#SO now the fun part: he either actually has a wife and kids who he does love except everyone but him realizes he likes men

[vonlipvig]

Did Patrick mention he had kids or no? I thought he did but, I could have misheard.

I think so, that's what I remember as well, but then again, he says it during sportsboard, so is it really the truth? Choose your own adventure, I guess.

[augustvandyne]

Hey! could you please right a natasha x wife r? Idk if you remember when the avengers have to take refuge and they have to go to clints house (he's reluctant bc he has a secret family only nat knows about)? well could you write it so it's actually nats family that no one knows about? and she's super reluctant to take them there

everyone's alive and no one knew she had a family (not even clint) and the timeline is SUPER wack bc plot twist, yelenas already there. the avengers are hurt nat didn't tell them and they're kinda mad too

nats wife doesn't like having them there bc it's her home and they're putting them all in more danger then they normally are in. the kids don't like them either bc they 'take their mom away' or something like that (but the kids adooore their aunt yelena)

this is super long I'm sorry but the idea has been plaguing my head and I feel like it would be fun to read about. thank you and have a great day!

hi! yes! don’t worry about it being too long, i’ll listen to and write whatever thoughts you have.

safehouse

You and Yelena were baking a cake when pack of Avengers came piling through the front door.

You were expecting Natasha later in the week, and alone. Not with the danger that is literally standing in your doorway.

That was the best part of this place, there was no danger. Nat left work at work, and when she came home all she focused on was her family—you, Yelena, and your two lovely children.

So you were definitely surprised, and not happy, to see the other five Avengers.

You walk further into the living room, and when Nat sees you, her face is immediately apologetic.

“Babe—“

“Who are all these people?” Yelena comes and stands beside you in the living room, staring up at all the men.

“This is Steve, Clint, Tony, Thor, and Bruce. They’re my friends,” Natasha shrugs.

“Uh, no, we’re not your friends now,” Clint crosses his arms with sass.

“They’re the Avengers,” You correct your wife. “And they shouldn’t be here.”

“Listen, I wasn’t going to even bring them here, but—“

“It’s our fault, ma’am,” Steve interrupted.

“Oh, here we go,” Tony throws his hands in the air.

“What?” Steve whines.

“First the language, and now the manners. Good god,” Tony rolls his eyes.

“Okay, take it elsewhere. More preferably, back to where you came from,” You fake smile, earning a glare from Nat.

“Where are the kids?” Nat asks, and you get the feeling she needs to talk. Alone.

“Upstairs in the playroom. Yelena, why don’t you take them outside to play on the swing set?” You ask sweetly.

“Ah, gotcha,” Yelena gave a look to Natasha that said, good luck.

The kids say hello to Nat, made faces at the men still in your living room, and then squealed with joy out the door because their mama is home.

You looked away from the door and back up at the Avengers once again. Nat softly grabs you by the arm and pulls your towards the other side of the living room.

“What are they doing here, Nat?” You lean closer, your foreheads slightly touching.

“I had no other choice,” Natasha’s raspy voice makes it hard not to forgive her.

You sigh and purse your lips.

“Really,” Nat insists. “If there was any other choice, I would have made it. We just got into a little trouble, and need to camp out for a few days.”

You made a vow not to ask what trouble she was in, so you kept your mouth shut when she says this.

“Okay. But if there’s even a little bit of damage to the house, they are paying for it,” You lift your head up and walk back towards the group, Natasha following close behind.

Nat glances your way, then back at the boys, “We can stay here. But only for a few days.”

“So this is where Lady Natasha goes every time she takes off,” Thor nods.

“Yes. A home we didn’t even know about?” Bruce shakes his head.

“I can’t believe you never told me,” Clint looks genuinely hurt when Nat looks at him. “I thought we were friends.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Tony puts his hand on his chest.

You roll your eyes and head back to the kitchen before the cake burns, letting your wife deal with her friends/fellow Avengers.

You finish the frosting Yelena had started, and ice the cake once it comes out of the oven. You then start on dinner. Something easy everyone can enjoy—pasta.

Dinner goes about as well as you thought it would.

Nat and the kids catch up. She just saw them a week or so ago, so there isn’t much to catch up, but you love watching Natasha play and talk with the kids.

You try not to laugh as the kids keep making faces at the guys.

Your daughter starts to kick Tony in the shin, to which him and your daughter start having a staring contest.

“Okay, what are you guys doing?” Nat asked.

“Your tiny agent keeps kicking me,” Tony says, never taking his eyes off the smaller girl.

“Okay she’s not an agent, and it’s probably because you take her mother away every chance you get,” You sighed with frustration. “Good she’s kicking you, maybe you’ll leave then.”

“Y/n—“

“I’m sorry,” You look at your wife. “I said it was okay, even though you’re putting us it more danger. But, I will try to be civil, but only for Natasha.”

“Thank you.”

Later in the night you had assigned everyone to places in the house to spend the night.

Yelena had volunteered to spend the night with the kids, so at least two people could bunk in there, and it was fine by you because the kids adored Yelena.

So two people slept in Yelena’s room, you had one in the living room, and two in the guest room downstairs.

“They are mad at me, you know?” Nat brushed through her hair.

“They’ll get over it. It’s a safe house,” You wrap your arms around her waist from behind. “You are supposed to keep it secret.”

“I know,” Nat turns so you two are face to face. “I love you, and thank you for letting us stay here. We’ll be out of her in two days, tops.”

“Good,” You plant a kiss on the side of Natasha’s mouth.

“But I might not be back for a while,” Nat cups your cheek in her hand.

“I had a feeling,” You look down.

“I’ll just have to make it up to you.”

“How about you start now?” You lift a brow and squeal as your wife picks you up and puts you on the bed.

Danger aside, you loved having your wife back in your arms, and you were granted with just that from this crazy mission.

[dorylinae-supremacy]

Thinking about an AU where Techno, Wilbur and Tommy are all the harbingers of the actual entire apocalypse and Phil (just some insane guy) decides that those are in fact his kids and starts gaslighting the absolute shit out of them about it.

Rambles under cut!

I wanna try something where they're just more insidious and passive killers than anything else, theyre mostly just biding their time and watching as wherever they're lingering around gets sicker and just starts withering away.

They're a slow moving threat that just can't be stopped and for some reason (because Kristin thinks its funny) Phil just isnt affected by them.

Phil: Oh Techno's always been like that ever since he was a baby Techno: I have literally never met you a day in my life Tommy: Idk man... you have always been like that Wilbur: Oh my death he's actually getting to us

Its a mix of that combined with that "how did he know I was a gemini" meme

Phil: Wil! I brought you some salmon, I know how much you love it! Wilbur: How the fuck did you know I like salmon Phil: I'm your dad silly, of course I'd know :-)

I just think itd be super fun since Phil in this au is literally just some insane dude. He literally lies about their entire childhood but does it so consistently and so realistically that it throws them off guard.

I also have a few ideas where they start referring to Phil as their dad in the beginning as a sarcastic / mocking thing but accidentally just getting themselves even more adopted as they do it.

Phil: Wilbur put on a coat Wilbur: I don't need one! Techno: Go on, Wil. Listen to dad Wilbur: Ugh fine. Only because dad wants it, though

Stranger: Whos this? Tommy: Oh thats our dad. He kinda just tags along Stranger: Aww thats so sweet! You got his nose and everything Tommy: I- wh- no he's not actually our da- Phil: I know he did! Isn't he the cutest, spitting image isnt he? Tommy: You're not my dad! Stranger: Oh someones embarrassed! Phil: Yeah he's going through a rebellious phase right now

Just a mixture of things like that where it starts as calling him it but then accidentally actually giving him parental authority along with that.

I also wanna explore how Kristin and Phils relationship would be like. Maybe her as death being very bemused by this silly human that just decided she was his wife one day.

She literally visits him in dreams and stuff and he just acts as if they're married and have been for years. He complains about their 'rambunctious kids' and how he has to threaten them with her so that they behave sometimes. She finds it so silly and just cant help but play pretend.

Kristin: Hello, human Phil: My love! Its been so long since I've seen you Kristin: We've never met Phil: Oh don't say that! It hasnt been that long. I've just been far too occupied with our boys to visit too much Kristin: Our boys? I made them Phil: And they came out beautiful! I'm so glad Wil and Tech got your eyes. I was hoping they would.

I think that'd be a core part of this AU as well. Everyone is playing pretend but then it just fuzzies and it all becomes real for them. At first its a joke that Phil is her husband and their father but then they get lost in the fantasy and fun of it all and actually accept him as such.

Phil has no ulterior motives either, he's literally just a strange insane man that heard stories about neotrio and started thinking they were his kids one day. He genuinely believes his delusion and they end up accidentally making it a reality.

He just makes lucky guesses and plausible lies often enough that he's still shiny and new, he's still fun to play with and thats what ends up 'tricking' them all.

[demonslayerunhinged]

Unhinged analysis

Why is Sanemi so aggro? (Part 2)

This section is mostly from a class/economic standpoint and doesn't really focus on the demon attack on his family. It is also not only based on my little understanding based on the research I did about poverty and class in Edo/Late Meiji Japan but also based on my experiences as someone who grew up poverty-er-adjacent.

This blog here has an article that does a deep dive into Sanemi based on Japanese culture and history. Their work was what inspired me to do a deeper dive into Sanemi's poor backgoround. It's in Japanese but the translations are so worth it, and they have writeups on other characters!

Now lets get to it, this is post is going to be very long and very sappy, be warned.

