#I NEED A LOGICAL EXPLANATION

[unstable-viper]

ok so sudden thought I had last night and just discussed a fellow takasugi fan but

WHY DIDN'T TAKASUGI RECOVER HIS LEFT EYE DURING THE 2 YEAR TIME SKIP?

from what he said, he died several times during that period but we know the altana heals any wounds so why didn't it heal his left eye?

my personal thought was for symbolism: to remember and not forget everything that happened during (and after) the war. to probably keep him on track to his goal

and the other option we came up with my friend is simply because sorachi forgot😭 like I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case

but I'm pretty curious on what people think about this bc I've been a fan for 6 years and I've never seen anyone talk about this

[nxchtmxhr]

I need to understand karma

[strangersteddierthings]

Shovel Talk(s) Final Part

Part One 🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four

Steve starts with Dustin. Not for any particular reason. Dustin is just the first person he ends up seeing after an entire weekend spent at Eddie's house. They'd redone their date in Indy on Saturday, getting back into Hawkins late, so Steve stayed the night. He had a morning shift at Family Video but it was Robin's day off so he didn't see her.

Dustin called at 11:00am on Monday to ask for Steve's assistance with his bike's flat tire. He needs a ride to Melvald's for a new tire tube and pump, and since Steve's shift doesn't start until 2:00pm he agrees.

Steve picks him up and listens to him ramble about his weekend and how he the tube got a hole in it. He stays in the car while Dustin runs inside to make his purchases, and then they're back at Dustin's house. Dustin knows how to change out the tube on his bike; he's been raised by a single mother for longer than Steve's known him so he's pretty self-sufficient, but Steve still offers to do it and Dustin lets him.

It's little moments like these that really let Steve feel like Dustin's brother. Which is what makes it easier for Steve to say, as he is peeling the tube from inside the tire out, "hey, do you remember a week or so ago, when you said we were happy for Eddie and me?"

"Yeah," Dustin says as he's ripping open the package the new tube is in.

"You also told me to not hurt him. I- why'd you say that?" Steve halts his progress on peeling the tube out to look up at Dustin.

He watches as Dustin turns sheepish, "I. Well, mostly I said it so that when I talk to Eddie, I might feel less bad about threatening him."

"What? Why did you threaten him?"

Dustin finishes freeing the new tube from its prison before finally looking back at Steve, "I haven't yet. Mike was talking about how Nancy gave you a shovel talk a while ago, as Eddie's 'best friend'," he makes air quotes around the words, "and I'm your best friend, so I have to give Eddie one. But Eddie's also my friend, so I had to say something to you, too."

"That's so-" Steve cuts off, because he was going to say that's so childish but Dustin should be allowed to be childish just a little longer. Part of his childhood was stolen by monsters and Steve can give him a little bit back, "that's a nice thought but please don't shovel talk Eddie. Besides, Erica beat you to it."

"Shit!"

"Language."

"Well, since Erica did it there's really no point in me doing it. She's terrifying when she wants to be."

Steve laughs because Erica can be terrifying. "Give me the tube, or do you want to finish this?"

"No, continue," Dustin thrusts the tube at Steve, who takes it with a grin and gets back to work.

Robin and he are closing on a Wednesday night, so it's been slow all day, and while Steve wants to talk to Robin, he doesn't want to be interrupted. So, they go about their shift like normal and it's only once he's locked the door and flipped the open sign to closed that he seeks out Robin in the back room, where she's counting down the till.

"Can you pause after that? I need to talk," Steve says and feels his stomach churn. He's never.... he and Robin have never had a fight, never really had any issues that required a talk. Not about anything between them anyway. Robin's always just understood him, in the same way he's understood Robin. They've never been the source of each other's pains until now.

"Yeah, of course," Robin finished the coins, marking down the amounts on a piece of paper before shifting to give Steve her full attention. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"It?"

"Whatever's hurting you," she says. "I don't know what it is, but I knew you'd come to me when you were ready."

"It's been heard to try and talk about," Steve confesses, "because it's never. It was never you that I've been- I still don't know what to say but I know I don't want to be..." he trails off, waving his hands as he grapples for the words he wants.

