#why is it that the hardest fight I've had so far has been ONE (1) FLY

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Spy x Family S2

Awww, I like that Bond Forger the Dog also gets an intro about HIS secret identity. Equal opportunity deceit

Are we finally going to learn who exacty Yor is fighting? I would like to know!

Been there Anya, I also had little patience for watching the news as as a kid. Though, it seems more important in a pre-internet era

"Okay, you can change the channel." Loid Forger, International Spy, defeated by one (1) sad look from his little daughter

"I absolutely cannot tell him that I got shot in the butt while fighting a group of armed men." 10/10 episode plot, I cannot wait

"I've been relying on her too much without realizing it, and it's upset her. Yes, that must be it! I must do everything in my power to remedy this at once!" Loid immediately blaming Yor's mood on himself and deciding he has to be respond by being a better husband!!! I will keep saying it. He is THE Husband. World's Most Husband

"Why don't we go on a date?" HEE HEE

Puzzling that Yor thinks she hasn't been on a date though, when I can think of at least three dates so far (party-grenade-proposal date, lunch date, and drinks-and-reassurance date)

"I can't leave Anya alone at home, and this is a very important mission to ensure that we remain one happy family." It seems Loid has learned from the spy transmission debacle

"Last night, I came up with 862 date plans to ensure that Yor has fun." He's insane. I want to give him a leetle kiss

HAHAHAHA Franky being absolutely thrilled to bother Loid and Yor on their date. What a friendship 💕

Intriguing that Anya's telepathy has a distance limit. Tell me more!

Honestly, Yor having to position herself in a specific way to avoid pain is relatable. We love a chronic pain queen

"This woman had built up an immunity to poisons." HAHAHAHAHA the poison fixing Yor's pain. Sometimes, drinking does solve your problems!

LMAOOOO them censoring the bomb components. A real "don't try this at home" moment

NOT THE BABY MAKING THE BOMB. ANYA PLEASE

"I'm going to forget all this and live a normal life." Perfect. Forgers reforming their enemies left and right

"If it's not too much trouble, please invite me out again sometime." Never let being married stand in the way of your husband becoming your boyfriend 🥰

SCREAM at Bond's perception of what Loid does for work. I guess he's closer to the truth than most:

"Are you trying to do this for your... no. Are you trying to get revenge for your friends who were experimented on?" HAHAHA is Loid blushing because he wants to call himself his dog's dad?

FBKFJHFFHKJHF Loid taking on Bond as his mission back-up. He truly can be swayed so easily

WHERE DID LOID GET A DOG-SIZED SKI MASK AHHAHAHA

I love the giant puppy spy sidekick, employ this dog ASAP

"While they're busy playing, I'm going to work hard to get to the top," said Damian Desmond, Six Years Old, for whom The Top was beating all the other little bougie first graders

"Your friendship... preciously elegant." Me whenever I finish hanging out with my friends

I love that Henderson-sensei sends the kids out on a picnic as a punishment. He really is as silly as he is strict

I don't know if this is a vegetarian thing or a cultural thing but it always seems wild to me how people in anime bite into fish, scales and all

"Did you know that the most recent studies in neuroscience suggest that your brain feels really revitalized when you're spacing out?" I like Mr. Green, Grizzled Navy Custodian, too

HAHA Damian trying his hardest to space out. Me when people tell me to practice mindfulness

"Oh, you don't [have a goal], eh? That's perfectly fine!" "Actually, I want to live my life eating lots of snacks." "Splendid! You'll have to think earnestly about how to make that possible." I take it back, I LOVE MR. GREEN

Ready to sob about this field trip actually. AHHHHHHH:

"Good evening, Mr. Vile Trash." ACAB; All Cops are (Weird) Brothers

"What's so wrong about trying to improve the country my family lives in?" Nothing but the hostile, paternalistic nationalism of a Cold War, Frank Perkin, Newspaper Sensationalist and Adult Bully of Wealthy Children

"I'll request that your father gets some financial aid to get by." I feel like that will not make up for imprisoning his son, Yuri, but whatever helps you sleep

"Blech." That's also how I feel about Weird Brother Yuri, Anya

"Revenge will only make you sadder. I'll make you forget about all that with my love." This is the plot of Naruto

Honestly, I was super sold on the Bondman Polycule when it was just him, his spy partner Agent M, and the enemy spy lady who had all linked arms together. I feel like this could work:

"How was anything he did gentlemanly?" Loid said: I'm a one-woman kind of spy

"Lord Damian, how could you possibly pick the joker there." "Shut up!' [Internally] She's so unfair... Damn it! I like to believe Loid might approve of Damian's crush purely because he is also willing to do whatever Anya wants if she makes one (1) sad face

Poor Anya. She's really most suited to using her street smarts

"Garden? The group of assassins who have been in this country for ages? They're basically urban legends, aren't they?" FINALLY we're finding out more about Yor's job!! They do in fact seem at cross purposes with the spies

[Loid already walking away] "He's such a heartless jerk." I bet you $5 he has already decided to help Franky LMAO

Update from 8 min later: Alright, I owe you $5, he didn't care

"Am I normal?! Oh, thank goodness!" said Yor excitedly, as if that were not a moderately suspicious response to being called normal

Excited for an ep with no double-barreled title. Plot progression!

I truly don't know where this falls on the spectrum of ways that anime will depict black and brown characters LMAO. Like Donovan Desmond, the Shopkeeper has an extremely haunting aura:

"You will be providing protection on this mission." Oooooh, change of pace!

"Is there actually any reason why I should continue my job as a killer?" A question every assassin should ask themselves, I think

"HQ may or may not be trying to cut back on our shady overtime practices." Incredible. I can't believe even the underground spy agency has PTO. I wonder who regulates spy labour law

"If not for this bodyguard job, the three of us could've enjoyed this vacation together." AWWW Yor loves her family so much

"You can say this is a gangster's destiny." [Reba voice] A single mom who works too hard, who loves her kid never stops!

"Papa! We need to hurry up and explore the ship before it sinks!" "It's not going to sink! Stop scaring everyone." The fact the staircase looks distinctly modelled after that one scene from Titanic really sells Anya's point

Loid incapable of framing having fun as anything but a mission ljggkjgj truly he might benefit from a Real Psychologist

"That family's just for camoflauge, right?" "Yes, you're right... Is... that true?" I love Yor slowly admitting that she loves her family for their own sake 💗

As Yor was declaring doing her best, I did worry briefly that someone was going to [redact] Olka. Other anime have been less kind to me than Spy x Family

I love Yor making another mum friend in Olka 💞 Gal pals

Finally saying suspicious things in public has a consequence!!

"It's been a while since we've had dinner without Mama." "Yeah, it's a bit lonely." Hee hee, Loid misses his wife

I love the immediate transformation in Yor's face as soon as Olka/Shaty says she didn't order room service

I don't have much to say but I am really entranced by the assassin vs. assassin + informant goings on!!

"I may not look it, but I'm a married woman, so I'll have to decline." Absolutely loving Yor quietly and efficiently beating these hitmen unconscious as she passes through the cruise ship

"Which is it?! Would normal parents buy their child something in this situation or not?!" Loid is incapable of making a decision without thinking about how it looks in relation to him being a spy. Anxiety king

[In Anya's mind] "Yor! You're an assasin who hates frogs? Let's get a divorce. The Forgers are done." Like father, like anxiety-ridden daughter

"I am a normal father. A good father," said Loid, which is frankly not usually something a good or normal father would say

"Papa, you're not excited at all." Loid defeated by one (1) six-year-old's piercingly accurate psychoanalysis

Loid is facing a true Psychological Battle: The Fitting Room

Anya Ultimate Wingman Award for convincing everyone her mum's battle is actually a circus act

Awwww, Zeb, Fake Husband to Olka, likes her. I hope this is a healthy experience in Yor seeing other fake couples work it out, but I do also think Zeb could mega-die

"As long we people continue to be people, conflict will never end." Alright, Director Doomsday, calm down

"What am I? What am I doing this for?" [B Eilish voice] What was I made foooooor?

"Does she hate me? Or is she just going through a rebellious phase?" Loid whenever one of the Forger girls looks upset: THIS MUST BE MY FAULT SOMEHOW

A hasty and confident NO to Assassin Sniff's whole vibes

We interrupt this program to think about how cute Loid and Anya are!! I love Loid entertaining Anya and also supporting her while he thinks she's missing Yor

"Nice, Mr. Husband!" Oh good, we love a bulletproof vest for Zeb!

Truly a wild juxtaposition of Forger Family Fireworks Night:

"This might be a bit late to ask, but would you consider just peacefully going home?" I love you, Compassionate Combat

I'm having a hard time believing all this will happen without Loid eventually noticing; the fireworks are long gone. I actually do hope Loid crashes her battle, Director Doomsday is out cold

"I'm doing this to support my family.... wait. I guess I am also doing this for money. But... no, I make enough to survive now. I'm hunting down bad guys for my country! For my country? Have I always been so righteous? What am I doing this for?" Poor Yor, this is like the worst possible time for an existential crisis

YOR AND LOID BOTH BEING MOTIVATED BY THEIR DESIRE FOR OTHERS TO LIVE A PEACEFUL LIFE 😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘

[In Yor's flashback] "Be it for someone else, or for a specific reason, having to endure a merciless job... That's something to be very proud of." I'm sure Loid will acknowledge me. He'll forgive me. I like to think so too, Yor!!

Never mind to Loid helping Yor out, he is busy disarming a bomb threatening to sink them. This truly is the Titanic LMAO

LGLHGLGJHGLJHG Anya accidentally tripping the assassins so they shoot each other. Like mother, like daughter 💖

"You'll be able to enjoy the symphony of agonized screams and roars coming through the wiretaps on this ship." I can't wait for Loid to sink this guy with his own clock-bomb

Update from 30 seconds later: See? Self-owned and sunk

Awwwww Yor really does deserve the baby hug after the day she's had:

"I pray that, someday, you and your family will be able to find true peace." OLKAAAA

"I know it was an emergency, but I ended up casting my family aside again." Loid and Yor having the same crisis about whether to prioritize their family or their jobs 🥺🥺🥺

Loid's blush at Yor catching him skipping as he continues to skip over in her direction. Hee hee

"I hope peaceful days like this will continue forever." ME TOO, YOR!

Get you a mum who would secretly beat up sharks for you ❤️‍🩹

Setting aside how fun snorkeling is, absolutely terrible idea to go into the ocean with an open wound OMG

Loid carrying his whole family is the cutest thing I've ever seen, 10 bajilion/10zo; perfect:

[Internally] "You did a great job." Loid is in loooooove

"I can never tell if he's actually clever, or clumsy." Me either, Handler

Anya learning about the vacation disparity of rich kids LMAO

"If youre going to create a persona for yourself, you need to be strategic and commit." Not Loid turning this lie lecture into a spy lecture in his mind

"Lying is too much work, so I'll try not to do it anymore." Anya's entire set of adult role models do nothing but lie all the time, she really has no frame of reference for honesty

I do a little bit hate the Becky fantasizing about Loid thing, I have been Cardcaptor Sakura'd too much in life

NOT ANYA SELLING OUT HER MUM FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF BECKY BEING HER RICH SIX-YEAR-OLD STEPMUM OH MY GOD

I feel like they take a lot of liberties in translating "Loid-sama" as "my precious Loid" but hey, he is precious

"Yor's going to get the wrong idea, somehow." Loid has finally registered that this child is obsessed with him and he is only concerned for wife not thinking he's a freak. A good husband above all else

"I really don't understand the children of rich people." Me either, Loid

I need you to see Loid's face as Becky declares that this is his expression of love for Yor:

"Your heart is as vast as the sky, and you're stronger than the earth itself. You're the perfect lady." Correct, Becky! Yor is amazing

"I had some extra souvenirs left after handing them out to everyone else. Do you want them?" LMAO @ the implication being lost on Fiona that he doesn't even think of her enough to warrant her own souvenir

I will say, I really do resonate with the theme of the ep being Loid is Hot and Amazing to Everyone But No One Will Ever Measure Up to Yor in His Eyes

"Maybe you're too nice, and biting and barking don't really suit you." Everyone in the Forger family is too nice for their job, including Bond Forger, Precognitive Puppy

Awwww Bond trying to help out all the humans with his visions

LNKFHKFHKJFH Loid really just got reprimanded by his dog

"And he went into save [Daisy the puppy]? What an impressive dog!" I love the Spy Dad-Psychic Puppy tag-team ❤️

[Internally] "I am a cool-headed spy. I cannot let my emotions show." Loid remains deadpan through SO many things but his dog looking a little funny while wet is his limit. What a man!

"Don't push yourself too hard. There's someone waiting back home who would be sad if you died." 1) V sweet, dad first, hero second. And 2) This is the second time Loid has directly spoken to his life situation with a simultaneous thinly-veined dog metaphor

WAHHHHHHH Loid and Bond's heroics being acknowledged by Anya giving them little paper Stellas:

Yor immediately joining in and congratulating them for their hard work on their walk!!! I LOVE ONE (1) SPY X FAMILY 😭😭😭😭😭 IT'S A NICE SHOW

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

You mentioned competition being one of the primary reasons for JK & Tae fans hating/resenting Jimin, and I think you're on to something there.

Jimin was not supposed to be popular. He was supposed to be cute, a good dancer(but not as good as Hobie) and the one who can't sing or write his own music, but tries and oh, isn't that a sweet little Jominie?

Sexy and handsome,? That's Tae's thing. A musical powerhouse? That's the Golden One. Why can't Jimin just remain in his role as BTS #1 cheerleader?

It drives these fans bat-sh*t crazy. The natural order has been abandoned. Their fave has been disrespected. All because Jimin--and the people inwexplixably drawn to him--don't know their place.

Imagine posh spice suddenly doing cartwheels and sporty spice's whole identity and thing that made her "unique" in the group, is not so unique anymore.

This happens in every group, tho. Kpop or not, that characterization is a must when groups are being formed. All members are supposed to have that one thing that makes them different from the rest, and that it will cater to certain people. Even one direction members had a certain moniker that made them "special" within the group. You mentioned some of those things with BTS, and it's true. They might be real traits of the members, but they actually choose what to put forward so other people would remember them by that.

