#it’s meta and story snippet all at once

[roykentschesthair]

Roy Kent is prickly. He can’t help it. He also doesn’t want him to behave the way he’s behaving, he’s working on it, but it’s a complicated process learning that he’s worthy of more than breaking his body down to play a game.

He hates the healing process, he’s never been good at being vulnerable and it feels like a personal attack every time he has to be. He resents it. It infuriates him, and he doesn’t want to do it.

But he does want to hold Jamie’s hand and kiss his forehead and make him smile.

And he wants to be able to support Keeley and show up for her how she needs without bending himself unnaturally in the process.

He wants to keep his friendship with Ted and Beard, and god help him Trent.

He wants to be able to stand solid and strong for his team. To care for them and help them grow

To be able to support Colin if he ever chooses to come out officially even as he won’t be the first, not anymore, (Jamie isn’t subtle and it turns out neither’s Roy, but honestly getting outed because he couldn’t resist slipping a hand down Jamie’s pants at a benefit is a little embarrassing)

He wants to just be calm and happy and content without the constant nagging voice in the back of his head that says he’s not doing enough to keep the people in his life close, that he’s a ticking time bomb of needy, clingy, desperation and the only way to avoid people leaving is to keep them at arms length

(Keeley pulled away at his most vulnerable moment)

It’s the hardest thing he’s ever done, learning how to be a person in his middle age, but Roy Kent is nothing if not stubborn and he’ll conquer this as he has everything else.

* Roy Kent going to therapy and actually healing makes me emotional because every time he’s just a little too vulnerable he gets defensive and grouchy and he is me and I am him, and I just adore this perpetually depressed man and I miss him.

#I don’t think this post makes a ton of sense #it’s meta and story snippet all at once #I don’t know #but therapyRoy is important to me #and i love him #roy kent #ted lasso #jamie tartt #royjamie #roy x jamie #tedlassoedit #they’re in love your honor #jamie x roy

[heartgold]

Something ingenious about ep3 is how Battler is at his worst here but in a markedly different way from his ep1 characterization... Also it's meta!Battler who acts that way rather than his piece, which marks not only the author shift but also this depiction being deeply allegorical

Like. Ep3 meta!Battler is super dismissive of Beatrice even as she tells him about the most horrific parts of her trauma through a fantasy lens that doesn't even obfuscate the worst of it (and Battler actually... manages to decipher it with some prodding from Ronove), and yet he still brushes it off. His relationship to Beatrice in the meta layer is super antagonistic at this point. He correctly figures out that she's confessing to something very painful but doesn't care to think about it or why she's bringing it up because she has already been characterized as a heartless cruel monster in his eyes, therefore she hasn't earned his sympathy and good faith. It might as well be a trick just to confuse him

The way their relationship improves the moment she starts "reforming" and acting all cute and pitiable is important because it shows her both playing into his fantasy of "fixing" her and making her change her ways just to sweep the rug from under his feet and prank him about it at the end AND playing into this good victim fantasy for herself and genuinely relishing in the understanding and good faith he was willing to extend to her once she played the role he wanted her to (this is blatantly Sayo's complex with becoming the person others want her to be in order to deserve their love... It hurts........)

This marking the author shift and being a meta-only dynamic is super interesting to me  because it can mean so many things. I like to think of the metaworld as a representation of the journey in understanding the story from within. We know that from the IRL angle Tohya wrote ep3 while not knowing the full truth and believing Eva to be the most likely culprit based off snippets of memory and her survival. You could read Evatrice claiming the role of the antagonist while Beato goes through a "redemption arc" as Tohya struggling with his memories, deep down knowing the painful truth but being unable to access that memory or accept it, therefore pointedly scapegoating Eva to process his feelings of guilt and grief towards the witch

But by wishing her to be blameless and pinning everything on someone else he is neglecting her heart and looking away from her true feelings, from all the things she wanted to communicate and from all the circumstances that brought upon the tragedy (and ultimately, from Battler's sin). I can see this internal struggle being meta-translated as ep3 Battler being selfish like that and refusing to engage with Beatrice until she becomes "good"... You can feel a lot of self loathing in it. It's a rocky start to their parallel journeys until they both Get It and it's so interesting to me how, in hindsight, it's very clear that it truly starts when the stories change hands

Overall it's a VERY good discussion of projection, with the added lens of how we engage with stories. How only seeing what you want to see flattens the complexity of humans into characters. Beato's "redemption arc" is tropey for a reason! She even shouts out dating sims and anime as the inspiration for it to make it clear this was just her reducing herself to a character archetype! Umineko is very critical of the idea of redemption in the first place and it really shows here

#umineko #umineko spoilers #◇ #this was crossposted from twitter with only minor editing so sorry if the wording is awkward lol

[esther-dot]

I'm sorry, that's gonna be a really weird ask from one jonsa stan to another but I'm genuinely curious - is there any anti jonsa argument/claim that actually made sense to you? I'm really asking for the sake of, well, civilised discussion - because if there are arguments there ought to be reasonable counterarguments. And all that I see is the same tired old crap - "she's not his favourite sister" and "but they are relatives!" and all the other stuff. Given, of course I'm not hanging around jonry@ and jon@erys side of this fandom (dark things happen to any sansa and jonsa stans there) and have no idea if they have any reasonable metas. Or maybe if there was a moment that made you actually question possibility of jonsa happening in books? (once again - because I'm anxious like that - I'm not asking this to disprove something or make people question jonsa but because I wonder if you personally had this sort of experience).

Thank you and hope you're having a nice day!

No worries! I enjoy looking at things from different angles, so I don’t mind at all. Unfortunately, I haven’t read anti jonsa stuff that isn’t exactly what you described, so I can’t actually have the convo you want about this. I tried to go to some jonerys blogs but their anti tags weren’t what we’re looking for. There’s a blogger people view as neutral who other Sansa fans/Jonsas put on my dash, and a BNF who people I follow also reblog from, so I went over to their blogs to look around and they’re less rabid, but I can’t say they offered though-provoking pushback. I’ll share some snippets though, in case you’re interested.

There was the old "but their siblings" argument:

I, ah, I do not think Jon marries Sansa in any scenario. Regardless of biological relationship, they think of themselves as siblings. The people around them are also quite likely to consider them siblings or as good as, having been raised as such (see also Theon being accused of kinslaying over his apparent murder of Bran and Rickon). Nor do I think either would be in a rush to go back to the traditional “but the Targaryens practiced incest,” again considering that their society is strongly anti-incest. Jon and Sansa were raised together, in the same house, as brother and sister, and that makes a material difference.

But you know, raised as siblings and please nobody try the “but they weren’t close” with me, that’s so not true.

