#and these puppeteers have the intention of stealing

[glasshomewrecker]

I think this part is truly the most damning:

If it's all pre-rendered mush and it's "too expensive to fully experiment or explore" then such AI is not a valid artistic medium. It's entirely deterministic, like a pseudorandom number generator. The goal here is optimizing the rapid generation of an enormous quantity of low-quality images which fulfill the expectations put forth by The Prompt.

It's the modern technological equivalent of a circus automaton "painting" a canvas to be sold in the gift shop.

so a huge list of artists that was used to train midjourney’s model got leaked and i’m on it

literally there is no reason to support AI generators, they can’t ethically exist. my art has been used to train every single major one without consent lmfao 🤪

link to the archive

[aurora-313]

Anyone ever thought about how Bleach's greatest tragedy is Ichigo's desire was to fight fate but has never had a shred of agency his entire life?

Even when Ichigo sincerely believes he's acting of his own accord; he's merely the puppet dancing to another's strings?

Aizen manipulated his parents into meeting, manipulated Rukia into meeting him.

Kisuke manipulated Ichigo from behind the scenes while Ichigo tried to save Rukia, forcing him to learn skills waaaay above his paygrade before he was remotely ready to further Kisuke's own plans. It could be argued that Ichigo's entire existence was planned according to Kisuke's designs.

Isshin manipulated/forced him to learn Deux Ex Saigo no Getsuga Tenshou without telling him the cost, because apparently it was the 'only way' - despite having Kisuke "I plan for ten thousand scenarios" Urahara on his side. And did little in the way of helping his powerless literally soul-torn son cope with the monumental sacrifice after the fact.

Ginjo Kugo and his followers manipulated Ichigo by stringing along the prospect of gaining Fullbring, so they could steal it to have their revenge on Soul Society. Made easier due to the aforementioned apparent lack of support from Isshin.

Sword!Yhwach has manipulated Ichigo the entire time by turning him against his own soul, sabotaging his growth and ability to harness his powers.

Ichibei manipulated him into undergoing that trial to turn him into a Soul King vessel with the intention of chopping him up as the replacement.

Yhwach manipulated Ichigo into killing the Soul King.

"Give me a blade to shatter fate." is a sad joke and poor Ichigo is the walking punchline.

No wonder why no one told him anything about himself until the last minute. An ignorant tool is an easily manipulated tool.

[twistedwonderlandimaginesblog]

Hiii can i request jamil, idia, riddle and leona have to fight with their s/o that been brainwashed (like a gas that brainswash ppl in a gas mask yk srry i cant explain things ;-;) by unknown enemy so they have to fight each other

Idia Shroud:

Horrible situation. Idia hated this trope. That’s not entirely true, watching the MC feel conflicted about fighting their love interest actually added a bit of interest into a story, but reality wasn’t the same. Idia didn’t feel anything ‘fun’ about this situation. Ortho was ready to take you down in an instant but Idia had stopped him, worried about him going overboard and potentially hurting you more than he needed to. He had already started to formulate a plan to overcome the brainwashing to at least subdue you, the only issue is mustering the courage to potentially hurt you himself during the process.

Idia has to tell you about how annoying that situation was after. He started ranting about games that just fell back on popular tropes for the sake of torturing their characters but eventually sighed, saying he had enough for an evening. He didn’t want to leave your side as much as he did want to disappear back into his room, wondering if there was a way to have you just stay in his room with him while you recovered.

Jamil Viper:

Jamil is tired of his bad luck, tired of the only things that brought him joy being taken away from him and then thrown back in his face like it was no big deal. His surprise is clear and for a moment he does think he’s pushed you away too much, that you truly were sick of dealing with someone who would never be able to go after what he wanted. It’s your choice of using magic against him rather than your words (which would cut deeper than any physical wound to him) that showed him there was something more going on, with you being a puppet on strings for some other being. He wondered if his unique magic might steal you away from them but it would be a shot in the dark, since you were aware of his ability (while the ‘you’ in this brainwashed state might not be).

Jamil is frazzled but relieved the situation is over. Looking out for both you AND Kalim was an exhausting feat, and he didn’t know why he added to his never-ending workload. He’s glad you’re back to your normal self, which still seemed to regard him in a positive light, allowing him to push down his worries for the future of your relationship a little bit longer.

Leona Kingscholar:

There’s no one who knew your weaknesses better than Leona but he couldn’t assume this would be a walk in the park. He didn’t intend to hurt you but he’d do what he had to for the sake of this situation ending sooner rather than later. Apologies could always be given after but there’s only so much he could take, seeing you like this, invisible strings attached to your limbs as you’re forced to turn against him. If he had been quicker he would’ve saved you from the invasive feeling of having your body controlled while your consciousness is present, and he forced himself to focus on the task at hand rather than the hell you might be living in as it would only make him angrier.  

Leona didn’t want to talk about it when you were back tomorrow. He hit you with an ‘it is what it is’ and moved on to your wounds, minor as they were there was still some scrapes you couldn’t get away from. You didn’t blame him and he didn’t blame himself, but he’s still not happy about having you turned against him. You were his, after all, and losing your loyalty even temporarily dealt a blow to his ego that he was desperate to keep hidden.

Riddle Rosehearts:

Riddle is alarmed at how quickly the situation escalated, flinching when his words don’t seem to be reaching you. He’s not used to being on the other side of you in a fight, even if you were to practice magic with him it was never with ill intent. He finds himself fighting against being distracted, trying to think of you as a simple misbehaving student who needed to be collared. His unique magic did make it a little easier to wrangle you in but he’s wracked with guilt cutting you off from your magic when it’s not really your own actions that caused you to be punished.

Riddle is wary about talking with you after, until he knows the brainwashing is gone and you’re back to normal. He shuffled around the actual topic he wanted to bring up which was incredibly unlike him, a fact you pointed out before telling him in the kindest words possible to spit it out. He admitted seeing you brainwashed was disconcerted, and that he’d rather never see you as an enemy again. He knew it wasn’t your choice but he’d prefer you stick close to him in the future, just so he could stop the problem before it even began.

[apricot-blossomss]

Hey. I LOVE what you've been writing for Apollo. Could I request something preferably gn but up to you?

Something about a devotee of Athena and Ares' lover? Like they were a wonderful fighter, got spotted and gained Athena's favour (I was kinka thinking like Odysseus). I just thought the idea of one of Athena's heroes loving her rival

☛ athena's devotee! gn! reader having a secret love affair with ares

☛ sfw, fluff & angst, first oneshot for ares!

Peace had never really been an option for you. From a young age, your life had been marked by chaos, violence and war- all things you were good at. Maybe that was the reason meditation or calmly going into yourself just didn't work for you. Thus, you were making the training puppets the victims of your pent up frustration.

Being a hero of Athena had its blessings and curses, and you walked on the fine balance between the two. Hacking at the props blindly, your mind wandered to one of the more ambiguous side effects of your position- though it was all but inherent. But if you hadn't been a chosen devotee of Athena, you would have certainly never caught the eye of another god who had all but holy intentions.

Suddenly, one of the figures you were attacking parried and you ripped your eyes open, just in time to dodge a hit by your opponent and get a closer look at him. The initial shock turned into excitement as you deflected a blow and evaded the sword of the mighty god of war himself. With a new rush of adrenaline in tow, you ducked and attacked his flank. Effortlessly, his sword arm shot down, and he took advantage of your short moment of hesitation and his physical superiority to disarm you and make you unable to retrieve your weapon- or steal his, your speciality- by pulling you into his chest and locking you in.

With a mirth in your eyes that made him crazy every time, you smiled up at him. "We have to stop meeting like this, or I'll win again."

"Ts," he made and his dark baritone vibrated against your body, since he still held you snugly against his broad chest. "Only because I let you win." He released you, and in complete contrast to the brutal swing of his sword, his touch was now very gentle as he set you down. You appreciated it, because it was rare that anyone had a little gentleness for you.

"Whatever you want to tell yourself," you grin and saw him mirror your expression. The god bent down to get your sword off the ground and wordlessly handed it back to you. You took it and wrapped your smaller hand around his as you walked over to the shed where you kept your weapons. He let you take him there without any resistance.

Even after all these months, holding your hand was still a strange feeling to the god. Not only that it was so much smaller, it was so soft, and yet had the same small cuts and bruises as his. Not that Ares had ever been good at reflecting on, much less expressing his feelings, but he did know that holding your hand felt good.

"Rough day?," you asked, and he wondered how your eyes could still be so kind, even when looking at him, even after what your life had become.

"Rough life," he said and you laughed at his poor attempt of a joke. He resorted to what he could do best, aside from fighting: he frowned in response. Because he didn't want to let you see how your little laugh had his chest swell with- something. Something warm, something good.

"So, what do we do about that?" you asked and your peppy optimism made him chuckle. He did know one thing: life was hell for the both of you. Only he frowned, and you enthusiastically pulled him away from the fighting grounds to savor the little time you two had with each other at a more peaceful place- and yes, you were aware of the irony of that.

At a secluded spot on the beach, you rested in the shadow of a tree and put a head on his shoulder. With him, you were always the one to make the first move. In touching and kissing because Ares was very unsure of himself when it came to affection, in fighting because he was too sure of himself. You snuggled closer to him and he got the message and wrapped his arm around your shoulders. "Ares?"

A low hum was all you got in response. "Did you... did you tell Lady Athena about us?"

"No," he said curtly and looked down at you. His fiery eyes were somehow more calming than the quiet sea, or the soft wind. There had to be something wrong with you, that you could lie in the hands of destruction and feel more content than you would any other place. "Why?"

Chewing on your bottom lip, you looked back out onto the ocean, with its gentle, rippling waves, and wished you could parve a way through them to make them feel like you felt. Divided. "She asked me whether there was someone- someone more important to me than her."

"Am I?"

Shocked, you turned around and slapped him across the neck which only made him smile in amusement. "Gods, you're just as bad as her! Why does it always have to be a 'more' or a 'most' with you both?"

Ares gave you an apologetical smile and caught your hand, just to guide it into his locks, a rare show of initiating contact. "It always is with us. I'm sorry you're caught in between that."

"I love you both," you said stubbornly and caressed his scalp, making him groan in delight and rest his head on your shoulder. "Why can't I just love you both?" He didn't answer that question, and you were glad he didn't. Because the topic had turned awfully negative, you smiled down at him cheerily. "Well, at least it's exciting, all that sneaking around and hiding. Like a stealth mission with an unusually lovable partner."