His Background

We all know that Sanemi grew up poor, but it's poor in a way that's different from the other characters. We can attribute Gyomei's poverty to his religious faith in a way, Tanjiro and Muichiro are more modest than actually poor - at least they own their houses. The Shinazugawas had a shitty landlord whose son made fun of them for being 'the poor people with too many kids', they lived in these rundown, face-to-face, the-neighbors-know-all-your-business row houses.

Sanemi grew up in the slums with a population of citizens who were essentially 'left behind' during the rise of urbanization and industrialization. These citizens not only had to deal with characterizations that portray them as being ignorant, uneducated, boorish, dirty, aggressive, mannerless and ignorant, but also with being preyed upon by greedy landlords, merchants and businessmen. The government weren't of much help either because they would rather put in efforts into removing them as far as possible from the modern cities, away from the eyes of foreigners.

In my experience, slum dwellers rarely if ever rise above their station in life. Their lack of education and exposure prevents them from making a better life for themselves and even if they do move to the city, they are stuck doing menial or manual labor jobs with shitty pay. They spend their entire lives in perpetual poverty no matter how hard they work and how many jobs they take because they're ultimately fighting a system that has not only abandoned them but also creates policies that prevent them from moving higher in life.

Due to these frustrations, a lot of them take up gambling and drinking alcohol to cope with their sorrows. Frustrations with the system and with their situations lead to a lot of them taking up gambling and developing alcoholism to cope. There is also high rate of violence among them, especially domestic violence as heads of households who were usually the ones to go out into the world and deal with the discrimination and struggles while trying to pursue low class jobs would take out their anger on their wives and ultimately children. The children who grow up in this environment, where violence is all they know would eventually go on to become abusers themselves when they start families of their own, that is, if they don't die of illness or are killed before that.

You can read more about it here, here, here, here and here.

We can see that with Sanemi's dad, the piece of shit who took out all his anger and frustrations on his wife and children before ultimately becoming a victim of violence himself.

After his death, we see Sanemi having to take up the responsibility of taking care of the family as was culturally expected of the firstborn and the oldest boy - similar to Tanjiro. When Sanemi's dad died, he had to take up a job to take care of the family. In the scene where he talks with Genya about their dad's death and their promise to take care of their mother and siblings, we can see that Sanemi is pulling a rickshaw.

Rickshaw pullers were among the lowest classes of manual labor, they were referred to sometimes as 'Human horses' and while they were mostly known for transporting people, they were also hired by merchants and regular people to transport goods as well. We're not told of the work his mother did before she turned into a demon, but she might have been a domestic worker or a waitress of some sort. It's not hard to imagine that there were times when the kids had to go hungry.

So what's the point of all this story? Well because children who come from these backgrounds are not only often violent and aggressive in their language, conduct and personality but even if they do manage to make it to adulthood and by some miracle manage to break through the class barrier they often come out of the other side with a MASSIVE inferiority complex.

And our dear boy Sanemi has one, big time.

Now that we've talked about his background, let's talk about how all this contributes to his....

Relationships

In the fandom, the main complaints about Sanemi is his behavior towards Giyuu, Tanjiro, the demon slayer trainees and Genya, so I'm going to focus on just these.

Giyuu

Like I've mentioned before @roseameilatempest already posted a great write-up about Sanemi and his complicated relationship with Giyuu, so I'm just adding to it.

The two main things that create friction in their relationship, aside from Giyuu's inability to communicate are Sanemi's low self-esteem and his aggressive personality. The low self-esteem really showed itself when he questioned Giyuu at the Hashira meeting about his 'I'm not like you guys attitude'.

In this scene he asks

Which is a really interesting question because of all the Hashiras he's the only one who voices this sentiment. Obanai just talks about Giyuu wanting to get ahead, Shinobu just asks him to explain himself, Muichiro doesn't really care, but there's the thing about being the baby of the group so he may not want to butt-in to the 'adult' matters. Gyomei is praying.

Sanemi's the only one who stands up and confronts Giyuu about the matter but given his background as previously discussed it's almost as if he's asking "Are you looking down on me?".

From the little we know of Giyuu's backstory, he didn't grow up in poverty. After his family died, he went to go live with relatives before making the decision to leave and join the corps. He has fair skin and soft looking features in contrast to Sanemi's rough, scarred ones. He has slim, delicate-looking hands with piano-playing fingers compared to Sanemi large, knobby, rough-looking hands with early-onset-arthritis-ass fingers.

Even his conduct has a certain air of class to it. So when Giyuu says stuff like 'I'm not like other girls-I mean Hashira', the inferiority complex part of Sanemi is triggered, and he takes it as an attack on him thinking that Giyuu is looking down on him because of his poor background and his class.

But Sanemi deep down cares, even if he doesn't realize it. Instead of dismissing Giyuu as just being a dick, he tries to get an answer, an explanation, but because of his rough way of speaking and his aggressive personality it comes out confrontational. He doesn't know how to express himself in a non-aggressive way because nobody ever taught him how.

Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤)

Ah yes, Sanemi's BFF. I'm honestly surprised that some people don't understand why Sanemi does not vibe with Tanjiro. Tanjiro embarrassed him in their first meeting, only to escape the consequences for his actions because of the Master's benevolence. He questioned his worth as a Hashira which, as mentioned in the previous post, is the core of Sanemi's identity.

In their second encounter, Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) talked back to him. Now, despite all the wacky and interesting characters, the fancy mods to their uniform with the haoris and stuff, the Demon Slayers Corps are still a military organization. They have a hierarchy, they have rules and punishments for those who break them and within the context of the military and cultural values: You don't talk back to your superiors, you don't disrespect them and you most certainly don't embarrass them no matter how in the right you feel you are. It's not fair, it just is. Some superiors may tolerate it like Tengen, Giyuu, Mitsuri and Shinobu but others, like Sanemi, Gyomei, Obanai and even Muichiro will not.

I mean, even Mitsuri complained about Genya's behavior when she first met him, even though his actions were because of him being shy.

The first time Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) disrespected Sanemi, he was on neutral ground, the Master's mansion. Kagaya is a saint, so he understood Tanjiro's actions, but remember he also chided Tanjiro a bit, even if it was in a soft manner. Now in this second encounter, He's in Sanemi's house, in his domain, and you can't come about here disrespecting your senior in their own house. And If you do, be prepared to face the consequences.

Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) then embarrassed Sanemi again by (rightfully) calling him out on his shitty behavior towards Genya, in public, in front of his other subordinates. He then proceeds to not only block Sanemi's punch but to counter it with an embarrassing kick to the neck, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SCRUBS! Like what? In some organizations, you could be penalized and immediately kicked out, but like I said, Kagaya is a saint.

That's why Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) was given the reprimand and Sanemi wasn't. Because he was in the wrong.

The concept may seem foreign to people who grew up in the west, but for those of us from home countries that have rigid power and class structures, we know this pain all too well.

That's why you talk and complain about your superiors BEHIND their backs, like Zenitsu does.

I swear, Zenitsu is probably the realest character in the series, I love him so much 😂.

Then in the last encounter they had, Tanjiro embarrassed Sanemi again, but this time it's worse because he did it RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS CRUSH!

Your senior's business is not your business, if you see them fighting, it's best just to leave them alone and pray it's the one you hate that gets his ass kicked.

So here's Sanemi trying to communicate with his crush, and he's about to get to the part where they get to put their hands on each other ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Then Tanjiro comes up and gets between them, ignoring the restraining order and then asking if they were fighting over ohagi.

He then reveals Sanemi's biggest secret: That he's gay-I-mean-er likes ohagi. Neither Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) nor Giyuu see any problem with this because soft boys but for a tough, scary man like Sanemi this is a problem. He's a man, he shouldn't be taking sweets! (which is like a real thing in Japan, so i learned. You can read about it here, here, here and here), also Sanemi loves ohagi becuase his mom used to make it; men shouldn't be thinking about their mommies! Men should be tough and only eat manly things like raw bull testicles and cement!

Then Tanjiro(bestest boy ❤) drives the knife even further by asking him about his ohagi preferences, while Giyuu (who unknown to Sanemi is glad to have found an opportunity to rizz him up) asks him to confirm but in Sanemi's mind he thinks Giyuu is making fun of him too.

So Tanjiro has, so far, called him a shitty Hashira, a shitty brother, and now a shitty man. All he wanted to do was smash and now he's getting pressed by a 16 year old. So yea, our boy is going to react in the only way he knows how - by giving Tanjiro a swift clock to the jaw.

At this point, you've gotta pity Sanemi, he's the real victim in this relationship. But let's move on.

The Trainees

This is another complaint that also confuses me because the answer is so obvious. Why is Sanemi hard on the trainees?

Because Sanemi's training is Infinite Strikes! Because his training is supposed to be hard! Because they're at war! Because Muzan might be coming soon! Because this is a military training! Because the Hashiras are basically Drill Sergeants! Because Sanemi says fuck you!

But seriously, I don't understand why Sanemi and Obanai are getting hate for their training methods when Tengen's was just as harsh, Mitsuri was basically ending family bloodlines, Muichiro deadass was about to sashimi someone's child.

And Gyomei? Gyomei's training basically qualifies as torture by the Geneva convention laws. You see these guys below? These boys are all dead! Dead, i tell you! You can't convince me otherwise!

Even Inosuke died!

The training is meant to be harsh because it's not just the trainees lives at stake, it's the people of Japan, it's the lives of their friends, families and loved ones. The Hashiras know this and Sanemi whose whole life revolves around being a demon slayer and killer, especially knows this.

