#and I’m guessing they’re all friends with the imagination dragons

[scoopski-patata]

so being kinda new to the IJ fandom, I gotta apologize if this info is out there as common knowledge but like ya know how sometimes celebrities and musicians and performers and overall famous people make a playlist on spotify so we can hear some of their faves

anyone know if any of the jokers have ever made a playlist?

#impractical jokers #the tenderloins #sal vulcano #james murray #joe gatto #brian quinn #bqquinn #brian q quinn #b q quinn #i want to know what music they like besides wu tang and beastie boys #we know murr likes yanni #and I’m guessing they’re all friends with the imagination dragons #but like do they like fugazi??? i gotta know #honestly my guess is that the q that had black fingernail Polish prob listened to fugazi

[m1ssunderstanding]

Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day 21: The Concert

Every time they're not on camera I simultaneously feel so relieved for them and so upset that I don't get to watch. Messed up of me, but hey. Remember that slightly disturbing quote where Paul said he actually does believe he's kind of public property and he's fine with that?

He looks so determined. Like the fairy tale prince staring down the dragon or Enjolras about to hijack a funeral (Literally my baby was conceived after I watched this in IMAX so if that tells you anything about my feelings . . . I'm going to be annoying I'm sorry I can't help it)

Her legs look so good in those tights! I love that Mo came not because her boyfriend needs his mommy but because she wants to see them perform! Kissing her on the mouth right now.

Danger boy Paul!

Fun fact, I was this John for Halloween in 2021 to a college party. My hair was already like that, and I had dirty white keds and black jeans, so I just did fake sideburns, fake glasses, and a fake fur coat. I tried to get my best friend to be Paul. She wanted to be a hooker, and I was like “It’s the same thing!”

See, look at him and his whorish ways!

John’s little lip-bit smile. He’s so happy with himself nailing that solo. Cutie. 

Cocky boys. As they should be. I love when they’re proud of their work together. Get Back is 95% just Looks between John and Paul, isn’t it?

John and Paul instantly jump into their little “humble working class entertainers” act. You know what just occurred to me? You know how they talked about the “rattle your jewelry” comment backstage and Paul dared John to say it? I wonder if they talked about the “audition” comment too.

It really is a beautiful thing they’re doing. It’s lovely, watching everyon leave their desk jobs and their shopping and whatever else to sit in their fire escapes and congregate in the street and huddle together on rooftops. It really is just like the happy end in a sixties zeitgeist movie. 

All the girls nervous to be too enthusiastic after years of being made fun of themselves and watching others like them being mocked on TV. Let girls like things, damnit!

Mo jamming! I’m in love.

John mouthing Paul’s lyrics.

“Paul McCartney singing that. What a voice.” Literally me if time travel existed. 

“And if SOMEBODY loved me like she does,” Well, it is good manners to look at the person you’re talking to, I guess. But you do have an audience, John. And a mic and a camera. 

“Absolutely disrupt all the business in this area.” Yes! Get those blue meanies, boys!

“No lay rishi gahd blay bloojaygoo” should replace all the stupid quotes the Lennon estate puts on everything they sell. Then I’d actually want their shit. Paul trying to magic the words from his head into John’s there. Successfully, though.

That “Pleeeeeheeeeease” is one of the prettiest beatles vocal moments. I love it with all my heart. And clearly, so does Paul. Doing that thing he does, inappropriately thrusting into his bass. 

Oh my gosh it’s the song Paul and John do together on tour right now!

That “Yyyyyeeeeeah, yeaaaaaah!” (I mean the whole song, the whole concert, but especially that) does things to me. 

John’s extremely blurry, because he turned his head quick enough to give him whiplash there, sorry everyone. But look! They’re having the time of their lives! They just love performing together so much!

Everyone goes to check on their accumulating audience. (except Paul. Wonder what that’s about.)Ringo’s little pleasantly surprised smile is so so sweet!

It must be so fun for them to be performing One after 909 again after all these years. Bitter sweet with everything that’s changed since then. 

LMAO Kevin thank you for your service!

He’s a silly cutie.

The mic in the street asking that girl if she’d like them to come back every lunchtime. Imagine if they did? How cute would that be? Like back to their cavern lunchtime shows. Maybe that could’ve saved them.

Them playing God Save the Queen reminds me of that story where Brian was like, “This bigger manager wants to buy your contract from me, and I just wanted to be straight with you. They could probably get better deals for you.” and they were like, “If you sell us to him we’re only playing God Save the Queen from that moment on.” It’s probably a fake story, but that’s what it made me think of. 

I always think that quote of Paul’s is so strange, where he was like “I never got the chance to watch John while we were playing.” Like. What are you talking about, baby?

Literally “Uh. Yeah. Uh. Yeah.” Fucking his bass. Staring at John. Okay? And I’m not supposed to take that and run with it? I’m not supposed to assume from that that you want to fuck your songwriting partner?

I think he genuinely wants to get arrested. I really do. I think he wants them all to get arrested so they can finally be alone in a room together. A lovely cell for four. Just shimmying at them. And Billy looking at him like, Bro. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Paul’s “woo” and shimmy :: John’s “woo” and weird little kick move. And Paul looks so fond, of course. 

God bless Mal for stalling those little fucks as long as humanly possible. And Debbie! “Don’t actually go on the roof because it’s overweight.” Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss!

Absolutely LOVE John and George turning their amps back on. That’s right. You guys are what’s keeping the country going at this point, so if you want to play on your roof they better let you play on your roof and say thank you.

All the times when they just simultaneously turn to each other. Like, yes, this is our que to stare hungrily into each other’s eyes. 

My stomach just dropped at those words across the screen. “This was the Beatles’ last public performance.” We know, Peter Jackson. You don’t have to remind us. Jeez. 

John and Paul’s two very different but equally important leadership roles in the band at work here at the end of the concert. John delivers his iconic line, makes everyone laugh, and seals the band’s last performance with a very tight bow. Meanwhile, Paul’s climbing the gate to bypass the crowd and schmooze the police out of arresting Mal. 

THIS is sooo cute. Heads buried together and John’s very sweet, “‘s’matter? Hmm?” 

George is so cute here in the control room afterward. No wonder they don’t listen to his not wanting to do things, honestly, if he acts like this after. “What’s the law say why you can’t do that? Well how disturbing the peace? Yeah, I’m for taking over London. And every rock group in the world all on different buildings, playing the same tune.” Adorable.

Poor John. It breaks my heart that he doesn’t think his little lyric flub is funny. He’s disappointed in himself. I wish he could see that that’s one of the things everyone loves about him. George was grinning ear to ear about it. For fuck’s sake, that’s one of the reasons Paul fell in love with you in the first place. If only John could see himself the way we see him, you know? 

This little moment cracks me up. John always has to be mommy’s naughty little boy, and Yoko does a very sweet job of playing her part here. 

Linda and Paul are so touchy and clingy and it’s very romantic and I love that Ringo joins in and makes fun of them.   

The whole after-show glow for everyone was just so palpable and fantastic. I wish they could've gone on performing together. Clearly it made all of them very happy.

#and that's that #Apparently we've got a bonus day though that I forgot existed #so that's nice #Or not for anyone that was excited to not see these on your dash lol #tumblr live #paul mccartney #the beatles #john lennon #mclennon #ringo starr #george harrison #get back

[theoraclej]

THAT SEASON FINALE!

light, where to begin, a disjointed ramble of things I observed:

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain! - Mat said the words, he said the words!

And he made his own ashandarei! I hope he gets the raven-inlaid one though because I’m sure no one wants him running around with that dagger

And I know he’s going to get a massive S3 glow-up because he sees himself as MORE, now. Yay Mat!

RAND exploding the shit out of the Seanchan including Turak; nice way around his general lack of swordtraining which I’m sure will be remedied

Once the Heron, to set his path!

The interplay between Rand (and Lews Therin before him), Lanfear, Ishamael - they were besties in the Age of Legends, lmao!

I had expected the intro to be a high society polyam party they were attending, not the Sealing of Ishamael, 🤭

The Warder bond was beautiful, flowing, intimate, just what I imagined when reading these books some 25 years ago

I knew Moiraine was gonna say Lan was her better!

I’m so glad they’re back together though, legendary qpp

Nice to see the S1 intro sequence with the gorgeously woven Aes Sedai tapestry

I was a bit sad Nynaeve didn’t heal Elayne OR Rand but she DID swear to make Seta’s mother curse the first kiss her father ever gave her and THAT was cool

Hopper, my beloved! 😩 I would be chopping Whitecloaks too!

It was so satisfying to see Perrin obey his wolfly instincts already!

Elayne being the one to heal Rand’s wound was an interesting choice, and you can tell he was dazzled by her!

Book lines, book lines, book lines making me have conniptions every time one was uttered

“From birth to death I serve the Blood.”

UNO I KNEW YOU WERE COMING YA SHEEP-GUTTED MILK DRINKER

“For the Light, and Shinowa!” still gave me chills even without an expanded story behind it for Ingtar

Egwene al’Vere. I hope she earns a title of “the Unbroken” someday. Remember, Nynaeve even said that about her when Egwene was captured by Whitecloaks in S1!

Egwene, spitting out the damane gag and refusing to rain down fire on innocents, ah my girl, that’s that Two Rivers steel

Egwene, collaring Renna and choking her to death, being stronger than Renna, being able to withstand the pain of that because that’s exactly what Renna taught her

Egwene later, with that amazing shield against Ishamael to protect her friends!

Lanfear pushing Lan and Moiraine out of the ocean Waygate was very unexpected but totally within Lanfear’s lane, just to keep Moiraine away from Rand

Lanfear working to sell the Seals to Bayle Domon, which was so lmao also, and it really enhanced her utter shock when she entered the room later with the Seals all broken.

M O G H E D I E N 🕷️

She is perfectly creepy, perfect in every way. I can’t wait to see her tear shit up, or to see how she will be used in S3 and beyond

Never expected her to cage Lanfear in her webs, either, dang. Lillen Moiral wasn’t near so strong as Mierin. But we know some things are just Talents, and Moghedien is better in Tel’aran’rhiod than Lanfear

Did you notice Rand’s wound swirling with evil bits throughout the healed part? Really cool effect if you catch it

Aviendha, Bain, and Chiad showing they can fight just as well in close quarters in a city as in the Three-Fold Land; and then later acknowledging Rand as Car’a’carn

Though I’d hoped we’d get some good old He Who Comes With The Dawn in here too

Moiraine’s outstanding torpedo weaves that fucked up the Seanchan boats! And she understands the stakes - if the Dragon is gentled, or harmed, or captured, everyone’s life is in danger and that includes her and Lan

Anyhow fuck the Seanchan

Did it look like Suroth got blown up too? Does that mean she’s dead? I guess we’ll see who gathers in the scattered remnants of the Hailene!

The first “I’m not Lews Therin” from Rand

Mat taking a moment to mention Rand’s “shit hair” to Perrin while they were in the mix, lmao

That shadow ashandarei is really scary, it is a laser knife (lightsaber?) on a stick

I can’t wait for Perrin and Hopper to meet again in the Wolfdream

Speaking of which, I think Perrin’s eyes are permanently golden now

I cried at the coming of the Heroes of the Horn, I’m sure many of you did too 😭

Cool Hero fighting effects, I liked those

BIRGITTE SILVERBOW MY LOVELY

I figured Min’s vision of Mat “killing” Rand would be something like this, an accident, not an intentional thing

His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul…

AL’LAN MANDRAGORAN, the Uncrowned King, Sworn to the Flame, bonded again, fighting as he was meant to, just slicing through armies, snatching arrows out of the air and stabbing people with them, chef’s kiss

I wonder if Nynaeve’s “failures” and inability to channel at these vital moments will give her the drive to break her block

Ishamael’s channeling at the end was really impressive, a testament to how much more he knows than Rand

I hope that’s not the last we see of Fares Fares, he was remarkable as Ishamael and a truly enjoyable villain

And since they didn’t have the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Telamon found with the Horn like in the books, Moiraine saw to it that he was heralded with literal fire

This I can imagine many people seeing from far away, and of course rumor travels further

The Falmen sure seem to appreciate it and of course the Seanchan are gone for now

Lanfear asking the LIGHT to protect Rand at the end is something interesting and NOT LOST ON ME

I REALLY ENJOYED IT and am looking forward to a full rewatch of S1 and S2!

Proclaimed across the sky in fire 🔥🐲

#wheel of time #wot on prime spoilers #wot on prime #wheel of time show spoilers #wheel of time show #wheel of time s2 spoilers #wheel of time spoilers #wheel of time on prime #mat cauthon #rand al’thor #lanfear #ishamael #al’lan mandragoran #lan mandragoran #moiraine #moiraine damodred #aes sedai #perrin aybara #hopper #nynaeve al’meara #elayne trakand #ingtar #uno nomesta #egwene al'vere #moghedien #wot book spoilers #birgitte silverbow #min farshaw

[2deadkat]

If you've read them, thoughts on the Geronimo Stilton Kingdom of Fantasy books?

Okay I have a bit of a weird but fond history with that series, I’ve only seen the first two books so I’m not all that qualified to talk about it in-depth.

But I’ll tell you my history first, I used to carry the first kingdom of fantasy book everywhere I went on family trips. I treated that thing like the holy grail and just speed through every page imaginable, I’ll tell you this I really like the presentation of the series.

Especially with its own script and all the doors to the different kingdoms. That’s one thing the franchise in general is good at. Also I had an old friend of an older sibling of mine who used to share that book with me…and I vividly remember her telling me the pages with each world door being scented so while I carried that book everywhere I was practically a book sniffer 💀. To this very day I still don’t know if it’s true each door was scented or if it was merely a childhood lie…

Now my thoughts on it despite only officially “reading” two and skimming through the rest of it with a friend at a bookstore (bestie shout out if you’re reading this ✌️), the whole idea of it is really interesting and it’s fitting for someone like Geronimo. I like the world building of the series, and it’s basically a collection of every fantasy world trope ever in an endearing way. I can’t get over the fact that he enters the world illegally every time by drugging himself on chamomile tea and getting knocked out while his sister of the seven roses just gets actual passes 😭 but power to him for capitalising on his drug trips because I was actually so shocked when I found there were 14 of them…I’m not implying that they’re bad but it’s not just a series for me and I’m just shocked that there’s this many of them, I’d personally stop at three books but I can respect the fact that it has its own lore going on.

Geronimo gets more power and respect as a character but I’ll never get over the fact that there are actual humanoids existing in another plane…also I heard it’s more batshit insane in the untranslated Italian books which is…wow, respect.

I was really obsessed with the dragon king and the whole dragon world and I would keep rereading that section every time <3 I swear I used to read that Beowulf part specifically with all the dragon facts. I was a huge dragon kid back then.

Okay a bit of gross trivia: Going through my old copy of the book, it literally has the sweat stains of kid me’s hand on the exact page of that illustration because I admire his whole design and deal so much…to this very day it is still the coolest dragon design I’ve ever seen.

So overall, it’s really interesting, I like the whole world they’re going for, but it’s not for me to consume as a full series entirely. And even if I do start again with the other books I don’t have the childhood wonder anymore to dive into it like kid me used to…so unfortunately I don’t have the same attachment a bunch of other people might’ve grew up with…

Sorry, guess I’m more interested in a mouse version of the Office…or parks and recreation 😔 but the first book holds dear to me with its immersive world building and recently I just found it lying in one of my family’s house’s many book shelves so I am thankful for that.

Also man I forgot how some of these spreads go hard…

#keith answers #mouseposting #geronimo stilton #thea stilton

[findmeabowlofundertale]

OKAY SO! After two likes and one comment of affirmation (from @benanazauce) — Here is that au I haven’t been able to shut up about!! The one with human Gaster and normal Asteri. I’m calling it the Double Dingsaster AU (you’ll see why). THIS IS WHY I HAVEN’T MADE ANY PROGRESS ON CHAPTER 10 UGGHHH

It’s very long. Like. So freaking long. Wish I could focus this well on writing my actual fic. Also I have not reread through since editing it. I just hit post. Oh and uh— warning for descriptions of eye/face injuries, I guess? Briefly?

So the premise is this: There’s a universe where Gaster and Asteri are humans living in (approximately) the modern day. They’re a bit younger than the canon versions of themselves, more like early/mid twenties and late twenties/early thirties, instead of like, ~32 and ~40. They are friends. Maybe even work in the same building (for some reason?). They’re sort of at that “we’re friends but maybe there’s something else too…?” stage but neither of them have acted on it. It’s all very tentative.

Human!Gaster, still being an engineer (among other things), ends up making this machine that, solely for plot convenience, connects with alternate universes. Long story short, for plot reasons, something happens and both human!Gaster and human!Asteri get transported to something approximate to the ⁂ universe. Idk how, or why, but they get separated. And both fall into the underground. I think they might have been separated before they even landed in the ⁂ universe, tbh. Idk.

