#They're not Super Interesting or anything since they're Not a Main Character but they're an English Teacher!

[gu6chan]

man........ i start thinking about my black butler days and a new rp blog of this one comes calling back to me like the devil

[wayfinderships]

Missing U.kai hours! Kiss kiss kiss for him! <3 He's so handsome methinks!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

i cant really tell if yuu's involvement in ace's character is more for fanservice reasons or because they really did play a part in his character development.

like in nbc we have malleus choosing to focus on finishing the task at hand as quickly as possible so that they can then find the prefect rather than drop everything there at that moment and prioritizing finding yuu. (iirc) and compared to that we have ace who does put a lot of emphasis on finding yuu especially when no one seems to remember it during the halloween event it feels very traditionally fanservice-y ? and i cant really tell where the line is drawn for ace anymore. and you did mention a lot of other points in another post that you made esp with ace's dream recently dropping and the fact that hes the only guy whos dream yuu was actively involved in idk its a little confusing for me i hope im making sense TT no shade to the shippers im just a little slow in comprehending it all bvbvsjdj

your posts are always really neutral and accurate it just helps to clear up a lot of my confusions and questions i have when playing so thank you for your hard work!

[Referencing this post; you might also find this related post useful in the discussion of Ace and Yuu's relationship!]

DISCLAIMER: I do not mean to invalidate or detract from Ace x Yuu or Malleus x Yuu shippers or anyone who may interpret their relationship as romantic. You should ship what you like and have fun doing it. My reply aims to be more objective, but that should NOT impede on your enjoyment or whatever it is you choose to ship.

iufipaerasfeao Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you find my posts helpful. I try my best to be objective when it comes to analyzing the story and characters, but there's no true way for someone to be completely neutral. There are definitely times when I have an aside to insert my two cents on a situation or I get super heated about a particular topic. Hopefully I still leave enough space for everyone to come to their own conclusions.

I think it's both fanservice and because Yuu actually plays a big part in Ace's character development? Like, it's technically fanservice but it does not feel egregious because it fits Ace’s teasing nature and Ace's bond with Yuu has been established from the start. He was the first student we met at NRC and we spend so much time with him since then; there's no way Yuu wouldn't have had an impact on him, especially when book 7 is now paralleling the two as people with insecurities about being weak/unable to do anything + not contributing enough and Yuu encouraging him when he finally gets his UM.

I commonly see people joking about Malleus having "missed the meeting about Twst not being a dating sim" and holding him up as "the main love interest". (And to be clear, Twst isn't a dating sim, nor do all Twst fans see the characters romantically; I am only speaking about this in a romantic lens in the context of this post.) However, I think there's a very strong case to be made for Ace as well. The thing is, I also feel that Malleus and Ace fundamentally appeal to two different groups of yumejoshi. Malleus is the tall, dark, and mysterious type you can "fix", the type of guy that would burn the world down for you. Ace is the teasing and approachable boy-next-door that has your back and supports you even when the entire world is against you. This is also evident in the ways they're set up in the main story; Malleus is introduced in a way that encourages much more "filling in of the gaps" due to how little he actually shows up in front of Yuu in the main story. It gives the player a lot of space to imagine what their relationship with him is like because there isn't a ton of interactions in canon to go off of. Meanwhile, Ace has many more canonized interactions with Yuu (eating lunch, doing homework, watching movies, playing video games, etc.), so the effort of thinking about what they actually do over the course of their relationship is already done for you. There is an established friendship and connection with Ace, but you barely see Malleus enough to truly have a strong impact on him or to change him. Does that make sense?

IADUPADF9A9FSBdb I do find it sort of funny that Malleus is basically like, "Oh, something unexpected happened (ie Yuu is missing). We'd better solve this." Not really showing much emotion about them being gone in Nightmare. (Malleus only gets annoyed when Leona begins to take charge; he is not mad at the fact that Yuu is gone.) Meanwhile Yuu is missing in Endless Halloween Night and Ace is the FIRST person to excuse himself to check Ramshackle for them.

If you consult the fandom and the fandom alone, you'd think the situation would be reversed. Edit: Malleus does have his moments of intimacy with Yuu (which I won’t be getting into here because then I fear this post would veer into shipping wars), but the English speaking Twst fandom has a VERY strong bias for Malleus x Yuu. Because of that, there is a tendency to misinterpret or misattribute every little thing that Malleus says and does to support the idea that "Yuu is his most important person". (For example, even though Malleus provides no reaction at all when Skully kisses the back of Yuu's hand, many Malleus fans claimed that he would be very jealous or would harm Skully for doing such a thing. In another Halloween event, Glorious Masquerade, people believed he was angry at Rollo for harming Yuu even though this was not the case; the event states that he was mad because the invitation he had been extended was a fake one.)

It is because of thinking like this that a lot of English speakers genuinely believed Malleus would OB in book 7 in a desperate attempt to prevent Yuu from returning to their original world. Misinterpretations, headcanons, misattributions, and personal projections were conflated with canon, leading to many people to believe that Malleus was closer with Yuu than they actually are. Instead, Malleus ended up OBing because he feared Lilia leaving and he barely even considers Yuu after he OBs. And, ironically, Ace is the character whose dream prominently features Yuu and a scenario in which Yuu doesn't have to leave them forever. It was always Ace that we had a strong relationship with, not Malleus.

Ace is often overlooked even though he has far more canon interactions with Yuu in the main story. I think this could maybe to chalked up to a combination of him being "boring" compared to the literal DARK FAE OP CROWN PRINCE M. Draconia over there and the fact that so many of those "gaps" are already filled by the main story. There's less room for imagination because the game has already defined what Ace and Yuu's relationship entails. Malleus is just so much more appealing when it comes to intrigue and mysteriousness. When you look at it objectively though... Yuu only meets Malleus face-to-face like 5-6 times for brief conversations. (Edit: I’m not counting voice lines because those are arguably directed at the player, not Yuu, to endear the character to you and/or all characters get similar voice line fanservice. The canonicity is questionable since the same familiarity in voice lines is not carried over to the main story.) 5-6 times… That's not nearly long enough to make a huge impact or change in his life (unless you as the player extrapolate and imagine more Malleus and Yuu interactions outside of the ones we see in the main story). At best, I think you could say Malleus is glad he can have a special little friend who doesn't know of his name and status? He doesn't really change because of that relationship though. Malleus doesn't even show up until book 2. But Ace has literally been there since the beginning, canonically spends tons of his free time with Yuu, and has been through several near-life experiences with them (several OBs). He has the chance to bond with Yuu. Malleus does not. (He has given Yuu advice once, sent them a card once, and reassembled a stage for them once; all other interactions in the main story are short talks.)

It makes a lot of sense that Ace would be the one "touched" by Yuu's influence, whether you see it as romantic or platonic. Both he and Malleus (and all the other characters, really) get their moments of fanservice--but very few characters' development is directly impacted by Yuu's presence. Yuu might be there for most of the main story, but they actually get only a few moments to engage with the other boys in the cast to the point of actually changing them. It feels like the changes that occur are more often the result of the other boys (Trey standing up to Riddle and holding his hand afterwards, Epel and Deuce bonding on the beach, the twins telling Azul he's lame but also being the first to check up on him following the OB, Idia finalizing his farewells with Ortho, etc.) Ace just so happens to be an exception to that, as Yuu very clearly plays a big role in his development.

[commonmexicanname]

Good Omens and the Miracle Chimes

Don't say anything... Just... Watch this please? It's a compilation of some miracle sounds throughout the show. For EVERY Miracle Chime, come this way...

This has been my Roman Empire since my first viewing.

What I'm hearing is...

Aziraphale's miracle chime is distinctly different from other angel's miracle chime. Makes sense, main character, and all. His has this "singing" to it.

