#i'm sure there are more significant comparatives but it stood out to me that she's started speaking like leland

[pensiveant]

Twin Peak: Fire Walk With Me / Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces / The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

[itsclydebitches]

Okay, so I saw this RWBY meme made by a fan and I can't remember it completely but it was about Emerald switching sides. What stood out to me was the language used and how Ruby's group was specifically referred to as "The Good Guys side" and if that doesn't show how broken this show's morality is then I don't know what does. Emerald switched to the side of good, not just Ruby's side. The side that is specifically good because it's Ruby side. You're either with Ruby or against her with no in-between. Compare this to Aang's group in ATLA, affectionately called The Gaang by fans. A term that collectively refers to the group without proclaiming them as THE good guys. We know they're good because their actions show they are good. It isn't just a title grafted on because they're the stars of the show. And while they have an official grouping in the form of Team Avatar. It still isn't used in the same manner as RWBY fans calling all who agree with Ruby "The Good Guys".

Decided to start answering backlog asks! We've officially entered the post-RT discussion era. Fun! 😬

You know, RWBY is compared (unfavorably) to Avatar a lot, but this comparison is particularly interesting to me because Avatar is, well... Avatar. That's a title. And it's a title built into the fictional world, one that's so significant it's worthy of being the name of the show. The Avatar is a combined destiny/job description that, in the words of the wiki, is the "human embodiment of light and peace." Obviously free will still comes into play - I'd never ignore the significance behind Aang's personal choice of how to bring balance to the world - but there's an element of fate here, of self-fulfilling prophecy, and fourth wall-breaking knowledge. In-world, benders are (presumably) not chosen if they're unsuited to be this embodiment of peace. Once someone knows they're the avatar, they can more easily find the courage/determination to meet such high standards because this is how it's "supposed" to be (regardless of whether anything cosmic is actually ensuring their success). And the audience knows, by virtue of that title and our opening, how we're meant to view Aang: as the Good Guy of the story. All that already exists outside of the actions he takes within the show, helping to soften anything potentially suspect with a "Well, he's just a kid" or "Well, everyone makes mistakes," or whatever explanation that's technically true in any harrowing story featuring a young protagonist... but continually falls flat with Team RWBY.

Because RWBY didn't do that same work. RWBY doesn't have a handle on its own identity the way Avatar does. It laid some of the groundwork early on but then never capitalized on it, which is why I'm endlessly groaning over the failure of not doing anything with Ruby's status as a SEW/simple soul. Those could have easily been titles the way "Avatar" is a title, something that the people of Ruby's world see as cosmic evidence of her purity and inherent ability to lead them in this war. Instead, it's just a one-off, ambiguous statement and a very badly used skill.

So yeah, Emerald joins The Good Guys, which wouldn't be bad if, as said, the show had shown the group unambiguously being Good people in a war with black and white solutions. Or, if we had some reason to believe that Ruby is The One True Leader, destined/worthy of bearing this burden no matter the number of mistakes she's made. But RWBY even undermines the title aspect by making Ruby herself fairly inconsequential in later volumes. Yeah, the show is also named after this team/our protagonist... and yet that began to feel incidental as the cast grew AND many of the characters brought new - arguably better - perspectives + powers into the fray. Avatar made the simple but VERY important decision to say, "This is the ONLY GUY who can do this job. Sure, he's going to need a lot of help and saving the world is absolutely a team effort, but that team revolves around him because he is, again, the ONE PERSON who can accomplish this." RWBY failed to set that up and (arguably) failed to show the group being The Good Guys, at least to the extent that the whole world would understandably put their faith in a teenager who, frankly, just keeps making things worse. Like, that's a big consideration imo. Ruby's intentions have always been good and most fans are fully on her side regarding justifications for her choices, so in that sense she is absolutely The Good Guy, but beyond that she's just really bad at saving the world. So if she's not somehow ordained to do it and continually shows a severe lack of skill in this regard... why are the characters/the viewer rooting for her again?

[thequeenofsastiel]

My thoughts on Red, White, and Royal Blue the movie(spoilers for the book and movie)

I'll start with the good parts:

The casting was very good. I loved Uma Thurman as Ellen Claremont-Diaz.

The main characters had excellent chemistry, and the scenes in which they were intimate were well directed. They genuinely seemed to desire each other.

Building on that last point, I appreciated the fact that the movie didn't dial down the fact that they were extremely sexually attracted to each other. It didn't try to desexualize(yes that's a word now) them in order to make it more palatable for people who are still homophobic. Granted, it's unlikely that very homophobic people would watch the movie, but I can imagine people who are at least somewhat homophobic getting persuaded to watch it by someone they love. This movie didn't cater to that audience, and I think that's great.

The movie did a good job at showing us their texts and emails in a way that's more enjoyable than just having us see their texts. It effectively made them cinematic.

It was very funny when it wanted to be, and moving when it wanted to be.

The score was excellent.

Now onto things I didn't like:

They shouldn't have gotten rid of Alex's sister, June. She was a significant part of his life and I think the movie suffered for not having her there.

While I understand changing the fact that Ellen got divorced made things simpler, and wasn't relevant to the main plot in any way, I still would have preferred it if that had stayed the same.

I wish they hadn't gotten rid of Rafael Luna. I totally get it, he was an expendable character, and the movie was already two hours long. They didn't need him figuring out that Richards was spying on Alex and Henry to win the election. That plot point could be tossed aside. I still didn't like it.

I absolutely hated the fact that Alex didn't fly to England asap to see Henry the way he did in the book, and emotionally supported Henry for quite a bit.

I also disliked the fact that Henry's mother wasn't there to support him. It was inspiring to see the way her son's distress drove her out of her depression so she could be there for him. The way she stood up to her mother to protect Henry was one of my favorite scenes in the novel, and I was crushed that they just tossed that to the side.

I detest that Alex gave a speech confirming their relationship without consulting Henry. In the novel they made that decision together and Henry was right by his side. The movie made it seem like he was outing Henry without Henry's consent, and that's a big no-no in the queer community. We don't out each other. Ever. For all movie Alex knew, Henry was planning on calling the emails a hoax. The movie did Alex dirty.

"History, huh?" In the book, that was something that got said in one of their emails, and people took that quote and made shirts about it. It made me cry. I hate that they changed it.

I also feel like they should have included more emails. In the novel, Henry and Alex grow more and more verbally affectionate with each other even before the "I love you," so it felt a lot more natural in the book when Alex was ready to say it.

It's hard for me to grade this movie, because I'm comparing it to the book, which I know is very often a bad idea. But still. This movie was a lot of fun. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it didn't feel like I was watching the book on fast forward with some of my favorite scenes cut out. If you haven't read the novel, I do recommend it. They did a good job adapting it to the screen, despite what they cut out. For the most part, the things that got cut weren't crucial to the plot, so the movie didn't feel incomplete. My biggest gripe is about Alex giving the speech without Henry. It made him look bad. In the novel, Alex was very, very cautious about making sure that Henry was entirely ready to come out to the world. He was encouraging without being overtly pressuring. So to have him confess to the world without talking to Henry first...it was deeply upsetting.

Still, overall it's a good movie. I'll probably rewatch it at some point, though if I do it with other people I might be the obnoxious person going "ACHTUALLY, IN THE BOOK--"

I will say, I think the movie was too short for the novel. It should have been three hours long, so they could have included all the events and people that were cut out. But honestly I tend to think that in general movies are too short. It's probably why I prefer television series.

Thanks for reading!

[tortoisesshells]

Oooh! Can you tell me more about no longer sparkles off in smoke? 🌻

It's not much right now - partly because I've got a crisis about what the story is supposed to be. I started thinking about it as a post-script/series of missing scenes after Laura Murdoch Collins's (apparent, temporary) death/the end of the Phoenix arc in D.ark S.hadows, because the show ... never really assigned any emotional significance to it - the David lost his mother again, after she tried to kill him; that Roger was made a widower by it, even though that marriage was DOA; that Burke lost someone he had loved, and one of two people who could have proved that he'd been falsely convicted of manslaughter 10 years ago - setting aside the latest proof of supernatural monsters running around Collinsport. Then, too, there's Josette's ghost's disappearance from the narrative, and how that affects Vicki - who's depended on her intercession at key moments?

(whenever I talk about this show, please know I am aware of how nuts I sound.)

But now I'm not sure - is it more about Laura and her past lives? is it about Vicki's own ambivalence about what happened? Am I trying to compare and contrast Laura and Josette as women dead before their time, continually haunting the Collinses through the generations?

I suppose some of that ambivalence is coming out in the different starting paragraphs I have for it:

There was no question of finding jasmine in Collinsport, at this time of year or any other; Vicki had only, with Mrs. Stoddard’s permission, to take the flowers from the greenhouse that would best suit the grave, and hope that Josette would take them in the spirit they were given – relief, gratitude, friendship. It was only that on her way out the door she crossed paths with Burke, returning David, and on telling him she was going to Eagle Hill he offered to join her.

versus,

Laura Murdoch Collins wasn’t dead, and there wasn’t anything but her ashes to bury; Vicki had laid down her handfuls of hothouse blooms on Josette Collins’s grave as thanks to her, but there was no easy place to remember Laura – not until she and Burke had gone on to the old Stockbridge burying ground, and stood solemnly by the still-disturbed earth of one of Laura’s former graves.

"I'm sorry," she said, at long last.

WIP Title Ask Game

[cottoncandy-cult]

Babyfication

Welcome to the first event of my account the babyfication event! A dorm-based event in which a sudden accident leaves Yuu the dear reader turned into toddler/infant and now your significant other has to play daddy until the magic wears off or the semi functioning adults (We see and appreciate you Master Crewel) find a way to fix it! Proceed forward to read the intro, I do plan to do all of the dorms. Not sure what order I'll go in, Heartslabyul will probably be split in 2 since it has 5 main members. It will be written as a reader insert, she/her pronouns used. This is completely sfw, I'm sure you all saw that coming.

