#and on Hunter “never fully forgiving him” because everything is about Hunter

[numericalbridge]

Certain fans pretending that Darius being a rebel came out of nowhere is so funny, because while, yes, the show's writing is not the greatest, and it is understandable for a casual viewer to miss the Blimp scene or that later Darius doesn't restrain the kids, but some of the supposed fans who over-analyze everyone else, just so happen to miss the way Darius talks to Hunter from the Blimp and that if Darius was a 100% bad guy there would be no reason for him to clearly indicate that he thinks capturing the children wasn't something to be proud of - especially in that tone of voice and with that expression, and that there was no reason for him to lie this way if he wanted to manipulate Hunter, and that that scene was meant to be a clear hint that he had a moral code of his own and wasn't absolutely on Belos' side, all before the episode's ending.

(And it is also funny because he is in only two episodes before the rebel reveal, in one of them he is already established as a complex character, so there is just not even enough episodes of him being a villain to declare that the rebel stuff came out of nowhere)

And it is absolutely understandable to just dislike the show's writing choices (i think its writing is at best uneven, but often just weak), but with some fans it is very clear that they only have problems with Darius and only because of Hunter and the one-dimensional, worst possible fanon interpretations of Darius' actual actions. (< - and this is my actual problem, not that someone missed some hints or just have a different interpretation). Especially blatant when the same fans defend almost every other writing choice.

And of course it just happens that fans almost never have problems with Eda and King's writing, even though they are main characters, and some choices about their relationship are much more puzzling if you look at them with the same scrutiny fandom looks at Darius.

And among white Hunter fans there is almost never any care or thought about how Darius being a villain would fit with what characters like Belos and Odalia represent, and what it would mean and how it would have been handled considering the way the show already treats its characters of color, especially black characters, and how it would fit into the existence of the trope among fantasy shows of putting dark-skinned characters into oppressive roles. But there is no consideration or care about it.

[levshany]

Tandem, this is an AU in which the Collector possesses Philip, and there are a lot of things happening afterwards. but now we’ll just retell how it basically started

@angstyhikka drew a couple of arts and helped me with coloring

This is an alternative development of events after the ending of the fanfic “At The Dawn of The Light” (it's not finished yet, but there is already an AU from the ending, yes). The idea belongs to @lasymit, and I (Lev) picked it up :3

Before King's Tide, all events take place according to canon. And then the following changes occur: the witches capture Philip and lock him in a cave in the Titan's skull. The draining spell is stopped without the help of the Collector, but he himself is not found. His mirror remains lying at the bottom of the pit.

For 10 years, Philip was under a sleeping spell. Everything would be fine, but when the Hexside squad wakes up Philip to make him help them with one super important problem, not only does he become mischievous but he also has problems in his head now. Luz and the team think that Philip is manipulating them (you can't blame them for this, Philip is Philip, even with a leaky memory and a leaking roof, he manages to be such an asshole), and therefore they torture him to force him to cooperate with them.

While Philip was sleeping, a cozy corner appeared in his head, in which there was nothing but a green hill, a small house and an apple tree. There, Philip, in his child form, lives with Caleb, who is a figment of his sick mind. During his 10 years in this mindscape, Philip convinced himself that this was reality. And the Boiling Isles, the cave and the witches who torture him are an endless nightmare. Because, on the Boiling Isles, he sometimes remembers that he killed his brother. But this simply cannot be reality.

At some point, Luz and Hunter realize that Philip is not pretending that he is seriously ill and no matter how much he denies it, he needs help, and they soften towards him somewhat. Although both have rather mixed feelings towards their dementia grandpa.

Even in the moments when Philip remembers himself fully enough, his attitude towards the Boiling Isles, Luz, Hunter and even his own mission has changed greatly in any case. He no longer cares about the destruction of witches and revenge for his brother. Philip is tired. Deadly tired. All he wants to do is sleep. He slept for ten years, and this was perhaps the first time in decades of his life that he felt peace and happiness.

While he is in this state, it happens that he encounter the Collector. This is a difficult meeting for both of them, but it all ends with the forgiveness of all grievances. They both don't want to lose each other now. The collector is still locked in the disk, but Philip has the opportunity to let his friend into his subconscious. Seeing the deplorable state of Philip's mind, he decides that he must help - after all, Philip is still his only friend. Collie asks Philip not to go to "sleep" forever, but Philip replies that he has no joy in waking up here. All he dreams of is never returning to the world of the Boiling Islands. The collector, frightened that his only friend is about to leave him, possesses Philip and promises him that he will get them both out of this nightmare.

This is how Tandem's story begins

a huge amount of detail has been omitted to avoid spoilers for "The Dawn". if you wanna learn more go check the fanfic *wink wink*

[sunhowler-art]

was inspired by this post to design some hlvrai warrior cats!! i'm honestly shocked it took me 2 years to make a warriors au for it, i love making warriors aus...

some basic info below the cut!

sooo my general idea (it's pretty hazy right now. forgive me) for this au is that songfoot (benrey), nectarbrook (darnold), goldenberry (tommy), galeheart (coomer), scorchtail (bubby), and snakestar (gman) are all from the same clan... i'm between plain ol' thunderclan or a custom clan called mesaclan. i'm probably gonna go with thunderclan because i don't wanna bother with making other clans and lore and stuff LOL. there's some kind of threat outside of the clans that's affecting the environment a la the beavers in arc 4. it's something that starclan definitely caused, whether deliberately or accidentally, i dunno. main point is that snakestar sends songfoot, nectarbrook, goldenberry, galeheart, and scorchtail off on a journey to track down the problem and take care of it. while they're gone, the external threat kills snakestar and he spends all his time being a textbook unhelpful and cryptic starclan cat who just kind of makes things worse. as per a snakestar prophecy, the gang picks up gordon along the way, a kittypet whose owners abandoned her and she's been mostly unsuccessfully fending for herself since. oh and frostpaw (forzen) is part of bloodclan. bloodclan tries and fails to kill the gang, despite frostpaw's best efforts (he kidnapped goldenberry's bird friend, sunny).

some lil character facts and such:

gordon is an ex kittypet. she had a very very cozy and spoiled life up until her twolegs got evicted or something and tossed her out onto the streets. she wasn't out there long before the clan cats found her, and thank god for that, because she sucks at being a survivalist. she is fairly smart though, bringing a fresh perspective and problem solving skills to the group. she is consistently freaked the fuck out by clan cat culture, and the clan cats have fun gaslighting her about it. the only cat who doesn't play along with that is goldenberry, mostly because he doesn't really think its that funny. gordon picks up survival skills from the clan cats fairly quickly, but they still call her soft all the time. classic clan cat anti-kittypet prejudice.

songfoot is the warrior code's biggest fan. not because he really fully believes in its utility, mostly because he loves bossing people around. you can find him stalking around thunderclan camp looking out for anyone doing minor infractions. god forbid you take too much fresh kill from the pile, you'll never hear the end of it. he can't really do much about it though, because snakestar finds him vaguely offputting. his signature stare doesn't help much. his fellow warriors generally like him despite all his strange quirks. songfoot has some kind of starclan-given power a la The Three... my thought is that his vocalizations have supernatural mind-altering properties. it's kinda like sweet voice, but a hiss can make others mad, a purr can make others calm, a screech can stun them, etc. without fail. he's vaguely aware of this power, and he doesn't really use it for things starclan would like him to. he kinda does his own thing.

he's a fairly competent hunter and fighter, but he's generally physically non-confrontational. during battle, he prefers to slink along in the shadows and wait to strike.

during the journey, he loves following gordon along. initially it's because of his deeply embedded distrust of kittypets, but he realizes pretty quickly that he's interested in her in a different sense, one that really frustrates and confuses him... a warrior shouldn't wanna be mates with a kittypet. that's so beyond wrong. he's gotta do everything he can to annoy gordon into leaving the group so he doesn't have to confront his feelings about her (one of these tactics involves him insisting on calling her "gordie," saying it sounds much more suitable for a kittypet). unfortunately for the both of them, that doesn't work. what's worse-- his powers don't seem to work on her for whatever reason. they continue to butt heads for far too long before either of them opens up about how they actually feel. (it takes gordon far longer to admit to herself that she's feeling that way than it does for songfoot, but eventually it clicks for her.)

("song" comes from sweet voice, and "foot" comes from... y'know. but i imagine the in-universe explanation is that he spends a lot of time padding around and watching people. the name from the post that inspired this one-- sweetsong-- is perfect but i didn't wanna copy it. i really like the name songfoot though, i think it's really cute.)

nectarbrook is thunderclan's beloved medicine cat. sweet and silly, she has an affinity for collecting and mixing herbs to create new tinctures. they don't always work exactly how she wants them to, but they never have strictly negative effects, so... not too bad! she spends most of her time on the journey trying and failing to be a mediator, and cowering in fear while everyone else does the scary (and often stupid) work. she's got an intelligence to rival gordon's, and she's one of the only cats gordon fully gets along with.

("nectar" is about the closest warrior cats prefix to "soda," and "brook" just kinda sounds nice as a suffix to nectar. it's another liquid-related word too.)

frostpaw is a bloodclan apprentice. he's well beyond apprentice age, but he's pretty incompetent at warrior duties and such, so it's taking him a while. he just wants to graduate.

i imagine he used to be a cushy kittypet with dreams of being one of those cool cat gang members he sees outside every now and again. he's way in over his head.

("frost" comes from forzen. obviously. i initially envisioned him as a warrior named frostjaw. i don't know why i chose that suffix other than it sounding nice. but then i remembered the "i just wanna graduate" thing, and thought it would be funny to make him an apprentice.)

goldenberry is a highly skilled warrior and one of snakestar's kits. he has a very unassuming demeanor, often appearing clumsy or head-in-the-clouds, but he's one of thunderclan's most precise and deadly fighters. his long windclan-like limbs allow for quick movement. like his father, he strikes like a snake. despite his prowess, he doesn't like fighting at all, and he would much rather hang around camp with his friend songfoot and take care of menial tasks like an apprentice or test out new herb tinctures for nectarbrook. he's very helpful and kind, if not a bit blunt. before snakestar died, he had goldenberry in mind as the next deputy as soon as galeheart finally kicked the bucket. he only didn't make him the deputy in the first place because he was an apprentice at the time.

("golden" comes from tommy's signature yellow, as well as his father's perception of him as highly important. "berry" comes from his general sillyness and his affinity for nectarbrook's various little treats.)

galeheart is a gregarious senior warrior and thunderclan's beloved deputy. despite his small stature, he's incredibly strong and overzealous. he loves his clan to death and he loves fighting even more, often dragging everyone into unnecessary squabbles just for the thrill of it. his loud, booming voice commands everyone's attention. he's quite old and really should be in the elders' den at this point, but his love for the warrior life keeps him going despite it all, and he's still in great shape. snakestar isn't quite so satisfied with galeheart's behavior, but there's not much he can do about that, given everyone else loves galeheart to bits. snakestar partially send him on that journey in hopes he would die already, but he has an unwavering spirit and he can and will outlive snakestar.

galeheart and gordon get along for the most part, but gordon is a little scared of him.

("gale" comes from coomer's general energy. he is a strong gust of wind to me. it also brings to mind the color white, which... is what galeheart is! "heart" also comes from his Vibes, mostly his fighting spirit.)

scorchtail is yet another old coot who should be getting ticks picked off of him by apprentices, but his stubbornness keeps him in his warrior position. he's not even particularly good at being a warrior-- he's cowardly and his battle strategy can best be described as the real life version of button-mashing. still, he's far too prideful to retire to the elders' den. he tends to follow galeheart around, since they grew up together and share similar positions in the clan. he's very antagonistic towards gordon, even moreso than songfoot. he has a special hatred of kittypets, seeing their lifestyle as an embarrassment.