"I'm not," he said, eyes closed and savoring your warm touch. "I'm not lovable. You are." It wasn't flirting, but maybe as close to it as he could.

"If you aren't lovable, what am I doing here?" you asked, making him look at you and hovering just over his lips in a silent challenge for him to close the gap between you.

"No idea," he whispered, something he rarely did, and leaned up to kiss you. Weirdly enough, Ares kisses were shy in the beginning, and as soon as you made them more, he exploded into a fervor of spit and passion and clashing teeth as if he had been constraining himself for too long. You knew why, he didn't have to tell you. Or rather: he did tell you, in the way he held your hands, your body, the back of your neck as he responded to you deepening the kiss with a series of passionate kisses, capturing your lips as if in a haze of fury.

It was you who broke away- never him, always you. Looking up into his restless eyes, in your own little world with him, breathing each other's breaths, you let your smile be, and he his frown. Just looking, just feeling, just thinking about each other and not sharing your thoughts because you trusted und knew each other enough.

"Being divided isn't so bad, you know?" you said and brushed his raven black hair out of his eyes, one of which being adorned by a vertical scar. "I'd be less whole, if I was- whole, you know?"

"I'm not good with your philosophical monologues," he said gently and pulled you closer, but you knew he understood, even if he didn't know he did.

🗡️

"Brother."

The last thing Ares wanted to talk to as he was drowning in the oh so sweet memories of last night was his tight-lipped sister and rival Athena. Still, he took notice of her by looking up from the attack he was overseeing on earth. He was surprised to find her not decked in her usual armor but dressed in a simple, functional tunic.

"May I sit?"

Grumbling under his breath and nodding, the god redirected his eyes to the battle down on earth. He had a good idea what she wanted from him, but he wasn't going to give it up. That she was the goddess of strategy didn't change the fact that Ares, too, understood the subtext here. The tunic meant a deal, a draw, that, if Athena had her wish, would result in her making him leave you.

He knew how she would do it, because he knew her. She wouldn't outright say it, she would break him down bit by bit, telling him he was not fit, he was going to cause you harm, that you deserved better. But it wouldn't work. Not because he knew it was wrong- it wasn't. But because, at heart, he was a selfish man. He loved you unconditionally, but as long as you didn't strike against him with the attempt to do harm, he would not leave you. And even then, he would never stop loving you, not ever. That he knew.

"They are not going to win, you know?" Athena said quietly as she seated herself beside him, nodding down to the battlefield.

"I know." Silence. "They will wreck unrepairable damage to their enemy, though." He felt Athena's grey eyes on him, but he didn't return their frown. His gaze had wandered- it had never been wholly focused on the fight in the first place. There you were. He spotted you, cooking dinner in your cabin for yourself. Always a bit more than necessary, in case he would come. He had been planning to.

"Is that what you're trying to do to me?" his sister asked him sharply and Ares' head shot around at the remark.

"This isn't about you"

"Of course it's about me." Athena let out a short, dry laugh. "It's about me and your pride. But they don't have anything to do with this. Leave them out of this fight, do not use them against me."

Ares had been wrong, and it felt like a gut punch. His sister didn't even allow him the grace to assume he could love you. Of course. He was just a bloodthirsty monster after all, unable to love, only lust and kill. Because he didn't know how else to say it, and because the heat bubbling in his chest threatened to explode into violent rage, he told her. "I love them."

"No, you don't," Athena hissed. "If you would, you would leave them alone. You are selfish and lustful, and you want to corner me, but it won't work."

"Are you trying to lecture me about love?" Ares scoffed, having a hard time containing his anger. "About selfishness? You are so self-centered, you can't even see- you can't-" He was raging now, which was always a bad move against Athena.

"They deserve better than you," she said coldly. "They deserve a gentle, loving spouse who will grow old with them and be there for them."

"Yes," the god confirmed. "But they chose me. Respect that, sister," he growled as his troops retreated and rose to his feet, uninterested in continuing the conversation. Athena was uncharacteristically quiet when he stormed off.

🗡️

The door slammed so hard against the wall that you jumped, even though you instinctively knew who it was. Not even a second later, strong arms closed around you from behind as you felt his chest heave against your back. His raspy voice next to your ear. "Kiss me or I'm gonna break something."

"What's wrong?" you breathed as you turned around in his arms and found yourself face to face with pure, unfiltered rage. His grip on you only tightened as if he was barely holding himself together. For a moment you were unable to breathe at all as you looked into his eyes.

With a long groan, his lips clashed with yours. In the heated kiss, you could feel all his pent up frustration, all his anger and fury. It was amazing. You kissed him back, standing on your toes for better access, and he hoisted you up onto the counter effortlessly. "Don't- fuck- don't look at me," he mumbled in between kisses.

Instead of an answer, you brought your hands into his hair, pulling him impossibly closer to you. His wandered to your waist as his lips travelled down your neck, biting and marking like a man possessed. Moaning out a curse, you reluctantly pulled away from him. "Ares- if she sees the marks-"

"She knows," he muttered darkly, continuing his ministrations as you felt your lungs constrict. Unable to think about the consequences of this as he was covering your neck and collarbone in marks and bruises, you let his rough hands slip under your shirt, kneading your waist. Ares cursed when you pulled at the roots of his hair and you could feel his hot breath caressing your ear. "You're mine, right? You love me?"

"Y-yeah," you chocked out as he nibbled at the base of your throat. "I'm yours, I love you." The only answer you got was a guttural groan. Suddenly, you felt the tension leave his body as he slumped into you, hiding his face in the marked up crook of your neck. His arms encircled you as he caught his breath slowly. How fast had he sprinted to get to you?

You released your grip on his dark locks and opted to brushing through them gently. With a low hum, you let him catch his breath and cool his anger, curling into your body, as you caressed his hair and shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes"

The answer surprised you. As he looked up from your neck, you could see that the fiery storm in his eyes had calmed slightly. For a second, he looked really tired, before his signature frown adorned his face once more. "But not here. Not now."

You nodded and pecked the tip of his nose. "I'll draw you a bath, alright?" Only reluctantly, he let you go and when you slipped through the door, he propped up his head on his hands, rubbing his temples. They deserve better than you. Yes, you did. But he knew he couldn't give this up: your kisses, your hands caressing his hair, your understanding eyes and soothing voice that called out for him from the bath.

The tub was still a little too hot, but that was exactly what he needed. Laying down in the warm water, he looked up at you with your shining eyes and breathtaking smile. How could he be the god? You were divine.

Running a sponge over his shoulders softly, your hands traced his many scars and he felt himself grow self-conscious under your observant eyes. "I'm not... beautiful," he said into the silence, in lack of a better term. Surprised, you looked up at him and frowned. "Yes you are. Have you seen yourself?"

He didn't answer, so you leaned down, put your arms around his soaked, naked shoulders and ran your lips up and down his scars. Your hair grew moist as you rested your head on his shoulder, intertwining your hands with his. "You are the most beautiful man I know. Inside and out."

Ares couldn't believe you, but the words still felt nice, as did your touch, so he only leaned into it, sighing into the relief you offered his restless soul.

They deserve better than you.

He tried to drown out the words and only concentrate on you. If he could, he would write you elaborate declarations, but that wasn't his thing, so he only kissed your temple softly and closed his eyes, knowing he was safe with you now, for however long that may be.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

[zzencat]

5 Urgent Messages You Need To Hear Right Now - Current ⌛️

5 bullet points. Raw, honest, and on the go. What do you need to hear right now? Includes: what to work on, what to be wary of, warnings, hints, potential downsides + rock-bottom consequences.

For better accuracy: Clear your mind. Time is now patient and still. Close your eyes, inhale deeply, fill your chest up to the fullest, feel the soft air brush against the ridges of your nose. Breathe out.

From left to right. Breathe and choose.

——————————-

Pile 1. Not all is what they seem.

if something seems suspicious or too good to be true, it probably is. you can either gain or lose what you have.

some of you will be greatly rewarded for your hard work. beware of who you share your abundance with. be even more careful with the information.

someone you know is two-faced. be careful who you trust. (for most of you, this is someone you know but feel indifferent towards or don’t consider close.)

keep an eye on your material possessions, especially ones that others may envy. don’t leave valuable things around without surveillance.

something that tempts you should be reconsidered—especially with money. weigh your options. count the pros and cons.

Hints: look for the signs, laziness, liars, manipulation, sneaking around, stealing, caught red-handed, someone acting poor, colleagues, fake friends, seemingly likable colleagues, greediness, homelessness (3x), people in power, parents, offers, scams, impulsive spending, pretending to care, bad and hidden intentions, fire signs, scams.

+ failing to do so results in: isolation, fear, anxiety, social withdrawal, unceasing paranoia, loss.

————————————

Pile 2. It’s time to grow up.

laziness is an issue. put effort in your work and prioritize your time wisely.

revenge is not worth it. this is a wake up call to mature and practice humility.

you are worth as much as everyone else. no one is higher or lower. death takes everyone either way.

not everything has to be a fight. not everyone is out to get you. work on defensiveness. learn to let go.

doing more research improves open-mindedness. don’t be afraid to be wrong.

Hints: wasting time on small issues; pettiness; too much time on social media; purposefully engaging in controversial topics; immaturity; gossip; sudden aggression or anger; playing up one’s own importance; merely one among billions; holding grudges; big ego; spoiled; hard time saying sorry; owning up to mistakes; nepotism; the wrong connections; narrow-mindedness, inability to accept criticism or differing views and opinions.

+ failing to do so may result in: being too competitive, poverty/unstable income, irresponsible, ignorant, “puppet,” that people laugh at, no close friends/family, missed opportunities, no control in life, boredom, ignoring hard facts and truths, lacking uniqueness, sheep of the herd, having no dreams, not achieving much, lack of focus, poor social life and skills, jumping on the bandwagon, poor mindset, unlikable personality traits, disingenuous, misery.

——————————

Pile 3. Balance is key.

take breaks from time to time (especially the workaholics.)

rebalance your life. too much of anything is bad.

work on confidence and self-esteem issues.

moving too fast isn’t always a good thing. you will miss what’s happening in the background.

become more resilient. learn to bounce back from bad situations or inconveniences. prepare for sudden heartbreaks.

Hints: not having enough time to appreciate what’s around you; relationship resentment; sudden losses; self- negligence; waiting until it’s too late; stability requires effort; not making time for others in your life; make time for yourself; not considering mental and physical health.

