#EQ Answers

[grim-heir]

fighting the urge to 100k at things I shouldn't because exotrauma is fucking with me

[tswwwit]

I know Ford and Bill hate each other. It's just that Dipper really looks up to his great uncle and if anything fatal ever happened to him he'd be devastated, and I love to think Bill would get his head out of his own ass enough to comfort his grieving husband over it (in his usual Bill style)

He does his best!

(Dipper stays out of the Mindscape for a while on Bill's advice. Which is wise, because Bill absolutely throws a huge damn party)

[strawnav]

@fumalsamakah : "You deserve someone you can trust." epic. yk who / accepting!

People are predictable — it's something Nami learned young. They're selfish but don't like to look that way. They all want something, and will do whatever they can get away with to get it. Even those who would scowl or sob at her story, at the idea of a little girl being forced to watch her mother killed and the closest she had to a father torn to ribbons — at the idea of a little girl being taken and hurt and turned object, turned thing — would do the same if they thought they were strong enough.

It's good, how predictable people are. After all, it saved her from having to truly understand them. She's never been any good, not really, at understanding another's heart. She doesn't understand why Bellemere would rather die than claim she had no children. She doesn't understand why Gen would have rather died than let her be taken. She hadn't understood how Arlong could hurt her like that. She can't read others, and she knows that most would have happily used her just the way that monster did, if only they were strong enough. She doesn't understand others, but she knows that most are selfish and cruel, just like she is, and so she can't trust anyone. And she hadn't trusted anyone, for years and years.

He's not like her. He can't trick others for shit, but Luffy can read others. Luffy understands hearts. She can twist a man around her fingers but she isn't nearly as strong as Luffy is in this. He had seen something in her worth protecting, worth seeking out, worth helping — her arm and the scar ache at the thought — long before she'd given him any reason to. She supposes he'd seen the same thing in men like Zoro and women like Robin. She supposes that's why he knows, even though it's been months since Arlong Park fell, even though she smiles so easily, even though he'd nearly died to heal her illness, that she doesn't trust any of them.

It's not personal. She can't read hearts but she knows that no one on this crew would hurt her the way Arlong did, knows that everyone would kill anyone who tried. But that hell — that tower and never having enough food and never going more than a few days without bruises and her bloodied hands and that fucking chain — took up half of her life. The habits — everyone wants to hurt you, you can't trust anyone, you can't depend on anyone, if you do you'll die or worse, they will — were learned too violently and enforced for too long for mere months of relative safety to undo them.

You deserve someone you can trust, her captain, who she cannot trust but who she's closer than she's been with anyone in years, says. She smiles, charmed and amused and, in the stunted way she half - feels everything real, clawing, throbbing grief for the girl that might have been able to trust the right way, had anyone like Luffy been there to save her before Arlong could break her entirely. Where were you, she'd thought before, when I was good?

You deserve someone you can trust, and Nami laughs, reaching forward, tugging the brim of his hat further down on his head to hide his eyes. He sputters but doesn't stop her, because he can read hearts the way she can't, because the hat is his treasure and, she supposes, because the crew is his treasure, too.

"I haven't trusted anybody in a long time, Luffy. But I've met some people I think I could get there with."

When his hat tips up, her smile is as teasing and mischievous as it always is.

"One, in particular — I think I'll get to where I can trust him pretty quick."

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

That counter is ingo invented multi-target hitting attack versions

"gliscor, use earthquake!"

"gliscor use what-"

[percentstardust]

"If you tell me about it I want it to be on your terms." (ben for evie)

the agency of it all | accepting | @ofsweetness

"That's extremely sweet of you, Ben." Dark eyes evade eye contact, looking out of the window beside her. Only Mal really knows what she endured on the isle under the thumb of her mother. Not every child was unlucky like her. Some of the parents actually did care for their children. She just happened to get the short end of the stick when it came to parents. She never knew who her father was until her mother finally confessed on who it was. By then, they were exiled and it was too late. She never bothered to track Hades down to tell him. From what she heard from Mal, there would not have been a point to since he abandoned her as well. She does not know which is worse, to have one parent who did not have any idea they existed or to have an abusive one that they could not escape.

"You know, I've heard about this thing called therapy. I heard that it helps. I read that it helps. I've done a lot of reading recently." There's so much to learn over here in Auradon, so much to absorb. "Talking to a stranger about my trauma sounds....terrifying. I just.....can I....start with you?"

She is not going to trauma dump on him. Just let him know what life was like for her. She would not go too into detail, but, she would feel better letting someone else but Mal know what went on with the Evil Queen.

[nobully]

16 or 17 for the kiss meme... 👀

KISSING  MEME | 16. a kiss to gain control and 17. a  kiss  to  give  up  control.

In hindsight, she gets him with the lamest pretext ever.

