#There's plenty of good filler in shows!

[fixyourwritinghabits]

No Such Thing As Filler

Okay, so yes, this is another post based on something I saw that irritated me, but it seems like this idea keeps coming up, so I need y'all to internalize this. There is no such thing as filler in good writing. None. Do not approach your work thinking you have to fill space in a story, I will beat you with this wiffle bat. Don't ask me where I got the wiffle bat. Don't even worry about it.

The idea of filler comes from a very particular place - when an anime or TV show has to fit in a certain number of episodes, but doesn't have enough content (hasn't caught up with the manga, the source material isn't long enough, etc) to cover those episodes. An episode has to be written, but the characters can't really progress, and so are given something else to do. Many a trope has come from these episodes, and they're sometimes necessary. Filler in this context is something that makes sense.

The dark side of filler is the idea that you need some space between Big Event 1 and Big Event 2 in your story, therefore you need throw anything in there to take up space and make your word count. This is a mistake I've made and I've seen plenty of other writers do it too, but it's a huge waste of your time. You do need something between those big action scenes, but you should always be writing to accomplish something.

Instead of thinking of that writing as filler, try to approach it with three things in mind:

Move Forward With Character Development and Backstory - Your characters barely survived a huge gunfight, and they won't encounter the big bad again for another few chapters. How do your characters decompress from that gunfight, and what does that say about them? Did a cocky character go in guns blazing, only to be deeply shaken by how a real fight works? Did that fight spark a moment of deep trauma for the main character that they have to reflect on afterwards?

Filling this space with meaningless scenes is a huge waste of opportunity. Think about how to dive deeper into your characters.

Move Forward With Plot and Subplot Development - The bad guy beat the heroes to the stolen gem, but they left behind a clue to why they want it. However that clue could reveal some painful truths about the protagonist's beloved great aunt... Carmen Sandiego???

A major goal following a big action scene is having the characters figure out what to do with what they've learned and what to do next. It's where romance subplots or secret relative subplots make progress, when truths are revealed and next steps are taken. You can absolutely do this in any setting - a flirty conversation while at the battling cages, a tense moment of feelings while hunting down a wayward chicken - but your main goal is making progress for both the characters and plot.

Move Forward With Worldbuilding - Worldbuilding has it challenges, believe me. You don't want to write a chapter on how an airship works only to have to cut it later. But you should still try to flesh out your world, and you should do so with the perspective of how to use that worldbuilding to your benefit. Maybe a critical scene hinges on the main characters knowing how that airship works, or that lake your main character often stares at is the setting of the big Act 3 Boat Battle. The weather can play into both perspective and emotions. Knowing what the main character's house and car looks like can reflect a lot on their personal character or backstory.

When you're struggling with a scene or a chapter, rather than writing filler, take a few steps back and think. What can you establish with your worldbuilding? What can you reveal about your characters through their dialogue and actions? What subplot could you explore or add in these between moments?

Filler from a fandom perspective - Now let me make this clear - if you're writing a fanfic just to have a cute moment between the characters you like, or you really want to force everyone to do that weird Twilight baseball scene, that's fine. You don't need a grand goal to achieve for every story, there's no need to justify your fanwork in any way other than you wanted to do it.

But I'd also argue fanwork doesn't fall under the filler label either - something you create, be it a character snapshot or a 'what if the gang meets Slenderman' parody, isn't taking up meaningless space. It's something fun you did that you and others enjoy, and there's nothing wasteful or pointless about that.

#writing advice #plotting #filler #writblr #the wiffle bat is a metaphor #for uuuuh something that sounds cool and interesting #let's go with that

[thenightling]

Dead boy Detectives review

I've watched all eight episodes of Dead Boy Detectives and it was a decent show. It's not something I may obsess over like The Sandman, or The Witcher, but it was decent.

Dead Boy Detectives is the story of Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland. Edwin was killed during a Satanic ritual in 1916. Charles died from hypothermia and internal bleeding after some bullies drove him into an ice-cold lake while throwing rocks at him.

(Note: That was not how Charles actually died in the source material. In the comics, Lucifer had quit and shut down Hell (the basis for the TV show Lucifer) so many evil souls returned to Earth, including the boys that sacrificed poor Edwin. They badly burnt Charles' back on a hot stove and Charles died from his injuries.)

The two ghosts decided to dedicate their afterlife solving mysteries to help other ghosts find peace. They are aided by psychic, Crystal Palace, who is haunted by her abusive ex-boyfriend who happens to be a demon.

Both Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland originated in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Season of Mists, The Sandman: Volume 4. Issue 25 of The Sandman comics, and within Act 2 of The Sandman audio drama.

The Dead Boy Detectives made their TV first appearance in Doom Patrol for HBO Max (now Max). During a shakeup at Max the show was moved over to Netflix as to better connect it with The Sandman since that is where they originated.

The show features different actors from the ones that played Charles and Edwin on Doom Patrol.

The Dead Boy Detectives is a decent show but ...it feels a bit like a CW teen drama. I had been told that some of the show's writers were originally writers for the CW... and it shows.

There are some deliberately surreal elements of the show that I think are a callback to their appearance in Doom Patrol.

I love the variety of supernatural entities in the show, including the appearance of two of Morpheus's siblings. Death and Despair. The things I don't like about the show can be considered CW tropes or cliches. The angsty romances and unrequited love. The ham-fisted abusive ex metaphor between Crystal and David The Demon.

And of course the most tedious of CW tropes, the end of the episode pining and angst while a sad pop song plays in the background.

If you look past the CW-ness of it, the show is enjoyable.

The only other things I can complain about is the "connecting thread" subplot of The Afterlife: Lost and Found feels like unnecessary filler. And I wish they would openly establish that Edwin, being an innocent, would NOT return to Hell if collected by Death now. I don't think that should be left hanging over his head. Especially since we're supposed to see Death as a kind entity. Also I think Charles says "Aces" a little too much. It's very distracting and makes me feel like the writers didn't know much late 80s English slang. It would be like if he was an American and they had him say "Radical" all the time. I get that it's kind of his catchphrase but it also got a bit annoying.

The parts I don't like are CW tropes and what I'd consider to be late 90s Vertigo edginess.

The thing I liked were plentiful though. The protagonists were and are likable. The ending is satisfying enough so that if there is only one season this was still good. I liked that it appears that one can ascend out of Hell after some self-reflection as is indicated by the boy Edwin confronted in Hell. The blue light was established to mean ascension, a good afterlife.

I also LOVE the opening credits theme music and animated sequence. It reminds me of the intro to Showtime's Creature Feature movies. (See the trailer for 2001's She Creature, not the 50s version. Watch the trailer at thirteen seconds in, on Youtube, and you'll see what I mean).

That's two Gothic themed shows from Netflix in the last two years with great opening credits sequences. The first being Wednesday. That one won Danny Elfman an Emmy.

It's funny, Wednesday and Dead Boy Detectives (which is a spin-off of The Sandman) have great opening credit intro sequences but The Sandman does not. Apparently Neil Gaiman was told people don't watch the opening credits anymore so The Sandman doesn't have them.

I feel we were cheated out of what could have been a great opening sequence for The Sandman.

Episodes 7 and 8 of Dead Boy Detectives were probably the best of the series. I liked it well enough that if Dead Boy Detectives gets renewed I'll happily watch season 2.

#Dead Boy Detectives #The Dead Boy Detectives #The Sandman #Sandman

[brigdh]

Okay. My thoughts on the Our Flag Means Death finale. Obviously I'm not very happy with the ending, though I'm also not as upset as some people are. I would say I'm discontent. Unsatisfied. Too aware of how it could have been improved, and a bit bitter that we didn't get a better version, but I also don't hate what we did get.

I know a lot of meta has attributed the problems to a shorter season, and absolutely I would have loved to get 10 episodes instead. I would have loved 22 episodes! Why don't we do that anymore? But I don't think the 8 episode length was the ultimate problem. A) The showrunner and writers knew they had only 8 episodes, so they needed to choose a story that fit into that length, but even more importantly, B) my problem is not that they had too much story for too little time, but actually that they had plenty of time and chose to fill it with too little story.

As I've sat with it over the last few days and thought more about the season's arc, it feels to me like we got eight episodes of filler. Filler episodes can be great! Filler episodes can have some of the funniest lines, the greatest scenes, the most intriguing ideas. But filler episodes do not progress character arcs or major themes, and that's exactly the problem this season had.

The only characters who got arcs this season are Izzy, and to a lesser and more rushed extent, Lucius. Which sure is a choice.

Ed and Stede and their relationship did not meaningfully change from S1. (Okay, yes, they had sex, they said I Love You – but these are external changes, not internal. They don't represent character growth. Stede realized he loved Ed and was telling everyone back in 1x10. Ed clearly would have slept with him in S1 if they'd had a little more time.) Ed and Stede in 2x08 are not different from who they are in 2x01. If Ed had asked Stede to be innkeepers in 2x01, does anyone think Stede wouldn't have immediately agreed? One of the big moments in 2x08 is Ed reading a letter that Stede wrote in 2x01! Stede's exact words from the very beginning of the season! What better way to underline that none of the subsequent seven episodes had important growth or changes?

Another one of 2x08's big shippy moments is Ed and Stede running to each other across a beach – deliberately paralleling the dream Stede had in 2x01. What are we supposed to take from this parallel? My original thought was that we're supposed to see how different the real version is from the dream, but there's honestly not many differences. Neither one has a beard, now? The dream mocked how Stede knew they needed to have a conversation about their relationship that he wanted to avoid, but they don't have a conversation in the "real" version either. They exchange about two sentences (which includes Ed's I Love You, yes, which is a big deal but still isn't a conversation) and then they charge right back into the fight, without discussing anything like Ed abruptly dumping Stede to go be a fisherman, Stede killing Ned Low when Ed asked him not to, their differences of opinion on being pirates, if having sex was a mistake or if that's only a thing Ed said because he was panicking, etc etc. They have just as many issues to address as they did in the dream, but just like the dream they act like everything is magically okay without talking about it!

So I think we're meant to take the beach-run parallels as "here's what Stede's been wanting, and after waiting for so long he finally gets it". Which is fine, a very sweet take-away for a finale. But it underlines what I'm saying is the problem of the season: Stede has just been waiting for eight episodes for his dream to come true. Not changing. Not growing. Not doing anything to bring the dream about, other than trying to get himself and Ed into the same physical location. Just... waiting.

This is an extra surprising development, because the show was really good at giving Ed and Stede character arcs in S1! Ed and Stede in 1x10 are significantly different than they were in their first introductions. Also, just to preempt some criticism, by 'progressing' I do not mean 'wrap up literally every loose end and make a firm final ending' – S1's finale is an excellent example of both moving the characters forward and leaving a ton of room for future stories. I wasn't expecting for 2x08 to show us a Stede and Ed who were perfectly on the same page and would never again have a problem. I was expecting them to be somewhat different than they were in 2x01, and I just don't see that.

Instead of arcs, we got little pieces of single-episode growth here and there that never added up to an overall whole. The season brought up a ton of potential arcs for Ed – violence, piracy, guilt, suicide, daddy issues, self-loathing, apologies, redemption, his tendency to idealize escaping into a different life – but didn't do anything with any of these options. Stede had nothing resembling a season arc at all.

Stede works to improve as a captain! Stede kills someone and has regrets! Stede confronts Ed's dark side! <- All potential arcs, but none of which lasted for more than an episode or had consequences. We don't even know what the ending means for Stede: does he want to be an innkeeper because he failed as a pirate in 2x07? Because piracy was always just a displaced search for love, and now that he has love, he doesn't need piracy? What does the crew of the Revenge leaving mean to him? Stede's understanding of their new arrangement literally happens off-screen and we're left to fumble at guesses for its significance to him as an individual.

Ed and Stede's last big conversation in the season is their break-up fight in 2x07, which is a shocking way to send off your main couple in a rom-com. Yes, there's the I Love You on the beach (again: two sentences) and the brief 'let's try to be innkeepers' conversation at the very end, but that's it for them in 2x08, except for their inclusion in some brief large group conversations about their fighting skills and the plan for escaping the British. How can you end your rom-com with the main couple exchanging only a paragraph's worth of dialogue in the finale? None of the stuff was brought up in the fishing fight in 2x07 is ever addressed at all!

Again, I don't think this is solely a matter of time crunch. Instead of using the eight episodes to progress the two main characters, we got a bunch of filler episodes that used the time in amusing side tangents instead of forward progress. I don't think that's the inevitable result of having to work with eight episodes.

Look, I can come up with a better Ed/Stede relationship arc without needing more episodes, and despite only thinking about this for a couple days and not having an entire writing room to work with:

(Note: this only addresses the Ed/Stede relationship. It doesn't fix Stede completely lacking an independent character arc and Ed having about ten thousand of them, none of which went anywhere.)

In 2x05 to 2x07, I would make Ed's motivations in their relationship very clearly that he's pushing Stede away so he doesn't get hurt again. Basically play up Ed's comment about "I was all in" in 2x04, and make him determined not to get 'all in' this time around. This aligns the "let's take it slow" conversation in 2x05, the "sex was a mistake" in 2x06, and Ed running away to be a fisherman in 2x07 into a single arc. He wants Stede, but he's afraid of what that wanting will do to him. He's trying to find a way to have a relationship without making himself vulnerable. He keeps pushing off commitment and openness.

Then, in 2x08, I'd make it more explicit that Ed thinks/fears Stede is dead when he sees the pirate ships burning. I think it's subtext in the episode as-is, but give him a line or two to make it really clear. Ed and Stede still see each other on the beach, have their dramatic run to each other, and Ed says, "I love you". Now this moment is Ed acknowledging his love, exactly what he's been avoiding for the last three episodes.

Near the end of the episode, Ed and Stede have a conversation where Ed says something like, "I didn't want to get hurt again, I was afraid of the risk of falling in love and you leaving again, but thinking you were dead made me realize that never loving you would be worse" (but better written, ha, this is a tumblr post that's already too long). (Also possibly you could tie in Izzy's death here to underline both Ed and Stede not wanting to lose another person they care about, if we must have that plot point for some reason.) We actually get to see Ed asking Stede to come be innkeepers with him, paralleling asking him to run away to China (and paralleling NOT asking Stede to a fisherman), Stede voices some of his worries (paralleling him keeping them inside in 1x09, but also giving him a chance to explain what piracy and love mean to him and why he'd give up one for the other), but ultimately they agree that they at least want to try.

This both puts them into a much clearer place for a happy ending, has clear growth from S1 and the beginning of this season, but also leaves open a ton of room for S3, because welp, it turns out trying to have a relationship entails all sorts of problems! Especially with these two. It also would make me feel like they'd at least addressed some of the issues between them.