It’s interesting to see someone say they were close, that’s not something I’ve seen before. I suppose my biggest issue with this line of thought is that it feels true for a generic fantasy maybe, but hardly convincing when talking about ASOIAF? Martin wants to talk about incest. So far, we have all the bad, abusive variations covered. I think he’s gonna work some shades of grey into it the same way he tries to do with everything he discusses, and to pretend like he would never feels disingenuous to me. Even if he ultimately abandoned the initial draft, from the author’s mind came the idea of a Jon / Stark girl romance. He has entertained it. Secondly, Jon is a Targ and it’s reasonable to expect that to manifest somehow, or at least, for Jon to experience the fear that there’s something latent there. And third, if we’re gonna get a romance, I think Martin would write it with the complexity and inner struggle that he writes everything and fauxcest offers him that opportunity, not to mention all the parallels it would allow as well.

Let's see...I also saw that they object to the Beauty and the Beast reading of Jonsa:

And I've been searching but apparently I never posted the rest of my "Bear and the Maiden Fair" thoughts, but that's the in-world Beauty and the Beast story. Through that and looking at bears elsewhere in the story, you can track this idea of the beast not being a monster, but being perceived as one by society, an outcast, which is why the Hound, Tyrion, and Jon all fit the role/are related (in a way), and why Jon will be the final suitor or real bear/beast.

The next one, I’m just gonna post the whole thing:

I’m not sure if the best part is the implication that Jon/Dany (which they believe is inevitable) have what’s required to allow for “quick deep emotional connections” or if it’s reading the Hound insult and threaten and then finally put a knife to Sansa’s throat and deciding “romance! chivalry!” The Hound may be disillusioned, but the fandom has got to stop pretending like some of his espoused beliefs aren’t self-serving, a defense because he is a monster. We have Brienne and Jon showing us different versions of knights, true knights, so acting like the Hound is in the right is just bizarre.

Anyway, no, I’ve not read an anti argument that made me doubt it. I do doubt what Martin is aiming for at times, so I’ve vacillated between potential paths/endgames for them over the years, but the anti arguments generally are coming from a reading of characters and dynamics that’s disturbing to me which means I’m usually alienated, not compelled.

#dot chat #jonsa #anti asoiaf fandom

[saltpepperbeard]

It's the entitlement that really frustrates me. David didn't create this show to fix all problems with representation, he didn't even know what queerbaiting was, bless his heart.

People keep saying "we were promised xyz, we were baited, he betrayed us" ( I wish I was joking about the last once.

He literally promised none of that. And he ows us nothing. Whether people want want to admit it or not, OFMD is his story. This happens a lot nowadays, someone makes something, the response is "well its not what I want ,therefore it's trash".

I dunno, I'm just angry at this point

HONESTLY. And I feel like that's becoming such a large issue that spans across numerous forms of media too. Like, from tv shows to youtube to fanfiction, the audience thinks they're "owed" something. "Owed" something simply for being there and consuming the thing. And it's like??? No??? You are just there on your own volition to consume the thing that's being provided to you???

*hands you a cupcake* "i don't like this cupcake >:(" THEN DON'T EAT IT???

And yeah, as you said, this is very much David's story. This has always been his story. He was passionate to tell it even before it got such a large following. He was surprised it got such a large following!

It seems like he's had a lot of things in mind since the very beginning, and a rather clear direction in which he's wanted to steer the story. And, based on his recent interviews and also very interesting meta pieces I've seen, the whole [redacted] was probably a long time coming too.

That's just the thing. I also feel like everyone just gets so caught up in their own interpretations and their own headcanons and their own versions of the story that it leads to almost inevitable disappointment and/or upset. Hell, even I'm a bit guilty of that; I looked too hard into that one article that described Stede's beach reunion dream, and thought we were going to get a makeout in the waves. And then when we didn't, I was like "oh lol 😀." Same with the little brief snippet of Stede pushing Ed against the wall that we got before episodes 6 and 7 dropped; I went in with preconceived notions which didn't end up getting met.

BUT LIKE, THE THING IS, THAT WAS ENTIRELY ON ME LMAO??? NOT THE FAULT OF ANYONE INVOLVED IN THE SHOW???? And it seems like people are disregarding that very fact! Like, oh I'm upset with how this went, so it's YOUR fault. I'm not responsible for how I'm reacting to this; it's YOU. YOU were supposed to bend exactly to MY wants.

And that's just,,,not! the case!

I'm over here piloting my safe spaceship, but what I've been seeing in my peripherals is making me sad too. Like, just the blatant disregard for everything else this show has given us, and the vitriol being slung towards the cast and crew, and all the negativity around what was supposed to be a hopeful sendoff...

People can be upset. People are absolutely allowed to be disappointed, or sad, or even angry. People can definitely dislike a narrative or character choice. Hell, I'd definitely feel some kind of way if Ed or Stede died, and I've gotten angry over narrative directions in other fandoms before. But just...the lines that have been crossed are just so so disheartening to see. You can be angry without being ugly about it, without pulling so many people down with you.

If people are that upset, I really encourage them to just step back, take a breath, and focus on other outlets. Because the entitlement and accusatory bits are certainly not it.

#Answered #Anons #OFMD S2 Spoilers #only tagging the necessary ones PFFFF #because yeah it's just... #whew #AND #I definitely extend open arms to you anon #Because this little circle is definitely trying to turn poison into positivity

[lurking-latinist]

When I read enough easily-crossed-over stories, such as for instance all of these boat and boat-adjacent books, what inevitably happens is I end up with a nebulous meta crossover setting where they can all hang out outside of their respective canons, because I have spent far too much time in This Time Round.

Also I was thinking about that post I made about how Aubrey and Laurence are not that similar actually, and speculating that if Aubrey had (in an equivalent situation) taken the cure to France he wouldn't have spent the next however many books regretting everything, he'd come around a lot quicker to just owning it.

That's not what happens in this snippet but I did write a snippet from the nebulous meta crossover setting, see below. I am terribly afraid it is wildly out of character but I actually don't think it is.

Edit: Now on the Archive.

****

“So you are Laurence,” observed the big post-captain, accurately; “the lunatic who gave up the Reliant to go flying about in the air. Aubrey, in Surprise.”

Laurence looked at the other man’s extended hand for a moment as if it were a foreign object. He took it and felt his own hand vigorously shaken. “That’s what you object to?” he said, unforgivably blunt, but he had not expected such a greeting, not now, not from anyone in that uniform. Some of the spacefarers had been kind, but he found the nature of their service still more disconcerting than the Aerial Corps had once been.

