#ill tag mae anyway

[orionis13]

Dude, is that an arm?

[s0lar-ch3ri]

drey ferin analysis lets go (im already knowing im gonna tag vixen @bizlybebo its your boy) (spoilers for like. all of riptide maybe we'll see where we go)

so like. mister drey right. hes lost bits of his memory to the sea, yet its so interesting to me how he doesnt forget the face of the boy he kinda helped raise for a bit and his niece who he hadnt seen in a longer time then chip (i dont remember for sure if he remembered them on sight so if im wrong uh. i can explain this with analysis power trust!!!!!!!). he didnt let go of whats important to him, yet he lost all he could, including those important things. he doesnt even seem to stop losing, seeing as chips fucking dead without much hope of getting him back. hes lost his arms, yet hes still kicking, cause thats all he can really do right now. ride out the tides and hope to not sink, cause surely hed have to learn how to swim without the knowledge built into him prior.

lets say i forgot that he didnt recognize them at first. i think he did. somewhere in him did. he just didnt want to believe it. itd been too long since hes seen something good, he knew aster liked toying around by giving someone good things and dragging them away. yet he found it real, and i think with that, despite all thats happened to him, dreys hopeful. he has good faith in the world to me, atleast i believe that, cause hes able to have chip back and his niece again and things may not be the best but hes able to look up and not see a dark room (metaphorically and actually).

i also think a bit about how hes sorta seperated from the rest of his family, and has the look for it too. hes rugged, hes not so formal, hes more freed out then the others. he also btw looks nothing like jayson. like. maybe with mae and shit id get more but like. its very interesting how he bares little to no resemblence to jayson. i honestly cant think of any actual analysis reason for this, maybe ill let my silly little drey ferin president take over on that remark /silly /nf

anyways thats all i got drey ferin peculiar bisexual gudbye

[chryzuree]

nitw chrysijacks au!!! tell me more abt it im so invested i love nitw!! do they get to be animals too...if they were animals what would they be!!!

AAAAH, okay okay, so it’s still a work in progress bc i haven’t decided if i want to have chrysi be in mae’s position but with elements of bea, or if i want jacks to be in mae’s position and have chrysi be mostly bea with just a hint of cole (bc i think chrysi would’ve absolutely left town for a bit), but as of writing this.. i’m erring towards chrysi as mae, since she defs can perceive things that most ppl can’t, plus she’s charismatic and generally a mess.

i was thinking chrysi shows up a couple days before her bday & you know. dismembered arm is found as usual. YES, chrysi’s thrilled abt this!!! VERY important to know!!! honestly, it’s a relief for her to find that arm, bc the vibes in that diner were in SHAMBLES. she was rlly trying to avoid eye contact w jacks and jacks was staring her down w his laser eyes. put those things AWAY, it’s literally four in the afternoon…

the party scene happens on chrysi’s bday itself, and guess who FUCKING FORGOT IT WAS HER BDAY. when the rest of their friends arrive at the party later (bc unfortunately, chrysi had to drive jacks out. she’s going to scream. that’s the worst, most awkward car ride over ever) & wish her happy bday, jacks is like “😦 oh………. happy birthday……….” <- has been in the same space as her for the past two hours. like. damn.

JACKS is the one that gets drunk (saw an ex, to which chrysi says, “you can’t run away from the town’s population”, since jacks is a serial dater), so chrysi takes him home and it’s the worstttt. she should’ve stayed at college. ((actually, jacks asks why she came home.. he’s rlly glad but he’s worried for her. unfortunately for him, he does NOT phrase it like that and chrysi gets even angrier w him))

they start repairing their relationship right around the same time chrysi starts seeing cult members / having fucked up dreams. so mostly, jacks comments on how exhausted and ill she looks. you really know how to compliment a girl, don’t you??

on one of their outings, chrysi finds out that jacks hasn’t rlly dated anyone in a while (omg.. theyre both single at the same time again.. which hasn’t occurred since jacks ruined their makeout session in senior year of high school!!!! wrow!!!!!) but anyway. still have to unpack allllllll the drama of high school before it goes anywhere.

their halloween celebration is fun.. i think that jacks would jst tag along w chrysi…. she’d win at the water balloon toss & they’d both laugh at their fortunes being read & jacks suspiciously goes missing when chrysi’s asked to cover for the witch play the town’s putting on. i jst think they need to reminisce abt halloween celebrations past… they neeeeeeed to kiss abt this, but they will NOT!!! never ever!!!!

jacks is the first to agree to research ghosts w chrysi <333 ughhh, he wants her so bad. does he believe in ghosts?? well.

THE SCENE IN THE WOODS, WHEN SHE GETS SHOT AT??? JACKS HAS TO BE PHYSICALLY DRAGGED AWAY SO HE DOESN’T ALSO GET SHOT AT. he’s sick with worry the whole time chrysi’s in the hospital. who cares abt the cult member keeping an eye on the appt??? he only cares abt how chrysi’s holding up…

he is dragging chrysi into the appt & picking her up bridal style when she shows up!!! he is putting her on the couch and tucking her in and curling up beside her!!!! they actually have a heart to heart there + chrysi begins to forgive him… before she “falls asleep” against him and jacks falls asleep too.. then chrysi gets up and goes to the woods w/o telling anyone.

jokes on her, bc jacks wakes up within ten minutes of her leaving bc he misses the feeling of her curled up against him. can NOT stop his obsessive crush and hyper-awareness of her. it’s been on overdrive since, like, ninth grade.

he’s the one to yell at her when they show up in the woods. OMG, JACKS ALSO HAS A CROSSBOW!!!! he fucking sucks at shooting at the guy tbh, he’s jst glad he managed to hit him.. then he hands off the crossbow to hold chrysi the whole way into the mines.

i haven’t rlly decided what i wanted to do here, bc i kinda want to deviate & play w story stuff regarding castor’s death.. kinda want it to be the valors that are part of the cult + they’re trying to bring castor back… but i also kinda want to up the level of danger throughout this whole time, so maybe castor’s already been revived as a vampire, but he’s like… super fucked up and ghoulish and nothing like the castor they knew… what if the mines were castor’s living quarters & they were jst trying to protect him?? plus this could mean that jacks can finally choose chrysi over castor !!!!!!! ,,,,mmm, yeah, i’m going to do that.

anyway. chrysi does NOT feel bad abt caving in the mines behind them!!!!!!! bye bye, valors!!! die then!!!!! jacks is a little more like, well, that was maybe not the best course of action? WHO CARES MAN!!!!!!

chrysi defs passed out bc visions or w/e but it’s FINE!!!!

the story would end w chrysi wishing jacks happy bday (fucked up two and a half weeks there, huh?) + jacks giving chrysi her bday present, bc he felt like an asshole that he a) forgot it was chrysi’s bday, and b) got blackout drunk on it… then they kiss abt it <333 and now they’re a couple!!!!

i wasn’t rlly thinking they’d be OFFICIALLY animals, but i think they’d both have a cat / fox motif…. lots of shirts + trinkets to call to mind those animals for them!!!!!!!!!!!! they should kiss…

[dawnblade]

glad i can go crazy with slapping battle scars on mae cause i s2g giving guardians battle scars is like so fucking difficult with the laws of the universe in destiny. oberons face scar came from the alternate warmind story alex wrote before warmind came out and i fought for my life to make that scar lore-friendly. also god warmind was so long ago

what happened was that the submind charlemagne took control of all the exos and was gonna blow shit up and serys and synapse had to go to charlemagnes core and blast it with the valkyrie virus to fix everything (synapse wasnt corrupted cause he was dead for a year and revived and given the virus to prevent getting corrupted) so they went 2 the core but it was being guarded by corrupted obn and trencher

so serys kicked obns ass and gave him that face scar and the way i worked keeping obns scar in canon was that being corrupted by charlemagne also corrupted his light so when he died and charlemagne was defeated and the corruption disappeared, it sorta "overwrote" his light so when dex revived him the scar was still there

[m41z135h1pz-moved]

TAKE THESE HYAHH!!!!!!!! uhhh yeah isa inside job self insert

ALSO AN EXTRA MINI COMIC W/ THEM AND ANDRE BC IM REALLY FUNNY

[sodrippy]

if its my fate to survive everything only to die by your hands, then i should 

gu dong mae & lee yang hwa, mr sunshine

for @weiwuxianisms, happy birthday becherished<3

[image ID eight gifs from ‘mr. sunshine’ showing gu dong mae and kudo hina, with an alternating palette of blues and pinks. the caption has a teal to red gradient. it reads ‘if its my fate to survive everything only to die by your hands, then i should’ in a blockquote, followed by a bolded subtitle which reads ‘gu dong mae & lee yang hwa, mr sunshine’. below this is plain black text dedicating the gifset to weiwuxianisms.

the first gif is a close up of gu dong mae as he holds a hurt, bleeding kudo hina in his arms. he raises a soot-covered hand to rest gently on the side of her face. the gif features both blue and red. the second gif is a saturated red-toned wideshot of kudo hina and gu dong mae. kudo hina is holding out her hand, palm up, as gu dong mae secures a bandage around it. the third gif is a wideshot awash with pink. gu dong mae hugs kudo hina on the beach. she is crying, and he slowly pats her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. the fourth gif has a deep blue palette, and shows gu dong mae carrying kudo hina in a piggyback as he walks down the street at night. the fifth gif is a teal-toned midshot of gu dong mae and kudo hina standing close together in the street while it snows. gu dong mae raises his hands in a ‘surrender’ gesture while kudo hina looks smug. the sixth gif has a pink wash on the background. gu dong mae and kudo hina sit at separate tables in a bar, facing in opposite directions but aware of each other. in the background, kudo hina takes a shot of alcohol. in the foreground, gu dong mae turns slightly towards her. the seventh gif has a soft pink palette. kudo hina stands next to a table where gu dong mae is seated. she holds a glass, laughing, then speaks to him. as she talks, he pours himself a glass of alcohol and sets the bottle back on the tray. the eighth gif is a close up of kudo hina lying in gu dong mae’s arms. it is the match shot of the first gif, similarly featuring both teal and red. kudo hina has a bloodied temple, gazing up at gu dong mae with bloodshot eyes. his blood-covered hand is softly caressing her cheek. / end ID.]

[bunkernine]

hey next time you update the evil tlh trio au hmu so im not late to the party😠😠in other news i love your writing, spent three hours once reading through everything on your ao3

literally no one knows when i post, not even me lmao. the only reason why nina found out ahead of time is because she surprised me with the second comic and i talk too much 😩 but yes, i will say something the next time i post for that haha. i kind of haven't been saying anything about writing it tbh. very low-key about it 💀 i see people like/reblog the main post and leave tags but i just... don't tell them that there's more 🥴 tragic

also 🥺🥺🥺🥺 brooooooo 💞💖

[gemennair]

undefined

From anon: ‘Little Finno awestruck by his wonderful half-cousin, following him around everywhere’  

[maize-is-lost]

What I'm supposed to be doing: Writing an analysis for class or any of the other fifteen assignments I have to do.

