#This could potentially be something with the jane stuff- he doesn’t know who he is anymore? idk- i honestly just did him last😭

[mj-thrush-gxn]

what would yall do if i-

#more about link cause i just thought of this: seeing as link practically lost everything that made him him after he heard about grant 1/2 #This could potentially be something with the jane stuff- he doesn’t know who he is anymore? idk- i honestly just did him last😭 #dndaddies #thrush rambles #thrush talks #rtc #ride the cyclone #rtc musical #dndads au #dndads #dungeons and daddies

[spookibird]

PLEASE tell me more about penny lamb being more like legolands penny lamb that sounds so amazing and could only lead to chaos

Sure!

It would absolutely lead to chaos.

Penny in Legoland is an absolute MENACE, she argues with a lot of people in St. Cassian’s, and has been suspended at least once

And that’s not getting into the actual plot of Legoland where she travels miles, gets into a fight and gets arrested

She’s very nervous but she isn’t shy, she can and will talk for ages about stuff she's passionate about to try to conceal her nerves

This version of Penny probably joined the choir to help make friends and also because she enjoys music, maybe to help her reputation as well considering everything that happened just 2 YEARS prior

She would probably get along best with Noel actually, he would remind her of Ezra, with his flair for the dramatic, and his love for the gloomier side of life, plus I feel like they would both bond over poetry

Penny and Ricky would def be friends, she loves all his cats bc animals and also would like to listen to his stories about Zolar, furthermore, I feel like he’s one of the few who would happily listen to her ramble about animals and conservation, every time they hang out he learns a new fact about an animal

Mischa and Penny I think would be close, I feel like they would bond over having to adjust to a new society, with Mischa coming from Ukraine, and Penny coming from Elysium, they would be in similar situations

Penny would like Constance’s calm energy compared to the rest of the choir but I also think they would have similar tastes in music, tv shows and films! Constance shows her a lot of tv shows, I think they would binge watch together.

Ocean and Penny’s relationship would be tense, I feel like they would butt heads in the classroom a lot, Penny often trying to correct Ocean or vice versa, but they share a similar view on swearing and both take the choir very seriously, so they tolerate each other (I love the duo potential in RTC but Legoland Penny would absolutely hate Ocean I’m sorry)

Overall the choir would be 10x more chaotic than they already are and Penny would create problems both by accident and on purpose, most of the antics in Legoland were her ideas so that would carry over to this

She would absolutely get them in trouble on field trips by finding ways to sneak into places they shouldn’t be, Mischa absolutely encourages her, Ocean tries to stop her, she is just determined to see why they can’t go there, nothing can stop her

But once the choir finds out about the events of Legoland is when the chaos would truly start

They probably found out via someone mentioning it in the hallways or via google

Penny is extremely embarrassed

“I was 15! Young and stupid!”

“You were 15???”

She does tell them what happened in full because she trusts her friends

Mischa, Ricky, and Constance find the story hilarious, Ocean is shocked that PENNY of all people would have a criminal record before anyone else

Noel sympathises with her but also thinks it's kinda funny, he's mostly impressed they managed to pull it off

Overall they don't think any less of Penny, mostly, it's in the past and she hasn't done anything nearly as dumb as that recently and seems remorseful over it

Meeting Ezra would be a DISASTER however

Penny tries to explain to Ezra that these are her friends so he doesn’t need to worry about them

He’s protective of her tho so he’s still suspicious

He hates Ocean so much, like she walks into the room and he immediately knows he’s not going to like her, he finds her condescending, it takes months for him to be able to tolerate her (I love Ocean but the Lamb siblings would hate her)

He absolutely terrifies Constance, he doesn’t do much to scare her but he reminds her of Jane and he also spends a lot of the time just staring at her

Penny tries to explain that that’s just something he does but it doesn’t help

He is suspicious of Mischa’s bad boy persona, but trusts Penny’s judgement, he just watches him from a distance

The only two members of the choir Ezra likes are Noel and Ricky, he likes Ricky’s creativity, and Noel’s shared love of darker aspects of life

He does try to sell them drugs, they refuse, Penny has everyone leave after that

Penny still thinks it went well despite everything, most of the choir are terrified of this intense 14 year old

I just think the Legoland version of the characters would make everything 10x more chaotic and make the choir look sensible for once.

#ride the cyclone #rtc headcanons #this is my first time trying something like this so if its a bit ooc im sorry #hopefully this is okay tho!

[theinsanecrayonbox]

desire to draw is not in me, but ideas about what G3 Catrine and Jane could be are in my head (since they became my favs of the whole series by the end of it all), so...

Catrine:

white werecat, blue eyes, now has at least 1 if not 2 hearing aids (look like airpods that go in the ears on a peg like earrings) because blue eyed white cats are usually deaf 

and it plays up the “watches people’s body language closely, that’s why she’s so good at drawing” 

but also she can teach sign language too

potentially wears glasses...because everyone seems to wear glasses now, but at least she looks good in them

might keep the lavender hair...most likely a side ponytail to accommodate a beret on/off eth ear the ponytail is not on

either a standard or Ula sized body

overall skirt that is both meant to mimic an art smock, and to be covered in paint/chalk splotches

black/black and white printed leggings underneath

top has a collar and puff sleeves, probably pastel to go with her hair

potentially a scarf that’s tie-dyed or splattered

accessories are art themed, like a purse that looks like an art pallet that opens up on a hinge, or she has a whole portfolio case 

the art class Ula shoes, but cast in something other than white

she’s the art girl, always working in the art room, covered in paint/chalk. probably has a side plot where she was doing a mural in a hallway, and like Heath’s shenanigans chasing Deuce or something messes it up

again, she’s deaf, so another side plot where she’s working in the art room and stuff’s going boom in the background she misses (like Stan in Amazing Spiderman)

she’d be in the background a lot probably

Jane:

still purple, maybe a bluer shade? but please not a pale lavender shade X.X

hair color/s don’t change, but she’s rooted in braids now

leg brace is canon. it’d be the opposite leg that Frankie has. and honestly...probably rarely bothers her unless she’s plot focused and over coming setbacks is the lesson for the week

tall body like Frankie, maybe even a bit buffer because she did grow up in the jungle

she is standoffish at first, due to her homeschooled background, but again plot has her overcoming that and getting the other ghouls to see she isn’t a mean loner girl...probably after they catch her hiding during lunch and talking to animals

she’s smart. like really smart. her dads are scientists after all. it’s just her social skills are lacking.

speaking of, her dads are canon now. you can change Moreau to Scareou if you wanna copywrite things (plus him becoming a werejaguar is probably he was always one now)

but this not only gives her 2 dads, but an interspecies set of parents who adopted a child not of either of their species. so there’s another lesson of the week.

she’s also staying with a host family. preferably the Trotters, but who knows if Avea’s still canon. but again, being separated from her home and learning to open up, that's another lesson of the week.

she wears animal print/leopard spotted prints. but her clothes also kind of lowkey clash/don’t make sense at first. like shorts with the oversized chunky sweater.

again, learning social norms and cues. at first she just dresses what is comfy, then plot of the week gives her a “trendy makeover” and she finds she’s uncomfortable, so she goes back to her old clothes with a little update because she did learn something from the terrible makeover.

Andy can be her dads’ intern if he isn’t his own character. she has a crush on him, but doesn’t realize what that is until she tells one of the ghouls, and they explain it, and now she’s over whelmed. but again, same lesson as before; you try it the new way and it sucks, so go back to what makes you comfortable. Andy does reciprocate though, because he too is an awkward dork.

#thinking outloud #monster high #my writing

[ultramagicalternate]

ULTRAMagic Interlude: Shadowland Chapter 27

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Master Post

Weaver could tell from the visit to Stolon’s mansion that Stolas did not get out much. The way he talked and acted indicated this. While Weaver was happy that Stolas was content with his hobbies, he stressed that the demon needed to get out more. The rest of the day was spent at home, with Gabriella and Weaver relaxing in her room. She wanted to take some time to get Weaver up to speed on how Inferno worked. There was still a lot he was not familiar with, despite how civil and organized things were. Unfortunately Weaver was starting to look a little stir crazy around late afternoon, so Gabriella decided to wrap things up.

“...and there’s a lot more I could tell you, but we’ll be here all night.”

“How do you guys even put up with all that drama surrounding your Earth? Heh, I thought my Earth was bad… and don’t even get me started on Milosh. Hard to believe this is the universe he comes from.”

Gabriella shifted a few papers on her desk. “It’s quite the headache, from what my mom has told me. Many souls get caught in the cycle of reincarnation so many times that they forget their original purpose and devolve into Earth Spirits. There’s a debate in Heaven in regards to if souls should be granted easier access to their spiritual memories, but I have an issue with that notion…”

“What’s that?”

“From what I’ve noticed, the ones asking for this either represent or are the minority of individuals who have it easy you could say. Not in their lives, but in their minds. Furthermore, a good chunk of these souls don’t have a proper past yet, so there’s nothing to remember.”

Weaver had a bewildered look on his face. “Jeez, don’t gut the whole system because John Doe and Suzy Jane can’t get their act together…”

“Exactly! That’s what I’ve been wanting to say for so long…”

“Then why don’t you?”

Gabriella paused. “I don’t know. I don’t want to come off as uncaring. And some of my friends might not agree with my stance.”

“Well if they truly are your friends, they’ll understand where you’re coming from and agree to disagree. They may even change their minds in the future… Hey, they aren’t…”

“No. It’s not Stolas, Zasiel, or Cynassa. They’re actually on my side.” She sighed. “This vocal minority of demons and angels doesn’t understand how the Cosmos works. We’re not supposed to have all the answers. It’s our responsibility to seek them out. If we had all the answers, we’d be perfect and have no reason to exist. Of course, why exist if existence is a conflict?! Why exist if we have the potential to gain that knowledge and be done with it? Why exist if we have to start over again?! And then comes the nihilistic nonsense and ARGH!”

Weaver was startled by this outburst, but put his hand on her shoulder. “Gabriella, it’s alright. Ignore those twats. And if they start causing trouble, put your foot down and say no.”

“Just like that?”

“Yup. You’ll always run into that one guy who loves to go on and on about how the customer’s always right. That’s a load of hogwash. I didn’t spend years of my life studying alchemy and smithing just to have some pompous ignoramus come in and tell me how to do MY job. Don’t let a fool dictate what you know and don’t know.”

Gabriella smiled. “Thank you, Weaver. Humans can be such a mess, but I suppose that’s the nature of the beast, with free will and all… Say Weaver, quick tangent: Do you believe in free will?”

“I don’t see why not. Why?”

“Have you ever run into people who say there’s no free will?”

Weaver groaned. “Yup, annoyingly. If I had a gold piece for every time I did… I’d have enough to buy a pig, but you get the point.”

“Those people drive me up a wall. Something you learn when you’re on my level is that free will is complicated. What looks like a predetermined set of actions is actually randomness. Reality is random and we have next to no control over it. There is something we can do, however; etch stuff into the stone everyone goes on about. They may seem like they’re set in said stone, but that’s because we are the ones who wrote it in the first place. We choose who we want to be at the end of the day. Then this nonsense stone goes on and on until our minds break down because we’re not supposed to understand it this far, a nuance completely lost on everyone!” She ended her rant panting.

“So… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?”

“YES! Thank you for indulging me. I wanted to fit in my thoughts on followers and leaders, but I had no idea where to put it. It’s an epiphany I had about people in society. Those who cannot lead must follow, and those that refuse to follow must lead. To be fair, I’m still thinking about it.”

Weaver looked a little confused. “Okay, I can see where you’re coming from, but you’ll have to save it for later. My head is a little cooked at the moment.”

Gabriella paused again, then blushed in embarrassment. “Oops, sorry about that. I was getting a bit carried away. I’ve been dying to explain all of that stuff to someone like you for some time now. And the other part of it is the nature of The Unlight. It is truly a unique realm that has my brain firing on all cylinders.”

“I suppose this is in context of the stone metaphor?”

She nodded. “The Unlight breaks the rules due to being an atypical, non-linear realm that was never supposed to exist in the first place. It challenges the very fabric and concept of reality.”

“Oh wow…” Weaver looked mentally exhausted. “Can we move onto something less complicated?”

“Shoot, sorry again. Sure.”

“It’s alright, I just need time to process everything you’ve told me.” Weaver took a breath and rubbed his temples. “I’m fine with all of it, I just want to think it over.”

“I imagine this puts Milosh’s actions into a different light?”

“Haha, yeah, kind of. If anything, this tells me he’s even more of a nutcase than I thought.”

Gabriella chuckled, then looked over to the far wall of her room. “Weaver, would you like to watch a movie after dinner tonight?” She asked as she went over and opened a cabinet.

“Sure. They really don’t show up in Shadowland after all. What do you have?”

“Well first up is a movie about a boy who befriends a giant, metal man. It’s a personal favorite of mine. Another movie I have is about a man living in a fabricated city, trying to figure out his past. Lastly, we could watch this trippy time travel movie, centering around an outbreak and a dozen simians.”

Weaver thought about it as he got up and skimmed through the collection. “Hum, that first movie sounds pretty fun… wait, what’s this one with the long name?”

“Oh that’s just a movie about a general deploying weapons of mass destruction and the scramble to stop them. It’s pretty funny and a short watch. Want to see it afterwards if we have the time?”

“Yeah, sure. I can’t get over how long this title is, ha!”

Valentina was in an Italian mood that night, but elected to make something different. Gabriella had brought up the dinner Claudius had recently made. Since Weaver was part Celtic, Xavier suggested Irish and Scottish dishes. Weaver liked this as he was craving a meal his mother used to make him. The food prepared by both Xavier and Valentina was fantastic. Some of it needed a bit of tweaking, but it still invoked warm nostalgia in Weaver regardless. Being brought back to his old life, he happily went for seconds and thirds.

After dessert, Gabriella took Weaver to a small movie theater within the mansion. He was amazed by what he saw, eagerly taking his seat. Once Gabriella had everything ready, the lights were dimmed and she sat next to him. The first movie was a great time that pulled at Weaver’s heart strings near the end. The second movie made him laugh, but it was bittersweet. It was a black comedy after all. Weaver naturally made a note to himself to start looking into films when he got back to The Unlight. He had been missing out, no two ways about it.

As they were getting ready for bed, Weaver had a thought. “Gabriella, does your Earth really have technology like that? The bomb I mean…”

“Regrettably.”

He shuddered. “That terrifies me. My Earth never had stuff like that, but the idea that they could have created it is unsettling…” He took a breath and calmly exhaled. “To create a weapon that powerful is the most barbaric thing I’ve ever seen. How is your Earth even still around?”

She shook her head. “Honestly it’s a miracle if you ask me. Although credit where credit is due, our humans are tenacious. The weak fall, but the ones with grit keep moving forward. You can push and scream at them all you want; eventually they’ll just walk past you and never look back.”

“Well that explains Claudius and Desislav. Gabriella, how do you guys put up with your humans and their antics?”

Gabriella chuckled. “Well firstly, evil is the seed of its own destruction. It cannot create, only corrupt and destroy. They either rock the boat into retaliation or they fall into their own traps. We rarely need to intervene in such matters. If we do, we work from the shadows, pushing and nudging things in the right direction.”

“And how do you do that without being noticed? I mean, you have a very strong presence, even when you’re not doing much.”

