#wrote a whole fic i guess

[buttercreamdicks]

[Hey! You! This post has now been expanded into a fic called “The Boy in the Woods.” Please enjoy. Thank you.]

I keep thinking about the best friend haul, and Rhett saying it was "found near a creek in 1984," and the supernatural Link theme, and it's giving me Bridge to Terabithia vibes like what if instead of meeting in first grade Rhett actually went wandering in the woods at age seven and found this shaggy-haired boy-thing by a creek and ran back home and brought it his old sneakers and clothes, and showed it his wrestling action figures, and taught it to speak. Its name is Link. Imagine the first time he introduced it to bubblegum, and fresh popped popcorn, and Twinkies. It lives almost exclusively on a diet of Reese's peanut butter cups. Imagine the first time Rhett gives it a haircut, and brushes its hair back from its face, and its proud little smile when Rhett says it looks handsome. Rhett brings it a coloring book full of mythical beasts from school, and somehow it already knows all the animals. There are things that live in the forest that it is afraid of. Rhett has never seen them, doesn't even know if they're real, but it draws their pictures over and over. To make them seem less scary, Rhett names them The Randler -- for R and L, Rhett and Link, he shows Link when he's teaching him how to write.

Everyone thinks Rhett has an imaginary friend till he's way older than he should, till Rhett actually starts bringing Link around, telling people he's from a different town, he goes to a different school. Link always says something weird, doesn't really get the whole people thing at first, but Rhett covers for him. They spend every day together. The boy grows almost as tall as he does.

It almost kills Rhett when he graduates high school and realizes he's going to have to move away from the boy in the woods. Freshman year, at least the days he can't sneak Link into the dorm, is hell. So he comes up with a plan: They'll get an apartment. They'll get Link a job. Link starts doing Rhett's homework with him, and it turns out Link is brilliant. He can play a bunch of instruments -- the trumpet, the shruti box, he even makes the recorder sound good. There is a pit of guilt in Rhett's stomach that he never thought about Link needing to go to school.

So he makes up a fake diploma, some fake credentials, and he gets Link enrolled in college with him. They go to a frat party for the first time together, shotgun their first beers. Link is a total lightweight, he falls in love when he's tipsy and cries when he's drunk. Rhett has to wrap him up tight in his comforter when they get home. Their apartment comes with a battered old set of pots and pans left behind by the last roommates, and Rhett learns to cook while Link watches. Link mostly learns to use the microwave. Link can take twice the courseload, finishes in half the time, so they can graduate together. They make a plan to move to a bigger city. They go on double-dates together, and Link even starts to like a girl. Rhett feels a pit of something else in his stomach he doesn't know how to name.

Everything is going great, Rhett thinks, everything is going according to plan. But some nights he wakes up and peeks into Link's room and Link isn't there. The first times it happens, Rhett calls his name in a whisper, looks around the whole apartment and turns on all the lights, but he can't find him. In the morning Link is back in the kitchen eating cereal, where he should be.

The next few times Link disappears, Rhett goes further than the apartment, out into the dark, walking around their neighborhood with a flashlight at first, and then with no light at all, still whisper-calling Link's name. Link always comes back by the morning. Rhett starts to notice that on the nights when Link doesn't disappear, he doesn't really sleep either. Rhett sometimes stands by his bedroom door to hear him tossing and turning, humming songs to himself. Rhett learns to navigate their streets by moonlight, stops whispering Link's name into the empty humid night air, just walks in the quiet darkness between the street lights, trying not trip over the uneven pavement cracks, looking for his friend.

He tries to imagine what Link is doing, sometimes, while he walks. At first he thinks maybe out with a girl that he doesn't want to tell Rhett about, but then that seems unlikely, Link seems as devoted to his girlfriend as ever. Then he thinks maybe getting into trouble, out at some bar or bent over some pool table, some group of assholes goading him to snort a line or to bet on the corner pocket, all the people who might take advantage of someone like Link, who still doesn't really understand people, still doesn't really understand what it means not to be entirely honest. But mostly Rhett pictures Link wandering the neighborhood just like he is, sweating on warm nights and wrapping his arms around himself on cold, under the dark black sky. It's blanker than the sky where they grew up, the orange lights along the big-town streets block out all the stars.

