#that is instinct on her part

[stromblessed]

Mizu, femininity, and fallen sparrows

In my last post about Mizu and Akemi, I feel like I came across as overly critical of Mizu given that Mizu is a woman who - in her own words - has to live as a man in order to go down the path of revenge.

If she is ever discovered to be female by the wrong person, she will not only be unable to complete her quest, but there's a good chance that she'll be arrested or killed.

So it makes complete sense for Mizu to distance herself as much as possible from any behavior that she feels like would make someone question her sex.

I felt so indignant toward Mizu on my first couple watchthroughs for this moment. Why couldn't Mizu bribe the woman and her child's way into the city too? If Mizu is presenting as a man, couldn't she claim to be the woman's escort?

However, this moment makes things pretty clear. Mizu knows all too well the plight of women in her society. She knows it so well that she cannot risk ever finding herself back in their position again. She helps in what little way she can - without drawing attention to herself.

Mizu is not a hero and she is not one to make of herself a martyr - she will not set herself on fire to keep others warm. There's room to argue that Mizu shouldn't prioritize her quest over people's lives, but given the collateral damage Mizu can live with in almost every episode of season 1, Mizu is simply not operating under that kind of morality at this point. ("You don't know what I've done to reach you," Mizu tells Fowler.)

And while I still feel like Mizu has an obvious and established blind spot when it comes to Akemi because of their differences in station, such that Mizu's judgment of Akemi and actions in episode 5 are the result of prejudice rather than the result of Mizu's caution, I also want to establish that Mizu is just as caged as Akemi is, despite her technically having more freedom while living as a man.

Mizu can hide her mixed race identity some of the time, and she can hide her sex almost all of the time, but being able to operate outside of her society's strict rules for women does not mean she cannot see their plight.

It does not mean she doesn't hurt for them.

Back to Mizu and collateral damage, remember that sparrow?

While Mizu is breaking into Boss Hamata's manse, she gets startled by a bird and kills it on reflex. She then cradles it in her hands - much more tenderly than we've seen Mizu treat almost anything up to this point in the season:

She then puts it in its nest, with its unhatched eggs. Almost like she's trying to make the death look natural. Or like an accident.

You see where I'm going with this.

When Mizu kills Kinuyo, Mizu lingers in the moment, holding the body tenderly:

And btw a lot of stuff about this show hit me hard, but this remains the biggest gut punch of them all for me, Mizu holding that poor girl's body close, GOD

When Mizu arranges the "scene of the crime," Kinuyo's body is delicate, birdlike. And Mizu is so shaken afterward that she gets sloppy. She's horrified at this kill to the point that she can't bring herself to take another innocent life - the boy who rats her out.

MIZU'S ONE MOMENT OF SOFTNESS AND MERCY, COMING ON THE HEELS OF HER NEEDING TO KILL A GIRL TO SPARE HER THE WORST FATE THAT THIS RIGID SOCIETY HAS TO OFFER WOMEN, AND TO SPARE A BROTHEL FULL OF INNOCENT WOMEN WHO ARE THE CASTOFFS OF SOCIETY, NEARLY RESULTS IN ALL OF THEIR DEATHS

No wonder Mizu is as stoic and cold as she is.

And no wonder Mizu has no patience for Akemi whatsoever right before the terrible reveal and the fight breaks out:

Speaking of Akemi - guess who else is compared to a bird!

The plumage is more colorful, a bit flashier. But a bird is a bird.

And, uh

Yeah.

I like to think that Mizu killing the sparrow is not only foreshadowing for what she must do to Kinuyo, but is also a representation of the choice she makes on Akemi's behalf. She decides to cage the bird because she believes the bird is "better off." Better off caged than... dead.

But because Mizu doesn't know Akemi or her situation, she of course doesn't realize that the bird is fated to die if it is caged and sent back home.

Mizu is clearly not happy, or pleased, or satisfied by allowing Akemi to be dragged back to her father:

But softness and mercy haven't gotten Mizu anywhere good, recently.

There is so much tragedy layered into Mizu's character, and it includes the things she has to witness and the choices she makes - or believes she has to make - involving women, when she herself can skirt around a lot of what her society throws at women. Although, I do believe that it comes at the cost of a part of Mizu's soul.

After all, I'm gonna be haunted for the rest of this show by Mizu's very first prayer in episode 1:

"LET" her die. Because as Ringo points out, she doesn't "know how" to die.

Kind of like another bird in this show:

#blue eye samurai #mizu #akemi #kinuyo #bes #women are birds okay they are BIRDS #the let me die line is so SCARY AND SAD like a part of Mizu wants death but she cant? she doesnt know how?? excuse you show??? #when all these other delicate birds are dying all around her #akemis character gets more and more gutwrenching upon subsequent rewatches because whenever she says her life is in danger #NO ONE BELIEVES HER - certainly not other women #because shes rich and pampered and that means shes safe and is worrying about nothing right? right????? #and it turns out that all of akemis instincts were right and she was in danger the ENTIRE TIME #also I need to make a post just for kinuyo because I am sad

[rainysaturdayafternoon]

i’m so sick of coming over here and hearing her weird rightminded christian views come into regular conversation

#and also #she loves to misuse words #it’s no ‘abuse’ from or to me and my sister when we try to brush her hair and she screams and lashes out #that is instinct on her part #my gran’s advice? #‘you’re not the adult. let your parents handle that.’ #but THEN #when i DO THAT #she scolds me for not helping enough #leah’s lost thoughts

[thresholdbb]

what's the threshold theory

There was a post about how Tom is the only crew member who isn't really affected by the Borg, and there's a theory that he has so much luck because he saw the past and the future when he crossed the transwarp threshold. He saw the past and the future, all of time and space. There's some subconscious part of him that remembers that experience. In fact, Tom refused to play a part in Chakotay indulging Annorax's temporal incursions, probably because a part of him knew nothing good could come of it.