The truth is Jimin never really did that lol 😆 he never really tried to push certain hobbie as his whole identity, or talked about himself in limiting ways. Even with dance, he's always been excellent at it and was doing the hardest parts of BTS choreographies since the beginning, but it wasn't until like 2018 that he actually started talking about dancing in a way that you could tell it meant something really important to him. He didn't even have other members talk that talk for him, the way Hoseok did. All the members, year after year, would talk about Hoseok's dance this or that, but they never mentioned Jimin. Armys didn't even know Jimin is a main dancer too 💀

A lot of them are solo fans of other members, point blank. They might type a little seven and pretend they're not, but they are.

I've talked about this before, but there's always going to be competition when someone else is able to do the same thing you do. Jimin sings and dances. Jungkook sings and dances. Taehyung, well... he sings I guess. All three are maknae line. There's a lot of clashing interests and a lot of space for competition because their areas and "identities" overlap so much. Same with some Jin akgaes that have gotten to drag Jimin over vocals in the past few years; because both sing. If Jin was a dancer, I bet you they would fight about that too.

That's why nobody is fighting over Jimin being a better rapper than Hoseok. No, they argue about fashion and dance -things both of them have in common.

Now, it's 2024 and Jimin sings, dances, writes, produces and composes his own music. He coreographs his own coreographies, he's topped major charts. Everything, literally everything that was expected of, or that armys swore only rapline or other maknae line member could do. Armys will still talk about Yoongi as if he was the only producer in the group like Jimin isn't there, only because it's easier, it's repetitive, it's the story they've been telling for a decade.

As I've said not too long ago (but can't find the post): armys have always been uncomfortable when Jimin showed them they were wrong about him.

"X member is going to have a huge fashion career" - Jimin has objectively had the best deals with fashion so far.

"X member is the most popular in US" - Jimin doing just as good or even better than said member.

Everyone expecting Jungkook and Taehyung to release full albums of 309483 songs written by them - not only none of them did that, but Jimin did it.

This fandom doesn't like their ideas being challenged, and all Jimin has been doing is exactly that. Making them see something that they weren't aware existed, or didn't want to acknowledge. It's even worse because Jimin doing the same things other members do, makes those members seem less special than armys or solos thought they were.

It's also one of the reasons why Jimin was basically pushed out of the makane line by the fandom, as I've mentioned here:

They didn't want more competition for the ones the fandom wrongly thought were supposed to be the "biggest" soloists of the group (taekook). It was all about "wait for taekook's debuts" blah blah blah. Notice how hyung line stans (even those who are allegedly ot7 army) get upset about Jimin being more successful than hyung line, but they don't get upset when taekook do better?

I think one time that it really dawned on me how willingly oblivious armys were, was when this ad was released. I remember tweeting something about why was Jungkook considered the most athletic member in BTS when he has never done stuff like that. That looks athletic to me, at least. Jimin has been doing these flips for a decade and no army has ever pointed it out, have they? It's like "oh Jimin doing another flip, cool". Or worse, not even acknowledging it. If another member, especially Hoseok or Jungkook or Yoongi, had spent a decade doing this, you bet that army would be doing compilations about it every single day. It really made me wonder why has Jimin never been in the center of "the athletic ones in BTS", when he so obviously has always been good.

[wilhelmsbee]

Okay honestly? I'll just take you up on that offer because I'm obsessed with your edits in general, but if you ever feel like talking some more about that Wilhelm edit you did to the song Ribs by Lorde??? Would love that because that edit lives rent-free in my head! (no pressure though, I just like the idea of like... director's commentary or something for edits haha)

I HOPE EVERYONE IS READY FOR ME TO BE INSANELY DEEP ABOUT THIS EDIT OH MY GOD

preface: i talk ab why i chose each scene for the lyrics, then colouring/font, idk if this is the directors commentary you wanted but like this is how I think about all my edits

We're reeling through the midnight streets- initially, I actually wanted to start it on the this dream isn't feeling sweet line but it just didn't fit in instagrams 1-minute time frame ANYWAY This scene has always been the most painful to me. Wilhelm realises at this moment that he's truly, undeniably alone in his life. Everyone he trusts (or is supposed to trust) has left him, and he has nobody left to go to. He's alone, going through his own personal hell, finding out his only family cares more about public perception than him as a person. It's like the beginning of the worst spiral we see from Wilhelm. Its quite a literal scene-to-lyric moment, but also the we're part feels (to me) like him-as-well-as his public self. Crown Prince Wilhelm and Wille are such separate parts, and its all he has left.

And I've never felt more alone- The THERAPY SCENE! Specifically this is the I think it's better not knowing how it could feel scene, because that truly is the most heartbreaking viewpoint I've ever seen from a character. It was better not being in love because I couldn't miss it. He might be getting closer to the other boys in the secret society, as well as Felice, but he's not really breaking past the surface level with anyone. Not even Felice knows the depths of his pain, he keeps it all to himself. The loneliness crushes him, he wishes he didn't know how love felt. As far as he's concerned, he's never loving someone else again (true) and he's never going to be able to love Simon again (false). In this moment there's this feeling of emptiness. He has nothing he actually cares about, and he wishes that he never cared in the first place.

It feels so scary, getting old- He wasn't supposed to fill this role, giving a speech as the Crown Prince of Sweden about his brother's passing. Wilhelm's character (obviously) fundamentally switches after Erik's death. He used to be a lot sillier, more reckless and more willing to fight back against his parents. But now he's got every single eye on him, watching him. Put into an adult role at the age of sixteen, forced to carry the burden of spare his whole childhood, then suddenly forced to be the sole heir. Even if he had planned to maybe one day be the heir (which he didn't, judging by the he should be here instead of me comment) it wasn't supposed to happen until he was older and wiser. He stops acting like a kid because he can't be a kid anymore. The cuts between the frog/getting the frog/breaking the globe aimed to emphasise this. He's lost all connection to his brother, he's in a place he didn't expect to be until he was extremely old (if ever), and he's lost control of his own life.

We can talk it so good, we can make it so divine, we can talk it good how we wish it would be all the time- I wanted to frame Simon in this as a sort of healthy distraction for Wilhelm. He was the only person in his life who actually looked out for him and cared. They're happy and they're smiling, all the clips are intimate even if there's someone else there. It highlights how they care. It's good, it's divine. It's what kept him happy after the hardest thing in his life (so far). In this edit, he desperately wants it back because he knows how much it helped. It was the only bright thing he had. The cutting to Wilhelm alone in s2 after how we wish it would be all the time just aims to really enforce that he wished it was still like that, wishing for someone who truly cared and loved him. It's all yearning, pining, wishing things were better. Every single clip is a clip in which Wilhelm has been pining over Simon. There's an ache he expresses that was just so, so important to this edit.

This dream isn't feeling sweet- Lots of clips of Wilhelm trying to process things. He's been forced to change his entire life, after all being a prince is a privilege, not a punishment. The 'dream' of being royal crushes him, despite the fact he can't ever voice it. Walking down the halls of his castle, sitting in his private boarding school therapy session with an actual therapist, being driven home in a private car from the party where he was filmed fighting. These luxuries juxtaposed with his actual circumstances hurt. He can't complain because he's got it best in the country, but it isn't a system designed for him, it doesn't want to help him, it wants to make him conform. It isn't fair, but he can't say that.

We're reeling through the midnight streets- He's forcing himself to try and fit the mould while also being himself, and all it causes is pain. He's actively fighting against the institution he was raised in simply by existing. The panic attack from being perceived holding Simon's hand. Deleting his contact after his mother told him 'no more mistakes.' Trying to play nice at the dinner table even though his whole life was crumbling around him and the institution was failing everyone even though nobody believed him. The panic attack/anxiety vomit from Simon going public, against Wilhelm's institution, knowing that he might not be able to protect him. He's got no control in any of these scenes, its a desperate fight against himself. He's a publicity risk to his own family if he is true to himself, and he's a risk to himself if he isn't.

And I've never felt more alone- Desperately trying to comfort himself when nobody else can (or wants to) comfort him. After the fight at the party all his family cared about was the PR response. When August said that Simon would take the fall for the drugs, all he cared about was getting Alexander back. During the uniform tailoring, all Jan-Olof cared about was tradition and making Simon as background as he could. When Wilhelm gave up meditating to soothe his anxiety, he was upset at his inability to calm down, despite the fact he's never been given an opportunity to be calm. Nobody really knows about his mental health struggles, he just has to fight through them and desperately try to self-soothe. Nobody else will comfort him after all.

It feels so scary getting old- Each of these scenes show Wilhelm being viewed as his role instead of being viewed as a person. He clearly struggles with being viewed as just the Crown Prince of Sweden, especially since that was never supposed to be his role, so of course it hurts when he's viewed as just a pawn in the Royal Family. Especially from people he loves. Yes, it was undeniably hard when he first became the Crown Prince, and it absolutely would've crushed him to know that when he had a panic attack he couldn't be alone. But these scenes are interlaced with him being viewed as a political pawn by Simon and his mother. People he loves, people he trusts. He's just a public statement to his mother, and he's just a human representation of the Crown to Simon (in these scenes not in general ofc). He's never going to be able to be his own person again, because he's got a country to run when he grows up and a public image to form between now and then.

This dream isn't feeling sweet- The lyrics are now getting more compounding, it's louder and it's closer. He's fighting to be heard, he's being ripped off of his desk, he's forcing down a panic attack because he needs to be happy for Simon. His emotions aren't allowed, he can't feel anything negative so he won't feel anything at all. Nothing in his life feels good anymore, so he's fighting the losing battle to just try to break even. Nobody would dream of this, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. He can't even voice that, though.

We're reeling through the midnight streets- Now he's reminiscing about when things were easier, but they weren't, really. Yes, the placard was there the night he first kissed Simon, but that was also the beginning of the horrific realisation he wasn't built for the world he is forced to live in. His mother says 'no more mistakes' and he already knows it means he has to leave Simon. When that doesn't work and it all falls out, he's left to try and clean his own image up by nailing the closet shut with every fibre of his being. His life wasn't better, he's grasping for anything to show him life will be okay again. Everything has crumbled and now he's got nothing, so he yearns for when he had something, even if it was just something to lose.

And I've never felt more alone- He is constantly left. Something that isn't brought up enough is how often he's just abandoned. He has no one to talk to, he's forced to work through his struggles alone because his existence is political and any sign of weakness being public could reflect badly on his family. He becomes the embodiment of the Prince he could never be. Walking to the lake and reminiscing about when he would be happy there. Being left alone by his brother, who didn't even reply to him asking to say hi to his mother and father, who he then never sees in person again. Then wearing his brother's jacket. He's alone, and all he does is pine for a time when he wasn't. All he wants to do is go back and do it all again, and he can't. But he also can't move forward, he doesn't want to, he doesn't know how.

It feels so scary- Only two scenes so I'll discuss 'em one by one: -At Erik's funeral, there's a more literal fear of getting old. I don't want to repeat myself more than I already have but obviously, that forced Wilhelm to grow up and be more mature, and act like a Crown Prince instead of just the Prince. More attention, less room for error. He's terrified of fucking it up, and there's nobody who can help him. -The breakup scene is more metaphorical. He has to grow up and figure out what he wants to do with his life, while also having to grow to understand what he actually has the ability to do with his life. He's not ready to do this because he wants things to be good and happy but it was ripped away from him. He can't just pretend everything is alright anymore, but the amount of maturing he needs to do seems impossible at this moment, especially knowing he was in love with a boy when he wasn't allowed to be. He tries to be both a Prince and Wilhelm and all it did was betray his boyfriend's trust.

getting old- Wilhelm shutting his computer and pressing his hands to his eyes. It's exhausting. He's exhausted. Constantly working to try and be who he's supposed to be as well as being himself and trying to navigate his emotions in a vulnerable state is just too much. He can't carry it all, so he just gives up for a moment. It all goes quiet, but not in a good way. When you're that overwhelmed, the lack of anything just leaves more room to spiral.

FONT CHOICES

Intro: literally my handwriting. I wanted this to feel personal and almost like a desperate written plea to go back to when it was good, and what's more personal than my own handwriting am I right!!!

First chorus loop: Magazine font, it's in pieces and it doesn't match. There's a sporadic chaos, like he's beginning to feel it but it isn't there yet. The text isn't fully opaque, it's in front of him. We're seeing it before he does in this context. Trying to reflect how the media knows things before he does, like his brothers death, the tape leaking, all that good stuff.

Second chorus loop: Big, Bold, Unavoidable! I rotobrushed Wilhelm in every scene so that the text could be intertwined with him. He can't escape the reality of his situation, he is getting crushed by these feelings. The song gets louder and more claustrophobic, the text is in the scenes with him. It haunts him, it's everywhere. When he closes the laptop and it all goes silent, its not relaxing, it just makes you anxious in a different way.

COLOURING

I actually chose the blues from the intro scene, mainly in the night sky bit of the frame. Also! All the happy Wilmon scenes have a higher saturation, though you can't tell because of how I did the colouring. It just results in them being a little bit brighter, because things were good then and I believe it should feel good then, too.

[ahhhsami]

AO3 Writer 20 Questions

Saw @thatonebirdwrites answer these questions focused on AO3 writers and thought it'd be fun to answer them too!

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship/fandom?

Day dreaming, music, and other media (books, movies, TV series).

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good?

This is the main question I wanted to answer because I wanted to just praise people and share their works!

A_M_Nicholson since I really adore their AUs and amazing vibes you get from their settings. The characters are always so interesting and they're able to maintain the characters' personalities and traits even though they are in an AU.

RaeDMagdon since her stories introduced me to omegaverse. She also cranks out solid works consistently and it's extremely impressive and admirable.

Xaibaugrove's writing makes you feel things through her words. Each chapter, paragraph, and even sentence is so well thought out and her story telling is to die for. Plus the depth and details she goes into for the surroundings is beautiful and immersive.

Tabsbee writes for Genshin Impact and I adore her style of writing and the modern AU settings she uses. Everything she posts is a banger. Plus they feed my need for more JeanLisa stories!

