#'oh darkness i feel like letting go' vs 'where there is darkness light' with the idea of dawn as first light wahhhh

[dawnssummers]

by the way becoming ii grave parallels make me want to climb walls

[actual-changeling]

we do not talk enough about the moment right before crowley puts his sunglasses back on. the "nothing lasts forever" is devastating and if you're like me your eyes were so full of tears you couldn't see the screen the first time you watched it (just like crowley, look at us all twinning in sadness!).

there is a shift that happens in his eyes and i think it is absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time.

we begin with crowley averting his gaze from aziraphale's face and staring off into the distance instead, and you can see his spirit break. that crowley just lost the one thing in the world he cannot live without and we can see it written across his face like a neon sign.

then, as you'd expect, he gives into the need to cover up his pain, to try and make himself less vulnerable, and even before he lifts his glasses he looks down so aziraphale can no longer see his eyes.

now, the next part is what would not let me out of its grasp all day. we know it happens because of his demeanour afterwards and up until the kiss, but you can actually watch as crowley makes himself numb to the world.

i am intimately familiar with dissociation as a trauma and stress response, and while you can never fully control it, you do eventually find the switch in your mind that makes you snap back into the haze. crowley has had six thousand years to get really, really good at leaving reality behind when he needs and/or wants to.

that's exactly what he does.

he still looks sad, and yet there's just something distinctly distant in his eyes, the shift from openly heartbroken to "i don't want to feel any of this let me leave".

glasses? on

emotions? off

hotel? trivago

i have stared at those four frames more than any person probably should and i don't know if it's the light, if i am going insane, or if there is a single tear sliding out of his right (our left) eye. i'm probably insane and the light is a bitch so if anyone has some high resolution shots or anything that could answer that question without a doubt PLEASE do add it.

by now you are probably ready to threaten me with a knife in a dark alley but before you do that or drive your car off a cliff, let me tell you the best part:

aziraphale notices.

they might be communicating on two different frequencies but aziraphale knows crowley. he knows and loves him, and, most importantly, over the last few years he has gotten used to seeing crowley without his glasses. aziraphale could probably write a book on the expressions in his eyes alone and watches that shift happen and is devastated.

look.

he tries to make himself hope the same second, tries to convince himself crowley is putting on his glasses so they can leave together, but he knows.

aziraphale sees the light leave crowley's eyes, sees crowley leave, knowing that he is quite literally running away from him. you and me against the world, angel, but in that moment crowley firmly pushes him back to "the world" (or tries to, anyway).

the entire season we see crowley take off his glasses whenever he enters the bookshop to the point where he's running around without them on in broad daylight with jimbriel right there.

can you imagine how hurt and confused aziraphale must be?

because what crowley is telling him, if we really, really break it down, is that aziraphale is no longer a safe person for him. and repairing that trust is going to take time and work, no matter how much crowley loves him, how badly they love and need each other.

anyway to seal this off and really rub in the pain - how it started vs. how it ended. <3

oh one last thing: now crowley no longer has a single person he can be himself around, no one that knows him, no one he trusts. no one in whose presence he can take his glasses off.

and outside of the bentley and his own flat, he no longer has a place to do so either. the bookshop was theirs. with aziraphale gone, is it really a safe place anymore? is it somewhere he can just let himself be knowing he will be looked after and protected?

easy answer: no.

alright, off i go. see y'all on the next angst post or in the tags.

[reareaotaku]

Superboy vs Robin

Summary: The life of 3 best friends that get confused when realizing they have a crush on their other friend, Y/n Prince, daughter of Wonder Woman Pairings: Jon Kent x Fem! Reader, Damian Wayne x Fem! Reader Tw: Love V [NOT TRIANGLE!!! IT'S A 'V'], Slow Burn? Taglist: N/a

Pt II: Love in High Places | Pt III: Apple of My Eye

[This probably would have been better to write as a multi-part story instead of a one-shot, so I can really get the slow burn and such... Might make a part 2 if yall like this? Also hope this isn't bad because I've been wanting to write this for over a year....]

You had met the two boys when in the league's spaceship. Your mother was on business and sent you off to do, as she put it 'Children things', before taking off with Batman and Green Lattern. You rolled your eyes at her dismissal, but decided to find something else to do. Besides, hero work was boring anway. Nothing interesting about discussing rules and such anyway.

You walked around the large spaceship, before coming across a particular room. In the room where two kids, boys, around your age you didn't recognize. One of the boys, the one in darker clothes, must have felt your presence, because the second you stepped in he turned around.

Damian knew who you were. He knew who everyone was. He would look like a real fool if he didn't know the daughter of Wonder-woman. Too bad the same couldn't be said for Jon.

You awkwardly stand at the door way, now having both the boys' attention on you. You awkwardly wave, "Hey."

Jon's face lights up and he rushes to you. He loved meeting new people and you were nothing short of pretty. "Hi!" He grabs your hand, engulfing it with his own. "I'm Jon, Jon Kent."

"Y/n Prince." You tried to keep up with his handshake, but he was fast and strong, and by the time you could gather what was going on he had already let your hand go.

You looked past Jon back at the emo boy, but he was just staring at you. Jon looked over to see what you were looking at, before gesturing towards his friend.

"Oh, that's Damian. Don't mind him. He's.... Shy."

"I'm not shy. I just don't have any reason to speak to her."

Jon gasps, before glaring at his friend, "That's rude, Damian." He turns back to you, his face flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry about him. He's not good with people."

You nod, still staring at Damian. "He's Batman's kid, right? The son of those assassins?"

Damian's eyes widen, but only for a brief second. He could let such an emotion out.

"My mother mentioned it a while ago. She didn't say much, just that you were... Different."

"Yeah, he is different." Jon jokes, causing you both to chuckle, but Damian just rolls his eyes.

---

You and Jon stuck your faces to the fish tank. Neither of you had ever seen a fish tank before. You were both stuck in the house by your parents in fear of you revealing yourselves on accident. Your parents have isolated you both- Even Damian was isolated, but he wasn't as naive and foolish as you and Jon.

"Oh, that one's purple," You point to a triangle-shaped fish.

"No, it's a dark blue," Jon argues, causing you to side-eye him.

You rolled your eyes, but don't respond.

"Hey, Y/n."

"Yeah, Jon?"

He looks over at you, wide eyed and excited, "You ever been Tire-rolling?"

"Tire-rolling?"

---

"I don't know if this is a good idea, Jon-" You try and reason, as your hands grip the tire's rubber.

He smiles, his hands gripping the tire, "Oh, it'll be fun. Promise!" He then pushes you, but instead of pushing you at a normal strength, he accidentally uses his super strength and sends you flying. His eyes widen as his mouth drops, before he runs after you, hoping you don't get hurt.

You scream as the tire jumps and hits multiple things while going faster than you've ever gone before. You grip the inside of the tire so hard, that you can feel your nails digging into your palm. You hear cars honking, but there's nothing you can do, without using your powers.

Though, luck must have been on your side, because while you're mid way in the air, something goes through the tire and harshly pulls you down. Your face slams into the tire, your hands ripping the tire's rubber. The tire falls flat on the ground and you sit up, rubbing your head.

Above you was the one and only, Damian Wayne. He was in his school uniform and he was looking down at you annoyed. In his hand was a grappling hook, which you assume he used to save you.

You quickly stand up, brushing off your clothes, "Uh, thanks."

Before Damian can respond, like he would, you hear Jon calling out to you.

"Y/n! Oh my god, Y/n! Are you okay?" He's nearly out of breath as he runs up to you before he stops. "Oh. Uh, hi Damian."

There's a moment of awkward silence, before Jon goes back to his normal self.

"What are you doing, Damian?"

"Nothing." Damian is quick, calculated even.

You had only known the two boys for a few months, but it felt like you had known Jon your whole life and this moment felt like the first time meeting Damian. Though, Damian was busy, so you couldn't really blame him. He was the son of a man with an empire and an assassination group. He was bound to be tied up from time to time.

"Uh, do you want to hang out, Damian?"

Damian is taken by surprise. You wanted to hang out? With him? Why?

Jon went to speak for Damian, but Damian interrupts him, "Sure."

