#emotionally charged

[aventurineswife]

Stages of Shadows |

R O U N D 1

The lights in the preparation room were dimmed, casting a soft, theatrical glow over the contestants as they moved about, adjusting to the discomfort of their new performance attire. In one corner stood Robin, dressed in an intricate outfit befitting her reputation, yet there was a subtle tension in her posture as she glanced over the stage setup, breathing in the heavy atmosphere of anticipation. She straightened her costume, fingers trailing over the ornate details that made her feel both regal and vulnerable.

Her eyes flickered across the room, finding [Name], who was calmly adjusting their own attire. Though they'd exchanged few words before, the air between them held a strange familiarity mixed with a new layer of rivalry, now that they knew the consequences of failure. [Name] glanced at Robin, catching her gaze just for a moment—a fleeting glance that held no warmth, only a steady, unreadable intensity that sent a chill down her spine.

Taking a breath, Robin tried to shake off the unease. She had performed countless times before audiences that adored her, but here, it was different. There was no adoration waiting for her out there—only judgment and the cold, detached gaze of the evaluators. The stakes were terrifyingly real.

A low chime echoed in the room, signaling that it was time. Robin swallowed, her heartbeat quickening. She could feel [Name]'s presence behind her, steady and unfazed. It was as if the world beyond the curtain had melted away, and only the stage and their impending judgment existed.

As they were called forward, Robin gave a final glance at [Name], finding in their expression something between confidence and quiet ruthlessness. This was it—their first round, the moment to prove themselves or be forgotten forever.

(Art by @zassyoku_DD on X)

On the stage, as the haunting notes began to fill the air, Robin and [Name] slipped into the music’s flow, voices weaving together in a bittersweet harmony that held the audience in rapt attention. Their voices rose and fell, merging effortlessly, blending vulnerability with strength, creating something beyond a competition. Each note seemed to bind them, transcending the stakes and the darkness looming at the edge of the stage.

The lights dimmed to an intimate glow, spotlighting the two of them as they sang. At that moment, their eyes met—two gazes locked, capturing a warmth that melted the cold tension of the competition. Robin’s nerves faded as [Name]'s eyes softened, reflecting gentleness. There was no calculation, no rivalry—only the connection between two souls bound by the intensity of this shared moment.

They sang the next verse, their voices intertwining with a vulnerability that was raw and tender. Without realizing it, they stepped closer, their hands brushing as they reached for the same note. A faint smile tugged at the corner of Robin’s lips, one that [Name] mirrored, as if they both understood something unspoken—that, for now, nothing else mattered. Winning, losing... it all faded away.

As Robin gazed into [Name]'s eyes, the final note lingered in the air, resonating softly in their hearts. Her gaze drifted for a split second to the scoreboard, the ominous numbers sealing her fate, before she looked back at [Name] with a serene acceptance.

Her lips curved into a gentle smile, and she whispered, so quietly it was barely a breath: “Please take care of my brother.”

For a moment, [Name] didn’t understand, still lost in the warmth of their shared performance, still captured by the closeness between them. But then, like a thunderclap, the words sank in. Their eyes widened just as something warm and wet splattered against their cheek—a spray of crimson that stole the air from their lungs. They staggered back, the weight of realization crashing down as they watched Robin’s body fall.

Time seemed to slow as they fell to their knees, numbness spreading through their limbs. The stage lights cast a stark glow over Robin’s form, her body lying still, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, a final soft smile gracing her face as though she’d found peace in her last moment.

A single trickle of red traced the curve of her lips, frozen in time.

[Name] reached out, trembling, their fingertips brushing the cold stage floor just inches from her. The crowd’s noise, the distant cheers, the indifferent faces of the judges—all blurred into a single, painful silence. The friend who had been beside them, who had shared this stage, was gone.

They could only stare, horror-stricken, the emptiness sinking deeper as Robin’s words echoed in their mind. The weight of her last request crushed them, etching itself into their heart like a scar: “Please take care of my brother.”

And in that moment, as the reality of her absence set in, [Name] felt their own smile fade, replaced by the raw, aching emptiness of loss.

The world around them felt distant, blurred at the edges, as if time itself had halted to mourn her passing. But reality crashed back all too soon—the firm grip of a guard’s hand yanked them upright, snapping a cold metal collar back around their neck. The sharp click of the lock echoed, sealing them back into the relentless, unyielding grip of the competition.