Crowley's miracle chime is just a hissing sound. However, I have no other demons to compare it to.

When they perform their half miracle, it starts with Az's chime and ends with Crowley's. They overlap ever so slightly, but you can clearly hear them both.

As for the last miracle sound(s?) of the show, I first hear Az's miracle sound, and after a few seconds, Crowley's. But, they're both distorted.

I just... Can't stop thinking about that last miracle sound(s?). What does it mean? I mean, I have theories as to what it could mean, and maybe I'll make a long post about it one day. I'm not a writer though, so it would take me a long while to write down all those thoughts of mine. For now, I'm just glad to have finally made this madness into a thing I can share.

Inspired to make this video thanks to this post by @noneorother.

And here's hoping @embracing-the-ineffable also finds it interesting enough for their post.

P.S. I'm on the fence about making a super cut of every miracle sound in season 2. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I'll just need help making a list of timestamps of all miracle sounds as I know I'll miss one otherwise. Update: Supercut is in the works! Update 2: If you missed it, the supercut is done and pinned on my blog!

[issue-paper]

My designs for the main cast :D Thought process explained below vvV

The original designs are great! I love Astro so much and Dandy is my absolute favorite toon out of the six of them, but I felt like their personalities and likes could be pushed further through their designs so here's my take. My thought process was definitely more towards what they would look like in an actual cartoon on screen. Sprout: Sprout's original design is really cute, but I don't really get why he has a scarf? It's a simple accessory but it doesn't really tell me anything about him. So I decided no more scarf and instead he gets an apron. Sprout likes to bake! It's a not so subtle choice to make but it suits him well I think. Shelly: Shelly is soooo cute and I understand in the lore she's the most ignored out of the mains so her in game design makes sense as to why she's so simple but I wanted to push her interest in archeology harder. So she gets a pair of boots and a pair of gloves with a patch in her dress to get across she's always doing something that its needed repair. Dandy: I admit Dandy was a little harder to think of something for. He's such a solid and simple design, a perfect mascot really but I decided to tweak his colors just a little and give him a friendship bracelet. It's rainbow, just like his petals. I figured I wouldn't dress him up because Dandy would be the one to have multiple outfits depending on what he's doing with his friends, he's everybody's friend! Pebble: Pebble is the biggest change, he's still got his big eyes which I love. I do wish I had kept his weird stare but I'm just keeping him cute for now. He's rounded out as I felt he didn't come off as a pebble and more like a stepping stone you'd find in a garden. Which might've been the intention with his original design since they're in a place called GARDENVIEW but I still wanted to round him out. I wanted to add dog ears simply because it's cute, how would that affect his twisted? I'm not super sure, I'm not doing these designs with the game in mind. Vee: Vee was honestly quite hard to change. Her design is very simple and I like her bean body shape too much to get rid of it, so it looks more like she's in a body suit instead. I do worry Vee's tones are too similar but I checked and she looks okay. I also gave her some cute little heels. I decided to get rid of the bend in her antenna feeling it could be used to show her emotions better. A stressed out Vee could have a bent one, but the perfect game show host wouldn't be seen with something like that. Astro: Not a huge difference! I've given him some big socks, a pair of slippers, and added some fringe to his blanket. I've also changed the plus shape on his face to a twinkle shape, along with the pompom on his hat. Next time I draw him the twinkles may both be smaller, I feel like the one on his hat looks too heavy. The color choices on each toon were very important to me. Something I really admire in MLP:FIM is how excellently the mane six are designed. Some of them share colors, not a single one of them looks out of place next to the other because of how their colors work. So I wanted these main six to also share colors while also each have their own defining color. Sprout is red, Shelly is orange, Pebble is yellow, Vee is green, Astro is blue, and Dandy has each of their colors on his petals. He's everyone's friend so he has to look the part. And that's it! Thanks for reading if you did, I really like these characters a lot and I wanted to share my take. Again the original designs are wonderful. Qwel did a great job. These were made out of love for the original cast along with a love for character design.

[doubleslashkarma]

Why the Keeper that Aimsey, Sneeg and Pangi have been working with isn't actually a Keeper and why they're super fucked.

A THEORY / ONGOING PANIC ATTACK

So Aimsey has been tasked to find the dragon shards "at any cost". This wording is already a bit more ominous than we're used to with the Keepers who usually try and keep up the appearance of morally good individuals. But it gets even stranger when we consider the deal for Jonnaay's death. The Keepers have been loudly anti-war and pro-peace this entire time, that's kind of their whole bit. So why would one actively encourage action that could start a war? Something that could bring the Red faction back into business, when they've already admitted that their very existence was a mistake?

If the Keeper could just take the Dragon Shard out of Jonnaay's ender chest this whole time, then why do the song and dance of murder?

Let's think about Pangi.

Pangi had a meeting with Newt, who we KNOW from Lukey's flashbacks is a Keeper associated with the main group of Keepers that we are familiar with. Newt told Pangi to hold onto his dragon shards, because someone would come to collect them soon. He'd know who.

This stuck out to me as a weird thing to say to someone who already has a liaison they've been working with (through Aimsey but associated nonetheless) on the Dragon Shard problem. We could assume Newt was talking about Aimsey's Keeper, but then why the wording? Why the mysteriousness if it was just the same Keeper they were already familiar with? Why the "they'll have to be the one to tell you" shit? They make a point to function as a unit, why would that change now? Why does it feel like they're not on the same page? Unless Newt wasn't talking about another Keeper. (He might've been talking about Lukey, in all honesty, but I don't have enough evidence to be certain about that. This possibility will come up later though.)

Almost a week ago, during Aimsey's nightmare, there was a book. That book said "Find ?" with the ? being one of those glitchy characters. Immediately afterwards, Lukey appears on screen, barely visible. This dream also very notably used the "at all costs" mantra that's been indicative of the entire Dragon Shard hunt.

We can draw some conclusions on that series of events and say that the book was meant to say "Find "L", since that is a name that a Keeper uses for Lukey.

Problem, it's one very specific Keeper. And that's Stultus, the Jester's partner in crime and agent of chaos who specifically work against the main group of Keepers (which does vaguely imply that he might be team corruption).

Stultus, who is the only Keeper who needs to be specifically given a name in order to use it. (Isn't it weird? Has the Keeper Aimsey is working with ever referred to them as anything besides "lab rat?" Why do they insist on calling Pangi "the Pangolin"?)

Why would a Keeper who is staunchly anti-corruption want to reassemble one of the sources of corruption? The Keepers fell to the Dragon, why would they want it's egg in one piece again? For "research?"

Bring LIFE? Bring LIFE back to it? You want the dragon to come BACK? INTERESTING. FASCINATING.

(If Newt DID mean Lukey was going to collect the shards, and we do know he was sent to The Realm to find a cure for the corruption based on his most recent flashback, then that would explain why the Keeper today specifically did not want Lukey to know about the plan).

I could be entirely off my rocker and there might be some evidence against this that I just don't know about from not having watched every second of every Aimsey stream but I think that there are two separate groups of Keepers trying to get the Dragon Shards off of Aimsey, Sneeg and Pangi andI think they're trusting the wrong one.

My final piece of evidence is that Aimsey would never let their character be happy ever it's not allowed. That is all.

[audiart]

I like your post series ideas, I'm interested in the fate of two characters who were deprived of a happy ending: 1. The first is Doll. Since Uzi was able to bring back Cyn, what's the problem with bringing back Doll? + besides, maybe it's just a stylistic element or Uzi's tail with the first image of her new design has redness.

2. The second is J. Since Cyn got a second chance, J deserves one too. + your designs of Nori and Cyn are super cool. Let's hope that at least Porter won't get psychological trauma

Hehe you're the first to point that lil detail out!