("scorch" comes from bubby's association with fire as well as his sassy disposition, and "tail" comes from the tip of his tail looking burnt.)

snakestar is a starclan cat who was previously thunderclan's leader. he's generally cold and and analytical, and not much of a fighter, preferring to make others do his bidding. this behavior carried over very well to starclan, where he spends all his time being appropriately cryptic and unhelpful. he holds a lot of love for his one son, goldenberry, who he's always watching over. he doesn't care much for his other previous clanmates. he visits gordon in her dreams often to tell her vague things about her "part to play" and how important she is and all that. he arbitrarily decided that she was the subject of a prophecy, for the most part. i like to think starclan just makes shit up for fun. i think maybe one of his ancestors visited gordon when she was a kitten and made some kind of deal with her. i dunno. i'm in the very early stages of this au.

("snake" comes from gman's general vibes, but it's also an allusion to snakes in mythology [particularly abrahamic myth] being sleazy dealmakers with ill intent. before he was a leader, his suffix was "sight," alluding to his tendency to sit back and watch rather than run into battle.)

thanks for reading my long-ass ramblings, if you did! :-P idk if i'll actually do anything with any of this, but it's fun to think about...

[ghostofskywalker]

The Galaxy Can Grant A Second Chance

Hunter/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,083

Summary: You didn't think you would ever see them again, but here they were, and you are forced to face the truth behind why you left all that time ago.

Prompt: "I'm not leaving. Not this time"

Note: this is part of the bad batch xreader exchange, which i ran! my prompt came from @knightprincess, and i had a lot of fun writing it! To the see the other fics in the exchange, check out @cloneficgiftexchange :)

i have not seen any of the bad batch season 3 at this point (my brain is hyperfixated on dimension 20 atm), so this is obviously set prior to that, but of course i like to imagine that crosshair eventually finds his way back to his family <3

Clone Troopers Masterlist

The first time you caught a glimpse of the Bad Batch through the window of the mechanic shop you worked in, you were fully convinced it was a hallucination. There was no way they were here now, it had to be a trick of the mind, a manifestation of some guilt you hadn’t yet processed. 

You had left no trace when you disappeared, there was no way they would be able to find you. 

If you had only seen them once, you might have truly chalked it up to some kind of exhaustion (this job certainly had hours different than you were used to working, along with the added stress of the Empire’s rule over the galaxy), but it happened again. This time hours later, you could see what looked like the back of Tech’s head and Wrecker’s hulking frame pass through the crowds on the street. 

As your stomach dropped, you rushed to the shop’s tiny windows, staring out as people walked along the street, trying to catch a glimpse while also keeping to the shadows. And after a few desperate moments, you felt comfortable confirming it: that the Bad Batch was indeed here, on the surface of Tatooine, and you didn’t know why. 

The note you left was more hurtful than you wished it had to be, but you didn’t want anyone trying to follow you. Did this mean they were actively tracking your movements, that they were risking their cover (and their lives) to find you? Or was this simply something of a coincidence, an unfortunate reality that neither they nor you had any part in? If you were too obvious about your presence, and their reason for being here wasn’t related to your disappearance from their ship, you were now risking everything you fought so hard to protect. The bounty on your head had been (and still was) growing exponentially by the day, and after a while you could no longer ignore it. The Empire had placed a hefty price on your head, and it was clear that they were willing to go to great lengths to get what they wanted, making your mere presence dangerous to anyone you cared about.

It was hard enough leaving in the middle of the night like you did, and you hoped that the forces at work in the galaxy would at least have the decency to allow you to grieve the loss of what could have been in peace, because Maker knows you already had enough guilt in your heart, you certainly didn’t need another reminder of the way in which you gave up the best life you’ve ever had. 

And then you saw him, and your heart stopped for a moment. 

Hunter had always been your favorite, and no, it wasn’t because you found his face tattoo incredibly attractive. The two of you had clicked instantly, and as much as you enjoyed hanging out with his brothers, you had a special connection with him. But the galaxy was nothing if not cruel, and it placed you both in a situation where things would never work out, because if you truly wanted more than just a platonic relationship with him, you would have to live with the fact that you were putting him and his entire family at risk with every second you stayed on that ship. 

Leaving was the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but you knew it was the best option. If something had happened to any of the Bad Batch, you would never be able to forgive yourself, and you would rather see them alive and hating you than the alternative. You thought that peace had already been made, that you finally came to terms with the fact that you lost a gamble on love for the price of keeping them safe, but apparently that wasn’t the case. 

Because here they were, and you were definitely not hallucinating. 

It wasn’t a good idea to keep staring out the window, but you couldn’t bring yourself to stop, because this was something you never thought would happen, and therefore had no mental plan in place. 

They were standing across the street, and Omega was scanning her surroundings, as if looking for something. You tried to duck away from the window when you saw her gaze passing by, and you believed that your efforts were mostly successful, but after a while it seemed like she was staring in your shop’s direction more and more. After a few more minutes, you simply ducked away, resigning yourself to begin working on the speeders you had in the back room, because their owners would be coming to pick them up in less than a day, and you hadn’t really done anything yet. 

The day was otherwise eventless, and as the hours passed the feelings of worry, doubt, and anxiety in your stomach started to dissipate. By the time you finished up your repair job on some landspeeders, you thought you might have forgotten what happened this morning.

The bell in your front room jingled, signaling to you that there was someone who needed your help. “I’ll be there in a moment!” you called, quickly finishing up the piece of engine you were installing and grabbing a cloth to mop up the oil stains on your hands (with this line of work dirty hands were expected, but you also didn’t really want to accidentally get some grime on a potential client). 

When you stepped out in the front room, that cloth fell from your hands, and that rock returned to your stomach. 

The entire Bad Batch was standing there, with a full spectrum of expressions on their faces, ones that ranged from calculating (Tech), to smiling (Omega), to nonchalance (Crosshair, who you hadn’t actually met but had seen enough holopictures of to recognize on sight). Hunter stood in the middle of the group, and the look on his face could only be described as a mixture of anger and melancholy. 

You didn’t know what to say. How could you know what to say? How would any combination of words strung together in this moment effectively communicate what you were feeling? 

But it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to say anything, so you had to be the one to break the silence. “Can I help you with something?” You tried to sound professional, but some of your feelings broke through the script. 

Out of everyone standing there, you were shocked to see Crosshair speak up. “We need to have someone look at the central wiring on our droid. Is that something you do here?”

A little surprised at the way he simply inquired about your services, you wondered if the rest of the Batch had not told him about their prior time with you. You thought for a moment before answering. “I specialize more in land vehicles, but I know something about droids, depending on what kind you have. If nothing else, I should be able to take a look at it, and if I don’t have the parts to fix it I probably know someone who does.” 

You had suspicions about what the droid in question would be, because you of course remembered the temperamental gonk droid that also called the Havoc Marauder home. But time has passed since you had last seen them, so you didn’t know for sure if that was what Crosshair was talking about. 

“It’s a GNK-series power droid,” Crosshair said, and you were suddenly aware of all the others’ gazes on you. It was the same droid, but since everyone was acting like they didn’t know who you were, you weren’t going to cause any kind of trouble now. 

“I can definitely take a look at that,” you said, and the rest of the interaction went by in a blur. What felt like moments later you were left alone (after Gonky was brought into your work area), and the room fell silent. A whirlwind of questions spun around in your brain as you searched the rooms of the shop for the parts and tools you would need. 

Did they know you were here before they stepped in the door, or was this all some kind of terrible coincidence? 

If they did know you we here before they walked in, why didn’t anyone say anything? 

And finally, why did the galaxy have to torture you this way? 

Gonky made a noise from the other room, and you just sighed. Of course it wasn’t enough for you to sacrifice your future with Hunter for his (and the rest of his family’s safety), now you had to be reminded of your treachery in what felt like the worst way. 

***

Thankfully you had all the parts necessary to refit Gonky for some new wires, and you communicated that in a message to the Batch, who promised to return in a few hours to pick up the droid. By the time the bells on your door jingled, you thought you were ready to face the people you abandoned once more. 

Until only Hunter stepped through the doorway, a solemn look on his face. 

This time, it was clear he wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t know you. “Why did you leave?”

You stopped what you were doing, thankfully managing to hold onto the wrench in your hands so it didn’t go clattering to the floor. “I told you,” you said softly, not wanting to show any sign of regret, of weakness. You were still being hunted, and until the galaxy was free of the Empire’s hold, you had to be aware of that. Lying to him hurt, but you still believed it to be the only option.

“Two lines of scribble on a piece of flimsi isn’t enough,” he said. “And look, I’ve made my peace with things if you truly didn’t want to be around me anymore, but I need to hear it from you.” 

You opened your mouth, all set to force the lie loose from your throat, but you couldn’t do it. “It doesn’t matter what I want,” you said. “The Empire has put a price on my head, and I couldn’t stomach being the reason that you, any of your brothers, or Omega got caught.”

“Why didn’t you say that?” he asked. 

At this point, it was taking a lot for you not to break. “Because I thought it would be easier, for all of us. Things between you and me were getting more serious, and I knew I wasn’t strong enough to resist if you asked me to stay.” 

You expected him to respond, to say something about how they would protect you, how you would be safer all together, or for him to even to nod, take Gonky, and leave. You didn’t expect him to start laughing. 

“What?” Now you were confused. 

When he finally stopped, your eyebrows were raised. “You know we have a price on our head that’s almost double the one on yours, right?” 

“No, I-” 

But he cut you off. “Maybe it wasn’t when you ran away, but now? We’ve caused a lot of chaos that the Empire isn’t happy about. We’re actually looking for a way to lay low for a while, and since it was an accident running into you here, maybe you could give us some pointers?”

Well, that was one of your questions answered. There was a hopeful edge to his voice that you found yourself falling for, and you thought that even though you had bolted in the middle of the night, you found yourself foolishly hoping that maybe there would still be a future for you, with him. 

“I’ve got a pretty big place here,” you said softly, and the implication was clear. “I wouldn’t mind if you crashed for a while.” 

Things between you wouldn’t fixed in a day, a week, or a month. There was still work to be done if you ever wanted to get back to the way things used to be, and maybe that was impossible. But you were willing to put that work in, to help mend where you had broken when you slipped out of the ship in the dead of night all that time ago. 

“I’d like that,” he said, and the two of you stepped closer to one another, close enough for him to take your hand. “As long as I don’t have to worry about you running away again.” 

You laughed. "I'm not leaving. Not this time"

- the end -

[heyclickadee]

A couple things:

1. The thing is, I actually don’t really think we’re done with the bad batch, for a variety of reasons. There’s too much unresolved, for one thing, and “end of this chapter with these characters” is not how anyone says, “We’re never touching this again.” I really do think we’re getting an immediate follow up with more of a focus on Rex and Echo, but that the rest of the bad batch will still pop in from time to time, giving all of them a chance to round out the last little bit of their stories and character arcs—because they are all just a little bit undercooked. (For example: Crosshair doesn’t even get lines after Tantiss, and the last thing he says about himself takes him from implicitly to explicitly suicidal. The hug is beautiful and cements his place as part of the family, but we never get a moment where he forgives himself or no longer believes that he deserves to die. His redemption arc is magnificent, but it needs that last little push to feel fully resolved).

