#for lucy to believe him. to help him. to see that they're the same; that they want the same things in the end.

[tortoisesshells]

Flynn & Lucy + 10. Breathe Again

(it is a truth universally acknowledged that I will always be a little frothed at the mouth over Flynn/Lucy as antagonists to whatever the hell is going on by "The King of the Delta Blues".)

Lucy wondered, after the ringing in her ears subsided and her breath came easily again, if it was only that she wasn’t on speaking terms with many soldiers-of-fortune-turned-renegades that made Flynn’s fluency in the language of violence seem so exceptional, an easy knife up and under her ribs. All the luridness of H. H. Holmes’s murders distilled down to his purposes – if her conscience could not be leveraged, then her friends’ lives could: what wouldn’t you do, Lucy, to save your own friends – your family?

And, unbidden: someday she would, apparently of her own volition, hand Garcia Flynn a neat little atlas to history, with a promise that that he would not always be alone in this – this war of his. If she bent a little – allowed herself to help Flynn assassinate three men (three men she didn’t even like) and rewrite the twentieth century – would that be all of what she had meant, in the future?  Flynn watched her consider all this neutrally – as though he already knew the answer.

Send me a number and two characters, and get a five sentence drabble!

[queenie-the-court-jester]

HII, saw your post on wanting asks, well here 🫶 I love talking so, and specifically on playboy yandere!! I'm a sucker for angst and yanderes falling into insanity honestly, so let me ramble a bit

- imagine if reader graduates highschool and gets an overseas scholarships!! They also convince their family to move together with them so Kameron can't hurt or use them to blackmail reader. So with only a break up text saying like "bye manwhore 😍😍", blocking and deleting all their social media, I wonder how long and how far would he take to get reader back again? Would he inherit his parent's riches, hire some private investigatiors to find reader and find the country they're living in, expand his business over to their country in order to gain power to trap his darling. And I wonder how deranged his reaction would be to reader's text and be like no way, they're joking right, and runs to their house and whatever usual spots they're at normally, and just break down into insanity. would he try to use substitutes for reader to maintain his sanity or go fully devoid of emotions and start working hard to gain power and influence to find reader again!! I'm also curious how he would process his darling leaving him, would he become delusional first, saying they got kidnapped or something, or some ex or fling of his hurt reader, and then proceed to anger, depression, grief and then finally accept the reality!!

Ok that's a lot of rambling 😭😭 hope it's okay. I rlly enjoyed that fic, was rent FREE in my mind for a whole day

you know luci, you just gave me an idea. So have a part TWO of THIS DUMBASS HOE 🤝

Yandere playboy x reader

Tw: mentions of murder, kameron being delulu, yandere and obsessive behavior

💋kameron was having another breakdown. Sobbing pathetically on the floor of your old bedroom. Just how did you run away? And on such short notice too!? Didn't his love mean anything to you!? WHY DID YOU ABANDON HIM?

💋a million thoughts swirled through his head, until he finally got one that just... stuck. He had to get you back. No matter how long it takes. Getting up and dusting himself off, he kicked the front door open and quickly left the empty house

💋it was a shame really. The once sane and popular boy was struggling to keep his image. So he got help. Not professional as in therapists and medication. Just hiring other students to cover for him Incase he slipped up. all while snooping through the head teachers computer to see if they had any notes on where you might have gone. He almost got caught a few times

"shit that was close.. i can't believe these idiots leave their passwords just anywhere"

💋he knew he shouldn't be back at the school, especially since he graduated but he needs all the information he can get. Eventually moving onto private investigators and online stalking through multiple other accounts. He'd try anything just to see what his darling was doing without him. Were you enjoying making him suffer? You're so cruel..

💋hiring other people to befriend you and lower your guard, gathering any Information they can

💋 kameron who spent a while convincing his parents to let him take hold of the company. He had a degree, a bright mind, responsibility. He's perfect for the job! Oh if only they knew where his 60% was going.. funding multiple businesses across the world in exchange for keeping a careful eye. Making him quite the celebrity

💋look darling! He's on the news-! ...oh right you're not here.. one evening, while working in his office, a new secretary comes in to introduce themselves. They look just like you! He could only stare in shock.

"my love..? Is that you!?"

"..who?"

💋turns out it was just a doppelganger. But with enough time he'd delude himself into thinking it was you. Courting them with the same flowers, chocolates and jewelry he'd given you. It worked like a charm! Now you were back In their arms again. They felt whole..

💋he married your lookalike a year later, the poor fool being too naive and oblivious to think. He was happy for awhile.. or until one of his P.I's came in to show him they found you. His reality started to break.

💋no.. how could he do this to you. Replacing you with some cheap street whore. That night, when they went to bed, he gave them a cup of water and smiled sweetly. Watching as their face went red and they started to cough for air after gulping it down. Clawing at the sheets and staring at him with wide fearful eyes. Begging him to help them

"...slut."

💋 burrying the body in his backyard, he paid people with underground connections to cover for him while he was away. Claiming they suddenly vanished, having run away with a small fortune. How idiotic are people, to actually believe him..

💋kameron disguised himself and went straight for the country you decided to flee too. 5 years apart from you.. he had no idea how he managed to live so long without his beloved, but it was all worth it. Because now you'll be back where you belong. In his arms.

💋you were busy working at your job, running a small business was no joke but atleast the people in the area were friendly. So you didn't notice the suited figure Infront of your cash register

"thank you, please come again-"

💋you froze, looking up at the terrifyingly familiar face. He stared back at you with only glee and love

"hello my darling~ you've been on a naughty streak for a while Haven't you? That's okay, I'll just set you straight when we go back home."

💋big burly men all blocked you from escaping by guarding the doors. Dragging all the other customers out so you both could have your moment. Now you could never leaver leave him. Ever.

[imbored1201]

Happy new year!

Would you do a barca x teen!reader?

Like they're feeling down/depressed and clingy for a few days because it's someone they cared about death anniversary? (maybe they end up one day just crying and clinging to someone - like alexia or lucy, instead of training?)

That Time Of The Year

A/N: speaking of New Years, hope the New Year started off well for everyone❤️

Barcelona Femeni x Teen Reader

Mostly a Lucy Bronze x Teen Reader

Words: 1,777

Warnings: Talks of drunk driver, talks of dead best friend

You hated January; it was supposed to be a month of excitement for a new year. You couldn't see it that way, though. It was the same month your childhood best friend died.

She was the only one who actually supported you and believed you would make it to your dream team, Barcelona. Now you were, but she didn't get to watch. She went to every game when you played with Man City.

As the new year hit, Alexia noticed how you got clingier. It started with the little things, like you wanting to eat lunch with her or go out to a restaurant together. It was odd since she was the one who always had to drag you to do that with her.

Then you would sneak into her bed to cuddle at night. Sometimes she would wake up to you doing it, and she would just open her arms for you to hold you, or sometimes she would wake up to pressure on her chest, and it was always you.

————

She had questioned you about it, but you just told her nothing was wrong. Which was a lie, and Alexia hated when you lied to her.

"You ready?" She asked after having to force you to get up after you once again snuck into her bed. You always claimed it was harder to get out of her bed since it was way comfier. You nodded, grabbing a banana and walking out the door.

Alexia was able to see that you were about to break; she even texted a lot of the older girls to keep an eye on you before she dropped you off for training.

She's tried to help you, even being straight up with you and telling you she knew you weren't okay. She even made her mom talk to you; you, being stubborn, refused to speak of the situation and even stayed at Lucy's house for a day to get away from Alexia's hassling.

————

She was glad to see Lucy waiting for you as she pulled up, giving you a kiss on the forehead and telling you to be careful, as she always did.

"Let's get to work, kid." Lucy was worried when she got that text from Alexia. She understood why now. You were always energetic during training; now you seem to have no energy at all. Something was wrong.

You made no effort to greet the girls, heading straight to your locker and changing. The girls patted your back as they went out to the field as a sign that they were there for you.

————

Aitana kept sending you perfect through balls during a drill, and you couldn't seem to finish them. It was making you frustrated, as you apologized to her every time.

She waved it off, realizing whatever was happening to you was starting to affect how you played now.

"Y/N, come here." Jonatan called for you, and you sighed in annoyance. You knew he was probably going to tell you off for how bad you were training and probably even bench you. That's what your mind was saying. It was true what they said, your mind was your biggest enemy.

————

He led you to his office. "Look, I know I'm doing horrible, so please don't-" "Y/N, this isn't about training," he said softly. You looked at him, confused.

"This is about your mood recently; there's been a lot of concern about you. Everyone can see something is bothering you, and we just want to help." Now you were extra annoyed.

You didn't need more people meddling in your business. First Alexia, then the feeling of the team walking on eggshells around you. Now even your coach was getting involved.

"Nothing is wrong," you said harshly, immediately regretting that. You cursed yourself for talking to your coach like that. He didn't seem mad, though; in fact, he seemed more worried.

"I can't do this," you told him, rushing out of his office. You were going full speed back to the locker room when you ran straight into Lucy.

"There you are; I was looking for you," she said, holding you by your shoulders to steady you. She frowned seeing your tears. "What happened?"

You tackled her into a hug; you couldn't hold it in anymore. You clinged tightly to her as you sobbed; everything you had been holding in for a week was finally coming out.

"Love, you'll make yourself sick; take deep breaths," you listened to her, trying your best to calm yourself down. Lucy continued to rub your back and whisper soothing words. Even trying to make dad jokes to cheer you up.

