#others i love include but are not limited to

[houseki-no-suffering]

Hey! I found a post of yours (specifically a phos analysis) from a looong while ago. Just curious to hear what your thoughts on the last chapters and the conclusion of the story are!

I recently finished the manga after putting it off for 4 years, and it was an incredible but such a bittersweet read. Maybe it's just me being a sucker for happy endings, but man, it really did not get happier </3

And you probably already know this, but did you know that Ichikawa released the last chapter the same day a comet flew by that looked exactly like the comet from the last chapter? Really cool stuff but I am emotionally destroyed haha

I suppose it was the only kind of happy ending HnK could have, and I don't think I mind it as much as other things that have happened in the last few chapters. It reads more HnK than anything that has happened in the past 1-2 years of serialization.

I appreciate the bittersweet notes (always have) and Ichikawa's words that this is how she wanted the story to end, it doesn't happen to every mangaka. Also, the comet bit is such a nice touch.

As for Phos (I suppose this is the post you meant?), I do believe that they got a happy ending.

If you think about it, instead of becoming a lunarian and being prayed away like the others, Phos' journey gave them the power and knowledge to rise above them. Thanks to their flaws (being brittle, having special inclusions, maybe being the most human of all the gems) they became human, the most flawed of creatures, and basically reverted to the purity of a child, a god, sin-less (even if this is a Buddhist story, so idk if I can actually speak of sin) and therefore free of everything that made humanity always dissatisfied, dangerous and unhappy. The others renounced existence, Phos found a way to reach paradise.

Humanity doesn't come out of this looking like a nice bunch of people to hang out with, and neither do the lunarians (gems included at this point). And yet, there's so much compassion in everything Phos does: a kind child, up until the very end.

I always speculated (and was not alone in this) that Phos' job would become to pray the lunarians/everyone away, find Cinnabar the job to kill them, become a Bodhisattva... in this, I believe, the story remained true to itself. What I believe no one saw coming was how shallow(?) it all seemed in the end.

Everyone came back, making Phos' sacrifices and suffering basically meaningless, everyone started getting along and solving centuries-old problems in seconds. Then, Ichikawa introduced so many new changes abruptly... It felt rushed, lazy and overly simple, when most of us loved HnK for its complexity and depth.

Maybe it was because Ichikawa wanted (or needed to) end the series with ch 108. Usually, when mangaka put a limit to the chapters they want to write, it really damages the story and I wasn't a fan of this even in this situation.

Aside from these issues, I appreciate how Ichikawa seemed to care about the character of Phos.

Maybe this all happened so that Phos could be happy, maybe this was the only possible way for Phos to be happy? It would be a little bit like in Devilman, where the world basically ends only so that Satan can understand love. Idk, little old Phos didn't seem that desperate a case, they just wanted truth, yes, this did cause some... issues, but other than that they're a sweetheart.

This is the leitmotif of the series, after all: Phos is a kind, selfless gem who cultivates a deep sense of self-hatred.

They internalize a pressure and a need to feel useful (coming from gem society) and turn them into a necessity for change (unlike in gem society). Initially, they want to find a job. Then, they want to help Cinnabar find a job, then they want to help Ventricosus, then then want to become a fighter, then they want to help sensei, then the gems, then the lunarians...

Contrary to most of the other gems, Phos loves and loves openly and unconditionally. They start off as a self-less creature who believes that their life isn't worth anything. Therefore, they put it on the line time and time again and, eventually, lose it time and time again as they change form.

It's their journey towards truth and happiness: they change and lose pieces of themselves, forget things, renounce gem-ness in favor of humanity and then humanity for god-hood.

Phos changes until they find the form that makes them happy. Their purest, happiest form. They change so much that they come back to square one almost: they become pure Phosphophyllite, with no inclusions at all. Still fragile, still small, but selfless and cheerful. Carefree.

In a sense, HnK ends with Phos becoming Phos.

#houseki no kuni #hnk #land of the lustrous #hnk spoilers #apologies ive only become wordier with the years #i think our mistake was to think that this story would deconstruct buddhist narratives while it catually did the opposite #ichikawa fooled us #also i would love to update that post about the timeline of the manga #i have a couple billion years to catch up with

[comradekatara]

You have thoughs regarding Kanna & Katara's relationship?

SO MANY <- please do click on that link bc i think it’s actually one of the best posts i’ve ever made, but also my whole kanna&katara tag slaps bc it’s secretly one of my favorite relationships in the entire show. like there’s just something so fascinating to me about the way that kanna is established to have been exactly like katara when she was a kid, and yet now she embodies the repressive paradigm that forces katara to do gendered domestic labor and limits where she can go and what she can do. and also that dynamic is pretty subtle, because our last scene with kanna (in the present) is her giving katara her blessing and telling her that she gave her hope after all these years. like it’s not that she wants to be this overbearing nag who forces katara to tire herself out with chores all day, but she also knows exactly how katara thinks because she once was her, so she’s like “if she goes outside she will get IDEAS and RUN AWAY to the NORTH POLE.” and then she does. chiasmus moments!!!! clapping and cheering for chiasmus!!!!!

kanna is SUCH an important presence in katara’s life, and I think before katara learns about what kanna did and how she grew up (from yagoda, from pakku, and from hama) she kind of just takes her for granted because again, she’s just her overbearing nagging grandma who always takes sokka’s side and clearly thinks she should also act like a miserable boring adult. but what’s crazy about that is that katara is also so obviously her favorite?? like sokka is the golden child (not that katara is the scapegoat, to be clear, sokka is just The Good One to katara’s untamable rebellious spirit) but katara is still her favorite. specifically because she loves katara’s passion and drive and desire for adventure and revolution.

kanna is struggling between her desire to indulge katara in her wild fantasies and her need to keep her safe at all costs. she’s the one who tells katara the stories of the avatar in the first place. she is the one who first forms that inexorable spark within her. katara is the spitting image of kanna, in every way. she has her drive, her sense of adventure, her conviction and determination, her love, her hope, her sense of justice, her penchant for telling stories. katara gets it all from her, including her necklace. and there’s something just so undeniably lovely and poignant about that, the strength of the bond between women across multiple generations who have lost so much and struggled due to imperialist violence, but have also resisted, and fought, and passed down stories they told themselves to survive, and given each other hope.

#ariadnesweb #asks #kanna&katara #katara #kanna #analysis #ish #kanna I love you kanna you are my grandma. kanna #I will never not be irrevocably moved by the bond between grandmother and granddaughter #like. listening to your grandmothers harrowing ass stories about being a refugee genocide survivor etc etc is literally the most important #rite of passage there is.. #and kanna just wants to keep her safe. she’s becoming what she fundamentally disagrees with in the interest of keeping her safe #but also she trusts sokka to keep her safe which like. wahhh… that’s a post for another time #being the favorite grandchild (and also the only girl) is such a tremendous honor it rly is #(I guess for me being the only girl is more important bc all my siblings and cousins are boys . but like) #UGHHH……. grandmothers……

[youremyheaven]

Sailor Moon & Nakshatras

I thought it'd be interesting to correlate the different Sailor Moons and their powers with the themes that are present in different nakshatras.

This is a super low effort post so all of it is just speculation and I'd love it if you guys told me what you associate with the different Senshi.

Other than Sailor Moon herself, there are 9 sailor senshi who protect the solar system.

Sailor Moon

A crystalline object which provides her basic power, contains limitless power and is the source of all energy in the universe. She can call upon her future self to use the power of both the future and present crystal to double its power.

she's the only one who has no power of her own and has to rely on some object so i guess that makes her Moon dominant??

Sailor Mercury

Sailor Mercury has the power to create and manipulate water. For the entire first story arc, she uses her water-manipulating capabilities only to create solid and dense clouds of mist and fog, chilling and blinding the enemy while her allies prepare more direct attacks

this is actually super on brand Mercury behaviour

Sailor Venus

I feel like Sailor Venus has more powers than other senshi??

