#which is to go: I would die for him actually

[reidrum]

bright lights

note: day 2 of reidrumas! this is so sickeningly cheesy pls enjoy <3

summary: in which spencer has to remind you of fire safety, or the time you hang too many lights on the christmas tree

cw: tooth rotting fluff i only warn you to pop some lactaids if you're lactose intolerant

wc: a cozy 1k

12 days of reidrumas

“I can’t believe we’re going to die before Christmas.”

You roll your eyes, “Aren’t you from Vegas? This amount of lights should not phase you.”

“I am, and you know those lights typically aren’t hung on flammable surfaces.” Spencer harps, “Please don’t put that—Oh my god, Where the hell did you get another strand of lights.”

You love Christmas. Spencer loves you. It was a no brainer for him to let you take over all of the holiday decorating festivities. He knew that Christmas was always special to a littler version of you, the joy and love that surrounded the holiday always warming your little heart. But as the years went on you would find yourself associating the crueler parts of your life with the holiday, and it would end with you looking back on the time and finding its memories to be not as magical as you would like to remember. Spencer was determined to restore that sentiment for you.

He’s just not sure if he’d risk death by string lights to get there.

“It’s not bright enough,” you pout, “maybe it needs more tinsel.”

The tree was already donned in all its opaque and crystalline ornaments, beaded and foiled tinsel draped around its branches. The tree already came with flashing lights, white and multicolored, but they weren’t nearly enough for the brightness you required. So of course it needed more lights.

“It definitely does not need more tinsel. Come on, put the lights down.”

You retract the lights in your hands to your chest defensively, “Don’t! You’ll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.”

Spencer raises his eyebrows at your theatrics, “Oh, really?”

You nod, “The Christmas spirit is only as strong as the lights hung in its name.”

“Who said that?”

“Someone really wise.”

“Surely can’t be you,” he chuckles, “We can put them somewhere else just not on the tree, it already has enough.”

You shake your head no and clutch the lights closer to your chest, “Never!”

“There’s so much space on the fireplace or the dining table!” he gestures, “even the front door!”

“I have separate lights for those, duh.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose, “Oh my god, we’re actually gonna die.”

“Dying of the Christmas spirit is actually a great way to go.” you joke, “Prophetic, even.”

He stalks towards you slowly, “My love, please. Can we negotiate?”

“Spencer, I have to use all of the lights or they’re gonna feel left out.”

There’s a brief moment of silence between you both, staring at each other from opposite sides of the couch. You study the look in his eyes, unable to decipher what he���s thinking. The corners of his mouth twitch slightly, and to anyone else they wouldn’t have caught it but he is Your Spencer after all and so it really should not have caught you off guard when he makes a break to catch you.

You squeal as you take off running into the kitchen, Spencer trailing not so far behind you. He’s cornered you on the far side of the middle kitchen counter, prepared for any direction you decide to make your exit from. You try to fake him out by pretending to go one way and then making a quick escape the other way, just barely making it past him as you book it down the hallway.

You slow down at the end of the hallway, thinking you’ve finally made it to safety. You bend over slightly to catch your breath when it’s suddenly whisked away again as strong hands catch you off guard, gripping your waist and picking you up from the floor.

“Hey!” you giggle, feigning struggle in his arms.

He whispers in your ear, “Gotcha.”

The flutter in your stomach betrays your tone, “I think you hate Christmas.”

His hands tighten around you as he sets you down, not letting go, “I don’t hate Christmas, I actually love it very much. I love you much more, and I would like to spend as many Christmases as I can with you. I can’t do that if the lights burn us down, sweet girl.”

You huff in fake annoyance, you know he’s right but he doesn’t need to know that. Begrudgingly, you can admit to yourself that the tree may have enough lights. You’re honestly surprised how he didn’t make a joke about how the International Space Station could see your tree from all the way up there. Your eyes flit around the room looking for a good place to hang the string lights in your hands.

Your face lights up with an idea, “You know what I think really needs a touch of the holiday spirit?” you carefully drape the lights around his whole body and plug it into a nearby outlet and smile, “Ah, perfect.”

The lights illuminate the shape of his body from head to toe, casting a soft glow that only seems to glow brighter as Spencer tries to hide a smile and fails miserably, resulting in the most adorable and dorky face you’ve ever seen.

He glances down at the outlet, “Am I not allowed to move?”

You put your finger on your chin, “Hmm…”

“What if I make us hot chocolate?”

You walk towards him gently draping your arms around his neck, “I don’t know…”

“With peppermint?”

Intrigued, the ghost of a smile teases your face, “I’m listening…”

He sighs and rests his hands on your hips, “We can put on matching pajamas?”

You beam widely, “Okay, I’m sold. Just wanted to see how far you’d go.” You detach from him giddily, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek and running off to the kitchen to get the mugs ready.

Spencer unplugs himself and walks into the bedroom,  rummaging through the dresser drawers to get the pajamas for you both. He chuckles to himself thinking how you were testing him to see how far he’d go, and you didn’t even know the full extent of exactly how far that is. His hand brushes over the velvet box buried beneath his mismatched socks and hopes that you’ll test the full extent soon.

Until then, he’ll make sure to keep you safe from festive fire hazards and satiated with peppermint hot cocoa.

[the-original-skipps]

|| Yandere?Pirate!Aventurine x Captive!Reader Headcanons || Honkai Star Rail ||

ya'll how could I resist writing about this gorgeous man? ask box is open for simping for this man. also this isn’t rainbows and sunshine so I ask you to proceed with caution if not scroll away

CW: violence. evil doings (they’re pirates obv). slight sexual content. mentions of forced capivity. slight mentions of starvation. major yandereness.

pirate!aventurine who caught you trying to stow away on his ship. When he caught you, you thought he would have you killed but what he did next surprised you. He proposed a gamble for you to aim a gun towards him and if you managed to hit him, you'd go free and get his riches as a bonus. However, if you miss you'd become his servant. You thought he was insane because if he gets hit, he'd die. However, he did not give you much of a choice to refuse as he'd have you killed if you did.

pirate!aventurine who managed to win the gamble as the gun you fired missed its mark. You were reluctant but you tried your best to win, it was either him or you after all. Regardless, despite your denial, you lost fair and square - from then on you were his captive servant. 

pirate!aventurine who as soon as he won you, makes you wear a beautiful jeweled necklace resembling the colors of his eyes. As a symbol of ownership. Going as far to order you to never try to hide it or take it off. When in thought he tends to unconsciously play with the jewels, smiling to himself.

pirate!aventurine orders you to personally bring his food everyday - breakfast, lunch and dinner. On some days he's feeling playful - he'd force you to feed him. Always making sure to have you take the first bite in case you tried to poison him. He would even purposely deny you food on some days until you have no choice but to accept him feeding you.

pirate!aventurine has you sit on his lap while he works. Whether it be finding his next treasure location, a new town to raid and so on. He'd always have you on his lap, despite your deep reluctance and annoyance. Aventurine would have his arms wrapped around you, his chin resting on your shoulder as he reads or goes through any documents. He'd even ask for your opinion at times. Though when he's feeling mischievous, he'd let his hand rest on your thigh. Slowly hiking your dress up as he delights in your shivers as his hand caresses your bare skin - higher and higher.

