#No one told me this was a tradgedy

[royalberryriku]

Finished reading The Witcher Lady of the Lake and I'm crying screaming throwing up

[preciadosbass]

20/8/24 [4X DIYS — draft from yesterday, key + significant photos at end]

nobody asked, but regarding yesterdays journal - i actually went to sleep at 3 because i got distracted with patrick stump gifs. i was supposed to just be looking for a few blue coloured ones [raa having a colour themed blog is so annoying // there’s so many cute gifs of musicians that aren’t blue/black and i cant change the colour and therefor cant use them =(] but lost track of time. meaning i was absolutely exhausted when i woke up [8:30]

after waking up, i went outside to say goodmorning to boris and scrolled on scenemo/alt diy tiktoks until i got a message from N ‘apologising’ for yesterday. i say ‘apologising’ because i know they didn’t mean it, and they also said they deleted the photos of me immediately. which isn’t true as i saw them press the send button and then put their phone away. they wouldn’t have had time to delete them before whoever saw them, saw them. this means my mum has told her mum, which i’m super embarrassed about. i don’t like people knowing i’m upset about anything they’ve done/someone they know has done. i’m just still worried about it because i know those photos looked so bad and they sent them to so many people. and now, it dosent matter if they get rid of them because whoever those people were have already seen them. i’m so humiliated.

anyway, i carried on scrolling on scenemo/alt diytok until 10:40 when i finally got dressed while listening to my sleeping with sirens live cd. today i wore my purple asking alexandria shirt, a pair of striped purple and black tights, blue ripped shorts, knee high converse, my my chemical romance [danger days] zip up hoodie, my can tab bracelet, a falling in reverse bracelet, and dark blue skull bracelet, a two row studded cuff, diy kandi + elastic bracelet, sleeping with sirens and panic! at the disco bracelet, and last but not least a spiked kandi cuff. [photos at end]. i haven’t made kandi jewellery in a while because i’ve run out of beads, but once i start seeing my other prevision again, i’ll buy some more. today i’m going to reptile experience/possibly going on a long car ride with my dad so i can listen to music full blast without worrying about anyone hearing.

i couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that there’s stupid photos/videos of me going around to strangers. i know it seems like i’m overreacting, but having photos taken of me is such a big deal in my mind and this whole situation makes me feel like the world is ending. i hate seeing my own face and knowing that other people do aswell. the thought itself disgusts me, i only like pictures of my outfit and sometimes that’s too much. after getting dressed, i did my hair and then went outside with boris at 11:20. the weather was being weird and one second it was boiling hot, and the other freezing. but that’s just the uk for you.

i stayed with him until 11:50 when me and my mum left to go out. boris has started meowing everytime i come out to see him and it’s really really cute. i also took a few videos of him before getting in the car. on the way to reptile experience, i listened to early fall out boy + american beauty/american psycho fall out boy, and a little bit of letterbox tradgedy. when we arrived, everyone was having their lunch so i went into the reptile room and said hi to boris #2 [the bearded dragon] and the other visible animals. i also took a few photos of various animals to put in this journal/this weeks recap [photos at end]. along with observing all the other stuff in the room, like the stuff for the horses/ponies.

once everyone in the other room had finished their food, me and my mum went out to the kitchen/sofa area where the rodents live. S [the lead crew member, she’s lovely], put out some ripped up pieces of newspaper and treats for rat enrichment and set all 4 on the table everyone was sat around. we were told not to pick them up [i think it’s because everyone apart from me was really young and rough with the animals], and just let them come to you. i watched as they had their snacks and scurried around the table and sofa that was just by where i was sat.

three came up to me all at once and hoarded around my bracelets. S said it was due to the shininess of the can tab one, and maybe the smell. i let the rats crawl over my arm/lap/wrist and took a few photos. while doing so one in particular kept on sniffing my phone camera lens so the videos look really silly XD — i took a few bits of the newspaper for an upcoming collage as i found a few paragraphs of writing about true crime and that’s one of my interests. [this feels weird to write, i just find the psychology aspect of it interesting]. once the rats were put away and the enrichment was cleaned up, S & A [the other crew member, the one that makes me feel sick of jealousy due to his looks etc] took out pinecones, some lard, and some birdseed.

i already knew what was coming so i moved my bracelets further up my arm and tied bits of string to a few secreted pinecones. we were then told that we were making bird feeders. i covered the pinecones in lard and then rolled it in a sunflower seed based mix as it had the darkest colours. i made five as S said i could make two for the farmer’s gate and three to take home, yipee // once i was done, i looked at a few of the drawings on the wall. a lot of them were illustrations of five nights at freddy’s animatronics. which gave me an idea to also draw animatronics on small bits of card and line them wherever there’s an empty part of my wall. at 1:40, we walked round to the farmer’s gate and hung the pinecones around the wood. [picture at end] S gave me two that had already been made by various people attending, so when we went back round to the buildings and it was time to leave i got to take home the five that id made!! we headed for home at 2:11 after thanking all the workers. on the way back i stopped off to get low cal boba [photo at end cuz it looks just as good as it was]

in the car, i sorted through the photos taken there into an instagram collage to add to the end of this journal + my weekly recap. [photo collages at end]. i also listened to quite a lot of panic! at the disco’s vices and virtues. we [me and my mum] arrived home at 3:20. i didn’t end up doing for the drive with my dad because it would’ve been around 7 hours in the car, and that’s too long for me to be away from boris in the car unless i’m going away. and even that’s a stretch. i stayed outside with boris until 3:50 when i decided i’m going to put up my bird feeder. i took the pinecones outside and called my mum out to try and work out where i should hang them/what i should hang them from. my mum spawned this plant holder thingy and asked me if it’d be any good. i didn’t have another option and it was an alright improvisation so i went into my room to work out what part of the garden’s bank i can see from through my window.

once i’d worked out a suitable place for it to go, i brought it up to the bank and supported the legs with a few bits of scrap wood planks. then i hung the five pinecones along the frame of the flowerpot part. [photo at end] i finished within -10 minutes and then went back inside to my room. when i first got in, i took my stuff out of my bag to give my dad his battery pack and accidentally got scrap bits of purple-like wood all over my bed. id snapped them up yesterday while at the creek for an idea i had. i thought i might aswell make it now, so collected them off my blanket and got my hot glue gun ready. the idea was to glue them around the metal tin that a candle rests in. which is stupid, because this particular wood is the most flammable in the uk so i most likely wouldn’t even be able to burn it. anyway, i collected a few more bits of stick from the garden and lined them around the tin. i finished at 4:30 and took a few pictures of the finished product. [photo at end]

once again, something else useless i settled on making, but at least it looks cute. i watched two youtube videos :[the rest of ‘Q&A time !!! :D’ by nico vamp, ‘a day in the life | fake 🩸 + pictures’ by maya malice, and then almost two more videos from the same youtuber [[‘a day in the life + randumness :3’, & ‘my problem with scenecore’.]] while listening to the last video listed, i made a collage with receipts from charity shopping on thursday + the bits of newspaper i collected today. i hid a secret message in there [its just ‘meow’, photo at the end] and put together the word ‘empierces.’ which means to pierce. get it? like pierce the veil? anyone?? [photo at end — finished at 6:35]

then i listened to the entirety of falling in reverse’s new album [again] — while doing so, i drew lolbit, RWQFSFASXC, and the puppet from five nights at freddy’s on some card. i put it along the side of my doorframe beside pictures of kellin quinn and pete wentz. [theyre so bad you don’t get a photo] then i went outside with boris at 7:35. he was being his usual polite and cute self and i could also tell he was very happy because he was dribbling at ton xp // he let himself in at 7:50 so i didn’t get to spend much time with him on the driveway, but i followed him inside, checked he had food, and wrote 4 paragraphs from this journal. after finishing that little bit of writing, i saw frank iero’s new instagram post + story like WTF IS GOING ON I FREAKED OUT. LIKE WHATS HAPPENING AT MIDNIGHT FRANK?? i went to see him [boris] again at 10 after looking through scenemo/alt tiktok and letting my phone charge a little.

he stayed out with him my for barely any time before he let himself inside to eat. i came inside with him, and during this one of my cousins pulled up to our house as he got me some of my safe food because otherwise i won’t have anything at all to eat tomorrow and it’ll be really easy to faint if the weather isn’t perfect. him and my mum spoke about the holiday that me and my immediate + extended family are going to. he left at 10:45 and then i had a bath. i usually don’t mention washing [etc] as it’s a boring thing to write about/the same everytime. its not like with the questions about boris or when i wake up because that changes. i’m just mentioning it today as there’s nothing i can fill in the spaces of this journal with.

then i collected a few green day [billie joe armstrong] gifs and went up to my sisters room because i swore she was playing the hello zepp saw themetune on keyboard. it turned out she was, i watched her play it and then came back downstairs again. while i was on the sofa, she started playing something else and asked me if i recognised it. it was numb by linkin park, but i got it to confused with another song of theirs that sounds similar at the start. i went up because she wanted me to watch her play it and she followed on the song with ‘centuries’ by fall out boy.

after she’d finished, i went back downstairs to get myself some icy water, speak to boris, and then do my teeth before having a nap. i put on a timer for 10 minutes because i said i’d check up on him every once in a while but when i woke up it was bright outside and my phone was in the same place i left it before my nap. it turned out i never woke up and never got to say goodnight to boris so i freaked out when i realised. i would’ve gone to sleep at 1.

🗝️ — boris/my cat, prevision/keyworker i have to see instead of being taken back into mainstream education, questions about boris/i ask my parents questions about my cat to verify he's okay + will be okay in the morning. its a compulsive thing and i'm hopefully going to be tested for OCD in the future.

[kitkatnerds3]

BSD S5 EP 9

I have not finished the episode yet but I've just gotten to the Fukufuku backstory (specifically the part where they just met and its night and they're lying on the floor together) and, these two are fucking dark timeline Renga from sk8! 'The way of the sword is enjoyable!' and 'I'm going to master the sword alongside you' vs 'skating is fun!' and 'I want to skate with you infinitely' I swear Fukuchi even did the same hand movement that Reki did at some point. Energetic sunshine (at least at the moment) x calm and collected. I am getting such strong Renga vibes from that scene and it's driving me insane.

OK I JUST WATCHED TWO (2) SECONDS FURTHER AND NOW WE'RE IN A FUCKING SHOJO ANIME! BONES LOVES OLD MAN YAOI SO MUCH! THIS IS SO GAY! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CHERRY BLOSSOMS!!? A CHERRY BLOSSOM PETAL IN THE SHAPE OF A HEART JUST FELL INTO FUKUZAWAS SAKE(?) AND THEN BROKE INTO TWO. THEY'RE NOT EVEN BEING SUBTLE WITH THE 'THIS (ROMANTIC) RELATIONSHIP IS ABOUT TO GO O SHIT' -NESS

DONT DO SYMBOLISM WITH THE FUCKING BIRDS YOU DUMB SHOW! I SEE WHAT YOU'RE FUCKING DOING! For context, they were having a conversation but the focus was on these two egrets? herons? anyways, and then one of them just flew off when Fukuchi said that he was gonna be promoted and sent to the battlefield , which is what separated these two. I'm going to die, I'm not entirely sure why but I am. /pos

Fuck it, I'm committing to the live blog. enjoy seeing my live uncut reactions folks!

