#and the events in canon would play out DRASTICALLY different

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Fic ideas who knows if I'll ever get around to writing or even drawing as a comic:

YEARS IN THE FUTURE post canon, the artifacts department discovers time traveling capabilities in a weapon used by a renegade. Conflict happens relating to Maggie, dunno quite what kind but probably the tragic kind.

And somehow someway Nova and Adrian decided to go back in time to prevent all of this. They go back to when both of them were roughly 12 years old. The moment they collect their bearings they see they are right in front of a children's home

They go inside and Nova asks for her sister, giving a brief explanation of their situation backed up by the most recognizable 12 year old right beside her Adrian.. The person she asks is still very bamboozled but clearly little voices heard. Scampering is heard from upstairs, little feet running down the stairs.

Door to the front bursts open and there stands Nova's five year old little sister.

Nova can't keep herself standing and Maggie can't stay put. She runs into her sister's arms the moment it clicks that her sister came back for her. She'd be so excited, she's VIBRATING and there are so many words coming out of her mouth all at once for Adrian nor Nova to discern. From cheers of being right to trust her gut that someone would come claim her, to her own tears, to a BUNCH of questions about Nova and herself, etc etc

Nova is frozen, and after a few minutes gets the strength to wrap her arms around the kid. Since it's Maggie, she checks to make sure her bracelet is still there. It. It is.. Adrian and her are both puzzles at the kid's actions but Nova is reeling more from the fact her little sister is here. Alive.

Maggie notices after calming down from her excitement that Nova's acting off. Adrian quick to reassure that Nova's just stunned she could find her again. Maggie stands up and pulls at Nova's hands to get her to stand up, she does. And Maggie decides, y'know what I have just the thing that will cheer up my sister.

Incorporating my hc that Maggie, when she still has hope someone would come for her, stole so that she'd have only the BEST gifts for her future family, she brings Nova to her hidden stash. Plenty of valuables that she willingly gives Nova, and a long with the valuables are crayon drawings of what Maggie imagined it might be like if when she found her sister

If Nova wasn't crying already that was the final straw.

[vintagecandy]

Now for the 1920s reimagining of Jonathan Crane ! sorry this explanation is even longer lmao

As everyone's been saying, I should do the rest of the Dork Squad to match 1920s Jervis, and so here is my Jonathan! Easily the hardest to draw out of the three-- but I must say! Despite being outside my expertise, I'm a little surprised how much it looks exactly like I was imagining! Even if it took me ages but that's just procrastination lmao.

Anyways! What is his deal? Well, for one, design wise I did go a more drastically different direction from his usual look by doing a literal scareCROW. He's much more bird like, with a plague doctor mask being common imagery in steampunk, but he's still very southern themed with his messy broken overall strap and patchwork coat. Even his wings are rustic. ( he can't fly just glide btw lol ) Also! I leaned hard into the color orange instead of his usual green gas because it..... bugs me that both Crane and Nygma have a bright green in their color palette. I just want them to have distinct colors if they're going to be a trio. And look how vintage halloweeny he looks !!

So why is he so well dressed out of costume? Well! This Jonathan Crane is not a psychologist at all, here he is the very successful grandfather of horror movies in the silent film era. ( An illustrious origin, i hope canon Crane would be proud lmao ). This is referenced in how his face looks, he's wearing white powder and black makeup that's usually meant to emphasize key features on blurry film like his upper lip and around his eyes. And yes, he just keeps his makeup on during most events, and people just accept he's a little on the... eccentric side.

To me, the archetype of the mad artist fits Jonathan's vibe perfectly. When it comes to striking fear, he's a perfectionist, a trait that drove him to learn every single skill necessary himself, from costume design to props to making his own cameras to mechanical engineering, to.... a "fear gas" that was supposed to gently encourage immersion in the audience but ended up becoming a dangerous chemical weapon.

For his origin crime I am thinking !! Full blown Scooby Doo style monster mystery!! With some nuance! Crane, as a first impression, gives off an immediate air of pompous, aggressively impatient, pretentious director type. His presence is big and dramatic, but its distinctly not southern-- in fact, he seems to play up something between a hollywood accent and a thespian one. But this is all to cover for his farm hick background that he was once very ashamed of.

As a child of a failing farmhand during an infamously dry and dusty era, Jonathan developed an extreme resentment for his country existence from both the bullying of other children for all his strange quirks and the severe verbal and physical abuse of his father, driven to alcoholism by the stress of poverty and the loss of his wife. Originally offering his artistic ideas as a means to help them, he grows sick of their closed mindedness and berating and runs away to learn about the emerging potential of film in Gotham City.

Its been many years, Jonathan now in his early 30s, he finds himself surrounded by the shallow, champagne aristocrats that reflect his childhood bullies. Feeling wrong in his own skin, he develops a sightly unhealthy obsession with the escapism he finds in performing as the monsters in his movies.

But upon discovering that the corrupt rich of Gotham plan to push legislation that would negatively effect farmers like his own history, and that they expected him to be amongst those who support it, his irritation with the shallowness of society reaches its limits. In day, he would feign support for their behavior to cover his tracks, but at night he would don the mask of the Scarecrow, rumored to be the vengeful spirit of a farmer who was hanged, and who he believes to be a more freeing expression of himself than his true face, targeting not just the rich but striking fear in their laborers to scare them off land. And it works. So, he tries bending the will of society more.

Is he doing this out of any moral conviction or just spite and a love for the role? It's... hard to say.

As the Scarecrow, his methods are so effective he's near uncatchable, even by Batman. Its only by solving the mystery of who is under the mask are they able to catch him. They surprise him during one of his screenings, jump him in the dark, and prove his subtle use of fear gas in the theater to the police once he's cornered. Instead of being angry, he goes to the mad house applauding Batman's performance.

What an interesting character they play. He's very inspired.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Something I’ve noticed across collecting different cards is that Twisted Wonderland seems to have a bit of a skew in which characters get character x player ship bait. Between events and card lines, some characters look like they are getting neglected in the ship teasing category. Is there some kind of popularity bias behind this? Like maximizing profit or game popularity by targeting certain groups of fans among the fandom?

Mmm… I haven’t noticed a skew, personally. If there is one at all, I’d wager it isn’t significant and it’ll probably depend a lot on what point in time you’re evaluating at. Since TWST is consistently releasing new content, the voice lines are sure to “even out” eventually if given enough of a waiting period. For example, you could say that the GloMasq boys have “more” bait lines… until Playful Land boys were released the year after, thus leveling the playing field.

All cards have character x player ship bait to some degree. Most of them will have at least 1-2 lines which involves complimenting you/your look (and if not in the card lines, then directly in the event, especially when Yuu has changed into a new outfit), Yuu touching them in some way (or being invited to), or asking Yuu to hang out or to do an activity with them. Everyone gets these lines because there are fans of every character that have spending power; it doesn't make sense to intentionally devote more lines to one while leaving the others starving for content when there are big spenders for all characters (which will vary widely anyway depending on the server too, so there are very few consistent "favorites"). Devoting time and energy to every character is what makes the most profit in the long run, as you risk losing the fans (and money) of "less popular" characters if they don't get new food too. It doesn’t matter that the high spenders for like… Azul stay because they’d still be losing the revenue coming in from Jack stans who dropped the game due to content drought.

I would say that what is and is not categorized as a "shipping bait" line depends a lot on other factors, the strongest of them all being individual perception. For example, if you ship yourself/your Yuusona with the character, you may be more likely to perceive any line spoken by your favorites as "more romantic" than other characters. This feeds into your preexisting expectations, and is therefore a form of confirmation bias. Meanwhile, if you ship two canon characters with one another, there are many more potential combinations so it's less likely that the particular ship you're into will get "bait". Additionally, some people are more liberal with what they perceive to be romantic or not. For example, Ace inviting you out to do something can be seen as both platonic or romantic, based on who is judging the line because there isn’t anything inherently romantic in spending time together. This is also the case in the main story or events; some players see Yuu giving Malleus the VDC/SDC ticket in book 5 as "a date" while others do not. This brings me to another point: character relationships within the main story and their personalities will also have a drastic impact on what is perceived as romantic or not. Rook, for example, speaks in a very flowery manner. Because of this, a majority of his lines could be seen as "bait". Characters that are gruffer (Jack) or "loner" types (Idia) would naturally have fewer inviting lines due to their characters. And again, with Ace, since he is presented as one of Yuu's closest friends in the main story, it's easy to perceive him as a platonic bestie when reading his lines since your friendship is already established.

Lastly, I think it's worthwhile to consider that there are also nuances that are lost in translation between JP and EN, which may alter which lines are seen as "bait" and which aren't. A really popular one I see floating around is Malleus's vignette level up line, which is translated in EN as "You aren’t afraid of me. But I’m starting to become afraid… of losing you.” Many fans perceive this as romantic and often joke that “Malleus missed the meeting about TWST not being a dating sim!” However, this line has a different context in JP which reads as more platonic.

The original Japanese line is お前は僕を恐れない。そんなお前を失うことが僕は恐ろしくなり始めている。This roughly has the same meaning, but the wording Malleus uses seems to specify that he is afraid of losing the Yuu that is not afraid of him. EN omits the そんな (son na) part, which would refer to a type or kind of person (as in, “son na hito”). In this case, Malleus is afraid of losing “the kind of Yuu that is not afraid of him”. So really, the original meaning of the line is that he is expressing a fear of what would happen if his true identity comes to light (as Yuu is the one person who doesn’t know), not that he is afraid of losing Yuu as a whole.

To summarize: it’s up to individual perception and, given enough time, every boy will get their fair share of fanservice for the player.

[ispelexists]

SHADOW MILK COOKIE AND 'THEATRUM MUNDI'

"The world's a stage, and the actors are playing their roles in it"

The idea of Theatrum Mundi dumbed down. It's a simple concept, that concludes that the life itself is a show, being directed by some supernatural force like for example god etc.

(If I'm wrong correct me, I'm not that much into literature and this kind of stuff)

This idea caused me to write down a few prompts for you pookies <3

🎭

The thing is, is that you have so many options with this, like... AHHH

English isn't my first language, I apologize for any confusion I might've caused by these

Here's some ideas/prompts for you guys:

💙 1. 💙

🎭) AU where Shadow Milk's corruption begun not because of the overwhelming power he had, but because he, as the 'Virtue of Knowledge' knew everyone's script after looking at them, and being distraught by that fact, or the fact that almost every Common Folks life ended with a tragedy, a murder (by the hands of the beasts, but he doesn't know that) which terrifies him.

He, being the only one who knew about it, would try to figure out what this tragedy was, or to change the fate, not knowing the cause of it, was himself and those he considered him the closest.

🎭) In the end he got so focused on that task, he didn't see his own slow fall, and when he noticed it in his comrades, it was to late. The only thing he could do was to accept his end, and join the other Beasts in wrecking chaos, and ending the whole ACT.

🎭 (In this AU, he can only see the key moments in everyone's life, like for example marriage, death, and other important things, he can't see everyday life of anyone)

🎭 (Also the only one's he doesn't know his script, that's why he doesn't know he would fall to corruption, you can say that he also can't see other Beasts since they're equal in power, but I think it works either way)

💙 2. 💙

🎭) A concept where Shadow Milk Cookie, freshly after his corruption, goes around either in a physical form or hidden withing the shadows, observing random cookies life, and having a great time laughing at the absurdity of the fact he can basically knows what's gonna happen next.

🎭) For example seeing a cookie buy something at the store, and him being able to predict they would trip in a moment, which they do. After observing, he would start to act out, to see if his actions can change the events that would happen next (Example: Making person A fall on someone else's garden, and the other cookie getting angry at them, which would change not only Cookies A script, but also Cookie's B) (basically 'Butterfly Effect')

🎭) This prompt would allow to explore how he might've acted freshly after becoming fully corrupted. Reason being I think, he wouldn't jump straight into seeking chaos, but testing the waters to see how far he can go before anyone (witches) try to stop him

🎭) (As an Ex 'Virtue of Knowledge' in this AU he knows every detail of everyone's scrip/life)

💙 3. 💙

🎭) This one is a prompt for an 'x Reader', 'x Canon' or 'x OC'. Basically Shadow Milk Cookie after he got released from the tree (of right after he got corrupted) and meets Insert/Name and Gingerbrave gang.

