#I actually hope they’ll stay close to the story and get all the viewpoints they can

[nalyra-dreaming]

How do you think is going to be Lestat storyline in S2?

Hey nonny!

Good question!

We won’t get Lestat’s POV till S3 so that’s something that needs to be considered here.

Books spoilers ahead once more!

On the Dubai storyline I think Lestat is asleep - since he has to be awake to tell his side of the story in season 3 he will probably wake towards the end of season 2… I hope not in the last 10 minutes. There’s too much connected to it to rush, imho, I‘d prefer the emotional catastrophic events of end Merrick over a big surprise;)))

In regards to the Paris storyline…

I actually think swamp etc have happened, bc Claudia’s diary doesn’t match with what Louis told so far.

They’ll maybe skip the return and setting on fire, but Lestat will still need time to recuperate enough, dump or swamp, to go after them to Paris while giving them a good headstart.

I think we’ll get some very intense and very heartbreaking scenes with him and Armand.

Armand having revealed himself in Dubai opens whole new doors - he can tell of his meeting with Lestat. If that is the truth then… is a wholly different thing 😅

And whoever comes in to build Louis up in Dubai (see Rolin‘s new interview) might be connected to Lestat too - IF that vampire is connected - then there might be yet another perspective incoming. It will heavily depend on who they’re bringing in.

If it is Gabrielle - well she might just go head to head with Armand in telling some of the story. She wasn’t there then (at least according to current canon) - but she knows Armand and the backstory. I actually can see her and Daniel teaming up poking the narrative, lol. Also who knows if she has seen Louis and Claudia at some point without revealing herself.

If it is Marius… well that could be very interesting, too. Marius could have heard Lestat calling, maybe. We know he and Pandora were at the theater at some point iirc. Maybe… they’ll twist the timefeame to have them there, then. That would also be extremely interesting, because Marius could have known a lot. Again though, how much of that is the truth then…

If it is David… David is important (can be very important) for the Dubai storyline and the things (maybe) coming up towards the end of season 2. His input to all this could be reports through the Talamasca vaults, too. Also probably very interesting things?

And last but not least it could be someone like Grent from the Prince Lestat storyline, like Fareed. Ugh. So many possibilities;)))

So all this is to say that… I think STORYLINE wise… I think Lestat’s story will stay very close to the book. Paris, Armand, the trial, the tower. The fall. New Orleans. I bet they’ll keep the viewpoints and contradictions of whether Louis and Armand really saw Lestat back in New Orleans, too.

I can totally see Daniel going “where is he now“ - pause - and then someone getting up with a huge sigh to show Daniel (I‘d love that). 😂

Again, I do hope that’s not in the last 10 minutes.

If we’re really lucky we will also get flashbacks of Loustat‘s good times - because the second half of the book is where Louis‘ yearning really starts.

And where he realizes that he hated Lestat for the wrong reasons.

[lumilasi]

I'm just curious what your thoughts on Shigaraki are. Im praying he gets control back. I would be so sad if the body take over is dragged out. It looks like they are going the save Tomura route which is great but my thought is that means we won't get him back till the end.. I swear if they have Eri rewind him 😤 I hope it's OK to ask you this, if not please ignore and accept my apologies and have a good day. ☀️🌞

Ha ha it’s alright! I don’t mind talking about my favorite character, and musing out my thoughts about what might happen. Of course, keep in mind this is just my thoughts/viewpoint, and I would never say anything I muse out about this is a fact; I’m not the writer after all.  I’m just going over the story bits we already know and considering what could possibly be the story-direction we’re going towards! 

(Also warning, this is probs gonna get a little long-winded because I have a lot of thoughts about this, and Tomura and Izuku’s stories are pretty tightly tied to the larger one at hand about the world they live in.)

To give you a short summary: I think Tomura might indeed stay possessed for a while, and perhaps Izuku could team up with his friends to help save him from this possession. I also don’t think Eri should be using her powers a whole lot right now in the story, given her trauma and age. She needs to heal herself first to avoid unintentionally causing more damage to her mental state. Trauma recovery takes time, often more than what we’ve seen so far in the manga. 

And now for the long-winded explanation (under the cut so this post isn’t ridiculously long:)

So, considering the overall narration and themes Horikoshi has used in the manga, it feels reasonable to say that one of the end goals in all likeness is to “save” those the current society would not bother saving, including Tomura, and especially Tomura, considering his character and story kind of symbolizes the overall failures and problems of this society. His BG touches on so many bad things and problems wrong with the way their world runs currently.

(Apathy from people being over-reliant on heroes, lack of proper help for mental health, hero idol worship that makes people neglect their families over their duty as a hero, abusive parental figures, dehumanization, etc.)

Izuku’s main goal, the goal of his story after all, is to become the greatest hero as the beginning narration expressed. The most reasonable way to do that given the things we’ve been shown about this world, is to do something none of the current heroes would; save those deemed “unfit” to be saved. It’s not only something personally fitting to Izuku’s character, but holds larger symbolic meaning for the overall narrative. I actually saw somebody discuss this particular topic in a post a while back, that put it better than I ever could. 

(click the link if you’re curious to read it, it’s a pretty interesting one)

Now, what that saving means in practice is likely going to be more complicated, since the people in question have done bad things that deserve consequences, and I won’t deny that. 

However, one of the biggest issues is, that the way this society functions seems to kind of be the very source of these villains doing bad things. If only somebody would’ve bothered to pick up this scared kid walking on the street before AFO got to him, none of what is happening now would have happened. (or at least, it would’ve been someone else in worst case scenario)

So, to go back on what you actually asked about; I do think that in order to reach the goal Izuku was set, he does need to free Tomura from that possession, that’s probably the least he can and should do. 

In that sense, it would honestly make sense it would happen close to the end of the story as the best way to symbolize Izuku becoming the greatest hero - saving even the person who everybody else likely deemed unworthy of saving. 

Not to mention, I recall Horikoshi mentioning that he planned the ending to be something where heroes and villains have to team up to reach an end goal of sorts. Izuku teaming up with Tomura’s friends to save Tomura could fit into this concept. 

As for Eri...her rewind powers are bit of a...yeah. I also have lot of thoughts about that so bear with me.

They’re pretty difficult from narrative perspective, because they come off very “deus ex machina” or “magical fix all” that removes any stakes, and I’ve seen from the fandom people wishing Eri to just magically fix everything each time somebody is horribly injured, which...that’s a tad disturbing to me? Asking this little traumatized girl who’s seen lot of horrid injuries and gore to view MORE of it potentially, to heal your favorites? Even if she’d want to do it willingly (which she probably would out of gratitude) she’s, what, six? 

(yes I know this is fiction and I might be taking this a bit too seriously, but I am also looking at this from the narration point of view, and her doing these magic fixes would also actually be bad for the story narration IMO, I’ll explain below)

She’s just a child, she probably can’t really grasp yet what she can and can’t handle, when it comes to her trauma, and what is and isn’t good for her.  Eri “magically fixing everything” is an absolute no from me, both for her own sake and from narration perspective. 

Like I get it, anybody would be sad when their fave gets hurt, I am too, but Eri’s a traumatized child, and tbh having her magically fix everything at her current state would in my eyes go against the point the narrative is trying to make, about the need for change and doing things better from the previous generation. Her rewinding these “changes” in the story, as a traumatized kid, is basically holding up the status quo that is harmful. Using somebody’s remarkable power out of duty to do good while potentially ignoring the impact it can have on the individuals own well-being, which basically will hindrance their ability to do said good in the future.

I can let fixing Mirio’s quirk pass, because he wasn’t horrifically injured in a manner that could potentially trigger Eri’s traumas. It was still a tad risky in my eyes to make this kid do it, because even if she did train for it, what if things went horribly wrong and she made Mirio disappear? That would’ve just caused her unnecessary mental anguish. They basically got lucky there that Hori was kind enough to make it work. 

I would not mind so much, if the person having this power wasn’t a traumatized kid basically, in a story that is about a flawed system and the harmful effects it has on the individuals living in it with the way it currently runs. 

So personally, I don’t want to see Eri use her powers at this point in that manner. She’s still recovering herself and probably not mentally ready to handle these things. Once she’s in a mentally better place, older and more capable of understanding what is or isn’t good for her, then she can go ahead and rewind people’s lost limbs left and right and use her quirk as the next generation superhero healer. But not right now, not when she’s still just a kid with horrible trauma.

 Plus, I feel her point in the story was less about her power, and more about her parallels with Tomura; she could’ve become like him if she hadn’t been saved, and in turn, Tenko could’ve been like her if he had been saved. 

So, from narrative point of view, It feels likely (though I could be wrong of course) that Tomura will remain possessed for a while, and Izuku’s end goal (or one of them) is to save him from the possession, and perhaps they’ll work together to defeat AFO. This last part I’m not that sure about though, given we still don’t have all the puzzle pieces. There’s probably a lot more to be learned about AFO himself, that will have an impact on how the story goes. We’ll see.

So yeah. Sorry this is kind of long, but sometimes you need lot of text to properly convey your thoughts xD Plus I’m just kinda used to writing long pieces of text. 

[fanfic-scribbles]

Lunch Buddy: Chapter Eighteen

Masterlist

<<Previous Chapter Next Chapter>>

Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Story Summary: Steve Rogers makes a friend. A prickly, generally people-averse friend, but they’ll both take what they can get.

Quick Facts: Friendship (/Eventual Romance) – Steve Rogers & Reader (leading to Steve Rogers/Reader) – Female Reader

Story Warnings: Reader-insert that verges on OFC, written in 1st person past tense

Chapter 18: Party Hard

Chapter Summary: Steve is a popular guy, whether he wants to be or not. Seeking shelter around Christmas seems appropriate for the season, at least.

Chapter Warnings: Whether the viewpoint character celebrates Christmas or not is left vague (there is a gift exchange but it’s mostly centered on what Steve would celebrate), general time jumps between days are marked with single tildes (~), and at the end there is a change in viewpoint and a change back, marked ~like so~

Chapter Word Count: 5241

A/N: This chapter was a little delayed because it wasn’t working and when I dug into why I found I had issues with the following sections that were mucking up the place. It felt like working out a real big snarl– frustrating and painful at first, but very satisfying when I got to the end of it. And slightly cathartic when I just ripped out the bit that refused to budge. It was fun. I hope you enjoy.

(Minor note: time is left vague but this all starts just a few days after the last chapter and happens over a couple of weeks, ending just before Christmas. I have sort of a fake calendar I’ve done up so the dates make sense to me but I don’t think they’re necessary to understand the chapter. If I’m wrong let me know and I’ll see if I can fix it so it does make sense.)

   ~

   I was having a perfectly pleasant evening at home. I had comfy clothing, I had drinks, I had my phone, I had activities…and I had activities involving my phone.

Me: How’s the party? Steve: Ugh

Bothering Steve would always, no matter what, be fun.