Anyway, h!Asteri falls into the underground first. She is confused and distraught and doesn’t understand anything going on, and she thinks that her Gaster is either dead, still in the other universe, or somewhere in this universe but who knows where, and now she’s fallen into a cave and god she’s going to DIE because no one will ever find her here, least of all him, if he’s even here (and alive) at all!

Well. Obviously Toriel finds her. The whole thing. Asteri is INCREDIBLY alarmed at seeing a 7 foot goat dragon monster, and she’s not quick to trust. But c’mon. It’s Toriel. You can’t not like her. So she spends a little while there, gets the low-down. She really doesn’t want to go any farther into the cave, tbh. She wants to wait for rescue. But once she learns about the barrier and stuff, and that there IS no way out from where she fell in, well… yeah. So, she wants to find a way out. I feel like she’d explain to Toriel that this isn’t even the right universe, but I’m not sure how much Toriel would believe. Asteri wouldn’t blame her for not believing it. But she needs to get out. She has to find her way back home. If not to her own universe, then to some kind of human civilization. …Not that Toriel hasn’t been lovely! Honestly, though, Asteri is no scientist, she says. Her friend, who built the machine that brought her here, is probably dead or lost… (She starts crying. It’s not the first time she’s talked about h!Gaster, or grappled with the fact that she might never see him again, that he might be dead. But she doesn’t like to think about it if she can help it.)

Toriel hesitates, but tells her that she once knew a brilliant scientist. He might still be alive… but he lives at the other end of the underground. If he’s alive still, he might be able to help her. But it’s dangerous, there’s Asgore, etc etc. Asteri isn’t thrilled, but if the other monsters are like the ones here (Froggits, Whimsuns, etc) then… maybe it won’t be so bad. She asks about the scientist. What’s his name? What does he look like?

You can imagine how floored she is when Toriel tells her his name is Dr. Gaster.

But it gets her hopes up. There’s a Gaster in this universe. He could send her home. All she has to do is find him. Now she’s excited! But also curious. He isn’t human, right? If he’s underground? What does he look like? (She wonders if he’ll look strange, like a Loox, or if he’ll resemble her Gaster at all.) Toriel tells her: He is a skeleton.

Asteri is… a bit put-off, but still determined! (Heh, no, not like that.) She MUST find him. Maybe she even tells Toriel that in her universe, she and Gaster were friends. Not sure. Also not sure if Toriel would be extra hesitant to let her go given that Asteri is missing a hand, and the fingers on the hand she does have don’t always respond when she wants them to. Idk. But Asteri is very capable. And a grown woman, so… yeah. Also I I imagine she gets at least a scarf or something since she’s in a tank top.

So! Asteri leaves the Ruins and begins her trek through the underground to find this universe’s Gaster.

And she does! I don’t know if she even has to go all the way to Hotland. She might meet him when he’s visiting Grillby’s, or at the dump in Waterfall. I don’t know. But they do meet. (In this universe, Gaster has not met his Asteri, so there’s no confusion there.) She’s very thrown off because 1) Skeleton, 2) TALL, 3) how does his face move like that, and 4) he acts just like her Gaster. And god, it hurts. It’s like he’s there but he’s not. After the initial surprise on both of their parts, she explains her situation. He signs, (of course, she thinks, he’s just like her Gaster) and it’s similar enough to the sign language she’s familiar with that she can mostly understand. At first he’s hesitant to believe her, but the more she talks about it, he realizes that she’s absolutely telling the truth (rather than just being mistaken/confused/concussed.) So he agrees to help her. I don’t think she necessarily tells him that the “scientist friend” who sent her here was her version of him.

She stays with him (it’s safer that way), and he does what he can, but it sounds like her friend was far ahead technologically. He can only do so much without blueprints or any idea of the math that was used. Even if he built the machine, he explains, there are after all infinite universes, he could easily send her to the wrong one. She asks what the chances are that her friend is okay. Gaster tries to be gentle about it, but admits that without knowing more, he can’t really say for certain. Her friend could be stuck between universes, even. He doesn’t know. But he’s probably back in their universe! Working on a solution! He’s probably fine!!

Asteri is all but inconsolable. Her Gaster is probably dead, and even if he’s not, she knows deep down that she will never see him again. There’s no way home. She’s stuck here. And it’s not so bad, not really, but it’s not home, and all she has is a disconcertingly tall skeleton who is exactly like her friend but has none of the memories. But, after a grieving period, she starts to work on accepting it. And really, how can she not like this Gaster? He’s him. It comes so naturally that it would be more difficult to fight it than anything. He’s a little confused, I think, that she seems to know him so well, that she doesn’t misunderstand the things he expects her to— like she’s already accounted for his idiosyncrasies. But he just shakes it off and enjoys getting to know her. He has to come home regularly now, with someone else there— it would be rude to just leave her on her own when she has no one else to talk to, after all. He starts to actually listen to his followers assistants and take days off. He eats better— with little else to do, Asteri spends a lot of time cooking. And although he does do his best to find a way for her to go home, in the weeks that become months of living together, he starts to wish she didn’t have to go.

And actually, neither does she.

I’m sure that, over the months, Asteri has slowly been introduced to other monsters (Carlope, whatever local grocer, Grillby, probably even Alphys (who is beside herself with glee, ofc)). She gets accustomed to monster culture and the way things are here. And Asteri is… happy. She still misses home (god she misses the Mediterranean sun) and she still mourns human!Gaster, but for being stuck in an alternate universe, she’s doing pretty well. She has friends, and food, and several entirely new branches of linguistics to study, and a… a partner. They never really talked about it beyond “I will miss you when you go,” and “I’ll… really miss you, too. Maybe I don’t have to?” and the incredibly tender headbump that followed. But they kind of cuddle sometimes, and he looks at her Like That, and she’s crawled into his bed to talk him through nightmares, and sometimes they hold hands, and she isn’t sure but sometimes those headbumps really feel like they’re equivalent to kisses. So one day she kisses his cheekbone for real, to see what happens.

What happens is Gaster gets all glittery-eyed and stuff and they finally talk about their freaking feelings. Which are mutual.

And they’re happy.

MEANWHILE—

Human!Gaster is not dead. Nor is he stuck in some other universe, nor back home. No, he’s there too. But like I said in the beginning— they got separated. Probably some time-space shenanigans, where he doesn’t get spit out into this universe at the same point in time that Asteri did. He falls into the underground a few months later.

Toriel finds him, and he is actually a lot less alarmed by her than one would expect. He asks about Asteri, and, recognizing that this must be the friend Asteri mentioned, Toriel fills him in: Asteri left to look for a way home a few months ago, after Toriel told her about the royal scientist, Dr. Gaster. Human!Gaster is, obviously, flabbergasted that he has a counterpart here (fascinating implications, he thinks), but manages to keep it together pretty well. He convinces Toriel to let him out of the Ruins to track down human!Asteri. All things considered, he’s in the Ruins only a couple days maximum as opposed to human!Asteri’s having been there several days minimum. He figures that his Asteri probably went straight to this universe’s Gaster. If it’s been months, then he has to hurry.

Well. Things do NOT go as smoothly for him. Honestly, he gets the shortest end of the stick here. It goes SO badly.

Wouldn’t you know who’s in Snowdin studying Dog language, but this universe’s Asteri.

I would like to remind you that normal (monster) Asteri has some serious trauma about humans, and that she and this universe’s Gaster have never met. (Or, maybe they have, but only briefly. Idk.) From here, “Gaster” is gonna refer to human!Gaster, and “Asteri” is refer to regular, monster Asteri. Their counterparts aren’t in this (yet).

So. Human!Gaster runs into her somewhere in Snowdin forest. It goes extremely badly. He unknowingly and unintentionally initiates an encounter. She panics. He also panics. Asteri assumes he means to kill her, and goes all out with the bullet patterns. Gaster has never done this before and keeps getting whacked. He keeps trying to explain that he just wants directions and he’s doesn’t know what’s happening or how to stop it. Asteri is having none of it. She’s so locked into her fear response that reason just isn’t going to work. Gaster’s really taking a beating here, but he’s surprisingly sturdy. It’s only when one of her sharper bullets hits him square in the face and does some serious damage that he realizes he can flee. It hit him directly above his right eye and zipped all the way up into his hairline, and he’s bleeding. Eye/head injuries are… kind of a trigger for him, so when it hit, he started to really panic. The blood is what really scares him. He doesn’t know if it took out his whole eye or if it’s just that there’s so much blood streaming down his face that if feels like his eye got hit, but he can’t open it and he goes weak in the knees, almost collapses, but manages to flee the encounter upon realizing that this monster is not going to stop, and he runs into the forest as fast as he can with one hand clasped over the wound.

Asteri is pissed. She’s terrified, yes, but she also knows that a human his size could leave real carnage in his wake, and she’s not about to let a human take someone else’s parents from them— or worse yet, someone’s child. So she takes off after him. Now, she doesn’t do well in the cold, but she can also change her form at will (and she did, actually, as soon as the encounter started: she got all spiky). So she catches up to him. He’s ducked behind a tree and is curled in on himself trying to stop hyperventilating and get his head/eye to stop bleeding. (He’s unsuccessful on both counts.) When she catches up to him, it’s kind of an, “AHA! FOUND YOU!” Gaster reflexively curls up when she pulls her tail back (to hit him, presumably), and, thinking he’s going to die, cries out, “I’m sorry Asteri!”

Needless to say, she freezes. How the hell does he know her name, she demands. He’s confused. She’s angry. But fine, he wants to talk? Now she knows he can. She demands his hands. He tries to sign that he needs them, he’s bleeding, but she interrupts that she doesn’t care, give her his hands or else. He complies, and his head is still bleeding. She wraps his wrists together with her tail, and is careful not to touch any blood. She thinks it’s like, poison or something— some kind of human defense mechanism. She barks at him to stop oozing, or she’ll kill him right there, and frickin, poor Gaster, he’s so beat up, he doesn’t even know how to begin to explain that he can’t help it. It doesn’t go well. She drags him closer to town, but doesn’t turn him into the guard yet. She wants to know how he knows her name and what the hell he thinks he’s doing in the underground. He ends up on the ground, still restrained with her tail, still bleeding (and crying), while she demands answers.

The short of it is that Gaster manages to give some explanation that makes Asteri reconsider turning him in. He needs to talk to their royal scientist, huh? Well Dr. Gaster is a busy monster, what makes him think that he’s worth the time of someone that important? Human!Gaster tells her that his friend fell first, and she will be looking for the… royal scientist… as well. He needs to find her, needs to make sure she’s okay, so they can get back home somehow!

Asteri spits that his friend probably got captured by the royal guard already. She hasn’t heard anything about another human on the loose. King Asgore has probably already killed her.

Gaster goes completely unresponsive. Is his Asteri dead?? Is he too late? He never meant for her to get roped into this, it’s all his fault!

Not sure what all happens from here specifically, but these things happen:

Gaster realizes at some point here that this is this universe’s Asteri. He tells her that his friend is also named Asteri. She chalks it up to a very strange coincidence.

Gaster does not get medical treatment for his head/eye injury until Asteri is satisfied with his answers/explanations. That’s a pretty significant chunk of time given that he’s panicking, traumatized, bleeding profusely from a gash on his head, restrained on the ground in the snow with no coat, can’t sign, and struggles to speak aloud.

Asteri ends up deciding that she will allow him to look for his friend… but not without supervision. Can’t have two humans running around. The guard will just arrest him, so she takes it upon herself. She is still very afraid of him, but she wears her fear as anger and hostility.

Asteri continues to be unfamiliar with and highly suspicious of human anatomy, so she just kinda wraps his head up once she gets some supplies in town, and heals him the absolute bare minimum so he doesn’t die on her after he starts explaining hypothermia.

She makes it explicitly clear that if he ever tries ANYTHING, she will kill him. She realizes he seems genuinely afraid of her and uses that to her advantage.

They stay at the inn. Asteri procures some rope and informs Gaster that he will be sleeping restrained and on the floor. He’s too beat down to protest.

Asteri agrees to help him search Snowdin forest for his friend the following day. They don’t find anything. Gaster is still pretty weak and very rattled, and very much in pain. He wants to ask around, but Asteri adamantly refuses. The last thing they need is a panic going through the underground that a human is loose. She probably did tell the guards that there’s a human suspected to be running around, but it might have already been captured. But she doesn’t tell them about Gaster. Maybe. Idk exactly.

It doesn’t really matter. The important part is that once Gaster realizes this is Asteri, (and he’s recovered a little), he’s a lot less afraid of her and a lot more friendly. This really freaks Asteri out. She thinks it’s some ploy. If he’s not afraid of her, then she doesn’t have any leverage. So she keeps trying to crank up the intimidation, but Gaster just keeps responding with patience. It’s like the world’s most unproductive contest. They also end up staying at her place while searching Waterfall. He gets tied up a lot (at night), and Asteri is very short with him, very mean. And she’s extremely jumpy. She treats him like he’ll kill her if she turns her back on him. He can’t do anything unless she’s watching like a hawk.

He pushes about meeting the royal scientist, but Asteri 1) has no idea how to really get ahold of him, and 2) isn’t sure she WANTS a human meeting someone that important. Meanwhile, he’s been trying to tell her about how he’s from an alternate universe and just wants to go home, and all of what happened. Asteri doesn’t believe him, but mockingly asks how he even knows his friend is here at all. Maybe she got tossed in some other world, or died in space. After all, like she said, there’s been no reports of another human. And that’s a pretty big deal, actually, so… his friend is either dead, or really good at hiding and going to be dead soon. Gaster doesn’t like that she has a point, it troubles him that his Asteri might not even be here, but… he’s almost sure that she is. She has to be. Asteri (still mockingly) suggests his friend already met the royal scientist and went home without him.

Now, Gaster knows his Asteri, and it absolutely helps him navigate this version of her. He knows that she gets angry when she’s afraid, and that’s all this is. It has to be trauma. It hurts, but she’s acting like this because she’s scared. That’s all. It isn’t personal. But as time goes on, and they aren’t making any progress in finding his Asteri, he starts to get discouraged. This Asteri has… slightly relaxed around him. She doesn’t keep his hands tied when they go out, for one. By now that gash on his face has healed and scarred— it wasn’t too bad, but it didn’t get treated properly. He probably needed stitches, tbh. Days become weeks, and then a month, then two. (They do search Hotland at one point, which is an entire trip since it’s not worth walking back and forth to her house every night. It’s miserable, hot, and Gaster still gets tied to something at night. They don’t find anything.)

After spending more or less every single day together, Asteri has gone from “constant high alert” to “if you startle me I’ll tackle you, but you can walk around the house I guess.” (NOT her room though.) And she has absolutely tackled him, fangs bared, for accidentally sneaking up on her because he was walking too quietly. He’s not allowed in the kitchen (because knives) unless she’s there and he asks, and he’s absolutely not allowed to touch her, ever— but she can touch him. That’s less of something they agreed on and more of a stipulation for not being mauled. Gaster is, naturally, quite miserable like this, but he understands. She’s just afraid, he reminds himself.

So, this is where there’s kind of a split in my brain about how I want this to go. I’ve played out two versions of this, and they’re both just different flavors of angst. One is more based in the characters’ mental states and trauma, and one is more based in drama. Both are good, honestly, I just can’t decide which one I want. And this is how I keep getting AUs of AUs. Right now I’m editing this draft, and there’s a ton of stuff below this, which is from the original take: the trauma-based angst. It’s heavier because it touches on more elements of how someone who has been hurt can hurt others. It’s not simple, it’s not black and white, and I did/do worry that it might come across as romanticization of unhealthy relationships, which it is not intended to be. I mean granted it’s also not written to be groundbreaking or anything, it’s just. Something I made up in my head. That’s tricky because I know the intentions and nuances, even when I don’t/can’t quite convey them in writing. This is mostly me writing for myself, and using fiction as a means to work through some similar stuff that I deal with, but still, I worry how it might come across without like. Full access to my brain.

So uh! I’m gonna write out the other version of events I came up with after this first, then maybe include the original version.

Alright so. Human!Gaster’s with ⁂!Asteri. She takes a long time to warm up to him at all, and it’s very slow, but there’s really no pretending, after a point (like three or so months), that he’s literally any kind of threat. But Asteri doesn’t accept this consciously. No, no, he’s a human, he’s dangerous, etc etc. So she keeps up the antics. I want you to think of that character who’s like, an antagonist/bad guy, but if they actually killed the hero they’d be devastated. Or the villain who has to team up with the protagonist(s) and keeps acting like they hate them but definitely doesn’t. And it’s just kind of understood but never talked about. The kind of character who’s like, “well obviously I can’t kill you right now, we have a truce. I may be evil but I have standards.” Or “yes well. This plan wasn’t even one of my better ones. If I captured them now I can’t show off my REALLY good scheme next week that shows how evil I REALLY am. So. In the spirit of evil, I’ll have to pass.” Or, the one who threatens everyone constantly and doesn’t want to partake in your stupid celebration because we’re MORTAL ENEMIES and they HATE YOU WITH A PASSION THAT WILL NEVER DIE AS LONG AS THE SUN BU— Oh you brought them a plate of cake? Oh… well. Maybe they can have some. Because you were FOOLISH enough to approach them. …Oh that’s pretty good. BUT THIS DOESN’T MEAN THEY LIKE YOU!