"Oh," Robin whispers, standing from the desk to approach. "I hurt you. Tell me what I did, so I can properly apologize."

"When you told me to be careful with Eddie," Steve says, "after I told you about our first date. I don't understand why you'd say that me."

Robin looks pained and swallows before she says, "I'm so sorry, Steve. I shouldn't have said that. And I don't- I don't even have a good reason why I did. I know you'd never hurt Eddie. I know you and what I said wasn't even about you. Not the real you, anyway."

"So, why'd you say it, then?"

Robin frowns and looks away from him, shuffling her feet before she says to a point at the wall, "I was friends, or friendly, with a lot of the girls you were with in high school. A lot of one and done dates that I had to hear about, while they cried in the bathroom or on their bedroom floors, wondering what they'd done wrong, why you didn't stay or-" Steve winces as the reminder of who he'd been in high school comes easily out of Robin, but not for the usual reason he winces. It's not because Robin's reminding him he used to be a douche; she's reminding him of all the people he hurt and never cared that he'd done it. He never apologized, and now it's far too late even if all those girls deserve to hear it.

Robin is still speaking, "or whatever. But that doesn't matter now. You aren't that guy anymore; haven't been the entire time I've actually known you and it wasn't fair for me to say what I said. I just- you took Eddie out, and the part of me that spent years of high school consoling friends who felt used by you just spoke. I-I need to work on filtering the words that come out of my mouth, because if I'd waited like, four more seconds to process your words and settle in the fact you went on a date we both thought you'd never be brave enough to ask for, then I never would have said it. I'm so sorry, Steve. I know you and I should have known better."

Steve swallows thickly, because it hurt to hear but he also knows she's sorry and that's enough. He steps forward and sweeps her into a hug, crushing her against him. She squeezes back just as hard.

Steve has never felt really hurt about Wayne's shovel talk. It was the first, and the only one he'd say he deserved. Not because Steve deserved to have a shovel talk given to him, but because Wayne should get to have the honor of giving one. Eddie's never had a boyfriend before, and Wayne had spent so long worried about how this town would treat Eddie if they knew he was gay.

So, when Steve sees Wayne again, he just smiles at the man, and gets a genuine smile back. He and Wayne are ok.

He and Jeff apologize to each other next time they cross paths on a Hellfire night. Steve apologizes for being snappy and rude. Jeff apologizes for automatically assuming the worst of Steve. They agree to a truce and a start over.

Steve's convinced he can win over Eddie's friends eventually.

Steve can't talk to Nancy. There's too much left unsaid between them for him to feel comfortable with telling her she hurt him. But it's okay. He and Nancy aren't close friends, and she's leaving for Boston in a few weeks for college. He's sure that the distance, and not seeing her weekly for Lunch Date Day, will help.

So, he's a bit surprised to answer the knocking on his front door to see Nancy. It's an exact recreation of the day she shovel talked him and immediately Steve tenses.

"Uh, hi," he says.

Nancy takes a deep breath and says, "I'm sorry. I thought I was being funny when I gave you that shovel talk, but I- someone made it clear to me that we aren't friends enough to be able to make jokes like that. That's my fault, too. For everything I've done and never apologized for. So, I want to say that I'm sorry."

Steve's a little stumped, a bit perplexed even, so he speaks on autopilot, "It's fine, Nance. We're good."

Nancy squares her jaw and narrows her eyes and says, "no."

"No?"

"No. Don't forgive me. Not yet. Make me earn it."

Steve don't respond right away. He wants to just forgive Nancy, but when he thinks about it, he just wants to do that so Nancy will quit looking so defensive. He's not sure he does forgive her. "You're right. I- we'll work on that, then. Being friends one day."

"Good. Good," Nancy nods. "I'll see you are Lunch Date day, yeah? Or... or would you like me to stop coming?"

He shakes his head. "No, please keep coming. There's, what, three more before you're off to college? We can work towards friends in that time, yeah?"

"Yeah," Nancy gives him a small smile, "see you then, Steve."

"See you," Steve replies and shuts the door as she heads down the walkway back towards her car.

