#and like i said. i don’t need it to be canon. i’m certainly not gonna fight anyone about it

[mars-ipan]

so glad i’ve grown enough as a person to no longer care whether a ship should be canon but still lose my mind when i realize it kinda is

[irisintheafterglow]

(⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)🌷✨🩷🍪 Greetings Author-nim

Can I please request (⁠^⁠_⁠^⁠メ⁠)

(OPLA Zoro x You) Where Reader is an Assassin or Ninja and is a Pirate hunter, When Zoro used to be one too, they would always compete who gets the target first. Sometimes Zoro wins, sometimes reader.

So, imagine Reader's reaction when they saw Zoro with the crew.

And also, Luffy, somehow by some miracle with his own style of talk-no-jutsu managed to convince reader to join them(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

(⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)⁠♥. Hope u have a great day and it's okay if u don't want to do this. I'll understand.

baby, let the games begin

wc: 2k (surprise, shawty)

cw/tags: gn!reader, swearing, canon-typical violence, mentions of drinking and alcohol, pining pining pining pining PINING

note: hi love, thank you so much for your request!! i hope you like this because i certainly love writing for this stupid himbo man

likes, reblogs, and replies are always appreciated <3

Honor be damned, you really wanted to kill him. 

“Dirty play, demon,” you huff irritatedly, scowling at the asshole who skewered your target before you could. In a single clean slash, the head is relieved of its body and unceremoniously kicked into a bag. “We both know that one was mine.”

“Better luck next time.” Asshole. Stupid, selfish, infuriatingly attractive asshole. A million different ways you could end his life flashed through your mind and, with his back turned to you, became more of a possibility the longer you sat in your disappointment. The dock creaks beneath his receding footsteps and you spit a curse under your breath. The head now bouncing around in the pirate hunter’s hand would have had you living comfortably for months, not to mention buying some shelter for the stray dogs wandering your home island. Monsoon season was coming and you didn’t have nearly enough space to keep all of them dry. Finding food that wasn’t old bread and horse balls was hard in itself and shelter was just another task added to the to-do list. “You’re not gonna try and take it from me?” 

“Why would I? You killed him; you get the bounty,” you reply scornfully, praying that whoever came up with the idea of hunter’s honor is torn to shreds by an octopus. “Guess it is your turn,” you concede reluctantly and take note of the blood dripping from the dirty fabric sack as he reapproaches. You’d have to clean your shoes when you were done. “I did take that guy from you in Flamingo Village, last week.” 

“The one with the big, ugly hat,” he confirms and you don’t budge when he stands right in front of you. He had pretty eyes, you’d give him that. Too bad you wanted to slam your fist into his nose. “I was mad about that one.”

“Well, you got this one. Aren’t you gonna cash ‘em in?”

“I will. I’m just curious,” he says and his expression is unreadable. It bordered on amusement and suspicion with a little bit of awe. “You could have killed me a million times since I killed the target.” Already thought that, buddy. “Why didn’t you?”

“Like I said, hunter’s honor–”

“No,” he shakes his head decidedly and you narrow your eyes. “You’ve been following this guy for four days, watching other hunters fail to bring him in. My question is, why do you need this bounty so badly, and why aren’t you willing to kill me over it?”

“Technically, that’s two questions,” you deadpan and your heart does an unwanted little stutter when he scoffs, the tiniest smile pulling at his mouth. “If you really wanna know why I need it, it’s ‘cause I need to take care of some friends back home.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but you also didn’t need the most feared hunter in the seas knowing that you needed the money to buy squeaky toys and dog beds. 

“Those friends aren’t worth killing for?”

“It’s sounding like you want me to kill you,” you fire back incredulously. “Do I need to worry about you, Zoro?” 

“Look, all I’m saying is, all other hunters would be leaping at my throat as soon as I take their kill. I just don’t understand why you won’t, especially if it’s worth four days of stalking.” 

“Maybe I like playing this little game,” you admit. It’s no secret to you that your job becomes incredibly boring at times. All the other hunters you come across take their jobs too seriously and believe that they’re purging the seas of evil. You, however, knew that the real evil was pacing around ivory towers and putting up the wanted posters. When you first met Zoro, it seemed like he didn’t take his job seriously at all. He killed like it was breathing and remained unamused at the melodramatic theatrics of flashier hunters. You ran into each other often because, besides being the only ones who survive their hunts, you were the top-earning hunters of your generation and ended up following the same pace every time. “I take a bounty; you take a bounty. I try to beat the pirate hunter at his own game; he throws a fit when I’m faster than him.”

“But, today I was faster than you,” he corrects and you stick your tongue out at him in defiance. “Who’s throwing a fit now?”

“Get out of my sight, demon,” you frown but you can’t hold it for long. It becomes a tired, melancholy smile and you start to make your way back to the town to book passage home. “Hope you enjoy all that Berry.” 

“Let me buy you a drink with it before you go,” he calls after you and you freeze where you stand. “Consolation for kicking your ass this time around.” You shoot him a scathing look over your shoulder and take the bait. 

“I did all the dirty work for you, asshole, so it better be three drinks at the least.” He chuckles softly under his breath and you roll your eyes, letting him catch up to you before heading to the nearest bar together. “I hate you so much.” 

“No, you don’t.”

As time passed and you ran into him more during your hunts, that hatred turned into something different, an annoying feeling of excitement every time you heard a sword unsheathed or spotted someone with green hair. You found yourself checking your watch when you were ahead of him, counting down the hours until he caught up. You knew the sound of his footsteps and the rhythm of his breathing and memorized how the sun hit his eyes down to the iris. Sometimes, you’d work with him directly and split the bounty evenly once it was completed. During conversations to kill time, though he never admitted it, he liked being around you as often as he was. Eventually, you told him about your furry friends back on the island and started marking the places you’d been with a hasty drawing of a dog. It became part of your routine and the time that it took for him to catch up to you decreased exponentially as a result. You’re easier to follow, is what he said. On a particular mission where you were unusually behind, you were delighted to find his gross attempt at mimicking the mark scratched into the wooden bar counter. 

You lose touch with him after a year or so of working together and you don’t expect it to hurt as much as it did. Word floated around that he was captured by Marines and posted up in Shells Town, but the same mouths reported that he escaped with pirates the following day. None of it sounded like him and it reminded you that you really didn’t know him at all. Still, you marked that silly dog into every barstool and backdoor you came across as you fell back into the same boring routines. 

Taking a rest day at a floating restaurant called Baratie, you think you’ve found the perfect spot to scratch into the counter when you realize that someone has already done it for you. It was horrendous and nearly incomprehensible, but you choke back a sob when you run your thumb over the mangled wood. There was only one person who could have drawn the little dog so badly.

And it’s like your body senses him before your mind does. 

In an instant, you’re hyper fixated on the familiar rhythm of his boots and the soft noise as his swords clank together with every step. There are four others with him, but you know his approach like the back of your hand. A boy in a straw hat whom you recognize from wanted posters rushes the bar, loudly requesting a glass of milk for himself and the finest rum for his swordsman companion. When he slides into the seat next to you, you can barely look at him, rendered defenseless from the conflict of emotions stirring in your mind. Thousands of questions were screaming to be answered but you couldn’t even open your mouth. The alcohol in your half-finished glass is all you can see. 

“You found me,” he murmurs, flagging down the bartender and asking for a bottle of whatever you’re drinking.

“I wasn’t looking for you,” you reply just as quietly, watching his hand carefully replenish your glass before filling his own and downing it in a few swallows. You stop him from pouring another with a light hand on his shoulder and he wordlessly sets down the bottle, making you smile softly. “You still drink too much.”

“I don’t have you to slow me down,” he replies without hesitation, glancing at your fingertip as it traces the mark he made on the wood. “I’ve been putting those everywhere since I joined up with Luffy. Figured we’d run into each other at some point.” 

“Luffy,” you echo. “That’s your pirate captain?” The irony of your situation escapes neither of you. If you were smart, you’d have every single one of them dead and bouncing around a burlap sack, just like the pirate all those years ago. But, just the same as the first time, you were stopped by a profound desire to be closer to Zoro. 

“He’s not like other pirates. Not like the ones you and I know.” 

“I’ll let the Marines know next time I bring in a head, then,” you laugh humorlessly, feeling the rum burn down your throat when you take another sip. You feel his eyes watching you carefully but you don’t look back at him. “I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear that.”

“They don’t have to hear anything,” he says in a low tone, one that sends goosebumps up your spine and has your heart beating a little faster. “They don’t have to hear anything from you ever again.”

“You’re not saying…”

“That's exactly what I’m saying.” 

“You want me to just switch sides like it’s nothing?”

“This job has been nothing to you from the beginning, nothing but a way to feed strays that, thanks to you, have loving homes,” he reminds you and you exhale deeply. He was right, but part of you wanted vengeance for all the times you secretly wished he was still with you. “So, come with me.”

“Zoro, I–”

“You know, I’ve missed you so much I can’t sleep,” he shakes his head and sighs in defeat. “Every time we dock at a new city, I’m hoping you’re on a hunt because, as much as I care for them, they’ll never know me the way you do.” He looks back at his crew with something like sad fondness in his eyes. They wouldn’t ever know him the way you did, as a bounty hunter with no real place to call home and no real people to call friends. “It gets lonely when you’re not forced to be alone anymore.”

“And it’s lonely when you are forced to,” you add. “It’s lonely either way–”

“But I’d rather be that way with you,” he concludes. “It’s not bad when I’m with you.” You pause, collecting your thoughts and calculating how much money you’d have if you suddenly abandoned your current line of work. It was risky, sure, but something about risking it on Zoro made it feel a little less dangerous. “Your silence tells me I convinced you.”

“I’m not the one you need to convince; it’s your captain you should be talking to.”

“Trust me, he’s the least of our problems.” As if to drive home his point, a choir of cheers rises up from behind you as a loud belch sounds through the harbor. 

“‘Our’ as in the crew, or ‘our’ as in you and I?”

“It’s always been you and I, hasn’t it?”

“It always will be,” you promise, letting your head fall onto his shoulder. He’s warm and safe and everything you were needing. “But, I need to teach you how to draw a better dog.” He hums in agreement, downing another glass contentedly. 

“Yeah, you need to teach me how to draw a better dog.”

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[bloop-bl00p]

My issue with the Hellaverse rulers

We all know the story of Lucifer causing a war in Heaven due to his hatred of mankind, losing and taking a quarter of the angels with him. Those Fallen Angels became the rulers of Hell, essentially torturing the sinners and going to Earth to tempt us or just chill out and give us math lessons (I’m not joking, some do when summoned.) Not in Viv’s Hell though, they were no war so where do the other demons come from? How did these demons manage to harvest such great powers, powers that can give them access to Earth and outrank the lower class? You can theorize that the Seven Deadly Sins were born from the sin of humans or some shit but that’s headcannon territory and this does not explain what created the Goetia. Are we supposed to believe that the second Lucifer and Lilith fell everyone was there to greet them with flowers and a little flag saying “Congratulations! You fucked up but you get a new kingdom!”

Talking about the Goetia…

How exactly do they work here? The Arc Goetia is listed in a book known as the Lesser Keys of Solomon. Their section contains detailed information about 72 demons and how to summon them, these demons were Fallen Angels. A random King named Solomon who appeared to be a master of witchcraft received a ring from an angel that gave him authority over demons and he used them to build temples.

And then you have the Helluva Boss version, with a Stolas born in Hell, who is at least 35. Why do they even exist in this world? The whole thing with the Goetia is that they were demons at the service of King Solomon around 970 to 931 BCE.

You also have those characters who are classified as such but those do not appear in the book like Stella who’s Andrealphus’s sister and who are their parents you ask? Figure it out. But fair enough maybe they do something that is specific to them like I don’t know:

[Context: Stolas wanted Blizø to kill said a candidate who was causing trouble for his associate.]

Ah! So the Goetia mission is essentially to make life worse on Earth using lower species like imps to do their binding. I would have hoped but… it’s a screenshot from the pilots which isn’t canon anymore. And til now, we have no indication that this is what the Goetia does in the cannon.

Stolas is immortal why does he need to have a child? Maybe it’s for other Goetia duties that will never be addressed in the shows but he’s the only character who is visibly shown to be forced into a marriage. Paimon clearly doesn't care if you are gay, asexual, or whatever if he wants you to make a baby you will make a baby. So naturally Andrealphus will have a wife, right? He’s only a duke and his sister got married to a Prince seemingly to alleviate their family so shouldn’t he marry a Princess or something like that, his parents would certainly pressure him to do so. And since Stolas needs an heir despite being immortal, wouldn’t he need one too?

[Context: God the inconsistency's gonna kill me. This is Stella’s party in ep1 of season 2 and you can see two men dancing together.]

Stolas could have been openly gay since the beginning, so what prevented him from divorcing Stella the second Octavia was born? The girl would have been too young to remember her mother and if she asked questions he could have just explained to her that Stella wasn’t a good person.

“But he played along so she could have a normal childhood.”

That would have been a great excuse if Stella did the same thing.

This woman literally threw their butler at her husband the second she learned he cheated on her with an imps not caring that her daughter was there! Stella is quick to anger and will most likely choose physical violence when she’s upset. How did Stolas though that THIS was a normal childhood for Via?!! And it’s not like he was trapped in the marriage they divorced quite easily… wait a minute…

Does Viv even understand the concept of arranged marriages?! Usually, both families benefit from the union (financially, religiously, and other), but few result in divorce due to the massive social pressure caused by the two families and the constant control and influence the parents have on their children. Realistically speaking, Paimon would have threatened Stolas for trying to leave Stella because there’s no way he married his immortal son just to get a new kid in the family.