Even if you toned that type of character down to just brooding and irritable rather than dramatic, that’s kind of what Asteri ends up having going on. She still threatens to kill him, but she does it without getting up from the couch, that type of thing. She tries very hard not to let him grow on her. She refuses to laugh at his stupid jokes (but sometimes she accidentally lets a smile slip), she still locks him in his a spare room at night, she still insists he’s too dangerous to let leave the house alone. Don’t be mistaken— she is still somewhat afraid of him, simply by virtue of what he could do. But he’s always pleasant, and he never tries anything (goodness knows he’s had countless opportunities to “escape”; he’s very much there willingly), and he always gives her that same knowing, sad smile. It used to infuriate her, now it just makes her feel something she doesn’t understand. They never talk about it, but she makes coffee in the morning more often even though she rarely drinks it (she likes the smell is all), and she’s sewed his clothes (it looks more suspicious of he’s going around in torn up clothes, that’s all), and she finally let him shave his face (the beard was just too much for her, it’s not because he wanted to shave). Still, she keeps up with “you’re a threat” and “I’m sure you’re just waiting to kill because that’s what humans do” and the like.

She doesn’t take him out searching for his friend as often as she knows he would like (too conspicuous), but come on. His friend is almost certainly dead by now. Or not here at all. If there had been a human, surely the whole underground would know by now, right? Getting a third human SOUL would be a big deal.

It’s that thought that makes her stomach twist. She has a human. But! It’s not like he’s getting loose! It doesn’t matter when he dies, as long as it happens eventually! It’s not like four other humans are suddenly going to fall down here and die before he does— there’s no rush! Right? Right. And she’s keeping an eye on him. It’s fine.

(She can’t let herself think about any of it too hard or too long because she quickly runs out of ways to justify any of this.)

But, she still takes him out “searching,” though never in New Home. (“Do you WANT to be arrested?”) It’s not difficult to see the hope beginning to fade from his eyes. (Every so often, she CHECKs him, and although it had previously never faltered, one day he has just one or two less HP.) He doesn’t act much different, but sometimes, just for a moment, he almost looks hurt when the same old insults roll off her tongue out of habit. She tries not to think about it.

Then, one day (it’s been about, idk, three and half months?), they’re out walking in Waterfall. They run into what I assume to be a Royal Guard. RG recognizes Gaster as a human, it’s very chaotic. I don’t remember exactly how I had this play out in my head but they fling bullets toward him and start an encounter before Asteri can do much of anything besides protest verbally. Now, Gaster hasn’t been in an encounter since he first met normal!Asteri (and that went b a d l y), so he’s kind of freaking out. It’s made worse when the guard gets frustrated that Asteri is trying to convince them to stop, and sends bullets faster, and one slams into Gaster’s face. It collides just above his mouth, the force of it tilts his head back, and it flies all the way up his cheek and across his eye, cutting his bottom eyelid. Haven’t decided if this just happens, or if it’s because Asteri tried to get involved and he pushed her out of the way of the bullets (because he has no idea how normal encounters are for monsters, or how much HP she has, he just doesn’t want her to hey hurt). Well, needless to say, having his face torn open, he drops immediately. Now, I mentioned before that face and eye injuries are a trigger for him, so if he was freaking out before, he’s straight up panicking now. He’s on the ground, clutching his face, eye filled with blood, unresponsive.

Asteri gets mad.

Oh, she loses it.

If she wasn’t there already, she slides in front of him, wings flared, tail ready to whip out in front of her, teeth bared, looking very spiky. You know how people will draw the skeletons putting up a fence of bone bullets like a shield? She does something like that, but they’re exclamation points. They manifest when she yells at the guard. She has to be careful about how she uses her turns, though, because she can’t tell how badly Gaster is hurt yet, just that he’s crumpled and not good. The fence is her turn (>Defend). She and the guard yell back and forth, while she dodges their bullets, about him being a human. Asteri doesn’t have a very good defense, but does insist that he’s not going to hurt anyone, and that she’s the one keeping an eye on him. She uses her next turn to try to talk to Gaster. He’s conscious, but hyperventilating and obviously in a lot of pain. He doesn’t really respond to anything Asteri asks, which just worries her more. She tries to talk to the guard through their turn, but the guard is angry and won’t concede any point. They send orange bullets at Asteri, which are easy enough; she just moves back and forth through them. But she’s defending Gaster, and orange bullets don’t dissipate unless they do damage, so although they move through her, they keep going. The guard is smug about it. Asteri realizes just in the nick of time and manages to whip her tail between the bullets and Gaster. She tanks the damage (it’s just magical, it hurts but it’s fine), and glares at the guard. That’s it. She wanted this to end quickly, and it’s already her third turn. That’s enough.

She casts purple magic (rings) and traps the guard, has a moment of glowering intimidation, and manages to end the encounter. The guard freaks out that they’re still trapped even though the encounter ended. Asteri carefully scoops up Gaster and goes to leave, with the guard shouting after her. (“You’re just going to leave me like this!?” “It’ll wear off.”) Once they’re around a corner she turns into something that can move much faster and zips home. Gaster had explained quite a lot about humans by then (such as the fact that blood isn’t poison, but it does belong inside the body, and losing too much can kill them; or that open wounds can get infected because of… something or other), but there’s still a lot she doesn’t know. She slams the door open, runs into the kitchen, yanks the table closer, shoves everything off of it, sets him down but keeps him propped up with a wing, boils water with fire magic, pours it over a dish rag (then runs it under colder water— she does remember that humans are susceptible to heat), and tries to wipe blood away so she can see what she’s dealing with. Gaster is still panicked and his eyes are screwed shut and he won’t let her move his hand away so she can help. She tries to talk him through it but he’s not exactly reasonable right now and so she ends up having to straddle him so she can hold his hands down. Which does not help his panic. But she manages to wipe enough blood away to see the gash: it’s pretty thin lower down, surprisingly; the worst of it is his eyelid. But his mouth is full of blood and his eye is full of blood and he’s panicked and sobbing and the blood just keeps coming, god, why won’t it stop? She tries to get him to summon his SOUL so she can heal him, but he doesn’t understand, and she’s freaking out, so she’s like, “I’m just gonna pour green magic into the wound okay?”

She starts to, and he calms down a little bit as his eyelid heals, but as the healing works its way down he suddenly cries out in pain and starts struggling again, trying to get his arm free. He manages to say, “Wait, stop!” so Asteri does, and figures it’s probably okay to let him go… When she does, he reaches up into his mouth, whimpers, and then yanks a tooth out. She’s like “AAAAA????” and there’s a quick, not exactly comprehensible exchange about putting it back, but Gaster still isn’t entirely with it, so Asteri finishes healing him best she can.

One thing I haven’t gotten to include in the actual fic yet is how shapeshifters can mimic some forms perfectly but others only superficially, and a lot of it has to do with touching. It’s unconscious, usually, but they get something like a biological and magical “scan” of a being. If it’s a large being, it might require conscious effort, and multiple “scans” of different areas, especially if they’re very complex. So in this case, Asteri doesn’t understand why Gaster was suddenly in pain until she took a second to focus on how his head works (since she was touching him), and realized that she was trying to heal a loose tooth back into place when it was already separated from his skull. (Yes she doesn’t have a “HUMANS HAVE BONES!?!?” moment internally, but she doesn’t really have time to think about it.)

Once his face is healed, he’s calmed down somewhat. She gets some of the cooled water, turns his head, apologizes, and pours it over his eyes. He flails, but it successfully flushes the rest of the blood out of his eye. Now, for most of this, Asteri has been half or all the way on the table with Gaster, either leaning over him, keeping him propped up on her lap, or bent around him in some weird position that allowed her to help. Right now, she’s got him cradled in her wings while she finishes wiping blood off his face. He’s more or less calmed down by now. She hasn’t really stopped talking to him this entire time. She’s mumbling something or other while she gives him another look over and wipes his face off. He opens his eyes, a bit, to watch her. When she realizes he’s looking at her (he looks exhausted), and he’s smiling a little, and he’s got some… some look in his eyes, she gets flustered.

“What? What the hell are you smiling about‽”

And he moves his hands up to sign.

“You care.”

She almost drops him on the table, but he’s still hurt. So she sputters and scoffs and wipes at him a little harder than strictly necessary,

“I do not! You’re a human, and I’m a monster, and there will never—”

As she was working her way down his face with the washcloth, she had reached his jaw. And, never breaking eye contact, Gaster cranes his head back, baring his throat. The gesture completely halts whatever Asteri was about to say. She just stares down at him for a moment. At his throat, in this vulnerable state, where she is in complete and total control, where her tail is gripping a washcloth and could wrap around his neck before he would have time to shout. And she’s frozen. She meets his eyes, and immediately looks away because how can he look at her like that, and her jaw clacks shut. Whatever she was going to say died in her throat. She tentatively returns to wiping the blood away. It’s all down his neck, from crying while his mouth was full of blood, and his shirt is spattered with it too. Not to mention soaked with water.

When she looks back up at him, his eyes are closed. He’s starting to fall asleep. She shakes him (gently), worried that he’s dying or something. He wakes up enough to loosely sign that no he’s not dying, or… falling down, whatever that means? Humans take a lot of energy to heal, and she just made him heal really fast, so he’s just tired.

Oh. Well. If he’s going to sleep, then… he shouldn’t be in a wet shirt. Give it to her and she’ll wash the blood off. Gaster raises an eyebrow but unbuttons it— well, he tries, but he can barely stay awake, so Asteri ends up doing it and then peeling it off him. He mumbles something about blood stains and cold water and vinegar. Asteri just throws his shirt in the sink and leaves it for tomorrow. She’s so unfamiliar with how he… works, so she wants to keep an eye on him. Plus he needs a new shirt. So she carries him to her room and sets him on the bed, then roots around for a shirt he can put on. (He could have walked, he mumbles; she throws back that he’d fall over if he tried to stand.) He smiles at her when she pulls a shirt over his head, careful not to let it press on the bad side of his face, and it makes her want to run away.

She just wants to keep an eye on him! He’s in no condition to be left unattended!

He doesn’t argue, but he does thank her.

She spends the evening sitting there staring at him and occasionally trying to heal the scar that’s left. It’s not nearly as bad as the other one, but it’s still there. It’s hard to look at the one on his right side, because she did that to him. After today, all she can see is him lying there bleeding in the snow, hands tied, bawling, begging her. Or him falling to his knees when that bullet hit him, hand flying to his face, and that expression of immediate terror. His attempts to clarify that he was just looking for help. His apologies, even though all he had done was run into her. He was scared.

And she saw it again today. Terror. He… He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, who is she kidding?

The rest of the night is similarly reflective, and the guilt builds up in her like a poison gas.

(At some point the next day she asks him about his tooth. It hasn’t turned to dust yet, so they can probably put it back now that he’s awake. Right? This leads to a whole discussion of “what do you mean “turned to dust?” and Asteri’s subsequent horror after his explanation that human body parts don’t disintegrate when they’re severed/dead. They just. Keep existing. But they’re dead now. She is horrified by his dead tooth just sitting there on her table.

Also, in the morning, after he wakes up and realizes he’s in her room (and they briefly acknowledge that), he ends up seeing a picture of her and her parents on the wall (which is something I have written into ch 10 but it’s not finished yet AUGH) and she solemnly explains what happened to them and why she feels so strongly about humans.)

AND THEN AFTER ALL THAT—

Things don’t change much.

Asteri knows she cares but she doesn’t want to because she’s not supposed to. She knows Gaster’s harmless but if she accepts that then she has to confront her entire opinion of humans. She knows she was wrong to be so mean to him but if she acknowledges that then their dynamic will change and it would be so much easier to just pretend nothing is different, to just let everything be unspoken.

But now that she’s had to think about it, she can’t go back to willful ignorance. There’s no avoiding it, it’s already there. But hell if she isn’t going to try to keep avoiding it anyway. Even though things feel nicer between them, even though sometimes she smiles back at him a little, even though it feels like they could almost be… friends— No. No. She can’t. (And especially not with this poison that’s eating her up.)

He’s somehow more subdued, though. And yet more frayed at the edges. The facts that he hasn’t heard or seen anything of human!Asteri, and there’s seemingly no way to find this universe’s version of him because in this universe, Asteri doesn’t know him, really begin to weigh on him. He’s never finding his Asteri. He’s never getting home. He’s going to be stuck with a someone who’s so like her, who he keeps almost connecting with, but who keeps shutting him down because she’s afraid. The next day after he got hurt, he wanted to go looking for his friend again. Asteri told him no, it would be too dangerous after getting on that guard’s bad side. Waterfall will be swarming now that he’s been reported. Still, within the week, he’s convinced her to take him looking through some caves they haven’t been through yet. And on the way there, wouldn’t you know who they run into: Themselves.

Human!Gaster and normal!Asteri meet normal!Gaster and human!Asteri.

(I was going to have it be ⁂!Gaster and ⁂!Asteri, but the thing is that they aren’t quite the same as they are in the fic (i.e. Asteri knows how to use purple magic on purpose). So they’re just “normal” because they’re still monsters.)

Human!Gaster spots her first and calls out to her. (Normal!Asteri is like ???). In turn, human!Asteri, upon turning and seeing him, lets go of normal!Gaster’s hand and calls out too. They run toward each other, teary-eyed, and hug. There’s a lot of talking over each other. “You’re alive!” and “How are you here?” and “I thought I’d never see you again!” It’s very… tender. Very familiar. Both monster versions are stunned and can’t do much best watch. Normal!Asteri has this pit in her gut, like her heart dropped into her stomach, and she doesn’t know why. Normal!Gaster has a similar feeling, but he knows exactly why: human!Asteri never told him that the friend she had been looking for was him.

It’s extremely chaotic. Normal!Asteri is overwhelmed by the facts that there are two humans, human!Gaster’s friend is alive, his name is actually Gaster (she thought he made that up but she couldn’t think of anything better to call him so she played along) And. The goddamn royal scientist, who she’s pretty sure fought in the war, is walking around with this one human. And they were holding hands?? There’s a lot for everyone to take in. So normal!Gaster (who has put his own internal relationship crisis on hold), says that he and human!Asteri were going to go “camping” (under the “stars”) so maybe they should all sit down at their campsite and work this out.

They do so. Normal!Gaster confirms for normal!Asteri that yes, these really are versions of them from an alternate universe where they’re human. (Normal!Asteri feels like she got hit by a truck but doesn’t have the opportunity to come anywhere near processing that. Human!Asteri is PSYCHED about this and really wants to meet this version of herself, but there’s too much going on to do that right now.) The humans compare how long they’ve been here: Gaster’s four months to Asteri’s “at least nine, maybe closer to a year?” Then start with her side since she’s been here longer. She explains how she found this Gaster pretty quickly, and she’s been staying with him. She also tells, somewhat uneasily, how, upon going over some of the events, this Gaster explained that it was unlikely that her friend (human!Gaster) would have ended up in the same place, or even the same universe. If he was transported at all. Normal!Gaster adds onto this that he also realized there was likely no way to send her back home. Human!Gaster agrees that these are reasonable conclusions. Human!Asteri then, very awkwardly, explains to him that she mourned him; she thought she would never see him again, or that he had died, and she knew she would never get home. And so… since… she’s been here… It’s just, she realized that she was happy here! It— It just came so naturally…!

She’s awkwardly gesturing to normal!Gaster while she talks. Human!Gaster doesn’t get it at first, but then it dawns on him. Oh. “You’re together.”

She nods. Normal!Gaster, who is sitting beside her, adds, “Although you never told me that the friend you wanted to find was me.”

This is super awkward for everyone present, and the two humans have to explain that they were never together. They… well, they might have gotten there, eventually, if they hadn’t gotten separated, but they never actually…

And human!Asteri is frantically trying to smooth it over with normal!Gaster, but he’s not about to have that crisis in full until later. There are things that need to be addressed. (But good lord, the tension and awkwardness between him and human!Asteri could be cut with a knife.) So tells her they can work it out later on, after the other issues have been addressed. (This is the equivalent of “we need to talk later” and she is so anxious she feels like she’s going to throw up.)

Human!Gaster is very supportive, but you can bet he’s dying inside. He can’t quite keep the pain out of his eyes but he’s trying so hard. Asteri is happy. That’s all that matters. Yes, it hurts, but he was never entitled to her affection. Alright, yes, it hurts worse that it’s literally an alternate version of him, but he completely understands why it happened. Outwardly, he’s still smiling as pleasantly as possible (and it looks fine, unless you know him well, like human!Asteri, who is now cringing even harder because she’s managed to upset both Gasters.)