He and Obanai don't have the luxury of sending the junior slayers back for their protection like they did in the mansion. Like we saw in the last episode of the season, Muzan came after everyone not just the Hashira. Despite his rough and harsh exterior, Sanemi actually cares about his colleagues and his subordinates and he doesn't want them to die needlessly. If that means he has to be the 'bad' Hashira, then that's fine with him.

Genya

There's no justification for the shit he pulled trying to poke Genya's eyes out. I've made like two posts regarding this before about how his actions were not only stupid but will ultimately be pointless because Genya is amazing!

Aside from wanting to keep Genya safe (whatever that means), I think one of the reasons Sanemi doesn't want to come in contact with Genya is because when he's around Genya he's reminded of the past and trauma that he's trying to repress. I don't think it was a random choice that older Genya is dressed in a way almost similar to baby Genya. So everytime Sanemi sees him, despite Genya's size and the awesome things he's done, all he can see is that little boy that he almost failed to protect, that called him a monster, that rejected him and seeing that reopens that old core wound. That he's a monster.

Sanemi isn't ready to face all that, so with the little understanding of his own emotions and the trappings of toxic masculinity, he pushes Genya away becuase doing so is way, way, way easier than talking to his brother. It's easier than revealing to Genya that Genya's words did hurt him, that he failed to protect their mom and siblings and that maybe Genya is right, he is a monster, that even though he saved Genya it doesn't change the fact that he used his very hands to kill the only person that loved and protected them in this world.

I think a lot of people really underestimate the gravity of what baby Sanemi did. Tanjiro couldn't kill Nezuko and I'm sure he himself would've rather died than raise a hand to his loved ones but Tanjiro was lucky in a sick way because Nezuko was not only the only survivor but encountered Giyuu who who gave him the opportunity to save Nezuko, essentially giving her a second life. Sanemi never had that chance. In order to protect his brother, he had to kill his beloved mother, and you can just imagine the amount of damage that can do to a child's psyche.

I read a comment on Youtube that said this was probably the reason why Sanemi was so feverently against the Master's defence of Nezuko and that when Nezuko rejected his blood, his whole worldview must have shattered because if Nezuko was able to overcome her demonic urges and still maintain her sanity, why couldn't his beloved mother?

But you might ask, how come Genya seems fine? Well, he wasn't at first, he was basically Sanemi 2.0 but he was able to make peace with himself, escape the trappings of toxic masculinity and the violence that they were raised in. Instead of bottling up his emotions, he wants to reach out, to apologize for his behavior, to mend their brotherhood because no matter how Sanemi is now, no matter how many times he tells him to get lost, no matter the harsh words he throws at him, to Genya he'll always be his Aniki.

The same Aniki who's been looking out for him, the same Aniki that sought him out and comforted him after he punched the landlord's shitty son, the same Aniki who gave him a piggyback ride despite them practically being the same height just to make Genya feel happy and loved, the same Aniki who let out that brilliant laugh after they made the promise to protect their family as he pulled the Rickshaw to make some money for the family, the same Aniki who is the sweetest, kindest person in the whole world.

While we see the rough, scarred, aggressive and scary Sanemi, Genya only sees this:

I'm sure a lot of us know what it's like to be angry, to lash out, to push people away and how difficult it is go through life in a world that doesn't care about you or your trauma. We know what it's like to be left behind and forgotten. We wander aimlessly through life hurting with a feeling of emptiness and we don't even know why. Some of us overcome, some of us don't. We just make do with the tools and little resources we have and Sanemi is a painful reminder of that.

In Conclusion, Sanemi is a complex character. He's not all star good, he's a dick, some of his actions are straightup unhinged, but that's what makes him human. He's not perfect, and for us to appreciate this character we have to accept him in all his wild, raging, scarred, petty-ass, little-brother-eye-poking, women's-size-7-feet-having, ohagi-loving glory.

[alexanderwales]

Addendum to the post about Stardew Valley type games:

You know how in games like that, everyone has their set daily routine that changes according to the days of the week, the seasons, etc.?

I think it would be fun to have a game that's just that. You can see what path everyone walks and what they do every day, it's all lines on the ground to you from a bird's eye view: these people are creatures of habit. But their daily routines aren't just something that happens, it's also something that affects them. Bridget spends every day going to stare out at the sea, and it makes her a little bit more sad every day, because it reminds her of her father, who passed away when she was little. Nathan searches for bugs in the woods, hoping that if he gets the right one, he can bring it to show the woman who runs the museum.

So in some sense, this is a train game, but with people instead of trains. Everyone is on their tracks, and possibly there are interrupts to their schedules, but mostly what you're doing is nudging the tracks in various ways and trying to minmax their social interactions and routines.

So if Bridget is staring out at the beach feeling lonely and sad, you can nudge Nathan to go hunt bugs there instead of in the woods, and if you nudge him correctly, he'll end up at the beach at the same time Bridget is doing her mope session. And then, because it would be weird for them to both be at the beach in silence, they get to talking, and their little friendship meter or whatever fills up. And then, at some particular threshold, you get a notification that their routing has changed. The lines on the ground are redrawn, the schedule is updated, and Bridget and Nathan are friends now, and there's no reason for her to be at the beach anymore, because that lonely void has been filled. In the new routing, Nathan and Bridget hunt bugs in the woods together, hoping to find an interesting one but mostly just hanging out.

Your goal is to make everyone as happy as you can.

There's a lot that I'm still trying to work out here, I had the idea five minutes ago. For one thing, I'm not sure how the player should actually go about adjusting the routes. I guess I'm envisioning it like what Google Maps shows you, where you have multiple routes and can select different ones. Or maybe there's an option to change the destination sometimes, if it's one where the actual location doesn't matter. Kids will always have to go to school, but their mother has a choice of different part-time jobs so long as she's making a little extra income, so you can route her to either the doctor's office where she'll be a receptionist or to the mayor's house where she'll clean up. Some routes are therefore locked down hard for various reasons, while others are more flexible. And as the game goes on, which is which will change: someone who sort of didn't care where he was whiling away his time will get a job that's very important to him, two lovebirds will want to spend all their time together, but the carpenter divorces his wife and suddenly has a lot of free time on his hands, or the electrician finally finishes fixing the lighthouse and now is just sort of waiting on orders.

The other major question is how much we're exposing to the player in terms of the whys of our little train-schedule people. I think trying to do this with any more text than a handful of cutscenes would be a fool's errand, and instead you'd want to abstract it out as much as possible. Characters would have Motivations, Goals, Tasks they're making progress on each day, Friendships, Romances, and in general you should be able to look at their route and say "okay, this is motivated by this, this is motivated by that". I think Friendship Points are a kind of ridiculous concept, but they would work here, with each "stop" on the route adjusting friendships and romances up or down on the scale. Tasks gain some completion with every route completion, which is another way the game progresses forward.

The last major question is ... how do you build this? How do you create a town of thirty or so people with their own individual routes in such a way that a player can figure things out and be satisfied with each small solution? Because this is sort of a puzzle game, and as laid out here, it's the same "board" the whole way through, with everything interlocking. I think maybe you could map out the early game pretty easily, solve some trivial problems with a bit of extra routing, have everything else "locked" and unknown to limit scope, but I'm unsure how you advance past that.

Perhaps there's a version of this game where everyone has their routes but we're only looking at tiny slices of the whole town at a time, two or three routes that we can figure out. Maybe there's a man who doesn't care what his job is, so we make him the teacher, which frees up a woman to take a different job she loves, which means that she winds up in the gardens after work and meets a gardener we diverted there, and together they start a pottery club, which becomes a new event that people can be diverted to.

And at the end of the game, everyone is in the job they're best suited for, you've made people couple up, you've fixed all the problems, and the little clockwork town is humming along.

[mstormcloud]

More fankids!! Both because they are genuinely fun to make and give lore to but also because I made Mirai and then wanted to make sure she had friends!

Aster is designed by my friend Duetland!! (The last art is by them!!) They aren’t on tumblr but you can find him on Instagram @duetland :)

Lore for each of them under the cut! (LONG POST WARNING!!!!)

Gold and Aster:

Shadow and Sonics kids. They’re twins (with Aster being older). Both were babysat by Tails a lot and ended up picking up a lot of stuff from him as well as their parents. Gold became more responsible and significantly more polite (far more than either of his parents lmao) meanwhile Aster became interested in robotics. Specifically those related to space like rockets or planet rovers.

When the two were born there was immediate concern about their power imbalance. Aster was born with no powers at all, meanwhile Gold’s chaos energy was so high Shadow feared he would burn himself up unless something was done. Due to them being twins, it essentially ended up where instead of two moderately powerful hedgehogs - Gold got enough power for two while Aster has none. This leads Aster to resent Gold, less because she actually wants superpowers but more because Sonic and Shadow are always fussing over Gold (to make sure his powers aren’t harming him) and she feels like her parents don’t care for her. Causing her to push them out even more. She listens to Shadow more than Sonic, but they don’t end up talking through all this properly until Espio gets involved since unlike Sonic and Shadow who had powers all their lives - Espio had to teach himself his abilities and is able to empathize with Aster more.

3. Rhine

Rouge and Knuckles’ child. I’ve thought about her way less WHOOPS but!! Despite not being an echidna he looks up to his father a lot and promises to be the best guardian of the master emerald he can possibly be. Has a habit of just picking up shiny things like a magpie and will turn them into jewelry. Is blunt and gullible like her father but likes thinking things through before she moves. Uses the shovel claws more as weapons than actual shovels - he’s a bit of a neat freak.

