#(for the sake of sorting later this is later in the timeline

[gothamghostwhispers]

He has been too comfortable too long. It was really starting to get to him.

Sure it was kinda cramped, but Artems place was always kept clean and warm. There’s a sense of safety walking through the door that got under his skin. He doesn’t have to watch over his shoulder and for some reason that makes him feel even more stressed out.

At first he’d just walk out whenever it got to be too much but his wandering stressed Artem out something fierce and Benny would feel terrible if he caused his siblings to get kicked out when they finally get to act like kids again. So they came up with a compromise, if Benny goes out he needs to take a bag Artem packed with him when he does.

Benny grabs the bag, he wants to scoff, he’s lived on his own since he was 7. He was perfectly capable of taking night walks. But…. The bag did have a lot of useful stuff in it so.. he takes it regardless as he heads out into the night.

It doesn’t take long before he’s grabbed by said bag and pulled into an alley.

“Drop the bag kid and you get to live”

[ @cant-have-shit-in-gotham ]

#only in gotham rp #(for the sake of sorting later this is later in the timeline #still during the #future artem arc #but a bit after Artems apartment has been fixed up) #breakfast siblings #Benny #morel #(‘the kids’ as if he isn’t 12)

[indigovigilance]

Maggie is Possessed

This is my second meta! My first one is here.

I’m not the first fan to be suspicious of Maggie but I’m going to argue why she might be possessed (and I hypothesize that specifically she is possessed by an angel), rather than being eldritch herself, and will propose some reasons why the hitchhiker might be doing this.

First, a quick list of her early observable behaviors:

She cannot spell urgency

She signs “very faithfully yours”

She refuses to drink alcohol

Golden angel-wing earrings, anyone?

Have you seen those clothes?

All of those things are angelic, but why possession, specifically? Evidence is presented in order of chronology and not necessarily how strong it is, below the cut:

First: The timeline is weird. She’s eight months behind on rent, and suddenly decides she needs to speak to Mr. Fell “on a matter of some ugrency” and insists she can be out by next week. It’s inconsistent behavior that could indicate that a new decision-maker has taken over. First-point-five, she calls Aziraphale an angel: does she know?

Second: re-watch the first coffee shop scene, S2E1 at 13:20. Yes yes, it reads like a cute lesbian flirtation scene. That’s the cowrie shell. Pick it up. There’s a caraway seed underneath. When she arrives at the coffee shop for the first time, Maggie’s confused “ah, yes, coffee” might not be the flustered redirect you thought it was, but rather indicating that whoever is riding around in that body doesn’t actually know how a coffee shop works. But Nina (to Hitchhiker!Maggie’s relief) remembers her order. So Human!Maggie has been here before, in fact, Nina calls her a regular, to which Hitchhiker!Maggie says “oh right, yes, I’m that.” Not sus at all, sister.

Third: During the “herbal tea” exchange, Maggie says to Nina that “I didn’t go to parties” and she was “not that sort of teenager.” On it’s face it reads like she was a goody-two-shoes human teenager, but consider for a moment that whoever is speaking right now was never human; the statement isn’t a lie, but its very misleading. Who else do we know that does that?

Fourth: During the lock-in, Maggie tells the story of how her great grandmother’s store was in a corner of Mr. Fell’s bookshop, so he lets them stay on for old time’s sake. One possible interpretation of this phrasing is that Hitchhiker!Maggie knows that Aziraphale has owned that shop continuously for at least 100 years. Nina is the one that suggests that it was actually Aziraphale’s grandfather, and Maggie nods along.

Fifth: Maggie says it’s a “coincidence” that the power goes in and out when Crowley passes by; could read as a deliberate redirect from someone who actually knows that Crowley is a demon? But more on that later.

Sixth: I’m skipping a lot of intervening content BUT at the ball, during the dance, she says “this is just what we do, isn’t it?” to which Nina emphatically replies that no, it isn’t. So even though Nina has been effected by an emotion-suppressing aura, she hasn’t lost her memory of how society generally works in 2023, but somehow Maggie isn’t up to date. This is parallel to Point #2, not knowing how to order coffee.

Seventh: Aziraphale’s attempted miracle memory wipe doesn’t work on her. I’ve seen others suggest that it’s due to a miracle blocker but all of his other miracles work, so…

Eighth: Nina calls her “angel.” You thought it was cute. It’s not. It’s a double-bluff. She’s actually an angel.

Ninth: She tells Crowley that “we’re real people.” Okay, human police officer Inspector Constable, whatever you say.

The rest of this is wild speculation. Abandon hope all ye who read below the fold.

So of course this raises the question: why are is the hitchhiker here, and what was Human!Maggie’s motivation to give them permission to hitchhike?

I’ll start with Human!Maggie’s motivation. I believe that she is not just pretendy-good but a properly good person who feels a lot of anguish about her failing business, one that’s been in the family for 100 years, and guilt for not paying her rent. I think she prayed for help, and a “guardian angel” answered her prayers, and she gave that angel permission to possess her and fix the problem.

As for why the angel answered her prayers, I propose that the Metatron sent them to fuck around with Aziraphale. My evidence is that Maggie frequently meddles to Aziraphale’s detriment. In chronological order:

She puts him in a moral choice position: if he evicts her, he’s the bad guy. If he forgives her rent, he’s done something good. Both of these can be leveraged by the Metatron. Notably, after he forgives the rent, Maggie calls him an angel, perhaps to remind him whose side he’s really on *wink wink nudge nudge.*

She confides in her landlord about her crush on the business owner across the street, who’s already in a relationship?! How ridiculously inappropriate?? Maggie??!! But she does, and plants the idea in his head about love, which ultimately becomes the runaway train that makes him extremely vulnerable later.

She refuses to leave the shop during the attack (S2E5), I propose is for purposes of fucking over Aziraphale, as evidenced by…

For this part, I need you to go back and watch it. S2E6 at 3:28. During the pissing contest at the threshold, Maggie turns her head away, there is a sound effect, and that’s when she turns back to Shax and invites the demons in. Hitchhiker!Maggie has taken over and rolled out the carpet for the enemy invasion.

Maggie is the instigator of the “you have to talk about your feelings” conversation, dragging Nina from behind the counter across the street while she has a shop full of customers. Considering that the Metatron is at that very moment at the French restaurant next door, making a job offer to Aziraphale, the timing choice seems very suspect. Almost as if they coordinated to talk to each husband while they were separated.

So, it is possible that Hitchhiker!Maggie was sent by the Metatron as a spy and a saboteur to meddle with Aziraphale. To what end, specifically? Probably to get him to break up with Crowley and/or get him to return to Heaven, but ultimately, I just don’t know. I will admit that I don’t have a very strong conviction that this will become canon, but it was fun to write and I hope that it was fun to read! Leave a note if you enjoyed it!

edit: a link to another meta about why this was such an effective strategy against the husbands

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #maggie #ivoc

[machiroads]

Don't look, i'm about to overthink this panel

Long post under the cut.

Notwithstanding that I can't figure out what's going on with Aizawa's legs here because he's twisted around or something—it's a good panel. Look at them, they're adorable. 11/10 no notes.

Actually that's not true I have so many notes.

Will someone also please get this man a blanket for god's sake

I'm going to unpack the implications here from two perspectives: Aizawa telling Eri he got hit by a truck, and Eri trying (and failing) to save Aizawa.

Tis But A Flesh Wound

Aizawa tells Eri he got hit by a truck, and a common interpretation I've seen of this is that nobody told her what happened to him. I don't necessarily think this is true, because:

A) She rewound Mirio the day before the raid

B) She was watching the fight on TV with All Might.

Canonically, she is at least tangentially aware of what happened. Aizawa also knows that she's at least somewhat aware of what happened, vis-a-vis excerpt A.

I've also seen the interpretation that Aizawa is trying to obfuscate the truth about his injuries from her (presumably because the quirk-deleting bullets were created from her blood), but again, she was watching the fight on TV.

The most rational (hah) explanation is that he's just back on his bullshit, lying to children for his own amusement.

which is. hysterical.

Anyways, onto item 2!

The Deus Ex Machina

As we saw above, Eri rewound Mirio the day before the raid. I am not a scholar of the BNHA timeline, but I did do some research while I was writing Nine Lives. My understanding is as follows:

The Shie Hassaikai raid is sometime in September

The Jaku raid is at the end of March

Mirio corroborates these two points when he arrives at Jaku, noting that he's been out of the game for about 6 months

Post-Jaku is where the timeline gets weird.

Tartarus is breached the night of the raid on Jaku and Gunga

Midoriya is brought back to UA about a month after that

The Star & Stripe fight happens the day after that

The day after that, All Might reveals they have at least a week to prepare for the final battle. Aoyama is revealed to be the traitor on the same day.

In summary, the final battle happens somewhere in the ballpark of a month and a half to two months after Jaku / Gunga.

With the timeline sort of squared away, let's move on to the interpretation I've seen some readers make, which is that Eri didn't have enough energy to rewind Aizawa. The translation of Ectoplasm's dialogue has varied between the original leaks, the fan scanlation, and the official release, leading to some ambiguity of interpretation here, but there are a few different reasons that this doesn't make any sense:

Based on the timeline outlined above, where Eri successfully sends Mirio back 6 months on the day before the raid, it doesn't really make sense that 0 to 2 months later, she couldn't hypothetically rewind Aizawa by 0 to 2 months after he loses his leg and eye. Eri's power is wishy washy at best, but this seems like it's entirely within the realm of plausibility if Aizawa wanted to be rewound.

From a storytelling standpoint, what's the point of rewinding Aizawa to de-nerf him for the final battle if him and Monoma are ultimately removed from the fight via Sad Man's Parade anyway?

My interpretation is that this doesn't actually have anything to do with Eri trying and failing to rewind Aizawa, but rather she's trying to go rescue Midoriya and help him the same way that she did during the Shie Hassaikai raid.

The inference Ectoplasm is making is that it's too late for that, because she's at home watching the fight on TV rather than already being on the battlefield. This was also the case at Jaku, where she was canonically watching the fight on TV with All Might. She must have seen Aizawa go down and wanted to go save him, but it was already too late for her to try to help.

There's an entire separate essay worth of discussion on why Aizawa continues to live with one leg and one eye (both from a canon and a meta perspective), but I won't get into that here.

In conclusion:

This panel is fucking adorable

Aizawa continues to lie to children for fun and profit

Eri is baby and is physically perfectly capable of controlling her power at this juncture, she's just geographically removed from the action because she's like seven years old

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

#BNHA #Aizawa Shouta #Eri #MHA Spoilers

[necronatural]

Limbus Company theory

Okay, I have absolutely no idea if anyone's noted this yet. Did anyone pick up that the Sinners are held down by a Sin, represented in their EGO, and their Canto are about their struggles against another sin entirely. The branch creates a space for 'penance'. When Rodya entered the field of effect of the branch, Baba Yaga went crazy, freezing the entire mine. There's clearly some paralleling at work here.

So let's go through.

Gregor, Canto 1: Sloth V Gluttony (survival); note that this expedition failed, and we later explore Sloth with Yi Sang

Rodion, Canto 2: Pride V Gloom; note that Rodya refused to actualize

Sinclair, Canto 3: Gluttony (Greed) V Lust

Yi Sang, Canto 4: Sloth V Gluttony (greed); Dante's resonance begins

Ishmael, Canto 5: Gloom V Envy; Dante's resonance progresses

When we look at the dominant sins of the remainder...

Heathcliff, Canto 6: Envy...

Don Quixote, Canto 7: Lust…

Hong Lu, Canto 8: Gloom…

Ryoshu, Canto 9: Wrath…

Meursault, Canto 10: Pride…

Outis, Canto 11: Pride…

Faust, Canto 12: Pride…

Dante, Canto ?: ????

Sins not confronted yet: Sloth, Pride, Wrath

Sinner sins left to explore: Envy, Wrath, Lust (If we're talking strictly what progressed Dante's clock, Gluttony & Pride)

Assuming Dante's doomsday clock setting is moving in 5 minute intervals, Dante currently has 2 positions left on their clock; 5 minutes to midnight and midnight itself. It's made almost explicit that their resonance with sinners is the tool with which they resonate with the branches. By obtaining each sin, they're building to some sort of complete whole.