Normal!Asteri is just sitting there taking it all in. She’s at a loss for a number of reasons. How could the Royal Scientist of all people shelter a human!? How is this okay!? Also, alternate universes!?!? What?? She’s… she’s had the human version of the Royal Scientist in her house for almost four months!? And that’s the human version of her!? All of it is real. Every time human!Gaster talked about an alternate universe where they were friends. She thought he was making that up, or that it was some bizarre human joke. But no, she’s actually had the human version of the freaking royal scientist in her house and oh god she beat him up when they first met.

Human!Asteri does indeed ask human!Gaster what the hell happened to his face. Normal!Asteri’s stomach does a triple axle. He just says that he had some trouble, he is very clumsy you know, and laughs it off. Normal!Asteri feels even worse because he’s protecting her and she absolutely doesn’t deserve it, and the worst part is that he’s smiling so genuinely at human!Asteri (who clearly doesn’t believe him but isn’t going to push it right now.)

They all do take some time to talk to their counterparts. Human!Asteri is excited to meet normal!Asteri. It is not mutual, but they work it out. It’s pretty immediately obvious to normal!Asteri once they start talking that her human counterpart really is just like her (if a little less jaded). Once backstory and specifics of character and preferences come up, it’s basically irrefutable. And honestly, normal!Asteri knows, deep down, that there’s no threat. She relaxes somewhat, but she can’t stifle the guilt when she hears this other version of herself talk about human!Gaster so fondly, knowing ‘I hurt him.’

Meanwhile, normal!Gaster kind of understands why human!Gaster is upset (and trying not to be). Human!Gaster understands why normal!Gaster is upset. They talk about it. Human!Gaster tells his counterpart that he and human!Asteri were just friends. It… felt like it might have grown into something else, it felt right at that threshold, but… obviously nothing came of it. He sort of steels himself and takes a deep breath and pats normal!Gaster and tells him that his Asteri is nothing if not loyal. “If she loves you, then it’s not because she loves me,” he tells him. That does help. Normal!Gaster asks if human!Gaster and normal!Asteri have hit it off, then. Human!Gaster wiggles his hand in the air. Sort of? He explains that she’s just afraid, and hurt. He worried at one point that she might really hate him, but he knows now that she doesn’t. She’s just… unsure. But he knows his Asteri, and how she gets mean when she’s scared or hurt, and that’s all it is. She still cares. He knows it. She’ll work through it. Normal!Gaster is understandably concerned about how that sounds, but human!Gaster chuckles and assures him that he’s in no danger, physically or emotionally. It’s not like that.

They all end up staying together (they get another tent) for the night, and then the next day, to clear everything leftover up. Human!Asteri and normal!Gaster have a long talk in private about why she never told him who her “scientist friend” was. He’s upset, and asks if he was just a stand-in for who she thought she lost?. She assures him that no, that is absolutely not the case. The reason she never brought it up was because it hurt to think about human!Gaster, at first, and it was hard to mourn him when someone so similar was right there— it was easier to just fall back into friendship with someone who she already sort of knew, and learn it all over, learn the differences, and… fall in love with them. Alright, yes, at first, she saw only the similarities, but she didn’t see him as a replacement. From the beginning, she saw her friend. Just in a different form. But she didn’t fall for her friend, out there in the other tent. She fell for him, here, in front of her. And she has no intention of leaving.

He appreciates this, and understands the complexities of the situation being a factor. But she’s very reassuring that she loves him.

So they’re all cute and stuff.

Meanwhile in the other tent, human!Gaster has tucked himself all the way into a sleeping bag, facing the tent wall, in an attempt to have some degree of privacy while he has a small breakdown. His Asteri is alive. She’s safe. She’s happy.

Without him.

Yes, but that never mattered, did it? He just wanted her to be okay. This is more than he could have hoped. He should be happy for her. And he is!! But it still hurts. Stars, it hurts so much more than he ever thought. What is left for him? The last several months he’s been focused on finding her, and gaining the trust of this universe’s Asteri, but he never considered what he would do when he found his Asteri. It’s true that it’s unlikely they will ever be able to go home. She wouldn’t want to anyway; she’s happy here. And he doesn’t want to live a life without her in it. He’d stay too, of course he will, even just to see her sometimes.

But that’s not viable either. The guards know him now. If this alternate version of himself has kept Asteri safe this long (and was willing to bring her to Waterfall despite the guards??) then she’ll be okay. But there isn’t much hope for him. This universe’s Asteri that he has been staying with might have grown to tolerate him, but now that she doesn’t have to worry about another human running around, what’s stopping her from turning him in? He wasn’t able to truly befriend her.

He’s broken-hearted and he’s got no hope for the future. He’s not doing so hot.

Meanwhile, also sitting in the same tent, is normal!Asteri, who is just. awkwardly existing there and trying to pretend she can’t hear him sniffle every so often. He probably needs some privacy, but where the heck is she going to sleep then?? In the tent with those two lovebirds?? Absolutely not. Gross. It’s weird enough that they’re just an alternate version of them. (Which has all kinds of implications she isn’t ready to address.) No, she’ll tough it out in here, thanks.

But she does feel bad. She saw the way human!Gaster looked at human!Asteri. She could see the light in his eyes die when human!Asteri told him she was with normal!Gaster. God, that must suck. He’s harmless, he’s heartbroken, he’s trapped here, and the only person he knows has already made a life for herself. She doesn’t really want to comfort him, but the guilt of everything has been eating away at her since earlier this week when they met that guard, and there’s just no escaping it anymore, and god it’s the least she could do.

So she reaches over with her tail and kind of. awkwardly pats where she thinks his shoulder probably is in the sleeping bag. He startles a little, but then rolls over and, head still tucked down inside, sticks his arms up through the head hole and offers her his wrists. It takes her a second, but then she’s like, “What? No! I’m not— I’m not tying your wrists! I’m trying to be nice to you!”

This is met with some confusion, and he pulls his arms back inside, then shuffles around until he can poke his head out, and he has the most pathetic, kicked-puppy-looking brown eyes. She would laugh if she didn’t feel so bad for him. Especially because he looks genuinely confused, and that really throws her off. Before, he’s always looked so confident that she would be kind to him; he always acted like he knew all along she would choose to do something nice. Not in a smug way, he just always acted like he was so assured of her character that he never doubted. But right now, he looks genuinely confused and unsure. And that hurts in a way Asteri doesn’t expect. She didn’t think that she cared about what he thought of her, or whether he trusted her. (Except she knew that wasn’t true from when he bared his throat to her, she just didn’t let herself think about it.)

And so her heart melts when he looks up at her, and she’s suddenly at a loss again. She was going to try to be gruff but encouraging, but he looks so… small.

She drapes her tail over him and turns to face him better. She tells him that hey, it’s… it’s not the end of the world to get your heart broken. That other Asteri definitely still cares about him. He’ll find so—

She has to cut herself off because no, he won’t find someone else. This is the underground, and he’s a human. It hits her, then. That kind of is the end of the world, for him. He’s got no one.

He gets his arms out of the sleeping bag and signs despondently, “There is no one else. And besides that, it is only a matter of time before I am arrested. He has kept her safe, so I am…” There’s a pause, and he blinks away the way his eyes sting. “…A loose end.”

Well. Normal!Asteri is having none of that. They end up having a discussion about the outlook of things, and she tries to cheer him up a little. (The matter of normal!Gaster’s position making it easier for him to protect human!Asteri comes up at one point.) Eventually the conversation forces normal!Asteri to both acknowledge and admit aloud that she has no intention of handing human!Gaster over. He’s… He’s harmless. There’s no reason to let him be killed.

This surprises him, but he is relieved. He admits that he didn’t thinks she cared that much. Or, rather, that she wouldn’t allow herself to. This brings a more serious tone to the conversation. Asteri works up to apologizing. For everything. But especially for how she treated him in the beginning. Gaster keeps trying to explain it away— She is traumatized, he startled her, she was acting out of fear, etc. They go back and forth. Finally she slaps her wings down on the blankets and huffs, “This isn’t about me! You’re the victim!”

He argues, “You were a victim too.”

She goes through a face journey as the guilt and remorse all swirl and come to a head and brings tears burning at her eye sockets. “But that doesn’t give me the right… to hurt someone who was begging for mercy!”

And it’s quiet. He looks down at his hand, then touches the scar over his right eye. “No,” he murmurs. “It doesn’t.”

The silence is heavy.

“I’m sorry… that I hurt you,” she says finally, and it comes trembling from her SOUL. “I was afraid. But that doesn’t make it okay. Right from the get-go, you tried to explain yourself, and I remember you were so…scared. You were hurt, and I didn’t help you. It was like some messed up power trip. And— And I’ve been fighting it for weeks now, months maybe, the obvious truth that you didn’t deserve any of this, that I was so, so wrong. But it felt too painful to accept, except now, I’ve been forced to accept it, and it’s even worse! I could have spared you more pain if I had just been willing to endure some myself. I wish I could undo it so bad, but I can’t. I didn’t want to have to change, I wanted to just let it stay unspoken, so we could just exist like that and I could pretend I didn’t like you so I never had to address why it made me so uncomfortable! But now it’s worse and now we’re both sad! If I had just confronted it, and said I was wrong, maybe I could’ve… We coulda…”

She can’t bring herself to say “maybe we could have been friends.” Instead she swallows to compose herself and then says, “I’ll keep you from the guards. I’m… I’m so sorry. I know none of this fixes anything, but anything I’ve done to you… you can do to me. It’s only fair.”

He doesn’t say anything until she looks up. She can’t read his expression. “Anything?”

She gulps, but nods.

His expression softens a little. “Can I make a request instead?”

She isn’t sure what to expect, but nods again. “Sure.”

The intensity in him looks like he’s trying to hold back a flood with his eyes. His hesitation feels like it might shatter the earth. Finally he relieves her, and when he signs she doesn’t even know how to describe the broken hope in his expression. It’s like staring into a hole and seeing a few shards of stained glass at the bottom. “Can we start over?” His eyes water. “Could you see me as someone you might become friends with, one day?”

It’s everything she realized she wants, and everything she doesn’t deserve, so the question feels like being knocked over by a wave. Like she hadn’t already cried enough while apologizing to him, this brings her to tears all over again. “I don’t deserve that,” she whispers.

“As the one being apologized to, I think that I get to decide that.”

It’s… a joke. Almost. It’s lighthearted. How can he be lighthearted at a time like this?? How can he smile at her when he still looks so sad underneath it? She doesn’t know what to make of it. But she does know that if she’s going to keep him safe from the guards, it would be nice if… if they could, despite everything, be friends. She laughs, just a quiet, disbelieving sound through tears, and nods. “I’d like that a lot better than this,” she admits.

He smiles, and this time it looks real, but then he gets serious again. Hesitant, maybe. “Are you still adverse to being touched?”

“No.” She sniffles and shakes her head. “You can do whatever you want. I don’t—”

His hug knocks the wind out of her. Not because it’s especially forceful— in fact it’s quite gentle— but because it’s unexpected, and desperate.

“G-Good, becaaause I reallyyy n-need oooone of th-these.”

It takes a couple seconds, but she hugs him back. It’s funny, how small he feels. It’s funny how he’s still so much more powerful than her simply by virtue of being human.

It’s funny how much she doesn’t care anymore.

(They talk later about how she can’t replace the person he actually cares about. He tells her that he doesn’t want her to. He just wants to be friends. That’s enough for her.)

The next morning is full of more clarifications. Normal!Asteri, relieved from the cathartic conversation (and sob session) with human!Gaster last night, is more at ease. She watches how human!Asteri and normal!Gaster interact, and it’s so strange, because she can absolutely see that they are the same people as herself and human!Gaster, but they’re so… in love?? Even when they aren’t really doing anything. They aren’t blatant about it, but it’s just so clear in everything they do. It’s like it rolls off of them and seeps into the air. She hasn’t had much chance to speak with normal!Gaster (partly because she was intimidated by the whole “royal scientist” thing), but watching him now, she realizes no, he’s just goofy, it’s fine. But it does make her wonder about human!Gaster. What would he look like, this happy? What would he be like if he had the resources that this Gaster does? It’s strange.

At one point she ends up talking with human!Asteri while they make coffee over the fire. It starts pretty friendly, but human!Asteri almost beats the crap out of normal!Asteri when she finds out that she’s responsible for the scar over human!Gaster’s right eye. Both Gasters have to intervene (possibly with blue magic). Fortunately human!Asteri didn’t actually land a punch, because she was angry enough to have done real damage. Human!Gaster clarifies that they worked it out, she already apologized, and he’s fine, it’s fine, it was when they first met. Human!Asteri is mad that he lied to her about it yesterday, but… she understands. Once it all gets cleared up, she apologizes to normal!Asteri, who, despite having been mortally terrified for a minute there, can’t really hold it against her. She would do the exact same thing for her friends.

So the morning is going great.

The Asteris (Asteries?) actually end up chitchatting again like nothing happened. Meanwhile the Gasters talk science and agree that it’s unlikely that there’s any way back to the other universe. Human!Gaster thanks normal!Gaster for keeping human!Asteri safe, and quietly (so as not to worry the Asteris) expresses his concern about his own safety and shares his experience with the guard. Normal!Gaster tells him that part of why he and human!Asteri came to Waterfall was because of a rumor about a human being spotted. He also tells him that he’s had an idea, but wasn’t sure whether to implement it. However, circumstances as they are, he thinks it would be best. He explains it to human!Gaster, and they agree to share with the Asteris.

Normal!Gaster is quite close to the king. Asgore does not really want to kill anyone. So normal!Gaster will go to him and explain: these two humans have fallen down; they are happy here, and respect monsters; he loves one of them, and the other, her friend, has vital scientific knowledge. They have no desire to leave the underground. When they die, their SOULs will be here to go toward the breaking of the barrier. Killing them now would do no more good. So he asks, both as the Royal Scientist, and as a friend: please let them just live here. Either let the people know, or turn a blind eye, but please, don’t make them fear for their lives. There is ample evidence that they are good people.

He also tells them that, depending on how it goes, he will explain the whole “alternate universe version of myself” thing to Asgore, who will believe him even though he won’t understand.

In explaining this to the others, normal!Gaster also finally explains the situation of the underground, and the strength of human SOULs, to the humans properly. Human!Gaster very much wants to contribute to the underground. He would love to have a job again. They don’t even have to pay him!

So. That’s probably what will happen.

They all stick around for a while longer. Normal!Asteri watches human!Gaster and human!Asteri chatting from across the campsite, and sees how his anxiety dissolves the longer they talk. (Since when has she been able to read him like this…?) They seem to have addressed the lingering issues. Now, it looks like any potential awkwardness about their relationship has evaporated, and they’ve slipped right back into what their friendship used to be. She’s glad. She also takes the opportunity to talk to normal!Gaster; after all, it seems reasonable to assume they could be friends too. (She is, of course, correct, and yet despite everything is still blown away by how well they get along.)

By the end, everyone exchanges contact info, and they agree to meet up again in a few days to talk about how to proceed after normal!Gaster talks to the king. Human!Gaster and human!Asteri gives each other a big hug, and she tells him she’s so glad he’s alive, and safe. And that it’s going to be okay. She won’t let anyone hurt him. He smiles. He knows, he says. It seems she takes care of him in every universe. She kisses him on the cheek, and glances at normal!Asteri. Yeah. It. seems like she does.

Human!Asteri does give normal!Asteri one last “friendly” threat about being good to human!Gaster. Normal!Asteri gives her word.

From there, things only get better. As expected, Asgore calls off the guards. Human!Gaster gets a “job” working with normal!Gaster. The Asteris collaborate on linguistic studies. Normal!Asteri eventually introduces human!Asteri to Sembie and Kelinn.

Normal!Asteri and human!Gaster are friends. It takes effort, but she genuinely wants to make up for everything. And he’s a forgiving person (plus, he already knew her, to some extent.) There’s a lot of trauma to unpack, and they both have things to work through, but it steadily gets better. And yeah, as you would expect, they eventually end up together. It’s cute.

I’m ignoring lifespans and other angsty things. Maybe being immersed in ambient magic and eating magic food extends human lifespans some. Maybe humans live longer in the universe human!Gaster and human!Asteri are from. Don’t think about it too hard. They all just get up to shenanigans together forever. But this is the gist of the AU and how it goes down in my head. Sorry it’s so freaking lONG. There’s lots more that happens tbh. But this was the foundation. The possibilities for shenanigans are endless now. There is a lot more to human!Asteri x normal!Gaster btw, but I haven’t had the brainworms for their side of this like I have for normal!Asteri x human!Gaster.

Also I know I said earlier that there were two versions but honestly I kind of mixed them together and I think I like this better. I don’t touch as much on the psychology of “hurt people hurt people” or normal!Asteri’s choices in the beginning of her interactions with human!Gaster, but believe me I’ve explored them. Similarly, human!Gaster’s resulting trauma from encounters and bullets and facial injury. I’ve also explored that but this is so long already and all I really meant to do was give the gist of this AU but instead I wrote a wHOLE FREAKING THING. I had to keep pulling myself out of “real writing mode”. Ughhh. Maybe now that this is out of my brain I can work on THE ACTUAL FIC. (I have so much of ch 10 written I just can’t get it all together.)