"But what do you taste like?" Nicolette half-asks, half-whines one evening at his condo. It's not a special day by any means—not even Game Night with Zhilan, just an ordinary weekday in an unordinary town with Wang Yi testing a recipe for sweets because he now knows two guys obsessed with them in the city.

Wang Yi stops licking his spoon to look at her blankly. ' The hell you talking about. '

"Our kiss, Yiyi!"

Wang Yi's face flushes as red as the raspberries as he fumbles setting his spoon aside. ' Why are you thinking of that now?! '

"Who told you to stick out your tongue just to taste-test some cream?"

' What, am I supposed to stick the whole spoon down my throat or something?! '

After a few rounds of retorts treading well-worn paths, Wang Yi decisively cuts them off. ' This is a stupid argument. '

"My points still stands," Nicolette insists.

' What do you mean your point still stands, you bit my lip the first time, ' Wang Yi sputters back. ' You've tried my blood, I've tried yours; we're even. '

"The first time we did it," Nicolette corrects him, "it was after you drank my wine. Plus my abilities deal with blood all the time. That's no different from—from me tasting myself!"

As Wang Yi tries to work through that (slightly faulty) logic, Nicolette takes the initiative and pushes him where it'll hurt.

"...I just don't think it's very fair," she murmurs in a softer voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him freeze minutely and has to suppress a laugh, keeping up the pitiful air. "You got what you wanted but I've just been told to play along, both times..."

' Wait but, ' Wang Yi's flagging rationality chooses to wake up at this moment. ' You offered the last time and, and returned it, the kiss I mean— '

"That's because I'm a person, Yiyi, not some fancy free-to-drink fountain? Besides, it would've just been awkward if I didn't kiss back. Think about the chemistry of these things and how they work! Physically!"

' I guess you would know... ' Wang Yi trails off and while that sounds like an insult, this time Nicolette knows he doesn't mean it that way, he's just deferring to her superior experience in making out. Not like she'd take offense now, when she was so close to getting what she wanted.

Hiding another laugh, she prods him with her elbow. "So? Are you going to pay me back?"

He almost yelps. ' Now? '

"Well, no one's home, right?" God that sounded like lines out of some teenage movie. "Or if you're still shy...we could move to your room? I've already slept there a couple times, anyways."

Wang Yi hesitates and Nicolette privately thinks she's going to give up if he's still so damned stubborn, because it's hurting her pride to put so much on the line and still have him reject her without a second thought every time. Actually, maybe she should retract her offer first, since that'd be at least slightly less humiliating than hearing him say no.

With a huff, she turns away from him on her chair. "Fine then, if you want to be selfish—"

' No, uh— ' A hand grabs her sleeve at the same time Wang Yi speaks. ' I was just...let me clean up this stuff on the counter first, okay? I don't want to leave a mess for my roommates. '

That's better! Nicolette instantly brightens and turns to him with a smile. "Oh, let me help."

***

When they're finally sitting on his bed (in his room, with the door locked and windows drawn because apparently Wang Yi's paranoia goes harder when he's stressed), Nicolette almost regrets not kissing him right then and there in the kitchen because he's so freaking nervous.

' So, uh, ' Wang Yi's fidgeting, so much that when his knees accidentally brushes against Nicolette's beside him he almost jumps. ' Should we do this on the count of three or...? '

"Yiyi, we're not running a marathon."

' I know, but like, how else do we know when to start? '

Nicolette just stares at him. They hadn't had this problem the last two times, but in retrospect there were other things going on at the same time. In the first he'd been dead drunk, and in the second she'd been bleeding out. Now with nothing but a kiss between them, Wang Yi's mind is working overdrive to fill in all the empty space.

It annoys her more than it should because—hey, there's a pretty girl sitting right next to you, isn't that enough? If he'd just focus on her instead of his, she doesn't know, performance anxiety or whatever she's sure things will be fine! He's a natural, after all!

"Wang Yi," she lowers her voice, only half-joking. "Have you ever kissed a girl? You know, besides me."

He doesn't even need to think before shaking his head. ' Uhh, no? You're my first. Is that bad or something... '

She has to quell the smug feeling of satisfaction even as she demands, "Why would that be bad?!"

' Because I don't have experience? '

"Oh, believe me," Nicolette narrows her eyes with a giggle that's positively girlish, "You have ways to make up for it."

' Glad one of us is confident, I guess... '

"Why don't you," Nicolette tries, "just leave it to me?"

' Like how? You say people aren't fountains— '

"Stop thinking so damned much!" she cuts him off. "Look, it's easy. I'll start us off and you just...relax and react, okay? Just learn what feels good and...go with that, it's fine."

' Those were the vaguest fucking directions I ever heard. '

Oh, but fucking's a whole different rodeo, she thinks privately before snapping at him. "I told you to stop thinking! In fact, start right now and close your eyes!"

