#(these two can't have Nice Things [TM] and we all know why)

[expvrgction]

Most residents of Jekkad-- Now named Hell after it became corrupted today only know this man as the Traitor Prince. But those who remain loyal to Kahann recognize their empire's former heir as one who would walk among the common folk, rather than display the lavish regality that Davoth much more preferred.

---

Long before the Summoner known as Sthusa existed, there was her in past life-- One of the most beautiful women known to the pre-Hell civilization. Gweneth was the youngest sibling of her family within Clan Havenweaver, and Royal Scribe succeeding her previous tutor. She and Kahann were known to be enamored with each other, and eventually wedded, moving with her consort to Immora from her home in Pleasure Lakes. Their relationship caught itself in tragic separation-- One leading right to her first death. All of it was thanks to her gradually envious and maddened in-law.

Picrew links: (1) (2)

[dairy-farmer]

Is me~ back to haunt you Ask Box o/ because I just had A Thought(tm)

What if~? The OPPOSITE of my Magic Sex Toy idea? Uno Reverse?

But how would that even work? You say. Tim would very obviously notice!

Oh ho ho~ ye of little Faith! *slaps my "join the Church of Civilian Tim" poster I obviously made myself* CONSIDER! Not a cape! Semi-stable schedules!

We open our scene with stalking. As ya do. Tim would prefer you call it "bird watching" or "observing the night life" but... let's be real here. Stalking. He's getting them NICE Premium Pics for his Definitely-Not-A-Stalker-Shrine. There's a newbie on the scene. A gaudy robe wearing mofo.

3 guess what HIS shtick is. First two don't count.

But! Thing is? Tim is no long a wee baby faced pre-teen. He is a Man(tm). Legally, twice over. And well... you find a LOT if Neat Late Night Shops running after the bats. He may have been persuaded by CERTAIN libidos that maybe he should check them out. Who can say? You can't prove ANYTHING. These bags are groceries and no you can't check..

Where was he? Ah, right, Pics of the Nightwing booty. *click*

Tim forgets Rule Number 1.5: ALWAYS keep an eye on what the villian is doing.

By the way... what that bright light? Oh, just a SPELL BOLT. Fuckin DODGE, MAN!

He fails to dodge.

🥺 H-His camera... Night-booty... Also why does he feel? Tingly? He doesn't stick around to figure it out. Grabs his TRAGICLY dead camera and bolts. Not getting caught at the scene of the stalking TODAY, no sir! Batmans definitely gonna check the area and he SHANT be there! Early night it is!

He gets back to his apartment. Still feels tingly... but less? Maybe those charms he looked up how to make protected him after all. Still, shouldn't push his luck, you know? He settles in for the night. Gets a warm shower.

Comes out and eyes the bags he dropped by the bed... and... well...

He DID wrap up early~ Maybe treat for Timmy time. He digs them out.

Weird.

They? We're already pretty life like (it's why he bought them) but... when he TOUCHES one? He swears it gets MORE life like? He really should look this up or something... suspect toys in Gotham and all... but on the other hand? Horny. And the boxes WERE closed. It's fiiiiine.

But which one? It's kinda been a while. And he doesn't want to be sore tomorrow. This one!

So Tim lays back. Let's himself enjoy working himself open. Then works the fake(?) Cock inside himself. And oh~ it's WARM. Twitchs. He let's himself enjoy a slow, lazy session. Get really sloppy and relaxed before finally finding juuust the right angle aaaand~

Across the city, the current Robin, Damian Wayne, is shaking APPART on a roof top. Sweat pouring down his temple, thighs trembling as he tries ro stop himself from rutting up into empty air. It won't help. Won't make the damnable TEASING go any faster. Wet and tight and PERFECT around him.

Came out of NOWHERE. One second he was patrolling, the next barely catching himself from falling. Stumbling into an alchove on some god forsaken roof. Hands fumbling to turn off his comms. Absolutely not. They could NOT hear him like this.

Panting into hands pressed tight over his own mouth to stiffle the sound he wants to make. Beg and demand that magnificent heat go FASTER. Plunge him DEEPER. But he CANT. Because there's no one there. Just him and the slowly increasing pressure in his balls, begging for relief.

Then, like prayers answered, it DOES. He could WEEP. Can't stop the aborted jerks of his hips as he chases his relief. Soon is trembling like the virgin he ISNT anymore as he spills into... into SOMEONE.

They take it so well. So perfectly.

He's RUINED. His hand will never be enough after this. And Tim has no idea.

Sure, he's not stupid. He didn't buy toys the fake cum. (So to be safe plan B it is) But? In the cold like of day? Prooooobably magic sex toys. Eh. It's Gotham. Not the weirdest thing to happen. Tim's keeping them.

And using them.

Thus begins the "phantom lover" incident, as Bruce will insist on calling it. Because "we were haunted by random fuckings" sounds... unprofessional. And he's a Dramatic Bitch at heart.

Damian, obviously, told NO ONE. Patrol? Utterly normal. Mind you business. But Bruce? Uncomfortable conversations for EVERYBODY~☆

See, Tim has a long day. His new camera isn't gonna be in for a WEEK. There is no point in going out. So his evening stretchs long and empty before him. Which... SPEAKING of things both long and things empty... >.>

He remembers. There was an absolute UNIT that he bought. It also has that base... which mean he could put it on the sex pillow. Try riding it... oh he's GOTTA, now.

Lucky for Bruce, he's not even in the cave when it hits. Unluckily, it is a cock teasing hell. Nothing to hold. No body to press close. No skin to run his hands across or ears to whisper filthy praise. So TIGHT. Fluttering and fighting to take him. Sinking little by little. Can't even HEAR him praising them. He can't even distract them, rub their clit and sooth them as muscles relax.

Can't hold them by the hips and work them up and down. They way he knows will work best. At angles that will make them SOB. Just nothing, nothing, nothing. Trembling and eager around him but so SLOW. Pausing again and again to adjust. Can't thrust in, can't pull out, only TAKE it. Let himself be teased.

But OH. When they finally, FINALLY get a rythme? He knows they can hear a word he says. Not yet. But the FILTH he growls. The audacity of what they're doing. He's GOING to find them. Going to pin them done and-

Tim spend the next day sore, but happy. Definitely not an "every day" sort of toy, but holy shit the orgasm. He hasn't slept this well in a WHILE. Though... when he wakes up? The Bats are acting weird. Violent, hyper-focused, seemly shaking down leads with a single minded enthusiasm. Weird.

Speaking OFF. Now he's wondering... does the possibly fake cum... TASTE like real cum?

One way to find out.

And... look. Dick may have been warned, but it's one thing to hypothetically get your bits milked dry and another to be doubled over seeing the face of god. He would gladly kill a man for the ability to grab hold of whoever is doing this and ram home. The mouth on him is a thing of wonder and it keeps TEASING the tip. They keep running soft, pampered, little hands up and down his length. God he wants them to feel him in their GUT. Fuck their face and their ass and any OTHER holes they have til everything is sloppy and wet and-

Yep! From the tast flooding Tim's mouth, that's real cum. Good his he got his shot. But it begs the question... whoms't exactly is he fucking? Tim's not sure he's comfortable with random hook ups. What if, Gods forbid, it linked him to the JOKER or something!? He'd have to blow up the city and everyone in it.

He considers this as he resumes his sta- he means, BIRD watching. Newly be-camera-d. Weirdly enough, now Nightwing is acting off too. What is going ON? Also... he could of SWORN he saw the Red Hood a second ago. Did he leave? Aaw D:>

.....what's that sound?

*boss music starts playing* That would be the Red Hood. Owner of the mythical Common Sense gene. HE immediately phoned a friend! And by THAT we mean he beamed up to The Watchtower to get poked at by magic users until he had a scanner.

Beep beep, mother fucker. You have explaining to do.

OR, counter argument.... Tim makes a run for it. Doesn't GET far. But he Sure Did Try! Jason is unamused. Consent is sexy, kids. And he has the gun to explain that. But! TIM has the panic babbling to explain his horny stupidity and innocence.

Fair enough. He's confiscating them though. If you get horny, just fucking ask.

Wait.... really? Does Jason really mean that?

And... two things. Cute Horny Idiot knows his identity. And.... he never said HE wasn't also apparently a horny idiot. Sure, why the fuck not.

He confiscate the magic contraband... then bends that twink in HALF. Comms off, back into it. Tim can barely breathe, pressed down so tightly to the bed as his guts get re-arranged, callused hands holding his legs spread, his childhood hero rumbling FILTH into his ear as hips snap against his, again and again and AGAIN. The world is hot and fuzzy around the edges and... AND-!

Jason's pretty damn smug that HES not only the one who found mystery twink, but them fucked him incoherent. He seriously considers just... not saying anything. Whoops! Nothing to find here folks. To bad the Watchtower is a fuckin snitch.

So obviously Bruce finds out. And wants to "talk to him". Which inevitably ends with Tim, pressed close to his front, held still as he "fucks him properly". Which as far a Tim is concerned is a god damned excuse to EMPALE him on his monster of a cock. Work it deeper and deeper, all while holding him like a lover, as he absolutely DESTROYS Tim's poor puss. Makes him lose count of how many times he's gotten off. Until everything is too bright and hyper sensitive. Til it's nearly hurting but not quite there and all Tim can think about, as he whimpers and drools, is SLEEP.

Oh... and THEN he wants to talk about how Tim knows their secret identies. Ask him in the morning or Tim WILL cry at you.

He wakes up in Wayne Manor. He did not go to sleep in Wayne Manor. He can't move his lower body with out pain. Bruce is clearly pretending he planned that. Liar.

Then? Karma. His horny chickens come home to roost. Has Bruce introduced you to his sons? This is Dick and Damian. They remember you. And would like a "word".

(The word is sex and they would like it as soon as possible)

👀👀👀!!!!!!!!!!!! a reverse magic sex toy!!!!!!!!!!!!! where tim tortures the other bats by fucking his little pussy with their cocks while they're forced to just suffer and endure it until he's finished. more than once they almost scream from frustration because tim finishes before they do and he pulls them out of his warm, slick little hole. 👀👀👀👀

[couldpolyamorysavethem]

BRAD CHILES, JUDY REEVES, and FREDERICK "FRED" JONES, SR. FROM SCOOBY-DOO

Justification:

"Look. In the universe that most of the series takes place in, they are all absolutely perfectly terrible for each other. I want to see the three of them tormenting one another in the most horrific ways possible because the three of them deserve it. It wouldn't save them, but it sure would be fun as hell to see the three of them burning each other down in a perfect blend of toxicity and mutual pain! But that's not the version of them that I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the universe that Mystery Incorporated ends in!

