#to just nope out of any unexpected consequences

[cantsayidont]

February 1985. One of the conventions of time travel stories in the pre-Crisis DC Universe was that a time traveler who visited an era in which they were already present could only observe events as a phantom, unable to intervene in any way. In this unusual and poignant scene in the first issue of the SUPERMAN: THE SECRET YEARS miniseries, we see that following the deaths of his foster parents, Superboy is tormenting himself by periodically traveling back in time to watch them, silent and invisible, knowing that he can never touch them again, much less alter the circumstances of their deaths.

The deaths of the Kents — who in Earth-1 history both died of a rare tropical fever during the summer following Clark Kent's high school graduation — were a foundational aspect of Superman's character prior to the MAN OF STEEL reboot. The pre-Crisis Superman was incredibly powerful (not least in his ability to fly faster than light and travel through time at will!), but his childhood was bookended by the deaths of two sets of parents, which he was powerless to prevent or undo, just as he could not prevent or undo the destruction of Krypton. (In the Silver Age, Superman actually visited Krypton as an adult, in a truly wrenching Jerry Siegel story in SUPERMAN #141 in which he meets and befriends his own parents — who don't know who he really is — and falls in love with an actress named Lyla Lerrol, only to be saved by fate from perishing with them.)

Thus, even when his powers were at their most absurd Silver Age peak, Superman was always painfully aware that there was still nothing he could do about the tragedies that mattered most to him. (This is echoed in the death of Jonathan Kent in the 1978 SUPERMAN movie, although in the Christopher Reeve films, Martha actually survives until just prior to SUPERMAN III).

Having both the Kents survive to Clark's adulthood therefore represents a rather dramatic shift, particularly in continuities like that of MAN OF STEEL, where Superman doesn't learn of his Kryptonian origins until he's in his late 20s. It's certainly less depressing, and contributes significantly to the modern Clark Kent being far less neurotic than in previous eras, but it also means that the modern Superman doesn't have the same intrinsic sense of his own limits, material or moral, and that his sense of his own place in the world is not defined by tragedy in the way his pre-Crisis counterpart's was.

This isn't necessarily bad — I don't think Superman needs to always be neurotic or doomstruck in the way he was in the Silver Age — and Jonathan and Martha's presence can be charming and fun. (The inclusion of those characters really added to the bright mood of the '90s LOIS AND CLARK show, for instance.) However, it does change the center of gravity of the Superman character, and not always in good ways. (In particular, I think it has contributed to the unfortunate tendency of modern stories to suggest that some tragedy might one day cause Superman to snap and abandon his ethical code, something it's difficult to envision the Earth-1 Superman ever doing.)

[redroses07]

Unexpected Consequence // Sam Golbach

W/C: 2.1k

Pairing: Sam Golbach x Fem!Reader, Colby Brock x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Summary: Reader moves in with Sam and Colby, but she notices a change in her and Sam's friendship. What happens when Colby is gone and they're left alone with their feelings?

Warnings: Smut! 18+ minors dni, unprotected PinV sex, soft smut (Sam is a sweetie I love him), fingering, swearing, mentions of food, use of Y/N like once, making out, kissing

A/N: Hey, hey! I don't know what compelled me to write this but I really like it! Let me know if y'all would like more Sam fics in the future. Reqs are always open too! Love you guys and enjoy!

Moving had shifted the trajectory of your life, but not in the way one would expect. Your roommate had decided to move across the country, and you could no longer afford rent on your own so you chose to move in with your best friends.

You had been friends with Sam for around 8 years, and of course, you met Colby through him. The three of you hung out often, and you were a frequent guest in their videos. You were certainly a fan favorite as well. If you disappeared for too long the comments would be overrun with "Where's Y/N?", and "Is Y/N gonna be in the next video?". The boys always joked that they should rename the channel "Sam, Colby, and Y/N".

Even though you were close with both, you remained closest to Sam. You had always thought it was because you had known him longer, but recently, you began to notice a deeper connection.

Living with him, the constant closeness had caused suppressed feelings to surface. Just last night, you walked into the living room to get a snack wearing your PJ shorts and a tank top. Was it a revealing outfit? yes. Had you known these two for nearly half your life? also yes.

You didn't notice a thing until you caught Sam's icy blue eyes fixated on you like you were some sort of anomaly. Even Colby pointing it out, saying "God Sam, stop staring her down like she's your next meal."

Your face turned red and you brushed it off, just as you had brushed off all of the other strange instances. For one, Sam was always in your room. Not that you minded. You liked having him around, but Colby wasn't around you nearly as much.

Sam would walk in unannounced, sit next to you, and ask what you were doing. Looking at you with the same affectionate expression each and every time. He would sometimes even go as far as to rest his head on your shoulder. Yet again, not that you minded.

You couldn't lie and say you had never had feelings for Sam. Never extreme of course. You had both been in relationships since becoming friends, and neither of you had a problem with it. Yet, he was always in the back of your mind. Sam had treated you better than any boy you had ever dated.

It had been about a month since you had moved in, and the three of you had begun to settle into a routine. This weekend, however, was different. Colby was out of the house visiting family, leaving you and Sam the only two in the house.

It was around 6pm and you were starting to get hungry. You found Sam seated on the couch in his hoodie and sweatpants, scrolling through his phone. You slid over the side of the couch, propping yourself up on Sam's side.

"I'm hungry" you let out a sigh.

Sam laughed and turned off his phone.

"I'll cook us something, what do you want?" Sam smiled, looking down at you.

"Hmm, how about salmon and rice?" You suggested something simple that you knew you had the ingredients for.

"Good idea," Sam replied.

"Is there anything you want me to help with?" You asked.

"Nope, I've got this, you just sit right here," To your surprise, Sam gave you a quick peck on the cheek before getting up and heading into the kitchen.

You said nothing of it and turned on the TV while waiting for dinner.

As you waited, you continued to review the past month in your head. Sam had never been averted to physical touch but had been far more touchy with you recently.

Whether it was subtle, like sitting closer to you and letting your arms touch, or more obvious, such as placing his hand on top of yours. it didn't take you long to admit to yourself that you liked the change.

"Dinner's ready!" You heard, only now realizing how long you had been lost in your thoughts.

You made your way into the kitchen, finding Sam holding two plates of food while wearing an apron.

You giggled.

"What?" Sam smiled, fighting the blush on his cheeks.

"Are you wearing an apron?" You snickered.

"You don't like it?" Sam questioned.

"No, I think it's adorable."

Sam smiled, setting the plates of food on the small table before removing his apron.

He sat down and you began to enjoy your dinner, talking while you ate.

Sam threw his head back, laughing, and instantly thought of how much you loved him. You kept your wide-eyed gaze glued to him, smiling so wide that your cheeks began to hurt.

Sam returned the favor, his laughter ending and his gaze softening.

"You have the sweetest smile of anyone I know." He said.

You blushed, looking down at your now empty plate.

"I'll go ahead and clean up." You said, grabbing his plate and yours.

You set the plates in the dishwasher and wiped off the counters. You worked in silence, for once you were unable to think of anything to say. You weren't the best with feelings, neither of you were. Yet, of course, Sam knew you well enough to tell that something was up.

"What's wrong?" He asked you.

You said nothing, only walking back into the living room. Sam followed closely behind you.

"I'm alright." You said simply, hoping he would drop it.

He didn't.

"Well something's going on, you're never this quiet."

He sat next to you on the couch, still looking at you with those stupid eyes. You built up the courage to look at him, fearing how you may act when you did. Sam's pink lips were slightly upturned. His furrowed brows caused a wrinkle to appear between them. His face painted the perfect picture of comfort.

Yet, you still struggled to find the words. What if he didn't feel the same? What if your friendship never recovered? In fact, that was likely what had held you back in the past.

God you wanted to kiss him.

Sam ran his thumb over your cheek, then your lips. Every nerve in your body seemed to light up with his touch.

Fuck.

"Sam..." You mumbled.

"Yeah?" His voice was soft and deep, and the way he slowly grew closer to you didn't go unnoticed.

He placed a singular kiss on both of your cheeks, and you let out a burdened sigh. You felt the urge to pull away but fought against it. Sam's familiar smell filled your nostrils, it was more overwhelming than usual.

Sam's hand crept under your chin, tilting it to face him. After what felt like a lifetime, your lips met. Every part of your body exploded. You had been struck with invisible lightning.

Your lips on his was like nothing you had ever felt before. Something mysterious you had craved for so long. Now that you finally had it, you wanted more.

You pressed yourself against Sam's chest, wanting to be as close to him as possible. You ran your fingers through Sam's soft blonde hair, earning a blissful sigh from his lips. Liking the sweet sound, you tugged on his hair lightly, causing the deep sighs to turn into soft moans.

"You're so beautiful you know that right?" Sam's words slurred as he began to drag his lips across your skin.

"Sam, I want this, believe me, I do..."

He stopped, his expression ridden with concern.

"What? Is something wrong?" He placed his warm palm over your chilly fingers.

"No...it's nothing you did, I just don't want to fuck this up." You expressed your fear which had been holding you back for so long. It felt good to finally get it off your chest.

"Listen," Sam brought your hands to his heart.

"I can't imagine life without you, so even if this doesn't work out I believe we will always be in each other's lives."

"And besides, we'll never know if we don't try."

You smiled and took a moment to hug him, a reminder of the good friend you will always have. He held you a little extra tight, as if to say 'I'm not going anywhere.'

You kissed his neck, trailing sweet kisses across his collarbone, jaw, and eventually his lips. You engaged in your second passionate kiss of the evening. Lips tangling together, he slowly pushed you back. You fell against the couch, admiring Sam's figure above you.

Sam reached his hands under your shirt, the skin-on-skin contact making you gasp.

"Is this okay?" He said softly.

You nodded in response.

He lifted your shirt and pulled it over your head before discarding his own. You couldn't help but stare at his biceps as if you had never seen him shirtless before.

Sam smirked.

"Like what you see?"

You rolled your eyes.

"Maybe a little." Before he could respond you pressed your lips together once more.

His hands began to touch every inch of your skin, a feeling so foreign yet somehow familiar.

You began to notice an ache between your legs when you felt his length brush against your thighs.

"Sam, need you." You moaned shamelessly.

"Yeah?" He breathed as his fingers began to trail down your torso. Inch by inch they headed towards the spot that so desperately needed his touch.

His fingers crept into your waistband and into your panties. You whined when he began to rub circles around your clit. The sudden stimulation made your stomach flutter with anticipation. Sam stuck one, then two fingers in your folds and you couldn't help but buck your hips.

"Someone likes that." He said playfully.

You were shocked by how easily he could hit just the right spots that made you squirm. Yet somehow, you still craved more.

"Want you-" You said between moans.

'Speak up pretty, I can't hear you." Sam brushed your sweaty bangs out of your eyes, giving you a clear view of his soft eyes and puffy lips.

"Want you inside of me." You managed to string the sentence together.

Before you knew it your shorts and panties were gone, as well as the rest of Sam's clothes.

He was bigger than you expected, not that you were upset about that. His dick was unbelievably hard, already leaking pre-cum. Sam positioned his hand under your thighs, allowing for easier access.

"Ready?" he asked, double-checking that you were comfortable.

"Mhm."

He filled you up perfectly and began to pump himself into you. The sounds of both of your pleasurable moans filled the room. He held eye contact with you while pounding into you, only increasing the intimacy of the moment.

You dug your nails into his back, surely leaving marks that would last for a while. Sam leaned down and gave you a sloppy, desperate kiss that consisted mostly of teeth and tongue.

"Fuck I'm close," Sam muttered.

You noticed the sweat that began to bead on his forehead.

Sam whispered your name as if it was a prayer and that was enough to set you over the edge. Your walls clenched around him and you cried out in ecstasy. Moments later you felt a warm liquid coating your insides and you let out a tired sigh, still feeling remnants of pleasure.

"God Sam, you sure know how to make a girl feel good."

He burst into laughter, the noise causing his whole body to vibrate.

"Let's go get cleaned up and then we'll get ready for bed, yeah?" Sam said before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips.

You smiled in agreement.

"I'll go start a bath, I'll come get you when it's ready," Sam said gently.

