#Like this is soap opera level shit

[twogeeseinatrenchcoat]

Bungou Gay Dogs

Yeah, I'm part of this fandom too. Deal with it! My main ships are Soukoku and Fyolai and my favourite character is Sigma. (Second favourite is Chuuya because he's also a short redhead)

This show is so gay. Like, so gay. There are no canon ships but... I mean... this is the official art.

Tell me that's straight. You can't. That'd be a lie. I've shown this picture to my friends, and they agree that it's very very homosexual. You can't no homo laying in a bed of roses with your enemy. You also can't no homo thinking about ways to kill said enemy every day for seven years. These two are gay.

Also Dazai heavily implies that he's straight (drops Atsushi when he faints into Dazai's arms and says "I don't hug men") but like... straight men don't sit like this.

Anyways mini rant over! Go watch BSD, it's a chaotic mess, I love it.

[loptrcoptr]

Just finished s4 ep 12 of moonlighting and like. I know I say something along these lines after every single episode of this show but what in the cinnamon toasted fuck was that

Never in my life have I sympathized with any human beings more than I sympathize with the folks who watched this shit in real time in 1987 and had to endure this jack fuckery. I literally cannot imagine the screaming I would have done if my ass had waited around through weeks of reruns for stunts like this. Any of yall who did this the first time around are my heroes because I am losing my will over here holy god. Did you break your tv sets? Rip up the tv guide? I felt the ghost of Rage Quitting past as soon as the episode ended like it was imprinted onto the reels from y’all’s original agony lmfao

[sorenlionheart]

the more i think about it the more i realize that archie sonic wouldn't be nearly as infamous if it happened in the context of a superhero book rather than sonic the hedgehog lol

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

These are a couple doodles from yesterday, Gideon as a younger teen, before the growth spurt, maybe 14? He's discovered he's a vampire, and has a lot of recovery to do, since he's severely blood deficient.

I'm gonna let myself explode about my vampire gideon ideas, under construction, under the cut: (I don't write fanfiction, I just throw up my ideas on a tumblr post, apparently :'D)

This is what I love about tumblr - it's a place where I can throw the doodles (something that isn't finished *artwork*), and let myself be really delusional about fictional characters. So I'm gonna take a moment to ramble about the ideas I have for Gideon as a vampire.

If you're a fellow Gideon Head, HI THERE... anyway, here's my thought process on a potential vampire-gideon backstory???

I've always liked the idea of gideon being a vampire, and also becoming a much better person when he's older. And that got me thinking, maybe those two things are linked. Maybe the vampire thing is somehow tied into his reformation.

But I tend to lean towards building my ideas off canon (as opposed to making an AU). And if gideon was a vampire, and knew this during the events of the show, it would have come to light at some point. So, either he doesn't know he's a vampire, or he becomes one later. Becoming one later works narratively, but he's already so vampiric, with the white hair, pale skin, sunscreen, evil, etc. So I'm like, let's go with that.

So, gideon has gone his whole life without knowing he's a vampire, and without drinking blood. I'm thinking that being a vampire in this case (my gravity falls fan version of what a vampire would be) wouldn't adhere to typical vampire conventions. You don't NEED to drink blood to survive.

Here's the idea I got yesterday: after the events of weirdmageddon, gideons experience motivated him to become a better person. It was the awakening, basically. But in the subsequent years, he's still a little shit. Maybe he's in juvenile detention, or prison again. But now, he has the self awareness to know that what he's doing is wrong. This is where my ideas get a little fuzzy, so bear with me. Bud has his suspicions, and as a last resort, puts gideon on some sort of mission trip type of cross country trip, when he's in his teens. And along the way, maybe at the end, there's this secret group of vampires that open gideons eyes to what he really is.

Basically??? Without blood, gideon is very evil. He's an evil little shit. This may not be how it is for every vampire. Maybe some grow very sickly without blood, just get hungry, etc. The effects of blood deficiency vary from vampire to vampire. But Gideon becomes very unhinged. And he'd essentially been Blood Hangry for his whole life. That being said, some of it was just his personality that he needed to work through, but drinking some blood helped a LOT. Blood isn't food for him, it's more like his medication.

Once he has that discovery, he spends a long while, I'm thinking maybe even a year, just recovering from the deficiency. He's almost always drinking blood to keep up his levels, and he's very rarely seen in public to keep the vampire thing a secret. That's what these drawings were supposed to be, him in his pseudo bedridden state. This period in his life would be one big blur; mostly spent binge watching soap operas and being all cozy. In contrast to his usual suit + tie, he's dressing for max comfort: sweatpants, sweatshirt, a knit hat over his ridiculously big hair, and always wrapped in a blanket. Not sure if somehow he feels cold when drinking blood?? But for some reason, I feel like he'd always be wearing like 10 layers and laying under a heated blanket or something.

Eventually, he'd only need to drink blood about once a month for maintenance.

Character development wise - even as an adult, Gideon isn't sure if he's truly a good person. Is the blood deficient version of himself the true gideon? Or is this well adjusted man who he truly is? And there's an issue of the chicken and the egg, too. Gideon was born a vampire. Did these genes activate because he was predisposed to being evil? Or did the vampire thing happen by coincidence? Does being a vampire make him evil, or is it the other way around? He doesn't know, and he never will.

The one thing I'm not sure I like about this idea: i'm worried that I'd be writing off his villainous personality as an illness that can be cured with a thing. Obviously, it would be better if he faced that head on, and figured out how to be better. So I'm still grappling with that. But for now, this is an idea I'm entertaining. Of course, I think it would be interesting if there was a plot point where his usual source of ethically sourced human blood was compromised for a time, and he had to grapple with his personality going topsy turvy.

It's actually embarrassing how much I just wrote???? If you've made it this far, wow, I applaud you. I guess this was just my idea of having a good sunday night, writing down my silly thoughts on gideon gosh darn gleeful. Let me know your thoughts too!!!! I'd love to know if you have any ideas, or questions, or ways to strengthen this potential backstory.

[rei-ismyname]

Jean does not appreciate Emma's Sex Therapy

Telepath soap opera is next level shit

Thanks, Cuckoos. Super helpful

Before I go off making my banal japes, if Emma actually is a sex therapist this whole thing is wildly unethical. Scott is traumatized as hell so it kinda is anyway, if nothing else lines of consent are deeply blurred. I'm not sure what Emma is thinking in provoking an already justifiably angry Phoenix but escalation happened.

Terrifying. Jean accuses Emma of taking advantage of a traumatized Scott, which is hard to argue with, though I think there's some ego involved as she's not listening to Scott. It feels like an inversion of women being blamed for cheating while men dodge it, except the women involved are both incredibly powerful in fantasy ways.

After the Cuckoos say creepy shit then wisely bounce we're treated to Chuck's opinion on the matter for some reason. You've been traumatizing your child soldiers their whole lives buddy, little late for that shit. Fortunately he's ignored.

Very ballsy of Emma to call back to the Dark Phoenix saga, where she was absolutely in the wrong and did terrible things. It doesn't take long for Jeanix to force her on a tour of her trauma leaving her a weeping mess.

This whole situation is a classic for a reason and it's X-Men soap opera at its finest IMO. Jean's rage is absolutely valid but her cruelty is terrifying. Emma's tapestry of pain and passion is laid bare and her defence is fascinating. I always thought it was a bit anticlimactic to have her be assassinated next issue, but I'm a sucker for this drama. Quitely is a master of layouts with telepathy involved - that last panel transition is 👌

[moonshynecybin]

U can’t just drop a banger like “Marc Marquez cryptic pregnancy” and disappear.. I need to to know more

i was thinking about ways to babytrap him where he doesnt just mabort that thang for career reasons, and i think this could get the job done. i also think if its vale's (WHO ELSEEEE) that theres no way he believes that marc didnt know the entire time AND he is. as many other scholars have discussed borderline insane about marc presumably racing pregnant. i mean lbr the offseason is NOT long so he had to have been, and this is in many ways one of the keenest sharpest daggers you could drive into the soft wound of vale's injury issues wrt to marc's particular brand of psycho recklessness. like what if you had TRAUMA and you were ESTRANGED from the love of your life and he was RACING while PREGNANT with your BABY for MONTHS without TELLING YOU... okay saying that. i do realize that this is somewhat the plot of one those f1 heterosexual romance fiction novels but i stand by it!!!!!!! these guys are that level of insane anyways!!!! IDK! maybe marc gets knocked up like halfway through 2015 and has the baby at testing in february. truly maximum drama maximum soap opera marc has NO idea what is happening. its the first time loitering around the same hotel since sepang 2015, and it IS the trauma track, and marc truly thinks it is indigestion (at no point does begging off bike time happen however lol) until UH OH and the baby is there. and alex walks in on marc like on the bathroom floor with a BABY wrapped in a towel and baby goo truly more freaked out than hes ever been in his life its very soap opera. and honda is very smoke and mirrors about everything until genuinely six months later a pic of the baby leaks and its a tiny valentino rossi clone with brown intelligent eyes lol. and then vale puts the (confusing i think) dots together and the shit hits the fan

[confused-wanderer]

Price has had enough.

