#the story isn’t trying to tell people to lie about knowing dead kids it’s not a moral lesson

[tarotmantic]

i will never justify why i like deh bc i don’t have to actually. i can just like it no qualifier needed

#this is inspired by a post but by no means a direct response #im just sick of anyone who ever says they like deh following it up with an ‘even though it sucks’ #u can just say u like it #also it doesn’t suck okay it’s not problematic bc that doesn’t #doesn’t mean anything #the story isn’t trying to tell people to lie about knowing dead kids it’s not a moral lesson #the music slaps #have ur issues with it whatever but stawp with the shame #no media is without flaws #deh is not objectively bad as much as people want to believe that #honestly no one gets to clown on deh when dark romance is insanely popular on tiktok #by which I mean clearly we can understand that media doesn’t have to reflect real life morals #it doesn’t have to be pure and clean #im literally so cold rn #that’s unrelated #let people enjoy deh guilt free #let the tiktok girlies enjoy mafia stalker fiction #live and let live! #do i main tag this #dear evan hansen #deh #dear evan hansen (2021)

[lyramundana]

Coming back with reincarnated isekai villainess Portia because i’m now hooked with this au and i can’t stop the flow of ideas coming to my head. again, tagging beautiful @daughter-of-sea-and-wisdom because it’s your fault i’m here, so you may as well bear it with me❤ (also i’ve been rewatching Bridgerton season 2 and of course this doesn’t help?

This is about the role Cousin Jack would play in this universe. By now, when I talk about this, i’ll usually mean the “Portia and the Spouses remember but the Bridgertons don’t” au. It’s going to be long, btw

In the original story, he was merely a supporting character whose main role was scamming other nobles and helping Portia with her schemes. A small villain, basically. There, she forces him and Prudence to get engaged in order to ensure the Featherington’s full fortune for themselves, unknowingly that Jack is actually broke and lives off his scams, so she basically condemns her family to poverty. Eventually, he runs away after being confronted by the nobles he lied to and the Featherington family falls into disgrace once again, like all villains are expected to.This moment is barely commented and is supposed to be an almost comedical relief about how pathetic the villains are and how wonderful the main characters are.

In the reincarnation au, however, this takes a turn. Portia is actually clever and succesful about her investments, so she doesn’t need to rely on the Featherington’s fortune per se, considering she makes enough money to provide for her entire family. However, the residence belongs to Lord Featherington in paper, so when he dies, the law affirms that it has to pass unto the next man of the family, so Cousin Jack comes anyway, informing that his father is dead and all. But he soon figures out that his presence is pretty much not needed there, as Portia is able to substain her family by herself and she has an army of teens/young adults that look ready (and capable) of killing him if he so much looks at her wrongly. But he stays anyway, because he has nothing better to do (and he’s broke, remember).

Portia finds him tolerable at best and a nuisance at worst. He has nothing to contribute to the house besides problems, and he doesn’t even know how to clean the messes he leaves after (unlike her kids). He still shows interest in her bussiness and offers his assistance, which she accepts to keep him busy. Along the way, Jack becames infatuated by Portia’s sharp mind and charisma to win clients over, pushing him to try to court her. He’s so obvious about it that even Portia’s usual oblivious self realizes. Even the ton is aware of it (somehow).

Instead of rejecting him, however, a bulb turns on inside her head. Portia isn’t really enthusiastic about marriage, but she can’t turn her head away when there’s a possible benefit in front of her. 

So she decides to play along with his flirting and marry him. 

- But Portia, you can’t possibly mean-

- Why not, Mary? He’s young and handsome. That alone makes him better than Archibald when I married him. He’s good at charming people, a helpful skill, and he’s actually decent at finantial management, as long as he doesn’t lie to people about the profits. Plus, he can hold entertaining conversations. Again, better than Archibald. 

- But you don’t need any of that. You can persuade people already to follow you and you sure as hell don’t need assistance with finantial issues. - she stares at her friend, unmoving. - Tell me the truth, why are you really going through with this?

Portia sighs, knowing there’s no way she can convince Mary out. 

- No matter how succesful I am, I’m still a woman. This society would never hold me in high regard because of it, and men can’t stand the fact that I’m better than them on something without help. This “low-profile” thing can only shield us for so long. - she looks outside the window, fixing her gaze on Jack talking to Penelope about something that, whatever it is, doesn’t impress the girl. - If I have a man by my side, the ton will be more willing to overlook my “less than savoury” activities. He doesn’t have to do anything, just stand there and look pretty to keep the attention far from me. 

Mary understands the reasoning, of course. She knows how unkindly this society is with women that have no men to “control” her. A lady’s worth is mostly defined by the men on her life. And Portia’s right, there’s so much their charm can do to get them away from trouble. Still, she doesn’t like Portia being intimate with a man she doesn’t like (she doesn’t see her with any man whatsoever)

But eventually, she respects Portia’s decision and supports her reluctantly. The Spouses' have different reactions to the news, but they all collectivetly come to the agreement that “at least he’ll be more useful this way”. 

#Violet is far from happy about it #the Portia she knows would have never accepted that man as husband #she's happier as a widow #then why? what is she pulling now? #that man must have seduced her surely #that's right #it's all his fault #she must find a way to get rid of him without compromising Portia #and she though that killing Archibald would fix everything

[construingseacats]

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 6: Sandy Beach 

Sat, Oct 4 1986 - 3:00PM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

We finally have our first real entry to the Tips menu in the form of the Epitaph, but it’s just a copy of what it says without any further notes. Going forward I’ll just comment if something is added that I think merits inspection, other than starting each post with “no new tips this time” or “there’s something new but there’s nothing to say about it”.

I mean, I have to make the joke about Maria being the one writing the Tips, right? We get the Epitaph in our “book” and then she pulls it out of hers. Anyway Maria writes all the tips 100% canon confirmed

Battler says he’s hungry and Yasu immediately goes into “I would do anything in the world for you” mode.

Umineko is just full of microcosms of itself, isn’t it? This whole scene of the kids discussing the Epitaph is just one giant metaphor to the narrative structure of the mystery as a whole. The Epitaph tells you about a sweetfish-filled river, so you take it as the truth. You try to figure out where it is, but it’s fruitless, because it doesn’t exist. The same applies to all the testimonies and text that dances around the red truths later - if you take it at face value, you’ll find yourself in a dead end. It’s only when you take a step back and realise what the words actually mean that you arrive at your actual truth.

Absolutely WILD take. You’d really think Maria would be big into the fantasy motifs associated with castles. That being said, this probably does track - Maria has probably been on days out to actual castles and, as a kid, found them relatively mundane and boring. Under the lens of reality, theme parks are indeed the more whimsical of the two, and probably easier for her to lose herself in fantasy-wise.

Hitting the nail on the head there by focusing on the Kanji of the Epitaph being important, eh?

Yeah this was just me at every family meeting when I was her age.

Battler cutting the Gordian Knot here. This is a really interesting line, honestly - it’s a sense of pragmatic bluntness that I don’t recall us getting a lot of later (although that might just be my memory), but moreover, it shows a sense of gunning for answers without caring for the why. It’s definitely a far cry from Erika levels of depravity, but it’s neat to know how much he grows as a person as this story goes on.

I do wonder what Yasu’s thoughts are regarding this discussion. I know she’s rooting for Battler - or anyone, really - to solve the Epitaph, but I’d loved to have seen a beat-by-beat reaction of her internal thoughts to everything going on here.

Maria talks about wanting to believe in Beato and Yasu chimes in immediately. Feed that imagination and you can use her to your advantage later.

Good to know that we’re establishing the servants being willing to lie in service of fantasy this early on.

Battler goes “woah, that’s scary” and then Yasu immediately retreats and goes “nooo it’s not that scary please like me”.

I’m imagining a conversation where Maria asks Rosa for a book for her birthday, a happy Rosa asks her which one she would like, and then Maria goes “The Lemegeton :)”

I dunno man, I used to cast fire strike on scorpions at the Al Kharid mine to train my magic and they didn’t put up much resistance.

I’m imagining an alternate universe where the Rokkenjima Massacre never happens and Maria grows up as one of those girls obsessed with Star Signs and Crystals.

“Even I don’t think of myself as the sort of loser who’d laugh at something like that”. Oh Ryukishi is coming for the throat of anyone who makes fun of other peoples’ interests. I think this is quite a neat comment to drop - like, internally, part of me wants to say that he’s painting with too broad a stroke here, but at the same time I don’t think he’s wrong at all? Like, using the above example of people obsessed with astrological signs, it’s pretty common to see others poking fun at them because obviously it’s not real. But is that a valid reason to disparage them? Aren’t we all retreating into our own personal fantasies of reality, especially when it comes to more existential topics? Umineko, at its core, really is a story of compassion for your fellow man. I think this is quite a direct point for the story to make, but it’s a well warranted one.

Yasu, once again, is writing Battler as the ultimate gentleman dreamboat who would be her perfect partner.

This scene is quite interesting in that it gives you a good insight into the philosophy of the trio here - Battler, results focused, is initially disappointed that the roses will be battered by the storm. Jessica chimes in, saying that they were lucky to have lived and left an impression on them, and George echoes this by saying that the finite nature of their existence is what truly allows you to admire them in their bloom - with Battler coming around to their way of thinking afterwards. I like seeing Battler being so open minded, but I also like thinking of this as a reflection of all of their thoughts about life in general.

Oh that’s a scathing comment from Jessica. Literally one scene ago we had a callout directed towards people for looking down on what brings others joy, and now we have Jessica calling Maria’s obsession “pointless”. That has to be an intentional criticism of her character.

Mother of the year incoming.

The themes of fantasy and reality rise once again. Of course, the rose is gone - presumably it was pruned by Yasu to get Maria into this situation - but none of what the cousins or Rosa is saying here actually helps Maria. You can’t help her with the truth, you can only upset her. So do you force the truth down her throat? Do you make her even more upset, so you can feel vindicated that you’re right? Or do you approach her in a way that might actually calm her down? To be fair, I’m not entirely sure what the right approach would even be in this scenario - I’d presume the best bet is to weave some fantastical tale that the rose ran away somewhere, or that it wasn’t wilting and was actually getting ready to hide before the typhoon hit, so it’s actually safe and sound under the dirt. But anyway, I certainly know what the wrong approach is in this case!

Yasu writes the Ushiromiyas as completely rotten, who cannot be changed and aren’t worth saving. “But Battler, my hero? He’s different. He’s the good one.”

Once again, Umineko is such a good dive into the human condition. I’m almost certain that Rosa and Maria are based on a real case he saw during his time as a social worker. Rosa is a terrible mother, but you can see why she’s ended up like this. Not just because she’s issuing the same treatment Kinzo gave to her generationally, but because she’s a single mother who is not able to cope with Maria’s additional needs and struggles by herself. Her actions aren’t excused - and they certainly aren’t excusable - but you clearly understand why Rosa is like this. I’m so grateful whenever a piece of media is able to navigate a difficult topic like this with an understanding of the humanity behind both parties without just taking the easy route and vilifying one of them.

Wow, George is so great with kids! Anyway, let’s defend the mother who is beating her daughter.

It’s actually really messed up that both George and Jessica are so defensive of Rosa’s actions here. The generational trauma is real - they’ve both absolutely received similar treatment growing up and have become numb to it.

Yeah? You think what Maria wants the most right now is to be left alone? Bet you feel real good about yourselves letting that 9 year old get a beating, huh?