Mirai and Gummy:

Mirais story is on my previous post! Not much has been added since then other than that I’ve decided she’s a bit of a troublemaker and very energetic, sarcastic, silly and kinda stupid. As for Gummy he’s about 7 years younger than Mirai, and I haven’t quite figured out what he’d be interested in yet haha

Eli and Anchor:

These two are half siblings! Eli’s parents are Amy and Metal. While investigating the ruins of a disaster, Amy and Metal find a child who who had been incredibly injured. They happen to be closer to Eggmans new hideout (where he has retired and is just kinda pouting by himself forever) than anywhere else - the two break in and force Eggman to help them save the child. Since the current Metal is Amy’s size, there were several smaller models for when he was “younger” - Eggman uses one of these scrapped smaller Metals to give the child cybernetic parts and saves their life. Amy and Metal then take the child back to their house and raise it as their own, with Eggman forcing them to bring Eli over frequently so he can see his grandchild.

Anchor is the child of Blaze and Amy! I’m just letting Amy be poly I think she has a lot of love in her heart and now she has two wifes. Anchor lives the Sol kingdom, and takes after her aunt Marine quite a bit with her love for adventure and especially sailing! When she was young, much like Blaze, she was brought before the Sol emeralds and blessed with a power. I feel like she’d be able to control / harness winds rather than fire though - to help with her sailing.

If you read all of this - thanks!! You didn’t have to but it was very nice of you!

[yourlocaltreesimp]

Hi I'm a big fan and I just wanted to let you know I love your yandere headcannons I like the way you write them, I hope you don't mind me requesting for yandere headcannons of koridai, courage and platonic!wind. If you accept I can't wait to see them. (⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～⁠♡. (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

Y’all Courage and Koridai simps are on crack. I’m here for it tho. Not doing wind in this part as i’m still planning where he’ll be

Yan!Chain headcannons

Tw: Yandarism and it’s accompanies, Courage and Koridai, I traumatised them, oops, child abuse, SH, baby trapping.

Courage

His version of the guide was different- far more than the rest. You were there. He saw your reflections in the mirrors and out of the corners of his eye, he heard whispers of your voice, you were there since as long as he could remember. He used to think you where an imaginary friend, as he didn’t have many actual friends. It made sense. But you never went away. No matter how much medications he took or lashes he’d taken, you were there.

It was when he learned of who he was and what purpose he held that he learned what you were. And it didn’t take him long to start going off the edge.

His very own guide- someone to hold and keep all to himself. Someone no one else could see. Someone no one could steal. Someone that would finally stay.

When he meets with the chain he’s still got that entitlement.

This reflects in his love languages. Physical touch and Quality time, being as close to you as often as possible. You were his reward, his support, his gift to be put through what he was put through. He deserves you.

He’ll hurt himself for your attention. Im talking full out stab wounds if that’s what it takes for you to kiss it better.

Fiercely loyal. Glares down anyone that flirts with him and would even flat out insult them when you were still just a spirit in his minds eye. Now you’re real however? He can and will compare people to you.

Has a hand on you at all times. He doesn’t care if he’s getting glared daggers, he’s throwing his arm around your waist and savouring the way you flush.

On that note, i’m sorry if you’re easily flustered. Like- truly. This man is a f l i r t. He’ll learn what makes you tick and abuse the living hell out of it. Even if it’s whispering the filthiest things into your ear, he’ll do it if it gets you blushing.

He’d kidnap you. 100 %. Married and with a kid by your side so you have to stay and so everyone knows you’re his. A wife on his arm and an heir to his title, even if they needed a little… assistance to realise that’s what they wanted.

Fav nicknames for you: Dear, Babe, Babes, Sugar, Honey, Loves, starlight

Koridai

It took him a while to realise you were his old guide, purely off of the fact he was so deep into believing he hallucinated you.

But prying him off of you when he comes to is what’s more difficult.

Again with physical touch, but he has a sweet spot for words of affirmation and gift giving. (you’re really racking up sugar daddies)

Golden retriever energy to the nines. Waiting at your hand and foot, back and call in case you might need him. You did so much for him, he might as well pay you back. He’ll cater to whatever you want of him. You want him to jump, he’ll ask how high. You want him to smile he’s beaming. You want jewellery, he’ll mine the gems himself. You want him to change his clothing, he’ll let you pick out a whole new wardrobe. You want a husband, he’ll hire the officiant. You want a man dead, all he needs is a name.

Two faced as Sky and Wars. Absolute sweetheart to your face, plays dumb to be unassuming, slips passed the squabbling of the chain and next thing they know he’s gone and you’re in his universe.

Another kidnapper.

Fun???

Either way you’re leaving with him or he’s leaving with you. He’d gotten himself so hurt while you left him unattended for 5 minutes to get water, and you expect him to live without you? After how he was forced to leave you behind? After he dug you a grave?

He can cry on command, and you’re none the wiser. You’d hold him as he sobbed and sniffled as the others watched. You’d defend him and his place, and off of the lies stories he told you, it’s a wonder you saw his emotions at all.

Nicknames: Whatever makes you the most embarrassed or flustered

[dykedvonte]

This was an ask from skull anon I accidently posted early so ignore that here is it actually completed. Crew voice claim first!

Anya - Janine Ditullo. She doesn't really have any big roles but she's Brendan's mom from the show Home Movies. She's snarky in a way I think Anya would be before anything went down.

Curly - Craig T Nelson. Specifically as his role Coach. Think he also has a sort of middle age voice

Daisuke - Greg Cipes but specifically when he's voicing Kevin Eleven as a teen and his voice has that deeper register. I think he just sounds a little punkish.

Jimmy - Steve Buscemi specifically in Parting Glances. I don't think his voice is loud but more shrill? He's a nasally fellow to me whose voice is intimidating because it shouldn't be so when he says stuff it just sound wrong. Like Randall Boggs. He'd be on his kin list. He's scarier when he's quiet.

Swansea - Ed O'Neill just because I think Jay (Modern Family) fits his general demeanor but also Al (Married with Children). Sort of rough, dry and tired but with that sort of comfort only a dad could have.

Now for other general stuff:

Anya knows how to finger quilt, tried to show Daisuke but he just can't get it, secretly smug about it.

Curly is like a gym bro sim. A good distressor for him is either jogging around the Tulpar or like working out like a freak in his room.

Daisuke has a shitty moped he bought himself after a summer of mowing lawns. It was his first purchase with his own real money and he got attached cause his parents were super proud!

He also thinks it makes him look badass even though it sputters every time he starts it.

Swansea likes taking pictures with his family and wife and even the crew but treats it like a whole ordeal. Fusses about people fixing their faces but is always happy with the results no matter how goofy

Jimmy refused to let Anya sleep in medical after crash. He explained it as not wanting to "disturb" Curly...

Swansea once accidently called Daisuke one of his kids names when he got irritated with him. Made the kids day in a way

Curly does not react to any level of sour, likes citrus and calls it sweet and refreshing, war heads are like jolly ranchers to him.

Anya has a very nice singing voice and Daisuke happily jokes and encourages her to get into the indie scene. Did choir as a kid

Jimmy knows a bit of Spanish through osmosis from jobs he's worked. Mostly knows how to talk shit and directions

Tells Curly he's mostly just saying basic stuff but its real vitriolic towards him that he just translates to like general compliments/jokes. He is still just a WHITE man

Anya reads who done it mystery murder books and makes fun of all the obvious twists and how they glaze the detective MC.

Curly lets Jimmy sit in the Captain's seat because when he doesn't Jimmy is noticeably meaner and more scathing to him.

Anya was planning to get a cat after a conversation with Curly about feeling lonely living in her apartment. Was gonna name it Polle as an in joke before everything happened....

Sexuality speed round: Anya is bi no real preference, very open about it. Curly doesn't label himself and kinda just goes with the moment. Daisuke is bi but a larger preference for girls, has a friend that everyone thinks he dating tho. Swansea had experiences in his youth and that's all he'll say on it other than a few comments here or there. Jimmy is straight but in a way where you here him talk about gay people and know he's current experiences... like the other day.

Yeah heres some more I always hold back cause like what if y'all don't want all of them at once? I think they all had family dinner as a crew but it always felt like an awkward thanksgiving with your family from a wide political spectrum... ergo Jimmy always said some shit and make someone storm off from the table.

[inamindfarfaraway]

Stumbled across your post on Carmilla and Cain from one of my favorite artist and just wanted to say that I loved that post incredibly!!

I loved the way you articulated the ability for free will to shatter heavens expectations! It had me thinking about free will in general so thank you for sharing that goodness!

Thank you! This analysis just came to me as a fun little observation, I wasn’t expecting it to gain so much traction. Free will is very thematically important to Hazbin Hotel, isn’t it? Lucifer believed in the good it could do, but accidentally created evil by giving it to humanity and fell for it. Since then he’s seen all the pain free will can cause and become embittered. Charlie, however, believes like he used to and fought for human souls passionately and selflessly enough to bring him back around. The Elder Angels who ordered the Exterminations and the Exorcists who carry them out seem to alternately hate and fear free will’s power, and by their indiscriminate condemnation of sinners as inherently irredeemable, not want to acknowledge it at all.