pirate!aventurine who always has you follow him around as he attends to his duties on the ship. He constantly looks behind to make sure you're actually following and that you're not a step behind. He also likes to have a hand on your waist making you stand beside him as he talks to his crew. He likes showing you off to his crew - though make no mistake if they even eye you with the slightest hint of hunger. He'll make them wish they still had eyes.

pirate!aventurine likes to dress you up in the finest clothes. Since you refuse to wear dresses he stole from raiding a town, he opts to buy them instead. With his vast amount of riches, he has no trouble buying you multiple fancy dresses for you to wear. All in which he personally picks out. Forcing you to model each and every one of them - as he sits on his throne with a cup of wine in his hand. His eyes are feasting on your figure, especially where your skin is visible.

pirate!aventurine who likes to tease and rile you up because it's amusing to him. He’d even purposely leave a knife out in the open hoping you’d be brave enough to try and stab him. Which always fails as he easily subdues you, he just wants an excuse to punish you. Though he doesn’t dislike your resistance, makes it all the more fun for him to break you.

pirate!aventurine who forces you to watch him as he gets intimate with another woman or man. He deliberately looks your way to gauge your reaction, to see whether you feel disgusted or possibly even aroused. He could force you, but he much prefers to make you come to him on your own. He has all the time in the world, eventually you’d cave.

pirate!aventurine brings you around town when the ship docks. He knows you’re sick of being on the ship all the time. He likes to take you to hit up the town’s tavern for a good gamble. He’ll have you sitting on his laps as usual all dolled up, almost as an accessory to him. Not afraid to make you the prize to his opponents to up the stakes. He delights in the pleasure of seeing you panic, secretly hoping you’d cheer him on. However, try as they might they wouldn’t be able to win - he’ll make sure of it.

pirate!aventurine lets you roam the ship as you please. He doesn’t restrain you with chains and shackles. The countless eyes on this ship are already watching your every move. You’re free to entertain the idea of escaping, he welcomes it even. Because, ultimately he knows you’d never be able to escape even if you tried. 

“I gave you a chance at freedom, yet you blew it away! So don’t think I’m forcing you, you willingly agreed to this gamble yourself. So uphold your end of the bargain.”

lemme know if you guys want more!

[sonknuxadow]

i genuinely dont get how so many people are uncritically excited for The Movie and have no issue with anything going on here i feel like im losing my mind a little bit . the trailers did not look good to me at all is everyone excited about it posting from an alternate dimension or something what are people seeing in this movie that im not .

[scary-grace]

(secret) santa, baby - part 7 of a shigaraki x f!reader fic

Shigaraki doesn't want to participate in the office's Secret Santa exchange, but when Toga promises to make it easy on him, he gives in. But making it easy for him makes it a lot harder for you -- you're the one who got his list. Office AU, no quirks. A fic in 12 parts. Divider by @ wcnderlnds

part i part ii part iii part iv part v part vi part vii part viii

part vii (staying in)

“I think everyone else is asleep,” you say, glancing around Toga’s living room. “We can probably turn this off.”

“Still awake,” Spinner says from the armchair, which he stole when Magne left after the end of the third movie. “I’m watching.”

“Yeah? What just happened?” Tomura asks.

“He’s giving everybody weird haircuts,” Spinner says. Close enough. “I have to pay attention. Aiba likes this guy’s movies. She says he’s –”

He yawns. “Nostalgic. I’m watching.”

“Okay, but nobody else is,” you say. “Shouldn’t we call it?”

Tomura glances around the room. Magne left after making everybody sit through Love Actually and Twice left midway through Die Hard because he gets scared of sleeping in other people’s houses, which leaves Toga, the girl she invited, Spinner, Dabi, Tomura, and you. Of everybody who’s left, only you and Tomura can be said to actually be awake. Spinner’s yawning on every other breath, Toga and the girl are cuddled up in the same beanbag, snoring, and Dabi drank too much eggnog and was out like a light before they’d even finished Krampus. You and Tomura are definitely outnumbered.

It’s not like Tomura isn’t tired. Tomura’s really tired. He feels the heaviness in his limbs and the yawns tightening his jaw, but his mind is wide awake, and he’s going to pay attention to every second of the movie you picked. Since he gave up forcing everybody to watch Gremlins in favor of your movie, he wants to make sure it was worth it, and he wants to know exactly what happened in case you want to talk about it afterwards. He’s hoping you do. He’s not ready for you to leave yet.

Tomura wasn’t sure about seeing you outside of work, but then he decided it would help him figure things out. Seeing you around the office is one thing. For him to know if he likes you, he has to know what you’re like outside of work, so he can decide if he’d want to hang out with you then, too. Tomura’s not good at this whole liking-people bullshit. If there was some kind of life skills class where everybody learned it, he probably missed it while he was being homeschooled or in juvie. By the time he got out, halfway through high school, everybody already knew what they were doing. Tomura just has to fumble through somehow.

You make it feel less like fumbling. It makes more sense to Tomura when you’re sitting next to him, roasting Love Actually just like he is, actually paying attention during the horror movie he picked instead of drinking straight through it. You pay attention to things, notice them, just like Tomura’s Secret Santa notices stuff about him. Tomura feels less weird about being noticed than he used to.

But he doesn’t want to just sit here noticing and getting noticed all night long. He wants to talk to you about something that’s not work or whatever dumb Christmas thing is happening, and he can only manage half. “Is this really the first movie you thought of when I said you could pick one?”

“I was trying to pick one you all would like,” you say. Something about that reminds Tomura of the way you wrote your wish list. “I do like this one, though. Some people think it’s stretching it to call it a Christmas movie, but it’s all leading up to Christmas, so I count it.”

Movies that can only be called Christmas movies if Tomura’s stretching it are his favorite kind of Christmas movies. “Why do you like it when it’s going to be sad?”

You glance sideways at him. “What makes you think it’s going to be sad?”

“The grandma telling the story is the main girl when she’s old, and she’s telling it past tense,” Tomura says. You nod. “Besides, he’s – like that. No way is that working out well for anybody.”

“But it could,” you counter. “You might be right about how the story goes, but there’s nothing in the story that says it has to be that way.”

Tomura thought you were awake, but maybe you’re sleepier than he thought. “You mean, other than the whole story so far?”

“I mean –” You trail off. “In some stories, there’s obstacles that can’t be overcome. Like somebody being dead, or something being too wrong to work. And in some stories the obstacles are a choice, kind of. Those are the ones I like.”

Tomura’s played games where choices matter. Somehow he always stumbles into the bad ending, and knowing that there’s a good ending out there that he was too stupid to get makes it even worse. If you like those stories, you’re probably better at making choices than he is. Still – “If the end’s the same, why does it matter?”

“Well –”

“Hey, can you save the philosophy until after the movie?” Spinner yawns. “I’m still trying to watch.”

Tomura gives it five minutes until Spinner passes out, and he’s only off by about thirty seconds or so. Now it’s just the two of you awake, watching the weird movie you picked. Tomura’s trying hard to watch the movie, but just like he keeps getting the song you sang stuck in his head, he keeps getting stuck looking at you.