Through the lens of Yasu’s writing, I can’t help but see this as a venting moment - a reflection of the times that she was hurting, that she wanted someone to reach out to her, but it was too proper for them to do so and so a blind eye was turned against her. After all, it’s the Ushiromiya family, their entire tattered history is full of them simply ignoring their problems and waiting for them to go away. No doubt Yasu was frothing at the bit at the prospect of them trying to “wait for the problem to go away” while standing on top of several tons of military grade explosives.

It’s worth mentioning that I’m writing these notes as I go, because occasionally I’ll make a comment and then be pleasantly surprised by seeing a point I make be immediately reinforced by the narrative. Case in point, we have some discussion from Battler about how messed up it is for George and Jessica to act as they do in this scene.

Honestly, I want to revisit a suggestion I made earlier about Maria implanting herself onto the rose - if we read this scene with that assumption, this all hits so, so much harder. The wilted rose, the odd one out, has disappeared - and no-one seems to care. And here we have Rosa basically confirming that’s a one-to-one reflection of Maria’s school life; a wilted rose that people tolerate at best, want to see gone at worst, and the odd one out without any friends regardless. It’s just sad all round.

Also, Fortitude is the perfect pick for this scene - such a great track. Flawlessly captures the emotions at play here.

And we find ourselves in a Kinzo scene to send us out. With no witnesses in the study, this is the fantasy of an empty room. The sound of rain against the window with no-one there to care. A study draped in isolation and silence, all alone. It is left to the reader to decide what is lonelier - this vista of emptiness, or the abused child in the rose garden.

Beatrice.

#umireread #umineko #umineko spoilers

[berenwrites]

Beyond the Battle - Chapter 13 - Stranger Things - Steddie

Beyond the Battle­: Action & Consequence

Click here for All Posted Chapters

Summary: Steve hits things with a bat or gets hit depending on who you ask. He definitely does not have anything to do with the psychic stuff. That is El’s domain. However, as Vecna is defeated, the rules change.

Pairing: steddie (Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson)

Other Relationships: Steve & Robin, Steve & Dustin, Eddie & Dustin

Rating: Teen

A/N: Multi-chapter story, updated regularly. Honestly not sure how many chapters it will have yet because it's still a bit hand wavy in the middle, but definitely more than 12. Thank you to my beta for find my mistakes and to all those who read/like/reblog.💖 Follow #st:beyond-the-battle for updates.

Also on AO3

Chapter 13.    Moving Forward

Hopper appeared just before lunch carrying two large dishes of food from Joyce. Steve had sent round a walkie ask earlier to see if anyone needed to go to the store like he did, and apparently that had made up Joyce’s mind to make sure the hoard at his house were fed. He made a mental note to pick up Joyce some things at the store when he went later, while he popped the casseroles in the oven to keep warm.

“Are you staying for some of this amazing smelling food?” Steve asked after he set the temperature and turned back to the ex-police chief hovering in his kitchen.

The kids were all currently in the backyard blowing off some steam since Steve and Eddie had both declared they were done for now. Robin was also outside, supposedly to make sure no one got themselves killed because Lucas was encouraging Dustin to try and climb a tree, but Steve was pretty sure she was egging them on.

“Well, mostly I came to deliver a message, but I could be persuaded,” Hopper replied.

“What’s up, Chief?” Eddie asked from where he was lounging in a chair.

“I spoke to Owens this morning before dropping in to talk to Powell,” Hopper said, which definitely caught Steve’s attention. “There is going to be a press conference this afternoon at five where Chief Powell is going to make it very clear, you are no longer a suspect in the murders in this town.”

Eddie sat up straight.

“How did you manage that?” Steve asked.

“Owens and his people are coming up with an airtight cover story,” Hopper told them, “and we haven’t ironed the details out yet, but it’s going to be something to do with the undercover angle we were using for me coming back from the dead.”

Steve remembered hearing something about that before they had all been allowed back to their homes, but he’d been a bit distracted since.

“I explained to Powell I couldn’t discuss the details yet, but how wrong this town was and that he needs to get on the right side of this story before he looks like a complete idiot,” Hopper went on. “He agreed when I mentioned the Feds.”

“So, I’m going to be free and clear?” Eddie asked, voice higher than normal and full of incredulity.

Steve didn’t blame him, after all the police had done nothing to help him so far.

“That’s the plan,” Hopper replied, “although you probably want to lie low for a while longer until we can get the full cover story out there and everyone gets the message.”

“Holy shit,” Eddie said, sitting back in his chair and staring into space for a while as if he was having trouble getting his head round that.

“So, Powell and Owens know Eddie is alive?” Steve asked as it occurred to him.

Hopper nodded.

“But they are the only two and it’s not going to be made public knowledge,” the man told them. “They needed to know so they realise how important this is. Clearing the name of a dead man isn’t as much of a priority.”

“Can I tell my uncle?” Eddie asked, leaning forward again.

“It might be danger…” Hopper started to say.

“We could bring him here,” Steve interrupted before Hopper could say no. “Hop, Wayne thinks Eddie is dead. If it was your kid, you’d want to know that wasn’t true, wouldn’t you?”

He’d heard the desperate edge in Eddie’s tone. While he had no idea what was going on in Eddie’s head, he could imagine. If it had been him, while he was in hiding, he wouldn’t have wanted to involve those he loved, but Hopper’s news changed all that for Eddie.

“Yeah,” Hopper said after a few seconds, “yeah, I would. But do it before the press conference if you can. The news people will no doubt want someone to talk to when this goes live, and Wayne Munson is the obvious candidate, so they will be looking for him.”

“How much can I tell him?” Eddie asked next.

“My cover story is I went undercover with the Feds,” Hopper replied, “but Owens hasn’t come up with the details yet. Apparently, he’s still working them out so the paper trail will stand up. We’ll work you in somehow, either as an innocent bystander caught up in it, or as a confidential informant or something, but until it’s finalised, go with ‘sorry I can’t talk about it yet’.”

“I don’t like lying to my uncle,” Eddie said, playing with his fingers as if he still had his rings on.

“Think of it as protecting him,” Hopper said. “The Upside Down might be closed off now, but just knowing about it puts people in danger.”

“Russians,” Steve muttered before he could stop himself.

“Yeah, and any other foreign or domestic power who decides opening a gate might be in their best interest,” Hopper agreed.

Eddie looked between them.

“Okay,” he said eventually, and Steve so wanted to walk over and give him a hug.

“I could take Dustin and track him down,” Steve said, already standing away from where he was leaning on the counter.

“Food first,” Hopper said before he could get ahead of himself. “He’s staying at the Palace Motel and he’s usually there or at the school. He shouldn’t be hard to find. Now I am going out there to make sure no one dies, because I just saw Henderson nearly fall out of a tree.”

As soon as Hopper walked out the back door muttering about damn kids, Steve stepped across to where Eddie was sitting.

“Okay?” he asked, reaching out to place a hand on Eddie’s shoulder.

“No more running from the law,” was the somewhat happy reply, but Eddie’s smile did not quite reach his eyes.

“It’s hard,” Steve said, because he was pretty sure he understood, “but Hop’s right, it keeps them safe.”

“But how do I explain where I’ve been?” Eddie asked. “What about when all this,” he gestured around himself, “goes back to normal and I wake him up in the middle of the night screaming?”

“Don’t lie,” was the best advice Steve could give. “Tell him you’ve been through hell, just don’t tell him how literal that was.”

“God, I hate this cloak and dagger bullshit,” Eddie said, staring at the floor.

“It gets easier,” Steve did his best to be reassuring. “Which should probably be worrying, but we’ve all been through it and we can help.”

“This is like your, what, fourth go round with all this shit?” Eddie asked.

“Fifth is you count the first confrontation with Vecna and his ultimate demise as separate events,” he replied, going for a lighter tone. “You’d think the government would be better at this by now.”

“Why should they worry when they have an elite force of battle toughened children to do it for them?” Eddie asked in his most sarcastic manner.

“Don’t ever call the kids that to their faces or we will never hear the end of it,” Steve said. “Can you imagine Dustin?”

“Yeah, an ego boost it not something that kid needs,” Eddie agreed, placing a hand over Steve’s and giving his fingers a light squeeze.

It wasn’t a resolution, but they were getting there.

~*~

“So,” Steve said, sitting down next to Hopper in the backyard, “how bad is it?”

Most of the others were inside now devouring Joyce’s offerings and just about everything else Steve had left in the house. He planned on fitting in a grocery run at some point in the afternoon or evening, depending on how long it took to track down Wayne Munson. When he’d seen Hopper sitting alone, he’d decided to broach the other subject on his mind.

Hopper sighed, taking another bite of his food before saying anything.

“It’s fine,” Hopper said, “as you can plainly see.”

Steve raised both his eyebrows and gave the other man a look.

“Hop,” he said, “you’re talking to the guy who learned how to mask a migraine that could knock out an elephant. So cut the crap.”

“You get migraines?” Hopper asked.

“I did,” he replied, “for a while after Billy and the plate, and then again after Starcourt. Lasted a couple of months each time. I guess now we know why they went away. But we aren’t talking about me.”

Hopper looked down at his food.

“What did you feel the other night?” Hopper asked eventually.

“Pain,” Steve admitted, “but nothing concrete, so you’re going to have to tell me.”

Another sigh answered his question.

“You can’t help me, Kid,” Hopper said, “Owens had his people give me a once over and things have healed wrong. It’s too late, there’s no putting it right without major surgery and even that would be doubtful.”

“They can’t put it right. What if I can?” he countered. “I can’t move things with my mind, well I can, but, yeah, definitely don’t want to try that again, but I can do this. I don’t understand it, but part of me must do. You could at least let me try.”

“Why? It’s just pain,” Hopper replied.

“Yeah, and no one deserves that,” Steve said. “And if that isn’t enough, think of it as an experiment.”

“For what?”

“For helping Max,” he replied, revealing the ace in his hand. “From what we’ve heard, she has what the doctors think are untreatable injuries too, she’s blind. If I can heal you, maybe I can heal her too, but I wouldn’t want to give her false hope, so, yeah, an experiment.”

Hopper glared at him.

“Fuck,” the man said under his breath. “You are a crafty bastard.”

Steve smiled his most devious smile.

“Just occasionally I take after my mother,” he replied. “I mean, don’t hold your breath for it to happen again, but mark it on the calendar.”

“Lord help us,” Hopper said and shook his head.

They fell into silence again for a while.

“So when might you plan on this experiment?” Hopper finally asked.

“You could come back tonight, after Eddie and Wayne have had their reunion,” Steve suggested.

“Isn’t that too soon?” Hopper said, frowning. “You raised the dead only yesterday.”

Steve gave Hopper a long cool look, the man had to have heard what he had to say about that at least three times the previous day.

“Okay, okay,” Hopper said, mouth twisting into something that vaguely resembled a smile, “no resurrections, but my point still stands.”

“I’m good,” Steve replied, “not, I’m fine, because we both know what that means, I really am good. It seems that as long as I consume my own body weight in food I bounce back. Honestly haven’t felt this good in a while.”

“You been healing yourself?” Hopper asked.

“Not consciously except when I healed where Eddie bit me,” he admitted (they filled Hopper in on their vampire investigations), “but my bites are almost completely gone, I can barely see where they were.”

He lifted the edge of his shirt. Where there had still been angry pink scar tissue before, there was almost smooth slightly discoloured skin. He’d noticed it in the mirror that morning, but he’d had more important things on his mind.

