#they're so good at conflict resolution you guys

[astriiformes]

Me, gritting my teeth as I do my best to ignore the fact that I have been battling my own brain particularly intensely (a mental health crisis that is ongoing, due to life circumstances that cannot be changed) and the many other responsibilities that have been stressing me out as of late so I can instead throw myself into the middle of a complex, inflammatory conflict between two groups I care about that is threatening to have a horrific amount of emotional collateral in part due to the fact that no one else has been willing to step up as a mediator: Wow, just like in Pentiment

[hypewinter]

3 HC/AU Prompt Thingy (3)

1). Box Ghost hears he was powerful and feared I'm the Dan timeline, gets ripped

2). Jason, as a reverent can hit ectoplasm ghosts

3). Guys Night Out (choose whatever ghosts you want)

(I love making these and your the only one who writes for them, :))

Ok hear me out: Full DILF box ghost. Don't scroll away and just give me a second of your time ok?

Boxy gets swoll. Real swoll. His gimmick might still be dumb but now he's so strong that no one dares to point that out anymore. That being said, he is still the best dad ever to Boxed Lunch. I'm talking about helping her tie her shoes, being a willing participant in her tea parties, tucking her in at night, the works. He's such a good father that when Boxed Lunch asks for a super rare Orphan toy that was only ever distributed in Gotham, he immediately agrees to get it for her.

Johnny 13 hears about Box Ghost's little outing and invites himself along as he wants to get Kitty some new jewelry to make up for their last fight. Thus begins a wild night for Boxy and Johnny as they both have a heart to heart (now that Johnny 13 can't make fun of him for fear of being punted through a wall) plus they even bond over how much they love the women in their lives.

All is going well. The boys have done some fun stuff around the city, gotten up to a little mischief, and even picked up Johnny's apology jewelry. The only thing left is Boxed Lunch's toy. As they're scouring an abandoned warehouse full of discontinued toys that's when Jason drops it. He'd been getting reports of strange occurrences all night from his men and he'd finally been able to track it down to this warehouse. Of all the things Jason anticipated, it was not two weird looking metas going through boxes. But nevertheless he has a job to do.

He aims his gun at the two metas and demands they step away from the boxes. They don't. Why would they? They're ghosts, this human can't hurt them. Sure enough when Jason eventually fires at their knees after a couple of warning shots, the rubber bullets go right through. Jason is shocked to say the least. And now his mind is whirring a mile a minute trying to figure out how those two just did that. Meta powers? Hidden tech? How is he going to deal with this? He doesn't want to go through the embarrassment of calling for backup.

Johnny 13 on the other hand, is pretty peeved this guy won't leave them alone. He's ruining their night out! So he decides to scare him. Maybe that will make him leave. So Johnny gets right up in Jason's fac- er mask and lets out a pretty impressive ghostly howl if he does say so himself. Except instead of running away, Jason instinctively punches him. In the nose. And it hurts. A lot.

So now Johnny is reeling in pain, Jason realizes he can take care of these guys the old fashioned way and Boxy has finally found the Orphan toy. "Oh no!" I hear you say. "The fight of the century between Boxy and Jason is about to go down!" Actually no. Not really.

Box Ghost has been teaching Boxed Lunch about conflict resolution recently and he is not about to let his actions contradict his words. So he explains the situation to Jason. Jason for his part is a little miffed but understanding. You're just trying to be a good father. I get it. Besides these toys are just gonna collect dust in here anyways. Oh but you do have to return the jewelry. *Sad (and pained) Johnny 13 noises*

Jason kinda feels bad for the whole, punching Johnny in the nose thing (even though it was totally his fault) so he offers to take them to find non-stolen jewelry for Kitty instead. Thus the boys night continues! Now with extra shenanigans.

[neptunes-sol-angel]

Pick the picture(s) that you're drawn to the most, then scroll for their corresponding message about what your soul tribe will love about you.

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Pile One

The traits that your soul tribe will love the most about you, are the aspects of yourself that people may have told you were "too big". You could be reduced to someone who's "very dramatic" or overly sensitive, but I'm seeing that in the eyes of your soul tribe, you're very adorable and witty. Emotionally, they're going to make sure that you're taken seriously, by being there for you when you need comfort and support for the things that you worry or are upset about, while still offering balance in this relationship by not infantilizing you. What's really sticking out to me is that that they're not going to be annoyed by you being happy. I know that sounds weird, but to break this down a bit, you could generally be someone who has a lot to offer, enchantingly attractive, but with no control over who it is that you're attracting. You could have experienced a lot of people that may have tried to dim your light by being pestered by your humanely traits like being excited for something, being social and knowing how to communicate, getting compliments on your appearance and talents, and maybe even just breathing (I'm not kidding, people are weird like that) but your soul tribe will be the backbone in the kind of support that you need around you, they're not going to be intimidated or jealous by your vibrant personality and the attention that you get in life, they're going to celebrate you and genuinely treat you like you're someone they want to be around. They'll always be there to help you win and applaud you for what you achieve, but they'll also love you enough to hold you accountable for things or to assist in unpacking conflicts whether it be external or internally. It will feel like a real family, where this isn't any anxiety, and that interacting with each other is like this flow of peaceful and orderly harmony. You won't have to hide from them at all.

Pile Two

Your soul tribe will tremendously appreciate your fierceness. I'm not talking about loving your grit, assertiveness, and darkness when it benefits them, they will love you whole as you are because the key theme in the foundation and lesson of your relationship is duplexity. You have the gift of helping people find their way back out of rock bottom both physically and mentally. Your insight is something fresh and unique that they don't get from anyone else, and it's usually always the missing piece that helps shift their entire mood and focus in an ironically positive way, no matter how how screwed up things may look for them. They love how you have their back and in return you'll finally have people who will reciprocate that instead of getting scared and ditching you when things are rough or when they can't gain anything from your hurdles. They'll love your humor and how you inspire them to have more confidence to not let people walk over them. Interchangeably, you use your imperfections to elevate each other in a way that's both equal. Another interesting trait about what the good qualities of you and your soul tribe, is how you don't keep each other stuck, even if you guys reach a disagreement, you will always find a healthy and peaceful resolution that will move you guys forward and stronger as a team.

Pile Three

What your soul tribe will love about you are the traits about yourself that you may feel are not identifiable. You could feel like because of your lack of experience in life that you have a dull personality, but your soul tribe will see you as someone with so much depth and will happily and effortlessly uncover your layers and help you discover your inner mogul. Almost every outing that you guys have will be out of the ordinary, or you will find yourself to be not as mundane as you thought. You could notice how you tense you've been in your day to day activities once you start hanging out with your soul tribe. You're going to feel more relaxed and no longer have this idea that you have to give in to the pressure that people put on to you. You could have had a lot of obsessions with perfectionism, and they want to release you from that. You could have had this attachment to restricting yourself because you feel that it's more likeable or acceptable to be this way in fear of being judged for letting loose, but your soul tribe is going to love what they see on the other side of when you finally just let go and allow yourself to be complex as you are instead of just one way.

[sunshinemoonrx]

I think how successful dragon ball was at rewriting its entire genre in its image obscures just how much of a sports manga it is. or practically a game manga like yu-gi-oh. you know, where the entire arc of the universe bends absurdly towards the characters' past-time.

You might think that doesn't count when their past-time is "fighting", which is a standard way of resolving conflicts that have escalated beyond verbal or legal resolution, but this vastly undersells just how many bullshit magical problem-solving resources the heroes of DBZ have at their disposal, including but not limited to:

Spaceships, time travel, flight, teleportation, the ability to teleport other people by touching them, a magical dragon who can grant you wishes once a year, a backup magical dragon that can also do this (who is on another planet...that they can teleport to), pocket-sized capsules that can contain temporarily-shrunken objects up to the size of a house, a watch that can shrink you, telepathy, a deity on-call (via telepathy) who can see everything in the universe, beans that heal all your wounds, multiple friends who can also heal all your wounds, a room where time passes at 1/365 the normal rate, shadow clones, laser beams that can destroy planets, friends in the afterlife who might let you visit the world of the living again for 24 hours as a favour...

...like, my point is, you give this to most adventure heroes and they're like sweet, tools to solve problems with. But these guys are so beautifully devoted to their sport that they're just like sweet, tools to turn every problem into something I can resolve with an MMA bout.

