#quest friends flashback future

[questfriendspodcast]

It's a Soe!

We can share this piece of fanart because it was drawn by Kyle, but there's so much we can't share because it's not drawn by us! You know where you can find it though?? (It's Discord. It's on this Discord. Join this Discord.)

[nikoteani]

ARTFIGHTTT!! #1

It’s Soe from @questfriendspodcast!!

[nvirskies]

sand - c. la rue

idea taken from one of @star-girl69 's asks about married clarisse and immediately went to think about how the vast majority of greek demigods didn't get to live past their 20's or even teen years... and the survivor's guilt that would come with being one of the few lucky enough to live longer.

warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, traumatic nightmare flashbacks, descriptions of violence, descriptions of blood + war, spoilers for TLO, set after both reader and clarisse leave CHB about 6-8 years into the future, google translated Greek term of endearment, crying, survivor's guilt, platonic RueGard, ooc Clarisse, she's matured more over time and more articulate with her feelings and words

summary: clarisse wakes up from a particularly bad nightmare in the middle of the night, reader comforts her through a breakdown

wife!fem!demigod!reader x wife!clarisse la rue

word count: 2.2k

καρδιά μου (kardiá mou) - my heart

Η καρδιά μου είναι η καρδιά σου (I kardiá mou eínai i kardiá sou) - my heart is your heart

"but you have more pieces of me than than desert has sand, and I have less pieces of you than I can hold in my hand" sand, alchemical: vol. 1, dove cameron

taglist: @lvrue @star-girl69 @azrielsdiary @petitegavotte @b0ok-lover

men, nsfw, non-sapphic, 16-/19+ dni

Greek demigods fell in love hard and fast with an unmatched intensity. They normally didn’t live long enough to even envision themselves in their adult lives, and why would they? Every day was a struggle to stay alive with monsters coming in from all angles and quests most didn’t come back from.

And that was why, as soon as the two of you graduated high school, Clarisse got down on a knee and proposed with the knowledge that you were the one she would want to spend the rest of her life, however long or short, with.

When you two had graduated college, the next thing in the books was to make it official in the courthouse, and that was what you had done. No extravagant party or ceremony, just a quiet day in the courthouse and a night in to celebrate.

But no matter how far the two of you ran from Camp Half-Blood, the nightmares never went away, never got better. As the years passed, more of the people you had considered friends died. One after the other, falling like cursed dominos, helplessly standing by as they all tumbled down.

Soon, the nightmares became more about the people that were lost than the monsters themselves. Nightly plagues of searingly painful memories from watching the life drain from so many demigods’ eyes burned themselves in both of your psyches.

All you could do was hope Charon would be kind enough to ferry them across the Styx without his payment of a silver coin.

And tonight certainly hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary with the two of you and your limbs interlaced in a protective embrace while sleep claimed your minds, as if the both of you could protect each other from the monsters both in and outside.

Your head, nestled into her chest. Her deep, rhythmic breathing made your hair flutter ever so slightly as she exhaled. Her arms, wrapped loosely around your waist, hands not-so-sneakily under the baggy shirt of hers you had stolen to wear as pajamas for the night. It was all perfect. Too perfect.

You would be damned fools to think that peace would last for so long. Demigods didn’t get peace, they didn’t get tranquility, and they especially didn’t get uninterrupted domestic bliss.

Unbeknownst to you, Clarisse’s face contorted into one of distress. Her arms pulled you in closer subconsciously as the all too familiar face of Morpheus greeted her with a sly smirk on his face in her dreams.

In moments, she was transported back to the Battle of Manhattan.

She was seventeen again.

Blood was everywhere. Abandoned weapons lay on the floor, the hands that once gripped them tightly, now loose and limp. Shrill screams echoed throughout the air, all cut short by gut-wrenching sounds of fatal injury. Metal cut through flesh. Acid burnt through metal. Flames licked and greedily consumed anything and everything as fuel.

Her feet felt heavy, her hands numb. She could do nothing but stand and watch it all unfold before her own eyes, forced to relive the carnage and devastation that had ripped through Manhattan on that fateful day.

Morpheus’ voice whispered in her right ear, the sound of it sending an uneasy chill down her spine. “Daughter of Ares. A fitting dream, no? Your father must have been proud of you for the way you fought after… well, I’ll let you relive that, too.” Before she could blink, she was transported to the moment right after Silena had been sprayed by the Lydian Drakon.

Clarisse was too late. She had always been too late.

She was back on her knees, choking and weeping bitterly as Silena lay in her arms, watching as life slowly left her once-lively eyes.

What kind of a warrior even was she? So weak that she couldn’t even protect her friend? Too weak to protect the girl who had adorned her armor and led her siblings into battle?

Just as Clarisse reached out to touch Silena’s face to wipe away the one mark of smudged eyeliner that the Aphrodite girl normally would never have even allowed to happen in the past, she was jerked back to consciousness, eyes flying open and arms almost crushing your sleeping form momentarily as she came to.

No longer was she in Manhattan, instead sheltered in the familiarly adorned walls of your shared bedroom. Upon the walls hung framed pictures of joyous times past and her sword collection, among other things.

Familiar faces stared back at her, some faces that would never age again. Immortalized memories of times that would never happen again. Everyone was dead or scattered across the globe.

A particular picture caught Clarisse’s eye. It was a portrait of Silena that she had commissioned one of the Apollo kids to draw for the daughter of Aphrodite’s seventeenth birthday.

She never lived to see that day.

Her eyes locked with Silena’s in the drawing for a moment, and that moment was one too much as hot tears began to prick in the corners of her eyes.

She had inadvertently woken you up with the way her arms tightened around your waist in a near vice grip, slowly coming to your senses. No longer were her breaths slow and rhythmic, their steadfast pattern replaced by one that was erratic and shallow. The once-steady thumping cadence of her heart as it beat in her chest was now quickened, all of which you could hear with your head having been nestled into her chest.

Craning your head to look up at her, you were greeted with the sight of Clarisse desperately trying to silently blink back tears and control her own breathing.

Hurriedly, you pushed yourself up off her chest and tugged the blankets off the two of you before sitting down on her lap. You took note of the way her hands had never left your waist, holding onto you as if she were drowning and you were the last life ring thrown out.

