#As nexus said Ruin is running out of use so to say

[quirkyfries]

ooo ruin fans up in arms about today’s episode (it’s me. I’m ruin fans)

spoilers for today’s episode (Ruin’s wither shard) in tags

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Introducing: the official Dance Rush x Souls-like AU collab!

(credits to @nobody-nexus for the initial sketch of SL!Pomni <3)

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY NOW AND IT'S HERE, IT'S FINALLY HERE!

As I've said before, the Dance Rush x Souls-like collab is a special event to celebrate my birthday. The Amazing Digital Dance Rush is an AU owned by @nobody-nexus, my lovely bf <3, and is ABSOLUTELY worth checking out.

During this event, there wouldn't be changes in the scenery yet. That is, until Pomni asks Caine, from his office desk, what the golden microphone is for.

He then says that he's been "testing out an event to keep things fresh", without having to rely on boss-rushes entirely to entertain the current players, since it might "get boring".

He then whisks Pomni away to an entirely new map, an altered version of the Main lounge of the manor.

(Couldn't finish this one, I got really sick at the time of making this.)

Once Pomni is done exploring, Caine then takes her to the Idols stage, where she'll be facing down with three chosen idols in a third person, bullet-hell styled gameplay mayhem. A "Dance Rush event", if you will. ;)

(Sorry, I couldn't finish this one either. Body aches be damned)

There are three bosses for this event, and they are the DR variants whom are completely AI, and non-sentient.

Defeating "Idol_1" gives Pomni the Dance Rush skin, and an unlockable cyberpunk sword, as well as a new special called "Style break". (For normal players post-canon, they'll get a DR!Pomni NPC, being all sorts of useful from giving out gameplay tips, to offering a second chance on a halfway checkpoint if the player fails the current run.)

Defeating "Idol_2" allows Jax to access the Dance Rush skin, and a new special. (For normal players post-canon, they'll get a DR!Jax NPC, who will openly berate and flirt at the same time. He gives out side quests that allows the players to find stronger upgrades for main game.)

Defeating "Idol_3" allows Caine to change into the Dance Rush outfit. Normal players in post-canon will get a golden microphone, as well as a DR!Caine NPC that is just as wacky as the original is.

(He also finally permits access to the rest of the event's contents, such as a brand new map that's entirely explorable, and filled with mini-games if players wanted a break from main game's contents. He also gives Pomni the option to "mute" the pain system of the game, but warns her that doing this ruins "immersion". Ofc, Pomni doesn't care lmfao)

Both the Agent!Gummigoo and Agent!Moon skins remain locked until Dance Rush!Pomni and Caine are "topped in their high score leaderboards" (via doing a no-hit S+rank run), respectively.

Both the Agents, once unlocked, give out specialized items that aid Pomni during the gameplay, as well as having new rounds of dialogues that are immensely different from their original souls-like counterparts.

Caine never got to work on the others beyond Jax since if this was canon, this event would take place around Pomni's late game.

It's unlikely that this'll be a one-post event, so once I recover from my flu I'll be making more DRxSL content.

[goodolddumbbanana]

There is something very funny that Nexus couldn't find anything bad to say about Sun except Sun has been haunted by many mistakes. I mean, if he truly wants, he can twist the knife more. (Sun is a coward, Sun is an idiot...) But no. He still has some hesitation when speaking about Sun, like even he doesn't believe what he said.

He is in denial. Refuses to accept that everyone cares about him and just throw it under the water. And he self projects all of it onto Earth.

The way Nexus asks Earth to join him, I think apart from the fact he deeply inside feels lonely, but also, he is jealous of Earth.

Why do they love her so much but hold so much expectancy on him? Compared to him, Earth is like a golden child. Sun isn't scared of her, Lunar trusts her, Solar gets soft around her, Monty is crazy about her.

Nexus wants to ruin her, he wants to make her just like himself. Because if Earth joins him, which means, he was right. The family is the problem, not him, never him.

Something very interesting about how he interacts with each member in the celestial family.

With Moon, he shows no mercy. He enjoyed torturing Moon, to prove himself is more superior than Moon. That he is the one who is better, that even with all the nasty shit he pulled, Moon is always the big bad guy. Moon's treatment is similar to Ruin, because from Nexus's perspective, they are both bringing a lot of pain for him.

With Solar, he mocks him when Solar decides not to join him. I think he admires Solar to some degree, so when he goes bad, he loves to humiliate Solar. Solar and Earth are both people who are desperately for love and approval, so he thinks he can just easily manipulate them to his side. Remember, right when Solar refuses to do what Nexus wants, Nexus calls him weak and pathetic and all. Because back then, Solar never refused him anything, solar is his yes man.

With Earth, he uses a lot of more manipulation. He self-projects himself on her, and when it didn't work, he called her dumb and said once again he will kill her.

He said Sun or Lunar or Monty they only use her, but actually, the only one who keeps asking her for therapy, the one who never actually hanging out with her anymore if not for the fact they want to ranting things out, it is Nexus, not lunar, not even Sun.

Earth comes to Sun a lot. She rants about things with him, she shares her insecurities with him as much as she shares with Solar. And only one person I didn't see her doing that with. Nexus. Nexus is the person who always needs her help, that she never can put her guard down. She always needs to be understandable and kind towards Nexus and the fact their interactions today are so much alike with how when Creator comes to her, making me feel sad.

The one who put her in such high expectations is Nexus. And both Creator and Nexus think they can just, manipulate Earth because she is always nice and wants to help people. They both think because she is desperate for love, that she will do anything. They both imply and rambling that the family she loves will end up leaving her when she has no use anymore when in fact, they are these people who use her a lot and drop her on high sight when she no longer shows any use.

And with Sun oh boy, it is a whole can of worms. Nexus hates him, he hates him with passion, seeing Sun making he throw up. But if he truly thinks that, why didn't Sun have the same treatment like Moon? Why does Nexus let Sun run around and just shut Sun down like he did with Moon? Why wasting time chasing him? And why didn't Nexus ask him to join Nexus?

Because he knows Sun, painfully. He knows his brother still loves him, still cares about him, but never, Sun would never agree with whatever he did and does.

That's why Nexus doesn't try to manipulate Sun like he manipulated Earth and Solar. Because he knows Sun might plead and beg, but for the family, there is nothing Sun would do. But He is not the family anymore, right?

So he yells at Sun, he chases around like a crying for help. Even in the cell, they are not talking much like how Earth and Nexus have talked. Because both of them are the same, immovable mountain. They both understand they are so stubborn, and nothing can change their opinion.

Do you see how much you hurt me? Do you even care?

Nexus with Sun like a child getting a tantrum and hit their mom, but still their hand keeps holding their mom's shirt. There is so much of everything between them, and there is no more word conflict yet can be approvable than hatred.

Sun is always the home for Nexus, but now when he doesn't want to go back to this hole anymore, where is he?

[ikamigami]

If Nexus and Dark Sun, or even Nexus and Ruin, perform an October takeover, could the catalyst be Nexus killing Sun? Or Sun dying? On accident or on purpose doesn't matter, and everyone else being driven out or running away to recoup and try to revive Sun?

Hmm.. I think that Sun will die either during October takeover or at the end cause I personally think that Nexus will be devastated by Sun's death..

No matter how hard he tries to act like he doesn't care about Sun he still does..

After all, he stayed in the cell after the talk with Sun.. he didn't do anything.. even if he could.. only after what Monty did he escaped..

And even when he became Nexus when he was talking with Moon.. it seemed that it hurts him that Sun left their home.. and I think that "he couldn't stand being in the same place where I was" comment tells us that Nexus really cares what Sun thinks about him..

And later he only scoffed at the mention of Sun.. I really think that he believes that Sun despises him - funny thing is that Sun thinks the same about Nexus - and I think that Sun's words stuck with him..

Though sadly Nexus acts selfishly.. maybe because it hurts him too much.. this feeling of being inferior.. I don't think that Nexus became like that because of his mental issues.. he chose to be like that.. maybe because this is easier than trying to be better when you're so insecure that it pains you..

Though I think that his changed was fuelled by something.. idk what though cause it's hard to say for now.. for me it seems too easy to put full blame on Dark Sun.. I know he's a genius..

But I'd love if Dark Sun was just using circumstances to his advantage and not be "behind everything".. cause this seems pretty unrealistic portrayal of someone intelligent..

Someone who is intelligent isn't actually a mastermind like in movies but rather it's someone who see connection between things, situations and circumstances and can use this "knowledge" to their advantage.. to either do something good or bad.. it depends on whether a person is following moral path or not..

Also I think that more complicated characters and storylines ar far more interesting.. and even if it's a YouTube series you can still come up with great ideas if you're a tyoe of person who have tons of ideas..

But it's hard to say what VAs prepared for Nexus.. what will exactly his arc reveal..

Thank you for your question though, dear anon. I hope you're satisfied with this answer ^^

Also your ideas for what may happen also seem very interesting and like I said it's hard to say for sure what VAs are going to do :)

[writingwithsonicsora]

It’s A Curse If You Care Enough, CH 1 Snippet

The giant spider yokai breathes out a frustrated sound, twisting around to gaze at the four turtles at the end of her office. The squirming comes to a stop as the group realize she's gazing at them.

"Are you pleased with yourselves? All this hard work, ruined!" She waves a clawed hand angrily, gesturing at the broken glass container the Oozesquito's had been inside of. The fight in the office hadn't gone completely to plan. Leo could admit that. It almost makes him wish they had just left when he said they should.

Not like his brothers really listen to him anyway.

At the lack of response from the teenagers, Big Mama sighs, covering her face with one of her larger hands. "What else should I have expected from Rodeo Clowns?" She snaps her fingers pointing at the group. "Gather them. I want to make this night somewhat tolerable."

“How about, we make a deal?” Leonardo interjects quickly, just barely able to keep the frantic edge out of his voice. He needed to sell this. He needed to make this work. He didn't really know much about Big Mama, but she seemed the type to love a deal. She wanted to be in charge in control of a situation, but she seemed like she liked games.

Leonardo can feel his brothers glowing at him, gazes locked on his shell. He ignores it as he squirms forward in the web cocoon he’s in. “You like deals, right-?” He continues, managing a smile and wink at the yokai. He needs to make this work, so he has to ignore them.

The Spider Yokai pauses, observing the teenager with amused interest. Some of her irritation evaporated for the moment. There is no telling when that would come back. “I enjoy a good gimbly gamble every blue moon, turtly boo.” She taps the fingers of her smaller hand together, using the larger set to stall her workers from scooping the group up just yet.

“Well, take a gimbly gamble with me!” He says brightly back, wiggling closer. “I love a good challenge, Big Mama. Don’t you?”

“I do enjoy such on silly-willy occasion myself.” She agrees, her amusement still clear. She was intrigued, he could use this. “What are you thinking-?”

“Leo-“ Raph starts to warn, a frantic edge coloring his voice. He’s trying to scoot over, and likely lay on Leo to keep him from trying this.

“Nardo, do not do this.”

“Bro, please!”