Like, for anyone that's seen the show, we all agree that the universe that the show ends in is horrific, right? The gang are in some bizarro "good" universe where everything bad that they were subjected to didn't happen. But the writers sure have a strange idea of a "happy" and "better" universe, right? Shaggy is successful, loved by his parents, and well on his way to become a famous chef. Velma and Marcie are dating. Daphne's army of older sisters… Are failures in life…? And Daphne is seen as the "successful" daughter because… She's still engaged to Fred…? Speaking of which, Fred, who experienced the worst of The Horrors(tm) gets the worst of it! His father aka the guy that kidnapped him as a baby and whom Fred decided was his only legitimate parent is now his school principal who has no real reason to be in Fred's life after he graduates, meanwhile Fred now has to live with his biological parents who were… Just the absolute fucking worst in the old universe! They tried to kill Fred and his friends on multiple occasions, and then they did the SUPREMELY fucked up thing of getting plastic surgery as part of an elaborate scheme to gaslight the gang into giving them an artifact that the gang were hiding by them kidnapping Fred and replacing him with Brad (who got plastic surgery to look identical to Fred), and gaslighting Fred into thinking that the world blew up and that he's hanging out with an elderly Daphne (who is actually Judy, his biological mom also having undergone plastic surgery… AND WHO HAS TO FLIRT WITH HER BIOLOGICAL SON FOR THIS SCHEME TO WORK). And some time after that scheme fails, they swear their loyalties to an eldritch abomination from another dimension, and get eaten alive for their troubles! While still looking like Fred and an elderly Daphne!!! Like… It takes a A LOT for one to make a good case that someone's kidnapper should actually be their victim's legal guardian… But Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated sure as fuck does it! And now Fred has to live with those two while he wouldn't really be able to see his only legitimate parent after he graduates! So like… It is genuinely no surprise that Fred decided to run away from home at the end of the series! But at the same time… Fred's biological parents in this new universe seem to be… Like… Fine. Perfectly nice people. They're doctors and deal with newborn babies in this new universe rather than being professional pieces of shit. So they genuinely did nothing wrong! But that doesn't diminish the trauma that their alternate universe counterparts made Fred go through! Trauma that Fred would still need to deal with! And now that they're in this new universe… It does bring up some questions… Because like… In the previous universe, Fred was kidnapped as a baby. We don't even know what his birth name would have been! Would he still be "Fred" if he wasn't kidnapped by a "Fred"!???? And if his name is still "Fred" in this new universe, then why!?

But do you know what would make all of this just a little less horrific and answer some questions…? Polyamory of course! Fred can't see his only real parent after he graduates? Well, Principal Jones is actually dating Brad and Judy! He's going to be over all the time, if not outright move in with them! Of course Principal Jones sees Fred as the son he never had! He only helped Brad and Judy raise him! And that's also why Fred is still named Fred! He was always going to be named Fred because Fred was always going to be named after the same guy! If they weren't allowed to include Mr. Jones' last name on the wedding certificate or the birth documents, by jove, they could at least give their son Mr. Jones' first name! And sure. Fred's only legit dad may not have any memories of the old universe. But he can stay in Fred's life and now comes with a wealth of experience of dealing with kids Fred's age and knowledge on how to deal with kids going through problems and dealing with trauma! I ship the Jones Parents Polycule where no one else does and I'm proud of it! Polyamory can just outright FIX many of the problems that I have with Mystery Incorporated! Polyamory FTW" - @maniacwatchestheworld

[gretahayes]

for the ask game, timkonbart with 44 please?

44. “You’ve always felt like home.”

"I'm having a day," Bart says, phasing into being in Kon's bedroom.

Kon hums. He's sprawled on his bedroom floor in a position that doesn't look comfortable, but he either doesn't notice or doesn't care. Bart thinks he's maybe having a day too.

"Where's Rob?" Kon shrugs. "I want Rob." Bart frowns and disappears, then reappears with a confused Tim in his arms. "Hey Rob."

"Hi Bart," Tim says. He nods at Kon as Bart sets him down. "Hi, Kon. What's up?"

"I missed you," Bart says. He feels...unfocused. Unmoored, but not in the fun way that lets him time travel and hop through dimensions. In the way that makes him feel like he's fuzzy around the edges and if people stop looking at him, forget about him, he's gonna fade away forever and never be seen again. "I missed you," he repeats, because Tim can read between the lines.

Tim softens, catching the unsaid words in the way he always does. "Alright."

Bart feels a gentle, comforting weight, like a heavy blanket or strong hug, settle around him, and he feels more anchored. He shoots Kon a grateful look. "Thanks."

Kon wiggles his fingers in acknowledgement, and finally floats over to them. "Hi Rob."

"Hi Kon," Tim repeats. He looks between them, assessing, and Bart isn't sure what he sees but it must be really pitiful because he softens even more, in that worried way of his.

"Stop frowning," Kon says, and ironically, frowns. "We don't look that bad."

"You look like you'd benefit from a trip back home," Tim says. "Both of you."

"That's why I got you," Bart says. "You've always felt like home to me."

Tim pauses, and smiles in the awkward, hesitant way he does sometimes, when he doesn't know the right thing to say and figures not talking at all is probably the smartest choice. "Aww. Well. Thanks." Tim gets back to solving-problems-mode. "Bart, could you get us blankets and pillows for-"

A whoosh, and Bart's back with an his arms full of blankets and pillows. He assembles them into what he assumes Tim wants, a blanket fort-ish contraption on the floor. "What now?" He thinks he should know what now, but he feels slow and sluggish and has he mentioned he feels fuzzy? But not in the way he can't run, in the way his brain is slow, because he can run just fine. But if he can run, his brain should be fine too, because his speed's the reason his brain is the way it is-

Kon drops onto the blanket fort, and tugs the two of them with his TTK. Bart makes a surprised noise, but Tim looks like he'd been expecting it, and doesn't bother stopping himself from landing in a jumbled heap. Tim tugs and pushes and says something, and they rearrange limbs and torsos so nobody's being crushed, but the pressure is nice. Comforting. And they're intertwined enough that Bart doesn't have to worry about fading. They've got him.

He doesn't know how much time passes, but he feels less fuzzy by the time Kon moves for the first time. He twists a bit so he's face to face with Tim, and they stare at each other for a few seconds. Tim offers a smile.

Kon turns to look at Bart. He blinks, and Bart can't pinpoint what exactly it is, but something in his eyes looks clearer. More present. He smiles, and Bart smiles back. Kon turns to Tim, still smiling, and Tim laughs.

"You guys feeling better?" He asks, even though he already knows the answer to that.

Bart flops onto his stomach, ignoring now-verbal Kon's protests and planting a big fat kiss on Tim. He's aiming for just the general vicinity of Tm's face and is impressed with himself when he manages to land it on his cheek.

Tim laughs again, pushing his face away. "Germs, Bart, gross, did you even disinfect before sharing your extra-dimensional cooties—?"

(ask game)

[kahvilahuhut]

some great reward will be coming my way

teehee long hair era toby oneshot fic. AND a depeche mode song lyric. it's more likely than you think

summary: Tobias is getting ready for a work event when Jack comes by. They have a Conversation(tm).

Tobias heard the apartment door open. "I'm in the bathroom," he said loudly, while trying to untangle his fingers from the mess that appeared while trying to tie a tie.

He heard footsteps behind the bathroom door, and soon Jack was perking from behind it. "Hey, didn't think you'd be awake so early."

"Miracles happen, eh?" Tobias smirked and turned to him, "I knew this thing-," he gestured at the tie, "-would bring problems, so I woke up early enough to actually get it done. Still failed. It's so ridiculous, who thought that creating something like this would be a fun thing." He leaned on the counter and opened his shirt a little. "God I am not used to this kind of outfits, like, at all. Why are turtlenecks not part of semi-formal attire. Anyway! What are you doing here?"

Jack walked in and stood in front of him. "I thought I could come in and wake you up, you know. Maybe take you to the coffee shop."

"Mm, sounds kinda nice. Would love to go for a quick coffee."

"Or something else, maybe?" Jack murmured as he reached for the tie hanging miserably on Toby's shirt. "Can't tell if I wanna help you tie this or take everything off."

"Maybe take it off later," Tobias smirked, "Now, if you'd help me out, I would definitely owe you."

"Sounds exciting," Jack got vloser, maybe more closer than necessary, and started tying the tie. "Why are you dressing up like this, anyway?"

"Jack, c'mon, I told you like twice already-"

"Going to some nature lovers' party? With all the...green."

"Come on, Jack. Who do we work for? Got this from the office. Not like I want to go look for some suits at stores on my non-existent free time."

"Office? You mean, you're going to some corpo event?"

"You really don't remember, do you?"

Jack stared at him, clueless. "Honestly, no idea. Don't we have a normal work day today. And then all the planning in the evening..." He leaned in closer, "...unless we reschedule it."

"Is that all what you think of?" Tobias looked at him for a moment and sighed. "Christ, you can't be serious. I told you two times, and you even sounded sooo excited when I was telling you about it-", he turned around and looked in the mirror, "-unless you weren't actually listening to me."

"Wait, you're talking about that...eh...the prize or something?" Jack's hands froze. "You're actually agreeing on it?"

"You're telling me I shouldn't accept something I earned?"

"Two years of work and all you get is a piece of paper. Nothing special in that. You'd deserve so much more."

"It is what it is, though. Why shouldn't I be happy about getting a prize for my hard work?"

"A corporation prize. I thought you're better than that, honestly," Jack muttured, "Say, why do you even want to be in the team if you're happily accepting pieces of paper from someone who you're fighting against?"

"I-what? I am only in it because I want to show what happened to people. Not because-", he paused and took a deep breath. "God, okay. Let's calm down. I'm going to the event because I want a pretty piece of paper telling that I coded something that no one has ever done, and because I'm the youngest person to everget that kind of thing. You know, just in case I'm gonna look for a job in the future, okay? It's not like I want to do random gigs and tasks forever as a side-job instead of having a stable job."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever."

"Think I don't deserve it?"

Jack finished his tie. "No. I think you deserve much more."

"Well, you don't really sound like it...Sorry. I'm just a bit nervous."

"Toby, do whatever you want. Just remember what we're gonna do."

"Okay, yeah. Uh."

"So, what about the evening?"

"I-I'll think about it. I'll message you?"

"Yeah, sure," Jack kissed him quickly, "See you then."

Tobias watched him leave and waited for the sound of closing door, turned back to face the mirror and leaned on the sink. Hopefully I still have the leftover make up to hide those puffy eyes.

[ultraviolet-cello]

Day 8 of the tristamp analysis marathon and jesus christ i am!!! really excited to do these now because people have been adding onto/being nice abt my stuff and that's super cool. Thank you again to @tristampparty for running this! I didn't manage to join in on the book club last year so it's nice to have a fun little event all the same

[But as for next book club,,,, well. I'm extremely transgender about trimax and would love to join in]

As always, spoilers for trigun stampede and trigun maximum! Also some CWs for Vash-typical passive suicidal tendencies and discussion of his psyche

So! Episode 8! I have.... mixed feelings, on how Tristamp portrays Knives. On one hand, I definitely think that we're being lead to believe that Vash has always been a peace-loving kid and that Knives has always had those tendencies, which would set up for season 2 to break that down. I hope.

The one thing I couldn't figure out, ofc, is the Knives not needing to eat thing - My friend millions-dykes theorized a black hole/white star dynamic a little while ago [as seen in the screenshot. I'm Organ, they are Nagito Malmonella]

aaaaaaaaanyway, we still get these little instances of knives just being a kid, and it's the funniest thing in the world to me. Vash is also apparently in tune with him enough to pick up on that and it's such twin behaviour.

There's also just a lot of cases of Knives smiling or being giggly around Rem, which,,,, he's such a mama's boy like we know this but it's so nice to have it reinforced. This theory of Knives having always been cold/standoffish just doesn't track - the only time he usually seems uncomfortable is when Rem touches him or when he talks about Plant stuff - particularly when he's talking about being different to Vash. Knives, to me at least, is a tad autism-coded :]

OKAY TO THE SCENE[TM]

So obviously this has changed from when we first saw Vash tell the story. Vash's sequence of events runs as follows:

Vash walks up to the little hill that Knives is laughing maniacally on top of -> Knives says "I finally did it! It worked! -> Vash confronts him with "How could you do that?" -> Knives reassures him with "Don't worry, I left the Plant ship" -> Knives says "I even got Rem killed!" -> Knives points out that Vash is his accomplice, but does not elaborate why. "Don't get mad. You're already my accomplice, isn't that right Vash?"

