd of my life. I’ve been caring about these characters sometimes more than I care about irl people for. 1/3rd of my life.

and I’m physically disabled. I’ve been physically disabled my entire life, it wasn’t like an accident or anything. (minorly, but it’s obvious when you look at me and I was raised in military/christian spaces during childhood so it ended up affecting me a lot.) and I’ve always seen quirklessness as an allegory for disability. that’s always been what it meant to me.

and from the beginning I was ready for it to be about conformism, right? like if you only conform and work hard enough and bend over backwards to meet the expectations of society you can succeed. that’s what I’ve known that this show was about ever since the training montage in episode one. I had made myself content with the fact that the narrative is sort of pro system, pro police, pro stfu and cope. and the first time I watched it, I recognized the ‘greatest hero’ vs ‘number one hero’ line in episode one. I knew that that would probably be how it ended. but I really, really, wasn’t prepared for this.

he.. failed.

his stint with a quirk, in the limelight, was for a year and a half while he was in highschool. he never got to be a hero. he’ll spend the rest of his life thinking about ‘that time when I got so fucking close’. people will stop remembering him for the sports festival and by the time he’s a teacher he’ll have to show them old clips from it to explain why he’s teaching at a hero school.

and he did it all perfectly. he did it all perfectly. as soon as he was given a chance he trained hard and fought harder, and put in all the work to become a great hero. he analyzed and trained and thought and worked and he did everything right.

and then in the end he wasn’t able to keep it.

I was ready for the ending to be about conformism. I wasn’t ready for ‘you will never be fucking good enough, and if you weren’t born with an advantage, you won’t suceeed.’

although, maybe I should’ve been, with the ‘all men are not created equal’ talk in the beginning. I wasn’t ready for him to fail. out of all the anime’s I’ve watched, Izuku midoriya was the protagonist that deserved to win the most. he deserved to be happy. he did everything right. this is all he ever wanted out of his life.

and now he becomes a teacher, and has to watch from the sidelines as Bakugo succeeds without him. which is never what anyone wanted, much less Bakugo. we’re back at the beginning, back where we started. Katsuki succeeding and being great and Izuku watching from the sidelines and cheering him on. and maybe it’s much less contentious now, and maybe they will both know that Izuku is more of a hero, but that doesn’t fucking matter. from someone who had the consolation prize of moral dignity their entire life- it really, really, doesn’t change anything. it doesn’t matter. that doesn’t change the reality that he’ll spend his days watching all their fights on TV and he hasn’t seen the rest of the class for eight fucking years. I know that there are alternative ways to see the ending. I know this is probably not the intention horikoshi had with this ending. but this is how it impacted me and I’m not gonna stop saying it. once a fucking cripple always a fucking cripple, or whatever.

I always knew it would probably have an unsatisfying ending. that it might hurt me. that the cultural differences would probably only lead to my over sensitive ass being hurt and sad. but I wasn’t ready. he deserved better. izuku deserved better.

[pinkeoni]

Figuring Out Lonnie’s Whole Deal

(Or, assembling a timeline of pre-show events inspired by a culmination of theories centering around one Lonnie Byers)

After spending much time deliberating and theorizing, I’ve come to what I believe is a solid timeline of events relating to Lonnie Byers grounded in evidence from the show.

Now I don’t have all of the pieces, but also if I had all of the pieces then I wouldn’t need to be theorizing in the first place. Still, I’m fairly confident in my assessment. Maybe it would be wise of me to wait for The First Shadow to come out to give me more information, but for all intents and purposes of this I will only be looking at evidence within the text of the show. So no cast or crew comments, no supplemental materials, and as much as I love it, no speculation regarding TFS. Still, I think the show has enough evidence to support my assertion.

Things to establish:

A lot of what I’m about to talk about comes from a basis of these three things—

1. Will and El’s storylines mirror each other, which I charted out here. Their stories share a lot of differences, and a lot of similarities.

2. Powers are being used in this show to explore themes of sexuality through a sci-fi/supernatural lens. I talk about this in length here, but tl;dr El’s powers are used to explore the exploitation and reclamation of female sexuality, and Will’s powers are being used to show the demonization and repression of homosexuality.

3. Oh yeah, and Will has powers, by the way.

Surface Level Information We Are Given About Lonnie Byers:

It might be best to have a refresher of what we know about Lonnie Byers. Most of this comes from season one and all of it is displayed directly to the audience—

Lonnie is the absentee father of Jonathan and Will and ex-husband of Joyce

He left his family at an unspecified date that led Jonathan and Will to build Castle Byers the night of

He currently lives in Indianapolis

He used to call Will homophobic slurs

Joyce once argued with him about not showing up to a visitation with Will

Jonathan and Joyce do not speak of him fondly. Will’s feelings are unclear but seem positive “It’s fun to go with him sometimes”

Expressed interest in wanting to see Jonathan more

Referred to Joyce as “babe” despite being apart and having another girlfriend

Did not take Joyce’s calls to his house

Doubted Joyce, took down her Christmas lights and tried to repair the hole in the wall

Has unspecified debts

Likes to fix cars

Doesn’t like cops

Tried to use his “dead” son for lawsuit money

Was kicked out by Joyce and hasn’t been seen on screen since

Things to glean from just below the surface:

The following are things that are not stated directly, but can be easily inferred from clues given in show—

Lonnie is likely an alcoholic, shown through an abundance of beer bottles littering his house. Even if he splits it between him and his tiny girlfriend, it’s still an absurd amount of beer for two people. It’s possible he may have other addictions as well.

Lonnie was likely physically abusive towards Jonathan given his “You’ve gotten stronger” comment in the house. It’s possible that the extent of his abuse could stretch far beyond that for both Jon and Will.

Will likely used to hide from his dad. Jonathan and Will built Castle Byers the night he left, which Jonathan remarks that Will likes to hide in. Not to mention the “he’s good at hiding” comment.

The rest of this post is going to be much more speculative, but it’s all speculation that is grounded in what we see on and just below the surface.

Theory #1) Lonnie was involved with MK-ULTRA

This was an idea that I tossed around a while ago, that after spending time with and finding new evidence I’ve now grown more confident in.

Most of this confidence comes from this conversation between Becky and Jopper. Becky tells Hop that him and Terry would have gotten along, as Terry didn’t like authority or the government— “The Man , with a big capital M.” (which is ironic given Hopper is a cop)

When discussing who was involved with MK-ULTRA, Becky mentions “people like [Terry]”

So people like Terry, who maybe don’t like authority as was just mentioned?

It seems as though the Byers have always been down on their luck in terms of finance. Would it be hard to believe that, especially given the close proximity of the lab to the Byers house and Lonnie's willingness to get money in the show, Lonnie might have partaken in a paid study in the past? ("You were in it for the money!")

Above I mentioned the implication that Lonnie is an alcoholic. If he was involved with a study involving hard drugs, could he have developed addiction problems through the program? Furthermore, wouldn't it also make sense for Lonnie to gain a mistrust of authority after being taken advantage of by the government?

In my initial post about it I discuss how this could be foreshadowed through Hopper’s past as well. Hopper was involved with something government related that required chemicals, something that ended up affecting his child.

Theory #2) Lonnie was working with the lab during season one

Another part of proving Lonnie’s MK-ULTRA involvement is his connection with the lab. Everything that I’m about to list could align perfectly with Lonnie simply just being a shitty ex and father, but everything that I’m about to list could also align perfectly with the idea that Lonnie was working with the lab against Joyce the entire season.

1) Lonnie’s fishiness with Joyce’s phone call

I’ve already made an entire post about this here but I’ll recap all of the important bits.

Right before we see Joyce call Lonnie in the first episode, we are shown the lab spying on her conversation explicitly. Joyce is then sent to voicemail, which given the ordering of scenes makes me wonder if the lab purposefully intercepted her call.

Joyce also never actually talks to Lonnie on the phone. Cynthia picks up until their call is disconnected, which could have been Cynthia but also could have been the lab interfering again.

When Jonathan confronts Lonnie about not returning Joyce’s call, he kind of shrugs off his answer.

Why the hesitancy at first, Lonnie?

Lonnie tells Jonathan that he’s talked to police, which is likely, but then adds a comment that makes me question if he talked to any Hawkins cops at all.

Why do you need to ask if Hopper is chief, if Hawkins police came to question you, Lonnie?