The weight of the collar pressed into their skin, a brutal reminder of their place here, as if the warmth of her last touch and her parting words were already slipping away. They didn’t struggle, didn’t fight; they simply stood, eyes still locked on Robin’s peaceful form lying amid the crimson stain on the stage. That faint smile she wore haunted them, searing into their memory as something to carry with them—a fragile comfort and a haunting wound all at once.

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[starfireandraven]

Closeups

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: The Unexpected Diva

Synopsis: Before the Civil War, Black opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield reigned supreme on Northern stages—even performing at Buckingham Palace. Novelist Tiffany L Warren brings this remarkable but forgotten diva’s remarkable story to life for modern readers. Born into slavery on a Mississippi plantation, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield has been raised in the safety of Philadelphia’s Quaker…

[sillyshadow]

first kiss

bonus:

[snappingturt3ls]

Dcdp coffeshop

Tim pays danny and absurd salary to work in WE coffee place because he's the only one willing to make Tim's coffee because every time he does he faces reckless endangerment charges because of how strong the coffee is and no one else is willing to risk it.

Danny takes his coffee the same way but with a shot of ecto, which is fine until Tim sees Danny put the green!water into his coffee. Tim, being the most rational bat, doesn't freak out and kidnaps Danny for where he got Lazurus water and just asks his.

Danny explains that his parents are one scientists of the "only not a rouge on a technicality" variety and have been synthesizing this shit since before he was born, and that while it's the single best energy booster on the planet its also poison to humans, which Danny says he isn't quite sure he is anymore.

Tim's eyes light up at the "single best energy booster on the planet part" and asks for some, completely disregarding the poison aspect.

Danny says fuck it, but Tim is going to have to build up a tolerance over time, so a single small spirt of ecto once a day to start.

A few months to a year later Tim sends one of his siblings, preferably Damian, to get his coffee from Danny, and then proceeds to freak the fuck out when he watches Danny put Lazurus Water in Tim's drink.

Damien is not the most rational bat.

Tim never does get that coffee.

Danny is in a bat holding cell having a panic attack.

[soulstickerr]

Something about the sun, about how yellow is a color of the sun… Undertale Yellow… something like that.

[scealaiscoite]

⋆˚࿔ excuse prompts 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

¹⁾ “we were so drunk.”

²⁾ “i was trying to protect you!”

³⁾ “i never thought it would go this far.”

⁴⁾ “this wasn’t supposed to happen, i swear.”

⁵⁾ “he swore he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

⁶⁾ “you’re- you’re never around anymore!”

⁷⁾ “if i’d have waited any longer, the outcome would have been so much worse.”

⁸⁾ “you started this shit, i’m only trying to get us out of it!”

⁹⁾ “i… i just wanted the chance to prove myself to you.”

¹⁰⁾ “yeah, ‘cause you’re all such fucking saints.”

¹¹⁾ “i was handling it fine until you got involved!”

¹²⁾ “i wasn’t thinking, that’s the whole point!”

¹³⁾ “you didn’t give me any other choice.”

¹⁴⁾ “i gave you a pass when the roles were reversed, so maybe a little understanding wouldn’t kill you.”

¹⁵⁾ “if this were anyone else, you wouldn’t be riding them half as hard and you know it.”

¹⁶⁾ “you’ve been under so much pressure… i thought i could take a little of it off you by taking care of it.”

¹⁷⁾ “all i did was put my trust in the wrongs person.”

¹⁸⁾ “if you hadn’t chewed me out so damn hard for asking for your help last time, maybe i would’ve felt safe enough to do it again.”

¹⁹⁾ “do you have any idea what it feels like to be lonely in your own house? of course you don’t, because you’re never fucking here!”

²⁰⁾ “i didn’t think you’d care. nothing else ever seems to make you, so why should this!”

[blacktabbygames]

slay the princess deep lore protagonist reveal.

[cloverplover]

walking is still honest // against me!

[gatixan]

Mirror kissing inflates your ego.

[ruminate88]

Closure 🎶 (song about being ghosted)

I wrote this song whenever I learned that the closure has to come from inside of you.