Yet, it still happened without any complication and Stella left his castle. So where’s Octavia?! She’s his heir! He’s supposed to learn her fairy dust and star magic or some shit, he should automatically get full custody of the child! We don't even know what the girl's relationship with her mother is but considering Stella is framed as a psychopath, I wouldn't want my kid to stay with her EVEN for vacation, Octavia is 17 she saw her mother throwing a tantrum once I think she’ll understand why her father doesn't want her near Stella.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I don’t think Jason has ever hated Tim

I recently revived my Jason Todd hyperfixation from its torpor and realized I had... Means and Ways of reading as many comics as I want for free, so I made the transition from Fanon Only to having read Lost Days, Under the Red Hood, Teen Titans #29 (where Jason fights and beats the tar out of Tim), Hush, Red Hood and the Outlaws (the majority of both runs), Red Robin: The Grail, Batman and Robin: Streets Run Red, Green Arrow #70 - #73 (where Jason kidnaps Mia), Battle for the Cowl, and a smattering of other bits and bobs, all within the last month.

I have come to the conclusion that the idea that Jason hated Tim before slowly learning to be okay with him is completely backwards.

Jason starts respecting Tim as a fellow combatant after basically their first meeting, and was sympathizing with him even before. Fandom talks a lot about how Jason repeatedly tried to kill Tim, but I think there’s a good argument to be made that actually Jason has never tried to kill Tim, and there’s a better argument that Jason has never tried to hurt Tim out of a dislike for him.

Tim is the one who feels viciously betrayed by Jason, hates his guts, and depending on if you blend in the New 52 either learns to begrudgingly like him or just stays hatin.

Obviously I need some proof here, since this goes completely against the grain of every relationship interpretation I’ve ever seen for them, so approximately seven miles of character analysis under the cut lmao

I’m gonna try to go in chronological order of the characters’ history here, which means we’re starting with Lost Days, and Jason’s first reaction to finding out there’s a new Robin:

This does not look like anger to me.

Lost Days is only six issues long, and this is the entirety of the pages devoted to Jason’s feelings on Tim. Jason succeeds in a plan that would have almost certainly killed Batman if Jason had gone through with it. Jason undeniably has Joker dead to rights at one point, but lets him go. Jason at no point in this story attempts to harm Tim at all.

Now for Hush.

Context for fanon only folks: this is where the “throat slitting” bit happens.

Context for a lot of confusion: I don’t know if Jason is the one who holds Tim hostage or not.

In the original Hush plot line this is only Clayface; Jason isn’t here at all. It was later retconned in Under the Red Hood that Jason was actually in this fight for... some amount of time. It’s highly unclear to me when they swap out. Probably because originally, they didn’t swap out. Oh well! In either case, it’s now canon that Jason coached Clayface on his acting, so for the purposes of this essay, Imma hold Jason responsible for the throat damages and the words said regardless of who did what!

Right off the bat: this is a hostage taking, not a murder. Yes, Clayson Jayface does nick Tim’s neck and absolutely makes the threat of murdering him to Batman, but it’s clearly a threat. Like, look at this panel:

He is talking a lot. This isn’t an attempt to kill Tim, it’s an attempt to screw with Batman. No matter who this is, they have every reason to expect that Batman will stop them before they do any permanent damage. Can you see that little, blurry, half-hidden line of red? Lets look at what the damage was later on:

The bleeding was stopped by a bit of cloth, some pressure, and he’ll need stitches eventually, but they can clearly wait, and Tim doesn’t seem alarmed. That’s enough to scar, and enough that it is perfectly reasonable for Tim to assume that he would have died if he hadn’t been rescued.

However, Jason being deeply protective of kids is a reasonably consistent character trait. “You really think I’m gonna bring the pain to a ten year old?” Even at Jason’s most villainous, he is willing to put himself in danger in order to protect his own sidekick Scarlet. I think it would be very out of character for him to have gone through with it. Combined with Jason’s later actions and the general fact that a hostage is pretty useless dead, I come to the conclusion that Jason was bluffing.

It is ambiguous though, and I admit that this is probably the weakest link in the “Jason never tried to kill him” chain.

But enough of that, was he angry with him? Is the hate there?

I argue no, and that really there’s no emotional investment in Tim at all. In terms of hard numbers the pages Jalay Toddface spends holding Tim hostage is 3 and the number he spends fighting Batman is 13 and the number of times he even so much as LOOKS at Tim is ZERO, like actually, literally ZERO TIMES. He does not spare poor Timmy a SINGLE GLANCE.

Now make a special note here because those three pages of no eye contact from someone who might not even be Jason are the ONLY times that Tim is called Pretender or Imposter.

I’m relying on this research done by Kiragecko: https://kiragecko.tumblr.com/post/128411908944/bat-sibling-interaction It only goes up to Battle for the Cowl, (as does this essay it turns out, I just don’t know how to bridge between that and the New 52) so it isn’t every interaction ever, but it’s still excellent research, go leave a like.

According to them: “Comments: Tim thinks about Jason a lot while he’s first training. He imagines the former Robins giving him pep talks, and uses them to fight off fear gas. When Jason comes back, though, Tim’s really nasty, especially in his head. Jason, however, is somewhat respectful. He usually calls Tim ‘Tim’, and seems to kind of like him. ‘Pretender’ and ‘Imposter’ are things that CLAYFACE said, not Jason.“

How many times are those said? Once. Each. That’s it. As a comment under the Jason and Tim post done by Kiragecko points out, “Replacement” doesn’t even get used.

Under the Red Hood is basically THE Jason Todd comic. To my memory he doesn’t interact with Tim in it. However, it does contain that aforementioned reconning! So we get to see his reasoning during this encounter.

And it very very clearly isn’t at all about Tim.

Moving on to Titans Tower, which is indisputably focused on Tim: When he fights Tim, he is absolutely violent and over the line, but he’s NOT out of his head. Jason is clearly very lucid and careful about what he’s doing.

Is he angry? Of course! He’s angry at the Titans who in his mind cared about him way less than their other members, and accepted a replacement robin as though his life, his whole flesh and blood self, was something that could be so easily forgotten and swapped out.

But I think it would be a mistake to assume that Jason’s at all mad that he isn’t Robin anymore.

A very interesting direct parallel to this fight is when Jason kidnaps Mia, Green Arrow’s sidekick Speedy, fights her, appeals to their commonalities and encourages her to solve crime his way rather than Green Arrow’s way.

In both scenarios Jason engineers a way to isolate a sidekick and attempts to teach them something through combat. He makes a direct appeal to them against their mentors, and seems genuine about what he’s saying. He also lets both of them live, and with Mia is honestly pretty damned polite about it all. At least, as polite as a guy can be about kidnapping you and encouraging you to try to kill him in your high school gym that he definitely should not know about.

The plain fact of the matter is that Jason knocked Tim out, had time to paint his whole ass name way up high on a wall, and did not kill him. This is the same Jason who just prior to that took out all of Tim’s allies non-lethally. The same Jason who kept Mia’s protector’s busy non-lethally. The same Jason who cuts Mia free and gives her weapons back and starts slow in their fighting to make sure he doesn’t hurt her too badly. The same Jason who seems to feel very strongly that killing, trafficking, or selling drugs to kids is an unforgivable offense and very clearly sees Tim as a kid.

Quite frankly, this reads not like a murder, and not like a jealous beatdown, but an attempt to convince Tim that he’s going to get himself killed and needs to get out while he still can. In Jason’s mind before they meet, Tim is purely A Robin, a kid who deserves better than to be put into danger against the same monsters over and over again until he finally slips up and dies.

Is this a hairbrained and back asswards way of doing that? Yes! But it does track for someone who tries to do all of his talking through his actions, which do speak louder than words, but unfortunately C-4 loudness is not actually a significant boon to nuanced communication.

If you want to put it in a less charitable way (and maybe we should, this is a bonkers asshole move on Jason’s part no matter how you slice it) then we can say Jason is testing Tim, trying to see if this one has what it takes to be better than he was, to survive where he couldn’t. Personally I think it’s a mix of both, and for this end of that emotional mess: Tim passes the test.

Jason leaves while talking about Tim in present tense, showing that he has every expectation of Tim being alive, and praises him in the process:

Did you know that the fun panel of Tim kicking Jason in the nuts is actually from the same comic run, about twenty or so issues later?

Did you know that the argument they were having starts with Dick and Tim wrestling with Jason and accusing him of a murder he did not commit, and in fact tried to save the victim from?

Did I mention yet that the death in question was of Duela Dent, aka the JOKER’S DAUGHTER, whom Jason caught attempting to hold a young woman hostage for ransom? And that Jason repeatedly shot her getaway balloon instead of her and then tried to save her life immediately afterwards despite the fact that she was going to let the hostage plummet to their death? And it is implied that part of the reason he’s so easy on her is because of “Once a Titan always a Titan” loyalty, with this being our first clue that Jason isn’t the one shooting at her anymore?

Did I also mention that he comes to her funeral in part to be around Donna (the starry leotard lady whose statue he smashed) because it’s nice to be around people who understand being displaced by their own death? And that the one who sticks up for him in this scene is Donna?

At risk of negating my own thesus here, I’d say it’s reasonable to think that maybe Jason feels rage-hate for Tim in this “kicked in the dick while Dick grins smugly” moment.

Lets go now to Robin #177 at the tail end of the 1993 to 2003 run - Bruce has “died” and Tim hasn’t yet gone on his epic quest to find him. Tim finds Jason unifying street gangs with the intent to bring them under control and solve the current crisis. He appeals to Tim for help with this, in fact he comes off as almost puppy dog eager to work with him, and seems really sad when he says fuck no.

This is one of the first fights in which Tim really holds his own against Jason, and I am very proud of him, yes :3

This gets Jason arrested. Then Tim actually goes through with a heavily modified, less violent version of Jason’s plan that Jason didn’t think could work. A few issues later, when Tim decides that he’s going to try to honor what Bruce would have wanted by springing Jason out of jail, Jason makes note of that.

Jason is pretty damned civil at their next meeting, even though Tim makes it pretty damned clear he doesn’t want him around.

And now... we have to talk about Battle for the Cowl.

I’ve seen it described as a masterclass in how NOT to write Jason Todd, due to it portraying him as being an absolutely off his rocker anger murder violence man. I am inclined to agree.

In this three issue comic Jason Todd has been dRiVeN mAd (in the most bullshit comic sense of that word) by Bruce’s will... telling him to go to therapy. Yeah. So uh, he dons a Batman suit to shoot people in AND pretends to be Black Mask so he can enslave a bunch of villains Amanda Waller style, and like it gets weird from there. It is an extremely jarring transition from that last scene to GUNS BAT HATE MAN.

He still does not hate Tim in it. I really, seriously thought I was going to have to make a lot of excuses for this portion but then the more I read of it the more vindicated I was cause let me repeat: One of the most unhinged with Bat hate and crazy juice versions of Jason ever put to print does not hate Tim at all.

Hell, he likes Tim! He compliments him!

And on top of that, even though he is MUCH more lethal against his fellow robins when they attack him - Jason straight up shoots a ten year old Damian in the chest. It’s fucked. - There is still evidence to suggest that Jason deliberately didn’t kill Tim when he had ample opportunity.

Jason first of all never hunts Tim down. I’ve heard Battle for the Cowl described as Jason tracking Tim down or kidnapping him or going after him to force him to Be His Robin, but that’s just not how it goes.

Instead he waits for Tim to come find his Batcave, disorients him, and goes for a ton of surface cuts. He only actually goes for a real body blow after Tim picks up a crowbar and beats Jason across the face with it a few times.

(Again, proud of you Timmy)

After the stabbing, Jason doesn’t just leave Tim there; this isn’t a matter of hurrying on before he could check. He’s seen dragging Tim off. When Nightwing later comes to rescue him, Dick is downright certain Jason is lying to him about Tim being dead because Jason is refusing to show him the body and Dick figures it’s because he knows there’s no body to show (if in part because he can’t let himself believe Tim is dead without hard proof).

Tim himself wonders about this, noting that the batterang was rusted and shattered on his armor.

Sure, Tim used playing possum to make his pulse slow to a near stop for a while, maybe that fooled Jason, but keep in mind that BRUCE taught Tim that skill, and if there’s one thing these comics have established, it’s that Jason is dangerous precisely because he is so intimately familiar with the techniques of the Bat. Jason even makes specific note of the fact that Tim being trained like Bruce and fighting like Bruce would be his downfall at the beginning of their fight.

The whole comic leaves me wondering just how much of what happened went completely according to Jason’s plan. I really would not put it passed him to engineer a ‘death in the family’ recreation for the next Batman in line! As much as I agree that this is garbage characterization for him in many many ways, I do think Jason makes a fantastic villain. I love to see him run rings around the Bats in some places, and make lemonade out of getting his ass kicked in others.

No matter how we interpret the stabbing here though, what does seem very clear to me is that Jason makes the Be My Robin offer to Tim first and foremost because he thinks pretty highly of Tim! He’s been rejected by Tim at least three times over but keeps holding a hand out for him. This does not seem like Tim hater reaction hours here!

Also that whole thing about kids being dragged into this vigilante life irresponsibly? Yeah that’s still there!

I have TRIED to find evidence that Jason hates Tim at like literally any point here. I have gone through the shit people point to. I have looked at the context around those and dug up more obscure interactions for second and third views. Everywhere I look I just see more instances of Jason complimenting Tim!! It’s driving me nuts!

The only conclusion that I can come to is that people read this stuff and just trust that Tim is right about Jason. Tim’s internal view waaay more closely resembles fandom interpretation. Tim assumes that Clayson Toddface would absolutely have killed him in cold blood, that Jason beat the shit out of him purely to prove he was stronger, that he’s a brute, a moron, an active danger to society, and that every bit of leniency given to him will result in betrayal and death.

I don’t have clearer proof for it, but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Tim probably believes Jason has it out for him and holds him responsible for his replacement.

So yeah. As a fascinating reversal of my expectations going in: I don’t think Jason has ever hated Tim, but boy fuckin howdy has Tim HATED Jason.

[kinardsevan]

I figured it out. Why hearing that Tommy is a plot device/temporary is so infuriating. It’s the equivalent of being told “it’s just a phase”. As in, Buck just needs a phase to “figure out” being bisexual so then he can guide Eddie through it??? That logic is fucked on so many levels.

