#I’ve been thinking if timeloops because. of course I have

[lukewarmwoodpecker]

Hey wait. Where did everyone else wake up in the prologue????? There aren’t that many rooms?? Was everyone else like, in the gym and Junko really just decided to single Makoto out????

[tgmsunmontue]

Once Upon a Time in 1996... 6/7

IceMav TimeLoop. Maverick wakes up to a great day. Then it all turns to shit. Explicit.

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

DAY 10

              “Carole… I think I’m going crazy.”

…           …           …

DAY 15

              “He’s already been through so much… loosing Nick.”

              “You can’t protect him from this Carole. Let him be there for you, because he’s going to want to be there. If you lie to him it’s only going to make him angry. Remember how he was when he found out about Santa?”

              She gives a little hiccupping laugh at the memory and Pete smiles, his heart breaking.

…           …           …

DAY 20

              “Carole… I don’t know what to say. What do you want me to say?”

              “Nothing. I don’t want you to say anything. Just hold me.”

              “I can do that.”

              He’s still holding her when Bradley arrives home from school and he just looks at them for a brief moment before pulling a face.

              “I’m going to my room.”

              Pete groans.

…           …           …

DAY 23

              They walk down the pier together and he looks out at the ocean.

              “You have to tell him…”

              “I don’t want to.”

              “I don’t want you to either, but I want you to keep it a secret from him even less.”

              She starts crying again and he pulls her into a hug, lets her cry it out and he feels awful for pressing, but he can’t go through this again, can’t have her lying to Bradley. Having him lie to Bradley by omission.

              “Will you let me adopt him?”

              “Oh Pete… of course I will. He loves you.”

              Pete smiles, because he knows that.

              He also knows Bradley will say yes when he asks.

…           …           …

DAY 27

              “Pete… what are you doing here?”

              “I needed to see you.”

              “Oookay. Come in.”

…           …           …

DAY 30

              “When did you get so wise?”

              Pete laughs, a little hysterical with it, doesn’t want to say he’s had versions of this conversation over and over. That she had been adamant in the beginning that Bradley be kept in the dark. Now she’s almost come around to the idea that she can’t protect him, only prepare him, and that’s what Pete wants as well.

…           …           …

DAY 35

              “Life is for living Maverick, there are risks in everything we do.”

…           …           …

DAY 42

              “Maverick… Pete…”

              Ice pulls out a box of condoms, unopened, and lube, the flush in his cheeks a little embarrassed and he doesn’t want that. Doesn’t want him to ever feel like he has any reason to be embarrassed around him, not about this.

              Ice is a quick learner, has clearly thought about what he wants to do to Pete’s body, his hands never stopping as they trail across his skin.

…           …           …

DAY 46

              “I told him… he cried. I cried. Thanks for being there Pete.”

              “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

              She gives him a look like she knows he’s bullshitting her and he flushes, embarrassed.

…           …           …

DAY 50

              Running away doesn’t work.  Wherever he ends up in the evening he wakes up in his bed in the house, Carole and Bradley asleep in their bedrooms down the hall.

…           …           …

DAY 57

              “Pete. What are you doing here?”

              “Needed to see you. Missed you.”

              One of Tom’s eyebrows shoots up.

              “Have you been drinking?”

              “No!”

…           …           …

DAY 60

              “Why do you always think I’ve been drinking?”

              “Always? I don’t always think you’ve been drinking…”

…           …           …

DAY 68

              Instead of heading back to the house he drives them toward the pier, buys them ice cream and they walk.

…           …           …

DAY 70

              “Jesus Tom, want your hands on me…”

              “You do?”

              “Yeah.”

…           …           …

DAY 73

              He wakes up and immediately vomits over the side of the bed.

              Okay.

              Lesson learnt.

              Not that it had been on purpose, but he remembers the car hitting the side of Carole’s car and well…

              Apparently dying won’t stop this either.

              And no going to the lawyers.

…           …           …

DAY 77

              “So this is going to be a weird conversation, but you told me yesterday to keep Bradley home and have him come to your appointment. He actually already knows you’re sick. Is just waiting for you to tell him.”

              “What?”

              “Oh, shit. I forgot the part about the time loop. I’m stuck in a time loop, and I know Ice is in love with me, and you’ve already made every joke imaginable about how I am too unimaginative to make this type of story up…”

              “How…?”

              “How many days? Honestly? I’ve lost count. More than fifty.”

…           …           …

DAY 80

              “Carole, I think I’m going crazy.”

              “More than usual you mean?”

              He barks out a laugh, but there are tears close to the surface now as he remembers the conversation he had yesterday.

              He’s had so many yesterdays now he’s lost count.

…           …           …

DAY 90

              “Let me take the edge off, then I want you to fuck me. Think you can manage that?”

              He probably shouldn’t voice it like it’s somehow a challenge that he expects Ice to meet head-on regardless of any reservations he might have. That’s not what this should be.

…           …           …

DAY 100

              He wakes up.

              The grass is not cut.

…           …           …

DAY …

              As he falls asleep he wonders if having them all under one roof will be the solution he’s looking for.

              When he wakes up the next morning and goes downstairs and it’s the same he starts to wonder what the hell it is he’s got to do.

              Is it even him that has to do something?

…           …           …

DAY …

              He wakes up and he’s in his bed, but that’s what he expects and he needs to know if Ice is asleep on the sofa downstairs. If it’s become the weekend.

              Fuck he hopes it’s become the weekend.

              It’s the same day.

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Ice, I’m stuck in this day, and I wake up every morning, and I know Carole is going to find out she has incurable cancer, and I know you’re going to tell me you’re gay, and I just… I’ve lost count. I’ve lost count of the number of days it’s been.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “What do you need from me today?”

              “What do you mean?

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Just remember we’re here and we love you, okay?”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Hi, I know this is going to be completely left field but I really need you to fuck me right now. I just… need to not think for a bit.”

              “What?”

              “Tom… this isn’t our first time. Hell, it’s not even in our first ten times. But I just need… I’m stuck in this time loop or something. I know you keep a bottle of vodka in your freezer which you take shots from when you’re dealing with being in love with me. Except you don’t know I’m in love with you too, but god, I am so in love with you.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Ice. Tom. I’ve been in love with you so long I can’t even remember when it started. I just… needed to tell you that.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Fuck this… just… fuck it all to hell and back.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “I don’t know how to escape, it’s become this almost hell… but I get to spend it with you, and Carole and Bradley.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “You’re not alone okay?”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Hi…”

              “Hi. You’re here.”

              “Yeah. I just… realized something today and made me want to see you. And I can see you, so I got to give in to it…”

              “Pete,” Tom says, and his voice cracks on his name and Pete steps forward, closing the door behind him.

…           …           …

DAY …

              “How about we go and pick Bradley up early. Go and do something fun.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              He falls asleep with Tom draped over him and he really wants to wake up in a similar position.

…           …           …

DAY …

              He wakes up in his bed at the Bradshaw’s and he rolls over and punches the pillow.

              “Goddammit!”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “I want you to remember our first time together, but we’ve had so many first kisses, I’ve sucked you off, given you hand jobs…”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Mav. You need to calm down. No matter how many firsts I get to have with you, I will not regret a single one of them okay? And I don’t want you to, either.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Plus just look at it like flight hours. You’re racking them up and going to be so much more experienced with my body, you’re going to be able to turn me boneless.”

              “Oh… yeah. We should get onto that.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “I love you. So many different ways Tom. I know it’s new, that I never gave you any idea that I was… that I am… but I am. I want you. For as long as you’ll have me.”

              “Forever then, because that’s what I want.”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “How are you so good at this?”

              “Well, that’s an interesting story…”

              He starts with the basic outline, brushes over his worst moments, tells him how many times they’ve had their first kiss…

              “No wonder you know my body so well…”

…           …           …

DAY …

              “I want you by my side every possible moment.”

              The smile Tom gives him is shy, almost bashful and Pete reaches up to cup the side of his face with a hand, draws him down into a kiss.

…           …           …

DAY …

              “Mav. What are you doing here?”

              “Needed to see you. Wanted to see you.”

              “And you couldn’t wait until tonight?”

              “No. I couldn’t. I need to talk to you. Tell you some things.”

              “Uh, okay. Sure. Come in.”

              He carefully waits until he’s inside, the door closed behind him and then he reaches up, a hand on each of Tom’s face and he kisses him, soft and sweet, but certain, no hesitation and tries to pour into it every ounce of love he feels for him.

              “I love you. Have loved you for a long time. I know you’ve been making yourself sick, smoking too many cigarettes, thinking about telling me. How I might react. Well. It’s better than your best case scenario, because I love you, and I want to be with you, and I know it’s not going to be easy. Sometimes you’re going to want to kill me. I’m going to drive you crazy. But I’ll always love you…”

              “Pete.”

SEVEN

[buttahpie]

hi!! i've been reading your timeloop fic and it's absolutely fabulous! made me tear up a couple of times and i'm only on chapter 7 i think. a couple of weeks ago i was like "i wish someone would write a mclennon timeloop thing that would deal with mental health" and how happy i was to see that there indeed IS a fanfic like that being posted at this very moment :) besides the mclennon aspect which is of course super wonderful, i really love the other paul's relationships you explore in your work, how you let your version of paul be messy and insane and flawed, but also deeply caring. i hope you get infinite inspiration and i hope you're having a great day, thank you for your hard work :)

me when i kick my feet and blush and giggle.