He could always tell when Simon was off. Be it a slight tick of his hands pulling down on his balaclava when he was nervous, the sudden stillness and slight head tilt he did when he was getting pissed or the silence he used when he was down.

Yeah. Price can always tell. It was like a rift in the usual waves around Ghost, and he can almost always tell 99.999% of the time what the other was feeling simply by noting the atmosphere change around the other man. He can tell everything from a mile away, even if Simon couldn’t himself.

So trust him when he says he knows Ghost wants to be closer to the taskforce. He sees it in how the three banter around, how Ghost allows Gaz to call him “the phantom of the opera” or how Soap is the only one who can whine to L.T about taking off his mask without having a gaping hole in his chest later. Or the unspoken rule of personal space suddenly being invaded as light pats, playful punches and mock hits are tolerated by Ghost without any alarm bells going off.

But Ghost, is shit at communication. At an unfathomable level. The lieutenant was sure the other two men must have recognised his reciprocation, his open fondness and soft spot for them. The fucking clueless bastard who didn’t know the first thing about normal behavior, Price thinks with love.

And he’d reached his limit with trying to let Simon do it his way.

So when they’re all down from a mission, Ghost making his way to exfil while the rest were already in the train, Price tells both his sergeants to just close their eyes. He’s met with a few dubious looks, but the tired expression on his face of trust me I know what I’m doing erases all doubts and they both do it.

The moment ghost’s voice clicks over comms, saying he’s made it out, Price sees both his sergeants relax, shoulders sagging as they let out a deep exhale, and smiles. All his boys cared about each other.

Gaz, who closes his eyes first, ends up falling asleep, lightly swaying with the motion to prevent himself from falling deeper. And Soap is well on his way under, his body stilling dangerously so for his normal state.

Price sits on the opposite seat, keeps his hat on his face to prevent Ghost from seeing his eyes, and lays back. To watch the chaos, of course. Ghost enters after a few minutes, his footsteps heavy before stopping, and then becoming impossibly soft, presumably because he sees them all asleep.

Price watches Ghost falter, THE Ghost look as uncertain and lost as a puppy, fidgeting as he tries to see where he can sit.

The bus starts, and the motion causes Gaz to almost slide off. But before Gaz can fully wake himself up to respond, Ghost catches him, takes the seat between the two sergeants, tightens his gentle grip around the other man, and allows him to rest his weight on Simon, to prevent him from moving any further.

Soap, half awake for all, this lifts his head a bit at the commotion, his battle with sleep was evident. He ends up trying to look at what is happening, before sleep wins and Johnny goes limp, head falling against Simon’s before he realises what happened and tries to lift himself, ending with his head falling back.

And Ghost once again, doesn’t let it. He lifts his shoulder to better support the other man’s neck, and tucks his chin over Soap’s head to keep him comfortable and safe. Soap is now practically leaning on Simon, the latter man for the first time in a long while not only allowing touch but initiating it.

The sergeants were safe and protected, both finally registering that Ghost indeed, had a soft spot for them, and made sure to keep including him in their warmth, making sure he knew he was a part of their family too.

[max1461]

I guess I feel like my life in the last few years is like. Maybe the last 5 years. It's like, fucking movie shit keeps happening, fucking straight out of a Greek tragedy or a fucking soap opera shit keeps happening, and I feel at this point like I must be inviting it somehow? But I feel like, I hate this kind of shit, I don't want to live a narrative I just want to live my fucking life, but all this like. I mean this targetted-ass-feeling narrative arc ass drama ass shit keeps happening to me. I don't feel like I'm inviting this. I mean I'm not talking about friendship drama I'm talking about like serious injury, genuine trauma, really fucked up shit. But I live a very quiet, sheltered life, I mean fuck, I don't party I don't do drugs or rock climb I'm a nerd, I sit in my room and read about linguistics and shit, I mean. My "wildest dreams" are like, move to Japan someday and shit. Yet I feel subjected to Greek tragedy level fuckery, like, why is this happening to me? It feels at this point almost supernatural, like, please explain this to me?

[harmonictechnicality]

Eddie's Memory Log: Day 30

part 1 here | part 2 here | part 4 here | part 5 here | part 6 here

(ao3 link here)

After one whole month of documenting Eddie Munson’s semi-fucked memory levels, Steve has come across a few crucial bullet points:

Eddie never forgets his own name.

If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.

Eddie likes the lime jello better than the chocolate pudding, except he always forgets.

Eddie’s memory is worse after the weekend, but it gets better throughout the week.

Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).

Eddie’s memory is at its best if he’s had multiple visitors the day before.

And maybe the most important bullet of them all:

Eddie always remembers three people (Wayne, Dustin, and Steve).

Memory Log: Day 31

It’s Monday, which means Steve hasn’t seen Eddie all weekend. The knuckleheads and Hellfire lemmings take the weekend shift since they don’t have school. Steve should be grateful for the time off, but he can’t help but wonder how Eddie is feeling - if he’s throwing hissy fits or being confectionery sweet to all of his guests.

The curiosity and concern has settled its way into Steve’s routine during his days off. That’s just how it is.

And that’s exactly why Mondays are becoming Steve’s (secret) favorite day, despite Eddie’s brain managing the slightest soft-reset after the weekend.

“Is he a Hyde or a Kathy today?” Steve asks the nurse at the visitor check-in counter.

He knows the majority of the staff by now, and they’ve all adopted his Eddie Behavioral Lingo. Steve is getting far too cocky about being the hospital trendsetter.

“He’s um…” the nurse's gaze drifts up to Eddie’s door.

Shit. Steve bursts into the room because he already knows exactly what that translates to.

It’s a high-pain day. Eddie affectionately calls them Grendel Days - he finally decided to play along with their lackluster literary references.

Oh yeah… Eddie remembers Beowulf

“Hey, hero.” Steve speaks in a lower volume because loud noises are brutal on days like this. “I heard that Grendel crashed the party today, huh?”

Admittedly, Steve had Dustin retell the important chunks of Beowulf to him cause there’s no way in Nerd Hell that Steve was going to read that fantasy bible of theirs.

Eddie squints one eye open to look at Steve. “That son of a bitch is trying to slice open my goddamn kidneys, I swear.”

“Should I get my nail bat?”

“You’re what?”

Damnit.

Eddie remembers zero fucking percent about their monster battles (and it’s probably best to keep it that way while he’s still recovering).

“Not important.” It is but whatever. Best to just change topics. “Can I interest you in any pain distractions?” 

“What are you gonna do exactly - open your letterman jacket and offer me a lollipop?”  Eddie snorts at his own joke before slumping over, holding his sides.

Steve wags his finger at him. “See, that is karma for being so mean to me all the time.”

“That?”

“All this pain you’re having.”

“Actually, I think it’s because I’m some type of Demonic Tinker Bell.” Eddie offers, fake coughing into his hand. “If not enough people are calling me freak, I start to die.”

It’s just a joke, but Steve is not so keen on his friends joking about things like Mortality anymore.

Still, he laughs. Plays along easily. “All hail the freak.”

Eddie stops his fake coughing fit.

“And just like that, my wings of darkness have returned.” Eddie flicks his wrist theatrically, giving Steve the weakest smile. “See? Much better.”

But it’s not Much Better. Eddie spends the rest of the visit seething with internal pains. Switchboard style - one area inflicting jolts of throbbing agony, then another. Eddie grabs wherever it hurts the most. Sometimes he can’t touch every pain point, it’s just too widespread.