+ failing to do so may result in: unknowingly losing a connection, poor work-life balance, (I’m hearing static- idk why…), not giving attention to loved ones, unintentionally negligent, loneliness, poor adaptation skills, being forced to watch something inevitably fall apart, betrayal, dwelling in sadness, ghosting, confusion, neglected mental health, too long of a hiatus, stagnancy, poor health, poor-to-no social life, no growth in character, absolute ruin.

——————————

**Ending Teddy Note: Hey guys! Hopefully you took something from the reading. These were tough deliveries, but they had to be said. Remember to take what resonates and leave what doesn’t. Reblog or lemme know what you think. I appreciate the feedback. Rmr to stay hydrated!! 😎✌️

[idk-ask-me-yesterday]

Can you write a Lockwood fanfic you two sneaking out so see each other?-🃏

Stolen kisses, pretty lies

Summary: You and your boyfriend want some alone time, but that's hard to get when hiding your relationship from your two roomates.

Puppets: Anthony Lockwood x gender neutral reader

Word count: 1,222

Warnings: none except some quick kisses.

Elle yaps: i got a bit carried away and went a little off the ask, sorry :/ tempted to make this a series tho... Lemme know what you think!

Slightly proofread. No use of Y/N

The kitchen of 35 Portland row was surprisingly quiet this morning.

The whole team sat at the table, quietly eating breakfast and doing their own thing. Lucy chatted with Skull, who was sat on the kitchen counter, while George fiddled with his latest trinket and Lockwood read the morning paper.

Your gaze lingered too long on your secret boyfriend across the table—his dark hair falling across his forehead as he studied the newspaper intently, completely oblivious to your attention. Though he remained unaware of your fond observation, his glasses-wearing best friend caught your lingering look with a knowing glance, causing you to quickly avert your eyes to your barely-touched breakfast.

Hiding your relationship wasn't the original plan, but something always seemed to derail your attempts to tell your friends. When George was stood up on a date, it didn't feel right to share the news. Then Lucy's ghost-touch incident took precedence. Now, after keeping it secret for so long, you worry that revealing the truth would cause drama when they realize how long you've been hiding it.

So you continue to steal secret glances and share hidden moments, like the brush of hands when passing the salt or lingering touches while washing dishes. Sometimes you catch yourself wondering if the others have noticed these small gestures, but they seem too caught up in their own routines to pay attention. Still, there's a part of you that wishes you could just get it over with and tell them.

"So, any plans for today?" Lockwood asks casually, carefully folding the newspaper and setting it down beside his half-empty teacup. "We're running low on supplies, and the pantry needs restocking. I noticed we're almost out of tea and those biscuits everyone likes. I could handle the shopping after we finish breakfast," he offers, absently straightening the paper's edges on the wooden table surface.

"I can go with you," you find yourself saying before you can stop yourself, heart fluttering at the possibility of a few precious moments alone together. Lucy glances up from her conversation with Skull, her expression curious. "We'll need quite a bit - might be good to have an extra pair of hands," you add quickly, trying to sound casual despite the knowing look George shoots your way.

"Well, that's settled then," Lockwood says with a bright smile, already standing and reaching for his coat. "We should head out soon before it gets too crowded at the shops." You try not to notice how George's smirk widens as you hurriedly finish your toast, preparing to leave.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

As you follow Lockwood out into the crisp morning air, you can't help but smile at the prospect of having him to yourself, even if only for a simple shopping trip. The familiar weight of your rapier at your hip reminds you that even mundane errands require precaution in this ghost-filled city. Still, you find yourself looking forward to these stolen moments together, where you can simply be yourselves without worrying about maintaining appearances.

It takes about five minutes of walking through the winding London streets before you notice the unfamiliar buildings and realize you're going in completely the wrong direction. The morning fog has started to lift, revealing shop signs and landmarks you don't recognize from your usual route to the market. "Uh, Anthony? The shops are the other way..." you say hesitantly, watching as he continues to stride purposefully down the cobblestone path.

He turns back to you with that familiar mischievous grin, the one that never fails to make your heart skip a beat. "I know a shortcut," he says, reaching for your hand when he's sure no one else is around. "Trust me?" The warmth of his fingers intertwining with yours makes you forget all about questioning his sense of direction.

You follow him down a narrow side street, the morning bustle of London fading behind you. The shortcut, as it turns out, leads to a secluded courtyard with an old stone fountain at its center. Here, hidden from prying eyes by weathered brick walls and climbing ivy, Lockwood pulls you close and steals a proper good morning kiss—the kind you've been wanting since breakfast.

The kiss lingers, sweet and unhurried, until distant footsteps echo off the cobblestones and remind you both of where you are. You reluctantly step apart, though your fingers remain intertwined. "We should probably actually get to the shops at some point," you murmur, unable to keep from smiling as Lockwood brushes a strand of hair from your face.

"I suppose we should," he agrees with a soft laugh, though he makes no immediate move to leave. "George will never let us hear the end of it if we come back without those biscuits he loves." The thought of your friend's relentless grudges spurs you both into motion, and you reluctantly release each other's hands as you step back onto the main street.

The morning air has grown warmer as you make your way to the shops, falling into an easy rhythm of casual conversation. You can't help but notice how naturally you and Lockwood move together through the streets, maintaining a respectable distance while sharing secret smiles. As you round the corner toward the market, the familiar bustle of morning shoppers comes into view, and you both seamlessly slip back into your professional demeanor.

The shop is already bustling with activity when you arrive, filled with the chatter of employees and customers alike. As you weave through the crowd with your shopping list in hand, you notice Lockwood's subtle protective stance whenever someone brushes too close. It would be endearing if you weren't trying so hard to maintain your professional facade in public.

You focus on the task at hand, methodically checking items off your list as you navigate from aisle to aisle. The morning crowd ebbs and flows around you, and you find yourself grateful for Lockwood's steady presence at your side. When your hands brush as you both reach for the same tin of tea, you share a quick glance that speaks volumes, though anyone watching would see nothing more than two colleagues shopping for supplies.

As you finish gathering the last few items, you notice Lockwood checking his watch with a slight frown. "We should probably head back soon," he murmurs, shifting the heavy shopping bags in his arms. The walk home feels shorter somehow, filled with comfortable silence and the occasional brush of shoulders as you navigate the morning crowds.

Just before reaching Portland Row, Lockwood pulls you into one last secluded spot for a quick kiss. "Thank you for coming with me," he whispers against your lips, making you shiver despite the warmth of the morning. You both take a moment to compose yourselves before rounding the final corner to face whatever knowing looks await at home.

Back inside the warmth of 35 Portland Row, you find George and Lucy exactly where you left them, though now they're engaged in what appears to be an intense debate with Skull about proper tea-steeping times. As you unpack the groceries, you catch George's subtle smirk and wonder, not for the first time, just how much he's figured out. The morning settles back into its familiar rhythm, but you can't help smiling to yourself as you remember the stolen moments in the hidden courtyard.

The warmth of contentment settles over you as you put away the last of the groceries, sneaking one more glance at Lockwood as he joins the debate about tea. These secret moments you share, though fleeting, make the challenge of hiding your relationship worth it—at least for now. Perhaps someday soon you'll find the right moment to tell them all, but for now, you're content with these stolen bits of happiness woven into your everyday routine.

[dark-frosted-heart]

When the Holy Beast Falls - Azel

An “If you were lovers” story. As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this

If Prince Azel and I were lovers…

Sometimes the Living God of Tanzanite would visit the befriended nation Benitoite.

On those occasions, he’d always have me go with him.

I’d never hear something cute like “I’ll miss you” from the two-faced god who apparently brought me along just to push me around.

But I know his true intentions.

--

Emma: Prince Azel, I’m back. 

Azel: You’re late.

Emma: I brought everything you asked me to buy since you can’t go into town, so please forgive me.

Azel: That’s not the issue.

Prince Azel, who waited by the entrance, took the packages from me.

However, it didn’t seem like he was considering the packages and studied me.

Emma: …Are you hurt?

Azel: You can see I’m not.

Emma: Then what is it?

Azel: You’ve kept me waiting because you’ve been having fun in town.

Emma: H-how did you know? Is this God’s power— 

Azel: It’s all over your face.

(I guess I was grinning)

At my honest confession, Prince Azel pinched my cheek.

Azel: You got some nerve. I’ve been waiting for you to come back—

Emma: You’ve been waiting? For me?

Azel: …Don’t get the wrong idea. I asked you to get something for me.

Emma: That’s too bad. I thought if you were waiting for me, I’d rush back the next time.

Azel: Hurry back even if I’m not waiting. That’s a debtor’s responsibility. I’ll add this late fee to your debt.

Emma: Is that okay? The more debt you add, the more you won’t be able to let me go.

Azel: …You’re getting defiant.

(You’re so awkward, truly)

With a grim look on his face, Prince Azel turned his back on me and placed items he had me get on the table.

He went to check its contents, but his hand immediately stopped.

Azel: Emma…What is this?

Emma: It’s cute, isn’t it? I made a stop along the way to buy it.

Prince Azel held Benitoite’s popular “Living God doll” in his trembling hands.

It was a small doll in Prince Azel’s likeness that was said to bring many blessings, including luck with money, love, health, etc.

(It took me a while to buy it since there as a line)

Before he could throw it against the wall, I snatched the doll from Prince Azel’s hands and held it dearly.

Emma: I bought this separately from the money you gave me. I’m not giving it to you.

Azel: Get rid of things that aren’t wanted or needed.

Emma: I refuse. He’s cute, isn’t he?

Azel: Cute?! I think you mean repulsive.

I moved the doll out of Prince Azel’s reach as he tried to steal it back and stepped away from him.

Emma: Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it.

Azel: No one’s telling you to take care of it. I'm telling you to throw it away.

Emma: Throw away my beloved Prince Azel? I could never.

Azel [polite]: …I see, I see. Even with the real God present, you chose the doll and casted me aside. How cruel…This is a slight toward God. This blasphemy deserves divine punishment.

(Ah—)

Prince Azel deliberately covered his face with his hands and began sobbing.

I knew it was a trap, but it hurt my conscience to ignore him.

Emma: That’s not it. However, with this doll, I can be with Prince Azel even when I’m out running errands. It’s my way of showing how much I love you.

The instant I approached the god to butter him up, Prince Azel stopped his crocodile tears, took the doll from me, and tossed it into some corner of the room. 

Emma: Ah! That’s cruel—Mn?!

My eyes widened when he stopped my protest with a kiss.