“I think, maybe, consciously acknowledging I have these powers kicked my instincts into gear to fix me without holding back,” he said with a small shrug. “I woke up like this today. They weren’t sore anymore yesterday, but they were still obvious.”

When he dropped his shirt again, Hopper shook his head and looked away for a moment.

“Waking miracles,” he just about heard the other man mutter to himself.

He gave Hopper whatever time he needed and waited for a proper response.

“You don’t have to,” Hopper started to say.

“I want to,” Steve said, shutting that down. “I kind of need to,” he admitted.

Hopper frowned in thought, but sighed again rather than voicing what he was actually thinking.

“For Max?” Hopper said after a few moments.

“For Max,” he agreed, because he was willing to pretend that was all it was if he had to.

“Tonight.”

He nodded and Hopper nodded back. They had a deal.

End of Chapter 13

Chapter 14

#stranger things fanfiction #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #eddie lives #stranger things #st:beyond-the-battle #fanfic #post season 4 #vampire eddie #hurt/comfort #vampire eddie munson #steve harrington has powers

[crazy56u]

Okay, so, let’s pretend I didn’t do that.

Plot twist: Sam leapt into DARPA at some point during the original show.

“Look, I have to find a needle in a haystack, just bear with me.” “Ian, it’s been like three months.”

Addison was disassociating, you cannot correct me.

Abridged version: “You think Addison is okay?” “The fuck do you think?”

“Wait, I found Ben- oh fuck, he’s in Jersey.”

Dude, just pee in a bottle, it’s 1970.

“I am not gonna run on you,” says the guy who is going to run on you.

Okay, thank fucking God, I thought Ben was gonna fall for that.

Look, after you retire from the police force, you either find a different hobby, or you just spontaneously combust.

What the fucking kind of last name is Zatt?

So of course Kevin dying is the bad history…

“I can’t be here just to put Kevin in jail.” Ben, you of all people should know that Kevin can fuck himself.

[I have been waiting the entire show to do that.]

“You take your eyes off this guy for on second, he’s gone.” And cue him breaking the toilet.

“This is all a misunderstanding!” “Yeah, and my name is Sam Beckett, pick a new lie.”

Kevin is supposed to be Saul Goodman, isn’t he…

Ben, maybe if you shove him out of the car right now, that is the good ending for the leap…

Annnnnd car chase!

Why is 1970 New Jersey experiencing the Dust Bowl?

[“Okay, Ben rolled the car, cue the credits, fucking hurry!”]

And it’s on fire!

…Ben, come on, man…

Oh, shit, Kevin actually decided to save him, nevermind.

“Whelp, the car exploded, let’s just- (cuff’d)” “FUCKING REALLY?!”

Look, all Ben needs to do is ram his shoulder into a heavy solid object, it’ll pop back in.

It would be an amazing plot twist if Kevin is the reason the Evil Leaper Project never showed up in this show, just by calling a guy…

Kevin, you are pulling at threads you have no right to be pulling at, it is taking Addison everything in her power to not start swearing.

“…hey, I know I was asking personal questions and shit, but why are you talking to a ghost?”

Kevin, you deserve to get shot at.

“What made you such a cynic.” “I just told you I have a brother.”

Why is Kevin trying to steal a teddy bear?

Is Hannah on the bus?

“I’m an optimist. Not an idiot.” Mic drop.

CALLED IT

Man, Addison picks the worst fucking times to watch the TV…

Annnnnd Addison had mentally decided to go for the tequila.

“So, for three years, I think Ben is dead.” You can just tell that Magic internally went “Okay, here we fucking go…”

Addison is about to go into her Joker arc.

Okay, that cowboy is too cool looking to be in this show.

Okay, with luck, Ben relocated his shoulder with that stunt.

…okay, the bloody shoulder is not a good sign…

Okay, calling it now, Kevin is about to lead Ben to Hannah.

My Brother, The Doctor

Okay, so the leap is getting Ben medical attention, and the sibling shit is a side benefit, got it.

Honestly, I think your nephew would get a kick out of seeing you cuffed.

Okay, getting a gun to the face, off to a good start.

CONFIRMED: Quantum Leap takes place in the same universe as A Christmas Story. I can now justifiably pitch a leap where Sam or Ben has to deal with the leg lamp.

Okay, to be fair, they had to say it. You can’t not do the “you’ll shoot your eye out” but with that gun.

I admire how much anger Ben had to choke down in order to agree to Kevin’s bullshit alibi.

I love how the brother immediately reveals he didn’t buy that shit.

Okay, somehow I knew there was a real reason he got passed over for valedictorian…

“Sorry I’m late!” Hannah, you did that intentionally, and you didn’t even know it.

“Hey, Nick, stop disassociating, it’s potato time.”

Okay, I am now convinced that somehow, that is actually Ben’s kid.

“You’re a scientist, Hannah?” “She was buddies with Einstein, and saw a man punch a Nazi.” “Wow, I can only imagine how cool that guy was, he was probably ripped.”

“You’re the chair.” I AM THE TABLE-

Josh is a Rutgers man, can relate. I am so sorry.

Okay, does Hannah know she’s talking to Ben?

“Josh, what’s Rutgers like?” Waterboarding.

Okay, now she knows.

[Fuck it, why not, Part 3.]

#quantum leap #spoilers #off the cuff #kevin can fuck himself #better call Saul #a christmas story #botchamania #to be continued #shitting on New Jersey

[hidden-dreamland]

Content & warnings: Buried alive, mentions of maggots, implied character death, undead whumpee, fourth wall breaking

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

Chapter 1 - Meet the corpse.

This chapter can also be called “the one where you meet the author and learn a bit about his deceit” but that doesn’t make for a snappy title now, does it? I don’t think so.

Oh well. Snappy titles aside, I should begin now.

I'll start off with an apology. Now you, reader, may be asking yourself just why in the world is that needed? Well. For my deceit.

Reader, I apologize for lying.

Oh wait. You don’t know what im lying about, do you?

You don’t. I haven’t told you. I haven’t told anyone. Not yet at least.

I mean I don’t have many people to tell this to right now…

I'll stop rambling.

Well dear reader, I guess it’s time I come clean. This story’s title is nothing more than a bold-faced lie. One that I did believe in life, sure, but a lie nonetheless. You see dear Reader, I'm dead. BUT WAIT, HOLD YOUR HORSES AND THE QUESTIONING AND THE COMMENTS CALLING ME CRAZY. I see those fingers of yours running to the reblog button to bombard me with curious intent and indignant questions and snarky comments and innocent thoughts of “oh what a fun writing style!”- save it. I’m not kidding. This isn’t a gimmick, Reader. I, the author, am very much dead. In fact, I'm six feet under as I write this.

Maybe less than six feet, given the bit of signal I managed to get...

Ah well.

By the time you read this, I may or may not be… attempting to dig myself out of here. It’s difficult. But I can try. I will try

I have to try.

I'm going fucking insane down here.

That is also why I'm writing. Just a little bit of creative work to keep the demons at bay.

Heaven knows I need it.

Ever been stuck in a coffin, reader? Or rather, ever been stuck in your own coffin?

I hope you haven't. I really hope you haven't.

As far as I'm aware, I don't exactly need to breathe, but that doesn't make the stuffy air around me any less unpleasant. You see, reader, I'm a corpse. I reek of fucking rot.

One could expect the scent of formaldehyde, of preserving agents, but it seems I've been buried in natura. Tacky, in my opinion. Way too last century. I'd much rather have the chemical smell than this damp disgusting stench of decomposing flesh.

Sigh. Did I even have a proper burial?

Maybe not.

I don't remember how I died, but i don't think it was an easy death given the bruising and the cuts and the sheer amount of wrong I feel inside me.

There's even something moving.

Wait

Why is there something moving

Wait whfgnlsz##√¢

dAtatta√^5@

WHAT THE FUCJ

Ok. Alright. Yeah. Dear reader, while I don't have to, I definitely can breatge

I can fucking hyperventilwee

And I have the lungs and the throat to scream it seems

i guess im in a much better state than previously thought. oh by the gods

TGEYRE STILL HERE

Fuck, ok, yeah, reader, I'll have to leave for now

my 'get the fuck out of thid goddamn box' plan has been moved from merely Important to ABSOLUTELY URGENT

I'll explain later, once I'm not oOCCUPIED FIGHTINF OFF THESE GODDSMN MAGGOTS

the Corpse shall be coming back soon :33

Void here- i hope you guys enjoyed this little thingy that came to my brain in the middle of the night the other day. I plant to make it into a series because oh the ideas are flowing

if you'd like to be tagged or removed from the taglist, please say so!

taglist: @whumpshaped, @meowsikbox, @wormwriting

#writing #whump writing #insects #maggots #main character death #fourth wall breaking #buried alive #i mean he’s… undead. so buried undead maybe? lol #also yes this will become whump i can’t wait to put this boy through a metaphorical (maybe a literal) meatgrinder #voidy writes

[saradrewitt]

The Six Demons of Elsewhere

LUX "SON OF MIDNIGHT"

Fun facts and just little things I thought of when I began writing for IMIE (Copy and pasted from the IMIE Docs)

I think, for those who know, that I have a lot more ideas, concepts, and writings for my favorite demon Lux. I just think he’s really neat and just a character that I enjoy using for my own religious crises when I get them. Lux is definitely a character that relates to a level of family dilemmas I go through, obviously his experiences are dramatized in the name of his own character design but as a youngest member, still struggling with familial acceptance and expectation, he’s just the best in my opinion. The man got his own spin off comic so I don’t know if that says anything about his character.

For those who don't know he was based off of one of the characters in the Killer in the Mirror music video by Set It Off, and since there was not that much to go off of from the source material I put it upon myself to add him in IMIE for throwback purposes.

This is the guy from the music video btw

In the music video it gave me a mob/cult-like aura to it which was perfect for the plot of IMIE given all the other music videos I wanted to connect together into the story. Even when I went back to writing the official outline for IMIE he and a few other characters like Con and Azah were there for easter eggs. In development, Midnight was the only era that had a good chunk of lore and I needed characters that would give Cody, Zach, and Maxx a hard time in pursuit of freedom.

Some parts of his character now are from ideals I grew up with and just rejected because of my own religious dilemmas in life. Now he’s not a vessel in that nature, he’s just a guy just trying to undo the stupid shit he’s done while trying to get back any form or normalcy in his life. The man literally pitches a cult-like group to collect souls for Nox because that’s the only thing he’s familiar with like c’mon tell me that isn’t religious trauma. On top of that, he definitely was written for me to just also consider other forms of acceptance that aren't from negative people/experiences. I’m not going to lie I'm very proud of this character in terms of writing because I always loved designing characters that fight for what they used to have, only to accept inevitable realities (hence why now it’s important for Lux’s sake that Chlorine is canon in IMIE). Anyway Enjoy!

His official Elsewhere title is Midnight, the people of Elsewhere often call him the “Midnight Demon” or the “Water Demon”

Lux likes polaroid cameras and photography. Having a secret collection of rock magazines and posters of rock starts at shows under his bed.

The only thing he got away with wearing in his childhood was all black, he only owned two band shirts but they were Christian bands but suddenly lost them (no he didn’t he threw them out).

Complete animal lover (animal planet binge watcher). He had a Crocodile Hunter phase. 

In Chlorine he cannot stand the neighborhood kids that bother him. He will literally throw hands he dosen’t care, what are you going to do call the police on a dead guy?