Right now I feel like S3 will have to spend at least the first few episodes running through exactly the same "don't talk – break up – get back together dramatically" arc that Stede and Ed have already done twice but have never discussed and never learned from. I liked it, but I don't need to see it yet again. That will – ironically – feel like yet more wasted time, more episodes that are just churning through beats without moving the characters forward. I wanted them to have new, different fights in S3, but now I don't even feel like they've made enough progress to have a fresh set of problems.

#ofmd meta #our flag means death #ofmd 2x08 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd critical #(I guess)

[pastelspoon31]

Chapter 5.5: What a nice neighbour! (Older!König x Younger!Reader)

tw: age gap (early 20s reader, AT LEAST mid-40s König), manipulation, a little bit of pseudo-incest

Chapter 5 | Chapter 5.5 | > Masterlist

A/N: This one is kinda fluffy if you’re blind or have chronic daddy issues :D Also, what do you call a filler episode for a fanfic, again? Well, whatever it is, this is something like that hehehe (PS: No sexy time here, babes. Sorry :/)

"How about this one," You showed König the guy on the screen of your phone.

Jared, 24, a junior associate at a law firm.

"He looks like he's made of his father’s money. Must be a shitty brat," König commented as he pulled you closer on his lap as he looked over your shoulder.

"Would probably just use you as an accessory," The older man kissed along your jaw, "Swipe left." He ordered.

"We've been at this for an hour and you haven't approved of a single person yet." You swiped left.

"I'm a picky guy, liebling." His hands wandered over your body, caressing your curves as his lips skimmed the skin of your neck.

"You're gonna have to approve of someone sooner or later." Your head fell back to his shoulder.

"It's best not to rush your options like this. You know I only want the best for you~" He kissed a sensitive spot on your neck, causing you to shudder. "Let's try again, yes?"

You sighed and swiped to the next person in the application.

"No," König's disapproval was immediate.

"You haven't even looked at his description yet!-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"I- Fine."

You swiped left.

König hummed in approval. "Good girl~"

"Yeah, yeah." You huffed in annoyance and sat up a bit from his chest.

"What? You don't want to be my good girl anymore, mein liebchen?" He feigned hurt, but his eyes told a different story.

"No! Not like that-" You leaned back again. "It's just.. I.."

"Come on, use your words. Tell König what's wrong." The soft encouraging smile he gave you was so convincing.

"You always make these mean comments about how the people on here don't deserve me and.. Frankly? I'm tired of skimming through all these men.." You complained with a soft pout.

"I just wanna be held and kissed and.. and touched.." Your cheeks grew hot and you felt the embarrassment settle in.

"Hmm," He took the phone out of your hand and set it down, "I'm sorry, liebling. I didn't know you felt that way." He wrapped his arms around your torso, bringing you closer to him.

"I know you want to go out and explore the world and all that.. But.." He placed a soft kiss on your temple. "We don't want another 'Billy' situation now, do we?"

You tensed up and looked down. "No.."

"So you understand why I have to keep you away from those men."

"I do.."

"Good," His hands started to wander again, below your shirt to knead at the skin softly. "Come i'll cuddle you, maybe you'll feel better then, ja?"

"That would be nice.." You smiled, already leaning in closer to him.

"I think you could also use a little distraction. Wouldn't you agree?" His tone was teasing and lighthearted.

"Mhm.." You turned in his lap and placed your hands on his chest. "You should join me too next time.. On Tinder, I mean. I'm sure there's plenty women looking for a man like you."

"And why would I want another woman when I have you?"

You were taken aback by his words. It was the first time he was being so honest and genuine with you, and it was enough to send your heart fluttering.

"Yea, but I'm only here to keep you accompanied as.. as your 'daughter-figure' or something like that. I can't possibly fulfill all your needs.." You muttered shyly.

Oh, if only you knew the things he's been doing to you~

"I'm quite content with just having you around, mein liebchen."

"Well.. What if you want another wife?" You questioned, curious to see what his answer was.

"I doubt so. I'm not currently planning on meeting new women just to replace my late wife," He paused, thinking of his words.

"Besides, i'm lucky enough to have my sweet liebchen to stick around and entertain me~"

"..I guess I could stay, for a while." You said, trying not to seem so eager.

"Good girl," He praised.

You hummed happily and leaned forward to kiss his cheek affectionately. "Can I have my phone back?"

"You don't need it right now,"

"Why not?" You asked with furrowed brows.

"Because you're spending time with me,"

You couldn't help the small smile that formed on your lips.

"You're a needy old man."

"But you love me, don't you?"

You chuckled softly.

"Of course," You snuggled into him.

König's heart fluttered at your words. He knew you didn't mean it that way but you'll change its meaning soon enough.

He'll make sure of it~!

#call of duty #konig mw2 #konig x reader #könig cod #könig mw2 #könig smut #neighbour könig #cod mw2 #konig

[hopefulromances]

Long Time Coming I Chapter Eleven I Jealousy, Jealousy

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warning: Jealousy, Zava smh, some angst

A/N: Meaty chapter. Some filler stuff tho. But It'll pick up soon!

Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten

We set this whole thing up for Zava’s arrival. With press and the whole team there but he never showed. We are all sat waiting in the sun for him for well over an hour. Ted sent us all back to the locker while he went to discuss with Rebecca. I sat in my chair that I’d brought out from the office, spinning absentmindedly as the boys chatted.

            “Hey, did Zava come through here?” Ted walked into the room, causing me to stop my spinning.

            “What? No,” I answered, rising out of my chair. “Did you see him?”

            “Yeah, he was upstairs just a second ago.”

Great, so now we had a random superstar football player wandering around the building. I slumped back into my chair as the boys began to figure out how they would find him. I turned to look at Jamie who looked just as disgruntled as me. I shrugged at him, trying to find some levity in the situation but Jamie just crossed his arms and shook his head.

Then my eyes wandered to the doorway where, lo and behold, Zava appeared. A hush fell over the room as he sauntered in, all eyes watching to see what the man would do next. He took a deep inhale, then exhaled just as deeply.

            “I will begin by address the most important person in this room,” Zava announced. The boys hung on his every word, hoping that somehow, they would be the most important person in the room. “Which of you is the kitman?”

I saw Will’s eyes practically bug out of his head as he jumped up from the back of the group.

            “That’s me! Uh… I’m Will,” He stutted out. “Uh, I am…”

            “Will,” Zava addressed. “I too worked as a ball boy for a club when I was just 11 years old.”

            “I’m 25”

            “Your passion… is why I play,” Zava breathed out. I rolled my eyes and shot Jamie a glance. He was giving me the same incredulous smile that I had. I was glad at least one other person in the room was finding the humor in this situation. I let out a scoff at Jamie’s face.

Unfortunately, my scoff seemed to gain the attention of Zava as he turned to face me.

            “Any you,” He knelt down in front of me, taking my hand in his. “You are a warrior. I pledge my allegiance to you, my queen.”

            “Oh… uh…. Thanks?” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond when a grown man pledges his allegiance to you.

            “Your bravery and determination know no bounds.” He brought my hands up and place a kiss on each palm. “Lead me down your path.”

I gave him a tightlipped smile as he nodded at me. He finally let go of my hands and walked back to address the team. I sat there, still in shock at the interaction. I looked over at Jamie again, expecting to laugh things off with him but he wasn’t laughing, in fact all the humor in his face had left.

The coaches left the locker room to go discuss our strategy with Zava. As we did, I looked over at Jamie one last time who was untying and retying his shoes, refusing to even look my way. I groaned internally, now I’d have that to deal with when I got home.

Training was fine for the rest of the day. The boys were buzzing thinking about Zava. I stood next to Roy as we watched them run their drills.

            “I just don’t get it,” I said to Roy, arms crossed in front of me. “I mean he’s a good player yeah, but we have plenty of great players on the team. O’BREIN IF I SEE YOU CUT A CORNER AGAIN, I’LL CHASE YOU AROUND THE PITCH MYSELF.”

Roy nodded at me. “The boys need something to hold onto, if they want to hold onto Zava, that’s fine by me.”

I watched as Jamie pushed himself to be in the front of the pack. “I think it’s incredibly short sighted to depend on one player. Just thinking about when Jamie was their Zava.” Roy grunted, remembering all too well when Jamie was the hero of the lads. “I guess I just don’t get it.”

“I think it’s a guy thing… like Ryan Reynolds,” he surmised. I shook my head, a disgusted look on my face.

“Well, that’s one thing I can be glad not to get behind.”

…

After training, I was sitting in at my desk, drawing up a different strategy. Or at least trying to. I sucked at this part, trying to figure out how the players should move. I was good at interpreting strategy and executing it, but coming up with one on my own, forget about it. I was just about to give up and get ready to head out when Jamie walked into the room.

“Hey, Jamie,” Ted greeted with a smile. “How you doing?”

            “Um. Can I talk to you for a minute?” Straight and to the point. He didn’t even look at me when he walked in the room. I frowned glancing over at Beard who shrugged.

            “Yeah! You can talk to me as long as you want, though I do have a tendency to doze off around 1:00am.” He laughed at himself. How many dad jokes could Ted make in one day? The world may never know. “What’s up.”

            “Uh, so look… uh,” Jamie turned and closed the door and finally he looked at me. I tried to give him a smile, but he didn’t seem very receptive to it. “I know we’re all excited Zava’s here. Yeah, I get that. But I know a lot of players like him, and they’re all just self-absorbed glory hunters who care about themselves.”

Ted and Beard gave each other a look. I knew what they were thinking. Jamie was that exact self-absorbed glory hunter just a few seasons ago. But Jamie was different. He really was. And the fact that Zava was that version of himself was truly mature of him. I knew it took a lot for him to come talk to us and I wanted to support him.

            “Uh. Jamie, don’t you think that… coming from you… that’s a little bit ironic,” Beard scoffed, giving Jamie a condescending look. I frowned at him. It wasn’t even ironic.

            “Look!” Jamie stammered trying to figure out how to word his thoughts correctly. “The point is. We don’t need this guy. I… I think we’ve got a good thing going here, and he’s already fucking it all up.” He pointed to the white board that Zava had messed with. The one where everyone else was behind him.

I hurt me to see Jamie to insecure. But it was different from the insecurity I’d seen when he was worried about Dani. Not only was he being way more eloquent with his words, but he was showing his insecurity to the coaches. Something he never would’ve done before.

“Hey, Jamie, I hear what you’re saying man,” Ted reassured him. “But I think we’ve got to give it a game or two and see what’s what.”

Jamie glanced at me again. Only the second time since he’d walked into the room. I nodded, agreeing with Ted. As much as I didn’t get the obsession around Zava, he was a good player and we had to give it a chance before dismissing him completely. Especially after everything Rebecca did to secure him to the team.

            “Yeah, yeah…” Jamie nodded, wringing his hands. “Yeah, no, course, yeah. Well, um. Thanks for hearing me out.”

            “Alright!” Ted responded, hitting his desk. “Thanks for speaking your mind. Please continue to do so.”

Jamie nodded and turned to leave. “Oh, and uh, I weren’t being ironic… I was being hypocritical.” He said to Beard. “That’s it.”

And he left. I raised my eyebrows and smiled widely, looking at Beard in excitement. Beard was furious. His mind reeling with the idea that Jamie had corrected him.

            “Is that right?” Ted asked.

            “Mmm.”

            “Yes or no!” I pressed, doing a drumroll on my desk.

            “Yes…” Beard squeaked out.

I laughed, pumping my fist in the air. “Jamie 1, Beard 0”

            “So that was actually ironic,” Ted pointed out.

            “More like Beard 5 Jamie 1, okay?” Beard pouted and stormed out of the room. Ted and I sat chuckling to ourselves as he left. I turned back to my paper, looking at what I had drawn.

I scrapped it, balling it up into a ball before throwing it into the trash, nearly hitting Ted as I did. I let out a loud groan and slammed my head into the desk.

Ted rolled over to sit next to me. “What chu working on there.”

“Do you ever think it’s crazy?” I asked him, rolling my head over to look at him. “Being here? Being a football coach?”

Ted laughed ironically. “You know that question does cross my mind from time to time, yes.”

I smiled, but the pit in my stomach wouldn’t let me celebrate quite yet. “But then I remember why we’re here. Do you remember that?”

I looked over at him. “To win the whole fucking thing.”

            “To win the whole fucking thing,” Ted nodded, hitting my arm. “Now why don’t you go on home? You’ve worked enough for today.”

            “Whatever you say, Ted.” I pushed back from my desk, grabbing my bag. “I’ll see you at the game, yeah?”

            “Sure will, miss ma’am,” He responded, standing from his seat. “Have a nice night.”

I walked out into the carpark, looking forward to getting home and taking a long shower… maybe with Jamie involved. But instead, he was leaning against my car waiting for me. I approached him, looking around to make sure there was no one else around.

            “Hey Jamie, what’s up.”

            “Oh, hey (Y/N), thought you’d forgotten about me,” Jamie grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I unlocked my care. “What are you talking about?”

            “Thought you’d be too busy talking to Zava,” he said pointedly, not even having the decency to look at you.

You stared at him face unmoving. Your blood was boiling. “Nuh, uh, no we aren’t doing this jealous bullshit.” Jamie shrugged noncommittally, but you could tell his exterior was breaking. “You don’t get to take your anger and insecurity out on me.”

            “I was just-“

            “You were just nothing, get off my car.”

He pushed himself off my car, hand coming around to rub the back of his neck. I pushed him aside and opened the door to the car.I knew Jamie was upset about Zava, I knew he was feeling insecure about his skill and his abilities I knew all those things. But he had no right to pin his emotions on me. If he had actually talked to me, he would’ve learned that I think Zava is an overrated prick with an ego to match but no. Instead, now I was getting in the car to drive home and shower, alone.

I didn’t say another word to Jamie was I slammed the door and drove off. In my rearview mirror, I saw him kicking a rock on the ground and knew he was probably kicking himself as well. My shower wasn’t as satisfying as it would have been if Jamie had been there, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

I let the hot water roll down over my body, washing away the stress and anxiety the day had brought. But when I stepped out, I found myself wishing Jamie was there to make some stupid cheeky comment about my body. I had to remind myself that I were mad at him long enough to not text him to come over.

Instead, I went back to my drawing board and tried to draw up another strategy. But try as I might, I couldn’t focus. I tapped my pencil against the page. Every tap sending a pitch to my mind of my football days, the stomps on the seats, the cheers of my chant, the swish of the goal. What were I missing?

I snapped out of my trance when I saw my phone was ringing. I picked up my phone and answered the called.

“Hello?”

It was only a few minutes later when Colin showed up at my doorstep with a bottle of sugary rose and two glasses.