It includes: Flight, Magic, Transformation, Longevity, Immortality (Type 4), Limited Shapeshifting, Teleportation, Forcefield, Light Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Energy Projection, Weather Manipulation, Electricity Manipulation, Data Manipulation, Creation, Reincarnation (Overtime not applicable in battle), Can Survive in Space, Resistance to Mind Manipulation, Death Manipulation, Existence Erasure, Gravity Manipulation, Radiation Manipulation, Poison Manipulation, Power Nullification, Resistances to Status Effect Inducement and Soul Manipulation, Resistance to Telekinesis etc

idk if this is Venus' "being better than others" theme lol but i feel like these are powers that belong to all 27 naks and not just Venus

Sailor Mars

Precognition: Rei is shown to have strong precognition, where she can make full use of this ability to predict events from the near future, but it can fail sometimes.

Pyromancy: Rei is also shown to have a great affinity with fire, to the point where she is capable to manifest her future sights by forming images on the flames. The images are very enigmatic and unreliable.

Purification: Even when she is in her civilian form, she can use her "ofuda" (a Shinto talisman used to protect homes from evil spirits) to "exorcize" people, while yelling "Evil Spirit, Disperse!" (although it can cause normal people to faint, as shown in episode 10 when she tried to "purify" Usagi).

Sixth Sense: Rei is sometimes shown to have a "sixth sense", using it to detect "evil presences" and approaching danger, as shown in Chapter 6 of Codename: Sailor V manga, but it can fail sometimes when she mistook Usagi for an evil spirit.

Expert Archer: As a Shrine Priestess, she is an expert archer, and this potential is shown in her "Mars Flame Sniper" attack.

these are a variety of powers that don't really all connect to Mars energy, it's giving strong Venus & Jupiter vibes tbh

i associate the purification, pyromancy and precognitive abilities with Venus and the sixth sense, expert archer ones with Jupiter

Sailor Jupiter

Electrokinesis, martial arts, longevity, and "emphasized superhuman strength"

these powers are a bit random, i guess the author wanted to emphasize martial arts and physical strength with the masculine grahas but I get more Mars and Sun vibes ngl

Sailor Saturn 

Daughter of a possessed mad scientist, a terrible lab accident in her youth significantly compromised her constitution. After overcoming the darkness that has surrounded her family, she is able to become the Soldier of��Silence, Sailor Saturn. She wields forces of destruction so powerful that she is rarely called upon to use them, and unlike the others, her Senshi and civilian personae seem somewhat disconnected. She is often pensive, and as a human has the inexplicable power to heal others.

this backstory is in itself very Saturnian and I think Saturnians do suffer a lot of abuse and injustice in their lives. So all Saturn naks like UBP, Anuradha & Pushya

Sailor Pluto

Manipulation and control of spacetime, Time Wave Generation Teleport others over short or vast distances. Open rifts or doorways in space through different eras Freeze all of time (forbidden) Erect a shield of time-space energy

i mean it goes without saying but this is literally Punarvasu & Swati. both these naks have themes of space and time travel

Sailor Uranus

she possesses powers associated with the wind and sky, precognition, as well as sword combat.

this is giving me Mars & Venus energy, more specifically Bharani as it is a Venusian nakshatra in the Mars ruled rashi of Aries

Sailor Neptune

exceptionally strong psychic abilities and is the only Outer Scout who has such powers and she can channel the power of the ocean. 

I associate Neptune's abilities with Pisces (neptune rules pisces so this is a no brainer) and I connect it to PBP, UBP & Revati

#astrology notes #sidereal astrology #astrology observations #vedic astro notes #nakshatras #astro notes #vedic astrology #astro observations #astrology #astroblr #jyotish

[shycroissanti]

I know you like to be welcoming to everyone, but it’s okay to not ship your OCs with everyone else’s. I can’t imagine how overwhelmed you get trying to make everyone happy. And I also can’t imagine how many people are struggling for your attention when you make a new character and the only interest they have in it is shipping. It sort of breaks my heart to see you make a new oc and the only people who seem to care about it are people trying to make a ship.

I see you’re getting burned out more often and taking a lot of breaks… but your blog should be a fun place, not something you avoid because you’re stressed by it. Maybe limiting requests or only keeping OC ships to good friends would help you relax. You don’t have to take my advice if this makes you happy. I’m just a bit worried about you. Especially since you seem tired all the time and recently made a post saying you were worried about people being upset with you if your characters already had ships and you didn’t want to add any more.

I would also like to say that some people like the shipping because they just want free art of their OC and less because they actually want to bond with you. Many people do not realize they are being like this.

Your real friends will not be bothered by you putting up boundaries. The only people that will be upset are selfish, too young to understand, or people who didn’t consider your feelings at all.

Just take care of yourself, Shy. I’m sorry if I’m overstepping. And of if I have this totally wrong, just say so.

You're right, I recognize that I've been doing this lately...

It's a fact, I'm very afraid of making others upset, I really want to please everyone. I've actually been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, but I don't know how to deal with it.

I love making ships with my OCs with the OCs of my moots, I really really like this interaction, I was just getting worried about the situation where more than one person wants to make ships with a single OC, I'm afraid of causing confusion with that.

I'll get better with this, I swear, I even want to tell you that I've been trying to be more like you, you know? "Post what you want" I've been trying to do this more often and it's making me happy🥹

I have several plans for the future with my OCs and I'm optimistic about that, even if I'm still a bit clumsy at communicating, and I'm pretty sure that everything I wrote here must be a little confusing because it really took me by surprise, I really value your attention and words so much and after I read everything (including what you said in the other posts too), I started crying, in a good way❤️

[zeroducks-2]

Do you really think reverse flash is in love with Barry? I don't mean for this to sound snarky I'm just confused. Thawne killed Barry's mom how can you say he's in love with him? I like all the things you post and rb about them I really enjoy the ship. I just don't get it can you explain?

The question "how can Eobard be in love with Barry if he hurt him" has both a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that people are very much capable of hurting the ones they love, on purpose or by accident.

The long answer is that Eobard is a deeply disturbed individual who has never been the recipient of love, and because of that and of many extremely traumatic events (including but not limited to being brainwashed in prison, being trapped in a timeless limbo alone for years, being tortured and treated like cattle and put in sensory deprivation for ludicrous amounts of time, dying at the hands of the only person who had ever shown compassion towards him), he has a skewed perception of a lot of things and is extremely bad at emotional regulation.

Moreover, and this is something which is easy to overlook but it's actually very important, Eobard is not human. His actions are informed by his traumas, but the way he approaches pretty much everything (including his "problems" with Barry) isn't done the way a human would.

Eobard is a timeless, deathless creature which embodies one of the driving forces of reality itself (the Negative Speed Force). He lived probably more than a few hundred years considering how he keeps running around through time doing stuff, and how he keeps going back to watch past events and adjust the way he will interact with the timeline next.

He knows the huge impact that killing Nora will have on Barry, but from a moral and ethical standpoint it's not a big deal for him. Nora is less than a speck in time, an NPC who served her role for that briefest moment in which she existed. She is a big deal because she is a big deal for Barry, not because she's meaningful in any other way.

"But then he did want to hurt Barry when he killed her" Yes, absolutely he wanted to. Eobard didn't "just" kill Nora Allen - he went back in time and changed everything about Barry's life, made it so he had no friends, made him grow isolated and insecure and shy, lacking confident in his abilities. And he did it because he is very, VERY angry with Barry for one, and also because isolating Barry makes it easier for them to grow closer.

And it worked! Back in the Silver Age, when Nora and Henry were alive and not in prison, Barry couldn't be bothered with Eobard. For him Eo was just a random criminal with superspeed, and sure he was threatening because speedsters always are, but not that much of a big deal.

Now? Now Eobard is a primary element in Barry's life, a constant he's had to deal with basically since birth, someone who rewritten his entire life to make himself part of it in an indelible manner.

