#but i did it without a reference and i think it's good

[elodieunderglass]

Thoughts on "Are the Redwall Animals Monarchist"

I could see them being like, pro-monarchy but wanting to not have an actual monarch. Like identifying stuff as "the Queen's royal navy" or "the crown jewels" or celebrating "the kings birthday". But without having an actual person in that role. .

Maybe they're holding the spot for King Arthur to return? IDK

They're just singing "God save the King" very earnestly but aren't thinking about Charles at all

Reference here: https://www.tumblr.com/elodieunderglass/787508796589228032/i-think-the-thing-that-does-come-through-is-that

It would definitely be on-brand for the “abbey” concept to not align with a monarch’s desires (hence the irl dissolution of the monasteries) but be pro-monarchy where it suits them and Special Little Free Thinkers when it doesn’t.

I think their stance would be WHATEVER IS EASIEST FOR AUTHOR and their author was powerfully, admirably lazy.

Ultimately: while it’s fun to make jokes about, and have fun with, the Redwall texts are too insubstantial and weak to be politically serious about (and it’s unfair to them to expect more.) they’re good at exactly what they say on the tin: zippy little adventures for babies, with uneven politics and a very poorly articulated morality. very typical of that kind of author popular at that kind of time (yes, even the ones we still like.) whatever questions you ask are going to be answered: ultimately Brian Jacques was a nice-mannered pleasant old reactionary working in a time when an old white man sitting on his ass in England generating infinite samey mousey stories could literally pay the mortgage.

Even just by joking about it, we are putting infinite more thought and brainpower, and burning more calories, than Brian Jacques ever did when he sat down at his Mouse OC Generation Machine. Man was NOT operating at high gear, and why would he. He was not required to have a single complex thought in his pretty little baldy head in order to pay his bills, so he did NOT waste his TIME. Slap some meadowcream on it and send it off in an envelope, it’ll do well enough. His audience was KIDS who wanted NEW BOOK. Even by considering a single religious or political implication we are being more intellectual than he could bear.

So we should ONLY care about it for as long as it is FUN and we are having fun, because there are no answers, and the question I posed (“are Redwall animals monarchists?”) is a very low-value question and ONLY worth answering if it’s FUNNY.

In which case: they DO very intentionally uphold the Squirrelkingdom AND restore Gael Squirrelking to power after he is deposed in a coup. and their national security is dependent on the feudal militaristic nation of Salamandastron.

So whatever that is - upholding monarchy in other states because it secures their national borders and keeps their own hands clean, and their own political situation a pretense of ethical democracy? It’s certainly SOMETHING. And the author who penned it fully believing it to be politically neutral.

[oimoitalaina]

Ironheart vs. Thunderbolts - how to properly reference Sam Wilson

I truly think the writers of Thunderbolts did not understand the genre they were working with down to the simplest exchanges. And one of the best examples of this is the moment where John Walker says “on your left”. Anyone who has watched the movies knows that this line is very significant for Sam and Steve’s relationship. The phrase evolved from their fateful connection in Captain America: Winter Soldier all the way to Endgame. “On your left” starts as a playful exchange that leads to an unbreakable friendship. The phrase grows when it is repeated in Endgame by Sam, ushering in one of the greatest sequences in the MCU. It represents Sam and Steve’s devotion to each other, the fact that they will always have each other’s backs.

Which is why it is beyond baffling that anyone thought it was a good idea for JOHN WALKER to say this line in Thunderbolts!

This moment doesn’t land at all. The intention behind John saying this line wasn’t for him to be consciously referencing Sam, because this is something that was just shared between Sam and Steve. The *intent* is that this moment is a moment of serendipity. Characters saying the same things without knowing it, connecting them together. And it would be a nice moment, if it worked. But it doesn’t! Because John harassed, insulted, threatened, and finally tried to murder Sam. And now he’s the one parroting a phrase that genuinely means a great deal to Sam. All the positive feelings the audience has regarding the phrase belong to *Sam*. So when John says it, he’s essentially appropriating the line. This white character takes it from the Black character who gave it meaning and uses it himself for a cheap but ultimately hollow callback. 

Thunderbolts is guilty of a lot of wrongdoings to many characters, but one of the greatest in my opinion is how it treats Sam. Because Sam has no presence in this movie until he’s mentioned offensively in the post credits scene. Despite the fact that Sam’s best friend Bucky, who *just* told him he loved him in Brave New World, is in this movie. And even though Sam is literally Captain America and would be the first person to call when shit goes down, he’s not mentioned. Sam is a victim of erasure, he is actively removed from a story that he should be a part of. For a thinking audience, this moment provokes a combination of confusion and disgust.

Now compare this to a more recent example in episode two of Ironheart. Near the end of the episode Riri says the phrase “aliens, androids, and wizards”. Now in comparison to John saying “on your left”, this moment sparked delight for me and other members of the fandom. Why is that the case when it is, on paper, so similar to what Walker did? The answer is respect. The writers of Ironheart clearly demonstrated respect when referencing Sam in this moment. Because while “aliens, androids, and wizards” is another iconic phrase of Sam’s, it does not bear the emotional significance of “on your left”. Sam says the former line during his delightful back and forth with Bucky in episode two of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It is a cute phrase, but it doesn’t grow in emotional significance over multiple movies like how “on your left” did. It doesn’t represent, say, Sam and Bucky’s entire relationship. So Riri repeating it does legitimately feel like a moment of serendipity. I heard the line and thought “oh, Sam <3!”. Which is all it meant to do. 

So that is how these two seemingly similar moments contrast. Walker saying “on your left” is a moment of appropriation and erasure that fundamentally disrespects Sam’s character. Meanwhile, Riri’s repetition of “aliens, androids, and wizards” is a delightful moment that uplifts Sam’s character and connects him to a new hero.

[astraldelights]

Shame.

What If instead of fighting The Void you fucked it?

Tw:NFSW, penetrative sex, choking, degradation, references to deep self-guilt and shame

-

“They all left you because you're worthless. Why did you ever think making friends was a good option? You thought it was going to be different?.” The Void lumbers over you like the ominous presence he always is, spouting hurtful thoughts over and over.

“You’re pathetic, crying over things such as teammates. They never trusted you, and they never will, especially after what you did on the last mission.” He chuckles, sending a cold shiver down your spine. 

Gripping your hands tight you dug your nails into your hands and covered your ears. However, even that couldn’t shut his annoying voice out. “What a miserable attempt, you should have given up when you could.” His hands reach out, gripping your throat with unimaginable strength. As he lifts you up to his eyes, you start to choke from the force around your neck, crushing your windpipe. He laughs as he watches your eyes water and your lips quiver, but he notices something else as well.

“Are you actually getting off from this? From me choking you? This is interesting.”

While he relaxes his grip slightly he still puts enough pressure for it to remain pleasurable. You rub your thighs together at the skin to skin contact, not minding its ability to kill you at any time. His piercing dotted eyes stare straight back into yours, wanting you to feel the embarrassment and shame from the pleasure you were getting from this situation.  

“Please I-” You whimpered, your body writhing under his touch with the only thing being his hand keeping you tightly pinned against the wall.

“You what?” The Void growled. He was growing impatient and demanded a quick answer. In that moment, the only thing that seemed to be a salvation from your feelings was to lose yourself in him. 

“I need y-you to touch me please.” You begged. An answer to your prayers quickly came. Pushing his body close to yours, you felt his shadowy figure come close. It was cold, not entirely solid but a physical presence still felt. He ripped off your clothes carelessly, tearing them to shreds with his immense strength. As he spread your legs open, you felt his tip prod slightly at your entrance. 

Without any warning he entered, causing you to groan in pain. “Mmhm that’s it. That’s how you deserve to be treated. And still so wet for me anyway.” He soaked up your pained whimpers as he started to move, each whine seemed to invigorate him further. As you adjusted to his size, you slowly started to feel the pinch of pleasure creeping up on you. His cock seemed to hit the deepest part of your womb repeatedly, splitting you open like he wanted to break you.

As his thrusts continued, your body moved up and down against the wall and his hand. Like a doll at his mercy, your hands and body only moved from his motions. The only part of your body you had control left over was your cunt contracting around him. Your hair messy, tears streaming down with hiccups in between. You couldn’t stop yourself from crying out at the euphoria this fucked up situation was bringing you. You knew it was bad, it was a disgusting thing to get off at, but you couldn’t stop yourself.

“That’s it, just fall apart. That’s the only thing you can do now. Fall apart and succumb to me.” The Void whispered in your ear, his lips brushing ever so slightly against the tip of your ear. All you needed was those words and your body listened, too tired to fight and finally letting him break a piece of you. You let go, screaming out in ecstasy from his harsh thrusts that brought you both pain and pleasure. Your cunt clenched tightly, pulsing with the orgasmic pleasure derived from the deepest pits of your shame. But it felt good. And you didn't stop, you squirted your fluids over his cock. His hand tightened again as he gave you one last deep thrust, asphyxiating you to the point where you could feel your breath leaving you. Was this how you were gonna die? Fucked out by a boogieman that you got off too because of your own shame? The darkness of death seemed to approach as you tried to grasp another breath. This was the end.

Poof! 

You fell to the floor immediately as he disappeared. Catching your breath, you gasped in as much air as you could, choking a little bit in the process. Trying to stand up, your legs wobbled. Your body felt completely wrecked. The only two things he seemed to leave behind in you was the ever-present shame buried deep inside, and his cum as well.

[geekfinsta]

Baby Face | Si-eun X Black!reader

At first it was odd being the only black girl in a Korean school, it was much different then American schools but soon I had gotten used to it, you made a few friends but not much which you didn’t mind cause you hated big friend groups but one of those friends was su-ho, it was lunch time so you started to head towards the cafeteria which all the rest of the students were either going or going somewhere else they had no business doing but that wasn’t your business.

As you were searching for suho, you heard your name getting called your eyes landed on suho and someone sitting across from you so you headed towards them smiling and greeting them “hi” I said and sat down beside suho.

“Your not eating lunch?” He ask eyeing you “why? So you can steal and eat it?” I narrowed my eyes at him, he huffed and rolled his eyes and he jumped “OH, sieun this is my girl best friend [ name ]” he introduced us, I looked at sieun and smiled “hi, I’m [ name ]”

He didn’t say anything but starred at me which I did the same analyzing his face “you gotta cute baby face” I said smiling, I saw him shift a little and his ears turned red “right, that’s what I thought” suho said with a mouth full of food “what I tell you about talking with food in your mouth?”

“Sorry mom” he said and continued to shove more food in his mouth “one day you gonna choke” I said putting my hands in my lap looking at him with a slightly disgusted look.

“You gonna save me?” He ask I didn’t say anything but stared at him “right?” “And if I say no?” “Sieun gonna save me” he shrugged “no I’m not” sieun said.

I started at him surprised and started laughing while suho threw a fit “ah, your not gonna safe me? I thought we were best friends” suho shook his head in disbelief, looked at me and sieun and shook his head again “what a shame” he said making me laugh.