“Object? Why, you must do as you see fit,” said Aubrey, puzzled, and then his face cleared. “Oh, that. I own Dr Maturin—my particular friend, a physical gentleman—” (he nodded across the room towards a small dark man in a shocking old wig, deep in conversation with one of the starship physicians, who was distinguished by a sky-blue jumper which evidently passed for a uniform) “I own I did not see just how it was, till he explained it to me. I am only sorry to hear the Government should have behaved like such very mere scrubs.”

“So I thought,” said Laurence, quietly. “And yet I fear there are worse names for my own actions.”

“None to be used in this company. Now come,” said Aubrey, sweeping him along to a table, “tell me how you navigate, seeing there is a vertical component….”

****

[NOTES: a. In fact Jack and Stephen had a massive row which he's not describing; he didn't start out this OK with Laurence's treason but I think he and Stephen together would end up there, especially as it wasn't his England that got invaded as a result. b. I know Laurence comes to terms with it in the end but this is set before that. c. Stephen's new friend is Dr McCoy of Enterprise but neither of them know him yet.]

#I can't decide whether to tag this for the main tags #I've readmore'd it so I guess I will #aubreyad #aubrey-maturin #temeraire #you can thank your lucky stars book hornblower isn't in this. I don't think he would offer a comment though he'd just brood

[lietpolski]

do you have robul fic recs! :0

i do!! :D this will get long, so it's going under a cut

literally everything by phyripo on ao3 is great, but i'll summarize them:

destiny's chance by phyripo - this is a must-read! very cute very lovey human au long oneshot :) and LONG! i've reread it So Many Times

on christmas by phyripo - this is... THE cutest thing ever!!!!! not robul centric, it has a few different pairs with an equal amount of screentime, but robul are so fun here! best read around december for obvious reasons,, u can mark it for later <3 it genuinely warms my heart so much

a thought away by phyripo - also not just focused on robul, BUT this is one of the sweetest cutiest robuls like i shed a tear or two!! just a fantastic story in general like,, i don't care for half the cast of this but this fic made me care about them it was that good!! drama mystery AND feels... read it

falling high by phyripo - fun short and silly actors/social media au!!

one day by phyripo - also short and very very sweet human au, this one has holiday vibes but it's more about new years' resolutions and stuff i think u could read it any time of the year :)

take one breath by phyripo - ok this is sooort of cheating because it's focused around luxembourg/moldova (aged up) BUT robul are there and they're cute they're having their wedding like!!!🥺it's worth a read

and then some equally great ones by other authors!!

you know my name by quiettoxic - ALSO A MUST READ this is i think my favourite robul oneshot ever and i'm not huge on human aus!! it's basically them growing up together and falling in love over time and ouggghhh my HEART

castles in the air by shadowcatxx - bulgaria is horny for vampires & i'm also horny for vampires so this was meant to be <3 it's written in the 1st person but don't let that scare u it's a good time it has like,, vaguely classic lit vibes and it's nice to read smth so different once in a while! + vampires are hot

be ready and be brave by doomspiral - doom writes historical nationverse that makes me want to tear my heart out of my chest and chew it !!!! historical robul is a rare and delicious treat so u have to read this

transcendence by roesslyng - this one makes me go insane like,, the homoeroticism of consensual murder needs to be a bigger genre in nationverse!!!!

see you soon by roesslyng - short cute fic exploring some nationverse meta which is something i always love to see :)

self-indulgence by roesslyng - just smut but i'm a pwp girlie and proud!! this is sweet and it's nationverse what else could u want

as a treat by roesslyng - cute soft fluff ... save me cute soft robul fluff.... i love little silly romantic snippets of their lives this one got me kicking my feet & listening to laufey <3

i'll add more if i think of them but that's all for now! :) happy reading!

#srry for the late answer!! #im very picky with the fics i like !! so you can trust that these are good <3 #fanfic recs #making a tag for it because hey if anyone wants fanfic recs outside of robul i could give those too! :D #maia talks #ask

[shes-a-gryffindor]

i wanna know about the ring composition meta!

Ok, so, I am a bit unhinged about this 😂 I quite literally froth over all the parallelism, the foreshadowing and chiastic structure of these books, so I decided to put it all in once place and write a meta ... but the trouble is, there is SO much ground to cover that I am having difficulty breaking it down. Here are some of the main snippets and a few of my favourite points -

If something is characterised by chiasmus it denotes a structure in which words/events/stories are repeated in reverse order. For a Harry Potter relevant and more visual representation, it looks something like this -

PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, OoTP, HBP, DH

or refer to this excellent little diagram -

The chiastic structure and ring composition in Harry Potter can be broken down in a few main points -

The beginning (PS) and end (DH) meet - a story in which the beginning and end are at one point.

The 'big turn' or central line and Parallel halves - If the beginning and end are going to meet, the story needs a 'big turn' (a 180 so to speak) at some point to divide it into two halves, with the first half of the story being the outgoing and the second half, the returning. In the case of the HP books this is done by creating seperate sections (PS, CoS, PoA) that are placed against one another (OoTP, HBP, DH) across a central dividing line (GoF), thus making these halves parallels of one another.

Here are a few of my favourite examples of the joined beginning and end

The Forest Again: Harry's first encounter with Voldemort takes place in the forbidden forest, having stumbled upon the dead unicorn. This first encounter is echoed in 'The Forest Again' in DH which is to be Harry's supposed last encounter with Voldermort. 

Hagrid and Harry, together again (🥺): Hagrid brings baby Harry to Privet Drive on Sirius's motorcycle, Hagrid takes adult Harry away from Privet Drive on Sirius's motorcycle. Hagrid introduces Harry to the Wizarding World and is the one to tell him about Voldemort, Hagrid witnesses Harry's supposed death at the hands of Voldemort in The Forest Again and carry's his body to Hogwarts. 

Parents at Christmas (this one has to be my favourite): Little Eleven year-old Harry sees his parents for the first time over the Christmas Holidays, full of hope and longing, he is fascinated and absolutely entranced by their living reflections in the Mirror of Erised. On Christmas Eve in DH, Adult Harry visits his parents graves for the first time and, perhaps also for the first time ever, grieves fully. He sees his would-be home for the first time and experiences the murders of his parents through Voldemorts memories. 

The other Gryffindor champion (ahhhh another fav!): In PS,  Dumbledore awards Neville Longbotton, the decisive last-minute points necessary for Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin for the House Championship. Similarly, in DH, it is Neville's contribution in the final hour, his killing of the serpent Nagini with the Sword of Gyrffindor, that takes Voldemort over to mortality, thus ensuring victory once more. 

And some of the parallel halves

in CoS Harry takes a wrong turn in the floo network and ends up inside the vanishing cabinet at Borgin and Burkes where he spies on Draco Malfoy. In HBP, Harry once again finds himself spying on Draco Malfoy at Borgin and Burkes when he should be with the Weasleys, suspicious about what Draco is purchasing, which incidentally turns out to be, yep, the very same vanishing cabinet.