Predictions based on this theory; Pride being so back-heavy probably means we're going to scramble for branches with Hermann. It gives the impression that for whatever reason Pride is necessary, which is interesting.

My own theory: Rodya says she'll settle in the cold [Gloom] for a little longer, and Sonya says she doesn't have the mark. I'd say this might mean Rodya hasn't sufficiently resonated. Sonya may have tried to bait her in hopes of getting better results in this regard.

This may mean ...

The last few Cantos will be a losing streak (LOL)

Someone who hasn't cleansed themselves of their opposing sin/formed the mark of cain will get the branch; I'd imagine this person shares sins with Dante, Vergilius, or Charon, who I believe are probably Envy, Wrath, and Lust respectively (OOP @ WHO WE'RE MISSING ⬆️)

In that respect Vergilius V Sloth, Charon V Pride, Dante V Wrath. I even think the wrath Dante is opposed to could be Vergilius

Very notable there's only 3 sins missing; it could be possible we already have Dante's branch; they were very obviously part of the group of Cain Marked, and again, their clock started at 25-to-midnight and just kind of sat there for a little while. It's also possible it didn't move until Yi Sang because their sin was Gluttony (ambiguous manifestation)? If Hermann also represents Lust ..... Think about it

Rodya's refusal of the call of Cain might become plot-relevant, just as our failure to observe what happened to Gregor on the myth arc timeline of 3 years ago and relationship with the Big Bad makes it obvious he's going to be a core character in the future. We can tell based on those who have the mark of Cain that he just doesn't have the chops, so mayhaps their mutual exclusion will be a surprise tool that will help us later.

And of course, my theories for the sins that weigh down our remaining Sinners: Heathcliff V Sloth, Don Quixote V Wrath, and Ryoshu V Pride. I predict all the Prides share Rodya's opposing force, which is Gloom; we see this in the books these characters are based on, with Meursault's despair of being sentenced to death being overcome by his Pride, Outis putting herself through grueling trials for the sake of returning to her family, and Faust beginning with suicidal depression leading to her pride creating(summoning) Mephistopheles.

I think it would be pretty funny if Dante was Gretchen's evil baby. Or that Gretchen might have been their previous self, manipulated into giving birth to Dante (extremely vulnerable and exploitable state), which they will be disgusted by and put to death. How many representations of the Divine Feminine in classic literature can Dante represent any% speedrun

#limbus company #theorycrafting #meta

[circuscountdowns]

Hello! I’ve sent messages before (such as asking about the bishops’ fate much later in the timeline) but this is my first time asking something off of anonymous!

During the 1000 years or so they lived as mortals, did your lamb and the bishops eventually consider each other friends?* Playing Knucklebones together makes me guess “yes”, but well

Your comment about the lamb slowly waiting for them to request natural deaths made me curious

*In what I assume is a complicated sort of way for obvious reasons

oh yes I loved that ask! I thought about it the whole time i was working on that comic! (And to answer that second half oops) Aym and Baal got whatever Forneus got going on that keeps her alive, and traveled overseas after their explorations of the land of Old Faith. After that contact was lost, and Lamb and Narinder were never really sure what happened to them. They Empty Nest Narinder’s ass in a whole new way asdfghjkl he’d never have to grieve their death really just their departure (if they ever do die idk I’ll leave that open. Makes me sad to think of kitties dying :( skdjsksj)

Friends is a fun word. I think the idea of friends implies choice, and for the Lamb there really was no choice. Complete in-laws situations. The bishops are more than just ex-gods they wish to punish, they’re their catboy’s siblings. And though for a while Narinder tried to cold-shoulder the Bishops, that’s still he family and the cult is only so big. At one point you cross paths on the way to the outhouse yknow. Does the Lamb feel a kinship with these last few people to experience Godhood? Yes. Do they see themself a lot in Shamura and hate them with every fiber of their being? Yes. Are they going to make sure their injury is treated seriously and they get whatever they need? Yes. Are they a little sad when the day comes they ask for death? Sad for Narinder’s sake.

At the very least they were all comfortable together and it brought entertainment. With how long the bishops have been alive, they bring a lot of funny stories to the table.

Heket to the day she dies remains Lamb Hater #1. They may have introduced her to her wife (who IS actually friends with the Lamb. Go figure), but she can hold a grudge like no ones business. It is on sight insult the moment Lamb’s in the room. But also if the knucklebones tournament taking too long, she’s taking the lamb’s bed for herself everyone else get da floor.

leshy has chronic youngest brother disease and it works on the lamb begrudgingly. As long as he stays funny, he can probably get away with a lot. Kallamar is just content to be alive and will push at Lamb’s patience as far as it can go. Shamura sometimes forgets why they should hate the lamb and sees only the thing that makes Narinder happy.

leshy dies once on a mission and it is to the lamb’s delight when the bishops look at them with clenched fists and a blasphemous (to the Old Faith’s beliefs) demand on the tip of their tongues.

this is longer than it needed to be I just love complicated dynamics. I can talk about it for hours. Thanks for the asks!!! <3

#Sorry I forced you off anon! #I’m white knuckling my desk while thinking about all of them I’m normal. It’s so complicated I’m normal.

[yuri-is-online]

Do the timeline post!!

Right so before I get cracking on this I want to make a few things clear:

This is all speculation and should not be taken as fact, due to how XP and stamina gain work in this game I will probably re-vist this post once I am finally able to work on Zayne's myths card (i am prioritizing Xavier since I have both of his as opposed to just one of Zayne)

For simplicity's sake this post is just going to be focused on Zayne, though I will reference things from the other boy's lore where applicable. He ironically seems to have the easiest timeline to understand, which is saying something.

I will gladly make a post for Xavier later this week when I am able to unlock his last anecdote, but if you are more interested in Rafayel I will have to direct you to this post by u/joonmin on the love and deepspace subreddit as I don't have a lot of Rafayel cards and lack the information they posted. I will say that he seems to have the most complicated timeline out of all three of the love interests, and that a lot of the information on that thread won't make sense if you have not read chapter 7.

Ok? Ok. Here is my best attempt at a timeline for Love and Deepspace Zayne: SPOILERS FOR ALL IN GAME CONTENT UP TO CHAPTER 7, VARIOUS MOMENTS, AND ANECDOTES, PROCEED WITH CARE.

I lied I have one more thing I want to clarify: yes there is a timeloop/alternate reality thing going on in this game. That is not really something that I think needs debating because that's kind of the genre this developer does, and the game starts off telling you that the deepspace tunnel is a spacetime anomaly. It isn't subtext, it is just text.

Current Timeline

The current timeline where the main story of LAD takes place is set in the year 2048 in a place called Linkon City. We are told that the Deepspace Tunnel opened 14 years prior and that is when wanderers started invading earth. There is a lack of understanding about why this has happened, and it has sparked an interest in space exploration in the hopes of finding a solution.

The hunters association is sort of like an adventurers guild? It's supervised by the government, and is sort of split between Hunters like MC and researchers attempting to understand what makes the wanderers tick.

This includes researching protocores, currently the only thing the hunter's association knows for sure is that they contain a great deal of energy, and that they can cause disease in humans based off of which category the protocore falls into. This is confirmed to be what is wrong with MC.

It is also mentioned that protocore energy is used for lots of things, in technology I assume. This will be important later so keep it in mind.

The "arctic" that chapter 5 is set in appears to be referring to the Northern arctic circle. The in game "spacepedia" says there are lots of energy fluctuations (and therefore wanderer attacks) due to its close proximity to the earth's magnetic pole. The epicenter of these fluctuations appears to be Mt. Eternal, where most of the research institutions in the arctic are based.

There seem to be sort of "fixed points" that repeat themselves within Zayne and Rafayel's timelines, and a theme of MC forgetting things. The lyrics to the opening theme even say "Time goes by but memories rewind" and while Zayne doesn't say MC has forgotten anything to do with him specifically, she has forgotten something about both Xavier and Rafayel. For Rafayel, the thing she forgets also seems to be his "fixed point": he and MC always meet when they are younger. For Zayne, he always hurts someone with his evol at age 12.

While there are technically three versions of Zayne and two of them seem to be aware of each other: current/Dr. Zayne and Dawnbreaker Zayne. They both started dreaming of each other at 12. It is unclear if either version dreams about Forseer Zayne, or if he is aware of them, but all three versions of Zayne are fond of jasmine. I haven't made much progress with Zayne's myths card, but it is clear that this like has something to do with MC, just from the little bit I have been able to read.

Dr. Zayne dislikes talking about the incident when he was 12, simply telling his friend Will that he lost control of his evol and hurt someone. He refers to this someone as a friend, and I might be a smidge delusional... but I think that friend was probably MC. If she's forgotten about it, Dr. Zayne might see that as "for the best" and not wish to remind her of it.

It would also explain why Grandma trusted him with MC's care and those secret documents. He has gone very far out of his way to try and not be someone who hurts people, and is obsessed with working himself to the bone to save as many people as possible. Grandma might seem like a sweet old lady... but we know she has some questionable morals so I could see someone like her thinking that since Dr. Zayne feels like he owes MC he is a good choice to protect her since he won't betray her.

The Fragmented Dreams moment is typically pointed to when talking about Dr. Zayne and Dawnbreaker's dream connection, but after reading the Never Ending Winter anecdote I don't really think it is. Look at what the nightmare actually says:

I think this moment starts out with Dr. Zayne dreaming about MC coming to visit him at work and bring him lunch, but devolves into him dreaming about what he did when he was 12. Dr. Zayne's dreams of Dawnbreaker as depicted in the anecdote are almost always related to his mercy kills, he doesn't seem to see the finer details I'll get into when discussing Dawnbreaker's timeline. The anncedote makes me think that Dr. Zayne sees Dawnbreaker as a sort of manifestation of his fears for himself; he fears becoming a killer, he fears hurting people, the only things Dr. Zayne wants is to save lives. That wish applies to more people than just the MC, he genuinely enjoys being a doctor and is very popular with his patients.

Beyond Dr. Zayne seeing his friend turn into a wanderer and being forced to kill him, we don't know much about his relationship with his teacher or the arctic. We do know that he still visits the arctic from time to time to help Dr. Noah with his research, and we can only assume it has something to do with protocores. I think it might specifically have something to do with humans being transformed into wanderers, but that's wild speculation on my part.

Dawnbreaker Timeline

The concept of Dawnbreaker Zayne is introduced in the annecdote Still In Dark. It is set in an unknown time and place, but it is confirmed to not be Linkon as Dawnbreaker mentions wanting to visit there, but that it was destroyed a long time ago.

In this timeline in this unknown city, wanderer attacks are so common that people don't really leave their homes. Most menial jobs (such as staffing convenience stores) are done by robots and most people find their entertainment through VR.

It is known by the government of this unknown place that prolonged exposure to protocores and their energy transforms people into wanderers. These infected can then kill and infect other humans. When Dawnbreaker Zayne was 12 years old, he watched his adopted father transform into a wanderer and turn his mother. He used his evol to kill them both to save himself. This is also when he begins dreaming of Dr. Zayne, though he is much more interested in MC.

In the anecdote he is under investigation by the police as a suspected serial killer, as he has been mercy killing infected people as they transform so they can't turn more people. This includes children, which is what Dr. Zayne ends up dreaming of in Never Ending Winter.

The police officer investigating Dawnbreaker ends up learning about the infected, and destroys his investigative files after realizing his superiors know about these wanderers. He wishes Dawnbreaker Zayne luck in finding a solution before things get too far gone.

This anecdote does two very important things. First and foremost it confirms/introduces the concept that some wanderers used to be human, and that this transformation is caused by prolonged exposure to protocores. The second is that it suggests that MC is not a part of that world's timeline. Why is not clear, but Dawnbreaker doesn't know who she is, just that from what he can see in his dreams he wishes to be loved by her. I mentioned that Dr. Zayne hates Dawnbreaker, but it doesn't seem that Dawnbreaker hates him at all. He likes to watch medical dramas, and seems to genuinely want to be his other self even if he is aware that's impossible in his current reality.

Forseer Timleine

I haven't made much progress on this one, so we are going straight to bullet points on things I think are relevant.

Each of the myths cards take place in a world called Philos. It is unclear if this place is a planet, a country, or just a city as each Myths card seems to have a distinct cultural feel and history to it. I am leaning towards planet as Xavier is an alien and refers to earth as if he is foreign to it.