If we extend that same theory to Janeway, some of her wild luck with time travel and other crack plans starts to make sense. She doesn't verbally hate time travel until after the events of Threshold, since it happens in Time and Again without complaint. Janeway has an uncanny knack for time travel, as evidenced every time she deals with it. She hates time travel, but it might be because part of her knows exactly how to manipulate the timeline. She manages to avoid the "inevitable" temporal explosion in Future's End, saving both Voyager and Braxton. She resets the entire timeline in Year of Hell, and no one else followed her reasoning. She pulled it off flawlessly. In Relativity, she senses the incidents are all related, despite it being just one reading that connects them. By the time she's involved, she has a temporal incursion factor of .0036 and a time travel protocol named after her, even if that may just be Braxton's personal grudge. Then there's Endgame, where she intentionally changes the timeline. Up until this point, she has been dragged into time travel, but for the first time, she jumps in on purpose. How does Admiral Janeway know how to get them home sooner in a way that completely avoids the Temporal Integrity Commission? It's because she has seen all of time, and part of her knows exactly what needs to happen so she can get Voyager home and do it in a way that becomes baked into the prime timeline. Maybe she doesn't consciously remember what happened during her transformation, but the experience lives in her mind somewhere, guiding her decisions.

#every day is threshold day #tldr threshold cemented the time travel shenanigans #we're not counting her disparagement of time travel in relativity i know it's technically before threshold #but they've messed with the timeline so much that her past timeline is also changed. #Time travel is funny because the past is the future the future is the past #so while relativity comes before threshold in the prime timeline her timeline has also been changed in a way that it wasn't before threshol #we could chalk it up to a writing oversight but this is more interesting #not to mention her uncanny luck with the Borg which I think ties in as well #it's part of why her instinct is so strong #also the bio neural gel packs but that's a different theory #listen she's amazing with or without having seen all of time and space but she has seen all of time and that must have affected her somehow #those little salamander babies also have all of the cosmos in their mind #tried to explain as concisely as possible but it is part of my overarching theory #she doesn't second guess herself nearly as much following their jaunt into transwarp #I have more but I'm trying to be brief cause it's written up partially in my drafts somewhere and i have some things i need to do today lol #meta #Star Trek voyager #Kathryn janeway #threshold day #did you expect me thresholdbb to not have a serious threshold theory? #listen I can make anything nonsense and turn anything into a serious theory I was known for this kinda bs in grad school #I wrote a 25 page paper on NOTHING once #I wrote a paper about how corn fields were super gay and it made my professor cry I can spin the bullshit it is one of my skills

[orobty]

Family Tradition

#rottmnt #rise leo #rise karai #rise krang #rise shredder #animation #my art #if it looks a lil rough in some parts no it doesnt #the hamato instinct to trap yourself in an alternate prison world with something that hates you not knowing if you'll ever be able to leave #the hamato misfortune of having to interface with krang tech to protect your family #(the hamato ability to pull your family right back out of that dimension) #(*donnie voice* classic hamato self sacrifice) #been thinkin about karai and leo having to fight a krang effected family member and about them both being still so young and having to take #on the role of leader when they really shouldn't have had to yet #and certainly not under the potential world ending duress they both endured #cause like how old are we really thinking karai was guys #when she first entered a prison dimension with something that looked like her dad and didnt come back out #also thinking about how the scroll ansestors prioritize karais mission and keeping the shredder contained over everything else #but how the second she gets out she emphasizes how proud she is of splintz for letting them be a family #this has gotten to long but *slaps roof* this family can fit so much trauma AND love in it!!

[mortiscausa]

i can't stop thinking how funny it would be if gareth's brothers did in fact recognise him and were just like 'well clearly he has his reasons so let's all be good big bros and pretend we don't know him' and then spend the next few weeks before he goes off on his quest pretending extremely badly that they have never ever met this kitchen boy before nope not at all even while other knights are looking at them and looking at gareth and going 'hmmm'

#gawain can't resist giving weird brotherly pep talks every time he passes him like 'keep up the good work kid! we're all rooting for you!' #and then turns to ragnelle to whisper loudly 'that was ok that was normal and convincing right' while she rolls her eyes #gaheris bumps into him in a corridor and startles like a deer and is like 'hahaha random kitchen boy i certainly have never met before what #fine weather we are having in these parts hahaha i shall be leaving now through the door over there good bye' and then #walks into a broom cupboard and has to awkwardly back out again while gareth stands there #holding a broom that he was just about to put back in the broom cupboard #agravaine nearly manages to pass by without incident while gareth is scrubbing floors but at the last second brotherly instinct takes over #and he kicks the bucket of suds over yelling 'you missed a spot dickwad!' before sprinting away #gareth is just 'wow my brothers are bigger freaks and weirdos than i remember i don't want to be associated with these losers' #meanwhile arthur is like 'kay can you please just tell them all that you know who he is because i cannot take this farce much longer' #kay: ... oh so now im not allowed to have fun am i? fucking tyrant

[joshisodd]

I may not look it but i used to watch ft!!