            “Are you sure I wasn’t bothering you?” he checked as I walked him into my house.

I waved him off, sitting down on my couch. “Not at all, I was just relaxing after a shower, now pour me some wine and talk to me.”

Colin followed my instructions and poured me a hefty glass of wine. He sat on my couch, trying to make himself comfortable but I could tell there was something on his mind. He was vague on the phone, something about relationship problems and just wanted to chat, but that was it. He shifted so his body was facing mine.

            “Do you ever feel like… a part of you is… missing?” He asked sincerely. “Like… you can almost tell it’s there but it’s just out of reach.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Is this about Zava? Cause I told Ted that taking you out of the lineup was a bad idea.”

            “No! Well… maybe.” He considered his words, tapping his fingers against his hands. “Maybe something more than Zava.”

I thought back to my dilemma with the strategy. I could see the field, the ball in in stride, the crowd cheering my name, but not the formation. What was I doing there? I thought through this as Colin waited for me to respond.

            “I think maybe Zava getting me benched has me thinking about… my place on the team and just who I am…” He told me, looking down. “Something Nate said to me last season.”

I rolled my eyes, grumbling to myself. “What did he say?” I scoffed, thinking about what Nate could possible have said, brining my wine glass to my lips.

            “He called me uninspiring.” I almost spit out my wine. “Like Jamie and Dani are Van Goph and I’m… motel art.”

            “He said WHAT?” I shouted, nearly jumping out of my seat. “What a bastard.”

            “Yeah…well… maybe he was right.”

            “No, no, Colin…” I got up from my spot and moved over to sit next to him. “You are not motel art.”

Colin shrugged, looking noncommittal. “Zava inspires, that’s why he’s on the team.”

It broke my heart to think someone made Colin think he wasn’t inspiring. Like his work on the team wasn’t enough.

            “Colin…” I sighed, sucking my lips into my teeth. “You are inspiring. The only thing Zava inspires is a headache, but you… you make the team work. On and off the field.” I brought my hand to shake his shoulder. “You’re my friend, Colin. I don’t become friends with just anyone on the team.”

            “Bumbercatch said he was sorry”

            “If he was sorry he would knit me a new scarf, wouldn’t he.”

Colin chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah… I guess.”

I could tell there was something more going on in Colin’s head. Something that went deeper than just the team’s lineup. His hands were still tapping away at each other even as he smiled. I knocked my shoulder against his.

            “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” I checked, glancing down at his hands and back up at him.

Colin chewed on his bottom lip as his eyes averted away from mine. “Uh, no, I don’t think so.”

I nodded, knowing that if it was something I should know he would tell me.

            “Alright, then get your switch out we’re playing Smash Bros.”

            “Oh, you are so on.”  

The day of the game arrived and the whole city of Richmond was buzzing. Everyone was excited to see Zava make his debut for the team, see what he could do for us. I found myself spacing out as the coaching staff went over the plan to the team again. How many times could one man say Zava before the it didn’t even sound like a name anymore.

We had exactly four minutes until we had to be on the field. I was heading to fill up my water bottle when a hand pulled me into the boot room. I yelped but knew exactly who it was.

            “Jamie, you have to stop surprising me like this,” I scolded, trying to regain my balance.

            “Sorry, sorry, but I we don’t have a lot of time,” He apologized, running a hand through his hair. “I just want to apologize.” I softened, standing up straight as I listened to him. “I was being a dick yesterday, and I took me… stupid insecurity about Zava out on you.”

            “Yeah… you did,” I agreed, the ends of my lips curling up just slightly.

            “Anyways, I just wanted to say I’m sorry, yeah?” He concluded, skewing his mouth at me.

I glanced around the room, making sure the coast was clear before going up on my tallest tip toes and placing a quick kiss on Jamie’s mouth.

            “Thank you,” I murmured, my eyes crinkling with my smile. “But next time… just talk to me. “

He scoffed and nodded, looking down at the floor. “Yeah… I should’ve just talked to you. I know… but it’s just Zava gotten into me head.”

I started to head towards the door, shrugging. “Don’t worry about Zava, how back could it possibly be?”

…

Very bad, apparently. Well great for Richmond. But terrible for Jamie. Zava took the league by storm, leading Richmond through a string of powerful wins against all of our rivals. It made us look great, but I could tell it was taking a toll on Jamie’s self-esteem. He barely had a single goal the whole season, even one that looked like a sure goal for him that Zava stole at the last minute.

That’s how he ended up moping in the corner of Sam’s restaurant. I stared at him as I chatted with Rebecca and Keeley. After another successful win, Sam had invited us over for an early opening of his restaurant. Everyone had come. Even Beard and Jane were there to show their support. I would give anything to go over and comfort Jamie, but right now, I could only stare as he looked so fucking good, even as broody as he was.

            “It’s a pity you and Jamie never worked your shit out, isn’t it,” Rebecca commented, popping an olive in her mouth. “You were all over him last season.”

I widened my eyes at her, nodding sadly. “We just never figured shit out, I guess.”

            “It’s too bad,” Keeley agreed, looking over at Jamie. “I think the two of you would’ve been great.”

I glanced over at Jamie again who was playing with his food, a warm feeling flooding my chest. “Yeah… we would’ve.”

Rebecca and Keeley shared a glance. Rebecca subtly refilled my glass with champagne as Keeley pulled me back into the conversation.

            “Well, we need to get you back on the horse! Gotta get back on bantr!” Keeley insisted, forcing me to look at her. “I bet if you tried you could take one of these guys home tonight.”

            “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t want to do that,” I soothed, shaking my head. “I think I just want to be single for a little while.”

Rebecca nodded at me. “Good for you, being single is great!”

            “You hate being single,” Keely pointed out, giggling.

            “But I have come to accept it, (Y/N)” she looked at me seriously. “Just focus on you and the rest will come.”

I smiled at her. She was right. Not in the way she thought but it meant a lot to me. Here I was, working for a premiere league football team, dating my best friend and I should be happy. I was happy. But my mind wandered to my conversation with Colin. There was a part of me missing but I didn’t even know what part.

I looked over at Jamie again, this time he was with Roy. I didn’t know what they were talking about, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But I missed Jamie. I missed him even though he was sitting in the room with me. I knew that if I walked over there and pulled him up and kissed him in the middle of the room, no one would care.

But it wasn’t them I was afraid of. It was everyone else. Once the word got out into the world and the press knew and the fans knew, no one would look at me the same way. They would look at him the same but me, I’d be the coach who was dating her player. I’d be the girl who slept my way to the top. And I don’t think I could handle that.

…

The rapid knocking on the door was what woke me up. I was laying on Jamie's chest, an arm slung over his waist as he kept me secure with an arm around my shoulder. I blinked my eyes open and propped myself up on my elbows to look at the clock. 4:00AM.

"Jamie," I grumbled, tapping his chest. "If you don't get the door, I'm gonna kill someone. Most likely you."

"Why do I have to do it?" He growled, wrapping his arms around me to pull me down to his chest again. "Just ignore it, they'll go away."

I smile sleepily, closing my eyes again. He was right. Whoever it was knocking at the wrong house. They would go away eventually.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Or not. I groaned again. "Jammieee."

He didn't move, pretending not to hear me. I trailed my hands up his chest and flicked his bare nipple.

“Oi!" He shouted, suddenly very awake. "What'd you do that for?"

"Go. Get. The. Door." I demanded, wriggling out from his arms, and turning over.

Jamie let out a frustrated grunt but got out of the bed, throwing a shirt on before walking out again.  I felt your eyes begin to droop again. Jamie would be back eventually, and we could go back to sleep for a few more hours.

But he didn’t come back, and it sounded like he was actually talking to whoever was at the door. I frowned and let out a hard sigh as I rolled out of bed. I found Jamie’s shirt – he must have taken mind by mistake – and threw it on over my head. I slumped down the stairs rubbing my eyes.

            “Jamie, who the fuck is at the door?”  As I rounded the corner, a bright light came to shine on me. I blinked my eyes and realized that it was Roy. “Oh, fuck.”

            “What the fuck is she doing here?” Roy barked, looking at Jamie.

            “None of your fucking business, grandad,” Jamie waved him off turning around. He walked over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my head. “Goin’ for a run, you gonna be okay?

I nodded at him, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “You’re wearing my shirt and your ass is out.”  

He looked down at the shit then glanced over his shoulder. “Thought I’d give Roy a show, whatdaya think.” He leaned down pursing his lips dramatically.

I pushed his head away and laughed. “Very funny, now go change so I can go back to sleep.”

Jamie frowned at me and sulked as he walked off. I watched him leave for a second, my lips pursed as I became very aware of Roy’s eyes on me. I walked over to the open door, waving at Roy.

            “You sleepin’ with Tartt?” He grunted, his bushy eyebrows lifting slightly.

            “Your knees still creak when the wind blows?” I shot back, meeting his expression.

Roy grunted at me, smirking fondly. “Touche.”

I smiled, a real smile, not a tight-lipped or pursed smile. It was 4 o’clock in the fucking morning and I’m standing in Jamie’s shirt in front of my friend and the world didn’t explode. Roy and Jamie getting along, well as best as they could. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Sure, it wasn’t the whole world, but it was someone. It was a start.

            “Holy shit.” Roy’s voice brought me back to reality.

            “What?” I leaned against the door frame.

            “You’re proper fucking into him aren’t you,” Roy questioned. “Like it’s not just a sex thing.”

I bit my lip, turning as Jamie reemerged from our bedroom. I felt my ears begin to burn as I replied.

            “Yeah… I’m proper fucking into him.”

Taglist:@heletsmelovehim @higherthanheroes @ajax-petropolus-wife @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @optimisticsandwichgladiator @kno-way-home @sleepy-time @wigglegiggle @skewedcherries @respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog @snubug @rana030

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt x reader #ted lasso #ted lasso show #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt fanfiction #Long Time Coming

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

😑😑😑

"Aang is a bad main character because the world has to adapt to his world view. Meanwhile I love Zuko for his brilliant arc that concludes with him making his nation to adapt to his world view now that he is in charge" fuck these people. "Younger generation fixes the problems the old ones created" is only bad as a theme when they don't like the kid in question.

"He has to save Katara, the weak damsel in distress" So we're really just gonna ignore all the times she saved his ass, and how she literally BROUGHT HIM BACK FROM THE DEAD just to pretend the show is sexist?

"He has to pretend the world isn't in agony" Are you high? Aang is constantly pushing himself to do things he doesn't wanna do (go with Zuko willingly, confront Hei Bai, go to the Fire Nation on the solstice, intentionally trigger the Avatar State, cross the serpent's pass despite having permission to go through a safer path, let go of Katara and risk losing her in the battle for Ba Sing Se, and even accepting he'll have to kill Ozai in the finale) just to innocent people won't suffer. For fuck's sake, he has plenty of compassion for the guy that SENT AN ASSASSIN AFTER HIM. Just because he's still holding onto whatever childhood innocence he can, doesn't mean he's blind to the issues around him.

"Zuko's arc is independent from Zuko's" They have a fuck ton of parallels, and entire EPISODES dedicated to said parallels. Zuko himself said chasing Aang fueld his fire - and he said that when he learned a higher form of firebending ALONGSIDE AANG, who had just saved his ass from being burned alive by the dragons by figuring out they were supposed to dance together.

Zuko was so obsessed with Aang he tried to engage in a conversation AFTER AANG'S SOUL LEFT HIS BODY, and he had a weird fever dream where he literally BECAME Aang. We get confirmation in book 3 that Zuko never forgot how Aang mentioned the possibility of them being friends if things were different, and the show ends with them as best friends in an obvious parallel to Roku and Sozin.

You know who had fuck all to do with Zuko's arc though? KATARA, yet these people keep insisting she's totally important to it.

"Episodes centered on Katara and Sokka are good because they ignore Aang" No they don't, he's just not front and center, same for Toph, or Zuko, because that's how FOCUS works.

Also, for all the shit "The Headband" gets for supposedly being "filler", it's shocking to me how people act like "Sokka's Master" was briliant and not at all rushed. It's honestly as irrelevant as "The Great Divide" for me.

"Aang had lots of Deus Ex Machinas" He had one, the lion turtle. The Avatar state is introduced right away, and explained in depth a whole season before the finale, AND it was not that easy to use.

Katara bringing him back from the dead is even less random. In the first episode of season two, we are introduced to the concept of "Aang can still be killed in the Avatar State and that is REALLY bad", to the the character that will kill him and how she'll do it (Azula with her lightining), and to the water of the spirit oasis - which the show goes out of it's way to remind us of before Aang is even dead. That's a fuck ton of foreshadowing and proper narrative set up.

"Deus Ex Machina" does not mean "Protagonist survives major battle" or "Hero defeats a super powerful villain", it means "Day is saved by a thing that had never been mentioned in the story before so the audience could have never guessed what would happen." These people want to talk shit, but only show they have no fucking clue how some REALLY basic storytelling stuff works.

#anti zutara #pro aang #aang defense squad #respect aang or die by my sword

[iverna]

Not to be all "back in the day everything was better" but I watched Spaceballs yesterday and it struck me that something like the opening scene of that movie just... wouldn't be done now. Right? A visual gag that goes on for one and a half minutes? Way too long. I'm pretty sure the worry would be that nobody's got the patience for that, people would give up and watch something else.

And it's the opening scene. The first thing you see after the opening crawl is this dumb gag that takes one and a half minutes - and the fact that it takes so long is part of the joke.

It's something I've noticed with a lot of movies over the past few years, that they just don't take time for anything. Everything's moving and changing constantly. It struck me in the last GotG movie. Characters are having emotional important conversations while doing action-heavy things because we don't want the audience getting bored. There aren't any "filler" episodes in TV shows either.

I've seen people talk about the impact of this on character development etc but I think it's more than that. It makes the whole movie less memorable to me because I never have a moment to process what I just saw, because we're right into the next bit of action already. Sometimes I end up missing half the movie because I just zone out. Sometimes I stop watching it because it's too much, I stop caring because I can't care that much that fast.

The opening scene of Spaceballs has you watch, get impatient, realise what's happening, laugh, realise we're not done yet, laugh again, and then finish with a final little joke. The scene doesn't need to be that long, they could have easily sped it up, but the fact that it takes so long is part of the joke. Monty Python did a similar thing with the opening credits of Holy Grail. But it does require some patience from the audience and I don't know if we don't have that anymore, or we're worried that we don't have it anymore.

There generally seems to be less trust in the audience though. Everything has to be spelled out. And plenty of people expect things to be spelled out. There's this idea that if it's not explicitly shown or pointed out, then it doesn't count. And I think maybe the audience and the film/show makers reinforce each other's attitudes there, because there's less trust in the audience, but there's less trust in film/show makers too after the many examples recently of perfectly good franchises being run into the ground.