AnotherShotofBourbon was one of the first fic writers I ever read in the korrasami fandom. They started a series of soulmate AUs and I adore them so much! Their new works are also just as exciting!

Velvet95 has super unique and fun AUs. They're working on their sequel to a galactic sci-fi story that they had created a while ago and just as the first part, it's super enjoyable and creative!

AsamiOnTop has a behemoth of a fic (I think almost 300k words) and it's such a fun read. I loved seeing her growth from chapter 1 to the ending and it's always so admirable seeing people wrap up long fics like hers!

kittymannequin is another OG korrasami writer that inspired me to write fics myself. Whether her stories are for TLOK or Arcane or another fandom, it's always a delight to read.

tumblr blogs: @raedmagdon @xaibaugrove @tabsbee @abronzeagegod @kittymannequin @asamiontop

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write?

There's a handful but here are the ones that come to mind; Vi & Caitlyn from Arcane, Jean & Lisa & Beidou & Clorinde from Genshin Impact.

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you'd never write about? Which ones?

I lean away from tropes that delve into Family dynamics. Mainly pregnancy since I actually don't like babies...

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

Get an idea

Jot down a rough plan

Start writing and stray instantly from the plan

Get a new plot bunny and fight with myself whether to continue what I've written or scrap it for a new shiny story

Obviously the 4th step is where things become truly cursed.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process?

Since I write so many AUs, the world building aspects are my favorite.

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic?

I've had to research a lot of things... but the weirdest usually revolve around bodily injuries or time period research to keep things as accurate as possible when needed. If you need to know how to prepare opium like they did in the 1800s... I got you.

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)?

Grammar 100%. But I also think breaking grammar rules are okay for vibes, bruh.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why?

It's one I'm currently working on and have been for years. It's the next chapter of Start Again and I'm struggling to progress the story in a way that I like. I've written and scrapped it so many times that I've lost count at this point.

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely?

All the time...

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why?

It'd have to be Korra. She's got such a special spot in my heart that I don't think I could choose anyone else.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?

College AUs just keep coming back even when I think I've had enough of them.

13) What's your most important resource as a writer?

Other books. I don't have a book in particular, but just reading other books and fics is helpful. I've also joined a local writer's guild that has been helpful too!

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work?

I read/mumble my stories aloud to myself to see if things come out clunky. I also have a wonderful partner that betas the majority of my stories and I couldn't be more grateful for her.

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic?

SUMMARY. God damn, I will spend more time on a fucking summary than the story. I will also be lazy at times and just copy and paste an excerpt if I'm at a real loss.

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it?

A huge factor for me is if I personally like it, BUT hits/kudos/comments are always appreciated. The goal is to share my stories with people and for them to enjoy their time reading, so it's always nice to receive all of those. I don't gauge much off of bookmarks since I often write explicit fics, which tend to be privately bookmarked or not bookmarked at all.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character/ship?

I make playlists for stories/chapters. I don't do them individually for characters. I wouldn't be surprised if I have 50 or so playlists for my writing though.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it?

When it comes to the story, I'd want the artist to do art for one that resonates with them. One that somehow inspires them. And oh man, when it comes to specific artists, I'm not sure since there are so many amazing ones. I've recently been inspired by @seijousai and am writing a story inspired by their Clorivia art. @ppyuuingles art is super wholesome and adorable. I love their JeanLisa stuff. I also have always adored @persnickety-doodles style of drawing when it comes to Korrasami. In the past I had the pleasure to collaborate with @unii-outlawed and later commissioned her. If you don't know her, then definitely check out her stunning artwork! Other amazing artists that deserve a follow are @ttanaart, @kf1n3, and @mimiendos (follow their twitter).

19) How many WIPs do you currently have?

Erm... posted on AO3 there's 20 unfinished stories BUT I also have over 100 completed ones. As for the WIPs that are written and not posted... that's also probably in the 20s. It goes back to all of the plot bunnies that I get and the battles I lose which results in partially written stories.

20) What's your advice to new fanfic writers?

Write what you want. Even if you feel that it may be niche there'll definitely be people out there that will read and enjoy it!

[flamevbirdv]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Tag Game

Thank you @acediscowlng for tagging me!! I haven't posted anything in nearly a year but sure, why not

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

24, I've orphaned and deleted a couple of fics lol

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

106 303 and I'm very proud of every single one of those words, I usually have to fight my perfectionism to put anyhting on page

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly DC comics! I have one (1) les mis fic and one (1) x-men fic

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Catalogue of Things Unsaid by far my most popular fic with 1000+ kudos, it's a Superbat fic. I love re-reading this fic, sometimes I like my writing in this and sometimes not but I'm still fond of it Bear Me No Witness my most popular Jaydick fic, I worked really hard on this one so I'm glad people liked it Lost And Never Found is a moody, horror-esque JayDick fic that really fits my style blow a kiss; fire a gun my first fic ever asdfghjk idk it's kinda silly False Alarm I wrote this mostly as practice, I don't really have anything to say about it

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!.. except on wips because I'm delusional and I keep telling myself I'll reply once I update the fic... lol

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think I have angsty endings? I don't remember most of my endings, it's my least favorite part of writing, oops

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably You're committed, I'm your crime ??? because jaydick are kids and they are cute

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope, fortunately the people who read my fics want to be there

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

HAHAHA...HA uhh I wrote mermaid porn, and that's it, mostly. I wrote one sex scene prior to that but it wasn't explicit

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. I don't read them either

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not really, there was a Cass/Tam fic that resembled my own Cass/Tam fic: let me count the roses but this was a gift and I think the giftee just liked this concept and asked for it again LMAO

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! It was fun but I don't think I'm built for it, I like oneshots and my co-writer liked multi chapter stories hence why the only time I tried we didn't finish it lol

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Jaydick ❤💙 they're the reason I started writing fic in the first place

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

😭😭😭 all of them please send help (see above: I don't like writing multi chapter stories but sometimes the plot needs them)

16. What are your writing strengths?

The way I can tell a story in 7k words or less, "short but packs a punch" is 100% my strenght. Also the fact that I really enjoy editing

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Endings. Every. Single. Time

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love it in cases like les mis fandom. I get so excited when I see french especially in canon era fics. There are a lot of ways in which we can put the translation in the notes or using a skin I hate it tho, when I'm reading a fic and a latine character's only personality traits are that they are a criminal and they speak spanish BUT that doesn't mean I don't want more spanish speaking characters in fic even if they're just minor characters

19. First fandom you wrote for?

DC comics! I started writing and posting fic in 2019 and it's still the fandom that I write for today, attempts at branching out haven't been succesful

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Always the hardest question to answer but I really, really like re-reading Bear Me No Witness it has it all: Dick in a croptop, a news scandal, fake marriage and Jason messing with Dick to hurt Bruce I wish I could write a sequel!!!! (self call out)

Tagging @laaawliet @braingray @paperempires no pressure though, guys!

[roadtodeltarune]

Earthbound Update 3

(PART 1)

I'm back! Some of you may have thought I abandoned this project, but you were wrong!

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Oh, I've been busy playing Earthbound! I knew I was close to the end, so I wanted to finish it before updating! I could have finished in a week, but I got distracted by other games and responsibilities. Now what exactly did I do in Earthbound?

Well last time, I cured Tenda Village's shyness. After making my last update, I tried their coffee and had another strange vision. But once my head cleared, I did some trading and then hopped into the cave.

As I figured, this was my next Sanctuary Location. The boss wasn't very tough; he was blasted to bits by a multi-bottle rocket and some good bashes. The hardest part was the maze of a cave!

We had a strange moment of Straw's(Ness) thoughts being beamed to a wall, then jumped down a hole into the Underworld.

This place is huge! And there are dinosaurs here! I wanted to avoid them since I felt strong enough already, but they were just too big, they kept blocking my path. It's actually so huge here that I had to look up a map. I also got lost in the first five minutes and was walking in circles, so a map helped a lot.

I feel like this should be a bigger moment, but didn't Buzz Buzz already say something about being in a prophecy? I guess it's good to remember the scale of our journey. Welp, time for the last Sanctuary Location!

Well, that was a fever dream...

The Fire Spring wasn't too hard to go through, the Psychic Psychos were more so just annoying. The final Sanctuary Boss felt like a good final boss, though, that fight was lots of fun.

As for all the melodies playing together, they sounded very pretty. I feel like they fit together better than Mother 1, but I hope there is, or will be, an orchestrated version like Mother 1 has.

The sequence afterward of Straw going through his home and seeing how much his parents loved him... Man, that hit me right in the feels. At the end of Mother 1, I came to the conclusion that this series is about love. Spoiler: I come to the same conclusion with Earthbound.

MAGICANT?! How is Magicant here! I thought it was Mary's dreamscape and it faded when she accepted death. Is... Is Mary still around? Is that why the melodies are back?

I think I like the aesthetic of this Magicant more. The old one was pretty, but this one feels more peaceful, and the color shifting adds to the magic/dream aspect.

Plus all the veggies remind me of my Mother 1 characters: Carrot, Onion, Potato, and Beet.

Is this true or is this what Straw thinks is happening with Pokey? Is he really, truly a bad guy?

Rest in peace, Buzz Buzz. We'll win this war for you.

The Flying Men! It's good to see them again! Oh no, wait, I don't want them to die

Interesting... My personal explanation for this is that the statue brought out the worst in people, so it uses the evil part of your brain; but I also think Straw just views it as the worst evil he's fought so far.

Hi, I'm back here. I died to the statue. This seemed impossible, just like Belch, so I looked up some tips and a map. I found that I just needed a bunch of Dragonite, so I got some from storage. I also got an extra Earth Pendant for Apple (Jeff)

Wow! Dragonite is strong! I got lucky though, he didn't heal in this second attempt. If he would have, I might have lost.

Like how Grape (Poo) had his training that, to me, like he was reaching his personal enlightenment, I feel the same for this moment. It feels like Straw is taking everything that's happened to him and learning a great lesson that's left up for interpretation, whether it's a lesson on Love, Determination, Destiny, overcoming Evil, or all of the above.

This also makes me think that Magicant is a by-product of the Melodies, meaning Mary must have been in Magicant for decades, waiting for Carrot(NinTen) to restore peace to her and help her move on.

[mercurys-messenger]

Tinder

"it's a victory just that you're eating"

That's what I tell myself, and it's not exactly a lie. It is good that I'm eating, after all it's an essential maintenance that everyone does. Although it is used against my wallet and my better judgement for a fast food burger or a nice sit down meal at a restaurant I'm probably not dressed quite for. But still I count it as a victory, because the fact that I'm eating is a glimmer of hope for me, after all when things get bad, when I truly, truly slip, my hunger leaves me.

When I fall into the muck ridden hole I often find myself in, food becomes much less of a priority.

Step 1: panic. Desperately clawing at the walls in hopes of finding a foothold, a root, any purchase I can find to pull myself free as I slide. Sometimes it works out, I find a way out before I fall to deeply. Other times I slow my fall enough to prep for the landing. Most times I find myself looking up from the bottom before I know I've fallen.

Step 2: assessment. How far down am I? Is there someone willing to help me get out around and able? Will it work at all or will the futile attempt simply frustrate us both? The last question is the hardest to parse. It takes the longest to figure out and a lot of times when I arrive at asking for help I've sunken much further and am faced with the constant response, "why did you wait so long to ask? It would've been easier if you had spoken up sooner." That reply has hurt me before so I'm careful with handling it, like a bomb that may send me sailing back to my pit. And sometimes despite my best efforts it does, but I always shield my helper from the blast, thinking at least this way only one of us is hurt.

Step 3: survival. If I am still lost in the muck either through my own refusal to speak or from not knowing the combination to the chains that keep me here so someone can help me out, I default to surviving. A simple task for most, but titanic looking from down in my hole. How can I hunger when I am so useless? How have I earned my food? They will say "it doesn't need to be earned" and that is a truth I've spent years begging myself to believe. But I can't. How can I believe in solid ground? In safety and comfort and warmth when I am surrounded by cold and danger and disgusting despair that sticks to my clothes and my hair and my hands, an almost sentient force seeking to pull me down and force me to join the mire. How from my vantage can I believe those things that I can't feel and won't feel for a while even if I manage my way out?

Step 5: the stars. I look up and see the stars shining with glimmers amidst an all consuming void. How can they do it? They are so small compared to the vastness that swallows them, and yet they survive. I see them as examples to follow and hold true to the thought in my heart that this life is worth it. Those faint glimmers is the inky void are worth continuing to look and to try. I calm my mind and know that one day I will back on the ground and I will feel safe again no matter how much this primordial void tried to swallow me.

And eventually I'm back on the ground, still covered in muck but back in a place where I can breathe again. I can start to clean myself.

People often call this life I lead a fight, and I appreciate the sentiment. "You are strong" they say, "your endurance is a feat" but they only see the aftermath, and think it a battle. It's closer to attrition. The earth lays seige against my body and I must focus fully on enduring it. They see my exhaustiom and think to themselves, "good good, the fight is over and now you can rest." It's written behind their words.

But the truth is my attrition never ends. I prep myself for the next time the earth will swallow me up, wonder if next time I will not be so lucky. I push the thought from my mind and gather pieces of tinder to warm myself with, to whether the coming storm. 'you ate today.' 'that chocolate was really good.' 'Your friends liked your outfit.' 'that song you found is great.' 'You told a good joke and coaxed some laughter from your friends.' These things are the tinder that lights a fire for me, helping me back to myself and shutting out the cold for a while. I gather them diligently, purposefully even when people ask why I waste my time with them. They are the thing that keeps me going, the fire whose memory keeps me fighting, my stars in the inky void.

The earth trembles, I know it's not done with me. One day it will try again. But for now,

This fire is warm, and this bread I'm eating is delicious.