————

That's how Jonatan found the two of you. You were in Lucy's lap, sitting and leaning against the wall as she stroked your hair and wiped your tears.

Jonaton's eyes softened as he looked down at you and Lucy. You looked up at him, scared that he was going to tell you off for storming off.

"Take her home; she needs to rest." Lucy nodded and coaxed you to get up. You held onto her tightly as she led you back into the locker room.

"But training," you rubbed your eyes. "Training doesn't matter right now; come on, we'll get ice cream." You smiled a bit at that. Lucy always joked that you would trade her for a scoop of ice cream because of how much you loved it.

————

After getting your ice cream, the both of you sat in Lucy's car in silence. "Want me to take you back home?" She asked, "Can we just sit here for a little more?" She quickly nodded and continued to eat.

After another minute of silence, she spoke up again. "Do you want to talk about it?" You let out a sad sigh. You knew you would have to tell someone eventually. Lucy was the best person to tell because she's known you longer than anyone else. She trained you while you two played in City together that year. Then you moved to Barcelona with her, and Alexia took over the parenting.

"Remember that girl that I would always be walking with after training?" She nodded. "Tiny Blondy." You rolled your eyes at the nickname the team had given her.

"Yes, tiny blondy, we used to watch all the Barcelona games together since we were 7. It was always my dream to play here; you already knew that part, though." She nodded and listened, giving you a supportive smile.

"She was really the only one that supported it; even mom and dad didn't think I'd be able to. Towards the end of the season before I came here, I got the offer, but mom and dad didn't want me to go to Spain by myself. I called her crying, but she was eating dinner with her family, and her mom was very strict on family time, so she was never able to get out of it, but I heard her start an argument over the fact that I really needed her and she had to leave."

"Wait, your parents weren't going to let you come here?" She immediately shut up when she saw the look on your face. "Sorry"

"She didn't listen to her mom's words and came to my house. We talked all night, and we were even going to have a sleepover, but her mom came to our house angry and demanded she go back. My friend listened, and her last words to me were, 'You better go to Barcelona', a drunk driver hit them on their way back home, my friend died, and her mom was in a coma."

"Y/N," Lucy said, leaning over to wipe the tears that were starting to fall out again. "It was my fault, Lucy; if I hadn't overreacted to my parents telling me no to my dream team, I would have probably been able to sign for it when I was actually an adult," you sniffled, hiding your face in your hands.

"It's the main reason my parents even signed those papers for me to play here; they wanted me to get away from everything. Her dad was going crazy, blaming me for everything. He came to my house four times. My dad even fought him once because he had followed me all the way home from practice, saying nasty things to me."

Lucy couldn't hold back anymore either; tears started to fall down her face now. She leaned over and pulled you into a tight hug.

"I got you," she whispered, wiping her own tears. She needed to stay strong for you.

"She didn't get to watch me, Luce; she said she wanted to be the first person to buy my Barcelona jersey; she wasn't able to do that." You cried harder; all Lucy could do was hold you.

"Look at me, kid," she gently grabbed your cheeks. "Nothing is your fault. That man took his grieving out on you, and he shouldn't have. You're a kid; you're allowed to feel disappointed over not being able to play for your dream team; you're allowed to call someone for advice and comfort.

You nodded at her words. "Everything will be okay; nothing was your fault." You wanted to cry more at her words; those words were all you wanted to hear someone say to you.

And the fact that Lucy was saying them made it extra special. You knew Lucy would never lie to you, so if everything was going to be okay, you believed her.

————

Over the next couple of weeks, Alexia got you help. You were seeing someone at least once a week, or if you really needed them. You were also able to go back home for the first time and finally get some alone time at your friend's grave to say your final words.

Her mom was fine, but her parents ended up moving away. There was some relief, but also a guilty feeling in your mind. Relieved that you wouldn't have to be scared about encountering the dad every time you came back home. You felt guilty for feeling that way though. You understood why he blamed you, and you wish you could take it all back. Sometimes you even think about what life would have been like if you had turned down Barcelona's contract and stayed with City without throwing a tantrum.

Maybe in another universe, she would have still been in your City jersey, being the loudest there, and maybe you both could have moved to Barcelona at 18. She wanted to get into sports journalism to follow you, but once again.

Maybe in another universe.

[bookwyrm35]

You know what line is spoken so casually but breaks my heart every. single. freaking. time?

Lucy: She's in pain...

Lockwood: Of course she is, she's dead.

Lockwood believes that any afterlife ghosts (and possibly all people) experience is agony. From this simple line, we see into his mind and find that he thinks his parents, his sister, any agents or friend or anyone else he's lost- he thinks they're suffering.

...as someone who's lost a close relative recently, I can't imagine how hard it would be to grieve properly and healthily if I believed that they were hurting. My grandpa was in a lot of pain before he passed away, but now that he's on the other side (the true other side, not the limbo we see ghosts trapped in), I know he's at peace. I personally believe he's in heaven, the literal best place anyone could ever be, and that thought, that knowledge, brings me so much comfort.

No wonder Lockwood has such a hard time letting go, he must think that holding onto his family's memory is the only way he can make their supposed suffering somehow worth it.

To anyone who's in the same boat as him, I just want you to know it's okay to let them go. They're okay now. Holding onto what they went through in life or right before their life ended is not going to help them, it's only hurting you. It's hard to let yourself grieve and harder to let yourself heal but I promise it's worth it. We saw Lockwood do it with the help of his new friends and family and I know you and I can do it too.

[lou-struck]

A Bout of Bad Luck... Part 1

Featuring: Lucifer, Mammon, and Leviathan

Part 2 Coming Soon...

~Human superstitions may not be believed in the Devildom. But you know bad luck when you see it.

a/n: I hope you guys like this one. It was a lot of fun to research these superstitions and figure out which character would be the one to break it.

Lucifer~

Lucifer is exhausted…

With Diavolo and Barbatos away on business, he has taken up the brunt of all of the paperwork from RAD. He has locked himself away in his office so he can diligently do his work without any distractions. 

And that he does. 

The only time anyone in the House of Lamination has seen the Avatar of Pride is when, at your insistence, he leaves his office to eat, shower, or take an unfulfilling rest. 

It's not enough, but he is thankful that you take the time to pester him to do something good for himself when he slips into this workaholic mindset. 

But behind his office door, he is struggling. His face is so low to the desk that he wonders if he is actually awake at all.

Is he actually doing his work or just dreaming of it?

The thought sends an ice-cold shiver through his spine. His shoulders jolting him upwards in a panic. His weary, blood-red gems zero in on the sheets before him, and he is relieved to see that he, indeed, was not dreaming of work. 

A gentle but determined rapping on his heavy wooden door pulls him from his thoughts. 

He clears his throat and watches the entryway eagerly. He knows that little knock anywhere. "Come in, Mc." With a flick of his wrist, the door is magically whisked open so you can step in, wheeling in a little tea cart. The little cups clink chipperly as you scold him for not taking a break earlier. 

He stands to greet you and finally takes a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His hair is ruffled, and his face looks unusually pale. But the most shocking thing to him is that his dress shirt is on inside out.

When you see it, you let out a little snort in amusement. The blush doesn't come to his cheeks, but the fact that he is looking so unkept in front of you causes him to panic. 

"I think you should keep it like that, Luci," you smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I heard that somewhere in the human world, it's bad luck to turn your clothes around when they're inside out." 

He pauses briefly, processing your words, but to his knowledge, human superstitions of misfortune carry little weight in the devildom. Anything that may happen to a human once a black cat crosses their path or walks under a ladder is purely coincidental. But your worry warms his heart. 

"It's just a superstition, My Dear. But thank you for caring about me," he smirks, giving you that little pet name that never fails to make your knees go weak. 

Giving you a full show, he swiftly removes his shirt and places it on correctly. If anyone else saw him like this, it would be quite humiliating, but with you, it's a silly little memory that will bring him comfort for years to come.

With the shirt on correctly, he moves out a little wrinkle and looks up at you, raising his brow as if to say, 'See? No harm done.'

But in that same instant, a strong gust of wind miraculously blows open the previously locked windows.

His brilliantly organized paperwork scatters about the room in a whirlwind of ink and parchment as he curses under his breath. 

"I told you it was bad luck." you cry out, rushing over to shut the windows, shutting them quickly before any more damage is done. 

"This may not have anything to do with my clothes." he sighs crouching down, beginning to sort out the papers. Some of them are definitely damaged beyond repair, but thankfully, not all of his hard work is lost. 

"Whatever you say, Luci," you tease, joining him on the floor to help him out. 

Your assistance is invaluable to the Demon, and soon, the floor will be clear of paper debris. Lucifer secures the last incomplete pile in a folder and extends his hand to help you off of the floor where you had sat cross-legged, inspecting each little page. 

"Thank you for your help today, Mc; without you here, this little cleanup would've taken me far too long."

There is a mischievous little light in your eyes as you take his hand. "I know how you can thank me properly."

"Oh, you do?" he teases, thinking up something sinfully sweet. "Please enlighten me."

You bring over the tea cart from earlier, the enchanted teapot still releasing a gentle tendril of perfumed steam as if it had just been poured. 

"Take a proper break, Lucifer." Your voice is stern and leaves no room for argument. "You've been working way too hard, and we both know it."

He laughs and goes to sit down in his office chair in defeat. He knows you're right. "Fine, you win. But I expect your company to be a part of this little deal of ours~."

His beloved office chair creaks, and he feels himself falling backward. You reach out a hand to keep him from falling with his now-broken seat but get taken to the floor with him. 