Azel: Who’s the cruel one here? Cheater.

Emma: …Even though it’s a puppet of you.

Azel: If you want my blessings so much, I’ll give it to you. You’ll have to deal with it.

A large hand grabbed my chin and our lips met again.

The kisses of a holy, unrelated god were always so greedy, greedily exploring deep inside that it made you feel like you were going to fall.

(Why is every kiss so lewd…)

Even when I nipped his lip to tell him he was going too far, the two-faced god didn’t stop and instead started tickling my ear.

Emma: Mm…Mmm!

Azel: Don’t need the doll anymore? That’s wonderful.

Emma: Wro…ah

The fingers that were tickling my ear slid down my neck and under the collar of my blouse.

I hastily grabbed the hand that was going to defile me and looked into his mysterious, starry eyes.

Emma: I can’t return to my room anymore, can I?

Azel [polite]: A message from God. You should not be alone tonight for there are bad omens.

Emma: …A lot of good things happened in town though?

Azel [polite]: It will happen, and it will surely be a misfortune.

Emma: Specifically…

Azel [polite]: Divination is an ambiguous thing. You won’t know until it happens.

Emma: Then let’s test out if Prince Azel’s divination is really correct.

Azel: Why would you do that? Are you stupid?

He cupped my cheeks and squished them.

Emma: Because lately, you’ve been saying the same thing. That when I’m alone, misfortune, bad luck, or a disaster will happen to me… So I thought I’d try it out just once.

Azel: Being fearless isn’t good. God’s words are absolute, so you must heed His warnings.

Emma: I get it Prince Azel. You just really want us to be together, don’t you?

Azel: ……I didn’t say that.

(You’re so easy to read)

Azel: I don’t care if you’re here or not. I prefer being alone.

Emma: Then— 

When I tried to shake his hands off and turn away, he hugged me tight.

Azel: You don’t believe in God’s good will?

Emma: You just need to be honest and say that you want me with you.

Azel: Aren’t you the one that wants to be with me?

Emma: If I’m the only one that wants this, then I’ll only bother you so I’ll head back to my room—

Azel: Try to go back if you can.

(Ugh…He’s so strong that I can’t shake him off!)

Even after saying all this, Prince Azel still won’t admit it.

But when I turned to look at him, we kissed for a short moment.

Azel: Ah…

It seemed like he didn’t mean to and his brows furrowed.

(He never wants to admit it, but…)

Emma: You truly do love me, Prince Azel.

Azel: Don’t be so conceited.

A blush spread across his grim face.

(...God’s blessing was real)

(Because it’s possible to make Prince Azel look like this)

With a dramatic sigh, Prince Azel rested his forehead on my shoulder.

Azel: What am I even doing?

Emma: It's love.

Azel: No. I’m in no way in love with you. Damn it…

(There’s still a long way to go, but I’ll definitely get it out of him one day)

(An “I love you” from Prince Azel)

[sunnysidesevenup]

IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT THIS RIDICULOUS SHIP.

Y’all said you’d be interested in a post like this, so I’m here to deliver.

Tilly and Fellow spend the first year of knowing each other sabotaging the other’s life. Fellow and Gidel are running a scam? There Tilly is to ruin it! Tilly’s been tricking a local clothing store into giving him items? Well, Fellow’s given his photo to the local police and now he can’t “shop” there anymore. The two have a job? Well, Tilly is going to hang out during their shifts and bother them the whole time!

Tilly, for the most part, views this as a very fun game they’re playing. Fellow, however, HATES him. Why won’t this guy leave him alone?! Why is he determined to mess with him?!

Things start changing when Fellow picks up on certain things Tilly does, although it takes him a while to notice because he’s so blinded by annoyance.

First: how Tilly treats Gidel.

He frequently attempts to “steal” Gidel to his side, and in the process he gives him food, clothes and toys. Gidel never accepts, of course, but Fellow is still annoyed because that’s HIS brother!! He can’t take his brother!! But then Tilly keeps giving him stuff. I mean, he must know that all the food he’s giving is being split between the two of them, right? And then Fellow notices that Tilly brings them more food when he knows they’re running low. HOW he knows, they have no idea, but he does it too many times for it to just be a coincidence. Fellow has no idea why he’s doing this, either. Is it mockery? Pity? Whatever it is, it kind of pisses him off.

The second thing he notices about Tilly is his recklessness. While Fellow and Gidel have back up plans and ways to run away whenever they try to pull anything, Tilly apparently just walks into danger with no intention of getting out of it at all. I mean, what is he doing?! TRYING to get killed? Fellow may hate the guy, but he’s a source of food at this point, so… well, he supposes he can pull him out of danger sometimes. And it’s hard to hate the guy as much when he looks beat up, so it’s better for him to be in full health for maximum hatred, okay?!

The third thing he notices: Tilly’s weird considerate behavior.

It took a while to pick up on, but once Fellow sees it, he can’t get it out of his head. The guy spends half of his day playing with the street children, finding them food and shelter. He only steals from people he knows can afford it. He never does anything to him or Gidel if they can’t get out of it. He gives his food to other people even if he hasn’t eaten that day, he lets some of the kids pickpocket him even when he clearly knows what they’re doing, and on top of this all: Tilly is in NO position to be doing any of this!!! He’s not even staying anywhere, he sleeps in abandoned buildings or sometimes in people’s houses if he can trick them into it. He doesn’t even own a backpack full of belongings: he just walks into stores and changes clothes and then leaves. He’s not eating enough food, he’s not sleeping enough, he doesn’t have ANY self preservation and yet he has the AUDACITY to be kind to people?!

Nope, no, Fellow is NOT having a guy like THAT keep harassing him.

And suddenly, Tilly is staying with him and Gidel some nights. Not all the time, because he’s NOT dealing with his presence that often, but just… sometimes. And then they’re sharing food with him. And then he’s staying over MORE, and Tilly is sharing more things with them, too, and then suddenly they’re practically working together. But it’s just for survival, okay?! It’s the smart choice.

And then Fellow and Gidel get the job offer to Playful Land, and Tilly says no to joining them. He’s never worked a day in his life and he’s not going to start now, so… they go do the job alone. Tilly visits once, to see what they’re doing (and Fellow of course tries to turn him into a puppet, not permanently! Just to show him who’s better, okay?) and Tilly HATES it.

“Why are you working for some rich guy? You’re better than that.”

And it pisses Fellow off again, like EVERYTHING about Tilly, because what right does he have to say that? HE might be content having nothing, but FELLOW isn’t, and he should just leave if it bothers him that much—it’s too much effort looking after him all the time, anyways!

And for the first time Tilly looks actually hurt by something, and Fellow regrets saying it. But it’s over just as fast, and he’s back to normal, and he’s actually leaving. And he doesn’t come back. And neither of them hear from him.

Which is good! Fellow is VERY happy about this, of course. He was too troublesome to look after, and he was probably going to get himself killed one of these days anyways, and he wonders what he’s doing right now….. he’s probably in trouble right now, isn’t he? Is he eating fine? Where’s he sleeping? He better be actually sleeping in a building and not on the ground…

…Okay, so Fellow MIGHT care about the guy. Just a bit.

-

Just a general overview ^^ this post is getting a bit long so I’ll leave it here for now lol.

Tagging the ppl who said they’d be interested in this (let me know if you don’t want to be tagged):

@gimmeurmoneyagh @kirexa @riamustars @rainythealias

[itsabouttimex2]

Sooooo... How do you feel about the season 5?

In short? Mid. 6-6.5/10.

In long…?

A severely rushed season that bit off way more than it could chew. A season that had the characters pull powers from their asses more frequently than ever before. A season that had shitty “dramatic” moments for the sake of having dramatic moments. A season that lampshades issues instead of fixing them. A season with so, so much wasted potential.

It basically boils down: everything they wanted to do COULD have been good, but they just didn’t have the time.

I’ll go into some varied details below. I’d also like to make clear- I’ll be tagging all of my Season Five Posts with “Lego Monkie Kid Season 5” and “LMK Spoilers” until August 1st. Then the gloves are coming off and I’ll stop tagging them.

(I still liked the season, for what it’s worth- and you can watch it in full here! I’ve got some drafts and bots cooking as we speak!)

This was a cute send-off to Flying Bark! It was nice of them to acknowledge, in some way, everything that those dears did for the show- because Lego Monkie Kid would NOT be where it is without them.

Significantly less cute-

The absolute kick in the fucking face that constantly superimposing old footage over newer, worse footage is.

You don’t want us to be constantly reminded of the animation downgrade- that’s the literal last thing that anyone wants. Why would you constantly remind us that it used to be better?

What the fuck does this accomplish? Okay, let’s make comparisons, cause that’s the only thing that can result from pulling this shit-

This is what happens when you constantly reference the older, superior content.

PEOPLE CONSTANTLY NOTICE THAT YOUR CONTENT IS WORSE.

Also, why is it so saturated? How do you make a Lego Minifigure look like he has jaundice?

It’s just a bad look to constantly reference content you can’t live up to. I’m hoping they’ll just recreate old content instead of sloppily pasting it into the background of the show- it’ll be less jarring.

Alright, what else…

———

Yay, I called it! Nuwa is not MK’s “loving though bereft mommy”! Which I had been guessing ever since the Celestial Pagoda leaked, actually-

I mean, come on. He’s literally stealing the stones away from her as she reaches to take them back.

And the Season confirmed it! Nuwa might’ve be been MK’s creator, but she certainly wasn’t his momma.

And you know how the series subtlety clues you in to how little she cares about her “son”?

Nuwa didn’t give him a name. She had hundreds, maybe thousands of years to think on it- but no. No name.

We mortals name our pets, our vehicles, our art. We love them enough to bestow monikers.

Nuwa didn’t even bother to name her own sapient mortal creation.

But when he makes a move against her, does something she doesn’t want, takes destiny into his own hands?

She calls out to him with one word- not “son”. Not “MK”.

Nuwa angrily calls him “mortal”.

Becuase that’s all he ever was to her, really. A mortal pawn. A handmade puppet.

Someone designed to fulfill a sacrifice. Even though her intentions were good, MK’s sole purpose by her hand was to shoulder the weight of the world like a good little hero.

So… a potential “villain” in the making?

———

Lampshading the fact that you’re doing the “macguffin hunt” again does not excuse doing the “macguffin hunt” again.

Lampshading the “apocalypse after apocalypse” plots doesn’t make them any less exhausting.