It wasn’t anything you and Clarisse hadn’t dealt with before. The nightmares had been a part of your lives as far back as you could remember, it just came with the territory of being a demigod. But they never got any easier as time went on.

She watched silently with eyes brimming with unshed tears, pleading wordlessly with you to do something, anything to make it all go away.

“Let’s switch, yeah? You can lay on me and completely cover me if you want, love,” you offered up, a melancholy smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. Wordlessly, she nodded and you slipped off her lap, laying back where she had just been moments ago.

Gently patting your chest, you motioned for her to rest her head on it, knowing that the rest of her body would soon follow, completely engulfing your form with hers. After she had positioned herself, her arms snaked around your waist again as she simply held you for a few moments, her face pressed into your chest as tears slowly soaked into your shirt.

One hand reached out to gently run along the length of her back, the motion meant to soothe. A few beats passed in silence before you spoke in a hushed whisper, the bedroom devoid of sound beyond the two of you breathing in tandem with each other.

“You hear that, love? That’s my heart,” you murmured softly, craning your neck to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “It’s beating, beating for you. Η καρδιά μου είναι η καρδιά σου.”

She didn’t respond beyond releasing another shaky sob into your chest and tightening her grip around your body, but you didn’t mind. You didn’t need her to talk just yet.

“You’re also η καρδιά μου, you know that, right? My heart, my wife, my love, my everything. And I’m yours. Entirely yours, and I”m not going anywhere.” You craned your neck again to press another kiss against the crown of her head, hand never stopping its path of running gently along the length of her back.

“I would go down to the depths of Tartarus for you. I would challenge Hades himself to a fight if it meant I had even a glimmer of a chance in getting you back.”

Never once did you try to rush her into talking or shushing her tears. You knew her better than you knew yourself, and giving her time to let everything out was the best thing you could do for her at the moment.

You were her safe space, the one woman that she could let her walls down around. She wasn’t Ares’ star daughter in your arms, she was just Clarisse. No expectations dangling over her head, just open arms and understanding.

After another few quiet moments, she finally spoke up in between half-choked sobs, whispering so quietly that her voice was nearly inaudible, “Silena… Manhattan… should have been able to save her,” before letting her face fall back down onto your chest, releasing another pained cry.

“She’s gone- a-and everyone else too- why me?”

Her question left you speechless, mouth partly opened in an attempt to come up with a reassuring response, but nothing seemed to come to mind immediately. It was rare for this to happen, as you normally had just the right words at the top of your tongue, weaving them as Arachne once wove tapestries on her loom.

“They’re all gone and- and- ”

“Shh, love…” you cut her off, gently pulling her head up to look her in the eyes, your other hand leaving her back to wipe the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks with the pad of your thumb. “Please, don’t go back into that self-sacrificial spiral. Talk to me, tell me what the dream was about?”

She only shook her head in response, unwilling to divulge details of the memory that had shattered your night of otherwise perfect proportions.

Deflating back on top of you, she whispered, “They’re all gone, and we’re one of the only ones remaining. It was like every time another one of them died, that small part of myself that I gave to them died as well.”

Her arms that were wrapped around your waist tightened for a moment before going limp along with the rest of her body as she lay atop you, her head pressed against your chest.

“Love…” you began softly as one of your hands found its way to her head and carded gently through her curls. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened. None of it was your fault. We didn’t ask to be born, to be thrown into this mess of a world and tossed around like pawns in the gods’ game of chess with our lives.”

“We didn’t ask for this life, and we were so young at the time. For fuck’s sake, we were only seventeen- we hadn’t even made out yet. We hadn’t graduated high school yet, there were so many things we couldn’t control.

“None of it was your fault, I promise you. You were so brave, and you did everything you could.” She stayed silent as you spoke, the only sounds coming from her were the soft, shaky breaths as she sniffled and burrowed her face further into your shirt.

“I can’t explain to you why so many things had to happen, that’s up to the Fates. I can’t give you the pieces of yourself back that you lost when we kept losing everyone,” you murmured whilst your hands kept on with their idle motions.

It shattered your heart to give her such an incomplete answer when you knew it was tearing her apart inside to live with it all, but there was nothing you could do beyond offer solace and comfort. “And for that, I am so, so sorry. But the one thing I can do is keep the piece you’ve granted me to keep, safe and sound.”

She only nodded in response, not trusting herself to speak in fear of her own vulnerability. Her tears soaked into your shirt, but you didn’t care. All that was important was that Clarisse was here, in your arms, and slowly calming down.

Clarisse knew just as well as you did that everyone had done the best they could with the circumstances given, and that the loss affected you just as deeply. But she didn’t dig into that, it would be a can of worms to open for another time, another sleepless night where your own troubles caught up with you after running from them for so long.

And so, the rest of the night stretched on into early morning, the two of you half-awake, seeking silent solace in each other until sunlight crept into the bedroom through the cracks of the curtains the next day.

The two of you might have been running from your trauma like runners to a marathon, but at least you were running hand-in-hand with matching strides.

[nouies]

hello and welcome to the june fic rec featuring my favourite works i read during the past weeks. as always, please check tags before reading. if you liked the fics please reblog their posts, leave kudos and write a nice comment. happy reading! (and happy pride month!) rec tag | more rec lists

— harry/louis —  

໑ Don’t Embarrass Me, Motherfucker by @allwaswell16 (T, 1.4k, established relationship, time stamp, professor harry, pets) Harry comes home from work to find Louis and their parrot are up to something.

A Darcy the Parrot time stamp

໑ All My Life by wanderlou (NR, 5k, established relationship, marriage proposal, humour) The four times Harry tries to propose and the one time he gets it right (or does he?)

໑ Take My Hand, Dumbass by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup (G, 6k, enemies to lovers, a/b/o college au, roommates, touch depri) There's only alpha dorms at university, and Louis Tomlinson, omega, refuses to pay the exorbitant fees to live off campus. So, four years pretending to be an alpha it is! That'll be easy.

And maybe it would be easy, if not for the depri and the annoying alpha roommate and the fact that Louis is, honestly, a bit too stubborn for his own good.