You kissed him, a longer kiss filled with love. You lingered on his lips momentarily, not wanting him to leave even shortly. His hand trailed down your arm as he exited, eventually letting it drop to your side.

"I love you" He called as he headed down the hall.

"Love you more," You replied.

You fought a giddy smile as if he was nothing but a boy you had a crush on. Thankfully, he was so much more. A partner in more ways than one, and you were beyond happy to have him by your side.

Moving had sprung something unexpected on you, a welcome surprise nonetheless.

[yumemimir]

Lovebirds | FOM Ryis x Emilia 🪶

Summary: A year into Mistria's recovery with its new farmer, a second new and unexpected face arrives in town. However, she doesn't come with hopes to farm, rather, she comes with hopes for freedom. It all starts with her collision with the carpenter on the eastern road...

Comments: yippee chabter 2! click here for chapter 1

Ch. 2 - The Barmaid

As it turns out, fast enough is rather slow. 

It’d been nearly a week since the town’s newest mystery was carried over the town’s threshold, and with her came flurry of questions that Ryis found himself the target of. It made sense, of course; he was the only one to witness her arrival first-hand – even Valen, though she’d met the redhead the same day, had less context than he did. The mustard seed of information – redhead, female, rather short – was apparently more than enough for the small town’s rumor mill, however, and the news of her arrival spread like wildfire from tablet to table. The Mistrians were no strangers to a bit of gossip, and any and all new arrivals sparked murmur and whisper alike. A year prior, it’d been the new farmer, taking up the land just south of town. But his arrival was requested, and even if he’d been a little weird, he’d been expected. 

Her though, the unnamed girl upstairs? Now that was unprecedented.

“So did our little mystery girl even say where’s she from?” Terithia asked as the arched playing cards collapsed in on themselves, escaping her calloused grip as she shuffled them onto the old wood tabletop.

Ryis shook his head, watching as the cards slid across to each player of the night. It may have seemed like he was particularly focused on the gane, but in truth, he couldn’t bring himself to look up at the full table of eyes locked in on him. 

“Nope, she didn’t say anything actually,” he confessed, nonchalant. “It all happened so fast, there wasn’t really any time for, like, formal introductions.”

Never shy with her theatrics, Elsie tutted scornfully. To some, it could’ve come off as poor taste, treating that day’s events like something out of one of her novellas. To Ryis though, he knew that a woman of her status could likely name a dozen and a half reasons one could be running away from Aldaria’s capital city. If anything were tut-worthy, it was likely whatever the new girl had gone through. “Poor thing must have been scared out of her wits,” she commiserated, “it’s a good thing you were up early today. Is she still at Valen’s?”

Ryis nodded between bites of his roll. His eyebrows raised as he fanned out his cards in one hand. A flush of hearts? And to think he’d used up all his luck today. “Valen says she’s likely fine, so I’ll be walking her back to the Eastern Road tomorrow morning.” 

“And you said her hair was red? Even down to the root?” Olric’s eyebrows were reaching for the crossbeams. “If that’s true, don’t tell March.”

“I uh, think he knows.” Ryis chanced a glance at March, who was glaring at his cards like the paper rectangles had personally offended him. It took the carpenter a considerable mouthful of lobster to stifle down a laugh.

“Tch. Whatever,” March muttered as he laid his cards face down, folding grumpily. “Hardly matters, and I don’t get why everyone’s so hung up on it. Like doc said, she’ll be gone by morning.”

The next morning however held other plans. 

The consequences of a late night windstorm made for considerable busywork for Ryis and March alike. Wooden shingles were given a run for their money, a few pulled loose off their hinges while others lay in the grass or even floated in the water between the town’s walkways. A few pieces of roofing remained scattered across the cobblestone, and Ryis even found the smithy sign floating in the central fountain. Topped off with the already-expected bustle of a Saturday Market, and there was simply not enough wiggle room in his schedule to fit what had to be done and what should be done. 

He knew, rationally speaking, that she was likely well within her own capability of walking up a road by herself. The feeling of her being his responsibility, however, wasn’t responding to rationale; his kindhearted nature cared little for things like the difference between strangers and neighbors, and if she needed his help once, well, who was to say she wouldn’t need it again?

It was well past three in the afternoon when he finally had the time to head over to the clinic, and predictably, by the time he’d arrived she was already gone. When he’d opened the clinic door, all that greeted him was Valen’s smile and an empty bed with messy blankets that, for some reason, left the tiniest strange feeling that lingered just beneath his subconscious.

“I would’ve thought you’d run into her on her way out,” Valen commented, standing up from her stool. 

“Depending on when, I may’ve been up on roof,” he replied as he placed his hands in his pockets. A half smile settled onto his face. Not that he hadn’t occasionally peeked between fixes, of course, though that was near the bottom of the list of things he felt like admitting – perhaps he’d grown a little nosier in his few years here. “Did she say where she was headed?”

Valen’s cocked brow makes Ryis’ gaze falter to the side. “Not anywhere specific, just that she was hungry. I told her to head down to the inn, though that was around… two hours ago?” 

Two hours. He kneaded the words over and over in his mind. That’d been a while ago, but with how many people would want a fraction of her time, it was possible she’d still be there. Maybe she was gone. Or maybe the rest of the town had caught up to her before he had? Maybe she was being bombarded, and needed an excuse to leave. He could offer to walk her to the Eastern Road, offer her a polite goodbye, maybe even catch her name-

“There you are!”

Adeline’s voice nearly pulled his soul right out of his body. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t scare you did I?” Her face was wrought with worry, though whether it was actually for scaring him or due to the next big fix was a coin toss. 

“Oh! Hey, I’m here, yeah. What’s wrong?” Ryis replied cooly, his voice even in tone as he fixed his neckerchief with shaky hands.

“It’s just, the museum, a good few pieces of the roof had blown off, and I guess with everyone at the market, nobody’d noticed until now… I’m sorry if I’m interrupting, but if it’s not too much to ask-?”

“Not at all, let me grab my tools and I’ll be right there.” 

It wasn’t too terribly long of a walk to the museum, really. Temptation pulled at his gaze, the inn distant but visible from across the shimmering waterway they walked alongside. Of course he couldn’t see her from here, the walls were solid (he’d made sure of that), and the silliness of even letting his eyes wander brought a heat to his cheeks. Being a snoop was a rude, albeit collective trait, but unbecoming nonetheless. 

The duo wove between townsfolk eagerly browsing the wares at the local booths, the smell of fresh varnish and linens intermingling with the warm smell of herbal teas and earthy coffee. The familiarity of these little moments, along with the rhythmic tapping of the tools on his hip, pulled his focus back in. Everyone in Mistria had a role to play, a job that fit together in the puzzle that kept the town running. He wasn’t a hero, or a doctor, or a professional worrywart. He was the carpenter, and there were broken things that needed fix-

“I met her, you know.”

Between the youthful yelling of the Dragonguard trio and the matter-of-fact way Adeline said it, it almost flew past Ryis entirely. 

“You… met her?”

“She was in the inn earlier, just for a second really, looking for something to eat. She had this look about her, like a cornered animal. Lucky for her Reina had popped in just before and was able to get her something!”

Pink petals scattered across his vision as he walked, eyes unfocused as he took it all in. 

“Ah,” was about as much as he could muster. 

Clearly Adeline didn’t take it as a conversational deterrent. 

“She didn’t have a single tesserae to her name though, and didn’t look quite stable on her own two feet yet. Of course, we gave her a bowl of today’s soup, and when I tell you it’s like the light returned to her eyes… I looked at Reina and it looked like she had the same idea as I did. With the town rank continually climbing, and with her clearly needing a little pick me up before going back to wherever she’s headed, we offered- Oh! March! Good, you got here too!” 

Dull hammering echoed off of the museum roof, a ladder already sitting against the siding. Ryis held a gloved hand just above his browline, peering up to catch the faintest glimpse of red hair peeking out from past the edge of the roofing. He tossed a hand up as a wave, March returning it with a wave of his hammer, though his mouthful of nails muffled his greeting into a simple “hmmf.”

Like clockwork, Ryis started making his way up the ladder, minding his footing at the usual creaks of the third, fifth, and ninth rungs. The green roof of the museum had never really been in fantastic condition, but with how many buildings had not yet seen proper repair since the quake, it was pretty expected. A pile of green tiles rested against March’s knee, some chipped, others mildly discolored, more than likely gathered from the grass around them before the duo had arrived. The blacksmith held out a hand expectantly, fingers splayed with impatience. Ryis took it of course, thanking him for the boost up. Of all of the traits Ryis had grown to learn about him, his reliability had always been his favorite. The manner in which he offered it? Debatable.

 He’d only barely gotten his knee on the roof and his hammer out of its holster when Adeline called out to him one last time. 

“Oh! I almost forgot to tell you!” she cried with a smile, “we offered for her to work in the inn! At least until she’s back on her feet!”

The sheer speed with how fast Ryis and March – the latter with a muffled yell and a distinct glare – whipped their heads at her almost made Ryis falter backwards, their shared grip almost toppling them both. Adeline, with a sheepish squeak, rushed to hold the ladder in place while Ryis climbed up onto the roof, still visible stupified by the news. It wasn’t until he felt both hands and knees solidly on the roof that he thought to reply. 

“What’s her name?”

“Emilia!”

---

Also available on AO3! Chapters go up there first before coming here.

[ditzyredrobin]

The Knight’s Red Robin - Part 2

AK!Jason and RR!Tim finally start getting along. 😊

-

“Were you doing anything in particular when you were pulled through? Messing with tech, maybe?”

Jason shook his head, leaning back into the overstuffed couch. “Nope. Unless you count having your ass handed to you by bat-for-brains, I was innocent.”

Tim made a thoughtful noise, continuing his manic pacing. The kid looked unhinged, too long hair half out of its pony, sticking up at all angles, his eyes glazed over, focusing on something and nothing all at once.

His phone going off didn’t even phase him, just pressing the power button twice without checking the caller ID, sending it straight to voicemail. “Interesting. Where were you when all of this happened?”

Jay raised a brow. “You sure you don’t need to take that?”

“Yep,” Tim dismissed with a hand wave, jumping back to the topic at hand. “We should go back tonight to the site of the portal. Maybe there will be some clues as to how you got through or maybe the tech our Jason was involved in.”

With any luck, it might still be there, whatever it was. He knew it was slim to nothing but worth a shot.

Jay grunted, “Don’t you think Dickhead is going to get a little suspicious you’re dodging his calls?”

Tim paused, turning to Jay with an unnervingly nice smile, the kind his mother wore just before tearing into someone. “Whatever Dick has to say is of no consequence to me. He’s had plenty of time to talk up until this point so, as far as I’m concerned, he can take his concerns and shove them.”

Dick wasn’t his brother, he never had been. Tim had just a place holder until something new and shinier and slightly more murderous came along and he decided committing Tim to Arkham was his best option for dumping him.

Jay snorted, holding out his empty palms in the universal ‘I come in peace’ sort of way. “Look, I’m on your side, featherhead. Just thought I’d throw it out there. I thought you wouldn’t like anymore unexpected visitors.”

“Dick wouldn’t come here, not that Damian would let him.” He couldn’t remember last time he had actually seen Dick without the new Robin attached at the hip.

Jason made a noise of acknowledgment and Tim went back to pacing. “So, tonight the?”

”Tonight.” He agreed.

-

Part 1 , Last

[banapsha]

The Art of Plot Twists: A God-Tier Guide

Hey there, sunshine(s) and moonlight(s)! Do you want to rock your readers' worlds with mind-boggling plot twists? Well, lucky for you, I recently met a mind reader in my basement and they told me you want to know this. Buckle up, because we're about to begin a journey into the abyss. Kidding! We are going to the Kingdom of Twistano-Turnano; narratives that'll leave jaws on the floor and minds on some walls. Strap in, grab your favorite snacks and let's get this party started. (I believe that one was too much, right? Coz’ who’s got time for any parties? Or am I the only one missing out?) 

What Makes a Good Plot Twist?

Let's kick things off with the basics. A plot twist isn't just about throwing in a random curveball– oh no, it's about shaking up the very fabric of your story. A meaningful plot twist should be a seismic shift in the audience's perception, whether it's through an unexpected event, a shocking revelation, or a philosophical awakening. We're talking external, internal, and philosophical shifts that make the audiences question everything they thought they knew. It's about changing your audience's reality.

