#zero fucking answers or closure

[agothinhiding]

streaming services should be required to put a warning or disclaimer on shows that got canceled prematurely. I shouldn't have to Google every show I want to watch to see if it got canceled, and I'm tired of investing in a show just to realize after watching that it's never going to continue. it's fucking ridiculous that we have to research shows before getting invested in them. I'm so serious when I say that I'm going to stop watching new shows altogether soon because it's just not worth it anymore. it provides none of the value that tv shows should provide (character and PLOT development, satisfying endings, twists and turns, literally anything that takes longer than 1 season to accomplish). I only have so much time in my week to watch TV and I'm tired of squandering what little free time I have on fucking bullshit that leaves me unsatisfied and pissed off.

maybe if these companies see the popularity of the new original series dropping itll make them scared enough to actually give their viewers what they fucking signed up for

[gamerwoman3d]

Pretend I'm Him 

Imagine secretly banging Kuai Liang before the shit hit the fan at Ying Fortress.  In the aftermath of the fallout, the grandmaster wants a word…

[My apologies to other genders - lady anatomy used, from the start this time. Additionally, you don't have to agree with what this reader character thinks: just understand her information has been filtered. She is not omnipotent. Her information about the fallout is limited to what her clan/grandmaster has said about those events.]

Tags: SOFTER Bi-Han.

[Yes this is MK1 Bi-Han x Reader]

[🔞Spicy/Explicit after the cut🔞]

Imagine this non-committal relationship with Kuai Liang that was supposed to remain a secret. Imagine sneaking out on the regular, just to feel his hot tongue on your clit. You learned every soundproof nook and cranny of the Lin Kuei stronghold like your lives depended on it, not because any threat to either of you existed here at home, but rather because if you were forced to go more than a couple of days without sex, you felt like you just might die.

And then there was some bullshit at Ying Fortress. You were already so pent up waiting for Kuai Liang to return. You knew it was serious because his brother, the Grandmaster himself, went with him to oversee the mission.  Your heart jumped for joy when you overheard that the Grandmaster finally returned, only to discover that Kuai Liang and their adopted brother were marked as traitors, and would likely never be returning to the fortress.

Sure, you were worried for Kuai Liang, for the clan, for the future. Hell, you even felt some concern for your Grandmaster's broken heart. And maybe you were a little scared for yourself: Kuai Liang wasn't the enemy when you were sleeping with him, but you did sleep with said enemy, and had some concerns about what that might mean for you if that fact was discovered going forward. After all, the Lin Kuei stronghold was your home. Its walls protect your friends, family, and your entire support network, all clumped together in this small community which calls the stronghold home. Their protection might be at risk if the clan begins to suspect you of colluding with a traitor.  But deep down, in your shadowy id, the second you heard the news, your initial gut reaction was "FUCK. WHAT AM I GONNA DO TO GET MY NEEDS MET, NOW?”

No one can blame you. Every day that Kuai Liang was gone was a day that you burned inside for the lack of him.  You were so excited when you thought he was coming home, so energized, so ready to extinguish the flames, so wet.  

What a fucking letdown. And it was days ago.

You stared at the blank encrypted messaging app on your phone. If you messaged him, and were discovered, it could be taken as an act of consorting with the enemy. If you didn't, it might seem to him like you didn't care. If you reached out, he might think you were stalking him to help your clan hunt him down. But the only way to stop overthinking it was to reach out and see what happens.

Kuai Liang didn't answer. You weren't being left on "seen" - it was as if he lost his phone entirely.

No closure. Fantastic. Could it get any fucking worse.

Your phone buzzed in your hand. Not Kuai Liang, as you had hoped, but your best bud. You answer on the first ring, only to be interrupted by your breathless friend's frantic whispering.

"Hey! Sub-Zero's looking for you. I dunno what's going on, but I gotta go.”

You'd rather be back in school as the kid walking shamefully to the principal's office. You'd rather be back at bootcamp pounding sand in freezing temperatures.  You'd rather be a deer stuck in the headlights of a speeding semi.

You snap to your senses and delete the encrypted app from your phone.  You straighten yourself up and do what you do best - Sneak out, and sneak around the Lin Kuei stronghold.

You hid for a minute to think, watching from the shadows as your Grandmaster's best people searched for you in an unobtrusive manner. Then, you decided to take yourself to him. His family's private domicile was far enough from yours that your immediate family wouldn't have to see or hear whatever went down. Maybe you could keep your secret a bit longer that way. Or maybe he'd murder you on the spot.

His back was to you as you approached the garden at the front of his home. He stood unmasked, and spoke to a pair of his men. The men each stole a glance at you, prompting Sub-Zero to turn and glance over his shoulder as he spoke.

He did a double-take.

He immediately dismissed the men, who walked past you as you strode up the walkway toward them.  With the whites of his eyes visible between the top of his bottom eyelid and the bottom of his brown irises, Sub-Zero's expression felt uncharacteristically soft as you approached.

"I heard that you wanted to see me, sir?" you questioned.

You held your breath.

"Yes. Don't be nervous, you're in no trouble," he said.

His voice sounded strange when he spoke gently.  It sounded strange without the muffled echo from the mask.  Both things being true at once, it was like speaking to a different person than the masked master of the training grounds. His voice wasn't the stinging gravelly growl that he used while in command. It was a husky, comforting sound, sprung from a genuine intent to calm and reassure your quivering heart.

With a wave of his hand, he invited you inside.  Someone brought tea, and he redirected it to an office in his house. Now life felt exactly like a visit to the principal's office, if upon one of the bookshelves was a photo of your shirtless lover holding your shirtless principal in a headlock.

Your eyes fixated on the photo of Scorpion and Sub-Zero. It was before Kuai Liang had the scorpion tattooed, but well after his biceps had formed into what they still are, today.  You wanted to say that you missed him dearly, but damn, you missed his body.  Staring at the divots along his obliques had you dying to feel them between your thighs once more.

Sub-Zero's eyes followed yours to the photo. For a millisecond, his eyebrows knit in pain in an otherwise bemused expression.

"Tomas took that photo... the little traitor.”

“What happened?” you asked.

“Mm. Mom called Kuai Liang to nag him over the phone. I can do a convincing imitation of him so I snuck up behind him and said ‘You can’t make me!’” Bi-han mocked.

You had to admit to yourself that his imitation in that moment was spot on. But you also forced yourself to keep quiet, even as the uncanny mockery of your lover's voice made you miss him even more.  

He continued.

“Immediately, we hear her squawking on the other end of the line, and he crushes his phone so hard in anger that the screen snapped. She always believed he actually said it and then hung up on her.”

The bemused expression faded from his face, leaving behind a pained gloss over his brown eyes.

“She was mad at him for so long. I deserved the beating he tried to give me.”

Sub-Zero reached out and gently turned the photo down upon its face before opening a locked file cabinet and rifling through its folders.  He gestured to the tea and to the seating, welcoming you to make yourself comfortable.

You thanked him, sat, and took a sip of the boiling hot tea that was served to you; it would have been seen as an act of enmity not to do so.  You held the cup for warmth and comfort.  Truthfully, the hard ceramic was stinging-hot and smooth to the touch... god damn. Must every little thing remind you of his touch. You pressed your fingers into the glazed surface to feel the sting on your fingertips, in a futile attempt to disengage yourself from the current reality. Your panic over the immediate future kept a strong hold on you, even as you wished to be back in Kuai Liang's arms.

Sub-Zero closed the drawer, keeping his eyes fixed on the papers of a file he'd withdrawn. It still wasn't apparent to you how much the man knew about your relationship with his disaffected brother. And the grandmaster had yet to state what he wanted with you. If you truly were not in trouble, does that mean he didn't know? Or was he secretly ready to send you back to the character select screen? You bit back your burning questions. Moments of excruciating silence passed.

"... Keep breathing," he instructed, trying to withhold a smirk.

You gasped a bit. You realized that you weren't just biting back the questions - you were holding back your breath.  Your breath hitched and shuddered as it fought to catch up quietly.  Sub-Zero waited until your breathing evened out to speak.

"You still haven't asked me why I wanted to see you. Do you already know?" he asked.

The question was bait. And you knew it. You shook your head and said no.

He nodded. 

"You're good. You are really good," he said.

You took the compliment in silent confusion.

"I think if anyone here could get to Kuai Liang, it's you," he said.

You swallowed. You broke a sweat.

"What makes you think that?" you asked, acting as though you were innocent of having had any prior connection.

He arches an eyebrow. At the same time he thumbs a piece of paper out of the file: a receipt from the pharmacist. The receipt showed that you were issued a few prescriptions: silver based ointment for blisters, and one slightly more embarrassing cream. You remembered needing it after a particularly hot experiment with Kuai Liang went wrong in the early days of your secret relationship.

You turn red, not when he shows it to you, but when he looks into your eyes with a cocky, knowing gaze. His eyes may as well have become the headlights; your secrets become the deer. The mess was just as bloody in your mind either way. You suddenly wish patient-provider confidentiality were a more sacrosanct part of Lin Kuei military tradition. But even if it were, the grandmaster likely had methods of extracting their information. Your heart pounded. 

He knew you'd fucked Kuai Liang. 

His voice stayed strangely dulcet, full of compassion and understanding when he next spoke. His words didn't match his timbre.

"When I read this, I came to the conclusion that you both got a little too fired up.”

"Not the puns, please. I'll go pound sand in the freezing desert, please no more puns," you thought.

You didn't mean to groan aloud at his terrible pun. It just kinda happened. You didn't expect him to soften and apologize so quickly, but he did.

"I am sorry to have brought that up. I truly am. I imagine it must have been painful, or at least deeply uncomfortable for you. To the matter at hand, let us both start by committing to being straightforward with each other. That will benefit the both of us, greatly. And now I will ask you, kindly, please do not insult my intelligence by feigning ignorance, and I will not insult yours by pretending I'm funny. Agreed?" 

“You said I wasn’t in trouble.”

“You’re not. Listen… I can't afford to make a mortal enemy out of someone who can sneak around my own home as effortlessly as you have. I had my best people searching for you, but when you arrived here, my guard was down. My back was to you. If Kuai Liang had asked you to kill me, you could have done it, right then.”

It’s true. Your eyes widened. Your thoughts were so preoccupied with whether or not he would kill you, that it never occurred to you that he could be worried about your own ability to kill him, let alone kill him in his own home at any time you desired.

He sat the papers down, cupped your face with both hands, and lifted until your eyes met his. This close, you could see the dark circles of sleeplessness form beneath his eyes. Something about the out of place strands of hair on one side of his bun made you imagine him awake all night, laying on the messy side.

“I just want to be able to sleep. I try to sleep each night knowing that on any given night, you could end my life if you wanted. I’ll sleep easier when I know where you stand. I’ll sleep much easier if I know you’re going to stay on our side. But even if you don’t, Kuai Liang is out there somewhere and I fear he is lost, suffering, and alone. I know I couldn’t stop you if you want to reach him and join his side. And even if I could stop you, I would choose to let you go, in hopes that someday maybe you can talk some sense into him. And no, I do not want to see any harm befall either of you. You are Lin Kuei. The Lin Kuei are my life. You have my word that I will continue to honor and protect your family and friends to the best of my ability if you decide to leave. But stay. Please. I would do anything for you to stay. So what is it? What do you want? What can I give you that will make you stay?”