In the end, orders seem to work best. Wang Yi shuts his eyes and simply sits there, waiting for her next move. He's oddly blank this way, and Nicolette finds herself missing the dozen or so things he tries to hide behind those bright green irises even though his creased eyebrows reveal his nerves. She raises a hand to casually brush his cheek; he trembles slightly but doesn't open his eyes.

' What is it? ' His question comes out as a hiss.

"Nothing, just checking that you're still awake."

' What the h—mhnn! '

She catches his open lips on "hell" and smiles around them as she urges, "Remember, don't think."

' Nngh...okay... '

Wang Yi's remarkably pliant when he doesn't fight back. Even though his muscles are still tense and his fingers curled like death around the sheets, he keeps his lips relaxed as he's been told, accepting everything that Nicolette gives him. It's as if he's suddenly stripped away his walls to leave the vulnerable center exposed, leaving her exulting in her private triumph. She's not sure if this counts as trust, but it certainly tastes just as sweet.

"Kiss me back—you can, mmnh, be rougher, ah," she murmurs as she languidly sucks on his lips, a slow teasing motion that stimulates them both.

He obeys—working partially on memory as he deepens their connection—and she almost wants to laugh, with how earnestly he tries, how easy this is.

Since when had anything been easy when it came to Wang Yi?

He tastes like candy today, she thinks, and it's probably the fruit cream to blame, but that adds another layer of unreality to this whole thing. Sugar and spice and everything nice—it's pleasant, but it feels like a dream—or maybe this is Wang Yi too, except the part she doesn't get to see? She glimpses it often enough, when he's talking to Lanlan or Sun or anyone similarly gentle, but it's never been her turn until now.

The slightest trace of bitterness creeps into her thoughts before she hears a whimper—she looks down and realizes she's overpowering him, pushing Wang Yi so far backwards that he's almost falling on the bed. He doesn't though, bracing himself against the bed frame as he bears her assault, though the involuntary cry is enough to show that he's close to giving out.

She breaks contact then, leaving his mouth open and confused and wanting, before grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him against the mattress. His eyes fly open in surprise but she covers them with one hand as she leans in to take in the sound of him panting for breath.

' N-Nicolette, I— ' He stutters and she can feel his eyes darting back and forth beneath her palm, the lashes brushing against her skin like the wings of a trapped butterfly.

"Shh... I told you to relax," she coaxes him and waits until his eyelashes stop tickling her to dive in again, because she hungers and thirsts and it's so, so rare to find Wang Yi in a moment where he actually lets her take.

As promised, she guides him the entire way, until he's lost enough to sink, to fall, and to take back control. She lets him flip their positions so that he's on top and revels in all the sensations: tongue upon tongue, fingers against skin, even the sound of their breathless gasps mixing with rustling sheets and quiet moans in some sort of New Age symphony.

At some point his hand finds the spot on her waist where she was wounded last time and gives it a squeeze—in fondness or memory, she doesn't know. Her hands aren't idle either—she's never been shy when it's time to indulge—slipping beneath his shirt with soft caresses that turns the pace of Wang Yi's kisses almost desperate at times.

They might've kept going—they could've, if it wasn't for the sound of the oven timer going off. He stops in the middle of sucking the skin along her neck, eyes still hazy with arousal, and mutters in confusion, ' The fruit tarts are done. '

The next second he looks down—realizes Nicolette's shirt's pushed halfway up her torso and his hand’s fondling somewhere it shouldn't be—and sputters out, ' Weren't we supposed to be just kissing? '

His eyes dart to her face accusingly but Nicolette just smiles like the cat with the cream and licks her lips, pink tongue teasing him with the tiniest glimpse. "Congratulations, Yiyi. You graduated with honors."

[chemzee]

is it ok if I send it on anon? I'm fine with it being answered publicly

Aight sure!

[a9saga]

tbt - the brilliant green - angel song // happy birthday tomoko kawase 💜

[lcveisweakness]

52﹕ sender  takes  a  [ punch / stab / bullet ]  meant  for  receiver . - Red for her queen ❤️

after brown eyes went wide at seeing the impact of the arrow and the shoulder of the wolf she screamed in rage. the queen was sure she had never dismounted one of her horses so quickly before. it pained her when snow would send knights her way, stocked with silver tipped spears and arrows, their swords all melted down and switched out to better protect the white kingdom. ever since regina now had red in her castle, army as well as her bed, snow couldn’t be too careful and for that regina huffed. because she did understand but it didn’t make it any less horrid. 

she had told red from the beginning she wouldn’t force her to the battle field and she meant that. and now she was running the few feet, her own sword clashing with a handful of knights before she made it to red on the ground. “you pestiferous, wolf.” she snarled, purple glowing hands holding the arrow and pulling it out before trying to heal the wound it left behind. “you shouldn’t-” she shook her head and looked up in time to swing her hand around and set a few soldiers ablaze. “what have you done?!” she raged, her eyes glowing purple as she looked over the other. there was so much going on around her, nearly impossible to confidently help red. it wouldn’t be very queenly to leave her men behind. a simple flick of her wrist, and she could. she could bring them back to the castle where it was safer. but no, to abandon them during battle would be as horrible as snow adjusting her armory to accommodate werewolf history, their biggest weakness, ruby’s biggest weakness. regina had to be better. she was better. 