What I've been doing: Coming up with a neat Kirby AU

[faillen]

Knowing You (In All Your Faces)

I had so much fun writing this for the Bad Buddy Gift Exchange and for @gilly-bean. I present what is affectionately known as the Cat!Pat fic.

Pat/Pran | Teen | 4,860 words

Tags: Developing Relationship, Animal Transformation, Hand-Wavy Magic

[AO3]

I.

Pran tapped his heel against the leg of the stool he was sitting on. His fingers itched, a distraction that rendered the pages of his textbook into smeared words and had him drumming out ill-timed counterpoint with his pen against his notebook.

He was trying so, so hard not to think about what he was trying to avoid mimicking, that one cadence he knew too well and had been trying to forget for months; but the effort that it took made him all the more unfocused while he scrambled for other thoughts. His pen tapping faltered for a second, and when he picked it back up again, it resembled something like a rhythm, one that briefly beat with his heart before making it skip with something akin to fear, still singed by old anger.

That jolt was enough for him to drop his pen onto the page and hop off the stool, cursing himself.

Phor was speaking with a client somewhere near the front of the shop. They had quite quickly disappeared into the aisles after the customer, whose name Pran could not remember for the life of him, had walked up to the back counter and then startled at the sight of Pran slumped over it, staring down at his textbook.

“It’s good to see you around again! One day you were here and the next you weren’t,” he had said with a laugh, while Phor and Pran hid their grimaces under polite smiles.

The prospect of engaging in further small talk after they returned sounded torturous, and Pran wasn’t getting anything done anyway—he threw an accusing glance towards his abandoned pen. He would have to get the work done at some point, but there was an entire weekend ahead of him after he returned to campus.

It had been months since he’d come back home; boarding school was tough, and he’d spent semester break at his aunt’s place, his parents coming up to visit. But it had been stilted and frustrating, and he’d honestly missed more than just his parents.

Some weeks after the less-than-satisfactory Siridechawat reunion, he’d gotten Phor on the phone and suggested that he surprise Mae for her fortieth birthday. It wasn't that he didn’t want to celebrate Mae’s birthday with her, but it certainly wasn’t the only reason as to why he wanted to come home. He’d felt a bit like a bad son in the face of Phor’s surprised relief and his easy acceptance of the suggestion after Pran framed it as an olive branch, using just enough sheepishness and regret to sell the idea.

The mind-numbing boredom he was currently experiencing felt like punishment for the light deception he’d engaged in. Pran had been stuck in the shop since lunch, Phor having picked him up from the train station and bringing him straight to it so that they could go home to Mae at the same time.

There was still about an hour until closing, but the minutes were ticking by all the more slowly the nearer it got, and the way the shop felt stuffy certainly didn’t help. When he was younger, the ever-present earthiness of sawdust was something that Pran took comfort in, but now it felt suffocating and a little like it was coating his skin. Exhaling heavily, he slid out from behind the counter and made his way to the back door of the shop.

It let out into the alleyway behind it, which was filled mostly with bins of scraps that they would get recycled at the end of the month. Pran took a deep breath, relishing in the clearer air, and leaned back against the wall next to the doorway.

Across the street, there was a muffled crash, and Pran looked over to find Khun Ming standing with his hands on his hips. His back was to Pran, but the tension in the line of his shoulders was clear, and Pran watched as he reached up to drag a hand over his face before dropping down into a crouch, lifting up some of the tarps and peering underneath. The looseness of his movements suggested some level of it being a last ditch effort, and sure enough, he straightened seconds later with an audible groan and then yanked open the door to slam back into his shop.

Pran, who had spent most of the observation stock still and hoping that Khun Ming wouldn’t turn around, let out a small sigh of relief once he disappeared once again. However, the sighting did, of course, do no favors to his attempts to not think about who he was very determinedly not thinking about.

Hands in his pockets, Pran kicked one of the bins, gusting out a breath. It rattled, knocking into the one next to it, and then there was a soft yowl before a streak of black darted out from between them and immediately into the space between the next set of bins.

Pran froze, wondering if his eyes had fooled him, and took a tentative step forward, kneeling on one foot to peer into the space.

Yellow eyes blinked out at him, shrouded in darkness. Pran’s breath caught, and he scrambled for his phone, flipping on the flashlight and shining it towards them. It immediately elicited a hiss and revealed what Pran had suspected—hiding in between the bins was a cat, puffing up and shrinking away from Pran.

Pran wasn’t very familiar with animals. His parents had cultivated a certain level of wariness in him regarding the cleanliness of the rare pets that were owned by family friends, and he always had a healthy caution around the stray dogs and cats that wandered the streets.

This meant that Pran didn’t quite realize that the cat’s warning growl was a warning growl until it leapt forward, paws outstretched, and had Pran toppling backward trying to get out of reach, phone slipping from his hands as he tried to catch himself. The cat took it as an opportunity to escape, dashing down the alleyway towards the Jindapat’s store.

It disappeared underneath one of the tarps, and once it was out of sight, Pran sighed, picking up his phone. He checked it for damage and then carefully inspected whether any of the gravel on his palms had actually done harm. When both checks revealed that he was alright, other than a bruised tailbone and ego, he hauled himself back up to his feet, brushing off the back of his shorts.

He reached for the door handle, and paused, looking out towards where the cat had disappeared. Hopefully it would be fine, he thought, feeling a little guilty over having made it so uncomfortable when it had just been minding its own business.

Pushing back into the store, Pran trudged back to the counter, bracing himself for having to stew in his boredom for a while longer.

[Read the rest on AO3]

And make sure to check out the rest of the Exchange works! 💞

[thecarmillacurator]

Season of Love movie review and news for new Natasha Negovanlis movie.

So two things: First, Carmilla’s own Natasha Negovanlis will be in Tello Film’s 2020 Holiday Movie, “I Hate New Year’s.” Woot woot!  Check out Tello’s twitter (https://twitter.com/tellofilms) for more information.

Hey @tellofilms​ may we have an Elise Bauman cameo, pretty please? Or Kaitlyn Alexander? Or Sharon Belle? Or Anne Briggs? You get our point. You’ll get a built-in Creampuff bank of pre-purchasers and free social media marketers for your trouble, guaranteed.

Second: Season of Love. I rented Tello’s Season of Love Holiday film online yesterday and greatly enjoyed it. I’m not a Hallmark Holiday movie kind of lady, but this definitely had more gravitas than I see in Hallmark movies, and in my opinion to call it a ‘Lesbian Hallmark Movie’ would be unfair to the film. It’s simply more elevated than that.  I even liked it enough that I’ll be re-watching it today. For my in-depth review, click to go beneath the cut below.

What I liked: The couples had chemistry ranging from good to really good. (There’s no Hollstein-level chemistry here, but that would be asking too much for mere mortals, wouldn’t it? Just kidding.)  I enjoyed the romantic arcs. It was a romantic comedy, but wasn’t all the typical Christmas fru-fru (though it was still a lot).

Couple #1: Mardou and Iris. Mardou (Laur Allen)’s performance was especially well done, and the character had more engaging subtly than you typically see in  Holiday movies. For you to understand that Mardou has been in love with Iris (Emily Goss) for years but has been exercising mature and caring restraint to not show it, to carry the movie, the role *had* to be portrayed with not just body language, but with sincere facial expression, especially with the eyes. Props here go also to choices made by the writers and execution by the director relating to the actors’ interactions and positioning.  Iris’ performance was almost as good. I say “almost” because while the story gives Mardou a very serious, almost tragic role, Iris’ role shoulders lower levels of comedy in addition to the serious undertones of what her character is going through. This is accomplished through physical humor and situational levity (often related to depression-related awkwardness) with brief forays into the ‘useless lesbian’ brand of awkwardness. (One scene is *truly* a laugh out loud moment, and Emily Goss’ facial and body performance here was right on point. I had to pause the film just to finish laughing, and then watched the moment twice more just for fun.)

Couple #2: Lou and Kenna. The arc between the brewery owner, Lou (Jessica Clark), and welder, Kenna (Sandra Mae Frank), was a super cute idea in theory, and was actually super cute in terms of how it was carried off, though it needed more situational authenticity. This arc gets plenty of laugh moments, as that’s its primary role in the plot. Lou is beyond adorably clumsy. The filming/artistic decisions relating to how Lou sees Kenna in various supermodel-esque mini-shots are cringe-worthily hilarious. The mix-in fact that Kenna is deaf and Lou has to figure out how to navigate this is both heartwarming, because it brings in something society generally sees as a disability and again, the basis for a good part of the humor. The actors have good chemistry together. The height difference is again, ‘super cute.’ Lou’s blatant pining and angsty awkwardness is both relatable and charming. Kenna is fun. Her roommate is also fun.

My nitpick: (Nitpick? Maybe just disappointment over a missed opportunity...) This arc is where the film slips into a Holiday movie trap of not being authentic to setting. The reason this is a real shame is because both brewing and welding, combined into female love interests, is a hot idea for a wlw story. And so I wanted to see an actual female welder and a female brewer, rather than just pretty people given the titles.  I know enough about brewing from watching documentary shows, visiting breweries, and doing my own research (I’m a long ways into a WIP of my own that involves a brewery and a brewmaster incidental as a sub-plot to my main plot) to see that Lou is a brewery owner only in name only, with no real development given here, nor attempt to make it look or feel real. The same goes for the welder: I’ve never welded, but my father has, and I grew up with a fair bit of rag-tag rural living and was around equipment and welders enough in my early life to know that nothing about the way Kenna is portrayed makes her being a welder authentic.

I give this arc a thumbs up. It’s just... it could have been amazing instead of simply good.

Couple #3: Janey and Sue. The final arc is between Janey (Janelle Marie) and Sue (Waverly Earp Dominique Provost-Chalkley). They’ve been on-again-off-again sweethearts since high school, but life keeps getting in the way. Janey is in the military and Sue is a musician with performance anxiety related to singing in public. She also has a recently-ill mother, and finances are tight. This arc has some sweet elements, and the actors are cute together. I’ve not yet entered into the Waverly kingdom of fangirling, but Dominique is definitely a talented actress and plays the role perfectly: It’s impossible not to be engaged with Sue’s emotions and experiences through Dominique’s expression of her.

There are some bittersweet notes throughout this arc, and it is by far the most complex relationship of the movie even though it is secondary or tertiary in the film. In reality, it could have been the most impressive of the three stories, if the film had given it an ending that was realistic relative to Sue’s particular brand of anxiety. (Spoiler: They didn’t. Here is the one truly glaring point where the movie falls prey to the Holiday movie curse: Something unrealistic happens, essentially an invisible fairy-plot mother waves a magic wand behind the scenes and a personal struggle for Sue that shouldn’t be overcome so easily- if at all- suddenly is.) It would have been more powerful if Sue’s arc had ended without the typical holiday triumph in the ‘resolution’ stage that follows the narrative ‘crisis,’ and instead used the ‘crisis’ stage as a springboard for Janey and Sue to grow through the realities of her anxiety together, coming to a deeper understanding of the other, and maturing their love.

