#at least they may get a happy ish ending at some point

[ang3lofsmalldeath]

steve harrington x shy-ish! needy! reader smut

inspired by this lovely piece of work from @stevestummy/nsfw blog @hungharrington 🫶

CW: d/s dynamics, praise, slight dumbification, shyness, reader has vagina, reader referred to as ‘girl’, unprotected PIV, & size kink but like in a steve being hung way, not in a fetishizing being skinny way.

minors DNI (not proofread)

lazy sundays were reserved for just you and your stevie. they weren’t always super “lazy”, every now and again he may decided to take his angel out for a sweet lil date. maybe a picnic or shopping trip. but today was in fact, lazy. after, rolling around in bed, kissing each other silly for a while, steve had made you both soup and sandwiches for lunch. then you sat on the couch together, curled into steve’s chest as he lazily played with your hair, watching some movie that you couldn’t remember the name of, and you had good reason to forget.

you had been wound up for your boy since the sun rose and splashed against his mole covered back. when steve woke up, and sloppily kissed your lip, cheeks, and neck, you instantly felt heat overtake your body. it didn’t help that steve had placed his whole weight on top of you, like an anxiety blanket. you went on like that for an unknown amount of time, it could’ve been minutes or hours. you wish it would’ve been for eternity, but alas, all good things come to an end. now, sitting so close to steve, taking the time to study the happy trail peaking out of his shirt and the soft bulge so visible in his sweats, you felt like you were going to die if steve didn’t touch you soon.

“stevie,” you whined, getting your boy’s attention, “i have somethin’ to tell you.” you watched steve’s brows furrow, clearly encouraging you to share. with a slight smirk on your face and your eyes shifting down, “‘m really, really wet.”

shocked by your uncharacteristic boldness, he breathily chuckled before urging you to get on his lap, “c’mere baby,” he said patting his lap. once you climbed into his lap, he said a sweet “hi honey,” before quickly attaching his lips to yours. huffing out of your nose, you accepted his attack, waiting a moment to fight back. his lips upturned into a smile the second you did, putting his hand on your face, he graciously slipped his tongue in your mouth. you stayed like that for a while, until your hips began to move against his. his mouth began to nip at your lips to your jaw to your neck, worsen the throbbing in between your legs until you couldn’t stand it anymore.

“please stevie,” you begged as he pulled away to look at your features, “i want you,” you whined at him, almost begging.

“you want me what?” steve teased, trying to get your courage from earlier to come back. but, it didn’t as you just flashed him the biggest puppy dog eyes you had and whimpered a slight bit in response, “aw, are you being shy again, angel? let me help you then.” steve grabbed your hips and made you stand up as he pulled down your shorts, but left your underwear on. he patted his lap again, but your face fell into a frown in response as you climbed back onto him. he noticed this almost instantly, “what’s wrong, baby?”

“i want you to touch me, without my panties on, right now,” you whined, making steve only giggle in return, moving his hand to pull your panties to the side. then he just paused for a moment to make a remark about your behavior.

“my girl, so spoiled, huh?” he then began to lightly stroke your cunt with his two fingers, glancing down at it, he noticed how soaked you were and how wet his sweats were getting. cock straining in his pants, he began to circle your clit, trying to his baby ready as quickly as he could. “such a pretty little pussy my angel has, she’s so so wet for me,” you let out the loudest, pained whine either of you had heard up until this point.

“stevieee, i need you now, okay? please i need your cock, i can’t wait,” you begged, knowing steve had yet to let you to take it without at least making you cum once before due to the sheer size of his cock, but you wanted it so bad.

instantly hard as a rock to your proposal, steve wanted to say yes so bad, but he had to be certain you really wanted it. “sweetheart, are you sure? i dont want to hurt you.”

sighing, frustrated almost to the point if tears, you promised him, “won’ hurt me, baby, i can take it, please, ‘m so wet f’you,”

“okay be a good girl and take me out, honey,” steve agreed and so you did as he asked, shaky hands pulling his sweats down to reveal the hardness you’d been dripping onto this whole time. he was always big, like really big, but today his tip was extra flushed and leaking, veins straining against his natural curve making the concept of taking all him more intimidating than usually. once he was freed, he grabbed your hand, and put his palm towards, spitting in it than glancing back down at his cock. you gave him a few tentative strokes, watching his eyes flutter before cautiously lining yourself up with him. steve, ever the doting lover, grabbed your hips and began to sink you down onto him. you wouldn’t lie and say the sting wasn’t more intense than usually. it felt pretty good at first, but then it felt like he was tearing you apart with barely the tip of dick.

“wait, please, i can’t” you moaned, the ache in between you growing more apparent, “‘s too much, cock’s too big.” listening to your whimpers, one of steve’s hands moved to stroke your cheek.

“what’d i tell you, angel, hm? it was gunna hurt you. want me to stop, baby? let me eat your little cunt first and try again?” steve’s proposal did intrigue you, but you had other ideas. as you sat atop his cock, listening to him, your pussy had become to relax and flutter around steve’s tip, feeling much more comfortable.

“hmph, no, baby can y-you just stay and um,” you trailed off, grabbing steve’s hand off your cheek and lightly sucking on his thumb as his eyes grew twice their size out of curiosity and lust. once you popped his thumb out of your mouth, your hand, moved his back down to where you two were connected. you pleaded with him, “please, jus’ touch me and maybe stay right here, stevie? you can move a lil, jus’ really gently, okay? hurts t’much today,” for split second steve was confused about what you were trying to say, and then understood what you were asking for. he began to circle your clit while one hand moved your hips up and down

“oh, my spoiled baby, i love you,” steve dreamily sighed, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. “want jus’ want a quarter of it, yeah? can’ handle such a big dick in such a tiny little pussy? good girl using your words, y’know i’d give my girl anythin’ if you ask, honey,” steve spewed uncontrollably, more turned on than it felt like he every had been before. he watched your legs already start to quiver as your eyes squeezed shut. “lemme know if ‘t hurts, okay, sweet girl? wanna make you feel good, wanna make you cum on me baby.” you moaned out to his confession, his words spurring you on.

“feels s’so good, stevie, y’fillin’ me up so good, i-i feel s’good,” you babbled, as steve sped up his assault on your clit and pushed your hips just a little bit further down, at this point, still barely taking half of all his length.

“mhm, baby? must feel really good, you can barely talk straight right now. s-shit you’re clenching me so damn hard too, baby, fuck me,” steve teased you, groaning out as your cunt wrapped even tighter around him. he could tell you were getting close, and changed nothing about his work besides add a little more pressure to your clit, still rubbing tight wet circles on it. “y’gunna cum, sweet girl? this all it take? rubbing your little clit and giving you only some of my cock? that’s so cute, honey. fuck, why don’t you cum, huh? wanna be a good girl and soak my dick? make me s’so proud of y-you,” he stuttered out, trying to keep his composure, as you neared your end.

“uhuhuh, steve, i-i’m, mmm gonna cum- kiss me, please kiss-“ you pleaded with him before he kissed you hard. your legs squeezed shut, body rocking against his as you shook with the waves of your orgasm, finally, overtaking your body. it was so much all at once.

“i know, sweetheart, i know, feels so good, huh? cumming like that on me, yeah? look at your pretty legs shake, baby, jus’ breath love,” steve said when your mouth fell away from his. he shushed you as you continued to ride it out atop of him, tears welling in your eyes. once you had completely finished, steve took you off his still-hard cock and pulled you to his chest. “shit, you’re tremblin’ like a fuckin’ leaf, sweet angel,” he whispered before kissing the top of your head, squeezing you tight as you caught your breath.

you both sat there, for as long as need to as your legs stop shaking and your breath slowed to a steady pace. you were thinking about asking steve to come and give you shower, until you realized something: steve didn’t get to cum yet. you ripped yourself away from his chest, catching a startled steve dead in the eyes, “you didn’t cum yet, baby, can i help you please?”

he blushed at his sweet girl before responding, “wanna make me feel good, honey, yeah?” you nodded your head as fast as you could, your boy deserved to cum as hard as you did. “m’kay baby, but im real tired after moving y’hips like that, so why don’t you go and use that pretty little mouth of yours on my dick, sweet thing. yeah, be a good girl and clean your cum off m’cock?”

and that’s exactly what you did.

[triptychgardener]

Hello sorry if this is a bother but I am asking in good faith where is the reading for transmasc nepeta. I’m asking this cuz of your last ask (the June one) and I see aradia Dirk and Jane. Thoes all I have seen post and analysis about. But I have not really seen anything about nepeta.

Okay so first thing you gotta understand is that gender in Homestuck, for lack of a better way to say it, can be understood in how characters reflect and relate to each other. That being said to understand Nepeta's gender, we gotta understand the gender of at the very least one other person.

Dave.

And more specifically.

Davepeta, Homestuck's very own first(ish) trans character.

Davepeta is noted to be a sort of platonic ideal of existence for both Dave and Nepeta. Somehow, through a strange series of cosmic coincidences, these two end up making an odd sort of parallel. Both having a strange relationship to a man who loves him some goddamn horses. The whole Akwete Purrmusk thing. I mean, Dave canonically engaged in semi-nonironic furry roleplay with Nepeta offscreen, and given what we know about what becoming a furry in Homestuck means, it's not a leap to describe this as their ideal form.

But, although we don't see a lot of Nepeta's character arc, we do see a lot of Dave's. He struggles his whole life under an incredibly oppressive masculine force (both of Bro and, indirectly, Lord English), and once the game is over ends up deconstructing and largely rejecting that.

So when Davesprite, who's also probably been thinking about this for even longer, bereft of purpose or identity, finds a kindred soul in a spunky catgirl... well the rest is Davepeta.

And similarly, there are points in the story where Nepeta acts kind of uncomfortable with how others see her as exclusively something to be protected. The whole "Dear, sweet, precious Nepeta" grates on her early on, as Equius uses it as an excuse to control her actions. The whole of moiraillegience as it is originally explained (i.e. one party helps to calm down an especially brutal and violent person from outbursts of anger, and in turn that person will protect the more docile, even-tempered soul from external harm) even kind of FEELS like the way heterosexual relationships are portrayed in a lot of conservative spaces, where women are nuturers and caretakers while men are protectors. And Nepeta is supposed to, in this situation, be the person who helps Equius manage his emotions, which she feels some consternation at!

