#if they both weren't so stupid they'd be canon

[ataleinkedinred]

Atmospheric Akiangel with some some not so subtle foreshadowing. 😃

Fujimoto really was like 'Alright, what is the most gut-wrenching traumatizing plot twist I could possibly write?' What a legend.

Heavily inspired by "The loves of Alice Brandt" ✨

#akiangel #don't smoke kids #they're both gonna die anyways so let them have a vice of their chosing #csm manga #csm spoilers #csm manga spoilers #angel devil #aki hayakawa #if they both weren't so stupid they'd be canon #and i still like makima #it's my toxic trait #out of touch and out of time

[omarwolaeth]

thinking 'bout how the lads interact with what the bracelets represent, especially in their decks

#marwospeaking #Yuuya is by far hardest to work with on this because he Varies. but that might just be him being opposite to Yuzu so it might count? #anyway Yuuya is a bushfire made by fireworks set off without proper precaution (the improperly set off fireworks being Zarc.. #.. being influenced into the position that made the lads through his desire to both destroy and entertain his crowds) #It's small sometimes. but in the right conditions is an unstoppable conflagration #Yuuto literally does not die. In a world where we never truly get the other two (Yuugo and Yuuri) interacting with their host (Yuuya).. #.. outside of duels. he very much does. He is undead in a way the others don't quite match (pre Zarc revival) and it's opposite to.. #.. En Bird's life (assuming it counts death too as part of its cycle) #Yuugo uses machine monsters - things that distinctly don't breathe. and in most cases have exhaust pipes billowing fumes #and machines can be warm to the touch at times. which you could feasibly slide against Rin's Windwitches for being Very Cold Ladies #Also he's trapped no matter where he is. Neo Domino has a stronger grip on him as a person than anyone else. and when he might finally.. #.. escape that. he's trapped in someone else's body with no canonical recourse. because the story ended on Yuuya's terms and no one elses #Yuuri is hardest to place but I think he's very stationary. Sere's monsters are dancers - constantly moving - and she's very able to #adapt as she goes despite how stupid she can be book-wise. Yuuri is rooted into his role. even when he discards his loyalty his role was.. #.. always in Zarc's interest no matter if he knew or not. The Professor's loyalty from him is an add-on to that #... I'd argue Zarc cared more about his pieces than Ray cared about hers also? He made cards for them on the fly so they'd Win #Even in moments where that victory is not in a wholly positive light - Odd-Eyes Raging and Gatlinghoul - but we know he's capable of it.. #.. a la allowing Yuuya to debut pendulum monsters on his behalf in order to win against Ishijima #something something this can then apply to the other lads. they never lose except to each other and Ray's girls (at least on screen) #Yuuto survived 3 years of war. even despite Yuugo and Yuuri showing up. so methinks Zarc must've had a role in helping him survive #Like. Zarc's distinctly present for his Lads. Ray's not present for her lasses until one of them speaks through her #Sure it's very possible that's a bracelet thing - they are floodgates at the end of the day - and not a Ray thing. but it also wouldn't.. #.. surprise me given Ray is an Akaba. we know they will sacrifice others for a gain later on - Ray's was sacrificing a whole world to make. #.. a safer one for everyone to live in. irrelevant on if they remember it or if they never existed originally. Except Leo Akaba. He does #(with memory reading tech) and it tortures him the whole time. she didn't mean to hurt him but Still #Zarc's distinctly not better than Ray - he's still broken wide open when it comes to his hatred of humanity (but not his human half) #and it resulted in multiple near-deaths the second time around - but I can't say Ray's that much better if it turns out the bracelets.. #.. weren't floodgating her ability to help her lasses #Completely unrelated but. I don't like what Arcray represents ngl. makes it seem like Zarc could never move on with the help of his lads #and has to rely on someone who killed him and sent him to purgatory about it in order to heal.

[jeanniebug623]

I often see people describe Spider as a neglected child. Do you think that is totally accurate? Would Norm and the other scientists have set rules and boundaries? If Lo’ak and Spider did something stupid together would Jake punish both of them? What would a scene like this look like?

Hmmm...buckle up, this might be a long one. 😅

I know I’ve used this trope in my stories as well because it's a great way for Quaritch to manipulate Spider into severing his loyalties to Jake, but I don’t think Spider was as neglected in canon. I think he just had more freedom because, obviously, the scientists who raised him respect and took part in the Na'vi culture over time. So why would they discourage it in Spider?

Norm obviously cares for him as we see him tell Spider to bring a spare mask in the beginning of ATWOW. But when he doesn't chase the kid down to give it to him, it shows a level of trust as well when Spider says he's just going to the village. Even at that young age, Norm knows Spider is aware of the safety rules and the consequences (you know...dying?) if he isn't careful. But I don't see Norm as an authoritative figure to Spider. As long as Spider is safe, Norm doesn't care what he does.

I have read The High Ground comics, mostly because I saw ATWOW before and was so confused where Spider came from and wanted to know where he came from! LOL

The comics do show McCosker treating Spider more of a nuisance than a son...sad face. 🥺 And maybe this comes from that they didn't mind him being a wild child when he was younger but once they had their own kids, they wanted a more structured family system but it was too late to change Spider's behavior and personality. If I had to guess, I'd say Spider's age in the beginning of ATWOW would be accurate to Mary McCosker having her first son. So between continuing their work and a new baby, Spider fell to the wayside.

I think Jake would stumble in punishing Spider...not because he wouldn't have the same authoritative presence over Spider that he would over his own son, it's just he has expectations for his own kids first. Plus, Jake wouldn't be able to use the same punishments with Spider. Like in ATWOW, Lo'ak wasn't allowed to fly for a month...not much of a threat to Spider. I'll take a shot at what it would look like but I'd love insight from anyone who's read this far! 😁💙🐞

I think Jake would start the punishment but leave it up to Nash to follow through or alter it to be more suitable for a human teen like Spider. Scene below!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell were you two thinking?", Jake snapped with as hushed a tone he could given the late hour. He stood with Lo'ak and Spider a short distance from the Sully marui so Tuk could remain sleeping and the rest of the family didn't have to hear the lecture.

That was a good question. The teenage boys gave each other a side glance, hoping the other would speak up as to why they snuck out in the middle of the night to test their theory if a pa'li would trust Spider enough to ride without a kuru. The answer to their question was, of course, not really. As the aches in the left side of Spider's body could attest from being thrown off only seconds after Lo'ak broke his tsaheylu with the young pa'li so Spider could mount it.

"I'm...ok?" Spider said in a week attempt to diffuse the situation. Of course the boys had tried in the middle of the night, the adults or Neteyam would've stopped them. And they weren't sure who would give the worse lecture on why it was a bad idea...

"That's not the point, bud, what you did was dangerous." Jake said with a shake of his head then turned on his youngest son, "And you, Lo'ak, what did you think would happen when you broke the bond?"

"They don't mind when Spider's around!" Lo'ak tried to argue back, "I didn't think they'd care if he rode them."

"Yea, you didn't think. Neither of you knuckleheads thought about how this could have ended." Jake scolded before looking to the human boy. "Spider, I get it. I really do. I know what it's like to feel trapped in a body that can't keep up with its spirit, but you gotta use your head before you crack it open, kid."

Spider's shoulders sagged a bit and he sighed, looking to the side. He didn't need reminding how different he was from his friends and that he'd never have an avatar body like Jake. He must have been four when he first asked Mr. McCosker if he could have a Na'vi body someday. The man chuckled at the request and passed him off for Norm to break the news it wouldn't happen. The RDA made the avatars; not the scientists who lived the literal double life.

"Miles."

Speak of the devil, Spider grit his teeth as Nash joined them due to Jake's late night call and grumbled, "That's not my name..."

Nash ignored the teen's moodiness and shook his head, "I don't know what to say, Jake...didn't even know he snuck out."

Jake waved a placating hand and agreed with the scientist when he said, "Neither did we about Lo'ak. Don't worry about it, Nash, the boys are ok. This time. Lo'ak, you're grounded. No riding anything for two weeks."

Jake turned his attention from Lo'ak's flattened ears and eye roll to Spider, who raised his eyebrows in anticipation of his punishment. He sighed and thought about the options, "It goes without saying no riding for you, kid. And you're both on marui repair duty for those two weeks."

"Yes, sir..." both boys reluctantly said. Jake took his son by the arm to pull him back towards the marui and back to bed while saying, "And don't think you're sleeping in because you were out late."

"Same for you." Nash agreed as he attempted to do the same to Spider's arm but he recoiled at his touch and rubbed his sore left shoulder. "That hurt? It should. Maybe it'll help get it through your thick skull not to do dumb shit like that."

"Whatever..." Spider said as he turned back towards Hell's Gate with Nash at his side.

"Any time you aren't fixing up the huts, you better have your ass inside. You're on house arrest, Miles. No hanging out with your friends for a month." Nash ordered.

"That's not fair!" Spider said incredulously, whipping his head in his foster father's direction. Jake hadn't said Lo'ak couldn't hang out with him. But he couldn't hang out with Lo'ak or Kiri. Or even go outside? He was going to go insane stuck inside the metal walls and recycled air of Hell's Gate.

"Neither is being woken up in the middle of the night to find out you snuck out to play cowboy. You'll have plenty to do inside. All the labs could use a good cleaning. Now move it before I make it two months." Nash said with extra bite at the end, ignoring the wince in Spider's eyes when he forcibly turned the boy back forward by his sore shoulder and marched him back to Hell's Gate.

#atwow #atwow spider #miles spider socorro #ask me anything

[maelstrom-of-emotions]

I really don't mind fanon portrayals all that much, but I was reading a lot of Harry Potter fics lately and I've realized that "Lily was the smart one" and "James and Sirius preferred to goof off and weren't good at studies" is usually the trope.

Now, I love it when Lily gets more character depth, I've always thought of her as this potions whiz with a sharp tongue. But James and Sirius? You mean the same ones who made the Marauders Map? Managing to plot Hogwarts - which, if I'm remembering correctly is supposed to unplottable - and turned themselves into Animagi which is hinted to be a very impressive magic? Not to mention almost everyone else seems to mention them being bright? I'm not making this up, here are a couple of quotes:

"Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius."

Remus Lupin, Prisoner of Azkaban.

"Look, Harry, what you’ve got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did."

Remus again, Order of the Phoneix.

"Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers —"

Minerva McGonagall, Prisoner of Azkaban.

And some might consider this over-confidence but they were both calm as can be after the OWLS, and were confident that they'd do well.

Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,' he heard Sirius say. ‘I’ll be surprised if I don’t get “Outstanding” on it at least.

You might,' said Lupin darkly from behind his book. ‘We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me. Here ...' and he held out his book. But Sirius snorted. ‘I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.'

From Order of The Phoenix.

So, you know, maybe check on that. I'm not bashing on anyone's portrayals. It's fanfiction, have fun! I just, it's concerning, because these characterizations have become the staple, you know? To the point where I feel like people sort of think it's canon. I'm not even joking, I had a friend tell me she wondered how James and Sirius managed to pass out of school, and I was like: "You did read the books, right?"