Now the sequence of events in this version is provably more accurate (the same audio is used in the black box recording discovered later), and goes as follows:

Vash wakes up from the escape pod and goes "Nai, where are you?" -> He spends some time following Knives' footsteps where he sees the crashed pods and fire and Knives laughing on the hill -> Knives says "I finally did it! It worked!" -> Vash says "I can't believe you killed Rem!" -> Knives says "Don't get mad. You're already my accomplice, it was you who told me the passcode - Am I right, Vash?"

So there are several inconsistencies in these two versions of events, most notably for me is that Vash is the one to bring up Rem. If the 1st telling was correct, it would imply that Knives wanted to kill Rem, but that part is conspicuously absent, because Vash is the one that brings her up.

Vash's retelling also omits the fact that he was the one to give Knives the passcode, shifting more blame onto Knives. It's very very interesting to me. Finally, Knives mostly has his back to Vash when he dissolves into laughter again. Which is a technique often used to hide if you've been crying or are having a hard time keeping some emotional responses down.

And I'm not even done with this flashback! The scene where Vash just lies down and wants to give up is,,, Well, in Trimax, ever since Tesla, Vash has struggled with suicidal ideation - he's the one that asks for Rem to just kill him, and that's heartbreaking, but we also see a bit of that leaking through here again, where he just wants to lie down and give up. It also gives me hope we're gonna see that Tesla aftermath scene in the next season, because that'll be breaking Vash down into his more complicated, messy parts.

Okay so I do think that the subtitles Aniwave uses are... a little bit Wack, I'm pretty sure that they're unofficial and probably a bit wonky, and I'm only slightly conversational in Japanese so I have 0 idea about this, but hey I think someone should inform Wolfwood, for no particular reas- [I am dragged away by security]

[I did check the dub, which referred to Plants giving birth which I think is much more likely to be accurate. But it'd still be funny for Wolfwood to have to sit through Plant sex ed so neither of them get pregnant]

Rem really was very, very young,,,,,

There are four photos here, but only one is given to Vash. I wonder why,,,, Possibly to gauge his recognition of Knives being in the photo, or keeping the other three to learn what they can about Knives.

The night/day progression cycle here doesn't really match up with Vash's little tally, so I don't think it's counting days. Given that he apparently went to say hello to everyone in cold sleep while on the ship, I think it's a little more likely that the tally marks are for them....

Do we ever actually get to hear Rem say the blank ticket thing in a flashback? I don't recall it, but it is said to Vash after the whole Stabbing Incident in Trimax, so that's possibly why they've kept it from us.

Theeee markings under this Plant's eyes match Elendira's, which. Obviously Elendira in tristamp is part plant there's just so many little details that lend themselves to it,,,

The HAIR COLOUR CHANGE AAAA

I like the little wall of Vash baby pics in the background here, but he still didn't get any of his 3 other ship pics back :(

Finally, Vash's line of "an Independent will make up for what an Independent has done" is interesting because his guilt complex really does spiral, huh. The reason Knives telling him "Oh, you just feel guilty for the Big Fall, huh?" in a later ep fucks him up so much is because like. That is kinda true to an extent. Vash is his own kind of self-deluding, but that only really starts spiraling at about this point in time.

Alright, setting up for a Day of analysis tomorrow, because I have many thoughts and feelings surrounding Knives (I love him very dearly and I hate him a lot (affectionate)) and we Will spend some time talking about Trimax Flavour Knives because my understanding of him is fundamental to my understanding of Tristamp Flavour Knives.

Thank y'all for the fun comments and theory addons!!! I'm having a lot of fun and we're really getting into how [normal] I am about Trigun!

[hairstevington]

i can't tune you out (part 3)

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley x Chrissy Cunningham

Summary: Eddie and Chrissy become friends. Robin and Chrissy bond. Eddie and Steve strike a deal.

(part 1, part 2)

Word Count: 4.8K (it's a long one!)

Warnings: Rockstar!Eddie/Musician!Steve, modern day AU, enemies to lovers STILL very much enemies sorry I love a slow burn, Chrissy x Comphet, allusions to Chrissy having body issues, Hellcheer being wholesome, angst upon angst baybeeee, this chapter is very fun just bear with the boys absolutely despising each other lmao

A/N: Hello friends! From here on out, this fic will only be posted to my Ao3. If you're digging the story so far, go ahead and follow along here! To those that don't have accounts, I might be able to finesse some sort of system where I let you guys know when I've updated. Also, for those in need of Soft Steddie (tm), more "Flowers and Ink" is coming soon! Love y'all <3

Eddie got to the bar before Chrissy did, but he kind of preferred it that way. It gave him a chance to sit down, order a drink, and settle into the environment before being thrust into more chaos. 

Sometimes, even though he thrived in insanity, he needed a moment to breathe. Not that he’d ever admit that out loud, of course. 

“Hey, stranger!” Chrissy’s voice rang from behind him. He spun around and was surprised when she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. He’d thought that she’d been extra sweet and friendly the night before because of the alcohol, but apparently that was just her vibe. It was actually really nice. 

“H-hi, Chrissy,” Eddie replied, hugging her back. She pulled away after one last squeeze, then plopped herself beside him. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty good,” she answered. “I was up all night, so I slept most of the day. Now, I’ll probably be up all night again. Such is life.”

“Been there,” Eddie replied, taking a sip of his drink. 

“Can I get a vodka soda and two shots of tequila, please?” Chrissy asked the bartender.  

“Tequila?” Eddie asked, attempting to hide the disgust on his face. He hadn’t touched the stuff in years, after one fateful night involving a playground. Helpful tip - being drunk on a swing set is not the move.

“Tequila,” Chrissy confirmed with a smirk. “I’m invested now, and considering this is our first of potentially many drinks together, I figured we should start off with a bang.”

Eddie stared at her, blankly. She wanted to see him again after this? But he hadn’t even really done anything!

“Why are you so invested in this?” Eddie asked. 

“I dunno,” Chrissy replied with a shrug. The bartender put the vodka soda down in front of her, and she started mixing it around with the thin plastic straw. “I guess I’m just kinda…bored?”

“Bored?” Eddie repeated. “How could you be bored when you’re doing all the shit you do? Going to parties and photoshoots and - I mean, you barely know me.”

“My life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” she responded. There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes, but it left as quickly as it had come. Chrissy sipped her drink, then thanked the bartender as she set the shots down. “Come on, let’s commemorate this!” 

She took out her phone and gestured for Eddie to hold his drink up so they could take a picture. He was blown away by the whole thing, honestly. He almost texted Carla just to be like - can you believe this shit? 

It all seemed too easy. She was too open to being his friend, and he didn’t know why. He’d worked hard and all that, but he didn’t feel like he was decent enough of a person to get any sort of karmic reward. So this all felt a little suspicious, but he tried to enjoy it anyway. 

They did the shot. At least Chrissy had sprung for the high-quality liquor. It was still kinda nasty. 

“How was the rest of the party?” he asked. 

“Good,” Chrissy responded with a tight-lipped smile. She didn’t add any details, which was odd, but she spoke again before Eddie could ask any follow-up questions. “So, what’s the deal with you? People say you’re dating Steve, but you didn’t even know what he looked like last night, soooo…”

Alright, here we go.

“Yeah, well,” Eddie began. “I’m not dating him, clearly.” No sense in lying to Chrissy when she already knew. 

“But you want to?” Chrissy asked. Eddie shrugged. He would have flat out told her the truth, but he was hesitant to give everything away immediately. Steve was the one with the power, and Eddie hated that. “Do I need to order us another shot?”

“Please, no,” Eddie shot back instantly. When Chrissy laughed, he realized she’d been joking. “Sorry, it’s just -”

“It’s okay,” Chrissy assured him. “Talking to people in this business is hard. You never know who you can trust. I used to be a lot more open, and then you kinda just learn that you…can’t be, most of the time.”

Eddie furrowed his brow, wondering what exactly Chrissy felt she couldn’t tell people. Even moreso, he wanted to know who had broken her trust in the past. Then, he felt a pang of guilt, since he’d been mostly excited about this drink because it would boost his fame. Everything about all of this was corrupt and morally ambiguous. He sighed. 

“I’m just trying to make it out there,” Eddie admitted. “And I - I mean, I don’t know what to do, or how anything works.”

“Yeah, I remember what that’s like,” she empathized. She took a sip of her vodka soda, then turned back to Eddie. “Do you ever feel like -? I mean, do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”

“Uhhh, just on a daily basis,” Eddie replied. He and Chrissy smiled at each other, and he could feel her authenticity. Maybe it was stupid for him to open up to her, but he was going to do it anyway. “Chrissy, have you ever, uh - like, have you ever done one of those PR relationships?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replied, unfazed. “I can’t really say anything, but yeah. It happens a lot around here.” Eddie nodded, then sipped his drink. “Wait, are you trying to do that with me?”

“Not quite,” Eddie mumbled, his lips pressed to his glass.

“I thought you were gay,” she continued. 

“I am.”

“Oh, okay.” She thought about it for a moment, then her eyes widened. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” she repeated. “Ohhhh!”

“Got any other letters?” Eddie teased. Chrissy giggled, then shoved him playfully. 

“You’re funny,” she said. Eddie wasn’t used to people enjoying his often wicked sense of humor. This was refreshing. “So, who’s idea was it?”

“My manager, I guess,” Eddie answered. “Well, she told me to use what the fans were saying and to meet up with the guy. But it, uh - it didn’t go well.”

“No?” she asked, surprised. “What happened?”

Eddie wanted to keep talking to Chrissy. He didn’t care that she was famous anymore - he wanted her perspective as someone who’d been through it. He also knew that Chrissy could tear him down just as quickly as she could build him up. 

“Did you mean what you said about us getting drinks more often?” he asked. 

“Yeah!” she replied, smiling brightly. “Like I said, you’re funny. And I - hmm. Okay, um. This next part might sound really bad at first, but I can explain.”

“Okay…” Eddie said, feeling his walls come back up. 

“I don’t really have a lot of male friends,” Chrissy admitted. “It always feels like - like they’re just waiting for their chance to strike.”

“Like, try to sleep with you?” Eddie asked. Chrissy nodded. “Oh. Christ, that sucks.” 

“Yeah,” she replied with a half shrug. 

He skipped the part where he doubted whether or not what she was saying was true, because it was clearly affecting her whether it was true or not. Eddie also had an urge to diffuse the tension with a joke, because that was kind of his thing.

“Chrissy Cunningham,” he stated, “- are you trying to make me your gay best friend?” She bit her lip, fighting a guilty smile. “Cuz like, I’m down, but I’ve never really done this before so I don’t know what the role entails.” She stopped fighting the smile, so Eddie continued. “I mean, is there a rulebook out there? I think there’s a movie about this on Netflix. Should I watch that first?”

“Eddie!” She interrupted, fully laughing now. Eddie joined her, feeling accomplished that he’d lightened the mood and set her at ease again. “I’m in the modeling industry, I’m surrounded by gay men all the time. It’s not just about that, I promise.”

“Okay, then what is it?” Eddie wondered. She sighed, her body much more relaxed than it had been before.

“It’s just that everybody I’m around talks about their looks all the time. I mean, it’s our job to be beautiful, I know that, but it’s tiring to just constantly hear about new diets and calories and what I should and should not eat. It’s just - it’s nice to get away from that, sometimes. You’re nothing like them, and I like that.”

“Nothing like them, huh?” Eddie smirked. “Are you saying I’m not beautiful?” She laughed and shook her head. 

“Okay fine, you have one thing in common,” she teased back. “You’re not mad?”