“It’s actually quite easy. Us angels and demons are fourth dimensional at least, so we just hide ourselves above the third dimension. Of course, humanity is always seeking new knowledge and technology, so we further rely on disbelief.” She gave an amused chuckle. “Earth has adopted some foolish mentalities over the years, and the ones we rely on most are stuff like atheism. It’s our key to being undetected. People who refuse to see you won’t see you period. Our greatest trick is making you think that we never existed in the first place. Plus the conflict it creates causes those who truly care about enlightenment to improve themselves to greater and greater heights.”

“So you’re playing them like a gosh darn fiddle?”

She laughed. “You could say that. It’s devious, it’s underhanded, but it gets the job done. I wish there was a better option, but it works and that’s what matters.”

Weaver was not sure how to feel about all of that, but got into bed regardless. “Does that mean you would have done all of that with me if I was born in your universe?”

“Um, well, probably. It doesn’t bother you too much, does it?”

“No, it’s just a little surreal. I’ll get used to it in time. I suppose I should stick to The Unlight then? Given what you’ve just told me…”

“Or Inferno… or any place that isn’t Earth. Honestly, you’re better off sticking with people like us for now on, even if you weren’t told this stuff.”

“Well considering how nice and beautiful you are, that isn’t a problem in the slightest.”

Gabriella blushed and giggled. “Oh, you… Alright, off to bed. Goodnight, Weaver.”

“Goodnight, Gabriella. I’m a back sleeper by the way.”

“Noted” she replied with a yawn before dimming the lights, falling fast asleep soon after.

Sleeping with an entity that had the ability to shape his life was something else for Weaver. Gabriella had so much power and he could do nothing about it. It took a while for him to fall asleep as his mind was racing. As Weaver thought about how odd his girlfriend was, something happened. His thoughts faded as his mind went hazy. It was like he was being lulled to sleep faster than he should.

Gabriella had sensed Weaver’s restlessness and cast a sleep spell on him. She figured that turmoil would happen. To make it up to him, she flew him to the dream realm once they were both dreaming. In the wondrous realm where dreams were born, they frolicked through plains of splendor and bliss. The fact that angels and demons could influence Weaver’s life was troubling, but they were also capable of bringing warmth and happiness. He felt as if his past woes were melting away as he snuggled with Gabriella in a field of beautiful, spring flowers.

Next: Chapter 28

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

#chaotictempleknight #ultramagic alternate #fantasy #sciencefiction #sciencefictionfantasy #literature #fiction #writing #story #writers on tumblr #chapter

[not-wholly-unheroic]

Favorite Images of Hook (Part Two - Disney’s Return to Neverland, 2002)

1. Image in the Clouds - This was SUCH a creative way for Disney to recap the first film without using any words, and I LOVE it--the star in place of Hook’s eye and the smaller ones that trace the line where the edge of his cravat would be are perfect. Even Tink’s trail of pixie dust forms the shape of a hook!

2. Hook in Jane’s Room -  One of the things I love most about Hook is his grandiosity, and this image shows that part of him perfectly. He looks so proud of himself. The mustache twirling seems to be a habit of his when he’s either thinking or feeling rather smug. Definitely the latter going on here.

3. Hugging Smee - This is another scene that I really like because of the vulnerability it shows as well as further highlighting his relationship with Mr. Smee. Hook seems to seek out physical touch for reassurance when he is afraid both in the first film and the sequel. Heck, here he doesn’t even wait for Smee to come to his aid but reaches out in desperation and drags Smee into a hug. This man is so clearly touch-starved that it breaks my heart. 

4. Dinghy in the Mist - This shot...y/all, this looks like it belongs in a Pirates of the Caribbean film. The lighting and the mist give it such an eerie, mysterious mood as Hook slowly comes into focus.

5. Hook’s Close-Up in the Forest - This is probably my absolute favorite shot of Hook from either film. It would be a hard choice, but if I had to pick just one, this would be it. Some shots of Hook look rather silly, but this one feels very human. His eyes are soft and warm. His smile is charming. And while he might be acting in the moment, we see who he COULD have been if he’d chosen a different path in life. 

6. Giving Jane the Whistle - This is sort of cheating since it isn’t actually an image of Hook himself but rather a close-up of the claw and his hand as he passes off the whistle to Jane, but I think it holds a lot of significance. Jane is drawn to Hook because of their similarities and, quite possibly, the similarities she sees between him and her own father--a military man. This gesture of handing over the whistle is done so tenderly that it might well have reminded Jane of Edward giving her something special to hold onto as he went off to war. Again, I recognize that Hook is using this connection to his advantage, but I think it also offers another glimpse of the man he might have been.

7. The Bosun’s Chair/Dead Man’s Cave - I love everything about this shot--the  elegance of his perch on the bosun’s chair, the little smirk on his face. My only question is...what the heck are the ropes attached to???

8. Hook Laughing - I’m sure by now you’re probably sensing a theme... Look, I know this is supposed to be a villainous laugh, but I just like it when Hook smiles, okay? 

9. Jane Tries to Get the Key - This scene is almost upsetting to me because let’s be real, Hook NEVER stops moving for very long. He’s a super active character, and seeing him laid out on the deck in the midst of battle, well...quite frankly, it looks like he’s dead. It’s unsettling and unusual, and while I don’t like the thought of Hook dying, I like the image because it brings a bit of gravity to his potential plight. 

10. Final Showdown with Jane - There are honestly several scenes from the final showdown that I really like, and it was hard to choose just one. This Hook is far more dangerous than the one we see in the first film. When he first pops up from being knocked unconscious, he has the hook around Jane’s wrist and nearly lops HER hand off, then quickly makes a stab at her (barely missing) and eventually ends up pinning her to the past with the claw around her neck. This is pretty intense stuff for a Disney film. But I think my favorite moment is when he’s up on the spar, drawing his sword as he slowly backs Jane closer and closer to the edge. His hair is blowing across his face in the wind and he has this wild, dangerous look about him that too often we forget exists in the moments of comedy. 

#captain hook #disney #peter pan #return to neverland #disney peter pan #disney captain hook #captain james hook #james hook #disney villains

[panlight]

doesn’t meyer give vampires certain gifts based on how they were like as a person? like human bella being blank, so vampire bella has a shield gift. i think it’d be cool if the “gifts” were more of curses based oppositely off how the vampire was as human. something that isn’t fair and they get no gain from. so like idk, compassionate carlisle has extra blood cravings and it tortures him. or jane’s pain is only something she can feel and can’t put onto others. everything with twilight vampire is so glamorized, even the gifts.

SM has basically said she was never really into vampires, but really liked superheroes, and it shows. Especially in BD with Bella getting all the cool perks of being a vampire with pretty much no downsides, and then all the Super Vampire Justice League people showing up with their X-Men like powers.

I still don't feel like Benjamin's gift makes any sense for a vampire ability but like, whatever. She suddenly brought actual magic into the series in that as a human he could control fire??? And so as a vampire he can control all the elements. That just feels like way more magical than the mostly psychic stuff other people can do. I don't know, Alice being able to see the future feels more "realistic" than manipulating fire but that might just be me?

So yeah she didn't really get into the cursed vampire stuff. I mean there are hints of it, Edward certainly has that "woe, I am cursed to endless night" attitude but compared to a lot of vampire mythologies he has it pretty good. Hell, compared to a lot of Twilight vampires he has it pretty good in that he's got a large coven to support, love and protect him. And wealth. I mean he's not a nomad stalking the forest, he has nice cars and a nice piano and can buy all the music he wants. I'm sure it sucks being forever 17 and being surrounded by couples probably isn't much fun either, I'm just saying I'd rather be in Edward's place than any of the nomads'.

But I do LOVE the idea of a darker take on it. And you would only have to stretch canon a little. Jasper has to feel the emotions of everyone around him because in his human life he didn't really consider the emotions and rights of others; now he's constantly confronted by how real and human each and every person is, how deep their emotions go. And yet still wants to kill them and drink their blood. Maybe Edward is similar, a spoiled rich boy in Chicago who wasn't interested in other people, who didn't give them a second thought, and now he hears all their thoughts. Framed the right way, Carlisle's compassion could be a similar curse. To feel for and empathize with the creatures your instincts tell you to kill doesn't sound like much fun, or as you said an extra dose of thirst he had to overcome as a counterweight.

Maybe Zafrina gets constant visual hallucinations; she clings so strongly to Kachiri and Senna partly out of love and partly because they help her navigate the world because often she's seeing things that aren't actually there.

Kate craves love and intimacy but can't help but torture any potential partners when she touches them.

It's almost there with Alice, really: she can see the future, but can't remember anything about her (human) past. If you also gave her faulty vampire memory somehow, that could cover it. Or just having to live with all the visions she's had of people she cares about dying, even if it didn't happen, it might feel real to her. That's gotta be a kind of a curse.

You can definitely spin it dark just with canon obviously. It doesn't have to be superhero stuff.

#asks

[burneddownthegym]

When do you think Buffy and Spike started developing feelings for each other? I think for Spike it started in season 2 which has been kind of confirmed by Dru, but what about Buffy? Their relationship seemed to change after Spike let Glory torture him to protect Dawn, but I like to believe Buffy had unregistered feelings for Spike way earlier. I don’t know what’s true though. She let him live many times when she shouldn’t and that could just be the writers wanting to keep Spike but it could also be read as Buffy not wanting to kill him for some reason. If I were Buffy I would have at least been attracted to him from the start but I’m not Buffy. What do you think?

oh god. i started writing this and it just got more and more unhinged until i was left with a novel. but here’s my headcanon under the cut.

i think for spike it started in season 2, yeah. kind of immediately. i mean in his second episode he already has like ten tv’s mounted on the ceiling to obsessively watch buffy fight? ok weirdo. obviously the writers weren’t planning on spuffy at the time but it all fits with the dru retcon in “fool for love”. i think any feelings he had were super repressed in him for a while though, and were probably closer to obsession than anything (where does one draw the line between obsession and love? much to think about!!). tbh, and maybe this is controversial, i kind of think it’s not until “intervention” that he really understands just how in love with her he is, or what it really means to be in love with her. he definitely thinks he’s in love, he has a raging, identity-crisis crush, but i don’t know, something just feels different after that episode. i feel like it’s when his feelings for buffy really become less about him and more about her. like, less about having her or wanting her to recognize him, and more about wanting to be what she actually needs. less about *loving* buffy and more about loving *buffy*, maybe. so even though his feelings before then are real, they feel real in a different way to me after “intervention”.

buffy is harder. personally, i don’t think she was ever consciously attracted to spike until maybe s5. (buffy being immediately attracted to him in fic is actually a huge pet peeve for me; it doesn’t feel in character at all and can even make me stop reading). i think there was latent attraction, but spike was just so far outside the bounds of who she thought she would be attracted to that it doesn’t register that way (reason #34095 spuffy is a lesbian ship, obv. also it’s why her being attracted to him immediately can turn me off in fic, bc it makes the relationship feel less gay, and that’s kind of important to me). i think she finds him tacky and annoying and lame and just not a sexual object. he’s a soulless vampire and you don’t sexualize those. and so anything sexual she felt toward him she dismissed the way you might dismiss a weird sex dream about someone you’d never want in real life (jane espenson apparently had notes on her desk pre-s5 saying buffy had sex dreams about him, which i totally buy, especially after “something blue”). i think one of the reasons she freaks out so bad in “crush” is that suddenly spike isn’t in the non-sexualizable category anymore. like, what, vampires and slayers are sexualizing each other now? like in real life not just innuendo? you broke the rules, what am i supposed to do now? it’s why she’s so weirded out when he tries to kiss her in “fool for love” and goes on about how people can’t love without a soul in “crush”. spike isn’t fitting his sexual category and she doesn’t know how to deal with it so she tries to stuff him back in. long story short, i think it’s only after “crush” that she actually consciously thinks about his attractiveness, because before then he just wasn’t someone on the table for her to think about that way.

(oh i should also add—i think spike’s “crush” moment with buffy is “who are you?” when faith comes onto him. because it was sort of a similar thing for him. even though he was attracted to buffy before that episode, it was something he repressed or treated as kind of a game. innuendo and eroticism as a battle tactic but not something you’d actually follow through on in real life. but he thinks buffy breaks the rules in “who are you?” and suddenly makes herself real-life sexualizable. so i think his attraction becomes more conscious after that, even if he’s still trying to act like it’s something that disgusts him, like buffy post-“crush”.)

(also, this is why it’s so easy to read violence and murder as sublimated desire in a gay way with spuffy. it’s not really about murder and violence. it’s about them expressing romantic/erotic desire within the bounds of what their roles allow, because they can’t conceive of each other in other roles.)

but i do think buffy did still have some sort of draw to spike before s5. i feel like instinctually she saw him as more of a person than other vampires pretty early. definitely not consciously, and definitely wasn’t love. but she talks to him like he’s a really annoying guy more than she talks to him like some sort of mindless enemy. she doesn’t bother telling other soulless vampires that she violently dislikes them, or mock them about their breakups. i think the only other soulless vampires she sort of treats that way are harmony and holden in cwdp, which makes sense since both of those are vampires she knew before they were vamped. she didn’t kill harmony either, and wasn’t excited about having to kill holden. but spike is the only “stranger” vampire she sees that way, and i think that’s interesting! i think a lot of her conflict over him is due to this too, tbh. he instinctually feels like both a person and not-a-person to her, and that’s hard for her to process.

i have zero canon to back this up, but i think the first time buffy kind of sort of falls in love with spike is in “the gift”, when he says he’d protect dawn until the end of the world. i mainly think this because i don’t think it can be understated how important dawn is to buffy, or how telling it is that she kisses spike in “intervention”. other people have said this, but she just doesn’t kiss people every time they do something nice for her. i don’t think she would have done that unless she felt some sort of latent *something* for him, and unless he’d done something that really deeply affected her. him being willing to sacrifice himself for dawn’s sake, or protect her above all, affects buffy first: because of how self-sacrificing she is. she’s always the one who has to die or put herself on the line for other people. and second: she’s the only one who cares about dawn the way she does. no one else goes into a coma or threatens giles or vows to protect her until the end of the world…except spike.

so the fact that spike would understand the self-sacrificial and protecting-dawn parts of her, or help her with them in the same unthinkingly committed way, when no one else is, i think hits her where she lives. he understands and is not just supporting, but *embodying* this hugely important thing to her at the time when it counts the most. so she falls a bit in love with him. maybe just a second, or a minute, and then she ignores it and saves the world. but that’s the first time it happens.

then as far as s6 goes, i pretty much take buffy at her word when she says she has feelings for him, but that they’re not love. i think she has really intense and confusing emotions around him and for him, but they just don’t cohere into something that could be called something clear-cut like love. and that’s sort of the tragedy of that season? it has all the potential and intensity and chemistry for love, but she doesn’t like or trust herself and she doesn’t trust him, and he isn’t in a place where he can understand the guilt and self-hate she’s going through, or be moral without her guidance, and so in a lot of ways her lack of trust really is justified. so it just can’t quite reach the realness of love, where you want and want to care for the other person’s whole self. but (adding this edit based on a comment by marinxttes!), i totally agree that a lot of her breakup with spike is about her feeling enough for him that it doesn’t feel right to use him anymore. i think that’s the decisive moment when she stops being confused about whether he is or isn’t a person (and whether *she* is or isn’t), and decides he is one. maybe not one she thinks she can love yet, but one she genuinely cares about doing right by, and that’s a huge shift.

i believe her in s7 too when dawn asks if she loves him and she says she feels for him. i don’t know when exactly that whole mess starts cohering into something that really is love for buffy, but i feel like it’s happening the whole season. like air condensing into water. all the pieces have been there, amorphously, for a long time, and finally they’re allowed to take form. so when she says “i love you” in “chosen”, it’s at once something new, and also something that’s been there all along.