His back hits the carpet first as you land comfortably on top of him unharmed. You burst out laughing, and he cannot escape its infectious nature. "See?" you gasp between giggles. "This is what I meant about bad luck."

He may not be the biggest believer in bad luck, but if the two of you ending up like this is a part of it, the Demon may not mind a bit of human superstition. 

Mammon~

If he had lost a bet to anyone else, Mammon would be holed up in his room sulking. But seeing the expression of pure joy on your face as you walk down the cobbled streets of Majolish towards the ice cream parlor makes him feel a bit better about his loss.

There is a spring in your step that makes the Demon's chest seem a bit lighter as he follows slightly behind you. Something shiny catches his eye on the path ahead. He loves shiny things. 

"Oi, Mc." he calls happily, rushing towards the unclaimed treasure on the ground just outside of the parlor. "check this out."

It's just a piece of grim on the ground, but Mammon's greed gets the better of him.

Just as he crouches down to take the sweet, sweet Grimm for himself, you place a gentle yet firm hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think you should take that," you say worriedly. 

Mammon looks at you like you just told him Beel went on a juice cleanse. 

With pure disbelief.

"What are ya talkin about?" He laughs. "It's free, Grimm. How can I be the Great Mammon if I don't take it?"

Shake your head and point down at the still-untouched coin. "Look, it's tails side up." Your voice is so serious, but the Demon still has no idea what you're going on about.

"Yeah, so?"

"In the human world, there's a belief that if you find a coin with a tail side up, it is bad luck if you take it for yourself. You should flip it and leave it for someone else to find." Your lips curve outward in a smile at your explanation as if talking about this silly human belief fulfills some sense of longing you have.

The white-haired Demon tosses his head back in good-natured laughter. "Silly human, that kind of superstitious stuff isn't real. I'll take the Grimm And put it towards somethin' special." 

You let go of his shoulder wearily and roll your eyes. "All right, whatever you say Mammon." You start to walk towards the ice cream parlor with a happy smile on your face.

His own is bright and victorious as he picks up the coin and slips it into his pocket. "Wait for me Mc," he calls, springing to his feelings and rushing after you. 

He watches as the glass door shut magically behind you, and he steps into the glass pane, ready to push it open, only to walk right into the door face first. "Owww."

His nose is throbbing as he stumbles back. Seeing his face print marking the clear surface would be a lot funnier if he wasn't so embarrassed. 

You open the door and gently guide him inside. "Mammon! Are you okay?" you ask, sitting him down in one of the parlor's leather booths."

"M' fine," he mumbles. Low-key loving the attention that you are giving him. He pulls out his wallet and hands Goldie to you. "Let's jus get some ice cream."

You take the card promising to get something that he will like. As you walk away, the pain in his face starts to subside. But this sensation is quickly replaced with another unpleasant one. Cold water droplets begin to land on the crown of his head. It's small, harmless, but extremely annoying. 

He shifts to the left, it lands on him, sending a strange shiver down his spine. 

To the right. The droplets still land on his head. 

You come back once the Demon is balancing on the very edge of the booth, two glorious-looking ice cream cones in your hands. Mammon's gaze zeroes in on the ice cream cone topped with edible gold flakes. "Is that one for me?" he grins, reaching towards the sparkling treat. It barely reaches his lips before the scoop topples off of the cone and onto the Avatar of Greed's pants. 

You say nothing as you try to hide your laughter and Mammon has to wonder if this bad luck stuff humans are worried about may be the real deal after all. 

"Mammon?" you say kindly, sliding a pile of napkins across the table for him. "Do you want me to get you another one?"

"Yea," he mutters embarrassedly. "I-in a cup this time, please, Mc."

Leviathan~

Nights like these are some of Levi's favorites. It's just you, him, and Henry. Although the latter is just swimming circles around his fishbowl, not paying the two of you any mind. 

The Avatar of Envy is struggling greatly, trying to divide his attention equally between the game and your pretty face illuminated underneath the blue light of the screen.

Thankfully, your opponents are not that good, so he can do both. And when you get the final kill to secure your win, he watches in puppy love admiration as you throw your hands up in the air victoriously and sink back into the dark beanbag chair he set up next to his gaming chair. 

"We did it!" you sigh, wiggling out of your chair. "I'm gonna grab a drink from the kitchen before the next round. Do you want anything.?"

"Sure, thank you." he hums, trying to think what drinks are in the fridge. "Could I get one of the Blushberry Spritz?"

"you bet," the smile you give him is blinding. Although he may be a shut-in, just spending a few minutes with you is like being outside, feeling the gentle rays of the mortal sun on his face.

With you gone, he doesn't enter another game. Instead, he decides to pull up a different tab on his computer to check some of his emails.

He entered a giveaway for some merch the other day and keeps poking into his inbox to find out if he has won anything. 

The first few emails are just promos and order updates for his Akuzon packages. But he notices that one of his online friends send him some kind of attachment. Just as he clicks it open, you come back into the room, placing a chilled can of Spritz on his Rui and Friends coaster.

"What's that?" you ask, leaning over his shoulder. You're so close to him. Levi can feel his skin heating up, his thoughts fizzling out of his head like the bubbles in his drink.

What if he just turned and kissed you? 

Wouldn't that just be so crazy?

"Levi?" Your sweet voice brings the now-flustered Otaku back to reality and he tries to remember what it was that the two of you were talking about before. His amber gaze darts to the screen for a hint and then he remembers the ominous message on the screen before him.

This Message is Crazy Powerful!!!

Send this thread to 10 friends and ur CRUSH!!! will ask you out 2morrow <3 <3 <3

Ignore And Be CURSED With Bad Luck 4 Eva!!!

You sigh and sit down in your seat, "Ugh, you guys get this kind of stuff in the Devildom too? I hate those things."

Levi sorts and clicks away from the email. "Yea this stuff's for normies."

"So you're not gonna send it at all?" you ask, a bit of worry in your tone that makes Levi's heart beat faster. You're worried about him, and it makes him feel so, so good. Like he just got the grand prize out of a claw machine on his first Grimm kind of good.

"Nah, like I said, it's just a silly message." he beams, deleting the message and going back to the game lobby.

You laugh it off and pick up your controller, your separate screens buffering as the countdown begins. 

10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

4…

Your screen continues to count down, but Levi's stays frozen halfway between four and three. 

"Wait, what is happening?" he whines as his screen stays unmoving. "Mc, is your screen acting like this too?"

He turns to look at your screen and realizes that you are already on the map. The other online members of your team rush past his unmoving character without care.

"Oh shoot, Levi." you exclaim "I'll stay with you until your screen catches up." He watches as your little character rushes back to the frozen Leviathan just in time to see his avatar explode into a pile of little purple pixels. 

Levi bites back a curse as his screen finally catches up, but now all it's saying is 'GAME OVER'

You try to hold your ground, but your rescue attempt leaves your character right out in the open.

Your avatar meets a similar fate a few minutes later. 

You laugh it off with that sweet human optimism he loves, and he tries to keep his cool. After all, the last thing he wants to do is embarrass himself in front of you.

But the same thing happens again.

And again…

And again…

Even after he reboots the Wifi he still dies in-game due to some weird glitch or system error. 

After the 7th or so glitched match, he begins to wonder if you were right about that bad luck stuff after all. 

'GAME OVER' fills his screen again as he lets out a cry in defeat. At least this round, he was able to make it a few steps before getting hunted down, but it's still so annoying. 

Levi looks over at you and sees you chewing the inside of your cheek in thought. But then the strangest thing happens.

You quit the game and place your controller on the table. "Well that was rough," your smile just as bright as ever. Even after the last half hour of his helpless, probably cursed, playthrough attempts. "How about we watch a movie instead?"

The thought of a cozy movie night with you makes the blood rush to his face, and he nods dumbly, wondering if he will get the chance to hold your hand as it plays.

@enchantedforest-network

[fallenhunnyapple]

@ilikelookingatthings left a very long and question filled essay about Angel!Lu AU in the replies so now its time to delve into More Info about the AU! @fallenguitarhero is my Adam so I got his input for all the Adam-related parts of this. Under a cut because.... this is Very Long LOL (bonus art at the end)