“Nah,” Eddie said, shaking his head. “But while we’re coming clean, I definitely was excited to come here because I hoped I’d get more followers if we hung out.”

“Well, obviously,” Chrissy responded, flipping her hair. “Okay, so that’s out of the way. Can we stick together, then?”

She asked it so sweetly it made his heart ache. 

“Yeah, ‘course,” he replied. He thought back to what Chrissy had said earlier about her model friends and decided to commit to being the opposite. “So, uh, I dunno about you but I could really go for some fries right now.” 

Chrissy’s eyes widened. 

“I’d kill for some fries right now.”  

“Great,” he said, grinning. “Who are we killing?” They laughed together, and then he got the bartender’s attention so he could order.

-

“For the record, I’m not doing this for you.”

It took Robin less than two seconds to agree to going to the bar with Steve. Now, they were walking down the street so that they could spy on two people they barely knew but were somehow entangled with. 

“I know, I know,” Steve replied. 

The bar was in sight. Chrissy hadn’t tagged the location or anything, but he recognized the place because he went there often. So often that it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to show up with Robin. They’d done it before and they’d do it again. 

The plan was for them to discreetly sit at a table in the back. But then they were at the door, and then they were opening the door, and then they were immediately being stared down by a blonde and a brunette at the bar. 

Shit. 

“Steve, what do we do?” Robin muttered rapidly. 

“Uhhh,” he said, glancing over at the table he imagined they’d sit at. He thought about ignoring them and just sitting down, but they’d all already seen each other so that would have just been rude. “I think we just have to own it.”

“Own what? That we’re psychopaths?” Robin hissed. 

And then, Chrissy was waving them both over to join them.

“Just follow my lead,” Steve said. 

In hindsight, this plan had been really, really stupid. 

Steve knew that his cover for all this was to get Robin and Chrissy in the same room again. But truthfully, Steve didn’t know Chrissy’s deal or if she wanted anything other than friendship. Steve could say this had nothing to do with Eddie all he wanted, but that wasn’t true. 

He’d been wracking his brain all day to make sense of this. His fight with Eddie the night prior had been a little fuzzy, but one part of it really stuck with him. 

Just a few years of King Steve bullying the school freak.

Well, that comment plus Eddie saying that Steve’s music sucked. That stung, but he wasn’t expecting someone like Eddie to appreciate his music anyway. The truth was, Steve had left high school behind, and he’d moved on, and he’d forgotten the shit he’d done back then. All that bystander crap, the teasing, the little comments that Steve didn’t understand the impact of at the time. 

Steve didn’t like Eddie. He still thought Eddie was a dick. But that didn’t mean Steve hadn’t also been a dick back then. 

All of this was very complicated, and the residual headache from the hangover made his head spin. Actually, the dizziness was probably also from the hangover. The thought of drinking made him want to hurl. Good thing he was at a bar, right?

“Hey!” Chrissy said as they approached. “What are you guys doing here?!” She jumped up to hug Steve, then Robin, and Steve watched as his friend acted as if the physical contact with her crush didn’t affect her. 

“We, uh -” Steve began. “We come here a lot, actually. Well, I do. I live just down the road.” 

His gaze drifted to Eddie, who gave Steve a knowing smirk. 

“Oh my god, Robin, I’m actually so glad you’re here,” Chrissy said. “Your style is just - I mean, wow! Where do you get your clothes?”

Robin’s eyes landed on Steve’s for a nanosecond, but it was enough for him to know exactly what was going through her brain. Basically just the embodiment of a bunch of exclamation points. 

“I - I usually thrift them, actually!” Robin responded. 

Then, Chrissy continued asking where Robin thrifted, and whether she could come with sometime, and Steve figured they’d be at it for a while. 

Huh. Maybe there would be something there after all.

Of course, while they were talking, this left Steve to either stand there awkwardly or interact with Eddie. He probably would have chosen the awkward standing, had Eddie not chosen the opposite. 

“Well, if it isn’t HARVEST in the flesh. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Eddie began. He was smiling, but his tone was biting. Steve looked at Eddie, nodded his head toward Chrissy and Robin, then looked back at Eddie. He shrugged. “Ah, I see.”

“Yeah.”

“No other reason?” Eddie prodded, playing dumb.

“Nope,” Steve said. “Like I said, I live right -”

“Down the road,” Eddie interrupted. “So I heard.” Steve swallowed. He kinda felt like he was being interrogated or something. Eddie was making this extremely uncomfortable. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Steve wondered, desperately wanting this interaction to be over. Unfortunately, Chrissy and Robin were still chatting eagerly. 

“Like what, HARVEST?” Eddie asked. Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Steve is fine.”

“Hmm, is he though?” Eddie retorted. “I don’t think you want me to treat you like I treat Steve.”

God, Eddie knew how to push Steve’s buttons. His heart was racing, he was so mad. He clenched his jaw and considered how bad it would be to smack the smug grin off Eddie’s face.

Really bad. He knew that. He took deep breaths instead and relaxed. His hands had balled into fists at some point during the conversation. He extended his fingers out, flexing them. He was trying to leave this version of himself in the past, not bring him back. Another deep breath. 

“Whatever, Munson,” Steve sighed. “I just -”

“Hey, guys?” Robin said, diverting the attention to her. She pointed to the window, where a crowd of people had gathered. 

Some of them had cameras. 

“Shit,” Chrissy said. “How long do you think they’ve been there?”

“I dunno,” Steve responded. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah,” Chrissy agreed. Eddie and Robin looked at each other this time, both outside of Chrissy and Steve’s shared understanding. 

Good thing all of them looked nice. Those pictures were gonna be all over the place tomorrow. 

Steve was here a lot, so he knew the bartenders and the owners, and he also knew how to sneak out when things like this happened. 

“Come on,” he said, urging Chrissy to follow him. With Steve came Robin, and Eddie sure as hell didn’t want to be left there alone, so he came too. Oh, joy. 

The four of them walked past the bar and through a sign marked for employees only. They wandered through the kitchen and left out a black door that led to an alley behind the building. 

“So, what now?” Robin asked once they were outside. 

“I’ll give them about two minutes until they find us,” Steve replied. 

“Is there somewhere else we could go?” Chrissy wondered. “I kind of don’t want to go home yet.”

“Well, I know HARVEST over here lives nearby,” Eddie said. 

“Will you quit it with the HARVEST thing?” Steve complained. 

“Sorry, do you prefer Harvey?” Eddie shot back. Steve groaned. 

“You’re impossible.”

“Oh, boy,” Chrissy mumbled. 

“I know, right?” Robin agreed. “Steve, can we go back to yours?”

“All of us?” Steve asked, knowing the answer already. It was his apartment. He could have flat out said that Eddie wasn’t allowed in. But he saw the look in Robin’s eyes, and he knew that if they all went back to the apartment, she could spend more time with Chrissy. “Alright, fine. Let’s go.”

-

Steve’s apartment was nice. It was huge, spacious, and all the utilities worked. It was also minimalist in that Steve hadn’t put up any decorations. He had the essentials - a couch, a TV, a table. Not much more. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to have people over,” Steve said as they walked in. 

“It’s beautiful,” Chrissy said. 

“It’s empty,” Eddie noted. His apartment was a lot smaller, but it also was a lot more filled up. This place had nothing, basically. Eddie almost made a comment about Steve not having any money to decorate after paying what he assumed was an absurd rent, but he held his tongue. 

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Robin agreed. “I keep throwing ideas his way, but he’d rather live in an asylum, basically.”

“I’m not here that often,” Steve explained, shrugging. “Sue me.”

“It definitely could use some color,” Chrissy agreed. “Art on the walls, maybe a rug -”

“Yes! Exactly!” Robin exclaimed. “I even have a Pinterest board.”

“Oh my god, can I see it?” Chrissy asked. Robin nodded, and then they were both sitting across the room looking at decor or some shit. All of the logistical stuff related to interior design was beyond Eddie. He just bought things that he liked and then put them where they best fit. He didn’t know anything about color-coding, and he didn’t even know what Pinterest was. 

Anyway, Robin and Chrissy bonding so aggressively and so immediately (which was interesting, to say the least) left Eddie semi-alone with Steve once again. 

“Can we talk?” Steve asked, surprising the hell out of Eddie. He had given Steve zero reason to want to talk to him, he’d made sure of it. Like, Eddie had been at his maximum asshole level for a few reasons. First and foremost, it was payback for high school. Second, it was fun. And third, because Eddie didn’t like Steve, and because he currently didn’t have anywhere else to direct his anger. 

He didn’t say they were good reasons. 

“Uh, suuuuure,” Eddie replied. Steve gestured for Eddie to follow him down the hall so they could have some privacy. 

Oh, great. Now we’re fully alone.

-

Chrissy was amazing. She was wonderful. She was everything Robin hoped she’d be. It was almost too good to be true. No, it was definitely too good to be true. 

They were huddled over Robin’s phone, talking about color theory and decorations which turned into art and hobbies which turned into a discussion about college (Robin went, Chrissy didn’t) and then finally their conversation settled on music. 

“Have you listened to their stuff?” Robin asked, gesturing towards where the boys had gone. It had been a few minutes and no arguing or fights breaking out yet, as far as she could tell. Of course, she hadn’t been listening that intently. 

“Sure,” Chrissy responded. “Corroded Coffin not so much, but that’s just because I’m not into that sort of music.”

“Very fair.”

“Yeah. But HARVEST I hear all the time. That one song is literally impossible to escape from.”

“Oh, we know,” Robin replied with a laugh. “Steve secretly can’t stand it’s that song that blew up.”

“What do you mean?” Chrissy wondered. 

“Like, it’s definitely his most commercial song,” Robin explained. “I’ve been listening to Steve’s music since we met, and it’s a little out there sometimes, but now that I’m used to it I’m all for it. Anyway, his favorite songs are the ones most people haven’t heard. That’s why his new album is - I mean that’s why he -” 

Robin stopped herself from saying the rest. Chrissy was great, but Robin wasn’t about to spill all of her best friend’s secrets.

“That’s why he what?” Chrissy teased, nudging Robin in the shoulder. 

Dammit. It was really hard to avoid temptation when temptation was someone as vibrant as Chrissy Cunningham. 

“That’s why he’s so excited about it,” Robin concluded. 

Thank god. I can keep my best friend card.

“Oh, okay,” Chrissy said, nodding. “I’ll have to listen to his other stuff then.”

“Let me know what you think,” Robin replied. 

“Of course I will.” Chrissy smiled, then pulled out her phone. To Robin’s surprise, she handed it to her with an empty contact open. 

Holy shit.

Robin typed in her name and number, then triple checked to make sure she put it in correctly before handing the phone back to Chrissy.

“There you go,” she said, doing her best to remain calm. 

“Thank you,” Chrissy said. “Wow, it’s so crazy. First with Eddie, now with you. I just feel like we’re all going to be really good friends.”

Friends. GOD. Ouch. 

Robin probably should have expected that. She had expected it, really, but it stung nonetheless. That was okay. They could be friends. Robin cleared her throat and hoped she didn’t sound too disappointed. 

“Yeah, if the two idiots in there can get their shit together,” Robin joked. 

“I know!” Chrissy agreed. “Like, what’s going on with them?”

“I honestly have no idea.” She looked down the hall, still not hearing any arguing.

If she’d been alone, she would have pressed her ear to the door and listened in, but she had to be on her best behavior. You know, for her new friend.

-

“Sooo, what the hell is going on?” Eddie asked once they were in a different room. It looked like an office. There was music equipment everywhere. 

