#i might also take this plotline and twist it a bit so that it can fit a shiny new oc

[agentplutonium]

Hear me out—Redacted Supernatural(-ish) AU [Milo/Sweetheart Edition]

Listen listen i’m trying to finish supernatural (for the like tenth time over the last five years) and this idea would not leave me alone. Hear me out:

Sweetheart, who comes from a line of hunters, mother died when they were young, father taught them the ropes until he went missing. Milo, who is the son of a hunter, but he was raised normally. his dad died as well. Sweetheart is on a vendetta to get their dad back. He wasn’t always the best to them, but he’s all they got. they’re in town hunting something else, and decide to stop at Milo’s dad’s place to ask for help. they’re met with a woefully ignorant Milo and his aging mother. Marie explains what happened, which also reveals the truth to Milo. Milo doesn’t believe it at first, he throws the equivalent of a temper tantrum, which is understandable. He storms off, much to Sweetheart’s chagrin because it wasn’t safe out there. Marie tips them off that when Milo gets upset he usually ends up at the old park. They go out looking for him, worried that the thing they were hunting was going to beat them to it. They find him where his mother said he would be. They were relieved for about three seconds. the spirit got ahold of Milo. Sweetheart’s instincts kick in, and with Milo being a distraction they finally got the upper hand. When the thing was finally dealt with, they were able to tend to Milo, who got a few nasty gashes and was reasonably spooked, but was overall fine. the spirit got ahold of Milo. Sweetheart’s instincts kick in, and with Milo being a distraction they finally got the upper hand. When the thing was finally dealt with, they were able to tend to Milo, who got a few nasty gashes and was reasonably spooked, but was overall fine. He gets patched up, things get explained in broad strokes, they go back to his place, the events get explained to his mom. Sweetheart is urged to rest for a bit, stay the night, but they refuse. When they were getting ready to leave Milo stopped them. He wants to go with. He lost his dad young, didn’t really know the guy, and he could tell that this meant a lot to them. He wasn’t taking no for an answer, even after Sweetheart pointed out he’d be dead weight knowing nothing ab what they do. He promised he could learn. Marie wasn’t thrilled, but she knew it was inevitable. She made Sweetheart promise that they’d look after Milo if he went. Sweetheart still wasn’t convinced, and Milo basically had to strong arm his way into their car. They finally stopped fighting, figured he’d probably get scared off after a few hunts. They’d bring him back, leave him to live out his life, just a bit more aware of the nightmares. They’d be rid of him soon enough, they just had to wait. This doesn’t happen. No matter what, Milo still sticks by them. Sweetheart had given Milo information as they went, letting him look through their dad’s journal when they were staying in motels. They’d answer the questions, the inquiries, the what if situations. The two get closer over the months. Sweetheart is afraid they’re catching real feelings for this guy. They couldn’t love in a profession like theirs, not really. It was too dangerous. It’s why their dad never let them get too attached. But, something about Milo was… different. of course this story goes on, they fall in love, learn how to keep loving each other, trials and tribulations and near death experiences, the two find Sweetheart’s dad, he goes off on his own, Milo and Sweetheart probably keep hunting together but this time unabashedly in love, blah blah.

thats… that’s all i have. BUT i do really like this, i’m keeping it close to my heart.

[jonsimstwitchyeyeballs]

TMA AU where everything is exactly the same except that Gertrude was Jon's legal guardian when he was a kid

I'm all for the somewhat disinterested unnamed grandma that let him occupy space and didn't show him affection plotline but hear me out:

What if that had been Gertrude?

You can come up with many a reason why she ended up having him under custody (I don't want to say they're necessarily blood family in this AU) and the story would pretty much play out the same way.

She would also be distant and frankly not immediately concerned with raising a child because she's way too busy stopping rituals and making fear avatars fear her, so she sort of leaves him unsupervised most of the time. He has no idea what her job even is, he just knows she prefers to work in secret instead of taking care of him and still is salty about that later on.

He doesn't find out Gertrude's been working for the Institute until he goes to work there himself and it's painfully clear he knows less about her than everyone else there-which is frustrating because he's learning things about her second hand, that's how avoidant she had been with him.

Obviously he resents her for it, so throughout Season 1 his comments about her incompetence are more targeted and personal, though not too personal since the only thing he knows about her is that she didn't care about his upbringing.

As the show progresses and he finds out who she really was it's pretty clear that in a twisted way she was trying to protect him from harm, keeping up an extremely typical relationship so that she doesn't get attached and he doesn't get used against her. She can't afford to be vulnerable for anyone, nor can she have anyone knowing he lives with her.

Of course, some people would find out and she'd make sure they'd never hear the end of it. Though, unfortunately she could not predict the bad luck via which a Leitner ended up in Jon's hands.

In the end, the arc about Jon discovering more about his predecessor and her deeds is largely the same, but it also has that extra vector of personal involvement, as he begins to rationalize her actions towards him too, but maybe not entirely forgiving. It's obvious that between the fate of the world and a child she would choose the former, but a part of him wishes she had told him more about her life and he didn't have to meet the real her post-mortem.

You can add a lot of angsty bits with the concept, like Jon wanting to get through all of Gertrude's tapes to see if he's even mentioned once, only to find out that he never is, or him meeting people who knew Gertrude but had no idea he even existed in relation to her and clearly describing her personality better than he ever could. Oh and of course the tragic irony that since she never told him about the Institute, he couldn't have known it was a bad place and ended up there anyway. I'm particularly fond of this idea because I still want to emphasize that Jon is still just a random guy at the end of the day and didn't end up where he did because of his relation to someone else.

It also serves the theme of human connections, making you wonder that if they had communicated and bonded, would everything play out the same way?

As a conclusion, I'd just like to say that this is by no means a correction of the original story, I like Gertrude being a completely mythical and mysterious figure just as much, I just wanted to share a different take (might make part 2 for more details/headcanons).

[what-gs-watching]

“There is only room for one God in this lab and it's not yours."

Welp, my city has decided that it forgot how weather works, and we’re snowed in and there’s a frozen pipe in my goddamn basement and I finished an interview loop for a company last week so I’m just sitting here trapped in my house and waiting desperately for any news on if they might hire me and it’s not going amazing SO, 

It’s time for a FRINGE BINGE. 

I saw a post a week or two ago that Fringe might be leaving Max at the end of the month, and I couldn’t let it go without a rewatch. It’s one of the reasons I started playing “What G’s Watching” with my husband - he’d seen it when it first came out and I thought maybe he’d remember some of it and could understand my rambling, because you need some kind of background to truly grasp what the eff is happening in Fringe. He didn’t. But that didn’t stop me from becoming completely obsessed. 

Even when I’m not rewatching, sometimes I’ll yell “PREVIOUSLY ON FRINGE” when the show I’m actually enjoying does a recap. I don’t know why it’s stuck in my brain, but it doesn’t matter, I love it.

Here’s the thing about Fringe: it’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s like X-Files on acid (or Walter’s Brown Bettty?). The science is ridiculous and honestly it’s difficult to follow the lore sometimes, especially the first time through it. But it’s weirdly captivating and it tugs at your heart strings, which doesn’t make any sense.

Basically, FBI agent Olivia Dunham gets sucked into a special division that investigates weird occurrences that seem to have to do with ‘fringe science’, and she ends up enlisting Peter Bishop and his genius scientist father, Walter Bishop (who’d spent almost twenty years in a mental institution) to help her get to the bottom of what the eff is going on.

AND THEN THINGS GET CRAZY. 

They pump so much backstory into this show. There’s monsters of the week, sure, but every single character has a whole damn room full of skeletons and it was so much fun trying to puzzle all of that shit out the first time. In my rewatch so far, I’m picking up a ton of little random clues and I’m loving it. It’s clear that J. J. Abrams had some IDEAS. 

Also, I’ve never watched Lost, (and I never will, I put my foot down on that)  but I can confidently say this is the better J. J. Abrams show. The ending doesn’t make you ridiculously angry you watched the whole thing. So there’s that. 

Honestly, there’s too much I love about this show. The whole alternate universe plotline for one, which creates some of my favorite moments. But it’s mainly about Peter and Walter. At its core, this stupid show is about their father son relationship, and how far people are willing to go  to protect their family. Which is weird, but also perfect. 

Before the mental institution, Walter was a little bit of a sociopath, pursuing scientific enhancements, consequences be damned. He was a shit person. He ran tests on children, he fucked with the fabric of the universe. No fucks given, that man. But the Walter we get for most of the show is just…oddly charming. Quirky in his brilliance, instead of calculating. And it’s FUNNY and endearing. 

Olivia brings in another agent to help corral Walter in his resurrected lab beneath Harvard, Astrid, and he spends most of the series calling her anything but. “Astro”, “Astrix”, etc. It’s not malicious, he just can’t hold the information, as much as he appreciates the work she does with him. Like, how does that turn out to just be kind of cute? 

Some of my favorite made-up words are from Walter.  “Vagenda”, for one. Which is ‘vagina agenda’ obviously. As in, “Peter fell for her vagenda”, which had me rolling. Even if it came about during a storyline that made me absolutely FURIOUS, but in the best of ways. (There was a lot of time wherein I was yelling at my husband about how much I hated “Fauxlivia” and her vagenda, but honestly I don’t want to spoil it because the twists and turns this show takes are so wonderful, they should be experienced with absolutely no background.)

The whole thing with Walter is that he’s atoning for the sins of his past, even if he doesn’t really realize it at first, and it’s just, really comforting. His entire arc is compelling and satisfying, even if it leaves you a crying mess. 

Also, Peter Bishop is forever my perfect New England boyfriend. At first I’m not sure who they wanted him to be exactly, but eventually he smoothed out into just an earnest, genius, gorgeous man trying to do the right thing and get past all of the hurt Walter caused him. They put him in devastatingly handsome peacoats and he saves the day and he’s sweet to Olivia and I just spend most of the time swooning. That smile, gang.