I'm going to just Copy-Paste the answers I got when we discussed it

I do think that Adam actually subconsciously shifts blame to Lilith because he's very black and white in his views. He hates devil Luci but he thinks he can prevent angel Lu from going down that path if he just keeps them apart. Lute also believes this and ngl her view of Lilith is like...really awful internalized misogyny type shit. Both of them think its better the two never meet and Lute outright threatens Lilith to stay away. Adam is too possessive to try and shift Lu to someone else but he does like... try to push Lu back into friendship type feels. Adam is a dumbass about sexuality so he thinks if he brings Lu to do Masculine and Straight things it will fix this. Instead he ends up just spending even more time with him and making it worse. As for his trauma... yeah Adam tries to hide it. Mostly by changing the subject and acting like an asshole tbh. I've thought abt Lu finding out about Cain and Abel p much by mistake (maybe saw artwork of it, all the hell related stuff is hidden but they wouldnt think to hide art of Adam holding Abel's body or Cain's exile) and it breaking his little baby heart. Adam def has moments where like... his mind is busy w something else like a bad day or a nightmare and for a second he sees the devil instead of his angel. Adam always like... 'shit, sorry, i thought you were someone else- fuck, don't look at me like that, c'mon.' There are other issues he just... doesn't realize he needs to hide. They're right about Adam being cynical and like... telling himself Lu doesn't really love him. Even once they date, he's still insecure. At that point i think he'd tell Lu about Lilith leaving him for a friend of his (whose name he never gives) and his marriage with Eve ending badly. He avoids details. He prob talks way more about his kids and prob even introduces Lu to them... Lu being around might encourage him to work on his relationship with them. Adam's body dysmorphia is such a contrast from the Adam Lu knew before... i do think that with him hiding so much from Lu, he tries to make it up to him by making sure his life is perfect. He goes out of his way to keep his angel happy and his attitude spreads to his exorcists who accept Lu into their flock. tbh Adam's dynamic with them prob becomes way healthier over time due to Lu's influence. i think Adam does tell the truth about some things but leaves out the details. Like he says evil found earth and destroyed Eden but says it hurts too much to talk about it (not a lie) and tells Lu that it's why the exorcists exist, they protect heaven and the dead humans from it. Which is what the official story is anyway! i think Lu prob has the same info the average low ranking Heavenborne and winners do. If Lu pushed him too much Adam might admit there are things he can't tell him but frame it as a military thing - there are things only Michael, Adam and the high ranking exorcists can know. He feels a lot of guilt about lying. it weighs on him a lot. that and the stress of protecting Lu from his brothers honestly makes Adam act more subdued and tired than canon Adam. His eyebags are awful. It prob becomes obvious as time goes on that Adam is Not Well. He keeps his mask on for a looong time after the first time bc it helps him hide his feelings and self-regulate but when he finally takes it off it's obvious to Lu from how he looks that Adam is struggling mentally. Comparing him to how he looked in Eden makes it so clear.

For Lu's part of things. Of course he'd ask about Lilith. Especially after finding out that so long has passed and Adam is here, so Lilith is probably here too, right? I feel like because he missed... So much, the concept of Death to him still doesn't really sink in. Like even with the Sins, it's basically like he just Knows he can't See them again. So with Lilith its like Adam has to just lie the same as with Anyone else from Hell. And Lu is definitely heartbroken about Lilith being Gone.

And like, at the time, Adam isn't lying so he doesn't feel Guilty about it, he just feels bad seeing Lu so upset. The timeline of this is kinda indeterminate but it definitely is Earlier than the 7 years of Lilith being in Heaven. So when he first Appears, she hasn't left Hell yet. Who knows, Charlie may not have even been born yet at that point. There's no Solid point in Time for Lu to have appeared in Heaven, it's just... Earlier. He doesn't think to Look for her because he knows that if she's Not Already There, then she's Inaccessible. Otherwise Adam would have told him, he's sure of it. (Adam has no obligation to tell Lu when Lilith does get there and for the reasons stated above + the fact that the Elder Angels probably would try and deter any interaction between the two. he's left in the Dark about her arriving in Heaven. He doesn't know Adam has even made a Deal with anyone) He still misses her because Adam is Truly the only friend from When he's from left.

And tbh the mixed signals are what keeps Hope Alive for Lu. As much as he tries to be okay with friendship, he still wants more because he's In Love and Adam is the only thing that makes him feel Normal when his entire life and everything he knew was entirely up-ended. It's why he's so passive about it. He doesn't want to make Adam feel bad, but he sees Adam being so Conscious of him now and it makes him happy. He doesn't wanna Push it, but he still likes seeing that Adam is Aware of him like that now. Especially because it's not in a way where Adam is trying to push him away, Adam is actively spending more time with him!

The longer time passes, the more discontent Lu grows. Knowing he's being lied to/that things are being hidden, even by Adam, he is Curious and he wants to learn more. But he also isn't going to be reckless about Learning More. The thing is also he Doesn't Know what questions he should be asking. He could ask Winners things and get answers, its not like anyone would stop him from Talking to Winners, its part of his Job. But like... How would he even start to figure out what's Missing in his knowledge?

Also Lu is definitely Aware of how different Adam is from his Eden self. Like just Visually, it's so easy to separate them because Adam wears his mask. But when its just the two of them and Adam is maskless, Lu may be more susceptible to treating him like that. But he's also very aware of the fact that actually their Knowledge Base is completely flipped. Lu hardly knows anything and Adam knows Everything.

And like.... Lu Knows that being kept in the dark is probably 'for his own good' but as stated, the person who fell is Still him. So now instead of resenting/being upset that Humans were kept in the dark, now it's himself. There's no Fruit That Will Fix Things for him though. He's just left frustrated at his lack of agency in this. And honestly, what keeps in line Most is Fear. Since coming to this time, his family has been Nicer to him, he's actually getting along to some degree with his brothers who used to ridicule him (or worse) and he Knows it's only because he's 'behaving' now, now that Creation is over and Life Has Existed. And he's scared or what will happen if he steps too out of line. He doesn't have the refuge of going to Eden to visit the Humans if things go south with his siblings. He isn't allowed on Earth, he's confined to Heaven, so he would just be stuck with the same sort of things that ultimately drove him originally to commit the Sin of giving Eve the Apple (not that he's Aware of how it culminated) And Also he has Adam. He doesn't want to know what the consequences would be if they were to decide that they shouldn't be allowed to stay together. It would absolutely break him.

If Lu were to find out about the exterminations, he'd be just as Appalled by it as Emily was. Lu doesn't know about Sin, what that entails, how Sinners destroy everything. He hasn't had to live with it so he can't see any contempt or justification for their destruction. Lucifer hates them because they came in a ruined the world he tried to build in Hell. Lu doesn't have any such associations with them. He would just see them much like Charlie does, souls who made mistakes and who should be given the chance to Do Better and make up for it. (That's sort of what he is, in a way, too.) He would absolutely be upset and scold the fuck out of Adam and Lute if he knew what his besties were REALLY doing once a year-

As for the sexual stuff, Both Lucifers started without having a concept of sex or sexuality, so both of them are specifically shaped by their partners (literally in a way). So the Lucifer who learned and explored with Lilith is going to be completely different from the Lucifer who learned and explored with Adam in terms of How they have sex. It's a skill they learn by doing, so it's not the Same.

Thank you for sticking it out this long, have a doodle for your troubles 🙏

[missheavenfield1215]

I think taking the relationship between Beetlejuice and Lydia for granted in the new film is too hasty to say.

I know it's hard to tell them not to be hopeful when they've already released this kind of official material. I mean, have you seen this?!

Or the certainty that Lydia accepted without hesitation Beetlejuice's proposal to look for her daughter. (although it is more than obvious why she accepted it) min: 3:57

Or even this video... Are you really saying that a relationship is very difficult when you talk about his "relationship" with Lydia??

And let's also talk about this face... Jesus... It seems that Beetlejuice has found the love of his life when he sees Lydia. (Personally I think in the second GIF Beetlejuice is looking at his wedding cake or something else, because it seems that he is still with his back to her)

But I think there's something they're forgetting.

This has also come out and is behind the scenes.

You can use the ending of the musical (although I doubt it very much, Tim and Michael refuse to see the musical). Here I believe that Beetlejuice will choose Astrid or she herself will offer to marry him to save her mother and so they would kill Beetlejuice, staining her dress with his blood.

I'm not a person who gets excited when I see some romantic approach, I expect it to really happen.

Have they forgotten the unfinished ship ReyLo?? Zutara's discarded idea?? The bland romance between Lucy and Raoul? The main couple of Wish with Asha and Starboy who they discarded because #feminism?

I think this could be the same...

I feel like they're not really going to pair Lydia and Beetlejuice. Because even though their deal is transactional, (he helps her find her daughter and she marries him to bring him back to life and get him away from his ex-wife, Delores).

I feel like all these "shows of affection" are a farce... This comes across as:

-"Like why do you say you can't marry me?" "You say it's because you don't love me and I don't either?" "So here, take (literally) my heart and shut up."

I don't like to be so pessimistic, I really wish they stayed together, because for God's sake, they are an iconic couple in gothic horror and black comedy movies even though they have never really been a couple (plus ALL if not most Tim Burton movies have romance or proof that there was going to be a romance (like an unfinished pairing). As in Alice in Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride etc).

If the Beetlebabes is canonized, Tim Burton risks waves and a HUGE amount of hate for "pairing a girl with a disgusting adult" (even though in the movie Lydia is already an adult).

Beetlejuice has a picture of Lydia when she was a teenager, which means that he fell in love with her when she was an underage girl...

Even if he says that Beetlejuice and Lydia were created to be together (as some sort of "soulmates") and that at some point in a sequel they would make that a reality, there will be a lot of people who will be very angry about this.

I really don't think Tim Burton would risk all the criticism and hate...

Unless he makes the decision to defend this Ship openly, he will not do so without at least giving as an example the musical, whose directors ignored that detail (of the "soulmates", Perhaps because of the pressure to be politically correct by Broadway standards) because they did it at his expense and not with his help...

Let's remember that the musical and everything in it, is not from Tim Burton's own mind, but they did do what they wanted with his characters without consulting him first.

But I still thinking that claiming victory so hastily would be very bad for the whole Fandom.

I ask you not to celebrate such an abrupt "triumph"... The film has not yet been released.

I ask you to wait at least until the premiere of the film.

I ask you to wait until it is 100% confirmed.

[makeitastrength]

Do you truly think they will get back together?

I really do, anon! With some other couples my answer wouldn’t be so confident, but Tim and Lucy have proven before that they have what it takes to make it through this.