#ship: spuffy #do i have evidence to back up 90% of this? no #am i going to post it anyway? absolutely

[joviewinchester]

Hey! So this is a Supernatural My Babysitter’s a Vampire crossover requested by @the-fifth-marauder101 The request wasn’t super specific so I kind of just ran with it. Jack’s a bit younger in this for the sake of the story. And I know that the timeline is off and stuff but like don’t @ me about it please. I know it’s off. Also this is a reader insert because, ya know, that’s literally all I write. Lol, but anyways, I hope you like it, and keep those requests coming!

Another school. Another town. Another day. That’s how it always went. Avoid making friends at all costs. Well, she had Jack at least.

“What are we here for again?” Y/N asked sighing.

“Your dad said something about vampires or werewolves. They don’t know what it is yet. Said something’s off with this one.” Jack replied glancing over at a group of whispering teens.

“What do you think their deal is?” Erica asked eyeing both Y/N and Jack.

“They don’t look like siblings, at the very least not biological ones.” Sarah responded.

“I don’t know, but can I just say, the girl is hot. Like hotter than anyone I’ve ever laid eyes on. Like if I had to choose between her and a young Carrie Fisher, I’d choose her.” Benny said.

“No way. You’re joking right?” Ethan asked.

“No. I never joke about a babe.” Benny said seriously.

“I don’t know. Personally I’d love to sink my teeth into either of them.” Erica smirked.

Y/N looked from the group to Jack in confusion. “Is it just me or do we have a literal fanclub?”

“I wouldn’t call them a fanclub. They’re just…unusually interested.” Jack responded.

“Should we introduce ourselves? Don’t get me wrong. I know we probably won’t stay for very long but…I just…it would be nice to make friends for once, you know?” She asked Jack as she looked at them, or more specifically looked at Benny.

“I mean, how could it hurt right?” They approached the group.

“Dude they’re coming over here.” Benny said while slapping Ethan’s arm.

“Yeah. I know. I can see dude.”

“Hi.” Y/N said shyly.

Jack stepped in at that point. “Hello. My name is Jack and this is my friend Y/N.” He introduced.

“It’s nice to meet you guys. I’m Sarah and this is Ethan, Benny, and Erica.” Sarah smiled.

Benny had a dumbstruck look on his face. “Excuse him. He gets nervous around girls he thinks are pretty.” Ethan said.

Benny looked at him with a glare. “Dude.” He whisper shouted at him. They then had a small slap fight.

“Alright you two are embarrassing yourselves. Hi, as Sarah said, I’m Erica, and I would love to take you under my wing, Y/N was it? Please let me give you a makeover tonight. You have so much potential if we removed the flannel and the old leggings.”

“Sorry. She’s straightforward like that. She doesn’t mean in a rude way or anything she just thinks your pretty and wants to do your makeup.” Sarah said.

“I guess I could come over.” Y/N said nervously. Jack have her a look and lowered his voice.

“Y/N, Dean said to come straight home after school, and that we can’t go out. You can’t. If you leave on my watch, Dean and Cas will, what is it that you say? ‘rip me a new one’” He quoted.

“Who’s Dean?” Ethan asked.

“My dad. He’s just a little bit overprotective, and if you don’t want me to go out without you, then just come with me.” Y/N said.

“So, you two like live together?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah. Our dads work together. It’s a whole thing.” Y/N said.

“Anyways, I’ll talk to him if he’s home and if not I’ll text him and let him know it shouldn’t be a big deal.” She said.

“Great. Sarah you’re coming too right?” Erica asked.

“Actually, I have to babysit Ethan and Jane tonight.”

“No problem we’ll just go over there.”

“Sarah’s your babysitter?” Jack asked.

“No! Well, I mean, yes, but it’s only because my mom doesn’t trust me to babysit my little sister. Benny you’re still coming over to play that new zombie game right?”

“Like I would miss that.”

“Think we have room for another player?” Ethan asked.

“Not if you’re talking about Rory.” Benny complained.

“I’m clearly talking about Jack, Benny.”

Sarah and Erica both rolled their eyes at their antics. “Come on, Y/N. We’ll walk you to class. Honestly, I swear you geeks almost scared her off.” Erica said.

Y/N waved goodbye at Benny, Ethan, and Jack, linking her arms with Erica and Sarah.

The bell then rang. “Do you guys know where Mr. G’s class is?” Jack asked.

“Yeah we have him for first period too. Follow us.” Ethan said.

School seemed to go by like a breeze with their new friends by their sides. Before they knew it, they were all heading out the doors.

“Alright. Jack and I need to head out, but we’ll meet you guys at Ethan’s house later. See ya.” Y/N said. There was a series of byes and Jack and Y/N hopped into the Jeep they had jacked from the bunker.

Erica left shortly after that saying something about how she needed to pack some clothes and makeup for later.

“I should give her a love potion.” Benny said.

“Do you remember how that turned out last time? I still have nightmares.” Ethan shuddered.

“Benny, don’t let this get to your head, but I think you might actually have a chance with her. She stared at you throughout the entirety of biology class. You should just ask her to see a movie with you or something.” Sarah advised.

“Yes. I need to be more like Han Solo. God, she’d be such a pretty Princess Leia.” Benny sighed dreamily.

“Okay lover boy. You wanna stand out here all day? We’re practically the only ones still here. Your grandma is gonna get mad if you make her wait any longer.” Sarah said glancing at the SUV Benny’s grandma sat in.

“Right. See you guys later!” Benny called.

“Bye!” They said in sync.

“I’ll see you later?” Ethan asked.

“Duh. If I want to get paid I don’t really have a choice.” Sarah joked. Ethan waved awkwardly and jogged to his mom’s car.

“Dorks.” She muttered to herself a slight smile on her face.

Y/N and Jack entered the place one of their hunter friends had loaned them and saw Sam researching by himself.

“Hey, Sam! Do you know when dad is gonna be back?” Y/N asked.

“Um…not really, but it probably won’t be for a few hours. He and Cas are interviewing at the moment. Why? Do you need something? Maybe I can help.”

“Well, Jack and I were wondering if we could go over to a friend’s house around seven ish? We’re just hanging out, nothing big.”

Sam looked up from his laptop. “You guys made friends?” He asked.

“Yeah. I know. I know. We probably won’t stay here, but it’s hard avoiding people everywhere we go and they’re really nice.” Y/N explained.

“Y/N, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I think it’s good that you guys are making friends, and I think it’s fine if you go out as long as you’re back by 10:30 or Dean will flip.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You’re the best uncle in the world.”

“Do you need any help with research?” Jack asked.

“No. It’s fine. You probably have homework to do.” Sam replied. Jack then headed to his room with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Hey, Sam?” Y/N asked sitting across from him.

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“You know that you can tell me anything Y/N.”

“I don’t…I don’t think that I can keep doing this.” She sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“The whole moving towns constantly and the saving people hunting things…I just don’t want to keep moving around. I know that it’s stupid. You’re saving the world. All of you, but I feel like I haven’t even lived. I’ve never really gotten to stop and smell the roses you know?”

“Y/N, it’s not like we can just leave you in a town by yourself. You’re only sixteen, but you’re in luck. We’re going to be here awhile. There are multiple cases in this one town and they all seem different. I don’t know what’s going on here. It’s like a Supernatural beacon.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help with research?” Y/N asked.

“No. You have homework too I’m assuming.”

“I finished all of mine in study hall. I’m available for four hours.”

Sam sighed. “Fine. You can help. I’m just looking through lore right now to try and figure out the first case.”

After about three and a half hours of researching, they both still came up with nothing. Y/N groaned.

“Are you sure there isn’t like more than one type of vampire?” She asked.

“Not according to any hunters I’ve met.” Sam said.

“Well, we didn’t think angels existed at one point and look at Cas. Look at Jack. We got an angel and a nephilim living in our house. Not to mention me. I’m a freak of nature.”

“I don’t know, Y/N. If we haven’t encountered one before, I don’t know why we would now.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna go upstairs and grab a few things, then Jack and I are leaving. I’ll see you later Sammy.”

Sam rolled his eyes at the nickname but told her goodbye nonetheless and went back to his research. Y/N grabbed her small bag that contained hand sanitizer, chapstick, lotion, a first aid kit and a pocket knife and knocked on Jack’s door.

“You ready?” She asked.

“Yeah let’s go before we’re stopped by Dean and Cas getting home.” Jack said.

They drove over to Ethan’s house and everyone else had already arrived. Y/N knocked on the door to see Benny with his mouth full of marshmallows. Y/N gasped in excitement.

“Are you guys seeing who can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth?! I bet I can win! I want in on this!” She exclaimed rushing past Jack and in the door.

“What’s the record I’m trying to beat?” Y/N asked Jane.

“It’s unclear. They argue all the time about which got the highest amount and what the highest amount is. I think it’s 176. You don’t need to waste your time here though. You should come play dress up with me and Sarah. I promise it’ll be much more fun.” Jane ranted grabbing her hand.

“Come on Y/N it’ll be way more fun.” Sarah joked. Y/N shrugged.

“You know what? Why not let’s go. You coming, Erica?”

“Playing ‘dress up’ with you is literally the only reason why I’m here. Of course I’m coming.” Erica replied grabbing her bag. They all rushed upstairs leaving the boys behind.

The marshmallows fell out of Benny’s mouth as he was watching Y/N go upstairs. Ethan fist pumped in victory.

“I win!” He yelled through a mouthful of marshmallows.

“Hey! Dude that is so not fair!”

“It’s completely fair! Just don’t get distracted next time and you might win.” Ethan said back smugly.

“Whatever. You guys wanna watch Star Wars or something?” Benny asked.

“I don’t know. Y/N might get mad if we watch it without her.” Jack half joked. Benny looked at him in exasperation.

“She likes Star Wars too?! What’s next?!”

Meanwhile, upstairs Erica had already began using Y/N as a human doll.

“Those dorks are literally not going to know what to do with themselves when they see you.” Erica praised.

“You look really pretty, Y/N. Dare I say, prettier than Debbie Dazzle.” Jane complimented.

“Is that a compliment? What’s a Debbie Dazzle?” Y/N asked Sarah.

“You mean you never had a Debbie Dazzle doll growing up?” Sarah asked. Y/N shook her head no and thought of her childhood.

“We…well, we’ve always moved around a lot, and I matured earlier than most kids. Never really got into that stuff, besides wouldn’t have anyone to play with it with anyways.”

“What about your dad or your mom?” Erica asked while brushing Y/N’s hair.

“My mom?” She asked mostly to herself. It’s not like she could straight up say that her mom was God’s sister. “My mom left us when I was young. I barely remember her.” She said. When she was born she automatically aged up to thirteen, similarly to Jack.

That was the end of that conversation. They didn’t want to pry into her personal life. Even if it felt like they’d known her for years, the truth of it was that they were practically strangers.

“Okay. All done.” Erica smiled. Y/N looked in the mirror Jane had in her room. She was shocked to say the least to see what was staring back at her. For the first time in her life, she felt normal. She felt like a regular teenage girl, not a demi-god who hunted monsters.

“Wow. I look-“

“Beautiful.” Sarah, Erica, and Jane all said at once.

https://shoplook.io/outfit-preview/2784047

“I was gonna say normal, but yeah.” She laughed.

There were a few seconds of silence then Y/N suddenly jumped out of her seat. “Is that the Star Wars theme song?!” She exclaimed. She started heading downstairs.

“What a cute little nerd.” Erica said.

“Can we go downstairs to get a snack?” Jane asked Sarah.

“Sure but you have to be in bed by 9:00 remember?” “9:30?” “Fine.”

When Y/N got downstairs she plopped on the couch in between Jack and Benny.

Benny glanced at her and did a double take. “Woah. Erica did a really good job…not that you weren’t pretty before. You’re really pretty, either way. I’m so sorry. I’m totally rambling again.”

“Are you done?” She asked jokingly.

“Yeah…well, actually,” she laughed. “So no then?”

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go see a movie sometime…with me. I’ll even suffer through the new Dusk if you want.”

“No way are we watching Dusk. Pick me up Friday. We’re watching the new Avengers movie.”

Benny elbowed Ethan. “Dude. Did you hear that?”

“Yes, Benny, congratulations.” Y/N’s phone abruptly began to ring.

“Shoot. I gotta take this.” She got up and walked into the other room.

“Hello?” She asked. “Y/N? Where the hell are you? I told you and Jack to come home and stay home after school. Sam is not your dad. I am. You could’ve at least called and asked.” Dean grumbled.

“And you would’ve told me no and I would’ve been mad and you would’ve been mad and it would just not be fun at all so…”

“Are there boys there?” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Does is matter?”

“Yes. It matters a lot.”

“You don’t know. I could be a lesbian.” She stated.

“Cut the crap, kid. You and Jack need to get your sorry asses home or youre grounded. Both of you.”

Y/N ignored that statement. “Well, I’d love to talk more, but I’m gonna hang up now.”

“Y/N Elaine Winchester I swear to Chuck if you hang up…”

“Calm down. We’ll be home in like twenty minutes. Bye.” She hung up before he could say anything else.

“Jack, we have to go. Dean is flipping out.” She said walking back into the living room.

“Did you just refer to your dad by his first name?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah I did. Because I’m mad. It’s a symbol of defiance…even if he can’t hear it. Anyways, we’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Y/N, with annoyance, walked into the kitchen and said goodbye to Erica, Sarah, and Jane as well, before leaving with Jack trailing behind her.

Once they got home, they were greeted by all three hunters still sitting at the table researching.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Dean asked in disgust.

“Clothes. Goodnight. Good riddance. Love you partially and all that jazz. I’m going to bed. I have school.” She said running upstairs not letting anyone else get a word in.

The three men sighed. “Were there boys there?” Dean asked Jack seriously as he had Y/N on the phone.

“Yeah. Just two. Y/N has a date Friday.” Jack responded casually.

“She what?!”

“Anyways goodnight. Good riddance. Love you. And all that jazz as Y/N would say. See you tomorrow.” Jack repeated charging up the stairs.

#benny weir #ethan morgan #sarah fox #erica jones #rory keaner #my babysitters a vampire imagine #my babysitters a vampire #benny weir x reader #supernatural imagine #supernatural #jack kline #dean winchester #dean winchester x daughter!reader #sam winchester #castiel novak #castiel #requested

[feathered-serpents]

I doubt TMA will ever get a Netflix/other streaming service adaptation in the first place but I’ve seen a lot of fans very vitriolically opposing the idea when honestly if done correctly, I think it could be really cool?

TMA is a piece of media that takes advantage of its medium for a more enhanced experience. Some examples of this would be House of Leaves which takes advantage of being a book and Undertale which takes advantage of being a game. Both of these things couldn’t be adapted to a visual medium without loosing a crucial element of the story that’s being told. This is the main aspect that turns people off of a visual adaptation of TMA but honestly, I think TMA isn’t quite as extreme as the above two examples. 

Undertale being a game is basically the entire point. You CANNOT adapt it to a different medium and have it still be Undertale, that is impossible. 