Xavier and MC also talk about how Philos is dying in his Myths card because of the wanderers, and that the wanderers will eventually leave Philos and make there way somewhere else.

It is a commonly liked head cannon that Dr. Zayne became a cardiologist because of MC's heart condition, and while that still might be true I think it might be a sort of residual desire to help her from his Forseer self, as MC breaks into his prison to try and cure her heart condition, which is slowly turning her into ice.

... forseer's MC is a little out there tbh. Kind of out of pocket and honestly I love that for her. If I was told I only had 3 years left to live my reaction wouldn't be to break into the Vatican to see if the Pope had any reliquaries that could prove my doctor wrong but I guess we all deal with grief differently.

I talked in the original timeline about the fact that all versions of Zayne like jasmine, but I am noting it here again as he agrees to not kill MC if she can convince his houseplant to bloom. Did I mention she broke into his house? Did I mention she did this practically claiming to be a government official? Of course Zayne is just going to shrug off her antics, even if he doesn't remember it he has seen worse.

My last sort of point I want to make here is that Xavier has a bit of throw away dialogue in battle asking whether or not something is "immortal or undying." Forseer Zayne refers to himself as undying, and has an issue with controlling his ice evol to the point it should be killing him, but isn't for some reason. It is also implied in MC's dialogue he is being used as a tool by Philos, which is something she can't stand. As for why this distinction is important, as of this point in time, I don't think Zayne is aware of his life as the Forseer because he is not immortal, unlike Rafayel or Xavier. When the Forseer dies, his memory of his life will go with him while Rafayel keeps his and Xavier- Well he just hasn't died yet.

Dr. Zayne and Dawnbreaker Zayne might be aware of each other because they still posses the same gift that the Forseeer (allegedly) does, or it might just be because of their connection to the MC, or because of the rift in spacetime above Linkon. It might even be a combination of all three. Whatever it is, it's a lot less complicated to understand than whatever the hell Rafayel has going on and makes me wonder how exactly all of these various timelines fit into place.

When I get more familiar with the rest of the lore I will make a very pretty diagram on my white board complete with color coding because this story has me in a chokehold for no good reason.

Final Thoughts

While I was thinking about all this, an idle thought came to mind that maybe the three current ROs sort of represent the past (Rafayel), the present (Zayne), and the future (Xavier) even though all three arguably have some sort of past with the MC in their Myths cards. The mystery fourth RO would then represent an alternate reality in my deluded mind, maybe a split timeline created by MC's current actions???

I am doubtful that the events in Linkon city we are currently experiencing are meant to be MC's "origin point" (or whatever timeline she originally came from), but that just makes me wonder what the hell is. I want to know who or what caused the deepspace tunnel to appear. I said on another post that it probably has something to do with the destruction of Philos, and while I do sort of still think that I have no real reason to beyond a hunch.

#<3 asks #love and deepspace #lad #lad zayne #love and deepspace zayne

[avelera]

Some missed opportunities for Norse Mythology references in the Loki S2 Finale

I want to quickly preface this by saying the Loki show never claimed to be about or even incorporate more than passing nods to Norse mythology, so the following "missed opportunities" are more things that I think could have been cool and were perhaps within reach as references, but that even at my most wildly optimistic I didn't and still don't really expect because the show has been so very clear on this front. It's not fair to say these are flaws because the show never pretended to be about Norse mythology. NEVERTHELESS, because I'm a big nerd:

1) Ragnarok - All respect to Waititi and Thor III, it was a great interpretation of the myth, but I've always longed for something a little closer to the doom and mysticism of the mythology and the Loki S2 finale came tantalizingly close to invoking it, but fell short of actually using the word. Because Ragnarok isn't just about the fall of the gods, it's about the destruction and rebirth of the world. "After [the events of Ragnarok], the world will rise again, cleansed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors." 

Gee does that sound familiar! Almost like destroying all of the timelines to create them anew! Almost like that's what Sylvie was invoking by telling him it's better to accept destruction rather than accept imprisonment, and to build something new out of the ashes.

That's Ragnarok. That's literally Ragnarok and they invoked it in so many ways there short of actually using the damn word.

Loki, the god destined to bring about Ragnarok, proceeding to directly bring down the current timeline by destroying and then renewing it with a male and female survivor to help rebuild (visualized with Mobius and Sylvie's little chat at the end, even if it's the TVA they helped rebuild not the human population) sure does sound astonishingly close to invoking the story of Ragnarok.

And even though I'm bummed they never called it Ragnarok, I completely understand why! Ragnarok has kinda already happened in the MCU (never mind that Ragnarok itself is cyclical and will come again, but I digress)! I'd even go so far as to guess that earlier drafts probably did make it clearer but the thread, except for its bones and outline, were abandoned or left unnamed explicitly because it would be confusing for those not familiar with the myth or who would conflate Ragnarok with its Thor III invocation. Alas.

2) Loki bound - Already sort of invoked in Thor II with Loki imprisoned, which is why I don't think any more overt reference was made, but Loki was rather famously bound up in mythology. In this case, in a cave with a snake's poison dripping into his mouth. Not saying Loki bound to his throne of time needed to be conflated with how he was imprisoned until Ragnarok in the myhology, but the imprisonment parallel is there.

3) Loki becomes the new Odin, sacrificed upon Yggrasil - "The generally accepted meaning of Old Norse Yggdrasill is "Odin's horse", meaning "gallows". This interpretation comes about because drasill means "horse" and Ygg(r) is one of Odin's many names. The Poetic Edda poem Hávamál describes how Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from a tree, making this tree Odin's gallows. This tree may have been Yggdrasil." (source)

IE, Loki has sacrificed himself upon the world tree for power and knowledge and for the sake of the world. In this, unlike in the mythology where Loki is not Odin's son, Loki ascends to a parallel of his father's throne to follow in his legacy, having finally learned his father's lessons about rulership and self-sacrifice. Perhaps like the mythological Odin, we will learn that in making this self-sacrifice, Loki too has gained phenomenal knowledge and power?

4) Ratatoskr - This is more foward-looking and I don't in a million years think they'll do it but it would be so cool - so cool - if at some later point Loki has a friend or a servant or a squirrel form or idk, something that invokes Ratatoskr, the squirrel that lives in the World Tree and freely travels up and down its branches delivering messages. Please, MCU, give Loki a little squirrel friend??

#norse mythology #loki #loki spoilers #loki meta

[lets-try-some-writing]

Does Soundwave get to see sparkling Rafael from time to time? He deserves some Baby Time on occasion

For the sake of the timeline of this Au, I am breaking request order to answer this. But simply put, yes. Soundwave gets babysitting rights sometimes.

Little Cassette

The moment he saw Rafael, Soundwave was sold on the idea of taking care of the little cassette even if he had to fight Optimus for the right. Rafael was so small, so vulnerable, and so very much in need of a carrier. A Sire can only do so much for a cassette or any minicon really. Sooner or later the minicon in question will need a carrier to instruct them and to nurture them in a way that no other can. However Soundwave has never been one to rip sparklings away from their caretakers, hence his meeting with the Prime coming as soon as Megatron had his back turned.

It was a dark rainy night when he met Optimus out in a secure location. Both were wary of the other and for good reason. However after a while of tense staring, Soundwave broke down first.

Soundwave: Sparkling Cassette: Requires Carrier Unit.

Optimus: What are you getting at Soundwave?

Soundwave: Soundwave is Carrier Unit. Can provide services.

Optimus was of course incredibly skeptical. Soundwave was nothing if not loyal. Letting the Decepticon into base to interact with Rafael was asking for Megatron to find their location. And yet as he looked at Soundwave, he found himself oddly compelled. He could see the sincerity in the spymaster, the pure desire to care for a sparkling not too dissimilar from Optimus's own. Besides, he wouldn't have put it past Soundwave to steal his youngest sparkling from him should he fail to come to some sort of agreement.

As such after several hours of hashing out the details, Soundwave was granted access to Rafael on a few conditions. 1. He may never reveal the location of the base. 2. He may not use any consoles or touch Autobot data. And 3. He may not take Rafael out of the base without express permission or supervision. They were simple rules, but if Starscream of all mecha was willing to follow a similar creed, Optimus was willing to give Soundwave the benefit of the doubt. And it didn't take all that long for the spymaster to begin making his visits. He always appeared the in the dead of night, never coming to base during the day for reasons he never bothered to specify. The team were mostly recharging whenever Soundwave came by, but since Optimus was going to be up anyway to care for Rafael, he was the one who opted to keep an optic on the spymaster during his visits. Soundwave for his part never made any noise and kept quiet when he visited.

It started small at first. Soundwave would only watch Rafael and play with him while Optimus prepared the sparkling's fuel in the dead of night. Then he began carrying Rafael around, rocking him and playing Cybertronian lullabies as the Prime worked. Soon after he began assisting in everything Rafael needed in relation to his care. Things that were once done during the day like cleaning his growth plates and gears became a nightly activity instead since Soundwave began visiting and took over the chore. Before long Rafael became more and more nocturnal to facilitate this change, causing him to also become more active much to Soundwave's delight.

The next thing Optimus knew, Soundwave began turning off his alarms and completely took over Rafael's care at night. The first time it happened he almost had a spark attack for a plethora of reasons. Did he leave Rafael to starve all night? Did Soundwave steal him? What if something terrible happened because he was stupid enough to sleep through his alarms?!?!?

Optimus: *Flying down the hall and into the main part of the base* WHERE IS MY SPARKLING!? Soundwave: *Staring at Optimus with a spoonful of jellied energon halfway to Rafael's mouth* ...

Optimus: ...

Soundwave: Cassette: Healthy. Fueling: Taken care of.

Optimus: ...

Soundwave: Prime: Needed rest. Soundwave: Took care of cassette.

Optimus spent the next three weeks staying awake just to make sure that Soundwave wasn't trying to trick him and find an opportunity to do something. When he physically couldn't remain awake due to the stress of the day, Ratchet took over his role of faithful watcher. And Ratchet was far more critical. He looked for any and all excuses to call out Soundwave and get him the frag away from Rafael. But no matter how long Ratchet watched, even prodding at times, Soundwave never did anything that wasn't in Rafael's best interest. The spymaster became Rafael's carrier and not a spark could stop him with how quickly the sparkling bonded to him.

During the day, Rafael was Optimus's and Optimus's alone. But at night, the tides shifted and Rafael was in Soundwave's care. The spymaster brought things for Rafael once the team were comfortable enough with him to recharge while he looked over the minicon sparkling. He brought small toys, old Cybertronian Knick knacks that he had held onto, story datapads to read to Rafael, and he even began bringing Laserbeak with him. Laserbeak came to quickly adore Rafael, often rubbing up against her new little brother with contented chirps, much to Rafael's joy.

Eventually Soundwave began his real work as a carrier. Minicon's need someone to bond to in order to feel safe and to regulate their highly emotive mental states. Those that had gestalts did not require this, but since Rafael only had his Sire, Soundwave did not feel bad at all beginning his work. He began slowly allowing Rafael inside of his carrying compartment, and while Rafael could not yet transform, it was a good start for him to get used to the idea of being carried by another mech. Rafael took a while to get used to the idea, but grew to be comfortable being carried around by Soundwave in his compartment. Then once he was content, Soundwave began to process of reaching out to Rafael, tentatively attempting to establish a bond. He would never dare try to take Rafael away from Optimus, but he also would not leave the small minicon sparkling without a proper guardian. After all, if Optimus and his Autobots were to fall, he wanted Rafael to be comfortable with him and thus be able to move on should the need arise.

With time, Rafael came to accept this offered bond bit by bit. Soundwave never rushed the sparkling, taking all the time in the world to bond with him and allow Rafael to relax. For if nothing else, Soundwave was loyal. He would wait for his little cassette to calm. And then when Rafael was older, he would begin the process of bonding to the sparkling completely (with Optimus's consent of course).

#maccadam #transformers #transformers prime #tfp kids as sparklings #rafael esquivel #soundwave #team prime #fluff #soundwave is a dad and no one can tell me otherwise #I imagine he looked over at Rafael and went “Is anyone gonna adopt that” #and he didn't wait for an answer #him and prime probably are always trying to prove that they are the favorite parent

[politemenacephd]

Question: So, if Miguel knows spider!reader in Arachnophilia, and spider!mig is mentioned in AFM, does reader know her own spider variant (personally or from Miguel/other spiders mentioning them) ??