Let’s start with Tim. Yes, he’s in a really bad place right now. But he’s shown us (and Lucy) over and over again that he’s able and willing to change. Every single time she’s called him out on his behavior, he has eventually accepted responsibility for it, learned from it, and changed it. Already, in the aftermath of this breakup, he’s accepted that he needs help. I fully anticipate that he will reach the point of being able to understand and accept what he’s done and take responsibility for it as well and work to make sure it doesn't happen again.

He’s also earned Lucy’s trust before. At the beginning she didn’t trust him at all - justifiably, given how volatile he was. But as he healed, he became someone she could trust on the job. And eventually outside of the job. She’s seen him change. She knows he’s capable of it. And I think once they’re communicating better and she understands what triggered him to walk away from her, she'll also be able to see that he's putting in the work to ensure he doesn't stay in this place where he might make the same decision again. With that understanding and seeing the changes, she'll be able to begin rebuilding trust.

And let’s not forget (something @timandlucy pointed out to me earlier) that Tim forgave Isabel. She disappeared, stole from him, lied, and cheated, yet Tim was willing to forgive her. He knows what it's like to be in that position. And again, I think once he’s in a better place, he’s going to understand that Lucy now has to do what he once did and that it’s not going to be easy.

Along those lines, let's talk about Lucy. From day one, it's been made clear that empathy is a core piece of who she is. She understands that people make bad decisions when they're in a bad place, but that this doesn't define who they are as a person. She’s understands why people do the things they do. She believes people can change, and she believes in second chances.

And even though right now she doesn't fully understand how deep Tim's issues run, she still knows him. She knows he struggles with his feelings and she knows he carries trauma that he hasn't dealt with. She knows he sometimes makes irrational decisions guided by his heightened emotions. She knows he struggles to ask for help.

But she also knows his heart. She knows he cares deeply. She knows he's willing to do anything for the people he loves (even if it's not actually the right thing to do). Tim is so scared of her finding out what he did and who he is - but the thing he can't see is that she already knows who he is. He says he can't give her what she needs, but again, she knows that's not true. Maybe right now he can't, but he is capable of it and she knows that, too. He just needs help getting to that place.

Is winning her trust back going to be easy? Absolutely not. And I don't want it to be. Lucy has every right to be hurt and angry and protective of her heart. She has every right to set boundaries and demand an adult conversation with him. You can be empathetic without being a pushover.

It's not going to be an easy journey and it's not going to be a quick one. It's gonna take a lot of communication and vulnerability and emotional maturity. But I really truly believe that once they can overcome these issues, they're going to be so much stronger.

(Sorry, that may have been a much longer answer than you were looking for. Long story short, yes. I do.)

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 28 SPOILERS‼️

normal and hard spoilers

masterlist | all lessons | season 2 | lesson 27 | lesson 29

beel not being hungry is odd, but given the course of the story, him not rampaging like asmo or mammon is even weirder

i personally think it's bc we already saw what happened when his gluttony takes over in season 1, and having that happen a second time wouldn't really serve any narrative purpose

i love how beel is the most outwardly affectionate and caring about his brothers despite not always being the most "expressive" if that makes sense ???

i feel like he and satan (for obvious reasons) take after lucifer the most because of how palpable their love is for their brothers, regardless of the different ways they choose/are able to express that love

sobs uncontrollably

imagine "baby" beel running around trying to guard "teenage" mammon from raphael bc he wanted to protect his brothers and lilith in the same way he saw lucifer do it

i feel like next to beel and belphie's relationship, beel and mammon have one of the healthiest sibling dynamics in the game, both in og and in nb, and part of that is due to their abundance of empathy

and satan being the first to suggest a way to help beel ??? WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE ??? the development i sobbed

he doesn't wanna see beel go through what he went through and is doing anything he can to prevent that from happening

i also think the "eat-til-you-drop" title is foreshadowing bc mammon, asmo, and satan all passed out when they had their rampages...maybe satan's trying to induce it so they can get to the root of the problem faster ???

finally. FINALLY we get mephisto to stop being an annoying dickhead and open up about his emotions, even if it's technically against his will and only for a moment. if he'd get out of his own head and rework the prejudices he has about lucifer and his brothers, he'd realize that he and lucifer are much more alike than he thinks, and they'd probably end up being really good friends. but because they're so similar, they're both too prideful to put aside their differences (especially mephisto) to explore the common ground they share

and i'm so so glad the devs didn't villainize mammon for this bc it's obvious that he had good intentions

i FIRMLY believe that next to beel, mammon is one of the most emotionally intelligent and empathetic characters in the entire game, but he's less outright and upfront with it bc of his own pride and bc of the way other people view him off of first glance

i feel like this hammers home my point of satan and beel taking after luci. he shows that he cares more that he says it, but denies it at every chance he gets bc he's too prideful to admit it. satan didn't show or say that he cared about his brothers outwardly until recently. beel shows and verbalizes that he cares

but it's evident to everyone around them that their bond is unbreakable

GIVE. ME. MORE. SOFT. MOMENTS. LIKE. THIS.

shit like this makes me miss seeing my little sister every day and bugging her (if you're reading this shut up)

[theflyindutchwoman]

Look, you're out of your depth on this. Look, I've been riding with you for two months. You project the rogue cop thing, but you are always on the right side of the law. If you came all the way over here to psychoanalyze me, you wasted your time. No, I I came here to remind you that you'll regret helping her. Because it's not gonna change her. But it'll sure as hell change you.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 1.07 - The Ride Along

One of my favorite thing about these two is how protective they are of each other. This is a trait they both share. Tim might be called the 'fierce protector' but it absolutely goes both ways. Lucy is exactly the same. From the very beginning. There was an inkling of that already when she volunteered to go pay a visit to Isabel after her overdose : she was trying to shield Tim from more pain, from seeing who his wife was living with… or in which conditions. And that makes this scene a touch sadder since all that effort went to nought. He still ended up having to go there… Fortunately for him, he is not as alone as he thinks he is. Lucy is waiting for him outside. Watching over him.

I love how you can see her hesitation when she leaves her car. It was one thing for her to (rightfully) call him out on his behavior on the job, it's another to insert herself in his private life after their shift. She may have been confident enough to pull off her prank with the money clip, but this is far more personal. And he does look a bit angry at first. Only, unlike last time, it's not because he thinks she's out of line. At least, not entirely. I believe there's some genuine concern for her here : if anyone ever found out she was here in the first place, she could get in trouble. He knows the risks he is taking, even without removing the evidence. He accepted them when he agreed to help his wife and broke into her place. But Lucy is pretty much risking her career… for him. And it says a lot about her character that, despite everything, she still takes that chance. Especially since as far as she believes, he may have removed the drugs, which could put her in a precarious position of having to either lie to protect him, or rat him out.

The way she gets slowly closer to him, trying to bridge the gap and reach out to him… She is so nervous, knowing she's overstepping a line. But she cares too much not to say anything. She has been able to see right through his walls the moment Isabel showed up and this just shows how perceptive she truly is. And her assessment of Tim is pretty spot-on : as much as he likes to paint himself as this rogue officer, he does try to stay on the right side of the law and not cross a line he can't come back from. His morals, his code are what separate him from someone like The Hawke. And tampering with evidence would have definitely changed him. Lucy's behavior also stands in stark contrast with Isabel here : Tim's wife was earlier begging him to betray what he stands for and believes in whereas Lucy is imploring him to stay true to himself. Obviously Isabel was under the influence of the drugs, so she didn't even realise what she was asking. But this moment still aligns with Lucy's attitude, how she has never tried to change him, only broaden his horizon and give him a safe place to allow him to be vulnerable. Melissa does a terrific job at conveying what Lucy is feeling here, between the slight hesitation in her body language and the little crack in her voice.

'It's not gonna change her. But it'll sure as hell change you.'. This is such a powerful statement, one that shows how much she cares already even though at this point, he hasn't given her a reason to. And that realisation fully hits him. It's really a turning point in their relationship. Tim is left completely speechless after that… Because I don't think anyone ever cared like that for him. Angela and Talia were there for him after Isabel's arrest, but they're his friends. Talia was even invited at his wedding. Lucy, on the other hand, is his rookie and barely knows him… But she still took that risk to come and try to talk him out of doing this. And that is so overwhelming for him that he can only turn away abruptly before his mask starts to slip.

Lucy looks so worried at the end : she doesn't know for sure if he has crossed the line or not… I honestly think that he had already made the decision not to take the drugs (as implied by the fact that we see him leave) and Lucy's support brought him some modicum of comfort… as much as the situation allowed.

[kneazle]

So while finally breathing was the first fic I posted for them/911, this here is what my original first was gonna be but it became too big and much in my head and I decided not to finish it, but I thought I'd share what I had written! (Its not much)

A burning smell was the first thing to fill his senses when he slowly opened his eyes, eyelids heavy with what felt like exhaustion but in the back of Tommy's mind he registered the heat from the fire and possibly smoke being the real cause. His head pounded as he turned it to take in where he was. Tommy sucked in a breath taking in the scene only to be stopped short by the sharp pain in his chest and torso. Groaning, he laid back flat on the ground relieving some of the pressure but not solving his shortness of breath.

Tommy's eyes burned for another reason—his mind racing through what he just saw. 

Their helicopter crashed and burning a little ways away. Debris scattered around. Supplies from the helicopter all over. Worst of all, the sight of Lucy just on the other side unconscious with what he thought was a head wound.

He opened his mouth to call out for her, to see if he could wake her, but his body protested along with the lump of panic building in his throat. A feeling that grew as he laid there with pain coursing through his body, unable to move himself no matter how much his mind screamed at him.

get up! you have to move! 