It worked because now Barry is more likely to fall for Eobard's manipulation, to listen to him, to just accept that he's THERE because he's always been. Near the end of Running Scared, Eobard tells him "run away with me", and Barry says yes.

Back in the Silver Age there would have been no way.

It's worth mentioning that to understand Eobard, you need to understand that everything he does, every single thing, has the end goal of being with Barry. Whether he's trying to protect him or trying to hurt him or trying to manipulate him, whether they manage to work together against a common enemy or they're on opposite sides of the fight, every single one of Eobard's actions is motivated by love (his personal, inhuman version of love).

"But if that is the case, then why doesn't he just tell Barry 'I love you'?"

Two reasons, and one is meta.

The in-story reason is that every time Eobard tried to do something good without masking it as horrible, it went sideways and backfired spectacularly - mix that with poor emotional regulation, and you have someone who's not going to be able to handle rejection and is outright scared of doing good things openly. I think if he told Barry "I love you" and Barry reacted badly it would hurt too much. Also he wants Barry to understand, and thanks to a couple of competent writers who sadly don't work on Flash anymore, we were getting there.

The meta reason is because DC is homophobic, plain and simple. Eobard DID SAY I love you many times except with words, because DC editorials won't let him. That's it. It's the same reason why Joker can't tell Batman "I love you" and has to do weird ass word plays and even more weird ass attention seeking maneuvers. They're stunted by reasons which no one but DC itself can control.

So in short. How can Eobard be in love with Barry and hurt him so much at the same time? Because he doesn't have many ways of express love, he has a hard time being caring, and every time he allows himself to be soft it backfires. Because he wants Barry to belong to him and will isolate him and make him suffer to get there. Because he's angry with Barry -- Barry hurt him too, rejected him and left him alone and refused to accept that Eobard is his lightning rod for a long time.

Eobard easily lashes out when he's hurt, and the less grounded he is the more vicious and violent he turns.

"But Zero, how can Eobard think that Barry will ever forgive him for having killed his mom?"

I don't believe Eobard was ever looking for forgiveness, but fun fact. Barry did forgive him already. Barry is not human either, and at this point I think he'd forgive Eobard just about anything, and despite how difficult everything is between them, he really wants to get to a place where they don't need to hurt each other.

The problem with this, and it's one of the reasons why they have so many issues communicating, is that Barry is in denial about many things - about being the Speed Force, about Eobard being in love with him, about how they're two constants through time and two sides of the same coin and basically can't exist without each other, about how they're each other's lightning rod.

Their relationship is very complex, absolutely not what it looks like at first glance, and it's colored by all the hurt there is between them. But again, ultimately understanding Eobard is understanding that love is what motivates him, even when he does the most horrible unhinged things.

In conclusion, have this panel from The Flash Age which is one of my favorite Flash comics, in which you can see the way these two manage to trust each other and fall into the right rhythm, despite the oceans of misunderstandings and suffering between them.

Pages from The Flash Age, by Joshua Williamson. In which Barry tells Eobard to "do the right thing", and Eobard just does it.

#thanks for asking anon #you didn't sound snarky at all no worries #I tried to be as exhaustive as possible without writing a wall of text #idk how well I managed #I just know I could talk about these two forever #my asks #eobarry #barry allen #eobard thawne #my meta

[olderthannetfic]

I'm a fan of a certain shōnen manga/anime that isn't terribly popular on Tumblr, which is why I also have a reddit account to participate in the relevant subreddit. It's also not a very big thing there, a day or two can go without a new post, and the sort of discussion that arises is obviously somewhat different than that on Tumblr, but something happened last week (and again this week) that I just have to share.

Somebody made a post about how much they disliked this one particular character because she's just so annoying and ugh they hate her every appearance! How can anyone like such a character?! The character in question is a minor antagonist who shows up about halfway through, with a clear character flaw or two (definitely a bit annoying!), and who undergoes character growth later on, but the OP in question had clearly not read that far/only watched the anime which ends much sooner.

Point is, I fucking dreaded clicking that thread--but I did nevertheless, ready to fight for my life in the comments defending her.

...Except that I didn't have to. Sure, there were a couple of comments agreeing with the OP, but they were all disliked until they were negative. The other comments were all arguing with the OP, pointing out a bunch of different things, including, but not limited to:

Since when are we not allowed to like antagonists/villains? (Plus: she's actually a very good antagonist if you think about it, which is why she's great!)

There's plenty of other (male) characters who are just as annoying or even more in different ways (And we like them just fine, so why not her?)

She's just like me, which is why I like her

She's very realistic/she's just being a teenager/I like that she's behaving like a typical 16-years-old, everybody else is too calm

Yeah she's annoying now but her character development is great, I love her

And so on. I was very, very pleasently surprised, especially when another thread with roughly the same idea but by a different person showed up this week, and got basically the same response.

Idk if this is just fans perceiving any sort of attack on a character as an attack on the series as a whole and rushing to defence due to that, and I don't particularly care. Or if my standards are too low ...

Nah, I'm just going to enjoy this. Hope something nice happens to you too!

--

:)

[coraniaid]

Top five Fuffy fics (written by authors other than yourself)

Well, I'm not sure the restriction's necessary: I don't think I'm being unduly modest in saying there are a lot more than five Fuffy fics out there that are much better than anything I've ever written (or even come close to writing, frankly).

Uh. Limiting myself to one per author and to completed works only, and not trying to sort the top five in any way, without thinking about it too hard my top five would be:

To Live In The World by IvorySteel92. There are lots of Season 6 Fuffy fics, lots of which are really, really good, but this is the only one that made me cry twice, so it must be the best. Faith comes to Sunnydale after Buffy dies to try to do the right thing and take over as the Slayer, but then Buffy comes back to life. Only this time, unlike in canon, Buffy really does come back wrong...

Je me souviens by zulu. A classic, from all the way back in 2005. Again, there are lots of Season 4 Fuffy fics -- including at least one more that I love and that almost made this list -- but I don't see how I could not include this one. Faith wakes up from her coma, not knowing where she is, struggling to remember the fading details of a dream in which somebody she can't remember is chasing her with a knife. To the extent there is a single Fuffy fic any fan of the ship should be familiar with, I think this must be it.

147 Days by TigerDragon. Another relatively older fic -- this time from 2012 -- but one which doesn't seem to have gotten quite as much recognition as I think it deserves. It's part nine of a fourteen part series (starting all the way back in Season 3 and carrying on well past canon), but you don't really need to know much more than that this is -- technically -- canon-compliant, and that it covers the time Faith spends in prison while Buffy is dead. I think it's amazing and that far more people should read it.

Flowers For A Ghost / The Girl From Away by aliceinwonderbra. I'm cheating a little bit here, as these are technically two separate stories, though you could read them in either order and both have the same starting premise. Buffy wakes up in hospital surrounded by her friends after jumping into Glory's inter-dimensional portal to save Dawn. Only, she isn't waking up surrounded by exactly who she thinks she is. While the main reason I got into Fuffy a few years ago was rewatching Buffy during lockdown and finally having the pieces click, I genuinely think this series runs it a close second. I don't think I would have started writing anything Buffy related myself if -- having finished that rewatch -- I hadn't thought "huh, I wonder if anybody has ever written Faith/Buffy fanfiction?" and eventually stumbled onto these stories.

Body Language by explosionshark. As a rule, and despite my many complaints about Season 7 itself, I think Chosen was pretty close to the perfect way to end the show, which makes me a little wary of post-canon fics. But this one is so good it makes a mockery of any reservations I had: I cannot imagine a happier, more faithful-to-the-characters continuation to Buffy and Faith's story. (Oh, and as the tags make clear -- and as I think Faith would insist my previous description already strongly implies -- Buffy and Faith have a lot of sex in this one.)