Lux secretly owned a dog in an abandoned house in the woods, brought him food, toys, and a doggie bed for him (he named him Wishbone from the show). One day Lux could not find him until he saw him being held by a kid (tail wagging) as they exited a dog shelter. Lux came home happier than normal that day.

He wears eyeliner (prefers pencil) when he isn’t around family (wears it more often now as a demon).

Nearly almost drowned three separate times as a young child. Lux has aquaphobia with a mild tolerance of the ocean (thalassophobia). He cannot get behind swimming and only knows basic swimming methods for survival purposes. Do not expect him to go swimming or invite him to events involving swimming, pools, or large bodies of water. The only place he is fine with staying are the pools located in the abandoned school in Linoleum City.

Suffered from familial and religious abuse. Lived in a VERY religious household.

Lux is definitely left handed. Speaking of left handed, before he became a demon Lux had scars and joint problems from constant blows to it from rulers, belts, and even hardcover books. “The hand of the devil '' his mother would refer. Now those scars and pain have since vanished after his death.

He was neglected throughout most of his childhood, wasn’t a planned child and therefore gets shamed for it most of the time. He even was named after a random relative, who tf knows if it’s from his mother or father’s side he just knows that it was a family member no one talks about. His parents didn’t really care, a name is a name they already used up their planned ones.

Was forced to hide most of the secrets his family church were hiding, some of them involving stealing and laundering money from the church.

Mother encouraged his music interest as long it was for the benefit of his family and the church (absolutely despised his love for metal and rock, said that he would go to hell if he followed that dark and satanic path). Also scared him when it came to the rapture. Just doing her motherly duties by subjecting a 5 year old into a constant state of paranoia.

Father tried to teach him how to swim but grew frustrated with Lux and almost nearly drowned him, he tried to get his brothers to teach him but kind of the same thing almost happened. The first time he almost drowned was because a bunch of church bullies. They tried to push him into a river.

In elementary school he would get bullied, because he was the smallest and the loudest kid in class “my dad says you’re dad is going to hell!”. You would think his older brothers would be there to protect him willingly? No if their father ever found out that Lux got his ass beat and they didn’t do shit its ass kicking for all of them and then 2 weeks of church duties. 

Middle school he calmed down until he got into the rock and metal scene and it all started from his music teacher, Mr. Johnson (best fucking teacher in the world). 

He’s gotten bullied for getting dropped off to school then putting his mother’s eyeliners in his eyes to appear more grungy. A lot of new words were thrown at him since then. His parents were called one day because he showed up to school and spent an hour changing into his “true form” which was a rock band shirt he stole, some spiked bracelets, fake piercings, jeans and combat boots. His mother spend the entire weekend praying for her son’s soul. While his father beat the shit outta him in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.

In high school all of that increased until he graduated. Most of his stubbornness was helped by Mrs. Johnson the school nurse (and yes Mr. Johnson’s wife). She was like a second mother to him at that point and he grew very protective of her because she was a veteran rocker in her younger years. She also was there when Lux’s parents died just before his graduation.

After high school he cut contact with his brothers (they moved and left town) and remianed alone since, leaving behind the only two people he cared for and working a shitty office job. 

He wants out of Elsewhere so bad it’s like living with your parents. He admittedly missed Elsewhere when it was his era, when he was the top dog, but now it’s mainly because Lux is a punk at heart and current Elsewhere is just overstimulated eyestrain.  

If there was anything he fought for before and during the events of Chlorine, it was Cult Linoleum. The one thing that he gave up his life for was purpose and power, so when Nox handed Red’s duties to him he was just living off that high. 

He loved the siblings of the cult coming to him for “acceptance” and seeing the beauty in the night. Offering false guidance and relishing in worshiping the night (this was just something he wanted to further develop until Con came to interfere on Nox’s behalf).

 In the aftermath of Chlorine we find out that in desperation, Lux “borrows” Con’s ideas for a....church?

Lux practically overpopulated the souls he produced for Nox to the point where a bunch of souls were just crowded in a Nowhere to snack on, but after some disappearing members and sketchy excuses, those numbers went down which is why Nox is really frustrated with him in the beginning of IMIE. Hence the events when Cody, Zach, and Maxx joined. 

There was no telling what caused Lux to fail, it might have been growing suspicion, it could have been his own sloppy organization, or it could be someone who changed his motives... either way, he is getting back to earth no matter what…

#fan comic #imie #chlorine #chlorine spin it off comic #chlorine comic #it’s midnight in elsewhere #it’s midnight in elsewhere comic #sara jackalope’s art #sara drewitt’s art

[smilingformoney]

Incorrect Snape quotes (Soul of Ice edition) pt2

Some of these are also just general incorrect Snape quotes lol

Abbie: As my father Professor Snape once said… Abbie: Get fucked. Snape: I have never once said that, Abbie.

Snape: I have to kill her. Lucius: Who? Snape, looking at Sephy: I don’t know how to flirt with her so she has to die.

Sephy: I’m going to become a false false prophet. My powers are real, I just lie for fun.

Snape: I swing both ways. Snape: Violently. Snape: With a crowbar. Snape: Come get some, motherfuckers.

Sephy: I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you! Snape: And I’m trying to subtly avoid it!

Snape: Abbie is washing the dishes and I just heard her say "Who do you work for? Who is your contact?" while repeatedly pushing a glass under water. Sephy: At least she’s having fun.

Abbie, to Hermione, lying facedown on the bed, regretting everything: And then I called him Dad! Snape, to Sephy, on the verge of tears: And then she called me Dad!

Snape: Sephy looks great today. Snape: I haven’t seen her yet, but I know she looks incredible.

Snape: This is giving me good PTSD. Sephy: …Do you mean nostalgia?

Snape: I forget but I don’t forgive. Snape: I’m wandering around hating people and can’t remember why.

Lucius: I don’t think we can mansplain, manipulate or malewife our way out of it this time. Snape: [cracking his knuckles] Manslaughter it is.

Snape: You often use humour to deflect trauma. Abbie: Thank you. Snape: That’s not a good thing. Abbie: What I’m hearing is you think I’m funny.

Sephy: Sev is so dumb. I can’t believe I’m gonna fuck him. Jamie: You don’t have to. Sephy: Nah, I’m gonna.

Snape, to the class: Alright, listen up, you little shits! Snape: Not you, Abbie. You’re an angel and I’m glad to have you here.

Abbie, after teaching Snape how to text: Dad, you don’t have to sign your name on texts!! Snape: Dear Abbie, Suggestion noted. Sincerely, Severus Snape.

Snape: I like my coffee bitter, like my soul. Sephy: He’s lying, he likes a cinnamon latte because it reminds him of Christmas.

Snape: I accidentally indulged in too much “me time.” Snape: Turns out, I've been reported missing for six months and presumed dead by most local and national authorities.

Draco: Romeo and Juliet is a love story, right? Snape: Romeo and Juliet is NOT a love story. It is a tragedy about how young love is stupid and short-sighted. Sephy: Romeo and Juliet is indeed a tragedy, but the love between the two stars is not stupid or short-sighted. It is genuine and beautiful. The tragedy comes from the fact that the rivalry between the Capulets and the Montagues destabilizes their community and kills two innocent kids who loved each other. Abbie: Mercutio is gay.

Snape: I put a little note in your bag to tell you that I love you. Abbie: This is a ten-page letter.

Abbie: I want someone to look at me and hope I’m a lesbian.

Snape: Can you keep a secret? Sephy: Do you know anything about my life? Snape: No I do not. Good point.

Snape: Don’t kill me! I have a daughter! Murderer: You think I care about that? Snape: No, this isn’t a plea for mercy. It’s a warning. Murderer: Wha - Abbie, kicking down the door: ARE YOU READY TO FUCKING DIE?!

Draco: [having a breakdown] Snape: I never thought I’d have to say this, but there is only space in this cult for ONE unstable Death Eater, and I’ve held that title for a very long time so you’re going to have to get it together.

Snape: I can’t believe all these people are wearing black. Black is supposed to be my thing, they’re all just posers. Sephy: Sev, for the last time, we’re at a funeral.

Abbie: Hey Dad, I finished my potion. Snape: Miss Payne, when in class you will call me Professor. Abbie: Right, sorry. Professor Dad, I finished my potion.

Snape: I am back. Harry: I literally watched you die. You died. You were dead. Snape: Death is a social construct.

Abbie: I can explain. Snape: Oh? Can you? Abbie: If you give me 30 seconds to think of a lie.

Snape: Despite my cold dead heart and your just-okay personality, I’ve grown to… have some affection for you.

Sephy: You’re running away from your feelings. Snape: Yeah. So what? I hate my feelings.

Snape: Abbie, I must say, I’m very disappointed. Abbie: Well, you didn’t have to say it. You could have just thought it.

Snape: I have to get something off my chest. Sephy: Is it your shirt? I hope it’s your shirt.

Sephy: For this mission, I wore the perfect disguise to make sure I went unnoticed. Something so drab and uninspired — Snape: I feel like this is going to be a jab at me. Sephy: — I wore Severus’ clothes. Snape: There it is.

Snape: You’re the love of my life, I would do anything for you. Sephy: I want you to eat three meals a day and have a regular sleep schedule. Snape: Absolutely not.

Snape: When I die, donate my entire body to science. Snape: Except my middle finger. Send that to Potter.

Abbie, to Snape: You think that disapproving glare works on me after all the times I've seen it?

Abbie: I don't think my father, the inventor of Lurking Ominously, would be too pleased with this.

Snape:  “Ladies and gentlemen” is unnecessarily gendered, overly formal, lengthy, and honestly I’m falling asleep already. “Cowards” or “fools”, on the other hand, are inclusive to all genders, casual and fun, and dramatic.

Sephy: Don’t be bitter, be better. Snape: I can multitask.

Snape: Will you stop this foolishness?! Abbie: What kind of foolishness would you like to see?

#severus snape #pro snape #snapedom #hp shitpost #incorrect quotes #soul of ice #I’m being quite self indulgent tonight soz

[cherrylightmoonlight]

Nyctophobia

When I was a kid the dark blinded me and trapped me.

I was afraid of the dark.

a monster who stole my innocence with the doors locked and the lights out.

The monster is persistent when I am in his presence he turns out the lights and takes me somewhere secluded.

Out of the sight of others.

I remain in his view only. In his grip only. He uses my fears against me.

I run into his arms to convince me he will protect me but he doesn’t.

I got use to the feeling of his hands being on me.

the darkness never leaves and most days it’s hard to even notice if I’m alive.

Years go by and it’s as if his hands have become arms. his body becomes mine.

His silence is my silence.

I hate myself and I can’t explain why it’s eaten a hole inside me.

My blood is filled with terror everyday I’m alive and I can’t pinpoint why.

I question my existence if I would be better here or not.

I think I’m already dead? Maybe I am dead? How will I know unless I try?(I think)

My dreams haunt me and the fear of my parents finding out what happens in the dark puts enough fear inside me to lay in my grave and stay silent forever and rest easy.

He threatens me and aggressively robs me of my innocence when I have questions. Questions to him means (I’m thinking about telling)

Questions to me was my way of finding comfort if I had to preform like this please just tell me beginning to end and instead I get punished.

I know my way around complete submission. Complete submission means he will take his time.

He’ll at least be gentle when he wrongs me.

My prayers consisted of asking God just to kill me.