"Really?" Both you and Jon speak at the same time, before you both blush out of embarrassment.

"I mean, great. Wow, okay. Yeah, let's hang out."

---

Damian groaned, before laying down on the roof. He could hear Jon and Y/n snickering to themselves, probably over something stupid. He closes his eye, their voices slowly fading from his mind. He didn't know how you had convinced him to hang out with you on a roof in the middle night.

He didn't like you, so he didn't know why he listened to you. He had no reason to care about what you said or thought, but yet here he was.

You had some kind of pull over him and he didn't know why. There was nothing about you that was different from the other superheroes. Sure, you were pretty, but so was Starfire, Raven, Super-woman, etc.

He looks over at you as you lean on Jon's shoulder, whispering some secret into his ear. He wondered what secrets you two were sharing. Maybe if he asked you'd let him in? He didn't know.

He takes his eyes off of you and looks back at the sky. It was a dark and cloudy night, like most nights in Gotham. Though, unlike most nights, it was quiet; Almost peaceful.

It bothered Damian. More than he'd like to admit. He felt an ich in his skin, like he was supposed to be doing something, but there was nothing to do. There was no fight to fight or crime to solve. It was peaceful for the first time in a long time.

---

Jon liked you, a lot. Like more than he's ever liked someone in his life. He feels immense emotions when he's around you, even if your mother doesn't like him. Though, your mother didn't like men period.

He was thankfully you didn't receive that quality from your mother. You were much nicer and happier than your mother. But that could be because you weren't tortured in the same way your mother was by the women of Themyscira.

In fact, they adored you. They treated you like some kind of goddess and cherished you. Jon understood though. You were perfect- At least to him you were. He thought everyone should treat you like the perfect person you are because you deserve nothing less.

---

You were alone with Damian for the first time in all the years you've known each other. You sighed, squeezing your eyes shut. You didn't know how you were going to tell them you were going to be leaving for Themyscira.

Your mother wanted you to be trained by the Amazons to be able to control your powers and abilities. While she herself was banished, she knew they would welcome you with welcome arms.

You knew Jon would take it hard, but it was only going to be for a year. Just a year. A year you'd be away from your best friends. So, there was a part of you that hoped if you told Damian first, it'd be easier to break it to Jon.

"So, when do you leave?"

You looked over at Damian, confused, "Leave?"

"I heard your mother talking to my father. She said she was sending you to Themyscira to train. So," He sits up on his bed, making direct eye contact with you, "when do you leave?"

"Next month. I'll be gone for a year."

"A year?"

"Yeah. My mom wanted me to stay for 3, but I was able to talk her down from it."

"Have you told Jon?"

"No..."

"Well, you know he's not going to react well."

"Yeah. That's why I've been procrastinating it."

"Can I write you?"

You frown, "No. The island is cut off from the world. So, no contact at all. Not even with my mom."

He now frowns, but says nothing more.

---

You sigh, leaning on your hand, your sword tossed on the ground. Before you stood Philippus, your mentor.

"Princess Y/n, what is bothering you so?"

You couldn't tell her you missed your friends. If she knew they were boys you knew you would get scolded. The Amazons didn't like men, because they were chaos and destruction and they were peaceful. A part of you understood, because you've seen the terrible things men can do, but your friends- they weren't like those men.

"Nothing... Just tired."

She takes your answer, even though she knows you're lying. You were frustrated and annoyed. You had been here for a month and found yourself making no progress. This was pointless.

You could have been with your friends, but here you were on some stupid island. You wanted to your friends.

"You know, if you don't get these down in the upcoming year, you'll have to stay."

You straighten up and glare at the woman. "No, I won't-"

Philippus quickly turns around, looking at you offended, "Excuse me?"

"Nothing." You quickly respond not wanting to repeat yourself.

She huffs, rolling her eyes, but decides to leave the conversation.

---

It had been a year since you were forced, by your mother, to train on the Themyscira Island. They wanted you to know how to use your powers to the fullest potential. It was fine... But you missed your friends. You wondered what they were doing. You wondered if they missed you too.

---

Jon was estatic. You were finally going to return from the island. Though, there was a part of him that was worried that you wouldn't remember them or even worse, you would hate them.

"You worry too much," Damian told him.

Jon sighs, trying to collect himself, "I'm just worried." Jon fiddles on his toes, as he repeated looks out of the window, hoping to see you pull up. Though, you were no where to be found. He walks away from the window, his shoulders dropping. "How far is that place?"

"Themyscira? It's a few weeks by boat, but she'll be here soon. She's home now."

Jon lightens up, "Home?"

"Yeah, she won't be here for a few more hours."

Jon glares at Damian, "You had me here looking like an idiot!"

Damian chuckles, "Yeah. I did, didn't I?"

---

Damian wasn't surprised by your appearance, unlike Jon. Damian had already seen you, without you knowing of course. You think he'd let you leave without any kind of contact? He knew everything, thanks to his connections. Though, nothing could compare to you really being in front of you.

Jon was the first to hug you. His arms squeezed you tightly, nearly causing you to lose your breath. He didn't want to let you go- Just hold you forever. He didn't want you leaving forever, but he was forced to let you go.

"You look great, Y/n."

You smile, a blush forming, "You too, Jon." You look around Jon to see Damian, who was avoiding eye contact. It almost reminded you of when you had first met the boys. "No hug, Damian?"

Damian finally looks at you, his natural glare on his face. Unlike Jon, who had let his hair grow out, Damian still had shorter hair, but his features were sharp. Though, that didn't surprise you. What did take you by surprise though is how much he looked like his father.

While Jon looked like a mix of Clark and Lois, Damian just looked like his father. Well, minus his golden skin- He got that from his mother.

Speaking of Jon, you felt him squeeze your bi-cep. You looked at him confused and he blushed.

"Uh, what are you doing, Jon?"

"Your biceps. They're like... Huge." He's fascinated by your arms, even comparing it to his own. While he was naturally strong, because of his powers, you had trained relentlessly for a year and it showed when your arms were bigger than his.

You chuckled at his amusement, before his eyes lit up, "Ah, Y/n you've missed out on so much- Come on," He grabs your arm, leading you inside the headquaters of the Justice League. You are stopped though when Damian grabs your arm that Jon didn't have. Jon looks back, wondering why you stopped when realizing Damian had grabbed you.

"Jon, why don't you head up. I just want to talk to Y/n."

Jon seems reluctant, but you turn to him, "I'll catch up. Promise."

He sighs, but ultimately goes up the stairs and inside the building.

"You look nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That means a lot coming from you, you know?"

Damian avoids eye contact. He's worried that you might see all his emotions, feelings and thoughts. He didn't want you knowing his darkest thoughts. "Yeah.. Uh, Jon missed you a lot... Obviously. Um..." Damian had never been like this- Lost for words. He always knew what to say. He had everything calculated, but now... Well, he felt lost. He felt your stare on him, waiting for him to finish, but he felt his tongue felt twisted. "It's good to have you back."

"Yeah, well, it's good to be back. You know, I've missed you a lot... And Jon. I've missed you both a lot."

Damian finally looks at you. Your eyes bleeding into his own. For a moment it felt like you two were the only ones in the world. Everything else was just dark and all that was left was you. That was until another voice spoke.

"Y/n."

You both looked up to see your mother. She gestured for you to come inside and you looked back at Damian.

"Well, I guess that I have to go."

"Yeah... I'll see yah."

"Yeah... you will."

You rush up the stairs, trying to stop the blush from forming on your face. You were so embarrassed and felt like the conversation was stupid. You wished you could have done it differently, but it was Damian. You were sure he wasn't as pressed about it as you.

If only you knew how much your life was about to change forever- All thanks to teenage boys' puberty.

[stevie-petey]

I have a blurb idea!

A stug sleepover that wasn't set up by Dustin. Lets say Steve's parents are having a dinner party and instead of being degraded in front of his parents'friends he decides to leave and go to bugs house. He crawls up onto her roof and knocks on her window. She opens her curtains and when she sees Steve she just lights up! She scrambles to open the window and let him in. Steve's heart is so warmed because not only is bug elated to see him, but she's in her pajamas and Steve just thinks she looks perfect😭. Remember in the jealous Steve blurb how he said he wishes that one day he could come over and know he's going home, he's finally getting to feel it!!! Maybe bug even lets Steve lay in her bed BUT only for a little while soon he is demoted back to the bean bag. Still it was nice while it lasted.

steve vs windows ,,, he will never win. this isnt exaaaactly the prompt, but i kept the pjs and coming home <3

enjoy !