In fact he imagines when he finally finds Link, one of these nights, he'll grab him by the shoulders and say "What are you doing, man?" and then walk him home, and that'll be the end of it.

But what actually happens is one night he makes a left turn, and takes a walk through the park. Or at least, their little city calls it a park -- really it's nothing more than a playground and a glorified patch of unkempt trees, the last refuge of suburban deer. Rhett walks past the swingset and the slide, onto the little path into the wooded area, idly dragging his hands along the overhanging branches and leaves. And then he sees him. Link, in his little nest of soft grass and dirt, sleeping soundly.

Rhett gulps down some feeling, swallows it hard, and turns to walk quickly back home.

But he goes back the next few nights, just to watch. Link sleeps at the bases of trees, curled up in the roots, a little smile on his face. Rhett starts to notice how many fallen leaves he tracks into the apartment. The chunks of dirt that fall powder dry off his shoes when he stomps his feet at the door. How when they're out in the city, his hands are shaky. He startles back at every close-passing car. At night, asleep in his own private forest, the moonlight glitters off of his dark hair, which he's been growing long again.

Rhett remembers that first haircut, the way Link looked with his hair swept back from his forehead, clipped uneven by Rhett's mom's stolen kitchen scissors. The way Link delighted in food with crinkling cellophane wrappers. How happy he seemed not to be alone anymore in the woods, where the Randlers could get him. When Rhett brought his sleeping bag and called it "camping" to his brother and spent the night, Link curled against Rhett's side, putting Rhett's body between him and the quiet empty night. A funny thing was, over the years, Link had learned to cut Rhett's hair too, and their friends', he really enjoyed it. He had hands that fluttered gently around Rhett's face, soft fingertips that brushed the little bits of hair from the back of Rhett's neck. He always stood Rhett in front of the bathroom mirror afterward, to make sure Rhett liked it, and Rhett always looked at the reflection of Link's hopeful, happy face behind him. That first haircut, Rhett had snuck a shaving mirror from his parents' house too, and stashed it in his backpack. He remembered how proud Link looked when he saw his own face. But he also remembered afterward, Link's hands coming up out of habit to tug at the hair, now gone. Rhett had always pushed his hands down, told him, "Stop doing that, it makes you look weird."

Now he sits and watches Link, asleep in the grass and the rustling leaves. It's getting late into the fall, and here in the park, Rhett notices for the first time, away from the lights, up through the baring branches, you can see more of the stars. Asleep like this, Link's face is boyish and peaceful. His hair is a mess, there are twigs in it, the shaggy back of his head all ruffled from sleep. It makes little wings where it curls down over his ears. That was the first thing Rhett with his kitchen scissors had clipped away. And Rhett thinks to himself: What have I done?

[djotime-allthetime]

Freaky Redheads

synopsis: interactions between you and fred hechinger at a red carpet event for gladiator ii.

wc: 2.5k+

rpf!!! don't like, don't read!!!

a/n: i love that soft, sweet, adorable man with all of my heart. my inspiration is how fred talks about sherry. the monkey. i'm down bad bro.

italics are supposed to be comments under tiktok clips of these interviews. i definitely have more in mind for these two, but we'll see how this goes. feedback is writer's fuel!

cross posted on AO3

next part>>

The flashing cameras and yelling reporters have started to become the new normal, which was so not normal for you. You couldn't believe how far you'd come.

Granted, your role in the movie was definitely more in the supporting cast territory, but you couldn't deny how massive the production was. But even as a supporting actress, you still had quite a bit of screen time as the unnamed favorite concubine to Emperor Caracalla.

The fans who knew you called out your name from behind the velvet ropes and you smiled and waved as you walked by.

