#anyway. those are about KEEPER not the fandom though

[bookwyrminspiration]

I have such a desire to make a deep dive video about the Kotlc Tumblr Fandom (inspired by Jenny Nicholson or Uncarley) but also I feel like you or Nattie would be much more suited for the role. I can barely remember what happened two minutes ago, let alone make it entertaining…

This is my way of putting the idea anonymously into the atmosphere. Perhaps someone with more than half a brain and some talent will soak it up

Anything in particular about the tumblr fandom or just the fandom as a whole? Both are easily achievable (besides the massive work any video essay takes), there's a lot of material to work with here.

I'd also throw out Cath (everliving-everblaze) as a good candidate/consultant on a project like that. We call her our fandom historian for a reason. I believe she's the one that added keeper to Fanlore.

perhaps I shall become a literary video essayist...

[topazshadowwolf]

Hello there, you! I have not failed to notice you going through my fics. And apparently, you didn't just stick to my Dadmare stuff, either, @chiyannad XD The Great and Wonderful Doctor W.D. Gaster and The Door?! I haven't updated it in aaaaages. Still, happy to see you enjoying my new and old works, so thanks for that.

Now, about Lyra. I am hesitant to say "OC" as an original character to me is a wholly original and not tied to a fandom. Lyra is a fan character designed to be part of the UTMV of at least HNBD. Though anyone is welcome to use her for their own creations.

Those stories you see her in are set in the future. Balance, or Lyra, will appear in HNBD, but she will be more of a side character who will play a big role... I needed someone to be a Balance/Order keeper. And I wanted someone who wasn't a Sans. So, I picked a Toriel and decided to repurpose a Toriel from an abandoned AU idea that came up years ago in Soriel Discord for her origins. In time, I will tell her story, but fewer readers are interested in her than in Dadmare, thus focusing on Dadmare.

After years of writing Soriel, I should have known that my brain would insist she should kiss a Sans. Over time, I accepted that I would be shipping her with someone. Past me thought if she were to fall for a Sans, it would be Dream. My brain did not get that memo, as she somehow fell for Nightmare. And... yeah... it will make sense when she finally starts playing her role in HNBD. That said, I still hold to no ships being in that fic. The most you will see is a budding friendship.

Anyway, her history will be part of a FuzzyNight fic, as she would only reveal it to anyone if she were in a close enough relationship. So, you gotta wait. I did write a start to that fic and referenced her home life..., but I will eventually put all my little FuzzyNight fics on AO3 so they are better organized.

As for a reference:

That first one is by me. The next two were commissioned from @tamagoneko and the last one was commissioned from @skeleplatypus

[scienter]

Wind and Truth Chapters 16, 17, and 18

We got 3 chapters and zero Kaladin povs. 🙁

I can't complain though because we finally got confirmation about a fandom theory about the Shard of Honor. 😁

CHAPTER 16

“You guys were… watching?” she asked the creationspren. “Shallan! Shallan! Shallan!” Well, nice to have a cheering section, she supposed. She looked up and found Pattern dimpling the stone of the wall.

Reminds me of when Kaladin chided Syl for watching people have sex in Oathbringer. “And stop spying on people when they’re being intimate. It’s creepy. . . He tried - unsuccessfully – to banish the image of lying in bed with a woman, Syl sitting on the headboard and shouting out encouragement and advice . . .”

The difference between Shallan and Kaladin’s reactions to this scenario is revealing. Shallan is nonchalant while Kaladin is creeped out. lol

“Don’t say it,” she told him, climbing to her feet. “What?” he said. “It’s absolutely allowed, even encouraged now.”

NO MATING. Another great Oathbringer callback.

A note at the bottom said, Looks like Iyatil has called in offworlder reinforcements. Watch them. They’re dangerous. “Fortunately, Shallan has a plan. We’re going to form a strike team.”

Ohhh. I'm looking forward to this plotline.

“Yeah, but you heard what Stormblessed did,” Red said, standing up and holding out his arms. “He can share his armor! Make it swoop in and protect people! I’ve always wanted Plate. Can I borrow it, Shallan?” She hesitated. She’d… only just earned it. Darcira tapped her sketchpad. “It would be good to know if that works, Brightness.” A reasonable point. Storming former ardent and her scientific mind. “Fine,” Shallan said. “How do I do it?” “It seems like it just kind of worked for Kaladin,” Red said. “Everyone’s talking about it,” Darcira said. “Kaladin flew around. You know, like they do. And his armor—made of windspren—swept here and there, enveloping other soldiers when needed.” “Storming lordship bridgeman,” Gaz muttered, “and his storming heroism.” They glanced at him. “He does it just to make me feel bad,” Gaz said. “He acts like a hero,” Red said, amused, “because it annoys you. Really.” “Yup,” Gaz said. “Everyone should be grateful to me. If I hadn’t shown those bridgemen tough love, they would never have grown up to be such nauseating paragons of self-righteousness.” “Weren’t you crying the other month,” Red said, “because of what you did to them?” “I was drunk,” Gaz said. “You can’t trust a man when he’s drunk. He’ll accidentally say things he ain’t ready to say yet. Anyway, weren’t we going to try out that armor?”

So many things going on here.

I’ve wondered whether Kaladin using the shardplate to protect others was limited to the Windrunners or if all orders could use the plate this way. It appears that this is unique to the Windrunners. So, does each order use shardplate according to their ideals?

Again, Kaladin intuitively knew how to use shardplate while Shallan had to learn by trial and error how to use it. Interesting contrast. Maybe it’s because Kaladin was a soldier?

Gaz is still bitter and petty about Kaladin’s heroism. 😂😏 He’s such a small man. I was surprised to read that he cried about the way he treated the bridgeman. Makes sense though. Gaz's bitterness is probably a defense mechanism to assauge his envy or guilt.

Shallan’s possessiveness over her shardplate is an interesting contrast to Kaladin. Kaladin didn’t hesitate to use it to protect others. I guess that’s meant to highlight the difference between the orders (or Kaladin and Shallan).  

“We’re going to do something they don’t think is possible: we’re going to steal those secrets.”

Shallan probably will succeed in stealing some of his secrets, but Kelsier is the master secret keeper.