2) The timing of Lonnie showing up in Hawkins

Even after being told this his own son is missing, Lonnie does not show up in town until after—

Will’s “body” is found in the quarry

Joyce refuses to sign off on the fake body

Joyce actually speaks to and is able to see Will through the hole in the wall

The next time we see Joyce is when Lonnie pulls up that night at the Byers house. Here is what Lonnie does while he’s there:

Tells Joyce that Will is in her head

Tell Jonathan not to feed into Joyce’s “delusions”

Takes down the Xmas lights that Joyce was using to talk to Will

Covers the hole in the wall that Joyce saw Will through

Unsuccessfully tries to convince Joyce to use Will’s "death" for money

All of these actions align perfectly with Lonnie’s character, do you also see how it also aligns perfectly with Lonnie trying to purposefully cover up the truth?

We don’t see Joyce call Lonnie to come over and I highly doubt that Jonathan asked him to come. Granted, Lonnie was most likely notified by police of Will’s death, why not come right away? Why wait until after Joyce refuses to believe that it’s Will’s body and after she actually sees Will alive in her walls?

Remember that the lab had likely bugged her house as well, given the scene where Hop finds a bug in his cabin.

Think about the timing of when the lab decided to place Will’s body in the quarry and have it found, something that we know for a fact was their doing. This comes after Joyce had discovered the ability to talk to Will through the lights and right after the writing on the wall scene, when Joyce was coming closer to the truth.

If a lab personnel showed up at the Byers, took down the lights and hammered over the wall, that would obviously draw a lot of suspicion towards them. But if the lab could get someone on the inside to do it, perhaps an ex-spouse that can be easily manipulated with cash and already had connections to them, that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

That’s also where the lawsuit comes in. If the lab is paying off Lonnie and his family, they can’t just give them the a ton of cash directly, it would likely have to go through a third party under the guise of something else, like a legal suit. I’m willing to bet all my money that the suit Lonnie wanted to file on the Sattlers was just another cover from the lab.

Theory #3) Lonnie was trying to hand Will over to the lab

Another note about Terry, if Will and El are mirrors then Lonnie and Terry may possibly be mirrors, too. If Terry was desperate to get El out of the lab then maybe Lonnie was desperate to get Will into the lab. Also the difference between Terry's daughter being taken from her/Lonnie voluntarily leaving his own son.

Something we know about Lonnie Byers— he was homophobic towards Will and did not want to visit him after he had left.

Something else we know about Lonnie Byers— he likes to fix cars.

We have confirmation that Lonnie was trying to “fix” Will, at least in a less aggressive manner, by taking him to baseball games. Jonathan says explicitly, “He’s trying to force you to like normal things.” This line is so incredibly loaded, what Jonathan is saying below the surface is "He's trying to force you to like girls."

The above scene is in the same episode where Jonathan goes to Lonnie’s Indianapolis house, and we get a line from Lonnie about him fixing up a car.

Yes, Will is being compared to a car. Lonnie wants to fix him.

And remember, Will has powers, and powers are being used as a way to explore sexuality.

So given Lonnie’s connection with the lab from MK-ULTRA as expressed before, along with Lonnie’s hatred of Will and homophobia, along along with powers as a metaphor for Will's queerness, it leads me to believe that Lonnie was trying to cure Will of his powers through the lab. This would essentially be the supernatural version of gay conversion therapy.

I want to talk about the word “mistake”

This word is so potent and really sticks out because we haven’t really seen it used in this way on the show before. The writers could have had Will say “monster” to relate to El's arc, or they could have had him say “freak” which would not only relate to Eddie but is something that Will has called himself in the past. But instead they decide to give him a new word that is different from the labels other characters give themselves.

The word mistake is unique to Will.

What do you do with mistakes? You fix them.

I have a lot of fun with Will-being-a-lab-kid theories, and nothing but absolute love to those who make them, but after doing a lot of my own thinking I’ve since come to the conclusion that Will didn’t grow up in the lab at all, but Lonnie was making an unsuccessful effort to ship Will to the lab. Part of El and Will’s narrative mirroring is Will coming from a normal background while El does not.

Which isn’t to say that the lab didn’t want Will, I think they very much did. I’ve seen the take that Lonnie tried to hand Will to the lab but he didn’t display powers at the time so they wouldn’t take him. But do you really think that that would stop them from wanting him anyway, especially if the boys father was giving him to them willingly? Do you really think that Martin “you wouldn’t stop” Brenner was gonna turn down another child? That someone was willing to give to him?

So then, if Lonnie was willing to give Will to the lab and the lab was willing to take him, what was stopping them?

For starters, I’m guessing that the process involved in receiving a new test subject, especially one that wasn’t born into the lab, would take patience. They can’t just nab Will off the street. They would probably have to surveil things for a while, gain intel from Lonnie, and come up with a strategy.

A strategy that may involve falsifying an accident, a fake body, and the funneling of money via fake lawsuit?

I’m not saying that the lab was the ones behind Will’s disappearance, at least initially. I think the mothergate opening was completely unpredictable from their end and instead necessitated the plan to be accelerated due to sudden unforeseen circumstances, as well as taking advantage of Will’s presence in the Upside Down to try and take him for themselves.

So why wait until now? If they had an airtight plan, why not act sooner?

Could there have been an incident, perhaps, with the lab, which happened prior to Will’s disappearance, that may have delayed this process?

I’m willing to bet that a mass death event of majority of the test subjects and personnel from the place that Lonnie was trying to send Will to, might be enough to put the brakes on this operation, if not on delay for a few years so they can regroup.

While we’re here, I wanna talk about Will’s similarities to Henry Creel

The comparisons between Henry and Will aren’t something hidden under the layers for only die hard theorists to find, this is something that everyone and their mothers were discussing on twitter. The similarities were noticeable even from casual viewing.

Image via Reddit

We know from his monologue that Henry’s mother knew he had powers and wanted to send him away to a doctor, a doctor that we later learn was actual Papa Brenner.

If Will and Henry are similar, is it possible that their parents wanted similar things? The main difference being that Will actually did evade Dr. Brenner.

Furthermore, is it possible that Will has powers similar to One’s and that the lab could have been knowledgeable of this? If that is the case, it may stand to reason that they might be hesitant to bring in someone with similar abilities to the guy who just killed a bunch of people.

I used to think that Will and Henry had to have completely different sets of powers, and while I do think that Will may have abilities unique to himself, given how they are compared I do think that Will may have similar powers to him. In fact, we may have already seen Will display a traveling into the mind ability in season one.

Theory #3.5) Lonnie’s departure correlates with the Hawkins Lab massacre

If Lonnie was desperate to get rid of the son he hates, and then was told that there was an unexpected delay, it would make sense for him to give up and leave town.

There’s been comments from cast and crew in the past regarding when exactly Lonnie left, but it’s never been confirmed in show.

Evidence for why I think it coincides with the massacre actually comes from the shed scene.

Joyce first mentions Will’s eighth birthday, which would have been in March of 1979. The massacre was in September of 1979.

Mentioning his eighth birthday specifically places emphasis on that age. Jonathan then follows Joyce by talking about the night dad left.

We don’t get an exact timeframe or age, but the fact that this follows the story if Will’s eighth birthday does create a correlation with that age. We then switch timeframes when Mike brings up kindergarten.

Think about it, if their dad had left when Will was eight, bringing up his age again would be redundant because Joyce just mentioned it. Mike mentions kindergarten to let us know that this is a different time and age that we’re talking about.

Let’s talk about Lonnie’s debts

What exactly these debts are that Joyce brings up is never specified. And it could be anything. Maybe a loan he took out, drug or gambling debts, since nothing is stated it’s all possible. But here’s my take:

Will is Lonnie’s debt. That’s what he owes.

Remember that the exact way that Lonnie was going to pay back these debts was with Will. He is linked with this debt conversation.

It is Joyce who brings up the debt, but since she doesn’t specify there’s a reasonable doubt that she herself doesn’t know the specifics. She could know that Lonnie is indebted to someone but not know what/could have been lied to.

I’m imagining the lab giving Lonnie some kind of advanced payment for Will, with the promise that they’ll eventually have him. It would be a way for the lab to control Lonnie. He now owes them, and the lab expects to collect their debts. Despite the lab and Lonnie having similar goals, there is definitely a power imbalance.

Lonnie does want a family, just not one with Will in it

More thorough post here, but in season one we get indications in Lonnie's dialogue that he does want to be around his family, like expressing interest in seeing Jonathan more and calling Joyce "babe," which seems to contradict him living in another town, or hell even leaving his family at all.

When Joyce gets mad with Lonnie over the phone about not coming to visit, it was specifically a Will visitation day. It's seeming more and more that Lonnie's departure is centered on Will. (Which doesn't take away from any of the potential abuse he hurled at Jonathan or Joyce. He doesn't care about their interests, only his. Furthermore, I'm not placing blame onto Will for Lonnie's absence. That is all Lonnie's doing)

Am I saying that Lonnie has powers?