I've been rewatching some of the episodes and im still wishy washy on whether or not I want to redesign all the characters but here's some recent and old character sketches!! I've been playing around with their designs but trying not to deviate too far so that the characters still look like who they're supposed to be

Idk if anyone would wanna see me redesign/rework every character but I'd post em if there were people who wanted to see that.

Here's the rundown for those who are interested:

My basic ideas for fairy tail are to make every character a fantasy trope/creature/class/myth. Some of the characters will change into a different thing over time as they gain experience. I feel like fairy tail has a lot of potential to write a more modern fairy tale type story because of the whole wizards and magic thing. With dragons and princesses n everything. This is obviously present in the story, but i really want to reinforce that idea. there are some characters who I think really fit this, like Erza (obvi main knight of the story but also has the title of titania queen of the fairies) and natsu (obviously dragon as an mc, sort of a role reversal of the evil dragon. and maybe a fun demonic plot twist haha). But with other characters i may need to make more changes. Lucy is a loose version of the princess (with a fun runaway backstory), but I want her to evolve into a priestess. Grey kinda has nothing going on for him imo, the ice wizard thing keeps throwing me off every time i try to project something onto him. I think i'll go with a hunter -> demon slayer thing. He just happens to use ice magic. i don't wanna go with regular wizard because thats a bit boring lmao. It would also make the elemental thing between natsu and grey funnier bcuz he's a spooky demon and that guys a hunter so you guys REALLY shouldnt get along. They do anyway because the power of friendship lol Anyways that's the basic plan? even if i dont post it on tumblr just know its cooking in the back of my head. thx for reading all this haha

#fairy tail #nalu #Natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #wendy marvell #redesign #lisanna strauss #fanart #anime #manga #Fairy tail is so near and dear to my heart still #i really should finish it #but also GOD JUST GIVE ME THE REIGNS I PROMISE I COULD REWRITE THIS SERIES SO GOOD #poor wendy cant figure out if nalu is dating or not #she's like a little sister to natsu in my version #also all the dragon slayers arent just humans who can harness the power. like. its more obviously a part of them #like natsu and wendy naturally bond because dragon pack instincts ig and boom now she has an older brother #also wendy is a sky dragon like why doesn't she wear clothes that make sense for sky magic #she's gonna b cold just wearing that dress in the sky! cover her up!! #also lucy is trans i dont make the rules #ALSO MATES AS IN DATING #NOT SEX LOL

[ahavrn]

Waiting fr th day more ppl acknowledge uzi is no longer a normal worker drone n starts developing animal behaviors of her own

#i mean - plz i need more of tht #i need N and Uzi having fun together n communicating in more ways than normal o #shes got wings n a tail now n i think it should have an effect on her psyche and more parts then just addons #sry this is coming from an animal based artist #murder drones #nuzi #enzi #uzi doorman #serial designation n #.txt #ok i mean it does have an effect on her psyche but like u get what i mean #animal instincts and behaviors AGGHF

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

man the dev notes w/ the stormshore tabernacle convo. whatever they're there for it's kind of remarkable how so much of the notes there for her are just textbook abuser stuff.

#tbd #after all the advantages I gave you -- i have the visceral skin crawl reaction its the abusive parent anthem #things that make my skin crawl bruh #it's everything I did for you #child who i groomed #I'm being so magnanimous towards you giving you time == child who i groomed #look at how merciful i am even though my first instinct is that i don't like how you didn't obey me #the dev notes of that convo genuinely make it worse boooy #which well done but also i will throw hands #dming helm pls kill her again #anyway i think it's kind of fascinating that most gods in this game show themselves as these larger than life figures but mystra? #you are seeing the person who did that to gale you are seeing that person #that person came to him as a child #like that divine separation has just not been there #esp with the build up #where she first dispatches elminster and then again when he tells you about the grant but at the end it's just her in this human figure #i genuinely feel like it deliberately strips that divine separation away & its another layer of insidiousness on her part #it's grounded in the sense of the damage she'd done to gale idk i am waffling but its just something about it is worse when it's so..wow. #idk i think in this game? i think she's not written like the other gods in this game and i think it makes her worse not more sympathetic #bg3 spoilers #abuse tw

[isogenderskitty]

here's the real question: would post-npmd grace turn on pete & steph if she saw them canoodling? discuss

#i honestly cant tell and thats the scariest part #shes so fucking unhinged who even knows #hatchetfield #npmd #grace chasity #like my instinct is to say yes she absolutely would #but also?? she did step up and sacrifice her chastity to save them #so she clearly cares about them

[journey-to-the-attic]

3rd anni req 16: lucifer, dad, aunt / home visit

ao3 link

note: finally got back to these! very quickly: lisa (aunt) has met satan and belphie but no one else, and zhao (dad) knows all the brothers already and specifically knows lucifer better at this point - the background things are stuff i intend to write in future. also i wasn't completely sure if the request wanted zhaolu, so i left it ambiguous (this would be pre- any relationship anyway, so take it as you like!)