“I’m thinking that you want those Oozesquitos, right?” Leo presses on, ignoring his brothers. He feels guilty for doing so, but the guilt doesn’t last. They didn’t believe him earlier. It's technically their fault all of them are in this mess right now. He’s going to get them out of this mess somehow. He’s the faceman, this is technically part of what he does. He talks big, so the rest of his family can do the heavy lifting. “I can do that for you. I have my portals, I’m fast, nimble, and quick. I’ll do it all, no complaints, no fuss, no running away if you let my brothers go.”

“And why shouldn’t I keep all of you and just make you my rodeo clowns?” She questioned, narrowing all of her eyes at him.

“Because, you know it’s a waste.” He manages to push himself into a seated position. Not the easiest thing to do given he’s cocooned in webbing. “The bottle broke, you lost all the work we did for you. And do you really trust your guys who are busy with so many other tasks to get that done?” He gestures best he can at one of her goons, a fox yokai glowering at him.

Leo drops his voice conspiratorially. “I mean, this guy, I’m pretty sure he’s so busy he hasn’t seen a brush in weeks!”

The fox yokai growls openly at the insult, only silenced as Big Mama holds a hand up again. “You certainly made some intriguing points little blue.” She hums back, “So, you would gather up Oozesquitos for Big Mama’s Battle Nexus?”

“I would. Only, if you let my brothers go. No recapturing later for clownery or any fighting. They’re off limits.” Leo wanted to be sure she didn’t try for a clear easy double cross. He wanted her to work for it if anything.

“Ohoho, trickery-wickery! You already know Big Mama.” The Spider Yokai laughs, brightening somewhat. She was clearly having more fun with this than Leonardo thought possible.

“Do we have a deal?”

“On additional thing.” The Yokai interjects, raising a finger and pointing it at Leo. “You give me your name.”

To read the rest, check it out on AO3!

Summary;

With the Oozesquito's escaping through the smashed windows of Big Mama's office, Leo knows what he needs to do.

He's the face man, he can make a deal and get them out of trouble. Sure, his brothers didn't believe him about the Big Mama thing earlier, but he can handle this. He'll have more things to rub in their faces after this. They will so owe him for this.

Little does Leo know, Big Mama never plays fair.

She's happy to agree to his deal, only for the addition of his name.

The price is much steeper than he or his family would come to realize until it is far too late.

[brightstar2000]

Personally, i voted for Nexus. I know, hot take, but here is my reasoning.

While he hasn't done what Ruin did, he still has caused immense pain to his ex family. Especially to Moon and Earth.

Yes, Ruin killed 5000+ dimensions, but their deaths were quick and entirely painless. Solar wasn't in pain when he died. He had good intentions in doing what he was doing. Doesn't make it right either, but how many dimensions would have suffered under the creator council as time went on? Potentially more than 5000. I'm fairly certain that Ruin would have used a different method if he possibly could have, but it was only him against 5000+ creators, and he had reason to believe nobody would help him. He didn't know anyone that well, and already struggled to survive for a long time thanks to his creator, so trust issues were going to be inevitable. He couldn't have possibly gotten rid of them one at a time. They'd catch on eventually. Of course, i still feel awful for all the lives who suffered as a result, but again, none of them died in pain. It was a quick, painless death for all of them. Which is more than i can say for what Nexus has done. Sure, he hasn't killed anyone yet, but he has physically tortured both Ruin and Moon, leaving them both in immense pain to where they could barely move, and Moon would have died if not for Monty's quick thinking. He also hurt Earth, who Ruin was trying to free too when he realized what he was going to do, and he hurt Eclipse just for trying to get him help.

He also knows now that Earth still cared about him. So did Sun, but he is still set on getting a hold of a wither shard, and is not above harming them to get one, as we've seen when he forces his way into their heads.

Ruin didn't actively try to cause more trouble after he accomplished what he wanted to do. He was even going to let them kill him for it. He complied with Nexus, allowing him to lock him up and disable most of his functions too. It was only when Blood Moon got him to lure Monty to them that Ruin somewhat did, but he had a different plan that would've killed Blood Moon instead of Monty if it played out as he wanted it to.

It also is thanks to Ruin that we are getting a whole redemption arc for Eclipse. (For those of us who watch EAPS, but even before they took over the MGAFS channel, some of his redemption was showing through, and it's still ongoing)

For crimes, yes Ruin did worse, but so far, Nexus has caused the most pain to the family out of the two, i know that's Ruin's fault too, initially, but Nexus is still actively carrying out his actions, even after Solar was brought back, and is fully aware of what he's doing. He knows it's wrong, but he is still doing it, and fighting against the consequences he rightfully deserves by hiding in Dark Sun's place (the Astrals' punishment), which Ruin was fully willing to accept the consequences of his actions after everything he did was done (saying that they could kill him for killing Solar and he wouldn't even fight them on it or run from it).

I also don't believe Nexus for a second when he said to Sun that he would leave them alone once he gets a wither shard.

OKAY LET'S WATCH THE WORLD BURN!!!!

Some friends and I made this "crimes" chart for both characters, and we got so excited that it even has drawings and coloring done by us.

We tried to be as impartial as possible, acknowledging the wrongdoings on both sides without glossing them over.

It was very difficult for me, because I hate Ruin, but I can assure you that at least the other three people who helped me are not carried away by their grudges. Unlike me. I hate you Ruin.

Special thanks to @angisam for the translation and corrections.

Also if you think we forgot something, don't hesitate to mention it in the comments or just by sharing. I only ask that you be respectful and try to be as fair as possible, we are talking about FACTS seen in the chapters, not what our hearts say. PD: THIS SURVEY WAS DONE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2024 SO ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT DATE WILL NOT BE INCLUDED. And to show that there is no intention of fighting, something funny! BONUS!!!

Because my friends drew those poses WITHOUT HAVING ANY IDEA that it would look so good for the meme LOL

[dottiechan]

ICEBREAKER Pt. 1

Read on AO3 (link in bio)

Part 1 | Part 2&3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Pairing: Crosshair x Reader x Hunter; Tech x Reader (platonic)

Wordcount: 2389

Summary: Tech watches on helplessly as his brothers' affection for you threaten to ruin the squad.

Warnings: cursing, yearning

You’re just as cold on the inside as the ice is under your boots. It crunches with every step you take, and your heart seems to beat along with the fall of your boots, aching. You feel unsteady, almost enough to miss the tracks running in the snow right in front of you. You pause and crutch down, gloved fingers dipping into the indentations as you grumble to yourself. It’s not even your turn to scope out the area where you’re setting up camp, and besides, there is a literal tracking genius in your squad - it really shouldn’t be you who’s out here in the snow and ice, eyes straining against the blinding white of the planet, fingers freezing off as you set up perimeter alarms. And yet you just volunteered for the less than ideal task without explanation, not understanding your own decision either.

At least Tech offered to tag along, but you suspect he’s simply had enough of his brothers for a while. Not that you can blame him.

“Fascinating.”

You sigh, internally begging him to stop talking as you stand, abandoning the tracks after deciding they most likely belong to a lone whitefang. You have enough on your plate right now, with Hunter still being pissy and Crosshair avoiding you like the plague, and silence would be much more preferable right now to listening to one of Tech’s rambles.

“Did you know that this moon’s surface is almost entirely composed of water?”

“No.”

“Despite the subzero surface temperature, there are subsurface oceans underneath the ice that are warmed by the moon’s internal heat.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I wish we could stay long enough for me to study the subsurface flora and fauna. There might be plants underneath the ice that-”

“Tech.”

“-that use chemosynthesis-”

“Tech!”

“What?”

He has the decency to look flustered, one hand gripping the datapad tightly, the other flying up to adjust his goggles as he peers up at you. You didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but sometimes you just can’t help it. Sometimes, the confinement of the Marauder is enough to turn you into a ticking time bomb, irritated by the slightest seemingly innocent things. And you’ve had more than just mere sparks to flare your temper as of late.

...

His rifle is spotless, and yet he’s still scrubbing it as if his life depended on it.

Maybe it does, because if he jumps up and lowers his guard for a second, he’s out the ship and off to find you and Tech. Maybe you’re a fool sometimes, a god damn nuisance, a person he still couldn’t grow used to, but you belong with them now, you’re theirs, you’re his, and that means something to him. You frustrate him beyond reason, and he often grows callous and agitated because he refuses to allow himself to feel the emotions you elicit from him whenever you’re near him.

Even now, on an ice planet, the mere thought of you infects him with a sweet, sweet jungle fever that knocks him off his feet.

And he’s supposed to be angry now, Crosshair reminds himself. After all, you almost gotten yourself killed on Bracca, and almost broke him in the process.

“They’ve been gone for too long,” Hunter grumbles as he paces up and down like a caged nexu craving to run free. But lately Crosshair began to suspect that he craves something else, someone else, and the thought has his throat tightening in jealousy. He’s been watching, and he convinced himself that he’d misread the signs until he saw the same agitation reflect in his brother’s eyes that he himself has to wrestle with every day.

If it ever came down to your choice, he knows he wouldn’t be it, and he hates living with this knowledge.

Hunter has all the things you seem to like - unlimited kindness, longing looks, smirks that turn a little too soft when directed at you, broad shoulders he caught you staring at more times than he can count. Deep down, he’s still hoping it will never come to you having to choose, but it’s impossible not to wish to be in the centre of your attention. You drive him insane, but you also make him want to commit and stop fighting and lay down his weapons for once in his god damn life.

“Relax. They’re probably fine.”

The screen to their left lights up, and Hunter rushes across the ship in long strides before exhaling in relief. “The proximity alarms are online. They should be heading back soon.”

Crosshair sucks in a breath, worried about seeing his own emotions sitting behind Hunter’s eyes as well.

...

You were assigned to assist the Bad Batch for an unspecified period of time some months ago. You’re a versatile field agent, specialising in both stealth and combat casualty care, one of the few volunteers who were qualified enough to join the GAR. Oh, and you’re also clearly mistrusted by your new squad as they flip out the very moment you risk yourself in the line of duty. You’re not stupid, you weighed the risks carefully, and you trusted your abilities to see you through the job unharmed.

But ever since the incident on Bracca, you’re given the cold shoulder by most on the squad, and for once, the scenery matches your mood.

And yet Tech deserves better than to be cut off like that. He deserves to be listened to, and appreciated as the good man he is. You’re friends, but in moments like these, you think you don’t deserve his friendship.

“Look, I’m... I’m sorry, okay? But right now, I have too much on my mind to think about, umm, chemo...”

“Chemosynthesis?”

“Yeah, that.”

“I think I understand,” he nods, satisfied with your half-assed apology for the time being as he goes back to scanning the vast icy desert stretching as far as the eye can see. The Marauder’s lights blink in the background, orange against the dark blue of the growing darkness that surrounds you. It’s like a beacon, a sign that promises warmth, and you gaze at it longingly until you remember that you’ll have to go back to Crosshair’s scowl and Hunter’s disapproving frown and Wrecker’s awkward little smiles. Somehow, the ice is preferable once more, and the snow that just began to fall in soft flakes is little more than a mild annoyance.

“Well, aside from a few distant life forms-”

“Whitefangs.”

“Yes, most likely whitefangs - aside from those, we should be quite safe inside the ship for tonight.”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “You might be. I’m not the most popular with the squad right now, remember?”