Evan Buckley is a grown ass man. He may be figuring out what he likes coming from another man vs a female in a committed relationship, but it’s not like he’s NEVER kissed or had sex with someone before.

Also, I’ve put off saying this, but I think (one of) the things that bothers me most about the possibility of Buddie on any level is that you have to trust in the whole “I fall for my best friend and they fall back at the same time” trope. That shit is not only rare, it’s painful. And given that 911 tends to go for realism (on some level) versus the fantasy when it comes to building relationships, you can’t tell me that Buddie would get it easy. But there’s an entire class of people who think this is the hard part, and one day Eddie is just gonna wake up and realize now that Buck is canonically bisexual. But like… that’s not very realistic? Also, the point Ryan keeps making about Eddie being heterosexual. And also, I genuinely believe that given the original plans for Tommy’s arc, that when Ryan said no, that was their chance.

Hear me out:

Buck would’ve been far easier to flip on a whim of “I’m into my best friend” after Eddie having a moment with Tommy. The ground work is already there, with previous situations (TK, etc). Eddie on the other hand, has so many other issues to contend with (Shannon, Christopher, his faith) that without someone basically shoving him in that direction, it really doesn’t fit.

To which brings my point: I feel like there was probably a conversation (at the very least, if not more than one) had at some point before the season started, and knowing the ideas Tim had on the table, there was an engagement of “this is the direction we want to move in, how do you feel about it?” Because truth be told, you can’t force someone six years into their contract to suddenly make changes they’re not cool with. and again, I feel like when that possibility was broached, and Ryan said no but Oliver said yes, this was the result.

Ryan does not want to play a queer character. Oliver doesn’t have a problem with doing so, nor does Lou. (And all of that is OKAY). But to that end, Ryan literally cannot be forced to do so if he does not want to. (I imagine there are probably bylaws via SAG/AFTRA that ensure this under some level of sexual harrassment, etc). And again, it’s one thing for an actor to read fanfiction about their character, even send it to their scene partner and be like “hey look at this”. But that doesn’t equate to them being like “okay yeah, the fans want it so we should do it”. Case in point? Go look at the entire Marvey fandom in Suits. I personally have a retweeted twt from Aaron Korsh like 6/7/8 years ago which I commented on the two of them kissing. Guess what? It never happened. And AK and Co were well aware of the side of the fandom that wanted those two together.

I don’t know what happens with Lou and Tommy from here on out obvs. They’re certainly teeing up some options, though we don’t have any clear answers due to just entering hiatus last week. But even if he’s gone in s8, that will never ensure that Buddie happens, and I’m not even trying to be mean about that. It’s just fact.

[everlasting-rainfall]

Hi Rainfall how are you?😊 I hope that you're doing well. This is my first request i hope you don't mind answering Can you please do a scenario of yandere Sabo falling in love with a member of the strawhat pirates please? And you're always welcome to add nsfw and please Keep up the nice writing and stay hydrated 😊

Sure! I’ll do my best and since you told me to stay hydrated, I’m gonna take a big gulp of water right now! This one is probably going to be quite short though as I’ve never been quite good at writing canon

Sincerest of apologies and I certainly do hope that you still enjoy it regardless! Now then…

Let’s get into it!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

A Yandere Fighting his Urges, Masturbation, Delusions, Celestial Dragon Mention, Sexual Fantasies, Anger, Kidnapping

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

So honestly I can imagine that you might have potentially encountered Sabo during the time skip like let’s say that you wound up encountering him for a little while during those two years

Maybe he saved you like you were in trouble with the Marines due to your wanted poster and Sabo noticing that you were running for your life decided to pull you into his hiding place out of sight as he was running too

Of course you were probably freaking out a little when he suddenly grabbed you but he kept you quiet and held you with your back against his chest until the coast was clear which is when he finally let go

Once you realized that you had been saved and had not in fact wound up in a worse scenario, that’s when you took a lot of deep breaths to calm yourself before you thanked him

It was after that is when he said that the two of you should stick together until you can get off this island as it was gonna be a while with how the Marines had locked the place down and despite everything. You knew trying to leave was a bad idea right now

During the time that the two of you spent waiting, you found out a lot about each other. He was a revolutionary that had been sent to this island on a mission, you were a pirate who had been separated from your crew

Honestly the two of you became quite close and eventually when the Marines calmed down thinking you both must be long gone. That’s when the two of you tried to leave only for Sabo to offer you to join the revolutionary army

You would make for a pretty good member after all and Sabo even offered to personally teach you everything that you needed to know

He was almost a little too insistent about it even when you said “I couldn’t just abandon my crew”. After a while though, you put your foot down and told him that you were going to find your crew and get back to them as nice as his offer was

Part of Sabo honestly felt the urge to just grab you and forcefully take you with him as how could a life on the seas possibly be better than fighting for what was truly right?

But nonetheless he held himself back for now and the two of you went your separate ways…

However as soon as he was away from your side and returning back to the others, he found that he simply couldn’t stop thinking about you as there was always a little bit of his mind that was thinking about you

It started off as him simply imagining what would have happened if you said yes and what you’re doing now then it progressed into forgetting that you weren’t here with him and occasionally slipping up like “I don’t know… What do you think, Y/N?”

Weirded the shit out of whoever he was talking to but regardless, he soon starts to imagine a complete life for the two of you in the world that the revolutionary army would bring about

He imagined living with you and letting you know just how much he loved you just about every single day, he wouldn’t have to worry about coming home and finding you missing or worse because some Celestial Dragon thought you were cute

There would be no need to fear that at all and even if there were still some fears in the world, he could protect you… He could protect you and any children that the two of you might have together

And as he thought about these scenarios in his head, he began to think to himself as the two of you were so close back on that island together… You knew so much about each other and not only that but some of your actions as well

You allowed him to sleep on the bed of the little inn room that you both managed to get instead of sleeping on the floor, you hugged him just a bit longer than you should have that one time, you even shared quite a few personal details with him that you probably haven’t told anyone else

Could it be that you felt the same way about him? Yeah, yeah! Of course you did, there’s absolutely no other explanation in his mind!

He just has to find you now and take you back with him when the time is right, he’ll tell you about how he feels the exact same way that you do and you’ll leap into his arms like it’s some kind of fairy tale! You’ll tell him that you’re so happy he realized and kiss him

These fantasies are truly some of the best things that he could ever think of and in all honesty, he even starts to dream about you sitting in his lap and riding him as you cry out that you’re so happy that you get to do this finally as you’ve wanted to do this since you’ve met him

Of course he usually has to take care of himself after these dreams which usually results in him moaning out your name as he rubs his cock to the visual of you bouncing on him or taking him into your mouth like a good girl

God, he needs to find you… He can’t wait for this any longer…

So Dressrosa winds up happening and of course you’re part of Luffy’s crew so as much as he would like to confess his feelings to you and steal you away, he’s sure that Luffy would never allow it plus he just can’t find the right moment to tell you how he feels

And due to this, he becomes more and more frustrated as sure the city is in absolute chaos and is about to be destroyed but he would just like at least ten seconds where shit isn’t going to hell so he can at least kiss you or say “I love you!” or something!

Even when the chaos is over, he still can’t find the correct moment and this man is very close to just coming up behind you and stealing you away

But as he’s coming up behind you planning to grab you from behind when it seems like you’re all alone, he’s just about to touch you when you suddenly turn around and say that you’ve been looking for him with a smile on your face

He thinks that you’re about to confess first and his heart is pounding in his chest as he’s so excited only for you to thank him so much for everything that he’s done before entering a conversation with him

You eventually let it slip that you have a bit of a crush on your captain and you can practically hear the cracking noise coming from Sabo before someone calls you away and you say that it was nice to see him again before leaving

Sabo is probably standing there just frozen and watching you go

So many things in his head are telling him to go after you to grab you and kiss you senseless so you realize that he’s the one for you but his Yandere Tendencies aren’t fully brought to the surface as he shakes his head and tries to fight the urge to do so as he leaves

He can’t bring himself to steal what’s potentially going to be his younger brothers girl someday… At least not yet…

Besides he’s absolutely sure that Luffy can keep you safe! Maybe even better than he can… Yeah! You’re in the safest hands with his younger brother! Sabo can definitely trust him to keep you safe and treat you EXACTLY how you deserve to be treated

And he couldn’t possibly bring himself to steal you away and protect you from all the dangers in the world that might try to hurt you! You’re part of Luffy’s crew after all and he doesn’t even mind if he someday gets an invite to the wedding that the two of you might have

If you heard a pop then that was Sabo’s stress ball… He’s on his fifth one today…

Regardless despite all of his wants, he gets back to his work as a revolutionary and tries to just ignore his feelings

That is until a certain country known as Lulusia gets wiped from existence and suddenly that last shred of sanity that Sabo had is completely gone

There is absolutely no way in hell that Luffy can keep you safe after what he just witnessed… He knew that the nagging feeling in the back of his head was right!

Luffy has too many crew members to watch out for after all and Sabo is certain that there could come a time when you’ll get hurt in some horrible awful way

And although Sabo does love his brother and would trust him with his life… He just wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he continued to let you stay there only for you to get hurt

Sabo will keep you safe, he’ll keep you safe and secure until the day finally comes when the revolutionary army has won

And when that day comes if the world is still just a bit too dangerous for his liking, he’ll continue to keep you safe even if it means locking you away inside of the home that he’ll share with you someday

He knows what’s best for you after all

[monstersinthecosmos]

I read your answer, where did you say "Pandora is his actual type and Armand was his pet"

But how could Armand be just a pet for him? He is one of only three of his turned children. Marius speaks of him as the greatest love (along with Pandora). Although I see some hypocrisy in this. Marius loves no one as much as Pandora. But certainly more than just a pet

Well !

Babe the thing is that, I said what I said and it’s okay if you don’t agree!!! And I’m gonna take this opportunity to double down. (Assuming that you’re asking in good faith and not to pick on me for my analysis lmao please this fandom has traumatized me too much.)

(((TLDR the text never treats Armand like he’s Marius’s equal but also I never said that being a pet was a bad thing.)))

I want to start by talking about the concept of MAKER in VC and how canon tells us that vampires exist outside of human social constructs, including traditional family roles right? Like for example, the moment Gabrielle is turned, she ceases to be Lestat’s mother. 

But with Marius I think a lot about how he’s crafted a persona for himself, and tries to operate in a very rigid set of rules. And part of this is like, how determined he is to live by stoicism even when he’s a mess on the inside, but I also think about in TVL when he says that thing about how it’s easier to just knock a glass on the floor, and how he goes out of his way to appear more human and retain human gestures. 

So like, in the way a MAKER is kinda like, a parent/lover/companion/something too big for our tiny human minds to comprehend. We still get a Marius who is determined to be a father & mentor, and I think a lot about how his need for stoicism and humanity is probably also expressed with his need to be the paterfamilias. 

I’ve been also thinking a lot lately about Bad Fathers in Media—specifically people like Tony Soprano, Logan Roy, Roderick Usher—and how the toxic patriarchy affects their relationships with their sons. Tony Soprano in particular is one who resonates with me a lot when I think about Marius—Tony often indulges in anger because he enjoys being feared (he thinks it’s respect but it’s usually fear), and that’s a bit different on a material level from Marius “anger is too pathetic” de Romanus but they’re both sort of obsessed with the idea of stoicism and trying to be a ~ strong silent type ~ on the outside, even when they’re actually quite messy and emotional underneath.

But wait — put a pin in this for a second. We’ll come back to this, and the concept of fathers and sons. I want to pause real quick to swerve to clarify:

Armand being a pet isn’t a bad thing.

It wasn’t “pet (derogatory) 😒” —  it’s “pet (adorable creature that I care for) 🥰”.

Here’s the thing about MARIMAND if you will (I hate all the VC ship names oh my god theyre all hideous lmao) but like OKAY OKAY. THE THING IS. WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR IF WE’RE NOT INTO THE FUCKEDUPEDNESS ? 

Like I’m not telling anyone how to enjoy a ship, please have fun ! Do you! But to ME? That inter-species friction and 1,517 year age gap is like WHAT THE DYNAMIC IS ABOUT, THAT’S THE FLAVOR BABY!!! Anne Rice herself even said the book was about “a boy’s love for a monster” !!

WHAT’S THE POINT OF MONSTERFUCKER EROTICA IF HE’S NOT A MONSTER LOL

And YEAH I get that not everyone wants to read TVA as a monsterfucker story. That’s okay! It also reads as a savior fantasy. But I enjoy the messiness of it—I LIKE that Marius is an apex predator & ghoulish ancient thing. I like that it’s problematic. I LOVE that Marius really does love him, though, amidst all these other themes. I find it SO compelling.

But I never once said that Marius doesn’t love him. Of course Marius loves him. What I said is that he loves Armand the way we love a pet. I would fucking die for my cats. I regularly burst into tears looking at my cats because I love them so much. But they’re fucking cats lmao.

I never for one minute forget that Marius isn’t human. He’s operating on a whole different wavelength with different points of references and ethics and life experiences. Like, people get so hung up on Armand being 17 and IT WOULD BE JUST AS BAD IF HE WAS 18 OR 25 OR 30 LOL. A frail little human cannot comprehend !!!!!

What’s interesting with Marius’s fledglings though is that he tends not to treat them as equals. Like I think you could read TVA thinking: Once Marius turns him, they’ll be real partners. But no, they stick to their mentor/mentee, dom/sub, father/son roles. We don’t have tons of examples in canon of other maker/fledgling relationships but it’s not a coincidence that Roman Patriarch Marius maintains status over his fledglings. Even once Armand is a vampire, he’s still not Marius’s equal, and Marius’s age and power are still held over him. 

BUT LIKE.

That’s weird, right?

I MEAN THE DARK GIFT IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE but it’s interesting to me that Lestat & Gabrielle’s relationship completely dissolves once she’s a vampire, but Marius & Armand’s doesn’t.