INTRO:

It had been a somewhat chaotic day at Night Raven College, everyone had seemed frazzled and busy with what could be considered nonsense. Many students seemed to have an unsettled energy, making them fidgety and act a bit more immature than they normally would. So, it was no surprise that by the end of the day when everyone was in the middle of their last classes that some people were acting out, for (Y/n) at least this was the case as she stood at her cauldron in professor Crewel's potionology class. This was a joint class, and so all of the first years had a second or third year partner, her partner happened to be Lilia, which was certainly interesting. Each individual group was assigned a different potion to make at random, (Y/n) and Lillia got a simple potion off the luck of the draw and so their potion was meant to make one's hair change color like a mood ring. (Y/n) had just walked away from the cauldron to get the professor to have their potion checked when a small spat broke out between a set of nameless partners nearby, the fight had started with a harsh push causing the male closest to her to fall and knock her over while spilling a deep blue potion in a beaker down her chest. These two unlucky boys had a more advanced potion that required 2 separate potions to be made and then mixed, everyone had been glad they hadn't gotten that one. (Y/n) had just enough time to look down at the blue liquid on her skin, mumbling a quiet expletive before the liquid seemed to explode into smoke hard enough to knock her on her back. Sounds around her had been shuffled and blurry as she became lightheaded, vaguely aware of Crewel yelling at the fighting partners as he tried to find her in all the smoke. It wasn't until a sudden burst of wind, thanks to Lilia, cleared the smoke from the room that Crewel found (Y/n). A YOUNG (Y/n), practically drowning in her own clothes which were no way to big. She had been lying on her back unconscious in the middle of the floor. Her tiny body showed that she had been reverted to a toddler-esq state, leaving the teacher muttering his own string of expletives as all the students stood against the far wall. Crewel turned to face Lilia who stood nearby, quietly observing the scene. "Mr.Vanrouge, since she's your partner I'll supplement your grade if you can find someone to take care of her. And you two!" The dual tone male turned to face the wall of students, pointing at the offending pair. "You're coming with me to see the headmage, you've made an awful mess for us you bad puppies." He crossed his arms with a huff, dismissing the students early so he can have the room cleaned up while he deals with the problematic males. Lilia quietly watched as everyone left the room, making his way over to the frailest of children he had ever interacted with. "Hey there (Y/n), don't worry. Lilia will get you somewhere safe." He was surprisingly gentle when scooping up the baby, as not only was she technically his friend but she was a magicless human infant which made her like the thinnest of glass when compared to him. He chose to fly when carrying her, not wanting to disturb her until he had gotten her to the right dorm...

Where Will You Go?

Diasomnia

Heartslabyul

Ignihyde

Octavinelle

Savanaclaw

Scarabia

Pomefiore

[moistvonlipwig]

C/A Week Day 6: Favorite Cangel Centric Episode

**It’s hard for me to choose a favorite Cangel episode since there are so many amazing ones, so for this Cangel Appreciation Week I’m spotlighting an episode that I think doesn't get enough love.**

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 2.06 "HALLOWEEN"

Spooky season is upon us, so it's only fitting I talk about this iconic episode of Buffy from way back before Angel and Cordelia were spun off to their own better series.

There's a lot to like in this episode from an Angel/Cordelia perspective. Cordelia's crush on Angel is very cute, and her obliviousness to his status as a vampire is very funny. They work surprisingly well together even this early on as they try to get Buffy and Xander to safety.

I want to highlight two scenes in particular, the ones that the above screencaps are from. The first is the scene in the Bronze where Cordelia, stood up by Devon, joins Angel for coffee while he's waiting for Buffy. This scene is rather famous among Angel/Cordelia fans, and for good reason: Angel laughs. Genuinely. Multiple times, even. Angel, who up to this point in the show has not indicated a significant capacity for emotions that aren't "brooding" and "being into Buffy", is legitimately enjoying Cordelia's roast of Devon's car. He thinks she's funny! He's having fun! It's an unintentional premonition of what their relationship will look like in Angel: the two of them laughing with each other and being snobby about cars together.

The second scene I want to talk about is the one in the alleyway where they're trying to calm Buffy down. This scene delights me mostly for the Look™ they give each other when Buffy starts shouting about Angel being a vampire. What cracks me up about that look is how they both are exasperated for totally different reasons but they're both so convinced they're on the same page that they end up being in sync. They only fall out of sync once Cordelia starts explaining to Angel that Buffy thinks he's a vampire, and Angel does this hilarious double-take in the background where he suddenly realizes that he and Cordelia are not actually on the same page after all. It's a great example of their comedic chemistry together which is part of why their characters work so well as a duo.

Cordelia also rallies admirably in this scene, making up an accidentally true story about Angel being a "good vampire" and telling Buffy that Angel is "our friend" -- something I'm sure felt good for Angel to hear. It's a pity we never get to see Cordelia officially discovering that Angel is a vampire; that would've been fun to see.

Thematically, this episode is also an overall interesting one for Angel and Cordelia. Both are relegated to the relative background compared to Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles, but they still have roles to play. "Halloween" is an episode about costumes and masks, about the aspects of themselves that our characters hide from the world or wish they could display. Angel doesn't wear a costume in this episode, but in a sense he's always wearing a costume; whether the costume is the demon or the man is a question that haunts him well into his own show. Cordelia, on the other hand, does wear a costume, but on a more metaphorical level is never wearing a costume, hence why (on a metatextual level) she doesn't get caught up in Ethan's spell; she is utterly comfortable in her own skin and feels no need to hide or filter any part of herself.

It's interesting, then, to read the scene in the Bronze through this lens: a scene in which Cordelia is so unapologetically at ease with herself that she cuts right through Angel's many masks to get to the part of him that's just some guy who loves cars. And then what does she do, once she's uncovered that part of him? She does what she always does -- she makes him laugh.

[arcticgraverobber]

I just finished: Metro Exodus!

Compared to the previous Metro games, this one sure is a whole lot different, which isn't necessarily worse - but if you liked the previous games you won't necessarily like this.

The game play is no way bad, though I didn't enjoy it as much as the other games - this is purely personal preference of course, as I enjoy Survival Horror style game play more. This one still has retains some elements of that, resource management is somewhat present, though it's more akin to a Fallout or Stalker game, instead of Resident Evil or F.E.A.R. Most of the horror themes have disappeared as well - whilst I'm not entirely sure if I would call the originals horror games, (if i need a single term I'd probably go for post-apocalyptic, the kind of thing I would think as being sterotypically Slavic) but they were certainly more so than this. Less fighting monsters, more fighting human 'survivors'. Most of the monsters you see are Zombies now, which I'm fairly sure weren't in the others, The game has a shockingly low number of mutants.

Along with horror, the sci-fi parts have also taken a hit, I almost forgot playing through this that the other games were mostly about psychic neohumans? The concept feels so at odds with the new direction they took this one. You might wonder, if it's not horror, not sci-fi, what is this new direction? Well of course it's still very much working within the Post-apocalyptic genre, focusing on disputes between various groups with differing political outlooks, as the survivors fight to stay alive - Exodus, however, focuses a lot more on that second part than the previous games, fleshing out the various characters far more and actually making me remember their names, or at least the fact they existed at all.

You have a small squad of characters that you stick with throughout the whole game, and each of them has at least something to distinguish them, even if it's fairly small (I'm pretty sure there's the staple one guy who likes food). I did find myself somewhat caring about them as the game went on, which is a huge change from the previous games where every character felt throwaway - I suppose part of this is a shift of the protagonist - Artyom's - perspective, previously no one in his life lasted long enough to get attached to, everyone almost immediately died or betrayed him -but now he has attained a stable social group, and a family. Speaking of which, Anna is the biggest change for the better, like many other games, now she and Arytom are married she has moved on from being the destined love interest, and she is allowed to be more of character in her own right.

It might seem odd that I haven't talked about the shooting or anything in what is primarily an FPS, but the characters storytelling was what really stood out to me in this game. Yes, it is fun to modify your guns to suit your play style and sneak around quietly shooting everyone - the Tikhar (air gun) is particularly cool in this one, and is given a lot of attention - but the how much the story moved me was kind of a shock. I'm not sure if other's will agree - I can see how people would just see it as stiff, or maybe tropey, but it hit me in a way I can't quite explain. - I actually almost cried at the end, even though it didn't come as any surprise.

Grade: B

Significance: 2/3

[mysticlibraryhushbats]

So! Mutant Mayhem is finally here and I took the day off work to go to the first showing this morning like a weirdo! I just wanted to share my initial thoughts on the movie now that I'm fresh out and haven't unblocked the Mutant Mayhem tag to see what others have been saying.

(Most of these come down to personal preference so, if you read something you don't like, don't come for me!)

First things first, the turtles!!! I love, love, LOVE them!!! This is honestly the first time I've had difficulty picking a fav. They were the highlight of the movie for me.

I don't think I've ever said this about Leo, but OMG he was adorable!! Such a good boi! I'm glad they cut that whole 'holier than thou' attitude he often gets lumped with. He was just out here doing his best and trying to have fun along the way.

Raph is my son. I have adopted him.

Donnie is hands down the cutest Donnie ever to exist. 2003 Donnie is still my fav, but I can have two, right?

I have to say that of the four, Mikey was the biggest surprise for me. And in the best way possible! I much prefer when he's not singled out as the stupid one acting dumb or the "funny" one. Sorry to any Mikey fans out there but I find most iterations of Mikey to be insufferable, and there're only three I actually genuinely like (including this one)! I like that he's on equal footing with his brothers. They are all dumb and funny together, and Mikey isn't fighting for their attention.

I was also super happy to see that no one turtle had the spotlight. They were very much a unit.

Return of the batman voice, this time ft. Leo!

The turtle tots were cute little chicken nuggets!! Really makes me want to get back into writing turtle tot fics!

This Splinter was really leaning into the stressed single father side of Splinter's persona more so than any other version. I'm here for it! He still kicked ass!

Another teen April. I'd prefer an older April that looks out for the turtles like an older sister tbh. I miss those days. But still, she was a great April all things considered!!

I could have done without the Leo/April stuff. I get that as teenagers they're going to have crushes, but any Turtle x April ship gives me the ick.

On that note, is Raph the only turtle to not have a significant crush on April in the whole franchise?!

The other mutants were enjoyable. None of them really stood out to me personally. Though, every Ray Fillet scene had me creased thinking about Postie in the recording booth. I'm glad that in the end they all sided with the turtles and they have a nice little found family going.

Splinter and his girlfriend!! 😂 It's about time!

WTF happened to Splinter that had him so concerned about them being milked. I mean, he was right in the end but, who hurt you child?

The animation style took a little getting used to but I thought it was very creative and interesting. The random shots from "real-life" like Ferris Bueller and the Chris' were a bit jarring, but funny nonetheless.

The whole "No Diggity" montage...*chef kiss* The 4 Non Blondes part was hilarious too!

I loved all the pop-culture references, but I think maybe it was a little excessive? I would have preferred if they left those primarily for the turtles. Instead, every character was a pop-culture connoisseur trying to out do the other characters.