Both CoS and HBP have major plot points around the significance of a mysterious book, CoS - Tom Riddle's diary, HBP - the Half Blood Princes textbook.

In PoA Harry is introduced to his godfather, in OoTP (need I say more? 😭) he loses him.

In PoA we witness an authetnic prophecy made by Professor Trelawney, in OoTP we witness the authentic prophecy made by Professor Trelawney.

In PoA Snape is furious with Harry at the story's end, he is borderline unhinged because he suspects Sirius's escape has everything to do with Harry. in OoTP Harry is furious with Snape at the story's end, he is borderline irrational after Sirius's death for which he wants to believe Snape is responsible.

There are many, MANY more, but these will have to suffice for now, this is already turning into a thesis 😂

The last point where the ring composition in HP is concerned is -

The rings within the rings - What really takes this from interesting to remarkable is that not only is the series as a whole structured this way, but so is each individual book. Each and every book has its own joined beginnings and endings, an echoing midpoint and story turn, and chapters that echo one another across the story in axis. There are rings within the rings. 

Some super quick examples of this are (it's important to note that the chapters mentioned below are almost always each-others actual numerological parallel within the book) -

First and last chapters of CoS (1-2, 17): Harry meets Dobby on his Birthday, Dobby gives him a dire warning and tries to imprison him to keep him away from Hogwarts. In the latter, Dobby's warnings come to fruition and Harry gives Dobby freedom.

Chapters 4 and 20 of PoA: The trio frets over Scabbers failing health, mysterious longevity and about the ministry's efforts to capture Sirius. In the latter chapter, the trio corner Sirius, learn of Scabbers real identity and the true reason behind his seemingly ill health.

Chapters 8 and 30 of GoF: Harry sits in the top box with Barty Crouch Jr, Ludo Bagman, top Ministry officials and the Malfoys a the Quidditch World Cup. In the latter chapter, Harry finds himself sitting in spectator-full courtroom to watch the trials of Barty Crouch Jr, Ludo Bagman and other former Death Eaters by top Ministry officials.

Fourth and Fourth last chapters of OoTP (4, 35): In what is Sirius's first appearance in this book, we see him fighting with and pulling a curtain over his mother, an insane member of the Black family. In what is Sirius's last appearance in this book, we see him fighting with and being sent behind a veil by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, an insane member of the Black Family.

Again, there are many, MANY more but I think I'll stop rambling and save them for the meta 😆 sorry for the extremely long winded answer here!!

#asks #harry potter #meta #harry potter meta

[mapplejuice]

Don't forget - Your choices still matter.

Another Deltarune analysis, featuring a non-techie person explaining a bit of tech and why we should probably be aware of it.

Since the day of its release into the public eye, Deltarune has made it a point to tell us that "your choices don't matter" -- whether "you" refers to either Kris or you as the player. Toby's already confirmed Deltarune to have one ending, and the game pokes a lot of fun at giving you choices only for your answer (if it even lets you answer) to be inconsequential. This came as a stark contrast to Undertale, where e v e r y choice mattered in the most unexpected ways. Even the choices we thought we erased, the choices we expected no consequence from, could come back with a vengeance later in the game.

So, before we get to into things, let's talk about how Undertale can make your decisions bite you in the ass.

Undertale has a relatively small SAVE file, with only about 500 lines and flags altogether. In your computer's local app data, you can see up to three true SAVE files: file0, for your actual game; file8, referred to as "Flowey's" file; and file9, which is the auto-save file. Within these files, the game stores your name, inventory, room, and your progress through the story (along with other things). On a typical reset, files 0 and 9 are erased (file8 is suspiciously spared, but surprisingly not our target).

What doesn't get erased during a normal reset is the undertale.ini file.

Unlike the SAVE files, you don't need to interact with a SAVE point to update your .ini--it's automatic whenever certain events occur. And unlike your SAVE, which usually keeps track of events as a "yes" or "no", the .ini is a counter, meaning it also keeps track of the amount of times you've witnessed a given scene or done something.

Here's a snippet of my current .ini file as reference. Among other things, we can see my pie preference (Bscotch = 2), how I've killed and spared Toriel once each (TK = 1 and TS = 1), that I've already walked through New Home the first time (Tale = 1), how many times I've died (Gameover = 1; I got cocky in the Undyne fight), and how many times I've walked through the final door (Won = 5). All of these entries affect what the game does, whether it's Flowey directly taunting me or Goat Mom getting deja vu over butterscotch pie.

In short: Undertale uses an external file to keep track of everything you've done, not just everything you've saved. It's honestly a very simple and effective strategy to make your video game meta. Doki Doki Literature Club actually does something pretty similar, using an external "persistent" file to keep track of what scenes you've played out with each girl and what leg of the story you're in. By having a file outside of your saves, something that can be updated in the background without extra action, you can effectively give your characters a ripple-proof memory-- or thereabouts, anyway.

Savvy players, however, will notice that Deltarune still doesn't do this; when you erase a file slot, there's no residual evidence of it both in the game and in the files. And that's true! There's points to be made about how the SAVE files seem to "hide" certain flags, like your vessel choices and your Eggs (which I could DEFINITELY talk more about in the future), but all of these choices are still confined to the same run.

But Deltarune may not need an all-encompassing persistent file-- just one that sees what you're still doing.

So far, there's only one event within the entirety of Deltarune that hints at the game reading not one, but all of your SAVE files at the same time: when you talk to Seam in Chapter 2.

If you've defeated Jevil in any one of your active CH1 files, you can access the Shadow Crystal and Jevilstail/Devilsknife in any of your CH2 files, even if they're not directly linked. Seam will even talk about you defeating Jevil, and be surprised when you say that you haven't. On first glance, this probably just looks like an anti-frustration tool; after all, the Jevil fight is one of the hardest in the entire franchise, and making players beat him in three different runs might be asking for a bit too much. Perhaps it's nothing...

...But how do we feel about the dr "config" file versus "true_config"? Because I'm a little sussed out.

Lo and behold, opening up the dr.ini file reveals a summary of all your active save files (both CH1 and CH2, in-game and end of chapter) in one place. Unlike undertale.ini, it's a much shorter summary with only 8 variables per SAVE. InitLang, Room, Date, Time, and Name are all self-explanatory; "UraBoss" refers to the secret boss fight of the chapter (0 = not fought, 1 = won violently, 2 = won peacefully).

But how about that difference between Love and Level?

I wonder how that changes during a Snowgrave run, or if future chapters include their own "Weird Route".

I wonder why the other files need to know.

Perhaps Ralsei was right--and perhaps, should we continue anyway, our consequences are not confined to one timeline.