“You laugh is cute” suho stopped what he was doing and looked at sieun, I slowly stopped laughing without smiling “you gotta cute baby” we starred at each other for a little while before suho said anything “if you guys are gonna flirt and eye fuck each other then do that somewhere else, I’m eating” I sigh and rolled my eyes “your always eating” “so? After school you guys wanna go out to eat”

“how can you talk about food while you’re eating?” Sieun eyed suho “why y’all on my dick?” He dropped his hands on the table looking at me and sieun, neither both of us answered but looked at each other.

I busted into giggles while sieun grinned and looked away trying not to laugh “what? What so funny?” Suho ask and I shook my head “nothing, just eat your food” “y’all never answered my question” “…which was?” He eyed me “can we go out for dinner after school” “yea sure”

Suho continued to eat while talking to us about nonsense, soon the bell had ring meaning lunched ended, we got up and started heading towards the exit of the cafeteria, “I’ll see you after school?” Suho ask with his arm around my shoulder looking down at me “I guess”

I sigh and shrugged his arm off my shoulder “bye suho” “bye shorty” he teased and I rolled my eyes and look at sieun “bye baby face” I smiled at him and entered my classroom.

“Dude she totally liked you” suho said as he putted his arm around sieun shoulder “don’t fool around” “I’m serious, she never talked to a guy like that, you should ask her out” sieun stopped walked and looked at suho “you know what you should do?” Suho didn’t say anything waiting for sieun to continue.

“Stop eating before you get bloated” and walked off as suho was left in shocked “at least I’m eating good” he yelled catching up to him as sieun mumbled a ‘whatever’ but sieun did think she was cute and pretty, when she came over to the table he felt his stomach filled with butterflies.

“She’s pretty” seiuen said referring to her, suho grinned at him “you two would make a great couple, the smart but serious psychopath, and the pretty pink bubbly smart but not so smart girl”

[d-lanx]

Ok here's a little thing i thought would fun for any artists to show off their progress at learning art (plus I'm nosey🤭).

Show off the oldest drawings you did (or the oldest that you can still find), the first things you were confident enough to upload online, and your most recent drawings and talk about them and show off how much you've progressed :)

Probably gonna end up missing some people, but I'm tagging a bunch of cool artists I follow/am mutuals with and am nosey to see how they started out, but no pressure :)

@fantasticalleigh, @thlayli-ra, @heelhausen, @stupidmarkzone, @2ndcitynightmare, @punk-o-ween, @normallypassingby, @tvheit, @seasonal-depression-of-punk

And if you wanna have a look at my old stuff, I've got it below =)

Oldest Drawings I Can Find

Of course, the first is an OC. Never did anything with her tho. Notice the lack of forehead and elbows, the arms that barely reach the hips, how indishtinguishable each part of the body is from one another. They're a perfectly smooth pole. and of course those wings. This is the first thing in my first proper sketchbook when I decided I was gonna start taking art more seriously. This would have been when i started secondary in 2014 at 11 years old. And I can't find anything from before that, since I never kept anything in a proper book/folder.

Second image is another of the first drawings in the book. It was my first closeup of a face, and also my first time drawing anime. I know I'm not the only artist who was desperate to learn to draw an anime-style as a kid. I remember doing this while on holiday, trying to follow an online tutorial, taking about 4 hours to get the outcome I did, and getting so frustrated that I couldn't get it to look right, that I was almost brought to tears. I'm pretty sure this was one of those "I'm never drawing again! >:(" moments, lol. Looking back, it was a pretty good first attempt. But I guess I was always a bit of a perfectionist, lol. Funnily enough, while I carried the anime eyes forward in my art style for years, to this day, I still can't draw a proper full anime style character.

First Drawings I Uploaded Online

I put these on insta to show my mates from school. The first picture was an attempt at a close up face with the new brush markers i'd got for christmas. This was 2017 just before i turned 14. Pretty sure I copied the design from an art tutorial book, that was supposed to be hyper-realistic (another christmas present). But I just couldn't bring that to life so just did what I could. Also, first time I used a signature. My signature's very different nowadays cos it's based on my tumblr username and not me actual name. But yeah. I was tryna get more professional I guess.

Second pic is the first full body piece I uploaded a few days later. Again, used the drawing books trying to learn how to draw flowy clothes. Think it was a book about drawing anime clothes that I used for this (another christmas present). By this point, each body part could move seperately and had joints. Also note the anime eyes, cos my simpler-but-still-anime-inspired eyes were something I stuck with a long ass time. This was the style I drew most often, and could usually do without having references (but obviously for this drawing specifically, I had the reference for the clothes). Had a lot of trouble with perspective, so all my characters faced forward, and later they would always face a 3/4 angle. And they could never lean or reach forwards cos I just couldn't get that to look right.

Most Recent Pieces

The most most recent is on the left, being my most recent closeup of a face. Still has a cartoonish edge with the lineart but much more realistic. And I'm fucking with this semi-realistic look atm. Tbh I dunno if i'd have the patience for the tiny details in hyperrealism. Also, fun story, in 2021 when I was doing my a-levels, I did an art piece that we were free to do in any style we wanted, and my teacher saw mine and was like “I wish you’d done it as realism instead of a cartoon style :(“ but it was actually my best attempt at realism and she hadn’t even realised. So I dunno, maybe I’m not cut out for realism 😂😂 I like my style rn tho so who cares

Then I got my most recent drawing of a (almost) full body. I got joints and decent hands and proportions and more body details.

Also this last year is the first time I've really got into digital. I always used to just do pen and paper. I even got a cheap drawing tablet, but couldn't get used to drawing on one surface and the image being up on a seperate screen. So I could never get the lines right. I did draw on my old ipad for a while which was easier, but the stylus was one of those with the thick rubber ball on the end, rather than a fine nib. Again, I had trouble cos I couldn't tell where it would register the contact with the screen and draw the line, which made it hard to do details. I got a new ipad a little while back that supports apple pencil, so I got one for it. And it's so much easier now that I've got a fine nib and can see where I'm drawing. I'm in love with drawing digital atm.

But yeah. That's how i've drawn over the years. Mental to see how much my style has changed and improved :) makes me feel better when I get frustrated with a drawnig and think I'm shit. Cos I know I'm getting better with each new drawing, even if it's only baby steps.

First: Now:

[alexanderwales]

Thoughts on Chilli, Northen Caves, and When I Win? Personally they're probably my favorite things on the whole list, but I feel like they never got as big a reception as a bunch of the other stuff. :(

The Northern Caves: I really really loved the first 80% of so of this. I grew up with forums and their particulars, the ways in which you'd come to know the personalities, and how the superfans would get into these long, drawn out debates that were steeped in the prior histories of conversations. There's something really magical about how TNC does this, and the "found media" elements work really well. It reminded me of the better parts of House of Leaves, I guess, and was also just hugely nostalgic (since I was in high school during the Forum Years). The philosophical stuff was also great, and the series they were reading felt rich, and nost is a great writer with wonderful prose. And then I just did not enjoy the ending at all. I think that in spite of that, I recommend it highly, and think it's one of the things on the webfic bingo card that's most worth reading.

Chili and the Chocolate Factory: I adored this one from start to finish, and also Dahl was one of the authors whose works I was steeped in growing up and also at the time it was coming out I was rereading a lot of Dahl's books with my son and also there are a few references to me and my discord server within the work. So I'm biased heavily in favor of this one, but I also also think that it's got this crazy energy to it, an insane density of ideas and weird things, and a wonderful sense of humor. Remy would probably hate to hear me say this, but I think he's one of the best writers I know. It's really really rare for me to read something and have so many individual pieces of it stick with me. I do wish that it were easier to get people on board with, because I have no clue how to pitch it to prospective readers.

When I Win: A few things here: I am just not a Pokemon guy. Red and Blue came out in 1998, when I was 12 years old, and everyone at my school was obsessed with it, and I just did not get into it, and had to suffer through a lot of Pokemon conversations I wasn't interested in. It's like the opposite of FOMO, then you wish that everyone would shut up about this thing you're "missing out" on. So whenever I read Pokemon fic, it's an uphill battle to care about the core thing, and I have enough Pokemon knowledge to get by, but sometimes it'll end up feeling like homework if I have to look up references or jokes or just understand things. Another thing is, I think Bavitz and I have very different tastes in character dialogue. I noticed this with Cockatiel x Chameleon too, and I suspect that when I get around to Bavitz's other stuff I'll see it there too. The differences in speech seem really exaggerated to me, blown out of proportion, idiolects heightened, and I think I've gotten in disagreements with people over whether this is actually true or not, but it's definitely how it feels to me. I found Cely in particular to be fairly grating whenever she spoke. This is a personal preference thing, and I don't know how much it generalizes to other people; I'm not sure that I've seen anyone else mention it, but I also haven't read a bunch of reviews.

So with that said, Bavitz is a skilled author who goes into a story with Something to Say, who milks the premise and theme for what it's worth, and brings a literary sense to his works. The fight scenes are really well done, even for someone like me who is not a Pokemon guy. There's a lot that I found interesting about competition and stagnation, the capture of competitive drive. Bavitz likes to think about the end of history a lot, and it shows here. It's thankfully a concept that I find interesting. I enjoyed the core relationship of Cely and Toril, it's a good, interesting dynamic. Without spoiling it, the ending worked well for me. Well worth reading.

[lynxgriffin]

I gotta be totally honest, I've just never cared about the "big" fandom memes. Maybe I'm too old for this or something, but just looking at it straight I'm like "...okay? Where's the funny part?" Like even the Ralsei with a gun or Ralsei with a giant blunt memes from back in the day never seemed like much to me. I DID see some folks who could pull off the memes and make them funny (lupusc's Cyber World animation featuring the Ralsei blunt meme made me laugh!) but most of the time they feel like a punchline without any setup.

But ehh, I'm probably just old, ignore me.

Transmasc Dess and asexual Asriel, GO!

I think no matter Susie wears, Noelle is going to think she looks hot in it! (Because she's both correct and has good taste)

I don't ever recall a character referring to the Knight as "he." I think it's pretty much only been "they" or "it." That seems to hint towards more going on with the Knight than just them being a particular person.

That said, once again: Transmasc Dess, GO!

"Bangin' sermon my man" was SUCH a good option, I was laughing so much.

And I DUNNO WHY YOU'D DRINK IT IN FRONT OF ALPHYS THAT IS MEAN. Like I know she's the teacher but that's just. So awkward!

Yes, I've watched the vid. Like I said last time, I'm sorry, but I remain unconvinced.

I think that mostly means I need to get around to playing Mother 3 soon.

I don't think boss monsters exist in Deltarune.

No, he was putting off those creepy stalker vibes in these chapters for sure. It was funny with the "eggs husband" joke in chapter two, like he did just run into her and tried to be funny about it. But him popping out of the bushes with the flowers she clearly didn't want? The "they'll all see and then we'll be a happy family again" business with the conspiracy corkboard? Come on dude, tone it down, because it's getting gross.