Let him kill me so I don’t have to be blamed let my blood be smeared across this room so everyone will know what he has done.

Let my silence be proof and not the thing that’s held against me.

I decide to tell. Telling does nothing but send me into nightmares every night my parents forcing me to speak up even when I’m not ready. Forcing trust that isn’t there.

The monster no longer puts his hands on me but he still shows up to my birthday party’s invited by parents.

He still shows up to holidays and even just to visit.

I seclude myself in my room every time they ask why I don’t come out but they don’t have to deal with choking down tears, hiding in the bathroom just to compose the pain, the nightmares, and the flashbacks, over and over and over.

I’m an adult now 24 years old

I am still afraid of the dark. I sleep with a nightlight and the sound or television. I imagine scenarios of safety and usually someone who is strong who will protect me. I hate sleeping alone.

In a lot of ways I’m still a kid still stuck. Still have his hands on me. Still have flash backs. Still need a bedtime story and still need a body to lie next to so I’m safe never left in seclusion unless I put myself there.

I’m still scared of monsters I just realize now that people are the monsters. Looking at you like food ready to tear your flesh apart and drink your blood and surround you in nothingness.

Insatiable and starving always.

I was told when I was young that I was delusional that their were no monsters in my room.

I know now that there was and there still is.

[blackhiil]

I would ask this without anonymous but this is just in case.

I am a writer, even if I don’t post it.

I need help writing BlackHill.

I would like to write a long story of these two characters we love so much, but I don’t have enough knowledge or an idea on an AU or what to write for them. I would like an idea from you. Maybe a little help if that’s acceptable.

Thank you<3

— Soldier.

Honestly, Soldier I think the beauty of Blackhill is that you can write so much for them without knowledge of them. See I’ve never read a comic, not for lack of trying but still, I cant pull my characterizations of them from comics and the movies don’t give us A LOT to work with, which is why I love headcanons. And even if we knew everything about them, headcanons are still fun.

Unfortunately, all the current ideas I do have are for my blackhill bingo card so I can’t give you those but i’ll help you out a little.

If you want to write about them at SHIELD, write about Natasha’s early time at there. They wouldn’t trust each other, but they would have mutual respect for each other. Natasha’s deprogramming brings awful nightmares and memories, maybe she find comfort in Maria. They would slowly fall in love, but wouldn’t confess their feelings (Maria cause she doesn’t want Nat to think she’s only nice cause she wants something from her. Nat cause she doesn’t think she deserves it) but they slowly find their way together.

Now Aus are different, because they don’t have to be huge changes. One slight alteration to any movie moment could be considered AU.

-Instead of Coulson dying, Maria dies, but Fury brings her back using TAHITI and Natasha finds out.

-During Age of Ultron, they go to Maria and Nats house instead of Clint’s.

-Maybe during Winter Soldier, Maria actually tells Nat Fury isn’t dead because she can’t lie to her girlfriend (or wife maybe they’re married) or that could be the thing to break them up.

-During Civil War/Black Widow maybe Nat goes to Maria for help and comfort.

-In Infinty War, Maria doesn’t die, and they spend the 5 years together.

You could pick a movie and have domestic avengers moments that include Maria.

Maybe after another disaster, Pepper tells them to be more active on Social Media to appeal to the public and they put out content, so Natasha and Maria relationship is revealed.

Or you don’t have to do anything movie related at all. Put them in completely new environments.

Teacher x Teacher is one of my favorite ideas. They could be the teachers everyone plots to get together. Or rival teachers who fall in love.

Social Media Aus are my favorite. 2 people who have a bunch of mutual friends but just didn’t know each other, follow each other on Twitter (or whatever you wanna use) and get to know each other. Slowly fall in love.

They could be time travelers, maybe you can use some of your favorite characters from other shows and movies you like, have them meet.

Tattoo artist/Book (or flower shop) owners who have shops next to each other and maybe they get to know each other.

The possibilities are endless. Remember, don’t make your writing fit the characters, make the characters fit your writing. You can turn them into whoever you want.

Forgot to put this up top, but Kid Aus are fun. I love Blackhill as Parents. Or find inspiration based on songs. Listen to a Blackhill playlist or make one, use inspiration from that, I do. Prompt generators and AU lists can be very useful.

Sorry for making this so long, I got carried away. But if you like any of these ideas, let me know, I’ll be happy to help you out!

#anon #blackhill #blackhill ideas

[victorianwizarddad]

JOKER How'd you know you love Finn?👀🥺💖 - Rattyshipss

(@rattyshipss SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG i get in my feefees writing abt jokerfinn)

GOOD NEWS hubby’s got the hang of it

I suppose there’s two answers to that question. I know now that half of it was fake, but back at the circus, I’d never met anyone like him up til then. He really does love his lads that much though and I’ve no doubt that he would’ve done the same if it were all true. The man he introduced himself to us as, “Taylor Pocket,” I fell for him hook, line and sinker when I saw just how much effort he was putting in to give his kids a better life, even though they were actually trying to take down our circus right under our noses. He was confident and hardworking, talented to boot — I tried telling myself I just had a lot of respect for him when everyone could see he had me in his pocket, except me of course.

It all went awry after Father’s death. Me and my family moved into the Phantomhive manor and suddenly the people we’d just tried to kill were our bosses. Took a while for Finn to earn back our trust and, to his credit, he took all the blame for the entire debacle and wouldn’t have it when the twins or Alois said something out of pocket… He really did try to make amends for what happened and he showed us the truth behind every lie Father told us. It was only then I started to get to know Finn as he actually is, he’s a bit of a recluse and takes his work as a High Mage very seriously, but he’s a good dad and he’s never once uttered a bad word against someone who didn’t deserve it. He’s never held us to a debt, nor has he used what happened against us. It took me far too long to grapple with the fact he didn’t secretly want us all dead like the rest of the nobility.

Finn isn’t like them though. To get back to the question, I knew I was in love with him, the real him, when him and Ciel came back from a mission one night. Alois and Casimir weren’t very well, so they’d stayed home for once. Mey-Rin and I were dead on our feet after looking after them all day on top of our chores… I was just about to head upstairs to finish off for the night when they got home, but they looked so beaten and tired that I ended up fetching them some tea while they went to clean up… By the time I got to Finn’s bedroom Ciel was comatose on his bed, holding his hand. He was under a blanket but there were plasters and disinfectant on the nightstand so I guess the poor thing got a bit scuffed up. You almost never see a noble actually looking after their child like that, you know! Finn told me it was nothing serious and we sat on his bed and talked for a bit, bit of a heart to heart if you will…

Long story short he ended up crying, saying he wanted nothing more than to give us all something better than what we had, how he wished he could have just arrived earlier and helped, how hard it was for him to basically become a noble overnight just to make sure the kids he’d just rescued didn’t end up right back where he’d found them or the prey of the demon they’ve had stalking the house ever since… and it was then I realised he was just a young bloke who kept it together with sticks and twine so his family would be safe, a family he happened upon by complete chance. I finally realised how alike we were. I finally saw why the other nobles seemed to either love him or hate him. He’s got no clue what he’s doing, but he knows to try and cry quietly to not wake the little one next to him. He’s just like me.

As soon as I had that thought, I knew I was in love with him. I don’t think anyone saw that coming after everything, yet, here we are. Wouldn’t have it any other way, personally.

#f/ovember #f/ovember ask #f/o takeover #f/o: joker #self ship #self ship community #self shipping community #self shipping #tears up a little #im normal im normal im normal #*...... bursts into tears* #AIGUIGH!!! AUUGHAHHHGH!!!!! #THIS IS THE END

[deathsmallcaps]

The Magic Isn’t Real

The sadder interpretation, but one that (many, not all) English teachers like hearing about. Please keep in mind that the framing device, that this is a holiday special broadcast, requires a broader context. And I’m not going to explain it, partly because I think you should listen to the full podcast and partly because the original version, one that broadcasted in 2002, did not have this framing device as far as I know (as I was one, I did not listen to it.)

Page 28: It doesn’t sound like Nigh has any nearby friends, thus why he hangs out with adults so much. Plus, his grandmother needs help. That’s a lot of responsibility (and loneliness) for one little boy. That’s probably why he treasures his ‘secret’ with Mr. Ackerman so much, and is sad when he finds out it was a lie.

Page 29: Mr. Ackerman speaks coldly to Nigh about what the factory makes, partly because he probably had a long day and didn’t want to deal with questions. He probably wanted to move on from work.

Page 29: As we find out later, Mr. Ackerman works at a three pronged widget factory. This two pronged gadget mentioned could be something the man has been inventing to show his bosses.

Page 30: Mr. Ackerman tells Nigh about the clouds. He likely took a long time to think because he was trying to come up with a story that would make sense to a child, and wouldn’t require much proof. Nigh, after all, sees clouds made there everyday. He also has a blind grandmother as a guardian, and this was written in the 1990s, so neither the library or a good internet source to check with were likely within reach for Nigh.

Page 30: Mr. Ackerman pours a stranger clear liquid (likely strong alcohol) into his drink and then is suddenly ashamed. He likely feels bad that he was going to tell a whopper to the kid. He continues on once he’s ‘defeated’.

Page 31: The mention of the very specific widget that is likely the actual product the factory makes. Something dull and uninspiring, inducting melancholia.

Page 31: It’s ironic that Mr. Ackerman says that most people don’t believe they could ever be capable of great things, and yet firmly labels his real life as ‘appearing’ mundane in his next line. Sad, but ironic.

Page 31: Mr. Ackerman says he has no children with whom he can share secrets. At first glance, that makes it sound like he’s never had kids. Yet that raincoat …

Page 31: last finished sentence: Mr. Ackerman is clearly feeling disconnected, disillusioned, with the world & his meaningless life.

Page 32: That raincoat. Often, parents who’ve lost children, via death or disagreement or divorce, don’t want to move or change anything left with them that was the kid’s (though honestly, many people do this with a loved one’s death). While the raincoat is large, that could just mean Nigh is short/young, or that the kid was a teen/adult when they left. Thus, Mr. Ackerman’s initial anger about it being touched. Especially if he couldn’t handle his drink.

Page 32: Mr. Ackerman doubled down on the lie, felt bad about his outburst against Nigh, and told Nigh that he wasn’t feeling well. In a lot of media, that’s a line adults tell kids when they just don’t want to deal with the kid, due to substance use.

Page 34: “... complicit look … ”. Complicit means ‘involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing’. For Nigh, illegal would be true, as this is all a big secret. For Mr. Ackerman, it is a wrongdoing because of his big lie.

Page 34: Mr. Ackerman’s red face. Often a sign of drunkenness.

Page 34: The passenger speech. Further evidence towards the dead (or otherwise, etc) kid theory. It’s all about a loss of innocence and how adults make a terrible world for children to grow into.

Pages 34-35: Mr. Ackerman isn’t acting, he really is despondent.

Page 35: The ransacked house. When people drink enough, they can go into a stupor and do inappropriate and dangerous things. Usually, people drink that much because they were already feeling very negative.

Page 35: This isn’t explicit in the story, but I figured Mr. Ackerman got fired because he kept showing up to work drunk, and that’s what caused the bender. Additionally or alternatively, his two pronged gadget could’ve gotten denied by his bosses or the patent office or something. So, inside the second suitcase, there’s papers labeled ‘FIRED’ inside. This should probably go in the art explanation, but I feel better served as a point here.

From this point on, all magic things mentioned with only Nigh involved could just be the Nigh’s imagination.