And, for another variety of reasons, I actually do still think we’ll be getting Tech back in one way or another. So much of what is left unresolved in TBB forms a chalk outline around a Tech-shaped void, for one. The writers aren’t committed enough to have come up with a decent reason for why he had to go in the first place—stakes does not cut it and is actively undermined by never treating it like a character death—for another. They were, at the very least, not committed enough to actually kill him. Tech is the only character in a show that loves making us watch who doesn’t die on screen, and the only one who’s “death” moves nothing forward and is never treated like an actual death. And we have no definitive proof he actually died, for another. (Even if he was CX-2—CX-2 got “killed” two other times on screen and popped up five minutes later each time like a daisy. If you do that you’re going to have to burn the body and scatter the ashes for me to think he’s dead, impalement or no. Besides, you can’t definitively kill a main character via subtext. You still have to be clear and direct.) And Tech has too many callback lines and potential survival foreshadowing for someone to never tug on them at some point, for another. You’d have to kill me to keep me from doing something with, “Better late than dead.” Basically, tl:dr, I think Tech will come back someday, whether they have plans or not.

Because I can’t really get on board with the idea that The Bad Batch was just always badly written. I can’t agree with that. It was never perfect, of course, but it was always remarkably well written and thematically consistent for 46 straight episodes and then tripped on the chalk of the finish line. Besides, I’ve never seen bad writing that was perfectly set up amazing writing if all they did was one simple thing—ie, follow through with what they set up. It’s not that the ending is bad, it’s that it’s bad in this particularly insane way. If it was just normal bad, I’d have dropped The Bad Batch like a rock by now and done my best to forget I’d ever watched it. But because it’s bad like this—basically, a non-ending that resolves nothing but Hunter’s Cut Lawquane arc, Rampart (which was good, actually), and the problem of Hemlock continuing to draw breath (which was just the last major obstacle in Hunter’s Cut Lawquane arc, so it’s not even a separate thing) and answers NO questions—I’m obsessed.

And I can’t get behind the idea that The Bad Batch ending is like this and that we got shorted a Tech return because they got shorted a season. I’ve seen many serialized animated shows that got shorted a season or more, and what every one of them did was cut out everything they could in the middle so that they could get to the resolution they wanted, squash the originally planned last season’s arcs into the actual last season—not leave those arcs undone and the resolution out. The only way them being shorter a season works as an explanation for all of this is if the creative team found out season three was the last at the same time we did. And even then, the solution there would have been to take out five minutes of fight scene and replace it with five minutes of resolving everything in the short and stupid but still THERE way.

For example: Give Wrecker and Crosshair one line each after Tantiss that tells us what they’re going to do. Unmask CX-2 as Tech after spearing him (or don’t spear him) and add one line where Hunter says he’s recovering and that it’ll be a long road, but they won’t give up on him. Or! If you don’t want to bring Tech back in the short and stupid but there way, add a line to the epilogue where Hunter tells Omega, “I see Tech when I look at you sometimes. I don’t want to lose you the way we lost him,” which seems like a no brainer, or, “Tech would have been so proud of you,” which is absolutely a no-brainer if you actually want to close things out for Tech. Tech would still be gone, but at least it’d be resolved, and that’s all short, simple stuff you could add to the very last episode to make it feel finished. If you’re shorted a season or even a few episodes, you cut everything that doesn’t matter, you do whatever you can to get your story resolved—unless you have somewhere else to put it. Which, given how open Star Wars canon is and how heavily it relies on recontextualization, is a very real possibility here.

What I think may have happened here is that The Bad Batch ended up being the first part of a longer story that had to be artificially cut in half. Whether it was always planned that way, whether it was something that unexpectedly happened partway through the production of season three, or a secret third option (the creative team set things up to to be resolved in three seasons but always wanted to do a longer version, but the longer version (in the form of another show) didn’t get greenlit until they’d already written most of season three, so all the payoff got schlorped over to that follow up show while the payoff stayed in this one, leaving us, the audience, with this incredibly unsatisfying mess of a finale in the meantime while whoever is in charge of announcing shit at Lucasfilm doesn’t see the problem). Put a pin in CX-2, slap something that looks like a happy ending on the rest, resolve nothing, do it all in the next thing.

(Slight sidebar: If it turns out that the reason we didn’t get Tech back is because something went horrifically wrong during the writer’s strike—basically, the finale got hit with extreme budget cuts and the script patched by AI—I think we’d still get Tech back. Tech in the first two seasons was something of a writer blorbo, and no one is leaving their blorbo dead over that. That’s a good way for them to bring back their blorbo and have that blorbo murder the hell out of a thinly disguised CEO insert.)

And if that’s what we’re looking at—well, okay. I can see wanting to give certain things (especially a Tech return) more time. If this is what’s happening I actually think it will be more satisfying in the long run, from a story perspective, anyway. I’ll be able to live with that.

That said….

2. If that’s the case—if what we’re looking at is a story artificially split in half one way or another and we are getting a Tech return and the rest of the resolution eventually in an immediate follow up, something that will ultimately work really well in the long run—that doesn’t mean I think it works now. Right now, it’s awful, from every angle. We don’t know for sure that anything else is coming, it makes for a deeply unsatisfying story right now because the “ending” we have is all we have to go on, and it’s unnecessarily stressful for most everyone but especially the autistic fans who relate to Tech.

And the thing is, if Tech were neurotypical? I don’t think we’d really be question the idea that he could still come back eventually. He’s a clear writer favorite to the point that they basically gave him the entirety of season two, except the two Crosshair episodes, great lines and moments in other character’s episodes, and they apparently liked using him so much that either CX-2 was Tech or they physically couldn’t stop themselves from writing and animating Tech in a season he wasn’t in. Killing off one of the writer faves and the fan favorite in order to bring them back later is something that happens. But it’s something that hits differently when that writer and fan favorite is also the only canonically autistic character in the franchise.

Which. Is I think where we run into a problem. You see, I never really got the impression that the creative team ever thought of Tech as The Autistic One. Does that mean I think the didn’t write him as autistic? Of course not—they absolutely did, and did so intentionally. What I mean is that that wasn’t the sum total or even the primary way in which they thought of him, otherwise I think we would have ended up with a terrible Sheldon-Cooper-esque. Instead, the Tech they wrote, and the Tech we got, is just a guy. A really amazing guy who’s noticeably different and autistic AF, but treated like any other character. And on the one hand, great! I know people have a lot of different ideas about this, but I personally want writers to deal with autistic characters that way—to just write us like we’re people. And if what they’re doing is bringing Tech back later and on a longer timeframe than what we expected—also great. It means that all the ambiguity, hinting, and complete and total lack of processing or closure makes sense, because that’s how you write a fakeout death. That’s textbook how you write a fakeout death. But—but—

The flip-side of just treating Tech like any other character and, perhaps, playing a long game with “killing” him off and bringing him back later like someone would do with a fan favorite, if that’s what they’re doing, is that you end up in the situation that we’re in right now. The interim situation where it feels like Tech’s sacrifice was never given the weight it needed to feel final or meaningful, where we’re given no closure and no opportunity to let go, where we DON’T know if anything is coming next even if we do get hints, where Tech got dropped, where nothing makes sense, and where the autistic fans in the audience who relate to Tech feel like Star Wars kicked them in the face and told them that they don’t belong here.

So.

I want this to be a long game, and I do think this could, one, be a situation where they team is having to work around some kind of corporate shenanigans to play that long game, and; two, could end up being a fantastic story that I love even more than the version I wanted.

But even if I’m right and that is the case, I also hate that this is where we’re at in the here and now, that it’s hurt people as badly as it has, and think that they should never do anything like this again, because the game stopped being fun a long time ago.

tl;dr: I don’t think we’re done yet, I think this is part of a longer story, I think we’ll get Tech back at some point whether it was planned or not, but I also hhhaaaaaatte the current situation and think it’s been mishandled.

[flower-boi16]

The Duality of Luz and Hunter's Mental States in Thanks to Them

Hollow Mind is a pretty big turning point for both Luz and Hunter's characters, as they are both faced with traumatizing revelations that follow them for the rest of the series. But something that I find interesting is how both characters go in exact opposite directions in terms of their mental health after Hollow Mind.

It's no secret that, prior to Hollow Mind, Hunter was stuck in an abusive environment, never being able to make any friends or have much of a social life due to being isolated from kids his age by Belos as a way to keep Hunter close to him, so Belos could keep on manipulated and lying to Hunter, making him think he's doing the right thing.

In Hollow Mind, Hunter is faced with the truth that, Belos, the person he looked up to his whole life, was secretly a terrible person who was just using him all along, an never truly cared for him, that he's only just a clone intended to be a "better" version of his brother, Caleb, one that wouldn't betray Belos and stay loyal to him. Oh, and that he also cloned and killed his own brother over and over again. Hunter is obviously traumatized by this, having his whole worldview flip on his head and having to come to terms with the fact that his whole life and everything he knew was a lie.

But...after this, Hunter's well-being and mental health actually change for the better. Obviously, he's still traumatized by these revelations, but he's also now officially out of the abusive environment that he was stuck in for his whole life, now surrounded by people who support him fully. He has real friends now that he can rely on too now, no longer being isolated for his whole life.

And, while he hasn't fully healed from his trauma, and still has to keep his secret about being a grimwalker, Thanks to Them shows him healing from it due to being in a much more supportive environment. He's allowed to actually...be a kid for once, obsessing over sci-fi books with Gus and having fun with his friends during the summer. Thanks to Them shows that Hunter, while still traumatized and not fully healed, is on a road to recovery due to him escaping the abusive environment he was trapped in for years.

Luz, meanwhile, is the exact opposite. Luz's was doing well mentally up until Hollow Mind, where, she's faced with her traumatizing revelation that she helped Belos meet the collector, meaning she had some part in Belos' plan for the day of unity. After being hit with this, Luz's mental health slowly begins to go on a downward spiral, as she blames herself for the day of unity happening, believing it's her fault due to helping Belos. It begins her depression arc where she falls into a pit of self-loathing.

Her mental health only gets worse from this point onward, as in King's Tide, Luz fails to save the Boiling Isles and is separated from King and Eda, not knowing if they are even alive or not while there's god child running around causing chaos.

Thanks to Them shows Luz at her lowest point. She's now completely gone into a depressive state, no longer being the happy-go-lucky, bubbly Luz she was before. She still feels immense guilt over helping Belos and her self-loathing only seems to have gotten worse. She thinks that she'll lose all of her friends if she tells them what she did, believing that they'll never forgive her, showing how much guilt Luz feels over helping Belos and how much she believes it's her fault.

Luz even thinks that, throughout her whole time in the demon realm, she did nothing but make mistakes that ended up hurting others she cared about, and that her friends are all better off without her because she thinks she does nothing except make things worse for the people around her. The episode even goes as far as to give Luz flat out suicidal thoughts, as she says that it would be better if she never existed at all.

Thanks to Them shows Luz and Hunter's contrasting mental states after Hollow Mind, one closing off and becoming more depressed while the other gets in a more supportive environment and is healing from his trauma.

Just an interesting thing I noticed.

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

The Bad Batch Episode 5 Spoilers:

I’m so glad that the episode showed that Hunter didn’t just forgive Crosshair and welcomed him with open arms because, let’s be real, it’s never that realistic to just forgive someone who hurt you so much in the past that easily and the fact that Hunter and Crosshair were just struggling to get along with each other because of their past was great. I wanted them to struggle with each other and then find a way to be brothers again because in the end, they both need it, they’re still brothers despite everything. I do hope we see Crosshair fully forgiven because his relationship with Hunter is still on shaky ground.