It's like how people think Harry and Ron barely passed when in the books, it's mention that they "passed with flying colors" if I'm not wrong. Just 'cause they don't study twenty-four/seven doesn't mean they're stupid, jeez.

#sirius black #james potter #harry potter #hp fandom #thoguhts #i just - i don't like how they're dumbed down #it just feels like you're taking the nuances away from their characters - ya know?

[katyspersonal]

sorry if the "use later" meant you weren't taking them now, but if you are : 6, 10, 25, 44, and maybe 50 ? (i don't remember you talking about a hunter of your own, so if not, general hcs about the protag ?)

Ahhh don't worry about this! I AM taking the asks, I am just stacking them for later because my ask answering habits are chaotic x)

(Asks from this ( x ) meme)

6) League or Vilebloods?

This question gave me flashback on having made a reasonable point about why if Valtr and Bloody Crow have met, they'd experience the strongest wish to kill the other in their lives fhsdhfs I have a lot to say about the philosophy and goal of both covenants! To condense it as much as possible, I say Vilebloods, because they at least have the reasonable goal! They are a split from Pthumerians that felt entitled to crown a female monarch and carry the Child of Blood (who is a Great One on "their" terms)! Yes, they seek, consume and maybe even cultivate Human Dregs, but they have the vision of the new era... even if drenched in blood and sin.

League guys are battling the thing that can't be ultimately defeated - the evil within men, so their end goal would be destruction of life itself! I do feel bad for what the poor idiots took upon themselves, this is a twisted trap of existence, and they are sadly smarter. Burdened with something you are not SUPPOSED to get a glimpse of! But, Vilebloods have THE plan, I respect this more. (I also respect the ask meme's creator for pitting these covenants against each other, this is a very deep observation!)

10) Sexiest boss?

I am not so sure ;-; When it comes to sexual attraction, most of my preferences fall on NPCs and not bosses! I think Amygdala is the closest one to the definition! Maria, Micolash and Ebrietas are definitely up here, but in this case "sexyness" comes from the sense of "knowing" the character! With Amygdala I think it is more genuine in terms of appreciating the boss through this lence. It is not 'omg I am fighting THIS person 😳' but it is 'omg all these arms and tendrills 😳'!

25) Upper Cathedral Ward Y/N

I never, ever, ever, EVER want to see that STUPID fucking bitchass fucker Brainsucker in the long narrow hallway that keeps STUNLOCKING ME WITH its STUPID fucking spell EVER, EVER, EVER AGAIN.

YEAH YEAH WHATEVER fshfhdsfs I always do this area anyways and I love its atmosphere and the sound, but it HURTS. I am also probably the only person alive who is struggling with Celestial fucking Emissary!!!! It is a love-hate relationship with this area, but I say yes because I physically can't bring myself to skip it!

^ Love the way it looks through sequence breaking, too!

44) Have you read any of the comics?

No, and I don't think I ever will be able to :') My country has some.... """issues""" with overseas merch to say the least fsdhfghfsd Granted, from what I've seen the comics IS awesome! It is exactly the way I want licensed products to be: instead of giving you lore on unexplored canon characters they add original characters, instead of shoving the lore answers onto you they respect the vagueness of the original and continue it... I always dreaded stuff for my previous fandoms such as official comics, infodrops through official Twitters, spin-offs etc that gave too much information because I don't like to cOnSuMe MoRe CoNtEnT uwu, I like enough space for speculation and imagination left! With Bloodborne comics, I could tell this is the case!

( x ) ^ This alone I respect very much! I love it when the writer has their own idea but doesn't hammer it down and leaves it up to the audience to figure it OR not. This IS how Miyazaki writes his own stories - he knows what the story IS, but won't straight up tell us XD This is what I loved about original Matrix trilogy - creators have had a certain idea in mind but the story was crafted in such a way that it was up to the audience to find it out, or even find their own interpretations! And this is why I refused to watch Owl House - I heard that the creator got super controlling and defensive about how audience """should""" read and feel towards the villain. I've sidetracked but I can tell from a mile that if I ever lay my hands on these comics it must be worth my time all things considered!

50) Tell me about your hunters!

Oh boy... I am a total 'Paleblood Hunter is not loreless' truther x) There IS a "canon" Paleblood Hunter character, unlike in the case of other Soulsborne games, and it doesn't let me get creative XD There is a guy with white hair and grey eyes that is probably a reincarnation of Laurence ( x ) , having ties with Cainhurst but also coming from the 'foreign country' that was a home of Brador ( x ) and like 80% of the Healing Church's staff!

This is tormenting me. This is eating me. I have such deeply-rooted insecurity about "bringing in something from myself" that @val-of-the-north has had to FIGHT me to keep my """irrelevant""" OCs for the fandom. xD And stuff like this perfectly nurtures that side of me, as I jealously watch every normal fan have fun with THEIR version of protag like:

Nonetheless, I actually DO have a Hunter that I love to use and recreate at any lost safe or restarted game! This is Rin!

Or Rena, or Rina.... something along these lines fhfhds I've first shared about her here ( x ), and since then not much about her changed! I still like the worst fucking backstory where her overly cautiousness at first made her kill one of like three sane people in the setting, the developing sense of justice and killing a person full of shit on the spot, the worst bloodtinge and absence of guns use etc!

The thing that changed is weaponry style! Now I got fixation on having every variant of Ludwig's Holy Blade (normal/arcane, bolt, fire, poisoned). So picture her having collection of the same sword but with different "element" XD I'll take more screenshots of her! Currently she has clouded eyes effect (fell victim of my experiments with Save Editing), I probably should fix it fdfdsfds But, yeah... I like playing as her! I tried to create 'default Paleblood Hunter' for male playable character and it didn't feel as satisfying as I thought it would!

#bloodborne #paleblood hunter #bloodborne oc #ask replies #thank you for the ask!

[sparrowlovesskittles]

Shadow spoilers under the cut

Review time!

Holy fuck it was SO GOOD.

THINGS I ENJOYED

THE FROG SCENE. My new favourite warriors moment. I need to draw Nightheart with a frog suckered onto his face. Incredible. Nightheart is such a silly goofy guy and I'm so glad he gets to do stupid things each book.

SPLASHTAIL!!!!!! This is a BIG one for me, and ohhhh he was so evil it was so GOOD. We really got to see his manipulative side come out here and I adored it

Splashtail rejecting Frostpaw because it would be weird to date an apprentice. It's a small thing, but it's nice to have a little bit of canon saying hey. Stop.

Frostpaw slowly realising something is Wrong in RiverClan, but still turning to Splashtail because he built up trust between them. It's so clever and dark

Harelight! I like the guy and I'm glad he gets a little bit of spotlight. It's also nice to see him telling Frostpaw that he can help her learn to disguise her pale coat, I feel like I haven't seen that mentioned in a while.

Cloverfoot mentioning how Mistystar decorated her den with shells and feathers!!

Frostpaw getting to girlboss a bit. It was nice! She knows what's right for her and you CANNOT change her mind!

HER ENDING????? OH MY GOD I feel stupid but I did NOT see that coming I was so shocked it was like Curlfeather all over again LMAO. Why did they wait until she was right outside WindClan though. She'll be found and live. I highly doubt they'd kill off their best protagonist on book 3.

The trials! I know they were maybe a bit boring but I actually liked seeing them, AND seeing Berryheart get more and more pissed off throughout the book LMAO. Hilarious how they gave Nightheart a trial he basically already did last book (stealing from the twolegs)

Tigerstar hates socks

Berryheart. She's terrible. It's fun.

Sunbeam is still a pushover. Sure she stands up for herself a bit more now, but she usually chooses to back down in the face of conflict. I'm glad she's kept her personality after getting with Nightheart, which leads me to...

Sunbeam and Nightheart's relationship. I actually thought they were written okay for once. Sunbeam is not so sure about him at first (and is reasonably upset he publicly declared his love for her and decided to move in with her without consulting her first) but we actually get to see her come to appreciate him more. It's not the strongest romance obviously, but for warrior cats, the way it was handled in this book (not the other two) was actually not that bad, and I didn't mind that they stayed together in the end. I liked seeing them spend time together and I liked the way they described each other's personality traits. Sunbeam thinking Nightheart's confidence was attractive, and Nightheart thinking about how he'll miss her cleverness and courage more than anything else. I dunno, I felt pleasantly surprised.

Nightheart realising he was being unreasonable and coming to understand his family's reasons for acting the way they did, and especially the way he reconciled with Sparkpelt! They both got a chance to apologise and forgive each other (and themselves) and it was really nice to see.

Sunbeam saying Blazefire 'broke up' with her?? Warriors never uses this casual language for relationships, especially when they weren't even officially mates to begin with, it was kinda jarring to see but I liked it

THINGS I DID NOT ENJOY

Nightheart's sudden switch back to ThunderClan feels sudden and unearned. He was literally fighting with Sparkpelt and Finchlight earlier in the book and then at some point he realised he was wrong for that off screen. Also I was kind of unreasonably irritated that he failed his last task on purpose lmao

Frostpaw not telling anyone anything. Frostpaw please talk to people.

WHY DID EVERYONE FORGET ABOUT TREE??????? WHY ISN'T TREE MEDIATING??????????????

MIXED FEELINGS

Squirrelstar. While I'm happy Bramblestar is stepping down, I'm not jazzed about Squirrelstar. I like Squirrelflight, but she's been around a long time now and I want someone newer. To be honest, I'm basically waiting for the older characters to die out at this point, and if Squirrelflight's going to stick around for the next several arcs, she's going to become the next Mistystar.

Sunbeam moving to ThunderClan. While I predicted this would happen, and it's kind of fun for now, it means we now have two perspectives in ThunderClan AGAIN. I am begging warrior cats to let go of ThunderClan. Having two POV characters in the same overused clan is not as fun as they think it is. Also, Sunbeam saying 'Berryheart was right about everything' then immediately changing her mind was kinda disappointing. Let Sunbeam have a villain arc.

#warrior cats #warriors #asc #a starless clan #asc shadow #frostpaw #splashtail #nightheart #sunbeam #asc spoilers

[arctrooper69]

A Duty of Forgiveness

Commander Fox second guesses his decisions. You contemplate Fives' final words.

A/N: Welcome to Whumptober 2022! I'm here to make you feel things 😎 Today's prompt: A Little Out of the Ordinary : "This Wasn't Supposed to Happen"

Disclaimer: I may not do all of Whumptober but if you'd like to be tagged in what I do for it, message me!

Warnings: I guess it's a little dark. Both Commander Fox and the Reader are not in great mental places. Self blame. Mentions of canonical character death.

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

When Commander Fox removed his helmet, you expected to see the sharp, angry eyes of a killer. Instead, you were met with the unassuming face of a man. He sat down heavily behind his desk, motioning for you to sit. The air in the room was thick, each waiting for the other to speak first.