Tommy stared up at the bright blue sky through the trees above. Only the brief sounds of the fire and his labored breathing reaching his ears. His eyes slid shut slowly but he tried his hardest to keep them open. 

stay awake! don't fall asleep!

Sleep. He just wanted to sleep. Pain radiated throughout his body, and for a moment he wondered if all of him was even there. But...what did it matter anyway? Who would mourn Tommy Kinard? Certainly not his parents. The 217 would feel the loss but they would move on soon enough. Hen and Howie would do the same along with Eddie. There were only two people he could think of that would truly mourn him, or so he likes to believe. Lucy—he risked the pain to try to look at her once more praying she was breathing please not her please—and Evan.

Tommy let the rest of his tears fall at the thought of him hearing of his passing. He had to believe Evan would move on eventually too. He had to. They haven't even been together five months, and while Tommy knew he'd be utterly devastated if roles were reversed, he had to hope it wasn't long enough to cause Evan any lasting pain. His eyes closed to the picture of Evan's face. One of the most beautiful people Tommy ever laid eyes on, inside and out. His heart ached to see him one last time, to confess how it was too soon to be falling and yet he was. 

As Tommy felt himself drifting unable to stop it, he couldn't help but think that they weren't even supposed to be on shift today. This was all his fault…

What I was going to write:

One of the other pilots asks Tommy to cover a shift for him with some sob story lie and Lucy is his co-pilot. Said pilot got paid a lot of money by Tommy's ex who used the opportunity to control the situation to his advantage, having messed with the helicopter they were taking out and putting a tracker in it. It crashes and the ex finds them and waits. Lucy wakes up and hears someone and knows they have to get away, she wakes Tommy whos in bad shape but with her help they move. The ex follows. The 118 arrive on scene with Athena and they know it was Tommy, they find the crash along with the tracker, and Athena finds blood leading away from the scene along with three sets of footprints in the dirt. There was only Tommy and Lucy in the helicopter. That makes them try to find them even quicker.

Meanwhile Tommy's ex finds them, they're backed up against a tree while the ex has a gun pointed at Tommy who isn't doing too good only kept up with Lucy's help. The guy cheated on Tommy so he broke it off but the guy is a bit obsessed (aren't we all huh?) and believes if he cant have Tommy no one can. The 118 and Athena arrive and Athena tries to talk the guy down who rambles on about Tommy, no one paying attention to the silent communication between Buck and Eddie. Buck steps forward to get the attention on him, ignoring everyone else, while he does Eddie tackles the ex the second the gun moves away from Tommy to point at Buck, using a move Tommy taught him to wrangle the guy. They all run over while Athena handcuffs him, and Tommy passes out in Buck's arms. Tommy has a long complicated surgery but everything turns out okay and Athena lets everyone know what she found out. It ends with a happy moment with everyone, having used knowing the nurses to their advantage to sneak into Tommy's hospital room that was only allowed two visitors.

[sisterofficerlucychen]

Okay so now that the season is over and the dust has settled… and also to give us all something to do over the hiatus: what are your five favorite chenford scenes/moments from season 6?

aaaaah! this is fifty years later, i'm so sorry. and i also ended up writing an essay? can you tell my two brain cells are chenford 24/7 lmao. 

6x02

"Guess you're gonna have to fight him" / “I have to look amazing in a dress tomorrow. Nobody cares what you look like. He's huge. I am not fighting him” / “Let's go" 

so much happened in this little bit and it was beautiful (and hilarious) ♡

starting with where they're at as they end up in front of the hammer's apartment — they had just had a fight, tim walked away and called it a night, things were still awkward the next day yet when lucy said she had to go and try to get bailey's ring back tim immediately said he'd go with her. by the time they reach the apartment, it's still kinda awkward~~ but their banter is back and it feels a lot like them.

then the hammer gives them the conditions on how they can get the ring back and alkdfjsldfs 🪦 (i have yet to recover).

tim was so unserious when he turned to her to tell her she would need to fight him when he was the one who insisted on joining her because he knew the chaos that would ensue. the fact that lucy doesn't miss a beat to not only remind him that she needs to look amazing for the wedding and no one cares what he looks like??? 😂 and he doesn't question it???? also, the way they're literally bickering like a married couple and the hammer's just so amused as he waits for an answer lmao (the way this man was gonna go to jail but was so bashful bc he got to fight someone).

but comedy aside, part of why it's such a favorite moment is how it highlights their growth/development. tim didn't even blink when lucy said no and this is the same man who on day two intentionally put her in a fight as punishment for failing a tim test. even thinking back to just a few season like s4 tim and lucy? maybe he wouldn't have made her fight him but he would have given her more shit for it. but tim *heart eyes for lucy chen* bradford? he would never and it has nothing to do with not believing she can hold her own but rather that need to protect her 🥹

honorable mention is how this then gave us the foreshadowing of a proposal because they were unhinged for that but oh my god, yes.

6x10

"Lopez, take the wheel."

not only did we get to see lucy being the absolute badass that we all know and love; but our girl did not hesitate to save our favorite grump's life even though it meant putting her own at risk.

i loved how much of a testament it is to how they always have each other's six and even in the worst of times, there's no exception and no question about it. the moment she saw him in the back of the truck, she was right behind him. the fear and worry in lucy's face as tim was getting stabbed was palpable, she knew his life was in danger and there was no question about her needing to jump in (pun intended) to save him.

what makes this scene so powerful for me and my favorite part of it was the expressions shared between them after they've subdued the guy. they say not a single word and yet the didn't need to, their expressions spoke for them.

lucy's reaction to me felt like her mind was catching up to the past few seconds as if she moved out of instinct, she didn't necessarily have a plan when she jumped onto the truck but rather this innate need to help. tim on the other hand is first hit with relief and then the realization that lucy just saved his life. he looks at her with almost disbelief that despite everything he's done, she still did that. it felt almost like that first inkling of him understanding that as broken and lost as he is, it doesn’t change the way she loves him? i’m gonna reference you because you said it perfectly in this post lol.

6x08

Happy Birthday - Love, Kojo

i think this was my favorite scene this season?????? i don't even know where to begin but just they way it both shows how much they love and miss each other, the way that they're hurting sooo deeply *brb while i go sob over this all over again*.

every single detail in that scene just felt so important — as thoughtful as tim can be, having kojo ‘sign’ a birthday card for lucy and then have him deliver it to her front door feels like it’d be something he’d roll his eyes at and yet there he was because he couldn’t bear with not acknowledging it was her birthday. not only did he get creative but he also did something that was still really special. 

then, the entire execution of him delivering the card because tim had to have been waiting once they got home and the fact that he was literally just around the corner. the fact that they both knew they were just a hallway apart???? lucy looking that way too after reading the card 🥺

another thing is how it’s the first little glimpse she gets toward understanding where he’s at? because all she knows is that he decided that she deserved better and he walked away — that’s the only explanation she got, he’s not at a place where he can give her the discussion she deserves so a lot of it is her filling in the blanks. obviously this moment is nowhere close to that but it is this small reminder that he still loves and cares for her, that despite everything he’s still thinking of her. and boy was he - he had multiple reminders for it and it wasn't because he was afraid he was going to forget like this man had things planned, i just know it.

the music choice was also something that i absolutely loved from this scene and the foreshadowing it told. it felt like this beautiful balance of emphasizing the heartbreak they’re dealing with right now while also holding this promise that things will be okay. 

6x04

"Come on. Come on. Let's go home."

there’s something about the way these two show up at hospitals for each other that has me so unwell??? we saw it in s5 with lucy and then in this season with tim — that absolute frantic need to get to their bedside asap. what adds to this too for me is the fact that tim shows up with her go bag because it could have been anyone that brought it to her but it was tim (and there’s something so intimate and domestic about it). 

the fact that he goes straight to her instead of checking in with grey and how the first thing out of his mouth is something to try and make her crack a smile. his instinct is to try to make her feel better, to ground her and reassure her that he’s at her side. he’s always been the fierce protector and how he shows up for her here is another example of it.

the part that gets me though is once grey and wesley leaves, he tells her it’s time to go home. home. he says it in such a soft and gentle way too 🥹 AND THEN THAT HUG. OH THAT HUG WAS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6x03

“You could never disappoint me.”

okay i’m gonna make this one short and sweet — the contrast shown here of how lucy’s never been able to live up to her parents expectations versus the unwavering belief tim has in lucy and her potential. she thought she disappointed him bc she placed 17 but nothing she could ever do would disappoint him??? like these are words she's never heard before in her life. this is huge.

also the fact that he remembered she loves trophies???? it was so cute.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Always get a bit frustrated whenever I see a comment on a kitty-edit that's like "Oh Kitty had such a sad childhood, but at least she has the Captain now."

Don't get me wrong, I love their relationship, it's adorable, he is definitely her dad as evident by how she views him as such in flashbacks the same way Alison is her sister.

But I feel like people forget that their relationship is actually fairly new? She outright says in the first series that she does not like him and that he's only got worse since Alison arrived. It's not until S3 they start to warm to each other and what makes it work so beautifully is how it coincides with Cap becoming more true to his (fabulous) self, rather than trying to be the bossy soldier. Basically he fits the mould of her real father, both good and bad, but the more he subconsciously reminds her of how cold and strict her father could be, rather than his sweeter moments, the less she wants to be around him. When he starts to let his real self show and become more the man she wishes her dad had been is when that bond starts to form. That's what I find interesting about them.

