#it's the 10th anniversary i had a strong feeling this would happen

[planetsteddie]

ρꪮ꠸ꪀꪻ ꪮᠻ ᥅ꫀꪻ᥅ꫀꪖꪻ; ρꪻ ᒿ ☆

pairing(s): mattheo riddle x fem! reader

summary: in which he decided to fuck up his relationship

readers house: slytherin

year: 6th

WARNING(S): yelling, cursing, short, cheating, dumbass friends, y/n being a bad bitch cuz that needs its own warning

part 1

(i had to revamp this soo yeah...:/ )

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

A few weeks later, Y/n is walking to class. She can't help but feel confused. Mattheo has completely ignored her. At this point she stopped trying and caring. It was really frustrating not knowing what she could've possibly done to make him disregard her.

The girl can only hope that maybe he has a surprise for her. Their two-year anniversary is coming up and Y/n can't help but be excited. Knowing that she has been with him for this long.

Smiling to herself, thinking of the possibilities she ended up bumping into something. She rubbed her head and then looked up. Y/n saw the confused look from Theodore Nott, Mattheo's best friend.

Her eyes widened “Oh my god! I’m so sorry Theo. I wasn’t paying mind to where I was going.” He just chuckles “It’s alright Y/n. How are you and Mattheo doing?” The girls smile immediately turns into a sad one. Tears start to fill her eyes but wanting to be strong, holds them in. “We’re alright. I hope. He’s just been really distant and he keeps ignoring me every time I try to talk to him.”

He looks down, his expression turning cold. He looked up and reassured, “ I’ll talk to him, to see what’s wrong. Ok Y/n?”  She nodded. He walked passed me in the direction he was going before she ran into him. Continuing to walk to Potions,late. She walks in trying to walk straight to her seat trying not to get caught by Professor Snape. By tip toeing to her seat almost successfully until someone had to call her name. And that someone just had to be the best friend, Hermione Granger. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Snape turns and simply stares. He would have let her off with a warning if this was her first time being late but in this case it’s not. I’ve been late multiple times. Mostly because of Mattheo wanting to stay with me an empty classroom

In the side of her eye was Mattheo laughing at something Ginny Weasley said. Personally Y/n didn’t like her but tolerates her for Hermione’s sake.

She heard Snape talking to me “Ms. L/n would you like to explain why this is your nearly 10th time late to my class.” She just stared at him with wide not knowing how to explain that she simply ran into someone and started talking. “Ummmm…” He raised an accusing eyebrow.

He began talking “No explanation then. Hm?” finally finding the words to answer his question from before. “ I ran into someone and we started talking, you know catching up.” As she finished that Theodore fucking Nott just so happened to walk in the door. She mentally facepalmed herself. His ironic appearance causing chatter across the Potions room.

However, Snape didn’t even seem to be bothered by his entrance. “This is a warning for you and Mr.Nott to not be late to my class again. Now find your seats.” They were surprised that he let the two off with a warning. Relieved however that she's on Professors soft side. 

She hurriedly walked to her seat in the back.

She zoned out for the rest of the lesson until it was finally over. She packed her stuff up and started walking towards the door. She was walking out the door and saw Mattheo hugging Ginny fucking Weasley.

She's very conflicted. Is she the reason why he’s ignoring her or am is she overthinking it. She watched them still in shock. They break apart and see me staring and just look away. She scoffed and started walking towards the Slytherin common room. She muttered the password “Pure-blood.” Walking in only to see Draco and Blaise arguing which is extremely rare. They literally never argue about anything. 

She walked up to them trying to hear what they’re saying. Not really hear anything besides them talking about her and Mattheo.

Finally butting in and saying something “What are you both going on about?” Both of their eyes widen and they suddenly look guilty. She starts laughing slightly at their change in emotion. “What’s the matter? What’s got you two looking so guilty?” They both look at each other and say simultaneously.

“Nothing!” She furrowed her eyebrows confusingly. “Are you sure? Because if something wasn’t wrong then why were you two arguing.?” They pursed their lips and said “You heard that?” She looked at them both amused “Of course I did. I'm pretty sure the whole school heard you.” They laughed and then it slowly died down awkwardly. “So what’s wrong?” They sighed and Draco said “You’re still on that."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Of course I am. You guys were arguing and you hardly argue.” They stayed quiet. “Well you’re going to tell me I’m going to go to Mattheos dorm. She started walking towards his dorm when they were quickly in front of her trying to push her away from his. “ What are you doing? I’m trying to see Mattheo.” They shake their heads. “He’s busy.”  She scoffed.

“Well I’m sure he’ll let me in.” They both shook their heads. She rolled her eyes. “If you don’t let me pass I will crucio you both.” Their eyes widened and they let her past reluctantly. Smiling smugly she trudges down to his dorm. His room is quiet. Almost too quiet. 

She tries to open the door but it’s locked. Muttering the charm, “Alohomora.” The door is unlocked. She smirks which immediately drops.

Tears clouds her vision. Seeing her boyfriend on top of a red-head. She thinks of Ginny Weasley and rolls her eyes. She was right. She was right at something that she didn't want to be right about. It makes sense. The distance. The sudden friendliness. She knew there was something wrong.

Oh how she was terribly wrong.

She heard the name she never thought she would hear, "Fuck, Hermione!" The girl was shell-shocked. Collecting herself she took a deep breath.  “This is one hell of an anniversary gift." Their heads shoot towards her shocked. 

The cheating bastard was pulling on his trousers until he heard someone say, "This is one hell of an anniversary gift." He shot his neck towards the voice, practically giving himself whiplash. He opened his mouth to think of something to say but comes up blank.

Her stare is deadly but he can tell she’s been crying from the way her eyes, cheeks, and nose are red. She starts sniffling. She looks to Hermione in complete disgust. “ What kind of fucking friend are you. I’ve known you since 1st year. I helped you with you’re studies. I got Draco and practically all of the other Slytherins to stop call you mudblood. I put a stop to all of the bullying. AND THIS IS HOW YOU FUCKING REPAY ME!” 

The tears falling down her cheeks physically hurt him. Knowing that he did that. 

(shut the fuck up fine ass bitch ass man whore)

She looks to the heartbreaker and completely breaks. “ AND YOU! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU FUCK MY BEST FRIEND. WE’VE BEEN DATING FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS AND YOU FUCK MY BEST FRIEND. YOU IGNORE ME FOR FUCKING WEEKS JUST TO FUCK HER.” She starts laughing while crying, “Honestly I would rather you fuck any girl in this school instead of her. Hell even Ginny Weasley because I was expecting it.” She looks at me heartbroken. She walks out of the room sobbing.

Quickly running after her, “Wait. Y/n!” He kept following her until he reached the common room. She’s telling them about what happened.

She stalked down the hall to the common room. Once she reached it. Immediately she saw Blaise and Draco. She ran to them and Blaise pulled her into a hug. She sobbed, “He-he cheated on me with h-her.” She continued to sniffle into his chest. She looks up at them to see their reaction. They don’t look the slightest bit surprised. Her voice broke “Did you know?” They look at me guilty and nodded. She felt herself break even more. “Oh my god. You both knew and you didn’t tell me. What the actual FUCK is wrong with you two. Oh god you make me sick!”

She ran up to her room going into the bathroom. She looks into the mirror and cries harder. She stumbles back into the wall and slides. Her head falling onto her knees.

I can’t believe that they knew and that he cheated on me with Hermione, my best friend. We were practically sisters. And she fucking betrayed me. They all did. Friendships and relationships down the fucking drain! And for what?

Theodore walked into the common room hearing someone yelling and crying. He saw Y/n yelling at Blaise and Draco which never really happened. Y/n’s not one to typically cry so it had to be something really heartbreaking for her to starting crying. He looked over to see Mattheo standing there looking guilty and then Hermione coming out of his dorm looking a fucking hot mess in only his shirt.

He was fucking livid. Theo had no clue that he was cheating on Y/n. He knew the others knew from the way she’s yelling at them. She ran up to her room. 

I’ll go up soon just need to deal with my "best friend" first.

How could he hurt someone as kind as her. 

He looks at him as if nothing just happened. “Oh hey Theo. How you doing mate?” He glared at him. “Don’t you “mate” me” 

He looks down at the floor guiltily “You know.. you’re a fucking idiot.” That’s all he says and then walks up to Y/n’s room to see her in her bathroom crying. He walked in and sat with her she looks up at me and says brokenly “D-did you know?” He shook his head while saying, “No, love.” She then immediately leaped to me for a Hug.

He comforted her the best he could. She fell asleep after a while. He took her to her bed and tucked her in. He had to deal with is his stupid man whore of a friend.

(puuuuurrrrr theoooo)

It’s been a few weeks since the thing with the four people that shall not be named. The next morning was peaceful. Waking up to a teddy bear and breakfast on the foot of her bed.

Then she remembered what day it was and what happened that night. Theo had helped her a lot through the weeks. He’s being the friend that she needs right now.

Walking to Transfigurations class. She was almost there when someone stopped her. She looked to see who. The girl rolled her eyes. “What do you want Riddle?” He looks at me with pleading eyes. “I want to apologize and I want to explain why I did what I did.” She scowled, “You mean when you cheated on me with my best friend for who knows how long.” He nodded guiltily.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes “Well….” He took a deep breath “I’m sorry Y/n know what I did was wrong. And I was wondering if you could give me 1 more chance?”

She looked at him bewildered. “What the fuck. No! Sure I can forgive you. Yeah I can do that but it doesn’t change the fact that you fucked my best friend.”

Feeling the tears in her eyes fall, “You broke me! You ruined everything we had and- for what?”

Nothing...

“Fuck you man.”

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I know I took fucking forever to post this. I had major writers block.

Let me know what you think of it or if you have any suggestions on my writing.

@jjsgirlp4l

masterlist; part 1

[icharchivist]

I finished the main plot of Relink.

Spoilerfree review: this game is Everything. I think it really did amazing to capture all the strength of Granblue, all in an incredible gameplay experience. It's genuinely extremely fun to play, and the plot is so good. I did cry by the end of it.

Do i think it's beginner friendly? mhmm i think it gives a lot of things for you to catch back if you read the glossary and the Fate Episodes, but i'm biased on that. but if you ignore that it would be a bit tough to emotionally connect with the established cast imo. That said i still think it's doing a good job at it. It's just that it's going to be a completely different experience.

(like at some point some members of the crew lament about something that happened and it made me cry personally because "oh, considering their history, this must sting", but to someone who might not know it's like :)! cool. anyway!)

That said the story itself is very strong. It did feel like an anniversary event in Granblue in term of story.

(which oh my god i can't believe it's this month i'm not ready for another one)

Still. the game is incredible.

there's a lot to do post-game, though i won't stream them, but it's so fun and it's still so... so Granblue.

if you love Granblue, try the game out, of course. If you don't know Granblue, still try it out and have a good time. Our crew is incredible <333

also i'm coming out of it with a big crush on Rolan and Id and i'm sooo not sorry about that. But overrall i loved all of the new cast and what it raises as questions for the lore. Really liked it.

I won't stream anymore when i do post game stuff though, but i can't wait to return to the game!

now on more detailled thoughts about the game:

overall it's a good mix of everything very Granblue. but imo it's really doing a good job at highlighting some lore stuff that we KNOW but don't think about much.

like, yeah, Lucio told us what made the Skydwellers unique is because they rely on one another and help each other out

so it MEANs by contrast that Astrals don't actually rely on people. they're individualistic by nature, and it's why the primals are the way they are, they are a representation of the Astrals being self reliant by making their own things instead.

Lilith is really the quintessential Astral on that regard. And even once she had worship and a "child", it was only about being worshipped, it was only about using the child, it was never about connecting and relying on them.

Lilith is so interesting in term of characterization. and also who doesn't like an evil milf obviously.

Rolan was the incredible other half to that in a sense. He's the Astral who decided to learn to change. When you read his notes when he was disconnected from the skyrealms you actually see this distain for the skydwellers and connections that the Astrals all have.

Rolan meanwhile was the Astral who actually learned he could change. I think it also can show that the fact the Skyrealms and the Astral world are now divided since the split is really just bad for everyone there, because without the skydwellers to inspire them the Astrals are too static to see the change and all. It's sooo interesting to me.

Anyway i want Rolan back. Why does Granblue keep putting our "we came from a loveless place but you taught us how to love" in dimension rift prisons. booo.

Id ended up really being the stealer of the show for me, which explains why he's on the cover art ahah.

his connection to Lyria, to MC, his desire to change, and his whole plot with Lilith (which i talked a bit more about in my previous post) was so interesting and endearing.

Anyway the whole game kinda felt like a really big event story and it was genuinely so so good. I loved to see all sort of narrative callback, the way some characters could fit some archetypes we've met before and all of that.

it was so much worth the wait and i'm so glad it came out right in time for the celebration of the 10th anni.

thank you Cygames for this.

[catb-fics]

I think someone else said this originally and I agree: they could have stayed in LA as of November 2021, when Benji posted photos of LA and Van was “seen” by the girls on tiktok. Several months later, Sardy started teasing and his studio is in that area. He hadn’t started teasing when they initially saw him so how could they have known that was the area they were associated with this time around, you know? So it’s a possibility they had been working on music out here well in advance to the Cardiff gigs.