That being said, I also hope Crosshair shows more happier or kinder emotions later in the season because the scene where he’s honoring Mayday and Mayday’s crew showed that Crosshair has a caring heart, but it’s been buried by years of being told that he’s nothing more than a soldier. Crosshair deserves to show his more vulnerable side and open up about his trauma and the fact he feels useless because the people who can help him with his problems are literally right in front of him.

[satansapostle6]

love and blood | killian jones

The course of history is changed forever when a ruggedly charming pirate’s fate is intertwined with that of a dark sorceress more powerful than any he had ever encountered.

Warnings: Violence. Mature themes/language. Sexual content.

IV. Dark Ones

V. The Witch’s Champion

Killian Jones watched with curiosity as Gorgon the supposedly Invincible rose to his feet as he offered his services to the Blood Queen.

“Thank you for your allegiance, Gorgon,” her silky voice responded. “It will not go unrewarded.”

The sorceress slowly waved two bejeweled fingers in front of the man, as, just for a split second, all of the veins in his body seemingly glowed bright red with magic. Gorgon gasped in surprise, looking upon his savior with an almost naive sense of wonder.

“What have you done?” he asked her.

“It would appear I’ve removed that nasty blood curse of yours,” she provided, only to be met with confusion. “I have a knack for that sort of magic,” she explained.

“I don’t understand,” Gorgon breathed, “No sorcerer, or sorceress, of course, has eved been able to find a cure for the curse placed upon me.”

“Like I said; blood magic is kind of my specialty,” Carmilla remarked coyly.

“An understatement,” the man stared. “Your gift is quite remarkable.”

“And now, you, too, are free to use your gift,” she reminded him.

Hook instinctively looked to his companion for an explanation, not knowing much about this Gorgon character.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Gorgon told her.

“Back when those hunters were stalking you… You took the form of a pheasant. That blood curse that was placed upon you, it made it so that you were unable to control what form you take, or when. I’ve made it so that not only are you free of that curse, but you’re free to harness your ability to take whatever shape you desire,” she answered.

“My fair lady!” Gorgon gasped. “If what you say is true, I owe you more than I could ever repay!”

“As I said before. You owe me nothing,” Carmilla promised, “Except, of course, your services as my champion.”

“Anything,” he nodded quickly. “Now. Tell me more about this for that plagues you.”

Hook stood by Carmilla’s side as the bird remained perched on her shoulder, anxiously awaiting the development of this particular endeavor. He was slowly growing tired of Gorgon and his relentless flattery.

“The man I wish to defeat is a very powerful sorcerer; the most powerful,” she replied. “He holds the title of ‘Dark One’.”

Hook watched Gorgon’s reaction and realized this meant nothing to him. This should be interesting, he thought.

“His powers are unique?” Gorgon considered.

Carmilla nodded. “Very much so. He is, as you’ve probably gathered, a conduit of darkness itself. He’s powerful, immortal, and can only be killed by one weapon.”

“And where do we find this weapon?” Gorgon asked readily.

Hook could tell Carmilla was loving his vigilance on her behalf. It was very convenient.

“That’s the tricky part; he keeps it safely guarded,” she stated, “He’s never far from it.”

“And there’s no other weapon that can kill him?”

“Even if there was, it’s imperative you kill him with his dagger,” she emphasized, “Because if you kill him with that dagger, you take his place as Dark One.”

Gorgon considered this for a moment, processing everything he’d just heard.

“I’d be immortal?” he asked her.

Carmilla nodded. “You’d be more powerful than any sorcerer in all the realms. Including myself.”

“Forgive me for asking, my lady,” he began, “But I don’t quite see why you need me. Would it not be better if you simply killed this ‘Dark One’ yourself, and took his place?”

Hook raised an eyebrow as he turned to Carmilla, fully aware that whatever she was about to tell this man was a complete lie; Carmilla needed a champion to kill Dunstan for her and take the mantle of Dark One purely because even she knew, in all her vindictive and power-hungry glory, that the title of Dark one was not one to be coveted.

“You see, Gorgon, I’ve already come quite close to achieving immortality, as well as eternal youth,” she explained, not yet lying. “I’m over a thousand years old, for starters.”

Gorgon was at the point of shamelessly open-mouth staring at her.

“Y-You’re a thousand years old?!” he blurted out.

“Yes, I am,” she nodded, “You see, I chose to seek out a knight in shining armor, so to speak, because I have already harnessed my power. Now, it’s your turn. To become the fearsome shapeshifter you were always meant to be, and to fulfill your destiny as the next and final Dark One,” she finished with a sweet, deceptive smile.

The enticing look on her face was completely foreign to Hook. He even started to wonder if Carmella truly was completely honest with him solely because it seemed this is what it looked like when she lied.

“‘Fearsome’?” he wondered. “I could truly become Gorgon the Invincible?”

“You can, mate,” Hook nodded. “All you have to do is come with us.”

Gorgon thought for a moment, never having been faced with such a choice in his life.

“These shapeshifting powers… They’ve never made the others see me as any sort of champion,” he thought. “I’ve only ever been an outcast; a monster, or a weakling.”

“That all changes today,” Carmilla promised. “Now that your curse is lifted, you don’t have to live in fear. You don’t have to be the helpless pheasant anymore; you could choose to be whatever you like. A flighty hawk, a noble steed, or even a fire-breathing wart hog; whatever it is your heart desires.”

“A fire-breathing war hog?” Gorgon pondered.

“Sky’s the limit,” Hook nodded.

It only took him a moment to side with Carmilla.

“I will do as you ask, my lady,” Gorgon announced with resolved, hand over his heart. “I will become the next Dark One.”

“Oh, I know you will,” Carmilla agreed, grinning uncontrollably.

*****

After a bit of coaching, Gorgon was able to used his newly discovered magical abilities to transport himself, Carmilla, and Hook to his home in the blink of an eye in a cloud of emerald green smoke. He had insisted upon preparing a meal for her his guests, which left Hook and Carmilla to sit at his table, which was large enough for four but was used to sitting one.

“Might I ask you something, Carmilla?” Hook piped up after a moment.

“If I said no, I’m sure you’d just ask anyway,” she reasoned pointedly.

“Fair enough.”

“So ask,” she said impatiently.

“Back there, in the forest,” he began, having been contemplating for a while. “You were able to rid Gorgon, a shapeshifter, of his curse.”

“I was.”

“So, why were you never able to cure Col?” Hook wondered.

He watched Carmilla’s jaw clench as the raven cawed quietly, head turned towards her. This was one of the moments where Hook particularly wished he could understand the bird. Carmilla lightly cleared her throat before speaking.

“The witch who cursed him knew my magic well,” she answered, surprising earnestly.

There was no petty irritation or sarcasm in her words.

“She knew that if she cursed him using blood magic, I would never be able to undo it. No matter what I did. The magic she was able to do was, admittedly, impressive. Even to me. Powerful stuff,” she confessed. “Not only did she make the curse impermeable, but… she managed to tether it to his life force.”

“How do you mean?” Killian asked quietly.

He watched the discomfort appear on her face for a split second before she composed herself.

“Even if I did find a way to break Col’s curse…” Carmilla told him.

He frowned sympathetically.

“He’d die.”

Her story finally made everything make sense to Hook. Now, it made even more sense to him. Carmilla, the all-powerful blood magic practitioner, couldn’t break the curse that plagued her husband because he’d die if she did. She kept him alive in his cursed raven form only because it was better than losing him altogether. The story, he thought, truly was a tragic one.

“So now you understand,” Carmilla read the expression of pity on his face, “Why his curse is the only one I cannot break.”

He nodded sadly, trying to come up with something better to offer. He looked at her, with Col sitting perched on her shoulder. The bird refused to look at her now, and even though to him it was just a bird, Killian Jones still knew the look of a man who resented his wife.

“How about we digress,” he suggested, his demeanor more playful once again, “And I ask you the other question on my mind.”

“By all means,” Carmilla allowed, seeming somewhat withdrawn.

“Why, pray tell,” Hook leaned in as he stared into her dark eyes, “Wouldn’t you, a powerful sorceress, jump at the opportunity to become the Dark One?” he murmured.

Carmilla just laughed at the idea. “Why, pirate?” she said mockingly. “Do I not frighten you enough?”

“Oh, you frighten me plenty,” he assured her. “I just don’t understand why that kind of unlimited power, and unbridled dark magic wouldn’t appeal to you.”

“Simple,” she murmured, careful to make sure Gorgon wasn’t in earshot. “I’m powerful; perhaps one of the most powerful practitioners of magic in all the realms. I’ve lived for over a thousand years all on my own. Becoming the Dark One would make the dagger my weakness, and I simply don’t need one of those,” she replied simply.

Hook understood her point, agreeing that it was prudent of her not to choose to become the Dark One, as convenient as it would be for him in his quest to exact his revenge upon the current Dark One in their time, Rumplestiltskin.

-

[clickerflight]

Kane and Jim - The Final Apology

This is a fanbit that I haven't been able to kick out of my head for months now, so I suppose it must be written. Takes place in @whumpsday 's series about Kane and Jim, a fair amount of years after Jim got Kane from the hunters. It's a little flowery, but everyone deserves to have a bit of flowery writing now and again. (despite the title sounding so final, no one dies XD)

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

Time is a great healer. It was a cliche almost as annoying as a little sister trying to ‘borrow’ your newly unwrapped presents at Christmas, but it was fairly true. There would always be scars, but the wounds would heal. It was slow enough that you probably wouldn’t even notice, until one day you realized they didn’t really hurt anymore only because you could remember how debilitating the pain had once been. 

The evening was warm, and after taking a nap that afternoon to get away from the summer heat, Jim wasn’t ready for bed yet. Instead, he took a stroll out in the garden and then sat down at the patio table, listening to the sounds of the soft wind in the trees and the frogs out in the creek. 

He could hear Kane moving around in the house before coming out, his eyes glinting slightly in the dark as he set a drink down by Jim on the table. 

“Thanks,” Jim murmured as Kane sat down in the other chair. 

“No problem,” Kane replied, leaning back and looking up at the stars. 

Time was a great healer. Jim was no longer so paranoid going outside at night (probably helped by Kane not being out to get him and even protecting him on occasion), the silver door had been removed from Kane’s basement room, and the two were often found outside in the evenings. Jim couldn’t remember the last time he or Kane had accidentally given each other a panic attack. Those days of fear and uncertainty felt like so long ago. 

He was not subservient to Kane, but Kane was no longer timid either, nor did he see Jim as some merciful deity. They were equals. They were equals and just that fact by itself was more satisfying than Jim could have ever imagined. 

As this was an evening for reflecting, it seemed, Kane was thinking along similar lines. He thought back to all of the fear that he’d put Jim through, and all of the torture he himself had been forced to undergo. It had always haunted and plagued him, invading his thoughts as if people were whispering to him every day, telling him that he deserved it or that he would never be worthy. Voices he remembered from captivity.

However, time was a great healer. But it wasn’t the only healer. He was ready. It had taken him years, more than a decade to get to this point, but he was willing to take that last step. Forgiveness had already taken place between the two of them, but forgiving yourself was harder. And the most difficult part was letting it all go. 

“Jim.”

“Yeah?”