Maybe Steve should… No. He’s not sure his hands could stop the hurt any better. He’s not a doctor and he’s not fucking magic. Steve is just the guy that wears offensively bright sweaters and watches Eddie’s torture spectacle from a front row seat.

They don’t talk much after that. 

Eddie can’t talk through the pain. And apparently… neither can Steve.

Memory Log: Day 35

The pain has been monstrous all week long. They’ve had to plug Eddie’s heart monitor back in because his heart rate tends to skyrocket when waves of pain hit. It used to be easy to forget that Eddie suffered anything other than head trauma.

Not anymore. Not with his room beeping like a terminal metronome at all hours.

Steve stops asking Eddie’s novel-based behavior levels because he already knows the answer. Wishes he didn’t.

“Munson?” The lights are off, which helps with Eddie’s headaches. That’s good. Less pain in his head, behind his eyes. Small victories.

“Go home.” Eddie’s breathing sounds labored.

Steve settles into his chair anyways. “Can’t.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“Me neither.”

“Steve, I swear.”

“Like a sailor.”

Eddie chuckles. “Hurts to laugh.”

Seeing Eddie like this is god awful. He should be shredding on his guitar or mocking Dustin senseless for his clashing pattern combinations. He shouldn't be wrapping his arms around his torso, confining the pain that’s mangling him from the inside out.

“We’ve gotta find a way to get Grendel out of your system, man.” Steve bends down to Eddie’s eye level. “Cause this fucking blows.”

Eddie opens both eyes this time - they’re so sunken in. “… Grendel?”

Shit no.

If Eddie’s pain levels are bad, so are his memories.

Steve tries again anyway. “You know… from Beowulf?”

“Sounds cool.” Eddie eye’s close again. “Are they a band?”

Eddie doesn’t remember Beowulf.

“You think everything sounds like a band name…” Steve mumbles, ignoring the disappointment pinging in his mind.

Eddie reaches for the guitar pick on his neck - one of his bandmates brought it by a couple weeks ago. He rubs his thumb over it as if he can transfer memories through fingerprints.

“Hometown Slut.” Eddie sends a sideways smile over towards Steve. “Snatching virginities and record deals.”

Okay. Fuck. Eddie remembers inside jokes. That seems like a big fucking deal.

Steve attempts to not overreact with this revelation. Avoid another hair ruffling/thumbs-up situation. “Did you have to use the word ‘snatch’ in your weird little slogan?”

“Oh the word choice was very unavoidable, Stevie boy.”

Steve shuts the notebook, focuses on keeping Eddie distracted from his pain. “What about your band?”

“What about it?”

“Do you remem…” Steve searches for another phrase. “Do you think you can tell me the name?”

“Alright, please stop treating ‘remember’ like it’s a dirty word.” Eddie whines. “I’m not the fucking cable version of Breakfast Club. Stop censoring yourself around me.”

“Right.” Steve opens the binder back up.

Eddie doesn’t remember…

“Corroded Coffin.” 

Phew. Eddie does remember his band.

“Do you remember what instrument you play?” Steve puts emphasis on the un-censored word.

“Accordion.”

“Be serious.”

“Polka is dripping in sincerity.”

Steve pinches the skin between his eyebrows. Truly, it’s impressive that Eddie can still manage to be a massive prick, even when he’s writhing in pain. It’s like he’s going for the goddamn gold medal of assholery.

“Guitar.” Eddie dangles the pick around, somewhat peeved. “Now can we chill with the third degree for today, officer?”

Steve notices Eddie’s monitor is beeping faster than it was when he first entered the room. That sobers him up from his irritation.

“Yeah, sure.” He sighs. “No more questions for today.”

Eddie cuts him a devious look. “Well I didn’t say that now, did I?”

“Huh?”

“Oh the vapid look is not nearly as cute as you think it is.” Eddie lifts himself up slightly from his stack of pillows. He flattens them out and into a pillow wall as he sits upright. “How about I ask the questions today?”

“Why? I’m not the one who’s struggling with brain stuff.” Steve walks over to give him a hand. Eddies seems to be struggling with his strength, which is to be expected after becoming a fucking bat buffet.

“That’s debatable.” Eddie mumbles.

Steve’s close enough to feel his breath as he pushes the pillows comfortably around Eddie’s new sitting position. 

It’s not weird, the close contact or the breath. Steve has been helping Eddie with gross shit for a month - holding his hair when he starts puking or coughing up blood. Unraveling him from tubes and cords because Eddie is notorious for twisting himself into a medical straight jacket with this shit.

It’s not weird… it’s just weird how aware Steve is of Eddie’s breath. How warm and jagged it feels, even through his layered clothes.

Maybe Eddie is aware too, because he starts breathing through his nose the longer the silence is drawn out between them. Steve finally takes a step back, creates a non-breath-touching distance once again.

“Humor me then.” Eddie fills the tense pause.

Steve crosses his arms. “Don’t I always?”

“No. Usually, you aggravate me.” But see, why do Eddie’s eyes get all shimmery when he says snarky shit? And why does Steve suddenly use words like shimmery to describe Eddie Munson?

Why does it remind him of those sequined dresses that girls wear to homecoming dances when Eddie’s eyes do that shimmery thing? It’s like his mind is taking the insults and turning them into compliments, which is so bizarre.

“Steve?”

Shit, right. Say something instead of thinking about Eddie’s sequined eyes, goddamnit. “Yeah?” 

Real original, asshole.

“Just… look.” Eddie taps his fingers against this side of his bed. “There’s sharp pains shooting through every fucking limb on my body right now. I just need a distraction today - not a pop quiz.”

Yeah, Steve offered the distraction idea at the beginning of the week. But really, that’s not what he’s here to do. He’s here for the kids. He’s here to fill his jobless life with a meaningful task. Help Eddie the way he couldn’t help him in the Upside Down.

But the kids have no idea what it’s like every day. How some days, they are friendly and comfortable with one another. How some days, there’s a verbal boxing match between them - and on those days, they’re both the losers.

How some days, Steve is the one getting flustered instead of Eddie (who’s usually being called out for staring at Steve’s hair or arms or whatever else his eyes decide to fixate on).

Nobody else knows how many climates this hospital room can hold. Nobody besides Steve and Eddie.

“Fine.” Steve decides after mulling it over for far too long. “I’ll be your distraction.”

“Careful, Steve.” Eddie breaks the non-breath-touching distance, poking Steve’s wrist. “You almost sound flattered.”

“Hardly.” Bad time to bring up the word hard - when they’re seesawing between taunts and flirtations. Thank god for the binder Steve’s holding, obscuring any part of his anatomy that could potentially betray his coolness at the moment.

“Go ahead, Munson.” Steve backs away from Eddie’s touch. “Ask your questions.”

Eddie runs the entire thing as if he were a late night talk show host. Uses his hospital side table as his interview desk. Pretends his empty jello container is his microphone. Calls Steve his ‘special guest’ the whole time. Steve scoots his chair right next to Eddie’s bed, just to keep up the talk show charade. 

An hour into it, they’re both feeding off one another’s energy and attention. Steve can tell by the way Eddie’s fingers unclench from his sides and his teeth stop gritting together, that his pain is subsiding - or perhaps it’s no longer at the focal point of his mind. His heart monitor is at a tempo that seems ideal - less fast and less choppy. More like a ballad than a pop song.

Eddie’s questions range from common to outright strange. He asks Steve shit like, ‘what’s your favorite breakfast food?’ And then follows it up with, ‘okay - but if you could only eat scrambled eggs for dinner, would they still be your favorite breakfast? Or does time of day play a vital role in your food preferences?’

“Does it fucking matter?” Steve rolls his eyes. More than annoyed by Eddie’s constant need to play devil’s advocate.

“Nothing matters, Harrington.” Eddie replies. “And please stop answering my questions with more questions. This isn’t a goddamn improv game.”

Eddie remembers how to be a pain in the ass.

Steve doesn’t write it down, doesn’t really need to. “What the hell is an improv game?”

“I swear to Johnny Carson, I’ll kick you off my show.”

“Whatever.” Steve isn’t any less confused, but what’s new. “I guess time of day does matter a little bit.”