This is going to be interesting. I wonder if Shallan will discover who Thaidakar is and why he’s such a bfd in the cosmere.

“I remember you,” he said. “I know. You wrote it in your book. I take great pains to remain secret, Dalinar, and you just vomited it all up on a page.” She shook her head.

I love her. Can we have more of her?

I am Unity. “Once,” Dalinar said softly. “I have once as well,” she said. “One time, other than when you faced him. It is deep in the past.” She idly held up her hand, lifespren swirling and playing around it. “You need to take a journey, Dalinar Kholin. A dangerous one, but the path to defeating Odium is not through your powers alone. It is through understanding. You need to see the history of this world, live it.” “Visions?” he asked. “Like I’ve seen before?” “Greater,” she said. “Where is Honor?” “Dead.” “Tanavast—the Vessel that once held Honor—is dead, but the power remains. Somewhere. It’s a conundrum that few scholars even know to ponder upon. None know what became of Honor’s power. Have you any guesses?” “It’s the spren, maybe,” Dalinar said. “Some say that Honor was Splintered by Odium when he killed Tanavast—as he did to others before—becoming the spren, as the power of a god left alone will begin to think.” She shook her head. “But they’re wrong. The spren existed before Tanavast’s death. They are of him, but are not the core of his power. It still exists.” She looked him in the eyes. “It is the power and substance of the visions you were shown, starting years ago. It seeks for men to see their heritage, as it searches for a new Vessel to hold it.” “Wait,” Dalinar said, a cold shock starting at the base of his skull and washing through him, making him grip the banister. “Wait. What are you saying? That… someone could…?”

OMG!! OUR THEORIES ABOUT SOMEONE TAKING UP/REFORGING THE SHARD OF HONOR ARE CORRECT!

Unite Them.

I've been dying for answers to this since Oathbrigner.

What did it mean? Was Dalinar supposed to unite The Knights Radiant? Unite the nations of Roshar? Or unite the splinters of Honor?

Still, what is Dalinar supposed to unite? Is he supposed to unite the splintered Shard of Honor and make it whole again? Or is he supposed to unite the Shard of Honor with the new vessel? Maybe both?

And who’s going to become Honor’s new vessel?

The two obvious candidates for Honor's new vessel are Dalinar and Kaladin because they both embody the shard's intent.

I think Kaladin will become Honor's new vessel for a couple of reasons.

1. The Stormfather calls Kaladin "Son of Tanavast"

2. Wit said Kaladin has a “divine destiny”

3. The epigraphs said that the contest in Shiovar is more vital than the contest of champions

4. Kaladin said goodbye to everyone because he didn’t expect to see them again

All signs point to Something Big happening with Kaladin.

While Brandon planted a few death flags for Kaladin I think they're a misdirection. Yes, Kaladin's body may die, but his soul - his spirit - will live on because he'll Ascend either as a Herald or Honor. (This is basically the story of Fleet, which has long been theorized as foreshadowing Kaladin's story.)

BTW - Is reforging the Shard of Honor / Ascension related to the “He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!” death rattle? 🤔

“I have my own battles,” she said, turning to trail away.

What battles? Some wider Cosmere problem involving the other shards (perhaps Autonomy)?  

“I cannot fight yours, but you now know where the power hides. Seek the Spiritual Realm, where gods dwell. You have the ability to get there, perhaps even the ability to return. There you will receive the final truths of the Heralds, the Radiants, and Honor himself. Go and seek it, Dalinar Kholin, if you would finish this journey.”

I am SO looking forward to Dalinar’s story in this book. It’s a long time coming.

CHAPTER 17 & 18

Colot took a deep breath. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way up once the important people are taken care of.” “Nah, you’re coming with me,” Adolin said, pulling him out of the line.

Anyone else get Edgedancer vibes? 🤨

Silence. Eyes condemning. This is what you deserve, Father, Adolin thought, feeling the room turn—like spears lowered at a captured enemy—against Dalinar. You always barrel forward. Doing whatever you want. Consequences be storming damned. Like you did years ago, killing my mother. And you never bothered to tell me. You—

Translation:

If Adolin doesn’t confront Dalinar about his killing Evi in this book I’m going to riot. I need to see them have it out. It's too big to ignore.

“Yes,” Wit said. “And that’s why I’m an idiot. Not because I missed the intricacies of the legal code—but because this isn’t something that Rayse could ever do. It’s not only against his nature, it’s something he promised he would not do. Even without a formal covenant, a god cannot break that kind of promise without dire consequences.” “So… what?” Dalinar said. “I’m missing something.” “As are we all,” Wit said with a sigh. “Odium is exploiting a loophole in your agreement. Rayse wouldn’t do that. Rayse couldn’t do that. So…” He looked around the room, meeting their eyes. “So we are not facing Rayse. My old enemy must be dead, and someone else has taken up the Shard of Odium. I should have seen it the moment he started acting so oddly, but now I’ve confirmed it by sensing the rhythms of Roshar. My friends, we are facing an enemy we do not know and cannot anticipate. And whoever it is, they’re a genius—one who has devised a ploy to conquer all of Roshar in ten days.”

Finally! Wit’s starting to put two and two together. How long before someone figures out Taravagian is Odium now?

[iliveinyourceiling65]

I just realized that I’ve been on tumblr for nearly a year, but I still don’t have an intro post, so I decided to make one! I know it’s a little late, but here’s some info about me:

You can call me G or Ceiling :) My pronouns are she/her! I’m a minor I made this account to talk about a lot of the stuff I’m interested in so I could stop bothering my friends (it didn’t work-). I’m very very VERY socially anxious I’m also very socially awkward I love talking to people, so feel free to send me asks/dm me or anything if you want! (I’m sorry again if I come off as rude/ awkward during a conversation- I promise I’m not doing it intentionally 😭) So uh anyways…

I’m gonna put my fandoms here, cause I think that’s what you’re supposed to do in an intro post?