As a fan, I’d be fuming if I I had tickets for Cardiff to see them and they just disappeared with nothing to say about it. That’s the real kicker. Business is full of risks and benefits and benefits outweigh the risks or could backfire. You never know until it’s done. Comebacks are well known to be the ultimate form of music marketing again and again. Imo it seems like they’re hoping it works. With The Balcony’s 10th anniversary coming up I see easy marketing opportunities to make money off the sentiment and play on that excitement. With their return, fans will come back and should be explosive. This doesn’t guarantee a new album will be out next year as various delays beyond their control could be an issue. I definitely see signs that they’ll probably be at least be somewhat active next year. There’s much more to this “theory” that I’m holding back cause it’s really not my place to put it out there.

There’s so much deception in music. It sucks for fans and I really do feel for everyone who’s been disappointed again and again by false rumors and bullshitters. This isn’t to cause excitement whatsoever but more to kinda give an inside look at what’s probably going on from an inside perspective. Fans helped fill me in with what happened so now I’m giving back as much as possible. At the end of the day, we all want to know what’s going on. I’m here mostly cause I’m tired of the same angry Reddit dudes telling me that Catfish is 100% dead and Van doesn’t give a fuck about fans whatsoever. You’d have to pry Catfish out of Van’s incredibly strong and grip for him to let go of Catfish. He still has a viable opportunity live out his dreams. The band is and will forever be his firstborn.

Season 5 of Stranger Things is expected in late 2025- early 2026. There’s a screenwriters strike going on currently in the U.S. (screenwriters in general are not being paid what they deserve) which is delaying production and all that. Waiting very impatiently for both Catfish and season 5!! - 🌴

Yes I guess that’s a possibility. I’d be very surprised if Van had been LA based all that time but who knows? 🤷‍♀️

I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. I’m kind of tired of waiting around now. I’m sure there would be a big resurgence in the fandom if there was a comeback but for now it just seems like it’s dying…

[2tiredgal]

Overwatch Shimadacest Au Roleplay (18+ Only!). Looking for someone to play as Genji Shimada!

●If you don't like or am comfortable with the tags please blacklist and block me! I have no time to deal with rude people!●

■If this interests you please message me on discord! My username is 2tiredgal■

My brain has been running wild with AUs of lately since I saw 'Blackwatch Hanzo' fanart. My idea was instead of the fight that ultimately ended Genji's life happening the two are approached by Jesse, an invitation to join Blackwatch is given to them both. This is will happen a few days after the head of the clans spoke to Hanzo about dealing with Genji. In this Hanzo actually deeply cares about his brother and loves him (as a brother and so much more), so of course he takes this invitation without a second thought. Breaking free from the Clan will be the only way for them both to survive. I assume the two are in their early twenties at this point since in game Hanzo is 38 and Genji is 35 and it did say it was the 10th anniversary of Genji's "death" when he finally confronted Hanzo. So, Hanzo will be 28 and Genji 25 in this (or can be younger, whatever is preferred). This will start with Hanzo coming back from said meeting.

Relationship wise for these two I see them being very close and having a strong bond. This was of course looked down upon, but that did not stop the two. Of course when the reached teenhood hormones came to be and so much more. More than brotherly love being felt is realized for both parties. Fear, anxiety, and so much more is felt. Soon in this I do wish for them to confess and speak about it. A headcanon I have for noncanon is the two are soulmates. Their dragons helping along with this as the three had long been together before the two brothers were even born. They'll crave for each other, ache to be close and bond again. Its one of the reasons the two brothers are so close. They always crave to be by each other's side. Whether it be themselves, their dragons, or both.

Fair warning if and when smut comes to be I see Hanzo being a submissive bottom so just letting you know now. Kinks can also be spoken about before we begin. I am really open and comfortable with most besides unsanitary stuff (piss, scat, ect.).

Reference Pics for Hanzo's Uniform and Appearance; https://www.deviantart.com/fire-soldier/art/Blackwatch-Hanzo-Overwatch-662041352

__________________

Since their father's death Hanzo had taken on being the head of their family, their clan. It was very stressful and exhausting, but someone had to do it for things to stay peaceful. All his life he had been trained, raised to be the heir of the clan, but never did he think it would be this draining. It definitely doesn't help that he also has to keep a close eye on his younger brother Genji. Genji was spoiled beyond rotten as a child by their father and lived the 'playboy' lifestyle as it had been mentioned before. He truly wished for one of them to enjoy their lives so he continued to allow Genji to do as he pleased, but made sure he was truly safe when he went out. The meeting of the clan leaders came and went. Hanzo had been given orders to get a hold on his brother and change his ways of life. He didn't wish to do that. He didn't wish for Genji to be miserable.

Time went on and soon he was brought to another meeting with them. Demands of him taking action was given. "Something has to be done! The Shimada image will be damaged permanently if you do not put your brother in his place!" Hearing that had anger boiling within him. He was about to speak when another spoke up, quickly shutting him down. "Genji Shimada needs to be gotten rid of. Whether it is by your hand or someone else's is up to you Hanzo." Red had entered his vision and he could *feel* his dragon roaring with the same rage he felt. No harm would come to their brothers! They would not allow it! Trying to keep his composer was difficult, but he managed. His dark brown eyes piercing those that sat in front of him. "If you dare think to have any harm sent my brother's way I will not hesitate to kill you." He snarled out before turning quickly and leaving without another word. A threat from him would be taken wisely.

When he arrived back at the estate he was beyond furious. Did they truly think he would allow any harm to come to his brother? He would kill any assassins that dared to step foot near Genji! In his state of rage he did not see his brother nor hear anything he said. It wasn't till hands were him, cradling his face so gently is when he snapped out of his rage induced state. Dark eyes met with dark eyes. Worry shining within the pair he stared in. His own hands shakily reached up and rested on top of Genji's, he can't stop himself from leaning into the touch. "I- I apologize Otōto. The meeting did not go well." His voice is soft, barely loud enough for Genji to hear. Hanzo wished to spill everything of what happened to the younger, but how was he suppose to? How were you suppose to tell someone you loved and cared for you were tasked to kill them?

[whatisonthemoon]

Testimony after 21-Day Prayer Vigil Participation in Korea

According to the FFWPU International HQ: “This personal story testifies to the spiritual power of the ongoing special prayer conditions being established by elders and other members in Korea.”

https://familyfedihq.org/2022/09/testimony-after-21-day-prayer-vigil-participation-in-korea/

By Marilyn Angelucci September 2022

In April after the CIG Leaders Meeting my husband stayed at HJ Cheon Won to participate in the Evening Prayer Vigil at Cheon Shim Won for 21 Days. I was happy and supported his decision. We needed this kind of investment to break through in the Middle East. After dedicating ourselves for eight years, we needed to make more progress and create substantial results.

When he returned after 21 Days, I was impressed with how he had changed. He was more loving and understanding and had a deeper heart towards me and the members. I could understand the value of the Vigil Prayer and was happy to join him every day when he participated online. We had a good experience sharing our desperate heart and even had a few experiences where the spirit world directly answered our prayers.

In August we were invited to the 10th Anniversary of True Father’s Ascension, so we were going to Korea. My husband asked me if I wanted to stay with him for 21 Days to join the Prayer Vigil after our program and I was happy to participate. I was a little worried that it would be too difficult physically and that I wouldn’t be able to continue for so long, but I wanted to join with him, so I agreed.

I was so surprised at how much grace I received from Heaven after attending over even a few days. Because we had wonderful interpretation into English, I could understand all the testimonies and then felt very inspired to join the one-hour prayer. It was amazing to hear the desperate prayers of our elders. They have been praying every night for over 580 days with their whole heart and soul. I gained so respect for them. Also, to witness the deep unity between Dr. Lee in Korea, Mr. Tokuno in Japan and Dr. Kim in the USA moved my heart. Over the years it was not so often that we saw such unity, and this gave me hope and inspiration that the spiritual would trust us and move even more. I sincerely felt the gates of heaven were opening and that miracles are happening.

Sometimes the shouting bothered me, but I realized that when I joined in my heart could open. After supporting the strong, loud prayers of my elders, my heart felt moved and I could pray very deeply, silently but sincerely. I experienced how this method of strong, desperate prayer helped me to break through something and I could open my heart. Then I could feel True Mother’s heart and all she has suffered because of her determination to save us and all her children. I could feel her love and desperation and amazing devotion over all the years and that now is the time of great hope. Tremendous joy filled my heart even now remembering those experiences. I know deeply that we are in a new age.

I had many experiences of feeling God’s grace, but I just want to share two. I have suffered with congested sinuses since the end of last year and couldn’t find any relieve. At night I couldn’t sleep and often woke up because I couldn’t breathe. I wrote a Hyo Jeong Offering Paper and prayed strongly to Hyo Jin Nim to help me with this. Immediately after this the spirit world started to work to help me. The counseling team asked me if I needed any support and made an appointment for ansu for me. Quickly I could feel some relief and they continued to support me, individually in their center, at the changyang [singing] session and also during the Prayer Vigil. I am so grateful for their total dedication to help all of us unconditionally. Mr. Kim explained that my problem came from my lungs actually and that is where I should focus.

One day we had the opportunity to go to the Small Prayer Hall of Dae Mo Nim to pray. As soon as I sat in front of Heung Jin Nim’s picture I could feel something heavy in my chest like a spirit blocking by breathing. I remembered times before at HJ Cheon Won when this happened before also. I prayed desperately to release this spirit and with the help of HJN I believe it was released. Since then, my sinuses and breathing has improved and clears up more each day.

Also, my knees and legs have always been a problem since the 1990s and finally I could get the full treatment of ansu on both of them. I can feel that the energy and blood is flowing well again and as they recover from the treatment, I feel more power. I am so grateful for the support and dedication of the Counseling Team especially Mrs. Kim and Mr. Kim.

I feel strongly that whoever comes here with a desire to find answers or to solve personal issues, the solutions will come. Truly the gates of heaven are opened, and Heaven hears our prayer through the grace of Cheon Shim Won. With that help of the spiritual world, especially with our True Father there, we have the possibility of creating miracles. We need to trust, pray desperately and move and then Heaven will be with us and we will make miracles.

Thank you, Dr. Lee for being so faithful and sacrificing everything to keep this prayer going and giving us the chance to change ourselves and find the answers to our prayers.

I have come here many times over the years and have seen positive results. But now it is different. In the past it took at least 40 days or more to find one answer to cure one problem. Now in one ansu session, or more for a severe case, we can see results. I am watching many brothers and sisters here that are solving major issues in just a few days’ time.

As an elder member, sometimes I wonder, will I ever really bring substantial results for the providence? We have invested in many countries and many missions but what really have we left behind?  Now I have confidence that through the prayers at Cheon Shim Won we can find the right people, the resources we need and finally create the miracles Heavenly Parent and True Parents are waiting for.

[taupewolfy]

AAAAH NIER REMASTER!!!! NIER REMASTER!!!!!

[yellowmagicalgirl]

A fluffy #72, Jim and Claire

72. “You’re the love of my life.”

You: fluffy

My first instinct: Clairegana killing Jim as he begs for the love of his life to snap out of it? 😈

Don't worry, I did not go with my first instinct for this fic. Or my second instinct, which was hurt-heavy emotional hurt/comfort.

Please pretend the ending of Wizards and all of Rise of the Titans never happened in this universe.

~

Claire had been expecting to be the one to propose. After all, she had been the one to ask Jim to the Spring Fling. She had been the first one to officially say they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She had been the one to ask Jim on their first official date, as much as she wished she could forget that night. And sure, Jim had initiated their first kiss, but only because she had run up to him.

So when Jim packed a picnic for the two of them, Claire hadn't expected anything big. Sure, they'd gone to the cliff where they'd had their first dance and Claire had asked Jim to the school dance. Jim was just being spontaneous and romantic. And sure, he'd gotten kind of dressed up, with fancy ribbons woven around his horns. Claire didn't mind this; there was something very hot about her half-troll boyfriend dressing formally. And yeah, he'd gotten her flowers and had beamed at her when she'd taken one of them and placed it in the ribbon among his horns, but he'd changed after becoming a half-troll. Physical touch had become a far more important love language to him than it had been before, even though acts of service was still his main love language. Maybe it was because he'd expected to be rejected for his new appearance, or maybe it was the human part of him craving touch he couldn't feel as well through stony skin.

The point was, they were having a picnic. It was no big deal. Any of the fancy date foods were Jim showing off, both the fact that he could make food palatable to both humans and trolls and how much his cooking skills had improved even since 10th grade.

And then, they'd walked closer to the edge of the cliff, holding hands, to better see the stars.

"I'm glad we got that rain on Monday," Claire said. "The sky's still clear, and the stars are really beautiful tonight."

"You know who else is beautiful tonight?" Jim asked.

Claire would have made a joke. Maybe she would've mentioned Toby and his rock collection. Maybe she would've said definitely not NotEnrique. But she felt Jim tug her arm downward a little, and she turned, and whatever joke she was going to say left her mind when she saw her boyfriend on one knee with a ring.

In hindsight, she was pretty sure ribbons and flowers were used in trollish proposals.