“Ha! Knew it. You’re so predictable.”

“And you’re a fucking handful.”

“That’s high praise coming from such an esteemed guest of the show.” Eddie’s hand is splayed over his chest, over his heart. The heart that’s beating like a ballad and not a pop song according to his monitor.

Okay stop.

Steve knows this is a game. A shtick. So why is his face heating up? Why are his palms sweatier than they were twenty minutes ago? Why does Steve keep wondering what Eddie’s eyelashes feel like against his cheek when he flutters them in that overly dramatic way?

The clock interrupts his questioning. Probably for the best.

They exchange goodbyes. Eddie always gets a little concerned that Steve might not show up again. Steve always tucks his bitchiness away to reassure Eddie that he’ll be back on Monday.

It’s their routine. Not just Steve’s routine. It’s theirs now.

Memory Log: Day 38

It’s Monday. Soft-reset day. Steve’s new favorite day.

“Hey, Steve.” One of the nurses stops him on his way to Eddie’s room. 

Her name is Sam - Steve likes Sam the best because she lets him stay longer on days when Eddie feels his shittiest. She also gives him gum to help with his nerves. 

Hospitals do that sometimes. They just activate his nerves like glow sticks. Snapping and crackling the radioactive colors that make his stomach churn.

Anyways, the gum helps.

“What’s up?” Steve asks.

“Just wondering,” Sam gives him a pleasant smile. “Do we have a code for Eddie’s good days?”

“Good days?” They don’t hear that phrase often around here. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe you should think of one.” She starts flipping through some files. “He’s been in great spirits for three days now.”

Three days? Steve rarely gets three hours of Eddie being in great spirits. The guy is a perpetual ghoul, so this is definitely something to celebrate.

Steve makes a pit stop to the vending machine. Grabs them a couple of root beers and candy bars for the occasion. Look, it’s not champagne and hors d’oeuvres, but it’ll suffice. Besides, Eddie doesn’t strike him as a ritzy kind of dude anyways. He’d probably make some joke like, ‘you mean to tell me that a whore made these d’ouevres?’

Jesus christ, Steve’s been hanging out with Eddie for too long.

“There’s my favorite lady killer.” Eddie is already grinning as Steve walks in the door. 

Still remembers Steve is a Hometown Slut (of all the things that would stick to his brain… why that?)

“Seriously, you look sharp today.”

Steve’s knees lock at the compliment. “Um. Thanks. So do you.”

And the crazy part is, he means that. There’s a peachy color returning back to Eddie’s skin. The bags under his eyes are a faded gray instead of an Almost Black. 

And his hair. Eddie’s hair is actually untangled. His curls are fluffed out, sort of feathery at the ends. Maybe somebody trimmed all of the dead pieces off because it looks... Well, it looks nice.

Steve kind of hates to admit that.

“Guessing your pain levels are better?”

“You guess right.” Eddie nods. “Whatever meds they gave me Friday night finally kicked Grendel’s lousy ass.”

Eddie remembers Beowulf again.

“Glad to hear it.” Steve is trying to process how great things are going. Eddie’s complexion. Eddie’s memories. It’s never this clear on Mondays. Steve tries to just be grateful to have a day like this, but he can’t help but wonder why.

Why now?

“Eggs for breakfast?” Eddie is fiddling with his necklace again.

Steve jerks his head up. “You… didn’t forget?”

“Don’t get too excited.” Eddie gestures to Steve’s pants. “Because I wish I could forget those ridiculous khakis that you always wear on Mondays.”

“Shit, really?”

“What’s the deal with that anyways?” Eddie’s nose scrunches up at the question. “Laundry day or something?”

“I…” Yes.

“Or do you think your ass just looks better in lighter colors?”

“Well…” Also yes.

Eddie winks. “Looks like your ability to complete a sentence is just as fucked as my memory, huh Stevie?”

Steve nervously runs his hands through his hair. “This is just a lot to process, sorry.”

And it is. Steve starts jotting everything down before he starts to forget:

Eddie remembers Steve’s favorite breakfast food.

Eddie remembers Steve wearing khakis on previous Mondays.

Eddie remembers Steve’s Memory Fucked inside joke.

Eddie remembers a shit ton about Steve.

Eddie remembers.

Very lightly, Steve scribbles on the corner of the page:

Eddie notices Steve’s ass…

The rest of the visit is pretty awesome, one of the best ones they’ve ever had. Eddie recalls practically everything from Friday, which is blowing Steve’s mind. They talk about his visit with Dustin on Sunday, and how excited Eddie is to see Wayne on Thursday. Steve doesn’t even bother with taking more notes because Eddie remembers it all.

They talk like real friends today. Friends that occasionally notice other friend’s asses or get lost in their sequined eyes, but still. It’s somewhere in the ballpark of friends, right? Whatever it is, it’s better than ripping each other apart with insults. That’s gotta count for something.

Eddie falls asleep an hour before visiting hours are over. He falls asleep still smiling from the last joke he told before dozing off. Steve studies his facial features because he can finally see more of them (Eddie’s bangs were trimmed too, thank god). 

He’s still pretty banged up. Cuts that overlap and bruises that change gradient the further up they spread. As if the softer parts of Eddie are still freshly wounded. That’s not how it works, Steve has been beaten up enough to know that people don’t bruise like fruit. Not really.

Steve can just see more of Eddie now, which is proving to be a dangerous road to travel down. Way too many detours to let his mind wander. Think. Overthink.

He thinks Eddie is attractive. That’s the detour he’s taking tonight. And if this person didn’t already occupy so much space in his mind, that detour might be more shocking to him. But it’s barely registering on the shock-meter.

Eddie’s unharmed features are highlighted in attractiveness against the purples and grays and reds. It’s almost impossible not to notice that he’s attractive when his face has this many colors. This much character.

Steve doesn’t know what’s going on. This could all be his exhaustion kicking in. Or maybe Eddie’s great spirits has twisted Steve’s outlook on things. Or maybe it’s an illusion from the Better Day they’ve shared together.

The only clear answer that Steve has right now is that Eddie remembers him. And that fucking means something.

Steve stops by to tell Sam the good news on his way out.

“I think he’s getting better.”

Sam nods once. “He definitely feels better, I’ll give you that.”

“Sure, but…” Steve begins. “I think his memory is getting better too. He remembers the littlest details about me.”

“Steve.”

“That’s huge, right?” Steve is so awestruck. “Like… I don’t know, Sam. Maybe he’ll get to go home soon.”

She doesn’t respond right away. Her eyes just keep shifting between Steve and Eddie’s door.

“I think I need to show you something.”

That can’t be good. Her tone is very, ‘speak with me after class, young man.’

They quietly walk back into Eddie’s room. Sam motions her head for Steve to approach Eddie’s bedside. Cautiously, Steve does.

She gently pulls back Eddie’s thin blanket, and Steve feels the air vacate his fucking lungs.

Eddie’s arms. There’s tape and IVs and tattoos and scars - all of the usual stuff. 

But then there’s writing. Eddie is covered in black ink, scribbled notes filling in all the gaps of his pale skin. Steve can’t make out most of the words - it’s all messy.

But there’s one word he spots over and over again.

‘Steve.’

It’s all messy, sure. But it’s all about him.

“Holy shit.” Steve whispers, quickly looking towards Sam. “Sorry, didn’t mean to swear.”

“No, that’s an appropriate response.” Of course she’d be cool about him swearing.

Without waking up Eddie, he begins to decipher the notes as best as he can: 

Scrambled eggs. Extra hold hairspray. Hyde or Kathy. Yellow sweater. Khakis on Mondays.

There are notes on things they haven’t talked about as well. Things that Eddie has just observed:

Steve visits Mon-Fri.

Steve laughs at all of your jokes, even the mean ones.

Steve applies chapstick when he’s nervous.

Steve will untangle your wires without making it weird.

The name Steve no longer sounds the same after reading it fifteen times over.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.” Sam places a hand on Steve’s back. “It’s not that he’s remembering everything again.”

“Oh.”

“He just doesn’t want to forget you.”

No. That can’t be right. That can’t be possible. Of course Eddie knows who Steve is. Of course he does.