Music Bonus: The song Sue/Dominque plays at the end is fabulous! I would buy it on iTunes in a heartbeat if it were available. (It’s not. A big ‘why not’ aimed squarely @tellofilms​.)  There’s a music video on Tello, which you can see (but it might be pay to access). There’s a version on youtube, but be ware that whoever put it up isn’t officially related to the film or the song/song writer/performer and their transcription of the lyrics is off in several places.  With how incredibly well Dominique sings, it would be great to see her reunite for a song with Natasha Negovalis (previously together in the Carmilla Movie, 2017) in Tello’s future 2020 Holiday film, since it will be about a music star.

In conclusion: The stories were decently solid, and were definitely enjoyable.  There’s plenty of kissing scenes ultimately, so there’s payoff. It’s sweet. It’s cute. It is all HEA. There was humor mixed in throughout. It could have handled a higher production value, as sometimes between sets and sound, you can tell it’s not quite up to a movie theater release standard. It would be nice to see it not be every one of them all perfect-looking people. But, that being said, it does well.  While well above the typical Hallmark holiday standard (for me, anyway), there were places where the stories could have taken on a bit more depth. (Oh: Just to warn you: There was one bizarre moment in the middle at a Christmas party with an encounter that felt out of the blue, didn’t make sense given who was theoretically invited to the party, and jerked me hard out of the viewing experience. Also, I suppose it could be a trigger for some people, though it’s relatively mild. I understand the point they were trying to make, and agree with it, but it did not belong in this movie, or at least in this scene.) 

If you have the $6.99 spare to do the digital three-day rental, or $14.99 to purchase (I rented but will probably go back and purchase as well), head over to @tellofilms​ and take the risk. It’ll be a holiday pick of mine for years to come.

Please watch it if you’re so inclined! Doing so will hopefully brighten your day, and will help support the people who make generating wlw content of increasing quality possible for all of us to enjoy.

-- Happy New Everyone from @thecarmillacurator​

[tenshibeth1]

Well...I've never watched some of the gorey-er horror classics, so I started with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. ....And I got stuck on Leatherface. I watched every movie but the 2017 version and the documentary, and I'm with @boodalinski , the 2006 version is the most believable and best version of his story that I've seen. The first two try to paint him as a ruthless, reckless murderer who enjoys the hunt and kill, and his issues come from his birth mental illness and his father's abuse. But the illness they thrust on him didn't seem...right. As so many are misportrayed... And their reasoning for his killings were off the mark. There had to be something else there to make him snap and want to kill. (I think the second movie is a joke, honestly.) So I continued my search for his story...

The third movie was a reboot with a more interesting take on him, his story, and his family. But, again, the reasoning was lacking. Killing to eat was a given, they're cannibals, after all. But...they kill to protect themselves? From what? What event started it? Who started it? How did they become cannibals? No questions were answered. I was disappointed again. Texas Chainsaw, a direct (serious) sequel to the first movie answered more questions...but it still left the more important ones unanswered. Like, what drove him to that point? And why is he a cannibal? I was honestly getting disheartened at that point and picked one more movie.

This one was a little piece of gold in the rough- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). Very real, relatable, and believable. Most of what I wanted to know was at the very start of the movie...and the rest of the story had me hanging onto the edge of my seat. I watched it again and again to see the little subtleties woven in, the expressions on Thomas' face and in his eyes, the way he reacted when Charlie aka Hoyt told him to do this or that, the respect Hoyt held for Thomas, Luda Mae's wisdom that went ignored (and, let's face it...she's got to be at least a little plucky to run a store filled with stereotypical rude biker punks), Monty's...well...his perverseness and cowardice, and their reactions to each other as a whole. I highly recommend the movie...and I'm hesitant to watch any of the others because I really like this one. I think it'd outshine anything else I saw...and, I mean...damn....he is really, really fine in this one. I've got a thing for strong, muscular tall guys with a hidden heart of gold. Sorry, not sorry.

....I'm writing a Thomas Hewitt x OC fic. There, I said it. And I'm not regretting it. Halloween is a good pretense for writing it, right? XD Although...it's not going to be very scary. Not at first, anyway. And, no, she's not an abductee. But if you're interested, I will warn you...there will be some disturbing content. Gore, of course, and graphic scenes of violence...but also mentions and flashbacks of past rape, physical and mental scars, abuse, triggering, depression, attempted suicide, cruelty, crude language and humor, and some eventual sexual scenes and situations that will dip a bit into BDSM. If this is not your cup of tea, or you are very young, do not read it. I'll probably post it on AO3 for correct tagging and stuff...and I hear they can keep younger people from reading it, which is great. I don't want to scar any kids, now. I've got one of my own and I know I wouldn't want her reading it. I'll probably trigger myself writing this stuff...but it's worth it. The fires of passion burn bright with this one...and @boodalinski helped fuel it when I reread her findings and thoughts on Thomas and his family. XD (My head cannons are a bit different, though. Everyone has their own thoughts, opinions, and POVs. But I do like hers a lot! ^^)

Edit: I just found out there's a 2003 version. Just...why? Is it a take on Thomas and his family? Imma need to look up more details...if it's in the same universe, same actors, great story, I'm game. If not...nope. Just...nope.

Edit: It will begin October 1969. I'm doin' my research on the clothes and lingo and stuff. 'Heavens to Betsy!' is my favorite expression so far.

[patchdotexe]

So, I have a character who is a system, and I wanted to know before I develop them further, how does DID work, from a personal account? I really really really don't want to accidentally create yet another TOXIC misinterpretation of a real condition (because I know how horrible that can feel), and I hope I'm not saying anything wrong even now. (P.S. I love your blog, but I'm too shy to come off anon.)

hey anon!! it means a LOT to me that you sent this message :D theres a lot of really messy-bad potrayals of DID in the media so seeing people actually going to the effort of asking systems abt their experiences is really heartwarming for us. (plus the fact that ppl keep asking us in specific abt system stuff omg,,)

im gonna preface this by saying that, in the end, i can only really talk about my own experiences with full confidence. systems can work pretty differently from each other, but this is how we function and also some details ive noticed from system friends + general discussion over the years

so, to start off: Dissociative Identity Disorder is, at its core, your brain trying to respond to trauma in a pretty severe way. that being said there ARE systems that didnt experience severe trauma and still developed, and im not really sure about the mechanics behind that but i find it really cool and it totally exists. im gonna focus on trauma-based systems bc that’s our ~tragic backstory~ and also tends to be what most people opt for when creating system characters anyway, but the only real difference from what i can tell is, uh, a lack of trauma.

I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR ME TO SAY THE WORD “TRAUMA” A WHOLE LOT JFC

(system friends are welcome to reblog with corrections or added info!!)

anyway. the way your brain responds to things is really weird. if something happens where you’re just, like, completely unable to handle it, like you dissociate yourself so hard because there’s no way you can manage this, your brain has a chance of going “uh… well, fuck, uh” and generating somebody who can manage it. or it might decide to be a dick and take all of the fucky internalized garbage and turn it into a person whose sole existence is to be an asshole. (they have the potential to get better, i think… ours didnt.) honestly theres a bunch of reasons and a bunch of “roles” that could lead to an alter/headmate* forming.

* we use the terms interchangeably depending on mood and whos fronting. i think its supposed to be “alter” is DID, “headmate” is implication that theyre non-traumatic? we like using “headmate” because it brings this fun mental image of us being a bunch of roommates constantly starting shit with each other and goofing off which is pretty accurate about 75% of the time

i keep getting distracted bc my cat is here. this is gonna be fun to go back and edit.

whatever the original situation is, you’re suddenly not alone in your own brain. and it’s REALLY WEIRD. communication was VERY hard. Icarus, our system original, used to do a very “cliche” thing of sharing a journal with their early headmates, where theyd write a sentence and then theyd write a reply (although back then they didnt realize that was a system-related thing and just thought they were having a fun conversation with their ocs. which… they were, just. Actually Talking.) they didnt have any inward perception of themself or their headmates either, so that kinda built up over time (with some help) along with the appearance of our headspace so that there was… actually a location for people to interact in. once they had a better awareness of things, mental communication got a bit easier– its sort of like background chatter really, when everybody’s awake. sometimes i get weird out of context things from Mae yelling at somebody, or sometimes ill be talking to a friend and someone’ll butt in.

when talking out loud, this usually leads to us suddenly stopping and then laughing or going “no!!!”. when on discord and around people who know who we are… well.

speaking of Mae, she’s pretty much my sister. not like… biologically? because i don’t think thats possible for me, but shes kinda literally my “other half” which ill get into later. headmates can have strong attachments to other alters! friends, best friends, family, dating, whatever. they can also do that with people outside the system, and itll be different for each headmate. there’s like 4 people dating Jorb but i just see him as one of my best friends. we’re people and we have complex social interactions that can get to be kind of a nightmare when you’re around a bunch of people who don’t know that you’re Not Leo and that youre suddenly not super up to existing around people in general.

plus even if like… so Jorb’s dating 4 of us like i said, but his relationship w/ each of them is different? Ica is very clingy and likes rambling to him, Summer’s pretty much just always happy to hang out, Mae makes fun of him a lot but in a loving way, and Leo is… kinda “all of the above” because that’s his gimmick. plus even tho a few other alters have a sibling-ish relationship with Mae like i do, usually its just me and Mae that do the “chaos siblings” bit.

the basic system.. thing… is that there’s “front”, which is being in control of the body– so, like, i’m currently fronting/in front, because im the one currently active and using our computer and staring at our cat.– and then theres the headspace, where everybody hangs out when theyre not in front. the headspace itself can differ in style & functionality for each system, and i think theres some systems that dont really have a location at all? but for us its like a full on location where we have individual rooms, places to visit if we get bored while away from front, etc.

theres also like, being at/near/away from front? so currently im in front, but Leo is pretty much always lurking nearby if he’s awake (we have individual sleep schedules that dont always sync up to the “irl” one, Trust is almost always sleeping), Ica’s somewhat in the back talking to Rookie so i cant really make out what theyre saying (its probably about either a youtube thing they both like or about a comic they want to do), and everyone else is either asleep (in which case they could be nearby but i cant currently “ping” them, so id have to actually take a sec to ground myself in headspace more) or in a different room. communication is easier if im in front and somebody is nearby, or it can be like with Ica rn where im like “well, theyre talking, but i have no idea what theyre saying and am making a guess based off their usual interactions”, or i could pass off front to go talk to Ica and come back (in which case my memory would be kind of vague and weird because information doesnt always properly translate), oooor i could actually go bug them while still in front. which.. im not gonna do rn bc then id get super distracted.