Yes, Doll is in there. She's a silent observer and hasn't made Uzi aware of how close she is to the surface.

The Absolute Solver is a hive-minded network that all users are connected to; to be infected with the Solver means your consciousness and neural network exists far beyond your body. ("I have backups")

If the main host of the solver knows who they're looking for well enough and how to do it, they could theoretically bring any Solver host back to life in a new body.

But Doll is just so so tired after her long fight, her consciousness just floating in the AS Network with fleeting visions of how the world's moving on without her is enough for now.

As for J, she has a lot of trauma to recover from. She's the sort to lash out at friends and isolate herself and isn't coping well with ANY of the changes to the monotony that was her life.

She spent decades denying Tessa's death, decades pretending their mission was anything more than meaningless genocide, hunting down rogue/patched Solver Drones, and preparing for ASCyn's arrival.

Sometimes on their flights V, N and Uzi see J in the distance but their pings never receive a response. She's often found around Pod landing sites but doesn't stick by long enough for anyone to find out why.

And thank you!!! Porter's time will come. She has some big shoes to fill and bigger expectations to meet; let's hope she won't crack under the pressure.

[irishmammonagenda]

hii , do you mind doing diavolo x m!court jester reader?

i saw a post with a king x jester trope and i could not get it out of my head 😭 it can be headcanons or a short drabble, wtv you want!!

hihi! this is such an interesting thingy to write and i apologise for taking a while to write it, writing male characters is fun but lowkey kind of hard for me😔✊

i also dont know what jesters do and my knowledge is watching horrible histories when i was younger so this is widely inaccurate heehee

no but fr i think in another universe diavolo would be a jester tbh

dividers by @/ioveartfilm

grma for requesting <3!!!!

Funny Funny (I'm in love with you.) Diavolo X M!Court Jester Reader

He laughs at your jokes like a man on crack

You're his favourite employee in the castle and your room is right beside his chambers (he made sure of it)

You sneak into his room for sleepovers sometimes. Barbatos has given up on propriety.

The Little Ds help you with your super cool jester preformances. They're surprisingly good at dancing and balancing plates.

You use the Little Ds as juggling balls sometimes.

Diavolo has promoted you as much as possible, bro atp people think you're a consort instead of court jester.

like they will full on go up to you to pitch ideas or put in a good word for Diavolo since he'll listen to you.

Barbatos also forces you to tell Diavolo news that'll make him angry or upset since he takes it a lot better coming from you.

Unrelated but you'd 100% be friends with Solomon and Thirteen. Which is awkward when theyre in the same room together.

Apart from Barbatos and Lucifer occassionally disciplining you, you are untouchable.

"Your Heighness...." A noble bows in front of Diavolo's throne. Why that scumbag had requested an audience with the Demon Prince, you had no idea. Technically you weren't even supposed to be listening in, but no one had noticed you on the chandelier yet so that was their problem.

And your problem when Barbatos eventually found out. Said Demon standing beside Diavolo's throne.

You watch as Diavolo nods along, uncharacteristically serious. "What do you need?"

"Well...I believe if we stopped trading pickles to the humans it would be a lot less daunting to create them-"

You blink. What the fuck. Bro requested an audience for this? Damn, this was so unserious it was good material for your next stand up routine.

You watch from overhead as Diavolo blinks, his wings stiffening ever so slightly, the crimson-haired prince raises an eyebrow. "You want to stop trading pickles to the Human Realm?"

"Yes, My Lord." The noble responds earnestly.

"No."

The demon blinks, astounded.

"Excuse me, may I ask you repeat that, my Lord?"

"No. Human's love pickles. They're our main traders. It'd sour relations even more." Diavolo says, you watch as Barbatos takes a deep breath, and as the Demon Prince begins to get annoyed.

You stiffle a laugh at the noble squandering, which leads to your downfall as you move your hands over your mouth, taking them off of your jester hat.

Which falls.

All the way down to the ground.

The bells on the hat jingle.

Barbatos' eyes are trained on you like a hawk. So are Diavolo's, but his eyes are more of an excited child on christmas than anything else.

The noble's eyes widen.

"Sup?" You grin awkwardly. The noble, sensing a way out of this pickle debate uses this as an excuse to say his goodbyes and leave.

Diavolo doesn't even notice. Barbatos just shakes his head ever so slightly.

"That guy was in a real pickle...!...Haha...right guys?" You laugh awkwardly, and despite the fact you're not funny at all, the Prince cackles like it was the best stand up routine he'd ever heard in his life.

You were currently at a banquet talking to the Little D's about your next juggling stunt when a demon approached you.

"Hello." She smiles, her red lips glossy.

"Sup."

"Well, I was wondering if I could ask a favour or two....." She looks hesitant but composed.

You nods your head, the bells on your hat jingling. You're convinced Diavolo put them on there to serve as some sort of cat bell.

"Well....I had an idea for expanding our trades of magical herbs to human world Alaska...since a few witches have been living on quote on quote 'lesbian cottages' there."

You whistle. "Damn. Do they have huskies?"

"A lot of them, from what I hear." She nods, her tail wrapping around her leg absentmindedly. "Could you put in good word for Lord Diavolo for me?"

"Sure?" You tilt your head, the bells jingle slightly.

The demon grins, "Thanks he'll listen to you more thoroughly!"

Little D No.2 pops out from your breast pocket. "That's because everyone thinks you two are gay for eachother."

You yank him out of there. "Go annoy Mammon."

"Sir yes sir!"

At this point you should be the Avatar of Pride.

"Sire. I'm telling you. He just stabbed several upper class demons with a rusty spoon!" The demon knight urges Diavolo, who isn't even looking at him.

"You expect me to believe that?" Diavolo tilts his head. You nod vigorously from where you're covered in entrails and holding a rusty spoon in your hands. "MC wouldn't hurt a fly."

The knight looks from you to him with a lax jaw.

What.

The.

Fuck.

That knight's putting his two weeks in now icl.

^^ idea from that one person on tiktok (sirleoninsunglasses) i cant get it out of my head.

can you tell im a merlin fan.

gang idk what noble people talk about i made these discussions up as i went along but i can assure you that pickle trading and lesbian witches in alaska are actually the only thing nobles talked about in history i pinky promise

[amethxxt]

so... what do we think of the new D5 characters?

Look at me ranting again :)

I wanna start off by saying that this is no hate towards the actors. My problem is with the writers.

Am I excited for Red to have a younger sister? YES. My personal headcanon is that Red has 3 younger siblings (y'know, in a universe where the Queen of Hearts isn't an absolute tyrant), and now I can't wait to see what dynamic the two of them are going to have.

My problem with Pink, is that her name is Pink. WHY? WHAT WAS THE REASON?? It took me forever to get used to "Red" and now that's what they go for when Rosa/Rose was RIGHT THERE????

I seriously don't understand why Disney's so lazy when naming Descendants characters. Sometimes, we get absolute bangers like Calista Jane and others we get shit like Pink/Li'l Shang/Herkie/Hadie and I'm like… couldn't you have at least tried? Couldn't you go to a baby name website like every author in the world has done at least once and look for something better?

How do you expect us to care about the story of those characters when you couldn't be bothered to give them a decent name?

And speaking of Hook, we have a Hazel now :)

This one surprised me because I don't think I had ever expected them to come up with another child of Captain Hook. To me, Harriet, Harry and CJ are perfect and enough.

My problem isn't even that I think it's out of character for Hook to have four children. Actually, he seems like the type that adores the sex part but doesn't give a shit about his kids and is an abusive parent. My problem is that WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HAZEL NOW????

I have such a perfect idea of how Harriet, Harry and CJ's dynamic is and now I have to worry about introducing a brand new sister. My second problem is that I love the idea of CJ being the baby of the family for more than one reasons.