"y/n! y/n! Over here!" A reporter called out. You nodded and smiled as you approached, indicating your acceptance of the carpet-side interview. Your agent had warned you that not every journalist might want to speak with you and that you should accept any interview you came by. Thankfully, as the start of your night would show, that wasn't the case.

"Hello!" You beamed, coming to a stop in front of the camera. The reporter greeted you back and handed you a microphone glued to a mini Romanesque column. "Oh, wow. I love the microphone!"

"Thank you," She smiled. With a quick glance at her blouse, you saw a name tag that said 'MTV UK: Claire'. "It was my idea, actually."

"Incredibly creative! They should give you a raise, Claire."

"If you wouldn't mind saying that directly into the camera..." Claire trailed off with a chuckle and a mischievous glint to her eye.

You shot the camera as serious a look as you could muster. "MTV, if you do not give this woman a raise, I will riot in the streets."

"Alright alright, enough of that." Claire laughed out loud with a few shakes of her head. "You look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, this old thing?" You smiled bashfully, grabbing at your skirt to twirl it around. The styling department had made sure that all the gowns worn during press had some Roman inspiration behind them. The piece you were wearing was off white in color, representing your character's position in society. Even with your character in mind, your dress was still breathtaking. The gown was composed of yards and yards of fabric, giving it this dreamy, flowy silhouette. The neckline was so beautiful, in the cowl style and draped ever so slightly off your shoulders. To say that you loved it would be an understatement. "Thank you very much, you look amazing yourself."

"But you are on a different level!" Claire gasped, no doubt to return the topic to you. Just like you were media trained, the reporters were too. "What was the thought process behind your look tonight?"

Your eyes lit up as this was something you had wanted to talk about. "Well, the styling department and I actually workshopped this look together. Of course we wanted it to be glamorous, this is the red carpet after all. But we also wanted to show the character through the outfits, you know?" She nodded along.

"Right, your character was quite impactful even with the few lines you had." Claire added, and you smiled in thanks.

"Yeah, thank you." You felt your face heat up at the compliment. "We wanted to still be true to her, under all the glitz and glamour. So that's why we went with the understated color, to not only show her position in society but also her demeanor throughout the film."

"But your jewellery is anything but understated." She laughed.

"Yeah, I couldn't help myself." You laughed with her.

"Give us a quick tour."

You were almost dripping in gold, from your head to your toes. "We've got the hair piece." You brought a hand up to show the gold pins connected with chains littering your up-do. "Earrings upon earrings, all hoops." You pulled a strand back to show off your right ear clearly. Some were clip on earrings as you didn't have quite enough piercings to get them all. "The necklaces, of course. Some bracelets, some rings. But I think this cuff on my upper arm is my favorite."

"And these are all borrowed pieces from different brands?"

"Most of them are, yes." You confirmed with a nod. "But some are from my private collection. And some I might steal." You joked, getting a laugh out of Claire.

"Well, you really knocked it out of the park." Claire smiled, a tone of finality in her voice that showed you the interview was coming to a close. "And before we let you go, we've got one question we're asking everyone tonight. I think we can all agree that the cast of this movie is full of beautiful men." You giggled, a bit surprised at the turn in topic. "But people on the internet have separated them into two categories."

"Oh, have they now?" You asked, unaware of what she was talking about.

"Yes, they have. Gen Z has divided them into the brooding brunets and the freaky redheads." She explained, pulling up two little hand held signs. One with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, the brooding brunets, and the other with Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, the freaky redheads.

You couldn't contain the surprised laugh that escaped you at the sight of their little printed faces. "Oh my goodness!"

"So, as the resident Gen Z-er on the cast, who is your pick?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm the only representation of Gen Z here." You mused as you grabbed both the signs from Claire. You lifted up the 'freaky redheads' sign and pointed to Fred. "My friend is right there with me in the Gen Z territory."

"Alright, as the representation of Gen Z women, which team is more your style?" Claire asked as you studied the signs. "People are saying they went into the movie for the brunets and came out converted to team redheads."