🎭)Here it could go 2 different ways (or more, but I just don't feel like writing them all):

a) He knew of I/N because of being able to see through Pure Vanilla's staff and falling for them in that way, but after seeing that I/N either has no love interest planned in the whole thing, or has some else, he's getting angry

(if you're doing pre-corruption Shadow Milk, then he can get just sad, and attempting to change the fate by simply spending more time with I/N, but after it hasn't worked, he just watches from the sidelines, as their beloved live in their fairytale, and get their happy ending with someone else (ANGSTSSS YESS))

anyways, coming back to Corrupted Shadow Milk Cookie. He would attempt changing the fate in more drastic way, and getting really pissed that it won't change no matter what. Feel free to interpret it as you will.

b) Also after getting free from that tree, while he knew of I/N from Pure Vanilla, after meeting them, he learns that in their story HE is their love interest, and being like 'Omg, my star, where have you been all my life 😩' or something idk, be creative lmao.

🎭

The art without the text 😘

[aftgtandn]

Curious about why your prompt isn't showing up?

Canon divergence straddles canon & AU in an irritatingly specific way, and fest veterans know that we here at T&N are sticklers about our theme. Here's some of the reasons we might hide a prompt from our gallery:

The prompt is a duplicate of another we've already approved

The universe is inherently changed (an AU)

The prompt is canon compliant

There is no clear source of canon divergence

Still a bit confused? That's fair. Sometimes we also have to really sit and think about this theme too -- but we think it's worthwhile to be thoughtful so that this fest properly celebrates a really specific genre of fanfic! See under the cut for more explanation/examples about canon divergence.

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Prompting is open until September 14! Submit a prompt, or view our prompt gallery.

If you're having trouble conceptualizing canon divergence, think about our logo! The split arrows represent two paths: canon (ie, Neil comes home from the Nest in TRK) and your idea for a DIVERGENCE from the canon/pre-canon timeline (ie, Neil signs Riko's contract and becomes a Raven). Your prompt, and the submissions to this fest, will explore those alternate paths.

Different prompts will impact the severity of the divergence, so we get why the line between an AU and really drastic divergence could be confusing. For example: If Mary lives and prevents Neil from ever even becomes a Fox, this totally dismisses his entire on-the-page journey. But you're still exploring the ramifications of this one different choice on the canon universe: Does Neil ever play Exy again? Does he ever get caught? Does he ever reconnect with Kevin? This is the kind of juicy, dense possibility that make for a great canon divergent fic.

Here's some more information about our thought process behind hiding prompts. All of these examples are made up; they are not prompts we've hidden!

The universe is inherently changed (an AU): In a prompt like "Neil has a twin", the universe is fundamentally changed, so we can't diverge from the original timeline.

The prompt is canon compliant: Things like missing scenes, swapped perspectives of canon events, and post-canon are all compliant to the original timeline.

There is no clear source of canon divergence: A prompt like "Everything is the same, but Neil is obsessed with watching hockey" doesn't necessarily prompt a creator to figure out what would push Neil to develop that obsession & diverge from his canon disinterest in non-Exy sports, which is the meat of the genre.

Remember that just because we hide a prompt doesn't mean it's a bad idea! The end result of this fest & last year's Then & Now result in really carefully curated collections that scratch a particular itch, and we want to preserve that starting at the beginning. But even if a prompt doesn't end up in our gallery, we'd probably still love to see it on AO3 one day in general!

[wandringaesthetic]

OVERTHINKING 30 SECONDS OF ALUCARD CASTLEVANIA:

I deliberately spoiled myself for whether he would be showing up before I started watching because I didn't want to disappoint myself if he didn't. So I saw this screenshot out of context and was like "no, put him back." He looks a bit too smooth and cherubic. Doll-like and a bit too feminine.

In context it's not so bad, in profile the change isn't so drastic and I think it's more that they have him exceedingly pale and that flattens out all of his shading than that they changed his facial shape much. Some of this is also just the slight difference in art style. Lines are lighter and more sketchy here and we don't have as much dark dark shading.

I expected that he would probably have white/gray hair a la Symphony of the Night and he does. A lot of the Ayame Kojima artwork he looks more pale blond but I most people playing the game interpret that sprite as having gray or white hair.

Also like Symphony of the Night, he's got a cravat. All laced up to the chin versus loose, low necked shirt or walking shirtless scene in Series 1

I always guessed that they had his first appearance like this to confirm beyond a doubt that the long haired pretty person was male so foreign language markets wouldn't be tempted to change his gender. And also I guess let's show off that scar.

ANYWAY. I always interpreted Alucard's silvery SotN hair as an expression of age/weariness/grief. He's canonically been taking a dirt nap for a while, right? An expression of the fact (?) that he hasn't been feeding. Homeboy is anemic.

By the way, it's never really made clear in Castlevania the animation whether Alucard needs to drink blood. I always assumed that he did at least sometimes. In part, because of this:

He has a confidence here that says to me that this is not the first time he has lunged after someone's throat.

Also it looks like the coffin apparatus he rises out of when he's introduced is feeding him blood somehow.

[He also eats food obviously, from his foraging and cooking montages in S3. my fanon interpretation of this is that he needs some of both but not as much blood as a full vampire would need and not as much food as a full human would need. He can survive a long time (probably a very very long time) without either but he'd suffer for it]

Some Castlevania vampires have more inhuman features than others. I'm speculating on this being more true the more old/powerful the vampire. Drolta's black sclera, Dracula's ridiculous height, Olrox's glowing eyes, etc. So the white/silver hair (and the 'is he glowing or is he REALLY white' complexion) might be an expression of Alucard aging and coming into his powers. Because a lot of our Castlevastle vampires are paper white but not all.

Him being laced to the chin versus tits out implies a more closed personality. Maturity, perhaps. Less emotional and sexual availability.

(In the first season he just woke up so you can't blame him for not wearing a shirt. In season 4 the shirtlessness is a Choice.)

I would say "please, someone fuck this man" but we all know how that went.

IIRC, in games canon he went immediately to sleep after Castlevania III and then didn't wake up until Symphony of the Night. This implies some self hatred and maybe depression. Feeling like you're something that shouldn't exist but being unable to easily self terminate and/or sticking around just in case you need to fight a monster worse than you.

Animated Alucard doesn't seem to have that level of self hatred. In series 1, he seems to identify more as a vampire than as a human (his comment about being less than excited about the Belmont hold because it's a museum dedicated to the extermination of his people) and doesn't seem to think that existing as a vampire is wrong in and of itself. In fact he seems to have some pride in vampires as preservers of knowledge even after the events of season 2. ALSO, his relationship with his father seems more positive in the animation than in the games. In the animation, he loves and respects his father up until the point he decides to exterminate all humans. In the games it seems like that father son relationship was more fraught and possibly more distant.

HOWEVER. If his kill count really is in the thousands, that makes me believe that not only has he been awake most of the last 300 years, he's spent most of that time killing vampires and that he may have started killing vampires generally rather than just those making problems. Even if he hasn't come to the conclusion of "all vampires must die and then when I have finished my grim work I shall die too" if he has been hunting and killing vampires for SO LONG he has to have started seeing them, and the parts of himself that are like them, as the problem.

I don't love that kind of moral absolutism, but. In Castlevania we have (correct me if I'm wrong) two morally ambiguous vampires (Dracula and Olrox) and the rest are evil. Castlevania the animation seems to not come down on the side that vampires are soulless monsters, but the overwhelming majority are evil. I think it would go against the series core to argue that vampires aren't people or can't be good people, or that you get one choice and that determines your whole life and impact on the world going forward (how Christian of you--also, a lot of them didn't get a choice!) But the fact remains that vampires have a strong incentive to view human beings as not really being people.

Alucard MIGHT be choosing to abstain from blood and that MIGHT be why he's so pale he glows. Drink your juice, Alucard. Take care of yourself.

I don't love the idea of Alucard being so self hating because I love him and I want what's best for him, but I have to admit that this kind of self hatred is what makes Symphony of the Night Alucard and most notable dhampir characters compelling. A monster fighting worse monsters. A cursed, bastard existence that nonetheless gives you great power. Choosing to do good even though you yourself are damned. Being constantly on the verge of a fall, of awful temptation, of becoming the thing you hunt. Fighting for a world that has no place for you in it.

LASTLY. As a Trephacard shipper. In animation canon he probably AT LEAST stayed awake for more or less a human lifetime. With Sypha and Trevor, in whatever capacity. Undeniably, he loved them. But there are ways that might contribute to the self hatred. It would have distanced him from the vampire part of his identity. I keep thinking of the fact that Trevor corrects Alucard ONCE when he refers to Dracula as "my father" and Alucard refers to him as "Dracula" for the rest of the series. I keep thinking about him staring at the cabinet of vampire skulls in the Belmont hold and Trevor and Sypha both seeming to not really notice. It would be tempting to minimize or fight against that part of his identity. He might feel like he has no place with them if he doesn't.

(AND THAT'S NOT EVEN GETTING INTO THE FACT THAT DRAC IS ALIVE NOW. I have no idea how they're going to choose to deal with that, but I have trouble imagining Alucard and Dracula having a positive relationship going forward. That might even contribute to Alucard feeling like he had to choose.)

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

I think the best argument against "He didnt have a choice" ( i think this is why choice is rhysands favorite word 🥴) is you're right, he didn't. The AUTHOR did. Sjm had a choice and still she went for the worst and more illogical one. She still decides to put the women in her series under awful situations without further consequences. I really dislike phrases like "my characters wanted me to write them that way" or "my characters lead the story". Im always yes this is a romantic way to see the writing process but ill never forget this author who said "my characters do whatever the hell I want them to do".

hi anon!!!! (sorry this is a super old anon that i actually finished writing a while ago sorry nonny💙. can’t think of anything to say so im just posting old stuff in my drafts today 🫶🏾)

i agree! its a problem on multiple different levels. for one, sjm often relies on telling the audience what we should get out of a scene, instead of what allowing us to form our own takeaways. its a very hand-holding type of storytelling; in consequence, the 'evidence' being derived is often contradictory to actual events. like the story can argue that "change is slow," and thats why illyria and the con persist, but that statement is consistently proven to be incorrect.

lets look at how invalid the idea of 'change is slow is'

in one year - feyre is able to become high lady, effectively creating an entirely new governing system, in which, a high lord can give a person absolute power of the court (remember - what feyre and rhysand say is 'law'). there is no process, no objection, or any fear of reprimand. rhys doesn't even have to consult his second-in-command. not only that - but feyre is also allowed power over the court of nightmares, which politically, is supposedly an entirely different governing state. again - keir and devlon are not consulted about this.

it took six months to produce to first illyrian female warrior to complete the rite in history. in the span of six months - emerie completes the rite. thats more illyrian women than rhys, az, and cass's entire 300-400 year reign.

it takes feyre less than a month to completely cause an entire court to fall - yet regimes such as tam's father, beron, and amarantha somehow persisted as long as they despite them being canonically worse rulers. even - and i mean even - if tamlin was the worst leader to have ever walked this earth, it would still take more than three to four weeks. and factoring in that this is a population of immortal, canonically 'slow-to-change' individuals.......

like - how slow can the change actually be? how can the book possibly explain how such drastic changes happen from book to book but not in 400 years? how come there have been no illyrian women in the army or in the rite if cassian and rhys have earnestly been working with the females in illyria? even the few moments we see them at illyria, they still seem to be at a rudimentary level; there's no established female training areas, no veteran trainees, no consequences for breaking the law in regards to the females...there's nothing that suggests any actual measures have been taken.

that's just one example of 'canon' statements acting in contradiction the previously established pieces of information. more - its a consistent pattern of contradiction in regards to certain characters. its their natural characterization acting against the forced narrative voice.

and this makes it problem on mulitiple fronts.

and even more, off the point you made about the women in her stories - i think there needs to be a larger conversation had about the patterns of female violence in these books; specifically the role that female violence plays in establishing sexual tension and relationships in general. or...the amount of times the female protagonist has to undergo some extreme form of humiliation at the behest of future love interest; there's an utter lack of this with the men.

sjm is a very intentional author - these problems exist because of how intentional she is as a writer. i know exactly the function of each scene, exactly what emotion the she wants me to feel. this is not because these characters are written well, but because we are often just told it. feyre can 'express' disdain for rhysand'a actions, but she often undermines her own inner thoughts about the issue. feyre’s inner thoughts are often abuse apologist 101 and in retrospect it’s kind of painful the way she consistently makes excuses for rhys, even when it’s her well-being being threatened and undermined. and that’s honestly bc sjm’s narrative voice supersedes the natural characterization of her characters. sjm doesn’t know how to organically create conflict between characters she actually likes bc she doesn’t know how to write conflict. it’s a consistent pattern in her series and it’s why all the villains suck and all battles ultimately fall flat.

but the problem becomes a bit broader (i.e. this is a larger issue in publishing and literary crit). some of the arguments that i see often, and that i referenced in my last post are these:

"why read this this book if you don't like the characters?" "why continue to read the book if you don't like it?" "this is a book about fairy porn - why are you analyzing it." "i read for fun." (this is not a bad statement, but it becomes troublesome in the context i will explain)

the commonality between these statements is that they are avoidant. often, they are employed when people can't explain away the amounting problems in the series, so they avoid the conversation.

because for one, you should never (and I means NEVER) say that a piece of literature should not be analyzed. or that fantasy negates interrogation into harmful themes. that’s just anti intellectual nonsense. second, if we’re arguing about real world issues bc of the book; of if your argument is that tamlin is abusive bc he did abusive things, then you literally can’t make this argument. the whole point of moving from tam is bc he was…abusive. abuse is not a fantasy. regardless of what the author intends, if a character is abusive or does absuive things, we should be looking at that.

look…if you are defending rhys using the logic the book establishes please have it. but the moment you implicate real-world values into this story, you’ve got to see it to the end. the same goes for the series as a whole: the second maf decided to integrate a ‘domestic violence plot lines’ specifically referring to behaviors as ‘red flags’ it immediately kind of gave up the kind of distance the fantasy romance genre usually gives to such issues.

