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epicbuddieficrecs · 5 months

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Weekly Recap | November 13th-19th 2023 (Part One)

For the first time ever, I have a podcast and podfic recommendations! 😃 The podcast is Dispatch: a 9-1-1 Podcast @dispatchpodcast and specifically the episode with @mistmarauder that inspired me to try podfics!

Complete

🔥 eddie diaz vs the pta agenda by mmtion/ @mmtions (Season 5, Jealous Eddie | 19K | Mature): Really, Eddie doesn’t care that the PTA aren’t his biggest fan. He knows he misses too many meetings, and it’s not like he’s best friends with any of the other parents. But then Buck picks Christopher up from a class trip and it all goes to hell. Like, of course Buck is everyone’s dream guy. He’s responsible with kids, and kind, and funny and interesting and hot to touch. That’s obvious. But now Eddie’s fighting to keep the PTA moms, teachers, and dads, all off an unsuspecting and tempting Buck. Because Eddie is a good friend. Right?

The 118's Secret Book Club by Asplenium, QuietLittleVoices/ @hawkeyefrommash (Post-Season 5 | 15K | Teen): Eddie dropped the book on the counter. “Taylor Kelly wrote a book. I haven’t started it yet. But I was thinking –” “Book club?” Karen asked. Eddie nodded eagerly. “I know I can’t complain about this to Buck, but –” “Say no more,” Hen said, flipping open the book to the introduction. “We’ll get some copies from the library.”

daylight (i can never look away) by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (S4, Quarantine | 3K | Teen): or; a single moment between two almost lovers who don't know where to go next (otherwise known as the buddie quarantine fic nobody asked for)

101 Ways to Say 'What the F#%&' by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Humor | 5K | Teen): The point is, Eddie knows Buck. Or at least he thought he did. Now, Eddie's starting to think the whole relationship has been built on LIES. Because somehow, in some way, it has completely escaped Eddie's vast amounts of knowledge, that Buck is a fucking polyglot.

wait for me to come home by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Season 5, Pining | 3K | Teen): Chris doesn’t take the lego. He keeps staring at Buck with those big, doleful eyes, and says, “Why can’t you be with my dad instead?” His voice is soft and sad, naive and hopeful all at the same time. It’s positively heartbreaking is what it is, especially compounded with the fact that Buck has been asking himself the same question for months now. Buck offers him another smile, softer and tinged with a little of his own sadness, and says, “It’s complicated, buddy.”

spilled milk by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Post-Coma | 4K | Teen): or; In the aftermath of Buck's coma, Eddie can't look at him. (Part 1 of longing tastes like grief and desire)

something familiar by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Post-S6E15 | 1K | Teen): or; Buck and Eddie get burgers after visiting Marie's grave, and Eddie feels too many things. (Part 2 of longing tastes like grief and desire)

standing on the edge (of great) by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Ediie/Ana Break-Up | 5K | Mature): or; eddie says buck's name during sex with ana. it goes about as well as you would expect. and then somehow, it gets a little better

🔥 Love in the Time of TikTok by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Post-S4 | 5K | Teen): It seems kind of dystopian to let millions of people know he’s in love with his best friend before telling said best friend first, doesn’t it? Whatever. Fuck it. It’s not like anyone he knows in real life watches his Tik Toks anyway, so he can be a little freer with the truth even if doesn’t tell his followers everything. He already keeps a tight cinch around his emotions when he’s at work, he can let his guard down a little on here, right?

this life that we've created (or: how silvia rodriguez learned to believe in fairytales again) by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Post-S4E5: Eddie Begins, Outsider POV | 2K | Teen): or; eddie makes buck christopher's legal guardian told from his lawyer's perspective. because why not

hear me now by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Post-S4E5: Eddie Begins | 5K | Teen): or; eddie finds the footage of buck trying to dig to him in Eddie Begins. conversations and feelings ensue

When My Eyes Are Closed (Til Right When They Open) by mintedwitcher (Season 5, Getting Together | 2K | Teen): When Chris has a tantrum, Eddie slips and refers to Buck as Chris's dad. A lot of feelings are revealed and Eddie has a few realisations at his kitchen table. Buck, as always, is right there.

The First Place I Go (When I'm Trying to Hide) by mintedwitcher (Season 5, Getting Together | 2K | Teen): A companion piece to When My Eyes are Closed, wherein Buck realises he's in love with Eddie because Chris talks with his mouth full.

hungry for your love by evcndiaz/ @evcndiaz (Getting Together | 1,8K | General): prompt: "who’s gonna write a fanfic where chris is not cooperating with buck and eddie accidentally says “listen to your dad”?"

I wanna spend my forever like that by wikiangela/ @wikiangela (Sick Eddie, Getting Together | 8K | General): Eddie catches a cold and stubbornly denies he's sick, while a fondly exasperated Buck is trying to take care of him.

nicknames, supernova similes and the family we make by thewolvesof1998/ @thewolvesof1998 (Established Buddie | <1K | General): Bobby and Athena meet Buck and Eddie's new baby girl.

Nobody Can Do Everything by browney3dgirl6/ @hoodie-buck (Canon Divergence, Teacher Buck | 4K | General): It's parent/teacher night, Eddie having brought Carla along to help him navigate through the vast school. Most of the teachers are unmemorable, save for the pretty English teacher, though she isn't the one that keeps his attention. No, that would be the one with blue eyes, the one his son is always talking about.

if I could see you (once more, to see you) by colonoscopys/ @colonoscopys (Canon Divergent, Coma | 21K | Teen): Or, in the aftermath of a building collapse, Eddie mourns. Buck dreams.

Kiss Me Drunk When You're Sober by giselleslash/ @gigi-gigi (Getting Together | 5K | General): Buck makes a drunken confession and Eddie makes a decision.

Podfics

🔥 [Podfic] Curl Up in My Heart and Let Me Keep You by liketherestofla, MistMarauder / @mistmarauder (Animal Transformation | 1-1.5h | Teen): When an orange tabby cat starts hanging around the Diaz house, Eddie doesn't think anything of it. The little guy's cute and cuddly, and seems to always know when Eddie's having a bad time. Weird how the cat's never around when Buck is, though.

🔥 [Podfic] Love in the Time of TikTok by MistMarauder/ @mistmarauder (Post-S4 | 30-45 min | Teen): It seems kind of dystopian to let millions of people know he’s in love with his best friend before telling said best friend first, doesn’t it? Whatever. Fuck it. It’s not like anyone he knows in real life watches his Tik Toks anyway, so he can be a little freer with the truth even if doesn’t tell his followers everything. He already keeps a tight cinch around his emotions when he’s at work, he can let his guard down a little on here, right?

WIP

🔥 Things We're All Too Young to Know by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon, S1 through S6 | 99/? | 261K | Mature): This is a love story. Even if it doesn’t always look like it. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it. A look back on Eddie and Buck's lives up to now, and what led them to each other, interpreted from the current 9-1-1 canon.

🔥 Both Blade and Branch by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Post-S6 | 4/13 | 16K | Mature): The chances of being struck by lightning twice are incredibly minute, but Buck still manages to pull it off. During a double date with Marisol and Natalia, nonetheless. Eddie manages to resuscitate him, but as Buck recovers from yet another trauma, Eddie can’t help but notice there’s something very different about him. He’s not quite sure what version of Buck he got back.

🔥 and here, too, am i by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Future fic, Married Buddie | 3/4 | 31K | Teen): Six months into their marriage, Eddie is still struggling to decide whether or not he wants more kids, when he knows Buck does. The universe may not scream, but it certainly talks.

Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me I should know by JJK/ @trenchcoatsandtimetravel (Demon Buck, Canon Divergent | 7/? | 12K | Teen): Buck is a demon with the power to help with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant health. When the Buckleys make a deal asking for someone to help 'save their baby', Buck leaps at the chance as it will give him what he's always wanted: a life on earth. But demon deals are tricky and neither of them gets quite what they're after. This is Buck's journey as he navigates growing up on earth and remembering how to help those in need.

Fractals from the Lightning Bolt by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (One Shots Collection | 38/54 | 73K | Not Rated)

I Haven't Found A Better Title For This Than "Read This In The Six Months Before I Made This Blog And It Somehow Made Its Way To My History Now So I'm Reccing It Post-Facto"

🔥 tomorrow will always and forever now be today (tomorrow is our always and forever) by withmeornotatall (Post-S6, Time Loop | 43K | Mature): eddie gets trapped in a time loop on the day buck marries natalia

#buddie #buddie fic #911 fanfic #911 fanfiction #911 fic #buddie fanfic #buddie fic rec #buddie fanfiction #epic buddie fic rec

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suki-daydreams · 7 months

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Umbrella

info : past arc gojo x baker reader, (reader is not a sorcerer, but gojo is), tiny angst to fluff, reader is a sweetheart (i love u), gojo and reader meet, comfort

suki's notes : this takes place right after geto goes cray-cray. this is also my first tumblr post- pls bear with me. this story will most likely have multiple parts and will eventually become present into the jjk world (season 1). hope you all enjoy! idek if anyone is even going to see this