The movie ends like Tomura thought it would – sadly, but not surprisingly – and he glances at you. “You’re going to say she could have chosen to stay with him,” Tomura says, and you nod. “Why would she do that? When he’s – like that –”

Tomura doesn’t get why he’s being squeamish about calling it like it is. The main character’s ugly. Scary. Nothing anybody wants to touch. “Maybe she likes him how he is,” you say. You’re not looking at the screen anymore. You’re looking at Tomura. “There’s nothing about the story that says she couldn’t have picked him. There’d have been consequences, but there are always consequences. And I guess that’s why it’s sad. Knowing it could have been the other way just as easily.”

You look away from Tomura, and even though he usually hates being looked at, he sort of misses it. “I guess it’s good that everybody fell asleep,” you say. “This doesn’t really seem like a sad-Christmas crowd.”

“Sad Christmas makes more sense than happy Christmas,” Tomura says before he can really think about it. “It never made sense to me, except –”

Making friends. Spending the holidays with them instead of wondering why everybody but him got to celebrate with people they mattered to. And he’ll never admit it to Toga, or anyone, but the Secret Santa thing is kind of fun. He likes leaving stuff for you and seeing how you react. Almost as much as he likes getting things from whoever his Secret Santa is.

“Yeah,” you say, like he’s explained it all out loud. Maybe he’s tired enough that he has and just didn’t realize. “I can see that.”

You’re doing that noticing thing again. Tomura keeps looking at you, trying to notice you back, but the longer the two of you look at each other, the weirder it starts to feel between you. Like there’s something more that needs to happen. Tomura steels himself, braced for whatever you do or to act as soon as he has an idea of what to do.

And then you look away. “It’s late. I should go.”

“You could stay,” Tomura says. “None of us except Toga live here, and we’re all sleeping over.”

You look like you’re thinking about it. Tomura can think of a lot of reasons why you should – it’s late, it’s cold, it’s probably a long way to your apartment, you’d basically have to wake up again by the time you got home – but before he can say any of them, you nod. “Okay. Where should we sleep?”

You end up with your heads at opposite ends of the couch, under the same blanket. Both of you rustle around, knees knocking together as you try to settle in. You fall asleep faster than Tomura does. There’s no way he can imagine you tangling your legs up with his if you were awake, and Tomura’s so focused on trying to live with being this close to someone that the question of whether he likes you is answered definitively offscreen. It’s something he wakes up with. Just like he wakes up still sharing the couch with you.

<- part vi part viii ->

[bonefall]

I know it’s just an idea, the leader ritual, but I have questions I thought of immediately

If a leader prior was driven out, would they still use the exiled leader’s lives as reference for the ceremony?

If a leader is exiled without having lost a life, what would they do instead?

Did Tigerclaw just get pollen a single time for Nightstar, who didn’t actually have his lives, or get stuff representing Brokenstar, or since he was exiled, would was he cleansed with Raggedstar’s lives?

Also it’s a metal as h*ck image imagining Blackfoot being welcomed in a shower of blood for every life Tigerstar had taken that day. It’s such a powerful image in my head, standing there as the blood runs down his fur yet he remains standing there unflinching, face unreadable.

Hmmm...

Previous Leader Driven Out

This is the kind of complex situation where it would depend on what sort of message the new leader wants to send. How much of the Clan stands behind them? Are they trying to court those who don't support them, or are they trying to shame them with what they did?

BB!Nightstar would want to court them, which frustrates the cats who actually put him in power. Deerfoot would have demanded he be anointed by Brokenstar's victims. Let the Clan see the rotten blood and grave soil of WindClan cats and ShadowClan warriors alike; impossible to tell which droplet comes from who.

But instead, Nightstar has someone slash open his forehead. His own blood anoints his fur. "The blood of the rebels who drove him away." A signal that such radical behavior is behind them, a return to normal.

Deerfoot, in the crowd, wishes he would bleed himself dry for it.

In general though-- it would be pretty rare for this ceremony to ignore a previous leader, legitimate or not. The purpose is to "clean away" that which came before, like ending an era. For example; if Icestar chooses to be anointed in acknowledgement of Mistystar instead of Splashstar, she would be including Splashstar's brief rule within her own era.

(Which could be a choice worth making, if she has a point to make.)

Peacefully Abdicated

This is a shameful thing to Clan Cats. You are given your lives to die for your Clan 9 times. This ritual would be pretty extreme, because the new Star REALLY wants to scrub away that association.

It would probably use salt. In the old territory, this is one of the rarest and most useful substances they have. It's a flavoring, it's an effective parasite killer, it's an antiseptic for wounds. Anointment by gold dust, essentially.

For Pinestar, they might use crushed up kibble for a clean break. Tigerkit formative memory unlocked; Sunstar standing on the highrock, furious and disgusted, brown dust streaked through his golden fur and quivering on his angry whiskers.

What was Tigerstar anointed with?

Pollen for Nightstar's illness. Runningnose wouldn't want to jeopardize Tigerstar's legitimacy by revealing the fact Nightpelt was unblessed. ShadowClan cannot go another day without strong leadership...

Especially not in BB where there's a non-zero chance Runny violently smothered Nightstar for briefly looking like he was about to survive his plague LOL. He has immense self control but every time he looks at Nightstar he's biting back the I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream hate speech.

(It massively amuses me that every member of the Mudlizard Family in BB hates Nightstar for completely different reasons. You cant mention politics at Cat Thanksgiving unless youre cursing Nightstar.)

[bokettochild]

I have.... I have had an idea

I was thinking about the bit in Violet, I Shrunk the Mom where Four starts thinking that maybe Shadow actually shrunk Legend down to like, minish size. And, because this is me, and my brain, I thought "wouldn't it be fun to have Shadoew and Four go mini with Mama Kit and explore a minish town? Legend loves exploring, surely he'd enjoy this!"

And then I remembered that to write for this series, it has to either be an Incident, or the fallout thereof

Which means someone would have to call somebody by a fake name or cause a miscommunication for the fic to count in the series

And you know what my dumbass brain spat out? Just, first thing outta the gate?

That Shadow, Four's 'evil' counterpart declares that Legend is his mom to this random bunch of Minish, or maybe Ezlo's community, and when asked who his other parent is, you know, because it takes two, rather than freaking saying Warriors name like a smart person, this dumbass shadow responds with the actual truth and says that Vaati is the one who created him

Cue Ezlo giving Legend some very conflicted LOOKS, and Four wanting to go and freaking die and, well, you get the picture

Anyways, this is what happens when I have soda, not enough sleep, and brainfarts LOL

[thedemonsurfer]

TSAMS Theory: Solar Flare wasn't real

So, here's the thing. Solar Flare's final exchange with Eclipse, when they're waiting to die, has this very painful and bittersweet part in it.

Solar Flare: You are not a good man. You are not a good person in any regard. But-- you did care. Even if you could never show it. You are just like him. Eclipse: Who? Solar Flare: The first Moon.

Oof oof ouch my heart. The art folks did with Eclipse having Moon's hat here was *chef's kiss*

But, wait. Hold on.

How the fuck would Solar Flare know anything about Old Moon?!