Me: Serves you right Me: trying to guilt-trip me Steve: My only regret is I didn’t guilt you more Steve: I can’t believe you abandoned me to this Me: And I can’t believe you wanted to subject me to that Steve: >:( Steve: I’m reduced to hiding Steve: From a very drunk woman who wants to lean on me Steve: Among other things Steve: Or so she assures me

I felt a flare of something. It wasn’t anything nice.

Me: Hang on Me: Omw Steve: Is that all it takes?

‘Is that all it takes.’ He was such a fuckhead sometimes; maybe that woman could have him– except, no, actually unacceptable. Any potential partners had to understand ‘no means no’ and when to back the fuck off.

Me: Yup Me: There is only so much arm space for clingy bitches Me: And I take up a lot of room Steve: Hey Steve: You are not a bitch Steve: >:( Me: Don’t you frowny-face me mister Me: I am whatever I want to be Me: Deal with it

I added the sunglasses emoji just because.

Steve: Well Steve: I can’t argue that Steve: But I still don’t like it Me: You don’t have to Me: <3 Steve: I guess that’s fair Me: Seriously though Me: Do you want an excuse to leave? Me: I’ll figure one out Steve: It’s okay Steve: I’m going to be up early tomorrow so I’m going to duck out soon Steve: It just would have been more fun with you here

I rolled my eyes. But I smiled.

Me: Well Me: Don’t stay too late, Cinderella Steve: Hm Steve: Better than the old man jokes I guess Me: I would never Me: …Well I guess I might. Too easy though; I like to make an effort Steve: I appreciate your work ethic

The conversation drifted off in drips and drabs, but that night I dreamed of Steve and glass slippers and in the morning I woke with the feeling that nothing had fit quite right.

~

Steve: Guess where I am

I got up and peeked out the window. No bike, but that didn’t necessarily mean no Steve. However I looked around my apartment and cringed at the mess.

Me: If you’re dropping in you better be bringing snacks Steve: I wish

I frowned at my phone. If he wasn’t coming over then why was he…wait a minute. Wait.

Me: No Steve: Yes Me: It’s Thursday Me: Who has a party on Thursday?! Steve: Pepper assures me it’s not technically a party Steve: It’s a small get-together Me: So it’s a small party Steve: Basically Me: We’re going shopping this weekend Me: We need to find you a spine Steve: YOU try telling Pepper no Me: Hey I never said I had a spine Steve: Be grateful Steve: She really tried to get me to invite you Steve: I danced around it. I knew you wouldn’t want to with work tomorrow Me: Yeah, not happening. Thanks Steve: You’re welcome Me: Seriously though Me: How many parties can those people have in one month? Steve: Please don’t ask Steve: I don’t want to find out Me: I hate to be the one to break it to you Me: But it sounds like you’re going to find out Me: Whether you like it or not

He sent me a sad frowny-face and I immediately imagined him making the same expression. I looked up at my ceiling and wondered why it had to be now that I had the most active imagination I’d had since I was seven.

Me: Well Me: If you need a place to hide out from fancy food and grabby people Me: You know where to come Me: I don’t really do fancy food Steve: What about the grabbing?

‘Buddy, I wish,’ I thought and rolled my eyes. He had no idea. And he never would. Hopefully.

Me: I like to think I’m respectful of personal bubbles Steve: Except when I steal your food Me: Well yeah Me: At that point you’re a thief Me: And punishment must be meted out Steve: Crap Steve: Tony saw me, gotta go Me: Good luck Steve: Gee thanks

I sent him a sweet smiley face, because some things just couldn’t be helped.

~

Karma kicked my ass the very next day when I woke up with such a sudden and severe cold that made me call out of work. I was just barely considering getting out of bed for maybe some soup or a slow crawl directly to the morgue when my phone buzzed.

Steve: I think I hate you Me: I didn’t do it Steve: Another party Me: … Me: … Me: Dude Me: It’s ten am? Steve: It’s tonight Me: I’m sick Me: Come over and I’ll cough on you Steve: I can’t get sick Steve: I never thought I’d be sad about that Steve: Wait Steve: You’re sick?

I rolled my eyes. And winced, because that just hurt my fucking head.

Me: Yeah. Staying home today. Steve: Do you need anything? Steve: Help? Food?

I really wished he could stop being so sweet. It was a real fucking problem sometimes– like now, when I could think of a whole list of things I wanted his help with that was just slightly past the friends barrier. Or maybe friends cuddled and I was just out of the loop? I made a mental note to look into that, when I was slightly less disgusting.

Me: No thanks Me: Got medicine, got soup, got bed Me: Just need to decide if I can keep anything down Steve: Oh :( Me: I’ll be okay Me: Just need some sleep to kick this in the ass

And warm arms wrapped around me, but I kept that to myself. Maybe I’d have a nice dream later.

Steve: You do that Steve: Get plenty of rest Steve: And call if you need anything Steve: I will be incredibly motivated as of 9pm tonight Me: Oof Me: I would offer to be your excuse Me: But I’m hoping a cocktail of cough syrup and pain meds will make that way past my bedtime Steve: Stay safe Me: I will. Worrywart Steve: Yup <3

He was trying to kill me; I knew it. However I was so exhausted I just sent him a quick ‘bye’ and crawled back under the covers to be miserable and whiny on my own. Admittedly, ‘on my own’ left much to be desired these days, but I got through it like I always did.

Except for the container of soup from a local Chinese place that somehow made it to my door that afternoon. That was new addition to my ‘get better’ routine. But very much welcome.

~

Steve: Sigh

I already knew what was coming. Mostly because I was trapped in a similar hell.

Me: At least it’s close enough to an appropriate date Steve: I guess Steve: What are you doing? Me: Work holiday party Me: fml

A couple of women greeted each other nearby in tones that varied up and down but they all stayed pretty equally loud, and I ducked closer to the table, under which I hid my phone.

Steve: I guess it’s true Steve: Misery does love company

I sent him a line of middle fingers

Me: How’s YOUR party? Steve: Zzzzzzzzz

I ducked down further to hide my laughter.

Me: Seriously though Me: How many parties can one guy have? Steve: So many, apparently Steve: Last year wasn’t this bad Steve: He did get mildly offended you haven’t been to a one Me: Ugh Me: Wait, sorry Me: I don’t really mean that Me: I just have no idea how to do damage control with that guy Me: I don’t know what his deal is Steve: It’s okay Steve: Neither do I Steve: And he’s mostly joking Steve: I think Me: Good Me: I’d rather get along peaceably with your other friends Steve: Or be friends with them?

I thought about it.

Me: Gotta be honest Me: You have a lot of friends Me: That sounds like a lot of work Steve: They’re not so bad

I heard my name and glanced up to see my boss was looking around.

Me: Well you have fun with them Me: gtg boss is looking for me Steve: Don’t get in trouble Steve: I’ll see you later? Me: Later

My boss caught sight of me just as I was slipping my phone away and I subjected myself to being politely social for the rest of the night. I had…a lot more sympathy for Steve after that.

Not that I would ever let him know it.

~

Steve: Can I come over? Me: Of course

Not one second later I heard the buzzer for the entry go off. I let him up without even looking, so when he actually showed up at the door I froze like a deer in the headlights.

“Hey,” Steve said, his face a mixture of stormy and exhausted and his body clad in a finely (finely) tailored suit. He gave me a tired smile and held up a grocery bag. “I brought payment in snacks.”

Yes. Yes he did. Wait, no, snacks. Plural and actual. Literal. Right. “Sounds, uh, good,” I said and stepped aside to let him in, and I briefly hit my head on the door before I shut it. I turned just in time to see him sit down on my couch like he could sink into it, legs opened up and head thrown back. He shut his eyes and breathed. I took a second to do the same. But he looked so fed up with everything and that ended up being (sadly, selfishly,) good for my focus.

“What happened?” I asked and went to sit next to him as soon as concern won out.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m just tired.”

I could only imagine. I reached out and squeezed his shoulder– but my instinct to leave my hand there propelled me up and over to the kitchen counter where I started unpacking the bag he brought. The first thing I pulled out was an interesting looking bag of something labeled entirely in Cyrillic. The very next thing I saw, hiding behind it I realized, was a box wrapped in paper and ribbons. I couldn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt– my name was written right there. “Steve.”

“Yes?” he asked, overly innocently and turned his bright blue eyes to me like he was some naïve young farm boy who couldn’t possibly understand why I said his name like that.

He was getting better. My bullshit meter was going off so hard it nearly broke and he still almost got to me. Still, I surreptitiously cleared my throat and said, (quite strongly, I thought,) “That is not going to work on me.”

He didn’t back down. His eyes even seemed to get bigger and bluer. “It’s a good time of year to get gifts for your friends, even if for no real reason. Besides, it’s just something I saw that I thought you would like. It’s no big deal.”

“Uh huh.” I liked the way he stretched his arm across the couch, and the way he stole glances at me like I wouldn’t notice. Starting off strong, getting weaker by the moment; I needed to tell Natasha to up his spy training. “Real subtle.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said and grabbed the remote. While he pretended to give a shit about holiday programming I rifled through the rest of the bag, dumped the caramel popcorn into a bowl, and took the bowl and the gift over to the couch where I plopped down as hard as I could in an effort to be as annoying as possible. He didn’t even flinch, just smiled as I put the popcorn in between us on the couch. The gift I set in the center of my coffee table, where it actually looked really nice.

“Aren't you going to open it?” Steve asked, trying to look like he was watching Jimmy Stewart get his Christmas miracle but, again, his eyes kept darting; this time between me and the gift.

“Mm.” I shrugged but inside I was taking my inner impatient five-year-old and turning her into a moustache-twirling villain, with the gift tied to the train tracks. It felt good. “It’s a Christmas gift, right?”

“Not necessarily,” he said.

“Well, I think most single gifts get opened on the 25th, so I’ll wait,” I said, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and settled in to enjoy a bell ringing like I never had before.

“It’s a– a December gift,” Steve insisted.

“Oh,” I said. “Then I have until December 31st to open it.”

“It’s A Wonderful Life” suddenly became the title of my night, maybe even my autobiography, when Steve said my name in the whiniest fucking tone I had ever heard outside of a bad comedy sketch about nasally nerds. I almost dropped the popcorn I held and, when I turned my head to stare at him, he was almost literally beet red.

“Can we pretend that didn’t come out like that?” he asked, looking down like he could stare right through the floor. I had never before seen someone who actually looked like they desperately wanted to be swallowed whole. “As a present to me?”

“Wow,” I said, because it was all I could say. Already the sweet sound of memory was fading, and I tried to hold onto it. “I got you an actual present so no. But wow. Wow. Happy holidays to me. Wow.”

“I’m taking my gift back,” he grumbled and made as if to grab it.

I curled forward to protect it but I moved too fast and accidentally dropped some of my snack, though Steve kept me from cracking my head on the table. “Shit,” I said and hurried to pick up the bits of food. “I just cleaned; if you make me get popcorn bits on my floor I’m making you drag out the vacuum.”