Now, over the course of Hivebent, their relationship appears to evolve and get a bit more balanced, but it still carries these overtones of "I will protect you, and you will handle my outbursts." Notably, when Equius goes to seek the Highb100d, and leaves Nepeta behind.

And of course not after roleplaying as each other.

Which. I mean come on.

But notably, Nepeta doesn't just stay put! She doesn't really want to be protected all the time! And when push comes to shove, she leaps out to defend, or at the very least avenge, her best friend.

And then, we don't really see Nepeta for a while!

Until we get to the end of the comic.

During their whole "date", Nepeta seems a little uncomfortable with Jasprose's affections. She may be a bit flattered, but Jasprose also fully admits later that she was frankly looking for any girl she could fall in love with after the tragic death of her girlfriend and possible more tragic untimely resurrection.

But then the pivotal handshake happens, and we get to see who is perhaps the most happy being in all of Homestuck.

Then we get into some of the only actual discussion of gender in Homestuck. We don't get much besides that, for both of their lives, Dave and Nepeta both felt something was missing. Something felt wrong that they couldn't quite place that made them both miserable. I don't think it's a massive stretch to say this could be gender dysphoria.

And when they combine, they feel the fullness of the gendered experience they were missing, melded together like a two-piece puzzle.

Now while the abovementioned "strong identities as a boy and a girl" might throw you off, I would point to what Victoria Lacroix said about this passage: note the lack of the word "respectively." I rest my case.

Now full disclosure, my personal headcanon for Nepeta is genderfluid transmasc. The whole affinity for roleplaying lends itself to a more shifting identity and I just think Nepeta, given more time, would love exploring the little nooks and crannies of gender.

This isn't going into the more complicated shit with Gender when it comes to Equius and Dirk and all that other stuff. Here's a quick summary so you can see exactly how my brain is broken.

Anyways, thanks for the question! I hope I answered my thoughts on the topic adequately! If other people have more to say about this, please feel free to add on!

[kyupidos]

04/28/24’s delivery 🏹✉️ twisted wonderland

and, here’s to you!ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ_θ彡☆Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ,ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ_θ彡☆Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ ;; summary. ‘a date, for a kind thing they did for you.”

characters. savanaclaw , octavinelle : ruggie bucchi , jade leech ( separate ) ;; romantic . 🖇️ tags. reader is gender neutral ( you/your ), reader may or may not be yuu ( up to the reader ), pre-relationship, romantic fluff

📡 _a/n. well, this is a little short..sorry for the late-ish update y’all, was busy praising my sebek nesoberi that i finally got 🙏🙏

r. bucchi

— oh wow, how ruggie would appreciate a buffet styled dinner date.. and to think he was getting it because he helped you out on some important assignments you missed out on because you were rotting sick in bed!! to have been able to have racked up this kind of debt for you to get this sort of pay…wait hey, did you think he liked you? oh, he doesn’t, not like the food he eats somehow tastes better when he’s eating with you, and it’s not like he’s oddly nervous whenever you near him. ..on obvious lie on his end—he knows full well he likes you, but he’s not sure he’d be able to provide for you, so he lays a little low until he can assess.

— so to know you invited him on this kind of dinner date, to a buffet? safe to say he’s stoked if nothing else. he’s just about ready to eat whatever comes his way, but at the very least he’d like to cater to you. this is a date after all, and he’d hate to ruin the chance you gave him. so take a seat at your table, he’ll bring him and yourself whatever foods may suit your fancy, and do his best to impress you since you’re the one paying for this. he wouldn’t want to disappoint, or take advantage of this in an unsavory manner ( obviously he’s still gonna eat as much as he can, what’d ya expect? ).

— once you get back to your dorms, nearing the dead of night around a little around when one would usually eat their dinner, expect him to invite you over to savanaclaw for said dinner, something he was ready to prep just for you. after all, while a buffet is nice, a homemade dinner is equally so, if not better given it was made from the heart of people you know.

j. leech

— after scaring some delinquent classmates off your tail with his scary ( not yet ) boyfriend attitude, you took it upon yourself to ask jade on a date to go mountain hiking—and who was he to refuse? after all he’s head over heels for you, and he’s been looking for a well enough opportunity to go on an outing for you; he would never decline a chance like this. if you hear his little giggles as he comes to find you didn’t stand him up, don’t point it out. not like he’s hiding it, but he might end up a little shy over it. give him a bit to settle into his usual confident mereel self.

— he wouldn’t want you to trip and fall on your hiking date, so he requests you hold onto his hand ( he knows full well you can handle yourself, he just wants an excuse ). either way he does his best to care for you, especially if you only asked to go mountain hiking because you knew it was something that’d make him happy. he might scold you a bit if he found out, not to mention if you happen to be inexperienced. but he won’t chew you out too harshly, because he’s enjoying the time he’s got to spend with you, and he’s hoping you feel the same.

— once the sun is set, finally the two of you go back, visiting jade’s room, which is surprisingly empty, leaving the two of you to bask in each others silence. just lay there for a little with him, and rejuvenate as you settle down into some light conversation after a nice afternoon mountain hiking date.

[maximoffslilwitchintraining]

Mommy... I mean Wanda 

Part 11👀

Series here: 🎃

Word count: 1k ish i didnt look too close tbh

Summary: i barely remember what i wrote, but theres some smut, some cuddles, some sexting... oh and yelena 🫰🏻which always makes a story better

Do yall have any suggestions for future chapters or yk one shots 👀 just send me a request 😚

Cause frankly this series is getting long and completely lacks plot 😎ahahha help😥

To say you and Wanda got punished for your bratty behaviour would not do it justice.

By the time morning rolled around you were a needy mess. With tears rolling down your cheeks and a bruised ass, you lay begging for a release she was dead set on not giving you. Wanda on the other hand was being refused any touch at all. Which in your opinion may just be worse. Natty may be a cuddly teddy bear with the two of you but when she wants you to suffer she shows no mercy.

You lay cuddled up to Wanda as Nat was off making you all some coffee, trying your hardest to follow her orders of  “keeping it in your pants” while she’s gone. You assumed it wouldn’t hurt for your hand to sneak under Wanda's t-shirt, simply wanting to feel the warmth of her skin. However, with how frustrated she was at this point when your hand rested on her stomach she let out a moan. A moan you were certain Nat would’ve heard from the kitchen. When she returned she held two steaming cups of coffee and one of tea. She also held a smirk that said she knew but would be letting it slip just this once. If you’d known that you would have gone for Wanda’s boobs instead. For a while, you simply sat there enjoying your hot beverage between your girlfriends, just soaking it all in.

That bliss was only interupted when an alarm went off on your phone.

“UGh just turn it off” you grunted slipping further down and into the sheets. Nat obliged and reached for the phone, being the one closest to it. Once the alarm went quiet she sat still looking at it.

“Baby, why does it say you have class in 30 min?” Nat asked turning back to you.

“It’s fine I can skip this one.”

“Not a chance, come on get dressed.” Wanda grabbed your cup putting it on the nightstand.

“ I really don't want to leaveee” Yes you sounded like a child whining like that, but there was no way you’d leave this bed, to go and listen to some boring lecture.

“Y/N behave. I know it's hard but how about we pick you up after class and go do something fun?” 

Nat pulled you out of bed, giggling at how your legs were all wobbly still.

“Aww, poor baby, did daddy leave you all fucked out?” You felt yourself getting needy at those words, you just wished she’d bend you over right there and not stop pounding you til you came all over her strap. But instead, you were left walking on shaky legs and wincing as you pulled your jeans over your very sore butt. Which the two women found very amusing as they watched comfortably from the shared bed.

“Can I at least get a kiss before I leave?” You said with a pout. Nat simply gestured for you to come over. She gave you a soft kiss before Wanda pulled you into her arms. She kisses you deeply, ending with a peck on your cheek, that leaves you wishing for much more.

“Now go be my good girl and study hard yeah?” You nodded gleefully at that. Wandas praise washing away some of your grumpiness.

You rode on that happiness all the way to Yelena's car. Thankfully she was also late.

“So how come you were around here so early?” Yelena usually spent most of her time on campus in your shared flat. 

“Mmm, I may have stayed at Kate’s place last night.” She mumbled keeping her eyes on the road.

“Oh my god, Yelena!” A big grin appeared on the blonde's face and that was honestly all you needed.

“So tell me?! How’d it go? Did you… you know?” 

“ Y/N!” She blushed. You laughed knowing that was a yes. 

“So does this mean we can go on double dates now?” You said as the car came to a stop in the university parking lot.

“And watch you drool over my sister for an hour? No thanks.” 

The class dragged on and although you attempted to take notes, you spent most of your time squirming to find a comfortable position to sit in. About an hour in,  the class was doing discussions and you saw it as a chance to sneak out for a quick break. You locked yourself in the bathroom and pulled out your phone.

Y/N: on a quick bathroom break, I’m assuming you’re still in bed?

Nat:( sent you an image)

You could not have opened it faster. It was a photo of the two, Wanda's shirt long gone and her breasts in full view. Your eyes take in the sight of your mommy's body. Her legs were spread and Nat's hand was inside her shorts. You so badly wanted to remove them. to see every movement of her fingers as they pleasured Wandas pussy.

Nat: are you alone?

Y/N: yes x

Nat: Mommy and Daddy would love to see how wet you get just thinking about what we’re doing

Wanda: Please baby be a good girl and show us

You thought about it for a second before pulling your jeans down and taking a short video of you running your fingers through your folds, showing just how much you needed them.

Wanda: such a good girl. why don't rub your clit for Mommy? 

You do as you are told and start touching yourself. just in time for another message to arrive, this time a video. Nat is holding the phone and is showing you a close-up of Wanda as she slowly sinks down on Nat's strap. you could honestly come just at the sight of that. 

Nat: Make daddy proud and cum for us baby girl 

A couple more brushes over your clit and the sound of Wanda moaning paired with wet noises of her pussy being slammed down on nats cock and you finally came. Shaking with pleasure after the amount of teasing you had endured. Once you are able to breathe normally, you pick up the phone to send them a text.