"That's actually really funny," You chuckled as you looked down at both signs. "This is hard." You mumbled. A small smirk found itself on your lips as you thought of Fred seeing this clip later. Someone no doubt showing it to him, as he wouldn't find it on his own. "I feel like- yeah." You nodded with determination. "I'm gonna have to go with Fred- I'm going with team freaky redheads." You nodded. "I think it would be treacherous otherwise."

"Good choice. You'd break Emperor Caracalla's heart."

"And then he'd have my head." You laughed, stepping back. "Thank you for your great questions."

"Thank you for your time." Claire waved as you walked away. "We're gonna have a tally going throughout the night, and we'll see who wins. Team brooding brunets, or team freaky redheads." You heard her say to the camera as you moved further down the carpet.

'She looks so pretty!!'

'i love the thought process behind the outfit, you can tell she really loved her character'

'the reporter asked y/n if she prefers lucius and acacius or geta and caracalla and this girl really said FRED 💀'

'i love seeing new faces in hollywood, give young new actors a chance!!' ↳ 'right?? im so sick of them recycling the same actors for every big budget movie'

'she mentioned fred, not caracalla, twice, unprompted. i see you, y/n. you're just like us.' ↳ 'have you seen his interviews? he's literally the cutest i cant blame her 🥺'

A few steps down, another reporter flagged you down. This time, the questions were more centered around the acting itself.

"And was it difficult? In a previous interview, you've said that your character's growth was significant, but she had almost no lines in the movie."

"Yeah, I think in the final cut she only has... three lines?" You winced, looking upwards as you tried to recall what was and wasn't cut. "Though I'm not sure."

"So there were scenes where she could've said more?"

"Oh yeah, for sure! There was a lot of experimentation with my character throughout filming. Ridley's a genius and he was kind enough to truly take in my suggestions. There were times where I felt like she would actually stay quiet during a scene, whereas other times I felt like she would speak up. But yeah," You breathed in and furrowed your brows in thought as you tried to focus your answer back to the original question. "It was definitely a challenge. I had to really work on my micro-expressions. Lots of research, lots of practice. And lots of trust, too. With a character like mine, I really relied on Fr- on my fellow actors in those scenes. So yeah, definitely challenging. But who doesn’t love a good challenge?"

"And did you take any inspiration from other people's work? Any source material that helped you out as you built your character?"

"Of course!" You smiled, a hint of humor in your tone as you thought of your response. "Yeah, I did. Actually, one of the biggest inspirations for my role, believe it or not, was Ferb. From 'Phineas and Ferb'."

"The- The children's show?" The interviewer questioned with a grin.

"Yeah, Ridley thought it was brilliant!" You laughed. "We watched compilations of Ferb scenes on youtube together. And I know that Fred- Fred Hechinger, who plays Emperor Caracalla-, he also brought up Sid Vicious with Ridley, as well as other sources like that. Sir Ridley Scott has great taste, there's no denying that."

'ferb as inspiration for a movie like this,,, gen z in the film industry really are the gift that keeps on giving'

'im just imagining y/n and ridley scott curled up on the couch watching phineas and ferb reruns. that man is 86 years old. this is brilliant.'

'bro didn't even have to say anything and y/n still brought up fred 💀'

'the gen z cast members making ridley scott watch cartoons is sending me'

'not her pretending she didn't mean to say fred when she talked about trust, we all heard you y/n'

Unbeknownst to you, Fred's interviews were going much like yours, only a few feet behind you on the carpet.

"You look amazing today!" Claire, the same reporter you spoke to, told Fred during his first interview on the carpet.

"Thank you, thank you." He replied bashfully as he tried to subtly look around for you, but he couldn't see you just yet. "Everyone looks so great, everyone."

She asked him a few questions and then came time for her ending segment.

"Alright, to close off, we've got a little game here."

"A game?" Fred smiled with raised brows. "I love games." He said softly, not realizing that the microphone would pick it up.