I love both stories, and obvi the idea of Miguel & Reader being tied in several universes, but I was just curious on the idea of reader knowing.

oh im SO GLAD I get to talk about this THANK YOU SM cos its been on my mind for days!! I will use this chance to actually drop the dante fic cinematic universe timeline, which is: easing tensions - arachnophilia - a fortunate mistake - a fortunate mistake II There's certain things I gotta keep vague because I know how arachnophilia ends (and how it might tie into AFM II) and I don't want to spoil, but I'll talk about a bit because I'm rabid rn.

I wanna add for the sake of my lore on multiverse stuff, Miguel's who are turned into Spider-men are quite rare? I think this gets mentioned in AFM but Miguel's in general are rare, Spider Miguel's even more so. I took him saying Gabi's universe was the one where he was happy to heart, along with the fact we see zero variants of him in the society. That shit was always the most interesting thing to flesh out. I also don't know if I've ever talked about nena's multiverse story properly either, but its pretty tragic. She largely only exists in universes where Miguels' exist, and in all the ones where she comes into contact with him she dies. Our Miguel's universe is the only one where she doesn't, and Miguel blames this inititally on his canon but, as we know, canon isn't real, in reality it's because our Miguel was the only one with multi-verse experiences that humbled his apathy and violent tendencies. It's sort of like how meeting Miles put Peter B. on a better course, Peter's influence on Miguel is something no other Miguel had and it changed him in a way that made him capable of growing. Vig is the only other one we've met and it's obviously implied he was a poor partner who became a good dad after nena's death. Nena is like, universal collatoral damage, and it's only in the universe where she wasn't 'meant' to love him that she got to be loved. It's fucked up and she deserved better fr.

BUT I will say, to actually answer the question (sorry lol) the reader in arachnophilia is actually not a variant of the reader from AFM. I am sticking with the rule that AFM reader is never a spider, because its important later hehe.

BUT! But this makes Spider!Mig and readers relationship equally interesting to me anyway. I am a sucker for starcrossed lovers, excellent trope, and while it was meant to be a one-off I wanna use it to explore the idea of fully abandoning ones canon and exploring a relationship beyond the bounds of ones universe. I will be going more into Spider!Migs backstory for this, but I think the films never properly addressed the potential dangers/tragedy of love between people from different universes. I used it a bit with OG Miguel with my explanation for what happened with Gabi, E.g him trying to combine their universes, but this is especially spicy. So, again, actual question (I'm so sorry I swear this is all I think about, rip my PhD) as of AFM II reader also doesn't know about Miguel's variants beyond Vig, YET. Miguel is aware of Spider!Mig and reader as of AFM, and if you go back you can see a lot of his mindset in there, especially when he talks about not wanting kids because of his genetic mess and feeling like he's too dangerous.

Miguel as a character is great, I can't say that enough, he's harboring so much self loathing and unaddressed trauma that while he wants to do the right thing he imposes very strict rules that always end in hypocricy. In the same way I think he's awful to Miles because he see's Miles making the same mistake he did (e.g destroying the universe for a loved one) and a lot of his violence is like, imposed, he's awful to his variants because he knows he's fucked up his own moral compass and takes it out on them.

But yes Miguel knows where they are, he has not told reader though, but I do want to have them cross paths.

#im sorry this was so long #i truly am lost in the sauce #i keep wanting to do a big document just about the character differences between OG miguel and drider mig #because its fascinating #miguel is all i think abotu hes so INTERESTING #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara fanfiction #arachnophilia #a fortunate mistake

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

Rant/propaganda for Gamzee Makara! Because he is just. Such a character. Vague but major spoilers ahead!

Also for the record I pretend the Homestuck epilogues and sequel don’t exist because they suck. Yes I am aware of what happens in there. No I am not factoring it into my opinions on Gamzee. It does not exist to me. It feels like the writers just trying to go “gotcha!!!!1!!1” to Gamzee fans. I hate it.

Anyway.

First things first, what people need to know is that Gamzee started out as just a silly joke character parodying juggalos. Then Andrew Hussie decided to make him Very Important! (The narrative pretty much states as much…although there’s some debate as to whether the statement of “Very Important” should be applied to Gamzee or another…sort-of character in the same picture.). Aaaaaand then shortly after, Hussie decided he hated Gamzee, ultimately very literally fridging him. Twice.

The thing is, because of the weird changes in focus on Gamzee, we get very, very little of what’s actually going through his head once he makes the switch from weird silly friend to the protagonists to Very Important scary murder clown. Things we do know are this: he’s 13 to 16 years old over the course of the main comic, he’s very religious, he was severely neglected by his parental figure to the point that he developed a drug addiction, he’s supposed to be a murder clown near the top of the caste system according to his religion and said caste system but instead he’s super chill up until another character accidentally destroys his faith in his religion (even after running out of his drug of choice he’s chill, to be clear, since some people like to say he was only chill because of the drug), and his turn to Actual Murder Clown is also around the time everything else is going to shit. It’s also when we almost entirely lose track of what’s going through his head. There’s also some very dubious manipulative characters, cult-y stuff, and mind control involved, either in the turn itself or in his narrative later on.

He definitely ends up doing some pretty terrible things: partner abuse, psychological manipulation, murdering some of his friends, helping to ruin an entire timeline, helping a god destined to destroy everything. He also ends up dying horribly…or possibly living in pieces, depending on how legitimate you think that one statement about him never dying in any timeline is.

Ultimately I interpret him as a messed up kid who gets caught up in religious/cult bullshit and severe untreated mental illness and is manipulated and convinced into doing terrible things in the name of his god, ultimately sacrificing everything—his friends, his autonomy, his very soul—to the god he worships and serves for the sake of having a purpose. I find him a very fascinating and tragic character, and love him dearly.

I understand why a lot of people hate him (see again the list of terrible things he’s done, and the bs going on in the epilogues/sequel), but also a lot of people seem to boil him down to “crazy drug-abusing murder clown who should be locked up/drugged so he doesn’t hurt anyone” which…one, is ableist as hell, and two, just ignores how much else is going on with him. Like yeah, you have to really pay attention to details to get a lot of what’s going on with him, but please. He’s so much more interesting when you do.

Anyway, I hope maybe this has helped some people see him a little differently, whether they love him or hate him or just don’t care. Thanks for the opportunity to rant, and for running this bracket!

#gamzee #gamzee makara #homestuck #not a poll #ask #anonymous #propaganda

[fluffyselfships]

hey guys! i know yall have been waiting for this for a few days and im proud to say that i finally have the whole timeline/backstory for bunny and i's adventure time ship lore sorted out!!!

so im proud to present our lore in extreme detail, its kinda rambly and very long!!

for yalls sake, im putting it under a read more 💀

kitty note: a lot of at’s canon events still happen, most of canon resides in the past, betty never comes back, so golb is never summoned. islands happens but no humans come back to ooo in fear of vampires, which are still an issue since marceline isnt alive either (referring back to the fact wk has ice marcy, implying something bad happened to her). some other canon events happen later on, so the timeline compared to ats is all over the place lol 😭 this has nothing in common with the f&c canon outside of the bare bones

for colored quotes, pink are for kitty, bold purple is for bonbon, blue for the wk and red for bunny :)

ik/wk gets ahold of the crown & puts it on in front of betty

betty doesnt get summoned to the present, she moves on after leaving simon

ik/wk meets marcy & has her for a couple of years before passing away (either due to the radiation from the gmw or due to the oozers that came from the radiation)

the original ice kingdom builds up around 500 years after gmw

kitty becomes princess of the stuffie kingdom about 700 years post-mushroom war

they meet princess bubblegum during a princess day celebration

this one is hosted in the breakfast kingdom

they get along famously during this princess day meeting & become fast friends

kitty meets ik/wk due to his princess kidnapping tendencies

kitty, once settled into his ice cell, informs him that theyre a lesbian

ik apologizes & they end up talking about girls until they get rescued

kitty & ik’s relationship mirrors marcy and simons post i remember you

BIG father/daughter type bond

after 150 years of friendship, kitty & pb persue a romantic relationship

their relationship is pretty healthy to begin with while both of their kingdoms are in infancy (725 years post gmw)

after ~200 years, theres a communication breakdown between the two of them, leading to their breakup

it takes a good amount of time before the two of them get back together- koo’s election still happens & she loses the ck for a while, which allows for their reunion to happen

bella noche gets summoned & ice king becomes simon again

this is the first time kitty gets a glimpse of who ik truly is

this, obviously, is an eye opener for them & they want to help ik gain his lucidity once more

kitty takes betty’s place in punching bella noche

marcy, as stated before, has passed & hambo is long gone, which prevents simon from creating the portal to apologize to betty

after bella noche’s defeat and kitty’s discovery, they ask bonnie for help in their quest to fix/cure the ik

bonnie agrees & offers to do some preliminary research on ik’s crown while kitty is away on royal business

bonnie uses the machine from “broke his crown”

ice king comes along with gunter

while ik and bonnie are using the machine & preoccupied, gunter is bored & starts pressing any and every button on the machine

this causes the machine to overload and explode

this accident transfers the curse of the crown from ik to bonnie via electric shock (from the explosion)/magic (the explosion malfunctions ik’s crown & the curse is transferred)

bonnie has amnesia from the crown curse

kitty returns from royal business and cant find ik anywhere and finds bonnie’s lab destroyed

kitty comes across bonnie, now bonbon, first

“…trying out a new look bonbon?”

“who’s bonbon? who are you? how did you get in here?”

bonbon is kind of aggressive, her mental state is adjusting to the curse

kitty, freaked out, goes in search of the ik, who is now the winter king

they finally come across wk while searching deep in the newly-forming winter kingdom

they ask him what happened & he genuinely has no idea what happened exactly, but offers to use his newfound conscious thought to help figure things out

kitty thanks him & they return back to their own kingdom

over the course of the next six months, kitty tries to adjust to bonbon’s changes & tries to help her remember

bonbon shows no interest in kitty, as the curse’s infatuation sets her sights on wk

kitty tries (and fails!) to ignore this & they try to help bonbon regain her memories

“i just got you back and ive lost you again” energy

kitty approaches wk & tells him that theyre going to be leaving to find a cure for bonbon’s madness & they werent sure when they would return

kitty’s sibling becomes the main one in charge in their absence & it stays this way

they lose touch with the wk after some time, leading him to believe they might be injured or worse- dead

kitty spends ~7.5 decades looking for a magic cure where both wk can continue to be wk and bonbon can turn back to normal to no avail

kitty meets magic man outside of the wastelands of ooo, where he promises to help in exchange for a favor

he’s still trying to steal glob/gob/grob/grod’s residual powers

the process malfunctions due to an interruption & magic mans powers transfers to kitty, making them magic woman

for the remaining 25 years before they return, they do intensive and obsessive magic studies in order to find a cure

they also occasionally watch bonbon from afar, watching the candy kingdom be rebuilt & just seeing how she’s doing

it is very painful for them but they miss her so much that they cant help themselves sometimes

bunny, age 24 by the time the 100 years have passed, meets winter king while assisting the ice scouts with another one of cq’s kidnappings

bunny is related to finn since josuha treated being an adventurer like a family business, so the tradition carries

impressed by their skill, wk appoints bunny to be his personal body guard due to their skill with a sword

since theyre always together, wk and bunny get to know each other rather quickly & become fast friends, bonding over magic and science

after some time, wk finds himself falling for bunny and he is not shy about those feelings in the slightest

he constantly flirts with them & makes it known that he likes them

bunny is oblivious + has had a crush on wk by this point anyway

wk takes bunny to some royal business & they get stressed out by all the people there/feeling like they dont belong due to the fancy event

wk takes bunny aside and gives them a pep-talk, a sweet one at that

“i wouldnt have invited you if i didnt think you wouldnt belong”

his hand is gently sliding towards theirs, interconnecting their fingers

“i brought you as my date for a reason..”

bunny.exe has stopped working

they confess their feelings to each other & they spend the rest of the event away from everyone, talking the night away.

wk and bunny enter a romantic relationship

two years pass & wk needs to go to wizard city, bunny accompanies him

the two run into kitty, causing a whole mess of emotions to run through wk- not good ones

kitty starts coming around more & becomes friends with bunny

kitty’s sudden reappearance is stirring up a lot of bad memories, thoughts & feelings with wk. despite this, the two are slowly rekindling a friendship

due to the bad feelings, wk is pulling away from bunny & is drowning himself in his work, this is a slow process, it takes a few weeks before bunny says anything

the stress of emotions is reaching to the point where he’s starting to see so much of betty in bunny & its scaring him

not to mention he’s feeling guilty about something…👀

during wk’s slow pull-back, bunny and kitty are venting to each other about their respective issues

my sona reveals that bonbon wasnt always the way she was & tells the story from their own perspective

bunny, having no idea this ever happened, decides to confront wk about his distance & why he never told them that he knew what was wrong with bonbon

during this confrontation, wk finally breaks down and reveals to bunny everything about what has happened & his thoughts

“you remind me so much of her..”

he also reveals the fact that there is a cure for bonbon’s madness that he discovered during kitty’s absence, but the caveat is that he would become the ik again. theres no way to be fully rid of the curse.