Your face turned red between his warm hands. You hadn’t been touched by a man since they left for Ying Fortress, and your body had jumped to inappropriate conclusions beneath his touch. You couldn’t answer him. He studied your face. He shook his head and spoke.

“The only thing you want is him, isn't it?”

Well… maybe the only thing you wanted was sex. You weren't quite in love with Kuai Liang, not in the way that would have you abandoning everything you knew to join him in his fight against everyone who ever supported you. With Bi-Han’s firm grip on your face, you couldn't turn your head from your grandmaster. But you broke eye contact, casting your eyes down in shame from your inability to honestly answer that Kuai Liang was indeed the only thing you wanted. He wasn't.

“I don't want to die, and I don't want to break my oaths,” you said.

“You're not breaking your oaths. I'm willing to command you to go to him. To spy. To watch over him. To guide him and make sure he doesn't get himself killed in service to Liu Kang. You'd never be marked as an enemy, always welcome to return.”

Leave everything to go babysit a grown man? Hell naw.

“I don't want to leave…” you admitted it.

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me you are not considering running away to find him,” Bi-han gently ordered.

You turned your eyes as far away from him as you could. Logically, a man that breaks his oaths and abandons your entire community was not worthy of running toward. It should have been easy to tell Bi-han that there was no part of you that wanted to chase after Kuai Liang. But instead, you replied:

“I can't. The… the sex… was amazing. And the thought does cross my mind.”

As you said it, his breath stilled. Your words caught him off guard.

“So then it is only the sex that you want? Not the connection, the heart nor the soul?” he asked.

You certainly had not treated each other like soulmates. If anything, you and Kuai Liang had treated each other like fucktoys, and you both loved every minute of it.

“That's right,” you said.

Somewhere in your gut, you realized: if Kuai Liang had loved you, considered you his soulmate, or had even wanted to build a life with you, he would be here. He would have returned. He would have done anything to return to your side, including obey illegal orders. If he ever truly loved you, he would have at least considered joining his brother in betraying God Himself. But Kuai Liang had done none of that. He chose his path with no hesitation. He was gone from you now, and if you were honest with yourself, you always knew that the two of you weren't meant to last forever.

The thought brought angry, embarrassed tears to the brink of your eyes. You hoped you could bite them back for the duration of Bi-Han’s inquiry.

“And yet, you want it enough that you feel tempted to run to him. It burns so badly that you feel tempted to aid a deserter?” Bi-Han said.

Neither you nor Kuai Liang were serious about each other. At least not enough to label each other or go public with your fling. That's why you both kept it a secret. You should have told your Grandmaster all of this with your words when he asked if you wanted his brother's sexual services more than his heart and soul: but you said it all with a cringe and a silent nod.

Yes, it was only the sex that I wanted. Not his heart. Not his soul. you silently admitted.

Bi-Han’s face twisted into a quizzical pout, not dissimilar to a look you'd seen on your lover's face in the past when he silently sought solutions as he worked through problems in his mind. The silence lasted too long for comfort; you could sense him figuring out what to do with you. His brows flashed with the strike of an idea.

“Pretend I'm him,” he said.

“What?”

Your mind jumps to a scenario where you pretend that Bi-Han is your lover and act out all the fantasies you'd saved for Kuai Liang's return. You felt perverse: it felt wrong to assume you'd been ordered to *treat* Bi-han in the same sexual manner that you would treat his brother. Surely he didn't intend for you to imagine Kuai Liang while he pleasured you in the deepest most erotic methods. Even allowing yourself the briefest glimpse at Bi-Han through a carnal lens proved devastating. One glimpse was all it took to deeply appreciate his shoulders, his eyes, his strength, his agility, his voice, his highly regimented grooming habits. Good god, you marveled at what he could do to you if he wanted. Was he really suggesting himself to be your lover? A stand in?

Imagine the Grandmaster reducing himself to the role of a stunt cock, just to keep you loyal to the Lin Kuei. Erotic thoughts banished the angry tears back into whatever well from which they sprung.

You were certain you couldn't have understood him correctly. Maybe he meant “imagine what I'd do if I were in his shoes planning my next move” or something.

You asked him to repeat himself, to clarify his orders.

“That was an offer, not an order,” he said, “I'm at your disposal. I meant it when I said I'd do anything to have rest assurance that your oaths still mean something. Use me however you wish. Make me sneak away with you if that's what excites you. I won't make you keep me a secret, yet if you desire it, I'll take our secrets with me to my grave. Whatever you want from him, I'll do my best to provide you in his stead.”

“You're offering… sex?” you asked incredulously.

“If that interests you, then yes. Whenever you want him, whenever your desire for him burns away your strength, leaves you weak, needy, or desperate enough to leave us, I want you to consider coming to me first. You won't have to explain yourself, and I do not expect you to banish all thoughts of him.”

Words failed you.

He allowed the uncomfortable silence to linger a bit too long.

He inched closer, hovered over you where you sat in a small but growing puddle of your own wetness. His face lingered near yours, his breath against your flushed cheek. You pressed your knees together. He murmured toward your ear, in a hauntingly familiar mimicry.

“Pretend I'm him,” he said in Kuai Liang's voice.

He continued to warp his timbre to mimic his brother's softer, hoarse intonation. And, for the first time in your life, you dared to interrupt him.

“Does that interest you? If not tonight, then later-” he asked.

“Tonight. Tonight, please,” you whispered.

“As you wish,” he said, perfectly mocking his brother's voice.

He leaned in until the bridge of his nose almost met yours. He stilled himself. His gaze invited you to make the first move: cognizant of the amount of power he held over you, he required a great deal of assurance that you truly wanted to do it. He let his warm thumbs caress your cheeks as he waited for you.

You shut your eyes, pressed your lips shut, pressed the shut lips against his, and kissed. He kissed back.

His lips were different from Kuai Liang's. They were firm, fitting. Kuai's lips were supple and plump enough to surround yours when kissed like this. Bi-Han’s lips could only give yours that surrounded feeling by parting just enough to gently suck your kisses, while gliding his tongue against them to tease them open.

You trembled, imagining what this sensation would feel like on your clit. You whimpered into the kiss despite yourself. You couldn't imagine this kiss as one of Kuai Liang's; Bi-Han’s kiss tasted like minty whitening gel and expensive honeyed tea. Kuai Liang’s kiss smells like smoke, tastes exactly like one might expect that a man who breathes fire and eats pussy should taste like. It was too different. It was Bi-Han. You were letting the grandmaster slip his honeyed tongue into your kisses, and into your dreams; You couldn't let yourself pretend otherwise.

You remembered the way you would melt just to feel Kuai Liang breathing. How you'd melt to feel his hands on your back. How you'd feel to be enveloped in his embrace. Bi-Han’s body was not so comfortable as Kuai Liang's. You remembered Kuai Liang's thick arms felt strong but pliant. You held Bi-Han’s biceps in your hands. They felt more like polished mahogany, stiff, smooth. The density of the man's arms was unlike what you were accustomed to; but the feeling raised your temperature.

You pushed back on his chest, pulled yourself away, and broke the kiss. He let you break the kiss, and waited for you to explain.

“Do you still feel okay?” he asked.

“Yes, it's just different.”

“Is it too different?”

“You taste different,” you said.

“What should I taste like,” he asked.

Fixated on the thought of his tongue on your clit, you bit your lip and parted your knees slightly from muscle memory. You were remembering times when Kuai Liang tasted like you in the moments after he tongued open your pussy.

When you didn't answer his question in words, he studied your body language, noting that your legs were no longer pressed together. Fear of impropriety forced you to hide this sexual part of yourself from your grandmaster for as long as you could remember.

“Ah,” he said as if reading your mind, “is that where you want me?”

“Yes, yes I want you there, but with kisses. Kisses please. I want your kisses, there. I need you to kiss me the way you did just now, only, down there,” you finally answered, keeping your eyes closed for the duration of your confession.

“You like my kisses that much?” He asked.

The sound of a smile painted his voice.

“Mmm-hmm,” you answered, “I like your kisses, I haven't had any kisses since you left for ying fortress…”

Sub-Zero realized your statement was true whether you were pretending to address him as Scorpion or not - either way, you haven't had any play since “he” left for ying fortress. He let his hands wander along your hips, stroked over your belly below the naval, just to watch you squirm.

“That sounds rough. No kisses, none at all?” he teased.

“Nooo, none! What about you?”

He shifted into his natural, gravely tiger-purr voice to whisper an answer.

“I can't speak for him on that topic, but for me it's been a long while. A lot longer than Ying Fortress.” he confessed.

Part two link here

To See My External Masterlist, Click Here

[georgegraphys]

Wasn't gonna talk about F1 today and continue posting Erling and football stuff but...

The fuck is his problem?

It is ONE thing to acknowledge that Logan Sargeant might not be the best driver in Formula One but it is ANOTHER thing to say unnecessary things like this.

I don't fully know the context and I hope someone can educate me on the context better. Like was he asked about this that prompted him to answer the question with such an answer or was he just simply being a bitch? But nonetheless, there are millions of better ways to answer a question without such a statement. Provoked or not this is rude as fuck. Unless he got baited, he is still a dick for this type of answer.

Me or you don't need to be a Logan fan to know that this statement is unnecessarily stupid and bitchy from James Vowles. Logan is still his driver. What the fuck with the continuous disrespect? Does James Vowles know that regardless of the performance or merit his employee brings to the team, it is still HIS job to give respect to his employee? Because it is literally his decision to bring Logan in to the team for 2024. He can't be a dick to his own choice. That's stupid. If he wants to boot Logan out of the team then do it since 2023??? But instead of doing that, he pulled the angelic caring dad-figure TP bullshit PR move. Instead of also bringing closure to Logan's future in F1, he kept playing unnecessary mind games, being arrogant, continuously disrespecting his employee, thinking that his F1 team is an important big team when they currently have nothing except the remnants of their past glory? They can never return to their glory if they keep this arrogant act up. "Oh Ari but it's the leader only-" a leader reflects on how the institution works, he leads the team, his behaviour reflects on the organizational behaviour and culture. If he fails to set the right example to a basic human respect and has a basic human decency, don't expect him to be able to apply it on his team accurately.

I can't think of any great team principals right now. But I can only think of one thing.

This man. He acts like he can guarantee a 100% bounce back for Williams and he acts like he 100% did everything for Williams when he also fed on Jost Capito's hardworking. This arrogant man really thinks he is Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho type of boss who can jump shoot a team to success. Someone needs to humble him up. He has zero business to disrespect anyone on his team while acting like his team is the BIG championship winning powerhouse team that they are currently not. His team is still considered a backmarkers and he is doing all this already? Wonder how he'll act when Williams starts being in the middle or on the front row?