Of course, I could just ignore her, but I'm actually curious about Hazel's character and love writing about the Hook family, so I've been trying to come up with my own headcanons for my version of Descendants in case Hazel lives and in case she doesn't and we're left with the original 3.

Max is... whatever. I hate that they're gonna have him be Red's love interest because she seemed so close to Maddox that it's weird to think she'd ever see him as anything other than a friend/brother figure. Also, I'm sure he only exists because they can't have Ace in the movies because it would contradict the book or something.

I just want glassheart to be canon, is that too much to ask????

Now (just let out the biggest sigh of my life), Luis Madrigal. He might actually be my new nemesis.

Again, no hate to the actor, but seriously?! They had to throw Encanto into the mix?? I would have no problems if their new character was like, Moana's son, for example, because I can see Moana existing in the Descendants universe.

Encanto, though? I love the movie, but no. Absolutely not.

It almost feels like those skits people post to make fun of Descendants with children of characters like Lightning McQueen and Buzz Lightyear.

Luis is not ever going to be a part of my fics but at the very least I hope Disney isn't so lazy as to make him have super strenght when that's not how gifts work in Encanto. It's not hereditary.

Honestly, I can't believe someone came up with his character and it got approved.

Everything points out to the new "core four" being Red, Chloe, Pink and Hazel, but since Rise of Red didn't do such a good job at developing Red and Chloe's friendship, I'm worried about how they're going to do that and introduce two new main characters and develop Red and Pink's dynamic because I'm sure Red isn't going to start off as the perfect older sister.

I think it'd be interesting if she felt resentment and jealousy towards Pink, because she didn't have a sister before the timeline change, but now not only does she have one, but Pink got to grow up with the good version of the Queen of Hearts and all the love Red never got.

Really nice room for angst, especially since Red and Chloe are the only ones who remember how things used to be and can't just go around talking about it.

Well, I don't know what else to say right now because I just needed to vent a little. At the end of the day, we can only hope that D5 turns out to be a good movie.

[zoobus]

idk if you've talked about this before but why didn't you like 'the promised neverland'?

warning, I watched this years ago, so the details are probably off.

The first episode sets expectations and stakes sky high via the gruesome death of a very cute, very small child. This is great! Child death is on the table and the setting is an orphanage! It's a story that builds off adolescent anxieties, the burgeoning notion that adults often lie to you, that adults don't always have your best interests in mind, and you - as a child - often have no respite. When you are a child, you realize you are at their mercy. And in this story, those some adults you rely on for survival are the same ones trying to kill you and your friends. They've already killed one.

So all of that is high-tier. Should be hard to ruin that kind of momentum, right? But they do. Promised Neverland takes all the thrilling goodwill of the first ep and crushes it into a fine, boring, dust. The stakes are dropped, the dangerous vibe ebbs, and worst of all, that threat of child death we see in episode one? Does not return! There comes a point in mid-season where you realize that was just a one-time thing. They're not killing anymore children. They're all gonna make it. Where did my blessed show from the edgelord god go??

The main character is the mary sue of all sues, cheerful, earnest, an alleged genius (at no point did I buy that) who faces the dark reveal with a kind of inflexible stubbornness that could have, should have bit her in the ass. She tells us "I won't let anybody else die no matter what." In a show that starts with the violent death of a kindergartner. But instead of taking the honorable route of edge, one that might punish or at least set back such an uncompromising mindset, she just...succeeds. Like I said, you're not even halfway through the season before it's obvious that no one else is going to die, and with that off the table, so is the suspense.

Sure, there could be tension should from the kids playing cat and mouse with worldly adults three times their age. How could a child parry the ones who actually know what's going on?

The answer is they couldn't. Or they shouldn't be able to. The kids kept winning in spite of themselves. The few times they let the kids lose, I was like, I mean yeah? It's pretty reasonable for an adult to out do a little kid for this kind of thing? Even if you're a shonen prodigy , you're still 10. I was never on edge, because the wins felt unearned and the losses were like, no shit you lost to an adult. They're an adult.

On a certain level, I blame that Mother's Basement guy for setting me up to think there could be more. Specifically he talked about Promised Neverland's tag scene with Krone and how he didn't want to spoil it but just know it was one of the most unsettling heart clenching cat and mouse chases he's seen in a long time. If only I'd seen his Kakegurui review...if only I'd known the extent of his bad taste...

Anyway, I sat through it all for the tag scene and it was. An adult woman winning at tag. Yeah they do the anime thing where she's a super sonic ninja moving through the trees snatching up kids but like... She's an adult. They're small children. Some are literal toddlers. If this was meant to reflect how little kids perceive adults, I don't feel it was executed well - even our genius boys (and MC) are baffled by her insane cosmic unreality abilities to. Run faster than a fifth grader.

And what's sad is Krone actually had her moment in the spotlight, a brief spark in a sea of grey. Her flashback was a hundred, a thousand times more thrilling, more unnerving, more suspenseful than every single episode of the Promised Neverland since the first combined.

And then she dies. Spoilers.

Oh and don't get me started on the smiley protective MC making the scawy "don't fuck with my family" face towards the end, as if she'd done anything to prove she could back that threat up, god that part still pisses me off. You didn't earn that psycho anime girl face. How dare you. How dare you.

tldr there is one good episode of the Promised Neverland that is likely coloring your memories of the rest. Happens to the best of us.

[sapphic-agent]

If you tihnk about it, Charlie is like Izuku.

-They're both made into set pieces for the other characters to have their moment but them.

-They aren't shown to be that strong unless the narrative calls for it.

-lackluster love interests.

-get dog piled on by the narrative for no reason.

And the most damning one.

-Both never get to grow and learn as characters.

Absolutely! That's part of the reason why, even though she definitely has her flaws, I'll defend Charlie until the end. She's not a bad character, she's just been handled horribly (a lot of characters suffer from this: Izuku, Charlie, Marinette and Adrien from Miraculous, Korra from LOK, etc.). Because, despite being the main fucking character, she has the unfortunate fate of being a woman in Viv's work.

(I'm so fucking sick of Viv's misogyny in the Hellaverse if you couldn't tell)

There are so many wasted opportunities with Charlie. For one, she could have been a WOC (presenting, I know she's actually the color white and not White but she's also blond). People try to say, "WELL if Adam had been a POC Viv would've gotten hate for being a VILLAIN." Which isn't true, but if it WAS it would have been nullified because making Adam a POC would make Eve and Lilith WOCs, which makes Charlie biracial.

Our main character could have been a WOC, but she isn't because Viv whitewashed biblical figures.

(I know the Bible doesn't outright say they weren't white, but assuming God made them white specifically is racial bias when 2/3 of the world aren't white. Since they were the first people, it would make sense to assume they'd be right between white and Black, right?)

For another, she could have been way more insightful and sharp. I'm not saying make her a super genius or anything or to get rid of her optimism, but making her naive when she grew up in Hell is just... a weird choice. Especially when she walked right into an Overlord's territory and didn't bother to be careful about pissing him off. Yeah, you can say she's sheltered, but it's established that she does interact with Sinners. How else would she have found Vaggie? And if she wants to change things in Hell, shouldn't she know things like social and political innerworkings.

And what pisses me off the most is that she lost so easily to Adam. First Man he may be, there's not way he's stronger than the daughter of the two most powerful people in Hell. Which makes me think she is more powerful, but just can't fight for whatever reason. Which makes no sense. Why would Lucifer and Lilith not teach her how to defend herself using her ultra powerful magic?

(Sooo sick of this trend of making women weak in media that's cropping back up for whatever. The Princess of Hell should not have had to be saved by her daddy. I get it's supposed to show Lucifer being there for her but come the fuck on)

I've been thinking of rewriting HH and doing Charlie justice, but I'm not sure I want to get into dealing with the fandom on that level. The HH critics here on Tumblr can be as bad as the stans tbh (and a lot of them hate Charlie) which is why I don't post a lot in that tag unless I'm asked

[curiositydoorunlocked]

The Recent News

Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 5, including photos of actors on set.