“are you ever going to tell kitty?”

“no. ive worked so hard for what ive had & i dont want to lose it.”

“but you really should, its unfair to them to hold onto hope that isnt th-“

“im not telling them!” he snaps at them

after he snaps at bunny, they decide that they need to think about things for a while & they spend the next few months in the magic man house with kitty

at some point during this period, kitty decides to go on a date with bonbon, mirroring bespoken for

rather than getting angry and frustrated like betty, they get progressively more upset and sad

during their breakdown, they reveal to bonbon that they used to date

bonbon later thinks about this & it begins the crowns obsession/infatuation slow shift from wk to kitty

this date doesn’t go well & kitty ends it early

bunny’s sona is the one to give the tiny manticore speech

“maybe you're going after someone who doesn't exist anymore. why not take her as she is? after all, you’ve been through a lot of changes yourself”

kitty takes bunny’s speech to heart & they think it over, but not immediately

on wk’s side of things, he is miserable and alone & wants nothing more than to apologize to bunny

he seeks out kitty, who takes him to the magic man house

he apologizes profusely

“i never meant to push you away.. ive just spent so long trying to avoid these feelings that i ended up exploding. i’m horrible at dealing with negative emotions, but i want to work on it for you. i am so sorry, bunny”

bunny, after hearing his apology, forgives him & they return back to the winter kingdom with wk

bunny & the winter king, once reunited, try and figure out a way to tell kitty that there is a cure to bonbon’s madness in a way that they wont freak out/blow up/snap

during this time, kitty comes back bonbon to give their date another shot, apologizing for how abruptly it ended last time

they end up having a simple spaghetti dinner & kitty realizes they have more in common now then they did 100 years ago

this date goes well & they continue to go on dates, falling in love with each other all over again

bunny and wk finally find a way to tell kitty that there is a cure but it would reverse everything in wk

my sona, interrupts them before they can say more than “we found a cure-“ and tells the two that they dont want to fix bonbon anymore & that things finally feel the way they should now, ending my sona’s arc

the four of them can finally relax & enjoy life once more & they all become close friends once more :3

#long post #a lot of this is rambly i am so sorry #some smaller stuff is still being worked out but this is the bigger things/timeline of the canon #other stuff might change & evolve too and if it does ill just edit this post lol #🍬🩷 candy buttons 🩷🪡 #❄️winterbun🐰 #selfship #self ship #f/o #mod kitty🐱

[mydarlingdearestdead]

Aleksander Morozova rambling

Aleksander, as a child, saw and lived in a vastly prejudiced society toward his kind, which unsurprisingly had a large effect on his choices as an adult. Grisha were, and still are in the timeline, hunted for sport by otkazat'sya (namely Fjerdans). Not to say they were a united front against this bias, take Annika's ruthlessness as an example of that. She was his friend, or perhaps posed as such, yet willing to carve out his bones for the sake of her own power. She was the one who died young in the end, Ulle's son as well, Aleksander thought to use the cut on himself and frame a otkazat'sya village nearby. This was likely the first act taken against him as an individual from other Grisha, nevermind children.The two were afraid, unmistakably so, and therefore thought it justified to sacrifice, as I'm sure they would've considered it, another living being for either of their benefit.

The problem is, each of them, Aleksander especially, had the same experience. How does it feel when your parents bring into the world knowing they can't protect you from the dangers? Dangers posed from their own blood, mind you? Aleksander set out to create a sanctuary where no Grisha child would suffer like he once had. It was a noble vision, but a poisoned seed, as they say, grows to a poisoned plant. Those with power consistently crave one thing: More power. Aleksander Morozova is simply another victim of this pattern in literature.

The Darkling mantle, and those which came before it (e.g Black Heretic) are dehumanising, to say the least. The Grisha soldiers under his command aren't meant to see him as human in any case, to them he appears as an untouchable figure. I suppose that's important; when a god tells you to do something you rarely doubt his word.

Aleksander was fighting a war. Not the war those under him fought meekly with guns, though that literal war accumulated many losses and sacrifices as any does. His struggle was for power, as you'd expect and though it landed him in the throne eventually that's not the prime aspect. As I said before, the thing with powerful men is that they're ravenous, dangerously persistent in their hunt for more power. A single life lost is not a tragedy. No matter who the victim is, noble or poor, young or old. A single life lost in favour of a greater picture, is a sacrifice, a martyr. Alina says it herself, so many saints are martyrs.

I’m not saying Aleksander is a saint, despite The Starless Saint being a wonderfully poetic name. I’m merely suggesting he set out on a road to become one. I mentioned that a poisoned seed always grows into a poisoned plant because that’s nature. That’s the way things occur, nothing to fault or blame. I believe his idea was a poisoned seed, of sorts. The unfortunate truth is the most exquisite plants often turn out to be toxic.

His vision to create an oasis for Grisha was pure, but does that excuse the unavoidable bloodshed to afford it? Is there a meaning behind those losses? It was war after all. War ruins lives, that is no secret. Aleksander brought peace, and The Little Palace was, in some form, a direct result of that peace. The Little Palace and the second army were established, a sanctuary for Grisha and an Army for the king. A fair trade?

Is this trading lives like crops? Ten otkazat'sya for one Grisha?

Aleksander’s new system still had a hierarchy, despite it almost being flipped from the previous version and more complex. Before otkazat'sya were considered top of the food chain, and Grisha, orderless, below them. In that time, if Grisha had any use it was as weapons, which didn’t expressly change once the Shadows came into rule. Once Aleksander got his way, Grisha stood above those who had once tortured them. Still, even within them there was yet another hierarchy.

While all Grisha Aleksander considered to be below him except for the Sun Summoner, he had his favourites in Corporalki- Healers, Heartrenders, later Tailors-, preferring his guard to be made up of many Grisha within that order. Etherealki, which Shadow Summoners are also considered to belong to, remain as prominent figures in many battles as well. Materialki- Durasts and Alkemi-, while powerful, were not considered fighters during Aleksander's reign. They were not given physical training until Alina took control, which was an intelligent move on her part especially since we know what kind of accuracy Durast sharpshooters can achieve. A mistake on Aleksander’s part.

In conclusion, Aleksander did what he thought necessary. To him, every loss is a sacrifice, willing or not. Still, it’s the rule of man. Some people are always going to want to feel better than others. As Genya said, be careful of powerful men. The choice to have every otkazat'sya tested for Grisha power was to find The Sun Summoner and to build numbers in the first army. The problem is that many of these children, who were being brought to a supposed sanctuary, weren’t in need of one. In fact, by definition, a sanctuary isn’t a sanctuary if you aren’t in need of one.

One thing didn’t change from Aleksander’s childhood: Otkazat'sya feared Grisha. What did change is how they reacted to that fear. The reaction was an instinctive move to destroy what wasn’t known. Once Grisha were known to the public in Ravka, the fear may have grown, yes, but the willingness to do something about it shrank. These people who live their lives quietly in a town aren’t going to suddenly pick up a knife and throw it at someone meant to protect them. Even if they don’t believe that protection is necessary or possible.

#jm sorry it's sounds like I'm for this guy #im not #i just understand it #day one of me psychoanalysing this man #i spelt that wrong #oh well. #the Darkling #alexander morozova #shadow and bone #leigh bardugo #alina starkov #anti darkling #anti darklina #ruin and rising #siege and storm #nikolai lantsov #mal oretsev #shadow and bone trilogy #reminder: this is my take #opinions and all that #if you disagree don't be an asshole about it

[paperbackribs]

A Tarnished Copper Boy (11)

Previous | Next | Ao3 Last chapter, Eddie assured Steve that he's doing the right thing in not changing the timeline while Catherine, their next door neighbour, removed Steve's stitches and encouraged Eddie towards a career in nursing.

Chapter 11: Rent Asunder

Steve’s frustration in the kitchen after he returned continues to hover at the back of Eddie’s mind. The insistence that Eddie doesn’t need to entertain him uneasily leads to branching concerns, an insidious outstretching of prickly fingers pointing to Steve’s potential dissatisfaction with living here.

With his fall always coinciding inside the living room and his anxiety about affecting the timeline, Eddie knows that Steve has very little choice but to put up with their weird roommate situation.

It niggles at him, an increasing conviction that Steve needs more beyond what the cramped walls of their trailer can provide. His third visit before winter had done Steve good: the dark bags under his eyes disappearing and his torso healing in a way that has left him less stiff while reclining. But Eddie continues to wonder: what more he can offer Steve after he has been made into a recluse, stolen away from his friends, family, and time?

The concern jitters at the base of his spine, even as Eddie tries to ignore it, as they later ready for bed. Steve slides under the covers on the side closest to the door, pillows propped behind him. “I’m looking forward to when I can properly move in bed. I feel stiff as a board lying on my back, but anytime I turned over all I could feel were the stitches pulling.”

Next to the window, dark but for distant yellow lights, Eddie perches on the other side, pulling off his socks. He likes his feet warm, but socks between sheets drive him mad. “What about now that they’re out?”

Steve squints and does a wiggly little shake that makes it look like he’s got ants in his pants but is likely him testing the range of his movement. “It’s better. I think tomorrow or the day after I won’t feel any of it, but Catherine is mean with those tweezers.”

“She’s pretty ruthless,” Eddie agrees, stretching out on the far side of the bed, the usual length he leaves between him and Steve yawning between the two of them. “Think she’d get along with Robin?”

“Like a house on fire,” Steve agrees swiftly, but he eyes Eddie’s isolated position doubtfully. “Why do you do that? Scoot all the way to the side,” he clarifies at Eddie’s confused expression.

Eddie thinks that he probably shouldn’t say because I’d like to rub up all over you and I only have so much control, so he settles for a different truth. “Just trying to give you some room, I practically suffocated you under all this hair that first morning.”

An enigmatic expression flashes across Steve’s face too quickly for Eddie to understand, but he watches as Steve’s smile begins and broadens as he says, “So you have no moral objection to cuddles. You’re just trying to give me space for my sake.”

Eddie nervously adjusts the pillow under him, trying to puff out what is dolefully flat and feeling like he’s fallen into some sort of trap. “Yeah?” He agrees uncertainly.

“So, if you’re faced with me—a guy who happens to really enjoy cuddles—and you wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable, which may mean less space, then you’d want to help me out too?”

“Steve,” Eddie says slowly, wondering at that fever dream theory again, “Are you asking me to cuddle you?”

“Hmm,” Steve taps a thick finger against his chin, as if in deep thought. “I do like being the little spoon, but I don’t think I can handle it with my right side at the moment. How about this…?”

Now, Eddie may not be the biggest guy, but he’s still a guy and he’s not light and his limbs are sufficiently long, thank you very much he mentally retorts to Jeff, who had razzed him two years ago ago before his growth spurt. This all runs through his head as Steve reaches over and efficiently tugs Eddie closer to the middle of the bed and then easily flips him over so that he’s curled on his side facing the window—which, all the manhandling would normally be sufficient to make his blood drain south, but then Steve curls up behind him too.

Resting Eddie’s head on his outstretched left arm, chest against back, he keeps a respectful distance between hips and ass. One broad hand spreads over Eddie’s hips, the tips of his fingers just reaching the top of Eddie’s thighs.

Eddie freezes under the burning palm, a welcome brand that he’s sure he’ll find on his skin tomorrow morning, but Steve isn’t deterred. “This okay?” he whispers, the warmth of his breath washing over Eddie’s neck, causing him to shiver.