[cosmicaces]

abstraction got really hung up on "aurion good, devaedra bad, good vs evil" that theyve completely disregarded the overall complexities in gig's original story. i'll give them some credit with the worldbuilding involving the guar and the direction they took charnok's character (it feels very in character for him to want to start his own house), but the other decisions... my god. i'll put it under a read more

they tried to write conclusions for basically every character, with aisling finding her fathers killer and the war ending with devaedra being sealed in the rift (which is. weird since the rift isn't an alternate dimension + she already Lives there).

they killed off adonaius? adonaius was the current hierophant in the original lore, i have no idea why they'd do that. they replaced him with some girl named nara. after the war, anyone who was semi-good now serves under nara. tyto, voden, roland. cool. that's boring.

the guardians can be apparently killed really easily, which is. directly contradicted in vadasi's cards where it was established that only the kai knew how to kill them via severing their connection to the land (which is where their power is drawn from; this is likely what we're doing in the power races during rampages.)

anyone they didn't know what to do with got shafted. beckett, tripp, sven, these are just the ones i've seen so far. they're so wildly out of character and they just... fully disregard their Already Established Characters.

becketts obviously hits me the hardest since she's the character i literally named myself after. they ignored her having initially been in the same pirate crew as imani (and, overall, have misinterpreted their relationship), they ignored her joining aurion for monetary reasons and said that she joined for "the adventure of fighting a big snake." adventure, thats what they reduced her character down to. being very childish and nonstop adventure. ugh.

idk WHAT they're doing with roland and kajir. roland's lore kinda sounds like his alpha lore but then it takes a wild turn. he was a hunter, dad gets killed by margrave and xeno ig, he joins sky city police, is told not to pursue the margrave, does so anyways, gets people killed, margrave shows mercy (huh) and rips off his arm, then he finds nara and becomes her bodyguard.

its fully different (and worse, imo) from what motiga had planned for him. see, roland was originally a cop in sky city. he resigned after seeing the political corruption and became a bounty hunter to deal out his own type of justice, its why he only takes dead or alive bounties. his arm had been shot off by a sniper. to continue work he arranged something with tesserus, getting a new arm. a good friend of his was killed by kajir's crew. roland took on kajir's bounty, tracking him down to his hideaway. while the latter escaped, roland was able to destroy his treasure hoard. the two are now in a game of cat-and-mouse

i haven't looked at kajir's lore yet, from what i gathered i thiiink he's a mercenary/bounty hunter. in the motigan lore, he was a sky pirate. he stole an artifact from a moon temple and it allows him to turn invisible.

vadasi is suddenly fine with hk. this is a glaring error. she talks about how "tesserus has stolen their cores to imbue them with life. war machines, wearing the hearts of their saviors." saviors? i'm sorry, SAVIORS? 1.) iirc hk is the ONLY tesserus machination to USE kai tech and 2.) the kai's technology was the UNDOING of their civilization, they weren't saved by it they were DAMNED by it. vadasi HATES hk, she LITERALLY has a prox line for him where she says "i would have you destroyed." where do you get SAVIOR from that

this is funny but also. what is this exchange between voden and rutger:

uh, first and foremost, voden's old too? and... what does beauty have to do with this? why do either of them care about it? again, funny exchange but wildly ooc. also... rutger didn't come out of retirement because of devaedra taking control, it was tesserus desecrating the ghost reef. rutger doesn't care about house conflict, this is literally stated in one of his cards:

"Rutger, my dear friend. We need you now more than ever. I would not have come to you if the situation was not dire. The corruption is spreading - and what we all hold most dear is in grave peril." - Voden

"I hear the stones, and the mountains, and I hear you, young Voden. But you and I cannot do this alone… I am too old, and my body is beaten. You are too young, and your face is too hideous. What chance do we have?" - Rutger

"These things are true, old man. You are old and I am gorgeous, but the world's fate cannot rest on what we're not. We are Wardens - you command the very ground we step on. It is our charge to help, always." - Voden

The Old Guard I, Common: Which house was ruling didn't matter, as long as they respected and cared for the land.

i don't understand why abstraction felt it was necessary to tether the characters to aurion or devaedra, there was way more nuance than that. only a few characters had clear alignments, some steered either ways, others were fully unaligned.

i know most people don't care about the lore so i'm one of the few to Really Be Bothered by this but ugh. man. this was the one thing i was afraid of happening with the game coming back and it happened

im so happy to have gig back but man. the character assassination and the undermining of the og lore that abstraction added in is Really Bad

[flannelshirtandjeans]

Would like to extend a big hearty fuck youuuu to this legendary festering bloatfly that killed Grace like eight time. THE HEALTH BAR NYOOMED DOWN SO FAST. The last time I was only saved by the bleeding/poison(?) damage stopping like a HAIR’S BREADTH away from zero sajkdhkjashdk. The first screenshot is what I imagine Grace was doing even after the successful fight kajsdhkjashdk. TOO CLOSE.

[fakeikemen]

Katara's Grief

(This is my first attempt at a meta post and I know that this has probably been already done but I just needed to get it off my chest and go on a little rant and it kinda got long so bear with me.)

A lot of the hate on Katara stems from the fact that she keeps on mentioning her mother's death at every chance she gets and invalidates other people's pain to assert that her suffering is the worst of the lot.

And even though everybody is entitled to their own opinions, I'm gonna point out why I think the aforesaid claims are not exactly correct.

First we'll take a look at; Katara's Backstory:

We know that Kya is killed in a fire nation raid and that Katara had been the last person to see her alive before she leaves the tent on her mother's insistence. Only to come back a few moments later and find her dead body. This, in itself is a traumatising event.

So yes, her mother died. Other people in the story go through far worse. You're not wrong when you say that.

But what is more important in Katara's story is the aftermath of her mother's death.

As Sokka says while talking to Toph in "The Runaway" in B3 Ep7:

Sokka: When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life. Our family was a mess, but Katara? She had so much strength. She stepped up and took on so much responsibility. She helped fill the void that was left by our mom.

As an eight year old, she had to force herself to grow up to step into her mother's shoes and raise herself and her elder brother and simultaneously look after the entire village after her father left to fight in the war. She had to do all of it by herself.

In face of all her responsibilities, she never really had the chance to simply be a grieving child lamenting the loss of her mother. She habituated herself to caring more about others than herself (We see this trait in the entire series as she acts as the stand-in mom friend for the entire Gaang with an exception of Suki and Zuko). She ended up bottling her feelings of grief, resentment, guilt and rage deep within herself.

She had to give up an extensive part of her childhood where most children focus on figuring themselves out, to become a mature and responsible person who was working as the immovable pillar holding up the family and even the whole village not much later.

She put up a strong front to help others and pretended to be fine even though she was hurting inside the whole time.

She could never find any closure from the situation. She never got over it.

Moving on to the criticisms:

1. Katara keeps on mentioning her mother like a broken record:

Here are the number of times Katara mentions her mother's death (not sure if that's all of it, lmk if there are any others):

1. In her first scene with Sokka

Katara: Ever since mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!

2. A short while after she meets Aang

Katara: Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people.

3. A short while after she meets Haru

Katara: I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her.

4. A short while after she meets Jet

Katara: Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation.

5. In the swamp after she sees a vision of her mother

Katara: I thought I saw Mom.

6. In the Crystal Catacombs with Zuko

Katara: I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me.

7. A short while after she meets Hama

Katara: We completely understand. We lost our mother in a raid.

8. Repeated mentions in The Southern Raiders episode

(Most of the episode basically)

The first mention with Sokka is in the middle of a siblings' spat where she tells off Sokka for trying to act as if he were superior when it was obvious that in the face of the gaping hole that was left by Kya's sudden death, Katara had shouldered much more responsibility.

When she tells it to Aang, she uses it as a proof that the Fire Nation is capable of immense cruelty and destruction.

The Gaang travel all around the world and meet different people affected by the war in different ways. So when Haru, Jet and Hama narrate their own stories, Katara sympathises with them and talks about Kya's death in lieu of "I understand, the Fire Nation hurt me too."

After they got separated, Aang, Sokka and Katara each had their visions and after they get back together, they all mention their visions and so does Katara.

When left alone in catacombs with Zuko, whom she considered as the face of the Fire Nation— the same Fire Nation that had her mother killed and forced her father to leave to fight in the war, she has a meltdown where she rightfully accuses him of all the bad things he's done and then breaks down while talking about how the war has cost her i.e., by causing her mother's death.

The Southern Raiders is the episode where Katara hunts down the man responsible for her mother's death. If you think mentioning Kya repeatedly in this episode is uncalled for, then I don't know what to tell you.

In all the incidents mentioned above, Katara mentioning her mother's death is a very natural occurrence is the respective conversations. She mostly talks about Kya's death to either extend her sympathy or to use it as an example of the ruthlessness of the Fire Nation.

Another fact to be noted is that 70% of the Gaang's storyline is followed via Katara from a narrative point of view. Plus, being the mom-friend, she acts as the spokesperson. Considering that Kya's death is a major event that played a huge role in shaping Katara's life and is also the source of her severe, unresolved trauma, which acts as the driving force of her story, it is only natural that she brings up this topic whenever she is engaging in a deeper conversation.

It is us as the viewers who have seen her from the start and already know about her mother's death and we see her talking to multiple people about it. Which is why it might come across as repetitive to some people.

While, Kya's death is not necessary information that everyone needs to know, Katara talking about it never comes across as a forced or unnatural.

2. Katara invalidates others' pain because she thinks she has suffered the most:

First of all, if anything, Katara is the most empathetic person of them all. As the mom-friend of the group, not only is she their constant moral support, she also helps them untangle and sort out their own feelings. She is also able to tap into issues that aren't said out loud.

Instances of Katara helping and supporting Aang, emotionally are uncountable.

She is the first one to notice Sokka's sour mood in B3 Ep4 "Sokka's Master". And even though his insecurities seem baseless, she validates him (by saying "I'm sorry you're feeling so down" instead of something like "That's a dumb thing to say") and knows exactly what to do to cheer him up.

In B3 Ep7 "The Runaway" she has the insight to understand that Toph's unruly behaviour is caused by the mixed feelings she has about her parents even though Toph's herself never talked about it.

She even reaches out to Zuko in B2 Ep19 "Crossroads of Destiny" even though she used to think of him as the face of the enemy.

But then there's The Southern Raiders.

Ah yes, that episode where Katara is extremely OOC and a total b*tch.

Agreed that she said some things that she definitely shouldn't have said. But like, she's just 14?? And has been hurting on the inside since she was 8?? And pretended to be fine just for the sake of other people?? Like, there's a limit to how much she can have her shit under control?? And she did a real good job of Sokka's upbringing and taking care of the village and taking care of Gaang on her own?? Some people out there are really willing to forget everything she has ever done just because she was mean for 5 minutes?? A traumatised 14 yo shouldn't be villianised and called toxic because she got mad and lashed out at people that one time??

But here's my take on the scene anyway:

When Aang gets to know that she's going to go face her mother's killer:

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: I knew you wouldn't understand. 

Aang is a non-confrontational person who prefers running away from difficult situations as opposed to Katara who firmly stands her ground and is never afraid of confrontations. Katara had approached Aang only hoping that he would understand. But going by his dismissal, he obviously doesn't understand the burning need that she has to confront the man who had single-handedly destroyed her childhood. (Most people infer that what Katara means is that she thinks that Aang doesn't understand the pain of losing people. And so does Aang, I guess)

But things start getting even more tricky when:

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

In all honesty, this is probably the most insensitive thing that she could've heard from anyone right then, let alone one of her closest friends. Hearing herself being compared to a homicidal maniac just because she wants to avenge her mother's killer. (No, I'm not justifying murder but there's a clear difference between homicide and avenging someone's death. And Aang may not be my favourite character but I do love him but this wasn't really a good thing to say either. And he wasn't even mentally distressed in the very least to be completely lacking tact or a filter.)

And then the situation escalates:

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn't love her the way I did!

After 6 long years of Katara bottling in her dark feelings and letting them fester inside herself, she is finally letting them out and the first things she faces in a span of few minutes are outright rejection, invalidation of her feelings, comparison to a homicidal maniac and nothing akin to the unconditional support that she has provided to everybody. Her own brother tells her that he is siding with the boy who just compared her to a homicidal maniac.

Yes, accusing your own brother of not loving your mother enough is a very cruel thing to do. But both Sokka and Katara know that she doesn't entirely mean it.

But also, there is one very important factor in here:

In B3 Ep7 "The Runaway", Sokka says to Toph:

Sokka: I'm gonna tell you something crazy. I never told anyone this before, but honestly? I'm not sure I can remember what my mother looked like. It really seems like my whole life, Katara's been the one looking out for me. She's always been the one that's there. And now, when I try to remember my mom, Katara's is the only face I can picture. 

Katara overhears this conversation just as Sokka had meant her to.

This dialogue lets us know that Sokka's coping mechanism has made him suppress all memories of Kya and replace them with memories of Katara in order to attain a semblance of normalcy.

Both Katara and Sokka had very different ways of coping with Kya's death. Katara pressed down her feelings and tried her best to pretend to ignore them while Sokka partially succeeded in forgetting her.

When Katara first hears these words she is shown to be crying. But if she were to remember these very words while she was justifying herself infront of her own brother and a close friend for wanting to avenge her mother, it would've had a negative impact on her.

In her rage, she would've thought: "Of course he doesn't want to avenge mom. Because he doesn't think it's worth it and that's because he doesn't even remember enough of her to be mad about her death."

And for someone who has spent each day of the last 6 years trying to fill in the shoes of her mother and experiencing her absence everyday, the idea of forgetting her mother is a ridiculous concept to her.

Her thoughts would have quickly derailed to: "He didn't love her enough to remember her."

In light of these thoughts, saying "Then you didn't love her the way I did" doesn't feel out of the blue.

No, I am definitely not justifying what she said, I'm just laying out a possible explanation to why she said what she said.

Yes, she should've apologized to Sokka for this and I think that they definitely should've had a long conversation about their mother's death and how it affected them. Between Katara supressing her feelings and Sokka supressing his memories, i don't think they ever had this conversation.

But sadly we are given neither of these scenes.

Tl;dr: Everytime Katara mentions her mother, it's with good reason and I don't think it's fair to call a character toxic when they lack a mind to mouth filter for 5 minutes and say some mean things. And considering all that Katara has done for everybody, it isn't fair at all.