“You are a valued addition,” Tech declares, and the certainty in his voice releases inside you the emotional equivalent of a sucker punch. All you can do is stand, and fight the sting of tears in your eyes. You’re confident, but you never in your wildest dreams imagined how difficult it would be to live up to the expectations of a special unit. You also know your worth, but it’s hard to keep on believing in yourself steadfastly when the rest of your squad doubts your every move. “Which is why the prospect of losing you elicits a rather severe emotional reaction in us. It is rare for regs to warm up to us as well as you have, let alone volunteers. Aside from the obvious tactical disadvantage losing you would mean, I believe it is a little more personal than that.”

...

Hunter knows something is off even before one of the alarms is triggered - whatever it is, it is within five clicks of the ship, making you and Tech plenty exposed before he could do anything. He was straining his ear simply to keep you all safe - so what if he accidentally heard your muffled voice, or the soft crunch of snow underneath your boots?

But now is not the time to be idle, and he knows it. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his squad. And to you, he corrects himself almost softly as he grabs his helmet and checks his weapons quickly. Despite the fact that he’s still angry about your previous carelessness, he cannot deny the forbidden yearning coiling in his stomach whenever you’re on his mind, making him just as nervous as hopeful. And to be fair, it happens more and more often as of late, which is both alarming and exciting as he never thought he’d ever have the luxury to feel this way about someone else. Sure, he knows love, he loves his brothers with all his heart even if he isn’t very vocal about it, but this is different. New, scary, exciting different, an effervescent and persevering tingling blinding all his senses.

Crosshair is beside him in less than a second, rifle in hand, silent, and they share a nod before lowering the ramp and rushing out into the freezing dusk.

When he picks up on your muffled voice, he seems to ignore everything as he breaks into a sprint towards you, hoping to reach you in time before you’re in danger. He almost misses the way Crosshair’s heartbeat picks up, the usually stoic man reeking with genuine worry as he looks through the scope of his rifle.

He can deal with this later, Hunter promises himself as he pushes down this uncomfortable feeling. But then he sees you and Tech, and he seems to forget about anything and everything - you have that unfortunate and awfully distracting effect on him.

...

“But Hunter yelled at me for being reckless for a solid hour. And Crosshair said he didn’t care if I wanted to get myself killed, but I should do it in a way that didn’t interfere with the mission. Seriously, what an asshole.”

“Nevermind what they actually say,” Tech waves his hand in mild annoyance. “Hunter was worried sick. Crosshair almost went after you. And they’re both too pigheaded to admit the real reason why they’re so worked up.”

“Which is?”

“Obviously they both view you as a potential romantic partner.”

There’s a moment of pause as you two stare back at one another before you snort and chuckle, shaking your head and crossing your arms over your chest as a futile attempt at staying warm. “Tech, you need to work on your sense of humour.”

“And you need to work on your observational skills and situational awareness.”

“My observational skills are exceptional,” you defend yourself, a finger held up in the air defiantly. “And my situational awareness is-”

“Lacking, as you didn’t seem to notice the whitefang return. I suggest we head back to the safety of the Marauder.”

Sure enough, the wild cat is there lurking amongst the ice dunes, its eyes glowing in the dark as they reflect the light of the ship. It shouldn’t pose a threat to you as it is alone, and relatively small, but you still consider wrestling with it instead of returning to the ship and facing the rest of the squad - somehow, even that feels like a fight more fair than the ones that await you upon your return. So you hold its gaze as it curiously inspects you, wishing to swap bodies and run away and avoid any more conflict. Before you can even think of returning to the ship, you hear quiet footsteps catching up to you.

“I thought I heard something.”

“It’s probably more curious than anything.”

Hunter unsheaths his vibroblade and twirls it in his hand so theatrically it makes you roll your eyes. He glances at you, shoulders all tense, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of danger, and even though his face is obscured by his helmet, you can almost see the disappointed frown sitting on his features. “You want to test that theory?”

“My money would be on the whitefang winning.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tech.”

“Any time.”

“Relax.” The distorted rasp of your commlink is not enough to drown out the smugness of the sniper. The stand-off ends when a single well-placed shot right before the big cat sends it sprinting away into the darkness. You all turn to find Crosshair standing by the ship, his rifle still aimed at the retreating form of the whitefang.

“Well, there goes my opportunity to finally have an interesting patrol,” you mutter to yourself as you all make it back to the Marauder.

“Do all of your patrols end in you staring down carnivores?” Crosshair snorts, clearly unamused.

“Only the good ones,” you fire back, deciding not to wait for any of them as you head inside. Crosshair is hot on your heels, another string of mockery sitting on the tip of his tongue, because fuck, you’re stubborn, but he’s not going to cave in and tell you how it makes him feel to see you in danger. He can’t, however, put up with being away from you either.

Hunter lingers a little outside. He has to set himself straight, to contain all the things he wants to say you that have nothing to do with scolding you about Bracca, to kill all the feelings that suddenly demand to be felt so desperately. He clenches and unclenches his fists by his side, pretending to survey the surroundings of the Marauder. Tech moves in the periphery of his vision, but instead of following you and Crosshair, he steps closer to Hunter.

“I believe the threat’s been averted.”

“Yeah. Good job on setting up those alarms, Tech.”

“No problem. Is there anything else you need?”

“No. You should head back inside. The last thing I want is for you to keel over with hypothermia.”

“That’s not how hypothermia works,” Tech mutters, his voice trailing off, eyes uncertain behind his goggles. He suddenly places a gentle hand on Hunter’s shoulder, making the sergeant glance at him.

“Hunter, I’m only asking this because I care about you all, but... how long do you think this can go on before one of you gets hurt?”

Tech’s words echo in his mind long after he’s rejoined the squad on the ship. And Hunter just stands outside in the snowfall, watching the last rays of light disappear on the horizon, wondering which one of you he’ll have to hurt when the push comes to shove.

[thevibraniumveterans]

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

Are you sure about that, Loki? Are you extra, extra sure about that?

Because you:

1. Joined a task force to look for Sylvie (even though you didn’t know her then) and entered the same tent she had just disappeared from mere seconds before;

2. Thought that she was you (which later she would disagree with and say “if anything, you’re me” but anyway) and therefore pretty darn easy to locate;

3. Wouldn’t at first accept the fact that she was superior to you (well, y’all are equals, and maybe she’s better than you, but we’ll get to that later);

4. Theorized with your new friend Mobius that she was hiding in apocalypses by stealing his salad and then proceeding to absolutely destroy it doing so;

5. Visited freakin’ POMPEII to prove said theory and then actually proved your theory correct;

6. Used a candy from the future as a clue to find out where she might’ve taken her next steps, and cross referenced it with the many apocalypses she might’ve been in;

7. Actually found an apocalypse that she ends up being in (Alabama 2050);

8. Went to said apocalypse to look for her (you seem pretty invested in looking for her at this point);

9. Found her first enchantment victim who then passed the enchantment onto her second victim (B-15, looking at you), whom you still thought was you;

10. Found her third enchantment victim who told you not to call her a Loki (which she’ll do again, don’t worry);

11. Acknowledged through her fourth enchantment victim that she was different than you for the first time (“I would never treat me like this,” you said);

12. Followed her through a Time Door back to the TVA after meeting her for the first time;

13. Somehow allowed her to get the best of you even though you probably didn’t mean for that to happen;

14. Grabbed her stolen TemPad and landed the both of y’all in yet another apocalypse, the worst one yet actually, one that she’s probably been to before;

15. Tried to shield her from a falling meteor, to which she said she didn’t need your help (I mean, did you have a reason to save her then?);

16. Called her weird (I mean, that’s funny as hell, I gotta give you that);

17. Opened a door for her and let her enter the mining shack first before you did;

18. Literally let down your guard around her (yes, you’re tired from all that running, but still);

19. Somehow didn’t even stop her from putting both her hands on your neck in an attempt to enchant you (it looked romantic as hell, dude, and how were you not even opposed to her doing that, given both of y’all’s antagonism toward each other?);

20. Told her mockingly “In my heart” when she asked you where you hid her stolen TemPad (I mean, you could have said literally anything else but you went for “in my heart”, okay, I see where this is going);

21. Kind of agreed with her when she said you needed her to get out of Lamentis, “you need me” being the key phrase;

22. Asked her where she was going, and followed her;

23. Acknowledged that she’s not a Loki (yay!), or at least the fact that she doesn’t want to be referred to as one;

24. Followed her into an abandoned mining town where you thought you could fool a resident who chose to stay (you couldn’t);

25. Let her get away with teasing you about your failed efforts;

26. Playfully grabbed her by the shoulders from behind as you used your magic to conjure up a guard’s outfit for yourself (which you looked absolutely hilarious in, by the way, that helmet did not help one bit);

27. Sat down with her at a booth on the train, just the two of you (I’m not calling this anything else other than a date, at this point, to be honest);

28. Told her a wistful story about your mother and how she taught you magic and how she believed in you;

29. Showed her a miniature version of the fireworks you said your mother once conjured up for you, in an attempt to make her happy (I mean, those are beautiful fireworks, and she likes them too!);

30. Playfully conjured up a feather and quill to tease her about saying “Love is hate” (she finds you funny, she just doesn’t want to admit it);

31. Asked her whether she’s got anyone waiting for her when her mission’s complete (well, she did give a sarcastic answer but that’s not my point);

32. Admitted to her that you courted both princes and princesses in the past as part and parcel of being royalty;

33. Disagreed on love being mischief (what does that even mean?!) and then told her that you might need a bit more of champagne to really get that line of thought going;

34. Sang (I’m sorry, serenaded is a better word) her a song about a fair maiden waiting for her beloved to return home (you’ll find out how prophetic that would be in due time, don’t worry);

35. Decided that a dagger was your best metaphor for love (what, does being inebriated make you better at metaphors now?)