The animation is so pretty bro, bones adores their old man yaoi.

Ok, old man yaoi backstory is over , and before I move on to the next thing I just wanna say, young Fukuzawa was so fucking cute! He was an old man even when he was a baby! he was adorable! and honestly so was Fukuchi! I'm very sad that he became the way he is now, war really does stuff to people, huh?

Ok I'm a little bit confused, I didn't realize that he had told that United Nations guy the half-truth. But whatever, that's on me I guess.

OK! JESUS FUCK THE MORE I HERE ABOUT THE WAR THE WORSE IT GETS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE SOLDIERS HAD TO EAT EACHOTHER AND WERE SHOT FOR TRYING TO DESERT! MAYBE I SHOUD HAVE EXPECTED THAT IT IS WAR BUT JESUS CHRIST!

God, Fukufuku are so gay. I know that stabbing someone isn't exactly romantic but he Fukuzawa did the thing where you grab onto the other persons clothes and after Fukuchi stabbed him his head ended up resting on his chest. This is PEAK romantic tradgedy.

Teruko, I love you. She looks so pretty and she is so hecking smart and I just adore her. She let Atsushi go! Woohoo!! Also, Atsushi's hallucinations are really coming in full force, huh? He is seeing so many people.

Dazai and Sigma are so silly, I love them, Dazai stop flirting for two fucking seconds challenge. Also, it's fun to hear that Dazai is screwing around with Sigma while thinking of Kunikida! Truly every ship is being fed this season! Except sskk, but we did get Aku in Atsushi's hallucinations doing a thing so that's kinda a win for the gays!

Wow! What a nice elevator! I'm sure nothing bad will happen here!

Oh catgirl, you left us too soon.

I must say, I don't really have much to say on the Meursault section. It was good! The animation was great as it usually is for the Meursault sections, Sigma was so pretty I love him and! Dazai did the thing where he played with Sigma's hair! Woo! Fyodor was his usual level of kinda ugly in anime form, Dazai is showing emotions! more of the sillies, Dazai fucking stood on Sigma, which is delightful, aaaaaaand it's started to flood! Fuck!

Anyways, back to the very start of this episode before I was overcome by the homosexual-ness of Fukufuku, Aya Bram Kunikida and Tanizaki got yoinked! Fuck! I still have a theory that Tanizaki could be doing an illusion and I will make a post about it one day. And also, please excuse me for saying this because while I am still upset about Ranpo being hurt... watching Fukuchi pick him up by the scruff of his neck like a cat was kinda hilarious. Also, Teruko I love you. You're the only hunting dog that heard about Fukuchi's real identity and didn't immediately die. Girlboss fr. Also also, where are Lucy Kyouka and Yosano :D? W-where did they go? Asagiri please I need to see my girls.

And to once again revisit the old gays, Holy Shit that was so gay. Nobody told me that the Fukufuku backstory was a Sports Anime tm that turned into a war drama in the second season! I knew we said they were divorced but I never realized just how married they were before the separation! Wow! Fukuzawa smiled so softly at Fukuchi! They were such sweet kids! Aagh!

This was a good episode! I liked this! Excited for next Wungo Wednesday!

[shizuokadivision]

Knock. Knock.

Hearing an unusual sound in front of her lab, the mad scientist of Shizuoka reluctantly snaps her sense back from her current self-proclaimed activities ‘for the sake of science’. Since there is such a rare case to have some idiots step into her territory and rarer with someone who dares enough to interrupt her by banging at her fucking lab’s doors, she decides to go do some checkup on the security cameras.

Surprisingly, what she finds outside is a bit beyond her expectations.

Not a single soul is found in her building except for a rusted trolley in the corridor —which she recognizes to be the one that she used for taking some useless subjects out of her lab. With the flickering dim lights out there; fortunately(?), the trolley isn’t as ‘dirty’ as it used to be back in a few days ago to make her house look more like those in horror movies than it already is.

Moreover, there is a package neatly wrapped in the furoshiki style placed on top of it as well as a pot of green plant, and beside them is a white folding card laying not further away.

“Apologizing for intruding and arriving a bit late, ma’am. Hopefully, I suppose the person who is now reading this is none other than Ms. Hojo of Shizuoka’s ‘Silent Tradgedy’. 

As the emissary from a certain new division, I’ve arrived here on behalf of Mr. Kanata and Mr. Tomoharu to deliver their blessings on your special occasion. Oh, not a fan of celebrating your own birthday? Never mind that then, here also has one kid who seems to have the same underlying issue, maybe you can think of them as their greeting gifts. Those kids have been lately making it their personal goal to greet as many divisions as they could by doing this kind of stuff. It may not be something valuable or expensive but I beg of you to please at least accept their hospitality.

Mr Tomoharu has made you his homemade Dorayaki. However, this time he modified the original recipe a little by making them with dark cocoa and vanilla cream. Ah, if you are worried about whether it’s safe or not, please rest assured; that kid has no way of knowing how to use poison.

Next is Mr Kanata; he has submitted two CDs contained in the case. The first one is his remix of relaxing classical tracks he had personally selected and mixed back in his old days. Flipping to the other side, you will see the second CD which he told me it’s called ‘White noise ASMR’. He also said he has attempted to use binaural tones in it too …and I’m afraid to say they’re quite unfamiliar terms to me. Though, he has told me that he doubts it could help relieve your migraine since his listeners have given him the feedback that it has somehow helped them on relaxing and studying.

Lastly, the plant in the pot is ‘Golden Pothos’ for Mrs Aichi since last time we couldn’t participate in her birthday celebration. Mr Kanata said it’s a nice indoor plant that can help purify the polluted air. 

Hope you have a nice year

Best wishes

—Just some passerby old man.” 

The Nara Division? To be honest Kanon out of all the divisions she thought would give her a gift Nara hadn't been one to cross her mind. Kanon hasn't been able to do much research on them. What she had found about the leader was so interesting. Reika and Sakura were currently the ones who know more about them. Sighing as she realized that these were more gifts Kanon walked to where the package was placed. Picking up the card nearby she began to read it. Going around and greeting all the divisions? Kanon wished Nara all the luck in the world some of the divisions were not some of the nicest around. Shizuoka included. 

Picking up one of the dorayaki Kanon took a bite and had to admit it was delicious. Poison? Kanon snorted at the idea of that. She’d seen a picture of Asahi Tomoharu before and he looked like he would cry if he stepped on a cat’s tail. No, he was much too kind for that. Besides poison wouldn't work on her anymore it wouldn't work on any of the three of them actually Reika had made sure of that. Taking another bite Kanon wondered if she can get more of these. She rarely left Shizuoka but Kanon was willing to make an exception if this was what she could get in Nara. Anything to get something she was able to scarf down without vomiting.

Yuuya Kanata? Wasn't he the one that was related to? Ah yes, he was. Kanon couldn't help but morbidly wonder if he knew that he was related to that woman. The last time Kanon had seen her they had fought to a standstill. Shaking her head to disperse the memories, Kanon looked at the gift he had given her. White noise? Well, Kanon would give him credit for trying. Her migraines went far deeper than what most anybody knew. At least she could play it when she’s asleep. One of the few times her mind was silent even if was getting harder and harder to do nowadays.

Kanon wondered if the boys from Nara knew that their gift for Reika was toxic. Oh sure, it wasn't very strong but if there was anybody on this planet who could weaponize its toxicity it was Reika. Picking up the pot Kanon inspected the vine. While botany wasn't her area of expertise like it was Reika’s, Kanon knew enough about the subject. It was always fascinating listening to Reika explain what plants could do. That they were so much more than pretty flowers. Suddenly an idea crossed Kanon’s mind. One that wouldn’t be too difficult to pull off.

“I wonder if Reika would mind if I made a few modifications to this? She seems to be doing well with the plant I gave her for her birthday. Perhaps she’ll enjoy another one like it.”

[tillxthexearthxstartsxtoxcrumble]

Alright so I forgot this even existed tbh but I'm gonna quickly catch up in this post.

March 15th: I mostly make moodboards for art so I decided to make a moodboard mixing different thing the song makes me think of

March 16th: My favorite music video is either Love From The Other Side, the WHOLE Youngblood Chronicles, or "The Take Over, The Breaks Over" (ik the last one may be a weird choice but I am a Patrick girl (gn) first and that video was great for us)

March 17th: I have quite a few. "Perfect boys with their perfect lives, nobody wants to hear you sing about tradgedy" "This city always hangs a little bit lonely on me, loose, like a kid playing pretend in his father's suit" "she's singing baby come home in a melody of tears while the rythmn of the rain keeps time" and "and I'm yours till the earth starts to crumble and the heavens roll away" (also "and I saw God cry in the reflection of my enemies")

March 18th: I think I've told this story a few times, but the song that got me into FOB was The Phoenix. I was really little (elementary school age.) When I found them, and I had heard Immortals and My Songs Know but I hadn't gotten super into them until I heard that song. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing, and that was the first time in my life I actually got really into music.

March 19th: I'm going to go one by one of my favorite outfits on them but Pete's is easy because it's my current pfp is my favorite of his

Just look at his smile. Look at his smile :)

I mentioned before that I'm a Patrick girl (gn) so I have two favs.

Okay I lied I looked at some photos and found 3. He's just a funky little guy.

Idk why but this one of Joe is just. Nothing can describe it but just *chef's kiss*

Also surprise surprise for Andy there has to be at least 1 picture of him in a dress but I also just think he looked good in the photo to the left. Cause yes.