Is it because I fell in love with Pacey Witter as a young girl during Dawson’s Creek’s heyday? 98% yes. I will always love Joshua Jackson and Pacey was done dirty for a while. And come to think of it, Peter was too. It’s his thing, apparently. 

I do  realize Olivia is supposed to be the main character probably, but she gets me to my two favorite guys so I guess she’s fine. Anna Torv is wonderful, she plays Dunham really well (which I imagine was grueling given some of the storylines) but the Bishops are the stars of the show. I just want to squeeze both of them.

The crazy thing is there are some episodes that will destroy you emotionally. The white tulip? Jesus. That one just came up in my rewatch, and it was still a punch in the face the second time. There’s one where Walter gets lost in Chinatown, I had to literally mute it because it’s gut wrenching. Even with the silliness and the science that makes you roll your eyes, they make you look at things you don’t want to, and it can hurt. I love/hate that so much. 

And look, I understand that the moral of the show is that science and technology can be dangerous and we shouldn’t let it get away from us because it could eventually cause the downfall of everything, but that’s not what I’m here for. I’m always here for the relationships. And the ridiculous ways we can get people to die. And the outlandish scifi. If you wanna remind me of things that I don’t want to think about in between that, I guess it’s okay, because it makes no sense, but when I think of Fringe, it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy. It’s not a warm and fuzzy show, but it is for me. 

I started watching it because it was a complete series that had a purposeful ending and I needed something, but it turned into a lot more than that. I’m jealous of people who can see it for the first time. It’s just so…special. In weird and wonderful ways. There will never be another character quite like Walter Bishop. Or a truly realized tv universe as outlandish. They swung for the fences, and it really landed; vagenda, the observers, Walternate, and all. 

Let Walter charm the shit out of you, you won’t be disappointed.

[copperbadge]

Some Discourse On Fictional Chefs

I collected up all the discussion of Simon’s potential love interest in the Shivadhverse (and one about Twelve Points) and threw it in a post :D 

katestamps

If it is realistic at all, I’d love to be able to hand 12 Points to my musician daughter when she gets home from college around the 18th of May. That’s also the week after Eurovision. No pressure, I’m just excited for her to read it!

For a second I was like “If the book is realistic? Well, it kinda is, I’m working on that now” and then I realized you meant datewise :D I hope it is -- the book’s in final edits but a few of them are taking some time. I have to finish the edits, typeset, design the cover, upload, order proofs, approve the proofs, and then the thing can go out, which is not NOT doable by May, but it’s slightly iffy only because my April is super hectic. But most of the delay is usually in ordering the proofs (they take longer than they used to, to print and ship) so if I can get shit done BEFORE the hectic, we should be good. 

And now on to the chefs. I was a little amused, admittedly, because I didn’t vocalize clearly what I was asking about when I asked what people would like to see -- I was thinking more in terms of gender, sexuality, disability, race, etc. but I didn’t specify that, so instead I mostly got fascinating ideas for backstories and character aspects. Which is so fandom! I love it, I’m not mad or dismayed, it’s just also really funny. :D 

dignitywhatdignity

Are you thinking someone from Eddie's TV Chef circles, or more along Simon's own, more classical background?

spaci1701

A protégé of Eddie's who has taken over his show comes to do a special on the Country that Stole Our Star and had gotten a little big for his britches?

1968bullittmustang

It's probably too close to Eddie's character, but... What about one of those chef's that travel the world cooking the most awful (or best) local dishes with home chef's. Or maybe just a National Geographic photographer in country to do a piece on the 'One Highland' 😁

I’d like them to be a native Shivadh, only because most of the books to date have involved either total foreigners or expats returning, and both Royals/Ramblers and the football novel will as well. I’m hoping for someone who has moved to Fons-Askaz from the rural backcountry, but the idea is that Simon comes into conflict with someone who has a much less “fancy food from a classical background” style -- part of the conflict comes from each of them initially assuming the other has the inferior way of cooking. So -- more on Eddie’s line BUT not one of Eddie’s folks, because whoever this person is, they’re relatively local. 

Mind you, I do like the National Geographic angle. And I do kind of like the idea that someone else took over Truly Tasty. Eddie said that might happen. And that’s something I’d need to work into Royals/Ramblers so hmmm, making a note. 

dignitywhatdignity

(Or you could steal from the foodieverse! A classically trained hipster with a Michelin-starred food truck! A chain pizza scion with a flair for molecular gastronomy!)

Actually nicking some from the Foodieverse might be helpful -- maybe taking and twisting around Steve’s plotline from that universe a bit, though that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a Hot Male Hipster. But perhaps someone who trained classically and then decided it was all bullshit. 

spinningprincess

It's in my brain because it's what I'm writing, but I bet someone who's a little bit New Agey and leans hard into the symbolism of EVERY dish, whether from a "traditional foods of XYZ culture" standpoint or a "historically used for $magickal effect" standpoint, and like, talks about the energy of the kitchen, would be a great and interesting counterpoint to Simon's lack of that. And it's such a GOOD romance trope. (to be clear, I'm writing two different stories right now where no one ever cooks a food because they're hungry and want to eat A Food, it's all "well, basil is good prosperity magic, but cabbage is good prosperity magic and also the traditional food of my people, and...")

On the whole it’s an idea I like, but I’m not sure it’s fitted to this particular plot -- might be something to revisit with another character at some point, though. 

I’m discovering just how difficult it is to write hippie/new-age characters with Royals/Ramblers in part because so much of that mythology eventually traipses around towards anti-Semitism. Not necessarily food symbolism, and not ALL new age stuff is that way, but it really is a razor-fine line at times. 

knottahooker

My first thought was that terrifying lady chef from Ratatouille, she was fantastic. Someone with her personality, maybe? Cactus with a heart of gold who will absolutely stab you anyway.

My instinct is along those lines, at the least someone who is a trifle confrontational, but I feel like so much of it depends on other aspects of who they are, which is what I’m struggling to pin down. 

robinade

it would be funny if Simon's "nemesis" was, like, lactose intolerant or something so they have objections to French cuisine (so heavy on cheese and butter) but Simon doesn't know this at first and is mortally offended

musegaarid

What if Simon falls for a bodybuilder or a ballerina or someone on a really restrictive diet? If they were older and getting ready to retire, he could reintroduce them to good food.

I like both of these -- I think there’s particularly something to the idea of an athlete who has eaten a restricted diet, since that’s something that can alter more easily than allergies. But to make the story work they really do need to be a fellow chef. Which, there’s no reason they couldn’t have dietary restrictions AND be a chef, but I’m not sure I’d do either side of them justice that way. 

katestamps

Ooh, I just had the thought of Simon’s nemesis as a French chef which was actually an espionage cover. Think Julia Child, Cold War edition. (I also think of Simon as 5-10 years older than Michaelis which may or may not be accurate.)

Man, there is something to the idea of a spy. I’d say from Galia, but I don’t think Ofelia either wants or needs someone to spy on Fons-Askaz for her, she could just like, ask Alanna if she needs to know something :D Might turn this over in my head a bit, although it would again mean someone coming from outside the country. 

Simon is actually a trifle younger than Michaelis -- Michaelis was around 34, 35 when he hired him, and Simon and Hugo were both in their twenties. It still puts him in his fifties -- I do enjoy writing romances for older people, especially because there is something of a dearth of romance novels specifically featuring older men (they do exist but you run face-first into the “daddy” trope a lot, and “older man” in romance-speak often clocks in at “definitely under fifty”). Older women as the POV character are more common, I would imagine because older women are a huge target audience for romances. 

annechen-melo

Thinking about the love interest for Simon, someone who Absolutely Does Not Have A Media Presence beyond their cookbooks, and there is a Very Good Reason for that. That reason may be anything from an acerbic personality whenever someone points a camera in their direction to being just not good at Peopleing. Hmm. How international is the idea of Witness Protection Makeovers?

They could also just be crap at social media -- I’ve come to realize that every social platform EXCEPT tumblr is basically incompatible with my brain, and even the ones marginally compatible like Reddit, I just don’t find a ton of value in them a lot of the time. Which would be a nice foil to Simon starting up a recipe blog at the same time. 

strix-alba

I wish for Simon's love interest to be a salt-and-pepper-haired butch woman *shakes the genie's lamp*

There’s definitely a salt-and-pepper butch woman coming into the Shivadhverse at some point. :D I had her set for a later book, and not sure that’d be right for Simon, but I’m not ruling it out -- a fairly mouthy, fairly masc woman about Simon’s age is one of the strong potential characters I’m considering. 

Anonymous asked:

Shivadhverse: Concerning Simon’s love interest: would you consider someone like Catherine Bordey, owner of La Kaz,  from “Death in Paradise”? Or possibly even a French POC like her daughter? I’d really love 💕 to see a character who is both French and a POC. 😊

I’ve seen an episode or two of Death in Paradise but I don’t think I’ve encountered those two characters! I’ll have to see if my folks can educate me on them, they love that show. I am trying to figure out how to work more racial diversity into the books, so that’s a thought. Not necessarily French, but French-Shivadh; they do share a border. 

Anonymous asked:

maybe not a fit but I'll try anyway. what i'd like in a chef character is someone who tried something, really got into it, then backed out of it so hard. like the foraging culture, which could net you a research hole into local greens. what if they believe it's now too polluted to forage safely? and yet they have an encyclopedic knowledge of the seasons and life cycles of sidewalk dandelions. tl;dr cursed knowledge

As an aspect of the character that could work, although it gets difficult because like...the deeper someone is in something, the more I have to learn in order to put it out there :D I was looking at something along those lines, or at least something similar that might make them a bit brusque. Lots to mull on overall, anyhow. 

[anasui-at-disneyland]

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: Expectations and Outcome

This post serves a bit as an analysis of how Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was marketed and how it might had impacted on the perception of the movie.

