#it's literally the perfect setup for something like that though!

[therottenkingsreckoning]

Honestly kinda surprised I haven't seen anyone make a Giant Wally au yet. I'd do it myself, but I'm already spending enough spoons on the Safety Space comic lol

[emithecharmer]

Will You Marry Me

Fluff galore (it's literally Chan), eating, mentions of dieting (no one is actually on one), mc says she's pregnant (it's a joke) mc is a little dense for a second (aren't we all at times), read this to feed into your delulu thoughts 😍 ALSO! ft! Sana because she's a queen ☝️

"No way!" I exclaimed as I walked with my friend. We had decided to hangout for the day and go window shopping and then stop by the beach.

"Ooh, we should go there, they just opened up!" You said, pointing the a new sushi place that had opened.

"No! I mean- I'm not hungry! We should just keep walking." Sana said, making you eye her a bit at her suspicious behavior.

"Do they have you on another diet or something?" I asked, curling my lip at the thought.

"No! I just feel tired..Maybe we should head to the beach." She suggested.

"Mm, okay.. Can we get like, a corn dog or something though? I haven't eaten all day." You asked, making your stomach rumble at the most convenient moment.

"Uh," Sana glanced down at her phone, "yeah. There's a stand over there." She said, almost speed walking to it.

"..She must really want a corn dog." You said to yourself, walking a bit faster to catch up to her.

.

"The beach is always so pretty at night." You said, taking a, not-very-pretty, bite of your corn dog.

"Oh really?" Sana said, seemingly uninterested.

"Yeah, it makes me forget the fact that I was born with a dog tail and whiskers." You say, nonchalantly.

"No way, really?" She said, looking forward in the distance.

"And that I'm pregnant." You said, giggling at her response.

"Me too, bro..Wait huh?" She turned to you with wide eyes, causing you to break into a fit of laughter.

"I just wanted to see what it would take for you to respond normally." You said, throwing away your stick in the trash.

"Sorry.." She blushed softly when she realized she been out of it.

"It's no problem." You said, linking your hands together.

"Looks like there's a fair here." She said, pointing a bit ahead on the opposite side of the road.

"Ooh, we should go tomorrow!" You suggested, making her nod.

"Sana! Someone's getting proposed to!" You said, pointing to a setup of twinkling lights in the shape of 'Marry Me' on the sand.

"..Noo..." She said, giving you a exasperated look as you looked to the setup.

"Would it be weird if we watched?" You asked, mostly to yourself.

"Probably, yeah." You answered yourself.

"Ooh, what if she said no?" You asked, snorting right after, only to straighten up.

"I shouldn't laugh." You said, pursing your lips to stifle your chuckles.

"You're so weird." Sana said, linking your arms after letting go of your hand.

"Ooh, I wonder if she's going to say yes." You asked, bouncing slightly in your own excitement.

"I was hoping you could tell me." You heard from behind you. You recognized the voice as your lovely boyfriend, Chan. You didn't quite comprehend what was happening until you felt Sana leave your hold and turn you around. You went completely still as you laid eyes on Chan, who was in a suit, holding the most beautiful bouquet of lavender and baby's breath you'd ever seen, and a small black box.

"Oh my gosh.." You looked at Chan and saw him gulp before he gave a nervous smile. You noticed the boys behind him in the distance, along with a. few of your close family members.

"Oh..my..Gosh.." You said quieter, taking a step back when he took a step forward. You immediately saw your mistake when his nervous expression was overshadowed by panic.

You rushed forward and hugged him tightly, not caring if your flowers were smushed.

"Y/n.." He started, both of your eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Chris.." You gave him a watery smile and chuckling when he offered you a similar one.

"Y/n..Hi." He started again.

"I never though that I'd be in a position to be asking someone to marry me, especially someone as perfect as you. You've been my biggest supporter since we met, and you've become someone that I rely so heavily on. You're my biggest inspiration, and you've become my best friend. You met me when I was so low, and all you did was smile and I felt alive. You're my rock and my center, you graced me with your soul and compassion when I was so low, I didn't think there was a way out, but you showed me what true love feels like." You both let out a sob at the same time, giggling hopelessly like idiots as he carried on.

"You're so kind to everyone and you empathize with people, you make them feel seen and feel understood. You are my favorite person and you forever will be. Y/n, I never truly knew what love was until I laid my eyes on you. You've not only shown me what it feels like to be loved, you've made me feel accepted and appreciated. I only hope that I've made you feel the same way I feel about you." You nodded quickly, making him smile.

"Y/n, you're the only woman I can imagine spending my whole life with, and the only woman I would want to. Y/n.." He got down on one knee, but was overcome with shock when you went on your knees with him.

"Will you marry me, baby?" He whispered. You couldn't form words, all you could do was rush forward, wrapping your arms around his neck as you nodded.

"Yes.." You finally got out, pulling away.

"Yeah?" He asked, a huge smile on his face.

"Please." You said, letting out another sob.

"I love you so much, Y/n." He said, kissing your forehead as he slipped on the ring. He noticed how you didn't even look at it, you just looked into his eyes and smiled.

"I love you more, Chris."

[sunlightwoo]

the perfect two

pairing: soobin x gn reader

genre: extra extra sappy fluff, established relationship au, nothing but pure love for the other person, reader is shorter than soobin but lets be real, he’s a giant no warnings | rating 16+

wc: 1.2k

a/n: tis inspired by the glue song by beabadoobee since it’s literally soobin coded, but this is dedicated to @fairybinie​! here’s your strawberries hinted fic hehe and i hope everyone enjoys this!!

“Are we almost there yet? I think my knees are-”

Soobin’s words get cut off for a second as another sunflower stem smacks him in the face gently, making both you and his figures stop momentarily. You stifled a laugh as you could feel his cheeks get pulled in from him blankly blinking into your cupped hands that were over his eyes, with his dimple slightly poking out. 

“Sorry Soob.” You grinned before he proceeded to walk once again. 

Today had been one of the few days off that you both had that aligned with the other, and you made it a mission for it to be the best one yet. So with that in mind, you had to make sure that you planned the best date for the day and after getting in touch with a few extended family members and their friends, you knew what had to be done. 

But you didn’t want to let him know what it was since it was a surprise, which was why you had been covering his eyes for the past five minutes. His tall, lanky figure had been crouched down a bit so that you wouldn’t have to reach so far up to do so, but that required him to shift a good majority of his weight down to his knees where he was practically waddling. 

“Babe, I-”

He gets hit with a fully bloomed sunflower this time, and you couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped your lips as you let go of his face. Warm yellow sunlight was slowly filling his eyesight as he looked down to see that you were crouched to the ground trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard. 

“Haha, you did that on purpose-”

Another wack. 

“See that one was on purpose.” You giggled as your hand had let go of one of the taller sunflower stalks that was closer to his face. 

It was almost as if you had been able to read his mind that you started sprinting in the direction towards the part of the sunflower field that was more open. Maybe it was the sound of your laughter in the wind that was blowing into Soobin’s hair and ears, but he thought that life couldn’t get more simple than just this. 

“Gotcha!”

He playfully tackles you successfully into the picnic blanket that you had set up hours ago, and for a moment, he doesn’t realize that things were set up until he blinks for a moment. His eyes had been pouring into yours, but that doesn’t cover up the little picnic that you had set up for him as he looked around to see that there was an assortment of different treats and snacks involving what all looked like. 

“Welcome to my granduncle’s mini strawberry farm!” You grinned as you sat up from where you had been previously pinned down by Soobin, being able to escape his embrace when you noticed that he was distracted by your setup. 

“Do you like it, honey?” 

Strawberry cream sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries, fresh strawberry milkshakes with whipped cream… even a mini strawberry cake. In a field that was filled with sunflowers, and from a distance away now that he notices a strawberry patch, he grins to himself while wondering in what past life did he save someone so important that he deserved all of this. 

Probably you, he thinks to himself as he takes his hands to cup your cheeks to pepper kisses all over your face, making you squeal from the ticklish action and push him away. 

“You didn’t have to do all of this though, when we’ve both been so busy.” He says, before you hold up the glass of milkshake up for you both to share out of two straws. 

“I wanted to do something special for you though, Soobin. Here me out,” You say while sitting on your knees and he nods in response as he settles himself onto his side with an arm holding up his head to look at you properly. 

“When we first met maybe 3 years ago, I didn’t think that you’d like me back given our circumstances…” 

“I really thought that you were in love with Yeonjun!” He pouts in protest, but you hold up a hand to cover his mouth and giggle in response as you continue on with your little speech.

“He’s literally like another brother to me. However, before you I never knew someone that could be so kind… and considerate and so passionate when it comes to loving and taking care of a person that wasn’t themselves. I think you bring out the best of me, Soobin, more than I realize it myself, and I’m so appreciative of you all the time. We’ve both worked so much these last few days, and you always put me before yourself, which is why this picnic was me giving back those moments you’ve done that and put you before myself this time. You’ll always be the one for me.” You say all in one big deep breath, feeling tears pooling at the corners of your eyes but you couldn’t help it. 