It's become this weird back-and-forth of "gotcha" and mistrust and lack of patience and goodwill, and it just becomes really obvious when you go back and watch older stuff. Which isn't to say that older stuff is always better or that all the new stuff is terrible. It just feels like a different dynamic between storyteller and audience.

#just some thoughts #random nonsense #my opinion

[thecreelhouse]

part time soulmate, full time problem

Paring: Gator Tillman x Alt Fem!Reader (she/her pronouns) || MDNI!

Summary: Gator’s sleep deprived but dead set on setting up that goddamn air mattress, which the two of you use for anything but sleeping.

Word count: 4.2k+

CW/Tags: language, mutual masturbation, oral sex/face riding (fem receiving), soft switch (both Gator and Reader), praise kink, dirty talk, brief anal play, squirting, brief body image/self esteem issues, tooth rotting fluff, orgasm induced syncope (i am so sorry lmfao), sleepy confessions, gator being a lovable idiot

Series Masterlist // Read on AO3

A/N: hi y’all!! thanks for all the kind words in the tags and replies about this series!! I’m glad others are enjoying this, bc I’ve been having lots of fun writing this. This chapter is kinda silly and a bit of a filler, but hopefully it still keeps y’all fellow sluts happy and entertained :’) <3

Day 6

It’s one in the morning, and you’re still awake. So is Gator. And the two of you are delirious at this point, running on broken sleep schedules.

The two of you were bundled back up in the coziest sleep clothes while the fireplace burned on and illuminated the room in a soft, warm glow. Gator blew up the air mattress like he suggested, but you were skeptical about the idea.

“We’re gonna end up on the floor by sunrise.” You warn with a yawn, side eyeing the mattress with arms crossed. “These things never stay inflated.”

“No, no, look, this one’s high quality, okay?” Gator insists, slapping the mattress as the air pump raises it from the collapsed state it was just in. “This thing doesn’t deflate, I swear.”

“Didn’t you say that when we went camping in middle school?” You argue with the memory fresh in your mind. “We ended up on the ground and the tent leaked from the storm, so we got all soggy and sad.”

Gator snorts at the memory, “Yeah, but if we did sleeping bags we still woulda’ got wet.”

“This isn’t the same mattress, is it?”

“Wh— no!” Gator grumbles, focused on closing the entrance for air before it begins leaking. “Look, look how big it is! Now that,” Gator slaps the top of the mattress one more time before grinning at you, “That’s a firm mattress. That thing means business.”

You’re giggling at his enthusiasm. “You sound like a dad that found a deal on an air mattress at the hiking store.”

“You just can’t appreciate a good mattress.” Gator’s totally more delirious than you at this point, with less sleep in his system than you. “Look, watch, are you watching?”

“Gator, I am literally staring at you, what the fuck else should I do? Throw my eyeballs at you?”

“This won’t deflate. Seriously, watch me, I’ll show you,” Gator jumps onto the air mattress like a child would, and he’s right, it doesn’t deflate. It does, however, bounce him back into the air and onto the hardwood floor.

You gasp, but can’t hold back more giggles. “Are you- oh my god- Gator that was so fucking—“

He’s face down on the floor, cutting you off with one hand raising in the air, flipping the bird.

“You did this to yourself, Tillman.” The laughter continues, but you move to his side, glancing down at the exhausted heap his body landed on the floor into. “You want some ice?”

Gator turns his head to the side but doesn’t move otherwise, “Yeah… maybe. That might be a good idea.”

“Okay, there’s plenty outside,” You tease as you sit on the bed, bouncing a little yourself. At least you’re still on the bed. Gator pushes himself up from the floor, shooting an unamused glare your way.

“Yeah, yeah. Look, it’s still inflated. Told you!” He’s a little too excited about this damn air mattress.

“Gator you definitely need to sleep,” You tug at his legs after he’s back on his feet. “C’mon, maybe if you lay down like a normal human being, you won’t get hurt again.”

Surprisingly, he’s got no marks on his face despite launching in the air and falling flat onto the floor.

Your arms loosely loop around his legs, trying to gently tug him onto the bed; his arms mirror yours, pulling your face closer to him. He’s not aware of where your face is, he’s too tired to think clearly. You, however, are very aware.

“Gator, if you want me to blow you, you could just ask.” You’re teasing him, but he lets go, laughing nervously.

“I- that wasn’t intentional, I swear.” He’s in a fit of sleepy laughter now, and it’s contagious, making you join in. “I was just huggin’ you back, I promise!”

“Uh-huh, sure.” You taunt as you move over, mocking Gator by slapping the mattress like he did moments ago. “Are you getting on this damn bed or not?” Gator narrows his gaze at you before sitting down slowly, as if it’s your fault he fell.

“What if I told you I hurt my dick when I fell?” Gator asks, trying to keep a straight face. His eyes are bloodshot, and the circles under his eyes are dark. “What then? Huh? Ice can’t fix that, y’know.”

You roll your eyes before swinging a pillow at him playfully. “Well, I ain’t no doctor. You’re shit outta luck.” Dramatically, he falls over on the bed, frowning while clutching his chest.

“I can’t believe you’d betray me like that.”

“Gator, what happened to watchin’ more movies?”

“An emergency happened! It’s not like you can really plan for those.”

You snicker, “Do I look like an ambulance?”

“No, but y’look like an angel that should be saving my life.”

Eyes rolling, you say, “Hey, Gator?”

He rolls over to get closer to you, head laying in your lap as your legs are criss-crossed. “Yeah?” He looks up at you, grinning like a sleepy idiot.

“Go. To. Sleep.”

His smile flips into a ridiculous frown. “Why? I like bein’ up with you.”

“Because I can tell just how exhausted you are by talking so sweet right now.” You gently move him off your lap before settling under the fluffy blankets piled around the two of you. Gator follows suit, grabbing your waist as soon as he’s under the covers.

“Surprised you ain’t takin’ advantage of that.”

“Listen, I’m not complaining, but you need sleep way more than anything right now.”

“M’fine! I probably could stay up ‘til sunrise.”

“Gator.”

“Fine, fine!” He glowers at you before shutting his eyes. “Fun sucker.”

He falls silent, and the only sounds around the two of you are the fireplace crackling, the wind continuing to brutally howl outside, and the soft breaths between the two of you. You watch Gator for a bit, and he seems to be relaxing, falling into a steady pattern of breaths.

That was fast.

As soon as your own eyes start to shut, though, Gator breaks the silence, groaning, “I can’t sleep like this.” You were so close to falling asleep; your eyes open, glaring at Gator.

Irritated, you still humor his thoughts; your brows knit together, confused, “Like what?” His hand clumsily grabs yours, leading it down to the length growing under his sweats. Your eyes are wide now; you’re definitely awake again.

“Like this,” His eyes flutter closed as he lazily bucks into your palm, making himself shudder a sigh out. “Please, baby.”

You’d be a liar if you tried to deny how attractive he is while he’s so needy.

“Again, you did it to yourself.” You’re trying not to automatically give in, but the way he looks so pathetic and cute at once is hard to ignore.

He ruts against your hand, whining when you don’t return the friction and pressure he craves. You pretend to start to fall back asleep, while Gator still searches for satisfaction from his actions against your palm.

“You’re terrible at faking bein’ asleep, darlin’.” He’s trying to sound composed, but his words just come out breathy and desperate, instead.

“And you’re terrible at going 24 hours without being as horny as a teenager.” You murmur, keeping your eyes shut. While he keeps moving, you can feel a damp spot forming on the fabric. It’s taking everything within you to ignore that, too. “Your dick’s gonna fall off if you don’t leave it alone.”

“If I wasn’t so tired, you’d be over my knee already for being a brat.”

“See, you admit it! You’re tired! Now, go the fuck to sleep.”

Gator doesn’t listen, pulling his sweats down and moving your hand so you can really feel him. “Can’t. Need you, darlin’,” is all he breathes out.

Pulling back, you sit up, leaning on your arm, watching disappointment cover Gator’s face. “You want to get off?” His face lights up immediately.

“Yeah, yes, I need it,” He’s palming himself now, growing more agitated the longer he goes without relief.

“Alright. Show me.” Gator’s confused, so you elaborate. “Show me how you get off.”

“Me? I have to do it?”

“You don’t have to, but you’re not getting off any other way.”

Gator’s mouth drops as he glares at you, insulted. “But I’m so tired.”

Shrugging, you lay back down. “Oh well, not my problem.”

“Well, actually, you stole the blankets from me, and that kept me up, so—“

“And?”

“You owe me.”

“I don’t owe you shit, Tillman.” You’re quick to respond. “You’ve got two options: show me how you touch yourself, or sleep. Your call.”

Gator huffs, frustrated, before pushing his sweats down his legs completely, kicking them off the side of the bed. “You’re the worst,” he grumbles, hand wrapping around his length; he’s a swollen, leaking mess. The tip of his cock is red with need as precum pulses out.

“You gonna be okay without a sock, baby?” You pout at him mockingly. “You might make a mess.”

His hand speeds up as he arches into his own touch. “Shut up about the fucking—“

You lean over him, spitting onto his cock and hand around it. He stops to watch you in awe before breaking his trance to spread the saliva over himself.

“That make it easier?” You continue mocking him. Gator grits his teeth, hand moving with ease against his skin. You grab his face, forcing him to look at you. “Answer me.”

Those two words seem to make Gator’s brain melt; they’re not special, but the tone you give him hits a weak spot somewhere within him.

“Y- yeah, it does.” He sighs as he continues jerking himself off. You move back a little before removing your own pants, touching yourself lazily in front of him. Gator throws his head back on the pillow, unable to take his eyes off of you. “We could be doing this together, y’know. Isn’t easier to just fuck instead?”

Your fingers slide up and down your slit, gathering arousal before pushing two fingers into yourself at once. You gasp at the sensation of stretching your own walls out. It’s not as good as Gator using his hands, mouth, or cock, but it’s enough for right now.

“You haven’t earned it yet.”

Gator’s eyes roll back in his head as he picks up the pace on himself. His back arches again, off of the bed as he whines. “Fucking fuck—“ his face is red, embarrassed that you’re making him work for his own release. “How the fuck do I earn it then?”

“Not sure.” You giggle, and he glares at you. “Guess we can figure it out along the way.”

His eyes dart back and forth between the hand between your legs, now toying with your clit, and the taunting smirk you’re shooting his way.

“Need you.”

“I know, you told me already.” Every time you mock, dismiss, or belittle him, his hips stutter, and his breath shudders, but he tries to hide it. “It’s okay, Gator, it’s hard to keep your thoughts together like this, isn’t it?”

Gator shakes his head, free hand reaching out for you. You pull back, but he’s faster, grabbing your leg, digging his nails into your skin. “No, I need you.”

“You already said that, babe.”

“Fuck— just fucking sit on my face. That’s what I need. Please?” He sounds so hot and bothered like this. “I owe you, you didn’t get off last time, darlin’.”

Your face heats up at his words, suddenly growing shy. “Won’t I- uh-“ You’re trying to find your words without embarrassing yourself, so you just shake your head ‘no’ instead.

“Why not?” Gator whines, grip still tight on you. Your own actions along your folds stop, and you pull your hand away from your core. Gator slows his own hand, noticing the way your mood shifts. “Hey, what’s up?”

“What if I hurt you?” You motion to your legs and hips, plush with curves and softness.

Gator sits up, letting his grip on himself go, focusing on you.

“You kiddin’? There’s no way you would.” Gator tries reassuring you, ignoring the way his cock twitches after he stopped stroking himself. “Plus, on the off chance you did hurt me, I’d think it’d be an honor to have my neck snapped by a pretty girl like you.”

You snort at his sentiment. “You’re definitely sleep deprived sayin’ some shit like that.”

He reaches out, hand cradling the side of your face; you instantly lean into his touch, tension leaving your body. “Sleep deprived or not, it’s true.”

Your face gravitates towards his as you giggle, “You’re corny.”

“And you’re a sucker for that.” Gator’s voice drops low while his thumb wanders to your lips, eyes quick to follow and linger, too. You nod, watching his expression as he toys with your bottom lip. “I’d still love to make ya’ feel good, if you’re comfortable with it, darlin’. But we can go to sleep if you’d rather that.”

“Oh now you want to sleep.” You tease, and it earns an eye roll from Gator. “If we do… you’ll promise to tell me if I hurt you, right? Like you can tell me to stop, I don’t want you to feel like—“

Gator cuts you off with a kiss; his lips languidly move against yours, coaxing your lips to part, letting him in with ease. His tongue melds with yours, earning a whimper from you; his reaction is a smirk and a breathy laugh into you before biting on your bottom lip, slowly pulling on it before releasing his hold on you.

“Use me to feel good, darlin’.” He whispers as your noses still touch, lips just centimeters apart. Your breath hitches in the back of your throat. “I promise you can finish this time.”

“Oh, how generous of you,” You deadpan, pushing his chest gently so he falls back onto the pillow. He reaches out to you, hands grabbing whatever he can touch. “Promise you’ll tell me to stop if you’re not okay?”

Gator nods intently, tired eyes wide with desire. You pause for a moment, hesitant.

Fuck it.

As you clamber up Gator’s body, he assists you faster by hooking his arms around your legs, pushing them from the back. You yelp at the sudden push, only making him smirk. You’re hovering above him, about to lower yourself, when concern for his pleasure hits you. “What about you, though?”

Ignoring your question, his arms move to hook under your thighs, hands finding your backside, kneading the soft swell of your ass. “Hey, darlin’?”

You’re dizzy from his touch. “Hm?”

“Shut up already.” He swiftly pulls you down to his mouth, and on contact you’re beginning to see stars. The noises that erupt from the two of you are obscene and loud; you’re immediately grateful there’s no neighbors around his house.

You’re frantically searching for something to hold onto; air mattresses don’t come with a bed frame, unfortunately. You look down at Gator, who’s already looking up at you, and the eye contact makes the knot in your lower tummy tighten with want. Your hands tangle into his hair, tugging softly.

“C’mon, you can pull harder than that.” Gator murmurs into your folds, deliberately taking his time tasting you. “You did a few days ago, remember?”

The morning you found his porn searches flashes in your mind, along with pinning him down to his bed after he caught you, pulling on his hair as you taunted him.

“Uh-huh,” you breathe, eyes fluttering shut. Your fingers weave and wind through his hair before tugging harder, earning a deep groan from him, vibrating into you from below.

“That’s it, darlin’.” He’s praising you in between sucking on your clit. “Just like that.”

Your hips start rolling, but you force yourself to stop, worried it’s too much for him. Gator notices, reminding you, “You don’t gotta to hold back. I can take it.”