Since I recently watched the movie again, and suprisingly taking away all the hype I built up for my first watch, I actually enjoyed it way more than the first time, since I could watch it purely for what it was, rather than for what I thought so hard it was going to be.

(A lot of this points are taken from my point of view, so it may varies to the reader).

I feel that the trailers for this movie are a complete black and white situation for the movie experience, since you have people who had never heard of this movie before and came to know it once it premiered OR people who saw the trailers and pretty much caught on the whole plotline from them (more on that later), at the end of the day, it blows that Dreamworks really lacked marketing the movie, since it feels that the only people who knew about it was the people who actively kept it on their radar.

As for the trailers, once I saw the first trailer, I immediately remembered the trailers for another Dreamworks movie with a similar concept on paper, and that would be Megamind...

Megamind:

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken:

Take a look to both movies side-by-side, and there´s some things you can pick up:

Both focus on a blue main character which is a bit of an outcast and who´s obviously non-human.

Their rival is a good-looking egocentric charismatic guy/gal who everyone seems to love (Chelsea´s speech is pretty much a tribute to Metroman´s).

Both trailers imply a fight between both sides by the end.

Taking all of these into account, I thought: "Oh, so they´re using Megamind´s formula for this one" giving us the twist how who´s seemingly the villain is not (keep in mind, pretty much none of those trailers shows Hal/Titan at any point, so he really came as a REAL twist villain).

As for Teenage Kraken, we knew way too much about Chelsea from the start, and without the clever twist, it became just matter of time to when Chelsea betrayed Ruby.

This movie surely wasn´t intended to do as big on theaters as much as some fans wanted considering the low marketing it got until it premiered, but even if money is something as important as it is, I think is also important how the movie makes people feel.

I used Megamind as a comparison earlier, at first because that´s how the trailers made me feel about the movie before it came out, but after thinking more about it, I realized another point in which both movies are similar:

Both movies did quite low on the box office on release, but that doesn´t mean that they are bad at all, yeah, less than the regular amount of people watched them, but the ones who actually gave them a chance quite enjoyed it, and honestly, I think that´s what´s important when telling a story.

Yeah, Teenage Kraken isn´t on Megamind´s level by a long shot, I wanted that movie to be just like one of my favorite animated movies of all time and that stained my perception of the movie, but after watching the movie for what it truly was, I enjoyed how it could stood as it´s own story.

I think that the only way I can conclude this rather long post is, I just like this movie.

[albatris]

I may be stupid but I just found this blog and what is atdao?

nah you're not stupid it's all good!

ATDAO is one of my two main writing projects! It's "All the Doors are Open"! it's a funky lil tale about some kids who live in South Australia oh and also reality is collapsing and cracks between universes called Ports are appearing and letting otherworldly energy leak into our universe c:

the story alternates POV between best friends Tris Greer and Noa Yun, with separate but eventually intertwining plotlines

Tris, panic attack in human form, just witnessed a freak car accident that somehow caused his older brother to blip out of existence. the relevant authorities prove supremely unhelpful, so he takes it upon himself to find the truth and bring his brother home, even if it means a daring trip into an unstable air bubble between dimensions - a task easier said than done when he's anxious enough just leaving the house

Noa, edgy intimidating badass hiding nooo insecurities or trauma whatsoever, can suddenly bend and break the reality around her the same way Ports do. the shiny new destructive powers might be kinda cool - if the crack in reality inside her wasn't chaotically deteriorating and she didn't work for the Department of Interdimensional Instabilities, whose whole shtick is eliminating dangerous cracks in reality

two other MCs are Shara, a paranormal investigator hunting the source of the apocalypse through a handheld radio, and Kai (the fan favourite!), a peddler of haunted antiques struggling with the repercussions of losing seven years of their life to a time loop and the fact that their family thinks they died

it's a cheesy power of friendship story about the human capacity for kindness and connection! it's also full of horrifying things that will make your skin crawl <3

MCs are all neurodivergent, most importantly to me: Tris who is schizophrenic and Kai who was depersonalisation/derealisation disorder, none of which is used for cheap plot twists or to go "haha the whole thing was a delusion all along" because ew

anyway! that's ATDAO! you can check out more about it in the tag on my blog :3c progress on it is slow and atm I'm focusing more on my other main project, but ATDAO is a passion project of mine n I love it to bits. thx for coming to my ted talk. mwah

[jokeringcutio]

I didn't know if you take asks or not, new to your blog. But I just wanted to ask something about your recent fic the stepdad William, pregnancy one.

(And in no way am I trying to get you to change the story to how you want it to go)

But I was curious, if through everything the reader goes through what would Williams reaction be if she decided to run away. Obviously she won't want to hurt her mom and she might try and reach out to her mother after a bit. But maybe one night it gets to much to see him coddling readers mom about her pregnancy and ignore her around the mom so she decides to skip to a friend's or something that might be far from the house, and makes sure to tell the police about running off so they don't write a missing person report if anyone went to the police about her whereabouts. Just curious about your thoughts on this.

Oh, Anon, that is such a wonderful plotline💜, I hadn't even thought of that.

Also: Welcome to my blog, always feel free to poke me. I enjoy talking to mutuals :)

First things first, My stepdad drabbles are mostly stand-alone snippets. Though some can be seen as following up on each other :3 So I can write any situation I want.

Second of all, yep, two more drabbles are coming up this week that link to the pregnancy one. So strap in👀. And yes, I now desperately want to write your suggestion. But here are some thoughts:

If Reader ran away, * Mom would be devastated.

And let's be honest, William would be too. 👀 So there's that to consider, mentally. I think Reader will be aware of that and knowing you'll hurt your mom, while she is already overly emotional. Well... * Then there's William to consider. Want to upset him? Possibly yes. Though Reader might also be scared of angering him/going against his will. In my mind, even when he is a horrible ass to the Reader, Stepdad William Afton is smitten with Reader in his own way and probably prefers what they have over what he has with the mom. Whether it is purely based on power and control, sexual attraction, or actual love. I like to canon the idea that William would want to keep Reader near.

Ah sweetie... look at that face of Daddy... You're not gonna run away from that? Or are you 👀 MUAHAHAHAH

* If we take William as the man who actually rejoices in the idea of having a kid with Reader, possibly hid her contraceptives in hopes of her falling pregnant, or having some kind of twisted breeding kink... well.... Whatever it is. William will be very angry if Reader leaves. And phew... prepare for that! * Next item on the list, where will you go? Can Reader risk scurrying the streets? Do you have a friend to crash at? But for how long?Practical little details and risks to calculate. Plus, Reader will be pregnant. And though some will have little difficulties while in that state, others will be too tired, too sick, suffering from complications, etc. So you're taking risks here and adding even more stress and worry to your mind. But suppose you leave in an emotional rush, suppose you have that friend to stay at. Then we arrive to the next, and most thrilling part:

* Informing the police. OH YES. If you do this, what will you tell them? Because I can guarantee you, if I write this, they will notice the pregnant tummy. And then? Would you lie and say you got knocked up by a random boy from school/study and your parents are mad about it? [ Shielding Afton's reputation but leaving him wielding power over you?] Or, would you honestly tell them you are carrying your stepdad's child? Because in the latter, think of what kind of effect it will have on him.

[ Risking him being seen as a criminal with possible jail time ahead pending, we can take this as far as we want to, anon. As far as we want >D. In his best case, you can defend that things have been mutual and he just gets to hear to stay away from you.] William's reputation... wow.... The neighborhood finding out your little secret. 👀

So MANY possibilities, Anon, I just afshgafahagh So, to answer a short question long, This is such an interesting angle and I love to hear your opinions on it. I feel tempted to write a scenario where Reader legs it whilst carrying stepdad's child. Think of all the drama and angst that we could have. And then, which way shall we go? Is it just ordinary but pervy stepdad Afton? Or will it be more canonical killer!Afton who is your daddy? I mean, the world is our oyster. Anon :3 Love you. Thank you for interacting and sharing your mind with me.

[grayintogreen]

Pinned Post II: Electric Boogaloo

Hi, I'm Chris! I'm updating my pinned post to be more streamlined so here we go.

I liveblog Critical Role every week and tag with "cr spoilers" up until Monday. This tag also gets used for Candela Obscura and any one-shots. Dimension 20 spoilers are labeled “d20 spoilers.”

This is primarily a Critical Role and Dimension 20 blog, but I contain multitudes. You will see a lot of random shit depending on my mood. I’m really into Hazbin Hotel right now, for example, so my blog is kinda inundated in that. Honestly I might as well admit I am also a Hazbin blog at this point. Sorry, women.

I write a lot of fic, which can be found on my AO3 here. I primarily write fic centered on minor/supporting characters. I'm also the author of the life in the margins of redemption and red roses and dead things series- more about these below.

I have a ko-fi if you'd like to give me a tip for any reason.

My two big series are as follows:

red roses and dead things (or Roseverse), a canon divergent Hazbin Hotel (goes AU after 1x06) series that deals with working on continuing the story while I wait for new material. It is lore-heavy, Team as Family, and redemption-focused with focus on Huskerdust, Alastor and his deal, Lucifer and his relationship to Heaven and Hell and his family, and Charlie continuing to pursue her dreams. Also contains significant amounts of Helluva Boss because we’re not beholden to copyright here.

life in the margins of redemption (or LitMoR), a For Want of a Nail CR2 Canon Divergent series, is a duology (with additional side stories) that takes the alternate path outlined in the Harvest's Close session notes- Cree rescuing the Nein from the Gentleman's wrath should they betray him- and takes it a step further with Cree reviving Molly on the Glory Run Road and traveling with the Nein in the hopes of finding a way to bring Lucien back. It is extremely Canon Divergent, but does feature CR2 plots under radically different circumstances and with additional characters. It's worldbuilding heavy, character-driven, often dark, but has a guaranteed happy ending. You may heard of it as "that 1.5 million word fanfic series."

It is not canon compliant with TNEOL as I had finished OUADYA before TNEOL came out. While I use some elements from the novel, the backstory presented for Lucien and the Tombtakers in the series is entirely different.