Fox was tired. No, he was more than just tired, he was exhausted - both physically and mentally. The dark circles under his eyes made you wonder when he last slept. They were the eyes of a man who'd seen so many of his brothers die terribly gruesome deaths both on and off the battlefield. They were haunted eyes - ones full of regret, self-hatred, and resignation. They were the same honey-brown eyes as him.

The same eyes as Fives.

Your stomach turned. I can't do this. You got up quickly, not meeting his eyes again, not wanting him to see the tears. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come."

Fox opened his mouth to reply but you were already gone.

***

Kriff! Fox slammed his fist on the desk, watching as the door closed forcefully behind you. He hadn't meant for this to happen. In fact, he hadn't meant for a lot of things to go the way they did in the past few months. A small cleaning droid bumped against his shin, chirping indignantly. He angrily kicked it away, sending it flying across the room straight into the caf machine by the door, knocking it to the floor. Fox wanted to scream. He wanted to hit something. He almost wished someone would yell at him, dress him down, punish him for his mistakes. Maybe they'd decommission him and erase everything from his memory - send him back as a fresh-faced shiny so he could start over. No more regret. He wouldn't be himself, but it would be what he deserved.

***

It was never supposed to happen this way.

"Stand down soldier! Stand down! Get on your knees!" Fox yelled the commands as he motioned for his men to flank his crazed younger brother. Fives was panicking, he could tell. Fox knew panic often came with irrational behavior. He wanted to calm things down before Fives did something stupid. But calm things down to what end? The orders were shoot to kill. They came straight from the Chancellor himself. Fox felt sick to his stomach but orders were orders. He was a good soldier and good soldiers didn't question their orders. Right? At least outwardly they didn't.

"Get away from me!" Fives was reaching for a blaster. He was shaking.

"No! Don't do it, soldier. Don't do it!" Everything happened so fast. Fox didn't even remember pulling the trigger. Fives was dead and there you were, screaming at him with tears streaming down your face, hitting the plastoid on his chest with your fists.

"I hate you!" you screamed at Fox, letting out the pain and anger coursing through your veins. You screamed because if you held it all in it would kill you. Captain Rex grabbed your arms and you fought him with everything you had, trying to get back at Fox. Right now you'd do anything to have Fives back in your arms again. "I hate you! You killed him! You ruined everything!"

***

You rushed from the Commander's office, tears blurring your eyes. The air felt too stuffy to breathe and you collapsed against a wall as soon as you made it outside. He killed Fives! Commander Fox pulled the trigger. He killed him. It was all his fault. Your pain was all his fault. You never should have come here, you weren't even sure why you had come here to begin with. Maybe you wanted some kind of closure.

"Fives, I'm so tired..." you whispered to no one, "I'm so sorry." You closed your eyes, resting your chin on your knees. You could almost feel his arms around you if you believed hard enough that he was there. "I should have been there. I should have saved you. I should have believed you. Please don't hate me." Tears soaked your knees as you hugged them to your chest, sobbing. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh Cyar'ika. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. We all did our duties. I could never hate you. I love you so much, ni karta."

***

The sky was darker when you opened your eyes. Speeders flew by and the city lights began to twinkle on. Laughter drifted through the air as the bars opened up to the Coruscanti night-life, seemingly oblivious that there was anything wrong in the universe. It seemed surreal, seeing life go on while you felt so stuck. It was never meant to be like this.

"I only wanted to do my duty." Fives' final words played in your mind. Duty was a funny thing, you thought. Both Fox and Fives had a duty. Both were men who knew that they were just a number to the majority of the public - worth no more to them than a droid, and yet they served proudly anyway. Duty first - the good of the Republic over everything else. Fives fought for a Republic who refused to believe the truth. A Republic that sent countless clones to fight hopeless battles on far off planets, not caring if they lived or died because they could simply write a check for another batch. Fox protected the very same citizens who hurled insults and physical abuse at his brothers on every level of Coruscant.

It had become harder and harder for you to believe in that kind of blind patriotism after Echo died on Lola Sayu. You didn't blame Fives of course. You'd held eachother and cried more than a few times. But then he was gone again with the 501st and you'd begun to wonder if you were the only one still truly grieving his brother's death.

***

"I'm a clone, y/n!" Fives exploded, catching you off guard. He never yelled - not at you anyway, and you knew his anger wasn't directed at you now either. The mission on Umbara had hit him hard. "We don't get to mourn! The Republic doesn't allow us that luxury. We're expected to get up, wipe the blood off of our armor, and keep fighting!" He avoided your eyes and you kept silent. He needed to do this. He needed to let it all out and you understood. You understood more than most would. "Of course, we all grieve in our own way," he said softly."

"Oh Fives," you held him tight as he melted into your touch, battle-worn shoulders shuttering as he sobbed in the privacy of your apartment.

***

You needed to do this. If not for Fives, then for yourself. It was a new day and you stood in front of the same building you'd run out of the night before. You took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Fox had fallen asleep at his desk again. He grunted, wiping the sleep from his eyes - not that he'd actually gotten a good nights sleep, he almost never did nowadays. A knock on the door dragged him to his feet. He groaned, and grabbed his helmet, preparing himself for whatever the day would bring. "Come in."

"You okay, vod?"

Fox sighed in relief as he set the helmet down. It was Thorn. He rubbed a hand down his face noting his brother's concerned look. "Yeah. Yeah I'm good." Thorn didn't look too convinced and held out a steaming cup of caf. Thank the Maker. Thorn raised an eyebrow seeing Fox's own caf machine in pieces on the floor by a broken cleaning droid. "What'd you do to yours?"

Fox snorted, "Damn droid broke it."

"Ah, good thing I brought the caf for your lazy shebs then."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Thanks vod."

"Don't mention it."

Thorn left a while later to attend a security briefing and Fox was left to tidy up the mess and get back to work. He glared at the mountains of paperwork awaiting him. Probably another sleepless night. There was another knock at the door as soon as he sat down.

"Come in."

You slowly came into the room and sat down. Fox wasn't sure what to say.

"I..." you started to speak and your voice cracked. You took a shuttering breath.

In through the nose, out through the mouth.

Fox watched you carefully.

"I wanted to hate you..." you spoke so softly that Fox had to strain to hear you.

"I wanted to hate you but I don't. I can't, not if I believe in..." your voice cracked again and you swallowed, trying to restrain your emotions as they threatened to bleed through. "Not if I believe in what Fives died for." The tears were flowing freely down your cheeks now. You couldn't stop them.

Fox shifted in his chair - it had suddenly become very uncomfortable. He'd been expecting to be yelled at - expecting you to assault him again just like you had that night and just like so many senators and their constituents did. Instead, he found himself unsure of what to do so he looked away.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, barely audible. He looked up expecting you to be offended. Instead of anger or blame, he just saw grief and something else he wasn't sure of. Compassion. You were looking at him with compassion. Not many people did that anymore - at least not to him. Not to a clone. You kept your gaze on his for a bit longer. You hoped this would bring you a small amount of peace. The start of closure for both of you.

"I forgive you."

#whumptober 2022 #no.1 #this wasnt supposed to happen #fanfiction #star wars #star wars the clone wars #clone wars #swtcw #sw tcw #commander fox #clone commander fox #commander fox x reader #commander fox x you #clone commander fox x you #clone commander fox x reader #arc trooper fives #fives #arc trooper fives x you #arc trooper fives x reader #fives tcw #fives x reader #fives x you #arc trooper echo #echo tcw #arc trooper echo x reader #arc trooper echo x you #tcw echo x reader #tcw echo x you #captain rex #star wars whump

[strangertheories]

I think the weird tension between robin and nancy at first can absolutely be chalked up to Bad Writing from a meta perspective, but from a more in character perspective I think they were Both a little off. not saying they were in the Wrong because they weren't. but nancy had presumably been awake all night because fred went missing and Then he showed up dead and crumpled up like a piece of paper. understandably she was a little on edge for most of the day. and I never took robin as being Whiny or Condescending but I do think she was rambling a whole lot (which isn't a Bad thing) but I do think nancy took it in the wrong way and robin, not really understanding When to stop, absolutely kept barreling forward because she just wanted nancy to Understand. it was a case of neither of them really knowing how to communicate with each other until later on. (but also the duffer bros absolutely don't understand how to write women being friends unless they're jealous first so like boo tomato tomato yknow)

I think that makes a lot of sense narratively speaking. They're both stressed and impatient so if they act a little oddly that could very easily be explained by that. Not to mention Nancy has a very no bs type attitude and Robin is a blurt out whatever kind of person so they didn't click initially.

I still agree with my perspective though. Even if Nancy didn't get on with Robin initially because of all of the factors, the show heavily implies it's because of Steve. Firstly I'm quite anti-st4ncy. And second of all, as you said, they don't understand how to write female friendships without them being jealous (I'm looking at you, Eleven, hating Max when they'd never even interacted). It just kinda sucks that the show didn't use these totally valid reasons but instead implied it was just because she was annoyed at Robin for dating her ex which she wasn't, but even if she was that would be stupid. Of course Steve was going to move on and date other people. You have a boyfriend, Nancy!

God, I really hope they don't go down this route with Eleven and Will if Byler becomes canon. I know it's not a female friendship, but using girls being jealous of boys as their only relationship drama is so overdone. I wanna see supportive Eleven hanging out with her brother and her bestie. Not another female character turning against someone over some guy.

Thanks for the ask, anon (:

#stranger things #stranger things four #st4 #stranger things analysis #robin buckley #byler #ronance #nancy wheeler #eleven hopper

[x-birdsong-x]

can you do that criticism/things youd change about scream queens for s2 alone?

This one's probably going to be messy because I have a LOT to say about S2. Some of it overlaps with others, and I also have some positive things I will never miss a chance to talk about.

As always, when I do things like this, I'm saying it right here: There is not a single SQS character I genuinely dislike. The retcon is not canon.

And a quick note, I've talked about a lot of this stuff with my buddy @sarahpaulsonsclown, so credit to them for something I say about Cassidy later.

The first- and the cause of a lot of other things- problem with S2 is the tone change from S1.

Tell me I'm exaggerating, but S1 blended the comedy and horror in a way that worked and came across naturally as if they weren't doing it on purpose, and it just happened to be 50/50.

Season two writes the comedy in completely on purpose, but it doesn't focus enough on or bring in enough of the horror to balance it out, so it comes across more "artificial," I guess than S1's whole tone did. It just doesn't blend the way S1 did because there's not enough of the horror kept around this time.

And that's a shame! Because when S2 does switch to more of the horror side of things, it WORKS. There are scenes here that carry the horror really well, and had the whole season had more of a tone like this, the comedy could've been balanced out better.

One of my biggest examples of this is when Zayday first confronts (and gets kidnapped by) Jane. The music, the weather part of setting the scene, and the lighting. (Although I really wish they'd not have used Sophia's gold for Jane and Cass so often, given they're the least linked to Gigi in S2. I'll come back to this.)

Even the scenes where the girls first start visiting Hester before she's moved to the hospital can be a good example. Those scenes have their little comedy moments, but they're serious scenes, and the characters are treated seriously in them.