If the theory that Adam could live on as a sinner in Hell turns out to be true, I’d love to see his character and thoughts on his mortal family and free will explored, because he must have SO much baggage, which could explain (though not excuse) him being The Worst. An interesting detail in the backstory Charlie reads is that he’s never actually stated to eat the forbidden fruit. We see Eve take it, but not him. Maybe the reason that he’s in Heaven, but we never see or hear of Eve or their children in either afterlife, is that in this canon’s version of Genesis, he’s obedient and didn’t commit the original sin, only to be cast out anyway. Regardless of what exactly happens in Eden, he and Eve are forced to fend for themselves in the wilderness. Suddenly they need survival instincts. They can bleed and starve and get sick and loads of animals want to eat them. They have existential dread. Not to mention the marital tension. Why? Because the same angel who stole his first wife messed with his second one! As a result, people can sin. They can hurt each other. This allows Cain to invent murder on his brother. He’s then cursed to wander the Earth, eternally living with his guilt and grief. Oh, and where can dead souls live on now? Where might Abel be trapped forever? Hell, a dimension made of evil, everything bad about the new and degraded human experience taken to the ultimate extreme. You’ll never guess why it exists (Lucifer. It’s Lucifer again). So Adam loses two kids with one stone that was indirectly thrown by one fucking bird guy. Can you imagine how you would feel, having lived that life?

You would have issues. A lot of issues.

No wonder he scorns redemption so much. In his eyes, free will is synonymous with sin - with suffering. But thinking damned souls to be evil incarnate at least lets him take vengeance. It lets him feel the wrathful satisfaction of physically stabbing and hacking his way through representatives of the force that cost him paradise. Broke his family. Killed his child. Maybe he was a genuinely good person when he died. For the most part. Maybe stewing in all that unprocessed trauma while watching the horrors of human history unfold and being venerated and indulged in the perfect afterlife without any of his family changed him for the worse. If you can have a redemption arc in Hell, you can have a corruption arc in Heaven.

After all, Lucifer lost faith in humanity over time. But he has Charlie. Adam’s ‘daughters’ in Heaven are the Exorcists (he calls them “[his] girls” and names them, so he probably creates them), of which I bet Lute was the first. That’s a really twisted dynamic. Like, “From now on, my kids are killing people on MY terms”. Lute having parallels with Charlie makes her being the new main villain even better!

This got out of hand. What I mean to say is, the first human family and how they relate to the theme of free will have huge potential for exploration and development. And if Adam is reborn as a sinner, it would be precisely the Hazbin Hotel blend of heartbreaking and hilarious to have him reunite with Eve, Abel, Seth, etc. in Hell and they’re all like “What. The FUCK?” and his whole horrible personality just collapses in on itself.

[presidenthades]

We already talked about the Targbros being Daemon's sons but what would happen if the girls were Alicent's daughters? Rhaenyra and Daemon get married from the beginning and have the Targbros but Alicent marries Viserys and has the girls, how would that change things?

Oh what a fun question!

This basically ensures Rhaenyra has smooth sailing to the Iron Throne. She has all very Valyrian-looking legitimate children, three of whom are boys, and Daemon is now Viserys-approved as her consort. But more importantly, all her younger siblings are girls. As the eldest, Rhaenyra’s claim is undeniably superior to her sisters’.

Is it possible Viserys never disinherits Daemon? The main reason he names Rhaenyra heir is to keep Daemon from the throne, so it would be counterproductive to betroth Daemon and Rhaenyra while also naming Rhaenyra heir. Maybe in this AU, Daemon never makes the “heir for a day” joke so he stays on Viserys’s good side. Or maybe Viserys decides to codify “daughters before uncles” for the Iron Throne. Either way, Daemon and Rhaenyra’s line is pretty solidly on the throne.

If Daemon and Rhaenyra marry earlier in the timeline, there’s less pressure for Viserys to remarry straight away, though he’s probably still expected to remarry at some point. So he could marry Alicent, but maybe a few years later than in canon. Rhaenyra still probably isn’t super happy about her best friend marrying her dad, but since Rhaenyra herself is happily married and it’s been years (rather than just a few months) since her mother died, she and Alicent probably don’t have as bad a falling-out. Also, Alicent being a bit older before she becomes a wife and mother is better for her mental health.

Aegon is the most spoiled kid in all of Westeros with an adoring mom, dad, and grandpa/uncle who all tell him he’ll be king one day. I think he’s still a frat boy and brat in this universe, but he has way fewer emotional issues so he turns out better…although Daemon might be a bad influence. 😅

It’s Aemond who’s actually Daemon’s favorite. Aemond continues to have a second son complex, but Daemon very much loves his older brother so that affects how Aemond views Aegon. Daemon also is probably coaching Aegon to make Aemond his Hand one day, which is what Daemon wanted to be for Viserys. Daeron is, as always, the beloved baby of the family.

Daemon doesn’t really know what to do with Helaena (like how he treats Rhaena) who is Very Weird, but Rhaenyra would dote on her only girl. Also, oddly, Viserys might actually pay attention to Helaena’s dragon dreams now that she’s Rhaenyra’s kid instead of Alicent’s.

On the girls’ side: they probably don’t suffer as much from shitty parenting as the Targbros and Helaena did in canon. Alicent is a bit older in this AU so she is more prepared to have kids. Also, with all girls, she isn’t worried about them being in danger as potential threats to Rhaenyra’s claim. TBH I think Alicent would prefer being a girl-mom over a boy-mom. It helps that Jace is very similar to her. Luce is wilder but reminds her of younger Rhaenyra. Joff is also Very Weird, so Alicent probably treats her like Helaena: “oh yes honey, very interesting facts about the occult…I guess…”

Viserys never blows up about Otto and Alicent wanting to put Aegon on the throne, so he continues to be an indulgent but distant father. He’ll have the girls presented to him for daily paternal interaction where they tell him about their studies etc etc, and then they part ways. Still not Father of the Year, just Average Westerosi Lord Father.

Otto is definitely disappointed that Alicent has no sons, but he can adapt. He remains the Number One Jacegon Shipper because this is the best and only way he can really get his blood on the throne. Viserys favors the match because it’s good old wholesome Targcest. Alicent gets over her qualms about Targaryen “queer ways” so her favorite daughter (Jace is definitely her favorite) can become queen after her. Rhaenyra, who is closer to Alicent in this AU, likes the idea of their children marrying. Daemon is the only one who might object because Otto Hightower DNA, but everyone else in the royal family overrules him.

Velaryons might bring some interesting drama. Laenor was rejected as Rhaenyra’s husband and Laena rejected as Viserys’s wife, so Corlys definitely wants to get in the game somehow. Assuming Laenor doesn’t have kids in this AU, then his heirs end up being Laena’s kids, Baela and Rhaena, whose father could be the son of the Sealord of Braavos. If Baela is slated to be the heir to Driftmark, there might be some people pushing for her to marry Aemond so they can join the two families for another generation. (They would hate each other, especially if Aemond claims Vhagar after Laena dies.) Corlys might try to slip Rhaena in as a potential bride for Aegon.

Overall, this AU works out pretty well for the Targ family as a whole, but the Velaryons might throw a wrench in things.

[misstycloud]

PLZ I NEED MORE OF EVAN CARTER

Character: Evan Carter, Andrew and Eli

Scenario: You are gone for the time being and can’t take Andrew to the first birthday party he’s been invited to since you arrived. Now your sweet husband is the one who has to accompany your son in your place.

Pressing down the pedal and steering the wheel in the right direction, Evan drove the car with the assigned destination in mind. The other week, his wife had come home after picking up Andrew at school and revealed that he'd been invited too a classmate's birthday party and parents were allowed to come as well. The plan was for all of them to attend, but it so happened that his sweetheart had something come up at work and she sadly couldn't be present. This meant that Evan had to take the kid to the party by himself.

Personally, he didn't want to go in the first place since he doesn't care for making friendly relations with others, but her enthusiasm at the invite left him with no choice but comply. It was the first sign they wee beginning to be accepted into the community of other families and he didn't want to ruin things by saying no. Especially since it seemed so important to (Y/n). While Evan wasn't fond of the idea, there was something that made it worth it; Andrew's obvious disdain toward the suggestion.

The man first believed the boy would politely reject it, to his curiosity the opposite happened. Andrew actually said yes. The dark haired man supposed he didn't want to disappoint her either. Due to circumstances little Eli would be joining in on the fun too.

Now, the three of them sat in silence inside the vehicle, Evan driving, Andrew reading one of the books he'd gotten as a gift from his mother and Eli squirming in the backseat. The baby wasn't at all happy to be strapped in his seat with little to no entertainment, not to mention that his mama was no where to be seen. Upset, he started crying and wiggling around, snot running down his nose. As he was driving, Evan could no nothing as his young son screamed in the back of the veichle.

Now he wished he put him in the front beside him but it was to late to do anything about it now, the only option was to ask Andrew to play the part of big brother for once, even though he would rather throw himself in the Nile.

"Could you help me a bit, kid?" He tilted his head back in order for the sound to travel better while trying to keep his eyes on the road, and reached his hand to pat Eli's head. The attempted comfort didn't work like he had hoped.

No audible response came from Andrew which irked the man, but he ignored it and went again. "Did you hear me?"

Nothing. The child said nothing and simply flipped a page in his book, taking all the time in the world to read the paragraph. If his dear wife had been in the car with them she would have scolded her older son and he wouldn't have to do something, she wasn't here though. Frowning, he said in a warning tone,"Andrew."

He sighed in frustration and closed the book, "What?'' The boy glared at his step-father and then turned it to his brother who was still bawling beside him. Ugh, couldn't he have been sat in the front? What a mess the baby was, it was already awful enough to be forced to attend some dumb classmate's birthday party.