Kane turned, able to see his friend clearly in the darkness. “I am truly sorry.”

There was a moment of confusion, and then Jim opened his mouth to brush the apology off as he had done hundreds of times before, but he quickly stopped himself. He could sense the power in the phrase, more meaning behind it than he had even heard on the first day he’d had Kane. Instead of the assurances he offered so many times when that phrase came up, he replied, “I know. Thank you.”

Kane took a deep breath and let it out slowly, along with all the tension in his mind and body, forcing himself to fully and truly let everything go. He wasn’t ever going to fall to old habits, he wasn’t going to harm another person for his own gain, he wasn’t ever going back, so there was no need to keep it all fresh in his mind, as though he needed a reminder to keep from going backwards. He didn’t need it anymore, so he let it go. 

Jim picked up his drink, almost a bit dazed. It was the final apology. It was the true apology. A much younger Jim had daydreamed about killing Kane and making him understand what he had done had been so viscerally awful, that he needed to give his soul to make it up to Jim. He’d wanted to wring that apology from a cold, nearly dead throat, but he’d always known he would never get the apology that way. After seeing Kane after picking him up from the hunters, he had assumed he would never receive that dream apology, but here it was years later given to him with the sounds of frogs and wind. 

Time is the great healer, but it is up to each person to finally let the memory of the injury go and not only be healed, but to be free.

[sarnai4]

A Trio Of Perfection

(Spoilers ahead for RTTE). There's never been a time when I didn't like Dagur. I always thought he was a fun character, but I'm so glad that he turned good because his character grew so much more. There are three episodes in his post-redemption time that I feel do the best to show him.

The first is "Enemy of My Enemy." For this episode, I truly realized how competent Dagur is. It's not that he wasn't before, but with him being on the good side, we're able to see that directed in a better direction. At each turn, he's proving how capable he is in multiple situations. Obviously, he can fight. He easily dispatches the Hunters throughout the episode and does so stealthily too. That much I expected. The fun details were how cognizant he was of leaving trails, clearing up Hiccup's and his own so that no one followed. Along with that, we can see some of his practical skills with survival. He found a hidden shelter with fresh water nearby. It doesn't seem like Hiccup saved him by showing up just in time. Dagur was actually doing fine. He might have been lonely, but I'm almost not even convinced of that, however, I'll circle back to that. We also see Dagur's competency with softer moments, not being rough with Toothless who's hurt by the Dragon Root; more of his intelligence since he had the wherewithal to memorize the antidote; and his emotional intelligence since he can tell what's going on with Hiccup and tries to steer him away from his path of vengeance. Another little touch is how we saw his other practical skills like being a great swimmer since he got to the ship and also being a capable sailor since he was able to use it without any other Vikings there.

Returning to my point about Dagur possibly not being lonely, he just became my idol for all things introverted. The episode sort of tries to play it like spending all that time alone got to his mind more, but it actually helped. Speaking honestly, Dagur will never be fully sane and I'm glad they didn't try to unrealistically have that happen. His issue isn't being "crazy," it's being evil. He fixed that. Since being born, Dagur's been surrounded by 50,000+ Vikings. That's smothering. Even when he was on his own in "The Night and the Fury," he wasn't alone. The others were on the side of Dragon Island. Now, Dagur finally is alone and it's not a devastating thing. It's enlightening. It gives him time to think about what he wants in life. What he wants. Not what his father would have wanted, or what's expected of him as chief, just how he wants to make his life matter. Dagur said hours upon hours of alone time did him well and he was telling the truth. It gave him the chance to reflect, decide that he wanted to really have a family and make friends, and start taking measures to make this happen (meditation to control his temper more). I LOVE this episode. I could analyze it all day long, but for the sake of not taking up too much time in one post, I'll go to the other two episodes.

The second one is "Family on the Edge." Now that the audience is aware of Dagur wanting to be good, we're able to have less of the "Are you being serious right now?" type of scenes and focus on how he wants to go through his plan. It shows that he's not one to sit on his hands and hope things improve. He's willing to do everything he can to make things up to Heather and the others. He wants to apologize to them all and prove he means it. Something I love is that Dagur doesn't even feel entitled to their forgiveness. He knows he's done terrible things and that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn't be so forgiving either. This also shows us more of Dagur's emotional side since he does try to hide it from them. We see in "Gold Rush" and "Mi Amore Wing" that he's not shy about being teary-eyed in front of others when the reason isn't overly personal. Still, he wanted to leave before the Riders could see him crying when he thought that the one family he could have didn't want him. This leads to a part of the episode that I think is so beautiful. Dagur immediately goes into protective mode when he sees through Viggo's trap. He doesn't care that he was rejected by his sister and the Riders. He just wants to keep them alive. When he goes to the ships later, he's actually fighting against Heather who still thinks he's there to betray that. Imagine that. You wrote a goodbye letter because you knew that you could die while going through with something and the very person you're doing this for is trying to stop you. Only, they're not doing that out of love. They're trying to stop you because they just can't accept the truth that you want them to be okay and are assuming you're trying to hurt them. Dagur didn't even care that Heather had basically threatened to torture him earlier (mentioning how she could think of some things to do to him when they got back). If saving her meant death, then that's fine by him.

The third episode I love for Dagur is "Searching for Oswald...and Chicken." We see more of Dagur's protectiveness here, but it's also at what I consider to be a healthy level. He isn't the type of protector who won't let you go anywhere. He just wants you to do it in the safest way possible and if he sees that it'll hurt you, then he'll try to prove why it's a problem. He still knows she trusts Hiccup more than she trusts him and he goes there to get the Berkian to support him in this. At this point, Dagur doubts Oswald's alive and he doesn't want Heather getting hurt anymore. If all he can give her are a few answers about what happened to their father, then he'll do whatever he can. Even when the Sentinels try to not let them enter, he finds a way. When Dagur's confronted with the possibility that he's alive, he doesn't even know how to feel. This goes back to him hiding his emotions, but he breaks here when he's looking at that shelter. He tries to use humor to shrug off how scared he is, but it doesn't work because he has no time to delay. He has to open that door and find...what? A man who might hate him for leaving him on the island? A parent who might have hated him enough to leave in the first place? A former chief whose title was taken without it being properly handed down? A father who, even if he didn't hate him before, likely would after he'd explained every horrible thing he's ever done? When it's revealed that Oswald's already dead, it goes back to Dagur's own experiences. He also had been shipwrecked, but he found clarity and hope for the future. When Oswald was shipwrecked, he found only death and solitude. Still, Dagur doesn't let this break him. He reads the note, continues his father's fight for the dragons, and returns with the information he had promised himself he would give to Heather.

I really could go on and on, but I'll stop here. Every moment with Dagur is one I enjoy, but these episodes just are chock-full of them in my opinion. So many of the reasons I love to analyze Dagur are contained here.

[tallseaweed]

Relinquish Your Burden: Chapter 2

Word Count: 2.9k

1,277 days.

42 months.

3½ years.

No matter how Mobius construed the data, time was passing. It was a phenomenon he was shockingly unfamiliar with.

The irony was far from lost on him. He, Mobius M. Mobius, a literal agent of time itself, had never truly experienced the very thing he'd been trying to protect for as far back as his modified memories allowed. Laughable really.

At first, he'd kept track of the passing days for the sheer novelty of being able to. Now, it just left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Because each day that passed was another day without him.

How was he supposed to move on, knowing that somewhere out at the edge of time, Loki was holding together the multiverse all by himself? He was stuck eternally shouldering a burden that should never have needed to be his to bear.

Why had he thought it was the only way?

Loki had seemed so sure, but minutes before he'd been fully on board with attempting to use Victor's Throughput Multiplier.

To Mobius, it seemed like some other force was at play, but he couldn't see how. They'd fixed Loki's time slipping! He'd literally risked his own skin to do so.

And he knew he'd do it again a thousand times over.

Sometimes, Mobius almost found himself wishing he could go back; before the multiverse had been unleashed, before Loki had met Sylvie, back when he thought his life had meaning. He always shut down that train of thought immediately. How selfish was he? Everyone in the multiverse now had free will, and he was missing a time when he'd been intentionally pruning innocents?

Yes, he could argue that he'd been brainwashed, but as Loki had been quick to point out:

"You and I here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free."

He'd had the free will to do something back then, but had been perfectly happy to let himself believe they were the good guys.

But maybe he wasn't giving himself enough credit. He had cared once, back when he hadn't been able to prune that 8-year-old boy in the Black Sea. That little slip had cost the lives of a couple of Hunters, and Ravonna never forgiven him for it. Hell, he hadn't been able to forgive himself either. But that little boy had been so carefree, so happy. At one point Mobius had a heart, but his work at the TVA left it damaged, covered in scar tissue.

"You know where I'd go if I could go anywhere? Wherever it is I'm really from.

Yeah, wherever I had a life before the TVA came along."

No, It wasn't the TVA he missed. It was Loki.

The God of Mischief's absence was the main reason Mobius hadn't been able to stay. It had been torture, constantly expecting to see him come around the corner with some new ingenious idea, or to sit down at Mobius's desk and strike up their usual banter.

That specific brand of emotional torture—paired with Sylvie's confrontation before Loki's sacrifice—had led him to where he was now: the midwestern sprawl of Cleveland Ohio.

"You found out you're a Variant, and you haven't even looked, have you?

It's just another bad day at the office for you. Timelines are just lines on a monitor. Doesn't matter if a few disappear.

Because you've never bothered to look if one of them was yours."

Well, he sure was looking now.

After Loki's sacrifice, Sylvie had been quick to leave the TVA behind. Luckily, he, B-15, and O.B. had managed to confirm that they'd be able to communicate with her TemPad in case they ever needed her help again. When Mobius had decided to leave the TVA, he'd sent her a message letting her know where he was going. He was shocked when she actually showed up to give him a send-off. The gesture had meant a lot to him.

After her quick departure, he'd spent the majority of his first weeks on this timeline covertly watching Don from a distance. Everything about his Variant fascinated him. Mobius had always been good with young Variants, but he'd never envisioned himself as a father. Kids weren't permitted at the TVA for obvious reasons, so it was somewhat jarring for him to see how naturally Don took to the role.

Fatherhood aside, there were more similarities than differences between them. When Mobius had seen where Don worked and that they shared a passion for jet skis, he'd been over the moon.

It was relieving—and a little disconcerting—that the TVA hadn't been able to take that from him. He cherished the reminder of his humanity, but it also served as undeniable evidence that he'd actually had a life before the TVA. One that he still wasn't sure he wanted to know about, even if Sylvie offered to release his memories.

So he'd kept that uncomfortable curiosity at bay by watching Don.

After a while, he began to feel a little creepy. It was one thing to analyze people from the temporal distance of the TVA or every once in a while on a field mission, but doing it while living on the timeline felt distinctly stalkerish.

He'd decided it was about time he got a job and a place of his own. By then, he'd started to run low on the 21st-century American dollars from the TVA's stock that B-15 had sent him off with. "For until you find a place to land," she'd said.

Ultimately, he'd decided that he would try to live a life that was somewhat similar to Don's. If it satisfied his Variant, maybe it would someday satisfy him too. Anything to fill the void Loki's absence left behind. Luckily, he'd had just enough money left to scrape together a month's rent for a modest apartment. From there, he'd managed to use his passion for jet skis to pull a job at a water sports rental shop.