“Yes?” Eddie squeaks.

He feels silent amusement rumble through Steve’s chest. “Are you sure?” He persists, voice rising to a normal volume and easygoing. “If it’s too much, I can back off.”

No, no. Eddie’s pretty sure he’d like to live in this moment for the rest of his life; Steve’s body one long line of heat against his, curled around Eddie like they’re lovers. And, really, he’d just been thinking about how to make Steve’s stay better for him. If Steve needs to be the big spoon, who is Eddie to deny him?

He tries to style out his suddenly fervent opposition to Steve pulling away with a joke, “You touch-starved, Stevie?”

Steve’s silent long enough that Eddie turns his head to look over his shoulder. His face is guarded like he’s waiting for Eddie to make fun of him, but he nevertheless chooses to share his thoughts. “Probably, something like that,” Steve finally admits. “I do like cuddles. You know, hugs and shit, but it’s not really allowed… as a dude unless it’s after sex, and my family for sure aren’t the hugging kind.”

Remembering Steve brushing his teeth as he admitted that there was no one to call at home, Eddie’s lips firm in resolution and he turns back over to his side, grabbing Steve’s right arm and pulling it firmly from his hip to rest against his chest, drawing Steve that little bit closer. “I like hugs and shit too, nothing wrong with that.”

Steve lets out a relieved sigh, stirring the loose curls of Eddie’s hair. “Good to know,” he murmurs, resting his forehead on Eddie’s shoulder. The two of them together like lost puzzle pieces found, and Eddie wonders if he’s the only one who hears the little snick as they fit into place.

It’s the best sleep he’s had in months, feeling safe in Steve’s arms as if he has his own sentinel now, curled around him protectively during the night. Steve looks similarly rested the next morning, eyes bright and clear, with his arms loosely clasped around Eddie’s waist. He’d unconsciously shifted in the middle of the night, turning so that he was face-to-face with Steve. Rather than any awkwardness that Eddie may have expected, he simply rewarded him with a sleepy smile and an affectionate squeeze before rolling out of bed.

Eddie figures if he needs to take a couple of extra minutes to allow his galloping heart to calm down each morning, then that’s a price he is more than willing to pay. And if spends a little extra time in the shower too, well, at least a good time is had because arousal already simmers low in his gut first thing let alone with a biteable Steve so close at hand.

It’s not the only thing that becomes taken in hand after that, the shower each morning pounding down on his shoulders as he releases the tension building in him. Lotion on his hand and around his dick, stroking himself to the memory of Steve wound around him from behind.

He allows his imagination to roam, creating a false memory of a bold Eddie seductively pressing back, turning his head to meet Steve’s darkening eyes, his gaze trained on Eddie’s lips as he pushes up against him, dragging his rigid length against Eddie’s ass. He imagines Steve’s hands biting into his hips, holding him still as he rhythmically moves over him while his lips descend to take Eddie’s.

The thought of Steve grinding on him, using him for his pleasure causes his hunger to flare. It creates a fiery conflagration that has him biting down on his moans, coming almost violently across the white tiles. The euphoria that slowly seeps through his lax limbs afterwards is nearly enough to drown out his guilt at whacking it to an unwitting man, helplessly confined to their home.

After that, they settle into a routine similar to the one established before spring. Eddie at school and Hellfire, Wayne at the plant, Steve keeping the house clean and the boys fed. The predictability of it all is comforting to Eddie, and Steve seems content with switching between hanging out and running the Munson household.

That first stirring of warmth at the start of spring turns out to be a false start and dirty grey clouds come rolling back, casting the trailer in gloomy, shifting shadows. Eddie decides the following weekend that the atmosphere will only help in recreating the feeling of curling up under blankets and in warm jumpers over Christmas. Perfect for this morning’s surprise.

Wayne sits in an upright burrito on the couch, blinking tiredly over a half-empty cup of coffee that Eddie knows is not yet enough to wake him. His mug is red with love thy neighbour boldly scrawled across it. Eddie is barefoot in the kitchen, wearing dark sweats and his thick-knitted, grey jumper. He hears Steve shuffle up behind him.

“Are those green pancakes?” Steve gawks down at the masterpieces that Eddie is currently assembling. He can only make sandwiches his ass; suck it, Wayne. Steve looks up at Eddie, a bitchy expression crossing his face, “Are we having green eggs and ham too?”

Eddie pokes at him with his elbows, edging him out of the kitchen. “Very funny, is that your highest reading level?”

“Oh, you fucker,” he hears Steve mutter and Eddie grins in delight, twirling his spatula in happiness before it falls to the floor from his clumsy hands. “Three-second rule,” he hisses at Steve’s laughter.

Rather than giving into his baser nature, Eddie generously offers Steve a fine morning beverage. “Give me a second, I’ll make you a cup,” he says, already grabbing a mug and moving towards the carafe.

“Let me. You concentrate on whatever the hell is going on over there,” Steve slides in behind Eddie, plucking the cup from his hands to rest it on the counter.

Before he can even think to move, Steve curls his fingers around Eddie’s hips. And his sweats are riding low because he can’t be fucked to pull them up and, oh Christ on a stick, he should have because Steve’s broad palms are bare against Eddie’s skin as he nestles them above his pants but under the jumper, and Steve’s hands are gripping him like he means it, the heat of it scorching. Eddie thinks that he could add a little more force, squeeze that tiny bit tighter and Eddie’s sensitive skin would bruise like a ripe peach, a sweet pain for him to press against later.

“Excuse me, chef,” Steve says, the rumble of his voice deep in Eddie’s ear, making him shiver down to his toes. Almost bodily picking him up, Steve firmly redirects Eddie out of his way and back to in front of the stovetop.

He stares blankly down at the hot pan, imagining Steve using that jock strength to lift him onto the counter, Eddie’s legs curling around him, ankles crossed over the bubble butt that he watches far too often to be seemly.

“You might want to flip that one,” Steve says next to Eddie, voice as smooth and dark as velvet. He startles and, yes, the pancake is looking crispy around the edges, so he hurriedly employs the only trustworthy thing in the kitchen right now — his spatula.

Steve moves out of the kitchen to perch at the counter, smirking over the rim of his mug. Eddie doesn’t really register it as he concentrates on making the next pile of pancakes, keeping his lower body close and shielded by the stove because sweats leave nothing to the imagination.

Thank Christ it’s a small kitchen and he’s able to set up two plates full of pancakes while practically glued to the spot. Eddie directs Steve away with their breakfast and he ambles onto the armchair to join Wayne in watching The Jetsons. Eddie flits into the bedroom, shoves the waiting rectangle into his pocket, and refills Wayne’s mug before joining them with his own stack.

He passes Mrs Butterworth over to Wayne and shoves a large forkful into his mouth, sweetness explodes over his tongue. Steve eyes him over his plate, “The green is really… something. Is this how you always make pancakes?”

Wayne snorts around his own mouthful, “Just once a year. It’s Eddie’s Christmas special, don’t ask where it came from. It’s a mystery.” On the television screen, Rosie the robot maid frantically chases after Astro the talking dog.

“No mystery,” Eddie declares. “It comes from the power of imagination to fuel the wonderment of the festive season.” Grinning, he mimes snow falling from the air with one wiggling hand.

“But it’s long past Christmas,” Steve says, confusion charmingly crinkling his face. Though Eddie is pleased to note, he continues to eat his pancakes.

“True,” Eddie concedes, inclining his head grandly before nodding to the television. “And while we have Astro rather than Rudolph, we continue to celebrate Christmas 1984 with a long overdue present.” He wriggles his gift out of his pocket and flicks it to Steve across the room. Steve deftly snatches it out of the air with an athletic ease that Eddie will deny to his dying day is very, very attractive.

A smile spreads across Steve’s face and he beams at him, “You got me a Christmas present.” Eddie feels like he could bask in the warmth of Steve’s expression for days, just curl up and purr like a cat under a sunbeam. “Open it up, Steve-o.”

“Yes, please, open it. Eddie’s going to wet his britches if you don’t get on with it.” Eddie stops wiggling in his seat to glare at his unrepentant uncle, whose blue eyes dance with amusement while he deliberately sips his coffee in a nonchalant manner.

Steve carefully unfolds the red wrapping paper to reveal Van Halen’s album 1984. He stares down at the cassette long enough that Eddie begins to get worried, and he rambles to fill the silence. “I know that you like Let’s Dance and Ashes to Ashes, and I’ve seen you dancing to the Eurythmics. But Van Halen with a guitar is out of this world and I thought that the synth he’s introduced would be your style?”

Steve fingers the hard plastic carefully while Eddie babbles, panic filling him at the thought that he’s badly miscalculated somehow. “Uh, that’s what I meant about the Eurythmics, that electronic feel? Is it… not good?”

Steve blinks out of his reverie at Eddie’s disappointed tone, shaking his head as he looks up. “No, I like them; Panama is a lot of fun. I was just thinking that the title is appropriate, like a reminder? A time capsule or something? Sorry, I’m not explaining this right.”

Wayne shifts off the couch, his mug clacking against his plate as he stands. “I’m going to go clean up.” Eddie barely notices his departure as he walks out of the living room. “No, I think that makes sense.”

He looks over his shoulder to ensure that Wayne is out of earshot. “It’s a pretty big thing — you coming here. And I think that’s worthy of celebration.”

“Yeah?” Steve glances down at the gift in his hand shyly, but a smile works its way to the edges of his mouth. He rubs thoughtfully at the cover design, a rebellious blonde cherub smoking from a white pack of cigarettes. “And, uh, what did you think of the cake?”

“I loved it,” Eddie says, the simple words insufficient to convey how the gesture had made him feel less alone when he was missing Steve so badly already. “I don’t think I’ve had a fruit cake since Mama left. It was wonderful.”

Steve’s face brightens with pleasure, “Yeah? I was worried it was undercooked.”

It had been at its centre while being weirdly overcooked on one side, but it had tasted like home with that warm balance of brandy under the sweet notes. “It was perfect,” Eddies says honestly.

Steve’s smile is sweeter than his Christmas gift, and so warm that Eddie is filled with that fluttering that strikes all too often in his presence. They decide to play the album immediately and when Wayne comes out of his shower, dressed, he’s faced with two young men bouncing around like loons to Jump.

Wayne shakes his head at them affectionately, “I’ll be out for a while. Eddie, Catherine left another textbook for you over on the coffee table. Steve, I’ll see you later for the Ohio game.” Steve waves him off with a friendly goodbye and moves to clear the torn wrapping paper, Panama starts to play in the background.

After Eddie’s initial concern that Steve and Wayne may not get along, it quickly became clear that his concerns were unwarranted. Steve felt useful by contributing around the house, Wayne appreciated the extra help, and the two bonded over their love for sports. Eddie was reliably informed that today’s game is of the basketball variety.

As his uncle slides on his jacket and steps out of the trailer, the door banging behind him, Eddie wonders whether he’s off to see Catherine again. He blows wayward curls out of his face with a small grin. Something had broken through after Catherine helped with Steve’s stitches and Wayne was spending less time at home and more time smiling. Eddie figures Wayne will say something to him when he needs to.

It’s Catherine’s textbooks that lead him to the idea, even if he doesn’t realise it at first. Concepts that he never thought would even occur to people in authority, like checking in with the patient and advocating for what they want. Putting the patient at the centre of healing because it was their fucking body, not just something to use as a demonstration of a doctor’s diagnosis skills or, as Eddie begins to contemplate, a body to practise their suturing on.

He sort of wants to give it a go, learning how to stitch a wound. And, considering how often Steve gets hurt, it might legitimately be a skill he needs in the future. Not that he says as much to Steve; he’d only get a scoff and rolled eyes in response.

It all appeals to him, the idea of being that first port of call for someone hurt, vulnerable and needing help. He can be the professional to make the jock stay and get a CT scan, he can be the one that spots the kid with the long sleeves in summer; he can create his own mutant powers for healing and use them for good.

Eddie remembers Steve derisively describing his cousin squandering his political muscle for his own benefit and thinks that he would be the opposite. The opposing force that creates pockets of good in a world that can be pretty fucking grim to some people. He’s describing all of this to Steve when he understands that the look he is receiving in return is indulgent, perhaps even affectionate.