Y/N: I may have made a mess all over my jeans

Wanda: oh poor baby, did mommy getting fucked make you all stupid? No worries honey we’ll come to get you and how about you let Mommy clean up all that wetness on the way home? I’m dying to have a taste ;)

[allgoldenelite]

okay so here's my summary of ibushi's latest 2 videos (here and here) from his youtube channel

pls make sure to read this at your own discretion. it's honest, but not exactly cheerful.

this summary is not entirely chronological; i've grouped some points together for cohesion

the vids were taken about 2 weeks after marufuji vs ibushi was announced, so around 12/17 ish (i'm just bringing this up bc i saw some confusion bc ibushi was reported by noah to be in the us rn until at least the 27th)

ibushi starts out the 1st vid by saying how completely different american and japanese wrestling are; the example he uses are cheers, [in aew] whenver anyone makes their entrance the crowd is chanting their name

in japan it has a different quality to it; [i assume he's talking about coming out at the noah show to challenge marufuji here] it's strange to him when he can only hear his theme and there's neither boos nor cheers, but he was glad it got a reaction

as for how he's doing physically: says he'll be frank: his left ankle and the back of his right hand (there's a visible dent on one side of the back of his hand and he says he doesn't have much grip strength there but for powerbombs and germans he grabs his wrist with his left hand so he can still do those) are fractured and his shoulder isn't healed cause he never got surgery for it

the ankle is the worst out of the 3, he can't jump or do highflying and walking 400 m (0.25 miles) is his limit, even walking around everyday is pretty rough

he's been able to benchpress 88 lbs now, with 200 as a one time thing, but he can't do much actual wrestling match practice, worries about what he can do; sums it up as that physically things aren't really on the up and up at all

but he believes marufuji is going through the same thing [being hurt in a lot of different places] and that the match won't be bad because of that; he believes it will be good precisely bc of the shape they are in, the injuries they've sustained

as he's said in the past, he doesn't care about what place he is on the card even tho ppl care a lot about match order, but he has the opportunity of being in the main with marufuji, so [he'll make the most out of it]

the ring remains a place for him to express himself, unable to highfly or injured as he may be, that's part of it too

he could go out there and be like "no i'm recovering i'm practicing hard everything's going swell" but that wouldn't change the fact that it's not true

he's doing what he can do get better, but operating within the limits of his body and how he can workout

even so, he won't give up and expresses confidence, [he seems motivated for the match and to go through with all of this], he's been doing this for 20 years and nothing scares him anymore

he says his instinct/6th sense for wrestling isn't as sharp [anymore] either since he doesn't really wrestle outside of aew these days, and again japanese and american wrestling are completely different and he's matching himself to wherever he wrestles, so he will do the same for the noah match

as long as it's getting a reaction out of ppl, he's happy; as long as he's getting something out of it he's happy, there's no right or wrong here for him

he's not nervous for the match at all, just hopes he can put himself out there in his purest form, so that ppl can decide for themselves what it is he represents for them/how they experience them

the video ends with him saying that he doesn't wanna be gloom, but if something unfortunate happens [i interpret this to mean another injury] this will be his last [match]

[he also then says make sure to watch his matches (since you won't know which one will be the last), and while i don't think he's lying with the sentiment here at all, my suggestion would be to take this as it is for now but not despair too hard about it]

the 2nd vid is mostly a recap of him seconding a kickboxer he trains for his match at korakuen hall on 12/17, interspliced with more footage from ibushi talking in the secret base

just as the fictitious "ibushi pro wrestling research institute" represents his status as a freelancer and a means by which he express himself in his purest form to ppl, it's also a means by which he can take on ppl under his wing

[ibushi has talked on twitter before how he has several trainees who are former/current kickboxers or MMA fighters wishing to become pro wrestlers] he thinks more of them will make their debut in the future; he's not doing this to boast that he's the one training them, it just naturally happened this way

even tho the ipwri is not actually a promotion, [ppl he's training and ibushi himself] get announced/lower third-ed as being from there, so it has established itself in the world

[there's a backstage scene here of ibushi talking to machida (machida lost the match) and altho there isn't much to tl (it's just ibushi basically giving him a pep talk), i still think it's worth checking out, it's very sweet]

lastly he says the institute is taking applications and as long as your feelings/motivations come across, he's happy to read them, even tho there are already too many ppl showing interest rn

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Some thoughts on the BD’s OP after Episode 10: SPOILERS!

First:

We have Carol throwing her purse at Rei. While I don’t think we will actually see Carol throwing her purse at Rei, this action seems to imply that Carol and Dorothy will meet Rei at some point.

Second:

This part of the opening was always a bit odd to me. Like, Kazuki and Rei were just walking around the city with a huge wooden frame. Why? Now, I feel like this is means to represent a snapshot - a moment in time. After all, the scenes that are captured in this “snapshot” are of Miri with her daycare friends and Miss Anna.

Even if Miri ends up back in the care of Kazuki and Rei, I won’t be surprised if they would have to move because of Organization stuff, safety, etc. So it really does make these moments that Miri had with them a snapshot in hers, and their, life. The series isn’t finished yet, so I could be wrong, but that’s what this feels like. Otherwise, we just have this odd sequence of Kazuki and Rei lugging a big ol’ frame around the city for some reason, lol.

Third:

Much like how the imagery of the bullet (in the OP) and heading for Kazuki’s back (who is holding Miri) foreshadowed Kazuki and Miri being targeted by the Organization, this scene here with Rei, riding his motorcycle straight ahead, appearing in the car window of Ryo feels like it is foreshadowing events too. In Episode 10, we see Rei react to Kyutaro mentioning Ryo, and Ryo is antagonist, for sure, but not the “villain” of this series, imo. So, it would make sense that we our Papas finally confronting Rei in Episode 10. This scene indicating that Rei may be the one that goes forward with enacting that.

It gets rather lengthy and image heavy after this, so I’ll put the rest under a Read More.

Fourth:

The guy in the grey suit. He’s in the bottom middle rectangle. This guy has been brought up before. Will he be an actual character that shows up? Or is he more so just meant to represent the Organization as a whole like in this scene of the OP:

Where we have Rei’s father, the head of the Organization, front and center, with other members (lackeys, I would assume) surrounding him. If the guy in the grey suit is a member of the Organization though, this imagery of him paints an interesting picture, since his personality is coming off a bit more goofball-ish than anything. 

There is the possibility that he may be someone that tries to chase down Kazuki and Rei, after all, we also have a group of Organization lackeys chasing after them during the title screen sequence of the OP as well:

They really don’t feel intimidating though, unlike Ryo. And that doesn’t feel like it would fit the tone that the remaining episodes are seemingly going to have. On the other hand, this guy later in the OP:

Who is shooting a guy in what appears to be an actual action scene, looks to be the same guy in a grey suit. I won’t be surprised if next week’s episode (Ep. 11) ends up being more action focused. So we might see this guy finally pop up then or the week after (Episode 12). Especially since it looks like this other guy later in the OP is in a similar room/place:

They intersperse this moment with ones from Episode 2. For example, in the above image, the guy on the left in the brownish-grey jacket and blue undershirt is from a scene we haven’t seen in series, while the image on the right, of a blond haired man in white and orange holding a gun is from Episode 2 (he’s the man that brought Miri to the bathroom). 

So yeah, hmm...They could just be random action scenes to highlight the “they are hitmen” aspect of the series, but...I don’t know. If you have any further thoughts, feel free to share them! 

Fifth:

Bullets destroying the family and children’s items (a cake, a stuffed teddy bear, etc.). Symbolism for their hitmen job destroying (or, at the very least, getting in the way of) their ability to have “normal happiness” and a family. 

Sixth:

Sad realization that we never got to see Miri blow bubbles:

Or brush her teeth together with Rei:

In any of the actual episodes. :(

Seventh:

The last sequence of images we get are:

Rei putting on his motorcycle jacket.

Kazuki looking nervous/upset in a room that looks like it could be similar to the ones above with the potential Organization guys.

And Misaki, Miri’s mother, crying. This could be symbolic of her tragic situation (cancer) or of the fact that her character is a rather tragic one in many ways, generally speaking. But the image comes right before a shot we know is in the series, which is Miri holding Rei’s hand, which comes from Episode 9.

So that leads me to believe that these three images of Rei, Kazuki, and Misaki have yet to happen and will likely show up at some point in episodes 11 - 13.

[nomaxart]

Happy Birthday, Conway!

Happy 1st Birthday to Conway!

Yep! It is the 1 year anniversary of the release of version 0.01 (or whatever the versions were called back then) Let's have a talk, shall we? February 8th is when I uploaded and released it on itch. Why February 8th you may ask? Well, I had only planned January as an experimental month for myself, with the oil painting and the VN test. So I'd release it on february 1st... And then it, naturally, took longer. But I guess it works out so that we don't have the anniversary right on update release days.

The past 

And yeah, what a year it's been! Thank you to all of you first of all for making this possible. Quite simply it wouldn't be possible without the support of all you generous peeps here. As it turns out, developing a game is a fuckton of work, and if I would need to pay the bills through commission work or what have you there would be no way I'd find the time and energy to work on Conway on the side. And I've mentioned it before in a few places, but for a while around May, June-ish it did look really dicey. The first half of the year I was bleeding about 500-700 bucks a month of my savings. The game didn't really pick up and a good amount of my walks were spent contemplating just when I'd have to see a sign before pulling the plug. End of June? Maybe it's worth to stretch it to July? At the lowest point, we were about a month away from pulling the plug on Conway. But right around that time, the trend in people subbing here started to pick up. While it's only in the past month or two that I've reached the point where I'm not actively bleeding money each month, the trend was the bit I needed to see that maybe people are interested after all!