Peace out!

[ahdriking]

for the ask game!! (although I want to save some for when the whole thing is done) 1, 14, 16 (or hardest), 24!

Booooooots!! My fave person 🥰🥰🥰🥰

Describe your fic in 3 words

Dark, horny and convoluted 😂

14. Did a reader ever accurately guess a plot point/spoiler that you didn't think they would?

ONE SINGLE PERSON has accurately guessed who the mole is, and it's not that I didn't think anyone would, per se, it's just that no one else has! I hope it's because I'm carefully subtle 😂 (it'll be interesting to see if, after chapter 8, more people catch on. I'm excited)

16. Who is your least favourite character to write? (hardest)

I'm pretty lucky with this fic, my small cast of characters are all quite pleasant to work with! Even Prawinn is lowkey so much fun to write (being evil is ENTERTAINING) but if I had to pick one character who's caused me the most headaches, so far it's Kinn (this is mostly chapter 7's fault) He's a pretty simple guy, except that he's NOT and balancing his plans/wants/desires/thoughts can be a bit of a juggling act at times. When I've figured him out, I'm good, we're off to the races. When I'm still trying to get into his fucked up little head, he puts up a fight.

24. Do you have any OC's, or do you use only canonical characters? Why?

I DO HAVE AN OC his name is Prawinn and he's a fucked up piece of shit 🥰 Honestly, I usually only use canonical characters when writing fic, because usually there's a role for everyone to take up in a way that fits, but honestly? It just didn't feel right using any of the canon characters for the role of low-end mob boss, none of them are icky gross enough (even gun) With Prawinn, I have the freedom to make him as evil and nasty as I like without upsetting any canon characterisation, and that honestly was really appealing! He really is a complete blank slate, I haven't even really based him on anyone/anything, he just... is his own entity now. And we absolutely love to hate him! (I've been reliably informed that he is on TAWAN levels of despicability, and I've never felt more accomplished as a writer)

Ask me something about blue blood!

[thelostgirl21]

I just feel a need to address some of the comments and tags because, while I totally understand where people are coming from re: Joey's singing and their need to be supportive of a phenomenal artist, I kind of want to mention that, to me, comparing Joey's singing to Hugh's singing is a bit like comparing apples and oranges at this point...

Because they are singing in two very different genres that require very different skill sets (at least, based on what little I've had the chance to hear of Hugh so far)...

And I've a feeling that Joey is among those people with highly creative personalities that will develop such a wide range of personal interests and skills, that they can't help but feel like they've never truly taken the time to fully dedicate themselves to a certain specific craft or discipline (at least, not to the level they would imagine "true professionals" would have).

And so, when they get successful in one (or many) of those disciplines, they sadly tend to have a harder time feeling like their success is truly deserved, earned, or to believe that they can objectively be considered "as good as" others that are using a more "proper technique", and/or have more knowledge and training in that specific field than they do.

You know, the kind off chaotic artist that likes to explore and create because they enjoy creating, without 100% knowing where they're going or how it'll turn out... But somehow, it works, and people enjoy it, and so they keep on creating, learning, observing, collaborating with others, taking personal risks, gaining experience, etc.

Like, I'm still not over the credits of "The Amazing Devil" 's first (and thus far only) videoclip if I'm being 100% honest.

If anyone is wondering, Joey has since mentioned that his father was the one that drove one of their drones into a cliff while filming their video...

So, I'm assuming that Mark Batey - that is listed as "director of photography" and helped with the editing - is his dad.

Of course he also composes the music, and writes most of the lyrics for his band...

He can play acoustic, electric, and bass guitars, the lute, various keyboards, drums...

He has a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages, and can apparently fluently speak French and Spanish, and more than 12 English accents and dialects (Cockney, Geordie, Glaswegian, Yorkshire, American Standard, Scottish-Standard and Irish-Southern...).

He is also skilled in climbing, fencing, football, kick boxing, medieval sword fighting, stage combat, and swimming...

The one thing he apparently fails at, is cooking...

But otherwise, just his very existence on Earth is already a bit of a massive flex, like HOW?!?!?!

How is Joey Batey?!

Why is Joey Batey?!

What is Joey Batey?!

So many questions, to which I fear our brains wouldn't be able to process the answers...

So, somewhere along the way, I suppose his own brain somehow decided that it was impossible for him to be so massively multi-talented AND good at all of theses things on top of it!

We keep joking about Jaskier constantly dressing up in ways that heavily downplay his buff physique to make himself appear as small and non-threatening to people as he can...

Meanwhile, it's almost as if Joey was constantly downplaying his acting, singing, writing, composing... (you get the gist) skills to make himself appear as small and non-threatening as he can...

I don't know how many of you watched the Tudum presentation of The Witcher (starts around 1:23:40), but the public specifically started chanting "We love you!" the loudest when Joey took the stage.

I remember reading an article where the casting director of the show said that Jaskier had been the hardest character to cast.

And personally, I believe he'd the one member of the whole cast that would be near impossible to replace.

Not because the other actors aren't doing an absolutely fantastic job with their roles.

But Jaskier requires that sort of highly creative "jack-of-all-trades" persona, where the one performing him doesn't need to be the best at everything he does, but needs to be able to cover many different skills and abilities in an absolutely brilliant and organic way.

As Jaskier, Joey is acting, singing, songwriting, composing, lute playing, ad-libbing, character acting, voice acting, teaching people how to write queer characters, apparently, occasionally throwing himself all over the place and doing some level of stunt work... what else?

He's the narrator, the heart and soul of the show that the audience is supposed to identify with and experience much of the story through him.

I'm fully willing to entertain the idea that there might be other multi-talented artists out there that would be able to handle playing Jaskier in a similar way that Joey does. But I'm willing to bet that they are rarer, and more difficult to find than people that can handle Geralt, Ciri, or Yennefer's parts.

The requirements are very different, and Joey hasn't just placed the bar high with his performance of Jaskier on the show, he's placed it specifically high.

Try finding another actor that can do all the things I named earlier with the same level of chaotic I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing-that's-why-I'm-so-good-at-it energy that Joey Batey can infuse in a character.

So, there are moments where I do want to shake him and get him to stop putting himself down - realise how much people connect with his art and his talent, and have him take pride in that.

And there are moments where I think it might be a bit of a protective mechanism to help keep himself grounded, and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the level of attention he can find himself receiving.

Success, especially in the entertainment industry, can be fleeting. People's tastes, interests, etc. keep changing; so I guess that if you take too much of the credit when things do go exceedingly well, should people's attention shift to the "next new shiny thing", you might take that sense of rejection personally as well.

And yes, I'm aware that some people also struggle with what's been called "imposter syndrome", something that, if severe enough, can lead to complications and people self-sabotaging their own successes.

But, as far as I can tell, Joey's always sort of expressed that playing Jaskier and being among the cast of the Witcher felt very natural to him and was sort of "meant to be". Hence why I'm not too worried about him having the inability to take credit and enjoy his successes.

So yes, I have indeed noticed the way he keeps downplaying his talents, but I'm not exactly sure how worrying that is, given music (at least his music with "The Amazing Devil") is something he says he's doing mostly for himself, and seems rather happy with a smaller fan-base that he can more easily connect with...

But I'd personally be sad if that was genuinely preventing him from agreeing to sing a duet with Hugh Skinner, though.

Because singing is not just a question of impeccable technical skills and control. It also involves emotional layering, a certain level of voice acting, theatricality, the ability to make a connection with your audience and tell a story through your voice, etc.

You can find ways to turn perceived weaknesses into strengths, and integrate them as part of your performance. And Joey's a performer through and through. He could give masterclasses on "singing from the heart" should he wish to.

Otherwise his singing, and the way he uses his voice in general, is extremely clever, utterly brilliant, and filled with tons of nifty little tricks to help his voice navigate registers (like, for example, that vocal scoop on "The Ride of the Witcher", between 2:40 and 2:44, that creates just the right level of muscle tension to allow you to even your tone and comfortably finish the song on a higher pitch).

But he's got no formal musical theater training, and I'm not sure how aware he is of how incredibly unique and appealing the sound of his own voice is.

Hugh sounds like a classically trained singer/actor with a very clean sound and rather solid technique.

But that's not something I would personally expect from Joey, nor would I necessarily want him to sound that way. That's usually not what I'm looking for when I am listening to him sing.

Sometimes, I'm in the mood for some David Bowie, sometimes I'm in the mood for some Colm Wilkinson.

But I wouldn't expect David Bowie to be as good as Colm Wilkinson if he tried to sing the same pieces as him and in the same style.

And I wouldn't expect Colm Wilkinson to be as good as David Bowie if he tried to sing the same songs as him and in the same style as Bowie.

They each excel at what they are respectively doing.

So, when it comes to Joey and Hugh, I've only ever heard Joey sing contemporary and folks songs.

And I've only ever heard Hugh sing in a style that's close to musical theatre (and/or pretend he doesn't know how to sing).

I don't know how versatile a singer Hugh actually is. Can he add distortion to his voice? Has he mastered heavy metal techniques? Who knows?!

But, to me, the most important question would be:

Should Hugh happen to be "a superior singer" in every style and genre - including the ones Joey typically sings in - would it even matter?

Because, if he's as nice and professional as people keep describing to be, I'm 99.9% sure that he would be able to sing a duet with Joey without attempting to upstage him.

They could have a scene where Jaskier and Radovid are singing together that plays on Joey's own strengths, and would allow Hugh's voice to provide support for Joey's voice rather than take the lead.

I'd love to have the chance hear him add lower harmonies to Joey's voice, actually.

Logically, the more control a singer has over their own instrument, the easier it should be for them to assume various roles when using it.

Unless they are some sort of asshole diva that don't care about their singing partner and absolutely want to show off how amazing they are, they're supposed to be able to adapt the level of their singing to give their partner plenty of room to shine.

Hugh is not Radovid, the same as Joey isn't Jaskier.

They could make a conscious decision that Radovid, as a character, has a naturally beautiful voice, but is way more shy and inexperienced in knowing how to use it, and have Jaskier teach him to sing some of his songs while they are spending time together, for example.

Jaskier already showed interest in helping Radovid work on his lute playing skills, so why not his singing?

Maybe have Jaskier and Radovid playfully hum and sing together one of Jaskier's ballads while travelling on the road together, at some point...

It's not like Hugh was specifically hired for a singing part, or he and Joey were competing for a role.

Having Jaskier and Radovid sing together at any point on the show really would be a treat for the fans of both actors more than anything else.

So here I am, thinking "Come on, Joey... You said it yourself: Hugh Skinner is the nicest man in the world, and the one person - out of the whole cast - that everyone should want to get stuck for 24 hours in a lift with. He managed to make you feel safe doing romantic scenes together between your two characters... Don't you think you could trust him to be careful in making Radovid sing in a way that wouldn't bruise poor Jaskier's ego? Pretty please?"

But I really haven't heard enough of them to say that either actor/singer is better than the other...

I'm obsessed about Joey's voice and singing style for many different reasons, and could spend countless hours listening to him.

And Hugh's voice sound rather wonderful and I'd absolutely love to be given the chance to hear more of him, too.

Let's say I'm very interested in how their voices might be able to compliment each other's, and how they could make them work together.

Me (based on having heard Hugh sing "Waterloo"):

"Well, yeah! Hugh seems to have a very good singing voice! But I don't understand why Joey would be intimidated by - "

"Oh. Nevermind!"

[yamithediaperdork]

Just a pup (inuyasha)

Kagome smirked as she looked out the window of her bedroom, watching as Inuyasha popped out of the well looking excited and blushing. It was the second Friday of the month, which per the agreement the two of them agreed on, meant it was Inuyasha's punishment night.

Many of their friends, and well, ANYONE who knew Inuyasha would of been shocked to learn that the bad ass demon slayer was a natural submissive, who got his rocks off being ordered around and teased by people weaker then him, and more to the point, being spanked like a naughty little boy. Lord knows Kagome had been shocked when he confess (Well shocked and amused) and she had agreed to humor the silly pup and spend the second and fourth Friday of every month making him a little bitch, the First and third were romantic date nights.

With date nights in the past (it was just easier to get a seat at a inn then a fancy restaurant in the present) and punishment nights in the present (So no one heard Inuyasha yowling for mercy, They timed it for when Kagome's mom and grandpa would take Souta out to a movie) it was working out to a point, though Inuyasha had started to phone in his half of the deal to Kagome's annoyance.

'Well after tonight he'll know what to expect if he can't measure up~' She thought with a evil little giggle, then went down to meet him at the door.

Inuyasha couldn't help but grin like a fucking school girl as Kagome answered the door, giggling softly. He didn't quite understand why he wanted to be dominated when he hated being hurt (a big part in picking Kagome to punish him, At her hardest she barely hurt his behind, though he played it up like she was killing him) But he knew he was at his hardest when she abused him.

"About time Pup. Your five minutes late." Kagome said, sneering at him and making his cock twitch in his pants.

He knew of course he was on time, it was all part of the role play.

"I'm sorry Miss Kagome, I couldn't help it." Inuyasha mewed, looking down at the floor, his ears drooping, and trying not to grin.

"Oh you'll be sorry alright~" She said and grabbed him by the collar and lead the way to her room. "Though I have a surprise for you my dirty little pup."

"O-Oh?" Inuyasha asked, though he was distracted by a scent in the air as they got to the second story of the house. it was familiar but there's no way it could be what he was thinking it was.

"A yup~ I've noticed that despite all the wailing and whining you do, I'm not really hurting your cute little butt." Kagome said, opening the door to her room.

And sitting on her bed, holding the fire harden wooden paddle with holes drilled into it to cut down on air resistance, was Koga.

"So I asked Koga to help me give you the punishment you sooo seem to need and want. Your welcome." Kagome giggled as Inuyasha froze, blushing and then snarling.

"Now now Pup, none of that!" Koga ordered. "We both know a fight between us would be a draw, but think of how much everyone back home would loooove to hear about what a little fucking wimp you are, that you beg to be spanked and stepped." Koga said, smirking and wagging a finger.