Also uhhh please remember that this is mostly me exploring regret and redemption and reparations and how somebody might fix stuff with a person that they’ve hurt. Except extremely fictional because alternate universes and the person hurt has a deep understanding of the one who hurt them and all that. Obviously none of that was okay, that’s the point: trying to do better after realizing you’ve been awful. And addressing that rather than let the surface vibes of a relationship ease your conscience so you can keep ignoring your guilt. Tbh I did not do Asteri’s apology and that whole conversation justice to how it went in my head but it… was very comprehensive, and there was more to it, on both sides of the conversation.

ANYWAY UHH yeah so things. Only get better. Because this is made up and I get to give it a happy resolution regardless of whether it’s realistic. Maybe I’m overly worried about it, but I just. Don’t want to give the wrong impression here. In this AU, Normal!Asteri is a good person, who made bad choices, that were fueled by trauma and fear, and that doesn’t make them okay, she’s absolutely still responsible for her choices, and it absolutely would have been within human!Gaster’s right to not want to be friends. But he did. Because he knew her better than she knew him (alternate universe friendship), plus he’s very forgiving to begin with. His decision isn’t meant to come across as a moral precedent, that’s just his character. Look just please give this the best faith interpretation ok im working through some stuff and it’s coming out in my story ideas.

Normal!Asteri and human!Gaster end up being so freaking cute okay. She is. So good to him. So soft. Very “wait is this okay? Wait is THIS okay?” I will probably touch more on their relationship later in a different post bUT THE POINT OF THIS IS THAT NOW THERE’S CONTEXT FOR MY RANDOM DOODLES

#seeker talks #seeker writes #?? #⁂ au #dingsaster #double dingsaster au #⁂ gaster #seeker oc #asteri #human asteri #human ⁂ gaster #no i STILL don’t know what human gaster’s first name is #im working on it #i love making men cry can you tell #…IN FICTION #Windy

[ofsappho]

Okay, so, Sandman hc request:

In the comics, we see Morpheus interact with Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and even Japanese god/s. What other pantheon/tradition do you imagine him dealing with? Which gods/characters in particular? And/or how do you see him fitting into other cultures' pantheons? Based on previous discussions, I'm thinking particularly Filipino or Chinese traditions, but please pick whatever culture/pantheon you like!

OH YEAH THIS IS UP MY ALLEY

(Note: I am not well read on every mythology I mention - I am mentioning some that I don’t know as a way to open up a conversation in the fandom on how we can view Dream (and all of the Endless) in less Eurocentric ways. If I get anything wrong, I can accept it, as long as we can keep expanding all the ways the Endless can be and all the people they can represent ❤️)

Something I always felt was lacking in Sandman was like. I mean this is beef I have with classical studies/classical mythology in general. The ancient world was SO CONNECTED and to view only the Greek/Roman/Egyptian people as connected is a deeply unfortunate retcon

I mean. Lmao treehouse spoilers I guess??? But not really.

I definitely think Morpheus has interacted with Chinese gods, Hindu gods, Sumerian gods, Aztec gods/gods of the Mexica, among others

I also (and this wasn’t included in the scope of your ask but imma do it anyway) firmly believe he has been involved in a variety of urban legends/copypasta, even when he was in the bubble

So going off of his association with Apollo, one of the foremost Greek gods, god of the sun/healing/arts, I think one name Dream could have been known to the Mexica is that of Piltzintecuhtli

Piltzintecuhtli is (according to the internet) the god of the rising sun, healing, visions, medicine plants (like hallucinatory mushrooms). He can be called the Youthful God.

So this is something I’m going to have in treehouse I just decided it but… I believe that to the Chinese people, Dream has appeared in the shape of a blue dragon.

According to legend, we were taught calligraphy by a dragon horse who appeared to Fuxi, a great hero and progenitor of Chinese culture

And dragons in Chinese culture aren’t just beasts. Dragons are gods, they’re spirits of great intelligence, culture, rain, good luck, victory, power, they were the arbiters of the Mandate of Heaven (which granted emperors of old the right to rule)

So I believe Dream would have come to us as a dragon god, one who might have influenced the development of calligraphy, and I will be making him a dragon at least once in treehouse

Lastly, I HC Morpheus as being responsible for The Backrooms™️ creepypasta

“If you're not careful and you noclip[a] out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in

God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you”

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ASK FRIEND I LOVE YOUUU

#the sandman #sandman #dream of the endless #sandman comics #the sandman comics #sandman tv show #the sandman tv show #lord morpheus #Morpheus #headcanons #1k headcanon game

[being-worthy]

Saturday Home Cinema: Damsel (2024)

I haven’t done one of these, but I saw Damsel today on Saturday night (well, it’s already Sunday when I'm writing this 😂) and the movie surprised me tremendously!

When I watched the trailer before the movie, it already told me that certain scenarios if not most would be predictable, but I loved the end!

But before we get to it… it is OFFICIAL! Movie directors have run out of ideas and don’t know what to make a movie about anymore as all their imagination is gone, completely and utterly GONE!! I’m watching trailers of upcoming films and series and just found out that they’re making a series of Fallout and a movie of Borderlands… 🤦‍♀️

Play the video games. They are much much better and offer hours of countless entertainment and have so many funny scenes, but I guess the money is sitting heavily in their pockets and they need to waste it. Ever thought of donating it to charity? No? Ok.

Back to Damsel. Spoilers alert below the cut!!

As mentioned before, most of it was predictable from the start. A northern kingdom struggling, with barely any food for the people, no gold in the treasury, and so on. This stuck-up lady, dressed like a cult member from a prosperous and flourishing faraway kingdom comes to them with an arrangement – all the gold they need in exchange for the eldest daughter of the northern king.

The daughter, Elodie, marries the prince of the rich kingdom, Henry (I believe his name was), and they celebrate a very pompous wedding and even make a blood pact to “honour” the ancestors of the prince; this is where they throw her into a deep pit which leads to the dragon’s lair. Here I have to say, girl, whenever there’s a blood exchange it’s never for something good, but plot gotta plot.

Basically, the former king of the luxurious kingdom slaughtered the three children of the dragon for no apparent reason, apart from your typical men’s greed. They were the last of her kin, and as the tale goes; a debt of blood can only be paid back in blood. So, the dragon demands three daughters of the king as revenge, but jokes on her because they deceive her by marrying off the male offspring to foreign women, who were not always royalty but held a high status in their country, but by combining their blog with the prince’s they become part of the family.

Well, up until here the movie was scene by scene foreseeable, but the best part is when the dragon is told the truth and saved by Elodie (with the help of some luminescent, but kind of cute worms with healing properties), and then, they get their oh so sweet revenge on those pretentious asses. 😎

In the end, Elodie and her family go back home with a new friend in tow!! I rooted at the end so darn hard because finally!!! Finally, the dragon is not the bad guy and doesn’t die either, instead she flies into the sunrise!!! 🥰

#saturday home cinema #damsel #honest review #film night #movie review

[idk6123]

Family Break (Mauvier X Male Reader)

They feel forever since they managed to get a break. Not just a regular break, a big one. With the constant war going on, it felt like they never going to take a break. But with the end of Sombron, everything seems to end up peaceful, with no sign of war or conflict anything soon.

With the recent success, Veyle was the first one to celebrate. Not just with all of her friends and allies, but with just with her closest friends. So with excitement, she went to Mauvier and his husband, Y/N to invite them to a day to the beach. They agreed, but they weren’t the only ones to get invited. Alear and Marni did as well, but since the divine dragon was too busy with their current duties, they declined. Still, Marni luckily accepted.

So with a bright, sunny day, the four people who left the fell dragon’s army arrived at the beach at the desert land known as Solm. In their swimming gear and both grown men carrying everything they need for today; the group are ready for a fun day. They managed to find a good spot, where’s not too busy, but there are still enjoying the tropical weather.

“Wow! Just look at it!” Veyle looks beyond excitement when she spots the sea. “I can’t wait to get in.”

“I don’t see why you couldn’t.” Marni looks back at Mauvier and Y/N with a smirk. “Any chance you enjoy unpacking our stuff?”

“What? No, we can’t do that!” Veyle responds.

“It’s alright. If you want to swim right now, go ahead Lady Veyle.” Mauvier reassures. “Let Y/N and I set up our belongings.”

“Are you sure?” Veyle asks, not wanting her friends to be left out.

“Yes.” Y/N responds. “It’s only take a couple minutes. Compared what we’ve been through, it’s nothing.”

Veyle still looks unsure. This time, it’s Marni that tries to convince her. “C’mon Lady Veyle. They’re up to this. We can swim together later if you really want to.”

“I guess that’s true.” A smile creeps on the fell child’s face. “Alright, let’s go.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Marni looks quiet excited. “Reach ya there!” Without a warning, the armor knight runs towards the ocean.

Veyle looks a bit startled. “What!? Hey, wait for me!” Soon enough, she runs after he friend.

Mauvier and Y/N both smile at the scene as the two girls begin to have a water fight at the beach.

“Never would I imagine they would be friends, but I’m glad they are.” Y/N comments.

“Both of them changed a lot when I first met them.” Mauvier adds. “I suppose the same could be said of us.”

Y/N smiles at his husband. “I agree. Honestly, I was scared when we betrayed the Hounds. And I wished Griss survived. Even part of me wished Zephia did so too. But I’m happy we did.”

Mauvier smiles back. “I wish we could talk more, but we shouldn’t postpone our duties.”

“Right! Let’s unpack!”

The two begin to unpack the bags they brought. Beach blankets, folding chairs, food and cold drinks. Even a parasol, which they putted on. They also have some extra items they brought, such as extra swimsuits, a beach ball and sunscreen.

After packing, Mauvier offered Y/N sunscreen. So he sits behind him to put the lotion on his back. “Ugh, I can feel my skin burning already.”

“At least we’re under a parasol.”

“I feel like that isn’t enough.” Y/N let out a groan. “Maybe we should’ve gone to Fyrene instead?”

Mauvier smiles. “Don’t worry. I putted enough on you, so don’t worry about burn wounds. Speaking of which…” Mauvier stands up and takes a couple of steps forward. “Lady Veyle! Marni! You need to put some sunscreen!”

Veyle and Marni snaps their heads back at them. “We’re coming!” Veyle yells.

Both girls quickly run out of the water to get back at their friends. Once arrived, Veyle and Marni put on the sunscreen. After they’re done, Y/N put on some on the remaining parts of his body. Afterwards, he helps his husband by putting in on his back, returning the favor.

“God, why is it so hot here?” Marni soon complains. “How could anyone live here?”

“I can.” Veyle says with a chirpy voice. “It would be so fun living at the beach. I can just go swimming anything I want. But I suppose that’s true with the Somniel.”

“I hope you’re kidding. That just sounds of everyday sunstrokes.” Although sounding negative, Marni seems to enjoy the small banter. “Speaking of which, I could use some ice cream. Mauvier.”

“You can’t just order him around.” Veyle puts her foot down before Mauvier even had a chance to.

“Why not? I’m sure he’s fine with it.”

“While that is true, I prefer if you could ask it kindlier.” Mauvier says.

“Yeah, yeah.” Marni merely ignores his request. “I’m sure the rest want some too. I heard there are some spicy ones.”

This intrigues Veyle instantly. “There are?”

“Yes. Heard they put some kind of Solmic pepper in it.” Marni explains.

Y/N raises his eyebrow. “Shouldn’t be the first place of ice cream to cool you off? Not making it spicier?”

“I dunno. But it exists. So Veyle, do you want it?”

Veyle looks somewhat guilty, which Mauvier noticed. “No need to be distressed. If you want it, I get it for you.”

“Are you sure?” Veyle asks worriedly.

“I’m sure.” Mauvier smiles. He looks back at Y/N. “I get some of you too.” He stands up.

“You’re a sweetheart.” Y/N complements him.

After a peck on the lips, Mauvier stands up and begin walking around for a stall. About a minute later, after getting pass multiple beach enjoyers, he found a stall, with a man standing behind it.

“Welcome! Anything you want to order?”

“Yes. I want to order some ice creams. Let’s see… one vanilla ice cream cone. One with chocolate and strawberry. And I heard there is one that is spicy…”

“Ah yes, the Hot and Cold Solmic Delicacy. Funny, isn’t it? Never would I thought someone would order these, but it certainly captured an audience.” The man behind the stand comments. “Anyhow, four ice creams, coming up.”

Mauvier can’t help but look back at the sea. To his surprise, he can’t see Y/N, Veyle and Marni from where he’s standing. In the background, the shop keeper is making the ice cream. He notices Mauvier where is looking at.

“Got a fun day?”

“Oh, yes.” Mauvier looks back. “It’s been a while when we could relax.”

“Gotcha. I feel the same. Ever since the Fell Dragon is gone, I sensed everyone else feeling the same way. Speaking of which, I should do something with my family too. It’s been a while since I gone out with my wife and kids.”

“Family…?” Mauvier doesn’t get at first what he meant, until he realizes that he thinks Veyle and Marni are his and Y/N’s children.

“And it’s done. Because you’re with your family, I charge you less. 15 gold please.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you very much.” Mauvier hands over the coins to him

The store clerk hands over the ice cream cone, as well some tissues. “Have a great day, sir.”

“Thank you. You too.”

While Mauvier walks back to the group, he keeps pondering about what the shop keeper said. Y/N is his husband, so it would make sense that they would be family. But Veyle and Marni? Sure, he cares about them a lot. But to the point that they’re family? That he isn’t sure about. He doesn’t disagree with the statement, but merely wondering about it. They were some kind of family back when they were the hounds, but that was different.

Mauvier arrives back with the four ice creams that starts to melt. With a wide smile, Marni is quick to snatch the chocolate one. “Thanks Mauvier!”

Mauvier hands over the spicy one to Veyle. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Mauvier sits down next to Y/N again. “Which one do you want?”

“Uhh… Vanila, just because it’s a classic.”

And so, the four enjoys their cold beverage, all the while chatting like normal people and looking at the beautiful sea. It feels like minutes pass. Everybody ate their ice cream and chatted for minutes to no end.

“I want to go swimming again. Veyle, Mauvier, Y/N, you’re up to it?”

“Always.” Veyle says with a smile. She and Marni stand up. Both of them look back at the couple. “You’re coming?”

“In a minute. There is something I want to discuss with Y/N.” Mauvier replies.

Marni pffts. “Really? You’re on the beach and you’re still stuck upped with your duties? Well, whatever. At least we’re having fun.” With wide smiles, the two sprints back to the sea.

Y/N looks back at his husband, who look deep in thought. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, everything is alright. I’m just lost in thought.”

“All alone?”

Mauvier chuckles. “Just hearing you adding that, I can tell you spend enough time with emblem Corrin.”

“True.” Y/N chuckles. “But enough joking. What’s up?”

“Well, when I was getting ice cream, the store venter mistook us as a family. As in two fathers and their children. And I can’t stop thinking about it. We were some kind of a family back when we were the hounds. But… I don’t know. I view you as family, and I care a great deal for Veyle and Marni, but I’m not sure I would call them a family.”

“So that’s what you’re thinking about.” Y/N comments. “If you want to know my opinion, I view us as some kind of… friend group, I guess? I mean, obviously I view you as my husband. But lady Veyle and Marni are more like little sisters to me rather than children.”

Mauvier let out a quiet hum. “I guess I view them sooner as siblings rather than children as well. Though… I do like the sound of a family.”

“Oh, but we’re a family. We’ve been through so much, it’s not hard to think differently of each other.”

“I meant; I like the idea of having a family. You, me, a son or daughter. Or even multiple children.” Mauvier then realizes the current situation and quickly backs down. “My apologies. I shouldn’t talk something like that when we’re having a trip.”

“No! It’s alright.” Y/N reassures. “I… think it’s a good idea to think about the future, now that we defeated the Fell Dragon.”

“You do?” Mauvier can’t help but smile.

“Yes. Maybe we should think about a place to settle down? With our efforts with the war, I doubt we can’t afford a nice place. Maybe somewhere in Fyrene, or Brodia?”

“That sounds nice. Of course, I want to live near Lady Veyle to continue my duties. But besides that, I’m open to live anywhere.” Mauvier comments.

“Sounds good to me.” Y/N nods. “Once we get a house, that’s when we get children. Since making them is out of the question, as much I love to try.” Mauvier chuckles. “Maybe we should adopt one?”

“That sounds wonderful. I know the experience of being an orphan, as does Marni. And we ended up on a path that most people disagree on, even when we stepped off it. I want to prevent that to happen to any child, with you by my side.”