Maybe if he was a little easier than the secret bosses we DID get...

[6feathered6siren6]

part 2 of Haunting Parasite pretty pleaseee 🙏🙏

A Familiar Grin(Ronin x Reader) P2

Authors notes: Heres the comfort, but there is still angst in the beginning. And hehe reference to KDH, anyway enjoy, stay hydrated in this hot weather. o7

Trigger warnings:

I don't know if there should be any

--

A week after seeing you was just shitty, raining weather, his job got worse, full of Karens and cars not making sense, and then having you plaguing his mind. Ronin was not pleased, though, he had to test something. He grabs a copy of your book, he bought it when you were M.I.A., and heads to that cafe. If you were there, he would jog your memory. He will push that pressure on you, the writer and the muses they copied from, the danger of them learning of your actions. 

Leaving the cold rain into the warm cozy cafe, looking around, and there you were. You didn’t run off, his luck was there. He ordered, and fell back into his chair. Throwing the book onto the table, drifting and hitting your laptop, the cover was looking at you. The crowbar and aorta. The title, the author's name, the book. The one you wrote. 

You looked at him in fear, he knew that look, he savored that look. You opened your mouth but no words. So, he took charge. “I was your muse, and don’t try to run.” His voice was harsh, but he was really not in a good mood. 

He could see the gears turning, the pieces clicking in place. You know now. 

“Ro-... nin…” Your voice was shaky, small, like you wanted to shrink. You closed your laptop, trying to get up, but he held your wrist, your eyes looked into his dark ones. 

“The devil said stay, so sit.” He was really not in the mood. And you did, he let your wrist go, putting his hand back on his cup, drinking his order. “Y’know you worried the devil, ghosting him away. Thought you actually died. Taking the aorta that you gave me.” 

He could see you biting your lip, your eyes gaze away, guiltily. “I…”

He groans, pulling his beanie off and pushing his hand into his hair. “You really worried me, and the server, but I honestly think they decided to just forget you. They did worry as well, some more than others.” 

You can hear his voice lose his harsh tone. He pulled his beanie back on, correcting it. “I..” You paused. “I.. I was scared, Ronin. I didn’t want to be found out…” You look around, it was not as busy because of the rain so people could probably listen. “I couldn’t face any of you, I was just there for help with my novel. And… I thought I was fine to leave.”

“Not without a goodbye. You left without a word.”

You stayed quiet, picking at your laptop. 

The silence was loud.

It felt like hours but you finally broke the silence. “I’m sorry. Truely. I… I was thinking to myself, I didn’t mean to come off…”

He finished your sentence, “Greedy? Taking what you need and leaving?”

“Yeah…”

It was awkward. 

“Join the server again.” Ronin’s words stunned you. “Everyone would like to see you again, and…” 

But you look at him fully. You can see the cracks, you knew him before, you can see him. “Alright. I will.”

—

<General>

hitmeuppp: :OOOOO

hitmeuppp: ANGEL WE SHOULD MATCH

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: NO ONLY ME AND FELI CAN MATCH PFP

Felicity: Luca, stop gatekeeping.

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: 😠 NO

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: ONLY ME AND FELI

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: ME AND MY WONDERFUL GIRLFRIEND

hitmeuppp: HEY!! 

hitmeuppp: UNFAIR!!

Angelic: We can match, Misaki. <3

K9: I..

K9: I don’t understand the premise of this.

goreboy: you are So pretty Guarddog

hitmeuppp: OMG LOL

M.I.A[user]: So what did I miss?

hitmeuppp: READER?!?!?! 

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: OMG YOUR ALIVE

K9: It’s ‘you’re’.

K9: But it’s nice to see you again after your disappearance, hope everything is well on your side, Reader.

LUCA_IS_SO_COOL: IT’S BULLY LUCA HOURS ISN’T IT! 😠😠

Felicity: Always

Felicity: But, welcome back Reader!

Angelic: Hi, Reader, welcome back!! <3

-

You were back in video calls with Ronin, and there he was, sitting there in that familiar room. A small piece of you missed this. You know it won’t be the same as before, that small awkwardness was still there but it was slowly fading.

“So Darling, the gossip is that you are writing another novel, what is it about? The Devil gotta know what makes your eyebags worse per day.” Ronin said, his hands behind his head, that very familiar grin was there. 

“Demons in love with the ones who hunt them.” 

“Huh, sounds a bit.. familiar, tell me more.”

Your smile was big, and throughout the night you ranted to him about your new story. The night vibes weren't horrible instead the love that blossomed before, was beginning to fester again. Sure, the looming threat of you not being a killer was there again, but you had someone there, he might be also putting threats there, but you know he means otherwise.

[sonoranbumblebee]

Q. Why did Adam Shapiro call Carmy?

A. Adam called Carmy to taunt him. Shapiro clearly suffers from insecurity and envy generally, and insecurity and envy in reference to Carmy specifically, and thus he felt some totally bizarre self-sabotaging need to tell Carmy about what he was trying to do to/with Syd. Under the guise of "professional courtesy," Shapiro called Chef Berzatto to crow that he was courting Carm's mildly disgruntled/estranged "friend that's a girl"/wife/chef de cuisine, and she was in fact considering the offer.

My instinct is that Shapiro somehow felt that toying with Syd made him equals with Carmy; they were just two chummy Chicago restaurant barons running people like pieces on a chess board. Adam Shapiro absolutely did want it to be some "gross poaching" because to him that felt like a win against Carm.

In regards to Shapiro's decision to make this call, I must to quote the great philosopher-concubine Vivian Ward: "Big mistake. Big. Huge."

(1) Carm's brain: How dare you?

(2) Carm's brain: I'm going to tear you into a thousand pieces.

(3) Carm's brain: Syd? My wife Syd? And you? That can't be right. Maybe I'm finally having a stroke.

(4) And then...and then, and then, and then, our famously histrionic manchild did not freak out. He was being baited, and he did not bite. He just took that little scrap of information, dismissed Shapiro like the irrelevance that he is, and started reacting internally, rather than externally.

(5) On the Syd front, he took it as seriously as a heart attack. I think on one level he thought maybe she should go, because if it made her happy, that was the important thing. But then he thought about Syd for a minute, and considered what he knew about Shapiro, and took a moment to grieve for what he had wanted for himself, and then began preparing a way for her to have her cake and eat it too.

(6) He knows he's forever employable. What had been a decade-long, all-encompassing dream transitioned in a moment into something he held as precious as dust. The Bear suddenly became just a building where Syd lived. "It's just a stupid restaurant I don't even need it." If she needs space, she can have it. If he is of no use to her, he might as well get out of the way and let her cook. She can keep the house and the kids and also he's going to send her embarrassing amounts of alimony, and maybe, one day, if he's good enough, she'll let him have visitation.

(7) Baby never imagined that he was filing divorce papers first and totally blindsiding her. Does Carmy even actually know that Syd turned down Shapiro? Would Shapiro have gloated about that? Probably not. Their final fight might have been different if she had shared that information, and it definitely would have been different if Carmy had succeeded in telling her about the partnership agreement plan on his own terms. It could have been presented a lot of different ways, but the way it was revealed, all she could feel was her nightmare coming true: they couldn't make this work, she wasn't good enough, she failed somehow, he had to leave for something better, and this was the end of the road for them.

It's fine though.

The heart-rending breakup fight was the first time in...ever?...that either of them, either together or separately, were so terrified and hopeless and uninhibited that they could say anything to each other without risking it all. Since it was all falling apart anyway, fuck it. They've both been gagging on the fullness of their unspoken feelings for a long long time, and if this brought a few of those emotions into the light and the air, it's only for the good.

[yunwangja]

merit | the bros

masterlist

the bros

2nd year college students

keiji akaashi

the nerd

the smart nerd

taking up cognitive science (like most of yn's group), language & cognition track

his parents are perfectionists; it does come from an unhealthy way but he says he can handle their expectations

i mean he’s smart and he already does well but being at the first in everything isn’t really his goal. he just does it for his parents

he wants to do well to satisfy his parents, so they won’t be able to say anything

his parents are protective of him - very aloof of other people around him

even his friends - they all had to meet them in person and make sure they weren’t "bad influences"

they’re uptight but once you satisfy their requests then they’ll let him off (hence how he approaches their expectations)

at first, he didn’t really care about his rivalry with yn

but of course since his parents would comment about it he would be more aggressive. yn then got challenged and being the girl she is, she provoked him

so it brought out the competitiveness in him too. so honestly he views it as a game that he wants to do better at to piss off yn

(little did he know…)

koutaro bokuto

akaashi’s bestie as motherfreakinalways and his roommate

he just always brings out the best in akaashi yk

especially during times where he gets too overworked with everything

taking up sport science (yes, same as noya !!!) so they're friends

bo helps him have fun in univ

takes him to parties, to… other people lol

doesnt study a lot but surprisingly does well

he just has a diff learning style !

honestly at first because yn is very competitive, he was concerned

“why is she so pressed about this? she should enjoy it more” like he wanted her to chill like genuinely LOL

well people could easily misunderstand her passion it’s literally how she enjoys it

also friends with tsukki (together with kuroo)

tetsuro kuroo

yk what he's taking? biochemistry

he calls himself the cool nerd

ever the chaotic one

always backs up bo because theyre like <3

he always says what akaashi is afraid to say

he’s like akaashi’s inner voice (but he doesn’t listen to him usually)

he is practically smart and a really good leader

is really a nerd and very curious about stuff that he wants to ask help and learn from akaashi at times

but he is the type who’s afraid to ask for help at first (omg undercurrents reference? jk)

akaashi would see through him though and offer help himself :p

since the two’s rivalry started he’d provoke yn so bad

he’d provoke her as if he’s the one who has a rivalry with her

“lol keiji’s better than u get a life”

kinda partners with oikawa on this

kenma kozume

the usual, the gamer

in this world he's a gamedev major (he stayed true to it)

most smart and really good at things he is interested in

he can occasionally keep up with akaashi

ofc close with kuroo, also roommates with him

bc of that, he shuts him up and oikawa when they’re being too crazy

has a soft heart for bo though

he’d never scold him. because he knows he’s a good soul

and believes kuroo and oikawa isn’t

the next calmest person after akaashi

he doesn’t really care about the rivalry

never told anyone but he has a gut feeling they’d get together

honestly respects yn, though he think she’s too passionate so he doesn’t talk to her a lot (at first)

his social energy can only do so much

tooru oikawa

the popular one

a marketing major

he is smart but he really isn’t much ambitious as yn and akaashi academically so

also acts like akaashi's #1 fan

“omg YAY you beat yn”

besties with iwa duh

they were supposed to be roommates but they had a miscommunication

so here’s the thing, iwa rented a single room dorm in the same building THEN oikawa decides to rent a double room without telling iwa coz he assumed he would say yes unconditionally but iwa already deposited and it was a waste to give it up so…

(for the plot the contract there is annual so)

they do hang out in oikawa’s very spacious dorm though. he didn’t get another roommate bc he says it’s reserved for iwa and iwa only (okay guy with a gf)

but his gf does come over a lot bc of that

i keep doing things like this for oikawa for my smaus but

he actually asked out yn when their first semester as freshmen but got rejected LOL

kuroo would bring this up every now and then esp with the rivalry

not bitter about it though (anymore)

esp bc he has a girlfriend from another univ !

note: these are how i envisioned them to be when i started forming this smau. but along the way, there might be times their personalities may shift a little and/or expand more. just wanted you guys to take note of this in case i forget some of the details i wrote down here or make something along the way that might not be written here. but rest assured the core of their personalities will be consistent throughout !

and another note about my research... i apologize in advance for any inconsistencies just in case omg idk much about medical fields and stuff i suck at science too. i know i brought this on myself but yeah. i barely understood whatever i researched <3 i keep putting out disclaimers because i'm scared to make a mistake and what if one of y'all is a really smart person... LOL

taglist: @lvtilzs @tojirin @mayyhaps @tenjikusstuff4 @3lectraheart @kaikaidenkai @avis-writeshq @x3nafix @reverd-ck @mintynoo @loveyislost @nishinoyaismycutie @applepi-05 @cupidsblonde @kokoiinuts @kagtobis @oneanabillion @sapph1r3x

[yall-batman-fanfic]

Prom | Batsis x Terry McGinnis/Batman (ft. Batmom x Batman)

Note: Part of the Continuity or the Original Storyline of Bruce Wayne /Batman x Vivian Pryor Synopsis: Terry gets ready for prom and learned that Valerie Wayne never went to one. 