This tone issue starts disrupting things in later episodes though, and I'll come back to this later talking about other things, but Addison's (Chanel Number Nine's) death was so off-tone and so mean-spirited given how we spent half this episode being introduced to her extreme fear of needles, and this was such an awful death for her to be given. She didn't even do anything! S2 carries an issue with not having enough horror to balance out the comedy, and then they just threw in a death like this??? What did she do?? Still not quite comparable to how Maggie was treated in AHS, though.

When it comes to character issues caused by both tone problems and other things, I'm going to start with Brock because he's going to be the simplest to talk about.

A problem with S2 is the pacing in the last few episodes especially and the more I rewatch (S2 gets put on loop a lot when I'm writing for reasons I will talk about later) the more this can be blamed on Brock's silly hand issue.

For one thing, Brock's hand is stupid in itself, and it doesn't fit with SQS's original tone at all. This does not work, and it's not helped by the way they do the stupidest things possible, focusing on it as if Brock wasn't originally introduced as just an off and less-lovable version of Chad.

They spend SO MUCH TIME on Brock's ridiculously inconsistent issues that don't fit with SQS's original tone, including letting him narrate a whole fucking episode and naming multiple episodes after his hand problems and giving the hand a goddamn voice actor that when they finally dropped it the pacing was already SO thrown off that they didn't have any time left to stretch other things out the way they could've/should've.

Munsch's illness plotline (which is also mildly inconsistent but not nearly as much as the hand stuff) was so rushed near the end of the season, and (Thank you to @nocakesformissedith for noticing this too, if I remember correctly) Lovin' The D's ending with that "I'll be dead in a month" line is so oddly sudden because they had to shove a bunch of stuff into the other half of the episode that should've been stretched through the whole season, and then Drain The Swamp spends more time scrambling to wrap up Munsch's plotline so she can leave alive and well by the season-ending narration instead of building up to a climax between the villains (who, this time, are ALL STILL ALIVE) and the girls.

Brock's issues with his hand are inconsistent, even in how it affects him. One minute he's just losing control of it every so often, then it acts up when he's stressed, and then we get to how he treats Chanel.

The first time his hand acts up around her, it's pretty in line with how we are introduced to it without confirmation when Zayday first meets him and Cass, but as the season goes on, not only does he consistently threaten her, but he yells at her each time he does and then in the later episodes- when he already has a new hand, courtesy of Cass's favor- is when he starts using both hands when snapping at her and Hester takes her interest in him. And him yelling when he smashes the table when Munsch questions him about his blood type doesn't work with this either because that is not how his hand is introduced!

By Drain The Swamp also, he's having no troubles with his hand at all, and while yes, this is his new hand, it is this hand that continued with his "kill Chanel" stuff.

More of an opinion this one, but if he continued to snap at Chanel, Hester shouldn't have trusted it, and while I'm reaching with this detail, the way she reacts when he grabs her to try calming her down when asking him to kill Munsch during surgery is some good fuel for how they could've gone with Hester's opinion of him. I'll come back to this later because it links into a theory of mine I've had for a very long time.

And no, him reaching for her neck vaguely in Scream Again doesn't entirely count as foreshadowing any of this later behavior because even there, he notices and pulls his hand away with the other. Also, Chanel was clearly a little uncomfortable with the way he was reaching for her there too, but that's a little note/nitpick of mine, given how their relationship goes through the season.

And before I move on to other characters: S2's crack in the timeline.

In Scream Again, when she's narrating to catch us up, Munsch says she hasn't thought about the Chanels for two whole years. S1 canonically stuck firmly in 2015. Later, Brock says Chanel is twenty-four. Chanel was either nineteen or somewhat recently twenty in S1. In Drain The Swamp, when Chanel is narrating the flash-forwards, she says it is canonically 2016. If I'm wrong about this not making sense, then blame it on my dyscalculia, but this is just a nitpick I've had for a while anyway.

Back to problems I have regarding the character writing of some in S2, starting with the ones I have the most to complain about: Jane and Cassidy.

My problem with Cassidy especially comes from how he isn't treated seriously by the writing, and when he is, it doesn't work. I know what they were trying to do because they wanted Cass to be three things:

Boone, through his conflict with Jane, which goes especially and mostly for how he interacts with his mom when we first find out he's her son. The "I'll take care of everything," - "After all you've been through," lines especially.

Pete, given this moment is a direct reference to Black Friday (Yes, I got that moving shot on purpose):

--

And his own character, which rarely works the way it could have because he isn't taken seriously by the writing!

Cassidy and Sadie are vaguely a play on the Romeo and Juliet trope, but they're not built up enough to warrant her being the one to "change" him. Pete's attachment to Grace worked perfectly because from his very first scene, we are aware of his attachment issues, and we SEE that problem already forming from the minute after he meets her. Again, this part of Cass isn't a play on S1, but it's a comparison fair to make given how Cass's relationship with Sadie is such a big part of both of them in the season.

In Cassidy's first scene- with Zayday- he states that he isn't interested in dating anyone, and I personally think that would've been a more interesting road for him: to have had him get close to Sadie intending to get some better judgment on how to take each of the girls out, only to fall for her through the season. It's still cliche, but it's better than the way S2 expected us to care deeply about this relationship when it started so suddenly and isn't taken seriously anyway.

Even the little details with Cass and Sadie being changed could've helped make this a little better. Throughout the season, Cass ONLY ever calls her Chanel Number Three, and it's too long, it makes the lines that are meant to be big moments for them too clunky.

The best example is when Jane trips him into choosing her over Sadie (which is quickly gone back on by him, which should've been emphasized more), and when he implies that she should leave, he still fully calls her by Chanel Number Three. Having him eventually start calling her Sadie at some point through the season- or hell, even just calling her Number Three like everyone else- would've made those lines come across smoother.

And then, we get to their deaths.

Jane and Cassidy's deaths should have been serious scenes, and they were not. This is partly because S2 had pretty much completely worn out the chance of having these two be seen as serious characters by the time we reach Drain The Swamp and also because, once again, neither of them was written seriously in the first place.

I'll talk a bit about Jane soon, but even Cassidy's dialogue weighs his character down. His lines at the start of the season especially, the "I envy ice" moment especially, are similar to Brock's issues in how completely out of tone they are for SQS itself.

One thing I have to say about Cass being given lines like this is that I get a feeling from them that whoever gave him these lines ran from some of Grace's earlier dialogue and her little speech in Black Friday about killing Munsch, but it doesn't work here because in S1 those lines were not tonally comedic, and they weren't the tone of SQS itself. That was just Grace, it was part of her characterization.

Even Cassidy's "I'm dead" thing was... why? It has the same vibe as Brock's hand problems and makes me wonder if they put it in just so they could have Sadie test for it to give them an extra scene together when they could've done that anyway if they'd written them properly!! It was so random and unnecessary, and much like Brock and Munsch's hand/medical plotlines, it goes nowhere and only comes in at random times.

Going back to how they wanted him to be three things, and this goes for Jane too, S1 introduced the Devils all in mostly or partly comedy-toned scenes, Boone especially, but not once when we find out any of them are villains (mostly excluding Hester given she's not officially revealed until TFGS) do we have to remind ourselves later that they are the villains. Every scene where it comes to them being Devils, not once is it impossible to take them seriously, no matter how the scene started, is going, or ends. Boone and Gigi taking the first height of Ghost Stories doesn't come across suddenly nor does it fall apart because of how they've been written previously and/or when they were introduced!! Gigi's relationship with her kids is clear and absolutely heartbreaking, and even when we don't even know she's a part of it this goes for Hester's relationship with Boone and Gigi too!! Pete goes from how he's written in Hell Week and Pilot to having the darkest, most intense death scene in the show and being the Devil with the MOST close-call attack in the show with how close he gets to killing Chanel in Black Friday!!

This doesn't work the same for Jane and Cassidy because they AREN'T written seriously from the very first scene we meet each of them.

And when it comes to introducing Jane in Scream Again, I do think something about how we start off mimicking S1's party falls somewhat flat.

It's very clear here that Jane loved her husband, and that sticks through the season- and it's also fairly obvious that Jane and her son will be villains considering how S1 went, but I think it may not feel as harsh as S1's opening because it feels almost rushed.

We only get a few seconds of Bill and Jane interacting and talking, and aside from those moments, we don't get any implications about their relationship.

We have no insight into any layers Nurse Thomas or Dr. Mike have, aside from a few (selfishly-reasoned) lines from Nurse Thomas. Seemingly, Dr. Mike is the most heartless one of the two. They are both completely happy once Bill's body is in the swamp, and aside from the one obvious cut to Jane, that's the end of the opening, and we know it all. This does not come back later. This does not get added to. We find out about the first massacre, and Jane tells us about that later, but that is it. It doesn't add any details to these four characters other than one extra detail about the first massacre Chamberlain and Zayday very quickly found out about.

Compare this to S1.

We don't start following Bethany. We follow Amy. We follow Amy because she's the one intending completely to help Sophia and is quickly implied to probably be the closest to Sophia out of the group.

And we're made to sympathize with Amy right away. We're made to sympathize with Sophia right away. We're made to pay attention to the others right away.

Coco doesn't follow immediately, as we get told when she runs in late and comments on the music downstairs. Bethany has silent, expression-given moments of shock and panic before she switches completely to being snappy. She also sets up the attitude of Chanel and the others. Sophia's line here gives us a good look through the delivery itself. It's made fairly clear she was likely the quietest/shyest one in the house. Mandy turns back briefly when she, Beth, and Coco leave before following, so we get a look into her relationship with everyone just in that. She did care for Sophia and Amy, but she'd suck up to Bethany as much as she could. Amy does not budge through this whole scene. She's addressing the others and only interacting with Sophia by holding her hand and glancing at the baby, but it's already been made clear that Amy cares about her, and it is obvious in these looks and little details that Sophia trusts her completely.

When the others come back after Waterfalls, they are shocked. They are panicked that Sophia's dead. They each get reaction shots, Bethany included. Amy has already taken it upon herself to hold the baby, who she still continues looking at when the others are there, which already creates a slight connection between Amy and the baby.

And this is where the scene ends. We don't know what they do with her body. It is left ambiguous until Chanel gives us a little more when she and Grace talk in the basement, and then we get the rest when Mandy tells us episodes later. It's not until Ghost Stories that Munsch confirms to herself that there were two babies confirmed that night, even when we've known about Boone since Hell Week.

I think S2's tone issues make it worse, given it struggles to add real weight to Jane's loss later, even when we do know most details from the start.

S1's opening, to those willing to analyze, anyway, already works to give weight and emotion and depth to every single one of them while still managing to leave a lot of things ambiguous until we are told later. It's immediately made obvious that nobody here is going to be a black-and-white character, and that only continues to go harder and harder through the season. The whole opening and all of the things previously mentioned even add to Gigi once we get the details about her. It adds to Gigi and Boone's relationship, with Boone's conflict over knowing and thinking about what would happen if Sophia were alive. It adds to Hester pre-retcon and how close we know she was to Gigi and the fact she sees Chanel and the others as replicas of Bethany, Mandy, and Coco. It adds to Grace turning out to be Bethany's daughter.