He wants to know if Eddie or Robin gave her the dressing down that brought her here to say sorry.

(It wasn't Robin or Eddie. It was Mike, learning what Nancy had done and telling her it wasn't her place to do that.)

There is one final shovel talk for the remainder of their relationship.

It's the final day in Steve's room at his parents house. He's moving in with Eddie and Wayne, at least until the kid's all graduate. Then he and Eddie might go off somewhere on their own.

He's finished packing up his things from the bathroom, and looks up in the mirror. He sees himself, and almost doesn't recognize the reflection staring back. He looks happy. Actually, really happy.

Eddie appears behind him in the mirror, leaning himself against the doorjam, smiling softly at Steve through the mirror.

"All done, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, babe," Steve says. "Just one more thing."

"Oh?"

Steve slides his eyes away from Eddie in the mirror, back to himself. He lifts a finger and points one accusingly finger at himself and says, "if you fuck this up, Harrington, I'll kick your ass myself."

Eddie's full belly laughter rings loudly in the bathroom and Steve just smiles.

[lover-of-mine]

No, but this is definitely my most controversial opinion, but the whole thing with Buck and Eddie being the same age comes back to the fact that they are mirrors of each other. Down to the tattoos with mirrored placement, yes, but like, narratively speaking too. They've been running parallel to each other their whole lives and them being the same age makes that even more intense. Eddie had to grow up too fast and Buck didn't have to grow up at all. Eddie was forced to take care of more than he could and Buck was never allowed to care as much as he wanted. Both of them ran because their lives were overwhelming. Buck gives Eddie the tools to slow down for the first time in years while Eddie gives Buck something he's allowed to care about. They're two sides of the same coin. They complement each other. They're each other's missing piece. And that's so much better when they're the same age.

[rbtlvr]

& by the way i literally CONSTANTLY think about how loop uses the partys titles to create distance to remind themself that those arent 'their versions' of them. that theyre not loops party anymore. and yet and yet and yet

[i-cast-zone-of-truth]

big scary demon Zhao Yuanzhou bringing “weaker than a human” energy levels to fight the final boss was so choice

[badninken]

HE CAN USE CORA-SAN'S POWER???? D':

omhuguuuuddddddddh

my whole chest hurts

I wasn't ready for this

[in-tua-deep]

had a funky asgardian dream last night lol

the premise was that loki fucked around and basically an amnesiac version of loki ended up back in time with so many holes in his memory but enough knowledge to be like "odin is my dad"

and odin looked at this kid and was like "aw he looks like hela, this tracks" and, importantly, does not know that loki is a frost giant and just assumes loki is his full blood kid lol

all that to say that loki and thor grow up with big brother!loki who is actually?? a good big brother?

rather than hide hela's existence, older loki makes odin nostalgic and he ends up telling them that hela is their big sister who was "lost to the war" or some bullshit, which most people assume to mean she died in the war, right?

older loki sees like, one picture of her, notes the similarities, and then for some weird reason feels profoundly uncomfortable so he decides not to unpack all that and just avoids mention of her lol. kid thor doesn't really care that much about her bc she's not in their lives so why should he? kid loki LOVES learning about her and actively seeks info about her out, mostly because he thinks a big sister would probably be better than two older brothers (he also is young enough that lost to the war means that he could probably find her, right?)

importantly, kid!Loki grows up very differently in this dream world. instead of being the weird outcast prince, everyone looks at him and is like "awww look he's like his big brother <3." he's also like, 8 so at the moment he is very much the baby of the family

anyway so the main plot of this dream was big Loki (imagine like a 19/20 year old) plus thor (like 12) and Loki (8ish) manage to find where Hela is sealed away. idk where they are or where the king and queen are, it's implied they're not in asgard right now and this was a Very Unplanned Field Trip that is giving older Loki an ulcer. They have to look at little Loki to confirm this weird fucking ceiling portrait is Hela bc the older two are not the Hela Experts in the room

at the same time, older Loki is starting to get some flashes of the future and begins to suspect that he's from the Bad Timeline