At first, I didn’t understand closure at all and after he blocked me on every single social media account he owns, I realized how he was done with me, but I never got to say goodbye 🥺 the only choice I had then was to just walk away and I tried to be big and live my life but overtime it caught up to me and I realized he left a hole in my heart that never closes up seemingly. ❤️‍🩹

Healing truly takes time 🌹 I found that out the hard way and also found out that the deeper you “think” you love someone, the deeper the wound can be as well . Music is an expression for me and that’s where I feel most safe to be vulnerable. 🙏🏻🎶 take a listen for me?

Lyrics: Verse 1. Is it so wrong It’s been so long You wonder why now Why would I still reach out

Hook. You thought for sure You shut the door But you left so sudden Without a reason for me to understand Chorus. I’ve carried this burden with no closure from you It’s an emotional ride it’s something that I’m still working through They say the closure is inside and maybe they’re right I pray it’s true cuz there is no goodbyes with you

Verse 2. Just like a ghost You disappeared leaving me drowning in my tears Forcing me to move on

Hook 2. The truth i may never know Why you had to come and go What is the lesson here

Chorus.

[danielleurbansblog]

Review: Specters in the Glass House

Synopsis: In 1921, Marian Arnold, the heiress to a brewing baron’s empire, seeks solace in the glass butterfly house on her family’s Wisconsin estate as Prohibition and the deaths of her parents cast a long shadow over her shrinking world. When Marian’s sanctuary is invaded by nightmarish visions, she grapples with the line between hallucinations of things to come and malevolent forces at play…

[secriden]

This line. God, this line! It has been eating me up inside for 2 days now, because let's not forget, this line isn't about love, it's about trust. And that has implications that make me want to scream.

It's a direct reference to this moment earlier in the episode:

At the start of this discussion, Style and Fadel still have a kind of playful air about their conversation:

Style: Oh? Not even me? Fadel: You're at 80% at best. I feel like you're hiding something from me in the 20%.

In this exchange, though, there's a sense that Fadel is issuing a challenge, like there's something specific which Style can do to gain Fadel's full trust. And while Style knows there are things he cannot (yet) reveal to Fadel, I think a part of him is determined to be as honest as he can be, which is why he issues a challenge of his own by asking for more specificity:

Style: What do I have to do to gain your complete trust?

Part of this question is a simultaneously inquisitive and deflective - What (and why) do you think I'm hiding (something) from you? - but there's also a moment after Style finishes speaking where he stills and goes quiet that feels... genuine, weighty. Or, as @airenyah has pointed out in her meta on Style in episode 4, the "grounded[ness]" in Style's demeanour is a signal that Style means what he's saying in the moment. Maybe about his own desire to be worthy of Fadel's trust, maybe about how he genuinely does want this relationship to be real in whatever way that matters to Fadel.

I think Fadel sensed that too, because the moment looses all the lightheartedness it had before. Fadel pauses, and then gets a look on his face that just... breaks my heart. There's a sombreness there, like he knows he's going to have to say something that makes him sad. Fadel looks away, and then down, before he seems to steel himself and says:

Fadel: It'll never happen. No matter how much you love someone, I just don't believe that you can completely lay yourself bare in front of them.

Fadel says this like it's fact. Like what he's expressing is something foundational and true and irrefutable. It's not even about his doubt in Style's honesty, because this statement has no qualifiers or conditions put on it to connect it to Style. Rather this is what Fadel fundamentally believes about relationships and trust: he finds the very concept of being fully known and still accepted an impossibility.

Sure, maybe this is because of the falling out (or betrayal or disappearance) associated with the former lover; but I also think it might be because Fadel is acutely aware not only that he's hiding a rather big and dark secret (not to mince words, but: actual literal premeditated murder), but also about what it implies about Fadel. Because being able to kill another human, coldly and clinically and without remorse, takes a certain type of person. Because, yes, Fadel has lived through an absolutely harrowing and traumatising event (his parents' murder), but it's also undeniable that it changed him. Because there's something about Fadel that twisted dark and which he never quite got back. There's an anger, a hurt that colours every moment of his life; that enables him to look a man in the eyes, smile politely, and pull a trigger.

And at this point in their relationship, Fadel's understanding of Style is that he's... well, kind of innocent. Especially in comparison to Fadel and Bison, and even Kant.