"You, but then again," Jim said, "you've always been beautiful, ever since the day we met. It wasn't your beauty that drew me to you, though; it was how you weren't afraid to be yourself. It was your confidence. And then I got to know you, and I learned how strong, brave, talented, creative, and caring you are. At most, a week could go by before I could find another reason to love you, and more often it was a day or even an hour between reasons. Claire, you're the love of my life. Will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

And then, a few minutes later when she was no longer overwhelmed with happy tears and the desire to kiss her boyfriend - no, her fiancé - she said, "For the record, I had plans to propose on the anniversary of the play, three months from now."

Angst/Fluff Prompt List

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

This Is Still Marvel, Right?

Summary- 2.5k Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes x Wade Wilson x You. Deadpool the character from the comics is sitting across from the table from you, real right in front of your eyes. Not only is time travel a thing, but dimension travel is as well, and he is here for a very serious reason. Warnings- swears. Written for @what-is-your-backupplan-today​ CATFA 10th Anniversary Challenge. Prompts are highlighted. 

Masterlist

“You came from where?” Sam questioned with a tilt of his head, arms folded across his chest as he raised a quizzical brow at the man in all red. 

“And why the clown suit?” Bucky right next to him asked, trying to make sense of what was going on. 

“I’m from the X-Men verse, you know… bald dude in the wheelchair, Wolvie with butter knife hands, we have our own pigeon boy. Not as sweet as your wings though.” Wade said with a sigh. “And we had a Peter, but the winds… god the winds were too strong. I will never forget you Sugar Bear.” He sobbed in his hand a moment, sniffling a moment. 

You were thoroughly in shock, your jaw was dropped to the floor as Wade mother fucking Wilson sat in the interrogation chair, one leg crossed over the other, his ankle jiggling as he leaned forward on his elbows, planting his chin in his palms as he made an cooing sound at the two men. “Aww, they are so cute when they are confused, aren't they cute? The cutest little puppies.” He went to boop Bucky's nose, but Bucky reared his head back away from his hand and a whir of his hand closed around Wade's wrist, which caused the masked mercenary to gasp out excitedly. 

“THE WINTER SOLDIER ARM, VIBRANIUM UPGRADE. I keep telling Cable he needs this hook up, his isn't nearly as cool as yours. Mister Bucky Barnes Sir, can you sign my suit? I’m a super fan.” the white eyes of his mask widened and you finally managed to close your mouth watching all this.

Whatever this was, you were actually wondering if you weren't in some drugged hallucination right now. Mission gone wrong? You had eaten that turkey sandwich out of the compound fridge, maybe it was drugged and this was someone's payback for stealing their food.

“Come on man.” Sam snapped out, still trying to get a straight answer out of him. Bucky let go of his hand which Wade muttered to himself. 

“I'm never washing this hand, not ever.” He cradled it to his chest. “Just wait till I tell Chrome Dome who shook my hand.” 

“ANSWERS!” Bucky yelled out and Wade gasped at the outburst. Bucky reached over to grasp the mask and yanked it off, grimacing as Wade's appearance showed. Both Sam and Bucky recovered quite quickly, you were still freaking out in the corner and Wade gave a suggestive wink to the two of them. 

“Names Wilson, Wade Wilson. No relation to this saucy stud though.” He eyed Sam up and down with a purr, who scoffed at the sudden attention. “Don't worry, I know that one is crushing on you hard. The chemistry. I won't make a move on you. Winter Soldier though is fair game, eh?” He made a chef’s kiss motion after pointing at you. “So are you two… do you… fondue?” Wade asked, Sam and You looked at each other and made disbelieving faces at one another. “Oh we're not admitting feelings? My bad. I jumped ahead in the comics. So much sexual tension.” Making a donut shape with one hand and a pointer with the other, meshing them together, you could feel your throat close up and Sam’s eyes widen. Bucky was struggling to keep his calm at this point, Sam too. Wade made a motion to stand and get up. 

“Do we have any eats here?” He puts his hand on the handle to open the door and a knife flung through the air, landing right next to his face. Wade paused and turned around. “Here I thought this was still Marvel and not Dc. Tony would have offered me a snack by now.” He grumbled while sitting back down. “A falafel, blueberries, I know he likes to snack, I've seen the movies.” 

You finally got over your shock and went to sit across from him. “Mr.Wilson…” 

He put up a hand. “Pool please, Deadpool. Or Wade. Or you can call me Captain Deadpool. Too much?” He glanced up at Sam and Bucky. “Yea too much, just call me Wade.” 

“Wade.” you started again, trying to figure out how to approach this. “We’re confused, because you are a comic book character.” You pulled up your phone and pulled up a screen clip of his movie. 

Wade gasped and grabbed at your phone, studying it. “Look at that handsome son of a bitch. I'm so glad they picked Ryan Reynolds for the part, he looks just like me.” He held the phone up next to his face. “He’s so good looking, it's the Canadian genes.” Then handed it back, you tucked it away and he leaned forward to toss what looked like a beat up comic book on the table.

“What’s this?” You question, pointing at it.

“A comic book. You guys are just comic book characters and I'm here to fix your story. What? You seriously didn't know you are comic book characters in another universe?” 

“Our story?” You pulled the comic towards you and sure enough plastered on the front was Sam in his Falcon Suit, Bucky with his own gear and you were soaring in the air above slightly out of focus. 

“Yes, your story. Listen Cable, you all know Cable right? He's like a moodier you Buckaroo…” The name caused Bucky to growl a bit, but Wade continued without noticing. “... hooked me up with this cool device. Not like those stones you all have, this is some actual batman kind of future fuckery that I got rigged to not just travel back in time. But other dimensions. Whoo... “ He made wiggly fingers. “It's like magic right? Cool.” 

You were flipping through the pages as fast as possible, skimming the storyline. Amazingly all of it was there, the mission report Nick Fury brought Sam this morning, you and Bucky sparring and how he pinned you against the mat, the heart to heart about how you two missed Steve. 

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose while Bucky looked over your shoulder at the comic book. “I'm getting a headache, or I'm losing it. Did I get hit in the head?” Sam rambled a bit and you got to the end of the comic, seeing that the mission Fury had given you three was completed, successfully. 

“Says there we did just fine.” Bucky said and you closed it before pushing it towards the center of the table. 

“It's not all just fine.” Wade threw up his hands in exasperation and you shook your head so confused. 

“Explain it to us Wade.” You grasped the comic again, flipping through it, scanning the pages as quick as you can. 

“Go to page 53.” He tapped his finger against the steel table and you did, the panel showing you and Sam standing on a roof top about to enter a building from above and Bucky was shown in another panel scaling a building. 

“I don't see it…” you shook your head confused as to what he was talking about and Wade pointed at the bottom, that was just barely in view. A hot dog cart. 

“You are here, from another dimension of life… because of a hot dog cart?” 

Wade nodded firmly. “If we don't protect that hot dog cart, bad things will happen.” His voice lowered, turning shifty. “Spooky stuff… anal stuff.” He shuddered and sat back, staring at the hot dog cart in the bottom of the picture. “If we don't protect that hot dog cart, it causes issues you couldn't even fathom. Another life just poof… what did y’all call it? Spanked out of existence?”

You just automatically corrected him. “Snapped.”

“Spanked sounds better, maybe consider changing it to spanked?” 

Sam cleared his throat. “You traveled through dimensions to get here so we could save a hot dog cart? I'm just- trying to keep it all straight. This isn't entirely the weirdest thing I have heard, but it's close.” 

Bucky scoffed. “I say this guy needs some help, maybe his brain got scrambled like mine.” 

“Nah, I didn't get the mind trip you did. I was tortured by a guy named Francis.” Wade snorted gleefully. “Called himself Ajax, like the dish soap!” Slapping his knee, he busted out laughing heavily, starting to cry. 

You rubbed at your face and looked over your shoulder. “I think we should trust him guys. What if what he says is true? We’ve dealt with crazy shit before.” 

“You can't be serious Y/N.” Bucky shook his head and Sam looked doubtful. Wade giggled as he wiped a tear from his eye, pointing a finger at you. 

“I like you, you're the smart one here I can tell.” 

You all turned to Sam who hadn't said anything yet. He sighed and rubbed at his face a bit, before finally saying under his breath. “I'm never going to hear the end of this… Lets take him.” 

Wade did a fist pump in victory, leaping up to grab his mask back from Bucky. “X-Force Ass-” You were quick to cover his mouth, leaving the “-emble” garbled. 

“He's going to get us killed, Wilson.” 

“I said to call me Deadpool or Captain Deadpool.” 

“I WAS TALKING TO HIM!” Bucky jerked his thumb at Sam, gritting his teeth while he yanked open the door and left the room. Deadpool followed after him, the next thing you heard was Bucky hollar. “I'm going to kick your ass Prick.” 

“Will you? You're making me all excited. Like a fairy making a little girl's wishes come true, I feel like I could fly.” 

Then you and Sam heard something loud crack and Wade’s cooing grew fainter. “Nice boots, Tinkerbell!” 

You snatched the comic book and stuffed it in your back pocket. “Uh we probably better go stop Bucky. It's pointless for him to try to kill Wade and will just tire himself out.” 

Sam opened the door, holding it open for you. “Should we really take that away from him?” 

“True and it sounds like Wade is having himself a fan moment anyways and doesn't care.” You stepped out to see Bucky and Wade tangled together wrestling.

Just as the comic stated, You and Sam were able to go in from the top. You could see Bucky below you using rigging to scale the building. Down further below you could see a red dot pushing a hot dog cart down the street well out of harm. Speaking into the comm’s, your wings folded to pull you into a spiral, spinning towards the roof. “Wade’s got the cart moved, and were clear to enter.” 

There was a grunt in the comms and Bucky's voice crackled through. “Well damn, I'm glad the hot dog cart is safe… for reasons spanning an entire dimension that we still don't know.” 

“Who are we to question it, Bucky? I mean, we’ve seen some pretty strange shit.” You stated as Sam landed next to you, shooting at the door and ducking inside together. “Maybe this is just another one to add to the pile.” 

Silence descended on the group as you each made to fulfill the mission. Once the building was clear and the three of you were working on exiting, Wade was waiting on the roof, sitting on the edge eating a hot dog and had three more lined up next to him. “I brought you all lunch, you guys do that sort of thing right? Good Mission? yes I bet. Buckaroo has the happy murder gleam in his eyes.” He took another bite of his hot dog and chewed while studying Bucky closely. 

“Don't do that.” Bucky shuddered a bit and Wade proceeded to pop the last bite into his mouth and chewed slowly while rolling the bottom half of his mask down. 

“Do what Buckaroo?” 

“Stare at me or call me Buckaroo.” 

“While eating a hot dog? Only way to properly eat one. I know you love it James. Well my mission here is done.” He pushed off the ledge to give you a hug and handed you a manilla envelope. “This is for you, it explains everything. Toodleloo Kiddies, it was fun knowing you. Oh and if you see Hugh Jackman on the street, tell him his coffee sucks and bitch slap the prick.” He jumped back on the ledge and looked over the edge. “Oh this is gonna kill my knees but this is a true superhero moment. Wait for it…” He gave you all a salute and stepped over, plummeting down. Sam and Bucky rushed the edge, looking over. 

You knew better, a superhero landing wouldn't kill him. 

“NAILED IT!” you three barely heard, then in a flash of sparks, Deadpool was gone. 

“I thought for sure he was going to pancake down there.” Bucky said with a hint of sadness and Sam shook his head. 

“We gotta get out of here before we're caught and get this back to Fury.” Sam held up a chip that held the actual intel of the mission. 

You silently agreed and together the three of you made your way off the building and back home. 

Afterwards once you were back in the tower and changing out of your suit, you glanced at the manilla envelope Wade left you. 

Sitting down on the bench, you opened it and peeked in. What looked like another comic book was in there as well as a letter. Pulling out the letter, you scanned it. 

~To the Super Duper Trio, 

Thank you for believing me. It was crucial. We're not the only comic book verse out there living our lives. Sometimes they cross intersect in ways that I can't explain, go find the wizard, he can tell you more about it. Also ask him to your next party, because he can do the COOLEST TRICKS. But if you take out the comic book enclosed you will see on page 23 there is a hot dog cart as well as a familiar looking dork named Jake Jensen. Alias- Capt Jensen. 

Perhaps your Captain is alive in some way, the DC universe having changed him to a loveable, cat hating, Petunias loving, super smart idiot.

Tell Birdman thanks for the vote of confidence, caw caw mother fucker.

Tell Buckaroo he forgot to sign my suit, I will be back. He is my favorite after all. 

And what I wanna tell you is take care of those idiots so they dont kill each other. 

With Love, 

Captain Deadpool

Ps- Yes Cap’s as awkward with women in DC as he was in Marvel. 

Pss- Welcome to X-Force! I will be in touch. 

You pulled out the comic book and glanced at the cover seeing six people staring down, the title of the comic- The Losers. Flipping to the page, you found a photograph tucked in between the pages, showing another version of the page. One where the street looked demolished and a man lying crumbled by a cart. Also a familiar hot dog cart leaned on its side, demolished. 

Setting the picture aside, now you glanced over this panel to see the same man making a show of pulling out a crossbow, the bubble above his head with the words “That’s right, bitches, I got a crossbow!” 

The scene didn't really surprise you that much, more like the character now alive in the comic looked just like Steve. 