Steve finds a shitty excuse to get the hell out of this place. He’s polite about it because Sam is a kindhearted person, but this is so fucking unfair. Every last bit of it, down the last ink stain on Eddie’s nondominant arm.

Max isn’t awake. Eddie still has a skim-milk memory. Nothing has gotten better?

Well that shit ends today. Because whatever detour Steve’s mind discovered tonight, it’s leading him down a fucking freeway of tenacity. He’s fueled by whatever attraction or feelings he’s developing for Eddie. Whether it’s friendship or something more, it really doesn’t matter. Not after tonight.

Steve just cares about Eddie way too much to let his mind rot away like this. He’s too close, too connected to the problem to let it go unsolved forever.

As soon as Steve gets home, he calls Robin.

“Really, dingus?” Robin answers the phone like that. Annoyed and groaning already. “It’s late and I’m neck-deep in a John Hughes marathon.”

“It’s about Eddie.” Steve gets right to it.

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh fuck.” She exhales loudly. “How can I help?”

“You’re friends with his bandmates, right?”

“Yeah, kinda. Why?”

Steve flips through the memory log. Locates one of his crucial bullet points:

Eddie can hum the theme songs to all of the shitty soap operas (even on bad days).

“I need you to ask them to make a mixtape of Eddie’s favorite songs.” Steve requests. “And it should be in chronological order. From stuff he liked as a kid, to stuff he’s into now.”

“Okay…” Robin pauses. “And you think this will help?”

“I don’t know.” Which is true, it could be a big waste of time. “But I’ve gotta try something.”

This might be dumb. But music helped them defeat(ish) Vecna. So there’s a possibility it could massage the knots in Eddie’s mind. Relax him enough to remember his life. All of it.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Steve adds before hanging up.

“What?”

Steve hits the accelerator on his freeway of tenacity.

“I need my fucking car back.”

[bellysoupset]

Carsickness?

Leo was bouncing his leg up and down as they waited for Bella and Luke to get out of the house. He was trying to keep an upbeat attitude, after all Jonah was already cranky enough for both of them, but it was hard when those two idiots seemed to always be late for everything.

"How are you gonna run for mayor if you cannot make it to a 9 AM appointment, Luke?" Leo groaned, as they finally walked out, Lucas bouncing on his feet, while Bella trailed after him with a tired demeanor.

"I'm running for mayor?" Luke frowned, jumping the last two steps and messing up Leo's hair, causing the blonde to shove him off with a scoff.

"Give it five years," Leo grumbled, while Jonah simply huffed, arms crossed to his chest and leaning against his car.

"Twenty three minutes," Jon said through his teeth, leveling Lucas with a glare, then Bella as well for good measure, "you two said you'd be waiting for us, twenty three minutes ago."

"Oh my, you're going to die because you waited twenty minutes?" Lucas rolled his eyes, "you're the one who invited us, if you don't want us-"

"Actually, I invited Bella," Leo cleared up, feeling a smidge of amusement over his annoyance that matched his boyfriend's. If there was one thing they could agree on was that being late was terrible.

Luke made a wounded face, all but pouting and stumbling into place, "Ah... You don't want me to go...?"

Well, shit.

More often than not they could joke and all be sarcastic and mean and it barely registered, but in truth the last thing that Leo wanted was to hurt his friends. He let out a sigh, "I didn't say that."

"God, you guys are so mushy," Bella groaned, planting a hand on her husband's back and shoving him forward, "get in the car, Atwood."

It was all the incentive they needed and they got the party on the road. Leo was driving, for once, because he really didn't want to go pick up his new car feeling carsick and woozy. Jonah was still in a shitty mood, but he had retrieved JD from her cat carrier box and was petting her, a clear tell his mood would be looking up soon enough. And Luke wouldn't shut the fuck up.

He was like a little kid, or rather, a puppy trapped in the backseat of their car that was far too small for him. Bella was leaning against the door, curled up slightly and watching him with a fond smile on, not seeming bothered by the fact he didn't seem able to stand still.

Leo wondered if he had that same type of stupid love struck look on when he looked at Jonah, because for all Bella wanted to upkeep her bitchface, she was clearly smitten to hell and back.

"Do you guys wanna stop for breakfast?" Luke pushed his face slightly against the window as they drove by a side of the road restaurant.

"Our appointment is at 10h30 AM" Jonah reminded them, "no stopping."

"Can we turn music on?"

"No."

"You're gonna remove that stick from your ass or...?" Lucas rolled his eyes, sliding his had in between seats so he could pet JD, only for Jonah to turn his body away, shielding the cat.

Leo caught Bella's eyes in the rearview mirror and she was grinning like mad, leaning to whisper in his ear, "they're never beating the sibling allegations."

Leo snorted at the thought, glancing at Jonah once more and the frankly very similar jawline he had with Luke... Whatever. They had enough family drama without needing to turn their group into a full blown soap opera with paternity reveals and what not.

The shop they were headed to was in Portland and not the best area of the town, hence why Leo had asked Bella to tag along. If there was one person in their friend group that he trusted with mechanics it was Bell, and even more so to kick the ass of anyone trying to scam him.

The opportunity had just been too good to pass up, a beautiful white SUV that had Leo already imagining himself inside of it like a prince and better yet, that fit the price he had set for himself. Of course Jonah had bitched and moaned about getting a second hand car, but he could bitch and moan all he wanted, Leo wanted to pay for his own car thank you very much.

Again, if there was anyone who understood that, it was Bella and her Jurassic car, that was older than both their ages combined.

"Uhm, Leo," Bella poked his shoulder, "can you pull over? Over there," she pointed over his shoulder to a quiet street in a bit of a broke down neighborhood. No, he did not want to pull over Jon's fancy BMW, but he did anyway.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, who had successfully managed to pspspsp JD to rest her little head in his hand, turning to look at his wife.

"Just a second," Bella mumbled, pushing his had away from her waist when Luke tried to hold her, and opening the door.

She circled the car and Leo frowned, looking at Jon with a puzzled expression, "what the hell...?" in the rearview mirror he saw Bella brace against the trunk, taking deep, measured breaths... Then bend down and disappear from view.

"What the fuck!?" Leo echoed his incredulity, throwing his own door open just in time to hear her retching, half muffled by Luke's exaggerated, "BELL!"

Leo got out as well, while Jon kept his ass planted inside, but threw open his door, carefully moving JD back to her carrier.

As soon as Leo rounded the back, he found Bella almost down to her knees, coughing. She was holding on the back of the car with one hand, while the other one was trying - and sort of failing - to keep back her hair. There was a small puddle of vomit, but nothing much.

"Why didn't you say you were feeling sick, baby?!" Lucas skipped down to his knees, grabbing her and starting to rub her back, causing Bella to let out an annoyed groan.

"I'm fine..." She panted, eyes squeezed shut and breathing slowly through her mouth. Leo raised his eyebrows, not sure if he was impressed by her ability to lie in face of the evidence or not.

"Did you get carsick?" he asked, sidestepping the mess and Bella shook her head, blowing out a small burp and leaning more forward. Luke planted a hand on her forehead, supporting her head as her stomach, appearing thanks to her crop top, heaved once more.

Leo cringed in sympathy and returned to the car, where Jonah had a queasy frown on, "no," Leo knelt on the seat, poking his fiancé, "no bitching at her for getting sick, be nice."

"I'm not a dog," Jonah barked at him and JD meowed, sounding offended just like her owner. Leo snorted, grabbing a water bottle in the glovebox and showing his tongue to his cat.

"Stop siding with him, little miss, he doesn't even give you extra snacks," Leo whispered, then walked back to the back, where Bella was trying and failing to cough up more of last night's dinner.

"Shh," Luke held her hair back now, deciding to make himself useful, and was rubbing her back with the other hand, "deep breaths, baby."

"Shut- Shut up," Bella groaned, gulping down nauseously. She lifted up her head to look at Leo, "I'm sorry..." her throat bobbed dangerously, "just give me a minute."

"No, take your time," Leo frowned, "don't worry about the appointment, the guy can wait ten minutes."

The irony of his words, when they had been bitching about waiting just an hour before, was not lost on Leo and he opened a smile. Bella offered him a little queasy smirk, before groaning, "oh god-" and heaving again, managing to bring up a mouthful of brightly colored stuff against the tarmac.