∎ ∎ ∎ ∎ ∎

“I’m back! Where’s— huh, Lucifer?”

Lucifer lowers his glasses and polishes away the fog. “Welcome home.”

“...hi?” I dump my bag by the door and change into my slippers, then return to the kitchen door. He’s still there. “What’s the occasion?”

After all, last I checked, Lucifer had some pretty strict rules about hopping between worlds - special occasion birthday visits not counted, of course. At this, though, he just smiles mysteriously.

“Nothing in particular.” He takes a sip of his tea, then quirks an eyebrow at me. “Well? Tell me about your day.”

…sure, I decide, because as much as I’m suspicious about his reasons for being here, I’m still happy to see him. I pull up the chair opposite him.

Lucifer hasn’t been up here that many times, especially compared to Mammon or Satan (the latter who visits whenever he’s allowed, and the former who visits even when he isn’t) - but he looks completely at home in our kitchen. Oddly pleased with himself as well, though I have no idea what about.

A little smile stays on his face through one, two, three stories - he asks me to show him the pictures from a school trip to the maritime museum, and to send him the one of me sitting in a model submarine so that he can show the others. In return, he has a video of Mammon trying to teach a roc to swear.

“You can do it,” encourages the blurry Mammon on the screen, holding a little biscuit just out of reach. “C’mon, smart guy!”

The roc tucks its beak into his wing sulkily and doesn’t make a sound. Mammon tries fruitlessly for another little while, then ultimately throws up his hands and walks off.

Whoever’s behind the camera doesn’t move - they point it at the roc and wait silently. Sure enough, after barely a minute, it mumbles, “Son of a bitch.”

“He still hasn’t figured out its trick,” Lucifer says as I laugh. “It learns, but it doesn’t want him to know he taught it.”

“Does it have a name?”

“Would you like to give it one?”

“Ohh, can I?” I lean forward and peer closer at the roc in the video for a moment. “Mmm… Connie. Looks like a Connie.”

“Connie it is,” He says, smile widening.

At that moment, Dad totters unsteadily into the kitchen, lugging a cardboard box. Lucifer rises from his seat, then pauses.

“Careful— careful, mind! You’ll do your back in!”

“I have it,” Dad says through gritted teeth, and finally sets it down with a rather worrying crash. “There. Thank you.”

“You haven’t let me do anything,” Aunt Lisa says, disgruntled. A split second later, as if sensing him somehow, she turns and looks Lucifer directly in the face.

He freezes on the spot. Aunt Lisa scans him, and I can see her mentally taking notes on everything she sees - red eyes (weird, but could be contacts), extremely tall (unusual, but not impossible), and distinctly too well-dressed for having tea in someone’s kitchen.

“Hello,” She says smoothly, and if I didn’t know better I’d think she was completely unperturbed.

Lucifer clears his throat. “Hello.”

Neither of them make any move to introduce themselves. I catch Dad’s eye. He’s wearing the face of someone who completely forgot he had a guest over.

“Um,” He says. “This is Lucifer.”

Aunt Lisa barely blinks. “I see. Hello, Lucifer. Should I call you Mister?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” He’s starting to look distinctly uncomfortable. I guess Avatar-of-Pride street cred only counts in the company of people who actually know what that means.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” She says, folding her arms and leaning back against the counter. “From your brother. And your other brother.”

“That does not narrow it down,” He replies stiffly. She snorts.

“Tea?” I ask, then hurry to the sink without waiting for an answer. “I’ll put the kettle on.”

Dad taps the counter nervously as it begins to hiss. Then, probably a little too late, he adds, “Lucifer, this is Lisa…”

“Ms. Cassidy to you,” She tacks on sharply, and Dad and I exchange wide-eyed looks.

Neither Belphie nor Satan got the surname-only treatment. Heck, most of her clients don’t get the surname-only treatment. Then again, Satan and Belphie are quite possibly the worst demons for Aunt Lisa to have gotten her first impressions of Lucifer from, even if they didn’t just outright lie for fun.

I try to remember what I might have told her about him. It’s not like I’ve given her any horror stories, but I guess there are a lot of Lucifer traits that only become likeable once you’ve gotten used to his personality...

The kettle finishes boiling. I clear my throat and occupy myself with making the tea. Maybe I should be doing more to dissolve the tension, but I kind of don’t know how - besides, I didn’t even know Lucifer would be here today. I haven’t had any time to prepare a defence for him - no powerpoint, flashcards, anything...

Dad fiddles anxiously with his watch for a moment, then suggests (though he sounds more like he’s making a plea), “Everyone - sit down?”

Aunt Lisa gives Lucifer one more long look, then shrugs and pulls up a chair. Lucifer waits for her to sit down properly before doing the same.

“So what do you do for a living?” She asks him smoothly.