The Grishaverse (but mainly Six of Crows)

Riordanverse (I’ve read everything up to the end of ToA, and I don’t rly plan to read beyond that at this point tbh)

The Inheritance Games

The Cruel Prince

A Good Girls Guide to Murder

Keeper of the Lost Cities

The Lunar Chronicles (Been a while since I read them though)

Ride the Cyclone

Newsies

There’s probably more fandoms, but those are all of the ones I can think of off of the top of my head. I mostly post incorrect quotes and other stuff. I can’t rly think of anything else to say, so… this is my pinned post for now :)

[osaemu]

Spread love to fanfic writers! Answer these questions about your fanfics then send this to 5 other fanfic writers Name a fic you loved writing the most. Name a fic that others loved but you didn’t care for as much. Name a fic you had the most fun writing. Name a fic that you are the most proud of. Name a fic that you wish had gotten more recognition. Name your happiest/saddest/most comedic fics!

thank you anon !! this was fun to to do, hmm... 🤍

a fic i loved writing: finders keepers, losers weepers!

this one was fun to write because i really liked the concept, but i don't think i executed it that well :,)

a fic others loved but i didn't care for: can i put you on hold?

i only posted this one bc i felt bad for not posting in a while, idk why people liked it so much.. i misspelled "another" in it too and didn't realize until it had 10K+ likes, so that was embarrassing too lol

honorable mention: THIS one. i hate this one with a burning passion

a fic i had fun writing: snowflakes in my stomach when we kissin'

i wrote this all in one sitting bc it was just so fun writing all the scenes! well, all the scenes but the smut one, which i only wrote halfheartedly bc it was in my outline, but besides that, this one was super fun to write.

a fic i wish got more recognition: in sickness and in health

honestly i'm fine with the amount of interactions this one got (considering death note is a smaller tumblr fandom than the ones i usually write for), but i wanted to mention this one anyways

my happiest fic: yes, i have a girlfriend, and yes, she's real!

actually, my happiest fic is one that i posted once and took down bc it didn't show up on the tags. it was one where gojo proposes to reader, but it never stayed up for long :,) a couple people got to read it though, so i guess it's for their eyes only now!

my saddest fic: is it over now?

i've written sad/angsty fics before but.. personally i never get emotionally affected by them so.. i just picked the one ppl said they cried over for this category lol

my funniest fic: "you're pregnant?!"

my funniest fic would actually be a tie between the first streamer!gojo and the christmas geto fic, but i already mentioned those. this one isn't that funny imo but you guys liked it so :,)

[notherdeadrobin]

20 Questions for Fic Writers!

Tagged by @itsfirecat and @thesandsofelsweyr (tagged me via @thejasonandsladeagenda)

How many works do you have on AO3? 58!

What’s your total A03 word count? 257,825

What fandoms do you write for? Uhhhh DC and DC and DC lol

What are your top five fics by kudos?

✧ By Any Other Name (my first fic!) 1,056 Kudos ✧

This started from a short and sweet idea of "what happens when Jason realizes he uses the same nickname for Slade and Bruce?" I thought it'd be a dirty crack-fic one-shot, but now it's turning into an actual JaySlade getting together story, featuring some batfam feels, too. Also, Slade ambushes Jason on a rooftop and turns him into a hot mess, so that's pretty great too.

✧ Warmth 729 Kudos ✧

When Batman sliced Jason's neck open and left him for dead, Slade Wilson pulled him from the wreckage to patch up Jason's injury and his life. Jason doesn't understand why Deathstroke even bothers with him, but he's going to enjoy someone giving a damn about him while it lasts. He just wants to belong to a pack again.

✧ The Last Cookie 568 Kudos ✧

In the background of the Wayne Family Adventures webcomic, Jason Todd is hooking up with Slade Wilson. It's fact. Their growing relationship is all there in the subtext (if you squint hard enough, and make some wild guesses), and this fic illuminates the details of the story unfolding right under the Wayne Family's noses. Aka the fic where the Lazarus Pit left Jason stuck with raging hormones, and Slade's the only one who can satisfy him

✧ Two Raging Fires Meet 551 Kudos ✧

Slade takes Jason on one of his jobs to get them away from the overbearing bats. All is well for awhile, but then Slade does a classically terrible job of handling his feelings, forcing Jason to remind Slade that he's a badass vigilante who doesn't need Slade to be his keeper. Featuring Jason being soft, smart, and capable - Slade being a bit of a dumbass - and sex

✧ Parking 550 Kudos ��

When Batman catches Jason stealing the tires off the Batmobile, Jason tries to make it up to him in the only way he knows how, but Batman isn't biting

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I have so many unreplied to comments right now and I'm so so sorry about that. I go on spurts where I'll get the number down lower, and then it'll get out of control again. I think responding is important because I know how much it means to me when people comment on my fic, and I don't want them to feel like their lovely words are going unread and unappreciated <3

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't think anything I've written would qualify for an angsty ending lol, but I rather like this one, and it's more bittersweet, at least? Living in the Moment

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Sanctuary has the softest ending (it's also one of my personal favorites ^.^)

Do you get hate on your fic? Not really, no. Or, not that I've seen, anyway/

Do you write smut? Alllll the time. SO much smut. Everywhere. 4 of those top 5 are E-rated. I think I write too much smut tbh lmaooo

Do you write crossovers? I've written two! Crossovers aren't really a default thought of mine, though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Man, I hope not

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nah. Someone did ask me, once, and I was honored to be asked, but I have weird feelings about my fic being out there on an account I have no control over.

Have you ever co-written a fic? Nah, though I'd like to give it a try ^.^ so many talented writer friends

What‘s your all-time favourite ship? Oh geez...so hard to say... I guess Jason Todd/Slade Wilson XD

What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Aha the first series I ever started, but that's mainly because it's not meant to be a completed storyline, more so slices of life together. I have like, at least 10 ideas for future fics for that one.

What’s your writing strengths? I think I'm good at emotional smut, and a commenter called me "witty" recently, so that too? I'd like to be witty

What’s your writing weaknesses? finishing WIPs. Though I've already decided in advance that this next year is about finishing things. I won't let myself get distracted by prompt events or BINGO cards. I'll be all about adding more to the series I've started (hopefully finishing a couple), finishing longfics, and also working on bigger ideas that I've let fall to the wayside.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I think it's fine if it's done well and respectfully. And it is useful in situations where you want the reader to be able to translate something if they want, but you still don't want the POV Character to know what's being said.