“What?” Eddie asks warily, thinking that maybe he had rolled from excited into rambling and that Steve was about to sass him about it.

“Nothing,” Steve says, the corner of his eyes crinkling into a tender expression, “I’m just unsurprised that the guy who fights the man atop cafeteria tables—”

“I’ve done that once!”

“—and looks out for his nerdy sheepies, is going to go out into the world to battle for the little guy one scrape at a time.”

Eddie blushes, looking down at the textbook. He traces an outline of a human body with arrows pointing to it, “There’s no guarantee of that yet.”

“No,” Steve says confidently, “You will. You’re going to become a nurse and whether it’s with kids or working with a scalpel—”

“I don’t think they allow nurses to do actual surgery.”

“—you’re going to be great at it.”

Eddie purses his lips, “Is this your knowledge from the future by any chance?”

Steve shakes his head gently, “No, I just have faith.”

It buoys Eddie, that Steve believes in him. That Catherine sees potential in him. It makes his world seem bigger and has him wanting to reach out and grasp a future he had never considered but that looks increasingly attractive.

These days, band practice ends with Gareth and Jeff squabbling about the group’s name and new guy Dougie’s no help, so Eddie starts to beg off and spends more time on his homework. If he gets his diploma, then maybe he’ll be able to get into nursing school. Eddie will need to look up the requirements, but even if his grades suck surely there are some transitionary classes that he could do to get in. And so, for the first time in his second senior year, Eddie starts to apply himself.

Steve tells him to get more fruit at Melvald’s, it’ll help boost his brain he says about it. Showing very little faith in Eddie’s memory as it is, he writes down a list of the exact number of every fruit and vegetable he wants Eddie to buy. Eddie clicks his tongue at Steve’s distrust; he can be counted on to get groceries, Jesus H.

It’s as he approaches the check-out counter that he sees it. The 1985 calendar for America’s roadside attractions. This month’s feature is the Big Chicken in Georgia. Eddie grins, it’s perfect. He hides it at the bottom of the paper bags that Steve helps him to unpack at home. 

Later, in their kitchen and smiling in satisfaction, Steve pulls out two fat oranges in his hands, “Good, you got them.”

Eddie presses a hand over his left eye and lunges, knees bent with his right arm thrusting forward. “Have a hankering for good old Vitamin C, hey? You know what they say, an orange a day keeps the scurvy pirate away.” He parries with his imaginary sword.

“No,” Steve rejoins calmly, amusement dancing in his eyes as he whacks away Eddie’s still-wiggling arm. “Catherine said that if you really want to get into it, you can practice dissecting and stitching back up oranges.” He pales slightly at the memory. “It honestly sounds disgusting, but she left a few items for you to practice with. She also wanted me to tell you that the needle you have in your kit is for one-time use only, so don’t use it until you need it.”

Eddie lights up, holstering his sword, “That is so cool. I’ll have to get Wayne to make her cake again.”

“Or you could make it yourself,” Steve suggests wryly.

“Who has time for that? I have sutures to practice.”

Steve laughs and places Eddie’s future patients in what he’s designated as the fruit bowl. “Now,” Eddie rubs his hands together in anticipation, “One good turn deserves another, and I got you something in kind.”

Steve raises an eyebrow as he slides the tins of tomatoes into the cupboard, “You didn’t even know I was organising this. You just said I needed it for my scurvy.”

“No,” Eddie slides forward, pressing his finger against Steve’s plump lips. The softness of them causes a shiver to run briefly at the base of his spine. “I said that I was the scurvy pirate, keep up.” He steps back quickly before he’s tempted to do something stupid, like slip his fingers into Steve’s mouth or something.

“My bad,” Steve says sarcastically, licking his lips as he opens the fridge door and shelves the egg carton.

Eddie pulls out his gift to excitedly show Steve the calendar; he frowns adorably in confusion until Eddie explains. “I’m going to start marking down every day.”

Steve’s eyes light up, “So if I blip out and come back—”

“You’ll know immediately when you are, not just where.”

“Eddie,” Steve says fondly, “That’s really thoughtful, man. Thank you.” He searches inside the paper bag before folding it. “You know,” he adds casually, “You could use it to mark your due dates too. You have trouble keeping them front and centre of your mind sometimes, right?”

Eddie hadn’t realised Steve watches him closely enough to understand one of his chief frustrations when trying to do the right thing and hand in his homework. He mulls on it; it’s not a bad idea and maybe it’ll help bump up his grades.

“You can pin it next to your sweetheart,” Steve teases, referring to Eddie’s Warlock guitar hanging by his mirror, “You’ll never miss a due date again with all the kisses you send its way.”

“Jealous, Stevie?” Eddie playfully bats his eyelashes.

Steve squints at him with a look that Eddie can’t decipher, “Maybe.”

Eddie snorts, falling back, “You must really miss date nights.”

Steve sighs, binning the bag into the trash can. “Something like that.” He walks past Eddie into the lounge room, propping his feet onto the coffee table in a way he’d never do if Wayne was home. “Want to watch something?”

Eddie nods and joins him, throwing the television remote into Steve’s open palms. He knows he’d missed something just then, the flash across Steve’s face telling him that something else was going on in that noodle, but he’s not sure exactly what it could be.

It worries him: the concerns that Steve keeps to himself. Eddie sees him get jittery sometimes, pacing about the trailer when he forgets that Eddie is in the other room. He’s only heard bits and pieces, small mutterings rising into a scolding tone, telling himself that he needs to stay put if he doesn’t want to fuck up the timeline. That he needs to get over himself so that everyone else makes it out alive.

Eddie had bitten his lip hard when he overheard that last part. Understanding that what Steve was saying wasn’t for Eddie, but also knowing how hard it must be to carry the weight of the future on your shoulders, making yourself a prisoner, no matter how friendly the wardens.

But, oh boy, does the warden get to have some fun in return.

He’s late home one evening, having stopped for a couple of personal deliveries with the profitable asshole tax applied. Climbing the trailer steps, the ethereal hoot of an owl sounds in the woods and night has dreamily fallen, but the light shining through the closed windows is a welcoming gold, and he can smell something warm and delicious. It all puts Eddie in a wonderful mood, feeling like the breadwinner coming home after a long day.

He plays into it as he walks through the door, calling out an expansive, “Honey, I’m home.” He mimes taking off an old-fashioned fedora like a husband returning in Leave it to Beaver. The delicious scent of dinner spreads languorously in the air, an unfolding of veiled fingers beckoning Eddie closer.

Steve is in the kitchen when Eddie looks over to gauge his reception to the bit, white and red striped tea towel draped over his left shoulder and right hand propped at his fist, a wooden spoon in its grasp. He rolls his eyes, “Welcome home, snookums.” Dusty Springfield plays softly in the background, crooning about a spooky little boy like you.

Eddie grins, happy to play and pretends to draw off a heavy coat. He hangs it carefully next to the invisible hat. “Well darling,” he intones deeply, trying for a heavy rumble, “What do we have on the menu tonight?”

And see, Eddie thought he had this all planned out. A little drama exercise and some light-hearted fun. Then Steve leans over the counter, hips deliberately popped, and ass subtly wiggling, and Eddie thinks that oh fuck he’s not thought through anything at all.

“Well, pooky,” Steve breathes and oh double fuck that doesn’t help either, “I thought that glazed pheasant would pair nicely with your usual martini.” The music continues with a steady, hypnotic lilt.

Eddie deliberately frowns, glancing around as an addition to the joke but also so that he can look away from the temptation of Steve’s swaying ass. “And where is my borderline alcoholic crutch this evening?”

Steve straightens, smoothing down his non-existent poofy skirt and sauntering over to Eddie. The motion so smooth and mesmerising that he briefly thinks that he could pull off heels if he ever has a mind to it. Heat rises under Eddie’s collar as Steve tugs at it, miming his tie being pulled off in a slippery, slithering motion. The rhythm pulses, and Dusty smokily declares that she was confused but now she’s a-dyin’ to be sayin’ all the things in her heart.

“I thought I was your only addiction, honey pie.” Despite being the same height, Steve is looking up at Eddie through his lashes and Eddie really needs to not be thinking about how else they could play house right now.

The word addiction seeps some cold reality into his brain, the truth of it a little too close to how he feels these days and he lets loose a deliberatively false laugh, patting an oversized gut that’s not there.

“Well honey, sometimes a man just needs a drink.”

Steve retreats a little out of his space with a coy smile and Eddie inhales like he can finally inflate his lungs again. Yet all that extra breathing space stutters to a halt as Steve pulls up Eddie’s wrists between their bodies and pretends to wrap the tie around them, and Eddie just… lets him.

The melody falls to a dramatic stop followed by two precise finger snaps.

Steve smirks and pretends to tug him towards the kitchen stools. The music swells again, a sweet eerie tune as Eddie obediently follows like he’s properly leashed. His weakened knees give out under him when Steve pushes Eddie down onto the seat with a commanding hand on his shoulder. His knowing smile is dark and electrifying as he tells Eddie, “Good boy.”

A bolt of lust strikes through Eddie so hard he’s afraid that he has been rent asunder like a tree struck by lightning. It has him ready to fall down to Steve’s knees and offer any sort of payment if he would like to do this with a real tie sometime. Eddie doesn’t own one, but he’ll go out and buy it if Steve wants to play games like this.

It’s on the tip of his tongue to say something really fucking stupid and blow up this wonderful, friendly peace he has at home when Wayne thankfully walks through the door with a clatter.

He calls out his greetings and Eddie tears his eyes away to mutter a hello, his cheeks are burning hot, and he doesn’t think he can look at Steve right now. Not with the naked desire that must be shining in his eyes.

One look at him and Steve will understand that none of this is pretend for Eddie. Not the cute little nicknames. Not the feeling of coming home to family. That Steve has become his family in near all ways. Eddie swallows around the sinking feeling that he’s not sure how to call a place home anymore without Steve in it.

Dusty fades away, humming about her spooky little boy.

If you liked anything, please consider leaving a comment over on Ao3 :-) It would make my day!

Tag list:

My tag list is always open, so let me know if you want to be added. Likewise, if you want to be removed, let me know. :)

@bookworm0690, @child-of-cthulhu, @cinnamon-mushroomabomination, @ellietheasexylibrarian, @finntheehumaneater, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @gutterflower77, @hallucinatedjosten, @just-a-tiny-void, @ledleaf, @littlewildflowerkitten, @manda-panda-monium, @mightbeasleep, @nburkhardt, @newtstabber, @stillfullofshit, @tartarusknight

#steddie #time travel #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #a tarnished copper boy #paperbackribs writing

[amphiptere-art]

Heavy spoilers!

This is a barebone storyline for RBB. I am too fed up with keeping it down so we're posting it somewhere.

If you do want to read this, and afterwards want to talk about the events listed. That is completely fine. Even encouraged! But for others sake we are going to have to use code words if we are talking about it.

Start a ask with "The colorful mango" just those words! I will then answer the ask, and ask what you want to talk about. Of which then we can continue the conversation underneath read more blocks.

I will be tagging this for my convenience. Luckily though I will use code words. Which are going to be along the same light as the cherry incident wording. I will be listing these different code words next to each event.

Let's get started.

So. We have the generic storyline opening as everything else. Sun got taken over by the kill code. Moon was getting taken over by the kill code. Attempted to make some AI that failed. The computer merge those AIs together to create Blue Moon. Blue Moon lived for about a month alongside moon before they went kill code crazy. At some point meeting Golden in the process. The cube came a couple months later. Then blackstar. Then Earth.

That is a generic timeline everyone knows. This is what's happening after. What hopefully will happen during the ask series. Although the ask series is more of a tying of events. Plus almost a separate timeline. It's basically just a way for me to tie together events without having to think about the downtime.

But let's get started. Really.

So Black Star made a deal with Earth. Basically he caught her trying to mind control Blue Moon. Before he was able to get out of there he caught him. Forcing him to stay quiet under the preface that she will do the same to him. Black Star stays quiet then. If he doesn't mess with her she won't mess with him.

It's not until he starts feeling bad about it that he wants to do something new.

Do note that this listed string of events is really for the ask series. Probably going to steal things from there to fill up the story if I ever do write it down.

Basically blackstar and Blue Moon's relationship grows. Black Stars still a little shit, but he wants to care for Blue Moon. Which includes stopping the whole mess. Black Star doesn't know how to get into contact with Golden so he figures to go somewhere else. Roxanne.