Thinking about the overwhelming feeling of love from the person in front of you all the time made you so happy all the time, and there was never a time that you didn’t want to come home to just him. He was your steady rock that you could just sit there in peace with, and you wouldn’t want to have it any other way. 

“Baby…” The sound of Soobin’s voice brought you back as you noticed that he was also tearing up from your mini speech dedicated to him. 

There’s a small chuckle that escapes from both of you as he reaches up to wipe your cheek, but you could tell that he was on the same side when it comes to pretty much almost crying. The two of you held so much love and care for the other where it overwhelmed all of your emotions, but here you were in the middle of what felt like a simple moment that was welded for the two of you; just like glue. 

“I love you, Y/N. You’re my home that I love coming to at the end of the day.” He says and places a small kiss against your lips, making you smile into it for a few seconds before you pull away to look at him with nothing but love for the boy that you wanted to hold onto forever. 

Forever sounded nice, in a field full of strawberries and sunflowers. 

“I love you too, Soob. Now let’s eat this before the sun sets and it gets too dark for us to see, but first let me check to make sure those stems and flowers didn’t hurt your pretty face too much.” You say as he laughs at the memory of him being wacked in the face by those sunflower stems early while you climbed onto his lap to make sure that there was nothing on his face jokingly. 

Yet there was obviously nothing but the love of your life hidden behind those pretty eyes that you stared into every morning and night, and that was all that mattered to you at the end of the day. 

Even if you did purposely hit him with a sunflower. 

permanent taglist: @viastro @bbanghoonie @wooyoung-a @pwttychannie @sunwoahkim @karsohn @escapewriter @awfullytiredbuthealing @fylithia @i4deonu @flrtsbin @whereisgyu @myluv-yeonjun @allorysayshi @nlnkm @jannine00742 @rebsmoonn @jjhmk​ @ilvaussie @idontwanttobehereanymore @beomgyugyu @99cyj @butterflx @theoskies @biuebinnie @ja4hyvn @ilovechanhee @wccycc @invuwrld @ahnneyong @bambi-vixey @soobprised @comic-wanda @ksunwooqt @black-rose-29 @jaysbestie @glyxiebear​ @strawbrinkofdeath​ @vatterie​ @marsophilia​ @soonyoungblr​ @jinjccns​ @rosymetal​ @justalittlwtooshy​ @ineedsomezzz​ @serendipityjaemin​ @lilactangerine​ @baekberrie​ @theskzvibe​ (add yourself to my permanent taglist here!)

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[theskysungqueen]

to make things brief cause I suck at organizing what I have to say, the live action was definitely Something™.

Cast: 10/10 kinda biased personally but yall can't take this from me

Gordon as Aang and Dallas as Zuko were the standouts imo. Gordon needs some direction on line delivery and the angstier scenes but overall he's very charming and I'm so proud of him for getting so much exposure!

Ian as Sokka was great, I just wish he was allowed to be more...messy? like Sokka pretends to be chill and all that but he's actually dramatic so I hope that gets improved in the next season if there is one

speaking of improvement, Kiawentiio as Katara brought out a softer side to the character but sadly diminished her spark and passion. I like that Katara now actually feels like a younger sister, it makes sense within the context of the story that Sokka and Gran Gran would shelter her after what happened, but as someone said, her anger is so central to her character and I just wish that got shown more. It's more of a script and direction problem tbh, if you look at Kia's interviews she has the sass and feistiness Katara needs

Lizzy as Azula is great, the writing is a bit clunky though so she did the best she could with it. Can't really comment on Mai and Ty Lee yet because they're kinda just there but it's a nice setup

Maria as Suki? perfection show stopping never the same she is a queen and I love the tidbit of Suki backstory which she never really had in the og show. I love her being such a loser around her crush we love to see girlfailures girlfailing. I wish the writers didn't make them KISS though 😭 slowburn ftw

the adults were great

Writing: 6.5/10

There were genuinely good moments and I love the concept of mixing up certain plot points to condense the story

But they just suffered from too much Telling instead of Showing WRITERS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM YOU HAVE TIME TO IMPROVE PLEASE

Omashu, mechanist, and Jet plot mixing as a concept was fine, but it dragged on and my friends and I got bored of it. I like it in theory but if it was going to take THAT long couldn't they have just separated one of those storylines for a different episode?

I appreciate that they tried to develop the water siblings' relationship by making them the stars of the Secret Tunnels, but I would've changed the way they "conquered" the problem (really? badgermoles respond to love? cute in theory but like why). If anyone's watched Barbie: A Fairy Secret there's a part where Barbie and her frenemy accuse each other of why their friendship failed, and it helps them make up and breaks the curse put on them. So that's what I would've done, force them in a life or death situation in which they have to say the unsaid things, maybe hug it out and boom

The way they handled Koh and the Spirit World was a Mess™ but the effects were decent

Zhao meeting horrible ends in every incarnation is so deserved

Yue having more agency was a welcome change AND I LOVE THAT SHE WATERBENDS. Then waterbends even when the moon is gone. It's such a nice visual nod to the fact that she has the moon spirit within her

That said, the show could definitely use more visual storytelling, less weird dialogue. Like it's so strangely common for shows or adaptations these days to exposition dump. Like they did not have to make Yue say that the ocean spirit was angry, literally just show me the dead moon fish and I'll get the idea. Then Iroh says "That's Wrath" that's just redundant now isn't it

I like that they saved Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State until last even if it could've been done better

HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME LIKE HAHN HE WAS A JERK IN THE SHOW BUT THEY MADE HIM A GENUINELY GOOD CHARACTER. Yes to brown men not being portrayed as jerks but also in the original it was a nice contrast to how far Sokka had come because Hahn reflected who he used to be. But live action Hahn </3

I like that they showed the deaths and blood. I wanted a live action that was both lighthearted but more realistic when it came to the injuries and death, and that'd kind of what I got

Other thoughts + overall

You can tell they put so much heart into this show, watching the bts, the bending boot camp with the correct martial arts, the easter eggs, the nods to the comics, the beautiful adaptations of Cabbage Merchant and Secret Tunnel nomads, there's so much passion behind the show it's a shame it suffered in its writing

which is why if they read reviews and criticism from the bigger name fans (TheAvatarist, HelloFutureMe, etc.) it would really help them improve for future seasons! The cast is stunning already and they have great chemistry (hopefully gets improved too!)

The live action is just a different angle to the show. And I'm saying this as an Avatar fan–the original wasn't perfect, either. I had some problems w it but the overall show was genuinely so good and heartfelt, those problems weren't glaring enough to put me off (unlike The Dragon Prince, sorry). The live action definitely wasn't perfect, but it tried to give us a new look into Avatar. Again, no adaptation will ever be a 1:1 remake and none should be. Where's the fun in that? But while the show is so full of heart and with actual fans working behind the scenes, I doubt if they listen to any criticism that they can't pull this off better next season.

[eff-plays]

To me it's not really about morality if I have to be honest. I'm an Isaac Castlevania stan and he wanted to kill literally all of humanity. Like I don't care if you play evil characters or get off to immoral dom daddies or whatever. I've wanted to punt children in Skyrim into the sun for saying sassy shit to me so like. It's a video game where you kill people. I do not care.

To me, the "problem" (or rather, the thing I like making fun of the most) is just how very surface-level evil the Ascendant ending is, how obviously evil it is, how Larian pretty much beats you over the head with it using very simple and traditional storytelling techniques ("you'll have to kill 7000 people, including literal children btw"), and how some people still manage to twist it into something it isn't (a triumphant, perfect ending) despite Larian constantly blasting at you how bad it is. (And this isn't a critique, it works well and tropes are tropes for a reason, this shit works.)

And it's not even a unique setup. It's a classic dichotomy of want vs need. That's why they're contrasting endings. Astarion wants power, but he needs freedom and self-worth. That's the gist of it.

That's why I love the epilogue titles so much, because they perfectly sum up the endings. Radiant Hopeful, because he's his own light in the dark. For someone who's been a pessimistic asshole after suffering for two centuries, that's HUGE. Sunwalking Regent means he can walk in the sun, a symbol for everything he wanted, but "regent" implies he's a temporary ruler. Someone, somewhere, will come to de-throne him one day, and every day he fears that moment. His newfound power binds him to constant fear and paranoia, and he always searches for new ways to become stronger, because in his mind, he can never be strong enough.

Spawn ending is bittersweet: he lost power, he's still cursed with vampirism and can't walk in the sun, but he is free, he is his own person and he has hope for the future. He's decided for himself what he wants to do, and that's adventuring and helping others, lending his strength to those who do not have any, in his own weird way. He's physically weaker than Ascendant Astarion, and yet he's got strength to spare.

So what's the flip side? In the ascendant ending, he has power, he has control, he has money. But he's paranoid, he's controlling, and he's terrified of losing it all again, because without it, he believes he's nothing, so having it becomes his one and only purpose. It's also bittersweet, because he finally has everything he wanted, but he'll never again have what he truly needs.