Consider the timeline. Eclipse builds Solar Flare, steals his body. Approximately 5min later Sun shows up to kill him. Eclipse gets away, tricks Sun into destroying Moon's magic circle. With no magic to find a solution to the looming threat of being trapped inside his own head, Moon makes the decision to reset himself to split off KC, and his memories are wiped in the process.

Solar Flare met Moon a grand total of once, for about five minutes, to sabatogue Eclipse (Eclipse's NEW BODY?!). He otherwise didn't talk to anyone at all. I actually don't think he ever met Kill Code, even, which opens a whole other can of worms like "Was Kill Code even aware Solar Flare existed? Did he forget he told Eclipse to make them?"

So here's my theory: The Solar Flare that Eclipse meets when he goes into the mindscape, the one that's keeping him locked in a dying frame and reads him completely to filth with terrifying accuracy? That's not Solar Flare. Solar Flare is gone, deleted.

The person that Eclipse interacts with is himself. His own subconscious, which knows every little insecurity and doubt he tries to repress. Who knows his past, the things that fuel him, the things he's ignored or discarded.

It's not a completely baseless guess. Sun suffers from stress-related hallucinations, mostly from his guilt regarding Bloodmoon, but about others as well. And later on, with the rebuilt Eclipse, he straight hallucinates himself to talk to shortly before Lunar blows him tae fuck. The rebuilt Eclipse is post-star, but he's not too far removed from the person who was dying in a bunker orbiting the sun.

And... isn't that tragic to consider? 'Solar Flare' prevents Eclipse from uploading himself into a new body. He prevents him from escaping this hell he's put himself through. And if that 'Solar Flare' is really Eclipse...

...then he's holding himself back. He knows, on a not very deep level, that he's done. He won but it's a hollow victory, because the person who's attention he craved, his self-proclaimed rival, is gone. The person who's replaced him isn't interested in starting a new rivalry. Eclipse literally doesn't know what to do with himself-- he has no goals, no other ambitions. Full Megamind 'I didn't really think I'd get this far" going on here.

And the star is killing him. He knows it's killing him, and he makes an effort to prevent that... but what good will it do to keep living? The star was only ever a means to an end, a motivating McGuffin to keep Moon's attention. Eclipse wasn't meant to win, and he knows it.

'Solar Flare' is just a mask, a plausible external individual to voice the thoughts that Eclipse is trying to ignore, and a fabricated companion because Eclipse has never been completely alone like this.

Really is a bit pathetic, isn't it?

[completeoveranalysis]

[6]

SCREAMING FOREVER OK EVERYONE SIT DOWN

Since the literal beginning of all this the big hanging question behind Clow Reed has always been, “Is this the same one or a different one?”

And under that question came infinite other questions such as, “How could this be the same one if he died ages ago?” and “Is this an Alternate Universe Clow Reed- oh god how many Clow Reeds could there possibly be?!”, and even “Is this a Clow Reed Clone? Or was the CCS Clow Reed a clone all along?!?!” and on and on into forever.

ENTER: THE MOST SIMPLE ANSWER OF ALL. 

IT’S JUST THE SAME GUY. 

THIS WAS THE CLOW REED FROM CARDCAPTOR SAKURA ALL ALONG. 

And I’m just LOSING MY MIND because that means a huge part of Cardcaptor Sakura is centered on a lie. 

Or like, not REALLY a lie. It’s still true that he's dead. But Clow Reed lied to everyone he left behind, and those are all the people we get our answers from in that series. He told them he was going to die and they believed him.

I suppose he could have phrased it ambiguously? But if he DID it was with the intent that they thought he was dead, because that's what they think. He told them that on purpose.

AM I GOING TO GO DOWNSTAIRS AND FACT CHECK WITH CARDCAPTOR SAKURA? ... YES. OK.

OK OK OK OK HERE WE GO KERO SAYS THEY SAW HIM DIE. There we go, 100% he lied to them and even made it look convincing.

WAIT HAVE YOU READ CARDCAPTOR SAKURA? DON’T WORRY LET ME TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. (But if you don’t want spoilers for everything before Clear Card just skip the rest of this post). 

So the ENTIRE narrative of Cardcaptor Sakura centres on the fact that Clow Reed is dead. He died and left Yue and Keroberos in charge of the Clow Cards and their legacy. (Which is what is being depicted in the Top Left of this page. It's the conversation Clow had with Kero and Yue when he suddenly announced it to them). He died and left a family legacy for Syaoran to eventually inherit - however distantly, we don’t actually know. He died and had foreseen Cardcaptor Sakura, and left gifts and hints for her to continue his legacy and eclipse it. He died and his magic as a power source was dying all these years later, which was why she had to convert the cards, to save them, and Kero, and Yue. 

EXCEPT, HE DIDN’T DIE. 

Or at least, he didn’t die right away. He told Yue and Kero that he was going to die (and made them think they SAW it) and then FUCKED OFF to the Clow Kingdom to live there happily and raise Sakura and Touya there. 

WHICH. I am hung up on because that means in Clow's original reality, which is essentially our world, he had foreseen his death and that Cardcaptor Sakura was going to become his successor - and then, I guess, found out about the big Time Reset Wish that Evil Wolverine did for Lava Lamp, which trapped an alternate version "Sakura" in a Frozen bubble of time that would leave a new 'cloned' copy of her in the new version of the timeline. But that means Clow also would have had a vision of what happens to this new version of the Alternate Sakura, and the huge fate that lay ahead of her, and also that she did not have parents anymore, and so he was like, "AH YES A JOB FOR ME? Let me just tell everyone who loves me that I’m dead and slip over there for like ten years and ride that out." 

But not only that but CLOW REED IS IN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA TOO. HE IS THERE. HE IS ERIOL AND HE IS FUJITAKA. HE SPLIT HIMSELF INTO THE TWO OF THEM. 

Which means that he, like, told Yue and Kero that he died, went to the Clow Kingdom, lived that out, then told THEM that he died too, then went back to his original reality and Split Himself into two new people. Which counts as “death”, TECHNICALLY, sure. There is no more ‘Clow Reed’. He is not a singular living person anymore. But he didn’t “die” in the way that his family in Cardcaptor Sakura AND Tsubasa thought. Though it amounts to the same thing. 

EXCEPT - there is Eriol. Eriol inherited Clow Reed’s memories. So HE KNEW ALL THIS. HE KNEW THE WHOLE TIME. 

HE TECHNICALLY IS OFF IN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA DOING HIGH SCHOOL SHENANIGANS WITH THE FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT HIS DAUGHTER (SAKURA CLONE) IS OFF DYING FOR THE UNIVERSE AND TRYING DESPERATELY TO SAVE IT FROM EVIL WOLVERINE. WHILE HE’S SITTING ACROSS FROM YAMAZAKI AND MAKING STUPID JOKES. 

Though like, full disclaimer, I don’t actually mean it was at the same time. Because (a) time runs differently on different worlds, and (b) we are very lucky that’s true because otherwise it becomes a headache trying to piece it all together, but also (c ) Time travel, so we don’t even need to worry about it. I was at the end of writing another huge paragraph trying to put the events all in order but DONT WORRY ABOUT IT. TIME TRAVEL EXISTS. It all becomes circles in the end anyway. 