More details, including links to the fics, beneath the cut.

THE MAIN STORIES.

Note that while the series features Fjorester, Beauyasha, and Widomauk as primary ships, it is above all a gen fic that focuses on the platonic relationships even more than the romantic ones. I cannot in good faith rec this fic to you if you HATE any of those ships, but I can say if you're indifferent/just want a plot and platonic relationship focus, this fic will appeal to you.

once upon a damn-you-all. Cree saves Molly on the Glory Run Road, sending the Nein's trajectory off the rails in a story about redemption, change, fate, and team-building. Also Molly having to contend with the Somnovem.

you can't deny high noon. The Nein continue their journey with an additional member- a reluctant, captive Lucien- as they continue to face numerous challenges while enemies lurk in the background. While OUADYA is mostly original plotlines, this fic follows the majority of the major plot beats of canon albeit a bit twisted around and out of order.

THE SIDE STORIES

While not necessary to read in order to understand the main duology, I feel like not reading them causes a loss of impact, as often events/characters from them are referenced in the main narrative and having more perspective on the events adds more oomph. This is an extremely detail-oriented series and barely anything goes in without some thought put into it. For the sake of not overwhelming my audience, I'm only listing the side stories I think are actually important to the overall narrative, but please do read the others if you have the time.

there's something divine in the way screams can sound. The events of OUADYA as seen through the eyes of someone trapped in the Astral Sea- or Lucien's utter breakdown, now with context. Introduces several backstory elements that become super relevant in YCDHN.

as in the painted parlor, ophelia dreams. The story of how Ophelia came to the Run, became a Mardoon, and gave up her son.

all of the dreamers defying convention. A fic that takes place in the two month gap between the two duology stories and bridges the two narratives.

OTHER LINKS

original character guide. A guide to the many original characters featured in the series.

[theaistired]

Blog introduction

Hello, my name is Thea (she/they), I’m acespec, arospec, and autistic. I speak German and English and I am trying to learn Italian, Swedish and Arabic (learning three different languages at ones is complicated, so trying instead of actual learning). I’m a big fan of the fantasy genre and like to read, write, draw, play the piano, and occasionally play video games. I also love birds and science.

Now, this is my main blog where I post about my writing, my art and also stuff in general. I might also post about some of my own music in the future. You can find a short introduction to my WIPs under the cut.

Hope you enjoy and I'll see you around on tumblr!

Galidean: A fantasy series that was supposed to be a trilogy but has grown into a much longer series. But I guess that is what happens when you look a three different projects and think to yourself "wouldn't it be hilarious if the took place in the same setting". So, the series can be divided into three different "eras" with their own little "main plot", but there is also a plotline running through all of them mostly in the background.

A hundred years after the joined victory over the Dark Sun, the human nations gather together in celebration. Future leaders attend a journey through each other's home, during which it becomes clear that scorching raids have left their marks over all the territories. With no apparent culprit, a prince, an orphan, a lord, and a sorcerer band together to find the power that turns banishment into death. With the help of a friend and a sibling, they start chasing mysteries and legends across the world, unaware that they all take root from the wounds of the world itself.

Old Gods: A fantasy series consisting of 3 – 4 books, while I also wanted it to be horror, that part has gotten somewhat lost while developing it. Oh well.

Cyr was young when the war started, he was young when he joined it and he was not so young anymore when the enemy captured him. After four years of imprisonment, he comes to terms with his inevitable fate. Surrounded by enemies, hated by his allies, stripped of his magic and will, there is no escape for him. While the voices and visions invade both day and night, Cyr prepares for his final day. His only true solace is the new courtesan who has endless stories of hope and rebirth to tell him.

The Human in Us: An urban fantasy series, that really is just two characters and my investment in their relationship in a trench coat. All started by me looking at different supernatural YA stories and going “wonder how I would do that”.

Students, alcohol and an abandoned house should have been the set-up for a fun, maybe spooky anecdote in their future. It should not twist and turn and talk, it should not turn nightmares real, it should not make Josephine’s hallucinations even more vivid and grotesque. Yet it does, and one month later, a burning girl appears to give her an envelope containing an address and a promise of answers.

There Are Voices In the Void: A sci-fi horror story, set in the same setting as a different sci-fi project of mine, but story-wise not connected to it.

While investigating a nebula, the scientists of the crew gather samples of cosmic dust, finding an unknown organism on it. The head biologists determines it to be deceased and proceeds with further testing. The death of two of his colleagues soon afterwards is just the beginning of the nightmare.

Little Remains: A bit of crime fiction/thriller, that happened by me looking at YA mystery series and going “wonder how I would do that”.

Detective Morgan has worked on many gruesome cases in the past, most of them took place in bigger cities with an anonymous population. When a teenage girl is found dead in the fields of a small town nearby, Morgan first assumes an outsider to be the murderer of the unidentified victim. However, with the murder of a local student a few days later, even the tight-knit community quickly realises that one of them is far more familiar with the gruesome case than the rest of them. Unwilling to sit back, the student’s friends start their own investigation, while Morgan begins to struggle with old ghosts.  

[willel]

Wdym other characters have suffered more than Will when it comes to screen time? Will literally has the least screentime out of the main cast, only Jonathan has less screentime than him. Even Max who joined the cast in S1 and wasn't there in S1 has surprasssed Will and Jonathan in screentime. Steve has more screentime and while I am not sure I think Robin also received more screentime than him both in S3 and S4. I'd say both Will and Jonathan have been mistreated, the reason why people mostly focus on Will's mistreatment is because he is connected to the overarching story yet his character is painfully neglected and sidelined even though he is the only character who is connected to the UD and Vecna (and arguably the lab plotline in S2) besides El. It literally makes no logical sense from a writing standpoint.

I'm speaking about Jonathan yes. At least Will gets an arc each season however minor or in the background it may be. And they do well to remind us he's still connected to the supernatural plot through his neck or dropping exposition about the Mind Flayer/Vecna.

But Jonathan? In season 2 he barely got anything substantial. He was invested in the plot of taking Hawkins Lab down, but the show really frames this as Nancy's journey, which is understandable. Imo, it wasn't the worst but looking at it 2 seasons later, it's clear this is when Jonathan getting backseated began. In season 3 he completely lacked an arc. An arc was there, but it was completely ignored in its totality. Season 4 we got a little bit of it again but just like Will, his entire character was backseated so it was even less than usual. So yeah, I'd say he has it worse than Will.

Other characters who have suffered similar lack of anything is Lucas. It was definitely better in season 4, but can you recall what his arc was in season 3? His entire role boiled down to being a wing man for Mike and not much else. Even though Will's story was dropped 3 episodes into season 3, I can at least say he still got more substance and relevance than Lucas did.

All things considered, I think Max is doing ok. She might get sidelined in season 5 given the state her character is in but that's understandable. Cheers to her letters being read and narrated through the season.

So yeah, there are other characters who have suffered a bit more than Will with screen time and relevance, namely Jonathan and Lucas.

I'm not a writer of the show and I've expressed many times I have no idea why they make the writing decisions they do so I can't really defend them nor was I defending them.

But despite lacking more focus, its undeniable there is still a through-line with Will and the Upside Down. It's just never explained in detail or addressed.

My only assumption is that they've been "saving" it for now as like a "Haha surprise! Will was involved all along!" kind of plot twist, but it's not really a twist if you can see it coming and the through-line was a bit too thin.

Maybe it'll be a twist for the oblivious general audience or the part of the fandom that denies Will was ever relevant. I'm sure those people especially will get a little whiplash even though people have been speculating Will's involvement for years.

[k-white]

A very personal rating of the Our Skyy2 episodes, in airing order cuz I am doing it weekly, if you stumble upon this list it is my personal opinion! if I rated your favourite episode low don't take it personally, we all love different things and maybe my favourite was the one you liked the least

Now here we go:

NLMG: 8/10 I really liked it, I liked the og show fairly enough more by the end than the start, but the special? I liked it a lot, I am a sucker for time traveling and period pieces so it played with my heart strings, I had some issues with the pacing and story but overall I liked the more romcom feel to it that to me PP are perfect for, bonus points having Pawins character score a bf! also it looked amazing! I love Jojos directing and the colorgradiants he used here

SIMM: 5.5/10 It was fine, nothing that bad, I onestly liked the first episode more than the second only cuz the pranking made sense, Maitee and Sean were being annoying and deserved to heve their asses handled to them, also the possible side couples played a big role on my liking this, they could have made SM or TM, but they didn't, tho WS are cute I can give them that, it didn't make much sense but ok, tho the major downside was the plotlessness and ok it is a 2ep special but they could have done more, just KN being sikeningly cute doesn't cut it for me, also News directing style is not for me

THE ECLIPSE 9/10 Ok I might be biased, you take a look at my profile you can see that I love FK and the Show, I didn't give it a 10 cuz the first episode had some issues mostly on how Aye acted torwards Akk, but this second one? Basically perfect! they were the sweetest and most loveble ever! all the kissing? The popsicle scene?? The bar scene??? The last scene???? PERFECT so I gave it a 9 cuz of ep1

VICE VERSA 5/10 ok so I wasn't the biggest fan of VV when it aired, but I wanted to go on this with an open heart and it was broken! and again I wanna say: FREE TALEY! Puen and his supposed best friends manipulated him! Using a CHILD! It was cute at the start, I still like JimmySea, but they had to go and ruin it, if the kid was actually Tess's child I would have been a lot more happy even tho Taley would have been a victim yet, better than being manipulated tho still chosing to be with Puen and satying friend with them! Sorry but this continue to not be my thing, saved by the cute cast!