The Batjet came back from a night of patrol and fighting criminals in the streets of Gotham. Another night—rather, morning—of Batman finishing the job. Jumping out of the cockpit, Terry pulled off the cowl and faced Bruce who didn’t wait from his cozy seat by the Batcomputer where Valerie was still working and asked him about tonight’s patrol.

Terry gave his report, a couple of Jokerz causing trouble, then he got something from the Royal Flush Gang starting something big. He caught them stealing some battery that he still doesn’t know what for.

“But I did get a sample that Penny can work on,” Terry tossed the small object that resembled a test tube with metal holders at the ends. Valerie caught it with ease and inspected it with magic.

“I’ll start on the research, run some tests and cross reference on our previous cases on the Royal Flush Gang to see what it does,” said Valerie.

“Do that tomorrow, you need to get some sleep. You got classes later,” Bruce told her.

“Let me just start on the diagnostics,” Valerie hit the last key and then placed it in what Terry believes to be a bulletproof glass that had the scanner and away from the computer.

“A little over the top don’t you think?” Terry raised a brow at her.

“Leave that thing exposed to high temperature or even having it crushed to the ground would mean an explosion.”

“Is’t a bomb?!”

“Not quite. You said you got this from Powers’ Factory, just last week Powers’ recalled a bunch of batteries because they’re actually mini bombs that are waiting to explode. There’s even a video of kids throwing the damn things around and making explosions left and right. For safety reasons, I placed it in a chamber where I can manipulate the temperature and where it won’t be thrown around like a firecracker.”

Bruce turned to him and said: “And you had that in the front pocket of your utility belt?”

“I didn’t know!” Terry exclaimed.

Bruce sighed. “Good job, Penny. But have the Batcomputer do its job for the rest of the day. Go to bed, you got tests tomorrow.”

Valerie got up from her chair and stretched. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night, McGinnis.”

“Actually about that. I was wondering if I can come in a little later?” Terry asked.

“Why?” Bruce’s voice was a little sharper than it should.

“My friends and I are going out to look for suits for prom.”

“Prom?” Valerie repeated. “You’re going to prom. I didn’t know you dance, McGinnis.”

“I do more than just fight crime, Princess.”

“You’d do anything but fight crime.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Terry glared at her.

“Take the night, I’ll take tomorrow night’s patrol,” Valerie shrugged.

“Really?” 

“Yeah. I’ll just study your latest recordings to see what you left off. I’m going upstairs. Night, Dad,” Valerie placed a kiss on her father’s cheek then ran up the stairs to the clock entrance.

“Night!” Terry called out to her but Valerie ignored her. Did he do something wrong?

Bruce sighed. “It’s nothing personal. Take the night off tomorrow night and the night of your prom. Val and I will work on the case then.”

He hated it when the father and daughter did that. The whole “you’re not taking this seriously” and “we can do this without you” tone.

“If you don’t want me to go, just say it,” Terry snapped.

With furrowed brows, Bruce said to him, “We mean it this time, Terry. You don’t get to go to these things twice, you know. Go and enjoy it. Don’t forget to lock up when you leave.”

What just happened?

~ * ~

Terry never liked shopping but he can’t just go to prom with Dana wearing a cheap suit. But he’s been going through the rack and all he could see were bad fits, and the ones that actually look good were way out of his budget. Maybe he’ll just get this one—

“Hey Val, isn’t he your Dad’s assistant?”

The mention of the name had Terry raise his head like a meerkat and turn to the direction where he heard it. Following the sound of Bunny Vreeland’s voice, he saw the two young women standing at the aisle—Valerie Pryor-Wayne and Bunny Vreeland, with the latter holding a dress cover with her purchase inside.

“Yeah he is,” Val said. “Hey, Terry, shopping for prom?”

“Yeah, what are you two doing here?” Terry left his little group and approached them.

“Bunny was shopping for prom too. Gotham Academy’s hosting theirs too.”

“What about you? Gonna go shopping too? I heard Gotham Academy’s open to everyone as long as they’re invited by the student or a chaperone.”

“See, I told you!” Bunny shook Valerie’s arm. “Come on, let’s get you a dress and you can come with me!”

“Bunny, you already have a date to the prom!” Valerie laughed. 

“He’s a student so he gets to get in, so I can bring you! Come on, Val,” Bunny turned to Terry and said, “She hasn’t gone to prom because of her acceleration. And this could be her last chance to go.”

“You never been to prom?” Terry turned to Valerie who avoided his gaze. 

“Yeah, skipping a couple of grades has its downside, and when there is a prom my family has a thing to do.”

By thing she meant vigilante and hero stuff.

“Help me to convince her to go to prom,” Bunny told Terry. “We still have a couple of days before then.”

“Even if I do go, it’d be too late by then. I won’t have a dress and it’s just a hassle. I’m fine, Bunny.”

Bunny pouted and hugged Valerie’s arm. Valerie sighed and patted Bunny’s head. “I’m heading home. See you tomorrow, McGinnis.”

Valerie didn't wait for him to say goodbye and left with Bunny, promising to treather to some ice cream before they head home.

Terry didn't wait until tomorrow night to see Valerie. Despite what Bruce said about him taking the night off to look for his suit, he went to Wayne Manor; he surprised Bruce and Vivian who were having dinner together in the kitchen instead of their large dining room, when they asked why he was there he said that shopping didn't go as planned and he was ready to start his patrol. Before he went down though, Vivian asked if he could bring with him Valerie's dinner which was set on a tray about to float down to the Cave.

In the cave, he saw Valerie Wayne deep in work. She was already wearing her Red Bat uniform, but for the cowl and the red coat, while she watched the videos from his cowl's feed last night and while waiting for the report being made on the batteries that the Royal Flush Gang stole.

“Somebody ordered room service?” Terry called out, grabbing her attention.

“I thought you have shopping to do?” Valerie turned to him.

“Yeah but nothing looked good, I thought I might head here and try again tomorrow. Mrs. Wayne asked me to bring you this, she also told me to tell you to have dinner before heading out… but considering I'm here, you can stay in and have your full dinner and I'll head out.”

“I'm heading out once I finish this and once the report is done,” Valerie told him. “Go home, Terry. I can handle this.”

Terry threw his bag on the bench and leaned on the Batcomputer. He watched as she ate her dinner while working. Again. “What is it with Waynes and the whole ‘I work alone’ when clearly, you don't. Batman doesn't, even when he says he does. And you don't.”

“I didn't say I work alone, I'm telling you to go home and prepare for prom.”

“And what about you? Aren't you going?”

Valerie scoffed. “GU doesn't have prom.”

“But Bunny Vreeland was asking you to go with her.”

“Well, Bunny has a date.”

“Scared that no one is going to dance with you?”

“I just don't want to ruin the night Bunny's date has planned out for them.” She was dodging the question. Typical for a Wayne. Which also means  she was. The old Terry would have pushed on that topic more, teased her until she snaps. But the new Terry could see it was a sensitive topic for Valerie. The woes of accelerating grades, she said then, but after working with her, getting to know her for these past months, he knew it was more than that.

“Just out of curiosity, did you ever want to go to prom?” Terry asked her.

Valerie finished eating her grilled chicken before answering, “As much as it looks like I'm this person who doesn't give two shits about stupid things like prom because my dad was Batman, yeah I thought about it. When I was a kid, I would always watch my mom get ready for galas. I love it when she wears those beautiful gowns and then style her hair and put on those jewelries. It looked like she was transforming to something even more beautiful.

“Sometimes she would let me help out with fixing her hair or her jewelry, and when she does she would let me wear some of hers too. I would always beg them to let me go to the galas because I wanted to dress up like her, to be as beautiful as her, but they would always say I was still too young and when I get older I'd get to wear beautiful dresses like her and she'd fix my hair.

“Then highschool came, and the idea of prom came to mind. We were excited about it, but then I got accelerated two levels, and I was the youngest in a batch of eighteen-year-olds and no one would dare ask out a sixteen-year-old to prom, especially when it's Bruce Wayne's daughter. I would have made an excuse to not go but then thank the Kryptonians because they reached out to ask for help.”

Well, that's just sad, Terry thought. “If you always wanted to go then why don't you? Bunny is asking you to go with her and I'm sure someone there would ask you for a dance.”

“I know you're just trying to cheer me up but I don't know any of those people aside from Bunny and her boyfriend. All my life the kids my age I know are within the Justice League and some of Mom's weird friends, and that's it. It was one crisis after the other for me, even from the moment I was born. Was it a lonely life? A little but that's just how things were then. And I learned how to be content with it. So I don't need your pity.”

Valerie put on her cowl and her coat. She then grabbed the report, swiping it to transfer to her cowl's AI, then she snapped her fingers to get her keys. “Go home, Terry. I'll take tonight's patrol, and until you find your tux for prom. And then prom. But you owe me for those nights, got it?”

Despite the grim talk earlier, Terry chuckled and said, “Yeah, got it… good luck out there, Bat.”

Valerie revved the engine of her motorcycle, gave him a mocking salute, and then drove off.

Just as he thought there would be a slight sense of normalcy in the Waynes, he was yet again proven wrong. As Terry walked up the stairs with Valerie's empty plates, he came to a pause just as he came out of the clock and saw Vivian Pryor-Wayne standing there with a sad smile.

Terry sighed again. “I guess you heard everything.”