Well, maybe.

That is something that I’ve been wondering if Lonnie had powers, which granted is something that relied heavily on speculation regarding TFS which I said I wanted to stay away from for this post. Since I don’t have all the pieces yet, I want to consider as many options as possible.

Option A) Lonnie was born with powers, and MK-ULTRA was simply how he became acquainted with the lab/his powers were repressed and MK-ULTRA activated them

Option B) Lonnie received powers from MK-ULTRA and passed it on to Will

Option C) Lonnie was not born with powers nor received powers from MK-ULTRA but it did give him super-powered sperm

May I remind you of Lonnie's comparison to Terry from earlier in the post, and the fact that Terry herself does have powers.

I oftentimes see the theory that Joyce herself has powers, and I myself even theorized that her Aunt Darlene may have had powers. However I'm more inclined to believe that Joyce is a carrier of this gene rather than having powers herself. Most of the evidence used to suggest that she has powers comes from Joyce reacting to what Will is showing her. There's also no indication that Jonathan has any powers.

If Lonnie participated in MK-ULTRA after Jonathan was born, then it could explain why Will would have powers and not Jonathan. Moreover, having both a mother who is a carrier and a father with powers/nuked balls would likely have a higher chance of having a powered child. (That's how genetics work, right? Please forgive me if my science is wrong.)

Notes on Lonnie's character

You'll note that there are multiple times in this post where I acknowledge that I lot of Lonnie's actions are explainable because of his identity as a shitty guy, and maybe that's all this is. However, I want to explain why having this type of character is actually perfect for a reveal like this.

In order to pull off a successful reveal, you have to hide the truth while also giving enough information so it doesn't come out of nowhere. Lonnie's personality allows for the truth to be hidden in plain sight.

Let's say that Lonnie was actually an upstanding man. Jonathan and Joyce both had fond memories of him, but he left in the past for some unknown reason. Lonnie was always a great husband, but for some reason he's doubting Joyce and taking down her Christmas lights even when she asks him not to.

Do you see how that would create a huge plot hole? How season one would feel incomplete? How it would create a giant unanswered question that needs answering?

Why didn't Joyce know about any of this?

Unfortunately we are told pretty explicitly in season one as to why something like this could have been happening under Joyce's nose. We are told in the first episode that Joyce works long hours, leaving early in the morning and not coming home until later in the night. Jonathan is expected to get Will up, make breakfast, and take him to school. My guess is that Lonnie may have been in charge of such tasks when he was still home.

If Lonnie was, say, taking Will to the lab for some preliminary tests or meetings, he could have easily done this while Joyce was at work or while Jonathan was in school.

We even hear from Joyce herself that she hasn't been keeping up with Jonathan, she isn't in the know how with her sons. (This is not me calling Joyce a bad mother btw, this is definitely a symptom of capitalism rather than bad parenting.)

Why doesn't Will say anything?

If Will was being taken to the lab for appointments in the past, wouldn't he say something about it? Especially to El, who grew up in the lab?

Well, there's a chance that Will doesn't remember this.

Longer post here, but we are given a scene in season four where Will expresses not remembering something from his childhood very well.

Which I could write off as Will being too little to remember this small detail, but this is also coming from the same season where we just got an entire plot line about memories from El's past being erased. (El who, as I stated in the beginning, has a storyline that mirrors Will's)

The Final Timeline

Tl;dr, or, the timeline written out chronologically:

Lonnie marries Joyce and has Jonathan. Jonathan is born without powers

Lonnie becomes involved with MK-ULTRA sometime prior to Will's birth as a way to make money

Joyce and Lonnie have Will, who was born with powers

When Will is very young Lonnie knows that he has powers

Lonnie begins taking Will to the lab in hopes of curing him

Lonnie and the lab strike a deal that involve taking Will in exchange for money

There is a plan to take Will involving a fake accident. Lonnie will file a fake lawsuit in order to exchange the money and avoid suspicion

The Hawkins Lab massacre happens and the plan is delayed

Lonnie leaves

Mothergate is opened by El and Will is taken

Upon realizing that Will is in the Upside Down, the plan moves forward with Lonnie in on it

Things don't go as expected and Joyce is on to Will being alive, so the lab asks Lonnie to come home in order to help with coverup

Joyce is infuriated about the lawsuit and kicks Lonnie out

The rest of the season follows as we see on screen and the labs plan unravels, some of the personnel is killed by El and the demogorgon in the school

[kiss-me-muchoo]

Hello I just have some questions about Miguel and some advice when it comes to writing him.

My question is that when does it gotten to a point where Miguel is being fetishized for being this tanned skin Mexican?

I saw some posts from Mexican authors expressing their own opinions and how they handle Miguel in things like smut or how when the movie first came out there were many smut fics than regular fics like fluffy and angst. I'm trying to avoid being one of those authors falling under that category. And don't get me wrong I'm guilty of reading smut with Miguel but sometimes I'm not to sure if the smut that I'm reading fall under the fetishization category. The same can be said when I'm writing a one-shot smut.

Hi anon luv<3

First of all, thank you for choosing me to answer these questions.

As a Mexican American, and Spanish lit major student, I know when the Spanish is from a translator, and when it is genuine. Also, there hasn’t been a single fic that… grossed me?. However, I do believe that some writers exaggerate with Miguel and his Mexican side. Because I’ve seen worse about this poor fictional man and other ATSV characters.

There’s nothing wrong with using a translator by the way. But it’s likely to end up sounding inconsistent. Which can make it easier to interpret as something fetishized?

My advice is to analyze the dialogues.

Don’t add pet names in Spanish for every sentence Miguel does speak. Especially avoid full sentences in Spanish. In ATSV, we only see Miguel saying vague expressions in Spanish. Such as; no puedo más, mija (😭), coño (lol), etc. So while I do believe Miguel is fluent in spanish , I don’t think he speaks it frequently for full conversations, he’s totally a “pocho” (slang in Spanish used in Mexico to refer to Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants). You shouldn’t feel guilty about reading smut about Miguel. He’s a grown man and a fictional character. My only advice is to not exaggerate. Don’t put much emphasis on his skin or heritage. Don’t overuse pet names with his romantic interests. Use at least two sentences in Spanish if necessary (for example, if the plot is having a dramatic moment, if Miguel is feeling anger, vulnerability, etc). Other than that… you’ll have a good fic with baby Miguel 🩷.

So in general, people… maybe some writer’s intention is not to fetishize Miguel and his Mexican roots, but they are definitely exaggerating with it. If you don’t feel comfortable reading something, scroll down.If you are a writer and you’re unsure about writing for Miguel or ANY OTHER CHARACTER, ask for advice to avoid any misunderstanding.

[girlsneedff]

Impted

Chosou x reader

Slightly NSFW- sexual activities are only mentioned. Still, minors and ageless bios stay away from this pls!!

This is based off of the song Imported by Jessie Reyez and 6LACK. I was blasting that all while writing (and not studying for finals).

Oh, and I drew the pic…

☆*:.｡. o .｡.:*☆ *:.｡. o .｡.:*☆

He doesn’t know why he’s getting so sad over this. It happens all the time. The girl that he loves finds some guy at a party, then they head home together, leaving Chosou a wreck. He knows it’s not fair, and he should have moved on a long time ago, but he can’t.

It’s hard to move on from someone you love- especially when she’s telling him “I love you” back. But she doesn’t want to make it official- she knows that this man will literally walk on his hands and knees to appease her, and she acts like he’s just some guy. It aggravates him to high hell, but he’s still hopeful about her.

This night was no different. She came with Chosou, and she’s leaving with another man. He can see her chatting this guy up from across the room in the house party. She’s batting her lashes up at him, playing with her hair, letting him feel all up on her. Chosou’s seething- you can practically see the steam rising from his head. With every bass boosted beat of the music in the house his heart is being torn to shreds. But she’s made it pretty clear that the two of them aren’t together- at all. He’s beginning to realize that they never will be.

“You look pissed as hell.”

A voice from behind him says, as (presumably, the owner of said voice) snakes an arm across his shoulder, leaning over the back of the chair to talk to him.

He peels his eyes off of ‘his girl’ and gives his attention to the voice.

It’s you. Your hair’s done up- you’re wearing a tube dress with necklaces and other jewelry adorning you. Lipgloss is shining. You’re smirking at him. He’s never seen you before- ever.

He doesn’t respond to you. Instead, he just looks at you blankly, then back at the girl he came with, dancing with another man.

“You like her, huh? In love with your best friend?”

That annoys Chosou a little bit. They’re not best friends- they’re… they…. Fuck he doesn’t even know. He takes a sip of his alcohol, just trying not to send his mind into a spiral.