໑ Little Love by GoldenSunflouervol6 (NR, 8.7k, friends to lovers, a/b/o au, fbi, homelessness) Written for the Omegaverse fic fest for prompt: 205. L & H are FBI/CIA/MI6/whatever agents and best friends. L goes on a mission without H (they’re partners, so they usually go together) and he doesn’t return. 2 yrs later he returns to the agency after escaping from wherever he was (maybe he was kidnapped, experimented on, etc., can be up to the author!). H tries to get L to talk about why he was gone/what he went through, but L isn’t ready. They continue to go on missions, but L is falling apart. Maybe he’s having nightmares, flashbacks, etc. Whoever held L captive ends up finding him again and takes him back. He either escapes again or H finds him. The author can obviously add stuff! This is more like an outline, maybe? Preferably omega L & alpha H, but ultimately up to author. Would love to see the other boys in it too, but that’s up to the author as well! [possessive & jealous h, sassy & tough l] L can be feminized, but preferably not too much.

໑ the past might be painful, but i’m in love with our future by localopa / @voulezloux (T, 10k, established relationship, pride, time stamp) it takes a lot of convincing for louis to let harry take him to his first pride. harry understands his worries and fears. really, he does. he just wants to show his boyfriend that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.

a don’t be afraid to love (and love again) time stamp.

໑ Louis and the Very Terrible, No Good Sleep by Stria / @nooradeservedbetter (E, 10k, roommates, a/b/o au, insomnia, 5+1 things) Louis had always been used to sleeping in a puppy pile back home. It was something that just happened, with all of his siblings being omegas, they just ended up in a giant nest all together, and Louis loved to cuddle in the warmth, and breathe in the familiar scent of home. He hadn’t thought much about it when, after graduating from the local uni, he got a job offer in Brighton and had to leave the family den.

Or, Louis is insomniac. Follow him in his quest to fall asleep.

໑ You Just Be Yourself by @lululawrence (NR, 13k, strangers to lovers, a/b/o au, kid fic, 5+1 things) “Thanks, Mom.”

Louis’ breath was knocked right out of him at those words, and Grey froze. They then immediately pulled out of Louis’ arms and scurried out of sight before either Harry or Louis could respond.

“Shit,” Harry cursed quietly, looking between Louis and where Grey had disappeared.

“I…” Louis blinked and looked down at the boxes still scattered on the floor. By the time he had gathered them back up, Harry was also gone.

Or five times Harry's daughter claims Louis as her mother, and one time Louis claims them both as his too.

໑ back where we belong by Ashisinlove (NR, 15k, exes to lovers, a/b/o au, college/university au, lack of communication, omega drop, read tags and author’s note) an exes to lover university!au where louis did not know how to express his concern in the relationship and harry did not know his omega was feeling this way.

໑ Ugly love by Hazzaslittle28 (E, 16k, kind of established relationship, governor harry, prostitute louis, accidental pregnancy) And Louis knew one thing as he stares at the dark sky and trees, the town moving away from his vision that he's never going to let his child feel the betrayal and hurt and all the hardships he went through.

He's going to give his baby enough love to fill the absence of her father. The ring in his fingers burn, there was rage inside Louis but most of all resided a boy who was still in denial that one day, one day his love would return back to him. Hold him and they'll stay happy as ever.

Or

The 1860s Au where Louis is a prostitute and Harry's a governor, they both are in love until they aren't.

໑ frightened by the bite, no harsher than the bark by localopa / @voulezloux (T, 21.6k, strangers to lovers, a/b/o au, rockstar louis, bodyguard harry, touch deprivation) louis loves going to the barricade during his shows. if it’s because he’s got a bit (lot) of touch deprivation and is using it as an excuse to have his big alpha bodyguard, harry, touch him, well, that’s a secret he doesn’t need to tell.

໑ Scarred by @allwaswell16 (E, 23k, enemies to lovers, soulmates, a/b/o au, sick fic, touch deprivation, soul bond, scars, read tags) As a male omega, Louis has learned to live with disappointment and rejection, but he dreams of the day he finds his soulmate. When Harry inadvertently rejects him as his soulmate, Harry has no idea he's doomed Louis to a slow, painful death.

Pride doesn't keep Louis from telling Harry the truth. But love does.

— rare pairs —

໑ It's You by @allwaswell16 (louis/louis, T, 2.7k, a/b/o university au, clones, 5+1 things) Five times alpha Louis talks to omega Lou and one time he admits he wants more from his omega clone

໑ The Tiniest Moves by @allwaswell16 (louis/nick grimshaw, T, 1.5k, getting together, famous/non famous au) Coffee shop owner Nick Grimshaw may or may not have come to work on his day off in the hopes that fresh-off-his-world-tour Louis Tomlinson might stop by.

[midnight-pluto]

First time trying out an event

Fandom: PJO/HOO

Trope: Comfort/Hurt, Angst

AU: Riordanverse

Style: One-shot

How about a Percy Jackson x mortal gn!reader who can see through the mist where Percy hears about a prophecy of how he must lose (death or just leave him) his s/o for a quest, and in trying to find ways on how to stop it, ends up not giving reader any attention or care that they break up and possibly die or just leave.

(sorry if it's too confusing, you can change parts of it to your writing style)

NO ESCAPE — percy j.

TROPES: fluff, angst, comfort/hurt

UNIVERSE: canon-ish

PAIRING(S): percy jackson x gn!reader

WARNING(S): set place after pjo and before hoo, talks of trauma and PTSD and death

A/N: it’s been a while since I’ve written for the pjo fandom so I hope I did ur idea justice

“NO,” PERCY DEADPANS, looking Rachel. “I refuse to believe that this prophecy is about me and Y/N. Absolutely not, the gods have fucked up my life enough - I am not allowing it to happen, again.”

“Percy my prophecy’s haven’t failed to be true,” Rachel replies, feeling remorse for the boy in front of her.

“No, see, remember? Remember the prophecy where you thought it was me who was the hero but it was actually,” Percy swallowed hard to mention his former friend, “Luke.

“Maybe it’ll happen but it still doesn’t mean it applies to me and Y/N.”

“Percy the fates are inescapable. You can’t cheat them, you can’t trick them, you can’t escape them,” Rachel sternly tell before speaking a tired and small, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s well- not okay, but it’s not your fault,” he sighed, burying his head in his hands. “I better find Y/N soon,” he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking out of the cave.

It was supposed to be just a fun, small, 3-day trip to camp due to it being spring break for him. But that turned out to be just another time where he was forced into serving the gods with zero thanks.