However the suggestion that Cap is the only one to care for her or even the one who cares the most I feel does a real disservice to the other ghosts. They all absolutely adore her in their own way.

Her friendship with Mary was adorable and I love how protective Mary was of her even before Kitty died, insulting her father for ruining her fun, then standing up for her when she stood up for Cap, them gushing over things together like the rice krispies and the snow globe, making up their inventory song, Mary comforting Kitty at the party and putting her to bed. How heartbroken Kitty was at losing her and desperate to believe she would come back.

Every scene she and Pat have together, him being her dance partner but also him being the one to take on trying to explain death to her and doing as a parent would, how he probably did the first time Daley had to deal with death, it's just so relatable how he didn't want to be harsh but needing to be honest.

Julian calling her a "dear, sweet thing", him being the only one to attempt to explain to her how baby's are made (graphic and disturbing as it was), how he's ready to tell her the truth about Santa but as soon as he's sees the look on her face it's enough to melt his Tory heart is the peak Christmassy scene of that episode for me.

Thomas hugging her at the panto (one of only two hugs we get in this show!) and being so grateful for having her as his manager, how gentle he is when he asks to inspect her hands for the spider bite.

Robin knowing her pregnancy shtick is nonsense but going along with it like a brother being roped into his kid sister's make believe, rubbing her feet for her and sitting with her most of the day, him leaving a party that he loves to take moment to encourage her to cry her feelings out and then helping Mary put her to bed, how she only has to call his name and he's jumping in to scare off the plaguers.

Everything with her and Humphey! How she's the one who is the most concerned about where he is and making sure he's in one piece so he's not left behind, these two have the most adorable Uncle and Niece vibes.

Fanny is the only one I feel the show let slide on having her bond with, I think the most progression they have is Fanny praising Kitty's speaking in S4. Kinda miffed about this one because without Mary and with Alison gone, they're the only girls left and it would have been nice if they'd developed a mother-daughter bond.

Last but not least her and Alison! Their relationship is so important to S3 and how it contrasts to Alison's storyline with Lucy. Even though Lucy turns out to be a fake, it's still a good show of the importance of found family as much as blood family, how Kitty is jealous at first but then becomes the catalyst for figuring out who Lucy really is and protecting Alison from being scammed. It's such an important arc for her character that gets sadly forgotten, how she's not smug with joy that Lucy is gone at the end but just expresses sympathy for Alison losing the sister she never had. "You're the sister I never had" was the line that I first choked up at in this show. Also props to Kitty for literally annoying someone into being a true. best friend, she gives the rest of us losers hope!

Overall just how lucky Kitty is at the end of the day, that yes she had this privileged but ultimately toxic upbringing and died very young - but now she's surrounded by these people who absolutely adore her and might not always cope with it the right way but they just want to protect her because she is so sweet and endearing. If I could add any scene to the finale I feel like Alison should have got to have one talk with Kitty where she assures her that yeah they'll be apart but she's always at the end of the phone and will visit often, but also assuring her that she still has SEVEN people who love her to bits which is more than a lot of us get.

[dreamnants-mis]

An attempt of a character analysis on Andy and Victor which I'll probably miss some details on because I write like a fifth grader essay. (So feel free to tell me things that I probably missed).

Because it's very relevant since Victor appeared in the anime recently and we may be getting the Autumn arc this season.

Spoilers for up to Chapter 134! Proceed with caution!

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Andy and Victor are actually similar despite how Victor in his introduction appears very different from Andy, since it turns out Andy himself is Victor's alter ego created from Undead attempting to get around Remember sealing Victor's consciousness away. In particular, Victor comments that Andy reminds him of himself in the past, so I imagine Andy was influenced by Victor in some ways.

The similarity in particular being both are nihilistic and disconnected from their humanity, even though they express this in very different ways. But I like to think what they also share is both are afraid to openly care for others because of the fear of being hurt since as Undead, they will survive while everyone around them dies.

The latter point comes from a realization Andy has post-Spring battle; Fuuko's battle with Spring proves she can kill beings that aren't human and what might be preventing Fuuko from killing him with Unluck is because it's him who's afraid to love her back the same, leading to him declaring it's his turn to fall in love with her, which could be interpreted as Andy wanting to be someone able to accept and return Fuuko's feelings.

Interestingly, he already technically confessed to her, but he tried to play it off when pressed about it since Fuuko didn't hear it.

Here, Andy clearly seems to pause registering Fuuko noticed he was saying he loved her and then immediately tries to lie to her, which she knows he's lying about. Episode 9 also add a similar moment where he talks to Fuuko about the Longing teacher and the kids and he gets surprisingly introspective on the topic before almost rather abruptly asking Fuuko if that charmed her.

Regardless, it does highlight that Andy is secretly afraid of being emotionally vulnerable and that manifests in his outward actions/words not fully reflecting what he actually thinks.

But where Andy begins to diverge from Victor is being able to believe in others from Fuuko's influence and trying to overcome that fear of being able to care for others openly.

His fight with Billy highlights his gained ability to believe in others. Besides Fuuko, he trusted that the other Union members can handle Under while he tries to retrieve Fuuko from under and this conversation in particular highlights this:

He agrees with Billy that only the strong should face God, but then tells him that together, the Union is strong.

Which is powerful considering we know Andy started the series just as nihilistic and detached as Victor.

In fact, in the context of the scene while these two were fighting, Fuuko was climbing Tokyo Tower and reached Spring in the time for the two to end up in a stalemate.

In particular, Andy's interactions with Lucy are incredibly significant in helping Andy come to understanding himself.

When they're trapped in Seal, Lucy tells him the secret to astral projection is dreaming of something you want, which for her is being able to play with others that her ability made her unable to do. Andy at first states he's already achieved just about everything in his years of living. At least, until Lucy stating that "[he's] got everything" because he can't die makes Andy start to think. And here, we see what might truly be "the greatest death ever" for Andy is actually being able to die of old age after living a fulfilling life, something that Andy had given up on since Undead makes that impossible to achieve.

Of course, he acts surprisingly shy and even tells Lucy to not laugh at him for said dream. And yet, I think that's important to think about because it does show Andy has become more conscious about his feelings and what he actually wants.

But then we get to Victor and find even after 455 billion years, he's never quite been able to describe what exactly Juiz gives him until she's gone, and only then he understands why people keep fighting to protect the warmth others have given them. Victor became someone too afraid to love deeply or consciously because he would always survive and anyone around him would not. Even for Juiz, she was still mortal and could still die in battle, and that over the course of countless loops made Victor afraid to consciously acknowledge what exactly she meant to him, even though she had been the reason he hadn't completely lost his mind having to watch the world get destroyed and reformed 100 times.

In the flashbacks, we also see Victor was rather cynical of the idea of allies, at one point getting into an argument with Juiz after one version of the Spoil quest resulted in most of the Roundtable being wiped out, claiming it was the allies that added to Juiz's burden and nearly got her killed. I think that likely contributed to Victor focusing more and more on individual strength, though it's clear even he can't do much alone against God.

Maybe that's also shown in how Victor is only able to draw power from Rebellion after understanding what Juiz had given him because he's now about to consciously recognize his feelings as they truly were. Before, Victor couldn't really use Rebellion outside of negating the life draining aspects of it because he was too detached from his feelings to power the Artifact or understood the strength and feelings needed to use it. And only after losing the person that mattered to him could finally use it to protect the beacon of hope Juiz had named her successor. But of course, he understands them too late to protect the person he wanted to protect the most.

I think this also shows in their names. As I mentioned in my previous mini-essay on the significance of Andy's name, Andy started out as a nickname Fuuko gave him but it became his name overtime. While Fuuko got the name from the Japanese pronunciation of "Undead" in-universe, the name is actually pretty fitting for Andy in a likely unintentional way since it can be a diminutive of the name "Andreas", which means 'man' aka "human".

As it turned out, it's being human that may very well allow for Fuuko to succeed where Juiz was unable to accomplish and where Andy becomes someone potentially stronger than Victor.

Victor's name meanwhile can translate to "conqueror" and he's called a "God of Victory", someone not quite human. That's also interesting to pay attention to considering he insists to Shen that he's not a god, but a human. Which in some ways could feel hollow since Victor likely is trying to remind himself he is human despite feeling disconnected from it.

Though as we learn from observing Juiz in the beginning of the story, Juiz probably didn't need physical strength but rather heart since that was probably what was missing that kept her from ever succeeding (well, on top of the fact the Gods were clearly screwing her over from the beginning since the one item they needed to kill God would only appear in the last loop).

I think Victor's real tragedy is he became a god of war to protect Juiz, the person he loved, but what he actually needed to protect Juiz from was from herself by being a human and reminding her she is still human. But in becoming stronger and becoming nihilistic, he became someone unable to do that.