A thinner version, he had facial hair, and the entire get up was never anything Steve would have willingly worn. 

But it looked just like Steve Rogers and for the second time that day your jaw dropped. 

Maybe Wade Wilson was right, after all… 

Nothing was off limits and stranger things have happened.

[melodyalanaroster]

Dear @chinomiko,

When I first started playing My Candy Love on New Year’s Day in 2013, I was simply a 17 year old girl who was starting the second half of my Senior Year in High School. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I certainly had no idea where I’d end up. At the time, I was just looking for a new anime style site to call my internet home after the destruction of TinierMe. In my search, I stumbled upon your site. I had never played a dating simulator before, and I fell for your art style, so I decided to give the site a shot. It didn’t take me long to bond with Nathaniel... He was a kind young man, who loved to read, and had a tortured home life... Even though the torture at home was different between him and me, I still felt like I had found a character I could recognize... Hell, I did the same thing with Ken... My bond with Nathaniel was just so much deeper... 

Then I graduated High School... I had no college prospects, and no idea what I even wanted to go to college for (still entirely don’t know).... My issues at home were getting worse, my love life was far from perfect, and living in Texas can be kind of ruthless on those who aren’t following the status quo... Even with going to the United Kingdom for 5 weeks, things still didn’t get better... And of course, the death of my childhood cat, Luna, in 2014 made things worse... So, I started focusing my free time on the game.... Working like crazy to get up to date with the episodes and bonus episodes, editing pics, and even writing fanfics... It became my escape from real life.

That did not change when I met the love of my real life in 2015. Despite entering into a relationship that is still going strong, I needed an escape from the hell my abuser was putting my family and me through, from the shitty job that I had gotten (and still have as of this letter), and from the hell that a really rare disease that had kicked on in my mother’s immune system had begun to put her and my family through. No amount of talking to people in my inner circle in real life helped... And there were times where it felt like the only emotions I knew were anger, sadness, and fear... It was during this time that my main MCL OC, Melody Alana Roster, came to life as what she is today... A strong, smart, beautiful, powerful, woman who goes through some of the worst hell imaginable and ends up living a life of peace with the man she loves (Nathaniel).... When my abuser’s time in my family’s and my life was ending and she was going “all out” on me? I thought of what Alana and Nathaniel would be doing during the newest episode of the game. My job putting me through mental and physical hell (it’s a very demanding job)? I daydreamed about Nathaniel and Alana. My mother’s disease progressing and making my mother put my grandmother and me through hell? I would go in my room and write a section of my story or edit a pic when I could. Hell, My Candy Love became so prominent in my life as an escape that when my abuser’s daughter came back at me (this time with my boyfriend’s ex friend), one of the things she’d say to me was “All you do is sit in your room and write fanfiction.”... I needed something and My Candy Love and it’s fandom was something I enjoyed that kept me in my room (where I felt safe)... To this day, my boyfriend understands why I’ve put so much time and effort into it... Why I’ve spent so much money on it (AP, Gold, commissioned pics, and items)... It was a light in what felt like a sea of darkness in my life...

Now, I’m going to clarify something here... What is written in the last paragraph took place over the course of 5 years... Of course, when I get to the point of 2020, its easy to guess some of the reasons why I continued to focus on My Candy Love... However, I have an added reason.... Not only did the pandemic bitch slap Texas mid March, but about a week before that happened, on March 10th, my mother succumbed to the secondary infection brought on by her disease... And I had to grieve... Of course, when the pandemic hit about week later, I was told by society that I didn’t have time to grieve... As I am a grocery store worker... Which, I still tried to use My Candy Love as a means of escape... It felt like life was going “Yeah, you’re free from your mom’s disease, now here’s one that YOU could bring home to your grandparents and kill them with simply by going to work!”... Because, I’m sure even you know how poorly America has handled the pandemic... And Texas is one of the worst states when it comes to that...

I’m not saying this to make you feel sorry for me... Not in the slightest... I’ve leaned on my family, friends, and boyfriend for everything, so it’s not JUST My Candy Love that got me through all of this... I’m telling you this because My Candy Love and what I’ve done for it has helped me with it all immensely. I thought I had lost my passion for writing while I was still in school, even though my favorite teacher was encouraging me to continue... And here I am still writing my MCL fanfiction... Not only am I still writing my fanfic, I’m getting it turned into 1 copy of an actual book for my shelf when I’m done... When I took photography in High School and wasn’t good at photoshop, I thought it would never be a skill I’d use... And, yet, over the course of my time with MCL, my photo editing skills have improved DRASTICALLY... Sure, I can’t really edit real life photos... But I can make stuff for MCL avatars and such...

I mean, if someone had told me 8 years ago that I’d be so invested in this game that I’d have a body pillow of my favorite love interest, a folder of commissioned art, a blog with over 1,300 followers, an Instagram with nearly 300 followers, a custom plushie of my favorite love interest, a Discord Server with around 200 people in it... That I’d be the Vice President/Club Photographer of the US version of a fan club... That I’d make friends throughout the world in the fandom... That my editing skills would become as good as they are now... That I’d be working on the biggest writing project I’ve EVER worked on... And that I’d cry at the last episode the same way I cried during the Season 8 finale of Scrubs, the series finale of iCarly, Matt Smith’s regeneration in Doctor Who and the ending of Deathly Hallows Part 2... I would have told them that they’re crazy....

Yet... Here I am... I’m turning 26 years old in July... And all of that has happened... In real life, I’m still dealing with the pandemic, I’ve celebrated my 5 year anniversary with my boyfriend, and I’m even preparing to move in with him... Yet, online, I’m still VERY invested in your game. I’m still a long way from finishing my OC’s story... I still want to edit pics for Nathaniel and Alana... And I’m going to be contemplating playing the new game for a while... I’ll still play events... As long as Nathaniel is around, I’ll be there to greet him with a smile... But I don’t know about your new project...

All that being said.... There’s one MAJOR thing I’d like to say to you, Chino....

THANK YOU!

Thank you for everything! For all your hard work in this story... It’s far from perfect, but I still enjoyed the majority of it... For creating Nathaniel, the holder of my 2D heart.... Seriously, thank you for creating him... I have anime crushes, but I don’t love them as deeply as I love Nath.... Thank you for your art! Its amazing! You’re in my top 3 favorite digital artists... The others being Drachea Rannak and Marco Albiero... Thank you for all the work you continue to put into the game that a lot of us have, kind of, grown up with.... I wasn’t really a kid when I started playing, but I do consider myself to have “grown up” with it... Thank you for all of the other love interests... For Castiel, Kentin, Armin, Lysander, Priya, Rayan and Hyun... They’re not the ones I love most, but they’re all interesting characters... Thank you for Candy... While she and Alana greatly differ from each other, Candy was the heroine in a story that gave birth to Alana... Candy is far from perfect, but I’m glad her story ended well.... Thank you for creating the game that brought this fandom into existence... While the fandom can be VERY toxic at times, there are a lot of amazing people in it... They have become some of my dearest friends...

While the entire My Candy Love team at Beemoov deserves my gratitude... I feel like you are the most deserving of it... Because, without you, My Candy Love would not exist.

I look forward to seeing My Candy Love’s future... Either from the sidelines, or from the middle of it... I will see it’s future...

Thank you ChiNoMiko.

All my love and respect,

Melody Alana Roster

[troquantary]

Didyme, Part 2: Something, Something, Plato's Allegory of the Cave

Continuing from here, and we’re doing sub-parts for this bit. I’m genuinely surprised I had this much to say. (And fun fact, I almost lost the entire goddamn post, but fortunately I was copy-pasting into Word just in case. Not today, Satan.)

2.1. What Canon Tells Us

Didyme’s murder by Aro (and with Caius’ apparent assistance, either during or afterwards), is only mentioned on the page in Life and Death, the 10th Anniversary gender-swapped version of Twilight. Edythe/Edward mentions it briefly when discussing the painting of the leaders Carine/Carlisle brought back from Volterra, but it’s just background information with little narrative weight. I bring it up just to highlight Caius’ involvement and knowledge -- I’ll get back to that.

Now, here’s the “canon” backstory we have to work with. Per the illustrated guide, Didyme was Aro’s younger sister, and he turned her at some point after meeting Marcus, Caius, and Athenadora. Interestingly, the Guide doesn’t say anything about Aro returning to Didyme out of brotherly love; apparently he just wanted to see if she would have a powerful gift like his, only to be underwhelmed (”disappointed,” according to his Guide entry) by her actual ability -- she made people happy just by being around them. Then she and Marcus fell in love, sharing “the strongest romantic bond of any of the Volturi” (from Marcus’ Guide entry), and this prompted a suddenly very single Aro to seek out his own mate, Sulpicia. The Guide says Didyme “distracted” Marcus from Aro’s goals, and that the pair eventually made plans to split off on their own, leading Aro to murder Didyme so he could hold onto Marcus and his valuable gift. Although nothing written so far suggests that Aro even liked his sister, the Guide does state that Aro “truly loved her” and that his grief upon killing Didyme was genuine.

Apparently Caius’ role in all is was something Meyer thought up later, because none of the leaders’ Guide entries mention him being in on it. (You can’t see me, but I’m staring pointedly at Part One.)

2.2. Fuck Canon, Actually

(This just seemed like the funniest place for a cut. Continued below~)

I’ll be honest with you, person who’s persistent/unfortunate enough to still be here: very little about this murder scenario makes sense to me. I’m going to start with the “disappointing” nature of Didyme’s gift and that it was supposedly much less useful to Aro than Marcus’, because that’s just...stupid, frankly, and there’s no way Aro would have missed the inherent utility of Didyme’s gift. I don’t even have to read into anything to get this idea -- the Guide itself shows us how useful it is! It says right there in Marcus’ entry that Aro went off to turn Didyme, and returned with his sister, “along with the first members of the guard -- vampires who were drawn to Didyme’s aura of happiness.” That is a direct quote.

Just -- I practically shrieked when I read that. You’re telling me that Didyme’s gift was the stated reason their coven got its first subordinates, and I’m supposed to believe that Aro thought that was disappointing? Fuck off! Fuck off!! Even if Didyme’s happiness aura isn’t as powerful as Corin’s opium haze, well, Aro doesn’t have Corin yet, does he? He has every reason in the world to want to keep Didyme around, drawing other vampires to his cause -- even if most of those vampires aren’t gifted or skilled enough to join the guard, it’s still good PR.

At this early stage in the Volturi’s rise to power, it isn’t a good time to lose Didyme -- or any of his inner coven, really. Yet Aro apparently considered her disposable enough that he killed her. I can’t square this with what we know about Aro: that he’s still coherent despite holding god-knows how many people’s lives in his head; that he’s very intelligent; that he’s cunning, charming, and persuasive. Aro, once he learned they were thinking about leaving, would have tried to talk to Didyme and Marcus and done everything in his power to convince them to stay just a bit longer, until the Volturi’s position was more secure. And maybe he did; the timeline of all this is hazy, but nothing in the Guide suggests that Aro jumped straight to duplicity and murder. Clearly, though, whatever negotiations or arguments he presented failed. So what does their desire to leave the Volturi at this critical stage say about Didyme, or Marcus for that matter?

2.3. What It Says About Didyme and Marcus (Mostly Headcanon)

Brace yourself, because we’re into full headcanon territory now. To follow me, please refer to @therealvinelle ‘s meta about the larger mission of the Volturi and why they’re necessary, because I’m starting from the perspective that the Volturi are ultimately a force working in vampires’ and humans’ favor. While Meyer and the Guide would have you believe that Aro’s just power-hungry, actually looking at the impact of the Volturi and the benefits of enforcing secrecy shows that his broader vision isn’t just world domination, but establishing a world in which vampires and humans can both thrive and endure. There’s no way the rest of the inner coven was unaware of this goal; we know Aro talks a lot, so he’s certainly talked his coven’s ears off about this.

Now, we know very little about Marcus and what he was like before he was all dead inside. Based on what would be a logical balance of personalities, with Aro as lead decision-maker and Caius as ruthless enforcer, it seems likely that Marcus was originally the voice of reason and/or mercy. I also think Marcus would have had a strong sense of duty. The Guide says that Aro was the first friend Marcus had as a vampire, and I believe that Marcus cared about him very much and was committed to the Volturi. I think he would have been genuinely conflicted about leaving, especially considering the stabler, safer world the Volturi have been striving to build, and which they haven’t yet secured. Again, it’s a very bad time for any of the leadership to split off -- but in the end, Marcus and Didyme are going to do it anyway.

What for, though? Why leave? @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin has an interesting take on that question here: that Didyme saw that she and Marcus would be locked into the Volturi life and a thankless existence for eternity and tried to opt out while she still could. I like it a lot, it’s a great post and that scenario makes sense, but the tone of it feels...too forgiving. Maybe that’s because I’m evil. But the way I see it, given the magnitude of the Volturi’s mission, and its (at best) very tenuous grip on power at the time Marcus and Didyme plan to leave (they haven’t even defeated the Romanians yet), jeopardizing the entire operation so that they can pursue their romance unburdened strikes me as...well, fundamentally selfish on some level, so much that I find myself side-eyeing Didyme and Marcus for it. Although to be clear, it’s not the desire to live their own lives apart from the Volturi that I find selfish, just the timing of their departure.