The present

I've attached the itch stats of the past year. So those of you who would like to have a peek can do so. As you can see, Update 10 was a massive success at least in terms of numbers for the game. Update 9 was already the first one to break the record for downloads that the release day set, but Update 10 got picked up by the algorithms and sat in the most popular furry games for a while. Soooo, yeah, quite chuffed with that spike! We'll see what the long-term effects are, but for now I just enjoy the aesthetic of -BIG SPIKE-. And yeah, the game as a whole is just sitting in a good spot. We've had about 12k downloads in total, around 80k page visits, and a rating of 4.8/5 with 127 ratings (which btw, easy way to help, is to leave a juicy 5* rating on itch. Does wonders for the placement of the game in the different categories on the site, plus it gives me a fuzzy feeling in my tum tum.) It's also been such a joy to see that all characters end up having their share of fans judging by comments and that nobody is left in the dry. Of course, some of them have a bit of an easier time, like Samuel and Julian being the more sociable lot they are, and just the screen time they've had so far. While others like Raj or Arthur are slower burns and even they get some mentions as the favorites of some people, and that just makes me chuffed. Naturally, they're designed to cover different interests and preferences, but I'm always nervous if the characters are good, resonate with people and hope that they can be fun to be around. So any time someone mentions a character it just makes me so goddamn giddy. Some of them will be difficult to handle with grace, and I'm not perfect, so I'm sure for at least one of the main cast what I've planned will fall flat, or I mess it up in some fashion. But fuck it, I'll try. Not everything has been peaches and roses recently though, so I have to admit Updates 10 and 11 have been/are a bit of a struggle. I just messed up planning for my support writers, and it's been more or less just me handling everything for both updates 10 and 11. That's why art has been a bit sparse... Because most of my time is just taken up doing writing duty, and I'm not the fastest writer, unfortunately. Like, at this point, with the game having all the branches and 125k in total word count, the story for the characters and how they've interacted on the two initial days. It makes it a bit more difficult to actually get people on board in a timely manner. I can't just go and say, "Hey, write me a scene where this character and that character are involved, and they do that." Since a new writer knows absolutely zero about all the stuff that's been there before, all the stuff that's planned for the characters and all that jazz. So if one support writer is busy or just has writing block or whatever, it may be, my solution so far has just been going, "Well, shit." :') Not the fault of my writing buddies, of course. They've been absolutely invaluable and I can't offer nearly enough to expect to be the highest priority for them. I'm just happy they want to help out AT ALL for what I can pay them in return. I should have planned contingencies but didn't. Simple as that. So, I've made the decision to bring on another writer in Televassi, and also want to hopefully integrate Robert Baird more again going forward. With more of them willing to help out I will be able to assign things to people as they're available. Which hopefully will avoid me having to do whole updates on my own and take the pressure off of wonderful peeps like Rubric. So yeah, I learned my lesson there, but since it just takes time for people to get familiar with the Conway world and characters, it ended up with me being a bit swamped with EVERYTHING for Updates 10 and 11.

The future

Speaking of what's planned, then? Update 10 closes out day 2, and Update 11 starts after our first time skip. I don't know if you've ever looked at how slow these ships were, but if we ever want to make it to Cape Town, then we'll need those time skips. Not only that, but it also allows for characters to just develop in the meantime, and also their relationship towards the player character. While Characters like Nomax and Julian ended up having some raunchy scenes right away, it wouldn't exactly fit to have others throw themselves at you on day 2. So skipping ahead just keeps things moving, keeps things interesting because we can focus on specific parts more, and just show the development of characters at a more natural pace.

So the next sections are this first post-time skip section that subbed patrons already get a taste of in the WIP update, and then next up on the itinerary will be Morocco. Both sections I'm really stoked about! And I hope you are too. :)

Stretch goals? Patreon did away with them a while back, but we'll just make our own stretch goals, with blackjack and hookers. Just instead of blackjack and hookers, how about we talk Animations?! Hell yeah! I'm no animator, and it's not really a discipline I particularly enjoy either from the times I tried. So, since Patreon is currently about break-even, we can start thinking ahead a little, and I think the first point I want to tackle is some simple animations. Stuff like moving tails, ears, and eyes. Stuff like that.

So how about that, we're currently floating at around 1250 USD a month, and if we're crossing the 1500 USD mark, I'll be holding out my feelers to get these small animations into the game. If you like to contribute to making animations possible, consider supporting the Patreon over here: https://www.patreon.com/Nomax

Possibly animations, an exciting new section of the story, some more v2 character art, some more maritime menagerie characters. Sounds good for a year 2 plan?

I certainly hope so and hope that you all will be along for the ride, as it's been an absolute blast, and I can't thank you enough for making it possible. I just want this thing to be the best it can be for all of you. :)

[butterflydm]

wot s2 trailer: detailed second look

Okay, that's a lie, I've watched it more than twice. But, yes.

Spoilers mostly for show stuff but also for relevant book stuff through around The Great Hunt.

I have sadly been persuaded that we will not get Rand In The White Tower. One of my earlier speculations (around a month ago), I did suggest the idea that Siuan might go to Cairhien, though it was in the context of "going with Mat" and Mat's plotline still seems so up in the air, so who knows where he'll be. But Siuan going with Logain does set up some interesting opportunities.

When I was thinking Siuan would go with Mat, I was thinking it would happen after the girls had been tricked to leave by Liandrin, but if she's going with Logain, I think it's more likely that her absence leaves an opportunity for Liandrin to pounce on the girls while she's gone. Especially if Siuan doesn't give them any information.

I am really excited by the idea of Rand and Logain having a conversation here, it sets up some interesting things for the future.

I feel like a lot of @markantonys's thoughts here are still pretty likely in light of what we saw in the trailer: https://markantonys.tumblr.com/post/720125468680060928/my-rough-guesses-2x01-a-taste-of-solitude

Maybe Siuan's trip to Cairhien is around episode 6-ish (making Siuan and Moiraine's reunion in ep 6 in both s1 & s2).

It really is hard to figure out where Mat's storyline is going because the covid change really did take him pretty far off-book (and since he's still in his Two Rivers clothes in Falme, that implies he's had no chance to get a change of clothes at any point).

I am also really wondering how action-packed the finale will be vs emotional beats -- will Rand reunite with his friends or will we be focused on the action?

So, we see wanderer Rand in one shot: with 'Selene'. I'm guessing that's right after she arranges for him to 'save' her from something dangerous. Then we have a few shots of him in plainer shirts or in no shirt. Then we have the blue robe-like overshirt. Then we have the fancy black emo coat that it looks like he wears for the rest of the season.

We have Moiraine in her traveler's clothes for a bit, including I think when she first sees Rand again. Then she takes a bath and changes her clothes, probably, and tries again with Rand.

We're probably going to see Egwene & Elayne in novice whites for pretty much the whole season after Egwene arrives at the White Tower. It looks like Nynaeve has a bit more variation but mostly in episode three (probably) when she has her Accepted Test. It does seem like we're going to have at least one flashback (Moiraine and Siuan New Spring'ing it up) so we may get more flashbacks for each of the characters -- Perrin's flash of happiness with that young girl might be a flashback.

So, attempting to place things in order --

Episode One: Perrin & co start on their Hunt for Horn and dagger; Rand wanders the countryside, Moiraine & Lan... maybe end up researching with Verin (and that's how we're introduced to her and how she works her way into the plotline?) or something else; Mat gets nabbed by Liandrin and taken prisoner; and Egwene & Nynaeve arrive at the White Tower (meet Elayne?). Nynaeve tells Alanna that she's not sure anyone should have as much power as they tell her that she has.

I suspect all the scenes of Moiraine & Lan at night with the Fade are episode one, since it vibes like Moiraine still looks like she did at the end of last season, so this is them leaving the Blight maybe, because Moiraine needs to process a lot of shit right now. The Perrin riding scene could happen here or in the next couple of episodes. This also might be when he encounters The Wolf Who Might Be Hopper that we see later in the trailer (or... etc).

Episode Two: Rand spends time with Selene (the cuddling shots). We may start with a cold open relating to either Ishy unearthing bloody Lanfear or something related to the Seanchan. I'm guessing this episode will cover basically the entire Rand and 'Selene' relationship, with them separating either at the end of this episode or the very beginning of episode three.

Episode Three: Nynaeve's Accepted test! All the shots of her in her shift and all bloody go here. Her surge of power near a house that looks like it's in the Two Rivers style goes here. I'm guessing that Lan on Mandarb in the woods also goes here. We will probably also get Egwene and Elayne building up their friendship in this episode. This is maybe the episode where we get shirtless Rand as he broods in Foregate.

Episode Four: Moiraine catches up to Rand (finds him in Foregate; he pins her; she and Lan have a conversation about Rand; I'm guessing she sends a message to Siuan that inspires Siuan to decided she needs to go to Cairhien with Logain, to help get Rand under control; has a Sad Bath; and dresses like a Cairhienin).

Episode Five: Perrin & co have their run-in with the Seanchan. This might be the episode where we meet Aviendha and have a run-in with the Whitecloaks as well? If Loial gets captured by the Seanchan at the start of the episode, then Perrin can run into the Whitecloaks later as he's trying to figure out how to help Loial. Has Fain given the Seanchan the Horn yet? I'm curious about how they'll pepper the Seanchan throughout the season. Siuan leaves the White Tower with Logain to travel to Cairhien.

Episode Six: Starts with Liandrin at the Darkfriend social and ends with her delivering the girls to the Seanchan (so all the damane capturing scenes & etc; "if our friends are in trouble, why would I ever stay here?" scene with Egwene and Elayne). Rand talks first to Logain (more casual blue robes) and then gets dressed in his fancy black emo coat that he'll wear the rest of the season and talks to Siuan. Might go off on his own at the end? This might be the episode where we get the New Spring flashback, see Moiraine & Siuan happy and young and then hear Gitara's Foretelling?

Episode Seven: Focus on Egwene in captivity, which I expect to be really brutal. We'll probably get a lot of Seanchan-related info in this episode. How long she is in captivity probably depends on how Rand is traveling to Falme (because I think this will be his traveling episode). Mat is also approaching Falme at this same time maybe? We have so little info to go on regarding Mat, lol. Perrin is already in the area. It's possible that this is when Perrin meets Aviendha, depending on how many episodes we have her for this season.

Episode Eight: Rand faces off against Turak. Whatever that explosion at that gate is happens. Mat stabs someone with a spear (that potentially has raven detailing). Probably lots of other (Horn-related and breaking-Egwene-out related) stuff happens too! I really hope we get some emotional moments of people realizing that Rand isn't dead, though (unless they find out earlier -- Liandrin might tell Egwene & Nynaeve that Rand is alive).