(Sidebar that like, I think there’s also ways to acknowledge that if we think their relationship is good that it’s OKAY for them to maintain these roles because Armand WANTS to be his sub but let me focus on my point here. We should also make time to talk about diegetic BDSM and whether or not it’s appropriate to use a D/s framework for this discussion if the roles are baked into the text and not a choice for the characters and not a game they are agreeing to but that’s for another post.)

So back to the thing about fathers.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bad father characters, specifically Logan Roy and Tony Soprano (also bad mother Margaret Chenowith) and the impossible standards they give their children. Logan and Tony are both men who are disappointed in their sons for being soft, because they were able to provide better lives for their children. They both spoil their sons with all the material wealth that they did not have in their own lives. For Logan we see how badly he resents his kids—Kendall even accuses him of being jealous of what they have—and for Tony he seems to be at a loss on how to parse his feelings. Part of him literally hates AJ for being such a whimsical little fuckup, and at the same time he wants to protect that part of AJ and doesn’t even WANT AJ to follow in his footsteps. Still, he hates to see that AJ is spoiled with no work ethic, and doesn’t know how to set an example for him.

Everything in Venice is designed to spoil Armand with all the things Marius didn’t get—it’s such a specific & deliberate opposite of how Marius was turned. And I think him seeing Armand as a pet puts a little bit of distance between the hurt he’d feel if he thought of Armand as a true son, or even an equal. He doesn’t have to resent Armand for having it easier than he did, but also doesn’t have to feel extremely betrayed by Armand fitting in with the cult. Like, let’s never 4get that by the time Marius catches up with Armand, Armand is right at home and thriving with them. A CULT? THE THING THAT KILLED ME????? Marius has no idea what the fuck they did to him, he just knows that Armand settled in just fine and has discarded everything that Marius tried to teach him. 

I think these roles are appropriately all muddled because it’s VC—like we said, the No Social Constructs series—so like, how do we compare the words SON and PET and FLEDGLING and SUB, I’m not sure. But my point is that he’s never seen or treated Armand as an equal, and perhaps never even a full adult person. 

ARE THESE IDEAS CONFLICTING? A little. But that’s okay. Am I incoherent and ill-equipped to tackle this analysis or is it because Marius is not a consistent person and never quite lives up to the ideal he’s trying to be? Does he want Armand to be his pet but secretly has feelings? Does he fail at being a father figure? Is he brushing off his Big Big Emotions so that he doesn’t have to admit how wrecked and destroyed he is and how badly his feelings were hurt? Idk man. I’m sure you can send me another anon to tell me I’m wrong. 

I wonder sometimes if like, keeping Armand at this lower status (like a pet) actually protects Armand from Marius’s ire and disappointment. Marius is sort of a father, but sort of not. He’s crafted a role for himself that is never all the way sincere, and it allows him some space to protect his own feelings of betrayal and disappointment when it comes to Armand. Marius is also classically bad at following his own rules, and never quite sticks the landing on the people he’s trying to be. 

I can imagine a version of events where Armand does gain some ground with Marius, maybe pays his dues and matures into someone that Marius trusts and respects, but that’s not the version of events we get in canon. Marius turns Armand, Armand remains his pupil, they visit Kiev and Marius is jealous of Armand’s father, they make it all the way to the raid without Marius ever confiding about The Parents. Even in the present day, during a dispute, Marius tells Armand he has the savage & ignorant soul of a child. Even in the present day, Marius won’t stop calling him Amadeo!!!! 

And like!!!!! It feels like Marius is more upset about Santino wronging him by ruining his home and taking his toys than he is about what Santino did to ARMAND. It’s more about Marius’s own feelings and possessions than it is about Armand’s own feelings and experience of what happened. AN ARMAND FRIDGING, IF YOU WILL. 

Anyway.

By never seeing Armand as a complete person, Marius never has to feel threatened by him. We see this in toxic parents a lot. Like, I want you to be good, but I’m insecure if you’re better than me. Or I can never fully respect your feelings because I always see you as a child and not a fully grown adult. And the truth is that Marius is actually quite threatened by Armand, on the inside. He is very hurt. He cares what Armand thinks of him. He’s relieved at the end of BCtu when he assumes that Armand wants to open his heart again. 

So idk like. I think the books end with a little bit of a hope for them; we see a lot of growth and self-acceptance from Marius in the last book and it’s reasonable to assume that he and Armand might have a long chat and nice long cry and work it out. I don’t think it’s completely set in stone, but it’s nice to think about! A nice happy ending. And I wonder if this is when Marius finally takes Armand seriously and listens to what he has to say without demeaning him! 

Am I gonna add 2000 more words to this point by tying it what the whole like “I fear him because I could love him again” thing in TVA means? No I’m not. But like. Again! It’s okay to be a pet, I think Armand liked being his pet. :) 

[pookie-mulder]

August 2024 fic roundup

This was truly the month of the longfic. And to think I only read short fics until @skelavender showed me the error of my ways!

📰🖋️ Paracelsus by prufrockslove

One of the biggest txf fics ever, and I absolutely devoured it. I loved reading it right after Hiraeth and seeing all the little nods to their past lives. This author knows how to spin a yarn, guys. My one complaint is the never-ending miscommunications towards the end, which is never my favorite source of drama/conflict. Just talk to each other, you idiots! (Although they have those moments in canon, as well, I suppose.)

⚾️🏟️ A Moment in the Sun by prufrockslove

I will remember this fic for the rest of my life. It’s the type of fanfic you want to write fanfic about. It makes me wish I knew now to print and bind my own books. The universe is so rich and developed. Definitely in my top 5 of all time!

Here’s a list of things I love about it:

William. My precious, bratty British boy.

The way the plot includes elements of the mytharc but put together in a different way so you don’t know exactly how it’s all gonna come together

Emily!! You know I love a good Emily AU, and this fic certainly counts. I’m a sucker for a found family, and this fic delivers.

Josh Exley my beloved (and Arthur Dales, but the other one)

Dad!Mulder. The man is an absolute DILF. He tries so hard to overcome his shortcomings and be the father his kids need.

Frohike. His job as an eccentric baseball manager suits him surprisingly well, and his characterization is on point.

The little nods to canon, including episode titles and locations.

The insinuation that all of PFL’s AUs take place in the same universe (as Mulder said, “It has to take more than one lifetime to learn to love someone this much.”)

The only thing I’m not zazzed about is the ending. It kind of just…ends? I would’ve loved an epilogue or even a sequel (or a 12-book series).

🏫📸 Dr. Scully’s School for Exceptional Boys by prufrockslove

Oh boy. This fic is a tangled mess of emotions and betrayal and shame and guilt and love and promises and sacrifices and, most of all:

Definitely recommend.

👒👩‍🔬 The Regency Files by @slippinmickeys

I needed something that needed less mental energy after 4 massive PFL fics in a row, and this one delivered! It’s sweet, romantic, elegant, and has just enough of a plot to keep you interested. If you’re a fan of historical AUs (as I am now, I guess), this one’s a must-read!

🛌🍷 The Reunion by @muldersfingers

Absolute trope-y goodness without feeling too cheesy or predictable. My favorite part is how much they laugh and tease each other when they finally make use of that one bed ;)

🐶🥇 underdog takes the title by @wtfmulder

MSR’s first time is sweet, silly, and giggly. Mulder is absolutely pathetic and pitiable, which Scully finds hot (same, girl). It absolutely melted my heart!

👶👨‍🍼 the bitter and the sweet by @xf-cases-solved

What if baby William was a girl? What if they named her after Samantha?

Absolute perfection. This is how season 8 should have ended!

🏔️🌲 The Mountain Man and A Deadly Hunger by aka_Jake

This historical AU takes place in the same time period as Paracelsus, but it’s so vastly different in its setting that it’s unfair to compare them. In this one, Mulder is a Montana mountain man who smuggles arms to the Native Americans, and Scully hopes to become an army doctor in a nearby frontier town. It’s a classic Wild West romance with plenty of drama and conflict. I love how each of the characters feel like themselves, especially Scully, who retains her headstrong independence despite social norms.

🔙🥩 The Mastodon Diaries by aka_Jake

Mulder and Scully travel back in time to the Pleistocene era and must rely on their wits and each other to survive.

This is one of those fics that changes you as a person. I will be thinking about it for a long, long time. It broke my heart a thousand times and then lovingly stitched it back together. There were so many moments that took my breath away.

The portrayal of prehistoric humans is especially incredible — they’re so well-thought out, and their culture is so rich and developed. Even though 12,000 years separates us, we’re not so different from each other in the end. I absolutely fell in love with the native OCs, which is a compliment of the highest order. I already miss them!

Anyway, it’s like this fic was created in a lab specifically for me. It has all my favorite tropes and story elements: wilderness survival, historical AU(ish), soooo much whump and caretaking and hurt/comfort, found families, Dad!Mulder, and a surprising amount of romance. If you haven’t read this one yet, I’m begging you to give it a try!

🇦🇶❄️ On the Verge by aka_Jake

This fic fits into one of my favorite canon holes: How did Mulder and Scully get back from Antarctica? I love reading everyone’s different takes on this missing scene/plotline, and this one is no exception!

[audreyclimbs]

foreseen in shadows- chapter one

chapter summary: cassandra returns to her apartment, and after a brief encounter with her best friend, she reflects on her night.

word count: 3.3k

TW: allusions to sexual assault! canon-typical violence, foul language

to access the entire story: foreseen in shadows masterlist + masterlist

I slipped in through my bedroom window as silently as I could, but the rain slicking every inch of my body had a different plan for my return to the apartment. In other words, I faceplanted on my hardwood floor—hard.

“Fuck,” I groaned under my breath, drawing out the vowel as I turned onto my back.  My eyes clenched shut as pain ached in every square inch of my body.  Exhaustion had settled into my bones hours ago, my body not yet adjusted to the demands of this new “night shift” of sorts on top of my day-to-day schedule.  Now, it was all I could do to scrape myself off of my now-slippery floors and shut the window before the rain blew in and soaked my bedroom.

As I turned around, I saw the hallway light flick on through the bottom crack of my closed door.  Dammit.  Could anything go according to plan tonight?

“Cassy, you okay in there?  Did you fall?” Jaimie’s voice called out from outside my door, groggy and scratchy with sleep.  She started to turn the doorknob.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

“Uh— I’m naked!”  I yelped, my voice pitching unnaturally high.

To her credit, she did pause.  “Girl.”  Her voice, though tired, was a perfect deadpan.  “There’s nothing there that I haven’t been subjected to multiple times before.  Why the fuck are you naked at… what the hell time even is it?” She muttered, trailing off and pausing briefly.  “At 3:30 in the morning?  Oh my God, do you have someone in there?”  My best friend gasped, the sound of shuffling giving away how she was now pressing herself closer to the closed door as if to listen for clues.  “You bitch!  What have we said about telling each other when we have—”

“I don’t— no, no one is here!  Don’t have someone!”  I blanched.  Why didn’t I just go with that, the fuck—  “I got sick, so I’m just changing into fresh clothes.”  That’s believable enough, I guess.

I watched as the shadow of her footsteps shuffled back to a normal distance from the doorframe.  “Aww, I’m sorry, Cass.”  I am such a piece of shit.  Guilt chewed away my bones at the sincerity in her voice.  “Do you want me to make you some broth?  Or.. or I can run out and get some of that juice you like?  I think the Petersons’ place down the street is still open for a little—”

My words came out in a rushed blur, “No, no it’s okay, seriously!  I appreciate it though.”  I began struggling to strip myself of the drenched clothes that clung to my body like a second skin.  The relentless aching of my muscles certainly didn’t make matters easier.  “I think I’m just gonna go back to bed and try to— uh— sleep it off.”  Hopping on one foot as I attempted to tug a boot off, I reached my dresser and leaned my back against the strong oak frame.

Jaimie hummed empathetically from the other side of the door.  I could practically see the distinct furrow of her brow, her hand coming up to run through her blond tresses.  The air came a little easier into my lungs now that I didn’t run the risk of her stumbling across the state I was in.  Drenched to the bone, beaten up in a way I’ve never been before— I couldn’t imagine the terror and worry that would take my best friend by the throat.

Her shuffles back from the door almost didn’t reach my ears.  “Well, if you need me, just come get me.  You know where I live,” she called out, yawning at the end of her sentence.  

“Will do— thank you,” I replied, drawing out the last word to serve as my farewell until the morning.

Her footsteps finally retreated from my doorframe, and the hallway light flicked back off.  Now, the only light in my room was the faint glow of streetlights streaming in from the rainy streets.  I kicked off the last boot and finished tugging off my long-sleeve shirt, tossing it in the vague direction of my hamper.  I’d pick it up in the morning and do a load so that I had something to wear when I go out again tomorrow night.  Or rather, tonight, I guess?  I resisted the urge to groan dramatically at the realization that I would have to go do all of this all over again sooner rather than later.  I couldn’t stop now, especially after whatever that encounter with the blind-but-not-blind guy was.

I so do not have the energy to begin processing that beatdown.

My back slid against the smooth, cool wood of my dresser as I sunk to the floor, head tilting back and eyes sliding shut.  Pain radiated in constant, throbbing waves from my jaw, my ribs, my legs.  

What the fuck even happened tonight?  It had started simply enough.  As simple as you can get when it’s your debut as a… vigilante?  Technically, I guess I’d fall within that category.  But I didn’t break the law, so do I actually?  Okay, I did technically assault a man, but he was about to assault a minor, so does that count?  I need a lawyer or something.  Is there a vigilante rubric I can grade myself on?  

As my eyes closed, I thought back to the start of my night.

Who am I even kidding right now?  Vigilante or not, nothing that happened tonight could fall within any category of normal.

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

1:55 A.M.

I crouched against the exhaust pipe that protruded from the rocky terrain of the rooftop, arm wrapping loosely around it in case my feet lost their purchase due to the torrential downpours currently soaking the streets of the Upper West Side.  