First fandom you wrote for? Harry Potter. If anyone out there used to be in the group of people who wrote Marauders Era Fanfic with OFC/Sirius Black on Quizazz (now quotev) over a decade ago, hmu

Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Last time I picked something else.... but I'm watching Bridgerton rn so I'll have to go with Moonlight Symphony <3

[subway-boss-jericho]

Hey all! Announcement stuff!

Thank you to everyone who has been very patient with me. I swear to god i could turn into one of those Ao3 authors thats like "hahaha sorry i havent updated in so long i died and then came back to life and then i had to work 7 jobs" and im being so fucking brave about it!! ANYWAYS THATS NOT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!

Tomorrow is the 1 Year anniversary of steady tracks chapter 1! 🥳(and also my birthday. yes that was on purpose)

So! I wanted to give you all some updates and stuff to look forward to because oh god it sure has been an entire fucking year since I uploaded stuff and I refuse to feel bad about it but my brain is trying so hard to make me! I am working on chapter 2. Progress has been terribly slow because of severe life events, thank you for your understanding.

So!! What's next? Well, over the summer I am really fucking hoping to finish chapter 2. I know I keep saying this but literally i stg. I'm going apeshit. do you know how hard it is to think about something for an entire year and never have the time, motivation, or energy at the same time to make it exist?? fucked up!! Before that though, I have a few things.

I TOLD you all that I would talk about an AU of mine, whichever was highest voted in that strawpoll I did, and then surprise i fuckin didnt do that. I would very very much like to do that! The problem, I realized, is that I operate super hard on a reactionary basis so I am not prone to talking about anything that is mine until prompted about it or given permission. Fucking, Wack. This is my house. I should be cringe and free but nooooo. Anyways, because of this, I am planning on doing 2 things -> Actually tell you guys about spirit keeper! You all voted for him back when, and especially with that ✨Fucking, Gorgeous✨ commission from Fronomeeps I got (for me birthday :]) I really really really want to do that. And post my art more. and shit like that. seriously i need to get out of my head or I'll explode. someone needs to scream about how cool these stories are with me or I'll dissolve. -> I am thinking of doing a day long event where I stream an Aggie/(Magma?) where I draw my AUs and let people hop in to join in (as long as it stays on topic!) as well as answering as many asks as I can about my many aus and basically setting you guys up to trick me into infodumping. Because let me tell you i have a year and a halfs worth of words in my head and i am 100% confident ingo and emmet enjoyers would really like to hear them. So I wanna do a big ask party Q&A and really get things rolling!! Hopefully with drawings and doodles involved! as a celebration for myself, and as a way to open up to the greater fandom (Please leave a comment if you think that sounds cool, I'm trying to gauge interest because if i went all out and no one showed up it would be Extremely Depressing!)

ON! THAT! TOPIC!!! I am actively (literally interspersed with as I am typing this) making a UQUIZ about all of my significant AUs. For the record, there are 23 results on this quiz. I currently only have 3/23 final results completed, but it is my active focus over the weekend to finish as many of those as I can to try and complete the entire thing within a week or less. Also poking at my phrasing here, when I say my significant aus I Mean It, I have more than 23, but these 23 are the ones with stories tangible enough to start somewhere and elaborate on. I have about 10 that I would consider my main AUs, but some of the smaller ones are huge sleeper favorites.

SO YEAH!!! PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE INTERESTED!! I really wanna do fun stuff and get to know people in the fandom more than just. that person who wrote 1 chapter of a cool fic that one time. I have so much more to offer and I struggle so much to offer it. Please draw me out of my shell, I wish to enter the fandom sphere 🥺

thank you for giving me a great year <3 ((and hopefully the next one will be better <3))

[overlyimmersed]

So, about my AU... Lets do this a little differently this time...

So, in light of having to rewrite my entire AU almost from scratch, I've decided I'll post parts of the timeline in chunks by season of the show as I get them rewritten. Maybe that'll make it a little more digestible over all, though it'll still be compiled on timeline page, of course.

So I guess I should probably talk a little bit about this AU, actually. I haven't really said much. That's kinda just how things have always been before. I just kind of toss the information into the void and hope someone finds it. But this fandom, this community, it's different. There's a lot more...talking, then other fandoms I've been in. So lets talk.

I suppose we'll start with the name? Some of you may have seen me use it a few times. Years ago I got into the habit of using alphanumeric designations for my AUs, mainly as shorthand to help me keep track of the media the au is from, how it's altered from canon and what year I started it in, to help me keep track of time. Though this AU lacks the dating component...which was not a great idea on my part... that's a flaw that came about form my previous hyperfixation. I created too many AUs for that one, which I usually don't, so I started using a symbol system as a subcategory and it fricked the whole system...

ANYWAY

This AU is designated "SDS-RBF-215*" SDS = Seven Deadly Sins, RBF = Reborn Fairy, and 215 is my numeric signature. The asterisk is from the symbol system mentioned above. Which is technically necessary, as I do have off-shoot AUs from this primary one. But those are private cuz they're dumb...

So I suppose if this AU were going to have a title rather than a designation it would be "Reborn Fairy".

It's called that because the POV character, a self-insert OC, is reincarnated from another universe.

And on that note I'd like the record to show that I made this choice before I knew about Elizabeth. Reincarnation is one of my most used tropes. I'd also like to mention that I didn't know the word "isekai" until very recently...

So besides this new MC, what exactly is different between this AU and canon?