#thanks #asks #fanfiction #fic recs #fuffy #btvs

[killian-whump]

Hi everybody. Just a quick notice to let you all know there might not be any updates on this blog for a little bit. My mom had a stroke the other day, so keeping up with Colin --- Well, no. Keeping up with Colin is still possible for me, since he hardly does anything we can see anyway and the lovely soul behind @colinodonoghue will surely inform me if he does.

However, keeping up with this blog is gonna take the back burner for a bit, while I help my mom through this tough time and we all adjust to her new limitations and difficulties. I won't be checking my dashboard or seeing posts/mentions/replies on posts (including this one) regularly at all. I only have about an hour or so a day to catch up on ALL my usual things at home (the rest of the time is, for now, spent at the hospital, away from my computer), so please don't be hurt or offended if I don't respond to you here. I'm gonna leave Asks on so you can send me messages if you want to, but please be aware it might take me awhile to see them! I'll also be responding privately to them (or not at all to anonymous ones) so as not to gum up everyone's feeds with my thank yous ;)

I AM on Discord still, as it's the one app I have in the phone I'm borrowing for the time being. Username's the same, and I'm keeping up with the O'Donocrew server (you can join it here if you want to). But again, responses from me are slow and sporadic. Some days I have quite a bit of time to putter around, some days none at all. Please don't be offended if my responses take awhile and/or are a bit short.

As for my Mom's condition... Physically, she's doing pretty good and seems to be on track for a full recovery. There's weakness on her right side, a bit of spatial neglect (sometimes she forgets the right side is there), and some rigidity they're watching out for, but these are all things that are already improving a bit and should improve a lot more with physical therapy. Cognitively, she's a bit easily confused, but her mind is still sharp, her memories intact, and her personality unchanged. However, she's having the most problems with speech and there's a major disconnect between her mind and her mouth when it comes to being able to form words and say what's on her mind. It's highly frustrating for her and worrisome for us, because we want to make sure we're doing everything we can for her, but it's hard when she can't really tell us what she needs/wants. There seem to be improvements in this, little by little, everyday... so we're hoping with more therapy and practice, she'll keep improving and things will get much better. Overall, we're all so lucky and thankful it wasn't any worse, and we're being optimistic about the future.

Thank you for all the well wishes and love I know you guys would/will send. I always feel the love from you all - my mutuals, my followers, my secret lurkers... all of you, my friends. I love you all and will certainly be back as soon as possible to regale you all once again with my crazy hijinks and my immense love of Colin ❤️

Be well, be happy, and be good to one another ❤️❤️❤️

#personal #blog

[sandcobangevent]

A Date in Pink

By @daemonbreath and @lilzezthenyan

At first, Sherlock wasn’t sure why the texts started arriving. The first time he’d met Carol Watson, he had been focusing on masking and not observing her, so he didn’t know much about the woman. He knew she was a widowed nurse, she had an undefined relationship with someone named Charlie, and that she was John’s mother. All in all, Sherlock had no idea why she was texting him, someone barely connected to her.

Ping!

Think of the devil and she shall text.

[CW] Good morning Sherlock love! :)

[CW] Started listening to that one with the horse today and Lord is it exciting! You and Johnny are ever so lucky you got an inside scoop on that one :)

[SH] I agree. I admit I was reluctant at first, but it ended up being quite enjoyable.

[CW] Lovely to hear dear :)

[CW] Must have been nice staying in a little cabin with just Johnny for company hm? Nice and private out in the country

[SH] It was alright. I still much prefer London’s busyness, but staying somewhere rural was a nice change.

[CW] Nothing wrong with knowing what you like! :) But sometimes it’s nice taking a chance at something new 

Sherlock didn’t know how to reply to that, so he didn’t bother trying. That was another thing Carol did, besides texting him out of the blue— she would, without fail, bring up John at least once. He was her son, so it made a small amount of sense, but Sherlock still felt it was strange. Victor’s father had never done anything like that, and Sherlock’s own father certainly hadn’t. His father usually only talked about him or Mycroft if he was bragging to someone rich and important. Still, her eagerness to talk about her son helped add to Sherlock’s constantly growing pile of John Watson Facts.

His favourites included— but weren’t limited to— John was ambidextrous until his injury, but still retained some skill; he failed almost all of his history classes in elementary school; and that he had a collection of moles and freckles on his back that looked like the Cygnus constellation. Sherlock had to look it up as his knowledge of space was limited to their solar system and the North Star, but he quickly decided it was his favourite constellation. 

None of his new Facts became relevant until John kicked a smoke bomb away from them with a high amount of skill and precision— it came from all the years he spent playing football as a child and teenager.

“Ha ha! Get a load of that!” John cried, grinning. “John Watson has still got it! And by it, listeners, I mean everything I learned playing foot—”

“Playing football as a child, yes,” Sherlock said at the same time as John.

“—ball, yeah.” John squinted up at Sherlock. “How’d you know that?”

Sherlock froze for a second. Shit. Was it normal to be friends with your friend’s parents? Was it normal for the parent to talk up your friend? Would John think it was weird that Sherlock often exchanged texts with Carol Watson that usually revolved around him? Possibly. He could just make something up.

“Partially the way you talk about the matches on television,” Sherlock said, grasping for other memories to make his claims stronger. “It’s also not the first time I’ve seen you kick something— you tend to kick with the side of your foot, instead of the toe, which means it’s a habit you spent several years building. A habit you still have as an adult.” 

“Huh. Yeah, brilliant,” John smiled up at Sherlock, and he felt himself puff up a bit at the praise. Good. Another successful social interaction.

The rest of the case concluded without much fanfare— culprit tracked down, culprit chased, culprit arrested and handed off to the police, then Sherlock and John take the tube home. Once back at the flat, John made a beeline for the shower. He’d tackled their culprit and the pair of them had landed in a very muddy puddle,which left John rather filthy. Sherlock retreated to his room to change into more comfortable clothes, and check his phone for any notifications he may have missed. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he had a few texts from Carol.

[CW] Hello Sherlock love! :) How are you today?

[CW] Everything alright? 

[CW] Ah probably working I’ll leave you to it :)

[SH] Yes, we were out on a case.

[SH] Sorry for not replying. I usually keep my phone on silent while working so I don’t get distracted.

[CW] No worries love I understand! :)

[CW] Back home then? Any plans for the evening?

[SH] Back home, yes, and not currently. Why do you ask?

[CW] Well I met some girlfriends for brunch today and one of them told me about this lovely little restaurant in London that she went to

[CW] And I’d love to visit but they haven’t got a website so I don’t know if they have food I’d like

[CW] I’d be ever so grateful if you and Johnny could go and see what they have :)

What on Earth.

That was… new. Carol had made comments about John’s dating life in the past, but never something like that. It sounded like she was trying to set them up.

[SH] Carol.

[SH] Are you saying I should take your son on a date.

[CW] Perhaps ;)

[SH] Send me the address.

When John stepped out of the bathroom, he almost ran into Sherlock, who had a hand raised like he was about to knock on the door.

“Oh, good, you’re done,” Sherlock said, looking down at John. “We’re going out for dinner tonight. Change into something nice.”

“Since when have we had dinner plans?” John asked. He nudged Sherlock aside so he could go to his room to change— he’d learned that it was often better to just go along with what Sherlock said.

“Since about five minutes ago,” Sherlock called through John’s closed bedroom door. “And don’t wear blue jeans, wear the black ones in your dresser. Button down if you’re up for it, plain long sleeve shirt if not.”

John sighed, and put down the jeans and t-shirt he had picked out. Once dressed according to Sherlock’s suggestions, he styled his hair a bit, and almost added a spray of cologne when he paused. He was getting ready like this was a date. God, he hadn’t been on one of those in ages. Surely this wasn’t one, though. They usually went out to celebrate after finishing a case, and this was no different. No point in getting your hopes up, Watson, John told himself. Sure, he’d love to actually go on a date with Sherlock, make his feelings clear and all that, but Sherlock had never shown any interest in things like romance. John suspected there was once something between Sherlock and Victor, but neither of them had said anything, so suspicions were all John had.