through accident, they manage to unseal Hela, who is met with three whole younger siblings - and let me tell you it is a very different welcome when you have a very enthusiastic 8-yr-old sparkling at you and very excited to have found his lost sister and a 12-yr-old who thinks girls kind of have cooties rolling his eyes

so hela makes a split second decision to not tell her baby brothers about the whole "dad sealed me away for being warful" thing (it will be a fun surprise for odin later <3) and also embrace being a big sister (it is now her legal job to pick on older loki and make fun of thor for being the odd one out)

anyway while they're figuring this out, older Loki is continuing to get flashes of the future but is now somehow joined by thor also getting flashes of the future. what they manage to glean makes them suspicious, and hey if they're both getting future visions or whatever then logically baby loki should also be, right??

so they start to like. suspiciously spy on little loki. except idk maybe the universe decided that one loki having knowledge was fine? i don't think older loki actually fully knows about the time travel thing or that he IS little loki tbh

so anyway they're spying on an eight year old who has a strict bedtime of nine o'clock.

meanwhile hela starts getting flashes of the future and is like "wait. do i destroy asgard?? why would i do that? where would my brothers live? ):"

the only other thing i remember is there being a dramatic scene where hela is trying to reject her fate and someone tells her that she cannot escape it, and she's actually getting teary eyed because she's gotten attached to her weird shitty brothers now

then i woke up and was like "huh"

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

‘The timeless child means that river would have to be Amy and the doctors daughter’

Hey, hey come here, I have something to tell you. Ignore the hammer

[freakwiththeknifecollection]

Absolutely WILD to me how if I say I can't work because I have chronic illnesses that are disabling, people understand. But SOMEHOW me not having a drivers license doesn't make any sense. It couldn't POSSIBLY be that the very same conditions that don't allow me to have a job are preventing me from learning to drive

[box-dwelling]

As someone who went to Germany and spent like 70% of the time in churches, Von karma sibling growing up Christian head canons is so fucking personal to me

[randomtheidiot]

I wish we could’ve gotten more of all the “bad” Pokémon characters like Cameron. I just wanna see what they’d do if they got more screentime.

[galactic-feelins]

Joshua Kiryu from the Runaway City AU (au name not set in stone yet)

Designed by my beloved partner (in crime >:3)

Image taken Sep 4, 2024

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Ooooo if we’re talking Ashikai- what did you think of her Childe inspiration analysis? I’m not asking about how it may or may not apply to ur fic (though that sounds fun if your up for it!! I just love ur star foxes. Then again… not mutually exclusive ig) but what u thought of it!! I hardly get to talk to anyone about them and ooooough theyre such good videos and leave me reeling everytime.

her childe video was so fucking good holy shit. also i absolutely agree, her videos always leave me sitting there like 'holy fuck', even if sometimes i knew half the stuff she was bringing up, but the way she mixes it with the real-life research and stuff has me,,,,,,,, it's so good,,,

i think the only video that never like- surprised me? or told me something i didn't know or hadn't already like- figured out myself? was the latest one, the one about adepti and their visions. but that's bc i've uh. read xianxia before. so like. you read one xianxia, you know how it's going to go. when she said genshin was a xianxia i was like thank you, that's what i've been saying hahah,,, it was still such a good video, i really liked it;;

[mayvaava]

No cause they r so right, it’s a good twist, one that can be reasonably assumed, but the payoff shouldn’t be in the files, it should be in the next game, it’s a proper story beat, it shouldn’t be skipped over in the files, and it’s fnaf so obviously they know people are gonna be going through the files

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

"okay but what ACTUALLY happened in that minor characters backstory" "what did that character SPECIFICALLY do to become like this" "how does the plot device ACTUALLY work" oh my god i don't care! i don't care about your cinemasinsing about every little detail! does knowing this technical detail improve the audience's emotional understanding of the story? no? then i don't want to fucking see it in canon!

anything you come up with in fanworks is going to be more fun for you than what the author can do in canon! any attempts by the author to explain something technical in the story takes away time and investment from the main plot! so if the technical explanation doesn't inform the main plot then it's just useless trivia for completionism's sake! this shit should be written about in fanworks! or spinoffs! or idk the writers can tweet about it or smth! i don't need it in the actual main story!