The thought of all of his other friends and well, everyone that they both knew knowing what a little bitch he was took the fight out of Inuyasha, even as his cock twitched and throbbed and tented out his pants, a small damp spot appeared from pre.

"I..but..Kagommmme! the deal wa-" Inuyasha turned his attention to his mistress/girlfriend, but was cut off.

"The deal was I dominate your subby bitch ass and get romantic dates in exchange. do you recall what our 'date' was Pup?" Kagome asked, frowning and shaking her head, and trying not to laugh at how hard Inuyasha was despite looking so mad and scared.

"W-We had a picnic by the lake an-"

"And you spent half of it whining about me not bringing any ramen cups and the other half chasing fish in the water because you didn't like the pasta dish I made for you." Kagome said, glaring.

"O-Oh uh..I'm sorry?" Inuyasha said/asked and poked his index fingers together.

"Like I said before, you WILL be. Koga here knows how to treat bad little pups like you and has lots of fun ideas planned out, and all he wants in return is a little loving." Kagome coo'ed.

"Y-Your not gonna.. with him..are you?" Inuyasha whined, but his cock was leaking big time now.

"Of course I am..Maybe He'll last longer then 30 seconds..Of course if you're THAT against me getting fucked by a real man, someone who doesn't need to be scolded like a naughty little boy..you could always ride Koga." Kagome giggled. "Lords knows you love it when I finger you."

"Heh, Hey I'm a open guy, as long as i get to fuck a nice tight hole i'm game." Koga laughed.

"but..but.." Inuyasha mewed.

"That's right, in your butt..or you mouth. actually yeah, Your gonna wanna suck it first." Koga said, chuckling and gesturing Inuyasha over with a finger. "Now enough of this huffing and puffing and whining, the longer you put this off, the more likely it is more people are gonna find out what a subby little bitch you are."

Inuyasha knew he should just storm out. or at least try and fuck Koga's shit up, even though the wolf demon was right that they were basically equals and would only in a draw. there was a lot of should of's.. but in the end Inuyasha's body betrayed him and he hooked his thumbs in the waistline of his pants and dropped, them, then walked over and knelled in front of Koga, who chuckled and patted his head.

"Good puppy."

Koga found himself a little jealous as he looked down at Inuyasha. just wasn't fair that a total bitch like him could have such a huge piece of fuck meat, 9 1/2 inches when Koga was only a 'mere' 7, though Koga's was thicker.

"Since you went and wasted time with all your whining and bitch, I think you owe me a little something to make up for wasting my time." Koga said, press his bare foot on the tip of Inuyasha's cock, not hard enough to hurt but the puppy let out a whimper even as his cock leaked on Koga's foot.

"Y-Yes Sir. I'm sorry sir." Inuyasha mewed softly.

"The bottom of my feet are dirty from walking to the well and coming though JUST to humor you, so I think they deserve a little tongue bath, don't you?" Koga asked, shifting his weight around on his foot and then switching up, Inuyasha's cock juice coating his soles.

"Heh, Really? I don't usually make him do THAT." Kagome giggled, sitting back and enjoying the show.

"Well I dare say he enjoys the idea." Koga chuckled, raising a foot for her to see the pre all over it,then held it in front of Inuyasha's face. "I'm waiting~"

He was actually testing to see how far he could push the little bitch, and if Inuyasha had outright refused well he'd just make up for it with the paddling. Instead though Inuyasha's cute pink tongue darted out, taking quick fast licks on the sole of of his foot.

"Pfttttt Bwhahahaha!" Kagome laughed. "No way!"

"Heh, good boy Inuyasha, however I want long heel to toe licks. so you get the full experience." Koga instructed.

"Y-Yes sir. Sorry." Inuyasha whined, closing his eyes and leaning in.

"Ah ah ah, and eyes open and looking at me while you do it. I know this is your first time worshiping a alpha males feet so I'm be nice, but we DO have to nip bad habits in the bud~" Koga chuckled.

The half demon nodded and locked eyes with Koga, as much as he could as he slurped and licked away on foot, only closing them when hitting super foul tasting spots on Koga's foot. when the first one was clean, Koga simply offered up the other one and made small talk with Kagome while Inuyasha worked, as if he was just a object.

when it was all over Koga held his feet up, using Inuyasha's shoulders to do see and had Kagome inspect them.

"Hmm yup, they're spotless. Good to know I have a good widdle foot licker I can count on to take care of my feet every night. you wouldn't believe how dirty and smelly they get walking everywhere." Kagome said and Inuyasha whimpered.

"Oh, you don't like that idea pup?" Koga asked, smirking. "It's ok if you only like to worship men's feet. I always figured you played for both teams."

"N-No! I'll lick Kagome's feet!" Inuyasha protested.

"Awww! that's so cute! you think you had a choice!" Kagome squealed and with Koga's feet down she was gonna give him a hug and a kiss, then pulled back and held her nose. "Yuck! foot breath!"

"Yeahhh you're gonna wanna keep lots of mints around if you wanna kiss him after he's been cleaning your feet." Koga laughed as Inuyasha squirmed. "That or just don't kiss him anymore."

"Hmm I'll have to think about that."

"I..but.." Inuyasha whined, turning back and forth looking at both of them.

"Pup, stop fussing and get over my lap, it's time for your reward for being SUCH a good little foot bitch." Koga said, patting his lap.

"...Yes sir." Was all the defeated by his own perverted desires half demon could say, and he got over Koga's lap.

Laying over Koga's lap Inuyasha could feel just how 'excited' this turn of events was making the wolf demon, Koga's manhood was poking him in the tummy.

'a manhood that'll end up in me..or Kagome..All because I couldn't be a good boyfriend.' Inuyasha thought.

He'd never pictured being spanked by anther man, or having to clean someones feet and yet here he was and the most damnable thing of it all was his hard-on wouldn't go away!

his leaking manhood was dangling as Koga kept his legs spread but Inuyasha was fairly certain he was gonna be cumming ropes before long.

'Maybe once I nut I'll be able to clearly..' He thought, then Koga's voice drew his attention.

"Now Inuyasha, as I understand it, Kagome spanks you for 10 minutes., a time length I'm willing to match but I will let you end it early if it's too much for you. All you have to do is say 'Daddy pwease stop!' However if you do that, Or if you wet yourself or cum, you're little bitch ass will be going in diapers for the rest of the night." Koga said and nodded to Kagome who tugged out a pack of thick, nursery print diapers and smirked.

"...What?!" Inuyasha yelped trying to get out of Koga's lap and being held in place with ease, his own submissive nature keeping him for going all out to break free.

"I didn't stutter. But hey, it's ALL you, all you have to do is keep your bladder and cock under control, and take my paddling like a good boy! You can do that can't you?" Koga challenged.

"Yes!" Inuyasha huffed while thinking 'No!'

"of course even if you pee or nut, the spanking will go on till the time limit is up, but every 'accident' means one diaper.. Hope you're not big on repeat performances because I WILL put your butt in that whoooole pack if you 'earn' it." Koga chuckled.

"Is it weird I'm finding the idea of him in huggies while we fuck hawt?" Kagome asked, biting her lip.

"Not at all, we all have our kinks!" Koga said cheerfully and tapped the paddle lightly on Inuyasha's butt. "Right pup?"

"Yes daddy!" Inuyasha said then covered his mouth as Kagome and Koga laughed.

Watching her boyfriend/bitch quiver over Koga's lap, Kagome had no doubt that Inuyasha was gonna be in at least 3 diapers, the little bitch liked to edge himself for at least 3 hours a day on the week when he'd be getting spanked.

'Hell, forget three, I might have to go out and get anther pack of diapers!' Kagome thought, her folds getting damp as she pictured Inuyasha in a massive diaperzilla hugging a teddy bear and watching her get fucked. 'Huh..Kink unlocked.' She mused.

She was drawn out of her little fantasy as the first swat stuck and she could almost feel the force of the blow herself and winced.

the effect on Inuyasha's was almost cartoonish, his semi bubble butt seemed to deform around the force of the paddle as Inuyasha's mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide.

Before he could even begin wailing (which followed quickly enough) Koga stuck anther 3 blows on the pup's backside, quickly turning it bright red and then the howling and sobbing came.

'Damn, 4 blows in about ten seconds..Inuyasha's not gonna be able to sit for a week!'

As blows 5 6 7 and 8 hit Inuyasha was a blubbering mess and couldn't even talk right as a massive cum shot hit the floor.

"Wow that didn't take long." Koga teased. "Kagome could you be a dear and keep count, I don't think our little puppy is gonna be able to."

"of course~" Kagome cooed, and ripped open the package of diapers, taking one out and setting it on the desk next to her, then she winked at Inuyasha. "I think you might wanna toss in the towel pup.. It hasn't even been a minute yet."

"I-I'll never gi- AH FUCK!" Inuyasha had been in the middle of declaring his iron will, how he'd never give up when the paddle started to come down on his red cheek and reduce him back to sobbing and crying, kicking his legs and pounding his fists but there was no way out for him.

Kagome gave up trying to count the blows and just watched Inuyasha's useless big cock swing back and forth and seeing it twitch and tremble at the 2 minute mark got ready to pull out a second diaper, and wasn't disappointed when he indeed fired off again.

"Wow Inuyasha, you much REALLY like being Koga's bitch! Normally you only cum ONCE for me!" Kagome teased. "Or was it worshiping his feet first just primed you up?" She snickered.

Inuyasha couldn't even try and reply, at least with words, but but his body did and Kagome pulled out a third diaper.

Koga had to give Inuyasha credit, the mutt had lasted five minutes so far, which was four more then Koga had counted on. Of course he wasn't going all out either as he wanted Inuyasha able to walk. The pup was up to 6 diapers, and Koga was glad Kagome had insisted on putting down a puppy housebreaking pad since only five of the diapers were from cum shots.

Inuyasha had stopped fighting and was just taking the blows now, and if Koga didn't know any better the half demon seemed to be raising his buns up to meet the paddle.

"C-Come On.. That all you g-got?" Inuyasha said, sniffling and giving a impish grin as he looked over his shoulder.

'Ohhh he's adapted to the pain.. heh..and thinks he's got my number.. adorable.'

"Actually I've been holding back..Trying to be nice. but since you want full force." Koga said,Smiling like he was offering Inuyasha a treat for being a good boy and trying not to laugh at the look of terror on Inuyasha's face.

"Y-Your bluffing!" Inuyasha squealed.

"Heh, I dunno pup, I think he has been, since he'd have to make this last 10 whole minutes." Kagome chimed in, a hand down the front of her panties. "But go ahead, flip that coin. I'm loving the show."

Koga raised his arm up and got ready to deliver a full on blow to Inuyasha's red and bruised back side when Inuyasha screamed, wet himself and JUST before the paddle could hit..

"Daddy pwease stop!" Came out of his mouth.

The paddle stopped though the force from it made the pup's red bubble butt ripple and Koga chuckled as Kagome huffed.

"Boooo!" She whined.

"Now now Kagome, a deal's a deal. Inuyasha, go and stand with your nose in the corner while we clean up and get your DIAPERS ready." Koga said, tugging Inuyasha up in his lap and trying not to melt as the sniffling and sobbing pup hugging him and nodded.. giving Koga a kiss on the cheek before going to the corner.

'If I didn't know any better I'd say someones getting a crush on me.' Koga thought, then him and Kagome started to take care of the clean up.

Nose in the corner and his butt on fire, Inuyasha fought the urge to rub his cheeks since good boys took their lickings. he was confused as to why he had smooched Koga and tried to just play it off as caught up in the mood though as he waited for the ok to come out of the corner he caught himself almost sucking on his thumb three times.

Between the claw on his thumb and how sharp his fangs were he knew THAT wouldn't end well and just shifted from foot to foot.

"Don't tell me you need to use the potty before we diaper you up little guy? You already did two super piddles!" Kagome asked, clearly mistaking his fidgeting for a potty dance.

"N-No Sowwy.." Inuyasha called.

"Well if you wanna try and uh-oh before you go back in diapers, let us know." Koga said.

"Oh? your gonna be that nice?" Kagome asked.

"..Do you really want your room to smell like a poopie diaper?" Koga pointed out

"..Touche...Inuyasha go sit on the potty and try and boom boom!" Kagome ordered, a little too fast.

Inuyasha didn't really feel the need to go, but knew better then to argue and walked by, seeing them laying out the seven diapers and cutting slits in the front and back.

5 minutes later, after giving it a honest try and just pooting on the bowl, Inuyasha walked back in and looked at the massive diaper they had put together for him, apparently taking the time to glue the diapers together to make sure they wouldn't sag.

"Ready to go back into huggies pup?" Koga asked, smiling and grinning, kneeling by the diapers.

Kagome meanwhile was Naked and on the bed, tapping her fingers on the bed frame impatient to get her fun for the night.

"Do I really have a choice?" Inuyasha asked, poking his index fingers together.

it was odd, he was still aroused but for some reason, his wonderful piece of fuck meat was drooping now between his legs.

"heh, not really." Koga said.

"So hurry up! Someone us wanna get laid tonight!" Kagome whined, then glared as Inuyasha blew a raspberry at her. "Koga, spank him again."

"Wait what!?" Inuyasha yelped, and his hands went to his poor bruised backside.

"I don't think I'll have time to spank him and fuck you Kagome." Koga said, sweat dropping.

"finnne just hurry upppp!"She whined.

"Sheesh, are you sure she doesn't need a diaper too daddy?" Inuyasha asked, grinning impishly as he walked over and plopped down on the diapers, feeling like he'd sat on a thick pillow and stirring up some baby powder.

"Hey!" Kagome huffed, blushing.

"heh, Inuyasha, be good. Kagome, settle down." Koga said, shaking his head a little and then quickly got Inuyasha tapped up nice and snug in the diapers and kissed his forehead.

He also reached and grabbed a stuffed dog he'd taken from Souta's room and gave it to Inuyasha to hug and cuddle, then stood up and started to strip.

"Alright Inuyasha, I want you to pay attention and watch how a MAN fucks a woman. you might ONE day be able to please a lady, though I think it's more likely your sex life if gonna be getting spanked and diapered from now on." Koga said, and winked. "and from the look's of things, you don't mind."