A gruesome sight, really. Leo's disgust probably showed on his face, because Luke glared over Bella's head, "go away," he said roughly and Leo jumped, spooked.

"Sorry, I- I'm gonna give you some privacy, sorry-" he walked backwards to the driver's side and entered, feeling a stab of guilt. He didn't mean to make Bella self conscious, hopefully this was just Luke being insane...

"Is she alright?" Jon asked, glancing at the rearview mirror. They couldn't see much, just Luke rubbing his wife's back and Bella's bending down with another heave, "that was out of nowhere."

"It's this stupid stanced car," Leo grumbled, crossing his arms, "I wouldn't survive 10 minutes in the back."

"My car is not stanced," Jon wrinkled his nose, offended, "it's just a sports car."

"The back is cramped."

"Luke was fine and he's twice her size," Jonah pointed out, then perked up as the couple in question walked back to the car.

Bella collapsed inside, holding the water bottle to her face, appreciating the cool surface. Her voice was all raspy as she said, "sorry, guys," she gulped down, "don't know what happened."

"Carsickness is a bitch," Leo volunteered, then nearly laughed as he saw Luke trying to fix Bella's top and her shoving his hand away and hissing, "stop fussing, I'm fine."

"Hold on," Leo turned up the A/C to the max, knowing it'd help and Bella let out a small relieved sigh. She opened her eyes, seeming to be coming back to her former self, then unscrewed the cap of the water bottle, taking a sip.

"Let's go?"

"You don't want us to wait a minute?" Luke frowned, stroking her cheek despite Bella's previous shoves, "just so your stomach settles?"

"It's plenty settled," she cleared her throat, taking a bigger gulp, "c'moooon, I'm not dying. Let's go, we're getting blondie a new car today."

And sure, she was all show and badass attitude, but Bella did look better. Her paleness was fading quickly and she no longer was gulping down nervously. Nevertheless, Leo kept an eye on her, just in case.

The mechanic wasn't far out, but the guy smelled like beer and immediately assumed Bella and Leo were together, since they were the first to enter. How the guy hadn't clocked him as gay was beyond Leo, but he bit his tongue and said nothing as the mildly homophobic man continued to chat up Bella as if she was the airhead wife who called the shots of their relationship with pouts and whines.

"It's a nice car, right ma'am?" the man opened the driver's door for Bella, adjusting the seat, "gonna impress all your friends, it's a head turner."

"I know, right?" Bella's voice was up a whole note to a chilling degree and Leo opened a huge smile at her cheerleader tone, "Leo, sweetheart, look at the automatic panel..."

"Its got a blindspot detector," the mechanic continued to prattle on, "it's keyless and-" he clicked on a button, opening the trunk, "a huge trunk for all sorts of groceries."

"A big trunk, Leo!" Bella squealed and Leo had to press his lips not to laugh, "he loves it, if you know what I mean," she winked and the man nodded in approval, letting his eyes go down Bell's body, completely missing the double meaning.

"Yes, ma'am, he's a lucky man," he said patting the leather seat, "the backseat is spacious, you wanna check it?"

"Absolutely," Bella jumped from the driver's seat so she could climb in the back.

Leo took the chance since they were both preoccupied, so he could look back to where Luke and Jon were waiting at the doors of the garage, both silently shaking with giggles. Jonah's face was an entire shade darker with a blush and he looked close to tears from the effort of holding back laughter.

"Can we take a look under the hood, Keith?" Bella asked and the man eagerly approved.

"Of course, darling, c'mere-" he opened the hood, then did nothing, gesturing around, "as you see, it's all in order-"

"Battery is not original," Bella's voice was now back to its own normal tone and the man seemed startled, "neither is the painting, the car used to be orange," she pointed a detail, "and-" she started unscrewing something that was totally beyond Leo's knowledge, then turned around and grabbed a metal rod from one of the mechanic benches, cleaning it and shoving it inside the compartment she had just unscrewed, "this oil is from the last century, he'll need to get this changed ASAP. You're gonna reduce the price of that, of course- Did you change out the radiator? Why?"

Keith looked like he had just seen a magic trick and his brain was trying and failing to figure it out. He spluttered a bit, so Bella planted her hands on her hips, "Keith?"

In the end, Leo got two thousand bucks off the price he had originally planned to pay, as well as a whole wheel, that they gracefully put in the really large trunk.

They drove out separately now, Leo and Bella in the new vehicle, and Jon, Luke and JD in Jonah's car, "I kinda miss having keys," Leo pouted, "I was gonna get a cute keychain."

"You can still get one for your house keys," Bella smiled, leaning in to squeeze his arm, "and for the emergency car keys."

"I guess," he couldn't stop smiling, "at least now you're not gonna be carsick on the drive back. I'm sorry, we should've thought Jonah's car was cramped as hell and taken Luke's-"

"I wasn't carsick," Bella shrugged, lowering her window and smiling as Jon zoomed past them, honking for good measure. It was probably Luke driving.

"No?"

"Nah, felt off since I woke up," her cheeks turned pink, hand sliding to her stomach in a fond manner... And Leo nearly drove his brand new (sorta) car straight into a lamp post.

"Bella?!"

"No," she shook her head, then paused, "I don't know, don't think so," Bella bit down her lip, seeming hesitant for the first time all day, all the brilliant confidence he had seen before vanishing in a puff, "don't tell anyone, not that there's anything to tell, just-"

"Does Luke-" his mouth was really dry now and his heart was hammering, as if Leo was the father of Bella's hypothetical baby. She shrugged, uncomfortable.

"Please don't say anything," she looked away, "like I said, it's probably not it."

"Ah," Leo's head was spinning now and he stopped at a red light, catching up with Luke and Jonah. The window lowered and Jonah poked his head out, sunglasses on and whistling.

"Hey handsome!" he yelled and Leo lowered his window, but he was really off his game now, "can I have your number!?"

He chuckled weakly, while Bella leaned over him, "fuck off, he's taken, Jonah!" she said brightly, squeezing Leo's arm so he'd get himself together, "suuuuch a lucky guy to land a beautiful woman like me, Keith said so!"

Jonah cackled, raising a middle finger and lowered his sunglasses, a lopsided smile on as he caught Leo's eyes, "race you home?" Luke made the BMW roar.

Bella scoffed, patting Leo's shoulder, "c'mon, blondie, get your shit together. Your car is cooler than Jon's prehistoric BMW!" she shouted the last line and Jonah continued to laugh.

"Can't hear you over the noise of you LOSING!"

Leo shook his head, catching Bella's eyes and then squeezed her hand in his, forcing up a smile and turning to her, "put your seatbelt on, Bell," then to Jonah, leaning out of his window as well, "eat dust, motherfucker."

All he heard was Jonah saying, "crush 'em," to Luke before the lights turned green.

[puppetwoman17]

Sneak peek of The Batson Family Soap Opera, Ft. The Justice League

Billy jerked up, not even in a mild daze. His eyes were big and clear. His grip on the blanket tightened. He looked around, arms jerking to hold something, before he saw the small light in his pocket.

“Shit,” he mumbled, voice grainy from the lack of water. He fumbled for his phone and swiped. Bart only got a quick look at the profile picture–a stock photo of a beach–before Billy got up.

M’gann let out a small whine as he rounded the couch. “Billy?”

“Sorry, just gimme a sec, yeah? Gotta take this.”

“I–okay,” the martian smiled sadly as she watched their friend walk towards the dining table behind the living room.

His knuckles were white, Bart noticed.

Now, you could say that eavesdropping on your friend and den dad’s conversation without his permission was a bad thing, but he wasn’t the only one! It was clear that the others were too! In fact, Cassie took the remote and subtly pushed down the volume to a more helpful level, and it was no secret that she had super hearing. The only person who seemed remotely uninterested was Z.

On the other hand, going for the bandwagon was never the right thing, but sue him. He inched his head toward his backrest and breathed quietly, fearful to miss anything.

“Hello?”

Huh. He sounded almost…dejected.

“Yeah it’s me, did you need some—Hold up, calm down!”

Bart exchanged glances with Artemis and Roy. What was wrong? Was Billy in danger?

A second longer, the back of the room was silent. Even Billy’s breaths couldn’t be heard. A quiet murmur could be heard from his phone.

He wondered what—

“HE DID WHAT?!”