Page 36: Not a single grocery. There is a large overlap between depressed people and people struggling with substance abuse who don’t go grocery shopping often enough.

Page 38: Nigh, like many other sweet but overwhelmed kids, is making excuses for Mr. Ackerman’s behavior. And thus, he tries to bring the man his hat and briefcase, going on a journey without telling his guardian. That’s scary as hell, please don’t do that.

Page 40: Nigh says that the briefcase and hat are his father’s. Considering that Nigh is being raised by his grandmother, he likely looks to Mr. Ackerman as a father figure <3.

Page 41: It’s incredibly lucky that Nigh found Mr. Ackerman’s alley. Perhaps too lucky … The rest of the story could be a dream or worse, a vision a lá the sort the Little Match Girl had before her death.

Page 41: Empty silver flask. Often adults who wish to be discreet about drinking alcohol in public have little pocket flasks.

Page 42: If you drink too much, sometimes bright light and loud noise can become painful. That’s why Mr. Ackerman cringed, and the sun was too bright.

Page 42: Mr. Ackerman’s lies catch up to him in the fact that Nigh got lost in the city just looking for him. Any adult with even a sliver of responsibility would feel bad.

Page 42: “I got fed up and left.” Mr. Ackerman definitely could’ve quit himself, but that’s harder to portray than being fired, visually. So I went with writing ‘Fired’ in his suitcase instead of something else.

Page 43: (first paragraph) Like a lot of people who’ve been holding off a lot of stress & fear, who have then been faced with a shattering revelation, Nigh cried & didn’t want to believe that there were no cloudmakers. Very understandable.

Page 43: Fill up the flask. Mr. Ackerman seems to have hit a breaking point of honesty that soon abates.

Page 43: Mr. Ackerman sees the cloud. At this point, if this was a real life story, the characters are deluding themselves. Hopefully, they made it home.

#WAC extra analysis post #check out the 45th story on my pinned post if you want context

[panharmonium]

this is legitimately one of my top five favorite kakashi scenes.

i love seeing kakashi break the rules in the name of doing the right thing, and this scene especially is particularly satisfying to me, because his moment of defiance here is, to my mind, long overdue.  

one of my eternal frustrations in early naruto is how the leaf village administration gives kakashi the job of caring for a group of super high-needs children and then continually makes that job as difficult for him as possible.  they task him with being solely responsible for the development and well-being of three twelve year-olds - a group that includes naruto (a walking disaster with a god’s power trapped inside his body) and sasuke (a genocide survivor fixated on killing his own brother), BOTH of whom are being hunted by different groups of supercriminals - and then the village keeps getting in kakashi’s way or dropping the ball or actively ordering him to prioritize other things.  

so much of what goes wrong with the kids in this period is the result of other people interfering with kakashi’s work or being negligent or endangering the kids/putting kakashi in impossible positions.  team 7’s first big mission sets the tone for everything that comes after, with someone else’s lie putting kakashi in a situation where he has to single-handedly protect not just the client who deceived him, but the three children who were supposed to be the clients’ other protectors.  and after that, the list just multiplies:

ten anbu operatives can’t manage to protect sasuke’s hospital room from orochimaru’s minions, so kakashi has to do it himself and then whisk sasuke out of the village for a month, leaving naruto in the hands of a substitute and sakura with her parents

genma orders sasuke to chase after gaara when the chunin exams blow up, saying “you’re at chunin level already,” which forces kakashi to immediately dispatch more kids to bring him back, because “ffs NO i do NOT want him out there doing that why the fuck would you tell him to do that?!” 

aoba runs his mouth off about itachi when sasuke is standing RIGHT THERE, instantly undoing all the work kakashi just did to prevent itachi and sasuke from coming anywhere near each other (and thus sending sasuke to that disastrous first encounter, the outcome of which ultimately leads to sasuke’s defection)

jiraiya decides he should let sasuke try to fight itachi himself, “out of respect for the boy’s feelings,” leading to sasuke ending up in a tsukuyomi coma

tsunade orders kakashi to drop his teaching work and leave the village on a mission even though a) he’s just gotten out of his own torture-induced coma and b) sasuke is having a crisis that kakashi is trying to manage

and then when kakashi gets back from that mission and finds out that surprise, all of this meddling has led to a disaster, tsunade tries to order him away AGAIN

but this time - he just says no.

he walks right out of her office.  he turns his back on her.  and there is NOTHING i love more than seeing kakashi embody the philosophy that he’s chosen to adopt as his guiding light: those who break the rules are scum.  but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.

it’s not that he doesn’t understand where tsunade is coming from here.  but he knows she’s wrong.  she’s making her decisions based solely on concerns about the Leaf Village being in a tight spot - feeling like they can’t turn down missions because they’ll appear weak and thus become vulnerable to attack when they’re already operating at half strength.  she sends a group of twelve year-olds to bring sasuke back because supposedly the village can’t spare anyone else, “even if it means letting the sharingan fall into orochimaru’s hands” - but like.  it’s not the sharingan.  it’s a child.  sasuke isn’t just a repository for his hereditary jutsu; he’s not a pair of eyes to be passed around from one wielder to the next.  he’s a human child.  

tsunade doesn’t know sasuke.  she’s new to the situation and doesn’t know enough about it to understand how serious it is.  i don’t even think she was still in the village when the uchiha massacre occurred; the timeline makes it sound like she left long before that.  she doesn’t really understand who sasuke is or how much trouble he’s in - she makes her decision because she feels like her first priority has to be the well-being of the Leaf as a whole, not the individual people who comprise it.  kakashi, though, who a) lives his life by a very different philosophy and b) does understand sasuke’s situation, would not have dealt with the issue like this, and if the village had let him do his job from the beginning, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point in the first place.

kakashi is horrified that tsunade sent a bunch of twelve year-olds out to fight orochimaru’s ninja, and i think he’s also probably angry and/or frustrated about having been ordered out of the village in the first place.  he was dealing with the situation before tsunade sent him away.  he interrupted the fight between sasuke and naruto even though he himself had literally just gotten out of the hospital, and then he continued addressing the issue with sasuke privately (unlike jiraiya’s non-attempt to address it with naruto, when he said he was going to give naruto a talking-to but actually flaked out).  kakashi knew sasuke was struggling, and he was doing all the things a teacher is supposed to do to address it, but then he was ordered away, and even though it was just for two days, it was enough time for everything to go to hell.

if people would just let him do his job - if the administration would let him focus on the task they themselves assigned to him - things would be different.  but everybody wants him to do everything.  they want him to be everywhere.  they want him to protect the nine-tails jinchuriki (who is also kakashi’s dead teacher’s son), and train the last surviving uchiha (which is a task only kakashi and his sharingan can perform), and give equal attention to a third kid, for good measure, and they want him to do it without stepping away from any of his other burdens, all while other people around him constantly frustrate the progress he makes.

so this time, when tsunade tries to send him away, he refuses.  he disobeys her orders and walks out of the room.  he doesn’t care about the rules or what he’s “legally” obligated to do.  he knows what the RIGHT thing to do is, and so he rejects his new mission in favor of rescuing the kids.

i love these moments.  i love when we’re shown so clearly the person kakashi has chosen to be - someone who does what’s right, not just what he’s told.  he made an active choice many years ago to adopt that philosophy, and he’s been living by those new rules ever since.  he's wiser now than he was when he was a child - sometimes you have to break ranks to do the right thing.  sometimes you have to buck the system, even if it means you might face severe personal consequences.

he had one of two choices: either save the mission or his comrades.  of course, according to the law of the village, you cannot abandon a mission.  but to save the life of his comrades, he put the mission on hold.

kakashi may have spent a good chunk of his childhood trying to reject everything the subject of that story stood for, but none of his attempts to harden his heart ever stuck.  he is, in the end, his father’s son.

#naruto #pan watches naruto #meta #i got lost on the path of life #* #anyway i just LOVE seeing kakashi break the rules #gives me so much satisfaction #he's worked so hard to become who he is today #and he's grown so much #on the other hand... #i HATE seeing kakashi take all of his frustration with how the village has mishandled things #and immediately turn it around upon himself #'i was too naive' #'i'm too late' #'it was my cowardice that drove the three of you apart' #'i'm sorry you have such a careless sensei' #none of that is even REMOTELY true #literally the last thing kakashi ever was with these kids was 'careless' or 'cowardly' #the deck was stacked against him from the beginning and he still did EVERYTHING he could #but he blames himself for all the things that went wrong #even when they were completely out of his control #and that's why i maintain that the last hurdle kakashi is going to surmount in this story is guilt #that's the natural progression of his character arc #the one thing he has never been able to do - #despite all his other achievements and hard-won personal growth - #is let go of his guilt and shame #that's why his character design looks the way it looks #the way he wears that headband isn't a fashion choice. it's a symbolic representation of how he hasn't cleared this obstacle yet #he has never released himself from blame or forgiven himself for anything #maybe someday...but i guess i'll just have to wait and see

[monocaelia]

comforting you after a nightmare headcanons

nightmares aren't fun, but luckily you have someone there to protect you.

feat. albedo, diluc, childe, kaeya, xiao, zhongli

genre : hurt/comfort, fluff

note : hbd to me!! here's a gift from me to you with one of my favorite tropes, hehe <:

❀ albedo

albedo isn't one to dream much, let alone rest. he's always caught up in his own research and experiments that sleep isn't really needed if he wanted to be more productive in his research, despite the worried comments from sucrose and your lighthearted nags that he'll stay short forever.

though, that isn't to say that he's not interested. there are many times that albedo has caught you dozing off in his laboratory while waiting for him to be done with his experiments. he would be lying to himself if he didn't wonder what could possibly be playing in your mind to make you be smiling like that while unconscious.

this time, though, is an exception.

test tubes and flasks filled with various liquids and concoctions fill albedo's workspace as he examines each and every one before filling in his notebooks with descriptions and drawings of his work. there's a shuffle from his other desk and his eyes shift up to glance at you. albedo's gaze softens at the sight of his coat draped over your shoulders as they move to the rhythm of your breathing.

he wonders why you choose to stay at his laboratory so late and wait for him to finish his research rather than head home alone and sleep in your much more comfortable bed. albedo supposes you find comfort in his presence, an odd thing to be comforted by really.

however, the gentle smile quickly falls from his face the moment he hears the quiet whimpers and pleas. as quickly as he could, albedo moves to your side and gently shakes you awake. he isn't the least surprised when your eyes snap open and a gasp leaves your lips.

"...are you alright?" the question breaks you from your daze and you seem to relax when you realize you aren't dreaming anymore. though, the way your hands and shoulders shake doesn't escape the sharp eyes observing you.

"come on, i think i'm done with my research for now. we can head home if you'd like?" albedo smiles when you nod your head, but as he turns to pack up and prepare to leave his laboratory your hand shoots out to grasp his own.

albedo is surprised at first, but the shock melts into endearment as his hand pulls yours up to his lips. he presses a gentle kiss on your knuckles, reassuring you that he'll be right there for you. that you wouldn't be alone.

"nightmares, huh? ...i wonder if i can concoct something to help eradicate the chances of them appearing. oh, don't worry, i won't leave your side for the rest of the evening. promise."