THIS POST IS UNEDITED

spoilers if you haven't watched s2 of jjk- the hidden inventory arc

I do a recap in the beginning- SOOOOO

if u haven't watched season 2 yet- SKIP AHEAD

but if u know what happens and ur too impatient skip ahead ;-;

~~~

"The umbrella symbolizes the canopy of the heavens, shelter, and protection. The parasol is a symbol of the SUN, and an umbrella is a symbol of the shade. It is often an emblem of power and dignity."

___

Defeated. Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer, the most powerful man in the modern world, felt defeated. how exactly?

Gojo had a mission to escort a girl named Riko Amanai alongside with his best friend, Geto Suguru.

Geto and Gojo were the strongest.

Riko was going to be sacrificed to a powerful being named Tengen to renew their existence for a period of time to protect the safety of sorcerers and their whereabouts.

But, the mission failed. Just when Riko realized she finally wanted to live for herself. She got shot in the head by a man named Toji, an assassin, who goes by many names but it mainly known for being the "killer of sorcerers".

Gojo avenged Riko's death by killing Toji.

And with that, Gojo became the strongest.

Finally learning how to control his power, and harnessing it to the fullest. He went on solo missions- orders given by his teacher, leaving his best friend behind.

But, little did Gojo know, his best friend lost his way, but at the same time, found his way. Found how he wanted to live his life.

Sorcerers kills curses, they protect non-sorcerers. Geto witnessed the ugliness of the weak, aka non-sorceres, when cultists wanted Riko dead, and they got what they wanted. Geto's other friend, a first year, named Yu Haibara, died during a mission with another first year by his side, Kento Nanami, who survived.

Riko's death, Yu's death, a conversation with a girl in the middle of his mourning- all changed Geto's ideals.

Geto massacred a whole village including his parents. His dream is to now eliminate all non sorcerers. He was expelled from jujutsu high with an execution on his head.

And, it was up to Gojo to kill him. But, he couldn't. Even when he had the chance, even when Geto turned his back on Gojo. He did nothing.

He couldn't kill his best friend. The only one he's ever had.

Riko's death, Yu's death, Geto leaving.

___ end of recap

All light was sucked out of Gojo's world. An endless void of despair and defeat, crushed his soul.

He questioned his strength, his very own being, everything.

He let his feet drag him to wherever. He walked and walked, and soon found himself somewhere in the city. Collapsing on the wet pavement of stairs, as his phone vibrated.

Dragging it out of his pocket and flipping it open to answer the call.

"Gojo.. where are you?" It was another friend of Gojos, her name was Shoko Ieiri, she was also good friends with Yu and Geto.

"I'm on a mission Yaga sent me on," he lied.

"How humorous. I asked Yaga and he said he hasn't sent you on a mission yet."

Gojo scoffed and threw his head back with his eyes shut, he simply just let the raindrops fall onto his face. He didn't even have the energy to activate his infinity to stop him from getting wet.

"Yeah.. well. I'm on a mission of my own. I want to be alone right now." He said, Shoko let out a big sigh.

"Gojo, come back- if you don't. I will find you-"

"Yeah.. well. Good luck with that."

He shut his phone, hanging up the call with his brunette friend. He shoved the electronic back in his pocket while the rain pattered on his body. It didn't hurt. It was calming, but also very lonely.

Anger filled his body, as he drowned himself more and more into his emotions, thoughts, and what he was going through. He hated being vulnerable. If he was blessed with these powers. Why... couldn't he save the one's closest to him?

"GODAMMIT!" Gojo screamed to the sky, "if I really am worth something, if I really am worth being here, send me a sign, a blessing!! Whatever!" He yelled, then his head dropped. His icy blue irises staring nothing into the ground as raindrops hit the cement.

"I... have nothing to lose." His voice came out as a whisper, despite screaming on the top of his lungs a few seconds ago.

He decided to give heaven a chance. He waited... and waited.. nothing. More rain on an empty street.

Until it all stopped. He heard the rain, but no longer felt it. Assuming it was Shoko, he sighed out.

"Wow. Found me already, Shoko? I'm impressed," he said then finally gained the strength to look over his shoulder, his heart jumped.

You.

Your hair starting to get damp from the rain, your e/c (eye color) orbs staring back at him with all your beautiful features. You were mesmerizing, hugging a dessert bag to your chest to stop the rain from soaking it, while you let your purse dangle loosely by your side.

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Uh-"

"Hi," you simply said with a smile, "I'm sorry I'm not this 'Shoko' you're talking about," you said with a small giggle, "but, you're getting wet, so here's my umbrella," your voice was soft, enchanting, music to his ears.

"Thanks." He said, as you held your umbrella out. But, he never took it from your grasp. It was big enough to cover you and him, so you placed it in between you two.

"Are you alright?" You asked, as you took a seat right next to him.

"Yeah.. why?" Is all he could force himself to say while staring back at you.

"Well, I mean.." you said looking around at the fast rain hitting every surface in your view before focusing your attention back on him, "you're sitting out here all by yourself. In the rain... in the cold... by yourself?"

He finally mustered up the courage to clear his throat and say, "I'm not exactly in my best moment right now."

You did nothing but smile, "understandable. But, you shouldn't be neglecting your needs. You could catch a cold."

He sighed, a non sorcerer talking about "needs".

"Yeah. Well. What exactly do I need right now?" He snapped, then sighed, "I have nothing to lose." It was silent, barely a whisper. But, you heard it, and did nothing but blink.

Then suddenly. You smiled and held out the umbrella.

"You need an umbrella."

Gojo : (ಠ_ಠ)

You giggled at his reaction.

"And, maybe... you need to find your way again," you said, making his eyes widened.

"Everything about you is bright. From your hair, your eyes, your skin," you pointed at each feature of his as you said it, then you dropped your arm to your side. "You glow on a dark cloudy-rainy evening like this, but you have this sad feeling to you."

He turned his head to stare at his feet.

"Whatever you're going through. I hope you get through it. With all the umbrellas you need!" You said, throwing your arms out. Then you smiled, "my grandma once told me, 'it's okay to lose your way, it's okay to be stuck once in a while. But, it's not okay to stay stuck in the same miserable spot.'"

Then you stood up, "you gotta pick yourself up! Because no one will," you stated, he nodded. He knows.

"And, life won't wait for you, it's just gonna keep going and going," you said and handed him the dessert bag you kept dry, "this has some kikufuku, castella, and a cake roll, if something makes everyone feel better- it's food! Especially sweets." You said with a small 'yum'.

He stared at you.

Then you smiled sheepishly, "it's been a couple hours since they were made- it's usually better fresh, but I hope you enjoy them either way!" You smiled, then waved goodbye at him.

"Goodbye stranger! Until we meet again," you said, turning around and walking away. Then suddenly, you jumped and turned around once again, "I forgot to say- you have really pretty eyes!" You yelled, then giggled, "bye now!"

He watched your figure turn the corner and disappear, but he continued to stare at nothing.

Speechless. He was speechless.

What just happened.

He's a stranger to you, you're a stranger to him, yet you gave him life advice, your umbrella, desserts, a compliment, and comfort- in less than 10 minutes.

Everything resumed, as he finally took in what happened. Not that he needed to, but he cursed at himself for not thanking you at the least.

Gojo hopes he can meet you again. Then he glanced at the shop name on the dessert bag, a small smile plastered his face. He knows how.

With the umbrella still in his hand, he picked himself up off the of ground with the dessert bag hanging around his wrist and began to make his way back to jujutsu high. Thoughts lingered his head. You roamed his mind even after he made it back, even when he was laying in bed at night.

The umbrella that you gave him was in the corner of his room, the moonlight peeking through his window dimly shining on it.

He asked for a blessing..

And there, you came.

end ~

more to come

I feel like I made Shoko a little out of character lol fuc.

What do y'all think? I don't even know if this is going to reach people LMAOO

I also really want to write a Sukuna x reader inspired by Beauty and The Beast. but 4 now. I am going to focus on gojo x baker reader. BUT I WILL WRITE IT SOMEDAY. PROMISE

also gonna write some toji fanfics. but not rn

if u didnt know (ofc u wouldnt. this is my first post) gojo is my main man crush. but i also really like toji and sukuna <3

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu gojo #gojo satoru #gojo x reader #satoru #jjk gojo #gojo x reader fluff #gojo x reader angst #jjk x reader #jjk #jjk fanfic #gojo fanfic

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raelle-writing · 2 months

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DFF is such great show and I enjoy the portrayal of the characters and the plot. Although I am not much into JinPhee ship (even though their scene was hot) - meaning I won't actively search fics of them;-D. But I absolutely don't understand the hate this ship gets. Or Jin character gets? Like, did I miss something? Why there is so much hate towards this pairing? I don't get it. Or do they dislike Jin character so much?

So I think there are 3 main reasons that people hate PheeJin and specifically Jin as much as they do, and I'll see if I can explain it coherently below lmao

First is cultural differences.

I've noticed that by and large a lot of the hatred directed at Jin comes from international fans being extremely harsh, and I think it's partially because they don't understand some of the nuance of Thai culture. Which to be fair, why would they?

One aspect is that they get angry that Jin lied to the police without taking into account that the police are corrupt - both in the narrative and also in Thailand in general.

Another is they get mad at Jin for recording Non - which to be fair, really does suck lmao. But they make it about Jin recording Non instead of reporting the assault happening, without taking into consideration that the age of consent in Thailand is 15, which means that what happened with Non and Keng isn't technically statuatory rape. Still bad and awful and Non was coerced and assaulted, don't get me wrong - but that makes it slightly less clear cut IMO when it comes to the question of Jin seeing Non "cheating."

You can even see within the show that the reactions to that video are by and large slut-shaming and not "omg that kid was assaulted."

So to recap: Taking the video = bad. But I think people get a bit too self-righteous about the reasons why Jin took it.

Second is purity/cancel culture.

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that in the internet age, if you make one mistake you're a terrible, irredeemable person and should be canceled forever. I think that's playing a part in this. All of the characters make mistakes, and because of that they're all irredeemable pieces of shit who deserve to die. Except for Non who is just a victim and has never done anything wrong (sarcasm).

In seriousness, I think that's part of it. And the fact that Non is SO sympathetic it kind of overrides people's sympathies for the other characters. I'm not 100% sure why people hate Jin the most out of everyone else considering he's the one who has tried to help Non the most out of the friend group... I guess they just have higher standards for people who try to help? Idk. Either way it seems to me that they expect Jin to be a perfectly-well-adjusted little hero who always does what's right and never makes mistakes. Instead of what he really is: a kid.

And last is fan favorites/shipping.

A big part of the reason that PheeJin shippers are getting so much hate is because TaCode shippers and PheeNon shippers have decided their ship is The Ship of the series, and think that Phee is just using Jin for revenge and anyone who genuinely ships PJ is fucked up, etc.

It's just ship war bullshit waged by largely Barcode stans, but it's certainly tiresome.

To be clear, I have nothing against PheeNon. I am of the opinion that Phee and Non were a cute high school romance that wouldn't have lasted because they had conflicting styles of showing affection and love (I'll write a post about it someday lol) but that doesn't mean I hate the ship. I thought they were very cute and it was fun to see TaCode on screen since I wrote MacauChay in my KPTS days ahahaha I just like the spice and fire of PheeJin better, and Jin is my favorite character.

I just wish that PheeNon shippers would live and let live instead of acting like they're waging some moral war. They were even crying in BOC's comment section on IG today after they posted the PheeJin poster for episode 9 saying "nooooo Phee is there for revenge he can't really have feelings for Jin!" It's exhausting... 🫠

General disclaimer: if you don't like Jin or like PheeNon better I'm not saying any of the above things applies to you. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, I'm just dissecting some of the over-the-top hate I've seen/experienced in fandom spaces lately.

#dff the series #dead friend forever #dff #pheejin #jin dff #phijin #phee DFF #non dff

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keepingeahalive · 1 year

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Milton Grimm should have been the Big Bad

This man. Is it obvious that I hate this man?

Look at him with that punchable face and that annoying little mustache. I just wanna rip those two sad little whiskers right off his smug, pudgy face.

This man should have been the main villain. The final boss. The endgame for the characters of Ever After High. But he wasn’t. He just fell into the background after Thronecoming. Sure, we got some Evil Queen action. But what was his reaction to the destruction of the Storybook of Legends, the symbol of tradition within their society?! He must have been p*ssed!!

But we never get to see it.

Milton Grimm is and should have been the main villain. Here’s why.

1. Crybaby Backstory.

Let’s face it. This attempt at a tragic backstory was underwhelming. To recap, Milton and his little brother Giles were best friends and shared opposite views than they did when they were adults. Because of this, Milton dragged Giles into a cave said to be inhabited by trolls because he was convinced it was only a story. Surprise, surprise: trolls are real (I mean, doi, kid! You live in a fairytale world. What did you expect?!) and Milton runs out of the cave, leaving baby Giles behind. Milton runs back to his father to get Giles back and Giles returns home, safe and sound. And out of guilt, Milton promises never to go against the stories again. Yay, happy ending.