I am hardcore mourning that I can't see any place in this structure for my Randlayne meet-cute. Rand really isn't in an emotional place for meet-cutes. :-(

I am really curious to see how Moiraine and Lan's relationship evolves in this season. It looks like they run into some friction between each other and so I wonder if we'll get Lan offering Rand suggestions on how to face the Amrylin Seat and Moiraine disapproving (like happens in TGH), maybe because now that Rand is a person and not an idea, Lan wants him to have control of his own destiny?

There was no sign of Moiraine or Lan in the Falme-related shots, but we did get those still of them walking on a beach, with Moiraine in her Cairhienin dress. If she were traveling on her own with just Lan, I'd expect her to be back in her traveling clothes.

We're going to be getting Perrin losing himself in the wolf and getting scared of it, when he kills that Whitecloak. Pretty sure that the wolf we saw in the trailer is going to be Hopper. We didn't get any shots of Elyas but I think he's been confirmed for the season? We also didn't get any shots of Loial and we know that he's there because of that earlier still that was released. We know that he's the first of the group to end up in Seanchan territory, because Loial has been captured by the Seanchan as of episode five. I do still suspect that Verin will be in Perrin's plotline mostly, but there's a chance that we first get introduced to her via Moiraine searching for answers.

I think we won't get confirmation that Liandrin is a Darkfriend until maybe episode six, when she tricks the girls into going into the Ways. Maybe the cold open for that episode is the Darkfriend social? Either that or it's the cold open for episode five and the audience learns about Liandrin the episode before her betrayal of the girls (maybe this is when we see her up by the Flame of Tar Valon and the place where the rings are melted).

I'm guessing that Min will pop up in two or three episodes, maybe? She's not listed as a regular, I don't think, so she won't be in all eight. She's likely in Tar Valon and will likely go along with the Wondergirls to Falme, like she does in the books, so we may get her meeting Aviendha in Falme. It really depends on the pacing of the final episode and how much post-battle time we get.

I do feel like Rafe is invested in showing the realistic emotions of our characters, so I'm hoping we get some downtime where all the polycule all gets to meet each other and we get some reunions between the characters.

It looks like we'll be getting a lot of Egwene & Nynaeve's emotional beats from the show. We'll be meeting Elayne and getting introduced to her brothers and potentially Elaida. They'll probably spend five episodes in the White Tower and then head to Falme for the last three.

Mat remains our biggest question mark. We know he starts in Tar Valon, spends some time captured by Liandrin, and then somehow ends up free in Falme, wielding a spear. And that's pretty much it.

Here is all the detail I wrote out about each of the shots (so where I'm getting some of my guesses from):

Shot 1: Moiraine in Foregate. We know this is episode four because of the photos we got earlier of this scene. I'm assuming that this is her working on locating Rand at the moment. She's dressed up Cairhienin style, high and modest neckline and keisera.

Shot 2: White Tower from above, craning down to get a better look at the sides, where we see a bright blue dress. This might be part of what is likely a flashback that we'll get to later. I am guessing the Moiraine does not go back to Tar Valon this season at all, at this point. It also just might be another Blue Ajah Sister in a wide shot!

Shot 3/4: Moiraine is sad in her bathtub. I'm guessing this is in one of the first three episodes, but it might be episode four. I'm guessing this is the Bath of Sadness that will lead into her dressing up in her Cairhienin outfit.

Shot 5/6: Rand stands on a floodplain-ish area that I'm guessing is him approaching Falme (...I don't know geology). He appears to be alone in this shot but he also might be out of camera view of whoever he's traveling with. We see here that his fancy new emo black coat has a rising sun motif. I feel like we saw something in the promos about Aviendha having a rising sun thing somewhere? Is my brain making that up or is it real? Plus it also would connect to both Elayne & Moiraine for obvious reasons. And it's the opposite of Lanfear's moon motif. We do see Rand both from behind and from the front and he looks alone in both shots. Probably episode seven or eight.

Shot 7/8: These appear to be connected. Moiraine facing a Fade. This might be Moiraine and Lan leaving the Blight? Or just them traveling at night? But I think Moiraine is wearing her traveling clothes from last season in this shot, though the lighting is pretty dim, so it's hard to say. And she has the knife from last season too. So my guess is that this is from episode one.

Shot 9: Ishy looking kinda business-casual, just in a shirt, though it looks like he may have a tie-holder. Darkly-lit scene. He bamfs away, using... well, if you know, then you know. It goes beyond the spoilers I listed at the top. I think this is the same outfit he's wearing later when he's hanging with Suroth (which is different from the outfit he's wearing in the scene with Loial that we only saw a photo of).

Shot 10: Egwene... maybe in the Testing Chamber?

Shot 11: Liandrin staring forward. Might be the same place? She looks a bit like she's dressed for travel, though, so this could be the prepping to leave for the Ways.

Shot 12: Super quick glance at the Darkfriend social.

Shot 13: Nynaeve telling Alanna, I think, that "no one should have that much power". So instead of Alanna trying to be a busybody because she's interested in Rand and she's honing in on the girls by proxy, I think she'll be interested in talking to Nynaeve because she's so strong in the One Power. This is from one of the first three episodes, I would guess. Before Nynaeve does her Accepted Testing.

Shot 14: Ishy is in a different outfit than he was in Shot 9. He's got a jacket on and no tie-clip thing. This might be what he was wearing last season? He's doing something with the Power and the way it's shining is reminding me of the constrained look of the damane's flows that we see later.

Shot 15/16/17: We cut to bloody Lanfear (I'm guessing but I feel like this is probably Lanfear), with the implication that maybe this is Ishy waking her up?

Shot 18/19/20/21: Two damane are launching an attack on a village at nighttime. In the second to last of the shots, I think that I see Uno & his eyepatch, and I'm pretty sure that Perrin is in the last of the shots, so this may be when Perrin & co encounter the Seanchan and Loial gets captured.

Shot 22/23/24/25: Opening the door to the Accepted Testing chamber -- probably episode 3. We see Nynaeve revealed by the opening of the door and then switch to behind her and see the archways for the testing. There are three Sisters with her. Actually, it looks like Liandrin might be wearing the outfit from Shot 11 so that might actually be her reacting to Nynaeve's Test. I think the lady on the left is Sheriam but I'm not sure who the woman just behind Nynaeve is.

Shot 26/27/28: Perrin & co riding down a hilly area. Guessing that this is early on, searching out the Horn & dagger? This is Perrin in his new S2 outfit.

Shot 29: 'Selene' cuddles Rand, who is still in his wanderer outfit, so this would be early season. I really am fascinated by her choice to cosplay Moiraine here (someone mentioned Selene being in her 'Moiraine cosplay era' in the tag, and the thought definitely stuck). Unless that's just a blue cloak that she threw on and her actual outfit isn't blue. Lanfear looks way more into the touching than Rand does -- he's basically just standing there while she plasters herself against him (her hand is even around his back). At least it looks that way from this angle. She does fit pretty neatly under his chin.

Shot 30/31: Rand walks down a hall with arches. He's wearing the same outfit here that we'll later see in his conversation with Logain, so I'll place this around episode 5 or 6.

Shot 32: Tar Valon (?) at night, with lightning flashing.

Shot 33: Moiraine races away on a horse, during the night. A dark horse, so this is not Aldieb (who is a white mare).

Shot 34/35: Lan listens as Moiraine passionately explains that guiding Rand is the only thing that matters. Moiraine is dressed in her Cairhienin clothes here, so maybe episode four.

Shot 36: Siuan on her fancy throne that was probably just set up now, because this is likely all in Cairhien, tells Moiraine, maybe, "You can't control him" possibly talking about Rand. This might be after the conversation that Siuan and Moiraine have that we see later in the trailer, because Siuan has An Opinion about Rand. She's in her super-fancy Amyrlin clothes.

Shot 37/38: Rand is in a dark room, shutters drawn, and we can see him surrounded by yellow-red flows. He's wearing a plain shirt but it looks nice.

Shot 39/40/41: Perrin looks at a wolf. A wolf looks back. Hopper? Perrin's eyes shift to gold.

Shot 42: Rand pins Moiraine up against the wall of a room. By her throat. He looks very intense and I'm pretty sure I can see the black tendrils of the taint in the flows as they pass over his neck. It looks like Moiraine is in her traveling clothes here, so it could be that she doesn't change into her Cairhienin duds until after she's encountered Rand again for the first time. The subtitles says "Kill them all" here and you can kinda hear it if you concentrate. The first glimmers of you-know-who?

Shot 43: Egwene is in the collar and she looks WRECKED. Blood-shot eyes. Bloody cheek. Hair damp (with sweat probably). Either episode seven or eight is my guess for this one.

Shot 44: Nynaeve in her shift in the Testing room, covered in blood. She also looks pretty emotionally wrecked.

Shot 45/46: Panning shot of the dagger on a fancy table as Mat sits in a chair, with some great conflict on his face. This is interesting because it implies that Fain is in Tar Valon? I like all the emphasis on how all five of the ta'veren are going through these intense emotional journeys. It's not just Rand who is struggling with himself.

Shot 47: This shot is fascinating. Rand is standing in front of 'Selene' while the Power is flowing all around him. Very creepy vibes.

Shot 48: Rand tells Logain that he wants to learn how to control it. And he's wearing the same kind of robe-ish overshirt that he was wearing when he was walking down the hall in Shots 30/31 but which is very different than the formal clothes that we see him wearing when he talks to Siuan at the end of the trailer. Rand and Logain both in blue here.

Shot 49/50/51: Wide shot of Suroth & Co being domineering over a village, then going to a closer shot of Suroth sitting on the throne while her Voice and Ishy are on either side of her. I think Ishy is wearing the same outfit here that he was wearing in Shot 9. Oh, I think there are people actually carrying that palanquin! Yikes, that has to be so heavy. So maybe a ~procession~ of the conquered territory?

Shot 52/53: Turok opens the box for the Horn. It's interesting that he doesn't have the mask that Suroth has. His nails also appear to be more functional than hers, or less likely to get in his way. His costuming is actually pretty different from hers. I wonder if we're going to keep seeing different variations between the Bloods. Because she has that metal theme while his theme feels more... bone-like?

Shot 54/55/56/57: I believe all this is the capture of Egwene. Looks very intense. It looks like Egwene goes on the attack while Elayne runs. I can't see Nynaeve at all in any of the shots.