[theconstantsidekick]

Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (6) | s.r

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Stark!Reader, Tony Stark x Stark!Reader (siblings), Bucky Barnes x Stark!Reader (future)

Genre: Angsty city babyy!

Summary: Steve and Y/n try to hash out their different stances on the Accord, in a small car, with Sam and Bucky right there in the backseat. It goes as well as you would expect.

(These scenes incorporate y/n, codename—Static, into the pre-existing story as a character without making drastic changes to the plot or mythos. All the major plot points from the MCU remain in place with the addition of the reader as Static, who is not only a Stark but also enhanced. Whatever events from the canon aren’t mentioned, take place without much change.)

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Past Trauma, Mentions of Traumatic Political Events (Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The Chernobyl Disaster), Mentions of Gory Deaths, Mentions of Violence Against Animals.

a/n: this was gonna be a lighthearted chapter to act as an interlude from all the angst... that is not what it ended up becoming. If anyone wants to correct me on something, hit me up. If I have said something cruel or hurtful, let's talk it out. I assure you that was never my intension.

Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (5) | Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (7) | Series Masterlist | Age of Ultron (Static Origin Story) | The Avengers (ft. Static) | Captain America: The Winter Soldier (ft. Static) | Static Verse Masterlist

“You can ask,” she says calmly.

The sound of the old yet sturdy Volkswagen hums calmly in the background. It’s not harmonious or anything but it does provide a sense of comfort, he thinks.

And you best believe he does need a whole lotta comforting right about now. 

“Ask what?” Steve asks, playing dumb and failing at it.

“Whatever it is that you want to,” she answers simply. She’s looking out the window of the passenger seat. Steve can’t see her face to be able to read it… Well, that’s not completely fair. Even if he could see her face, he’s almost certain he wouldn’t be able to read it. 

Ever since Ultron, ever since she opened up about her past, he’s noticed her change. She’s different now… or maybe, he thinks, maybe she’s more herself than she has ever been before. This isn’t to say Steve was great at reading her before but she seemed easier to grasp, closer in a way. That’s not all, though. He always knew she was a competent fighter, but now he’s entranced by her every move. It’s a dance. He used to be awed by her skill before, the motions were quick and effective but now? Now watching her fight, he can see the fluidity and ease. No one on the team has that. No one Steve has ever fought has that. There is a sense of comfort in the way she handles herself in battle. The movements are precise and practiced, like she’s done it countless times before… she probably has. 

All this sucks for Steve because ever since Tony suggested the accords be signed, every single conversation with her feels like a battle. And he’s not ashamed to admit it, the woman he loves is a better fighter than him. 

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Just ask what you wanna ask, Steven,” she cuts him off swiftly.

See? 

Better than he’s gonna get any time soon.

Sighing he asks, “Why are you here? With us I mean? I thought you didn’t agree with us.”

“Common man! Don’t drag us into this!” Sam protests from the back seat. “We’re very happy to have you here,” he adds politely while looking at Y/n. “The Frosty Fighter agrees, doesn’t he?” He looks over to Bucky next to him, urging him to agree. When there is no response, Sam elbows him in the chest.

“Ouch!” Bucky exclaims. “What?”

“We’re glad Y/n is with us, aren’t we?” Sam prompts.

In the rearview mirror, Steve can see Bucky sit up awkwardly, every move a sign of his discomfort over the situation.

But Sam’s insistence is inescapable, so softly he replies. “Yes.”

And somehow that makes Y/n chuckle.

Huh, he thinks.

“Fine,” Steve concedes. “Why are you here? With me?” He asks again.

“Because you can’t handle Sergeant Barnes alone,” she replies.

Uhh, what?

“I was able to contain him back at the headquarters.” Steve might not have had as many hours on the field as her but he’s not incapable of taking care of his friend!

She, to his surprise, chuckles again. “It wasn’t a comment on your capabilities, handsome… You just have a habit of letting your emotions take charge when it comes to the Frosty Fighter.”

“And you don’t?” Steve challenges abrasively.

She finally takes her eyes off the passing scenery outside the window to look at him with what he, with his poor reading skills, determines to be controlled rage. His challenge is met with a daunting stare. 

“I do too,” she answers. “That’s why you’re here.” She looks away again.

Okay, maybe he needs to reassess his approach. He adjusts uncomfortably in the driver’s seat, bracing himself to come at the situation from a different angle; a more tactical one.

Before he can though—

“But you don’t think Tony’s right either?” Sam asks. 

“Nope,” she replies.

Bucky beats Steve to the punch, asking, “Then who is?”

“Me.”

“We should all just give up?” Steve questions, incredulous. “Stand by and watch while people need our help? When we can do good?”

“No…I suggest you look away, Steven. Take a vacation maybe, somewhere warm—considering your history and all,” her replies are so painfully nonchalant, it puts Steve on edge.

“Damn it Y/n, I’m being serious!” He explodes.

“So am I.” Her seeming lack of interest in the conversation irks him unfathomably. “Didn’t you hear what Vision said?”

“You believe we’re the reason behind all this?” Steve’s beyond incredulous at this point.

“I believe in escalation,” she counters. “If there is someone out there who wants revenge, who wants to stop us—like this psycho fake doctor we’re currently dealing with—they can’t just use the usual methods.” She turns to him then, “You have to understand putting down any of us isn’t easy. If someone wants to stop you, it’s not gonna be as easy as a knife to your gut. You’re a superhuman, my guy. Tony is packing a fucking arsenal on his chest. And Wanda??? Do you even know the extent of what she can do with her powers?”

“No, but—”

She cuts him off, “Neither do I, but from what little I understand, she’s as close to unstoppable as it gets. Same for Vision. And that’s to say nothing of Hulk or Thor! I mean he’s a God, can he even DIE??” She sounds almost as if she’s about to explode.

But at some level, he does understand where she’s coming from. The Avengers are dangerous… but only to their enemies.

Exhaling loudly, he tries to gather his patience to respond with some sense of consideration. “So what? We just give up because someone out there is waiting to be instigated? Have you thought that maybe that is inevitable? If there are people like us, itching to become heroes, the inverse must be true as well. There have to be people out there ready to exploit the system through whatever means necessary. Correlation does not equal causation. Not always.” He looks at her then, “If we all take a collective vacation and stop helping people is there a guarantee that the violence dies down?”

“I am not saying we quit helping. I am not inclined to think in extremes like you or my brother,” she answers, her voice calm once again. “I just think we should pick and choose our battles.”

“That is all the more reason for us to oppose the Accords—”

She cuts him off again, “Yes, yes. That’s why I didn’t sign them!” Her head falls back, she closes her eyes and adds, “But when I say we pick and choose I mean threats that cannot be handled by humans… I mean that the Avengers should stop shoving their noses in political matters—human matters. If another giant hole opens up in the sky, I’ll come running, till then? Avengers are better off taking a vacation.” She looks out the window again. “Maybe Tahiti? I’ve heard it’s a magical place.”

“How is that fair? Why should people who are suffering because of their governments or insurgents, or terrorists be excluded? Why don’t they deserve our protection?” Steve challenges.

“You’re oversimplifying again,” she says calmly. “It’s not about them, it’s about us.”

“How?” Sam asks. Belatedly he realizes, for a minute there Steve completely forgot Sam and Bucky were in the car with them. 

“The Avengers, as a team, predominantly comprises of American citizens… And even the ones who aren’t Americans are led by a man who wears star-spangled tights and goes by the name Captain America. Do you seriously not see the issue in that?” She looks back at him.

“You think our actions reflect on our country?” He questions.

“You don’t?” She throws back. “You seriously don’t see how us, flying around different nations, doing whatever we want without giving a shit about their laws and their needs isn’t going to seem like an act of showcasing dominance by a nation that is a global superpower?” 

“I’m not blind to the implications, Y/n. I understand what it looks like at a cursory glance. But there’s a lot more to it. We are not just agents of our country; we surpassed that title a long time ago. We are so much more than that. Countless humanitarian missions, assisting during natural calamities, providing aid to refugees, all of that cannot simply be overlooked in favor of what it says on our passports. As a team, the Avengers are a symbol of hope,” Steve argues.

“You cannot be that naive, man. You wear the American flag like a costume, you don’t think the other countries might see your actions in their land as interference from a foreign nation? You think they care about the semantics? You think any common person would?” 

“I’ll ditch the uniform.”

“Sure, Captain America”

“I’ll ditch the name too.”

“Are you acting dense to piss me off, or did the Frosty Fighter get a good hit in there somewhere?”

He rolls his eyes. “I want to help people. I don’t need a title or a suit to do it. I just want the freedom to help the ones in need.”

“That sounds sweet and all, but it’s as ignorant as it gets.” 

“You’re confusing ambition with ignorance.”

“You think if you change your name, and pick a new outfit, it will stop? You think that’s all it’ll take? You’re a fucking weapon, Steve. We’re all weapons. That’s the cold hard cocksucking truth. People might see us as heroes but at the end of the day, they all know that is what the fuck we are. I am not saying that’s a bad thing… or a good thing either. I am just saying that when other nations see you, going around, breaking bones with a light punch, they will also want one of you, all for themselves. You’re Mattel’s best selling Barbie, Stevie boy; everyone wants one for themselves to dress up, play house with and command armies with. There will always be a dumb fucker out there trying to recreate whatever the fuck you are.”

“It’s not my fault you are the way you are, Y/n,” he bites back, just as fierce as her. “You’re an alien, you could’ve been set off sooner or later even if Hydra hadn’t gotten around to it.”

He can hear her jaw clench. “Yeah, maybe,” she says dismissively. It’s an act, a defense, he knows it. It’s gonna be followed by a punch in the gut, an offense. “But can you say the same thing about Frosty Fighter back there?”

The car screeches to a halt on the empty backroad they’d been sailing through. Steve can smell the burnt rubber on the road, but it’s hard to care about it right now.

Slamming the door upon exiting, Steve walks over to the sidewalk. Pacing a little, he waits for her to follow suit.

The moment she does, “You know Y/n, sometimes you say shit to be right, to win an argument without weighing the consequences of your words.” His words are fuming, just like him.

“Is that a threat?” She asks, almost jovially.

His steps halt with his back to her. “You’re crossing a line, Y/f/n.”

Despite all his claims of not being able to read her, in this moment, he knows exactly how she’s reacting despite not looking at her. While his eyes are set on the patch of sparse greens, he can almost feel her provocation leaving her body.

“You’re right,” she relents. “I’m sorry.” He knows she means it. “I went too far with the last two, I shouldn’t have,” she says calmly, so he turns to look at her. She kicks the ground, looking surprisingly similar to a kid caught with an orange tongue when explicitly told no more juice pops. “It’s frustrating. I never thought there would come a day where Tony would ask me to sign away my freedom.”