But, it’s not.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think this backstory is enough justification for forcing an entire society to follow their parents’ (often terrible) stories. Yes, Milton was a child at the time, and he thought he had accidentally killed his younger brother. I can see how that experience would be traumatic for anyone. But, we know Giles is fine now and is actually more well-put together than his older brother. I think it would have been better if we say Giles’s POV from that day, actually have him meet the troll, have some tea with him or whatever, and have him hear the real story of the troll’s life. Giles could sympathize with the troll and learn not all stories should be followed.

What I can gather from this backstory is that it led Milton to develop crazy control issues. He and Giles built an entire school to indoctrinate several generations of fairytales. To ensure no one would go against what he saw as dangerous, he lied and basically threatened everyone “not existing” if they didn’t do what he said. Giles saw right through this BS, and when he confronted his brother about it, Milton cursed him to speak near-gibberish and locked him up underneath the school. This goes far beyond a Well-Intentioned Extremist.

2. Giles.

This man is a cinnamon roll and must be protected. Thank you.

Unlike Milton, Giles is warm, friendly, and open-minded to the stories the Brothers Grimm have collected over the centuries. He’s the former librarian, he has made personal connections with his students, and he sees them as people rather than characters. He is a clear foil to Raven, having gone against the status quo to make something better only to be quashed and locked away for it.

Yes, he did trick Raven, Maddie, and their friends into breaking his curse. (I’m pretty sure manipulation runs in the family). But, he deserves a win for what Milton put him through. And speaking plain English would have helped him and the girls more than having Maddie constantly translate for him (and in a language that is purposefully open to interpretation).

When Giles finally confronts Milton for what he did, I’m honestly disappointed. No, I don’t think Giles would have punched him in the face or anything. That’s too out of character for him. I was hoping Giles wouldn’t have forgiven him, or at the very least say something to the effect of “I forgive you, but that doesn’t mean I trust you.” Brother or not, I just can’t see anyone forgiving someone that quickly for what is basically impairment and imprisonment.

3. The Apple Debate

If Giles is a foil to Raven, then Milton is a foil to Apple.

Apple saw Milton and destiny as gospel. She was brought up, groomed, and traumatized into following destiny to a tee. Like Milton, she experienced a childhood trauma that made her believe destiny was the only way to stay safe. She has little to no regard for what others have to go through to follow her destiny. Her reasons seem petty and childish, but they make sense to her.

This is no fault of her own. She’s intentionally portrayed as naive, entitled, and selfish because she grew up in the most privileged of settings. She has the best destiny out of anyone, and growing up to be a beloved queen of the entire world sounds like a pretty sweet gig. She also holds genuine, if misguided, care for her friends and terrified for them if they don’t follow their stories (in a “I’m trying to save your soul from damnation” type of way).

She is also the daughter of one of the most influential political figures in the world, so she has to set an example. She puts so much pressure on herself to be perfect that she walks around blind. She needs glasses, but she can’t bring herself to show any sort of flaw about herself lest she lets everyone down.

Lastly, Apple is a child. She has room to grow and change like everyone else in their teenage years. Like Raven, she has time to figure herself out and could benefit from some self-reflection.

That being said, Milton is an adult. And he has been an adult for at least 200 years. He’s had time to look over his actions and think “Hmm, maybe what I’m doing is borderline dictatorial.” Yet he never wavers from his position. He has never admitted that he was wrong about anything or apologized for anything he’s done in regard to his students’ lives. Meanwhile, Apple has gone through some genuine growth as a character and as a person, because she loves her friends. It would have been interesting to see what Milton would think about his star, his favorite, his most devoted follower, suddenly turning on him.

4. The Redemption “Arc”

It felt more like a redemption splat than an arc. In my opinion, Milton didn’t deserve to be redeemed. At the very least, not this quickly. He would have made a fantastic antagonist to Raven. It would have been so exciting and frustrating to watch him tighten the reins even more on his students until they ended up all turning on him. It would have been a great commentary on authority, freedom, and societal views on individuality. But instead, we get brotherly moments in the background with him and Giles. I’ll admit, it’s kind of cute. But, this show’s conflict was created by Milton Grimm, and the show just left that plot point hanging.

Milton should have stuck to his guns for much longer, have him be the stubborn old man who will not budge on his beliefs. If you are to give him a redemption arc, have him realize his mistake after it’s too late. The final showdown between him and his fed-up students would be so much more satisfying than what we got. Please, for the love of God, Mattel! Bring this show back so we can do this story done proper.

#eah #ever after high #eah milton #milton grimm #giles grimm #apple white #raven queen #eah raven #eah apple #thank you for coming to my tedtalk

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docholligay · 5 months

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Drunk Shakespeare

I’m not sure what else there is to say about Drunk Shakespeare* other than I think a humorous recap of a Shakespeare play in one and a half hours while one of the cast is drunk is a delightful time.

The show is: Imagine me and a bunch of my drunk Lit friends are all trying to recap a Shakespeare play in a dive bar, one of us is already wasted, and we have gotten the rest of the bar to pay attention. You’ll have an excellent idea of what you’re buying tickets for.

The room was small and intense--I think there were only about three rows to the back in total, and the room was the size of what I would consider a decent-sized restaurant, decorated as a library with the sort of color-sorted books that suggests no one in the family actually reads. We were seated in bench-style seating with a little cubby underneath, next to two young girls celebrating a 21st birthday.

Birthdays are, as you might imagine, a common thing at intimate activities like this, especially in big cities. Hell, we were there to celebrate my mom’s birthday. But there was something about her that was so perfectly eager and artless, in the way some people are. She was telling the actors (who come around before the show to get a feel for who in the audience is willing to participate and be picked on a bit--more on that later--and who would prefer to stay in the background) how she was an acting major and how she had always wanted to go to this for her 21st birthday, had waited until she was 21. She was intensely awkward in the way that only people who deeply love a thing can be, and I was actually rather touched.

Again, birthdays, not an odd thing, but anyhow, they do this auction for the king and queen of the evening, who get to sit in the throne, and wear crowns, and twice in the play get to, de jure, do a sobriety check and if they are deemed too sober, force them to take another shot. De facto, this means, force them to take another shot. They get a bottle of champagne--actually, if I was going to say I had one annoyance with this show, it would be that they gave the king and queen a bottle of decent midrange bubbles that was unavailable for purchase on their drinks menu. I had a glass of middlin prosecco, but I would rather have split a bottle of decent sparkling wine between me and mom wow I am abusing the FUCK out of this em dash, amazing--and we all have to call them by their royal name and they get to participate in the play and it all seems very lovely.

They auction it off.

This is where I would tell you that I won the royalty, and that I gave it to the little weird girl and her friend for her 21st birthday because she would enjoy it more than any person living. But, that didn’t happen, because I was outbid to a level i could not afford, and so the fantasy of being nice to a stranger will have to be just that.

They only ever do plays that are well known to audiences, as there’s not a lot of point to doing Coriolanus jokes when most of the audience have no idea that’s a Shakespeare play. The biggies: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, etc, seem to be the choices here. As a practical matter, NYC is always Macbeth, unless google reviews have lied to me, which is great, actually, as I don’t need the element of surprise here and Macbeth is my mom’s favorite Shakespeare play.

Who this show is for:

Drunkards

English majors (Drunk)**

People who have never read a Shakespeare play

Drama nerds (Drunk)

Attention whores (First row only)

Moms from Worchester

Who this show is NOT for:

Someone expecting a “real play”

People who don’t like to be around drinking

Moms from, I don’t know, Texas, probably

I don’t say that to criticize the show as I had a great time, but if you’re looking for a serious discussion of the bard I have to assume you can’t read, because this is anything but. The joking is often barroom joking, tits and sex and surface level political stuff that plays very safe to a New York audience. I had a great time, I think many people would have a great time, but I think it’s always important to frame who something is for, or not for.

During the little entree in which the actors come around and talk to you, I had stated happily that I was quite the extrovert and very difficult to embarrass if you know nothing about me, so they could happily go at without any worry. During this time, I also got into a sort of play-argument with one of the actors when I was telling him Mom was very game, too, and extroverted, and he accused me of answering all the fucking questions and while in fairness, he had me there, I reminded him that I only occasionally let my mother out of the basement and so social interaction is new to her. It sounds aggressive on paper, but I assure you there are people in the world who tease around like this and I’m one of them, I had a great time with this guy. You can sort of see where this is going.

We get to the scene with the drunken porter, and he’s played by the guy that I was having so much fun with before the show. He sees me, and for his speech comes over and says, “Helllooooooo,” and starts talking about his conquests and how drink “Provokes the desire but takes away the performance” and it is very funny, and he keeps saying my name, and doing knock knock jokes with me, because the door keeps knocking and knocking, the actress playing macduff yelling at the door. So he’s backing away from me, still talking to me, telling me:

“It is my job to answer this door--”

To which I reply:

“Well, you’re not doing a very fucking good job of it”

To which I gave great thanks to my lord and maker that I thought to reply that. I love getting a laugh like I love few things in life. Best part of the show because I’m an attention whore (See: Who this show is for)

At one point the sobriety test bell was rung and they had the actress who was drunk balance a beer on her head and then, try to drink it faster than the lady, leslie, they picked from the audience. Sarah could not use her hands, they said, and so Leslie had to have a straw. This is clearly a very good party trick that Sara can do, to show how funny it is that she’ll be asked to take another shot. And it was truly amazing to see. I can’t believe she got the fucking thing off her head and had started to drink it in an INCREDIBLY QUICK amount of time.

But. They were not counting on moms from Worchester.

Leslie was a powerhouse. A monster. An icon for the ages the likes of which we may never see again. It is so so difficult to chug a beer through a straw. Nigh-impossible. Leslie cared not at all for this reality. She blew through it. She killed. Sara was laid to waste. I pledge allegiance to the moms of Worchester.

In all, a very fun show, assuming you know what you’re getting and show up with the right mindset. It very much helps to be unserious about Shakespeare, or have the ability to be unserious about Shakespeare, and also to be a drinker. I loved it, very much recommend it, if you are that sort of person, and unlike most shows in NYC it has a tight run time so you can get on with your evening very easily or go to bed early or whatever your needs are.

*Followed by me saying many hundreds of words.

**Some of the language is Shakespeare’s and some, obviously, is off the cuff or jokes or whatever. My ONLY disappointment was that the very funny gal playing lady macbeth was doing the whole “I wish i were a man, I’d fucking kill the king, I wouldn’t be such a fucking pussy about it. I would use my huge fucking dick to stab him. You know, if I were a man.” thing and when she got to “Unsex me here” She waggled her eyebrows and it was all I could do not to stand up and go, “THAT’S NOT WHAT IT MEANS AT ALL”

#doc does Christmas

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facingthefossegrim · 1 year

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what’s going on?

I was reviewing the comic again a couple of nights ago (as one does), when I noticed that He Tian hadn’t changed his shirt & cardigan (blazer? jacket? coat... thing) in the past three days.

To recap the days, Evening 1 (aka chapter 405) was the showdown with She Li. He had to swap out his white shirt for a black one cause it was covered in Jian Yi’s blood, and after beating the shit out of She Li, he went back to Mo’s place, had the iconic first kiss (beautiful, perfect, everyone loved that), and stayed the night.

Cause he spent the night at Mo’s, ofc he didn’t have anything else to wear, and Mo prolly wouldn’t have had clothes that would fit him, so Day 2 (chapter 411+) was He Tian in the same outfit. Not the freshest, but eh, it’s a day; no biggie. It’s now Day 3 (chapter 419+), however, and He Tian is still in the same tops, just swapped out his pants for the school uniform ones. He probably had these on him (since that’s what he originally wore on Day 1); maybe carried them with him (likely) or had a spare pair in his locker (possible). (Or they were at He Cheng’s actually --figured it out as I was typing all this.)

At first the outfit got me wondering if he spent another night at Mo’s, but no, that’s not it. In chapter 419 we see He Tian texting Mo that he’d be late and to not wait for him.