To any JVowles shooters out there that might be angry with my rants? Today, he did this to Logan. Tomorrow, it could be your driver. Just because your driver is currently in his good graces, doesn't mean this mf will never pull such shit on them. He would. Maybe one day. Who knows? It's behavioural.

Just because Logan Sargeant is NOT performing well or up to Formula One's standard, DOES NOT mean this mf can speak like this. "Oh but it's harsh tru-" Harsh truth is said directly to the person involved, public humiliation and saying these things to the media is a pathetic act of cowardice. James Vowles gives no respect to one of his employees and he'll do the same thing to another person in the future. Why so? If you can't give bare minimum respect to one person, you'll fail to give others the same thing. No matter how big or small

[skiitter]

hi skitter! i saw your last post wrt solavellan and wanted to share trick's answers from bsky.

i'm not trying to invalidate your feelings about the endgame, but imo it's very clear that solas had to have this closure from mythal or he wouldn't be able to move forward.

Hiiiii! Yeah I've seen em. Tbh I think the end game world states should have been one of two. Either the Mythal ending, or the Solavellan ending. If you have a Solavellan world state, then the conversation with Mythal shouldn't have gone down the way it did. It totally undercuts Lavellan's importance in Solas's growth as a character. In a world where he didn't love her, and they were never together, than Mythal remains the moral center and foundation of his character. She took a spirit of Wisdom and leveraged his loyalty to her against her own pride. Every action from then on, Solas does in her name, especially once the Evanuris kill her. And yes, I know they have a disagreement where she doesn't help him dismantle the Evanuris, but that's because Mythal is the centre of HIS personality, not the other way around.

But, in a world where Solavellan is the default, then Solas went through a much different character growth arc. Yes, he fundamentally ends up in the same place, but the whole point is that she taught him his value as just Solas the person, not this recurring regret. She showed him the possibility of a future. Solas, of course, saw himself and the echoes of his relationship with Mythal, and did not want to repeat the past so, in combination with this alternative future Lavellan represents, he pushes her away.

Lavellan literally says this, that she was the one person capable of getting through to him. Its a big part of why she is SO crucial to his story. Their entire romance is built upon this idea of seen and being seen and understanding someone even if you don't always agree with them and accepting that they are who they are. Mythal quite literally forced Solas to change on a fundamental, core level from Wisdom into Pride. And while Lavellan (rightfully) challenges his beliefs, she does so from a place of equality and respect. They respect one another. And that respect is fucking shat on in Veilguard tbh.

If you do not set a worldstate for Inquisition, than Solavellan IS the default. Therefore, it is expected that many players, esp new ones, will see this relationship play out. Therefore, it is not a leep imho to expect SOME representation of Lavellan's importance to him in the literal embodiment of his past and his regrets that is the Lighthouse, the Crossroads, and the entire Mythal statue/Wolf statue quest line,

She quite literally comes up in One Line of dialogue Rook can have with Solas, and that's it. Which, fine, he's been lying to Rook since the beginning, so why would he say anything to her. But to have this obvious and distinct absence of Lavellan in the place he lived, in these rooms where he stores his fucking belongings, is insulting. To compound upon that, Lavellan does 100% of the work in this game when it comes to them.

We get one (1) codex letter that he wrote her right before the ritual. That is the only time they interact At All outside of the end game. This total lack of interaction stems from the much larger problem that is the absence of the Inquisitor at all, Solavellan or not. I will die on the hill that it makes zero sense for the inquisitor not to be actively and specifically involved in finding and stopping Solas. Them just Vibin' in the south when the blight hits makes zero sense.

I'm ranting, I'm sorry. I'm just so upset about this. Lavellan comes to him at his lowest point and says, once more, "i am here, i see you, you are not alone. together, vhenan" etc. etc. and solas just says No. Now, look, I get how crucial Mythal is. I see the parallels, but in a world where he loves Lavellan, than it should be HER opinion that undoes him in the end. Because that's the point. "I would not have you see what I become" Because her opinion is based on the understanding and mutual respect that the share.

Mythal is no longer his keeper. he's no longer bound to the version of Solas she forced him to become. So while I think she serves a purpose in the Solavellan ending, it should be Lavellan that saves him. Because that's her whole point. The whole essence of it. I'm not saying I'm capable in any capacity of writing a better ending, I just know a better one should have existed.

I am not trying to come off as rude or ranting at you, I'm just ranting. I (and so so so sos so sosososo many others) waited a very long time for the pay off to this relationship and I'd rather have absolutely nothing at all than this weird version we got where Solas treats her like a passing fling that dilligently follows him into the fade without a second thought. As if she wouldn't once more challenge him to be the version of himself he actually is. He shows her no respect and she shows him all of it. The inequality of it all kills me.

iUHGLSUHSDHG sorry. This is so long. I will shut up now.

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I mean, the answer is that you're supposed to feel sympathy towards both of them I think. Sort-of. Arguably, you're SUPPOSED to feel more sympathy for Anakin than the Tuskens since, by the time of this film coming out, there WASN'T a lot out there that explored the Tuskens as a people and certainly nothing that was positive about them. I think the intention is to recognize that this was a horrible thing that Anakin did, and that killing "the women and children" was definitely crossing a line, but that Anakin's reaction was very sympathetic and understandable after what had happened to his mother. I usually liken this scene to Anakin killing an entire pack of wolves down to the last puppy because one of them attacked his mother or something. Not that that's how we SHOULD view the Tuskens, obviously, but that I think that's how LUCAS sort-of viewed the Tuskens and the emotions of this scene.

There is nothing about what Anakin does that is "normal" and I think that that's something that's made very clear in the film. Anakin is getting the Imperial March music, he's clearly falling into his own darkness here, this is a first major step towards becoming Darth Vader. Padme claims that to be angry is to be human, and she's not wrong, but being angry to the point of massacring an entire village down to the last child is uhhh... perhaps NOT so human. Or it's human, but it's still fucking horrific and not something that should be condoned the way she's doing in this scene. She prioritizes comforting Anakin over anything else, despite the fact that he's showing zero remorse FOR THE TUSKENS (he shows remorse for having acted unlike a Jedi, yes, but no actual remorse over the Tuskens being dead, it's a very important difference that a lot of his fans choose not to recognize).

The appropriate Jedi reaction would've been, yes, to simply remove the body without being noticed and just leaving the Tuskens alone at that point. The Jedi do not have the ability to fix the strained relationship between the Tuskens and the settlers and even if they did, this would not be the appropriate time or place to attempt to do so. ALL that can be done in this situation is to retrieve Shmi's body so that the people who love her can get some closure over what happened.

And arguably, a true Jedi WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ON TATOOINE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Remember, Anakin has been assigned to be a bodyguard for Padme to keep her from being assassinated after multiple attempts on her life recently. He chose to ABANDON that duty in order to go to Tatooine to try to save his mother instead. Padme seems to be understanding about this and chooses to go with him, but that doesn't negate that Anakin was fully planning to just abandon her entirely for his own selfish agenda. If he wanted to go to Tatooine to save his mother, this is something he could've and SHOULD'VE discussed with Obi-Wan and the Council much earlier and they could've let him go handle that while someone else got assigned to Padme to protect her. But once he took on the responsibility of protecting Padme, it was no longer appropriate to just go off to Tatooine to try to save Shmi. He shouldn't have been there when going there clearly meant leaving Padme unprotected. He abandoned his duty, something no real Jedi would ever actually have done in his position. Had Anakin been honest about his dreams and desires earlier, he might've gotten there before Shmi was too far gone which could've kept him from choosing to massacre the Tuskens simply because getting Shmi to medical attention would've been the first priority. If he'd been honest about it, then Obi-Wan probably would've been sent with him which might've helped him manage his emotions over it all more properly.

Anyway, I think the intention here is for you to recognize that this was a pretty horrifically violent thing for Anakin to have done but that ultimately Anakin is the most sympathetic party. HOWEVER, from a more modern perspective, this is an incredibly racist intention that is absolutely based on old movies depicted Native American and Arab people in incredibly racist ways. Lucas has openly admitted to using old Westerns as inspiration for this sequence in particular. It's intended to be VIOLENT, but I don't think he recognized it as RACIST, not really. When Anakin calls the Tuskens "animals" it's perhaps meant to be a little shocking, but not actually intended for us to realize Anakin is a bigoted racist asshat. Given that we've never seen anything positive about the Tuskens before this, they only seem to use animal-like sounds to speak, they're shown to be very violent and territorial themselves, and are scared off by Obi-Wan sounding like a bigger animal in ANH, it's not hard to agree with Anakin's assessment that they're not far off from animals. And given the fact that they're clearly designed to look like Bedouin Arabs, this is... really really uncomfortable these days.

Which is why we've seen more and more Star Wars media trying to undo some of that and represent the Tuskens better. A legends comic set just after AOTC introduces a Jedi who was a human that was raised among the Tuskens and considers himself one of them and pushes against Anakin's bigotry towards them. The Mandalorian has Din capable of reasoning with the Tuskens and communicating with them via sign language, he even mentions that he spent some time with them some years ago when he was injured and they took care of him. We see Din convincing a group of Tuskens to fight alongside some settlers in order to achieve a common goal. In The Book of Boba Fett, the Tuskens save him and he spends some time being taken care of them and being fully inducted into their culture himself. We see a lot more of Tusken culture in terms of their traditions, their dances, their dress. We are allowed to see them being silly and kind and determined to learn new things. There's also a short story in one of the anthology books that I think looks at the Tuskens more and represents them very positively, but I haven't read it myself.

So with all of that in mind, it is now VERY difficult to look at what Anakin did to the Tuskens and not feel sympathetic towards the Tuskens equally as much as Anakin. Yes, what happened to his mother was horrific and he's entirely within his rights to be upset about that. But massacring the entire tribe down to the last child is by an EQUALLY horrific thing to do. Keep in mind, no matter how powerful Anakin is, he is still one person and he claims to have murdered the entire tribe. In order to do that, he'd have had to HUNT DOWN some of the ones who probably tried to run. And while he doesn't mention them, this seems to be a fairly normal tribe which means it wouldn't just have "women and children" but it would also have had elderly and infirm who could no longer fight, too, even if they were "men." Anakin would've murdered them, too. Anakin doesn't just condemn these people for what happened to Shmi, he condemns them for BEING TUSKENS based on what he says to Padme. They were Tusken, so they deserved to die. It's as simple and awful as that.

None of this is to say that what happened to Shmi was okay or anything, but Anakin's actions are equally contemptible. Anakin's actions aren't just borne from anger and pain, but also from racism he presumably ALREADY HAD prior to Shmi's death. And while the origin of those feelings is perhaps understandable given the environment he grew up in, that doesn't make it OKAY.