Related to that point, I'm in Japan, so I felt bad for the non-English speaking Japanese watching this movie because there's only so much you can do with subtitles. 90% of the pop-culture references would go over the average viewers' head here, and yet, most of the comedy was contingent on these references. No one laughed. No one. (tbf, that's common in theaters in Japan regardless of how funny something is, but even so, I can't imagine it being very humorous to a non-English speaking adult here.) I might try the dubbed version just to compare. There's more freedom in dubbing but I can't see it being too much better.

That's all I got for now! I'm sure I forgot to mention a bunch of stuff. I will be going to see the movie again next week, and I'll probably have more to add after a second watch. But for now, I really enjoyed it. As a fan of the darker versions of the TMNT, I know I'm not the target audience for these things anymore. Coming to that realization today was a depressing thought. I had a great time watching for sure and I'm excited to have a lot of new fans joining the fandom!

I'm not sure if this movie cracks the top 5 of my favorite turtles but it's up there for sure. I give it a solid 7/10.

[1001albumsrated]

#26: Miriam Makeba - Miriam Makeba (1960)

Genre(s): Afropop, World

I don't want to sidebar on it too much, but let me start by saying that Miriam Makeba was a truly incredible person. Take some time and learn about her life, she did some impressive work and fearlessly stood up for black liberation both in South Africa and here in the states, often at great personal risk. It's tangential to the material on the album so I don't want to devote a lot of space to it, but it's significant enough that I'd be remiss to not mention it.

As for the album: the very, very abridged version of the story is that Miriam moved to the states from Johannesburg in the middle of apartheid and met Harry Belafonte, who mentored her and gave her an in to the music industry. In fact, his backing band plays throughout this album.

The tracklist is a mix of African folk songs and Western standards, and the sound is a similar combination. I'm not an expert on traditional African music by any means, but this is very sedate compared to the field recordings/etc I've heard of African music as performed in Africa by local musicians. This aesthetic was a very smart move on Miriam's part, as it surely was much more appealing to a Western audience than the "more authentic" versions of these songs would be, and as a result helped kickstart Western interest in "world music" (for the record, I've never liked the idea of bulk-batching all non-Western traditional music into one pseudo-genre; Japanese shakuhachi music has as little to do with Indian classical music or African folk songs as jazz does with heavy metal or European classical music. What a bullshit big business music industry concept it is to just throw it all under one card in the record store.)

That being said, I also find this "blended" sound much less appealing than the other African music I've heard from the era. Don't get me wrong, her singing is excellent. There's just something missing for me here. It's all a little too loungey. It's not a bad listen, but I find myself losing interest throughout and tuning it out a bit. I think this album possesses immense historical and cultural significance, but MUST you hear it before you die? I'm conflicted on this one, but I'm leaning towards No. I think if you have a personal interest in the history of African music it's essential, but I feel like there are better options out there that would be of more interest to the average listener. There's a wide assortment of comparatively-high-quality field recordings of traditional African music out there from the usual suspects (Smithsonian Folkways, JVC World Sounds, etc) if you want the real McCoy, and there are more interesting albums from later down the road that blend African music with Western sounds to greater effect in my opinion (Afreaka! by Demon Fuzz and Lazy Bones!! by Witch both come to mind, listed in order of exclamation, as well as the obvious picks like Fela Kuti or Songhoy Blues, both of whom I believe we'll hear later in the project).

Also, for the nerds, I listened to this one in hi-res on Qobuz. I've ran across the record before, but never could bring myself to drop the cash on it.

Next time, pull on up to the soda fountain and hit the drive-in with your gal with A Date With the Everly Brothers!

[taiblogcomics]

Everyone Deals With Jerks

Hey there, disquieting wetness. Welp, we got more Countdown today. That should be obvious! We're not even far enough in to be quippy in the preamble! Let's just get this over with~

Here's the cover:

You know, at least this cover is pretty cool. I'll certainly give it that. Very symbolic! A giant hand (that of the Monitor) clutching the Earth in its grasp, symbolising the power he holds over it. Already a cool-ass image! And then you've got the heroes painfully chained to it, just as they are to their duty. And that we'll be introduced to Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner this issue! My one question, though: where did the chains come from? Like, they're tiny compared to the Monitor's hand. Is making very tiny glowing chains part of his powerset? What is his powerset, while we're at it~?

So this weekly multiverse-spanning maxi-series event starts with the murder of Duela Dent, AKA Joker's Daughter. Jason Todd was witness to the Monitor committing the deed, but he doesn't know the significance of that. Mary Marvel is friendless and powerless, and looking to cure both. The Rogues are planning a big crime and doing drugs, which is probably already a crime. Karate Kid has amnesia. And Jimmy Olsen goes to Arkham to interview the Joker, who has no real connection to Duela. Finding out it was a waste of time, Jimmy goes to leave, failing his perception check for Killer Croc getting loose just behind him.

Thankfully we open immediately to Arkham Asylum. If you're going to end the last issue on a cliffhanger, you better have the courtesy to immediately pick up that cliffhanger next time. But yeah, even though last issue ended with Croc right behind Jimmy, this one spends a whole page of Jimmy walking away, holding a phone conversation with Lois, putting up some dramatic irony about how of course he's safe, do you know whose Pal he is? All while Croc rushes up behind him and attacks. But Jimmy somehow isn't murdered. Instead, he takes a two-page spread to stretch out of the way like rubber!

Jimmy elasti-kicks Croc away, then shrinks back to human proportions. Croc has no idea how Jimmy did that, but before he can attack again, the Arkham guards finally catch up and shock Croc full of 1.21 gigawatts to knock him out. They somehow didn't see Jimmy do the stretchy thing, so they're like "Wow, super cool how you stood your ground against Croc, how did you know he wouldn't gut you?" And Jimmy can only muse that he thought Croc had. Well, Jimmy, I'm sure that's nothing to worry about and will make complete sense in the long run.

Now we cut over to the Monitors, who are busy doing the thing they're most famous for in this series. Yes, surprisingly murdering Duela Dent is somehow not the most famous idiotic action these celestial crum-bums are responsible for (though she is the topic of the current meeting). No, what they're most famous for in this series is sitting on their asses and arguing with each other. If you've seen Linkara's reviews, you already know the words. Everyone say it with me: "We should do something!" "Should we do something?"

Let's put that aside. Instead, we go back up to the JLA satellite HQ, where Karate Kid is being held. He seems to have come to his senses. Our old friend Roy Harper is standing guard, and this is when Roy was still Red Arrow. Neither Cry for Justice nor his stupid trucker hat have happened yet, and I miss this Roy. Roy's like "What sucks so much in the future that you're back here", and ha ha, just you wait, Roy. Here in 2024, loads of us would love to go back to 2007, so imagine how bad it is in a thousand years. Heck, Roy, you were dead after Heroes in Crisis, you didn't even live to see the pandemic!

Over on the very specific location of "the eastern seaboard", there's a fat guy in a silk robe wiring some funds by phone on his private yacht. As soon as he's done transferring the cash, he tosses his phone aside and then tosses himself overboard. That's when you get the reveal of the Rogues, Pied Piper having used his hypnotic music to manipulate the guy into doing that. Well, no complaints, I guess. They are villains, and that guy was a rich CEO. Hell, frankly I'd side with the supervillains before I'd side with a billionaire~

So this little stunt was essentially an initiation test for Trickster and Piper to get them into the upcoming scheme. Piper transfers the money to Mirror Master's account and he confirms it. Piper then leans over, presses one button on the laptop and it sends the money out of his account. Mirror Master's furious, but Piper says "Now we're even for killing my parents", and Mirrors goes with it. Wow, held the conflict for almost four panels. He then walks off to confirm their position in the upcoming heist with Captain Cold.

Piper then secretly reveals he hypnotised the CEO guy to be immune to getting tired swimming to shore. So he's probably going to die of exhaustion either way. Trickster (who contributed nothing) then bullies Piper into giving him the money to keep it quiet that he spared the CEO. Piper agrees, and we see a Homeless Children charity suddenly realise they gained then lost a $100,000,000 donation in the span of a few seconds. Maybe it was a glitch? So we've established that Piper is a secret good person working with assholes, and Trickster is an asshole leeching off other assholes. Great!

So do you remember last issue how Madame Xanadu told Mary Marvel to stay away from Gotham City for her own good? Well, Mary Marvel is in Gotham, and she's running from some thugs. Who could have predicted this outcome~? A literal psychic~? She ducks into a mosque to evade them, and is briefly startled by its familiar-looking architecture. As she's trying to escape the asshats, who drop a racist term just so you know they suck, they suddenly get picked off violently by someone else in the building. Someone who doesn't like either intruders or racists. The comic ends with the reveal that it's Black Adam, who may hate being disturbed, but is intrigued to run into Mary Marvel…

Well, I guess first thing, I want to retract my kudos to the cover for being good, because not only did it feature characters who aren't in the comic, it still hasn't introduced Donna or Kyle to the cast. Some folks complain when the cover has spoilers on it for things that happen in that particular issue. This one has spoilers on the cover for things that haven't even happened yet! Truly well done. Other than that, yeah. The running theme of this issue is that everyone is an asshole. Except Jimmy, Piper, and Mary Marvel (and her day will come, trust me). Like, this issue isn't infuriating or anything. But we're three issues in and there's nobody to root for. A recurring theme for the rest of the series, as you'll see!

[ninlilwinds]

hi again!! thank you sm for doing my request(the cuddling one), i loved it a lot💜 if it isn't much could i request platonic venti, scaramouche? xiao and childe x fem best friend reader with the same prompt as the girls when they hear someone insulting their lover but it's the best friend one this time? i hope this is clear and if not excuse me cuz english isn't my first language😅 have a lovely day!!

Character Defending Fem! Best friend! Reader!

Hi thank you for the request! Of course here you go! I hope you like it! And don't worry English is not my first language either so any mistakes I make please let me know!

Plot: Character hears someone speaking badly about their best friend. How will they react? Also, at the bottom I will have a link to a similar prompt where it's genshin girls and their girlfriends! Check that out if you have the chance!

Characters: (In order) Venti, Scaramouche, Xiao, Childe

Warning: Not Proofread.

Venti  

I don't see Venti getting too offended at first. He knows it's just words of mouth and don't hold much significance.  

Soon they will be gone with the wind.  

But more and more people join in...well that was different now. A breeze was one thing, a strong  wind another  

After hearing the insults for a while by a guy you rejected earlier that day and his pals, Venti grew more and more impatient. He walked over and waved, "hello fellow friends! What are we talking about?"  