Well, not including the story consequences of the MC's existence, I did add some lore and stuff. Primarily the concept of "The Bard to the Fairy King"

Each Fairy King has had a bard alongside him to serve as a history keeper, moral guide, and any other role the Fairy King requires. These bards are always born in the Fairy King's Forest, rather than in the Fairy Realm proper like other fairies. The primary mission of The Bard to The Fairy King- or Fairy King’s Bard, sometimes shortened to just Fairy Bard- is to keep the history of the Fairy Race. They write books, tell stories, sing songs and create works of art keeping track of history as it passes. Like how each Fairy King has the magical ability “Disaster”, Fairy Bards always have “Starlight” giving them a flawless memory and the ability to generate and manipulate silvery light. It's primarily used to project records of memories, though it can be used offensively if needed. They also share a single special technique that’s passed from one to the next, a song called “Song of the Fairy King” which will increase the Fairy King’s power in an act of desperation. It can also be used to save the Fairy King’s life if need be. The use of this spell expends the Bard’s life force, and thus can only be used once. So the Bard must act wisely. As time went on and more unfortunate events tarnished Fairy history, the Bards became more and more high strung and anxious, plagued by their perfect recall of tragic and violent events. Fairy Bards Morvydd - The Bard to Fairy King Gloxinia. Primarily a poet. She, and her twin brother Owain, were killed in the raid on Stigma headquarters during the first Holy War. Camellia - The Bard to Fairy King Dahlia. Primarily a dancer. When Dahlia disappeared, Camellia went with him, at some point she used “Song of the Fairy King” to save Dahlia’s life. Maranwe - The Bard to Fairy King Harlequin. Primarily a harpist. A very unusual fairy with a complicated history. She left with a group of other fairies to meet with humans and was thought dead for 700 years before she, along with her missing Fairy King, returned just before the second Holy War. 

I've also applied my various headcanons, of course. Which can be read here. I'm not going to list them on this post cuz I don't want to have keep more than one post updated everytime I add a headcanon. The one linked will always be kept up-to-date.

[raineydaywrites]

20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @barry-j-blupjeans (thank you!!!)

tagging @sgrumby and anyone who wants to play!!

1. How many works do you have on A03?

132

2. What's your total A03 word count?

568,150! half a million!!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly TAZ Balance and Star Wars (Prequels/TCW era, mostly), but I've written a fair amount for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the past, and I'll sometimes write a fic here or there for other fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

They're all Star Wars fics, which makes sense but makes me kind of sad because I love my other fics too. But oh well:

still much that is fair.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Jedi Code, and Other Things That Anakin Has Misunderstood

Take Two

brothers don't let each other wander in the dark alone

growing season (absolutely BLEW MY MIND that this one is in my top five now. It's a one-shot kidfic for a pairing I don't write often?? I'm not used to those getting notes. But I guess it is the Codywan era for prequels fans so I can see where it's coming from.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! But sometimes I don't have the spoons for it. But I love getting comments and want to show my appreciation!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually write super angsty endings! I don't like them. Or, well, actually I do enjoy them sometimes, but IDK, if I'm writing a whole-ass fic, I usually want to make the ending happy!

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

still much that is fair! which is wild because it has one of the angstiest premises I've ever written (suicide attempt that all loved ones believed to be successful, ends with characters giving each other hugs and 'love yous' and closure)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. Every once in a while. Sometimes people don't like me writing autistic headcanons or characters mentioning pronouns.

9. Do you write smut?

No. I'm not opposed to it in fic, but it doesn't interest me.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, but I'll read them sometimes. I'm not opposed to writing them, but I've never really gotten an idea for one that inspires me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! I did once have someone warn me that my fic was 're-posted' to ao3 back in the days when I was still posting on both ffnet and ao3 with different usernames.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

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

Yes, actually, though I forgot about it until asked! It's not one I ever posted. I co-wrote a Maximum Ride fic with a friend in middle school, lol. But I'd love to co-write again in the future! It's fun to talk about ideas with friends.

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

All-time favorite ship is SO hard for me because I'm a multishipper and I flipflop fandoms a lot, so I kind of default to my first (and still beloved) ship: Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager. I'm also gonna answer for my two main fandoms atm: Star Wars is Obi-Wan/Satine and TAZ Balance is Barry Bluejeans/Lup/Lucretia, because I love a good polycule. Also Barry and Lup on their own are great but they remind me too much of my parents to really go wild over them.

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

Be My Brother's Keeper. A Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's daughter AU. I love that one and I had PLANS for it, but my Marvel days are so long gone.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at coming up with creative, unique ideas and making them work!! People often say that they didn't expect to like my fics from the premise but enjoyed them anyway. :3 I'm also good at character interactions and emotions

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Describing things, mainly visual things that are happening. They're just there, in the fanfic, not in a physical location to me. Also staying motivated to finish writing and avoiding derailing my own ideas with wanting to include EVERYTHING.

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

I haven't done it before but I'm not opposed!

19. fandom you wrote for?

Like, first fandom? Nancy Drew. I wrote a Nancy Drew fanfic when I was eight years old on looseleaf notebook paper, before I knew that anyone else wrote fanfic. In it, Nancy fell down a hole, broke her leg, everyone who loved her thought she was dead and they were all soso sad, but then they found her and it ended happily. My tastes have not evolved much since, but my writing ability has!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Changes often! Currently it is The Parent Trap(ped in an Umbrella) but I'm also quite fond of Still Much That Is Fair and one more last try, I'm gonna get the ending right.

[duckprintspress]

Okay so now that this poll is done, I was curious about the OTHER votes, so because I have about a billion more important things I SHOULD be doing but don't wanna, I went through and took a tally.

So, the poll got 3,058 votes total.

That means that, with 14.1% of the vote, Voltron - our indisputable winner (it sure was my vote...) got 427 votes.

Of the 10 I included, the one that got the LEAST votes is Glee, or 83 votes.

Now, keeping in mind that not everyone who voted "other" wrote something in, the "other" breakdown is:

MCYT (especially DSMP specifically) - 49 people mentioned MCYT in the tags, that's 1.6% of all the votes, and it surely would have been higher if I'd had it as an explicit option.