House of Leaves being a book is also basically the entire point. While I think would be more possible to adapt it it would still be VERY hard to do so in a way that is satisfying when the original story is a book that looks like this 

TMA being a podcast is yes, important, but in a way that I think you could transfer to a TV show without losing what makes it TMA because the point of TMA is not the tape recorders themselves, it’s the voyeurism. 

Much of TMA’s horror is the suffering of someone being watched, and consumed, and enjoyed by a third party which honestly just becomes 10x more on the nose as a TV show when that’s verbatim what the viewer is now doing and I say to fully embrace that. You could potentially do something VERY cool where when the statements are presented the viewer themselves takes the place of the Archivist in the statement and becomes the Eye. Now, you’d have to tread very lightly with this concept because it obviously makes the fourth wall very dubious and if done incorrectly can ruin suspension of disbelief. If it were me running the adaptation I would not be super in your face about this concept, probably not alluding to it at all in season one and making it more and more obvious with little hints as Jon becomes more and more the Archivist. A duel transformation. It would also never be like...a character turning and talking directly to the viewer, the viewer is still just that: a viewer, but there would be a moment that the viewer would realize that they too have a bit of a place in story. 

Now besides the whole “The view is the Watcher” concept I don’t actually know how you would handle the episodes. I originally thought of doing something found-footage style but a friend I pitched that too did point out that like 90% of people hate found-footage and I’m just one of the 8 people that still like Blair Witch. That same friend then suggested a more traditional way of going about it with “regular” cinematography but stuff is just slightly off. Things change according to the Entity as the statement giver explains them as Jon and the viewer become more immersed in the statement, camera angles and stage direction become more confusing as Spiral statements continue, faces blur in the background of Stranger statements, spiders and cobwebs begin to show up more and more in Web statements etc. (Note: I have no idea how’d you do this with Flesh statements and the idea frightens me)

Lastly, Jon himself appears occasionally in the background. Not super intrusive, just lingering there, watching. A face in the crowd, hard to spot, but always there, and always watching the speaker. That is UNLESS it is a direct from subject statement in which Jon’s presence is much more obvious and occasionally even interacts with the person speaking depending on who it is (Ex. Melanie and Martin, where he is standing with Melanie’s crew members at the hospital and is sitting on Martin’s couch while he’s being held prisoner by Jane Prentiss. Or something along those lines). This is pushed to an extreme in the season 3 finale when Jon is viewing statement givers dreams and is this time the one actively tormenting them, rather than just observing. 

That’s...pretty much all I got. If you still hate the idea of a TMA television adaptation I get it, it works very well as is and doesn’t need one (plus I’m not sure I trust a mainstream streaming service to be faithful to the rep in TMA) but I think that the concept could be really interesting in the right hands. Not that that IS my hand as I don’t work in television, I’m just speculating here. Like I said, I don’t really expect TMA to get a television adaptation because of how ambitious and risky of a project that would be (TMA is fucking long) but I do think it could be cool! 

#tma #the magnus archives #long post #idk guys i'm bored and just wanted to pitch this

[descendantofthesparrow]

Interlude - Rewrite POYW- Harry Hook x reader - Part 7 - Plans coming together

=

-1 year and 11 months later(January 2019)-

Ben placed his hands on his hips and smiled, looking up at the large entrance doors to the newly appointed VK shelter. Everything was finished, from the kitchens to the smallest tile in the bathrooms. it was all ready, over 100 people were hired and ready to make food, repair damages if made, counselors, therapists, caretakers. Everything Ben could think of was implemented and ready to go. The CPS still had some paperwork to be approved and worked through, so Ben was looking at late July early August for the six new vks to be in Auradon.

Which would be six-seven months from now but, at least it was only six to seven months and not the 3 years it's been since he promised and started on getting more vks off the isle, including the start of production of the shelter and CPS system.

Ben pulled out his phone and smiled, in only a few days it would also be the 3rd anniversary of the first six vks arrival, they had arrived about two weeks before his birthday and his birthday was also the third anniversary of his time as king and his 18th birthday.

January had a lot to celebrate, didn’t it?

He knew the vks were planning something for him, and they were all keeping most of the information secret so they could surprise him. The only thing he knew was that Evie rented out a place for the party, invited Ben's closest friends that weren’t the vks. (Audrey, Jane, Doug, and Lonnie. Chad was invited too but Jay and Carlos told Ben about Chad’s very sus behavior about Ben when they told him about Bens capture on the isle so Ben was slightly wary of his old friend)

Ben had planned for a party for the 3rd anniversary of the original six vks arrivals for the vks but they wanted to wait until the next group came to Auradon, wanting to celebrate with their fellow villain kids. So Ben now mentally rescheduled the party to be in August, not knowing the exact date they would be getting the vks.

“We’re getting closer!” Ben couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he turned to see Mal walking towards him, her plum-colored shoulder-length hair in a low messy bun and wearing her favorite poison green jacket and purple and black dyed jeans. “Just a couple more months and we can finally get more kids off the isle” Ben hummed and looked back at the shelter, nodding to himself and tossing his arm over Mal's shoulder and leading her back towards the car where Luis, his chauffeur, was sitting in, waiting for them to be done looking over the building.

“Yep, I’m glad (y/n) and I were able to get the council to agree to us transferring kids twice a month, so it won't be as slow a process” Mal nodded along in agreement, remembering when (y/n), Evie, and Ben had emerged from the meeting room with shit-eating grins, telling Mal and the others that they had tricked the council into agreeing with their new terms.

“Yeah, twelve kids instead of only six a month, who knows maybe by next year we’ll already have most of the isle empty, other than the people that actually deserve to be there” Mal narrowed her eyes as her mind flashed to the thought of Captain Hook and Cruella, two of the cruelest parents on the isle “not a single kid deserves to be there a second longer”

“No they do not, but we need to do this carefully, I don’t want to risk anyone dangerous getting off the isle.” Mal nodded in agreement, stepping to the side as Ben opened the car door and let Mal slide in first, stepping in after her and closing the door, buckling up and nodding at Luis to head back to the castle.

Luis nodded and drove off, Mal and Ben continuing to talk quietly in the back. “So we’ll definitely have to have security guards, though last time we didn’t really need them?” Mal nodded again in agreement, remembering when Ben and the others had gone to grab Harry's sisters, the twins, Sammy and Dizzy, it had basically gone off without a hitch, but that might have been because of Harriet's crew acting as security for them.

“Yeah, we can see how the first one goes and if we see any sign of potential danger or someone trying to get out, we’ll get some guards to follow us to and from the side, maybe on bikes so they don’t have to do the whole getting in and out of the car. But we should probably wait on guards for a bit, having so many adults from Auradon that they don’t see regularly might make them antsy, I know I would be.” Ben nodded, they didn’t want to make the vks still on the isle think they didn’t trust them, so they might have to wait on guards at least for the first few pickups.

“Yeah, good idea” Ben sighed, slouching in his seat and looking out the car window, watching the forest go by as Luis drove back towards his castle. “still kinda sucks It's going to be at least another 6 months from now until we can even pick the kids but…at least somethings happening?” Mal placed her hand on Ben's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.

“Hey, you’re doing your best, we all know that, the vks on the isle know that. It’s not your fault that the council is preventing you from doing what you want or need to do” Ben gave Mal a watery smile and leaned into her as she wrapped her arms around him for a moment before she pulled back.

“Thank you Mal” Ben murmured, sitting back up and unbuckling his seatbelt as the car pulled up to the castle and Luis pulled open the door, Ben and Mal slipping out and making their way into the castle, continuing to talk about the plans for the isle.

“VK day huh?” Ben chuckled, remembering Doug and Evie’s suggestion to make the selection days for the new vks a whole day for them, to let the children enjoy a day just for them. “That doesn't sound bad, if Evie wants, I can buy out that old abandoned warehouse downtown and you can all do whatever you want with it to make it like the party place, so you can have your own isle place in Auradon” Mal beamed, looking up at Ben with her eyes shining.

“That actually sounds cool! Yeah! Let's do that! I can spray paint the walls n stuff and-and Jay can-“ Ben let Mal ramble on as he pulled out his phone and texted Lumiere about the new plan, who quickly texted him back that he would take care of it.

Ben put his phone away and looked to Mal again, who was still rambling about the isle and the precautions they should take.

Ben grabbed her arm and led her to the garden balcony, where the rest of their friends were waiting. “Beasty boy~!” Harry cheered, Evie holding her arms out as Mal snapped out of her rambling and skipped toward her friend, halfway crawling into Evie's lap and snuggling into her, Evie giggling as Mal did so. “Yeh finally made it, and ‘ere I thought yeh got assassinated”

“I’m sure if I was you would be the first to know and avenge me” Ben smiled, sitting next to Carlos and Jay, picking up the plate full of fruit and taking a chunk of mango off the pile. Harry hummed and shrugged.

“Depends on who assassinated yeh, if it was (y/n)” Harry gestured to you, who was curled up next to him reading a book “I wouldn’t do a damn thing” Ben nodded in understanding.

“As you should” Doug and Lonnie looked at each other at Ben's nonchalant attitude towards Harry's morbid sense of humor, then shrugged. Over the last three years, the two had gotten used to the vks humor and way of interacting with the world so it hardly bothered them nowadays, especially when Ben reacted in a way that played along with the vks.

Harry took out his phone after it vibrated in his pocket and raised his brow, then laughed “CJ forgot why it's like spring in January” Ben laughed at that, shaking his head.

“Didn’t we tell her like, three times now?” (y/n) said from her spot, peeking over Harry's shoulder to look at the text from CJ.

“Aye, but yeh know ‘er, she forgets what she deems unimportant” Harry mumbled, texting back CJ with the answer to her question.

“Isn’t ‘January is charmed by FG to be spring weather for Ben’s birthday’ an important thing?” Lonnie asked, tossing marshmallows at Doug as he attempted to catch them in his mouth.

“You would think?” Harry snorted, pressing the send button and setting his phone on the table, leaning back in his seat and hiking his feet on the table, crossing his ankles and arms with a smirk “But CJ doesn’t think so apparently.”

Ben let out a small laugh, his eyes drifting over to Carlos, who was hunched over a small metallic object, wires poking out the top and sides, sparking as he messed with the object with a metal-tipped tool. “Carlos watcha’ doing?”

“Making a thing” was all he said, sniffing as a spark shot at his nose and burned him slightly, Evie leaning over and rubbing his nose as he leaned away from the object “um-project-high tech thing” Ben smiled as Carlos pushed Evie’s hand away gently, giving her a reassuring smile as he went back to his work “I’m tryna make a portable projector that can connect to my phone, I don’t feel like getting out my laptop every time Jay or Mal want to watch a movie but are too lazy to go sit on the couch to look at the tv”

“It's always so far away!!!” Mal justified her laziness, a pout on her lips as Ben and Evie gave her a look, a teasing smile on their faces. Carlos just pressed his lips together and Mal stuck her tongue out, pulling back as Carlos leaned forward and attempted to touch her tongue with the metal-tipped tool “hey!”

“Don’t stick your tongue out at me then! You all know I always have something electric on me, be annoying get shocked” Carlos cackled, spinning the tool between his fingers then getting back to work, Dude resting his face on Carlos’ leg and whining for attention from his favorite person. Jay leaned down to see Dude and picked him up, setting the dog on his lap and feeding Dude a slice of turkey.

Dude had long lost the ability to talk, the truth potion gummy Evie had made two and a half years ago wearing off soon after cotillion, for it was never intended to last longer than a day or two. Carlos was slightly relieved when it wore off, while it was nice to talk to Dude easily, Dude talked too easily and had been prone to reveal things Carlos and Jay hadn't really wanted to be revealed.

Besides, Carlos could still speak dog so it didn’t stop any communication between the two. Though the rest of the teens were relieved to be free of Dude’s sometimes badly timed jokes and begging for butt scratches.

Ben relaxed in his seat and sighed, enjoying a quiet moment with his friends as they ate and talked, pushing down a smile as he noticed Harry messing with (y/n)s ring finger on her left hand, she continued to only pay attention with her book, letting Harry do what he wanted.

Ben sighed again and closed his eyes, pushing back his hair on its back legs, feeling the charming spring breeze gently caress his face.

Only 8 more months till the awaited day, and there was so much that was going to happen in between it all.

His and Jays birthday this month, his 3rd anniversary being king, the 3rd anniversary of the original 6 vks arrival in Auradon, the applications being finally sent out in July, the cps set to be finally finished in May, most of the vks and aks graduation from Auradon prep in June, and Harry had something planned for (y/n) that he had only told his sisters and Ben so far.

And so much had happened before! Some of the group had turned 19 within the last year and we're beginning to find career paths in the world. Mal was looking at art collages to become a full-time freelance artist, Jay was looking at a professional tourney career and was looking at Sherwood Forest University for their tourney program, Evie was already deep into the fashion world, half of Auradon already wearing her brand and was designing a whole line for the upcoming spring, and Carlos already had an internship ready to go at Stark industries.

Harry was being scouted for multiple modeling jobs thanks to Evie hiring him as her model for almost three years now, (y/n) had a solid ‘at home’ job as a freelance digital artist, Lonnie was planning a temporary professional R.O.A.R career then joining the Chinese military to be at her mother's side as a general like her parents.

Doug was Evie's financer and personal assistant; Jane would be trained to become the next Fairy godmother so FG could retire. Audrey; he didn’t know exactly what she was doing but Ben heard from Chad that she was thinking of publishing her stories she had been writing for years now, Chad wasn’t planning for much, probably just going to live off his parent's money and live his life as a lavish prince (which no shame to Chad, Ben sometimes wished he could just chill with no worries about the world)

But all that wasn’t exactly something Ben had to worry about for a bit, right now he had nothing to do other than relax with his friends. He smiled as he heard Jane and Gil walk onto the garden balcony, the two separating as Gil sat next to Carlos and Jane next to (y/n). The two were temporarily broken up as Gil was now a legal adult at 18 (he was turning 19 in March) and Jane two years younger than him at 16. While no one, including Jane’s mother, had a problem with their relationship, the two decided to take a break until Jane was 18, if only because the two didn’t want any dirty looks from the old-fashioned Auradon folks.

Ben closed his eyes again and rested against his chair, ignoring Harry as the pirate began to balance oreos on Ben's exposed forehead, Mal snickering and helping Harry in his quest.

-one week later-

Ben stepped out of his car and walked into the jewelry shop, smiling as he saw Harry, CJ, and Harriet in the corner of the shop, Harry messing with his black-banded ruby ring with his fingers as he talked to the shop worker. “And her ring size?” the shop worker asked, holding out his hand as Harry handed him the ring.

“um-(ring size)” Harry offered, leaning on the counter and peeking over his shoulder as Ben stepped next to him and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. “Hey beasty”

“Hello, Harry” Ben hummed, a bright smile on his face as the shop owner looked over the ring and its band “getting it resized?”

“Aye, I've let (y/n) wear it before but it didn’t fit any of her fingers other than ‘er thumb, so” he gestured to the shop worker who started to sketch out the band design so he could copy it into the newly sized metal once made. Ben nodded and peered over Harry's shoulder to see CJ busying herself looking over the rings in the display box, Harriet's hand on her arm to prevent any thievery.

“Why bring them?” Harry looked at him through the corner of his eye.