“I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you a bunch of shit, okay? Because the last hour or so has been crazy and I’m still kind of hungover and I’m not interested in doing a whole dance with you.”

“Yeah, you made that clear last night when you didn’t dance with me,” Eddie deadpanned. 

“Jesus,” Steve exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Could you just -”

“You wanna tell me something, so skip the preamble and tell me -” 

“I’m sorry, okay?” Steve snapped. “I’m sorry for - I’m sorry about high school. I was an idiot.”

Oh. Well, shit. 

“Past tense?” Eddie teased. 

“Go to hell.”

“Okay, okay, point taken,” he relented with a light chuckle. “Thanks. I appreciate the apology.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, really,” Eddie confirmed. “Don’t worry, I’m still iffy about you for a bunch of other reasons.”

“Great,” Steve said, returning Eddie’s sarcastic tone. 

“Cool,” Eddie replied. “So, is that it?”

“No.”

“No?” Eddie prodded. 

“Wait, what are the other reasons?” Steve asked, losing his train of thought. Eddie scoffed. 

“You want me to tell you why I don’t like you?” Eddie rebuffed. “Are you into that or something?”

“No, I just -”

“Come on, spit it out,” he demanded. “The quicker you say what you’re gonna say, the less time we have to talk to each other. What is it?”

Steve took a deep breath. 

“I want my album to do well, and ever since this whole steddie thing happened, people have actually started talking about it, and -”

“Waaaait a goddamn second,” Eddie drawled. “Are you saying you want to actually, like, do the fake relationship thing?”

“No, I just don’t want to deny it,” Steve responded. “Let them talk, you know.”

Eddie almost laughed. Jesus Christ, this was rich. Eddie thought he’d be the one begging for scraps, yet here he was, in Steve’s apartment, listening to his high school bully ask him for a favor. 

Eddie weighed his options. If he said no, it would feel great in the moment, but then this would be over. 

The tables were turning, and he wasn’t going to let a bit of his power go to waste.

“Hmm, very interesting, Harvey,” he said. “The King’s come crawling back to the freak.” Steve scoffed. 

“Our fake relationship benefits you more than me, you do realize that, right?” he reminded Eddie. “I’m just fine on my own. You get a popularity boost from this, so maybe you should try not to be a total asshole for once. I could find literally anyone else to do this with.”

The thing was, Eddie knew that wasn’t true. He could see right through the bullshit. 

“You’re bluffing,” Eddie stated. 

“What?”

“You’re bluffing,” he repeated. “Lest we forget you’re the one who asked me to go along with this.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, ‘lest we forget.’ Why do you talk like that?” 

“You’re avoiding the question,” Edde said, his eyes boring into Steve’s. 

“What question?”

“Come on, Harrington. You want me. Why?”

Steve’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t break away. 

“Okay, calm down with the whole ‘I want you’ thing, alright?” Steve’s agitation was just too cute. It was so easy to rile him up. “I’m doing this for my album, just like you are.”

“Yeaaah, I don’t buy it. What else is it?” Eddie couldn’t help it. He had to keep pushing. 

“There’s nothing else, Eddie.”

“Don’t tell me, then,” he teased. “Let me guess. All those years ago when you laughed at me in high school, you were really just harboring some hidden crush on me that didn’t fully come to fruition until you saw me at Frolique?”

Steve’s face went pale, and for a moment Eddie wondered if he’d gone too far.

“Oh my god,” Steve scoffed. “Could you not be a jackass for literally one second?”

“Wait, was I right?” Eddie took a step forward, intrigued by the idea. 

“No, you weren’t right, Munson,” Steve insisted. “I didn’t have a crush on you, I was just a dick.”

Ah. So much for that. Eddie shook his head and smiled. 

“And now you’re just so goddamn pleasant, huh?” He turned to look at all the expensive shit Steve kept in there - high-tech recording equipment, instruments, microphones, sheet music. 

“Usually, yeah,” Steve replied. “I’m actually nice to most people.” Eddie’s eyes were still focused on the sheet music, an increasing curiosity within him, but he held back and returned his focus to Steve.

“Aw, so I’m the exception? See, I knew I was special.”

If being a dick was so bad, then why was it so fun?

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” Steve asked.

“Oh god, sooooo many things,” Eddie replied. He meant it, too. He knew he had issues, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk to Steve about them. “And for the record, I can be pleasant too. Just ask Chrissy.”

“When did you get so close with her, anyway?”

“Since about an hour ago,” Eddie answered. “Anyway, I’m an absolute delight, Harrington. I only bite when it’s fun.”

“Then you must be having the time of your goddamn life,” Steve remarked. 

It wasn’t not true, but once again, Eddie needed to be unpredictable. He just had this compulsive need to throw Steve off, to keep him guessing. Yeah, being an asshole to Steve Harrington was fun, but Eddie didn’t forget how much he hated the guy and everything he stood for. 

“God, I wish,” he replied. “I hate this, but I’ll have fun when I can. I mean, my career is important, too. Why do you think I made a big fool of myself at that party? I fucking danced in public so that I could talk to you. I already told you - I don’t like your music, or your weird persona, and I don’t really care for you off-stage either.”

“Yeah? Well, the feeling is mutual,” Steve shot back. 

Eddie smirked, a fire within him that somehow bloomed and burned at the same time. Matter is neither created nor destroyed right? Eddie was never that good in school, but that phrase always stuck with him. The fire - the anger, the pain, the hurt - it fueled him and it broke him down. An endless cycle. What he loved. What he didn’t. All of it was the same.

“Let me be fucking clear,” Eddie said. “I’m not doing this because it’s fun. I’m doing it because I get something out of it, got it?”

“Got it,” Steve replied. The air between them was tense, and it made Eddie feel alive. 

“Okay,” he said at last. “Then we’ll let them talk.”

----------------------------------

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[spurious]

Compulsory Heterosexuality & McShep: Parallels

Thinking about the parallels between John & Nancy and Rodney & his relationships, because one of the really just absolutely nuts-making things that I've realized about McShep is how much they're mirrors of each other in so many ways (insert "everybody straight until the narrative foil walk in" textpost here)

So like, with Rodney and Katie/Jennifer there’s this sense of “ok this is what is supposed to happen/what I’m supposed to do” (not even just in the narrative but even in the show itself where it's like...do the writers not feel they need to build out a relationship for them? That they can just tell us that it's happening and we'll be like "OK yeah sure seems right" even though what they actually show us is Rodney spending all of his time with John and his team?) but anyway you can see both women are these very smart, successful, self-possessed women who would look at Rodney as someone "safe," like yes he's volatile and an asshole in certain ways but those ways are almost "harmless" compared to a lot of men, and in addition--and this is what I feel is pretty important--is the fact that he doesn't really require a ton of...care and feeding? Attention? He's pretty clearly not going to pull them away from their own (accomplished and serious) trajectories. Rodney being self-centered and distracted is a feature not a bug.

So they work as essentially these little "placeholder" relationships on both sides. For the women it's "ok, boyfriend, got that sorted, rarely see him but that's fine he doesn't need much from me" and for Rodney it's like this badge of Masculine Success (tm) that he has this beautiful woman who likes him or tolerates him or whatever (see: Brain Storm and how he pretty clearly sees Jennifer as a trophy to display to his former peers).

And so, ok, I titled this note (while I was working on it) "John and Nancy" and then spent two paragraphs on Rodney but HEAR ME OUT, we're getting there.

I think we can draw a pretty direct parallel in the sense of "this is what's supposed to happen" with Rodney's relationships and John's (only big relationship we know about since the man does not have a single viable love interest in five seasons.../seal shouting "gay".png).

There's a sense (from the info we have) that John was just...never really present with Nancy. That this was something that seemed like a correct step, and it'd make his family happy or whatever, and hey, it's not like he was gonna really go off and Live His Truth if he wanted to fly fighter jets, so why not settle down with a nice woman? And I think Nancy in the beginning saw it the same way Katie and Jennifer would see Rodney, like OK this guy doesn't want much from me and I have my own aspirations, this can work as something that checks off that box.

And then eventually, for one reason or another, it ends, I imagine because Nancy looked at what they had and realized she deserved a lot more than that, and John wasn't going to argue because he knew it was true, and he cared for her and didn't want her to be shackled to him if it wasn't doing something for her.

NOW. The thing that has made me want to set things on fire and throw myself into the sea. Is realizing that John is watching Rodney go through exactly what he has already lived and he can't fucking stop it.

And maybe he thinks "well it's different for Rodney," thinks that because he's fucked up in a way that makes him patently unloveable and unworthy while Rodney isn't, thinks that because he's gay and Rodney isn't, that maybe it'll work for him in a way it never did for John.

So now I just go absolutely fucking feral about John Sheppard and how he doesn't think he's worthy of love and happiness and tenderness, and how he thinks that his purpose, the best thing he can possibly do, is die for people he loves; so of course he lets Nancy walk away because he knows it's better for her, and of course he lets Rodney bumble his way through these relationships because the alternative is, what, being with John? and as much as he loves Rodney and wants him, he believes deep down that Rodney deserves "better."

I don’t know exactly where to go with this other than screaming and wanting others to scream along with me but like. The two of them fit together so perfectly but it’s just out of reach because it’s not what’s expected of them, and John’s self-sacrificing streak means he’ll never try it, while Rodney just…I think doesn’t really put that much thought into relationships to understand that he could have something different than the boxes he’s attempting to shove himself into? Ofc our job here in fandom is to give them catalysts that bridge that gap but without some outward impetus I can see them running along these sad little parallel tracks forever and oh my god, why has a military science fiction tv show from the early 2000s given the world this amazingly complex relationship WITHOUT EVEN MEANING TO?

[osokasstuff]

i'm too pissed off to sleep so i'm going to bitch about some takes and overall transphobic shit i had to see lately. this post isn't directed at anyone here, "you" used in general sense and only directed at people who said quoted shit.

tw transphobia, intersexism, exorsexism, terfism (all of it in quotes), mentions of igm, racism, and genocide, tons of caps, me being very aggressive and bitchy

> "trans people uphold gender stereotypes"

wow today i get to know the demographic that is literally seen as failing to perform both gender roles at the same time actually upholds gender stereotypes. and the same person said, "if you wear the skirt, your dick won't disappear." how gender non-stereotypical. /sarcasm

genuinely fuck you. have you ever considered the fact that maybe, MAYBE man = dick and woman = vulva is a gender stereotype too? or are you too coward for this? /rhetorical

i'm so sick of this argument, really. it sucks itself. i'm tired of its inevitable bullshitness. i have neither energy nor desire to destroy it properly. i'm so tired.

> "men in dresses in women's bathrooms"

FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU. maybe we live in different worlds with these people because in my world there's no gender policy that stops everyone with man gender identity from entering women's bathroom. like. cis man without dress can actually enter, you know? nothing prevents them, you know? sorry for destroying your nice illusion of security, but if someone wants to enter any bathroom with malicious intentions, nothing actually stops them. so you're doomed to pee in fear until the end of your lives. just like we do.

> *unquotable whining about how everyone protects the rights of people who label themselves as gender-neutral pots*

HAVE YOU EVER SPOKEN WITH A TRANS PERSON IN YOUR LIFE??? and if yes, where the fuck you live because i want to move there! NEUTRAL GENDER MARK, NOT XENOGENDERS, NOT EVEN DIFFERENT OPTIONS, SIMPLE NEUTRAL GENDER FUCKING MARK IS LEGAL IN APPROXIMATELY DOSEN OF COUNTRIES!!! where have you found these mythical places where you're FORCED to respect xenogender people because i want to go there and stay there forever! even in trans communities, xenogender people are often mocked and ostracized! do you think xenogender liberation is the only our problem? YOU LIVE IN THE FUCKING COUNTRY WHERE TRANSITION IS PROHIBITED! and so in lots of other countries! and even in countries where it's allowed, there are always tons of assholes who want to ban or restrict it again! YOU CAN'T STAND THE IDEA THAT THE PRECIOUS GENDER (TM) CAN BE ANYTHING BESIDES MAN AND WOMAN AND WE'RE THE ONES WHO UPHOLD GENDER STEREOTYPES? and moreso, you think the binary gender system is a NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS? genuinely go fuck yourself.