Your thighs instinctively try to close, but you stop yourself from doing that, too. Gator pushes on your thighs, closing in towards his head anyway.

“You’ve got no idea how many times I dreamt about bein’ between these legs,” Gator softly nips at your clit, and you cry out, head falling back. “Got no idea how many times I wished it was you riding my face when it was someone else.”

“Gator…” You’re tensing up as you keen, pulling roughly on his hair now. He spanks you, earning a shaky yelp from your lips. “Th— you’ve— god.”

“No one’s tasted as sweet as you, baby.” He tongue fucks you, and you lose it, all concerns and doubts vanishing into thin air; you begin really riding his face, and he’s taking it with pride. “Can’t believe you’re this fucked out already.”

Your whole body is burning up; you hastily tear your shirt over your head and throw it aside, hand leaving his hair to start grabbing yourself. You barely begin groping yourself before Gator unhooks an arm to reach up and shove your hand away. You’re about to whine out, annoyed, but he immediately replaces your touch, teasing your body. “Let me do the work, darlin’.” His other hand follows suit, fingers tweaking and pinching your nipples, causing you to grind down on his face.

Gator alternates between his tongue, lips, and nose to keep the pleasure building within you. The combination as you continue riding him makes your legs begin to shake.

“You better not be cummin’ yet,” He warns as his tongue swirls around your clit, sucking it again while his strong hands continue to fondle your tits. “I just started playin’ with ya’.”

“Ye- yeah but what about you?”

“This is more than enough for me.” He quickly answers before delving back into your centre, tongue teasing your entrance again. One hand comes back down, but as he hooks it under your leg again, he lightly touches and circles your tight, puckered hole. You jump, not expecting the sensation, but you moan, thighs tightening around Gator’s head again. “Can I play with ya’ back here sometime, darlin’?”

You nod quickly as your hips work faster. Gator chuckles into your core while his fingers swipe through your folds briefly, collecting arousal to spread onto your tight ring, making his touch even more sinful.

“Gator, please…”

“Anyone ever eat ya’ here, too?” The filth of his words and casual tone make your eyes roll back into your head. “Need an answer, darlin’. Wanna learn everything about you, pretty girl.”

You can only think of one response, “I’m- I’m close,” You whimper, lightheaded from all the teasing and stimulation. “Gator— Gator, please, I—“

His arms move back to where they first started, hands on your body, guiding you along roughly on his face as your hips stutter their movements.

His tongue works in tandem with his mouth’s suction before murmuring, “Make it count, princess.”

The encouragement is enough to send you over the edge; you started this seeing stars, but now you’re surrounded by the entire fucking galaxy. Legs shaking, you’re involuntarily grinding harder onto Gator’s face. He doesn’t stop his meticulous actions, even when you nearly put him into a death grip with your thighs. Your head lolls back, mouth falling open in a silent cry before a moan fills the empty space. You’re screaming his name, followed by an incoherent chain of noises and babbling, mind melting from the intense pleasure.

“There ya’ go, darlin’.” His praise earns another wave of noises. You’re unable to tell until it hits you like lightning; another orgasm floods through you, causing you to squirt. You’re too engulfed in your second climax to realize how horrified you’d probably be, squirting on Gator, but he moans into you loudly, hips flexing up into the open air before his own legs shake wildly. Despite it all, he’s somehow able to continue praising you. “That’s it, such a good girl. My good girl.”

Your eyes cross, vision tunneling before everything goes dark. You don’t even hear yourself make the loudest cry you’ve made so far since being snowed in.

——

“Hey, c’mon, get up baby.”

Your head feels floaty, eyes softly opening while you try blinking away the blurriness. Everything comes into focus around you; you look up to see Gator gazing down at you, worried. You’re resting on the bed, head laying in his lap.

“Jesus, you scared me.” He runs a hand through your hair, pushing it out of your face. You’re a mess, soaked, sweaty, and finally coming to.

“Gator?”

“M’here, I got ya’.” Relief replaces his worried expression as you wake up more. “It was only a minute, but might’ve been the longest minute of my life.”

“Whaddya mean?” You slur, breath calm, slow and steady now. “Are you okay?”

“Me? Can you worry about yourself for once?” He’s lighthearted in his words, but he means it. “Are you okay?”

You’re silent for a moment, reaching up with tingling hands to rub your eyes. “I think I found God in that last orgasm.”

Gator can’t help the laugh that leaves his lips, despite trying to stifle it. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Uh-huh,” you breathe, continuing to become more aware of your surroundings.

Gator’s here. You’re on the air mattress. The one he insisted the two of you sleep on tonight. Everything’s okay. It just made you—

You look down, realizing how soaked you are. The pillow Gator laid on earlier and the surrounding area of the mattress are wet, too.

Fuck. Not again.

“This is so fucking embarrassing.” You grumble, sitting up fast, but your vision tilts, and Gator can tell you’re still dizzy.

“C’mere, give yourself a bit to get up.” He pulls you into his lap, but you squirm, even more embarrassed. “Darlin’, what’s goin’ on?”

“M’all gross, don’t let me sit on you—“ You stop, studying his face. To your horror, his face, not even just the bottom half, is damp, and you know exactly why. “Oh my god. I- fuck. I’m so sorry. Oh my god, this is so fuckin’ humiliating.”

Gator uses the back of his arm to wipe his face crudely, but he’s smiling. “Wish you’d stop apologizin’ for this, because it’s so fuckin’ hot.”

You cover your face with your hands, shaking your head. “Here I was worried I’d crush ya’, but instead I just— I can’t even say it.”

“Squirted?”

“Gator.”

“Why’s that so bad?” He’s sincerely asking, but his tongue swiping along his bottom lip isn’t making this easier to accept. “It felt good, yeah?”

Slowly, you nod, but you’re embarrassed to admit it. You look away from him, but your gaze lands on the damp spot on his sweats. You figure he put them back on after you passed out, but it takes a second to realize he came on himself, and didn’t clean up before checking on you.

Something about that, despite being gross, is really sweet.

“Gator, did you touch yourself?”

“Huh?” He looks down, blushing as he notices the spot, too. “Oh, uh, no. My hands were on you, baby. It just kinda happened watchin’ you cum again. Swear it’s not from watchin’ you pass out.”

You giggle, “I figured, since you didn’t even clean yourself. Fuckin’ A, Gator. We just cleaned up like two hours ago.”

He shrugs, still grinning. “I’ll grab somethin’ to clean ya’, wait here.”

“No way, I’m coming with you, and we’re sleeping upstairs. I’m not laying on this bed that I soaked half of.” You cringe at your last sentence.

“Alright, fair point. I’m gonna put the fire out, then we can head upstairs, okay?”

It’s only a minute or so before the fire’s extinguished, and Gator’s helping you up, guiding you safely to the stairs.

“Hey, darlin’?” He’s a few steps ahead, turning on the bathroom light and grabbing towels for the both of you.

“What’s up?”

“…. Can I use that face wash of yours?”

———

“Have you ever passed out before while you cum?”

Gator’s voice is raspy, exhausted, and he’s wrapped around you in his bed. You offered yours this time, but the two of you remembered he’s the one with blackout curtains, not you.

You quietly respond with just “No.” with your head ducked in towards his chest. The two of you are naked again, it’s just easier at this point. “M’sorry that happened.”

“What do I gotta do to convince you that ya’ got nothin’ to be sorry for?” He asks, kissing the top of your head. “Stuff happens out of our control, it’s okay.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to scare you like that. I think the combination of everything happening and being sleep deprived caused it— wait. Gator? Why the fuck are we still awake?”

“Because we’re both idiots.” He chuckles, eyes growing heavy. “Did you drink enough water? I can get ya’ some more.”

You shake your head, “No, thank you, though. I can’t get over how nice you are when you’re not being a total douche.”

“There were definitely nicer ways to word that, y’know.”

You ignore his quip, half asleep. “Thank you, Gator. Wouldn’t wanna be an idiot with anyone else other than you.” In seconds, you’re dozing off, falling into a steady breathing pattern in Gator’s arms.

As you fall asleep, you don’t hear Gator murmur, “Thank you for givin’ me another chance, darlin’.”

#gator tillman x reader #gator tillman x y/n #gator tillman x fem!reader #my fics #part time soulmate full time problem #gator tillman smut #sorry this took so long!! i was having issues with tumblr lol but who’s surprised

[makeste]

Have you heard about the One Piece live action?

Also One Piece is in it final saga.

I've watched the entire live action One Piece three times so far. I went in with zero expectations, given how badly other live action anime adaptations have let me down. the first time I watched it, I was thrilled with how good of an adaptation it was, and how it felt like it had finally broken the so-called live action anime "curse." the second time I watched it, I kept thinking how even aside from being a good adaptation, it was honestly a really good show in its own right. and the third time I was like, "yeah so this is actually one of my favorite shows of all time now, apparently."

everything about it is just so, so good. the One Piece anime and manga have such a high barrier to entry, what with it being such an intimidatingly long series, having a relatively slow start, and having an art style that initially throws people off. the live action solves all of those problems. it's only an eight episode commitment, so it's not intimidating. it's live action, so the art isn't distracting people until they get used to it. and it's a condensed version of what was honestly a fairly meandering first saga, and it whittles things down perfectly. all the good stuff, none of the filler. perfect. half my enjoyment honestly comes from how impressed I am that they actually managed to do this lol.

and the casting!! how is it so perfect?! live action Luffy should be impossible to cast. I genuinely did not think they would be able to do it. Iñaki is a wonder and I would die for him. Taz Skylar is literally Sanji. Jacob is wildly charming, Mackenyu made me like Zoro even more than I already did, and Emily made me cry every single time I watched episode 7. the fact that Oda had final say in all of the casting decisions was so important, I think.

and omg. just so many other wonderful components. the soundtrack, the sets, the effects (absolutely essential in order to make the show not feel cheesy, and they nailed everything), the FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY, omg. perfect show, honestly. for anyone who hasn't seen the series, I highly recommend it. it is a genuinely delightful experience.

and as for the manga I still need to catch up! BnHA first, lol. but thankfully One Piece's pacing is such that I'm pretty sure I still have plenty of time to get caught up and maybe even do a partial reread. gonna be a fun time for sure. end of an era.

#one piece #one piece live action #asks #anon asks

[jacquesthepigeon]

Adrien's held back by the premise. 'Reverse fairy tale' he's the 'princess' perfect in his castle meant to be saved by Marinette the 'knight'.

This isn't me speculating, this is in the show bible. They honestly sat down and said 'hey if we change their crotch accessories it'll be so progressive. That's all gender roles and toxic patriarchy boil down to right? The configuration of your nether deli.'

So you have your useless emotional little princess Adrien who is both perfect and perfectly useless and the strong put upon Marinette who must protect him from the mean world amd his own sense of agency (he's just too emotional to be trusted with the truth!). She plows through the world and it hends to her will because knight etc etc.

This isn't Marinette salt, this is salting the people who say down and said 'Yeah this is totally a good story to tell.'

See, while I can see how that’s a factor, I don’t think that’s the Big problem. There have been plenty of princesses that still have agency and an active role in their stories despite their “damsel in distress” status. The issue with Adrien is that he’s Perfect and Must Be Protected At All Costs and It’s The Rest Of The World That Is Wrong. By this I mean that when they came up with these core characteristics, they doomed him to stagnation. He can’t face any challenges without risking alterations to his worldview and by extension his Perfect Cinnamon Roll status. From the moment they decided to make his dad the villain, he was guaranteed to never get a completely happy ending but because he is So Good and Can’t Handle That, they decided to ignore the most logical plot to follow with him and made him nothing more than a space filler in his own story.

It doesn’t matter if maribug is his knight in shining armor, he can’t even acknowledge the evil dragon exists.

#generalluxun #ask

[mdhwrites]

Thought you might want to know, but all of Season 2A was written without knowledge of the shortening. Dana Terrace says this at the 16 minute mark of the April 28th Post Hoot.

Thank you! It's neat to know and kind of the assumption I'd had for a long time. In production and being written should be two different phases for a show after all. For the Amphibia outline I did earlier today, it'd mean losing an episode which.... *sigh* But yeah, I've effectively always treated it mostly like S2A was unaffected by the shortening and there are some plotlines I'm sympathetic about with that... But not by much.

Again, I've gone harder into this in the past but S2B had to mostly be the way it was for the sake of S3, full or shortened, unless S3 was DRASTICALLY different than what we got. Hunter needed to be an ally enough to go with them all into the portal so Sport in a Storm, Hollow Mind and Labyrinth Runners would have still happened. You do need to explore Belos and prepare for King's Tide with him so Hollow Mind bare minimum still needs to exist but also for Luz's angst arc, Elsewhere Elsewhen needs to exist. King being a titan needs to be confirmed so Edge of the World needs to exist. We also need to make King the most patient, kind, wisest person to exist so Titan, Where Art Thou needs to happen. And Clouds on the Horizon leads directly into the finale so while a lot of the A plot of that episode is pretty wasteful and lacks payoffs, you definitely still need to include it for where everyone is for the finale unless you alter the finale a lot. And Falls and Follies is a good recap of position and sets the stakes for Raine but... It'd pretty questionable too.

This makes the only episodes who's main plots could really be altered to a drastic degree be:

Reaching Out: Amity's relationship with her father barely pays off and frankly it'd have been almost just as jarring to have King do his conversation during Clouds on the Horizon even without this episode. Otherwise, it shoots the worldbuilding in the head and harms Lumity for the sake of double daddy issues. You also have the confirmation for Eda that The Day of Unity is bad news but no one who lives at The Owl House does anything with that. So let's of setup for effectively no payoff.

Them's the Breaks: I hate that I cannot justify this episode because it is EASILY the most of S2B but... It damages Raine's character, only really shows a potential reason why Eda gave up on the covens but the only story part is the last two minutes. You could have done ANYTHING else, like I dunno, an episode actually about Darius and Hunter/the rebel coven heads, and ended it with the Raine reveal.

That is two episodes. The fact that there are two episodes even is... OOPH, especially when Reaching Out at least has arguments but Them's the Breaks is just Dana gushing about the fanfic she wants to write for her own series. The fact that there are only two, with maybe being able to cut one of Hunter's episodes for his arc, is not good. Not unless the Day of Unity wasn't supposed to be the S2 finale.

And if it wasn't... What the fuck was the original plan?

This is a lot of why I talk about not wanting three seasons. It wanted WAY MORE. I think Dana assumed it'd be so popular and big as to have five or more. There are PLENTY of issues with that conceptually (again, S3 could never have been great) but it is the vibe the story gives. It is too redundant and too slow to be otherwise. TOH's biggest argument against being claimed as having a lot of filler is mostly in that a lot of episodes get a LITTLE done in way or another but it takes very few leaps. When it could do that, actually have a big payoff and move along, it cuts it off at the knees for the sake of 'realism'. This happened with Willow... and also fucking happened with ALADOR. IN SEASON 2B. WHY!? Why would you make a plot point specifically say more work and time will be needed when you DON'T HAVE TIME!?