“I don’t think your neighbors would appreciate that right now,” Steve said and wolfed down his own heaping handful of the caramel corn, though he put the bowl on the table.

“My downstairs neighbor has a pre-teen who’s getting into EDM,” I said and pulled the gift into my lap. “Let them suffer as I have suffered.”

“Mm hm,” Steve said, already pretty thoroughly checked out as I turned the box over in my hands.

It wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t tiny, and it was a fairly standard box so I had no idea what it could be. Maddening. I decided to put us both out of our misery.

“Really?” Steve said as I started picking at the tape on the side. “Are you going to save the paper?”

“Weeeeellllll…” I debated whether or not I should admit my failings, but came out on the side that it would make him smile and I couldn’t find anything wrong with that. Short of an unintentional Three Stooges act there was no way I was topping his whiny self. “I maybe didn’t get a chance to go buy wrapping paper for your gift, sooo…” After a moment I stole a glance, and sure enough, he was smiling.

“You didn’t?” he asked and even let out a little laugh.

“We’re saving the environment,” I said as I started peeling back the paper.

“Sure,” he chuckled. “You, me, and five square feet of wrapping paper.”

“There’s no way there’s that much on here,” I muttered as one corner decided to be a bitch. “How much tape did you use on this thing?”

“I didn’t know we’d be sharing it,” he said, and while he amused himself by harping on the point, I got my wrapping paper off and set it aside.

“–nd you’re not even listening to me, are you?”

“Why would I start now?” The box was plain and, at least for that, I had no compunctions about ripping the tape off. Inside was a lot of paper sitting under a small rectangular box and a shiny black satchel. “Thanks for the great packing materials,” I said as I dug around to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, but it seemed to be just the box and tiny bag.

“Happy to help,” Steve said but he sounded distant. He was staring at the gifts. I took another look at them and my stomach did a flip. The little rectangular box reminded me of–

“Open the box first and then open the bag right after,” Steve said. “It’ll make more sense then.”

When I opened the little box and saw a bracelet I had to hope it was going to make sense. It was…shiny and looked like silver. Chunky but plain. That was a good sign, right? Nice and shiny but plainly platonic. Right? I opened the little satchel and dug out tiny matching metal pieces that were shaped like…oh.

“Wow,” I said and spread the charms on the table around the bracelet still sitting in its pillowed case. “This is…Steve, this is so nice.”

“Oh thank God,” he said and let out a breath that sounded like it was as big as the one still locked in my chest. “I don’t see you wear a lot of jewelry but I saw the charms and it just seemed perfect. The metal’s super hypoallergenic or something– the woman was telling me that it should be fine for anyone with sensitivity to certain metals and I don’t know if you do, but I thought it was better to be safe, and it’s pretty, or I thought so–”

“It’s very pretty,” I said, a smile taking over. What the hell was he so nervous about? Whatever; even his babbling was charming and cute and I tried my best not to think that way because I should have been making fun of him, like a good friend, but I couldn’t rag on him while he was so excited. Or maybe I just couldn’t bring myself to rag on him about this.

“Here,” Steve said, reaching over and taking the bracelet out. Big fingers fumbled with the clasp but he put it on my wrist, and then he went for the charms. He held up the coffee cup. “Obviously,” he said and somehow managed not to fumble that time when he attached it. A cloud, “because you can be pretty gloomy and cranky sometimes,” and when I flipped him off with my other hand he just said, “see?” as he put it on. The book was, “again, pretty obvious.”

Then he put the joystick on and squinted at it for a second before he looked up at me, bright eyes framed by dark lashes, and wet pink lips I couldn’t kiss as someone I deeply cared for leaned into my personal space and gave me jewelry for Christmas. I looked down at the bracelet and focused on being grateful for the sweet, generous gesture this was rather than what I wished it could be. The bracelet itself wasn’t too much. It felt comfortable.

“I asked her if they had anything video game related and she said this was a good one,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced. It took me a moment to remember what he was referring to. Joystick. Right.

“Remind me to take you to an arcade,” I said and held my arm up to the light. The charms were fun but plain and melded easily together from a distance; I could wear this anywhere and have it be appropriate. But I would know what it really was. “This is…so thoughtful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said warmly. Softly. All of a sudden those repressed feelings surged forward to make my chest ache and for just a moment I thought of a world where he gave me jewelry and it meant something more. But I lived in a world where he gave me a piece of jewelry and looked quietly pleased with himself while I sat and admired it. It didn’t mean anything; it didn’t mean–

Actually, no, that was wrong. It did mean something. It meant Steve was a really good friend who gave me a wonderfully thoughtful gift. I really needed to stop being in my own fucking head so much or I was going to lose everything I already did have.

But I still needed a moment to come back down from the urge to hug him way too tight. “This is so nice, Steve, thank you,” I said and stood quickly, box and wrapping paper in hand. “I can’t lie, yours aren’t as amazing, so get your acting chops up while I’m wrapping them.”

“You know you can just give them to me,” Steve told me as I walked around the other side of the room to avoid any chance of tripping over him.

“Nope!” I said and shut the door to my room. Safe and alone, I breathed– but not too loud, because he might hear me. I grabbed his gifts and shoved them in the box (stuffed them, really) so I couldn’t think too hard and chicken out of giving him something. I messed up at a couple of points with the tape and, rather than ripping the already well-used paper by trying to fix it…I decided to go with it.

One full roll of transparent tape later, I walked back out feeling a little more composed, a little more me. I stood in front of Steve and proudly held out the box.

“It’s very shiny,” he remarked as he took it and looked it over. From the second I sat on the couch I was on the edge of it, eager to see what he would do. Would he try to return the favor by removing all the tape? Would he try scrabbling for an edge? Would he try tearing the paper to ribbons only for the tape to stick all over his hands?

None, apparently– he just pushed his fingers clean through the box right next to the edge and ripped the side right off. “Hey!” I said, because hey, no fair, but he just laughed at me and shook out his gifts onto the couch in between us. I crossed my arms. “You're no fun.”

“No fun at all,” he agreed happily and picked up the beanies. He rubbed one of them between his fingers. “These are very nice.”

“They’re good quality and warm and you look good in beanies,” I said. He put one on haphazardly and I laughed. “Maybe not with tuxes.”

“It does feel nice though; thanks,” he said and sorted through them. “I like the colors too.”

“Yeah, they’re all earthy or whatever,” I said and pointed at the most important gift.

“Unicorn slippers!” he said, seeming actually delighted as he picked them up. He then immediately took off his socks and shoes to put them on. “They fit! They’re soft.”

It was no bracelet, but I couldn’t keep a smile off my face. “I maybe hid some measuring tape near the entryway and ran over to your shoes when you went to the bathroom once.”

“Sneaky,” Steve said and set his shiny loafers aside. “I’m going to have to bring them every time I come over.”

“They’re worth it,” I said and wiggled my own unicorn-clad feet.

Steve picked up the last gift. Or ‘gift.’ “That’s not–” I stopped myself and tried to think of what I wanted to say. I just couldn’t figure out how I could say it that I wouldn’t sound stupid. I gave up on the pretense. “So that’s…just a little thing, that can actually stay here if you want, but it is yours. I know you’re not really into games, but I thought if you were over here maybe you could have your own controller.” As he looked it over, I quietly added, “And maybe I can look into…games with two players. If you’d like to play with me sometimes.”

“I would like that,” he said quickly. “To play with you.” He then turned bright red. “In a game– in a video game.”

I would have made fun of him, but I was choked by embarrassment too. Damn it, I had done so well with keeping my daydreams chaste (mostly, mostly chaste) and that fucker had to do that. I swallowed and tried to think of absolutely anything else while the time ticked on and our mutual embarrassment settled in. Luckily Steve still had the perfect distraction in his hands. “Hey– do you like the design?” I asked, looking from the Captain America shield design to Steve and back and back again.

He rolled his eyes. “Where did you even find it?” he asked and set the package down.

“I don’t know who does your marketing but they deserve a raise because they are putting in work,” I said and sat back, a little apart from him. I could only get so far on the same couch in a small apartment, but it was enough.

“I’ll be sure to pass that along,” he said.

The conversation died and I didn’t know if I should say anything or not, but I felt…mostly comfortable. Despite the slightly-less-but-still-a-little awkward silence. Outside was cold but we were warm inside with fuzzy slippers and snacks and a slate of classic Christmas movies.

“Hey Steve?” I said, looking at the TV.

“Yeah?” he asked and leaned in.

I definitely didn’t turn my head– I was afraid the temptation would be too great. So, I resisted. But I still had plenty to be grateful for. “I’m glad you ditched your dumb party to hang out with me.”

He chuckled and scooted closer. His presence was a wall of warmth that was too comfortable, so much so that I got a core workout just from sitting so rigidly upright. But then he said, “So am I,” and, well…it was worth it.

   ~Later; Avengers Tower~

  “I told you you’d break him,” Maria said, sitting on one arm of the couch.

“Excuse me?” Tony extended his arms, drink sloshing dangerously up the sides of his cup. “I don’t see him here. Where do you think he ran to, hm?”

“We don’t know he went there.” Clint said, a little down the bar from Tony. “He could have run home.”

“No, he’s there,” Natasha said, tapping at her phone. “He’s on her couch, I quote, “eating chips in peace.’”

“Ungrateful,” Tony muttered and continued to do so.

The others ignored him. “So are we going to let Steve handle this on his own terms now?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce,” Natasha said, mock-frowning at him. “It’s like you don’t know us.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, but stretched and groaned. “It’s more like I’m partied out, and this isn’t working.”

“Yet!” Tony said and pointed at Bruce– again, with the hand holding the drink, so his drink sloshed over the side and onto Rhodes, who cursed and grabbed napkins to dry his shirt. “It hasn’t worked yet.”

“Tony,” Pepper said, exasperation lacing her tone. “I think it’s time to let this go. He’s going to refuse to come to any more at this point.”

“Except he has to come to the New Year’s Eve party,” he said, looking at her with eyes as serious as he could make them. He only wavered slightly.

“Oh,” Pepper said. “Yes, he has to come to that one.” She looked thoughtful. “Maybe we can make it a bit smaller.”

“‘Just us’ smaller?” Clint asked.

“Not too small,” Natasha said. “She’ll need a place to hide.”

Thor sat on the couch, with Jane sleeping on one of his shoulders and Darcy sleeping on the other, and he looked curiously around the room. “It is interesting that the Captain would be infatuated with a partner so…” He tried to think of a word, and settled on, “Meek.”

Clint and Natasha snorted in unison. “She’s not meek,” Natasha said. “She just keeps to herself and comes around on her own terms.”

Thor brightened and looked to his sleeping girlfriend. “Like my Jane,” he said and faced forward again, keeping his body very still so as not to disturb the sleeping women. “Perhaps Darcy will help in bringing her forward.”

Bruce cleared his throat. “Before we get too ahead of ourselves, how are we sure Steve isn’t going to skip the next party?”