36. Let her get mad at you for getting drunk on the train (tbh, that’s kinda your fault, but there was literally nothing else to do, so) and breaking her TemPad (honestly, how do you even break a TemPad when it’s hidden in one of your magic pockets?! How?!);

37. Asked her if she felt better after that frustration-fueled scream (I mean, that’s kinda the first time you’re looking out for her, because that’s about to get real routine);

38. Went along with her after she sarcastically suggested that y’all both should try to get the Ark off the moon, fully knowing the impossibility of doing so;

39. Bantered teasingly with her about enchantment;

40. Believed her on a dime’s drop when she said that everyone who worked that the TVA were Variants, just like the two of you;

41. Let her grab your hand before the both of you ran around the back of the Ark’s docking station in order to find another boarding point;

42. Asked her if she was okay after the both of you got knocked back by an explosion (aww, you do care for her, how sweet!);

43. Finally called her by her name just before the Ark exploded;

44. Apologized to her for ruining her mission and dooming the both of y’all to die on an exploding moon;

45. Sat and listened to her explain her motives for her mission, before telling her that though people like the both of you may lose in sometimes painful ways, y’all always survive one way or another;

46. Freakin’ COMPLIMENTED her (that’s a first), and while the both of you sat waiting for the explosion to wipe the both of you off the map, you took her hand for the first time after she put her hand on your forearm (lovely, by the way);

47. Looked longingly and sadly at her when the both of y’all were hauled back to the TVA for interrogation and then subsequently separated;

48. Denied, when interrogated (is questioned a better word?) by Mobius, that you and her are partners (ha, you’ll soon be, in more ways than one, if you weren’t already), with a look on your face that absolutely betrays your true feelings for her;

49. Couldn’t even sell your lie about meeting her to Mobius that he had to lie right back to you;

50. Thought she was dead and felt so worried for her (you should’ve seen your face!);

51. Asked if she was alive and then SIGHED IN RELIEF when you were assured that she’s still alive (oh, have you got it bad for her, and you know it);

52. Denied that she’s your girlfriend the first time Mobius teases you with that word;

53. Spilled your emotions and your feelings for her on the table when you told Mobius about how much you believe her about everyone at the TVA being Variants;

54. Didn’t even deny it the second time he called her your girlfriend;

55. When asked by Mobius if you cared about Sylvie, you didn’t know if “care” was the right word;

56. Straight-up told him, “I believe her” with such emotional conviction it’s hard to see it as anything else;

57. Nodded your head at her when the both of y’all were reunited at the very same elevators you met in front of (how poetic) and she asked you if you’re okay;

58. Literally had her back when the both of y’all fought the guards in the Timekeepers’ chambers;

59. Got distracted when she got knocked down to the floor by Judge Renslayer;

60. Were on the brink of telling her how you feel about her, telling her that revealing your emotions was kind of a new experience;

61. Decided the best option was to place your hands just by her shoulders for whatever reason;

62. Let go of her so that she wasn’t pruned like you were;

63. Admitted in a roundabout way in just three words that she was your glorious purpose (priorities shifted, eh?)

64. Proudly proclaimed that her being terrifying was the very thing that made her so brilliant;

65. Literally puffed out your chest when you said, “she needs me” (she will, much later, don’t worry);

66. Revealed that she’s the only one you do trust (oh, the way your voice just softens when you speak about her…);

67. Planned an unwise sneak attack (that would’ve involved stabbing a cloud, I mean…) on freakin’ ALIOTH because you believed that doing so would bring you back to her when you really had no idea whether it would or would not;

68. Ran down the hill you were on to reunite with her (classic reunion move, pity you didn’t complete it by hugging her, but I guess you’re not there yet) when she arrived by car and asked her if she’s okay (looks like it’s becoming a habit);

69. Hilariously tried to unsuccessfully argue, through telling her that you’ve been in the Void longer than she has (maybe for like, an hour or two? IDK) that stabbing a cloud with a dagger was your best line of defense;

70. Sat next to her and had a conversation with her, during which you…;

71. Said it was cold (whether it was or wasn’t, isn’t important), so you…;

72. Conjured up a blanket for yourself before asking if she wanted one as well and proceeded to deny that your budding romantic connection with her was the both of y’all’s nexus event;

73. Followed that up with revealing that your nexus event with her felt great, it was a nice moment (aww);

74. Proceed to deny it as another TVA lie (you really need to work on talking about your feelings!);

75. Reassured her that you don’t know what the both of y’all are doing with regards to this relationship you both have with each other;

76. Playfully wrapped part of your blanket around her shoulders (double aww, that’s the classic “I’m gonna fake yawn and drop my arm around her shoulders, y’all think she’ll notice” kind of move, and yes, she did, and she likes it) and smiled giddily like the lovesick puppy you are;

77. Acknowledged in a roundabout (and maybe not so subtle) way that she loves you;

78. Pledged to not betray her, to not let her down, because you’re not that kind of person anymore;

79. Adorably nudged her when you asked her what her plans were when all was said and done;

80. Suggested that the both of y’all could figure things out… “together”, you said (triple aww!);

81. Handed the TemPad she gave you to Mobius and told her, “You go, I go” (I mean…);

82. Let her take your hand before you went to attempt to enchant ALIOTH;

83. Interlocked both of y’all’s fingers while y’all were at it;

84. Walked hand in hand to the Citadel at the End of Time;

85. Asked her if everything’s okay after she becomes nervous before entering the Citadel;

86. Got really unimpressed when that creepy ghost clock offered the both of you a chance to rule the TVA together;

87. Stated that “We write our own destiny now”, cementing the fact that you and her are an item;

88. Warned her to not listen to He Who Remains;

89. Tried to stop her by warning her about the possible consequences of her actions;

90. Suggested that the best plan of action was to take a minute to think of whether allowing a multiversal war was better than the alternative both of y’all never wanted (unfortunate as it was to be a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation);

91. Got upset when she told you she felt like you betrayed her (don’t worry, you didn’t);

92. Clashed blades with her even though you clearly didn’t want to;

93. Told her “No” when she suggested that you kill her and take a throne you never wanted;

94. Let her blade fall to your neck to get her to stop and consider;

95. Said to her that this feeling of revenge, bloodlust isn’t worth it because you’d once been in her shoes;

96. Told her that you didn’t want to hurt her (after acknowledging that she’s been hurt by the TVA for a lifetime) and that all you wanted was for her to be okay;

97. Shared a kiss with her.

98. Deepened that kiss (you know you did…);

99. Grieved the misfortune of not just losing her but also the outcome of recent events, knowing that what she had to do was her life’s mission that you’d previously supported her on;

100. Went up to a changed Mobius and told him by referring to her, “We made a terrible mistake. We freed the Timeline. We found him beyond the storm.”

And if that doesn’t say “she’s become my girlfriend and I’m damn proud of her”, I don’t know what does.

-

Go get her, Loki. Go get Sylvie back. We’re betting on it.

[blackkatmagic]

Caaaan we get a sneak peek at those Ferus Wips, pleaaasde~ ?

“Where are we going?” Leia protests, tugging at his hand, though she doesn’t stop moving. “My father is back there—”

“I know,” Ferus says desperately, and pulls her sideways, one sharp jerk as he practically throws them both behind the jut of a decorative half-wall. In the same moment, there's a thud of steps, loud in plain armor, and Ferus sees how Leia's eyes go wide, the way her mouth instantly snaps shut. He drags her in against his side, curling around her as he ducks beneath the delicate iron scrollwork, and Leia clutches at the rough cloth of his jacket, perfectly still and silent as the stormtroopers march past.

A child shouldn’t have to have any idea about stormtroopers, or how to hide from them, but Ferus is desperate enough that he doesn’t feel anything but grateful.

He gives it a long three minutes after the last one passes before he straightens up, loosening his death grip on Leia and trying to stop the pounding of his heart. “You okay?” he asks, and Leia looks at him, looks in the direction the stormtroopers disappeared in, and pauses.

“They're here because of me, aren’t they?” she asks, and the fact that her voice doesn’t even waver makes Ferus's chest ache.

“Because of what you can do,” Ferus corrects, because he’s lied to everyone for years but he isn't going to lie to Leia about this. Obi-Wan had said—

But then, Obi-Wan seems to forget that Anakin didn’t have one child, he had two. Leia is just as powerful as her brother, and Ferus isn't about to let her suffer for that.

Leia's grip on his sleeve goes tight, and her expression wavers just for a moment. “And—my dad—” she starts, and then stops short, biting into the inside of her lip. Trying not to show a reaction, Ferus thinks grimly, and—she’s only twelve, on a diplomatic trip with her father that was supposed to be easy. Ferus almost hadn’t shadowed them on this one, because there was so little risk at the outset, but—

Best that he didn’t, clearly, Ferus thinks grimly, and wraps an arm around Leia's back, hurrying her forward with him as they break from cover and bolt for the line of trees that edges the next sprawling mansion. At the end of the street, butted up against the deep forest, there’s a ruin of white stone and glass, and Ferus's quick research into this planet didn’t turn up much at all about what used to be here, but—it’s a hiding place, at the very least, and it looks unguarded, which is invitation enough.

“Just a little further,” he tells Leia, and doesn’t risk a glance back over his shoulder even if he wants to. The planet’s curfew starts soon; anyone who spots them will likely pass them off as father and daughter hurrying to get home, and not immediately comm the authorities, which is all Ferus needs. Just a chance and he can get them to the spaceport, get them off-world, and then—

Then something. Training Leia, maybe, but for that he’ll have to find a Force nexus that will hide them, because otherwise Vader and the Inquisitors will just follow their presence in the Force like a beacon. But that means supplies, and arrangements, and days of travel. More chances for Leia to slip, control worn down with stress and exhaustion, and lead the Empire right to them.

She threw three Imperial officers off a balcony. Most initiates can't manage that until they’ve been training for years, and knowing that, Ferus doesn’t have a lot of hope that her next accident won't be just as powerful and just as dangerous.

“I have to warn my dad,” Leia says, tugging at Ferus's sleeve again, though she doesn’t stop moving as he ducks beneath a barrier made of trees trained into a fence and pulls her towards the entrance to the ruin. “He doesn’t know—”

“He knows,” Ferus promises, and slows, checking for guards. He knows that at least one Inquisitor is nearby; he felt them land, knows precisely who would be called to drag a senator’s child away to be trained for the Empire. If the Inquisitor managed to sense them before Ferus got to Leia, if they know what to look for, Ferus has very little hope of making it out of this without a fight.

He’s fought Inquisitors before, and beaten them. But Anakin knows Ferus's presence, and a fight is too great a risk. If Ferus has to reveal himself as a former Jedi, he will, but the fallout will be catastrophic, particularly when Ferus is trying to escape with Leia.

“Do you even have a plan?” Leia demands, keeping her voice low. Ferus opens his mouth to reassure her, then promptly trips, practically falling down a steep ramp of white stone. Leia yelps, tumbling after him, and it’s all Ferus can do to grab her and leap, catching an overhang of stone before they can go spilling down and into the darkness.

“Getting you off the planet is my only plan,” Ferus says, and hitches her up, trying to keep his feet steady on the slick stone. “Can you—if you can get on my back—”

Leia makes a derisive sound, but she twists, scrambles up, gets a foot in the hand Ferus offers and lurches up, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. There's a precarious moment as Ferus feels his boots sliding, and he curses, takes half a second to check their surroundings, and then pushes off hard, launching them off the spur of stone and out over a long, narrow pool that glitters strangely. There's a walkway crossing the water, and he, tumbles over, lands lightly on it, and puts up a hand to steady Leia.

“All right?” he asks.

“Fine,” Leia says, muffled, and a moment later she shoves enough of her hair out of the way to see and demands, “You’re like me? I thought you were just another one of Dad’s assistants!”

Ferus smiles wryly at the outrage in her voice. “Yes, I'm like you,” he allows. “I used to be a Jedi.”

Leia's breath hitches, her arms tightening. “Like—a real Jedi?” she asks, and in the vast, echoing space around them her voice is thin. “Like the peacekeeper Jedi?”

There's too much Ferus could say, and not enough words. He swallows, one hand twitching towards his lightsaber, and hesitates for a long moment before he answers. “I never finished my training, so I'm not sure you should call me a real Jedi.”

“Well, you're more of a Jedi than anyone I've ever met,” Leia says tartly, and Ferus can't help the strangled half-laugh that slips out, a little rueful.