“Harriet demanded ta come cuz it's our ma’s ring, an’ CJ threatened ta tell (y/n) about it if I didn’t bring ‘er” Ben winced, CJ did want Harry to marry (y/n) so ‘she could finally get a cool sister’ (which always resulted in a slap to the head from Harriet) but she was a brat and held the threat of telling (y/n) about Harry's plan over Harry's head to get what she wanted.

Harry turned back to the shop worker as he called Harry's attention, informing him of the time, price, and pick-up date of the ring resizing. Harry nodded and handed the shop worker his debit card, leaning on the counter as the shop worker walked off to go complete the transaction.

“Plus I wanted some family support” Harry muttered, a shy smile on his lips. Ben laughed softly and patted Harry’s back, rolling his shoulders and pulling down his plain sky-blue t-shirt as he looked around.

“When you thinking of asking?” Ben inquired, smiling as Harry bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I dinne kae, we’ve already talked about the possibility of marriage, I wanted ta make sure she was okay with it and she's all for it, but I have no clue when or how I’m gonna ask ‘er” Ben patted Harry’s back again in sympathy, not really having any advice for the flustered Harry.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out” Ben laughed, standing straight along with Harry as the shop worker returned with Harry's card and handed it to him.

“Thank you, Mr. Hook, it should be ready next month, we’ll give you a call about any updates and when it's finished. Thank you for coming to Doc's jewelry shop” Harry nodded and put his card in his wallet, nodding at Harriet as she grabbed CJ and dragged her out of the store following Harry and Ben, CJ pouting as she stared at the shiny rings.

“Ice cream” CJ demanded, wrenching herself out of Harriet's grip and looking up at Harry with a pout, but she was wearing Harry's hoodie, which almost encased her body completely and it made her much less threatening than she usually was with that ‘Hook’ glare on her face.

“I jus’ bought a fukin’ ring CJ, I ain't buying yeh nothing, yeh have money, use it” Harry snapped, glaring back down at his little sister as she puffed her cheeks and slapped his arm.

Ben laughed loudly and nodding his head towards the ice cream down towards the left end of the strip mall “Come on, I’ll buy” CJ cheered and raced towards the ice cream shop, Harry and Harriet giving the king a look of thanks as Ben trailed after CJ.

-end of part 7-

part 7 bbys~ yep, everything's coming together~ we officially getting to the timeline of D3 and interlude is finally in 2019 yall. and i knoooow Gil and Jane broke up, but while i don't have problem with age gaps, Gils 18, janes 16 (turning 17 that year but still) it looks a bit weird and while FG approves of their relationship the two decided it would be best to wait until Jane is a legal adult. anyway, yep, Harrys gonna propose...HAVE FUN WITH THAT!

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange @lunanight2012

@daughter-of-the-stars11 @musicarose @random-thoughts-003​

@remembered-license​ @rintheemolion​ @verboetoperee​

@imtryingthisout​ @thecaptainsgingersnap​ @jatp-rules-my-life​

#Descendents #descendants #disney descendants #harry hook #harry hook descendants #harry hook x reader #harry hook imagine #interlude #finale #rewrite #part of your world #shuffle playlist

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Missed Opportunities in 400 Days

Hey, remember when TWDG Season One ended and we were a group of emotional messes? Remember when Season Two was announced and we were gonna get a DLC to bridge S1 and S2 together and we were extra excited for everything to come? Because I do. 

To be fair, I truly did enjoy 400 Days when it first came out years ago, and it’s not like I hate it now or anything... I just can’t help but look at it and see wasted potential on every level-- the characters and their development, the stories, the impact our choices made for the future...

The concept of 400 Days-- a collection of stories that follow different protagonists and the situations they find themselves in within the zombie apocalypse that eventually connect to one another-- is a great one. I love the idea of mini-episodes that are all connected, and one choice you made in one episode affects the next episode you play... so what happened? Why does it fall flat now when we look back on it?

Well, a major reason for me is the fact that all four seasons of the main game are complete. When 400 Days came out, we didn’t have S2, so we didn’t know what our choices meant. That lead to us theorizing about what would happen if we got everyone to go with Tavia, or what would happen if no one but Bonnie went. Why was Bonnie the only one who agrees no matter what? What could that mean?

And we have those answers now, and it’s a let down... especially when it could’ve been so much better. That’s what I wanna talk about today. I wanna talk about what I think are the biggest missed opportunities in 400 Days. 

5. Giving Shel and her dumb sister actual personalities

Of all the stories you can play in 400 Days, Shel’s episode is probably the worst due to the fact that she and her dumb sister lack any memorable qualities or personalities.... which is such a shame because this story also has one of the more interesting moral dilemma’s. 

In this story, you play as Shel who is surviving in the diner/gas station with a group that consists of some of the cancer patients from S1. Remember them? They were with Vernon and helped him steal out boat? Yeah, they got away and apparently Vernon died and the group feel apart over the damn boat, but you don’t get much more than that. 

Shel has this dumb sister who I can’t be bothered to remember her name because she’s that bland. Her sister is basically Shel’s personality. Take away her sister, and you’re left with nothing. 

They’re going for the “Oh man, I don’t know what this world is doing to my dumb sister, it’s changing her, I don’t want her to have to do things like murder, I want her to have a normal childhood,” but that falls flat when they don’t give me a reason to care about them in the first place. 

Like I said, the moral dilemma for this one IS interesting-- They catch someone who tried to steal from them. The man is injured pretty bad, and he can’t speak English, so there is no way for them to communicate with him. Roman, the dude who acts as the leader of our group, says that they can’t keep him here but they can’t send him back out there... and that means killing him. 

So what do you do? Do you risk it by giving this man a second chance, give him some food and send him on his way and hope he doesn’t come back and do more harm? Or do you kill this man so that there is no risk in him coming back to do harm? 

And you as Shel are the swing vote. That’s not an easy choice to make, plus you gotta think about how that choice is gonna affect your dumb sister?

Except it doesn’t really matter.... at all. No matter what you do, Roman still cracks down and wants to murder another member of the group who tries to escape, Shel’s dumb sister is still a brat who talks big but never does anything, and Shel is still a stale piece of white bread. 

If they wanted us to care, then give Shel something other than her sister. Maybe they could’ve had her be someone who doesn’t really have a backbone, she tries to avoid conflict and is intimidated by Roman, she doesn’t speak up even when she should, and then her dumb sister could be the opposite-- Loud, take charge, wants to get more involved with protecting the group, isn’t afraid to stand up to Roman which causes him to take her under his wing and wanna turn her into a murder baby... which Shel definitely doesn’t want so what could she do to keep her dumb sister away from him? 

If they wanted to tell the story of a woman worried her sister is going to grow up cold and ruthless because of the world around her, then tell that story. Show us that story, show us what happens when you agree to kill the man and now her dumb sister genuinely believes that murder is an easy solution to their problems, so when it comes to the woman who escaped, the dumb sister volunteers to kill her and Roman lets her... and you as Shel gotta decide if you wanna fight that by running away or just let it happen. 

I dunno man, but Shel’s story is my least favorite of the bunch because I have no reason to care about either of them, and that’s a waste. 

4. Nate’s a shithead so they should’ve used him more

Well, hello again, Nate... we meet once more here on T5F. 

So yeah, I’ve talked about this crazy bastard on a previous list about characters no one likes, so you’re probably wondering why I’m saying that he should’ve been around more.

That’s the thing, I hate Nate. He’s gross, he’s brutal, and he’s uncomfortable with those crazy eyes of his... but he would’ve made for a fun antagonist in more of 400 Days, as well as in S2. 

Depending on what episode you play first, Nate can either first appear in Wyatt’s story, or Russell’s. In Wyatt’s story, Nate is chasing down him and Eddie after Eddie accidentally killed a guy who was with Nate, and Nate here is chasing them down for some revenge. He eventually finds them, and who ever is left in the car as no choice but to flee, leaving the other behind. 

Nate plays a more active part in Russell’s story, picking him off the highway and chatting with him on the way to the diner/gas station, and y’know how Shel has no personality? Well, I think I know where all the personality went because Nate’s got quite a bit of it. He’s one of the more memorable parts of 400 Days for a reason. He has a weird charisma about him, but then he starts talkin’ gross and almost gets Russell’s face eaten off by a walker and you get the idea that this man isn’t quite right, y’know?

Then we make it to the diner/gas station where they get shot at, and Nate insists on finishing this... as in, let’s go in and shoot whoever is shooting us. They sneak in, and the old man there says Nate is back to finish the job... which isn’t great. Nate acts like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but then suggests they kill the old couple using a line from the story Russell told her.... y’know, the story that’s kinda triggering for Russell. 

At this point, Russell can either tell Nate off and leave, or he can stay where Nate will kill the couple right in front of him and claim that Russell is his boy and it is not great.

We know that either way, Russell gets away from Nate. We never see him again so he could be dead, turned, or alive. All I can think about is the fact that they created the beginnings of a compelling antagonist who could’ve bled over into S2 at Howe’s or even afterward. Like if we showed up at Howe’s and were locked up, only to find Nate locked up with us. Or maybe instead of Arvo, Nate could’ve been the one who stumbled upon Clementine and Jane and was overpowered and threatened by them... only for him to stalk them and confront them about what happened. 

Either way, there was a missed opportunity to do more with Nate. 

3. Focusing on the wrong things within Bonnie’s story

Alright, everyone’s favorite: Bonnie. 

Bonnie is the only character in 400 Days who actually matters in terms of S2... and even then, her story doesn’t matter too much...which is dumb. 

For me, Bonnie’s story is such a waste... like okay, right from the start they establish that Bonnie is a recovering addict, and I’m intrigued. The idea of an addict surviving in the apocalypse while trying to kick the stuff is interesting as hell.... but the story kinda just glosses over it unless Dee is insulting Bonnie by calling her a junkie. 

No, the story we got was Bonnie breaking up a marriage. Great. 

There’s this dude Leland who has a wife, Dee, but he and Bonnie are getting awfully snug with one another... so that’s real nice. Dee eventually finds them giving each other the look and breaks it up in a passive aggressive way before revealing she found a bag of supplies. This happens to be a bag that she “found” at the diner/gas station where Shel’s group is currently staying. 

An argument breaks out between Leland and Dee with Bonnie in the middle and it’s not compelling at all. You can just sit there and do nothing and it doesn’t matter, they continue to fight until Shel’s group spots them and they gotta run. 

Bonnie ends up shot and falls behind, and we do get a cool scene where she has to make her way through this cornfield without getting caught. I do like that bit, it’s fun. 

But then she gets away, grabs a weapon, and hits someone walking up on her... that someone happened to be Dee. Whoops. Dee calls her a junkie, saying she killed her, and then dies.

Now comes the big choice: Do you tell Leland the truth or lie to cover your ass?

While this is an interesting choice on paper, it doesn’t matter. Leland isn’t with Bonnie in the end no matter what, and Bonnie will always agree to go with Tavia. 

Personally, I wanted the fact that she was a recovering addict to be more front and center. Throw Leland and Dee away, have Bonnie travelling on her own. Have her going through withdrawals, show us her struggle of still being hooked on drugs while surviving in the zombie apocalypse... have her stumble across Shel’s group and from a distance, she sees they have medical supplies. She’s so desperate that she sneaks in at night and steals as much as she can, but gets caught. 

We could still have her running away through the cornfield with the drugs, she can still get shot and everything... but maybe she’s so desperate for them that she ends up killing one of Shel’s group members, and she sees just what she’s willing to do in order to get these drugs, and you can make a choice of abandoning the drugs and quitting, or taking the drugs and running away... and it could actually affect Bonnie in the ending and into S2. 

Plus, her killing one of Shel’s group would help add to the debate in her episode, y’know?

I just... I wanted that story... not what we got. 

2. The past is more interesting than the present

This goes hand in hand with #3, but applies to almost everyone else. 

All of these characters that we get to play as have more interesting backstories that I was more compelled by than what they’re actually going through in their stories. 

The first time we meet Vince, he straight up murders a dude who is pleading for his life, saying he doesn’t even know Vince’s brother. Like... okay, what the hell happened here? What happened to Vince’s brother that made her commit murder like that? 

How about Wyatt and Eddie? They’re running from Nate after Eddie killed the guy he was with. They’re panicking, Eddie is covered in the dude’s blood, Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie meant to shoot or not. You can tell they’re known each other a long time, too. They’re a couple of stoners who got themselves into hot water. 

Oh and Russell? His story is interesting as hell! He was in a group where the main guy kept going on about how seven if the perfect number for a group, ya can’t break seven, and this group eventually started killing so they could steal, so Russell got away and is now on his way to find his grandmother’s place. 

Once again... Bonnie is a recovering drug addict in the apocalypse. 

The only one without an interesting backstory is Shel... which I guess is fitting. The boring character doesn’t even get a fun backstory, she just exists. 

It’s not a good sign when I’m more interested in the past, y’know? Vince’s I can give a bit of a pass to because he killed that guy before the apocalypse broke out, and his dilemma takes place right at the start, and it’s done pretty well. 

Everyone else though? I already explained Bonnie’s, but what about Russell and his seven group? We could’ve gotten that story of a group that starts out good, the guys gives his philosophy on the dumber seven, Russell meets that one girl... but then things start to grow dark when the group starts to become desperate enough to murder and steal, the guy keeps going on about the number seven so they can’t invite anyone in, and they can’t let anyone go... so Russell has to sneak away or something. 

Wyatt and Eddie? Show ‘em there when Nate and his buddy show up. Give us the tension of “are these guys chill or are they planning something?” when Eddie gets into a fight with the other dude and ends up shooting him, Nate gets pissed, and they gotta flee. Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie shot him intentionally or not, it’s a whole, thing and they can still hit the cop and do that whole thing, too. 

I just... I think problem is the stories were a bit too compact and short, not giving the characters a chance to develop or the stories enough compel to them. 

1. It doesn’t matter who goes to Howe’s or not and that’s dumb

Sigh..... so yeah, obviously this is #1. 

My biggest problem with 400 Days is that is doesn’t affect much. Even Bonnie’s story doesn’t affect what she does in S2.

As for the rest, if you only got Bonnie at Howe’s, then the rest and their fate’s are unknown. But if you do manage to get everyone to go with Tavia, they are at Howe’s... the problem is, they show up in small cameos that literally do nothing. 

Ya got Wyatt who walks past Clementine like “Dude you better hurry, Bill doesn’t like to wait” like.... what, am I just supposed to get excited and point at him like “oooohhh I know him! I know him! That Wyatt! Hehehehe!” because I didn’t do that...

Or Vince randomly showing up to catch Tavia smoking, or Shel and her dumb sister making a comment about Sarah, it’s just dumb. 

And then Howe’s falls and their fates are left unknown anyway.... so it didn’t matter. 

I’ll just say what most of us were thinking.... Why weren’t they the cabin group? No, seriously, why weren’t the 400 Day’s crew the cabin group? Because it was too hard given the fact that there are so many combos? That’s fair, but if that’s the case, then what was the point of 400 Days?

Did they just want to tell a bunch of smaller stories within this world but never actually planned on using them outside of fun cameos in S2, with the exception of Bonnie? That probably is the case... and I think my disappointment in 400 Days does stem from being in the fandom at the time and getting hyped to see what they would do with these characters, only for it to be this. 

Not only that, but then I started to think about how they could’ve done with game but with the actual cabin group from S2. Luke, Nick, Pete could’ve had their own story dealing with Nick’s mom getting bit after they took in a bite victim. 