Style, who easily reveals facts about his life which Fadel already knows (winning a car tuning competition), making Fadel doubt his own instincts about Style hiding secrets. Style, who also reveals the things Fadel doesn't know, like the tender and secret pain of a mother lost to cancer (which, now that I think about it, Fadel may also know) and his worries about a father who "lost his bearings for a bit" (which he probably doesn't). Style, who tries to comfort Fadel in his own loss by offering a safe space and a sympathetic ear.

Style, who doesn't just see Fadel for his tragedy, but is asking to be given the chance to accept all of Fadel as a person. Style, who not only wants but has the capacity, to be the only person Fadel needs to rely on. Style who, despite the sea of differences between them, understands Fadel on a level that is so very foundational.

I'm going to slightly segue and mention something that may not resonate with everyone, but really hit me in the gut this episode: because I lost my father when I was 16 after he battled cancer for 2 painful years. And this revelation about Style has totally shifted and coloured everything Style has done in a new light for me. Because not only does this totally explain Style's sometimes almost stubbornly childish demeanour (it's common in adults who've had to 'grow up' too early), but also why Style shows seemingly random flashes of insight and maturity when they are most crucial. Notably, Style has this almost instinctive sense of when he needs to back off a sore point with Fadel that I couldn't quite put my finger on until this episode.

I've seen a few jokes about Style's awkward subject change, but I've actually got a friend who I hold very dear to my heart who was one of the only people to give me a sense of normalcy and comfort when my dad was on his last few days and then at his funeral. And part of that was the instinctive way she would know when I needed to just. Not be a grieving daughter for a few minutes. To get a small respite from the overwhelming hopelessness and sense of impending loss. To get a moment to breathe and gather my strength, because knowing I was never going to see my dad again, or hear his voice, or hold his hand was tearing me apart back then. Sometimes she'd talk to me about college drama, sometimes she'd introduce a new kpop video to me, sometimes she'd just ask me what I wanted to eat and take me to go have a meal with her. And sometimes there really just isn't anything else to say other than "I'm sorry." Nothing you say - nothing you can say - is going to ever, ever make this grief go away, and in most cases, it was better when people (especially those who couldn't really understand) didn't try.

And I think if you look at Fadel very closely, there's a moment of genuine surprise (Fadel wasn't expecting the subject change at all) and then... something that looks like fondness mixed with exhausted relief. Because I don't think Fadel was ready to talk about his parents yet. This was honesty he wasn't ready to give Style, mostly prompted because Style himself had willingly been so vulnerable that a part of Fadel wanted to reciprocate. But further down that path lies not only his darkest memories, but also the connection to the part of his life he is not willing to share with Style yet. So this subject change is a relief, it's a blessing, but it's also Style knowing when he shouldn't push any further with Fadel's fragile heart.

Which brings me back to how well the episode's theme of trust (both deserved and undeserved) was woven in this episode. This is true on multiple levels and characters but I'm not even going to attempt to touch Kant in this post because... Lord, that is beyond me at the moment. Someone else needs to do that, pretty please, so I can reblog it and scream.

It starts, somewhat unexpectedly, with Fadel asking for entrance into the intimate spaces of Style's life.

So, this episode was not about Fadel's fear of his own feelings, desires, or even affection for Style - that appears to be fully addressed in episode 4. I think that's why we see Fadel be so physically affectionate and indulgent of Style in this episode. He's come to terms with his lust for Style's body (hence his comfort in initiating sex), he's accepted Style as his boyfriend and so can enjoy Style's playful teasing (still reluctantly, but Fadel is still an introvert even if he's mostly enjoying Style's rambunctious nature), and give into Style's (and Bison's and Kant's) cajoling with relatively little fuss.

He's even comfortable toying with the edges of revealing his darker and more sinister side by reminding Style implicitly about how violent Fadel has the potential to be. Recall that Fadel knows Style knows some of his capacity for violence; he just doesn't know how very thoroughly Style is aware of the full scale of this truth. It does help that Style evidences no actual fear and, in fact, looks positively euphoric. Like, buddy, pal, dearest one... please control yourself.