A Terminator-style warning from the future that robots will take over the planet in three years? Should we use magic to find the scientist and talk him out of it, or failing that just ice him? Bulma actually suggests this, but of course not. Then we wouldn't get to do karate at a robot! We'll just spend three years doing really good workouts so we can spin-kick the T-1000 through a wall, duh.

A magical demon who could devastate the universe is unsealed by a wizard? Should we employ some kind of counter-magic to seal or destroy it? Use teleportation to put it inside a star or something? After all it very specifically has the power "made of magic regenerating rubber, punches literally do not affect it"--ahh, I see, you're using teleportation to lure it to an empty planet so you can punch it harder, using your sway over life and death to resurrect a second guy to punch it alongside you, and then using the magical wish-granting dragon to make you not tired anymore so you can do the ultimate martial arts move (giant ball that kills you).

As I hope my tone conveys, I'm not saying this like it's a problem with the series. I just think it's an underappreciated part of the appeal that this shit is exactly like yami yugi always finding himself in situations where the fate of the world Must be decided via trading card game.

The lads just love sports so much.

[txttletale]

what is it that makes an episode top 10 bad for you? i ask cuz quite a few on your list don't even click my radar, they're just bland rather than infuriating (for me)

rosa -- spectacularly ill-conceived plot that contrives to have the doctor and friends sit on the rosa parks bus (!). hinges the stakes of its plot on a deeply minimizing and racist view of rosa parks and the civil rights movement

arachnids in the uk -- overwhelming reaction was 'why am i watching this'. episode that made me give up on chibnall who. all the characters potter around a hotel for forty five minutes before realizing that the problem goes away on its own and everything we've watched has been a huge waste of time

spyfall part 2 -- inexplicably makes it so that the only historical figure friends the doctor has to mindwipe are women, throwing s9 and s10's much-deserved critique of nuwho's mindwiping habit in the trash. the first master of colour is a nazi. most racist moment in the show's history. huge letdown of any potential spyfall part 1 indicated

the battle of ranskoor av kolos -- boring. bad. there's no battle and ranskoor av kolos doesnt mean anything. characters walk around with paper-thin motivations. central conflict is stupid and is resolved in a stupid way. sub-childlike understanding of its own morality

the timeless children -- i once heard this episode described as 'the master spends 45 minutes forcing the doctor to look at his powerpoint presentation' and yeah

victory of the daleks -- nothing but nauseating british jingoism and churchill worship until the new daleks get revealed with a bunch of fanfare only to spend their debut story standing perfectly still in color coded order. then amy saves the world because she's Woman and knows about Romance

the crimson horror -- doctor-lite episode about my least favourite recurring comic relief characters until the doctor shows up at which point he's a sex pest

the bells of st. john -- what if phones but too much

a good man goes to war -- like a bad version of journeys end where instead of beloved characters teaming up to save the day its a pirate wh oshowed up in one episode, a blue guy who sold river a gun or something once, and three guys we've never seen before, showing up to resolve the unbearalbe amy pregnancy plot with a stupid twist that goes nowhere and means nothing

name of the doctor -- after half an hour of Going to a Place clara steps into a hole. a lame resolution to the lamest arc in the show's history. i dont care abouyt anything that happens. at this point we're so buried in incomprehensible moffat nonsense that every other line in this episode is a reference to some ongoing arc words or another. like shut up about trenzalore i dont caaaare

[the-elusive-soleil]

Some random headcanons I have for a Silm modern AU:

Feanor is the son of Finwe's ex-wife Miriel (they split more or less amicably due to the more kids/no more kids thing). There are more resources to help deal with this than in canon Valinor, so while Feanor isn't happy about the Indis and half-siblings situation, he's able to get to a place of mostly getting along with them.

Finwe made his money in investments--Aule Industries, Elentari Electric Co., Sulimo Aerospace...you get the picture.

Feanor could have gone to work for Aule Industries, but instead he struck out on his own as an inventor, and holds patents for several now-common items.

He's married to the famous sculptor Nerdanel. They've had their disagreements, but they're in couples therapy and working on sticking together.

Fingolfin is a state-level politician. He and Feanor mostly sort of get along provided everyone avoids certain topics.

Maedhros works for Fingolfin as a political fixer, which he is very very good at. Feanor has mostly made his peace with this.

Maglor went through a classical musical education, but eventually his hobby band Noldolante took off to the point that he went full-time with it. He's the lead vocalist and songwriter. Currently thinking their sound would be something like heavy metal but with the instruments and volume of acoustic folk.

Their musical rivals are the folk duo Nightingale Shadow, the brother-sister pair Daeron and Luthien Gray.

Celegorm got a job through his grandfather's friend Orome Aldaron at Aldaron LLC, an outdoor gear company resembling Cabela's, as a spokesperson/sponsored rep type of thing. He has a huge dog and tells a different story every time someone asks where he got him, and keeps trying to ask out Luthien from Nightingale Shadow (which drives Maglor nuts).

Caranthir is a stocks trader and financial advisor, which has made him wealthy enough on his own to rival Finwe. At some point, he announces his engagement (despite no one in the family knowing he was dating) to a small business owner named Haleth who takes none of his guff.

Curufin works with his father as a fellow inventor. He married an epidemiologist several years back, and they have a small son, Tyelpe, who is already being brought to an unbelievable number of "take your child to work" days. Everyone's bracing for the mad science to reach critical mass once Tyelpe's old enough to wield a screwdriver.

Amrod and Amras are still in high school and haven't confirmed a path in life yet, although they do quite a bit of Celegorm's social media stuff with him.

Fingon used to work with his father and Maedhros, but eventually decided that politics wasn't for him, and now runs a nonprofit to aid disaster victims. He and Maedhros frequently tease each other about how exhausted their respective careers are making them.

Turgon works in some capacity for the city government, which he claims is the level of politics where things actually get done.

Aredhel also works for Aldaron LLC as a spokesperson; sometimes she and Celegorm will collaborate on posts.

At some point, she starts a relationship with a guy named Eol, but leaves him when he turns out to be a controlling jerk. Post-breakup, she finds out she's pregnant, and ends up keeping the baby because Eol doesn't want her to do so and make him pay child support. She turns out a better mom than anyone expects.

Finarfin is some kind of lawyer working in conflict resolution and mediation. He is very good at it; he ought to be, given all the practice he's had.

Finrod owns an ethically sourced jewelry company. His brother Orodreth works for him.

Aegnor and Angrod are college students; Angrod is undeclared, but Aegnor is studying anthropology.

Artanis is in high school and the most politically minded teenager ever. She's in student government and on the debate team and Model UN, you name it. The family used to joke that someday she was going to rule a small country. They still say it, but it's become less and less of a joke over the years.

[ladyluscinia]

I am of course hugely fond of the crew bonding into a stronger community and embracing Izzy as one of them. Love that they are demonstrating their conflict resolution skills and mutual support, and love even more that they do the main foundational work in the absence of the captains - first during the breakup boat era with the trauma bonding and saving Izzy's life in direct defiance of Edward, and then resolving their divides and trust issues after chasing off Edward (and by extension Stede) in 2x04.

It is SO good to see them becoming a unified front who can push back against the bosses (especially since per comedy rules Stede & Edward are probably not going to stop being self-centered no matter how democratic the ship gets 😆).

But I will say it's still very funny when people give them credit for overcoming their strong negative feelings for Izzy, because like...

I don't think those were really a factor, guys 🤣🤣🤣

The show has thrown a bit of a complication into my theory of socially acceptable mutiny in S2 (which I will probably look at more once the season wraps up), but that's mostly because the rules of "how piracy functions" are not a priority for canon to establish. I'm threading together jokes into a watsonian social system because that's fun for me. 🤷‍♀️ So even though my particular explanation is going to have to adapt, the underlying joke still rings true - the mutiny against Izzy is a disproportionately violent response to what he's doing.

Or to put it another way... Yeah, they try to murder him because they don't want to work for him (or, as several of them say, for Black Pete 😆), but it's not really anything personal. Just business.

Meaning that once he's removed from captaincy, he's back to just being a coworker who's kind of a dick. They're not friends leaving S1, but they probably don't hate him?

(Also like the Navy Plot is a lot of things but it was not a reckless endangering of the crew.)

Plus in Izzy's mind, the vast majority of his side of the conflict in S1 is rooted in either 1) Edward leaving him in an ambiguous position of non-authority by refraining from acting as Captain of the ship despite the fact everyone thinks Edward has captured them until 1x07 at least, or 2) Izzy's fairly reasonable belief that all of these guys are going to die when Stede does and are particularly stupid prisoners, not fellow crew.