"im coming over."

"oh, alright." while you hadnt been upset by steves sudden insistence on coming over, the lack of warning had surprised you. normally he'll ask ahead of time, make a plan, but at almost ten at night he had called you saying he was coming over. "drive safe, please."

"always, angel."

that had been nearly fifteen minutes ago.

normally steve is at you house in under ten minutes, so his slight delay worries you. standing at your window, you wait anxiously for any sign of him. your view of where he normally parks is blocked by a house, so all you can do is stare out at the yard in front of you.

thats when you hear the thud, which is followed by a very pathetic "ow."

"hello?' you call out beneath you, squinting against the darkness of the night. you cant see anything, but you know you heard something.

"down here," someone says weakly, and you recognize the voice to be steves.

squinting even harder, you make out the faint outline of his body sprawled on the grass beneath your window. "oh my god." you start trying to climb out your window to go and help, but steve sees and stops you.

"dont come down," hes out of breath, pain still piercing his body.

"but-"

"im fine, just need to-" steve winces as he stands, his shoulder pops and his knees buckle. "god tonight sucks."

he stands before you now, a foot or so beneath you. for once, youre taller than steve, and you enjoy looking down at him. his eyes are almost black in the dim lighting, though the moon casts a soft glow on his tanned skin. summer has made him beautiful.

you reach your hand out and gently fix his hair. "what happened, honey?"

steves heart warms at the touch, he leans into it and closes his eyes. pain be damned, your fingers tug at his hair and steves heart skips a beat. "missed the jump."

"well, obviously."

"it hurt."

"you poor thing."

"can i come in now?"

you giggle and nod, stepping aside so that steve can climb the ledge and into your room. his arms strain, the outline of his biceps can be seen in the night. hes always been so delicate with how he climbs through the window, far from jonathans clunkiness that always alerted your mom of his arrival.

as you watch steve, you sit on your bed and make room for him to join. you havent forgotten about his unexpected call earlier. "is everything okay?"

"what do you mean?" steve takes his shoes off and places them against your wall. he undoes the first three buttons of his shirt, getting comfortable, before he slides into bed next to you with a tired sigh.

you wrap your arms around him, resting your head over his heart like you always do. "you never just randomly show up."

"i called."

"right before leaving."

"same thing."

"steve." you chastise him, place some annoyance in your voice. hes dodging.

steve sighs, knowing hes been caught. "my parents... theyre having some stupid dinner party tonight. needed to get away. they kept asking me about college and why i was still living at home. one women clutched her goddamn pearls."

"im sorry, honey." you hate that so much is expected of him, more than you know is fair. steve has his own job, he takes care of all the kids, he does the best he can with what hes given, and it infuriates you that his father refuses to see that.

"its whatever. figured id come here instead, see my girl."

my girl.

youre steves girl, and he came to you tonight.

"cute pajamas, by the way." steve adds absentmindedly. his fingers pluck at your spider-man shirt. its old and worn, the material thin now from years of use. "spidey looks good on you."

you blush at his words, innate reaction to being so loved by steve harrington, but you know hes also purposely changing he topic. he doesnt want to talk about what happened tonight. hes already opened up to you more than hes wanted to, so you go along with it.

"he does, doesnt he?" you hum, kissing steves ear. he hums at the sensation, arms tightening around you. hes relived youve seen through his ruse, though that doesnt stop you from reminding him of where he belongs. "welcome home, honey."

steves breath catches. his arms tighten even more. a wave of emotions wash over him. love, belonging, sanctity.

"you cant sleep in my bed, though." you break the silence, knowing steve has gotten lost in his thoughts. you want him to laugh, to see him smile. "the bean bag gets lonely at night."

it works. steve chuckles, kisses the tip of your nose. "well, we cant have that, now can we?"

[raayllum]

Do you think Callum will do dark magic again?

Oh yeah, not a doubt in my mind. This is for 3 main reasons:

1) You don't have a character say "But beware, if you ever do dark magic again, the darkness will overwhelm and corrupt you" and escalate the stakes of usage unless you're going to go there. It's kind of like how I know Callum is going to be possessed Again at one point (s7 dark my beloved) precisely because he's worried about it and more than that, that he's brought another character (Rayla) into the fold with a decision to make. No reason to have setup and then no payoff

2) Unless Callum does dark magic again, Aaravos can't possess him again. And as previously mentioned, Callum has to get possessed unless they want to throw away multiple episodes (4x04, 4x05, 4x07, 5x04, 5x08, all S6 + orb shots, 6x03) out the window. Ergo, he has to do dark magic again. Setup like this (i.e. Rayla as Callum's light being hinted at in framing in s2 and then much more overtly in s4 before being brought mostly home in s6) always comes back around in some manner, just gotta look for it

3) Viren parallels. Viren and Callum have always had oppositional (arc 1) and then mirrored (switching) foil arcs throughout the show (think Callum with wings vs Viren falling to his death in 3x09, or Viren swearing dark magic off in 5x09 and Callum having opened that door back up again an episode prior, etc). Viren, as stated, had sworn off dark magic saying he would never ever do it again, nor did he want to do it in 6x08 for a multitude of reasons.

However, someone he loved (Soren) as well as the extenuating circumstances caused him to use dark magic as a full on sacrifice that likewise only sacrificed himself. A couple episodes we had Callum 'fix' the hole dark magic had made inside him, but if he's following Viren's path, there's two likely angles: the first is that he, like Viren, will use dark magic even after trying so hard to rid himself of it (the mirrored arc). The second, overlapping angle is that Callum will refuse to sacrifice his heart (switching) because his heart is Rayla.

'I will think of you under every full moon. Please don’t let this hurt too much. But, if it does—if you feel that soft aching—know that that piece of your heart isn’t missing. It’s not missing at all, Callum: I’m carrying it with me! Always.' —Dear Callum

Kinda like how Aaravos demanded that Viren should make the sacrifice in 5x09, and Viren refused vs Rayla demanding that Callum should make the sacrifice in 6x03 (and Finnegrin a bit honestly) and Callum inevitably refusing cause Rayla can't permanently die lmao.

Other:

There's also the unsavoury implication that "restores bodies to spirits" spell Callum did in 5x09 has unique associations with the dark ritual spell Claudia did in killing Sir Sparklepuff that was undeniably dark magic usage.

The coin has been seemingly wiped clean now that Runaan is out (though maybe there's the symbol still on the other side?) but it does make me wonder of a potential plotline where Callum knew ahead of time, or belatedly, that this spell would require something adjacent to dark magic and he's done it, but the corruption Kosmo spoke of is gradual, making him more irritated, paranoid, etc. like the King of a 1000 Eyes that Amaya talked about. I think that'd be really interesting

The indirectness / the fact we'd only know it'd Happened retroactively makes me lean that we'll outright see another blatant usage in S7 since that's more Dramatic (which I've always been in favour of Callum viewing "I get possessed again bc I make a 'bad' choice and hand myself over to Aaravos" as a sacrifice of himself into "i'm already dead so kill me" territory). And if he breaks his promise to Rayla that he won't pick her over the greater good, then she can break her promise to him that she'll kill him (this is exactly beat for beat what I've wanted since s4 dropped and even before tbh)

TLDR; Absolutely Yes. S7 being Book Seven: Dark only adds to this and the stakes / set up are all there. I'm pumped

[thelonelyshore-if]

Okay. Dunno if it's been asked yet but. The fate of the world and MC hang in the balance. Which of the ROs would be willing to let the MC die to save the world and which would say fuck the world to save the MC? What'd be their reasoning behind their choice and how would they feel about it? Uwu

Ooooh fun question. And I haven't ever done this one!! Answers below~

Beck- I think they'd ultimately pick MC, but it would be a very, very close thing. They're kind of bitter about the world right now, but they ultimately think it's good? There's so much of it that they want to see. That being said, in their current situation, MC would be like their light in the darkness. They couldn't just let them go.