THANK YOU!! if you’ve teared up that early on… i am so sorry for what’s to come haha (based on my other readers experiences lmao)

also the mental health is SUCH an important aspect of Under the White Magnolia Blooms. while I was crafting my idea for this fic, I knew I wanted to take the issues of mental health and recovery head on. and i wanted to try and portray it in a way that was accurate and respectful. so hopefully i’m doing justice for you all. i’ve experienced my fair share of the tumblr-users-mental-health-plethora and so a lot of it is drawn from personal experience.

if there’s anything I can gab about for HOURS, it’s mental health, mclennon and God. so i just wrote a 100k word fanfic based on all those things and here we are :)

also— i love paul. i love my characterization of paul. writing real people is far more challenging than writing characters because real humans are infinitely more complex than characters. We can’t quite headcanon things as easily as we might with fictional characters. i don’t know paul, i don’t act like i know him, but i know humans. i know people recovering from mental health battles. i know people blinded by love. i know so many 18 year old little shits who are so talented and maybe a little (or a lot) egotistical (im getting a BFA in theatre rn so you can imagine). but i know their hearts are good. they have endless potential but are held back their families or their obligations or own personal concerns.

tbh i was one of them.

i just wanted paul to be really relatable. i wanted him to be flawed. because we are all flawed when we’re 18.

consider me infinitely inspired! this was the best ask the wake up to my day will go great!

[formosusiniquis]

today is a new day to find you

Chapter 1 coming to an archive near you on October 12th!

Very excited about my @steddiebang fic that I've been working on and will soon be released to the public! Featuring art from the supremely talented @sammichtastic and @milkychai (Catch them on twitter at Sammiches and milkychai) and Beta'd by @rainingingeorgia

Taking my love of the timeloop and making it everyone's problem, enjoy a sneak peek below the cut 💕

“You’re into all that fantasy and sci fi shit, right?” His question leads and so does he, pushing the doors open to the library like he expects Eddie to trail behind him. So used to the assured obedience of his little lapdog he expects the stray he’s found to do it too. 

Eddie does. So maybe he’s just proved Harrington right, but he can feel good in his own head knowing he isn’t following Harrington around like a trained dog because he is. He’s following him around because this is the weirdest fucking thing to ever happen to him, and like any good improviser he wants to follow this thing all the way into the ground. 

The distinction is enough for him, even if he doubts Harrington picks up on it. 

“I’ve been known to enjoy a wizard or two in my time.” 

Steve sighs, there’s a pinched off look on his face. Something that reminds Eddie of the Home Mom at his last placement. The way she would slow blink her eyes and hold them squeezed shut so tight he thought it must hurt her brain. The way her lips would thin as she pressed them shut there was just a thin white line where it once was. Annoyance, exhaustion. Something unique that manages to scream that it’s you, the kid in front of them, that has caused this expression. 

“Could you just-”

Eddie as a rule doesn’t get embarrassed about being annoying. He cares. Of course he cares. He’s created this shell of leather and metal and obnoxious overexcitement around himself so no one knows just how earnestly he cares about everything. 

It's a question that isn't really a question. ‘Can I tell you's and ‘is it okay if I say's are all just polite introductions to statements that are going to come regardless. Eddie isn't the best socialized, but he knows a question like that can only be answered with, "Sure, whatever dude." 

So he hates, hates the meek red faced little, “Sorry,” that manages to slip past his own shield.

“Can I tell you something that’s gonna make me sound crazy?” 

For all the rush Harrington had in flipping Eddie's whole morning on its head, he's reticent now. Fiddles with a pencil that got left behind on the table. Scans the bookcases behind him with unseeing eyes. Opens and closes his mouth like a fish on the deck of a boat, but no sound comes out. Not a single syllable. 

"Listen Harrington, it's normal to get annoyed with your friends-" 

"What? This isn't about Tommy?" He is capable of speech then, not some freaky pod person. "He is that bad then?" 

"No comment." Harrington's sad eyed routine isn't gonna catch him up, not today. "Can't think of anything that would be crazy enough that you're scared to tell the Freak." 

He takes a breath, readying himself, "I keep waking up and it's today." 

It hurts, the way the snort rips itself up from the back of his throat. Eddie almost gags on his laugh, "Yeah, that is how time works Harrington. I wake up and everyday is today, tomorrow, tomorrow only a day away." Fuck he's going to have that song stuck in his head for the rest of the day. 

"No," his hands hit the table, soft enough that they don’t make a sound in the all but empty library but it’s enough. So much is already lurking at the surface. It’s Steve’s hands, sharp and demanding silence. It’s hands hitting the top of the pulpit making his head hit the top of the pew. It’s hands hitting the kitchen table making his cereal bowl jump and his Momma gasp. He flinches back, chair teetering on its back two legs before he finds his balance again. “Sorry, sorry,” Harrington rushes to apologize, ripping his hands back from the table, clutching his nonexistent pearls. 

“No,” he repeats, softer like he’s a step away from running a knuckle down the back of a cat he’s spooked. “I keep waking up to the same today. It’s just Friday again and again and again.” 

“Like the story?” 

“Like what?” His nose wrinkles with his confusion. The part of Eddie that is still a teenager, the parts of him that aren’t fucking worldweary or whatever Uncle Wayne says, wants to kick and fawn over the soft parts of Steve fucking Harrington. The fussy bunny wrinkle of his nose and the curious way his eyes light up even though he’s 

Well Eddie doesn’t really know what he is. Confused probably. What are the chances that Harrington has suffered a psychotic break, that the weight of the crown had grown too heavy. But even if he’s just confused, he’s probably scared. The two go hand in hand, don’t they?

Edide’s never been more scared in his life than when that sad faced cop had pulled him out of the back of the car. When no one would tell him what was happening or where his mom was. Lost and confused and terrified about what was happening and what would happen later. 

“There’s, um, this story, I found it going through the library magazine backlog; they’ve got some really sweet Fantasy and Science Fiction mags on order.” Steve is just staring at him. Quiet, fixated, and a little unsettling -- and that’s coming from the self declared freak of Hawkins High. “That’s not important,” he mutters into a strand of hair he pulls in front of his face, it’s warm God why was the library so warm today. “There’s this story about a guy, he keeps reliving the same hour over and over, from noon to one. Everything is exactly the same except for the things he interacts with.” 

If he’s honest with himself, he doesn’t expect Harrington to laugh and say ‘gotcha.’ Mostly because he knows Harrington won’t have read the story, he doesn’t really think the guy reads much at all. He doesn’t expect him to go still, still as the grave, staring at Eddie with a haunted seriousness. “What’s causing it? How does it end?” 

“It’s just a story, Harrington,” he bites back. The hair on the back of his neck stands on end. Something about this is wrong. 

If he weren’t watching he would have missed it. the way his eyes shutter and blank. The way a placid, easy going smile spreads across his face; butter on hot toast. His hands spread out in front of him, they would say ‘easy man, I come in peace’ if the tips of his fingers weren’t shaking. “Maybe you're just a good storyteller, Munson. Isn’t that your whole deal.” 

It’s patronizing in the worst way. 

“Feel like I should emphasize the fiction part of science fiction here, Harrington.” Was it wrong to indulge this break he was going through. Should he get the nurse or something. 

“Will you tell me about it or not, Eds. I can always go to the library myself.” 

“It's a parallel universe, antimatter and shit, pulling away from our universe. Time vectors or something make them relive the same hour, what was supposed to be once but this guy, Castleman, is the only one who knows that they’re reliving it over and over again.” 

“How does he get out of it?” 

“He doesn’t.”

[raining-anonymously]

what if the skip button/epilogue was a preemptive measure to stop the stanley parable from ending after the figurines?

think about it. we’ve all seen the “oh settings person just hates the narrator” stuff, but all they say is that he doesn’t know how to fix the achievement machine (true) and that he’s insecure (also true). and yeah i think we’re supposed to wonder if they’re the one who removed the door, because really who else would have?

but look. their goal wasn’t to destroy the narrator or to make stanley wander through a desert alone in a reset that lasted eternity. they wanted to, in their own words, is to “keep making Stanley Parable games until the sun explodes!”

which is questionable… but anyway.

i’ve been wondering for a long time why the epilogue can only be completed several other progression endings after the skip button. if the epilogue was the setting person’s last-ditch attempt to stop the narrator from retiring stanley, though? suddenly, the figurine ending becomes necessary context. and hey, the progression endings have a partial reset after playing the epilogue. maybe there’s a reason for that.

of course, that doesn’t answer all the questions. how would the settings person have known about the figurine aftermath before the figurines were even a thing? how does that explain the bucket and the button that says the name jim’s appearances in the epilogue?

and to that i say i have no clue. they’re always asking about the current time? maybe that’s why? timeline timeloop magic? i’m not a theorist i just have a hyperfixation on this stuff.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

so @lisystrata asked me to write a caligari timeloop au fic so I threw together a quick scene

“You!” Francis shouted, flinging open the door to the director’s office.