switching front differs between systems a lot! and even varies from day to day. like there are days where we wake up and we have absolutely no idea who we are bc we went to bed as one person and woke up as another. or we could be talking to somebody and then realize “wait, i stopped being Leo a bit ago, who am i”. or we could pass off front to somebody, like if Summer really wanted to front sie’d run up to me and let me know and we’d swap. or if something critical happens (usually a breakdown), Leo or one of the other headmates that’re more built to handle stressful situations will literally drag somebody out of front to make sure they dont hurt themself. or sometimes we throw front at people unexpectedly, like either mid-breakdown where we go “okay i dont wanna be here anymore, tag youre it” or sometimes because we think its funny because its the metaphysical equivalent of getting clonked in the head with a dodgeball, except the dodgeball is “being in control of our shared physical form”. usually mae’s the one that does that lmao

there’s a couple major categories of how alters come about. there’s “walk-ins”, where they kinda just… appear externally? like they just show up. sometimes we get a feeling of “huh. i think somebody might be here? or somebody might be showing up soon.” and have to rummage around for a while until they approach us or we find them. our walk-ins aren’t like, inherently aware of system stuff at first, so they usually get a crash course before they first front (if they choose to front at all) and it can be kinda entertaining. Rookie’s a walk-in! also Hiro, from a couple years ago. most of our walk-ins are fictives (fictional characters, usually appearing in response to us getting extremely attached to something or somebody) but a couple of our trauma splits are also fictives so that’s not like, a Rule or anything. i think these are mostly associated with non-traumatic systems but we get em fairly often so man idk

theres also… uh, i dunno what theyre actually called? we used to call them “constructs” but that sounds kind of mean. these alters exist to fill a specific role! and we usually dont talk about them on here with the exception of one major one, they just kinda hang out. Dhe exists to keep the system stable and manages the “backend” so to speak. Imp is kind of a mix of our intrusive & impulsive thoughts that came about from us trying to separate ourself from them so that we had an imaginary entity to go “nope!” at, which… stopped being imaginary, and is now a gremlin that lives in my brain. they can show up in response to trauma but arent split off of somebody, they kinda just pop into existence to help manage things.

the more… well-known, i guess? alter origin is “trauma splits”. rather than “just showing up one day with no real connection to the system origins”, trauma splits are formed when somebody in-system, uh, splits. it could be in response to a single situation or something built up over a long time, but somebody just kinda breaks and somebody new that has a bit of the original alter’s identity (if kinda influenced by the situation) shows up.

this can vary. All is a trauma split off of Leo himself, who got saddled with all of our brain hell about our ex and their insystem appearance is influenced more by eir than by leo which is… something they struggle with. Mae has a trauma split from a similar situation that is “Mae but from 2 years ago”, so basically her old identity before she reworked herself after getting put through total hell. and then uh… then there’s me and Mae! Icarus quite literally exploded into several people, with Pat (me) and Mae being the most distinct ones. we’re STILL finding out alters used to originally be a part of them that later evolved into their own people, like Summer and Toby. my identity is shaped pretty heavily not just by who Ica was at time of splitting, but also what they wanted to be jumbled together with trying to rationalize what was happening to them (they’re a pretty big fan of megaman star force, which has a media-typical system in it, so they leaned into hard “its like pat and rey from mmsf! i like pat, i wouldnt mind being like pat, its scary but im like one of my current favourite characters” and so i ended up being like, half-weird shapeshifter, half-green-haired prettyboy. and yeah thats where my name comes from!)

(Ica got put back together w/o anybody needing to integrate, which we were all very scared about, and it’s still kind of surreal to me because… me and Mae used to be able to stick ourself back together and thats how we found out about what happened to Ica in the first place? and we havent tried that since bc we have no idea what would happen. Ica 2: Ica Harder?)

despite their origins, trauma splits can be way more than… being a split. :V;; Toby’s not just a tiny splinter of Ica, he’s a quiet guy that gets stressed out and isn’t totally sure how to interact with people. i’ve existed for like 7 years at minimum and im a totally different person than i was when i thought i was still Ica, ‘cause ive had time to grow and change (and a problem Ica keeps running into now that theyre back is… they kinda Didn’t change because they were MIA for 6 years.) like everything else though this is variable– there can be “temporary” splits that dont develop properly and might get integrated back in, which has only happened to us when we were at the lowest point in our life where we were stuck constantly splitting to try and cope with whatever the hell was going on.

so Ica was gone for 6 years, which meant our system was without an original or main– there wasn’t anybody to be head of the system, basically. for a while i was operating under the assumption that i was Ica, so i filled in that role for a few years before i made the realization. eventually i kinda… stopped being able to, though, bc of stability issues, and then we were back to not really having a proper main anymore. to make up for it, we started going by Leo collectively and kinda… trying to pretend to be a single person? and so that ended up creating a construct to fill the role of “system main and the person we pretend to be when passing as singlet/not a system”: Leo himself! he’s kinda the most prominent traits we all have in common rolled into a single guy, which means that not only is he a pretty good system representative but we can also pretend to be him pretty easily (unless it’s someone like Toby who acts totally different). i dont know how common this situation is, i think normally it’s just “if system original is gone, another alter steps up” like originally happened to us before i had a severe case of problems disorder.

uhhh this is very rambley bc there’s a Lot to cover and now im trying to figure out how much of it i HAVE covered. systems are complicated and weird! OH WAIT okay i have one last bit.

so like, for us, first realizing we were a system was total hell. we fought a lot. as more alters showed up through various means, there were times where Ica felt like they were completely out of control of their own life bc of having to manage everything. there were a lot of panic attacks of people fronting and not being sure they were even REAL, despite… being in front. but we still felt like we were deluding ourself. this was in, like, late 2011, so systems weren’t a THING. they were a very fringe community that everyone hated. we got constantly harassed, which only fed into Ica’s panic hell and our identity issues. interpersonal relationships became a nightmare, especially because we have BPD as well which varies in severity for each of us but… for me it’s pretty bad! there were times early on where every day was another fun new breakdown from us arguing with each other or our friends or not being understood or… etc.

so… how are we holding up ~7 and a half years later? pretty well, actually! we talk to each other. we do things for each other, like buy food or games we know specific headmates like. Ica is back and way happier than they were in 2011, and is thrilled to get to hang out with everybody that’s showed up since. we help each other through problems, because at the end of the day our system ended up being a support network. Ica couldnt function on their own, so we’re like… 10+ people working together to try and be a single functional person. and we feel pretty okay with that! we still fight, and we still start shit, but we’re not in constant crisis anymore. we’re still working through all of our trauma, especially the more “recent” stuff that kinda broke our system for a while until we were able to start rebuilding, but we’re doing it together. :D

so… yeah, it can start out as a stereotypical “nightmare system”, with constant infighting and toxicity and self-sabotage and etc. but we worked through it! it took a while, but we’re overall more stable than we were before. we got out of the bad environment that was fucking us up, we got mental help for our other brain hell (we havent been able to bring up the system to our therapists bc its literally a non-issue now and we focus more on other things like our depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc), we found people that support us for being us, and we were able to like… figure things out. and it was a mess! i still have issues about my own identity because of literally thinking i was someone else for two years. Ica’s still trying to figure out how to adjust to things, especially bc they missed our entire “cringe culture” phase so they came back to find that i’d dismantled a lot of their middle-school settings. and, uh, some of their friendships as well.

systems are fuckin weird

[sylvasthesnowfox]

Chapters: 20/20 Fandom: Fire Emblem Heroes Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Summoner | Eclat | Kiran, Anna (Fire Emblem), Sharon | Sharena, Raquesis | Lachesis, Anthiese | Celica, Mae (Fire Emblem), Boey (Fire Emblem), Genny (Fire Emblem), Nino (Fire Emblem), Lyndis (Fire Emblem), Florina (Fire Emblem), Hector (Fire Emblem), Lilina (Fire Emblem), Eliwood (Fire Emblem), Roy (Fire Emblem), Ninian (Fire Emblem), Eirika (Fire Emblem), Lucina (Fire Emblem), Katua | Catria, Clea | Clair, Leon | Leo (Fire Emblem: Fates), Camilla (Fire Emblem), Felicia (Fire Emblem), Sanaki Kirsch Altina, Paora | Palla, Minerva (Fire Emblem), Alfonse (Fire Emblem) Additional Tags: Chapters Individually Tagged Series: Part 9 of Cinders of the Emblem Summary:

The Order of Heroes hangs at a precious moment of pseudo-peace. Even with Veronica wounded and the Emblian forces pushed back, the heroes falter as their very mission is called into question. Until their motive and goal is made clear, they can't proceed like before.

Faith in the Order's leadership is shaken; while Kiran must justify herself and her actions to the outside world of Askr, Sharena and (mostly) Anna take on a scheme of their own to rebuild trust from both the Order's members, and the outside populace of Askr. It's not like the Heroes have anything better to do while they wait, right?

So it occurs to me that I got so sidetracked from posting the last few chapters of this that I forgot I’d never actually shared it to tumblr! Here it is! 

Cinders of the Emblem is going back on hold after this, unfortunately. Wishes from Oblivion has been silent for a while but I am working furiously on the Sky arc and it’s very nearly finished; once I’ve queued all that up it will be time to revisit some old projects, hopefully even finish them up, and then finally really examine Cinders and decide what I want it to be. After multiple illnesses and a lot of hectic holiday travel around the new year it’s really nice to be back on schedule with writing! 

Anyway; please bear in mind that this intermission, while parts of it are directly plot-relevant, is not entirely safe for work. Each chapter is individually marked in the description as to whether or not it is work safe and any additional tags that you might need, so read at your own discretion. That said, I hope you enjoy the Order of Heroes’ brief summer downtime! Thank you as always for reading!

[deepdisireslonging]

Family Found Part 25: Trick or Treat (Evolution)

The first-ever women’s PPV, Evolution, is a hit. The amazing moral of Raw continues as everybody gets ready for Survivor Series. A warning comes from an old rival and it brings the rosters together for a unique match.

Warnings/Promises: wrestling violence, angst, cousin-fluff, some underhanded flirting

Word Count: 3890

Note: I am super excited for this chapter because it’s one of the major chunks I had in mind during the early stages of series development. Pretty much everything about Survivor Series is why I wrote this series. There have been some changes in that plan because of Roman’s announcement, and I will not be using Joe Anoa’I illness as a plot point. I will be mentioning it enough to move Dean forward, but it won’t be a focus. Thank you guys for sticking with me this far. Enjoy this next chapter!

Part 1: Welcome to the Team

Part 24: Shattered (TLC)

Evolution – October 28, 2018 - Uniondale, New York

The monumental night began with a title match. Natalya stood in one corner. In the other, Rhonda stood with the title swung over her shoulder.

When the bell rang, both women took one more second to observe her opponent before rushing in for the headlock. They had learned well from each other. Natalya was using some holds that were more likely to be seen in a UFC fight than a squared circle. And Rhonda was taking time to breathe. She would rush in, all speed and aggression, but when something didn’t work she was able to take a step back and clear her head.

They danced around one another, occasionally smiling. To some of the woman watching in the back, the match looked like a typical sparring match. That couldn’t last forever.

Natalya twisted Rhonda underneath her in a sharpshooter. How many times in sparring had Rhonda been able to crawl to the ropes? Or to turn opposite of Natalya’s force and make it out? It was beginning to frustrate Rhonda that she couldn’t do any of those things. She grit her teeth and was able to move a few inches closer to the bottom rope. With a few more she would be able to grab it. The bottom rope faded into the distance as Natalya dragged her back into the center of the ring and deepened the hold.