The Uber ride to the venue was full of John trying and failing to guess where they were going. All John knew was that it wasn’t somewhere they’d been before, it wasn’t fast food, and that it was some kind of European. The place they arrived at looked both very posh and very cozy, with lots of plants at the front, large windows, and some exposed brickwork. 

“La Baie Rose,” John said, looking up at the sign. “The Pink Bay?”

“Yes.” Sherlock smiled at John. “I’ve heard good things about it, and wanted to give it a try.”

“Well, let’s hope it lives up to the expectations.”

“Indeed.”

Sherlock took John’s arm and led him into the restaurant. Sherlock had somehow been able to snag a reservation, and their waitress led them to a table in the corner somewhat obscured by a faux hedge. They were given menus, Sherlock picked out a wine and asked for a jug of water, and then they were left alone to peruse the options. The whole menu was in French, but Sherlock was more than willing to translate and explain what things were. He’d also promised to pay, so he and John happily picked out several courses— appetizers, soups, pastas, entrees, salads, vegetables, and desert.

Once their order was placed, the appetizers arrived surprisingly quickly. John hadn’t been able to pick between gougères and smoked salmon canapés, so they had gotten both. The gougères were little balls of soft pastry loaded with cheese, clearly fresh from the oven with how warm they were. Sherlock had gone for the salmon first, which was also great. The canapés were also warm, and both the salmon and fromage blanc seemed to melt in John’s mouth.

After that came the soup, consommé julienne, made of a broth so clean John could see the bottom of his bowl through the thinly sliced vegetables floating around. The soup was also the perfect temperature— not too hot, but not so cooled that it’d be cold before he finished it. Then came another dish John was excited for, which was gnocchi romaine. Unlike typical gnocchi, these were discs of cheesy dough that had been topped with more cheese and baked until golden. The texture was similar to potato gnocchi, but maybe a bit better, in John’s opinion. 

While conversation flowed as easily as the wine and sparkling water, there was something… off about the whole deal. John had noticed that Sherlock left his phone on the table as they ate, which wasn’t unusual— he complained about it pressing too hard against his leg, so John didn’t mind seeing it on the table. What was unusual was the fact that Sherlock seemed to be getting texts every five minutes or so, and would always reply to them. It wasn’t a case, that much was obvious, otherwise Sherlock would have dragged John out of the restaurant at the first text. John honestly had no idea who could be texting Sherlock that often, and he was burning with curiosity.

The opportunity to sate said curiosity came while they were waiting for their entrées. Sherlock excused himself to use the bathroom, and left his phone on the table. As John stared at it, he received another text. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. He picked up the phone and read the text.

[Carol Watson] Oh don’t worry love I’m sure Johnny is enjoying your date

What on Earth.

Had all the texts been from his mum? Why the hell was his mum texting Sherlock in the first place? And why had she called it a date? John put Sherlock’s phone back, well aware he’d probably notice it was moved.

Was this a date? John had assumed it was a normal end-of-case-dinner and hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up thinking otherwise. Then again… John glanced around the restaurant, trying to channel Sherlock’s methods of observation and deduction. Most of the tables were for two, which could suggest it was popular with couples. The tables were on the smaller side, meaning the guests would be closer together. They were also decorated with small candle and flower centrepieces, giving off a very romantic vibe. On another look around, John figured that pretty much all the other guests were in romantic relationships. 

There was also the fact that his own mother seemed to believe this was a date.

Damn. John was on a date with Sherlock Holmes and he had no idea.

John had enough time to conclude that he wasn’t upset by the fact that they were on a date, and then Sherlock was sitting back down. He smiled at John, then glanced at his phone. His eyes widened a bit, and his gaze snapped to John, his face now a blank mask. The tightness in his mouth and shoulders gave away his nerves, so John decided to just cut to the chase.

“Sherlock,” John said evenly, “has my mum been the one texting you this whole time?”

“Have they given us an update on the entrées yet?” Sherlock asked, not looking at John. “We’ve been waiting a while, I don’t think it should take this—”

“Sherlock. Please answer the question.”

Sherlock sighed, sinking down in his chair a bit. “Yes. Carol’s been texting me all night.”

“Does she text you a lot, then?”

“Yes. Every few days, we have a brief conversation. She brings you up a lot.”

“Is that how you know so much about my childhood? God, I hope she hasn’t told you anything embarrassing— No, no, I’m getting off-topic. I know you know I looked at the text she sent while you were in the bathroom. Why’d she call this a date?”

“Because… it is one?” Sherlock made a face. “It is a date. Carol has both implied and outright said this is a date, and I agree with her. I apologize for not making my intentions clear, and I also apologize if I’ve misread things between us and overstepped.”

“Definitely haven’t misread things,” John said, smiling. “This has been a great date so far, and I’m not mad. Yeah, would have liked to know it was a date when you asked, but I’ll let it slide this time.” 

“Ah, good. I’m glad that’s settled, then.” Sherlock relaxed and smiled back at John.

Now that they were both on the same page, the rest of the date was brilliant. John even made a few attempts at flirting that seemed to work, judging by the fact that Sherlock sometimes ended up speechless and a bit flustered. John was also happy to note that after Sherlock had replied to John’s mum, he hadn’t checked his phone again after that. 

Later, after Sherlock had paid and they were leaving the restaurant hand-in-hand, John pulled Sherlock to a stop.

“Hey, Sherlock?” he said, facing his partner.

“Yes, John?”

John leaned up to press a kiss to Sherlock’s cheek, grinning at the blush that darkened his face. “I’m planning our next date.”

#submission #sherlock and co #sherlock & co #flashbang event #sherlock homes #john watson

[wisemins]

miyaaa! who is your bts bias? 🤔

SUCH AN INTERESTING QUESTION!! see now for years I've tried to convince myself I'm not a BTS girlie but...I know too much about them, (which isn't even that much but y'know it still qualifies) I can't say I'm not a fan 😭 I definitely am, I just am nowhere near as well versed with them as I am with GOT7 (my babies my loves, could k-pop rant forever about them, unless you want nuclear war in the form of GOT7 autism, I would not recommend asking me anything abt them cus i won't stfu 😭)

BUT!!! Unironically, my bias would have to be either Jimin (OMG BTS JIMIN MOMENT) or Namjoon. I love what they bring to their music, they have just such distinct sound quality to their voices and how they affect their music! Also Jimin's dance moves, C'MON NOWWWW Also I say I'm not a BTS fan but i historically have collected BTS stuff for "the meme", and yet i refuse to throw away my disposable BTS coffee bottles with their faces on it...am I good??? Who knows honestly!!

#starshine rambles #starshine asks #starshine's friends #i love talking abt k-pop but i never get the chance tho #i was always into pretty niche/unpopular groups that were always outshone by other groups #or...neglected by their companies... #*staring at jyp* #others i love include but are not limited to #Shinhwa. Apink. Brown eyed girls. #but mostly got7! my boys #i also listen to a lot of displaced songs of artists/groups i dont actively follow or know anything abt #k-pop for me is mainly the music #but got7 has been a special interest for me for at least...well almost 9 years I think!! so they get the special autism placement #I got into them shortly after they debuted! #ok tag dump over

[softavasilva]

now lets all think about beatrice saying ily to ava in all the languages she could possible say it in bc simply saying it one way is not enough !!!

#beatrice confessing her profound love in ways that will make avas heart swoon and that includes hearing bea speak in other languages #throw it back to s1 coming out scene where ava was so heart eyes so impressed so in awe of bea translating it from french #ava askinf beatrice to say it again but in a different language with the biggest puppy eyes #and beatrice the big softie for this one person only ofc abides and does it #and beatrice on her limited spare time would learn new languages and other forms of communication to try and convey her love for ava #brain fucking rot dude i have not stopped thinking about them #avatrice #sister beatrice #ava silva #warrior nun #wn txt #txt*

[mariathechosen1]

Was Anyone But You a good Much Ado About Nothing adaptation? No, not at all, but fuck it was fun!