These are like ... classic tropes. You can't have it all. You have to make a choice. The thing you think you want, or the thing you don't know you need. AA stans argue that actually, no. His endings are actually suuuper flat and uninteresting. Either he stays a weak and worthless and fearful spawn, or he becomes a strong and powerful and manly supervampire (let's not unpack the masculinity stuff here cuz that's a whole other bag of yikes). That's the argument they're making. That it's a black and white choice of either you pick the stuff where everything works out forever or the stuff where he's a loser lapdog who has to obey Tav because men must either control to be real men or are controlled pussies who can't do fuck (again, not getting into that here). And it's just literally not how the story is set up. None of the companion stories are this flat. If they were, there wouldn't be any argument or choice to make. No pros and cons to weigh. And it's just logically not a good gameplay mechanic, for a role-playing game.

And yet there are people who are just choosing not to get it, just the way I choose to believe it's a choice for most of them because I don't want to believe so many of these people are genuinely this stupid.

So yeah. That's why I block AA fans on sight. Not because I think their fetish is funny (though I do), but because I genuinely don't think I would have anything to gain from people who fundamentally cannot comprehend extremely basic storytelling techniques when they're practically spelled out for you with not-very-subtle methods. It's not even a thing of consciously choosing the bad ending where he's a very shitty daddy dom because it gets them off, that's literally whatever to me, but the fact that most of them genuinely believe it's somehow the better ending.

Despite. Well all of the shit I wrote above.

So yeah. It's not about enjoying evil characters, to me. People who do generally don't brush the actual evil part under the rug. It's the refusal or apparent inability to grasp extremely basic storytelling concepts lmao. And for what? Pff.

[writersminagerie]

Baldur's Gate 3 Companion descriptions; Hands

w/ Rolan

_

Astarion; Upon first examination these are very much the hands of a Magistrate. An oval palm with long, delicate looking fingers. His nails are properly trimmed and cuticles are meticulously maintained. His pale skin is smooth and soft, except for 2 places. The first is on his fingertips right where his nails end, there are scars there on every finger. The scars are hard to see and you wouldn't know they were there unless you were looking for them. Another is a small scar on the back of his right thumb, he knicked the skin there when he was first learning to use a dagger.

Astarion's hands are the most expressive part of himself. He talks with his hands when in heightened states of emotion, particularly when he's excited or annoyed. And drums his fingers on the hilt of his dagger when he's feeling impatient or nervous.

-

Gale; A scholar through and through there's not a mark or blemish on Gale's hands. With a square palm and long fingers he has the hands of a pianist, or, in his case, the perfect hands for sorcery. As a younger man he was a bit self conscious that the veins in his hands were visible, but now it is simply what they look like. Much like Astarion he's sure to keep his nails short and clean.

When idle or walking Gale will find himself practicing the gestures for spells. Sometimes he's aware of it, and sometimes he does it subconsciously. He has a habit of scratching his chin, and making the occasional gesture for effect in a conversation or story.

-

Halsin; Much like Halsin himself his hands are broad and his finger strong. His palm are always warm, and the skin is calloused and scared from centuries of hard work in his circle as first Druid. Contrary to what one would believe of a Druid, Halsin is very aware of his hygiene and while not always remembering the dirt under his nails he keeps his hands clean. Though the hard work is what keeps his nails short.

His hands were built for physical labor. They've built up his circle, rebuilt homes, and aided in the repeated setup and breakdowns of camp. Wood carving is a past time of his, creating replicas of all of Silvanus' most precious creatures. For this he has more than a few knicks on his fingers as he wasn't always skilled with a knife.

-

Jaheira; As a Druid Jaheira has what can be referred to as earth hands, with a square palm and short strong fingers. Constant work in the gardens and groves leaves her hands rough, covered in callouses and scratches. She'll wash up if she's a guest at someone's home. But she's of the belief a little dirt won't kill you. Tending to her nails is Trivial in the scope of things and often teases those who make a fuss about getting their hands dirty. Both figuratively and literally.

-

Karlach; Broad palmed, and long fingered, Karlach was built to wield two handed weapons with ease. Her claws, which were tougher than human nails, bore chips and cracks, a testament to her scrappy fighting style. Along with a lack of maintenance. (Not that Zariel gave her much time for a manicure). Much like her shoulders and chest her hands weren't spared burn scars from the fires of her engine. Being the only person capable of withstanding the heat her engine gives off she would constantly have to install repairs and upgrades and her skin wasn't always able to stand the full blast of the infernal engine.

Karlach is a bouncy energetic individual. Her hands will drum on her legs or flap excitedly when she spots something that, well, excites her. When her engine is cooled down enough she constantly gives her companions little touches of encouragement. A pat on the shoulder, a hair ruffle, a playful little punch. She's also dying to braid someone's hair.

-

Lae'zel; Lae'zel's hands are small, with narrow palms and long, slender fingers. But they are deceptively strong and nimble having wielded a multitude of weapons since she was young. Like the rest of her skin Lae'zel does have those raised black marking across the back of her hands but no other markings. Despite her penchant for battle Lae'zel bares no scars or cuts on her hands or fingers. Being 'too skilled' for such injuries. She does carefully maintain her hands, viewing them as weapons. Her explanation being "you would not let your sword dull or your crossbow fall into disrepair."

Lae'zel's hands are usually still in comparison to her companions. They only move for instructions or to reach for her weapons. She doesn't understand the others need for contact, but has given in once or twice and clasped forearms with Karlach.

-

Minsc; Built more like a Barbarian than a Ranger Minsc's hands follow the theme. He has large oval shaped, meaty palms with short thick fingers. Hes rather skilled with sleight of hand despite how large his hands are. His skin is thick and calloused with warm palms. While his nails are practically non existent and ragged from being broken during fights.

One would think that he'd be unable to control his own strength, and they'd be right if it wasn't for one important creature; Boo. The hamster often rides cupped in on or both of Minsc's hands. And the Ranger learned to be gentle with his small companion, as well as when he's helping kids.

-

Rolan; Much like Gale, Rolan has a squared palm and long fingers, though his palms are more narrow. But unlike Gale, Roland's hands are rough having been exposed to hard labor as a child through adolescence. There are countless freckles spread along the backs of his hands with the most prominent being on his left. He keeps his black claws clipped short, being self conscious of the "animalistic" trait.

He often stands with his arms folded or in his hips. Using his arms and hands as a shield against other people. He'd never admit to being defensive.

-

Shadowheart; She'd describe her hands as average. With a more narrow oval palms and short fingers. Her skin is relatively smooth, save the wound on the back of her right hand. She has a tendency to bite her nails when her nerves become too much, leaving her nails rather short and the skin around them red. He hands are always cold to the touch, she's not sure if it's because of Shar or due to her favoring necrotic magic.

She clasps her hands together often as she walks or as she stands still. Almost as if she's unsure what else to do with them, Or she's bracing herself for when the wound on her hand sends aches through her whole body.

-

Wyll; His hands are on the larger side, perfect for offering aid to those in need. He has a long palm with long fingers and prominent knuckles. He doesn't have as strong a grip as some of his companions, but a well balanced rapier is just as deadly as a great sword when wielded by Wyll. His nails are kept very short to keep them out of the way but he doesn't make too much of a fuss about getting them dirty.

He's a lot like Karlach in the fact he adores small touches of affection. He shows support and excitement though touch. with a hand on a friends shoulder, squeezing their arm, slapping their back. He's also cradled crying children, and held distraught parents and partners when he wasn't quick enough to offer aid.

.

[kidnappedbycartoons]

Returning to Tumblr solely because I'm back on my Zutara shit. That moment in the catacombs was such a perfect setup, let me break it down.

Zuko being the one to reach out first

At this point, Zuko had been moving towards a more positive lifestyle and it shows in his reaction. Even though he is frustrated when Katara yells at him, he doesn't lash out or use his firebending. Season one Zuko wouldn't have been able to do this, look at that growth. Instead, he apologizes to her and attempts to connect with her by bringing up his mother as well.

Up until this point, the only people that Katara could talk to about the Fire Nation taken away her mother were other victims of the Fire Nation. On top of that, Zuko has been chasing down Aang for a hot minute. Who would've thought that the son of the Fire Lord also experienced the pain of losing his mother? Would've been able to understand that pain and loss? Would've been able to bond with her through that?

Katara offering to heal him with the water from the Spirit Oasis

Once again, I don't think people realize how impactful this is. This is water from the Spirit Oasis. She literally says that she has been saving it for something important. And as we all know, she only had enough for one use which ended up being healing Aang. But Katara offered to heal ZUKO'S scar with it. On top of that, let's look back.

Katara apologizes to him for yelling and feels comfortable enough with him to tell him that whenever she thought of the enemy, she thought of him. Mind you, she's using past tense. Clearly, after the two of them managed to open up to each other, she started to see him as the person he is and not just the enemy. And Zuko feels comfortable enough to tell her how he views the scar Ozai gave him and his recent revelations. These two have been on opposite sides for months, but it only took a few minutes or hours at most, for them to reach this level of comfortability with each other. Don't think so?