I've not got an ending point to come to with this one, but it's a big opinion of mine, given how attached I am to S1's characters.

I don't have much to say about Hoffel aside from the fact what more depth she could've had isn't gone through with, and that's unfortunate for her. There's lots of implication that she and Cassidy did genuinely have some sort of bond, but given S2 rushing through everything and/or ignoring it to focus on other things and the ways Cassidy and Jane are written in general, nothing is done with it, and it takes away what weight it seems like there was meant to be in the scenes where they argue over Cass drifting out of the plans. Even the way she reacts genuinely caught off guard when she kills him could've had more weight if it had been a serious scene.

Hoffel and Hester don't get to interact enough, and when they do, there's very little to it, and that's a shame. Hoffel is seeking vengeance for Agatha, who was there when Sophia's death was covered up and likely when Munsch told Amy and Gigi to leave with the babies, and- while I can absolutely partly blame the retcon for this- Hester doesn't get to feel anything about that.

Considering it's fair to assume Hoffel was pretty close with her sister, there's a chance that- given Agatha lived in Kappa- Hoffel might've visited even once or twice when Gigi and Amy and the others were still around, given it's fairly clear she hadn't ever met Chanel directly before.

Then there's the little detail in Hoffel's narration: "I've had my eye on the Chanels since they were released from the asylum."

Chanel was called out for (accidentally, but they didn't know that) killing Agatha far earlier than that. That's why she was first arrested by Chisolm in S1. Since Hoffel and Agatha were direct family, Hoffel would've been informed here. She would've been told her sister was dead once they found her body in Shady Lane and then- if Chisolm wasn't too lazy to do it- updated to know who killed her when Chanel was believed to have done it all.

As odd as it would be for all of them, I don't think it's impossible that maybe Hester alone either sought Hoffel out at some point in between seasons to "tell her what really happened to her sister" because Chisolm's laziness had him never do so, OR since Denise handled the case so heavily when Hester was caught, Hoffel was invited to see Hester face-to-face in a setting akin to an interview as a chance to get some closure over what really happened to her sister, and Hester twisted it then into Chanel purposefully killing her.

And this can also go for what they could've done with her and Cass, going off the last option mentioned, Hoffel- while definitely with rougher edges than Jess and Amy had and seemingly less directly than Hester- seems extremely family-orientated.

The fact she's doing this for Agatha, the fact she's genuinely upset to kill Cass (accidentally), the way she reacts to Wes saying he wants to kill Hester by snapping that's his daughter.

If Hoffel knew Gigi (and Amy, and Sophia, and- given Bethany likely wouldn't have been too friendly, met the others), then Hester would've told her the whole story. About Agatha playing a part in covering up Sophia's murder, about Munsch, about Amy and Gigi, and everything that happened to them. Maybe she'd have even mentioned Boone.

And Hoffel would- in a twisted way- honestly halfway understand that. She'd zone in on the next thing she could- someone who, in her eyes, has nothing to lose, Chanel.

Even the way she reacts when she finds out Wes is Hester's dad in the first place is so outward and odd to me, but had Hoffel met Gigi, it gives something to Hoffel briefly defending Hester when Wes puts forward killing her trying to save his own skin. Just a little way she could've repaid Gigi for what harm Agatha was indirectly involved in. She's after vengeance for her sister, yes, but she can keep Hester safe while she's doing it.

These theories don't have to be connected, but going back to that theory I mentioned earlier:

Hester's urgency over Brock killing Munsch as soon as possible has always made me believe that it was never meant to be her and Brock going to Blood Island. It was meant to be her and Hoffel.

Again, this is a theory, but Hester leaves as soon as Hoffel is ready to kill everybody. She doesn't seem to think once about Brock being caught up in that, and as far as it's implied, he had to find a way to meet her there already on Blood Island. Hoffel is getting ready to leave before the Scooby-Doo chase starts. Hoffel was aware when Brock was going to propose to Munsch, she is the one who goes to fetch Chanel. Hester told her this plan.

It was Hester's idea for him to propose to Munsch anyway. She stood with Hoffel (and Cassidy) during the said proposal and was there to hand Munsch that pen at the wedding. She knew what she was doing. She had something planned that all this was a necessity for.

It's entirely possible to me that her plan was to have Brock kill Munsch and take the money, and once everything was done, it would've been her and Hoffel escaping to Blood Island to just do whatever they want as just partners in crime.

They also put Hoffel in Amy's blue a lot, be it with that one dress or with her nails.

And then we get to... the most pathetic, wet dog of a man in the show.

Wes is stupid. Wes is hilariously stupid. What happened to Grace is more his fault than Chanel's, and he attacks everyone he says he isn't interested in, Munsch included, given that Green Meanie she nearly unmasks at the start of the season is Wes considering Hoffel didn't have the costume by then and Cass was there in the scene with Sadie. He attacks Zayday multiple times, even if during one, he leaves her alone because she was Grace's best friend.

He yells at Hester never to call him dad, and then immediately tries tripping her into taking his side by yelling that he is her dad, and then later that same episode, says he wants to kill her to save his own skin, and this is the writing's fault, but he doesn't even say Grace's name before he dies, he says playlist, which was a running gag in S1, but was not mentioned in S2 up until then.

Wes showing up so randomly this season alone is fuel for my theory that a S3 would've brought the dead villains back (S1 villains at the forefront) because he is here just to tell us what happened to Grace and then fucking die. They could've easily done this through Zayday, but Grace literally does not exist until Wes comes along, she's mentioned like twice- never by the girls- and then she's never mentioned again.

Wes and Zayday never even see each other face to face, and she is NOT MISSING by the time he gets there. This is not acknowledged as her actively avoiding him, and even when she mentions Earl Gray to Jane, her connection to Grace is not acknowledged. I get it, boyfriend is closer to husband, but why would you not have her talk about Grace here? Have her say she lost Grace to the Devil murders!! If Grace as a devil is meant to have the power to possibly have ALREADY killed Chanel then mention her in S2!!!

Although this is also the fault of Wes being hilariously awful since S1, he is also impossible to take seriously as a villain both for that reason and because of how he's re-introduced and is here for like half an hour in total.

Wes this season also has a negative effect on Munsch, given her health issues are put on pause while he's around. This isn't the first time they seem to disappear, but it's the time it lasts the longest. Zayday told Munsch she had less than a year to live, and we get through the implication of her knowing she only has a month that she did her own research and put the timeline together herself, and as emotional as she got telling Zayday (and Chamberlain) about her worries in the first place, this is ignored by her until the last two episodes start rushing to wrap it up.

Even the brief deal he makes with Cass not only goes nowhere, but it's also impossible to take seriously because neither Cass nor Wes are written seriously in general, and by then it's too late to take them as such, especially with, again, how Wes was re-introduced.

Wes also gets his ass kicked whenever he tries physically fighting anyone, which is absolutely hilarious.

I'll mention this here due to the fact I can't say much about her because she's inactive for so long this season, but Denise being the hero of the season is pretty funny, although I do wish they'd have done more with her instead of putting her away before Hester moved back in with the others and Zayday went missing especially.

To move on to more positive things I have to say about S2, and why I rewatch it so often when I'm writing Chanel and Hester especially, season two does have a lot of really great character interactions with the girls.

It's the characterization and dynamic between the girls this season that slips through the intentionally more comedic-toned writing, and I love it.

Brock's inconsistency leads to unnecessary drama between Munsch and Chanel, but pushing that aside, there is something so special about how clear the bond between everyone is in Season Two.

Chanel and Zayday's bond is amazingly done. Chanel starts off purposefully trying to knock Zayday's confidence this season, but it isn't a rehashing of their S1 dynamic; it's a continuation. Where Chanel starts this season makes her possessive of whatever chance there is to be seen as the leader around the hospital, but it doesn't last. She'll be spiteful and snappy occasionally, of course, but within a few weeks, she's already calmed down, and she and Zayday are working alongside each other- and living together- fine.

We see more of Chanel and Sadie this season, too, as much as a lot of Sadie's scenes are pushed to be surrounding her relationship with Cass. They're closer than people would think they are, and the fact Sadie continued testing whether Chanel really wouldn't give in when she tries saying no to letting Hester stay is a huge nod to the kind of dynamic those two have in the dynamic of The Chanels in general.

Libby gets a whole relationship with Zayday this season, and it's adorable. It's so well-written, and I don't know why. We see them care about each other. Zayday brings Libby down to earth. Libby notices when Zayday goes missing. I don't know whose idea this was, but I don't think anyone can look me in the eye and tell me that a S3 wouldn't have continued with these two's relationship. They're running the hospital together by post-finale. They're practically married by the end of S2.

And pausing going from character to character for a second, S2's moments of building/emphasizing bonds between everyone makes me wonder if it was their way of setting up for a S3 being more character-focused and bringing in both the S1 villains and Grace as the Devil, and Zayday and Libby are my biggest example.

Zayday this season takes Grace's role, and with Chamberlain gone, she'd need someone else to investigate alongside her in a S3- where Grace is undoubtedly the Devil. Having Zayday and Libby investigate/visit Jane together seems like their way of testing whether that would work using Libby as Zayday's partner in investigating, and with these two being given such a nice dynamic, it did.

Even Munsch's wonky way of caring for the girls works oddly well this season. There's the unnecessary romance triangle that covers it more than other things I'm talking about here, but it's there through the whole season, even through the more in-character-conflict moments of threatening Chanel over Hester's whereabouts. Smaller things like her friendship with Denise coming back! And the way she is when they first visit Hester in the asylum this season is so interesting. She's so spiteful, and it just makes me wonder if it comes from the fact that part of her does know that it's partly her fault any of S1 (Wording it this way because the retcon's not canon) happened at all. She is partly at fault for the Devil Murders happening in the first place, and she's still too prideful to admit it to herself- especially when they first go to Hester, pushing aside the problems with the plotline, Munsch is under the impression she is dying.

Chad's big moment before he dies is so fucking sweet. I know it seems like I give him too much credit just off his word for this scene, but it's owing to Glen's phenomenal delivery of the little moments Chad gets even in S1 (his line in Ghost Stories when he asks if Chanel is the killer). He's so genuine in this whole scene, and it's just nice to have him admit that he does care for Chanel. Saying he just wants Chanel to enjoy her wedding? I am ugly crying.

I have some opinions on Chad's death. It's really stupid that Wes was the one to kill him, and killing him off so soon was a very bold move, but that scene was a sweet sendoff for him.

This one's going to be very long, have quite a bit of an old S1 analysis of mine, and have shots slotted in, so bear with me.

Chanel and Hester's dynamic this season is perfect. It's honestly quite surprising because when doing S1 to S2 right after the other, aside from Thanksgiving, all of their moments in S1 are coming from Chanel's clear bias, and then little things like Chanel's reactions to Hester being hurt in Dorkus/TFGS and then her reactions to when Hester is framing her, which may very well have not even been scripted.