Look, something about all this (the leak + the photo situation) feels… fishy, and I can see people in various tags are getting various levels of upset by it. So as someone who has been around the block a couple of times, I want to say something. 

First of all: hi, everyone! I’m glad to be here. I’ve been a fan of ST since early-mid 2020 and involved in the fandom since mid-late 2020 (on other accounts, which have since been deleted), so I feel at least marginally qualified to say what I’m going to say. That being said, I drifted away from the fandom before S5 filming began and haven't watched the show in a while; if I get anything wrong please feel free to correct me.

First I want to talk about Bridgerton S3. I closely followed that production in 2022 and 2023. Like Stranger Things, Bridgerton is a high-budget Netflix original show with a large cast, lots of public interest, an active fandom, and what I would call "special considerations" for filming. (In Bridgerton's case it's the historical element; in ST it's the sci-fi/fantasy element plus the historical element, albeit to a lesser degree.) They filmed for a shorter period of time than ST5 is expected to film for, yes, but many of the circumstances are/were similar. That brings me to my point: when Bridgerton S3 was filming, the best we got from the main cast was a handful of photos a) taken from relatively far away that b) did not spoil anything major. Luckily for us, the photos were clear, but in the end they didn't really amount to anything more than eye candy, something to get excited over.

In contrast, these photos from the ST5 set are clear, close, and most importantly reveal seemingly significant story beats/results. (Okay, the Mike and Hopper one isn't super close or clear, I'll give ya that. But it's still pretty damn close for a set that's supposedly locked down! Especially if they're filming a scene possibly related to a major character's death/disappearance!) Kinda odd, right? I'm not necessarily saying they were leaked on purpose to misdirect fans, because I'm not that confident in myself. I don’t have any insider/industry knowledge; I can only claim a healthy (perhaps too healthy?) level of skepticism. But I do want to put that possibility out there, because I think it’s an important one to consider.

“But wait,” you might say, “many parts of S4 were leaked, and leaked accurately at that. What’s to say these aren’t real too?”

That’s a fair point! Maybe production hasn’t learned their lesson from S4; maybe they’re truly terrible at preventing leaks and that’s the end of the story. Yes, they’ve spoken a little about security measures in the lead-up to S5 but that doesn’t mean those security measures were implemented well, or even at all.

Even keeping that in mind, I nonetheless implore everyone to chill the hell out. I say this again, with so much love: CHILL THE HELL OUT. This has happened before: even with the accurate leaks and clear photos we got during S4 filming, we lacked so much context. Mike and El’s “I love you” scene is a great example of this. There was quite the brouhaha over that leak in certain corners of the fandom… and yet the actual scene turned out nothing like the phrase “Mike finally says ‘I love you’ to El” implies. Another example are these photos (see above; my apologies for the poor quality!) of the Hawkins group in the parking lot of The War Zone. When those photos were leaked, I recall speculation that the scene would appear at the very end of the finale, that it related to an apocalypse situation, and so on, but not so! In the show it appeared before the final battle with Vecna: the town was in a panic, yeah, but no apocalypse.

That’s what I mean about chilling the hell out. We can’t assume the photos/leaks are genuine—and even if we did indulge that assumption (which is fair given production’s history!) we can’t assume we have the whole story.

Hang in there, folks. We survived S4 production and we’ll survive S5 production too :)

TL;DR: Hi, I’m new and also not new here. I made this account just to talk about this photo/leak situation because that’s how passionate I am about this godforsaken show. This is a little weird, but whether the leaks/photos are real or planted, stay calm. We know so little right now. Don’t waste your energy on blind panic, not when we still have another year(ish) to go.

[southangel]

Hi! How's it going?

Can I get some headcanons about the main four with a twin sibling!reader? How would the dynamic between them and people around them look.

You can choose if they're identical or fraternal twins. 

Main 4 Being their Twin Sibling

Warnings: none

Notes: Platonic, gender-neutral as well! Will be fraternal twins, since identical twins are typically the same gender. A little rushed, wrote most of this late at night.

Stan Marsh

Being Stan’s twin would be fun, I think.

You’ll obviously look similar, but not so similar to the point where people bombard you guys with questions.

You would be the older one, by about a minute, and you would definitely tell all his friends about it.

He hates you for it.

Since you’re related to Stan, you’re also related to Shelley, meaning you both get attacked by her.

Luckily she’s a bit nicer on you, only because you’re friends aren’t as annoying as Stan’s.

You don’t really hangout with Stan and his friends unless they need you as a backround character for a game, otherwise you would be with your own friend group.

Your personalities are very similar, people could probably tell that you’re related by just that.

I feel like Stan would be the type to scam you out of favors, but quickly feel bad then do something in return for you.

You used to both walk into school together, but after moving onto the farm and having to wear those Hemp shirts, it was embarrassing.

You both agreed that two people with Hemp shirts walking together was more embarrassing than one, so you split up.

You would be friends with Wendy, since gossiping about Stan is so fun for you both.

Imagine you and Stan both doing homework together, staring at the worksheet before eventually giving up.

You guys played Terrance and Philip on the TV afterwards, so it was okay.

“Tell me if Wendy says anything bad about me, please?”

Kyle Broflovski

Being Kyle’s twin sibling would be interesting.

Kyle would be the older one by about 3 minutes, but he isn’t obnoxious about it and doesn’t care.

Kyle tends to be the smarter one, so he wouldn’t mind tutoring or explaining every bit of work to you, you steal his answers when he isn’t looking.

You used to hang out with Kyle and his friends, then Cartman started going after you as well even though he hasn’t before.

If you ever get a partner with a stable relationship, Kyle would be happy for you, but I feel like he would be a little jealous since his romantic luck is absolute shit.

You guys are the types of twins where everyone can tell that you’re siblings, and it’s super annoying getting asked the same questions everyday.

Sheila would probably make you guys share a room, and you both hate it.

I know she would be the type of mom to dress you guys up in matching outfits when you guys were younger as well.

You and Kyle would be the type of twins that talk at the same time, doesn’t matter if you say the same things or not.

It’s so bad that some people swear you can mind communicate, you wish.

The only bad apart about being Kyle’s twin is that you’re practically engaged in everything he does, which is really annoying.

“Mom, do we really have to be matching?”

Kenny Mccormick

I think having Kenny as your twin sibling would be really nice.

Although your household and environment at home really isn’t great, you both still make the most of it.

You guys might share clothes, not often though.

Kenny is older than you by 5 minutes, bigger gap than the rest, but he genuinely doesn’t care.

You guys don’t really look alike that much, so it’s only when they realize the last names are the same that they notice you guys are siblings.

It’s a good thing nobody notices though, or else the questions would be a hassle.

You and Kenny would definitely each take turns taking care of Karen, hanging out with her or getting her small things from time to time.

I feel like Kenny sees you as the other half of him in some way, not because you’re his twin, it’s because you’re his twin.

He would take you down to work at City Wok, so that you guys could make some extra money.

You and Kenny both payed half and half for that Sony PSP, using your saved money from City Wok.

You guys fight over the PSP daily, not bothering to make some actual working time distribution on the device.

You would definitely find Kenny cheesing all the time, in the act.

All you do is walk away because you don’t really care, you just hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble.

“Do you like it, Karen? Me and Y/N saved up for it.”

Eric Cartman

Cartman definitely hates you, partially.

You’re his twin, and he sees that as a terrible thing because of how he exaggerates having to be stuck to you all the time.

You DEFINITELY don’t look like Cartman, at all.