That got me thinking that maybe He Tian didn’t go home, but stayed at He Cheng’s place (where else would he have been able to gather the ingredients for a Mo bento? And if the pants were at his brother’s, yeah, they’d have his clothes washed and ready for school, no prob.) What was he doing at He Cheng’s place? Finalizing the negotiations with his brother from chapter 405? He Cheng isn’t as cold as he seems; we know just how much he loves He Tian; he would do anything for him, so long as it didn’t blatantly conflict with their father’s wishes.

It wouldn’t have been surprising that that perfect Day 2 was one big beautiful good-bye. Waking up together, paying a visit to the dog house, introducing Mo to his mom; it all feels like He Tian is taking a stroll through the lives of those he’s loved and those who’ve left him; he’s preparing himself to part from Mo in turn.

The scene at the fish shop is cute and funny, but maybe it also echoes a certain sentiment; a wish that the hurt and lonely little black fish wouldn’t be alone anymore. A reminder for Mo (likely the one who’ll keep the fishes, since he was the one who got the first one and there’s only one tank) of He Tian.

I really don’t want this to be it, but I do think that this may be He Tian’s last day. It just feels like all this build-up is pointing to an abrupt climax. He’ll pierce Mo’s ear before he leaves, opening new wounds on his body and in his heart.

Translation credit: alexc1ting (19daysonly)

#19days #19 days #he tian #foss posts #19 days analysis

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chzdavmpr · 1 month

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Delicious in Dungeon Reading Diary Vol 5

Spoilers below, obviously

Oh so we are getting right into Falin weirdness off rip.

I called it that this person was the mad mage.

Hmm. So they recognize Laios, but know it's from within a painting that they recognize him. I'm surprised but I think that actually fully explains how the painting work. I guess it's time for a big rant on my guess as to how living painting work. If you don't care skip this paragraph. Ok so the mad mage made the paintings to trap people and it seems like whenever someone enters them a scene starts playing like a tape, except that people trapped inside can interact with things. These recordings are of things that actually happened, and the people within them act roughly how they actually did. However the mad mage is the exception to this. It seems that they can either perceive through the scenes of their painting counterpart or just know everything that happens in the painting. It also seems that they can choose to override their painting counterpart's recorded actions and take control of them, allowing them to know that laios was in all the paintings. This I'm a bit iffy on because if I recall they seem to think Laios is some kind of kingdom infiltrator in the painting which wouldn't quite line up but it's the best I got. Additionally you can draw/paint extra stuff onto the painting and it will be sentient but won't be in the painting proper, just kinda in a plane on top of the painting, or maybe that's just because Laios drew bad. Either way that is a lot, but hopefully this is the last time I should spend way too long talking about living paintings.

Very funny how the label follows them. I also love Senshi's face of "what the hell man those are my hams"

Oh so since Falin was made with the dragon's flesh and blood she is the dragon. Wait does this mean Falin is dead forever? I sure hope not.

I'm skipping over most of the next 3 chapters, I'll get to them in my final thoughts.

Wow this samurai guy is having just an awful time.

So senshi probably got the cheese from the orcs. But I should mention I've also been watching the anime with some friends as it comes out. And one of them has a huge pet peeve about every time they have oil in the dish, since he says they should've run out forever ago. I'm not bothered by it at all, and find it very funny how he reacts every time oil is on screen. The reason I bring this up now is if this cheese is seen more then just this once he is gonna blow his gourd and it will be very funny.

Senshi giving Chilchuck "the talk" is so funny that I literally got light head from laughing.

It's very cool that Laios is learning magic. I feel a lot of stories wouldn't do that just because he's "the fighter" and Marcille is "the wizard" and they would have to stay as those archetypes.

The art in this whole series is great. I love the way the cockatrice is drawn here.

It may have been fine if it didn't come right after another whole chapter where Chilchuck recaps the story so far like there's been a hiatus and they wanna make sure you remember everything.

Man this chapter is on a roll with these A+ panels

I somehow only just now, while taking the above picture, that the chapter called cleaners has the characters dressed up as cleaners. That's cute and I may be a little stupid.

Ok so I was gonna say this this guy may be Delgal hiding, since we saw that the mad mage is looking for him.

But then I remembered; isn't the whole backstory for the golden city that it's king told of the mad mage and then died? Cause that would make it kinda hard to find him.

But then now when I'm composing this I'm remembering that the dungeon doesn't allow people to die, so either he died right outside or that story was wrong. Hmmm.

Seriously every panel with Shuro has him look like the worlds most depressed man.

He's practically sinking into the earth.

You know in retrospect, if the Dungeon Gormet Guide was a bunch of lies and guesses it's awfully lucky that it's happened to be right about what is and is not poisonous. (Or which tentacles' swelling can be reduced with vinegar)

To conclude my thoughts on this volume, that first chapter is great. I was a little worried about what the next plot hook would be but it delivered. They just show straight up that the elf is the lord of the dungeon. And they introduce the mystery of "what is going on with falin." But then it spends 2 whole chapters just telling us stuff we already know. Like it was kinda cool seeing the B Team piece together who A Team is with limited knowledge, but other then the stuff about Shuro there wasn't much new or interesting.

And then the party is just trapped on the 5th floor the entire volume, I imagine because next volume their plans will change and they won't want to go back to the surface and the author wanted to avoid too much backtracking. Which I get, but it ends up feeling like a bunch of these chapters are just kinda killing time until the B team shows up.

That being said, still a great volume of manga. Probably the weakest so far, but only because it's a like a 4.5 instead of a 4.75 or 5.

#chz reads #manga #reading diary #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi

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bookgeekgrrl · 1 month

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My media this week (10-16 Mar 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Art Thief, Heart Thief (odetteandodile) - 58K, stucky white collar inspired AU - enjoyed how author took the WC set up (fbi art agent, criminal consultant) and made it theirs & perfect for stucky

💖💖 +195K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Midlife Crisis (profoundalpacakitten) - MCU: stucky, 7K - reread, forever fave - the quiet, piercing, understated tenderness in this fic is unmatched

Progredi (justanotherStonyfan) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 37K - the next installment in the fabulous Honey Honey series

Pistachios and Rose Water (goldsaffron) - The Old Guard: kaysanova, 15K - J&N spend 10 years putting down roots, building a home & collecting a found family as Nicky learns to express his love through food

Consensual Catfishing (foresthearts) - Stranger Things: steddie, 32K - modern AU, told via social media - delightful story! adored these characters & their voices and using all different sorts of SM to tell it. brilliant idea, adeptly executed. the art is also pretty great

they're going to send us to prison for jerks (greatunironic) - Stranger Things: steddie, 16K - another really fun modern steddie with a strong social media AU premise

Os Impurum (the_deep_magic) - The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth: Marcus Flavius Aquila/Esca Mac CunovalMarcus/Esca, 18K - solidly good fic about marcus/esca post canon, esp marcus discovering some new things about himself 😉

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Ghosts (US) - s3, e5

Game Changer - s6, e3

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "For the Hoard!" (s7, e15)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Treachery at Gramercy" (s7, e16)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 1)" (s7, e17)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 2)" (s7, e18)

D20: Adventuring Party - s3, e12-16

Um, Actually - s9, e2

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Cursed Out" (s21, e10)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Cool Ranch Communion" (s16, e10)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Big Little Crimes" (s4, e1)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Chicanery at Shoeby's Casino" (s4, e2)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Scheming and Scoring Fairy Dust" (s4, e3)

Agatha Christie's Marple - "The Secret of Chimneys" (s5, e2) [shout out to @leupagus for this rec; they were not wrong about the acting choices made here 🤩]

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep001 The Open Door

What Next: TBD - Instagram’s Pedophile Problem

Desert Island Discs - Cillian Murphy, actor

WikiHole - Lenny Kravitz (with Paul F. Tompkins, Drew Tarver, and Heléne Yorke)

This Cultural Life - Andrew Scott

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Our 2024 Oscars Recap

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Grave of XYZ

Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Morgan Parker

WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Fear of Dolphins (with Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon, and Jonah Ray)

The Allusionist - 190. Craters

WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Tetris (with Adam Pally, Jon Gabrus and Blair Socci)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Lighthouse Keeper

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Afeef Nessouli

Short Wave - What We Know About Long COVID, From Brain Fog to Fatigue

⭐ Decoder Ring - Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet

⭐ 99% Invisible #573 - Toyetic

You Are Good - My Best Friend's Wedding w. Sam Sanders

If Books Could Kill - Lean In

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Law of the Tongue

Imaginary Worlds - The Nine Lives of Red Dwarf

Today, Explained - Lip gloss, gum, and the Pill

Dear Prudence - My Ex Had Sex With My Brother. Help!

What Next: TBD - Is TikTok Cooked This Time?

Short Wave - Are We On The Brink Of A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough?

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Love Lies Bleeding And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - The Music Man, Part 1

Welcome to Night Vale #244 - A Multiplicity of Kevin

Today, Explained - Hollywood’s still not back

99% Invisible - The Power Broker #03: David Sims

Off Menu - Ep 233: Frankie Boyle (Live in Glasgow)

⭐ Hit Parade - Gotcha Covered Edition

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Donnas

Smooth Rockabilly

Respect: '60s Iconic Women

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meowmeowmage · 9 months

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Let's write an mHanders fic! Part 6 (poll under readmore)

Masterpost featuring links to all parts: HERE

"And then I said I wasn't like- like the other nobles!" Hawke exclaimed, letting his forehead hit the sticky table at the Hanged Man, while Isabela shrieked with laughter.

He hadn't meant to retell his embarrassment to anyone, but after several drink that were meant to make him forget about it, he was instead rambling about it, much to Isabela's entertainment (and a bit of pity).

"Oh, sweet thing, I know I basically told you to think less, but I didn't mean quite that little," she said and then laughed again, slamming her palm against the table.

Hawke lifted his head just enough to take another big gulp of the nasty but effective Hanged Man alcohol.

"So what happened next?" Isabela prompted, once her laughter subsided a bit.

Hawke told her the whole thing. Or as much as his drunkenness allowed him. But it wasn't hard to get the point of his embarrassment and cringe behaviour across.

"Let me recap," Isabela said, "You interrupted a private conversation, made an ass out fo yourself, then lied multiple times in order to make yourself look better, but were so bad at it that you got caught."

Hawke didn't follow all that very well but it sounded accurate enough so he nodded.

"I'll be honest with you, Hawke," she said seriously and barely kept her facade for the next part, "you're so cringefail you're giving me secondhand embarrassment," she then started laughing yet again, eyes almost watering from it.

"Aren't you supposed to make me feel better?" Hawke asked irritated.

"That's the alcohol's job, sweet thing. Mine is to laugh at you. But look on the bright side - despite having your foot in your mouth you still somehow managed to patch things up, so just don't think about it anymore and try not to be quite so terrible next time."

It was a good advice. One Hawke might be able to follow. At least as long as Bayron was not around. Fucking Bayron...

"What does Anders even see in him?!" he blurted out, completely ignoring how Isabela wasn't up to date with what was happening inside his head.

"In Bayron?" She asked, a bit confused.

"Yes, that fucking prick!"

Isabela snorted and then a wide grin spread on her face. One that Hawke didn't like one bit.

"Well, he is quite a looker. I'd firmly put his ass on my Top 5 Best Asses In Kirkwall list. So there's at least one reason."

Hawke got up so fast that the world spun and his thighs hit the table hard. He swayed but caught himself with both hands on the table.

"My ass is better!"

"You're certainly being a bigger ass, that's for sure," she noted with amusement, "Hawke, if you get any more jealous you'll start spewing poison while you talk."

Hawke imagine if that was possible. To spit poison in Bayron's face. That would be quite something. But Anders would be very pissed off. Just his disappointed face was enough to cool Hawke a bit, and he sat back down like a scolded brat.

"I've been helping Anders as well," Hawke mumbled dejectedly, looking as miserable as some of the other drunken patrons, "but it looks like I haven't, and now I can't tell him because I'd look like I'm only doing it to get brownie points with him."

Isabela looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. She got up and combed the hair out of Hawke's drunk red face with her fingers, and then tugged him upwards to stand up.

"Let's get you home, loverboy. Some sleep will do you good. It's not amusing to poke fun at you when you're being such a miserable mess."