By the time Percy was informed of his fate, he didn’t have enough time to cope during his trip and was picked up by his mom, Paul, and you later that day.

“Percy! How was camp?” you smiled at the boy walking towards the three of you, running up to him and giving him a hug.

“It was alright,” he said blankly, continuing his walk to the car.

That made you pause - and not just because of the blank remark.

But because he didn’t hug you back.

You shot a worried look towards his parents automatically knowing something was off.

Paul was driving while Sally was sat in front so it was just you and Percy sitting in the back together. Normally, the car would be full of chatter with Percy rambling about whatever happened at camp while he was there while holding your hand.

This time though, there was no chatter, and there was no holding hands.

“So did anything exciting happen at camp?” Paul tried to break the stiffening silence, “Want to get to ice cream?”

“Nah, I’m not hungry,” Percy replied, eyes fixated out the window seemingly lost in thought.

To you it seemed that while you weren’t sharing loving touches with each other, you both still seemed to be sharing troubled thoughts and minds plagued with worry.

He wasn’t possessed - you’d know - and he was still himself; but not. What could’ve happened in the past three days that could’ve caused him to act like this?

You knew his dreams were ridden with trauma and flashbacks and sometimes a horrid future awaiting but he’d normally speak to you about such things. You could only hope if it were such a case he’d talk to you about it soon.

IT SEEMED THAT soon couldn’t come soon enough. Spring break had already passed, and it’s been a near month and Percy has barely spoken to you throughout it at all.

Percy on the other hand felt at his absolute worst.

Well, that was of course an exaggeration but knowing the fate of the relationship you have is still really terrible.

It wasn’t his intention to distance himself from you, it’s just something he did subconsciously - a desperate attempt to preserve what was already made.

“Percy?” his mother knocked on his door, “I brought you cookies.”

“Thanks, uh, can I talk to you about something?” Percy asked, taking the plate of cookies and placing them on his bedside.

“Yes of course you can,” Sally smiled, and shut the door to sit on the edge of his bed.

“When- when I was at camp I of course had the fortune of being part of a prophecy… again,” Percy inhaled a sharp breath, “And it was about me and Y/N and- Rachel said that I was gonna lose them and I just- I don’t want that.”

“Oh Percy,” she frowned pulling her son into a hug, rubbing his back softly as his tears spilled onto her shirt.

“And I don’t want them to die- they don’t deserve that, not because of me,“ he muttered.

“Percy, listen to me,” Sally gently pushed him away to look at him in his eyes, using her sleeves to wipe away his tears, “What matters isn’t in the future, but now. Regardless if you’re going to lose Y/N, make the best memories to look back on when they’re gone. That’s the meaning of life - to cherish it, and the limited time you have here with everyone you’ve ever met.”

Percy nodded at his mother words, smiling to himself at the thought of spending more time with you. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” she softly tussled his hair, “Now I’m going to set something up between the two of you to go hang out tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” he smiles, wiping away his own tears.

“Make sure to eat those cookies,” Sally reminded before shutting his door with a soft click.

YOU TOOK IN a deep inhale before angering the small café Sally had arranged you and Percy to meet. Prepared to face him with a look of defeat on his face you open the doors, and see him sitting in the back with a cup of hot chocolate warming his hands.

But he didn’t look sad like all the other times you tried to talk to him, he didn’t look dismissive, he looked like himself. He looked like Percy.

Seeing the face you had come to love the past year return didn’t make your heart flutter as it used to however. One of the only reminders of your true intentions behind accepting the invitation.

Walking over to the table, you take the seat across him and give him a small smile that you could muster.

“You’re not gonna order anything?” Percy asked, head tilted towards the chalkboard’s beautifully written on displaying the menu.

“No, I don’t feel like it,” you shook your head, “Um, Percy I just wanted to talk to you and I’m sorry.”

Percy could feel his heart drop the moment you said those words. His head kept on making up words and phrases of what you were going to say next - anything but what he knew you were going to say.

“I just don’t think we’re going to work out,” you spoke in a soft and gentle tone, “I don’t regret the time spent with you, but it would be better if we no longer saw each other. Romantically, at least.”

It took every once ounce of Percy’s body to spill out tears from the corners of his eyes but he managed to choke out, “I understand.”

“Thank you, for everything Percy,” you hung your head low, beating yourself up for hurting the boy in front of you who had already been through so much, “I hope to see you around.”

And just like that, you exit the café as Percy’s eyes trail your figure from the window until you disappeared around the block. It doesn’t take long for the nearest fire hydrant to burst open, water spewing out when his eyes couldn’t.

A/N: did I manage to make you guys feel something? also, my 200 follower event is currently ongoing so please feel free to request!!

[raayllum]

So following writing this short meta about Rayla and Callum's differing responses to their hostage exchanges (in 4x09 and here above in 5x08 respectively), I was also thinking about this scene with Viren because it shows, perhaps, the biggest difference I've always seen between Callum and Viren, even back in S1/S2.

I've talked about it before, but it always bears repeating: throughout the first three episodes of S1, we see Viren try everything he can to save Harrow's life, including offering up others' and his own through the soulfang spell... but giving up the egg never occurs to him as an option. The fact that we know it wouldn't have necessarily worked (hi Runaan's stubborn refusal) is a moot point; relinquishing a 'weapon' and letting it fall back into Xadia's hands is not something, point blank, that Viren is willing to do, even to save the life of someone he loves and is willing to die for.

And although the contexts are different - it seems Viren knew saving Soren might sour his relationship with Lissa (and led to him coining Kpp'Ar) but there were no global stakes attached to it as far as he knew or could conceptualize. However, it does show the way he's fallen, particularly with S5 in mind (as in the dream 'flashbacks' he tells Soren what Claudia did in 2x09: "You're okay now. That's all that matters"). But here, it doesn't Matter at all.

Arc 1 Viren is a villain and an antagonist precisely because of three things.

He's willing to sacrifice other people, even people who trusted and followed him (his best friend's children, the human armies)

He's willing to sacrifice, manipulate, and selectively choose amongst his children (Soren and Claudia)

He cares too much about what he considers to be the Greater Good ("a bright future for humanity" / "his destiny will be the destruction of all of humanity") that he loses sight of who he wants it for (his children: "I would've asked you to choose the egg over my own life, if it came to it")

While Viren says much of this is for the greater good, it's also very clearly self-serving in his own quest for power ("You made the same choice you've always made: the one that gives you power"). And while Callum has pride, he does not have ego.