> "but there are only two sexes!"

YOU THINK LIKE THAT ONLY BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE WHO THINK LIKE THAT SUBJECT INFANTS TO GENITAL MUTILATIONS, AND LATER PUT INTERSEX PEOPLE ON "CORRECTIVE" TREATMENT WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. you don't even KNOW about HORRIBLE LEVELS OF VIOLENCE that are used to uphold your nice sweet idea about only two fucking sexes. go fuck urself, SEX IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT, moreso, IT'S A VIOLENCE-BASED CONSTRUCT, and if you're not aware about it, you're not allowed to bitch about gender being a social construct. binary sex and gender systems are based on unbelievable levels of violence, on literal genocide and erasure of intersex people, poc, and trans people. THAT are actual social constructs, and they are made FOR YOUR COMFORT by YOUR FRIENDS who are happy to murder, torture, and erase MILLIONS OF PEOPLE for your ability to never reconsider your understandings of sex and gender.

> "i don't like trans people but don't misgender them"

oh THANK YOU YOUR PRECIOUS GRACIOUS MAJESTY for your GENEROUS DECISION to not misgender us, MISERABLE FREAKS who definitely don't deserve SUCH A NICE TREATMENT. should i start to kiss your ass immediately or wait until you finish your condescending reasoning about why you're so PATIENT AND UNDERSTANDING towards us? /sarcasm

i swear, one day, i'll start to treat them like they treat trans people. /not serious

you know, i don't get all this stuff about being perisex cis, i mean, they just kinda... take what they're given from birth and use it? without any reflection and, you know, actually thinking about it? don't you think it upholds gender stereotypes, like, if you were assigned [insert], you live your life as [insert], isn't it kinda... stereotypical? maybe they should at least try to live in a different gender? to know for sure? i mean, i can't even imagine how it is to be perisex cis, so it's probably really weird, and maybe they'll change their mind when they get older? of course, if they're nice and don't ask too much, i will use their pronouns... maybe, but do you agree it's weird, not to say gross, on their side?

i'm so fucking done with this shit. i know most of the people who say shit are not genuinely malicious and are deeply uneducated or misinformed, but it's so heartbreaking, triggering, and exhausting to see this shit everywhere. i'm done with having to tolerate such a bullshit or leave spaces/lose connections and live in constant fear of revealing another transphobe-exorsexist-intersexist in my surroundings. sometimes i wanna people to consider the fact that trans, nonbinary, and intersex people are around them, can hear their bullshit, and have feelings about it. at the very fucking least. i'm done being discussed like i'm a fucking exotic thing and not someone actually existing in public and online spaces.

sometimes i wish some people a very nice shut the fuck up.

[quotidian-oblivion]

AO3 Anniversary!!

Hello hello!

SO.

On 15th of September, today, we have approached my official 1 year anniversary on ao3. That was the day when I first joined ao3. 21st of September was when I posted my first fic "A Day In The Life Of Tim Drake" which was just an excuse to not have an empty account. I wasn't completely sure whether or not I would be continuing on writing fics, but one day, I saw a fic that resonated within my heart. And so I decided "Hey, why not make my own?" And I set out to write "Sometimes You Have To Find Your Own Genes". So my first "official" fic was a 20-chapter novel-length fic.

But anyways, after finishing that, I thought to myself "That worked so nice, why not try it twice?" and wrote the fic which you might all be more familiar to: My School's Local Mafia Boss (AKA mmb which was an abbreviation @cygnusdoesthings coined standing for "mini mafia boss" fic) and its two series Let Them Be Brothers and Mafia Files.

From there, everything exploded and created a gateway which I stumbled through to a whole new world. And boy oh boy is it wonderful.

I've met... a lot of people through those fics. And so many of them are just absolute charms. It's crazy to think that around a 150 people get notified when I post. I've grown as an individual so much over the year. I've also realized a few things about myself too... a bunch of issues 😅 Hey, i can't be a full ao3 writer without having a fair share of the curse. To all those people who've stuck by me though... thank you. So much. I don't know how to describe.

I'm gonna continue writing fics. I like it. I love it. It helps me (and sometimes others) in more ways than one. So I'm going to keep writing. I have... soo many wips. And I'm co-writing with and beta-ing for a bunch of super cool totally awesome writers too! They're so cool.

But I want to celebrate. I wanted to do Something Special TM for this. So I asked people on ao3 on the Not All Good Things Come In Packages work to give me one (1) dialogue or line to put in a fic and i was pleased to see that a lot of people were interested!

And so, i have finally written the fic. Connected by the many contributions from various people, I present to you, the batkids learning about Bruce's days from ages 0-27 from Alfred: Greet Me With Open Arms.

Enjoy!

[shirogane-oushirou]

not rbing the post bc they're a minor and i'm not gonna be a hypocrite wrt "no minors" stuff... but i'd never heard the saying regarding how soulmates aren't found, they're made... and it's nice to know the definition of soulmate i've used for years actually has a basis in something ksjdnfkjnsdf. ;;; like i didnt NEED the validation but it's NICE to have.

if i ever use the term 'soulmate' it's that definition. no red strings of fate, no "first word on your wrist when you turn 18", none of that. soulmates should include having the agency to choose.

anyway. ren is my soulmate in that sense KJNSKDJN.

(rambling under the cut idk i just wanted to talk about ren's and my relationship and why i feel so comfy calling him a soulmate despite everything. we couldn't have worked OUT without putting the work IN, but once we do, it's Joever. i love him so much. i can't believe my brain made up a character who's so perfect for me in that he's NOT perfect but in the most complementary ways possible ughhhhh.)

wrt doc!ren, we absolutely Are Not Good For Each Other when we meet. two people internalizing everything and putting up walls and masks, obsessively people-pleasing vs doesn't-say-no-to-anything-to-keep-the-status-quo people-pleasing. he's very good at Playing A Finely Tuned Role and i'm just a fucking Brick Wall 7ft Deep, and it takes a lot of work for us to see that projected falsity in each other... see our similarities behind our differences... open up a bit... find more similarities...

he becomes ill, and we lean further on each other to help with our disabilities. when either of us reaches the "paranoia tells me this is going to end and i should pull back" point of the relationship, the other helps work through the source of their particular brand of paranoia.

just like... a series of "based on prev life experience, i have the exact emotional and physical skills needed to help you become a better person and reach your full potential" momence (tm).

even in r!ren's case, he still has things to work through wrt his anger towards his early life and his struggles to connect deeply with others, and in that story i'm closer to reality (in that i'm in my real life living situation and i'm not as self-assured or as self-sufficient), and that all leads to inconsistencies in what we both think the other person thinks about us. and it takes difficult work... walking through things... and in the end we become so healthy and so close! and we create a joint toolkit for solving interpersonal issues. it takes work, but we become the best people we can be with the other person, not expecting everything to simply work out in the end bc of magical soul bonds or w/e.

idk, the idea of "the perfect soulmate" is just so creepy to me. "they're trying to sell me something and i'm blackmailed by the universe into buying in" vibes..... hence why i love that one post of alice being like "if i'm approached by a perfect prince on a white horse, i'm gonna push him off the horse. eat shit." AKJNSDKJN

[justamagicalpurpleshark]

*SPOILERS* for ML Episode 11: Deflagration (Transmission Part 2)

So, I just watched Deflagration and I have some things to say...

First thing I simply loved about this episode was seeing Gabriel doing the snapping fingers dance/song sequence. Our man was unhinged and insane in a really fun way (he's going crazier and crazier by the episode and i kinda love it). Especially in front of Natalie and her "no fucks given" reaction. I thought it was hilarious.

Spoilers for Emotion in the next paragraph:

Also, tanking into account that this episode comes before Emotion, where Félix does a very similar dance/song of "snapping my fingers", it seems to imply some connection between the two. I'm starting to think Félix and Adrien are sentimonster twins or something, because the similarities between Félix and Gabriel seem to indicate more than an uncle-nephew usual similarities...

On another note, that cute little scene of Djwifi was incredibly cute and I adored Nino's entire character in this episode - super suportive and ready to lead the Revolution (Resistance), eheh

However, can we please talk about Scarabella and Kitty Noire for a minute. I think Alya was really good in her substitute Ladybug role (and was a good throw back to the Origins episodes) with a good amount of foreshadowing and reasoning and to how it works and then didn't.

Kitty Noire and Zoé as a character, however, irritates me to no end. I mean no offense, she's perfectly fine, and it's of no fault of her own. I just don't like that the writers couldn't be bothered to write the redemption arc Chloé deserved, so instead doubled down on her mean girl antics (since season 3) and just created a new character out of nowhere to replace her. Like, do your job correctly, please. I know it's Thomas Astruc's fault because he has always had a strange little hate boner over Chloé - a character he created - and thus Zoé was born. But like, idk i just think her character is incredibly bland and boring (she's just too nice) and feels a bit out of place in our main cast and especially as the Bee Miraculous Holder. She doesn't feel very "queen bee" to me (or "vespera" or whatever, but you get what i mean) ...

(Also this episode was filled with the usual Chloé character assassination *sighs*, oh well...)

Zoé rant aside (sorry about that), i feel like she falls behing Alya a lot in these two episodes in terms of temporarily replacing Chat Noir: she has no relation to Adrien, has never expressed any motivation/traits taht would justify her getting the black cat miraculous; she also doesn't get any in suit moments to justify why it had to be her and no one else (at this point, Nino would have been a better Chat Noir for a narrative stand point but I guess...)

On a lighter note, her last scene with Plagg (although it felt a little "undeserved" for a lack of a better term) was quite sweet and gave me a little hope the writers will do something interesting with her character in the future (I haven't read the bible leaks, so please no spoilers in the comments/reblogs). So, here's to having hope for character development.

Anyway, all around, i think it was a good episode - nothing special but a fun little side quest where our heroes find out they have responsabilities they can't abandon (even for romance) and get saved by the Power Of Friendship (TM).

Feel free to comment on any of my points :)

Now, to thank you for reading my post/rant, have a meme (Spoilers for Deflagration and Emotion):

[bengiyo]

Happy Ending Romance Eps 7 & 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Unfortunately, I lost the first version of this post after episode 7 ended. I'll do a quick scroll through that episode and rebuild some of my thoughts, but it's a loss.

Episode 7

I was really looking forward to this quartet working together, but Wu Ju has been turned.

This seating arrangement with the two sofas and armchair shows up a lot in Kdrama. Can someone explain why they're always arranged this way in offices?

We had two different "please take good care of me" exchanges, and only one of them felt genuine.

Han Tae Young is remarkably earnest, and I liked the spit it out scene.

Editor Yeong Seon is honestly fantastic. Telling someone you want them to be miserable takes a level of offense I respect.

All successful writers do is attend meetings. Jung Hyun's never writing.

I really like this first kiss. I like that Han Tae Young asked to kiss him after weeks of professing his love. They haven't beaten the TMS guys, but it was nice.

Another goddamn meeting.

I expected the reveal that Jung Woo was ghostwriting, but the reveal that it's what he outed that other writer for makes me wonder what the point was of going public in the first place.