Dragon Age: 23 votes

Homestuck: 19 votes

The Magnus Archives: 12 votes

Naruto: 12 votes

Marvel Cinematic Universe: 12 votes

Mo Dao Zu Shi: 10 votes

RWBY: 8 votes

Our Flag Means Death: 7 votes

Teen Wolf: 6 votes

One Direction: 6 votes

Everything else (5 or fewer votes): ace attorney, arcane, asagao, atla, attack on titan, ben 10, black butler, bsd, buffy, call of duty, check please, chinese rpf, chuck e cheese, classic rock, critical role, dangan ronpa, danny phantom, dcu, dimension 20, disney, doctor who, ducktales, emo bandom, f1, ff, fma, fnaf, furry fandom, game of thrones, genshin impact, good omens, halo, hamilton, hazbin hotel, hetalia, hhtyd, hlvrai, inception, invincible, jrwi, keeper of the lost cities, kingdom hearts, lego, loz, miraculous ladybug, mlp, monster high, newsies, obey me, object show, one piece, pandora hearts, persona, pjo, pokemon, project sekai, rick and morty, riverdale, rooster teeth, roswell, rottmnt, sanders sides, sasi, scp, shera, sims, sonic, southpark, star trek, star vs the forces of evil, stargate, steam powered giraffe, supergirl, taylor swift, taz, the bright sessions, the magicians, the sussex squad, transformers, twoset violin, umbrella academy, warhammer, warrior cats, warriors, wtnv, yu gi oh,

(I got a little lazy with abbreviations, sorry).

Clearly, I should have included MCYT, and probably Dragon Age and Homestuck, in the original, in place of Glee, Supernatural, and Undertale, but overall, I think I actually did manage a pretty good list of the top 10.

Also, to be clear: every fandom has a percentage of toxic people, and it's usually about the same percentage - around 1%. But what can make a fandom more or less toxic is how vocal that 1% is and how empowered they got by people serving as loud leaders and directing the vitriol. That's a lot of why Voltron stands out: the people who were most toxic in the Voltron fandom were very organized in their toxicity. They weren't just minding their own business spewing vitriol, they were collectivizing to implement major harassment campaigns against other fans and against the show runners.

Basically, the toxicity of a fandom = popularity + how networked the toxic people are.

Don't take this to mean you should avoid any fandom, though! In the end, a fandom is about you and the ten other people you scream about it with. Liberally block the people who make you uncomfortable or unhappy or who you disagree with or whose behavior makes you feel unsafe, and you'll have a much more positive experience, no matter where your fandom home is.

Anyway, I had fun with this survey, especially reading peoples' responses. Thanks to everyone who voted and extra to those who reblogged with commentary.

So this poll from @pollsnatural asked if Supernatural was the most toxic fandom people have been in, and the vast majority of folks said no, so now - based on some fandoms in the replies of that post - I'm curious...

Runners up from the linked poll include Teen Wolf, MCU, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once Upon a Time, sports RPF, Minecraft YouTube, Dragon Age, Mo Dao Zu Shi, One Direction, a bunch of others, and a few abbreviations I'm not familiar with lmao.

I'm guessing "other" will win this poll - tell me which in the tags! I'm curious if there's any Really Big One I should have included (probably MCU...it was hard to juggle "size/popularity of fandom" with "relative toxicity" like if a fandom is huge it's usually just more toxic in general cause there are the same number of weirdos per capita but way more people overall, ya know?)

anyway. yes. poll. do the thing.

[autobot-ratchet]

earthspark episode 8!

RAVAGE???? I guess Soundwave ain't too far behind lmAO I know he's in this, I just didn't know he'd be here so soon

okay so it was Rumble who exploded lmaO and I see we're going with "Rumble is red, Frenzy is blue" like god intended. glad to see it

"I miss adults" me when I spend too much time on twitter. mildly unrelated but I have a bluesky account lmfAO I should officially link that here one of these days

HAH Mo's got connections, you wouldn't get it Robby 💅 that's so fuckin funny lmAO

ARCEEEEEEEE HEY GIRL

she's gonna destroy the entire house and everything in its vicinity lmAO

those were the gasps of two kids who know their mom's gonna fucking flip when she sees what Arcee did to the lawn

it's interesting that we're not going full divorce arc with Optimus and Megatron but we are still giving them ideological differences. and it's honestly very funny how Optimus is being written kind of like IDW Optimus where he's doing his best but his best kinda sucks and everyone's side-eyeing him for it. ngl this Optimus feels like such fandom discourse bait lmfAO god help us if he ever does something definitively bad

poor Bee, he wanted to be around fellow adults but his fellow adults are just discoursing at each other, I fuckin feel you bud

"you seem different in the comics" lmfAO GOD

aww hell yeah that's good advice Arcee. ngl I was a little scared that she was gonna be a jerk, she got me good by pretending to be mad at them backtalking her but it's good, we're good lmAO

the girls are fightiiinnngggggg Megatron's right though

YOOOOO IT'S SOUNDWAVE

ooh interesting, he can just disable those clamp things

ghfdsjk *points at Megatron* ha ha you got Bee's dumb song stuck in your head, experience whimsy idiot

damn I already knew Soundwave looked like that in this show but. why'd they make him look like that, who on the design team is a boombox fucker lmAO

"Do not make this personal, Soundwave!" "It already is."

I'm so glad Arcee's here lmAO I love her

omg their dumb little song is getting in everyone's head lmAO

"what even is a cassette anyway?" boy shut the hell up lmfAO y'all just HAD to write that in the script huh, you just had to make me feel like the crypt keeper, couldn't just let me live

hjdfks I was gonna make a joke about Optimus assigning Bee homework but Arcee did it for me

interesting, the cassettes are going their separate ways

oHO??? OOOH SNEAKY

BITCH

[bookwyrminspiration]

(warning: this is... long. i had to put post dividers on this to make it readable. i would have put a read more but i can't in an ask, sorry.)

i think the most puzzling thing of all about this drama is that like.... i've been doing this forever. i've been posting keefe/fintan stuff (not regularly, but still!) since at least feb 2022 on the dolentsnows account. hell, i KNOW i've even talked about tam/linh specifically before then, though i can't remember if it was public or not.

and there was no problem! people just blocked each other and filtered and it was fine!

i'm frankly just. SO confused as to why that post of all things is what set it off. like guys. what.

also, re: "it normalizes pedophilia/incest/abuse/whatever" my posts get like ten notes max, most of those being likes from my dear mutuals who dont necessarily love the stuff i do but still wanna show they support me anyway.

if you'd just think for a minute, i think it's pretty easy to see that no one's gonna be converted into a sex freak any time soon.