He opens his mouth and pauses. I realise that I don’t actually know the answer to that question, either - does he count as a government worker? Something teacher-adjacent? Actually, the others aren’t in employment, either. Where do they get their money from?

“I’m…” Lucifer deliberates over his words for a moment. ‘Deputy head of the student council’ probably wouldn’t sound very impressive, but technically 'second-in-command to the prince' isn't a title he officially has, and could arguably belong to Barbatos. “Ahem...”

“He works for Diavolo,” I say helpfully. “The prince.”

“The prince,” Aunt Lisa repeats. The corner of her lip twists slightly. “And what do you do - polish his shoes? Put on a jingly hat and dance?”

It isn't the 1600s anymore! Lucifer’s mouth tightens. Before he can get out a scathing reply, I interject again, “He does admin and stuff.”

“Oh, so you’re the paperwork guy,” She says with some dry amusement, pausing briefly to give me a smile as I set her tea down. “And are you busy? Managing hell, I mean.”

“...we don’t run the whole Devildom from one office.”

“No, I suppose you don’t.”

I opt to stay by the counter as the exchange continues, like a game of extremely terse ping-pong. Dad - watching all of this with a kind of slowly mounting dread - abruptly starts rifling around in the cupboard.

“Biscuits,” He says a little breathlessly, setting a plateful on the table with a loud clack!, effectively breaking the momentum of the match.

Aunt Lisa breaks eye contact with Lucifer for the first time in the last ten minutes to give Dad a fond smile. “Thanks, love.”

Lucifer shoots her a funny look - which I'm pretty sure he doesn't think anyone sees - and schools his expression straight back to neutrality when Aunt Lisa turns back to him. She pushes the plate forward a little.

“Custard cream?” She suggests sweetly.

“...thank you.”

She quirks a brow and settles back, focusing on her mug. Lucifer regards her carefully, then lifts the biscuit to his mouth.

As soon as his mouth is full, Aunt Lisa asks, “How much does the prince pay you?”

Lucifer’s face twitches. Having to hold up the illusion of courtesy is clearly beginning to get to him. He drains the last of his tea, then releases a sigh.

“Whatever it is you want to say to me, say it.” He doesn’t bother answering her question. “Say it. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

“Alright.” Aunt Lisa fixes him with a cold look. “I don’t like you.”

A long pause. Dad dithers briefly, then sits down as well. Rather than mitigating the tension, though, it only seems to manoeuvre around him, like water around a rock in the middle of a river - no more words are said, but they’re both staring hard enough for the tension to practically become verbal. One after another, while they don't think the other's paying attention, both Aunt Lisa and Lucifer shoot him mildly apologetic looks.

“You’ve only just met him,” I decide to come to Lucifer's defence, seeing as he doesn't seem to intend to do it himself. “You don’t really know him."

“From what I’ve heard, I don’t want to.”

Lucifer’s brow creases. Then realisation dawns, and he turns to me with an unimpressed frown. “Satan and Belphie?”

“Probably Satan and Belphie,” I confirm with a mild grimace, and he gives another, longer sigh.

“Ms. Cassidy,” He starts after a moment, perfectly collected again, “I hope you realise that my younger brothers aren’t going to give you objective assessments of my character.”

She snorts. “Does Zhao think it’s cute when you use big words?”

“Have another biscuit,” Dad mutters before Lucifer can respond, shoving the plate towards her with maybe a little more force than necessary. “...A-Ke, can you let Hyde in?”

“Eh?” I listen for a moment. Sure enough, there’s a scratching from the kitchen door.

Hyde meows loudly as soon as it opens, then slips in before it can shut again. He scans the room with enormous green eyes, notes the foreign person, and immediately makes a beeline in his direction.

“...hello,” Lucifer says in mild surprise as Hyde rubs his cheek against his leg. “Where did you come from?”

He leans down to give him a scratch behind the ears. Aunt Lisa watches all of this with what can only be described as an air of betrayal. I don’t know what she was expecting - Hyde’s the friendliest old man any of us know.

Hyde’s favourite treat also happens to be cheese from our fridge, so I get him a little chunk and wave Lucifer over. He seems relieved to get away from the table (though he'd never admit it, of course). Under my whispered instruction, he crouches down and gingerly proffers the cheese in an open palm.

“You’ve met already,” Aunt Lisa notes, then turns her stare on Dad, who quickly looks in the other direction. “How many times has Lucifer been in your kitchen, Zhao?”

“I haven’t counted…”

“And you didn’t think I’d want to meet the man who kidnapped your daughter?”

“That’s not fair,” I object. “I got summoned. And it was Diavolo, not Lucifer. That’s different.”

Aunt Lisa turns to look at the two of us, still crouched beside Hyde, who’s devoured his cheese and is now sniffing at Lucifer’s sleeves for more. The look on her face is… dangerous. “Do you think that makes it any better?”

I’m just trying to make things less tense. I blink at her nervously, then reply, voice tiny, “No?”

Lucifer glances at me, then sighs and stands up straight again. Hyde lets out a dismayed meow, but immediately forgets about the non-existent cheese he was looking for as I start scratching his chin.