Rebecca and Alvin could’ve had a story about their marriage kinda falling apart despite them trying hard, and this could help make her affair with Carver make more sense. 

Carlos and Sarah could have a story that explains Carlos’ over protectiveness and as well as explore Sarah as a character. 

Hell, give Mike a story. 

Give JANE a story about her and Jaime so that her appearing outta no where isn’t jarring, and develops her and the reasons she treats survival the way she does.

There was so much they could’ve done with this idea... and to be honest, if we ever get another game in this series, I would love it in this style but expanded into a season where each episode follows a different character and tells a different story, but in the end they all end up connecting. There is SO MUCH you can do with that!

But alas..... 400 Days for me is full of missed opportunities and I wish it wasn’t. 

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Honorable Mentions

-Eddie only appeared in Wyatt’s episode and then disappeared until his death in S4.... Eddie’s great, should’ve been around more. -Would’ve been nice if the cancer group from S1 was expanded on, give more context to what the hell happened to Vernon and the boat, y’know? -a bit more development for Tavia would’ve been nice, as well... she just kinda shows up at the end and recruits who she can. 

---

So what are your thoughts on 400 Days? Do you agree with these missed opportunities, or have any to add? Lemme know, it’s always fun to chat.

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Reasons Gabe’s Pretty Great, Y’all Are Just Mean

#twdg t5f #twdg 400 days #twdg vince #twdg wyatt #twdg shel #twdg russell #twdg bonnie #twdg nate #next weeks t5f inspired by reddit

[the-pope-is-in]

upcoming works

if anyone here has read/enjoyed my fics , I just wanted to post my ENTIRE drafts to let you know what’s coming next (I can’t promise I’ll get around to all of these, but if there’s any you want me to prioritize , just let me know) 

in no specific order

Legolas Greenleaf (LOTR) - based more off of the movies than the books. oc is half elf half sorceress and she goes on Bilbo’s adventure .. eventually meeting Legolas in mirkwood and then fighting with him in the battle of five armies. after the battle, she finds him again and begs him to take her with him because she doesn’t want to go back to her old life again. they go on a bunch of adventures. oc is besties w aragorn. 

Lemony Snicket (ASOUE) - as in his entity as a character in the series, not the author himself (more the tv show than the books even though the books were my ENTIRE childhood) ((the author’s actual name is daniel handler and he’s a lovely person)) anyways, 

my advice for you first and foremost is to never fall in love with a writer

especially if that writer is a prominent member of a secret organization

especially especially if said writer is committed to uncovering and documenting the sad lives of three orphans, the children of a past lover who has died tragically

my name is odessa denouement and I am begging you to put this book down and go read something more pleasant, such as the littlest elf or a story that doesn't involve pain, suffering, and a general lack of morals

odessa and lemony meet when their VFD missions overlap and they’re forced into a number of highly dangerous situations together. features a tragic ending. 

Percy Weasley and Oliver Wood (HP) - because we all know they were in love. probably their last years of hogwarts into the second war. focuses a lot on percy going to the dark side. probably pretty angsty.

Will Turner (POTC)- oc is Jack Sparrow’s daughter. she’s super cool. raised by pirates. best parental relationship I’ve ever written (I usually go for the really shitty parent trope, but this time their relationship is rlly soft and makes me happy) anyways, she falls in love with will turner and it’s hot. 

Beatrice and Phillipa (HP) - cute lesbians in gryffindor (golden trio era). should probably read my bill weasley series first because it’s a spinoff. would probably be their fifth year to sometime around the end of the war. main focus would be bea’s shift to the dark side. 

FP Jones (Riverdale) - gotta preface this one with the fact that I hate riverdale as much as the next guy (sorry riverdale fans) I mean . the show’s insane. BUT FP is what got me through it. so this is the story of him and jughead’s mom in the 80s , then there’s a time jump to the first or second season. going to be short but cute. 

Steven Hyde (that 70s show) - NOT played by d*nny m*sterson. anyways, oc moves to point place from nyc with her mom (who kinda sucks -yes, we’re back to the shitty parent trope-) falls for hyde and it’s rly angsty. at some point she lives in hyde’s old house but i’m not sure exactly when bc idk what season I want to start the season on. she’s also best friends with jackie because I’m in love with jackie. 

Regulus and Marlene (HP) - umm so to be completely honest I don’t know what the plan was for this one. the only thing it says in the draft is “marlene is a slytherin”. I think I was high when I made it. but I feel like there’s some sort of potential there so we’ll see what happens. 

Remus Lupin (HP) - either wolfstar or a slytherin oc or maybe regulus I don’t know. I have some ideas for scenes, but no specific people or genders or really any details at all. I just know I’m in love with remus and want to write about him and his sweaters. 

Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad) - oc and jesse keep meeting by chance. first it’s because she’s staying at his parent’s house out of necessity (ep 2), then it’s because she’s Jane’s roommate, then it’s at Jane’s funeral. they keep saying they’re parting ways. that they’ll never see each other again, but it doesn’t work. one way or another, they’ll end up together. 

Minerva McGonagall and Pomona Sprout (HP) - one of my fav ships ever. would start in their sixth year and there would be a few major time jumps over the course of the story. very soft relationship. 

Peter Parker (MCU) - oc has powers over the elements. recruited to the avengers by tony stark. in the process of said transition, hydra attacks her family and oc is filled with rage. throughout the story, she lives with different members of the avengers (she moves around a lot) and she and peter have a friends to lovers sort of thing.

Daniel Desario (Freaks and Geeks) - charlotte’s been friends with the freaks since she was a kid. she’s been on-again-off-again dating nick since middle school, she has mixed feelings about kim, ken is her favorite person ever, and she is hopelessly in love with Daniel. when lindsay comes into the picture and things shift dramatically, charlotte finally has the chance to shoot her shot. 

Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) - word for word what I have in my drafts:

ummmmm so we've got a main character named ummmmmm sophie or phoebe or something and shes like blonde and short and only three months older than reid and sup super smart like with math and science and stuff and she graduated early and has a doctorate and is smart and stuff but doesnt really tell anyone and looks kinda sloppy and has a really relaxed attitude and we love her - she almost dropped out of high school because she was bored but then agent gideon was like dude come on ill give u a job (or something?)

oh and her parents and little brother died in a fire when she was eight only her older brother survived and they are super close she loves him so much but she has some trauma from constantly being sent to foster homes where nodbody wanted to keep her bc shes difficult and also like watching her parents die so she has a HUGE fear of fire and an irrational fear of big dogs

ANYWAYS starts off with her at her house and she's just hangin she has a cat and she's making herself dinner and she's one of those super cute single bi girls who likes her plants and her music and her science bookstore

friends in college story (an original work) - okay so I wanna go to film school (I want to be a screenwriter) and this is an original script I’ve been working on but I might adapt parts of it to a story. basically it’s like a dark academia sitcom where a bunch of liberal, progressive kids go to this rural, ultra-christian college for different reasons and find each other and become the ELITE friend group. obviously it would have a better name than the “friends in college story” although now it’s sort of growing on me

the new tragedy (an original work) - “sometimes i need to remind myself that you existed. You were real, you were so real. your hair was real, your crooked smile was real. the way you couldnt talk in the morning before you’d had your coffee, or how you could never get to sleep at night without an episode of whatever show you were obsessing over in the moment. oh my god. you were real. 

she looked like death. the guy, not the concept. sallow skin and dark, sunken eyes that absorbed all of the light and trapped it, holding it hostage and never letting it out. when she smiled, the light poured all over her, like she was taking a shower in it. when she frowned, she looked like a storm cloud. I loved her. I loved her so much. 

#fanfiction #wattpad #lord of the rings #legolas #lotr #lemony snicket #asoue #asoue fic #a series of unfortunate events #oc #vfd #dewy denoument #percy weasley #oliver wood #harry potter #percy and oliver #percy x oliver #will turner #jack sparrow #johnny depp #pirates of the caribbean #pirates #gryffindor #fp jones #riverdale #steven hyde #that 70s show #regulus #regulus x marlene #marlene mckinnon

[thiswasinevitableid]

Pleasant Surprise (Indruck Superhero AU)

A little fic I’ve had bouncing around my head for awhile, set in the universe of “The Thrilling Adventures of the Green Knight.”  It takes place after that story, and after the events of the small fics “Aww, Rats” and “Back in Time”. You can read it as a standalone, but it does contain some spoilers for main fic.

“You know how you always say communication is important in a relationship?” Indrid drums his fingers on the arm of the couch. 

Dr. Mwangi nods, the chain on her glasses glinting in the soothing lights of her office.

“I...there is something I am not sure how to communicate to Duck. I, it’s something I’ve been dishonest about. I” Indrid takes a deep breath, “I lied about the date of my birthday.”

Dr. Mwangi doesn’t so much as cock an eyebrow, much like she managed not to gasp in horror when he told her what his training regime involved when he was learning to be a villain. Indrid’s going theory is that this self-control is his therapist's super power. 

“Do you want to spend part of our session today figuring out how you’d like to talk with him about this?”

Indrid fidgets with his glasses, “Yes, please.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

Duck comes home to one of his favorite scenes; Indrid sitting with his easel in front of the rat run. His boyfriend decided he needed to cultivate his artistic streak, so that one part of his life would not involve superheroing or villainy in any capacity. From the look of it, he’s still on the theme of inserting the rats into still-lifes of different styles. 

Duck loves watching him paint, in a way at once connected to and completely different from the attraction he feels observing the other man train in the hideout or dig himself into engineering a new invention. There’s the same cleverness in his hands, the same concentration lining his face. But there’s an innocence that’s absent other places, a kind of happiness that only exists in activities untouched by his past.

“Hello, chivalrous one.” Indrid murmurs as Duck comes to drape his arms over his sweater clad shoulders.

“Hey sugar. I like the new paintin’--is that Dr. Harris Bonkers?”

“Indeed.” Indrid turns his head, his grin as bright as the streetlights flickering to life outside, “The fuzzy medical practitioner in the style of Seurat. I foresee Aubrey liking it as a Christmas gift, and I wanted to do it while the inspiration was still fresh.”

“Bet she’ll get a kick outta it.” Duck kisses the top of his head, then starts removing his work clothes, “you had dinner? Thought I might reheat some pizza.”

“I ordered us dinner, it should arrive within ten to fifteen minutes, depending on whether this is the broken stoplight timeline.” Indrid sets his brushes aside, stands so he can follow Duck down the hall to the bedroom.

“Thanks for doin’ that.”

“There is, ah, something I wish to discuss before it arrives.”

Duck turns and his heart twinges. Back when Indrid was his nemesis, Duck learned to read his emotions, a skill that eluded everyone else. He can tell when Indrid is nervous and, most often, when Indrid is nervous and doing everything he can to hide it.

“What’s on your mind?” He takes a soft step towards the other man, who goes very still as he summons his next words. 

“Do you remember what I told you about my birthday?”

“That it was in the spring and you’d let me know when we were gettin close to it. Wait, fuck, you never did, not this year or last year. Then again, last year was when the White Star boys kept tryin to fuck everythin up, think a lot of stuff got missed. Do you, uh, wanna do a birthday observed or somethin? Could even get a little goofy and do a half-birthday.”

Indrid shakes his head vehemently, “No. That is not it. I, I ah, I lied. My birthday is not in spring. And before you ask ‘when is it,’ the answer is I have no idea. We never celebrated birthdays. I only know my age because my father unleashed my brother and myself upon the world some time after I, or rather we, turned eighteen.” Indrid tucks his hands into the pockets of his sweater, “that is all I wish to say.”

It would be easy to giggle at his serious tone. 

Duck pulls Indrid into a hug, “Thanks for tellin me. Do you want help tryin to work out when it really is?”

“I...I do not know. I was simply tired of such a small lie weighing me down.”

“Okay. You wanna cuddle until dinner?”

“Of cour--oh damn it all.” Indrid steps back, pulling off his sweater, “Baron Thorne is going to try and hold an entire dormitory of students hostage in forty-five minutes.”

“More than a two hero job?”

Indrid tips his head back, then replies, “it’ll go best with for. I shall alert Barclay and Aubrey.”

“Roger. I’ll get the car.”

---------------------------------------------------------

Duck’s researching potential plants for Dani to modify into non-lethal weapons when the secure elevator dings open and Agent Stern hurries out, looking a kind of excited he hasn’t seen since Barclay’s parents landed their ship to meet their son’s new boyfriend. 

“Gettin the feelin you got good news for me.”

“I do.” Joe pulls out his datapad, “I went through the files we confiscated from Abbadon to find the one on Indrid. It did indeed have his birth date, and you are not going to believe what it is.”

Duck looks at the little boxes of letters and numbers beneath the photo of a much younger Indrid with a much crueler smile. 

“No fuckin way.”

“I know right?” Joe grins, “ I think he’ll get a kick out of that.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“My birthday is on Halloween?”

“Yeah!” Duck looks so happy that for a moment the emotion carries Indrid as well. 

“That is rather fitting. It’s always been my favorite holiday.” He can see it now; little orange lights, a black tablecloth, some cake.

“And it’s three weeks away, so we still got time to plan somethin to mark the day. I was thinkin we could have it Friday, since Halloween is a Saturday and I know at least Barclay and Dani got things they do every Halloween. How’s that sound?”

He isn’t sure. Something circles up from the deep, animal part of his mind, but he can’t name it and so does his best to ignore it. 

“It sounds wonderful.”

--------------------------------------------------------

Indrid cannot escape. Everywhere he turns there are birthdays; on the T.V, in the restaurants he and Duck go to, on cards and balloons when he’s getting groceries 

It’s your big day!

“You don’t turn thirteen everyday”

To my son, on his eighteenth birthday

“To my brother, my favorite partner in crime”

“This week on ‘My Neighbor’s a Werewolf,’ Jamie throws Max a surprise party, and gets a big surprise of his own.” 

When that one flickers across the screen, Indrid clicks the T.V off with a little hiss. He’s tense, feels like the embodiment of the moment a knife-tip meets skin; resistance and resignation in the instant before it all comes pouring out. 

“You got a cake preference?” Duck rests his hand on the couch near Indrid’s shoulder, tone light as he continues, “know you like really sweet stuff, I could get mom’s hummingbird cake recipe from Jane-”

“Whatever you think best.” Indrid flexes and coils his fingers.

“‘Drid, it’s your party, you get to mark the occasion however you want.

“And what if I do not wish to mark it at all?”

“Uh…” Duck clears his throat, “uh, that’s fine too.”

Indrid turns his head to see the expression he knew would be there. 

“That upsets you.”

“N-uh, fuck, I uh, it don’t uh-”

“Duck, please do me the courtesy of not drawing out the lie.”

Ducks shoulders sag, “Guess I’m a little disappointed. I, uh, I was havin fun plannin it with you. Thought I could make up for all the times you didn’t have one.”

“Well, you can’t.” Indrid snaps, stands more dramatically than he means to. He just wants this to be over, wants to stop seeing the memories he thought he’d properly laid to rest, “you cannot make up for what I saw, what was done to me, what I did.”

“I-”

Indrid holds up his hand, “I know you see it as your job to remove all traces of my tragic past that you can.”

“Hold the fuck on.” Duck shakes his head, “Is that what you think I’m doin? ‘Drid, it’s just a party. If you don’t want it you don’t want it, but don’t fuckin pretend this is some indicator of us as a pair.”