“What am I even doing right now?”  I muttered to myself.  

Deciding to take to the streets as a start, I released my grip on the pipe and dropped myself onto the fire escape below, landing in a crouch before rocking to my feet with the momentum of my brief fall.  The fire escape creaked and groaned, its joints squeaking from lack of use as I began lowering myself from ladder to ladder, moving diagonally as I tossed myself quickly and used each bottom rung as a monkey bar of sorts to propel myself to the next tower of fire escapes, steadily making my way down to the street.  

Upon reaching the last fire escape before the side of the building gave way to the street, I used the last of my momentum to swing off of the bottom rung and roll onto the rough concrete below, tucking and rolling as my feet made contact.  I quickly rose to my feet and began walking slowly to the street running perpendicular to the last few yards of the alley I had chosen for my descent.  As the distance between myself and the street began to close, I could hear the bustle of nighttime traffic and the relatively sparse nightlife roaming the streets of the Upper West Side.  Finally, the alley gave way to the street, and I looked around, orienting myself to where I now stood.

I turned left out of the alley and walked to the street corner, eyes squinting through the rain to read the sign of the street running parallel to me.  85th Street.  I hadn’t realized how far I had wandered in my nighttime escapade, but I couldn’t stop now.  I didn’t know how, but I knew I was meant to help.  Someone, somewhere, somehow.  The visions still flashed across my mind every time I closed my eyes.  So much blood, so much grief, and I knew that I had some way to stop it.  If I could see this coming, however far off it may be, then I could stop it, right?

Feet pivoting to turn my body around, I began walking further away from my apartment and toward whatever trouble awaited me tonight.

2:45 A.M.

It had been almost an hour.  Nothing.  Weariness crept into my mind as I continued wandering and pacing through the streets of the Upper West Side.  There was a certain kind of liberation that came with the pitch darkness of the night.  The mask that draped across my face, hiding my identity from someone or something— though I truthfully didn’t know what— didn’t seem to faze any passersby.  Then again, it was New York City.  I had learned fairly quickly that genuinely nothing could make this city’s inhabitants bat an eye.  

A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered how Jaimie and I had outright gawked at the absurdities we witnessed on our first day in the city before starting at Columbia.  It had been four years since then, and we both had changed so much, but I doubted either of us would ever be truly acclimated to this place.  Jaimie, in all her blunt and brutally honest glory, had yet to return to our shared abode in the evening without some story about some odd person she had seen out and about.  

Then, I saw it.  As I passed by a fairly normal-looking man, maybe a few years older than I, it began.  A sudden, frigid sensation passed over my skin as the world before me blended with the vision beginning to form in my mind’s eye.  The inky, misty scene began to unfold, voices drifting in various levels of clarity and volume, colors and shapes drifting and floating in and out of focus outside of the man standing before me.  

“I said, get on your knees,” he spat out, hands coming forward to shove harshly on my— her— shoulders.  

A sob tore from my lips in a voice that was not my own.  My— no, her hands, a milky white and freckled complexion that did not match my tanned, olive skin, shook in front of me as they came up to protect my face futilely.  The sleeves of her black jacket were muddy and dirty, evidence of a likely tumble to the wet ground of the dark alley she was now trapped in.  The dumpster pressing against her back effectively shielded her from the sight of passersby.  

(Not that anyone would glance twice even if they did see the scene playing out before them.  God help me, I fucking hate New Yorkers sometimes.)  Ripping myself from my bitter thoughts, I tried to focus on the milky, foggy scene before me.  The tears welling in her eyes did nothing to aid my vision through her eyes.

“Please,” the girl croaked out, and I could feel the hot tears streaming down her cheeks as if they were my own.  “Please, my mom is waiting up for me.  I won’t tell anyone, I— I s-swear,” the last syllables of her words trailed off in a hysterical cry, fear practically oozing from every fiber of her being.  

In my own mind, rage and indignation flared as the premonition continued to play out.  

Through teary eyes, she lifted her head and I saw the face of the origin of her fear.  It was the man I just passed by.  Blindly, I willed my body to turn around in the present and walk in the direction he had been going.  I prayed that I didn’t hit anyone as I moved unseeingly through the streets.  Focusing back on the vision as best I could while also trying to devote some of my attention to the present world, I watched as he began reaching for a knife strapped to his belt.  Oh God.

Desperation bubbled up in the girl’s throat, and I willed my present body to breathe deeply— to keep the barriers between us up and not give in to her emotions.  The man’s lips curled sadistically back, but they slipped back into a growl when she began scrambling backward.  He lunged forward and went down to the ground with her, body pinning her down as his hand holding the blade positioned it to the side of her neck.  His other hand came up to grip at her hair, and I felt a harsh pain to the side of my head as he tugged on her long, wet hair.  Rain dripped off the bridge of his nose and fell onto her forehead, and his breath fanned hotly across her face, a stark contrast to the biting cold of the October night.  

“I told you to get on your knees,” he panted, a manic sheen crossing over his eyes.  In the present, my skin crawled.  “But did you listen?  No, no you didn’t.  You know what happens,” he pressed the sharp edge of the blade into her throat, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to stir a new wave of panic and fear in her.  

It was getting harder to stay in the vision and keep walking through the present, but I needed to know.  My autonomy in these visions was still weak, but I was getting better at controlling them— at making them play out instead of flashing chaotically behind my eyes like they did the first several times.  

Then, I felt it.  He pressed his hips down, and I felt the bulge press into her outer thigh— my outer thigh.  Bile crept up in her throat, and I willed myself to take deep breaths through my nose as I kept walking, vaguely seeing his form walking ahead of me.  It took everything in me not to pull out of the vision right then and throttle him with every fiber of my strength, but I kept walking.  Kept trying to see through her eyes— just a few more seconds.

The girl screamed and I felt it rip through my vocal cords, a harsh and desperate cry of terror.  She sounded so young— only a teenager.  The man shook her harshly and hissed in her ear to stay quiet.  Then, with his other hand, he reached down and fumbled for his belt—

I barely ripped myself out of the vision before I slammed into a lamp pole.  For fuck’s sake, Cassandra.  I scrambled back and found the man again.  Because of my clumsy error, he had gained a few extra feet on me.  I let him have it, trying to appear casual and we walked— together, though he didn’t know it just yet— through the night streets.  He paused, so I paused.  The man’s head whipped left and right, and I saw him focus on a distant bodega.  The street corner he had stopped at was on the opposite side of the intersection from the small shop, but he watched it steadily.  At that moment, I realized that he hadn’t been wandering at all.  He positioned himself next to a streetlight, arm coming to rest against the green, painted metal.  In the brief pause, I took a moment to observe him as best I could from the somewhat substantial distance between us.

He had a black zip-up hoodie on, the hood of which was pulled over his head.  His pants were just jeans, and I strained to see where exactly he had the knife I had seen in my vision.  One of the faults of my new abilities had to be the clarity— or rather, lack thereof.  If I focused with all of my strength, then I could usually get the scenes playing behind my eyes to clear up.  More often than not, however, that just wasn’t possible due to the present’s demands of my attention.  The jacket ended just past his hips, effectively blocking my view of his belt.  No matter, I’d figure it out soon enough.

A bell sounding from the bodega drew my attention across the intersection.  A young girl with fiery red curls stepped out, waving goodbye to whoever remained inside.  

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Lopez!”  She called out cheerily as the door snicked shut.  Then, she began walking away, pulling the hood of her black jacket up over her hair.  

Oh. 

The man ahead of me began following her, subtlety clearly gone in the wind.  Internally, I begged the girl to turn back— to go back inside and wait, to walk home with the man inside who she seemed to trust, to do anything.  She kept walking, arms crossed tightly across her chest to fight the harsh, whipping October air and rain.

His pace picked up, and the horror washing over me was far colder than the frigid rain currently soaking through my clothes.  He was gaining on her quickly.  I broke into a run, blindly crossing the street and praying that I didn’t get hit.  Then, he reached her and grabbed her through the hood of her jacket by those red curls.  Her scream was muffled by the arm that came up around her, presumably cupping over her mouth.  They backed into the alley to their left, and I sprinted as quickly as I could, rounding the corner and barrelling into the alley.  

This monster would not have her.  Not ever.

The man’s head whipped around to face the sound of my approaching footsteps, and before he could react, I yanked on the collar of his hoodie with all of my might.  Luckily, his grip on the girl broke, and she stumbled forward.  I released my hold on his collar and let momentum take him the last few feet into the wall behind him.  With blind instinct, I whipped my leg around to slam the flat of my foot into the soft part of his side below his ribs.  A groan slipped past his lips, and he doubled over but recovered quickly and stumbled in my direction. 

“Go!  Run!”  I screamed blindly in the young girl’s direction, hoping she would understand despite my gaze never leaving the monster of a man before me.  From the corner of my eye, I saw her figure dart behind me and out into the street.  I sent up a silent prayer that she would go back to the bodega.  That she would get home safe.

In my moment of distraction, the man managed to land a clumsy blow to my shoulder.  I stumbled back, grunting from the force.  Based on the uncoordinated path of his fist, I guessed that he was not experienced in combat.  Good.  My fighting left much to be desired, but I at least remembered most of what I learned during my time in Columbia’s Women’s Kickboxing Club.  I willed myself to recover quickly and assumed a somewhat awkward fighting stance.  I was rusty, sure, but not as bad as him.  

With a swift inhale, I wound my core tight, swung my leg around, and hit my mark on that same soft spot.  This time, it did the trick.  The monster gasped as he tried to regain the breath I just kicked out of his lungs.  I kept on him and wound my other leg around to strike his opposite side.  He fell to his knees.  A small, sadistic part of me was satisfied at the dark irony of this situation— at the fear he was now feeling, rather than inflicting on an innocent teenager.  Blind rage took over the forefront of my mind, and I kept landing blow after blow until he was nothing more than a crumbled mass on the wet floor of the alley.  I stared, eyes wide, and air finally came back to my lungs when I spotted the rise and fall of his chest.

A rustling sound from the dumpster behind me pulled me back to the present, and I stepped back shakily.  Has my heart always been this loud?  Trembling breaths shuttered in and out of my wet lips, and my hands shook violently as I reached up to wipe the rain from my eyes and brow.  A quick scan of my surroundings somewhat eased my worries about being seen or attacked, and with that, I took off running.

[charcubed]

Look, I personally lose nothing if Lokius doesn’t become explicit canon. And if that were to become the case, I’d also have no regrets for saying for years that that would happen in the show by the end ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve said it before, but by now it would be Disney/Marvel’s loss, NOT mine. Whoever wasted or limited the potential would be the idiot, not me.

I’m simply never gonna feel crazy for noticing what’s happening in a story or silly for daring to hope it’ll be brought to fully satisfying narrative completion. That's just a me thing. Maybe this is because at heart I’m stubborn! But I’d like to think I’m not unreasonable. I can’t control whether writing stays consistent or censorship is overcome... But I just do my best to construct solid arguments, and as long as those arguments remain solid, I stand by them :)

I know not everyone would say the same, or they consider this to be "hope" or "optimism," but I see it as logic based in noticing what the text of a show/story is doing. And personally I also consider blatantly evident subtext to be "canon enough," so if we get my personal minimum, my happiness may still outweigh any potential disappointment for me.

However. Here's what I've come here to say today, in reaction to things I've seen floating around in the fandom:

While I do understand on some level why people worry that Lokius won’t be more explicitly canonically romantic because it could be censored by Disney.... At this point, I don’t understand how people can think Loki/Sylvie will still happen.

As of right now, there’s no way to argue for that in my opinion. (I'd like to see someone try.)

The show has set up a fun but very simple situation from basically the start:

They made romantic love a point of relevance in the show’s story. More specifically, they pointed out Loki's desire for a "real" romantic love, and had him learn the lesson that he doesn't deserve to be alone. They didn't HAVE to do all of those things and tie them together. They CHOSE to make romantic love relevant – and they have actively continued to choose to do that, to the point of including a mirrored dark love triangle in s2 ep3. That narrative thread simply has to be fulfilled.

So if they deliberately established that Loki wants and needs a “real” love, and his relationship with Sylvie was referred to as "fiction" so she cannot be a real love for him.... Who does it have to be?

Obviously it has to be Mobius. And of course, the whole show points to Lokius also, for countless more reasons than just this simple breakdown. But pointing this element out is the simplest argument one can make.

So either...

1. They take Lokius to full narrative completion with explicit canon, as they should and as I expect them to,

or

2. Loki's desire for a real love is left unfulfilled, open-ended, and/or made clear through subtext that it's Mobius.

Those are the options, if you ask me!

This is aside from how Lokius’ love story is now even at the core of the show’s themes and plot, which is an insanely strong vote in favor for their future canonicity.

But for the purposes of this post, I’m talking about whether we'll get explicit romance specifically, like a love confession or a kiss – and I do actually genuinely think we'll get both of those things. I'm not trying to force you to agree with me, but just to be clear, that's where I'm at with it and have been since 2021 lol.

So in regards to worrying about Loki/Sylvie...

They were never really a romance (yes, even in season 1) and they sure as hell aren't now. I can’t imagine they'll become one even IF Lokius is left subtextual.

So what actually remains to be seen is if the writers got to go all the way with Lokius, or if that central queer love story was censored on some level in the end.

My hot take is no one should be ~worrying~ about Sylki at this stage of the game. Free yourselves, people.

If the story starts abruptly going in a Sylki direction, even with only 3 episodes left, I will certainly be the first to say so lol. But I simply sincerely, truly doubt that'll happen.

(Hot take in the footer: this is not the post to get into this at length, but in case this comes up… In this house we do not use the word "queerbaiting." It is a useless, nearly-meaningless, insufferable term that devalues the legitimacy of subtext and queercoding more often than not; it's rooted in the idea that media must hit arbitrary and inconsistent checklists often set with cishet approval in mind; and it perpetuates a focus on the false and harmful myth that many creators are "cowards" instead of leaving room for nuance and the fact that industry censorship still exists.)