Lampshading Macaque’s lack of narrative consequences does not undo the awkward and weak redemption arc.

———

They changed Mei “no longer wielding” the Samadhi fire, I guess.

Ignore that she never displayed a hint of concern or sorrow over “losing it” because now she’s sad and worried (after backlash from the fans over her losing it) about losing it.

Like, Subodhi knows so much about the world and the universe that he’s aware of his existence in the ink scroll- but he gets Mei not having an interplanetary level threat inside her wrong?

I smell a retcon.

———

Macaque’s redemption arc is still shit. I’ve got a whole rant queued to release soon, actually- I imagine it might be the final time I comment on his arc until Season Six.

To put it short- Macaque still falls upwards into redemption. No pushback or difficulty or introspection. He’s just a magically better person without any onscreen development to make the change believable.

But they reference this at one point?

Sun Wukong points out that Macaque escapes the trial without any punishment, and is just allowed to mope in place of an actual consequence.

So maaaaaayybeeeee they’ll do something in Season Six? I’ve lost all faith that he’ll ever be an interesting character again, though.

He’s essentially just “brooding rival #80058”. Instead of being a character that calls back to Seasons 1-3, from 4 onwards he’s just a brand new dude who totally didn’t commit any atrocities with a smile on his face- and he’s a worse and more boring character for it.

———

If I haven’t misjudged the intent, I think Monkie Kid will be going back to being an episodic series for the extent of Season Six. Again, they lampshade the “apocalypse after apocalypse” thing, yeah?

And now they have a perfect formula- find someone who’s having trouble with their new power, and help them.

And we might see Bai He again???

Let’s hope for a good breather season!

———

Rest in piss Li Jing their asses did NOT cook with you sorry papa

You could’ve been interesting in the writers didn’t try to pull a “loving father” bait and switch after you got like four scenes of being a raw jackass

If they were going to deviate from the source material and make you a good dad couldn’t it have just been:

“Li Jing, you were not invited to the trial!”

“STF that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy-“

“Father I’m 300-“

“Hush son, let daddy take care of this- that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy when he stole the Samadhi fire map!”

Maybe next season you’ll get to be interesting, hun.

(I’m still writing for Lotusfam though)

———

Drama for the sake of drama. 0/10 scene. Could’ve just had the interruption come AFTER they held hands, but no. Gotta drag shit out for the shippers or whatever. There was no reason to prolong this reunion.

I’m really not a fan of the “just wait another season for it”, mentality. Stop stretching shit out. You had a chance to do something sweet and heartwarming, and chose not to for the sake of trying to drag a conclusion out.

Ugh.

———

Characters just pull powers out of their ass for the sake of forcing dramatic scenes.

THESE ARE DOGSHIT SCENES

THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. THIS IS DONE SOLELY FOR THE SALE OF “MUH DRAMATIC FINALE” AND IS BAD

ITS BAD WRITING TO HAVE CHARACTERS PULL NEW MAGICAL POWERS OUT OF THEIR ASSES FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

IF WUKONG HAD THIS POWER FROM THE START HE SHOULD’VE USED IT AGAINST HIS FUCKING LETHAL ENEMIES AND NOT SAVED IT FOR HIS PRECIOUS STUDENT

MK NEVER LEARNED TO USE THE FILLET SPELL. THE WRITERS PULLED IT OUT OF THEIR ASS TO FORCE DRAMA BY HAVING MK TORTURE HIS MENTOR LONGER THAN EVEN THEIR ACTING ENEMY LI JING DID WITH A CIRCLET THAT IS CANONICALLY TIGHTER THAN HIS FIRST

WE SEE HOW FAST HE IS WHEN HE FIGHTS THE AZURE LION

MK CAN MOVE FASTER THAN WUKONG

HE COULD’VE BEATEN HIM THERE IN AN EQUALLY CLIMATIC RACE

I FEEL NOTHING WHEN I WATCH THIS BECAUSE IT IS FORCED DRAMA FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

—————————————————

💚💚💚

[bibibbon]

So, any theories as to why E-Soul killed Moon?

Hi @pedanticat 👋

I am so happy that this is my first tbhx ask!

I have two theories as to why E-soul killed moon, and honestly, as of the release of episode 7, I am leaning more towards the 2nd theory.

E-soul killed moon to get rid of competition that treeman company poses towards the hero rankings.

E-soul killed moon as a way to drag Lin Ling back into the hero industry and work under mighty glory.

Theory 1

MG and Treeman have had an interesting and most likely rivarlous history. With the Treeman profile describing Mr. shang as "the son of Might glory upper management," indicating that he and Uncle Rock are related in a way and with shang chao also playing a role in the creation of Yang cheng's E-soul there seems to be an interesting family feud brewing between the two companies.

Mr. shang steps down from MG to train firm man, which then makes him the number 10 hero, and it's implied that this is Treemans breakthrough. All the while this is happening, you have the E-soul fan war going along, and the two major parties are shang chao and Uncle Rock. Both are actively working behind the scenes and contributing to the E-soul war. Shang chao sees potential in Yang cheng and, in episode 6, makes a point of telling yang cheng that their next step is to go for the Hero rankings, ultimately threatening OG E-souls place and uncle Rock makes various comments of adapting to the game that the young ones have set to play to the point that he orders one of the brothers to kill Yang cheng.

This long history between the two companies makes it very plausible that the reason why E-soul ends up killing moon is linked to treemans success and prioritising Mighty glory.

By killing Moon, Lin Lings arc can go one of two ways either continue being a hero out of a sense of duty and follow a vaguely similar path to Yang cheng or quit and get further sabotaged by Uncle Rocks schemes. Lin Ling's trust value points by the end of episode 4 were dependent on moon and his devotion towards her. Enlightener revealing that the moon he has with him is just a fake would have caused public commotion that Treeman mentions trying to fight back and cover up against it. The public finding out that moon has been killed and that Lin Ling couldn't save her would definitely cause a commotion or having mighty glory put the blame of Moon's death on Lin Ling would be such a scandal and would cause such a commotion that its guaranteed that lin ling may be kicked out of the top 10 or having his reputation heavily damaged to the point that it makes it even more difficult for him to overtake E-souls 9th position.

Theory 2

Uncle Rock might be trying to pull a yang cheng 2.0 and claim lin ling as a Mighty Glory hero. It's very much intentional that lin ling and yang chengs arcs are intentionally paralleled with one another, and I think with the truth spilling out to everyone worldwide, Uncle Rock may have been heavily reminded of Yang cheng and thought that he could capitalise on this especially since the end of Lin Ling's story opens up with multiple hero agencies wanting to recruit him and the line "someone is going to steal him" so conveniently shows Uncle Rock looking at the God Eye and Lin Ling fight.

There's a high chance that Moon's death will push Lin Ling back into the hero industry and him wanting justice, which will allow for his and E-souls stories to further interlink with one another as they both explore ideas of justice, protecting those that you love and wanting to be seen and heard.

E-soul most likely killed moon because he was just following Uncle Rock's orders and acting as a societal "weight"/puppet following the ideology that he developed in episode 7 as he most likely is convinced that this is the best course of action as well as being manipulated by Uncle Rock and his ideology he most likely views moon as a threat to the Mighty Glory's mission.

These are my personal watsonian theories, and my doylist interpretation of Moon's death and why she died is something I talk about on the 'tragedy of moon' post.

That being said, even in her death and the act of killing her, the hero companies still view her as an accessory attached to someone else instead of human.

[fandom-susceptible]

Dragon Prince Conspiracy Theory

Avizandum didn't kill Sarai.

She's dead, to be sure, but we don't actually witness her death. She and Viren are thrown from her horse at the same time, and somehow he survives with only mild bruising, and she is killed?

Avizandum didn't kill her. Viren did. That's why he has her last breath stored in a bottle to use to whip Harrow up into a rage again years later.

Viren killed her because she had become inconvenient to him. Harrow was listening to her over Viren, and it was making him harder to manipulate. Before Sarai, Harrow wouldn't have hesitated to agree to Viren's plan with the Magma Titan. So he had to get rid of her, before he lost control of Harrow.

He also wasn't planning on killing Harrow in the pilot of the show. He didn't decide to kill him and outright take the throne for himself until Harrow put him on his knees in Moonrise, and he realized it was over. Harrow had realized he was being manipulated and wasn't going to stand for it anymore. That's why he switched Harrow's soul out with Pip's, but then proceeded not to lift a single finger to help Soren and the Crownguard defend the room. He wanted the elves to succeed, and he had no intention of restoring Harrow's soul to a human body. Rayla escaping with the boys and the egg threw a wrench into his plans, and them stealing the egg is why he decided to have them killed. He realized they had already found the egg and decided he was an enemy, so he couldn't just groom Ezran into another puppet ruler.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

arcane s2 and breaking narrative time

A thing I really like about Arcane S2 that I haven't seen discussed much is the way time itself breaks down over the course of the season. The linear structure of the narrative splinters and fractures as the story jumps through flashbacks and flash-forwards and increasingly intercuts scenes that take place over different amounts of time. I know there were people who found the timeline of S2 confusing, but I love it, and I do think it was an intentional choice to break the linear structure of the story up this way. It's very fitting for a season that introduces time travel, multiverses and temporal paradoxes and runs on an underlying thread of chaos and unpredictability.

It should be said that from the beginning, Arcane has done a lot of messing with time in subtle ways. The end of 1.03 is a good early example. It seems like only minutes pass between the flash of arcane light that alerts the Enforcers to what Jayce and Viktor are up to, and the moment they break down the door to Heimerdinger's lab. Meanwhile Vi, Claggor and Miles cross a good portion of Zaun to sneak into the cannery looking for Vander. It doesn't matter that the time scales don't really match up or even whether the events in the two storylines are really happening at the exact same time. It's the dramatic effect of the intercutting that draws us in. And there are many small example of expanding and collapsing time, from montages that cover months to the blast from Powder's hex crystal bomb being repeated over and over so we can absorb just how much destruction it causes. Of course none of these techniques are unique to the show but it is a strong stylistic choice they made right from the beginning.

But from around 2.05 onward shit gets truly wild. We smash cut out of the climactic moment of a huge action sequence for an understated, melancholy flashback to young Vander, Silco and Felicia. Many episodes in the show are framed by flashbacks to highlight the theme or dramatic question of the episode, but the transition is particularly sharp here.