''Can you comfort your brother, I'm driving so I can't?''

Andrew glanced back at the infant and clenched his teeth. He prepared to nicely turn down the offer, yet something in Evan's expression stopped him. Huffing he did as told and reluctantly petted Eli's head, who calmed after just a few minutes and started sucking on his fingers like most babies do. In the front the father smiled at the scene he viewed in the rear-view mirror, ''that wasn't so hard now was it?''

-

Finally after the uncomfortable car ride the three of them rolled up in a clean drive way, multiple other cars were already parked there, however Evan managed to squeeze in. Getting out he went to open the door and unbuckle Eli, Andrew got out on his own on the opposite side. The adult proceeded to take the prepared gift in hand and venture inside the fairly large house. Through the window you could spot some people walking or standing around, the party has already started it seemed. Stepping on the porch, the dark haired man turned to face the young boy and told him, "you better behave now and make sure to engage with some kids, it will please your mother. She really wants this new life to go well, and the best way to ensure that is by creating new contacts and maintaining good relationships between us and people."

Andrew scoffed but found himself nodding in understanding anyway. Evan ringed the doorbell and waited for someone to open the front door and let them in, as he did he carefully held his baby close to his chest in a protective and loving manner.

''Oh, hello. You must be Evan!'' A woman had slung to door wide open energetically. She wore a soft pink dress and had her hair in a bun atop her head in an elegant style. He guessed she was the hostess of this celebration. Looking at the boy she said, "and of course young master Andy too-''

''It is Andrew, Mrs. Dan.'' He answered cooly, not wanting anyone else than (Y/n) to refer to him by his nickname.

''-oh, my bad then hehe.'' The woman apologised and awkwardly tried to laugh the thing off, finding his apathetic attitude unusual. Most children who came across her often took to her quickly because of her fun personalty. A gurgle drew her attention back up again and her eyes found the infant's. ''My goodness, is that perhaps the little Eli I've been hearing so much about?''

''Yes, this is our son."

"He is adorable." She awed, "well don't just stand there, come in!"

The moment Evan set a foot inside a group of kids bolted passed him, nearly crashing into him. Startled, he retreated backwards as he covered Eli's head in a defensive act.

"Kids calm down, there is a baby here! Be careful!'' Mrs. Dan screamed after the group. With an exhale she apologised to her guest, "I'm terribly sorry, Josh must have gotten them riled up. He always go a little crazy on his birthday, haha."

He swallowed his irritated expression and said instead, "It's alright."

Continuing to walk deeper into the home they spotted many decorations, on the walls and tables and shelves. In the living room sat all the adults around a table, they were chatting loudly and laughing, adding to the happy aura of the place.

"This is Evan and Andrew, (Yn)'s family." She added at the end, clearing up their identities.

The other guests nodded in acknowledgement. The host brought out a chair for him to sit on and he thanked her. Then she said to her younger guest, "the other children are probably upstairs, it won't be hard to find them I promise."

Andrew frowned and asked, "I'm not really feeling up to playing today, would it be okay if I stayed here?" He'd die if he was forced to handle some spoiled brats, they'd drain is energy like leeches. Though he would much rather be at home then anywhere else it was more preferable to be with the adults. Andrew thought if he played it off as feeling a little under the weather he'd get away with it, sadly it didn't go as planned.

"Oh, I guess that if you're-"

"No I think you'll be fine, it'll be good for you to get to know your classmates better." Evan interrupted Mrs. Dan, he continued, "I did give you some aspirin before, you'll be fine." He insisted, and Mrs. Dan supposed she couldn't disagree with the child's parent, he must know best after all.

The boy could not express how he wanted to throw the stupidly sugared cake in his face, instead of acting upon his thoughts he simply gave him a wry smile and complied. Right as he was ushered upstairs he sent one last look of exasperation in his step-father's direction. As soon as the youth was out of sight the other parent's broke their previous conversations and regarded the newcomer.

"So, how long have you been married?'' A blonde woman asked while sipping on a cup of coffee.

"A little more than a year." Evan bounced his baby and wiped a scant amount of drool trailing down the corner of his mouth.

"That isn't very long."

"I suppose..." continuing to busy himself with Eli in hope to endure their troublesome company, but a few of them appeared to be more persistent than what he thought.

"Well, I don't mean to pry, though I am curious to who the boy's father is.'' She glanced to the steps leading to the floor above, where all the younger individuals resided, obviously talking about Andrew. For someone who apparently didn't want to stick their nose into othet people's bussiness she sure stared at him with an awful inquisitive aspect.

"He was..my wife's former partner." Wanting to leave the subject at that the dark haired man spoke a curt and short sentence.

"Yes yes, that is obvious, the boy looks nothing like you after all. But what happened?"

"I don't know."

He does, he made sure to know everything about your past.

"Really, you sure he didn't...eh...leave..?"

''No, he did not leave."

The mood changed and the temperature dropped several degrees. Why was it that she didn't understand how he didn't want to talk about that topic. He didn't enjoy bringing up the past one bit. It was mainly because of his jealousy towards your former lover, the man lit a flame of resentment inside his chest and had him clenching his fists.

"Then he died? He must have otherwise (Y/n) wouldn't have married you-"

'Crash!'

The loud smash echoed in the house and pulled everyone out of the tension and pointed their attention towards the second floor, where the crash had come from. A second of stillness, and then the adults rushed to get on the stairs first, trampling on each others feet in the process. When they reached the room to where the sound originated, all got to see what had caused the ruckus. Inside the room a table was tipped over on its side, the vase planted on it laying on the floor in a depressing state but luckily not broken. In the middle of this was none other than the boy this feast was orchestrated for.

Josh's eyes welled up in tears and he cradled his right arm in pain. Mrs. Dan ran over to him and shreiked at his injured arm. "W-what happened?''

"H-he did it.." Josh raised his good arm and pointed at Andrew, calling him out as the culprit. The boy in question looked down at the floor, letting his bangs cover his expression and having it unknown to any other than himself. He said nothing as the guests whispered around him, surprised that he would do something like that, he didn't seem the type since he was always so polite otherwise. Evan would have pinched the bridge of his nose if he could, now he carried Eli with him so that wasn't possible.

It wasn't long until the Carter family sat in the car again. Evan couldn't care less about the brat who hurt himself in whatever fight the kids had gotten themselves in. His concern now was how he would explain things to his wife.

“Worst party ever?”

“Yes, definitely.”

[amynchan]

How is a show for babies and toddlers so popular with people that are much older?

Gonna take this question in good faith and answer in good faith.

My instinctual answer is because the show is made with the parents who are minding the children in mind.  A lot of children’s shows do exactly what’s on the tin and no more:  show children how to begin to integrate into a world that is much bigger than themselves.  Share, act kindly, think about what you want to say, be good, sometimes rules are there for a reason, etc, etc.  However, Bluey has stuff that’s just for the adults that goes a little beyond crude humor (which, this isn’t a dig.  It’s just that it’s been done so much that I think a lot of people either expect it as a given or are tired of it).

People will point to episodes like Sleepytime, and Cricket is becoming a fan favorite, but I personally enjoy Chest and Stickbird.  Those resonate with me.

For kids, Chest is about Bandit being silly when it comes to trying to teach Bluey how to play chess.  It ends in a victory for the kids because they do not want to play chess, and they end up playing on the floor with their newfound pieces who are “not dead” because they’re in charge of the rules now.

For adults, Chest is about Bandit trying to teach Bluey--and by extension, Bingo--a game that should help them grow more intelligent as they grow older.  This action, which is taken by many fathers (including my own when he taught me how to navigate a computer and how to begin looking into code when I was 11 or so back in 2006?) is called out and analyzed by his wife, Chili.  Chili goes into a monologue about why Bandit wants to teach the girls chess, how he’s doing it because he is actually a good father who wants his children to be able to take care of themselves once he can’t do it anymore, and about how it’s not necessary when Bluey and Bingo are 6 and 4 respectively.  “Work on their heads later.  For now, just hearts.”

Chest is a sneaky rule-bending fun time for the kids, and it’s a lesson in parenting for the adults.  There’s even something for young adults with the line “[I’m] a lousy chess player.” “And you turned out fine” between Chili and Bandit.  It’s a bit of a gentle reassurance that I think a lot of people need sometimes, and it made me feel a little better about myself.  It even helps me a little bit in my role as an instructor since I teach at a transitional part of my students’ lives and I have to remember that while the content I teach would be easy in isolation, I do have to also take care of what they consider important to them.  It’s important to me as a person given where I’m at in life.

Stickbird is different in that it gives the same lesson to children and adults alike because it’s timeless, and we adults tend to forget it as we grow up.

For kids, stickbird is a fun day at the beach where Bluey and Bingo learn to throw.  Chili, their mom, teaches them, and Bandit, their dad, is in a funk.  It’s not really important.  What’s important to kids is that Bingo, the youngest, wants to throw more sticks and so drags Bandit along with her.  Along the way, they find a Really Neat Stick and create a sand bird out of it.  Fun times!  Then they go get more sticks.  Then--uh oh!--some other kids at the beach take the stickbird’s head, which upsets Bingo.  Bingo spends some time upset and angry, which she states very firmly when Bluey succeeds in learning how to throw and is excited to show Bingo.  When Bluey learns that Bingo is upset--not really why, just that she is--she offers a trick shown to her by her friend.  Bluey, in true kid fashion, “gathers the upset and angry...from your neck...and your belly...and behind your ears” and then asks Bingo if she wants to keep it.  Bingo thinks about it, as all kids do, and says “no.”  There’s a funny back-and-forth about giving the angry and upset to either Bluey or Bandit, and neither of them want it, so Bingo asks what to do with it, and Bluey tells her to “throw it away...really far” using the lesson that Chili gave them both.  So, Bingo does, and she feels better, and there’s a hooray moment before the girls race each other on the beach, giggling.  And that’s where it ends for the kids.