He enjoyed the job, particularly how it gave him the opportunity to use his people skills in ways other than interrogation. His extraordinary work ethic had even secured him a permanent position. In the winter off-season, his duties switched from customer service to equipment maintenance and upkeep. His coworkers were incredibly kind and welcoming, but no matter how much he tried, he still felt distinctly detached. It was hard to get close to anyone when they could never know who he really was.

~

Presently, Mobius rolled over to glance at the familiar numbers on his bedside clock. 7:30 a.m.. Even on his days off from work, his body always woke him at the same time. Slowly, he pulled himself up to standing. After meticulously making his bed (a habit from the TVA he'd never been able to shake), he trudged toward the bathroom.

Pale blue eyes rimmed with dark circles met his reflection in the mirror. He'd let his hair grow longer during his time here. At first, he'd done it as a makeshift disguise in case he ever ran into Don. After a while, he'd decided he liked it that way. It felt symbolic.

"Let time pass."

~

Mobius flipped through his TV's channels, looking for the news. He enjoyed getting to hear about events that the TVA (or He Who Remains) had decided were too insignificant to monitor. He was also curious to see if he would recognize any current events. Since he was on a branched timeline and the future wasn't written anymore, anything could happen.

It wasn't long before the existential dread began pressing in. As a general rule of thumb, he avoided being in his apartment as much as he could. The small, impersonal space served as a reminder of just how alone he really was.

Hoping some fresh air would help loosen his knot of tangled emotions, he hopped into is car and drove toward Lake Erie.

~

Once parked, Mobius set off to find his usual spot on the lakeshore. He had chosen it for its balanced proximity: close enough to people to remind himself he wasn't completely isolated, but far enough away that he could still have a little privacy.

As he sat down, the frigid January air pierced through his warm layers, whipping the hair around his face. Unbidden, memories flooded from his subconscious.

Mobius rushed back toward the time theater, carelessly shoving past the various TVA workers dutifully going about their tasks. Variants. All of them. Loki hadn't been lying, the TVA had. And he hadn't believed him for a second, sending him right back into the Time Loop.

How many times had Sif berated him? "I hope you know you deserve to be alone and you always will be." He felt slightly nauseated.

The memory skipped ahead.

"Do you really believe you deserve to be alone?"

"I don't know."

Mobius's gloved fingers pulled at his hair, head bowed with guilt. In the end, Loki had ended up alone. He just prayed his friend knew he didn't deserve it.

Why should Loki have to be the one to take up the mantle the TVA should have been upholding all along? He'd fought so hard to do the right thing—bringing the TVA's despicable actions to light—and now he had to physically hold the multiverse together all by himself?

It wasn't just unfair, it was cruel. Loki had tried—really tried—to make the TVA better, and had even seemed to believe that it could be. All that misplaced hope, just to end up sacrificing himself for the cause.

"You can be whoever, whatever you wanna be, even someone good. I mean, just in case anyone ever told you different."

The smile that bloomed across Loki's face was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Hot tears stung at his eyes, slipping down his crooked nose until they fell between his knees, gathering on the concrete.

"I know what I want. I know what kind of god I need to be.

For you. For all of us."

As soon as those last words had left Loki's lips, Mobius had realized he was saying goodbye. He knew from the countless times he'd watched Loki's file that those were the same words he'd said to Odin before letting himself fall from the Bifrost.

The first time Loki had said them, he'd been using them as a cry for help, a desperate last attempt at validation from his dismissive father. This time, it was painfully clear that he'd really meant what he'd said.

"For you."

As Loki's eyes locked onto Mobius's, the bittersweet determination in his gaze shattered Mobius's heart into a million pieces.

Suddenly, his subconscious made a quick, painful segue to the memory that haunted him most.

"Mobius, if I… If I don't make it back, I…"

"You'll make it back."

"Right, but when I use this thing, I might not make it back…"

What had Loki been about to tell him? At the time Mobius had cut him off because he didn't even want to consider the pain of losing him. But now that Loki was really gone, the unspoken words constantly tormented him, picking at his grief like a scab, never allowing him to fully heal.

A green butterfly with purple wing tips landed on Mobius's knee. The tears just flowed faster.

~

"Thought I might find you here."

Mobius jolted at the familiar voice.

"Sylvie?" He whirled around.

Sure enough, Sylvie was situating herself to sit down next to him, dressed as if she'd just walked out of the '80s. Which he belatedly realized she probably had.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Am I not allowed to check in on an old friend?

"Well, see you around, I guess."

After her parting words, he hadn't actually expected to see her again, even if initially, he'd desperately hoped he would. He'd briefly considered the possibility that they might be able to grieve Loki's loss together, but quickly recalled that she wasn't the type of person who did that sort of thing. At least not for him, anyway. Centuries of hunting her down like an animal didn't earn him any favors.

At a loss for what to say, he gave a noncommittal hum and decided to change the subject. "You hungry?"

"I could go for a bite."

"Let's get some takeout. We can talk back at my place."

~

The car ride home was—awkward. He'd tried to make small talk by asking how her new life was going, but she mostly just gave him vague, distracted answers. Obviously, something was on her mind.

After a brief stop to pick up some Chinese food, they made it back to Mobius's apartment complex. He pulled into his designated parking spot and proceeded to lead her through the long winding hallways until they stood in front of his door. As he turned the key in the lock and led them inside, he winced.

Through her eyes, his place must look like a hotel room. Nice looking, but entirely impersonal. Unlived in. He'd even left the news running in the background. Glancing back and seeing her raised eyebrows, he knew he'd been right in his assumption.

"This is… nice," she said unconvincingly.

He sighed. "Yeah, well, I'm still adjusting to it all."

She nodded, opting not to comment on it any further.

After hanging up their coats, Mobius led Sylvie to his dining room table and began unboxing their food. She slid into one of the wooden chairs, and he followed suit a moment later. For a minute or so, they ate in uncomfortable silence. Then, she set down her fork.

"Mobius, I need to tell you something."

He set his fork down too, stomach roiling in apprehension. "What is it?"

"I…" she hesitated. "I did some investigating, and I think Loki might be able to come back."

Mobius froze.

"What did you say?" He whispered, almost unwilling to believe he'd heard her correctly.

She sighed. "I went to the place that Loki opened the portal to—the place where he dragged the timelines. It used to be He Who Remains' Citadel. I thought I'd find him holding on to all the timelines, and I'm pretty sure he is, but-" she paused, collecting herself. "He's formed them into a living, self-sustaining magical entity." Her shining eyes met Mobius's. "He's turned them into a multiversal Yggdrasil."

Mobius took a moment to consider what she'd just said, emotions running wild.

His immediate reaction was elated disbelief. Could she actually have found a way to help Loki? Hope was such a precarious thing, but he couldn't deny that it was beginning to take root. He wanted to jump out of his chair and spin her around with joy, but then the full meaning of what she said finally registered.

"Hang on, you're telling me you've known exactly where Loki's been this entire time and you didn't say anything?"

He'd spent every day of the past 3½ years trying to think of ways to get to Loki, but never even knew where to start. He'd assumed that Loki had gone to some obscure, unknowable place at the edge of time, but now Sylvie was telling him she'd known exactly where he'd been all along?!

"Mobius, I didn't think there was anything we could do. You saw him on the gangway, the branches died when he let go! How was I- how were any of us supposed to know that he'd be able to create something like that with the branches of the multiverse? It's literally unheard of."

He stared at her incredulously for a moment before he snapped.

"First of all, if you had stuck around at the TVA for a bit instead of immediately running off to gods knows where, you would've already known that Loki had woven the timelines into a tree! We didn't know it was self-sustaining, but maybe knowing that would've given you a reason to investigate! You of all people should know better than to assume that anyone knows the extent of what Loki is capable of. Bringing timelines to life with magic? That was unheard of too until we saw Loki do it literally right in front of us!"

She let out a resigned sigh, dropping her head into her palm. After a moment, she replied defeatedly. "Yeah, you're right." She lifted her eyes and met his. "I'm sorry, I should've told you, or at least checked sooner." Sitting up fully, she leaned forward. "But right now, I think we can do something about it. Will you help me?"

Mobius rubbed a hand over his face, exasperated. "Of course I'll help you, I'd do anything to bring Loki back. But that doesn’t mean I forgive you." He fixed her with a glare.

She raised both her hands in acquiescence. "I don't expect you to."

Selfishly, he let Sylvie fidget in the tense silence for a moment before deciding he'd let it stretch on for long enough. "So what are you planning?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but her gaze suddenly latched onto something over his shoulder, her eyes growing wide. He whirled around, expecting some sort of threat, but only saw his TV—still dutifully playing the news.

Which featured live footage of Thor Odinson battling aliens in New York.

Sylvie sucked in a breath. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I think the last part of my plan just fell into place."

"Wha-"

She pulled open a Time Door and looked back at Mobius, pointing at him in a very Loki-like fashion. "Don't move, I'll be right back."

The next second, she was gone.

Five seconds after that, Sylvie, a young girl, and the God of Thunder were all standing in his living room.

-----

Notes:

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all support you’ve shown this story!!

Poor Mobius is really going through it 😭❤️‍🩹

Next chapter we’re getting a partial Thor POV, and Sylvie explains her plan to the freshly compiled Team Free Loki.

Unfortunately, I’m about to enter finals season, so I won’t be able to post Chapter 3 for at least two weeks 😓

My entire month of December is going to be very chaotic, but starting the second week of January I’ll be updating this story weekly!

taglist:

If you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist at any point, please leave a comment or send me a message :)

@loopsisloops @muddyorbsblr @superficialdomina @infinitystoner

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[waywardsunlight]

TW: Child abuse. Speculation on the Coven Heads’ knowledge of Hunter and Belos’ relationship, and also the Collector:

Kinda headcanony in the worst way but I think Terra and Kiki knew about the grimwalkers but Lily probably didn't. If Terra was already working for Belos in the 90s she probably knew 90s Hunter. Belos sheltered them pretty heavily but it appears that Hunter is generally allowed to be around the Coven Heads and she probably saw 90s Hunter "disappear" and then our Hunter show up. I also don't doubt, since Kiki listens to everything, that she knew Hunter was a grimwalker and that made her less inclined to care when he was being abused and be more okay with enacting violence against him bc Belos already does that and “he’s not real anyways”. 

I imagine that Hettie knew something was up, even if she wasn't there as long, because she's the healing coven head and Hunter probably never went to the healing coven (he has a box of supplies in his room) which feels very weird given the amount of injuries he has and how extreme they are. I think she probably was like: Belos’ business isn’t our business and I want to stay alive, and I imagine this is true of Terra as well (and I mean, Terra loves to harm kids so like... probably didn’t care).

Lily only saw Hunter at work so she didn't realize what was going on for him and Hunter says he didn't spend time with the other scouts. Hunter was kind of like the random kid that Belos was saddling her with on the weekends. She felt he didn’t earn his place there, and she probably didn’t see his injuries because he wears his mask constantly in the EC. Raine for sure had no idea any of this was going on, they were only a coven head for a few months and even though it seems like they had a friendly relationship with Hunter, I doubt anybody told them and Hunter wouldn’t’ve either because he didn’t see it as an abusive relationship even though he was upset by it until long after he escaped.

The more questionable ones are Adrian, Darius, and Eber because on one hand I’d be surprised if they hadn’t picked up on something. Adrian is extremely cruel to Hunter and takes pleasure in hurting him which I’ve seen speculated as that he thinks Hunter is a nepotism baby. But it could also be that Adrian is in the same boat as Kiki where he feels able to harm Hunter more easily because he views Hunter as lesser than him or not as a person. 