We see Jayce come back from the hell dimension at the end of 2.05, but chronologically I think this actually happens in the middle of 2.06. 2.06 takes place over at least two days and a night, but possibly many days as Viktor tries to heal Vander. (Did he somewhere in this multi-day process realize how much his power was waning and send Salo to steal the hexgems for a power boost?) Jayce seems to go straight to the commune once he gets back to his timeline--he doesn't even stop to shower or change clothes. So I think this:

and this:

could conceivably be the same day. But at the beginning of 2.06 we have actually jumped back in time by at least a day, maybe several days, to pick up the storyline when Vi, Jinx and Vander first arrive at the commune.

2.06 is full of things we have no context for the first time through because we haven't seen them yet. It opens with a flash-forward to images from the end of the episode that we have no way to interpret:

The whole time he's staggering through the commune, Jayce is having flashbacks/hallucinations overlaying the decaying puppets from the ruined timeline over Viktor's present-day followers:

Except we have no way to know what they are the first time through this episode because we haven't seen those puppets yet.

The biggest time distortion of course is that everything in 2.07 actually happens somewhere between 2.03 and 2.06 in the main timeline. But even saying that doesn't really capture the temporal weirdness because everyone who gets sucked into the anomaly spends different amounts of time in their alternate timelines. Heimerdinger spends three years in the happy AU timeline; Ekko seems to be there for a matter of days, but also arrives back in the main timeline later than Jayce. Jayce spends at minimum weeks and maybe months in the pit, based on how long it would take a break like that to heal enough to walk on even with support. Meanwhile I think it's reasonable to guess that something like 6-8 months, but possibly as much as a year, pass in the main timeline. Jayce gets a bit scruffy and in the same amount of narrative time Viktor grows his hair out almost to his shoulders, and maybe he doesn't work quite like a normal human anymore but we don't have a lot of other markers to measure time by. Meanwhile, Mel spends idek how long in mage purgatory, and then making her way back to Piltover.

By the time we get to 2.08, events are happening completely out of order. We start with Mel what might be weeks before the point in the timeline where Jayce shoots Viktor, then we jump forward to the aftermath of the battle in the commune, then we jump back but only by a few hours to pick up Vi, Jinx, Cait and Jayce fleeing the battle, then forward to Vi waking up injured in Cait's bed. We have the council chamber fight and we hear Viktor say, "Doctor, you may begin the process" but we don't see what that means until the end of the episode. The amount of time Vi spends locked in the cell before Cait finds her (which can't be very long, since Cait seemed to know where to look for her) does not at all seem to match up to the time span of the scenes it's surrounded by of the city preparing for war. Mel confronts Ambessa at night and sees the aftermath of Viktor evolving his followers first, then we flash back to (probably) that afternoon and the moment of transformation, all so we can end with the dramatic punch of The Line.

The point of writing all this out is to show how disordered the timeline gets as things spin out of control before the big finale. 2.08 in particular is also a spectacular example of very confidently ignoring linear storytelling in favor of arranging the emotional arc of the episode to pack the biggest punch.

2.09 is actually fairly linear in comparison, because it's mostly action, despite having actual in-world reversals of time in it. And of course there is Jayce and Viktor's culminating scene, which for all we know might only be a fraction of a second long in real time.

S2 is structured in a way that you have to watch it at least twice--you simply don't have all the information about why certain things are happening before you get to the final reveal. I'm someone who loves nonlinear storytelling, so I found this to be a delight, and I love teasing out the pieces of how the timeline fits together, even if it takes several watch-throughs to catch certain details. But regardless of whether you found it enjoyable or frustrating, I think it very much fits with the overall motifs, tone and style of S2.

[artistic-mathematics]

Analysis on Shadowheart, her relationship with "Mother Superior", and Shar

Spoilers for all three acts of BG3 below.

I just had the sudden realization that Viconia sent Shadowheart to retrieve the relic with every intention of letting Shadowheart die alone and as a nobody out of pure jealousy, all the while being thrown around like a ragdoll for fucking fun by the goddess she's devoted everything to because she's been gaslit and manipulated her entire life.

Viconia sent her on a fucking suicide mission (KNOWING that it was a suicide mission) and told her that her memories would be restored after she returned under the impression that Shadowheart was going to die. She knew that she was going directly against what Shar wanted (to convert Shadowheart and puppet her around like a plaything until she became Shar's obedient Chosen) and did it anyway because she considered Shadowheart to be a joke and decided that if Shadowheart was dead, then she would have to be the Chosen.

There's only a few things that Shadowheart knows about herself that aren't total fabrications (not including the fear of wolves, I suppose, though they did gaslight her into being terrified of them). She likes night orchids. She can't swim. She's a cleric of Shar. She has a Sharran wound that hurts sometimes -- and she doesn't really even know why it hurts, just that it hurts. The saddest part about this is that two out of these four things, maybe even three, are things that she most likely learnt via intuition. The only other things she knows? Her suicide mission -- to steal the githyanki relic and return it to Baldur's Gate. And the authority figure in her life (emphasis on authority) -- Viconia Devir, Mother Superior, and the things that she'd had done to put her in place.

Viconia wiped literally everything else from Shadowheart's life except for Shar and herself. Shadowheart has a better idea of who Viconia is than who she herself is, and it only gets worse because Viconia had marked her as "expendable". Meanwhile, Shadowheart is completely unaware, believing that she'll be rewarded greatly upon delivering the relic to Baldur's Gate (she doesn't even know where the House of Grief is, or where she's supposed to deliver the relic to specifically!). Except when Shadowheart does become a Dark Justiciar and shows up to overthrow Viconia, Viconia faces her and calls her a traitor anyway despite knowing that Shadowheart is telling the truth. (Note how Viconia doesn't call out "for Shar!" at the beginning of this battle.)

Everything Shadowheart knows about herself is either shit she was manipulated into believing or things she's figured out on her own. She doesn't remember anyone she was close with -- not her best friend Nocturne or any of the initiates she'd trained with. Meanwhile, it's outright explicitly stated that all of her companions -- both from those still in the House of Grief and those who were sent with her on the relic mission, were never treated this way. People in Shadowheart's past all know Shadowheart better than herself -- at least, they know who she used to be before the events of the nautiloid -- but that's just the problem at hand.

Shadowheart has zero sense of identity. Even at the beginning of the game, with the knowledge of being a Sharran cleric, she's struggling with herself. She very clearly is downright terrible at being a Sharran cleric -- I mean like yeah, she likes deceiving people and playing dirty, but she's horrendous at keeping secrets and worries way too much for people and animals than she cares to admit. Even as going down the Dark Justiciar path, Shadowheart's morals -- the ones that Viconia and Shar both tried to suppress -- stand in the way, especially in the House of Grief. When she's faced with her parents, deep down, she knows that killing them is outright wrong, despite everything that she was taught. If you let her do as she pleases, she makes a comment about just serving blindly, because it's just so much easier to do rather than continue with the mental battle that she's been fighting for years -- and note she doesn't even kill her parents intentionally in this route, and she falls to her knees grieving for these people she doesn't recognize because she understands suddenly, realizes that what it'd all meant, but it's far too late because Shar wipes her memory all over again, and her identity is now officially molded into someone completely unrecognizable.

The worst part about it is that Aylin was right about the "terrible blood price" -- the moment Shadowheart kills Aylin, she will never be free from Shar ever again. At this point, she's doomed to be within Shar's clutches forever, her only fate to end up like The Unclaimed (a story about a Sharran cleric who, as the title suggests, was unclaimed by Shar in death). Shadowheart will never be free from Shar as long as she allows her parents to live, and that is so ridiculously fucking petty from a goddess that already took EVERYTHING from this scared little child in the forest who got roped into Shar's undying animosity.

TLDR: Both Shar and Viconia fucking suck, and I want to fistfight Shar (and win, because genuinely, fuck this bitch.)

[hyperbali]

I've been tooling around on My Version of the DA canon in regards to Veilguard and here are a few fun things you should know about it

Varric, obviously, survives

He also has Titan stone powers now, which in his opinion is a shit-poor replacement for the fact that the lyrium dagger damaged his pectoralis tendon so badly that he couldn’t pick up a crossbow again even if it were to get fixed (RETIRE, BITCH)

He and Pina were together for a few years, but between how burnt out she was post-Trespasser and Varric’s absolute insistence on finding Solas with full intent to change his mind instead of kill him like she wanted, they went their separate ways

Proserpina Lavellan had since retired to Halamshiral, where she basically kicked the Imperial Court out of the Winter Palace, dared them to stop her (no one has tried), and made it her own

She turned much of the property's land into an ungulate farm (sheep, goats, harts, and halla) and surrounded it with Fen'Harel statues that very specifically have their eyes gouged out

Iron Bull joined her in this retirement; they have their own set of twins! Occasionally the Chargers (now led by Krem) have stopped by to hang out for a few weeks at a time and help take care of the farm

So she's REALLY REALLY REALLY PISSED OFF that she's being forced out of retirement to help deal with TWO MORE of her own damn gods!! Solas when I fucking catch you!!!

Prospero relocated to Minrathous with Dorian, where he basically flaunts his position as a trophy husband and has become a massive pain in the ass for most of the magisters in general while also absolutely charming the general public

In that vein, he's become a fairly lucrative merchant who regularly does business with Xenon the Antiquarian and The Viper

He sent the magic mirror to his twin sister and they talk on the regular

BUT SPEAKING OF ORLAIS

In the aftermath of the incredibly damaging civil war, the loss of pretty much every single upper hierarchy in the Chantry, the rumors of a puppet government (Pina forced a public truce), the installation of such a radical Divine (Leliana), and the mounting cruelty of the chevaliers in an effort to regain control, Orlais is a powder keg

These flames are both fanned and stifled in equal measure by the Bards, who have now become a sort of entity all their own rather than being informal mercenary spies

Rumours abound that at this point, Orlais is the only country in Thedas that wants to be entirely rid of their monarchy - it hasn't escalated into all-out war yet, but it feels inevitable

Given the history of the founding of Orlais, a population desperate for a sense of identity and trust turned to their most vaunted and uniquely Orlesian tradition - that of the Bards

Bards, who have always been largely comprised of commoners hoping to make a decent living, elves wanting to leave the alienages, non-inheriting nobility, the bastardborn, and mages hoping to avoid detection anyway, certainly did not turn up their noses at the idea of becoming a symbol of rebellion

It has now become sort of a point of pride for the Bards to effectively target and slaughter the nobility and chevaliers as creatively as possible - whether that be in the literal or social sense (the Great Game is still held in high regard)