❀ diluc

diluc isn't prone to nightmares, honestly he probably gets them quite often. or maybe even dreamless dreams if he's lucky. well, considering he sleeps at all. he's busy being the darknight hero of mondstatdt in the dead of night, so sleep doesn't come by often for the red haired vigilante.

even when he does get nightmares, there's not many people he can call to or rely on to help comfort him. he doesn't trust any of the knights, and he definitely doesn't trust kaeya to help at all. so comforting someone isn't something he knows how to do well.

but he tries his best to comfort you in any way, shape, or form if you ever needed him to.

the knocking against his door is quiet, nearly nonexistent if diluc was preoccupied with anything other than trying to sleep. he would have ignored it if it weren't for the quiet whisper of his name from a voice he recognized. sighing, he rises from his bed and heads over to his door, mentally preparing himself for whatever you're planning to throw over his head.

instead, diluc is met with your cheeky smile. you're definitely up to no good, but he hasn't quite figured out what you were going to do or say. before he could even question why you're standing outside his door in the dead of night, you interrupt him.

"wow diluc! fancy seeing you here, do you come here often?" he deadpans at you and nearly closes the door to go back to sleep. but he notices the way your fingers twiddle, a sign that you're nervous about something. his eyes flicker to your face, scanning anything that would give him clues on what's on your mind.

"what happened?" diluc's brows furrow in worry seeing the way your smile falls and the way your body begins to curl in on itself. he offers a hand for you to take, an invitation for you to be comforted by the stoic man in front of you. he lets a small smile grow on his lips when he sees you brighten up a tad at his invitation.

your hand is encased in his own, scarred and rough with callouses but comforting and warm at the same time.

"go back to sleep, it's already getting really late. if you need anything, though, i'll be right here until the dawn rises."

❀ childe

although sleep is necessary to maintain perfect health, childe finds it difficult to maintain a proper sleeping schedule due to his job as a fatui harbinger. when the tsaritsa calls, he needs to be there immediately to come to her aid and carry out her orders regardless of how inconvenient it was for him.

but, having many siblings, especially younger ones, has always prepared childe to comfort and protect anyone that he holds close to his heart. nobody, not even nightmares, can get close enough to harm the people he loves, not if he's alive to knock them down a peg.

which definitely includes you, someone who holds his entire world in the palm of your hands.

childe finds you awake at the dead of night after one of his shifts at the northland bank. which is surprising considering you're always asleep before he gets back home from work, always trying to stay up to welcome the harbinger home but always succumbing to the sweet embrace of slumber.

a mischievous grin grows on his lips as he plans to spook you, but as he nears your body, the shaking of your body and quiet sniffles reach his ears. immediately, childe's hand is on your shoulder and he frowns when you yelp and whip around to see him.

"o-oh, ajax, i didn't expect to see you home so soon. i was just getting ready for bed." a white lie. childe presses his lips into a thin line, his hand reaching out to catch a tear falling from your cheek. did...did he do this to you? was he being a bad partner for not putting aside more time for you?

as if reading his mind, you vehemently shake your head and grab onto childe's wrist. "no! no... it's not what you think i just had a really bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep. don't worry, you don't need to beat yourself up over this." he relaxes immediately at your comment, but he still feels bad for leaving you alone when you needed someone to comfort you.

childe leans over, cupping your face in his hands as he showers your face in featherlight kisses. your giggles fill the room and the habinger can't help but laugh as well, especially after pressing a wet, sloppy kiss on your lips. "how about i cook you a nice stew for tonight? it always helped teucer calm down when he was scared."

and you take him up on that offer. the rest of the evening is filled with light laughter from the both of you as childe moves around the kitchen and tells you stories of his childhood. the scene is comforting, peaceful, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

"how about we turn in for tonight? don't worry, nothing will harm you as long as your big, strong ajax is by your side!"

❀ kaeya

despite his title of being a "lazy" and "laid-back" captain of the calvary, kaeya isn't one to sleep too much. he has a regular sleeping schedule, though there are some nights where the memories of his past haunt him and he stays up reminiscing about how things were.

he's one to brood alone, not letting anyone see him vulnerable. but he likes to be relied on. there isn't a bone in his body that prevents him from helping anyone in need, even though the way he gets things done is quite... unconventional to everybody else's standards.

but when you call to him for help, he’s there in an instant.

the sound of rustling from beside kaeya stirs him from his slumber. he squints, his good eye focusing in the darkness of his room before landing on your curled up figure beside him. he figures you’re just shifting in your sleep and closes his eyes again, but you shift again and sigh. surely, you’re not sleeping at this point.

kaeya gently calls out your name, a warm smile on his face when he sees you startle from his voice. though, his smile melts away from his face when he sees your expression. it doesn’t help that you flinch slightly when his hand reaches over to brush against your cheek.

“sorry, i just…i’m still shaken from my dream and-“ your apologies are cut short when kaeya sends you a comforting smile and cups your jaw in his hand. he assures you that it’s fine.

“are you okay? how long have you been up?” it takes you a moment too long to come up with a lie that would put your lover at ease. when you come up with an answer, kaeya is already staring at you with his mismatched orbs, one of deep sapphire and the other a light, milky blue color. you can’t lie to him now.

so you tell the calvary captain about the dream you just had, not going too into details with what really shook you. and kaeya listens to everything you say, a hand firmly on your arm to remind him that you’re with him and not whatever occurred in your dreams.

he makes little comments here and there to lighten the mood, though he knows when to keep quiet so you can talk it through. when you finish talking the dream through, kaeya pinches your cheek, chiding you for dreaming of such things.

but he reassures you that you’re fine, and that he’s here to protect you should anything from your dreams come into reality. he jokes about letting you handle everything alone, but you know he wouldn’t despite how cheeky he is.

"don't let the bedbugs bite, [name]. haha, kidding. i'll be here to fight them off if you need me. i am a captain after all."

❀ xiao

xiao isn't unfamiliar with nightmares and dreams. don't forget, one of his duties under the reign of the yaksha's previous master was to devour the dreams of the innocent. it had gotten to the point where dreams were the only things he could stomach, despite detesting the intent behind it.

despite it all, though, xiao is still an adeptus who protects the mortals and the innocent of liyue. his sole job now, under his contract with rex lapis, is to protect even if it means throwing his life away. with a swift call of his name, he would be there to be the guardian of liyue and anyone residing in it.

and that includes you, the sole mortal that the young adeptus enjoys the company of.

a gasp tears through your throat as you sit up in your bed, sweat dripping down the side of your face. your eyes are blown wide open with the visions of your nightmare still clear in your mind. the rapid beating of your heart and panting are the only sounds heard in your otherwise quiet bedroom.

curses spill from your lips as you cradle your head in your hands, your knees pulled up to your chest to try and make yourself as small as you possibly could. but to no avail, no matter what you did to comfort yourself or make yourself forget the nightmare, the visions still flashed in your memories every time you closed your eyes.

you don't hear the rustling from your window, nor did you feel the presence of someone crouching from behind your curtains. it's only when he gently calls your name do you whip your head around, eyes coming face to face with golden eyes that gleam in the moonlight.

"xiao... sorry i didn't see you there," you stutter, quickly wiping your eyes and turning away so the young adeptus wouldn't see you crying. his eyes narrow at you, eyebrows furrowing as a frown settles on his face. "what are you-"

your hands are pulled away from your face and you're pulled closer to him. "you're crying." you try to deny xiao's observation and reassure him that you're fine, but a hand gently brushes against your cheek.

xiao doesn't say anything when the tears begin falling down your face again. he doesn't say anything when you jump into his arms and bury your face in his chest. you feel his arms firmly wrap themselves around you. he doesn't say a word, but his actions alone assure you that he would be there with you for the rest of the evening.

"sleep. should any more dreams come to haunt you during your rest, i'll be here to dispose of them."

❀ zhongli

as an archon, zhongli doesn't find much need for sleep. he's a god and no god needs sleep to be energized for the following day. it's not like it would do well for him anyways, seeing as he would much rather prefer strolling the lit up streets of liyue harbor in the late evening before returning to his home to drink tea and relax.

that's not to say he isn't familiar with dreams and how they can affect mortals. he knows full well the impact they can have, especially if they're dreams filled with horrible outcomes or stuff nobody would like to be reminded of.

so when you come to him to seek comfort after a horrible night, he's ready to welcome you into his embrace.

the gentle whisper of zhongli's name alerts him of your presence from the hallway in your shared home. the archon lifts his head to look at you, eyes made of molten gold meeting your shaking gaze. "what's wrong, dear?" you don't answer his question and instead shift your gaze to the ground.

zhongli tells you to "come here" in the gentlest voice he could muster, and you do. as soon as you sit beside your lover, his hand comfortingly holds your jaw and lifts your face so you can see him. there's nothing but endearment and love in his gaze. "you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."

he hums in amusement seeing the way your body relaxes after that. there's a gentle tug on your arm, a signal for you to find comfort in zhongli's embrace, and you find yourself snug in between the archon's arms. you inhale deeply, zhongli's comforting scent filling your lungs.

his hands rake gently up and down your spine and hearing his heartbeat from where you rest on his chest calms you immensely. if it weren't for your nervous, rhythmic tapping against his arm, zhongli would have assumed you fell back asleep in his arms.

"would you like to hear about the play i've been attending to recently? the plot is quite interesting, i think you would enjoy it." he attempts to distract you for a while to calm your nerves after waking so abruptly, and it works, not to his surprise.

as he drones on and on about the plot that doesn't quite make sense to you in your dazed state, the archon notices the way your fingers have stilled and your breathing has evened out, much calmer and more regulated than before. zhongli smiles, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head.

"it's starting to get late. you should try to rest again. don't worry, i'll be beside you should anything happen to you once more."

#albedo headcanons #albedo x reader #diluc headcanons #diluc x reader #childe headcanons #childe x reader #tartaglia headcanons #tartaglia x reader #kaeya headcanons #kaeya x reader #xiao headcanons #xiao x reader #zhongli headcanons #zhongli x reader #genshin impact #genshin #didi writes #i wanted to do thoma but TT there's nothing on his wiki

[hey-hamlet]

SVSSS AU Idea: The System’s hand of fate.

so, when a mysterious figure rocks up to you as you lay dying and offers you an alternative? you take it, not totally convinced they are even real. if you are one shen yuan, this will prove to be the worse choice you have ever made in your short life.

shen yuan dies aged 21 of a sudden onset aortic disection due to pre-existing EDS. he codes blue suddenly durring his hospital stay and they never get him back. he leaves behind his family, fellow students, and a small subsection of the internet that is much quieter now he's gone

his role is deciptively simple: hes a hand of the system - a hand of fate. if the plot diviates, hes sent in to the world to patch it up. sadly, worlds tend to deviate towards happiness, or at least contentment. a world of consant suffering goes against the trends of the universe. so shen yuan is sent in again and again to direct the plots back towards disaster

why? why doesn't he just give up?

the system is holding his whole world hostage

every mistake, someone from his home world simply stops existing, wiped from all records and history, picked randomly from his social circle.  the only people he's ever lost, he keeps close to his chest. 2 people he only knew by username. one barrista who knew his order at his favourite cafe.

his little sister.

when their hand of fate stops caring, burns out of their empathy and stop caring about the threat, the system gets a new worker and starts again. thats why shen yuan is so effective, he can't stop caring on pain of death. so they can just keep using him

our plot twist is that the system isnt actually killing anyone. they lie, they dont actually have that sort of power. If they did they wouldnt need to send someone in to fix plot diversions.