“I think,” he looks up at the sky, “I think he’s just trying to make amends somehow. It’s not the best way to go about it but he’s trying. I can’t blame him.”

“I can,” she counters. “He knows what it would mean for me. He’s still proposing it. I blame him completely.”

“And yet, you keep insisting you’re not on our—” 

She promptly cuts him off, “Before you start your shitty little spiel about how that is why I should stand with you, I’d like to let you know, you are only doubling my said frustration. It is beyond me how you cannot see how much damage the Avengers have caused—are capable of causing still!”

Hands on his hip, her frustration mirrored on his face, he says, “Why did you even join the team if you think so?”

“Because of Tony.”

“That’s all? That’s all it ever was? You never, not even for a second, believed in us? In what we do?” He’s desperate right now.

She shrugs. “I know we are capable of good, Steve. I am not saying we aren’t. But you cannot overlook the impact. The Superhero game is a hair’s breadth away from privatization and if that happens, we are all doomed.”

Exhaling loudly, his head falls.

The sun’s too bright, he thinks. 

“I don’t think heroes, real heroes can be bought off,” he counters. “If there even came a point where there could be heroes for hire, they wouldn’t be heroes, not really. They’d be—�� he can’t think of a word.

“Soldiers?” 

Somehow, the challenge in her eyes is brighter still.

Before either of them can say anything to that, Sam gets out of the car and comes to stand in front of them. “Did you guys forget we’re wanted fugitives? Or having this couple’s tiff in broad daylight is just like a death wish I wasn’t told about?”

Couple’s tiff?

“This is not a couple’s tiff.” He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “This is a discussion about Y/n’s fundamental lack of faith in us as heroes,” he accuses. 

“No,” she counters. “First of all,” she looks at Sam, “This is a blind spot, Steve might be naive but he’s not an idiot. And second of all,” turning to him she adds, “this is not a discussion, this is an intervention for Steve, the jerkface who supports capitalism.”

“What?!” Steve’ completely lost by this point.

With carefree steps, Y/n walks over to a boulder and sets herself atop it. Slowly then, she begins to stretch. “Do you know about the Nuclear-Proliferation Treaty?”

Completely confounded by the change of topic, all Steve can do right now is respond, “Yes. Signed on 1st July 1968, the treaty was negotiated to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.” 

She nods in acknowledgement. “Do you know why it was signed?”

“I just told you why.” It’s been a long, long day and it’s barely the afternoon. So yeah, Steve relaxes, leans back on the car. He lets his body fall loose. He isn’t entirely relaxed, not really. He’s just a little too tired to keep his guard up in front of his friends and his girlfriend, despite knowing for sure whatever comes next will be just as hurtful as any enemy attack . 

“No, you told me what the treaty’s function was supposed to be… or tried to be. I’m asking you why it was signed. Do you know why?”

“I’m guessing you’ll tell me.”

And that, out of all the things, makes her chuckle, “Fear.” Their eyes meet. “When The Manhattan Project started, it scared the shit out of every nation that was aware of its existence. Then on 6 and 9 August 1945, when the 509th Composite Group of the United States Army Air Forces dropped those newly minted bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, everyone and their mothers collectively shat their pants. Which, I mean, can you really blame them?”

“What’s your point?” Sam chimes in.

She looks up at the sky. “The point, Samuel, is that any weapon that strong will instill so much fear in the hearts of men, that it will either result in an all-out relinquishment of the weapon or—”

“Everyone’s gonna want a weapon of their own,” Sam surmises.

Sam receives a wink and finger guns for his correct answer

Then she looks at Steve. “Those bombs were so fucking scary that the only defense these fucked in the head politicians could come up with was creating one of their own. Which obviously led to multiple countries testing and developing a nuclear arsenal of their personal collection. It got bad enough that they needed to come together and be like, ‘Yeah ok. We fucked up. These are way too many weapons and if they get in the wrong hands we’ll end up never needing a sequel for Planet of the Apes cause we’ll be living it.’” She sits up straighter. “We’re just like these weapons, Steve; that’s what I mean when I say we’re nuclear. We’re incomprehensibly powerful weapons and the accords are like a (not so) pre-emptive NPT.” Shaking her head she adds, “Now, I’m not trying to negate or diminish Japan’s war crimes from that period. I never will. It was a war. There were crimes. Not much logic to it than that. All’s I’m saying is that the justification for the use of such weapons, of us will always be shaky and terrifying.”

His jaw clenches.

He understands. He isn’t so naive that he cannot see where she’s going with all this but, if he doesn’t believe that people like Sam, Natasha, Tony—if people like them weren’t going to fight for they believed in, if they didn’t fight for people who can’t fight for themselves the world would be a much worse place for it. The Avengers are capable of a lot of bad but he knows they are capable of a lot more good. They haven’t been able to save everyone but they have always given their all, on every single mission. They have always been ready to lay down their lives for what they believed in, and that kind of faith cannot be bad. That kind of pure devotion cannot be evil.

He knows it.

“Just because you are not capable of seeing the potential we have to do good, doesn’t make us weapons. Just because you don’t believe in us, doesn’t mean we’ll forsake our promise to help people, Y/n.” He stands up straight. “We aren’t that easily swayed.”

She nods halfheartedly. “You know about Chernobyl?”

“Another history lesson?” Sam chides. 

She smiles again. “Something like that.” She looks at him, “Do you?”

He nods. “Yea, I read up on it.”

“I was there,” she says easily, as if she’s talking about some concert she attended back in the day.

“You were at Chernobyl?” Bucky’s question comes as a surprise to both Sam and him who were otherwise too focused on Y/n. However, she seems to have been expecting it almost. Walking over, Bucky comes to stand right opposite her, an arm’s length away from him.

She shrugs just as easily and says, “Howard, Peggy and I thought it would be wise. Someone with…my ‘set of skills’ was ideal to assess the damage, understand the situation, and help if necessary. It wasn’t a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission or anything, we were just worried. If it had been a mission, there would’ve been motives, and we didn’t want that to be the case for a situation that sensitive.” She pauses for a second. Despite the heavy subject matter, there is a hint of a smile on her face. She’s reminiscing, Steve realizes. It makes his stomach churn. “But yeah, I was there. I saw all of it. I saw the people that were affected, the children that were born, the first responders who were brought into the hospitals for radiation poisoning because the officials didn’t have the guts or common sense to admit to their fuck up.” Closing her eyes, she sighs. She is done reminiscing. “They were rotting away. Not slowly, not graciously; they were rotting away from the inside out in the most painful way imaginable. It was the most gruesome thing I had ever seen, and it wasn’t even an act of war. It was a mistake, an error, something that was overlooked due to lack of resources.”

The moment is too heavy for anyone except her to be able to break it.

“Did you read about the units sent out for clean ups, to minimize damage?” She asked.

“The units to clean up the spill—”

She shakes her head. “There were units sent out to the neighboring areas around Pripyat. These were soldiers who were ordered to exterminate any and all living accelerants.”

“Living accelerants?” Steve asks.

“Their job was to hunt down all the wildlife in the area. Whether it was farm animals, stray cats or pet dogs; they were all collected and… put down,” Bucky is the one who answers, surprising the group.

“Ten points to Frosty Fighter,” Y/n comments, still seeming a little astounded. “It was nowhere close to being the worst tragedy to come out of the incident, but it was the most unassuming one. They were in the blast radius and were suffering from radiation poisoning as well, but it’s not like they could do anything about it.” Sighing once again, she pauses for a second, before continuing, “The impact the Avengers tend to have is similarly severe, it too leads to completely unassuming tragedies.”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Sam speaks up. “Chernobyl was built in secret, hidden away from the U.S. as well as their neighboring nations which is why their Government refused to ask for aid. If they had been open about it, countless lives could have been saved but they were too busy trying to save their own asses.” He crosses his arms and levels her with a look, “Whatever we do, we do it to save people. We do it to make things a little easier, more manageable. It’s not the same”

“No, it isn’t,” she admits. She seems… he doesn’t even have a word for it—worn down? That’s the closest Steve can get to describing her right now. “But the reactor blew up because of negligence… human error. The devastation was a result of hubris… we know a little something about that, don’t we?”

“We made one mistake,” Steve contends. “I am not trying to diminish it, but we slipped up once. And we rectified it immediately. Shouldn’t we at least be given a second chance?”

“Why?” She argues. “And honestly, that one mistake was more than enough. The repercussions of that one mistake will be felt for decades.” Exhaling audibly, she shakes her head. “Look, we live in a carefully crafted system. Human society as a whole is a result of ages and ages and ages of strife and discord and compromise. It’s a delicate structure, disrupting which doesn’t take a lot. The mistake we made… It sure was disruptive, seeing as multiple nations came together to impose the Accords onto us.”

He feels a distant desperation now, to prove to her that he’s right. “We cannot overlook the destruction we caused. We have to be held accountable for it, of course. But we have done a lot to protect this society as well; we fought off Loki and his aliens, we are still dismantling HYDRA but bringing their existence to the light wasn’t exactly a small task. We are capable of helping this system flourish,” he tries. “We just need another chance.”

“Despite our extraordinary powers, at our core, we are just human…ish. We are more than capable of repeating our same mistakes,” she says easily, calmly, almost as if she knows there is very little point to this debate. Why is she fighting me then?

“But we are also capable of learning from them,” he states with full faith. “This can be an opportunity for us to step back, reassess, and get better.”

And that somehow seems to be the last straw. 

“Listen to me, okay?” She’s instantly on her feet. Her tone has changed all of a sudden, to something more urgent, more earnest. “The system that we currently have isn’t the best… There are flaws in it, fundamental ones, but it works. It works well enough that we’re not inciting a nuclear war. It’s functional, not perfect but functional; and people had to fight for it to become what it is today. It took countless revolutions, inventions, wars, civil disobedience movements and about a million protests to get where we are right now… And people did that. They did it all by their lonesome, without any help from us. What I’m trying to say, what none of you seem to want to listen is that people will always, always keep fighting for what they believe in. They will succeed in making things better.” She’s vibrating with sheer confidence. “Utopia might not be achieved by next week, but people will keep at it till the day they do… Isn’t that enough?”

Now what you have to understand about Steve is that even though he is technically a hundred years old, he hasn’t lived for a hundred years. Everyone knows that but not a lot of people understand it. He hasn’t lived through every decade leading to this one. He was stuck on ice. When he went in, the world functioned a lot differently than when he came out. And that is where he and Y/n are complete opposites. 

While she is, for all intents and purposes, younger than him, she has lived a lot longer than him. It makes him feel a sense of disconnect to her… maybe he always will.

“It feels fairly insincere for us to have the power to help them speed up the process but choose instead to sit back and watch, don’t you think?”

“No! No, I don’t think so.”

Steve’s at the end of his rope. “Come on, Y/n! Do you have so little faith in us that you cannot even imagine that we might be able to make the world a better place? Do you believe in us at all?”

She chuckles then. It’s followed by a pause. Her hands are on her hips while she looks down at the ground. “You know about a week after the reactor blew up at Chernobyl, they realized that the nuclear material was melting through the concrete and was about to make contact with a pool of water underneath. The water was supposed to act as coolant but in this case would cause a fucking radiation-contaminated steam explosion upon contact. So what’s the plan, right? How to stop it? They needed people to dive into 20 million liters of poison water and turn a couple valves to drain it.” She looks at the three men then. “And before I could even think of breaking my cover to volunteer, three men—three normal, everyday men stepped up.” She’s smiling. She looks… proud? “Funny thing is, these were men who knew exactly what could happen to them. Of the danger this mission posed to them. Going in there was like inviting Death over for dinner and they did it without a single ounce of hesitance. They weren’t superhuman or of alien origin, trust me. I checked. They were just… people. Normal people who knew what needed to be done and decided to do it.” She clicks her tongue. “It’s not that I don’t believe in us, Steve. I do. I just believe a lot more in them.”

The words hang in the air. They stay there with nothing but the sound of the cars whizzing past them on the road.

Their silence is only broken when Steve's phone chimes.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he looks down at it. “It’s Sharon. She gave us a location, it’s 15 minutes from here.”

“We should head out,” Sam suggests.

“Yeah. Yeah, we should do that,” Y/n agrees, already getting back in the car. But before she can—

“You know, Steve’s just like them, right?” Bucky speaks up from where he stands behind her.