[so-long-soldier-writes]

Sweater Shopping

kai parker x bonnie bennett

summary: bonnie needs to buy a new sweater for the holiday season. kai, much to her annoyance, invites himself along.

tags: thanksgiving, autumn, not canon compliant, enemies to friends

word count: 2k

a/n: working on several different things, but in the midst of those, decided i needed a cheesy bonkai fluff-ish piece, so here's one

When Bonnie hears the passenger door shut after closing her own, she sighs. She does, however, thank the higher power above for getting her to the mall safely, considering her travel buddy has been known to attack people from the backseat of their cars. 

The boy in question smiles at her as he approaches. He puts his phone in his pocket and follows her across the road. 

Bonnie glances at him from the corner of her eye. “When I said I forgive you, I did not mean that we would be friends. And I certainly did not mean you could follow me around everywhere.”

Kai kicks a pebble across the pavement, but doesn’t answer. 

“Why did you even come with me? The mall is the last place I’d ever think you’d want to be.”

“I don’t see it as a place you’d be, either.”

“I need a new top for the holidays. My mom wants me to come over for Thanksgiving, and all my sweaters are looking pretty rough.”

“Ah.”

Bonnie lets her feet carry her to her old favorite store. She hasn’t visited in ages, but she and Elena and Caroline used to go all the time together. 

“So where’s your mom live? What’s she do?”

The girl turns to give him a sharp look. “Why do you care?”

“Damn, just curious, okay? You always talk about your Grams. I don’t know anything about your mom.”

“You don’t know anything about me, either.”

Kai clicks his tongue. “I know more than you think.”

“Ugh.” She turns back to watch where she’s going. 

“Okay, look, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset you.”

“Then stop talking.”

He opens his mouth again, but then promptly shuts it. 

Satisfied, Bonnie turns the corner into the store. “If you’re gonna be here, stay close. Don’t need you wandering off and killing someone,” she mutters.

Kai nods, mouth still sealed. 

For the next ten minutes as she browses, he lurks a good five feet away at all times. With time, though, he starts to pick up on what kind of sweater she’s looking for, and to her indignation, offers some options. 

“Bon.”

“What?”

He lifts up a pastel blue one.

“No.”

“This?” A green with a frilly collar. 

“No.”

“This?” Now, it’s a maroon with a lower neckline. 

She sighs, ready to snap, but then kind of likes that option. “Maybe.”

Kai, smiling, loops it around his arm to keep for her. 

After she’s collected five or six options, she searches for the dressing room. Kai follows her into the section, but when her hand reaches for the knob into the actual room, she turns to him. 

“Stay.” Like a troublemaking dog. 

To her surprise, he does. 

Kai waits patiently, tapping his boot heel on the wooden floor, while she changes. His eyes are trained on the door, curious, but not daring to ask any questions. 

Bonnie, meanwhile, stares at herself in the mirror. She isn’t sure how she likes the pink-ish, argyle fit, and crinkles her nose with uncertainty. She sighs, then snaps a picture to send to Caroline. For three minutes, she waits for a reply. After nothing, she caves. 

“Hey,” she opens the door slightly and catches Kai’s attention.

His gaze is on her immediately. “Hi.”

“I need you to tell me how this looks. I don’t know if I like it.”

“Okay.” His heart races with excitement. 

Bonnie opens the door wider to show him the whole top. Kai tries not to stare, and more importantly, tries to form an appropriate reaction that doesn’t include stuttering.

The sweater is cute, and matches the rest of her outfit well, but doesn’t seem like her style. 

“I like the color, I’m just not digging it,” Bonnie explains. 

Kai then nods. “It doesn’t seem like you.”

“Okay. Putting it in the ‘no’ pile.”

She shuts the door. 

Two minutes later, she opens the door again. “Opinion?”

It’s a plain forest green, although with tiny green sparkles throughout it. Again, she looks beautiful, but it’s still not a match. 

“I don’t like it,” she states. 

“I don’t dislike it, but I think you could find something better.”

She gives a short nod. “‘No’ pile.”

By the third time, Kai’s expecting her. The first two times, he was caught off guard, but now he waits eagerly to see the next option. 

“Red,” she announces. It’s more of a maroon, but Kai doesn’t correct her. “Might look good with some gold jewelry.”

He smiles in agreement. “I like it. Gold would match well.”

“It’s a little big in the shoulders.”

“I didn’t notice until you pointed it out. But it gives it kind of a comfy look.”

Bonnie seems to like that answer. She smiles a little before poking her head back into the room. 

In a minute’s time, she presents another. “This one’s cool.”

Kai agrees immediately. This option has a criss-cross design across the top, exposing her chest just a little. Half of it is gray, but it’s an ombre into black at the bottom. 

“Here’s the back.” She turns so he can see the ombre from the other side. 

His breath hitches in his throat at how well fits her perfect body. The whole top is slightly cropped, too, showing off her tight jeans. “Um,” he stutters. He tears his eyes away as she turns back to face him. If he hadn’t known better, she did that on purpose. 

“Opinion?”

“Maybe not to wear at your mom’s. But you should get it anyway because it looks really good on you.”

Bonnie looks in the mirror at her figure. “I see what you mean. Maybe I’ll just get it for fun.”

“You should.”

A small smirk tugs on the edge of her lips. She definitely did that on purpose. 

“Okay. Two more choices.”

Kai’s foot taps harder against the wood as his mind clings to the image of her. She laughs to herself, having no idea why she decided to tease the boy, but is certainly having fun doing it. 

“Alright, your pick.”

It’s one of the ones he lifted up for her. Another maroon option, though with a v-neck that’s slightly off the shoulders. It fits well, hugging her body, but not too much. There’s no pattern or design, but she kind of likes it that way. 

“I think I already have a pair of earrings that would go with it.”

Kai smiles. “It looks nice on you.”

“It’s very soft, too.” 

Unexpectedly, she steps out of the room for him to touch. He leans forward to feel the cashmere material. The softness of it makes him relax, visibly, as he stops tapping his foot. 

“Comfortable.”

“Very. Alright, I have one more.”

Kai pulls his hand away, but can still feel the threads lingering on his skin. He waits patiently for the last one. 

It’s plain black, again with the argyle design, but without any frill. Bonnie likes it, but it doesn’t stand out in the way the others did. 

“Opinion?”

Funnily enough, Kai’s thoughts on it match her own. “Looks good, but I like the other ones better. Color suits you.”

That comment makes her smile. “Okay. So which of the maroons, then? The slightly baggier one, or the slight v-neck one?” Kai ponders her question for a moment. Meanwhile, she continues, “I like both, but with the first maroon, I’d have to buy gold jewelry. But with the second one, my bra strap shows a little.”

“So what?” Kai says without thinking. “Girls wear bras.”

Bonnie actually laughs. “Yeah, but I’m seeing my mom. Whom I don’t know all that well when it comes to her opinions of clothes.”

Kai bites his lip. “You look gorgeous in both of them.” 

She searches his face, taken off guard by the comment, but finds complete sincerity. “Thank you.”

He only nods. “Which is more comfortable?”

“I like them both. Though that cashmere is tempting. And the price isn’t outrageous.”

“I felt like you’d like it because you seem to always wear lower necklines or v-necks.” 

She thinks about that. “I do, yeah. I don’t like the feeling of clothes being tight around my neck.” She pauses. “Alright. I’m going with the second one. Plus I already have jewelry for it.”

“Are you still getting the ombre one for fun?”

Bonnie stops abruptly at his question. “How do you know what ombre is?!”

“I have a sister! I know these things.”

“Hm. Not a lot of boys would know terms like that.”

“Jo and I used to be close,” he reveals, “I remember some of the hairstyles and colors she used to pull off.”

The thought makes the girl laugh. She likes this more human side of Kai. A far cry from the sociopathic, alien-like creature she knew in the prison world. Maybe all it took to see it was for Bonnie to give him a chance. 

“Alright, then.” She smiles. “And yes, I’m getting both.”

The next time she hears her passenger door shut, she finds herself glad that the little troublemaker came along. She got to see a different side of him, and actually enjoyed his company. He came in handy, too, with his opinions on the sweaters. Caroline hadn’t answered until they were in the check-out line. 

“Mhhhmmm, pink’s kinda more my color,” her text said, “maybe there’s a maroon?”

Bonnie showed Kai the text with a smile. 

She replied to the girl, “got a maroon one, thanks!”

What she neglected to say was that Kai picked it out for her. She kept that little tidbit to herself, as well as the fact that she had fun with him. To Bonnie’s knowledge, though, Caroline doesn’t even know the little weasel slipped into her car in the first place. 

“So…” the weasel in question starts, “what day are you going to your mom’s?”

“Two days before the actual day of Thanksgiving. She knows I have Friendsgiving here on the actual day, and she knows my best friends are closer to me than she is.”

“Ah.”

“So I’m driving down that day, but then staying the night, then driving back in the morning-ish. She lives in North Carolina,” Bonnie finally reveals.

“Oh. Are you, uh, going by yourself? Like, Elena coming with you, or something? That’s quite a drive.”

“It is, but no.”

“Damon?”

“Hell no. She hates him. He’s the one who turned her.”

“Oh,” Kai repeats, then, quieter, “shit.”

“Yeah. So just me.”

“Can I go with you?”

“What?!”

“I don’t know, just asking. Keep you company.”

“I’m not sure, Kai…” Yes, she had fun today, but to spend a four hour drive with him? And to introduce him to her mom? She’s not sure about that. 

“It’s okay,” he says quickly, “I get it.”

“I just…” She makes the mistake of looking over at him. His eyes look slightly sad, the skin underneath tinted with bags. His hands are clasped in his lap, unusually still. “Tell you what… we still have a good week and a half until then. If you are good, and promise to be on your best behavior around my mom, maybe I’ll let you come with me.”

“Wait, really?”

“Since you picked out such a nice sweater for me to wear,” she jokes. 

“I promise I’ll be good. I won’t even bug Damon for fun.”

“You better not.”

Kai’s quiet, though internally very excited. Then, after a moment, he asks, “does this make us friends?”

Bonnie sighs. “Guess it sets us on the path to friendship. If you can promise to be good,” she reiterates one more time. 

The boy smiles one more time. “Yes!” He mutters, lowkey fist pumping the air. 

Bonnie watches him, hoping she made the right decision. Truthfully, he has been a lot better to her and her friends lately. Maybe he’s grateful for the accidental second chance he got when they realized they needed his magic to return from 1903. Or, maybe, it’s Bonnie seeing him in a different way now that he’s seemed to settle down. Either way, it would be easier to be friends, rather than enemies, with Kai, and maybe, she’ll learn she wants him that way, too. 

[stray-tickles]

Distraction

a.n. Despite being back on the Hephaestus after months lost in space, something is still bothering Eiffel. Not that it's something he can admit to.

Admitting upfront that I know this wouldn't actually work in canon, however I do not care and I wanted to write it so here we are!

Read on AO3

--

It was fine. Totally fine. It had been years now, so obviously he could handle this.

It was fine.

His hands weren’t shaking even a little bit.

Eiffel swallowed. “Hey, Hera? Are you there?”

He wasn’t sure if he imagined the fond exasperation in her reply. “Yes, Officer Eiffel. Can I help you with something?”

“Ah- no, no, just uh… how are you today?”

Okay, the suspicion was definitely not imagined. “I’m… fine. How are you?”

“I’m good! So good, everything’s great, do you wanna play a game?”

Eiffel knew his arms were trembling, and he knew Hera could see. What he didn’t know was what to do about it.

“Officer Eiffel, are you okay?”

“Yep! Yep, I’m great, just wanna hang out!”

Hera hummed. “Your heart rate and breathing are elevated. Can you just tell me what’s wrong?”

Eiffel groaned, clenching his shaking fists. “Nothing’s wrong Hera. Look, don’t worry, forget about it.”

“Eiffel-”

“I should go do some work or whatever.”

--

“Lemmie help, I’m sure there’s tons I can do.”

“Eiffel you don’t know how to do any of this.”

“How hard could it be?”

Minkowski rolled her eyes, her already thin patience fraying. “Look Eiffel, I have work to do, so if you don’t have anything useful to say…” She stood, heading towards the door.

Like lightning, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, torn between confusion and yelling, to see wide eyes laced with fear. “Please.” Eiffel seemed to force the words out against all impulses. “Don’t- don’t go.”

Minkowski stared. She didn’t like this one bit. “What’s going on?”

Eiffel opened his mouth, trying to find the words, knowing what he needed to say, and instead felt them churning around in his stomach. “I can’t- I-I need…” Crap, he could feel the wetness burning in his eyes. “Please.”

A hand covered his, warm and calloused, and when he looked up Minkowski was crouching in front of him. “Okay.” She said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere. Just tell me what’s going on. I’ll keep a close eye on Hilbert if you need medical attention, or… anything.”

Eiffel shook his head. “No, I- I need someone to- to…”

“Breathe. With me.”

He nodded, forcing the air into his lungs with shuddering breaths. Bees still filled his chest, but it helped a little.

“Good job.”

He huffed an unamused laugh, but released his grip on her arm.

Minkowski settled onto the floor next to him, leaning against the wall and making a point to keep her hand over his, which she noted was still trembling. “What’s going on, Eiffel?”

Eiffel groaned. “I don’t know if I can say it.” He admitted, hating it. He didn’t want to say it, he didn’t want it to be true, it wasn’t fair. “Hera?”

Hera’s voice crackled to life. “He’s been off all day.” She said, “On edge, elevated heart rate and shallow breathing. All within acceptable parameters, but barely.”

“Okay.” Minkowski nodded slowly. “And you can’t tell us what’s wrong.”

He shook his head.

“Okay.” She sighed through her nose. “Forget about that for now, you said you need something, can you tell us that?”

Eiffel nodded, weaving their fingers together and taking comfort in how she squeezed his hand. “I- uh, distraction.” He pushed it out before he could overthink it. “I need a distraction.”