Because you have Callum. The revenge spell creates a dangerous weapon. He knows this, and has seen and fought against the harm it caused first hand. Claudia was faced with a similar choice in 2x07 ("If you must choose between Soren and egg, pick the egg") and even she hesitated. But Callum doesn't. He doesn't hesitate for a second to give Finnegrin what he wouldn't under torture and under principle, because "the second you see that elf girl in pain" ("the second it looks like you're in danger, I'm jumping in after you"), he loses himself.

Because Viren says, "I would do anything for you," and doesn't mean it, but Callum says, "I would do anything for you," and means it in its entirety.

While Callum and Viren have a lot of similarities, they will never be truly like each other because Callum will never be willing to sacrifice his loved ones in the same way. That is their core and most crucial difference.

However, that doesn't mean that - like Viren - Callum's core and choices cannot be exploited, and that the ones he makes will always work out for him, going into S6 in particular.

Because he loves his family. And that's it - and that's everything.

[happypotato48]

Century of Love EP 3-4 Unhinged Tangent Thoughts

Ok ok ok we're going fast baby! need to catch up so i can start doing this weekly.

Kanom krok! if any of ya'll ever coming to Thailand you better get this dessert. imo it's the best Thai street food. i'm not fond with the ones that has corn in them, but for real the green onions ones are heavenly.

Best advice in bl ever grandma. yeah fuck them hoes whose only judged you for your past mistakes and social status.

Tit-bit about thai nickname trend. people who only has two kids usually named their two kids to rhyme and/or in similar theme. for an example Nammon (holy water) Namhom (scented water.)

This is a BL alright :)

the three (generations) stooges. god i loved this family so much.

This is the sexiest scene in all of the recent Thai BLs. fight me, this man brush work got me more work up than butt naked sex scenes. anyways i'm calling dibs on this man he's my future husband and non of you bitches can have him!

Yeah as much it is ashamed for me to admit this but i can only count to ten in mandarin.

Gramp you already had sex dreams about this boy. also the heaven don't give no shit about two men getting married. it's the dinosaurs that you have to be worry about.

The OG Y girl Nu Wa striked agian.

One bad choice and your life is ruined. i related to that.

One class solidarity flashback and this man is ready down to clown, respect.

I know this scene is suppose to be funny but like i'm trash so... berate me more Daddy!

Dashing! so since the marriage equality bill passed i've been start thinking about my own hopefully one day will happen wedding. and yeahhhh i'm a basic bitch i probably going to wear black but after seeing this maybe red is not a bad choice. still need to find a man first tho.

What did i said! our girl Nu Wa is the OG!

Another bad choice to be make, that's life i guess.

And now to EP 4!

I wish i have the audacity of this boy. it's very inspiring to be this shameless.

Ok i love this homophobic grandpa. idk why but i don't feel bothered by a homophobic lead in this show contrast to other older Thai BLs.

Noooo you hurts my baby old man! although bloody noise Tao is kinda turn me on.

Food!!!

I don't care i support this boy very bad choice in saving his grandma. this baby and his grandma deserved the world.

My heart! ahhhhhhh!!!!

*incoherent noise* Gay love is indeed magical.

I will kill you motherfucker. classist pig.

+1 Point for show up for the wedding - 1 point for not beliving your friends outlandish BL nonsense.

Hell yeah, this shit alway bothered me in vempire show.

Danm this boy is jacked! i support (as long as they're not straving themselves) twink death for all BL actors.

This show is bonker lol i loved it.

Hi uncle Suchat.

Yesss finally some good god danm Thai BL. these two EPs is so good, i loved the silly bickering between our leads but also how the emotional stuff are very much not overshadowed by all of the sillyness. i'm very much invested in Wee's quest to save his grandma and the genuine budding romance that started to bubbly up cause of the mutual cares and empathy that the leads has for each other. i'm having a great time with this show and i can't wait for this week EPs.

[anotheroceanid]

Since Percy looks so much like Rhea, did it change anything in the WTHB universe during the first PJO books? What was Kronos thinking of Percy? And what about Luke? Since I don't think it's revelant in WTHB, if you have the time, could you explain a little bit the changes you think happened compared to the og books, please? :) I'd really like to read your take on it! :) Thank you, have a great day, and good luck with your studies! (Btw, your art is beautiful, I love Percy so much, and the triplets too!)

Some minor details that we will go through in the future. We actually have a chapter with Percy’s flashbacks coming up soon.

Kronos? Well, he’s a bit (very) crazy. So you can imagine… and we’ll have a glimpse of her relationship with Luke in the chapter I mentioned. She did had a one-summer-hero-worship-crush for him (before the whole trying to kill her thing), but their relationship was strictly platonic.

Some changes from the books are like…

Percabeth are just friends, they’re close as two can be but still just friends.

Percy is way closer to some gods (we’ll get to that soon, too), which eventually plays out for her to open her heart to Apollo.

She’s closer to some campers than Percy is in the books, like Silena, Clarisse, Pollux and Castor, etc…

The quest in Titan’s Curse played out a little differently, Zoe obviously wasn’t averted to Percy’s presence, but Chiron didn’t want Percy in that quest because he obviously saw the likeness she had to faded Queen Rhea. She went either way, just like in canon.

Her fight with Antaeus in the Battle of Labyrinth is a lot more traumatic (there’s a lot of hints of that in chapter 4).

Like, from the back of my head this is what I can remember right now. There’s some other changes, but you’ll see that in the story 💕

[casscainmainly]

Counting only current canon love interests (so no Steph from Future State, Erik from Shadow of the Batgirl, Tim Drake from Solo); no Harper Row either, since the flirting was just a little too vague.

Explanations for each character under the cut!

Tai'Darshan/Black Wind

A metahuman freedom fighter from Tarakstan. Cass' first love interest and the first person to call her Black Bat. Died when his powers spun out of control, RIP.

Conner Kent/Superboy

Clone of Superman, superhero and member of Young Justice. Develops a friendship with Cass that briefly blossoms into romance, though they decide to remain friends in the end. Cass' first kiss.