Even S3 has this. In a season with THREE. EPISODES. Luz has THREE finishes to her arc. In Thanks to Them, she gets reassured by quite literally everyone that she did nothing wrong and should feel confident about her choices before she confidently prepares to head into the demon realm! Then... In show it's like five, ten minutes tops when Luz is self hating and self martyring herself again until the end of the episode has her confidently state that she wants to be understood! And with her friends and new palisman by her side, she will face the Collector!

Only to start the next episode with a dream sequence where she believes everyone fucking hates her, doesn't understand her and that she deserves to be hated. This only gets resolved when the FUCKING GOD of the show tells her she's A-Okay and she has nothing to fear. She's just too gosh darn good in order to have any reason to every doubt herself!

I'm not going to even ask why this happened. I can actually tell you mostly why because Luz is the only character besides Hunter with any character payoffs left to do. So if you want each episode to have a big character moment, Hunter can only replace one of those. They still tried to have Willow do one anyways by dredging up something that hadn't been a thing for TWO. SEASONS. But Luz was still given three different endings.

No, the bigger question to me just fucking HOW!? this sort of thing happens. This has fuck all to do with the shortening after all. Wasted time at this point, moments that mean literally and do nothing, are their choice. They are still the writers who decided to waste all this time despite claiming how much they wanted more time.

It makes it look like any potential S3 would have just been... Well, more of this. More repetition that dilutes its themes and doesn't really go anywhere. After all, if they couldn't fill three hours with actual story and pushing forward the narrative and themes... Why should we assume eight hours would have been suddenly so much better?

I didn't mean to go so hard on this. Sigh. But yeah, there's a lot of reasons why the shortening is not the excuse that people think it is. Why it honestly feels so much like a blessing to the show because people just have this go to statement to try and shut people or shut their own brains up from any issues they might have, even if those issues are self contained to a single episode.

TOH was never perfect and has flaws that run incredibly deep and start early on. No excuse will ever change those facts.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

[invested-in-your-future]

They had to take a breather to develop characters. Hard to do with Salem's threat looming over them.

Plenty of fictional works manage to cram good ol' character development in even the most tense of the situations.

Honestly its rare to even find a fictional fantasy or contemporary world where some threat isn't looming over characters or the world isn't ending. How would character development happen then if the characters are running out of time against unbeatable threat?

By realizing that narrative progression =/= time passage.

The cool thing about fictional stories and overall fiction, is that passage of time is completely up to the control of the writer.

A character can reflect on a lifetime of achievements in split second. An entire book can take place during the exact same single hour but from different perspectives.

And again, RWBY knows this. Half the V3 transpires in literally less than a day. The whole finale takes up barely few hours. Even in the bad volumes the narrative uses the convenience of skipping ahead quite often to "get past" writing specific bits of story or to not have to deal with things.

The show already avoided dealing with so many issues, both outwardly between characters and inward, that its all boiling over. It doesn't take a filler padding dimension to actually have characters interact or emote or actually self-reflect or to make all those Chekov's guns go off.

The fact that they genuinely thought "we need to take the characters LITERALLY OUT OF THE PLOT so we can deal with this "character stuff"" is damning for writers. Like it's literally treating CHARACTERIZATION OF YOUR LEAD CAST as nothing but a sidequest.

And as for them doing this to develop characters...

But. They. Haven't????

Like AT ALL?

V9 does touch upon on some of surface-level issues, but also avoids like majority of core issues the show has never dealt with.

It starts by establishing few SHOCKING facts

"Ruby is Traumatized" - well gee, who would have known, its not like that's literally been obvious since V3. Does she reflect on Penny? LOL. On her worldview kind of falling apart? LOL. On the nature of her relationship with her team and how all of them have changed as people? NOPE ITS ALL FINE YOU ARE FLAWLESS BBY, TRAUMA AIN'T REAL. YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT AT ALL.

"Blake and Yang have unresolved issues" - Yes. Again. V3. Final Scene. They have issues they have never really spoken about. Issues that were set up but then got no progression as the characters just stood around. And guess what? They don't in this volume either. The show just sidesteps it. Because the personal character issues ARE STILL IGNORED - Has Yang dealt with her aimlessness and identity search and actually processed her trauma, her conflicting feelings about her overall role, her mother, her sister and everything else that has literally piled up for years? NOPE. Has Blake actually dealt with the moral conundrum she was living? Has she figured out what exactly she wants to do? NOPE. Have they both faced abandonment issues they have? LOL.

"Jaune feels bad" - well gee, that's a new one. Its not like ~70% of the show's screentime is telling us this for some reason rather than focusing on actual lead cast. Its okay, any consequences he managed to somehow get will be undone by MAGIC.

And beyond that? Weiss? PFFT. Penny's unfortunate fridging? PFFFFFT. The actual progression of characters being the focus? PFFT. Here's bunch of new absolutely nonsensical lore that completely breaks suspension of disbelief instead. How do you like talking animals in goofy alternate dimensions run by a tree?

Its like whoever wrote this took cursory glance at like Volume 1 character moments and went "this will do"...and then the lore about magic tree gods was vomited all over the result

If anything V9 tells us they won't Develop characters.

Let me sum up what V9, intentionally or unintentionally, says:

"Self Reflection is bad. Having flaws is BAD. Good People don't have flaws nor have to deal with psychological trauma nor have to question the morality of their actions or nature of their world. A mean evil being whispering on your shoulder is all that psychological trauma is and as long as you just reaffirm that nothing you did ever affects you or defines you it will all go away, especially if you have magic god tree available to plot device you. Whatever good or bad decisions you made don't matter. People enabling your behavior, flaws and escapism is what it means to be a good friend. Even passage of time and losing years meaninglessly doesn't really affect you or change you because you are not allowed to change and will go back to normal via a plot device. Acceptance and understanding of one's emotions, thought patterns and problems, one of fundamental elements of therapy (or really any sort of healing) is BAD. You don't need coping mechanisms of any sort if you ignore issues being there! Actually exploring your relationships with others and any sorts of issues and trauma there is BAD and you should just pretend its all fine between you all. Even facing your trauma is BAD - you need to avert your eyes, listen to the voices telling you you are flawless and move on. After all there's Absolute Unchanging Truth of Right and Wrong. There's absolute definitive way to view the world and yourself. There's only the True Way To Be Yourself and the rest is Lies. Whatever trauma or issues you have stems from LIES. Who needs self awareness? Who needs change? Who needs any sort of progress if an unchanging(literally) Divine Higher Will can just tell you what you are supposed to do with your life next?

All of that stuff about facing your trauma, picking yourself back up and the necessity to keep moving forward because nobody else will do that for you and you need to persevere through hardships(You know the specific thing Monty Oum wanted to focus on)? Who needs that when Greater Divine Beings Tell Your Perfect Flawless Existences What To Do and you don't ever need to change or grow as people or face your trauma and issues"

The purpose of entire V9, the purpose of the Volume upon which the very fate of RWBY franchise's continued existence hinges is all about telling you that NOTHING IN THE SHOW MATTERS and characters won't ever change or develop and will remain exactly the same till the day they achieve their Purpose.

Its yet another volume that literally doesn't matter. Just like majority of the show past V3. Just pretending the lead characters figured out their issues offscreen is better than what V9 gives us.

#RWBY #rwde #seriously #Ruby Rose deserves a BETTER show #Yang deserves a BETTER show #RWBY itself deserves to be a BETTER SHOW #RWBY9 #rwby volume 9 #rwby volume nine #rwby critique #Ruby Rose #well this was a rant #seriously though V9 is some of the MOST offensive works of fiction I have suffered recently

[moon-spirit-yue]

Fought for me

Chapter 9: I'll Get To You Somehow

(You thought this was a story about Raya and Namaari's relationship? No, it's a story about Raya and Charanya being besties. This is honestly a filler chapter more than anything. Okay but I promise we get a good Namaari scene and she'll be more prevalent in the next chapter. She'll show up more in the next chapter. Anyways, hope you enjoy!)

Being Charanya's best friend is taking ten years off Raya's lifespan. Sure, rebuilding Heart and working with the other lands to achieve peace is stressful, but making sure Charanya stays out of trouble?

Practically impossible.

The first major issue Raya encountered with Charanya was her interactions with those in charge of agriculture in Heart a couple weeks ago. A few noble families from Heart own the farms and are in charge of harvesting food each season. Though there isn't really any explicit rule book for how each farm operates, the other noble families all unofficially chose Niran as their leader.

Quite the burly alpha man, Niran always seemed to know exactly what to do in order to get the best crops possible. Everyone else followed his orders to produce the best results.

That is, until the Druun hit.

Like most other Heart civilians, Niran was one of the first people to get turned to stone. He's no longer familiar with the way the soil works or the best area for water quality.

Six years was plenty of time to drastically change how the agriculture of Heart needed to run. The only person that's been harvesting anything from Heart in the past six years is Charanya. That means that now everyone now looks to her for guidance instead of Niran.

And boy is he pissed about it.

Raya suspects that it's mainly because Niran feels usurped from his original position of power. She's positive he got a kick out of everyone coming to him for help. Seeing people shift their focus from him to Charanya was definitely a blow to his ego.

The Heart princess is also rather aware of the fact that Niran holds traditional views. Also known as alphas are leaders, betas are meant to be subservient, and omegas need to stay at home to make babies. Just bigoted viewpoints that suppress everyone. Awesome.

While these stereotypes aren't even half as enforced as they were in the past, a small chunk continued to hold onto these views. Many people in this group are part of the nobility all throughout Kumandra. Niran is one of these people. He sees Charanya, an omega, leading the people in changing how their harvesting is done as a huge slap in the face.

In the first couple weeks during the rebuilding, Charanya and Niran were constantly at war with how they were supposed to grow plants and where to do it. Niran was trying to go with the way everything was done before the Druun while Charanya knew the current way of handling things.

Pretty much every time the two interact, they end up in a screaming match. Niran screams because he isn't being obeyed and Charanya screams because she isn't being heard.

Raya doesn't like Niran in the slightest.

"Okay seriously, how many fucking times do we have to go over this? Do I need to dumb it down for you? Soil by the orchids bad, soil by the river good!" Charanya drawled like she was speaking to a toddler.

Honestly, she was.

"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about! And quit talking to me like I'm a child!" Niran snapped back

"I'm responding accordingly. If I talk to you like you're a kid, it's because you act like one. You're too old and ugly to be a kid so how about start acting like an adult, yeah?" Charanya mocked.

Now Niran's just going on full blown tirade about how Charanya should respect him and his position as an alpha. The people around them were at a loss for what to do.

Raya felt her eye twitch involuntarily. She's not dealing with this anymore. Clearly, Aulia shared her mother's sentiment because she's frowning in Niran and Charanya's direction. Raya decided to pull out the big guns.

She's tattling to her father.

The sight of Raya immediately caused Benja to groan.

"Do not tell me-" Benja began.

"Yes," Raya bluntly stated.

Benja let out a string of curses before following Raya's footsteps. People had been complaining to Benja over the Charanya Niran disputes and it's driving him nuts. No matter how many private talks with Niran he's had, the man refuses to change. Time for public humiliation.

The Chief of Heart may be using a crutch to walk around, but he is a man that commands respect no matter where he goes. When he approached the squabbling duo, they both immediately shut up.

Raya tried to hide her satisfaction as Benja laid in on Niran. There haven't been any public incidents with Niran after that, but Raya sees the look of utter rage in his eyes when he sees Charanya. She made a note to keep an eye on him.

******************************

The second issue with Charanya, while very minor compared to the others, is the fact that her and Namaari are constantly at odds. Granted, Raya and Tien are very clearly not buddy buddy, but they make it less obvious.

Raya hadn't expected the four of them to end up constantly spending time together, but allegedly that's what teenagers do so she's rolling with it.

It honestly surprises Raya how often Tien and Namaari are in Heart. Ever since the Druun were vanquished, the two Fang alphas have only left Heart twice. And even then, it only lasted for a few days. Many people from all lands have been very active in helping rebuild Heart as a way to show support but man, the people Fang are seriously sticking around.

Both Namaari and Tien thought it'd be a good idea to hang around the serlots for the afternoon. Both Raya and Charanya are incredibly weary of the overgrown felines, especially because of the fact that Aulia's with them. Charanya insisted on holding the baby due to the fact that they haven't had much bonding time lately. (They literally spent all of yesterday attached at the hip.)

So, there Raya stood, constantly eyeing the animals that spent a couple years chasing her. Awesome. Well, the trip wasn't a total waste because Aulia seemed fascinated by the large beasts. She kept reaching out to the cats and staring at them with great interest.

"You know we can let her touch the serlots, right?" Namaari asked.

"Excuse me?" both Heart omegas asked at the same time.

"That was kind of creepy. But yeah, Aulia seems to really like the serlots so I just figured I should mention it'd be totally safe for her to touch and interact with the serlots," Namaari explained.

Before Raya could say 'you lost your damn mind', Charanya spoke for her.

"Uh, think with whatever's left of your brain please. Do you see that jaw? That creature could swallow my goddaughter whole. One gulp and the heir to the Heart throne is gone," Charanya scoffed.

"Okay, that's dramatic-," Namaari began.

"No no, she's got a point. I refuse to subject myself to childbirth again, that's the only heir Heart's getting," Raya bluntly stated while pointing at Aulia.

"The serlots are incredibly docile, they know not to attack unless we tell them to," Tien attempted to reassure them.

"What part of 'swallowed with one gulp' are you people not getting?! And the teeth??" Charanya exclaimed.

"This is why you're her godmother," Raya told her.

"I know right? We're so in sync!" the shorter girl smiled.

"Do you honestly think I'd do something to hurt Aulia?" Namaari asked.

Well now Raya felt a little bad with how sincere she is. She was about to respond but yet again, Charanya beat her to the punch.

"Who knows what goes on in your brain knot head?" Charanya huffed.

Raya snorted and quickly closed her mother after seeing Namaari give her a pointed glare.

"You're one to talk, no?" Namaari huffed.

"What-" Charanya mumbled before wincing in pain as Aulia tugged on her hair.

"I will allow thirty seconds of serlot interaction and if I get even one indication of hostile behavior, I'm putting the beast down," Raya conceded.

Raya figured having her daughter interact with other living beings would be good for development. Charanya did not seem pleased with the verdict, but relented. She kissed Aulia on her forehead and handed her to Namaari.

"I swear if anything happens to her, I'm going to burn you alive," the Heart woman scowled.