“Oh.” Hera said. “That’s why you asked about games.”

“Yeah.”

Minkowski raised an eyebrow. “Promise you’re not hurt?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.” She smiled and drew a deck of cards from her pocket. “Gin rummy?”

--

“Damn, Commander, you’d think if you were gonna pick the game, you’d at least be good at it.”

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in.”

“Seriously, are you stacking the deck, so you lose?”

“… Yes?”

Eiffel snorted a laugh and Minkowski felt the ball of anxiety in her chest loosen. He was certainly acting more like himself after a few rounds of cards. She shuffled the deck and put it away. “How about twenty questions? I’ll go first.”

Contrary to popular belief, Eiffel wasn’t a total idiot. He could see where twenty questions was going. But he was surprised to find that the concept wasn’t as daunting as it had felt half an hour ago. Especially having a warm-up game. “Sure. Ready?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, is iiiit a person?”

“No.”

“Place?”

“No.”

“Object?”

“Bingo.”

Hera chimed in. “Can I join?”

“Yeah, the more the merrier!”

“Of course, Hera.”

“Thanks! Okay, is it bigger than a shuttle craft?”

“No.”

Eiffel hummed in thought. “Does it… make sound?”

Minkowski frowned. “N- maybe rephrase that? Anything can make sound if you throw it hard enough.”

“Oh yeah. Does it have a speaker?”

“No.”

“Does it contain carbon?”

“Yes.”

“Hera what does that even mean?!”

“Carbon is an element in all known living things, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe.”

Eiffel buried his face in his hands, half out of exasperation and half to hide his smile. “Great, thank you!”

Hera sounded annoyingly smug. “You’re welcome.”

Minkowski nudged him with her foot. “Come on, still thirteen left.”

Groaning, he looked up. “Uhh, is it on this station?”

“Yes.”

“Ooh, okay, now we’re getting somewhere! Is it in this room.”

Minkowski looked around briefly. “No.”

He smirked. “Is it the plant monster?”

“No, Eiffel, it’s not the plant monster.”

“I’m pretty sure the plant monster isn’t an object, Officer Eiffel.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Lieutenant, is it larger than an average human?”

“No.”

Eiffel frowned. “Smaller than a human, an object, on this station…”

“And made of carbon.”

“And made of carbon, thank you Hera.”

“You’re welcome.”

Minkowski bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling too much at those two. “Giving up?”

Eiffel put a hand on his chest in mock offense. “Commander. I would never. I’m just gathering intel.”

“Uh huh.”

“Is it a personal item?”

She thought for a moment. “Yes.”

“Do I have it?”

“I think so?”

Hera giggled. “I think I know what it is.”

“Really?” Eiffel looked up. “Well go on, share with the class!”

“No, I think it’ll be more… fun, if you figure it out.”

“Ugh, goddamnit. How many questions left.”

Minkowski smirked. “Seven, and I’m graciously not counting that as a question.”

“Oh, ha ha. Is it… culturally relevant.”

An amused grin flashed across her face before quickly being purged. “I believe so.”

Eiffel narrowed his eyes distrustfully. “Is it related to a movie or TV show?”

“No.”

“Is it a book.”

“Maaaybe.”

He crossed his arms and tried to scowl rather than smile. “Do you happen to have it memorised?”

“Just about.”

“Does it have two authors and include tips for survival in deep space that may or may not actually be useful?”

“Sure does.”

Eiffel snorted, “Jackass.”

“Is that a question?”

“No, Commander, I think it’s established fact.”

They were both smiling now. “Well, if you don’t have a guess…”

Eiffel rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Is it Pryce & Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol Manual, Third Edition?”

Minkowski winced. “Ooh, sorry Eiffel. Second edition.”

“Silly me.”

“Easy mistake to make.” She hesitated. “Your turn?”

Eiffel swallowed and glanced down at his non-trembling hands. “Yeah, I think I can… yeah.”

“Does it contain carbon?”

Both laughed. “Shut up Hera!”

She giggled. “I’m just trying to help, gee!”

Minkowski took a breath. “Okay. Person?”

“No.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wow, really? Kepler’s a real. Something.”

Eiffel chuckled. “No, it’s… no.”

“Object?”

“Yes.”

“Smaller than an average human?”

“Y-yes.” Damn, this was going faster than he’d expected.

“Is it a pogo stick?”

Pause. “What?!”

Minkowski shrugged. “Thought that might get you out of your head. Did it work?”

“Heh. Yeah. Thanks.”

“And?”

He grinned. “No, it’s not a pogo stick.”

“That really narrows it down!”

Minkowski chuckled. “Shut up, Hera.”

“Is it a recent acquisition?”

“Yep.”

“Have I seen it?”

“Yeah, Commander.”

Hera hummed. “Is it organic?”

“I-I don’t think so?”

“Is it on the Hephaestus?”

He swallowed nervously. “No.”

Minkowski sighed. “Okay.” An object, recent addition, not huge, probably on the Urania, and it was really messing up her communications officer through its mere existence. “Oh.”

Eiffel winced. That didn’t sound like a very uncertain kind of oh.

“Oh?” Hera asked.

Minkowski cursed internally. “It’s Kepler’s scotch. Isn’t it.”

Eiffel looked down and nodded.

“Oh.”

“Sorry.”

There was steel in Minkowski’s voice. “No. Don’t you dare apologise.” She moved closer. “You- you did good, okay?”

He swallowed. “I appreciate it, Commander, but I don’t exactly feel good right now.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“It kind of is, though, right?”

She sighed, not sure what to say.

Hera chimed in just in time. “You tried to get help.” She said gently. “Twice, actually. That’s hard, and it was the right thing.”

Eiffel wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or break something. “It’s pathetic. I manage two hundred days in some barely held together shuttle but this-” He groaned, hands gripping his peach fuzz hair. “It’s been years since… I thought I was okay now.”

A solid hand gripped his shoulder. “You haven’t had the option in a long time. Makes sense that it’d get to you. Besides, we’re hardly in a low stress environment here.” She grimaced. It was awkward, but it felt necessary. “Do you want a hug?”

Pause. “Kinda, yeah.”

The met somewhere in the middle, leaving Minkowski a little alarmed at how Eiffel sagged in her arms like a sack of potatoes. “Thanks.” He muttered into her shoulder, gangly limbs wrapped weakly around her.

She squeezed him gently. “Any time. Seriously. We’ll figure this out.”

--

Figuring it out sort of worked. For a while. With Eiffel’s permission, Minkowski clued Lovelace in on their situation, and between the three of them, they could keep tabs on Eiffel easily enough. Shifts didn’t always overlap, but she made time to play cards or twenty questions with him at least every other day, and he had Hera to talk to in-between times. She’d spotted Lovelace smuggling a box out of the Urania, and if Eiffel seemed to have a large supply of chewing gum out of nowhere, well. It wasn’t any of her business.

Minkowski didn’t like seeing him like this, even if they were more or less handling it. This was hard enough on Eiffel, on all of them, without him having his worst coping mechanism dangling in front of his nose.

It drained him. She could see that every day. His jokes and sass were still there, but tinged with fatigue. When they met up for their games, he looked happy to see her, but also guilty. He hadn’t tried to apologise after the first time, but the feeling clearly didn’t fade.

Eiffel was being tortured by something he refused to allow himself to do. Minkowski was being tortured by her inability to do anything. She’d gotten her Communications Officer and secret best friend launched out into space for months that he barely survived, and now he was back in one piece and she couldn’t even take care of one measly glass bottle.

There had to be a way for her to just get rid of the thing. How hard could it be to just sneak into Kepler’s quarters and knock it over? It would look like an accident, and she could count on Eiffel or Lovelace for an alibi.

When had it gotten to the point that she was planning the assassination of a bottle of scotch?

It didn’t matter. That was too obvious, and she didn’t need Kepler interrogating Eiffel on what might have happened to his scotch. He clearly knew more about them than he let on.

Technically, she wasn’t commander of the Hephaestus anymore, so taking care of things like crew morale weren’t her job. Technically. But Eiffel still called her ‘Commander’, and Minkowski would be lying if she said that wasn’t meaningful to her. And even putting that aside, he was her friend. Someone who had made surviving on this tin can bearable, not that she’d ever tell him that.

Maybe she should…

She shook herself. Not the time. It was time for her to figure out how to take care of this, to make this place bearable for Eiffel.

No matter what it took.

--

“What does that object look like to you, Officer Eiffel?”

Eiffel squinted out the window, emotions churning in his stomach that he couldn’t quite figure out. Trepidation. Confusion. Relief. Suspicion. “Uh... like... like a bottle?” He resisted the urge to turn his head and look at Minkowski as Kepler ranted at him.

“What do you think, Lieutenant Minkowski?”

“It looks like…” She could feel the tension creeping up her spine. It wasn’t exactly a decision she had made, was the thing. The button was just right there, and Eiffel was right there and she knew that if she just happened to bump him as she walked past he’d stumble, and… “No, it is your bottle of Scotch, sir.”

Kepler hesitated, observing her for a long moment. It was a good thing she was a better liar than Eiffel, at least. “WRONG! CANCELLED!”

She didn’t let herself relax yet. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t how she’d wanted to do this, but… Honestly, she’d been feeling desperate. And an opportunity presented itself.

--

Eiffel was frankly surprised at how non-stressed out he felt, floating through the vacuum of space trying to retrieve a scotch bottle.

He might have actually had this dream before?

It did help that the bottle was empty in real life. It helped a lot. More than he’d realised it could.

He also had a lot of time to think, as he floated towards it. To reflect on the firmness with which Minkowski had bumped into him, conveniently into the button that would vent all of Kepler’s belongings into space. On whether or not that was something she would actually do, and concluding that yeah, it probably was.

Whether it was something she would do for him though…

She’d done it, so yeah, she had to have done it for him, there wasn’t really any other option there. Despite the temperature, that thought made Eiffel feel kind of warm inside. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever had a friend who would do something like that for him, especially knowing Kepler’s wrath.

“Got it!”

“Great.” Jacobi said tiredly. “Now get your ass back to the station, I need to be doing literally anything but this.”

“Copy that.” Eiffel could feel himself smiling. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to stop right now.

The second the airlock swished closed, Jacobi threw up his hands. “Great! All done, go team. I’ll trust you to get that back to Colonel Kepler?”

Eiffel hadn’t removed his helmet yet, and felt his grin widen. “Of course, Jacobi.”

“Fantastic.” He growled, turning and stomping out.

He laughed under his breath, putting the bottle down gently and removing his helmet.

“You need help with that?”

Looking up, he saw that Minkowski had joined him, an evasive sort of look on her face. Eiffel grinned still wider.

She crossed her arms and looked away, ears turning red. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.” He teased, removing the rest of his space suit.

“Good.”

“Mm-hm.” He shook himself off, seized the bottle, and followed Minkowski out, trying his best to school his features and honestly probably failing.

“You good to take this to the Colonel, Captain?” Eiffel asked, offering it to Lovelace. “Or should we deliver it personally?”

He could see her put the pieces together when she saw it in his hand, eyes darting between the bottle, him, and an obviously embarrassed Minkowski. “I think he’s had enough of you two for one day, don’t you?” She winked.

“Couldn’t agree more.” He beamed.

Lovelace shook her head fondly, “Alright, dismissed!” She said, taking the bottle and heading over to the Urania.

Eiffel waited for a moment. “Well.” He said, “In the spirit of shutting up…”

Minkowski yelped, finding herself seized in a tight and unrelenting hug. “Eiffel!”

“For the record,” He said loudly, “I am doing this because we are friends and for no other reason!”

She tried not to laugh, she really did, but he was being ridiculous and Eiffel and her ability to resist that had been worn down a long time ago. “Let me go you idiot!”

He laughed too, lifting her off her feet and getting a few half-hearted slaps for his trouble. “This is a very normal hug about nothing in particular, got it?”

“Got it.” Hera said, sounding highly amused.

Minkowski stopped trying to fight him off, sagging in his arms and shaking with laughter. “Dumbass.”

Eiffel laughed and squeezed her tightly. “Thank you.” He muttered in her ear, finally letting her go.

She rolled her eyes fondly. “Don’t mention it. Seriously.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Up for a game of cards before bed?”

“Huh?” He cocked his head, confused. “Well, the- it’s gone now, so I don’t really need the distraction anymore…”

Minkowski raised her eyebrows. “And?”

Oh. He smiled. “That sounds great.”

[justanotherjaydrawing]

Long post of headcanons incoming. (mostly SakuAtsu but shh) (CW for ableism and brief discussion of homophobia? Probably not necessary but better safe than sorry)

- Sakusa has EDS (specifically hEDS)

- ^^ he has thin and stretchy skin (and visible veins)

- ^ might have been self-conscious about that when younger (but Atsumu loves tracing all his veins so he’s less self-conscious about it these days)

- Ushijima was his first crush, though I don’t think it is that deep necessarily, but more that Sakusa finally saw another boy who cared about hygiene and was like thank fuck I’m not gonna be stuck with the gross boys I’m surrounded by, there’s a chance for me lmao

- ^ connected to that, I do think that Sakusa is only attracted to men and found it very distressing, not for homophobic reasons but simply because women are usually cleaner and the idea of dating someone who doesn’t wash their hands after peeing horrified him lol

- Lots of his joints are prone to dislocation or subluxation. Specifically his shoulders and knees.

- he used to avoid carrying heavy things with his left arm because it would just pop out of the socket.

- Sakusa grew up in a very ableist household. Rich parents insisting on having perfect children resulted in Sakusa pushing through a lot more than he should have

- a doctor suggested he was autistic and his parents asked if it could be ‘fixed’. When the doctor said no, they just claimed he wasn’t autistic and moved on.

- Sakusa didn’t address any of his mental health issues until his second year of university. He only realised because he was talking to his doctor about his symptoms, worried it was some underlying disease, only to be told it was anxiety and suggested to see a psychologist

- Sakusa almost didn’t see a psychologist, but ended up doing it out of rebellion against his parents.