With a growl, Rhonda had to choose the stability of her body over her reign.

The women both crumpled to the canvas as the bell rang again, ending the match. They hugged one another, even as the ref struggled to bring Natalya to her feet. He eventually raised her hand in victory and was quickly replaced by Rhonda. No hard feelings; just a great match.

But Evolution had to continue.

***

Trish Stratus and Lita made their grand entrance to the loud welcome of the WWE universe. The crowd was full of women who had grown up watching their matches, and new fans young and old who were coming into the WWE at the best time. Every girl and woman sitting or standing around the arena was ready for the first of many PPVs showing off the best female talent. Lita eagerly welcomed several girls straining over the barricades with handshakes and a bright smile.

In the ring, things were a little grimmer. Alexa Bliss and Mickie James attacked early before the ref’s signal, rushing action from the legends. All four woman took turns having the upper hand, and wondering if they were going to make it out of the pin. Trish caught Alexa with a Stratusfaction, bringing their match to a close.

The night continued with the last round of the Mae Young Classic, the NXT Women’s championship between Kari Sane and Shayna Bazler, and then with the all-woman battle royal. More legends came out, and some hopeful future legends from NXT like Dakota Kai and Nikki Cross. The past met the future over and over again as participants went over the top rope. In the end, only one could stand by herself. And at this Evolution, it was Ember Moon.

***

Evolution ended with the match of the year. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Fair gave their all in the first ever Last Woman Standing match. Throughout the war, both women tried to use their submission moves on the other. During any other match, a submission would have been admitting that the other was the best wrestler. That she was right. But tonight, the last woman standing meant she had more drive, more power, and more right to the title than the one left in a heap.

Charlotte twisted in the air off a ring post. Becky was wobbling on her feet on the floor below. The last several counts had danced dangerously close to ten.

At the last second, Becky turned and flattened herself against the ring. Charlotte landed hard on the floor. She crawled around, gripping at Becky’s boot as her former friend rolled into the ring. Becky stood in the center, staring at her opponent as the ref counted.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

No matter the cost, Becky Lynch had retained her Smackdown Women’s Championship and proved herself to be the stronger woman. The one with the drive. That she was right.

***

***

Monday Night Raw – October 29, 2018

The Titantron lit up with your name and your colors. You entered with a smile and made your way to the ring, mentally giggling as heavy footsteps followed. Braun used his longer stride to get ahead of you so he could sit on the ropes and help you into the ring. He had made it clear that what happened last week with taking Dean and Roman’s titles with Bray Wyatt, now Dr. M, did not extend to you.

“Welcome to Monday Night Raw!” You smiled brightly. The welcome was never going to get old. “Evolution was a fantastic success. I got to meet some women last night that I never dreamed I would never see in person. And our ladies did an amazing job putting on the best show possible. I know it will not be the last of it’s kind.” You took a deep breath and looked back at Braun.

“But that was Sunday,” you continued. “Starting tonight, it is officially Survivor Series season. And that is why Braun is being my shadow for the evening. Because of… last year’s events leading up to Survivor Series, we thought it was best if I had a little extra security. I don’t want to end up in a match.”

“You have to say the thing.”

“What?”

Braun growled with a smirk. “You have to say the thing.”

No. His good-natured glare heavily suggested you should, but you tried to get out of it anyway. “I don’t want to. It’s too soon. I don’t want to be sick of it before the night’s out.”

He tilted his head. “But it’s Survivor Series Season.” When you grit your teeth, he chuckled. “You know we get a bonus every time we say it, right?”

Well in that case… “As you all know,” you said, smiling at him, “Survivor Series is the one time of year when Raw and Smackdown go head to head in competition.” You sighed. “This better be worth it.”

Braun just laughed and gave your back a hard pat, making you stumble forward.

“Our superstars will meet their superstars for each of the titles, and then also for the five on five tag team matches. We will start the process of selecting those team members tonight with two women’s matches and two men’s matches. And in new news this year, the champions of NXT and 205 Live will also go head to head. It might be a little rough for the NXT champion since War Games is the night before, but William Regal is sure his champion will triumph.”

The audience seemed to take the news well. You were able to let your shoulders relax.

“On that note, let’s get the show started with our first elimination member matches.”

On the way out, you quietly promised to split the phrase bonus with Braun since he was the one who told you.

***

Up first for the elimination match, Liv Morgan and Sasha Banks fought for their position. Ruby and Sarah Logan had accompanied their teammate into the arena, but she waved them backstage. They all knew Sasha hadn’t been having a good run. In Liv’s mind, tonight was going to be nothing different.

Unfortunately for her, it was.

Sasha was tired of sitting on the sidelines. Tired of missing opportunities. And tired of people assuming she was done. So after taking several minutes of Liv’s aggression, she flipped on her own. Harsh kicks and rapid-fire punches. The losses that had piled up were several too many. Headlocks and body slams. The way other wrestlers looked at her when she walked by was done. Jumps from the top ropes. With a battle-cry, Sasha grabbed Liv by her pink hair. She was thrown across the ring. Sasha caught her bouncing off the ropes and flipped back into a Bank Statement.

Liv submitted, giving the first spot on the women’s elimination team to Sasha.

***

Next was the first men’s spot match. Drew McIntyre proudly made it down to the ring and patiently waited for his opponent. His smug grin turned sour at the sound of Dolph’s record scratch. They didn’t waste any time. A position was next on Dolph’s list of goals, and it had a similar position for Drew. But instead of showing each other off, they did their best to crush one another. Drew tried several times for a Claymore. It was always evaded. Dolph attempted to use his small form and speed to tire out his former partner but was often brought to a halt with some submission hold.

Renee piped up in commentary, “I think this is more than about a spot on the Raw team. These men were practically attached at the hip to achieve a goal. Dolph wanted a match between them after obtaining a championship, but that never happened. This is the match we would have seen, for who can be the best man. But now it’s for who is right. Either Dolph in his ambitions, or Drew in his.”

Not even Corey could disagree with that.

Dolph jumped for a Zig-Zag, but Drew saw it coming and was able to flip him around. By the time Dolph had scrambled back to his feet, he was met with a Claymore. Drew stood over his unmoving body for a few seconds before moving in for the pin. He didn’t celebrate. Nor did he give Dolph’s glare a backward glance.

***

Bayley and Ruby were up next for the team spot. The Riott Squad leader did not make the same mistake as her teammate. Sarah Logan was ringside for the whole match. Any time the ref’s back was turned, she was on the apron looking to distract Bayley and give Ruby an upper hand.

When Sarah couldn’t interfere, Bayley was struggling to keep Ruby from keeping her shoulders terrifyingly close to the canvas. The hugger used her skills to flip their positions, and then her power to rain blows down onto her opponent. Ruby desperately blocked her face and kicked her feet, trying to get out. Finally, Ruby was able to catch Bayley in the ribs with a hit, sending her rolling across the ring.

She couldn’t waste the chance. She returned the favor, catching Bayley in her own trap, even when she grabbed hold of the bottom rope and the ref counted to four. Only at the last second did she let go.

Sarah moved to dip between the ropes while Ruby argued with the ref. She was quickly knocked to the floor, but Ruby was there to push the ref aside and roll Bayley up for the pin.

The Riott Squad made their quick exit, smirking all the way.

***

“Dean, wait up!” You hurried to catch up with your cousin’s receding form. “Where are you going? You’ve got a match later.”

He looked away at the ground. “I don’t think I need to be on the team,” he muttered.

“What?” You shook your head. “Why? You’re one of the best guys here and we need you. And I’m not saying that ‘cause-“

“I can’t Y/N. Find someone else for that match.” Dean shied away from your outstretched hand. “I’m the reason why… Roman and I lost the tag titles because of me. And then he… he left. I’m not… I can’t-“

“Dean,” you gently placed your hand on his shoulder, ready to snatch it back. When he leaned into the comforting touch, you took a deep breath. “He’s going to come back. In the meantime, I thought you’d like a fun fight. Your elimination spot match is with No Way Jose.” You bit your lip as he didn’t react. “Just make it to the ring. Then we’ll go from there, okay? No pressure. No promises. What happens is what happens… and you are still my favorite big cousin either way. Please?”

Dean winced a grin. “Sure, Ladybug. I’ll get there.” Then he calmly removed your hand from his shoulder and walked away.

***

As there were new tag team champions, Braun and Dr. M wanted to prove that they were the best team to face the Smackdown tag team. So you had set up two triple threat matches between the other Raw tag teams, the first one tonight. Dr. M and Braun watched from backstage, with you close by so Braun could keep a close eye on you.

The B-Team, the Authors of Pain, and the team of Heath Slater and Rhyno met in the ring. To keep things interesting, one member from each team would be allowed in the ring at a time instead of the usual two. This lead to some odd mini-alliances depending on who was the most dangerous wrestler in the ring at any given moment. Like Bo Dallas and Rezar against Rhyno. Or Curtis Axel and Heath against Akam, before they flipped to attack Curtis.

In the end, the general consensus that the Authors of Pain were the biggest threats was correct. Rezar pinned Bo while Akam held Rhyno in the corner behind the ref’s back. They posed at the top of the ramp with Drake Maverick, who spat warnings to the new champions that they wouldn’t champs for long.

***

When Dean walked into the arena, he had to laugh. No Raw before Halloween was complete without a Trick or Treat Street match. No disqualifications, and no promises. You were probably going to get flack for making an elimination spot match so frivolous, but Dean’s smile made it worth it. Besides, who didn’t want to see Jose conga-dancing with a skeleton?

There were, of course, candy corn kendo sticks, pumpkins, and bowls of candy that both men gleefully emptied into the crowd. When they got down to it, Dean was more than willing to participate. What he wasn’t expecting, was to laugh to much in a match for something so important.

The match could have gone either way. They were both having so much fun, neither was too insistent to pin the other but there was a goal to achieve. A Dirty Deeds into a mess of mutilated pumpkin parts did the trick.

As Dean pinned Jose, he nodded. You were right. He needed this match. And you had picked the perfect opponent that would have made Raw proud had he lost. They shook hands and shared a candy bar on their way out of the ring.

***

After the commercial break, Finn was standing in the ring with his Universal and a mic.

“Last year I was part of the elimination tag-team for Raw. This year I am battlin’ with my title against one of the best in the business.” He smiled. “My title. On Sunday Natalya won back her ability to say the same thing. My title. She’s goin’ to face Becky Lynch, a ‘nother incredible woman who has fought and clawed her way into bein’ able to do this.” Finn lifted the red and gold belt high above his head with his right hand. “There have always been incredible fights to that right. Always will be. But Survivor Series is different.”

He thumbed at his lip in thought. “Survivor Series is about seein’ who is the best between Raw and Smackdown. It’s about pride and cementin’ your stamp on wrestling deeper into the history of this ring. It’s more than just your legacy. It’s making it stand higher than another great name.”  