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddiemicrofic April challenge.

All Alone

April Prompt: Fool | Word Count: 454 | Rating: T | CW: Fear of Mortality, Prior Parental Loss, Prior (Unnamed) Health Problem, Anxiety | Tags: Eddie POV, Established Relationship, Long-Term Relationship, Steve Harrington and His High EQ, Beloved Wayne Munson, Everybody Lives, Happy Ending

The overhead light in the bedroom flickers on, and Eddie buries his head deeper into the pile of pillows on the bed. 

He's not getting up. 

"Eddie," Steve says, gently. Quietly. 

"I'm fine," Eddie mutters from under the linens, but he's sure he's not very convincing. 

"The hospital called," Steve says, and Eddie's whole body tenses with blinding, overwhelming fear. "Wayne can go home tomorrow. After lunch." 

And it's good news. Something to celebrate. But something catches in his throat and he chokes out a sound, somewhere between a whine and a cry. 

He's a grown man, unable to get out of bed, and he feels like a fool. 

"He's fine," Steve says softly, sitting down on the bed, rubbing Eddie's back. 

Sure, Wayne's fine. For now. But someday he won't be. Someday Eddie will be all alone, and the weight of that knowledge suffocates him. The fear of it. The inevitability. 

His mom is dead. His dad is dead. He has no siblings. Grandparents, all dead. He has Wayne. That's it. That's all that's left of his family. Wayne, the only connection left to his childhood. 

Wayne, keeper of the memories, answerer of the questions. 

"Hey, remember when…"

And Wayne will remember. 

"And what was…?"

And Wayne will know. 

But Wayne will go someday, and he'll take those secrets with him. 

Then, Eddie will have no family left. 

"Eddie," Steve says, "talk to me." 

And he can't. 

He can't tell Steve, the love of his goddamn life, his family, this. Steve is his family. He is. They've chosen each other. Over and over, year after year. 

Steve's his future.

But he's not his past. Not his beginnings, even as fucking rough as they might have been, more often than not. 

"Honey, he's okay. I promise," Steve says gently. 

It's foolish, this preemptive mourning. This wallowing. 

"Wayne's gonna die someday, and I'll be all alone," Eddie chokes out, and he hopes Steve doesn't take it the wrong way. 

He doesn't. 

"I know how scary that is," Steve says, and Eddie relaxes. Steve probably does know. He's an only child, too. With only his mom left, now. It's scary.

Maybe they can be scared together.

A week later, Wayne's on the couch, recovering, and Eddie is buzzing around the room.

Steve's sitting right next to Wayne, notebook in hand. Taking extensive notes. An oral history. 

Steve won't ever have been there, but he'll have Wayne's own words to reference. 

"...and the little fool thought he could drive my car. Couldn't even reach the pedals. Rolled it right into the shed," Wayne says, and Steve laughs.

Eddie had forgotten that. 

And Eddie smiles, standing in the kitchen, listening to his past share secrets with his future.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddiemicrofic and follow along with the fun! ❤️

[syeren]

BATTLE OF WITS.

Sampo is an easy guy, albeit, a con-artist but a real hunk of work. If something doesn’t catch his eye within a second or stimulate his brain for more than a minute… You can say bye-bye to trying to talk to him.

Majority of people view the picture on the vacation postcard of “not-giving-a-shit” and fall in love with the idea — swimming through the clear blue waters in this mental Mediterranean sea can be more deceiving than many think. It’s a one-way ticket to losing the most important skill in life, to feel concern. He for one, couldn’t care in the slightest. It all goes to show as to why he took up the very interesting and controversial means of work in the first place.

But once he stumbled across a person completely opposite to him, he couldn’t help but feel even more irritated. Of course, it was you, with your logical and reasonable thoughts and actions. Your morals were way higher on the scale than his, and he definitely could assume your IQ and EQ followed suit. He never felt so ridiculed and threatened by your demeanour because of this aura of “coolness” and “rationality.” That was the issue, he was always the smart one— or the lack thereof. If both your brains jostled within the ring, his would be pummelled to smithereens.

He wanted to brush off this problem as per usual, forcing himself to play the “unbothered” role because his ego couldn’t handle it anymore (ahh yes, the “be the bigger person” card.) But if this were a choice between mind over matter, the latter would reign dominant. He needs to showcase his true skills, it was his only “skill” anyway.

“Hey,” Sampo called out to you while you fumbled through your satchel. You gave him a quick eyebrow raise in response.

“What’s seven times eight?” he blurted out, standing directly in front with his arms crossed over his puffed chest. Yeesh.