So like, don’t worry about it. :) Time Travel. 

The more fun thing is that Fujitaka technically existed as his own separate person in the Clow Kingdom FIRST, with Nadeshiko. Until time reordered events and Clow Reed jumped in to be Sakura’s new dad, before going back home and splitting himself into two people - one of which is the Fujitaka from Cardcaptor Sakura. Like. How does that work on a personal level. Did Clow Reed choose to let part of himself become the guy he replaced, or was he always kind of an Alternate version of him to begin with.

And then THAT Fujitaka meets the alternate Nadeshiko and they fall in love all over again. Which is also fun because it means that THAT Nadeshiko existed in this universe without a Fujitaka in it, Until Clow Reed came back split himself INTO the guy he went over there to replace, and BECAME the guy she was destined to fall in love with, even though he didn’t technically exist at all before that point. 

VERY HITSUZEN OF IT ALL. 

[bonebabbles]

Star Thoughts

I'm going to gather up all of my thoughts on the Arc as a whole in another post, but for now, I'll just drabble about my thoughts on the ending

I did not like it

I saw a lot of potential in this arc, and I was really optimistic to begin with. ASC actually got me back into WC after a long time away from it, and it was the impetus for me to really jump into the fandom.

But the ending really bites. It was going off the rails for a while, but Star in particular gave me a terribly empty feeling.

It wasn't entirely bad. There was some good in it. But not enough.

First of all, Berryheart.

I hate where they went with her. Sincerely, what the fuck.

We closed off the last book with Sunbeam feeling dread at seeing her xenophobic, radicalized mother taking deputyship in another Clan, thinking about how she will be absolutely ruthless towards foreign people she sees only as pawns

...and then that just gets dropped.

Berryheart reveals to ShadowClan cats that she's actually just teaming up with Splashstar to get rid of Tigerheartstar, but she talks too loud and her stupid ass plan gets reveled

And Splashstar is like "oooo i never trusted you anyway!"

Which gets Owlnose angry at her because "Harelight died because of you" BUT. WHY??

WHY DID THAT EVEN "NEED" TO HAPPEN. SPLASHSTAR JUST DID THAT

Why even take Berryheart in as a deputy?? Why was any of this necessary? How did any of this happen and what did Splashstar gain???

This whole thing feels like an idiot plot. Or, worse, a plot the writer doesn't have to justify because "Splashstar Craaaazy"

But anyway, a fight happens because Splashstar tells her to kill her sister Yarrowleaf and Berryheart says no

Sunbeam comes to help, Berryheart pushes her out of the way, gets a dumbass redemption death saving her daughter.

We already HAD one of these, it was Curlfeather at the beginning of the whole arc. I massively resent that Berryheart did a Dollar Store Curlfeather-- it cheapens what Curl did.

Even the way that Spireclaw rolls up to tell Sunbeam "yeah she was mean but she died saving u" just. Ooooooughhh.

SHE TRIED. TO KILL. YOUR WIFE.

BERRYHEART TRIED TO KILL YOUR WIFE WITH AN ADDER, BRO.

We SAW IT. On the SCREEN. She (Berryheart) (your mom) sent YOUR WIFE (Fringewhisker) (wife) through a PART OF THE GORGE (log bridge) (snake inside) (deadly) YOU KNEW WAS UNSAFE

The way the narrative is desperate to be sympathetic towards violent xenophobes through this whole book absolutely infuriates me, but Berryheart in particular is insufferable

We didn't need "mom heroically dies to save daughter" twice, and we definitely did not need Berryheart to be the one between the two characters to get showered in emotional flashbacks.

Frostpaw had 6 entire books to explore the complicated feelings she has for her mother, and slowly come to unpack them in a nuanced and satisfactory way

So Berryheart's felt tawdry and tacked on, to me.

And poor Fringewhisker, a victim of bigoted harassment for several books, barely gets any say about this. Her tormenter is gone, her mate is eager to forget the bullying, and Star doesn't give a hoot about how she feels on that.

That said...

It's not the idea of Sunbeam having complicated feelings about her mother's death that bother me. Most of those scenes are enjoyable.

I even like the way that Sparrowtail tells Tigerheartstar that Berryheart was the only cat he would ever betray ShadowClan for, and now that she is dead, it is the only thing he's loyal to.

It's that Berryheart had to die by saving her daughter, this "entitles" her to a protracted mourning session with her sacrifice at the forefront, while the narrative's sympathy for Curlfeather runs totally dry.

Just totally jacked Curlfeather's thing; that her ambition ends where her family begins. Man.

And Owlnose. Guy who killed her.

Owlnose what did they DO to you

I stopped liking him the minute he said that RiverClan was just following Splashstar's orders.

And the way he started lamenting how he wished he'd taken responsibility and become RiverClan's leader-- that was the moment i gave up on him.

This is not my beautiful wife.

It would have been one thing if he was constantly framed as pathetic and weak-willed, someone who stays away from power because he hates being stressed out and knows it...

But he becomes deputy at the end of the book, so, no. Everything he did was intended to be legitimately insightful.

I dislike him now.

Then again, I dislike most of RiverClan now.

Star's ultimate statement about the fact the whole Clan fell in line behind Splashstar is that "They Were Just Following Orders."

For those unaware, this is an infamously bad argument called The Nuremberg Defense. It is called that because it was very popular during the trials of Nazi officials who had taken part in the Holocaust.

The Nuremberg Defense, at best, can reduce the severity of your punishment. Pleading this still results in you being held accountable for your crimes.

Unfortunately this is not even the first time WC has posited the Nuremberg Defense unironically... but honestly it shouldn't have even happened once if they're going to botch it this badly!!

Throughout this book and the previous one, RiverClan was growing increasingly xenophobic. They beat the shit out of Wasp, steal kittens to hold as hostages from SkyClan and ShadowClan, try to drown Whorlpelt, and eventually attempt to publicly execute Nightheart.

This is all completely and utterly handwaved away with the death of Splashstar.

Xenophobia and radicalization are not properly addressed at all by Star. In fact, it misses the point so entirely that I have to believe it's on purpose.

He Made Them Bad :(

They all say sorry to the cats they did hate crimes to and it's ok :)

They were just following orders because Splashstar was threatening to kill babies. They Had No Choice.

I swear to god I really try not to throw around the term "idiot plot" lightly, but ALL of ASC from like Book 4 onwards has been Idiot Plot after Idiot Plot. I don't have any other words to describe this!! These characters don't THINK. Most of them seem to only have beliefs at all when the plot needs them to.

And like, circling back around to Splashstar, I honestly think calling all of this an idiot plot is being charitable, because the alternative is that the writing team is being horrifically ableist instead

They turn Splashstar into the stereotype of a "blood-crazed lunatic" in the blink of an eye.

He's yelling at a hallucination of Curlfeather's ghost, experiencing delusions about his righteousness, suddenly snapping and turning violent towards people, acting completely irrationally so he can do whatever the plot demands.

All the while, other cats are noting how he's "crazy" and has "gone mad"

It's REALLY bad.

It almost makes me miss the Evil Chick Tract Atheist of Book 5. At least when I'm getting shit on I know how to make it funny

His death is whatever.