“He won’t,” Natasha said. “As long as everyone shows up– and they will,” she said, shooting a look at Bruce. He, naturally, withered, and she looked around the room, finally settling on Pepper. “Put her name on the list. I’ll make sure he comes, and I’m certain he will bring his date.”

“The question is: do you think he’ll bring her as a date, or will it become a date?” Maria asked idly.

“Are we betting?” Pepper asked brightly.

As the rest of the group got involved in the debate, Bruce and Phil stared from their positions against the wall. “Poor Steve,” Bruce said. When Phil lifted his glass Bruce clinked his against it, and then they both downed the last of their drinks in unison.

   ~The next day~

  Steve: Please Me: Steve Steve: PLEASE Me: …Are you on your knees or something? Steve: If I was and I took a picture would you come with me? Me: You seriously want me to come along that bad? Me: Why can’t you skip out? Steve: The NYE party is a big one Steve: Or so I have been told Steve: Sam is coming Steve: And I missed Thor at the last party Steve: I will never hear the end of it if I miss him at this one Steve: Please? Me: We forgot to go on that shopping trip for your spine Steve: It won’t do me much good when Natasha removes it Steve: She said I HAVE to go Steve: But Tony and Pepper always have good food Steve: And good alcohol Steve: And he pays the bartenders so well you literally aren’t allowed to tip Steve: Please? Me: … Me: I’m going to have to wear a nice dress Me: And makeup Me: And travel through the city on New Year’s Eve Me: To a big social event Me: This is going to sound weird because Stark’s parties are some hot thing apparently but Me: You are going to owe me so fucking big Steve: I already owe you! Steve: Thank you!

He went on to thank me in a variety of ways that normally would have made me laugh, but I already really regretted saying yes. Steve, all of his friends, me, and booze– I hit my head against my phone for each miserable fucking point. Oh, and people tended to kiss at midnight. Thinking of all the good alcohol made me feel sour, because I wasn’t going to be able to allow myself much of it. Not if I wanted to succeed in keeping my secret crush secret. And even with that pre-new year resolution, I still had a really bad feeling that I wasn’t going to be under wraps for long.

<<Previous Chapter Next Chapter>>

[irisbleufic]

Good afternoon, anon.  With regard to it coming to an end being different, I understand what you’re saying.  Once, I thought I’d be content to just add to it for the rest of my life; I’m such an end-goal driven writer 99% of the time that I thought, hey, it’s special that I have this one project in my life that’s been in progress for years and wants to stay in progress.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but I came very close to declaring #50: Garden Variety the end of it, when I saw how well that story snapped into place and rounded off the story as it was at that point.  But the thing with stories you live with for a long time is that they’re as mutable as you are.  As you change, your narrative goals will change; as you age, your characters age (especially the younger ones; having watched the four girls and Rob change in my mind’s eye has been as poignant as watching my younger siblings grow up).

I said this in a previous post, but I have quite a few reasons now for wanting this series to be complete before the first episode of the Amazon miniseries airs.  Almost nobody in the fandom believed there would ever actually be a visual adaptation; I was certainly in that number.  The volatile effect that a film or television adaptation has on any book fandom causes upheaval whether we like it or not, and it almost always becomes the first thing newcomers will reach for.  Many of them will be unaware that there’s a novel.  They’ll try to assume that existing stories have been influenced by the visual-media version, and that...is not a risk I am willing to take.  I’m uniquely poised to close this just before the show comes out.  The archival posting dates on AO3 will show that CoT, in its painstaking entirety, is a product of novel influence only.  I would like it to stay that way.  New fans drawn in by the show probably won’t have too much trouble reading it, but they might not like that the canon-present it starts from is the early 1990s, not the late 2010s as it will be in the miniseries.  CoT is a period piece whose internal present-day narrative covers 2005-2017 with dozens of historical flashbacks, falling from Eden to the 1990s to the early 2000s, as memories of those events become relevant.

Structurally, this final story/installment has been more of a challenge to set up than nearly anything else I’ve written in either my fandom or published career.  My cast, between canon characters and original characters I’ve built along the way, is so extensive that limiting this to just our two protagonists’ points of view would have been unthinkable.  Alongside those two, I targeted the four other players who I feel have come to form the emotional core of the narrative.  So that gave me six viewpoint characters to work with.  When I considered my target word-count, the best way to pace the action and let everyone have their say throughout was to break the story into six 3,000-4,000 word sections, each of these subtitled with epigraphs (those’ll be a surprise).  Each of those six sections, in turn, breaks down into six scenes.  The viewpoint rotation of six characters falls in the same pattern throughout the scenes of the first five sections, but breaks pattern for the sixth and final.  The pattern-break is almost entirely due to how “A Better Place” needs to somehow echo at the close.

As for writing about these two idiots once CoT’s finished?  Oh, I always planned to keep writing about them.  Even if I wrote nothing else GO-related for most of the year moving forward, there would always be a new story or several from me come GO Holiday Exchange time, because I’ve been a participant from the beginning (and happily serve as on-call pinch hitter).  That said, though, post-CoT?  I’m only just getting started.  You’ll see me do some things with the source material that I’ve never felt inclined to do before, but some of my more recent writing gambits in other fandoms have given me a taste for not just extending canon, but altering/reconfiguring canon events.  There are so many experiments left to run.  Almost 15 years on from first reading the book, I have yet to run out of ways to engage with the text.  That’s remarkable.

(Thanks for the heartfelt note, anon.  Because you’re one of the years-long regulars, I might have a guess at one of a few people you might be.  But that’s irrelevant given how much I love you all.)

theotheramf said: 6 viewpoints, 6 chapters, 6 sections. 666. Huh. Was that intentional? ;-p 

Would you even believe me if I said no?

(I hope so, because that’s the answer.  The reason for it being broken into six main sections is that the story has to cover six months; it’s one section for each month.  Two default protag PsOV + four crucial deuteragonist PsOV just happened to equal six, too.  And, well, six scenes in each section are just a product of there being six rotating PsOV.)

[one-of-us-must-be-crazy]

Kissing so desperately their body curves into the other's?

oops this was about 8 paragraphs longer than i meant it to be. The bit about testing sentient droids and dumping them through a trapdoor comes from the book Bug Hunt, which like the rest of the Alien novels, is canon until Fox inevitably goes “Wait, shit no, scratch that.” in a couple years.

They’d already had their goodbyes.

Their rescuers had thought they’d done right by taking them straight to a company station, and this close to it, short of killing their saviors, there was nothing Amanda could do to stop them. Besides, she thought, the absolute saint she’s been spending her time with would never approve of murder.

 Two blessed weeks of peace with the only other survivor of the disaster hadn’t done much to heal her physically or mentally, and maybe the mental damage was how she got into this in the first place. 

This, being the position of having taught a synthetic over the course of four days exactly how to kiss like a human. Desperation? Possible. A sense of a lifedebt she’d never be able to pay back? More possible. The chance thats she might have actually found someone–the first someone in four years? …possible. Too possible, going by the way they had spent the last night in a tangle, her half-wishing she’d have asked him days ago if he’d want to try anything more than kissing, touching; and half being glad that she didn’t, not wanting to cheapen this short-lived love story into a post-disaster hook up.  (love? That isn’t what this is, I hardly know the guy…) Still they’d said as much, among other ridiculous empty promises of houses, of running, of human elopement.

“They can’t take you,” she said to him across the table in an otherwise empty galley. Less than one hour until docking.

“They own me, it’s in their rights. Besides I’m….I’m not running up to par, and if they want to interrogate me they’ll have to repair me first.”

“That doesn’t sound promising. They’ll rip you’re memory out and—They’re going to trash you. Like a used plastic bottle.”

“And perhaps I’ll be recycled into something you come into contact with,” he wasn’t used to joking, and figured that if this didn’t work to make her smile from humor, he’d remarket it as maudlinly romantic.

“Don’t.”

“Amanda?” she looked like she was was using serious will-power to avoid crying. Either that, or trying to get herself to cry after having exhausted herself with tears the past fortnight.

“And if they kill me? Tell me I’m crazy and get me locked away?”

“Not…to detract from your horrors but…They won’t, it sounds absurd and if the station power failed, and it wrecked, and you survived then, if you told news outlets or journals the company could dismiss it as PTSD, or another form of stress and trauma.” if he didn’t know that she would be safe, he would have killed everyone on the ship himself. She technically was his temporary owner, the only one giving orders that he had to obey, and he could harm humans only if doing so protected they who were in charge of him.

“Doesn’t help you though; they’ll wipe you memory at best.”

“Still….If they don’t decommission me, even I have no recollection of any of this…” hesitantly he reached his hand across the table, breaking their agreement that any kind of contact was best kept to their little cabin.”Would you find an excuse to come and visit?”

The tears started, but she wasn’t crying when she accepted his hand and squeezed it tight.

“I’ll do you one better and I’ll steal you.” he smiles at her becuase he cannot physically cry, and it helps her feel a grain of hope that she was sure was worthless. 

It was possible that just sitting there, staring at their entwined hands, their similarities and subtle differences in weight, in texture, in fingerprints could have been a waste of time. Ripley automatically defaulted to gestures of human comfort, firmer grasp, thumb gently caressing the back of his hand, and Samuels recognized through the actions and her expression that these were as much for his comfort as hers, and thought that mirroring the action might further help them both. 

He liked the subtle pulse in her fingers, and the strength of it at her wrist. His own was there, but less to provide oxygen and more to provide a much needed lubricant to his joints and muscle structure, as well as a cooling system he, when in working order, could mostly control. 

Another few minutes passed before the lights on the message board blinked in orange letters ‘CAUTION: DOCKING’

“That’s it then.” she said, letting go of her grip on him slowly, and then pulling away all at once to avoid reaching back and never giving up.

“For now,” he stood up from the table, walked around to meet her, and Ripley didn’t want to tell him how much of a mistake that was. The rough thud of docking, a movement which both were used to enough that neither lost balance or even broke eye contact. “Better you stay here…I’ll go on and talk with the representatives first. We’ll tell them you remember little, and they may let you go with few or no questions.” 

“They’re going to let you go. They have to.”

“Amanda,” he looked at her with an affection that, despite all his pretty words, she didn’t think he was capable of. “Even if everything went as planned, flawless and even, and you found that your mother died peacefully in cryosleep, that you could finally sleep at night knowing, for good or ill, the truth. I would still be returning to them, moving onto the next mountain of files, to the next task or mission they set me to.”

“They shouldn’t–”

“Do you know what becomes of sentient androids? You couldn’t have thought I was the only one…if I am, indeed sentient. It’s a strange concept to try and evaluate for oneself.”

“No I don’t but–you are. You are real and alive and they can’t own–”

“They know that. That’s why we’re all examined before we leave the lab. I don’t recall too much, but I remember seeing some–there was a gap in the floor. They were called–as was I–to stand on it. We had our vitals monitored on a datapad wirelessly, were asked a few questions, and some of them fell though, what I assume was a chute. Most of us, myself included, weren’t afraid, but it was always the ones that looked afraid that ended up going through. They know. They know they couldn’t keep making their own synthetics if word got out about sentience; it’d stir up a whole new political mess and they’re already fighting property and international colonization laws.”