Inuyasha went to argue that and then looked down, realizing he'd gotten hard from the mental image of never getting pussy again.

He could of said it was the attention, he could of claimed it was because he knew he was about to get a show..but what Inuyasha did instead was hug the stuffie to his chest and nod.

"Yes daddy."

Somehow seeing her boyfriend reduced to a oversized baby had Kagome hotter then she'd ever been, and as long as he didn't fill the back of the diapers she could see A LOT fun in the future with him in diapers and being cucked.

Of course the fact that Koga was thicker then Inuyasha and would hopefully last longer might of had something to do with it.

Laying on her back and spreading her legs, she looked up at Koga with loving eyed and coo'ed out a plea. "Take me~" feeling like this was some sort of romantic novel...and only to have Koga show apparently all demons could be stupid as he got a confused look on his face.

"Uh..But I thought you wanted to fuck..where am I taking you?" he asked.

"..Demon's..Just stick it in me already." She muttered, face palming.

"Humans.." he muttered and then thrusted into her in one fast motion and grinned as she barked.

As Koga went to work and Kagome found herself unable to speak, she did have enough brain power as she was fucked into bliss think about how many, just maybe.. she shouldn't of assumed she could handle a thicker cock with ease.

Half a hour later and Kagome was left a quivering mess on her bed, drooling and eyes glazed over. Koga had given up trying to keep track of the orgasms she'd had compared to his but knew in the long run of things he was technicality the loser of the night, trailing behind Inuyasha and Kagome with a mere 3.

Licking her clean to improve her chances of not getting knocked up (He wasn't one of those prunes who couldn't handle their own flavor) he covered her up and opened a window to help get the sex smell out of the room, then looked over at Inuyasha.

the half demon had conked out early on in the love making, after squirting in his diapers and the stuffie was thankfully out of his grip even if it was damp with drool from Inuyasha making out with it.

'Now what do I do with him?' Koga thought, rubbing his chin, though his still ready for action cock had a answer even as he got dressed.

He had a inkling that it would be nothing but a headache for Kagome and the pup if he left him here like this, curled up on the floor in his diapers.

'I suppose it's my fatherly 'duty' to just take him with me.' Koga thought, smirking as he slowly scooped up the half demon.

There was no shortage of fun he could have with something like this back home, and heck, wasn't he always getting pestered to settle down and raise a cub of his own?

Two birds one stone.

He thought about leaving a note to explain to Kagome that he was taking Inuyasha with him, but then recalled that the chances of her being able to read wolf tribe were slim to none and besides, she was a clever girl.

Slipping out the window as a car was pulling in the driveway, Koga vanished into well with Inuyasha, musing how he had showed up to be a bull, and left a daddy.

The end

[pixelwisp]

ITADAKIMASU FOR NUMBERS 1-15 PLS 🙏🏻

FLORA LMAO ILY

ok *cracks knuckles* let's goooo

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

in total honesty, laziness and fear of commitment lmao. It's my first ever ongoing project and I knew the chances of me finishing a full length chapter fic was slim to none so when I saw smau's growing in popularity I thought 'hey, I could probably do that'

2: What scene did you first put down?

The ending >:)

3: What's your favorite line of narration?

oooh this one's a toughie. My true answer is from a passage that hasn't been released yet, but from what i've written so far, this little paragraph here always made me laugh and I think it's definitely up there with my favorites:

'When you saw something akin to the five stages of grief cross his face in a span of a few seconds, you knew that putting Osamu Miya in his place was going to become your favorite past time.'

4: What's your favorite line of dialogue?

“Kuguri, have I ever told you that I’m a fucking god?” I couldn't tell you why, tbh lol

5: What part was hardest to write?

answered here! <3

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

It's a lot of firsts for me!! I'm pretty sure it's my first ever hq fanfic, I literally had started planning it before I even watched season 4 lol. It's also my first smau, my first multi part fic, and its the most I've written for one story, social media caps aside. Itadakimasu also broke a 5 year long break I had taken from writing, which, looking back, was a real questionable decision on my part lol. I really stepped out of my comfort zone with this story and the journey has honestly helped me fall in love with writing again <3

7: Where did the title come from?

Itadakimasu is a term Japanese folks say before their meals! I thought it just made sense with an smau that was food based and osamu lol <3

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

My initial plot that I ended up scrapping wasn't really inspired by anything I can remember, but the new plot line is (very) loosely inspired by Next Time, one of my fav x reader chapter fics to date! (if you haven't read it, you need to, its everything) other than that, any scenes/bits that have inspiration get credit in the author notes of each chapter!! <3

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

nope! but if I feel good enough about it when I finish it, I'm toying with the idea of uploading it to AO3 and replacing all the smau content with written chapters :)

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

<3 Osamu <3 that's it. that's the reason lol

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I really like osamu's dynamic with the reader. It's my ideal relationship lol

12: What do you like least about this fic?

I am very nitpicky, so even though I've edited chapters I always have to fight the urge to delete my whole account and fly to a foreign land under a fake name because I hate my writing lmao

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

muahaha, playlist coming soon <3

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

Osamu is Big Husband Energy and he needs more appreciation

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

chapter fics are hard!! lol

[tropiyas]

On day 2 of my Guilty Gear experience I had a very cool moment where I went "holy shit I'm so good for making that play." I've basically been throwing myself at my high level friends and getting my ass beat... but they give me tips every round and I keep learning more about the game, and it resulted in this clip :)

This is maybe the 3rd (maybe 4th) fighting game I've grinded, and it's really really fun! (extra thoughts under the readmore)

Ok so basically this play is so good because it turned a near-unwinnable situation into a round win for me. Sol activates his super, which is a full-screen unblockable command grab. The only way to avoid being hit is by jumping over it.

I was in a super bad spot because I was 1) very close to the Sol and 2) in the middle of an attack move. The purple circle you see is a Roman Cancel, a mechanic that lets you cancel any attack move and act out of it. The special part about it is, even if I do a normal purple RC, I still would have been too close to Sol and trying to jump would still get me grabbed... So I do a DRIFT RC (which is where you input a dash command before activating RC) which moves me slightly to the left, giving me JUST BARELY enough time to jump out of the way. The super has a bunch of endlag at the end so I was just able to grab, which was enough damage to end the round for me.

The other 3 fighting games I've dedicated grinding was SF Third Strike, Skullgirls, and Under-Night In Birth.

Third Strike (and Street Fighter in general): a bit too reliant on footsies and hard decisive hits.. Not my playstyle and it's one of those games that's hard to grind in the training room, you just have to play someone to get better

Skullgirls: Pretty much the opposite issue of Third Strike, there's a ton of set combos (and assists) you can just make up and consistently use throughout a match, so playing someone is basically "who's labbed combos the hardest"

Under-night: Probably my favorite Fighting Game so far. The only reason why I don't play it nowadays is because of no rollback :(. It's a 1v1 format but has an anime/MvC combo system like Skullgirls. So you don't have to think too much about your assists + enemy assists, AND that means that every character has a much deeper kit with more possible moves.

GG Strive: Basically just between Under-Night and Third Strike... a pretty decent balance! The fact that you can't cancel every move into another move like Under-night/Skullgirls means you have to think more between your pokes and comittal hits. And, because of the Roman Cancel system, you can lab some critical (but short!, not too long) combos that push your punish game far enough to free up your mental real estate for the rest of the game.

[lochrannn]

@pepperf and I challanged each other to three Whumptober fics. Here’s my first contribution

No. 1 - ALL TRUSSED UP AND STILL NOWHERE TO GO “You have to let go” | barbed wire | bound

Warnings: Canon-typical Violence

Tags: Hurt/Comfort; Canon-Typical Violence; Injury; Implied/Referenced Torture

Relationshipts: Diego Hargreeves/Lila Pitts; Diego Hargreeves/Hargreeves Siblings

Characters: Diego Hargreeves; Lila Pitts; Five Hargreeves; Allison Hargreeve; Klaus Hargreeves; Hargreeves Siblings

Summary: Stuck in an unfamiliar 2019 the Hargreeves have struck an uneasy truce with Reginald and his Sparrows until Diego and Five are summond to the academy to identify an intruder who was captured by their father while looking for them.

They’ve struck an uneasy truce with Reginald and the Sparrows.

It’s caused no small amount of strain amongst the siblings. Fuck, Diego can’t say he’s in anyway pleased about it himself, he was probably the one who argued the hardest against it, but it’s not like he can’t understand Five’s logical pragmatism either.

There is no immediate benefit and only very real danger to fully antagonizing the most powerful group of people in a place where the original six Hargreeves siblings (Diego is confused himself sometimes about how to refer to all of them) have no resources, no allies, and no history to speak of.

They already had a scuffle with the Sparrows when they first arrived, and maybe if they hadn’t been exhausted and confused and completely overwhelmed to see not-Ben in the Sparrow academy uniform they might have had even a sliver of a chance. But as it stood then, they were very quickly overpowered and the only thing that saved them was Five’s ability to compartmentalize.

Somehow Five convinced Reginald to let them leave the mansion. Whether their father genuinely doesn’t think they are a real threat to his world and his timeline is entirely unclear, but Diego and his siblings know that they have been free to move about the city and stay at a motel on the outskirts only because Hargreeves is letting them. If and when he decides that he can’t risk leaving them alone any longer, they will be in real trouble.

They are all sat around the bedroom Allison is sharing with Vanya, arguing over how to continue, Five firm on his stance that his siblings need to sit on their asses until he is done calculating how he can bring them back to their original timeline (nobody wants to say out loud what they all know to be the silent continuation of that phrase - if it even still exists), while Diego thinks Five can juggle his silly little numbers, but in the meantime they should try and establish just exactly how dangerou the Sparrows are and if they should actually take the opportunity they’ve been given to protect the city from their father’s twisted sense of justice.

Allison, unsurprisingly, is with Five, and considering that she has lost the most in their original timeline, Diego can’t actually blame her for it.

To his utter surprise, he thinks Luther might actually be coming around to his point of view. Vanya is trying to find a compromise and though Diego has started appreciating her need for harmony, right now he really wishes she would stay the fuck out of it.

Klaus is sitting by the cracked window, intermittently taking drags of his cigarette and watching the discussion, but clearly uninterested in taking part.

Some part of Diego is worried about him, but he neither knows how to approach Klaus about how he’s feeling, nor does he think he has the time to stop and deal with his brother’s grief. It can wait till later, he tells himself.

“... you imbecile!” Five is shouting at Diego, the two of them squaring off in the middle of the room, Five’s lack of height doing nothing to make him any less ferocious, “If we draw dad’s attention like that he might figure out that we’re trying to restore our own timeline. And I might not know the old man that well, but he’s not an idiot. He wouldn’t risk the possibility that us trying to restore our own timeline could destroy his. He might not have killed us yet, but I have no doubt he will if he thinks we might bring about the end of his world.”

That stops Diego for a moment, he hasn’t thought of the fact that that could be a genuine risk. He doesn’t know how to feel about that, but he catches a glimpse of Allison out of the corner of his eye, the way her eyes are big and bright, her lips pursed, and her arms are crossed so tightly it almost looks like she’s physically trying to hold herself together, and he decides that that is another thing to think about at a later stage, or hopefully never.

Diego is just about to respond to Five when there is a knock outside.

It’s not particularly loud, but it isn’t gentle either and they all freeze and stare at the door.

Then there is a flurry of hand signals going around and it doesn’t seem like they are really communicating anything through them, except that nobody is quite certain what the best course of action is, and in the end Allison, who is the closest to the door, rolls her eyes, untangles herself, and turns around to open the door a crack.

Diego can’t see who it is but he can tell by the way Allison tenses and squares her shoulders, that it’s not a welcome guest. It would have been highly unlikely anyway, it’s not like they know anybody good in this place.

“What do you want?” Allison says. Her tone is cold and razor sharp. She doesn’t need the Rumor to be commanding even when asking a question.

“My father would like to talk to your brothers,” a man’s raspy voice responds.

“Yeah, well, why didn’t your father come here to talk to them, then?” Allison doesn’t budge an inch and continues blocking the door with a foot behind it so it can’t just be shoved open.

“My father is a very busy man, Allison, he doesn’t have the time to trudge all the way out here,” the man on the other side of the door responds, clearly one of the Sparrows, and Diego can see Allison's knuckles go white where she has her hand on the doorframe at the casual use of her name.

“We’re a little busy, too, right now, so if Hargreeves wants to talk to any of us…” Allison begins but then Five interrupts her and calls out from where he’s stood next to Diego in the middle of the room, “Who does he want to talk to?”

There’s a beat in which Allison starts fidgeting by the door, clearly as enraged with her brother now as with the man standing outside the motel room. Then she pushes the door open far enough to reveal a man that Diego recognizes as the Sparrow with the scarred up face, but Allison doesn’t let go of the door, making sure to signal that he is not coming in, even if she’s letting him talk to the rest of the Hargreeves.

“You,” the man says in an even voice, pointing at Five, then shifting his finger just a little to point at Diego next, “and him.”

-

They are greeted in the entrance hall of the Sparrow Academy by a Pogo that looks like the butler/teacher/guardian they grew up with but who has only the slightest hint of recognition in his eyes when he looks at Five, but none whatsoever when he looks at Diego.

He takes them to the elevator that they were never allowed to go near when they were children and presses a combination of buttons that makes the contraption descend.

When they stop and Pogo opens the grate, Diego realizes that at least they haven’t arrived at the floor with an anechoic chamber at the end, but it doesn’t make him feel any less nervous about being in the Academy’s basement. They have nowhere to run.

And the way their father is standing halfway down the hall shrouded in darkened shadows certainly also doesn’t help. On the contrary, it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“At last you’re here,” Reginald says, his voice not particularly loud, but it echoes off the empty walls and is dripping with sarcasm, “I haven’t got all day. Pogo, tell Number Four that I expect him to bring our honoured guests here in the fastest fashion possible, if I ever ask him to retrieve someone again.”

Diego and Five give each other a look and clearly silently agree that apparently they're expected to follow Hargreeves when their not-quite father turns on his heels and starts marching down the hall, Pogo bringing up the rear.