Everyone knew you were Venti's best friend. They'd often see you and Venti walking around. When it came to matters of you, he would have zero shame. He was willing to have his reputation ruined.  

"Oh nothing important."  

Venti's cold smile was unwavering, "Oh really? Well, who wants to hear a melody about evil backstabbers getting what they deserve? I'm getting sudden inspiration." He said taking his lyre out.  

As soon as he strummed the first few chords he wind around the group picked up, blasting their hairs in their faces and making them lose their footing.  

"Oh what's this? Best we all leave seems like a storm is coming." He said in a fake worry.  

They all ran out and walked off, a sudden tornadoes following after him. Venti heard your family voice down below and when he looked over the wall u had just finished talking to Amber and were walking into the city. The winds calmed and he smiled running over to you, "(Y/N)!!" He hugged you, and even though he knew you hadn't heard the insults, he still felt the need to compliment you, "You're amazing, dealing with so many low lives and waste of times you know. Maybe we should celebrate with some wine!"  

You glared at him, "This is just an excuse to get me to buy you a drink you suck up. I haven't even gotten home yet."  

"Aw come on (Y/N). It'll be fun~" He dragged you to the bar. This was going to be an interesting night  

He made sure those guys always had an intolerable wind following them.  

Scaramouche  

The way you and Scara became friends was odd. He found you as such an amazing person compared to his murderous and dark self. Being around you was refreshing  

There isn't one thing he wouldn't do to make you happy. Well, maybe some things but that list is very small  

So he isn't scared to put some people in their place 

The girl had always been your "rival". Well, you personally held no grudge against her, but she had always loathed that in training you were always slightly better  

"You know the only reason she is actually good is because that harbinger in on her side. Besides that she's worthless." The girl scoffed. 

Her friend looked around nervously, "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here..."  

The girl rolled her eyes, "Oh what's gonna happen? Am I gonna hurt her feelings? Boohoo." She said sarcastically.  

Scaramouche stood behind her, his shadow looming over her, "I wouldn't let that happen. I'll give you five seconds to run, but only because I want some entertainment out of this." 

The girl froze and turned around slowly, "S-sir, I can explai-" 

"One."  

"Wait I didn't mean to-" 

"Two."  

The friend began to ran, the girl too frozen in fear to move.  

"Three." 

That snapped the girl out and she began to ran as fast as she could. She turned the corner and you could hear her whimpers outside. Scaramouche counted the four in his head and he was about to begin the chase when you came into the room. 

"Oh hey Scara. Why did that girl run out of here so scared. You're not being a jerk again are you?" You crossed your arms.  

Scaramouche knew if he told you why she was running, you'd find out about the insults, but maybe that would be a wakeup call, "She was speaking ill of you."  

You frowned and remained silent then smiled, "Well thanks for defending me, but next time don't threaten them with death. It’s not that serious and I already know she hates me."  

What you said didn't sit right with him. No one should be bath mouthing you. But as long as you were ok, he would stay out of it. Away but close enough to intervene at any moment 

Xiao  

Wow this is hard. How would he react? I mean who would even dare insult you knowing you have a vigilant Yaksha on your side 

But someone staying at an inn, someone who has too much pride, bumped into you. You were carrying a tray of Almond Tofu for Xiao and you spilled it all over her 

She was furious and insulted you for a bit but then stormed off to a balcony to talk with the other friend she was with  

"First day here and I'm already meeting the waste of breaths that Liyue has. I should've stayed home." She huffed. 

"I know right. I mean you were right there. Is she blind or something?" Her friend agreed.  

The girl shook her head, "I'm filing a complaint. She looked like an employee. I hope her clumsy self loses her job."  

Xiao at first stayed away from it, but then he saw you coming up the steps towards the balcony, and he knew you'd be upset. So, he did the only thing he knew how to.  

Putting his mask on he appeared in front of the girls, "Leave." He said. 

The two girls yelped in surprise and stepped back, "Who are you?" 

Xiao took his spear out. Apparently his point wasn't coming across clearly enough. He pointed it at them and then after a long pause he repeated himself, "I said, leave."  

The girls both looked at each other and ran away, back to their rooms.  

He swore never to hurt a human, but those two girls were making his promise very very hard to keep. Are those things considered humans? More like monster in human flesh.  

You finally made your way up the steps with a fresh platter of Almond Tofu, "Sorry I took so long. I had a small inconvenience." You said walking over to him. 

He gratefully accepted the tofu you, "I know." He stated coldly, still bitter. 

"Ah I don’t pay much mind to it." You waved it off, "People like them are all...very rude."  

They didn't stay another night, and never filed that complaint. They ran out of the inn in the middle of the night when Xiao decided to scare them. He couldn't hurt humans directly, but scaring them wasn't on the list... 

Childe  

He wouldn't tolerate it under his watch. Nope. 

Those people better get ready for some "friendly sparring"  

It was a friend of yours that had recently had an argument with you, who was now speaking badly about you to his sparring partner. The partner only nodded in some points he agreed with, but that was enough to get him punished too  

"I mean she thinks she's all that, but she really isn't." Your friend said, "She lacks in so many areas and really she isn't that smart at picking up clues. She just needs to leave the Fatui. She isn't even fit for this job. She can barely hold her weapon." Your friend ranted.  

His sparring partner eyed Childe warily. He had entered during the middle of the fight and your friend hadn't noticed him at first. Childe crossed his arm with a cold smile, as if daring him to continue.  

"Um..." The partner parried one of the moves and then called timeout, "I better go."  

Your friend scoffed, "Go where?"  

"Away from here." He pointed towards Childe and then packed up quickly leaving.  

The color from your friends face drained. How much did he hear? He knew Childe. He had hung out with him when you two were together not to mention he's a harbinger. And he also knew how fond he was of you.  

Childe took his dual swords out, "Why not a friendly spar, comrade?" His smile took a devious turned.  

"Sure..." Your friend slowly took his sword and held it at the ready.  

The fight began and Childe held back a lot. He never let out his foul legacy despite how much he wanted to use it. He knew it'd do more harm than good to himself and wasn't worth it. He finally gave his all at the end hitting your friend so hard he dropped to the floor panting 

"Done already?" Childe stood over them, "How disappointing." He turned around, putting his blades away, "And in the future, I would suggest you don't speak so ill of (Y/N). Or anyone."  

In the little bit of strength your friend had, he nodded. And with that, Childe walked away, not spending another minute in the same room as him.  

He had your friend transferred away. As upset as you were about him leaving without you guys making up, once a backstabber always a backstabber. He didn't trust your friend to better himself. And so you barely saw your friend again  

[literaryobsession]

meeting the parents || bakugo x fem!reader (part 1)

summary: katsuki meets your mother

warning: not proofread as always and cursing, of course

note: reader is Pro Hero Mermaid

It was so weird that after almost three years of dating, you've never been properly introduced to each other's families. So, the two of you decided, it would be the perfect time to meet the parents right after graduation.

"Let's meet your mother first." Katsuki told you after you two finished packing your things from your dorm.

You glance over to your boyfriend who was stacking boxes of your things by your bedroom door, "Why?"

"Because my mom's crazy, you hear me? You might leave me after meeting her again. Tch, as if I'll let you leave." Katsuki Bakugo sat beside you on your bed then let out a breath, "Besides, I'm fucking nervous that I want to get it over with."

"'suki, you and I know how often you call your mother." He acts like he doesn't care about his parents but in reality, he was such a loving son that it makes you feel guilty about not calling your mom as much as he does with his.

"Tch." Bakugo rested a heavy arm over your shoulder, "The hag calls me. I don't call them."

But you both knew the truth.

Because she lived in a different city, your mother had to stay in a hotel to be able to attend your graduation. You joined your mother there after the ceremonial rites, celebrating in the evening since Bakugo will be home with his parents too. Your boyfriend will join you in the next evening for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

You found in the lobby, prompt as always. If there is anything you can rely on Bakugo with, it is his strict adherence to his personal rules. It makes you laugh how compared to him, you were such a mess while he was so organized with his life. He followed his schedule religiously. He slept on time, woke up on time, attended class on ti- you get the gist.

"'suki!" You took his hand when you went to fetch him. "Mom's excited to meet you."

Katsuki gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to keep his composure in check. He wasn't nervous because he was meeting the JP Hero Top 12 Waves, oh no. Although he has tried to study up on your mother the night before. He wasn't nervous because your friends made sure to tell him that it was difficult to please your significant other's parents.

This young man is a nervous wreck because he's meeting the woman who you valued above all. He's meeting the woman who shaped you, trained you, and made you the girl he fell in love with. And Bakugo knew the gravity of this situation, Mina made a point to mention that when she discovered he was meeting your mom.

He held your hand tightly, as though trying to prevent himself to go and bash some villain's face instead. Oh, he's thought about it before and it will be a much comfortable situation for him to be in.

You were confident that your mom will like him because he is all you ever talked about in your messages and she is over the moon at your profound happiness.

When Bakugo entered the restaurant, his eyes immediately found your mother in the sea of faces. His eyes were trained to look for people, items, and details and he could see that your mother's expert eyes were on him as well.

"Mom, this is Katsuki. Katsuki, my mom."

Waves stood up, she was a smaller version of you but you two looked similar. Bakugo could almost imagine that if you were the same age, he would've confused you for twins.

You nudged him, muttering to him that he was staring wide-eyed at the older woman.

"Ah, it is nice to finally meet you." You heard the obvious panic in your boyfriend's voice. Your mother shook his hand and gave him a smile, sending you an amused glance.

"Sit sit." Your mother told Katsuki, who in your opinion never looked more nervous in his life. "So Katsuki, we already ordered. My daughter says you love steak so we got that for you, is that alright?"

You took Bakugo's hand under the table, lacing your fingers with his. He was shaking, you noted quietly as you gave his hand a squeeze.

"Y-yes ma'am."

"You can call me Aomi."

"Oh, yes ma'am... I mean, Aomi. Sorry ma'am."

The entire dinner went well, Bakugo relaxed halfway when your mother asked about the agency he will be joining. It was actually cute how he looked like he wanted to impress your mother. You knew your mother was impressed, Katsuki Bakugo was quite a character.

"Mom, I'll just go to the ladies' room." You kissed your boyfriend's cheek and left them in the table.

Bakugo never told you about what he and your mother talked about in your absence. All he said was that your mother shared embarrassing stories about you but this is what really happened.

With all his courage, Bakugo turned to your mother and said, "I would like to ask your permission so I can marry your daughter."

Aomi coughed at the young man's words. "Marry my daughter? Right now?"