There was a really ridiculous line about how the Clans are going to send an Eviction Notice Patrol to him to "inform him that he is no longer welcome at the lake, not kill him, because we must be better than him 😇💕" but at this point im used to Warrior Cats being Neoliberal Cats. Meowliberal.

And then they kill him lmaoo

Me when i send a Friendly Reminder Squad into Osama Bin Laden's house to let him know he is no longer allowed at McDonald's

I don't have strong feelings on Frostpaw being the one to kill him. I kinda wish it was someone else, but there's also no other worthy or fitting cats in RiverClan.

Just feels odd to me that Harelight died in 1 hit while Frostpaw, who has only really trained to fight for a short time, manages to end him. But whatever.

If I've been talking a lot about Frostpaw it's because she's the most interesting. Sunbeam and Nightheart have never felt more obviously out of place.

The book comes up with SO many excuses to separate Night and Sun that you could probably make a drinking game out of it.

This book needed more time on the editing floor. Errors aside (numerous errors), some chapters feel padded out by Sunbeam and Nightheart telling each other to leave

I feel like you could fill an entire chapter with the scenes of them saying the other should go. Like a Scooby Doo "LET'S SPLIT UP GANG" compilation.

enough has been said about Frostpaw's coma. Tree sucks, I hate how he barges into her dream to yell at her about how she needs to fix RiverClan.

I resent that no one hit the RiverClan cats who started whining about how Frostpaw needs to come back and fix their mess with a baseball bat.

I wish Frostpaw could fire a laser at them from heaven or something

Don't like the way that the narrative sets up Tree demanding she come back like a good thing, and Jayclaw telling her she's allowed to rest and make her own choices like a bad thing.

For the love of god let her have a crumb of autonomy

This book makes me wish I was a paper wasp so I could chew it up into paste and make a sculpture of the RiverClan symbol and then light it on fire, but it's not the worst WC book I've ever read. 4/10

[demodraws0606]

TADC and Duos

I was thinking back to this christmas promo and it kinda made something click for me.

I think there may be set duos/dynamics that the writing is trying to set up here.

We know Digital Circus's themes of companionship and friendship but we always see it in the lense of Pomni's relationship with everyone.

However I think there are actually gonna be set duos that are gonna be specifically ride or die to one another which will then form the full friendship group. Now the obvious one is Gangle and Zooble, they share thematic similarities and the way Zooble treats her probably comes from how they in a way relates to Gangle's struggles.

Here's where it gets interesting though, Kinger and Ragatha.

I'll be completely honest people undersell their potential friendship a lot especially with episode 2.

Kinger actually helps to ease Ragatha's worries when he has the bucket on his head. They're also I believe are canonically the two first people to have joined the circus, while also being the two oldest.

Considering Ragatha's episode is next there is kind of a question on who could potentially help her.

Things are too awkward with her and Pomni, same with Gangle and I don't think Zooble could help much.

However it would work very well to have Kinger be the one to help Ragatha, I mean he's been basically just been MIA in episode 4 it would make sense that he goes back in the spotlight a little bit.

I think also Kinger's memory issues could help Ragatha in a strange weird way, she could say what she honestly feels, all the negative stuff and Kinger wouldn't have to remember it.

So that leaves us with Jax and Pom..... (flashback to Goose saying Pomni and Jax's relationship is "messy")

Yeah that would technically leave us with her and Jax as the last duo (if we count Cain which I'm not going to bc he's a freak).

I don't honestly know what that duo could possibly hold. There is something interesting about how Jax actually genuinely wanted to interact with Pomni in episode 4.

What I think there could be here is Pomni maybe cautiously wanting to help Jax and him playing hot and cold between not wanting isolation and not wanting to be vulnerable (aka he probably doubles down on his asshole-ry)

It will probably be not as sweet as Kinger/Ragatha and Zooble/Gangle but yknow what, i'm here for it.

Edit : Actually there is also possibility of Pomni and Cain being a duo thing, there is some interesting stuff there. And Jax being alone would make a lot of sense.

[jeun-bug]

Brainrotting anon:

Imagine some anonymous GA student tweeting “a running list of which Ghouls I think would be upset once the MC is transformed/dead” and some of the tsundere characters aren’t on it. Or they are on it but the reason is harsh (IE: “Romeo but just because he would lose a gopher who actually gets shit done and has a good relationship with other places for him to milk” “Ren because they do all his work for him” “Jin because they make his stigma work better and the power*” “I’d say Leo because then he’d have to find a new fake relationship, but we all know he’d milk his fake grief for tons of views. He’s probably looking forward to it”) and now they have to either deal with people knowing their *gags* care for the MC or MC thinking that they don’t care about their potential death or something. They’re sitting there trying to plan this whole thing out like it’s a Light vs L thing, and MC just looks at the thread, says “lol” and moved on with their day.

*((no GA character knows that Jin’s stigma doesn’t work without MC in story, at least from what I remember, so they probably just assume he likes the extra bump to effect more people))

i LOVE the concept of all of the ghouls taking MC’s curse significantly more seriously then MC themselves.

“oh my god they’re gonna die in a year. we HAVE to do something, this can’t go on. this can’t really be happening.”

and then mc is like sitting on the floor reading their textbook like “hey did you guys know that APPARENTLY there’s a small chance of this anomaly taking over my body but not my mind so i’ll be just like those zombies from *in universe media* until i die.”

i imagine the mc is like chatting with kaito or luca or any of the other ghouls who made the list like “yeah yuri and jiro and figuring it out! i have faith i’ll be pretty alright.” etcetc

meanwhile romeo and jin and leo and whomever are off to the side just totally spiraling like “do i have to tell them? do they really need to know…? i mean it wouldn’t actually affect anything either way… but what if they die thinking i hate them??? Does it really matter? i mean-“ LMAO

[crimsonphantasmagoria]

I'm still thinking about the divide between people who think Solas was depicted as too sympathetic and people who think he was shown very unsympathetically because...both are weirdly right? Leaving aside any actual discussion of whether he's right to want the veil brought down.

In Trespasser he seems to imply that the whole world will die when the veil comes down, like what was shown in one of the potential ideas in the Veilguard artbook. That was my assumption going into Veilguard. Hence why my Solas romancing Inquisitor didn't ask to go with him! But in Veilguard, it's implied to just be some demons? Just a few thousand deaths? He fully expects at least Charter and the Inquisitor to survive. That's a wild deescalation! It actually converted me to the idea that the Veil probably should come down. It makes him way more sympathetic from minute one. Weird choice, if you wanted to make him more unsympathetic?

Then there's companions and NPCs who talk about Solas. The companions are incredibly unsympathetic to him during his memory reveals. There's basically no nuance. They even blame him for things he didn't cause, like the Elf-Titan wars. I would have expected, if we wanted to be nuanced, for there to be at least one companion who was sympathetic to his choices in each memory. But there isn't. Even the one where he puts up the veil. You know, the thing they're guarding? But also, Varric is out here actively encouraging Rook to help Solas in the regret prison. But also the Inquisitor is treated as delulu for asking if there's a way to save him. It's kinda weird.