Both of those problems resolve completely by 1x10. Which in retrospect probably explains a lot of the apparent Izzy-crew relationship shift between S1 and S2 for anyone still not quite clicking on that front.

(Seriously, if you like Izzy in S2 but don't get what changed from S1, try watching S1 again with the things they've made canon about his personality in mind - being in love with Edward, etc. There was a coherent subtext and it's very fun to watch.)

It's really not surprising at all that lingering animosity with Izzy isn't a problem after his short lived time in charge 🤷‍♀️ or that he gets folded into the union. After everything they've been through with Edward they feel he's not on Management's side, and he does advocate for the crew once they are, you know, actually crew.

[fanfic-inator795]

Thinking about Spacecation again, and while I can see some fans being a bit annoyed with how they 'both-sides' the conflict given that what Cricket did was objectively far worse than what Bill did, I personally feel like the movie did a good job with the conflict's climax and ultimate resolution, making the perspective of both characters clear as well as making both their arcs pretty satisfying imo.

For one, I like how clear it is that Cricket really is doing what he's doing for his family's sake, not just for his own, as right before he goes to Gwendolyn, he sees the ad for the Space Hotel and specifically focuses on the father and son in the ad having fun. That right there just tells me that, for as wrong as Cricket was with his approach, he really was genuine in all his intentions.

Furthermore, given all the crazy stuff that the Greens have faced, I can't really blame Cricket - a ten-year old boy, mind you - for fully believing that his family can handle anything and that space won't be as dangerous as everyone says. It's that little kid mindset of feeling like you're invincible and not really thinking about - hell, not being able to even fully imagine - the worst case scenario until it's staring you in the face.

That's why we see him fully accept without any sort of hesitation that he was in the wrong after the final silo explodes and his family is separated - the impossible just happened, and all the warnings people were trying to give him have finally come to fruition. This is also why we see Cricket be the first to apologize, and be the first one to step up and risk his own life for everyone else's, inspiring Bill to do the same.

Speaking of Bill's side of things, while his choice to do a 'safe and boring' roadtrip wasn't necessarily the worst, his failure came with not trying to compromise their plans any and not bothering to explain to Cricket WHY he felt all Cricket's plans were irresponsible and dangerous. Bill, for as much as I love the guy, was indeed being very dismissive and, even if he didn't want to compromise any on the trip plans themselves (which, yeah, is his right as the parent, even if it's still not the best approach), he still should have had an actual talk with Cricket instead of simply saying "no, these are bad ideas, we're not doing them".

I feel like this was a good lesson for Bill - and any parent, really - to learn, as kids are not mind readers. If they don't fully understand why you're saying no to something, ultimately they're just going to assume that you're only saying no because they're the ones suggesting it - as we see with Cricket when he accuses Bill of not just liking his ideas but not liking him. And yeah, given that in the show Bill can occasionally play favorites without realizing it and even assumes the worst out of Cricket at times, Cricket's accusation doesn't just come out of nowhere.

But of course, that makes Bill's willingness to fully acknowledge what he did wrong all the more heartwarming, as just like with Cricket, the moment he fully realizes what his actions caused, he regrets them fully. Bill loves his boy, and it makes sense that this love would push him into being more flexible and 'reckless' as his prime motivation is to protect his family, no matter what. It kind of reminds me of Chipocalypse Now, where for as much as Bill naturally tends to flee and hide, it's ultimately his kids who motivate him to actually take a risk and fight back. (note how he tells Cricket not to throw himself at things at the start of the film, yet Bill's the one who throws himself into the trash-teroid debris when he has to protect Cricket).

Sorry this got so long and rambly, but while Spacecation maybe isn't the BEST thing that BCGs has ever done (personally I rank it A-tier while stuff like Chipocalypse Now and the two Christmas specials are S-tier), I really admire how it and the conflict within it were ultimately handled, as it really does feel like a natural conclusion to a lot of things the series was building up to as well as an incredibly solid standalone story in its own right.

[prince-liest]

Your last 666 series installment is the best thing that happened to me. Its full of gore, somehow fluffy and wait-.. do I finally see some FRICKING COMUNICATION between the two idiots!?!?!

Ngl, Vox's 'Alastor not being able to love' statement hurt my soul. Your writing is brilliant and and let's just see what ending ya wro-..O MA LORD IS THAT VAL'S LOVE POTION!?!?!?!?

Now I need to know what's next!!!! And VOX I SWEAR IF U USE THIS SITUATION IN ANY WAY IM GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE.

This series is a blast♡ love it!♡ makes me weirdly passionate and excited hah!

Some communication, and some communication failure, hahaha. They're going to be talking a lot more in the next one, actually, because I meant to write some NSFW and they had to go and attempt a healthy conversation instead. What can you do.

Thank you so much, I'm delighted that you're enjoying! :D

And: Way more anon asks about the latest 666 getting answered under the cut! <3 I combined a bunch from the last couple of days.

prince, I'm going insane over the latest fic. so we know from Alastor's inner monologue that he knows the roofie was an accident, but considering the super stressful situation, the fact that Vox was the one to ask for a kiss and the fact that Alastor accused him of wanting instead of loving him not a few minutes ago…. makes me wonder if Vox might not be at least a little worred that Alastor might think it was on purpose <3 gonna be rotating this in my head for the foreseeable future - ✨

I am so glad that these things are on y'all's minds, hahaha. Because you can bet they are on mine. >:D And THANK YOU, very pleased to be dragging everyone down into insanity with me.

“Should I stitch together the scars your teeth left in me in a mirror of my own signature on your body.” Fucking. POETRY. 🐈‍⬛

I am always so happy when I write shit like this and instead of everyone pointing at me and going, "Look, what an EDGELORD!" the response is you people being VERY nice and leaning into the feelsy fun! 💛

holy moly ??? i love the new 666 addition aaaah 😭🙏 the trials and tribulations of feeling scorned and ghosted by a loser who confessed his love to you and the next time you see him he’s holding your LITERAL heart in his hands by alastor ! OMFG this was too good esp the part where vox is like “bro why do YOU CARE ?? i thought you didn’t love me huh?” and alastor is like well. maybe i.do. 😐 LIKE CMONN this really played out like some soap drama and i loved the neat details on resuscitative thoroctomy (learned a new word too so double bonus) the fact vel was on the line w her and val’s apparent surgeon for val’a little ‘incidents ??? GOLDEN I SAYY hope we see more of ur oc … 🫣🫣 btw ofc vox would love to an end an argument with a kiss OF FUCKING COURSE HE WOULD 😭 thank u sm for this chapter princeliest my dear <3 hope life is treating u well too !! -🦌

Vox is ahead of Alastor in terms of effective in-the-moment conflict resolution, but goddamn if he isn't fucked up in his own fun little ways. They're so not done with most of these issues, but at least they're on they're way to maybe be able to have a real conversation about them!

You know. If they chose to do that kind thing. Instead of whatever they will probably do instead.

Anyway, THANK YOU!! I had a great deal of fun writing this chapter and digging into some of the issues that have been slowly collecting underneath the surface of kinky radiostatic, so I'm happy you guys are enjoying as well!! :D

AS FOR MY OC... I WILL POST ABOUT THEM SOON. I LOVE THEM A LOT AND IT EXCITES ME THAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW MORE OF THEM. Tysm for asking Q^Q

Just read the new addition to the 666 verse, and inside of me are two wolves: The first is saying: Immaculate, artistry of the highest form. We finally get Alastor’s own confrontation with his vulnerability and him trying to figure out what exactly the relationship with Vox means to him. Cannot wait for how this all is going to develop. The other part of me: THE BREADCRUMBS WORKED THE MUSE IS WRITING!!! Followed by this image (since tumblr won’t let me attach it while being anonymous) https://i.redd.it/hx2shk642vs71.jpg -🕊️

LMAO THAT PIC. Amazing, flawless, thank you. The breadcrumbs DEFINITELY worked, please keep feeding. Digging into Alastor's shit is bringing me life and I'm happy to share it, hahaha. We're swinging even harder on the introspection in the next one!

As a sucker for medical gore and aroace angst, I lack the words to express my love and appreciation for your most recent installment of 666, but your writing of radiostatic's dynamic was captivating and proved to be such a lovely read as always! I loved that you touched on Alastor's relationships with the women around him as that has always been such an interesting aspect of his character to me! I never really put much thought into how Vox's apparent avoidance of Alastor in the show could mirror Alastor's disappearance, and now it will Not leave my mind. My heart hurts for these two dorks, super looking forward to chapter 2!