A Bard then has the opportunity to take a trophy from their claimed victory - this trophy is usually whatever fanciful finery that noble owned

As a result, Bards have become increasingly easy to spot because they patchwork pieces of items from their defeated quarry into their ensembles. The more variety and asymmetry to a given outfit, the more targets that Bard has taken

(It’s deeply frowned upon to wear more than one piece from a given victory, or to wear something taken from the estate of someone that particular Bard was not responsible for dealing with)

Basically making a mockery of how important style and flamboyance have always been to the Orlesian nobility by stealing their shit and turning the dial to 11

Some Bards have taken this to mean entirely different materials, textures, and colours - the most 'decorated' of them can look like Alexander McQueen meets Bisa Butler

The really dangerous ones manage that patchwork design, but also look cohesive - meaning they've taken down enough nobles and chevaliers to be able to start matching pieces

Anything not taken as a trophy by a Bard is then free game to be raided and distributed among the people, so tensions are HIGH and security is VERY EXPENSIVE

Divine Victoria publicly denounces all of this but secretly provides information to the Bards when she can

(Yes I am giving you all this setup because the Orlesian Bards are a Faction for a planned companion)

As for Dejana

Yes I'm going to be proceeding with Emmrich as her romance

No I have not decided if she's getting Bone Daddy or Bone Son

Maybe this will end up being a threesome with Varric

Yes she is going to have a lot to explain to the parents she forgot existed for several years in any case

Kieran will also be an installation of the party thanks to Morrigan telling him to watch over his sister but he's pretty much going to usually be in the form of a black sphynx cat (he likes creepy cute)

[mimiiiiiiiiisstuff]

Author! It's the anon who asked about your personal opinion on the reader's ethnicity and physical appearance!

I had another question, is Tiffany a secret yandere? We know that she wants the reader's life, going as far as to copy the way they/she sneezes, and that video footage of her straight up sniffing her dirty laundry (something I automatically link to being a perv or obsessed stalker). I had the theory that Tiffany, while she treats the reader horribly and actively causes harm, also has this weird one sided rivalry that is lowky giving petty rejected crush or ex who never got over being dumped. Like this girl, while actively stealing the reader's life also sees the reader as the closest to being an "equal" to them, the batfamily are just her puppets, she has those bosses of her, but in terms of powers and other things, she only fixates on the reader. If the reader isn't in some connection to the thing, I bet she wouldn't have been as interested in the batfamily if the reader wasn't connected to them. (Not romantizing Tiffany, hate her guts, but the toxicity is interesting-)

-anyways have a good day!

okkkk so tiffany WOULD be a yandere if she wasn’t so focused on being Reader and hurting her. she’s fs at the yandere level but her intentions aren’t to protect reader or love reader, she wants to become her.

this is a great idea tho!! might write a lil headcannon for this 👀👀👀

[piss-pumpkin]

🌓 waking nightmares⚡️

(Older) Dipper pines x reader, Douce amere chapter 15 ~3.6k words, masterlist Prev

“Y/n!” Dipper hollered, one hand on the car door, the other on the centre armrest, all for balance. “Did you fucking forget how to drive since this morning?!”

Bill laughed, and it sounded maniacal in your voice. “Maybe!” He said. 

Mabel was, maybe for the first time, dead silent. Eyes wide and sitting straight up, she too held into the car door handle for dear life. Don’t hurt them, please. 

And you were reeling. If it was possible, given your condition. Bill kept your eyes on the road, at least. It seemed he didn’t have the intention to kill all of you at the current moment, since he had plenty the opportunity.

Bill nearly rammed into the mystery shack when he parked, and Dipper and Mabel sighed in relief when they finally opened the doors. Dipper practically fell out. “Y/n, what the fuck was that?” He asked, shooting you crazy eyes. 

…You’re not being subtle with them, you thought tiredly. They know I wouldn’t drive like that. They’ll figure you out. 

“The sun was going crazy,” Bill said, stepping out of the car. As he turned you caught a glimpse at Mabel, who was leaning on the trunk for support, shifting her balance from one foot to the other. “I was half blind that whole time.” He gestured at your sunglasses, tapping the sides of them. 

Dipper shott you a more than quizzical look, his brow furrowed in exaggerated distain. He leaned down, resting his arms on the car roof and poking his head in the open door. “You know,” he started, rolling his eyes. He seemed to lose the will to fight you, and pushed off the car. “Come on,” he said, gesturing for you to come. 

Bill shook your head. “Nah, I gotta get back home,” he said. 

Dipper looked disappointed, his face falling slightly, despite your nearly killing him today. You were almost brought to smile by it, his sadness at the thought of you leaving. It was cute. “Okay, text me when you’re coming next,” he said. 

Bill, nodded, put it in reverse, and pull out of the driveway. “You’re too sappy, it makes me sick,” Bill said, speeding down the road.

​​​​​…Fuck you. 

“Oh, don’t be so sullen,” He laughed, swerving across the yellow lines. “I like having somebody to talk to.” 

A deer jumped in front of the car, and Bill swerved nearly into the ditch. The bottom of the car scraped the dirt as Bill got back on the road. 

Wonder if the car is gonna be okay. You watched at the trees melted into the small town scene as you approached your aunts house. Wait a second. Did we just steal Stans car? 

“Sure did!” Bill sang. 

He’s never letting me take that car again, is he?

”You won’t have to worry about that,” Bill casually hand waved. What? He was coming up on Susan’s house now, and you weren’t trying to think about anything at all. 

Luckily she was working. Bill parked messily across the driveway, blocking any other car that could try to pull in. He didn’t bother locking the door behind you, and he tore through the halls walking like marionette doll, bouncing between the walls as he crashed around as if on misguided puppet strings. Ouch. That might hurt later.  

“No matter how many time I try it, I’ll never get used to human pain,” Bill laughed, coming to the kitchen. “It’s so neat!” He went through all the cupboards, eating several strange and old foods Susan had in the very back. The standout was a can of maple beans from the fifties. That could hurt later too. 

He went through all the drawers, running your fingers over the serrated edges of butter knives and at the prongs of forks. His eyes lingered on a meat cleaver for longer than you’d have liked. But he didn’t grab for it.

He ran your hands under cold water for a minute, then hot, seemingly taking in all the sensations. Your hand was red and tender by the end of it.

When he got to your room, he went through all your things that he hadn’t yet seen through your eyes. All the clothes you hadn’t worn yet, everything on your laptop you hadn’t opened while he was with you. This is excessive. 

“I want to know everything I can about my little host body,” he laughed. “And anything here that could kill Pine tree.” 

Oh. Kill him? I don’t think I have anything that could do that, you thought dejectedly. 

“Better to be sure!” He chirped, scrolling through all your messages, apparently looking for some confession or secret that could destroy your boyfriend. It’s not like I talk shit about him, or something. This is fucking stupid.   

“Hey, it’s worth a try,” he said, putting your hands up in the air in defeat. “You seem clean, good for you!”

Fuck off. Bill laughed. The fucker. 

He sat on your bed invading your privacy for a while. You hadn’t even realized it was dark out, and had been dark for hours. The mental exhaustion had already blended your brain into mush. But Bill was slowing down. Long blinks that lingered on the dark, sluggish hands as he typed through your documents. “I’m not a fan of this part,” he muttered quietly. 

Going to sleep?

“No,” he said, nearly nodding off hunched over.

Please lay down or something, you’ll give me back problems. It’ll just hurt you tomorrow. 

He hummed. “You might have a point, little host,” he said, leaning back, laptop still on your legs. He laid your head back on the pillow, and your vision went dark as he closed his eyes. 

You could at least move my computer, so you don’t break it. Silence. For once Bill didn’t have a comment, and sluggishly put your laptop on the floor beside the bed. 

Hello? You asked, seemingly into the void. No answer. Just dark. Your eyes were still closed. This is probably the closest to being dead that I’ll ever feel. Until the real thing. No sight, just dark, the sensation of laying, but without the ability to move. Yes, this did seem a lot like being dead. Billy? Hello?

To no response again. Okay. Workable, now you could formulate a working theory, take stock of your situation. Maybe he was asleep. If Bill had control of your body, maybe he was subject to its limits. He finally made you pass out. But you’re still awake, as tired as you are. So maybe when he sleeps, the body sleeps? Or he’s in pre-sleep, where the brain is still technically active?  

Even if you were alone with your thoughts for the first time in what felt like forever, you still had no idea what to do. Like you were living a puzzle, and you couldn’t seem to find all the pieces. 

“I’m still…” Bill muttered, covering your ears. “…Here.”

Shut up and go to bed. Dipper always said Bill made deals by shaking hands. You did shake his hand… sort of. Fuck, that was dumb. Your statue friend Billy, you did shake his hand way back then. That’s when the nightmares started. Fuck he was totally doing that. Could you give him nightmares? You didn’t know how, if it was possible.

”You can’t, little host,” Bill mumbled, waving your hand in the air as best he could. 

Bill said something about the shack. The nightmares stopped in the shack. There was something there, you could tell. But your brain was foggy enough to miss the punchline. Fuck, you were exhausted. Even without a body, just mentally, you felt more than dead. 

Dipper said that when he was possessed, he was like a ghost out of his body. That’s not what you’re on, clearly. Ugh, it would have been nicer, you’d at least be able to move. 

Sleep was odd when you didn’t have a body. You were alone in the universe, completely in the dark, and as exhausted  as you felt, there was nothing you could do. Mental tiredness be damned, you were still thinking. Until you weren’t, when the body fell asleep completely, you and Bill were knocked out.

                                             …

Bill was mortified by the human bodies tiredness upon waking, complaining how many years it’s been since he inhabited Ford, and even his body was better at waking up. That’s rather rude. But Bill didn’t think much of it. 

If you could have, you would have shuddered as you saw Bill pull out your phone, and text Dipper. Would have froze when he responded right away, and would have died when they made plans to meet in the woods and go on a ‘mystery hunt,’ suggested by Bill. Alone together in the woods. That’s not good.

He laughed, slipping your phone in a pocket and putting on a sweater. “You’re observant!” He chirped, jingling Stan’s car keys. At least he was returning them. “Eh,” he shrugged, not bothering to lock the door behind him. “If I feel like it.” Your sunglasses were all he carried in your back pack. Well shit. 

Hmm. Bill drove a little more careful this time, and parked a few blocks away from the shack. Like hiding? Why? He didn’t answer, wordlessly walking to the tree line where Dipper was waiting, slipping the glasses on. 