The couch-full of heroes jumped at their den dad’s angry tone. Some of them slowly turned to look behind them. Others stayed rooted to the TV, staring through the reflective screen.

“I—No, do you hear me? You—E, you are not going to—DON’ T YOU DARE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I’M GONNA HAVE TO CLEAN?!”

Billy swiftly ended the call, breathing harsh and loud. He plodded back to the swaddle of cushions, though he didn’t get back in like everyone thought.

“Z.”

Zatanna looked silently at her so-called Champion, eyes clear and knowing. “How bad?”

“I’ve got a lot of shit to clean up tonight.”

“You got it, boss!” The sorceress rose from her seat and adjusted her hat before smiling apologetically at the rest of them. “Sorry, Billy and I need to handle something.”

“Anything we can help with?” Conner asked.

“Even if it’s small, we’ll do it,” Gar said eagerly.

Bart was going to offer his assistance too, but one look at Billy told him that he wouldn’t be taking any help that wasn’t Zatanna’s.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “I can handle it.”

“You sure? It sounded pretty serious.”

Billy seemed to freeze up at that. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by the older heroes. He avoided looking at them and instead chose to nod with Zatanna, who smoothed the creases of her clothes and walked toward the zeta tube teleporters.

He turned back. “Everything’s fine.”

“Doesn’t seem fine,” said Conner.

“It’s none of your business. Go to bed when it’s lights out.”

And with that, Billy and Zatanna made for the zeta tubes without another word. The only remaining sound in the room was the familiar jolt of the boom tubes as the two magic users left the Team base.

[oshinohoshi]

Oshi no Ko Chapter 159 Thoughts

This was a fun April Fool's Day chapter and I can't wait for the real one!

When I saw the spoilers about Akane dressed as Ruby I thought it was a joke. I said in my last chapter review that if this was set-up to catch Nino it would be so bad, but this isn't just bad. It's hilarious. We have reached the level of parody

It's fine. I can accept this. So, Akane pulls off a Ruby wig and -

I'm sorry, I can't. I snort laughed while typing this

OK. There's serious shit in this chapter. I'll try to focus

I miss when Akane was a person rather than a plot device

Ichigo finally did something useful. It doesn't make up for his culpability in Ai's death and the way he ran away but I'm still happy for him

So... about Nino/Ryosuke. I'm pretty sure this means that Nino only idolized Ai after Ryosuke did but I still headcanon her having an attraction/obsession for Ai as a teen and suppressing it. Nothing in this chapter says she didn't!

I'm not wholly against them having dated if done well, but I think it has pushed us into soap opera territory and away from a condemnation of misogynistic fandom and the systems propping the whole thing up

Because Ryosuke wasn't an incel. He was a hypocrite. Which could be interesting except that I have no faith that this will be expounded on

I complained about Nino becoming a paper thin villain but this chapter brought back some of her depth

"If Ai was nothing but an ordinary girl, what would that have made us, then?" hammers home her inferiority complex. If Ai wasn't perfect, then Nino was upstaged in her professional and personal life by a normal girl

If Ai actually got her feelings hurt, then the fight between them hurt Ai and Nino is partially to blame for it

(Thank you @penguinkyun for contextualizing this for me).

This panel goes hard.

The Ryosuke suicide panel affected me for two reasons:

Nino told him to die (no idea if we'll learn when she told him that, but anyway) and that's the second time she has expressed that and someone actually did

I will never have sympathy for the POS that is Ryosuke, but I am horrified to see him hanging like that. His last moments must have been torture. Although he doesn't deserve for me to feel bad for him, it still makes me queasy

I know Ruby upstaged Kana in a way that undermines everything about what we were led to believe would happen with Kana, but this panel melted my heart so much that I kind of ignored it (sorry). Sarina gets to have a real life with friends and she achieved her dream of becoming an idol. It tugs at my heartstrings. They just look so happy

What the hell is going on with Hikaru's expression. I can't stop laughing at it

I don't buy Hikaru as the big bad. This is just a fakeout all over again. Probably. I've given up predicting anything

It seriously concerns me how much I relate to Nino below. Dammit, Nino. Stop calling me out

Next week: Crow girl is the big bad. She pushes Aqua and Hikaru into the sea. Ruby dressed as Akane channeling Ai rappels from a helicopter to save them. I declare this peak fiction and take back all of my criticisms of the last couple arcs.

[magnificentsapcaddy]

There's that post I think of a lot about what the different fantasy races' TV shows would be like, and I kind of want to do that for my fantasy world. Because I'm trying to defy the classic fantasy stereotypes and this seems like a fun exercise.

DWARVES

The notion of a dwarvish television show is kind of like the idea of a human television show - they're so far spread that it's hard to pin it down to just one thing, but in Bant, the main continent where my books take place, it's all sooo self-serious. They're putting out soap operas with the pomp and gravity of a funeral. They're also broadcasting 19-hour-long operas and antiquing shows where they tell you why everything is garbage.

ORCS

Think of the most harrowing episode of television you've seen in your life. We're talking major character death. We're talking people dying for NOTHING, real "not Penny's boat" type shit. Like, Romeo committing suicide and then Juliet committing suicide immediately afterwards. Tonally speaking, this is to orcish TV what the "let's go to a hot spring!" episode of a shonen anime is.

PLATYDONTS

So, as a bit of backstory, the platydonts used to be humans but then had an Atlantis happen to them and were stuck in a ~2,000 mile wide time bubble for hundreds of thousands of years. So they're like, fish/seal guys. And I think they're doing soap operas too, but in the dwarvish soap operas, you can't even get to be a background character without an acting degree, and in a platydont soap opera, you can just walk on the set and someone's like, "Yeah, gimme a second, I'll write you in." BIG theater kid vibes from them. Dwarvish TV is serious and orcish TV is brutal, but platydont TV is 18-year-olds wailing and ripping their shirts off over a corpse who is trying to slyly check their phone.

ELVES

I don't expect anyone reading this to know what A Prairie Home Companion is, and truth be told I've never even listened to it either, but I feel like it's all just that. Just some guy in a rocking chair in a plain white studio, "Saw a ladybug the other... you used to see a lot of them in the summer." Bob Ross shows for growing bonsai trees and shaping stalactites. Panel shows where there's even less of a point to the game and it's just four elves like, "You remember how they used to make flour out of acorns in 2749 BA? That was nice. Can't get them like that any more."

PIXIES

Pixies, unlike most of the other sentient species of Tor, were formed from clay and, despite standing about three inches tall, can take a hell of a lot more of a beating than humans. They're making police procedurals where they're shooting at one another with real guns for real and they're fine. Tonight on Pixie Jackass, Merry Brightberry is going to fell a 95-foot-tall oak tree directly on Gorgeous Sunset's head and then cast a spell to make the tree explode, levelling the forest for 500 yards around it. Gorgeous Sunset comes out rubbing his jaw, "Oh, you fuckin' rascal!"

GNOMES

I think gnomes are mostly against television as a concept, but if you gave a gnome a camcorder, you're getting, like, Worker and Parasite back. They're watching Un Chien Andalou and laughing and clapping at some parts and getting pissed off and storming out of the theater at others, and there's no apparent context as for why. Everything is in five-hundred layers of innuendo and metaphor. Peeling back all the layers usually reveals an unfortunately conservative moral, but even then, it's like, "It is a man's RIGHT to stew a pumpkin for three days and three nights under the mullberry bush. And the woke left DOESN'T want you to know."

[sweetaprilbutterfly]

I will not wait for the release of the finale (although not all, but I know from leaked what will happen) to pass judgment on House of the Dragon and it is DISAPPOINTING SHIT.

Even when there was the first season, I didn't expect anything from hotd, the 1st season was normal, there were interesting characters, but in general the plot is simpler than in GoT.

I read about Dance of the Dragons in Fire & Blood and treated the changes as normal, because the general plot was more or less close to the book. But with the release of the 2nd season, the book became less and less with each episode and the characters don't resemble themselves, not even like themselves in the 1st season.

Like what have they done to Alicent😭:

“The city is yours, Princess. But you will not hold it long. The rats play when the cat is gone, but my son Aemond will return with fire and blood�� versus “When he’s gone, I will see to it that our guards throw down their arms and open the gates.”