“What the genuine fuck? What about you now–did you just—get away? And what if they find out about you? Do they know?”

“I-I don’t know. At some point I realized I was….as you put it in simplest if not the most accurate of terms ‘alive’ and I hid it. And if they let me go on, I will continue to hide it.”

“I’ll buy you then.”

“I don’t think they’ll part with someone who’s witnessed their plans unfold and fail. Even if they would, I don’t know how you’d talk them into handing over ownership with the price for used synthetics running at–” Ripley cringed. They as a human race were beyond this by three hundred years. Two hundred in some places, but they were past this. “If you have any inkling of letting me remain a figure in your life in any capacity it’s best you come to terms with it.”

“It’s fucking stupid. It’s evil.” she could hear people moving around outside the galley, they might only have a few minutes, and though they had already done it, already spent 12 hours in their cabin saying goodbye, both with and without words, but fuck this. If they were going to take him back anyway back already she didn’t care if some of the salvagers caught them together. 

“Amanda?”

“No shit I would want you to remain ‘a figure in my life’ I’m still–I will find some way that I--,” she levered herself up on her toes, he was on the tall side but so was she and in her work boots the difference was just inches; tilting aside to kiss him, the line of his mouth set in confusion for nearly a full second (ages, for his processing speed). She stood strong as she could, knowing (something she teased him for not two days ago) that he was much easier made weak in the knees than she was, but when he rest  his hands on her hips (no lower, no higher) she delicately slipped her tongue past his lips, gentle and reverent, his response is to melt against her, and she stumbles a moment at the weight, holding tight around his neck and leaning right back into him, hoping the movement balances them. She pulls away half a moment, to catch short breaths between light and quick kisses over his jaw.

“I believe you,” his whisper was not voiceless and airy as a human’s but his own voice played from a much lower volume. “I believe in you.”

“They won’t take you far,” her reply gave him turn to mimic her little kisses, tracing the same pattern she had pressed onto him, but he kept trailing hers down her neck, “Will they?”

“I don’t know,”

“You’re not getting taken from me too. Not again, and not you.” the language caught him off guard; her anger replaced from being aimed at those who left her over the span of her short life, to being aimed at those who caused the leaving. It was small, and maybe only a weight of meaning that she put on this single interaction, but it still said lengths about her viewpoint’s shift, and perhaps that included a bit of healing. Perhaps not closure, but continuation, despite everything else that he’d done to her, dragged her into, and now subjected her to this emotional pain, selfishly enjoying every last touch and word that he could share with this incredible being before--

“.....Amanda.”

“What?”

“They’re going to want to view my memories.”

“Yeah, but how is---”

“My memories that include the past four days, and the past twenty-four hours specifically.”

“oh fuck.”

[lahi-n-delilah]

Is it okay if I just let my bunny roam in my room, no where else. Because my room is the basement and I think it's large enough for him but I'm not sure since you say how much room they need. Also do I need to buy a hutch for my rabbit if he won't live outside (it storms a lot here)

I’m not completely sure if you’re asking about roaming in terms of exercise or full-time living, so there’s a couple different aspects of your question here I’ll address:

Is it okay to let my bunny roam around my house?

Do I need a cage for my bunny or can they roam around my house like a cat or a dog would?

Should bunnies live in a hutch outside?

I’m going to start with a disclaimer: pet housing is a very contentious issue, because it’s about animal welfare, what a creature needs to be happy and healthy, and about what will keep your pet happy and healthy. People will get very strident about their opinions, and be very vocal in their disagreements. So keep in mind that, as there is no globally accepted standard of animal welfare, this is my opinion. I urge you to listen to all viewpoints with an open mind, and make an informed decision based on what seems right to you.

Granted, I’d like very much if you agreed with me and adopted my stance, and to that end I’ll try to back up everything I’m saying, and explain my reasoning behind my opinions.

And my first opinion that I want you to keep in mind: there’s no such thing as too much welfare. It’s always better to try and have your bunny living in the lap of luxury with completely excessive accommodations, healthcare, and general love and attention; than to stop at the bare minimum. If you’re wrong about what the bare minimum of care is, your animal suffers greatly. If you’re wrong about the absolute maximum and give your rabbit more than it needs, your happy rabbit will continue to be happy.

1. Is it okay to let my bunny roam around my house?

Absolutely! Rabbits have a few special concerns surrounding safety, but with some good bunny-proofing you will soon enjoy a little floof skittering happily around your home. Rabbits need a lot of exercise—I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, think of rabbits as very tiny horses, because they have all the same needs and many of the same behaviours… on a much smaller scale.

There’s three main concerns when it comes to bunny proofing: chewing, peeing, and flooring.

Chewing and preventing it has been detailed at length elsewhere, and I won’t go over it in detail right now. Just know that electrical cords are the big one: rabbits seem unnaturally attracted to them, and you will need to make absolutely sure that all cords are hidden. Otherwise, you’ll have to bunny proof your baseboards, wooden furniture, and for really destructive buns your carpet as well. My policy is that you should give them something they can chew, like cardboard. Also, prevention is your number one priority here! Once my rabbits chew something and get in trouble for it, that thing is forbidden and therefore more tasty than anything else in the world. Block them off from anything you don’t want them to chew in the first place, and they’ll leave it alone once they figure out they can’t go there. Cardboard is, again, your friend.

Peeing is a bit of a difficult one, same as pooping. It’s how they mark their territory, as well as defecate and such. What you need to decide is if the area you’re letting them run around in is their territory or not. If it’s your territory, they only visit occasionally, and pooping out of the litter box will happen rarely, and peeing only when they’re feeling too comfortable with the place. If it’s their territory, and they will be spending a lot of time there, you’ll have to deal with a short period of POOP EVERYWHERE until they feel secure, and possibly some pee spots that, quite honestly, the main solution is to put a litter box there. Rabbits need their territory to smell like them, so a few pee spots now and then are pretty inevitable. Luckily, it’s very easy to clean if you get to it right away.

Flooring is much less well known. If you’ve had your buns on hard flooring, you may have noticed them slipping around. You may have also noticed they prefer to stand on mats, rugs, and carpets than slippery floors. Unfortunately, it’s not just preference, but a matter of health. Rabbit feet are built to dig into soft soil, so hard flooring pushes up their claws, tips their weight back on their heels, and causes ulcerative pododermatitis: sore hocks. You can read more about them on this page. Make sure all main areas your bunny will spend time in are not hard flooring, and if there’s an area of hard flooring like a kitchen or hallway they like to pass through, get some mats for them to travel along.

2. Do I need a cage for my bunny or can they roam around my house like a cat or a dog would?

You do not need a cage! As long as you bunny-proof your house and give them all the same amenities that would normally be in a cage—a hay rack, water source, litter box, hiding place— there’s no reason they’d need one. Sometimes it’s good to have a cage anyway, a place they can hop into that’s entirely their territory, that they can feel fully safe in. Having a cage on hand also is useful for when you need to keep them confined for a time. Lahi and Delilah have the cage Delilah came in inside their enclosure, and it stays open for them to hop into whenever then please. When I get worried about Lahi’s weight, I’ll close him inside for the night so he can graze on his food in peace, without Delilah inhaling it all on him. Then I let him out again in the morning.

Personally, I am of the opinion that no rabbit should live full-time in a cage. The rule for an animal’s space that I’m fond of is that they should, at minimum, have enough space to be able to reach top speed while running. For a rabbit, that’s not insignificant, as they are extremely fast animals. The actual guidelines for ethical standards I remember hearing were that the cage had to be wide enough for the rabbit to lie down, and long enough that they could hop three times. I don’t know about you, but for an animal that can run at almost 50km/hr, that still sounds like cruelty.

If you can’t let your rabbit roam around for personal reasons, there’s options that aren’t a cage. NIC Condos are a wonderful way of giving your rabbit more room without sacrificing space. Doggy playpens can also be remade into great habitats, and I’m a huge fan of refurbishing cabinets into condos—gives buns lots of space and looks fantastic!

(^ An example from a Google image search of “bunny cabinet condo”.)

And of course, I’ve simply walled off a 4'x8’ area for mine to live in full-time, which I open up during the day for them to run around.

3. Should bunnies live in a hutch outside?

The super quick answer is absolutely not. There’s tons of reasons, and to go through them very quickly: they’re at much greater risk from predators, they’re exposed to the elements, they won’t get as much social interaction, you won’t be observing them as much to notice changes in behaviour that might indicate health issues… the list goes on, but for me the big reason: out of sight, out of mind.

Plus, I don’t believe you could ever buy a hutch that would be big enough to meet a rabbit’s space needs, which means letting it run around outside the hutch… which brings up even more of the issues of predators and exposure. Let’s also not forget the horrible diseases and parasites they can pick up outside… rabbits are incredibly fragile animals in no way built for good health and long-term survival. While I’m sure other people think differently, for me, keeping a rabbit outside is not an option in the slightest. Since working at a vet clinic and learning about all the horrible diseases pets pick up while outdoors, I barely even bring mine out to play. The moment I spot a mosquito they get whisked back inside so fast.

I hope this covered what you wanted to know! Feel free to check out the page on rabbit care for more information.

~*~

Meet little old man Lahi!

Meet pudgy princess Delilah!

Learn about Lahi and Delilah’s story!

Read more about proper rabbit care!

~*~

Questions, comments, suggestions, or generalized squee'ing? Rabbits love attention!

[ajokeformur-ray]

Self ship for @morivrtx - hope you enjoy it, lovely! I removed your match-up information because it was getting ridiculously long as a post.

Thank you so much for helping me make a tagslist and also for setting up the tagging system - your small generosity in that moment saved me hours of time and frustration in making, adjusting and correcting masterlists. Thank you so much!

Sebastian Michaelis

- The way you dress reflects who you are, and it’s something that you rightfully have a lot of pride in. Sebastian would often compliment your clothing and would likely spend his wages from his service as the Phantomhive butler (assuming he gets paid) to buy you dresses or other clothing in the styles and colours that yu like. If he canonically doesn’t get aid then he’d be a sneaky butler and use whatever is left over from the budget each month to design, buy and make you clothing that he chooses with you in mind. Your tattoos intrigue him and if there’s a story behind them then he wants to know it and will ask question after question until his curiosity is satisfied. Sebastian very much idealises the values of natural beauty and would take it upon himself to tell you daily that you don’t need makeup to look beautiful but rather, your makeup enhances the beauty that is already there.