Croft- They'd save the world but they'd feel like shit about it. Though they'd try to comfort themself with the idea that it's only logical. They love MC, but they also love their parents. Honestly though it depends on where Croft is at in their journey. There are parts in the story where I could very much see Croft making a different decision.

Jay- Unfortunately it would be the world and they'd hate themself for it. But they have a family and a community that means everything to them. They couldn't just throw it all away for MC, no mater how deeply they love them. It's that whole hero complex. In the same vein, though, they'd be pretty desperate to save both, no matter how impossible.

Perri- Oh, Perri would pick MC. What has the world ever done for them, really? They don't come off as that jaded, and there's a lot of wonder and interest in the world that they crave, but stacked up against the person they love? Yeah, no way. Perri is willing to be selfish sometimes, and this would be one of those times. Though they'd feel awfully guilty.

Ravi- Also MC no questions asked lmao. Ravi Does Not Care about the greater fate of the world. Especially if we're talking a scenario where it's, like, the World Outside Easthaven vs. Easthaven. He'd be like, we're safe in here, fuck everyone else. He wouldn't even feel guilty about it. Ravi's morals are. Interesting. And he wouldn't give up the person he loves for anything.

Yasmin- She'd hate it deeply but would ultimately pick the world, for similar reasons to Jay. She loves the people in her life, her job, her community. Being a part of something greater than herself is incredibly important to her. Throwing that all away for one person, even her lover? It isn't right. But she'd be wrecked by the decision. There's a reason she doesn't want to get close to anyone again--losing another partner would destroy her.

[sexy-opium-ravioli]

Photo Booth

Universe: Resident Evil

wc: 1,791

Pairing: Stepbro!Leon S. Kennedy x Reader

Warnings: Not many, just the fact that Leon is your stepbrother and he is .5 of a little shit. Otherwise, this is a good, old fashioned fluff piece.

a/n: Hihi hello hello :) I've been trying to claw my way out of depression for a while, but here's some cute Leon content in the meantime!

@lipglossanon !! thank you for being such a wonderful writer, honestly reading you has been really inspiring as of late! and your characterization of the Leons you have are among my very favorite.

It not my best work by any means, but I hope anyone reading this enjoys <3

--

The liminal space of a mall was the place where you could see through a person, like light through glass. You'd get to see what stores they prefer to go to, what mall food they like to eat (or if they can't), what they buy vs what they don't. 

Or sometimes, as is the case with you and your weird, pseudo-freudian stepbrother-boyfriend Leon, you just get boba and mess around. 

There were other things you'd like to do with him, sure. Sometimes you two would catch a movie- or fuck each other until you're both sensitive and whimpering (as young lovers often do). Really depended on the day. 

But it was earlier in the morning and it was a free, clear Saturday, in the haze of a temperate spring. And, the last couple of days were kind of stressful. Keeping up separate social lives, exams, dealing with your shared parents- sometimes just being apart from each other was okay.

You were starting to suspect something in Leon. You didn't know what it was, really. Everything was in a haze with him- truer emotions he always hid behind something snarky and barbed. And since you could never really get an accurate read on him, you could only try to squint in the dark and decipher the signs in front of you. 

Still, something foundational was shifting. And there was a strange feeling in your stomach that had been there all morning, and it wasn't bad, per se; but it was constant and unusual. You sipped on your boba and started chewing. 

You and Leon were both sitting on public benches. The time was before most of the retail shops started setting up, only the food court was open. You laid your head on Leon's shoulder and closed your eyes while you both soaked in the sun's warmth. 

The mall was bright and quiet, not many were there yet. You still felt a bit sleepy, but it didn't seem like Leon minded resting either. There was a difference in the emotions you feel someone going through when you rest your head on their shoulder- and the way Leon's was giving into the weight of your head spelled relaxation. The both of you spent a bit of your morning like this. You lifted your head and glanced at how the sunlight reflected off of Leon's golden hair. How it also cut a shadow at the curve of his jaw. 

"You wanna walk around?" You asked with your voice low, not wanting to disrupt the quiet, alive whirring of the building. Leon looked at you, smiled a bit and nodded his head before getting up. 

When you caught up to pace with him, you decided to annoy him and cross pinkies. He retaliated by taking hold of your entire hand, and you tried not to make a big deal about it. Your heart was starting to beat really fast, though. 

You thought he would let go after a couple of seconds. He didn't. 

Exiting the first floor common area to the escalators surrounding it, you both enjoyed the warmth of a second floor perch. Leon hasn't let go of your hand yet, but you were joking around about other people you were seeing at the mall, or the vaguely strange sale ads you'd see posted on windows. 

It was light, conversation felt easy for once.

And then Leon saw something, and you watched the way his eyes captured a glint of absolute mischief. 

Your eyes followed the laser point focus of his- and oh. 

Oh. 

A photo booth. 

And before you knew it, the distance between you and the box was already halved from Leon practically yanking your arm off. It didn't hurt, so all you could do was laugh. 

Walking up to it, Leon already got his wallet out and was feeding the machine bills. You decided to slip in and look around inside. All photo booths look different- this one was pretty new and sparkly. 

Not long after, Leon swept the curtains and stepped in with a mean smirk. You got yourself ready, trying to make yourself look alright while Leon selected to start through the menu. 

You always felt a weird sort of anxiety in photo booths. They never gave anybody enough time to actually prepare for a photo, but Leon was already doing someth- "Hey-!"

He quickly stepped behind you, caged you in his arms, gave two hand horns, and made such a twisted face he actually did kind of resemble the devil, because in his heart of hearts, Leon S. Kennedy was a dork. 

You decided that if he was going to suffocate you with all the muscle he was trying to show off, you were going to get a picture of biting it. 

The bite wasn't too hard, but the quick noise that Leon gave was mostly out of being startled anyways. He quickly retaliated by flicking your arm before posing for the next- 

"Let's do a nicer one," you interject, quietly and quickly. You both prepare and in time, you're smiling together while Leon has his arm draped over your shoulders. It all happened so quickly and concisely that the warm feeling you got in your stomach from all the affectionate, silly, friendly contact was delayed. 

The countdown started again. Leon almost shoved you in front of him, but instead of putting his arms over your chest and neck and face, (being annoying about it), he placed them gently over your waist. And then when the camera flashed, he was kissing your cheek. 

You turned around in his arms, not really caring about the photos anymore. But he was the one that leaned down and kissed you gingerly, and with meaning. His lips were always so soft and smooth against yours-

The camera flashed. You two were together a little longer, and then you both separated. It was a few long seconds where time just stopped, and you could swear that if you opened the curtain and tried to find one of the rare morning pedestrians of the mall, they would be left unmoving. 

But all you could do was look at Leon. It didn't help that he was so pretty. But there was this weird flash of emotion in his eyes, that same one you couldn't read and he wasn't looking away-

The camera flash made you both jump a little, and then Leon gave a quiet, nervous laugh to himself that sparked yours. He looked at you again, an upward pull of his lips that didn't seem too mean anymore. "Better get those photos," 

"Yeah," you offer back, already leaving the booth. He followed you, and not long after, the booth started to give out a noise before producing two copies of the same strip. Leon quickly snatched them before you could even hope to grab them, and he held them out of your view after that. 

"Leon," He was snickering. That pretty smile he hasn't dropped for 5 minutes now has had its teasing quality reapplied. Irritation quickly bubbles back up in your throat. 

"Ugh, Leon, you-" He does that little shit older brother thing where he lets the strip creep just into your reach before yanking it away a couple of times, but he doesn't do it too much. He gives you one of the copies after starting to giggle at you. 

You shake your head, ready to be embarrassed at your own face or maybe even his, and- well, the first photo has you laughing. Your head is tilted backward and your eyes are closed, and the laughs pour out of your throat like smooth wine. 

"Leon you're such a dork,-"

"Oh ok! And we're not gonna talk about the absolutely feral thing latching itself to my arm-," 

"Noo~, we're not," You interrupt teasingly, and you take a look back at the pictures. The air swiftly changes from playful, easy and teasing to meaningful, endearing- kind of tense in a way. Leon looked beautiful, and you looked nice too, and now you just noticed that Leon is right behind you actively gauging your reaction. 