You, on the other hand, gave him an indescribable expression that probably amounted to confusion, irritation, and most likely concern. “What?”

“C’moonn… I don’t have all day!”

Rolling your eyes, you continued to fish out some papers from your bookbag and grumbled the answer. “Fifty-six.”

“— Riddle me this. Imagine you’re in a tough situation where your pal is crying over their partner who was absolutely shit to them. Do you, A, comfort them, B, make fun of them, or C… Listen and give advice.”

Now it was completely indescribable about what you’re feeling or thinking. You slowly looked up to meet his eyes with a blank stare. You were judging him hard.

“… A with a mix of C.”

“No, only one answer!” he protested, wagging his finger in the air.

“Then A.”

He dropped his hand and returned to the same arm-crossed position. “This isn’t fun.”

“You think you’re not having fun? This feels like an interrogation, Sampo,” you playfully snapped, closing your book bag. “The fuck was that about?”

A mere shrug was all he responded with. “Just wanted to… Figure some things out,” he vaguely responded, to which, prompted your irritation even more.

“Sampo—“

“Okay, okay! Just heard from a little bird that you’ve got a head on your shoulders,” he replied in defence. “Wanted to see if it was true or not.”

“Of course I have a head on my shoulders,” you reiterated, shaking your head in disbelief. “What? You mean like, smarter?”

Sampo nodded his head. “Precisely.”

His answer made you immediately chuckle, letting out a breathy laugh. “Shouldn’t this little questionnaire prove the point? Such dumb questions.”

“Hey! They made you think though!” he argued. “Putting you on the spot and such.”

“… Easy questions like that won’t put anyone on the spot.”

Sampo inched even closer as he let out a prideful scoff, flipping his floppy bangs back with calloused fingers. “Fine. I’ll prepare something harder then—“

“Nope,” you interrupted.

“One thing’s for certain, you are one hell of a party pooper,” he stated dejectedly, rolling his eyes as he straightened his posture. “Natasha mentioned you were smart n’ all, but how is that any good if that pretty little head of yours is full of brash comments and half-assed sarcasm.”

“Since when were you and Natasha friends?” you deadpanned, the same sarcastic tone dripping from your lips.

“We always were! Hey! Don’t give me that face!” Sampo responded but as soon as he was speaking, your figure was slowly walking away from him. You lazily waved a hand in the air without turning around.

You, 1. Sampo, 0. Try harder next time, big guy.

[normal-internet-user]

OKKK OK look technicality speaking,,, i'm supposed to be indulging in the sleebies rn. BUT my brain would NOT let me sleep until i commished this to ya!!



your peepaw leo answer? fantabulous. jaw dropping, awe-inspiring, hit just the spot. Extravagantly whimsically stupendous. ultra super mega amazing. need i say more? YES AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO-

yet. ☝🏼 & hear me out here.

*folds hands all neat and preppy in front of me, leans in close so we're nose-to-nose, all business* 

I have a storm a-brewin'. Up in the ole noggin'? Knock knock.

SPECIFICALLY ABOUT Reader and how they interact with Present (or to them, Past!) Leo!!

They're not as forthcoming as Casey, and I imagine that even after the war is won and the apocalypse is therefore prevented, that initial hostility would fade! … but instead it’d become … kind of awkward? They don't hate Leo, it's just. 

Not the Leo they know.

Not the Leo they know and love and miss and mourn and glory to be, they’ve got their work cut out for them.



Reader is still coping with the loss of everything. the breathing techniques alongside Master Michelangelo's high EQ teachings on handling emotions help a lot more than they'd expected.

And!! The present (past??? aughguhghhhh) Hamatos are a big help too!! With time, it all does get better ^^)

(AKA: everyone's ✨traumatized & coping together✨, m'kay? m'kay.)

This all boils down to Reader and how they re-evaluate (rebuild?) their relationship with Leo. The Leo in THIS timeline that they helped save. How they heal from their wounds, inside and out, and try to make the best of what they’ve got. Because if the future taught them one thing: it was that no matter what, you've gotta keep going. Don't give up.

Canon plotline following n' stuff before the fluff downpour!

Here's a hc format for random moments in the way I see it bc it's easier? Is it? (/lh)

When Leo was finally released from the Escape Pod and everyone took in how haggard he looked— pale, shaking, horrified at what he just witnessed,

When he snapped and lunged at Casey, 

Reader’s reaction was swifter than a bullet. 

They swept in front of their brother, effectively and terrifyingly going toe-to-toe, snout-to-nose with this Leo, snarling out a bite of their barely-concealed rage. Their eyes are slits, their teeth are fangs poised to strike, and the venom is promised.

They’re just as dangerous as him at that moment.

The threat goes unsaid: Back. Off.

Their heart is racing like crazy, alarm bells ringing in their head and frustrated tears build up in their eyes. They're swimming— no. Drowning in confusion. In feelings. In dread. In nausea. In grief.