Quote source X

Book Alicent would kill show Alicent for what she does in season 2. Alicent betrayed herself and her family for the "love" to Rhaenyra, this is so stupid and this is not Martin, but some kind of comedy or soap opera.

And I don't understand why Condal is so attached to the prophecy and why he so wants Rhaenyra to be Dany 2.0, when book Rhaenyra is better and more interesting than the show one and he will not change her fate, she will still die, although they will probably change how it will happen.

After the leaks, I'm no longer Team Green, I'm Team Aemond, even though the writers messed him up too, but I hate it when showrunners try to make someone "bad" on purpose to everyone hate. They could never make me hate you Aemond.

HBO needs to remove from the credits that it is based on the book by George R. R. Martin, and write that all this is the work of the mediocre Condal and has nothing to do with the books.

Condal and Hess and the other screenwriters should get a lot more hate than D&D. Condal & Co. are the worst showrunners in the world, to have a completely finished book material and to do what they did is just something incredibly terrible.

For all its faults, Game of Thrones was phenomenal and even seasons 5 and 7 (the worst GoT seasons in my opinion) are better than what Condal and Hess did in season 2.

The asoiaf fandom is so weird. After the final of GoT, the rating on imdb and other platforms collapsed, and here HotD already in the 2nd season abused the canon so much and the majority approves of it??? Yes, I'm one of those people for whom the finale of GoT is normal, but I still can't come to terms with the fact that Arya killed NK, it should have been JON and I don't agree with Jon ending, but in general the season is better than 5 & 7. So I hope all those who so unfairly condemned GoT will rightly condemn HotD and collapse the rating, and maybe the leaks will reduce the rating of the show.

The hotd cast are great, but I don't think I can watch season 3 after this shit, there's no hope of it getting any better.

Condal really wanted hotd to be like GoT, but it didn't work out, it's very far from the grandiose level of GoT, GoT was and will be the best no matter what.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

No but you’re so right about not wanting to watch season 8 because after how they handled the doppelgänger storyline I don’t want to watch it, with the rumours Gavin isn’t coming back and how this show has handled estranged parents storylines in the past I just have zero faith they’re going to do Eddie any justice especially after they sent him back to before the show levels of development, practically erasing everything we’ve seen him work on from seasons 2-6, like I can just picture the Diaz parents redemption and Eddie thanking them for taking Chris and ignoring everything a little like they did with the Buckleys

And something something this show hates happy queer parents, I don’t know how to really articulate this but like even if they do a gay Eddie storyline now, it’s not sitting right with me that it’s only happening now Chris is gone, like I know Eddie filters life through Chris/doesn’t really know who he is without the parent role etc etc I know that but with the way they treat Henren on the show and the way they treat Denny and Mara’s storylines, it almost seems like they weren’t going to let Eddie figure himself out while also actively parenting—it’s giving the straight grandparents need to save Chris from his gay dad (like they wanted to all along) i don’t know if I’m getting my point across well but it’s giving a “if you’re queer and a parent you will not be happy on this show your kid/s will get taken away from you”

👏👏👏

this. i understand the argument that eddie needs a chance to examine things without looking throughthe Chris lense, but it feels like he absolutely 100% could have had the realization because of Chris. like it would have taken chris saying he views buck as his dad one time and eddie would have spiralled and everything would have begun to fall into place— i get gavin having conflicts due to his move and possibly having to leave the show but there were so many other ways to essentially write him off (yes ik nothing is confirmed and that he very well could come back in a much slimmed down onscreen role such as may/harry) but it feels like they just went “eh… eddie started to reconcile with his dad…. let’s just send chris away even though eddie realistically would not have built up that much trust in this short amount of time (especially w helena)

and i 1000% agree w it mimicking the henren trauma bc why are we targeting the black lesbians with the same storyline we already saw with Nia…. why are we now lumping eddie into the traumatized poc paranoid losing their kid trope? especially if they plan to make him queer?

like i fully understand this show is a drama, but i miss when it was a DRAMA and not a SOAP OPERA… like earlier seasons had their fair amount of dramatic shit going on but this is just ridiculous and some of it feels farcical to me at this point… especially with the handling of buck’s bisexuality where his coming out scene to maddie included a joke about “always checking out a hot guy’s ass” once again reducing his character down to sex even though Buck has grown past that… idk it just rubs me the wrong way that we’re either sex-hungry, sassy, traumatized, or all three in one and it doesn’t sit right with me.

also them actively chosing to make a known problematic character queer just to serve as a plot device for a sexuality arc that didn’t even live up to any potential bc they kissed once, went on a coffe date and bam they’re suddenly together? even for a straight couple that’s such an anticlimactic relationship buildup let alone a queer one… and not only that but using his queerness as an excuse for his racism and misogynistic behavior as a way to sweep it under the rug is so icky to me… like why is the only decently treated canonically queer character Josh??? (even though even he was part of that whole hate crime plot!)

it’s so hard as a queer person to watch other queer people be told by straight people that they should settle for what we have… and that those queer people listen and also somehow think that settling is all we can do. i know it’s easy to settle for shit, but i’m sorry i did not spend six years watching these two build something beautiful to see it thrown away because what they gave us is (not even) “good enough.”

it really is disheartening.

anyway sorry for turning this into another rant post, anon, i just liked your added point of the traumatized queer parent thing and wanted to expand on that some more!

[shooting-love-arrows]

Adding onto 🌟 Anon about Red Flag Reader having a one night stand with Assistant…

What if Red Flag Reader had released 2 eggs, and one was fertilized by Assistant, and the other by House Husband later that day? It’s technically possible but there’s only been 10 recorded cases since it’s rare (and I assume more women didn’t wanna rat themselves out for infidelity to their men, so I assume it’s actually higher). It’s called, heteropaternal superfecundation, as the scientific name

So yea…think about having twins but each baby with a different father…this is reaching astronomical soap opera levels!

Dear Anon,

The shit would go down.  Spanish and Turkish telenovelas are nothing compared to what would happen if it was discovered that Red flag! Reader had children with  Yandere! Assistant/Secretary and Yandere! 1950's! Househusband.  I think the difference in appearance would be visible after a few months, when eye color would start to change and their hair would be growing longer (additionally, if the Yandere! Assistant/Secretary or Yandere! 1950's! Househusband have different skin tone/color the difference would be noticed much quicker).  Questions would start to arise, until one of the twins would start to resemble Yandere! Assistant/Secretary. One thing led to another, and the conclusion, as unbelievable as it sounds, made Yandere! 1950's! Househusband spirals down the rabbit hole of madness and obsession. Now I'm not sure how entirely it would go down, for this topic is worth writing a whole book about but I think in the end, both Yandere! Assistant/Secretary and Yandere! 1950's! Househusband would be responsible for their own child.  For now, I loosely imagine Yandere! Assistant/Secretary moving in with Red flag! Reader and their husband or Red flag! Reader buys an entire twinhouse and connects them on the inside so that from the outside, it looks like they live separately but on the inside, they live as a big and (toxic) family.  Also I think Red flag! Reader would be thriving in this situation. What a happy accident that was! The little rascals barely enter the world and they already take after them! Just look at those two beans! Creating a spectacle worth an Oscar. Red flag! Reader would puff out their chest proudly and watch from the sidelines as the shit hit the fan and spread over the white ceiling while smiling and proudly holding the children. The twins also adore you as their parents and often fight for your attention. They take after their parents so much, don't they? [It's a mad house <3] BONUS: Yandere! Grandma/Mom of the Red flag! Reader (Reader's mom and twins grandmother) who's is also toxic and believes the reader could never be wrong. As a traditionalist, she believes it's okay for such a hardworking partner like a reader to have an affair in the first place.  And the twins? She's elated that she has grandchildren and never fails to express her desire to have more. Also, she pours her own yandere tendencies on them too. It always end with her saying something along the lines: Red flag! Reader is never wrong so you better listen to them! Follow their example and you'll be just as successful as them! Now sit down and eat your vegetables! Back in my days... You're her preacious child and your children have that piece of you that made her accept them into her family (unlike your husband and lover, who are nobody in her eyes). P.S What I wrote is the tip of the iceberg, my dear. Like I've said, this deserves a whole book, written in detail.

@shooting-love-arrows