“Ah, you’re right on time,” Caligari muttered, without looking up from the book in his hands. “This has happened exactly six times now, and you still haven’t learned to knock.”

“I know exactly what you are,” Francis seethed.

“By this point, I’d be concerned if you didn’t. Now that we’ve been through this plenty of times over, and you don’t have anything particularly revelatory to say that neither of us don’t know, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re interrupting a very compelling read.” He grinned, showing Francis the book, which had completely blank pages.

“Why are you doing this?” Francis asked.

“Doing what? Reading a blank book? Well, I find it particularly amusing to tell you I’m busy when in actuality, I’m-“

“The time loop,” Francis said.

“Ahh, the time loop. That’s not my doing, but I’d gladly take the credit; aren’t you enjoying it?”

“Absolutely not! Day after day, I’ve done everything I can to try to convince my best friend not to go to your goddamned exhibition, only to find him dead the next morning! And then I have to keep my other friend from being kidnapped, but it seems I can’t do that either! And whose fault is that?!”

“Yours,” Caligari said, pushing up his glasses. “And by the way, I don’t recall you signing up for a therapy session with me, but maybe you can find a spot on the waitlist- not that it’ll ever go down, of course.” He laughed to himself, leaving Francis fuming.

“How can you live like this? A repeated cycle of murdering people and making us miserable; what’s the point? I have to see Alan die every single day!”

“Oh, it’s not so bad for him, I suppose. After all, he comes back just fine when the loop resets, and he doesn’t even remember any of the pain, does he? To me, this sounds like a you problem.”

“Then how does it feel for you, hm? To be apprehended by your own staff and locked up over and over again? It’ll happen again, you know. It’ll always happen, because as long as you’re committed to your vile deeds, I’ll always be here to stop you.”

“Not an issue,” Caligari answered, waving a gloved hand as if swatting a fly. “I’ll wake up in my villa the next morning, you’ll wake up in your shabby, caving-in house, and Cesare…” he wheezed with laughter, pounding the desk with his fist. “Cesare will wake up in his box at the carnival, and it starts all over again. Honestly, with all this talk of justice, I can’t believe you’ve gone on and on without sparing so much as a thought for my poor Cesare. Just think of how it must be for him!” He dissolved into another fit of laughter, until tears formed at the corners of his eyes. “But you won’t think of Cesare,” he said, regaining his composure. “Nobody does, except for me.” He stood up from his desk. “Now get out; you said you wanted to apprehend me, didn’t you? The staff is on their way, and now’s your chance.”

“I won’t let this keep happening!”

“Doesn’t it bore you to keep spewing cliches like that?” Caligari shook his head, and headed for the door. “I’ll give you one of my own, then. We’ve had a lovely talk, Francis, but it now appears our time is up.”

[arom-com]

hi hope this is ok but i've seen sooo many of ur posts tagged as renbrand and i am ... perhaps .... a little curious .... would u like to tell me abt them !!!! 👀👀 (its ok if not ofc)

Ofc!! I sure have been tagging them a lot huh

The short version is that they’re my unhinged lesbian ocs stuck in a murder timeloop

Longer version is this:

(I am not going to be able to explain this in any way approaching coherent) (but I will try!!) (sorry in advance for the Wall of Text)

So RenBrand stands for these two:

Ren Hayashi (23, she/they) university student studying criminal psychology, abandonment issues out the wazoo, Going Through It

Brand Reitveld (26, she/her) local gang leader, Control Issues TM, definitely the cat in whatever cat-and-mouse thing they have going on

They’re in love — it’s not even remotely healthy.

Basically, through no fault of their own, they got stuck in a long-form time loop (days/months rather than strict 24h) that resets whenever one of them dies, which wouldn’t be too much of an issue? Except a) they’ve never met and don’t know they’re stuck together, and b) Ren keeps getting fucking murdered

Bc!! Ren’s psychology prof is running a secret cult (trying to turn his crim psy students into serial killers, it’s a whole thing, very cringe of him) so she gets killed for accidentally getting in the way a couple times (she doesn’t know about the cult), and then ofc starts investigating, which only makes it worse (I feel so bad for her but it’s also really funny, saddest most pathetic sopping wet oc I’ve ever created)

(Some of Ren’s deaths are also caused by Brand who’s like listen I don’t have a grudge against you or anything but you do keep getting my people killed so I have to eliminate the threat, no hard feelings! And Ren is like I am in abject misery)

(strangers to enemies to lovers except the strangers to enemies is a speedrun and the enemies to lovers is a slow burn)

The story they’re from is sort of a dark mystery-slash-romance (think nbc hannibal meets groundhog day, which is certainly a sentence), and it’s mainly centred around Ren and her corruption arc as she goes from “tired student just trying to finish her dissertation if it kills her” to “codependent mob-wife who kills first and asks questions later”

I’m obsessed with time as a narrative device, and especially time loops, because it can be used in such interesting ways!! And the interesting part about time loops to me is that they’re like,,,,, rube goldberg machines for character development? You only stick a character in a time loop when you need them to undergo a pretty drastic change without a proper catalyst, and it forces them to wear themselves down to their bones, to find the very essence of what they are, and then build themselves back up again into their ideal and purest form of self. (Of course, some people just use them as a tool for romance, but that’s boring!! Boo)

Usually time loops exist to make a character better, because they’re given some kind of epiphany that makes them the best and kindest version of themselves. (Alternatively, they can be used as the cosmic equivalent of a washing machine spin cycle if you’re writing horror) But what interests Me is the idea of using a time loop to make a character worse, which is what I’m doing to Ren (and to a lesser extent, Brand)

And it’s not just corruption for corruption’s sake, either! Ren, as she is, is miserable — she’s completely isolated, unable to achieve any of her goals, and ultimately ends up getting killed in an impersonal way for impersonal reasons — but once the loop begins and she gets her second chance, she starts to wear away at all her self-imposed barriers and boundaries until she can start making her own decisions and being an active agent in her own life. Of course, she’s not choosing to do good, but the best version of herself is not necessarily Good or Kind, it’s just Authentic.

Brand, on the other hand — because she has more support and isn’t as repressed — is experiencing the time loop less as a vehicle for character development, and more as a perpetual time travel fix-it (which is SO fun, having two characters get wildly different outcomes from the same experience). Her problems are more interpersonal rather than internal, so where Ren is using the extra time to understand herself, Brand uses it to understand the world around her (and is thus doing a much better job at actually solving the plot, we love a girlboss).

Brand’s conflicts are with her brother (who I can’t even Begin to explain without adding another thousand words to this post), and (as the leader of the local gang) with the police & the murder cult, which means that a lot of her loops are spent information-gathering (and murdering, dw abt it)

Personality-wise Ren is pretty quiet, she doesn’t like to ask for things which means she gets into miscommunications a lot (people not helping when she wishes they would, people helping when she doesn’t need it bc they think she just doesn’t want to ask), she’s a very “the only one you can rely on is yourself” kind of person, which isn’t exactly ideal for someone you’re stuck in a time loop with but at least it means she never gives up? She also doesn’t really care what people think of her — or rather, she does care, but she doesn’t let it stop her

Brand is suffering from a lethal combination of being the youngest sibling and simultaneously the eldest daughter, so she’s great at asking for help and using her resources but it means that she a) is a little entitled about it, and b) needs to feel like she has perfect control over everything or she’ll die. She’s very possessive and protective over things that she considers hers (hence murdering Ren for getting her people killed, it’s fine they get over it)

Renbrand also come equipped with two sets of narrative foils (Brand’s disabled ex-ballet dancer brother and his bodyguard/love interest, and the cult leader professor and his prized pupil who both hates and loves him for what he’s become) but the word count on this is already obscenely, embarrassingly long so I’ll talk abt them another day maybe

[livvyofthelake]

yea i DO want an in depth explanation of how everyone relates to kit and ty

well this could be the longest post ever….. i talked about some of them already but i’ll give you some of my favorites rn and then probably go into the rest later <3

first i wanna talk about margaret of the map of tiny perfect things fame, i put her at the very beginning and the very end like bookends because that movie is about a timeloop and i thought it would be fun to like. begin and end the same you know… and then of course she’s just like ty because of how she let herself fall into that time loop as a metaphor for grief because she had this inability to let go of her mother and would have rather lived the same horrible day over and over again if it meant she didn’t have to live in a world without her mom. and she would have just made the map with mark and looked for all the small perfect moments within that day because she was too afraid of the bigger picture of life…. and then of course the whole movie is about mark trying to find a way OUT of the loop and he’s the one that helps her see the beauty in the ever changing nature of life and she’s only able to break the loop once she learns this…. like yeah well that needs to happen to my buddy ty!!!

another favorite is zombieland, i’m literally always saying that kit could do zombieland…. the thing about columbus zombieland is that well he’s a loser with no life and then it’s the end of the world and he survives by isolating himself from everyone. but he’s still trying to make it back to his family in ohio for one last chance at not being alone, and then he can’t do that but he finds a new family with tallahassee and witchita and little rock…. and well kit lovesss isolating himself as a way of protecting his heart but he still wants to be able to someday have a family, and he DOES now because he has tessa and jem and mina and jace and all the blackthorns…. also if you’ve seen the zombieland movies you’ll know that when columbus proposed in the sequel witchita immediately just left because she’s afraid of committing and her primary goal through the whole franchise has been to protect her sister so she used that as an excuse to run away from him… like. whatever. and then they killed a bunch of zombies together!!