Shot 58/59: But we do transition from the burst of power over Egwene into one over Nynaeve, probably during her Accepted Test, because both her clothes and the house behind her look like the Two Rivers. So this is likely episode three.

Shot 60: I think this is the Whitecloaks riding towards Falme.

Shot 61: Liandrin stands at the Flame of Tar Valon and stares down at the big forge-bowl-ring where the old rings get melted and new ones made.

Shot 62/63: A child and Perrin playing together. Might be a flashback? He isn't wearing what we've seen him wearing in most of the S2-related material.

Shot 64: If it is a flashback, then it would pair well with this shot of Moiraine and Siuan kissing, because I feel like this is most likely a flashback as well, because Siuan is in blue.

Shot 65/66: Egwene (in her kitchen outfit) hugs Nynaeve (in her Two Rivers outfit). Are Egwene and Nynave going to arrive at the Tower separately (why would they do that? Hmm).

Shot 67: Nynaeve's Accepted Test beginning, as the Aes Sedai channel into the archways.

Shot 68/69: Egwene talks to Elayne - "If our friends are in trouble, why would I ever stay here?" So this is probably the conversation that leads to Elayne coming along with Egwene. Hmm, given that Elayne doesn't know literally any of the other potential players involved, I wonder if they're going to lean on the "friendship" angle or the "adventure" angle with why Elayne leaves with Egwene. In the books, Elayne already had a level of investment going on.

Shot 70: Moiraine walks out of a door at night. Maybe the same scene as Rand pinning her against the wall?

Shot 71: Moiraine from much earlier in the season, judging by her vibes.

Shot 72: Lan on Mandarb. I'm still guessing that this is from Nynaeve's Accepted Test in episode three, because Moiraine and Lan don't appear to be near any nice woodlands in their current travels.

Shot 73: Lan tells Moiraine: "You can't do this by yourself." Guessing it's part of the conversation about guiding Rand, because I can make out the pointed collar on Moiraine's outfit.

Shot 74/75/76/77: Aviendha veils up at nighttime, with Perrin in the background. Then she fights some Whitecloaks. Aviendha has a head injury here, some blood near her temple.

Shot 78: Nynaeve spars with the Warders -- we saw this back in the earlier teaser as well.

Shot 79/80: Lan fights a Fade. Guessing this is the same scene as Moiraine & the Fade from Shots 7/8.

Shot 81: Nighttime overlooking shot of Tar Valon. Maybe the same night as the one with the lightning flashing earlier. Maybe the night when Liandrin & the girls leave? /wild speculation

Shot 82: Liandrin with her red all covered up with a black cloak, walking through the streets at night. I saw someone speculate that she's on her way to the Darkfriend social and that would be a pretty great way to bring us into it.

Shot 83: Shirtless Rand stares out the window at maybe the morning light. This is another shot that we've seen before. Guessing Foregate because those shutters look like the ones we saw earlier in the trailer.

Shot 84: Nynaeve exits one of the archways in a burst of light, and we can see blood on her shift. More of her Testing.

Shot 85: Perrin kills a Whitecloak. It does not look like the same location as where we saw Aviendha fighting the Whitecloaks.

Shot 86: Egwene screams in the collar.

Shot 87: Rand is bound shirtless on a huge wheel in the desert (almost certainly in the dream world).

Shot 88: I think Liandrin is talking to Egwene here, though we can only really see her hair. "It's not always the most powerful who write history. It's the ones who survive." Same outfit that we saw on her before.

Shot 89/90/91/92/93: Rand in a plaza at Falme, in his fancy emo black coat (now covered with a brown cloak), about to fight Turak. Rand talks about being tired of being "a spoke in the wheel".

Shot 94: We go back to the shot of Rand bound on the wheel and then pull way back. It does look like there's something directly in front of him, but I can't tell if it's a person or if it's just... set up to look like a person, if that makes sense.

Shot 95: Someone kills a Fade with a flaming sword at night. On reflection... not Rand, I think? (which would make sense -- Rand still has his dad's sword). It might belong to the same scene as Moiraine and Lan facing the Fades?

Shot 96: Mat stabs someone with a spear. He's still wearing his Two Rivers clothes. Given the earlier photo we got of Mat, I'm guessing this is Falme.

Shot 97/98: Hard cut to that explosion. It's actually a top-down view at first and it looks like someone is exploding the door to a gate. Maybe fireworks but maybe channeling? It looks like Falme, though, either way.

Shot 99/100/101: Siuan tells Rand that he's the water that turns the wheel of time. He's in his fancy black emo coat here.

[starzfandomblog]

Rody Lamoree Character Analysis (At least I think.)

I'm really bad at doing analysis of characters + this is my first time doing one so here I go!!1 Note that quotes from the game are paraphrased bc I can't remember anything ------------------------------- Rody is shown to be a bright, but brash man. (Described as "brash" in the newspaper review about the bistro.) Rody is also described as "exhausting" by Vince. (During the climax.) Overall, Rody could be described as exhausting, bright, forgetful, messy, and an optimist. Looking closer, RODY IS JUST SOME SAD SILLY AND HE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER. But all jokes aside, Rody seems to be going through a lot during the events of the game, despite how "happy" he may act/be. At the end of his first shift when he returned home, we see his apartment, and it's a mess. It looks like he hasn't cleaned it and days/has the motivation and/or time. When you enter the hallway, Rody exclaims, "The bathrooms flooded... again!" When you interact with the dirty dishes in the sink, he says, "I'll get to that. Someday. Eventually." Literally almost everything you interact with is messy. He doesn't exactly have a proper apartment either. I'm pretty sure having no motivation to do things you NEED to do/used to enjoy is a sign of depression. (I could be like entirely wrong on this point.) Also while watching many gameplays, (cough I've only watched two) I've picked up that Rody is a people pleaser. When Vince asks his favorite food, he says, "I eat whatever my girlfriends into." When Vince asks why he needs so much money, Rody needs it because he wants to buy a gift from Manon. He's basically devoting his life to her, he's so in love with her he can't see how terrible-ish of a girlfriend she is. ("WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!? SHES AMAZ-" SHH I'LL EXPLAIN ON A LATER POST.) Imagine the pain in his voice when he found out Vince killed her. The desperation in his voice just to hear Manon's voice on the phone. He doesn't realize how much he's hurting himself, he's oblivious. Also what I found interesting is that the creator has stated he's "bi and bi-phobic at the same time." I'm prolly thinking about this way too deep, but maybe Rody's just like, in denial, for Manon. Moving on, there's various reason as to why people will become people pleasers. It could be trauma, stress, childhood experiences, etc. I imagine Rody being from the poorer side of France, as he grew up in a somewhat loving family. His parents pressured him to be good in school, and although Rody KNEW his parents had good intentions, but he couldn't help it. Despite this he just brushed it off, and continued to please everyone, although this isn't exactly possible. Basically burnt out gifted kid. (ok i just realized that went on to be a hc thing SO LETS MOVE ON TO THE MORE LIKELY ANSWERS) In the ending where Rody burns down the bistro (I forgot the ending name) Rody seems so desperate for Manon not to leave him. But she just kind of did anyway. He could have become a people pleaser because of his (maybe) deep fear of rejection. He made Manon his whole word, and it fell apart when she left him. Also, I feel like Rody's prone to comparing himself to others, especially after the interaction with his former classmate at the dinner party. Seeing how well his classmate was doing, the feeling that he wasn't doing as great just stung. Overall, Rody Lamoree tries his best to be happy, but he NEEDS to take care of himself more, maybe insecure, and realize he can never please anyone. ---------------------------- im sorry this was so random uh

[cinematics123]

So… there is a lot. And I will probably save some of it for a more focused/personal Buddie post.

First, if you were on the Buddie train (and I am) you were not wrong. Secondly, despite no Buddie, this was an excellent finale. Even the pacing was mostly on point. It was… good tv. If they were going to get cancelled (and they thought they were) this was the canon ending. We’ll call this CanonA. Let’s look at the CanonA ending.

For many of our mains, the firefam, it’s a good ending. Bobby and Athena are both healthy and get their cruise. Maddie and Chimney are planning their legal escape from the IRS wedding.

Hen and Karen story picked back up a thread about a baby, which is very interesting, but… we didn’t really get anything else on Denny and his Dad? Is that story line… done? Are they ok? It seemed like there was more conflict because of how the hospital scene let Nathaniel in but with some real distrust. It feels like they dropped one (meaningful) thread to grasp at another. It’s good, but not great.

Buck’s ending is more mixed; Eddie’s is downright tragic. Buck’s CanonA ending is that he got close to the answer and got the wrong one. Any wonder that his math power crapped out on a date with Natalia? People have said that growth in the show is non-linear. People don’t always learn, people don’t always grow. Buck makes the same couch mistake he did with Taylor. In CanonA, Buck may never know how close he got to that special ending. Instead in CanonA, instead of finding happiness, he goes down the Lev path from 6A. Happy-ish. Girlfriend, maybe kids, life gets busy, maybe finding the meaning at the end. Not bad, but not what “The Age of Absolutely” was about either.

Eddie’s is… tragic. We’ve gotten trickles of Eddie’s real story, but 6B confirmed so much fandom speculation. Though he had met Shannon before, they got together senior year, right into kids and marriage - and Eddie runs away for at least 2 deployments. He bails. He later dates Ana, sees the ready made family - and breaks up with her. He is putting wanting a wife and mother over his heart - that’s canon.

Eddie fawning over Buck in the poker scene and all of 6B is equally canon. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe their last deep talk together is… about how Natalia sees Buck. Eddie says the experience had to have changed Buck. Not only does he see Buck… but implies something has changed between him and Buck. With Nat and Buck dating, Eddie rushes to find anyone to date - and basically ends up with Ana2 (instead of Chris’ teacher, she helps him find glue for his project).

It seems like… Eddie’s realized that while he sees Buck, Buck… doesn’t see him. And Buck is not seeing Eddie in that scene. In a kind of parallel to “Buck is in the room”, Eddie needs Buck there too… but this time Buck goes the other way and Eddie doesn’t say a word. Instead, Buck goes… and Eddie goes back to his heteronormative fantasy. Despite saying he wants to get better “for me” he’s after a wife and mother for Chris, Chris is even there with him on the date phone call. It’s not just lack of progress, Eddie got to the very threshold of opening himself to Buck - if only admitting it to himself. Instead back into the closet. That’s Eddie’s CanonA ending. It’s grim. It doesn’t “get better” for Eddie. He gets to the edge and chickens out.