And yet something very, very telling is the way the show makes it a point to depict Fadel very deliberately getting drunk during the double date. Even before the date has started, Fadel looks to be about half a beer in and we see him constantly drinking, drinking, drinking during the whole date. From the conversation about trust he has with Style while Kant and Bison are being off key and adorable about it, to after Kant leaves and Bison gets worried. And we've seen Fadel cope with emotional and mental distress with alcohol before, so we know that Fadel is internally fighting some kind of very intense battle even as he is also very clearly enjoying moments with Style on this date (most notably when they're dancing by the bowling lanes and when Style asks him to go home with him).

So here's my take: rather than being about love, this is about Fadel fighting to hold onto his own philosophy on relationships and trust. Because as much as I do believe Fadel believes he's telling the truth when he tells Style that 100% trust is "impossible", I think it's clear that's not what he wants.

What he wants is to finish this last job so that the only thing he can't be honest about with Style will finally stop being a factor in his life. What he wants is to fully and completely reciprocate the openness Style seems to be giving Fadel. What he wants is to switch off his brain and let his heart lead for once, to stop fighting a battle he has no desire to win anymore, only he can't. Trust (not love) is Fadel's final frontier, and one which he can't quite give up in spite of himself.

Which is why I think Fadel intentionally gets himself drunk here. Because he wants to let his guard down around Style. He wants to open himself fully, he wants to "lay himself bare" for Style, he wants Style to know the full truth and accept him anyway - and he gets so close, but can't quite get there - because he doesn't know that Style already has.

When Style says this, Fadel thinks it's empty words, not knowing that Style has long passed the bar Fadel thinks is insurmountable. And just like Style was able to offer safety and reassurance to the vulnerability Fadel was showing in episode 4, Style instinctively gets to the core of Fadel's darkest fears again:

Style: One day, I'll be your 100%.

This isn't (just) a promise that Style will wear Fadel's stubbornness down, or that Style will be worthy of Fadel's 100% (which, already, has me in tears, ngl). Beyond that, this is Style promising Fadel isn't ruined for this; that it isn't too late, that whatever hurts and wounds Fadel has can be made whole again. That the kind of honest and all-encompassing and unconditional trust which Fadel says is impossible can, in fact, be his. That Fadel still has the capacity to trust and be trusted the way he so desperately, painfully longs for.

I know a lot of people have said Style in this episode is writing cheques he has no ability to honour, but I think it's more layered than that. Because in a very significant and profound way, Style is wholly deserving of Fadel's trust. Because in all the ways that Fadel has ever known he should want, Style actually IS worthy of his trust. Style knows the truth Fadel is hiding, knows what this man is capable of, knows the danger of being in his arms, knows the likely nonexistent future Fadel has to offer him -- and wants him anyway. Style is a man who would stare into Fadel’s darkness and reach out first. Strip away the complication of Kant being blackmailed and dragging Style into his mission, and Style is literally perfect for Fadel. He is exactly what Fadel wants (and possibly has wanted for a very long time). He is, in fact, exactly what Fadel needs to ever experience anything beyond the shadow of a life he's had so far.

But oh, the cruel narrative means that Style is also, simultaneously, painfully undeserving of Fadel's trust; and this is something Style is very much aware of. I think that's why he's trying so very hard to be worthy in all the other ways he can be. Style's awareness of what Fadel is hiding enables Style to (counterintuitively) be completely honest about his feelings for and about Fadel even as he cannot reveal his motivations. So he gives Fadel as much honesty as he can: offers the vulnerability of his own pain and hurts; the comfort of his true understanding and acceptance.

And just as Fadel's vulnerability in the abandoned factory was met with Style choosing a form of physical connection that prioritised Fadel's pleasure (it's made very clear that Style is jerking Fadel off and that all his focus in that moment was on Fadel, not his own pleasure), so too is this moment met with Style very intentionally choosing to worship Fadel's body with all the tenderness and genuine emotional weight that Style wanted Fadel to have in their first time in the storeroom.

Because, crucially, this was Style giving Fadel the chance to lay himself at least physically bare. This is the closest either of them can get to full honesty with the secrets they both are keeping. It's why Style tries so very hard to show the care and adoration and genuine feelings he has for Fadel. Why he makes sure that the vulnerability of Fadel getting himself as drunk and as relaxed and as trusting as Fadel can allow himself to be is tied only to gentleness and tenderness and pleasure.