Zuko lets Katara touch the scar

Zuko has been very self-conscious of his scar whenever someone brought it up or drew attention to it. So for him to allow Katara to get close enough and place her hand on the physical representation of his trauma and pain just shows how safe he feels with her in this moment. And not just him, but for Katara to feel safe enough to even get that close to him without worrying if he was going to lash out and she would have to put him in his place. Do y'all not see the material? They trusted each other in this moment.

Of course, we get cut off by Aang and Iron pulling up which leads to the next point.

The looks

When Katara and Aang hug, Zuko glares at Aang. Now, it is highly possible that this is because a part of him still feels the need to catch the Avatar, but coming after that scene, doesn't it read like jealousy?

And as Katara leaves, she looks back at Zuko who is looking away with a sad expression. In that moment, in those catacombs, she felt something. As Katara will tell Zuko before their field trip, she trusted him. It's the emotional intimacy for me.

[generalluxun]

Ya know I think I finally keyed in on something that often nettles me with some stories where Chloe either confronts Ladybug but gets checked, gets chewed out by Ladybug for her behavior in general or finds out she's Marinette go.

IE, either Chloe is upset about how LB handles/handled her in one way or another and gets a talking to. Or she finds out the truth and is overwhelmed by gratitude.

The thing is though, while I can maybe see the characters having these kinds of feelings, it feels a bit off when the narrative seems to go along with it too much.

Mostly because it feels kind of like it draws too strong a parallels between "Is kind of a dick" and "deserves to be in danger & to be largely disregarded."

Like, it took until Season 2 for Marinette to have enough of a heroic game face to even say "No not even Chloe deserves to be fed to the zombie hordes."

As said, I get why the characters might be upsets, she does hurtful or frustrating things. Sometimes she can be detrimental to the plot, though other times she can be quite helpful too. But like, at the end of the day, if the narrative, yes in the show but also in fics, feels like it backs that frustration up it feels skewed to me.

Low key in this regard Derision would almost be helpful, but meh.

Like, say Chloe finds out Marinette's identity post S3 and goes to angrily confront her about the whole "A supervillain was targeting me. You knew this & not only used me anyway but took away my one means of self defense, ETC" thing.

A counter along the lines of "Well you can be kind of an asshole and I don't like you" makes Marinette feel super petty given the scale Chloe's problems are operating on compared to the local jerk being rude to you.

I'm not aiming to minimize Marinette or other characters legitimately hurt feelings. Especially because they are fourteen ETC as well, so expecting them to be perfect is unfair. As said this is more of a narrative issue I guess. It feels like authors lack self awareness if they feel the conflict between real danger and being jerk are the same.

Does this make sense? How would you square such a confrontation if you were writing it?

I mean *waves at Chasing a Dream* I kind of did that, didn't I? The confrontation I mean.

What lots of people forget is that Marinette is not *just* a 14 yr old girl. She's both a hero and a protagonist. The themes of ML should have her trying to achieve good outcomes for everyone. The show *literally* has a reset power to be sure that there is no collateral.

It is *possible* to let Marinette be petty in the moment, to let her get a catharsis, but if she doesn't feel bad about it later and try to fix things then you aren't writing Marinette, you are writing revenge fantasy. -Which if you want to write that, go shead it's your story. It's just best to call a pot a pot.-

How the confrontation would go down would depend on so many things. You would need to give me a setup for me to answer 'How would you write it' 😁

Heck I even have it somewhat hallen in my current fic, Barren Soil, (no ID reveal) but since neither are PoV characters it isn't as spelled out.

[daphnebowen]

hsmtmts headcanons :)? also what show would you have them do if there were a s5 :D

oh my goodness yes hsmtmts headcanons! I have some that I’ve been thinking about so apologies if this is a horrific mess that jumps all over the place :) also this is going to be very very long so apologies 🥰

after the whole “Romeo and Juliet announcement” for Christmas they get twin golden retriever puppies, one for each of them, and name them Romeo and Juliet. Juliet belongs to Ricky and Romeo belongs to Gina. Romeo is affectionately known as ro or romey and Juliet is affectionately known as ju or juju. (pretty sure this one has been said by people already but I LOVE the idea of it and i had to add Juliet)

furthermore on the Romeo and Juliet topic after Mack leaves Quinn asks Ricky to step in 😍

this is more down the line but I have a vision for in the future when Ashlyn and Maddox want kids. they want to adopt though, and as soon as they find the perfect little red haired munchkin Maddox immediately goes to the hardware store and buys tons of paint and they redo an entire room in their cute little cottage for their kid. idk why but that just came to me in the middle of the night, I had an image in my head of Maddie FaceTiming jet covered in paint laughing/crying as they finish up the room.

jet asks Kourtney out at the big New Year’s Eve party at Ashlyn’s. Enough said. she giggles and accepts and the two become a power couple and a force to be reckoned with.

ricky and Gina continue to meet in the secret stairwell and he continues to climb up through her window even after their relationship goes public

We don’t know what ej is majoring in (at least I don’t remember) so during the middle of his freshmen year he switches it to education. he becomes a teacher and goes somewhere else (somewhere in the Midwest maybe?) to teach middle school sports.

ricky pursues music through college and ends up becoming a famous singer/songwriter/music producer similar to nini but he ends up writing a lot of the songs and soundtracks for Gina’s movies.

Gina pursues her acting career and ends up becoming a total rockstar but she never changed her values and who she is. her and Ricky attend every premiere together

when Dewey gets too old to run camp shallow lake anymore, guess who he asks to take over? Maddox. she happily accepts and moves her and Ashlyn and their red haired baby (ash and Maddie are not married yet btw - can you adopt and still not be married? Dumb question maybe lol) over to California. and one day as they’re going through each of the cabins seeing what shape everything is in, they stop by the honeycomb bunk. Lo and behold as they walk in is a magnificent beautiful romantic picture before Maddox, with a huge framed picture of her and Ashlyn and tons of wild flowers and all her favorite guitars and things. She turns around… and there’s ash with a ring. Ashlyn doesn’t even get to pop the question until Maddox screams and tackles her, laughing and saying “I have to show you something!” She pulls ash behind her over to the theater barn and there is almost an identical setup on the stage, except all of Ashlyn’s favorite things. and now Maddox has a ring. You can guess how it ends. (sorry this one was super long but once I got started I couldn’t stop)

ricky has always enjoyed doing public things for Gina, as we’ve seen. He’s always shouting about his love for her in public, serenading her randomly as they walk through town, etc. well his proposal is exactly the same. They’re on the red carpet for a movie Gina had been kicking butt in (literally, it’s an action movie). (like everyone else has said, they got married young. You decide what age you want specifically) Ricky had been acting a bit nervous and Gina didn’t know why. once they got on the red carpet, in the very center of all those cameras and fans, Ricky took her hand and got down on one knee. Gina’s jaw dropped as Ricky gave the most beautiful profound speech in the world since “I love you forever” and immediately Gina started crying as she said “yes yes infinity times yes!” and everyone cheered and Ricky gave her the biggest hug of his life and spun her around did not let go of her for the rest of the night. *side note: when a reporter asked Ricky if he was nervous about proposing to Gina since it’s very public and what if she says no, Ricky replied with a “that’s not why I was nervous at all. No, I wasn’t nervous that Gina would reject me. We’ve been dating for so long, it’s just- we just get each other. We complete each other. I promised her forever and I’m never going back on that promise. because I do love her forever. No, the only reason I was nervous is because it’s so loud here and I didn’t know if she would hear the things I was saying. I was speaking from the heart! and because I’m on tv being recorded, obviously, what if I mess up and do something stupid? but no, I wasn’t worried at all that Gina would say no.” 🩷 (this one was also extremely long sorry!)

Saw some other rina headcanons (sorry this post might be a lot about them bc I’m in love with them so yeah) but one of them was Ricky gets Gina mystery childcare’s every Valentine’s Day and she literally knows who they’re from but plays along anyway because he’s adorable

Carlos and Seb continue to be a little on again off again through college but eventually settle down in a far-style version of glamping with a huge fancy central house and then a rusty old barn for Seb to do this thing with the cows and such

they have both boys and girls and Carlos insists on having a quince for every one of them (I’m thinking big family…)

all of the respective couples when they have kids name miss Jenn as the godmother 🥹

kourtney is a cat person. idk why. but you cannot change my mind. she’s gonna be a crazy old fashionista grandma with tons of cats telling her grandkids stories while her is half asleep next to her waking up every so often to say “and then I…” and then falling back to sleep

speaking of jetney, jet needs 60 million pep talks before he proposes to kourt - it takes a LOOOOOOOONNGGGG time

i imagine their proposal to be somewhere like iconic. idk I don’t have any ideas where - maybe somewhere overseas?? Kourtney makes her Sharpay dreams come true

Kourtney becomes a world renowned fashion designer and jet is just along for the ride. they have twin boys and a girl and he raises them while working some boring 9-5 job but he loves raising his kids and teaching them all about music and their mama since she’s gone a lot. But they FaceTime every day after school whenever Kourtney’s away for her job, it’s the best part of any day

jenn and mazzy love New Zealand so much that they end up moving there once miss Jenn retires (don’t worry, it’s not for a long time) and when everyone goes for a big reunion party to celebrate the 25th anniversary of hsm4

mike and Lynn don’t actually get back together… do they actually get back together in canon? Or are they just like more friendly towards each other and not so standoffish? Because I dunno, a divorce is very final and then getting back together just offsets the whole change thing Ricky’s gone through. But anyways, that’s just me

nini goes on tour Ricky and Kourtney’s freshmen year in college and Kourtney comes back from Lewis to see her perform in Salt Lake City. nini gets everyone prime seating - even Emmy and jet and Ricky - and they all go and have the best time ever. Ricky and nini don’t kill each other on sight and turns out nini is the biggest die hard rina fan ever and ends up writing a song for them on their wedding day. her and Ricky go back to being better friends and things aren’t so tense after they have a huge raging private concert between them too where they sing all of the thoughts they’ve ever had about each other and just let it all out. It’s very therapeutic for them and helps them understand each other a bit more (same vibe as portwells lil thing in season four where Gina apologizes to ej)

and I’m out of characters soooo more hc and what show they do on the way!! Hope you enjoy!