“That’s not saying a lot,” he counters, and hears Leia's unimpressed snort. Hooking an arm under her thighs to hold her steady, he casts a look around them, half of his attention trained on the entrance. “We should—if there’s a back entrance, we should try to hide near it, just in case.”

Leia pushes up with he knees, leaning over his shoulder, and points ahead of them to a tall doorway. “This was a Kwa Star Temple,” she says, like Ferus is an idiot for not knowing that. “Dad and I toured it this morning. Whuffa worms used to guard it, so there are tunnels underneath that run out into the forest.”

Something flickers in Ferus's chest, almost like hope, and he pauses, half-turns as he looks around them. Not what he expected, but—this would have been on the very edge of the Kwa Holdings, one of the last remnants in this part of space after their conflict with the Gree Enclave escalated. “A Star Temple?” he asks. “You're sure?”

“Of course I am,” Leia says, withering. “I read.”

Ferus huffs in amusement, but instead of heading in the direction Leia pointed to, he takes a flight of stairs up, double-time and moving quickly. “If it’s a Star Temple, the Infinity Gate will be at the top.”

There's a moment of startled silence, and then Leia asks, a note of something like excitement in her voice, “You know how to work an Infinity Gate?”

“So do you, technically,” Ferus tells her. “They're powered by the Force. If we can get it running, and use it, it can get us off the planet before the Inquisitor finds us.”

“Inquisitors,” Leia corrects tightly, and a moment later she wriggles down from Ferus's back, grabbing his hand instead as she matches him up the steps. “There were three of them when my father answered the comm.”

Kriff. Something cold pools in Ferus's stomach, even though he tries not to show it. One Inquisitor he might be able to handle, but—three will overpower him instantly. He was always good, and Palpatine’s training and years fighting left him better, but there's no way he can face down three of Sidious’s enforcers and walk away alive. Even getting to the spaceport just got a lot less possible.

“You look like you're about to curse,” Leia says, eyeing him. “Or cry.”

“I only have one lightsaber,” Ferus manages. “That makes three on one a little difficult.”

Leia pulls a face, tugging Ferus left around a trio of tall pillars. “I thought Jedi were supposed to be the best warriors in the galaxy,” she says pointedly.

Ferus gives her a wry smile. “I told you, I didn’t finish training. And besides, the Inquisitors were all Jedi once, too.”

[beautifulterriblequeen]

angst with a happy ending: meta edition

I don’t have the spoons to make separate theory posts so I’m going to share some stuff that’s been circulating in my head recently. It’s angsty, because my life is angsty. But I cheered myself up at the end and it’s because of you.

Here, have a cut:

The only cishet white guy in TDP is Viren, and he’s a villain. He hates things that are differently excellent, and Runaan, a Magic Gay, embodies that different excellence very well. Unless/until Viren changes his cishet ways, he’s going to remain a villain.

At the same time he was totally getting on his knees for Saleer, who’s been possessed by Aaravos since before the army left Katolis. But, you know, in a homophobic way, except in the Spanish dub.

Claudia probably had to clean up her dad’s mess with his experimentation on Runaan in the dungeon. She saw what her dad was capable of in his angriest moments, and it worried her. She probably settled Runaan with lower chains and a more symmetrical seating position because she was smoothing away evidence of Viren’s frustration and anger, not because she was helping an enemy assassin feel any more comfortable.

Ethari came back to talk to Rayla by the pool after he stalked away angrily because he didn’t want her last moments with family in the Silvergrove to be him abandoning her the way she (apparently) abandoned Runaan. But he still let her leave as a ghost because he’s been angry and mourning for a week and he has trouble being around her without falling back on his own attempts to convince himself that Runaan’s death was her fault, and not Runaan’s or his own. He needs more time to get over that week of denials.

Seems you lose your name when you get ghosted, at least off the tongues of the Moonshadows who ghosted you. Rayla didn’t know she’d been ghosted until she couldn’t see Ethari’s face. But she twitched hard in surprise when he said her name out loud, even though she knew he could see her. And Feathershawl, from the ToX playtest “Lost Oasis,” has dutifully given up their name and is using a nickname instead, because their primary goal is returning to the Moonshadow fold. They’ll abide by all the rules of their ghosting as a sign of their good intentions to return and do better for their community. Which means that Eljaal doesn’t know if they’ve been ghosted or not, and is probably afraid to go home and find out. They must really like their name. I like it, too. Corvus and Eljaal adventures when.

Lotus flower rituals have rules we don’t know about yet. Pools in front of various houses across the Silvergrove must mark houses where assassins live. Which means the tree house really is a house, and not just Ethari’s workshop, which is nice. Apparently it’s more traditional for assassins go out one at a time, as even Eljaal left on a solo mission for their very first kill. So the lotus is for the assassin’s family, to reassure them. Eljaal’s lotus is still floating, no doubt. Just like Rayla’s is for Ethari. The ritual isn’t done until something further signals the end, and either Rayla or Ethari need to do that, and they haven’t. He needed to keep seeing her lotus, even after he ghosted her. And he couldn’t bring himself to fish out Runaan’s sunken lotus and end the ritual because denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. It runs through the Moonshadow Forest, too. If Rayla has returned to the Silvergrove to see Ethari, post TTM, though, there’s every chance that they’ve ended the ritual and have another clue that Runaan isn’t dead--and if he isn’t dead, then neither are Rayla’s parents.

When a Primal Nexus gets corrupted, monsters apparently start showing up. Janai must’ve been a wreck those first few days in Lux Aurea. Viren and Aaravos destroyed her whole world in a Star Touch minute--her sister the queen was murdered, the whole area plunged into darkness, the nexus’s abilities destroyed, citizens getting attacked or fleeing. And her best ally is suddenly a sassy human general? Guys. The bonding. The bonding they must’ve done over those few days amidst utter chaos, destruction, and ruin. That could be a whole book in and of itself. Janai said later that what remained of her forces had come to help defend the Storm Spire. That means the rest of them are likely dead, and Janai had to choose between saving her city and saving all of Xadia. And she chose Xadia. Lux Aurea is going to be overrun without her and her forces there, and they’ll have a steeper uphill battle to reclaim it. But now, Janai has new allies at her back... and one at her side, holding her hand. okay this one didn’t end super angsty, yay

This show is pulling out all the stops, but pulling no punches, with its determination to represent all the good, deep, amazing, complex and beautiful things about diversity. There are no Usuals here. I started this list with a cishet villain. His polar opposite, then, is a queer hero. In the small scale, that opposite is represented by Runaan. Read all you like into the cishet taking out his rage at the queer guy who can’t fight back. It wasn’t written that way by accident.

But their dynamic is visible in far more than merely their dungeon exchanges. Viren’s attitude toward Moonshadow elves is the prevailing one in Katolis because Viren holds a place of authority there, and he gets to talk and make people listen to him. And he’s canonically very persuasive and charismatic when he gives speeches. He knows what The Right Words are.

Meanwhile, Runaan, a quiet Moonshadow elf who likes to keep to himself, hasn’t had the same kind of opportunity to speak as Viren has in the show. He’s literally been silenced because he wouldn’t play along with the cishet plan for world domination. But he’s talking all the same, if you know how to read him.

I know some haven’t trusted that what he’s saying is there, or true. I know some deny he’s saying anything at all, through his character development. And I know it’s hard to look at his half-finished story. It’s hard. If you’re trying to finish it happily, to wish him health and peace and comfort, it’s because you know something of where he’s been, and you wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It’s because you have empathy. And that makes you wonderful.

I know our lives move fast, even during a pandemic. But please take a second to know how much I appreciate every one of you who looks at any (yes any) TDP character with empathy and wishes them a happy ending somehow. If you identify with a character in distress, you know what empathy is, and you can share that with actual humans around you and make the world a better place just by being yourself.

This show set out to make the world a better place in a hundred little ways, and it’s succeeding because of you. Have a happy Bait, and thank you for being part of this fandom with me.

[letsunity]

The Lucky Batch ☘️

Cold Lullabies

With the information that Raffle delivered, Kenlha wanted to hear their side of the story. However, she struggled to muster the gut to do so, knowing the pain they must feel.

Every day, Kenlha misses Morast, wishing that she’d never been their padawan. Maybe the Clawdite would still be alive if Kenlha was dumped with another master, someone like Kit Fisto or Ki-Adi Mundi, the latter being a sociopath. Mundi was better than Mace Windu, the prick.

She has an idea how they feel. Though instead of losing one, they’ve lost many. Not only their batchmates but prior mother-figure, Master Bastet. 

Master Fisto, Master Koon and Master Kenobi believed that she was best for this squad, they trusted her to care for them. In order to do that, she needed to know as much as possible.

Not only that, but share as well. They’ll be fully open to each other, no secrets between them. That’ll build trust and maybe make them almost competent. 

The twins, however, are crafty bastards. 

Foxy would direct the conversation in one of his many attempts to flirt. Thumbs would egg him on while Ballast laughed. 

Pepper, being the only medic, could say that he was busy with one of his idiot brothers. Given how often this lot gets injured, she can’t argue that he’s was a busy guy. 

It was a waiting game. She’d have to ambush one of them, get them comfortable with her. 

This togruta space witch is even craftier than these twins.

While trying to mentor Brisk and Luna, she’d wait. 

Eventually, Kenlha’s time came, just not how she wanted it to. 

On one of the missions, Pepper was hurt, the fool more focused on protecting Foxy. He got an infection from the wound, even contracting a virus. Foxy was adamant that they not go back to Kamino, leaving them to follow Pepper’s fevered orders. 

It inspired her to start practicing medicine, only for her to realise how complicated it was. 

With perseverance and a visit from a clone named Kix, Peps was on his way to getting back on his feet. 

Since he couldn’t run away, Kenlha would take advantage of the only moment she had. 

“Looking better by the day,” Kenlha complimented, sitting next to Pepper’s bed. “You’ll be giving out stickers any day, buddy.”

“Goose will be thrilled,” the medic continued, wondering how high it’s body count was now. “Ryder needs a new Nexu sticker. Then I can make the hot Cheetos dipped in mashed potatoes scratch and sniff for him.”

It was sweet to see the new Ryder bring such a gift to Pepper, he adored it. 

“Is it alright if I ask you something?”

“You can always confide with me, Ken. Doctor patient confidentiality ensures your secrets are safe with me.”

He was a soft boi, a good brother to her and an excellent doctor. When she looked into those mismatched eyes and his soft smile, it was easy to forget what he’d endured. What both twins went through together. 

“I’d like to know about before me and before Master Bastet. I’m a Jedi, I can sense your instinctive caution around me, even though you don’t show it. As your General, your sister, I want to be there for you as you are for me.”

Perhaps it was the fever, maybe it was exhaustion, but he gave somewhat of a summary of what transpired with Master Laverna. She could feel the trauma, especially regarding the force-choke.

He had to hold his neck, recalling the events as though he was re-living them again. 

Raffle forgot to mention that the Jedi’s death was an accident, but in her opinion, he deserved it. While she’s biased, being their sister, she can’t stand people mistreating the clones. 

Being so close with the twins, she’s disgusted by that dead Cathar.