“We have had an intrusion into the Academy last night. But fear not, with only a very small amount of difficulty, we were able to subdue and capture this interloper. However, though we applied our most thorough interrogation methods, we haven’t yet been able to establish her identity,” Reginald declares grandly and Diego feels his blood run cold in horror.

“That being said,” Hargreeves continues, voice still clipped and impassive as he opens a heavy metal door and ushers in Five, Diego, and Pogo, “Before she started putting up a fight, she seemed to be under the impression she might find you here!”

Hargreeves is looking at him expectantly, but Diego is taking no notice of him, because they have walked into a cold, tiled room, with very sparse furniture, at the center of which is a large metal chair.

Handcuffed to the chair’s arms is Lila, looking badly beaten up and possibly unconscious, head lolling on her chest, and Diego can see a white piece of cloth tied as a gag around the back of her head that’s highlighting even more how messy her hair looks.

Diego sees red and three things happen at once.

He wants to call out to her and go to her and get her out of here, but all he manages is to stammer, “Luh-” before the word gets stuck in his throat and as he takes a step towards her, all of a sudden, everything stops.

Irrationally, Diego has the sudden burning urge to suck in a breath, despite the fact that he doesn’t actually need to and also he realizes that even though it feels like even the air around him has gone completely still, he has no actual trouble breathing.

And then he feels the hand grabbing his wrist and when he looks down at it, he sees that Five is holding on to him with fingers that are glowing blue and an expression on his face that is split between concentrated, enraged, and in pain.

“What the fuck?” Diego says, staring around them at the way everything suddenly seems like it’s two dimensional, the complete and utter lack of any movement flattening the world around him weirdly.

“I know you are about to do something really fucking stupid, Diego, but I need you to stop and think for a second,” Five says. He sounds a little out of breath and strained.

“Have you stopped time?” Diego almost shouts, incredulous.

“Yes, but I won’t be able to hold onto this for very long so I need you to understand that there’s nothing we can do to help her right now!”

Five almost tips forward at the force with which Diego pulls his arm free from his grip. He’d like to punch the little twerp for saying something so aggravating, but he already looks like he’s standing on shaky legs, so Diego balls his hands into fists in frustration and stares his oldest brother down.

“Don’t be so dramatic, idiot! We’ll come back for her, okay? But for now, we can’t let dad know that we know who she is or give him any information about her. What do you think he’s going to do if he finds out about the Commission? It’s too dangerous for us. And I presume for Lila, too. So, Diego, I need you to let this go!”

Five barely finishes his sentence when everything starts up again.

It feels like a tidal wave crashes in on him as air begins flowing around him again and low humming noises that he would not have noticed before assault his senses.

His father is saying something but Diego can’t hear what it is because Lila, apparently not unconscious, lifts her head and looks right at him.

Diego’s chest feels like someone has cracked it open and his heart has fallen out.

There are spots of red on the gag in her mouth, and dried blood is running from the corner of her mouth down her chin. Her lip is split but that’s not where the blood is coming from, and the top of one of her cheekbones is bruised red and purple and looks slightly swollen.

He doesn’t quite know how he sees it, because he can’t actually tear his eyes away from hers, but he registers that her knuckles are bloodied and bruised and he can guess that the rest of her body is no better but it’s covered in a long sleeved black top and matching pants. Her feet are bare, though.

Even if he wanted to ignore Five’s instructions, he’s not sure he could make his limbs move to go towards her, rooted to the spot by the intensity of Lila’s eyes on him, as she struggles against the cuffs holding her arms and legs to the chair. Her shouts and screams are muffled by the gag, but Diego still thinks he can hear her calling his name, begging him to help her.

He feels sick.

He is staring at Lila and is willing her to use Five’s powers to teleport out of there. He doesn’t even care if she disappears again, as long as she gets away from these ruthless so-called superheroes and his dangerous father. Diego realizes at that moment that some part of him never actually expected to see her again. He thinks he could live with her disappearing for good this time, if only it means that she’s no longer here, in his psychopathic father’s torture chamber, getting interrogated because she made the mistake to come after him.

“She was quite the handful,” Reginald explains, “it seems she has powers of her own. But I have injected her with a mild sedative of my own design that will continue to suppress her powers until we have decided what to do with her.”

Diego’s eyes flit from his father back to Lila and he can feel his heart simultaneously hammering in his throat and the pit of his stomach. His ears are ringing. And once again he is unable to protect someone who is so important to him, like Eudora, like Mom, and in that moment he can feel his eyes stinging with tears that he has to hold back if they don’t want to tip their father off.

“Well, can’t say I’ve seen this woman before, I wouldn’t know why she was asking for us,” Five says, his tone so casual that Diego would almost believe him if he didn’t know it was a complete lie.

“Diego?” Five turns to him, one eyebrow quirked up in question.

His tongue is sticking to the roof of his mouth and his throat is seizing up completely. And all he can do is watch Lila struggling, stare her down, and try as best as he can to communicate to her that this is not real, that they will come back for her, that he made her a promise of family and that they won’t leave her behind.

“Apparently he doesn’t know who she is either.” Five has gotten impatient next to him, waves a hand in what seems to be half a shrug and also half a non-verbal see? and turns back to Reginald.

“If that’s all, I think we’d best be getting back to our siblings. You understand, we’re still reeling a little from arriving in this very unrecognizable time.”

Five doesn’t wait for an answer, instead he turns around towards the door, grabs Diego by the elbow and the last thing he sees as he’s dragged out towards the elevator by his much smaller brother, is Lila beginning to struggle frantically and his father’s very skeptical look.

For some incomprehensible reason they aren’t stopped from leaving the mansion and they only get to round the first corner before Diego doubles over, hands on his knees, and dry heaves into the gutter.

-

Five wants them to wait another day before they go back to the academy to grab Lila as he expects the Sparrows to be on high alert after their visit today, but Diego explains in no uncertain terms that he is going back tonight, with or without his siblings’ help, and even Allison backs him up when she hears about the obvious signs of torture.

The plan is that Diego, Allison, and Five, the best trained at stealth combat out of all of them, go to the mansion, while Luther, Klaus, and Vanya cause a distraction in a different part of the city, hoping to create at least a small window where some or all of the Sparrows are out of the house.

That actually works significantly better than any of them could have expected. Or Reginald knows they’re coming and doesn’t care, and right now, neither does Diego, because for some reason Five blinks into the mansion and only a minute later blinks back out into the alley that they are hiding in, just about able to support a very unconscious Lila for long enough to set her halfway gently down onto the dirty ground.

Diego is by their side in a flash, hands nervously hovering over her body, eventually deciding on supporting her head and stroking the hair out of her slack face.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What did he do to her?” he’s whispering frantically, not actually expecting an answer, but Five pipes up and says, “Oh yeah, that was me.”

Diego freezes and then slowly turns to look up at his brother, thinking he must have misheard.

“What’d you say?” he asks, deliberately making his question sound as threatening as possible, though Allison’s hand that lands heavily on his shoulder does take a little bit of the wind out of his sails.

“Diego, we have no idea why she came here. For all we know she came to finish the job and kill us all -” Diego opens his mouth to protest, but Five just holds up a hand and maybe because Allison squeezes hers on his shoulder, half in warning and half in support, he lets Five finish.

“I just want to make sure we know what we're dealing with and that we’re properly prepared for whatever that might be.”

Diego can actually see the logic in that, it’s not like he hasn’t got good reasons to distrust Lila, but it still doesn’t sit right with him, not after the promise they all made.

So he huffs in annoyance as he snakes his arms under her knees and shoulders and lifts her up easily, maneuvering her until her head is lying against his shoulder, gentle breath tickling his neck, and he is struck by how quickly he’s forgotten how small and skinny she really is with how energetic and forceful she is when awake.

Diego thinks he doesn’t ever want to see her this vulnerable again, but nevertheless the feel of her body against his is an instant comfort for his nerves that have been pulled taut since he first laid eyes on her this afternoon.

-

Diego is livid with his siblings as he paces the tiny floor space in the motel room.

It’s just him and Klaus and Lila, still unconscious, lying on the bed, both wrists cuffed to the frame.

Five’s idea again. All of the siblings whose powers Lila could use to escape have taken their leave while Klaus has been left in charge of the key to the cuffs, because Diego can apparently not be trusted with them. And Five seems to believe Diego wouldn’t go through Klaus to get to them.

He’s thinking for probably the thirtieth time in about as many minutes that he might just like to prove Five wrong on that one, when Lila begins to stir and mumble incoherently.

Klaus, who’s been doing an impressive job of ignoring Diego’s hyperactive fury, stubs out his cigarette and glides over to the foot of the bed where Diego is standing, frozen to the spot, watching Lila come around.

“You fucker!” she says, finally, when she’s managed to pull herself half upright against the headboard where the cuffs are also attached to the decorative cut-outs in the wood.

Diego stares at her, now completely incapable of saying anything.

“You left me to rot in that fucking torture chamber!” she shouts at him then, thrusting her torso forwards as far as she can go to put more force behind her accusation.

That jolts Diego into action and he tries to rush out an explanation when Klaus just talks over him, and Diego is really beginning to resent that, but his brother seems completely unbothered.

“Are you here to murder us, missy?” Klaus asks in the voice of a not particularly strict school matron.

“I fucking might, now! All that talk about family and then you abandon me to those psychopaths! I know you have daddy issues, but I didn’t know you have no fucking spine when it comes to that monster!” She's jangling the cuffs aggressively and Diego’s stomach twists, both at her words but also at how the cold metal is digging into the already reddened skin at her wrists.

“So you’re not here to kill us?” Klaus tries again and it’s almost like he’s cut Lila’s strings with his perfectly even, practically friendly question.

She falls back against the headboard, turns her head away from them, deflated, and says quietly, “no.”

“You wanna hurt any of us?” Klaus adds.

“Yeah, I really do, but I won’t,” Lila grumbles off to the side, clearly more drained than she first let on.

“Wunderbar!” Klaus exclaims and then tosses the key to the handcuffs up in the air and when Diego manages to catch them, only fumbling a little, because this is not what he expected, Klaus is already halfway to the door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” he shouts over his shoulder as he leaves and slams the door shut behind him and after all of his angry and frantic struggle to get Lila back to their motel and have her wake up, Diego wishes Klaus hadn’t left.

Because, what’s he supposed to do now?

He’s given a clue when Lila shifts, doesn’t look at him, but the motion makes her cuffs clatter against the bed and Diego decides that whatever else he needs to do, the first thing is to let her out of the handcuffs.

He makes his way around the bed, sits down on the edge and leans over her to unlock the cuffs.

Lila doesn’t look at him, just pulls her arms back down now that she has her full motion and cradles her hands against her chest protectively.

Diego notices that her eyes are shining but she’s not blinking very much, probably holding back tears and now he knows even less what he’s supposed to say.

On instinct he thinks that if he can’t talk about things, maybe there’s at least something more immediate he can fix and he gently pulls her hands away from her to inspect her wrists.

Lila lets him, but still doesn’t really acknowledge him.

The skin there is reddened but doesn’t look raw, so Diego rubs it carefully with his thumbs and when Lila flinches he sets her hands into her lap, just glad that she’s not quite so curled up into herself anymore.

He takes a look at her face, they haven’t yet taken care of the cuts and bruising on her cheek and lip. There’s even still the line of dried blood down the side of her mouth.

Momentarily grateful that that gives him something to do, Diego gets up and swiftly makes his way to the small bathroom. He picks up one of the fresh white towels and runs it under lukewarm water and then grabs their meager first aid supplies on his way back into the room.

When he comes back in, Lila is busy cleaning dirt - probably dried blood - out from under her fingernails, but she looks up at him and while it had bothered him before that she was avoiding his eyes, he now feels like the skin on his entire body is heating up as she won’t look away.

Diego sits back down on the side of the bed and half expects her to take the wetted towel and scrub her face with it herself, but instead she is just waiting, chin tilted up a tiny bit, as if in challenge.

Never one to back down, he nods, not quite sure what he’s agreeing with, and lifts the towel up to her face to gingerly wipe the dried blood off.

“You just left me there!” she says coldly and Diego lets his hand drop again.

“We didn’t have a choice...” That sounds like a feeble excuse even to his own ears and Diego drops his head with a sigh.

“Was that some kind of fucked up retaliation for when I left at the barn?” Lila shoots back immediately, sounding far more angry than before.

“What? No!” Diego’s head snaps up to look at her. She’s baring her teeth furiously, the slight pink blotches from where he wasn’t able to properly clean the blood off her face making her look almost wild, but her eyes are shining brightly again and Diego suddenly feels a lump forming in his throat.

“No, Lila! We couldn’t risk my dad finding out about the Commission, if he thought he could have gotten that kind of information out of you, I can’t think about what he might have done! But I didn’t want to leave you there like that, I swear. I was going to help you! I tried to, but Five stopped me!” He’s desperate to get her to understand that the last thing he wanted to do was abandon her after everything she’s been through.

“Well that would have been pretty stupid!”

Lila’s interjection completely stops him in his tracks and Diego can’t help but stare at her a little dumbfounded.

“What?” he says, looking her dead in the eye, her expression a mixture of annoyance and exasperation, but also softer than before.

“Your idiot hero complex could have fucked us all over, huh?” she adds, and Diego is just about to argue when his protest dies away in his throat as Lila moves to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear and then leaves her hand at the side of his face.

All the tension Diego’s been holding since he first saw Lila tied to that chair, or possibly even earlier, possibly since he saw her disappear out of Sissy’s barn, seeps out of him and he leans heavily against her hand, eyes closing with how drained he suddenly feels.

“You came back for me,” Lila says and Diego doesn’t know how to respond to that other than to cover her hand with his own.

He feels the mattress shift and then without warning her lips press against his and he makes a strangled, involuntary noise at the back of his throat as the intensity of the relief he feels then, for Lila being safe, for her being back with him, is almost painful.

Diego wraps his arms around her and pulls her against himself, deepening their kiss carefully, not wanting to be too forceful considering her injured state, but Lila presses into him hungrily, so Diego tightens his grip on her and very much plans to never let go again.