Honestly, I’d like not to vilify another female character if I don’t have to. Given everything I’ve just said, I see Didyme in much the same way as I see Bella: not a bad person, but someone with definite selfish tendencies. At best, she’s likely short-sighted or naive if she doesn’t see how leaving the Volturi at this stage is fucking them over in a big way. However, I hesitate to read into the happiness aura as a straightforward indication of Didyme’s fundamental goodness; I think she probably was kind, charming, and delightful to be around, hence the nature of her gift -- but that capacity for selfishness is still there. (I’m certain Meyer wants us to take her gift as proof of Didyme’s goodness, to reinforce how evil Aro is for killing her...but I think I’ve made my disdain for what Meyer wants me to think pretty clear.)

2.4. MURDER MOST FOUL

I am not saying it was justifiable or okay for Aro to murder his sister. I’m really not. It’s actually better, from a character standpoint, that it isn’t okay -- that Aro has to carry this with him for the rest of his life while Marcus sits in the throne next to him, reduced to a husk, so that in effect Aro has lost them both after all. It’s got that Greek tragedy element @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin​ mentioned in her post. (Even better from that standpoint, the Guide implies that Aro found Chelsea relatively soon after killing Didyme, which compounds the tragedy.) I mean, it’s terrible, and it hurts me because I love Aro, but it’s compelling stuff.

What I am saying is, I can see how their insistence on leaving might have deeply hurt and offended him. And that brings me to my issue with the calculated murder scenario the Guide gives us -- I still think Didyme’s gift is too valuable for Aro to throw away by killing her in cold...venom (or whatever), even as the price for keeping Marcus in the fold. Plus, there’s the fact that Aro does love Didyme, and I imagine her gift makes it very difficult for people to think of harming her...when they’re calm, anyway.

Yeah, the only way I can really see the murder happening is if Aro killed Didyme in the heat of an argument about her leaving, possibly even by accident -- except you can’t accidentally kill a vampire, can you? It’s a very deliberate process wherein you have to dismember them and burn every piece, which also means it probably takes long enough that any irrational, overwhelming rage would wear off before you were done. But now that you’ve started....

I mean, at that point it would certainly be awkward to put your half-rubble sister back together, and Aro would be in a whole other load of shit even if he did. It’s possible, given what we’re told, that Aro could have lashed out and yanked Didyme’s head off before snapping out of it, only to realize that his sole option now is to finish the job. If he doesn’t kill Didyme now, she and Marcus won’t just leave, they’ll be sworn enemies of Aro from then on. And thanks to Didyme’s gift being the draw for a lot of the guard, and the inherently bad look of a leader who would brutally attack his own sister, a chunk of the guard would probably leave with them, destroying Aro’s plans. No, the only way to salvage it is to follow through.

Then Aro has to call in Caius for help with the cover-up, because it wasn’t actually planned and it’s just pure luck that no one walked in on the murder as it was happening.

And maybe Aro learns a hard lesson about learning to let people walk away, leaving the possibility open that they could be drawn in again. Because if Aro had just waited, he would have found Chelsea, and with her gift he could have had Marcus and Didyme back again.

Assuming everything didn’t fall apart as soon as they left, of course. But that’s a whole other what-if scenario.

[myselftalkingtomyself]

Happy 10th Anniversary, love.

this gif is not mine, all the credits to the owner.

Tommy Shelby x F!reader

summary: The war against the Italians makes your anniversary plans cancelled, but Tommy Shelby surprises you to repair it.

warning: fluffy as hell bc romantic tommy lives in mine mind for free, mention of smut

w/c:1122

A/N: i got inspired by that dinner between tommy and jessie eden in s4. i wasn’t sure about this since the thing with luca started bc of grace and here she doesn’t exist, but here it’s and now i want to make an HC about tommy’s romantic side. english is not my native language, sorry for any mistakes.

The smell of fresh flowers was the first thing that hit your senses by waking up in the morning light. As you opened your eyes, you saw a bouquet of flowers and a small black box under neath an envelope with your name written on the pillow next to yours. You felt a shy smile form on your face as you smelled the flowers and opened the note.

"I left to settle some business and come back early. Charlie picks you up at 8:00 to meet me in his yard. Happy anniversary, love.

Tommy."

Before all the trouble with Luca Changretta starts and forces you and the Shelby family to go back to Small Heath, you were excited to celebrate your 10th anniversary with Tommy. You had already talked and planned with Tommy a trip, like a second honeymoon, but after the letter with the black hand and John's death you didn't mention anything else about it and decided to resume the plans when it was all over. And with all the tension hanging in the air you thought Tommy had forgotten the date.

You supported the flowers and the note back on Tommy's pillow and turned your attention to the velvet box. Inside was the most beautiful and delicate piece of jewellery you've ever seen. It was a silver necklace with a crescent moon shaped pendant encrusted with diamonds. It was simple compared to other jewellery Tommy presented you with, but you had a suspicion of why. One night, you commented on the sunrise tattoo he had on his chest and how you wanted something with a moon to match his sun. Even get a moon tattoo on you. He just laughed.

You got up and tried the necklace in the only mirror nearby. The sunlight hit the moon that rested on your chest and made reflections through the walls of the room. Luckily, you had brought your favourite blue dress that would match your new gift to wear that night. You didn't take off the necklace at any point in the day, eagerly awaiting nightfall.

-

Charlie arrived on time at 8:00 to pick you up. He offered his arm to accompany you and you accepted him with a smile. "So, what's he up to?"

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise." Charlie responds with a little smile.

He accompanied you to one of the sheds that had the doors closed, the only one that had a yellow light coming out through the entrance cracks. Charlie opened the door and gave you a way into a setting you never thought of seeing in Charlie Strong's yard. Tommy was sitting at a perfectly well-organized dining table, surrounded by several candles and flowers scattered throughout the shed. You walked towards the chair intended for you and noticed the presence of Curly, who pulled chair for you.

"Good evening, Mrs. Shelby" Tommy said before he smoak his cigarette. Tommy loved to call you Mrs. Shelby, probably only you noticed the pride and love that melted in his mouth by saying those words. His eyes leave yours to look at the necklace on your chest and with a small provocative smile, he turns his attention to you once again. "Beautiful. Your necklace is very beautiful too.”

"Thank you, did you like it? My husband gave it to me, he has great taste." Curly spent a few seconds fixing the gramophone while you and Tommy couldn't take their eyes off each other, drinking each other. You didn't used to show affection in front of other people, but you were so absorbed in excitement and impressed by the impromptu surprise dinner that you couldn't help but fall in love once again with Tommy Shelby's romantic side.

"Come on Curly, they want to be alone" You felt your face burn and stared at your hands. Charlie pulled Curly, walking to the exit. You turned to both of them and thanked, still a little embarrassed.

"I thought you forgot." You turned your focus to the other side of the table to find Tommy's face. "I would never forget. I just changed my plans at the last minute. We can't leave Small Heath for safety." You nodded in agreement. It wasn't worth lowering your guard for one night and risking your lives at Luca's mercy, even if you've been waiting for this day for so long.

"Hey" He reached out to touch your hand above the table. "We can travel next year. We have a lifetime of anniversaries to do that." With the war with the Italians going on you weren't so sure of it, but it was better not to mention the fact that night. That night wasn't about mob wars, it was about you two. A night to left the shadow of fear and death that hung over you in the last few weeks aside.

You have recalled some important moments in your relationship over the years; the first date, the first kiss, and obviously your wedding day. Both nervous in case something bad happened, but eager to call each other husband and wife. After finishing the meal, Tommy put on your favourite album to play in the gramophone. He stopped in front of you and reached his hand out in a silent invitation to a dance. Tommy stroked one of yours hands as you brushed your fingertips on the back of his head with the other, the rhythm of your bodies was slow.

"I planned tonight in a different way."  Tommy said when he touched your forehead with his.

"Yeah? How?"

"Spending the night at London's best restaurant with a bottle of champagne to celebrate how lucky I am to have you by my side for so long.” He pushed his face away to approach his lips of your ear.

"Then we'd go to a nice hotel room and dance a little until I lay on the bed and finally do what I've been waiting all day to do."  Tommy whispered, causing chills down your skin.

"You can still do that." You whispered back. "Here, London or anywhere else, just need to be the two of us, uh?"

He responded with one of the passionate kisses that, of the few loves you had in life, only Tommy was able to give and make your legs falter. The feeling of innocent affection has lost place to desire. His hands, going up and down your body were keys that opened so many doors to sensations that you never thought possible to feel.

"Happy 10th anniversary, Mrs. Shelby." Tommy smiled as he pulled your waist and took you two into the night, back to the little room that has become a refuge for you in recent weeks.

"Happy 10th anniversary, Mr. Shelby."

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session

The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.

(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)

1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come

2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants

3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)

4. Rin's tail is about a meter long

5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them

6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings

7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.

8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc

9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.

10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid

11. She likes industrial style interior designs

12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol

13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)

4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol

15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail

16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house

17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.

18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan

19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs

20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol 

21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation

22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute

23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first

24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time

25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen

26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something

27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)

28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.

29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)

30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join

31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it

32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise

33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special

34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends

35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it

36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That

37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou

38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often

39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language

40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end

41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)

42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??

43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids

44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink

45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay

46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN

47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc

48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down

49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]

50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans

51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc

52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)

53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism

54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto

55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like

56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!

57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram

58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!

59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it

60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him

61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject

62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???

63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)

64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!

66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past

67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu

68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background

69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)

70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over

71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way

72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there

73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS

74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet

75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such

76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending

77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively

78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol

79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently

80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved

81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?

82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together

83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication

84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)

85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR

86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there

87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style

88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy

89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved

90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!

91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved

92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means

93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY

94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene

95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable

96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities.  Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol

97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character

98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever

99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters

100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #22: Fluster

Fluster – make someone agitated or confused.

Aetherytes were constantly busy. You learned pretty quick to move away from one as soon as you manifested next to one, lest someone suddenly appear next to you and knock you both down.

Old Man Franks, tired as he was, almost forgot this, and only barely missed being clipped by an arriving Roegadyn armed with an enormous spear on his back.

He quickly moved out of the plaza and cast a quick glance about, and then raised his hand to his ear, activating his linkpearl

Rheika’s voice answered him. “Heya Franks. You get to the Toll already?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I take it you’re not?”

“Not yet. Fearless isn’t answering her ‘pearl, so Dahk and I went to her place. Ranaa said she and Makoto went to the Sekiseigumi HQ, so we’re headed there. Turns out she left it at home. Again. Anyway, go on in and figure out what’s going on, we’ll be there as soon as we find her. “

“Copy that. Hopefully whatever this is can be resolved fast. I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Did you stay up all night working on cross-world portals again?”

“I admit nothing, see you soon.” He disconnected the link before she could chastise him further and headed into the Seventh Heaven bar. A few of the regular patrons tossed greetings his way, which he returned as best he could in his sleep-deprived state,

The bouncer who guarded the door to the Rising Stones nodded at him and stepped aside. Franks strode in, turning to shut the door behind him quietly. Darn thing tended to slam, he’d been meaning to install something to slow it down. Maybe after some rest today.

“All right, Tataru, what is this emergency…about…” Midway through his sentence, he’d turned to face the room. Sitting at one of the table were Tataru, Y’shtola, and someone who shouldn’t be there. Someone who couldn’t possibly be there. Because she was dead.

Standing up at the table, hand over her mouth and tears streaming from beautiful sea-green eyes that he hadn’t witnessed in years, was a viera woman that happened to be the spitting living image of the woman he’d married so long ago.

She dropped her hand, looking for all the world as happy as the day they’d wed. “Hello, my love.”

Twelve forfend, it sounded like her too. “What the hells is this? No…you’re dead, this is some kind of trick!” He pointed a shaking finger. “You’re a godsdamned Ascian, you HAVE to be! How the hells did you make someone look like her??”

She ran to him. “Darling, no, it’s me, I swear it!” She moved in close, trying to embrace him, but he backed away, shock and anger on his face.

“Fandaniel, that you? Because you just crossed a fucking line, you piece of filth, and I’m going to make you regret it!”

The woman looks over to Y’shtola, panicking. “He…what’s happening, who does he think I am?”

Y’shtola has already moved next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding the other with her hand. “Aleister, I swear to you on my life, this is not a trick. Do you remember how Rheika unmasked Elidibus, by tricking him about the Amaro? It proved that an Ascian can’t access memories of their hosts, do you recall that?”

He had stopped backing away, but his eyes didn’t waver from the woman who looked like his wife. He nodded.

Y’shtola looked to her. “Tell him something that only you would know. Something you’d never reveal under even the gravest duress.”

Her eyes danced back and forth, considering, thinking. Finally, they widened and she smiled again. Closer and closer, she approached him, but now he didn’t move. Could….could it be?

She whispered in his ear and he cried out in joy. His world faded, and there was nothing more than the woman in front of him. He pulled her in, crushing against her. Her arms wrapped around his back and pulled in just as strong. So many sensations, so many memories flooded him, and he took all of them in. The scent of her, the feel of her living body preseed to him, the sound of her voice as she whispers her love between sobs. He could not reply, too overwhelmed to cry and breathe.