#deltarune #deltarune theory #deltarune analysis #is that a thing? #kit says shit #please listen to my nerd session i am A Little Fearful #polls

[fan-dweeb]

(large spoiler) Ever think that quirkless Keigo is just gonna keep going with his model career?? Like he's not a pro hero anymore, so he just keeps the modeling gig?? I wanna know your thoughts on this lmao

Hii!! Small disclaimer, I’m actually not caught up with the anime, let alone the manga, at all, so most of what I say is based on snippets I get from fanfics and meta lmao

Hmmm this is really interesting. Short answer: I think with the way that Keigo has finally been set free (symbolically with losing his quirk, and literally from the HPSC (I think)), he’ll probably stop everything else related to Hawk’s job as well.

Slightly longer answer:

From Horikoshi’s perspective, Keigo has already served his original purpose as a character so it wouldn’t really make a difference either way canonically. If he does intend to have those ‘5 years from now’ snapshot, I feel like Keigo will be overseas travelling or something rather than modelling though, if just to be consistent with his theme of being set free. If not as a personal choice, ‘do it for the plot’ lmao. I do mean this quite literally though, because now he’s got so much potential for the ‘self-discovery slice-of-life’.

,,,, but I personally think this is a bit of a cop out choice for Keigo’s future.

I’m not gonna be the analyst who says ‘he never had a chance to make his own choices’ because technically he did. This doesn’t mean he made a good one, but if you step away from popularised fanon, he did agree to going with the HPSC because he wants to be a Hero and not because of his mum. This isn’t so much that I haven’t ‘read between the lines’, but that he never once looked at his mum or made reference to what would happen to his mum if he followed the HPSC. Unless ‘reading between the lines’ include fabricating entire dialogues under an assumption that Hawks was suppressing his memories, I think it’s safer to assume he just couldn’t care less loll. But that’s the thing; his whole life revolved around Heroes, whether as Keigo or as Hawks. Now that it’s been brutally and suddenly ripped out of his hands and NOT in the form of death like he was probably expecting? He has to find something else to do, whether it be modelling or travelling or being a librarian or whatever,,,,, that is, if we make an assumption that he can’t keep being a Hero.

Look, we know he wants to help people. Some might even say he’s kind (that might’ve been drilled out of it by HPSC’s cold blooded training, but hey, maybe it’s just buried really, really deep inside). If we look at this not from a story writing perspective but purely from the character Keigo’s perspective (a bit counter intuitive, I know but bear with me), I honestly think at some point in the far future he might try to pursue a career in Heroism/ the police dpt / the fire dpt (hAH irony)/ some kind of physically-inclined job that traditionally seeks to help people. I think most people tend to stick to things that feel familiar with them even if it’s an unconscious decision.

So how does this link to whether he continues modelling? (because I’ve totally been building up to a point and not just going off on a tangent lmfao)

I think a lot of the fandom sees modelling as Evil, whether this be because of the horror stories of modelling in real life, because of an understanding of mutant quirk discrimination, wing kinks, and thinking Hawks definitely didn’t like being seen in that light, or because of some mixture of other reasons. And I think that’s true in the sense that it probably wasn’t what Keigo had in mind when he first signed up to being a Hero.

With that said, I’ve seen a particularly well written fanfic (I forgot which tbh) where Hawks is explaining the importance of modelling in promoting a sense of safety in civilians, especially for Heroes with anthromorphic quirks, outside of just gaining popularity. Which I think is a really fresh and extremely valid argument. As such, modelling could be a very nice supplement to him regaining popularity or at least, regain familiarity with both the general public but also his roots of inspiring confidence and safety if he decides to pursue any of the jobs I’ve mentioned above.

There is a counter argument, especially for Keigo being a Hero, that the quirkist ideas are so ingrained him (subconsciously or otherwise by the HPSC) that being a Hero again, or just doing any job at all without a quirk probably never crossed his mind. And if he wanted to keep up with helping people, there are a multitude of other jobs he could do. (Which modelling still doesn’t quite fit but ehh maybe as encouragement to/ empowerment of quirkless people?). But, I think this is a rather naive and simplistic analysis of Hawk’s and Keigo’s character of a person too deep into fanon.

If there’s one thing Hawks fans can agree on, please let it be that he’s really freaking complex.

He’s seen the worst and the best of society. He’d just about experienced every facet of society possible as a person in the bnha universe besides being an Average Joe. And now, he’s about to head into the small undiscovered area of quirklessness. (We as readers get a bit of this from Izuku’s POV, but for Keigo this is about as novel as it gets). Speaking as a writer, whether modelling is part of that experience remains entirely on what you want to explore with Keigo as a character.

Lmk what you guys think as well!! (in comments/ tags/ dm/ asks, all are ok :D )

(note: apologies for the barely organised word vomit and non-answer at the end, this was typed impulsively from my phone lmao)

#lowkey completely forgot to touch on anything dabihawks #but I’m running out of steam so I’ll just leave it as it is for now #might come back to it as a reblog later if I ever find motivation lmao #anime #bnha #mha #bnha hawks #text post #bnha meta #character analysis #takami keigo #bnha keigo #hpsc #bnha quirks #bnha fanfiction #bnha manga spoilers #bnha fic #bnha prompt #quirkless hawks #ask

[fall-for-tolkien]

So you want to be an author for Scribbles & Drabbles

Perhaps you’ve seen the schedule floating around and thought: “Oh that sounds interesting!”

Or maybe you were an artist last year, and are now wondering whether you could also join as an author.

No matter how you ended up here, if you are wondering whether you have what it takes to be an author for Scribbles & Drabbles, this is the post for you.

A quick & dirty guide to S&D fics

When it comes down to it, there is only one rule for claim responses in S&D, and that is that it should have 100 words.

What form these words take is completely up to you!

Maybe you would like to write poetry!

Maybe you would like to write a single drabble!

Maybe you would like to write a 10k epic (even though this event wasn't specifically designed with you in mind, we certainly won't stop you from doing that either)

All of these are welcome in this event.

But what if you're not that big on writing?

Well, good news!

You could also compose a song!

Or record a podfic!

For the latter, two options will be allowed as submissions:

The art you've chosen has been claimed by another author and they give you permission to record their work as a podfic.

Instead of writing a fic, you sit down with a recording device of your choice and tell the story out loud. In this case, rather than making you count the words you've said, we request that your podfic have at minimum 1 minute 30 seconds of pure fic (that doesn't include ratings/titles/warnings/summary etc. Just story).

Now that you know what you're permitted to write, let's consider the claiming process!

There are some things you should consider before the claiming process:

Each art will have an info section that includes Rating, Character and Relationship requests.