#y’all know I have many thoughts about this play and these characters #but even though the movie didn’t completely live up to my expectations as an adaptation #I still really enjoyed it! #and I really despise all those people making posts about how sydney sweeney can’t act #idk it seems a little rude #my main problem is how they messed up the benedick and beatrice characterization and dynamic #I love that they played up the ex lovers thing (which is left up to interpretation in the play) #and i love love queer Hero and Claudio!!! #but their hatred of each other didn’t really pack the same punch as in the original #I suppose I wish they weren’t afraid to make the characters bigger assholes? #ya know- give them more flaws? #because right now the enemies part doesn’t really feel believable for big parts of the movie #They really could have leaned more into making Bea a bit of a cold and snappy mess (as she is in the original) #and Ben more of…ya know…actual human disaster who can’t commit #both of their characters in the play are driven by their desire never to marry and their distrust for the opposite sex #They included this a bit with Bea (her not believing in true love and all that) #but her break up with Jonathan (because he was too nice???) didn’t really convince me of it #They also keep insisting that Ben is a fuckboy but we never really see it demonstrated? #I personally don’t mind the fact that they changed up the whole ‘convincing them that the other secretly loves them’ bit #especially considering this is only loosely based on much ado #but I do think they made it a bit messy considering they included the gulling scenes but only as a joke #I wish they’d either leaned fully into the much ado plot or ditched it #I think what a lot of adaptations get wrong is that they’re either too afraid of leaning into their og media #or too afraid of seperating themselves from the og media #oh god I’ve reached the tag limit help #anyways- rant over #anyone but you #maria talks about things #much ado about nothing #beatrice x benedick

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

#i feel like this is probably more revealing about my personality than i intended lol #also tumblr only lets me have ten options so i haven’t included any lyrics from one point perspective bc although i love it #i love the lyrics in the others more #also some of my all time favourite lyrics from this aren’t here or are shortened versions because of the bloody word limit on polls #but anyway #this is just for fun so i’m trying not to rage about it lol #feel free to leave your own favourites in the tags! #tbh+c #tranquility base hotel and casino #arctic monkeys #alex turner #polls #lulu posts

[evie-writes-sometimes]

You've heard of 'people can't handle liking flawed characters and so they woobify them'. Now get ready for 'people try so hard not to be in the first category that they vilify them/make characters worse than they actually are in the name of nuance'.

#this is about many characters but rn it's mainly about five hargreeves #babygirl I've stanned more problematic characters than you can comprehend #and five has a shitton of flaws and has done loads of bad stuff #he's an asshole #but he's also not nearly as much of an asshole as a lot of you make him out to be??? #he can be insensitive but no more than any other character #and usually in dire situations (like he was an asshole to viktor about leaving sissy but they were on a time limit??? and he was- #-actually pretty understanding after their argument??) #he comforts allison in s1? he's understanding to luther? he berates lila about diego? he immediately goes with klaus on the road trip? #he doesn't tell viktor that he caused the apocalypse #a bunch of other stuff I can't remember rn #other characters this is about include utena tenjou #love love love anthy but some people try to put the blame on utena for forcing her perceptions on anthy #and put it on the same level as anthy manipulating lying betraying stabbing etc utena #will byers is a much lesser degree but yeah people try to make him. more flawed in everything that happened (the rain fight and rinkomania #fight mostly) #that boy didn't do anything wrong in either and that's okay #kaeya in that genshin rain fight also counts #unless he was actually goading/intending to make diluc angry and upset what did that boy do wrong??? bad timing to confide your secrets #but so what if he did??? #since a bunch of stuff is still pretty ambiguous i won't talk to much about #mostly talking about the fanon perception of the fight #but yeah #sometimes characters are just assholes and sometimes they're not assholes and it's okay either way

[kelpiemomma]

It was a knock at the door that pulled Ingo out of a deep slumber.

It was not frantic, not a sound that had him leaping out of his bed in a panic, but it was firm. Insistent. It compelled him to emerge from the warm comfort of his blankets, piled and wrapped atop of a straw bed to block the chill of the night, and to the thin wooden door blocking the chill and snow. He stumbled in the dark, tripping over smoothed wood and catching himself on the wall of the hut. His hand grasped the coat he’d hung up before crawling into bed and he pulled it down, wrapping it around himself like a protective cloak. Still with no light, and no real thought process beyond answer the door, Ingo pulled it open.

“How may I-” he began the sentence through a yawn, cut off midway by the sight before him.

The ground was lit by the moon in the sky, bright enough that Ingo could clearly see the person who had woken him up. It was impossible to determine an immediate gender so Ingo didn’t even bother to try. Whoever they were had long hair, a light gold that nearly appeared white in the moonlight. They had a long, stern nose with a flat bridge. Their gaze was flat and serious, lips thin as they stared down - very, very far down - at Ingo. At full height Ingo was a few inches taller than those around him within the village, but this person made him feel like a child. If his head came up to their chest he would be surprised. They were dressed in what appeared to be an old-fashioned white robe, the wind carrying across the valley lifting it gently before placing it back down as though it was the most delicate fabric. Intricate golden details laced the trim. Perhaps it was the sleep but it seemed to Ingo’s mind that the trim was… moving. One moment he thought there was a sun rising over a valley, and in the next it seemed to be some sort of battle between two pokemon. Hands appeared and disappeared, a wave of appraisal and worship before sinking down into a wave.

Rubbing his eyes to clear the odd sight - and upon second glance, the delicate lace no longer slipped through design - Ingo took a second look. Their height had not decreased at all but he was able to notice something new. Something that, somehow, he had missed in his awed staring. The person’s arms were wrapped around their chest in a cradling position. A blanket, the color of which he’d never seen before, was swaddled tightly. Though the hold was confident there was also a looseness to it that sent alarm bells ringing through Ingo’s mind, waking him up further. As he opened his mouth to speak the bundle moved, a tiny fist raising itself from the blanket and pounding on the person’s chest. Barely a moment later, a piercing cry erupted from the blanket as well. The stranger did not blink. They barely seemed to notice the noise at all. Their hooded green gaze had not left Ingo’s face.

“Is that- are you carrying a child? Are you hurt? Are they hurt? Here, please- come inside, I’ll get a fire started! It’s awfully cold tonight; a baby shouldn’t be out in this weather.” Ingo reached out impulsively, grasping for a sleeve and ending up with an arm ful of wailing baby. He pulled the child close to his chest in surprise, looking down into light eyes full of tears. The infant hiccuped through their tears, arm waving furiously. He grasped the limb gently to protect his own face only for his hand to be pulled down towards the babe’s face. They immediately began gnawing on his fingers, the wail dying gradually as they found something to occupy themself. The cold was forgotten.

Something clicked into place.

“Warden Ingo,” the person before him finally spoke, pulling Ingo’s gaze reluctantly away from the baby, “I leave her to you.”

“I’m sorry? I’m- I’m not a Warden? I'm just- a guest. Why are you- are you leaving? Are you leaving your child behind?” Anger rose in his chest. Was this infant being abandoned? Directly into his arms?!

“She was never meant to join this world. She was not part of my plan. I heard the world cry and there she was.”

“Do you need help? If you can’t raise her on your own you may join the village, I’m sure. They would be willing to take in a parent in need!”

“I am not her parent. I brought her into existence but she is not mine. She never has been and never will be.” There was a darkness in the person’s eyes, a bitter sort of anger laying under those words. They were sharp, pointed enough that the baby wiggled in Ingo’s arms and let out a high-pitched whine. Immediately he rubbed their - her? - cheek, the whine slipping into a gurgle. His fingers were pulled and tugged on until the baby managed to slip a fingertip into their mouth, chewing on his limb. Ingo’s gaze never left the person’s before him, though they finally dared to look away from him. Their flat expression became something like a sneer as they looked down before it was schooled into disinterest once again.