The third photo was almost too sweet and intimate to look at publicly, and you could feel the tips of your ears start to heat up. Leon's face is mostly obscured, sure, but the way you react to why it's obscured is so sweet and genuine it kind of embarrasses you. Your lips try to hide a smile and your eyes are cast downward and away from Leon- low, but not closed. One of your arms rests on the lean coils of muscle wrapped around your center, while the other reaches up for your hand to rest on his head. 

The fourth makes you inhale a little sharper, and you can now feel the high part of your cheekbones heat with your ears. Leon's chin is resting on your shoulder now, and you can't even imagine the shit-eating grin he must be wearing on his face. Well, both of your faces can't be seen by the camera, if that's any consolation to your poor, heated skin- you might melt ice at this point. 

You don't know why it has you so weirdly dizzy, but maybe it's the way Leon looks so boyish, almost soft kissing you. His head is so slightly tilted, and the way his body curls around yours is just so engaged-

The fifth one is sweet in a different way. It makes your heart instantly crackle and spark for hope, which any sort of tired rationality your dopamine abused brain has left is probably screaming at. 

There's that fear in your chest, but there's no denying the fact that there's a light glimmering in Leon's sea glass eyes that you haven't seen from him too many times. 

It's a look that makes your entire body feel warm, like your skin is being pricked by needles. At this point, you've stopped looking at the photos altogether and buried your face in your hands. It makes Leon's chin lift off your shoulder, and you hear a chuckle come from him, but nothing sarcastic. 

"C'mon, stores are opening soon, weirdo," And when he says that you realize that there's warmth behind his words. You lift your head and look at him, and he's scratching his nose but- is he blushing too? Oh. 

Oh. 

He is. 

Probably not as scorching hot as you, but still. He starts walking, you start walking with him. And then, he takes your hand like that entire thing just didn't happen, and you find that you can't really stop smiling. Even if you reduce it to the smallest pull of your lips, it's still on your face for a while longer. 

--

[onigirio]

Helluuu, I’m in my Jason grace simp week, and I’m really craving some new headcanons about him (I basically read everything on tumblr😭) if you could, do you mind writing a headcanon on what it would be like to date Jason as a child of Apollo? Thank you in advance <3

a/n) anon you are starting something you will not be able to stop JASON AND APOLLO!READER ARE LITERALLY MY LOVES!! i’m sorry this took so long <3

first of all

descendants of the god of the sky and god of the sun?

match made in heaven

jason is the type to wake up super early to work out

you’re up early because when the sun’s up, you’re up

basically you two watch the sunrise together

and then you watch jason do his thing to make sure he doesnt pass out or to patch him up if needed

you two barely spar because yk

bow vs sword doesnt rlly work out

but jason helps you with your sword skills a lot

and in return you teach him how to shoot

you make fun of his aim all the time it’s hilarious

the two of you guys have dates like this all the time

speaking of dates

MOVIE ! NIGHTS !

jason lost a lot of his childhood

so you make sure to watch the classics together

high school musical, camp rock etc

it usually doesn’t last long because jason probably goes to bed at 8:30

and you start feeling sleepy when the sun is down

it always ends up as a cuddle sesh

which is perfect

please hold jason

he’s so scared he’s gonna lose you

let him know you love him all the time

his love language is definitely acts of service

he’ll carry your quiver for you

or bring you food in the infirmary

he wants to make sure you’re always happy

call me cliché but he calls you sunshine

sunflower, sunny etc

personal fave

“my light”

it’s funnier if you have heliokinesis

and you start glowing when it gets dark

like if jason can’t see you late at night he’s just like

jason: my light where’s my light

you: *glows*

jason: there you are :D

electric love is your song fr

if you ever sing it for him he will cry

oh jason </3

you used to hate the rain

and then one of your dates got rained out

instead of going inside you just

danced in the rain

because jason makes you feel so safe

afterwards you two went home and got warm bc you were worried about getting sick

he loves when you show him original work

art, music, writings whatever

jason feels so special when you show it to him

because it’s like you’re giving him a piece of yourself yk?

gods you and jason? you’re absolutely perfect for each other <3

[helyiios]

I had a dream once that the IMF boys had a tiktok and did the classic tiktok things mid-missions and stuff and I NEED to know you opinion on what their account would be like

Ok so replying to this again. I think Benji Jane and Will are the most online (and let’s indulge and say that it doesn’t cause conflit of interest with the fact they’re secret agents lol)

Benji’s the most popular (2.3M followers) and he posts the randomest most funniest shit on the PLANET. He hardlaunches Ethan with the out of my league trend (13M) despite NEVER mentioning being in a relationship before. He regularly forces Luther and Ethan to do trends w the rest of Hunt’s team, like I can’t find ayesha cuz she’s probably sucking dick/bitch pick up your goddamn phone you’re gonna make me sick where they all are on it w really cool transitions. He likes to talk abt SW or ST or DW a lot and one of his most liked videos (and how some people discovered him) is him replying to a comment that’s like “what’s knotting” and he just stares into the cam while putting one a red nose to a circus music. He posts himself and Ilsa while they’re dressed up for the opera on a mission with like the song fashion in the background and everyone goes crazy. He posts a vid where it’s him and Ethan looking at each other with the baby I’m yours song and it gets like 20M views. He does a transition from him at the gym to him in evening clothes he had to wear for a mission to everyday I spend my time drinking wine feeling fine and he doesn’t EVEN mean to do it as a thirst trap but that’s how it’s received and people are like oh my god…benji. Similarly he makes a post where he details his tattoos (after being asked a buncha times) and he’s shirtless, and everyone’s losing their minds because they’re like YOU HAVE A SIX PACKS? He and Jane post a short dancing vid to cmon let’s get it started lemme see you move your body and it goes goes viral bcs that’s when their respective followers find out they’re friends. He makes a photo post that’s like we’ll be a fine line we’ll be alright with a pic of the first hunts team mission w their latest one, and people ask him if he likes Harry styles and he just goes “who❤️” He does the pabrobui mwah mwah trend w Ilsa while they’re ALSO in a mission in Poland and they’re dressed in very warm clothes and everyone’s like oh my god…I’ve seen two pretty best friends. I genuinely think he’s got a few moves in him so there’s one of his most liked vids where he’s filming himself cooking in his kitchen where he’s barely dancing to busy earnin’ and the vibes are IMMACULATE. He 100% did the ceilings and you with the dark curls you with the watercolour eyes trends. He ALSO forced the entire team to do the benjamin’s deli trend (dancing slowly in the light vs throwing moves in the dark while people put on their phones’ light). He also posts himself during a training sesh to bts’ steve aoki remix mic drop and people are like YOU FUCKING KNOW BTS? and he just goes stan jin👍 he’s also a skilled violin and piano player so sometimes he posts himself playing.

Jane’s account is at 700k and one of her most liked vids is with Ilsa where they’re lipsynching the pam and i feed off each other’s energy. I tease her, she teases me (…) and that’s when people start to get that they’re all mates. She does the bitch you know I’m sexy trend with Will and Benji. She forces Ethan (he lost a dare) to do the you carry yourself with the confidence of a…much taller man trend. She soft launches Ilsa w a video of “24H in my life” (while she’s on break) where you can see glimpse of her gf and her followers go insane trying to figure out who it is. She posts herself and benji where benji’s tied to a repelling cable on a high building and she’s zooming in on him w the never back down never what/never give up audio in the background and people are like what the fuck r y’all doing??? She also is a great dancer so she regularly posts herself to the latest dance trend (she KILLED Angel in Tibet and Back on 74.) Both she and Benji did the okokokok lalala trend w their respective partners. (ilsa’s ok janes lala and ethans lala while benjis okokok)

Brandt (560k) is fucking hysterical bcs you’d think he doesn’t know what fun is and is so serious about literally everything and well. you’d be kind of right. He mostly post himself at the gym and people ask him a lot abt his supplements and his program, things to which is gracefully replies. His most liked video is SO Brandt coded because it’s just him crossed armed at his desk looking into the cam with like, company in the background, which technically qualifies as a thirst trap and everyone’s so confused because they’re like oh my god…I think I’m attracted to office workers. He also posts a lot of him sparring, sometimes w Benji or Jane or Ethan or Ilsa and people go kind of insane about those. He never gets Hunley on cam but once he replies to a comment that’s like “are you free tonight” and he just stares into the cam and pulls hunley’s left hand w the wedding band on it with the audio IM MARRIED in the background. THATS where his followers find out he’s gay and they’re like A WIN FOR THE COMMUNITY. Just like benji he can play the guitar, so sometimes he posts vids of himself playing, either of requested songs or some he likes.