"Yes, a quick one. You just have to choose between team brooding brunets and team freaky redheads. We've asking everyone to join."

"Woah!" Fred exclaimed as he received the signs. "That's me." He pointed out his own face in the picture of him and Joseph. "What are we basing our choice on here?"

"Well, the internet is battling on who is more attractive."

"Oh my god." Fred chortled, not expecting that answer. "Who's played the game?" He asked, still examining the hand held signs.

"As of now, we've spoken to Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and y/n l/n." Claire recounted.

Fred's eyes lit up and his cheeks reddened at the mention of your name. "And what's the- what's the consensus so far?"

"It's two to one. Can you guess who's in the lead?" Claire asked.

"Let me think... Well, Joseph -my brother-, he definitely voted for us." He pondered aloud as he counted the votes off on his fingers. "Connie... I think Connie went for team brunets. I mean, it's her husband. She's gotta." He grinned when it came to you. "y/n chose me, right? We're in the lead?"

"Yeah, you're right on all counts! You really know your cast members." Claire laughed. "y/n didn't want to anger Emperor Caracalla."

"Oh, she couldn't. I’ve got too much of a soft spot for her." Fred shook his head emphatically.

"So, are you keeping team redheads in the lead? Or will you give us a tie?"

"No, I'm going team redheads!" Fred exclaimed. "I'm not helping out my competition, no way!"

'this man has bewitched me with his beautiful eyes and calming demeanor'

'he always calls joe his brother im CRYINGGG'

'did you see his face when they mention y/n, this man can't hide his crush for the life of him 🥺' ↳ 'neither can she lol'

'what do yall know about fred hechinger 🗣️🗣️🗣️'

'fred immediately knowing that y/n chose him, kill me right now.' ↳ 'mind you the choice was caracalla. she still said 'fred' and he said 'me'. can they be more obvious?'

'the way this man said 'i love games' protect him at all costs'

‘he said ‘i’ve got a soft spot for her’ is this the year of men yearning?’ ↳ ‘it’s just the paul mescal effect’

It was during his next interview that he saw you. He was talking about his experience building the character of Emperor Caracalla with Sir Ridley Scott as well as Joseph Quinn when he finally caught sight of you. You had spent a bit longer with a specific reporter down the carpet, causing Fred to catch up to you. 

“Of course, y/n was a great help as well.” He smiled, reaching over to brush against your elbow to catch your attention. At the perfect time, too, because you had just finished talking to the reporter in front of you.

“Oh, Fred!” You beamed, coming over to give him a hug. 

“Look at you.” Fred spoke against your shoulder. He pulled away from the hug and brought you into his side in front of the camera, almost like he was showing you off. “Look at her, isn’t she stunning.”

“Stop it,” you rolled your eyes as you tried your best not to show how his compliment affected you. “I’m sorry for interrupting, I just had to say hello.”

“No worries,” the reporter reassured you. “Fred was actually saying how you helped with the building of his character.”

“Yeah, we worked really closely during pre-production actually.” You nodded, acutely aware of Fred’s hands on you. He had one hand casually tucked into his pocket while his other arm draped across your waist, his hand resting against your hip. “My character was almost like Caracalla’s sidekick, so the motives for all her actions are really based around him.”

“I’d argue that she was more of a mirror, actually.” You turned to look at Fred, never passing up an opportunity to hear his view on these things. “She’s the complete opposite of Caracalla, but in a way she represents who he truly is under all the pressure of being in Geta’s shadow.”

“And under all the syphilis, of course.” You added, causing Fred to giggle.

“Yeah, and under the syphilis.”

‘he seems like such a sweet guy 🥺’

‘did you see his face when he saw her???  😫😫😫 theyre in love, your honor’

‘him showing her off like that is peak soft boyfriend behavior’

‘they just called me single in seven different languages’

‘his laugh is actually so cute, who is this man and why am i in love with him? 😍’ ↳ 'get in line' ↳'behind y/n, you mean?'