Maybe there’s only some similar features, but you should be glad to not look the slightest similar to him:

Cartman would make fun of you for being to nice, than start screaming at you once you become annoying like him.

He can’t make up his mind over anything, and it only makes him angrier when he thinks about how you’re older, only by a minute.

You’re embarrassed about being related to him, but at least you kind of secret information to blackmail him with if he ever gets too annoying.

Liane let’s you guys do whatever you want, as long as you and Cartman are together most of the time.

You guys are forced to become partners all the time in projects and school assignments, and you almost always are the loudest ones in the room because of your arguments.

You genuinely feel that living with Cartman is like hell on earth, and you can only assume he feels the same but with amplified hatred.

Sometimes it seems like he likes you though, it’s weird.

One time you were coming back from a sleepover and he came to hug you, talking about how he missed you sooo much, he made you do his homework in return for being affectionate.

If you ever get a love interest or partner, Cartman is already on his way to asking everything about them.

It’s not like he cares, he does, he just wants to know who you’re really talking with.

He’ll probably be really weird about it for the first week, then get over it and start being annoying once more.

“You took a really long time at that sleepover, now go do my homework.”

[pandaofsecrets]

I really really really love the idea of the Miraculous being based on broad abstract concepts. It makes them super versatile in what powers they can provide, which helps keep the plot from going off the rails while still being fresh and interesting. The problem is that the concept (heh) wasn't utilized well at all. So, indulge me in a long-winded breakdown of ML's power system.

The cracks started showing almost immediately. The Cat and Butterfly Miraculous are okay, but the Ladybug for some reason can purify akuma and has restoration abilities, which. First of all, purification should be the Cat's ability, because it represents the destruction of impurities. Second of all, how does the power of creation allow you to restore things? I know someone will say Marinette is recreating what was destroyed, but if that's the case then Adrien is long dead and the character we're seeing right now is just a replica. Fun! Miraculous Ladybug also does more than just recreate, since we've also seen it destroy byproducts of the akuma attack, like Horrificator's slime. So if anything, it should be a combined ability of the Ladybug and the Cat. I'll talk about unifications later, let's just stick with the Miraculous for now.

The Fox and the Turtle started out great, but ended up being disappointing. Here's the thing, both Protection and Illusion have a lot of potential applications, like for example someone who uses the Fox could convince someone that anything they're saying is true, stick them in an illusionary dreamscape or even induce pain in them without actually wounding them. Someone who uses the Turtle could deplete moving objects of their momentum, make themselves immune to the opponent's magic, or imbue objects with durability. This would have made the fact that Volpina can do multiple illusions while Rena can only do one a lot less infuriating, because Rena would have had a bigger power set to draw on. Volpina on the other hand would be limited to just illusions, so she'd be able to get more mileage out of them, like a breadth vs. depth thing. Instead it's just. Rena can only do one illusion. Carapace can only do one shield. Boring!

Things got really shaky with the introduction of the Bee Miraculous, because that one isn't even related to its stated concept! "Subjection" means "bringing someone or something under one's control or influence". I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like mind control and telekinesis, not paralysis—paralyzing people sounds more like the Turtle. The writers sort of tried to fix this by changing the Bee's concept to Action, but that's almost worse because it's power is to prevent someone from taking action.

The Dragon and Rooster have a similar problem of power not really matching concept. "Perfection" means "the act of improving or making better", which sounds like the Dragon should've been a healing or restoration type Miraculous. In fact, the Rooster should've had the same power, since "sublimation" means "making nobler or purer", so the Dragon and Rooster should've really been one Miraculous instead of two. Speaking of which...

Where things really went off the rails was the Peacock Miraculous. The Peacock honestly warrants an entire separate post, but I'm getting ahead of myself. First of all, what does the concept of emotion have to do with the ability to summon a kaiju? Second of all, if the power to create a kaiju should've gone to any Miraculous, shouldn't it be, you know, the Ladybug? But no, I guess the power of Creation loses to a turkey with delusions of grandeur.

And this got even worse once the Zodiacs were introduced. Just about all of them have powers that could've easily gone to the main 7 we already had. The Ox's concept was already covered by the Turtle, the Tiger, Monkey, and Eagle do basically the same thing as the Cat, and the Mouse and Goat are basically just the Ladybug again. The Butterfly might be the worst afflicted by this. Not only is the Rooster's power of giving any power already covered under it, but one of the meanings of "to transmit" is "to send from one place to another", so the Horse's teleportation ability should've gone to the Butterfly. We could throw the Dog's power in as well, since all Fetch does is teleport an object instead of a person. Heck, since space and time are the same thing, the Rabbit's time travel should've also gone to the Butterfly. I mean, I'm glad it wasn't because that would've made the Butterfly extremely OP and would make it very hard to explain why Gabriel hasn't won by now, but you get the idea.

The only Zodiac Miraculous that are somewhat unique are the Dragon, Pig, and Snake, and even then the Snake Second Chance ability could be expressed as Butterfly (time travel) + Turtle (stasis) and the Pig's Gift could be expressed as Butterfly (empathy) + Ladybug (object) or Fox (illusion). Even the Peacock can be basically be broken down into Butterfly (empathy) + Ladybug (creation) + Bee (control) + Cat (destruction).

This brings me to my last point: unification. The way we were told combining the Ladybug and Cat works in Origins, you'd expect that unifying the Miraculous would create a new power that is the combination of the already existing ones. This means that the writers wouldn't have had to invent a new Miraculous every time they wanted to use a power, which would have saved money on character models and lead to a lot of interesting teammate match-ups. Instead, all the heroes get is the ability to use the two powers at the same time.

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Season 18 Bechdel Test

I gotta say. This was not a great season for women. (That is, if you only go by the Bechdel test, which is really only useful as in aggregate for getting somewhat of an overview on representation. It is not a test that accounts for any sort of nuance. It is just for fun.) Here's the rest of the seasons for comparison. Full spreadsheet here.

As you can see, this season had more failures of the Bechdel test than any season since Crystalized. More than one of the episodes that succeeded would have failed if not for an exchange between Rox and Kur. (As I've been saying since Sons of Garmadon, having a female henchman to a female villain makes passing the Bechdel test easy. Super catchy saying.) This season also only had 2 named women introduced. Much less than prior DR seasons, but I will chalk that up to overall reduction in new characters. Just guessing off the top of my head, 5 men were introduced. At least. So hmm, I hope DR isn't losing one of its key Bechdel success factors - not having men be the default. That would truly be a regression. Aside from that, I don't think that this season's failures demonstrate any sort of destruction of the show's female characters or anything like that. It failed primarily because of two simple factors.

The main female characters were split up.

The characters' primary goal was to find two male characters.

Elaborating on these points, for the majority of this season, Sora was the only woman in a group while Nya and Wyldfire were in a group with Kai. You'd think that the Nya & Wyldfire group would save us, but both characters tend to only talk to Kai because that's the character they have a close relationship. Similarly, you'd think PIXAL joining the Sora group would help, but the two characters never end up speaking because Sora spent this season mainly speaking to Arin, Frak, and Lloyd and PIXAL primarily speaks to Zane. And I mean, this issue of female characters only speaking to male characters could be indicative of a larger issue in which they're really only accessories to a male storyline (ex: just a sister/girlfriend/mom). However, I think it's more due to this season's group breakdown. I'll also point out that Zane primarily speaks to PIXAL. They've always neutralized eachother in interaction data. I think she actually spoke to more people this season than him. I also think, more than anything, the lack of interaction between female characters at the moment is of an age gap thing. As demonstrated by Nya's line "My brother and his clueless friend," there's sort of an interesting dynamic in the show right now where the adult Ninja don't really know the young Ninja at all unless they're mentoring them. I kind of like it to be honest. It's pretty realistic that they're not all close and that they'd discuss more serious issues (ex: the loss of Jay) with their long-term friends rather than some teenager. The characters' goals are also of course an issue. Nya's looking for Jay. Sora's worried about Arin. Wyldfire's trying to save Roby's life. Thus, whenever they speak to each other it ends up being about the man they're looking for. This, naturally, could also be indicative of a larger problem. We don't want female characters' storylines to always revolve around men. Still, provided this isn't a consistent problem, I'm inclined to think it's just a quirk of the story as it stands right now.