“A little,” Vivian shrugged. “But Bruce heard most of it. He's not moping in our bedroom.” She snapped her fingers and the tray floated out of his hands and to the kitchen. “So, you’re having trouble with finding a suit?”

“Yeah, I might check out another shop tomorrow.”

“Or we can check some now.”

“I think the stores are closed now, Mrs. Wayne,” he chuckled.

Vivian looked past him, he followed her gaze and it came to one of the family photos that hung on the mantle. Specifically one where the whole family wore formal attire---the men wore their suits, and the women and Valerie wore expensive looking dresses and suits.

“I think you're just about Damian's size when we took that photo.”

“How old was he then?”

“Twenty,” Vivian’s smile grew. “He was a very lean kid, had build up muscle just to be as big as Jason. Come on, I still have his things in his old room.”

Vivian wasn't kidding about keeping Damian's room as it was when the youngest Robin lived there. The room was simple, too clean for a teenage boy, but Terry took note of the sketches that were pinned on the walls. They were pretty good, he thought as he looked at each one, until he saw what looked like child's drawing amongst the realism portraits and landscapes. Drawn with crayon and a clumsy hand, Terry could make out that the two potatoes were Robin and a little girl, then on top there was a short message: Happy Birthday, Damian. Love, Val.

“And I thought Val started drawing car engines at four,” he mused.

From the closet, Vivian said, “Oh, she tried drawing them. When she was five, Bruce bought her a project car that they can work on. Since then, she started drawing parts of the car. Her works looked like Picasso but as she grew older her works got better.”

“Like Da Vinci-good?”

“You could say that,” Vivian came out with the suit. “You can change in there, then come out so I know how I'll fix it.”

“You don't have to do that, Mrs. Wayne.”

“Terry, no one is ever going to wear this suit. You'll be doing this old woman's heart a favor to see it be used by someone she trusts.”

He was touched by her words, and maybe it was hearing it that Terry gave in and went to change into the suit. Coming out of the walk-in closet, he stood before Vivian and showed her how it looked. The suit was a little bigger than they thought but it only needed minor adjustments to fit him, especially for the sleeves and pant length. The tape measures and pins magically came and did the work. It took his measurements and marked how much was needed to be reduced to make the suit fit him well.

“Sometimes I wonder if the way we chose to live our life took so much from Valerie,” Vivian began. “When was a baby, many wanted a piece of her. The people of Gotham wanted to see Bruce Wayne's daughter. Then when she was one, another variant of Thomas Wayne came and terrorized our family for months. He held us both hostage, I was in a glass dome then and he spent time with his granddaughter. Then she grew up a couple of years, then there was Dracula, that was on me. Then a couple of kidnappings. Then Hush came and that really, really scarred her life.”

“Hush? I read about him in the Batcave. There's an entry about Bruce crushing his hands,” Terry turned to Vivian with furrowed brows.

“Hush wanted revenge on both Batman and Bruce Wayne. And he knew that the only way to do it is by getting to me and Val. He took my heart hostage and Val he… for years, Val has been struggling with that trauma. And part of me thinks she still hasn't healed for it… then to make things worse, a Nightmare from my father took her soul hostage and trapped her in an endless nightmare in Hush's lab where he was harvesting her organs everyday. 

“My baby girl, she barely had most of her teeth out and yet she experienced all of those things… there's just so much that happened in her life that Bruce and I became protective. Her brothers trained her, so did Bruce. And I taught her magic… then when she was thirteen, the Falcones attacked the car she and her grandfather were in. She saw her grandfather die in her arms. 

“I’m not saying that Val had it worse than you, Terry. No. Losing your father is still a huge loss, and it's something that no one ever wants for you or any other kid out there. It's just, there are times when I wonder if we were right to not take the chance to start again elsewhere.”

“I understand. I just didn’t realize she had to miss out on a lot of things. I always had this image that she’s got it all.”

The suit was finished with marking the adjustments and Vivian went to see for herself. “Even the richest man doesn’t have it all.”

“I guess you’re right about that too. Aside from Mr. Wayne’s folks, I read about what happened to yours too. Your mother. I guess we all have that in common. It always starts with death.”

Vivian smiled. “Well, I won’t blame her for everything that’s happened. And I won’t say death follows us all… I’d say tragedy does. To live a hero’s life means to be a hero in a tragedy. What do you think about that?”

Terry almost laughed at the sudden shift of the conversation. He looked at the suit’s fit and said, “It looks great. Like it wasn’t an old, borrowed, suit.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s Armani you’re wearing.”

“What?”

“Well, take it off, I’ll have it ready by tomorrow for you. And don’t worry about sending it to the drycleaning, I’ll take care of it. You’ll be getting the whole service package.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Wayne” — Terry paused before he could enter the walk-in closet — “Mrs. Wayne, can I ask you another favor?”

“Anything.”

~ Prom Night ~

If Terry had the receipts of the favors he’s asked the Waynes, he’d probably be in debt until he was in his grave. Just before he went to prom, Terry thought of seeing the Waynes to check up on them. He was still Bruce Wayne’s assistant, and checking in on him is the least he could do. Arriving at the Manor, after being subjugated to Valerie’s endless teasing with him wearing a suit, and then Damian Wayne identifying the suit he was wearing was actually his one, Bruce and Vivian surprised him with a little something.

“You’re letting me drive your car?” Terry caught the keys Bruce tossed him. It was the keys to the black 1972 Dodge Charger.

“The theme of the prom is vintage, and I think it suits it well,” Vivian shrugged.

“You’re being too nice to him,” Damian told Vivian.

“It’s actually my car, McGinnis,” Valerie told him.

“You’re always welcome to drive me to prom, Princess,” Terry teased her.

Valerie raised her middle finger. “Screw you. I’m gonna get ready for patrol.”

“You know there’s still time for you to change your mind!”

“Not one scratch. I mean it!”

“Look who you’re talking to—I’m a great driver!”

Bruce raised a brow. “The batmobile would beg to differ.”

“Alright, time for you to go before you’re late,” Vivian fixed the lapels of his tux, and with magic she conjured a corsage. “Have fun tonight, Terry. But not too much fun.”

“I will. Thank you, Mrs. Wayne.”

Getting in the car, which he now figured out was parked outside for him, Terry took one last look of the family standing at the porch and drove away for prom. 

With Terry gone, Valerie went straight to the cave and went for her patrol. She’s going to cover a lot of ground tonight.

~ * ~

The lead that Damian told her about was outside of Gotham, following the road of New Jersey to Long Island. It was an odd call from her older brother, but he sounded… like the usual Damian who is behind the Batcomputer who is all “just do what I tell you to.”

Now here she was, riding her motorcycle by the cliffs that had the view of the coastline and ten minutes from her destination, and Damian telling her that the target was down at the beach. 

“Would have appreciated the heads up early on, big brother,” Valerie told him.

“You whine too much,” Damian said back. “And don’t even think about–”

Too late. Valerie took the next rough road that was heading down the beach. The path was steep and reckless to take. Any untrained rider or mountain bike rider would have fallen off the cliff and died but Valerie was not untrained, her family made share she was well equipped to handle these things before letting her do the hero-vigilante work. 

“You’re grounded,” Damian told her.

“You’re not Mom.”

“I have special power of Mom.”

Valerie laughed and added more power, speeding up as she descended the cliff and was now riding the beach. As she neared the location being shown in her cowl, Valerie prepared her staff and had electricity flow from her hand to it and ready to strike the opponent. But as she came to the sight, she hit the brakes hard and put down the staff.

“Terry?” She said.

Terry McGinnis, leaning on the ‘72 Dodge Charger, waved at her and said, “Hi.”

“You’re the lead—what happened to prom? Where’s the guy who…” 

“It’s two in the morning. Prom ended, like, three—four hours ago.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Good question,” Terry went to the boot of the car and pulled out a black dress cover that hung on a hanger. Valerie didn’t have to ask what it was, she knew that dress hanger anywhere. It was the same one that her mother had in the master bedroom closet, the red one, the  fitted, cap-sleeve, gown made of ottoman silk. Valerie liked seeing her mother wear that. 

Though she knew the risk, Valerie took off her cowl and the earpiece to face him properly. “What about patrol?”

“Red Robin has been patrolling since midnight. Gotham’s in good hands.”

“What about your date?”

“Dana went to an afterparty.”

“Shouldn’t you be there? It’s prom night.”

Terry shrugged. “Yeah, but I guess I’m lucky to go to prom twice. Well?”

She opened her mouth and closed it as thought for a while about what to say. “Did my Mom set you up to this?”

“Actually it was my idea. The dress was hers though. Come on, Princess. Time is ticking, put on the dress and let’s go to prom.”

Maybe it was the adrenaline still in her body from the ride to here, but Valerie was sure her heart was beating faster than usual. It wasn’t like how she was in training, patrols, her runs, or even in actual fights. This was different. It felt different and just…

For the first time, Valerie felt the blood rush up to her face, so she looked away.  

“We’re not leaving until we do this.”

“Just give me the damn dress!” Valerie snatched it from him and marched to the bushes where she knew he won’t see her get changed. Not that she needed to go through the long process of doing so since she had magic but it was still weird to do it in front of him.

Coming out of the bushes, Valerie threw her equipment at Terry, catching him off guard, it was only when he got it in the trunk did he see how she looked. It wasn’t the first time he saw Valerie Wayne dress up, but this was different. Hair shiny and curled with waves while being accented by a robin jewel hair ornament, her face wearing just the right amount of make-up for the night with her lips painted with a dark shade of red. She wore the same pendant but this time she was wearing it as a choker than the usual long chain. Then the dress… The dress fitted perfectly on her, showing the curves of her bust before it reached the skirt that spread out, like those large dresses with many layers, but this didn’t have many layers.

“Wow, you look great,” Terry chuckled.

“Thanks,” Valerie looked away from him.

“Oh, here,” He reached in the car again and pulled out a corsage. “I know you and your mom hate it when people pick flowers.” It was a corsage made out of shells. “Don’t ask how I did it…”

There was an Atlantean who saw him picking shells and trying to make a necklace. They saw his work was so bad that they decided to help him out.

“It’s really beautiful. Thanks, Terry,” Valerie lets him place it on her.

“While you were getting changed, I set this up for us. See, it’s a full prom!” On the hood of the car, with a blanket on the surface as protection, Terry had canned drinks, a couple take-away burgers and fries, and then an old-school radio. “We got drinks and food and music,” he turned the knob to get a signal and…

It started playing a song that was jazz and blues. 

It reminded them of the record that Bruce would always play in the living room.

“Well, Princess?” Terry offered his hand to her.

“You know how to dance to that?” Valerie took his hand.

“I’m a fast learner.”

“Okay, McGinnis,” She laughed.  Valerie circled him with his hand still holding hers, when she pulled out, Terry instinctively pulled her back in and kept the rhythm. 

“I guess rich-girls have special dance classes,” he teased.