March 20th: Again, I do best making moodboards. Idk how to feel about this one but we'll just go along with it

[lavenderfairycow]

$20

soon it will get better. soon it will get easier. shortly time will slow once more

oh how this love has morphed.

i remember things she probably doesn't, but she surprises me sometimes too.

she knows i keep lists of words and names and she knows her birthday is in my calendar.

but she can't remember, at least i don't think she can, all the beautiful moments

from before everything became a tradgedy. 

sharing headphones on the couch, one in each of our ears.

her pigtails that made her look cute like she was an anime character.

how she saved me from that falling curtain,

and from the ice queen's arabesque.

my hand on her shoulder when i asked if she was okay behind the stage.

the tag from her shirt that i tucked back in for her.

the only time i ever told her she looked beautiful,

when she wore her grapefruit earrings and orange glittery eyeshadow.

the first time that she touched me.

and the last time that i sent her a message on social media.

when we talked all night about her halloween costume.

how i bought a $20 ticket to a musical she was starring in.

the dried boquet of wildflowers i made her that wilted away in my bedroom.

but oh, what difference does it make? this love is as well as over.

i can't make sense of it all, when all i knew for so long was her.

hazy dreams of her doing my makeup for halloween,

all i used to want was to feel her touch.

her lips. her fingertips. her neck. her gaze.

i was too young to know better, too naive to know

the difference of manipulation and genuine interest.

i was used as a child for her own low self esteem.

i fell in love with a two-faced monster with the face of an angel.

she was a mastermind, and a damn good one at that.

i found the cards i wrote out to her but never sent and it makes me wonder

if she kept my letters, all this time later.

she told me i was enough, and i was special, and that i was perfect just the way i am.

i wonder now what must have changed.

was it all me, in hindsight? is the illusory of her angelic side enough to spin

me around and around and and spinning out of control all over again?

dissasociation of finer words, needing her and her absence slicing into my admiration.

i wish i could take it all back, restart, reboot, but then-

she did say that she knew there was something there, all along, from the start.

but she played along, all that time, and for what?

just to fuck me over in the end, do me dirty, call me out? 

i was thirteen years old, i didn't deserve any of that.

she was sixteen, she knew the difference between friendship and more than that,

she ruined me and i said sorry.

i had wished for a different fate and a changed outcome

but i regret it now, i regret trying to twist my love into a sort of guilt-trip.

she hugged me at the prom and all i could say was that she looked pretty.

she looked like a mermaid, pretty was an understatement.

she called me cute, even though i fucked up my eyeliner and my hair was flat.

she knew all the ins and outs of my love for her,

and she understood exactly how to use them for her advantage.

it took three years for me to see that the whole time, the whole entire time,

it was never me and evelyn.

the "and" was all a mirage.

[rhokisb]

Dante's No Good Horrible Awful Bad Vacation (AKA: The Universe Wipe, PT2)

Hey!

We freaking did it! The emergency team was a success, or at least we think it was. It was a crazy few weeks, so let me explain.

After we left Passmae, Vestare, and Dank we headed northeast from Khalm. After two weeks of travel, having passed through numerous villages and settlements who all expressed that we should turn back, we found ourselves at the edge of Khalima forest. The edges didn't seem so bad, but once we got in there everything was...dead.

A mist hung about the forest, thick and oppressive like a storm that never ends. We managed several nights of travel before we encountered the foes concealed in the woods. A group of creatures so disfigured that we could not distinguish any form that may have remained.

Not to brag or anything, but the emergency team was hand-picked by my good buddy Dante, and he chose wisely. Armand, Shenzu, Aardnales, Dante, and I dealt with the things with little difficulty. Aard did get a nasty scratch, but thankfully Armand was able to cure her arm shortly after the fight concluded.

Afterwards, we managed to reach Khalima, using Armand's Divine Sense to sneak around the infested forest. The village was desecrated, no living soul remained save for one.

An old man digging graves for the fallen who now wandered the forest spoke with Dante and I about the history of Khalima, how a great tradgedy fell from the sky and devasted the populace of the village. The entire time, he mistook Dante for another elf named Sil'Yah who was on a mission of great importance.

We remembered Sil'Yah. We've heard of him many times, from Vestare. Sil'Yah was the name of her husband, and the man who took the children from Illmader's Hope to sacrifice to the Nameless one.

The old man praised Sil'Yah in his success of killing Vestare's children, and told Dante that he has deeper ties to the village than any of us could have imagined. Dante was born to Khalima, but when the evil fell from the sky he was ferried away from the village as the last surviving member of the Silent Clan; a group of people who worship the Nameless One and pray for his return to wipe this universe clean of it's sin.

When challenged on his beliefs, the old man stood and morphed into the worse being imaginable. One that has haunted my dreams for months, since we first lost Armand in the mud tunnels, and then the many encounters in the underground forest.

The Silent One.

In one fell swoop, he dealt a devastating blow to me, as Dante retreated to safety and Armand and Shenzu came to my aid. When I was finally able to shake my fright, I escaped into the darkness of a barn where I was able to land a single shot against the form who brought me to my knees.

But, you wanna know something: we killed it.

How many times did Dante, Vestare, Shenzu and I face that thing in the underground forest? Four? Five? And at every turn we hardly did anything to him. Truly, it is the power of Armand that binds us together.

Once we had rested from our encounter, Dante and the skull Memnoch led us to a desecrated tree. In the center of the burnt and twisted trunk sat a perfectly circular stone covered in ancient ruins. When Armand tried to approach, he was brought to his knees by an unspeakable evil force. He told us all to stay back, that the being within the stone was malicious beyond measure.

Naturally, Dante--holding the skull of Memnoch--just walked straight up to that tree, speaking off-handedly to the presence contained within. Couldn't hear what the skull was saying, but apparently the skull thought it was a good idea to sacrifice itself to that evil. When Dante pressed the skull to the stone, a half-formed figure holding a skull approached him having broken from the bonds of the tree that had previously contained him.

The figure spoke to me within my mind, but from the looks on my comrades face everyone else was also treated to the same. The being told us our sacrifice would be rewarded but it required more from us. It asked for flesh and life.

Remembering the words of Fate and Destiny, that both Dante and I would sacrifice and suffer greatly, I held the hand of my best friend as the being stole my life-force from me. I felt my strength leave me, my muscles shrinking while my body aged drastically. Before I could react to the weakness enshrouding my bones, Dante let go of my hand for a moment and I watched as the being ripped the limb from my best friend's body.

Shenzu was on us in an instant, cauterizing the wound as I cradled the elf to my chest, offering herbs to alleviate his pain.

The figure before us grew to a towering height, menacing and great. The flesh of Dante's arm extended over the being's body, forming the basis for the shape of a ghastly humanoid figure, floating twelve feet above us. He twisted in the sky and thanked us for our sacrifices, before asking us what we desired.

Dante was a little bit out of his mind but he managed to shriek out, "WE FUCKING WANT SERJ BACK!" Which I also backed. Aard and Shenzu helped me remember exactly where Serj was buried in the Crag and the figured disappeared through some circle full of runes.

We waited for a bit, but the thing never returned. Armand kept calling it a Lich, but I've never heard of a Lich being created before, so...

Either way, we left eventually, spending the entire journey out of the forest trying to cheer Dante up. It's not that bad, he'll always have an extra hand with us around anyways.

So, that's about that. We've traveled far and hope to reach Khalm soon. With any hope, Serj will be back when we return. We will still have to deal with Passmae; hopefully, Dank, Vestare and him stayed in the town. It's been a month, I'd understand if they'd left.

We've returned hope to Weyard, and we did it by trusting one another and working together. I see a bright future with my friends. With my family.

I'll take an extra swig of mead tonight to toast Fate and Destiny. Their help, once again, proved instrumental to our success. Though our trials may become more difficult, we're willing to sacrifice all to save our world. And each other.

ORLOGG

[the-fiction-witch]

You Could Marry me?

MOVIE BRIGHT STAR

COUPLE: SAMUEL X READER

RATING: FLIRTY

Writers notes: Yes! you read that right! I am making even more work for myself! like I haven’t got enough to do! lets add another lesser known TBS character to the list! why not! 

I stood as I often did in the corner of the large regal house by the window watching the sunset across the gardens. I avoided people as if they carried the second plague the women in there fine dresses, men in there perfect suits chatting and dancing sipping at there wine and nibbling at the fresh strawberries. The music was pleasent enough to listen to, but still I avoided everyone's eyes even if there's didn't avoid me. People looked at me often and glared whispering amung themselves about me.

They all knew I was getting old to be unmarried, that I should soon be having one of these deput parties even if I ditested the idea. But I knew the gossip my dislike would stir.

I heard a voice which made me roll my eyes and my soul hurt if it had been socially acceptable I would have thrown my empty crystal glass into the face that homed that voice maybe the glass would shatter into his skin and murder him

"Good evening my lady" 

"Good evening" I answered already trying to escape this conversation

"May I fetch you another drink?"

"No thank you"

"Very well" he says "now if I may say so my lady, I believe you have been avoiding me?"

"Silence is golden Samuel" I told him turning to see him stood as he usually did in his fair finery not as much as the other men here but to be fair to him he had barely half the wealth they did, his hair fixed neatly a wicked smile across his lips 

"Indeed it is, seldom seen in this day" he laughs offering his hand I sighed and offered my hand over to which he smirked and pressed a gentle kiss to my hand "but you have been avoiding me"

"I did not want to fuel talk" I lied 

"I understand my lady, unmarried girl in conversation with a married man. Stirs the pot thick with gossip" he smirked 

"Precisely, should you not be working?" 

"I am,"

"You need a new wife samuel. You don't want them to talk"

"Samuel pleasure to see you again" the young lady Lillian smiled as she came getting samuel it was her ball and she was egar to be married off he took her hand and have it a kiss shorter and more reserved then the kiss he gave me 

"Yes pleasure to be seeing you again my lady" he smiled

"Awfully terrible thing to happen," she says holding his hand sweetly "your poor elizabeth" she says 

"Yes, I mourn for her daily and light a candle beside my bed for her nightly"

"Such a terrible sudden tradgedy, and only moments after your wedding" she cooed stroking his hand she was doing as I had often seen girls do to samuel playfully comforting him after what happened to elizabeth 

"I know, meer moments after our wedding barely three steps from the church, my dearest elizabeth was taken from me, but I know she is still with me and I'm sure she would be thrilled to see me happy again"

"Of course," she cooed before she had to hurry off to greet someone else and I smirked to myself

"You despised her"

"My preference towards her is irrelevant. I had to marry her"

"And you did"

"And I did…" he smirked "church walls can be very flimsy you know" 

"Or they can be pushed, much like beautiful girls in wedding dresses easily pushed into the right place"

"What exactly are you insinuating my lady?" He smirked 

"Nothing." I smiled 

"Pray tell then. When shall you debue? Or to you have a nice little arrangement to finalize"

"Never. Not if I can help it" 

"Darling. If I can't get out of getting married again you certainly can't get out of getting a ball"

"I will try my very hardest"

"I know a way we could both avoid what we don't what?"

"And what prey tell is that?"

"You could marry me?" He smirked "I'd be happy with you as my pretty little wifey" he smirked grabbing my butt thought my dress

“Dream on Samuel.” I said pushing his hand away and marching off

[mollyollypuddingpolly]

Home For Christmas

Anne and Gilbert

A/N : I began writing this way before Christmas, I don't know why a was in a Christmas-y mood this summer but anyways I thought it turned out good enough to post.

---

He'd told her he'd only be home two days before Christmas. He told her it was the only ticket he could get because he had been so busy studying for finals that he forgot. She was disappointed, but didn't let that show in her letters. The last few times she has seen him where in two day intervals when she ventured up to Toronto on a free weekend, so she had hoped for much longer. Of course the break continued after Christmas, but his classes resumed early, so they couldn't even ring in the new year together.

Anne decided she'd make the most of her time before he arrived, spending it with Marilla and Mathew so when he did come she could spend more with him without feeling guilty of neglecting her family through the holidays. Of course, they'd share Christmas dinner together. A tradition since Bash joined Gilbert at the Blythe farm.

Anne and the other girls stepped on to the snow dusted platform and pulled their coats tighter across themselves as the warmth from the train gave way to the chilly December air.