“As you were never meant to be here either, I leave her to you. I would bid that you take care not to lose her and do not tell others where she came from.” The person slid their hands into their sleeves, the gold filigree flashing blindingly bright as the sleeves made contact. Ingo turned away to block his and the child’s eyes. “Not even I know where she may end up next time.”

When the light faded and Ingo could look again the person was gone. He took several steps forward, looking around to try and see where they had vanished to, but not even the snow gave a hint at what direction the person had gone in. Only the moon looked down at Ingo, the light solemn and soft. He turned his gaze to the infant in his arms; cheeks were being carelessly bitten by the wind and turning red, eyes wrinkled up in discomfort and watery, but his finger remained chewed on. Despite the infant’s abandonment, they didn’t appear disturbed. In fact they appeared… content. As the chill nipped insistently at Ingo’s bare feet, driving him back into his hut to pull the door shut, so did the baby’s eyes. They let out a gurgling noise, grip tightening on Ingo’s fingers, and then they began to snore.

Ingo rubbed his face, trudging back towards his bed. There were things he needed to do and yet- something pushed him towards the blankets. He pushed them to the side, keeping the infant in one hand while removing his long coat. Using it and a blanket he created a nest to cradle the little one in. As he set the child inside, covering them with one of his sleeves, they sighed in what he could have mistaken for content. One chubby fist grabbed the wristband of his coat while the other migrated to the infant’s mouth, thumb settling into place as though it belonged there. Half awake and half aware, Ingo prepared his own blankets upon his straw bed. He put the infant between himself and the wall, and then hesitated before moving them between himself and the opening of the room. Then he hesitated again- the wall would be colder, but perhaps safer, right? If the baby was facing the room it might roll out of the blankets and fall off the bed. It wasn’t a long drop by any means, but still! He swapped the child to the other side once again, wrapping another blanket around and over the nest, and then laid there.

What had just happened? Where had the baby’s parent gone? They had said they weren’t, but where else could it have come from? Had it been stolen?

Despite his concern that these thoughts would keep him awake, another force pulled Ingo’s eyelids down and he drifted off to sleep.

It was a knock at the door that pulled Ingo out of slumber.

The sound was quick and heavy, quickly joined by a voice.

“Mr Ingo! Are you awake?”

It was not so much a genuine question as much as it was a wakeup call. One that he was used to at this point. Several months among the Pearl Clan had helped him come to understand not only their language but their habits- he was needed, and so they were waking him.

Sunlight warmed the wooden floor as Ingo slipped out from under his blankets and padded across the floor. His head felt fuzzy and he felt a little confused; his jacket was not hanging up where he had put it the night before and there was a small snowdrift on one side of the door. He looked at it curiously, trying to figure out where it had come from, as he opened the door.

Irida stood before him, her gaze slightly narrowed and her brows drawn tight. Rather than angry he could see the stress in her expression, the way she held herself. He wondered what had happened.

“Good morning, Miss Irida.” ingo said. “How may I be of help?”

“Mr Ingo, it’s almost afternoon. We had a large amount of snowfall last night and need your help. Since you’re an early riser we thought you had already gone out- are you ill to have slept so long?” She asked. “We can’t have anyone else getting sick not so soon after the last wave!”

Ingo blinked, shaking his head and raising a hand. He had arrived, lost and freezing, to the Pearl Clan at the tail end of a lingering sickness. Though he had been cold he had also been healthy and immediately stepped in to help the recovering clan; distrustful members had warily guided the confused man around the territory to gather berries and check game. They doubted his memory loss but couldn’t afford to deny his aid. To many he had been a necessary evil. To some, he still was. To Irida, who was still young but in the running to lead the clan, he was a goal.

“I apologize, Miss Irida. I woke up last night after having a very strange dream. It must have taken me a while to fall asleep, if I indeed slept until noon. I will get ready to help.”

He went to close the door so he could dress, sighing out, “the moon was so bright it seemed to be daylight.”

Irida shot him a look.

“Mr Ingo, there was no moon at all last night.” She stated. “It’s why we didn’t see the amount of snow until this morning, despite the watch.”

Ingo froze.

“No,” he said slowly, “no, there very much was a moon. In fact, there was a person as well. They-”

From his bed came a piercing wail. Ingo froze and Irida jumped.

“Mr Ingo,” she said after a moment of listening to the crying child, “is that a baby?”

Pulled out of his panic by her words Ingo rushed to pick the child up. A terrible smell greeted his nose as he removed the baby from the nest of blankets and coat.

“There was a moon,” he said as he stared at the crying child, “it was full and bright, and-”

“Moon later, baby now.” Irida said, taking the infant from his hands. She paused, and then glared at him. “Baby explanation later, baby cleanup now. Where do you keep your changing supplies?”

“She was a… a gift,” Ingo replied dumbly; somehow it felt like the right description, “I have nothing.”

Irida stared at him in complete confusion and irritation before she sighed.

“Baby explanation later, finding the baby new nappies and…. ergh, new clothes now.” She exited his hut with the wailing child. As if pulled by a string Ingo followed, barely slipping his shoes on before stumbling into the soft snow that had yet to be cleared from in front of his home. He ignored the stares as Irida marched - baby held in front of her like a shield - to the home of Calaba. The old Warden was opening the door before they were within ten feet of the house, watching them approach with barely concealed displeasure. She allowed them in with pursed lips and the shake of her head.

Ingo dreaded to know what she was thinking.

As he watched Irida strip the infant to clean her, all the while narrating what she was doing as if Ingo was paying that much attention, one set of words caught his ear.

“I’m sorry, Miss Irida, I am- I am a little… a little off course. Could you please repeat yourself?”

She shot him an irritated glare over her shoulder. This one was truly angry with him; he would be sure to get an earful later. Though she was mostly fair she was also a hot-headed young woman determined to become the next lead of the clan. It was possible this had just hurt her chances.

“I said, Mr Ingo, what’s her name?”

“Her name?” He repeated, “I- I don’t know. They… she didn’t come with a name.”

“They normally don’t,” Calaba snapped from behind him, “which is why their parents give them one. She may be a little young for a name yet- she doesn’t look that old. You moved awfully quick Mr Ingo.” Her tone left no room for doubt- she believed that he had impregnated someone and left them, only for them to return the favor and deposit the baby on his doorstep.

“Warden Calaba, she’s not mine. Someone- someone stopped by last night, in the full moon, and gave her to me. Surely one of the watch noticed them!” He turned to her in an attempt to defend himself. Calaba snorted and crossed her arms.

“It was a new moon, Mr Ingo. There was no light at all. Perhaps you made your own light- did you track someone down and take their child?”

“I would never! That is- that is a horrible thing to insinuate, Warden Calaba, regardless of your affection or lack thereof for me! There were no footprints outside my door, were there? I couldn’t have gone anywhere!” He spun to face Irida. She was tying a new diaper onto the baby, ignoring the wails in her ears.

“With the amount of snowfall last night, footsteps would’ve disappeared quickly Mr Ingo.” She answered sorrowfully. She was loathe to agree with Warden Calaba and her harsh tongue.

“Do you believe I stole this child?” Ingo demanded of her.

Irida finished wrapping the infant, handing her back to Ingo. Only once she was in his arms, face buried in his chest as she gripped his tunic tightly with chubby fists, did she quiet. WIth her wails ceased the silence prevailed in the room as Ingo stared at Irida, who looked between himself and Calaba. If the warden didn’t like her, her chances of achieving leadership would drop even further.

“No,” Irida finally said, “in all the time you’ve been here, you haven’t come off as that sort of person, regardless of how others have seen you. But the baby-”

“I don’t know where she came from. I awoke to a knock at my door last night and someone gave her to me. They did not introduce themselves, only told me not to lose her, and then they left. I thought it was a dream until she began to cry after soiling herself.” Ingo said firmly. He turned to look at Calaba as he spoke, meeting her impassive gaze firmly. There was a tense moment until she grunted and looked away.