Javier

Waiter at a diner in Gotham. They have a mutual crush and start going out, but his romantic gestures keep triggering traumatic flashbacks for Cass. They presumably break up off-screen when she moves to Blud. Cass' first official relationship.

Coldcast

Member of Justice League Elite. While Cass is undercover as Kasumi, they grow close, to the point where she reveals her identity as Batgirl and kisses him. Their relationship doesn't develop after this run though. Cass' first one-sided crush.

Zero

Civilian in Bludhaven. They meet a couple of times and dance together at a party, and she kisses him before embarking on her quest to find Shiva. Died in the Chemo attack.

Sal

Student in Cass' ESL class. He has a crush on her and gives her his number, and Cass likens him to Zero, implying she does have feelings for him. However, she never follows up 'cause the plot takes over.

More in-depth summaries at https://casscain.fandom.com/wiki/Cassandra_Cain%27s_Romantic_Relationships.

[emma-o-yt]

Percy Jackson episode 8 ain't good either

Recently I got shouted at because I gave episode 8 of PJOTV a 4.5/10 when it’s the “best episode”. Well the entire show was a 5/10 tbh but I’ll explain why it’s not good, not as a response thread.

Mainly the climactic battle between Ares and Percy isn’t good. The choreography is mid, the cinematography too. You don’t feel how much danger Percy is in (like the books), how he doesn’t even have a millisecond to lose focus, just how much power Ares; swings have, how much he has to rely on the sea. The show has it more like Ares throws Percy around for a bit then stands completely still for a minute as Walker says his cringy dialogue then gets splashed by a bad cgi wave that does not feel powerful. It doesn’t help that all the other fights and monsters in the show lacked tension so Percy rising up to his biggest challenge after previous difficulties is lost.

Lance Reddick as Zeus is fine, he has the ability to make a bad script sound good and is the only god to exude power. But the deadline already passed and nothing happened even when we were promised the most destructive war in history.

The deeply nuanced relationship that Percy and Poseidon had is gone. Poseidon makes a dramatic appearance to save Percy and gives up his pride to surrender. The gods are petty, blue and orange moralled freaks with a nuclear bomb yet all of that is gone. Poseidon is unambiguously a great guy. That Medusa victimhood stuff feels laughable now as the gods are whitewashed to an absurd degree. The show even has Percy tell Luke “the gods are trying their best”.

Speaking of Luke, the show has barely established him as a friend. His training of Percy is relegated to a poorly placed flashback in this episode. Despite Percy knowing all the tropes and plot of TLT, he still confronts Luke alone in a forest when Luke can easily kill him with no witnesses. Luke for some reason duels him when that is out of character for him being a son of Hemes. The book has Luke explicitly state that he’s not Ares. I’m not sure why they tried to have Luke recruit Percy when he tried to have him thrown into Tarturus just a while ago. Annabeth is there too and I mean, her entire relationship with Luke has been nothing. Just Luke simping about her to Percy and I mean, we know Luke is a canonical hebephile and groomer but even the books had the grace to reveal that when Annabeth had at least gotten her menses. It’s just telling us that all of Annabeth’s vulnerability in the future about Luke will be gone because they hate black girls.

We also get a fake out reunion between Percy and Sally despite the show fleshing out their relationship more. Like it’s the entire reason we’re even on this quest and they just don’t do it.

Despite lambasting the movies for 14 years, Rick Riordan rips off Gabe’s death from there. Brava!

I don’t get what people are saying, this episode has all the problems of the previous episodes, it is not a blueprint for going forward.

[revserrayyu]

2.4 Xianzhou continuance thoughts [part 2]

**SPOILERS** for everything up until entering the Shacking Prison, so as always, read at your own discretion if you haven’t reached this part of the story yet. Fair warning that I may mention some things that happen inside the prison as well, but hopefully not much. Sorry not sorry in advance for me obsessing over Feixiao.

As much as I adore Jiaoqiu’s character, I’m currently debating on pulling for him. After testing him out a bit inside the Shacking Prison, I realized I don’t really have a team that would suit him best? Of course I plan to pull for Acheron in the future but I might just hold off for now so I can save even more for Feixiao. I do hope these two and Moze have a good team synergy though. They seem like such a tight group and I’d love to use them all on a team one day.

Tee-hee, One Piece mention. Random, but I’m such a fan of Jiaoqiu’s fancy braid.

Noooo, I don’t like that her unknown medical issue can’t be healed! I mean, it’s not unheard of that Bailu pretty much said the same to Jingliu, about how bizarre it was and how there wasn’t much she could do to help. I don’t believe Feixiao to be mara-struck though, or at least I hope not. While this quest continued on the thought of her transforming into a Borisin came to mind a couple times but I have my doubts. I haven’t delved deep into any leaks about her lore so I can only speculate at this point. Even if those deaths in Penacony were fake, I don’t need any more to happen here, please.

Good boy!! Keep your promise! Heal this queen! I beg of you! I won’t lie, him being so dedicated to keeping his promise (which I’d love to hear the backstory of) to her sorta kinda flips a little switch off in my head saying “ship,” and I’m on board.

Been chatting about this a lot with others, but the question as to why Feixiao has no tail despite being a Foxian is interesting. I personally assumed that the lack of a tail was a result of some harsh battle where she got badly injured, but even with this brief flashback, it doesn’t appear that one is visible here either. Maybe she lost it before this fight? Or perhaps she never had one? Could not having a tail be the cause of her condition? Or was it really taken off from her? I haven’t a clue and it’s another reason why I’m so fascinated by her. Hopefully 2.5 sheds some light upon her past, or at least her character stories once she becomes playable.

Here’s another moment where the whole Borisin transformation idea popped into my head, especially after seeing how capable they are with shape shifting. Learning that the Foxians and Borisin share a common ancestor, the idea changed to Feixiao possibly being half and half? If so, then the condition she’s suffering from might be the Moon Rage? Similar to what we experience when fighting the Borisin down in the Shackling Prison. Add Bailu’s comment about “enjoy some tasty food” and how hungry Hoolay was too.. hmm. Doesn’t help he and Feixiao both have white fur. With how much the Foxians detest the Borisin, keeping this part of herself hidden would but ultimately stressful and probably taxing on her physical and mental health.