Anne smiled, remembering her first time standing on the platform. She glance at the small bench where she once sat, eagerly awaiting what would become her home. As the train cleared the station, She spotted the cherry tree now not white with bloom but with snow. Still beautiful and breathtaking. Pure white amongst many evergreens. Still a bride, she thought and a warmth filled her cheeks when her brain reminded her, you'll be a bride someday after all Anne. And what an adventure that will be. She shook her head to clear away the thought, still plenty of time before that of course.

"Anne!" Diana's voice pulled her from her thoughts, she turned toward the sound and noticed Diana had already approached her parents who had offered to bring Anne home too. She quickly made up the distance, allowed Diana's father to take her bag and climbed into the carriage.

"What ever had you so preoccupied?" Diana asked with an raised brow. Anne smiled sheepishly.

"I was just remembering the first time I got off at this platform. When Mathew picked me up and didn't have the heart to tell me they'd sent for a boy," Diana smiled and took Anne's gloved hand.

"And I am forever grateful to him for doing so," She said. Anne hummed with a smile, "Just think, if you'd been sent back not only would you and I never have met, but I'd be in Paris being 'finished'," she said saying the last word with such distaste she she received a sour look from her mother next to her. Anne only smiled, she could only imagine where she'd be if the Cuthberts hadn't kept her, and her imagination could come up with some horrifying possible alternatives.

To keep her mind off that she looked at the passing scenery. Snow had fallen the night before, just enough to give the fields a soft cover but not cause difficulty along the roads. She inhaled the cold air and exhaled watching her foggy breath disappear into the winds. She gazed at the lake of shinning waters, it's beauty enhanced by it's now glistening frozen surface. And she held her breath when the crossed the bridge, as she always did because her imagination didn't often like to let her think crossing one wouldn't end in tradgedy.

The carriage slowed as it approached the gate of Green Gables. Anne's heart jumped at the sight of her home. She hadn't been to visit recently due to spending her free time preparing for finals, but now she was home. And there was nothing that could make her happier.

Or almost nothing.

Anne walked towards the front door, which flew open before she reached it. Mathew stood, arms outstretched, which she willingly jumped into. Dropping her bag onto the wooden deck. He squeezed her tight and she breathed in the warm smell of a wood fire on him. Then he picked up her bag and led her inside.

"Marilla!" Anne said, walking into the kitchen. Marilla stood inspecting a tea cup. Which she quickly set down at the sound of her name. She turned to her Anne and beamed before pulling her in as well.

"Oh how we've missed you!" She said, then more sternly, " I trust that you did well in your exams."

Marilla leaned back, her hands still resting on Anne's shoulders.

"I believe I did, we get our results when we return," She said. Marilla nodded asking about Diana and the other girls before Mathew spoke up once more.

"Well we best get you set up in your room, I can carry up your bag," he offered, halfway to the steps.

"Nonsense," Marilla said quickly with a sharp look at Mathew, "Anne can carry her bag up herself," Mathew nodded suddenly.

"Right, here you are then," He said passing her the bag. Anne looked at the two quizzically.

"Okay… just let me take my jacket and scarf off first," she said, setting the bag down again. The two nodded, smiles plastered on there face. Anne looked at them with narrow eyes before turning back out into the hall.

She took the steps slowly, taking in the comfort of being back home. She remebered again her first day at Green Gables, she was too upset then to enjoy her walk down the simple hallway, but now this was a place filled with memories. Like the time she and Diana had raced up the steps giggling about bosoms before getting in terrible trouble that almost forced them to stop being friends. When Ruby Gilis had to stay with the Cuthberts after her house burnt down. And Anne finally made a second friend. When she realized she did love Gilbert and raced down the steps and to his house, but then thought she was too late. Caught up in her thoughts, she almost didn't notice that her bedroom door was slightly open.

Almost.

She shrugged, Marilla probably left it open after dusting. She pushed open the door, excited to see her simple, cozy room after the long train ride. But when the door pushed back her heart leapt with joy, and it wasn't over her small, comfortable bed.

"GILBERT BLYTHE, YOU DEVIL!" She hollared, tossing her bag and running into his arms with a grin. He grinned back and laughed as he squeezed her tightly.

Anne wouldn't know it, but down stairs Mathew and Marilla were giving each other a knowing smile.

She leaned back before diving back in, this time their lips met, his arms twist up her back, her finding solace in his hair. A chill went up her back every time they kissed and her face turned warm. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss as did he, she pulled back unable to contain her laughter, instead resting her forehead on his.

"What are you doing here? You said you couldn't get in untill the 23rd!" She said, her arms at rest on his shoulders. He adjusted his around her waist with a cheeky smile.

"I actually got back yesterday, but I wanted to suprise you. So when you told me that you wouldn't be home untill today…" he left it off letting her fill in the rest. She pulled back, lips pierced, intending to give him a sour look, which gave way to a smile.

"You sneak! And Marilla and Mathew where in on it?" She leaned back, still in disbelief, how did you convince Marilla to let you up here she thought but didn't ask. He smiled.

"They were, and so was Diana. I had to make sure you wouldn't get some funny idea of coming up to Toronto to suprise me," he said, she sucked in a breath at the thought, she wouldn't put it past fate to cause that kind of chaos.

Anne lead Gilbert downstairs, where tea and family was waiting for them.

"Bash!" Anne shouted, dropping Gilbert's hand to give the man a hug, he accepted squeezing her back tightly.

"Anne! Ah it's so good to see you! Gilbert's been here only one day and he's already talked my ear off over how much he missed you," he said as he let her go, she turned to Gilbert, smug, who suddenly seemed interested in a spot on the ground.

Anne greeted Delphine she's so big! Then everyone sat down for tea and scones.

Anne laughed when Delphine bit into a scone, smearing jam all over her face. She leaned forward and helped the small girl by whiping the corners of her mouth. Marilla was having what started out as a friendly conversation about Gilbert's studies turned into a long, explaination of all he'd learned so far, Anne commented when she could, and made a mental note to check out some medical books from Queen's when she returned so she could keep up.

It warmed her heart to see him so passionate about becoming a doctor. She remembered briefly a time when he almost gave that up, thinking the task too much for him bare. She didn't know if it was her words that day or his own self reflection that brought back his desire to purse medicine, perhaps some combination of both.

After tea, the two went for a walk through the forest. The path that she took to school untouched since the snowfall, their foot steps were the first.

"Diana isn't sure yet if she'll be aloud to continue to Redmond, but I really am excited about the idea," Anne explained, she knew he'd heard it all in her letters but something about him being here made it feel more real. " Of course, I can only go if I get the Avery Award, but everyone says I have a shot at it. Oh! And Cole has applied to an art school in Nova Scotia too! So at least I'll have one friend,"

Gilbert smiled, rubbing his thumb in circles on her hand as he held it.

"There's not a doubt in my mind that you won't win it, Anne," He said turning to look at her, she peered into his eyes. Eyes she could get lost in and had many times before, even before realizing what that meant.

"I hope so," She said, still unsure. But she wouldn't know until end of spring, so no point in worrying.

Gilbert seemed to think the same thing, taking hand he turned her around, spinning her slightly so they stood face to face, she laughed as he did it.

" I was just thinking about when we first danced together, and how we haven't had the chance to do that again,"

"Well," she said with a smile, "There isn't any music, but I do believe my imagination is more than strong enough to make up for that," she said holding out her hand and he took it, guiding her in a waltz as he hummed along to a tune he'd heard once before.

They stepped back and forth, through the clearing in the woods, as snow began to gently fall down on them. Anne looked up at Gilbert with such happiness and piece in her mind that nothing could have ruined this moment.

Nothing.

Stepping into the middle Gilbert spun Anne once more, but it was hard to tell with all the snow how safe the ground was, and catching a bit of ice, Anne slipped, falling down and taking Gilbert with her.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" He turned to her urgently worried she'd hurt herself. But she was staring up at the sky with a smile, and when she turned to him she began to laugh, which he returned as well. They laid there, laughing for far longer than anyone in there right mind would lay in the snow. Then Gilbert laced his hand in hers and began to help her up.

"Merry Christmas, Anne," he said once they both were on two feet again.

"Merry Christmas," she replied, giving him a kiss.

"

[tvdoriginal]

3x01: We’re Not Worthy

Welcome back witches! Last night, Legacies returned to us, so let’s get into it.

After the recap, we open up with Raf looking over Hope & Landon, with Landon doing a voiceover. “I’m sad my life has been cut short, but you taught me to live it to the fullest.” LANDON REALLY WAS ABOUT TO SAY ALWAYS & FOREVER.

Alaric addresses the school about moving through the dark times. Alyssa Chang is not being shy about her feelings towards Josie and Hope being absent.

MG has organized the first ever Salvatore School field day...yeah probably won’t go so well. Lizzie tells her dad that she’ll have to revert back to her means girl ways to get everyone to forgive & forget Josie and she’s “just not that person anymore”. However, after Alyssa magically tied Josies laces together, causing her to trip, Lizzie is more than ready to go.

CHAD (his name is Chad, right? Oops, I don’t remember) RESURRECTED THE LADY OF THE LAKE WHICH IS A KING ARTHUR THING I’M GEEKING BYE. Oh my gosh yay, it is Chad.

The Necromancer busts in struggling with Landon who only Rafael can see. Bye Landon is so cute tf how do I go that long without seeing his face.

Let’s get this field day started! WADE GIVES ME LIFE. Lizzie has a plan up her sleeve. She’s challenging Alyssa to be captain so that Josie won’t be alientated. “Yea, she messed up, but you have been messed up your whole life.” Oh hell no, MG told Alyssa that she can choose the game.

Landon refuses to come back in order to prevent the Necromancer from gaining (more) black magic.

Alyssa chose tug of war and is on a team of vampires and werewolves. Lizzie makes Josie the anchor which obviously will not go well. My poor baby Jo gets covered in mud since everyone else dodged out in time.

“Hero moves always lead to tradgedy.”

Josie ends up telling Lizzie and the whole school that she can’t do magic because she put it away. She tells Lizzie she’s making everything worse, just like she used to. The Lady of the Lake comes with Wade, asking for his sword (which is Excalibers). The green knight comes, the sword flies into a stump, and the sky turns red.

Not gonna lie it kinda hurts me that there are people who won’t get the King Arthur references but 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ew so Jed and Alyssa have some flirtationship. Pedro came back!...and the left again.

Rafael tells the Necromancer that he wants him to put Landon’s spirit in himself. Alaric speaks to Hope, telling her that he knows that she knows about Landon’s situation. Her still being in the sleep spell is delaying coming back and feeling that grief.

Lizzie reminds Alyssa that she is also a killer but at least her parents can’t see what she’s become. Which...yeah Alyssa sucks but my jaw DROPPED. But too far Liz. My Saltzman sisters were working together!

Um, so Chaddy tings the bell and is now with the Necromancer, Raf, & Landon. He’s looking for Hope to come defeat the green knight since she’s typically the one to save the day. Kinda hoping she won’t awaken til after tbh, because it gets kinda annoying that it’s always up to her (in my opinion).

JOSIE SAID OK BOOMER MAYBE IN YOUR TIME. OKAY QUEEN.