“I agree.” The Titantron flickered to life. AJ Styles was sitting in front of a blue screen with his WWE Heavyweight Championship over his shoulder. “Thank you for that compliment. I concur that my legacy stands the highest in the WWE. I’ve been carrying this title for a while, and I have been carrying Smackdown for even longer.” He paused. “What is your legacy, Finn? An injury and a title you can’t defend without help from… a darker version of yourself?”

Finn smiled and sucked on his teeth. “Not like you can defend your title without almost losin’ it. Now that I’ve got it back, it hasn’t been at risk of changin’ hands. Unlike...” he pointed at the screen, where AJ curtly shot him a look.

“Are we going to do this like last time?”

Finn shook his head. “Nah. This time around I’m more int’rested in havin’ a man versus man fight.”

“I might make you regret that decision.”

“If you say so, AJ. But no one has made me regret being tha man I am. This man is the one who bested the demon in the first place. Took his crown. Shaped ‘im into what I needed. Finn Balor as a man is just as great a wrestler as tha Demon King. But I guess you’ll be findin’ that out in a few weeks.”

“I’ll be seeing you before Survivor Series,” AJ said with a smirk.

“Is t’at so? Lookin’ for a practice-match, phenomenal one?”

AJ shook his head. “Not quite. Trick or treat.” Then the screen went black.

Finn scoffed, unbothered.

***

Elias strummed. “Tonight, I take back what was stolen from me.” He thought for a moment, absently playing a tune that dropped and attacked the air around him. “Baron Corbin is going to walk with Elias and find that he is not gifted enough to stand to me. The Intercontinental Championship is going to be on my waist at Survivor Series, and I will defeat Shinsuke Nakamura. And then they will both know what all of you people here know and that is that WWE stands for?”He hooted as the audience gave the correct response. There would have been more, but Baron wasn’t the most patient person on the roster.

The Intercontinental Champion strutted out onto the stage, making sure that the gold on his title caught the light just right. He begrudgingly handed it to the ref and smugly bounced in his corner while Elias glared at him from the other side.

They fought hard. It was looking like Elias had the upper hand when there was a banshee-like screech. Baron retreated to the side of the ring furthest from the stage, while Elias stumbled for a closer look.

“Paige?” he read on the screen.

Baron took the moment to roll Elias up, latching his fingers into his belt loops for that extra leverage. Elias chased him out of the ring, where Baron was hastily handed the title.

You passed him on your way down the ramp. Braun was a few steps behind and stayed on the floor while you got in the ring for a better look around the arena. He joined you as Paige came in through the side stage entrance and the Smackdown roster filed down the stairs. She gave you a sweet smile before climbing through the ropes.

“Paige.”

“Y/N.”

“I would say it’s good to see you, but… I have to wonder what you’re doing here.”

She laughed. “Oh, sweetheart. Tis the season. Just thought we ought to come for a little visit-“

“And repeat what happens every year, rough up my roster? Come on Paige, you’re smarter than that.”

“I don’t really think you’re in a position to say so.”

Now it was your turn to smile. “Oh?” Making a big show of it, you raised your fist in the air and snapped. Raw wrestlers streamed in from all sides. Down the ramp. From the crowd, blocking Smackdown’s exit. They were backed up against the ring as they were surrounded. “What was that, sweetie?”

Paige cocked her head, acknowledging the strategic move.

You interrupted before she could say anything. “How about something new this year. We’ve got dozens of talented wrestlers, and we’re going to see the best spectacle of that in a few weeks. But tonight, I think we should give the Universe a match that won’t be happening at Survivor Series. Something unique.”

“Okay. I’m listening.”

“Champion versus champion. Someone you think embodies the ‘land of opportunity’ spirit of Smackdown. And I’ll pick mine. Well… actually, mine is already picked.”

“You planned this?”

A giggle escaped. “It all depended on your actions, Paige. A game of chess.

She shook her head. “It’s not much of a game if your obvious answer is already in the ring.” She nodded in Braun’s general direction.

The two of you shared a look. “That’s not a guarantee. I have a whole roster full of champions. Can you say the same?”

“You know I can.”

“Then do it. We’re in showbiz. Let’s put on a show.”

Paige looked past you, then reestablished eye contact with you. “Fine. I choose Sheamus.” The ring bounced as he entered the ring. You remained still, trying to keep your emotions under control. “I hope that’s okay.”

Sheamus stood between you. “I’ll make the match quick. Perhaps you should pick one of your B-list wrestlers? It would be a shame to embarrass one of your A-listers this close to Survivor Series.”

You chuffed. “This is Monday Night Raw. There is no such thing as a B-list wrestler here. But I thought you would have known that, having been moved to Smackdown this year.”

On the floor, Dean and Seth shared a smile watching you sass back and forth with Sheamus. Seth was enjoying every second of it. Dean was too, but he was also making a plan of attack if Sheamus tried anything.

Turning to your circle, you motioned for some to leave. The ones that did left up the ramp and brought chairs out onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen,” you said, “if you could please. We don’t want any shenanigans back stage, so you guys are going to get a front-and-center seat.” The rest of the roster shooed the blue-brand wrestlers to their seats. “Paige, you and I will be joining the commentary table. And now for our champion. As you said, they are already in the ring.”

Braun took several large steps forward, coming nose to nose with Sheamus. Then he stepped aside to reveal Ember Moon. She straightened her fire braids and turned towards her corner. Braun sat on the rope so you and Paige could exit, then he followed.

The night ended peacefully, all things considered. During the match, the rosters stayed where they were supposed to, and you and Paige got along well.

In the ring, Sheamus was pleasantly surprised at how well Ember was able to keep him on his toes. He may have towered over by what seemed like two feet, but she was nimble. And her height made it difficult to properly perform a Brogue kick. Her favorite way to avoid it was to shift just barely to one side, then send him a snide look. But he had an advantage too. When she had him staggering, Ember jumped for a Full Eclipse. Sheamus caught her.

Instead of throwing her backward for the advantage, he gently returned her to her feet. Then he held out his hand. “I stand corrected about the prowess of the Raw brand. Pax?”

Ember took his hand. “For now.”

  Part 26: Missing

Series Masterlist 

Masterlist 

Forever Tags: @blondekel77 @hallemichelles @laochbaineann @lavitabella87 @ramblingsofabourbondrinker @savmontreal @southsidebucky @tinyelfperson @zuni21798

WWE/Series Tags: @a-home-for-stray-stories @amballins-priestess @top-1-percent @mother-forker @neversatisfiedgirl @racheo91 @roman-reigns-princess @secretagentfangirl @thetherianthropydaily @wwe-smutfics @scuzmunkie @likeisaidwhatever @cait-kae @ramsaypants @sony-undead18 @brianaraydean @st4yingstrong @dopeybubbles @crystallizeme @jessica91073 @denise8691 @stalelight @kenyadakblalock @1dluver13xx @lauren-novak @lunatic-desert-child @littledeadrottinghood 

[arofili]

gen freeform exchange letter!

See my signup for likes/DNWs/etc.

This is not the most detailed letter, just kind of a collection of my scattered thoughts about how the tags I chose apply to the characters I chose. these are of course completely optional, you can follow my prompts or pick something completely different, whatever you’d like. thanks for writing for me!!

~~~

Request 1: Kidnap Dads Fluff

this is the Kidnap Dads Fluff request! some of these are pretty Maedhros-centric, bc he is my favorite character; you don’t have to include all of them but I’d love it if you included Mae.

I like my Kidnap Dads either extremely fluffy OR extremely complicated and handled with care. This request is for the fluffy stuff. Please don’t make anyone a bad parent - definitely not M&M, but also not Elwing & Eärendil either, and if you’re writing about M&M’s childhood at all I need Fëanor to be a good dad. Things can be Complicated™ but I need there to be love at the root of parent-child relationships.

For the relationships outside of the various combinations of Elrond & Elros & Maedhros & Maglor:

I would love to see Elrond & Gil-galad viewing each other as brothers because Russingon-baby!Gil shares a dad with Elrond!! or Gil somehow visiting Mae while he and Mags are taking care of E&E? idk. just, Mae as Gil’s dad and also Elrond’s dad, that’s good content. (though Jaz, if you get assigned me feel free to write your Gil and Elrond platonic marriage idea, haha)

for Eluréd & Elurín & Maedhros: an AU where Mae saves them? maybe they get to take care of their nephews! or maybe Sirion goes differently, oooh

accidental parent acquisition: M&M didn’t INTEND to care about E&E but they do, E&E realize that they’re closer to M&M than they were to their bio parents

"We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It": E&E claim M&M as their parents despite M&M’s protests that No We’re Evil You Don’t Want Us As Parents

Adult Siblings acting like Children: this could work for either set of siblings; I’m imagining E&E goofing off while Elrond is visiting Tar-Minyatur in Númenor and Elros’ nobles are sweating like “wtf is happening”; OR it’s M&M who have a moment of levity and sibling shenanigans that they don’t normally indulge in and E&E see and are astonished and start to trust them more

Awkward Conversations with People You Tried to Kill: M&M comforting E&E immediately post Kinslaying

Bedtime Stories: M&M telling E&E about their shared dead relatives? M&M telling E&E about Aman? E&E telling M&M about the petty squabbles they witnessed between the various nobles in Sirion?

Building A New Life: none of them really expected to survive Sirion, and they certainly didn’t expect this family situation, so they have to figure out where to go from here

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: Maglor using Song magic when he doesn’t need to? Maedhros getting all Spirit Of Fire-y while protecting the twins from orcs? eldritch E&E abusing their Maia powers for petty childhood pranks? any one of those, but in front of an audience of outsiders?

Character A and B work together to take care of hurt/ill mutual loved one: E&E and Maglor caring for Maedhros who’s having a bad pain day

Characters Hanging Out In The Kitchen Because They Can't Sleep: accidental family gathering in the kitchen, every character sneaks out individually and is surprised to find the others in the kitchen too

Characters Teaching Each Other New Skills: i LIVE for this stuff with kidnap dads!! Mags teaching music? Mae teaching swordfighting? History? Politics? Magic? whatever!

competent parenting: this is almost a Requirement tbh, but idk, show a moment where E&E expect M&M to be too harsh or to be pushovers but M&M establish firm boundaries and do the Right Parenting Thing

Family Fluff: that’s this entire request tbh

Disabled Character Kicks Ass: Maedhros!!!!! protecting the twins!!! :D

Fluff and Angst: yesss, angst with a happy ending is my JAM

Food as a Metaphor for Love: Maedhros who bakes :D

Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids: I nominated this tag specifically with Maedhros & E&E in mind :)))) Maglor being surprised Mae gets along with the kids so well, and then remembering “right he used to be older bro Maitimo”? E&E expecting Mae to be the strict one but no it’s actually Maglor, Mae’s a big softie? an outsider watching Mae switch abruptly from “intimidating warlord who can and will kill you” to “doting father”?

The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair: ELVES AND HAIR PLS. maybe M&M having Noldor Hair Culture Norms that make hair a Big Deal, and E&E having Sindar norms that are like “whatever, it’s just hair”? things that are really meaningful to M&M but E&E don’t get the depth of it?

Hope vs. Despair: E&E giving Maedhros hope when he’d almost fallen permanently into despair

Identical Twins Swap Places to Mess with People: just. E&E shenanigans. bonus points if M&M are the only ones who can still tell them apart.

Oaths & Vows: literally anything to do with E&E reacting to/discovering/understanding the Oath of Fëanor

Platonic Soulbonds: adoption bonds!! my hc is that (for elves) blood family have a soul connection to one another innately, but when you adopt someone you have to initiate that bond yourself (kind of like a marriage bond but not). anything to do with M&M adopting E&E - or, E&E adopting M&M!

Post-Canon: AU where Mae lives pls??

Protectiveness: M&M protecting E&E from an outside threat OR E&E protecting M&M’s reputation after they’re separated

Raising a Child or Children Together, platonic co-parenting: M&M brotherly bonding :’) they feel like Real Family for the first time since their little brothers were little

Ruined Castles and Fortresses: Amon Ereb as a makeshift fortress long after it should’ve fallen? E&E visiting Tol Himling post-canon?

Sibling Rivalry: M&M competing over E&E liking them the most? E&E competing over M&M spoiling them the most?

Telepathy: ósanwë!!

Trans Character: make some characters trans! have M&M be supportive of E and/or E transitioning! have M and/or M be trans and explaining that to the twins! or whatever! I love trans stuff!