“Would you believe me that it was my Dad who taught me?” she got out of his chest and led them through the dance. She held her dress as she danced, helping it give an illusion of the music flowing through them in each twirl and step, and every grain of sand that flew as they stepped and skidded. Terry held her hand the entire time and his smile never faltered, and to surprise her he even dipped her back a little too.

That made Valerie laugh. Both of them did.

The song soon changed to something more slow and fitting for the night. This time, it was Terry who led the dance. Placing her hands on his shoulders, and his hands on her waist, he had them sway to the music.

“How was it? Prom, I mean,” Valerie asked him suddenly.

“It was fun, but I think it would have been more fun if you were there,” he admitted.

She wanted to ask about his girlfriend but Valerie decided to save it for another time and just live this moment now. Though she knew it was wrong, Valerie rested her head on his shoulder and just let Terry take the lead this time.

~ * ~

Above the beach, sitting at a private table for two in the Black Bird restaurant. Bruce and Vivian watched as Valerie danced with a boy they never thought would ever be part of their lives yet here he was. 

“This takes me back to our first date,” Bruce smiled at the sight of his daughter enjoying the night.

Vivian smiled but that soon disappeared. “I remember that too… oh, Bruce, we made so many mistakes with her. I’m just glad she still knows how to smile and enjoy life.”

“I know, my love,” Bruce reached out to kiss her hand. He then stood up, still holding her hand, and gestured for them to the open floor. “I want to see if I can still make my wife smile and blush like we were in our twenties.”

She was already blushing. Vivian took his cane and had it lean on the table before joining Bruce to the center where she held him, and he held her, and they swayed to the music that came from Terry’s radio down the cliff.

[bellaurfavhoe]

Beg For It

Rafe Cameron x Reader (F!Reader)

Warnings: MDNI! absolutely filthy smut, Rough sex, choking, spit, degradation, praise, fingering, oral (f receiving), overstimulation, dominance/submission, possessive behavior, light slapping, spanking, name-calling, aftercare

– Slight manipulation/control themes (consensual)

– Reader referred to with she/her pronouns

– Unsafe sex (wrap it before you tap it!)

---

You barely got the door shut before Rafe had you pinned against it, hands gripping your wrists above your head like he owned your body. His mouth crashed into yours, teeth clashing, tongue insistent. He tasted like trouble — mint, weed, and danger — and he knew it.

“You’ve been ignoring my texts,” he growled against your lips, dragging his mouth down your neck. “That cute little act ends now.”

Your breath hitched, but you didn’t answer. You knew better — this version of Rafe didn’t want words. He wanted obedience.

“You think you can play games with me, baby? Huh?” He grabbed your jaw, forcing your eyes on his. “You think I won’t fuck that brat right out of you?”

Then came the slap — a quick, hot sting across your cheek. Your gasp just made him smirk.

“That’s what I thought.”

Clothes came off in messy, impatient tugs. He bent you over the edge of your couch without another word, one hand tangled in your hair, the other trailing down the curve of your back to your ass.

“You’re dripping,” he laughed darkly, two fingers dragging through your folds. “Did ignoring me turn you on? That desperate for my cock, baby?”

You moaned — needy, aching — and he rewarded you with two fingers sliding inside, curling wickedly.

“Beg for it.”

“Rafe—”

He slapped your ass, hard. “Try again.”

“Please, Rafe. I want you—need you—fuck me, please.”

He groaned, the sound feral, and shoved his fingers deeper. “So fucking needy. You are mine, you know that? Just a dumb little toy for me to use.”

You whined as he pulled away and lined himself up. “Look at me while I ruin you.”

He slammed into you, no warning, no hesitation. Just raw, brutal pace from the first thrust. You clawed at the cushions, legs trembling already.

“That’s right,” he grunted, pulling your hair back so he could watch your expression twist. “Take it. Be a good girl and take it.”

You could barely breathe — every thrust knocked the air from your lungs, every slap of skin a filthy symphony of obsession and power. He slapped your ass again, rougher this time.

“You love this,” he growled. “Being used. Being mine.”

Your orgasm hit hard, fast, like lightning through your spine. Rafe didn’t stop — he never stopped. He fucked you through it, laughing low as you writhed under him.

“One’s not enough. You’re gonna cum again. And again. Until you’re fucking crying.”

You did. Twice more.

By the time he finished — thick ropes of cum painting your thighs, your body limp and wrecked — you couldn’t even speak. He carried you to the bed, whispering filth and praise in equal measure as he cleaned you up.

“You did so good for me, baby. So fucking perfect.”

And then, gentle fingers through your hair.

“Mine. Always.”

"Yours, always, baby," you say, tiredly with a small smile on your face.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

It’s not that when he’s talking about “The Bear” he means “the restaurant”, but that he also means “himself” and he wants to separate himself from the restaurant because that’s what’s killing him (according to him). Because he doesn’t know what he is without it, away from it. OK. That’s one thing, and it can also be explained by his workaholism (and soulmatism), which began before they met. The real conflict in his rhetoric is that now, now that she’s in his life, when he thinks of the restaurant, when he talks about The Beef and The Bear, he also means her. He can’t separate her from any of those concepts either, neither in his head nor in his ❤️. And since it’s established that when he talks about the restaurant, he’s referring to it as an extension of himself, that not only means he sees and feels her as an extension of himself at this moment (and wants to stop liking it, as he admitted) but also that all the things he said about her impact on that place, are actually the effect she has on him, and I quote: “This is starting to gel, starting to feel alive… would jump in front of a fucking train for you right now… any chance of any kind of good in this building, started when you walked in and any possibility of it surviving, is with you.” Reminder: the building is the restaurant, the restaurant is The Bear, The Bear is not just himself but also her.

Why did you know I was talking about Syd and Carmy all along? I didn’t mention any names.

Exactly.

[summercreolefanfictioner]

07. of ikebana and messy rouge stains

Valentine's Day came, and Toge rushed to get ready after practice, making sure he was styling his hair in a way that would complement his features. This time, he opted for a simple face mask that he could easily remove when he's eating food (or talking with her—gosh, he missed talking with her). Once he was done with his hair, he looked at himself in the tall mirror. His outfit was a simple long-sleeved white dress shirt underneath a black cardigan with matching dark pants and white sneakers. He didn't seemed overdressed, so he decided this would go.

There was a knock on his door.

"Toge, are you ready?" Gojo asked from the other side.

Toge casually opened his door and nodded, stepping out and pretending he was calm even though he was a nervous wreck. He casually invited Y/N out on Valentine's Day just because it was expected of them (although the elders have no idea they were having this date right now), and now he is thinking of what exactly people do on February 14th. Do they just eat somewhere or walk around? Where do they flirt without getting caught? Are they just gonna watch the sunset? If they kiss, will it lead to something else?

Toge wanted to punch himself.

What the hell! Stop thinking about sex.

Seeing his distressed expression, Gojo slapped him in the back so hard he felt a bone or two crack.

"Relax, Toge. You will do fine!" Gojo barked a laugh as Toge straightened. "Don't want to look pathetic in front of your beloved lady luck, you know."

After that, Ijichi dropped him off at the central park near the mall. "I'll just text you once we're heading back, okay?" Gojo informed.

Toge nodded, saving his number to be sure.

"Be careful!" his teacher said, then leaned down to whisper. "Use protection if you must."

The Cursed Speech user frowned. "Ikura."

Once Gojo left, Toge sat on the nearby bench and ruffled his hair in annoyance. He watched the other couples around him and took mental notes for reference, with some of them either beginning their own journey while some were not on the safer side of things (let's just say Toge thinks they weren't in sync or having problems.) A few minutes after, Y/N ran towards him, panting to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry! I had to run errands with the student council," she informed, sitting beside him as she schooled her nervousness. She scolded herself mentally for not taking a bit of time to make herself pretty for him, seeing how Toge dressed himself up in casual wear.

Why did he have to look so good? she frowned, unaware of how Toge was so fascinated with her at this moment. I should've borrowed a bit of makeup from my friends. No. That won't work. No one can find out about this.

Meanwhile, Toge was taking in her appearance from head to toe. Well, it was such a waste; she was still tying her long hair in her usual high ponytail. Still, this was a win situation for him. She's wearing her school uniform under her jacket, he thought. Furthermore, she covered her legs in black tights. Black hair, black jacket, black tights, black leather shoes—everything black contrasted with her fair features.

The darkness seemed like tainting her purity.

It was an odd thought he kept to himself.

Y/N handed him a small white paper bag. "Here. It's my chocolate for you," she said, her cheeks reddening as she looked away. The more she looked at Toge up close, the more she became aware that his face card was definitely serving.

Toge was confused with her reaction, mindlessly taking the bag, but not without leaning his face close to hers. "Tsuna tsuna." Why aren't you facing me? Look at me.

She will not give in.

She.

Will.

Not.

Give

In.

"I don't know what you like, so I made chocolate truffles," Y/N added as she continued moving her face elsewhere, only for him to follow her much to her dismay. "Inumaki-san, please. Just eat the chocolates and stop focusing on me!" she complained.

Toge chuckled, suddenly getting a hold of her wrists to make her stop, her face snapping towards his direction. He doesn't understand what is there for her to hide when her pouting face and cheeks as red as apples were so cute he could brag it to the whole world. Nah. He took it all back. He doesn't want the world to know now. If they knew what he knew, then they'll also have the same feelings as him. He felt a sudden possessiveness, fully aware he cannot control other people's feelings, yet wanting them to back off if they tried.

It wasn't still love, but it was getting there. Maybe it's a crush. Yes. Toge called it a crush, nursing it like a small bud of flower like the other flowers he watered in the school garden.

Toge let her go, smirking in delight before rummaging through the bag and taking out the box of truffles. Y/N was nervous. She might not cook that much, but if she was given a recipe, she can nail it. Yesterday, she made truffles in secret at school. If her father knew, he might take everything away from her and tell her there was no need for her to act like a normal lovesick teenage girl.

"You are to be Inumaki Toge's wife, and you should act properly. Squash those thoughts about love and other forms of weakness. Everything."

Toge removed his mask and popped one in his mouth, savoring the bittersweet taste as he maintained a deadpan expression. Once he was done eating, Y/N expected a reaction, only for him to bring out his phone and started typing.

"Let's go."

He slipped his mask back on and stood up from the bench, but Y/N tugged on the hem of his sweater to stop him.

"The chocolates!" she reminded. "Did you like them?"

In a normal situation, Toge would have told her that he did like them. However, today, he was having fun seeing a new side of her. He ruffled her hair and chuckled, smirking beneath his mask as he held a finger on where his lips were.

It's a secret.

Y/N understood, blushing furiously at Toge who slipped down his mask slightly and poked out his tongue.

"Inumaki-san!"