Tataru moved next to Y’shtola, unable to take her eyes off of the embracing pair. “It…it really is her.”

Y’shtola nods.

“But…how?”

“I think that story is best told to us from them. Once everyone has joined us. I think our resident Old Man may finally be ready to open up, since the loss that caused him so much pain is no longer lost at all.”

Finally, Franks was able to catch his breath and he pulled back to look at her. He kept her close, arms wrapped around her waist, as though he feared she might vanish into mist if he let go. For her part, she likewise kept her arms solidly behind his neck. “Gwen….I…I don’t understand. They…multiple people told me they saw you get taken by Sylvanas’ death squads. We…” He hiccuped. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he kept going. “We scattered when we heard you got taken…that’s, that’s how I ended up here.”

She smiled. “They were right. I was put in with dozens of others, taken to a camp somewhere in Hillsbrad, couldn’t tell you where exactly. We were lined up. Living prisoners had their names taken, checked off a list, then executed right then and there. Some were….were fed to the soldiers. Others to plaguehounds. But for whatever reason, they didn’t kill the Forsaken. Maybe she had sentimentality about us, or maybe she planned to do it later, but we were just shoved into a makeshift prison and left there. We got food occasionally, but no interaction otherwise. Just neverending boredom. Zenjulin and Beskar finally found the place and killed off the few remaining loyalists that still manned it, freeing us.”

She shuddered. “By that point, the Banshee had fucked off to…wherever it was she went. I don’t know. Zenjulin explained it, but I wasn’t listening very well. Or he was missing details, I don’t know. Anyway, he said that our allies were being brought back together to stop her and whatever else she’d brought with her, but that you were still missing. I told them I refused to do anything until I found you. They understood, and I started tracking your movement. Which was hard, because you’d concealed them well, but eventually I made it to Stranglethorn and discovered the cave, the one Y’shtola tells me you came to that same one and it brought you here.”

Franks looked over to Y’shtola, who smiled. “I went there to take some readings, and found her emerging out of the cave. Once I realized who she was, I brought her straight here and had Tataru contact you.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “There is nothing to thank.”

Franks looked back to Gwen. “I… gods, Gwen, you look like the day I asked you to marry me. Even despite all the years, both living and dead, I recognized you right away. I…I actually hallucinated last night…I saw you. Worked for too long without sleeping again. You looked…almost exactly as you do now.” He chuckles. “You uh…you didn’t have these, though”.

He reached up to stroke the fur of her ears. She made a very happy noise at the touch. “Okay, those are definitely a little sensitive, good to know.” She cuddled up against his shoulder, enjoying the sensation.

Eventually he stopped and pulled back again, looking her over. Everything was the same, her long graying hair, two green eyes, one slightly darker than the other, on a heart-shaped face. Everything save the ears. He vaguely recalled the shape of her human ears, but they were no longer there.

She giggled. “I…I don’t know what changed me or why it gave me my youthful body with these ears, honestly. You, though, you look a little bit older than the day you asked me to marry you. Maybe…around our 10th anniversary, I’d guess? Bit more white though, not that I mind. That haircut’s definitely a lot better, someone’s been taking care of you on that front, I see.

She placed her hands on his arms, rubbing them appreciatively. She moves them to his chest and down to his abs, sculpted like they’d been in his younger days from long hard hours of farmwork. “And I see you’ve definitely been taking care of the rest of you. Been way too long since I’ve seen these muscles.” she purred.

Franks laughed nervously. “Well, um….you get a second chance like this, you tend to appreciate and take care of things you took for granted…before.” His hands slipped down to her hips.

Their eyes met, growing lidded. Slowly, he ran his hands up her sides, appreciating every ilm of her curves, ghosting the sides of her breasts. He pulled her close, and their lips met in a kiss they’d not been able to share in decades.

Memories of all of their favorite intimate moments with the other flooded their minds, and both had a realization that those moments could now not only be remembered, but now relived. The rest of the world had long been forgotten and their kisses and touches became more heated when the world suddenly reminded them that it was still there.

“Ahem”

The pair broke, looking in the direction of the voice. The other Warriors of Light and the senior members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had all entered and were staring at the pair in varying levels of confusio

Rheika spoke up. It had been her voice that broke into their moment, Franks realized. “I hate to interrupt your moment, I swear I do, but uh…didn’t we have some kind of emergency? Also, um, who is this? Not that you don’t deserve to kiss someone that gorgeous, but I feel like I’m missing part of the story here.”

Franks laughs. Both he and Gwenefyr have turned beet red having realized just how much of a crowd their reunion had attracted. “Ah, yes. Um, well, everyone…allow me to introduce you all to Gwenefyr Franks. My…not quite late wife, as it turns out”

She giggled at that. “Hi, everyone. Y’shtola’s told me a little about you all. I…think I recognize at least some of you from her stories.”

Franks looked over everyone. Thancred, Estinien, and Alisaie weren’t even masking their suspicion. Dahkar, Alphinaud, and Rheika wore expressions of shock. Fearless looked like she was going to explode with joy. Urianger just looed perplexed.

It was Thancred who stepped forward. “Franks….are you sure? I mean, we’ve seen the Asicans puppet dead bodies before..

He immediately shook his head. “No, no, I thought the same thing. But remember, Elidibus didn’t have access to Ardbert’s memories so Y’shtola asked her to tell me something only she would know. It…it’s definitely her.”

Gwen took his hand and looked to the gunbreaker. “Thancred, right?”

Thancred nodded.

“Y’shtola told me you’d probably be the hardest to convince. I don’t know what to say or do to prove to you that I’m not a…..Asican, was it? But I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you. To all of you. Because I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up to her husband. “Right?”

He looked right back to her, his eyes sad. “I…don’t think I can go back there again. Not if it means…going back to the way our forms were.Are you…okay with that? With leaving it all behind? I promise, this place is…it’s worth it.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can either. Azeroth has taken enough from us. And the others…they told me they won’t be surprised if we don’t return to the fight. They’re prepared to keep working towards the dream, but they’ll have to do it without us. I’m not going anywhere without you, love. We have a second chance at actual life and I’m not going back to a world without it or without you.”

Alphinaud speaks up. “Apologies, but did you say Azeroth? I’ve not heard of such a place.”

Franks nods. “Yeah. That’s….that’s the other reason I’m pretty confident she’s not an Ascian. And it’s a story most of y’all long overdue for hearing. And now that I have…gods I can’t believe I have you back…ahem. Well, there’s just no point in hiding it anymore. Gather round…time I told the full story of where I….where we are actually from.”

[lichamonae]

JEANKASA headcanon

After 5 years of Eren´s dead, Jean and Mikasa got closer.

Mikasa used to visit Jean´s mom because he traveled a lot, so he couldn't stay that much time with her. One day Jean invited Mikasa to their first date, and Mikasa surprisingly accepted.

Jean went to Armin´s the night before full of fear of screw up their first date.

Armin talked straight forward to Jean. Even if Mikasa was moving on with her life, accepting in front of paradise that she was the one who killed Eren, he still saw her sometimes grieving his dead. She was so invested in taking care of the orphanage, and helping Kiyomi in some political stuff between paradise and Hiruzu, that she left only important dates like his birthday or anniversary to grieve. Even tho, Mikasa was this two past years in a better light, she was converting in someone that no one really knew, not even Eren. For Armin, it wasn't a surprise, because she was with him really open about her feelings, but for others, (like Annie) her change was kidna strange.

The first 3 dates where really easy. They had a lot of things in common, and remembering the good days in training was easier for them. Even sometimes, they could talked about Eren without giving a sad face, the memories where to good to feel bad about them.

The 5th date came, and Jean felt that maybe things were moving great between them. They got along pretty well, he even caught Mikasa smiling more than usual and even blushing some times.

There was just one thing that bother him, but he never put that thought too much importance.

Mikasa was feeling kind of dizzy all those days. This was the first time in years she was just going with the flow. Saying yes to the first date wasn't that hard, because talking to Jean and having dinner was something she has been used to this past years in Jean´s house, and not having his mom near by didn't felt like something weird.

Armin talked to her, a little bit worried about her feelings, but she was just so into having other experiences, that Armin just stopped asking her about her true feelings about this situation.

Sometimes, she caught herself thinking what would Eren think about this new dynamic Jean and her were having. Would he be happy for them? weird out? or ...mad?. But the thought that he was gone came back and give her a horrible headache.

This was like the 10th date, and Jean wanted to do something special. He cooked for her in Niccolo´s restaurant and had the whole place just for the two of them. Mikasa was a little serious that day, because it was to formal, something she wasn´t used to with the dates they were having. Even tho, she enjoy the dinner and talked to Jean about her day.

-I know the next weeks are not going to be easy on you, so... you know you have all my support.

Jean was talking about the assembly some nations were having about the saviors of humanity or Jeager killers, like some people in paridise called them .

-Not going to worry at all, Armin knows what I have to say regards...the situation.

Says Mikasa with a troubled expression.

-Sorry, I didn´t mean to bring that up.

-Don´t worry, it´s time for me to talk about this like something that happened, something I did, and get responsable for it.

-You don´t need to do this alone, Mikasa. I know you are strong, but you have all of us.

-I know, I know I have Armin, and you...of course.

Jean stare at her while she was looking intensily her glass of water. Jean took her hand and then Mikasa looked right into Jean´s eyes.

He was a pretty good looking guy, he was one of his friends, and one of the people that was in her support system. What more she could asked for?

So she grabbed his hand while he touched gently her cheek with his other hand.

He didn't understand how, but suddenly their lips touched, their eyes were closed...but nothing else happed

-Oh no

-Oh please, no

They slowly pulled apart looking into their eyes and get silent for a while

-haha....hahahaha

-Why.. are you laughing?. Asked Mikasa with a serious face.

-Mikasa, I can't tell you how much... I have been waiting for this, I knew that maybe you and I would never be together but...I'm here, with you... and I´m so sorry...I

-I know...I think I feel the same. I too felt that maybe this were gonna be different. But at the and of the day, you will always be... a dear friend of mine.

Mikasa smiled, and Jean blushed to that beautiful smile, but he couldn't felt the love he wanted to feel for her.

-I´m glad we feel the same. Jean said to her

They finish dinner and went came back home.

-Well... that was really pathetic, if you asked me Jean.

Armin was really amused and how things turned out for them.

-I was, in part, hoping that you two could get along that way, but if there's not chemistry, you can't do nothing about it.

-It´s a pity... I really thought that I felt like that about her.

-If you ask me, I could tell you that is a very deep, but ancient love that you had for her. The Mikasa we knew 5 years ago is gone, if you haven´t notice. And it´s not her essence, it´s the love of Eren that had been so impregnated into her. Everyday I see her happier and stronger in soul, she changed.

-I see her happier too, and for me, I think is enough

-That´s the spirit Jean.

Mikasa was working with the orphans. Wondering what was her real fate in this world. It gave her a pain in her chest to think the only thing that she will accomplish in her life was to kill the person she loved the most to save humanity and also save him. And doing a family was something she couldn't think of without Eren in the picture. But hanging out with Jean, even though it didn't work like they imaging to, make her feel with the freedom of have all the possibilities open for her.

That was the gift he gave to her.

[raeynbowboi]

Bob’s Burgers 10th Anniversary Retrospective

After ten years, Bob, Linda, and the Kids are just as delightfully wacky and endearing as they ever were, and show no signs of slowing down. So I wanted to put together an ultra mega review of the series. I’ll give an opinion on main and recurring characters, as with a cast this big, there’s been a lot of endearing characters to grace the show over the years. However, I will only be counting characters that have appeared more than once. After ten years, there’s been some real gems, and some real misfires. So, I’ll be counting down my top 10 best episodes, and the bottom 10 worst episodes. I’ll also go through as a Highlight Reel, by picking a best and worst episode of each season, as well as crowning the Best Season with the most good episodes.

Bob Belcher

Honestly, Bob was a very easy character to mess up. He’s the straight man to his wacky family’s antics. But the show does a really great job making Bob simple and lowkey without making him boring or a stick in the mud. He may be resistant to weird things, but he puts up with it anyway to make his family happy.  While he’s the serious straight man, they don’t fail to give Bob his own eccentricities and quirks that make him relatable and funny in his own way. Whether he’s making things talk, getting weirdly excited about Thanksgiving, or his awkward way of speaking, Bob is genuinely a good and relatable character. It’s also nice to see that Bob is a great husband and a loving father. He and Linda argue from time to time, but they’re not trapped in a loveless marriage for the kid’s sake like most shows. And even shows where that’s not a selling point like American Dad, Bob shows more remorse for things like forgetting their anniversary than Stan does for Francine. Bob is supportive, loving, and forgiving. Which is just amazing to watch. The times when his kids really need him, he’s there for them, and he helps them through their problems. While Bob might fight with and get mad with or annoyed by his family, Bob never treats them like people he’s stuck with. Frankly, Bob blows most animated TV dads out of the water. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Stan or Francine give quiet supportive talks to Steve or Hayley ever in American Dad. Peter used to at least try to be a decent father, but now is a negligent toddler. Likewise, Homer used to be a great father who cared about his kids, but later seasons have really stepped away from the family angle the Simpsons used to have. In a sea of adult animated families that are toxic and destructive, Bob’s genuine love for his family came as a breath of fresh air.