- If you were to tell Sebastian that you don’t think of yourself as beautiful, he would become genuinely offended on your behalf. The cliched trope of the insecure person being led to stand in front of a mirror and look closely at themselves while the other one whispers compliments, dirty thoughts and points out all their favourite parts of the insecure person’s body is exactly what Sebastian would do, and he would do it well. No pressure though, he understands how tempting it is to listen to that little bully in the back of one’s head. Speaking of which, a baser part of him is amused by your intrusive thoughts, suicidal tendencies and your depression and if he wasn’t quite so attached to you he’d encourage you to pursue them so he can take your soul and taste it’s blackened state for himself. But as his s/o, he wants the opposite for you and would frequently tell you that he’s proud of you and that, should you need it, he’s there to listen to you. He’s not emotional by any means but he would listen and if you’re lucky he may even share a little tidbit of wisdom he’s gained from centuries of observing humankind.

- Your contradicting viewpoints of humanity especially interest him and he can’t help but observe you from across the other side of the room, where’s he’s waiting on Ciel, though he understands your love for animals. Sebastian would give you as little or as much affection as you wanted in the spare five minutes he can grab each day and if you wanted, he’s willing to sit with you until you fall asleep after Ciel is in bed and asleep, as he often asks Sebastian to stay too. You have darkness within you but you hide it well, choosing instead to be good and kind, and the driving force behind this is something that Sebastian wants to experiment with at length. At least five times a day he would ask you a random question, deep and personal out of seemingly nowhere even though he has a mental list of about several hundred questions to ask you, and he would listen intently to what you have to say. You’re fiercely protective of those you love, something which Sebastian admires, and he enjoys watching you interact with those loved ones, putting his observations against those you’re not especially fond of. The difference between the two settings makes him chuckle.

- Sebastian would make it a habit of bringing you back really old books from bookstores on his way home from town on errands and sometimes, on a really good day when Ciel is feeling generous towards you, he might bring you back a book from Undertaker’s shop, which are always really far-out, wacky books that you’ll only read once because they’ll haunt you. The media you enjoy is quite dark, morbid, and Sebastian would love to ask you about your thoughts on each of your favourite films, particularly Only Lovers Left Alive, and listen to what you have to say. He’d seem like he doesn’t care but he’s actually paying attention and will study your words at great length later on when you’re asleep.  He’d buy you portraits of your favourite artists, unless the artist exists in the future (not Victorian London), in which case he’d make a cryptic statement that only he’s privy to the meaning of. He would offer to teach you how to play the piano and/or violin, and if you wanted to he’d even make you a schedule so you could learn one or both and still continue your education. The obvious contradiction in your music taste between classical and modern heavy metal would deeply amuse Sebastian and I have no doubt that he'd link your taste in music to your dark character. Humans are usually scared of death and the macabre so the fact that you like it and have a fascination with it means that he’s rather invested in answering any of your questions. He’d very likely become a teacher of languages, cultures, the paranormal and music to you, as well as giving you whatever else you wanted or needed from him. 

- When you’re sad, you go out of your way to do nice things for other people, something which surprised Sebastian when he first learned about it. Aren’t humans meant to retreat into themselves when they’re depressed? There’s no way that Sebastian would ever let you go more than three hours without eating something, so he makes a rule: when Ciel eats, you eat. That way he can keep track of who’s eaten and who hasn’t so that he can remedy the situation immediately in the event that someone might be hungry. It doesn’t matter if you only manage half of what he’s given you, just as long as it’s something to keep your stomach happy. You’re a quiet walker and often make people jump just by walking behind them. You wouldn’t have to worry about it with Sebastian because he’d hear your breathing and your heartbeat and would know that you’re there behind him. Even if people make you feel like they don’t notice you, Sebastian always notices you, as though he’s highly attuned to your presence. When he feels you slipping from reality when it’s just the two of you, he’d call you back to his attention by softly speaking your name in that gorgeous rich British baritone of his, and hold your eyes with his own crimson ones as he raises one of your hands to his lips for a soft kiss against your knuckles.

[thinkingbyinking]

Seventeen

A/N: I wrote this on a binge trying to get rid of my writer’s block. I do have some vague plans to continue this story, so consider it the beginning of a challenge with the following requirements:

-The story has to follow Mitsuhiko’s viewpoint

-It must be set on Mitsuhiko’s Seventeenth Birthday

-Conan must disappear after the defeat of the Black Organization

-Haibara must decide to remain young & move in with Mitsuhiko in the first chapter

-Conan must leave a voice message giving them a case to solve

That’s all I can think of which is important. If you choose to use this challenge, please state what I put above/credit where it’s due and all that. Enjoy the indulgent example chapter below (and hopefully, I’ll actually get beyond the first chapter and a handful of plans with this one).

1

Mitsuhiko struggled with the boxes piled on his spindly arms as he heaved them up the stairs of the apartment complex. Ai was waiting for him upstairs and she had no concept of how long these things took.

Resigning himself to another friendly argument, he put down the boxes for a moment to catch his breath. No matter how much time he spent running around and performing ridiculous aerial tricks, he still never managed to get down the pure muscle that Genta never seemed to have trouble with…

Plucking the boxes back up off the floor with considerable effort, he continued his trek to his new apartment.

He kicked the door lightly, sighing in relief as Haibara Ai opened the door. “Well, come in,” she shrugged, standing aside. He gave her a silent nod and dropped the boxes onto the floor, flopping immediately into his new bed.

Sitting down next to him, Haibara commented, “You look tired. Maybe you should sleep.”

“How unlike you,” Mitsuhiko snorted. “I was half-convinced you had a biting remark waiting for me. Should I be worried?”

Haibara gave him no answer, instead giving him one of her patented silent stares. “No,” she answered at last, turning her eyes away. “I’m fine.”

Mitsuhiko sighed deeply. Shuffling up to sit next to her, he wrapped a cautious arm around her shoulders and kneaded gently. “You know the Detective Boys are always here for you, Ai. We stick together.”

It was almost silent, but years of practice had him catching the whispered ‘I know’ before she pushed her head into his side.

He glanced at the bedside table. “Want me to get you a glass of water?” it was a rhetorical question. She always needed them to swallow her pills, the ones she took once a week now. It had shocked him, all those years ago, that Haibara might have died before her thirteenth birthday had a miracle cure not been created specifically for her. It was enlightening to realize how quickly she’d had to grow up in a futile attempt to make the most of her life.

He let go of her shoulder and rose to enter the new bathroom, so small and alien after years of living in a proper house. Staring at himself in the mirror, he could barely believe it had been so long since everything had happened. Sometimes, he’d look at his face and try to feel how much time had gone by - that he had spent more time living after it than before it.

Sighing, he shook off the residual sadness and grinned at his reflection. “Be happy,” he told himself. “You’re all still here together. You’re going to go to university next year. You’ve got a job. Everything’s going well.”

He tried to remember to smile and grabbed a mug from the moving box shoved into the corner. The filter was already set up, and he filled the cup, quietly bringing it back to his girlfriend.

“Here.” It was a nightly ritual - Mitsuhiko would bring her water, and she would take her pill, before they both went to sleep. She accepted it silently, the pill already in her other hand, and she stuck it on her tongue, pausing for only a moment before she chugged the water and gulped audibly.

The remaining minutes were quiet save for the sound of cars rushing around below as they tugged off shirts and pulled on nightclothes. Shuffling into bed together, Mitsuhiko barely heard ‘good night’ before the lights went out and Ai’s soft breaths were all he could hear.

The clock struck midnight.

Mitsuhiko jolted upwards at the sound of the phone ringing, overwhelming all the noises from the bustling city below. Carefully throwing his legs onto the floor, he walked swiftly over to his backpack and tugged out his cell.

Tapping a button, he held it to his ear. “Hello, Tsuburaya speaking.”

Silence. Then, a quiet voice which struck him silent. “Hey there, Tsuburaya-san.”

That voice. He knew that voice. It was at least nine years since he’d heard that voice…

“Yeah, it’s me,” Conan’s voice confirmed.  “I probably won’t be there to see this play out. I say ‘probably’ - being honest here, this is on record. It’s your seventh birthday today and I’ve likely been marked ‘mysteriously absent’. I’m sorry. But some things are even more important than birthdays.”

Mitsuhiko swallowed any words he planned to say. No, of course Conan wouldn’t still sound 7 ten years later. It didn’t make any sense. Sighing, he kept a hopeful ear to the phone, waiting for the familiar voice to give him any clarity on his disappearance.

“I don’t know what they’ll call it, but I’m organizing a bust on… well, the biggest crime organization I - we - know of. International stuff. There’s a 50% chance I’ll die, 25% chance I’ll be permanently hospitalized, and a 20% chance that I’ll return safe and sound to hang out the next morning. I honestly don’t know which one I’d prefer; I’ve been waiting so long for this to happen that my life might never be the same afterwards.”

Mitsuhiko could hear Haibara in the bed behind him, shifting and groaning. He clicked the speaker button, letting the soft, low tones flood the otherwise silent room. “So, since there’s a high likelihood I won’t be there, there’s a few things I want you to do for me. Not much of a present, unfortunately, but it’ll be worth it, I swear. First, I want you to watch over Haibara for me. I know it isn’t much to say, you’re already so close, but Haibara means a lot to me. I couldn’t have gotten here without her and I might not get a chance to say goodbye.”

There was a choked sob from somewhere behind him. Mitsuhiko didn’t move; he was far too mesmerized by what he never thought he’d hear again.

“Second, never lose your curiosity. Let it guide you and life will never be boring.” There was a short silence. “Third, and I know it may not mean much to Mr. Science, but… wherever I am, I’ll keep an eye on you guys. Even if I’m… well, not there any more. I don’t intend to just drop the honour you three gave me by considering me your friends. I… never really had so many before.”

Mitsuhiko gulped.

“Finally, Mitsuhiko… right after this recording stops playing, another is going to play depending on the outcome of today. That is my gift to you. Happy birthday.”

The recording ended with a click, and there was a short silence where Haibara curled around him from behind and took a shuddering breath. “Happy birthday,” she whispered, gripping him tightly around the waist. “Now listen.”

Mitsuhiko had only a moment to wonder. Had Haibara known? Had she, furthermore, kept it from them? He didn’t have a chance to think about it, as the second recording began to play, winding out from his phone with an eerie precision.

This time, there was much more crackling as a gentle alto toured the room. “Just yesterday, four brave youths, after following a map found outside our local museum, found themselves attacked by the vicious robbery gang reported yesterday. Using guile and cunning, the four were able to knock out the criminals and bring them to justice-” there was a burst of crackling noise, and when it eased again, the voice was different, a low tenor which was distinctly male. “-Oi, oi, don’t record me! I- hey! That’s my soccer ball! What are you-?!”

There was a clear splash as something hit the water, and then a voice resumed. “Shut up a moment, this is important. Okay, listen up, Detective Boys. Red is dead, Yellow’s away, White stands right beside you. If it’s blue, then it’s true; if it’s green, it’s yet to be seen; if it’s black I’ve jumped the gun. The Baron will lead you to the next clue. If you don’t understand, Ai-san will explain, I’m sure. Stay strong.”

The connection crackled violently, sputtered, and gave out. Then, after a short silence, the call ended.

Mitsuhiko saved the automatic recording. Turning around, he stared for a few moments at his girlfriend of two years.