In S2, their moments seem mostly intentional. There are a lot of little details again, but even the obviously scripted things like everything Chanel does when it comes to moving Hester in and refusing to tell Munsch anything about her whereabouts genuinely do make me think that a S3 would've continued developing these two's dynamic.

Looking back on Chanel's reactions in Dorkus/TFGS, first when they find Hester with the heel through her eye:

This is before Hester wakes up. When Zayday struggles to feel a pulse, and it's quickly being concluded she must be dead. From some of the others, this wouldn't look like much, but this is Chanel. In front of the others. In front of Grace.

It's implied at least one of them stepped away to call an ambulance because TFGS picking the timeline back up starts when Hester's already being wheeled out. And Chanel is there, running alongside her and telling her over and over that it'll be okay, she'll be alright, destabilized with the "Can we save the shoe?" line similar to how Pete messing around in Kappa was used as a destabilizer in his last scene. That's an in-character destabilizer, but it doesn't take away from how she's acting otherwise. This is Chanel running alongside and trying to comfort the girl she pushed down the stairs a few days ago. This is Chanel running alongside and trying to comfort the girl Zayday and Grace JUST CALLED THE LAST DEVIL. And Chanel believed them. She knew they were right. Everyone knew those two wouldn't have gotten it wrong, especially not then, especially given what Grace went through literally the night before.

But the next time we see her, she's following what Hester said when she was awake and yelling at Libby to confess that she's the last Devil. And added detail, to the others, it probably should've been thought that Hester wasn't entirely in the right mind when yelling about Libby, the girl was half-blind, had just regained consciousness, bleeding, and in a lot of pain. They don't know she did that herself.

And then when Hester moves to her during TFGS- with their completely parallel colors too- she snaps about it at first, but when Hester starts backing her toward Sadie and Libby:

Hester is the only person to pull this type of genuine reaction from Chanel. To pull reactions like this from Chanel that aren't faked or dramatized purposefully by her in the moment, and this continues into S2 in ways that, again, seem to be completely on purpose.

This isn't to do with Chanel, but I just want to point out that Amy, Sophia, and Gigi all get their own bits of reference in Chanel Pour Homme-Icide when Chanel and Hester first meet back up. Amy and Sophia get their colors in the lighting that follows Chanel through the scene- blue and gold respectively- and Hester faking ghostly sounds is directly taken from Gigi even if the retcon would never allow that to be acknowledged.

I had to bring those S1 moments up because I'm pairing them a bit with how Chanel continues to react toward Hester through the rest of the scene in CPH-I. She snaps at her- barely, for her standards- twice. And then it's implied that she listens to what Hester says mostly in silence because the scene cuts away to the apartment, and Chanel announces that Hester's moving in with them.

Even the things Libby and Sadie seem to start noticing and actively start pushing back against.

Libby's reaction wouldn't have done much to Chanel anyway, sure, but the way Sadie doesn't start a direct argument over it when she also refuses makes me wonder if she didn't give in as soon as Chanel said they'd have better luck with Hester there just to see if Chanel really wouldn't go back on her word, and she doesn't.

All it takes is this look, and Sadie lets it go.

This is all after Halloween Blues.

Chanel assumed when she was attacked there that it was Libby and was later directly proven wrong. She also says herself when Zayday's helping with her leg, she doesn't know why she wasn't followed. It's never brought back up, but there is very little chance that she didn't piece together that it must've been Hester.

Even things like barely snapping when she wakes up to Hester standing over her bed (The fact Hester ended up rooming with Chanel is a whole thing on its own) she's scared for a few moments, but she fully listens to what Hester asks for. She's bored, she feels caged up here, and she's just got out of one, she wants something to do, or she'll kill someone for the hell of it.

Before this, and before Chanel confesses and gets Hester free-roam, Munsch threatens her over Hester's whereabouts, where she stays completely silent and refuses to say so much as a word.

Hester's characterization in S2 is something I actually really like for her. The retcon's still present (and patchy), but there's actually quite a bit of her depth that slips between the cracks this season.

Although nearly all of what I'm going to say here is not confirmed directly, her calling the Green Meanie summit when she did is a nice little detail. She sees them arguing, and it's fair to assume through her, "We're here to divvy out the remaining murders so that no one's feelings get hurt," line that she worked to settle things as soon as she noticed the infighting because of what happened between Gigi and Boone.

I've talked about her and Chanel already, but on Hester's end specifically, we have some of it pretty intertwined with her characterization here in general.

She takes the chance to tease Chanel by stealing her blood in Blood Drive, but it comes with her actively trying to keep her promise not to kill anybody so she doesn't have to be locked up again, which is something about her character that I've always really liked given her past in Palmer. It's fitting for her to hate being locked up as much as she does, and S2 goes really hard with it.

Going back to Chanel, there's also a lot to S2's cliffhanger. There is a 50/50 chance here that Chanel is either badly hurt or canonically dead, with how few ways there were for her to have gotten out of it. Sadie would've most likely been the one to find her, and Hester (and Munsch) wouldn't be there to know about it. The cliffhanger this season also brings me back to what I said about a S3 possibly being more character-driven, both with Grace as the Devil and the fact that if she'd been hurt here, Chanel would've had Zayday and Libby especially keeping an eye on her given they're canonically leading the hospital by the end of the season. This could've pushed a lot between Chanel and Hester too, looking back at the fact Hester and Boone constantly spared Grace in S1 and did see her as their little sister.

I won't say anymore because I'll probably just end up repeating myself, and this is already far too long, but there you go, anon. Told you I had a lot to say.

Bonus for S2 being very adamant either on purpose or not on purpose that Chanel is asexual.

#SQS #Scream Queens #THIS TOOK FOREVER

[tuiyla]

if you could rewrite s1 and make santana a prominent main character from the get go, how would you have gone about her reaction to quinn’s pregnancy and their dynamic that season? there’s some potentially interesting stuff that could have gone down between those two that season but we get absolutely none of it because santana’s a background player 😭

Told myself I really need to prioritize older asks so yes, hey, hi Anon. Sorry it's been a while.

First, let's establish that what we do have in canon is largely the result of Santana not starting off as a main character. What I mean by that is her and Brittany both, nay, Brittana and Mertina all being little shits about Quinn's pregnancy on occasions like the Glee girls rehearsal scene in Vitamin D. But we understand that the point of the scene is to elevate Rachel and demonstrate that, despite her feelings towards Finn, she's the most compassionate about Quinn's situation. And you know that's well and good, but so often the only way Glee can make its point is by throwing other chs and relationships under the bus.

It becomes jarring when Brittana become main characters and the Unholy Trinity is, well, at least pretended to be a friendship trio that the two weren't there for Quinn at all during her pregnancy. It's something that annoys me personally very much. Whenever I write fanfic in my head at 2am that will never be written down, and I think of Quinntana, I imagine different variations of a Santana apology. Because it just sucks so much to think that she wasn't there for Quinn at all. The Santana of later seasons is ride or die for Quinn and it's just, ahh, frustrating.

But you didn't wait three weeks just for that answer. I suppose, if I were to rewrite Glee, I'd have it be a messy dynamic in season 1. I wouldn't sugarcoat it because as much as I'm a firm believer in die hard friend Santana, this is 15 year-old Santana deep in the closet and in her most cutthroat era. So her initial reaction upon hearing about Quinn's pregnancy (or rather, when she figures it out) is shock that manifests in cruelty. I don't think the gravitas of the situation hits Santana or Brittany at first. It's just so ridiculous to think that uptight Quinn would put out ONCE and boom, get pregnant. And yet. So it doesn't sink in for Santana.

And then, slowly, it does. When Quinn gets kicked off the Cheerios and gets kicked out from her home and sure, Santana's on top but it comes with a gigantic sinking feeling. God, I hate season 1 so much for not driving it home enough just how dire Quinn's situation was. Glee give a shit about your girls challenge, difficulty: impossible. But it does sink in for Santana, she just doesn't know what to do. It's such a fucked up situation and she feels like Quinn wouldn't want her help. Becomes this miserable self-inflicted hell of neither wanting to reach out while Quinn quietly drowns and Santana represses her guilt. They still, like, hang out in public. By which I mean sitting together in Glee Club. And Brittany starts asking Quinn about the pregnancy and it's almost as if things are normal between them. But nothing will ever be normal again, will it?

That's the thing, I don't think they'd talk about it. Even if Santana was an actual character in season 1, I don't think it'd be this huge show of support or active conversation. Because she's a stupid kid who couldn't possibly fully understand what Quinn is going through. And, as much as they move past that eventually, I think Quinn resents her for it, for a while. Which is why she's willing to throw Santana under the bus in season 2. That's the only way Quinn can move past it, if anything goes. Because Santana was all too happy to take her place and head Cheerio in season 1 so only seems fair.

I'm sorry, this is such a weird reply. I really wanted to do a proper Glee-rewrite, as proper as I ever do, but I think changing too much would have such consequences for the rest of the show. And really I'm just remembering how little Glee cared about Quinn's pregnancy, even outside of Santana, and it pisses me off so much. That things like getting solos were treated as issues of equal weight. And yeah yeah sure Glee had a different tone back then and it was ~satirical~ but fuck, just admit they didn't care about Quinn's story. And so just making Santana a main character wouldn't change that, it would maybe just give us a moment of her climbing to the top on Quinn's back and living to regret it.

I know a sad Quinntana dynamic isn't exactly fun, but I just don't see a version of this where Santana suddenly becomes some Mother Theresa supporting Quinn in everything. That's just not the story Glee was willing to tell. Maybe there's a quiet understanding between them, and maybe Santana does on occasion bark at people for dissing Quinn post-fall from grace. That's what I realistically see happening, Santana caring "in secret" and in her own way. But because she's bad at it, she will make fun of Quinn to her face and come up with pregnancy-related nicknames.

It's a messed up situation and a messed up dynamic. Truly sorry that after three weeks this is what the reply ends up being but I thinking about Quinn's pregnancy is just so depressing to me so I find it hard to think of a version where Santana's role wouldn't also be depressing. I know some fix-it-fics have the UHT be super supportive and sticking together and god I wish we had that instead. Or even something complicated like Quinntana's later relationship. But season 1 comphet peak bitchiness without introspection Santana just wouldn't be the best friend to Quinn.

#wow i'm not even sure there's an answer in there i'm sorry anon #you see why i sometimes take so long lmao #guess i shouldn't be the one to rewrite the pregnancy story #or i'd just need to change SO much it'd be rendered unrecognizable #glee asks #anon #quinntana asks #not quite a gleewrite so maybe doesn't get the tag #<--- stolen from another post but god most deffo does not get the tag #this ain't worthy #ah well hope you're having a nice day anyway

[archon-maenad]

umei no mai singlehandedly ruined me for almost every warring state's period naruto story about building konoha by actually doing so realistically. I'm going to make that your problem as well because I just can't stop myself anymore I need to scream about this.