“I get it. Happens to the best of us.”

Chosou would really prefer if you left him alone to wallow in his own self pity, but it seems that you have no intention of doing that. You haphazardly rub his chest, trying to comfort him.

“Thank you for- thank you for coming to my party.” You slur, smiling warmly.

Great. A drunk hostess. Not that he also wasn’t tipsy- it’s just that he’s sitting down, and he’s focusing all of his sobriety on his love.

And this is your house. It must look so nice when it’s not full of a bunch of mid to late 20-year olds getting wasted as fuck and destroying the place.

“Thank you for having me…”

“Of courseeeee,”

He side eyes you, as you place your head in your other hand.

“You’re too cute to be here upset about a girl.”

You grab the back of his head, which startles him, a tinge of red dancing across his cheeks as you move his head to look around.

“Take aaaa look at all of the possibiliessss.”

You’re referencing all of the people in your home right now. He doesn’t doubt that there’s some beauties in your humble abode, but they’re not her.

When you let go he looks back up at you, rubbing the back of his head clumsily. Now he’s really looking at you. Before he was so focused on his girl that’s not his girl, but now that he’s really really looking at you-

You’re bad as fuck. Real bad. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, or the fact that he’s been ignoring his heart skipping beats like it’s beatboxing ever since you came to pester him. He hasn’t felt this feeling for anyone but her in a long time.

You pick up on his staring, looking him up and down. Then you say, with a sly grin:

“Maybe I can offer some help…”

He stiffens, and it’s noticeable. You let out a small hum, seemingly happy with his reaction, running the hand wrapped around him along his chest.

“Come with me.”

You take said hand and grab his jaw, turning it towards his situationship.

“You really want to sit… and watch in agony?”

He gulps, feeling his heart squeeze even harder, watching this girl on the verge of kissing the random man of the night.

“Your eyes are so easy to read.”

He looks to his side, and sees you leaning over further, damn near falling onto the couch to look at his face.

“At least for now, I can help you forget.”

His face is burning up, and he’s feeling dizzy. Maybe it’s the drink? Or his situation? Or how close you are to his face?

“If you’re not down to fuck, that’s fine too. We can have fun other-“

“I want to fuck.”

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could even process what he was saying with the little control he had.

You let out another hum in satisfaction with a grin.

“Shit- ok then.” You kiss his cheek sloppily, then stand back up behind the couch, waiting for him so you guys can go.

He stands up, looking at ‘his girl’ then back at you over his shoulder. You’re leaning against the wall with your arms crossed, looking at him. Obviously undressing him with your eyes, biting the inside of your cheek.

Your confidence and unabashed ogling is something he’s not used to.

Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but he likes it. Maybe it’s the punch you’ve brewed up for this party, but he’s starting to remember it’s nothing serious between him and ole girl. Perhaps it’s the drink, but he hopes you grip his hair just as roughly as you were doing before, whether he’s eating you out, or you’re riding.

You’re here- for the night, at least. It’s been so long since he’s had sex.

For once, his mind isn’t on her.

Maybe the best way for him to get her out of his head is to get inside of you- at least for the night.

[tellyouily]

blankets over my barbed wire

dnf - 1.8k words

hey guys i wrote a thing :) dnf have an argument but they become friends again i promise and they also hug and kiss

George is in the middle of skimming through the insanely complex block of commands that is the Fusion code when an unnecessarily loud knock at his office door snaps him out of his focus.

Sapnap. Irritation brews in him, but he turns in his chair anyway, pulling one AirPod out to pause his music.

“What?” George snaps, not bothering to sound more patient than he is.

Idiotnap pokes his head in. His eyebrows are raised in expectation. “Are you done being a bitch?”

It takes a second for the question to register, and when it does, George puts his headphone back in and turns to his monitors.

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe how easily Sapnap can get under his skin with just a few words. What’s even more annoying, is that Sapnap is mixing himself into this at all. This—George and Dream’s… conversation.

Their conversation that George blew way out of proportion.

“No.”

Sapnap scoffs loudly enough to reach the desk, and although George has paused his music to hear him, he refuses to give him any attention right now.

“Come on bro. How are you acting like this isn’t your fault?”

“I’m not done,” George repeats, pointedly ignoring the comment. What does Sapnap know about this anyway? He has some sixth sense for sussing out tension between Dream and George, and it has never been useful to either of them.

There’s a pause that goes on just long enough for George to glance at the door again to see if Sapnap has left, which—he hasn’t. George rolls his eyes and turns back, unpausing his music.

Sapnap sighs again and taps the doorframe. “Alright, fine. Be a bitch, I don’t care. I’m going out with Ken to get tacos.”

“Have fun.”

“I will.”

This is when Sapnap should turn to leave, but George can sense that he’s still there. He can never take George’s dismissive answer for an answer, intent on getting things out in the open instead. In his peripheral vision, George can just about make out Sapnap throwing his head back in exasperation.

“Dream is downstairs,” he says begrudgingly.

George rolls his eyes internally; he should have guessed that Sapnap would try to play peacemaker. He continues to press space and backshift repeatedly on his keyboard to seem busy.

Sapnap goes on, “So please, just talk to him. Or don’t. Whatever, I’m done dealing with your dysfunctional ass relationship. Just—go talk to him.”

With that, he finally goes to shut the door, but not before getting in one last word. “Pussy.”

As soon as he’s gone, George pulls his other AirPod out and lets his head fall back against the headrest. It’s a mess. Again.

And Sapnap was right, it is George’s fault—again.

It’s not that he and Dream never argue. Part of their chemistry is thanks to their mutual ability to take a joke and knowing exactly what to say to rile each other up. It’s what they do; they pick fights and come up with intentionally bad takes just to spark a debate.

They like arguing. It’s fun, and it’s easy, just like everything else when it comes to them.

And it’s not like that aspect of their friendship changed when they got… together. George doesn’t even know if that’s what they’re calling it—does Dream tell people they’re together? What if—no, it doesn’t matter.

George shakes his head to stop the thought from spiraling.

The point is that nothing really changed after they became more than friends. Their dynamic has stayed the same, just with an added depth that George can’t describe. He supposes they’re in love. Or something.

But this conversation, last night, wasn’t an argument. They were just talking normally until George decided to say the entirely wrong thing. And maybe it hurt a little extra because of this ‘added depth’.

He regretted picking the fight as soon as the words passed his lips. It was late and they were both tired and Dream was at his desk working on the code George has been staring at all morning.

(His poor attempt at doing something to help; at saying sorry without having to say it.)

Dream had seemed preoccupied and George had asked him what was on his mind. And Dream had been honest, as he always is.

“I’ve just been thinking about you and me and Youtube, and the hurricane, and… I don’t know. I guess I’ve been overwhelmed, a little bit. I want you to be happy here. But I keep reminding myself that we need each other, and that we finally get to have that—”

“Well,” George had butted in, without thinking. “I don’t need you.”

Dream had blinked. “Okay. Well, I need you.”

It was such a tender and typically-Dream thing to confess, and George has no idea what came over him to follow it up with what he did.

As a rule, they don’t talk much about London.

He thinks Dream avoids it mostly as a courtesy to George, which he appreciates, but for George, his old home seems lightyears away and he would rather keep that way. He loves Florida more each day, and he loves Dream even more each day, and those are two things he knows for certain.

So he doesn’t understand what came over him when he somehow ended up saying the complete opposite.

“Well, that’s just you, then. I could move back to London right now and be fine on my own.”

He cringes at the recent memory, and feels something tighten uncomfortably around his heart when he recalls the look that the words had put on Dream’s face.

“Okay, George,” he had said when the initial surprise had faded. Then, devastatingly, “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He had left the room without another word, his arm brushing against George’s in the doorway, and George had just stood there like an idiot.

It had been such a stupid thing to say. So stupid.

He doesn’t even know where it came from—there has never been a time where he meant those words.

Yes, I need you, would have been the only honest response. That, and, I don’t ever want to go back there.

He thinks the only person who can possibly annoy him more than Sapnap, is himself. And he knows helping Dream with the Fusion code isn’t going to cut it for an apology.

. . .

Downstairs, the midday sun is pouring in through the big windows. Up in his dark office, George had almost forgotten that it was daytime.

He finds Dream in the first place he looks; in the living room on the couch with his laptop perched on his lap. He’s clearly in the middle of something, probably typing up some email or other, and George finds himself hesitating by the kitchen island.

It’s dumb that he’s nervous, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is. What is he supposed to say? Sorry? I’m an idiot, please forgive me? No, they know each other too well for that—Dream knows him too well for that.

Luckily for him, it’s Dream who breaks the silence.