Your response must stay within those limits, so make sure you're comfortable with that before claiming.

There is also an additional section where the artist can put Must Haves (MH), Requests and Do Not Wants (DNW).

MH: Things you Must include in the fic response. This is mandatory.

Requests: Stuff the artist would appreciate to see, but if it's not in there that's okay, too. It is up to you whether you include this stuff.

DNW: Aspects the artist does not want to see in the fic. These are also mandatory, and there will be consequences if you choose to actively go against them.

Figured out what you want to claim? Excellent!

The claims form will have a drop down menu with all the different arts from which you can select 3 (three) arts in the first round of claiming.

Each art can be claimed up to 3 (three) times, so by 3 (three) different authors.

Once you have written 100 words for your three claimed arts, you can come back for more!

If we manage to have all arts in the gallery claimed 3 times, it's free for all, and everyone can write for all the arts they want!

Got your claims? Time to write!

You can submit unfinished fics, you can submit script formats, dialogue snippets, meta, whatever. As already mentioned, if you can fit 100 words in there, you're golden.

If you look at the schedule, you will see a submission deadline for the fics.

This is the date by which your fics need to be in the Ao3 collection!

Please note that we will not be granting extensions this year!

Instead we ask that you let us know by the drop-out deadline, whether you will be able to submit a story, but it will be late, or whether you will not be able to submit something at all, because real life got in the way, so the mod team can make sure that all artists will have at least one gift in their inbox on reveals day.

Hopefully, that covers everything! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out here on tumblr or on the discord!

Happy creating, and we look forward to seeing your awesome works!

#scribbles & drabbles #s&d authors #s&d housekeeping #tolkien fanworks #tolkien fandom #tolkien fanfic

[delugedecade]

Scooby-Doo 2 : Monsters Unleashed

forcefully review as watched by Deluge

spoilers, obviously, but then again, I’m the one watching it for the first time.

Music so far outside of a small snippet of the OG theme doesn't shout Scooby Doo for me yet.

Fucken Mystery Limo

Freddie Groupies again

Awww, Dinkley Brigade.

Once again, Weed implications with Shaggy

Hahaha Scooby's fans are fellow dogs

Another Velma has a love interest whos kind of a nerd. Who's gonna guess he's a villain.

Oh he's the Curator.

Subtle Velma. "Mystery is my Mistress, I must heed her sweet call"

That's a cool mask, but did they need to make him look like he's balding?

That reporters definitely in on it

Daphne's so fashion oriented that rather than say it's her boots, rather its the boots don't go with the sweater.

Why does Jacobo look like AVGN? also Slime joke.

Subtitles on the place i'm watching is weird, Shaggy said Burger King, but subs say KFC. Weird

Man has a whole Rube Goldberg machine under his house.

Daphne using her makeup skills

Joke about Scooby passing over obvious clues

You're telling me Old Man Wickles listened to Big Butts and I Cannot Lie? ayo

A whole segment of maths for weak points only for it to be a crotch shot. wow

Randamonium

"Intimacy with another person" With Daphne right in front of her face, subtle

WAIT THE SEXY VELMA BIT IS THIS EARLY? I THOUGHT IT WAS A THING LATER ON

A touching moment, only to be, played a joke in a sense, by wanting to torture the gang.

Scooby dooing a whole mosh pit dance.

Damn, it's like a going down to rock bottom story

You're telling me in that outfit she had the sweater underneath?

Oh, Patrick got an unhinged side

They're really doing the walking bush joke

Okay, it's not Old Man Wiklies?

Weird CGI on the chick body. but also TASSIE!

BUFF SHAGGY!!!!!

Hmmm Halfway in an they pinning Patrick as main suspect

Scooby and Shaggy just incidentally putting in the right code for the monster maker.

Making use of their skateboard skills

Damn, on the run

Short flashback was nice

Meta commentary on montages

Dman, that's a nice bike

Nice of Fred to try the therapy route on the monster at least

They singed a ghost with a fart

A shrine to the pterodactyl ghost?

Wait is Patrick, Jacobo?

Patrick isn't bad? or maybe the Pterodactyl just captured him for him to quick change.

HE SAID THE THING WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SCOOBY DOOBY DOO

NOOOOOOOOOO

Jacobo was alive after all

At least Patrick is good in the end.

And a secret code for the game boy sp, wow

Yeah, Pretty good, kept me guessing a lot which is part of the fun in the mystery.

9/10

@submissiveking99 @tokufan400 @freeusemuses @asexxxualauthor

#ShinxNapped

[winkle-pickers]

🦈🎁🚀 for the ask game! (If you're still doing it ofc)

Omg YES, I am doing all ask games in perpetuity 😂💞 Thank you for checking, and I'm delighted to answer!

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

I think last time I answered Jounouchi, and that is still true to an extent, but oh my god BAKURA. I just tried writing my first Bakura fic recently. Like yes I know being mysterious and strange and (deliberately?) confusing is like his whole thing, but if you haven't been steeped in the Bakurae/Ishtar side of the fandom for the last 20 years...it's a lot of meta to catch up on. A LOT. So many good takes, many in direct opposition to each other, many of them equally compelling despite that. WHEW. I tried my best, I hope I didn't write an offensively wrong Bakura, everyone's gotta start somewhere right?!?! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share?

Ooooh, yes!! A little Kaibros character study from years ago that has been languishing in my drafts, that I'm re-working and may actually publish someday. I'll stick it under a readmore, tell me what you think!

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

Unfortunately, I don't have the kind of brain where I can sit in front of a blank document and think a story out in bullet point form. I desperately wish I did lol. But alas I must charge in headfirst and get a few thousand words in before I have any idea of where I want things to go. Sometimes (often) I blast through the entire thing without outlining. Sometimes I hit a snag somewhere and realize I done fucked up and need to put myself back on the tracks.

And then there was the time I got 100k words into a YGO/Zelda crossover and realized oh no i think this will be MUCH more than 100k and wrote a very rough outline, then another Zelda game came out halfway through the fic and I had to spend a solid month rewriting my outline to accommodate lore from the new game, and also I somehow accidentally turned the whole thing into a huge ensemble cast with multiple concurrent plot threads balancing both YGO and Zelda character arcs, Hyrulean politics, and an imminent multiverse collapse. My Scriv file now has a 120k word planning & research section. (Oops.)

tl;dr I have exactly one fic that is well outlined and the rest are me doing the writing equivalent of a Leeroy Jenkins. congrats if you get that reference and are ancient like me

ANYWAYYYYSS thank you for the ask!!! Kaibros snippet under the cut 🐉

“Come on, nii-sama,” Mokuba pleads. It comes out weirdly desperate, more pathetic than he’d intended. “This is so unfair. It’s unfair enough that I don’t have parents, and it’s even more unfair that you won’t tell me-”

“You do have a parent.” Seto's reply is so sharp that it makes Mokuba flinch.