“Not exactly how I pictured dying, but what the hell.” MG gives directions for everyone and Josie asks: “Wait what are you gonna do? Something stupid, got it.” WHICH! Kaylee said was her favorite out-of-context line. MG punches the knight in the face which earns a growl? from him.

Raf takes Landon to see Hope.

Super squad is attempting holding the knight down the ropes. Anytime magic is used on him he gets angrier and MG unmasked him which had my eyes widening. Yay! Raf is the worthy one...unLESS ITS ACTUALLY LANDON IN RAF which I’m hoping isn’t the case. He stabs the green night, and blue skies return.

Not Landon giving Hope a non-consensual kiss ✋🏼but as fairy-tales go, she’s awaken.

“She thinks I should be the focus for once.”

Josie is going to spend some time with her mom. Handon cuddles and reflects on each other. Raf is such a dork I love him.

Alyssa talks to Chad. He’s going back to the ice cream palace but then like DIES. THE FUCK. Alyssa wonders if the same thing will happen to her since they were linked, but the Necromancer offers her a deal.

See you next week!

[takethistoyourstardust]

A Slightly Longer Talk [ 5.55 SPOILERS , mild canon divergence ]

“... I thought it would’ve crumbled with you. So...”

“Why does it still stand, Emet-Selch? Even after I’ve felled you and Elidibus? Even after I have destroyed all the unsundered?”

“A monument to a city I’ve never heard of, but once lived in... Once practically ruled in, even. Alongside you.. though, even seeing it with my own eyes, even seeing, even knowing I was once Azem!...”

“I don’t know if I fully believe it or not.”

“I know, I know, you’d think I was being ridiculous, and maybe I am. I saw the crystal you had made for her. I felt her power when I was fighting Elidibus. There’s no doubt, I share her soul, just as I did with Ardbert. But... I am not Azem. Maybe our souls look the same to you, but she and I are two different people. We didn’t live the same life, we didn’t know the same people, hells, did we even look the same?”

“Maybe the reason I still don’t believe you fully is that you never truly told me what Azem was like. Who was she to you, Emet-Selch? You seemed to care about her, but how? Did you love her? Was she closer than a friend? Were you two together, or was she more like me now, someone who never will want a relationship of that nature? Did she wear war paint like I do? How old was she? Gods, I hope she was older than Elidibus... or the same age I was when I first fought Lahabrea. I don’t know anything about her!”

“I’m... going to be honest. I’m not sure you could ever accept that Azem’s soul, as you knew her, is effectively gone.”

“Sure, you eventually accepted that I was not Azem, and then promptly decided you wanted me dead. But... did you do that in hopes that her soul could be brought back when the Rejoining happened? When you recreated Aumorat, did you hope everything would go back to as it was before you had to summon Zodiark? You told me you were effectively tempered by Zodiark, and yet you only seemed to act out of a wildly misguided love for your lost family, lost friends...”

“Would it be out of place to say a misguided love for me as well? Not me, but Azem.”

“You know, there was also someone else who had passed... someone else who loved an idea of me, and never truly knew me. You two are nothing alike, and yet...”

“He... was a kind man. A kind stranger. He thought we were as close as we could be, while I was struggling to recall his last name in casual conversation. But he was the first person who’s loss felt like a loss. A father lost his son, a friend lost a friend... and I lost a man who was in love with the idea of me. That’s the greatest tradgedy, I believe; he was so convinced he already knew me, that he didn’t once stop to consider that maybe I didn’t. And I don’t fully blame him; he was a man who was always moving forward, never looking back...”

“He didn’t know my age. He thought I was the same age as him, maybe older, because I had mentioned my nameday was soon when I was traveling with him. He died never knowing I had only seen seventeen summers. I didn’t know until I was already looking down at his grave.”

“When he had died, I blamed myself. Truthfully, I still do. There was more than enough time to save him, and he wouldn’t have been a senseless casualty in a war he was never a part of. And in a way... maybe you were, too. We found a way to stop the sin eater transformation... we found a cure for tempering. I can’t help but wonder, could we have saved you? Would you have even wanted to be saved?”

“... Oh what’s the godsdamned point, I can muse all I want about how you were a poor victim in all of this but that doesn’t change the fact that you decided I was better off dead.”

“I want to be crystal clear; I will never forgive you. Not after everything you had done, not after everything you had tried to do, and not after you tried to kill me. I will not forgive you, and I will not waste another single godsforaken breath mourning you. And yet...”

“... I won’t forget you, either. I had told you, right before you had disappeared, right before you died, I would make sure I’d die being the last person to speak your name. I thought all you Ascians were just liars, and your plea was one last show. But now that I know Elidibus was a child... I don’t think it’s right for me to keep that up now. You weren’t right, you never were, and I’ll be honest, I still hate you. And yet I feel as if I understand your plea now.”

“I’m not sure what I’m trying to accomplish telling you all this. Maybe I just wanted my own form of closure? A proper one, not filled with spite and burning hatred, ready to drive my chakrams into the throat of the next person who touched me. All I can say is this, Hades...”

“I promise to remember you, and I hope the seven hells are treating you well.”

[villainousshakespeare]

In The Timing

Tom Hiddleston/Reader

Rated E 

Warnings: Smut, Angst, *But in this chapter only FLUFFFFFF with a teasing mention smut 

Chapters: 4 of 4 + Epilogue

After a horrible first date, you end up at a pub filled with University students. You are feeling rather old and sorry for yourself, until a blond haired Adonis strikes up a conversation with you. Obviously he is too young for you, but what could a little flirting hurt?

@yespolkadotkitty @hopelessromanticspoonie @nonsensicalobsessions @caffiend-queen @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy @vodka-and-some-sass @arch-venus25 @devikafernando @devilish–doll @hiddlesholic @just-the-hiddles @kellatron55 @myoxisbroken @wrathkitty @shae-annelore @kellatron55​ @from-hel-i-with-love​  ciaodarknessmyheart

Chapter 1 - First Meeting

Chapter 2 - The Morning After

Chapter 3 - Years Later

Chapter 4 - Time’s Up

Epilogue

"Ladies and gentlemen, you know my first guest as Loki the God of Mischief and The Night Manager. His new movie,  In The Timing, is currently nominated for a slew of awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture. Please welcome back to the show Mr. Tom Hiddleston."

You smiled as Tom jogged out onto stage to thunderous applause. Or maybe "thunderous" wasn't quite right. Thunderous implied deep, and the cheers for your man were much higher in pitch, clearly spearheaded by all of the overeager women in the audience. You couldn't really blame them. In his monochromatic blue suit and leonine mane of hair, Tom was definitely scream worthy. Still, that didn't mean you wouldn't take great delight in teasing him about his status as heartthrob later.

The response to  In The Timing had been incredible, with glowing reviews and box office receipts that were much higher than expected for an independent romantic comedy. Now, with the studio making a push for it on the awards circuit even more people were coming out to see the movie that was your labor of love in more ways than one.

All of this was wonderful for you and Tom, as you were both receiving accolades and prizes for your disciplines, but it also meant an endless round of press junkets, talk show appearances, and gala screenings all around the world. Most of the weight of this, of course, centered on Tom's deliciously broad shoulders, but you had your own share of speaking engagements as well. To your amusement, he had insisted that the studio coordinate your schedules, so that you were promoting in the same city at all times. He had just gotten you back, he insisted. After seventeen years apart he was not going to spend one night separated from you if there was anything he could do about it.

You were only too happy to go along with this plan. The state of pure euphoria you had been coasting through your days in had come to a screeching halt the first time you were asked to get up onto a stage in front of a thousand people and answer questions about your process and the characters you had imagined. Only Tom, standing to one side of the stage like a proud and nervous papa watching his child win her first spelling bee had kept you grounded. Every time you started to falter, you would look over and see him practically speaking for you with his body language. It would make you giggle inside how earnestly he watched you, reacting to the questions with amusement or indignancy on your behalf. What did it matter, you realized, what anyone else thought of you, when the over grown ginger in the wings believed in you so completely.

That didn't mean, of course, that you would let him off the hook for the swooning fangirls. Someone had to keep his head from becoming too big to fit through the door.

"So, Tom," Colbert was saying as you focused on the interview, "I hear you've got a new picture out."

"I have," he answered with a smile, playing along with one of his favorite hosts. Between the Hank Williams duet and the Hamlet soliloquy, Colbert was right up Tom's alley.

"Yeah, I hear it's pretty dreamy. Or rather you are pretty dreamy in it."

"I don't know about that," Tom chuckled with humility, face going a bit red. "I don't know who would have told you such a thing."

"Oh, my female staff, my daughter, my wife..." Stephen deadpanned as the audience laughed. "What is it about this film that is so... I believe the word was "swoony"."

"Swooy? An excellent word. From the old English geswogen, meaning "in a faint"" you rolled your eyes as Tom pontificated.

"If you say so," Stephen laughed.

"I would say that it's the waistcoats, Stephen," Tom said with an impish grin. "They are rather constraining, depriving the wearer of appropriate oxygen. Hence the swooning."

"I see. Interesting. Now, this is a romantic comedy. Normally those are not big Oscar bait movies. Oscars tends to go more for tradgedy or history... the feel good tropes.

"Exactly," Tom laughed along.

"So what is it about this movie that makes it so appealing to awards voters? Is it the waistcoats?"

"Maybe," Tom smiled. "Maybe it's the waistcoats."

He was so charming, you thought you could feel the adoration from crowd washing towards the stage. He would be on cloud nine tonight, you knew. Tom feeded off of the energy of a crowd in a visceral way. It wasn't ego, exactly, or at least not just. It was the validation of his hard work, and the knowledge that he had shared something with an audience that had touched them on a personal level, made them experience something as a communal group.

With a smug smile you wondered if he would be able to wait until you were back to your hotel tonight before sharing that excitement with you, or if you would have to find a closet or some other private room to slip into for half an hour or so. Over the last few months there had been a number of times when, sometimes for no other reason than a look you had thrown at him, Tom had siezed you by your wrist and dragged you to some semi-secluded spot to have his way with you. Hell, once or twice you had even been the one to push him into an alcove and reach for his zipper. Your relationship all those years ago had been marked by insatiability for eachother, and if anything the years apart had only added to the ferver to touch, taste, and fuck eachother senseless.

"Along with the costuming, which is brilliant - bless our wonderful costuming department - I think the thing that sets this movie apart is its writing," Tom was saying, throwing an adoring glance in your direction. "It really gets to the heart of what it means to be in love. How we, as human beings, with all our foibles and idiosycrosies can be our own worst enemies in the persuit of our heart's desire."

And seriously, how could you not love this man to distraction? 

"The course of true love never did run smooth," Colbert threw in.

"Exactly. Shakespeare said it best as usual. But do you know which character that was?"

"Helena, Midsummer Night's Dream," Stephen said uncertainly.

"Close, very close," your walking Shakespeare anthology smiled sugly. "Hermia. Act I, Scene 1 I believe."