little women is there because a) i was including as many things as i could think of that had multiple versions of the same characters. and b) because laurie’s whole deal is that he is so desperate to be a part of the march family that he would have married literally any of those girls. i’m not of the mindset that laurie only married amy as a consolation prize for losing jo, because i think he only wanted to marry jo because she happened to be his best friend and he wanted to be a part of her family. i think that laurie and amy were in love but i also think that it’s not like soulmate shit or anything they’re in love because they chose to be in love. i love amy’s speech in the 2019 adaptation about how she doesn’t think love just Happens and that if you just pick someone and commit to them that’s love enough to be meaningful. and i think her and laurie chose each other out of knowing that they wanted similar lives and could give each other something the other wanted and yes they loved each other as friends before they loved each other as more but it’s not necessarily a romcom situation with them. like they were in love but not because of some out of their hands fated romance deal you know. and i think there’s a similarity there to how kit and ty chose each other more so than it was fated. i know i’ve said a lot about them being like dated to be together although i don’t believe i’ve ever used that word. but i always mean it in the sense that they initially just picked each other and now they’re always going to be pulled together because of that. wow i just went on forever with this one huh ok moving on

some shorter explanations: twilight is there for the same reason little women is i think bella has the same thing wrong with her that laurie does. ari and dante get to be there because well we were all 15 together simple. allie and will get to be there because she’s the reincarnation of king arthur and we’ve all already established that kit is shadowhunter king arthur. do revenge is there for the toxic girl best friend-ism. enola holmes is there because it would have been wrong to not include literally the only sherlock holmes related media i have seen. benjamin is there because well he’s just like ty fr. handsome devil is there because when i watched that movie i saw my pal eddie dating amber be super annoying and i was like well i think he has kit herondale swag. and that was that i didn’t think about it beyond that. tangled is there for obvious reasons. fear street is there because sam and deena are insane about each other and also divorced and in a life threatening situation and also in love and well that is going to happen to ty and kit in twp

[lakesandquarries]

oh it’s you (that i lie with)

for Oumota Week Day 2 - Timeloop

warnings: major character death (temporary but graphic)

notes: title from as the world caves in by matt maltese but i just listened to the cover by sarah cothran. happy oumota week everyone!! consider joining my oumota discord maybe!

AO3 Link

Kokichi lazily spins a french fry through his ketchup as Momota takes a seat across from him. The movement makes the table jostle. Kokichi doesn’t move.

“Getting used to it, huh?” Momota asks. “I guess this is just life now. Beats being dead, at least.”

“You failed, then?”

“I think every smoke alarm is busted.”

At 6:15 pm, the cafeteria will explode. A stray spark will hit an errant gas line and the entire place will go up in flames. There will be no survivors. 

Kokichi knows this because he has experienced it eleven times already.

The first time was unexpected. Obviously. When he woke up this morning (eleven mornings ago) in his dorm room he assumed today (eleven todays ago) would be normal. 

That assumption was disproven before he died and the day reset, but that’s unrelated.

The first time he died, the last supposedly normal minutes of his life, he and Momota were at this very same table. They weren’t alone then. Their friends had been with them, and Akamatsu had been in the middle of telling a story about a bird flying into the room during one of her classes, and suddenly there had been the loudest sound Kokichi had ever heard. He’d felt an intense, searing heat for just a moment, and then something large and heavy falling on top of him, and then he didn’t feel anything because he was dead.

When he woke up in his bed again he’d assumed it was a dream. Even when the morning played out much like the morning in his “dream” - well, that wasn’t too strange. Saihara had lost his favourite socks, but he did that often. Yumeno fell asleep in the cafeteria during breakfast, but she did that every day. Amami tripped down the stairs and had to go to the nurse, but he never paid attention to his surroundings. 

And then, right at the end of breakfast, Momota got down on one knee, presented Kokichi with a ring pop, and asked him to go on a date with him after dinner.

The beginning of the day had been typical. It wasn’t strange for his dream to match with reality, because his life was predictable.

That was not something he could have predicted, unless he had suddenly developed a new superpower.

The first time, he’d beamed at Momota, took the ring pop, and said he would be delighted to and that if this was a prank he’d have Momota killed.

The second time, he’d just said “What the fuck,” and then took off running.

The rest of the day went differently, but it was just close enough to make it clear. Kokichi had snuck around unused halls, spying on the classes he was skipping. Chabashira still had a five minute argument with the teacher during math, Hoshi still spilled a beaker in science. This time he got to watch Akamatsu’s unfinished bird story play out.

Just like before, he went to the cafeteria, and just like before he felt his bones flattened and then nothing at all.

In the present, whatever that really means, he tells Momota, “I hope I don’t get crushed again.”

Momota frowns. “At least it’s quick. The fire was the worst.”

“Well, I at least want some variety. It is the spice of life and all.”

Leaning forward, Momota rests his chin on his hand. His eyes keep darting to the clock on the wall. “I’ll toss you into the fire this time, if you want.”

��My hero.” Kokichi folds his arms behind his head and leans back.

They’d really tried, this time. They’d tried every time. This time, Kokichi had barely broken into the kitchen when he was caught. At least it was one of the kinder chefs. They’d given him french fries and instructed him to stay in the cafeteria where they could see him. 

“We still have some time,” Momota argues. “I mean, 6:15 is in like, an hour. We can at least prepare for next time.”

“Hm, would you like to scope out some more interesting places to die? I’m getting bored of the cafeteria. At least maybe something different will crush me.” He’s fairly certain it’s a table that keeps killing him, at least in the last few loops. For a second he’d felt the texture of the wood crushed against his face. 

“We’re gonna figure it out,” Momota says. His voice is full of empty confidence, a thin soap bubble that will pop if looked at for too long.

“Well, of course. You still owe me that date, after all.”

Perhaps it’s his imagination, but the glint in Momota’s eyes gets sharper. “I do. I’m a man of my word, you know.”

“You’ve given me your word more than a few times. I think you might owe me a few dates, my dearest Momota-chan.”

Momota’s eyes dart to the clock again, and Kokichi follows his gaze. 5:25.

“I’ll take you on as many dates as you want, Ouma.”

Momota had asked him out again in the third loop, and the fourth. Kokichi had accepted those, though in the fourth one Momota hadn’t bothered to drop to one knee and hadn’t even offered him a ring pop. He’d just turned to Kokichi and asked, “Will you go out with me?”

“I want a ring first,” Kokichi had said in response. 

“A ring,” Momota repeated. “What kind?”

“Grape.”

Momota had presented the ring pop, and Kokichi said yes.

In the fifth loop, Momota got down on one knee again.

“Ouma,” he started.

“Will you go on a date with me?” Kokichi asked. Momota reeled back, looking around the room in surprise. 

“Uh….yeah.” He stood up, blinking heavily. “How -”

“I have my ways,” Kokichi said with a wink. 

He’d skipped his next classes. That had been the first time he broke into the kitchen. He did a decent job sneaking, and his little recon mission was how he figured out the likely cause. He’d only gotten a brief glimpse before the chef kicked him out.

Momota was waiting for him at that same table. “Ouma,” he’d called out, waving him over, and Kokichi obliged him by taking a seat in the same chair he’d died in four times. “Are you hiding something?”

“Always. Are you?”

“You knew what I was doing this morning.”

“I’ve known you were in love with me for months.” Kokichi leaned back in his chair, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. “Obviously I knew what you were doing.”

“But you didn’t! The first - Uh, I mean...Oh, fuck it. You know what’s happening, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He kicked his chair back, balancing it on two legs. He was not going to be the one to say it first, and it was so fun to get him worked up like this. “I mean, I know everything, but -”

“The loops! You’re the only one acting different! The first loop, you were surprised, the second loop you were - and now you’re stealing my lines!” Momota leaned towards him, hands on the table.

Kokichi raised a single eyebrow. “Your first performance was your best, Momota-chan.”

“So you are aware. How?”

The chair’s legs thudded against the ground. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I…” Momota hesitates, bluster wavering before it comes back full force. “Obviously, the universe knew I was the best person to task with fixing this. I’m gonna save everyone, just you watch.”

“Oh, good. I was worried I’d have to do something.” He stood up abruptly, almost knocking the chair over. “I’ll see you for our date, then.”

A hand grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back down. Momota was reaching across the entire table, gripping Kokichi’s sleeve tightly. His brows were pinched together, face unguarded and open and desperate. There was only a second of hesitation before Kokichi ripped his sleeve away, narrowing his eyes at the man across from him.

“You can’t seriously plan to do nothing,” Momota insisted. “There’s gotta be a reason -”

“Maybe I’m supposed to be working against you,” Kokichi said. His expression fell away to blankness. “You’re so eager to trust, Momota-chan. It’s very stupid of you.”

“That shit stopped working on me last year.” Momota jumped to his feet, hands pressed against the table as he leaned dangerously forward. Kokichi doesn’t need to have time traveled to know he will inevitably topple forward and crash into the table. Perhaps he would be the one to die to it this loop. “Ouma, I know you. Fuck, I asked you out this morning, you really think I’m still gonna fall for your evil bullshit?”