The Three Types of Shifts: External, Internal, and Philosophical

The external shift– think unexpected deaths, hidden treasures, and jaw-dropping identity reveals. These twists are all about rearranging plot elements in ways that leave readers gasping for air.

The internal shift– this one's all about messing with your audience's emotions. One minute they're feeling all warm and fuzzy, and the next, BAM! You hit 'em with an event that leaves them shaken to the core. Just make sure to keep things clear, or you'll have a bunch of confused readers scratching their heads.

The philosophical shift– the granddaddy of all plot twists. This one's all about making your audience question their beliefs and perceptions. You take 'em from thinking they've got it all figured out to realize that maybe, just maybe, they've been wrong all along.

To really knock your readers' socks off, you gotta apply all three shifts. That's right, no half-measures here. Using just one or missing one entirely is just going to confuse the shit out of your audiences. Trust me, you don't wanna do that.

What makes a plot twist good?

Shock Value: First things first, a good plot twist needs to pack a punch. We're talking about leaving your readers reeling, jaws on the floor, and minds blown. If it doesn't make 'em gasp, it ain't worth it. The key is to not settle for the first twist that comes to mind. Dig deep, get creative, and find a way to really knock your readers' socks off.

Believability: Sure, we love a good surprise, but it's gotta make sense, ya know? You can't just say that the human we have been following around is a dog disguised as a pizza! Nope, we ain't gone believe that boy. Keep it real. Actually, the real(er) the better. Foreshadowing is your best friend. Drop hints, plant seeds, and lay the groundwork for your twist early on. That way, when it finally hits, it'll feel like a natural progression of the story. (Maybe show me a barking human to make me go along with the pizza dog twist.)

Impact on Characters AND Plot: A truly great plot twist doesn't just shake things up for the sake of it. It needs to have real consequences, affecting not only the characters but the entire storyline. Don't just focus on the shock factor – think about how your twist will affect your characters and your plot. Will it send them spiraling into chaos? Will it force them to confront their deepest fears? Make it count.

Variety in Tropes: Cliched tropes are good but if you can manage to twist it up, that's even better. Try to give us something we've never seen before. Surprise us, delight us, and keep us guessing 'til the very end. But don't be afraid to break the mold. Sure, some tropes are tried and true, but the best twists are the ones that defy expectations. Surprise your readers, challenge their assumptions, and leave 'em begging for more.

Timing: Timing is literally everything. You need to build up to the right moment for that twist like a mastermind supervillain. Keep your readers on their toes. Drop breadcrumbs along the way, build up the tension, ratchet up the suspense, and then hit 'em with that (do-do do-do) twist right when they least expect it. You gotta know exactly when to drop that grenade. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

Plot Twist Techniques:

Breadcrumbs: The classic "how did I not see this coming" twist. Make 'em scratch their heads and wonder, "How did I miss that?" Lay the groundwork for your twist by dropping subtle hints and clues throughout your story. It's all about planting those breadcrumbs and watching your readers play Sherlock Holmes.

Misdirection: The good ol' red herring. Lead your readers down one path, only to yank the rug out from under them at the last minute. Get 'em emotionally invested in a particular outcome, then flip the script and watch 'em squirm. Mix this with the breadcrumbs and you have a beautiful pie.

The False Win: Picture this – your characters are riding high, victory is in sight, and then BAM! You hit 'em with the ultimate plot twist: it's not over yet. Give 'em a false sense of comfort, then snatch it away like a cruel twist of fate. 

The Unprovoked: Ever seen a plot twist  that leaves you scratching your head and wondering, "Where did that come from?" That's the unprovoked twist. It happens out of nowhere, catching everyone off guard and leaving 'em reeling. It's unexpected, it's unpredictable, and it's oh-so deliciously twisty.

Types of Twists: The classics

Identity Reveal: Remember the "I am your father" moment? Yes. There's nothing quite like the shock of discovering that a character's true identity isn't what it seems. Whether it's a long-lost twin or a secret agent in disguise, identity reveals never fail to leave readers gasping for air. Mix it up to make it newer and you have an even tastier sandwich.

Motive Reveal: Ever wondered why that one seemingly innocent character was acting so shady? Well, it's time for a motive reveal – the moment when all becomes clear and the true intentions behind a character's actions are laid bare. It's like peeling back layers of an onion, only way more dramatic. (Plot twist: This entire post has been written so you will buy my book, The Sinner and The Scarred from Amazon! It is available in both Paperback and Ebook formats but if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for FREE!)

Background Reveal: Behind every great character is a great backstory. Well, these backstories can also be great plot twists. (What? The hero's love interest is the villain's child. WHAT? The hero's love interest is the villain! WHAT? THE HERO IS DATING BOTH THE VILLAIN AND THEIR CHILD!!) From dark secrets to hidden traumas, background reveals add depth and complexity to your story.

Character Deaths: Sometimes, the only way to shake things up is by "killing your darlings." Actually, whether it's a beloved hero sacrificing themselves for the greater good or a villain meeting their untimely demise, character deaths are guaranteed to leave readers in shock and awe. Especially when done right. (Set the mood for a fun wedding. Then kill someone at the wedding. Kill the bride. Or the groom. Kill 'em both. Have them kill each other!)

Destruction of Setting or Important Elements: Say goodbye to the status quo, because we're about to shake things up with a little destruction. Whether it's a beloved setting crumbling to the ground or a crucial element of the story being obliterated, destruction twists add a sense of urgency and chaos to your narrative. (Burn your hero's house down. Extra points if their family was still inside. Minus points if their dog was in there, though.)

Timeline Shift: A timeline shift can turn your story on its head, sending characters hurtling through time and space or revealing shocking truths about the past, present, and future. (It will be a weird way to find out you’re adopted, you know?)

Surprising Events in General: Sometimes, you just gotta throw caution to the wind and hit your readers with something completely unexpected. From random acts of kindness to bizarre coincidences, surprising events add an element of unpredictability to your story that'll keep readers guessing until the very end. 

Special Ability Reveal: The moment when a character discovers they've got powers beyond their wildest dreams, things start getting out of hand. Whether it's flying, telekinesis, or the ability to talk to animals, special ability reveals add a touch of magic and wonder to your story.

Do remember when it comes to plot twists, the sky's the limit. But placement is key. Whether it's smack dab in the middle of your story or right at the climax, the timing of your twist can make or break its impact. 

Now, let's touch on what NOT to do. Forced twists? No, thank you. Unbelievable plot developments? Hard pass. And let's not even get started on the dreaded plot armor– nothing kills the vibe faster than a last-minute rescue by bad writing. (Leave a comment if you’d like to learn more about what NOT to do!)

In conclusion, mastering the art of plot twists is no easy feat. It takes careful planning (AKA outlining of the story), strategic execution, and a whole lot of creativity. So go forth, soldiers, and twist those plots until they're unrecognizable. But remember, with great power comes great responsibility – don't abuse those twists, and always respect your readers' intelligence.

Now, go forth and twist to your heart's content. Happy writing! 🌀✨

[diningwiththeasquiths]

Kinktober Day 2: Mutual Masturbation

Words: 1074

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Daniel x Armand

Summary: Daniel thinks about “Rashid” a little too much and a little too deep.

“Your doctor in New York was consulted and has given consent. You’ll find a note from him in your electronic mailbox.”

Unusual wording aside, Rashid’s manner of speaking also caught Daniel’s attention. Its haughty inflection sticks with him throughout the day, still running through his mind as he gets ready for bed that night, brushing his teeth and staring at his own tired features in the large, light-rimmed mirror. The way Rashid talks to him leaves barely any room for argument. Daniel hasn’t been shut down like that since before his last divorce. It’s kind of hot.

Nope. 

He’s not doing this. Not even, especially not, in the false privacy of his own perfectly climate-controlled guest bedroom. 

After stripping down to his boxer shorts and putting on a T-shirt—so old it might precede Rashid, but nice and soft with only a few small holes in it—he gets into bed and attempts to find a comfortable sleeping position, plagued with the knowledge that he’ll wake up at least twice in order to use the bathroom. Despite it having been another long and draining day, his thoughts are not ready to quiet down yet. 

“We suggest you begin on the left.”

Only Rashid hadn’t been suggesting. The tone of his voice had made it very clear that he was ordering Daniel. His dick gives an interested twitch at the recollection.  

Huh. 

Well, shit. 

There’s something about the combination of Rashid’s pretty yet dispassionate face and the austerity of his words. Like he considers Daniel to be far, far beneath him. On one end of the spectrum there is Louis, the God, and on the other end there’s Daniel, the filth underneath Rashid’s shoe. 

He’s nearing half-mast now. Jesus Christ. There’s no way he’s going to give in to this, this unexpected and extremely ill-timed bout of horniness. Tell that to his overactive brain though. Something about a gift and a curse. 

What would it be like, with Rashid? He’d boss Daniel around in the bedroom for sure. Tell him what to do, what position to fold his aching body in, impassive eyes watching him struggle to comply, soft-spoken words dripping with thinly veiled venom.

Would Rashid touch him at all? Maybe even demand Daniel to pleasure him? Or would he avoid any physical contact between them and make Daniel touch himself, put on a pathetic little show for him? 

Ah, but that’s where the gloves come in. 

The thought of sterile black latex on his bare skin makes Daniel’s breath hitch. The same two-word thought that made him book that ticket to Dubai International Airport flashes through his mind.

Fuck it.

What’s the point of resisting his high-risk urges when his days are numbered no matter what? Might as well live a little while he still can. Consequences be damned. 

Throwing the sheets back, he raises his hips off the mattress and tugs his underwear down just far enough to expose himself. It’s been a long while since he’s been in the mood for self-gratification. The uncomfortable dryness of his hand only feeds the fantasy he’s got going on in his head, so he doesn’t bother with spit. Slowly but surely he gets himself as hard as he can get these days. 

In his mind’s eye, Rashid stands next to his bed fully clothed, just a titillating peak of his chest visible. His latex-covered hand moves clinically over Daniel’s cock. His gaze is detached– No, he’s not even looking at Daniel, the ever-present iPad in his other hand holds his full attention. Daniel lets out a soft groan, needing it faster but also feeling the near-painful friction of rubber against sensitive nerve endings. Rashid pays him no mind. The pace of his hand remains unchanged, methodical, almost machine-like. He goes through the motions absent-mindedly, like getting Daniel off is the same to him as making a cup of coffee.  

His dick is becoming more sore by the minute, almost too sore to keep fueling his arousal, forcing Daniel to switch it up and move things along. He keeps the same pace, but fantasy-Rashid finally shifts his attention from his screen to Daniel. The neutral look on his face doesn’t budge. The words he speaks might be encouraging, but his delivery is as cool and professional as always. Like the way Daniel is falling apart in front of him���because of him—doesn’t affect him at all. He sounds almost patronizing, especially with that accent of his. 

“That’s it Mr. Molloy. It won’t be long now, will it? Go ahead, make a mess of yourself. That’s it. Good boy.”

Yeah, that'll do it.

Huffing through gritted teeth, Daniel rubs himself through his orgasm. The toe-curling friction on his cock has crossed into something actually painful, but intense ripples of pleasure cancel it out. As soon as those dwindle he has to stop touching himself. It feels like he rubbed himself raw. The tremor in his right hand makes itself known again with a vengeance. Catching his breath a little, he regains the ability to think clearly enough to berate himself for the lack of self-control, praying that Louis did not pick up on any of that. 

There’s nothing he wants more than to take his underwear off completely, use it to clean himself up as best as he can, throw it on the floor, get back under the covers, turn over onto his stomach and drift off to sleep. So fuck it, that’s exactly what he does.

Some distance away, in the large open space of the master bedroom, Armand wipes himself down, his movements sluggish but meticulous. The giddiness of what has just transpired is quickly fading. It was reckless of him to listen in to Daniel’s thoughts and get carried away like that. He knows Louis is currently fully preoccupied with all the horrible things the interview is stirring up, and yet… this cannot happen again. 

He does make a mental note to integrate the remark “that’s it, Mr. Molloy” into one of his interactions with Daniel tomorrow, should the opportunity present itself. The little thrill he gets out of rattling Daniel is too good to pass up on, and he sees no reason to deny himself the delight of watching the other man squirm. 