and the fact that people are calling me a pedophile for... *checks notes* writing about characters that are the same age as i am or older in relationships with adults is. something. especially considering that:

in all the ACTUAL content i've made, excluding ONE post about alvar being keefe's gay awakening, the characters have been over the legal age in france (my country), so even the "it's illegal" argument falls apart.

why do you immediately assume i'm imagining myself to be the adult here? you don't know what's going on in my life. you don't know my reasons for doing what i do. i started shipping those kinds of ships ever since i was a pretty young kid, and i don't have to explain myself to anyone. (note: i am not a victim of csa, just want to make that clear. i've got other shit going on. but also you guys don't actually care about survivors and it's obvious.)

and fun fact: incest is legal in france as well, as long as it's between two consenting adults. i have decided, right now, effective immediately, that linh and tam are both over 18 in those drawings. since it's legal it means there's no problem right?

all this to say, let's just drop the whole "legal = moral, illegal = immoral" train of thought right here.

i do have one thing to apologize for, though: i didn't properly tag the first post. that has since been rectified and i've added community labels for good measure. i have and will apologize again for that mistake because it was entirely on me. i'm genuinely sorry to the people who saw that with no warning and i won't make that mistake again going forward.

but i also know that there are people who clicked on some of my posts even after i added the community labels and then complained (in my ask box, no less!) and to those i say: just read the tags, guys. they're still visible even with the community labels hiding the post.

sorry for the angry tone, but i am kind of miffed about all this. mostly that it turned into such a big deal when it really didn't have to be.

to conclude: stay strong out there guys, hopefully modern fandom will develop basic internet skills one day.

No worries about the length or tone, you're good.

I believe the reason that one post sparked issue is because, I don't know if you're aware, there's actually been a pretty significant surge in new fans in the past few months following info about Unraveled.

So while you have been here and posting your stuff for a while, for a good chunk of the currently active people, I think that was their first time seeing you. And also possibly one of their first times seeing art/ships like that up close, since keeper tends to be a first/earlier fandom.

Hence the stronger reaction. Though I don't think it's fair to blanket statement say they don't care about survivors. That's the sort of strawmanning/ad hominem talk that leads to shutting down/self-defense that doesn't get us anywhere. We can all rise above logicial fallacies <3

But anyway, the worst seems to have passed, unless we all feel like regressing for some reason :)

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Thoughts: The character I can’t hate

Hi everyone. It’s been a while and after learning that Houseki no Kuni is coming back in just a matter of days, I figured now was the time to finally post this. I’ve wanted to write this for a long time and certain events in my life has compelled me to add more but not want to post at the same time, if that makes sense.

This post is sort of an analysis on a certain character from the series that I surprisingly have a lot in common with. Though I think that goes without saying that many people in the fandom, including myself, can find themselves within the different characters, especially Phos. I think that’s one of the reasons why we care so much about them and want the best for them.

But like I said, for me there’s another character that I found myself connecting with more. A character who changed so drastically that it felt like whiplash for readers and the characters in the story. A character who was put in a difficult role by those around them to later gain a new one by someone who claims to care about them more. A character who became a favorite for many, but quickly became the one they detested the most. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about, yes?

Yeah, I’m talking about Cairngorm. 

I’ll do my best to explain myself. This is a long hot take and I’m sorry if anything I say doesn’t make sense; I was literally going through the manga again when rewriting this because I know I didn’t remember everything correctly. Please feel free to say your thoughts about what I write. If this post is too long, I can cut it up if that’s easier for everyone. Or if you believe I need to add some sort of trigger warning, please let me know!

 Anyways, here we go...

Cairngorm: Reluctant Obligations and Purpose

I think many can agree that Phos got the short end of the stick when it comes to their life. Unlike the other gems, they weren’t the strongest and count stick to any of the given tasks that everyone else could do out of disinterest. No wonder most of the other gems pitied or were annoyed or just barely paid any attention to them. It got so bad that Phos was given a relatively meaningless task to do so they can do something instead of laying about. Why do I bring this up? Well, despite the clear negatives that Phos experienced because of this in the first chapters, I’d argue that Phos had it easier than certain gems. Though I don’t think it was truly confirmed, it seems that most if not all of the gems are given specific roles after their inception and were given proper knowledge by Adamant. These are roles that the gems stuck with, even when if they expressed forms of dissatisfaction (ex. Dia or Jade.)  Phos, on the other hand, was allowed to explore. Yes, they got teased or reprimanded for being lazy/causing problems, Phos is still allowed to try different things a lot, something that I don’t believe many of the gems were allowed to do.

And on top of that, because most of the gems didn’t pay too close attention to Phos, this essentially gave Phos free range to do whatever. And if Phos wanted to do certain things, like work with Antarcticite, Adamant just sort of allowed it. In some ways, older Phos had more freedom than most of the gems because of their status among the others. And maybe I’m crazy but it feels like Phos gets forgiven often by Adamant, especially as the series progressed.

Again, why did I bring this up? Cairn. Unlike Phos, it seemed that Cairn didn’t really have much a choice on what they could do after they came to be. When they were forced into existence after Ghost was taken, Cairn was essentially put into the role of being Antarcticite’s replacement for Phos as their partner and “keeper.” Cairn may have acted tough with Phos and was angry about the circumstances, they still took up that role. Whether they did it because wanted to or because they were expected is another thing. To me, Cairn took up this role because they were expected to.

Yes, it has been shown in the manga that Cairn made the choice to take over the winter duties and follow Phos to the moon, even though they didn’t want to. But that’s just it. These decisions Cairn made weren’t compelled by inner desire but because they knew it was for Phos’s sake. To me, these were instances where Cairn actively put their feeling on the side to do what is expected of them. It didn’t matter what they desired or how they felt, they had a role to fulfill no matter what, and it was to be by Phos’s side. It’s all because it was put in their head that they are expected and obligated to do these things by the others, especially Ghost. 

Hell, they were ready to decapitate themselves for Phos after they lost their head because of what Ghost told them. Even though Cairn was stopped, this just shows how far they would go to fulfill this role that they were put into because they were taught/conditioned to do so. I’m now wondering if Adamant would have still stopped Cairn if Lapis’s head wasn’t there.