My reverse Bechdel of Crystalized actually suffered from the exact same problems. They were trying to find Nya and they spent much of the season split up into heterogenous groups. You may notice that the split was the bigger issue. Same case for Chaos Rising.

Thank you for reading all this! I'll reiterate that I just do the Bechdel test on Ninjago for fun because it's interesting to see how an kid's action cartoon (something that would be exclusively aimed at boys in the 2010s) has changed over time in how women are represented. If you want to see this chart clearer or the rest of my spreadsheets go to this link. Please let me know if you have any other ideas for Ninjago charts!

[imjusthopelessenough]

Reddie (IT) Fic Rec

If there's anything that I consider myself an authority on, it is reading Reddie fics. This has been my hyper fixation since I watched the mini-series as a child. Since the glowup of the community, I have read SO MANY fics. These are all of the ones that I feel like are must-reads and have personally myself re-read countless times like my life depended on it. If you liked a fic, make sure to leave kudos and comments for the author! (Feel free to come and chat about it with me as well!)

Obligatory disclaimer: Just because I read a certain trope, or idea does not mean that I agree with it or align my values with it. Read at your own discretion.

the word's been passed (this is our last chance) - quarterdeck 44k one-shot

Summary:

“Uh, Spaghetti?” Richie waves a hand in front of his face, looking worried now. “Hello? Do you want to let me know whatever it was that was so important you had to drag me awake for it or -” “I have a turtle in my pocket that speaks to me in my head and is possessed by Bruce Springsteen,” Eddie blurts out. “Also I think it may be God.” Richie stares blankly at him. “What,” he asks flatly, “the fuck.” “Or a god, at least, I don’t know,” Eddie continues, “Either way, I think it was the one who brought me back to life, so. You know. The chances are very good.” -- It's been forty years. Eddie Kaspbrak is just trying to make it out of the river.

THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FIC!!!! I feel like I talk about this piece at least once a week. If you at any point liked IT or felt interested in Reddie you have to read this fic. It is truly so amazingly well written, and I can't say enough kind words about it and I've read this fic at least 10x. Basically, Eddie comes back from the dead but he has a Bruce Springsteen turtle helping him guide his way. It's cute, it's campy, they're both dumbasses in love, and I believe this was one of the first instances of the iconic "The Turtle CAN help us," tag. A minor side note, quarterdeck is an amazing writer and will be recced either in this list or another list again. If you're looking for a good fix-it, dumbasses in love, and Bill rightfully getting his shit wrecked, look no further!

2. keep talking. i’ll keep walking toward the sound of your voice. - theappleppielifestyle 16k one-shot

Summary:

Eddie makes another noise, not quite a scream but not anything else either. Stan drops his hand. “Hey, Eddie,” he says. “Welcome to the peanut gallery. I wrote you a letter, but I guess you won’t get it now.” (Or, Eddie and Stan stick around as ghosts after they die. Unable to make themselves known to the other Losers, they have to find other ways to communicate.)

Big big fan of Stan and Eddie being sarcastic besties. I also love the ghost trope. This is such a good read. Basically, Eddie and Stan are ghosts and are watching the losers from the veil. We also get Patty in this one who is such an underrated character. If you're looking for a read that is slightly introspective but not super lore heavy that features Stan and Eddie, read this!

3. the mind's a funny fruit - joldiego 22k multi-chaptered (must have ao3 to read)

Summary:

A man wakes up in Derry, Maine with no memory and a hole in his chest. He names himself Richie and moves on from there.

Now normally, I am not a big fan of original characters being in fics. It feels random and inorganic and doesn't really serve a narrative focus. This fic is not the case! The lesbian B&B characters are so fun and cute and are actually fleshed out enough that you care about them! Basically, Eddie wakes up in the sewers and finds himself adopted by a sweet couple after not being able to be identified and has no memories. As time goes on, he slowly starts to remember things. If you're looking for a fic that highlights Richie's trauma from losing Eddie, the trauma of dying, and overall Loser Club feels, you should read this!

4. and nothing hurts anymore, i feel kind of free - elsaclack 13k one-shot

Summary:

“You have to remember,” Richie says. “You have to remember, Eddie. They need you. He needs you. They can’t do it without you.” Eddie furrows his brow. Everything about the conversation thus far has felt familiar, almost like hearing a once-beloved song for the first time in several years, but these words fall foreign on Eddie’s ears; he is very suddenly overcome with the distinct feeling that he’s no longer listening to Richie speak. He clenches his jaw against Richie’s shoulder, but does not open his eyes. “There isn’t a lot of time,” not-Richie says. “It’s watching you. It’s coming for you. For both of you.” The warning stirs something to life - fear, bone-deep and chilling. Eddie gets the feeling that he knows what it is, though he can’t quite grasp the memory; it slips through his fingers like sand in the breeze. The lights move faster, and Eddie does not dare open his eyes. “You don’t deserve this,” not-Richie says mournfully. “You never did.” “Why, then?” Eddie asks before he can stop himself. Not-Richie is quiet for a long moment. “He needs you,” he says eventually, “and you’re braver than you think.”

If there was a reddie fic that I could force everyone in the fandom to read, it would be this one because it is so underrated! I look at it and I can't believe that it's not one of the top rated fics because the writing is that good. All of their works deserve more praise, and it truly astounds me that more people don't know about them. The style that this fic is written in is amazing! The only complaint that I could really make about it is that it's not very read-aloud friendly due to said style. Each paragraph ending leads into another portion of the story which sounds weird, but it works so well! It's really hard to describe this fic so you should just read it and see what I'm talking about, it's not even that long!

5. you belong with your love on your arm - elsaclack 33k one-shot

Summary:

Maggie received the enchanted mantel clock three days before Richie’s first birthday as a gift from Wentworth’s Great-Aunt Grace. It’s a beautiful, ornate thing - three delicate, spindling silver arms branching out from its center, each arm bearing a sepia-tinted portrait in its thumb-sized head of Went, herself, and Richie, respectively.  Maggie can tell right away that it’s hand-made - one simply can’t find this kind of craftsmanship out of any old trinket shop down on Diagon Alley - and she finds herself fighting back an absurd wave of tears as she traces her fingers over the thin glass case protecting the clock’s face, watching the way Portrait Richie silently babbles up at the hand-lettered word Home over his head.

Another Elsaclack because I love them and they need more recognition. Obligatory fuck JK Rowling because this is an HP setting fic. This fic takes the two ideas of Maggie Wentworth loving her son more than anything and HP and forces them together and it's beautiful. Now, I am not a big fan of reading fics set from an outsider POV. I want to know everything that is going on and it feels like a waste of time to have to get to learn things from an outside perspective. Not the case here! The POV is very organic and nothing is really lost. Basically, this is a Maggie POV detailing how Richie meets the Loser's club and goes through Hogwarts, with slight canon from IT taking over at minor portions. Can't recommend it enough.