‘the way he’s touching her???? im just gonna go take a nap in front of an oncoming train’

‘im calling it, new hollywood it couple’

‘look at how he looks at her!!! may this love find me 🙏’

[blorbologist]

syldor im coming for your fucking knees.

[onthewaytosomewhere]

oh oh oh - thanks @typicalopposite for the early tag 💚

so first since this snip will have no smut - which feels a lil weird for me i posted a fic on friday that does if ur interested in a lil pip had alex first firstprince fic - gonna need you to tell me what you want to happen here

okay peeps it's time - today will be the first day of this lil fic (48k-ish) i wrote and will be posting throughout the month - it's gonna be a "baker's dozen 12 days of winter/holiday" thing - so 13 days lolz

here's a snip from the first chapter (under a cut with some tags cuz well it's longer than i thought and i don't wanna pick another snip lolz) OPEN TAG TO ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO PLAY ALONG

On his bed, Nora lounges like a queen surveying her domain. She’s lying on her stomach, one leg lazily kicking in the air, her other hand clutching a burrito the size of her head. The remnants of her lunch are scattered on the nightstand—a crumpled foil wrapper, a soda can tipped precariously, and a few stray tortilla chips that she occasionally crunches between her teeth. With her free hand, Nora rifles through a pile of Alex’s belongings next to her, occasionally plucking an item and tossing it into his suitcase without so much as a glance. A bottle of holiday-flavored lube arcs through the air, landing in the chaos with a soft thud. It’s swiftly followed by a couple of brightly colored dildos, one of which bounces off the edge and rolls onto the carpet. Alex freezes mid-step, his hand clutching a stack of folded shirts. He raises an eyebrow, his tone caught somewhere between incredulous amusement and sheer exasperation. “Really?” “What?” Nora doesn’t even bother looking up, taking another indulgent bite of her burrito. “You never know what kind of emergencies you might face, dude.” Alex closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, steadying breath before setting the shirts on a nearby chair. “This is a legitimate acting gig, Nora. Not that kind of movie.” “Still,” she says, her voice laced with mischief as she finally looks up, her hand now brandishing one of his neon dildos like it’s a trophy, “better safe than sorry. Besides, you still need to make some content for your Presidential Boudoir account; you don’t want to leave your plethora of subscribers in the lurch.”

okay tag ur it (in a no-pressure all that jazz way) @adreamareads @basil-bird @bitbybitwrites @blueeyedgrlwrites @cactusdragon517

@stnichols @caterpills @cha-melodius @cricketnationrise @dragonflylady77

@dreamtigress @emmalostinwonderland @england-would-fall @eusuntgratie @everwitch-magiks

@firenati0n @firstprincehornyramblings @firstsprinces @forever-fixating @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

@iboatedhere @inexplicablymine @jmagnabo92 @judasofsuburbia @kiwiana-writes

@lizzie-bennetdarcy @mikibwrites @myheartalivewrites @ninzied @nocoastposts

@orchidscript @piratefalls @porcelainmortal @priincebutt @royal-chandler

@seths-rogens @softboynick @sophie1973 @sparklepocalypse @stellarmeadow

@stratocumulusperlucidus @suseagull5914 @tailsbeth-writes @thedramasummer @thinkof-england

@thesleepyskipper @thighzp @tinyarmedtrex @zwiazdziarka

SOME DAY I WILL DO ONE OF THESE W/O SO MUCH RAMBLING AND WITH SNIPS ACTUALLY 6-7 SENTENCES BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY 💚💚

[back-in-a-bit]

i am once again thinking of that one royai fic that utterly rewrote my brain chemistry, pikkulef's my own worst friend and my own closest enemy. it's an 03/BH crossover where the two roys exchange places for a couple of days due to ✨ alchemy ✨ and walk a mile in the other's shoes, and it's just 50k words of pikkulef and quietshade absolutely FLEXING their thorough, nuanced, and complete understanding of the differences between the verses.