“What?” She asks, a little lost.

He meets her eye to eye. It’s the first time he’s had the courage to do so. “The scrawny little kid from Brooklyn—he’s just like the people you say you believe in so much.”

She nods. “He was… And most of his fundamentals still are… But power changes you. It changes where you stand. He has a good amount of it now,” she looks over at Steve, “unlike the kid from Brooklyn.” Her eyes fly back over to Bucky before she adds, “I believe in him more than he believes in himself, I just don’t think he understands the fact that his stance has to change with him.” Pointing back at Sam, “Now that one’s a whole different story. If he were the one opposing me, I would’ve lost by now.” With that she gets in the car.

Read the next part here. Find the series masterlist here. Find other Static Verse works here.

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[majosullivan]

Life is Strange AU

In a previous post, I mentioned that I have been playing around with the idea of a Life is Strange AU for Nevermore. Well, with Life is Strange: Double Exposure having recently released, I thought it was about time that I made a proper post going over my current ideas about it. It has been a lot of fun sorting through different ideas and thinking about the LIS series again. I would love to write a complete fanfic for this AU in the future, however, asides from having time to actually work on it, with the games having different branching choices that will effect events and dialogue, it would be rather difficult to do without having set decisions for the fanfic. Maybe I could have people vote before hand to decide what routes will be taken? Or maybe I could have certain chapters be break off at key decisions and have readers vote between the different options when chapters are released? Hell, I could just put the choices in a randomizer and go from there. I’m not sure, but at the very least I would like cover certain scenes or do a brief overview, similar to Max’s diary in the game. Keeping my ambitions small for the moment.

This post is to go over character roles, providing a quick explanation behind my thought process and giving a brief overview on some basic details.

When sorting out this AU, there were two factors I needed to sort through before everything. Firstly, there are a number of games in the Life is Strange series, with certain characters appearing in multiple games. To provide some examples: David, Chloe’s step-father, appears and plays a minor role in Life is Strange 2, and Steph, who was only a minor character in Before the Storm, plays a major role in Life is Strange: True Colours. For this AU, I am only going to be taking into account events in the original Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

Secondly, Life is Strange has a decently sized cast, and that is not taking into account the large number of side characters that appear throughout the game. Add on characters that were introduced in Before the Storm and there are a lot of characters to work with. As a result, some of the Nevermore cast are going to be playing double duty for some characters in Life is Strange.

If you guys have any questions on what I have done so far, I would love to hear them!

Eulalie - Max Caulfield

Starting off, we have our main protaginist, Max Caulfield. Deciding who would be Max was actually a much longer process than I originally expected, since I kept going back and forth between Eulalie and Morella. This is because while Eulalie and Morella both had traits that can fit well with Max, neither of them felt like a completely smooth fit with Max’s personality. Ultimately though, I decided on Eulalie. Despite some difference, I felt that she would be really fun to work with as Max.

General Overview:

-Her background before the start of the story remains same: grew up in Arcadia Bay, moved to Seattle when she was a teenager and then returned to Arcadia Bay 5 years later after being granted a scholarship to Blackwell Academy (renamed Nevermore Academy)

-With Lenore and Annabel having canon last names to work with, Eulalie and the rest of the cast are likely going to have a different last name from their respective characters, although I might keep some

-Eulalie’s story remains basically the same as Max’s throughout the game

Lenore - Chloe Price

Next, we have Max’s best friend, Chloe Price. This one was very easy and is actually part the reason I started considering this AU in the first place. With the announcement of Life is Strange: Double Exposure getting me really thinking about Life is Strange again, it made realise that there are a lot of similarities between White Raven/Lennabel and Amberprice. Both Lenore and Chloe lose an important family member in a tragic accident (Lenore losing her brother and Chloe losing her father), drastically changing their lives and leading to them being in a depressive state. Years after the accident, they meet Annabel and Rachel respectively, who breathe life back into their lives (Chloe calls Rachel her angel and states that “Rachel saved my life’, and Lenore states that Annabel ‘is the one who brought me back to life. Long before I died’). The pairs of girls start forming a friendship and then romance. It fits surprisingly well. Not to mention that Lenore and Chloe share a number of similar traits.

General Overview:

-Like Eulalie, LIS Lenore’s childhood doesn’t differ drastically from Chloe’s. She was born and raised in Arcadia Bay, with her and Eulalie being childhood friends. The two always used to hang out together and played pirates around Arcadia Bay, more specifically ghost pirates (Eulalie’s extra touch)

-I do plan to do a decent amount of reworking of Before the Storm’s events, so there will be a lot more differences from Lenore’s life during this time frame and Chloe’s

-Asides those changes, her storyline in Life is Strange remain very similar to Chloe’s

-Depending on your choices, Max and Chloe’s relationship can end up as platonic or romantic. When it comes to my main writing for this AU, I think I’m going to take the romantic approach for Eulalie and Lenore’s relationship, but both options will co-exist and I might switch between the two

Theo - William Price

Before moving onto some of the more important members of the cast, it would be beneficial to cover the rest of the Vandernachts first, since there will be some differences from the LIS Vandernachts and the Price family.

Starting off, we have our easiest Vandernacht to work with: Theo. With his death and the impact it had on Chloe’s life, Theo fits nicely into the role of William. While there is a clear dynamic shift to be addressed with this decision, with William being Chloe’s dad and Theo being Lenore’s brother, it would be weird to go with any other choice. Sorry Theo, you’re stuck dead here too.

General Overview:

-Same as Lenore, he was born and raised in Arcadia Bay. He’s about four years older than Lenore and watched her and Eulalie while growing up

-He died when he was 18, being killed in a car accident like William. Eulalie and Lenore were around 13 and 14 respectively

-The main change from William’s death though is that while William was driving to go pick up Joyce from the supermarket, Theo was driving to pick up Lenore and Eulalie from the lighthouse after he had finished up his shift at his part time job

Thaddeus - David Madsen

Next we’ve got Thaddeus, Lenore’s and Theo’s father, who’ll be stepping in the role of David. Like I mentioned before, there is a dynamic shift between his and Lenore’s relationship. Unlike with Chloe and David, Thaddeus is Lenore’s bio father. While this doesn’t prevent the conflict needed between Chloe’s and David’s stand ins (quite the opposite), the nature of Lenore’s and Thaddeus’s clashes are much different to Chloe’s and David’s, with a focus on how Theo’s death has affected their already not perfect relationship. Ultimately, it’s a shift that I can easily work with.

There’s going to be quite a few differences between Thaddeus and David (for example, Thaddeus isn’t going to be ex-military like David), but his plot points are ultimately going to stay similar to David.

General Overview:

-During Eulalie’s and Lenore’s childhoods, Thaddeus was often busy with work, meaning that Eulalie only saw him now and then. As a result, both Eulalie and Thaddeus don’t immediately recognize each other when they meet again at Nevermore. Although they both feel like they know them from somewhere (Eula realises who he is first)

-After Theo died, Thaddeus became much more controlling and paranoid. It was during this period that he secretly set up cameras throughout his house

-Thaddeus, like David, works as the Head of Security at Nevermore (Blackwell) Academy, with him focusing on the strategic development of security around campus

Lucille - Joyce Price

Finally we have the Lenore’s and Theo’s mother Lucille, stepping into the role of Joyce. With how little we’ve seen of Lucille, any characterisation we have to work with is limited. Not to forget that, similar with Thaddeus, her dynamic with Lenore is going very different to Chloe’s and Joyce’s, since a big factor that causes conflict in their relationship (Chloe not liking David as her mum’s new partner), doesn’t exist in this AU.

Still, I have enjoyed working out what exactly I want to do with her here.

General Overview:

-Like Joyce, she works at the Two Whales Diner. I’m currently playing with the idea that the diner is a family business of sorts from her side of the family

-After Theo died, a part of her died with him. She has become more withdrawn as the years went by. She rarely ever leaves the back office when she’s at the Two Whales

-Her and Thaddeus’s relationship is similar to the very little of it we’ve seen in canon

-While she fond her a bit odd when Lenore first introduced Eulalie to her, Lucille became fond of her. She noticeably lightens up a bit talking to her after Eulalie returns to Arcadia Bay. She is still the one that gives Eulalie the photo of Eulalie and Lenore on the day Theo died

Annabel - Rachel Amber

With all the Vandernachts sorted, let’s finally get onto one of the most important characters across Life is Strange and Before the Storm: Rachel Amber. This was one of the earliest decisions I made with roles. I’ve already talked about the similarities between White Raven and Amberprice, and that’s not even touching the many similarities when considering Annabel and Rachel individually. However, there are some important details that I made sure to change immediately.

General Overview:

-Annabel was born in England, with her father moving them to the America while she was young. They eventually moved to Arcadia Bay, with Ira becoming the District Attorney

-Currently, Annabel’s parents are going to have the same backstory as Rachel’s parents. Since Annabel’s mother doesn’t have a canon name, I’ll be calling her Virginia.

-Lenore and Annabel officially met each other at the same ages Chloe and Rachel did (around 16 and 15 respectively). How they first met though is likely going to be more similar to their canon first meeting, with aspects of Chloe’s and Rachel’s first meeting mixed in. Obviously, their relationship here is still romantic,

-While there will be some changes, Annabel’s story remains similar to Rachel’s in canon (sorry guys, I don’t enjoy doing this either)

-UNLIKE RACHEL, THERE WILL BE NO ROMANCE/ROMANTIC IMPLICATIONS IN ANNABEL’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH THIS AU’S STAND INS FOR FRANK AND MR JEFFERSON FOR VERY OBVIOUS REASONS. I WANT TO MAKE THIS CLEAR STRAIGHT AWAY.

Montresor - Nathan Prescott

Now we have one of our antagonists in Life is Strange, Nathan Prescott. Like Annabel, Montresor was a very easy pick here. Playing a main antagonistic role in their stories, violent, having a very poor relationship with one of their parents…you get the picture. There aren’t many changes I want to do with Montresor here, only having small tweaks here and there

General Overview:

-Like Nathan, Montresor’s family is considered to be the oldest and most influential family in Arcadia Bay. They are also Arcadia Bay’s biggest shitheads

-Like Nathan, Montresor is one of the Vortex Club’s main representatives

-Montresor’s mother will be stepping into the role of Nathan’s father (Sean Prescott) in this AU. Montresor’s relationship with her is similar with Nathan with his dad, with some small mixes of what characterizations with have of her in Nevermore canon. Also, unlike Nathan, Montresor is going to be an only child

-Montresor’s storyline remains the same as Nathan’s throughout the AU

Morella - Kate Marsh

Next we’re onto Kate Marsh. Like I mentioned earlier, I was going back and forth between Eulalie and Morella while deciding on who should be Max, and as a result of that, I was simultaneously going back and forth between the two while deciding on who would be Kate.

Argubly the main factor that made me decide on Morella though was Kate’s faith. Kate is a devout Christian, with her faith being an important aspect to her storyline. It’s something can’t remove without making a lot of edits to Kate. Between my two options, Morella is much easier to work with this key part of Kate’s character. Especially with her spectre type being called ‘Daughter of Rahpael’.

General Overview:

-There is very little changes from Kate’s background and Morella’s, with her being born into a heavily Christian family and being a devout Christian herself

-The main difference is that unlike Kate’s mother, Morella’s mother is going to be dead (reference to the Poe work she was inspired by)

-Asides from that edit to her family life, her storyline remains the same as Kate’s throughout the AU

Pluto - Warren Graham & Mikey North

We have our first character that will be covering two roles within this AU, with Pluto covering for both Warren and Mikey. Since the two of them don’t appear simultaneously in the same game, it’s been an easy merge to work with. It opens help some fun opportunities too, since unlike Warren, Pluto would know both Lenore and Annabel well before Annabel disappears and Eulalie returns to Arcadia Bay. Plus, with Monty as Nathan, it provides the fun similarities between events during the Cellar arc and events that occur in episodes 1 and 4 of LIS.

Working with him as Mikey specifically though is when things can get very interesting. This is because the North family’s plotline in Before the Storm heavily involves Damon Merrick, the game’s main antagonist. Now, I currently don’t have a solid idea on what I want to do with Damon, but while Pluto doesn’t have an older brother like Mikey, I still have his dad to work with. I’m mulling the details over for now and deciding on if or how I’m going to use Damon in this AU.