[atmilliways]

“Do you know the rules?” for the question prompts!

(from this list)

Stepping outside my comfort zone to post part one of something that I haven't finished yet, because I could not for the life of me decide between doing this as a pre-ship thing, a "this is the oh moment" thing, or a "they've already been in each other's pants" thing. So I'm writing all of them.

Anyway, here it is. 1276 words so far.

~

Twister, Part 1

“Do you know the rules?”

Steve stares at Dustin and knows, knows he’s taking too long to answer if Dustin is being serious. But . . . is he being serious? Really?

Even though Steve wants to give the kid more credit than that, the way Dustin is staring at him over the top of the spinner board suggests that he is one hundred percent asking him this question.

“Dude,” Steve sighs. “It’s fucking Twister.”

Dustin raises his eyebrows in classic Dustin fashion. (Eddie, watching the standoff from the side, pretends to scratch his nose for cover while discretely mouthing to Steve, ‘Tone.’ Steve tamps down the impulse to smirk in agreement.) “Soooo, you’re saying—”

“Yes, Henderson, I know the damn rules. Hands and feet go on specific colors, first person to wipe out loses. Toddlers can play this, man.”

No one else seems to be paying much attention, still preoccupied with barbeque spread over on the patio—slow eaters, all of ‘em. The burgers and chips and soda will run out sooner or later though. Steve would prefer this heckling to be over by the time any other players straggle over to their patch of shaded lawn.

“Do you need a refresher on left and right?” Dustin asks, and Steve tips his head back to stare at the sky outside of Joyce and Hopper’s new house in despair. “Because the other day—”

Eddie snorts, and now he’s scratching the other side of his nose, no doubt mouthing encouragement to Dustin. Traitor.

“The other day,” Steve snaps, “I missed that turn because you waited until the last possible second to tell me you wanted to go to Mike’s instead of Will’s! And I took the next turn instead, it barely added half a minute to the meter.”

“Meter?” Dustin frowns, perplexed. (Score one for team Harrington! . . . Against a lot, but Steve will take it.) “What meter?”

“Like in a taxi, egghead. I’m going to send away for one and start charging you a fare every time I give you a ride if you don’t cool it with this shit.”

Eddie lets out an honest to god guffaw, and now it’s Dustin‘s turn to look betrayed. Pretty dramatic of him, in Steve’s opinion, but they get through the rest of the game’s minimal setup without much more sniping. When they’re done Dustin yells at his friends to come play, then lets out a frustrated huff and heads towards the patio when no one gets up.

Steve and Eddie both survey the mat and its colorful dots with a sense of accomplishment, minuscule as it is. Well—minuscule for Steve. His bites have pretty much healed up. Eddie still has a ways to go, deeper holes in his skin and muscles to knit slowly up into knots of scar tissue. Sometimes, if he moves too quick or for too long, Steve catches him wincing when he thinks no one’s looking.

“You playing?” Steve asks, somewhere between curious and concerned.

There’s a flash in Eddie’s eyes as he glances over that Steve doesn’t know how to read. If he had to guess, he’d say that the guy doesn’t want to be babied, which. Understandable. But the look makes Steve’s skin prickle oddly, like. . . . Well, he doesn’t know, but like something. (There’s a reason the Henderson vs Harrington board, which thankfully doesn’t literally exist, is showing about a million to one. Steve tries not to think about it much.)

“What, and miss a game that even toddlers can play?” Eddie smirks, putting his hands on his hips in a perfect mirror of Steve—who hadn’t even realized he’s doing that, shit. “Not on your life, Big Boy.”

The words are still echoing in Steve’s head several rounds of the stupid game later when he puts his right foot on blue. Eddie, with his right hand and foot on yellow and blue respectively, left foot camped out over on red, is hovering smack dab over his lap.

One slip and, Jesus fucking Christ, Munson will be able to weigh in on that big boy thing for sure, and Steve just doesn’t feel ready for that. Not while Mike Wheeler is making the noodliest human bridge right next to them, both feet on green and both hands on red. They shouldn’t have put Will in charge of the spinner for this round, because it's the rest of them that keep getting all the weird pretzel positions.

“Robin, right foot on blue,” Will calls.

With a groan, Robin moves her foot to the nearest blue circle—right under Steve. “If your ass touches my foot, Harrington, I swear to god,” she mutters under her breath.

“If my ass touches your foot, your gnarly toenails are going to jab me through my shorts,” Steve grumbles back. Because what the hell, it’s not like he talked her into this! She’d agreed to play all on her own.

“Now now, children,” Eddie says. (Is it Steve, or does his voice sound strained?) “Robin’s toenails are lovely, and so is Stevie’s ass. Let’s not any of us be Debbie Downers here.”

“Eddie,” Will calls next, and the spinner whirs. “Right hand green.”

There’s a pause, then Eddie lets out a heavy breath and starts inching that hand back. His fingers crab-walk over the plastic mat. “Some—Someone tell me when I hit it. Can’t see back there.”

And Steve. . . . Steve can see it, alright. In slow motion, almost as though he knows exactly what’s coming a second before it actually happens. Eddie is almost there when he starts trying to switch from crouched forward over his feet like a gargoyle to leaning back on that hand into a full backward arch. Except he doesn’t quite make it, buckling halfway to the equilibrium point, and goes down like a brick.

He lands exactly the way Steve had worried about, forcing an undignified sound from Steve’s lungs as he drops onto Robin’s foot, who yelps and falls over.

“Did I win?” Mike asks, peering upside down at them from amidst his dangling hair. “Hey, I won!”

“My elbow,” Robin groans from half on the mat, half eating grass.

“Off,” Steve wheezes, shoving at Eddie and trying to uncross his eyes.

Eddie rolls away with a groan of his own, arms wrapped around his middle. “Sorry dude. Slipped. Ow.”

Steve—who did get jabbed in the ass by his best friend’s big toenail, thankyouverymuch, in addition to now very much wanting an ice pack to shove down the front of his shorts—doesn’t bother to call bullshit. He knows what happened, Eddie knows what happened. . . . Eddie probably knows that he knows, and that’s enough.

So he ignores Mike’s victory dance (if you could call it that, the kid has no grace whatsoever). He stays on his back, staring up at the gently shifting leaves of the tree hanging over them, and nudges Eddie gingerly in the back with his knee. “Y’okay?”

Will is already helping Robin to her feet. In the background, Steve can hear Joyce directing someone to bring ice. And Argyle saying something about purple palm trees.

“Yeah,” Eddie pants. He cranes his head around to look at Steve with an apologetic smile that still, somehow, makes Steve’s skin prickle. Weird. “Yeah, I’m good,” he says, sounding more recovered. “You?”

Steve lets his eyes fall closed. “I may not be able to have children now, but I’ll live.”

He smirks when he hears Eddie’s snort of surprised laughter. When Eddie, sheepish, tries to apologize again, Steve is already prepared. "No, you’re right, that was like something out of the fucking Three Stooges.”

It’s fine. He needs ice, some aspirin, and no more Twister ever, and he'll be fine.

-

Part 2

[thefirstknife]

To take a break from this week's awfulness, I wanted to tag in on Calus in LF. As you deftly laid out, it's perfect for his character & his relationships with the Witness & Caiatl. It shows him as vain & pathetic. But that's precisely why it fails *as a game villain*. He needs to be scary & powerful for our final battle, but it was just sad to me. A sad little man, unloved & desperate. Compared to Sav, Oryx etc it's a big emotional difference. What do you think from the angle of *game* villain?

Oh that's an interesting question, no worries!

Honestly, it really depends on what type of a villain people expect or prefer. I can see why some would prefer a villain to not be this way or at least if they didn't know all the details. I personally really love villains like this; villains who have put themselves into a path that led them to being just sad, abandoned, lonely and desperate people, despite being given options and a way out, multiple times. But their refusal to accept change is what ultimately led them to their fate.