Darius 100% knew about the grimwalkers or at the very least had extremely strong suspicions even if he didn’t have a name for it. I think Eber and Darius were in the same boat. Darius also might’ve known that Belos was an abuser but I don’t imagine he would’ve just stood by if he thought Hunter was actively being abused. I also think there’s a level of “I can’t care because I know it’s going to destroy me” with Darius but then he does give in to that and cares, and it seems like he’s in contact with Hunter for a period of time between ASIAS and Hollow Mind where their relationship really improved. I think Darius might’ve had misdirected anger at Hunter because Belos treats him openly good and talks about how Hunter is his favorite, etc. which might’ve made Darius think that Hunter wasn’t in as much danger as he actually was and driven some of that resentment. But Darius kind of checks himself I think, he realizes that Hunter isn’t a lapdog, he sees Hunter as a fully fleshed out person who he misunderstood and while it isn’t great that he was pretty mean to Hunter before this turn, I think there’s a huge level of forgiveness there because Belos really fucked everyone up.

Okay and finally really fast... Hunter and the Collector. The Collector does seem sympathetic to Hunter’s struggles despite seemingly taking joy in the fact that Belos likes to hurt him. The Collector points out Belos’ behavior a few times and seems a little self-aware about his participation but ultimately doesn’t care because his own freedom and getting to enact violence is more important to him. I think the Collector is a little weirded out by it but also finds it entertaining. Ultimately he views Hunter as another toy to play with and see how far Belos can push him until he breaks. But there’s also a little bit of that “I’m starting to think that you make these things just so you can destroy them”... kind of questioning Belos but ultimately not really caring.

[tobeblamed]

headcanon — dean & mary pt.2 : humanizing the perfect mother (link to pt.1)

when dean learned that mary was a hunter before he had ever met john, his entire worldview had changed. it was such a shocking revelation that it took him years to fully grasp how he actually felt about it.

although still shocking, dean was able to justify and excuse mary's choice at the time. she was doomed to her death, and he couldn't hold that against her given the circumstances. this was the first time he had ever met mary. he was utterly heartbroken knowing her fate.

it wasn't until dean got his mom back in season 12, that he finally began to experience his true feelings towards her (i.e. buried anger, unresolved conflict) more consciously.

he had a lot of trouble bonding with her at the beginning. for the longest time, he could excuse it. he could understand her disorientation and utter bewilderment. and even when she had explained herself, dean kept quiet because he didn't feel like he had a say on the matter. up until then, he was excusing everything she did. because she was his mom. and to his eyes, and the four-year-old boy's eyes who stood outside his burning home, holding his infant brother in his arms, waiting for his parents to come out of the house, only to find out his mom never made it out, she was a victim. tragedy happened to her.

until she joined the british men of letters, a group of people who had directly hurt his sam not long before, that he realized: she wasn't a victim. she was the cause of her own family's tragedy. mary's choice to work for the british men of letters ( no matter the reason ) had awakened buried anger and unresolved frustration that he had never had the chance to express before. because he could never be mad at her while she was dead. and now that she was alive, he didn't have an excuse for it anymore.

dean got to express everything he felt to mary. and it wasn't easy. he needed to first admit to himself, that his mother wasn't perfect. secondly, he needed to forgive her for it. because he blamed her for not being a version of something he had wanted for her. mary had never claimed herself to be perfect. that was a four-year-old boy's perception of his mother. and he had to accept that.

[heliads]

Could you please do prompt number 12 with Derek Hale! Thank you!

so many people requested this specific prompt with this specific man it delights me

masterlist

Everyone in this town has heard of Derek Hale. 

It’s impossible not to, in a way, he has his claws buried deep in everything. Who hasn’t seen the burnt out wreck of the Hale House, who hasn’t passed the graves of a family who once thought themselves untouchable? Who here hasn’t either delighted or mourned over the fact that they weren’t?

Even your little group of friends and supernatural hangers-on has some connection to Derek. All of you do, even those who could swear otherwise. Malia visits the his apartment on days when she can’t figure out the line to draw between Tate and Hale and wonders what it would be like to fall into the clutches of the latter. Lydia found out she was a banshee because she started having visions of a young Peter Hale, who is only kept in check by Derek.

And Scott, poor Scott, who has only ever wanted a pack to love and a world to protect, has been trained and tormented both by the man. Derek Hale was the closest thing Scott had to a brother outside of Stiles, the closest thing to an enemy besides the hunters. How does someone train you in all the ways of the supernatural and then raise a pack to fight against you? How could Scott, whose heart has been so fractured that he’s started giving out bleeding chunks to all who pass him by, ever forgive him? How could anyone, for that matter?

There are many complaints to be had about Derek Hale, but there are also many compliments. It is something quite terrible indeed to lose one’s entire family and pack in one go, to pick up the pieces from the smoldering ashes of your heritage and try to put them back together one by one. Derek would find a surviving sibling only for them to die weeks later, he’d mourn an uncle trapped forever in the burn ward of a hospital only for Peter to return to the living just to try and kill him.

Strength is tenuous at best in Beacon Hills, but Derek wears it on his sleeve like a heart. We have all had to respect that here, even the hunters, even his friends. You are no exception to this rule, but then again, has anyone ever been an exception? Time goes on, Derek fights his battles, he dies again and again, and he comes back. Strength is nothing to him but a lingering affection.

Yet when you ask anyone about Derek, they never seem to say that about him. They’ll admire his strength in fighting, sure, his irritating tendency to stay alive when so many want him dead, but they’ll never admire his strength outright, or at least not in all its glory. There is bloody strength, claws in rib cages, but then there is the strength to go throughout all of it and still remain open to living another day, and then another, and then another.

Derek has this in spades, and you’ve come to admire it over the months you’ve spent in knowing him. You might be the only one now who looks at him without a moment’s hesitation, who would believe in the werewolf without a second thought. Even Scott, who trusts and trusts even when it stabs him in the back, has been burned one too many times to fully count on Derek Hale.

Perhaps it’s for the best, then, that you weren’t in Scott’s shoes when Derek started raising his pack, or when any wolf who wasn’t allied with Derek Hale automatically became his enemy. You came into the thick of things later, after the damage had been done, after the promises of peace had been made and expected to be broken.

In truth, you came at the perfect time. There are bridges to be built and not burned, and you’ve had a fair hand in bringing them about. You’ve lost track of how many times you’ve been sent throughout the sprawling streets of Beacon Hills to keep track of this werewolf and warn away that one, to ask for a Hale’s help on a matter when Scott and Stiles are a little too proud to do it themselves.

Over the course of such excursions, you’ve grown fond of Derek. You can admit that now, can’t you? Now that nobody’s in your face reminding you of all the times he could have been kind and wasn’t, when he responded to the world that made him cruel by becoming exactly what it requested of him.

Derek is a good person. You only saw that in snippets at first, the regret as he closed the door in your face, the way he’d linger with his hand on the knob as if he’d open it again if you only knocked one more time. After a while, you saw it when he invited you inside, when he wouldn’t let you leave without first inquiring as to your health, your future, your happiness.

Soon enough, the words came more freely. You have considered Derek Hale to be a friend for quite some time now, and have the pleasure of assuming that he feels likewise. You may arrive at his house with a favor from the McCall pack, but you do your best to never make it feel like a burden.

That’s when five minute interactions turned into half hours and hours of talk, when Derek would be reminded of something he just had to show you and suddenly it was late into the evening, and you’d better just stay for dinner, you know, he’d hate to have you leaving hungry. It’s easy to forget yourself around him, to picture that there could ever be a world in which Derek is not Derek Hale, the survivor, and you are not Y/N L/N, the outsider.

In truth, that’s what you are. You, not werewolf, not banshee, not supernatural. Humans are increasingly rare in Beacon Hills, and it always sets you apart in Scott’s pack, as much as he might try to pretend otherwise. Stiles gets a pass because he was by Scott’s side since day one, but you feel like you’ve been having to prove yourself for quite some time.

It’s wearing on you, you can admit that now. At times like this, you quite envy Derek’s strength. How does he keep his spirits about him when he’s been through so much and still finds himself supposedly unworthy of the McCall pack’s regard?

You suppose Derek handles everything by pretending it doesn’t affect him. Stiles will swear up and down that he has no idea how you manage to talk to the guy for hours on end when Derek is notorious for never answering in anything other than monosyllabic grunts and plain insults, but you know a different man, someone who would give anything to just have someone hear him out.

That’s why you all but leap at the chance to visit him later in the afternoon. Scott called an early morning pack meeting, much to the chagrin of some of the more caffeine fueled members of the group. The group of you are arranged around Mrs. McCall’s kitchen table, discussing the future of survival in the face of hunters and new packs. Mrs. McCall herself appeared briefly to offer up water and snacks before heading off to work, and now the rest of you are alone with your aspirations of living long enough to see your thirties.

Scott brings up the matter of visiting Derek reluctantly. You can tell that it rankles him, having to keep asking his former mentor for help time and time again. Scott is good at encouraging support, but some part of him has always thought that he’d be able to do this whole alpha thing by himself now. All it takes is one question to Derek to see if he’s heard of a recent threat, but that one question seems to bear with it the difficulties of years of hard labor.

Someone must visit him, however, and everyone keeps their gazes studiously focused on the surface of the kitchen table, not daring to even make eye contact with Scott lest they be volunteered for such a task.

They’re extremely grateful, then, when you offer to go. Grateful, that is, but suspicious.

Stiles is the one to voice everyone’s thoughts. “Why are you so eager to go to Derek’s? The guy is a menace, he never helps us and just shuts everyone down. Do you have a death wish or something?”

You bite back a laugh. “Derek’s mean to you because you show up with no warning and start demanding things of him. I possess an uncanny ability called being nice, it’s helped me a lot before. Derek’s really not all that bad when you get to know him.”

Stiles agrees to disagree on that point, and the matter is quickly settled. They may question your taste in acquaintances, but not enough to suggest that someone else go visit Derek.

It is with great delight, then, that you set out for Derek’s apartment later that afternoon. You text him in advance to make sure he’ll be there, and he lets you in with a smile.

“Scott sent you, I’m assuming?” He asks.

You grin self consciously. “Hey, I swear I do try to visit on my own terms, but something’s come up again. They all figured a second opinion couldn’t hurt.”

“And actually talking to me could hurt, which is why they sent you?” Derek ponders.

You roll your eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. You know, if you’re this cruel to all your friends I can see why everyone’s so hesitant to drop by. I bet your bedside manner is just splendid.”

“Ah, but I don’t have to worry about bedside manner,” Derek says crisply, “I keep all of you alive thanks to my fantastic advice.”

You grimace. “And your fantastic humility, too?”

“Especially that,” Derek confirms.

The two of you rest in a pleasant silence, the aftereffects of a laugh that’s broken off into quiet. At last, you pose the question that’s been on the tip of your tongue for quite some time now.

“How do you manage it? You know, the fact that everyone in this town seems to take you for granted and still can’t find it within themselves to like you. Don’t you get sick of it?”

“I am sick of it,” Derek muses, “but fortunately for me, I happen to also dislike a lot of people in this town. Their opinions don’t matter as much, so I don’t concern myself with what they think.”

You nod. “Still, they’re constantly misrepresenting you by saying that you’re so mean all the time. It’s not true.”

Derek chuckles. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. You’re my–” he breaks off suddenly, as if unsure of the proper word to use. After a moment, Derek is able to continue on, but lacking the fervor that had inflicted his last syllables, “You’re my friend, and you’re used to seeing a specific side of me that no one else does. Simply put, you’re the only one who’s cared enough to look beyond the claws and fangs, so you see what others don’t.”