“I mean, it’s worked before. Recently, even.”

“You broke in through my window! Look, you’re missing the point. I know you wanna save everyone as much as I do.” His eyes were alight, grin too sharp for Kokichi’s liking.

“It’s in the kitchen.” 

Momota leaned forward again, and there it was - he fell face first onto the table.

“Idiot. Maybe the universe did choose me to help you. You’re clearly too stupid to figure it out on your own.”

Momota didn’t waste a second. He pushed himself back up as Kokichi spoke, completely ignoring his words. “See! We’re a perfect team, Ouma. What’s in the kitchen?”

A mess was in the kitchen. Every surface had at least five distinct fire hazards, and all together it combined into something unfathomably dangerous. A stray spark ignited a chain, and at the end of that chain was a crater.

Since that loop, they’d tried different ways to fix the kitchen. They’d tried scoping out times where no one was there (there weren’t any), they’d tried convincing the chefs something needed to be fixed (they’d been kicked out), they’d tried fixing it themselves (the explosion happened three hours earlier that loop), they’d tried setting off every smoke detector they could find (none of them worked). 

It’s starting to look a little hopeless.

Students begin filing into the cafeteria, happy and carefree and unconcerned. Akamatsu’s voice carries as she rushes to their table. “Ouma-kun, Momota-kun! I was wondering where you’d gone. The strangest thing happened in math earlier -”

Kokichi lays his head on the table. In his mind, he could only see Akamatsu’s broken body, her flesh beginning to bubble. Her screams were always the loudest.

It‘s always the same. Akamatsu starts her stupid story. Saihara arrives late, feathers in his hair, and Harukawa trails after him and glares at Kokichi. 

She usually survives the longest, from what Kokichi can see. She stays standing until the end. Saihara crumbles quick and quiet.

“Are you alright?” Saihara asks as he takes a seat next to Kokichi. 

Kokichi looks up at him. He’s too tired for expressions. “You’re going to die in twelve minutes.”

“Right,” Saihara says, and then he turns to Akamatsu and asks if she can help him get the feathers out of his hair.

They smile, and laugh, and talk, and at 6:15 exactly, that spark is set off.

Kokchi lives a moment longer than the last few loops, long enough to see Momota crushed by a falling piece of ceiling. 

“Liar,” Kokichi says to him, and then he too is gone.

---

He wakes up in bed.

[knifesxedge]

❕ for party and 💬 for jet and 🎡 and 🌎 for you! mwah!

TY JORDAN i LOVE u ❣️❣️

❕has BLI been the primary factor for the problems in their life? + party poison

hm. that’s an interesting question. & it’s maybe gonna sound like a bit of a cop out but im going to say yes and no. because on the one hand you could argue that a lot of the turning points for the worse in his life have been because of BLI (the loss of their parents, the loss of a lot of their childhood, the crow program, day-to-day danger), but on the other, really, the CONSEQUENCES of things are because of how they ARE as a person & their ego (distancing from his brother, taking so long to leave the city, being cold to people & causing fights with crews they’re trying to trade with, ETC). and for my killjoys especially i think that BLI has less of an impact on what desert society is able to do compared to other people’s canons so. if there’s a problem in poison’s life there’s a fairly large chance they caused it themself

💬 what are their closest relationships? + jet star

jet star my beloved! jet is very close with their parents! he’s an only child & was part of their crew for a very long time before he met party and kobra so that makes sense but he calls them on the radio a few times a week and feel comfortable enough to tell them pretty much everything in their life his parents are very important to him. jet & cherri are also really close — this is something i’ve mentioned but cherri was fostered by jet’s parents and so they’re like siblings. then of course you’ve got the fab four and while jet is v close with all of them poison and jet are BEST friends. in a different way than kobra and ghoul are best friends — kobra & ghoul are like “hey let’s go try and skateboard down the roof at the radio station” and pois & jet are more like “let’s sit on the roof and talk for like five hours straight”. and their relationship doesn’t start for a long while (2 years after SING) but jet and pony have a will-they-won’t-they kind of close friendship & then very steady long-distance dating until pony eventually moves in to the diner (by the time that happens, cherri is also living there & while the girl has moved out, charlie has arrived and is an energetic child as well so as you might imagine the diner is crowded <- complimentary)

🎡 are there large zone gatherings or do people prefer to stay distant?

i think there ARE gathering places you can go to — the market, tommy’s, concerts, hyper thrust & other bars/clubs — but there’s definitely a “crew loyalty above all else” mentality so you definitely have people who don’t want to or trust interacting with other crews; and people do kind of stick with their own crew even in those larger settings so 🤷‍♀️

🌎 do you like AUs? if so, what's your favourite?

as a matter of fact (which. is kind of easy to guess probably but) i DO like aus (which is why i write so many i just think they’re fun not even just for danger days) but in terms of a FAVORITE that’s hard. i really love your android au & you know that but ummm. i love city aus in general (im trying really hard here not to just say all the things you said but) & oh i think that @/theultravs warriors au is really fun & good! and yk this one but i love this canon-divergent fic abt poison in a groundhog-day-style timeloop. in terms of my own fics ballet au is v close to my heart as is the sw au!

anyways THANK U JORDAN ilysm! 🥺❣️💕 ty for the ask!!!

send me DD asks!

[charcherry-weekly]

Charcherry Weekly - Issue 61?

Future Aeons Edgeworth here, filling in for myself. Makes you wonder who’ll fill in for me if something happens to this version of me.

A Cave in Time

Early this particular week, I took a walk to what I thought would be the “VLC Player Memorial” (its just a traffic cone in the middle of charcherry forest that was once used as a time anchor to the walkjangler shrine on planet jingloria right before The Reckoning over there), but it turned out I had zoned out on the way there and woke up the next morning in a cave full of golbats and a skylight positioned just perfectly to get me soaking wet in the rain. I fought those golbats off very ineffectively with a keyblade (I really need to get a keybladekind card for my strife deck one of these days) until one of them latched onto my arm with huge fangs. I managed to get out a message on the memo to get rescued, and also held up my explorer’s badge just in case. (turns out it works when in dire situations. Who knew?) 

Far Future Witch of Time Katyleen Kitten and Pokemon Trainer Brae Emit showed up and fought off the golbat that were attacking me. At some point before that, I managed to catch one of the golbat in a regular pokeball. For a specifically undetermined amount of time, I stayed at the home of Amaia and Meika to recover, as the hospital had yet to be rebuilt. I will however say that I did recover quite well after my stay, and their hospitality is unmatched. They handed me all sorts of cool hepian snacks to eat and always made sure I was well hydrated. 

Eventually though, my present self is going to have to take my place and become the me that I am right now, as Future Aeons. They will also need to stop by charcherry square to pick up my hat and their past self’s golbat pokeball to give to me a couple days ago. At this current point, I have done one interview with Jovin and need to catch the others left on the list at proper times when we’re available for interview. I’ve also been a little less willing to take risks, especially since I’m still waiting for my past self to recover so I can give them their golbat to become mine later on.

Shooting Blind With A Guide

At some point this week, a transmission was sent to the memo, containing a message with a link to a set of guides useful for those who may play the cosmic creation game. Of course, much of our group is already comprised of players who have completed the game, making it a little redundant. However, as our group often crosses paths with other player groups, its probably best that we spread the link to their guide wherever we can. 

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/sburb-sgrub-s-whatever-aka-that-homestuck-game-class-aspect-guide-v-0-81-homestuck-guide-fanfic.957070/ Reportedly, Rogue of Heart Charles has got in contact with the author of the guide, though it is unknown what development may come of that. I do wonder if they have anything on some of the techniques I've been able to figure out as a prince of time...

I think that’s about enough for this week. I really hope things get sorted out soon, because tracking timeloops is getting to be a bit much right now. https://letssosl.boards.net/thread/284/charcherry-weekly-issue-61

[nanabansama]

Ask Round-Up 1/?

I've recently gotten a lot of asks in the past week or so, which has been pretty fun! But it's a bit intense responding to all of them individually, and I have been wanting to try and respond... so I thought this might be an easier way to do so, by putting them all in one post!

I don't have as much to say about most of these also, so I figured a quick response like this was better, instead of multiple small posts. 🎶

So, without further ado...

Ask No. 1

I think Hanako is incapable of "showing his limit" at the moment, for one. The seal on his cheek seems to seal his own power away (a thought I explore in this post btw), weakening him and preventing him from using his true power. Beyond that, Hanako is plenty strong enough to deal with any enemy thrown at him so far, so there hasn't been a need for him to go all out.

I also suspect that Hanako may have some reservations about showing his real power if he has trouble controlling it, or it makes him look scary. If that's the case, his worry about what Yashiro may think of him could definitely be holding him back! We just have to see. 🎶

Ask No. 2 (I'm not sure if they're connected but I am assuming yes?)

Hmm... well, I do think the twin's relationship is clearly abnormal, especially since one killed the other. But I don't think the blushing Amane does during PP is of much concern; it comes across as a guy who is embarrassed of his clingy younger brother.