"Medical gore and aroace angst" should be the title of my memoir. Honestly, this series has ended up a lot more edgy-bloody than I expected it to, since I usually tend to prefer to portray my whump/angst/violence/etc in a much more roundabout way, but it's actually kinda tipped over into, like... part of the point is how banal it is, how beside the point. The upsetting heavy-hitting bits aren't the blood, they're everything else that goes on around it. Anyway, thank you so much! <3 I think your heart will find some relief in chapter two, haha, I hope you enjoy!!

Meanwhile alastor, completely convinced that there’s no situation where vox actually loves him and is happy with the way things are—either vox wants more and is going to start asking for more, or he doesn’t actually love him and just wants to have sex with him and thus either way he is a Liar. They’re so fucking bad at this. No one is capable of being the adult here. I think they need an auspitice.

It's really funny that you said that, because that is kind of exactly the role that [spoiler] ends up playing, though in a more roundabout way, hahaha. They certainly need someone to, like, get them to be having the same conversation with each other instead of two parallel ones. I think the fun thing about writing Alastor reacting to his own feelings is just how much his reaction can change based on how things are framed for him, and it leaves a lot of wiggle room for how differently I've ended up writing him reacting to the season 1 finale in 666 vs in Happily Ever After, and Other Shit Nepotism Can't Buy.

But, god, you really nailed the description of what Alastor is feeling. <3

Vox in the latest 666, my ENTIRE HEART. Literally nothing about how he read the situation was a bad take or a leap to conclusions, but alastor constantly says the opposite of what he means and refuses to admit vulnerability or friendship and what the hell else was vox meant to do with that, of course he backed off, they need to have this talk so badly

YES, PRECISELY! Like, I hope it came through that really neither of them was completely crazy to react the way they did! It's a result of how much of their communication has been nonverbal, implied, and talking around things - they'd been doing so well up until this point, but there's only so far that can take you before you start thinking that you're on the same page when really you're reading two completely different books! Thank you sm! <3

‘But I am capable,” Alastor says gently. “I love you very much.” Vox gapes up at him. “...I. Fuck you.” His voice is tight, strained. “I don’t fucking believe you.” Alastor feels his smile thin. “Well. That’s just dandy, then, isn’t it?”’ I AM NOT OK GOING FUCKING FERAL

Probably one of my favorite lines to write, ehehehe. THANK YOU ANONNNN <3 It's kinda interesting to see how differently some people read this. Some folks thought Alastor was saying it to hurt Vox (which is how Vox read it). Some folks thought it was true (how Alastor intended it). Some folks thought Alastor was trying to fit into the mold that he thought Vox wanted from him (how I intended it). All of them make sense as readings! >:)

[marzipanandminutiae]

re: your recent post about the Houthis and how you thought the free Palestine movement was all in agreement and specifically this paragraph -

"kind of makes me concerned that some people who say they're censuring Israel for the right reasons- ... -have something more sinister going on"

sadly, a whole fucking lot of them do not, in fact, care for Palestinians - or at the very least, not at much as they hate jews.

we have been talking and yelling and shouting about the amounts of rancid antisemitism overtaking the entire political spectrum, and it seems very few people listen to us. I'd like to add just a few posts that might make my point clear - took me about 3 minutes to find them

https://www.tumblr.com/spacelazarwolf/738972445267165184/people-call-you-a-zionist-because-you-dont-post

(people using (((Zionist))) to mean jew, and/or as a slur, and/or without knowing even the most basic definition, never mind the very different streams of thought regarding it)

https://www.tumblr.com/pauvrecamille/739139228538208256

("Hitler was a humanitarian" + Palestine flag -- which do you think the user actually believes? could they be trying to mask antisemitism as anti zionism?)

https://www.tumblr.com/rock-reblogs/739264338509053952/no-bc-you-are-so-right-for-this

(people taking a frat-boy-esqe stupid/dangerous act of digging a tunnel under a building and turning it into... that)

https://www.tumblr.com/mariacallous/738956988704292864

(a Palestinian man trying to pave the way for peace getting called a 'slimy collaborator' and a 'zionist' (derogatory), + not in this post, but there's also John Aziz, another Gazan advocating for a peaceful resolution, who got a shitton of death threats for saying hamas' mass rape is bad)

https://www.tumblr.com/noparlpf/738692836513431555/anti-zionism-is-not-antisemitism-and-im-gonna-say

(anti zionism and antisemitism are currently incredibly intertwined)

thank you for seeing that there's something wrong and pointing it out - a lot of people don't care enough to do that.

That is. All deeply horrifying. Pointing out misinformation is what I do, though, albeit usually about history.

And while I shouldn't have to say this in a post that's explicitly about antisemitism and the co-opting of concern for Palestine to promote it:

I do not support the Israeli government's current actions in Palestine. I think they are appalling. I think they're akin to responding to a murderer using a child as a shield by shooting the child point-blank, and that's unacceptable. This must stop. Palestinian people are being killed indiscriminately and the international community must stand up and say "no." The only thing with the word "Zion" in it that I understand well enough to have an opinion on it is Cotton Mather's "Ornaments of the Daughters of Zion" (1692, unrelated to the Levant or Judaism), but I know that killing innocents on this scale is wrong. I also think my own country, the US, should not be supplying Israel with weapons.

Clear? Hopefully so.

I'm not sure I'd agree with every view expressed by every person linked in this post, buyt that's no excuse for some of the treatment they're getting. Most of what I've seen in my orbit has been people expressing support for the Houthis- perhaps without realizing (gods, I hope so) that the Houthis are a violently antisemitic terrorist group with the slogan "a curse upon the Jews," and are currently attacking ships unrelated to Israel. I feel like some bigoted people are taking advantage of the compassion and outrage of others to lead them down really horrible ideological paths. There are some online activist types who are led more by Vibes than research, and that's a problem when a lot of misinformation seems to confirm what they're already feeling.

The Palestinian activist whose words you linked used a phrase that stands out to me: "resistance porn." That seems an apt term for people who want to assign Good Guys and Bad Guys in this conflict wholesale, rather than recognizing it as two pretty horrible leading groups- the Israeli government and Hamas -catching innocent civilians on both sides in the crossfire. This is not a YA dystopia novel. You cannot just hate every single person on or associated with one side here, or laud every single person on the other side as a bold freedom fighter.

It's just. Like. How the hell does this go so awry from the very noble, correct, and necessary goal of Stopping The Slaughter Of Innocent People? How do the monsters using people's compassion to advance hateful agendas sleep at night?

I don't know. I'm just reminded of the folks who care more about The RevolutionTM than making actual positive change right now, but with bonus antisemitism.

[hysteriaww]

Hi ! It's going to sound weird but....

How do you think Kai would have influenced Luke's personality if Luke actually won during the merge ?

I know Kai was stronger, but let's say Luke wins.

He was already pretty strong since he was able to break Liv out of the spell she was trying to do. He was stronger than his sister. He would have won if they were to do the merge. I don't exactly remember how powerful he was but I suppose he was fairly quite good with magic.

And magical powers aside, he has quite a strong personality. He's fed up with the Mystic Falls gang bullshit. He was not even that scared of Kai. I mean, he knew his brother was a freaking threat, but he did not hesitate to go on his own and do the merge with Kai. Even when Kai didn't want to do it Luke was like "Hey bitch, you scared I could win ?"

I don't think Luke really thought he could win or maybe he did, anyway he just wanted it to end. He wanted to project his sisters.

So, with Kai's personality inside of him, what would he be like ? I think that guy would at least find a way to end that Gemini tradition crap about the merge, and the lives of the whole coven linked to the leader.

Apart from that I don't know.

That would not be as fun as seeing Kai struggle with new emotions 🤣 but I want to see Luke being even more badass you know.

Yup, really long question sorry not sorry. X)

This is a very interesting question! Tho I have wondered what Jo would be like if she merged w Kai & won, I've never wondered about Luke until now... I think it could be a very compelling arc for him & the gemini coven. Here's what I think would happen! (I wrote a whole ass mini-fanfic in my answer lmfao):

Fresh after the merge: Luke would initially act & feel almost exactly like same old Luke, except maybe he'd rightfully be a bit more grim, traumatized and world-weary after defeating Kai. Liv & Jo would be concerned but he'd tell them not to worry bc he just needs some time to recover & leading the coven rn is more important than his mental health anyway (aka the FIRST Red Flag). Liv & Jo would disagree but let it go for now to avoid stressing him out.