General Overview:

-His parents are still from the UK (his dad being from England specifically), but they were already living in the US when they had Pluto. Pluto has been over there a few times to visit family

-Pluto father was a part of the military before becoming a fisherman in Arcadia Bay. He is currently in jail

-Pluto can still see from his left eye during Before the Storm’s time frame. When we reach Life is Strange’s time frame, he’s now blind in his left eye.

-Like Warren with Max, Pluto still has a crush on Eulalie, with his crushing basically being the same as in Nevermore canon, (none of those uncomfortable vibes they included with Warren are going to be added here)

Ada - Victoria Chase

Like with Annabel, this was definitely one of the easiest decisions for me. Ada fits the role of Victoria so damn well, they’re truly two peas in a overcompensating pod. There’s only one character shift I want to do between Ada and Victoria.

General Overview:

-Compared to Victoria, Ada is going to match more with her canon background, with her desperately trying to portray herself and her family as being wealthier than they actually are in an attempt to boost her popularity and fit in more with people from the Vortex Club

-She is aiming to join the fashion industry as a photographer once she’s finished her studies

-Ada has some complicated feelings about Annabel, both admiring and being deeply envious of her

-Like Victoria and Nathan, her and Montresor are very close, but they are definitely more dysfunctional compared to Victoria and Nathan

Duke - Steph Gingrich

With Pluto covering for Mikey, it shouldn’t too surprising that we have Duke covering for Steph. There is one main question I needed to consider though. Since Steph only appears in Before the Storm, what am I going to do with Duke during Life is Strange’s time frame? Currently, I’m thinking about having Duke cover some of Joyce’s early scenes in the Two Whales, with Duke working part time there. While his role would be minor during Life is Strange’s time frame, I still wanted to include him where I could since he is important to Lenore and Pluto

General Overview:

-Duke also a student at Nevermore Academy, being the head of the Drama club. He is pretty popular across campus, however Eulalie hasn’t had the opportunity to properly meet him until she goes to the Two Whales to meet up with Lenore for breakfast

-Duke met Pluto while they were in middle school. Duke met Lenore after Theo had died, with him later introducing her to Pluto

-Duke and Annabel were both in drama together, having a small rivalry with eaxh other (obviously unlike Steph in canon, Duke isn’t crushing on Annabel at all)

The Deans - Mr Jeffersons

Now we have Life is Strange’s main antagonist, Mark Jefferson. While I felt that the deans were the clear choice for Mr Jefferson, there was a very obvious factor that I would need to address. The deans are two characters, meaning I would need to effectively split Mr Jefferson’s role between the two. While this is accomplishable, it could make story details feel unnecessarily bloated per say, having two characters carrying out a role that could be done just as effectively by one.

I did consider just having one of the deans as Mr Jefferson, specifically Merry, while having Mourn as Principal Wells, but splitting them apart didn’t sit quite right with me. This, in addition to not really haven’t another good option for Mr Jefferson, ultimately made me decide on having both the deans as Mr Jefferson.

General Overview:

-There is little change from Jefferson’s background in canon, with Merry and Mourn being well-established and respected photographers. The pair took a detour into teaching around the country before ending up in permanent positions at Nevermore Academy.

-Them taking permanat positions at Nevermore greatly increased Nevermore’s popularity, with students across the country applying to their course

-Like their background, their storyline remains the same as Jefferson’s throughout the AU

Prospero and/or The Raven - Frank Bowers

Already, time to get onto the character that I have had the hardest time with, Frank Bowers. Frank has been such a difficult character to work with because of two reasons. The first was that when I got to Frank, there were a limited amount of Nevermore characters left to choose between. From my limited options, there were only two characters I thought could work as Frank: Prospero and the Raven, Unfortunately though, I didn’t really like either of these options too much. Neither sat completely right with me, and one didn’t really stick out as having more positives than the other.

The second reason was the question of what I was going to do with Rachel and Frank’s relationship in this AU? First and foremost, like I mentioned while talking about Rachel and Annabel, ALL ROMANCE/ROMANTIC IMPLICATIONS ARE COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM ANNABEL’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH THIS AU’S STAND IN FOR FRANK. This was the most important thing to me establish when first thinking up this AU, because as people familiar with the series will know, Rachel and Frank’s relationship (especially with how Before the Storm added to the story) was handled very poorly and I refuse to have any of the gross implications that comes from it included in this AU (honestly LIS writers, what were you thinking?). Despite this poor handling, I can’t ignore that his relationship with Rachel is a major aspect of Frank’s character and effects Life is Strange’s story in quite a few ways.

After going over it for a while, I think I’m going to have them both cover as Frank. While this decision can come with similar concerns to the deans, with story details possibly feeling unnecessarily bloated, I think I can make it work. I would love to hear your guy’s opinions on the matter and how you would handle it.

General Overview:

-The Raven is a local drug dealer in Arcadia Bay. ‘The Raven’ is the name given to by his clients, his first name is Corvus (quite literally on the nose, I know)

-Like in LIS canon, Lenore owes The Raven a lot to money, having borrowed a large sum to cover the costs for repairing her truck

-Prospero is a student at Nevermore Academy. He importantly though does some work for The Raven in secret to help build up funds for medical school

-Annabel also did some work for The Raven with Prospero (Lenore doesn’t find out about this until they break into The Raven’s RV). Annabel and Prospero ended up becoming great friends, with Annabel’s disappearance deeply affecting him

Ms Poppet - Principal Wells

Next we’re onto Blackwell Academy’s principal, Raymond Wells. When it came to Principal Wells, there was only really a choice between Ms Poppet or Nurse Dolly. I decided on Poppet since both their attributes towards their respective academy’s and students line up better well.

General Overview:

-Poppet is consistently doing whatever she can to maintain/improve the image and reputation of Nevermore Academy

-She is more than willing to bend to the Prescott family to ensure that they continue their vast sums of funding, but oh boy, is Montresor making this process more difficult as time goes on with how much of a shithead to everyone at Nevermore

Berenice - Juilet Watson & Dana Ward

Now with all our key Life is Strange characters covered, you all may have noticed that we’ve missing two characters from the Nevermore side of things. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough key characters in Life is Strange to cover all the Nevermore students. However, like I mentioned before, we have a hell of a lot side characters that we can work with, so Berenice is going to be playing double duty for Juilet and Dana, covering aspects of their characters.

General Overview:

-Berenice is a popular member of the Vortex Club, with many members considering her to be the life of any party. However, this does not stop her from criticizing the club and their main representatives, Montresor and Ada

-Berenice and Eulalie have a friendly relationship. Berenice has been encouraging Eula to join her at a Vortex club party sometime, saying she could get her on the VIP list if she wanted

Will - Courtney Wagner & Taylor Christensen

Finally, we have Will. I was wondering what I was going to do with him for a little, since we have Montresor as Nathan and Nathan doesn’t have specific people consistently by his side/following him around, with the possible exception of Samantha in Before the Storm. But you know who does consistently have specific people by their side/following them around? Victoria, with her having Courtney and Taylor.

With Ada being Victoria in this AU and the other established dynamic between Will, Ada and Montresor in canon, I was able to set out a nice basis for my plans for Will

General Overview:

-Will is rarely seen by himself, either with Montresor or Ada if Montresor isn’t around. He’s been seen with Ada more often recently, with Montresor going off by himself more and more for unknown reasons

-Despite them hanging out a lot, Ada and Will are often seen bickering with each other

-Will is also a part of the Vortex club, with Monty and Ada leaving him to organise the VIP list for the Vortex club

[justapixelthing]

The King and Queen of the Past

Oot Zelink? Canon in a story that is not mainly about them!?! It's more likely than you think!

The Legend of Zelda: Remnants of the Past - Official Concept Art

In the 4th timeline, Oot Link and Zelda effectively play a role similar to Sonia and Rauru in TOTK, creating a reformed Hyrule that becomes the world that ROTP Link and Zelda are born into.

Read their story here:

The King and Queen of the Past Three years after the events of Ocarina of Time, Queen Zelda was living in a timeline without Link, the Hero of Time whom she had sent back to his childhood to regain his lost years. She had to rebuild Hyrule and ended up marrying Prince Ferdinand of Hytopia for political reasons, which led to the birth of a child. Yet visions of the future, not too different from the ones she had when she was young, foretold the doom of Hyrule and the return of Ganon with no hero to save the day. The more time passed, the more severe these visions became. Filled with regret and fear, Queen Zelda ended up taking action in a drastic and perhaps not thought-out way. She played the Ocarina of time and manipulated time once more, sending herself back in time to the point of Ganon’s defeat. The fate of the Hero of Time and Hyrule was in her hands. As hard as the decision was to make, she ultimately gave him the choice. Relive his childhood and prevent all that happened in the first place, or stay in a Hyrule that was in ruins. The Hero of Time chose to stay. A decision that would change the outcome of Hyrule’s fate, but  with a twist, as Zelda had simply created another timeline. The child timeline was already made and the adult timeline would continue existing without her, but with her already born descendant. If she was aware of the fact, that her bloodline would still have to face the downfall of a Hyrule without a hero? Now in a new timeline, Zelda tried her best to help Link be comfortable in this situation. She gave him all the resources and time he needed to mentally grow and adjust to his body, while he helped rebuild the Kingdom. But once that was done, he asked for her hand. She accepted and the Hero of Time became the new King of Hyrule, to reign alongside his Queen Zelda. Together they worked hard to create a Hyrule in their vision. A stronghold against evil. The best Hyrule possible. Yet as the years passed, the possibility of Ganon’s return not happening in their lifetime became more and more clear. Thus Queen Zelda and King Link made sure to leave enough of their knowledge for the future generations, hoping that a new Hero and a new princess would rise to fight Ganon when the time came. Another dream-like vision gave the royal couple even more hope that this would happen. Indeed Ganon did not return during their lifetime and Link and Zelda were able to live out their days in peace, even if with a bit of a lasting fear for the future. Said fear led to them creating a place in limbo, between life and afterlife, where they could assist their successors from beyond the grave. Their efforts led to them being remembered well into the future, still being spoken of as the King and Queen of the past, despite having many monarchs coming after them. And so, when many generations later the return of Ganon was imminent, a new hero named Link and a new Princess Zelda were born to face him. That was the time for the King and the Queen of the Past to awaken their spirits and aid their successors. Although both lived to a proud old age, they chose to take a younger spiritual form that represented a happy time in their lives: Their honeymoon.

Incase you haven't, make sure to check out Chapter 1 of ROTP! A part of this is explained in even more detail. Available on ao3.

[kurogane2512]

The jealous cocolia scenario has me intrigued, and I can not get over the fact that she is dead we just saw a third mommy and she died 😭 I do wonder what will happens after the stellaron affected cocolia and the reader relationship will be.

I'm getting desperate of HSR cocolia one-shots like Signora....

I did not think much for the aftermath of that particular fic, but briefly thinking about it I imagine there are moments where Cocolia keeps slipping between her past self and Stellaron affected self, cause she's internally trying to fight it for Y/n and others and she starts recognizing her errors. But the Stellaron keeps overpowering her and soon after the Express arrives, Y/n would ask them for assistance to save Cocolia and I imagine they'd do things differently than the canon story in this case.

Then by whatever means they are able to take out the Stellaron from her, she'd likely face some trials and be given punishment most likely either jail time or banishment. But I feel she'd want to contribute to heal Belobog from her actions, so some kind of community service would be best. She'd assist Bronya being the new Supreme Guardian, even though she may be reluctant but Bronya would want her advice. Then ofc she'd be grateful to Y/n for saving her and they live happily <3

The main reason I find Cocolia difficult to write is the lack of her lore and screentime. I'm usually confused if I should show her being affected by the Stellaron or not, and if not then how drastically different is she from what we saw in the game? I do imagine there is some notable difference, but I feel some traits would be retained given her position and status. Then Signora being a Harbinger has a lot of story potential outside of her own lore, the Fatui have extensive connections everywhere so I naturally get ideas to put her in different scenarios and I have settled with how to write her satisfactorily.