[deathsbestgirl]

so i made a little post once about mulder's & scully's empathy (/compassion). i focused more on scully's because hers is quiet, it's not as obvious as mulder's. it's more contained, in my opinion. and i've just been thinking about about it because of that mulder + compassion post and it's something i love about him.

because sometimes it goes beyond sense. he can extend it to the worst of humanity, because he desperately wants people to be good, to give them the opportunity to do better. one small chance to redeem themselves and prove that humanity at its core is good, that even people who do bad things think they're doing it for good. i think this is why he can't kill csm or krycek. (wondering what this has to do with his father?) and it's a crazy dichotomy, because he will kill to protect. he regrets not pulling the trigger on john barnett before he was able to kill another agent, leaving a family without a father & husband. to when he slits that man's throat to save scully. to the way he feels at the end of pusher or squeeze, or the events of pine bluff variant.

his empathy & compassion are so elevated, but there are instances where he doesn't feel it or maybe can't accept it because the evil (to him) surpasses it. i don't know if this is the best way to word it, or that i'm really getting my point across here. i love the complexity of fox mulder so much, the layers to his character, and sometimes the contradictions like any person has. and this is a big part of it for me. as kae says, he's always holding out his hand to the world, to people who have hurt him before because that's who he is. he is so trusting, as much as he talks about "trust no one," it's a core tenant of his character, to trust freely and openly.

sometimes he contorts himself, refuses to make connections he normally might because he wants to believe, he doesn't want it to be true. he doesn't want to be crushed again. i think there's this idea (hope) that you can't hurt people so intentionally if you know them, care about them, love them. but he also knows that isn't true. that often we are most cruel to people we love, and there are things (guilt, compassion) people can't accept in themselves, that make them act out against specific people who carry those same things. and sometimes, it's easier to blame the scapegoat than face yourself or the people you've hurt (abused) with honesty.

i thought i would go into specifics, but i think there are examples in nearly every episode. we see it in the pilot with scully, and we learn everything he does on the x files is for "the truth" aka love. it starts with samantha, but it quickly extends to every person he meets.

on the mulder compassion scenes post i said:

i love that he especially does this for kids and anyone "other" — but also just adults who've been through something. no matter how awful they are, he extends kindness & compassion. i think his brand of kindness & compassion is rare to extend to adults.

any decent person would treat kids the way he does, but it's a skill. one he has honed beautifully because of his empathy & love. we see it in conduit, eve, born again, etc. a few of my favorite. trying to tell kevin the truth, that ruby probably isn't coming back because no one ever took the time to tell mulder that after samantha. in born again, he makes michelle laugh after the horrible things she saw. in paper hearts and sein und zeit, he needs to help those little kids & their families. they deserve the truth & closure, whatever they can be given.

but i think the way he extends it to adults is something really, really special. in oubilette, he extends it to lucy despite her history with drugs & as a victim most people write off. he believes in her. that she's alive is enough. he tells her how she matters, that she can help someone. he knows she isn't guilty of anything but a connection to a little girl suffering the exact same way she did. when they find the kidnapped girl, drowning in the river, he gives her cpr and won't stop despite scully begging him to give up. he can't, he won't. he wasn't going to let this girl die, he would exhaust himself first, never letting that thought enter his mind. and after, he cries over lucy's body. he didn't really know her, but to him, knowing her at all, for such a short time, was a gift. and she did it. she saved that little girl. and he failed her.

in mind's eye, he connects with marty. the local pd are convinced she's guilty despite the ways it doesn't make sense. he urges her to tell him the truth, to help them get the real killer. that what she sees matters. it isn't about her disability at all. i don't think he pitied her for it, if anything, i think he valued it and what she could "see" that others couldn't. once again, he believed marty could make a difference. her disdain & standoffishness didn't put him off in the slightest. it only intrigues him more. he always wants to understand people. he always believes in them, even when they don't believe in themselves. and that is such a powerful thing. there's also something to the way he respects their choices. it isn't what he wanted for marty, or lucy, but it was their choice. even if marty killed her murderer biological father and lucy died. (if mulder kept in touch with anyone from any of their cases, i think it would be marty. not fucking rapist pmp guy.)

and then there's the "other" category (which you could say lucy & marty fit into also) but when i say that, i really think of roland & harold. in roland, he helps him pick out a shirt. he notices he's good with numbers, even if he isn't a genius mathematician. he tells roland about his bad dreams, and that bad dreams don't mean he is bad — a fear roland didn't voice, but mulder understood from his reactions. and harold, mulder saw the way he cared about the women that were killed. he also liked numbers, but harold specifically liked bowling. he remembered people's scores and he would recite them when he was anxious. mulder picks up on all of this. he sees everything.

mulder cares. just because they're people and they matter. it doesn't matter what they've done, or haven't done. he values them just for existing, and living. he always sees someone's potential. sometimes to his detriment (krycek, csm, diana). but mostly, it's a strength. and just because some people abuse that doesn't make it a character flaw. (and this is what i love about scully: she views this as a strength and something to protect. she can take comfort in her science & facts & pragmatism, and she can support him. i genuinely think she feels it similarly to him, but she does not show it as freely, for a lot of reasons. this is a way she empathizes with mulder.)

there's so so many more. these are just my favorites, besides the way he shows it with scully. how much i love this aspect of mulder is why i posed that question. there are so many, big & small, through the entire series. it's one of the most compelling parts of his character.

[mswyrr]

^^ Well said. I delayed reading it because I didn't want to engage with it for a while - and, once I did, even though Collins had earned so much trust from me with her handling of Katniss and Peeta's disabilities, I was still wary. So I actually highlighted every instance where she wasn't writing him according to ableist tropes.

Yes, at 18 he's been shaped by Capitol indoctrination at school and in his family and in the media. He sees with those lenses. They come easily and automatically to him. But he also connects with people as people and realizes - oh, the District kids are just kids?? And they're being starved and hurt? I know what it's like to go hungry... This is wrong. Why should Lucy Gray have to sing just to get food? I'll get her some, even though I don't have enough.

Over and over - but if you stand up for the wrong people, you will be punished. He tries it; he protects Lucy Gray. And then he pays the price and -- somewhere along the way, he doesn't want to pay anymore. He wants to protect his family and be a winner. And you can't be a winner--comfortable and safe and in control--and stand with someone your society has designated to lose. So he chooses.

It's heartbreaking - and it is, sadly, terrifyingly, the kind of choices the majority of people make - his 18-year-old choices, that is. That moment in his life is the perfect one to write about, because it turns the eye of the story on how young people are shaped - but also, at that young stage, he's closer to the common ordinary people in any corrupt society. He's just trying to survive. It's later that his urge to win motivates him to get worse and worse and worse - no longer wanting to protect his family, in fact tossing Tigris aside, *only* wanting to win. Taking pleasure in driving people into the ground.

It takes decades of choices for him to become that person, though. And it is a creation he makes of himself. The younger person is closer to most people though.

For example, I live in a democracy, thankfully. And yet it is so much driven by what Langston Hughes called "the same old stupid plan / Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak." When I walk into work and I see the cops clearing unhoused people from the only homes and safety they have--a process that we know from studies shortens peoples' lives, hurts them emotionally and physically for no gd reason, just cruelty, just greed--living in an encampment near my work - I don't do anything. I'm afraid to. Sure, I try to donate to people who help and write letters and vote... but I don't resist directly. I'd be punished. So there's a little bit of that 18-year-old kid early in the book who knows right and wrong and yet just wants to be safe in me. And I have to wrestle with it. Because I don't want to ever forget that it's a wrestling match. That's when the perverse incentive structure starts to consume you IMO. And most of us live in societies with perverse incentive structures of some kind. Some lure that is offered to us, of feeling better than, of exploiting others, and some threats of punishment too.

To my mind, it's a good story that can make me think of feeling a pang of shame and sadness and then looking away as the cops clear people and remembering that it's a struggle, that I am not simply on the side of angels, that my society is structured around cruelty and greed and it doesn't have to be. It shouldn't be.

re: the use of trauma. I'm interested to see what Viola Davis does with the role and how Dr Gaul is adjusted in the film script - honestly, her apparent flatness was one of the things in the book I thought could be better? And in film reviews I'm reading it seems like they strengthened her. We'll see. I think she's so good at leaning into why all of this is justified because she truly believes it. And she's looking for future leaders who can truly believe it too. And, as much as she and Highbottom apply pressures to shape this youth--including that hilarious imo scene where Coriolanus naively says "people love children"--by the end Coriolanus is writing her letters and offering himself as someone who will fit that shape in order to get the rewards it offers. There's a subtle shift as that happens that is quite nuanced. And, again, focusing on his youth is so powerful because he's a being in formation, a person being created and creating himself as an adult.

There's a *reason* why Collins opens the book with this quote:

“I thought of the promise of virtues which he had displayed on the opening of his existence, and the subsequent blight of all kindly feeling by the loathing and scorn which his protectors had manifested towards him.” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818

Though, again, the major shift of Part 3 for me is that he begins to take an active part in forming himself and he is fashioning himself to be a winner, to fit what he believes Dr Gaul and the authorities at the military school want, hoping and fearing that he won't be able to do it so well and desperately happy when the chance at rewards for doing so is still open to him. IMO Part 3 and the Epilogue aren't the end of his journey, they're the death of other possibilities and the birth of who he's choosing to become. And even he can't fully imagine where that will go as the decades pass and the choices mount up.

That is not the kind of quote you use to begin a story about someone who was born evil to begin with. The book takes 528 pages even though it's only about a few months in one 18-year-old's life precisely because it's a carefully drawn and teased out character journey, a corruption arc. As reviewer David Ehrlich put it in his review of the movie:

is Coriolanus embracing his nature or defiling it?

It's supposed to be a question, not a foregone conclusion. And I think the weight of the text itself leans in favor of "defiling" as the answer. Though it can be interpreted multiple ways (as it should be). I think the movie only lines we have from Lucy Gray in the trailer hold true: "there’s a natural goodness born into us all.” But, in one way or another, it doesn’t just stay that way, it’s a struggle. “It’s our life’s work to stay on the right side of that line [between good and evil].”

It’s a little on the nose with the themes, but I’m cool with them having her be so clear about it since apparently it’s not clear in the book I guess????