"I'll take your word for it," Colbert surrendered to the master. "So, you're nominated for a slew of awards - a BAFTA, a SAG, an Oscar... is there anyone that you are really gunning for? It's the Oscar right?"

"Well, sort of," Tom hedged.

"What do you mean sort of?"

"I am enormously flattered to be nominated for all of them, of course, and so excited for the film to be recieving so much love. But the award I'm most excited for isn't an acting award for me, or even Best Picture. It's the Adapted Screenplay Award."

"And why would that be, Tom Hiddleston?"

"Well, as I mentioned before, the writing, particularly the dialogue, is truly the star of this picture."

"Uh-hu. No other reason?" the host prodded. "I know you're a private man when it comes to your relationships..."

"With reason, you have to keep a bit of life for yourself."

"Of course. So, what do you want to share with us Tom?"

"Well, it just so happens that the writer of this particular movie is someone very close to my heart," he smiled a dopey smile that made your stomach do filp-flops.

"How close exactly are we talking?" Stephen asked, also shooting you a look.

"Well, Stephen," Tom grinned, "it just so happens that this particular author, this beautiful, brilliant, compassionate woman, has recently become closer to me than people may realize."

"Really?" Stephen grinned back at him. "You know, it just so happens that I see her standing there in the wings. Shall we invite her out here?"

"Well..." Tom threw you a smile, eyes saying that he knew he would be in trouble later, "I really do think that she deserves to be the one sitting out here discussing the movie. She is the reason it is a success after all."

"What do you think ladies and gentlemen?" Stephen asked the audience as you glared at both of them. "Shall we bring her out?"

As a chorus of enthusiastic yeses assailed your ears, you vowed that you would make Tom pay for this later, possibly ususing the pair of fur lined cuffs he didn't think you knew he had purchased when you were strolling through the village the day before. Resigning yourself to your fate you sighed and nodded you head once to their entreating glances.

"Ladies and gentleman, she is the writer behind In The Timing Victoria Thomas," you still were not used to hearing your pen name spoken out loud as often as it was, or responding to it. You were going to have to do something about that soon, you thought.

"That is her pen name, indeed," Tom said as you walked slowly out on stage, glad that you were dressed in a chic Calvin Klien dress that flattered your figure, "I hope you will all join me in welcoming the newly minted Mrs. Hiddleston!"

  It had been a complete suprise. You and Tom had been walking through Central Park, Bobby frisking around you as he chased invisable prey. Your fingers were linked together, and Tom had at least somewhat learned to shorten his long stride to make up for your significantly shorter legs. After a bit of wandering, you had made it to the Shakespear Garden near both Delacourt Theater and Belvedeare Castle, and Tom had pulled you down beside him on a stone bench.

  "This garden," he told you conversationally, "has every flower the is mentioned in Shakespeare's plays planted in it."

  "That's so interesting," you teased, even though you did find it interesting, you loved to give him a hard time over his love of all things Shakespeare.

  "All of those flowers," he went on as though you hadn't spoken, "and not one of them is close to being as beautiful as you are."

  "Tom," you sighed dreamily, snuggling against his chest. Honestly, how had you gotten so lucky?

  "Darling," he said, a nervous tone creeping into his usually confident voice. "I wanted to ask you something."

  "What's that?" you said lazily, enjoying the smell of his skin as he kissed the top of your head.

  "Would you look at me love?" he asked.

  You lifted yourself off of his chest to see an anxious expression to match his voice.

  "I know that we have not been back together for long," he began, hands figiting, "but I think you know how much I love you."

  "I do," you smiled at him. "I love you too."

  "And we have, if you think about it, known eachother for almost two decades."

  "I suppose."

  "Given that, and that I don't think I will survive parting from you again," detaching himself from you, Tom dropped down onto one knee and your mind went blank. "My darling love, will you marry me?"

  You gaped at him in stunned disbeleif, unable to move or speak as the sun glinted off of his copper curls. As your eyes met his you saw a look of hope begin to shade into panic, and realized that you had not given him an answer. Just as you were wondering how mouths and tongues worked, Bobby barked loudly and jumped up onto the bench beside you, breaking the spell that you had been under. You burst out laughing, and after a moment so did Tom as Bobby licked at your face.

"Upstaged by my own dog," he grumbled good naturedly, some of his confidence coming back as you were beaming at him. "  B ut come, darling, ' what sayest thou then to my love? speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee  .'"

  "I say yes," you smiled at him as he rose to spin you off your feet in a circle. "Of course yes, Tom!"

  Two days later, in a quiet ceremony attended by just imediate family flown in secretly and his ever vigilant puplicist Luke, the two of you were married in the same spot by your fiesty dirctor Susie, who had obtained her liscense online for the occasion. It was peacful, and even if one or two persistant pedestrians had been able to snap a quick picture of you in your ice blue dress and Tom in a perfectly tailored Ralph Lauren suit, Luke had been able to keep any whisper of it out of the press. As gossip control went, it was a minor miracle.

"So, you two crazy kids tied the knot, huh?" Stephen asked as the crowd finally died down.

"Yes," Tom said quickly, looking a bit nervous. "Though as you may be able to tell by the expression on my beautiful bride's face, we hadn't made the announcement public yet."

"Oh that's okay," Colbert waved it off, "they won't tell, will you guys?"

The crowed laughed at the notion of it staying a secret after such a public announcement.

"Well, congratulations Tom, and to your lovely wife, my condolences."

"Oh, I think Tom's the one who's going to be needing condolences soon," you joked, and Tom gamely winced, though his eyes said he wasn't sure how much you were joking.

"So, why did you agree to marry such an obvious fixer upper?" Stephen asked you. "Couldn't you find anyone good looking?"

"It's a struggle, Stephen," you sighed and the audience laughed, as you had married, by your own reconning, the most handsome man on the planet. "But, well, I'm in love you see."

"Ah," he nodded sagely.

"Yup, I'm in love with Bobby, and the only way to get the dog was to say yes to the man."

"My evil plan worked, you see," Tom chimed in, laughing his endearing ehehe

"You used the dog to get the woman? That's next level planning!"

"Well you see, Stephen," Tom said, staring into your eyes with an intensity that made you forget you were on national TV, "I have been in love with this particular woman for seventeen years. And if it had taken adopting an entire three ring circus to finally get her to marry me, that was what I was going to do. Fortunately for our home, one adorable Spaniel was all it took."

"Seventeen years? Really?" Stephen looked back in forth between you, a wealth of unanswered questions in his eyes.

"Indeed. She led me quite a chase, but I wore her down in the end."

"I have a feeling there's a story here," the host said, in huge understatement, "but I'll wait until your next visit for that."

"I'm afraid that story is not suitible for television," Tom demured.

"Well, can you at least give any advice to the fans out there? Some help for the lovelorn?"

"Well, in the end," he said, giving it his usual deep thought, "all I can say is it's all in the timing."

"And that, my friends, is what we call a segue. You can catch the movie in theaters now."

Tom glanced over to you and winked with a cocky grin, and you thought of all the things that had gone between you, the years and passion and the love. You loved this man with everything you had. He might be insufferable, he might occasionally push you beyond your comfort level, but you knew in that moment and every moment that you were loved with a fierce, constant heart. It was the happy ending you had always dreamed of. And it was yours.

                       Notes:        

Thank you all so much for reading. It has been a wonderful story to write.

[katniiss]

i love you the way a knife loves a heart; tyril x mc

[also on ao3]

So it’s true, then.

Her family is dead. She is the sole survivor of her house. And she will never meet them. There’s not even ghosts of them left behind for her to speak to.

It’s something she has known all her life, she supposes, but the confirmation still hurts more than she expected it to.

[[MORE]]

She’s not naive to the lives lost in the wars before her birth, not really. Even elves who were raised the same as humans know of the massacre and how few escaped. She learnt of it as a paragraph in the footnotes of human history, a tradgedy but not something to be studied. But she cannot remember her birth family, or how they died or left her or— all she knows is, one moment they must have been there and the next she awoke on a deserted road outside Riverbend, cold and frightened and almost feral.

Kaden hadn’t been afriad of her, though. Nor had his father, recently widowed and his son needing a companion. Besides, Kaden told her later in secretive whispers, “I think he always wanted a daughter.”

And for eighteen years - or however long it has been, time means little to elves or orcs, only humans with their limited lifespan hold it with such reverence - she’s tried to be that. She’s never left the village, helped her father on the farm as best she could, hid her elven ears for years until the summer after her seventeenth year when it became too hot for her to hide her face. Children had teased her at school, being the only one of her kind for a thousand miles, and it’s...a kind of loneliness she can not describe. She used to dream of going to Undermount the moment she first learnt of it, to see her people, people who looked like her and would not judge her for her oversensitive perceptions or her skin.

And it’s certainly not everything she dreamt of, but Tyril is almost like the knight her childhood self dreamt of. But how can she know? The elven knight in her dreams was always faceless; it was the cheers and smiles of her father and Kaden that mattered to her. Tyril tall, at least, and brave and she would like to braid his hair if he would allow it.

“What do you know of House Nightbloom?” She finds herself asking him, in the dead of night, when she finds herself consumed by the words of the founder of House Starfury.

“I...” Tyril sighs. “When I was growing up, my tutors spent a year making a large family tree. Or forest, rather. It had every elven family who ever existed, and it spanned a whole half of the house by the time it was done. House Nightbloom was there, of course, a minor but noble house with the poor luck of having fewer descendants since their nobility and loyalty to sadly corrupt leaders led to many of their untimely deaths.”

“So after all these years, I find out that I’m the blood of traitors and idiots?” She digs her nails into her palms. “Fantastic. Love that for me.”

“You are the most loyal and intelligent elf I’ve ever met, and don’t let tell yourself otherwise!” Tyril insists. She notices, he only ever seems to become passionate when it involves her, and if he were speaking of anything but a family she will never know she might shove him against a tree and kiss him insane. But his eyes darken again and he informs her, gravely. “House Nightbloom was supposedly wiped out during the last stand. But there is much we don’t know about that battle. And many houses, especially minor ones, kept information about births to themselves lest another house try and steal their heir. They were brave and clever and true-“

“But they still died. And left me.”

She almost expects Tyril to shrug, but then remembers this is a human movement so foreign to elves of his station. “The tutor who created the family forest left us unexpectedly when it was complete. The next tutor burnt off the names and houses of everyone killed during the wars. As you can imagine, there was hardly anything or anyone left. And I’m sorry. I do not believe they went to die with the intention of leaving you orphaned. But even if they did, your destiny is not determined by something so arciac as what humanity calls biology. You can be whatever you wish to be. You are special. Humanity believes no one is special, but that isn’t true, everyone is special. Look how far we’ve come, and it’s you who truly brought us all together! Brave, beautiful and stubborn as you are, you are also just what was needed. And I assure you, I will not allow you to die anytime soon.”

“You talk so much,” She comments as lightly as if he were rambling about the moss of the old forest and not words of wisdom and a romantic kindness she has always secretly yearned for. “Thank you for telling me all this, Tyril. I think the surname Nightbloom suits me. Perhaps it might pair with Starfury?”