“I... sometimes I don’t think Foxy should’ve gotten involved,” the medic sighed, like a weight was lifted from his chest. 

Understandably, Kenlha was surprised, though she wouldn’t voice it. He was sharing with her, she can’t ruin this. She can understand him more, and by doing that, she can be a better sister. 

“He had a padawan, a girl, possible 11 or so, named Teles. I cut off her leg, but didn’t cut high enough, and she died, likely septic shock. I held her hand as that light fell away. Nothing he could’ve done to me would compare to feeling her going limp and cold.”

He felt responsible for her. He did everything he could and she still died. It’s a pain that Kenlha empathised with more than she wished she did. Her eyes burned as salty water seeped through her ducts, dribbling down her yellow skin.

“I often feel that I killed my master, Morast Tane. They were strict, but they were better to me than anyone before. They tried to guide my energy onto something productive and constructive, kind of like a parent to me,” Kenlha started, recalling the events herself.

“It was on a hot planet called Nevarro, magma and volcanic ash littering the ground. While fighting an army of droids, some damned flyers shot from above, causing the ground to become unstable.

I didn’t think. I jumped into the air, slicing through those bastards. One that I bisected fell, crashing into that unstable ground and causing Master Morast to fall. I tried to pull them up, but they fell into the lava. 

The only word they could muster was Run before the cries started. Being outmatched, outgunned, we had to leave. There wasn’t even anything to bury them,” Kenlha sighed, the sensation of something clawing at her throat adding to the tears. “I know the pain of being responsible, even when others tell you it wasn’t your fault.”

The medic absorbed her tale, allowing her a few moments to recollect herself. The togruta held his hand, supporting herself and him in the emotional moment. 

There were days she wished it was her instead of Master Morast.

“Do you remember the Endeavour, that ship that crashed down, killing two-thousand troopers?” Pepper started, his voice trembling. “I... could’ve stopped that from happening.”

She waited, feeling his grip tighten around hers.

“At Geonosis, while Foxy, Mozzarella, Springer and Locke were fighting droids, I and a few others were sent back to look for surviving Jedi. Instead, I found someone with my face, only far younger.

I knew who he was, everybody did. The Maker’s chosen child, the payment for his involvement in making us. The one that he named Boba, raising as his own.

If I’d just taken him in or hell, even shot him, then all of those clones would still be alive. Master Windu and Master Skywalker wouldn’t have been hurt. Instead of that, I let him go, lying to my fellows that I didn’t find anybody.”

“While the Endeavour was a tragedy, I think you did the right thing. They were only a child, weren’t they? Even by Mandalorian standards, he was a kid, right?”

“Master Bastet said something similar. And she’s dead too. I tend to have bad luck regarding Jedi.”

He was afraid to get close to her in case she died. It’s an understandable fear, she was terrified of ever having a master again.

Kenlha was scared to even be a Master, worried that she’d never live up to Morast with her young girls. Brisk and Luna were outliers too, so she had an advantage there, but still. 

There are days where she wondered if Morast would’ve been better for them.

“I won’t promise that I’m not gonna die. We all die eventually, many earlier than they should. What I will promise, Peps, is that I’ll be here for every day that it gets hard. During the days it feels like there can’t be a tomorrow, I’ll be right here to listen. All of us, even Goose.”

“Foxy’ll need an ear, too. He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot.”

“He was adamant that we steer clear from Kamino. Would I be pushing it if I asked why?”

She watched those green and brown eyes ponder, thinking over her question. As with before, he chose to share.

“Foxy and I aren’t just twins. There’re loads of twins, Echo and Fives from the 501st for example. We, however, are literal twins. Our clump of cells split and we grew attached at the shoulder,” he explained, motioning to his tattooed shoulder. “The Kaminoans, having not seen it often, experimented on us to prevent it from happening again. Our earliest memories have made us dislike them, especially the one named Nala Se.”

It made sense and she could agree with it.

“Then to ensure that we don’t go, I think I’ll have to learn some doctor lessons from you. I’ll be your, um, what’s that dumb thing Jackal says?”

“P-to-the-wan?”

“Yep, I’ll be your medic padawan,” she smiled, earning one from him as well. It was a beautiful thing, given his experiences. “Have a sleep, pal. We’ll give you a few minutes of peace.”

“There’s tape in Boots’ room,” he chuckled. She smirked, knowing that it would be for Ballast. “It... was good talking with you, Ken.”

“You too, Doctor Bro.”

Kenlha will talk with Foxy as well. She’ll talk with all of her siblings, assuring them that she’s there for ‘em. Not just her clones but her padawans, too. 

She wasn’t going to lie, it felt good talking to Peppy about her feelings as well.

Feelings aren’t accepted in the Jedi Order, so he made her feel valid. It was something she desperately needed from someone, and she was happy it was from Peps.

This is a good family she’s found.

Love you guys!

Tags: @lynnpaper @just-another-dreamerr @maygalodon @radbatch @oo-hazel-oo @foxlock​ @lusiawonder @catboy-tech @cosmicghostie @monako-jinn-stories @namesmox @generaltano @lavenderstaars @mango-peachjuice 

I am evil, yis 😈😈

PS - it’s 3:23am lol brain is working overtime!

[goodolddumbbanana]

Hi!

Can I hear your thoughts on nexus today please

Oh boy, that would be a whole can of worms.

You know how the show keeps hype Nexus up, making him a sadistic and evil horrible villain while in reality, he is just a sad little boy who lost control of his life and has his ego so high up his ass, he refuses to go back to his old family?

Yeah, that is what I thought about Nexus, today.

He is not even scary. He is just bitter. And sad. Like an angry child who would rather scream and yell to the world than come back to his momma (Sun)

Even Ruin feels more like his babysitter than his 'servant' now, and that guy hates Nexus's gut. (And pity and annoyed at Nexus)

Like...

What did he do after he meets Sun?

He let Sun run away right the moment Sun saw his ugly mug. (He could use his negative star power to stop Sun, but he didn't. Not right away.)

He still uses his soft voice with Sun, and he is still unconscious nice to Sun. Their violence supposed to be hurt and angst, but their interactions still feel like they are brothers.

(He talks with Sun with more ranting emotional outburst than he ever talks with Solar or Moon. He is not even the one who controls when he talks to Sun, when Sun keeps covering his ears and stating he just doesn't care about what craps Nexus said and Nexus keeps letting him do that.)

He says he will put Sun inside a box imply he is still bitter about that time Sun locked him, but when Sun said He did nothing for Nexus, he didn't say anything. He is aware Sun is right, but he just wants to hurt Sun, because Sun is supposed to be his brother, but for him, Sun is always out of reach.

You are nice.

You only said that because I didn't beat you.

He lies to himself. He lies to himself so hard that no one cares about him, that no one wants him. And that's sad....

[write-starlight-riots]

The Handle and the Blade.

When Loki is brought into the TVA’s hands after starting the nexus event at Lamentis-1, Mobius tells him he wants to help cut him from the TVA’s tracking methods. Literally.

Content warnings: Mentions of blood, and usage of knives.

-

Hello, hello. This is part one of two on @idontcareaboutcanon and I's collaboration. This is also one of my first works, so please be kind.

Glitch's half is going to be a comic, I won't tell you what it is about, that's a surprise. They told me they would release it in a few weeks depending on their workload, so enjoy this in the meantime.

“By the way, I deserve an equal amount of security, this is insulting.”

“You just can't help yourself. One blink and you’re gone.” Mobius had opened the door to a smaller room, much smaller than the interview room they had been in previously. “Let him go.”

The hunters gripping Loki’s arms had retreated. Loki glanced at him with an unsure look. Mobius gestured inside with a rolled up newspaper.

The room smelled dank, unlike the usual pristine scent of the rest of the TVA’s headquarters.

Loki made a look of disgust. “I’m not going in there.”

“You’re so prickly when you get caught. Just take a seat.”

“What, are you going to show me my death and scare me into giving you answers again?”

“Oh, I already know the answers.” Mobius helps himself into the room, sitting at the singular table that had been squeezed into the room. He gestures to the other chair.

“What do you mean by that?” The hunters grab Loki’s arms again, prepared to force him in.

With an annoyed noise, Mobius waves them away. They listen promptly. “Just sit down, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

After a second of looking around, Loki sits. The door automatically closes behind him. Mobius seems to change, like the demeanor was a facade for in front of his coworkers.

He watched as the other examined the door. “Is there a reason you chose a room so.. gloriously spacious?”

“I didn’t need to use a projection this time. That, and this was the only space Ravonna would give me.”

It just genuinely seems Mobius had shoved a table into an old batch of lockers. Hunters’ numbers were rubbing off the name plates.

“Oh, and you did last time?”

“Listen, you were as stiff as a board. You wouldn't-”

“And you thought that would loosen me up?”

“Well, it worked, so.”

Loki’s face drops, it seems reminiscent of an irritated pout.

“Hey, look at me,” Mobius reached for the other’s arm across the table, but pulled back at the last second. Loki obliges. “It was either this or to prune you the second you stepped into the facility.”

“..Fine. Ask me your questions.”

“I actually don't need to.”

Loki sighs and rolls his head back. He had his arms crossed defensively. “Then why am I here?”

The gears in Mobius’ head were visibly turning, like he was debating whether or not to say something. “The TVA has been tracking you, Loki.”

“...Excuse me?” Loki pulls his head back forward. He glances at Mobius with a suspicious look.

“I want you to feel behind your ear. They do it for every variant that comes in.”

Loki doesn't move for a while. Then, he sighs, and rubs the pad of his finger behind his ear. He finds a small square-shaped bump underneath the skin. His face changes.

“You know how I said I already know all the answers? That's why. It's a microphone, tracks everything you say.”

“Another intimidation tactic? After you told me you wouldn't?” He puts a faux-offended hand on his chest. "I can't trust you.”

“Do you want me to prove it to you?"

“You can certainly try-”

“I remember your cute little analogy on Lamentis-1. What was it? Love is..” He opened his suit jack and pulled something from the inside pocket. “A dagger?”

Loki instantly stiffens upon seeing it. He stays quiet for a moment. “What's the point of all this, Mobius?”

“The point is, I want to help you.” Mobius stands and flips the dagger, so the handle is pointed toward Loki. Loki stares at it for a moment.

“How?”

He then takes out a swiss army knife from his pocket. “I can cut it out so the TVA can't track you anymore.”

“I thought you were /with/ the TVA.”

“Take the dagger, Loki.” He steps to where Loki was sitting, kneeling and pushing the other’s face to the side by his chin. Loki makes a surprised noise. “If I make a wrong move, feel free to let me know.” He says as he guides Loki’s arm over his shoulder while the dagger pointing against his back.

“This is position is quite compromising-”

“Did you want me in your lap instead?” Mobius gingerly pulled Loki's hair away from his ear.

Loki snuffs, temporarily amused. “I’ll take anything but that.”

Before he does anything, he pulls out his tempad and sets it on the table. “Also, if you really wanted to, you could kill me, take my tempad, and run off again.”

From the second the offer was made, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Loki repeatedly glancing at the device.

“Now, I’m not gonna tell you this won't hurt.”