Bakugo chuckled and shook his head, "Not until a few more years, I guess. I would just want you to know how serious I am about your daughter. I promise I will take care of her as I have for the last few years. I love her so much."

In the entire dinner, she can see how the blond looked at you with such fondness in his eyes, how he held your hand with such gentleness as though afraid that you'll break, and how he was unconsciously always facing your way. Katsuki Bakugo loved you more than he can ever explain and Aomi could feel that this young man is ready to give you everything you may ever want from this world. He was so enamored, so in love that she was confident that even if her relationship with your father didn't work out, she knows that yours will.

"I know. I'm not blind."

"Wha-"

"Please take care of her, Katsuki."

That very same day when he met your mother, he has already asked her for your hand.

[sebstanaddict]

Always You

Chapter 3 - Best Friends

Summary

A love story chronicling the love and life of Sebastian Stan and Female!Reader. Inspired by Sebastian Stan's recent love life.

In this chapter we learn more about the nature of Seb and the reader's relationship

Pairings : Sebastian Stan x Female!Reader

Chapters : 3 / 22

Chapter list >

Warning : angst, grief

Word count : 3.2k

New York City - November 2021

It was late when y/n and Sebastian finally decided to call it a night. They had finished the whole pizza and the MasterChef marathon they were watching was finally over. Y/n yawned and stretched.

"I'm tired. I'm gonna go to bed now. Good night Seb." She stood up.

"Night, y/n, sweet dreams, sleep tight, can I get a pillow?" He asked all in one breath.

Y/n laughed.

"Sure thing Seb. Hold on." She went to her room, grabbed a pillow from her bed and an extra blanket from her cupboard. When she got back to her living room Sebastian already took off his shoes, his sweater and his pants and was just in a tight shirt and boxer shorts. She gasped aloud and tried to quickly regain her composure. It wasn't like he was naked. She chastised herself. Seeing him just in his underwear made her remember the first time he saw him only in his underwear back in college. Oh she had such a big crush on him back then, it was embarassing.

"What?" Sebastian asked, aware of how she looked at him.

"Nothing Seb..I just didn't realize you would strip down to your undies." Y/n said, trying to seem like she didn't care. But her heart was actually pounding so fast.

"This is how I sleep.. I mean.. I thought you knew." He shrugged.

Y/n gave him the pillow and blanket and said.

"We have never slept together Seb so I wouldn't know." Y/n said, defending herself.

"We have actually.. remember that night I just broke up with Shelly? You stayed with me all night trying to comfort me. We fell asleep and the next morning Shanon caught us sleeping together and thought you were cheating on Jesse with me." Sebastian laughed.

"Ah..yes..I remember. But you were still fully clothed. So.." she shrugged.

Sebastian stared at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Does seeing me in just my underwear make you feel.. certain things?" He asked huskily.

"No..you remind me of my brother.. that's all." Y/n laughed. Sebastian's jaw dropped.

"Your brother? Ouch!" He said, pretending to be hurt by her statement.

"Yeah, he has those same boxer shorts." Y/n laughed again.

Sebastian threw a pillow at y/n.

"Ow! What's that for?" Y/n protested.

"For making me think that I have a chance with you." Sebastian said without thinking.

"What?" Y/n was just going to throw the pillow back at Sebastian but stopped upon hearing him say those words.

"What did you say Seb?" She asked, her heart pounding.

Sebastian's face turned red and he backtracked.

"Nothing.. I just.. just forget about it." He said. He grabbed the pillow from y/n's hand, put it on the sofa then walked closer to y/n.

He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead and said "Good night y/n. Sweet dreams."

"Good night, Seb." Y/n replied and went to her room feeling like something significant between her and Sebastian just happened. But she decided to brush it off. Maybe she was just hearing things. It was impossible for Sebastian to have feelings for her. She was nothing compared the bombshell girls he had dated in the past. She was sure of it.

Even though y/n was tired she couldn't go straight to sleep. Having someone else in the apartment with her felt strange, even if he wasn't in the same room as she was. She decided to read a book, hoping it would make her sleepy.

She was on the fifth page of her book when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" She called out, knowing full well who it was but decided to tease him anyway.

"It's the monster under your bed." Sebastian answered.

"What do you want monster?" Y/n asked, laughing.

"I'm hungry, I need you to be scared so I can eat your fear! Blaaaaaaargh!" Sebastian opened the door and screamed, trying to scare y/n.

Y/n screamed and jumped from her bed and threw a pillow at him. He dodged the pillow but tripped and fell face first onto her bed. Y/n laughed out loud.

"I'm gonna get you for this!" Sebastian threatened. He got up and started to chase y/n around the room much to her delight. He finally caught her from behind. Y/n tried to get free but he was strong. He hugged her tight and wouldn't let her go. For a moment they just stood together in the middle of the room, Sebastian hugging y/n from behind, y/n laughing and trying to get free. He put his chin on her shoulder and suddenly she could feel her shoulder getting wet. He was crying.

"Seb, are you okay?" Y/n turned around. Sebastian finally let her go. He had tears in his eyes.

"I just..I couldn't sleep. I had so many things in my mind. That's why I knocked. I needed your company." He said, staring at her sadly with his piercing blue eyes.

"I realized that being with you tonight has been the most fun I've had in ages it feels like. And I just.. remembered my dad all of a sudden and..I feel I'm wasting so much time doing unimportant things, you know. I wonder what if I die tomorrow. What legacy would I leave behind? I'm almost 40 and I'm still alone and I have no kids. And I remember 5 years ago I thought I would have..like..at least one kid by now. You know." Sebastian ranted.

"Instead of settling down I'm in a fake relationship just so I could get better roles. And then even if I get better roles, what then? I have no one to share my success with.."

"Seb..stop it! You have your mom..you have me..And you have many friends who love you." Y/n held both his shoulders with her hands and tried to reason with him.

"You're right.. God..I'm such an emotional wreck. I'm sorry y/n." Sebastian sighed.

"Shh..it's okay Seb, it's okay."

She gave him a hug which he accepted gratefully.

"Can I just.. sleep here with you..? I don't think it's a good idea for me to be alone now." Sebastian said, giving y/n puppy dog eyes. He looked so sad that y/n finally gave in.

"Fine..come on." She went to one side of her bed and Sebastian went to the other side. They opened the duvet together and scooted in.

"Hmm.. what's this?" Sebastian pulled out a book from underneath him. It was Sophie's World, the book y/n was reading.

"I was reading that before a monster came barging in." Y/n said flatly. Sebastian laughed.

"After all these years you still read this?" He asked in disbelief.

"What? I did tell you it's the one book I never got bored reading." Y/n said, defending herself.

"Well it is a good book." Sebastian said, opening the first page.

"Read this for me?" Sebastian asked, giving y/n the book back.

"Maybe listening to your voice would calm me..make all the negative thoughts go away." He continued.

"Oh..okay..sure." y/n agreed although she was a little surprised by his request.

Y/n started reading from the first page. As she read Sebastian scooted closer to her. He laid on his left side, and slowly he put his right hand on y/n's lap, making her heart beat faster.

"Sorry.." Sebastian said, referring to the hand he put on her lap.

"I need this right now.." He said giving her another puppy dog eyes, making her heart melt. She squeezed his hand and smiled.

"It's fine Seb. I'm here for you." Y/n said sincerely.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Sebastian said, smiling back.

Y/n turned her attention back to the book and continued reading.

When she reached the second chapter she could hear a soft snore coming from Sebastian. She stopped reading and turned to look at him. He had fallen asleep. His mouth opened a little. His black hair fell over his eyebrows and covered a part of his eyes. He looked so peaceful and innocent, her heart swelled for him. She closed the book, put it on the night stand and laid down. She turned and laid on her side facing Sebastian.

Waking up that morning she didn't expect to end up laying next to Sebastian at night, watching him sleep. She couldn't deny that she still had feelings for him. She loved him even. And somehow she could feel Sebastian probably had feelings for her too. But she didn't want to believe it. She wasn't ready to face the consequences. What she and Sebastian had was more than what other couples usually have. She didn't want to jeopardize their wonderful friendship. If they date and it didn't work out what then? She would then lose a best friend. Something she wasn't ready for. Not to mention the anxiety she would feel whenever he went for work. Especially with another woman. She didn't think she could handle the jealousy. So she convinced herself that just being best friends with Sebastian was enough. Her eyes started to feel heavy and slowly she finally fell asleep, with Sebastian's peaceful sleeping face etched in her mind.

Y/n opened her eyes in a start. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7 am. It was a Saturday so she could sleep in if she wanted, but nature called so she had to wake up.

She got up and walked to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes, still feeling sleepy. She opened the bathroom door and gasped. Sebastian was standing in front of the mirror wearing completely nothing. She could clearly see his chiseled body and even his manhood, making her blush furiously. She completely forgot Sebastian was staying over at her apartment that night.

"Sebastian! What are you doing?!" She protested and closed her eyes with her hand.

"I'm just about to wash my face and take a shower." He answered matter of factly.

"You could've locked the door!" She protested again.

"Sorry y/n. I forgot." He said sheepishly.

"I need to pee. Can you get out for a moment?" Y/n asked while still closing her eyes.

"Fine. By the way, I took the liberty to grab a towel from your cupboard, hope you're okay with it." He said while putting said towel around his waist.

"It's fine Seb. Just please get out." Y/n pleaded.

"Okay." Sebastian said laughing.

She couldn't believe what just happened. How could she forgot Sebastian was staying over. Then again, it was his fault that she walked in on him naked. He didn't lock the door. He wondered if he did it on purpose. She wouldn't put it past him to do something like that. He could be mischievous at times.

After she was done, she went out of the bathroom and found Sebastian in the kitchen, still only wearing a towel, making some coffee.

"Y/n..I'm sorry for surprising you. I made you coffee as a token of my apology." He said, giving her a cup of steaming coffee.

"I added milk and sugar, just as you like it." He winked.

"Thank you Seb. Apology accepted. Just please lock the bathroom door, thank you." She said, accepting the cup of coffee gratefully.

"Yes maam." He said saluting her.

She just rolled her eyes.

While waiting for Sebastian to take a shower, y/n decided to make a smoothie bowl for breakfast. Sebastian was a health nut, she learned a lot about eating healthy and the importance of exercise from him. Not that it mattered. She still didn't exercise as much as she wanted. And eating healthy was a rare occasion for her. She decided to try though, eating healthy, especially since Sebastian was there. Wait..am I trying to impress him? She thought. Why? It's weird. She continued thinking. She shook her head and decided to just eat a bowl of cereal. While eating she ordered flowers from a florist and apple pie from a bakery nearby. She remembered that Sebastian asked her to accompany him to his mom's, and she didn't want to come empty handed.