“Hey,” his voice makes George’s head snap up.

“Hi,” he blurts out in response. “I…” he swallows, and Dream raises his eyebrows.

George sighs and starts walking towards him. “I’m sorry,” he manages to say. “For yesterday.”

He stops at the foot of the couch, burning hot under Dream’s expectant gaze. He wouldn’t blame Dream for wanting George to suffer a little, watching him fumble with his words.

To his surprise, Dream’s lips curve into a smile. He lifts one hand to rub at the back of his neck, stretching from sitting for a while. “Okay,” he says simply.

George blinks. “Okay?”

Dream shrugs. “I believe you.”

The smile on his face lifts some of the pressure off George’s heart, even if he knows he still has a lot to make up for.

He suppresses the urge to mirror it—he needs Dream to know that he means it. “It’s not funny. I’m apologizing. I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” Dream says with a laugh, crossing one ankle over the other. “I hear you.”

He doesn’t seem as upset as George thinks he has a right to be. But George doesn’t know why he’s surprised—Dream has always been the more easygoing out of the two of them. He’s not one to hold a grudge, especially not with George.

He tries not to sound too hopeful when he asks, “Do you forgive me?”

There’s a pause before Dream slides his laptop aside and gets up. George watches him closely as he closes the short distance between them, and he is not too proud to melt into the hug Dream wraps him in. Even though it’s a hug that he definitely doesn’t deserve right now.

“I really am sorry,” he mumbles into the safety of Dream’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean what I said. About London. I don’t know why I said it at all.”

Dream rubs his back. His voice is soft when he asks, “You don’t want to go back?”

“No,” George squeezes his eyes shut. “I definitely don’t.”

A warm hand snakes its way under his hoodie. George pulls back to look Dream in the eye. “I’m sorry I made you think I did.”

Dream nods, his whole expression soft.

“It’s okay,” he says, and George thinks he means it. “I know you didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I didn’t really think you did.”

“Good. ‘Cause I didn’t.”

“Thank you for apologizing,” Dream says, and George can’t help but shake his head at the sincerity of it. Trust Dream to thank him for doing the bare minimum.

“Of course I’m apologizing,” he counters matter-of-factly. “I was… mean.”

Dream bobs his head as if considering it. “A little. But you were tired, I could tell you were tired.”

George huffs. Trust Dream to make excuses for him even though he doesn’t deserve it.

“I do need you,” he says, because he feels a need to clarify this a thousand times over. To undo the damage he did last night. “Like you said, we need each other. And really, I think I probably need you a lot more than you need me.”

It might be one of the most terrifyingly honest things he has ever said out loud.

Dream shakes his head and opens his mouth to disagree, but George connects their lips before he can get a word out. It’s an effective strategy.

He pulls away first. “It’s true.”

“Okay,” Dream says, a little breathless. “I believe you.”

George nods once and starts to loosen his arms, but Dream keeps him in place with a hand on his lower back, pressing gently.

George blinks at him. “What?”

“I’ll believe it more if you kiss me again,” Dream says, his smile turning uncharacteristically shy.

George has never been happier to comply.

[scoops-aboy86]

And we're now up to part A of the main events of s4, with an (un?)healthy dose of mutual pining. Bon appétit.

Part 1, part 1.5, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 of the love spell no go au

It’s a panic reflex, really. 

Eddie sees Chrissy start to float and he knows what this is. Not the exact spell, he’s never had the nerve to dig into those kind of grimoires, those fuckers’ll take your fingers right off—but it’s definitely dark magic. And the best way to respond to dark magic is to get as far away from the spellcaster as fucking possible. He doesn’t know where the spellcaster is, so he reaches for the best hiding place he can think of off the top of his head. 

One second he’s in the trailer, screaming and flailing out the spell, and the next he lands on his ass in Reefer Rick’s dank little boathouse where no one or nothing will find him. 

… Okay, maybe not no one. 

“Eddie?!”

With a gasp, Eddie struggles to kick off the tarp and clamber out of the old motorboat. “Steve!” His foot is still tangled in the tarp, though, so he trips, stumbles into the other boy, and sends both of them thumping up against the nearest wall. “Fuck.”

But Steve’s arms wrap around him all the same. “Shit, Eddie, I’m glad you’re okay.”

He’s not, though. He is so not okay. 

Dustin is asking him about dark particles before it really clicks for Eddie—they know. Maybe not that it’s magic, but they’ve seen things before, enough to not question any of what he tells them. 

“How did you get all the way out here without your van?” the redhead, Max, asks shrewdly, and he recognizes her as one of his neighbors across the way. 

“I, uh.” Eddie doesn’t want to lie, because even as freaked out as he is he knows that he might end up having to tell them at this point—sorry Wayne. But that point hasn’t come yet. “I just… ran, I don’t know. I l-left her there.”

Steve still has a hand on his shoulder, at once reassuring and bewildering, and squeezes it now. “What happened to Chrissy wasn’t your fault, Eds. You said she was already gone, so it’s… You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”

Eddie is in no way okay. 

God only knows how long later, Eddie matches Steve’s pace through what the younger Hellfire members dubbed the Upside Down back in ‘83. He keeps wondering if he should tell them they don’t need the guns; he knows enough defensive spells and a fire spitting trick that should be protection enough. Most of those involve setting up in a fixed location, though, meaning they’d have to hole up rather than find (or fight) their way back home… and he’s not confident enough to put all of their eggs in his basket. 

It was all he could do to get his battle vest on Steve. Eddie, wary from years of being bullied, had sewn stealth and protection in with every thread he’d added to the garment, slipped healing charms in under the patches and then sewn them in place. 

And then Steve says “I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” which throws Eddie for a loop. 

“Pretty sure it was the dark wizard that dragged me into this, Stevie.” 

Eddie still doesn’t know if his involvement was intentional or not—if he was targeted as collateral damage because of his family and heritage or if it was all about Chrissy and he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He doesn’t know if his spell to get away was noticed, either, but… it would have been small potatoes compared to this asshole casting from a completely different dimension, so maybe not. Which is not very reassuring, but speculation is all he has right now. 

After an awkward moment of silence, Eddie clears his throat. “So, uh… all this is why you’ve been tense since July? And why you started buying from me?”

Steve doesn’t look up from where he’s putting one foot carefully in front of the other, mindful of the sentient vines. “Yeah.” He gives a halfhearted shrug. “This is different from the last time, but it’s always different. Like, usually I get most of my injuries from getting hit by regular people, but—” he gestures at the red and bruise-mottled marks circling his neck from that demonic bat thing “—this time I guess it’s the monsters’ turn. Never know what to brace for.”

“… Well shit,” Eddie sums up, not knowing what else to say. 

“Yeah,” Steve agrees with a humorless laugh. “Thanks for jumping in after me though, dude. I know it’s all a lot and you're already kind of stuck with being involved, and with… losing Chrissy like that… but, yeah. It means a lot.”

Eddie doesn’t like the unfamiliar way Steve tenses up as he says this, and is puzzled by the strange phrasing. He didn’t really know Chrissy, they’d had literally two conversations and the second one was in the minutes immediately before her sudden demise. Sure, he’d wanted to help her and feels like throwing up any time he thinks about how she died, but they hadn’t exactly been close. Nothing like how he and Steve are. Why wouldn’t he try to save his… his friend?

“Nancy and Robin went first. I’m a shitty swimmer,” Eddie admits. “That’s the only reason I didn’t jump in sooner… Turned out I was more scared of being alone in that boat than I was of drowning, so yay for me. The girls did most of the heavy lifting, and you ripped that bat in half with your bare hands. That’s fucking metal by the way. A total Ozzy move.”

“Ozzy.” Steve’s forehead wrinkles, actually turning his gaze to Eddie. “Isn’t that the Black Something guy?”

“Sabbath,” he supplies, nodding. And then recounts the legend of Ozzy Osborne biting a bat’s head off on-stage. End of the world or not, he still considers himself morally obligated to lure Steve away from the top 40 pop hits, tempting him towards the dark side with impassioned lyrics and sick guitar riffs. 

He almost feels able to pretend that things are normal and they’re just idly chatting, until a brief earthquake that almost knock both of them down onto the fucking sentient vines and reminds him. 

The night between finding their way back out of the Upside Down and formulating a plan, the older teens take turns guarding the gate in the Munson trailer. Eddie almost breaks down and tries a circle of protection, but he’s not sure how to do that on the ceiling, there isn’t enough salt in the pantry to circle the entire trailer, and even if there were, Max’s place can’t fit all of them. 

Besides, he thinks glumly, he’s not sure it would even help with these kinds of monsters. Isn’t sure what kind of traction his magic will have on things spawned in a different plane.