6. for a better run, pile your clothes - petalloso 13k one-shot

Summary:

Richie liked the thrill of knowing he had been just fast enough, the skim of air at a barely missed strike. He liked egging them on, a matador of the violent. Mostly though he liked the way Eddie made him feel, like he was nursing a broken heart before he could ever work up the nerve to confess and have it broken in the first place. And maybe that was fucked up but it was more than that, too. Eddie was wicked smart, stupid hot, brave and beautiful, and sometimes Richie looked at him and he was already looking back and Richie thought maybe. And then Eddie would bite his lip and look away and Richie would think no. (Vigilantes by night, best friends by day, Richie and Eddie are in love with both versions of each other)

Now, this is not tagged as such but if I had to describe this fic it would be as such: Miraculous Ladybug, College AU. And that basically sums up the entire fic. You've got the iconic four-square love angle superhero vigilante and they're in college trying to make it through life. It's a really cute AU fic and I love it a lot. If you're looking for less clownery and more dumbasses in love, this is for you.

7. Parent-Teacher Conference -trickdaggers 75k multi-chaptered

Summary:

Eddie loves his job, he really does. Even with all the shit a group of twenty-six ten year-olds can throw at him, he still loves what he does. Really, the parents are far worse than the kids, too many of them fitting the stereotypical mold of what an obnoxious LA parent is. He rarely interacts with them face-to-face, most discussion passing through the middlemen of their nannies and drivers, or via incessant emails about their uniquely-named child’s dietary restrictions. His actual students aren’t even the cause for at least half of the issues that plague him as a teacher at a private Los Angeles elementary school. Most of them are well-mannered, capable, socially aware kids, if not a little spoiled thanks to their environment. But then there’s Little Miss Peggy Tozier.

Now, I am not a huge fan of children centered fics. It often feels like someone just self-inserting themselves and the child has no depth and is kind of just...there. Not this one! Peggy is such a well-rounded character and actually serves as a plot point! Plus! As someone who is a teacher, the teacher life that Eddie leads here is very accurate and very funny. Basically, Eddie is an elementary teacher and has Richie's daughter in his class. Richie's daughter is a class clown, and Eddie repeatedly keeps trying to make attempts to rectify the situation whilst Richie tries to get in his pants. It's very light-hearted, the conflict quickly and easily resolves, and the pacing is done very well so you don't get that "nobody in the real world with a brainstem would do this." Highly recommend if you're looking for a light read that you can pick up and put down when needed with light easily resolved conflict!

8. if you could return (don't let it burn) - ShowMeAHero 19k one-shot (part 1 in a series!)

Summary:

“Not that I’m not enjoying our banter, buddy, but word on the street is you got a problem you could use some help with,” Richie says. “What’s bugging you at two in the morning on New Year’s Eve?” “New Year’s Day,” Eddie corrects again. “New Year’s Day, then,” Richie allows. There’s another beat of silence before he hears Eddie sigh audibly over the phone line. "I’m thinking about leaving my wife.” “Why’s that?” Richie asks. He’s already hooked. He genuinely cares about all of his callers and wants to help, but something about Eddie’s got its nails in him. Honestly, he doesn’t mind all that much. It’s a nice change of pace, to feel something. “We don’t get along all that well,” Eddie tells him. “I… I don’t know. We don’t really have anything in common. She’s sort of controlling, I guess. And I think I might be gay, so—”

I have so many feelings about this one. I love the trope of "we've never met but I would die for you." Plus, this fic is centered around Eddie saying Fuck Myra I want to be gay! Which is great! Without spoiling anything, Eddie is having a crisis and wants to divorce his wife. He finally gets the courage after listening to his favorite radio station which is hosted by Richie and calls into the station during a listener segment to let them know. He then continues to keep calling in and informing Richie and his listeners of his life accomplishments. There is unfortunately no Africa by Toto. I will say the part two actually deals with clownery and is a continuation and should be read but isn't needed. If you're wanting a canon divergence meet cute, read this!

9. footprints in the snow - hyruling 62k multi-chaptered

Summary:

Eddie meets comedian and rising star Richie Tozier at a comedy club, and his life is promptly turned upside down. His Twitter followers jump from 80 to 80,000 overnight, he's being photographed in the subway, and the dreams that have plagued him his entire life are becoming increasingly specific and haunting. Richie feels strangely like the home he's long forgotten, and falling into friendship with him is the easiest thing he's ever done. But the closer they get, the clearer it becomes that Richie is hiding something.

I won't lie the situationship in this fic made my fight or flight activate but it's a very good read and I believe this is one of the fics that the fandom in general regards as a must read. Now, I haven't re-read this one as much as I've re-read other fics in this list but it stands out in the list for its ending. I genuinely bawled big boo-hooed my eyes out reading it. The plot, without giving anything anyway, is very intricate and well done but explained well enough that you can understand what's happening without feeling like that picture of Charlie from It's always sunny. If you're looking for a fic that is very plot heavy, very heavy on the fornicating, and want a FWB to lovers, this is for you!

10. Tales Of A Washed Up Nothing - TheBlackLagoon 8k one-shot (part 1 in a series!)

Summary:

In which Richie watches too much Cheers, Sees a therapist, Gets a pet turtle and Saves Edward Kaspbrak’s life by playing Street Fighter.

I love this series so much. It so accurately describes the relationship between therapist and client as well as how do you move on after your whole world comes crashing down. It's a very realistic dealing with trauma and death fic but has a happy ending (but you have to read pt 2) To summarize, Richie is in a depressed slump and starts having some funky turtle dreams all while trying to cope with losing Eddie. So good I love it so much. If you're looking for a fix it fic that focuses in depth on Richie's Big Feelings, read this!

11. tell me we're dead and i'll love you even more - quarterdeck 100k multi-chaptered

Summary:

Richie Tozier is a chatterbox. The infamous Trashmouth, most relentless of babblers. Always has been. Loud enough to wake the dead, is what his parents and friends always say, but Richie doesn't know how to tell them that the dead were never sleeping. If they were, he'd have a hell of a lot more peace, that's for sure. -- or: Richie's Voices have more of a basis in reality than anybody thinks. He'd say it's a secret he'll take to the grave, but even that wouldn't be the end of it for him

Another quarterdeck because I love them and owe them my life. This is such an intricate and touching story. Essentially, a canon divergence in which Richie is like that one character from Ghost Whisperer in which he can hear ghosts and therefore has more knowledge than anyone else around him. It is written so good, and you get really invested in the story very quickly. Also, Frank is in this! Hurray! Basically, if you want a Reddie fic that is super heavy on the story line that features supernatural elements outside of the clownery, this is for you!

12. i am easy to find -zach_stone 47k multi-chaptered (Must have ao3 to read and is part 1 in a series!)

Summary:

Richie grabs the edge of the polaroid and slides it out from underneath the comic books. It’s a picture of a group of kids, all sitting on a porch in someone’s backyard. He recognizes his tween self pretty quickly — stupid hair, enormous glasses that made him look constantly bug-eyed. He’s really hamming it up for the camera, grinning with his arm slung around some dark-haired kid with a cast on his arm. He can’t remember who the kid is, who any of these kids are, but the way they’re all huddled together and smiling like they really give a shit about each other… he doesn’t remember ever having friends like this. “Who the fuck are you,” he whispers at the kids in the picture. He flips it over, and sees his own childish chicken-scratch handwriting on the back. Bill, Bev, Ben, Eddie, ME!, Stan, & Mike. September 1989! -- Or, 25-year-old Richie Tozier doesn't know why he can't remember his childhood, or why he has nightmares about yellow eyes looming in the dark. Then he finds an old photo of friends he can't remember, and things start to change. A "what if Richie and Eddie found each other again during the 27 years" fic.

I've always found the concept of the Loser's Club not having any memorabilia from Middle School/High School and not finding each other ridiculous. Like yea sure they lost all of their memories from their primitive years, that happens to everyone, but you don't have a picture or anything? This fic rectifies that situation and applies the universal truth that Richie would have found Eddie in the 27 years if Stephen King hadn't been an overdramatic bitch. Very lore heavy fic that deals with PTSD and two dumbasses finding their found family <3 also Stan lives!