So sure, feel sympathetic towards Anakin, you're SUPPOSED to feel sympathetic towards Anakin, but, especially these days, you're supposed to feel sympathetic towards the Tuskens, too. What happened to Shmi was horrible and unfair and what happened to the rest of this village was also horrible and unfair. Neither side was necessarily "in the right" here, and when we condemn Anakin for the Tusken massacre, it doesn't mean we don't recognize that what happened to Shmi was terrible and inhumane or that Anakin's feelings about it weren't valid. It just means that his reaction to murder all of them is based at least in part in racism against the entire species and that's something that needs to be recognized as the horrific thing that it is. You can feel bad for Anakin's loss here and condemn what happened to Shmi and ALSO condemn what happened to the Tuskens as a result at the same time.

[burningvelvet]

to cope with my post-binge blues from watching black sails, i just finished the treasure island audiobook. it's my first time with any treasure island media - now i have to watch the muppets movie. any way here are my thoughts:

- i knew the character of trelawney had to be based on the romantic era edward john trelawny of byron/shelley fame and I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sources: WONG, AMY R. “The Poetics of Talk in Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island.’" A Sandison Robert Louis Stevenson and the Appearance of Modernism

- i know that black sails isn't fully intended to be a perfect prequel or meant to be taken as filling in all of the gaps to treasure island but i'm still going to compare & contrast the two lol

- billy spending his whole life obsessed with flint and having alcohol withdrawal induced hallucinations about him. OMG. and i'm shocked that they just casually dropped that he visited flint in georgia to get the map like did flint request to see him before he died, was it just about the map, or did he want closure about the whole thing, did billy seek flint out, why didn't they kill each other, how the fuck did that whole thing go? i need more information dammit

- saw another post on here talking about how in black sails flint has that speech about the drunk guy named flint asking his grandpa for rum before disappearing into the sea and then in treasure island we find out flints last words were asking a "darby mcgraw" for rum before he died SO IN THE BLACK SAILS UNIVERSE DARBY IS HIS GRANDPA and so im wondering DID FLINT 1.0 EVER EXIST AT ALL OR WAS IT SIMPLY FORESHADOWING ALL ALONG but at the same time it doesnt matter because the black sails creators said the ending is intentionally canonically up to interpretation and black sails canon and treasure island canon dont match up any way but still it gives us so much to think about bc we never canonically find out who the fuck darby is

- the doctor is the funniest character ever and him giving zero shits about billy or silver is hilarious LMAO

- rly enjoy the descriptions of the contents of billy's pockets and chest. i love old shit and that whole nautical aesthetic ugh. im currently wondering about the significance of the five sea shells billy had (jim wonders abt them too) if they were souvenirs from the island or what... but we never find out!!

- and what the fuck was up with those black spots I NEED ANSWERS! It worked on Billy but not Silver?

- having grown up on PotC i'm very enthused at the references (the song, the rum, "dead mens chest," etc)

- wish we saw more of jims mom, she was lowkey a badass for a moment there telling everyone off and willing to face the wrath of the pirates with her son lol

- love how the men just take jim on for his valour and then decide to make him a cabinboy and the mom just gets a replacement son to help her around the house lmaoooo i wonder if that was a common thing for single women to do though?

- long john silver has a sort of jekyll/hyde personality (btw the author stevenson also wrote jekyll/hyde for those of you who dont know!) - also why the fuck did they leave him to his own devices toward the end and not have a gun on him 24/7 like? i was also shocked that he didnt run off with all the gold only some of it. most chaotic character ever

- my biggest questions are why did black sails take out the alcoholism and the sea shanties? but importantly the alcholism - if they were going for gritty, as they were? flint and billy's alcoholism is integral to their characters (defines their characters actually) in the book as contrasted by silvers moderation & thats rly interesting. and the lack of singing is just boring - pirates rly did have sea shanties - however i can understand for time constraints per episode and whatnot them taking out the singing for practicality - but the alcoholism again is integral to those characters as well as being historically accurate and realistic & would have added a lot imo

EDIT: immediately after posting this i realized that since there are a few years between the treasure burial and flint's supposed death in georgia, he could have become a drunk in that time if we're creating a black sails to treasure island timeline, and billy wouldn't have become a drunk til later on since black sails is set roughly 20 yrs before treasure island.

HOWEVER - by the talks of it in treasure island, and all the pirates referring to flint as a drunk etc., it would still seem that flint was always that way when they knew him, prone to drinking... but at the same time i guess you could say all the characters are jollier than in black sails as indicated by their singing and their more stereotypical piratey ways.

however i still think the alcoholism & addiction theme would have added an extra layer to everything especially after flints sad drunk scene with eleanor. also in toby stephens deep fathoms interview he said flint is essentially like an addict when it comes to his delusion & desires. anyway i digress

transcript here, audio is on youtube: https://www.justsaypodcast.com/blog/2018/12/18/transcript-interview-with-toby-stephens-of-black-sails

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Just finished watching Providence. I'll probably have some more thoughts to share about it after sleeping on it, and possibly later if I rewatch S3 again (😍).

Providence and S3 spoilers ahead!

The first thing I can't stop thinking about is that upon giving the Psycho-Pass subreddit a quick look before watching the movie, the only post I saw was about how "this movie should have come out before S3". I didn't read the body of the post in fear of spoilers, but throughout watching the movie, I kept thinking about how much I disagree with that. How insignificant would Akira be if you didn't know he was Kei's brother? How random would Atsushi be as a character if you didn't know what he meant to Arata? Imagine this random kid showing up. No one would react positively to Arata, Maiko and Kei. Akira would feel like a side-character we only cared about for a split second and Atsushi would be confusing in the wrong way. Season 3 wouldn't be the same without the mystery of Tsunemori's incarceration. Objectively a wrong take if you care about the storytelling and characters at all imo.

With that out of the way, while Providence answered some of our burning questions, some have been left unanswered, such as:

Did Gino change his haircut so drastically all of a sudden because he realised the wind blowing in his face meant he couldn't see shit?

I'd be willing to buy that he just enjoys changing styles regularly, though.

Since I'm looking at her... do we know what Frederica's deal is, exactly...? I also can't help wondering - is there a reason why Shimotsuki hates her this much? While she's always complaining over petty things, she seems to hold a pretty specific dislike towards Frederica. Is it really just her personality? (I'd be willing to buy that, too...)

I feel like we have gained a net zero information about either Homura Sr. or Jr. Or Bifrost.

I feel like I had another serious question... before I started joking about Gino's hair. It'll probably come back to me. I guess there's always "can Shou's backstory get a Moment? Anyone else remember how S2 didn't give its new cast the same amount of time S1 did? Babyboy's still kinda just Here rn."

I'm still a bit confused about Jackdaw and Vixen, and the fact that I only just realised that Vixen is a woman probably does not help.

I miss Azusawa and Obata...

Oh right, I think I remembered what I meant to talk about. There are events that clearly happened between Providence and S3 that haven't been detailed, such as Gino leaving the Bureau to join Foreign Affairs, Kunizuka running the fuck out of there or even, I believe, Arata and Kei being appointed as Inspectors. We know that Tsunemori contributed to the latter - I wonder if we may learn more about her reasoning in the future. I think we can also infer that Gino, who stated in the movie that he intends on protecting Tsunemori, had to change plans one way or another due to her arrest.

I feel like we still don't know enough about Akira's relationship to his brother or to Atsushi, and I don't know whether that will be forever left in the air of if it will be detailed. The exact implication of Stronskaya Sr. and her relationship to her daughter are also vague.

Honestly, there's a lot going on in this movie. A lot of politics... a lot of religion... and a thick wall of the story's context. It's complex, and it's interesting how Psycho-Pass is continuing in this direction that already stood out in S3.

I'll just say I'm upset about Saiga. Evil evil bad. I'm really hoping for more content with Arata, Maiko and Kei in the near future because I seriously love them!!! And I want closure for them!!!! Akira was a pretty interesting character, though his quick death was frustrating - which I assume was not not on purpose. Though it happened maybe a little too fast due to the movie format (compared to an episodic format), the revelation of his allyship was set up pretty well. Like I said, details are definitely missing - Atsushi didn't explain why Akira was so willing, and he was interrupted before he could say who he was in his own words.

It was pretty nice to see Kougami be a little cringefail. I didn't enjoy his characterisation in S3, but in Providence, it feels a lot more sensible - like he can really feel that he doesn't have control. I'm satisfied with his and Tsunemori's dynamic in the movie, wherein they care about each other deeply - dare I say, Kougami might even care a little more than she does at this point? - how does that dynamic shift feel my guy? - but Kougami's wrongdoings have weight and the narrative doesn't force him back on her. You can feel that he wants to be back, you can feel that to Tsunemori he never really left, but like I mentioned in a more personal post, Gino's her source of comfort, her trustworthy teammate; Kougami isn't welcomed back by default. This feels natural. This feels like the writing cares about their feelings.

What else... Oh yeah... Did anyone else feel like Saiga was kinda................. hot?

[hearts401]

1. have to address this cause i saw you said you ship venti with dorian i LOVE that. what the hell is their dynamic tho LMAO cause venti silly as hell (affectionate)

2. KITSUNE SUCROSE SAVE ME i literally. okay its a Super Basic Theory that shes literally just. an anemo kitsune. points at yae. drawn back ears, no tail (most of the time), catalyst user, and we are NEVER TOLD what sucrose actually is, all were really told is that she is not a cat like diona. (if i remember correctly, but my point is i dont think we ever get an actual answer). she lives in mondstadt cause it feels homey cause its the land of wind!!!! and she made friends there!!!! i would die for sucrose okay…. (i also made a joke theory thath has zero evidence that each region has their own elemental kitsune lol but that was sooo long ago idr who i even assigned lol)

3. okay one of my little aus was of course. okay. i should clarify. Dont Like Draff. dont like margaret either shes taking advantage of diona it drives me mad. get that kitten outta there. anyways in one of my aus diona runs away and stows away on a ship to inazuma and gets picked up by yae who likes her spirit and diona gets a good mom and lives in inazuma i literally didnt think farther than that LMAO

oh and also diona finding whoppy in one au and they become buddies 🫶 little mimic kitty flower. catmint. they r best friends.