After she was done eating she decided to make breakfast for Sebastian. She felt it would be rude if she didn't. She decided to make scrambled eggs and just cut up some avocado. She knew eggs and avocado was his favourite for breakfast.

Just moments after she was done preparing breakfast for Sebastian, Sebastian came out of the bathroom, fully clothed this time. He looked fresh and handsome, his black hair combed all the way back. He smelled like her shower gel, which made her laugh.

"What?" Sebastian asked, sitting down on a stool in the pantry.

"I can smell my shower gel wafting from you." Y/n answered.

"Oh..yeah..Jasmine scented. I like it." Sebastian said, sniffing his underarm.

"It's too feminine for you Seb." Y/n laughed.

"Doesn't matter. It smells like you. I love it." Sebastian said, winking at her and making her blush.

"Once you're done flirting with me maybe you can eat. I prepared some breakfast for you." Y/n said, quickly recovering from Sebastian's flirtatious ways. She put the plate of scrambled eggs and cut up avocado on the table in front of Sebastian.

"Aaawww..thank you y/n..you didn't have to." Sebastian said, his eyes shone looking at his favourite breakfast.

"Mmm..this is soo good. Thank you y/n. You're the best." Sebastian said as he chewed the scrambled eggs.

"No problem Seb." She smiled.

Y/n took a seat on the stool next to him. She wanted to check Instagram before she takes a shower. She remembered she was just talking to a friend on Instagram and wanted to know what her friend had replied her with.

She opened her cellphone and when she was about to open her dm, she came across a picture of Ana who seemed to be in an apartment, sitting in front of a window. She rolled her eyes. Ana was baiting Sebastian's fans. She deliberately sat in front of his apartment's window. Clearly wanting to make his fans upset.

"Hey Seb..look at your girlfriend." Y/n showed the picture of Ana to Sebastian. Sebastian looked at it and scoffed.

"She's baiting again.. surprise surprise.." Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Look at the comments though..people hate her." Y/n said, reading the comments.

"Again..surprise..surprise.." Sebastian commented.

"No Seb.. your fans know about your dad somehow..they're trashing her for being so insensitive. Baiting while you're in mourning.. " y/n said in disbelief.

"My fans are resourceful. I agree with them. She doesn't have a single bone of empathy in her body." Sebastian commented, clearly disgusted by Ana's behavior.

"Remind me again why you're doing this?" Y/n asked, referring to his PR relationship.

"Roles.. they promised to give me better roles y/n.. and money of course." He sighed.

"Have they?" Y/n asked.

"Have they what?" Sebastian asked.

"Given you money and better roles?" She asked.

"I've only gotten like 10% of the money that they promised me. And about the roles..well.. that's open for debate." He shrugged.

"You know, you were doing well in terms of getting interesting roles before you signed up to this. I still don't get why you think you need to do this." Y/n commented.

"Well..If you had listened to me when I first asked you about this you would know why I decided to do this." Sebastian protested, his tone a little high.

"I'm sorry.. I just hate looking at you being miserable with her. I mean.. you're losing fans because of her. People are cancelling you because of her. Your image turned for the worse since you signed up to this." Y/n said matter of factly.

Sebastian sighed.

"I know.. you don't have to rub it in my face y/n."

"I'm sorry..I didn't mean to upset you. Isn't there anyway you could get out of this? Ask to stop the contract early? I mean..it doesn't seem to bring her any advantage either." Y/n pointed out.

"I can ask to stop the contract early but she also has to agree to it. I actually have asked her, right after her having done cultural appropiation thing came out to light, but she didn't want to stop the contract." Sebastian explained.

"If you break the contract what will happen?" Y/n asked. "I mean..what are the consequences written down in the contract?" She continued asking.

"I'm not going to get paid. In fact, I will be charged a certain amount of fine. And the agency is gonna fire me as their client, basically." Sebastian said, his head hung.

"Oh that's bad." Y/n commented. Her heart broke for him. She didn't realize the stakes were that high for him.

"Yeah.. can we talk about something else please?" Sebastian said. He finished his breakfast and took a glass of water.

"Sorry. Hey, what time do you want to go to your mom's?" Y/n asked.

"Whenever you're ready y/n." Sebastian answered.

"Okay, I'm just gonna take a shower and we can go. I'll be right back." She said, hopping off the stool and went to the bathroom.

After she was done taking a shower and getting ready, she went out of her room and found Sebastian at the door, accepting a bouquet of flowers and apple pie she had ordered earlier.

"Thank you, man." Sebastian said to the delivery man and closed the door. He turned around and saw y/n walking towards him.

"Oh y/n. These came for you." Sebastian said, giving her the flowers and pie.

"Oh yeah, they came right on time, thank God." Y/n commented, accepting them from Sebastian.

"Oh..you ordered them yourself? I thought you got these from like..a secret admirer..or something." Sebastian said, he looked relief somehow.

"No.. they're not for me silly. They're for your mom." She said, putting the flowers and pie on the kitchen table.

"Oh..you don't have to y/n. That's very sweet of you." Sebastian said, surprised at her kind gesture.

"I just feel I should bring something. That's all..no big deal." She smiled.

"Well, thank you..I really appreciate it." Sebastian said, giving her a loving look he usually reserved for his girlfriends. She blushed and smiled.

"You're welcome, Seb."

Sebastian continued staring at her for a moment longer. She was sure now that he gave her the same look he gave his previous girlfriends, a look of love and pure adoration, making her heart flutter. He walked closer to her and hugged her, then gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you y/n. I don't know what I've done to deserve a friend as kind, loving and caring as you are. I don't know what I would do without you." He said, hugging her again so tight. Her heart plummeted hearing him say the word 'friend'..but then again, that was what they were, friends, what did she expect him to say, she mentally kicked herself.

"Aaawww..Seb..you're gonna make me cry." She said, deciding to brush off the feeling of disappointment she felt. Sebastian laughed.

"Shall we go now?" Sebastian asked, letting her go.

"Yes, I'm ready. Let's go." Y/n replied.

Chapter 4>

[offtorivendell]

The Significance of Elain and a Cup of Tea 🍵

Do not screenshot this post.

Disclaimer: these are my own interpretations, and obviously not canon - though I do think that the text supports Elain and Azriel ending up together. I'm sure I'm not the first to see this connection, but I had fun writing it, so... here you go.

It's another long one, sorry. Again, maybe go and make yourself a cuppa first.

In stories that involve Seers, they often read tea leaves, using the patterns they leave at the bottom of a tea cup to predict the future.

Elain, a Seer Made by the Cauldron, seems to have an interesting relationship with tea - it symbolises her/her life, and her reactions to her surroundings while she's written with a cup of tea appear to predict her own future.

The tea predicted Elain being Made

Elain lifted her teacup. “Whatever the reason, Feyre, we are happy to see you. Alive. We thought you were—” I pulled my hood back before she could go on. Elain’s teacup rattled in its saucer as she noticed my ears. My longer, slender hands—the face that was undeniably Fae. “I was dead,” I said roughly. “I was dead, and then I was reborn—remade.” Elain set her shivering teacup onto the low-lying table between us. Amber liquid splashed over the side, pooling in the saucer.

- Feyre, ACOMAF, chapter 23

When Feyre, together with Rhys, Azriel and Cassian, visited her family's estate in the human lands, Elain (and Nesta) discovered that Feyre had been Made into a high fae after she died at Amarantha's hands. They are grateful that she's alive - they'd understandably thought otherwise, but rattled by her transformation.

More water than seemed possible dumped out in a cascade. Black, smoke-coated water. And Elain, as if she’d been thrown by a wave, washed onto the stones facedown.

Alive, she had to be alive, had to have wanted to live— Elain sucked in a breath...

Elain’s ears were now pointed beneath her sodden hair.

Elain was still shivering on the wet stones...

From however Elain had been Made… Nesta was different.

- Feyre, ACOMAF, chapter 65

Later on in ACOMAF, after it is revealed that Elain and Nesta were kidnapped by the King of Hybern, Elain is lifted into the Cauldron by the Hybern soldiers, then washed over the edge a Made being, left shivering on the stone floor; in her relief that Elain was alive, Feyre noticed her newly pointed ears - a direct call back to Elain's reaction to seeing Feyre for the first time since she was Made. Feyre was shocked, this time around, and Elain was shivering on the stone ground, as opposed to her tea cup on the low-lying table.

The tea predicted Elain's failed engagement to Graysen

Nesta looked to Elain, still silent and wide-eyed. The tea she’d prepared—the finest, most exotic tea money could buy—sat undisturbed on the table. Elain thumbed the iron ring on her finger. “It is your choice,” Nesta said with unusual gentleness. For her, Nesta would go to Prythian. Elain swallowed, a doe caught in a snare. “I—I can’t. I …”

- Feyre, ACOMAF, chapter 57

Elain, raised to be a fine lady, the prettiest (most exotic) of the Archeron sisters, will eventually lose the life for which she was "prepared," and is left "undisturbed on the table," i.e. Graysen, represented here by the iron engagement ring that he gave to Elain, refused to marry her after she was Made against her will. The ring is also important in that Elain spends a lot of her time in ACOWAR touching it, while she mourned what she lost with Graysen.

Her too-thin shoulders seemed to curve inward. “No one ever does. No one ever looked—not really.” A bramble of words. Her voice strained to a whisper. “He did. He saw me. He will not now.”

- Lucien, ACOWAR, chapter 24

Here Elain predicted, heartbreakingly, that Graysen would refuse to See her again - that her being Made fae would prevent him from not just loving her, but identifying with her. There are a couple of great analyses out there that discuss whether and why Elain truly loved Graysen, but what we cannot deny is that they shared a goal, and that goal gave her purpose.

All of that aside, I think we can all agree - his loss!

The tea predicted that there was nothing wrong with Elain

Nesta, sharp-eyed in the corner, had kept quiet. After a long minute, Madja asked us to join her in fetching Elain a cup of tea—with a pointed glance to the door. We both took the invitation and left our sister in her sunlit room.

“What do you mean, nothing is wrong with her?” Nesta hissed under her breath as the ancient female braced a hand on the stair railing to help herself down. I kept beside the healer, a hand in easy reach of her elbow, should she need it.

“What I mean,” Madja said at last, sizing up Nesta, then me, “is that I can find nothing wrong with her. Her body is fine—too thin and in need of more food and fresh air, but nothing amiss. And as for her mind … I cannot enter it.”