“What a way to point out the obvious-” Loki sucks in a wincing breath as the first cut is made. The other felt the pressure of the dagger’s tip on his back.

There's a moment of silence between them, Mobius’s thumb pressing against the cut to help control the bleeding.

Then Loki speaks up. “Speaking of.. my analogy, what all did you hear?”

“A little this, a little that. You were drunk so it was hard to figure out what exactly you were saying.”

“I wasn’t that drunk- Ow!” Mobius had made a cut across the skin covering the device. He felt the tip of the dagger pierce his suit jacket. “Warn me next time if you would!”

“Fussing at a few small nicks, what happened to the oh great and powerful Loki?”

“I don't fuss at anything."

“Then what was that all about, asking me to warn you?”

Loki pointedly doesn't answer, it makes Mobius chuckle. “Is there anyone else who can hear what I say?”

“Ravonna specifically assigned me to you, so I'm the only one.”

Mobius grabbed his chin and forced his head back to the side. “Stop moving.” The dagger definitely let him know that Loki did not like that. His lip tightened in a sour wince.

Loki stopped looking at the tempad after a while, and chose to study the part of Mobius’ head he could see. There was a small T-shaped scar behind Mobius’ ear.

“So is that why you’re doing this? To cut off the leash?”

“I mean, technically. She gave me full control of your case, including your person. Here’s your warning.” He uses the knife to pry the device out.

Loki’s hand found itself on Mobius’s forearm, instead of using the dagger, he squeezed his hand around tight. He heard Mobius whisper quiet affirmations to him. There was a quiet tink sound next to his foot.

“There we go,” Mobius stomped on it, making sure it was destroyed, and stepped back a little. “and we’re done.”

Loki retracted the dagger. “No stitching?”

“Wounds heal themselves here, it’ll just leave a scar I think,” Mobius slipped the tempad back into his pocket. “Thanks for ruining my favorite jacket, by the way.”

“You should have thought about that before handing me a weapon.”

“At least you didn't stab me in the back.” He muttered a ‘not literally, anyway’ under his breath.

“Oh, believe me, it was quite tempting.”

“Of course it was.”

When the banter died down, they fell into a tense silence. Loki was examining the dagger. “Mobius?"

The other turned his head back to Loki, he hummed a question.

“I’ve… rethought my analogy. I was wrong about it.”

[comingoutofthecauldron]

let’s talk about lesbophobia in fandom

i don’t like to use the word “lesbophobia” unironically because of all the gross radfem terfy connotations, so i will clarify right off the bat that i am neither a terf nor an aphobe and that if you are i want you off my blog like, right now. unfortunately, the meaning of lesbophobia has been so warped by alt right lesbians that seeing it in an unironic context makes me, a lesbian, uncomfortable, which speaks volumes in itself. so to clarify, lesbophobia is essentially homophobia with a pinch of sexism thrown into the mix, and it’s running rampant in supposed safe spaces and, more relevantly, fandom. 

/i’d also like to clarify that i’m not only speaking on lesbophobia, but also the general disgust and disdain for all wlw in fandom, and am using it as a sort of umbrella term/

lesbophobia and disdain for wlw has been around forever, but whilst gay positivity, mlm and mlm ships have been steadily increasing in popularity within fandom over time, wlw and wlw ships have remained perpetual underdogs. why? because lesbophobia has become a fandom within itself. both in and outside of fandom, we see instances of casual lesbophobia every single day—from aggression towards wlw to something as simple and prevalent as the complete and utter lack of sapphic ships and characters in media. hatred of lesbians and wlw is practically a trend, and it’s seeping in through the cracks of fandoms who are already facing issues with minorities and marginalized groups (i.e. racism, ableism). if you honestly think that lesbophobia isn’t prevalent as hell in fandom right now, you’re either not a wlw, you’re not all that involved in fandom, or you’re dumb as shit. 

just look at ships. in almost every single fandom, the ratio of mlm ships to sapphic ships is ridiculously unbalanced. people are quick to ship male characters who so much as smile at each other (and i don’t condemn that) but would never do the same for two women—even on the rare occasion that the ship is actually canon. i once wrote a wlw fanfic for a [predominantly straight] fandom, and received messages like this gem:

on the flip side of that, if there is a sapphic ship in canon or fanon, it is often fetishized and sexualised to a disturbing degree. there will be double the amount of nsfw art and fics, and ninety percent of it will be derogatory and fetishized as hell. having been actively involved in several fandoms over the past few years (and currently a content creator in one), i’ve seen instances of all this hundreds of times. people go crazy for mlm ships, but the second you say you ship/prefer a wlw ship, there’s always someone at the ready with, “i think all ships are great!” or “it’s not a contest” or “i prefer [insert m/m or m/f ship] actually” or “they’re my brotp!/why can’t you just let them be friends?”. not only do lesbians and wlw not get to have any rep in media, any rep that they try to create for themselves in fandom just gets attacked or ruined. this is so detrimental not only to all wlw, but especially to younger wlw who will end up being indoctrinated into this belief that their sexuality is something dirty, something that can never be tender and sweet but rather something that deserves to be preyed upon. 

building on that, let’s talk about engagement. i run an instagram account (where i have a significantly bigger following) as well as this blog for my fandom, where i post the content i create (mainly text posts). when i first started creating content, i made a lot for a relatively unpopular wlw ship, in which both girls are canonically romantically involved with a dude—though one of them is canonically pan. their canonical m/f ships are both very popular, and i noticed that my engagement was dropping every time i posted them, so i eventually just stopped. it wasn’t even a conscious decision; i merely resigned myself to the fact that the fandom didn’t want to see sapphic ships, and some people would even go as far as to condemn them. for reference, my instagram posts get an average of about 500 likes per post (popular ones usually exceeding 1k), but when i post this ship, my engagement drops to about 250 likes. similarly, my tumblr text posts have an average of about 140 notes per post (popular ones usually reaching up to 750), but my wlw content rarely surpasses 100. this just feeds the cycle of wlw never getting rep: if, like me, content creators become disincentivised by the lack of engagement with their sapphic content, they’re more likely to stop making/posting it, leading to further lack of rep—and when new content creators try to rectify that, they face the same problems. 

and then, of course, there’s the treatment of actual wlw in fandom. my best example of this is when my friend and i made an anti account on instagram (the first instagram anti account in that fandom), our bio saying something like “salty and bitter lesbians being salty and bitter”, and received an onslaught of lesbophobic insults and threats from angry stans within hours. (tw: r*pe) one commenter even went as far as to tell us that they wanted us to get r*ped. as well as this, i’ve seen so many instances of people using slurs against lesbians in arguments/in anons, often for no apparent reason other than they feel that they have the right. when i first mentioned i was a lesbian on instagram, my account only had about 200 followers, and within a day i lost 20. i also lose followers whenever i post f/f ships, not quite to that extent but enough for it to be noticeable, on top of the aforementioned engagement dips. in the face of all this adversity, i think a lot of wlw turn to mlm ships because they’re the closest thing we have to actual rep, but when we do we get accused of fetishizing them by the same people who fetishize us. there’s an endless list of double standards that non-wlw have been upholding for years, and i can firmly say that i’m really fucking sick of it. because of our sexuality, we will never be allowed to enjoy something without someone labelling it or us as dirty or otherwise problematic, when to them, the only problematic thing about us is that we aren’t pleasing men. 

as i mentioned before, the lack of rep for wlw in media is appallingly consistent, and part of that stems from tokenism. in a lot of modern mainstream media, you’ll have one, maybe two lgbt characters, and nine times out of ten those characters are white cis male gays. of course, there are exceptions to this, but generally, that’s it. script writers and authors (especially cishets) seem to have this mentality of, “oh, well, we gave them one, that’s sure to be enough!”, which means that on the off chance you do get your gay rep, the likelihood of also receiving wlw or any other kind of rep becomes practically non-existant. this belief that all marginalized groups are the same and that one represents all is what leads to misrepresentation on top of lack of rep, which is what makes tokenism so dangerous. if you treat your only gay character badly, you are essentially treating every single gay person badly in that universe. so not only is lesbophobia and disdain for wlw harmful to sapphic women via their exclusion in media, it’s also harming those minorities who do get rep. when people try to defend lesbophobic source material, that’s when fandom starts to get toxic. the need for critical thinking has never been more apparent and it has also never been less appeased—and wlw are getting hit hard by it, as always.

finally, a pretty big driving factor of lesbophobia is, ironically, lesbians. my lesbian friends and i often joke that though everyone seems to hate us, no one hates lesbians more than lesbians do. though i’d say it’s most prevalent on tumblr, i see traces of it all over the internet. the growth of alt right lesbian movements is not only reinforcing hatred for lesbians, but also reinforcing hatred for bi and pan women. here you have these terrible lesbians using their platforms to express their disgust for bi/pan women, for aces and aros, for trans women/nb lesbians, and people see them and say, “gosh, lesbians are just awful.” and just like that, all of us are evil. occasionally, lesbian blogs that i follow get put on terf blocklists for no other reason than the fact that they have “lesbian” in their bio. and the lesbians that actually deserve to be on those blocklists? they’re too busy spewing misinformation about trans women and bi women to care, boosted up by their alt right friends in an ever-expanding movement. i’ve found that this heavily influences fandom on tumblr, lesbians often getting branded as “biphobic” when they hc a female character as a lesbian rather than bi or pan. this criticism of both lesbians and wlw by lesbians and non-wlw alike only ever allows lesbophobia to grow, both in and out of fandom. that said, lesbians aren’t to blame for their own discrimination; rather, many of us have been conditioned into subconsciously endorsing it after spending our entire lives hearing heterosexual platitudes about lesbians and sapphic relationships. homophobic cishets are and always have been the nexus of this oppression—the only difference is that now they can hide behind alt right lesbians.

one thing has been made apparent to me throughout my time in fandom, and that thing is that no one likes to see men “underrepresented”. people hate sapphic ships and lesbians so much because there is no room for men, and men Do Not Like That. so, like the worms that they are, they slither their way in, be it through fetishization or condemnation of wlw characters and ships, and they ruin whatever good things we have going for us. the thing about worms, though, is that they’re easy enough to crush if you’re wearing the right shoes.

so to all my bi/pan gals and lesbian pals: put on your doc martens, because we’ve got ourselves some lesbophobes to stomp on. 

[captain-cerrillo]

Operation: Asteria

“A couple of days ago we received an intel tip from HQ. There’s a migrating broker - see also shady black-market dealer - with a Priority Resource on Asteria, Hades Nexus.” Isaac had regretted agreeing to try poker night in the starboard observation lounge as soon as he’d done it, but he doubled down on that regret when Davis marched in with her datapad, mouth moving a mile a minute. “We’ve already made contact with intent to purchase, we’ll just need to rendezvous for collection.”

“Sounds good.” Isaac’s voice didn’t betray his exasperation with the idea that there really were no ‘off-duty’ hours outside the privacy of his locked quarters. “I assume we’re in route?” He didn’t look up from the splay of playing cards in his hand.