yeah its designed by someone who just enjoys seeing people suffer. also people are a lot better at fixing plot lines than AI because they have a better understanding of human emotion and the nuances of story telling

anyway, for our poor mans happy ending - he gets sent to PIDW

the plot had deviated badly - the main villain for the first act is dead, and shen yuan had such a perfect record they just cast him into the role

because the system isn't human, it never noticed that shen yuan's only failures were due to his kindness, and that throwing him into the role of a scum villain for his favourite character was literally never going to work. Hes tried to fight against the system before, but its only ever gotten his little sister ‘killed’, so he didnt try twice.

introducing: a boy in a book written so predictably his plot armour and protaganist halo are literally blinding: LUO BINGHE

baby works out his new shizun is a whole ass new person quickly, because not only is shizun now kind but pretending to be stern, hes also just. worn down. in a way thats difficult to explain.

like hes seen 1000 lifetimes and been happy in none of them

then the dream demon shows up and is like "ok kid i know you love ur master and thats fair enough but like. there is an extra-dimentional parasite attached to his soul"

and binghe is like I FUCKING KNEW IT so he trains very hard! so he can become strong enough to kick its ass!

and then his shizun pushes him into the abyss

and hes heart broken, not because he was pushed, but because his shizun tried so hard not to. his shizun tried to take a lethal blow, tried not do go along with the plot. but then something forced his hand and sent binghe tumbling. even though the system wasn't observing this world, they threw in an override if the plot deviation threaterned to go above 70% - an AI following the plot takes over and corrects the mistake

and when xin mo shows up hes like "oh. i can finally die - i hope it makes binghe happy"

and then he wakes up 5 years later and SQH is like "Oh hey i planted you a body incase binghe tried to kill you bc were transmigrator bros" and he just has a whole ass break down

he thought he was free!!!

and he cant even be that mad at SQH, the man was trying to save his life

anyway SQH is like 

"so! binghe has been like. obsessed with ur body. and its behind some really weird arrays"

"what sort of arrays?"

"protection against spirits from other dimensions? it was weird and it looked custom made"

"oh."

to wrap it up: shen yuan wants to get his body back so he can rip it into little pieces so nothing can revive him and then die, lbh lets SY 'trick him' into thinking hes a rouge cultivator trying to pay his respects even though hes like "ITS SHIZUN HES BACK" and then the mausoleum rips his soul away and hes like "please just let me DIE" and TLJ is like "Oh hey! someone wrote -" "god please can you kill me and shatter my soul i cant do this any more" "... would you like to have a chat. talk your emotions out. my nephew can make snacks."

TLJ is like "damn that's rough I'm literally half a body rn but I think while I'm literally that way you're spiritually that way"

SY: I'm supposed to be dismembered if you could start on that that'd be great

TLJ: I don't have hands

plot gets resolved by SY telling TLJ that the system was controlling the plot of the whole world, driving it towards problems for the 'sake of the story', expecting to be killed but wanting someone to know whats been going on other than him

TLJ is like ",,, huh. someone. decided it all should go like this." "yeah your wife died saving her child and trying to reach you to warn you of the ambush" "So. Someone. Decided. It. Should. Be. This. Way."

 and then TLJ crushes the whole concept of a system with xin mo

and LBH is like " look i kinda hate that you were originally going to murder my (future husband) shizun, but you murdered the thing he was both most afraid of and most angry at, so i guess i can call you my dad. maybe. on a good day."

TLJ is like "SON : D"

#svsss au #I WANT MY COPY OF THE BOOK SO BAD GUYS BUT ITS CANADA #THATS SO FAR AWAY WHY IS IT THERE #i cry #systems hand of fate au #svsss #scum villain

[icefire149]

Certain parts of season 14 and 15 just rub me the wrong way. Everything about the shift when Mary dies again to set up conflict between Dean and Cas just doesn’t hit right. So here’s a new way I’d do it:

Jack still accidentally murders Mary, but after zipping around the Earth in a panic, he goes to Castiel. He has no fear that he’ll lose Cas over this. It’s Sam and Dean that he’s worried about. Especially Dean since he was horrible when he was born. Dean only more recently seemed like he really cared about him. He can’t mess this up. Jack brings Cas back to the house and explains what happened. 

We know Cas is a strategist and his mind would be in overdrive, because of course the Winchesters weren’t going to be okay with any of this. Hell, he’s barely keeping it together. Mary was his friend. But, Jack is his child and responsibility. And he loves him too much to let him suffer. So he devises a plan: Nick was trying to summon Lucifer from the Empty. He was succeeding. Jack and Mary were trying to stop him and Lucifer obliterated Mary. Jack wasn’t quick enough but he was able to send Lucifer back into the Empty and in a rage killed Nick. Now Jack is panicking because it’s still his fault, but not his fault. It’s Nick and Lucifer’s. And Jack while being mostly soulless is still a bit hesitant to weave such a lie to their family, but he agrees. Cas reassures him that the Winchesters will be devastated, but they’ll understand better this way. As a family, all of them will be able to grieve and move on eventually. Because: Nick shouldn’t have done what he did. It was high tension and everyone was upset, and it was inevitable an accident happened. It was just a terrible accident. 

Distraught, Jack asks if there’s anything they can do to fix things? If they can bring Mary back? If they had a body....maybe. This leads Jack to want to see Rowena to see if she could just bring Mary back. They decide to try, but stick to the story. Cas gets zapped back to his truck and Jack goes to Rowena. So we have the similar situation where Jack in a panic tries to force Rowena to fix things and she tries, but also still tips off the Winchesters. Still the magic doesn’t work and Jack is scared. Sam and Dean get to the house and are a mess trying to make heads or tails of the mess. Automatically the blame is on Jack. They’ve been worried about his soul. He must have gone completely dark side. And we’ll note that Dean is the one crawling out of his skin pacing and ranting. Sam is more withdrawn. Jack flies into Cas’ truck when he’s almost there. Cas goes into the house first. He tells Jack to wait in the truck. Cas bars the doorway with his body while he tries to explain the ‘tale’ Jack told him in the car and how devastated he is over Mary and terrified of what they, Sam & Dean, will do next. 

Dean believes Cas. It’s Cas. His anger rolls into grief & tears. His mom died. How did he get here where he has to bury her again. Cas comforts Dean with soft touch and words. He’s sorry. He’s so sorry. Cas gives into his own grief a bit. It’s Sam that continues to stand there in quiet rage. It’s like his whole lifetime of trauma is torn open again. And now there’s this new angry wound that’s only festered since Amara brought Mary back. Yes, he should be grateful that he’s gotten to know her at all, but.....it was never right. She never stayed long enough to really know him. Emotionally her bond with Dean was always stronger. He was always just a fly on the wall. She was his mom too. And now...even Cas is crying more than him. When the hell was she ever anything to him? Sam’s anger spirals, but he’s trying to keep it down. He keeps going over the house there. Something about everything isn’t sitting right with him. There’s something off. He knows it. 

So with the funeral and going home to the bunker, things feel flipped. Jack and Cas were most worried about Dean, but it’s Sam they should be worried about. Dean is angry and upset, but he’s not blaming Jack. He’s actually trying to be there for Jack. This development has Cas over the moon, because this is all he ever wanted. For them to be a family. While Dean fell into the cycle of his father’s anger when Cas died s12/13....this time he’s being what he/John should have been. And Sam is the one sinking into John’s cycle of anger. Sam’s the one drinking a bit more. He’s quiet, but there’s an anger that’s clearly there. He’s distancing himself from Jack and Cas. Eventually he blows up and admits that he blames Jack and his soullessness. For all they know he hurt her / let her get hurt purposely. Which gets Cas angry and Sam flat out admits that he doesn’t trust Cas’ word. Something feels off to him, and this isn’t the first time Cas has tried to go behind their backs. He has quite the history of it. 

This causes Sam, Dean, and Cas to go at it yelling. Jack overhears some and blames himself for ruining everything again. He’s been nothing but trouble for their family. Maybe it would be better if he just left. So he does. This ties us back to Jack being manipulated by Heaven. Dean and Cas are out trying to find him. All ties back in to Jack goes home and finds Sam alone in the bunker. And it’s easy to fall back into the trust Jack has always had with Sam. He’s always had Jack’s back. And he manipulates Jack, telling him that they’ve worked out a spell to bring Mary back. They altered the malak box spell work to harness and focus Jack’s powers. It should be enough. Dean and Cas will be back any minute with Rowena. Jack eagerly believes him and does as he’s told. Jack gets in the box and he stares up at Sam nervous. Sam tells him that there’s nothing to worry about anymore. Cas told them everything. They can fix things now. And Jack looks at him confused, everything? Sam presses that yes, Cas explained how it was an accident. Jack breathes a sigh of relief and then crumbles into tears, how he didn’t mean to. He asked her to stop, but she wouldn’t give him a moment to breathe and then..it was an accident. He didn’t mean to hurt her. And cold as ice Sam goes, I know, and closes the lid. Locking the box. 

It’s a while before Dean and Cas make it back. Jack has enough time to completely unravel in his grief, and anger, and realization that Sam lied and tricked him. Everyone keeps manipulating him and lying. Dean and Cas get back and start arguing with Sam. Just like in the show, Jack breaks out and leaves. Sam still goes into it explaining the truth he got from Jack. Cas LIED. He covered up Mary’s death. He’s known the truth all along. Dean refuses to believe Sam. He’s mistaken. 

Things roll into Moriah and Jack makes it so no one can lie. And because of that the truth finally comes out of Cas’ mouth. And Dean breaks. He tells Cas that he’s dead to him. Cas leaves to look for Jack on his own. Dean’s fury goes in on Jack. He never should have gotten attached. Jack was always a monster. All of this rolls into Chuck’s return and manipulation. He pushes Dean to kill Jack. And the puzzle pieces click into place for Sam. He realizes how much this is all a game to Chuck. Chuck pulled the strings to make every bad thing that’s happened in his life happen just for his own entertainment: Mom, their childhood, dad’s shitty parenting, Jess, demon deals, demon blood, Dean going to Hell, Ruby, the apocalypse, visions, unanswered prayers, EVERYTHING..... Chuck’s newest episode of entertainment was causing Jack to accidentally kill Mary and have to live with the consequences of losing his only family over it. Sam’s anger goes directly into Chuck. 

He needs to get to Dean. Meanwhile Dean finds Cas and Jack in the cemetery. Cas gets between them and tries to talk Dean down. Dean is shaking with fury. He’s never been this mad before. He hated Jack for being born and getting Cas killed, and then he grew to love the kid as family, and he hates him for making him feel this much. He killed his mom, and lied about it. Cas tries to explain that he was trying to protect all of them. He was trying to maintain their family. Dean coldly goes, there’s no family here to maintain. I’m a hunter. Saving people and hunting monsters is the family business, and....I see two monsters in front of me. And he holds the equalizer up, shakily. Jack sends Cas flying so he can approach Dean. He understands what Dean has to do. He accepts it and he’s sorry. Jack gets on his knees and waits. Dean can’t quite do it. He’s trying.

Sam and Chuck get there. Sam starts yelling how Chuck set this whole thing up. Chuck is trying to make Dean do this...for his own entertainment. And everything rolls back into what the actual show did. Dean can’t kill Jack and Sam shoots Chuck. Everything continues to roll similarly as s15 did, but the divorce arc is leaning heavily on Dean is angry about Cas betraying him. 

#spn #save #i hope this makes sense because i haven't reread it yet. i'm just seeing these ideas tie together in a painful vision