“Ms. Cassidy,” Lucifer says, suddenly sterner now, “I realise that we made several ill-advised choices, but IK was not involved in any of those decisions. I’d appreciate it if you left her out of this discussion.”

“Not involved? They happened to—” Aunt Lisa cuts herself off, then folds her arms. “No. Fine. I've plenty to say, mind - I just promised I wouldn’t go on about it.”

Hyde trills and flops down on his side. I run my hand down his fur as he purrs, keeping one eye on Lucifer as he crosses the room to take his seat again.

“We made the decision before we’d met IK," He says. "Now that I understand - I’d be furious if I’d been in your place, too. I don't blame you.”

“Understand what?” She asks, challenging.

Lucifer doesn’t falter. “Believe it or not - IK is an irreplaceable part of our family.”

I quickly look down at Hyde to disguise a smile. Aunt Lisa doesn’t seem to have a response for that - after a moment, I hear a crunch, and look up just in time to see her give him a begrudging nod, biscuit in mouth.

Neither of them says anything. Lucifer picks up his cup, then sets it down again.

“Mrs Prescott has a new rabbit,” Dad says a little helplessly as the silence stretches on. “Across the road. It’s very cute.”

“That’s nice, Zhao,” says Aunt Lisa.

“What’s its name?” Lucifer asks.

Panic crosses his face. “I… don’t remember.”

Hyde’s purring slows and quietens. He looks backwards at Lucifer, then twists to look at Aunt Lisa. I play idly with one of his paws, then stand up.

“Bake Off’s on tonight,” I say. “Let’s watch it together, shall we?"

#i was a little stuck on what to write so i settled on aunt lisa being an instinctive lucifer hater lol #also zhao has quite a small part in this and that's bc i've got stuff planned for him and lucifer in other things #3rd anni event #obey me #writing #obey me lucifer #jtta ik #jtta zhaoxi #jtta lisa #first time i've tagged her before dang #i still need to draw her and some other jtta side chrs actually

[field-s-of-flowers]

Palamedes is such a liminal spaces kinda dude. River bubble Canaan House. Cam’s body when she’s in control. Ianthe’s mind palace. Man seriously cannot catch a break

#soph’s posts #This is part of my Camilla-and-Palamedes action-and-thought thesis btw #He represents the abstract and hypothetical. Which is why he spends so much time in places that aren’t quite real #He’s not really a complete person without Cam there #And vice versa #So Paul is textually two people at once. But thematically they’re the synthesis of a singular person out of two halves #It’s like when Pal lets Cam off the leash for the duel scene she goes buckwild on Marta until he reins her in #And he stays in the river bubble until Cam somehow brings him into her body and back to reality #Unrealizable ideas vs unchecked animal instinct. What was I talking about #the locked tomb #palamedes sextus #the unwanted guest

[varpusvaras]

Being away from Alderaan was always hard.

It had been hard back when the Republic had still existed, and it had only become harder after the Republic had fallen. But Bail had never complained, and he wouldn't start complaining now. He had too much to do for that.

Still, even he couldn't go on forever, with looking after his family and Alderaan, with trying to uphold some sort of sence of justice in the Imperial Senate, and with hopping from one Rebel base to another. He wasn't getting any younger, and some days he could truly feel it. Sometimes some sorrows just felt too heavy.

It had been difficult for him to concentrate on other things during the past days. His mind kept replaying the image of the destroyed city, and of the sorrow in Fox's eyes. Kamino had not been his home for many years, and had perhaps never been truly his home to begin with, but it had still meant a lot of things for him, a lot of things many people would conflate with him.

Above all else, Kamino had connected him and his brothers. The brothers, who seemed now to be truly lost to him.

Bail was increasingly glad for Breha and Leia, for his whole family, for holding each other together. The three of them were what held Bail together, after all, through all of this, when in all honesty, he just felt out of breath.

The meeting came to an end. Bail turned to look when Mon put her hand on his arm.

"You look tired", she told him. Bail hummed.

"I've heard that's what happens when you have a toddler", he said. Leia had just started to take her first steps without holding onto anything, and had started to try out words a while ago. No matter how tiring children were when they were small, Bail found that he was increasingly reluctant to seeing her grow up either, even if seeing her learn new things every day was more exiting than anything. Perhaps that was just the duality of parenthood.

Mon smiled slightly. There were new shadows under her eyes as well.

"I know that very well", she said. She gave his arm a light squeeze. "Go home. We all need you rested, your family included."

Yes. Going home sounded wonderful. Bail nodded, and was just about to tell her the same, or ask if she wanted to come visit them soon, when-

-when he could've sworn he felt something tugging at the back of his mind.

It was a strange feeling, though familiar at the same time. Many times he had felt the same when he was with Leia, her curious eyes watching him and her mind reaching out to him in a way Bail couldn't properly answer to, other than to try and aknownledge that he had felt her. There was a certain feeling to it, when a child, still unconsciously doing so, reached out, compared to when someone with years of training would do the same.

But Leia was not here. Bail stopped, and looked around. He watched his fellow Rebels, mingling around, getting ready to leave or move out elsewhere in the base that still needed establishing and work, and he listened.

There. He glanced at Mon.

"Just a moment", he said to her, before hurrying off, away from the meeting room and down the still barely lit hallways of the base, and eventually, he could hear it out loud as well.