Calus fits this really well! There's definitely a tragedy to him and his life as a whole. This doesn't really bring the same sort of joy over his defeat as it would be to defeat someone who is villainous in a different way so I can understand why people would feel off for killing him. But personally I believe that Lightfall's whole theme fits this with Calus. He was a sad little man, who rejected everything to overcome his problems and grief and instead chose the simpler path, unlike us; we worked through our grief and took the more difficult way but ultimately more rewarding. It's the primary dichotomy between the way of Light and the way of Darkness. The Witness is also important to consider here because the Witness looks for these types of people in particular for manipulation. A sad little man like Calus was overjoyed to meet the Witness, ages ago. The Witness played with that aspect of him and promised him everything he wanted; most of all, to be important and to be seen.

And in truth, he simply wasn't. He was being used, as all who side with the Witness are. With the whole setup of loss at the end of Lightfall, yeah; his defeat didn't feel as triumphant as it would've been if he'd been different. I believe that was intended. It definitely gave me more of a sense of relief that we put him to rest, rather than triumph. The Witness does that to people. You're kinda glad that you're putting those irreversibly manipulated by it out of their misery. It's also reflected with Caiatl who was basically just tired of it all and just wanted to know if it's done.

I'd even say that Oryx was a similarly tragic figure, though not exactly in the same way. Oryx was also manipulated and he struggled with his doubts all of his life. And when he finally came to attack us, he was literally just a father struck with grief over losing his child. He was more of an imminent threat to the solar system of course, so there was more triumph in defeating him. His story was also much more obscure overall (given how D1 did lore). To a lot of people, Oryx was just a scary monster that arrived to kill everyone. But once you know the background (and especially now with the full scope of it and the role of the Witness in shaping the Hive into who they are), I believe that he is also one of those villains that are ultimately just tragic people. I know Oryx is like that to me.

So yeah, I think this is a really interesting perspective to consider. I still think that this does work for villains, it's just not something that everyone equally enjoys. An expectation for villains is that we should feel good for ending them. But Destiny in general has given us many questions about that over the years; Uldren is a perfect example. He was also painted as a villain, but even back then (and especially now with Crow post-Haunted), I genuinely felt like crap for what we did to him. And that was kinda baked into Forsaken as well; our revenge rampage was never meant to be heroic. There was no real glory or justice in it.

This is definitely something that not everyone will perceive the same way and that not everyone will equally enjoy, especially when considering what the expectations are going into it.

[sunskate]

VM show ep 3 Chiddy and Weapo

Patrick had moved to the Detroit Skating Club in the summer of 2013 so was nearby to cameo on the show. one of the few lighter sequences with Scott (this might be the first time he smiles big or laughs for real without any trace of discomfort so far). they go cart race, Patrick says he realized he doesn't have to be absolutely perfect, that eating crap one day instead of eating the perfect meal the perfect way doesn't have to affect his Olympics (in contrast to Tessa wondering whether eating a grape before PYC will affect hers)

Patrick says it's hard to find time to talk to his gf especially at the end of the day when he's tired, and Scott says "they always get the worst of you, right? you gave all your energy to everyone else, i get home, you have nothing left, and that's what they get. god, we should get together and talk more often. making me feel all good. Scott and Patrick" - i know it’s on camera but him making such a heavy statement then being like glad we talked, go us! 😅💀this makes them seem close, but at the same time, he's saying they don't see each other much. maybe when you're an athlete at this level, you have "pick up where you left off" friendships, because you don't have time

the Weapo dinner is at Shiro's restaurant in Novi (which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of the man who built the mansion it's in)

T: (VO) our Canadian teammates, Kaitlyn and Andrew, have invited us to dinner (and VM asked if their camera crew could come? this feels so contrived 😅)

Kaitlyn says: "it feels so cool, i don't know how many other people have this kind of connection we have all together"

but this is cut so that VM look surprised that Weapo make it work being together 24/7 - even though Tessa later says "i often marvel at that fact." Weapo have lived nearby since 2009, so it shouldn't be a revelation 😬 this might be the editors massaging this storyline to say "VM aren't getting along!" and just not doing a great job of it - like the editing here-- the reactions and length of the silences after Kaitlyn asks "how about you?" feel tweaked - the way the background noise drops out for a few beats as soon as Kaitlyn asks the question to make it feel more like crickets and how they add humorous music at the end -

but can you think of another time in their history where either one of them says something like this?

S: we get on each other's nerves until one of us snaps!

T: they literally spend all of their time together, and i often marvel at that fact because i'm not sure Scott and i would survive that sort of setup

how much is Scott joking? are they being more truthful here than other times? what's odd to me is that it's Tessa who's doing the commenting on how they're not getting along, and we're not seeing Scott. just from how uncomfortable he looks throughout this show, i wonder if he was really reticent to talk about Tessa and didn't give them anything they could use. so he gets thrown under the bus by a one sided narrative. we're almost at the end of this storyline, thank goodness

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Defiance | Resilience

I had an IdeaTM if you feel like writing (: So at the end of Defiance, right? Logan realizes what happened, he was being manipulated by Orange, yadda yadda. Afterwards, he refuses to talk about it. He's just overall very cold and closed off, because maybe if he grips his emotions tight enough and keeps a firm enough control over his mind then nobody will be able to take him over like that again. The others become pretty concerned for him, because they haven't seen him this detached since the early episodes. And they're probably also a bit annoyed that he's shwing such indifference. Eventually somebody snaps, and Logan figuratively grips the jar that is his emotions so tightly that it shatters in a messy explosion that cuts everyone and ends in him completely vulnerable, apologizing for everything he thinks he's done wrong. And then idk what happens, comfort :D – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: allusions to mind control/mind manipulation

Pairings: none

Word Count: 2292

    Logan's acting weird.

Now, Roman's the first to admit that he's a harsh judge of what Logan's doing, at least out loud, but that's their thing. Creativity vs. Logic and all that, Right Brain vs. Left Brain. They're used to getting on each other's nerves, egging each other on, getting into pointless arguments that don't mean anything and are just for fun and to make each other stop being stuck-up idiots all the time. Yes, Roman can admit he's a stuck-up idiot most of the time! Granted, he's putting it on, more likely than not, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing! It's a role, it's his role, it's the one he and Logan have perfected in their banter back and forth.

At least…it used to be.

Now, though, when Roman tries to start one of their stupid inane debates, Logan just shuts him down immediately. Not even a moment to entertain whatever point Roman's trying to make, immediately just telling him that he's wrong very bluntly or ignoring the obvious joke setup he's trying to volley. Even when he makes a big deal out of not understanding something very simple, Logan doesn't even humor him anymore, he just tells Roman he's wrong and what the right answer is. Sometimes he does it without even looking at him. He's categorically refusing to commit to the bit and that is a cardinal sin.

And okay, maybe Roman could pick his moments a little better, and not right in the middle of a meeting or something where everyone else is trying really hard to be productive—okay, mostly everyone else, thank you, Remus—and Logan's got his hands full trying to help everyone else. But that's the point! Another thing those arguments help do is get the others to snap out of it! 'Cause they'll just get into little squabbles themselves that aren't productive and then if they watch Logan and Roman get into one, more often than not they realize that whatever they were on about isn't helping anyone either and they all get to have a laugh at themselves, calm down, and actually start talking like adults! It's a foolproof plan that works 87% of the time, according to Logan!

But lately, that percentage has taken such a steep nosedive that Roman's not sure the plane has any survivors left.

Now, he just gets shunted to the outside of the conversation. He'll get told off by not just Logan, but everyone else when they see how upset it makes Logan. Which he doesn't understand, they've talked about the jokes he's not supposed to make and the buttons Logan doesn't want him to push and he's not, he's staying away from those. He's picking literally the softest balls to throw, they're so plush and fluffy, and Logan's burning them out of the sky with a flamethrower. He's even tried to go up to Logan after the meetings or whenever these happen, trying to ask what he's doing wrong, Logan used to like these, what can he do better, but Logan just turns him away and says he doesn't have time for jokes.

Which is how Roman knows Logan's really acting weird.

Logan's favorite long-running bit is that he doesn't understand any sort of joke. That doesn't mean he finds them funny, but he gets why other people would find them funny. He loves playing the ironic straight man for the others because then he's included in the joke but he doesn't have to pretend to be something he's not. Other than the straight part. But Roman can remember how much he was trying to stop himself from smiling the first time they did the overexplain bit in front of the others, he used to love that bit—and he's not trying to say that Logan can't change! Tastes evolve, people grow, it's just a fact of life, but it's—he's getting worried.

He tried to go confront Logan—gently! He wasn't trying to corner him or anything!—and ask if he's genuinely okay, but Logan just thanked him for asking and changed the subject. Which is a lie of omission if Roman's ever heard one. Or not heard—you get it.