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

tags: @enouche @ch3esesoup @bloemrijk (comment below so I can add you to the taglist)

[solarstranger]

eeya i shall join ur writing game!! (i am so touched u were inspired by the time i did it too!!) if i may ask for shouto + steep 🥹

selly!!!! sorry it took me so long to get to this. i have no other explanation other than i was terrified by the prospect of writing for you and i wanted to do it well lmfao. that is, until i realized i'd never get this done if i kept thinking that way so i just said fuck it and wrote this before my therapy session. this kind of writing style is kinda new to me, but i hope you still enjoy it! thank you so much for playing and for being the trailblazer that you are <3 kisses!!!!

todoroki shouto + steep

c.w. vague references to shouto's traumatic past. eeya once again deludes herself and roleplays as a therapist.

it’s times like these that shouto wishes he were different.

not that these types of instances were exactly rare. that is, instances in which he finds himself longing for a different set of circumstances—another set of cards to have been dealt with. less losing cards, if you will—cards you could actually work with to make a decent game.

a decent life.

although…he supposes it’s too late for all of that. twenty-five years have passed with no luck in erasing his past—in stubbornly willing a do-over—the reminders of his troubled familial history perpetually present in the form of no-nonsense headlines during anniversaries and detailed spiels that precede his introductions in interviews.

and though he’s learned that while blood may not be thicker than water, it’s still thick enough at the end of the day—enough to leave a stain in the canvas that he calls his life. a truth that he still grapples with to this day, perhaps a little more gracefully now that he’s making it a point to see his good friends regularly.

and his equally blunt yet well-intentioned mentors, like aizawa.

and his therapist, whom he’s been seeing a little less sporadically now, thanks to the behest of bakugou and midoriya.

but most importantly—

you.

“todoroki-san?”

shouto’s gaze refocuses at the sound of his surname, and only then does he realize he’s been staring blankly at his fiddling thumbs on his lap.

the half-and-half hero straightens up, clearing his throat, letting his eyes land on the familiar middle-aged man sitting across the hardwood desk.

“what were you thinking about?” the doctor asks gently, his smile small. “just now?”

“nothing,” shouto retorts almost instinctively.

although when the man only shoots him a knowing yet somehow encouraging look, the pro-hero falters. “it isn’t anything important,” he adds.

“would you let me be the judge of that?”

shouto visibly hesitates, before ultimately shrugging in resignation.

he’s been doing this a lot these days—relenting—instead of putting up a fight.

“i was just thinking,” shouto starts quietly after a moment, tugging at the peeling skin at the side of his thumb, “about my life.”

the doctor hums. “therapy does have a way of making people do that.”

shouto chuckles weakly. the man smiles at him.

he takes that as a sign to continue.

“like i said, it’s kinda stupid,” shouto resumes, “but i was just thinking about my life, and how i’m doing pretty okay considering what i had to work with.��

“okay,” the man says, nodding. “but?”

shouto sighs. there it was. “but, i don’t know. i don’t think—i don’t think i’m doing enough.”

“of what?” the doctor asks without missing a beat, “hero work?”

“no,” shouto shakes his head firmly. he works too much as it is. “i meant i’m not doing enough for my girlfriend.”

“okay, and did she tell you that? explicitly? that you’re not doing enough?”

at that, shouto pauses, before shaking his head once again. “no. she-uh, she actually reassures me a lot. tells me i’m a great boyfriend, and all that.”

“so where do you suppose this critique is coming from?” the doctor queries, eyes downcast on what he’s jotting down on his clipboard.

“i—” shouto starts, “i don’t know, actually.”

“mhmm. is there a possibility that it’s coming from other people? like yourself?”

shouto cocks his head to the side at the suggestion. he hadn’t thought of that. he just always assumed that was true—that he was falling short somehow.

“falling short of what?”

shouto whips to gape at the doctor, who only stares at him expectantly. only then does the pro-hero realize that he just said that last bit out loud.

the bi-eyed male coughs awkwardly in instinct. “um–i’m not sure…people’s expectations of me, i guess?”

the doctor hums again. “in other words,” he enjoins, “you think people see you as better than you actually are?”

slowly, shouto nods. that sounds about right.

“does this feeling apply to your girlfriend, too? you mentioned she’s great at reassuring you. that must help with the feelings of being an impostor.”

“yeah, but it’s only because she’s incredible,” shouto finds himself admitting. “she’s the most amazing person i know.”

the man nods, clearly deep in thought, shifting in his seat. “i have a question for you, shouto.”

despite himself, shouto stiffens. still, he forces himself to answer. “okay.”

“and i want you to be as honest as possible,” the doctor continues, to which shouto can only nod reluctantly.

the doctor takes a deep breath.

“do you possibly deem yourself unworthy of your partner?”

a/n. steep (adj.) that has been described as greater or better than it actually is; large in size, amount, or intensity. anyway, can i have another serving of low self-esteem shouto who greatly adores reader? thank you!

see my other entries here: writing game ✍🏼

[riteliso]

S01E04

Yeah, I get it, my girl's bed is WAY too soft

AND I MEAN MY REAL GIRFRIEND

I'M NOT CALLING ADORA MY GIRLFRIEND I'M NOT THAT KIND OF KINNIE

MY GIRLFRIEND IS REAL SHE GOES TO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY

MY GIRLFRIEND IS REAL AND SHE'S NOT A CARTOON CHARACTER

I'M THE CARTOON CHARACTER

LAUGH AT HER NOT ME

Why would a bed work this way

More parallels but I forgot this one happened so I don't have the first half where shadow weaver does her "don't disappoint me" bullshit

Also I appreciate the parallel and I appreciate that our Queen here has plenty of faults that have impacted her daughter negatively but the parallels kinda don't hit as hard when shadow weaver is so

And Queen Angella is so

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU FUCKIGN LESBIANS

YOU FUCKIN WEIRDO

I HAVE TRIED TO DISSECT THIS SCENE SO MANY TIMES IN MY HEAD

DID CATRA JUST TELL HER THIS IS HOW FRIENDS SLEEP TOGETHER

WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER

WHAT'S WRONG WITH EITHER OF THEM

YOU FUCKIN FREAKS

GOD

Yeah, hi, you fuckin milquetoast headass

I love you too but you're boring

Come over for board game night all ready for some Oath or Arcs or Gloomhaven and they've got out TROUBLE

FUCKING TROUBLE

THAT'S NOT EVEN AS GOOD AS SORRY

They're lovely they're just old they remember 9/11 you know how it is

Put little nametags for where everyone's gonna sit :(

You set a dumbass up to fail :(

I feel like they almost kissed in spin the bottle or something and they're both still mad about it

They've just got a bad energy between them

He's actually really very nice

Prrow

^ :-) v

I can't get her ears right

Also nice pits, girl, we love tank-tops in this household

I got caught being bad so now I can't lie and pretend I wasn't being bad :(

Me forcing my friends to explain their fumbles until I can tell them to talk to her about beyblades and tamagotchis and hello kitty next time

Chicks are easy just be interested in stupid things

Picking up autistic chicks is a series of knowledge checks that ends with the kind of head where you stop being able to feel anything below your knees

She's literally so gay that people are confused about it

People I watch this show with repeatedly don't understand that she drew that

Now, why did she hang it up on her locker? I dunno

She clearly likes to

I feel like it's odd how she CONTINUOUSLY hangs things up on her locker and then gets embarrassed about them, but there's high school kids out there wearing ahegao hoodies so what the fuck do I know

What's important is she fought with her girlfriend then went home and did a shitty drawing of her beautiful girlfriend on that awful horse

and then was so gay she HUNG IT UP ON HER FUCKING LOCKER

DESPITE THE FACT HER GIRLFRIEND IS AN ENEMY OF THE FUCKING STATE

THAT'S VERY CUTE, KITTY, BUT IT'S ALSO MIND-BOGGLINGLY STUPID

Old homophobe is like "I knew I shouldn't have let you two listen to that band with the horrid name 'scissor sisters.' I knew you couldn't be trusted. Now she's gay and it's your fault and she ran away and it's because she's gay and not because I hate gay people. She wasn't gay before"

These losers would have loved "I Can't Decide" AMVs. Catra biting Adora's arm while Adora clicks over to "You're Gonna Go Far Kid - Nightcore" because it has ponies in it

Fuckin dweebs

WHAT ABOUT YOUR OUTLIER, LADY

I think it's kinda interesting and we'll talk about it later but Catra loves Adora and hates She-ra, which is kinda in opposition to a lot of the world that surrounds the two. Of course, part of Catra's arc is learning to love She-ra and the responsibilities and role her girlfriend plays in everything, but also to temper Adora's unhinged enthusiasm for constantly playing the selfless hero. She learns to respect Adora's desire to do good, to play a bigger role, without buying into the idea that Adora deserves anything less than complete happiness.

Catra also does something I have noticed that I do, where when I talk about superheroes I actually like, mainly spider-man, I refer to them by their secret identity name when I'm happy with them, and by their superhero name when I'm upset with them. It's a very specific thing that kinda shook me when I noticed we had it in common.

Yeah, she's pretty. Yeah. YEAH OKAY. YEAH SHE'S PRETTY OKAY. I forgot what I was originally gonna type

I kinda hate this bitch

NOT AS A CHARACTER

She's a great character

This is not a swift wind situation

I just know that if I met her I'd hate every second of it

Disagreeing with her would be a pain in the ass and the only thing worse would be AGREEING WITH HER

EVERYTHING YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT IN THE WRONG WAY

FUCK YOU

Don't gas up a girl with anxiety she'll piss her pants and cry

You're the worst

Why are they all laid out the same

Why would they ever be

Also, counter-point,

NO THEY'RE FUCKING NOT

How much time passes over the course of this show

It doesn't make any sense for-- Adora JUST got here.

Like, IN this episode. It was her first time sleeping here.

ADORA WHY DO YOU HAVE SUCH AN OUT OF DATE CODE

YOU FUCKING IDIOT

Good early character establishing work. Bow is realistic, if not a BIT underconfident, and Sparkles can't wait to bite off more than she can chew and get her ass handed to her.

Ignore the data moshing MY EYES ARE UP HERE

You could have done this the whole fucking time and you didn't your people were starving for nothing

You suck

My first time watching it this is the line that shook the dust from my bones and made me realize that we weren't looking at your average lesbian sci fi fantasy

We were looking at that PRIMO sci fi TOXIC fantasy WESTERN YURI, BABY!!!!

Jokes aside, this is a line that really does do a good job illuminating the horde's suffocating grasp on these young women and how they're able to express themselves. Using homophobic language and homoerotic language in different situations to highlight these characters' struggles while within a different context is something extremely, EXTREMELY impressive and beautiful. I don't think it could have been executed better.

Kitty wants to bring her girl back into the closet and see how many minutes they can spend in heaven before they get dragged back out

Another good parallel

This is how Catra just genuinely feels due to her unyeilding adoration of Adora. Everyone loves Adora. She loves Adora even more than most. Of course it'd be easy to get frustrated growing up in that environment.

Oh right that's where it ends is on the first Best Friend Squad mention

ALRIGHT SO

Here's how we're doing things, right? We're gonna go one episode at a time, and I'm gonna give my thoughts whenever they come up. This is a train of thought type beat, alright? Unlike my usual grandstanding authorial and analytical self, this re-watch is purely for the rant factor. If you don't know me, and you just happened upon this thread because you like reading she-ra rewatches, hello. I'm a writer from Canada who found she-ra in 2025 and is currently on her sixth watch through. From that, hopefully you can discern that I like this show, even if I'm likely gonna criticize parts of it. We good to go? Good. We start with S01 E01.