#Fire Emblem #Fire Emblem Engage #FE17 #Mauvier #Fire Emblem X male reader #Mauvier X Male reader

[becauseimanicequeen]

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Big Dragon ep. 4 (rewatch)

(These are my random thoughts from my rewatch on the 29th-30th of March 2024)

Since my rewatches may contain spoilers, I’m putting my random thoughts after the “Read More” link.

After the previous episode where Mangkorn and Yai seemed to start getting interested in each other, and then ending with the whole arranged engagement for Mangkorn, I’m expecting some extra drama in this episode.

I would’ve walked out too. These dads are so fucking clueless it’s not even funny.

Like I said in the post on the previous episode, I had forgotten about this whole arranged engagement thing. However, now that Mangkorn and Hong are talking about their past, I vaguely remember them playing with kites. But, wasn’t there another boy playing with them at one point? And didn’t it turn out that that boy was Yai? And that boy dropped something, like a bracelet or something, which was his mother’s (or something his mother had made for him), right?

Yes, give me more Pong and Park moments!

The fact that Yai almost rejects the invitation he got from the girl he likes (Arjo) because of the hope he has that Mangkorn will get back to him at some point is telling of his new feelings for Mangkorn and how much that ”date” night after the pool party impacted him.

Ooh, the tension in the air as Yai and Mangkorn meet again. I love it!

I was just sitting here laughing at Yai and Mangkorn being sulky and how they cleared up the misunderstandings (except for the misunderstanding about Hong, though) only to have Mangkorn honking his horn and scaring the shit out of me. I jumped just as high as Yai.

The way they’re looking at each other at that skatepark…

It’s funny how that went from Mangkorn saying he wants to be friends to him kissing Yai within seconds. I mean, sure, you can definitely kiss your homies. But, Mangkorn’s desire for more is leaking out into what he does while his words say something different. The mixed signals would make anyone confused. And Yai certainly is. Not to mention that Yai still believes Mangkorn is dating Hong (since Mangkorn hasn’t cleared that up, yet).

Yai masturbating to a photo of Mangkorn (and imagining it’s Mangkorn’s hand touching him)... He’s got it bad for Mangkorn, doesn’t he? Considering he’s been into gals before but is starting to catch feelings for a guy (and I think Mangkorn is the first guy he’s been interested in, right?), no wonder he’s confused. Add to that the mixed signals he’s getting from Mangkorn.

I know they will (kind of?) clear it up. I remember that confrontation scene in the rain that leads to them going to Mangkorn’s house and having sex again. I just don’t remember when that happens in the series. But I’m guessing it might be a while still, since (if I remember correctly) Big’s character will come back into Yai’s life and show his interest in Yai. That happens first, right?

The innuendos in my head when Mangkorn was sucking that straw… And right after Yai’s masturbation scene, too. That was well-planned. Thank you, team Big Dragon.

Wait, now I think I remember that Big’s character shows up at Arjo’s party, right? So, I expect he’s going to show up pretty soon.

Oh, it’s already Friday and party time.

Ooh, ominous music when Mangkorn and then that girl (called Cherry out of all the names in the world) showed up.

A total side tangent: I don’t like cherries. A cherry almost killed me once as a kid. So I have a personal beef with cherries. That’s why I know, for a fact, that this Cherry shows up to be part of the drama between Yai and Mangkorn that’s coming. Am I being delulu for basing this on my personal beef with cherries? We’ll see. WE’LL SEE. (Besides, I remember that she’s trying to hook up with Mangkorn in that confrontation scene between him and Yai, so I know I’m right.)

And here we have Big’s character! I feel sorry for him already since I know he’s going to get his heart broken. Doesn’t all his characters, all the fucking time, get their hearts broken? (Poor guy is finally getting a lead role, though, so there’s a 99% possibility of a happy ending for him at least once.)

Oh, his name is Nine. Thank you.

What got Mangkorn pissy? I can’t remember. It wasn’t just him hearing that Yai would come to Arjo’s party, was it? Well, he could’ve gotten jealous about that since he knows Yai likes Arjo. That could explain his stare in the elevator’s direction after Yai went into it before…

And here’s the scene! The confrontation! But it was cut short…

And then we got a moment between Pong and Park at the end. At least that made me smile. And the pinkish neon light in their room was pretty.

I can’t wait to see more of the confrontation between Yai and Mangkorn, which I'm sure the next episode will start with. And I can’t wait to see the development between dumb and dumber, er, I mean Pong and Park.

#big dragon #big dragon the series #thai ql #thai bl #thai series #my shit #iq random thoughts

[space-cowboy-101]

✈️ Our resident alcoholic pilot dad trying to survive the nuclear apocalypse ✨

-for the new people seeing this, this is a part of my fallout au that’s currently written and i’ve posted seonghwa and hongjoong’s pictures already-

so. yunho. 🥸 shit kinda went down for him ngl. he got shot, thought he was dying, only to get picked up and nursed back to health and finds out there’s a good chance he’ll never see his family again. clearly hongjoong got the better end of the stick 😭

i don’t want to spoil too much about his side of the story (mainly because i’m still fleshing it out and working on it) but it’s quite obvious that he DOES end up joining the brotherhood of steel. but to be honest with y’all, i have no idea what the fuck they’re on about over yonder in their parts 💀 i’ve got hours in the fallout games but hell if i know about the bos aside from them being a little kooky.

the brotherhood was started by a soldier and with yunho’s background as an air force pilot, it only makes sense, right? (i just want to write him flying again, but most importantly, flying a vertibird)

which means i’ll probably veer a little off script and write the brotherhood as best as i can based off what i know of them. idk, it’ll go how it goes i guess 😅

but once again, i’m here to preach about the little fucking vault boy pictures 😭 LOOK AT HIM HUGGING THE BOTTLES! the best part of making them is finding those damn things i swear.

while thinking of yunho’s story and his time with the brotherhood, i can just imagine him meeting a tech/engineer guy!mingi who’s trying to tell yunho that the bos is actually shit and them becoming friends—yunho teaching mingi to fly? bruh. love it.

like in my head, hongjoong’s out in the wastelands scavenging for the vault and he hears a plane or something and sees a vertibird in the air and goes back to tell them about this craft he seen. then he finds out about the brotherhood and shit and when he runs into it again, it’s closer and he actually sees yunho in that cockpit and is like 😶 my man? the father of my son? loml?

ugh the drama in this is gonna be MESSY, especially when yunho comes into play later, but it’ll solve itself 😏 for the kids, of course.

honestly i recently got new vegas and i lowkey kind of want to write a story in vegas? like all the cliches; casinos, gambling, mafia, gangs, you know? i actually started a csi ateez story but it got changed from las vegas to miami because of an episode that i liked and now i‘m kicking myself for that 😭 oh well, i can always write a fallout new vegas au i guess.

anyways, if you haven’t already, feel free to check out my ateez dragon age au if you think this is interesting 🥹 it’s mainly seongjoong but yungi will be in it (and a spin-off of them will later be posted because that’s what spawned this damn beast of a story 😩) and eventually other relationships will come into play.

thanks for taking the time to read this if you made it this far and happy scrolling if you found this in a tag or something ❤️

#ateez fanfic #seongjoong #ateez #hohong #jeong yunho #kim hongjoong #park seonghwa x kim hongjoong #park seonghwa #seongjoongho or whatever their ship name is 💀 #alternate universe #fallout au #ateez aesthetic #ateez fic

[mannatea]

Starting a new “thread” of these because the other is getting way too fucking long. You can read it here if you’re just finding this one. Starting at Ep242 “Learn to Fuse!/Gohan Revived—Kaoshin’s Secret Weapon!?”

I just have to admit that the sub voice for Boo is literally the most terrifying shit imaginable, like…the dub made him giggly and cutesy…which is also creepy but not nearly to the degree the sub Boo is. He’s honestly just horrifying lmfao.

Imagine being unfortunate enough to look even remotely like Trunks or Goten right now lmao.

“Everything can be brought back with the dragonballs.” Except Gohan and Vegeta I guess, because you guys just ignore them. What am I missing here. I mean, I get why they'd accept Vegeta's death but GOHAN? Am I insane.

I love how the first thing Gohan does upon waking us is accept that he’s dead and look for a halo LOL. I love him so much 😭

Sorry, Goten is the funniest character. When Trunks tells him it’s bad manners to talk at the table and not eat politely he just starts sippin his soup and ignoring everything to "be polite". What a fucking masterpiece.

Goku telling the boys to stop crying because there’s not time for it lmfao. Goku I am going to flick you back into the Other World with my middle finger, jfc man. Sorry they wouldn’t give a shit if you died, but they do care about Vegeta and Gohan lmao.

But also why is this continuing to be such a big deal when THE DRAGON BALLS SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT GOHAN BACK ANYWAY. They should be looking for him right now. And Shin too actually… wtf.

Goku doesn’t even give them a hug or any comfort or anything. I mean I know Goku’s like…a dummy but mannnnnnn they’re little kids. “You two, stop your endless sobbing!” My brother in christ I will kill you again myself. This is probably like 50% of the reason Gohan ended up so traumatized lol.

Honestly more people should feel badly for ChiChi, since they imagine she lost her son and husband now.

Poor Videl honestly. Imagine having to deal with all these weird people. They’re just like. Heard it from a friend whoooo heard it from a friendddd whoooo heard it from another that Gohan is deaaaadddddd. 🎵 No wonder she’s like WTfing all over the place. Nobody’s explained this ki shit to her to an extent where she would understand they literally can’t sense his lifeforce anymore so it has to sound absolutely bonkers that they’re just all believing it without even one shred of proof.

Krillin just giving her the most “oh, honey ☹” look that I’ve ever seen in my life HAHAH.

YOU GUYS LITERALLY WISHED EVERYONE BACK WHO DIED TODAY IS THIS A PLOT HOLE THAT EVERYONE IS SO STUPID OR WHAT. Like Vegeta not coming back makes sense: he’s definitely falling into the “bad guys” list of people not to bring back. BUT GOHAN? NO WAY LOL. I feel insane.

“I absolutely won’t believe such a thing!” Honestly Videl, you’re correct here…even though it’s weird for you to be that confident after you just saw what Boo is capable of and haven’t ever seen Gohan truly fight anyone lol. BUT ASLO AGAIN WHY ARE YOU NOT ASKING ABOUT THE DRAGONBALLS YOU JUST SAW THEM WISH EVERYONE BACK TO LIFE LMAO. WHY AREN'T YOU QUESTIONING THAT SPECIFICALLY.

I mean this is obviously a plot hole/something nobody thought through.

If the wish had been made much earlier (i.e., Bulma and Co. left to make the wish before Gohan had “died”) it would make sense that people were sad about him being dead—because he really would be dead. It doesn’t explain why nobody’s just like “eh, we’ll bring him back in four months” but at least in every other regard this would make a lot more sense.

They could have played around with the idea of Gohan being unable to come back thinking the manner in which he died might have been particularly horrific…or even that Gohan chose not to return, but all we have is this silly plot hole.

(I’m rolling my eyes because it makes all these characters just seem so incredibly stupid and NONE of them are that dumb.)

Something something everyone is like actively grieving and I’m not surprised more people don’t try to think of, say, Videl’s feelings, but man oh man with that plot hole staring me in the face it’s hard to take seriously.

ALSO ALSO they don’t HAVE four months to wait to revive Gohan anyway, so I’m sorta surprised nobody’s says that…or even just, “honey in five days we’re all going to join Gohan anyway soooo.”

I googled this shit because it was driving me insane, only to find a Reddit thread that pretty much told me that DBZ fans don’t possess even one grain of media literacy whatsoever. Fellas it’s called a plot hole; sometimes authors make mistakes just admit it and move on. LOL

Mr. Satan still not concerned about his daughter at all.

Krillin is actually the best, I love him so much.

SSJ3? Hideous. But that’s the price you pay for power.

Goku should just instant transmission himself and Buu to the sun. It'd save me a lot of time.

#dbz

[xx-lemon-drop-xx]

HAI!! Are you still doing matchups?? Could i request one for me! For Twisted wonderland!!

My name is Miya!

I go by she/her pronouns and I’m a girl!

I really enjoy things like art and photography! I love going out on drives to the country and just sit and look at the scenery! Makes me feel so happy! I also love driving at night! And again just sitting watching the stars! They’re so beautiful ^^ there aren’t many things I don’t like but, I guess being spoken too on a night out by drunk people, sometimes they’re ok but a lot of the time they are very touchy and annoying- and I’m only really physically affectionate with my friends!

I really like someone who tries their hardest at everything, even if they aren’t good at it! And just like- people who you can just sit with and not talk, like in a comfortable silence! It’s moments like that I really appreciate!

I don’t like people who are selfish when it comes to relationships, who use you for their advantage- and people who only focus on themselves while in a relationship, and never stop to think about what their partner wants, Yknow?

I love all twst characters! But Lila, Epel, ace, malleus, riddle, Leona and deuce are definitely my favorites! I used to not be a huge fan or Vil or Rook but I love them just as much now!!

Thank you!

-Miya ^^

Hello Miya! I think you'll like your matchup.

Dignified, mature, and highly feared, Malleus isn't all he seems to be at first glance. Behind a rocky exterior lies a heart of gold yearning for some type of attention that's not on a fear based reaction. As the next heir to the thrown he is highly respected though wants someone to understand him as more than just being royalty.

Malleus was immediately drawn to you by your love of scenery and the stars. As someone who mainly wanders at night I'd imagine you both met each other on a cloudless night where the stars twinkled down at you from above.

He may not understand photography but he is more than willing to learn, Malleus is always open to exploring I to new things, even if he doesn't get the hang of it at first. He is a rather quiet antisocial person so you both can definitely enjoy sitting together in a peaceful silence. Malleus is happy as long as he's spending quality time with you.

"So a camera is a device that captures moments by clicking? How fascinating.."

Though his guards may get in the way sometimes and he may be a little jealous seeing as he is a Dragon Fae, he will always be there for you, taking in everything about you and memorizing what makes you smile, or what makes you sad. Malleus' favorite thing about you is just you. I don't think he prefers anything more than just being at your side.

Character matchups can be found here

#twisted wonderland #malleus draconia #twist malleus #twisted wonderland malleus #character matchups

[nerdyenby]

Last Life playlist

Explaining my song choices for the Last Life segment of my Traffic Series playlist

Lost in the Wild by WALK THE MOON: Something about the forest setting and the rampant paranoia and destruction of this season feeds into the vibe of this song so well. “Don’t look over your shoulders, let’s get lost in the wild.”

Sharks by Imagine Dragons: The constant fear of the bogeyman and the distrust it sows is so deeply embedded in this season. “Better put your head on swivels, dancing with the very devil[…] He’s coming to get you.”

I Know Places by Taylor Swift: The threat of the bogeyman curse hangs over everyone’s head, making all alliances tentative. “See the vultures circling dark clouds, love’s a fragile little flame it could burn out.” But as the bogeyman frantically whittles at the number of people on green, Scott and especially Pearl become key targets. “They’ll be chasing their tails trying to track us down ‘cause I know places we won’t be found. They are the hunters, we are the foxes, and we run.”

Honest by Tessa Violet: Scott getting hit by the bogeyman curse. “I try and hide from what’s inside you, you can run but you can’t hide[…] Guess I’m not doing well, I’m not doing well.”

Sirens by Imagine Dragons: The curse at work in its bogeyman’s mind, Scott tries to resist it but it persists. “Boy with a heart of gold, get run over by heaven knows what. Weary soldier, I get older, life gets colder. Sometimes I get a little bit scared at night. I get a little preoccupied — the sirens in my mind, the sirens in my mind. I just wanna be good again, I wanna make it to the end. The sirens in my mind […] drowning me out.”

Fallin’ by Cemetery Sun: Scott giving in to the curse and killing Impulse (by pushing him off a ledge, no less). “When war breaks out inside my head something has to give. Something has to give ‘cause I’m fallin’.”

Monster by Imagine Dragons: Scott getting the curse again. “I never said that I want this, this burden came to me and has made its home inside.” Him telling his allies that he’s the bogeyman and deciding to let it take him instead. “If I told you what I was would you turn your back on me? And if I seemed dangerous would you be scared? […] I’m taking a stand to escape what’s inside me: a monster, a monster, I’ve turned into a monster[…] and it keeps getting stronger.”

Tip Toes by half•alive: Scott wrestling with the curse, fighting and resisting it. “Will I always know this divide, living most of this war inside? Take this ghost of me with the tide to die and release my heart to come alive. […] Leaving my heart behind — it’s bleeding — but still my pride is screaming: my future will listen to me, listen to me, listen to me!!”

Bleeding Out by Imagine Dragons: Scott preferring to die to the curse than let it turn him against Pearl. “I’m bleeding out ‘cause the last thing that I’ll do is bring you down. I’ll bleed out for you.”

Ok ok? by half•alive: Scott letting the curse kill him, assuring his friends and allies he’ll be alright. “Far too great a toll it’s played on me, the animal of destiny. I have seen it from afar, seen it’s teeth and felt its claws, felt it ripping me apart to find my place among the stars. It’s ok. (Is it ok?).”