i remember the first time I read it i was like, hold on. this is good. this is REALLY GOOD. i had to slow down and savour this fic because, hoooly shit. there are so many little details they've taken into account, from how hawkeye's tattoo or lack thereof affects her and by extension her relationship with roy, to how roy's relationship with gracia and elicia differs in a world where Yet Another Man's Battlefield didn't happen, to how BH roy would see the murder of the rockbells differently to 03 roy. every time i reread it i discover some new detail that has me shrieking moaning yelling disappearing into the woods to howl at the moon.

and the royai is PEAK. it's two for the price of one because you get to see both 03 royai and BH royai and they're both SO SO well written. i can quote whole paragraphs of the last chapter because the resolution(s!!!) are SO DAMN GOOD i've read it so many times okay i'm gonna go read it again.

[youchangedmedestiel]

I have 5 different fic ideas writing down in my phone memo. They all came to me in the space of a week.

I think I'm cursed with ideas and no time to explore them.

[indestinatus]

writing ziva's diaries and I thought I'd never do that

[animangalover-writes]

Time for another dream i had, this time about zutara.

This one is a lot shorter, but essentially I had a dream where kataras whole family(which seemed to have more members then in the show) all live in the fire nation, hiding the fact that they're water tribe(rather, they were water tribe).

Katara is in some sort of relationship with zuko. It's unclear if she's his wife, his girlfriend, or his mistress, but its not hidden. People know about her and her relationship with him.

(Putting the rest under a cut so I don't clog up the feed lol)

If she was his mistress it's kinda held in that way that kings had other women they'd sleep with along with their queen and it was just an accepted, albeit kinda shitty, thing to do.

Anyway, katara is also pregnant, which was kind of an underlying "plot point" and would return home to her family every day to check on them.

It's revealed here that katara is basically the only reason her family is doing pretty well for themselves. Her relationship with zuko means that they have enough to get by. It's also noted that her whole family(katara, sokka, their dad, their grandma, and some made up new family members) all live in one house. So its clear they're still kind of struggling.

It's also revealed, through a conversation with her grandma, that the only otehr reason katara is with zuko, is because it was part of a bigger plan. She and her family are part of a resistance against the fire nation, and when they realized zuko liked katara, wanted her to infiltrate and pretend to be in love with him.

The plan had clearly gone on longer then anticipated, for whatever reason, and katara is conflicted because she actually does have feelings for him now, not fo mention she's pregnant with his child.

There's a "scene" either at the beginning or after this reveal that shows zuko in a meeting with other fire nation officials, including his father and sister, and that either he was against one of their plans but is ignored or his plan gets shut down(I don't remember which). Katara always sits in on these meetings with him, and afterwards, as everyone is getting up to leave, she leans her forehead against his and whispers that everything will be alright. This is why we can tell she truly does care about him, to some degree. But it's also a moment showing potential manipulation, like shes pretending to care. It's supposed to be a little of both, she needs him to trust her but she does still love him.

After all of this, we cut to a scene in a forest/swamp. This part is kind of blurry in my head, but basically, it's a secret meeting. Katara is dressed similarly to the painted lady, her and a few other resistance members, including Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda, are planning an ambush on Zuko and his family, who are supposed to travel down a path nearby. Katara is a key part of this plan, as she's the only waterbender, and she knows this. She nods along to everything regarding the plan and she goes over important points herself as well. But as everyone else continues talking, katara is having doubts. She loves Zuko. She's about to have his child. She cares for him. But she needs to free the world from the fire nations clutches as well. She doesn't want to kill Zuko, but she has to in order to help others. She's hesitating.

They continue with the plan anyway, and through the foliage that katara and the others are hiding in, we see a carriage making its way down the path. Zuko and his family(or at least his father) are in there.

Everyone is getting ready to fight, to jump out and attack. We see a close up shot of Katara, conflicted. She's still not sure if she can go through with this, if she can kill Zuko.

And then I woke up.