I literally can't fucking comment on any fic involving the idea without feeling the need to preface it with an "ignoring the inherent unrealistic way you're portraying the village being built," which leads to me just not commenting at all because unsolicited criticism is rude. but every single story that even touches on the topic I can't read without all the flaws glaring out at me like neon signs.

it's just. it's so fucking stupid. it's so fucking stupid. people don't immediately change everything about their ways of life that easily. you don't just go from a ceasefire right into living together! other clans don't immediately jump on board! what the fuck!

in hindsight it's so obvious why konoha failed. hashirama put people who were killing each other not even a year ago together and forced them to coexist, then strongarmed all the other clans by virtue of the uchiha-senju alliance being so powerful that not joining would be a death sentence politically, economically, or literally.

in contrast umei no mai actually approached the idea realistically, the uchiha and senju weren't forced to abandon lives to live together from the get-go. konoha began as a trading town and neutral ground for centralization of mission offices that people could voluntarily move to.

this began to attract other clans not out of fear but with economical and safety incentives. uchiha and senju guarding konoha made it an attractive place to put your noncombatants. it being a trading hub meant tradespeople both civilian and clan would gravitate towards it for the opportunity.

and as the wounds of grief were given time to heal, as senju and uchiha got used to spending time around each other as allies, they moved of their own accord when they were ready. konoha was built on a foundation of people who were ready to believe in what it stood for, not those being forced to relocate from their ancestral grounds to an entire new way to life.

because of this, because of umei's beautiful worldbuilding about how konoha could have come to be, I now can't enjoy any fic that jumps right from ceasefire into a ton of clans joining together in a centralized village under the control of the senju and uchiha. it's just too fucking stupid.

I haven't even mentioned yet how konoha's canonical creation fucked with the entire balance of power in the elemental nations and forced the other countries to create their own villages in order to keep up, leading to warfare being fought on a countrywide scale instead of between single or smaller alliances of clans. because that is absolutely a thing that happened.

umei fixed that too of course, by not only having konoha be a civilian town which staved off a lot of potential conflict but also showing how using policing action would decisively resolve wars in a timely and less bloody manner. if one side is loudly proclaiming that they have dozens or hundreds of hostages they'd be willing to ransom as soon as y'all stop throwing that temper tantrum, citizens would pressure their leadership to make peace in order to get their loved ones back.

yeah lmao good luck waging war when your people are rioting in the streets over you throwing more soldiers into the meat grinder instead of signing a treaty to get back the ones still alive.

I'm not even going to touch on the political and economical repercussions of the bijuu, that's for another post. this one is about how konoha was doomed from the very start even ignoring how unrealistic the timeline and methods of it's creation were in the first place.

hashirama senju is an idiot and umei no mai has shown me the light. thank you for coming to my ted talk

#umeipinions #shinobipinions #naruto #konoha #hashirama senju

[the-timeless-founder]

What would Carla and Claire's relationship be like in Modern AU? 👀

Modern Claire and Carla

A lot healthier than canon, I'll tell you that 😭 I'll lay some background about modern! Claire first and I hope you enjoy! ❤️

How They Met:

They met at art school. Saeclus definitely has Carla involved in his passion for painting, and Claire's adoptive family expects a lot from her as a gifted actress.

They didn't share a class or anything, they just happened to meet during an event where the actors were tasked with coming up with a pose with a word given to them. The painters would then draw them in that pose.

Carla and Claire were paired up, and since Claire was instantly interested in him, she opened up the conversation and managed to hook him on just enough to have him meet her properly.

So they kind of talked and even laughed a few times before their time was up. They didn't exchange phone number though, that came a few weeks later.

Claire seemed to accidentally bump into Carla everywhere she went, and neither of them was stupid enough to think it was a coincidence. A few more conversations passed and Claire finally got his number. And he got hers.

How They Got Closer:

They often had conversations at school and even after school at times. Carla went to these fancy ass plays that Claire did work at as part of an after school project so she could earn money and move out faster.

Naturally, they got to see each other at those events too, and that's really how they just started spending time together without a need for a reason.

Sounds crazy but Carla actually didn't mind going out in places to meet her as long as she's model for most of his drawings. There weren't a lot of women he trusted around himself, much less ones who'd expertly get into a mood and a pose.

He told himself that he was just humoring her because of this, and fooled himself into thinking that it was just a relationship of mutual benefit. Once all thatwas over, they'd be over.

Well he was wrong, and even after he'd filled a whole sketchbook with portraits and fullbodies of her in different angles, clothes and hairstyles, he still wanted to see her everyday.

They never really asked each other out, just slowly progressed into "going out" together. Neither of them really calls it dating, but if someone asks if they're single, they'll both deny.

General Dynamic:

They are that one couple in high school and university who are not really together but are serious about each other.

Claire is more in tune with society than Carla, and is generally more talkative, so she does most of the talking. She's also the one to acknowledge other average human beings instead of pretending to not notice them like Carla does.

Carla is not big into PDA, but he will walk arm in arm with Claire at every event they attend because he wants everyone to know she's taken. And if someone so much as sends a longing gaze her way, he's going to give them the death glare of their life until they back off.

Claire doesn't shy away from more physical and verbal affection though, and if Carla acts too stiff and uptight, she'll start calling him "husband-to-be" which only serves as a trigger for Carla to glare at her and for her to giggle about it.

Generally, Claire is much more affectionate than Carla, especially when they're around other people. He'd be more open to her affection when they're on their own, and it's these little moments that keep her around.

Carla is very protective of Claire, especially when it comes to her family. And while Claire can handle herself, she finds it sweet that he looks after her in his own way and lets him defend her.

They rarely fight because Claire always keeps things from escalating that far. Though whenever Claire does get heated about something and they do fight, Carla usually makes up afterwards, despite his pride.

Much healthier than their canon selves, I'm proud of you sweeties.

#diabolik lovers oc #diabolik lovers #diabolik oc #dl oc #my oc #claire #carla x claire #claire cornelle #carla tsukinami

[slashingdisneypasta]

Ok... We all know that toons, especially animal toons, probably wouldn't reflect their real counterparts, the same SHOULD apply to the toon patrol as well.. But these facts that I learned about weasels are just too great, and I need to share with you since we both like the Toon Patrol XD

Well for starters, weasels can take down prey that's much larger than them. Considering that the TP is a gang and alot of people are taller than them, this checks out.

The weasel will perform a sort of 'war dance'. Our best guess as to why they do this is that this is supposed to confuse the prey (I'd be confused too if my opponent just starts dancing erratically out of the blue). Can you imagine if the toon patrol just broke out in a dance number before fighting somebody? (Maybe that's why they lost against Valient, they weren't ready and couldn't do their war dance yet XD)

Weasels' fur will turn white in the winter. I would be genuinely surprised if this turned out to be canon, but can you imagine how hilariously frustrating it would get for them? Especially if it snowed (in Toontown, since snow doesn't happen in LA)? They'd all have to play Marco Polo when out in the streets, especially with Psycho who wears his white straight jacket XD

According to an article, with how relentless and ruthless they are, weasels are considered natures psychos... And one of the Toon Patrol members is named Psycho... I'm not sure if the directors did that on purpose or not, but if not that would have been a missed opportunity XD

Weasels store food they don't eat and save it for later. And i think i read sonewhere that their also theives and store what they find too? I can actually see this being canon for the Toon Patrol, but in a more toony way? Like each weasel just has their own little storage/collection that they hoard. Either that or it would be literal here and they would keep their fridge stocked all the time. Which do you think it'd be? And if the former, what do you think they'd collect? (I think we all know what Greasy would collect...)

And last but not least, this gold mine of a fact right here.

Ok thats enough animal facts today. I hope you have fun imagining these applying to the TP, or if not just enjoy some random animal facts XD

AHHHHH YES! More of it!!

First of all- a boogle? XD A sneak?? XD A c o n f u s i o n ???? I love all those, that's so good XDD

OMGG the war dance! Eddie did a dance!! Maybe thats why Smartass was so stumped! Like, no- no- He's using our method against us! What do I do!-

Oooooh, the turning white one! What if thats why the others wear such bright colours, so they're recognisable not by their looks- but their colours! But Psycho uses the snow as an advantage (I can see him being the most instinctual of them all)... all you see is a pair of swirly eyes bobbing around just before you get jumped.

NATURES PSYCHOS!! Oh for sure XD I love that.

Ooooh, so they're little kleptomaniacs! That's kinda perfect actually, I can imagine them all just plucking stuff up as they go and putting them in their pockets for later ^^ And oh, yeah, we can assume Greasy collects like... ladies underwear... 🤦🤦 Smartass probably likes little fancy things, like engraved silver lighters and music boxes. Wheezy also likes lighters, obviously, but also good probably stands out to him (I like to think he's the most level-headed of the group, I don't know why, he is the one with the intense addiction after all but I just have a feeling 😅😅). Stupid probably cant help but take sweets when he sees them, and he and Wheezy will share with each other at the end of the day (The are part of the same Boogle!! XD). An I can see Psycho taking sharp things. Knives, needles, scalpels, tooth picks, earring studs, etc.

Thank you so so so much for sending these in! They're all great and I'm definitely incorporating some into Weasel writings! ^^

[wisemins]

If you're still taking questions for the ask game, I saw you have Jessie and James from Pokémon as romantic f/os and wanted to know what your answers are for the following::

🖋️ Pen: Say a fact about your lore or yourself/self-insert, it can be absolutely anything! Short or long winded!

🌈Rainbow: What was the happiest moment in your lore for you/your self-insert? Who all shared that happiness with you in canon?

🎵Music: If you/your self-insert had a theme song, what would it be? Bonus: An extra song that fits you/your self-insert and your f/o!

AAAHHFGOIFJODIJF TYSM FOR THE ASKK!! I am still taking asks for this game yes!! I'm so SO excited to talk about them!!! I have yet to talk about my beloved idiots in depth, so here we go!!!

🖋️ Pen: Say a fact about your lore or yourself/self-insert, it can be absolutely anything! Short or long winded!

So in my canon, Jessie and James quit team rocket! The reason why? Me!

Our story starts as I'm a lone Pokemon trainer, and it's a running gag that I'm always bumping into Ash and his gang, and they start to think I'm like the Jenny's or the Nurse Joy's, but nope! We just so happen to pop up in the same areas at the same times! Which led me to eventually meeting Team Rocket, and the shenanigans began!

At first it was me helping Ash with them if they had ever actually succeeded in capturing Pikachu, and it wasn't the hardest task in the world considering I'm not a 10 year old. And even then Ask always finds a way or Team Rocket just...flubs the whole thing. So they became to know me via defeating them in battles. Although they weren't *real* battles. I always went stupid easy on them, and they never caught on until things got more real down the line!

Eventually I began to mysteriously bump into them by myself, even before I would eventually find Ash and his friends. They might have been in disguises, hiding in "inconspicuous" places, or downright attempting to jump me for my Pokémon. All things that I found rather cute after a while, and I would tease them and they started to seem flustered even!