(anyways fuck draff and margaret dont like em dont like the way they treat diona idk why half the fandom thinks margaret is like a mom to her if margaret cared she wouldnt let a TWELVE YEAR OLD serve ALCOHOL to CREEPY PERVS WHO ASK HER TO MEOW AND TRY TO TOUCH HER EARS AND TAIL i will fight margaret in the cats tail back alley come fucking get me woman)

-cross

VENDORIAN OKAY OKAY SO BASICALLY YKNOW THAT LINE VENTI HAS WHERE THEY SAY "what is freedom if demanded of you by a god?" YEAH SO LIKE. THAT. AND DORIAN WHOS CONVINCED HIS ONLY POSSIBLE WAY OF LIVING IS TO KILL AND REPLACE THE "BETTER" ONE (albedo) SO HES NOT FREE AND LIKE EVEN IF HE SUCCEEDED HE WOULDNT BE FREE HED BE FORCED TO PRETEND TO BE ALBEDO WHICH HES NOT VERY GOOD AT TBH... VENTI SHOWING HIM ITS OKAY TO BE HIS OWN PERSON... Venti being silly and playing their lyre and convincing dorian to chill out while dorian tails them places and reluctantly puts up with their shit and venti opens up about themself and dorian tells them about his own life. durin and dvalin paralleling dorian and venti. just them getting closure together and at first dorian is super reluctant but he warms up to it and venti gives him dragon therapy and he plays music with venti (friendly reminder ventis lyre is what stopped durins rampage.... imagine it had a calming effect on dorian)

I LOOOVE THAT... (i wonder who the kitsune could be for liyue and fontaine) her being a silly kitsune.... omgggggg i love that

DIONA YESSS i ddont like draff much either and frankly mondstadts tendency to employ children (bennett, fischl, klee, diona) is a little odd but. yknow. i like that a lot

WHOPPY AND DIONA..... Thats so funny bc i made a list of mond characters and how dorian felt abt them and she was in his hate section LMAO he has beef w his sons best friand,,,

[hermetiqa]

Hello! First of all thank you so much for performing the readings for me🤍 Here’s my feedback for the readings!

1- the person that it wronged me was someone from my teenage years. You got it right! Also they never apologised to me because they think they did nothing wrong to me.. even if they suddenly apologised to me which is so unlikely since I cut off contacts with them, it is too late and also not needed.

“They might have manipulated you in some way, something that's related to your emotions and maybe even something you're passionate about” yess that’s so accurate! They manipulated me emotionally and gaslighted me to do things that I must do, but actually I am free to do whatever I want, but they couldn’t accept that I didn’t have the same vision as them.

Also it is so accurate that when I have the closure I am more vocal about my boundaries! It is something that I worked out for a while. I found stability in myself and I am very patient with myself, since nobody had that patience with me then I got it from myself.

“Just because you said it doesn't mean that it was real” I like this part so much because they were projecting their life experiences to me and instead of acknowledging that my life and theirs are just different they keep pushing their ideas to me. I hated it so much.

For clarification, this person is not my ex or something, just an official stranger that I would usually talk with. We weren’t even friends so they feel entitled of having a saying over me made me so mad and frustrated.

The last part of this reading does resonate so much because I will welcome only the people that respect me and love me for who I am. I refuse to let random people in my life from now and on.

Also it is something that I am currently manifesting.

I am sure that I almost got closure and will never see my past ever again. That person taught me how I will never let anyone tell me what I can or cannot do because they wanted their version of me that is not me.

2- this confirmed what I knew! And you are absolutely correct that at that time I indeed was hopeful and curious of their answer. This is the same person that I was mentioning previously.

From their personality I was sure to receive insults from them because I was an ungrateful bitch or something but at the end of the day I am glad I never received their answer.

“You need to learn to heal without receiving anything. You shouldn't ask them for "closure" that you deserve because if they really wanted to give you this, you should've had it by now.” I actually I didn’t have any high hopes to receive anything for every connection that I ended. So this part didn’t really resonate with me. For “closure that I deserve” I mean let my past self rest for good. I was tormenting myself because of past experiences, that’s what I meant. I am sorry that I didn’t clarify that.

“I can also see here that if you received a response to your letter, there's a tendency that you won't be able to walk away from the connection.” This is true. If at that time I received their insults then I would be so mad that I would have a hard time to process everything.

“You might wait for them (again) and be patient with them. This person already betrayed you.” I am not waiting for them, heck no lol. But this person did betray my trust. I have zero patience for them and if I have them in front of me I would slap their face for manipulating a fucking teenage me and be the worst guide ever.

“This person has strong masculine energy here and you might've felt safe around them and emotionally connected at some point, but your connection was draining, whether you noticed it or not and whether you admit it or not.” They are a man yes! I did feel safe to tell some of my personal issue because I was looking up to him as a guide and teacher and not someone that would manipulate me because I was disagreeing with his points😃

I don’t remember if I put that much effort in that connection but it did drain my energies the last years that I was talking with him. It seems that I trusted the wrong person from the very beginning but whatever lol.

“Your spirit guide prevented you from receiving an answer to your letter because you've already went through a lot in this connection and you're better off without them.” Yes that’s accurate! That was what I am being told and actually what happened behind my back. I guess I am blessed for not receiving their letter.

These two readings resonated with me 80%! If you practice more I am sure that you will be a very scarily accurate reader! You most of the time did guess right! Your intuition is very good!!

Thank you for your energies and did overall enjoyed my readings🤍

Hello! Thank you so much for the feedback. I'm so sorry to hear that not everything resonated with you, I was trying out a different way of doing the readings when I did the free mini readings. But still, I'm glad you enjoyed your readings! Again, thank you for the feedback. You're such a sweetheart and I appreciate your feedback. It's so detailed!! I wish you well <3

[hyena-frog]

Light Bringer predictions post

I’ve been jotting down notes all day, trying to remember all my big and little predictions for Light Bringer. Some of these have already been discussed to death, some have been idle thoughts floating in my head. But I want to write it all out before LB finally comes out, so I can look back on this and either laugh at my naivete or feel vindicated by my genius.

I’m sure I’m still forgetting some things, so I may end up editing this later.

The new POV is either Diomedes or Volga.

Two or more POVs interact.

Light Bringer starts off in some way no one has theorized, because that's what Pierce Brown does best. (This happened with Dark Age too.)

Pierce Brown introduces even more plot points that won't be resolved until Red God.

There will absolutely be at least three huge things happen that no one predicted or even considered might happen. This is how Pierce Brown do.

Not everything will be resolved by the end of Light Bringer. (This is a given of course; I mean some of the things people are theorizing or want won't happen until next book.)

The Morning Star was originally commissioned by Octavia as a gift to Lysander. Since it is now in enemy hands, it is repaired and handed over to Lysander, as the "rightful" owner.

Cicero becomes important.

Someone we don't expect is sympathetic to the Republic, or is otherwise an unexpected Reformer (ie not Diomedes because everyone suspects him).

There is an epic showdown at Lorn's castle, or on Europa in general.

Rhonna and Char survived and fight on Mercury still.

Holiday remains true to the ideals of the Republic; she was never a traitor, and the people who keep repeating that theory despite having zero evidence will finally shut the fuck up.

We learn more about whatever Oculus is and what Quicksilver's intentions are.

Mickey comes back.

Evey comes back.

Evey is working with the remaining Sons in the Rim.

Faust/The Duke of Hands comes back.

Deanna dies. Holiday dies. Screwface, Pebble, and/or Clown die. I don’t want these to happen but I also don’t want to think about what kind of death made Pierce Brown cry. I don’t truly think any of these would really make him cry, but this is as close as I want to get to considering what the real answer is.

Lysander plots to kill Atalantia.

Atalantia becomes pregnant with Lysander's child but dies by DNA poison backfire.

Atalantia dies, Atlas remains alive to deal with in Red God.

Lysander gets worse, despite the guilt over Cassius.

Lysander doesn't face consequences yet but the winds shift against him.

Ajax seeks revenge on Lysander.

Ajax and Diomedes bond as cousins. Alternatively, they duel, but I think that is too obvious.

Ajax joins Darrow (out of revenge against Atalantia, not love for the Republic).

Cassius confronts Lysander. In person? Over holos? It is epic and emotional.

Pytha turns against Lysander and returns to the Archimedes. Alternatively, she remains with Lysander as a spy for Cassius.

Darrow and Cassius have a heart to heart.

Cassius talks to his mom. For better or worse. Julia will help Cassius despite hating the Republic because he is her only remaining family.

Cassius finds closure with Virginia.

Diomedes/Cassius or Screwface/Cassius becomes canon. Listen, I know these have a snowball's chance in hell, but I can dream.

We get a detailed explanation of how Cassius escaped the Rim. Either Diomedes and Aurae worked together, or Aurae worked independently. There’s not enough information yet to guess.

Cassius meets Pax and Electra; Pax has a celebrity crush on him but Electra is not happy, since Cassius literally murdered her grandpa.

Cassius demonstrates that he has matured as a person.

Cassius faces consequences for killing Fitchner or otherwise expresses regret for doing so.

Cassius returns to Eagle Rest. He repairs it and the city ransacked by Fa.

Lyria finds Volga and they kick Fa's ass together.

Lyria and Volga fall in love.

Volga is changed by her time with Fa, more hardened, but Lyria brings out her kindness again.

Volga gets that damn farm, and a womb, and has a child.

Volga’s heart being on the opposite side becomes plot relevant when Fa tries to kill her but goes for the wrong side of her chest.

Volga becomes queen of the Obsidian.

Valdir shows up again and joins Darrow.

Valdir is confirmed to love Darrow romantically.

Fa is being slowly poisoned by the DNA poison in Sefi after eating her heart. Alternatively, Fa does not get sick, proving he is not her real father.

Pax is involved in the war effort somehow. Maybe helping Lyria? Darrow has complex emotions about this.

Darrow is able to show Pax that he still has his hoverbike key and it's a touching father/son moment.

Darrow and Pax ride the hoverbike together again -- for fun? In battle?

Pax makes more friends his age. Diomedes' younger siblings? Baldur comes back??

Pax struggles with the weight of essentially sending Ephraim to his death; logically he knows it’s not his fault, and that Ephraim knew the risks, but by god, Pax is only a child. Darrow is able to help ease his distress with an epic dad speech or something.

Pax kicks the Abomination's ass.

The Abomination becomes good, or otherwise decides being the Jackal sucks, actually

Lilath dies for real. Painfully. But definitively.

Atlas is the big bad; a blind spot even in the Jackal's plans.

Virginia and Victra save Sevro.

Darrow and Cassius save Sevro.

Sevro is brainwashed by the Jackal and Virginia has to fix him.

Sevro learns what happened to Ulysses. Pierce Brown writes this scene in such a profoundly sad way, the entire the fandom dies instantly.

Darrow and Sevro have a heart to heart.

The Darrow/Sevro/Cassius trio do something epic again, like they did when they stole the Minerva standard in the first book. I am starving for these three.

Cassius is jealous of Darrow/Sevro. I think that would be very funny.

Virginia and Victra bash sisters moment.

Virginia and Victra actually become friends, not friends by virtue of their husbands being best friends.

Mars becomes the capital of the Republic under Virginia.

PsychoSpike tech comes back in a big way, as either a boon or a detriment to the Republic.

Victra is called on by Volga and Lyria to fulfill her promise to aid them whenever they need it.

Darrow and/or Victra will face (or at least be threatened with) consequences for the destruction of the Docks of Ganymede.

Eagle Rest becomes a campus to teach lowcolors important life skills they might lack, following what Sefi was doing for Obsidians, but expanding the idea.

Rhea is resurrected and becomes habitable again; possibly a new home for the Obsidian, depending on how the Rim ends up.

Diomedes joins the Republic/Darrow.

Diomedes is captured by Darrow's crew and comes to an understanding with them while in captivity.

Diomedes discovers Atlas' plans, which include destroying the Rim, which motivates him to join Darrow.

Diomedes becomes Sovereign of the Rim.