[fishcop]

may i request your full, unfiltered thoughts on william wisp?

oh absolutely absolutely you can

this question has fully opened up flood gates in my head you don’t even know ‼️

OK SO WILLIAM WISP HES GREAT HES MY FAVORITE JRWI CHARACTER

he isn’t the archetype of the one smart character because he’s wayyyyy too cringefail for that

spoilers of course of course

I love love love his parallels with Dakota (Dakota who’s so morally set in the right and rigid direction vs William who sways on the line so much that it feels like the tightrope metaphor wasn’t just for losing control of his powers, it’s also about how with just a few actions his morals can sway very quickly as well and even tumble off the deep end.)

his parallels with vyncent too and how he’s running away from his past while vyncent a trying his best go get back to it! the scene with Kamuri broke me dude you don’t even knowwwww

it hit way to close to home with the ‘feeling like you’re inherently worse than everyone else, and letting that stop you from feeling like you can do anything.’ THE WAY HE LOST AND GOT HIS POWERS ABCK IS SO. FUCKING COOL TO ME

ITS ALL DESERVED AND FOUGHT AND CLAWED FOR!! HES the one who in the end, has to make the choice to keep going even despite his chances being handed to him on a platter earlier on. All his revives were given to him for free which he took for granted and it’s sooo clear in the finale when he finally notices that. ghostknife is so funny to me yes little guy go go pine for a whole campaign‼️

I wholeheartedly support Williams rights and very, very long list of intriguing wrongs

if there were like a moral scale or something he’d be so grounded compared to the other two but like so grounded that his moral scale goes into the negatives and that’s so cool because I love characters with flaws that are their fault, that they have made real horrible mistakes. I love characters that stray the line of ‘I couldn’t have done anything different’ while knowing full well that they could’ve but can just simmer in regret. I love characters with problems that you can’t say ‘it’s not your fault’ but they still deserve a chance anyways

I love how he gets confident when he’s in control, and he deals with fear by being in control of it, and as long as he’s master of the horrors the horrors aren’t so bad. Cause like in season one, it’s scary that mal has Kamuri in a bottle and what he could do with it… but if William knew, if he had control, then it wouldn’t be so terrifying. The bell tech ordeal was so stressful but he’s only calm when he is the one pulling the strings. I think this has something to do with how little he was in deadwood pre death- so many ghosts! So if he tries to rationalize it becomes less scary. Especially with the prime force and heroes, they keep him and pd in the dark and he’s terrified of not knowing what’s going on because look at what happened to Ashe! Where were the heroes! In his mind it’s flawed but it would be less flawed if he had more controllll

THIS ALSO GOES FOR THE WISPS! THEYRE unpredictable they’re finicky they’re tricksters (heh) and he’s scared of his own powersss. Allow me to be poetic and metaphorical for a sec because they’re very literally like fire (the wisps,) unruly and unpredictable but William is so fixated on how they could burn him that the warmth, the light, all the good elements of a flame are lost in fear. FEAR OF DEATH, FEAR OF NOT COMING BACK, FEAR OF LOSING AND LOSING FINITELYYY

AND NOW HES IN A PLACE WHERE HE KNOWS HES STRONG ENOUGH TO EXPLORE THE WORLD AND HIS POWERS AFTER BEING TRAPPED IN HIS HEAD FOR SO LONG

YEP THATS MY THOUGHTS. SUPER DUPER UNFILTERED AND CONFUSING AND DISCONNECTED BUT WHAT CAN I SAY I SPIN JRWI CHARACTERS AROUND IN MY HEAD LIKE A MICROWAVE

thanks for the ask :D

[motsimages]

Some personal ideas I have on the Candela Obscura world outside of the Fairelands:

What are those toponyms? Vastchasm, Otherwere, Fairelands... Is it really called Otherwere or it's just the Fairelander way of calling it? I mean, sure, maybe they were the invaders but is Faireland a government who pushes lightly for a conflict and then plays the victim when the "ennemy" reacts? Because you call yourself FAIR+land and the ennemy OTHER+where (insert meme of Our Bless Land vs Those Barbarous Wastes). Who would call themselves "other"? What is this translation job here? "Over there, i don't really care about them, that's what I call them" "But they actually call themselves "Turnipland"" "Nah, Otherwhere" "Sure, do your thing". I sure smell levels of corruption and propaganda in the Fairelands that are out of this world (get it? out of this world? *pistol fingers*).

As a European (and I guess we're not alone here), "a place built atop the ruins of an ancient fallen civilisation" is just another Tuesday. There are ruins of like 3 civilisations on any given town. It's as vague as it is non-threatening. Feels mysterious but it is actually a pain in the ass to build anything because of patrimony. I personally see the magick part of it all as another layer of difficulty for architects, builders and overall anyone living there. "Ugh, another rift opened and we won't be able to go through this street for the next three weeks". That's probably how they see this magick mystery thing in many countries, useful at times, maybe more dangerous than it's worth, good to have, could do without it, please just let me get home after work, do I really want to work in Bleed containment? The government offers a lifetime pension if you work there for 10 years but will I survive those 10 years? Martin has the best gold for home locks: no more intrusions after dark with Martin's magick locks! (1 year guarantee).

The horrors are the same. That rift opening in your street will cause nightmares on everyone for months after closing it and you still have to go to work. Some people seem to think, well, who doesn't know someone who is affected by bleed after all? Who doesn't hear voices at certain moments of the year? Some people really go alt-right "we have to kill them all" and some others really go all hippy "we have to be friends with them". Some governments have campaigns for their citizens à la "don't feed your gremlins after midnight" for prevention, many governments just pretend nothing happens and let people figure it out themselves. Activists in those countries push for some kind of government responsibility, particularly in cases like when some village has been in trials with the government for decades because a breach let a creature eat all of their children and the survivors are scarred for life.

Because of all this, I personally think in the Fairelands there is a taboo around the horrors and the magick. More than not understanding it, it's mainly that it can't be officially researched or used (hence, private initiatives like EONS or Candela Obscura) and you shouldn't speak about it and people are ashamed of it. The war has been tragic but it has given people a valid explanation for certain (very clearly for the trained eye) bleed scars. "Oh this?? It was a mine" Was it, though? It's light green. Foreigners from countries where this is more commonplace and less taboo find it weird but learn to play along for the social contract. "Is it really worse to be scarred by bleed than by other causes?" they seem to think and then shrug it away.

[bonebabbles]

First Battle Aftermath

For the first battle itself go here

lol. Lmao, even.

Not, "Oh my god what have I done," but "I'm so weak. I can't even kill," while wearing Rainswept Flower like a new pair of fur boots

first Adoption Win in 3 books. What's the tally on that one-- 1 to 10?

Clear Sky doesn't understand the point of burials lmao. Dude did leave that dead mom he killed out in the open for the flies to find, until Wind Runner and Gorse Fur came across the corpse and put it in the ground.

And he can't remember killing Rainswept Flower either, in spite of the fact he was coherent enough to justify his actions to Gray Wing, because the Clear Sky chapters aren't meant to be a glimpse into the mind of a detestable character. They exist to garner your sympathy.

Was that enough regret for you? Hope you got your fill because it's RIGHT back to Gray Wing's Excuse Hour

WE?!

WE LET IT GET TOO FAR

We Let It Get Too Far

"My brother :(((( He's a good man :(((((((( He's a good guy even though he just starved Jackdaw's Cry before trying to murder everyone and told Thunder he shouldn't exist and slaughtered Rainswept Flower in a fit of rage :((((((((((((((((((( He gave up some food after I asked him to when we were like 17 so that means he could never be a bad person"

It's right there on the goddamn page, Clear Sky wasn't BORN EVIL so he's GOOD ACTUALLY because NO CAT CHANGES THAT MUCH.