Linda Belcher

Linda is by far the best Adult Animation TV mom there is. For one thing, she’s funnier than Francine, Lois, and Marge combined. But more importantly, she’s not the butt of the joke when it happens. I can only really remember laughing at Francine when they make dumb blonde jokes with her, but Linda’s jokes come from her character. She could have easily been the gender inverted Homer or Peter, but the writers are careful to make her gullible, trusting, and goofy without making her a moron. When the kids do something wrong, Linda busts out the tough mom act and you genuinely believe that the kids are in trouble. She’s not faking it. She’s not off in her own little world. She’s a bit of a goofy dreamer, but she’s able to be the tough disciplinarian when she needs to be. Her relationship with Bob is also better than most adult animation wives. She’s more independent than the other housewives, and even though her job is working with her husband, it never feels like it robs Linda of her own power, autonomy, and freedom. But the best thing about Linda is that I think most people can agree, she has an extremely strong and charming personality that endears us to her.

Tina Belcher

I really wish I could say I liked Tina more. She’s a creative romantic, just like me. I should love her. But her monotone deliveries and awkwardness isn’t as endearing as Bob’s. I like her better in episodes like Teen-A Witch and Broadcast Wagstaff School News where she has a bit stronger of a personality. But unfortunately, Tina is my least favorite member of the Belcher family, which isn’t to say that I hate her, she just doesn’t shine as bright as the rest of her family. She’s just not very funny or interesting on her own. But on the plus side, at least I don’t find Tina to be annoying or terrible except in the rare bad episode.

Gene Belcher

Gene is the only member of the family that can regularly get my dad to laugh, and with good reason. If he wasn’t such a well of nonsequitor punchlines, Gene would probably be the worst member of the family, but boy howdy do those random jokes pick up the slack. Gene is genuinely hilarious, even if I’d only rank him above Tina in terms of favoritism. However, I find that most Gene-centric episodes to be lackluster or below average. I think Gene’s best episode is probably Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien, but of the best episodes, none really come to mind that specifically star Gene. Gene is really better suited for a supporting role, and his times as the star showcase why comic reliefs aren’t the main character. They’re support characters for a reason. That’s not to say Gene-centric episodes are terrible. They just tend to range from about average to bad. Though Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien is a pretty good one.

Louise Belcher

Bob and Linda saved the best for last because Louise is the breakout star of the show. Funny, interesting, and the focus of many of the better episodes, Louise stands proudly on the first place podium with Linda in 2nd and Bob taking 3rd place. I think Louise’s strengths are especially due to her standoffish and naughty personality, which has lent itself to a lot of good character growth episodes. Season 10 Louise seems a lot more mature than Season 1 Louise. I think Louise works because while she does often have clever or sneaky solutions to problems, they don’t forget that she’s 9, so unlike Stewie, her age does present hurdles and barriers to her schemes and plans.

The Best and Worst of Bob’s Burgers

#10 WORST: Pro-Tiki/Con-Tiki (S6e15)

Why couldn’t Warren Fitzgerald just put that $100,000 into advertisements or to help Bob buy better equipment for his restaurant? My biggest issue with this episode isn’t the episode itself, it’s that the ending makes no sense. Warren wants to help Bob because he has a form of riches Warren lacks, and Bob doesn’t want a corporate sponsor to make changes to his brand. But why can’t Warren just give Bob the money to make choices he wants to make? They could stay as business partners, but Bob doesn’t have to sacrifice his personal vision for the restaurant. It’s just really frustrating when they’re both being too stupid and stubborn to see the obvious solution in front of their faces.

#10 BEST: Teen-a Witch (S7e03)

One of Tina’s best episodes, as someone who had a goth phase myself and dabbled a tiny amount in ‘witchcraft’, this episode brings back memories of high school and the desire to make the world what I wanted it to be. But on top of that, Tina with a backbone is when she really shines as a character, mostly because it means her humor isn’t being derived from her being awkward.

#9 WORST: Live and Let Fly (S9e05)

Mr. Frond embarrasses the kids, and they team up with Up-Skirt Kurt to get revenge against his sister and Mr. Frond. I’m not a fan of Kurt, so I already don’t care much about his feud with his sister, but I also just find the episode kind of boring. I don’t care about Kurt, I don’t care about his feud, and the kids call off their revenge, so that ends up not mattering either. Even Bob and Linda’s side plot is only middle-of-the-road quality for Bob’s Burgers.

#9 BEST: Wharf Horse/World Wharf II (S4e21-22)

The very first two-part episode Bob’s Burgers ever had, the season 4 finale is a great watching experience. It has some fun songs, funny character exchanges, suspenseful drama, and some heartfelt moments. It feels like a short movie, and that’s a good thing for a two-part episode to do. Even Fanny and Felix are interesting villains. But even after everything Felix did, I don’t find myself loathing him in later episodes, and that’s a hard thing to accomplish.

#8 WORST: Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks (S3e07)

This is the only bad Tina episode where the problem isn’t Tina herself. My biggest issue with this episode is more just the subject matter. Bob lies for insurance reasons about who was driving his car, and the entire episode is just Bob and Tina digging a deeper and deeper hole for themselves. The solution to the issue is clever enough to redeem the episode somewhat, but the majority of the watching experience is just kind of an awkward dance of watching these two getting tangled up in a web of lies.

#8 BEST: The Taking of Funtime One Two Three (S9e02)

Bar none, this is the single best ‘Heist’ episode of Bob’s Burgers, and it’s kind of crazy that Bob’s Burgers has actually built a repertoire to where I can make a list of ‘heist’ episodes as an archetype. This one feels the most like an actual heist movie, and the ending is legitimately clever and unexpected. But even more than that, if you’re paying attention, you can see the twist before the characters even reveal it. That is the kind of tight writing that makes the list for best episodes.

#7 WORST: A Fish Called Tina (S10e12)

Tina spends an episode trying way too hard to make someone like her, to the point that she almost humiliates a 4th grader in public just so she can live out some fantasy. It’s really uncomfortable and sickening to watch Tina do this. This will be a recurring issue with Tina’s low-point episodes. There’s nothing fun about watching a character make a complete idiot out of themselves by coming on too strong. It even makes me groan when Kaylie shows up in another Season 10 episode because I don’t want to have to think about this awful episode.

#7 BEST: Stand By Gene (S6e12)

Something about this episode really just brings back memories of my childhood. Memories of walking through the outdoors, just exploring and wanting to find things. The characters are funny, and Bob and Linda’s relationship is put to the test. Plus, I loved that for the entire episode, you don’t know how it’ll end. It really makes this a personal favorite and one of the episodes I knew had to make it on my list.

#6 WORST: The Grand Mama-Pest Hotel (S7e13)

Linda ruins things for Tina by being an overbearing annoyance. Are you noticing a trend with Bob’s Burgers’ worst episodes? I don’t like it when good characters make complete jackasses out of themselves in the name of ‘humor’. It’s not funny. It’s annoying and makes me dislike them. Thankfully, the worst of it is only in the latter half of the 2nd act and the entire third act, but Linda’s behavior just makes me cringe and ask why they had to do Linda dirty like this? It just puts me even more squarely on the side that Tina is entirely in the right and I don’t want to deal with Lind either.

#6 BEST: Broadcast Wagstaff School News (S3e12)

From Tina at her lowest point to Tina at her best, Broadcast Wagstaff School News is my favorite episode of the first 5 seasons. Tina’s funny and engaging, Gene is absolutely shining as Little Bob, and while Louise and Linda play supporting roles in this episode, they’re still funny as well. Plus, the mystery is a good one, and this episode is even referenced in later seasons.

#5 WORST: Mazel-Tina (S4e13)

Tina ruins Tammy’s birthday and steals her party. This is Tina at rock bottom. Tina is so despicable, cruel, and selfish in this episode that it reminds me that behind that creative awkward girl is a selfish brat who doesn’t care if she hurts other people if she can live out her fantasies. If other episodes didn’t rescue Tina from being so unlikable, I probably would hate Tina as a character entirely for her behavior in this episode.

#5 BEST: The Silence of the Louise (S8e02)

Movie parodies are some of the best, and The Silence of the Louise is the queen of all the movie parodies. When Mr. Frond’s therapy dolls are mutilated, and the school staff calls off the waterpark trip until the culprit is caught, Louise teams up with psycho Millie to figure out whodunnit. This is also one of the first time Millie wasn’t strictly an antagonist, and she genuinely felt like someone who could be Louise’s friend someday.

#4 WORST: Boywatch (S8e16)

Tina ruins things for other people by coming on too strong. The only reason this is ranked higher than Mozel-Tina is because in that episode, she just wanted to be at the party, and just kind of ended up as the star of the party and let it go to her head, whereas here, she is actively ruining things for other people in pursuit of her own delusions and fantasies. Tina has no desire to be a junior lifeguard, but cute boys causes her to behave like a troublemaker. She’s entirely out of character, and her teammates’ hate for her behavior is something I agree with. I don’t want to hate the main characters, so why does this show keep pushing to make Tina a nuisance who ruins experiences for other people?

#4 BEST: The Quirkducers (S7e06)

If the Silence of the Louise is the queen of film parodies, then The Quirkducers is the king. Not only is it a clever parody of The Producers, but it also has some damn good musical numbers, especially the edited end credit version. But it’s Tina’s song at the end that stands as one of my favorites of all Bob’s Burgers’ songs.

#3 WORST: Bed & Breakfast (S1e07)

If a Fish Called Tina is bad, then Bed & Breakfast is flaming garbage. Linda turns their apartment into a Bed and Breakfast, and Linda goes berserk when the guests don’t play into her expectations. This episode verges from below average to detestable as Linda goes insane and locks people in their rooms, and Louise drives a grown man to attack workers by preying on his fear. 

#3 BEST: The Hauntening (S6e03)

This is hands-down the best Halloween episode that Bob’s Burgers ever made. This show turns out some amazing holiday episodes, and this is one of the best the Belchers have to offer. I won’t dare give away anything about this episode. If you’ve seen it, you know why it’s top of the heap, and if you haven’t, then all I can say is what are you waiting for? Delayed gratification has to pay off eventually.

#2 WORST: Every Which Way But Goose (S9e14)

Tina falls in love with a goose. Who smoked crack before writing this episode, and who huffed enough paint thinner to approve this episode for production? This is the absolute dumbest concept for an episode I have ever come across. Who thought this was a good idea? I can’t even pinpoint the flaws because this entire episode is just so flawed. At least Mazel-Tina and Boywatch enrage me. This just baffles me.

#2 BEST: A Few Gurt Men (S7e11)

When Mr. Ambrose accuses Mr. Frond of stealing his yogurt from the faculty lounge, the case is brought before student court, and Louise is tasked with acting as Defense Council for Mr. Frond. One thing Bob’s Burgers does well is mysteries, and this is a good one as Louise has to figure out a way to prove Frond’s innocence. This is just an absolute personal favorite. Every character is just on point, and I get excited when the episode starts to que up.

#1 WORST: Moody Foodie (S2e07)

Did you ever want to watch the Belchers commit a felony? Then boy howdy do I have an episode for you! A picky food critic responsible for shutting down restaurants comes to Bob’s Burgers. Bob messes up the order, and a visit to the critic’s house to get him to try his burger again leads to a hostage situation with the critic tied to a chair and gagged in his own home. Words cannot describe the depth to which I hate this episode. The entire episode feels dirty and vile. I feel the need to scrub my skin raw after sitting through this episode. The instant I realize that it’s come on, I skip the the next one. I have literally only sat through this episode once. This episode disgusts me. This episode has the main character, abduct somebody in their own home. Then they take a second hostage when a mailman delivers the guy’s package. Luckily, Bob’s Burgers has a lot of good episodes to make up for this one bad egg, but this episode enrages me to the point that if the family wasn’t so charming and endearing most of the time, I might have stopped watching based just on this one episode.

#1 BEST: The Bleakening: Part 1 & 2 (S8e06-07)

The first time I saw these episodes, they played back to back without any credits in between them, and I thought it was one episode, and I didn’t even realize it was the length of two episodes. Between the amazing songs, the brain bending twists, the creative creature, the dark elements that contrast the bright lights of the holidays, and the uplifting ending, this pair of episodes stands paramount as the single greatest viewing experience that Bob’s Burgers has to offer.

Favorite Friend of the Kids: Regular-Sized Rudy

First appearing in Carpe Museum, Rudy came back in The Kids Rob a Train, where he has remained a friend of the kids since. Rudy was the first to join the kids if you don’t count Andy and Ollie who seem to dip in and back out as to whether they’re included in the friend group. Rudy was thus the first to be made a main member of the kids’ friend group.

Favorite Schoolyard Seven: Jocelyn

The Schoolyard Seven is the friend group of the three Belchers, Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, and Jocelyn. Not counting the Belchers, it was a close call between Zeke and Jocelyn. Tammy and Jimmy Jr. tend to be typecast as serving one niche thing, but Zeke and Jocelyn are often the comedic gold. However, while Zeke is more interesting of the two, I just enjoy Jocelyn too much to not give her the win. Even if Jocelyn’s humor is just a walking dumb blonde trope, like Gene, Jocelyn has a knack for funny one-liners. If the groups has another name, I’m not privy to it.