For adults, our focus is immediately drawn by Bandit, the typically excitable and playful father who is in a serious funk.  Chili draws attention to it towards the beginning by saying “let it go, babe.  You’re missing it.”  Throughout the episode, while the kids are watching Bingo and her lack of emotional regulation, we’re watching Bandit and how he, an adult who has learned how to compartmentalize and regulate emotions, is dealing with his own upset.  He’s too quiet, and it’s honestly a bit unsettling if you know him as a character.  He stands off to the side and interacts a little bit while Bluey explains to Bingo how to deal with her “angry and upset,” and after the girls run off and the kids celebrate, the camera stays with Bandit.  He doesn’t say anything.  He just starts miming what his children just did, takes a deep breath, and throws the camera itself far into the ocean.  Before the perspective plops in the water (in a shot that is honestly gorgeous and made me beam with a joy only being thrown as a kid can elicit), we see a return of normal Bandit, loud and excitable and ready to play with his kids.

Stickbird is about handling life’s shit, and that’s a timeless lesson.  The lesson is outlined boldly for the kids, but there’s a reminder that we as adults sometimes need to throw the little problems away in order to live our best lives.

To me, it’s kind of like how Phineas and Ferb was jam-packed with so many good things despite each episode being 15 minutes.  PnF has 3 simultaneous storylines (the boys and their adventures, Candace and her adventures, and Perry and Doofenshmirtz), and Bluey has 2 (something kid-centric and something adult-centric) jam-packed into 7 minutes a pop.  Bluey also has a tendency of bringing back childlike wonder without being condescending or demeaning to the audience, which can be an unintended side effect for many children’s shows when they’re trying to explain big concepts to minds that want to absorb things but have a difficult time parsing fact from fiction.  (Seriously, it’s just a developmental stage that those shows are trying to cater to.)

So, yeah, I’m 27, childless, and enjoy Bluey.  There are so many teenagers who enjoy it as well.  And, of course, parents and their babies enjoy it, too.  Some like the healing aspect of it, some enjoy the silly games, and some just enjoy it for being what it is.  I can’t tell anyone to love it or anything.  All I can say is that it’s a good idea to give some of the episodes a chance and judge for yourself whether you, as a person, like it or not.  If you do, then welcome!  I hope you find an episode that you really, REALLY enjoy!  If you don’t, then I hope you enjoy the fandoms that you, as a person, enjoy while I do the same.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Fandom: Glee + FC: Joe Locke + LI: Benjamin

baby boy!!

Daniel "Danny" Anthony Hope

Son of two iconic broadway lesbians, Vanessa & Lucinda Hope (not married because it's not legal but Lucinda changed her last name to match her wife and son)

Vanessa Hope (bio mom) is from Ohio, she was doing community theatre in Columbus when Danny was born (and meets Josh St James, they become very close even though she's a bit older)

She went through a very very messy breakup with Danny's father (he was extremely financially and verbally abusive, sometimes physically, leaves him because he hit infant Danny to make him stop crying, during the process she realizes she’s a lesbian), which leads to her moving to New York, auditions for a broadway show on a whim but gets it and quickly becomes theatre icon status, changes her last name from Corcoran to Hope as part of restarting her life, meets Lucinda soon after

(also Danny and Vanessa both have restraining orders against Danny's bio father)

Danny has known Josh for his entire life, he hasn't been to Ohio since Vanessa moved them to New York but Josh regularly comes to New York to visit Nell, young Jesse (when Johanna still lived in New York), and Vanessa & Danny, he's somewhere between a cool uncle and much older brother to Danny

Danny is following in his moms' footsteps, he's done some ensemble broadway roles before but has just started his first major role, playing Tony in Sweeney Todd (fun cast, his moms are playing Lovett and Lucy, Roman Kline is playing Anthony)

But soon after he turns 15 (roughly the start of glee season 2), he loses his virginity to a theatre acquaintance (who is ~18 at the time), who films it without Danny knowing, leaks the tape, and outs Danny on a major scale – the video got spread all over social media and tabloids, his moms sued so many people for possession and distribution of child pornography (he was 15, the other guy was 18, he’s now in jail for 7 years over it) – it's the first time that Roman has actually acted as a lawyer since getting licensed but he represents Danny, the whole thing becomes a huge media circus because it becomes a huge precedent case about tabloids and news outlets and revenge porn/sharing private images and videos etc

But the whole situation takes a significant toll on Danny's mental health, and he's dealing with insane amounts of harassment and stalking from paparazzi so for his safety, he ends up moving to Lima to live with Josh for a while. He's enrolled at Dalton which is a bitch of a commute but it’s Ohio and he was just very publicly and traumatizing outed so the no bullying policy is a huge win; he does end up eventually transferring to McKinley either after the Slushy Incident in season 3 (details iffy on that because Sebastian and Klaine are more tensely civil in this verse) or because of Hunter shit in season 4

Ship is tbd, Blaine is very much a big brother to him (people keep adopting him tbh), also has a huge crush on Sebastian when they first meet but it doesn't go anywhere, Sebastian becomes his over protective big brother instead

Roman and Cooper were his gay awakening when he was 12 (he had never thought he liked girls but didn’t realize he *liked boys* until then), he met Roman when he was doing a stint on Broadway with one of his moms and then met Cooper on opening night

And it’s going to be a Kurt & Klaine friendly story (noteworthy because it's not typical of me), Kurt is his big brother too and is very protective of this kid (who is only a year younger than him but feels *so* young when they first meet and reminds Kurt too much of himself; also Kurt knew about the outing situation and posted so many scathing social media posts condemning everyone who watched, shared, or mocked it and everyone who harassed him after)

everyone just calling him Klaine’s son all the time (Danny: I’m only a few months younger than Blaine wtf? / Blaine: nope sorry you have two lesbian moms and two gay dads now love you kid / Danny: 🥺🥺🥺 love you too)

he used to be a total social butterfly and very confident and chill and just happy but becomes extremely withdrawn and anxious and shy after the whole outing situation, struggles to get close to anyone after that (but no one is immune to his fluffy hair and puppy eyes and he keeps getting adopted anyways)

also his moms spend a lot of time visiting him in Lima and might end up moving there once it's clear that this is the best place for Danny to be, tbd

bonus characters: Kathryn Hahn as Vanessa Corcoran Hope, Patti Lupone as Lucinda Hope, and Aubrey Plaza as Danny's unnamed therapist in Lima

also technically named after Danny Zuko and Anthony Hope but Vanessa choosing Hope as a new last name wasn't about the Sweeney Todd reference, it was about Danny being her hope and about her hope for a new life after leaving her ex/moving to New York

[technician-para-driver]

Heya, there! Anji is here~

I was born in 1977 (as from 2004 then I'll be 27y.o), and my pronouns is she/they (but I conversationally prefer to be referred just by my name, Anji)

I am one of PPTH's Ambulance Operator (driver and paramedic). I also am an automotive technician and a part of Abhimanyu Automotive Garage and Warehouse for Automotive Service.

Feel free to interact with me and my family (Araya - twin brother, Abhi - older brother, Anjani - mother) on "Welcome to the Garage!" ; for emergency and automotive needs, or anything!^^

Also! I'm using this blog with my family (me and my family lore is here), so here's the blog guide:

Creator speaking: Hello! It's Rain @rainismdata , who has created these OCs. Feel free to interact with any of them! My other OC is Dr. Maddox @dr-visionary-counselor . I'll be glad to talk further with these character and developing the interactions with all House MD OCs of @ppth-staff and also obviously everyone. I'll be talking in indented and italic word!

Yeah. That's it from my creator. So, I'll use the reds. Now now, I'll let my family to introduce themselves.

This is the narrative speaking, in small chat. Anji lets us in to her family house, showing us pictures of her family, a couple parent and three children. And proceed to the kitchen room, looking at a man who's standing tall in about 6'2", cooking. She patted his shoulder and giving him signs.

1, 2, 3, check and recheck. Is anybody here?

Bro, are you serious?

Obviously not, actually. Sorry. HAHA.

Hi! Call me Araya! I am Anji's twin brother and currently a librarian in Princeton. I was also born in 1977, obviously (so I'll be 27 in 2004). But, hey... I'm moving out with my husband in 2013, and he's a chef!

So fitting with Araya's big appetite.

So, so, true! Feel free to ask or talk to me about books, or is there a copy of any book in Princeton Library. I'll be talking in greens, by the way... And, that's it from me~

I'll take it from here, then.

Another man who's 6' is approaching them and stealing a few bites of Araya's snack.

Good Morning! I am Abhimanyu; just call me Abhi or Abi for shorts. I am the twins' older brother, was born in 1975 (if it's 2004 then I'll be 29y.o).

I'm moving out to live with my wife and kids (yeah, I also have twins) near my Automotive Garage and Warehouse for automotive service; still in Princeton anyway... I'll be happy if Anji referred you to my Garage for automotive services. If you were referred by Anji or Araya, or even my mom, then you'll have a discount! I know... I shouldn't be giving discounts out. But— what do I say? Happy customer, happy me.

I'll be talking in blues. So, I'll see you when I see you!