“Oh but it is.” Indrid feels his lips curl into an old smile, “you get to play the nice, normal hero making everything better, while all I am is someone to pity, broken long before you ever met me!”

Duck goes still, and in his visions he sees the rats finishing skittering to the far side of Ratopia. It’s at this moment he realizes he’s been yelling. 

“I…I am going to bed. Goodnight.” He hurries down the hall, only bothering to change his pants before crawling under the covers. In most futures, Duck follows him and demands they finish their argument, leading to a far larger fight. But the hero doesn’t come. This gives Indrid time to get his breathing and heart rate back to normal, to try and work out why the thought of his loved ones gathering to celebrate his birth makes him want to disappear into the night. 

He’s not quite asleep when Duck comes in. He’s not quite ready to apologize. As he’s contemplating his options, his boyfriend slips under the sheet and lays in such a way that his right hand is inches from Indrid’s own. 

Without opening his eyes, Indrid slides his fingers across Duck’s palm. Duck shifts to interlink their fingers, and closes his hand. 

Indrid wakes up five hours later in two discrete stages. The first is coming out of the nightmare, of his body registering the need to move, to hide, before his brain is fully back to the present. The second is waking up enough to wonder why he always hides in the closet after these dreams; he didn’t have a closet growing up. 

He creeps into the living room, hoping he hasn’t woken Duck. He has woken Chicken, who decides it’s close enough to her breakfast time to yowl at him until he feeds her. While she crunches her cat food, he opens one of the doors to Ratopia. The mischief is mostly asleep, but at  the sound Void rouses from his spot atop Mallard and scurries over to Indrid’s hands. 

“You forgive so easily.” Indrid murmurs, cupping him in one hand and closing the cage with the other, “or perhaps you just forget with much greater skill than I.”

He knows when Duck is behind him. Without turning, he sets Void on his shoulder and says, “I think I know why I have been so unpleasant tonight. I...I have only ever marked two changes in age; being old enough to face the trials of my order and being sent out to cut down those who dared oppose us. My ‘birthday’ is a harbinger of suffering and death. And I, I know that is not the real truth, but it is the one my body believes, the one my mind has been bracing for without me fully understanding that’s what it is doing. I did not mean to take that fear out on you.”

“‘Drid” Duck’s voice is scratchy with sleep, but when Indrid turns his eyes are alert, “I’m so fuckin sorry. It, uh, it didn’t occur to me that your birthday would be wrapped up so tightly with the shit you went through as a kid. I never meant to push you into somethin you didn’t want.”

“But I do want it!” Indrid shoves his hands into his hair, “I want to have dinner with our friends, to get gifts, to enjoy a thing that millions of people partake in every day. And I am so, so very angry that I cannot, that instead I am dealing with all of this.” He gestures vaguely to himself, then looks at Duck, his body registering safe as the hero joins him by the rat run. When Duck opens his arms, Indrid nestles into them without hesitation. 

“Whatever you decide on, that’s what we’ll do.” 

Indrid hums, snickers when Void clambers onto Duck to tickle his cheek with his whiskers. After the shadows of the past recede in the warmth of Duck’s embrace, Indrid whispers, “I would like to have the party. I would like to help you plan it. But I...I would like a few of the details to still be surprises for me. It might be nice for my birthday to bring me a pleasant one for once.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oooh, this looks so cool!” Aubrey sets a gift on the table as she admires the mothman string lights, banners, and balloons, “dang, Duck, didn’t know you had a decorator streak.”

“Don’t get a chance to flex it much. And it’s kinda easy when the theme is so specific.”

“I’m trying to compliment you, doofus.” Aubrey playfully whacks his arm, then squeals, “honey, look, rats in hats!”

“Awww” Dani joins her to regard the mischief in their tiny party hats (only Mallard is still wearing his, the others in various states of tossing them about), “Indrid, did you make these?”

“Indeed, though Barclay made these.” He slides the enclosure open and sets five rat-sized cupcakes on the floor, “which is wonderful, because I did not want them to feel left out. They’re getting them earlier than the rest of us because Barclay is looking for ways to keep me out of the kitchen.”

“It’s your birthday, that means letting someone else cook!” Barclay calls from the kitchen.

“But I modified the blender and the mixer to be self-operating!”

“Wait, what?” Is all they hear before Barclay is drowned out by whirring. 

“Should we help him?” Dani says through their laughter.

“He’s a professional, he’ll be fine.” Joseph steps from the kitchen, his casual wear of jeans and a Loch Ness Monster dress shirt still somewhat jarring to the former villain who only ever saw him in suits, “Aubrey, Dani, can I get you anything to drink?”

“Yes please. Okay doctor, time to play.” Aubrey opens the special hatch in Ratopia and deposits the rabbit, who settles in to be groomed by his smaller friends. 

Dinner is fancy macaroni and cheese and fruit salad, Indrid’s favorites. As Ned regales the table with his latest misadventures in fixing up his new van (“I was unaware an owl could nest in a seat cushion”) Indrid glances at the entryway. 

“Everythin okay?” Duck whispers.

“Yes. I, ah, I simply did not expect so many gifts. I know it’s customary to receive them but I thought you got one or two. Not that everyone brought them.”

“You wanna open them?”

Indrid nods, grinning, “very much so.”

He takes care not to peek at the futures when unwrapping them, wanting to preserve the excitement as long as possible. Aubrey gives him a six pound bag of Lucky Charm marshmallows, Dani sneaks out to the car and returns with a potted plant (“I modified it so that the blossoms will be extra attractive to moths”). Ned gifts him a signed, limited run poster from Red Dust on His Soul, Joseph and Barclay a stack of new romance novels (“I think you’ll like Agent X, it’s a mystery series but he romances quite a few characters in them”). Mama sent a package from West Virginia that contains a small, wooden duck she carved herself and made especially smooth so it would be soothing to rub). And Lydia Little, AKA Sylvia Cold, presents him with a mug declaring him “Favorite Brother.” 

Duck’s present is the last one he opens. Waiting for him in the rectangular box is a white shirt with “World’s Greatest Rat Dad” on the front. The back is covered in squiggle-scratches of five different colors, which Duck explains are signatures from the mischief made in rat-safe fabric paint. 

“It’s perfect.”  Indrid sighs, kisses his boyfriend and then beams at his friends, “it is time for cake.”

They dim the lights, sing to him as Barclay emerges from the kitchen with a massive, mothman shaped cake with lots of candles. To his delight and surprise, the inside is layers of pink and yellow, flavored with strawberry and vanilla. He eats far more than is perhaps wise, but it is his birthday and it is his understanding that such things are allowed.

His guests linger for a few hours more, Aubrey and Dani the last to leave with a reminder to put the plant on the balcony. Indrid waves goodbye, closes the door and arms the security to full. He turns back into the house, sees the cards and gifts his friends put so much thought into locating for him, the stray dishes and half-empty glasses that signify they were here. For him. Because they wanted to be, because they care about him.

“‘Drid? You want any more cake before I put it aw--oh fuck, sugar, what’s wrong.”

“Nothing” he sniffles, grins, “these are tears of happiness. I, ah, I hurried us into cake because I felt them upon me when I opened the gifts. It will take some time yet for me to be willing to show such feelings around our friends.” He wipes his eyes, “thank you, my love, for arranging this.”

“Any time, darlin.”

He smiles, “Have I mentioned lately that you are my hero?”

“Pretty sure you called me that this mornin. But I sure as hell don’t mind hearin it again.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

“What is this?” His brother scowls up from the paper plate Indrid passed to him through the complex delivery system keeping his cell from the world around it.

“Cake. Today is our birthday. Did you know that?”

“Who cares for such frivolous things, little brother?”

“Those of us who do not spend our lives steeped in the misery of others, twin brother. If you do not want it, give it back and I shall share it with one of the guards.”

Apollo looks at the cake. Then he kneels on the floor, tearing into it with his hands. He doesn’t eat it what he destroys, and after a moment Indrid grasps why.

“Did you really think I hid some device to help you escape in there?”

“Yes.” His brother is now trying to light stab the cake with his gaze. 

Indrid rubs his forehead, “Perhaps some day you will learn to see things for how they are, not how you believe them to be.” He starts for the door, looks over his shoulder and says softly, “happy birthday, Apollo.”

A slam as his brother strikes the see-through front of his cell, “Get back here this instant you worthless, traitorous, coward!”

The door slides open and Indrid steps into the hall. Joseph is waiting for him, drops his eyes from the security feed to the man in front of him, “what a waste of Barclay’s cooking.”

“Agreed.”

A gentle pat on his shoulder, “You tried, that counts for a lot. Now go enjoy your night.”

“And my knight?”

“Him too.” Joseph waves goodbye, then adds, “and happy birthday!”

Indrid gets home before the city trick or treating hours begin; he’s feeling rather good, all things considered, and Halloween is so beloved by villains that the odds of his evening being interrupted by work are almost none. 

Duck is on the porch lighting their Jack ‘O Lanterns, grinning brighter than all the candles and lights on the block combined when Indrid walks up the steps to join him. He sees in the futures that he’s made him a special, Halloween themed birthday dinner. 

He pulls Duck into a hug, kissing the top of his head with happy sighs, thanking whatever twist of fate pushed him into the arms of the man who was, in many ways, his first-ever pleasant surprise.

#Indruck #indrid cold/duck newton #taz amnesty #superhero au

[nanoland]

new chapter (supernatural fic)

(Also on AO3.) 

Clean Hands, part 4 

Crowley/Dean Winchester/Castiel 

Warning: Demon deals, violence, mention of abuse and torture. Also: Crowley is an abuse + addiction survivor and also a cold-hearted arsehole with very little respect or empathy for abuse + addiction survivors, and this story is written from his POV. 

0 

What was there to be done when you were enamoured of a man who hit you?

Leave him! the whole world cried back in one voice.

Which was a bit like telling someone trapped in a burning car to get out of the car. Yes. Quite. Thank you. Fully agree. But what if, for a moment, you assumed I wasn’t as stupid as a fucking dog?

That, incidentally, was one of a handful of ways the world had worsened since Crowley last drew breath.

Back in the fourteenth century, the women in the marketplace had noted his black eye and torn dress with immediate understanding. Instead of insisting he pack his bags and walk out of the house belonging to his wealthy shoemaker husband, the father of his child, the man on whom his safety and good reputation and continued ability to eat depended, the man he, for some fucking reason, still loved, they’d actually tried to help.

Sybil had given him willow bark for the pain. Rose had engaged him in long, rambling conversations, stretching the minutes until he had to return home. Jane had walked across the village and rapped on his door every evening she could, always armed with solid excuses, just when the bastard was well and truly in his cups and looking for something to damage.

If ever analytical minds were to try to account for Crowley’s misanthropy and sadism, they couldn’t honestly conclude that either was due to his never experiencing true, heartfelt human kindness.

Yes, Sybil and Rose and Jane had all thought he was a woman and addressed him accordingly, and it had hurt. But that wasn’t their fault. He’d not had the courage to tell them otherwise.

Crowley didn’t regret much. Regret, in this game, was a slow-killing poison.

Still, he did occasionally wonder how things might have turned out if he’d accepted Jane’s invitation and fled with her to London that one warm night, rather than hanging in for years until he finally snapped and beat his husband’s skull into tooth-sized pieces with an iron kettle.

Returning to the present:

As Crowley watched Dean’s fist barrel towards his face, and not for the first time, he reviewed the pros and cons of incinerating him with hellfire.

When fist and nose were one millionth of an inch apart, he teleported across the room.

“Squirrel,” he sighed, “this has nothing to do with you.”

Dean charged and took another swing at him. “Fuck you! He worked so hard! Clean for four years, you piece of shit!”

This time, Crowley reappeared sitting on top of the dead man’s wardrobe, where Dean couldn’t reach him. “Good for him. His family and friends won’t remember him as the thieving, lying wretch he was ten years ago when he sold his soul for a pound of meth. They’ll probably give him a nice funeral.”

“Why couldn’t you make an exception? Just once?”

“That’s not how this works, Dean! It wasn’t even my deal! The contract is in the hands of a relatively inexperienced subordinate and honestly, I’m glad that she pulled it off. She’s got potential. This is her first real win. It’ll increase her standing in Hell and make her more powerful, which will be useful because some older demons have taken to bullying h-…”

“I don’t give a damn about your minions,” he snarled, picking up a lamp sprinkled with blood and throwing it at him. Crowley ducked. “Every last one of you can take an angel blade to the face, for all I care. You’re fucking parasites.”

Evenly, Crowley replied, “Yes. We are. You know that. You’ve always known that. Why are you having a fit about it now? Good people get dragged to Hell all the time.”

Dean stared down at what remained of Martin Booke, now that the hellhounds had left. “He worked so hard. Christ. You could have made an exception. He came to us and I swore I’d help him out.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have cocking well done that, should you?” Crowley cried, throwing up his hands.

Eyes wet, Dean sneered at him. “Parasite. Get out of my sight before I wring your evil neck.”

Crowley left.

Upon arriving back in Hell, he went to the Admissions Department.

The soul of Martin Booke was sitting in one of the cheap blue plastic chairs, knees drawn up to his chest. Probably still reeling from the trauma of the hounds ripping his throat out, though no damage was evident on his form now.

“Mr Booke,” Crowley said, sauntering up with his hands in his pockets. “Could you come with me, please?”

A door appeared in the nearest wall and swung open silently.

Once they were both standing inside Crowley’s office, it swung shut and dissolved into nothingness.

Moving to his liquor cabinet, Crowley said, “I hear you’re a Harvard man.”

“Um… y-yeah. Yes. I was.” Thin voice. Midwestern accent.

“Promising career ahead of you before things – ah – went awry.”

Booke swallowed. “Tom. First boyfriend. Got me into meth. Got me into a lot of stuff. I figured it was okay because we were gonna be together forever and as long as I had him, I’d be fine. Then he went and died and I had to pick up the pieces on my own.”

Smiling thinly, Crowley said, “Isn’t romance grand? As it happens, you may still get your happily ever after. Thomas Abbott is currently waiting in the eternal queue – which, ordinarily, is where you’d be headed.”

“Yeah. Dean told me. Although… um…”

“You have a question? Spit it out. Cowards bore me.”

“Dean said that when you sell your soul, you go to Hell and demons torture you until you become a demon. But he also told me about the queue thing. So that’s confusing. I mean, queuing sucks but it’s not torture.”

Crowley poured himself a glass of bourbon and sat down behind his desk. “Clever boy. Yes; when I became King of Hell, I restructured things. Most of you end up in the queue. The hot knives and whips are a speciality service and, as such, are reserved for our elite clientele. The pedos and Nazis and so forth – and, of course, anyone who pisses me off too much. As for the process of becoming a demon; that doesn’t actually require torture. I know! Surprised me too! We always thought it did, back when Lilith was in charge. Then I started running some tests and it turns out that becoming a demon is a bit like catching a virus; it’ll happen to anyone who hangs around other demons long enough. Everyone in the queue will have black eyes by the end of their first century.”

Booke took off his glasses and nervously rubbed them on his sleeve. “You said that ‘ordinarily’ I’d go to the queue. So am I an – uh – ‘elite client’?”

“Hah! No. Your little life was staggeringly boring and barely impacted anyone in ways either negative or positive. No, the reason you’re here is Harvard. See, I had a snoop and it seems that before you dropped out, you were getting bloody good grades.”