MSP 6/10 It was all way too rushed, they wanted to combine all of 12 episodes in 2 and the result felt rushed and staged, like a bad movie that the characters produced, plus the only characters that were actually convincing were Tinn Por and the moms, the others felt stiff and too similar to their original character, the MV was cute but the sang was average at best, Tinn liking Gun since 10th grade(or at least it is implied) doesn't align with ep1 unless Tinn was lying the whole time, the ending scene was a bit confusing I don't know if it was made like that cuz they hope for a s2 but I didn't really get it, if the ending was either Tinn or Gunn waking up it would have been a good twist, anyway it was fine

ABAAB 5.5/10 Ok I did go in a little biased with this show cuz I really didn't like it, tho the first episode of OS2 was actually not that bad I did enjoy it but then the swap "bet"(it was basically a bet right?) happend and I got reminded how much I don't like this 2 people! and I feel bad cuz I do like ForceBooks interactions IRL but Gun and especially Cher I don't like them and I feel like they wrote them episode after episode without a clear idea on who they are cuz they act according to the plotline of the episode! Also I didn't like that we never got a resolution for the little fight ThreeZo had!

BBS×ATOTS 7/10 I changed the score cuz that last episode deserve a 9 if not a 10 it was perfect with pacing story and acting, but the rest didn't work for me especially the 2 crossover episodes, they sacrifaced the story to just make a mix and match of the 4 main characters! in the crossover they spend more time apart and with somebody else than with eachother and the time spent lost was too much, it didn't progress the story at all! if they did 2 eps dedicated to each couple amd then 1 only ep crossover maybe it would have worked better, also as I said Longtae was nowere to be found and not even mentioned and I am bitter and pissed about it still, I also feel like the characters especially Phupa were kinda ooc

Am I very biased with The Eclipse? YES INDEED!(but it is very obvious from my blog so do I even need to specify it?) the others I am more objective, tho mind you! NLMG wasn't one of my faves but I really liled the OS2 ep!(but I saw that people that liked the show didn't like the OS2 ep and vice versa)

So we arrived at the end of this journey, this thing was in my drafts since week 1 so 8 weeks can you believe that? anyway I have to say that I enjoied this show overall, it wasn't perfect and production was clearly rushed but it still worked and people enjoyed it so that is all that matters!

[laoih]

Review of "The Rings of Power": Episode 5

Part 2: Lack of coherence

It can be easily shown why The Rings of Power fails as an adaptation, and I have spoken about one of these aspects in the first part of the review.

But what is almost more disappointing is that it fails as its own story as well. If you watch it without much thought it may be entertaining, but on closer inspection the holes in this series' logic become very visible.

In this episode, the The Rings of Power moves through five different plotlines: Galadriel & Halbrand in Númenor, Isildur in Númenor, Elrond & Co. in Lindon, Arondir & Bronwyn (and Adar) in the Southlands, and the Harfoots. Unfortunately, none of these storylines receive the attention and care that they need. Even removed from Tolkien, the storylines continue to make no sense on their own.

The show can look pretty, but unfortunately the writing is bad.

Let's start with the positive...

...because that won't take long.

The show had some nice visuals once more – like the Stranger looking up to the stars, or Elrond looking up to the stars. Generally, the evening atmosphere in Lindon was nicely set up.

Story-wise I liked in this episode was:

Exploring how and why some Men side with the Orcs, and the guilt that may come with that. So far it's only a superficial exploration because the plot to explore this lies with the people in the Southlands, while the emotional part is hinted at by Halbrand. This could be interesting if done right. It's barely used potential, and I don't really trust the show to do it any justice. But at least it's a good idea in theory.

Poppy's and Nori's song is sweet and fits: Tolkien's work is full of music, and the Hobbits are known to sing songs during walks. There is also a nice callback to the line of "not all those who wander are lost". I would enjoy the reference even more if the show was actually revering Tolkien's work and not ignore, break or twist it as they have done it in this episode, as I have pointed out in part 1 of this review.

Pharazôn gets a scene with his son that lays out his motivation a bit more.

Arondir and Theo have a scene together that was quite nice for both of their characters, and Theo finally shows his evil sword to someone. I've been waiting for this ever since he found it, and I'm glad this isn't dragged out any longer.

A nice scene. But how did Arondir get his armour back?

Galadriel has a bit of a more honest emotional moment when she speaks with Halbrand, and in theory this could be a good moment. However, I only mention it because it is technically a good idea. In reality, a) I no longer care for Galadriel as a character in this show and so therefore the moment doesn't work, b) it is set in context of Gil-galad's dumb storyline and is therefore buildt on nonsense and c) within the scene she still tries to manipulate Halbrand and continues to be annoying. Too little, too late.

Now on to the stupid part of the show...

The Lindon plot:

Gil-galad's non-existent logic

This is directly connected to the dumb lore break that I've pointed out in the first part. I'll try to sum up the situation from his perspective as it's presented by the show:

Gil-galad noticed the blight upon the tree and takes it as an "outer manifestation of [the] inner reality" that the light of the Eldar is fading.

This was first noticed shorty before Galadriel had returned from her expedition.

Gil-galad then assumed that Galadriel's unrest and search for Sauron were the reason for this decline and so he send her away in the hope that this would stop the decay.

However, it seems that he wasn't too convinced that this would work, because right after Galadriel had left he sent Elrond to Celebrimbor, who was also aware of the issue.

We have to assume that at this point Gil-galad already suspected that the Dwarves had found mithril, and that it might help against the decline.

So his plans with Elrond have had to look like this: if Celebrimbor gives him a deadline for his tower, Elrond will reach out to the Dwarves he is friends with and then start spying on them, so that eventually Gil-galad can confirm his suspicion about the mithril.

Amazon's Gil-galad is among the worst characters of this show.

This whole train of thought is stupid. And it wouldn't even get Gil-galad any closer to the mithril. In fact, I believe asking for it openly would be a more sensible step. There has been no sign that the Dwarves are in any way hostile or especially cruel, so would they deline to help the Elves and all of them to die even though they could have helped? Surely not. So why didn't Gil-galad ask? Noone knows.

Furthermore, when speaking with Elrond, Gil-galad argues that without the Elves, "the armies of darkness will march over the face of the earth". So if Gil-galad accepts the existance of these armies, why send Galadriel away? Why wouldn't he consider their existence to be a reason for the decline? And how are the Elves are supposed to stop these armies, if even as little as Galadriel's expedition is already suspected of causing the blight on the tree? And did Gil-galad know that there are armies of darkness out there and still declared peace? How are the Elves supposed to protect Middle-earth if they turn a blind eye to the approaching darkness?

Or does Gil-galad still believe there is no evil in Middle-earth and they can truly have peace now? Why would he then worry about the fate of Middle-earth if there is no threat? What are they supposed to fight?

Gil-galad is holding two contradicting opinions at once, and it just doesn't work and undermine this whole plotline. It simply creates artificial drama, but does not work as a story at all.

Elrond's oath

This storyline was one of the aspect I kind of liked so far, because oaths have significance in Tolkien's stories and it was nice that the show was addressing that.

Unfortunately it was only nice until they completely butchered the implementation of this topic in this episode:

First there is the forced drama about Gil-galad wanting Elrond to break his oath just to confirm that the Dwarves have mithril. It's stupid because it's unnecessary: Gil-galad already suspects that the Dwarves have found it, and Elrond simply didn't want to confirm or deny it. But even if Elrond did it wouldn't change anything – Gil-galad wouldn't be any closer to actually getting the mithril. So with the knowledge that there might be mithril in Moria he could just inform Elrond that they need it in case it exists, and based on this information Elrond can take his own actions, just as he actually did. There is no reason at all for Elrond to break his oath, and for Gil-galad to demand it is stupid.

But it gets worse because Elrond actually and casually breaks his oath, and the show isn't even aware of it. Elrond when swearing his oath said that noone but him would hear what Durin said to him, yet he gave Celebrimbor the small piece of mithril that he had, along with the information that it's mithril and where it's coming from.

"Here, Celebrimbor. this is the ore that I'm not supposed to talk about."

And then he still wonders whether or not he should break his oath or doom his people? It's too late to ask that question because healready broke the oath when telling Celebrimbor about the mithril. And with that, the whole plotline about the oath goes down the drain.

And last but not least: this is the second time that Celebrimbor randomly brings up Elrond's father. It starts to annoy me because as before if doesn't really make any sense nor does it further Celebrimbor's character. It feels either like a setup for something later on (in which case it's a poorly written setup because if doesn't feel organic in the context of the scene) or it's some form of manipulation that Celebrimbor is doing with Elrond... in which case it's still confusing.

The Númenor plot:

Where to start...

Galadriel, as always, is the biggest issue in the Númenorean plotlines. This time, it's her repulsive attempts to manipulate and control Halbrand:

She constantly tries to tell him what to do and what to think, what his desires for his future should be an how he should find his inner peace, disregarding how she spent centuries on trying to find peace and failed. She uses him and his country as a motivation for Míriel and Pharazôn to fight against the Orcs and then tries to frame it as Halbrand using her. Once she no longer gets around with her lies and needs Halbrand actually to work with her, she apologises to him only out of calculation: she wants him to cooperate, so she tries to play nice for a little while. Her "sorry" is quickly followed by a "help me".

Why Halbrand is still even talking to Galadriel is a mystery.

There is one moment where they come to speak more about her, and the scene came close to her having some self-realisation, but in the end still don't get any real answer as to why she cannot stop fighting. She notes that her soldiers mutinied against her, that her "closest friend" and her king exiled her, and that apparently she has touched so much darkness that those people around her can "no longer distinguish [her] from the evil [she] was fighting". But is this realisation followed by any consequences? No, she stays on her path of touching darkness to find the light, on her path to continue fighting.

Now granted: Orcs are really out there, and since Gil-galad's plot makes no sense, the impact his plotline has on Galadriel makes no sense either. It's not wrong to oppose the "armies of darkness", but it's stupid to assume that it will bring her peace if it hasn't done that for centuries. I also resent the idea of touching darkness to find the light: according to Galadriel it's currently doing more harm than good in relation to her own people, and generally it's just a really bad advice? There are many dangers and temptations in Middle-earth that cannot be avoided, but the wise usually can be recognised because they can recognise evil when it presents themselves. At least that is what Tolkien's wise characters did: reject the One Ring because they knew it would lead them on a dark path.