Moze is just.. so unironically funny. We have this heavy conversation happening and he chooses to cling to something so simple a food, which is fair. Food is always a good thing.

When Feixiao mentioned she was going to meet up with an old war friend, no alarms rang in my head telling me that it could be another Foxian that I enjoy, which is a shame but also wonderful because the surprise of her and Yukong being friends was worth it. 30 years might not seem like a long time for them, but it’s a decent chunk for people like us.

And yet so much has happened during those years for them. The time does throw me through a loop though.. I always imagined that Yukong lost Caiyi and gave up flying so much longer ago? Because then Qingni (Yukkong’s adopted daughter) couldn’t be much older than 30, right? Caiyi had just returned from maternity leave before she lost her life and Qingni never even knew of her real parents until the events of Yukong’s companion mission. I dunno, I’m just surprised. I definitely thought the daughter was older than that and the tragic loss in Yukong’s life happened ages ago.

Everyone give your utmost praise to Jiaoqiu right now for keeping our gorgeous general alive!

For real though, what on earth even happened to Jingliu and Luocha? like they both showed up in the Shackling Prison at the end of the main Xianzhou story alongside Jing Yuan, but stuff also happened in Jingliu’s companion quest at Scalegorge Waterscape where Luocha was sent away with some Cloud Knights before Jingliu’s fight with Blade where the quest just sorta ends there afterwards. My memory is terrible and I’m not entirely sure which order these events play out, but whatever they’re up to, they’ve been awfully quiet. With how often Jingliu’s name is brought up later on, it gives me small hopes that she could return in the later half of the story. Wouldn’t that be nice to see her take down Hoolay again?

Poor Jing Yuan can’t catch a break with these accusations. This entire quest also feels like the first time I’m hearing so much of this Marshal, but I’m certain it’s just my memory failing me. The main story of the Xianzhou wasn’t my favorite mission out of the bunch, but I am enjoying this one, surprisingly.

I do love the bond these women share with each other. Yukong asks about the Alliance’s plan regarding Jing Yuan and Feixiao graciously provides answers knowing that Yukong can keep a secret. Respect! You love to see it!

Suddenly, the Prisoner of Deep Confinement relic set makes sense to me. I never really took the time to look into the details considering how little DOT units I actively use, but it’s pretty cool to see where the inspiration for it came from and it actually being worn like this.

Now when “Whistling Flames” was mentioned, I first thought of that ghost ship Yukong saw at Fyxestroll Garden for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, but after some light searching, it’s apparently the guild Tingyun was part of?

It sweet to know that Yukong still hasn’t given up searching for clues about Tingyun might actually alive, but if Ruan Mei somehow found Tingyun first, I dunno if I should be relieved or concerned considering our crazy scientist had a habit of.. experimenting.

With how much chatter the Wardance received from trailers and livestreams, I’m honestly shocked that there isn’t much about it happening in the story? It may be because I’m hyperfixating on Feixiao and everything else much more, but my interest isn’t nearly as piqued as I thought it would be. I haven’t done that one side quest revolving around March so I assume there’s more to it there, but so far her sword training arc seems more of a background story. I did find it cute how both her masters gave her gifts at the start, with Yunli providing her new outfit and Yanqing crafting the swords, of course.

Yo, generals! Come pick up your kids! They’re still arguing about nonsense!

And you’re both adorable with your pink hair. Now be friends!

I have a sneaking suspicion that this man could very well poison someone if he wanted to.

I don’t remember much about this brief scene.. something about Yanqing’s doubts and the obstacles he faces or whatever, but it was pretty.

Moving a highly dangerous criminal out of prison to somewhere else? Surely nothing will go wrong! And definitely not right before you make your own move either! That would be crazy.

To no ones surprise, things do eventually take a turn for the worst, but that’s all to be discussed next, so have this, because why not:

Because I clearly haven’t obsessed over her enough already. No way.

[questfriendspodcast]

We've made Snapoas. We've made Putza on the Ritz. What Quest Friends recipe will we make next?

This isn't rhetorical. I genuinely don't know, because I don't write the recipes, Hallie and Maya do. -Kyle

[nikoteani]

So I just finished relistening to Daemon AU…

…And there was something that stuck out to me that I didn’t really notice last time! Which was Tom saying that he wants an animated GIF of Xoc in a tumbleweed. So… I went ahead and made that.

Disclaimer: I’ve never drawn a tumbleweed before, so this might not be the best

@questfriendspodcast

[twig-tea]

Thoughts on Love for Love's Sake before the last 2 episodes air

Going into the finale, rather than making guesses, I'm just going to lay out some facts that we know, some of my own observations and assumptions, and capture my out-standing questions.

They showed in one of the flashbacks that the mysterious "sunbae" (who MyungHa confirmed he's forgotten outside of the flashbacks when he was looking at his notebook) had him filling out a questionnaire about what is happiness;

and the mini-missions are written as answers to questions in (as MyungHa confirmed) his own writing.

So I think the missions are ones that MyungHa accidentally set for himself while he was drunk. The ones we've seen so far:

Like-minded friends/companions

Lack of insecurity/uncertainty

To be understood/known

And the game designer has turned these into actionable side quests for MyungHa, ostensibly so that MyungHa learns to work at trying to achieve happiness.

But it strikes me that the measures for "success" are not very accurate to actual results.

For example, raising 3 mllion won won't actually prevent YeoWoon from experiencing anxiety or living in uncertainty. And gaining 100,000 followers on instagram certainly doesn't equate to being known or understood, not in the way it sounds like it was probably meant when it was written.

And this is validated by young YeoWoon who has a very specific picture of his family being intact when wishing for happiness:

The game, meanwhile, is destabilizing as MyungHa successfully makes changes to the original story that align, theoretically, with 'making YeoWoon happy', but deviate from the story.

And we know MyungHa does not believe in prescribed fate

So I have faith that MyungHa is going to find an alternative to wiping out all of his changes or seeing his grandma die or YeoWoon get hit by a car, because he's not going to accept the outcome as described. He's going to get YeoWoon a happy ending.

But beyond that, what is all of this about? Who is the sunbae who wrote the novel/game and why can't MyungHa remember him beyond the murky flashbacks?

Who is cheering MyungHa on towards a happy ending in his notes app or email or whatever that is?