We proceed to the dining room as Abi also joining us. Currently works as a knitting workshop where the threads are scattered nicely on the dining table. A woman in her 50s is knitting, putting on a glasses.

Mama?

Uh-hm...?

Mom— Oh my god. Sorry, fellas. I might need a second. She's focusing on making that temperature knitted blanket.

Mama... Please, introduce yourself. We are in an introduction here.

Oh! Hey! I'm sorry. I was so focusing on— Ah. Anyways...

Hello! I am the siblings' Mother. You can call me Anjani, or Anja, or Jani. Or just simply Auntie. I'll be fine either way. I'm an old soul, born in 1953 (I'll be 51 in 2004).

I currently am working on temperature knitted blanket. It's been fun and I have done 237 days! My children says my cookings is the best in the world. That's what kids says to their mom, wasn't it? They might've exaggerate that so much—

No, Mom.

We're not exaggerating that.

Araya heard his mom's word, too, from the kitchen, he's speaking loudly so that we could all hear him.

I have a chef husband, but that stays the right for me.

That's so nice of you! I might've going to broke the roof if you speak so nicely about me.

Aye aye. There you go, fellas. That's my Mama. Don't get surprised of who I got that from.

What should I say, I like foods. So, I'd like to rate your cookings; maybe not by taste because it's virtual. I'll be talking in— idk, is it pink? I guess it's pink.

Thanks, Mama. I'll leave you with this knitted blanket. I'll proceed further with this introduction.

We are now sitting on a couch in living room. A teapot is on the table and a cup of tea is served.

That's all from my family. I'll be using this blog as the main user. And now that you know, my family has bold sentence on their introduction to tell you their main interest. But the basic rule is still works; that we can basically talk about anything, even outside our interest.

That being said, SEE YOU!!^^

So, that's how it's done... This family is going to be LOUD loud. Please, bear with me ╥﹏╥

Also, I'm not an artist, so I use picrew for this.

[sergeifyodorov]

Sometimes I just think about how insanely different the lives of all the 2015 draft class players are now and it makes me feel ridiculous. Like, Mitch is a hometown kid on the leafs and they either love him or hate him at all times, he’s doing good personally, is getting married, but professionally he’s in so much limbo. Connor is the most talented player in the world according to most people but he cannot win and the weight of the world is on his shoulders and he’s in a big black and white house in Edmonton. Jack was pretty much held hostage by the team that never wanted him, his bodily autonomy completely denied, and then he finally gets traded to the nhl villain team and he beats the guy who was always better than him. And Dylan isn’t exceptional as a player, he’s decent on an aging team full of dads and he has a wife and a daughter and another on the way and he just seems happy. I wonder if they ever think about each other.

I KNOW RIGHT like each of their stories has just gotten so much More interesting over the course of the past ... coming up on eight years now. Hockey is a fantastic soap opera, you know? The story just keeps on going.

And the crazy part is we're not even halfway through. A hockey player with a shelf life -- Mitch and Connor both seem pretty durable, and Jack seems a lot healthier now after his neck trouble has been resolved -- can last fifteen, twenty years if they're lucky. Who knows where the story will go from here? Dylan's contract extends further into the future than any other Capital -- he'll be a UFA in the summer of 2028, which ironically gives him more job security than any of the other three in the class. Good, for a boy who just wanted to be wanted somewhere. I wonder what the Capitals will look like after Ovi's done. (Assuming Ovi ever retires, although I have a sneaking suspicion he and Sid will go out in the same summer. They have always been entwined, after all.)

I desperately want to know if we'll see any of them on any other teams, too! Hockey is unlike a lot of other sports in that its biggest and brightest superstars tend to stay as put as possible: of what I consider to be the six "generational talents," (Howe, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid)(IF U HAVE OPINIONS ON THIS SEND THEM TO MEEEEE), only one of them so far has played for more than one NHL team (Howe era Whalers don't count!!!). Mitch isn't generational by any means, but he's far and away enough of a superstar to go just about anywhere he wants, which for my own feeble sanity I beg means #leafsforever. I just hope if they go anywhere else then they keep to the colour scheme! Dylan's three teams have all been red and Jack's have both been yellow/gold. If Connor McDavid becomes a Dallas Star it'll mess with the damn symbolism (plus his TA of mathematics ass could never match the vibe that silly little group of rapscallions has).

And... the eternal question: the Cup. Eichs is obviously still in the hunt right now, but i do dearly want to know who of the four of them wins it and when. Fun fact: both Dylan's and Jack's only playoff appearances to date have involved eliminating Connor. Mitch actually made the playoffs first out of all four of them, but by one measly game Connor has more wins.

In summary: Urgrghghuhuhsgdhkgjhfdghhfgkdjfhjkd the lore... the drama... etc etc

[snootlestheangel]

I’m on break so I’m throwing this in your inbox really quickly!

I live a good zombie apocalypse au. Can never go wrong with those.

That title! Holy shit that’s such a cool title! Death Doesn’t Want Me! You always have such fun titles!

I love the idea of scary ass Ghost being the only military in this group of civilians. As if he needed more of a reason to stand out.

Then you add in that a lot of the group is Soap’s family! Aaaaaahhhhh! I fucking love that!

The angst! Ghost seeing Soap in different aspects of his family. And the kids! Him wondering if the others are okay. If Soap is doing alright.

The assholes disagreeing with Ghost and Soap’s siblings + partners instantly backing him up. Not just because Ghost is their best shot at staying alive. But also because he’s their Johnny’s friend. That makes him practically family!

Can you imagine one of the kids starts imitating Ghost?! And the kid has a Mohawk because they used to imitate Soap!

I really do love the title. "Death Doesn't Want Me" is such a badass title for a Zombie Apocalypse story

Oh god the mental image of a tiny MacTavish child imitating Ghost stop please

The actual siblings of Soap's that are in this group are his oldest siblings (his brother and one of his sisters.)

Oliver was an ER doctor and his wife, Eleanor, was head nurse. They have 4 kids: the eldest a 17 year old boy, then a 12 year old girl, and twin 8 year old boys.

Sarah and her husband have 2 kids: a 13 year old girl, and a 7 year old girl.

But here's my thought process for this story

Ghost doesn't want to group up with people now that the world is ending.

He's lost too many people, he doesn't want to get attached to anyone else.

Death doesn't want him, it seems like. Death has always skipped him over and taken those around him.

But Ghost who sees a group of civilians gathered around a bus with a smoking engine, clearly not able to work anymore. He can tell they're arguing, and at first he just wants to slip on by undetected.

But then he hears the sound of a Scottish woman asking if they could just stop arguing for one second and listen. He hears a British man telling her to shut up, definitely poking at her accent at the same time.

And then Ghost sees the kids. Mostly early teens/preteens but a couple younger ones as well.

And suddenly Ghost just can't walk by. Suddenly he's stepping in between two men as a fight almost breaks out. His presence alone is enough to force everyone into silence.

The Scottish woman takes the opportunity to speak her piece. Which is that heading in the direction the British guy wants to is dangerous and stupid. That there's a place in the opposite direction that hopefully still stands where they'll be safe. Where their children will be safe.

And if Ghost death glares the assholes into agreeing, then that's between them: he had his back to the MacTavish family for that.

And so he kind of lingers behind the group as they slowly make their way on foot. He still has all his military gear, his sniper rifle resting along his back for the most part. Everyone knows he's not to be trifled with, especially knowing he's the only one with a gun.

He obviously pieces it together: the Scottish family in the group is Soap's family, and it's part of the only reason he sticks around long after the assholes either go their separate way or die off to the undead hordes.

But Ghost just "haunts" the group. Never speaks (can't say force himself to find the words), just communicates in grunts and nods (can't look too long or else he'll get attached), and just does his job as their self appointed body guard.

He loves the way they share stories at night, whispered quietly. He loves hearing the way they talk about what they'll do when reunited with the rest of their family. When they're reunited with Johnny. He can't bring himself to get any closer though. He just can't lose them, if not for his sake but for Johnny's.

He hears them when they whisper quiet hopes of seeing everyone alive. And his heart breaks just a bit when Soap's big sister (Sarah) quietly tells her husband how she wishes Johnny's Simon is okay too, and that wherever they are, they're together.

It's the first time Ghost realizes Soap talks about him to his family. That despite having never once brought up the topic of meeting his family, John MacTavish still spoke so highly of him that he's practically already a part of the MacTavish family.

Sarah who has always been the closest to Soap. Sarah has always been his safe place to talk about his feelings and to go to when he's not feeling well. Sarah who wants so badly for her baby brother to experience what it's like to be happy with a partner. She worries so much about him.

All the meanwhile, Soap, Gaz, and Price are scouring the country trying to find Ghost and the rest of Soap's family. Soap is desperately trying not to lose hope every night they come up empty handed.

I have this image in my head of one moment where they encounter some bandits or some shit. Ghost indicates that he'll talk to them, which leaves everyone confused.

Next thing they know, they're running as a fight between Ghost and the bandits breaks out.

It's almost an hour later when Ghost finally makes it back to them. But there's clearly something wrong.

He stumbles in and says "I got stabbed" before sitting in a chair and showing the rather large knife sticking out of his side. Oliver thought he had seen it all, being an ER doctor, but this takes the cake. Ghost just has an incredible pain tolerance and he's just eerily calm about the whole thing.

Obviously this is when the mask gets taken off and against his own wishes, he gets closer to the family. Eventually it's revealed to them he's Johnny's Simon and blah blah blah

Obviously a happy reunion with Soap

Also this is what I imagine Ghost looks like in this