First few months as leader: I think Luke's first order of business would be to undo the damage Joshua did as a terrible coven leader. That might mean overturning fucked up coven laws, etc. but Joshua doesn't like this, so he gets his supporters in the coven to back him & veto Luke's changes. Meanwhile, Luke's own coven support is growing bc I do believe he'd be a MUCH better leader than Joshua, so old man's resentment grows more. Eventually, it reaches a point where Luke feels boxed in like he can't make any real GOOD change bc of Joshua's puppets & THAT is when... the whispers of Kai's voice begin to awaken in Luke's mind. Uh-oh...

Conflict resolution 101: The part of Luke that's in control tries to be diplomatic about getting rid of Joshua's supporters but it just. doesn't. work. The assholes are FLUENT in gemini bureaucracy bc they've been around longer so they outmaneuver Luke constantly. That's when Kai begins suggesting some... less diplomatic solutions, including the idea that Joshua's supporters wouldn't be such a problem if JOSHUA was gone. Luke spends a long time rejecting this & literally warring with himself, so Liv & Jo are like "dude are u ok" and in a moment of weakness he admits his idea about taking joshua out. They're shocked, but after a sec, they're like "wait this is the same man who tried to off his own kids more than once. Uk what? yes lets do it." And suddenly all 3 (ahem, 4) Parker kids are plotting to put dad in a magical coma (hmm does that sound familiar? I wonder which sibling's idea this was...) so he can't influence his supporters anymore. And the siblings succeed! Joshua's out! but it becomes their lil secret, hidden from the coven...

A Good Ol' Frame Job: Lo and behold, Joshua's supporters still stay loyal to the man in a coma instead of Luke! Liv & Jo are like "it's fine luke, dad isn't gonna wake up so eventually they'll have no choice but to listen to you" but KAI isn't convinced... and neither is Luke. Diplomacy didn't work, sleeping beauty-ing joshua didn't work, so now he needs to play dirty. He doesn't jump to violence or anything - he simply frames a few of them for crimes they didn't commit. Snakey, but simple. Only problem is... Luke can't recall if this idea was his own, or Kai's...... bc they're both equally likely to have thought of it. Kai's influence is growing... So when Jo & Liv come to him like "wow crazy how those supporters got revealed as criminals right? That worked out conveniently," Luke goes w the safest option & says "haaa yea what a coincidence! no idea how that happened" ......and now he's lying to his sisters (Big Red Flag #2)

Calm before the storm: Now that joshua's remaining supporters (who haven't been framed) are very few, Luke doesn't face much resistance anymore & he actually succeeds at reforming a lot of fucked up gemini practices & making positive change. Maybe he even succeeds at eliminating the merge altogether! Luke's flying high, believing he's a true protector of the geminis & the best leader and savior (which, to be fair, he rly is better than the shitty leaders before him)! Kai's influence here is very sneaky bc some of Luke's old sense of humor comes back to him, with some new hints of cockiness that weren't there before. Luke's golden boy charm & Kai's cockiness creates the perfect politician cocktail & liv and jo appreciate the good he's done for geminis but also lowkey resent the big-headed self-important persona he's growing.

But THEN there's trouble in paradise: joshua's leftover supporters find a piece of evidence that proves Luke framed the others & they threaten Luke w it, deducing that he also had smthg to do w Joshua's coma. They order him to step down but he can't do that. Not now, when he's finally *this* close to changing the coven for good! These pricks will wake joshua & bring the old laws back! No, he can't let that happen, he can't let it- ....Luke snaps. He blacks out, then wakes up in horror to realize he violently killed. them. all. He panics, calling Jo & Liv for help BUT to cover his ass, he lies & says he had to kill them bc they found out about "all 3 of them" cursing Joshua... while choosing not to mention how they also discovered his frame jobs. Liv & Jo are horrified yet they help him cover this up bc he's falsely led them to believe their asses are also on the line for cursing joshua... but then Jo notices some of them were killed in very "Kai" ways (bled to death from their spleens getting cut out, etc.) & Liv finds the piece of evidence they had that links Luke to the frame jobs...... the 2 of them realize Luke is not in control anymore.

The Climax: Liv & Jo confront Luke, asking him to step down but warning him that they'll MAKE him if he doesn't agree. He doesn't agree. A fight ensues & Luke is pretty OP despite the 2 v. 1. Luke gets *this* close to killing them (while Kai cheers him on), but then says SIKE and kills JOSHUA's comatose body instead, shocking everyone. Jo, Liv AND Kai are like "wha- why?!" & Luke the politician diabolically reveals that he can't bring himself to kill them - but he can frame them for Joshua's death & turn the coven against them.... OR he can frame the dead supporters for Joshua's death & save his sisters, IF Liv & Jo stay loyal to his cause. At this ultimatum, Jo & Liv finally give up, saying they'd rather get framed or killed than let him rule the coven like this. The Kai in Luke gets triggered by their abandonment bc he's a gOoD LEADER can't u SEE?! Kai's increased presence & Luke's increased lack of control make his SIPHONING manifest for the first time & he unintentionally starts siphoning the sisters. And Luke gets triggered by them trying to overthrow him bc he's the OnLy one who can PROTECT the coven!! Just like he protected Jo & Liv from Kai!! At this point the sisters' resentment RLY comes out like "WE DIDNT ASK YOU TO!! YOU chose to merge to protect us WITHOUT ASKING what WE wanted!! U literally knocked out Jo when she was ABOUT to merge! You protected us bc that's what U wanted, not US. And now the coven doesn't need to be protected BY you anymore, it needs to be protected FROM you!!" Like a bucket of ice water, Luke realizes he's siphoning his sisters rn. He has become Kai. They're right. He is not in control anymore. He steps away & realizes the whole coven itself is broken. The best way to save it is to take the ruling family nonsense out of it & free everyone. He agrees to step down & Jo & Liv help him break the coven link altogether and they free the coven! For a moment, it seems like Kai is going to stop them, but then even the Kai in his mind realizes the coven fucked him over his whole life & he'd much rather see it gone. So all 4 kids unite in Sibling Solidarity and liberate the coven!

Epilogue: Luke gets therapy & that means Kai begrudgingly gets it too bc he's stuck in luke's head. They both start healing & finding a medium ground of how to share space in luke's head. Kai even uses Luke to apologize to Liv & Jo for his own crimes. I'd like to think he'd even get Luke to go to Bonnie and apologize on his behalf & maybe help her out whenever he can, tho i don't think it would be sexual, bc in canon the merge didn't change kai's sexuality so i doubt it would change luke's. But yea I think bonnie would still at least have a new ally in luke thanks to the Kai in him xD

THE END lol I hope my impromptu mini-fanfic here answered your question ahaahaha thank you for asking!!!

[sibylsleaves]

I’m obsessed with your established Buddie specs, I need more more more -

(This is very rambly but I wrote too many Adult Emails today, my brain needs to fly free)

I saw your spec on how Helena and Ramon would react to the Buddie relationship; what about Buck’s parents? Where does their friction come from? I haven’t finished s6 yet and I know there’s some kind of reconciliation, but I think it could hard for Margaret especially to see Buck happy and in love and with his own family when Daniel never got a chance to have that. And Eddie is so protective of Buck and his happiness and making sure he knows how amazing and loved he is, I don’t think it would take much for him to get down and dirty bitchy with Buck’s parents when they discount him, and Buck’s caught between feeling loved and cherished while also being so so anxious about making sure his parents appreciate Eddie like they never appreciated him.

Just, all the in-law drama: What would be Eddie’s parents’ biggest problem with the Buddie relationship, and visa-versa? And what would each of their parents do that would send the other into berserk protective mode, and what would that look like? What kind of legitimate conflicts could arise around their parents, especially within the Buddie relationship?

i WOULD love to see Eddie getting a little bit bitchy with Margaret and Philip I'm not going to lie to you...i also would love some brother-in-law bonding of Eddie going to Chim for advice on how to deal with the Buckley parents.

But I think overall Eddie and Buck both would let each other take the lead in terms of how to deal with each set of parents. And I do feel like post-s6 Buck HAS kind of reached a new level of peace when it comes to his relationship with them. Like you'll see when you get there but I feel like the "reconciliation" was more just Buck accepting that they're never going to have this perfect relationship and that even when they are trying, it might never really be enough or undo all the hurt but that he's accepted the relationship for what it is because he has Bobby and Maddie and the rest of the 118 and, of course, Eddie. So I think interacting with his parents at this point is just a reminder for him to be grateful for the family he's built on his own.