A child crying. Bail had become extremely responsive to such a noise, lately, and he quickened his pace even more as the sound gripped at his heart.

There was a room, tucked away from the commotion of the rest of the base, furnished to look like a spare room. There was a droid there, leaning over a small bed, making a low, calm humming sound, which was almost completely drowned out by the crying.

Bail almost ran the last steps. The droid noticed him then.

"Oh, hello", it said, in a vaguely female voice. "I'm C-EER4, refurbished medical droid. I was told to look after the child for a moment."

Bail was barely listening to the droid.

There was a small baby on the bed, his little fists grabbing thin air as he cried, tiny tears rolling down his round cheeks. He was younger than Leia, clearly, by several months. Entirely too small to be left alone, even with a droid.

Bail didn't think twice. He reached down on to the bed, and lifted the baby to his arms.

The crying stopped. A pair of dark eyes turned to look at up at Bail, and Bail-

Bail knew those eyes. How could he not, when he loved them so?

"What is a clone baby doing here?" He asked the droid.

"He was brought in by a small cell a few days ago", C-EER4 said. "Some of the younger clones were succesfully shipped out from the cloning facilities before their destruction. He was, by their words, the only one of that age that survived."

Bail looked back down at the baby. He was still looking at him, tears now drying on his little face, and there was the slightest tug in Bail's mind.

It didn't take anything else for Bail to fall in love.

"I will take him", he told the droid. "His father is waiting for him at home."

C-EER4 didn't say anything to that. Bail wouldn't have listened to anything, anyway.

The only thing that mattered to him at that moment was the little gift in his arms, looking up at him, with all the trust a child could possibly have.

#an unattended child: *exists* #Bail: *dad instincts going off* #listen Even was not supposed to be a part of this au originally #but I am way too attached to him now #and so is Kenzie when I asked her #so ofc I had to write a version where he is there because of course #Leia: what's better than one brother? Bam! Two brothers! #my writing #snippets #sw #tcw #post order 66 au #bail/breha/fox #Bail Organa #Mon Mothma #Commander Fox #Breha Organa #Leia Organa #Star Writing

[thecounterfeit-redhead]

OKAY NOT SURE WHY NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEYRE IN THE WATERPARK AND ANNABETH IS LIKE “I’ve never seen a horror movie” (or scary movie whatever she says) AND PERCY IS LIKE OH IF WE DONT DIE LETS GO SEE ONE?!

LIKE SIR D-DID YOU JUST ASK HER OUT?!?!

#is this the movie in the battle of the labrinth?? #the rizz he has at 12 #it’s gonna be a long time before they see that movie #they don’t even see the movie in botl #what scary movie would they watch #I think Percy would take her to like a Tuesday night showing when they do all the old movies #he would have been raised on the classics cause sally darn well raised him right #annabeth would try not to look scared cause she’s a freaking demigod nothing can scare her #but then oop jump scare and she instinctively grabs Percy’s hand #he doesn’t know what to do cause he was expecting it but suddenly she’s squeezing his hand so tight he can’t feel it #the scary part ends and he tells annabeth she can relax it’s over and then she realizes that she was holding his hand that whole time?!?! #they both blush #it’s very cute #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy series #pjo #percabeth #percy and annabeth #pls send pjo content

[eggtqrt]

the thing about the charming siblings is i want to make them tragic. you're perfect, I wish I was perfect. you're allowed to not be perfect. I resent you for being perfect. I hate you for being imperfect. I want to be a boy. I want to be a knight. I want to be you. I could be better than you. I wish your destiny was mine. I wish people loved me the way they love you. I wish she loved me the way she loves you. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. I love you. I miss when we were friends. we never talk anymore. do you even care? you know nothing about me. you took my destiny. who am I? I'm supposed to be the responsible one. don't leave me. get away from me. when did you grow out of being a little kid? i miss home. the only place that feels like home is you. do you love her? do you love me? brother. sister. i was supposed to protect you. I'm sorry. I forgive you. nothing will ever be the same again.

it's about perfection and performance. it's about playing roles. everyone has their role to play. what if i want to be something else, something more. it's about femininity and masculinity. it's about not fitting in to either. is it about who you're supposed to be or who you want to be? I did it for you. I didn't ask for that. I'd burn the world for you. you never cared about me. I think of you always. there isn't room enough for all of us. i wish you'd never been born at all. I couldn't live without you.