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 28

Madja, the Night Court's chief healer, informed Feyre and Nesta that there is nothing she can find wrong with Elain, other than a lack of food, which she is still refusing at this time. Nesta's words, to me, symbolised the concern that the IC and Lucien have for Elain - they're not 100% sure that she came out of the Cauldron with a sound mind - but Madja reiterated her point: there is nothing medically wrong with Elain, and she cannot enter her mind.

Is it because Madja is not a daemati, or something else entirely?

The tea appears to predict a failed relationship - and potentially a false bond - with Lucien

She’d [Jesminda] seen him not as a High Lord’s seventh son, but as a male. Had loved him without question, without hesitation. She had chosen him. Elain had been… thrown at him. He glanced toward the tea service spread on a low-lying table nearby.

Forced his hands to be steady while he poured himself a cup of tea and sat in the chair opposite Nesta’s vacated one.

For a long moment, Elain’s face did not shift, but those eyes seemed to focus a bit more. “Lucien,” she said at last, and he clenched his teacup to keep from shuddering at the sound of his name on her mouth.

But Elain blinked slowly. “You were in Hybern.” “Yes.” It was all he could say. “You betrayed us.”

She did not love him, want him, need him. Another male’s bride. A mortal man’s wife. Or she would have been.

- Lucien, ACOWAR, chapter 24

The only time we've had Lucien’s POV (so far) in this series is significant, in that he almost immediately compared Elain to Jesminda, his late first love, and he mused that, while Jesminda had chosen him, had loved him without hesitation, Elain had been thrown at him - very romantic - and she certainly goes on to hesitate in any interactions she has with him. It follows, then, that Elain might not choose Lucien.

Additionally, Lucien forcing his hands to remain steady while pouring the tea, then clenching the tea cup (read: dealing with Elain), could be read as symbolic of the bond between them restricting them both. Lucien then went on to call Elain "another male's bride," which is (potentially, of course) Very Important.

Who might that other male be? We have our suspicions. 🦇

When discussing Elain's health, Madja said the following:

The ancient healer jerked her chin toward Lucien. “See what he can do. If anyone can sense if something is amiss, it’s a mate.” “How.” The word was barely more than a barked command. I braced myself to warn Nesta to be polite, but Madja said to my sister, as if she were a small child, “The mating bond. It is a bridge between souls.”

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 28

The beginning of chapter 29 in ACOWAR had Feyre experiencing "the most uncomfortable thirty minutes" that she could recall; Elain and Lucien were having tea, so that he could attempt to sense if "anything was amiss" - as Madja had instructed.

Lucien and Elain sat in stilted silence by the dim fireplace, an untouched tea service between them. I didn’t dare ask if he was trying to get into her head, or if he was feeling a bond similar to that black adamant bridge between Rhys’s mind and my own. If a normal mating bond felt wholly different.

A teacup rattled and rasped against a saucer, and Mor and I glanced over. Elain had picked up the teacup, and now sipped from it without so much as looking toward him. In the dining room across the hall, I knew Nesta was craning her neck to look.

*

The sound [Amren in the other room] seemed to startle Elain, who swiftly set down her teacup. She rose to her feet, and Lucien shot to his. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “What—what was that?” Mor put a hand on my knee to keep me from rising, too. “It—it was a tug. On the bond.”

Elain sidled toward Nesta, who seemed to be at a near-simmer. “It felt… strange,” Elain breathed. “Like you pulled on a thread tied to a rib.”

“There’s a bond—it’s a real thread,” he said, more to himself than us.

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 29

The words that signify what is between Lucien and Elain here seem quite telling - stilted, dim, untouched - a call back to the "undisturbed" tea service that Elain laid out for their meeting with the queens, which foreshadowed the end of her relationship with Graysen.

The stilted silence and dim fireplace suggest that there is no communication down their "bond," and that they lack the fire of other truly mated couples. More specifically, they could be referring to Feyre/Rhys (bond communication) and Nesta/Cassian (fire between them). Will touch play an important role in Elain's eventual romance?

Elain sipped her tea - read: will live her life - without looking to Lucien at all, while Nesta, Feyre and Mor all watched her/them. Feyre took a moment to wonder if a "normal mating bond" felt different to what she shares with Rhys, not knowing that what Elain and Lucien have may not be normal at all.

Not long after this, Lucien attemped to reach Elain down the "thread" (singular) of their bond and startled her; Elain quickly stood up, then shared that her bond felt strange - almost as if she was answering Feyre's thought. A "normal" mating bond should not feel "strange." What is wrong with the bond between Lucien and Elain? He was unable to sense anything, as Madja said a true mate would, and a little later on, Azriel figured out that Elain was a Seer.

I found my sister in the kitchen, watching the kettle scream. “He’s not staying for tea,” I said. No sign of Nuala or Cerridwen. Elain simply removed the kettle from the heat.

I knew I wasn’t truly angry with her, not angry with anyone but myself, but I said, “You couldn’t say a single word to him? A pleasant greeting?”

Elain only stared at the steaming kettle as she set it on the stone counter.

“He brought you a present.”

Those doe-brown eyes turned toward me. Sharper than I’d ever seen them. “And that entitles him to my time, my affections?”

“No.” I blinked. “But he is a good male.” Despite our harsh words. Despite this Band of Exiles bullshit. “He cares for you.”

“He doesn’t know me.”

“You don’t give him the chance to even try to do so.”

Her mouth tightened, the only sign of anger in her graceful countenance. “I don’t want a mate. I don’t want a male.” She wanted a human man.

- Feyre, ACOFAS, chapter 18

I felt like this passage is partly prediction, and partly a way for SJM to let us into Elain's head; for Elain to speak her truths. A couple of lines did stand out to me, though:

I read Elain "watching the kettle scream" as synonymous with what must have been going on in her head at the time. Scream is an odd choice of word, as most would describe a kettle as whistling. As an aside, there is an interesting parallel that exists with Azriel, in his bonus chapter of ACOSF, where being with Elain makes the noise in his head quiet down.

Elain staring at the steaming kettle seemed to indicate that she might be evaluating her life - could the steam be a metaphor for the mist she will have to See through to find the fourth Dread Trove item? Lucien "not staying for tea" (read: Elain's life) sounded like confirmation (to me, of course) that they will not pursue a romantic relationship together.

Elain’s declaration that Lucien doesn't know her, and that he cannot buy her time or affection with gifts is *chef's kiss* good, though please don't read this as anti Lucien - it's more anti Feyre's poor choice of words.

I have discussed '"I don't want a mate. I don’t want a male.” She wanted a human man.' here, in depth, but a quick summary is that I think Elain wants someone to See all of her, including her humanity, and that her humanity will probably be helpful with her future love interest.

The tea appears to predict Elain's eventual relationship with Azriel, and maybe even a mating bond

She looked away [from Lucien]—toward the windows. “I can hear your heart,” she said quietly. He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said nothing, and drained his tea, even as it burned his mouth. “When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer. “Can you hear mine?” He wasn’t sure if she truly meant to address him, but he said, “No, lady. I cannot.” Her too-thin shoulders seemed to curve inward. “No one ever does. No one ever looked—not really.” A bramble of words. Her voice strained to a whisper. “He did. He saw me. He will not now.”

- Lucien, ACOWAR, chapter 24

Firstly, and so significantly, Elain looked away from Lucien, and towards the windows, instead. We know that, earlier in that scene, Elain was talking to Feyre about being able to see the sea from where she sat, but I think that when Elain is mentioned as being around tea, her words tend to take on a deeper meaning - I interpreted this as Elain removing herself from the conversation she'd been having with Lucien. The next words out of her mouth, then - that "In my sleep, I hear your heart beating through the stone," appear to be spoken not to Lucien, but someone else.

Who do we know who always seems to be looking out windows to the garden, in search of Elain? Who could potentially be flying over Velaris, to or from the House of Wind? It looks like our flower grower might have started the trend!

Who sleeps at the House of Wind, where Elain and Nesta also stay? Aside from Lucien as a guest, there are two longterm residents. One of them is mated to Nesta, while the other one displays some strikingly familiar behaviour towards the middle Archeron sister.

Secondly, the tea burnt Lucien's mouth, then he thought to himself that there's a good chance Elain might not have been addressing him, may have intended to say that to someone else.

Lucien himself told us what was happening, which brings us to:

Elain sat silently at one of the wrought-iron tables, a cup of tea before her. Azriel was sprawled on the chaise longue across the gray stones, sunning his wings and reading what looked to be a stack of reports—likely information on the Autumn Court that he planned to present to Rhys once he’d sorted through it all. Already dressed for the Hewn City—the brutal, beautiful armor so at odds with the lovely garden. And my sister sitting within it. “Why not make them mates?” I mused. “Why Lucien?” “I’d keep that question from Lucien.”

- Feyre and Rhys, ACOWAR, chapter 24

In direct contrast to the tea that Elain and Lucien shared - stilted silence, dim fireplace, untouched tea service (i.e. their bond) - Elain and Azriel sit comfortably - we can assume, due to the lack of negative adjectives - in the sun, a cup of tea (read, once more: her life) "before her." The wrought iron table could potentially be symbolic; that Elain will be hammered into shape by the events of her life, ultimately becoming strong.

Elain is, however, "silent," which may have been indicating that she will spend some time not voicing her own wishes/being passive in her life - we have seen this throughout ACOWAR and ACOFAS, until ACOSF, where she finally started to speak up. It might also mean something else, which I mention further down.

Azriel is even sunning his wings. If you haven't seen it, this is how birds sun their wings - and they look hilariously comfy as they do.

Image source. Can someone please draw the Rhys/Cass/Az version of this?!). 😅

The pose makes them vulnerable; we know exactly how sensitive and possessive Illyrians are about their wings, and how private Azriel is in general, but he trusted Elain enough to expose himself (figuratively - and also, sort of literally) right from the start, just as Elain trusted his reactions at the first "family dinner," back in ACOMAF.

I discussed the relevance of how Elain, the sun, lays bare Azriel's shadows in this post, but the mutual trust and comfort here is, in my opinion, more evidence that Elain and Az share some sort of bond, be that mate or other, that makes him feel innately secure around her. Outside the Night Court, Rhys only ever showed his wings to Feyre, and while Azriel's wings can't be summoned at will like Rhys' can, the same principle stands - protect at all costs, so the parallel is there.

I also think Az may have been showing off his wings - just a wee bit. This is when Feyre uttered her iconic - and maybe prophetic - line, "Why not make them mates?" Feyre, who had thought from the start that Elain and Azriel would make a handsome pair. This is yet another parallel to a canonically mated pair, as we saw Cassian (not so) subtly showing off his wings to Nesta in chapter 29 of ACOWAR.