RIGHT, THE SWORD PART 1! A zoom in, with an angelic singing being drowned out by digital bloopy fright zone vibes, and then Adora being a fuckin dweeb as her leitmotif plays in a decidedly crystiline synth-y tone.

Now, what do we learn from this? This, aside from one gripe I'll have more to speak on later, is an excellent introduction. With the music alone we're essentially taken from the beauty of the planet, the overwhelming dread of the fright zone, and then into a hopeful tune that isn't FREE from these sort of digital themes in the music, but is very defined and separate FROM them.

This isn't gonna be one of those things where I praise literally every single fuckin thing so keep your panties on, I'm not gonna full-on overanalyzing avatar this shit, but the most important parts of a story are the beginning and the ending.

Now, when I say that, I am speaking pragmatically. Every part of every story is important-- but when it comes to what people remember, what they love, what they never shut up about-- it's the start and the end. You need to nail the take-off and the landing, people will forget the turbulence from the rest of the trip.

Now, what does THIS bitch's intro tell us about her? Well, a lot, honestly. Most of what we know about Adora at this point is she plays by the rules, but she is a notably goofy person. She's goofy, but she's unwilling to goof-OFF too much.

And while we get a taste of the rivalry they have instantly, with "That's low, even for you." "You know nothing's too low for me~"

We instantly see that that is not the CORE of their relationship.

I'd like to praise the voice direction in this show for the first of many times here. The voice actors do amazing work in this, and the direction can be felt throughout.

"Come on, you look stupid hanging there" can obviously be a seen as a strange first line to show the warmth these two share, but the inflection from Catra's voice actor, AJ Mikalcha, makes it read as downright sweet.

Also don't get used to me using names of the crew besides ND Stevenson because I'm so awful with names I was still calling Catra Katara half the time on my second re-watch and I was like 90% of the way to realizing I kinned her at that point

Also don't make fun of me for kinning Catra there's no RESPONSE to people making fun of you for kinning Catra THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU SEEM MORE LIKE FUCKING CATRA OKAY

Anyway, the following scene makes it clear that this is not a one-way dynamic. The two banter, and it's clear Adora knows how to get under Catra's skin and annoy her as well. This is notable in a few places MUCH further on, but it is a difference worth highlighting NOW.

Once Adora leaves, Catra's primary goal is still to get under her skin. She's angry about it, she's mean about it, but she's still just doing what she's always done. The relationship between the two doesn't actually change as much as the context does. I'd say the relationship itself doesn't change much until the final season, at a scene I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about.

On the flip-side, Adora's goal when it comes to Catra is simply to fight her off. But that's not all there is. At points, it's clear that Adora holds some sort of REVERENCE for Catra, and while Catra is very capable of very mean things, don't get me wrong, Adora sees Catra as more of a threat than she realistically is.

At a few moments I'll point out she also relishes in getting under Catra's skin, but admittedly those are few and far between.

People have gone over this introduction billions of times, so I won't BORE you to death with it, but Shadow weaver's introduction does hint at a lot of what we'll learn later. I think it's very notable that while Shadow weaver brings a dark gloom that encompasses both our leads, her vile tendrils only dare to touch Catra. We learn the specifics of the dynamic these three have later, but it is a very unique and terrible situation to be the least favourite of an abusive guardian. Especially if you are repeatedly reminded of that fact.

I'm not gonna go over all the body language shit I've seen other text posts about it there's plenty of them a lot of focus in this show goes into tiny details where characters are constantly reacting to the world around them, and very rarely do we get lame stretches where anyone's face is just frozen and unflinching while they listen to someone else.

with all due respect to the setting at this point in time the bright moon rebellion is so pathetically anemic it's the two teens, some movie night lesbians, an immortal princess queen, and a bunch of fucking trees.

And you'd think the one carrying the team would be THE IMMORTAL PRINCESS QUEEN, BUT NO, ITS THE FUCKING TREES DOING ALL THE GOD DAMNED WORK

This introduction is fine. I don't particularly like it, nor have any strong feelings about it. It establishes the relationship between glimmer and her mother, but besides that it doesn't honestly do much. And don't come at me with "Uh, all it needs to do is establish that relationship?" Yeah, no shit, but we just had a better introduction to our other lead characters. And yes, those are the MAIN leads, the sort of heart of the show, but that doesn't mean that the other characters are unimportant. Glimmer's development later on is truly interesting, and Bow becomes a massively inspiring character. Fun jokey times are fine or whatever to show that they're immature and don't know the first thing about war, in contrast to our full-blown child soldiers raised from birth in the fright zone, but we really don't learn anything particularly INTERESTING about our best friend squad compadres in their intro, nor do we really see any of it until episode 2, to be frank.

This is something we don't actually see much of-- Catra has this ideal of being a conqueror, but it's very clear that she doesn't want that. Her threats are vapid and aimless-- She can enjoy some chaos, sure, but a shit-stirrer isn't gonna use that feces to build brick shithouses that they never intend to fall.

I think this should have been elaborated on more, personally. Catra is comically terrible with authority, and her plan, as stated later, is to wait it out until her and Adora are the ones calling the shots. But we don't really see what she thinks conquering even looks like, and it's not clear whether that's that she hasn't even imagined it and just likes evil words, or if she genuinely wants to rule with Adora as her Queen.

I gravitate towards the first, but that's partially because I wake up and post shit like "I want to destroy the world and rule its dust" and then forget I posted it when someone likes it 5 minutes later. If she do, in fact, as studies point toward, "be just like me fr," then I fully understand. If not, then I'd like to understand.

aw :(

Fuckin dweeb pulling the "my mom doesn't want me hanging out with you anymore" card

HA! Ah, what a bitch. Anyway, she's lashing out, but it's also quite tragic. A lot of people seem to think Adora IS, in some way, a people pleaser, but in reality she just has such an ingrained and violent sense of justice that she wants to right every wrong she has ever and will ever come across. She believes her validity is tied to what she can provide to the world, and she's got a natural sense of charisma, so it's natural for someone who refuses to blend in and naturally tends to put people off like Catra to have this view of her.

In reality, Adora is just-- a good person. And people LIKE good people. She's not a good person with an asterisk-- a good person with terms and conditions-- someone who falls into the definition of a good person while feeling and being treated like something else. Catra is the "a tomato is a fruit" of good people. Adora is just, like, a 1 dollar costco hotdog of a woman. An inarguable good treading water on this earth, no matter how hard it tries to pull her under.

Imagine falling for a brat with mad hops, like a fucking 50 foot vertical, you say you're too tired to play their favourite board game and they go hang out on your neighbour's roof, couldn't be me. Get fucked I guess

Yeah this is sad. Empathy is very much a learned skill, and people who don't learn empathy don't GET happy FOR people. Catra's not a complete person yet. She's not ready to be. That doesn't happen for a really long time, during an exceptionally long manic spiral. We'll get there, calm down, don't think about how far away that is and how much I've already yammered on.

Anyway, if you find yourself getting jealous or annoyed instead of getting happy for people, consider empathy isn't what you thought it was, and that you might still need to work on yourself.

fucking porno framing. Immensely sexual image, really. These bitches violently gay I suppose, I think I'm picking up on that during this sixth re-watch.

Buddy you got no idea how many problems those two already have you literally lose your little tiara at some point I think it ends up in the middle of a tree in space or something it's kinda unclear

Adora elbows her square in the nose during this so to everyone accusing Catra of physical abuse I just want it to be clear that Adora started it :/

Actually I'd like to retract that joke immediately because I know how people get about these two

My feelings are that they are literally child soldiers who were likely raised sparring each-other.

I was raised sparring other children and I ended up fine! Not for war, for Karate. And I didn't end up fine. And neither did they. Anyway, my point isn't even specifically that because this is sci-fi fantasy it's ridiculous to hold real life standards to it, it's more-so that because it's sci-fi fantasy there's extenuating circumstances that are going to affect how these two characters treat each-other. I'll go into hotter takes later, I'm sure, and get people to send me plenty of death-threats, but I'm gonna go into the nuances of exactly what forms Catra's abuse takes, and how it differs given by the separate circumstances we're shown the two in throughout the show.

my girl when I'm tryna live my best life playing as blue toad in mario 3d world

also holy shit we're only like halfway through this I am an AGONIZING yapper jesus fuck

Okay, what to say about lighthope-- well, their first words are "balance must be restored," far before they say Adora's name, so it somewhat lays out their secret priorities for us there. Besides that, I dunno, they got circuits on them? I don't have particularly strong feelings about lighthope, nor their introduction. I think they serve the setting and are written well, I just subjectively am not a sucker for the way they be. Their friendship with Mara is cute tho

I was gonna point out this is cute and how often I do this exact brat tactic but instead we data moshin, nothin wrong with a little data moshin, I'm down

This is the only reason she even wears a ponytail I'd stake my fuckin life on it

Once she leaves the fright zone that thing's fucking vestigial like a tailbone or having "any pronouns" in your bio when it's pretty clear you're very much a "she/they" type of bitch by now

glimmer why don't your windows have glass

or alternatively

how the fuck do you open and close that window

you can absolutely fucking hear her from this distance what on earth are you trying to pull

you a pillow princess tho how many of those arrows are just hitatchi magic wands attatched to a stick with duct-tape after the series ends do you think

The fuck you mean BOTTOM drawer we lookin at left and right here

or is this similar to my pillow princess comment and she's just addressing him and giving him an order

"Bottom; drawer."

It's established later on that he's a tech wiz but at this point in time they don't really give us much to lead us to the fact that he made that fucking thing

she's a freak

yes it's very sweet that she sleeps this way but I don't think it's some bdsm powerplay thing or anything like that, which would honestly be more tolerable, I think she's just like that

like how the way I'd sit in high school was to get two chairs and face them toward each-other then sit cross-legged across both

even if there weren't enough chairs to go around

people would sit on the FLOOR because I wanted to sit criss-cross-applesauce across two chairs, they wouldn't even ask for one of my chairs

also since I was sitting, again, cross-legged, it would have made more sense for ME to sit on the floor

I mean I think I got asked ONCE for one of the chairs and I just said "fine" but besides that people just let me sit on my fuckin throne

She really is kinda dumb, though. Like I ain't complaining, it's a character trait, but like obviously even if just you get in trouble Catra's gonna get blamed, you've seen it like at least once a month for your whole entire life

Mind you, can't really have Catra for the next part, because Catra's reaction to Bow and Glimmer wouldn't be "just let me have the sword" it'd be murder

oh wow we hit the image limit looks like we're doing TWO SEPARATE POSTS FOR THE VERY FIRST EPISODE YEE-HAW!!!!! THIS IS GOING TO TAKE ME FUCKING FOREVER