You refuse to take that as an answer. “But you’re better than the claws and fangs, and everyone should know it. Why are they acting like you’re a stone cold monster who’s never so much as laughed at a joke?”

Derek leans forward, fixing you with a determined gaze. “Because they have no idea if I ever have. You are the only person who has ever made me smile, Y/N. You are the only person who has ever tried to make me happy, and that’s why I have never needed anyone but you.”

The truth in his words is shocking, more so the fact that you need to hear them almost as much as Derek needs to say them.

“So what you’re saying is that–” It’s your turn to lose your words now, but Derek knows what you’re trying to ask.

“That I love you?” He says with a wry grin, “Don’t look so surprised, I am capable of having a heart, even if it’s misplaced.”

You let Derek suffer for a moment longer, then smile back at him. “Whoever said anything about misplaced? Don’t tell me that you actually think I don’t love you too.”

There is something to be said for Derek Hale’s smiles, you think. At this moment, you don’t know that you’ve ever seen something brighter.

teen wolf tag list: @thatfangirl42, @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @rafecameronswhore, @bellabadacadabra, @watchreadfangirlrepeat, @23victoria

[hestiashand]

12, 16 and 22 for naruto n sasuke ^_^! (also if u feel like it can u explain why u don't like deidara? id love to hear it 👀)

this ask game

HAHAHAHAAA okay i’ll explain the deidara thing first. at first i was just annoyed by him but as time went on and he kept showing up i grew to dislike him more... when he got reanimated after i thought he was dead for good that’s when the true hater in me took over LOL literally the reasons i hate him aren’t even deep LOL he just kept showing up which fuelled my anger ajshsksj okay so the reasons i hate him is because he’s annoying to me first and foremost, all his quips and ramblings are dreadful and i think he’s incredibly childish, his fights are all boring to me and are so genuinely a drag to get through (all he does is stand on his bird and monologue for 5 minutes before blowing something up….. IT IS NOT FUN TO WATCH, EVEN THE EXPLOSIONS ARE BORING), and i’m tired of seeing this guy. yeah that’s it. nothing truly deep he just annoyed me and then kept coming back and coming back and coming back….. i got too annoyed by it aksgsjsgjssh

naruto

12. sexuality hc?

gay, although i enjoy bisexual headcanons. i’m not very passionate about him having to be gay, it can go either way. i just genuinely think (outside of his “crush” on sakura… but lets be real what did he actually like about her) he doesn’t show any interest in women… like he’s never interested in peeping on them with jiraiya or konohamaru, he fully tells jiraiya that he doesn’t have to be worried about falling for a woman cause “that doesn’t apply to him” and he “doesn’t really get the whole woman thing”, he’s also not interested in the harem jutsu at all, he just uses it to get by and has no intention of progressing it… although konohamaru puts in all this extra effort to make it better and better…. yet what did naruto practice more than the rasengan… that’s right the REVERSE harem jutsu… hmmmmm…………

16. a childhood head canon?

i’ll add a couple others because i think about naruto at all times, but here’s a couple other answers too! i hc naruto to bleach his hair… so when he’s super young he has black hair hehe.. i think he keeps up on bleaching really well though (which is why you never see him with roots in my drawings) HOWEVER i do think that when he goes on long missions and doesn’t have the access to his stuff his roots start growing in a little bit.. so if i ever draw him on a long mission for w/e reason and he has roots.. that’s why :3 also i like to think naruto has a pretty strong stomach.. since he was never given enough money as a kid to be able to buy enough food until his next pay i think he would do a combination between foraging and digging thru trash… and i don’t think he’d properly wash the stuff he foraged and he definitely ate some spoiled food that was thrown out… uhm he was probably sick a lot as a kid cause of that but i think he kinda built up a bit of an immunity so as he got older he could tolerate more. uhm if you’re thinking about the classic episode with the milk my excuse for that is that i also hc him to be lactose intolerant but he doesn’t care and consumes dairy anyways LMFAOOO so everything but dairy his stomach is a champ for ahahsghsgs

22. when do you think they were at their lowest?

hmm.. this one’s slightly hard. i’m inclined to say during the 5 kage arc when realizing the reality of losing sasuke is an actual possibility (after ay denied his plead to forgive sasuke, and he found out sakura was planning to kill sasuke). most of his other lows he was able to power on just by the thought of being able to reunite with sasuke, but this time he was confronted with the fact that sasuke could potentially be killed. if not by sakura then some bounty hunter. HOWEVER i do think another low for him was honestly just his life pre-academy. i would say during the academy because he was still alone friendship wise, but he wasn’t isolated at that point. people were at the very least in his vicinity even if they were mean to him. however pre academy the only interaction he had with people was being screamed at and threatened… hated and glared at for a reason completely unknown to him. he certainly acted out as a way of coping but he was by no means doing okay in the slightest. he even says to iruka in the beginning of classic something along the lines of “there’s no point in going home, no one’s there for me anyways”…. he spent most of his childhood outside being harassed by adults for something he couldn’t even begin to conceptualize rather than being at home because being alone hurt him more…… anyways enough of that i made me sad LOL

sasuke

12. sexuality hc?

gay. just look at the boy. i don’t need to explain this one just look at him.

16. childhood head canon?

uhm we all know sasuke is trans (that’s real btw, not a hc. just fact.) but i figure he probably realized and vocalized it *really* young.. like sometime around age 6 or 7ish… i think he just kinda told everyone he was actually a boy when he first started having thoughts of it and went from there lol… i think a lot of his ‘rivalry’ with itachi and wanting to be like him/better than him is based off a bit of jealousy from always being undeniably a boy and not having to try to be acknowledged as one…. (that said i do think his family was all very accepting. specially mikoto.. and tbh i think itachi was very happy about it too. on that note i think itachi was the first he told. then his parents at dinnertime). also i like to think that sasuke is really good at identifying flowers and wildlife cause he would pick flowers for mikoto as a kid.. and she’d tell him all about them.. they would go on picnics and walks and she and fugaku would do the same then with any animals or plants they felt like pointing out/whatever sasuke or itachi would ask about… ofc as time went on they got to do this less and less because they became.. busy. uhm. but i think they used to when they were younger! it also branches into a non-childhood hc which is that sasuke ends up tending to a garden of his own when he’s older…. he’s familiar with that kinda stuff from his childhood c: plus the sharingan is very good at identifying plants and any issues/pests on them.

22. when do you think they were at their lowest?

definitely right after the massacre for this one.. unfortunately sasuke has a lot of lows but tbh those to me don’t quite compare to the tragedy of becoming alone and being betrayed after being loved so gently…. i mean every single person he loved and was close to was just brutally murdered by his brother.. the person you’re supposed to be able to relate to and trust and cling to most in the whole world… on top of that he’s then told that he means nothing to his brother and he’s too pathetic to even kill….. then he’s forced to watch his brother kill his parents and his clan over and over and over again for days (to sasuke)… and then he’s left completely alone for the first time. he has to learn how to care for himself after experiencing the most guttural loss of his entire life.. he doesn’t know how to cook for himself, he doesn’t know how to care for himself, and he has absolutely no one to guide him because the only person in konoha that is supposed to look over sasuke’s care doesn’t even want sasuke alive. he has to do this all while working through severe trauma and depression while on his own for the first time in his life. all this to also be dealing with the manipulation and mind games instilled into him by itachi… forcing him to not be able to process or attempt to heal from the uchiha genocide, but to use it to fuel his anger for itachi… yeah…… he was definitely at his lowest while he was new to being all alone as a child. i need to lay down…

[kitkatwinchester]

*SCREAMS*

I'm, like, tearing up so freaking much, and I'm so upset, and so scared, and I hate all of this so much.

Everyone turning on each other is going to be the death of me.

Chris and Derek had such a good partnership going, and now Derek is attacking Chris and I don't like that at all.

I'm glad nothing happened to Danny, but I'm not particularly fond of Isaac and Ethan and Aiden all fighting each other, either.

The thing that sucks about all of this is that the Nogitsune is really just praying on the anger that these people already feel for each other and omitting any of the attempt at forgiveness or empathy that they've done up to this point and I hate that. It's just like when Dr. Ellicott takes over Sam's mind in the Asylum episode of Supernatural. Like, somewhere inside them, they mean the stuff they're saying, because the feelings and the emotions are real, but it's stuff that they've been burying or looking past in order to move on and forgive as much as they can given the circumstances.

Like, Isaac has never trusted the twins, and he clearly never forgave them for Erica and Boyd, as we can see in this episode. But he was willing to give them a second chance because they'd helped and they'd saved people's lives and Scott wanted to give them a second chance. But he never fully forgave them, and with that angry side of him being brought out, he's back to hating them again.

Same idea between Ethan and Aiden. They've always had contradicting opinions on the best way to handle things, and they've always had their little fights and scuffles about who to side with and how aggressive to be in varying situations. The Nogitsune brings that anger out, and they're ready to tear each other apart, and I HATE that.

And then there's Derek, who has such bad blood and history with the hunters, but was willing to put aside all of that and forgive them because he knows that Allison and Chris were never truly the bad ones, and they've since grown and learned and ultimately need each other to help fight the bigger evils out there. But remind him that Chris is tied to the people that murdered his entire family, and he's ready to rip out his throat again.

I just hate it so much.

And then there's everything with Void Stiles.

Once again, Dylan's acting is through the ROOF. I mean, that scene with Melissa?? Dude. He does those little movements so well, and even with not being able to move his body, he does and says so much with his facial expressions, and it's amazing to watch those switches from Void Stiles to Void Stiles pretending to be Real Stiles only to go RIGHT BACK to Void Stiles.

And god, Melissa trying so hard to take care of Stiles, and so hopeful for that split second, and then the anger on her face when she puts the duct tape back on, but there's also so much hurt and worry hidden behind it because she can only imagine how much Stiles is suffering and I just...

And then Scott and Lydia, so desperate to save him, willing to try anything, but so scared to hurt him. I mean, Scott as he's talking about turning him into a werewolf, and how he's worried he'll do it wrong and just wind up killing him. And then the fact that he's literally like "what if he doesn't even want it?" is just, like...GOD. And then Lydia desperately pointing out that it could be the thing that saves his life, and Scott with that defeated look because he knows she's right, but he doesn't know if it's the right call, and Deaton just keeps reminding them that they're running out of time, and Scott is just so scared and so worried and so desperate and HE JUST WANTS HIS BEST FRIEND BACK GOSH DARNAT!!

And then Lydia, in all of her smarts and own desperation, being the one that suggests Peter, and making whatever deal with him she had to make with him in order to save Stiles, because it's STILES, and she would do anything to save him. (Also, as an aside, I still f*cking love Peter, and as much as we will never fully trust him, because why would we, the "When are you people gonna start trusting me?" "I meant him." "Oh." was absolutely amazing and I loved it. XD)

God I feel like this little mind-scape adventure is gonna hurt so much and hit me so hard, but I really freaking hope it works, because if there's anybody that can pull Stiles back and bring him home, it's f*cking Scott and Lydia, because they love him so much, and they would never give up on him, and love conquers all gosh darnat.

Okay. Let me grab my tissues, and let's f*cking go.

Gifs of Dylan being amazing with his switch to Void Stiles again because we have to.

(God Dylan seriously HOW?! You're so freaking amazing I swear to god. <3 <3)