She knows she’s distracting him away from talk of her heritage with talk of marriage, but she still loves to watch him blush because of her. She finds it so difficult to believe no one has ever flirted with him so brazenly, but again, Mal’s repeatly admonished the bordem elves subject themselves to. He finds himself smiling.

“Time will tell, Lady Nightbloom.”

“Gods, don’t ever call me Lady again,” She says and kisses him hard. “But I think you like not being a Lord. You like someone else taking control for once. And you like that it’s me.”

He kisses her again, and doesn’t deny it.

notes: don’t ask me where this came from lol just wanted mc to angst about birth family after chapter 12 @starfurys tagging u bc he’s ur husband

[ziracona]

what do u mean by the until dawn windego posts thing??

Oh, uh. Let me see if I can think of a way to answer this concisely haha. (Until Dawn spoilers ahead fair warning, if you haven’t played)

So, like a year ago there was a post going around about stories involving Wendigos all being exploitative and, it not being okay to even use the word, and at the time I saw it in passing and thought, “Huh, I didn’t know that,” and did nothing else bc I had a lot going on. I’m kinda pissed at myself but c’est la vie. Probably the og author made a good faith mistake? There /is/ a first nation creature with a very similar title that is sacred, but I started a different writing project recently, and rememebred that thread and looked it up just out of curiosity, because it had seemed weird to me at the time. I played UD when it came out and watched the interviews, and there was a lot of making of stuff available, including interviews w Algonquin people they had contacted for Wendigo research, and it seemed that if the thing about Wendigos being bad to write stories about period was true, it was super werid that could have happened. It turns out, that is not the case. I read a whole bunch of interviews w first nation scholars talking about the Wendigo, and actually it’s kind of the opposite. It’s a very real supernatural entity culturally, extremely evil, that will possess and compel humans to terrible acts (specifically but not limited to cannibalism and violence), and to be feared. 

In reality, UD did about the best job I’ve ever seeen anyway of being realistic and honoring classic tradition, at least in western media. For example, Wendigos are often portrayed in fiction as being deer-like with antlers, but in tradition, that’s super inaccurate, and they basically look like giant, emaciated human beings. The horn thing is offensive and wrong, whereas the in-game portrayal is the accurate one. In addition, when westerners first arrived and got to hearing about traditions and beleifs, such as the Wendigo, they dismissed it out of hand, and told the native people they were wrong and there was no supernatural entity or posession going on, but rather a mental illness brought on by the darkness and harshness of winter, which westerners called “Wendigo Psychosis” (super fucking great at once for mentally ill people /and/ native tradition! Really knockced it out of the park, guys : )  ). And along with the rest of its complex meta narrative on horror and expectations, especially when it /comes/ to mental illness, Until Dawn worked in “Wendigo Psychosis” pretty pointedly and came down with a very solidly “No, the first nation people were right, it /is/ supernatural and real and evil”, underlined by actually /giving/ one of the most central characters, Josh, very active and debilitating psychosis, which, completely subverting viewer expectations, is not actually a driving force for the violence and tradgedy of the game, but a red-herring. 

In a sense, they put up real psychosis and let the player fall into the expected trap of assuming the ‘antagonist’ had gone insnae and was killing people because of that, then halfway through pulled a u-turn and flipped the script, and players spend the rest of the game trying to save Josh and feeling kind of fucking /terrible/ for falling into the planted expectations. In the end, the real threat is the very real and true supernatural evil (the Wendigos), and Josh is a victim everyone else in the story is partially responsible for the fate of. Anyway, it was a really cool way to work multiple metas together into a narrative, and I’ve always liked the horror meta with Josh, but I didn’t know how in-depth the supernatural side of it went too. I hope that answers your question? Basically, I saw a post that a lot of people saw (it went around a /lot/ for like 2 weeks), was too distracted and dumb to fact-check when I’m usually p diligent, and now feel le great shame of having been boo boo the fool, but am also happy to have all this very neat new meta information. : )

[doetonin]

custody

permatag: @marlenesmckinnonn

“We are here today to rule upon the rightful custody of Neville Longbottom, whose parents have been deemed medically unfit to care for their child by the healers of St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.”

Doe sat in her seat, nervous. She was dressed nicely, but not too nice. Across the circular room was Frank’s mother, Augusta, a mean old woman whose fashion sense was abismal. She didn’t like many people, and Dorcas was currently at the top of her list.

“This child, Neville Longbottom, just over one year of age, son of well-respected aurors Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortescue Longbottom, has been willed to the care of his godmother, Dorcas Meadowes...”

At the mention of her name, Augusta scowled at the younger woman, clearly bitter that Alice and Frank wanted her to be the caretaker of their child, should something happen, over their own blood.

“...But due to recent accusations and charges, the safety of this child has been put into question by the child’s paternal grandmother, Augusta Longbottom...”

Doe didn’t look, but she could feel the satisfied smirk on the old woman’s face.

This wasn’t fair.

“Mrs. Longbottom, you have the floor.”

Augusta stood rigidly, purse clutched in her hands, and walked to the chair in the middle of the floor. Her shoes clicked on the wooden floors, each click making Dorcas’s heart pound harder.

“Thank you, Counselor.”

She sat with pristine posture, scanning the room before shooting Doe a dirty look.

“As you may well know, my son and his wife were tortured by Death Eaters using the Criciatus Curse, resulting in permanent memory loss and requiring constant care and assistance.”

A few jury members nodded their heads sympathetically.

“Those Death Eaters were none other than Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov.”

Augusta shot her a look, the jury following her gaze. Dorcas closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing and keep her heart rate under control. Her hands were fidgeting and palms sweating. This wasn’t going well.

“And Antonin Dolohov- a convicted Death Eater fleeing justice from the Ministry- is this woman’s longtime partner!”

She pointed a bony finger towards Doe eliciting a few gasps from jurors in their seats.

This was not going well.

“And that... that... traitor- has the audacity to claim rightful guardianship over my grandson?”

Members of the jury shook their heads.

“My grandson should be raised in a suitable household, not one where the person responsible for his parent’s tradgedy is raising him- filling his mind with Merlín knows what about... You Know Who.”

The jury began to murmur amongst themselves. Augusta looked pleased with herself and the case she presented. Dorcas felt like she was going to throw up.

“Quiet!” the Counselor shouted, tapping his gavel on the desk, “Miss Meadowes.”

He gestured to the now empty seat in the middle of the room. Dorcas stood, nodding politely. Her legs felt like jelly, her heartbeat growing louder in her ears with every echoing step of the silent courtroom. Every pair of eyes was on her. This wasn’t about Neville anymore.

Her footsteps seemed to echo throughout the room. She told Marlene she was fine. She told Mary she was fine. She told herself she was fine.

But she was far from it.

“Miss Meadowes, do you have anything to say to counter Mrs. Longbottom’s testimony?”

Dorcas cleared her throat, “Yes, sir.”

“Alice and Frank Longbottom were- and still are- very dear friends of mine.” she began, “A month prior to Neville’s birth, I was asked by both Frank and Alice to be Neville’a godmother, to which I had accepted.”

She looked to the jury, a few nodded but the rest remained stone cold.

“I was present at the time of the attack, and it was then that Frank had shouted to take Neville and run. So I did.”

Her hands shook. Augusta looked displeased.

“Ever since that moment I have spent everything that I have to ensure that Neville was taken care of, happy... loved.” Dorcas looked around the room at the different faces staring back at her, “I love Neville as if he was my own. Frank and Alice trusted me with the care of their son should anything happen, and I do not intend of letting them down.”

“Thank you very much, Miss Meadowes. The jury is now free to question the defendant.”

Defendant. She shouldn’t have to defend the care of a child against his absent grandmother.

“Miss Meadowes,” a jury member stood to make themselves known, “is it true that your partner is known death eater Antonin Dolohov?”

She stumbled on her own words, “Y-yes bu-”

“Convicted murderer and the reason this child’s parents are in the state they are currently in now?”

“I- y-yes but-”

“And you believe that it is acceptable to raise a child in such hostile environment as one where this person resides... when he is not currently in prison?”

Augusta smirked. Fucking bitch.

Doe didn’t know what to say. She didn’t have anything to say. There was no use in trying to defend Antonin to a group of individuals who had already made up their minds. This wasn’t about Neville, this was about punishing her for loving the “wrong” man.

“I think we have heard enough,” the Counselor stated, holding his hand up to the jury member who sat down shooting Dorcas a disgusted look, “the jury will now convene to decide on a ruling. We will meet in-”

“That won’t be necessary, Counselor.”

All eyes were looking to where the shrill comment was coming from. A member of the jury had stood, an all too satisfied smile on her face, with the ugliest pink ribbon peeking out from her robes.

“The jury has already made a unanimous decision.”

The judge raised his eyebrows as none of the other jury members seemed to want to make eye contact.

“Is that so, Ms. Umbridge?”

“Quite so,” she giggled, “We hereby find the defendant, Dorcas Meadowes, unfit as the caretaker for this poor infant child, and revoke all rights of custody granted to her before trial.”

Dorcas’s heart sank. All color left her face as she stared ahead at the woman who just destroyed her world. She couldn’t hear the Counselor make the final ruling in agreement, she couldn’t hear the dismissal of both parties from the courtroom. She couldn’t see the satisfied look on Augusta’s face as she rose from her seat, on her way to take her grandson away from her. He was with Mary, probably napping. He’d wake up in a new home with new people. He’d wake up afraid.

Doe remained frozen in her seat, unable to find the strength to move as jury members walked past her, avoiding eye contact. She wanted to cry- she wanted to sob- but she couldn’t find it in herself to actually do it.

“Dorcas?”

She was brought back to reality by a quiet voice and a gentle hand that rested on her shoulder.

“Come on, dear. Let’s get you out of here.”

She continued to stare off into nothing in front of her as Arthur guided her from her seat to the elevator.

She had him, and now he was gone.

[comicteaparty]

April 1st-April 7th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from April 1st, 2020 to April 7th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How do you feel about creators spoiling their own stories, and how does it effect how you read the comic?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

As someone who's both reader & a creator, it can be really hard to restrain giving spoilers. But it could also be that they are excited to make this story and they wanna 'get to the spoilers' really soon. But if you are such creator, an idea is to find friends whom you can trust, don't mind giving critique/give spoilers to. As a reader it can be slight disappointment to learn about spoilers in a comic you were invested in and still reading. At this point, I might think, I'm going to get out of the conversation on the spoilers and wait until more content is made(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Being someone who was raised by a parent who wanted me to spoiler movies for them if I saw it first, I don't care about stories being spoiled for me. Experiencing the scene is usually very different than being told what it is, also once I get to that spoiled scene I've already forgotten about it thanks to my Quality short-term memory. Honestly, I would totally go all out spoiling my own comic, but I know most people hate that stuff so I don't out of respect. There have been a few times when I've talked about spoilery stuff not really knowing if it would be considered a spoiler, or because I'm talking about something else that is related and I have to spoil a bit for the topic.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Personally it depends on how plot heavy the spoiler is. If it's something like what food/clothing/interests the characters have, I don't mind so much. But if it's something like who is going to die, who falls in love with who....I think the experience would be slightly more diminished.