[solitaireships]

So I have an important fic that I'll be posting later today

[padfootastic]

i am so tired of female characters being inherently written as ‘terrifying’ or ‘scary’ w no respect to their characterisation.

for one, it feels so fake. i know so many women irl (i am one!!!) and there are very few, of any, that i would categorise as ‘scary as is’. heck, even if we go by tempers—the numbers just don’t match.

but somehow in fics, every single woman is a terrifying force of nature bc that’s…somehow…the only way we can think of women? idk?

and also just, it’s such a two dimensional characterisation that i only see w the female characters. all men aren’t angry and hex-happy and scary all the time. they’re affable, chill, respond to situations thoughtfully instead of always resorting to violence.

i think it also bothers me bc the anger thing flows neatly into the v gendered carefree man child/stuck up fun sponge stereotypes that so many relationships are forced into. it’s just an icky dynamic all around.

and lastly,,,i don’t think it’s even normal for a character to be latently terrifying everyone all the time??? unless it’s a specific quirk of theirs??? like women aren’t dementors bro chill tf out

[elizabeth-mitchells]

you really can't force inspiration to write huh. i spent two months without writing any fanfic at all and after posting a 7k one shot today i was just hit by completely sudden inspiration and i have just finished another 1.4k one shot

[thebest-medicine]

oops I forgot to make a post the day of (June 23) but it was this blog’s 12th birthday last week!!! omg wtf?!?!?! OLD. ANCIENT. HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. SURVIVING. THRIVING.

[chrisnoelie]

may i offer you a joe/tee fic in these trying times? 😌🧡

bitter with the sweet (1300 words) by chrisnoel Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: National Football League RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Joe Burrow/Tee Higgins Characters: Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins Additional Tags: One Shot, No Plot/Plotless, Mild Smut Summary: they don’t name what this is, maybe they never will.

[alienturnip]

just played through the Drake's Tail arc and I needed to scream about Terence and Dion under cut-

what do you even do when your lover is a dragon plummeting down from dizzying heights above.......................... WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE JUST AN ORDINARY MAN AND YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A DRAGON AND YOUR DRAGON BOYFRIEND IS DYING AND IT'S TOTALLY OUT OF YOUR HANDS, you're just a man with a sword he's shooting zettaflare out of his armpits!!! you can't stab your love's ailments to death but you wish you could've!

And that in your heart of hearts you know the destruction he wrought goes completely against his ideals!!! What are even the possibilities that you're contemplating here! What would you even try to do...

In general tho i wish desperately for both Jill and Terence to have more of a presence during this arc, Jill's absence is just too jarring compared to how involved Joshua was (I love my boy but, I love BOTH of them) and the thought of her just standing watching the fight unfurls when she can still help in any way is... preposterous, Miss Jill Jilly Bean I love you you deserve better than this

Terence... I was okay with watching the cutscenes where he appeared for a total of 3 minutes (exaggerated), but in play it's very frustratingly noticeable especially when he's supposedly the Dragoons' second-in-command and he was just completely nowhere to be seen even as we were killing Dragoons left and right... If he was meant to be insignificant beyond his role of Dion's lover, then he should've been written as a personal squire/attendant instead of the actual second-in-command! Give me some lore about Dragoon ranks & structure please..... a Terence boss fight even... to replace the weird dragon mid-boss fight that happened (that is out of nowhere because we saw NO DRAGON during any of the previous Sanbrecquois military campaigns, just dragonets & wyverns, but now suddenly there's a big ass dragon in the capital? Dion never used a dragon in large scale battles but he somehow needs one to plan a coup INSIDE the capital, where he's meant to not injure any citizen at all?? that doesn't track for me........) REPLACE THAT WITH SIR TERENCE BOSS FIGHT PLEASE THAT'D BE MY PETITION

[beauregardlionett]

absolutely devastated by the loss of du cheng's forehead scar in season 2...i'll always remember you

[freetobeeyouandme]

The fact that I'm way more than halfway in my initial word count projection for this fic but only more or less at the halfway point of what I think will happen plot/chapter wise is...just a little bit worrying lol