Oh, and Azriel knew Feyre was watching. So did Cassian. Perhaps they didn't care?

I know Elain x Azriel is not the most popular ship for either of them, but the evidence, to me, has been here all along - not just for a chosen relationship, but also a potential bond. Of course, this shouldn't stop people from shipping who they want. 🖤

The tea predicts that Feyre will become too overprotective of Elain

Rhys smiled at me over his shoulder. Enjoy your tea, you overbearing chaperone.

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 29

" You think I stifle her?"

- Feyre (in response to Rhys), ACOSF, Feyre's bonus chapter

No matter who you ship, the one thing that almost everyone can agree on is that ACOSF demonstrated that Elain is frustrated with being coddled, protected, and not seen; she wants to grow, to come into her own and to have her help be both welcomed and valued.

Unresolved/potential predictions

The following are just bits of text that jumped out at me, that could hint at future events (or could end up being nothing, of course).

Elain thumbed the iron ring on her finger. “It is your choice,” Nesta said with unusual gentleness.

- Feyre, ACOMAF, chapter 57

A hint that Elain's story will be revolve around her making her own choices, both in terms of her love interest and role within the Night Court.

"And as for her mind… I cannot enter it.”

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 28

Elain apparently has an impenetrable mind - will this be important when she deals with Koschei, the queens and other future enemies? Is she an anti-daemati?

But Elain blinked slowly. “You were in Hybern.” “Yes.” It was all he could say. “You betrayed us.”

- Lucien, ACOWAR, chapter 24

Future foreshadowing?! I really, really hope not.

Slow blinkers tend to have quick reflexes, let's hope that this is suggesting Elain will be quick on her feet.

Elain sat silently at one of the wrought-iron tables, a cup of tea before her. Azriel was sprawled on the chaise longue across the gray stones, sunning his wings and reading what looked to be a stack of reports...

- Feyre, ACOWAR, chapter 24

Will Elain become involved with Azriel's spy service, or work with him in some capacity? Spies must be able to stay silent, to keep secrets - and we know from ACOSF that Elain is adept at secret keeping.

[trackermons]

ik i already posted these earlier but i dont think anyone saw so no i didnt. steals my memes back for the Dump Post

ghost game episode 10 thoughts under the cut

TESLAJELLYMON LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO HOLY SHIT THAT WAS WORTH THE WAIT I LOVE HER.... could not be more thrilled about it tbh. there was a few minutes there were i was actually starting to think it wouldnt happen and i think i physically deflated when gammamon evolved first bUT YET... god she's so good and i'm so glad we're getting a few episodes focused primarily on the supporting duo and their partners while they evolve. like we all knew it was coming but getting to watch it is exciting especially after waiting what feels like way too long;;

did feel kinda bad towards the end of the evolution buildup when she was just getting utterly curbstomped by kinkakumon. cringed in the "ouch" way when she had her tentacle stepped on trying to reach for kiyoshiro, that one hurt me viscerally :( like at that point she deserved to evolve and go a little apeshit as a treat. go girl give us violence

i was almost expecting jellymon's line to be based more around magic/casting/"special attack" compared to the other two digis tbh, so finally getting my hands on the digimon information for teslajellymon and seeing the words STEEL CAGE DEATH MATCH in there was a surprise but in a fucking hilarious way. like girl what!!!! good for her though!!!! kick some ass throw hands

ive already talked about how i feel theyre handling partner bonding in this and about kiyoshiro and jellymon enough maybe for one day, but i really do like how they're getting along now. jellymon hasn't stopped being a little shit and kiyoshiro hasn't stopped being... like that, but they actually care for each other and clearly understand each other now way better than before. it's great and exactly the kind of direction i was hoping they'd go, building respect and being more like partners without sacrificing their fun dynamic that made me like them in the first place :)

other things since i do have to talk about something other than those guys dhdvfjd... idk i didnt find that ginkakumon and kinkakumon stood out too much to me particularly but that's okay, they're just kinda monster of the week material anyway. i'm way more interested in a few other things i noticed this episode- for one thing, gammamon unlocking the digital lock on kotaro's room. we've already seen him do it once in episode 2 to get into the museum basement pursuing mummymon, and now it's happened again it's gotta end up being significant somehow. REALLY want to know what gammamon's deal is in general but nothing's new there, just thought it was notable enough to pay attention to

the OTHER thing is that i think this episode counts as definite confirmation that the digital-space created by the digivices differs dramatically depending on who uses it. i wasn't sure if i was just imagining things at first- hiro's is more grassy while ruli's has more dense foliage, and it couldve just been coincidental/i was reading too much into it since both had some kind of plant life and it was hard to tell. but now we've seen kiyoshiro's digivice creates a more bare/cybernetic kind of space (comparing the look of his dorm in the digital space in this episode, to episode 5 when hiro activated it) it's clearer than ever that there's a Lot of difference in how the fields look actually. and that's cool as hell! I really hope it gets explored why that happens tbh, it'd be super neat to get digivice lore. but it's looking like we'll need hiro's dad for that and i dont think he's showing up anytime soon :(

...thinking about it, back in episode 6, right before the sirenmon fight angoramon stopped hiro using his digivice to activate it and got ruli to instead. which implies he knew what would happen - the denser plant life providing cover and places to hide from an aerial opponent - but up to that point, ruli hadn't ever activated her field before. how did he know that would happen. does he know something we don't about the digivices. i think this rabbit maybe knows too much, or at the very least about something he isn't sharing with the class.. angoramon please

at least i really HOPE that's an indicator of something going on with him and not just a plothole that will never be addressed and will bother me until the end of time, because at this point i literally crave angoramon character depth and nuance and i WILL grasp at straws to get it. what are you hiding big guy

next episode hopes..... i hope ruli and angoramon get into a fight. i want them to bicker. i want them to Go Through Something. and i want them to reconcile with a better understanding of each other (and an evolution ofc but that's basically confirmed by now). theyve been so goddamn agreeable this whole time, at least angoramon has been, and it's about time some tensions stirred up between them tbh. i want their amicable relationship to be tested. if i Dont get top tier loredrops/character development that will make me kick myself for not predicting it i will be reasonably upset. if you read my earlier post you will already know i really want ruli and angoramon's relationship to be explored at last and explored well in a way that makes sense and that is literally the Only Thing i desperately hope for this time around... give us DEVELOPMENT

kiyoshiro and jellymon's evolution was satisfying because theyve been butting heads and bickering this whole time, and have finally almost... realised just how attached they are to each other and come together as a more cohesive partnership, and they're great together. it Worked. please please please give us something equally satisfying for ruli and a reason to care about their bond too because they deserve the same nuance afforded to the others- and imo having them finally get fed up with each other is the first step towards getting closer in their case. just PLEASE handle it well or ill cry. literally cannot wait to see it go down either way

[purkinje-effect]

wip wednesday...

a little bit of pr¡soner's c!nema, as a treat

if you see this, consider yourself tagged, lovelies ☢️

True to Angel's narrative, near Burlington Glassworks Mayor Knott concluded a heated discussion with several Children of Atom. She did not require See's instruction to seize the Lane's attention: instead, she upturned leather palms and gazed upon bronze faces which hung in attendance immemorial over the entire Concourse. Everyone stopped in place, and the crowded din faded out in whispers. No longer dampened by the sound of the population, the storm's rolling infrasound echoed all the more unearthly down the corridors of the mall.

The See's cordoning the GCD parted, guns crossed, and unlocked its front doors so that its inhabitants could hear the Mayor's speech. Sticks circumnavigated 'Choly, and tried to squeeze out the doors as far as the guards would permit. Behind them all, 'Choly questioned how the entire Concourse could have known to give her berth, let alone witness her now. But then, she commenced, and his jaw dropped at the too-perfect acoustics of the granitic interior. Knott's voice resounded with clarity and depth, as though she alone possessed a microphone to some vast bronze auditorium devoid of flutter echo.

"I know you lot are rushed to get comfortable before the nor'easter hits. The Hall has extended significant relief for the extra crowding I'm sure we can all already feel. The Children can provide far more expert provisions for what comes next. It is critical that you hear me. Many of you weren't here two decades ago, but you all know the stories. Similar conditions are upon us! Rest easy: there will be no risk to life or limb, provided we support one another. We are still protected from the rads, ice, and wind. We are our primary hazard. Please understand. The light effects are a symptom, not a cause."

With Knott behind him, Haidinger stood where instructed, wherein she held his gloved upturned hands in hers. As he began to speak, he shied from the notion his voice might carry in kind, only to be shaken that it carried so far.

"It oversimplifies our situation, to compare it to 2258. My studies analyze that event at every opportunity. It was the last time the Aurora affected the Concourse, but the building still provided some dampening of its effects. The Aurora of this storm will arrive completely unobstructed. As such, tomorrow's Division Day will be unprecedented for Ant Lane. The Aurora may place undue strain upon those who do not travel a Hinter orbital, who have not wintered a Granitic Mass. Be not afraid! Yea, though even Atom’s whisper can deafen, She cradles us within these holy walls. We walk hand in hand, neighbors, and learn together what the granite has to tell us. Community is our Foundation! The Children will begin our door to door Division Day visitation, doling all the grace and hospitality we have to give. Sutter Grove will provide spiritual counsel on request. And while doubtful, should the Aurora ail anyone, we have remedies for you, as you'll allow."

As Haidinger and Knott dropped their hands to their sides, the decibels of the people’s murmurs eased back in to match the actual sound level. ‘Choly recalled that one benefit of the Berry Mentats intuited his proximity to other living things: he appreciated in his Deenwood days that with Berries, unannounced approaches startled him far less often. Though he could hear people again besides the otherworldly soapbox, he still found himself trying to lipread. Before he could glean anything Haidinger and Fresnel discussed with Knott, See’s shouldered him and Sticks both back inside to re-lock the drugstore.

‘Choly navigated back to the front window, still reacclimating to his cane for even a few days without it. He couldn’t lipread the Hall figureheads’ discussion, but he could make out bits of what the community had to say. Rather than lambast the Children for the armillary shifts, the Laners now bickered with an overwhelmingly condescending Satellite population. Satellites jeered that, for having such well maintained immersion in armillary lighting, the Laners were so coddled by their elevated social status that these experiences came as foreign and alarming. See’s intervened far less frequently now than they had when Laners blamed the Children.

That’s the Fog, you nitwits, the Satellites mocked. Haven’t you been out in the Fog before?