° ° °

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msmargaretmurry · 8 months

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27, 39, 54!

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

my least favorite part is that stretch after you finish a big project when you don't know what to do with yourself because you are no longer immersed in said big project but you don't have a new concept to dive into yet so you feel all adrift and like, am i ever going to be consumed by creativity again?? what if that was my last good idea?? my most favorite part of writing is when i get a vision for a scene and then get in a writing groove and it all just flows and comes out exactly like i envisioned it. i think there is a little bit of magic in that.

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

At home after the game, Leon lies down on the sofa in his living room, his bad foot propped up on a pillow. He has large ice packs strapped to the front and back of his shoulder, thanks to some help from Charlie, who has been driving him to and from games since halfway through the first round. The bad foot is also Leon’s driving foot.

He finds the game on his DVR and skips forward until the on-ice coverage ends and the postgame breakdown starts. He never used to watch this stuff, but after a few years of making a habit of it, the familiar cadence of the conversation is strangely sedative. He shifts so the one ice pack isn’t digging into his neck, getting it back under the joint where it belongs, and closes his eyes as the panel chatters through the game recap. Yeah, the B’s got the win, but it’s questionable whether they were the better team. Puck luck. Scoring chances. A totally fluke first goal. But taking advantage of those situations even when you’re not totally clicking, that’s part of being a good team, too, right? Sometimes that’s what playoff series come down to. At the end of the day the team that wins is the team that wins.

“But how about those two goals from Leon Draisaitl?” Taber asks. “I guess he heard us all asking whether he’s too old for this and decided to answer.”

“Chucky, you’re our resident Draisaitl expert,” Subban says. “Is this typical of what we’re gonna see from him in this series?”

Leon cracks an eye open to look at the screen.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

not to be a sap but the part where i'm doing it with my FRIENDS 💖💖💖 having trusted, enthusiastic friends who will bounce ideas around with you and be alpha readers who understand my ~vision makes for such a joyful writing experience! when i'm like "i put a new scene in the gdoc" and then get to sit there waiting for the gdoc comments to start rolling in..... sublime 💫

#ask #writing meme #hockey for ts

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winxwannabe · 1 year

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why do you hate the netflix show? i'm genuinely curious, as my wife adores it and was also a huge fan of the animated series growing up.

I mean the TL:DR of it is I just think it's a bad show. I found the pacing strange, I didn't like half the characters so it was hard to root for them, Season 1's plot was so awkwardly paced it was boring, but in Season 2 there were like 3 different plot points per episode and I found them hard to get invested in. The LONG answer: my 3 biggest problems with the show were (!):

The blatant racism/whitewashing

This is pretty self-explanatory and I've gone over it before , so I'll keep it brief; the show's whitewashing was the biggest turnoff for me. Musa and the fake out Flora (because Eliot Sal WAS originally Flora, hope whoever made that change got a bonus) were awful, and then the treatment of Dane and Aisha's characters sucked (being taken advantage of by Riven and turning into a huge asshole, and Aisha being turned into Bloom's life coach). We got a little more diversity in Season 2, but by then it read more as a response to backlash than anything else. Same with Dane and Aisha; Aisha gives a little speech in Season 2's first episode where she says she's done being Bloom's life coach, and then proceeds to get a boyfriend who's secretly evil and lies to her all season. And Dane acts like an asshole for 2 scenes before he's shoved to the side as a supporting character.

2. Homophobia

Again, recap from my last rant; Season 1 was very straight. The Bloom/Sky/Stella love triangle took center stage, the only non-straight character was Dane, who I'm 90% sure was bisexual but we'll never know because not once in Fate: The Winx Saga does anyone say the word 'bisexual.' The closest we get is Dane saying he finds both Riven and Stormy Beatrix hot. But Dane, Riven, and Beatrix turn into this awful polyamory thing that goes on for like an episode and a half before it breaks up, and it's never spoken of again. Season 2 gives up an openly lesbian character, Terra, but her love interest (a female specialist whose name I don't remember) is in her own on-again-off-again relationship. Terra and the girl do get together, but last the audience knew the relationship was on! So Terra gets a girlfriend, but said girlfriend is a cheater. Gay rights? oh, and #JusticeforFrancesa

Those are the serious reasons, and with those out of the way I would argue the other really big reason I didn't like Fate was

3. THERE IS NO FRIENDSHIP

At the end of the day you can take away magic, the Specialists, and a lot of supporting characters from the show because the core of it - the reason Winx Club works so well - is because these six girls are best friends. The show is about them going through school and breakups and universe-saving together, and kicking ass at it because they have each others back. It is the show's central theme, it's where the best writing is, and where some of its best moments come from (for me at least).

Fate...does not do that. They started the series out making Sky the one to show Bloom around Alfea and introduce her to things instead of Stella, sidelining one of the strongest friendships in the series for the sake of a love triangle. And it only goes downhill from there! I get the whole 'take an episode or two to figure out where we stand as friends' but by the end of the 1st season these bitches are still fighting over the dumbest shit! We start out Season 2 with Stella using invisibility spells again so she's not seen with the other girls - I don't even think Stella likes any of them by the end of the series! Sure everyone goes to classes and plans dangerous missions to save the world together, but outside of that it doesn't seem like they even like each other. There are moments sprinkled throughout where they're supposed to be genuine friends, and they're easily some of fate's best stuff (the car scene in 2x01 is an example). But they're also awkward, because 20 minutes ago they were sulking in their rooms and yelling at each other about their lack of communication. They aren't deserved is the point I'm trying to get at here, and the only way they do feel deserved is if you a) already know their friendship dynamic because you watched the animated series, or b) you follow the actors on social media, where they actually talk and hang out like best friends.

The strongest friendship in this entire series isn't any of the girls - it's fucking Sky and Riven. Because they were pre-established best friends, had arguments throughout season 1, but by the end of season 2 had come back together because the world was in danger, and they both knew despite everything, that they would have each other's backs. Do you know how badly you have to fuck up, where one half of your best friendship is the queerphobic, predatory asshole character, and the other half is a slice of untoasted Wonder Bread?

Do you know how mad Riven would have been if Sky went to not-Omega with Bloom in the season 2 finale? He would have been fucking pissed and ordering everyone to a classroom to give his 30-slide power point on how to get them back within 3 days. Meanwhile Bloom doesn't actually say goodbye to the Winx girls, she just writes them letters and says goodbye to Sky in person (because it is well established that Bloom and Sky's romance is more important than the girl's friendship, let's be honest). And then girls are all hugging and Stella's crying that Bloom's gone and I just thought 'you spent more time with Beatrix than Bloom this season Stella, why the fuck are you sad.'

This is all a longwinded way to say the central theme of friendship was pushed aside for CW-style romance, which made the core cast of girls unable to connect, which made the show bad.

Fate had the same overall runtime as a single season of Winx Club. Later seasons are bad, don't get me wrong, but those original 2004-2007 seasons had twice the character moments, more concise plots, and felt way more fun than anything I saw Brian Young put out these last few years. I would watch an original season (and even season 4! sue me!) any day over Fate the W inx Saga.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, and probably don't show your wife this.

#anti fate the winx saga #netwinx #liz suffers with netwinx #liz gets questions #anonymous #im sure this was a way longer answer than you expected nonnie #my bad #ive just had a lot of pent up feelings on this show #long post

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t5u · 2 years

Text

kim sunoo; love letters.

pairing: sunoo x reader, kim sunoo x reader

genre: BIG TIME FLUFF

synopsis: you've liked sunoo for as long as you could remember. you wrote him love letters, bought him snacks almost everyday, all anonymously with no expectations of reciprocation. i mean, he receives pilling love notes everyday, what makes you any special? you weren't popular or the prettiest, or the smartest or anything. it would be shocking if the boy even remembers your name. but it all changes when you decided to write him a love letter you worked on, basically a recap of all the love notes, of all the paragraphs you wrote in your diaries through out the years that were about him. as you slid your love letter into his locker, he was right behind you.

trigger warning(s): abit of swearing?

word count: 1.5k

a/n: i practically dropped heart eyes and dipped even when i said in the a/n that i was finally returning to tumblr 💀 this one's kinda cringe but i hope the non existent people that were waiting for me to finally write something enjoys this one! ily all vv much

---

just do it y/n

you told yourself. you were standing there contemplating whether you should go with your "thought-out" plan, with the neatly folded written letter, inside your favorite envelope, carefully sealed with wilted baby breaths and your favorite stamp.

yes, it was a love letter

not just any love letter a high schooler could just sit for hours in their rooms and write oh so carefully as to not make any mistakes and embarrass themselves later on, this was a well thought-out letter that one’s been coming back and forth to write for weeks.

she listed all her favorite things about him, from the way his eyes squints and cheeks rise whenever he smiles that made him look like an actual peach, to his adorable bubbly personality that everyone likes and it never fails to make your heart flutter.

it took her too many little anonymous sticky notes complimenting him left and right on his outfit that day, or how much she loved about his little features, especially his eye smile. it took her too many snacks she’d buy for him just because she knows it’s from his favorite bakery, it took her years of liking him and doing all that just to express her feelings towards the boy, anonymously of course.

if there was one thing y/n avoided and was scared of most, and it was rejection.

why would someone like sunoo like her? so many other pretty girls liked him and they all had better chances than she did. plus he must receive love letters and little notes like that all the time.

the love letter in your hand was not any different, it was still anonymous. except you had decided to put your initial on it this time.

just do it just do it just do it

and just like that she swiftly slid her letter into his locker. the girl let out a deep breath she didnt even know she was holding.

she wondered if he ever reads the letters that he gets. at this point it was basically part of his routine to open his locker to at least a couple love letters a week.

while being distracted with her thoughts, she didn’t realize she was just standing there fiddling around nervously, she also didnt realize the presence behind her

“hi y/n” the sudden familiar voice made you flinch and snap out of your daydreams and oh my god your heart almost dropped to the floor. "what are you doing here?" he smiled at you as your eyes moved everywhere frantically as to not look at him in the eyes.

and oh my god what the actual fuck he knew your name.

"uh- oh- i was just waiting for a friend!" you lied.

"by my locker?" he lightly chuckled. "y-yeah! she said to wait in the hallway"

oh for goodness sake y/n why are you so bad at lying

your frantic state made him smile, he was pretty much just observing your body language, the way your feet balanced back and forth, how the tip of your nose started turning red, the way you were messing around with your fingers. he found it kind of cute

"w-well sunoo i better get going!" you nervously laughed, cursing your voice for breaking a bit.

"oh okay, see you around y/n" he said with his signature smile.

you swore your body took a screenshot.

just something about how he remembered your name, you guys took a couple classes with each other but out of everybody you didn't expect the kim sunoo to remember you name when the teachers still call you by literally every other name that is similar to yours but not your actual name.

"y-yeah!" and with that you hugged onto your books tightly and swiftly dashed through the hallway to somewhere that is not around sunoo.

gosh maybe i shouldn't have given him that letter im so so stupid!

sunoo watched you as you dashed away with tense shoulders and chuckled to himself.

he then turned back to his locker and unlocking it too take out the books he needed.

"oh?"

---

it's been a week since you had practically confessed to sunoo without even meaning to. you've been avoiding him like the plague, you cant bring yourself to even look at the boy's direction due to the embarrassment you felt every time you were in his proximity.

meanwhile sunoo has been trying to talk to you ever since the day after her got that letter.

he read it of course.

sunoo keeps everything, whether they're little sticky notes, love letters, or gifts. he likes treasuring them. and theres always a specific handwriting, specific stamp, and a specific initial that always caught his attention.

he'd be lying if he said he didn't read his letters every day hoping that the person wrote to him that day.

he loved how genuine and bubbly the letters were. how they wrote their a's and k's, he loved how the person's personality could be shown through the way they write. it felt like he was listening to a person.