According to the try-and-error motto of Amazon's Galadriel, she would have taken the One Ring when Frodo offers it to her, and indeed become a dark queen.

Maybe this character will develop in future seasons, but in this first season she is the worst kind of main character they could have gone for.

I also want to mention the fight scene for a moment: it surely was better than her other fight scenes so far, but it was completely pointless: we didn't learn anything about her character or about the other characters involved, and at best it showed us that the Númenorean army is a joke. It seemed to be in there only to once again show the audience how awesome Galadriel apprently is, but I'm not buying it. A thousands of years olf Elf against some noobs – this is not impressive.

Halbrand is now both a smith and a lord. For the smithing he got a crest for after telling Pharazôn in prison where Galadriel would go, and he is recognised as a lord because Galadriel found a king's crest that matches the mark that Halbrand carries around.

This development is barely addressed and can only be taken from a few remarks of Halbrand, Galadriel and Míriel. It's a jump in this character's story, but considering all the other flaws the episode has this is a rather minor issue.

What bothers me, however, is that everyone just takes this development without any further questions. Halbrand has denied being a king, yet Galadriel insists on it. Míriel believes Galadriel in this, but hasn't talked to Halbrand about it since Galadriel keeps interrupting. They get Halbrand's intel about the Orcs in the Southlands, and rely on it for their war planning. Nobody questions how he got out on the sea or why he didn't warn anyone about it. They don't actually know anything about him but what he tells them and what Galadriel assumes, yet they build an entire expedition on his intel.

I still don't know what to think of this character.

Because here is the thing: Halbrand implies that he has done horrible things that he would like to forget, maybe including collaboration with Orcs. But this once again hints at the Orcs being around for quite some time now, and yet nobody has warned anyone – not the Elves in Ostirith nor the other human villages in the Southlands.

How does "evil being a thing of the past" and Halbrand's horrible past fit together? I mean, assuming that he is his own character and not Sauron? It really doesen't, and Halbrand telling Galadriel "I'm sorry. For your brother. For all of it." just once more hints at him being Sauron – or once again a red herring.

Isildur's plot is just painful to watch. I suppose they want to paint him in a very bad light, so they are succeeding in what they are doing. But they aren't good at showing what motivates him.

He wanted to get kicked out of the Sea Guard, but now he wants to join the expedition to Middle-earth because he wants to do something worthy of Númenor.

Why? This change of heart is never explained. Because his friends got angry at him? This can hardly be the case because it wouldn't fix his previous mistake, and his friends are already settled. Because he is assamed of his actions? This can't be the reason either because he still tries to cheat his way onto the list by appealing to his father and his friends, and later by hiding on the ship.

So far neither his previous reason for wanting to get kicked out of the Sea Guard is explained (wanting to find the "true west" is never explained either so it doesn't work as character motivation) nor his his change of heart now. This character remains unexplained, and it's simply not good story telling.

Eärien is the most random character in this episode: she shows up in a few places but barely does anything there and we don't really get a grip of why she is there either or how she feels about what is happening in these places. We can get the impression that she may be on the side that stands against the Elves and so is politically opposed to Elendil and Isildur, but in general her appearance in the episode is just irritating.

Appearing in random places with nothing to do: Eärien.

Maybe they'll do more with the character later on and just try to set up the character, but it's once again done in a weird way: as a character she seems pointless, and she's not integrated well enough in the rest of the plot to work as a side character.

The Southlands plot:

Adar's ultimatum is discussed in the episode. Half of the people stay, half of the people want to join Adar, and nobody consideres leaving the area altogehter. Why?

Halbrand and the other refugees obviously left, and Arondir should have some place where the Elves were supposed to go to. Theo even asks Arondir why he isn't leaving, and the question should rather be: why aren't they all leaving? Shouldn't they at least try and leave, reporting the Orcs to other Men or Elves so that they are prepared? Why stay there and get slaughtered? And if they somehow can't but Arondir can, shouldn't he get some help? He alone won't make a difference against all the Orcs, but getting the word out about their presences could save lives. And what about the Elvish occupiers, where they all killed? How? When? Were there only the few seen in the Orc camp? How where they able to subdue the Men in the Southlands for so long? And if there's more, haven't they noticed the absence of their captured people? Shouldn't Gil-galad receive their warning right now, given how fast the message of "peace" was delivered in the first episode?

Bronwyn has an unexplained change of heart as well in this episode: first she wants to fight and resist, and calls on the others to do the same. Once Arondir shows her the sword, she is immediately ready to give up. Is this the sword already working on her, or do the writers just not care any longer?

Then there is also the question why she told her people of the ultimatum in the first place. If she had convinced them that the Orcs would kill them all and burn down the tower as they did with the burned down village, wouldn't the people be much more willing to fight and to resist?

Why won't you just leave this place?

Arondir somehow knows the sword is a key. How? Where did he get this knowledge? And how come that the Elves knew there was a statue in this watch tower that apparently was showing Sauron, but never tore it down? Why would the Elves keep that statue there for all this time?

Adar wants Waldreg to kill Rowan becaue "only blood can bind". By the logic, half of the humans would have to kill the others, is that what we are supposed to take from this?

There is also the question why Waldreg didn't try to take the sword with him when he left the tower. He expected to see Sauron as the leader of the Orcs, and knows that the sword somehow belongs to Sauron. Why wouldn't he have tried to get the sword so that he could offer it to Sauron?

... and I'm still annoyed that Orcs are vampires in this show. And that Adar's checkbones look really fake, like a blob of papier mâché stuck on his face. Why would the cheeckbone even grow this way...

The Wilderlands plot:

The timeline of the Hobbit plotline is confusing, because this episode makes us believe that quite some time has passed: the Stranger can speak a decent amount of words now, and the way the Harfoots have traveled is quite a distance.

This doesn't match the time that seemed to have passed in Númenor and in the Southlands – there it seems like only days have passed. However, it does match with the plot in Lindon, where at least the traveling between Lindon and Eregion should take some time.

In conclusion: the timeline of this show is a mess, and unlike Tolkien the show's creators don't really bother to keep time and distance consitent in any way.

They really came a long way on their short legs...

Nori's family apparently has caught up with the other Harfoots, but this is never really addressed. They run into each other when the wolves are around, and some people in the caravan continue to be aweful when they suggest to sabotage the cart of Nori's family. Later on Nori reports that the Harfoots see the Stranger in a more positive light now that he has defended them against the Wolves, but this all happens more or less off screen. Since this had been such a drama previously, it's really weird that it's told in passing now.

Nori touching the ice is my last complaint. Girl, what happens there is clearly magical, so you can only blame yourself if you touch the ice without need. You saw the man falling down as a meteor, if this didn't freak you out why would ice do that now? Anyone with a half-rational mind would realise that the Stranger had no evil intent in that scene.

Tl;dr

The writing of this show is weak, often illogical and lacking in coherence. By creating such a fragile and inconsistant foundation, all following seasons will suffer even if they improve the quality of their writing.

[convenientalias]

I Rate Cdramas Based on "Birth Secret" Subplot

I continue my habit of rating cdramas based on arbitrary things! Lately I've been thinking about how many cdramas I've watched with subplots where the main character finds out they were adopted (or maybe already knew) and discovers who their real parents were. I think it's definitely a trope that can be done well or sloppily, can be intriguing and dramatic or just kind of boring and contrived. Here are my thoughts on cdramas containing the trope--by necessity there will be some spoilers, but I'll try not to spoil everything:

Ancient Detective--Personally I think only revealing a character's "birth secret" (of sorts) in a voiceover in the final moments of the show, without actually revealing it to the character himself, in a bid for a second season, is a massive disappointment. There were some good moments of dramatic irony if you guessed the secret ahead of time (...which is not that hard) but otherwise, what is the point of the reveal if it doesn't affect the plot? 1/10.

City of Streamer--On the one hand, maybe this show should get extra points for having so MANY characters have unexpected parentage (the entire Rong family to some extent, Feng Shizhen obviously, Feng Shizhen's missing brother, Meng Jiu...) but since all these secrets were more or less tied together, I'll refrain. Mixed feelings on the incest scare, it did stress me out but it was also kind of great and wow, Rong Jiashang really did just say "Huh, I might be half siblings with this woman I'm in love with but let's not go into that." A bit all over the place but I enjoyed the ride and especially the conclusion. Also sometimes a birth secret brings you and your ex-employer back together for a renewed revenge quest and I think that's beautiful. 7/10.

The Disguiser--I thought for a while it would turn out that Ming Tai's secret dad would be Wang Tian Feng. This would have been regrettable to me for shipping reasons, but more compelling plot-wise than Ming Tai's secret dad turning out to be some random Communist. I guess there were a couple good scenes involved in their plotline but I can barely remember them anymore. I do remember that Ming Tai got pissed at his dad for abandoning him, which is very valid. Also the Ming family's whole composition is so messy and interesting. 3/10 on the whole.

The Flame's Daughter--Lie Ruge's birth secret doesn't interest me much but it is plot relevant (in that it affects her approach to taking down Anye Luo). Zhan Feng's birth secret, however?? Means that he killed his own damn father, and did so because he was manipulated by someone who turns out to have had no relation to him. So THAT'S fun. Averaging the two, I'd give a 7/10.

Granting You a Dreamlike Life--I legitimately don't care about Tianying being (surprise, surprise) a member of the Lin family bc I simply don't care that much about the Lin family. They are the most boring family in the show, including the Duan family that Tianying was adopted into. That said, as far as adoptive siblings plotlines go, I think Duan Tianci being engaged to Tianying is a satisfying subplot in that Tianying is realistically horrified by the whole thing, having always seen Tianci as a brother, and it does create a lot of dramatic conflict. And I like Tianying's necklace-that-reveals-her-parentage. I give it a score of 3/10. It's pretty boring but not awful.