“I know, I know,” Mokuba replies, irritated at the pedantry. “You’re my parent legally. But you’re not, you know...I just want...”

Mokuba realizes as he’s talking that he’s said something terribly wrong. The change in his brother’s face is minuscule and significant and makes his stomach flip in shame. He trails off, the words curling up and dying as they fall off his tongue.

“Please go to bed,” Seto says. His tone of voice is so perfectly even that Mokuba gets up and leaves without another word.

Mokuba doesn’t go to school the next day, opting instead to stay in bed and stare at the wall. Seto either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.

For the first time in years, he cries. And then he thinks about the fact that it’s been years since he last cried. Mokuba spends so much time wondering what the fuck is going on in his brother’s head that he’s maybe neglected to turn the same scrutiny on himself. And he’s maybe leaned a little too far into his role as the ‘normal’ Kaiba - the charming one, the easygoing one, the one who exists to balance out the bombastic, powerful force of nature looming tall at his back.

But who had cried - just once - after Gozaburo hurled himself from the top of the Kaiba Corporation building, and who had watched the coroners wheel away the black-draped gurney with impassive, bone-dry eyes?

#asks #ask game

[thescrapwitch]

3 and 4 for the meta asks!

Thank you!

3 What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

I’ve had this idea of Maglor, after all the events of the First Age, being found in a near catatonic state and taken in by Elrond during the Second Age. This little snippet, which would happen right before Elrond goes to fight Sauron in the Last Alliance, has been stuck in my brain:

Elrond took his hands. “Atar, he said, voice gentle, always gentle with the one who had raised him, who once, so strong, now seemed weaker than glass. “Atar, I have to go away for a little while. I’ll…” He wanted to say, I’ll be back, but that felt foolish to promise. Odds were great that he would not be.

Would Maglor even notice? Elrond hoped not, hoped that whatever dark corner of his mind that he hid in would keep him safe, however the war ended.

“All will be well,” he said, instead, which was not certain, but a promise that could perhaps be kept even with his death. He leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “Goodbye, Atar.” Tears dripping down his cheeks, he turned around and left.

Maglor’s fingers, resting idly in his lap, began to twitch.

The scene still does not have a fic, and I’m not sure I’ll ever write the original story I had in mind for it, but I’m proud of it!

4 Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

I’m going to share one from Chapter One of Rest for the Weary and the Damned, when Elrond is talking to Maglor about outliving a child (Maglor with Elros, Elrond with Arwen and Estel).

“Oh, Atar,” he cried, “This grief - how did you ever bear it?”

Its just a small moment between them, but an important one. Elrond is a parent too, and can now relate to his foster-father in ways he couldn’t during the First Age. And, even as an eldritch being, Maglor understands grief all too well.

#thank you again for the ask #my writing #silmarillion

[space-writes]

Hi Space!! I saw your post about Obsidian, and I think it would be perfect for my worldbuilding notes. (for novels + D&D things). Do you have any advice about how to get started with a worldbuilding/story vault? Especially how to make it look as nice and aesthetic as your notes? I opened Obsidian for the first time just now and I immediately felt lowkey overwhelmed by the possibilities.

You also mentioned plug-ins? How do those work? Do you have any you consider essential for yourself?

Sorry if these are silly questions, but I'm very curious about this, and I want to give it a shot! Thanks for answering, and for telling me about this super cool-looking app!

~ Morri🗡 (@memento-morri-writes)

Hi Morri!

not silly questions at all! i'm more than happy to chat about obsidian for literal hours

The key here is do not do everything at once. As you build, what you think you need, and what you actually need, will change. The best way, I’ve found, to build any kind of vault in Obsidian is organically. Put in a small bit of information, play with it, then put in some more.

I fully expect no-one to do this, because I did not, and ended up refactoring my entire process multiple times, because I am an idiot who thinks common sense does not apply to me.

I wrote a post for anon here that covers some bits about plugins (which i will be making a post about soon, it’s in progress!), and such, but I’ll repeat here one of my main points, which is that there are as many ways to organise Obsidian as there are people. It is overwhelming, because there is so much freedom. I spent a long time switching through themes and organisation methods, before realising that I had to grow my own process that worked for me.

I base mine on a (very very) bastardised version of Johnny Decimal. Top level folders for large categories, with subfolders if needed.

and now a cut! because this did, in fact, get long

making a worldbuilding/story vault

For a worldbuilding/story vault, I’d recommend starting with the very very basics of your information:

a folder for meta information, like images, pdfs, other files, any templates you make. just to keep that stuff out of the way

a folder for research

a folder or folders for characters and setting

a folder for the actual writing

within those, it depends on what you’re working on how you want to organise. I have the following in my ‘world’ folder for the Valloroth vault:

and my D&D vault looks like this:

I like big categories and i cannot lie. I like this method because it makes sense for my brain, and I know where to look for things. however, don’t feel beholden to any organisation you set up if it’s not working. try it, find the friction points, try something different to ease the friction points.

the best and worst thing about Obsidian is that you can do whatever you want. so if it’s not working - change it! it’s your vault!

for the aesthetic

i am the kind of person who knows just enough css to be a danger to myself and others, and I like tinkering. it took me a couple years to get my vaults looking the way they do, but the quickest way to get a pretty vault is to look at community themes!

For d&d, the go-to MVP of themes is ITS Theme. It has a lot of options, a really good set of explainer docs, and the dev is a pretty active member in the discord community. (hi SlR if you ever read this! love your work!)

My main vault uses the typewriter theme, with custom colour accents, custom fonts, and also a bunch of CSS snippets. Valloroth is entirely custom on top of vanilla obsidian, and i’m scared to look at the code because it’s over a year old now, and I haven’t really updated it and I am not a dev TT_TT

many of my prettifying tweaks are bits of CSS I’ve collected from lurking in discord over the past few years, or stolen from other themes.

but if you’re not a nerd with too much free time like me, hop into the community themes under ‘appearance’ in settings, and play around until you find one you like. and then, if you’re a nerd with too much free time like me, there’ll be like one or two things in that theme you want to change, and before you know it you’re neck deep in w3schools trying to figure out which selector you need to target when you should be asleep.

i’m always happy to chat/share CSS bits and pieces, if you/others are interested!

aaaand this post is long enough, so i hope that’s been helpful. I hope you have fun playing around with Obsidian, whether you end up using it or not

#obsidian md #obsidian.md #i hope this is helpful #feel free to ask me to clarify anything!

[ambrosethedarling]

Meta Bats AU

TW Derealization

After Jason died he haunted the a Manor.