Like @Joichi [Hybrid Dolls] said, I usually share the spoilers only with close friends, particularly those who know how to give their input. It's important to get feedback, but choosing who you tell is very important.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I’m very protective of story details. I don’t want people to know any of what’s going to happen in my story. I like having secrets

I don’t really mind hearing spoilers myself much of the time because I mostly enjoy stories by looking at all the events in the story together. If I know all the events sooner that often lets me enjoy it sooner

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I usually don't care that much about spoilers, unless it's about character death or something. Usually, I try to avoid them like the plague, just in case, but I don't really care that much.(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Personally, on other people's comics, I usually only refer to what's in the comic proper. Not too fond of having to read supplemental material, like creator QA's.

I know they can be nice for some readers, but I genuinely don't like it when the knowledge established in a QA or so is assumed to be known in the comic proper without ever being mentioned there.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm having difficulty articulating my reasons, but for me, the creator spoiling things is different from a reader spoiling the same things. And reader-supplied spoilers can also be VERY different based on context and tone. I hate it when people spoil things for others out of malice (like when people were buying ad spaces, just after that one Harry Potter book came out, to broadcast [THIS IMPORTANT CHARACTER] DIES!!!!), even if I don't care about the work being spoiled.

Going back to creator-supplied spoilers........ it's something I can't relate to, as a creator myself? (Sharing spoilers in private is one thing, but if they're posting it in public...) This is going to sound negative and I apologize in advance. When I see a creator laying out the big spoilers in public, it makes me worry that maybe they prefer to talk instead of actually making the comic -- that maybe they won't make it to the ending. I'm happy to be proven wrong, of course. And there is no shame in dropping a comic before you get to the end (I've done that myself!). But yeah, public spoilers is one of those things that makes me worry.(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

^My thoughts exactly. It worries me in exactly the same way.

Deo101 [Millennium]

when it comes to reading spoilers, Ive never really minded. Granted, I'd rather have spoilers more towards "what to expect" because I otherwise will get a lot of anxiety. A bit of the way in, I want to know if something is going to be worth my time to get invested into, or if I should ignore the stress and just be along for the ride. Being told things like "this is a tragedy and you shouldnt expect to have a happy ending" and "everything will work out in the end" really calms me down when I'm reading. Getting small spoilers about character things, inconsequential plot stuff, etc. don't really bother me at all, but yeah I'm with keiiii where if someone is sharing the ending of their story halfway through I worry theyre not interested in actually working to get there.

I'll personally share in small private settings whatever people want to know, but I refuse to in a public setting share what I'd consider to be a big spoiler. I'll share small character things or vague plans and some worldbuilding stuff, but I don't see those as spoilers really.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The "what to expect" thing is a really great topic though. I would love to discuss it in depth in shop talk when the caffeine kicks in

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Ooh me too. I drop some future story features in my About page - very broadly. But it's more of a pitch than an outright spoiler. It requires some vagueness to be effective.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

@Deo101 [Millennium] Setting expectations correctly is very different from spoilers, I think, and more in direction of "what genre does that story fall under". Like a romance means happy (for now) ending for the main couple - even if you might end up disagreeing if an ending is happy.

It ain't a spoiler that a space opera has some kind of space travel, that kind of thing.

For me spoilers tend to cover plot specifics, not genre and general tone. That's setting expectations.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, but a lot of people really don't like to say that their story is gonna be a tragedy because they dont want to spoil that people are gonna die or whatever

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

That's... bad marketing.

Deo101 [Millennium]

it happens constantly

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I agree that a lot of times what creators share is basically bonus plot info, or extra details, or even warnings. I actually haven't really ever gotten a major spoiler from a creator.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Mind you, you can have people die without being a tradgedy, see the majority of epic fantasy.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

(On a side note, I have spoiled 100% of the plot of my comic to very specific close people in my life, but I don't know if that counts.)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't think there is a single person to whom I've spoiled 100% and I'm jelly of those of you who have Story Confidantes!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Honestly SOs and close siblings are a GODSEND

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm close with my bro, but he's not into the kind of stuff I write. (might be getting off topic?)

RebelVampire

Yeah I do want to remind again here this should be about experiences as a reader, not as a creator. And I know there can be a bit of bleed over, but there's a point where the focus changes too much.

RebelVampire

I think this depends on who it's being spoiled to. If creators want to spoil their stories to close personal friends in private convos, I think that's A-okay. Even as a writer I do that, because it's good to have people to bounce ideas off of. And I think for more creators it's the same. Also, sometimes you just want to have a fun chat to de-stress and it's easier with people who you can tell all your secrets too. If it's being spoiled to people who asked for spoilers, that's also another matter where I think it's mostly fine. In fact, depending on what's spoiled, it can really help drive engagement. For example, if a comic is "spoiling" lore that has a significant bearing on the plot without revealing the exact how of it all. However, then we come to the matter of major public spoilers, which there are tons and tons of creators who do this. On the one hand, that's the creator's right to do so, so a part of me feels like embracing the can't be helped mindset. But, if I'm being brutally honest, as a reader 90% of the time it just kills all engagement with the story for me. I mean, what's the point of reading the story if I can just find out everything in a fraction of the time? Plus, for me personally, I enjoy theorizing and trying to guess events, mysteries, etc. And if I'm being told the answers, that basically ruins like 80% of how I engage with content. I'm also confident I'm not the only reader who feels this way, so personally speaking I don't think it's a wise decision no matter how juicy or agonizing it is to hold in the spoiler.

Feather J. Fern

For me, spoilers don't mean much. I'm still going to read the comic regardless. Now I spoiling something is funnier, because it takes me forever to get to the section which I spoiled, so something I spoiled would take a year to get to, and then everyone forgot the spoiler anyways. XD

I have already spoiled endings to my friends about one of my comic projects, and three months in they are already like "I forgot about that." So maybe it's just my readers haha.

DanitheCarutor

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) About the talking vs. finishing the comic thing. If I decided to spoil it would be because I was impatient to discuss. Like, right now I have the worst itch just to talk about the climax and ending to discuss all the little details, what I could do better next time, if I should put trigger warnings on specific chapters, and/or how my readers feel. Would it keep me from making it to the end? Nah, executing and seeing the results are not the same as describing them. The emotions a reader has can change vastly when they experience an event vs. read a description, it's not as fulfilling... or as painful. At least that is my perspective, neither I nor my readers would get the full experience from me describing a major event/ending. I don't know how it would be for other creators though. Lol

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, it's definitely a case by case thing.

DanitheCarutor

Pff yeah, I imagine some people are less anal about execution than I am.

eli [a winged tale]

Great discussions here! If I’m the reader, I’d prefer not to be spoiled and enjoy the story as is. It helps me as both a consumer and a creator to see how the plot twists are planted and revealed. As a beta reader, though, I would need to know the story to give suggestions on how to execute said spoilers but this is more of a creator-to-creator basis. I totally get the itch to share and I think having betareaders/comic confidantes are great for satisfying that need while getting constructive ways to evaluate them.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Agreed. I think having at least one person within your reader circle who is privy to deeper details can be very helpful, both for editing and for motivation Especially if there are story details that won't be shared for years. It's a good way to prevent 'leakage'

DanitheCarutor

I need to get myself a confidant, not only would it help the itch but talking about it would probably help me better fill in the small details. There was a rl friend I had who got too busy and lost interested, and someone online who I talked to about smaller stuff, but I don't like bothering people. Especially since my comic is sooo... my comic. Lmao!

Gosh, I would be the perfect person for someone to confide in about their comic, I would totally forget about the spoilers after waking up the next day.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Tbh I don't mind if a story is spoiled to me. I'm the type of person who is like "okay so that's how it ends? How does it get there?" and I would be more upset if the creator spills those important parts that reach the end result. Though, when explaining my comic plots and details to my irl friends and beta readers, it's more of a planning session than things said in stone. Basically if it's something that I've not written down and could be a spoiler, yet I talk about it and those spoiler squeals aren't in the final scripts though. If it's an important detail and is a spoiler, I will withhold that information till the time comes.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I don't know what I'd think because I've never seen a webcomic I liked share spoilers before. I get the feeling that a "serious" writer would keep their twists private because they know they can show their plot better than they can tell it, if that makes sense. Even Sfeer Theory, a comic I really like that iirc did much of its brainstorming online, shut down their old worldbuilding posts once they got their actual comic started.

varethane

Personally, I'm not hugely opposed to spoilers, though it depends on the context. A lot of new webcomics when they're just started out will often only be able to market themselves with illustrations of scenes or dynamics that haven't quite happened yet, just by virtue of being so early on, and that's fine-- though increasingly less necessary the more Comic is released. The only kind of spoiler I might be actively mad about is if a comic whose appeal hingest largely on a central mystery or suspense spoiled The Answer, but I feel like most of the writers creating stories like that are conscious of this and keep that sort of thing under lock. There's also a big reason why I personally try not to share spoilers (and why I try not to put much stock by any spoilers I see posted by other webcomic creators, in case their process is like mine)-- which is that, basically anything that is more than a month ahead of the pages I've already drawn, is very likely to change substantially. I rewrite future plot points all the dang time. So if I shared something as a 'spoiler', there's only a 50/50 chance of that plot point actually coming to pass (unless it's one of the 4/5 big central plot linchpins); any readers waiting for it may come away disappointed, lol.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Def agree with Vare on this one. However, sometimes when a writer tells details to the point of no surprise in the comic whatsoever, that usually breaks immersion and interest for me. I've had a couple stories stagnate from having their plots revealed by the writer, and when the story hinges on that being a selling point, it tends to be very dissapointing to have done. Unless the story is character driven/ has characters charming enough to capture readers, i would def avoid spoiling the main plot points of the story if they can

eli [a winged tale]

I feel like anything in act 1 is technically not a spoiler since in books, the blurb encompasses act 1 even the beginning of act 2.

RebelVampire

Once again I'm popping in here to remind people this chat is primarily to talk about experiences as a reader, not as a creator. So let's not go too far into creator territory here.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

It's hard to say how I'd feel because I don't really see writers post, like "X dies in the end" or whatever. Like it's not that common an occurrence, at least for comics I follow. What is common in my experience is creators posting ship art for characters that haven't shown up yet (thus spoiling that these are characters who will show up at some point, and at least have some interaction with each other). And with regards to that... I dunno. Like, my mentality as a reader/watcher of things is that a character doesn't "exist" until I see them in the story. Like, if I see a character in an anime OP, I'll be like "oh that character looks cool, I can't wait until I meet them". That is, I don't consider myself as having "met" them yet - I need the story as context. (for the record, that's true for me as a creator too - i know plenty of creators figure out their OCs' personality & backstory first before figuring out what sort of story they work in, and that's valid, but I can't imagine working like that) So anyway, to me creators posting OC art before they appear in the story is less "oh, i've been spoiled on what these OCs will do" and more "oh, i can't wait to read the story that these characters are involved in"