Handsome Siblings--This show is the peak example of using this trope for dramatic irony rather than a surprising twist. The first episode SHOWS you the twins with their parents--you know exactly who their parents are--but do the twins get to know their parentage/who their sibling is? Not until the LAST DAMN EPISODE, people! And you're itching for them to find out the entire time--it's a reveal with serious stakes! It's a reveal that sheds a new light on the events of the show and on the morality of multiple characters, and on characters' relationships! Handsome Siblings milked this trope for all it was worth. 10/10.

Joy of Life--Honestly it's hard to judge how I feel about this one until I see season two and see what the show intends to do with its revelations. I actually had this twist spoiled for me way early in the game, but I did enjoy seeing the revelation. Ultimately though, Fan Xian has so many dads, does his biological dad really matter? The answer is yes but it's hard to see HOW it will matter until we see how he moves forward knowing the truth. ???/10.

Nirvana in Fire--The reveal of who Jingrui's dad is (and Xie Yu having tried to kill him in the past) comes kind of out of nowhere in a sense (Southern Chu? since when were they involved with any of this?) but also doesn't entirely, in that the whole baby mix-up always did seem a little too outlandish and coincidental for Da Liang's court, where everything is a result of political and often insidious machinations. It's ridiculous, it's grim, it's shocking, and it somehow fits the plot and characters without feeling like too much of a reach. Jingrui's birthday party is a hot mess and I don't think you can watch Nirvana in Fire without it sticking in your head as a turning point and an Event to Remember, and Jingrui's birth secret is right in the center of the chaos. It's kind of stupid but it works, and so I must give it a 6/10.

Winter Begonia--The reveal of Shang Xirui's parentage is unique in two ways. First, while Shang Xirui finds out who his parents were, he deliberately hides the truth from his last remaining family member--not for that family member's own good (though it's arguable she would be upset to learn the truth) or because he dislikes that family member, but because revealing his identity would prevent him from continuing to perform opera. Opera is paramount to him; a long lost family can't matter as much, even if it breaks his heart to give it up. He's willing to abandon his own heritage if it means keeping instead the identity he's built for himself in the Shang family and as an opera singer. Secondly, the second part of this reveal--that the Shang family more or less knew who he was but hid it specifically to keep him on as an opera singer, bc even as a child he showed talent--is so surprising and hurtful, and yet. And yet Shang Xirui's priorities are the same. And yet Shang Xirui, even given the chance to rectify the situation, chooses to turn away. Absolutely insane. And this show didn't remotely need a birth secret plotline to begin with, it just shoved in every plotline it could find. 10/10.

Honorable Mentions:

If I included ppl whose parentage is known to themselves but eventually revealed to others I'd just be including every secret identity drama out there. BUT.

Word of Honor: Had me convinced right along with Zhou Zishu that Wen Kexing had to be Rong Xuan's son, and then Wen Kexing denies it so vehemently and you're like??? then who the fuck are you! Quite a ride.

Addicted Heroin: The two leads' parents are married and they both HATE that their parents have remarried but they don't know that their parents are married to each other (they don't live with those parents--one lives alone and one lives with his single father) and so become friends with each other without realizing they're stepsiblings and are extremely deep in UST by the time the revelation comes and the fallout is absolutely glorious.

[glenrocklibraryteens]

BOOK REVIEW: A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson Mystery Number of pages: 387 Rating: 4 - Great - better than most books I've read Reviewed by: EG

Have you listened to a murder podcast? Watched a Buzzfeed Unsolved video? Read all Wikipedia knows about a random murder you learned about from Tiktok? Then, this might be the book for you.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson follows Pippa, also known as Pip, as she tries to solve the mystery that has haunted her small town of Fairview; who killed queen bee Andie Bell? For years, the case has been put to rest, following the unofficial public decree that her boyfriend Sal Singh killed her. However, Pippa puts this to the test as her senior capstone project topic, examining the question of, did Sal Singh kill Andie Bell years ago, and if he didn’t, who did? Author Holly Jackson does an excellent job of doing what every good mystery should; keeping the reader guessing until the very end. Where many YA mystery books make the answer quite guessable by the middle of the book, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder maintained a lengthy, everchanging suspect list. The twists were effective, managing to keep the reader on their toes while staying rooted in the narrative. As the cover suggests, by the end everything strings together and makes sense, loose ends tied up. Jackson used a few writing formats, giving the reader a lot of information to explore the story. A main one that is used is Pippa’s capstone logs, where she writes down all her research. In these logs, the reader is given a sense of how Pippa’s brain works as they are written pretty informally and read like not super invasive diary entry. Another big format she used is narrative, written in 3rd person. This is used to describe the present and showcase events/action. However, in all of the forms, there is a detachment of Pippa from the reader that I found a little strange. This likely could be easily rectified if the narrative section was in 1st person, as the third person writing was a little bit jarring a times. Despite this, the novel kept the reader engaged through its other forms of writing and the ever gripping plotline. I could not put this book down. I read it in one day and literally did not move from my bed until I finished it. While I didn’t love the writing style at times, I found the plot utterly fascinating, which made up for it for me. The book was a whirlwind. There was so much to take in and I felt like I needed to read it all at once so I attain all that the book was. I love mysteries, it’s my favorite book genre, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder stood out from the rest of its YA counterparts as it kept me in suspense the whole way through. It wasn’t predictable and took into account so many characters and what part they could’ve played in the whole situation. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a good mystery that they can try to decipher as the characters do. While it is only mentioned and not gone into in detail, TW for self harm and rape.

Playlist

no body, no crime - Taylor Swift ft. HAIM One of the biggest reasons that Sal Singh was never officially charged with Andie Bell’s murder is because Andie’s body was never found. This goes along perfectly with the song “no body, no crime” because as the song title suggests, the lack of a victim’s body means that is pretty difficult to get someone charged with murder. Family Line - Conan Gray Without giving too much away, one of the families in AGGTM is very reminiscent of this song. In this song, a not-so-happy family is described, with the father in the family being abusive. Although the protagonist of the song does not want to be like his family, he comes to understand and accept in this song that he does have similarities to his family and that even if he doesn’t want them to, they’ve influenced him. This is the same for the girls in a certain family in the novel. Although they don’t want to repeat the behavior of their father, they do because that is how they were taught to be. Don’t Blame Me - Taylor Swift Throughout the book, Pip confronts various characters about their actions and the roles that they played in whatever happened that they tried to hide. This song is reminiscent of their deflection and their want to shift the blame to someone else. For much of this book, people refuse to own up to what they have done and instead follow suit with Swift and say “Don’t blame me”. Trashfire - Tommy Lefroy The story of this song reminds me a lot of both Pippa and Becca Bell. Pippa because as she gets deeper and deeper into the mystery and more forces try to stop her, after one event in particular where something she loves is taken, she realizes how deep into it she is. She thought she wanted the truth but now it is wrecking her life and putting those she loves in danger and it feels so much bigger than she ever thought it was. This song relates to Becca as it alludes to self harm and the hatred of one’s body and the concept of things spiralling out of control, past where you wanted it to go, all things she can relate to. Buzzcut Season - Lorde The duo of Pip and Ravi live in the bubble described in “Buzzcut Season”. While investigating the mystery, they form a close relationship. Even though the things that they are exploring are so terrifying, they trust each other and face their fears together. Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift This song reminds me of Pip’s journey to find the truth about what happened to Andie Bell. Along the way, some of her findings uncover truths that those she loves want to stay hidden. However, Pip doesn’t feel too bad about what broke in other people’s lives in her quest to find truth because it was their choice to do bad things and lie about it. By lying about it, they made her uncover it because if they told the truth there would be nothing to uncover in the first place. I Know The End - Phoebe Bridgers Pip and her best friend Cara’s relationship is similar to what is showcased in Bridgers’ “I know the end”. They love each other and have a bond to each other and will eternally be there for each other, but because of events that occur in the book, there is a strain on their friendship. Are You Bored Yet? - The Wallows ft. Clairo “Are you bored yet?” is very atmospheric for the world of the novel. Nearly everyone in this book is either in their teenage years or reflecting on them and the youthful energy of this song reflects the craziness and hormone blast that was being a teenager. The passion and craziness drives many of the events that Pip examines in trying to find if Sal was innocent. When We Were Young - Adele This song reminds me of Pip exploring all these events from the past. Everything from that, specifically Andie Bell and Sal Singh, seems to be behind a glass of time, covering the real truth, edges and all. As she dives into her research more and more and pieces together the mystery, she is transported to years ago, when the murders occurred. There was so much nuance to everything and Pip relives it all through both her own youth and revisiting Andie and Sal’s. Ribs - Lorde “Ribs” is reminiscent of all Andie and Sal have lost and how it all spiraled out of control. They were only teenagers and then everything went haywire. As the song speeds up and repeats, it reminds me of how every event built up to the madness that concluded with two presumed dead teenagers.

[captnjacksparrow]

Hello there! You once mentioned in your asks that instead of fanfics in Ao3, you like reading doujins more about SNS. Can I please ask for some recommendations for me to read too?? I'll really appreciate it, Thank youu so muchh~

Hmmm... Okay, Since I’ve been in this fandom for just about a year.... And very recently I got into these doujinshis... My range of recommendations will be very limited. None of them are Ranked. However even among them I have favourites which are boldened.....

Warning : Some of the Doujins might not be suitable for your taste... Characters might do certain stuffs ( ** self-servicing ** ) at age 13 without going all the way IN. It might feel Ped*philic for some... Whereas for me it didn’t. So, You be warned. 

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When the Five-Coloured Rainbow Appears Part 1 (Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4) by Emi/10-Rankai

When the Five-Coloured Rainbow Appears Part 2 (Chapter 5, 6)

Romance - 1%

Plot - 99% [ Suggest me something like this, I would read it all day ]

Plotline: Naruto time travels and meets Sasuke’s family before the Massacre... 