~~~

Request 2: Kidnap Dads Angst

Okay, here’s the Kidnap Dads But Angst request :)))) A lot of the same prompts....but make them angsty......I would like a happy ending (or at least a hopeful ending), though, so hurt/comfort would be great, or someone thinking things are worse than they turn out to be, that sort of thing. If there’s a specific prompt that would work better with an unhappy ending I’ll mention that, but unless I request it please don’t do it.

Non-Kidnap Fam relationships:

Elrond & Gil-galad, Mae & Gil: again, was thinking Russingon Baby Gil here, but this time Gil has angst about Mae being his dad. Elrond reassuring him that Mae is a good dad? Or maybe they’re both remembering Mae after he dies :(((

Eluréd & Elurín & Maedhros: a canon take on this where Mae keeps comparing the first E&E twins to the second set.... or maybe Eluréd and Elurín are haunting Mae?

"We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It": M&M adopting E&E before E&E trust them fully, they need to make sure E&E are cared for but the twins are still afraid of them. OR E&E adopting M&M, but lean into the angst of M&M not feeling like they’ll be good enough parents

A and B mourn death of person they both loved: Maglor & Elrond & Elros mourning Mae? Maglor & Elrond mourning Elros?

Angst - Characters know exactly how to hurt each other: SO much angst potential here... maybe Mags needling Mae right where it hurts in an attempt to get him to take a more active role in their lives? Using Fingon against him? :)))

Angst with a Happy Ending: my bread and butter, this is kind of the ideal story I want for this request

A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need: Maglor and Maedhros right before the theft of the Silmarils? M&M assuming E&E will abandon them as soon as they get the chance?

Awkward Conversations with People You Tried to Kill: immediately post-Sirion, dial up the angst factor

Building A New Life: post-WoW, everyone going their own ways

Character A and B work together to take care of hurt/ill mutual loved one: E&E and Maglor care for Mae on a bad pain day or with an injury from battle BUT instead of cute sickfic everyone’s terrified Mae is going to die, Mae kind of wants to die, Elrond is worried he’s not a good enough healer for this, Maglor blaming himself for Mae getting into this situation, basically everyone’s on edge and not having a good time

Character discovering own self-worth: E&E teaching Mae to love himself again!!!

Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another: OKAY so my angsty headcanon for this is that Maedhros intentionally draws the twins’ ire to him when things get tense between the Fëanorians & their hostages, so they associate negative encounters with Maedhros and positive ones with Maglor. Basically he wants to spare Maglor the brunt of their anger by taking it onto himself, sabotaging his own relationship with the twins. bonus points for E&E figuring this out and fucking up his plan by loving Mae too.

Character expected to die but didn't and now has no idea how to live anymore: MAEDHROS LIVES AU FT. ALL THE ANGST

Child A comforts Child B after B has nightmare about their dead parents: E&E in the first few years of captivity :))

Characters with complicated pasts struggling with guilt and grief and forgiveness: is this not just the Fëanorians???

complicated family dynamics: just make it fucked up and difficult, E&E shouldn’t love M&M but they do anyway, they still love their bio parents too but have mixed feelings overall

Depending On Each Other To Survive: Beleriand is literally falling apart around them, they have to rely on each other or they WILL die

Difficult Decisions In War Time: M&M sending E&E to Gil-galad? M&M choosing to go after the Silmaril, E&E reacting to that?

It's the end of the world as we know it and Character(s) feel(s) fine: E&E have literally only ever known wartime, this is normal to them. OR Mae feeling better when things are horrific than he does during peaceful-ish times.

Oaths & Vows: E&E try and swear the Oath of Fëanor in order to get M&M’s approval, M&M are horrified

Platonic Soulbonds: M&M doing the adoption-soulbond thing with E&E because without a parental soulbond baby elfs can DIE..........

Post-Canon: early second age angst :)))

Redemption: M&M redeeming themselves through being good parents to E&E...but does that really redeem them?

Refusing to believe a loved one is dead: E&E refusing to accept that Maedhros is dead :))))))))

Regret: M&M post-Sirion

Separated for an Extended Period of Time and the Slow Road Back to Normal: AU where Mae survives but is separated from everyone for a long time? Canon Mags does his emo wandering thing but finally Elrond drags him to Rivendell? post-rebirth Mae and Mags and Elrond??

Take me instead: Mae sacrificing himself for the sake of the twins ;-; OR the twins trying to sacrifice themself for M&M??

two people really want Found Family but are too emotionally stunted to admit it: Maedhros desperately wanting to be included in Mags & E&E’s new little family but not able to admit it on his own

Us Against The World Mentality That Might Not Be Healthy But The Characters Find It Comforting: is this not just the Fëanorians at the end of the Silm....

World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding in each other: MAE AND MAGS....

competent parenting, Disabled Character Kicks Ass, Fluff and Angst, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Hope vs. Despair, Raising a Child or Children Together, platonic co-parenting, Telepathy, Trans Character, Protectiveness, Ruined Castles and Fortresses: see previous request!

~~~

Request 3: Maedhros and/or Fingon and/or Finrod with a Kid!

Please note my Russingon preferences for this request, it’s in my DNW section.

Okay I have two basic concepts for this request - though I like all of the relationships I requested so if you have a completely different take that would be great too - but here’s the idea: Maedhros and/or Fingon and/or Finrod end up semi-accidentally adopting a child! The kid is either Gil-galad or Maeglin, probably :)

Some possible scenarios:

Maeglin!

Aredhel and Maeglin go to Fingon instead of Turgon when they escape. Something happens to Aredhel, maybe Eöl follows her and she dies like in canon? Or maybe she’s still around, she deserves to live. But Fingon gets custody of Maeglin, and then ropes Maedhros and/or Finrod into helping him out.

A young Maeglin goes on a journey outside of Gondolin, against Turgon’s wishes, and gets captured by orcs...but much earlier than he does in canon. And this time he gets rescued by Maedhros! Now Maedhros is stuck with a kid who has a lot of the same trust issues he had post-Angband and he calls Fingon and/or Finrod in for help. Probably Fingon considering Maeglin is his nephew.

Aredhel and Maeglin go to Himlad instead of Gondolin. When Celegorm and Curufin go to Nargothrond, they go with. Again, maybe something happens to Aredhel? Or not? Whatever you’d prefer. But Finrod gets involved in Maeglin’s upbringing.

In any of these scenarios: Turgon gets worried enough about his missing sister and/or nephew to go looking for them, finds them in the care of someone else, is frustrated he “wasn’t good enough” to take care of them. Probably Finrod knocks some sense into him.

Tags that work for these situations: "We're Family Now and There's Nothing You Can Do about It", Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, AU where disaster character has good role models in their youth, Building A New Life, Character thinks no one is coming to save them; MULTIPLE people team up for the rescue, competent parenting, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids (MAE!!), Hair Braiding/Care, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Helping Friend to Recover from Trauma, Nightmares, Overcoming Trauma, Raising a Child or Children Together, Unlikely Team-Ups, platonic co-parenting, Long Lost/Secret Relatives

Gil-galad!

For this request, Gil-galad is probably adopted. (Though, if you want to make him a trans!Russingon bio kid, be my guest.) He could either be a random baby that needs caring for OR the son of Lalwen (and Círdan?) that they can’t take care of for Political Reasons OR whatever other Gil-galad theory you prefer. (Just don’t make him Fingon’s bio kid unless he’s also Mae’s bio kid.)

I love the idea of Fingon adopting Gil-galad and writing Maedhros to say “we have a kid now!” Mae panics because WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE A KID?? (Doesn’t have to be romo Russingon, could just be that Fingon assumes his BFF is going to be involved in raising his son because of course??)

Fingon or Finrod adopt a baby Gil, but he gets passed around between them + Maedhros for Reasons. Gil has SO many dads.

Tags that work for this situation: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies (pls just give me some shenanigans with a happy ending), competent parenting, Gruff intimidating character gets soft around kids (MAE!!), Hair Braiding/Care, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meeting, Raising a Child or Children Together, Unlikely Team-Ups, platonic co-parenting, Long Lost/Secret Relatives

I also threw some tags in here that would be fun for scenarios that don’t necessarily include Gil or Maeglin.

Mae, Finno, & Ingo: Bonding over being the oldest sibling, court intrigue, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meeting, Character Finds Support In Queer Community, bonding over both being gay Give me some Valinor shenanigans, or war leaders in Beleriand goofing off, or them all being The Gay Cousin :)

Mae and Finno: A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need, Character Adjusts To Newly Acquired Disability, Fealty Dynamic, Helping Friend to Recover from Trauma, Hope vs. Despair, I trust you to remove me from the equation if I become a danger to others, Loyalty - King/Queen and Lionheart dynamics, Person Used to Being Treated Like a Weapon Gets Rescued & Treated Like a Person Again, Stoic Character Breaks Down And Admits They Need Help, Sworn Loyalty basically these two being Ride Or Die for each other <3 <3 lots of post-Angband trauma that Finno helps Mae unlearn! If you go with this part of the request, please please please keep my Russingon preferences in mind; since this is a gen exchange I’m not expecting romantic Russingon but I do need them to care for each other very deeply, and I don’t want them shipped with other people. a platonic marriage situation would be EXCELLENT.

And a few more things I just love in general: Platonic Cuddling, platonic declarations of love, Platonic Soulbonds, Telepathy, Holding Hands For soulbonds: please do it in the canon style of choosing to soulbond with a person. For telepathy: ósanwë shenanigans.

And of course: Aroace Character(s), Nonbinary Character(s), Trans Character all of these are a “YES PLEASE” situation no matter what prompt or character!