And in terms of Eddie's parents, I think Eddie would be quite protective of his relationship with Buck, because they really did NOT treat Shannon with very much respect at ALL during any part of their relationship. It's clear from the few glimpses we see during Eddie Begins that they did not think Shannon was a good mother, and I'm sure her leaving only cemented the idea for them. So I definitely see Eddie being very very protective of Buck and protective of the fact that he's the one person Eddie AND Chris have really truly depended on for the past six years.

I could see something happening where like Helena and Ramon are definitely trying to be supportive, but Helena kinda sees Buck as this sort of goofy, maybe slightly immature bachelor guy and makes some sort of innocuous comment to that effect, or otherwise make it clear that she doesn't see him as a "real" parent to Chris. and Eddie just shutting that down and perhaps it blowing up into a whole thing because it's touching on the same bruise about Shannon, and about Eddie himself and his fitness as a father.

And ultimately I feel like the resolution to this is Chris himself showing them (maybe not purposely, maybe he's not even AWARE of the conflict) how much he does trust Buck and how much Buck's been there for him.

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

The Beginning of Babs and Helena's Homoerotic Dynamic 💖💜💙 (Huntress: Year One)

I absolutely adore Ivory Maddison's writing. I also love that Helena and Babs had a homoerotic thing going from the get-go! So I'll talk about both.

A young Barbara Gordon was the perfect foil to Helena. She's just as resolute and stubborn as Helena. They both stand at 5'11" and tenaciously establish themselves in male spaces. But she holds different ideals of justice, which will of course change over time. Babs is a more traditional superhero, concerned with a rather binary of justice; there're only good and bad actions. Good guys should be revered and bad guys aren't really worthy of respect. It's ironic that Helena protests Babs's toasting to Mandragora's death considering she's his killer. Helena has a complicated relationship with justice. She maintains her devotion to and faith in god but has found herself on a lonely quest for vengeance in a world where blood only cries for more blood. She's lost but who's to say that Babs isn't also?

On the note of foils, I love how differently they're drawn. Helena has darker hair, skin and clothes than Babs. And Babs wears her hair up, paints her nails, and wears a suit and shirt. Babs represents a status quo-upholding good-doer while Helena's vigilante crusade is shrouded in the history of horror and blood that she was born into.

"We get the most upset at others when they mirror what we hate about ourselves."

In what ways does Babs mirror Helena? She's a legal librarian and, as we know, she's Batgirl. She's committed to serving justice, albeit a possibly different type to Helena's. She's also pleased by the death of Mandragora, who Helena chose to kill. The reason Helena dismisses Babs as naïve is because Helena senses a sheen of hubris, dogma and even aimlessness around Barbara's actions and words. And Helena resentfully recognises these traits in herself and condescends Babs to compensate. And Babs sees through this too, to an extent, because she also became defensive for the same reasons.

Helena makes a crude joke and, humoured, Babs seems to think they could be friends. But unfortunately more similarities pop up. Not only is Babs a fellow American but she's a fellow Gothamite. Helena has to take a drink.

"...I'm increasingly favouring kevlar and body armor[.] I'm sure we'd have a lot in common."

I find Maddison hilarious. But also, it's kinda important that the humour comes from the dramatic irony of the scene. We know one's Huntress and one's Batgirl but they don't! We know how similar they really are while they're just learning it and they've not even scratched the surface. That's how you write an origin story, like wow!

Moreover, the uncanny familiarity they feel instantly ends up drawing them apart. Helena is scared to get to know Babs because it might force her to face herself. So she retreats, not like Babs would know anything about being a vigilante, right? That "ciao" is also an attempt at putting some distance between her and this (fellow) American. Babs on the other hand overcompensates and unintentionally pushes Helena away. No way this girl's like me, maybe she's more girlie-- I could try to act more girly. The "unlike you, us Italians are always going to funerals" line is super ironic considering that Babs lost both her biological parents to a car crash and that this story is set just months before Jason Todd dies.

Anyways, pretty homosexual, huh? :)

"Someone needs to teach you right from wrong..."

"Funny, I was just about to say that to you."

I love how fucking obsessed they are with each other. And Helena unconsciously reacts identically to how Babs did earlier: "not your best friend, apparently". We all know "friends" can't adequately really describe this.

Again, the conflict of hero vs antihero is central to their story. "[I'm] good. You're bad. End of story" says Babs; again we see her simple, more traditional ethos of heroism. However, as Helena said, we're "at the beginning of the story", not the end; justice is just more complicated than that. "Everyone thinks they're the good guys" vs "sometimes there really are good guys" reveals Helena's self-destructive tendency to self-isolate and look out only for herself. Babs's line foreshadows a truth Helena speaks later: "on the ground, you must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim". The fact that Helena wins this fight indicates an understanding of justice beyond that of the traditional hero's but a failure to grasp the importance of solidarity. It's telling that Catwoman watches the fight from the shadows. Helena later demonstrates her appreciate of the theme of solidarity Babs speaks of in her mission statement as she baptises herself as "The Huntress". Also these fights are the gayest things I've ever seen.

Huntress: Year One #4-6

[ageofhearingloss]

Orion ⎮ Danny Wagner x Reader

summary: after a relaxing day off work, danny surprises you with your favorite activity: stargazing

warnings: absolutely none, it's pure fluffy fluff

word count: 3.3k

a/n: i've been haunted by delusions of daniel being a sweet goofball recently, so i thought i'd write them down for you. did i hurt my own feelings even more? sure did, so enjoy hehheh! also i hardly edited this so if you see any mistakes, no you didn't. also also i have that they all still live in michigan even though they're in the studio recording starcatcher so just ignore that too xoxoxo

You were lost in your book, the minutes turning into hours and you hadn’t realized that the sun had set. A single floor lamp and a few candles illuminated the room, allowing you to continue reading. It had been storming nearly all day; early springtime in the Midwest was notorious for these gloomy days that would turn the air crisp only for the clouds to part to reveal a beautiful, clear night sky. It had been a perfect day to curl up with a good book and a piping hot cup of tea, and that’s precisely what you had done.

A day off was a rarity for you, and you were more than enthusiastic to spend the day at home. You had a perfectly lazy day: Danny had left the house long before you woke in the morning, and you got to indulge in the luxury of being able to sleep in a little bit, used to being forced awake at the crack of dawn to get to the cafe. You vaguely remember him giving you a peck on the forehead before bringing the blankets up close to your neck, something he always relished doing. He had admired how peaceful you looked and hoped the extra hours of sleep would ease the deep purple that had become commonplace beneath your bright eyes. 

After waking, you took your time in the shower, scrubbing your hair and letting the stream of water and dense steam relieve the tension in your shoulders. Your job had forced you into being an early bird, so you tried to not let the guilt of starting your day at 11am get to you. Besides, it was rainy and chilly and your first day off in nine days, a recipe for you to relax. 

When you sauntered into the kitchen, you found one of Danny’s infamous notes on a scratch piece of paper lying on the counter:

“Went to the studio with the guys, be back later tonight. I prepped your iced coffee, it’s in the fridge. Take it easy today. Can’t wait to see you. Love you, my angel.”

Padding over to the fridge, you saw your huge mason jar filled with chilled espresso and you couldn’t help the smile that spread on your face. You and Danny had been together for four years now, but you had known him and the Kiszka's since high school. It wasn’t long before you moved in together; everything about your relationship with Danny felt natural. In the back of your mind, you had been preparing yourself for the day that the honeymoon phase ended, but rather you two had settled into a comfortable, easy routine that was still full of romance but lacked the anxiety of being in a new relationship. Sure, you two bickered every once in a while, but you worked well together and your conflict resolution abilities were unmatched. 

So, you heeded his advice; you took it easy. And now, you found it to be 8pm, nose buried in your book with a cup of steaming tea beside you on the coffee table, oblivious to the sound of keys jingling in the lock and the front door opening and closing. 

You hummed noncommittally, too engrossed in your book when the couch dipped next to you and Danny’s large hands ran up and down your legs before lifting them up and laying them across his lap. 

“Your book is that good, huh?” 

You finally blinked, marking the page in your book by closing it on your finger. He was looking at you with those huge gorgeous brown eyes you adored so much, a humorous smirk dancing on his lips. 