"Charanya, that's treason," Tien bluntly stated.

"But is it treason if I don't get caught?" Charanya asked innocently.

"Yes! Yes it is!" Namaari yelled.

Raya's not even surprised anymore. Those two can't have a conversation, or participate in the same conversation, without them bickering. But, at the end of the day, Charanya and Namaari never actually go too far with their bickering, so Raya supposes it's harmless. For now at least.

******************************

Now, the third incident is just downright hilarious and happened the day after her little spat with Namaari.

"Raya, stop this. Stop this right fucking now," Charanya hissed as she stared at a sight that would likely haunt her for years.

"I truly don't know if I can," Raya said as she tried containing her laughter.

Right in front of their very eyes was Chief Virana of Fang very obviously hitting on Kim, Chranaya's beloved grandmother. Aulia was being held by Kim and that baby is having the time of her life with those two.

"Grandma is like, elderly! Isn't she too old for the chief?" Charanya whispered in pure frustration.

"I mean, chief's like forty-five. Grandma's been stone for six years so she hasn't aged. She's still fifty. I'm sorry to tell you this, but a five year age gap is perfectly acceptable," Raya grinned.

"No. This will not happen. I will fake a heart attack if this goes on for even a moment longer," Charanya hissed.

"Oh come on, Ranya! Open your mind! If Grandma and the Chief get married, you and Aulia would be cousins! We could be a true family!" Raya grinned as Charanya's face was filled with terror.

"That would make Namaari my aunt! In what universe is that acceptable?!" Charanya hissed.

"Apparently this one," Raya said, getting more and more amused by the minute.

The Heart princess had to admit, it was odd to see Kim get so flustered while being hit on. Growing up, Raya wanted to be Kim. Despite her omega status, she had even the mightiest alphas shaking in their boots.

She was a rather tall woman with sharp features that made her look as stern as she acted. Not a whole lot of alphas approached her after the death of her husband. It wasn't like it's because of the fact that she wasn't pretty, because she is. Instead, she was never approached because Kim was incredibly intimidating and frightened the living hell out of most people.

Raya supposes that if there was one person in all of Kumandra that wouldn't get scared off, it'd be the alpha chief of Fang. It honestly made perfect sense.

"No. I just- no. Raya, start a diversion. Make it stop, I am begging you," Charanya frowned.

"Okay, is it really that bad? Grandma's fine-" the Heart princess began but was quickly cut off.

"Uh, she is an omega that is a chef while Virana is an alpha and a fucking chief! If, in some horrible reality, they end up courting, you know who's gonna suffer most if things go bad?" Charanya snapped.

Raya sighed and tried to think through her words carefully. The shorter omega is very protective of her family. It's been prominent even before the Druun's appearance. With how her parent's relationship ended due to her father taking everything and leaving her mother nothing, it makes sense how weary Charanya is of alphas. Especially those that could have romantic intentions with her family.

"Virana's not your father. The only person that is your father is, well, your father," Raya gently reminded her.

"Doesn't mean there aren't tons of people like him that will make an omega fall in love only to screw them over," Charanya scowled.

"True, but Kim's an adult. If Virana's being serious and Grandma's interested, you know you have no right to stop her," Raya told her.

"Oh go to hell with your completely reasonable thoughts. I want to be insane and bitter," Charanya pouted.

"I want to be insane and bitter too. As long as we do it from a distance and don't interfere," Raya smiled.

"Fine. It's too sunny out here anyways," Charanya sighed.

"I'll grab Aulia," Raya said as she squeezed Charanya's shoulder.

The taller omega also sighed, but it was out of relief. Now that Raya successfully talked Charanya out of doing something drastic, maybe they could just take some time to relax.

******************************

The fourth issue that takes the cake is what Raya is currently dealing with.

Raya had a late meeting with chiefs from the other lands that ran well past sundown. Though long, it ended up being much more productive than she had hoped. Namaari was originally going to join her for dinner but ended up having more paperwork than she anticipated. Raya told her she'd meet up with her after a quick walk, she really needed fresh air.

Namaari was willing to watch Aulia while the Heart princess went outside, which was honestly very helpful. She totally lost the baby sling she'd been using so it'd be a tad difficult to walk around fully supporting her baby.

Raya was able to peacefully roam the village outside the palace for a few minutes before she caught sight of Charanya. When Raya got closer, she found Charanya talking to another person. Upon even closer inspection the person seemed to be a beta woman from Tail who was very upset.

"-look, I have no clue who your husband was screwing. That was long after my time. Divorce the bastard or stay with him, I don't care, but don't drag me into your shitty relationship," Charanya hissed.

Raya immediately walked closer because she couldn't hear what the beta woman was telling her friend. Then she saw the beta pull something out of her pocket and it was a fucking knife! If she was going to save Charanya, she needed to be fast.

The Heart princess gripped the knife and quietly rushed over to the duo. Charanya was pinned against a wall just staring at the knife in front of her. If she saw Raya, she didn't make any indications.

Raya got close enough to press her own knife right against the Tail woman's neck. Whatever words she was telling Charanya died in throat upon feeling the blade press against her skin.

"Drop the knife or I swear on every dragon alive I plunge this in your neck," Raya seethed.

At once, the Tail woman dropped said knife.

"Run," Raya hissed.

The tail woman did not need to be told twice. She turned around and sprinted away from the scene. Sighs of relief were exhaled by both omegas.

"Thanks for the assist," Charanya gulped.

"Who the hell was that? What's her deal with you?" Raya frowned.

"Long story short, her husband ended up going to the brothel in Talon. Guess he was hooking up with Samorn. She wanted me to tell her where Samorn is, likely to beat her ass. I honestly have zero clue where she is, but she didn't believe me," Charanya sighed.

"That's psychotic!"

"Only a lot. It's kind of hilarious how I wasn't even a sex worker and that damn brothel keeps on coming to bite me in the ass."

"What do you mean keeps on coming?"

Charanya didn't answer. Raya gasped when she connected the dots. This has happened before.

"Exactly how many other times have you been confronted because of cheating spouses?" the Heart princess asked.

"It was only like, one other time!"

"Charanya."

"Two times?"

"Cha. Ray. Na."

"Okay fine, six times."

"SIX FUCKING TIMES-"

"Okay pause! The other times were just them bitching at me and then they would leave! I swear on my life no one has ever pulled a knife on me before or got physical in any way! If it had gone that far I definitely would have told you!"

Raya sighed in relief at hearing that at least Charanya's life wasn't in constant danger. But even so, what a fucking binturi!

"Why would you not tell me anyway? I'm your best friend! You're the godmother of my baby!" Raya asked sadly.

"You have enough on your plate. I really thought if I just told them to buzz off they'd all get the message that I'm not a snitch. I realize I went about it the wrong way, and I'm sorry, but I really just didn't want to make your life any harder than it has to be," Charanaya sighed.

Raya simply wrapped Charanya up in a hug and rested her chin on top of the shorter woman's head. Her friend immediately returned the embrace.

"Please, I already know you're a total pain. May as well tell me about it," Raya joked.

"Stop ruining our moment," Charanya giggled.

They stayed like that for a moment before deciding to turn in for the night.

"Do Ma and Grandma know about this?" Raya asked as they made their way back to Heart's palace.

"Ma does, but only because she actually caught us talking. We decided to keep it from grandma for now. You know how she is," Charanya shrugged.

Yeah. Raya knows very well how Kim is. The woman is ruthless.

"Completely understandable," Raya nodded.

The two bid each other after a couple more minutes of walking to the palace. Raya mentally groaned upon remembering she had to do more paperwork and help Namaari with hers. Why does she have to do things? Life is lame.

The Heart omega had told Namaari she could get a head start in Raya's room since she had Aulia. That baby loved her room for whatever reason.

Raya opened the door to see Aulia giggling as Namaari played peek a boo with her. Raya smirked. There's no way Namaari got any work done whatsoever.

"How've you two been?" Raya asked in pure amusement.

"We've been good. She's very entertaining," Namaari smiled.

"Yeah. And uh, what about that head start on the paperwork you were talking about?" Raya smugly asked.

Namaari looked at the stack of papers beside her, completely untouched.

"I had priorities, Raya," Namaari said, gesturing to Aulia.

There was something about Namaari calling her daughter a priority that really made Raya want to make out with her. Her stupid inner omega's prancing around at the idea. She really hates instinct.

"Well, priorities must now shift if we ever want to get this stuff done. Say bye bye to Princess Undercut, Starlight," Raya told her baby.

Namaari and Aulia had the same pout as they were separated, which was honestly kind of funny and concerning. It's not even like Aulia's going that far. She's just going from Namaari's arms to her crib a couple feet away from Raya's bed.

"Did you just refer to me as Princess Undercut to your baby?" Namaari frowned.

"It's called respect, Namaari. She had to use your official title," Raya grinned.

"As if, you have no respect for me," Namaari scoffed.

"I think I'd start getting some if you didn't get distracted by a baby when you had actual princess responsibilities," Raya smirked.

"Uh, is it my fault she's so cute?" namaari asked.

Kinda.

"You have zero self control," the Heart woman laughed.

"Just look at your stupid papers already," Namaari huffed.

Raya figured she poked enough fun at the alpha so work they did. Time flew by much faster than she had anticipated. Paperwork was such a damn chore, but doing it with Namaadri made it less so. By the time they were finished, it was beyond the middle of the night.

"Toi, I'm exhausted. I don't think I can stand up," Namaari whispered, mindful of the fact that Aulia is fast asleep.

"You can stay if you want. Bed's big enough for two," Raya blurted without thinking.

Ah yes. Invite the alpha you had a child with and that you're crushing on into your bed. That makes so much sense Raya. Look at you go with your critical thinking skills.

"If you're just being polite tell me now because I am genuinely going to take you up on that offer," Namaari mumbled while tiredly rubbing her eyes.

Is Raya truly this stupid?

"I feel like if you tried walking to your room, you'd pass out in the hallway. We can both sleep in the bed without going anywhere near each other. That thing can fit like seven people minimum," the Heart woman joked.

Yes. Raya is this stupid.

"In that case, I'm going to bed roomie," Namaari yawned.

The Fang princess tiredly shuffled to the bed and face planted on it. After a couple moments of awkward shuffling, Namaari managed to curl up under the covers.

Raya stood up and peered down at Aulia one last time to make sure she was still asleep. Seeing her out like a light, Raya crawled into bed.

"If you're a blanket hog, I'm kicking you out," Raya yawned.

"Don't even start," Namaari huffed.

"Goodnight, Namaari."

"Night, dep la."

******************************

When Aulia woke up Raya with her loud shrieks of baby rage, it was still dark outside. It felt like Raya didn't sleep a wink. Damn it.

The Heart woman started opening her eyes only to see Namaari already tending to Aulia. Namaari picked the baby up and began to softly ask what's wrong.

"She probably needs a diaper change. It's around this time," Raya yawned.

"Alright. I can do it if you want me to, I've done it before. I know some people have thing about it though so I can also slide over the table and a new diaper to you," Namaari offered.

Wow. She's willing to change the baby of her own free will. Each day that goes by, Raya feels more and more evil over keeping Aulia's parentage a secret.

But that's not a conversation for right now!

Right now, Raya would be taking what she could get.

"By all means, by my guest. Diapers are in the cabinet next to the crib," Raya mumbled.

Namaari didn't respond but Raya could hear the cabinet door open and shut. Aulia seemed much less fussy now that she was being attended to, which is always a plus.

"I hope she bites you when you change her," Raya bluntly stated.

"I am changing your baby's diaper of my own volition and this is how you talk to me? That's fucked up, Raya," Namaari huffed.

The Heart princess merely laughed. She had closed her eyes again once Namaari stated she'd deal with the diaper change so she couldn't exactly see the two of them. That's why she's unable to picture Aulia's little teeth digging into Namaari's skin as she bit her.

The Fang woman cursed at being bit. Raya knew exactly what was happening and laughed even more.

"I bet she's only doing it to follow your bad influence," Namaari huffed.

"Bring her to me. I want to encourage this behavior," Raya smiled and stretched her arms.

"You want me to give you your baby so that you two can conspire against me?"

"Yeah."

".........you're the worst."

With that, Namaari handed Aulia over to Raya. The Heart princess smiled at her happy, clean baby. She gave her daughter a small kiss on the cheek.

"So you remember how you bit Undercut when she changed you? I want you to do that all the time whenever you see her," Raya loudly whispered.

Namaari yelled out an indignant 'hey', but that was unimportant.

Aulia giggled and leaned down to nuzzle her face in Raya's neck. Ugh, she's so damn cute when she's asleep. She is one cuddly baby when she's just woken up.

"How is it even possible to be that cute?" Namaari quietly asked.

"I have no idea. She doesn't even try," Raya smiled.

The Fang woman sat next to the two Heart omegas and gently tapped Aulia's hand.

"Just putting it out there, my name is Namaari. Not Undercut. Namaari. Do you understand this Aulia?" Namaari asked.

"Your name is Undercut if I say your name is undercut," Raya scoffed.

"You're so lucky the baby's in between us or I'd put you in a headlock right now."

"As if, binturi."

"I'm no binturi, binturi."

"If someone had to draw a picture of the word binturi, they'd have to draw your stupid face."

"My face is not stupid-"

Before the two adults in the room could finish their petty argument, Aulia let out a big yawn. Then the baby gave them a little glare that they just couldn't take seriously due to how cute she is.

"Is this her way of telling us to shut the hell up?" Namaari asked.

"Looks like it," Raya mused.

"Alright, back to bed you go," Namaari sighed.

The Fang woman picked up Aulia, who's already drifting off to sleep, and placed her on her crib.

"Need anything while I'm up?" Namaari whispered.

"I'm good. Thanks though," Raya replied.

Namaari hummed in acknowledgement then got back into the bed.

"Night Undercut."

"You're so annoying."

******************************

Raya woke up to the sound of the door opening and Charanya's alarmingly loud voice for the morning.

"Wake up Sunshine, Ba wants us-" Charanya started.

At once, Charanya slammed the door shut. Raya got confused as to why she'd leave so abruptly, but then she realized the state she was in.

After fully opening her eyes, the Heart princess could see that she's practically lying on top of Namaari who just so happened to be wide awake. Raya knew exactly what this looked like.

She quickly scrambled off the other woman and began mentally cursing herself for letting the other woman sleep over. It's like she's a glutton for punishment.

"Hold on! We didn't have sex!" Raya yelled despite the fact that Charanya was likely long gone at this point.

"Not this time anyway," Namaari mumbled tiredly.

Raya's jaw dropped. Huh, so they could joke about it now. They had to be a good sign right?

.......right?

In order to address the comment, Raya grabbed the pillow behind her and smacked Namaari with it. The Fang alpha merely laughed.