If you think you were misled that Buddie was a romantic plot, you’re right. When looking at our firefam, Buck and Eddie were constantly paired alongside the other couples. We didn’t just see them through a romantic lens, that was how they were presented. In the CanonA ending, there is not even a last scene with Buck and Eddie tighter as friends, it’s Buck&Nat and Eddie/Chris talking to Marisol. The pairing of the two as a couple/family is broken. In itself, that’s sad. Them laughing over beers or Buck being there encouraging Eddie on while he talked would not have broken the “coupling” lens. They deliberately chose to do so.

So much like how Eddie reaches the point of understanding only to hesitate and withdraw back into heteronormativity, so does 911 on Fox. It clearly got to the point of understanding Buddie as a couple, presenting Buddifer as a family, and then… pulls back and gives them last minute female love interests. Like Eddie, it chickens out and loses out on giving Buddie CanonA happy ending. Instead what it gave then was… realistic and everyday bad relationships. They got close, but in a case of life imitating art, like Eddie it settles for being convention and traditional at the expense of its own growth and happiness. I hope 911 on ABC does them better.

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes.

Shadowhunters

Dona Nobis Pacem by lawsofchaos (+ podfic)

Part 2 of Consular High Warlock Magnus Bane

"When Alec kneels before you on that dais, Magnus,” Jace keeps going, “he’s telling every person present that it is your judgement, your respect, that he places before all others. In you placing that rune on his neck, Alec is publicly proclaiming that it’s your blessing and your judgement on him and on his reign as Head that gives him the right and the authority to uphold the Covenant.”

Magnus' throat is too tight to speak, but there’s a distinct shimmer visible in his suddenly unglamoured eyes.

Oh My God Dad, You Can't Just Ask People Why They're Blue by Ellegy42

"Nothing weird ever happens when Rafe sneezes,” Max complains into Papa’s stomach when he finally gets home.

The Sandman

Right Place, Right Time by sherwoodfox

Over the centuries, Hob had dreamt plenty of dreams about his friend from the tavern. All good dreams, of course.

Very good dreams.

Usually not dreams that featured either of them wearing very much clothing.

But until the talking bird told him otherwise, he hadn't considered that those dreams might be real.

(Featuring: a live Jessamy, Hob rescuing Dream from the fishbowl, a mess to clean and a happy ending.)

The Witcher

Every Word by GoldenDaydreams

Jaskier kept his secrets close. The fewer who knew, the fewer could hurt him with the curse—it was a secret he intended on taking to the grave.

The grave might just come early.

Hannibal

They Came to Florence or: Plagiarize This Fic by shiphitsthefan

Author William Graham has had a book on the bestseller list for the better part of a decade. He's also a recluse—no interviews, only a rare book signing or lecture. Otherwise, no one knows much about the man beyond the words in his novels and the requisite headshot on every cover. Even the blurb printed underneath his scowling, bespectacled face, framed by a head of messy curls—

“Oh my God,” said the woman strapped to Hannibal's surgical table, “will you please just kill me already?”

-

Dr. Hannibal Lecter has a thriving psychiatry practice and a not-so-secret obsession; William Graham has an impressive writing career and not a single goddamn clue

DC (Batfamily)

still feel your teeth around my organs by gladioar (deargalileo)

drake isn't getting out of bed. damian doesn't know what to do. thankfully alfred and dick do.

Untamed

See Me, Feel Me (Listening to You) by Ghost_Honey

Letting himself get cursed may not have been the smartest thing Wei Wuxian has ever done, but he'd argue that it’s completely in character. So he should earn some points for consistency, at the very least. Besides, when the spirit had been explaining it, the curse hadn't sounded too bad. Maybe a little bothersome if he underestimated how many people felt strongly about him, but surely, surely, it wouldn't be enough to hamper him in the long run.

Let it be known that Wei Wuxian is an idiot.

Because, when he emerges from the dilapidated husk of the temple, he can't see anyone

Or: Wei Wuxian gets cursed so he can’t see or feel anyone who feels strongly about him and assume this means that the people he cares about actually hate him.

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Anime Child Adoption Bracket

What is this?

It is a "tournament" where Tumblr collectively decides which anime children they most want to adopt. It was inspired by this post, talking about a poll from a Japanese con, where people voted for the “animanga character that [they] wish was their child”.

What children are available to adopt?

Submissions are closed. I have a list of the children here, along with some fun statistics.

What is anime?

For the purposes of this blog…if you genuinely aren’t sure whether something counts as anime, it counts. I’m casting a broad net! Steven Universe is anime, Fire Emblem is anime, Hololive is anime.

If a child isn’t from something anime-ish enough, they probably won’t get as many votes as comparable children from things that are unambiguously anime. That’s good enough for me.

That said, if someone submits Anakin Skywalker or X Musk or some other kid who is obviously not from an anime, I reserve the right to quietly ignore that submission.

What is a child?

In the real world, this is an easy question; pick a cutoff age, and check their ID. For anime, things get trickier.

First: A character counts as a child if they are a child for a significant time. Significance is, unfortunately, subjective; an adult protagonist who gets five minutes of flashback probably shouldn’t count as a child, but a child who only appears in three minutes of that flashback should.

Second, we need to address the fact that anime is full of actual children who don’t act like kids, as well as characters who look and often act like kids but are actually 300-year-old vampires or something. A character who looks like a child, acts like a child, and is the age of a child is definitely a child; what about other characters? For the purpose of this poll, let’s say they need at least two out of three. Ancient lolis need to act like children, weirdly mature minors need to look like children, and actual children who look like adults (while rare) qualify as children.

Of course, both “look like children” and “act like children” are subjective. That’s fine. Again, if a submission isn’t child-like enough, they probably won’t get as many votes, that’s good enough. (Though I again reserve the right to ignore anyone who submits Master Roshi or something.)

One last point of clarification: For the purposes of this bracket, adolescents are children. Submit as many high schoolers as you want. (Anime has no shortage of them.)

Do the children submitted need to be orphans?

No. The children can be from nuclear families, or single-parent ones, or families where the older children fill the shoes of absent parents, and so on. They can be happy with their family situation, unhappy with it, actively opposed to the idea of relying on others, etc.

The only requirement (aside from being an anime child) is that

How long will the submission period last?

At least a week. I’ll post something (and edit this post) when I close submissions.

How will the bracket work?

It will function as a double-elimination bracket, where losers in the main bracket get a second chance in a “loser’s bracket”. There may be additional complexities (such as including more than two characters in each poll), depending on whether I end up with fifteen kids or 500.

I have another question not mentioned in this FAQ!

Send me an ask. I’ll respond, and possibly add the answer to this FAQ.

[novankenn]

Who I am.

I'm a gamer and writer, who currently is avoiding doing any original works by writing fan fiction. Mainly I write RWBY based stories, centred around Jaune Arc. I have pages on both AO3 and FF.net.

WARNING: If you are easily offended, triggered or under the age of 18 you ARE WARNED! While I try and keep things in "PG" zone, I will cross over into themes that you may find disturbing. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

DM's Welcome: I am always willing to chat, or discuss my works. Feel free to point out errors or inconsistencies. I can not improve as a writer without honest and constructive feedback. Just be polite and civil.

I'm also trying something new at least for me. I'm playing with "Perchance text-to-image" to add some illustrations (when I can get it to give me something I think I can use) for my stories. It won't happen often, and the images are nice... but bear a very passing resemblance to the characters I'm trying to create. If someone knows a better "free-ish" software that I could use, please let me know.

If ANY of the links seem broken or the content is outdated, please let me know.

I'm Adding Story Codes to indicated the status of my stories. These TAGs will not apply to "Co-Labs" or "One-Shots" (C) = Complete - No other additions planned (H) = Hiatus - Story on hold until I work something out (RW) = ReWrite - Story getting a total redo (X) = Cancelled - I have no intentions to continue the story

Reader Asks - Repository of all the general asks I have received and answered.

Story Collections

Nora In : Tea with Jaune's Family...

Jaune Gets a Gun - Alternate Universe (H)/ Jaune Gets an Upgrade - Alternate Universe (H)/ Fem!Jaune Stories / Horror Themed... / Co-Labs / Co-Labs (2) / One-Shots / 100 Words / 200 Words / Jaune's Got Skills / No Happy Ending... / No Fall AUs / Grimm-less AUs / AUs with Grimm

Other Stories Not in specific collections listed below...

Stigma (H) Crossover of RWBY & Final Fantasy 7

Original Work Teaser : the Bastard

/=====/ Side Blog : Streets of Vale /=====/ /=====/ Realms a Visual Novel /=====/

//===== Upcoming Insanity for 2024 =====//

[esther-dot]

I'm almost certain of at least one thing. They won't villainize or take Sansa's crown away from her. If anything, HotD has demonstrated one thing. Hbo/the writers are too afraid of being called misogynists, and despite everything they did with Sansa's storyline in got, they did present her coronation as a triumphant moment. So while I do believe they may play with certain tropes I dislike (Sansa being annoying blah blah blah), I doubt they would ever take her power away from her for the sake of a man, even if that man is Jon Snow. No doubt they would still mess up with a lot of other things tho lol

“I doubt they would ever take her power away from her for the sake of a man, even if that man is Jon Snow”

I agree that they wouldn’t take her crown away, but in s8 they tried to act like Sansa breaking her promise to keep Jon’s parentage a secret was unforgivable while a little mass murder by Dany was bad but... understandable? As in, they never allowed Sansa to explain her actions, they never tried to get the audience to sympathize, but they spent all season trying to paint the woman who came to Westeros specifically to wage war as a victim. Missandei’s death was inserted for the sole purpose of getting people to side with Dany, but they couldn’t grant Sansa a decent length convo to explain any of her reasonable, correct, fears and choices.