“Sorry baby, I hardly registered you coming home.” You sat up to give him a kiss on the cheek, tucking one of his stray tendrils behind his ear. “But yeah, the book is really good.” Shutting the book completely and laying it on the coffee table, you turned back to give your boyfriend your full attention. “So what happened at the studio today? Did you guys finish up recording that new song?” You asked as you carefully picked up your mug of tea and brought it to your lips. 

“I’ll tell you all about it in the car, c’mon,” he said with amusement lacing his voice. 

“The car?”

“Yeah, angel, it’s such a beautiful night. Let’s go for a drive.”

These nighttime drives were a tradition of yours. Whenever either of you had a shitty day, you’d hop in the car and drive for hours. When neither of you could fall asleep, you’d let the gentle hum of the road relax you. So, you set down your mug and eagerly jumped off the couch with a grin on your face, excitement in your eyes as you told him you were going to put something warmer on. 

In your bedroom, you pulled on a knit vintage sweater he had gifted you on the first birthday you shared together. You could hear him busy in the kitchen, surely grabbing whatever he could find for a makeshift picnic even though neither of you had gone grocery shopping recently. When you entered the kitchen, clad in the sweater and a heavy pair of sweatpants with your hair tied up in a messy nest atop your head, he gathered you up in his arms and began peppering kisses all over your face. You couldn’t help but laugh and squirm in his arms, causing him to giggle and hold you tighter to his body. 

“You’re so damn cute, you know I can’t resist when you wear that sweater.”

Your laughter increased and became uncontrollable as his kisses halted in exchange for pinching your sides, knowing how incredibly ticklish you were. You were no match for his strong arms around your body, so you resorted to whatever way you could defend yourself. In between giggles, you positioned your face in the crook of his neck, planting the biggest raspberry against his skin that you could muster. He yelped, loosening his grip on you slightly and you wiggled from his grasp, racing to the opposite side of the kitchen in a fit of hysteric giggles. You two were gasping for air, you were laughing so hard, and soon he was chasing you around the kitchen table with a devilish smile and a twinkle in his eye, promising that he was going to get you back. 

Finally, you got the upper hand, lunging for him and digging your fingers into his sides, effectively tickling him just like how he had done to you. He threw his head back as a boisterous laugh escaped his lips, something that only happened when he thought something was incredibly funny. You watched with delight as his eyes slammed shut, his nose wrinkling and his smile forcing those little crinkles to form at the corners of his eyes. You adored him, and you adored these little moments you got to share with someone who you truly felt was your soulmate. 

Eventually, the laughter died down and you backed off your attack in favor of wrapping your arms around his torso, him encasing you once again in a bear hug. The two of you caught your breath, and you held your head to his chest as you heard his heartbeat slow into its regular pace. It finally settled, and when it did, you lifted your head to meet his gaze. 

“Truce?” you whispered as he met your eyes with a half-lidded, dreamy stare.

“Yeah alright, truce.” He smirked, letting one of his arms unwrap from you so he could lift your chin with a single finger. 

Danny leaned down in what you assumed would be a kiss, so you closed your eyes expectantly, waiting for the contact. But when it didn’t come, you cracked an eye open just in time to see that devilish smile reappear on his face as he sucked in a big breath through his mouth and quickly connected his lips with yours, planting a giant, sloppy raspberry right on your mouth. Your eyes were blown wide before you brought your hands to his chest, playfully pushing him off you.

“Hey!” You laughed out, wiping your mouth with the back of your sleeve. “I called a truce!” The two of you were in stitches again, tears beginning to brim his eyes as he clutched his chest.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He choked out between laughs, “But now we’re even!”

“Okay, okay, we’re even. Now come on, I remember being promised a drive.”

~~~~~~

The evenings were still fairly cold considering it was April, so you and Danny had thrown a couple blankets in the backseat along with the small cooler filled with a couple snacks. You didn’t think there was a plan; the two of you had been caught plenty of times wishing that you had a blanket to sit on or food to eat during your excursions, so you had learned to be prepared just in case. Danny, on the other hand, was planning on taking you to your favorite spot for stargazing. It was in the middle of a field off an abandoned road, and the spot would’ve freaked you out if he wasn't always with you. There were no street lamps or shops nearby to give off light pollution, so you could see everything in the sky all more clearly. You two hadn’t been to your spot since the fall; the snow on the roads making it nearly impossible to safely get to the location. But now the snow was gone and the night sky was clear, and he knew that it was the perfect evening for it. 

Cozy in the passenger seat while he drove, you asked about his day. He told you that him and the guys had gotten through nearly a whole day in the studio without fighting, and the thing that finally set Jake off was that Sam had smoked his last cigarette without asking. 

“Once that fight broke out, I took it as my cue to leave,” he said with a fond smile. “I love those idiots but damn, I was really hoping for one day without them at each other's throat.”

“It sounds like today was some sort of record, though. Who knows,” you pondered, “maybe next week you’ll all be able to make it through an entire day.”

He hummed in agreement, familiar silence filling the car for a few moments before you asked, 

“And the new song…?”

“Oh yeah!” His smile widened as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, handing it over to you while his eyes were still on the road.

“Should be the first recording in my voice memos. Plug my phone in.” You unlocked his phone and found the recording titled “sacred the thread final” before plugging it into the AUX cord. 

You hit play and was immediately met with an invigorating drum intro with heavy reverb, something you hadn’t heard from the guys before. Your smile grew wider the more you listened; you couldn’t believe how much their sound had evolved and how much they’ve grown as musicians, both individually and as a band. Danny kept stealing glances at you from the corners of his eyes, happy and relieved that you were enjoying what you heard. You let your eyes fall shut as Josh’s voice washed over you,

I see me through colors, gems, and trims,

Unravel the glow that was once dim,

In that moment, all you felt was pride for your boyfriend and your friends. Their talent blew you away time and time again, and getting to watch them create melodies and tell stories through their craft was a privilege you still couldn’t believe you had. 

The song ended and you opened your eyes, a smile still plastered to your face. 

“Dan, it’s incredible. It’s so different but is still completely your sound, I love it,” you gushed, your hands waving animatedly in front of you as you spoke. 

“I thought you’d like it, we’re all really proud of it.” His smile was bashful; he was always so modest with his work. 

“So, what’s it about?”

“Well,” he began, brows knitting together as spoke, “Josh says it’s about his jumpsuits, but to me it’s all about finding yourself.” He paused, combing his fingers through his hair before resuming. “You know, all four of us have really come into our own in the past couple years. I think, in a way, we’ve all found ourselves. Remember way back when Josh was really shy and a little awkward on stage? Then the jumpsuits happened and now he’s a totally different guy. So much more confident and charismatic when he sings on stage. I think the same has happened to me, Sam, and Jake, too.”

You agreed; within the past couple years, you watched Danny and his brothers morph into new men, solidifying their sound and finding their new looks. It made your heart swell to think about, but it was true. These weren’t the same men you had met all those years ago. 

“I love it,” you repeated, nodding to emphasize your point. “I’m really proud of you guys.”

“Thanks, angel. We’ve still got a ways to go in finishing the album, but it’s a good start.” He brought a hand to rest on your knee. “Now play some tunes, would you? I’m kinda sick of hearing myself play.”

~~~~~~

An excited gasp fell from your lips as you began piecing together where you were going. You turned in your seat to look at him; your excitement mirroring one of a child who got a surprise trip to McDonald’s. 

“Are we-” you began to ask, your thought trailing off as you looked back out the window, the familiar outlines of the barns and silos passing you by. 

He chuckled, amused by how enthusiastic you were even though he knew that this was the reaction he’d receive from you. 

“We sure are. I heard that there’s a really slim chance we’d be able to see the northern lights tonight, and I thought that’d be a perfect reason for the first stargazing session of the year.”

Soon, he pulled off into a small dirt road and drove for another half mile before killing the engine and turning the headlights off. You were already unbuckling your seatbelt and hopping out of the car, your neck craned back to look at the millions of stars dancing around in the indigo sky. He smiled to himself; he loved observing you when you were participating in something you were passionate about. How your eyes lit up, how you began talking with your hands, how your smile reached from ear to ear, he loved it all. 

Entranced by the sight above you, you vaguely heard Danny open the door to the backseat, grabbing the blankets and cooler before shutting it and making his way to the front of the car. He set the items on the hood of the car before bringing a blanket to you and wrapping you in it, ushering you to the hood of the car. You sat down, sliding yourself further up the hood as you watched him wrap himself in a blanket of his own before joining you. Once he was beside you, you snuggled yourself closer to his side and let out a content sigh through your nose. You couldn’t have thought of a better way to end your much-needed day off.