As for other occurrences, like in Ch. 16 when Amane finally meets Tsukasa again, I think Amane is just upset. Blushing can be seen when people cry, too, and it’s upsetting seeing your dead brother who you murdered.

As for Tsukasa... I do think he's a victim like Amane, in at least one way! If Amane had parents or guardians that didn't care about the scars on his wrists, then Tsukasa is also probably a victim of parental neglect. Maybe he’s not AS victim as Amane is, but he’s a little bit victim.

Ask No. 3

I'm not sure! But I think it might have to do with the current arc. Aoi said she wants to go "far away", so maybe Aoi wanted to confide in her friend about her feelings? Aoi seems to feel disconnected from everyone in her life, even her best friend Nene, so she might've wanted a friend to just... listen to her. :( It could also have to do with how Aoi could see supernaturals, maybe...?

Ask No. 4

In Japanese media, there's a popular trope of The Seven Mysteries, which is represented in Hanako-kun. You can read about it on tv tropes here!

I link this, because there doesn't have to be an Eighth Mystery. There certainly could be, but the whole gimmick of it is that there’s Seven, not Eight. :D I think the only way we are going to get an Eighth Mystery in Hanako, it it even happens, is through Yashiro. But it is also possible that maybe the God of the Seven Mysteries could count as the Eighth...? (Just a wild guess!)

Ask No. 5

I'm honestly not sure. I'd personally just say they're there to accentuate the character's personalities. Yashiro is a (former?) mystery-loving highschool girl, with a love of cute and creepy things (she has skeleton plushies in her bedroom!). Sakura is a refined lady who holds fancy tea parties, so of course she'd have a lovely gem brooch!

If I had to go with something a bit more theorize-y, the skull could represent how Yashiro is going to die soon, and maybe the gem on Sakura holds magic properties? XD Like how people believe crystals hold hidden powers... I dunno!

Ask No. 6

I love the pilot too, I'm with you there! I'm ultimately happy with the current Hanako we have, but there's parts of it I liked better. In particular, the concept of Hanako going to hell and being punished with marks on his wrist were pretty interesting. And AidaIro's old art is such a treat to look at!

And thanks so much! I blush. 😊

I got into Hanako-kun in November, after seeing the first animated trailer for it! It's so nostalgic watching it now, hehe. An artist I liked retweeted it on Twitter, and then I decided to read the manga! And then I made this blog after reading the manga in two days. XD Fun times!

Ask No. 7

I feel very bad for Sumire! I think it's awful that she's been forced into boxes her whole life (and afterlife); first she was chosen to be a sacrifice and only had No. 6 for company, and then she died and was forced to stay in a timeloop of her own death as No. 6's yorishiro. I'd really hate if she ended up dying again if her yorishiro is destroyed, because her life is sooo unfair; so I'm purposefully hoping that Yashiro's crazy plan will work. XD

I'm not sure how much Yashiro can "save" Sumire, but maybe Sumire and No. 6 can make up and live happily ever after together. :) Wouldn't that be nice?! Maybe if we wish hard enough it will come true. (Lol)

And that's an interesting idea! Perhaps Sumire and Tsukasa went to heaven, and the yorishiro copies are just clones of the memories that No. 6 and No. 7 had of them. If that's what you mean, anyways? But yes, it's strange how yorishiros live a life of punishment of living through their deaths, if that's also what happened to yorishiro!Tsukasa... how needlessly cruel, when they’re supposed to be precious objects!

Ask No. 8

I am good, thanks! :D

At first I thought it was an alternate timeline, but now I do think Nene actually time-travelled to the past, since Hanako acts weirdly around her after seeing her in the yukata. I figure Hanako just couldn't remember her very well, or perished the thought of them being the same since the girl was from 1964, not 2015+! And I'm unsure if young Amane's wish to meet her again is the cause of everything happening, but it would be awfully ironic, huh? 😅 The kid should've done the astronaut wish like she told him to! (Sheesh!)

Ask No. 9

This ask was in reference to this post!

I think this is a solid theory! If there were three Hanakos (the original, another, and then Hanako-kun), then Sakura seems like the most obvious choice for being the second one.

And yes! The girl does look like Sakura. Although, she is wearing a middle school uniform (I think?), and the hair doesn't match exactly... but it's something interesting to at least consider!

I'm unsure if she got removed from her job because of her wish to Tsukasa, though; I feel like Hanako would've had her position before she made a wish, especially since Tsukasa's wish-granting powers seem to be linked to Amane's powers as “Hanako-san of the Toilet”. So she must have done something else to get fired, I think!

--

Well, that wraps up this first Ask Round-Up. I’m not sure if I will be making this into a thing or not, but it was fun! Hope it was enjoyable. Bye-bye. :D

[rainbow-scarab]

It’s fanfiction time!!

A mini crossover between @kuttiesstuff​‘s Human Candy AU and LanternDay AU (but mostly LanternDay).

I found out about LD Sans's story a few days ago looking through Kuttie's art tag (I had seen him in the Twitchy Timeloop comic but didn't really know what he was about). Aaaaaaaaand somehow a fanfiction happened XD

I've taken some liberties with the AUs, especially since there's only so much revealed about LanternDay (as well as some things I didn't notice went against canon until it was too late WHOOPS), but I hope it's fun anyway. ...Pretend everyone speaks German lol I don't want to butcher it with my attempts

(Also....this is the first fanfic I've actually completed since like....2009 o__o;;; I'm not much of a writer. But I still enjoyed myself c: )

Title: Tastes Like Home

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

Chance wasn't used to the stares he was getting from monsterkind on his long trip back to Snowdin from the surface. In fact, he wasn't used to any part of the journey--that's what teleporting was for! But today that wasn't an option. Not for a human.

Of course, he had been human all along! But now it was visible to the outside world (even if no one recognized him anymore as "Sans"). Ever since he found that one universe with its unique candy... Well, it had only been a day, but already it was a new chapter in his life--he just knew it! He'd finally be able to go home, whole, in his body... The universe had promised him.

When it would happen, he didn't know. But in the meantime, he explored the surface. This time, where other humans could recognize him as such, and he could fit in! Malls, movies, food........he could be just another human teenager.

But human teens had to sleep eventually, so it was back to his house in Snowdin. A big grin spread across his face as he walked. He couldn't wait to tell Papyrus about his day.

---

Papyrus pounded the bread dough with all his might. And again, and again. It made an odd crunch each time.

It had been two days since Sans came home from another universe, ate some strange magic food, turned into a human, and ran off excited! Leaving the Great Papyrus behind!!

He punched the dough so hard it flew off the counter, joining half a dozen others on the floor. He sighed and started on another. At least one loaf of his surely soon-to-be-famous spaghetti noodle bread had made it to the oven.

Sans had seemed so happy in this human form. But there was no reason he had to go off by himself. He would have gone with him, if he even knew he was going somewhere! It frustrated Papyrus to no end. But most of all, he was worried. Worried at how long Sans had been gone. Worried that he was alone as a squishy human. And worried that....

That...........

Papyrus didn't want to think about it, and he threw himself back into breadmaking. Grillby was out there looking for him anyway. Sans would come home one way or another.

Then came the sound of the front door.

"SANS!?"

---

The moment he opened the door, Chance was swooped up in a huge hug. "papyrus!" He smiled and wrapped his own arms around the taller brother. Before he could get out any more words, Papyrus spoke up at his typical volume.

"SANS!" Papyrus, stern, put him down quickly (but gently) in favor of putting his hands on his hips, and stomped his foot down. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN ANSWERING YOUR PHONE?"

"oh, uh..." He should have expected to be taken to task for something like this. "sorry paps, phone ran out of power. i didn't think too much of it since it was only a day--"

"TWO DAYS!"

His good mood was slowly deflating. Had he really lost track of time that badly? No wonder he was so tired. "sorry. i guess i got too excited at the thought of going home."

"H....home?" He realized his mistake immediately. Papyrus's shoulders sagged, and his face looked less angry than....scared.

"i, um, papyrus..." His mind struggled against the twinge of pain in his heart. Of course he'd be going home! That was how it always was gonna be. Papyrus knew of his origins too, so...so....why was this so hard!? Not being able to bear the look on Papyrus's face, he looked to the side. Leaving him staring at the house he'd lived in for so many years now. But...not for much longer, right? He'd have to say goodbye to it.

"Sans?" Papyrus was waiting on him. Looking back at his little brother just made his heart hurt more. For years, he hadn't wanted to think about it, but with the promise of going home closer now than it ever had been, the fact was unavoidable, standing in front of him. If he wanted to go home, he'd have to leave Papyrus behind too.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he shot forward to hug his brother. "don't worry about it, paps..."

Papyrus returned the hug. "I'm going to worry about it if you......" There was a strange pause. "Sans, your body!"

"...huh?"

"YOU'RE BACK TO NORMAL!"

A quick glance at his hands confirmed it. Skeletal, again. Back into the strange magic costume he'd been trapped in for years. "....oh."

He pressed back into his brother, tears flowing in earnest. Somehow this wasn't a shock to him. It made sense. Despite everything, he was too attached to this place and the people who came with it. In this moment, being here, as Papyrus's brother, even in monster form, was more important than going home. That was what what his heart told him. But it still hurt.