- Rebel. Take care of yourself. I believe in you.

- It took him a long time to get confident enough about his disability to tell Komori that saying things like “its usually just in his head” is a pretty shitty thing to say to someone who has chronic joint issues. Komori is super apologetic because he hadn’t realised he was belittling Sakusa’s problems.

- Komori feels super guilty about it and ends up going down a rabbit hole of disability rights research and makes sure to speak up against ableism at every chance he gets. (not me, wishing for a Komori in my life lmao let me have this)

- Sakusa is very popular among the girls while in school, partly due to the fact he doesn’t hit on them but also they find him hilarious when he rags on the other boys in their classes.

- In university Sakusa and Yachi become friends

- idk who came up with the idea of Sakusa and Yachi being besties but I have seen it in so many fics and it honestly is the greatest thing to me and I adore it so fucking much. I love Yachi and her ability to befriend the grumpiest men.

- It has been said before, it will be said again. The Miya twin’s have a single mom. Honestly, this is just canon to me.

- I am leaning to thinking their dad just fucked off and was a complete deadbeat. The twins seem to have the sort of underlying rage that comes with being let down by father figure.

- They are both major mama’s boys.

- Atsumu gets irrationally upset about yo mama jokes. It doesn’t matter that he understands it is just a joke format, the idea of someone being mean to his mama makes him wanna throw hands

- this has been said before, but Osamu’s love of cooking came from helping out his mom in the kitchen as a kid

- later on this translated into him cooking for his mom when he was old enough to cook on his own. He loves taking care of people by feeding them. He loves that food can be a way to communicate and show love to people.

- The twins would join their mom for pamper nights

- this almost certainly started with their mom being like “I just need some me time” and Atsumu being like “ok but can I join?” “But Atsu, we’re gonna wear sticky gooey face masks~ and watch gross romance movies~” “...ok but can we have popcorn too?” “… yeah we can have popcorn.” so it turned from me time to Miya time lol

- Osamu sometimes joins but not always

- the twins have seen all the twilight movies so many times they could quote it from memory

- they quote it to each other as an inside joke but they are respectful when watching it with their mom because it is her favourite movie series.

- The Twins have very good hygiene routines due to being raised by their single mom.

- this does not translate to eating politely though.

- they do both have very good skin care routines though since their mom helped them sort it out

- Osamu is more lax about it because he doesn’t really care.

- Atsumu finds it soothing though

- Atsumu is weirdly good at “girl talk” because their mom started dating again once they were in high school, but she didn’t like keeping it hidden so she would come back from dates and just gossip about it with the boys. Osamu just listens quietly, but Atsumu loves ragging on the men if they don’t meet their standards lol

- I don’t think Atsumu would ever be in the closet really. This is based off of him not caring if people like him, but I think once he figured out his family would care he just wouldn’t feel the need to hide it. He would get in fights because of it and he had terrible survival instincts with it all, but he isn’t one to hide who he is (even in situations where it might be safer to do so).

- I don’t remember who said this but it is canon to me, Atsumu is hard of hearing. I hadn’t even considered it until I saw someone post about it and I can’t remember who it is OP I am so sorry, you changed my life and I don’t even know your name!!

- but hard of hearing Atsumu makes so much sense to me. Him being “too loud”, him being so attached to Osamu (probably due to having trouble communicating people when he was younger and feeling like Osamu was the only one who was on his side)

- this is just a reminder to me that I should draw him with hearing aids

anyway this is too much information and my head is still bleary with sleep so like if it doesn’t make sense im sorry lmao but I wanted to share my thoughts because I have too many and I am obsessed with these dumbasses.

also I said this is sakuatsu but really it is just Sakusa and Atsumu, not much about their relationship lol my bad

[marvel-ous-m]

20 Questions for Writers!

I was tagged by @devondespresso @pearynice and @spicysix!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 15! 14 in Stranger Things, and one abandoned Marvel fic that I don’t have the strength to admit is really abandoned. 

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

158,993! Over 100,000 of that was in the last 6 months, which is absolutely wild for my lizard brain to comprehend. (Writing, it's free therapy).

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things! Like I said above, I used to write for Marvel, but most of my interest in the MCU went out the window after Multiverse of Madness. (Don’t worry, I still love you Spiderman <3) 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Eddie Munson’s Guide for How to Adopt a Jock in Four Easy Steps

Closer to Fine

Something’s In My Mine (and I’m Focused On You) 

Summer Child

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Tang (Steve Learns to Cry)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! As much as I can! I’ve been taking a little impromptu break from comment responses but I loveee getting to interact with comments, it brings so much joy to my life!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I tend to stay pretty firmly in the happy ending cap, but I think that Tonight, Tonight is my saddest/angstiest ending. 

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh man, I’m gonna give this to Summer Child (linked above). It was a birthday gift to myself, and even if it’s kinda unrealistic to suddenly have all of Steve’s problems fixed within 2,500 words, I needed some tooth-rotting fluff. 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have in the past, but I really don’t in the Stranger Things fandom! 

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not reallllly. I have quite a few fade to black moments in fics though. I might have some smut in an upcoming fic, but I personally don’t love adding smut to a story focused on plot unless it advances the plot. Just a personal preference thing!! 

10. Do you write crossovers?

No (?)- I’m not opposed, and I seriously LOVE reading Spiderman-Stranger Things crossovers, but I haven’t written anything yet. If inspiration strikes though, I’d be down. 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. 

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I’m aware of, but I’d totally love this!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

My friend and I had a notebook in middle school that we would pass back and forth and write Supernatural reader insert in-

Uhhhh I mean no. 

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Steddie <3 

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

This award goes to Why Can’t This Be Love (my Marvel fic). Everything else I’ve written that has been posted will be or has been completed!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think characterization and dialogue are my strengths, with the obvious caveat that my fics tend to be AU or canon divergence, so my characterization is certainly not spot-on to what you see in the show, but I think that I’m good at it for the story that I’m writing. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing and descriptors. I definitely have some moments where I’m like “I need to get this over with, this does not need to be so descriptive” but I get attached to the little world I’ve written and struggle to delete whatever is getting in the way. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Oooo. Personally I think it depends, but I tend to lean towards no unless you have someone who can speak that language consulting with you. 

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who (and I am embarrassed to admit that I wrote it on a typewriter and gave it to my 6th grade teacher to show her I was good at writing). 

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Something’s In My Mind is my favorite child and probably will be for always. I love those funky little guys <3 <3 

Some people I'm challenging! No stress tags, apologies if you've already been tagged and/or have already completed this 20 questions game. (Also if you haven't been tagged but would like to partake, this is your informal invitation to do so!!) @hairstevington @klausinamarink @hellfireloserclub

[theenbynightingale]

CLONE HIGH (2023) EP. 8 SPOILERS

Okay, I know I’m opening up myself to a bunch of arguing but like... We need to have a talk. I should preface this by saying I’m not a die hard fan of Clone High. I only caved into watching the original series a few days before the reboot dropped despite hearing about it for years. I think they’re both good but I have my problems with both.

But I wanna talk about Topher Bus, a Christopher Columbus clone in a Gen Z world. He’s kind of taken over the role of Ghandi as Abe’s best friend in the revival, since the creators don’t want to bring him back unless they know they’re gonna be able to make more seasons. He hasn’t had a lot of screen time or development because the abundance of characters in this version. However, him becoming somewhat close with Abe has resulted in some fans shipping them.

So imagine their surprise when Topher tries to blackmail (or white leverage) Abe at the end of the final episode because he is attracted to Joan as well. I’ve seen so many people actually get angry about this. Many found themselves disappointed that Topher wasn’t straight or that he’d do something so terrible to Abe.

To which I say... Why would you expect anything else from this guy?

Topher’s whole thing was that he was an asshole who tried way too hard to convince people he’s progressive or an ally or “woke”, a term he unironically uses. He goes on and on about how he’s looking out for poc and women because he’s just trying to survive in a world that has flat out rejected his clone father.

“But he has a ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ rainbow flag in his room!” Yeah, he does. He also has a co-exist poster, too. Good for him. Except there’s also a poster that says “Not a paid activist”. It’s a front! That’s the point! 

“But he keeps trying to drill it into everyone’s heads that he’s straight, like a closeted person!” Yes, he does. But it’s not just closeted people who do that. I went to a Catholic school and I also live in the real world. I’ve seen dudes be afraid to drink tea or hug because it might make them look “gay” or “feminine” or whatever bullshit.

“The way he said he liked Joan and white women in general was so exaggerated that he must be forcing himself to say it!” This is Clone High! Everything in this show is so exaggerated. From the very beginning, it’s been a parody of teen satires. It was created by the duo that would go on to make Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie. This is their style.

“The episode would have been better if he blackmailed Abe into not confessing to Joan because he had a crush on Abe.” So you’re saying you would have liked the episode more if Topher had gone “Abe, the reason I almost got you molested by a teacher was because I’m in love with you”? I need you to realize how fucked that is.

Topher is a weasly little shit who tries to convince everyone how progressive he is when he’s actually a total asshole. That was the point. Y’all thinking he was in love with Abe or that he had Abe’s best intentions at heart just means that it worked. You took the bait. I’m not saying shipping Tophabe would be immoral (okay maybe after the whole statutory rape thing but that’s just for right now). There’s a solid chance that their friendship could be salvaged after this. I certainly never thought I’d ship Cleo with anyone but know she and Frida are my OTP. But you gotta stop pretending that this character is someone he isn’t.

I might delete this because I’m just trying to get my feelings out. I’m not calling anyone stupid or whiny just because they got upset by the new episodes. (Shoutout to my boy, @warcrimetime​. Sorry they took JoanFK from you so soon). This is just another case of me getting annoyed by people calling queerbait just because a ship didn’t become canon and me getting everything out of my system. (But also, if Joan does see Topher’s blackmail and her reaction is anger at Abe and not “HOLY SHIT YOU WERE MOLESTED?!” then that would actually be legit bad writing).

TL;DR:

Although, maybe I’m just not upset because I got Kahlopatra and you guys lost your OTP and I just don’t understand, I dunno. 

[abalovesfic]

Gonna talk more about The Book of Bill in this Ask. As well as ur answer to my 1st Ask:

"1. Preorders start today actually!!!!! It’s a really great zine and I’m excited to have been a part of it."

Nice!

"2. I do plan on finishing at least The Helpful Lie, I think I owe the fic that much and I have so much of it mapped out. That being said…"

I really do hope u will at least finish this fic someday. As well as Illumine and Cosmic Twins. And etc. I love these TAU fics dearly after all. However, I can wait. I have waited years for more of something, and I can take a long to post and stuff myself. And I can do the same with these things.

"3. Spending time in the Psych fandom has been so rewarding. This was the right time for me to transition into something else. I’m gonna put this vaguely for privacy’s sake— I needed a new fandom if I was going to engage healthily again. And honestly, I think in 7 months Psych has given me more support and community than 12 years in Gravity Falls ever did. (But that’s luck, considering I went to Psych con and met the people who live in my phone.) (And probably also demographics.)"

I am sad u feel like the GF community couldn't always give u the stuff that the Psych community did. I have had great times in the GF fandom(s) myself personally. Saying that, I am happy Psych and it's community is is making u happy right now.

"4. Obvi Gravity Falls and TAU are still the loves of my life and rn there’s this beautiful meld of Psych and Gravity Falls coexisting in my brain. Book of Bill was great and it reinvigorated something in me. So yes, I’ll come back eventually and write more but for now, I’m invested in my little queer detectives"

And I hope to see u and I am excited to see u come back more in/to the GF and/or TAU fandom(s) someday (like new chapters and/or fics. Etc.), but like I said, I am happy you are having fun with Psych right now. And/or having fun with a blend of Psych and Gravity Falls in ur mind.

Also, "Book of Bill was great and it reinvigorated something in me",

Cool!

Gonna talk more about this, but I will save that for it's separate Ask.

Thank you for ur Answer to my previous Ask.

:)

1/?.

Oof. Uhhhhhhhh.

I think it’s just the helpful lie I’ll be finishing. (Maybe cosmic twins.) I can’t go back to Illumine. I do not like to contradict canon and though I didn’t know Book of Bill would be a thing a the time, I still don’t like that my story arc was off and the fic is too far gone to change anything. I won’t delete it but I’m not finishing it.

I love the game of canon too much. I like having to work within its confines even if I’m going off the rails with an AU. It challenges me as a writer. So Illumine has lost its appeal, but The Helpful Lie has certainly gained some. I have thoughts about my dumb triangle son…

And ok ok… it’s not that Gravity Falls/ Tau wasn’t a great fandom with tons of love and support. It is! And forgive me if this gets TMI. But I felt like I would never be good enough for this fandom. All of my fic, cosplay the freaking fanzine I started, my whole thesis, every single academic conference I went to specifically to talk about the show, all of the work I put into to Gravity Falls: I was essentially destroying myself for a fandom that wouldn’t love me back with the same passion. I still LOVE Gravity Falls with my whole heart and soul. But that burnout still hurt me.

So this step back has been good.

And Psych is oddly different. I think the fandom is old enough now to be kind of its own thing— but going to Psych con was the eye opener. I was worried about being the new kid on the block in this fandom from 2006. But complete strangers have shown up for me, tried to help push my academic career by promoting my writing and trying to get me celebrity interviews (which didn’t work out but damn— I’ve never had folks do me those favors before just because they want me to succeed), among other things. It changed my perspective a lot to have total strangers hug me and tell me I had done so much.

That was very ranty and emotional because I’m super sleep deprived (Bill my son please hop into my brain and joy ride me around, leaving me to wake up in a Taco Bell and with half a chalupa. This flesh puppet is ripe for the takin’). But things have been good different in this new corner of the internet. And when I’m ready I’m gonna finish the helpful lie so that I can feel good about it and not like I’m jumping through hoops.

Oh and the blending in my brain looks like memes