And of course, the decision to have him kill Varric specifically to make him less sympathetic, and not to further either character's story or growth. Also, we don't find out about it for most of the game, for cheap shock value. It would have been more effective to know from the start. It also would have allowed me to make an informed decision about whether my Inquisitor should go into the Fade with him at the end in the romance, because I don't think I personally would have changed my mind if I'd known, but somebody might have.

There's also the thing about the psychology of having a secret ending, which makes people want to get that ending, but I don't think the devs will have thought of that, exactly.

Idk, maybe it was actually the perfect amount balanced. Or maybe the scales were so wildly tipped from Inquisition that there was no balancing them. At which point, it probably would have been better to try and work with that, rather than against it. But, hey, what do I know.

Frankly, if they truly wanted to make Solas unsympathetic, they should have stuck with the whole world being destroyed by the veil coming down, explained the full consequences to us directly, and given us some reasons to believe why this was definitely what would happen. I might still have sympathised with the man, but others wouldn't have once they knew that he knew that.

[esoteric-crow]

hey actually isn’t there something kind of really sad about the fact that the hardest difficulty (that isn’t just like. hell or hell. which is just ‘haha hehe Blow up.’) is called Dante Must Die. i think about it a lot. i can’t quite put my finger on why it makes me miserable but maybe someone else can.

but you know what i CAN talk about and i DO have actual fully formed thoughts about?

regenerating like crazy is great. but isn’t there something kind of inherently fucked up about the fact that, because of the regeneration dante and vergil have, neither of them will ever have tangible evidence to themselves or others of their suffering? asking themselves, was it really that bad? did it even happen at all? no matter how much you put vergil through hell and how afraid he is inside, there will never be a mark on his skin that says “i have suffered”. the world leaves no proof, nothing to take home from this experience aside from a more broken mind. vergil doesn’t say his feelings, or even allow them to surface properly, because that’s a kind of vulnerability he cannot handle. the only way he could perhaps earn someone’s sympathetic care is by expressing what he has suffered through, but he cannot verbalize that. and he looks perfect. unmarked by time or trauma. there isn’t a single part of his body that could scream out for him that something horrible has happened that he cannot figure out how to deal with alone.

and dante is just as poor off. and he’s very difficult to figure out emotionally to a passerby. dante purposefully puts on a happy face every day, and to the majority of the world, it’s convincing. there’s certainly no evidence to themselves contrary. not a scratch on him. but he is like kind of constantly getting the ever loving fuck beat out of him. stabbed and jabbed. when you look at him, you see happy, sweet, goofy dante. for all the years of pain he’s gone through, there isn’t a single marred inch of his skin that could tell you even a day of the agony unless he told you. and why would dante do that when he can pretend it simply isn’t happening until he’s alone and can sit with the terror that’s constantly in him and the loss he’s been living with, over and over losing people and being surrounded by the ghosts of their presence. whether the ghost is a wayward descendent, a gun, or just a lingering smell of ash in his childhood home. but that will only be private. he can be the walking dead, he can treat himself like shit, but his body refuses to show anything for it. and he’s certainly not going to die.

obviously, the same thing can be said for the opposite side of the spectrum: scars can be a constant reminder in the mirror of what happened that you cannot erase, always to some degree a part of you. among other stuff. so both sides of the coin are full of The Pains and The Anguishes.

on a side note, i really like when people give them like, one scar. i don’t really have a favorite one that people give vergil but i really like dante with just the one bigass gnarly one in the middle of his abdomen from the rebellion gettin jammed in there. his One scar. a treate. like it defies his regeneration somehow.

i love making a scarred up guy. i have plenty of scars n marks myself, and i feel like they should definitely be more normalized, so like, no this post isn’t anti scars or something. they’re normal and not ugly or whatever the hell people try to say. this side note is probably entirely unnecessary, but i’m tired and i’m worried about someone misunderstanding me i think. anyway i’m trying to say ooh scar angst yeah but sometimes No scars is also fucked up too. that’s the point here.

to sum up: i believe there can be something Fucked Up and angsty to be said about the fact that the sparda boys heal perfectly fine, but only externally. it is 3am. this is not articulated as well as it could be i don’t think. aaaand post.

[reveluving]

remember forever ; benny miller x reader

summary: the first snow for a family of three!

warnings: tooth-rotting fluff, minor explicit language but overall, very soft!

a/n: really happy to see how much Garrett content I got to share this year, and hopefully way more to come! I can't thank y'all enough for showing so much love, especially my Garrett girls!! I ain't done with him, not especially after making an entire masterlist for him hehe! hope you enjoy it & don’t forget to leave some sugar! ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

» curious about both fall and winter specials this year? come & check out this year's 'reve's quirky reverie' m.list! ❄️'!

'The photos were simple, with hints of uncertainty and shyness here and there, but it made you all the more you, and the bits of snow covering you made you all the more enchanting.' ;

The wonderment in your eyes upon gazing at the falling snow was a sight Benny had to take a photo of. 

Multiple, actually, knowing he’d have it saved in his phone, slot it in his wallet, in his bedside—whatever. 

Just anywhere he could have you in any way close.

But if watching his sweet wife admiring the winter wonderland blanketing the neighbourhood wasn’t already a sight to behold, then he would definitely die from seeing her with the baby boy in her arms, cooing at the snowflakes around him. 

To say that you and Benny looked forward to your son’s first snow together was a major understatement, and just when you thought you were ready to see him all snug in his first winter clothes, oh, you were solely wrong.

If cuteness could kill, you and Benny were pretty sure you would’ve died in each other’s arms right then and there.

It took everything in Benny not to stare at the two of you longer than he already did, needing to set up the camera on the tripod. His kid was no more than a year old, looking like the cutest cub in his thick bear-knit onesie, plus matching mittens and boots gifted by his brother. 

Besides Will’s, Bubba had plenty to wear for the days to come in the winter wonderland, thanks to his uncles, Frankie and Santiago. 

It had been an hour since Bubba cried, unused to the cold sensation that may have tickled his sensors a little too much when you brought him out the first time.

Now, the baby was doing great. Greater than great, even, occasionally staring at the bits of snow attached to his mittens and even your jacket with such curiosity. 

Ah, how proud he was of his baby boy.

Plus, with the pretty morning lighting, how could you and Benny not decide it was the right time to take pictures together?

And he didn't want to waste any more time, eager to take photos and determine which should be framed and/or be in the family photo album. 

Or hell, why not both?

“Hey,” He jogged over to you, his heart fluttering at the way you and Bubba lit up so similarly, “Got the tripod.”

You grinned, “Nice. I was thinking of taking it here, so it'll see all three of us in front of–”

“Ah-ah,” He stopped you, “Not before I take yours first.”

Just yours. It was tradition, after all.

You pouted because of course he would remember that, watching him set the camera on the tripod before outstretching his arms.

“C'mon,” He said with a shit-eating grin, “Just a few.”

Lies.

You fondly rolled your eyes but passed Bubba to him anyway. The toddler, ever the mama's boy, was already grumbling, making grabby hands for you. Benny was two steps ahead, though and quickly took a squeaky rattle out of his pocket, squeezing it in front of the boy to grab. Bubba, perking up at the sound, took hold of his toy, already biting down on the soft fabric irresistibly. 