---

Papyrus held Sans until he calmed down. There was a lot he didn't understand. Sans's mood had changed so quickly. Was it related to where he went? Did it have to do with being human? Was it all those "mood swings" teens were known for? He didn't know. He was still worried about what Sans said, about going "home"...but it could wait for now.

Sans's breathing finally evened out. "you're the best, paps."

"NYEH??" That brought a smile to his face, and some of his usual attitude. "Well...OF COURSE! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

A loud beep sounded from the kitchen. "...MY BREAD!"

---

The brothers sat on the couch with a plate in front of them, as Papyrus put on the finishing touches. Bread, full of spaghetti noodles, marinara sauce on top, and a sprinkling of herbs.

"MY CREATION IS COMPLETE!" Papyrus sprang to his feet for dramatic effect. "THE FIRST SPAGHETTI BREAD!" He cut off a slice and held it out for Sans, looking at him expectantly.

Sans took and bit into the slice, bits of dry crunchy noodle crumbling out of it. The bread's contents scraped against the inside of his mouth, and he found out the hard way an entire bay leaf made it into the bite as well. "it sure has a lot of texture, paps."

This pleased Papyrus. "NYEH HEH! BUT OF COURSE! TEXTURE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF A DISH."

"yeah you always know what a dish kneads." He took another bite.

"OH MY GOD SANS. DON'T START."

"what? my puns are the yeast of our problems." Another bite.

"SANS!!"

"just roll with it paps." Crumbs and sauce were getting everywhere.

"SANS! NO MORE...HALF-BAKED PUNS OUT OF YOU! NYEH!"

Sans burst out laughing, and kept laughing, until tears streamed down his face. He kept grabbing more bread, and shoving it in his face as best he could through the laughter and tears. Papyrus had to wonder again if he was okay.

Was he okay? Sans really wasn't sure. He so desperately wanted to go home, but it just wasn't happening. He felt like he was given an amazing opportunity, and he missed his chance. He couldn't prove to the universe that he wanted it enough, and so not only could he not go home, he couldn't live life as a human either.

All he could do was laugh, cry, and eat more and more of this bread. It hurt. But somewhere inside him, he didn't want to admit, he couldn't help thinking maybe this was what home was like. A home anyway. The taste of the bread...the old couch...a little brother. And, maybe home hurt sometimes. A reminder that he couldn't have everything to make him whole. Torn between his origins and his current life.

At least this life came with a cool brother.

He curled up against Papyrus, still slowly attempting to munch on bread, and drifted off to much needed sleep.

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

The end!

.....Papyrus eventually remembers to call Grillby to tell him Sans is back.

I didn't know how much canonically Papyrus knew about Chance's past as a human, and how Chance expected to go "home" someday. I just kinda made him know here....and be low-key anxious that someday his brother would leave D:

I might have seen too late that Papyrus doesn't make his own bread, but.....it's spaghetti bread??? XD Which I found out after writing IS A REAL DISH!? ...WHY XD I thought for sure I was making it up but no...real life beat me to it. But at least the version in this fic is a true Papyrus original 😉 Also going under the assumption here that these skeletons can taste cuz...why would they love bread so much otherwise?? Well, doesn’t matter so much in the actual fic anyway.

I had Chance stay human for so long, longer than in the Human Candy comic, cuz of the magic that makes up the candy. Using hypnotism to trick the soul into thinking its human. Chance already believed he was human so strongly it enhanced the effect.

In fact I wonder if it could possibly work so well he could be in that form for weeks, or indefinitely, so strong is his conviction. But, well.... Some things are more important to him. (Yeah, this picture was a big inspiration for the direction the fic took).

Because the candy would have naturally run out well before he actually turned back, this wavering in his conviction was enough to end its effects. So...while Sans wasn't correct in thinking the universe had something to do with it, he was a little correct in that his mindset had an effect.

[wumblr]

in a roundabout sort of way i think the next paradigm shift in physics is going to have to start with a very down to earth genre of science fiction that has not occurred yet. i’ve been trying to imagine what an optimistic future might look like after the multiverse theory has been discarded, perhaps something that focuses on each person as a completely unique and irreplaceable nexus of experience. i’m not particularly clear on what this would entail, as contrasted with a palette of fiction where you can simply step over to a parallel universe with slight variations on the same characters or where you can navigate distinct timelines with identical characters within them, but i have a persistent impression that whatever it is that changes should propagate up to corresponding philosophical and geopolitical implications (i.e. both in the fiction as part of the story, and hopefully in the real world, as a result of this style of fiction). 

working backwards from there, i guess what i’m saying is that multiverse theory has had a significantly rotten impact on american foreign policy and neoliberal globalization as a result of hollywood’s continued misinterpretation of it, but even if their interpretations had been more reliable it would have suffered from the same rot. (i love a good timeloop story, but...)

the philosophical implications of the multiverse are fruitful for the imperialist project in the sense that they tend to induce a navel-gazing garden path, or a completely unproductive thought terminating cliche by expansion to uncountably many options. 

even considering a physical theory that includes parallel diverging histories at the quantum scale, that does not imply these diverging histories would propagate up to visible effects at the macro scale. (every particle in your body is in unobserved quantum superposition -- just because you never specifically collapse their waveform by individually observing them, that doesn’t put you into quantum superposition. many diverging histories occur within you every day without your knowledge and without compromising your identity. theseus never had a ship, if he’s been replacing pieces of it since day one, right?) even a universe where space is truly infinite and endless does not, on its own, mean that it is mathematically inevitable that there are other variations on you. (it would just mean there are infinitely many galaxies and star systems like ours. there is no guarantee another planet somewhere in the 14 billion year old universe will inevitably delineate another state with borders and laws identical to massachusetts, in the same way accumulating 200 years of 12-tone music history doesn’t mean we’re about to run out of killer hooks for pop songs.) 

perhaps an instrumentalist or materialist corpus of science fiction could instead present a perspective on condensed matter or superconductivity that hinges on the behavior of a single particle, or on the systematic features that induce a tipping point or phase shift, as a metaphor for indvididual everyday action, instead of allowing you to consider an exercise in pointlessness by imagining a probability distribution of every choice available to you over the course of your life... respecting that you can’t tame chaotic dynamical systems simply by taking a cartesian product over all variables, acknowledging that a list of every possibility does not really tell you much about the density or distribution of the interesting ones.

i think the worst or most seductive influence on theorycraft is the sheer amount of imaginitive possibilities -- anything is possible! any theory is valid! join our think tank! we never gotten anything done, but we all cite each other in our papers, so everyone’s career is thriving -- and it’s specifically this aspect i’m trying to combat by considering a more tangible or operationalist alternative. like, “not everything is possible, but a lot of things are, so if you want to get anything done take your head out of the damn clouds, start considering the immediate list of possibilities at hand, and pick up a wrench so we can cause enough of a gravitational wave event within the launch window to make a flyby maneuver around Sag-A* -- are we all clear on that? now, everybody put aside your differences, be nice and work together or we’re all going to fucking die. einstein, godel, stop quibbling and start plotting a trajectory manually or so help me i will turn this ship’s time around and drop you off way back when we picked you up,” like, as a philosophy of science

[piquemos]

2 and 10 and 28 and 33!

2.  Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to? So many! I'm very keen to try writing some sort of timeloop fic, and I've barely written any AUs, so that's something I want to do more of in the future. Currently toying with the idea of writing fake dating, woke up married and bodyguard au fics.

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

El Fin Está Aquí was super easy, because I’m a huge fan of the post-apocalyptic genre and zombies. I literally wrote a chapter a day of it at one point and I felt depressed when I finished it. Then of course, I chose to make it anonymous after the Cristiano stuff came to light. Second easiest was The Worst Kept Secret, because I found the secret relationship trope was so much fun and I became heavily invested in the Geri/Sergio pairing. 

28.  Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

This is hard, because I don’t like leaving anyone out! But...MessiFangirl / @messifangirl was my introduction to Football RPF. I think what I like most about Kathleen’s fic is the way she builds tension between characters (both physically and psychologically) and the pacing of the action. She can literally write any pairing and make me ship them. Not only are her fics well written but they’re really exciting and I’m always very gripped whenever I’m reading one. blindbatalex / @blindbatalex Alex writes... fucking beautifully. His style is vivid with imagery, and his characterisation is always so on point, he really humanises the people he writes about. He often includes deeper explorations of sexuality in his fics, and he writes so sensitively about how fragile and uncertain things are for footballers, given the nature of their careers and it really gives me major feels every time. I’m now at the point where I’m going to start reading his hockey fic even though I have no clue who any of the people in them are (!) because I love his writing.

lunasenzanotte / @diegoalvesisgod Maria has some of the most amazing and original ideas for fics that I’ve ever seen in any fandom. I’m particularly drawn to her darker fics and the way she writes angst, and her dystopian fics literally blow my mind. Death, and death alone made me cry - it is very, very hard-hitting but also sensitively written, and I loved the world she built for it, blending history and a dystopian society.

33. How do you feel about crack?

I feel it definitely has its place and can work very well, depending on how it’s done. I mean, I consider most of my fics to be crack because they’re melodramatic and I don’t speak Spanish, so I really make footballers who I want them to be rather than being accurate most of the time. As a reader I tend to be drawn to more serious fic, but crack is good for when I need something less heavy going. 

send me a number!