Aurae joins the Republic/Darrow with Diomedes. Alternatively, Aurae is revealed to be a Sons of Ares agent, perhaps one of the survivors of the SOA purge in the Rim.

In Iron Gold, Aurae played music during the dinner scene. So my predication is, if she joins Darrow's crew, she will entertain them with music. idk I just think that would be a nice moment.

Diomedes is confirmed to love Aurae (beyond Lysander assuming so for a brief sentence), or at least this is expanded on in some way.

Apollonius tries to duel Diomedes but the latter is Not Interested in a moment of comedy.

Reaperstang reunion??? Please???

We see more of the Raa family, and get to know established members better. Vela, Gaia, Diomedes' remaining siblings, etc.

Virginia, Diomedes, and Volga become a Triumvirate, ruling over Republic, Rim, and Obsidian factions respectfully, in a peaceful political alliance, rather than warring to get everyone under the same empire banner again.

Big damn Reaperstang reunion kiss.

At the end of it all, somehow Darrow's banishment is the only way to maintain peace.

Darrow is believed to be dead throughout Light Bringer, until an epic reveal at the very end. This miraculous second resurrection is why he is the Red God.

Darrow lives. He lives and he is happy. (Shh I know there is another book coming, let me have this.)

[arcplaysgames]

yeah because Mitsuo is not the killer, I know this, you know this, we all know this

if finding a fake killer gets me tuna tho i'm in, i'll frame a man every day, i don't care

WAIT WAIT THE STORYBOOK FROM THE SUN LINK IN P3P GOT PUBLISHED? Man its a dark children's book. Beautiful but nihilistic. You know the kids who read that are going to have a lot of difficult questions their parents do not wanna answer. Good, though.

Summer Festival! Nanako is adorable. AND GET THIS. BRACE YOURSELVES. MAKE SURE YOU ARE SITTING DOWN AND HOLDING ONTO SOMETHING.

DOJIMA ACTUALLY SHOWS UP TO TAKE CARE OF HIS DAUGHTER. I KNOW. I KNOOOOOOW. Shocking. Usually this girl is being raised by six teenagers and the human personification of a mascot character.

A STUNNING turn of events!

Teddie is such a manipulator lmao. First he suggests everyone pair off to enjoy the festival bc That's What You Do At Festivals, then gets the boys deliberating who should go with who, then while everyone is all turned around, he swoops in to take all the girls out around the festival so no one is 'left out.'

lmao. i love Teddie. I'm actually trying to pin down why Yosuke's horny boy bullshit annoys me but Teddie does not. It may be because he's SO flagrant about it, he's SO over the top, you know going in its a Yes, And scenario. Or, you can slap him, lmao.

After, Rise invited me out to a one on one date to the festival. She's very funny and boisterous but I think I'm friendzoning everyone in this playthru. I haven't found anyone I wanna date. And I know there is one more option coming so I don't want to accidentally pen myself in, like with Akihiko and late-comer Aigis. Poor Aigis.....

Not about to let anyone begin to assume he's a good dad, over in the Hierophant SLink, Dojima reveals that his wife died in a hit and run while Nanako was in nursery school. Which explains why Nanako barely remembers her.

Dojima's whole deal is that he's still working that case, still trying to find out who killed his wife. He claims its for Nanako, that someday in the future, she'll appreciate it.

And listen. The trauma of your spouse being murdered is not a joke. That's really heavy stuff. Your life falls apart as a pillar is just suddenly taken out, and surviving the loss of that kind of load-bearing structure is very fucking hard. I got zero judgement there.

However. Nanako doesn't give a shit. Her mother is a distant figure that doesn't affect her life anymore but via her absence. There is zero doubt in my mind that Nanako would remember Dojima more fondly as a man who stepped up to be her fucking father rather than having the closure for, sorry, a woman she has likely already forgotten the face of.

So again: get your shit together, Dojima.

SUMMER BEACH EPISODE. lmao poor kanji on his bike. also, Teddy is in bear mode. WHY is Teddie in bear mode? That seems much harder to travel with.

I'm not even gonna squint at Yosuke. Yosuke, someday, you will look back on your youth and feel so goddamn embarrassed at yourself. You are the very model of a modern repressed bisexual.

LMAO irl cackling. his response is so blaise. "why would i????" hahaha

lmao i missed it but chie and kanji were racing at like mach speed.

Of course because we need shenanigans, Teddie has been pulling at swimsuits to no avail. Well, almost no avail.

Hey, what is with the lightning bruiser boys and their tiny swimsuits, lmao. We are creating such a Specific trope here with them, it's bemusing. The venn diagram is something all right.

(Wait i JUST fucking noticed that Kanji has a fucking scar in the exact same place Akihiko does. What the fuck. That is a WILD coincidence.)

FUCKING YOSUKE AND REVERIE'S AVERTED GAZES LMAO. gdi teddie.

the voice acting here is a fucking treat, i cannot tell you enough.

everyone's doing amazing, sweetie

compared to the spring camping trip, this is a ten out of ten

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here friend, back to (continue to) bitch in your inbox. Just read @outrunningthedark's excellent comments on the sperm donor arc on my lunch break and felt the need to continue my tirade. I would add to her observations that, while we did see Buck break up with TayKay, it was over "drama" not a choice on Buck's part after really considering if he was happy (and why it fell so flat next to the eddieana breakup). Anyway when I left off I was bitching about how illogical the whole premise

of this arc was, and would have probably dropped my whinging over how nonsensical everything about it was if not for last episode. How the hell did we get from Buck saying "donor, not dad" to Hen in episode 3 to "I'm going to be a father" in the finale?? Is there some conversation that happened in KR's head she forgot to mention?? Because Buck seems pretty clear on what his role is in this whole process when talking to Hen, but now has done a 180 and is calling himself a dad. That's a pretty big leap, and while I agree Buck can get pretty enthusiastic or go overboard as part of his personality, he's not fucking naïve!! He knew then, and if he didn't, as you pointed out once, the mountain of paperwork he would have to sign to be a donor, that makes clear he's giving up all rights to that, sure as hell would!! So what changed, why is Buck suddenly convinced he's going to be playing a role in this kids life? More importantly, Eddie's snarky comment aside, why aren't his friends calling him out on this?? Again, this seems so contrived as a way to put Buck through the wringer at the expense of making him ignorant (what's that?? Oh, its the echoes of Michael Guerin's s4 plot). Anyway that wraps up both lunch and my bitching on this particular aspect of this dumb arc, next up we can talk about how there is no good way to wrap up this storyline or accomplish what KR supposedly wants (Buck's growth). Till later!!

Okay so first of all, I could have saved both of us some panic if I actually READ your ask thread instead of just the heading that comes across my notification because you clearly ended your last part saying it was the last part! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ My B!

I’m glad we’re going to have another ask thread to talk about where this arc goes from here because the more I think about it and the more I read other people’s comments about it, more I become incandescently furious about the whole thing, especially in regards to what Buck is supposed to be getting out of this arc now that there is a baby. So it’s probably better that we haven’t gotten that far yet because right now my response would just be 

ANYWAY, at least on this point I have somewhat of an answer I think! It seems like KR misinterpreted the line in her interview because what I and may others heard (and I believe saw on their captions as well) was “I guess it’s easier when you can just say “I’m going to be a father”.” Meaning, Buck’s trying to figure out how to say “I got this lady pregnant” without implying he did anything with her or is actually the father.

Here’s the thing though. That....kinda makes it worse? If he’s already moved past his concerns and is accepting the “donor not dad” thing then....why is the arc not closed? If he’s already gotten to the acceptance part, why didn’t we see any of that happening? (Again, I have...MANY THOUGHTS about that possibly being the closure of the arc but that’s not the point right now.) More importantly, since this clearly ISN’T the closure of the arc, WHEN is Buck going to start questioning things? Because up until now, he’s been super chill about the whole thing and quite frankly, now that there is a baby it is TOO FUCKING LATE to say “actually, I don’t think I can do this”. So where can this even go? I’m interested to hear your thoughts and if they’ll help make mine any more coherent but I’m just baffled at what they think they are doing here. This arc has had ZERO tension once he said yes. No on has pulled him aside to have A Talk and tell him they have concerns, which would allow him to get defensive and maybe give us a peek at what’s going on in his head (a mystery for quite some time now), the couple came to yell at him at work, but we saw he wasn’t trying to back out or even having concerns so it wasn’t anything, we haven’t seen him struggling or having second thoughts, just totally on board with the whole thing. So....what? The baby dies? Hard pass. The couple ghosts him? Buck gets left behind again. Shocker. He suddenly realizes he can’t have a baby and not be involved? Tough fucking luck, it’s happening and you can’t back out now. What is he gonna do, sue for custody/visitation rights? 

I know I said we were gonna talk about it later and we WILL, but just a thought to percolate on here, what is Buck supposed to learn from this storyline? Because the options are...limited.

a) It’s okay for people to use you for parts and you need to be more accepting of that and just be happy you were able to help them. Yeah, that’s the OPPOSITE of the less Buck as a character needs to learn.

b) That he’s just better off as “fun Uncle” and is totally cool knowing there’s a kid out there that’s his and he doesn’t need to be involved/is okay just getting cards and maybe sending a few gifts over the years/maybe kids aren’t for him? Again, NOTHING that fits with the character OR what the character needs to grow. His whole story has been about finding love and building a family and having people who will stay. Does he HAVE to have a biological child to make that happen? No, but HAVING a biological child and walking away because he’s “learned” he doesn’t need one to be happy doesn’t fit for him either. If he struggled and walked away BEFORE donating, they could go that route, but even still, for what we know of his character, I think having a child that’s his could be something important for him (one of the reasons I love a “Buck is asked if he wants to formally adopt Chris” arc in fics, because Buck really needs to know that he is tied to people), and brushing it off AFTER a baby is already on the way doesn’t really work.

c) That he isn’t ready to be a dad yet, and needs tp practice being on the sidelines of a child’s life? Not only does he have a niece for that, we have literally seen him “practicing” with Chris since season 2! 

Please, tell me where else this story could go? Because you know those two random side character completely divorced from the first responder world aren’t going to just be major fixtures in Buck’s life, hanging around. We didn’t even get to hear about Bobby’s sponsor who has been instrumental in his recovery and is besties with the whole Grant-Nash family, until two minutes before he was killed off. 

Anyway, gotta stop now and go watch some other show for a bit before I start eating drywall about this. Can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts my friend! This hiatus is going to be rough I think....

[t4tpumpkinduo]

aheem heem 12 and then like. all of the 20s?