And what about those weird other text messages about following folks who looked like you, breaking vases, etc? I've had a few wild theories, my favourite being that they're re-routed text messages from YeoWoon to his grandmother; but honestly them being either YeoWoon or a secret other real world person sending them to MyungHa in future is most likely.

Also who is KyungHoon's LDR? I'm going to clown theory this one as a sibling of SangWon, because he mentioned he's had feelings since childhood and they are childhood friends because their parents knew each other.

Last thing I'll say: There is clearly an element of getting MyungHa to fight for his own happiness in this story; I hope they'll continue the thread of having him learn to trust/rely on others, being brave for the present since you the future is uncertain, and letting go of a sense of responsibility for everyone and everything as part of that learning how to be happy.

I'm super stoked for this finale!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

I always felt the way Gabriel got the miraculouses (peacock and butterfly) was very… underwhelming, to certain extent

The idea of him hiring someone to find them and going on a epic quest is kinda good, but I also expected something more. What if Gabriel hired someone very dangerous like a kind of Evil organization which wanted to exploit the power of the miraculouses or at least a evil organization which only got the grasp of the miraculous after making a deal with the agreste since they promised a lot of money, and at the end they saw the great powers of the miraculous and said “maybe I want more for this deal”, Nathalie could still be the ones who helped find them like a retired member of said organization. Imagine if after Gabriel was defeated in like season 3, the leader of said organization appeared asking for the miraculouses since he’s deal with Gabriel was to get Akumas to make weapons with in exchange of keeping the secret of Gabriel having the miraculouses, and when the villain arrives he takes Gabriel’s place has the ‘big bad’ by changing the Akumas with Robots or something similar. It would connect with the past events, making it feel like the universe is more grounded and actions have consequences (I always love when details which could be look over like “how did this war between humans and monsters start?” Get fleshed out to explain a future threat like “oh it was the fault of this man which manipulated both sides so he could gain ultimate power”, but miraculous always takes this concepts like the ‘what destroyed the order of the guardians’ or ‘what broke the peacock’ and then proceeds to give the most simple and boring answer to return to the status quo)

But something so crucial has “the way Gabriel found the miraculouses” feels very unimportant, that adds nothing to Nathalie’s character, Heck it even makes her even less interesting to me.

I always saw this small parallel between Marinette and Nathalie (fell in love with this rich boy and did everything for them in blind love) and then it results the way Nathalie and Gabriel meet was when Gabriel was married and searching for magical jewels to impregnate he’s wife. Why Nathalie fell in love with Gabriel? I always thought they were childhood friends to parallel Adrien’s and Marinette’s relationship in earlier seasons, but current seasons make Nathalie slightly interesting and deep, but kinda take away what kinda made me interest even in the slightest on the character, specially when Gabriel became a Abusive father all of the sudden which turned their relationship also suddenly into the joker and Harley Quinn and just because she surpassed the Harley Quinn syndrome doesn’t mean she became more of a endearing character (mainly because she didn’t do much or actually tried to stop Gabriel outside of a couple scenes which didn’t actually add nothing to the plot), specially since the appeal to me was how Gabriel didn’t want Nathalie to risk herself, a lot of people say Gabriel was abusive but at first (before Gabriel became a psycho) Nathalie did brought herself a lot of pain when Gabriel openly asked her not to do that (heck, 70% of the time she was Mayura is because of her own choice against Gabriel’s wishes. Until suddenly Gabriel stopped acting like a character with deep who cared for her like showed before, and actually asked her to use it which completely contradicts heroes day part 2. So this ’abusive to Nathalie’ Gabriel was a mix of character assassination for both)

I just feel how Nathalie wasn’t handled well, and the way Gabriel got the miraculouses wasn’t very climatic or even interesting since we don’t even know very well how Gabriel even discovered the existence of this jewels

I don't really expect a big flashback episode, but if this backstory is something you're using to build the entire show's conflict on, I'd at least expect more than "Kid Fu broke the Peacock Miraculous, lost it and the Butterfly, and then they were found by Gabriel and Nathalie a long time later".

Then again, this is the same show that decided to put the scene showing why Gabriel decided to become Hawkmoth in the video game of all things. Believe me, when I get the time to cover that, I'll have a lot to say about that decision.

[spicyicymeloncat]

Guys Morro mini series where:

It starts when Morro has recently left the monastery but it’s presented as the usual kid hero goes on fun and wacky adventures trope, and a first time viewer would not even know Morro’s backstory yet.

Morro is just a chipper and quirky kid protagonist (like lmk’s mk, or adventure time’s Finn), who has set out on a journey to prove he can become a real hero, he makes a few friends, goes on crazy adventures in Ninjago, and he has mysterious wind powers of origins he refuses to elaborate on, but they give him an edge over others.

It’s a monster of the week kind of show which gradually develops its cast over time and vaguely hints at any deeper overarching plot, with the occasional episode that includes a dramatic flashback of the monastery.

The first season finale could maybe include Chen as the main villain who’s shady trading and manipulations being foreshadowed throughout the season, and Chen specifically wants to capture Morro for his powers. Morro and potential friends defeat/escape Chen eventually but not before acquiring some second act trauma (well actually it’s just the start of unveiling Morro’s repressed issues), and sowing the seeds for s2. Maybe Clouse had some future seeing spell and Morro got a glimpse of his destiny.

S2 becomes much more serialised, the plot amps up as Morro searches to uncover who he is, and for a way to change destiny. Perhaps some big evil apocalypse is foreshadowed and Morro and his friends embark on a perilous quest to prevent it. Perhaps they find all the pieces to start some big evil apocalypse and… you can’t be a hero if you have no evil to fight. Morro tries to stop, not the end of the world, but the end of his world by desperately trying to change his fate, without realising he’s stuck in a self fulfilling prophecy. Things ramp up into uncovering that this apocalypse was just some hoax made by some lesser villain, maybe a young ronin or something, and it’s quickly taken care off and the season seems to end on a fairly normal, victorious note.

And then the next episode, inexplicably Morro’s is at the caves of despair, with a map he acquired throughout the hunt for the apocalypse. Again, without any villains there’s no need for heroes. With that, Morro enters the caves. The rest of the episode is then just a flashback of Morro’s life at the monastery, ending where the mini series began.