The first time Bruce caught a glimpse of Jason’s ratty red hood darting around a corner, he went straight to the cave and tested for every single toxin and poison in the database three times. He was cleared every time.

The next time it happened was in the cave, Dick had needed to cross reference some data he’d collected in Blüdhaven against some old files kept in the backlogs of the bat computer. Bruce had just been returning from an extra long patrol and caught Dick on his way out, Jason trailing behind him.

The incidents were few and far between, he’d hear Jason’s snorting laughter in between jokes Dick would throw Alfred’s way, hear the familiar pattern of Jason’s footfalls intermingled with Dick’s in the garage.

In hindsight, Bruce should have known.

When Dick first came to live with Bruce the boy kept any and all traces of his abilities shoved deep within himself. It wasn’t until a year later that Bruce got to see a glimpse of the magic that runs through the Grayson family. Dick had been in the middle of emphatically telling Bruce a story from his life at Hayley’s, his hands waving and fluttering, voice rising and dropping at the appropriate moments, when Bruce heard it.

A faint melody filled the room as Dick’s story continued towards its climax, rising and swelling with every word. Dick seemed to be sitting under a spotlight and if Bruce squinted he could just barely make out the outfit Dick had spent a whole two minutes describing. From the shimmering sequins of his ruby red leotard to the gold glitter of his stage makeup, it was all there. The smell of kettle corn and chalk faded with the last of Dick’s words, but if he strained hard enough Bruce could still hear the faint roar of a crowd.

After that Dick had no reservations using his ability. From pulling silly pranks at the manor or heightening Batman’s scare factor in dark alleys, the alluring gleam of Grayson magic filled Bruce’s life.

Bruce really should have known.

It took too long for him to recognize what was happening, even Alfred who had a knack at spotting Dick’s influence was slow to put the pieces together. Or maybe neither wanted to see it.

Bruce followed the sound of Dick’s voice to the den, he had been staying at the Manor while his ankle healed— Bruce had seen a lot of Jason since. With a clearer mind, a knowledge of what was really happening, Bruce could recognize that Dick was speaking to an empty room, that Jason’s young voice riddled with cracks wasn’t actually responding. In the months that Bruce had been catching glimpses and hearing snippets, he had never actually seen whatever Dick had been, Alfred neither.

Laying on the floor, nose scrunched and tongue out in concentration was Jason, Dick shoulder to shoulder with him as they played a racing game. Bruce knew this moment, it had been real once. He had stumbled across them like this a week after Jason’s 14th birthday, Dick had gifted him the console and would come over once a week to play with Jason.

Bruce could see through it all now.

Freckles were missing from Jason’s face, the tv lay dormant, the lights hadn’t been turned on. Grief and guilt lay heavy in the air and when Dick turned to Bruce his eyes had gone blank in a way he’d only seen once. Once when Dick was too convincing, when he’d left the interrogation room apologizing and a glaze-eyed henchman shivering in the chair. The man came back to reality an hour later.

Dick was smiling now, he was laughing and so was Jason and Bruce could feel the tears sliding down his face. Those were real. He’d gathered Dick in his arms, pressing him close and tight, and reached for the sparkling magic within his son. He cupped the flame, gathering every stray spark, and closed tight around it until he couldn’t see Jason staring back at him. Until Dick slumped into him, until his son slowly came back to him.

#denial is a hell of a drug #dicks always been good at lying to himself #the grief and guilt runs deep #Ambrose talks bats #batfam meta au #posted from twitter #jason todd #dick grayson #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #meta au

[sophiainspace]

An Honest Thief

Chapter 8: I Believe In You

Leonard Snart/Iris West

Read on AO3 here

Chapter snippet:

The part of Iris that was close to Barry, once, wants nothing more than to slide in next to him on the big armchair and coax him into giving her the rest of the story. Even if Thawne’s offer is a terrible idea, she wants to be the one to tell him so.

But they don’t share their secrets anymore.

”Okay,” she says gently. “As long as you’re sure.”

”I’m sure,” he says, with a soft smile back at her.

Leonard coughs. “So you need a solution to your evil speedster problem, is what I’m hearing, Barry. Guessing you don’t want to keep him locked up in that cell much longer?” He gives Barry a look that says he’s not prepared to countenance that. Iris hides her smile behind her coffee mug.

“No. Joe is already making noises about the Geneva Convention. That’s half the reason I wanted you to get the metas out of town in the first place, Len.” Barry’s whole body is tight with rage, as if he’s holding back the urge to run. “But it’s one thing for you to release Mardon and Peek-A-Boo into the wild. Thawne is different. We can’t just let a serial murderer go free.”

“Correct,” Leonard murmurs. He’s got that dark, compelling look on his face again, and Iris knows he’s planning murder. She wouldn’t care, except that this time, it’s going to get him killed.

”Leonard,” she says firmly. “This is not some game you’re playing with the Flash. Thawne will squash you like a bug, if you even try to get near him.”

“Agreed.” Leonard turns to her with a sudden, delightful smirk. “We’re going with your plan, Death-Wish West.”

Iris is so tempted to rip all Leonard’s clothes off, right then and there. Barry be damned. “Oh yeah, we are.”

They beam at each other.

”Uh,” Barry says, his blank expression shifting from Leonard to Iris. “What?”

Leonard reaches out to pat Barry on the shoulder. “We’re gonna let Iris take point on this. She’s gonna fool Thawne into thinking he’s got a future - make him believe you two are getting married. And then you’ll give him his damn portal, Barry. Right when you’re on the verge of sending him home, you and Cisco are gonna send him… somewhere else. All the way out of this universe, if you can figure out how.”

Barry’s eyes are full of fire that belongs to the Flash. “Even if I knew how to send Thawne somewhere else, which I don’t, there’s a thousand things that could go wrong with that plan. Starting with Iris getting herself killed, if she doesn’t completely fool him.”

“Barry,” Leonard says, “I think you can trust the woman who was significantly better at hiding things from you than vice versa, to lie successfully to a man who thinks she’s nothing but a brainless little girl.” He gives Iris a look so proud, she has to bite her lip hard, or she’d be right back to thinking about tearing his clothes off, which is a little distracting when they’re trying to make plans. “He underestimates you, Iris. That’s gonna be his undoing.”

Barry doesn’t look so convinced. “What if he tries to kill you, Iris?”

Iris tilts her head in Leonard’s direction. “Like he said.”

”Like I said,” Leonard growls in agreement. “Death-Wish West versus the monsters? I’ll take those odds.”

#look I can no longer contain the coldwestallen and I’m sorry #but it’s all implied #but ffs these three #an honest thief #coldwest #(I swear. coldwest.) #iris west #leonard snart #barry allen #fic update #my fic