YES KISSA YOU O7 doing dsmp ones uhm

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

well you already know what the hell i'm going to say...ceeschlatt i'm so sorry he only did some of that you guys are so annoying. i think a huge chunk of his story is just like. Canonically Textually way deeper and more sympathetic and more complicated than people want to acknowledge. guys will have direct blatent narrative foil parallels of their mistakes to their blorbo of choice but only one side will get a million excuses and only one side will get their pov analyzed. OK 👍. telephone game ass fanbase. read the parallel storyline of what would've happened had pogtopia won read the nov 16 script look at the canonical smplive isms analyze why someone would want to "revive someone for political power" desperate style after a funeral where it was Blatantly Clear that person has absolutely Zero Power and it paralleling the post charlie death insanity. and then you will calm down!!

honorable mention to ceefundy as well. i wouldn't say he's unpopular unpopular but goddamn. despite the fact he's so interesting and cool and inpactful and represents huge chunks of Core Themes, he just gets ignored and infantalized and has so much of his story plain Erased because it's inconvenient to other characters. Fucked!!!

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

ceeranboo so sorry ok. iget why people like him i do but he is so so bland to me. shepards tone empty promise of a character. to me. some of his implications were pretty interesting, especially when it came to things that were more complicated, the exile isms the being knowingly complicit in ctommy prison murder or him drinking ableist copium abt tubbo being kind of unhinged. the centristism sometimes feeling less waffly and more like he's trying to people please to the point of exploding. too bad i do not care ☝️🔛🔝

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

and if i say tntduo..it's been so overhyped it overshadows everyone else it overshadows their own damn characters entire arcs and decisions and then the whole story itself they are not allowed to be anything except eachothers klance bait which was equally as mid. i do think there is value to it but at this point i am so exhausted about the oc versions being treated like canon when on screen its so bad out here sometimes. ppl going ohhh we never got resolution :[ ,,,.ccwilbur blatantly said what would've happened in the final tntduo stream. cwil would show back up to lnv in the same set up of his apologies but its a bait and switch that pivots into insulting q again and then finish it up w oh hey maybe yr not so bad after all 😂 and then he gives him a fist bump and leaves. there's yr closure. lea me alone

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i already said i think pumpkinduo is like funny comedy mallets for crazy people but i think most other things get attention properly? el rapids deserved more hype tho i srs think it would change how people see a lot of the characters involved

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

im not sure? weird shit is a given but other than that who rlly care <- edit: HELP i misread the question i thought it was asking what you are Unwilling to come around to. so sorry. to answer the actual question uhm,,still not very sure hheheh im very solid in my dislikes and likes and complaints

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

exile and the prison for sure :heart_hands: /RETCH. sure other things are very annoying but the levels these two arcs get to are Awful and Telling and Shitty the media illiteracy is off the charts. how you can watch streams with your eyes closed and ears closed and without registering the words or characters on the screen. what's going on. anyways if cdrm thinks torture is so bad maybe he should not talk about eye for an eye when he had tortured three people before he was even in the prison. but okay. also rip prison arc sam the world wasn't ready for a character like you 🙏

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i'm not sure? what are the most common complaints i do happen to agree with a lot of them i think

[rizlowwritessortof]

Cowboy Rescue - Part 1

I have had this WIP going for AGES. I’ve finally decided that maybe if I start posting chapters, it might drive me to get it completed. (It’s complete in my head, but just getting the words down... that’s another story) I’m going to post a chapter at a time, once a week (working on the 4th, and there will probably be a total of 5 and probably an epilogue) and a fic master list once it’s done. I hope you enjoy it!

Cory makes an impulsive decision to drive from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Montana, accepting an invitation from an old boyfriend, hoping to put closure to their failed long-distance relationship. When circumstances leave her lost in the Montana countryside in the blizzard of the century, local rancher Dean Winchester comes to her rescue. He is far too tempting to resist, but is she getting herself into just another hopeless long-distance situation? 

Pairing: Rancher Dean Winchester x OC Cory Tate

Word Count: 2839

Warnings: None. Fluff, a little angst, and eventual smut. 

Dividers by the ever-lovely @firefly-graphics​ - thank you, Daisy! 

Cory fought the steering wheel, trying to regain control, but her little SUV headed straight for the ditch. A cloud of white engulfed her as the front end completely disappeared into a huge drift, the back end sliding slowly farther in as it settled and sank into the ever-deepening snow.

“Fuck!” She slammed her hands against the wheel, throwing her head back against the seat in frustration. Now what was she going to do?

Worst day ever. First of all, the bridge on the main highway was out due to an ice jam that had damaged it, and the detour took her into a maze of gravel roads that soon had her lost. Then this unexpected blizzard, slowly worsening to the point of zero visibility, and now her car was buried in this frigid hell and she had no idea where she was. She picked up her cell phone, not surprised at all to see ‘no service’ on the screen.

“Of course. I always wanted to freeze to death in the wilderness of Montana.” A baleful glare aimed at the sky, she shouted, “If you wanted to kill me, why didn’t you just drop a meteor on my head!”

She shut off the engine, glancing at the fuel gauge. The tank was about three quarters full, so at least there was that. She’d have to bundle up and make sure the tailpipe was clear of snow so she didn’t gas herself, but she could run the heater intermittently to keep from freezing, at least. The emergency kit in the trunk had water and candles, protein bars, all the necessities for survival, but it would definitely not be fun.

She was deep in thought, preparing herself for the trip outside to grab her supplies and clear the exhaust, when a pounding on her door made her shriek in fright. Heart hammering in her chest, she peered out into the snow to see the dark silhouette of a rather large person looming outside her window. She could make out a muffled man’s voice as he shouted to be heard through her car door. “Are you hurt?”

She squinted her eyes, looking out in his direction, and shaking her head. “No, not hurt. Just stuck.”

He nodded, and spoke again. “Well, bundle up, you can ride with me to my place, it’s just down the road.”

“Oh, thank you!” she replied, relief flooding through her. She grabbed her gloves and stocking cap, wrapped her scarf around her neck, and took a deep breath before opening the door. It would barely move, and the man outside took hold to force it open far enough for her to slide out. “Thank you!” she shouted again, her voice almost lost in the howling wind.

They got the door closed again, and she locked it, shoving the keys deep into her coat pocket. The snow was mid-thigh high on her, and she gratefully took the man’s hand, letting him help pull her up to the road. It was still deep, but at least she could navigate somewhat, and she looked around for his vehicle.

“This way,” he yelled, and she followed him a few yards, then stopped dead in her tracks.

“That’s a horse!”

“Yep!” he answered. “Nothing with four wheels is gettin’ around in this mess.”

Okay, maybe freezing in her car wasn’t all that bad, she thought in a panic. She followed him closer, watching as he effortlessly climbed onto the animal’s back. “I don’t know how to ride a horse,” she yelled, her voice mostly lost in the storm.

“It’s okay, I do.” She could almost hear the smile in his voice, and she blushed, not that he could see it. “Here, give me your hand. Put your left foot up in the stirrup and just boost yourself up, swing your leg over. I’ll help you.” She grasped his large hand in both of hers, and after a couple of false starts, she launched herself upward with his help, managing to straddle the huge animal behind her benefactor. “Now, scoot up close behind me and put your arms around my waist. We don’t have too far to go.”

She did as she was told, thankful that his broad back blocked most of the wind from her face, and she held on for dear life as he urged the horse forward. “How can you even see where we’re going?” she shouted, completely disoriented by the swirling white around them.

“I can’t very well, but don’t worry. Whiskey knows her way home.”

She was sheltered from most of the wind, but in the ten to fifteen minutes it took them to reach his place, she was shivering uncontrollably from the bitter cold. He urged the horse forward until they stood right in front of the large barn, then turned slightly to speak again. “Okay, just take hold again, step in the stirrup, and I’ll help you get down. We’ll have to go in the barn for a couple of minutes so I can take care of the horse, then I’ll get you inside. It’s warm in here,” he promised. She let go of his waist, taking his proffered hand and slipping down sideways until her foot could reach the stirrup. He held her securely until she was on the ground, then swung down himself, reaching for the reins to guide the horse inside.

She followed, pulling the big door closed behind them, instantly grateful for the barn heater up high on the wall, keeping the interior livable for the animals inside. There were a couple more horses in stalls farther in, and empty stalls on the other side. “Can I help with something?” she asked, rubbing her hands together and looking up into his face, what she could see of it. The collar of his shearling coat was pulled up, his cowboy hat securely in place and his eyes were barely visible above a snow-crusted bandanna.

“Yeah, that storage closet right there? Can you hand me a couple of towels?”

She nodded, grabbing two of the big, fluffy towels from a shelf and handing them over. He proceeded to rub his horse down, drying her off and warming her up, and Cory could hear him talking softly to her as he worked. “Good girl, Whiskey,” he said as he finished up, reaching deep in his pocket for a couple of sugar cubes. “You deserve a treat. You got us home safe.” Whiskey nickered in reply, nudging her nose into his shoulder before ducking her head to nibble the sugar from his gloved hand. He turned to lift the lid on a wooden container nearby and scooped some oats into the feeding trough, then gave the animal a final pat and left the stall, latching it securely behind him. He turned to face Cory, nodding his head towards the house. “Okay, let’s get you inside.”

She followed closely behind him, still blinded by the swirling snow, and he pulled off a glove, reaching down deep into the pocket of his jeans for the key. He switched on a light as they stepped into the house, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the warmth. “You can hang your stuff up there, I’ll find you something dry to put on.”

Cory removed her outer layers, amazed at the amount of snow clinging to them, and took off her boots, brushing the snow from the legs of her jeans onto the rug by the door. A shiver ran through her, and she turned to face her rescuer as he kicked his boots off. “Thank you again. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come by. I was just planning to get my emergency stuff from the trunk and clear the exhaust pipe so I could keep from completely freezing to death, but it would have been miserable.”

“I’m glad I saw you go in the ditch, otherwise I might’ve missed you.” He stood,  setting his boots next to the door, and turned to look at her with a smile. Her breath caught for a moment as she stared back at him, stunned into silence as she took in his appearance, finally remembering to smile back. He was a breathtaking specimen of a man, tall and lean, his green eyes crinkled at the corners, his tongue darting out over his perfectly-shaped lips, which were framed by a well-trimmed beard. He ran his fingers through his hat-tousled hair, and she forced herself to breathe and respond.

“Well, thank you again for the cowboy rescue.” He laughed, and she grinned back at him. “Hey, you picked me up on a horse, so… it fits. I’m Cory, by the way. Cory Tate.”

“Dean Winchester. Cowboy rescue. Nice. So – let me go find you some dry clothes.” He disappeared through a doorway, returning shortly with some folded garments in hand. “Sorry, these are gonna be way too big for you, but at least they’ll get you by until yours can dry out. There’s a shower in the guest room, if you want to take a hot shower.”

“That sounds awesome, thank you. Which way?”

Dean pointed to a doorway. “Down that hall, second door. I’m gonna go shower, then I can rustle us up some food. Maybe a drink.” He winked, then turned to head back towards his room.

Cory stood in front of the mirror in the guest room, feeling like a child wearing her daddy’s clothes. The sweat pants he had given her were miles too long, and she had tucked and rolled them as much as she could manage, but the waist was another issue. The sweatshirt was huge, but she didn’t mind that as much, as long as she could keep the pants up. Maybe Dean had a safety pin somewhere she could borrow. His socks were way too big as well, but at least her feet were warm.