So he helps Steve drag his shitty mattress back into the bedroom (because Steve refuses to sit out helping even with literal bites taken out of his sides) for the four of them to sleep on during watch shifts. And gets fresh blankets and sheets from Max, at Robin’s insistence. 

“New bandages,” he says to Steve once that’s done, pointing towards the bathroom in a way that he hopes brooks no argument. He’s already got a shirt and pair of sweatpants that pass the sniff test from his closet and a definitely clean pair of boxers from the dresser clutched in his other hand, ready to go.

Steve blinks at him, twice, then looks down at his own torso where Nancy’s ripped sweater is still tied around his wounds, dark from grime and spotting blood, and sighs. “Yeah, fine.”

Eddie shuts the door behind them, which makes the already cramped trailer bathroom feel even smaller. “Okay, so… Fastest way to do this is probably to hop in the shower and rinse off. You’re covered in lake and fuck knows what else from that place, don’t want any of that shit getting in the wounds. Don’t, uh, don’t scrub those, just everything else.” And busies himself with hauling the first aid kit out from under the sink, which is always a pain in the ass whether the door is open or not. The damn thing is too big for the space because of all the extra compartments for healing spell ingredients, quite a few of which he’s already planning to surreptitiously use.

Nothing happens behind him, so after a moment he pauses and looks over his shoulder to see Steve still as dressed as he was when they walked in. 

“This is going to take me a while, it’ll all go faster if you start washing up now,” he points out, not trying to be brusque but he’s… not the best with blood, and trying to steel himself for what’s coming. “If you’re worried about your modesty, I promise not to look.”

“Don’t care about that,” Steve says, and he sounds tense. 

Eddie tries not to think about how he’s just been handed indirect permission to watch Steve undress and shower. Jesus H. Christ. “Then… are you dragging your heels because you wanna tell me that you do have demon bat rabies, or…?”

“No.” Steve sighs, and runs a dirty hand through his already disheveled and deflated hair. How he still manages to look hot after all they’ve been through, Eddie has no idea. “How, uh. How thin are the walls?”

From outside the bathroom, Robin calls, “Pretty thin, Steve-o.”

No further answer to that question needed, Eddie inclines his head towards the door. “You heard the lady. Turning the water on helps, even though the pressure is shit. It’ll get cold pretty fast, though, so you’ll want to be quick.”

For a moment, it still seems like Steve has something he wants to say. Eddie waits patiently, looking off to the side so he doesn’t have an aneurism while Steve strips down and turns the water on, but once Steve steps under the spray he seems wholly focused on peeling away the makeshift bandages so Eddie returns to wrestling with the first aid kit. They don’t talk; Steve remains eerily silent even through disinfecting the bites on his sides and the road rash on his back, even though all of it must sting like a bitch. And then Eddie wraps him up in clean gauze and medical tape and a few subtle spells to help ease the pain and help speed the healing along, hands Steve the clean clothes to change into, and slips out of the bathroom trying not to think about how Steve’s hair now smells like his bargain bin shampoo. 

“All patched up?” Robin asks, joining Steve on the mattress as they settle in for some sleep before their staggered shifts start. Since he’s injured, Nancy put him last on the rota so he could get more uninterrupted rest up front. 

He nods. Flicks his eyes to the closed bedroom door, remembering from the bathroom that it really only provides the illusion of privacy, and shuffles around to lie down with a dejected sigh. 

Robin follows. They lay down facing each other, cramped on the narrow bed, but they’ve done this before—Steve’s is a full, but Robin’s is a twin-sized just like this one.

In a whisper barely more than a breath, she says, “You wanted to tell him.” It’s not a question.

“Not with Nancy listening,” he whispers back. “And… Chrissy, I shouldn’t…”

Robin’s lips press into a thin line, almost invisible in the darkened room. “There’s no way Eddie Munson was hooking up with Chrissy Cunningham, dingus. Can you even see them together? No way.”

“Can you see Eddie Munson with Steve Harrington?” he hisses back, a little too loud—but though they both freeze to listen, to be sure, there’s no sound. No sign that anyone overheard. 

“Maybe,” Robin retorts softly once they’ve both settled again. “You’re not exactly a bastion of conformity anymore, you know, mister babysitter with a lesbian band nerd for a best friend expert monster killer… guy. He could go for you. And I don’t think… I mean, I don’t know, but… I don’t think he’s into girls, Steve.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Steve whispers.

The eye-roll in response is practically audible. “Because he watches you all the time. And that thing with the vest when Nancy was looking at you.”

“So? I watch him all the time, and I like both!”

“Well, if I’m wrong and he is like you, doesn’t that at least mean—”

“I just don’t want to get in the way if he’s mourning her, Robs. I don’t want to be a, a rebound or for anything to happen just because we might die. Because then what if we don’t, and he doesn’t… want me anymore? I can’t do that again.”

With a rustle of blankets, Robin scoots closer to pull him into a hug. Steve doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t cry—but his hand fists in the back of her shirt and he holds on tight. 

They’re still in that position an hour or so later when Eddie comes to tag Robin in, whispering that all is still quiet on the ceiling-ward front as she extracts herself. Steve remains dead asleep, even when Eddie hesitantly worms his way under the covers while staying as close to the edge of the mattress as possible so as not to disturb him.

Tag list (comment to be added): @hotluncheddie @8em-em-em8 @anaibis @connected-dots @lawrencebshoggoth

Part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11

[flicklikesstuff]

(⚠️TW! Mentions of Abuse)

………..

I hate to see/hear people react to Husk’s situation with:

“Alastor doesn’t abuse him, he only threatened him once.” OR

“At least it’s not as bad as Angel’s!”

Uhhhh…no?? We shouldn’t be comparing 2 abusive scenarios as which one is worse? Also, what do you MEAN he’s not being abused??? Do y’all know what abuse is?

……

1. Alastor literally threatened his life.

2. Husk suffers emotional stress being under his control.

He’s downright shaking in fear. In non-abusive relationships, this shouldn’t happen.

3. Alastor constantly degrades Husk.

“You may own my soul, but I ain’t your f*cking pet.”

“Oh, but you are~”

||

“You think I’m some kind of f*cking clown?!”

“Maybe.”

4. Husk gets repeatedly forced to do stuff against his will.

“You’d actually think I’d be here cleaning bottles and listening to you f*cks, b*tch and moan all the time if he weren’t forcing me?”

5. Power is imbalanced in this dynamic. Alastor felt the need to put Husk in his place.

6. Alastor dismisses his concerns.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Don’t worry Husker.”

7. Alastor gives no shts interfering with Husk’s achievements.

“I was about to win the whole damn pot-!”

“Good to see you too!”

………..

Plus, even if it’s presumably a one time occurrence, it’s still the same thing. A single act or a cycle is still considered harmful. But I personally have a feeling this isn’t the first time Alastor lashed out.

“N-nothing! I- uh…l

Husk looked and acted very panicked before Alastor started walking his way. Like he knew what direction this is going already. He even attempted to backtrack. I feel like if it was the first time, then he would’ve been more surprised and stunned into silence. But I interpreted his reaction as if he’s already familiar to this situation already.

I’m just saying, just because the show only showed it onscreen once, doesn’t mean it probably hasn’t happened before.

……….

Back to the main thing at hand,

Anything that treats the other person with cruelty or force qualifies as abuse. If the intention is to exert control and power, manipulate, or retain someone against their will, then that is abusive behavior.

You can try and argue that this kind of thing is common in hell.

Argue that it’s not as physical and constant as Angel’s.

Argue that Husk signed up for this and it’s part of his soul contract.

Still doesn’t take away the fact that Husk is still being emotionally abused. So you can stop defending your precious deer baby. You’re still allowed to like him as one of your fav characters but just don’t brush this one over.

[nikos-oneshots]

Can you write a oneshot (headcanons are cool to) where the reader is the older Sibling of The Collector?(like same mental age as a highschooler) like during the end of season 2 where he is freed and they are reunited and its some fluffy Sibling time? also like angst bc it's the end of the world lol [I don't know if I have to clarify but this is meant to be platonic]

The Collector & A Sibling! Reader

Warnings: Angst, Owl House Spoilers Word Count: 1.4k Pronouns: Second Person Pov, Any Notes: This was supposed to be posted last night, but my computer did a fucky wucky and now I finally have a Fic being posted at a decent time! This was completed and edited before For The Future came out, so there may be some canon divergence, sorry about that! I hope you like it!