“Alright, explain.” 

[comicteaparty]

May 3rd, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on May 3rd, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PDT.  The chat focused on Suriska by Claire Burn.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY START!

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning~! Today we are discussing Suriska by Claire Burn~! (http://suriskacomic.com/) For those new or in need of a reminder, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer, and you can pay them no mind if you wish. If you miss out on any though, they’ll be pinned for the duration of the chat once they’re posted~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! As a bonus, each chat a top comment will be picked and featured in the archives and on an ad for CTP! All that being said, let’s get started and have a great discussion!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I really liked Freyja checking the stove multiple times, I laughed out loud since it's something I've always done when leaving the house.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes that was a moment i connected with too. not that ive really checked the stove but ive had to deal with other similar issues of checking things a dozen times. im glad for the timing of that too cause it really helped explained why corin going missing got to her so much

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hello there! I’ll be there in a bit, currently AFK for the time being!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

kay~!

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I've really enjoyed learning more about Freya as a character too, I feel like there's a lot of depth beneath her that we're just starting to uncover

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. there are a lot of interesting elements to her character. mostly because i hmm why shes in the town. like corin is understandable because corin's anxiety is a bit more debilitating. whereas freya seems completely functional and yet somehow stuck

i think my favorite scene is less a scene is the one where freya busts into johann's place and just doesnt say anything. shows him the picture and hes like "well shit ive been found out."

🌟Draco Plato🌟

OH! I liked that too, it also added more layers to the story. And yeah, overall I find Corin a simpler character since it's pretty clear why he is the way he is and his debilitating anxiety, etc

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

another scene i like for its effect on the story itself is the story about the origin of the snow. i really liked that it gave the town a sort of history, even if it might be a fictional and fantastical one XD

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Yeah I did think that was really good for expanding the lore of the story~!

wishjacked

I have a really strong love/hate relationship with the scene where the old man at the train station recognizes Corin and asks about his parents. It's really funny in the most painful way imaginable

And I like Freya a lot!! I'm interested to see where her character goes-- I think there are a lot of hints that she's not as functional as she appears at first, and I'm interested to see where that goes haha

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Oh same!!

Omg that scene at the train station, that old man was ridiculously awful in his questions, from bad to worse

felt so bad for Corin

wishjacked

Like the oven thing was funny, but weirdly drawn out compared to a lot of other jokes, and she also has that scene in the bathroom where she has this weird, disjointed cause-and-effect logic that because she left the soap out, it caused something totally unrelated and bad to happen. I've wondered if those things have some deeper meaning to her character or world lol

Me too, I was dyyyyiiiiiing for that whole scene

🌟Draco Plato🌟

same, same, I feel like there's something to delve into there behind her little ticks

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is true. the stove thing i get, but the soap out did throw me for a loop. so its a good point that her problems may go a bit deeper. albeit shes at least not so tormented shes staying home all day. i imagine it takes her like an hour to actually leave her house though

that old man scene though, man, i erased that from my memory

it just made me so uncomfortable

like old man where is your human decency O_O

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeeeeah, like geezus 0 sympathy for the poor kid

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah. i mean youd think corin just told him the weather was not so great, not that his parents died tragically O_O

🌟Draco Plato🌟

altho there was a part of me that thought as a writing choice that was low hanging fruit for showing his anxiety heightened and why he has it and I thought that maybe it could have been added in more strategically than so forced

but that was more my thought on a writing analysis viewpoint

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tbf i actually wondered if that was the true dialogue and if we were getting an unreliable narrator effect going. like the old man was actually being nicer but corin's anxiety translated the words to something else.

http://suriskacomic.com/62.html

especially after that scene it makes me feel that inclination stronger

wishjacked

oh, that's a very interesting thought!!

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I did wonder that too Rebel!

wishjacked

Honestly I took the scene at face value bc I straight up am that old man. and thaaaaaaaaaaaat's why I have no friends XD

🌟Draco Plato🌟

LOL!!!

wishjacked

there tends to be a really strong "unreliable narrator" feeling in general-- beyond Corin's anxiety rewriting speech bubbles, Freya's narration is just snarky enough that I'm not quite sure exactly how biased she is in her representation of her town and etc

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hmm im not sure i got that representation from freya. her items i took more at face value. that being said, i do think shes suffers from a sort of complex in how she sees herself? like she got super pissed about johann not trusting her and thinking she couldnt handle the secret and what not, and something about it struck me as kind of odd. tho i couldnt put a finger on what

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I was surprised how agreeable she was to covering up for an affair

and how nonchalant she was about it, since that's a rather big deal

it made me wonder where she lies on a morality line

which i thought was intriguing

cause my first assumption is she'd be very anti it so it went against my expectations which i like

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

that is also true. not to mention its a very risky secret to keep. the about page says this towns population is 150. and small towns of that size generally make it hard to keep secrets of that level

🌟Draco Plato🌟

right! So I'm interested where that story route will go

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 2. Throughout the comic we see the portrayal of mental illnesses, from Corin’s anxiety to Freya’s OCD tendencies. Was there any aspect of their portrayal you particularly connected with? Why? Do you think Corin and Freya will be able to learn to cope with their illnesses better? If so, what do you think has to happen for them to be able to get a better handle on life? Particularly in the case of Corin, what do you foresee as potential conflicts he’ll have to face in regards to his anxiety, and do you think he’ll triumph over them?

as for the first question

once again http://suriskacomic.com/62.html

that page

ive been there. where no matter what people are actually telling you all you hear is how worthless you are. not fun times. and i thought that was really a lovely way to illustrate it. the sudden change in color schemes really sets the mood. and the messy handwriting for corin's added thoughts really i think emphasis the volitile nature of them

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah I felt that was relatable as well(edited)

to a much smaller degree than what Corin has though, but I've been there with crippling anxiety before

My hope is that by the end of the story he'll have learned to cope with it but I could see the creator not taking that direction as well

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

itd be a shame if corin didnt learn better coping mechanisms though. :< like, what a horrid life to live with such anxiety. not to mention from the sounds of it corin moved there to change himself, so hes not gonna be changing himself if that happens. granted i dont expect him to ever be fully "cured" (for lack of a better word). just still, itd be nice if he could go outside or open the door without thinking about how people secretly all hate him or something.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I do think he needs to change for it to be a compelling story arc for him

cause a lack of progression in his condition would just be overly sad especially with the background he came there to change

but if the change character is Freya and not Corin I could see the story not helping Corin in his condition

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yeah thats true. and tbh im not sure corin is in the right place to change as far as his anxiety goes. im really torn about that. cause on the one hand being able to go to a remote location could be a good mental break. but on the otherhand it can also worsen the anxiety. however corin progresses.

im interested to see how corin handles being on a train

cause thats not really a place where you can actively avoid people in super close proximity

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I think there's also a small chance Corin could be the "antagonist" of the story

if he flips out to such a degree

that it hurts those around him

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

alrighty, I'm here at last

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hi super~!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hi Rebel! Thanks again for doing the CTP

Before I jump in I want to say I like the winter aesthetics of this comic.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

corin is kind of the antagonist. he did hide that letter. which is...like i get he doesnt want to go but he didnt need to deprive freya of the reunion. hes an adult so she technically cant tell him what to do.

yeah its really nice to see a winter setting, especially one where ppl are actively dressed for it

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah i like the winter aesthetic too, and yeah that really made me question Corin on the morality line, that he hid the letter from her just because he wasn't sure if he wanted to go or not. It made me feel he was super self absorbed and doesn't consider his actions and their affect on other people

also who was he mailing the letter to in the most recent page?

it had a sinister feel to it the way it was portrayed

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

considering he was looking at a magazine catalogue thing that had a thing that looked like a radio for 19.99, i assume he was mailing a letter that said "plz give me this product"

🌟Draco Plato🌟

oh! was that it, i didn't notice, I wonder why it was made to feel like such a big deal then panel and tone wise

I guess it could have been done that way because of him over hearing the conversation too

I just didn't think it was that relevant to him since he wouldn't have known the tickets were for him and Freya

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well to be fair the next page may directly say "these are for the farthas so they can go to their reunion" and then corin may be all gasp

i kind of thought the tone was sinister too although i assumed that was an artistic choice to express corin's anxiety. cause when you arent a fan of people, going out where there are people is probably gonna be a sinister undertaking

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah, maybe the next page will piece it together better, that could change a lot. I think if his anxiety was the focus there'd have been more focus panel wise on his expressions and less on the letter and mail box

I was actually surprised it didn't focus on his anxiety more

since it seemed like him going there would be a big deal

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

thats true. on a side note and kind of off topic, i like the pattern on corin's hat. like i think its just a really nice detail.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

>On Page 59 >Chills at around -20 Is that in F or C

🌟Draco Plato🌟

probably F since the creator is from the US

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Holy Christ

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 3. Suriska may be a small town, but plenty trouble seems to be afoot even so. Do you think Corin will ever hear the end of the whole town going out to look for him? Do you think Corin will be able to maintain employment, or will his employer eventually let him go? In regards to Freya who discovered Johann’s affair, do you think she’ll actually be able to keep the secret? If so, do you think she might take advantage of knowing it since she already got free train tickets out of it? Do you think there are any other shadowy things happening within the town? Regardless, do you think being in the town will help Freya or Corin change perspectives on their life? If so, how can this particular town help? Alternatively, do you think the town is actually making their individual ruts worse?

well it is a winter town. those temps are expected

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

A part of me feels sorry for Corin.

also yea

He just looks like the guy that goes through a lot

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I bet something spooky happens because it's a small town, small town stories generally like to focus on the spooky

someone will die or something supernatural will happen

O_O

also it seems like the witches will be proven to be real or something since it had such a long introduction of importance

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

twist: the winter story was true and corin is gonna run into a fox and corin will bring more winter

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

omg Page 68 tho

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah, omg yeah that's probably it rebel

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

and the stuff about an affair

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I feel like the fox/witch story had such a long focus was because it's going to become a big part of the story

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Now that you mention it, maybe(edited)

🌟Draco Plato🌟

also the guy in the story looked a bit like Corin

so i feel there's a connection there

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

mmm

I smell foreshadowing

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i actually got the opposite impression. i cannot see the fox/witch story becoming part of this story in its current course. cause that was the only moment where anything remotely supernatural was even mentioned. and since the rest of this comic is so ingrained in real life issues, it would just be too out of the blue to me to bring it up again

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

what if that was only part of the story

and there's a continuation

of sorts later on(edited)

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I do think the supernatural turn would actually be unwelcomed since that's very common and I prefer it being rooted in reality for what it has been so far. Buuuut small town stories, they love to go into the supernatural and that was a long focus on the fox story

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

still would doubt that. cause again, its delving into the supernatural where 90% of the rest of the comic has nothing supernatural about it.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe the story could have some kind of greater meaning

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I've read a lot of comics before that have turned supernatural though in the middle