I think Jung Hyun means it when he says he wants to protect Jung Woo, bit I think it inevitably infantilizes Jung Woo. He's never required to face anything, and still they both suffer.

I like the use of a bridge for a sad moment for Jung Woo. He can't go back now that everything is in the open.

Love that Han Tae Young was only worried that Jung Woo had left him again. We even get a pretty decent second kiss.

Episode 8

I really like the arty bed scene. There's been a lot of angst and long-term pining hanging over this, so this works. I also like it because this doesn't feel like a first-time-with-another-man experience for either of them.

For all that Kim Jung Hyun irritates me, Leo has done a great job embodying this character.

I can't believe a writer left his computer unsecured.

I feel for Yeong Seon. She keeps getting caught in all this drama.

I have enjoyed how when Korea does a love triangle, it's complicated by the different ways people love the same person and whether that might be best for the parties involved.

I'm wondering now if the professor figured out they were ghostwriting and blackmailed Jung Hyun.

It's a unique feeling of relief to see Kim Jung Hyun let go and team up with Han Tae Young. Now we've got a full party.

Oh, the professor didn't know.

There's a lot happening in this spiral just for Cha Jung Woo to end up back at Literature Square again.

The smash cut from the dour party to Jung Woo yelling was well done.

Hey, this non-fight is really good. Karam has done a solid job with a rather subdued character in Jung Woo. He's stepped up his expressiveness at this point and it works so well.

I loved this framing with the bus stop to place Jung Hyun on the outside.

Of course Jung Woo isn't going to let someone else sacrifice himself at this point.

Leo is good. I felt sympathy for Jung Hyun's relief that something he wrote on his own strength was good. I'm even glad he reconciled with Yeong Seon.

Man, I like that they let us know that the book worked out, and I like seeing Jung Hyun agreeing to work with Tae Young. This joke flirting between all of them at the end is a lovely touch.

Final Verdict: 8, Recommended. I think there are some shaky bits early on; I wasn't sure what I wanted to care about. Still, I like the ideas in this about the need to face pain and fear, and how trying to protect people from any disappointment can sometimes make things worse. I also enjoyed a lot of the dynamics, though I felt some emotional hand offs were missing. I will say I found a lot of the cross-cutting between scenes to be a bit distracting, and sometimes made it hard to focus.

[castlebyersafterdark]

(Do yall know how many asks I get requesting details and preferences on the intricacies of anal sex prep? Yall. Suspension of disbelief. There's so many advice and sexual health articles out there to read up on if you're so curious, it's... implied. No offense to the curious mind, I appreciate the genuine approach, but I ain't including all that in a fic hahaha. ANYWAY

you thought you could hide this in the strikeout but vinny dahling, i can read Strike (TM) AAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA CRUELLA DE VIL LAUGH

anyway. so i have never asked for this in an anon lol but i have to empathise with the dear and curious readers (most likely girls but maybe baby gays or straight guys who are curious???? shoutout to all the lurking straight dudes here on vinny's blog lol). i think sexfic can be hot and heightened reality, but its also nice to add some realism and it can be aspirational too. youre kind of a king of realistic sex in hcs and fics in the spicy byler fandom tbh. youre invested in realism and emotion in a way many other writers arent. and ofc, you have life experience.

so i think its just a case of - well, for me, i think its just interest to see how the practicalities could be worked into fic. because yes there is info available, but those articles dont tell you how to incorporate the necessities into an actual scenario or story thats still sexy. i just think it would be incredible and so sexy to read a fic (or see a film!) where the nuts and bolts of everything were included. messy, maybe it fails, but yeah. it makes younger people especially hopeful, because it validates the frequent fails of early sex experiences. and thats byler! i know youre working on a fic of their early relationship so I'm sure you'll grace us with some Very Realistic details about anal sex prep and make it poetic in its realism, too. if anyone can, its you! whenever youre ready, im sure lots of us will be happy to read that.

love you vinny.

HAHAHA well 😉

And it's no shade to those lovely, curious, inquiring minds. It's realistic!! It's obviously going to cross the mind, I get it! Maybe, just getting too nitty gritty and acknowledging all the hyper-real aspects of stuff has a twinge of embarrassment, a sort of mindset where it's like, oh I'm enjoying writing about fictional sex and sharing little hints at personal sexcapades, but there are times where I don't want to be seen as a beacon of real advice and especially not become a go-to sexual health educator hahaha. I'm just being silly or creative most of the time.

But... yeah. I can't deny the fact that I do enjoy having my niche being a little bit of a realistic approach to my fanworks. It's pretty fun, because I've mostly dabbled in the ridiculous or lofty before now - but I switched up styles and approach and what I always wanted was an honest sort of insight and writing style. Found it in this fandom of all places, wild. So, yeah. Authenticity. Love that, strive for that. I appreciate the kind words and faith in me!!

Very true though that more very realistic media in general would be super interesting, and I think more things these days are surprising me in positive ways. We do need more realism for many aspects and depictions of the intricacies of intimacy and relationships. For sure. I will say... I do think you and others will find a lot of this in that fic I'm slowly working on. That's why it's gonna take awhile! I think something like that is gonna be more long form if I want to say what I want to say. Of course here's stuff in the fic meant to be hot, but most of it is just... exploratory and trying stuff through storytelling. Depicting how two young men entering a sexual relationship together with very little reference points might deal. Ohhh, it's got awkward moments, it's got not-so refined sex, it's got realism in what is actually happening - I think you'll find what you and others are looking for there. It's my realism fic while a lot of my other stuff does have that typical fanfic mystical world where things just somewhat... gloss over reality to an extent haha.

Love you too anon ❤️❤️

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Lucas

I know full well I talked about Lucas before but I can't find the old writeup so new year new me I guess.  Let's talk that expansion.

Grid Expansion Lucas was, at the time, considered by many to be better than Renegade Cynthia.  Better setup tools, better DPS pressure, better partners with the Dragon Zone thing.  As a result, I doubt many looked at Lucas and though man.  There's someone who really needs an expansion.  But he got it, so here we go.

Lucas wanted for nothing.  His sync was tremendous, his DPS was higher than average thanks to "accuracy issues" he fixed with his TM that perfectly set up all his needed offenses.  He even got to cap his own speed for his Inertia multiplier, and rotated Free Moves Next with each Trainer Move into Roar of Time.  Lucas was crazy good.  The only thing that languished in time was the lack of extension effects.  Anyone who's anyone extends their field effects nowadays, GRUSHA, so it's the only thing Lucas realistically could ask for.

So it makes sense that's all he got.  No really, that is the only thing of note he received.  Brain Sync 2 and Sharpened Mind 1 are fine but negligible buffs, Status Immunity is pure Gauntlet gimmick that isn't even super useful for a Tech without bulk and healing, Soften Up is cute but pretty easy to ignore, and Satisfied Snicker does not currently align to any Dragon types.  No one in the type has Devastation except C!Iris, who is physical, and just wants to partner with NC Nate these days.  Literally the only thing of value is the extension.

But hey, probably speaks well of the pair's utility that, even when they reached the point they could give him more, they couldn't think of anything that impactful that wasn't just extension of a field effect.  Which is odd because I sure can!  Look, he's a Zone support, what are Zone supports for?  Why do people focus on these field effects?  That's right, it's to nuke the hell out of some fools.  Which means the person setting the field effect?  Ideally they're more DPS focused than sync, or at least pack other beneficial effects.  Lucas' Satisfied Snarl isn't it, and while his base DPS is good, it's not like they couldn't afford a 30% bonus somewhere, you know?  I just feel like he gained too little, when there was still room for improvement compared to modern fare.

EX and Move Level? To put it bluntly, if you have 3/5 Lucas, you have no reason to fret.  Lucas is not SS Diantha, he is not living and dying by the presence of his field effect, and thus can rely on waiting until just before sync to set it like a normal sync pair.  Extension 3 offers nothing so substantial that this becomes a requirement.  If you have Lucas 1/5 and mostly used him for some nice DPS pressure and support to SS Serena, you'll be happy to know nothing has changed.  Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.

Team 1: Lucas, SS Brendan/NY Clair, SS Serena This is the team that put Lucas' name on the map.  Dragon Zone was good initially because of the myriad free dragons, but when SS Serena dropped just two months later, Lucas exploded onto the field as a supportive pair.  Serena was already insane in her damage contributions, but with Zone active?  The game is actually over.  SS Brendan's eventual release later that year perfected the core, offering sharp Sp Def drops through Luster Purge, paralysis for gimmick checks, Potion, Sp Def for defensive backbone, among other traits.  Granted, Brendan and Serena fight for sync, but Serena wins, and it's not like there's a better Dragon Su-OH WAIT THERE IS.  Kinda.  She doesn't drop Sp Def, but NY Clair offers a team-wide DPS boost under Dragon Zone, prevents enemy Dragons getting a boost from it, and solves all of Serena's crit needs in one action, while supplying Def for survival.  She's a bit less sturdy than Brendan, lacking Potion, but either achieves the goal.

Team 2: Lucas, Roxanne, Cyrus/Lance/SS Cynthia In the times before SS Serena, Cyrus was the go-to man of the hour.  SS Cynthia was still pretty middling, while Cyrus' own grid and expansion turned out pretty great.  His Dragon damage wasn't exceptional by any means, but he was a good, and more importantly, free EX Striker.  Roxanne covered for Cyrus' TM and avoided that recoil while supplying the needed stats.  In modern times, Roxanne has an EX we'd like to use, and Lance's Hyper Beam is serious business DPS after his own expansions allowed him to handle crit rate.  Or you can pack SS Cynthia, whose 3/5 focus appreciates this composition as well.  5/5 can get Free Moves Next on a paralyzed opponent, so she might prefer Brendan for the stats and extra Hostile Environment roll.

Team 3: Lucas, SS Mina, SS Leon This is a more recent acquisition, focused on SS Mina's ability to give SS Leon what he wants, by blocking half the damage from enemy sync with her Buddy move.  This allows Leon to fully power up his DPS pressure, with Lucas providing the Zone.  It's a little risky, and not super worth it since Leon doesn't have a sync conditional for it, but you have that option.  Lucas' own speed capping and rotation of Free Moves Next helps alleviate the gauge problems.

Team 4: Lucas, SS Kris, Clair/Zinniquaza This is one I'll do sometimes, but Clair was approximately saved by SS Kris' introduction, thanks to her compression of Rain.  Lucas can fit in here, supplying the Zone.  Clair misses paralysis, but given her bonus crit in rain node, she's able to start firing strong DPS earlier than usual with this core, contributing meaningful DPS alongside Lucas, who I think is still just stronger.  If you want something a little more modern, Zinniquaza's mega evolution gets some big numbers, but you do need MPR Kris to make the crit rate for her.

Team 5: Lucas, Lucian, Drake If you just want Lucas to do the killing, here you go.  Lucian has the needed Sp Def debuffs, speed boosts to ease Lucas' demands, and is all around ridiculous.  Drake is chosen as support for theme skills, because all you realistically need is defensive stats for survival; Lucas is purely self-sufficient.

Final Thoughts Lucas is still pretty great.  I think the focus should be a bit more on his DPS, since I personally find he uses that more than he uses sync, but I'm willing to let that go.  He does pretty well, even if he's not my most used dragon man.

[zoe-oneesama]

Hi Zoe! I see you're done with Party Crasher. If I'm not wrong, Frozer is up next. What do you think about the episode?

This episode is a prime example of why Season 2 has nearly no rewatch value after you've endured Season 4. It's so hard to watch with hindsight.