You sit uptop your mountain, the only place you have known for many years. You had made a life for yourself there, no matter how sad it may be. You feel lonely living day by day, year by year up on that lonely mountain top, but it's something you must do. You had been cursed, but not by an enemy, but by yourself. You have to stay alive for him, your little brother. You two were created from the stars above together, you two only had each other for as long as you could remember, but now, you have nobody and nothing. You had no idea where he went, but all you know is that he was gone. You had tried to search for him every day for the first 100 years he had been missing, but you had no luck, so reluctantly, you gave up. 

You felt like life was no longer worth living without the only person you felt gave your life meaning. You couldn't go back to the stars and you couldn't go to where the witches were, so you chose the next best thing, being to live alone in solidarity. The main reason why you chose that, is so that you could wait. You had a feeling that your little sibling would come back. You don't know from where, but deep down, you thought you knew he would come back. Maybe it was denial wishful thinking, but that didn't stop you from waiting for him. You knew that nobody would be able to stop, let alone destroy that little agent of chaos.

You passed the time as delightfully as it could be, as you picked up a hobby as watching the citizens of Bonesborough. Yea, it might be a little bit creepy, but what else was there to do. You got to know many of them quite nicely over the years, but the person that interested you the most was the Emperor of the land. He had a nice grip on the people of the city, but the part that made you interested in observing him is the fact that he hasn’t died yet. The general lifespan for a supposed witch is around 80-100 years, but from what you recall, you had been observing him for around 200. You wished to mess with him, since he seemed like not the best guy, but you swore off using your powers after those 100 years of searching for your brother. But soon, something would come that would cause your waiting to end.

You sat on your mountain as you normally would, your knees pressed to your chest. There was a big event that the Emperor was holding. You didn’t know the details, but the entire city was joining which was unusual. You watched as many different kinds of airships and robed individuals flooded into the area where it was headed. You had a bad feeling about this, you had considered leaving for elsewhere, but curiosity got the better of you, so you stuck around to see what was happening. Soon enough, the Emperor you got to know so well was projected to a larger scale across the arena and began to talk to the residents of the boiling isles. You sat up in your seat, glaring at his hologram with intent and interest. He gestures over to the almost-complete eclipse as his hologram fades away. 

You look over to your camp, where you would walk around every once in a while, the place you set up to be home. You considered leaving it to get a better seat, but you had been here for so many years. You figured that you would be back after it had ended, so you teleported over to the arena. You perched behind one of the large pillars around it, occasionally peaking around it to see what the Emperor was doing. You see multiple people enter a platform as they begin standing around in a circle as they soon begin to fight. You didn’t know what they were fighting over, but you were glad that you were able to watch something, since the Emperor hadn’t made his way up onto the platform yet.

You stared at the moon and the sun, they hadn’t crossed paths, but they were just about to. You decide to take a break from the fight and pay attention to the eclipse. You watch as it slowly rises to where the sun rests inch by inch intensely, you just wanted it to happen already so that this ceremony would get interesting, but when it did, all hell broke loose. A bright yellow light shines through every person to be seen as their screams echo the arena. What was happening? Would they be okay? You noticed that you weren’t affected which was weird, but maybe you could try and stop it? You didn’t want to give away your existence, but you also didn’t want to just stand there and do nothing. You look up to the eclipse and all the energy draining from the people all the way up to it, “That must be where the power is going…” You shush to yourself. 

You look to your hands, your weak hands that handled weak magic. You couldn’t move the moon, that was too much for you. You were made with more physical strength than magical, it would be nearly impossible to match the magical ability of any one of the stars above. The only person you knew that could potentially stop this would be your brother. His magical ability would be unmatched for anybody on the isles, even more powerful than their creator, but he was gone. The Isles were doomed to be taken over by the eclipse and the spell that made it act this way. You knew the moon and the sun when you were still residing in the stars above, and you know that they wouldn’t do anything to hurt the people of any of their planets, atleast, that's what you remember. The people were dying, and you couldn’t do anything to stop it and without the people here, you would be lonely again, much like you were 400 years ago.

Everything stops as fast as the snap of a finger as the moon is forcefully moved away from the sun. You looked up to the sky to see it turned from red, back to the calm orangish-blue you have come to love. You look around dumbfoundedly for the cause of such a miracle, but none was to be seen. Was that part of the plan? You assumed not, something or someone had to have done this and you certainly didn’t think it was The Emperor, finished playing a fun little prank on the isles, he wasn’t that powerful. There was only one person who you think could have done it. Your thinking was interrupted as your attention was drawn to a loud rumbling noise from behind you. You turn back to see the Emperor's castle being taken apart piece by piece as it begins floating in the air in a spiral pattern. You see something in the middle. You see someONE in the middle. 

You stumble as you walk towards the edge of the tower as you look up at them. It's him. You start to shed tears as you recognize the person. You jump off the tower as you teleport towards one of the floating rocks above the person. You watch as they spin and turn with joy as they continue destroying the land around them,. “COLLECTOR!” You shout at them. 

They seemed to recognize your voice, as they turned around to you quickly with a giant smile coating their face. “Y/N!” They should back as they forcefully gravitate you towards them, ending in a giant embrace. 

The Collector spun you around as they laughed and you couldn’t help but laugh too. Your brother hadn’t changed a bit, and you were so happy. This was it. This is what you had been waiting years, no, centuries for. You had spent that time looking for him, and you had finally found him. You were no longer lonely anymore, you had your family back. The world may be ending for the mortals down below, but you finally had the only person you had ever known back. Even though you had been looking over the people of the boiling isles for years, and even though you could see their fear and hear their screams, you suddenly didn’t care. You didn’t care if they were suffering, you didn’t care if they're home and families were dying, as long as you had your family back, it all didn’t matter.

Finally! A fic I didn't have to import to AO3! Tysm for the request! I had a lot of fun writing it!

Lots of Love -Niko🥞

[lvlyhao]

PAC: your love life right now

Hello, lovely people. Today’s reading is about how your love life is looking at the moment. I’m doing this reading today, 07/03, but it’s timeless, which means it doesn’t matter if you see this today or in 2 months, it could still resonate. 

♡ Please follow, like and reblog if this resonated with you so I can do more fun readings like this in the future ♡

How do I choose a pile?

Take a deep breath or two, close your eyes, and focus on the question we’re asking the cards today. Then, take a look at the images above. Which one of them calls your name?

───⋆☆───────────────

If you chose Jeongin, welcome to pile 1!

Song: blueprint (SKZ)

Card: The Moon

It seems you’re going through a complicated patch in your relationship with a special someone. This could stem from a lack of communication and honesty between you. Maybe one of you hasn’t been true to their feelings, or you could be carrying a burden from your past. Are you hesitant to speak your mind because you’ve had negative experiences about that before? Do you somehow believe you’re not worthy of this love? I know it can be tough, darling, but now is the time to reflect on what’s been causing these conflicts and really look at things as they are. 

Another message I’m hearing that may apply only to some of you is that we can’t always love someone for what they could be. People are what they show you. Please be careful with the ones you let near you at this time, because they could not align with your highest purpose. If you feel this is true for you, don’t let it get you down. The song Spirit chose for you tells me that there is someone amazing coming into your life once you’ve gone through this stage of self-reflection and clarity! Never settle, babe.

If you chose Chan, welcome to pile 2!

Song: mixtape: OH (SKZ)

Card: the 5 of wands

Oh wow, okay, so… if you’re not seeing anyone at this moment, this could indicate you have your eye on a person, but so do other people. You seem to have competition, but don’t be intimidated. The fire energy in this card tells me you have something the others don’t, you shine in your own way. This is really good, but you may need to take the first step so the other person can actually understand your intentions. Maybe communication wasn’t so clear in the past or you’ve been friends for a long time, but their image of you is a bit murky. Being direct with them and asking them out as soon as you feel ready could easily elevate your relationship to the next level, so be brave, be bold and go for it!

If you’re with someone, pile 2, I would be cautious of playful banter and joking around right now. Sometimes, silly issues can escalate to something much bigger, and it can be difficult to navigate that. If you find yourself in a conflict like this, please keep in mind how much you adore your partner, and don’t let anger rule your actions. It’s up to you to apologize for things you said and didn’t really mean, and they’ll do the same once they see how much you care. 

If you chose Hyunjin, welcome to pile 3!

Song: gone away (SKZ)

Card: the 7 of swords

Alright, my sweethearts, I will be very honest with you. The energy I’m feeling here is that you’re maybe doing this reading while looking for confirmation of something. If you’ve been feeling like something isn’t quite right with someone you’re getting to know, this could be your sign. Your intuition was right. Things aren’t adding up about them. They could have lied about something small or insignificant before, but this could impact your relationship in the future. Now is the time to be frank, open, and rational. Talk to them, ask for the truth, and please don’t neglect your intuition again.