They didn't care what iteration of Leo this was or what they'd ever face: the image of Papa, whatever version it was, even thinking of bringing harm to Casey was enough to send them teetering over the edge.

Time travel. Alien invasion. From “Apocalypse Is The Norm” to “You Can Stop This Hellscape From Ever Happening BUT You Wipe Out Everything You've Ever Known Along With it.”

....

yeah that's enough to make a grown man cry.



Reader quickly realizing that, amongst their simmering anger, there was a kind of fear. Not just the impending sense of anxiety at everything that was happening around them, but this was familiar.

Papa had never been an inherently volatile person (turtle? snrt), but he was a Leader.

His very presence demanded respect. 9.∞ times outta 10, he got it.

Despite the image of their beloved dad momentarily crumbling within meeting his younger counterpart, Reader can’t help but cling to that familiarity.

The familiarity of that intimidation – that regard – in Leonardo. 

He was pissed, that’s for sure. And Reader was actually kind of scared. Their Papa never was a violent person per se, but he’s had his moments. 

It was kind of uncanny, seeing the young shards of those traits come to be. To see this young Leo, with so much ahead of him, slowly but surely become the man you knew and was raised by. 

In spite of yourself, you could feel that same reverence and respect bloom in your chest. It hurt too, because it felt like it was for the wrong reasons. 

Yet, you digress.

Besides, you were never one to hold fast to grudges – it was poisonous. And despite feeling like you were being poisoned slowly, in to out, you knew it’d pass. 

It was along the lines of something Uncle Mikey had told you once ...

“What a caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.' Never forget, sunshine. Even when it feels like your world is ending, and you're caught right in the midst of it all?

... You can choose to birth a beautiful butterfly, ready to take on the world. You're a butterfly; every great thing starts small, no?” 

So. You watched Leo out of the corner of your eyes. Listened to Junior as he sparkled and praised your young uncles, telling them the truth of their characters in your timeline.

—andddd a flash of hot annoyance flared up in your chest when your brother piped up something about Papa’s rescue of a resistance camp to the teenager him,

You tried to settle the war within yourself. How would you fight both at once? Not when there was an entire one unfolding right in front of your very eyes. 

. . . you wanted your Papa.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ;༊

this has been,,, the first part of many a Wal-Mart ad. BA-DUM-TSS!

i'd add way more but my eyes feel like they're about to fall out jsjsj

*air kithes (ง ˃ ³ ˂)ว ⁼³₌₃⁼³ /p and lounges on your back porch, cracking open a cold juice pouch* Penny for your thoughts, toots?

Ok, first of all: Dear (/p) you are a freakin genius- now let us discus some things over a juice pouch.

READER POST-MOVIE/DURING THE MOVIE HEADCANONS

....................................

You are 100% percent correct about all of that.

Firstly, when April manages to knock both of you out and drag you back to the Lair,

Casey is much more open, and excited.

You're treating them as a potential threat.

I'm talking resting bitch face, broski.

Sure, in the future, these people raised you, but this isn't the future.

So you glare and let CJ do the talking, because at the moment your still processing,

And your anger could lash out at anyone in this room.

When Leo turns on Casey, your reaction was like second nature.

You had alot of moments during the apocolypse where if you took to long to assess the threat, you were dead.

So when Leo lunged at Casey, and your mind locked him in as a threat,

Those familiar instincts of, "Danger: protect family" kicked in.

Weapon drawn, teeth beared, you looked more feral than Leo,

But you were scared too.

You were so fucking scared.

You knew this wasn't your papa,

You knew that.

But to see his younger counter part so angry, so ready to be violent was terrifying.

You'd only ever seen your papa angry and violent one time in your life.

It happened when you had to drag Casey back to base, half dead and yourself much worse for wear.

You'll never forget the violence that shone in his eyes at the sight of his children.

One unconcious and bleeding,

The other hardly able to stand.

You have no idea what happened to the officer that sent you and Casey out,

But he wasn't seen around much after that, most said he was demoted to work in the more... laboring parts of the base.

Looking into Leo's eyes at this moment, you see a very similar violence to that day,

But what scares you is that violence is now directed at your brother.

After Casey explains none of this happened in your guys' time,

Leo shoved past you, and had his little, "We're going because I say so" moment.

You were beyond pissed.

Here was his team, telling him to wait,

To hold on a second, to come up with a plan,

And he was just- ignoring them.

But, you kept silent and followed Casey when he left with Leo,

You'd be damned if you left your brother alone with this idiot.

In the turtle tank, while Casey practically sings his praises, you can't help the scowl that builds on your face.

Casey kept using present tense, "You are.", and, "you were" in Donnie's case,

He just couldn't seem to grasp that this wasn't your family, future tense should be used.

Not past, not present, future.

Because he's not technically wrong,

But it still rubs you the wrong way for him to compare your Papa, to this guy.

In the subway tunnels, you get seperated from Casey, you end up with Donnie and Mikey.