I definitely agree I want to write Cocolia more, I have been playing hsr regularly for some time now but I don't feel a connection with Belobog and it's characters the way I do with Genshin's setting. It kinda feels we left Belobog too early and idk if any event brought us back to it, but yeah I don't find opportunities where I can put in Cocolia for now. Still, I'd try to get up to date with more lore and quests and see if I can make up something :)

[dittydipity]

finally got around to finishing the finale of the ghost trick remaster. i've played and watched this ending more times than i can count but it's still so SO good.

all of my insane thoughts and overanalysis/overthinking under the cut

when the last portion/chapter of a game or book is called 'final chapter' or the title of the story.. GRRRRRRGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

when the four of them are discussing what to do and they're like "we might not be able to change your fate of dying" and yomiel is just. "i can accept that." 😭😭

^ HE SAYS WITH A SMILE. AUGH.

man no matter how many times i see it, yomiel getting flung back and impaled on the post never fails to make me flinch

ough.

These long, lonely ten years…

you were my one and only friend.

How about it?

Do you remember now...

*spotlight, the reveal*

...old friend?

SCREAMING CRYING SOBBING THROWING UP THE WAY THIS STORY IS TOLD

NOT TRAUMA KICKING IN 😭

he finally rember after so long of forgor...

and then the whole retelling of the story by sissel and yomiel where they narrate interchangeably without any indication of who is talking but you can still tell who's narrating hewioagljadsklfajds

Somebody, please reach a hand out to me... //

My body wouldn't move, but I still managed to reach out a "hand" to him.

ueueueue them finding the comfort they sought and needed in each other because at our cores, we all need connections..

catboy yomiel real and canon

Those ten years were very happy for me.

But they weren't happy for the man...

and there was nothing I could do for him.

^ LINE THAT PEOPLE DO NOT TALK ABOUT ENOUGH. god these lines hit so hard bc it's like. when all you want is for someone you love to be happy and you're trying your hardest and you're giving everything but you just don't know and you just can't understand that there just isn't any way for you to help, no matter how much you want to..

man just. imagine that when you finally think you're going to be free. that after so many years of limbo you think you're finally going to get what you've wanted. and when you get to the final steps of your plan, you find that your best friend, the only person keeping you afloat throughout this whole time, just died. because of you.

AUGHGGHHGHGHGGHHG GOD. GOD GOD GOD.

THE UNIMAGINABLE GRIEF AND REGRET. AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO EXIST UNTIL THE END OF TIME WITH THESE BURDENS

jowd being the one to say this is so good. bc out of all the people, he might be the one that understands yomiel the most. yomiel's entire goddamn existence and everything he's believed and been forced to endure has finally been righted. jowd's own predicament and resulting fate change from this whole ordeal is also incredibly drastic, but that's what makes him the one who most closely relates to yomiel. yomiel's twisted, revenge-fueled desire to make jowd feel the same pain he felt turns into empathy and understanding.

I'M CRAZY. I'M CRAZZY

do you ever think about how, for the 4 of them (sissel, yomiel, jowd, missile), they have 20 years of memories overlapping each other in a 10y period? if not more, from all the rewinding and trial error of this one night? when they "return" to the new present that is born from this final aversion of fate, do they just find themselves in a completely different place in life, with a whole entire set of memories? do they just. slide "back" into place in this new timeline and replace the placeholder version of them that existed in those 10y that were completely changed, all of a sudden now with all of that version's memories and experiences?

how disorienting and confusing and discombobulating would that be, to suddenly have two completely different versions of the same period of time in your head

it's not as bad for missile, since he's only two years old when the events of the game happen, and so "only" has 2y worth of memories that overlap, but for sissel and yomiel and jowd...

and the fact that only the four of them will remember. sissel and missile are fine, as animals, but for yomiel and jowd.. how often did the people around them think they were insane, talking about things that never happened and knowing things that they shouldn't know, breaking down over things that remind them of this overwritten timeline

When we go back, our fates will no longer be interconnected.

It will be like we never met...

hiweoaghlkjadslkfjkl and in that new timeline, yomiel's one and only friend, the only being he could have called a friend in those years of limbo from the previous timeline, now has nothing to do with him.

and so before that happens, he has to apologize for everything he made sissel go through. even though sissel chose to stay by his side, it's only human nature to feel guilty for something you can't help. he needs this solace.

and sissel gives it to him.

all these four can do is hope that the stars will align and the gods that started this whole mess will allow them to meet once again

-> RAY. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON RAY.

these have to be some of the most genuine, heartfelt lines in the game, alongside the thanks that yomiel gives sissel.

not me getting sad about ray's reluctance to even talk about himself. oh boy.

his reluctance to reveal just how much he messed up and failed. how hard he tried and how much he's sacrificed just to help his friends. telling this almost complete outsider how much of a failure he was and expecting them to understand his selfish, selfish reasons

can you imagine? waiting for 10 years to pin all your hopes and sacrifices on this stranger that didn't stop to give you the time of day the first time. and if they don't help you this time, everything would have been for nothing. having to just stand back and watch as everything happens this second time around because you can't risk messing it up this time.

doing all of this knowing that, whether things work out or not this time, you're going to disappear at the end.

Of course!

Because that's what doggies do!

🥺🥺🥺🥺😭

<EPILOGUE>

the wave of relief and satisfaction when reincarnation starts..

From just that single night as a human, I got a glimpse into their world.

And I learned something...

Their fates, their lives - they were all interconnected...

Somewhere, somehow, in some way.

And, now, this is MY new fate.

literally just in awe at this story.

the reveal of sissel's new fate w the next lines.. one of the most fulfilling, complete endings and feelings of closure i've ever gotten from a game.

It suits me just fine to curl up and watch...

...watch the strange and beautiful patterns of their lives as they unfold.

And it looks like...

...I'll have plenty to watch

here for quite a while.

and the credits song kicking in.. the way it's timed perfectly with the final reveal and snaps to the main theme in time with the end of sissel's speech. it's SO satisfying.

and the fact that the credits song is a remix of the main theme that we've heard so much throughout the game as a way to end each chapter with a sense of mystery, but this final time, it's triumphant. it's the same tune but this time we've solved everything. everything is going to be okay.

i love you ghost trick

[weirdowithaquill]

Sodor: 1965-2020

Back when I talked about how Sodor would fuel its railways in the 2010's (find that post here), I said I'd talk about how Sodor would remain profitable into the modern era.

Well, with Murdoch the Mighty Engine now completed (find that here) it's finally time to really dive into what kept Sodor moving throughout the latter half of the twentieth century and into the 21st.

I'm going to go in event order - and yes, this is all canon to my Extended Railway Series.

1965: Breaking Away From British Rail:

In 1965, British Railways was pretty desperate for money. And I mean it. The BTC was losing around £300,000 a day in 1961. The company was not able to pay its loans, and that led to desperation and the Beeching cuts.

Sodor was at the time threatened with both the Peel Godred line and the Ffarquhar branch being drastically reduced in size or outright closed - and furthermore there was talk of Crovan's Gate Works being closed. The North Western Region was at the time chaired by Sir Charles Hatt, and he decided to take action.

This is where Sir Charles did perhaps the sneakiest piece of work in his entire career. For a man who was very above the board, this may come as a surprise.

Sir Charles was told by the BTC that if he could find 'the worth of the North-Western Region' - a number that they incorrectly overinflated to around £1,000,000. In comparison, 4472 Flying Scotsman cost £3,000 when bought by Alan Peglar.

Neither the NWR nor the Hatt family had that much money - and the railway, while profitable, did not make enough. So Sir Charles organised a secret backdoor deal with a different company to get the money.

Sir Charles went to the German Rail Company Deutsche Bundesbahn. He'd visited earlier that year and had witnessed the earliest development of the Linienzugbeeinflussung system (LZB) and had offered the Peel Godred branchline for further testing - only he needed the NWR to be independent before he could allow it, as BR didn't want anything to do with the tests.

The Deutsche Bundesbahn, ecstatic that someone wanted to basically hand over their railway to play guinea pig for a brand new untested system, forked over £1,000,000 in exchange for shares in the new NWR company and free access to the Peel Godred branch to test their LZB system.

Sir Charles Hatt gave British Railways the money, and on September 28th, the NWR was officially freed from BR, though the latter company got the rights to run trains to Tidmouth using their engines on 'trials'. The next day, Deutsche Bundesbahn was mysteriously given a massive share in the new company, and permission to test their new system.

1965-1979: Implementing LZB on Passenger Trains:

Siemens - the German company working with DB on their LZB system - opened a branch at Cronk to begin work on testing their LZB systems on the electric Peel Godred branch. Originally a hard-wired logic system only, testing on the Peel Godred and utilising the massive amount of energy harnessed at the hydroelectric dam, the system was quickly developed into a computer system.

While the Peel Godred electrics were able to handle the computers on board, the mainline proved to be a different challenge. Stephen Hatt, then working at Crovan's Gate to help him grow accustomed to the engines on the NWR, suggested renovating the old Mark I coaches BR was beginning to retire to have the LZB systems in them, connecting to the brake pipes. LZB coaches would have the letters 'LZB' printed on the front and sides of the coach to identify them.

On June 3rd, 1979, the last non-LZB passenger train left Tidmouth, a local train that ran as far as Cronk. From that point on, all passenger trains are meant to have an LZB coach at the front of the train, though there have been incidents were it was forgotten. When Pip and Emma were bought, LZB was placed straight in their cabs.

1966-1996: Modernising the Steam Fleet:

Edward went in for a heavy repair in 1965 after his 'exploit' and when he came out, he was a very different engine. The early stages of independence for the NWR were marked by very heavy tourist traffic. The Railway Series books were at the height of their popularity, and Sir Charles was finally free to advertise and profit from them. He organised a huge number of special trips throughout the latter half of 1965, culminating in Edward's infamous excursion. This raised enough money for the NWR to survive the winter season - and enough to begin modernising their steam fleet. Welding replaced riveting, and new superheaters and blastpipes were added. Edward was also the first NWR engine to gain roller bearings.

When Edward departed the Works in late 1966, he was much stronger than before, and certainly more capable! Oliver would gain the same upgrades upon arrival to the NWR, and over the next twelve years the entire rest of the fleet was rebuilt. New arrivals to the railway would undergo the same treatment, with Murdoch being gifted a kylchap blastpipe while being overhauled. Another factor of this period was extensive standardisation, which included funnel diameter, coupling rods, valve gear and cab window sizing.

Much of this ability to develop their steam engines came from the partnership with DB in Germany, which didn't withdraw its entire steam fleet until 1977.

1970-1996: Modernising the Diesel Fleet:

Starting in 1970, Sir Charles began to work on improving and standardising his fleet of diesel engines. BoCo, Bear and Daisy were all very different classes, and the cost of parts was beginning to mount, even after purchasing plenty of disposed parts from scrapyards across the country.

This was far more radical than what was done with the steam engines, and for good reason. While DB was the expert on Diesel-Hydraulic, it was also very expensive at a time when the NWR did not have all that much money to spare. The Little Western and Arlesdale Railway projects sucked up pretty much all the money the railway made at this time. So, they simply took the engines inside BoCo and Bear and replaced them. Entirely. Sir Charles bought excess Sulzer engines which were being fitted to the Class 47 and fitted them to his two big diesels. He did have to move... a lot of stuff internally - this was a rebuild unlike any other, and it kept them both out of service for a very long time. But by the end, he had forcibly standardised BoCo and Bear. Then Derek came along, and Sir Charles was forced to figure something else out for him. This was in the end achieved by taking the engines used by Daisy and jamming them into Derek. Except more of them, and turbocharged. Remarkably, this also worked (after a lot of screaming and huffing by the Crovan's Gate foreman!)

Bert, Diesel and Arry were far easier for Sir Charles and Sir Stephen, all being Class 08's and ubiquitous on BR. As they were retired, the NWR bought old engines and spare parts to repair their fleet.

Bowler and Spamcan would be given the same Sultzer engines as BoCo and Bear, as by this point the Class 47s were being retired on BR and there were plenty of spare parts available. Pip and Emma would retain their engines. Selector catalytic reduction (SCR) emissions reducers would be fitted to all diesel engines.

1975: NWR Holdings Inc:

In 1975, the NWR was incorporated alongside the Arlesdale and Skarloey Railways into NWR Holdings Inc, a new international stock company aimed at raising capital for the railways. First floated on Sodor, it attracted plenty of attention from locals, tourists and international companies alike. NWR Holdings would buy shares in various companies around the globe, including the American Railroad Union Pacific and in Danish shipping company Maersk. The Hatt family personally bought a massive number of shares in the company in what was potentially a highly-legally-questionable move. Still, NWR Holdings Inc would be chaired by Bridget Hatt from 1975 onwards and become a very profitable share-owning company.