the way the write aren't just love confessions, they're more of talking talking about how their own week went, specifically what the person's been liking about sunoo and they always happened to compliment what sunoo didn't feel so secure about.

their letters made him feel safe.

and now that he knew it was you, he couldn't be any more excited.

sunoo's always noticed you. he's always loved the way you worded things and your body language for the most random things. and he didn't fail to notice your patience for everything, how positive your outlook was for the world, how sweet you were to everyone.

he's not going to lie, he's confused. after such a long time of receiving letters from you, and finally he's noticed you, why were you avoiding him now?

the answer was that you were nervous, and of course, you hated rejection.

plus, sunoo could get anyone. someone pretty, smart, just you name it. he was way out of your league, why would he ever look your way?

so your solution? there's no solution, you planned to just avoid him.

"alright! don't forget your assignments from page 143 to 150 due next tuesday and enjoy your weekends, class dismissed!" he teacher said, relief could be heard in his tone.

you made your way out of the class with your books in hand, making your way to your locker. jesus christ weren't you glad it was finally the last day of school for the week. not that you had any plans for the weekends, you just wanted to sleep in. 5 long days of waking up to the most traumatizing alarms, you could use a couple days off it.

you placed all the necessary books in your bag and arranged your locker for the week. letting out a big sigh before shutting your locker door, only to get jump-scared by the only face you were hoping not to see around.

"hi" sunoo said with a faint smile, hand waving at you.

shit. where were you gonna hide now?

he was confused because your instant reaction was to open your locker back up to hide from him, making him chuckle. the casual ‘if i can’t see you you can’t see me’ logic, how much cuter could one person possibly get? he thought.

he slowly pushes the locker door out of the way in order to see your face. visible nervousness was displayed on your face, if there was anything you hated more than rejection it would be confrontation. how were you gonna get out of this?

“hi…” you said, waving at him a bit with your free hand.

“i got you a little something,” he handed you an apeach plushie and continued, “i’ve held onto this for a few days now since i couldn’t really talk to you properly” he said and gave you a look, hands folded against his chest.

“ahh… about that,” you tried to think of an excuse to get yourself out of this situation but really there weren’t any excuses.

he noticed and laughed to himself.

“do you have any plans this weekend?” he suddenly said, catching you off guard. you looked up at him and there was a glimpse of expectation in his eyes.

“oh, uh yeah i am” you said, your go to weekend plan was just to oversleep till noon anyway. “why?”

your heart was thumping like crazy, was he going to ask you out on a date??

“well, lets go grab coffee! and you know maybe hang out and get to know each other abit” he said. what the shit

you slowly nodded, “oh, sure”. you’ll be honest nothing has processed in your head yet.

“oookay, uhm, gimme your number so i can text you” he handed you his phone

THE kim sunoo is asking for your number.

you started tapping carefully as to not get your own number wrong, handing it back to him with a straight smile on your face after you were done. he was about to say something but a voice called out for his name. “oh y/n my friends are here, i’ll text you in abit!” he said

“oh okay” you said, awkwardly waving at him, “byebye”

he smiled sweetly and waved back turned to run to his friends.

what. just. happened.

---

check out my playlistsss!!!

taglist (open!) @sunwoahkim @chanshyuck @squiishymeow @maiverie @thicccdiccdaddy27

#riki00143 #kim sunoo #sunoo #sunoo fluff #sunoo scenarios #enhypen scenarios #enhypen #enha imagines #enha fluff #enha #enhypen x reader #enhypen fluff #enhypen imagines #fluff #fanfic #sunoo x reader #sunoo fic #sunoo fanfic #Spotify

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naradivision · 19 days

Text

🎉 April Fool’s Special:

I’ve seen other divisions doing this trend for a while and something in myself has tempted me to do so since I missed my chance in January lmao

Disclaimer: Despite I calling this an Alternate Universe (AU) of my division, what listing below can also be counted as the ‘recap’ of both my main trio and the major ‘secondary cast’ that I’ve scattered around lately (their official teaser will come out pretty later...)

And because it’s on the April Fools, so who knows~ Some lies will be spoken like a truth while some truth may almost sound like a lie... But as everyone knows, there’s no smoke without fire, isn’t it right?

…Enough with my babbling, it’s time to meet my one big family(?)

Miraitabi

(Genderbent AU)

1st member

“ARROW” 🏮

Yuuya Kanata → Maya Kanata

The fervent Summer of Miraitabi: a spirited and hard-working highschool girl who has a peculiar hobby to attend various part-time jobs in her free time. Even so, with a burning passion for music, she expresses herself by composing tracks via online platforms and being the lead member of her school’s music club. She may struggle with her own insecurities sometimes, but her great aspiration is unchangable —which is to become an impressive musician just like her late mother. And although her presence in the tournament isn’t on the government’s plan to begin with, she still decides to hop into the fray as a way to protect her beloved hometown with an ulterior motive to find some clues about her long-lost big brother. But little does she know, this decision will rope her into a bigger issue than she would imagine…

2nd member

“SWEET-T” 🍡

Asahi Tomoharu → Asahina Tomoharu

The jovial Spring of Miraitabi: a sanguine young lady in pretty pink kimono and fluffy maid apron. With a pinch of innocent mischief and a spoonfull of creativity, she works as a professional wagashi maker at her family’s confectionary shop named ‘Harumatsuya’ in Nara and is unbelievably the granddaughter of once most feared banchō in her hometown’s history. Now determined to become a proud successor of her grandparents, everyday she sincerely hoped her delicacies can bring a smile to people’s face. Later she decided to join the D.R.B. to assist her dear friend Maya and to find her own ‘courage’ in order to fix her own regret in the past…

3rd member

“Tsukumogami” 💠

Saigo Fuyugami → Sakie Fuyugami

The icy-cold Winter of Miraitabi: once an up and rising heiress of the exalted ‘Fuyugami Group’ that were known for their large investment in trading business all over Japan. Unfortunately, after being framed by her wicked step-brother to be the one behind her own mother’s death, she is now getting enough of her family drama and then excused herself to live whatever she pleases with her only trustful attendant at the old mansion which her late father bought in Nara. And despite participating in the tournament as the third member of the team, her keen suspicion on what the current governments have been up to are quite something that made her the one whom ‘The Party of Words’ keeps an eye on...

...But the team aren’t only just them!

If you’re lucky enough, maybe you will have a chance to meet the secret allies of Miraitabi!

Hmm, maybe it's time I should find some cool name for them...

Special #1

“Ms. Attendant” 🌒

Chishio → Chinemi

Sakie’s personal assistant and highly capable “Ms. One-man army” who doubles as her bodyguard in disguise. Although she has been rumored to hail from a somewhat obscure background before starting to serve the previous heiress of Fuyugami, she cares deeply for her young mistress and has sworn to keep all danger away from her —As well as some bloody dark secrets about herself…

Special #2

“Cheshire Cat” 🐈‍⬛

A █ █ █ █ Minazuki → Nazuna “Chessy” Minazuki

The mischievous catgirl, running away successor, and fun-loving trickster who usually provides her aid and helpful information to Miraitabi from behind the scenes. Seemingly to shroud almost everything about herself with scandals and secrecy, not only is she a resourceful informant roaming in the world between black and white, she is in truth a skillful actress who went on mysterious hiatus 2 years ago until recently announcing her return to showbiz once again after said to be recovered from an ‘accident’ that got her hospitalized during the said gap time. Also, beside her secret contact with Chinemi, she appears to be quite fond of Maya for unknown reason —And even there is always a happy-go-lucky smile donning on her face, no one knows what she’s actually thinking…

Special #3

“The ??????r” 🛈

Mamori “Kanata” ??????? → Mamoru “Kanata” ???????

Maya’s gentle big brother and her caring guardian angel whom she hasn’t met for a long time. From what she has remembered, her big brother was always standing by her side and loved to make her smile even during the hard times. However, she has somehow lost contact with him and never heard of him ever since. The last thing she heard from her dear big bro is that he has gone to live with the family from their mom’s side —But, wait, why would a background character like him be here on this list?

And that’s all of the Miraitabi Faction!

But eh… Do we forget something?

Exclusive member!

“The Little Buddy” 😺

Ojou-chan → Bocchan

Maya’s current roommate, her furry loyal companion, and the adorable pseudo-mascot of Miraitabi! Firstly discovered in the package of three Hypnosis Microphones mysteriously designated to Sakie’s place, he is a petite Siamese kitten in his naughty phase with a collar around his neck and this leads Maya to think that he might have an owner existing somewhere out there. But who’ll even know —This little lad isn’t just an ordinary kitty! On top of that, he may not be the only one that arrived here in Nara, hmm!?

Secret 4th member!

“The Mobile Boy” 🤍

ANGE (Anji ???) → ARC (Ashi ???)

The opinionated but enigmatic cyber boy who dumbfoundedly discovers himself at Maya’s house with his memories full of gaps and glitches. And despite not having a physical body, he seems to have an eccentric ability to freely hack or transfer his consciousness into any electrical system as easily at will. After his dramatic encounter with the rookie musician girl of Miraitabi, he later introduces himself as an A.I. who comes from “The Sea Of Waves” and offers to help her fulfill her every wish as long as she lets him take refuge at her place. Showing to be very fascinated with what human called ‘music’, he seems to be curious about ‘Hypnosis Microphone’ and expresses his desire to know more about the human world. However, deep-down he has one main goal in pursuit —That is to uncover the truth behind his own existence...

Thus when all the actors were on stage, shall we let the “real” stories begin?

—jk jk Happy April Fools, guys (・ω<)

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piracytheorist · 1 year

Text

Macabre Theme and Variations (10/15)

Fandom: Spy x Family Word count: 6.2k for this chapter | 44k so far | 65k in total Rating: T Warnings: Non-permanent character deaths, graphic violence

Summary: Twilight wakes up. He works on his mission. He dies. He comes back and does it all over again. Each time a little different. (Inspired by the film Happy Death Day)

Warning for this chapter: … F bomb.

AO3 Read from the beginning: Tumblr | AO3

Chapter 10: Bocca Chiusa

bocca chiusa = with closed mouth, usually referring to humming

Borf!

Twilight opens his eyes and grits his teeth.

That was a huge risk he just took. It was useful to find out that Yuri doesn’t have enough evidence to suspect Loid Forger is Twilight or to tell his chief about it, but he'd lie to himself if he said it wasn't one part pride and one part selfishness that drove him to fishing that information out of him.

He gets up to help Yor not bump on the wall, looking at her with a guilty expression as she smiles at him.

Yor doesn't know about her brother working for the secret police, and Yuri... he has accepted her physical excellence as something normal, but there's no way she isn't hiding something from him.

And Twilight, too. But he has no right to those secrets of hers. As long as they're not something that compromise his position or morals, then he has no reason to doubt her.

But he was selfish. He almost wanted to rub it in Yuri's face that he's lying to his own sister, as if that would somehow make Loid’s lies less atrocious. And now the guilt weighs heavy on his stomach.

How did he reach the point of feeling guilty for using a member of the secret police, of all things?

He takes Bond for a run again, needing the distance from Anya and however big the range of her ability is.

This day he has to confront her about it. If his control keeps slipping like that, one single thought of his suspicions in front of her can bring disaster.

The thing is... how does he confront her about it as a father to his daughter, and not as a spy to a danger he needs to eliminate?

His shoulders tense at the thought of even WISE finding out about her.

How the hell is he going to balance things out? When did he get himself into such a complicated situation... and where is the Twilight that would have already left by now?

He doesn’t miss him, that’s for sure.

Ice cream is added to the Forgers’ breakfast again. This day will be wasted again, and Anya will have the shock of her life, so he might as well indulge them.

This morning he occupies his mind by going through his failed plans, a recap of what he knows about Pollux, as well as how he can further test him tonight.

He could lead him up the stairs and onto the rooftop of the building. He could let the Handler know about the listening devices at the safe houses, so she can be more careful when arranging for the snipers infiltrating the area. Maybe have them hide in the trees that surround the theater hall?

Not Agent Crescent, though.

Twilight's fist clenches around the knife handle as he spreads cream cheese on his bread, nearly driving the blade through the slice. The day that Crescent's misfire took Yor's life has been reset, but it might not be long before an accident like that happens again, with the consequences being inevitable.

He sighs, looking at his almost ruined slice. He makes a mental note to inform the Handler about that agent's less-than-stellar performance and need for evaluation and possibly re-training, once he's out of the loop.

He kisses Yor’s hand again before they leave. Anya gets on the bus, he thinks how it’s going to take five times to start, it leaves, Yor wishes him a good day, and he starts walking towards the hospital, but then takes a turn not too long after.

On this library visit, he picks up books about child psychology. Unfortunately, the only matters covered about how to break upsetting news to children are about the death of a family member or the parents divorcing.

Nothing on how someone can tell their child they know about their supernatural abilities.

He’s only confident in the idea that his words won’t be doubted, since Anya will immediately know he’s telling the truth.

The truth whose full gravity he still hasn’t grasped.