Picking up his iPad, he scrolls through enough art auctions that the fluttery feeling in the center of him—something he has long since come to associate with Daniel—eventually fades into the background. 

[divinekangaroo]

What Tommy secretly likes about Lizzie in bed you reckon?

The Alfie shaped dildo killed me XD

Which brings me to the question - are you still planning to write their Paris honeymoon fic?

XD my writing strength/pleasure is taking the most crack seeming premise and making it heartbreaking because let me tell you, wow, did i want that to be an absolute tearjerker

*

Honeymoon fic - it's still on the timeline list as one of three bits of interest for me between S4 and S5, and I've more than half outlined it, but I've been hit with an Absolute Plague of Anxiety lately really crimping recreational activity. The kind that makes opening a partial doc which made perfect sense when I wrote it and read it previously, suddenly seem like a pile of gibberish stacked on top of itself.

So I'm slowing down to try to sort out what's going on, get back into myself again a little. Mostly, I think the anxiety it's the ominous impending cascade of Demands with work, daycare, parental aging needs, legal stuff, financial stuff all lining up, plus ongoing baby-led minor sleep deprivation. Putting sentences together in coherent ways starts to feel like another Demand that my instinctive self is noping out of; but I've been through this before and just have to work through it somehow...

*

Ooh, is that a headcanon!Tommy or a canon!Tommy question? Headcanon sex stuff is easy, I've a long slippery line of these leveraging from (extrapolating? diverging? offshooting from?) very random canon fragments, such as writing his softness/fondness of looking at Lizzie's bare feet actually triggered by my personal OMG NO when Diana stepped on Tommy's boat with her stockinged feet, rather than anything he's ever done with Lizzie's feet. I could go on if this is what you mean?

But canon interpolation feels quite difficult because of how they play the sex scenes - with exception of Tatiana and That Act, which is reused repeatedly throughout the series, the fact he's having sex and/or who with (and the conversations before/after the sex) seems dominant, so there's not a lot of internal sexual interpolation available. He just kind of...has sex. (This is one reason why I was fascinated with the show, TBH: dude has lots of sex and fits a certain stereotype because of that but actually seems kind of...put out by it? performs but doesn't really get into it? is often clearly into the person he's having sex with, but the sex, while enjoyable, is just what's now necessary and he's not particularly for or against it in any personal way?)

If anything, I'd say it's probably Lizzie's facial expressions particularly S5 onwards as intimacy increases: unlike the other sex scenes which are filmed full body, lots of nudity, touching etc, the Lizzie scenes by contrast have Tommy paying a lot of attention to her face more than anything else (albeit that in itself is a consequence of needing to be filmed, and possibly Natasha O'Keeffe has a no-nudity preference they needed to respect? Their scenes are notably different anyway). Even in S2/over the desk, there is a certain kind of Complicated Look he wears when he takes in her face and her sadness, in the aftermath. And if you look at the whole head-cradling, face-smooshing, nose bumping, nuzzling kind of stuff he does to show his connection with others, I imagine a not-too-far stretch is that he likes looking at her very closely throughout. So my bet is on him getting a full secret kick of feeling when he inadvertently makes her smile before/during/after, big and broad and unexpected, like, that’s for me no one else but me I did that, especially because she so hardly ever smiles like that.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 123

Chapter 123: "An Important Choice"

Yesterday I mentioned that if I was reading the manga around the time the previous ch was released that I would be so eager for Ray's answer, but I would've never imagined him to be so blunt and admitting his uncertainty like this. It's hilarious to me now of course but I wonder if I would've been let down initially if I had patiently waited a whole week just to hear him be like "eh, I dunno."

I'm always so harsh on Norman's plan and how it'll result it wiping out all the demons when I forget that the promise Emma has in mind will essentially have the same effect.. oops. With all the children raised in farms crossing over to the human world with no more traveling between worlds, the demons would've just degenerated on their own. Although, would that really knock them out? Surely they can eat other things aside from humans to stay alive right? They would just revert back to a more wild state of mind. I dunno. No need to wonder about it too hard with evil blood ex machina.

Ray throws me through a total loop with his honesty, like yeah he's typically the one who has no issue telling the truth to others, but it's done in such comedic and unexpected ways during this chapter that I can't help but love him more because of it.

Thank you anime for being faithful with the above mentioned panels.

Poor Emma is completely caught off guard by his answers too. She was expecting Ray to give her some clarity as usual and yet he's giving us a whole lot of nothing. In his defense though, it is quite the troublesome problem to find a reasonable solution to that would please Emma's standards. Both sub & dub are fun in this little bit too, especially with Ray's "nopes." (I'm adding the scene here again, for funsies.)

To this day I still believe Emma listened to his advice a bit too well here and that's how she was able to keep her emotions and the consequences of the reward so well hidden whenever it was brought up after the new promise was made and when it was time to cross over to the human world.

I'm fairy certain I brought this up last chapter (I dunno, it's been a long day when I'm actually writing this out and I'm lazy to check myself), but I still love the dark shadows that Ray has during half of this conversation. It's kinda ironic because it's not like he's trying to lead Emma to make some grave mistake or persuade her into choosing something she's not 100% okay with; he's genuinely trying to help her make the right choice, so despite shadows typically being used to show ill intent, evil or make us suspicious about something or someone, it couldn't be farther from the truth here and I kinda like it.

Naturally I love that he even admits to knowing her so well, and yet despite Emma's no-violence-please-only-happiness wish requiring more brain power to figure out they could even accomplish both sides coexisting, he still wants to help find a solution for her to ease the burden in her heart and mind. And I love that about him. I love many things about Ray. Is it obvious yet?

His has own opinion but respects hers so much more and that fills me with many soft feelings. Also, YES! The head pat! Still kinda sad the anime left it out but I still love their version of this scene very much.

Bro the fire and determination came back into her eyes instantly.

At this point of the anime train-wreck, I'll take any moment that resembles the manga, even with simple actions like this.

Anime missed this small, surprised Emma though and that's a bummer for me personally. She's cute.

I know Emma's ideals and doubts made her hesitate in voicing her refusal of Norman's plan the day before, but I also wanna believe another part of it wasn't because it was concerning Norman, but because her entire family was in the room at the time and they all seemed to be thrilled with the idea, so she opted to stay quiet to not ruin the mood. And I gotta say, I prefer that second panel of Ray in manga as well. He just looks real good there.

Anime gets a win for the way Ray looks at her here though. I have a love-dislike relationship with the adaption if you couldn't already tell. It's amusing to witness.

Ray's had one too many parents lie to him, so thankfully the demon parents are spared from being added to that list.

Oh honey, do I have some great news for you!

The way Emma gets so excited over him considering her plan is so precious! And Ray better play the lotto when he gets to the human world because that one in a billion chance eventually becomes a reality.

And yet regardless of the incredibly low chances and all the dangers that may come along with going against the annihilation, he still chooses to put his trust into Emma for her and their demon parents. He's amazing. He deserves many head pats.

With all the RE focus during this chapter, I often forget these three show up towards the very end. My bad.

Such a proper introduction. What lovely adult raised them so wonderfully, hm? And yes I appreciate that the anime remembered to include Barbara's little slip up and Vincent correcting her as well.

Let the interrogation begin! Ray has already resigned to his fate. Another detail I tend to forget is Cislo's piercings. I wonder why that's so uncommon with the kids. Probably because they've been living att the farms for the majority of their lives, but I definitely feel like a handful of them would at least enjoy having earrings now that their sorta kinda free. (I fully support the idea of the fullscore trio getting a matching set.)

Favorite panel/moment:

With how much I rambled on, you can imagine just how much I enjoy this entire chapter. I could literally pick out almost any panel and declare it my favorite, but OF COURSE these lines of Ray's live rent free in my head. Even the light banter at the end to close out the balcony scene is adorable. He just has so much trust, faith and respect for Emma that I honestly will never get over it. Everyone deserves someone who supports you in life to such a great extent!!

The biggest change of this scene is obviously the location but I can never be mad about that when I absolutely LOVE how it allowed us to get this beautiful sunrise!

"Here we have our girl lost within her own mind and feeling completely alone due to her ideals, then BAM! Ray listens to her concerns, lends his assistance by thinking through a different course of action that would ease her wavering heart and restores some of her usual optimistic attitude. My boy literally helps our girl out of the dark and shined light on her mood/plan and that’s absolute perfection." - me freaking out during s2ep6.

It was such a genius addition and I will always get super emotional whenever I watch this scene back, like how perfectly poetic could you possibly get??

[misshoneyimhomeagain]

Chapter 6 - 

Summary; a night out of town once again stirs up some complications between William and Julia, which might actually brew their friendship just a tad closer;

Tags; William NylanderxOfc, jealous!William; “We never go out of style”

Warnings; as always, swearing/language; foreign language (Danish & Swedish); 

A/N; introducing *drumroll* Frederik Andersen; what can I say, I just love jealous!William; personally, I have a love/hate relationship to this chapter; 

Words; 4K+

-

“Why, why did I ever let you go?”

Saturday, 5th - Hockey Fights Cancer: TOR 2 – BOS 1

Julia was absolutely exhausted, and her legs throbbed with pain. She couldn't help but mutter to herself about how sore they were, a direct consequence of the ice-skating adventure she'd embarked on with Tyler and William the day before.

williamnylander: How are you feeling? 😂

jjonesss: I'm not okay... and it's all your fault! 😉

williamnylander: What did I do now? Nobody twisted your arm to skate 😂

jjonesss: Yes, YOU did! 😂

williamnylander: Alright... well, in that case, I'm sorry 😂

jjonesss: No, you're not 😂

williamnylander: Nope, I'm not 😂

She couldn't help but smile as she thought about the previous night's event. It had been nothing short of amazing, and a small part of her had secretly cherished the soft intimacy she and William had shared when he'd encouraged her to join him on the ice. A decision she was glad she'd made, at least until her legs reminded her of the physical consequences.

After a quick errand, she was back home, ready for hockey night; but not just any hockey night. It was a special night where NHL teams came together to show unwavering support for those battling cancer.

For Julia, this initiative held deep personal meaning. She had lost a dear friend to cancer only a couple of years ago, so she felt a profound connection to the ceremony as she watched the match from the comfort of her home. She had decided to dedicate the evening to some much-needed self-care, pampering herself with a home-cooked dinner, spa treatments, and some quality "me-time" on her sofa with a glass of wine.

A brief call with Camille was also much-needed, and Julia filled her in on everything that had happened in the past week.

Her week had been a whirlwind of activity, filled with work and spending time with Tyler, Phoebe, and William. While it had been incredibly enjoyable, Julia also recognised the importance of a quiet night to recharge.

However, even in the solitude of her living room, she couldn't help but become engrossed in the hockey match. The Toronto Maple Leafs were facing off against the Boston Bruins, and with each save and shot at goal, Julia found herself passionately cheering, despite being all by herself.

As the match concluded with the Leafs securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory, Julia exchanged a few texts with Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, was at the arena, passionately cheering for her partner, Auston, alongside the other wives and girlfriends of the team.

Charlie had spent the day with Stephanie and the others, planning a surprise trip for the players scheduled for the following day, Sunday. The team had an away game in North Carolina against the Hurricanes, and the partners had organised a tour without the players' knowledge. Surprisingly, they had extended an invitation to Julia as well. Although she wasn't romantically involved with any of the players, her special friendship and bond with William had made her feel like an integral part of the inner circle, so she wholeheartedly accepted the invitation.

And little did everyone know; Julia had an unexpected surprise in store.

_

Sunday 6th – Away game, CAR 1 – TOR 3

In the morning, the group og girlfriends and wives assembled at Toronto Pearson International Airport. They had all packed their overnight bags and were ready for take-off.

Julia hadn't been heavily involved in the planning; she was more like a tag-along, but to her comfort, everything was very well-organised. The partners had booked flight tickets, arranged coaches for transportation, secured hotel rooms (where they knew they players would stay as well), and even had secured good game tickets, all by themselves. Well, it's possible they received a little assistance from the staff team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fans had a reputation for being exceptionally passionate and dedicated supporters of their beloved hockey team. Throughout the NHL, they were known for embarking on long road trips with the team, bringing high levels of energy and positivity to arenas across North America. So, it only made sense for the wives and girlfriends to want to be part of this supportive community.