1976: AWS and Air Brakes:

By 1976, all trains on the NWR were equipped with AWS and Air brakes, leading to a drastic reduction in accidents across the following years. While not a foolproof solution, when added to the new LZB system, it led to the NWR becoming one of the safest railways in all of England and Europe.

1985: Tourism Boom:

The NWR was inundated with traffic following the airing of the hit TV series 'Thomas & Friends' both in the UK and internationally, with the summer season of 1985 being perhaps the busiest in the island's history until that point, and a major victory for Sodor, which was now the most profitable railway region in Britain outside of London.

British Rail would attempt to force the NWR back into its company at this point, but the courts struck the case down due to the Tory Government disliking the idea of nationalising the network any further. This was the era when the Tory government began to privatise the various government agencies of the UK, and the NWR was upheld as a success of privatisation.

This tourism boom would have a major impact on the economy of Sodor too, with the service sector becoming central to the island's economy. The regional airport at Vicarstown was expanded to accept planes from as far away as Poland - something the NWR helped fund. This was incredibly well-timed, as the last of the mines on the island began to dry up around this time, and the new expanded service sector and transport sector used up much of these redundant miners.

1993: Shares in Deutsche Bahn:

In 1992, Deutsche Bundesbahn began a merger with the Deutsche Reichsbahn to create the Deutsche Bahn in Germany. By this point, the NWR was an extremely profitable company and able to survive on its own, however it was also reliant on the DB for a reliable partner, especially as the UK was in the EU, and DB was able to offset much of the NWR's carbon emissions problems.

The NWR would put up a large sum of money - the modern equivalent of the £1,000,000 from 1965 - to prop up the company during the merger and managed to gain a healthy share out of the German rail company for its troubles. When the new Deutsche Bahn became public property all of five minutes later, the NWR kept its unique position, and the two became 'joint partners' - independent but aligned in much of their goals.

1994-1996: Expansion and the End of BR:

As explained in Modern Railway Engines, in 1994, the North Western Railway bought the Furness Line outright from British Rail. This included all stations, trackwork, and running rights. NWR trains now terminated at Lancaster on the West Coast Mainline, buying up platforms 5 and 6 at the station. the NWR now was directly connected to the WCML, and gained two mainline diesels, a HST and three shunting engines in the deal.

By 1996, these new engines had settled into their roles on the NWR, and the railway was well positioned for the turn of the century. The freight services along the NWR mainline would be fitted with LZB at this point, and further increase the safety of the entire network.

2007: Buyout of EWS:

In 2007, the British railfreight company EWS was bought out by Deutsche Bahn and NWR Holdings Inc as part of a joint-takeover of the freight sector of Britain's Railways after repeated issues with the company. The NWR and DB had very different designs on the company, however the NWR would triumph, and a period of drastic overhaul would occur over the next ten years. In 2017, DB Cargo UK would have rebuilt its entire fleet of Class 90s and Class 92s, as well as all 67s, 66s and 60s. The company would sell off a large number of unusable engines to other companies; but retain the Class 47s and rebuild them into class 57s.

This huge takeover by the two companies would have major implications for the NWR fleet, which only barely managed to keep their own freight services on Sodor from being added to the new DB Cargo UK company. Instead, traffic was streamlined across the two companies, and a direct freight service would commence between Carnforth and Wroclaw, Poland.

2012: Alternate Fuel Trials Begin:

As global warming became more prevalent, the NWR was criticised for its use of coal and diesel fuel. In response, the NWR began trials with several different alternatives, including E-Coal, torrefied rapeseed biofuel and 'electric steam'. Smaller engines like Neil were trialled with electric boilers to heat steam - and this led to the conversion of many smaller tank engines to the system, which was powered by electricity and thus extremely environmentally friendly (in theory). Other changes included solar panels installed on sheds and stations across the NWR and electric pre-heaters added to the steam engine boilers - something the NWR had been slowly working on since the mid-70s.

Torrefiers would be built by the NWR in 2014 to convert biomass into fuel for engines, and trials would be conducted with Murdoch - who had the largest firebox - throughout 2015. Torrefied rapeseed biofuel pellets would be used on some services from 2016 onwards, as Sodor led world research into the issue. However, its weakness to rain and its smell would keep it being used only on freight services, with a tarp pulled over the 'coal' pile to keep it dry.

2020: Global Pandemic and Coal Shortages:

In the modern era, the North Western Railway continues to be a profitable and successful company, providing services across the Island of Sodor and around the globe. The Covid Pandemic saw all but the most essential trains cancelled, including all of the extremely profitable tourist traffic Sodor relies on. For a few months, the railway was even divided into two, with Sodor services terminating at Vicarstown and Furness services terminating at Barrow. A number of engines were stored for the year, being reintroduced as Christmas approached and traffic began to pick up again into 2021.

Worse yet, coal shortages caused by the closure of most British coal mines and crises in Eastern Europe led the NWR to speed up its biofuel research, with most medium-sized engines (Edward, James, Emily, Arthur, Molly) being converted to burn biofuel by the end of 2022. Only the largest steam engines on the NWR and the diesels use fossil fuels as of the time of writing, due to the extremely successful implementation of biofuel, much of which is now grown on Sodor to provide for the NWR and other heritage railways, such as the Talyllyn in Wales.

Wow... that was a long post. As usual, no pictures belong to me, and I headcanoned basically all of this. I just love the idea of the NWR using everything at their disposal to work their way up from the grassroots railway we saw in the Three Railway Engines into a massive corporation that still has that grassroots feel to it... and a multinational holdings company reporting massive profits.

Thank you for reading this massive thing!

[raptorrobot]

I love playing toys!!

How do you think Icarus would be if all the bad stuff didn’t happen to him and he remained an angel up until the events of the Ultrakill game?

What was the designed process like for Icarus (both prime and angel)? Were there any details you had solidified all the way through or things that changed over time?

ouhhhh what an interesting query !!!!

genuinely in that case i think 3-2 would be a dual fight with both of them involved. that's gabriel's guard dog ! he's still going to be taking that seraph everywhere with him !

icarus prime also wouldn't be canon in this scenario either ! no divorce fights no attempted suicide no second death just two angels against the world

and; oughh . i love this second question so so much. i will be yapping about it under the cut

why explain the basics when i can just show them ! here's icarus' first ever ref sheet compared to his most recent one;

yeauh . big differences

most notably: he was not originally a prime soul, he was just a fallen angel ! hence the shackles and funky satanic imagery patterns on him

the scariest part: AH !!!! TWINK !!!!!!! he was SO skinny back then it almost makes me Sad looking at it now . it was an intentional design note, as at this point in his development i wanted him to look like an emaciated animal - but his fatness is so important to him now that seeing him without it is DEEPLY jarring

some consistencies: his hooves, claws, and head have always remained consistent in his design ! i've just always loved the shape language of them too much to change . i actually tried to phase out the more animalistic parts of him (hooves & claws) when developing him into a prime soul (to be more consistent with the two canon ones) but i just. couldn't . they were so integral to his design at that point that i couldn't imagine him without them . and of course, his head is pretty much the exact same from the point of conception; the cross-face, dual horns and head wings have only changed via stylistic evolution and nothing more <3

colours: they're So Different now . since he originally belonged to heresy rather than violence, i really wanted to hammer in that red - which persisted up until somewhat recently, when i phased it out for the full blue/silver scheme . his prime form and angel form now share an almost identical colour palette, which i think is fun ! another reason for getting rid of the red was because i wanted him to stand stark against the colours of violence (specifically red & white); as minos does wifh gluttony and sisyphus does with heresy. it also makes him look softer :]

in regards to his angel form; i cannot find any old refs of it unfortunately but the change in that design has been even MORE drastic . though one thing that has always been super important to it is the silver metal; he has always supposed to look like a subordinate . being bereft of colour and the brighter hues of angels like gabriel is a Very Important Contrast that i like emphasising

the black metal in his design is a recent change though ! it used to be silver and white up until recently, not silver and black . the reasoning behind this one is that i'm a sucker for dark colour schemes in armour and it looks cool . it's an excuse to make him look more intimidating too since he's a bodyguard !

[unkat]

i am playing around with the idea of naturally ending chilchuck/his wife as a narrative, with a lot of headcanon interpolation of events. this is led by my fanfic brain which is looking at a different end game. i am marcilling it.

canonically he did not contact his daughters or wife for those years after she left. i struggle to imagine how it must feel for your life partner to let you disappear from his life and stopped contacting your shared kids at the same time, diving even more headfirst into his work that made you feel abandoned in the first place.

i think chilchuck thinks he is doing what is best for them by working hard on improving the respect for half-foots and not telling them about his work life. i can see him thinking that this is too much for them to worry about, so he can protect them by not disclosing anything but a censored version of events, minimizing the danger and death he faces whenever he leaves. i think before he started working in the dungeon, he was a lot more open about it with her, back when the complaints were just shitty customers.

but its not like she wouldnt notice, once he started advocating for higher safety regulations. like. what if each time he came home, he had some new frightening clause to add to his contract, and brushed off her attempts to get details as to why he put it there? and that feeling is not something their kids would be able to overlook once they get old enough to go from parent-child caretaker to parent-child friendship/advisor.

so yeah! when she actually meets his coworkers and realizes how much he has been leaving out about his life, its like he is a totally different person than the man she has been living with for the past 13 years. she has been lied to through omission, and he cant read the room that she needed him to trust her. so, she does something drastic to get his attention (and, very importantly, give herself fulfillment). and then he never calls, never writes, never reaches out for years of her life.

personally i think it would make sense for her to find something of her own, like a hobby or job, after her children have grown, and through that there could someone who can give her enough emotional support to fall in love again.

by the time he returns, he was a good man and great father, but a lousy husband, and she does not want to throw away the happiness she found without him. i think they loved each other for so long that it would be easy to fall back into that fondness after they both had a serious couple of conversations. but the ship to go back to how things were has sailed, and neither of them should try to go back to how things were. there is still love there, just in a different form than it was before.

i guess i kinda like the idea of growth that is staggered from each other due to their communication problems, if i had to make them lines moving in parallel. they fell out of sync understanding each other, and by the time they caught back up, they have missed the window to be as close as they were before. kinda a "right place, wrong time" by the time chilchuck has finished canon. i think there is beauty in the imperfections of damaged relationships, the fallibility of human nature, healing by falling apart.

could they have both been that loyal to the commitment and still work hard to fall back into love? i think its possible, but it should be as difficult as it needs to be for both of them to feel like this is a real change. chilchuck retiring might make that easier or harder for her- less stressful job, but he needs to actually put aside time for them and not fixate on his career, which would be hard if he is still a driving force behind civil movements on top of starting his business.

[lightandfellowship]

Actually...what an interesting concept for an AU. "AU where little Kairi's pod did accidentally end up in Quadratum, and she never got to meet Sora or Riku."

I'm not sure how such a thing would play out. She's a Princess of Heart, so the worlds being short a princess is...probably not a good thing. Especially if she took the World's light with her and she can't pass on her power to someone else (due to being in a different reality). That could upset the light/dark balance of the World, potentially making the Realm of Light more prone to darkness since one of the pillars that upholds it is just, plain missing.

It would also drastically change the events of KH1. Sure, BBS establishes that Riku wanted to see the outside world partially because of Terra, but it was also partially because of Kairi. Her absence might mean his curiosity and desire for freedom never grow strong enough for him to act on those feelings, meaning Destiny Islands doesn't fall early (or at all) and no one gets the Keyblade in time to escape the world and eventually put a stop to Ansem's plan.

(Not to mention, since Kairi doesn't end up on Destiny Islands, Xehanort/Ansem never locates a Keyblade wielder like he wanted. Which I think he needed in order to forge/wield the Keyblade of Heart, maybe? This might be another reason why Riku and Sora's journey would never begin.)

Though, can Ansem even achieve his plan without Kairi? I guess so, since in KH1 the Keyblade of Heart was never actually completed with her heart, anyway. Canonically, Ansem had to use his back-up plan instead: the artificial Kingdom Hearts made from the hearts of all the worlds he destroyed.

So...Ansem's plan succeeds in this scenario, perhaps. Darkness unleashed, utter destruction.

Meanwhile, an amnesiac Kairi lives a normal life in Quadratum as a normal teenager, completely unaware that her absence from her original reality has brought about the end of all worlds.