“ETA this time tomorrow,” Lt. Ryan replied easily, laying his hand of cards flat on the table between them. “It’s on the outer reaches of the Attican Traverse – backs up to Geth space. It’s an Asari colony, right?” Thurman huffed a knowing chuckle and nudged the pilot playfully from his side. Ryan squeezed the soldier’s thigh and lowered his gravel voice as he leaned to bite at his boyfriend playfully. “Like you don’t keep me busy enough.”

“Asteria actually has pretty well-developed agrarian colonies, both Asari and human,” Davis continued, apparently unbothered by the casual air of the room. “Though we’re meeting the broker at a market in the capital of Blackdamp.”

“Asteria?” Eva said around a protein bar. The boys played poker quietly enough for her to pretend like she was alone with the stars as she stared out the wide windows of the lounge, but Davis had ruined the peaceful moment. Though, an opportunity for action wasn’t too much trouble. “I’m going. I’ve never been and I have got to get off of this ship.” Luca chuckled and she looked to Isaac with a sheepish smile. “With approval, obviously.”

He only smiled at his cards. “And Asteria’s Reaper situation?”

Davis, as usual, had an answer for that. “Oddly enough, the Reapers seem to have left the Hekate System relatively untouched. Bigger fish, maybe?” Isaac quirked a brow and Davis backtracked to the safety of her statistical data. “We’re not expecting any Reaper interference, but the Alliance has a standing travel advisory limiting civilian travel due to Geth activity.”

“Well I guess we should be glad that we are not civilians.” He laid his hand on the table closer to Ryan’s with a weary side-eye because it was suspicious how the older man was always so damn lucky with cards. “You know what they say about a gift horse.”

“No I don’t,” Luca panned plainly. “Am I supposed to?”

“It’s just a saying.” Isaac shook his head and wanted to ruffle the engineer’s curls. “I really gotta get you back to Earth.”

“Should let the kiddo run the shuttle,” Ryan said, stretching out and wrapping an arm around Thurman who had been out of the last hand for nearly half an hour as the game trickled down to a familiar, silent standoff between the captain and the pilot. “Not a lot of chances for a quick pop and stop on the edge of space and he could use the flight hours.” He gestured to Luca with his free hand. The engineer glowered at him over his varied usage of the word kid. “He’s really not bad. A+ in the sims with a particular proficiency for the Kodiak.”

“What are we collecting?” Marie asked as she crossed the threshold. Her brow was furrowed and her face glowed orange as she squinted at her omnitool. “I know you’re not officially on deck, but I need your help,” she gestured to the captain, and he tried not to imagine all the things he’d like to do with a cloak of invisibility. “Sorry,” she said with a light shrug but, she didn’t look very sorry.

“It’s some sort of Prothean relic,” Isaac answered, pulling what he could remember from the datamine attached to the vague mission directive. “Our orders are to hold it on the Berlin until they send someone to pick it up. I’m not allowed to bet but, I would expect special forces.”

“Aren’t you three special forces?” Luca sat in one corner half-heartedly strumming his guitar. But he made sure to pepper the conversation with all of his relatively relevant questions. “That seems a little vague.”

“An N7, Luca.” Isaac shot the engineer a weathering look but it didn’t reach his crinkled eyes. “If they’re having us go through all of this trouble, they’ll send someone capable of protecting it. Whatever the hell it is.” Isaac scrubbed a hand over his face at the idea of all the unknowns before he pushed them aside to focus on the things that did fall under his control.

“Who’s on collection?” Marie asked just before she sighed at the ping of another incoming message.

“Eva, I guess.” Isaac smiled and it was brighter in the safety of close friends. “We’re not expecting trouble?” He cast a heavy look to the Ensign who answered him quickly.

“None on the ground, Sir. Like the Lieutenant mentioned, the mission doesn’t meet the markers for a high probability of major disruption. Statistically speaking.”

“Hey.” Luca strummed a long note on his guitar but didn’t look up immediately. “Can Ben- Phoenix Roosevelt- or um. Hurricane, I mean.” Luca cleared his throat and adjusted the guitar strap around his neck. “Can he come? For like. Back up?”

Marie looked away from her omnitool just to blink at Luca, who glanced to Isaac next.

Isaac waved him off, gesturing to Marie. “I don’t get paid enough to deal with Phoenix problems. You’ll have to talk to the Commander.”

“He can,” she finally said thoughtfully before she turned her surprisingly uncomfortable gaze to the captain. “You should go too.” She spoke quickly and raised her voice to cut off his inevitable protest. “It’s just a quick thing. Four hours tops. It will do you some good to get off the ship. Everything will be fine. You can trust me.”

“You know that I trust you. But th-”

“Then it’s settled. You enjoy a lazy afternoon exploring the markets and I will be the one stuck on the stuffy ship.”

“Marie-“

“I’m kidding. You’ll go.” Her tone was final.

[the-girl-who-sold-the-wxrld]

-> Sylki/Lovie - Thor and Loki bromance - Loki and Mobius friendship

I had an idea !

imagine Loki reuniting with his brother, Thor meeting Sylvie, imagine the funny and moving scenes that could ensue. (I already wrote a post about it)

and imagine that in the end, something comes along to ruin everything.

i don't really know yet how or why, but imagine that the only solution to settle everything is for Loki to be inserted back into their original Timeline (the one where they die at the hands of Thanos) from where they escaped, at the exact moment when they escaped.

imagine if they had no other solution to fix the problems of the Timeline and the multiverse. imagine Loki having to return to 2012, at the end of the Battle of New York, to live the life they were meant to live if they hadn't stolen the Tesseract.

imagine Thor, Loki, Sylvie, Mobius, (and why not Valkyrie (Brunnhilde), Jane and Hunter-B15) looking for a solution, panicked.

imagine Loki being the first to think of this solution, imagine them saying something like "there might be a solution - if we can go back to 2012..." and Thor answering "2012? why would you want to go back in 2012 ??"

There, Sylvie frowns. She doesn't know what year Loki's Nexus Event happened in, so she can't figure out exactly what they mean. but she knows Loki. so she has a bad feeling.

while everyone looks at each other, confused, Mobius understands first. "oh no... don't tell me - there must be another way..."

Thor gives them a confused look and then understands. he then looks horrified. "no. no. I refuse. I forbid you to do that"

Sylvie loses patience. "What are they talking about? What are you thinking, Loki?".

without looking at her, not having the courage to meet her gaze, Loki responds "Well, if I go back to the Timeline, from when my Nexus Event was created, if I live the life I was meant to have...". she doesn't let them finish "No.". she tries to hide it, but her voice is shaking. "we'll find something else". "there's no other way. it's the only way, you know that as well as I do".

Loki turns to Mobius, knowing he will agree with them. Mobius doesn't hide his grief and seems more than sad, but he still says "I'm afraid Loki is right".

Thor takes refuge in anger "so what? you're going to go back there, live all these hardships? prison, the death of mom, Ragnarok? and then... Thanos? you want to go back there, to make you break your neck by this Titan?? you want me to let you die again??"

"Thor-" "I said no. ... I too often had to... this time, I can't anymore. I can't take it anymore. I forbid you to do that, I forbid you"

Loki smiles sadly. "don't make me manipulate your mind to let me do it" "don't make me use force to stop you from doing it".

Sylvie does not move. she stares at an invisible point, feeling her insides twist. "Sylvie..." "It's all my fault. I killed He-Who-Remains, it's because of me that all this happened" "Sylvie, don't say that".

imagine everyone's reactions.

imagine Thor, who has just found his little brother, and is about to lose him again. imagine him doing everything in his power to stop them from doing that. for him, I have two ideas: either he ends up giving in, understanding that it is indeed the only solution, or Loki uses their enchantment to make him lose consciousness (I doubt that it is possible to completely manipulate the spirit of Thor to force him to do something). in either case, the two siblings hug each other, for the first time in so long.

Sylvie is completely devastated. she holds their hand in hers. tears run down her cheeks, she doesn't try to hide them. she too is looking for another solution. she too takes refuge in anger, is ready to face them to stop them, and then gives in. "I had hoped that with you, I would not have to suffer the blow of the heroic sacrifice". they smile sadly, amused. "sorry to deceive you".

there is a very long silence. the two look into each other's eyes, telling each other everything they need to say in that long gaze. then Sylvie lets out a sob and throws herself into their arms. they hug each other tightly, both crying. something makes them realize that they have to separate now. they do it reluctantly.

"well I... I'm ready, I think".

Loki turns to Mobius, who hasn't tried to challenge their decision but suffers from it. "it seems that I did not manage to escape this time".

they still smile sadly and hug each other.the others watch, finding nothing to say.

i think their memory should be erased in this situation. It would be simpler, more logical, less painful. and imagine if it's Sylvie who takes care of it. she is probably the only one who can do it, with her powers. imagine how heartbreaking that would be.

but before, she says "wait". Loki turns around, she kisses them. they kiss passionately then she tells them "I love you". yes, I think I like romantic stories. Loki is taken aback, it's the first time anyone has said that to them romantically. then they reply, with a sweet smile, that they love her too.

Loki waves a bit shyly at the others, if they're around. throws a joke at them, probably about their brother.

then their memories are erased and they return to 2012. live what we see them live in Thor 2, Thor 3, Infinity War...

that's why they would know how to enter people's memories or manipulate their minds (like they did with Valkyrie and Odin) while the beginning of the series showed us that they did not know how to do it, and that it was Sylvie who taught them, for example.

but I don't really like writing sad endings, so I had thought of something else.

imagine that Sylvie made sure that a sentence remained ingrained in Loki's memory, or simply that details came back to them from time to time without them understanding everything. flashbacks, images. Anyway, when they face Thanos, something glows back, a phrase that I like to think has popped into his head a few times since 2012. the Classic Loki phrase that tells them how they escaped Thanos - by projecting an illusion.so that's what Loki does.

I haven't given any thought to the sequel at all (what Loki would do between Infinity War and the time of the multiverse glitch), but no matter what, Sylvie finds them.

for her, Loki hasn't been gone long, you know? and she knew there had to be a chance that Loki had survived because of their memory. so she went looking for them, without telling anyone.

She finds them, gives them back their memories. they start crying. "Sylvie, Sylvie...it's been so long" "not so long, for me". they are both smiling. "Sylvie, I missed you so much. I didn't even know that". they kiss her repeatedly. she laughs lightly. "I'm not going to leave you anymore. I'll stay with you so much that I'm going to become annoying" "You're already annoying, you know". they kiss again, for quite a long time.they then return to where they can find the others.

Mobius smiles broadly seeing them "I knew you would manage to escape again".

then Loki walks up to Thor who hasn't seen them yet. hearing them, he turns around. seeing them, he is speechless.loki then says "I told you, brother, the sun would shine on us again".

and Thor's reaction is torn between "I'm so glad you're alive" and "I'm going to kill you with my own hands this time you little jerk".

I really want to write it?? the idea of TVA Loki being reinserted into the main Timeline seems interesting to me. so i think i'm going to write it even though i don't even know if it makes sense in terms of timeline, time and multiverse???

I'll probably write it anyway. I think i'll call it "In the Lap of The Gods" (please tell me someone understand the ref ?).

but i'm french, english is not my mother tongue, and writing poems and tumblr posts in english is one thing, fanfiction is another, so i hope it won't be so bad