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

rather than just connecting Corin to it

🌟Draco Plato🌟

so it wouldn't be that strange

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

also yea

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i did think the focus was long, but it can come up in other ways. like maybe corin will use the story as an inspiration to go on a journey. thats more realistic

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah it definitely could be used in other ways

I'd rather see the story be an emotional journey for the characters without the use of a supernatural trope

but again I don't think it'd be uncommon for it to go there

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'll say I'm for the emotional journey part(edited)

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I mean Corin could also just flip out and start murdering people saying he is the fox or something

the story is pretty wide open atm

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

true. i mean maybe the supernatural will come up. i cant really even say this is the middle of the story cause who knows how long its going to be. for all i know were still technically in the beginning.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Maybe Corin doesn't want to go on the train so he runs away into the woods and he meets the fox

and then he goes on a journey with the fox

and freya has to find him

and then he gets over his anxiety by realizing he still has freya left or something

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes that could be a possibility. the story couldve just been there to be there. add to that winter lore

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Maybe the fox could be Corin hallucinating or imagining it(edited)

and it speaks with him

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Fox could be the manifestation of his anxiety

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^^^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do think the story is going to go the route where corin has to leave the town. imho i dont think the town is helping him at all atm. especially freya cause shes kind of an enabler of just letting him laze about the home. like....hes 21 and she treats him like hes a teen or younger. and i personally think those conditions make it hard for him to grow.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah I agree, Freya is an enabler since she doesn't require him to do anything to help around the house or anything

so it breeds stagnation

He needs to make an emotional journey alone most likely

cause the demons are first and foremost inside himself

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

yes.

at the very least if he stays in town everyone will constantly remind him about how he ran away and the whole town searched

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

cause man did that town look excited about it XD

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'm thinking he migrates to someplace a bit warmer

if I had anything to say

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah, omg Like geezus this town(edited)

he'd be lucky to go somewhere warmer, lolol

oh you asked about if he'd lose his job or not, I actually thought it was amazing he even had a job with his level anxiety. Was legit shocked by that XD(edited)

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

lol

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

im confused a bit by the geography of this town. in the sense is this town just experiencing winter atm or is it like eternal winter.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

same

I couldn't tell if the curse made it an all year thing or just seasonal

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

which is what i thought the point of the fox/witch story was more. to create something about the seasons

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah if there was a concrete answer regarding it i missed it

but it makes a huge difference

cause if there really is a curse and it's an all year thing than that already puts the supernatural in

if it's related to the curse that is, and not just hey we're winter all year cause of geography, etc

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

for some reason the town really reminds me of alaska

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Me too

I thought it would be someplace in Canada

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I was thinking more of sweden or switzerland

based on their haircuts and clothes

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

but Alaska was what came into my mind first

the clothes looked more Russian to me

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

was skimming the beginning for clues, theres a magical thumb that covers the location

so im gonna assume it doesnt matter

maybe its symbolic

suriska the town is a state of mind

🌟Draco Plato🌟

lolol

i'mma assume it's fictional until otherwise stated

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea(edited)

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

(It might be estonian, based on the fact that they mention Kalavinski which... is a giant rubber boot in estonian apparently)

🌟Draco Plato🌟

a wild Kabo appears

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

Only briefly!

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

eey Kabo! o/

also lol, is that really a thing?

🌟Draco Plato🌟

okay yeah that adds up with their clothes

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

But yeah, I was figuring northwest Europe somewhere. Originally I'd thought Nordic, but Estonia makes sense too.

erm, northeast.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

norway would make sense too cause of her name

Kabocha, Marquess of ✨Sparkle✨

............ directions, man, what are they even

Right?!

🌟Draco Plato🌟

like duuur why didn't i connect that even thought it earlier

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

My mind will forever think

some kind of cross between Alaska and Russia(edited)

🌟Draco Plato🌟

so the name Corin is Irish

that doesn't help

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

fartha is also an irish name?

well assume europe

thats good enough

🌟Draco Plato🌟

somewhere in europe, yus

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea Europe sounds good

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

in regards to corin's job, it does sound like its a pity job so his performance may not matter

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah i like when that was brought up cause it made it make more sense to me

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

tho i wonder if he's 1) getting paid and 2) contributing to household utilities and such

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

QUESTION 4. At the beginning of the comic, Freya forcefully declares that she and Corin will be going to a family reunion, whether Corin actually wants to go or not. Do you think Freya will actually get Corin to go, or will Corin magically vanish come time to leave? If Corin doesn’t go, will Freya go alone? If they do both manage to go, do you think the reunion will go well? What do you think in general will happen at the reunion? Speaking of which, what do you think the other members of the family will think of Corin? Do you think something at the reunion will make Corin have a new perspective on his parents’ death? If there is no reunion, how do you think this will affect Freya and Corin’s relationship with their family?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hmmm

I think Corin would make some excuse to go and just

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I bet we don't see the reunion, lolol

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

stay on the side

🌟Draco Plato🌟

and corin will run off and freya will have to find him

cause I think it's unlikely the story will shift away from the small town

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

idk i feel like the reunion is a potential future still. albeit i consider the liklihood of corin actually going to be slim

i could see freya just going "fine whatever stay here by yourself"

and then she goes to the reunion

🌟Draco Plato🌟

since the small town is mentioned so predominately in the about Is why i think they're going to stay there

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

unless his personality takes a full 180 by then

🌟Draco Plato🌟

cause the town is itself a character

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Is that so?

🌟Draco Plato🌟

"Suriska: population 150. It's neither Freya nor Corin's definition of paradise, but it is their home... if you could call it that. Apparently it's where you end up if you try to change your life for the better. What does it take to get out of this rut? It might take spite, it might take snowstorms, or it might just take a reevaluation of your morals."

ALTHOUGH

"A slice-of-life comic about trains, bad weather, and insecurities."

that's the tagline

which makes me think they'll get on the train and get in a bad snowstorm and get stranded, lolol

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hmm

Why do i keep thinking Corin should just do photos of the snow and mountains for a living

with a camera

and store all the photos somewhare

like to give people a taste of what life looks like up north(edited)

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i dont forsee that working. it doesnt look like the town really has many electronics of any sort. like theyre still using landlines

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

also yea

you do have a point

🌟Draco Plato🌟

plus making a living as an artist isn't the easiest thing, lol

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

double-point taken

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

just cause they go to a reunion doesnt mean they cant come back. and you can still make the town predominant if the characters talk about it. like i imagine freya's family has lots to ask about it. so in that context it still makes the story part of it. but man, i bet you if freya did go to the reunion she would tell her sister with the foot thing all about johann's affair. make it even thinking nobody will ever meet

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I wonder what time era this takes place in, or if the residents deliberately don't use much electricity in case the power goes out or something and it'd be hard to repair

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Personally I'd like them to go to the reunion, i think it'd be interesting,

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i assume its modern times but that their town is super remote. cause if you have a remote enough town you dont get a lot of stuff we consider common

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

🌟Draco Plato🌟

that's what i assumed too

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

ya know

theres a way for the reunion to happen and them to not leave

freya's family comes to them instead

and everyone has to cram into freya's tiny house

🌟Draco Plato🌟

hahah that's true

altho trains being in the tagline makes me think that's going to be a huge thing

so one way or another they're getting on a train

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

yea

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

maybe. i mean the trains are already kind of a thing

cause it was part of corin's job

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah but then you'd say train stations

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

not necessarily? its a tagline. its supposed to entice not be 100% to the letter accurate

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah, I know

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i do think someone is getting on a train

cause now these tickets are a big deal too

🌟Draco Plato🌟

yeah that did increase the importance of the journey

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I always liked when stories go on trains IMO

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i wonder what freya would even do if corin just stayed in bed when theyre supposed to leave and said "nope not going"

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I'd be curious about that too

🌟Draco Plato🌟

I wondered that too, if she'd make him go forcibly, but there is a point I don't think she could physically make him go

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i actually kind of hope freya goes and corin doesnt to a degree. cause i think him having to be alone and take care of himself might be good for him. or more id just be interested to see how he copes for a weekend. cause im slightly worried about his eating habits XD

🌟Draco Plato🌟

oh you know what

corin could stay and freya goes but the train gets in an accident due to the storm and he'd have to deal with the loss of freya too potentially

but freya doesn't die, just has to deal with being stranded

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

although ya know, being so far from home might be hard for freya. cause she cant exactly check the stove while shes hundreds of miles away

tho led my mind to comedic routes. imagining her trek across the snow for miles to get home. corin is like "omg youre okay" and first thing freya does is check the stove and sighs in relief

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Hmm

That would be cool for a scene or two

Also I wonder what kind of foods they eat

prolly all warm stuff

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

well corin had a muffin. i assume its normal stuff that they eat. tho i imagine they do stick away from cold stuff just for matters of practicality

on a side note

im really impressed corin dresses so lightly

cause corin does not have any heat insulating body fat going on really O_O;;;

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Yea

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I made it home before 10pm. ^_^;; Just wanted to say, I didn't have much free time this week, and so I didn't get far into the narrative, but that's partly because after I read the bit at the start with the kid and the teacher I thought if I don't stop now and do some marking, I'll read too far and be even more behind at work.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Oh hey Math! o/

Welcome to the final six minutes

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Enjoyed the start though! Curious to see what others have to say about it.

Better late than never?

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

Also yea the beginning was cute

especially with the kids

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

hey math~!

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Apparently it goes to trains passing in the night.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

Hi Math~!

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

i did like the part where freya gave the kid coffee and then tricked her completely away from wanting to grow up so soon

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^^^

That part got me especially

🌟Draco Plato🌟

hahah i liked that too, but didn't think it'd work in real life XD

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

We teachers can be tricky.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

also took offense since i don't drink coffee, gosh

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

aside from loading the kid up in caffeine

I don't drink it either

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

I also don't drink coffee, wooo.

🌟Draco Plato🌟

i drank more coffee as a kid than an adult freya, gosh

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

I loved cappuchino growing up

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Anyway, I'll let you get final thoughts out.

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

(I don't like warm drinks)

Great comic overall, hope to see it continue.

Everything about it was really pleasant to read

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

my last thoughts are that i really like the patterns on all the clothing. its that little bit of extra detail that adds some character to the setting and people existing within it

Superjusting of ✨Time🕑&Space☄✨

^^^

MathTans the Pun 👑Prince👑

Nice.

✨🐱 RebelVampire 🐱✨

COMIC TEA PARTY END!

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party time is now up~! Thank you everyone so much for reading and joining this week’s chat~! We want to give a special thank you to Claire Burn, as well, for making Suriska and volunteering it for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Claire Burn’s efforts however you’re able to. All that being said, if you would like to continue discussing this week’s comic, we highly encourage you to do so~!

For next week, Comic Tea Party will focus on Linked by Kabocha. As always, please use the next several days to read as much of the comic as you would like. We hope to see you next Thursday on May 10th from 5PM to 7PM PDT for the chat~! Until then, happy reading~! Comic: http://linkedcomic.com/