So he tried the sneakier route and he found out that Logan's not met up with Virgil or Remus for their watch parties where they analyze horror stuff, he's not been on his usual walk with Janus through the peaceful part of the Imagination. He's not even been downstairs on weekend mornings to help Patton with the baking. Then he realized that Logan's favorite mug isn't getting used anymore—he's not being a stalker, okay, one of his household chores is to clean the dishes that are hand-wash only and Logan's mug is hand-wash only—and instead he's using this plain white mug that isn't even big enough to hold a decent amount of coffee. And he called off working on his own projects with Roman, like, eight times now.

So, yeah. Logan's acting weird and Roman's worried.

Now, if only he could get Logan to stop glaring at him…

"Shit, Princey," Virgil mutters, "you've been using all one of your brain cells on this, huh?"

Roman doesn't take the bait. He just looks at Logan with what he hopes is the please understand how sincerely concerned I am as someone who cares about you face as Logan's jaw sets and he folds his arms.

"Perhaps this would explain why Thomas has been having such a hard time working on the finale," he says coldly, "his Creativity is clearly focused on the wrong thing."

"Hey, wait," Remus says, frowning, "why is being worried about you the wrong thing?"

"Roman's right," Patton adds, crossing his arms too, "that's—that's a worrying amount of things, kiddo."

"I believe I have asked you not to call me that."

"Right, right, sorry, Logan."

Logan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If this is all this meeting is supposed to be about, I ask that you leave me out of them in future unless there is something pressing to discuss."

"This is pressing!" Roman takes a small step forward despite the way Logan's still glaring at him. "You're not alright, Logan, I know you aren't—"

"Oh, because you're always an excellent judge of me, aren't you?"

Okay, ouch, but fair. "Logan, I didn't mean it like that—"

"Then why don't you say what you do mean," Logan interrupts, before he stops himself and takes a deep breath. "I apologize, that was untoward."

Roman just waves him off. Logan looks for a moment like he might say something else before his expression hardens and he turns away.

"If that will be all—"

"Hold on, L," Virgil says, sitting up and reaching over the banister to touch Logan's shoulder, "we're not gonna leave it like this. As much as I hate to say it, Roman's right. You've been off since we had that whole weird thing with the orange mist, are you sure it isn't—"

"It's fine," Logan spits out, shrugging Virgil's hand off, "it is not affecting me anymore, any influence it had was eliminated when the switch was thrown."

A quiet hiss comes from his other side as Janus exchanges a look with Roman. Roman just shrugs helplessly—he's just brought the problem up, that doesn't mean he knows how to solve it, that's what he needs everyone else's help for. Janus nods in understanding and moves to get in front of Logan again.

"Logan," he says quietly, "if this is affecting Roman's ability to focus, then shouldn't that mandate that we reassure whatever irrational worry he's worked into his head so that we can all get back to work?"

"I think you somehow got both of us with that one," Virgil mutters, "irrational worries are my thing."

Roman doesn't even care because Logan's still trying to leave. Whatever hushed conversation he's having with Janus is getting louder and louder and out of sheer desperation, he moves forward to talk to Logan himself—

Suddenly he's flying across the room. His back hits the wall with a slam and he slides to the floor, dazed.

"Holy shit—"

"Roman!"

Remus appears in front of him as Roman blinks, dazed. He cups his hands around Roman's face and looks at him hard. Roman clumsily pats his wrist. "Hey, 'm all good."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, wasn't that bad."

"Janny?"

"He's telling the truth."

"See?" Roman swats lightly at Remus's shoulders. "Lemme up. I'm fine."

"You get hit in the head too much, Princey," Virgil mutters, still sounding slightly baffled that Roman just flew across the room and smacked into the wall.

"You get used to it."

"I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing. Back me up, Logan."

When no response comes, Roman shakes himself off and gets up, immediately letting out a soft noise of concern when he sees the tears streaming down Logan's face. Janus has two of his hands on Logan's shoulders, a third one gently around his wrist. Roman holds his hands up and cautiously approaches, stopping when Logan lets out a whimper.

"Hey, hey," he murmurs, "I'm okay, I'm not mad. I'm not even hurt, see?"

"He's not lying," Janus says, the hands softening as Logan starts to wobble, "come sit, sweetie, let Roman be a mother hen for a second."

"I think that's Patton's thing."

"No, he's Papa Cock!"

"Never say anything like that again, Remus."

Roman tunes them out in favor of crouching in front of Logan. After a moment, he reaches out and lays his hands palm up if Logan wants to take them. "I'm not mad, really, Logan. I'm just worried. You—are you okay?"

Logan looks down, tears still brimming fat and heavy in the corners of his eyes and he slowly shakes his head and sniffles. Roman holds his hands out a little more and Logan takes them, squeezing tentatively. "I'm sorr—sorry, Roman."

"It's okay, it's okay—"

"It's not," Logan interrupts, glaring as if on sheer willpower alone he could make himself stop crying long enough to speak, "it's not okay that I just did that, or that I—that I've been rude to you and—and that I'm not using my favorite mug anymore—"

"Shh, take a moment," Janus encourages, rubbing his back, "shh, shh, there you go…"

Logan sniffles again. "I just—I'm just—I—"

Over on the staircase, Virgil makes a quiet oh sound. "He's scared, Princey."

"Of me? Am I making it worse?"

"No, not of you—not directly, anyway." Virgil comes around and sits at the base of the stairs. "L, can I—is this helpful?"

Logan nods and Roman brings his hand up to kiss Logan's knuckles.

"He's—he's afraid of the orange thing coming back," Virgil continues, "given how easily it affected him last time, he's afraid—oh, L, it's okay."

"It will use me to hurt you again," Logan mumbles around hitching breaths, "and I—I don't—I don't want to hurt you, it's—but it's so much stronger than—than me when I'm—when I'm—like th-this, so—I'm—Roman, I'm sorry!"

"Shh, hey, hey, hey—" he kisses Logan's hand again— "I'm not mad, I promise, see? It's okay to be scared, that thing that happened was really scary, but the rest of us are here, you know? We'll help you."

The others make their noises of agreement as Logan starts to scoot toward the edge of the couch. Roman opens his arms and lets Logan crash into his lap, wrapping his arms around him and holding him closer.

"There, is that better? You just wanna hold onto me a bit?" Logan nods into the crook of his shoulder. "Hey, that's it. We can sit here. That's cool."

"You're sure you're—you're okay?"

"I'm a big dumb brick, remember? I'm a tank."

"Y're not dumb," Logan mumbles, "you f'gired out all—all of this, you're—y're smart."

"Here, here," Virgil echoes, "now, this looks like cuddle-puddle territory to me, am I right, Logan?"

"Mhm."

"You heard him," Roman hears Remus cackle, "everyone on the mattress!"

A massive fluffy thing poofs into existence beneath Roman and Logan and Roman immediately lies them down, chuckling as Janus takes one of the blankets and tucks them in. Logan snuggles a little deeper into his chest and he rests his cheek against the crown of Logan's head.

"We're here for you, okay?" He rubs Logan's back. "Whatever color you're feeling."

"Yeah?"

"I'll out-stubborn you on this too," he threatens playfully just to hear Logan's snuffling laugh in his ear.

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

"Good. Now—hey, Remus! Keep your elbows to yourself!"

"Shit, sorry."

"Language!"

"How come I get language and Emo over there didn't?"

"You snitch!"

Roman just cuddles Logan closer as their eyes drift closed. Out of the corner of his eye he thinks he glimpses something orange floating near the top of the stares and glares until it goes away.

You stay away from my Logan.

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[serregon]

Gwindor and Nienor for the character asks?

Nienor

one aspect about them i love

just the sheer fact that she stood up to Glaurung like he’s nothing. Túrin couldn’t do that and he isn’t weak-willed himself. also she’s tall enough to successfully disguise herself as an elf man???

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

I mean, the fandom barely talks about her because she isn’t a skinny cousin shippable male Noldo. when I do see discussions or art of her a lot of them are just about how sad her story is :(((( and yeah her story is sad and all but where’s the art about how strong she was before she died? where’s the art about her calling a dragon a little bitch to his face? where’s my equally unhinged counterpart to Túrin?