However, if this feels like you, then yeah, I get it. You were looking to impress someone, and you may have told a white lie or exaggerated yourself a bit cus you had to think on your feet. It happens to all of us, pile 3, really. This isn’t something to be ashamed of. However, in the future, be very careful of how you may be changing who you are for someone, or accidentaly misleading them. If you’re seeing someone you think wouldn’t like you for who you are, they’re not worth it anyway. If you’re asked about this, be honest, and everything will happen as it should for your highest good.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Monsters We Create Chapter 20 Update

Apologies for the delay. Again. I...broke my foot and it took me a while to get myself together. That and I'm going on vacation to Alaska next weekend so...yeah.

But I do have Chapter 20, which is roughly about 50% done. Maybe. So to hold everyone in the meantime, here's a little snippet of the chapter as a sort of appetizer. Forgive me if it's a little rough.

They walked a good distance away from the war tent. Yet not once did Kori let her guard down. Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee. Three names she had a lot of good reason to be wary of. One was the Fire Lord, obviously. It wasn’t too long ago when he nearly got Yu Dao destroyed out of his own stupidity. The other two? She could understand Azula being difficult, yet to turn their backs so suddenly and completely was beyond her.

When they came to an abandoned training ground, Zuko turned around. “Alright. We’re here.”

“If you think you can get me to stab a knife in Azula’s back-”

“Listen! I’m not here to talk about Azula. At all. I meant it when I said she’s going around unbound. It’s just…well, you know how she is! I can’t trust her with all these rogue armies running around. Somebody’s got to keep tabs on her,” Zuko explained.

“Besides, we’ve got Mai here if Azula needs some knives thrown at - OW!” Ty Lee rubbed her arm after Mai gave her a swift and rather hard elbow.

Zuko simply sighed from their little spat. “The point is, if you can keep Azula in check, that’s great. I only have the guards there so it can keep those generals off my back. And hers. They wanted her thrown back into that asylum.”

“You could’ve just told her that, but whatever,” Kori muttered. It amazed her. He says that he wants to do good, but then has some secret or leaves some lasting remark that invalidates it. No wonder he and Azula were so dysfunctional. Seemed like the only way they could even interact was through backstabbing, betrayals, and fighting. If this was what they were like when they were allies, she didn’t want to see how they were when the pleasantries failed and fire was being thrown.

Agni help her no fire was thrown today yet. She certainly didn’t see it in the Fire Lord’s eyes right now. They were…well, dull. His shoulders were a bit slumped. It was as if he aged a few years in the span of a few days.

“Can we forget Azula for a few minutes? It’s not why I called you out here.” Zuko swallowed as he collected himself. “I know you’re part of that movement the assassination attempt came from. Your father talked quite a bit about what you’ve been up to.”

“I assure you, our movement was to protest and prevent innocents from being harassed by Fire Nation guards! None of us had any intention of murdering anybody!” Kori still couldn’t believe it. Who’d be stupid enough to make an attempt on the Fire Lord’s life? She wasn’t a fan of his either, but nothing he did indicated he was personally overseeing what was going on in Yu Dao. A bit ignorant and heavy handed, but not responsible. It’s one thing if he stepped in personally and started threatening people.

Yet an attempt at his life without any solid reason for? That was inviting for the army to come in and stomp on their movement. Who knew how many civilians would be caught in such an escalation?

“I know. It’s why I want you to look into it.”

Kori, out of surprise or bafflement, let Zuko continue. “I get it. The Fire Nation hasn’t done Yu Dao much good. I’d even wager you and your people have done more for the benefit of this city in a few months than my country has for over a hundred years.” His eyes went downward for a moment, as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

Yet it only lasted for a moment before he took another breath. “Figure out what’s going on and who sent that kill order. I’ll do things on my end with the assassin. Maybe together we can bring whoever did this to justice.”

The rebel wasn’t sure what to say. It sounded too good to be true. Indeed, after running his proposal through her head, she saw the problem. “I appreciate the offer, Fire Lord. But as long as that captain and his thugs roam the streets, there’s only going to be more violence. Whoever’s doing this wouldn’t be able to get away with it if the guards didn’t build this pyre of theirs.”

“They will be brought to justice,” Zuko responded. “I’m going to try and override this curfew and get a tighter leash on the officers. If you can work on your end and help me bring this mastermind down, that’ll give them less incentive to crack down on your people.”

When he ended, he once again remained silent and waited for her response. Mai and Ty Lee stood on the sidelines watching the whole thing, giving Kori more eyes that were on her. Truth be told, she still couldn’t trust him. Who could? Everyone said he had the hallmarks of his father right down to how he ascended to the throne. And who could say they bring peace when they wear a crown drenched in blood.

Yet he didn’t wear the crown now. No grandeur. Nothing. He was baring his true intentions out to her. If nothing else, she could trust that. “Alright. All I can say is there might be some Fiery Raptors within their ranks.”

Ty Lee snorted. “Of course, Azula would pull something like that.”

“It’s not what you think,” Kori interrupted, making sure they all had her attention. “I wanted some people to back us up in the protests in case things got violent. She offered to have some of her men to back us up and I said yes.”

“Can’t say I blame you there. You go up against soldiers, you’re going to need some muscle.”

“Who’s side are you on?!” Ty Lee yelled at Mai, her frustration with her reaching a boiling point.

The emotionless girl just gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m just saying it as it is. From what I’ve heard, the Mayor hasn’t exactly done a good job of keeping the peace on his end. Can’t blame Azula for taking advantage of something that was already there. We certainly did.” Ty Lee promptly shut up from Mai’s assessment, looking a bit downcast herself.

Kori also had a harsh truth slapped in her face. Her father. Mayor Morishita, the one most responsible for Yu Dao’s woes. He’s the one who ultimately had control of the garrison and determined who was in charge. If it weren’t for him, that captain and his goons probably wouldn’t be able to run rampant and bully the citizens into submission.

Still, it was a hard truth to swallow. Needless to say, his actions were part of the reason her mother left a long time ago. True, she made her peace with it when she saw what her father’s cronies were willing to do. Yet it still hurt too much to ignore.

Something that Zuko noticed. “You know your father’s going to have to go on trial for what he’s done. Right?”

Forcing down her queasiness, Kori crossed her arms and tried not to look like she was hugging herself. “I understand.”

“Good.” Then, the Fire Lord did something rather unexpected. He walked up and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was…surprisingly warm. Kori wasn’t sure what to make of it before she saw the scar on his face. Seemed as though she wasn’t the only one who had issues with her parents.

A similar story was told with Mai and Ty Lee, who gazed at her with soft eyes. Kori wondered: what was it about the Fire Nation that equaled parental issues? She had her father. The girls had their parents. Agni help Azula and Zuko for getting stuck with Ozai as a father.

Azula.

“Before I agree to this, there’s something you need to promise me,” Kori declared.

Zuko looked a bit surprised but then gave an uneasy nod. Having got his attention, the rebel dropped the ultimatum. “Give Azula a chance. Stop treating her like she’s the worst thing in the world. And stop treating her like a bomb about to go off.”

“...you know I can’t do that,” he admitted with pain in his voice.

Yet Kori stood her ground. “Nobody’s asking you to forget. I’m simply stating that if you want this thing to work out, you need to uphold your end. That means no threats. No harassments. No lies. And no dangling her over a cliff. Got it?”

He shuddered when she threw out that last demand, but that didn’t soften her glare. Especially when she saw Mai and Ty Lee paralyzed in shock. Oh yeah. Azula told her about his little stunt that almost got him killed. She didn’t care if it was a low blow or not. If it meant he wouldn’t pull the same garbage twice, then so much is the better.

As for Zuko, he didn’t say anything for white seemed like an eternity. Then he gave a defeated nod and said, “Alright. As long as she isn’t a problem.”

Satisfied, Kori turned to rejoin her friends. Since that’s what friends do after all. Though not before she said one last thing. “I do mean it. You try anything without any incentive…just remember what happened with Godzilla. It won’t end well.”

And so she left, leaving the trio behind. Truth be told, she didn’t enjoy having to lay out the cold truth. Yet Zuko struck her as somebody who needed to be slapped in the face and have a rock hammering into his skull in order to get the point across. Agni knows how many of those blockheads she had to put up with growing up.

Mentally she kicked herself for having to go from one blockhead to ANOTHER blockhead. If there was one thing Azula and her brother had in common, it was digging in and covering their ears when they didn’t want whatever ideas they had in their head to be challenged. Sort of made things a bit depressing that it took a kaiju of all things to get them to cooperate.

Let’s just hope they haven’t killed each other by the end of this, Kori prayed.