The atmosphere was lively among the women as they embarked on their journey. They shared stories and adventures they had experienced as part of the Leafs' extended family, and they were all welcoming and warm, and extending their genuine hospitality to the girlfriends and wives of new players on the team.

-

"So, what's the surprise?" Charlie curiously asked as she and Julia were unpacking in their hotel room.

"Well, please don't laugh, but..." Julia's voice came from the bathroom. "I sort of did a thing," she said as she emerged.

Charlie turned to look at her, and a broad smile crossed her face.

"Oh yes, JJ!" she exclaimed when she saw her friend standing in a #88 Nylander jersey.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Julia asked a little nervously.

"Like it?" Charlie chuckled. "Babe, he's going to be thrilled."

"It’s not too weird, init?" Julia asked curiously, but Charlie simply shook her head and shrieked in excitement.

The girls shared moments of laughter as they got ready for tonight's game dancing along to music and casually enjoying a drink or two. They had both taken Monday off from work, so tonight was all about enjoying themselves.

The group gathered in the lobby, before they together in all excitement headed to the PNC arena. They had been fortunate enough to secure excellent seats close to the ice, and as the players stepped onto the ice, their faces lit up with delight. All of the players couldn't help but break into wide smiles when they saw the enormous group of passionate Leafs fans, among whom were all the partners, standing together to cheer for their significant others.

The sight of their loved ones in the stands, wearing jerseys and waving banners, was a heart-warming moment for the players, and it filled them with a sense of pride and motivation as they prepared to give their best on the ice. The atmosphere in the arena was electric, and the players could feel the overwhelming support from the partners and fans alike. It was a special moment that added an extra layer of excitement to the game.

And the Leafs won a solid 3-1.

Following the match, the players were beyond excited as they were met with the very energetic group of significant others. Barely any of them had the time to do any media work, as they were just so happy to see the women’s faces and how they sported their jerseys. Even the single lads found the situation amusing and were easily embarked in the exciting atmosphere.

Trying her best to squeeze through the crowd in the hallway, Julia made her way to William, who was also trying his best to do the same and find her. For a brief moment, they simply stood and looked at each other, sharing a laughter, as he took in the image of her in his jersey. 

“So, you like it?” Julia offered William a slightly concerned yet excited smile.

“Of course, JJ,” he chuckled as he came closer to embrace her into a hug. “You look amazing – you couldn’t have picked a better number,” he said, which made her giggle.

"Yeah, well, all the other numbers were already taken," she teased, pulling away and giving him a cheeky wink.

“Woohooo,” Rasmus said loudly as he joined William and Julia along with Timothy. “I thought this was only for wives and girlfriends - and I didn’t know you were a girlfriend, JJ,” he cheekily remarked, wrapping an arm around William, who was laughing along – and perhaps lightly blushing?

“Well, Sandin – I am a girl,” Julia said offering him a joking smile. “And I am a friend, so…”

Rasmus and Tim were simply laughing at her comment, and they all shared this moment of amusement.

Of course, Rasmus and Tim had teased William about his relationship with Julia. They had obviously noticed how they acted around each other, and especially how their fellow Swedish friend's behaviour had subtly changed over the past couple of months. Not in a bad way, just that he wasn't as flirtatious and outgoing with other girls as usual. He was more reserved and had also come up with some great tips on how to build good connections with ladies. Thanks to William, Timothy had even managed to flirt with his long-time crush.

"ALL RIGHT, WHO'S UP FOR KARAOKE?" Mitch shouted, and almost the entire group responded with an enthusiastic 'Wooo' to his proposal. 

Julia chuckled. "He does this a lot, doesn't he?" she asked in an unimpressed tone, to which the Swedes simply replied with a simultaneous 'yes'.

And once all the lads had wrapped up in the locker room, a group of people set off to a nearby karaoke bar. Mitch, of course, had done his homework and found the perfect spot.

As the group made their way into the bar, they were all sharing laughter and discussing today's game.

“Hey JJ,” Mitch shouted, “don’t go too far away.” Julia paused for a moment as Mitch approached her. "We've got a little surprise for you," he said.

And as if on cue, another man entered the bar and headed towards them. It was Frederik Andersen. Mitch and Auston had invited him to join for a spontaneous get-together as old teammates. 

“We would have given it to you when we got back, but since you’re here now, we thought this’d be even better,” Auston said as Freddie came to greet them.

"Hey," he said, and Auston and Mitch exchanged friendly guy-hugs.

"So, JJ, meet Freddie – Freddie, this is JJ, our new Danish friend," Mitch introduced the two of them.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the very tall red-headed Dane spoke as he extended a hand for Julia to shake.

“It’s lovely to meet you too,” she smiled, accepting his hand.

"So, I guess this is for you," Freddie said, holding out a paper bag in his other hand and passing it to her as they all settled down at a table, joining the rest of the group.

Freddie took a seat at the very end of the table, with Julia between him and William. Mitch and Auston sat across from her, and Charlie and Steph occupied the seats next to Auston, while Rasmus and Tim sat alongside William. Mo and Tessa were at the opposite end with John and Aryne.

"What is it?" Julia asked, curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"Just open it and see," Auston chuckled.

With eager anticipation, she reached into the bag and pulled out a #31 Andersen jersey – signed.

"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed with excitement. "Oh my god, you guys; thank you! – thank you so much," she said, looking at Freddie and the boys, who responded with hearty laughter and smiles.

"I was told it was for your dad or something," Freddie chimed in, and Julia nodded enthusiastically. 

"Yeah, he's kind of a massive fan of yours," she replied with a huge smile.

Across the table, the group continued their lively conversation, and the room was filled with the cheerful sound of people enjoying each other's company.

"So, you're Danish?" Freddie asked, leaning a little closer to Julia.

"Well, half Danish and half English," she replied with a warm smile.

"Taler du så dansk?" (So, you're speaking Danish?) Freddie asked, and she nodded.

"Ja, selvom jeg nok ikke lyder helt korrekt," (Yes, although I probably don't sound quite right) she chuckled lightly.

"Du lyder helt perfekt," (You sound absolutely perfect) he said, offering her a friendly smile, which made Julia slightly blush. 

Her Danish was actually surprisingly good, especially considering she had spent most of her life in England. But Julia had always been eager to explore her Danish roots, so Freddie's compliment held special meaning for her.

Freddie, she thought, was quite the handsome man. A vibrant red beard framed his masculine facial features, his eyes shimmered with deep honey-brown hues, and his pink lips formed an endearing smile.

Their conversation flowed effortlessly, and they delved into getting to know each other better, as Laughter filled the air while they shared jokes and anecdotes about Denmark and their upbringing.

Meanwhile, William sat beside her, making a half-hearted attempt to follow the conversation. Though he couldn't catch every word and detail, he grasped the gist of it. Julia's laughter, almost instinctively, brought a smile to his face. 

“So, Char and JJ, you’re going next,” Mitch excitedly shouted.

“What?” Julia exclaimed.

“Oh, come on, JJ – we’ve got to do our gig” Charlie laughed.

“You have a gig?” Auston asked curiously. “Please explain,” he chuckled, and the girls nodded, giggling.

“Well, long story short: when JJ’s been here for, what about a week or so, we had this international/cultural night at work, where we sang karaoke, and even though she had made it very clear, she was from Denmark, someone put on ABBA for us to sing,” Charlie explained, not able to contain her laughter, and the rest of the group joined her.

“Seriously, those bastards,” Julia joked. “First of all, ABBA’s bloody Swedish, not Danish, and secondly, I’m from England! We’ve got the greatest music artists of all time,” she laughed. “They could’ve chosen anyone!”

“Well, that’s the thing, JJ – you only need one good number-one band, and everyone remembers,” Rasmus cheekily chimed in.

“Oh, fuck you Sandin” Julia joked, making the entire group laugh. 

They took the stage, and as the music started to play, they both embraced the delightful atmosphere.

‘I've been cheated by you since I don't know when So I made up my mind: it must come to an end Look at me now, will I ever learn? I don't know how, but I suddenly lose control There's a fire within my soul’ (Just one look) and I can hear a bell ring  (One more look) and I forget everything, whoa

As the girls sang their hearts out, William found himself captivated by Julia's cheerful demeanour. Her voice was surprisingly good, and her energy drew him into the lyrics. And he couldn't help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning to this song.

Mamma mia, here I go again My, my, how can I resist you? Mamma mia, does it show again My, my, just how much I've missed you? Yes, I've been brokenhearted Blue since the day we parted Why, why did I ever let you go? Mamma mia, now I really know My, my, I could never let you go

The girls, did an amazing performance for the lads. Their voices weren’t overly perfect; however, they did manage to harmonise and keep the tune. Not to brag, but they did sound fucking amazing. And they danced and did it all in true ABBA style. 

They guys cheered, clapped, and whistled throughout the entire song as well as they finished and re-joined the group.

"Wasn't half bad!" Rasmus shouted.

"Thanks, Sandin. I'll take that as an almost-compliment," Julia teased as she took her seat.

"He doesn't dare say anything else; he's too afraid of getting a punch in the face," Timothy quipped, sparking laughter from the group.

"It was an accident," Julia playfully defended herself, but the laughter persisted. She shook her head smiling, then turned her attention to Freddie, who curiously asked her what had happened. She proceeded to explain the situation, which elicited a hearty laugh from him as well.

As the conversations continued to flow, Julia and Freddie found themselves pulled into deeper discussions. Freddie's friendly nature and easygoing charm were undeniably captivating, and Julia couldn't help but sense a growing connection between them. She found herself increasingly intrigued by the affable Dane.

Despite her efforts not to read too much into their interactions, Freddie's warm smile and charismatic personality had a way of enchanting her, and Julia secretly hoped for more opportunities to spend time with him.

However, as the evening wore on, William couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He discreetly observed the two Danes interacting, even though he knew that he and Julia were just close friends and not romantically involved. Yet, something about Freddie's friendliness stirred this irrational feeling within him, and a part of him entertained thoughts of interrupting their private conversation.

Realising the irrationality of his jealousy, William scolded himself mentally. He acknowledged that he had no claim over Julia's conversations or potential friendships. So, he redirected his attention to Tim and Rasmus, making a conscious effort to dispel the unnecessary jealousy that had briefly gripped him.

As the night came to a close, the group agreed that it was time to head back to the hotel.

"Wait, I've gotta hit the loo, real quick," Julia announced.

"I'll join you," Charlie chimed in, following Julia.

"Yeah, me too," Stephanie added, and the girls made their way to the ladies’ room.

"Why do girls always go to the bathroom together?" Mitch asked, making the rest of the group chuckle.

Taking advantage of the waiting time, Freddie and William struck up a conversation.

Having observed the way William had been looking at Julia and how she had been sitting close to him throughout the night, Freddie couldn't help but wonder about the nature of their relationship. He believed Julia was flirting with him, but maybe he’d misread the situation and she was simply just being friendly because of the jersey.

"So, just to be sure, is there anything going on between you and her?" Freddie asked curiously.

Taken aback a bit by the sudden question, William shook his head lightly. "No, we're just good friends," he assured his former teammate.

"Alright, just don’t want to step on any toes," Freddie said, wearing a faint smirk.

"But, you know, she's not looking for anything," William suddenly blurted out, feeling a bit surprised by his own words. "Like, she's not looking for a hook-up or something like that." 

Why did he even say that? He once again mentally scolded himself. 

"Uh, okay, good to know," Freddie replied, nodding, acknowledging that he then must’ve misread the situation. 

As the girls returned from the ladies' room, the group made their way toward the exit. Stopping briefly outside, Julia and Freddie stood a little apart from the group.

"It was really nice to meet you, JJ," Freddie said in Danish, looking down at the blonde woman.

"It was really nice to meet you too," she smiled up at him, keeping the conversation in his native tongue. "And thanks for the jersey, it's very much appreciated."

"No problem," Freddie offered her a soft smile.

Julia looked at Freddie, wanting to say something more. A small part of her desired to invite him to her hotel room, suspecting that Charlie might spend time with Auston. However, her insecurities held her back, and she hoped for him to take the first step.