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

Nienor took up her father’s hobbies, fishing, chopping wood, and she has the same hearty laugh. it was one of the only things that ever made Morwen cry, seeing her presumably dead husband in her daughter

one character i love seeing them interact with

I will cry about her and Mablung forever like there is the PERFECT setup for a tragic romance story right there. her life was tragedy after tragedy but for that year in Doriath she was happy, though her happiness could never last. and now they have to wait for the literal world to end to meet again and get that closure they were denied in life oh it hurts

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

I get from a story perspective why she would not get to meet Finduilas, but like, they should. they’re sisters in a way, they’re each other’s mirrors, they’re the representations of love and downfall, they’re yuri

I feel like if they could meet, Nienor/Finduilas wouldn’t be the same love at first sight that Finduilas had with Túrin. the similarities between Finduilas and Nienor initially put Finduilas off, as she sees not an idealized knight in shining armor, but a mirror image that includes her flaws

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

remember Sador the old carpenter? I’d like to think that Nienor also helped take care of him when Dor Lomin was taken over. Sador told Nienor about Túrin and grew her love for the brother she never knew (oh you sweet summer child)

Gwindor

one aspect about them i love

his sheer kindness in the face of both rejection and doom. event when he finds out that his own fiancée is rejecting him for the shiny new thing, he never scorns her, letting her follow her heart (Brandir take notes). and even though Túrin is a dummy Gwindor still loves him

tbh I think the Túrin/Finduilas/Gwindor triangle is a bit of a reflection of Tolkien’s own life experiences. Edith was already engaged to another man. if Túrin represents Tolkien, then Gwindor represents the third guy, and it shows us that Tolkien didn’t see that guy as an obstacle, just another person seeking love

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

this is more about Finduilas than Gwindor rip but I’ve seen the take that Finduilas is shallow for leaving Gwindor after he became disfigured and disabled. that interpretation is shallower than their supposed version of Finduilas. Túrin isn’t just some hot chad here to steal Finduilas from the virgin Gwindor after he became ugly, Túrin represents forward change where Gwindor represents stagnant stability. yeah Túrin’s dumbass plan to advertise the kingdom’s location to Morgoth didn’t work out well for anyone, but his drive to fight gave her hope, something that a captive of Angband was lacking

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

this art made me weep but also sparked a new headcanon that Gwindor was always really into stars. maybe he was an astronomer too

one character i love seeing them interact with

Gwindor’s relationship with Túrin is fascinating to me. they have the worst meet cute of all time, in one version he also has to stop Túrin from killing himself right as soon as they meet. Gwindor immediately knows that Túrin is trouble, yet he leads him home and grows to love him anyway. Gwindor loves Túrin probably as much as Beleg did, but Gwindor is also more critical of Túrin (not that Beleg was ever a yes-man, but he did still go along with Túrin when it was unwise). basically Gwindor loves Túrin but he wouldn’t exactly choose love over wisdom for him

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

I want to see his interactions with Finrod. Finrod went out on his quest with his most loyal lords, Gwindor not being one of them. Gwindor was not loyal to his king, who was the uncle of the woman he was due to marry. so he was not loyal to his own future family. and I want to know how that played out. or maybe I’m thinking too much into this and he just wanted to stay with Orodreth idk

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

Gwindor and Finduilas’ betrothal gifts were matching swords. oh and what if Gwindor died wielding that sword ;-;

[whollyfree]

Love At First Sight

Summary - your dog falls in love with jake just a moment before you do

Pairings – Jake Kiszka x reader

Word Count – 800+ 

Warnings – NONE!! literally just tooth-rotting fluff. This was very much inspired by a fic i read in the past but MAJOR creds to them <3 Also hi! I’m new here. My name is Ruby and I love to write. If anyone has any requests feel free to send them my way!! Enjoy :)

Your newly well-trained service dog, Ollie, sat next to you, keeping watch of your surroundings as you sat in the park. The sound of Stevie Nicks’ voice echoed through your speaker, just loud enough so you could hear it as you turned to the next page in your novel. It was exceptionally sunny today with a clear sky ahead of you. Taking advantage of the warm, beautiful weather, you figured it was the perfect day to take yourself on a date for a picnic in the park. By the calmness that Ollie exuded, you were sure he agreed. Even though he presented himself to be completely content, you couldn’t miss him leaning forward as if he was about to walk away.

“Ollie, no,” you scold him quietly, not bothering to look up from the new page in your book. You were sure he wouldn’t dash away. Oh you were so wrong.

In a flash, Ollie ran quickly on his four legs away from your blanket on the grass.

“Ollie!” Your voice was louder now as you pulled yourself up and began trailing after him. He was well within your eyesight as he ran forward, straight to someone else’s picnic setup. Fuck. 

Ollie finally came screeching to a halt at a man sitting alone, an acoustic guitar in hand as he strummed peacefully. Well, that was until your giant beast of a dog nearly ran him over. You finally caught up with Ollie, somewhat out of breath from your sprint as the man noticed him. The mystery man smiled at Ollie, carefully placing his guitar down as he began to pet him. In contrast to his monstrous behavior, he sat down in front of the man and allowed himself to be loved on.

“Ollie, shit!” You looked down at your dog, nearly forgetting that the man was there. “I’m so so sorry. I promise he’s not normally like this.”

The man looks up at you with a smile as he continued petting Ollie. “Hey, no worries. He’s a sweet little guy, huh?”

“Something like that,” you chuckle, taking a moment to look at the guitarist, his long chestnut locks catching the sunlight almost making them look lighter. His tan skin looked radiant against his dark-washed button down that he paired with jeans and a pair of vans that looked like they should’ve been tossed out years ago. Nevertheless, you noticed his silver necklaces splayed against his chest revealed by his much-too-unbuttoned shirt.

“I’m Jake, by the way,” the man identifies himself then, interrupting your thoughts before reaching his hand out to shake yours. You can’t help but look at his lush pink lips as he speaks and the way his brown eyes look into your own.

“Y/N,” you shake his hand. “And this is Ollie.”

He smiles at you and then to your dog. “Ollie?” He almost sounds surprised, in awe of your cute dog as he carries on scratching his head. You smiled as you watched the two interact. You always knew that Ollie was friendly, but my god, he was nearly trying to climb into Jake’s lap at this point.

“Ollie, come on,” you try to fight back a laugh as your dog attempts to nestle himself between Jake’s legs. You go to pull Ollie away from him, but of course, Ollie pretends that you aren’t there; too entranced by his new friend giving him attention. Jake laughs, waving you away to tell you it’s okay.

“No, I’m sorry,” you start, reaching to grab Ollie’s leash to pull him away. “He completely interrupted your playing and alone time.”

“Well, I was kinda hoping a pretty girl and her dog could give me a listen and tell me if I’m any good.” He sounds all too confident, and you try to fight a blush back at his words. Ollie looked between the two of you before finally situated his gaze upon you as if to say “come on, mom. Say yes!” You looked down at Ollie, damning him for those cute puppy-dog eyes.

“I guess Ollie and I could make some time for that,” you agree to his request, a smile gracing his features as he looks down.

“Have a seat and join us then,” he pats the spot across from him and you oblige, sitting criss-cross in front of him. You grab onto Ollie’s leash to ensure he doesn’t find someone new to terrorize, but part of you felt as if it was a lost cause as your dog gazed up at Jake. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“Is this turning into a picnic date, Jake?” You teased him as he picked up his acoustic guitar, his eyes never leaving you. 

He chuckled as you swore a blush played upon his cheeks. “Would it be okay if it was?”

You pondered his question, jokingly looking upward before looking back to him as you settled on an answer. “Ask me after you play a song.”

He smiles again. “I can play whatever you wanna hear.”

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[acourtofthought]

E/riels holding onto the “he wouldn’t consider Gwyn a friend” line is almost laughably stupid considering he wouldn’t call Elain a friend either. He literally says in his chapter that they do not speak to each other (how tf do you build a friendship or a relationship like that??). All they’ve done for a whole year is exchange glances and brush fingers lol

I very much doubt either of them will care about the other getting it on with someone else at this point.

You know what would have made for an interesting E/riel setup and what I think would be the best way to go about a rejected bond in this situation? If we saw Elain trying to get to know Lucien because he was her mate and Azriel silently longed for her. Where every moment Elain spent interacting with Lucien, figuring she should give this mating bond thing a try, Az's heart was breaking because he himself wanted the chance to make her happy regardless of her having a bond with Lucien. Where the reader could see that Lucien, despite being her mate, wasn't going to be the right male for her. Where his beliefs didn't align with her and where he was more concerned with himself than what she needed while Az stood there in the background being the support system she deserved, all the while she was missing out on him because she was convinced that the mating bond trumped all. Yet when it came time for her book, she finally realized Az was the one for her, had always been the one for her, bond or no bond. But that's not how SJM wrote things. Instead we have Elain refusing to get to know Lucien, which in an SJM book means there's some bigger emotion to go along with that. It's never so simple as "I don't like him" but usually something layered and complicated like "my feelings for him scare me so I'm going to run away". We have Lucien as the one who is silently waiting in the background, longing for Elain while still trying to do what is best for her though she's currently got her eyes turned in a different direction. Where the author has been steadily building the case for WHY Lucien is her perfect match, like his avoidance of violence (when cruelty bothers her), his being Heir to Day when she need sunshine, his ease while in nature which rivals hers. And we have Az acting out in problematic ways. Not caring if Graysen is killed, not being at all concerned about ripping apart the peace in their world, claiming Lucien isn't good enough, avoiding Elain because it bothers HIM rather than it being because it's what is right for her. I really do think SJM could have pulled off E/riel and an Elucien rejected mating bond had she set up the characters differently but with the way things are written, it really is easy to let go of any E/riel setup because Az is like a loose canon right now when it comes to her (not appealing in a MMC) and the most they had done for a year (before that near kiss) is glances and lingering touches. If SJM could undo Feye's engagement to someone she thought she loved in ACOMAF, then stepping back on E/riel in the next book is nothing in comparison.