Prepare to cry.

Sasuke was like an Adorable Little Bubble in this one... This dj focuses more on the interaction between Naruto and Itachi... rather than NaruSasu.

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Sudden evening rain hymn (Part 1) by Emi/10-Rankai

Sudden evening rain hymn (Part 2)

It's a wonderful dj Storywise and Artwise... But my only gripe is... Naruto is just... ummm not Naruto in this dj. I don't think he would take light of Sasuke at anytime.

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Residence of the Sun (1, 2, 3) by Emi/10-Rankai

Residence of the Sun (4)

Another emotional rollercoaster... Sasuke gets amnesia and Naruto helps him recover from that... 

This dj came at around 2006... And it has “Sasuke loved Naruto all along” thingy which made me wonder... “Kishi, Dude??? 2006??? Did you steal it???” lol.

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Uchiha becomes a Cat by Yumemata/Nilo/Signal

Has lill bit smut contents...

But it’s 95% comedy and Naruto was extremely adorable here... Nilo actually trolled SasuNaru here in a funny way....

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And We... (Part 1) by Yumemata/Nilo/Signal

And We... (Part 2)

Slice of Life, Modern AU love story... Very good plotline about discovering their feelings.

And We.... 100% Chocolate dear to you. (Independent to the above stories). 

The Last panel in the above one is something that happened in my real life. LOL.

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Yotsudake by Yumemata/Nilo/Signal

This is the very first dj I’ve read... So, it’s always my favourite....

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Very Special by KSL/Shino Okimura

100% Funny... The Plot twist would make you laugh for a good 5 minutes.... Beware, the first page looks like Hentai. But 100% Shonen-ai all along.

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Golden Spiral by KSL/Shino Okimura

If there is any dj that represents pureness and innocence of Naruto and Sasuke... then this must be it. I got real emotional towards the end and then KSL with her trademark twist....made it damn funny in a single page. But a soulful dj nonetheless.

Damn, Most of her best works aren't translated into English and I am planning on doing one of it...

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The Sairoku by KSL/Shino Okimura

I can’t even believe people made domestic SNS back in 2005 itself and made it sooooo well... Characters are aged 25 I guess and they are married which is refreshing.... It’s funny af. It has two parts attached in the same link... Don’t miss the other one.

And wait for the Rock Paper Scissor twist... Sasuke is soooo funny in it.

Plus also... you’ll know why Sasuke became a.... ummm... see it for yourself... LOLOL. 

Hint:

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Adolescent Mania by KSL/Shino Okimura

That Warmth has a Purpose (Sequel to the above one)

This dj is based on the High School OVA, which SP released in the earlier part of Shippuden....

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Nine Tails tale Prologue by KSL/Shino Okimura

This DJ came out in 2008... It’s about Naruto in a Kyuubi form who never wanted to hurt anyone... but there is one Sharingan user (Madara) who made use of him to do bad things and Naruto ended up hating Humanity..... Oh Wait!!!! Isn’t this what Kishimoto did in Canon manyyyyyy years later???? LMAO... Kishi is proving again that he is a dj stealer....

--------------------------

KSL is my favourite doujinka so far because she is the only one who got Naruto’s features very close to the Author’s version of him.... ((As much I love Emi and Nilo's version of him... but they always gave me some Minato vibes which is... ummm... not the entirety of his character )) 

Naruto’s brash, unruly, unpredictable, cunning, competitive, offensive, flamboyant, exuberant features were usually never explored in other artists’ works... but KSL did it effortlessly & consistently which you can see from the above posters. Kudos to her!!! And as far as I've noticed, she is the only doujinka that was bothered to explore Naruto's backstory in all of her works... Also, her version of Sasuke is clearly mature, no-nonsense, hilariously cute and close to canon (not giving off that uwu innocent uke vibes)... In Short, Both behaves like Guys in her works.

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Freak by Monstercake2

I lovvveeed it. It’s an SN dj.... The amount of In-Canon-ness is much better than any other dj I’ve came across... I already talked about it here

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Melting Snow by Monstercake2

Another SN dj... I can’t believe both of these are from the same artist... Very adorable and at the same time a painful dj... 

“Bakasuke, What are you doing here?!”

Naruto was unbearably cute in this dj throughout... Sasuke was like, “I am done with this idiot... but I can’t stop liking him” throughout.... 1000% In Canon-ness....

There is this fanart I saw in Tumblr which I loved so much so that I ended up saving it.. In that art, Adult N and S were kissing each other where Sasuke pins up his hands on the wall.. The source is here... I am talking about the 19th picture. Never thought that it was drawn by Monstercake....

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Beyond (Part 1) by Aisy

Beyond (Part 2) by Aisy

In this dj, Naruto gets amnesia..... And Sasuke deals with it painfully...

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Trade 1 by Emi/10 Rankai

Trade 2

Echo by Emi/10 Rankai

Omoide Fubuki by Emi/10 Rankai

Insider by Yumemata/Nilo/Signal

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NaruSasu Wedding Anthology by KSL, Emi/10 Rankai and many more

NaruSasu BatTen by KSL, Yumemata, Emi and many more

[gay-fae]

After watching Encanto, I was thinking about Bruno's parallels to Mirabel (those that were pointed out in the movie and otherwise) and uh. This happened. This is a bit of a character study and it's only 935 words so it's not a big read but I really hope you enjoy :)

(this may end up on Ao3 as well! Reblogs are super helpful so please consider reblogging <3)

**********

Sometimes, as a child, Bruno would stare at his hands and wonder if an invisible poison leached from them; a silent killer of goodness only he was capable of carrying.

Sure, when you’re five years old the screw ups are forgivable. Less so when you’re seven. By the time you’re ten, mistakes are seen more as intentional sabotage attempts upon your family’s wellbeing.

Keeping the gift alive was their family’s duty, but Bruno wondered if he was capable of taking on something so great. He also wondered if Pepa and Julieta ever felt as unqualified as he did to preserve the Encanto. Yes, Pepa had brought on more storms than he could count, but she’d always felt things more deeply than the rest; it was never the same as the quiet weight Bruno was accustomed to within himself. As for Julieta, well, she’d always been the one to take a challenge head on. The strongest sibling and the leader. Untouchable and unbreakable.

(But there was one time, once, when Bruno was at the tender age of nine. He’d been hiding around the corner of the kitchen late at night. A man with a twisted ankle was sitting on a chair in the next room over. In the kitchen, in front of the stove, Julieta knelt on the floor surrounded by pieces of a shattered ceramic bowl and remnants of an indiscernible food. Her face was streaked with tears and she was visibly holding back a cry. Alma stood over her, looking disappointed and firm.)

Julieta was everything Bruno couldn’t be.

(“How can you expect to help the town if you can’t even heal one man?” Alma’s voice had echoed from the kitchen.)

Envy twined with admiration gripped tight on Bruno’s heart whenever he saw his sister’s perfection.

(Voice shaking and fragile, Julieta whispered, “I’m sorry, mamá. Déjame arreglarlo. Please. I won’t mess it up this time.” A small tear fell onto Casita’s tile flooring.)

By the time he was fifteen, every morning Bruno had a waitlist of people who wanted prophecies and a list almost just as long of people who didn’t like him by the time the sun set.

It wasn’t just what he saw that upset them (though, in some cases, that would have been enough). It was his inability to deliver the news well or refrain from making untimely jokes. His way of lightening the mood was usually implemented at the worst moment possible and he always awkwardly stumbled over his words, anticipating unhappy reactions to his visions.

Time to develop hobbies wasn’t always plentiful, but Bruno did always have an interest in acting and storytelling. As a child, he’d put on shows for his mother, his sisters as costars. Alma had always applauded loudly at the end. It was one of those truly good memories he often called back on later in life.

As a teenager, he’d stay up late writing stories in his room, all messily scratched out on crumpled papers or in a notebook. Scripts telling tales about a young man who was the pride of his town and his family. Plotlines following a young explorer who was beloved by everyone she crossed paths with. People not just loved, but appreciated for who they were as a whole. The hero Andres who was worth more than his incredible intellect. The explorer Luisa who was praised for more than her magnificent super speed.

Bruno loved his family, and they loved him back. Of that, there was never any doubt. Still, there was an unspoken standard looming over him at all times.

There was an expectation that Bruno dreaded to think he might not ever reach.

But Andres and Luisa didn’t judge him for that, nor did the rats he spotted in dark corners of Casita, nor did his beautiful sobrinos when they were born. And for a while, that was enough to keep him afloat in the flood he’d been living through.

**********

Bruno shook his head vigorously, trying to rid himself of the sight in front of him. He blinked the green out of his eyes, but was unsuccessful in ridding himself of the tears. He looked down at his shaking hands—poisonous contaminators, toxic harbingers of ruin…

He clenched his fists and thought of Mirabel. He’d seen so little in his vision; it wasn’t enough to ensure that she wouldn’t be subjected to the harsh scrutiny he wanted to shield her from. He couldn’t let her go through what he had.

If today is the day, then today is the day.

**********

The comfort of his sisters’ hugs felt less foreign than he’d thought it would. He smiled each time he got one, realizing just how deprived of that closeness he’d been.

Dinners were warm and full of laughter that was no longer distantly heard through the wall. He did the dishes afterward, laughing at himself for being so eager to clean. He wrote stories again, this time ones that didn’t just feature rats (though he couldn’t bear to write them out completely). New characters who were finding their ways back from the abysses they’d fallen into. Who were learning to find their rhythms again.

He held Antonio’s face in his calloused palms, telling him how proud he was of him, no longer scared of the invisible poison he’d once believed himself to emanate.

(He remembered that childhood night again, and the way Alma’s face had softened as she’d sighed and bent down, beginning to pick up pieces of the shattered bowl. He remembered the way she’d said to Julieta, “It’s okay. We can fix it. You’re still learning.”)

No more fear. No more cracks in the walls.