It's EXPLICIT, am I going crazy here?! The narrative says EXACTLY that because he was good when he was young, he can't possibly have changed into a monster. "No one changes that much"

FEAR OR GREED. GOOD OR EVIL. The writing is SO BAD that they attempted to tell a story with an ounce of more nuance than usual and just ended up re-inventing a Light vs Darkness dichotomy with different nouns!

And just when you thought we'd hit rock bottom, StarClan arrives with the reinforcements needed to DIG DEEPER

Enjoy Clear Sky being called a fool once, just a silly little slip-up, an Oopsie Daisy. "I only wanted--" goes UNADDRESSED as Turtle titters about "killing only ever leads to more killing" because they have to find SOME way of getting mad at Tall Shadow too.

Turtle Tail says some romantic schlock to Gray Wing about the kits and thanks Thunder for scraping her pancaked body off the pavement where she died, and then Gray Wing decides that actually he's mad that her magic ghost came down from the heavens because it's Too Painful to see her again or something. Because he's a GREAT character.

"We came to spread the Good News Gospel, Gray Wing. You need to know that god is real to live here peacefully."

DOTC is about to say that the cats need StarClan to avoid these sorts of massacres, because actually Clear Sky is fearful, NOT greedy, and believing in God means he won't be so scared that he feels the need to abuse women and children

(But also that everyone's kinda responsible for the First Battle because Clear Sky is a good boy and WE let it get too far)

Anyway, Fridge Wife 2 starts interrogating Clear Sky. They do this incredibly insulting chapter transition where Gray Wing goes, "idk if he wants to listen to herrrr..." and Clear's chapter opens up with "LOVE OVERWHELMS HIM" because, AGAIN, Clear Sky's chapters exist to garner your sympathy.

"I was scared my heart would break if I had to see someone else die, which is why I wanted to kill orphans, threw disabled people out into the wilderness, clobbered a kitten, told my son he shouldn't exist, performed public humiliations, and beat 3 women to death"

Wanna take a break and go check out the tally of things he did in the past 3 books, and compare it to his self-defense? Be Storm! Go check that out, keep everything he did in mind.

Ask yourself this; were his actions truly consistent with someone who was just scared he would see someone die of starvation, OR, were they consistent with a domestic abuser who enjoys the power he has over people?

Storm buys it.

"FEAR IS WHAT DROVE YOU," she said with relief.

If you're AFRAID then ABUSE IS UNDERSTANDABLE. IT'S OKAY! It's all fine in the end if your motivator wasn't greed, AKA "BORN EVIL"

"Now you see there's no need to be afraid because God is real, death isn't the end, and the assurance of religion with an eternal afterlife will make you a better person"

They're saying pain is less painful if you believe in God and this is why Godless Heathens are bad in the Warrior Cats series. When Gray Wing decided to proselytize to Wind Runner and tell her it was good that her weakest child died, because it meant he was in a "better place", THIS is what that was building to narratively.

PIETY will fix Clear Sky's abusiveness. YAAAAAAY!

ALSO THIS IS TALL SHADOW'S FAULT TOO SOMEHOW?!

DIE AGAIN, SHADED MOSS, BEFORE I BEAT YOU INTO COSMIC DUST. I HOPE THERE'S MORE TRUCKS IN HEAVEN

"how did you know he was going to kill-" CONTEXT. CLUES.

SHE MADE AN EDUCATED GUESS BASED ON ALL THE CATS POKING HOLES IN EACH OTHER AND SHOUTING "it's murderin' time!!!"

She was a female Warrior Cats character in the general vicinity so they had to make sure to shame her because god forbid they imply that Clear Sky is the only one to blame for this bloodbath

In fact they do it again, Clear Sky snaps and starts barking at River Ripple for being a foreigner in his presence, right in front of God, and they don't skip a beat,

It CANNOT remain about Clear Sky, EVER. Storm whips over to GRAY WING and accuses HIM of bringing death to the mountains too, closing out the whole rant with, "ALL of you need to make amends"

This is like when a bully spits on you, calls you insults, and slaps and hits you where the teacher won't see, all while you keep trying to negotiate, but then YOU punch back and you both get equally punished because retaliation is just as bad as being attacked.

The book ends on the cats deciding it's time to bury the dead. Thus concludes The First Battle, and Clear Sky's Redemption Arc begins in Blazing Star. Because this means they nonsensically get rid of their main antagonist, they have to conjure up an Evil Foreigner to take his place.

"Unite or Die" isn't a message about actual peace and unity, that thing that the Non-Clear Sky cats have been hopelessly committed to, it's actually a message about how they're about to have a very convenient common enemy.

Y'know, someone who isn't "scared," just "greedy," one of those evil Godless Heathens, so we don't have to 'feel bad' about murdering him. One Eye time!

[destinyc1020]

Speaking on Zendaya's performance, I wasn't gonna message you about it, but I saw a tweet on that x app, criticising Z's performance and that she should stick to modeling and it really got to me. The op was a black female critique, and it was so sad to see such bitterness come from her. Sometimes, monoracial black women have internalised misogyny when it comes to Z. They blame her for being the acceptable black woman as if she were the one that created that standard in hollywood. Yes, I understand the frustration of lack of black talent, but why can't we stay on code.

I think I'm annoyed because on that account, she was praising the white male actors on dune, but condemning Z. Like at some point, can we stop blamingbwomen we feel threatened by??? Zendaya has gone two emmys and has been in several successful films, and she is somehow still mediocre to some of y'all??? Stop the cap idc.

Sometimes, monoracial black women have internalised misogyny when it comes to Z. They blame her for being the acceptable black woman as if she were the one that created that standard in hollywood. Yes, I understand the frustration of lack of black talent, but why can't we stay on code.

Oh girl... I could spend hours on this conversation alone and the very "complicated" relationship black women have with other lighter-skinned (or biracial) black women in the Black American community. Whewww chiiiiile. 😩😓

But you're absolutely right. It all goes back to slavery, racism, colorism, light-skinned privilege, how monoracial black women are treated vs. biracial black women, etc.

I do feel like sometimes there is a bit of jealousy in there as well...let's be honest. Some monoracial black women see lighter-skinned black women or biracial women being treated better or getting more opportunities, and it can make them feel some kind of way.

Again, those lighter-skinned black women aren't to blame... Blame the society that uplifts lighter women over darker ones.

But anyway... For me personally? I love uplifting ALL of my fellow black women, whether dark OR light....whether monoracial OR biracial. But I do recognize that those with lighter skin usually do have a certain privilege. I don't mind if you have privilege (you can't help what you look like or where you were born any more than I can), but at least ACKNOWLEGE it.

Zendaya has ALWAYS acknowledged her biracial/fair-skin privilege in the industry, that's why I don't have any issues w/her. I do wish we could all stay on code, but alas....That's not to be.

Plus, there are just some women who just don't like Zendaya (FOR WHATEVER REASON) just because. We can't force people to like our faves. All we need to do is focus on our faves and keep it moving.

The sooner you realize that not everyone in life is going to like you (and sometimes, for the silliest and stupidest reasons), the better! It's okay!

[paradox-n-bedrock]

Hey! I saw throughout some of your tags that you got to see both Macbeth and The Enfield Haunting! (to which I'm insanely jealous, please hand over your memories to me at your earliest convenience!) What did you think of them??

Oh hi!!