~~~

Request 4: Silm Fake Relationships!

Fake dating is my JAM, I love it, and I especially love it when it stays platonic all the way through! Requesting some pretty light-hearted stuff here, I just want shenanigans and fun times, mostly.

Amárië & Finrod: Okay I don’t really ship these two At All in any circumstance, Finrod just feels....so extremely gay to me....so my default headcanon is that they are BFFs who are mutual beards for each other! (Bonus points for minor/background Amárië/Elenwë and/or Finrod/Turgon) Other kinds of fake relationships would be great too. Possible tags: Becoming Friends With Your Ex (like...they DID date, it didn’t work out, they’re better off as friends), Character remains friends with their ex after an amicable breakup (see previous), court intrigue, The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, mutual beards, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Platonic marriage of convenience, Pre-Canon, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event

Aredhel & Celegorm: They’re both very aro in my mind (Aredhel ESPECIALLY), I can see them pretending to date to get people off their backs about being in a relationship (or a FWB situation but this exchange might not be the best place for that haha), or maybe they’re taking one for the team so the Mae/Fingon relationship coming out is slightly less scandalous after they already revealed their “relationship.” Also, them platonically co-parenting Maeglin in an AU is very good if you’d like to include that. Possible tags: Character enthusiastically agrees to doing something dangerous (they have that vibe), court intrigue, Dumb friendly competitions, Family Fluff, Friends Discussing Treason Over Tea, Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, Platonic marriage of convenience, Pre-Canon, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event

Caranthir & Haleth: Fake marriage for tax purposes. Enough said. (also they’re both aro.) Possible tags: Characters Become Roommates At College (would be a funny modern AU), Former colleagues work together again; surprised by changes (Moryo visits Haleth in Brethil?), The Intimacy of Brushing/Braiding/Washing Another Person's Hair (bonus points for cultural misunderstandings), Immature note passing during otherwise adult meetings, two people really want Found Family but are too emotionally stunted to admit it

Celebrimbor & Finduilas: You know I’d never much considered their relationship but I saw it nominated and it got my brain working! Maybe they’re fake dating to piss off their dads, haha. But I can also see them having a really unlikely friendship in Nargothrond, having each other’s backs, etc...people assume they’re dating and they just don’t bother to correct anyone? Bonus points for Fin-galad! Possible tags: A assumes that B will abandon them; B reaffirms their loyalty to A in A's time of need, court intrigue, Friends Discussing Treason Over Tea, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Shared commiseration over being forced to attend a formal event (first meeting perhaps?), Worldbuilding: Politics & Diplomacy

Lalwen: I love the fanon of her and Círdan being buds. Them in a fake dating for politics situation would be amazing. Or her just being badass on her own! Possible tags: court intrigue, Platonic arranged marriage POWER COUPLE, Worldbuilding: Politics & Diplomacy

Other tags: Aroace Character(s), AroAce Marriage, Aromantic Character: I always want this but ESPECIALLY for this request! Fake/Pretend Relationship Stays Platonic: that’s basically the premise for all these requests, haha Late Night Conversations: could apply to all of these. I just really love like...it’s late, you’ve been hanging out all day, your inhibitions are lowered, you start saying shit you normally wouldn’t and have a heart-to-heart...that’s the good stuff Platonic Bedsharing, platonic declarations of love, Platonic Soulbonds: really close platonic relationships :’) 5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened, Nonbinary Character(s), Character gets a hug, Holding Hands, Trans Character: Just things I love in general that I requested on all my requests

~~~

Request 5: TAZ Amnesty

Please don’t have Minerva and Duck in a romantic relationship. Additionally, if you could not call Duck “Wayne” that would be great.

A & B have an honest and completely frank discussion about difficult subject: Arlo and Mama talking about what happened to Arlo

Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates: I think this would be funniest if it’s Duck & Pigeon? or maybe always-mundane!Duck and extraterrestrial-who-is-really-bad-at-hiding-it!Minerva

Aroace Character(s), Aromantic Character: my headcanon for Duck is that he’s aromantic! so him and Minerva being best friends or QPPs or something would be awesome. really I just thought the ending with them being together romantically came out of nowhere so idk, a fic where Duck realizes he’s aro and doesn’t /have/ to be in a romantic relationship, and Minerva supporting him and them remaining really good friends, that would be amazing.

Begrudgingly Respectful Coworkers to Friends: Arlo and Mama :)

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: Duck frantically trying to get Minerva to act normal in public

Character Finds Support In Queer Community: Duck realizing he’s aro? maybe Pigeon helping him get involved in Kepler’s queer community? OR Pigeon realizing she’s queer and older queer (trans?) Duck awkwardly trying to be in solidarity with her

Character Forced To Reveal Their Secrets: Arlo & Mama pre-canon?

Finding Bigfoot: this is just too funny to NOT have as an Amnesty tag. Maybe Pigeon goes hunting for Bigfoot and Duck has to stop her from hunting down Barclay!

Thing character has built a large chunk of their life around comes to an end; finding a new path: this could go for most of the characters, but I was especially thinking of Minerva here

Unexpectedly Meeting People From One's Past While With New Companions: Duck introducing Minerva to his friends/colleagues? Mama introducing Arlo to everyone after he gets back to “normal”?

5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened: I just love this format :)

Nonbinary Character(s): Pigeon maybe? but really anyone as nonbinary would be awesome

Character gets a hug: Duck deserves hugs. I feel like Minerva would be good at giving them.

Holding Hands: platonic hand holding is just. so good

Missing Scene: seriously WHAT happened to Pigeon???

Trans Character: trans Duck trans Duck TRANS DUCK (ngl the “Wayne” reveal really disappointed me, I much prefer trans Duck haha)

~~~

Request 6: TAZ Balance

Please don’t have Lucretia in a romantic relationship, or Magnus having had romantic feelings for anyone other than Julia.

Literally any gen relationship in TAZB would be delightful to get a fic about, don’t feel boxed in by the nominated characters. I also cannot BELIEVE I forgot to nominate Kravitz & Barry, that’s one of my very favorite possible friendships.

Angus + THB: would love to see an exploration with Angus’ individual relationships with them :)

Carey & Magnus: this friendship means A LOT to me, especially because I headcanon Magnus as arospec and so Carey’s lasting and important friendship with Magnus despite also having a romantic relationship that’s important to her....ahhh I get very emotional just thinking about it ;-;

Edward & Lydia & Kravitz: I do like the theory that Kravitz=Keats, so exploring that would be neat. OR Kravitz isn’t Keats, but he has to track down and deal with these two rogue liches.....

Edward & Lydia & Taako & Lup: AU rivalry shenanigans? canon enemies-to-friends? these two pairs of twins just have a lot of parallels that are very delightful :)

Johann & Lucretia: idk I just think they should be buds. also I headcanon both of them as aroace, so you could have them bond over that maybe.

Kravitz & Merle: I just think that Merle blaming Magnus and not Kravitz for losing his arm is HILARIOUS, would love Krav feeling awkward about that but Merle not even registering it fdjhskfjdsh

Lucretia & Magnus: these two are so sweet, especially during the Stolen Century? like they’re the only two humans, they’re both pretty young, I think they had a very special bond. (I love queerplatonic Magnus & Lucretia, especially with aroace!Lucretia and demi!Magnus)

Lup & Taako: chaos twin siblings :’)

THB: I mean give me shenanigans with them all day long! during the Stolen Century would be amazing, as foreshadowing for canon, and with the other IPRE members being baffled by their antics

Ren & Taako: I just think they’re cool! Would love to see Ren’s transition from a fangirl to Taako’s no-nonsense assistant :)

Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Characters Become Roommates At College: just. IPRE shenanigans. or Magnus and Carey as roommates!

Aroace Character(s): aroace Lucretia!! aroace Johann!!

Aromantic Character: see above but also, pan+arospec Merle! demiromantic Magnus! (that’s my VERY FAVORITE headcanon, you can’t change my mind)

Begrudgingly Respectful Coworkers to Friends: can’t believe I forgot to nominate Barry & Kravitz here, smh... if you’d like to do that go for it, but otherwise, the IPRE would be amazing here, or Kravitz and Merle if you stretch the idea of “Coworkers,” or some AU or situation where Edward and Lydia have to get along with Taako and Lup despite being bitter rivals. or djhfskjfdhk Merle and Angus!!

Best Friends Have Bad Ideas Together: THB and/or Lup and Taako have a collective one brain cell and it’s gone missing

Canon-typical shenanigans: yeah.

Catching up with an old friend: Carey and Magnus post-S&S!! or THB post-S&S :)

Casual use of powers in a setting where the character should really be more careful: this just screams Taako. Ren telling him to calm down a bit? Lup encouraging him? Angus doing damage control? Edward and Lydia vs. Taako and Lup in a drama contest?

Character enthusiastically agrees to doing something dangerous: MAGNUS RUSHES IN

Character Finds Support In Queer Community: queer BoB!! queer IPRE!! if you write me some arospec Magnus and his friends I will DIE of happiness :)) (bonus points for qp!Magcretia)

Bonding over shared memories of past lives: was really getting IPRE vibes for this one

Character loses everything and can only turn to enemy for help: Edward and Lydia forced to come to Taako and Lup for help :)))

Drinking Games, Drunken Shenanigans, Dumb friendly competitions: THB or IPRE probably. just fun silly things happening for laughs.

Enemies to Friends But In A Situation Where They Must Pretend To Still Be Enemies: Edward & Lydia & Taako & Lup? Kravitz & Merle?

Families of Choice, Family Feels - Us Against The World, Family Fluff: IPRE !!!!

Friends to Enemies to Friends Again: Magnus & Lucretia :( OR again, can’t believe I didn’t nominate Kravitz and Barry, but, those two before Krav realizes Barry is a lich and then after and then post-S&S

Friendship that's more important than Character(s)'s romantic relationship(s): Carey & Magnus!!! obviously Carey/Killian is Excellent, but the fact that Carey prioritizes Magnus in her life as a friend makes me SO emo, just. ahhhh love this so much. also Takko+THB :)

Making the morally right choice sucks: Angus & Taako? Ren & Taako? Edward & Lydia & and their bro Kravitz? orrrr Edward & Lydia & their not-bro mortal-enemy Kravitz??

platonic declarations of love: yes please! Magnus & Lucretia especially :)

Team Living Together and Learning to Deal with Everyones' Bad Habits: IPRE and/or THB. maybe THB being surprised they already seem to know each other’s terrible habits...

Unexpectedly Meeting People From One's Past While With New Companions: this has Weird Voidfish Stuff written all over it

5 times this happened and 1 time something else happened: just a good trope

Nonbinary Character(s): nonbinary Taako? yes please. or anyone else tbh, I just love nonbinary characters.

Character gets a hug: Magnus gives VERY good hugs and there’s very many people who deserve one

Holding Hands: just...so good <3

Missing Scene: so much time in the Stolen Century to explore...or BoB off-work shenanigans...

Trans Character: canon trans Lup! headcanon trans Magnus!! any other character as trans, I love trans stuff!!