"JJ, I, uh..." Freddie began, biting lightly onto his lower lip. "I wanted to ask you if maybe you'd like to spend some more time together... But Willy told me that you weren't really up for anything like that, so..."

What?

"Willy said what?" she asked, her surprise evident.

"Well, he explained that you weren't looking for anything, so I just wanted to tell you that I had a really good time with you tonight, and if you ever want to talk again, I'd very much like to as well," he offered her a friendly smile.

Julia was left momentarily speechless but nodded in response.

"Well, thanks again for the jersey then, Freddie. I had a great time as well," she smiled before they parted ways, and Freddie went to say his goodbyes to the guys.

William, on the other hand, avoided Julia for the entire walk back to the hotel. He had a feeling that he might have screwed up again.

And he was right.

Julia was a little pissed and very disappointed. 

Why had he even talked to Freddie about her?

Back at the hotel, most of the group gathered in the hallway before heading to their respective rooms. Charlie, of course, went with Auston, and some of the other guys congregated in a room to play a few rounds of video games.

William was chatting with Rasmus when Julia spotted him and decided it was time to sort things out. He sighed as he saw her approaching and knew he had no other choice. 

"Hey," he simply said as he and Julia were the only two left in the hallway.

"Hey? That's all you have to say..." she spoke with a calm but firm voice.

He simply shrugged.

"Why did you talk to Freddie about me, Willy?" she asked.

William shrugged again. "I don't know..." he mumbled, trying to avoid her piercing gaze, but Julia kept her eyes locked on him.

"You don't know?"

"I mean... well, I just..." he trailed off, fumbling for words. "I just wanted to help."

"Help? By pushing away an interesting man I was having a pleasant conversation with?"

"I just didn't want you to make a mistake," he said, his voice firm and resolute. "You know, like you did with me..."

Julia, slightly baffled, blinked a few times. "You think I consider you a mistake?" she asked softly.

"No... I mean, yes – I don't know," he struggled to articulate his thoughts. William was confused and conflicted, unsure of what he truly felt. All he wanted was to prevent Julia from getting hurt again. Not that Freddie was the kind of guy who would hurt women, but William worried that Julia might do something she'd later regret.

"William, I don't think of you as a mistake..." she said gently. "Do you think that of me?"

"What? No!"

"Then why would you say something like that?" Julia's emotions were a whirlwind of bewilderment, anger, surprise, and confusion.

"I don't know, I just wanted to protect you, or something," William raised his voice.

"Why? I'm not yours to protect, Willy!" Julia practically shouted. 

Silence hung between them.

And they both let out a deep sigh. 

"Well, then I'm sorry, I guess..." William finally muttered. 

"Yeah, so am I," Julia replied before she turned and walked away from him; still feeling slightly pissed off and annoyed that he’d had the audacity to interfere with her potential night with Freddie. 

"Shiiit…" William mumbled to himself as he went to enter to his room. 

-

Lying on her bed, Julia couldn't help but replay the evening in her mind.

Why did she and William end up in situations like this?

Their friendship was precious to her, and she didn't want to be angry with him. And deep down, she knew he had acted out of care.

Reflecting on it, he might even have been right. She had been drawn to Freddie, and yes, she had been flirting with the kind Dane, but realistically, it would never have evolved into anything more. The distance alone made that improbable, and she didn't truly know him well enough.

It would have been a spontaneous fling, and Julia might or might not have regretted it in the morning. In a way, William had protected her from a potential mistake. Just like he’d said. 

‘Fuck,’ she thought to herself. 'I hate it when he's right.’ 

Glancing at her phone, she opened their chat.

jjonesss: I'm sorry… you were right, thank you for tonight 💛

She then put down her phone and settled in for the night. 

Across the hallway, William was in his own room, preparing for bed, where Rasmus was already nestled under the duvet, engrossed in his phone.

“Hey, jag hoppas att det är okej att jag lånade din laddare?" (Hey, I hope it's okay I borrowed your charger?) Rasmus asked, looking up from his phone. 

William simply nodded. "Sure, man."

He was exhausted, not just from the game but also emotionally drained. It wasn't typical for him to feel this way after a game, but he knew he had expended a considerable amount of energy keeping an eye on Julia throughout the night.

Something she apparently didn't appreciate.

In a way, he was disappointed with himself. All he had wanted was for Julia to be happy, which was why he had tried to help her. Instead, it seemed like he had messed things up again. 

'Well done, Willy,' he thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.

_

The following morning, Julia woke up to no reply from William, and a twinge of disappointment pricked her chest.

So she got up and got ready to leave.

And an hour later, still no reply.

'Shit,' she thought, wondering if their friendship had been irreparably damaged.

The girls had breakfast and said their farewells to their partners before heading to their transportation for the airport.

But William was still nowhere to be found, and Julia's heart felt heavy.

She realised just how much her friendship with William meant to her, and all she wanted at that very moment, was for them to talk and sort things out. 

But she’d have to try and let it go, as the group had to leave. 

-

"Hey, man, har du sett min laddare?" (Hey, man, have you seen my charger) William asked as he ransacked the room.

"Den ligger bredvid sängen”,” (It's right by my bed) Sandin called from the hallway. "Kom igen, Willy! Vi har redan missat frukosten,” (Come on, Willy! We've already missed breakfast.)

"Shit," William mumbled as he gave up the search. "Jag har inget batteri på min telefon,” (I’ve got no power on my phone) he explained as he grabbed his bag and joined Sandin, heading downstairs to meet the rest of the team. 

[pigeon-eyed]

Firstly, I love the snippet. It also made curious about what could happen later, I thought about Zuko trying to delicately ask Katara whether Aang has ever hurt her before, intentionally or not. I know, it was before The Southern Riders (I think), so she probably wouldn't want to be vulnerable with him, but still, a part of me melted at that thought.

Secondly, forgive me this rant, because I just noticed something about the lava fissure incident. I admit I don't know the comics, I just saw the scene you ("you" as in "the-badger-mole", I'm not sure if reblogging works the same as replying? I don't know much about tumblr, still) shared some time ago. If there was something more to it, idk, something important I missed, please let me know.

I won't talk about why opening a lava fissure in someone's face is wrong. You did it already, I think more than once. I wanted to focus on what happened later. At first he was understandably scared and called out Katara's name. However, when he realized she was neither physically hurt nor angry with him, he... resumed being angry with her. That proves he didn't understand the gravity of the situation at all. If he had, he wouldn't have started acting like nothing had happened the minute he noticed there were no immediate, visible consequences.

A possibility of physically injuring someone isn't the only bad thing about violence. Neither is a possibility of someone getting mad at you. And these seem to be the only two things Aang was worried about, because when he realized they hadn't happened, he jumped right back to his anger about how Katara was playing cruel games with his poor little heart. He didn't stop to think that he had scared the love of his life - and not in a "now that was one hell of a prank" way, but in a "she was put in a potentially dangerous situation and could fear for her life and health" way. He didn't ask himself the most basic "what if...?" questions: what if he had miscalculated where the lava fissue was going to be/how big it was supposed to be/where the lava drops would fall? Or what if Katara, startled, had made some unexpected movement and ended up falling right on some lava? He didn't even seem to be selfishly wondering whether Katara would still feel comfortable around him, or whether she would become afraid of being alone with him/being honest with him. He didn't even have a moment of fear of himself ("Is it really me? Am I capable of trying to intimidate someone I love into doing what I want?") - and he should have, I'm saying it as a person who has struggled with emotional regulation for years. Nope. He looked around, didn't see any bodily harm, didn't hear Katara scolding him, so he returned to thinking about himself. Out of sight, out of mind.

Then I realized it was a consistent attitude of Aang's. We could see it The Great Divide. Yes, these two peoples had hated each other for over a hundred of years. Yes, one touching story wasn't going to undo such a long time of propaganda, besides, the lifestyle differences between them were still pretty extreme and had to lead to some fights, but well, Aang wouldn't stay around long enough to watch them, so what was the issue? Out of sight, out of mind. I'm under the impresison a similar thought process led him to running away from the Southern Air Temple and ending up in the iceberg. The same mindset led him to forgetting about the sacrifice Hakoda and the other adults had made for him (when he went to play in the Western Air Temple), ignoring the problem of what he would do with Ozai since he didn't want to kill him, and leaving an unpleasant conversation with his friends right before he got kidnapped by the lion turtle. You could see some echoes of it in his attitude towards the loss of other Air Nomads. It's so consistent it would be brilliant if it was intentional and addressed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the show. But I think it had a chance of being better. The creators gave Aang this tendency and could have used it to show what kind of consequences it may have, especially in someone who is in position of power. It was right there. I would love seeing it explored a little bit.

OK, rant over. Wow. It was long. I'm sorry about that and I'm going to hide in my little corner and hug my cat. And I'm sorry for coming with it to your snippet, but I started thinking about it right after I'd read it, so I thought I would share my conclusions. I hope it's no big deal.

Fic Snippet!

“Are you out of your mind?” Zuko rushed across the courtyard and bore down on Aang with an intense, almost palpable fury. “Do you know how badly you could’ve hurt her?”

“I was just…I didn’t mean to-“ Aang stammered.

“Fire is not a toy!” Zuko bellowed at him. He turned to Katara, examining her for injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” she assured him, her voice shaking. “I’m fine.” She was trembling visibly, and there were singe marks on her clothes, but she otherwise seemed unharmed. Zuko turned back to Aang, how was looking down at his feet in shame.

“What were you thinking?” Zuko demanded.

“I don’t know,” Aang mumbled, kicking at the ground. “I was…mad.”

“About what?” Zuko was absolutely bewildered. “What could Katara possibly have done that you thought it was a good idea to do that?”

“Nothing,” Aang admitted sullenly. He didn’t say anything after that. Zuko glowered at him, took a few deep breaths to quell his own anger.

“You’re going to clean this mess up,” he said gesturing to the torn up stones, dirt and cooling lava. “Then you’re going to do 100 fire squats. Then you’re going to work on your forms for an hour. And I don’t want to see so much as a curl of smoke out of you. You’re not responsible enough for fire. Understood?” 

“What? That’s not-“ Aang’s protests died on his lips when he saw Zuko’s expression.  He huffed, kicked at stone, and finally nodded.

“Get started,” Zuko ordered through clenched teeth. He turned back to Katara, who was watching the exchange. She was still shaking a bit. Zuko draped his arm protectively around her back and guided her away. He glanced back once more at Aang, and almost rolled his eyes when he saw the younger boy still moping at the ground. It was hard sometimes to reconcile the awesome might and eminence of the Avatar with the reality of Aang, the child.

“I’ll be back,” he warned Aang. “Have this mess cleaned up. And don’t even think about asking Toph to help.” 

I know canonically, the Lava Fissure Incident takes place while Zuko and Sokka are rescuing Hakoda, but I wanted to have Zuko see and react to it. Personally, I think it was another accidentally accurate depiction of how unready Aang is to be the Avatar. And it is also another incident that the narrative decides not to call Aang out for, so the chances of him growing from it are...well, we all know how things turned out in LoK.

[onedayimgonnasnap]

The Demon Child

Court of Darkness X Child Reader/MC (same person)

There’s no specific gender for the reader it’s GN

.

.

.

.

.

It was a long day for you, you’ve just finished classes, riding Shifah that dragon and having to deal with Sherry's ‘Shipping Service.

She created that service a while ago because she was dying for students to get together plus romance in general.

She dragged you, Violet and Grayson to it. However… there hasn’t been much profit. Most of the pairings were of random fan girls wanting to get with the princes.

You suggested that it was gonna be a scam (because this was obviously an extremely hard pairing.)

Sherry didn’t listen and the whole academy was full of tears from both male and female students.

Soon you decided to head to your dorm for a nap.

When you opened the door you were greeted by Robin, your familiar.

Robin jumped in your arms with a cheerful voice.

“Welcome back Master!!”

“Well hello, Robin!”

Robin soon started talking about how fun his day was playing in the forest and trying new snacks however.

“Robin?”

“Yes?”

“What’s that on the table?”

There was this unfamiliar fruit on your bedside table, it was orange, shaped like a mango but had the pattern and texture of a pineapple and smelled like an orange.

Robin jumped out of your arms and jumped on the bed pointing at it with his paw.