The Enfield Haunting was enjoyable. Reviews for it have been overly harsh, for the most part, and I think part of that might be the genre bias horror often faces. The dialogue is clunky, particularly in the beginning, but I can say it's a fun show if you're a Conjuring, Enfield Poltergeist, or general haunted history fan. It presents the supernatural influence vs troubled children aspect in a balanced way, as is necessary for this plot. It also builds tension rather effectively once it gets going, while letting Catherine punctuate it with moments of lightness and her usual impeccable timing. There are some really good parts where a theme seemed to come together of this overwhelmed woman dealing with a rotating cycle of overbearing men (invasive investigators, infatuated neighbor, disrespectful ex-husband, and the poltergeist, of course) making nuisances of themselves in her home while she's just trying to push through each day without losing herself or her children to their collective unhappiness. If the theme had carried through more cohesively, it would have been a strong play. Unfortunately, I was left yearning for a bit more of that story, as it gets messy and lost maybe two thirds of the way though when the focus shifts to the investigator. But mainly, Catherine is so, so talented. She carries the whole thing on her back, with some help from the young actress who plays a very creepy Janet. It's hard to take your eyes off of her as Peggy, even when she's harried and anxious or reacting in furious silence to the action happening on the other side of the stage. She just... draws your gaze. And when she steels her spine to stand up for her family and her space, she's positively luminous. Plus there's an unexpected delight in a couple of scenes where Catherine sings Only Wanna Be With You--very sweetly, just a bar or two--and my heart felt like it was going to fucking burst. Hello, her voice... I need her to do another musical, preferably one we get a soundtrack to.

And she's so kind at the stage door. It was a two show day and she had a con the next morning but she still took the time to speak to every single person that was waiting there.

__

Macbeth, I wasn't carrying even the slightest hope of seeing but then I was able to get a standing ticket in my cart while on the flight there (though I had to let it go) and realized my years of stalking concert presales were about to come in handy. Ironically, my partner was the one who did snag the tickets two days later. I... actually ended up with a first row seat, though she was in the standing section. But that's just me rambling about the process because I still can't believe it worked out the way it did.

I'm not even sure what to say about the show itself. The whole cast is phenomenal. The production is conceptually very cool. The audio tricks they play with the witches--via a headset for each audience member and the eerie sense of movement and foreboding conveyed by bilateral audio--plus the starkness of the empty white stage and simple dark costuming just work. The contrast of the blood when David is centerstage, distressed and panting as he washes it away, feels poignant rather than pretentious. He's captivating the whole way through, but especially then, when he temporarily strips away the ambition along with his stained clothes to reveal the broken and guilty thing underneath. There's nothing like how DT delivers Shakespeare--the meaning flows out of him as naturally as the words themselves and it's incredibly approachable without losing any of its gravitas. The dynamic between the leads is atypical in a really lovely way. David's Macbeth and Cush's Lady Macbeth come across more like codependent partners and ruthless accomplices than a greedy but hesitant royal and his calculating wife egging him on. He looks to her for support rather than a push to kill Duncan, and the adoration between them is palpable, even as they each deteriorate in their own ways. I walked out of this show feeling so deeply affected, it was like a religious experience.

(Macbeth also feels very gender, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's a fan of DT's Benedict, though this is obviously in a very different way. As does Malcolm, played by Ros Watt--who's non-binary--and Ross, played by Moyo Akandé. I adore the whole cast, honestly.)

[quietbluejay]

Praetorian of Dorn 1

I'm feeling...weird about this one like I shouldn't post it? it's probably irrational. This is also probably why I procrastinated with this tab open for like an entire week

it's about Horus Horus feels…very different a lot more ominous this is post-Molech, though

"ooooo i'm horus let the galaxy burn"

and now we hit what seems to be a major POV character, Imperial fist dude who's served for at least 150 years his hair is starting to go white

atmospheric i know he's a major character because i read reviews lol

also sounds like the Fists can be as obnoxious as the Ultramarines lol this is very fragmented so many short different POV segments

lost in the sauce OH YEAH THE RAD WOLVES rad wolves my beloved

GW where are the radwolf plushies

huh

i didn't think Dorn was on the up and up about Chaos at this point mission impossible music plays as what is presumably the alpha legion infiltrates the palace

very archaic feeling

oooof ohhhhh nooo SURPRISE NIGHTMARE FUEL i thought this was just going to be industrial depressing stuff not

BUGS UNDER PEOPLES SKIN like this was literally a horror movie scene i did NOT expect this kind of horror okay! maybe I shouldn't have been reading this at night this is one of my nopes

you can slap "cyber-" on any word! we're 60 pages in and they're still being coy about saying this is the alpha legion

innnteresting

given stuff I've seen about Dorn already in other books/short stories, I'm really interested on if this book is going to dig into this

dorn 🤝 guilliman but dorn gets angry in a very different way huh much colder

oh, so the bugs were a hallucination saying this she calmly threw away a large can of bug spray

before the war began, alpha legion was planning this? owo

sir are you going to elaborate on that or just leave after saying a cryptic one liner

okay but like its not a binary here your options aren't "hide everything" vs "reveal everything" …we could be saying something about dorn with that lol

is this child alpharius

okay, nvm the kid has gotta be a space marine aspirant (term?)

that's a fun line

Man French really likes playing with stuff like this as recurring motifs, heat and cold in this book, light and darkness over in Ahriman series

INTERESTING

it's a child's response but there's a truth in it

dorn: i knew what i was doing and the implications

dominion over all the galaxy huh okay a lot more about dorn is making sense he's a lot like guilliman huh

"but sorry kid, you have no choice whether or not to walk that path, and if you survive, well then, there's zero other options available to you!"

This isn't just theatre to Dorn, that's not his style at all.

annnd we get a whole breakdown of the making of a space marine from the POV of this kid French really enjoys this stuff, huh. Digging into choice, loyalty, obligation, honour. But also the boys who became space marines.

(manifest destiny! take a shot!) but also, this is like the most coherent argument presented in the text of any of these books that shows why the idea of the great crusade is appealing to people

seriously tho this does remind me of some early American rhetoric

we're going to the moon! Heliosa is…interesting very creepy but, interesting this is another scene where I can hear the music lol

yeah, making warriors with high anger levels, what a great idea! we also saw the result of this in the whole training sequence with Kye

Andromeda's introduction will have to wait til next time

[beevean]

Netflix’s Castlevania gets a lot of flak around this blog, but let’s give a little credit where it’s due. Here’s 5 good parts.

1. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard vs. the vampire generals

Pretty easy one to mention: a stellar action scene that gets creative with the trio’s toolsets. It’d be a great game sequence, and the arrangement of Bloody Tears is the cherry on the icing on the cake.

2. Dracula never swears

Okay, if he ever did swear, it was probably something really light, but in a show where everyone is a Sir or Lady Swears-a-Lot to some extent, even DEATH, Drac had the most unique vocabulary.

3. They got “Saint Germain” right

Clearly, for what it’s worth, the show writers did their research on the name’s origin and pronunciation, whereas Konami’s localization team in 2005 seemed to just go off of how it was spelled.

4. A point on both sides

Obviously you want Trevor and the other heroes to win so humanity can have another chance for betterment (and the later Belmont protagonists can exist in this universe), but with how dickheaded and peabrained the majority of humanity is characterized through the whole show, you can’t blame Dracula or Isaac-in-Name-Only for wanting to wipe the slate clean (as misanthropic and needlessly extreme as they got). It’s an interesting deconstruction of classic good vs. evil and the general franchise premise, to say the least.

5. Beer is “better than sex”

Funniest gag between Trevor and Sypha, and the funniest post-Season 2.

Call this grasping at straws, but these were fun to mention.

Reply: I actually already made a list of the things I liked about NFCV :)

Mhh. I mostly agree with your points - yes S2E7 is the best episode in the show for the fight scenes, and Dracula really never swears btw, he might be the only major character to refrain from it. But point 4 is ehhhh. It feels too forcedly edgy for me to see it as the nuanced take the show wanted to convey. I don’t care if the guards are mean to Isaac when he wants through: they are still in the right to not want a dark wizard with demons in tow in the city. I don’t care if the villagers somehow didn’t believe Dracula when he threatened to kill them in one year: it doesn’t mean they deserved to be dismembered for the crime of not stopping a tyrannical bishop from killing a woman. And while I’m at it, I don’t feel Alucard is justified in insulting the Belmont clan because he saw the skull of a child vampire which I’m meant to take as “oh no look at them they’re so evil for killing kids :<”, when logically, a child vampire deserves to be taken out of their misery. Berserk did the Crapsack World better, like many edgy ideas from NFCV.

(also about #3 yeah CoD is also the game where Wallachia is pronounced with a SH sound. which, by the way, still trips me out. a little oof there lmao)