Favorite Friend of the Family: Micky

Though he’s less connected to the family now, Micky has been a friend to the Belchers since Bob Day Afternoon, and returning in Bob Fires the Kids. Since his introduction, Micky has gotten a job at Wonder Wharf, where he has remained since.

Favorite Recurring Villain: Logan Bush

First appearing in Ears-y Rider, Logan has been a fun and interesting frenemy for Louise to match wits with. In a show where most other villains are the same age as the main characters (Millie, Tammy, Chloe, Jimmy Pesto, Hugo) Logan stands out as a legitimate bully. Yet, even he was willing to work with Louise in Mother-Daughter Laser Razor, showing that there is wiggle room for the two of them to even join forces and spread havoc together.

Favorite Tina Love Interest: Duncan

Earnest if not a little awkward, Duncan seems like a sweet boy for Tina to possibly end up with. Sasha Whiteman is another character I could easily see being a good boyfriend to Tina because his quick wit and social graces make him a great foil to Tina, and he excels where Tina falls short. Zeke has a good chance to be a good boyfriend, but Tina still spits his name when she greets him, so I doubt she’d take interest in him unless something happens to change their dynamic. I liked Josh, but now that he’s said he doesn’t like her anymore and she agreed that she feels the same, I doubt we’re going to see them date further in the future.

Favorite Side Character: Nat Kinkle the Limo Driver

First appearing in Season 8 episode 8 V for Valentine-detta, I must not be the only fan of Nat’s because she made two appearances in the 10th season, in episode 1 The Ring (But Not Scary) and episode 17 Just the Trip. Currently with only 3 appearances, she’s still only a side character, but I get the feeling that like with Rudy, Courtney, Darrel and Alex before her, Nat will keep becoming a more frequent character. She just has a great vibe, and her charisma is intoxicating. She meshes great with the family, making her an absolute delight to watch.

Favorite Bit Character: Marshmallow

Although she’s appeared in multiple episodes since her introduction in Sheesh, Cab Bob, Marshmallow has never gotten much more than a couple lines, with her biggest role being in The Bleakening where she had more to say. She was also the first major LGBT+ recurring character on the show, which also made her a joy to see, whenever she returned to Bob’s Burgers.

Favorite Headcanon: Gene is Genderfluid

Gene’s jokes have been centered on his gender or sexuality since the first season finale. A joke once in a while is one thing, but ten years of the same sorts of jokes tells the sharp viewer that there’s more to it than just a running gag. With how many jokes have Gene talk about having boobs, synching his cycle, or calling himself Tina and Louise’s sister or Bob and Linda’s daughter, it’s my opinion that Gene is genderfluid, or possibly even transgender. The only reason I say genderfluid over a transgirl is because he still also addresses himself as a boy or a man as much as he does girl jokes.

Best Song: Twinkly Lights (Ms. XXX-Mas)

Not only does Toddrick Hall absolutely kill this performance, but I also love the meaning of the song about POC inclusivity and pride in the LGBT+ community. As the final song in The Bleakening, it’s one hell of a closing number, and I can’t help but dance in my seat whenever it plays. I’ve even listened to it independent from watching the show, and honor I don’t bestow on every song.

Best Episode Archetypes:

The Best Heist: The Taking of Funtime One Two Three

The Belcher kids have stolen a number of things. Chocolate, a bounce house, but the absolute creme de la creme of their heists is the procuring of the Dunebuggy from Family Funtime. When Family Funtime unplugs the macchines whenver the kids get too many tickets from them, the kids decide to pull off the heist of a century to make off with the biggest prize of the arcade: the dune buggy.

The Kids Tell An Anthology: Moms, Lies, and Videotapes

From the Gayle Tales to The Handyman Can, the kids have told a number of anthology stories, but the most impressive of the bunch is their stories of the mother’s day plays into three interesting stories. Though true to form, Gene’s is the weakest of the three, as his usually are. I don’t recall any time when his anthology was the best of the kids’, but then, Gene is not the most creative of the three children. His best story is probably in The Frond Files where his story’s world is colorful and fun to observe.

Best Musical Episode: The Bleakening

Not only do these episodes have a lot of musical numbers, but there is not a single one that doesn’t hit a home run. But more importantly, the entire episode is a musical, with each number helping to tie and bridge together the narrative, which is the entire purpose of musical numbers in a proper musical, which makes this the single best musical episode mainly because it’s the only episode that’s a true blue musical.

Best Holiday Episode: The Hauntening

With The Bleakening already taking the top spot for musical episodes, that leaves the Miss Congeniality of the holiday episodes to take the crown. I didn’t spoil anything about this episode above, and I won’t say a thing about it now. This episode is solid gold.

Best Film Parody: The Quirkducers

Not only is this episode clever in the way it uses its source material, but the family all have moments to shine despite the stars being Louise and Gene. The show also makes good use of the Schoolhouse Seven (the main group of the Belcher Kids, Jimmy and Zeke, and Tammy and Jocelyn), and each of them brings something great to the episode. It undoubtedly earned its place in the top 10, and will likely hold its place for years to come.

[fanfalc-616]

The Rights Of A Nindroid

Chapter Twelve

(Prevoius chapter here)

(Discord Here)

Happy 10th Anniversary!!

Kai is done. He so fucking done with this shit.

He’s getting Zane out, and he’s getting him out right this very minute. It’s already been a month and a half, he’s not going to wait for some long term plan, not when he could be busting Zane out right now!

Kai had spent days and days studying every government file he could possibly get his hands on until he finally figured out where they were keeping Zane.

Some of the things they had written were just plain disgusting.

‘Original has yet to perform as expected, but this is not a large complication as said subject appears to be reaching appropriate behavioral status. Even so, it will require much more regulation before it begins functioning optimally.’

It had taken time to be able to figure out what the hell they had been talking about, but when he translated it he had felt almost sick.

Zane isn’t doing what they want, but they’re starting to make him behave by straight up torturing him. But the worst part is that they don’t even seem to have a problem with that kind of thing.

And even after he had found and translated the files, he had still had to come up with a plan to get inside the near-impenetrable fortress.

There’s a large open field around the base, likely so that they can see anyone who would try to break in or escape.

As a ninja, it’s not even that difficult. He just hides under a truck and hopes he doesn’t fly off as it goes up to the base.

In all honesty, he never thought that the underside of a car would smell so bad. How does Jay enjoy working on these things?

When the truck finally pulls up, Kai carefully unhooks himself and sneakily creeps away, doing his best to not be spotted by the guards.

They scout out the perimeter, but he manages to find lapses in their patterns that let him just barely avoid being seen as he gets inside- though he did have to use Airjitzu at one point.

Caution is the way to go with this. Every step he takes has to be precise. He can’t afford to slip up- not with Zane on the line.

Kai carefully sneaks around, trying to find the cubby that Zane is being kept in. The files he had found gave him a lot more information than he should probably have.

A mission has never been so stressful before. It really shouldn’t be so difficult, but his unease and worry are starting to get to him. Even things as simple as hiding behind a box are leaving him shaking.

If he’s being honest, he probably should’ve told the others about his plan. But they would’ve tried to stop him, probably worrying that he’d get put in jail again.

But this time, he’s not being reckless. This time, he’s putting his best foot forward.

This time, he’s going to save Zane.

It takes him some time to figure out where these cubbies are- because they seriously just put him away like an object on a shelf- and even longer to figure out which one is Zane’s.

Even then, it’s not over. Checking over his shoulder repeatedly, Kai carefully picks the lock, thankful that he had managed to convince Lloyd to teach him.

When he finally opens the locker, he feels relief flood through him.

Then it’s mixed by horror as he sees just how damaged his boyfriend is- they tore his face off. They seriously tore his face off what in the name of the First-

“Kai.” Zane breathes out, a series of conflicting emotions on his face- but they’re all nothing compared to the fear overlaying them.

He looks like he’s near tears, and Kai takes a step forward, ready to finally comfort him, to take his boyfriend home.

Finally.

This nightmare is over.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Zane punches the faux-Kai in the stomach, somewhat upset the fact that his hands are still cuffed. It will be difficult to fend off the one in place of his love like this, but he will manage.

The false Kai stumbles back, clutching his abdomen. “What was that for?!” He chokes out, trying to move closer again.

Wedging himself further back in the locker, Zane glares heavily. “I will not be fooled by your lies!” He snaps. “This facade of yours won’t trick me!”

Pseudo-Kai glances around, slight panic forming on his face. “They’re gonna hear you!” He hisses quietly. “C’mon, we need to get you out of here!”

He tries to grab Zane, but the white ninja resists to the best of his ability. He is unsure what they have planned in store for him, but he knows for a fact that he will not allow himself to be fooled any longer.

“Release me!” Zane demands, managing to get a kick in hard enough that sends the fake Kai skidding back.

“Zane, we have to get you out of here!” Faux-Kai insists, a look of fear and confusion about him as he attempts to grab the white ninja once again. “We don’t have time for this!”

Zane continues to fend him off, and though he is pulled from the locker, he refuses to give any more ground.

“I would rather be tortured than go anywhere with the likes of you!” He snarls, silently cursing the fact that his hands are bound.

It’s difficult, it’s so difficult to hold his ground when he sees the look of hurt and pain on his love’s face.

But Zane shakes his head, trying to dispel the feeling. No, this isn’t Kai, this is an imitation of him, a false version generated by his deluded sensors.

“Zane, I don’t want to fight you! Please, we need to get you out of here! The guards will be back soon, we can’t-“

That’s it. The guards! If they truly want him to believe that this is Kai, they will take him away when they show up.

But they would not listen if he called for them. They never listen to anything he says or does, so they likely would ignore him. So how could he-

As the pseudo-Kai still seems to be figuring out what to do, Zane darts over to a wall and pulls an alarm.

The guards had come when Cryptor had done such, and they will have to show again for the sake of authenticity.

The false Kai stares at him with a look of borderline horror. “Why would you do that?!” He demands. “We can’t-“

In that moment, the guards appear, quickly surrounding them.

Zane glares at them. “Get him out of here!” He demands. “And you plan to punish me for this defiance, so be it! I have learned from my mistakes, and I will not be fooled again!”

While they start dragging the faux-Kai away, Zane turns and heads back to his locker. Even as the simulated version of his boyfriend yells after him, he doesn’t listen, he doesn’t even look back.

When he steps inside the locker, he closes the door, allowing them to re-lock it.

He will not be fooled again.

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Kai shouts after Zane, but his boyfriend doesn’t reply, he willfully goes back inside his tiny cell, not even bothering to look back at him.

“Zane!” Kai calls out to his boyfriend as he tries to resist the guards, but not only are they skilled, there’s just too many of them! “Zane, what are you doing?!”

He’s roughly put in handcuffs and dragged away as he struggles to comprehend what has just happened.

What had they been doing to Zane? What could they possibly have done to make him not even trust the sight of Kai?

He continues to resist, but no matter what he does, he can’t make any progress.

Even when he’s taken outside and put in the back seat of a police truck, he still doesn’t stop fighting, he doesn’t stop trying to get back to Zane, to get that locker open and save him-

But nothing works. The cuffs are vengestone, and the guards are just too strong.

He’s once again taken to the police station, and Kai curses under his breath when he sees it.

Not only did he fail to save Zane, he’s also going back to jail, where his teammates will have to pick him up- again.

When he’s put back in the cell, he sighs, still trying to wrap his head around what had happened.

They need to save Zane. Every moment they wait, he goes through more and more.

But his plans aren’t working. He only gets in trouble whenever he tries.

… maybe he should try actually listening to the others.

“Zane…” he mutters to himself, “Zane, I promise we’ll get you out of there. Just hold on a little longer.”

“Hold on.”

{ { { { { { { { { { ~ } } } } } } } } } }

Zane is taken to the training room not long after the fake Kai had been taken away and he sighs as he realizes that he will likely be punished for not allowing himself to be tricked.

Martha steps into the room, a rather intrigued look on her face.

“I’m glad you’re finally starting to see your place. You really do belong here.” She smiles, sounding somewhat amused.

Zane scoffs. “I would not be fooled by such an imitation!” He snaps, annoyance taking over him. With all the manipulation they had done, do they truly believe that he would continue to fall for their obvious lies?

“Original…” Martha shakes her head, “if he was an imitation, why would we have taken him away?”

Sighing, Zane decides to hold the conversation, even though it seems to be only to bother him. “To make it seem as though he was real when he was not, to delude me into thinking-“

“No. In what situation have we ever ended an illusion because you wanted us to? We would have created an excuse, claimed that he drew them away.” Martha explains, and Zane hates how her words ring true. Everything they had done so far points to the fact they would do that.

“This- you lie!” He argues against her despite that. He would not have fought off the real Kai, he would not allow himself to stay in this wretched place, he-

“Claim what you will, Original. But you know that I’m right. That was your teammate. And now, you’ll never see him again.”

While Zane knows they can manipulate his sensors, every scam he runs proves that she’s not lying, and every thought process points that what she says is true.

“I… you- it…” He finds himself fumbling for words, desperately trying to find a way to prove that she’s wrong.

“Take it back to its locker. It did good today; no training is necessary.”

Horror has fully taken over him when he’s returned to the locker, and he tries to struggle against them, though he knows it’s futile.

That night, he cries himself to sleep.

He really is just a stupid metal box.