“Me and Gruscha found it while playing in the forest. I thought if I brought it here for you it would help destress you master. “

Robin was so happy and proud of himself.

However it’s extremely dangerous eating anything in the forest you don’t know about.

What were the pro’s and con’s to eating it

Pro’s :

•50% chance of getting away from the princes if it results in death.

•Happy Robin.

•Fulfilling your curiosity.

Cons ‘d

•Sad Robin if you end up dying,

•Dying

•There might be a horrible effect that’s even worse than death-

The list of Con’s seemed to easily out weighed the pros.

After a couple of seconds of silence Robin’s ears fell back as well as his tail behind his legs and head down.

As soon as you saw it forgetting the list of consequences you grabbed the fruit.

“Let me go wash it and chop it up real quick ok?”

You fake smiled afraid of what you just signed yourself up for.

Robin immediately went into happy mode.

“Let me go with you, I would like a bite too!” Robin laughed as he ran right behind you.

‘Shit’ you thought. Originally you were just gonna throw it away and pretend you have eaten it but Robin unknowingly is peer pressuring you.

You both headed right into the kitchen. Unfortunately there were no students there to tell you off if it was a dangerous fruit.

You put the fruit in the sink and began washing it.

You began sweating and slowly washing it hoping Robin will become impatient and run off but nope he stayed there and watched patiently waiting.

You then pulled out a cutting board and a kitchen knife, then cut the skin off while chopping the actual fruit into pieces.

Slowly you put the fruit into the bowl and took a deep breath while Robin innocently watched the whole thing.

You grabbed one piece and finally took a bite out of it.

.

.

.

It taste really good? It was unexpected of it honestly, however you were complaining. Robin took a bite out of his piece and also started gushing over how good it taste.

However,

POOF

—————————————————————————

Rio and Thomas were walking into the kitchen to have a snack when they heard Rain screaming, and Child crying and smoke coming out of the kitchen.

Finally getting there, Thomas began to take off his coat and shoo the gas while Rio stopped to see a pile of clothes. Not just any clothes… you’re clothes.

“MC?! DID YOU DISINTEGRATE?!” Rio shouted in fear,

as Robin tried to explain the whole story but couldn’t get anything out due to how many tears were flowing out of his eyes.

Thomas was also panicking.

“LETS THROW OUT MC’S CLOTHES MAYBE THIS WILL GET RID OF THE EVIDENCE. I DON'T WANNA GO TO JAIL FOR A CRIME I DIDN'T COMMIT!” THOMAS CRIED

As they were all freaking out a baby came out of their clothes, not just any child, it looked oddly familiar with a certain someone.

“MC/MASTER?!” Rio, Robin and Thomas all shouted at the same time.

.

.

.

Confused at who these people were, you looked at all of them and cried. “I WANT MY MOMMY!!” You shouted in the most ear piercing voice you could ever imagine.

All the glass was shaking and in fear that it would break Rio picked up and wrapped you around his cloak carrying you away as you still were crying and banging your tiny baby fist against his chest.

———-

Finally giving you proper clothes Rio gave you his old baby clothes which seemed to fit you.

You had puffy eyes from all the crying and refused to look at him through pettiness that a strange man ‘kidnapped’ you.

“What do we do Rio?!” Thomas panicked using his inside voice hoping you wouldn’t hear or understand since he didn’t want anyone to think they kidnapped you.

“Relax, I'm gonna bring them over to the headmaster’s office!” Rio cheered over his genius idea. Robin dead panned because he felt like that was the most obvious plan to think of.

Rio soon walked over to you and tried picking you up to have you almost scream again. He immediately put his mouth over you just to have you bite him.

“OW.”

You got up and ran out of the room as fast as your tiny little legs could bring you screaming away.

“HELP-!”

.

.

Fenn and Violet were walking around campus.

Violet was nagging Fenn angrily decided against herself not to choke him to death while Fenn was trying to come up with a plan to escape her nagging.

Until. SMACK.

“Owe, my shin..”

He immediately looked down at the cause of his original pain.

“Aw, aren’t you a cute little thing-“

“Get out of the way ugly man!” You shouted as you pointed at him, then kicked him in the shins.

Fenn gasped jokingly offended at this and picked up by the armpits and made you look at him “You only had a bad angle on me. Now do you think of me-“

You then let out that horrible ear rape screaming of yours-

“AGHHHHHHHHHHHH LET GO OF ME UGLY MAN”

You started squirming around, kicking, punching, screaming and crying.

Fenn soon had tears in his eyes full of regret, but the crying soon stopped as; “Haha, Fenn looks like you met your match. You know you should grab a child out of nowhere like that.” Violet scolded him, soon taking you out of his arms.

You were silent as you stared at her. “Hewo pretty lady”

Violent soon then started babying you and squeezing you gushing about how cute and precious you are.

As Fenn cried, feeling heart broken.

“Wait a minute.”

“What Levy? Are you going to brag about how that adorable child likes you more?!” Fenn started almost bursting into tears.

“Well that would’ve been worth my time doing, but unfortunately no, don’t you think this baby looks familiar?”

Violet said as she looked at your chubby face that were full of tear stains from crying before.

“Now that you mention it… is that-“

“MC!”

Rio and Thomas started running towards them both in huffing for air due to running almost everywhere looking for you.

You then started screaming; “KIDNAPPERS- KIDNAPPERS!-“

“QUICK THOMAS GRABBED THE TAPE AND ROPE!” Rio yelled as Thomas ran towards Violet duct taping your mouth and tying your body.

“HA WE GOT EM.”

“WHAT'S GOING ON?!” Violet yelled out clearly concerned, looking at you like you were about to once again burst into tears like your last tantrum.

“Listen, Violet and Fenn. This is no ordinary child. It’s a demon child named MC.”

Thomas explained, finally happy that you were quiet and not causing any trouble.

“That still doesn’t explain what happened to MC.” Violet said, shaking her head.

“Actually, MC ate a cursed fruit in the forest.”

Headmaster Lou came over to see the commotion clearly amused over everything.

“Let’s make a meeting to discuss this with everyone however.”

.

.

.

“MC ate a fruit, Robin gave them. Cursing them to become a child for 3 days till bringing them back at midnight. They have no memories about us.”

“WHAT?!”

Everyone soon panicked.

Well.. MC is really cute. “Sherry said as Violet nodded her head in agreement looking at the gremlin child as it wiggled in the rope of its confinement.

“… Are we seeing the same thing?” Dia said in fear

“However, let's discuss a plan for those 3 days.”

Lance, Roy and I will have MC for day 1.

Guy, Fenn and Lynt have MC for day 2.

And lastly MC, Toa and Rio. For the final day.”

They all looked exhausted at the thing they must deal with.

[amarguerite]

☕ why Mary Crawford appeals to you as a character!

fascinating question!

I think it boils down to a couple of things:

-she, more than any character but Lady Susan in Austen canon, has the most visceral knowledge of women's precarity in Regency society and the schemes and stratagems high society ladies have developed to keep hold of what little power they have. I like that she isn't entirely comfortable with that knowledge, and that she isn't happy when she's going after what she's told to want in the manner she's been told to use to get it (i.e. she sees Tom Bertram and is immediately like, "lol nope.")

-there is such fascinating potential for real, significant, transformative change for both Crawford siblings and then... they don't. They stay pretty much the same! It's fascinating!! I think in the novel itself, and for the points Austen wants to make about society and privilege and how it so insulates you from the consequences of your actions you can just keep doing the same shitty things over and over, it makes sense that Henry just goes about raking his way through Regency England and Mary ends up saying awful stuff before not marrying Edmund. But!! Mary doesn't get married after that!! With just a little push, she could learn something very key about herself and her society and her place in it.

-I usually read her character as queer in some way, and she's got such great interiority, such wit, and such interesting backstory, it makes her fab for the kind of slowburn femmeslash I like to write best

-real easy way to get in a dirty joke. Have Mary Crawford say it. That rears and vices jokes is one of my favorites tbh because it's so unexpected and people TO THIS DAY are debating over whether or not Mary was referring outright to anal sex.

-I dislike Edmund most out of all Austen heroes and I'm always kind of thinking, "god, Fanny and Mary deserve better," so if there's a chance to do it, I take it.

-I like the dynamic of pitting her against Elizabeth Bennet. Both witty and pretty but with vastly different support systems and early childhoods and moral systems. There's just enough overlap to be psychologically pretty fascinating.

[code-of-creation]

I think the reason I enjoy totk so much is that I held no expectation of it.

At the end of the day, its a game made to take advantage of new "fashionable" game mechanics such as huge open worlds, marketable design factors, nostalgic references, and many other cheap-marketable factors a large company would prioritize. That's it really. I don't count the storyline of botw or totk as Canon.

I treat the whole game as though the story is just Fanon AU, and its actually more enjoyable to treat it as separate from the original loz series and write my own story on the flat pieces. Fans have always filled in the blanks and carved out the flat characters anyways. Why stop now?

I treat the story in botw and totk as though it is entirely created by multiple fans writing together and getting excited to create an au world of a franchise they love. I think of it as RP like in nature, with efforts made to re-create the world to suit the AU and RP. Its people having fun RPing with friends until the original story its meant to resemble is nearly lost. Not something that should be marketed as a canon part of the Loz series, but fun on its own.

The company that owns the series needs game developers to make new games to sell with only profit in mind. The company happens to like profit, and uses passionate employees they can order about to achieve that profit. So the awesome portions come from someone who has great passion for Ganondorfs sweet slutty man tits, and then it all gets watered down by conpany profit seeking.

Nostalgia brings profit, so references that dont fit are put in. Unexpected twists bring free publicity and thus profit. Thus their bullshit in general. Visually Appealing and Important story characters create profitable merchandise. Thus allowing the grand fan of Gerudo man can to design a steamin' demon heathen to capitalize on anyone who might find themselves wanting a hot statue. Excessive symbols assigned significance are easily turned into merchandise, thus the wide variety of weaponry and items. Advertisements with hints of intruiging secrets are used only to catch the excitement of fans who crave more of their favourite series, and take their money. The potential of what the game looks like it could be is more profitable than making the game what it could have been after all. And why bother catering to fans when different groups will still hate it? Might as well disappoint everyone equally.

So was the promise of rich new story development delivered upon? Nope.

Did fans recieve an inconsistent and poorly written story without any cohesion to the series? Yes.

When fans find story cohesion sacrificed for stitching a game together, they are understandably upset.

When gameplay is crudely cobbled together as though rushed to create a sequel-not-sequel to an already disappointing game, will fans be angered? Yes.

Nintendo treats the series as a product and the fans as customers. They want money. Capitalism without consequences means quality is inferior to profit. Botw and Totk is just Consequence free Capitalism.

I was just reminiscing on how hard this fandom was shilling for a complex Ganondorf for the wilds era, and this wasn't even confined to niche parts of the fandom. Every time there was a hint that Ganondorf might be involved in some way, the fandom went wild with speculation. It's like people these days, when defending TotK's poor handling of Ganondorf's writing, forget that a complex Ganondorf, or at least a Ganondorf that had a bit more character depth than a puddle on sidewalk, was something *everyone* wanted. Most people were not content with an "evil for the sake of being evil" Ganondorf.

When the first trailer and images of BotW dropped, a lot of people saw the cloth around Link's forearms and noticed the patterning there. Many thought it was similar to Gerudo patterning. Lo and behold people began speculating that Link may have a close relationship with the Gerudo, and perhaps with Ganondorf him. Cue all the theories and fanart and fanfic of Link and Ganondorf growing up together, being close friends, knowing each other, before Ganondorf's turn to darkness. Okay so as BotW's release approaches we learn about Calamity Ganon and then we see this mysterious old man. He seems pretty large in stature and is dark skinned. Cue the second wave of rumor mills that this may be Ganondorf. Perhaps a weary old washed up soul, or perhaps a manipulation tactic while his real form, the calamity, keeps Zelda trapped inside the castle. The tapestry with the red haired hero. This one causes a big wave of rumors that perhaps the past hero was a Gerudo, maybe an iteration of Ganondorf.