She peered out the door timidly, then stepped out, one hand holding the pants up, and let her eyes wander around the room. The house was beautiful, old but obviously well-cared-for. The glow of real polished oak and gleaming hardwood floors gave it a warmth that she admired, a far cry from her cold, neutral color apartment. A large stone fireplace, fire just beginning to crackle and pop, took up a big portion of one wall, and a comfy-looking sofa sat nearby, a gorgeous woven rug and large coffee table completing the cozy area.

She heard a sound from the next room and ventured further, stepping through the doorway into a large, homey kitchen. Dean was just putting a skillet on the stove, and turned to face her as she shuffled in. A little burst of laughter escaped before he clamped his lips shut, his eyes shining with suppressed mirth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but you are drowning in my clothes.”

Cory joined in, blushing a little. “Well, I could really use a safety pin, if you have one. Or a belt? I feel like I’m going to walk right out of these pants.”

“Sorry I don’t have anything that would fit you better. Hang on, I’ll grab the belt from my robe, that should work.” He left her there alone for a moment, returning with the belt, and she took it gratefully, turning her back to get it in place, much more comfortable now that her – well, his – pants wouldn’t wind up around her ankles.

“Thank you! This is so much better. I still look like a little kid playing dress-up, but...”

Dean laughed again, grabbing a carton of eggs from the fridge. “I promise, tomorrow I’ll take the snowmobile out and bring your bags from the car. So, omelets okay with you? I’ve got bacon, mushrooms, cheese, onions – whatever you want in it.”

“That sounds amazing. I didn’t realize how hungry I am. Can I help cut veggies or anything?” Soon she was perched on a bar stool next to the island, chopping onion and cutting up mushrooms while Dean whisked the eggs. Her eyes kept roaming as she worked, watching the play of muscle in his back beneath the soft ivory henley he was wearing. And his sweat pants fit him much better than they fit her. Much, much better. She mentally shook her head at herself and tried to focus on the task at hand before she cut off her own finger.

“So, Cory – where are you from?” Dean asked, pouring eggs into a skillet.

“Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve lived there for a couple of years now. I grew up in South Dakota, though.”

“What the hell brought you to Montana in the middle of a blizzard?” he asked, tending to the bacon, which was making her stomach growl.

She laughed. “Well, mostly stupidity. Kind of a long story...”

“I got no place to go,” he said, shooting her a grin over his shoulder.

“Okay, you asked for it,” she smiled back. “So, I dated this guy for – well, pretty much from the time I moved into Tulsa. A couple of months ago, he got a job in Billings, and that was that. We did the whole ‘we’ll visit each other’ thing, but – never happened, and the phone calls died pretty quickly, too. But last week he called me, said there was a party – tonight, actually – with some new work friends he’d met, and he invited me to come up.” Cory slipped off the bar stool and took the plate of chopped veggies over to Dean, who began to add them to the eggs cooking on the stove. She leaned back against the counter and continued. “I debated, because obviously, neither of us was desperately dying without the other, you know? But I decided, if I just came up here, and it felt like it was over, then I could just close that chapter and move on. I mean, I could have anyway, but – since he called… I don’t know. See? Stupid.”

He smiled over at her. “No, not stupid. Nothing wrong with making sure before you close the door. I get it.”

“Well, obviously I’m not going to make it to the party, so…”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Oh, well. Everything happens for a reason, right?”

When the food was finished, Dean handed her a plate and pointed to a nearby drawer. “Silverware’s in there. Want to eat in front of the fireplace? I usually do, but we can go to the dining room if you want...”

“No, that sounds great. I wish I had one at home. I always loved our fireplace when I was growing up.”

They carried their plates with them into the living room and settled in on the large sofa, and Cory sighed contentedly. “This is nice. So – your turn, I spilled my love life, so it’s only fair,” she teased with a smile. She took a bite of her omelet and closed her eyes with an appreciative “Mmmm. This is amazing.”

Dean grinned. “Thanks. Being really hungry makes everything taste better.” He finished a bite from his own plate before speaking again. “So, love life. At the moment, I don’t have one.”

“I can’t believe there’s not someone out there dying to be Mrs. Dean Winchester.”

“I’ve dated a couple of women over the last two years. The first one for over a year, but when I finally brought her out here – let’s just say the shine wore off fast. She was definitely not up for country life. She was too afraid of breaking a nail or getting dirty to do anything, and she hated the animals. They were too big and they smelled bad.”

“Oh, no...”

“Yeah. And the next one – all she wanted to do was go out. Clubs, restaurants, theaters, shopping - she always wanted to do something noisy and crowded and expensive. I don’t mind spending money, don’t get me wrong, but – I like to just sit and watch the stars sometimes, or take a walk, be somewhere I can hear myself think. I finally came to the conclusion that it takes a special kind of woman to want to live this kind of life. It’s not for everybody. Definitely wasn’t for those two.”

They chatted as they finished their food, and Dean laughed softly as Cory yawned. “Sorry. Guess I’m more exhausted than I realized.”

“Here, I’ll take your plate. Go, get some sleep. If you need more blankets, there are extras in that chest at the foot of the bed.”

She gave him a grateful smile as she stood. “Dean, thank you. For the rescue, and the hospitality. I wish I could repay you.”

He responded with a crooked smile, shaking his head. “No need. It’s been nice to have somebody to talk to.” He watched as she headed for the bedroom. “Sleep well. Yell if you need something.”

“Thanks, Dean. Good night.”

He watched her disappear down the hall, then smiled to himself as he grabbed their dishes and headed for the kitchen.

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[lyrebright]

Hi!! Read your recent fic, it’s so good! But about the AN, may I ask why you didn’t like the ending of the game, if it’s not too much?

Hi! I'm glad you liked my fic. And sure, I can give you an answer--I'll do my best to not just start ranting angrily because honestly thinking about it makes me want to start crying again.

I'll post it under a cut because Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is still so new--if you haven't beaten the game, don't click on it, because here there be spoilers.

So the thing is. Xenoblade 3?

This is basically how I felt about the game. The setting, the style, the cast...it all felt like it was made for me. It was, genuinely, a perfect 100 for me until the last five minutes.

Let me try to be concise as I explain this.

The main issues I take with the ending can basically be summed up as:

It comes out of nowhere.

It betrays the themes of the game.

As the intended finale of the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy it falls immensely short because of a mix of all these other points.

Considering the endings the XBC1 and XBC2 casts got, this one really feels like a slap in the face.

It, and I cannot express this enough, makes everything you do pointless. None of it mattered, it was all for nothing.

Now, let me explain these points in more depth:

It comes out of nowhere.

Maybe some gigachads with universe brains could sense where this was headed, but I could not. I think this was part of the issue, honestly--it felt to me sort of as if they wanted it to be a twist emotional gutpunch, and thus never telegraphed it to the player, leading to the player being caught off guard entirely.

What I thought would happen is that we would simply reclaim Origin and continue on in Aionios, rebuilding and experiencing life not on a timer. It seemed to me that the issue was that Z had taken control of Origin and frozen Aionios in stasis, not that the worlds needed to split again. It honestly came out of left field and took me out of what should have been an emotional moment, a triumphant moment, as I scrambled to understand what the hell was going on.

It betrays the themes of the game.

This is one of the big ones for me. XBC3 claims itself to be a game about life, and yes, it is--but it's about grief and moving on, it's about the past and letting it go, it's about facing the future you chose and fighting for the freedom to choose in the first place.

And yet, in the end, there is no choice. Against their will, the people of Aionios are split apart, after finally uniting. And yet, in the end, it's not the future that is chosen, because everything resets back to fucking zero. But I'll get more into that in another point.

As the intended finale of the Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy it falls immensely short because of a mix of all these other points.

I can tell you that when I finish a game, I want to leave it satisfied, if not happy. And when I finish a series, I want to leave it the same way.

At the ending of Xenoblade 3, I was in disbelief and shock. I was sending messages to my friends on discord in complete rage. I was sobbing in my bed at midnight and crying myself to sleep not because of the cathartic release of emotion I like to experience from fiction, but because I felt like the game had just stabbed me in the back. There was no closure, and there was definitely no happiness. I was excited, to go into the "postgame" and pick up Nia and Melia, to finish my sidequests and hero ascensions. To fill out the rest of my maps and fight the remaining unique monsters. To try my hand at the superbosses.

I was excited for these things, prior to beating the final boss and seeing the final cutscene. After that, I just felt hollow. I haven't picked up the game since and I know I won't for a while because I'll get angry and upset again, because What's The Point, Really? I'll elaborate on this more in my last point. But basically, for a minute there, when I beat the game, I wished I could rewind time and never finish it. I wished I could wipe my memory of the ending and stay in side content limbo forever. No ending that makes me feel like that is a good one.

Considering the endings the XBC1 and XBC2 casts got, this one really feels like a slap in the face.

Shulk and his friends get to live amongst a new, unified world and work together towards the future. It ends open ended, but happily.

Rex and his friends get to live amongst a new, unified world and work together towards the future. It ends open ended, but happily.

Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz, and Sena do not get a happy ending. The people of Aionios do not get a happy ending. They are no longer frozen in a cycle, but they are torn apart, reset to zero, and don't even get to keep their memories. You can say it ended open ended if you want, but I can't see anything about this that is happy for them.

It, and I cannot express this enough, makes everything you do pointless. None of it mattered, it was all for nothing.

This is the big one. The one that really, above all else, makes me so upset.

The sidequests of rebuilding colonies, of learning to farm. Of liberating these colonies and getting the people of Agnus and Keves to work together and be friends. None of it matters, because none of it stays. What's the point in going back and finishing these sidequests and having the characters interact with each other when I know there's no point, because it's all going to get erased?

This is what I mean, about it betraying its own themes. This was it. Aionios was the world where life could have walked together hand in hand, as soon as they took that life back from Moebius. Aionios was real and lived in and loved and they made you love it too, only to take it all away and wind everything back to the start.

For a game about walking into the future, it sure couldn't let go of the past.

So that's it, basically. That's why I hate the ending. It's why XBC3 is, a little, ruined for me. I still love the cast and world and everything about the plot before that final reveal of the ending. But I can't help but feel bitter about it now. And it might take me a while to ever want to play it again.

If you or anyone else liked the ending, that's fine. But I can't. Not ever.

Thanks for the ask♡

[girldraki]

thinking about clef venting to gears again because can you imagine being gears . and you have been in a sea of uncertainty and confusion about all emotions in general for like a decade now, and you certainly tend to struggle to fully comprehend other people’s experiences, and your horrible little coworker is talking to you about its personal problems for reasons you still do not understand despite it doing this every few weeks and in the midst of describing its social choices which are bewildering to the point of frustration for you it diverts into a vivid description of something neither of you know is called depersonalization and for the first time in years someone is describing an emotional experience you completely, vividly empathize with. and then ten seconds later it pivots back to explaining its frankly absurd relationship with your mutual coworker which you don’t get in the fucking slightest. and you get zero answers or closure on how or why it feels exactly like you do in this one, confusing way