A wistful smile. “I guess. Had big dreams, once.”

Sipping his bourbon, Crowley said, “On track for a Master’s in aeronautical engineering, I believe.”

“Yep. I wanted to work for NASA.”

“Cards on the table, Booke: I might have a job for you. There is, at present, space in one or two of our departments for a man with your talents. But first I need to ask a question.”

He cocked his head. “Um. Sure? Anything’s better than what I was expecting. Shoot.”

“Do you know how to crash a spaceship?”

#drowley #supernatural #crowley #dean winchester #spn crowley #fanfic #my fic #drowstiel

[beyond-far-horizons]

hey, so enemies to lovers is my favorite troupe as well, but why its so difficult to find something good with this troupe?? latelly i am getting very disappointed with anything that says enemies to lovers, so do you have any recommendations, like books, fanfics, games? i am down for anything that has drama and good writing

WORD!

Okay I have very little time as I’m on a busy MA course but briefly - 

I think the reason this trope is done badly is that it’s hard to get right. Also people’s mileage varies  - we see this across fandoms all the time with what is seen ‘problematic’ and policed etc. That’s part of a much wider conversation. For me I just wish people had a more nuanced understanding a) that stories can influence society sociologically esp if the trends in the words of Pop Culture Detective as ‘pervasive and unquestioned’, but also b) many people know how to separate real life from fiction and not only is it great escapism to experience a range of different things, I’d argue in some ways to some folks it could be vital archetypally. In other words, I wish we could be a bit more forgiving of other POVs and more appreciating that what works for some doesn’t work for others in terms of enjoying Enemies to Lovers and villain-shipping specifically. For myself I adore a good Sexy Bad Guy, but in RL if I had a dude want to kidnap me and act that way without my consent I’d be like ‘f-off mate’ LOL.

 But I digress...

Hard to recommend without knowing what fandoms/media you are into and what versions of Enemies to Lovers you like (sadly I don’t have time to go through this even though I’d love to). Enemies to Lovers can be two basically good people on different sides of a fight or it could be shipping the altruistic protag with the (sexy) villain. Is it slash or heterosexual? I think I saw you weren’t a fan of love triangles which is another major potential element of this dynamic.

I like a lot of different versions of this trope but one of the major things I personally enjoy is an empowered altruistic heroine with agency in a pairing with a Sexy Bad Guy, esp if there is also a Sexy Good Guy who is his rival/frenemy. Now I know you said you don’t like love triangles but to me it depends how it’s written. For me I hate the YA ‘boring best friend’ vs ‘douche bad boy’ with bland heroine defining her identity between them, instead of being on a journey of discovery about herself and her world which the love drama aids in. It’s also about how these things get resolved as well. For me several things I really enjoy is a) sexual tension between heroine and villain b) cat and mouse games whether via fights/chases/political intrigue or all of the above c)philosophical conversations about the nature of life and humanity - I need my heroine/hero to CHALLENGE the villain AND vice versa. I want them both to grow and develop as a consequence. d) I want BOTH sides to be tempted by the other and there to be major angst but the tension remains because both sides are strong characters with deep convictions - I loathe a heroine for example that just excuses her villain’s actions because he’s hot or he’s changed (without reflection or atonement) or something. I also nowadays don’t really enjoy the ‘I need you to make me into a better person’ - nah mate do that yourself - she/he can inspire you but it needs to come from within (I love this about Zuko from ATLA  - he never needs Katara in this way although she clearly inspires him.) I need more than superficial stuff, I need deep reasons and emotional developments to justify their growing connection. THAT’S what’s interesting to me. Or if it is just the villain’s charisma I want to see the heroine deeply conflicted about that because it clashes with her powerful sense of self.  This is why slow burn is also key for me (also great opportunities for UST and angst hehe). Unless of course you are just looking straight for some X rated stuff which...fair play...most of us have done it. 

I’m not sure what you are looking in the trope but as for suggestions for the above dynamic some of the best fanfics I’ve ever read are ‘World Under Siege’ by @nofearofwaves (Loki and Jane Foster in Thor/MCU - slow burn - goes on to its sequel, canonverse set from the end of Thor/Avengers) and ‘The Cave’ by ‘Masksarehot’  -(Amon and Korra from Legend of Korra - fantastic conversations and very hot without being too porny.)

I also attempt to write a lot of Enemies to Lovers or containing that theme in some way. Fandoms - Naruto, One Piece, ASOIAF, DMC, ATLA, Harry Potter (my only slash pairing is young Dumbledore and Grindlevald but that is more friends/lovers as its the beginning of their connection) and Yu-gi-oh. 

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4317571/Girl-of-Blue-Fire

Some are finished, some are WIPs , some contain the fore-mentioned love triangles, some don’t. Obviously my best works are the later ones so you could check that out if you want and look at my faves??

Lastly in terms of some good canon stuff...like we’ve said it’s rare but I’ve heard good things about Children of Blood and Bone (i have it to read) whose canon enemies to lovers theme was inspired by Zutara in ATLA. Zutara also has some fantastic works but the canon story unfortunately short changed itself IMO. If I think of anything else I will add it...

Hope that helps and good luck!

Ps I’m also writing a TON of original SFF fiction centring on this theme - my latest has...wow...about 4/5 canon enemies to lovers pairings ( hetero, slash and fem!slash) with huge amounts of fanon potential so hopefully one day we will have more.

#enemies to lovers #frenemies #long post is long #vazio-empty #writing #villains #villain x heroine #heroine x villain #my writing #amorra #zutara #lokane

[royaldescendants]

the darkest little paradise

moodboard made by me

masterlist

Chapter 1

Hades sat in his living room, turning off the TV. His own kid was getting engaged, and he hadn’t even been able to meet the kid she was planning to marry.

He chuckled, wondering how things would’ve gone down if this had been way back when. The kid would’ve had to ask him, and if he’d gotten that far Hades would’ve said yes.

On the condition that the kid was the one to tell Mal’s mother of course, because there was no way Hades was getting in the way of his wife potentially crying over their daughter ‘growing up too fast’.

He had seen the tears when Mal started walking. And when she started talking, when her first word was ‘mama’? He had had to call her best friend to console her. Probably why gods weren’t typically too involved, he mused, the heartache of not knowing if your kid was immortal or not was excruciating. 

He drank from the skull flask he’d traded for with the faux-pirate crew. Had to keep up the aesthetic somehow, and it wasn’t like he was able to get anything stronger than a weak ale. It was the only thing that kept for a long time, wouldn’t make you sick, and had some semblance of hydration. 

He wondered if Mal remembered that she used to have to drink it too, or if she’d gotten so used to drinking lemonade and sodas, or whatever else they drank on the mainland. He didn’t really know, and didn’t have the energy to care anymore. She looked healthier, happier too. That’s all he needed to know about her new life.

-------

A few hours later, Mal was collapsing on her bed. She was tired of her father’s antics, tired of having so much pressure to both conform to Auradon’s standards yet stand up to the treatment that everyone on the Isle was given. She hated the decision she proposed, but no one else had come up with literally any other solution to the problem.

She reached over to her nightstand for her water bottle, and finding it empty, she threw it in the trash can that was currently full of tissues. Nightmares hadn’t been kind lately. 

She froze as the plastic bottle hit the soft bed of long dried, tear and snot-stained tissues. 

Kids on the Isle don’t get clean water, and here you are, contributing to pollution.

She went to the bathroom to wash up for the night. 

Remember the cold saltwater that Mother always shoved your face in, eyes open? Remember the taste of lye soap?

She finished quickly, ignoring the accusing voice. Closing the barrier was best for everyone, it made sense. Da- Hades almost escaped today, what could happen next time? 

You idiot. There’s always two sides to a story, you of all people know this.

The faces of the kids, trying to hide away as her father threw a fit about going home, being a god…..

The eyes haunted her the most. Dead, void of hope-

Hope you could’ve given them.

Void of anything but despair.

------

The way the sun shone into Kore’s apartment in the mornings should have been considered a crime. It was bright, it was overbearing, and it was way too early. 

For Kore, it didn’t really matter anymore. She got up before sunrise every day, and had been for the last sixteen or so years. 

In this case, as far back as she could remember. 

She made her way to grab her jacket and gloves, ready to start sorting and gathering the ripe fruits and vegetables to be sent to the kitchens, just like every other day.

Hands pausing in tying her shoes, she realized that she’d never had to get new ones.

Strange, every other worker had gone through two pairs every other year. 

But it was better if Kore didn’t dwell on it, of course. She wasn’t supposed to, that wasn’t her job.

She didn’t get paid to think about shoes, she got paid to tend the grounds the way nobody else could. 

And this year, teach an elective about ‘plants, fae, and nymphs; the natural world of magic’.

It was a small summer class, but it was better than nothing. 

Kore hurriedly made her way to the greenhouse, snapping her fingers after the doors closed, and summoned all the fruits and vegetables to the great big basket at the front. 

Sorting out some stray carrots that got mixed in with the potatoes, she sang a mindless tune, not knowing how she knew the words.

“And I’ll sing you to sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow

Bless you with love for the road that you go-”

The door opened. “Kore? Is that you singing in here?”

It was King Adam. “I was just passing by, your voice is lovely by the way. I haven’t heard that one, do you remember where it’s from?”

“I don’t think so,” Kore said, frowning over an oddly bent carrot. It reminded her of some sort of flame…. “I just started singing it out of boredom, I think. Do you think it’s some sort of lullaby I used to know?”

King Adam smiled thinly. “I don’t know if it’s best to dwell on it. I’m sure it’s nothing bad, but we don’t want to take any chances, now do we?”

Kore shook her head.

“Excellent. Now, these look positively splendid, I’m sure tonight’s potato soup will be excellent, all because of you, my dear.” 

------

After tending to a sick flowerbed around one in the afternoon, changing into a pair of overalls and a breezy cotton button down (and no shoes) sounded really nice. Kore then made her way to her new classroom, with her new keys. Unlocking the door, she decided that she should probably look over who was in her class so far. 

“Hey, you’re Lady Kore, right?”

Kore jumped, not having realized that a few kids had entered the classroom, or that the bell to dismiss the previous period had rung. 

“Well I suppose I must be, you can just call me Kore though, I don’t have any titles, your majesty,” she said, nervously. Kore recognized the kid immediately. 

Not knowing who Ben Florian was, was absolutely impossible, considering he was the king at this point. 

“Oh, you don’t have to say ‘your majesty’, it doesn’t make sense, especially considering you’re the teacher here,” he said sheepishly.

“Alright then, should I call you Ben? I’ve heard you prefer your nickname over your full name.”

Before he could answer, the door banged open again. “Ben, you won’t believe what I just did- oh, I didn’t realize you weren’t the only one here.”

“It’s alright Evie, I was just talking with Kore here. We both don’t like titles, it seems,” he said in a relieved manner.

“It’s not that, it’s that I really don’t have one, Ben.”

He turned back to her. “How do you not have a title, but you’re teaching this class? I thought all the teachers had some sort of speciality and political say over it?”

Kore laughed, as more students followed Evie in and sat at the back of the small room. “It’s complicated, I’ll tell you in a minute.”

As everyone seemed to be settled, she decided to grab the clipboard with the class list on it. “Alright, if you hear your name say here, if I mispronounce it please let me know, and if your name is not called please let me know at the end. Ben Florian, I was just talking to you. Jay of Agrabah?”

“Here.” The voice came from the boy wearing blue and yellow leather, with a red beanie. Good luck working in that, a voice whispered, recognizing that leather and plant magic didn’t always mix well. Kore had no idea how she knew, but she decided that it must have happened before.

“Carlos De Vil?”

“Here.” A boy with a red and black flannel said, quietly. He doesn’t have the gift, how will he do this class? Wait- how do I know this?

“Evie Grimhilde?”

“Present!” What is it with these kids and leather?? At least this one has some shapeshifting magic, Kore thought, absentmindedly recognizing the way Evie’s eyes seemed to shift colors with the light, making her look more innocent. Just the way a student would want to on the first day of a new class.

“Jane Fae?”

“Also present.” Finally, someone who is dressed properly! The light blue shirt would probably get some dirt on it, but the jeans and tennis shoes, all noticeably with no wool, leather, or iron included, would work perfectly. Wool wasn’t necessarily taboo, but unless you were working with animals, it didn’t give any advantages.

“Doug Dwarfson?”

“Here.” Oh god. Dwarfs and plant magic? This’ll be interesting. Ah well, jeans and a casual t-shirt are better than- oh no, iron in the shoes. That’ll be reactive.

“Mal…doesn’t have a last name?” 

“Yeah, the system erased it. I’m here, though.”

“Perfect. Alright, that’s everyone, time to head out. Leave your stuff here, it’s the last class of the day for a reason.”

Without another word, she grabbed some materials and books, and marched out of the room, only stopping and looking back when she realized none of them were following. 

“Guys? We have to go to a better place for this, you know…”

“Uh, Lady Kore-”

“Just Kore, Ben.”

“Right, my bad. Kore, I thought this was more theoretical, take notes on what’s possible, kind of class?”

Kore snorted. “I don’t mean to laugh, Ben, but if that were the case, they wouldn’t have delayed teaching this for so long. Finding someone with nature based magic, someone willing to teach, and someone who knows plants intimately? Harder to find than you’d think.”

“Haven’t you been here for years though?” Jay interrupted, coming to the door.

“I have. Unfortunately, I don’t have any claim to a title, so they didn’t realize my qualifications until this summer. Shall we proceed?”

Making their way outside, they chatted amongst themselves as Kore was deep in thought as to where to go. 

“Alright class, this is Greenhouse 13. It’s mostly empty right now, but it will be where we go from now on, unless I tell you otherwise. If something changes at the last minute, I’ll try and put a note on the door so you know to go to the classroom.”

Unlocking the door, it creaked open with Kore’s push.

“The iron in here is less than it is in the other greenhouses, can anyone tell me why that matters?”

Evie chimed in. “Because iron causes burns and injuries to fairies.”

“Correct. They do prefer to be called the Fae, in some cases, exactly like Jane’s last name. If they refer to themselves as Fae, you need to be very careful. They can twist the truth very easily, and they have lots of stories about them for a reason. However,” she paused, turning on the lights at the back of the greenhouse. “That doesn’t mean you should automatically be suspicious of them or their intentions. Many Fae in this day and age don’t really care about all the things they used to, they generally mind themselves and how they phrase things.”

“What was my mother?”

The class looked at Mal, who had suddenly become very invested. “Before her banishment, or whatever.”

“Maleficent was an interesting case,” Kore bit her lip, not sure how she knew. “She was a fairy, yes, but some of her actions would suggest that she could be classified as Fae. However, she was under……” This was where Kore cursed her lost memory. Only knowing the last sixteen years, when she had been working at the castle was perfectly inconvenient for moments like this. 

“Under what?”

“Call it a sort of jurisdiction. Forgive me, my memory isn’t all there, though of course Ben might know?”

All eyes turned to the teenage boy, who was sitting against a wall, ready for the class to start. “Uh, I think you’re right. I can’t remember who though, it’s not common knowledge.” He chuckled. “Honestly I’m surprised that you know, Kore.”

“I think I must have worked on something before working here, something with…...whatever it was. Ah well, shall we get started?”

#royaldescendants #disney descendants #descendants #mal #mal bertha #hades #persephone #hades x persephone #kore #wip