10x Stronger by Dominic Fike: Scott putting on a strong front, fighting wars both internal and external. “I pretend I’m ten times stronger for you.”

You & I by Gentle Bones: Pearl seeing the toll being the bogeyman has taken on Scott. “You make it look so easy when you’re hardly alright. You smile when you don’t need to, but you’re crying at night.” Their reunion when they’re both red. “Who am I to say it’s okay? Let us try to make it through the day. I told you I’m sorry when you were scared, reaching out a hand for you to hold. Lean on my shoulder until it’s all over even though we know you don’t need to.” Splitting up in the final fight, Pearl’s death pushing Scott to fight to win. “It’s okay to say that you don’t have the fight, but if you don’t mind, just leave me to try for you and I. It’s you and I.”

The Archer by Taylor Swift: “I’m ready for combat. I said I don’t want that, but what if I do?” The final fight. Only four, then three, then two left. Scott is a warrior who doesn’t want to fight, but still he thrives. He’s been a target this entire season, he gave up his chance for revenge and greed, he’s been unendingly loyal. “I’ve been the archer. I’ve been the prey. Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?”

Geniuses and Thieves by Gentle Bones: Scott killing Martyn and Ren, securing his victory. “Hold me back, simmer me down, I’m better than before. […] Must all bestowed upon you be deserved. I’ve been at my worst and so I’ll come to you, and oh I’ll find you. And then I cave in a thousand times.”

#cw death #traffic series #life series #trafficblr #last life #scott smajor #smajor1995 #pearlescentmoon #the bogeyman curse #nerdy’s traffic analysis

[esther-dot]

There is so much speculation about the Snowsequel! We have the “doom” side and we have the “Jonsa can still win” side and it’s kind of entertaining to see both sides lol. I am a bit surprised by the antis reaction too, it’s incredible how much they still hate Sansa when by show canon the one who actually won the game of thrones and wears the crown that was supposed to be Dragon Barbie’s was Bran??

Funny how they don’t say anything about how Bran will die and how much Jon hates him? Hmmm.

Anyway, I was wondering something about the show. We could say that technically all the Starks had a happy ending except Jon. In spite of the awful writing we can see how Sansa has a purpose, Bran is ruling, and Arya is out there having fun and discovering stuff.

But Jon is...punished, or exiled, or something like that, leaving audiences confused. They refused to present Jon as the villain and yet, he didn’t end as a hero either.

I find it quite suspicious, because in the final montage they present all the Starks as happy, and let Jon keep his sword and Ghost and his wildling friends and that is not the ending of a failed leader, or a broken man, cursed by kinslaying. Either Jon is part of the pack and somehow ends on top like the rest of them, or...falls and ends like a villain. In which case his ending should have been even worse that it was.

So, to me, Jon’s ending is purposely obscured and there is something inexplicable about his not cursed ending (as there is for Tyrion, but I digress).

Do you think the show omitted essential info (idk, something about Brandon’s Gift or something) about how Jon ends in the North again?

I’m on the “doom” side but I’m cheering on the “Jonsa can still win” side!

It really doesn’t matter to me if the rest of the fandom likes Sansa or not, but the obsessive hatred of her in some corners is disturbing. I guess maybe D&D spared Bran some hate by ignoring him instead of subjecting him to their crap writing and the the fandom kinda follows their lead and ignores him too. Silver linings? 😬

“...and let Jon keep his sword and Ghost and his wildling friends and that is not the ending of a failed leader, or a broken man, cursed by kinslaying”

I like your evidence that Jon isn’t cursed/this isn’t meant to be a hopeless ending for him. It’s certainly possible that D&D, out of fear of backlash if they gave Dany’s assassin a good ending, chose to send him to the Wall again rather than give him an unambiguously good ending. The riding off with the FF thing could have even been them thinking, “well gee, he’s our second most popular character, maybe it’s too much to send him to the Wall. Let’s fuzzy this ending to allow people to imagine it anywhere on the scale of back in the Watch or fucking off forever to make snow angels with Tormund.” I did think a lot of s8 was written to manage the audience, not to tell a good/believable story, so I wouldn’t put it past them to have had such a though process. There’s also the possibility that the weirdness around Jon’s ending could simply be the product of their failure to communicate well. The actors have said things that contradict the director of any given episode and D&D contradict that, and each other, and themselves, so that may be the explanation. They were each telling a different story? I mean, reading the finale script was surreal because some of what was said wasn’t really the same as what we saw 😂

When I heard Martin was on board for the Jonsquel, I did think maybe it pointed to the endgame being Jon in exile before a Jonsa reunion when they’re older. I’m not sure who pointed this out after the finale, but it would be another parallel between Aragorn and Arwen if this was the case. Aragorn fell in love with Arwen but then went off as a ranger for some time before they were reunited. It’s possible Martin thought to the end the stories with a promise that a sequel could explore, but then again, it could just be him trying to prevent HBO from going further off the rails with Jon. I’m trying not to read too much into it because I’m not sure that he could put the kibosh on anything even if he really disliked the idea, so I don’t think it confirms anything.

Jon, Lord of the Gift, is a very popular theory in our circle and for good reason. I can’t remember who started it now, but I think of it as istumpysk and agentrouka-blog‘s baby, each of whom I consider more an ASOIAF expert than myself. However, I totally believed Martin that GoT’s ending would be his, and in spite of how I feel about the ending, I’ve never been able to let that belief go, no matter how much I want to. I’m not going to try to persuade people not to believe in alternative endings, I’d like to believe it myself! This one in particular has lots of quotes that make you go 👀👀👀

"Who holds this land?" Jojen asked Bran.         

"The Night's Watch," he answered. "This is the Gift. The New Gift, and north of that Brandon's Gift." Maester Luwin had taught him the history. "Brandon the Builder gave all the land south of the Wall to the black brothers, to a distance of twenty-five leagues. For their . . . for their sustenance and support." He was proud that he still remembered that part. "Some maesters say it was some other Brandon, not the Builder, but it's still Brandon's Gift. Thousands of years later, Good Queen Alysanne visited the Wall on her dragon Silverwing, and she thought the Night's Watch was so brave that she had the Old King double the size of their lands, to fifty leagues. So that was the New Gift." He waved a hand. "Here. All this." (ASOS, Bran III)

(each time we get Brandon confusion sirens go off in my head!)

and

"What happened to them?"         

"They died or went away." Brandon's Gift had been farmed for thousands of years, but as the Watch dwindled there were fewer hands to plow the fields, tend the bees, and plant the orchards, so the wild had reclaimed many a field and hall. In the New Gift there had been villages and holdfasts whose taxes, rendered in goods and labor, helped feed and clothe the black brothers. But those were largely gone as well.

and

After. The word was a spear thrust. After the war. After the conquest. After the wildlings break the Wall . . .          His lord father had once talked about raising new lords and settling them in the abandoned holdfasts as a shield against wildlings. The plan would have required the Watch to yield back a large part of the Gift, but his uncle Benjen believed the Lord Commander could be won around, so long as the new lordlings paid taxes to Castle Black rather than Winterfell. "It is a dream for spring, though," Lord Eddard had said. "Even the promise of land will not lure men north with a winter coming on."    

If winter had come and gone more quickly and spring had followed in its turn, I might have been chosen to hold one of these towers in my father's name. Lord Eddard was dead, however, his brother Benjen lost; the shield they dreamt together would never be forged. "This land belongs to the Watch," Jon said.

(ASOS, Jon V)

and

Jon ignored that. "I have given you fodder for your horses, and once the stair is done I will lend you builders to restore the Nightfort. I have even agreed to allow you to settle wildlings on the Gift, which was given to the Night's Watch in perpetuity."  (ADWD, Jon I) it’s included in The World of Ice and Fire

and

Though in these days it is said that Lord Ellard Stark was glad to aid the Night's Watch with the Gift, and took little convincing, the truth is otherwise. Letters from Lord Stark's brother to the Citadel, asking the maesters to provide precedents against the forced donation of property, made it plain that the Starks were not eager to do as King Jaehaerys bid. It may be that the Starks feared that, under the control of the Castle Black, the New Gift would inevitably decline—for the Night's Watch would always look northward and never give much thought to their new tenants to the south. And as it happens, that soon came to pass, and the New Gift is now said to be largely unpopulated thanks to the decline of the Watch and the rising toll taken by raiders from beyond the Wall.  (The World of Ice and Fire - The North: The Lords of Winterfell)

The fact that this is an old Stark grievance and Ned and Benjen had plans to deal with it is very promising. Rectifying that old wrong, making the land safe and purposeful again, that definitely seems like it would fit really well as part of the endgame. I always liked the idea that Jon could take the throne, but instead makes it possible for Bran to be king to right the aftermath of the conquest (if we assume independence for Dorne as well, not just the North?), so if the followup to that is Jon getting to live out an abandoned dream…that’s beautiful! And it makes sense that Jon would be the candidate who can best keep peace between FF (those who settle South of the Wall, any who don’t) and the Northerners. So, it certainly is an idea that we can look at the books and argue there is evidence Martin is heading there.

And I do believe that D&D were so determined people wouldn’t guess the ending that they could have chosen not to do the necessary set up and then sent Jon to the Wall because there didn’t have anything else to do. I’ve also seen spec that their ending is premature, that Jon is sentenced but then Sansa as QitN brings Jon home. After s8, it’s impossible to think D&D cared much about Jon/his ending, so I do always have that little bit of hope that theirs is a variation of the ending, not the real ending.

I have a big gripe with the ending as it stands for Jon reasons (obviously) but also, I don’t think the Watch should continue to exist? Forcing these kids to swear away wives/children/their lives is gross. But, I don’t have anything that I can point to as proof that the Watch will be disbanded. I find that possibly wishful thinking on my part. Although, I don’t know why we spend so much time witnessing the futility of making kids forswear family if there isn’t some change. And the one thing that does give me hope there (and this would indicate Jon’s ending is something else) is that I believe the Wall will fall, so something about how the Watch functions will change. One other thing that seems promising is the inclusion of the idea of being a shield/protector of the North in both the Watch’s vows and the Gift idea:

“the shield that guards the realms of men” which makes the quotes about the Gift very very interesting: “as a shield against wildlings” and “the shield they dreamt together would never be forged” (AGOT, Jon VI; ASOS, Jon V)

If the Others are completely gone, the main problem in the North would be reconciling the two cultures, finding a way for the FF to live without being a threat to or threatened by the Northern lords. Jon could be the means of progressing Ned and Benjen’s plan into the future/using his sympathy and understanding of the FF he’s developed through the series while continuing to shoulder this role he picked up in AGOT.

And yet, because of things Martin has said in general about the tone he wants for his ending, because of what he’s said about his favorite type of romances (I am a firm believer in Jonsa, just not the HEA kind anymore), and lines in Jon chapters that in hindsight are pretty upsetting, I accept that he always intended Jon to go back to the Wall or a self-imposed exile. I’m not happy about that, but there are some things I just can’t believe were D&D’s idea. It’s a little too tidy when s7-8 had so so so much sloppiness.

I was rereading AGOT, and I simply can’t accept that Martin wasn’t writing AGOT, Jon VIII without thinking of ways to further test Jon. I don’t think he wrote that convo with Aemon solely about Jon attempting to leave the Wall in AGOT, or about Jon trying to leave in ADWD. It feels like the grounding for Jon’s final test, the same way we’re clued into Bran’s role in defeating the others in AGOT, the same way we’re hammered over the head with Arya’s noncomfority and strong sense of justice, the same way Sansa is the voice against violence and the representation of innocents who suffer as a result...Jon’s fate seems clearly fixed in the author’s mind with the love/son/family issue mentioned before he joins the Watch, brought up again here, and so damn likely in the end. And, the sacrifice that it would entail makes the ending meaningful. If Jon were to betray and/or kill Dany onyl to escape any consequences, I think it wouldn’t tell the story Martin wanted to tell with him.

The ending of this Jaime chapter seems very significant when it is followed by the Jon chapter in which he is sent off to assassinate Mance:

Defeated in the Whispering Wood by the Young Wolf Robb Stark during the War of the Five Kings. Held captive at Riverrun and ransomed for a promise unfulfilled. Captured again by the Brave Companions, and maimed at the word of Vargo Hoat their captain, losing his sword hand to the blade of Zollo the Fat. Returned safely to King's Landing by Brienne, the Maid of Tarth.

When he was done, more than three-quarters of his page still remained to be filled between the gold lion on the crimson shield on top and the blank white shield at the bottom. Ser Gerold Hightower had begun his history, and Ser Barristan Selmy had continued it, but the rest Jaime Lannister would need to write for himself. He could write whatever he chose, henceforth.

Whatever he chose . . . (ASOS, Jaime IX)

The crimson and white is very Jon, there’s always a lot about those two colors and him, blood on snow, and there’s this very interesting quote in the following Jon chapter:

"Aye," Slynt said. "A blind man with a chain about his neck, who does he think he is?"

Aemon Targaryen, Jon thought, a king's son and a king's brother and a king who might have been. But he said nothing. (ASOS, Jon X)

I always thought there was a lot to mine in the Jon and Jaime parallels although I haven’t read all that much about them. I wrote this little thing after s8 though because again, some of this stuff folds together a little too well to be a coincidence. But anyway, this idea of determining who you want to be, accepting the consequences of those actions and what people may then think of you, choosing your fate...this will be a huge thing for Jon going forward, and the line “he said nothing” really gives me pause. I find the idea that Jon might choose to be Snow rather than Stark or Targ very compelling. The idea of him remaining Snow only has meaning if he makes that choice, creates himself, chooses his own path, so to me, having the chance at a Stark crown and then a Targ one, refusing both, that’s rewarding. It’s my preferred reading. And, it actually brings me back to your mention of Jon’s sword. It isn’t the Stark sword, and the Mormont bear was replaced with Ghost, so it fits well with Jon’s being his own person, shaped by Ned’s ideals but influenced by other mentor figures, given a weapon that Ned didn’t offer him the same way Jon’s additional mentors teach him things/encourage him to function in ways Ned wouldn’t have…lots of fun things to think about there. Also, Bran has a peculiar line that could eventually be a parallel line to Jon’s, wishing for Summer, rather than the Stark sigil, on his chest,

“He would sooner have had Summer than a silver wolf on his breast” (ACOK, Bran III)

By that I mean, Jon having Longclaw in the end of GoT and Bran a raven sigil isn’t necessarily out of nowhere. The idea that neither is an extension of House Stark but rather, the outgrowth of good things into far bigger, and also, far more personal things...well...that seems very likely although, not really what we would want if the endgame is Jon married to Sansa in Winterfell.

This ASOS chapter stresses me too. The combination of R+L=J, Jon having to assassinate someone, and all of it preceded by this--

A grim day. Jon Snow wrapped gloved hands around the bars and held tight as the wind hammered at the cage once more. When he looked straight down past his feet, the ground was lost in shadow, as if he were being lowered into some bottomless pit. Well, death is a bottomless pit of sorts, he reflected, and when this day's work is done my name will be shadowed forever. Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous. Once Jon had meant to prove them wrong, to show his lord father that he could be as good and true a son as Robb. I made a botch of that. Robb had become a hero king; if Jon was remembered at all, it would be as a turncloak, an oathbreaker, and a murderer. He was glad that Lord Eddard was not alive to see his shame. (ASOS, Jon X)

Well, it looks like a bleak future for our boy. I’ve written alternative interpretations of this quote, and I suppose someone could argue that it is about Jon attempting to leave the Wall in ADWD, but the Aemon reference means this is also about what comes later imo. I’m dragged back to AGOT by this quote, where Jon leaves the Wall and thinks of Aemon and honor and betrayal there as well.

When Jon did not appear to fetch the Old Bear's breakfast from the kitchen, they'd look in his cell and find Longclaw on the bed. It had been hard to abandon it, but Jon was not so lost to honor as to take it with him. Even Jorah Mormont had not done that, when he fled in disgrace. Doubtless Lord Mormont would find someone more worthy of the blade. Jon felt bad when he thought of the old man. He knew his desertion would be salt in the still-raw wound of his son's disgrace. That seemed a poor way to repay him for his trust, but it couldn't be helped. No matter what he did, Jon felt as though he were betraying someone. Even now, he did not know if he was doing the honorable thing. The southron had it easier. They had their septons to talk to, someone to tell them the gods' will and help sort out right from wrong. But the Starks worshiped the old gods, the nameless gods, and if the heart trees heard, they did not speak. (AGOT, Jon IX)

and

But he had not left the Wall for that; he had left because he was after all his father's son, and Robb's brother. The gift of a sword, even a sword as fine as Longclaw, did not make him a Mormont. Nor was he Aemon Targaryen. Three times the old man had chosen, and three times he had chosen honor, but that was him. Even now, Jon could not decide whether the maester had stayed because he was weak and craven, or because he was strong and true. Yet he understood what the old man had meant, about the pain of choosing; he understood that all too well. Tyrion Lannister had claimed that most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it, but Jon was done with denials. He was who he was; Jon Snow, bastard and oathbreaker, motherless, friendless, and damned. For the rest of his life—however long that might be—he would be condemned to be an outsider, the silent man standing in the shadows who dares not speak his true name. Wherever he might go throughout the Seven Kingdoms, he would need to live a lie, lest every man's hand be raised against him. But it made no matter, so long as he lived long enough to take his place by his brother's side and help avenge his father.