Your lovely boyfriend. Dipper waved happily at Bill as you got close, and wrote a note in his journal. Maybe he was writing all his suspicions and reservations about you, and he already knew you weren’t yourself. Bill snickered as he jogged up to him. It wasn’t that much to hope for, don’t laugh, you thought sadly. 

“Hey,” Dipper said, closing the book to devote all his attention. He’s too nice for this. You can’t do this to him. “You said you found something good?” He asked, starting to walk.

Bill smiled, mimicking the way you spoke and moved with precision. He’s been watching a while, huh. Studying. Your hands swung at your sides the way they always did, and your feet hopped over roots with the same spring you always had. The disguise was perfect. “Yes!” Bill proclaimed, walking ahead of him. “It’s a little ways in though, we’ll get there when we get there, I guess.”  

He talked like you, laughed like you, held Dippers hand like you did, raising no suspicion at all. You watched like a film how the two of you hiked around, noting and taking photos of all the oddities and silly creatures you found. And you could almost pretend you were in control with how good of a job Bill was doing. Hearing all your thoughts does that, you supposed.

Your camera roll would be cursed with pictures from before Dipper knew. Or his last moments, that he spent with his killer. That thought got a laugh out of Bill. Unfortunately. 

He led Dipper through the woods, teasing you with the way to your special clearing, where you first met Bill. That had to be the final destination. Bill laughed under your breath a moment, confirming your suspicions. This dumb fuck was edging you. 

Bill laughed, much to Dippers confusion. And he was quick to recover, pointing down the path you’d walked alone before, and down it you could see the sunlight of the clearing. The weather always turned sour when I went there before. Why’s it have to be sunny for you? “Down that way,” Bill said, starting the trail. “We’ve found it!”

Dipper followed, smile on his face as he idly clicked at his pen. “Okay, you’ve led me on enough, what the fuck did you find, Y/n,” he laughed, not a hint of distaste in his voice. 

Bill grinned, almost manically, just for you and him. Dipper couldn’t see from behind. “Oh,” he said dramatically, “you’ll see.” You’re a dramatic cunt.

You heard Dipper scoff, with a little smile on his lips, you could tell. Even with your back to him. The clearing was growing closer each step. You couldn’t yet see the stature, your little Billy. If Dipper saw it first, maybe he could get away…

Bill shook your head, and stopped just short of the little field. The grass was tall, brushing up against your ankles, and a few daisies poked through the blades. “Okay, it’s here,” Bill said enthusiastically, spinning around to face Dipper. “And I’m gonna have to ask you to close your eyes.”

Dipper raised his brow. “Alright, if this isn’t like, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen I’m gonna be disappointed, you’re hyping this up too much,” he said, shaking his head with a smile. “Fine.” 

Dipper closed his eyes. Dude. Come on. Bill snickered, and took Dippers hand, pulling him. “Okay, don’t open your eyes until I tell you, okay?”

You could see the statue, its familiar outstretched hand beckoning you closer. And you could feel Dippers hand too. Too many hands. All around you. Dipper laughed, “yeah, yeah, I get it.”

Bill just smiled and nodded, maybe forgetting that Dipper couldn’t see. He stopped in front of his stone self, smiling down at it happily. Maniacally. Maliciously. Dipper still had his eyes closed as your hand slipped out of his, and suddenly there wasn’t enough hands. 

Bill stood behind him, hands on his shoulders. “Okay, don’t open your eyes, but we’re here.”

”Dude, my balls are blue enough,” he snickered. “Can I just see?”

”Wait wait, not yet.” Bill savoured the moment. A gentle breeze ran through Dippers and your hair, a few birds chirped. It was a nice summer day, all things considered. Bill pulled out your phone, and took a selfie with Dipper, the statue, and you behind his back. That’s just cruel. 

“I know,” Bill said. 

Dipper didn’t know he was talking to you, “What?” 

“Okay, you can open them,” Bill said, words cutting through the air like knives. And you had to watch, a little glad you that his back was turned. That way you didn’t have to see his face. 

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Dipper laughed. But he stopped fairly quickly, freezing in place. The birds didn’t stop chirping, and you could even hear a few crickets. Dipper was silent enough for a lot of forest sounds to come through. You couldn’t even hear his breathing. If he even was. 

He stood for a few beats of your heart, hands frozen at his sides, until you noticed the subtle way his fingers rubbed and scratched at his thumb. Please don’t turn around. 

Dipper started to turn around. Very slowly. There was a slight move of his head to the right, and then a stop. And when he started again his hands were fidgeting with his pockets. 

Bill, I’ll kill you for this. 

You didn’t want to see his face, but it was the first thing to turn. And you couldn’t avert your eyes if you wanted to. Bill wasn’t nice enough to let you look away. Dippers brow was furrowed in concentration, his jaw clenched but lips parted. More confused them anything, at a glance. “Y/n, what-“ 

And then he saw your face, the way Bill was grinning. And you saw each stage of grief pass on your boyfriends features. He was frozen for a moment, just a single one, and then he stepped back. It was an awkward, shaky step, but it was better than you could do. He grimaced, one hand touching his backpack as if to check it was still there. “Y/n?” He asked, voice laced with concern first, suspicions second. He took another step back, and his foot knocked the statue.

”Nope,” Bill grinned gleefully, shaking your head. He took a step forward, cornering Dipper against the statue. “Try again.”

And then, if you had to guess, is when you’d say Dippers blood ran cold, maybe stopped in his veins, and his heart stopped pumping. His breath caught in his throat, and he tried to step back, but caught on the outstretched hand. “You’re not-“ he said, stumbling to regain balance.

”That’s not a guess.” Fuck you. Fuck you. 

”Dude. He’s dead,” Dipper said, starting confident but losing it partway through. “This is kind of fucked up, Y/n, take those off,” he hissed, pointing at your sunglasses. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.  

Bill stepped closer again, “Will do, Pinetree!” And then he did. He flipped them on top of your head, and it seemed like Dippers heart stopped a second time. He went pale. Your pupils didn’t look right. Suppose that was the giveaway. Isn’t that what he asked you when you first met? That was the telltale sign? Dipper scrambled backwards, putting the statue between him and Bill. Dipper… if you had any control… better not to think about what you would do. 

Dippers eyes were wide like that of a prey animal, darting to different holes in the tree line for a potential escape. His voice was too level, giving away too much. Everything he was doing to keep calm, and you knew how panicked he really was. “Where-“ he started, stepping back. “Where’s Y/n?”

Right here, Dip. “Right here, Pine tree,” Bill said, tapping your head. “Been a real complainer this whole time.” 

Fuck you. Fuck you. 

“W-what?” Dipper said, brow furrowing. He clutched his back, swinging it off his shoulder and digging around in it while he kept his eyes trained on you. 

“They’re still here, not in the mindscape or anything,” Bill shrugged. “Y/n, you can say hi if you want, anything you wanna tell him?” 

Fuck you. Tell him… what was there to say? I guess that I’m sorry. Yeah. Fuck you. I’ll kill you. 

“They say they’re sorry,” Bill laughed, shaking your head. “Among other things.”

“I-“ he started. He quickly lost the track, but pulled his journal out of his bag. Maybe he had a solution in there. “Y/n…” 

Yes? I’m right here. Right here. Still here. Bill kept getting closer, side stepping his statue, and giving it a flick on the hat. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Pine tree,” he started as Dipper stumbled back. He was flipping through his journal aggressively, searching desperately for something, anything. Please find it. “And this time you don’t have that memory gun, do ya?”

 Please do something. Dipper, please. But you were begging to the void. Bill was done letting you talk, and Dipper was as worlds away. As trapped as you were in your mind, he seemed to be locked in his, frantic and running out of places to go, nearly the edge of the clearing as he kept walking backwards, and Bill kept closing in. If you leave me here you’ll be okay, you wanted to say. Or if you fight me off. 

But did he have it in him? There was a thin sheen of sweet on Dippers forehead. He wasn’t finding whatever he was looking for, and Bill was closing fast. And Dippers legs were shaking. And his hands. Please fight me. 

And maybe he heard your prayers. Dippers hands clutched the journal with white knuckles, the pages bending under his fingers. Heavy and ragged were his breaths, but his jaw was tight in a sneer and glare. The stance of prey, but the teeth of a predator. Fight or flight. Yes. Yes Dipper. Don’t hesitate. 

Suddenly there was hope. A sliver of it, anyway, because Dipper still stumbled back and tripped to the ground when Bill lunged forward. And you were given the Birds Eye view looking over him as he scrambled back, hanging onto his journal like a lifeline. Don’t hesitate. Fight. Choose fight. You could feel Bills grin on your lips. 

Dipper held his book to his chest, and with one hand frantically grabbed at the grass behind him, trying to pull himself away. 

Bill snickered, and raised his knee. Don’t you fucking hurt him. Don’t you fucking do it. I’ll kill you for this. You’re gonna be dead. If you could, you’d be sobbing blind with rage, it’d stop you from seeing this. Bill stomped down on his wrist, and Dipper winced, groaning in pain. 

“You’re not gonna hurt this body, are you,” Bill gloated. Fuck you. Fight him off. I’d forgive you. I’d hate you if you didn’t, you have to know that. Dipper, he’ll kill you. “Only way to get rid of me now is to get rid of them,” he laughed. “And you’re not gonna do that.”

Dipper gritted his teeth, but he had no objections besides a breath sucked in hastily and laced with pain as Bill pressed your foot down harder on his wrist. Just pick fight. Before you get hurt, you pleaded. Appealing to Bill was a scream into the void, but in some sense, Dipper might hear you. Across the universe. Right in front of you. You could practically feel his pulse pounding through your shoe. His hand was starting to blue. 

“That’s what I thought,” Bill said smugly, leaning down your head close to his, and you could feel his shaky breath on your face. What, you read fucking yaoi or something? The fuck is this? 

The hand clutching the journal was shaking. He tried to clench the hand Bill was suffocating, but all that happened was a twitch of the fingers. 

“I’m going to kill you now,” Bill said, raising a hand tediously slowly. 

But before it could clamp around his throat, punch his face, dig into his chest, or whatever else Bill had planned, Dippers journal was flying towards your face. Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. His eyes were wild, but he was doing it. One clean hit to the jaw, and you were out.

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I wrote this one while so sick lmao. Ig I did my first proofread while sick too cuz I caught some horrible errors 💀

Anyway I got war flashbacks to dipper x bill shit from the 2010s, can you tell?

Taglist: @dead-esque @cipheress-to-k-pop