He looks up towards the bookshelves, spotting one of the childrearing books he read the first day of having Anya.

Back then, he thought there would be no point in him ensuring a stable future for her, because he’d immediately dismissed the idea that there would be any future between them in the first place.

Yet here he is now, ready to work and change so that future can be real.

He wants to be a father.

He closes his eyes, resting his forehead on his palms. The start he made with Anya was far from ideal. It’s been a bumpy path all along, but if Anya was willing to endure it, the least he can do is make himself worthy of her efforts for him.

He finishes the book and leaves for his meeting with the Handler, once again in the cafeteria outside.

A cold dread spreads in his chest when he thinks that, had he told the Handler about the time loop while in the WISE safe house, Pollux would have heard it… and would have most likely changed his plan.

It’s pointless to wonder whether such a change would cause the loop to break, and thus solidify Twilight’s death, but apparently the times he’s died and come back haven’t desensitized him to the idea of his actual death.

If anything, considering how many times his family tried to help and save him, he’s reached the point of being thankful he’s alive.

He didn’t exactly have a death wish prior to the loops, but he didn’t really see much point in his life either other than providing his services to WISE on their mission towards peace.

It’s why he didn’t care about his own future. There was nothing to envision for himself other than work, work, work.

Not that his work will lessen at all if his role as father and husband of the Forger family becomes real, but he’s found it’s such a relief when he can be honest.

His neck stiffens when he spots the Handler, in the same disguise as a few repetitions ago, walking towards him.

Another thing to handle once he’s out of the loop; telling her he wants to prolong his stay as Loid Forger. Probably – and hopefully – indefinitely.

They arrange the plan, he warns her about the bugs, specifying that they have to stay where they are for tonight, as Pollux might change plans if he finds out the devices were messed with. He almost rushes out when he realizes how late it’s gotten.

He takes the same path down that park. Yor's absence is almost palpable, bringing him to the point of regretting coming here alone. At the exact same time, he stops in front of the musician, waiting on him to start playing that valse again.

His arms feel empty as the familiar tune fills his ears. He wants her there, he wants to hold her.

This time no audience is gathered. Some passers-by leave tips, but Loid is the only one who stands and listens.

Focusing more on the lyrics makes him feel even more lonely. Yor’s eyes aren’t on him, her lips aren’t caressing his…

Your eyes are my love.

He hadn’t even made that thought himself, not consciously at least. It was Pollux, of all people, who pointed it out for him.

He loves Yor.

The musician is quiet, and Loid realizes he’s looking at him. Loid almost crumbles under the stare.

“Do you know this song, son?” the musician asks, resting his hands on top of his bandoneón. His accent sounds Eastern Ostanian, and it makes the gears in Twilight’s head turn. Of course, he’d be a local. Not a lot of people want to emigrate to this country, fewer try, and even fewer are accepted.

“Not really, no.” It is, after all, only the second time he’s listened to it. “How is it called?”

“Yo no sé qué me han hecho tus ojos. It means ‘I don’t know what your eyes have done to me’.”

Loid didn’t need the translation, but he has the feeling the musician was checking for a reaction from him.

It’s almost uncomfortable to not feel uncomfortable while being scrutinized like that.

Maybe it’s because the emotion he must be showing right now is not an emotion he wishes to hide anymore; more like one he wishes could be recognized… and reciprocated.

“It’s beautiful…” Loid says softly.

Ostania’s government is already strict about what music is allowed to be performed, and considering the history and origins of this music genre, it’s doubtful he’ll be able to find a vinyl record of that song.

The musician gives him a smile that’s too knowing for Twilight’s standards. “There’s a pirate radio station that plays such songs.” He puts his hands back on the sides of his instrument. “I may be able to give them a request to play that one at some point.” He winks at him and without any other word, he starts another song.

Loid gives him a generous tip and takes the path back home.

The song won’t mean anything to him in a world where Yor doesn’t know about it.

He starts preparing the hamburger steak Anya loves, and though Bond watches him patiently, his big eyes betray his wish for just a bite of the food.

Loid looks back at him, finally giving up and throwing a piece of minced meat at him.

It’s not a good idea to give him raw meat, but again, chances are this day is another test that will be reset.

He hates that he’ll have to tell Anya more than once that he knows about her abilities, but at least next time he’ll know how to break it to her more smoothly.

He puts the ready-to-cook steaks in the fridge and heads out before Yor has even arrived. It’s quite the walk to Eden, after all.

If she can really read his mind, he cannot walk up to her thinking about that. She might try to evade the question and pretend she isn't listening in. Or she might panic.

Twilight’s voice feels like bile rising in his throat as it suggests that his best bet is to catch her off-guard and force her to admit her secret.

Some father you want to be.

Well, if Anya has been listening in from the beginning, she knows he's done worse things than that.

All the more reason to give her choice and space, then.

He guesses there’s no need to occupy his mind from too early on, and there’s only so many digits of pi he can really recall from memory. He could be thinking of random numbers, of course, but he’s so used to following a logical pattern or a specific sequence that random choices are actually harder for him.

A few months ago, the sight of children leaving school and filling the place with noises would have made him uneasy. Now he only feels grateful for the privilege of seeing they’re safe and sound.

He spots Anya at the top of the staircase and he takes a deep breath.

Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium...

She's almost running down the steps, Becky Blackbell right next to her.

Boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen...

Both girls stop when they spot him. Anya's eyes widen, but she's the first to step forward to him.

Fluorine, neon, magn— no, sodium, magnesium...

She approaches him with a quizzical look. “Papa? What's wrong?”

He forces a smile on his face. Aluminium, silicon. “Nothing. I just finished my shift earlier today and I thought I could come get you back home.”

Phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine.

“Okay,” Anya says, eyebrows still scrunched in confusion. From the corner of his eye he spots Becky Blackbell's wide smile.

He nods a greeting at her then reaches his hand out for Anya.

Argon.

“Mr. Forger,” the beaming girl says. “We can take you back home with my car!”

Potassium. “Thank you for the offer, but there’s no need. Good luck on the performance tonight.”

He watches as the two girls exchange goodbyes, then he nearly drags Anya off.

Keep it together! Calcium, scandium…

Anya is eerily silent and still at first, but after a minute or so she starts humming a melody and swinging their joined hands back and forth.

… rhodium, palladium, silver.

With a quick look around, he decides this is a good spot as any.

Cadmium, indium, tin.

Without a word, he simply leans down and picks her up in his arms, whispering, “Anya, something has been happening to me.”

“What? Are you okay, Papa?”

“I am. But I think you know. There’s been some time, and I’ve had the chance to notice things, and I’ve noticed how differently you have been acting. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?”

She stills again, but he keeps on walking. He spots the guilty look on her face.

Antimony, tellurium, iodine.

She buries her face in his shoulder and whispers, “I can read your mind.”

I knew it! I KNEW IT!

Her hand grabs a fistful of his jacket, and he feels her shiver against him.

His free hand goes to pat her softly on the back.

You know everything... “Don't worry. You're not in trouble.”

“I'm not?” Her voice is shaking.

Damn it, she’s scared. “It's okay, Anya. I didn't want to worry you.” But if you read my mind this morning, you probably know what I've been going through.

“It was hard to understand...”

“The day keeps repeating, but only I can notice it. Everyone else forgets. The same things happen at the same time each day, unless I do something to change them.”

“And you... you d—d—”

“Yes. But I've come back every time.”

“Are you okay, Papa?” she leans her head back, and he feels a lump in his throat at the sight of her teary eyes.

He takes a moment to answer. “It's been hard. But I'm glad you know. And I'm glad you told me about you.” He smiles a little. “If I don't break the loop today, I can tell you about it tomorrow and clue you in again.”

Her lower lip is trembling slightly, but there's a new glow in her eyes. “I... I can help?”

He shrugs a little. “You can help just by knowing about the time loop. I don't want to involve you in anything else. It can be dangerous.”

Where was I again? Iodine, xenon...

“Papa,” she says, still whispering, but more forcefully this time. “I can help you find out the bad boss' plans!”

“The bad boss?” He blinks in surprise. Desmond?!

She nods, eyebrows raising.

You’ve known about my plan. Is that why you kept trying to be friends with Damian?

She pouts. “Second Son is always mean to me. But you said that if we became friends, you could meet his papa.”

And you’ve been tolerating him because you knew he was an important part of the mission.

She smiles a little.

But how will you find out Desmond’s plans?

“I will read his mind.”

Can you read through all the thoughts a person has had? Or just what they’re thinking in that moment?

“The second.”

“The latter,” he corrects her. “That won't work.” Desmond is not thinking about his war plans all the time.

“But if you go to him and tell him you know about the plans, he will think about them.”

Wait, what?

“If you undo the clock and come back, then the bad boss won't remember what you said to him. You can go to him again and tell him about it, and he'll think about his plans, and I will hear them!”

But, the killer finds me almost immediately after I meet with Desmond. “And how will you tell me his plans?”

She thinks for a moment, then tells him with a wide smile, “I will just shout them at you!”

Seriously? “Right in front of him?”

“Why not? He won't remember it!”

Loid freezes in his tracks.

“Every day you will tell him what I told you before, and he'll think of something new, and I will tell it to you. You will remember, but he won't!”

His mind goes through the plan. It will require multiple days, and multiple deaths on his side, and probably even Anya—no. She’ll have to be somewhere far, maybe use a microphone to tell him what she hears? He will need a failsafe, he'll have to inform WISE first thing every morning of every plan he has acquired knowledge of, in case the loop suddenly ends and he really does end up dead... but it's incredibly, impossibly foolproof. Desmond will have no idea his brain was just picked apart for his war plans, the information will be perfectly accurate – as long as Anya is able to read them and communicate them correctly – and Loid won't have to resort to any behaviour that Desmond might consider suspicious, which would result in him leaving and Operation Strix ending before its time.

His mind clears, and a single thought sticks out.

She's a fucking genius.

Anya widens her eyes at him.

Oops.

“Uh...” He stumbles for words. “That's...” He swallows nervously. “That's a pretty good idea.” He continues walking.

Anya giggles.

But it's going to be dangerous if you're close when the bombs go off. I don't want to risk your life again. Could you read his mind if you're on a different floor?

“I... I think,” she says.

I can give you a small microphone, and I'll wear an earpiece. You'll hear his thoughts and tell me his plans through the microphone.

“Ooooh!” She's practically glowing from excitement.

It's still... Anya. I don't want you to read through such a violent mind as his.

Not that she's seen anything that more pleasant, if she's gone through Twilight's mind.

“I won't remember it,” she says, suddenly pouting. “I won't remember his thoughts, and I won't remember that I helped you.”

He gives her a reassuring nudge on the shoulder. “I'll tell you all about it when it's all done, alright?”

She looks at him, a small, sly smile creeping up her lips. “Will you let me help you again?”

Absolutely not.

“But—But!”

No buts. Our only safety in this plan is that Desmond won't remember. I'm not going to be so lucky in my next mission.

“Papa!” She's almost shouting now.

Keep it down. You must have known I didn’t want you involved in this mission. “But you tricked me, didn’t you? You're not even six, are you? You lied about your age, because you read my mind and knew I was looking for a six-year-old to enroll in Eden. And you tricked me with the crossword puzzle.”

She lowers her gaze, her guilt apparently winning over her spite.

“Why did you do that? Why did you trick me into adopting you?”

“Because I thought you’re cool.”

“Cool?” A nervous chuckle escapes him. “Cool. You thought I was cool. Alright.”

What I can't wrap my mind around is why the HELL you stayed with me. “The day after I adopted you, you broke into my room, right? Because you read my mind and knew the combination lock.”

Her lips form a thin line.

“You toyed with my equipment, and the bad guys found you. I came to rescue you and I gave you the chance to run away.”

It feels weird to say that out loud. There was a silent agreement between them that neither of them would mention that incident again. Yet here he is now, summing it all up for her.

“But you stayed. Why?”

“Because you want peace. I wanted to help.”

No.

Anya nods passionately, her hands now in fists. “Yes! I want peace, just like you!” Thankfully, she’s whispering again.

He sighs, feeling shame and guilt crush down on his shoulders.

You were not supposed to have to deal with this. My entire mission, my reason to be a spy, is so that—

“Children won’t have to cry.”

Stop it.

“No! I want to help!”

“No, Anya,” he says out loud, looking at her. “You have no idea what it’s like. For a child like you—“

“I already helped you. Like with the message in blood.”

Blood?

“The one about the bomb,” she says even more quietly.

Wait… “You mean the ‘No’ written in ketchup?”

“Oh.” Her eyes widen for a moment. “You knew it was ketchup...”

That was you?! He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them again. How did you even know there would be a bomb, and where? Don’t tell me you followed the terrorist!

“If I hadn’t, you would have died!”

He shakes his head. You don’t know that.