#the thing about dexter and darling is they have a lot of parallels #they both thought their love interests (raven and apple) liked daring #they both wish they were like daring (though in different ways) #neither of them have a confirmed destiny #but at the same time dexter gets to be a prince and do the things she wants to do #and i think Dexter is sort of jealous of her because as another prince he gets compared to daring more #Dexter resents his siblings for being seemingly perfect and he also resents darling for how she doesnt even have to be perfect #bc she doesnt get compared to daring in his eyes #darling does feel the need to be perfect though and resents that she can't live the life she wants but her brothers get that life #daring TO ME has a superiority complex to cover up his flaws bc hes severely scared of being imperfect #but at the same time he wishes he was allowed to be imperfect bc the pressure is killing him #hes relied on false bravado for so long that he doesn't know who is without that especially when he loses his destiny #so he resents darling for her effortless confidence in who she is #i think they all used to be super close and daring felt like the one who needed to protect his siblings #but they grew apart as they got older and started to resent each other and he lost that protective instinct #but they all miss when they were closer #i think daring realizes he was “supposed” be the one protecting his siblings once darling starts protecting/saving him #to darling its too late for him to protect her bc she can protect herself and doesnt want to be protected #to dexter though i think a part of him wishes daring stood up for and protected him more #they all desperately need to be flawless but its killing them #and they all desperately want to be each other #and they all just want their siblings back #but they can't go back to when they were children #and they can't understand each other as they are now #but they love each other anyways #even as they resent each other #eah #ever after high #ignore that i wrote 50 million more things in the tags #i realize this may be out of character or whatever but idc

[marc--chilton]

(mgv) OAUUGHHH lawrence and adam rooming together out of the hospital because it's made VERY CLEAR that they need each other close and safe after the trap. like @lucradiss said, they had to be moved into the same room because even after the smell of blood and shit and fear were cleaned off of them, their distress scent -- raw and unfiltered "NEED, COME BACK, DON'T LEAVE, WHERE ARE YOU, NEED YOU" -- was palpable enough to send their respective floors into a state of unease. and adam's being evicted, and tensions are high between lawrence and alison right now, so....

their new place doesn't scream "doctor's salary" but it's not a shithole either. one floor, too. at first they're in separate rooms but..... lawrence hasn't slept alone in years, and not having adam as close as possible still gives him some unease (if he can't see him how can he be sure he ever came back for him, got him out of there, let him live). he doesn't even get a chance to wheel by adam's room before the man himself is slipping into his. "keep seein' shit in the shadows. think i gotta take the door off my closet."

lawrence grants him half his bed easily. he also learns fairly quickly that adam is a funny sleeper. he burrows and squirms relentlessly in his sleep until he's nearly sideways with his head on lawrence's ribs. one time he woke up to adam sprawled bonelessly across his middle, slightly crushing him but mostly just endearing himself to lawrence.

the point of no return for Feeling Something More for adam was when diana stayed for the weekend. they hit it off well in the hospital already, so he wasn't worried about that. no, it was simply how much adam worried about making her feel safe there, because it might be her dad's place, but her dad has a roommate now and they didn't meet under fantastic circumstances. he doesn't want her to see him like zep, like some stranger in a home that isn't his.

(it is his home, though.)

he's trying so hard for this eight year old who's been through some shit, he wants her to like him, to be okay with him being there, and it chokes lawrence up if he thinks about it too hard. it feels a lot like a binding point between his old life and his new one. he loves them. he loves him.

diana learns what a 'pup pile' is that night. she has no siblings to pile up with, so she never got to learn, which just Isn't Right in adam's eyes. so that night adam stuffs them into their bed with the pillows and blankets from his old room they'll convert to be diana's, says, "three's not much a pile, but we'll work with what we got, right?" and hustles them into something comfortable, twined and piled on each other.

and if lawrence cries a few happy tears that night, well, he's allowed some by now, isn't he?

#saw #chainshipping #LUCAAAA YOUR TAGS GOT ME THINKINGGG #lawrence and alison probably were bondmates before but over time as the passion died it just faded #and they never got it back enough to renew the bites #and then adam starts being nervously domestic when diana comes around #even when adam starts being a bad influence (term used loosely) lawrence is like Wow #lawrence also isn't an alpha who can purr but if he could it wouldn't take much to get him going with adam around #smitten. that's the word. smitten with him #best part is that when adam is with diana he doesn't even realize he's showing desirable traits #alison's a FANTASTIC mother but she's a little detached from her instincts #(she strikes me as the type who doesn't like the whole sort of primal thing that comes with being in mgv) #(maybe she'd be a beta then idk!! that might be cool actually) #so when adam gets to teach diana something she doesn't know regarding them he gets jazzed #“oh hell yeah i can deal with this!” (displays traits incredibly attractive to prospective mates) #lawrence never stood a chance and that is my decree #mgv

[baphometsgirlcock]

ive rambled about this to my friends but i do genuinely find it so funny that dunmesh just randomly is like "by the way this woman has a penis now" as a throwaway detail. her brother has a one-panel crisis in the general vicinity of her newfound anatomy (which is played off more as a joke about him not being ready to have nieces / nephews tbh), and then it never comes up again. falin just Obtains A Dick and there are 0 narrative consequences. there is one panel of fridge humor and then nada. the most casual possible phalloplasty.

Which is fun enough on its own but also. it's a dragon cock. like. she didn't just get a dick, she got like The Dick Of Legend. truly a pioneer in fantasy furry transhumanism.

#im being glib #but none of what im saying is a lie #also to note this is a manga with indescribable lesbian subtext #and a canonically ace intersex character #plus falin's entire situation is like #a struggle against dysmorphia / dysphoria #monstrous instincts overpowering human nature #and the consequences of pushing against fate #and how enough love and effort can overturn destiny #but even then she still carries that 'monstrousness' with her #but has come to love and accept it as part of her #if that's not a trans allegory idk what is