The first trailer for TotK drops, we see the murals, Ganondorf's corpse, what looks like a horrifying vision of how he ended up here. Rehydrated Ganondorf starts trending. People are wild with speculations of who he was. Many link him to the hero on the tapestry. Most speculation about Ganondorf now is what sort of horrendous thing happened to him that he would end up here, and less about how evil he must have been to end up here. The official "rehydrated Ganondorf" art drops. Everyone sees his design, how he seems more heroic in this art piece. Again, people are still speculating on how complex this Ganondorf might be, between what we have seen thus far. Many note he is not smirking in this art as he usually is, perhaps a hint that his character this time might be different. And we have reached TotK Ganondorf, with the most generic evil villain writing we have seen of him yet. Ganondorf is a big appeal of the LoZ games. He deserves more than just being hot.

[altadoodler-2020-2025]

Ayo wait a sec-

If Bendy eats his Audrey spawn to reincorporate them into his body, and fave Audrey was made from such a tiny piece of him to start with, taking what little toon bendy personality he could have had, and then having that be fave, and her essential making more memory's and being a bit more freedom for that possible personality.

Like.... Like she's unknowingly nurturing that part of Bendy, by being that part of Bendy.

And he eats her.....

Does he get her memory's? Her emotions? How she felt in all these different situations? Does he feel the love and protection other ppl showed her, when they never gave it to him for being a monster?

Does he feel the confusion of someone actually CARING for her? Of Henry singing her to sleep, or of Alice trying to keep her looking beautiful rather than ripping her heart out? Or the safety of Allison and Tom? Or the unexpected worry of Sammy? Would he feel all the love she felt?

Would he see memories of himself, tormenting her, making her existence a living hell, and feel guilty?

"put yourself in my shoes, how do you think I feel?" taken to a whole other level when your a creature that tears yourself apart to make a child, and then eats them to reincorporate that part, and when they lived a life outside of you, and you're forced to remember what it remembered and feel what it felt, and-.....

Oh, no, yeah, after favourite, the demon would likely keep any new Audrey he made locked away and out of the sight of others. Like dipping his toe in water, getting hit with the consequences, and going "NOPE! NEVER AGAIN NO THANK YOU THAT WAS ALOT AND I WAS DUMB FOR TRYING!"

......... On the bright side, he might be.... Well, at least a bit more empathetic...... Maybe there was a silence period before he started making Audrey's again, too shooken up my a flood of feelings he was I no way prepared for.

Man just sits in his chair, clearly uncomfortable, very tense, staring silently at the floor, lost in a pool of emotions and memories he'd consumed, trying to keep his shit together.

He is not keeping his shit together--

[abigsigh]

NOPE SPOILERS BELOW!!

I watched Nope a while ago with friends and can’t get it out of my mind. The movie rich in themes and has much to offer, but one of my (and prob most ppls) favorite things to analyze would of course be Jean Jacket herself. (warning: this is really fucking long)

One of my fav types of characters/plot lines/objects etc are ones that distinctly can be viewed and analyzed in more than one way. A popular example would…. Lmao flowey the flower in undertale (but this ain’t about him rn). The characters in Nope state multiple times that Jean Jacket is a predator/animal and has the instincts of one. This is further held up by the Gordy parallel. But Jean Jacket can also be understood as the camera, as the all-seeing and consuming eye of Hollywood and audiences. By looking at Jean Jacket in these two ways, then adding the analyses together, we come to interesting conclusions about the camera as a predator.

Jean Jacket as the territorial and predatory animal

I’m sure everyone came away with this idea in mind after watching the movie. I mean legit it’s stated directly in the movie.

The Gordy incident is very similar to the JJ plot, however it’s a very simplified version. During the flashbacks we never see Gordy when he’s not on a rampage - he never look him in the eyes when he’s just a trained animal. This ties into the ‘don’t look into it’s eyes’ concept, but also it ties into respect and acknowledgement. It’s not that we don’t look into his eyes before the incident, it’s that we don’t see him at ALL even though he technically was supposed to be in the frame of the camera. (This will come back later.) Only after the incident the monkey, the actual monkey, is acknowledged. Here the animal is much more a force of nature than truly predatory or territorial - the set wasn’t really his territory, he didn’t eat any of the actors etc - something just set him off and he started attacking. It’s unexpected and unexplainable to the victims.

The coworker of Jupe’s tries to run, but his behaviour is interesting. First of all in trying to defend yourself from monkeys facing directly towards them and yelling probably won’t deescalate the situation. Again, the nature of the animal wasn’t thought of before shooting. But on a thematic it’s interesting that he talks to Gordy like he’s talking to another human. HIS NATURE ISN’T ACKNOWLEDGED. Trying to push nature, animals, anything that can’t (or even those that can) be tamed into the spotlight and twisting it into a spectacle will lead to your downfall.

The standing upright shoe accents Jupe’s experience. A bad miracle. He HAS felt the consequences of Hollywood in his being forgotten, his trauma being twisted, but he’s always had something worse to compare it to in the back of his mind. He hasn’t actually felt the animalistic, the gore-y consequences (he wasn't actually attacked remember?). He knows his behavior can bite him in the ass at some point, but he doesn’t truly think it a possibility. He was always waiting for the "other shoe to drop", but the bad miracle itself made him feel above it. Gordy coming up to him under the table and not attacking was a bad miracle, one that put into his head the idea that he would be ok. He himself was never noticed or acknowledged properly and here he is, being acknowledged by Gordy. Being spared by him. He (while probably not consciously) feels special.

Now into the territorial behaviour of not JJ, but the other humans. Here the key comparison is Jupe VS OJ. And a little bit of Em.

Jupe is the prime example. He’s new to the area, but claims it as his own. He’s not truly a cowboy, but makes money off of it. When his plastic horse statue was stolen, he sent his children (first of all wtf) as a threat to OJ (this threatening behaviour come back in JJ). Then we have OJ. He’s also (in a sense) territorial, but it’s never shown to be a negative thing to others; Em only worries about HIM not surviving by staying at the ranch. He never threatens anyone. He simply is keeping their family's legacy safe. He’s simply taking care of his horses. He is the actual cowboy, not Jupe.

Em is only is connected to the animal theme by her ‘never being looked in the eye’ by her father. Instead of it being connected to a negative trait however, it’s connected to her struggle for acknowledgment (something that’s tied into her taking her horse Jean Jacket). (All of these traits and comparisons come back later).

Now of course onto the behaviour of Jean Jacket. She absolutely is just a wild animal. Like that’s one of the hugest points of the movie. She hid in that cloud, not wanting to be seen, like every other predator. She was “trained” by Jupe to expect food there. When she ate the fake horse, she went there early. Now if she went for 1) revenge or 2) just because she was hungry is not knowable. If the former was true (she was mad about the fake horse) then the siblings are veryyy responsible for the Star Lasso event. That doesn’t truly fit into the themes of the work, so it’s most likely the latter. Jupe made himself be known as a source for food, and then he + others became... the SOURCE for food (lmao). Animals are unknowable. You can’t control their behavior even when you think you have them tamed. Another aspect of Jean Jacket’s behavior is the fact she views the area as her territory. AND she doesn’t view the siblings as food… but why? It’s cuz she views them as a threat to her territory. Someone had posted (if u can find their post pls send it so I can credit this idea properly) that JJ’s behavior at the end of the film was similar to performative behavior of predatory animals protecting their territory. Thus her bowel movement after the Star Lasso event was similar to how predators mark their territory- thru excrement/urine.

Overall the comparisons between Gordy and Jean Jacket showcase the impossibility of taming forces of nature and the consequences of believing yourself powerful and special enough to do so. You get eaten.

JEAN JACKET AS THE PREDATORY CAMERA

NOW!! The second part of the analysis is more symbolic. JEAN JACKET LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE AN EYE. The alien merch and costumes look like the cameras from the Gordy set. When you put the implications from the predatory behaviour together with the fact that JJ is Hollywood it get real interesting.

Jupe for years has tried to make himself more and more marketable (more...digestible haha) to the public. It’s borne from his trauma and due to the system he’s in. He tries to “fist bump”, to feed this terrible force that’s only taken from him - the camera, the audience. On the other hand he’s been taking and taking from siblings, just like how the system, how Hollywood has slowly been taking their livelihood away, showcasing just how much he's become like the industry . The audience as an animal reacts negatively to being seen. Life is performance, and eyes have been watching from the clouds for forever. Their father was literally tokenized!!

Spectacle is a force hard to reason with. Hollywood is hard to tame. The only way to defeat it is to let in consume it’s own bloated deeds (Jupe’s huge ass balloon). But instead of letting their experience be forgotten, for the repressed trauma from it to dictate the rest of their lives (Jupe) OR instead of trying to capture it for their own selfish needs (the director), they have just one picture… to prove that it happened.

OJ and Emerald have been through so much. They have been forgotten as has what’s been done to them. This photographic proof serves as an acknowledgment of their suffering and bravery.

This is the reason why Gordy and JJ reacting negatively throughout the movie to being filmed isn’t brought up here. It’s a theme that respecting nature is vital. But here JJ isn’t just a misunderstood animal. JJ as the camera has done harm to the siblings similar to how Hollywood has, and Jupe has. It must be acknowledged.

[leafy-m]

Angry unicorns and other thoughts as I have finished the gameeeeee 😭❤️❤️❤️

First of all, holy shit at how intimidating Stronghart was as the judge????? The way he looms over you when he's standing with the stained glass behind him and the cane pointing??? A++ on game art direction and camera angles, like that must have been even more intimidating in 3D omg. Man was literally acting like he was god of the court.

So, naturally, it was awesome seeing him get taken down. But also just like..... the absolute difficulty for Ryuu and Kazuma to be challenging this foreign court and it's highest legal leader, trying to prove these corruptions while he's literally presiding as judge and trying to end the session or manipulate things back in his favor whenever they reveal more damning evidence against him...... I don't have words but I can't wait to read other people's thoughts on this game.

As for Gregson.... I'm sad that the Reaper tactician allegations against him were true. I kept waiting for things to come back and overturn it, but, nope. 😔 I kinda wish there was more of a follow up with Gina or something, but at least there was a little bit in the end credits.

What else.... The truth about Klint was shocking, especially because like...... That was his dog?? Oh my god???? That's so gruesomely violent, omg. But Genshin getting his name cleared and that consistency about how noble he was, and the reveal about Klint's will and the hiding place in Karuma was so good.

Also loved Sholmes' effort with the hologram, that was great. Also a nice solution to the 'how do you bring down a powerful person?' problem. Also his hologram dancing was hilarious. I was so surprised by Mikotoba's tap dancing earlier in the episode, and then Sholmes hologram dancing was so unexpected, but then seeing them dancing side by side in the credits was SO FUNNY and really connected it together for me.

Kazuma, Kazuma. I need more time to process everything. But he was so intense in court, as he would be with everything he was dealing with. But it made me really glad that Ryuu was there to assist in getting answers, or bringing him back to his senses when he was going to far. I am a lil confused about the lack of any info after the court session about what sort of consequences he was going to face due to his involvement in things, like??? He was literally brought in to be an assassin??? Does he just...? Get to sweep that aside and continue being Van Zieks' prosecutor apprentice??? I mean it seems like it, but like? How? Why?

I mean I'm glad for him and that he can choose his own path now, but also like. I want more story.

I really wish there was more post-game content or dlc cases or special features like commentary or character sketches or something. Anything. Like there was with the first tgaa game, and other aa games.

Let's see... Iris! Glad we got an answer on her parentage. That's so funny that she's Van Zieks' niece. I hope there's some silly fanart of her mimicking him or her and Sholmes annoying him hehe.

I love that Ryuu is continuing to be a defense attorney and getting his own office, and that Susato is going with him. They're really such a cute duo. And Ryuu really needs someone to look out for him. I kinda kept expecting for one of the guilty people to snap and charge at him, and then Susato would rescue him at the last second by doing a Susato Takedown on the attacking person! But idk if it's just wishful thinking or if this actually happened in the first game.

I really do want to replay these games now, and obsess over all the little details Now That I Know and see what foreshadowing bits I can recognize now. ❤️ But I'm also realizing that I CAN LOOK IN THE TAGS NOW 🤩 oh boy I'm gonna reblog so much fanart now ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Well, not right now, it's late and I have work in the morning. But this and Adventures were really fun games, I'm so glad I played these. Ooooh, I can read the wiki now too! I need to know all the behind the scene info ❤️

AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!