So, the biggest funk of this episode was definitely Chat Noir - it was him when the episode came out and it still is now. Literally opening the episode with another romantic gesture when Ladybug confirms this MUST be post "Glaciator" because she very gently and sadly reminds him that he knows she's in love with someone else.

Well, he took the rejection SO WELL in "Glaciator", so why should we expect any different here?

This episode (paired with "Glaciator") is the episode that launched the "Nice Guy(tm) Chat Noir" idea. He says things in this episode that I swear were pulled right from reddit. He decides they should go solo because she turned down his rose... "We don't always have to do everything together, after all. It's not like we're a couple." Seriously dude? All this time together, our partnership, our relationship, our friendship, it all means nothing because I don't want to be your girlfriend? Because I was honest about having feelings for someone else? THAT'S the kind of person you are? What a great role model.

But then he's over it, like, immediately. I'm so confused as to why this was even here. To make Chat Noir look like a dick? Way to sell your main love interest, show~

So Sadrien sadly takes his sad rose to fencing practice and gets his sad ass handed to him by Kagami, who's like "wtf kicking your ass is boring if you just let me" and he asks her "do you ever feel like you're stuck, replaying the same story over and over again and hoping for it change but nothing ever does?"

And Kagami's response is her infamous "the biggest mistake a fencer can make isn't choosing the wrong technique. It's choosing the wrong target. Change targets" advice.

First of all, her metaphor sucks. Fencing is a 1 vs 1 sport, you can't "change targets". You can switch from aiming for the chest to aiming for the leg, but it's still the same opponent, weirdo.

Second of all, nothing about what Adrien just asked you suggested he was talking about a person or a romantic suitor whatsoever. Your only hint was that he was holding his Reject Rose, but even so, why wouldn't your first thought be that he's talking about his father???

Seriously, this could've been a good lead in for the Adri////gami set up if Kagami had assumed he was talking about Gabriel and responded with empathy. "Yes, sometimes I feel like that with my own mother, but I realized I don't like feeling like I'm waiting for change to happen. I make my own change happen. If you want your story to be different, maybe it has to come from you."

And Adrien, still thinking romantically, is struck. 'Wow' he thinks, 'she understands me in a way that honestly? Not a lot of people would.' And he declares that she's right, he's going to change his story starting now, and hands her the rose, starting their romance story.

But no, sure, a bad fencing metaphor about how he should forget other hoes and look at her, that works too, who needs BUILD UP amiright? I was a fool to think that maybe Kagami would need a REASON to be into the Writer's Pet Adrien when he's OBVIOUSLY already PERFECT.

Not that any of this matters since Adrien all but tells Kagami to her face "I had a great time but I'm sticking to my original pick." and she says she'll wait for him, girl, have some self respect.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. After the two part ways, we have a scene with him and Plagg about Adrien maybe switching targets, and uh..

Look, I noticed a real problem with the dialogue in this episode - there's a lack of connectivity throughout the episode with the things people say. I know I make jokes about the show having five writers per episode who don't communicate with each other, but here it reeeeeally feels like maybe that's not a joke.

Like here: Plagg suggests that Adrien is going to start pursuing Kagami and Adrien rejects this idea because he's in love with Ladybug ("No, no way. Ladybug's the only one I love), and it probably wouldn't work with Kagami anyway because it's his technique that's wrong and he needs advice on what to do.

This seems to suggest that Adrien isn't going to go after Kagami, and if he did, it would be to test out a technique on her. Like going out with Kagami would be practice. Now that's obviously not verbatim what he said and could justifiably be seen as reaching, but do you see my confusion? Not once does he say anything about being into Kagami or wanting to go after her (though admit-ably he did give her the Reject Rebound Rose).

But then two scenes later when he's asking Marinette for help, he's describing Kagami as if he's in love with her, as if he's really interested in her. Where did THAT come from between scenes?! Writers! COMMUNICATE!

Also he says in the French version that they have classes together, and in English that they study together, and I would just like to see WHEN?!

There's another example when Marinette goes off to the bathroom after Kagami gives more..."advice". Tikki asks why she's sad, and instead of pointing out the very obvious "Oh, I don't know Tikki, my crush asked me for advice on how to get close to another girl, I'm third wheeling his date and am forced to watch them skate around holding hands, she practically claimed him when Phillipe was trying to recruit Adrien for his ice rink by reminding him AND me that Adrien is with HER, aaaaand I fell on my butt in front of him, her, and the guy who I also have caught feelings for but am feeling bad about potentially leading him on because of my lingering feelings for Adrien. And then my crush's date basically told me it's my fault that all these things are happening to me because I 'hesitate'. That might have something to do with why I'm sad."

But instead her answer is she likes Luka but doesn't know if what's between them is that they're just friends, like with Adrien????

Even if that WERE a part of it, that's not the thing that started this or even the thing that set her off. So why is that the thing they made her stuck on??? That's like the fourth thing on the list of Things That's Made Her Upset. Her answer sounds like it comes from a pre-edited script or something.

So yeah, the dialogue is...weird. But that's almost normal for Miraculous Ladybug at this point.

So anyway, Adrien vows to get advice from someone who is Not Plagg and realizes very quickly that every adult in his life is utterly worthless so he scouts out his friends. Except of the 4 couples he zones in on (Marc and Nathaniel, Ivan and Mylene, Alya and Nino, Juleka and Rose) 3/4 of them are together because of Ladybug and an akuma.

"Hey bro, I need some advice, how'd you and Alya get together?"

"Oh, Ladybug locked us in a panther cage during an akuma attack after you tried to set me up with her best friend."

Maybe it's not as crazy that he went to Marinette as I initially thought.

(That said this gave me flashbacks because for some reason all my friends came to me for relationship advice despite being chronically single for most of high school, so, I felt that pain Marinette.)

And just...wow, writers, I know Marinette is your punching bag but this was just cruel. Having her crush, the guy YOU'RE SELLING as her true love go off about how pretty and special and amazing this other girl is right to her face? Is this supposed to be an equivalent heartbreak to what happened in the first scene? Because this doesn't feel equal, this just feels malicious on the writer's end. Ladybug didn't grind into Chat Noir's face how AWESOME the mystery boy is and at least Chat Noir got to throw a tantrum about it, where's Marinette's tantrum?!

I'll say the one point I give to the Girl Squad is them telling Marinette she's crazy for agreeing to third wheel this date and that she should definitely cancel on Adrien. If he can't handle being alone with the girl he wants to date, that sounds like a them problem, there's being selfless and then there's being masochistic, girl.

But then they lose that point for yelling over her when she tells them she's going to try being Just a Friend for Adrien.

The Girl Squad scene is also frustrating in this way that Miraculous is continuously frustrating in that the characters just don't quite say the thing that makes sense (like in "Maledictator" with Marinette calling Chloe "useless" instead of things that would actually stick like "bully"). Marinette says she's giving up on Adrien because she stutters around him and dating would be impossible if she can't even talk to him, and that she's calmer when she's trying to be his friend instead of dating him.

But what she should have said was "he just asked me advice on how to ask out someone else, he's clearly not into me!"

She has a good point with the stuttering thing, but that puts all the weight on HER for the relationship not taking off. It's HER that can't get it together, it's HER that can't get her words out, it's HER that's stopping them from being together. Meanwhile Adrien's over here asking out other girls, calling her "just a friend", not showing up to meet ups that she'll be at... Hell, he tried to set HER up with SOMEONE ELSE ("Animan"). He doesn't want to date her! Message Recieved!

So she brings in Luka, (which honestly, smart move, because how much would Kagami have REALLY hated Marinette if she showed up by herself on THEIR date) and we get The Metaphors.

Marinette is clumsy, this is a known fact, yet the only times she's clumsy at the ice rink is because she's focused on Adrien - when she focuses on Luka, she's smooth, easily let's him guide her, and is pulling off professional moves. ALMOST like he's a good, calming influence compared to the chaotic energy that Adrien brings.

The "problem" (if you're writing for this show and want to encourage Adrien and Marinette being together) is that the episode never challenges why this should be a bad thing. They want her to be with Adrien, soooo why are they basically visually proving why Luka is the better option? Why does this whole episode feel like it's actively trying to turn Marinette away from Adrien?

I mean obviously they're starting the Love Rival drama, but I mean long term. With the Skating Metaphor and Marinette bringing up how her own inability to think clearly around Adrien is a problem, and then never COUNTERING those problems, why are we supposed to root for them again?

Oh because Luka gave his consent in the end, not because of any merit that Adrien brings to the table, got it.

Then there's the obvious Two Guys Reaching Out to Help Marinette Up and She Hesitates Because Her Heart is in Conflict Metaphor. I only give this one props because at least none of the characters explained that one, they just let that one speak for itself, even if it was obvious.

Though that one accidentally extended when the reason Marinette doesn't choose is because Phillipe forces his way into the interaction to beg Adrien to join his rink - kinda like random, out of pocket shit that she has no control over is CONSTANTLY MESSING UP HER ATTEMPTS TO MAKE MOVES.

Gosh Kagami, maybe Marinette would've made a choice if she'd gotten five seconds between them without INTERRUPTIONS! Maybe she even would've grabbed BOTH of their hands, then what would you have done?

Sighhhh, I'm sorry Kagami, I don't mean to rip on you. It's just that you were so freaking RUDE in this episode to anyone who wasn't Adrien (and also a little bit to Adrien tbh). You can turn Phillipe's offer down without telling him his favorite sport is basically trash. You can help Marinette up without rubbing it in that you got the guy first. You can let Adrien turn Phillipe down himself without peeing on him, as if you're jealous of a this guy just for asking Adrien to join a sport ("he already fences with ME!"). Let the boy speak for himself - maybe he actually was interested, did you check in on what he wants?

Yes, Adrien shouldn't just go along with people to make them happy, but he's not going to learn to stand up for himself if you just speak for him.

And Luka...well you're just here for a good time, aren't you? So patient, so kind, so the only person in the room who can read the writing on the wall. At least someone in this group isn't lying to themselves.

I'm losing steam, so let's rapid fire:

I knew I'd hate Phillipe as soon as I saw him and I was right. He's annoying and I bet he's the reason no one wants to come to his stupid ice rink because he's lurking there interrupting other people's dates. I was on Andre's side when he ragged on him for trying to force people to join (though dude you gave him ten minutes, what did you think would happen?)

Luka's so magical he can play electric guitar without an amp or any sound amplifying device, impressive. Or the people on this show have never touched an instrument.

Also Luka, your advice to just be natural and go with the flow is great and also WASTED on Adrien, his "natural" is a DISASTER.

Adrien panic-lying that he brought Marinette to teach him how to skate was pointless. Maybe Kagami would've thought it was endearing you were too nervous to go on a date with her alone if you were just honest about it, but now it's just Another Thing Kagami has to turn into a competition because she sees Marinette as a RiVaL (which honestly amazing jumping to conclusions because wut, where'd you get that idea?)

Also, does Kagami shoot a bow? She says she only participates in "noble" sports, like bow or fencing, but I can't tell if she's listing sports she considers noble, or listing sports she participates in. Also what does a "noble" sport even mean?

S-stalac-Tikki...and Plagg-lagla. I know it's Plagg-Glacier in English, but it's Plagg-lagla in French and it sounds like Adrien's VA is gargling or stuttering when he tries to say it.

What happened to Luka and Kagami, you're not even going to show them frozen?!

Frozer is so ugly omigoooood not looking forward to drawing him.

So yeah, anyway, Frozer is hard to watch, especially with hindsight, the bad parts with Chat Noir are really bad but don't stick around long, so there's that, and while it doesn't feel like the characters are being too bad during this whole "dating" fiasco, it suuuuure feels like the writers were~