They sacrificed Jon on the Dany altar as well, so it’s easy to think this is only a Dany centric issue, not misogynistic thing, but there was no indication that Jon had made a mistake, we didn’t get a good, solid critique of Jon’s choices, and that’s why, for someone like me, the sequel fills me with fear. The sequel wouldn’t be Dany-centric, it would be Jon-centric, and unless set entirely beyond the Wall, Jon would very likely end up in some sort of conflict with Sansa. On the one hand, I love! Their arguments are great tv! On the other, it’s only good if Sansa’s concerns and her side of the issue is given the same weight as Jon’s, and I sincerely doubt they would be.

So, no, I don’t worry they’d take her crown, but I do worry that if it is picking up relatively soon-ish after the end of GoT, they’d focus on Jon’s resentment that Sansa broke her promise and not allow her to point out that he lied to the North about why he bent the knee and that he ignored her warnings and led their men into a massacre. That he broke trust with her before she did with him. I think it would be amazing to dive into their mutual grievances, but there’s like, a 2% chance of that happening unless there’s a jonsa on the writing team. 😂 As you can imagine, I therefore think any new challenges, (grievances the FF have against the Northerners that Jon may take up with Sansa, perhaps?) would present Jon as the self-sacrificing good guy without doing justice to Sansa’s stance.

It isn’t that I need show Jon or Kit to feel one way or another about Sansa, it’s that Sansa was the most coherent character in the later seasons, she had the best ending, not because she ended up in power, but because it fit with the beginning of the story and her arc rather than feeling slapped on/contradictory. Any interactions she might have with Jon in a sequel have the potential to be played the same way her disagreements with Jon in GoT were. She is ultimately correct but the narrative never presents her with the sympathy it does Jon, and that, even if they don’t strip her of a title, undermines her ending (for me).

I also have to say, I love Jon and Sansa as individual characters. My love for them isn’t contingent on a ship. Despite Jon’s failures on s7-8, I still love him, I would still like to see him heal and be happy. I do not like the dismissal of his trauma simply because he is a man. However, the choice to make Jon KitN in s6 and Sansa QitN in s8 means that we are in a pickle. Jon having kids was referenced enough in s7 that some fans still believe Dany was pregnant. Even after they were done teasing Targ restoration, in s8 we have that scene of Jon finding out Gilly is preggers, so again, the idea of Jon having kids was put into the scripts/Kit’s mind. He wants that for Jon. I assume that getting Jon’s happy ending is what this sequel series is about. But, Jon can’t have kids without it being a threat to Sansa unless they are Sansa’s kids too. Even if the show takes place beyond the Wall and his love interest is a FF woman, his children are a threat to Sansa and her kids. I don’t know that they care about that though. The politics became such a joke in the end of GoT, I don’t feel sure that they’d focus on realities beyond Jon’s feelings. Even as a Jonsa, I don’t hate the possibility of Jon finding happiness with a different women (theoretically) because I care about him. What I do hate as a Sansa fan, is that there’s no guarantee they care about or respect her (and her ending) enough to protect it.

Also, I didn’t watch HOTD, but from what I’ve gleaned, the fear of appearing sexist hasn’t kept HBO / the writers from still delivering pretty sexist content. It sounds like they don’t want their female characters to intentionally be evil, but they still don’t mind fridging them or having them be sexually harassed/ abused. IMO, that’s trying to protect themselves, not showing any deeper understanding or care for their female characters. And if anything, it looks to me that they’re more dedicated than ever to whitewashing Targaryens which is a major problem.

Anyway, my disinterest in the sequel doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy other people’s excitement for it and I will continue to engage with/support that, but I don’t trust HBO. It would be lovely to have a great sequel that rights some GoT wrongs, but I don’t think there was a sea change. Kit and Co. could surprise me tho!

[electricbluebutterflies]

Garcy + “it’s my younger siblings wedding and my mother won’t shut up about how i’m going to die alone”

PG-ish and also on ao3.

This is a circle of hell. This is the hell you get sent to for… Lucy can’t think of what specific petty behavior would deserve this punishment, but it’s probably something like consistently really bad parking or-

The problem isn’t that Amy just got married. Lucy knows how it looks, and their dynamic has never been competitive, they’re completely different people, her sister’s always been the wild one and she’s always been…

It’s barely an hour into the reception, and the sister of one of the brides is currently hiding behind a table. Somehow, the fact that she did make it an hour feels like a personal win.

Again, the problem isn’t directly the wedding here, the problem is her mother is now convinced that she’s going to die alone and be eaten by her five cats. Like, those exact words have been repeated enough that Lucy will use them if she ever needs to make herself nauseous for some reason. She is thirty-five, okay? Plenty of people are unmarried at thirty-five. And at least this means her mother doesn’t know about her latest romantic misfire, which is probably for the best because she’d never heard the end of it if the phrase “accidental homewrecking” came up in conversation, and this is why they’re not close, and-

If she had more of a spine, she’d duck out now before things really go downhill, but she wants to watch her sister’s played-softball-in-college new wife try to maim somebody with a throw bouquet later, and dammit why is she so petty at times it’ll just make her miserable, and-

“Did you drop something?”

It takes Lucy a moment to place that she doesn’t recognize that voice, and another few moments to turn her head, and… no, she decides, no she does not know this tree of a man who’s currently looking down at her like he’s definitely worried about her but isn’t sure why yet, and-

“If I tell you what I’m actually doing, do you promise not to judge me?”

The strange man gives her a more thorough look – she’s sure the bridesmaid dress gives at least some indication of her involvement in the evening’s festivities – before tilting his head to meet her eyes again. “I can try not to. Will that do?”

“If my mother makes one more comment about how it looks bad for my younger sister to get married before I do and now I have to take the next remotely viable option and also my ovaries are probably broken so no one she’d approve of would want me anyways…”

“Ah. I’m surprised you’re not under that table.”

Lucy laughs, first time she’s felt okay all day, it’s a fleeting moment but at least it’s something, at least-

“I tried. I’m not that small.”

“So the plan is to hide indefinitely?”

“I’ll poke my head out for the bouquet toss – I’m not sure which bride you’re here for, but I found out Marie was a division-best center-fielder so-“

“Used to work with her. Well aware. I didn’t realize people still got trophies in college, but-“

“I do like her. She makes my sister happy and she told my mother to fuck off when she didn’t approve of the caterer they picked, so…”

“Have you snuck into the buffer line yet?”

“No?”

“Not to take the wrong side, but your mother may have had a point. It’s not a disaster, but…”

“How bad?”

“I don’t think chicken is supposed to have that texture.”

“And the food’s usually the part of a wedding that people remember most,” Lucy mutters. “At least they got the cake somewhere else…”

“Well, if you want to hide somewhere that won’t squish your dress, there’s half a table of Marie’s former coworkers in a corner near the bar and we’d love to hear about your sister and-“

“All of them built like you?”

The man gives her a look like he’s not sure if there’s a compliment in there, like-

“I just meant… if I need to use someone as a human shield…”

“Your mother’s that bad?”

Lucy rolls her eyes. “This is still not as bad as the freakout when I turned thirty and didn’t have a partner at the time, let alone one she knew about. I would be drinking in a hotel room right now if I had any choice.”

“You’re a good sister.”

“I’m a closet masochist who probably will die alone given how bad my taste in men is.”

“I suppose this is a bad time to ask you to save a dance for me?”

Lucy takes that as an ideal moment to get up off the floor and dust off her dress, and oh she hates this shade of bright blue on her, and she’s unstable in heels dammit, and-

The man takes her hand to steady her, and that tiny bit of skin on skin gives her a few new ideas about how to get through the night.

“If you don’t mind that I’m a pocket human…”

“My late wife was smaller. I’ll be careful.”

She almost believes him. She almost…

“I’d love to.”

[fourohfourlifenotfound]

i finished supernatural. here's some thoughts on the end.

I'm a fan of tragedies, okay? Call me a sick motherfucker, I can appreciate a sad ending. So when I kept hearing about the way supernatural was supposed to end, I thought, "Maybe it's just a tragic ending?" The start of season 15 seemed to reaffirm that, since it basically said "there will not be a happy ending for these characters."

Boy was I wrong.

There's two points that rub me the wrong way:

Destielgate

No one ever told me that half a speech before the "I love you," Cas says this:

The one thing I want… it's something I know I can't have. But I think I know-- I think I know now. Happiness isn't in the having. It's in just being. It's in just saying it.

To me, with how heavy the metanarrative is within season 15, this felt like the writers saying: "we know these characters can't get a happy ever after. but we can at least say their feelings explicitly. we can make it real, for a moment. we can give you canon."

So then to learn that, in the translations, the line after "I love you" got changed to "I love you too" based on what may have been an earlier script? To find out that somewhere along the way, Dean's line of reciprocation, his chance for "being" and "just saying it" was robbed of him? It feels criminal.

Like, I'm a lover of tragedies. If Dean and Cas didn't get a happy ever after together but it was explicit to the audience that they loved each other but couldn't be together? I would have eaten it up! But it's not that. Because Dean's words, the one thing he could have gotten, were stolen from him.

2. Dean's death

Dean died in a moment of absolute character regression. We spent 15 fucking seasons watching him grow out of "Prime Directive: Save Sammy" into a person who can care about his own life and feel like he has a purpose outside of saving his brother. And in his dying breaths, he makes his brother promise that he'll be okay?

It's not just that, too. It's the way that Dean is okay with not having that normal life he always craved. Remember that? How he used to dream of a life with kids and no more hunting, up until season 6-ish when he had that but watched it be ripped away from him because of his need to protect his brother? And how he morphed into saying "I'm going to die fighting" after that, like some kind of mantra that would make him feel okay with it if he just said it enough?

He almost, almost, cut that crap in the end. The scene where he's trading blows with Sam moments before Jack is supposed to kill Chuck in 15x17, he begs Sam to let him kill Chuck because he "can't keep doing this." He can't keep fighting, keep hunting. In that moment we see again a Dean who craves a normal life, and who is so damn close to getting it.

And you're telling me that this guy was okay with dying a hunter? Sure, just erase 15 seasons of character progression.

Again, I. Love. Tragedies. If he had died a hunter but in his final breaths told Sam that he regretted it, that he wanted a normal life, made Sam promise to go get his own normal life? I would have LOVED it. It would have made Sam's ending make more sense than him promising his brother he'll keep fighting and then seeing him basically quit hunting to settle down.

So the show forgot itself, and network censorship seems to have gotten in the way. These were the things that killed Dean Winchester.