Then there were moments when they weren't the common enemy, it was some other cruel person/people who might just succeed in causing trouble and terror. That's when I would genuinely pull out the big guns and start to actually battle.

Unbeknownst to me, during all those times, Team Rocket would be watching from someplace I couldn't see and low-key swooning over me from the shadows. They both at some point came to the realization of like, "uh oh we like like her don't we?" So from then on it was a lot of playful flirting and them attempting to flatter me into joining them in Team Rocket, which never worked out.

Way way down the line, probably in some parts of the anime that I haven't seen yet (I've only watched up until the first Pokémon movie, but I'm working through the anime!!) I help them realize that they don't actually really like being with Team Rocket. It's too much stress, they're the jokes of the entire company, and they aren't treated right by their colleagues whatsoever. I would express to them that they're super creative and ambitious people who have actively created entire schemes and businesses just for one goal and they could apply that elsewhere! It seemed to compel them, because they ended up quitting Team Rocket and joining me on fun Pokémon adventures!

That's just the brief summary of why they quit!

🌈Rainbow: What was the happiest moment in your lore for you/your self-insert? Who all shared that happiness with you in canon?

Probably right after they quit and they said they'd dedicate themselves to me, which included a long-winded confession from them both and I happily accepted. It was the beginning of all of our upcoming wholesome and fun adventures, with no villainy! Only it's cute when they're doing wholesome things with the whole villain act, I can't get enough of it!!

They definitely shared that happiness with me, and it's something we look back on fondly!

🎵Music: If you/your self-insert had a theme song, what would it be? Bonus: An extra song that fits you/your self-insert and your f/o!

Great question!! I love it!!

So, for me, I'd say Country Roads, Take Me Home by Yuji Nomi, the violin version in Whisper Of The Heart! Myself in Pokémon canon is all about trying to find a place that feels like home, traveling from place to place, country to country, region to region. I battle for a small living, and actively am trying to find a permanent place to call my home. This obvious starts to happen after Jessie, James and I get together! I'd like to think we find a lovely house to call our own with plenty of space for our Pokémon to roam and have fun!

And for us as a whole item? I'd say Lovin' You (Lucky) performed by Tom Snyder! The entire song really fits us perfectly! They felt like they had the entire world at their hands, no matter how true it actually was-- and when they met me they felt like everything was changing, maybe at times in a bad way, but then they realized that their life would be all the better and more loving if they had me. They couldn't help but fall in love, and that to them now is the luckiest thing they could have ever had happen to them!

TYSM FOR THE ASKK I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCHH <333

The ask game in question!

#starshine asks #❤️: Prepare for trouble! And make it double! #love them love them love them #my beloveds

[itsclydebitches]

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, after the “We don’t need adults speech” they started writing for a completely different show.

For me, that was one of the major moments where I began to accept that they were writing a different story, but the seeds had been there for most of the season. Though Volumes 4 and 5 had their problems, to my mind there wasn't a heel-turn like we saw at the beginning of 6. The sudden announcement that the Relic attracts grimm, Oscar and Ruby turning on Ozpin, the lack of reaction to 99% of Jinn's vision, the physical attacks, and everyone turning their weapons on Qrow were huge departures from the optimistic and frustrated-but-ultimately-trusting group dynamic we'd grown used to. Unlike the change in Volume 3 where that shift occurred due to outside influences, thereby justifying how quickly it all went down — we know the villains have been planning this for ages even if the characters didn't, we know the tragedy stems largely from the peace of Beacon being unexpectedly shattered — changing the group's characterizations in a single scene just didn't work. Since when does Ruby put information over trust? Since when do Qrow's nieces look at him like that? Since when does this team agree 100% on complex issues like abuse and manipulation?

I wish I'd saved more content from four years ago (though I'm sure a bit of it is still in the depths of this blog) because I think fans quickly forget what assumptions tended to dominant at the times. Despite people having very mixed feelings about the change, there were still huge swaths of people who believed that explanations were coming. Fans recognized that this heel-turn didn't make sense, not without a lot more work, so surely RWBY would smooth things over later. They'd talk about the vision more once they were safe. Qrow would apologize to Oscar. The team would make peace with Ozpin. Those who were critical of those episodes from the beginning were bombarded with assurances (both kind and annoyed) that of course things would make sense in a few episode because otherwise this would be badly written. And RWBY is not badly written. The problem is your impatience, not the writing team. Which, depending on the situation, is indeed a good reminder.

But then we hit the "We don't need adults" scene. For many of us (broadly speaking, the RWDE community) this was confirmation that all the things we'd been assured would happen weren't actually coming. This moment wasn't a time to clean up the problems that had come before, RWBY was doubling down on the heel-turn. We weren't grappling with the characters' attitude change as a mistake born of extremely stressful circumstances, the show was insisting that this was how they'd been — and should continue to be — all along. Things were getting worse, not better.

Which not only continued a frustrating change in the storytelling but fanned the flames of discourse. Some (like me) tried to point out that our fears were continually being confirmed, so can we please acknowledge that? What you had faith was going to happen didn't. But many other fans denied that this was ever an expectation, or simply changed their tune about what RWBY needed. Sure, maybe they once thought the group should have approached Ozpin with more compassion, but now they realize that all the adults are incompetent manipulators, so good on Ruby for breaking from them. The majority of the fandom has been happy to go along with whatever the show currently claims (there's a reason we 'joke' about only the latest season being canon), no matter what they themselves thought earlier, because it keeps coming back to that same dilemma: people enjoy RWBY and don't want to admit to its many faults. So better to insist that they were wrong. We were stupid to expect A when clearly B is better. RWBY's choice to go in the B direction is proof that it's better because RWBY simply wouldn't make a bad writing choice.

It's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy that way and I think the "We don't need adults" scene really hammered that home. For me, anyway. Spread out across multiple weeks, I heard a lot of reassurances, from the insistence that Ruby would reach out to Ozpin, to the belief that there was a reason behind skipping Oscar's dramatic cliff-hanger. For a long time (and still!) I hold out personal hope that RWBY will improve, but the adults scene was one of the moments were I went. "Okay, it's been long enough. If any of this was going to occur it would have already started, but instead we have this. And most fans, rather than being equally disappointed, are re-writing expectations to keep the praise train going." Now, a couple years later, we still have the same pattern repeating itself. From "Penny will definitely come back because RT would never leave her with that death" to "Emerald's redemption is only just beginning, they'd never actually forgive her that fast" to "Ironwood's semblance will be mentioned in the canon, even though he's dead now, clarifying what impact it had because of course that's important" to "The Schnees can't possibly be the only dust makers. The world building will explain what kind of impact losing Atlas has had and, if it's bad, the group will definitely grapple with that because yeah, it would be stupid if they didn't" fans are still expecting good writing from RWBY. They want it to be the show they've built up in their heads. I do too. But for many, when it doesn't happen they'll backpedal to say actually none of that was needed/wanted/what do you mean it totally happened (just in my headcanon), rather than admitting oh... RWBY disappointed me. The only change since Volume 6 is that as time goes on, more people are reaching their limit of how many times they'll make excuses for the show when another "We don't need adults" scenes pops up instead the better writing they were expecting, leading to fans considering the critical side of things or, given how hostile that pocket of the fandom is, just dropping the show entirely.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[talkfantasytome]

Would you be open to writing a Gwynriel piece? I'd love to see your interpretation of them!

Helloooo! I'm going to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if this is just a question out of curiosity, or a request for a drabble or something. 😂

So, to answer the question, YES! Absolutely. They're probs a top 5 SJM world ship for me (maybe top 3?) and, to be honest, in my little side Gwynriel convo in 'Don't Forget Your Orgasm', I shocked myself in the banter I wrote - in a good way. Something about them seemed to inspire me, and I hope it'll do the same in a full Gwynriel fic.

Sadly, I often find myself struggling for the inspiration/motivation to start or fully create Gwynriel pieces. But I do wantttt to do more with them. And I do hope to have at least one or two stories in the Velaris State Chronicles be focused on them.

I would love more info on what interpretation you mean - just, in general? Canon compliant? Modern AU? etc. Or if you have a prompt in mind? Just lmk - since I do struggle, I'm all for hearing extra ideas.

That being said, in case this was just a request, here's a small drabble (a true drabble 👀) of Az coming to pick Gwyn up for that date mentioned in 'Don't Forget Your Orgasm'. Az POV, it's a bit short, but it does capture (I believe) what I think they'd be like even in canon compliant once there's healing on both sides.

P.S. Other nonnies - I see you, I love you, I WILL answer you. But it's now past 10 and I'm not the fastest writer. Not the slowest, but not the fastest. lol But if you're in my ask box currently, you will get an answer and/or a piece for the prompt sent - most likely tomorrow when I'm supposed to be working. I've seen you, and I'm all for it. XD

Azriel pulled up to Gwyn's apartment complex, breathing deeply

He couldn't believe what had happened today. Gwyn was a spitfire, to be sure, and she'd definitely not shied away from some flirtatious banter on their first date - but that? That he wasn't expecting.

If he were being honest, he hadn't been expecting the words that came out of his own mouth. In fact, he'd kicked himself internally for that stupid comment on finding her new tattoo…until she replied and he felt himself go hard right then and there.

Thankfully, her two friends - both terrifying in their own right - weren't paying attention to that. One just didn't seem interested in what happened below his belt, and the other was far too interested in what was happening beneath his brother's. Based on the little he saw, he had a feeling Cassian would be having a good night.

After a minute of just sitting in his two-door Jeep Wrangler, Az finally turned the car off and got out of it, heading toward the door.

He buzzed Gwyn's number and was greeted by a quick "Hi! Come on up!" and then a ringing sound to let him know the door was unlocked.

He spent the entire journey to the third floor schooling his features to not look surprised.

None of it mattered when Gwyn opened the door, bathrobe still on, portable curling iron in her hair, still looking like the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

Yeah, he was done for.

"Hi hi! So sorry!" Gwyn sighed, opening the door wider so he could come in. "Emerie and I were about to leave the tattoo parlor, but then Nesta decided to go back into it, and we just ended up talking for way longer than expected. Oh, and for the record, your friend Cassian definitely got lucky."

Azriel couldn't help but laugh as Gwyn just rambled on.

"I had a feeling he would," he sighed, taking in the apartment.

It was cute. Decorated mostly with an ocean décor - lots of shades of blue and green, and a few 3D pieces of art featuring colorful fish. It fit.

"Make yourself at home," she said as she started back toward the bathroom. "I know it doesn't look it, but I'm almost ready!"

"Take all the time you want," he offered, smiling more to himself than anything. "I'm not going anywhere."

Gwyn popped her head back out into the open threshold of her bathroom. "Why would you?" She smirked and winked before her head vanished again.

"Great question," he breathed to himself, leaning back into the couch.

It didn't matter that they'd only had one date so far. There was nothing that could make him leave, could make him miss out on time with Gwyn.

#gwynriel #gwyn x azriel #gwyneth berdara #azriel #gwynriel fic #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #acotar fanfic #acosf #a court of silver flames #anon ask #ask box