“Alright, gorgeous, tell me about the constellations. I know you’re holding out on me.”

You turned to meet his gaze again as you prepared to speak, but his appearance stunned you back into silence. Only illuminated by moonlight and stars, he looked so beautiful, his eyes sparkling and his features stoic. You couldn’t help yourself but lean into him, pressing your lips to his in a short, yet meaningful kiss. He was smiling as you pulled away, 

“What was that for?”

“Oh nothing,” you shrugged, “I guess I just love you or something like that.”

He chuckled softly as he watched your gaze return to the sky. After a few beats of silence, you spoke up, 

“I showed you the constellations last time we were out here, don’t tell me you forgot it all already,” you jested with an eyebrow raised.

“That was in the fall, though. Doesn’t the sky change with the seasons?”

“Fair point,” you smiled as you looked around the sky, trying to locate your favorite constellation that was only visible during winter and early spring. Once you spotted it, you lifted your finger to point it out.

“Okay, over there, do you see that rectangle of stars?” You tried to trace them with your finger so he would catch on. He grumbled briefly, shaking his head no before sliding himself further up and then sweeping one of his legs behind you, situating you between his legs so your back was flush with his chest. He wrapped his arms around your torso and rested his chin on your shoulder so he was as close as he possibly could be to see what you saw through your eyes. 

“Try again,” he whispered into your ear before pressing a light kiss to your temple. You brought your other arm to hold the ones that were wrapped tightly around you as you brought your other to point out the stars again. 

“Do you see them now?”

“Yeah, I think so!” He brought his own hand up to point out the stars himself, you nodding in confirmation that he had correctly located them.

“That’s Orion, he’s my favorite.” You explained the Greek myth to Danny, him listening to you intently. You could feel him nod against your shoulder to show his understanding, asking questions when he needed clarification. 

“So, the rectangle makes up his shoulders and legs, but within that, do you see those three bright stars making a diagonal line?” He whispered a soft “mhmm” before you continued,

“That’s his belt. And then those smaller stars pointing straight down from his belt-”

“That’s his dick, right?” He interrupted. 

You playfully pushed back into his chest, “No, smartass, that’s his sword!”

“Is that not what I just said?”

You both erupted into laughter for the second time that night, both of you incredibly comfortable and content in each other's company and enjoying every second of it. 

Finally, you had broken into the cooler for the snacks, the two of you sharing a block of cheese and crackers as you pointed out the rest of the constellations you knew in the spring night sky. Soon enough, you ran out of things to show him, so he asked you about your day and what was happening in your book. You couldn’t believe that you got to be there with him; four years later and you were still in shock that you got to call him yours.

Conversation slowed to comfortable silence, and once you were finished snacking, you both laid back onto the hood of the car and snuggled into one another, a mess of tangled limbs and blankets. You began to feel sleepy, but there was no way you would miss out on this time with him. 

“You know,” you began, voice just above a whisper, “you’re my favorite person.”

You meant it; you’d only heard of love like this in movies and fairy tales and even though your relationship with Daniel had its flaws now and then, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. Getting to date your best friend was something you only dreamt of, and with each passing day you felt more grateful that it was true. 

You could hear the smile in his voice as he stuck his arm up and gestured to the sky, 

“I knew this would put me over the top.”

~fin

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[heir-less]

Takes like this and their dishonest framing is so clear to me that people who like the royal family just want to conveniently forget their political and social influence whenever it suits them. I honestly, just wish people with this take would shut the fuck up (not to single this person out, I've seen several people say this), because they're not even being nuanced with or portraying what actually happened. Instead, they want to paint the criticism as him being evil and not, you know, something realistic like his obvious corruption, hypocrisy, and collusion with the media. He didn't just settle the case, he also took undisclosed sums of money from a firm owned by Rupert Murdoch as part of the settlement, that's the bad part. If William settled with them and was fully open about the money and whatever other legal compensation he received that would be fine, but that's not what he did, is it?

What Molly seems to forget is that William isn't just some guy with no political influence or media connections. He is the future head of state with extremely strong media connections which can literally control what makes it onto the front pages.

Do you think if it leaked that, say, the Vice President was given a large, undisclosed amount of money from a Murdoch company in a legal settlement people would just say "Oh, well, it was a private matter and they WERE right in seeking compensation"? No, of course not, they would probably have some questions like, how much was this sum of money? Where did the money go? What terms were they given under? Did this person make any other agreements with the media in return? These are things this public is obligated to know about, especially when dealing with publically funded institutions, which the monarchy just so happens to be.

William, if you haven't noticed, has a lot of control over how and what is reported on him, so his also taking large sums of money from Murdoch firms is such a clear example of a conflict of interest. This was also a deal William made while also pressuring Harry into dropping his own suit against various tabloid media, hypocrisy aside it's clear that he doesn't want these multi-billion dollar industries to be harmed by further conflicts, almost as if his reputation depends on their survival.

Like, please at least read the articles involving the case and then be smart and ask yourself what this says about William's relationship with the media. It actually is mind-boggling that people are acting as if this is a good thing to be doing, yes, William and his entire family were victims of press abuse, but no that does not excuse their recent collusion with the tabloid press when other members of the family have been threatened and gagged by these same media outlets for seeking damages or apologies. Honestly, super sick of people invoking the Wales family as an example of dealing with the press "the right way", they are just shadier in their approach. They leak to the media instead of saying things directly out loud, everything they do is behind the scenes and it makes it hard to keep things transparent.

Also, interesting how certain people in the media are basically shaming Harry for also seeking legal compensation in a more transparent and honest manner because he's "exposing" family secrets to do so. This news also comes alongside allegations that Charles stonewalled Harry's attempts to seek an apology because he wanted the media on the royal family's side to accept him and Camilla as King and Queen. So, any exposure that's being done is the result of the palace and the media preventing and meaningful resolution to be reached. They brought this on themselves.

[wiseatom]

no need to respond, just in case this tickles your brain, what do you reckon mike and will’s first fight as a couple would be? would it be something small and stupid, or a bigger problem they have to work through? would either of them panic at having their first ‘official couple’ fight, or do the years of conflict resolution as best friends let it roll off their backs?

consider my brain Tickled because i love thinking about things like this!!!!! what a great question!!!!

in true thea wiseatom fashion, i do think it would be a combination of some of the scenarios you've presented. in my head, their first fight is probably something small and a little silly, but also indicative of a larger issue -- likely miscommunication, bc that's byler's bread and butter as we all know <3 or miscommunication's close friend, lack of follow through. when they have issues in canon, it can usually be boiled down to one or both of those things.

there's also considering the fact that mike and will are young, and would probably still be young when they got together (in the range of 15-17), so i also think that would contribute, because everything feels So Big when you're young and it's your first serious relationship. mike and will are both very emotional little guys, and usually react with emotion first and thought second, which is probably a combination of them being young but also just how they are! so i do think it would be a big deal, even if the issue itself is silly, and i do think they would panic about it.

mike would be freaking out because he would blame himself, no matter what the situation was or how inconsequential, because the idea of will being mad at him in the moment would stick and he'd be afraid he messed everything up. on will "he's always been good at hiding" byers' end, i think he would simply just avoid mike, or brush it under the rug, or just take blame for it just so the conflict was Resolved without actually being Resolved. i headcanon mike with an anxious attachment style and will with an avoidant, so i think that would also contribute, because mike would be Desperate to talk it through and will would be Desperate not to.

to one of your last points, though, they are best friends, and they've successfully navigated conflict resolution before -- plus i think that their convo in s4e04 is going to help them a lot in transitioning into a romantic relationship. they've established that they're better as a team, that things don't feel the same when they're apart, and that they care for each other so deeply, so i think even as they start having fights as a couple, they'd remember that and learn to communicate better. mike would have that moment of realization of "just because he's mad right now, doesn't mean he's mad forever" and "just because he needs space, doesn't mean he hates me" and will would have that moment of realization of "running from things is ok, but not when it's the person you love" and "talking about things is actually what resolves them". it'd be scary for them for sure, because i definitely think their honeymoon phase would be long lasting and their first fight wouldn't crop up for a minute, but also. you don't really go through what byler has (aka years of being torn apart by circumstances beyond their control and having to claw their way back to each other + an entire war probably) and not end up together in the end. and they know that <3