Mikey had to physically pull you into the tank kicking and screaming.

You needed to be next to your brother.

You had always been right beside each other your whole lives,

You were terrified.

When you were in that tank, and it was on the verge of crumbling, you started having flashbacks of the time Kraang had attacked your first home.

You were so small, just a little kid waiting for Papa to come find you.

You were on the verge of sobbing as you desperatly tried getting ahold of Casey.

Skipping ahead to the end of the movie,

You didn't wanna let go of Casey's hand.

It's odd, knowing that you don't need to see what's lurking in every corner,

Because there's nothing there anymore.

You don't have to be scared.

That's when you notice the shimmer of something clipped to your boot.

Looking down, you see a blue, star shaped hair clip.

How it had managed to stay on your boot this entire time was a mystery,

But what was less of a mystery was how it got there.

You knew your papa had placed it there.

You grabbed the hair clip of your boot, tears welled in your eyes,

Then you let out a choked sob.

You clutched the hair pin so tightly you might draw blood, and you sobbed and sobbed.

It was like all your emotions poured out at once, you didn't even know which one you were feeling.

It was a mix of grief, sadness, anger, and anguish.

Casey pulled you close, muttering how proud he was of you, you'd done so well.

"Sensei would be proud." he said, "Papa would be proud of you."

You clung to your brother like he was your life line, because in a way he was.

He was all you had left of your life before.

Post-movie, you're awkward around Leo to say the least.

During the movie, you were angry with him, mostly because of the paralelles between him and Master Leonardo.

But post-movie it's just awkward,

You can't look at him without being reminded of the father figure you lost.

All you wanted was for your papa to hold you,

To sing you to sleep like he used to do to hide the sounds of the monsters lurking above.

You just want your papa- no, you need your papa.

You need to hear his voice again, sure, technically you hear it every day but it's not the same!

You need to hear him.

You've taken to replaying audio recordings through your own mask.

Laying in your bed late into the night, replaying the same video's until your papa's voice lulls you into an uneasy sleep...

....................................

My thoughts for you my dearest! (/p) free of charge!

I plan on writing some fluffy Papa Leo oneshots sometime soon, not to worry!

For now, have these!

[beezonia]

In EAH, is it ever actually stated why the titular school was founded?

Like, did it start out just trying to prepare students for their inevitable destiny, but when those destinies started to turn out to be less inevitable than previously thought, it morphed into an instrument of control?

I’m not sure (maybe one of my eah moots can answer that!)

But I feel like it was because something happened between Giles and Milton and basically they nearly did something to their destinies and wanted to protect that.

So they made the school so the future generations were safe from harm and their stories stayed intact!

And then maybe the control became more of a prominent thing when students would rebel and they got shot down pretty quickly.

So the EQ was the straw that broke the camels back in that scenario.

Yeah hope this clears at least something up!

[athena-xox]

So wait, what’s the range on how long EQ has been in prison for wonderland. 1 year? 5? 7? In the show the characters that escape seem the same age as we currently see them, but I vaguely remember in the books being implied for longer than that.

If you don’t have an answer that’s ok, your seemingly episodic memory of the franchise amazes me anyhow.

I mostly just reread the books all the time because I have them illegally downloaded on my phone and I’m planning on taking an English major so I just have a good memory / analyze text like crazy. Also like the literacy of teenage girls who have unhealthy obsessions? Is surprisingly good.

Anyways this is always something that confuses me!!!

BECAUSE THEY NEVER SAY HOW MANY YEARS

LIKE MAYBE I NEED TO REREAD BUT MOSTLY THEY TALK A LOT ABT PRECURSE/MIRROR PRISON IN THR SHANNON HALE SERIES AND THE DIARIES AND A LOT ABOUT DURING IMPRISONMENT IN THE SHANNON HALE SERIES / TV SERIES BUT WE NEVER GET A TIMELIME!!!

Anyways the best I can canonically get you is that Lizzie mentions being 3 and the curse not being there and we know that the og 3 wonderlandians had been in ever after since at least freshman year

So basically that’s like an 11 year timespan

I mean we can assume it takes place a bit later bc bunny thought Alistair would ask her out before the curse which implies she was older, but then also her dad probably made Bunny with a human so if things like beastiality work different in wonderland maybe typical dating ranges r different too

Ok now I actually want to analyze it more , I’ll probably reread the first 3 books on my plane ride tmr

[stormblessed95]

who hugged me tightly

only you

who protected me

who only protected me

who held my hand

who held my hand tightly

who reached out to me

who reached out to me

who held out his hand

To you who looked at me greatly

🔗 https://twitter.com/jaksal_5813/status/1639683901571620865?s=46&t=6h2FRfv41Qg9RyUk25oCZQ

Such a beautiful song. I hate that it's only on CD. JIMIN YOU SAID ITS FOR FANS, GIVE IT TO ME SO I CAN STREAM IT THEN PLEASE?!