“So a mystery person dropped a baby onto a stranger’s lap.” She muttered.

“I’ll organize a search party,” Irida said, “a couple. If they were around last night then they must be nearby- the snow was falling much too heavy and quickly for them to have gotten far.”

Ingo understood the insinuation- they were, most likely, looking for a corpse.

“Until then… we should find her a home with a wetnurse, and-” Irida went to take the child from Ingo despite having just deposited her back into his arms. He tightened his grip just as Irida’s hands clasped onto her sides. Feeling the other touch the baby began to scream. Irida immediately stepped back, covering her ears, while Ingo turned away and rocked from side to side. She quieted after a few moments, gurgling quietly against his chest once more. Ingo and Irida looked at each other. She reached out to take the baby again. Ingo didn’t tighten his grasp this time, slightly holding her away from him, but as soon as Irida touched her she opened her mouth to scream once more.

Irida stepped back, expression turning to confusion. “She won’t let me take her.” She said.

Calaba scoffed.

“She’s an infant. Give her here, she’ll quiet down if you just hold her a moment.” She demanded.

Ingo reluctantly handed the baby over. Just like with Irida, as soon as Calaba had a hold of her she began to shriek her displeasure. Calaba pulled her close and began to rock her as Ingo had, but as the minutes passed on the shrieking turned to sobs. Like the night before the baby raised her fists, pounding on Calaba’s chest to express her displeasure. One of them must have nailed the older woman well because she let out a surprised breath, her arms’ hold weakening momentarily. Ingo was there in a heartbeat, reaching out to take hold of the girl.

Once she was back in his arms she began to grow quiet, wrapping a hand in his tunic as her sobs turned to crying, turning to whines that quieted into hiccuping breaths as he rocked her. Her teary eyes met his gaze with an unexpected intensity. She held onto his tunic in a way that, were she an adult, Ingo would believe to be some desperation. Don’t let me go, she seemed to be begging, don’t let them take me away!

I won’t, Ingo thought back, I won’t let them take you. I promise.

“Well,” Irida said after a moment, “I believe that she wishes to stay with Ingo.”

“Hmph. She’ll still need a wetnurse unless he’s hiding milk behind that tunic.” Calaba said the words dismissively. “He’ll also need to learn how to change her, and get her clothes, and-”

“Akari.” Ingo said, breaking the sentence.

“Who? We don’t have an Akari in the village. Is that her mother?” Irida asked, approaching. She kept a distance from the baby, preparing to step back in case the screaming started once more. Wrapped in Ingo’s arms the baby met her gaze placidly.

“No. It’s… her. Her name.” Ingo trailed a finger from the girl’s forehead, where small wisps of dark hair were already threatening to fall in her face, down over her nose. She smiled and giggled, wrapping a hand around Ingo’s finger and shaking it. Ingo couldn’t help but think she must feel excited.

“Her name is Akari.”

#Pokemon legends Arceus #PLA #Irida #Ingo #Akari #After encasing myself in dad and found dad media I had an idea #I mean I have my own lol PLA universe which includes my OCs but #I haven't touched it bc reasons but honestly #Fuck it we ball. New series with 0 pressure for me lol #Other things are still a wip but I also needed to practice uploading on AO3 #Some things did not load as they should so there is that issue... #Not a big problem with 3k words but uh. #I don't want to be combing through 20k to fix italics and stuff #Esp on such a small and limited screen #Anyway I'm rambling now. Here's some fic. Have some infant Akari #Arceus is a deadbeat dad (they're upset Akari screamed as soon as they picked her up) #(Arceus is like 'why does she not immediately love me? Time to re-home her') #Haven't decided the exact behavior of Arceus in this one but at the very least they're not as malicious as they are in #Like 99% of my other fics (sorry. I like naughty bad god Arceus) #Uhhhh personal tagging for tracking hmmmm.... #OBF series #That'll do pig. That'll do.

[littlebigmouse]

About the potential mole in the rebellion...

Given that information about the rebellion has leaked, people have naturally started considering who could be a potential mole. I have some thoughts:

Steve: people have pointed out that Steve's design seems to have shifted a little since last episode - most notably the position of his literal moles. Other than that though, I don't think he's a turncloak - with how little characterisation we've got from him, spending half an episode establishing his change of heart just to go back on it one episode later sounds confusing at best. And he would have had no reason to pretend to have changed for King for so long. Now there is the theory that someone else is pretending to be Steve - Adrien, for example - but I don't think that's true either. Since Steve was at the hideout the whole night, that would imply that the EC has access to the hideout/knows the exact location and went there - but instead of arresting every member of the CATTs and splitting them up, they just replaced one goon? An illusion that could be noticed so easily of someone accidentally spilled their drink on Steve? I don't think so

Eberwolf: honestly I just think this would be super boring because we know nothing about Eberwolf. It's true they have no established motivation to be rebelling, but we've gotten no hints and not even a line of dialogue - "Eberwolf betrayed everyone" wouldn't get more than a vague shrug from me. Who would care, honestly. Same goes for the other members of the BATs.

Raine: yes, Raine's been acting all twitchy this episode, but I really think this is all related to their motivation being "protect Eda", which isn't exactly going to be achieved if the plan goes off without a hitch. Eda and Raine remember that Eda's curse almost destroyed the two of them too. They know what they're getting into, and Raine making all manners of worried faces at everyone is them dealing with the fact that they are currently leading the one person they wanted to keep safe straight to disaster for the good of the people. Raine winking at Luz and promising to keep Eda safe looked more like them putting on a brave front for the sake of a kid to me, which is a loads stronger character conflict than whatever the implications of Raine's betrayel would be. Since we already had one "Raine is working for the EC" fake out, I really doubt they'll hit us with another

Darius: I have nothing to say to that except that it wouldn't make sense to send Hunter to protect Luz in this case but also I'd personally think it would be ridiculously funny if Darius turned out to be actually evil? Evil again? It would be so unnecessarily dramatic. He seemed genuine about protecting Hunter so I doubt he'd betray the cause like that, but if he did - yeah you go you funky little diva. But yeah, I don't think it's them either.

Which brings me to my theory on the whole matter: External means of espionage. Belos doesn't need a mole in the rebellion. Belos has an Oracle Coven Head, if not a whole Coven, under his thumb. Scrying potions are an established thing. There's probably any number of spells and measures to find out what your enemies are up to, no need to send someone disguised in person or whatever. It's also realistic if Belos had known about the CATTs the entire time - Hunter must have gotten "the whispers" about rebels attempting to invade the Emperor's mind from somewhere, after all. Since Belos seems to have ensured replacements for all Coven Heads, there really isn't much point for him to bother with their intricate little plans beyond setting them a trap for when they show up. And since Terra at least overheard a crystal ball call between Raine and Eda, it's not unreasonable to assume she's also figured out that Raine isn't exactly under her thumb (anymore). As Darius noted, they're a "terrible" actor (opinions vary, but I digress).

Tl;dr: there isn't a traitor among the CATTs, Belos just knows how to brew scrying potions.

#also Eda is totally going to pop off her hand with the sigil when things get dire/out of control #that would be so funny imagine #other predicitions include but are not limited to: #amity will have a purple eye power up #and hunter will be in trouble due to his grimwalker nature specifically #maybe there will be some kind of confrontation thing between him gus and willow but since they wouldn't care much #i don't think it would be dramatic enough #if the CATTs aren't blown by the time the draining spell starts #raine might decide to interrupt it by taking eda's place regardless bc they can't bare to lose her #the palisman will hatch when luz is sitting somewhere sad defeated and alone #alternatively it will turn out they're just a sentient egg which i would love tbh lol #toh #toh theories #toh meta #toh spoilers #the owl house #raine whispers #clouds on the horizon #toh steve