With Bubba distracted in one arm, Benny adjusted the camera to focus on you.

Still, you knew Benny meant well if the way he treasured photos of you were something to go by. You shook your head in amusement, then posed and smiled for the camera.

The photos were simple, with hints of uncertainty and shyness here and there, but it made you all the more you, and the bits of snow covering you made you all the more enchanting.

But there were also candid ones; when you'd wave and catch Bubba’s attention, Benny would immediately take continuous photos of your blinding smile upon seeing your son bouncing in his father's arm, shaking his rattle at you. 

Then, he took photos of both you and Bubba together. 

“Bubba, bubba, over here, bud!”

Seeing his father waving wildly immediately caught his attention, and it only took seconds before he recognized the funny man, gurgling excitedly as he squirmed against you. 

You and Benny shared a laugh, and as if struck by a burst of affection, you cuddled into Bubba’s back, feeling him wriggle uncontrollably at the ticklish sensation as he giggled, and your husband couldn’t wait any longer. 

Immediately after Benny set the timer on, he rushed over, muttering a ‘shit’ when he slipped on ice before standing next to you. Your body trembled as he held you, still holding back a laugh after witnessing what could've been a disaster, and Bubba was no better—babbling and shaking his toy upon having his father up close. 

The sight before him was just all too cute, and Benny, despite the camera, couldn't help but kiss your cold cheek. And as the camera clicked, Benny knew this picture in particular would be framed in your living room.

˚ · . f i n . · ˚

» a/n: something short and sweet for our one and only before the end of the year, and more to come in the next! p.s. look at that gif :,(( LOVE HIM ;; gorgeous divider by @firefly-graphics ♡

[liltumgrum]

There are two major things that are ripping me up about Kaladin leaving to become a herald.

And I don’t mean how it was predicable.

The first is the general lack of knowledge of what happened to him. Szeth doesn’t even know. His parents will never know how they lost their son again. Orodin will never know why his big brother he just met disappeared. What’s left of bridge 4 will think their Captain finally was beaten. No one knows he’s not actually dead. His body died and was all that was left behind as a clue. It looks like he *failed* almost. Kaladin has had a way of inspiring people to believe in the impossible since he was in his mid to late teens. And now when everything in their world has fallen, this almost divine figure has a well. He was such a symbol to hope to so many people only for him to seemingly die without anyone even awake to witness.

This is less sad to his character and more so for the population of human free from Retribution

Second, and worst of all in my opinion, is the people he left beind.

In this I’m not actually talking about Bridge 4 or his family who he did get closure with in some way. Specifically I’m thinking of Szeth, Adolin, and Shallan. He was what? Szeth’s first actual friend? For like 8 days? And Szeth buried his corpse. Adolin and Shallan refused to say goodbye. They haven’t out grown him in the same way others had. They saw him as he was, vulnerable, when others didn’t.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible for them to have that drink together, but unless Kal figures out how to do freaky shit in the cognitive realm or someone yanks the heralds back to roshar before their ready, it seems really unlikely. Ishar said that time passes significantly faster on roshar than where they are. Kaladin said the heralds have time to heal. He just…. Doesn’t seem to be planning on coming back in time for Adolin or Shallan to still be alive. He won’t get to be the friend to Adolin that Adolin was to him. He won’t get to joke and commiserate with Shallan with no weird feelings between them. He doesn’t get to be proud of them for what they’ve done while they were separated. And they know nothing but that this time. This one final time. He didn’t come back.

That hurts me.

That isn’t to say however that I think it was out of character or easy for Kaladin to leave. One crucial thing about his character that has always been true is this: Kaladin cannot, and will not walk away from someone in front of him that needs help. That moment and that need takes president over all else. He just has decided he’s going to deal with the consequences of his choice. No matter how steep. Being there for the people that had literally no one else: szeth, the heralds, Syl and every single spren was worth the loss. He chose it and he’s going to see it through.

On a side note I can totally see why people thought the therapy talk was a little hit over the head and clunky. I would have like to see him fumble his words more. Which maybe says something about me bc he fumbled a lot. But honestly I’m just impressed at him for pushing himself to talk so much. I mean can you image the grunting guy in WoR talking half as much as he does in WaT?

I think the message was prioritized more for setting him up as a herald than it was meant to feel super natural. Which is unfortunate but I don’t personally care that much. -_(o_o)_-

[pixiecaps]

do you think if mia had chosen to stop existing instead of jaser sofia would be alive? since she is the error in the cycle, the impossible thing that isnt meant to happen. understanding that in this context would mean that sofia is meant to live Or at least not die there per say. like calisto said only the god of fear could bring her back but the existence of mia is what throws everything off.

and i keep thinking about what calisto wrote in those last few documents in the cathedral. and his initial scene with veríssimo where he explicitly states that “but fear.. its impossible when you already know whats going to happen. do you understand?” so yes he saw all the visions including his own death so he knows like the others how hes going to die. but what makes him different is he doesnt feel fear or thats what hes implying. similarly to veríssimo who cant feel fear. which to me means calisto like veríssimo is marked by the god of fear. that is their element.

i also like that calisto doesnt know about mia and you learn that immediately. veríssimo says “all stories need an ending and its because of that im here. to end all of this. to save her.” talking about mia. and calisto says. “save her? you left to forget her!” talking about sofia. so calisto has no idea already. he believes that veríssimo abandoned sofia with no motive because he isnt aware of mia. the cycle itself is already teetering.

now considering this even before using the explosion ritual on himself and presumably dying he tells veríssimo, “i’ll see you in the other ending.” in his mind hes going to be the one to save sofia since he knows that the god of fear will bring about the other ending. none of this will have happened. sofia will come back. the thing is.. mia is the one who existed in the end. jasers choice predetermines whether sofia dies or not. mia was the part of the equation that calisto didnt consider because he couldnt have known.

another interesting part is when calisto states, “i understood the prophecies of the unhaunted one. i solved the enigma of fear. … what did i do?! I FULFILLED MY ROLE!” which we see throughout the game later on where calisto job in this cycle was to decipher all of jasers visons and guide the other agents to repeat the cycle etc etc. THEN HE SAYS “im going to bring her back.” again talking about sofia. which means that calisto did everything he did in that cycle with the motive of bringing about the other ending or in other words calisto wasnt just driven obsessively mad with the enigma of fear cause he wanted to solve it out of curiosity but because he wanted to save sofia. a great example of this would be the last document with the drawing of sofia that says, “only the god of fear can bring her back. only i can do this.” because his role throughout everything was to be the one deciphering all the visions. he was in charge of overseeing and successfully placing the pieces for the other ending to happen. but as we know sofia coming back to life doesnt happen. and im curious to see what calisto will do with that if anything?

cause the implication of the ending we got is that only mia truly remembers what happened and also that everything we saw never happened. so will calisto not even realize that everything he sacrificed to save sofia actually didnt work or pay off? im most anxious to see what calisto will be like now. especially with how quick he sent the group a text message. theres gotta be a certain self awareness to it all. for him at least. suddenly coming back to life and no one knows who you are cause its been decades? its interesting. i think i’d be Most interesting if we get calisto back and hes somehow still obsessed with the enigma of fear and getting sofia back. because that would alter everything so much more again.