Here is my original post over Letter too, that I'll stick by what I said there and just add onto it in this post for now too:

During his live stream for FACE, he breifly mentions Letter, which the trans for that is here

The way I'm side eyeing the heck out of the way JKs involvement in this song is being completely ignored by BOTH OF THEM. LOL don't gatekeep please. Share with us!

Honestly the fact that it's named letter because he sat down and wrote his feelings out into a letter and then roughly transformed that into lyrics for a song and it turned out so beautifully. It's because Jimin is a GENIUS and he emotes so sweetly and his EQ is insane and translates so well. And so him just pouring his emotions into paper would of course turn into such a softly stunning song like Letter. 😭 he repeated many times that he emphasized honesty in this album, including letter. And that comes off so sincerely every time you listen.

It's a fan song, yes. It's also... more in my opinion. Because things can be more than just one thing. It's also interesting that the majority of Letter lyric wise is written in a more formal tone/language and uses honorifics. But when the bridge hits, aka when JK joins in for the more heavy backing vocals, the lyrics drop the honorifics and use more informal language from what I've heard. And with the call and receive way the backing vocals answer Jimins main ones, it almost sounds like they are talking to each other there, rather than the fans. Jimin is always so formal and polite and kind when he speaks to us. And jikook often over do the formalities when they talk, or they drop them totally. Which is a consistent habit of theirs. So could the last part of the song be more for themselves? Maybe. Could it still just be for ARMY? Maybe. Could it be for both? Maybe. Regardless, Jimin said it's a song for the fans and JK made it very clear that everyone had always known that he is hyungs biggest fan

Letter IS a love letter. To multiple people I believe. JK being one of them. And I think it was a really really amazing and sweet way to end the album. Hidden in the ending of Like Crazy, after all the emotions and pain and hurt and confusion he went through over the last few years dealing with everything the world went through and they themselves adjusting to a new future.... things like having to quarantine alone for 2 weeks everytime they returned to Korea... getting covid and then having emergency surgery at the same time and having to recover in a quarantined hospital room alone. Facing the upcoming changes for the band in chapter 2 and the uncertainty that came with it. And more. Yet there is still this uplifting and positive emotion that we find ourselves in at the end. Letter feels like love and safety and that feeling of coming home after a really long hard day. It feels like peace. And I like to think that Jimin is expressing those emotions through that song. He finds peace, love and safety in the end. He feels the happiness of being home and embraced. He feels that love from ARMY. And with his choice to include JK in that song, it's like he is saying he feels that peace and love in Jungkook too. That's his home.

LMAO and I have to end with the way he scolded us for uploading Letter everywhere anyway lmfao so cutely. He literally wagged his finger at us!

But the way he said it he saw it ALL. Man if he typed letter in either English or Hangul into the search engine, half the videos that pop up are jikook edits to the song. I know he saw those! 🤣 HE KNOWS YALL, I KNOW HE KNOWS 😅

Anyways, amazing song. I shared it with my non army friends and they were also obsessed. Jimin sounds heavenly on it. I will never stop asking for an official streamable verison of this song. We waited so long for Promise. I'll wait for Letter too!

Editing super quickly to add this clip of Jimin singing a snippet of Letter live to an ARMY on the FaceTime fan meeting calls 😭😭😭

[tatasoom]

"I KNEW IT"

Well, I've planned to write down another prediction for the next 6th episode, but the end of 5th episode reminded me something from my life. So here's some thoughts.

Mhok has really high level of EQ. That's a gift and that's also a curse. For this entire episode we see him being respectful and supportive for Day's relationships with people from the past. The problem is he can trust his feelings, even though he would prefer to be wrong. The moment he first felt something he already knew the truth.

So if we needed to give a name to the episode 5, it would be something like "Prove me wrong". Because Mhok can already see, not only with his eyes, but with his heart, the way Day reacts to August. And as person in love he wants to be wrong, he wants to discover that it was only his jealousy and imagination and maybe he's becoming stupid because of love.

This tiny change of Mhok's face is one of the most terrifying moment for me. It's like being close to catastrophe and have no time to hide.

And then

BOOM

Let me tell you a story now. A real story.

Once I used to be in love and even tried really hard to tell that guy I like him without looking too naive in his eyes. I've made it through words written on a piece of paper in another language he can't read, but somehow he understood. I know exactly that he understood, because he texted me the answer:

- I really like you, but that girl... I still love her.

My face burned, my heart rate went to stratosphere, my whole body was shaking, I wanted to scream my lungs out and was crying all night long. But first I texted back:

- I knew it.

When we see Mhok's eyes after Day's confession, they're full of emotions and still he's silent. He copes with a storm that vanishes last hope deep inside. That's his moment of "I knew it".

P.S. While writing this text I remembered moment from the trailer:

Even though I'm almost sure we'll get this scene much later, it potrays chaos behind that silent eyes really well.