"You're so stupid," Raya snorted.

"False," was all Namaari could muster out.

"I'd better go see what she wants. Mind keeping an eye on my tiny terror?" Raya asked.

"Don't talk about her that way, I think she's a delight. And yes, I can. I'll probably be down in the courtyard by the time you and your Ba are finished," Namaari said.

"Wonderful. Thanks Namaari, I'll see you then," Raya yawned.

She then looked down and noticed Namaari looked red. Like, really red.

"You're not sick are you? You're redder than a rose," Raya inquired.

"I'm fine!" Namaari said, almost too quickly.

Raya's too tired to argue. She'd take Namaari's word for it. The Heart woman grabbed some fresh clothes and quickly changed in the bathroom. Raya then rushed out the door to Charanya's room where she thankfully was located. She did not feel like chasing that girl down.

When Raya walked into the room, Charanya was glaring at her with crossed arms.

"Why do you look like I just dropped Aulia?" Raya asked.

"The hell was Namaari doing in your bed," Charanya glared.

This is so not a conversation Raya wants to have right now. Unfortunately, Charanya's not one to let things go.

"Look, we stayed up late doing paperwork so I offered to share the bed. Nothing happened," Raya insisted.

"You need to be careful," Charanya glared.

"I just told you, we didn't have sex," the taller woman groaned.

"That's not what I meant," Charanya spat.

"Why are you flipping out? It didn't mean anything," Raya sighed.

"Raya, I realize you probably didn't notice, so I'm just going to say. When I walked in that room, you were purring," her best friend said.

Raya's pretty sure she can actually feel the color drain from her face at the comment. If an omega purrs near an alpha she's not related to it's usually because she wants to court them. Raya may actually kill herself. That did explain Namaari's redness though.

"...............do you think she noticed?" the Heart princess asked quietly.

Charanya looked like she wanted to slap the hell out of Raya.

"Yes. Given the fact that Namaari was fully conscious, directly beneath you, and staring straight at you, I have this feeling that she maybe noticed the purring," Charanya fumed.

It's only just now occurring to her that being Raya's best friend is likely taking ten years off Charanya's life too.

Toi, they're perfect for each other.

"I really didn't mean to," Raya meekly admitted.

Charanya groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt again. Namaari's done enough damage," the shorter woman said.

"Maybe she has. Doesn't really change anything," Raya sighed.

"Just please, be careful," Charanya begged.

"I will. You too," Raya insisted.

"I will," the other girl agreed.

What a garbage fire this is.

"Hey, what do we need to do with Ba?" Raya asked.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that it concerns both of us and we need to head to his office," Charanya said, clearly grateful for the topic change.

The two made idle chit chat as they strolled to the Heart chief's office. They theorized what kind of problem would be so bad that both of them were needed.

When they entered the office, her father looked stressed. Shoulders raised, aggravated look on his face, crossed arms, the whole stressed to death package.

"Alright, glad you're both here. I really don't want to prolong this discussion so I'll just be direct. Have either of you given courting any consideration?" Benja asked.

Raya and Charanya immediately shot each other confused looks. The hell's he going with this?

"No, not really. It's not our main concern right now," Raya stated.

"I second that notion," Charanya agreed.

Her father seemed visibly relieved at the confession.

"Well, it would appear that courtship is other people's main concern. You've both gotten offers. They're on the table. Charanya, your grandmother passed them on to me," Benja explained.

Yet again, the two omegas shot each other a look. This is probably the last thing they thought this conversation would be about.

There sat two stacks of letters on the table with gifts to accompany them. Raya's stack was higher than Charanya's, but that was likely due to the whole royalty thing. Even so, it greatly surprised her. It's public knowledge Raya had a baby very young. She really can't imagine people her age would be willing to deal with that, even if she is a princess.

The Heart woman is also quite shocked over the fact that Kim passed everything on over to Benja in regards to Charanya. Courtships in Heart tended to be overseen by the head of house, usually the oldest alpha but it's not guaranteed. Given Charanya's specific circumstance, head of house would be Kim. On occasion, some families will pawn off control over courtship proposal to a family friend that's more knowledgeable. Again, this family friend is usually an alpha.

The confusing part is that Kim is an utter control freak. From what Raya remembers of Ai's stories, Kim would constantly monitor Ai's courtship requests and would thoroughly investigate those who offered. To pawn off Charanya's courtship requests is incredibly out of character for Grandma.

Raya can take a guess why.

"How'd Grandma take it?" Charanya asked, having zero desire to beat around the bush.

"She couldn't even look at them. Your mother tried to be excited, but she's terrified. I am too. It's hard enough for us parents to see our kids grow up. We never thought we'd blink and have six years fly by," her father sighed.

Yup. That would be the guess. It made sense even if it was devastating to hear. Raya and Charanya are very aware of how hard their sudden adulthood hit their parents. They can't exactly avoid it, especially with the baby on Raya's hip, but the two girls try not to bring much attention to it.

"I, uh, don't feel the need to court right now. Everything's too hectic," was all Charanya said.

"Me neither. Mainly because if someone I court tries to parent my child, I'd give them a nose bleed," Raya huffed.

"You know, you girls don't have to tell us what we want to hear. This is your life, you're both of age, we would support you if you two decided to pursue a relationship with someone," her father reminded them.

"Hard pass," Raya said.

"That's gonna be a no from me," Charanya agreed.

"Oh thank toi. Being supportive is really stressful, I don't know how people do it," Benja said as he slumped in his chair in pure relief.

"That all you needed from us Ba?" Raya laughed. She's honestly just happy to see him in a better mood.

"Yup, that's all for now. I'll go tell Ai and Kim the good news. I'll see you two later," Benja said.

Her father affectionately ruffled the tops of their head. He practically skipped away. It was silent in the room for a moment.

"We can never court anyone ever, can we?" Raya asked out loud.

"No, not ever," Charanya laughed.

"It's a good thing the people we want are unattainable," Raya snorted.

"I like you looking on the bright side! What a nice change of pace," the other woman teased.

"Okay, I know we're not actually courting anyone, but even you have to be a little bit curious over who sent us these letters," Raya grinned.

"Toi, I really am. I have to know," Charanya said as she began shuffling through her pile.

Raya did the same. As expected, she did not know who most of these people were.

"Oh, look at these earrings. I would almost court someone for these earrings alone," Charanya joked.

"They clearly know your taste," Raya noted.

The shorter Heart woman then went to find the envelope that matched the earrings. When Charanya got her hands on it, her jaw practically hit the floor.

"What, what is it?" Raya asked.

"Bestie, you're not going to believe this shit," Charanya said as she showed Raya the name of the person who gave her the earrings.

Raya could not, in fact, believe that shit. The person is Noya, aka one the binturi that enjoyed harassing Charanya every damn day she breathed. It was a bunch of petty shit and Raya got so pissed off by it that she ended up punching Noya in the face to get her to back off.

"How drugged out is she?" Raya scoffed.

"No idea. The audacity," Charanya spat.

"Tell me if she pulls anything. I've no problems breaking her nose again," Raya scowled, thankfully causing Charanya to laugh.

As Raya shuffled through her own letters, her jaw hit the floor when she saw yet another binturi name she did not want to see.

"What's up? Who's in there?" the shorter woman questioned.

"This is so insane," Raya sighed as she turned the envelope over to show her friend the name.

Charanya gasped and snatched the envelope that had the name Mali written on it. Raya may have been the one that got picked on by Mali, but Charanya's the one that absolutely despises her. Raya understands as it's the same way she felt about Noya but reversed.

Mali was a total jerk that treated Raya similarly to the way Noya treated Charanya. Pulling on her, purposefully tripping her, and various other dumb stuff. However, due to the fact that Mali started her antics up after Raya punched Noya, the Heart princess felt cornered.

Noya and Mali are both from noble families so the only reason why Raya got off scot free after the Noya altercation was because of her princess status. She knew if she tried pulling that again with Mali there would be legitimate consequences.

Thank God for Charanya. She found out that Mali had a horrible fear of bugs. That gave Charanya the bright idea to take some dead bugs from an old building and put them in Mali's sandwich. One bite in and she was a goner.

Mali had quickly learned Charanya was the culprit and never told on her. Raya's pretty sure it's because Mali's an alpha and getting duped like that by an omega would kill any street cred she had.

"I am not above putting bugs in everything she consumes," Charanya grumbled.

"Good. Hopefully neither of us have to go through with our threats. I mean, it's possible they're better people now, right?" Raya pondered.

"I'd certainly hope so. I saw both of them quite a bit when doing my deliveries. Let me tell you, they did not have the lavish life they had before the Druun. Hopefully it humbled them," Charanya sighed.

Raya could see that being a possibility. Namaari was capable of change, there's no reason why those two couldn't be. But to have the nerve to try and court them without even addressing what happened when they were kids?

Fuck. That.

"Either way, I'm not touching Mali with a ten foot pole. Matter of fact, I'm not touching any of these people with a ten foot pole," Raya huffed.

"Agreed. I say we burn them and forget this ever happened," Charanya said.

"I'm here for it," Raya sighed.

And so they did. Without even bothering to look at the letters in the envelopes, the two omegas tossed their courting letters in the fire. It was kind of a pretty sight.

The courting gifts were a bit more awkward to deal with. None of the objects given to them could easily be erased off the face of the Earth like paper can. They decided to toss everything in a bag and threw it with the rest of the garbage in the palace.

Raya guided Charanya to the courtyard Namaari claimed she would go to. Ugh, the Heart princess prayed this morning's purring incident wouldn't be brought up.

Upon arrival, Namaari inquired about the meet up with her father. At least it wasn't about the purring.

"What did your father want from you two?" Namaari simply asked.

"It took forever, must have been important," Tien agreed.

Raya and Charanya gave each other a look. Neither of them had any desire to mention courting offers in front of the alphas they had rather complicated feelings for.

"It was a family matter."

They did not elaborate. Namaari and Tien were wise enough not to press the issue.

"Oh, actually, speaking of family matters we should probably get Aulia's birth certificate started," Charanya reminded her.

"Shit, I completely forgot," Raya groaned.

It's true. Aulia, future chief of Heart, does not have a birth certificate. What was Raya supposed to do? Give birth and write down herself as the mother? In the middle of Fang? Absolutely not.

"How do you forget to make your own child's birth certificate?" Tien asked.

"Well when you give birth on the run, a few things slip your mind," the Heart princess shot back.

"We both thought it was best not to give any indication Raya was alive at the time and you know, a legal document stating Raya is a mother kinda ruins that plan," Charanya shrugged.

"Oh my god, that means I was right on the boat. Aulia is a nonexistent baby. Legally, she's not real," Namaari laughed.

"How is this still up for debate!? My baby is real, binturi!" Raya snapped.

"Not in the eyes of the law she isn't!"

"I will smack you so hard your undercut falls off-"

#raya and the last dragon #raya x namaari #namaari #ratld namaari #raya disney #ratld raya #ratld #namaari x raya #raya and namaari #rayaari #omegaverse #omega raya #alpha namaari

[rcasedrawstuffs]

Rosemary HGS thoughts

So I got Crunchy Roll awhile back to watch the "Legend of Mana" anime and new eps of MHA. I figured while i was using it I would also check out that High Guardian Spice show. I have seen plenty of videos of people reviewing it and giving their thoughts so I might as well watch it.

I'm 4 episodes in and I don't hate it but its not very good. I think the biggest issue is the writing, if feels kind of aimless making every episode feel like filler, and it dosnt explain important things very well. Like I still dont really know what a "High Guardian" is

at the end of the 2nd episode they had characters give some vows about being Guardians but it felt like empty platitudes, that didnt explain any thing. Do they serve the people, royalty, do they run shops(they got a blacksmith class) or are they just adventures?

think the first episode should have just been Rose and Sage as little kids reading stories about Guardians and what they do, then it jumps to when they are heading to school, the train they are on gets attacked they try to help but fail and full High Guardians save the day

the people that attack the train could be linked to the main villains of the series too. I think by doing that you would show and tell the audience what a Guardian is while also showing what Rose and Sage could be at end of their journey

at the school they could make it part of their studies to take quests for the people in town. It could get them out of the school setting from time to time and get them to face the main villain's forces too and learn what their plans are, moving the plot forward

I dont think of my self as a writer but this is what I came up with it and I think it could have worked. I dont think the show is terrible and I dont think it deserved as much hate as it got though. Ok im done rambling

#high guardian spice #fanart #thinking #digital art

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Television - Max's Kansas City, New York City, August 28, 1974

I just got my copy of Uncut's Ultimate Music Guide — the Television edition! Very cool to see a band that was far from a chart-topper / arena-filler get this kind of lavish treatment. The mag is a thing of beauty: tons of fascinating vintage articles/interviews, fantastic photos, interesting new reviews and plenty of dips into Television-adjacent zones (Voidoids, Heartbreakers, etc). Go grab it ...

You will probably not be shocked to learn that my contribution to the UMG Television extravaganza is a lengthy writeup of the band's live albums and bootlegs ... a favorite Doom & Gloom subject since before the beginning. Here's what I wrote about the Max's gig in 1974, which is one of the earliest Television (if not the earliest) live tapes out there. (How early? Well, "Marquee Moon" is introduced as "the new one.")

Richard Hell was long gone by the time Television recorded Marquee Moon. In the beginning, however, it was as much his band as it was Verlaine’s — a fact made clear by this Max’s gig, which took place just a few months after the quartet had played their first shows. Hell’s rudimentary-but-right bass work and strung-out vocals may make later Television sound like Steely Dan in comparison, but the impressive verve and originality of the band is positively thrilling even at this early stage. With a host of songs that wouldn’t survive Hell’s ousting from Television, this tape is a vital document of what might have been. 

Ohhh yeah. I'm fascinated by the list of songs above, which seems to be a comprehensive rundown of the Hell era. A lot of tunes for a band that hadn't existed for all that long — and many of them future classics.

And hey, one more thing: sad news that Keith Allison passed away this month. Keith was the webmaster / Television aficionado behind the long-running The Wonder website, which has been an indispensable resource on Verlaine and the band and beyond for decades now. It was the kind of site that always made you remember that the internet could actually be ... good? I didn't know Keith personally, but I greatly appreciated his work. Hopefully there is some way that The Wonder can stay up for future generations to access ...

#television #tom verlaine #richard hell

[shittytokudetails]

If you saw the comments on the latest ep of blazar you would see plenty of people going "oh this is pretty good filler" and that's a very bad way to view a show, that was a good episode, which is meant to entertain and that's what is really important, this mentality lets Netflix shows be 10 hour movies of meaningful nothingness outside the beginning and the season finale

#the binge model has done so much damage to the media i swear to god