(it is very similar to the ASOS quote)

and then we have this weirdness

He could not see the smile. Hard as he tried, he could not see it. He found himself thinking of the deserter his father had beheaded the day they'd found the direwolves. "You said the words," Lord Eddard had told him. "You took a vow, before your brothers, before the old gods and the new." Desmond and Fat Tom had dragged the man to the stump. Bran's eyes had been wide as saucers, and Jon had to remind him to keep his pony in hand. He remembered the look on Father's face when Theon Greyjoy brought forth Ice, the spray of blood on the snow, the way Theon had kicked the head when it came rolling at his feet. He wondered what Lord Eddard might have done if the deserter had been his brother Benjen instead of that ragged stranger. Would it have been any different? It must, surely, surely … and Robb would welcome him, for a certainty. He had to, or else … It did not bear thinking about. Pain throbbed, deep in his fingers, as he clutched the reins. Jon put his heels into his horse and broke into a gallop, racing down the kingsroad, as if to outrun his doubts. Jon was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die like that, trussed and bound and beheaded like a common brigand. If he must perish, let it be with a sword in his hand, fighting his father's killers. He was no true Stark, had never been one … but he could die like one. Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three. (AGOT, Jon IX)

And here is where I give up! As always happens when I start looking at passages to help me come to a conclusion, I get less clarity the more I think about them! Not only do we have Jon wrestling with who he wants to be/who he is, what he can/can’t accept of how others view him, betrayal/honor/love/duty, we also have a lot of Stark and Targ stuff in these chapter, as expected. But what the heck is that last thing supposed to mean?

We can interpret all of these in a couple ways, say it’s about one instance and one instance alone, but to me the ASOS chapter means Jon will voluntarily kill Dany. Except, it makes no sense that he would be punished for killing her as she will have burned KL by that point, but that Ned and Benjen thing did make me wonder if, at least at one time, Bran was meant to judge Jon for deserting? Ned was very judgy about Jaime, but there could be no finding fault with Jon if he kills Dany after she’s burned KL to hell. All the same, it’s an odd quote, and it’s interesting that Ned and Benjen are also referenced in that dream for spring idea, so perhaps the idea shifted?

I enjoyed reading Martin talk about his process the other day and I do try to bear in mind he may start down one path towards his goal only to have to give up and forge a different path to reach it:

The judgment idea felt like something he planned to revisit, at least when writing AGOT, because I think Bran has to be contrasted with other leaders so that we have a sense of his justice, not sure how that could possibly work here though. Martin did have Arya kill a deserter which felt very ominous to me. As in, if Starks are killing people for deserting, it wouldn’t be just to show favoritism to a family member and let them go unpunished, but she isn’t Bran so maybe we can ignore that. Obviously no Starks will be killing each other, and the idea of Jon going back to the Wall is dumb as heck, but imo, there’s something Martin wanted to say there once, maybe not now?

Basically, there’s enough stuff in the books that worries me that I can’t convince myself D&D made up his ending entirely on their own. I’m not sure of the path Martin will take to get there, but to me, the biggest indicator that we’re moving somewhere that Martin always intended with Jon --and that it’s the Wall or exile, *cries*--  is the way he builds on Jon’s Aemon connection and what he chooses to include as he does:

It made him feel odd. "My lord, why have you told me this, about Maester Aemon?"

"Must I have a reason?" Mormont shifted in his seat, frowning. "Your brother Robb has been crowned King in the North. You and Aemon have that in common. A king for a brother."

"And this too," said Jon. "A vow." (ACOK, Jon I)

and then

"Aye," Slynt said. "A blind man with a chain about his neck, who does he think he is?"

Aemon Targaryen, Jon thought, a king's son and a king's brother and a king who might have been. But he said nothing. (ASOS, Jon X)

 and then this

"His Grace is not an easy man. Few are, who wear a crown. Many good men have been bad kings, Maester Aemon used to say, and some bad men have been good kings."

"He would know." Aemon Targaryen had seen nine kings upon the Iron Throne. He had been a king's son, a king's brother, a king's uncle. "I looked at that book Maester Aemon left me. The Jade Compendium. The pages that told of Azor Ahai. Lightbringer was his sword. Tempered with his wife's blood if Votar can be believed. Thereafter Lightbringer was never cold to the touch, but warm as Nissa Nissa had been warm. In battle the blade burned fiery hot. Once Azor Ahai fought a monster. When he thrust the sword through the belly of the beast, its blood began to boil. Smoke and steam poured from its mouth, its eyes melted and dribbled down its cheeks, and its body burst into flame."

Clydas blinked. "A sword that makes its own heat …" (ADWD, Jon III)

It isn’t conclusive, but the Aemon quotes keep getting those additional “of a king” tidbits that may very well be true for Jon too in the future as they feel increasingly pointed. The fact that Jon’s all important honor/duty vs love conversation with Aemon kicks off all of this and seems to predict a lot about his entire arc and possibly his ending with his attempts to/breaking vows for the Starks, and then there’s the assassination/stabbity stab stuff in such close proximity to those references...well, I don’t think it’s nothing.

I suppose that means, yes, the show omitted essential steps in how Jon ends up where he is, likely, Jon refusing the crown which paves the way for King Bran, and if it is a fate of his own choosing, and in that choice he protects the Starks, his ending would be that of a hero (to us), but a subversion of the generic fantasy in which the secret prince becomes king or the hero is rewarded. If Jon’s actions give him a HEA, it undercuts what it cost him to make those choices, and I’m no longer thinking that’s something Martin will do. He seems pretty into making things painful. 

Jon might be in the Watch, possibly even a Lord Commander (again) who makes good on all the promise of the Watch which would be an answer to that mess. He might oversee the settling of the FF in the Gift and see it used the way it was meant to be and keep the peace so maybe that’s how the Gift fits in to such an ending. Or, if his end is in real exile, that Jorah is at the Wall and Jon must stay beyond the Wall for some time, maybe D&D weren’t that wrong?

Another thing D&D (may have) cut that would make Jon’s ending a little more filled out is the fulfillment of this quote:

Benjen Stark stood up. "More's the pity." He put a hand on Jon's shoulder. "Come back to me after you've fathered a few bastards of your own, and we'll see how you feel."                 

Jon trembled. "I will never father a bastard," he said carefully. "Never!" He spat it out like venom. (AGOT, Jon I)

I’m not sure that the child would be a bastard as I’m a fan of the secret wedding idea, but it’s possible other characters think the child is because Jon can’t be with Sansa due to new hatred for the Targaryens post Dany funtimes. Perhaps, instead of getting that, instead of being King to Sansa’s Queen, it may be Sansa who rules and then her son after her, in which case, Jon would be “uncle” to a king, to callback to that last Aemon quote, and round out all the dad/uncle confusion that happens throughout the story, and circle all the way back to this moment.

@sepedarodatiga wrote about foreshadowing in the show for a Jonsa baby (link) and @istumpysk wrote about book foreshadowing (link), and I think that could be the missing sweet in Jon’s bitter. The idea of Jon not being able to publicly be his son’s father, it’s crappy, but I think it’s very possible that was Martin’s intention when writing AGOT because in the all significant Jon and Aemon convo, we have this:

My grandfather named me for Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who was his uncle, or his father, depending on which tale you believe. Aemon, he called me …" (AGOT, Jon VIII)

We all seem to be on board with the Jon is Aemon idea, most Jonsas recognize Aemon the Dragonknight as being big Jonsa foreshadowing, so the whole “is it the father or the uncle?” idea...I suppose it could just be about parentage reveal and Ned/dad/uncle, but considering how the son stuff crops up with Jon, I think it’s likely talking about his future, not just his past.

I know this is really rambly and nothing conclusive, but part of my inability to decide on anything specific is that each path prohibits or secures certain endings. If Jon accepts legitimization as a Stark, even if the truth is later revealed to some or becomes public knowledge, I don’t think he could be with Sansa. I just think going from being Jon Snow to Jon Stark to a Targaryen is too much to make the people accept in such a short period of time. So, if he becomes KitN, it’s possible he feels that it is necessary to self-exile because he never should have been king (regardless of any assurance by Sansa to the contrary) and secures her reign by leaving. If on the other hand he refuses it all, defends Sansa as the true Stark heir, well, then when the truth is revealed, we have far less of a mess and it works with my preferred version in which he rejects both Stark and Targ crowns. The problem with that is that I do think Jon bending the knee makes sense as a statement about choosing peace (where Robb didn’t), so he’d need to be king for that. Which brings me to another beloved theory in which Jon becomes KitN, the truth is revealed, so he marries Sansa to keep the North unified, and if that’s the case, if he then bends the knee to another Targaryen, the North may be pissed. If he then somehow ends up entangled in the mess in KL, I’m not sure that he can emerge without being perceived (by non Starks) as yet another Targ in the worst sense. That could be a reason he leaves. He wouldn’t allow his chance at happiness prevent Bran and Sansa from peaceful reigns.

Of course, the one thing we know for sure came from Martin is King Bran, and if Jon or Northern armies are involved or present during the burning of KL (rather than, say coming to the city too late to stop Dany, too late to save Aegon?), then I don’t see how Bran is the peace candidate. Like, how will he distance himself from Jon so effectively that people will voluntarily choose him to rule after that? So, perhaps Jon will arrive too late, deal with the mess, and then get to go home and live in peace. Hope springs eternal no matter how hard I try to prevent it. :)

Anyway, if I had to pick one path, I’d say, it’s a variation of the Aemon stuff. That feels right to me, and then a similar ending at the Watch or exile for some, as yet to be determined, very believable reason. 😑

So, the answer to your question is yes? They stripped his ending of all agency and meaning, I think Jon will have experienced good things that make his sacrifice worth it to him, but also, no, I don’t think it will be that different.

And I really think the meaningful stuff would have transpired pre exile, so I’m not sure that the show will retroactively be able to make it make sense, and I fear, would just continue the course s7-8 set for show Jon. :(

#ask dot #jon show #jon's ending

[on-a-sunbeam]

babe you can always talk to me about your ocs or anything else i'd love to know more about it

SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG and also thank you???? so much?? i feel flattered and i LOVE talking about my silly guys!!

anyhow my ocs are a bunch of furry dragons with goofy names because i was 12 when i came up with them and then i got way too attached and like i can’t change it NOW. and they all live in a world with way too much backstory, but the highlights reel version is that a bunch of strangers get on a ship at a space station because the anthropomorphic dragons have space travel obviously to travel to another planet, but the ship ends up malfunctioning and they crash land on a different, currently uninhabited planet (it’s not actually uninhabited as you might imagine). so now they all have to work together with this bunch of strangers to find some way off this planet, but there’s also mysterrrrious disappearances going on, and some of them are convinced that there’s like a monster or perhaps some type of demon on the planet.

uhhh a VERY BRIEF INTRO to the main characters (there are kind of a lot of characters but you know. they’re not all like super important):

Moth used to be in the military and kind of becomes the leader of the group once they crash. she’s like actually pretty good at working with people and being responsible. Honey and Finn are dating and then finn dies and honey is NOT HAVING THAT and kind of splits off from the group to go help this other guy with his weird plan but we’ll get to that in a second. Leon is an ex-burglar who looks really scary but in all actuality is not. he likes to let people spread rumors about him so that they think he’s scary, though.

Jax and Dusk were childhood friends, but dusk kind of screwed jax over a little bit and possibly ruined her life, and now jax is very very not happy with her. Blair and Luna and some other people are also there but they’re not super major to like the plot, i guess? i still love them very much though <3

BUT you also might be wondering about the people who already lived here! in the present day there are only three left, because they were part of a science expedition that did not go very well :’) Berry has been trying to get the stupid radio to work for the last like twenty five years he’s been stuck on this planet because they would like to leave, thank you very much. Wasp has not taken to living in near isolation very well and is attempting to build a time machine to go and kill his younger self because he thinks he's the one who messed up the expedition (it very much was not him). he’s also the person that honey goes to help and i did not intend for them to both have bee related names but i’m just realizing they do?

Grey and Ripley get their own paragraph because i love them very very much!! they aren’t even the main characters, i just really think they’re neat hee. Grey was one of the guys stuck after the science expedition, and he took it about as normally as anybody. which is to say he convinced himself that he was some sort of chosen one sent to defeat whatever great evil lies on this planet, and it’s going pretty well for him UNTIL. until a certain old man by the name of ripley crashes onto his nice little planet one day, and grey is ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS because he thinks that Ripley is actually the special chosen one. (which again is untrue because neither of them are the chosen one, that’s not even a real thing) So grey decides to gain ripley’s trust and then most likely kill him so he can go back to being the Universe’s Special Guy, and ripley is just very confused about what is going on, because he just thinks grey is an eccentric but mostly alright guy, and it is very evident to everyone else that this is in fact not true and that grey has murderous intent. also they’re the guys in my profile picture!! here they are!!!! :D

uhhh sorry this got a little rambley! but ty so much again for asking!!! :D

#one might be asking hold up is this just lost? did you just make lost with dragons? #and the answer is absolutely yes the chokehold lost had on my brain at age twelve was insane

[radiant-flutterbun]

Lair review for @pumpkin-bread​

First impression: I’ve reviewed your lair a few times before but your lair is always impressive! It’s filled with so much lore, love and care. All you dragons are so interesting and full of personality.

Arcturus

He’s a beautiful dragon and genone! I absolutely love the midnight cloak and how you’ve layered his other apparel on top of it. The horns and glasses give him so much personality. His overall look is scholarly yet elegant. And his lore reflects this! He’s a lovely stuffy coatl. I hope he finds his sister.

Menace

An XYY genone! Nice! He has gorgeous colors that drew me to him. I LOVE the accent, the wings from it are very eyecatching. I love how nicely the wind halo matches his seafoam glimmer. I also picked him because of his name and broadcast message. Trouble makers are fun.

Etienne

Her broadcast message said she wasn’t a dragon so I had to click on her. Ooo she’s a changeling. One that went against her purpose! I love that! Very, very interesting! As for the dragon herself, she has nice soft colors. She’s very beachy and tropical looking. She just looks sweet. Her accent really adds to her and makes her look even more from a tropical rainforest.

Logan

This is a really handsome looking imp! That accent is just SO GOOD. Very pretty. Very gothic. Accents like these are why I’m often broke on FR. I’m glad you were careful not to cover the accent up with much apparel. And we’ve got another grump of a dragon. I love him.

Fracture

Plum constellation looks impeccable on this dragon. I love the witchy (gender neutral) vibe you’ve got going on with how you’ve dressed him. The garden hat actually works better than the witch’s hat here. And the shadow aura really solidify his magical aesthetic.

Mistfall

Arcane primal has to be one of my favorite primal types and it’s very cool that you got it from a scatterscroll! Mistfall is a really stunning dragon. Again i’ve picked a dragon with plum. I guess I’ve never realized how good plum looks with starcon! The greens from radioactive work really well by blending with the purple that comes from radioactive butterfly. The green is just the right amount of green if that makes sense? It looks really nice with her otherwise purple-blue colors. Again another excellent choice of accent too.

Sorrow

Angelic wildclaws by beloved. That accent is *chef’s kiss*. I guess I should expect by now for your lair to be filled with beautiful dragons wearing beautiful UMAs. I should also expect by now lovely dressed dragons. I love the mix of blues and gold in his outfit. The gilded rose collar layered over overcoat is SO GOOD. Loved his bio too. He seems like a good priest.

Trina

It’s by coincidence that I chose Trina after Sorrow (Love that they’re friends), I chose the dragons prior to reading their bios. I chose Trina mostly because her broadcast message got a chuckle out of me and I had to see what she was complaining about lol. I too hate the cold, Trina. The gijinka art is her bio is very pretty. I like how the candles go with the inkwell wings too.

Paisley

The first aether I get to review! I love her vibrant pinks and soft blues. The accent look very nice on her. She really makes an excellent aether. i couldn’t imagine her being any other breed. So sad she got hurt during the crash tho! Glad she seems to be doing ok though. She seems like a sweet dragon.

Cenotaph

Oof ok this dragon really hits a lot of things I love ok. We’ve got death theming, abyss shell, VEIL BABY. I love this little guy already. 10/10 would adopt. Absolutely gorgeous little baby. Did I mention abyss shell is VERY good? And both wisteria hawkmoth and violet diaphanous give a green accent that looks so good! And her lore? A little gravekeeper with amnesia? I’m going to cry.

#lair review