Because Style actually knows that Fadel can't (and shouldn't) trust him in the way Fadel truly wishes to.

And as much as I believe that Style genuinely means this from the bottom of his heart, the horrifying full truth is that it is Style that has the metaphorical knife hovering over Fadel's chest. He is the one with the capacity to actually give Fadel a new scar that would truly matter. He is, in fact, the only one Fadel wants to fully trust -- and this, along with Style's compromised heart, makes it so that the circumstances will doom them both.

[littlegeecko]

Ouuhhhhggg flynns pretty smileeeee and carl's art skillssss am i right

[xylathesilkwing]

I think what bothers me about the live-action HTTYD movie as someone who was VIOLENTLY obsessed with it as a kid and considers it life changing is that a lot of the elements from the behind the scenes animations that happened to work just. Won’t hit as different.

Like wdym toothless’ eye being open as he’s tied down wasn’t intentional, and was actually a mistake in the animation?? What do you mean toothless’ hesitation before meeting Hiccup’s hand was actually an error? What do you mean artists researched air dynamics and how wings would react in wind just to make an accurate dragon model?? Stuff like that made the first movie so beautiful, and I have doubts the new one will hit the same. Nostalgia may be a factor in this of course, but because of how recent it will be little animated errors that made a movie unique and obviously human-made won’t be there and it makes me a little sad.

[leafyeyes417]

Obsession Spiral

Danny was flying high in the sky, heading towards Town Hall. He needed to see Vlad. As he flew, he thought about how he reconciled with him. He had called a temporary truce, and asked Vlad to bring his short term Plasmius Maximus. They both used it, preventing any potential argument from escalating into a ghost fight. Then they had a long hard talk, figuring out the miscommunications and working out most of the problems.

Part of it had been Vlad’s Obsession with Family clashing with his revenge for his belief that Jack is the one who killed him. Danny had managed to get it into his head that stealing someone to form a family would never work. Vlad would do better if he shifted his focus on to creating his own family elsewhere, possibly adopting like Bruce Wayne did.

Danny had also asked for a clear story on Vlad’s Death, despite the taboo. It had been hard but he had agreed Jack was the cause in the end. He had asked Vlad to find a different way to get back at Jack. His nature as a Protective Spirit would not allow Vlad to get his revenge through killing him, but he could look the other way for other things.

Breaking out of his thoughts he turned invisible and slipped into the building, floating into Vlad’s office. Vlad looked up as he appeared. “Daniel! I wasn’t expecting to see you, what with that whole battle with Undergrowth earlier.���

Danny nodded, “Normally I would be taking a nap after the fight, but something has been bothering me and I wanted your opinion on it.”

Vlad frowned. “This seems more serious than just your usual ghost fights. If I can help you I will.”

Danny hesitated but managed to push through his uncomfort, “I’ve been thinking. Ghosts and undead with cores have their Obsessions, which make it healthy for them to focus on those things long term. But Liminals, they only have some ecto in their bodies. Maddie and Jack have been contaminated with ecto a long time and they might as well be living ghosts with how Obsessed they are with hunting ghosts. I don’t know how to check and see, but I’ve been feeling like something is almost… wrong with them. Like they have fallen way too far into obsession and if we don’t break them out of it they will be unrecoverable.”

By the point Danny finished he was hugging himself, face covered in a worried frown as he stared at the floor. Vlad looked off to the side, considering. “I have not given things much thought, but it is possible you are right. Despite my feelings for Jack, he has been… much more one-minded than he used to be.”

Danny looked up at him. “Do you know what we could do? The only thing I can think of is getting them far away from anything ghost and preventing them from working on projects. Which probably means something like a mental health ward or prison…”

Vlad breathed out a sigh. “I will look into it. Why don’t you go ask Frostbite if he knows anything. We might have to involve outsiders and getting the portal in Amity shut down. I know you have been pondering on what you will do after high school. It might be best if you start working on your ability to portal so if we are forced to take that option you can get back to the Realms.”

Danny nodded and then said goodbye. He hoped that they didn’t have to do anything that drastic, but after his trips for Clockwork he generally had a good sense of how things would go. It would probably be hard, but safer for him in the end.