(I don't watch the Roxanne and Gregory show on a daily basis. So yes her personality is very different from what it might be in the show. There's just a lot of things that are different in this.)

Unfortunately this idea is cut short. Blue Moon gets teleported to lost Lord. A place blackstar isn't familiar with. So Blue Moon has to defend him and themselves as they get attacked by the cursed spikes. Yada yada shenanigans. This is a more time filler space. Point is by the end of it Lost Lord's still hates Blue Moon. They're only going to hold back their fury because blackstar made a sort of an alliance.

When they get back Earth is lucky enough to find Black Star. Carefully leaning him back towards pizza plex. Much to his concealed disappointment. Set back up where sun and moon are angry at Blue Moon for getting teleported. Mainly because they teleported back on top of one of suns clean up supply piles. Which makes it so the black star has to attempt to calm them while Earth quietly threatens there life. She also makes sure Black Star realizes that getting help is to break their contract.

This is kind of the extent of what I have planned for the ask series as of now. So from here on it's bullet point events. Not a lot of stringing events together. I'm also regoing over some events that are in the ask series. Just because that's what they boiled down to in the basically ask series Canon.

Blue Moon is extremely tired with their life. Wanting something better that they've seen in all the other universes.

Worm in my apple.

Black Star gets introduced. Instantly knows something's wrong with Earth. Seeing her as an almost copy of him.

Blue Moon gets the taste of the virus.

The Cherry incident.

Blackstar gets caught and makes a deal with Earth to leave him alone.

Rambutan times.

Lost Lord. Blue Moon has to introduce blackstar to the first dangers He's probably ever seen. Black Star does something to help them survive through their stay.

Some good apples.

Eclipse Brothers world. worried about blackstar. Pissed but okay with blue moon.

Mutated carrot.

Beast maker world. Get to experience that nightmare.

Ripe raisins.

Old lunar getting worried. - visited?

A bunch of grapes.

Other wild world. -perhaps a lava world. -perhaps just CC -maybe filler.

Snapped celery.

Black Star feeling bad. It's getting out of hand.

They visit a world with an Earth. Blue Moon gets attached and unfortunately attacks a sun for her. Despite her not wanting them to.

Blue Moon deeply regrets and is extremely confused.

Rolling pickle.

Blackstar fleas to try and find help. Unfortunately leaving Blue Moon to get taken over by Earth's virus.

Black Star heads to EB to get help. Shy due to Earth's threaten but EB protects him.

Bell pepper.

Earth learns about the star from Blue Moon.

Black Star essentially gathers a mini army to stop Earth.

Smashed mangoes.

Earth heads to Golden and by pretending that Blue Moon is okay. Gaines access to the star.

The others try and stop her. Unfortunately Blue Moon taken over by the virus and fights for her.

Earth uses the star. It breaks. Blue Moon along with it.

Earth did not mean to hurt blue moon. In her sorrow, Golden gains back control of the situation.

Fruit basket.

Blue Moon is.. dead? Black Star kills Earth in revenge. He and Golden attempt to fix blue moon. Old lunar, The eclipse Brothers, anyone else, Go to try and get superior help.

The story is unfortunately stuck here. I struggle to link events together. There really should be a lot more downtime in RBB instead of just going to other universes. This is based on the most concrete story I've ever made. Which is correlated to a song. So there's definitely some creative biases.

If any of you want to talk about this stuff I'm happy to. My problem with the story is that there are no filler events. People asking questions about the story helps me think about how to fill those empty holes. It will help this story and the many events more complete. So please, I encourage questions.

#The Cherry incident #Worm in my apple #Rambutan times #Some good apples #Mutated carrot #Ripe raisins #A bunch of grapes #Snapped celery #Rolling pickle #Bell pepper #Smashed mangoes #Fruit basket #red blue and black #sams #tsams #tsams au #sams au

[roccinan]

How do you feel when you watch the spin off? What do you think of it? And do you like it? For me, I sort of like eps 1-4, the rest are just meh, I couldn't bring myself to care for the other characters, I tried. And I was very confused, what year the spin off?. It started off good and... Idk. All I can say is that Andres truly belong in the asylum. That man creeps me out. If I were Camille, I ran away the second I saw that creep. Lol.

Hello anon! I couldn't answer you earlier because I didn't get to watch it. But now I've finished it and, hum, I certainly have a lot of thoughts that I'll probably post later LOL.

For now, here are the most fresh on my mind. I agree with you- eps 1-4 were surprisingly good, last one was pretty cool too, ralicia supremacy. I was mostly just surprised I didn't dislike it. Can't say I loved it, or that it's my ideal berlin spinoff, but for all the "factors" against it that Pina chose of his own free will asdfasdf, it turned out surprisingly OK.

Spinoff takes place around 2013, according to Pina. Which messes with the canon timeline so much we'll just have to see it as a parallel universe where time doesn't matter.

I now call spinoff!Andres my wife. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. So unfortunately, I cannot slander my bride like that.

But I liked that he was still a freak. The show didn't try to make him a better person thankfully, but I think a lot of the reviews were complaining about him being an asshole or complaining that he was ruined for not being enough of an asshole, missed the mark a bit. The main problem, if we have to pick one, about him, is that the context around him is too shallow to take seriously. His speeches about love have no substance (and they actually did in lcdp) because the circumstances have no substance. He's putting romance above the heist because well, why shouldn't he lmao? There's no personal stake here, and it's not like he'll get capital punishment for getting caught.

And that "problem" extends to everyone else. Their motives and actions are just very shallow and There for the sake of being there. Like Roi and Cameron could have had a moving romance, but instead Cameron made me cringe very badly with how much she felt like Alex Pina's idea of "hawt gurl with sad past!!" And said "sad" past was actually really fucked up but the story didn't seem to think so!? It wasn't a tragic romance--it was a 20-something musician sleeping with a 15yo fangirl, abducting her, and then traumatizing her so badly she entered the asylum and ended up hanging out with berlin. Like????

I'll say I misunderstood Keila though. Liked her a lot better in the show than the trailers. But everytime I went "oh, I like her uwu" she'd do something that makes me GAG like inhaling Bruce's sweat or licking his spoon asdfasdf Also the part where she confessed her love for him after the snake bite gave me secondhand embarrassment. None of the love stories felt lasting, believable, or touching to me. Probably because there were too many of them and it was even more convenient than lcdp proper!

Bruce was different than I expected. He's insensitive, but not "dumb" like the character descriptions made him out to be. Same as Keila. Everytime I thought "I like him uwu" he'd do something like talk about pubic hair or cover himself in oil/water, instantly making me die.

Damian is Sergio 2.0 and also Martin 2.0, but straight and old. No strong feelings for him either way. But it was funny that Andres got so mad about sharing a bed with him, when he was willingly hopping into bed with Martin LMAO. Also ngl, it stung my little berlermo heart to see Damian and Andres sing karaoke and go on a lover's bike ride together.

Roi was my favorite new member. He felt like a real original character, and his relationships with Cameron and Andres were nicely fleshed out even if they both confused me. Cameron because the romance was shallow to me. Andres because Roi never told us how they met or why Andres took him in. Andres giving Roi advice on temper control is also hilarious. We'll just have to assume that Andres is willing to raise everyone's kid except his own. He even took that one boy to the bathroom asdfasdf

But overall, I agree anon. I just didn't care for the new characters the same way I did the old gang or the cormorants. Maybe because the stakes were too low or because they were always beautiful and perfect (except Damian lol) no matter the situation. I personally think the producers were trying very hard to create new stars with this show, so they aggressively showed off Pina's flashy new blorbos (cameron, keila, bruce, and roi) but you can't force popularity. This is also my conspiracy theory for the lack of Sergio- they knew having the profesor here would take too much attention from the flashy new blorbos.

Not much to say about Camille. Was hoping she'd be cooler/smarter than this, but what kind of smart woman would not see the red flags in Andres LMAO. Wasn't surprised when Polignac turned out to be an asshole either- man just has the face of a jerk. Was disappointed that they didn't have a threesome with Andres. And the smartest person was Camille's friend.

Lastly, SAME ANON LOL Andres was an insane stalker, off the wall crazy and so annoying about it too. I wish Camille would have slapped him in the end, but oh well- at least their storyline didn't end as stupidly as it could have. She got her money at least XD Hopefully she's not dumb enough to reunite with him (and if she's wife no. 4 we know it didn't work out already).

Does the show deserve a season 2? No. Will I watch season 2? Yes LOL

Main takeaways:

Romance 1/10 Heist 7.5/10 Pedro's face 11/10 New characters 2/10 (not sharing all of their backstories or why/how they ended up in berlin's gang was a major weak point imo) Story 5/10

A solid 7/10 if we don't compare it to lcdp.

#anonymous #berlin 2023 #will answer the other spinoff questions in my inbox soon! thanks for the patience anons! #大家好柏林是我老婆 #再见了冷酷帅大叔 #嗨，斗M美人受

[avelera]

So "Doctor Faustus" already being out by the time Dream came by in 1589, is...uh, possibly a bit fudged for the sake of the story in Sandman, but I'm thinking about Hob canonically calling bisexual legend Kit Marlowe a great playwright, and the fact that Doctor Faustus is literally about a handsome demon seducing a more or less normal guy into selling his soul in exchange for an extraordinary life, including temporary immortality during the agreed 24-year span (including a scene where Faustus survives a murder attempt and holds his own severed head in a scene that I'm sure made Hob fuckin' blanche wondering if his secret had gotten out).

And I'm also thinking about how there's a strong running theme in "Faustus" of Mephistophilis steering Faust away from getting married. There is no Marguerite (Faust's wife in other versions) in Marlowe's version of the story which is really interesting. Especially because there's a rather strong whiff of jealousy (especially with Arthur Darvill's performance) around Mephistophilis urging Faust away from marriage, saying he'll bring him fine courtesans, or even (eventually) Helen of Troy instead, but definitely don't get married.

And I'm also thinking about my (and others') emerging fanon that Hob had his own written-or-unwritten fanfic of Faust x Mephistophilis that was heavily based on his own fantasies around his dark and mysterious stranger who gave him immortality. ("This could be us, but you keep fuckin' leaving after 5 minutes...") and a thought occurred to me.

So it's really weird that Hob just happens to get married within a few years, at most, of his 1589 meeting with Dream.

Now, my main assumption around this, Watsonian/in-universe, is that Hob wanted to demonstrate success to his stranger. So within a few years of the 1589 meeting, he looked at the date and went, "Oh shit, if I really wanted to show off I should get married and have an heir on the way, that's the true mark of success in my era!" (Which, of course, Dream is spectacularly unimpressed by and/or projecting his own miseries onto Hob's inevitable despair once they die.)

But now I'm thinking about "Doctor Faustus" and also kind of wondering... timeline fudging aside where he could have conceivably seen the play (or some early version of it while Marlowe was writing it) and if that could lend to a slightly alternative reading of why Hob was in a rush to get married before his meeting with his stranger?

Either:

My tall dark and possibly-not-the-Devil-then-again- the Devil-could-just-LIE stranger is coming. Faustus in "Doctor Faustus" passed up on a chance to possibly have his soul saved by not being married. So it might be a good idea to be married just in case, y'know, for the sake of my soul and so I'm not tempted by being single.

(The more Dreamling-shippy one) My tall dark and handsome stranger can't possibly be interested in me. In fact, it's kind of pining and pathetic to still be nominally single when he comes by, especially after 200 years. Talk about desperate. Maybe it's better if I'm married, that way I don't look desperate and it's not like he'd ever be interested, right? But if he does seem annoyed that I'm married, I will have definitely learned something.

Only for Dream to peace out of there almost immediately upon meeting happily-married-Hob.

Now, do I think canonically that Hob was sort of testing the waters by getting married? Not especially cuz it's an ass-backwards way to go about it, if it was a consideration at all, I'd see it as more hedging to the tune of not looking desperate, rather than trying to make Dream jealous or anything.

But I would bet (or at least put in a fanfic) that Hob added the fact that Dream did not seem especially enthused about his marriage into his little mental list of "Maybe? But surely not. But maybe?" as it emerged around, say, 1789 along with all the other later evidence of possible interest.

#dreamling #the sandman #sandman meta #doctor faustus #all the links are included in this post fyi