“I do.”

He looks at her. How are you so sure? Do you also see the future?

She looks sideways. “I… I don’t. Bond does.”

He stops in his tracks again.

One.

Two.

He blinks. “He does what now?”

She nods, pursing her lips. “He can see the future. I can read his mind and see it too.”

He’s still like a statue, looking at her in shock. Is this why he knew, two days ago, when the grenade—

He shakes his head and keeps moving. “Is that why you wanted him?”

“Uh… He had a vision of us. And then he saved me.”

He can’t fight a small smile. “I admit that he’s a very good dog.”

“He’s the best!”

They’re not too far from home, and by now Yor will have come back. He doesn’t have enough time for everything.

Wait, she even knew about Yor?

She responds, incorrectly assuming the question was directed at her. “You know that she’s the Throne Princess?”

His blood freezes; his body shakes as if it was struck by electricity.

His gaze turns to her. The… the what?!

Anya’s eyes widen in horror. “Uh… uh… That was a joke!” She gives him a failure of a smile.

She’s the Thorn Princess?! The assassin?!

Anya is silent.

You chose. Ostania’s most elusive assassin. FOR YOUR MOTHER?!

He realizes he’s almost panting. Trying to control his breath, he tightens his grip on Anya – more for his own stability than anything else – and he keeps walking.

What the hell has this operation turned into?

“Papa…”

“Shh,” he says abruptly, but then gives a look at her.

There are tears in her eyes again.

He swallows hard. Oh no, no, don’t cry. I’m sorry. It’s alright. I’m just shocked, that’s all.

“You’re not mad?”

He looks away. Does Yor know anything about me? Or suspect me?

Anya shakes her head.

He bites his lip. Yor had told him to find her, and he’d been determined to tell her about himself…

Well, things are even more complicated now. But he had an unfair advantage over learning about her secret, so she deserves to know about him.

“Mama will forgive you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

How? Has Bond had a vision about it?

“No.”

Then you cannot be sure. I’ve told her way more lies than she’s told me. She doesn’t even know who I really am—

He stops again. His chest feels heavy suddenly, and he turns to look at her.

“But you do,” he says.

She nods.

You’ve been reading my mind from the moment you met me. You know everything about me. My—my past…

She nods again.

You know what I’ve done? All the bad things I’ve done? All the lies and the killings?

The word itself doesn’t matter. She’s probably already seen too much. Especially if she’s also read Yor’s mind…

How could you choose to stay with me, knowing all that? Weren’t you scared?

Hell, the things I thought about her. Calling her stupid, thinking I could trade her for another kid like she’s some kind of merchandise, thinking I’d abandon her once the mission was over…

It takes her a moment to get the words out. “Because you’re the good guy.”

Her quiet reply catches him off-guard. He stares at her. “Good?” How can you think I’m a good person?

Her tears start falling. “You—you were alone, when you were little.”

No, Twilight. Don’t go back there. That’s over.

She sniffles. “And you didn’t want this to happen again. Because you wanted to help, I wanted to help.”

“I didn’t want that for you…” His voice is small.

“I know. That’s why I kept it a secret.”

His feet carry him backwards. Thankfully, there’s a wall behind him that he leans on, as he finds his knees slowly grow too weak to support his weight. He carefully puts Anya down, but she immediately hugs his leg.

“A perfect 100 points. My Papa and Mama are both so much fun, and I love them very much. I want to be with them forever.”

She’d meant that. All this time he’s been ignoring how much those words could mean, because he thought Anya only knew and loved Loid Forger.

But she’s known, all along. She’s known who he is, what he’s done, what he’s fighting for and why.

And she loves him.

His knees finally give out and he finds himself sliding down to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

Anya wraps her arms around his neck.

You love me. You know me, and you love me…

She tightens her hug. “I love you, Papa.”

You don’t deserve that love, Twilight. It was never even meant to mean anything to you.

To Twilight, maybe. But to Loid Forger, that love should mean the world and even more.

He was supposed to keep those two identities separate; what Loid Forger would want and need was not meant to be of any actual importance to Twilight.

He kept acting in the way Loid Forger would act to maintain a happy family life, all to trick everyone into never suspecting him of being a spy.

The one person he never managed to trick was, apparently, Anya; who has seen through all the complex thoughts and justifications he’s made up to convince himself he is not becoming attached, that all of his instinctive reactions have somehow been a conscious effort to keep the mission safe.

She’s seen all that and past what even he could see. She’s seen a kindness he can barely recognize in himself. And she loves him for – or despite – all that.

And it’s only now he realizes how much he’s been tricking himself as well all this time.

I love you too, Anya.

He finally hugs her back. All of his studying and understanding of human psychology and behaviour are not enough to describe what this feeling is.

He feels a weight lift off his shoulders when he realizes that, at the end of the day… he doesn’t care about explaining his own behaviour.

Right now, he only wants to feel.

Sniffling, he picks her up again and stands back up. He resumes the path back home.

“Papa, will you stay?” Anya asks in a such a small voice he can’t stop himself from rubbing soothing circles on her back.

If we abstract all the information we need from Desmond, Operation Strix won’t be necessary any longer. But if we accomplish that without Desmond suspecting me… then there won’t be a need to abort it altogether.

She pulls back a little, showing him her confused face.

Too many foreign words, wasn’t it? “What I meant is that I can stay as Loid Forger. There’s a lot of things I can achieve from my current position.”

“So you’ll stay?” The hope in her smile makes his chest feel full. “You’ll stay, if I help you?”

You'll be an incredible help, Anya. You have already been incredible.

She chuckles and hugs him again, tighter than before.

“And you’re not mad at Mama?”

That makes things a little more complicated. I will need to make things clear with her, but ultimately it will depend on her choice. She might not want to stay with a man who lied to her about so many things, even if we just stay roommates as we are now.

Her silence falls heavy.

“I know she loves you,” he says.

“And you love her too.”

Well, do I? Can I truly call that love, when I’ve been using her from the moment I met her?

But then… didn’t I do the same with Anya? And didn’t I just decide I cannot assign a certain meaning to the word “love”?

He sighs. “I can’t promise anything, Anya. But I’ll do my best to give you a happy place to live in, after this loop is over.”

“I wanna know all about it when you make it out.”

“I’ll tell you everything. I promise. You deserve to know.”

By now they’ve reached home. He can see light coming from Yor’s room.

I’ll need to send her for an errand. I can’t make a plan with Anya while she’s still at home.

He spots Anya’s grin.

“Anya, this isn’t like Spy Wars. Lying to people is not a good thing.”

“But Mama won’t remember it,” Anya whispers.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s still wrong.”

Sighing, he walks inside.

He sees Yor welcome them home with a smile and for a moment he forgets what he was going to tell her.

Thorn Princess. An assassin so deadly, so meticulous and so elusive that some people consider her an urban legend.

My wife.

You ought to hand in your resignation, Twilight. You’ve been living with an actual assassin without getting the slightest of hints about it, and you want to call yourself an intelligence agent?

“Yor, I need a favor,” he says, putting Anya down. “I wanted to make a sauce for the steaks but I forgot to pick up a few ingredients, would you mind—“

“Of course!” Her smile is still twisting his stomach.

Is it real? Is any of it real?

He’s been covering for an assassin all this time. That’s why Yor had asked him to marry her… and while he doesn’t blame her for that, he did the same after all, he can’t help the doubts about her feelings for him.

He looks at Anya. Her narrowed eyes take him aback.

He shakes his head at her. It’s a huge temptation to learn about Yor’s feelings directly through her thoughts, but it would be horrendous of him to use Anya’s power like that.

It’s already horrible, what he’s planning to do.

Once Yor leaves, Loid enters his room. For the first time he leaves the door open behind him, allowing Anya to step inside.

It’s still shocking to think that all along she’s known what he’s been hiding in this room.

First he contacts the Handler to abort their plan with the snipers. There won’t be any testing of Pollux today. He doesn’t wait for the reply that will most definitely come with questions asking why.

He pulls out the bag with the listening devices. He looks at it, then at Anya, and a feeling of uneasiness makes his throat tight.

He's in a huge dilemma; as a spy, he is supposed to report Anya to WISE immediately and abort Operation Strix. As a man who wants to stop war, he's willing to use Anya's abilities to read Desmond's mind. And as a man who loves his daughter, he wants to do neither of those things.

“Anya will be alright, Papa.” She takes a few steps towards him. “The bad boss won’t know it’s me. And he won’t remember it.”

“I took this path in my life so that children wouldn’t have to be taken advantage of like that. This is the exact opposite.”

“But I want to help.”

He smiles mirthlessly. That very innocence of hers is what he’s supposed to protect.

“I also don’t want war,” she adds. “I want to help make peace.”

He kneels down next to her. “How did you get those powers? Do you control them, or do you always read other people’s minds?”

“I don’t know how I got them. I always remember having them.” Her eyes are wide and her jaw is pulled back; he can tell there’s something more she’s not sharing. “Sometimes I can control them. I can control whose mind I’m reading, but if someone thinks too much, I will hear it.”

He sighs. “If we’re to do this, I need to have a sense of privacy. I’ll need to know you’re willing to stop reading my thoughts when I want them to be left alone. Same with Yor… if she stays with us.”

Or if she doesn’t file for a divorce and demands full custody.

Anya nods. “I can try.”

“Good. Now let’s take a look at the plan.”

This day hasn’t been going as he expected it. Anya’s shock over her secret being discovered was immediately replaced by her excitement to be a part of his mission, even though she knows this version of her won’t exist tomorrow. He was almost prepared to try and end the loop today, but with such a plan he can’t foresee an end for at least a week, from his point of view.

Least of all, he hadn’t expected how the truth about Yor would affect him. He’d supposed she was hiding something from him, but just the sheer force of this revelation has him feeling like he was punched in the gut.

She’s been using this marriage to her advantage as much as he has, yet that doesn’t provide any relief for his guilt. Yor Briar is just… Yor. Loid Forger is a figment of his own creation, and it’s all Yor has ever been allowed to see. When the truth comes out and she realizes that she developed feelings for a man that doesn’t really exist…

Yor seems to pick up on his tense feelings and keeps fairly quiet while they eat, though she keeps her smile on.

That same smile that causes his insides to twist uncomfortably. This time there’s definitely guilt added there.

Loid allows Anya to wear her prince costume before they leave. Things go so smoothly that it’s only at the play’s end that he remembers Pollux will kill him today again.

“Would you mind picking Anya up?” he tells Yor. “I need to catch up with some attendees.”

Any other day he’d wonder about sounding suspicious. Today he’ll boldly cross all lines of suspicion.

Making sure no-one is looking at him, he adjusts his earpiece and looks at his watch.

Five past eight exact.

“Agent Starlight reporting for dooty,” Anya’s gasping voice comes in his ear.

“Where are you taking me?! Stop dragging me!” Damian Desmond’s voice is also heard a little further back.

Twilight smiles. In order to avoid as many consequences as possible, he asked Anya to keep Damian away from the blast, on the floor right above the foyer. Just in case the day ends up not resetting.

He exits into the foyer and spots Donovan. He would normally be able to control his heartbeat, but not when he’s about to do something as bold and risky as this.

“Agent Starlight in posishun. I can hear you.”

Can you hear Desmond?

Short silence.

“… silly play. I can’t believe Demertee-us was right.”

Yes! Keep going, Anya!

He takes a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists.

Here it goes. Operation Strix, pass or fail.

“Mr. Desmond. What a pleasant surprise,” Loid tells him. He doesn’t bother offering his hand.

“Forger. Quite com-foor-table, I see. What next, you invite yourself over to my house?”

“Ah, you know how it is,” is what Desmond says.

“Sure, sure.” His heart feels as if it’s trying to beat its way out of his chest. All his spy instincts are screaming at him to walk away, or at least treat the matter with delicacy. Instead, he forces his words out. “Now tell me, Mr. Desmond, what exactly are your plans for the war?”

“War? What is he saying?”

“Oh, I’ve got my sources. Like, for example…”

“Sources? Peylon, he mean?”

Means! “Peylon, yes. Very talkative fellow, I must admit.”

“He knows about the sum-nit in Bonn… brug. I was right!”

“Regarding the summit in Bonnburg. The one Foreign Minister Windsor will attend, correct?”

“He needs to— No, Papa!”

Focus, Anya. Focus on his thoughts.

Desmond is stiff when he gestures at his bodyguards. Twilight allows himself a quick side glance. Pollux is approaching.

“So what are you going to do? Have infiltrators assassinate him and blame it on the Westalian government?”

“What is he on about? What did Peylon tell him?”

Two bodyguards grab each of Twilight’s arms. “Oh, you won’t. What is it, then?”

“It’s Boo-wantz we’re going for…”

“Oh, Minister Brantz then. Makes sense.”

Desmond’s characteristically frozen face suddenly betrays utter shock. An expression almost imperceptible, except for the trained eye.

“What is this, is he reading my mind?”

“Quite positively I am, sir.” The two men grabbing him start trying to drag him away and he says, “Oh, that won't be necessary.”

Pollux is right there, catching their attention.

Twilight hasn’t taken his eyes off of Desmond.

Flash. Burn. Crack.

BANG!

A/N: Reminder that I don't read the manga, so all character dynamics are at around the point the story has paused in the anime. Don't spoil me about later developments please :D

#Spy x Family #sxf ff #sxf fanfic #piracytheorist writes #mtav

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