[i-heart-danchou]

Again

So this is for the eruriweek day 7 Timeloop!  This one is deeeeeefinitely going to end up a multi chapter fic.  So it’s a bit of a cliffhanger here, but I don’t want to rush this one. 

--- The final battle, the last showdown, humanity’s best chance to take back Maria and save themselves from untimely extinction.  Levi stuck as close to Erwin as he could.  Erwin grounded him, gave him strength and clarity, made it easier for him to fight.  The armored titan showed himself, the colossal titan showed himself, the beast titan showed himself.  The survey corps was fractured, terrified, almost certain to die… all Levi could hear were screams and splintering stones, all he could taste was blood and fear in the air.  They were fucked, and Erwin, for one brief moment faltered.  

The details weren’t important.  In the end Erwin stood tall and lead the greatest charge in recorded history— he was brave, he fell, he bled to death on a roof and Levi stayed with him because there was no other choice.  

He could barely sleep that night.  A fractured, shard of a man haunted by his choices and his memories.  Huddled up in the corner of Erwin’s room, avoiding the bed, avoiding anything that smelled or felt like the commander, Levi shut his eyes.

**

Levi grumbled to himself as the sunlight broke through the windows and onto his face.  Erwin was dead, he was in no fucking mood to face the day at this point.

“Mm… morning, Levi.”  

Levi shot up in the bed at that, recoiling from the impossible voice.  No.  His eyes were as wide as they’d ever been, staring in disbelief at Erwin fucking Smith lying in the bed next to him.  “Erwin??”  He managed, pulling the blanket back to get a better look at him.  “No.  No it’s not possible.”

Erwin looked quite confused at this point, and offered a wary smile to his partner.  “What isn’t?”

“You— you died yesterday.  The beast titan killed you, it—“  He put his hand on Erwin’s heart.  It was beating, his skin was warm… what the hell…?

“Beast titan?  Levi did you have a bad dream?”

“Shit.  No. …maybe.  What day is it?”

“We’re going to take back Wall Maria today.”  Erwin informed him, obviously a little concerned.  “We can talk about this later.”

Levi watched Erwin get dressed and rubbed the back of his head.  A dream?  How could it have been a dream if… it all seemed so fucking real.  Erwin had been torn apart, he’d bled to death in front of him, he’d made peace with his demons but… maybe not?

Levi decided to ignore the dream as much as he could and followed Erwin down to breakfast.  But… everything was playing out just as it had the day before— their meal was the same, there was the same chip in his glass, Connie made the same stupid joke… was it real?  Had this all happened already?

Levi had always trusted Erwin’s intelligence over his own, but certainly stranger things had happened than…. than what, replaying out the same day again?  The day of Erwin’s death?

He reached over and tugged at Erwin’s sleeve.  

“Erwin.  We should abort the plan.  It’s all going to be fucked up, it won’t work.”

Erwin gave him an incredulous look and shook his head.  “We can’t give up now, Levi.  We’ve worked so hard, we’ve come so close.   Why are you saying this now?”

Levi was panicking.  There was no way Erwin was going to believe him… what, that he had lived this day already?  Seen Erwin die?  It was so absurd, Erwin would never believe him in a million years.  

“Because you’re a fucking wounded soldier and you’ve got no place on the battlefield.  You can’t go, Erwin.  We can’t lose you, it’s too fucked up.”

Erwin looked tired.  “Levi… we’ve been over this.  I have to be there when we find the truth out.  Please don’t take this from me.”

The image of Erwin on the crate came unbidden to Levi’s mind… his last moments of desperation, how miserable he was, how he rode out to his death without ever having achieved his dreams.  “You’ll never get to see the basement if you’re dead, Erwin.  Please.  Please.  I’ve never fucking asked you for anything before Erwin, I’ve always done whatever you needed.  Please.”

Levi imagined that he looked fucking desperate, certainly Erwin was looking at him with something disgustingly close to pity in his eyes.  

“I…” Erwin ran a hand through his hair.  “Levi I…”   He sighed.  “This isn’t like you.”

“I know.  But I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t need this.  I need you to fucking live.”

~

Levi was reasonably confident he would be able to achieve the same outcome that Erwin had.  He knew what was going to happen, he knew how fucked they were going to be, and he knew that at the end of the day they captured the colossal titan, reclaimed wall Maria, and solved the mysteries of the world.  

Everything played out the same way it had the day before… Reiner fought Eren, the Beast titan trapped them… it was okay, Levi knew what to do.  

“You guys have to charge at the beast titan.”  He explained to the new recruits.  “Just ride at him.  I’ll kill it while it’s distracted.”

But Levi didn’t have Erwin’s charisma, and it wasn’t long before cracks started to show in the new recruit’s resolve.  They weren’t inspired, enthralled, or brave in this moment.  They didn’t believe that their deaths had meaning.  One broke away from formation, then another, then another.  They scattered as the stones came down around them, and screamed as they were torn to shreds anyway.  

The beast titan saw him before he got the chance to attack, and easily crushed him with a stone from about 400 yards away.  Levi’s last thoughts were of Erwin, and how disappointed he would be.

**

He woke up with a gasp and stared at his hands.  No blood.  No pain, he was whole and… he turned to the side, Erwin was nestled up beside him and sleeping peacefully.  Erwin was safe.  What the fuck.  What the actual fuck.  

He hugged Erwin awake and buried his face in Erwin’s neck.  “I hate you.”  He grumbled.  

“Mm.  Love you too, Levi.”  Erwin said sleepily.  “What’s the matter?”

They were in the same outfits, the same bed, the fucking clouds were in the same position… it was that last day again, again!

Fuck.  What the fuck was happening.  “Nothing.  Everything is great.”  

He was unusually quiet as they ate breakfast together, and perhaps Erwin attributed it to nerves.  Why was this happening?  Why did he keep having to relive this horrible day?  Was… was it because he’d made the wrong choice?  Was there a perfect ending to be had?

He subconsciously put his hand to his chest, where he was hiding the precious box and syringe.  Maybe… maybe he should give Erwin the injection after all.  

Erwin’s titan would be magnificent, a sight to behold, an incredible fucking force.  He’d surely, surely be able to save humanity then but… Levi had let Erwin die for a reason, dammit.  He didn’t want Erwin to be a monster.  He deserved better.  

“Erwin?”  He said eventually.  “If… it comes down to it, and I have to use this injection on you, what would you think?”

“If I’m badly wounded, and we have a titan shifter incapacitated, then of course I would accept that responsibility Levi.  Don’t worry about that.”

“But would you… hate it?”

Erwin seemed surprised at the question.  “It would be an adjustment, I suppose.  I could do a lot of good for humanity.”

“That’s a political answer.”  Levi said brusquely.  “I want to know what you really feel.”

“I… I’m not sure.”  Erwin looked tired.  “Whatever happens, Levi, I don’t want you to hesitate.”

~

 It wasn’t long before Erwin was sprawled out before him once more, bleeding out on the rooftop.  Eren went through the motions once more; he and Mikasa fought him for the injection, are soundly defeated, and Levi stood above Erwin with the needle in his hand.  It was a shame about Armin but... saving Armin hadn’t worked.

“I’m sorry, Erwin.”  He said quietly, rolling up his sleeve for a second time.  “I have to get this right.”

Erwin tried to wrench his arm away, but Levi was ready for him this time.  Levi kept himself steady when the needle pierced Erwin’s skin, but flinched when he heard a soft little voice coming from his commander.   
 “Don’t…”

“I’m sorry.”  Levi repeated, pushing the plunger down as fast as he could.  Erwin’s body seized up as the serum ran through him, his wound bleeding fresh as his body contracted.  His titan was… repulsive.  All of the simple titans were, but somehow this bastard version of Erwin was the worst of all of them.  His eyes were stupid and bulging, his gut hanging over his flattened groin, his hair a messy nest that would have made Erwin sick.  There was nothing of Erwin in this creature, none of the intelligence or beauty that made him so admirable.  Levi felt nauseated.

The titan’s body jiggled as it stumbled across the ground, grasping blindly and trying to take Bertholt into his mouth.  Levi couldn’t tear his eyes away as Erwin’s teeth bore into the child’s skull, and sped towards him as soon as the transformation began anew.

Erwin was… he was whole, he was breathing, he was golden and beautiful and he had two arms and…. fuck!  Levi nearly collapsed running to him, cradling him in his arms and whispering in his ear that it was going to be okay.

“I’ve got you.”  He whispered.  “I’ve got you.  You’re safe, Erwin.  We can see the basement now.”

“No.”  Eren’s voice was cold and distant.  “You can’t.”  

Levi seldom let his guard down, but he could hardly be blamed for allowing his jubilation at Erwin being alive and whole from distracting him for a moment.  There was a sickening squelching sound and he looked down at his shirt.  The distal tip of Eren’s blade was sticking out of his chest, and his blood was soaking his uniform.

“Fuck.”

** Levi's eyes shot open and he clutched at his chest.  He was whole.  Erwin was with him.  Fuck, fuck, not again.  (and here’s a link if you wanna look at it on ao3 or whatever <3  https://archiveofourown.org/works/20453777/chapters/48529133 )