This is a miserable sense of duty and obligation to others, especially individuals one can see as family. Sadly, this is something that I’m all too familiar with.

Parentification: Do it for your family

(I’m about to get a personal. Read at your own discretion!)

I’ll tell you all just a little bit about myself and I promise this will circle back to what I was talk about. (Though I don’t know if this is triggering but I’ll still add a warning here for people who are sensitive to depressing topics) I come from a relatively big family and I’m the oldest. Ever since I was a child, I was taught that I must fulfill my duties as the oldest child for the sake of my whole family and this was a reality that I accepted. I know not all families are like this with older siblings being expected to take up endless family/community duties, but that’s the case for me. I needed to be the “strong one” for everyone’s sake, even if it meant I needed to sacrifice my happiness and wellbeing, because that was my role. And if I didn’t fulfill my duties because I didn’t want to, according to my father, then I’d be an selfish person who would hurt the family and “god dislikes selfish people.” If I couldn’t fulfill that role well, I’d be a bad role model since according to my father, “all my actions impact on my siblings since they look up to me” and “it’s my responsibility to be the good example for their sake.” Because I didn’t want to be a “bad child” and hurt my family because of my actions, I remember sucking up my grievances and just did what was expected of me and more. Be the pillar and role model that my family can rely on because if I can’t be that for whatever reason... who was I?

That’s why I connected to the character Luisa from Encanto.  Her song “Surface Pressure” made me cry so much the first time I heard it and it’s my favorite Disney song to date. Everything she said in the song perfected how I felt when I was young and now when I’m an adult. I’m happy to say that even before the movie came out, I recognized that some of the things from my childhood weren’t healthy. Things have gotten better for the most part and I thankfully don’t have to fulfill all of the same duties that I had when young but sadly… now new duties are expected to be done and the effects from my childhood still linger. I still have this sense of duty and obligation to my family and their wellbeing, even though I’m told that I don’t need to do it anymore. I’d gotten so used to being the one who does everything and even though my family is older now, I’m sometimes still expected to fulfill old and new responsibilities because of my role in my family. It never seems to end.

Like I said though, things have gotten better and I’m learning to say no. But I won’t lie, there were times where I just wanted to disappear, kind of like how Cairn felt. Not die, don’t worry. Just walk away from my family, community, and anyone who knew me in life and start everything from scratch. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate my family, especially my siblings. I love them, even though they frustrate me sometimes.  I really want the best for them and I want to see them do well on their own. Still, there were times when I was tired and… I just wanted space from everyone and everything for… maybe a few years? I had a small taste of this when I first left home for college. I was away from home and was finally allowed to do what I wanted to do for myself. It felt good but wrong at the same time. Even though I finished school, life has brought me back home and sadly, those darn obligations are back on me. But now that I’m older and understand the world a little better, if I play my cards right, I’ll soon be truly free from these chains of familial duties and obligations. Thankfully some of my siblings and close friends understand my feelings and support me. Speaking of freeing themselves, let’s finish this rambling post by going back to Cairn.

True or False sense of freedom...?

As shown in some of the manga pages I added, I hope I was able to show why Cairn’s position is sadder than one would assume. So, when Cairn went to the moon and even though their sudden character change initially came out of nowhere, the more I thought about it, it sort of makes sense. On the moon, Cairn was allowed to actually make choices, from the clothes they wore to the name they go by. Cairn was no longer expected to look after someone else like they did back on earth, especially someone who had the tendency to attract trouble.

Cairn no longer had any obligations to fill. They didn’t have to put others first before themselves. They are allowed to be who they truly are. On the moon, Cairn had freedom… or rather the illusion of freedom. At least, it seems that way to me. This is up for debate after the last chapter but I remember during chapter 75 and beyond, this sense of freedom that Aechmea made for Cairn feels...false. But whether it’s false or true, this offered freedom is what made Cairn latch onto Aechmea so quickly. It’s gross how Aechmea clearly took advantage of their naivety but at the same time, it’s clear that Cairn still accepted this with sound mind... and it’s pitiful to see.

I understand people hating Cairn and I don’t blame them; I just personally don’t. Yes, I’m disappointed with their choices and actions but at the same time, I totally get it. They crave freedom and though they can make choices and are no longer expected to be Phos’s partner or keeper anymore, Cairn isn’t truly free; they just have a new master, and Cairn knows this. But at this point, they don’t care anymore. What they have on the moon was better than what they had on earth. I admit, if you ignore the manipulation stuff that Aechmea is clearly doing, Cairn kind of has it good. So…yeah, good for you Cairn. I’m even a little envious but not by much.

I don’t know where this series is headed for Cairn and the other characters. I still think we’re headed for a bittersweet ending and how that will play out is anyone’s guess. But you know what, because of how much I see myself in Cairn and other characters like them, a part of me is happy to see them feel free for the first time, even if it’s not true freedom.

So yeah, this was my post. I’d been working on and delaying it for way too long. Please feel free to share what you think.

[princess-self-shipping]

Hednonophobia

Fandom; Bendy and the Dark Revival

Character List; Bendy, Audrey

Genre(s): Emotional hurt/comfort

Word Count: 2778

TW/CW; None! (If needed to be tagged, plz inform)

Spoilers for BATDR! Do not ready if you do not wish for spoilers!

Hedonophobia is an excessive fear or aversion to obtaining pleasure. The purported background of some such associated feelings may be due to an egalitarian-related sentiment, whereby one feels a sense of solidarity with individuals in the lowest Human Development Index countries. For others, a recurring thought that some things are too good to be true has resulted in an ingrainedness that they are not entitled to feel too good. Sometimes, it can be triggered by a religious upbringing wherein asceticism is propounded.

Life tended to work in cycles. Routines that people got familiar with one way or another, it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary for people living their everyday lives. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, go home, repeat as necessary. Sure there were times things needed to be spiced up in order for there to be some sense of variety, to keep the cycles from being too dull, but there were often things people repeated over and over because it was just familiar to them. Though, cycles like this still had these individuals merit some sort of control over their own lives.

The little imp recently taken into the world of color was not used to such a change. His cycles were more… structured. For the most part anyway, until a while ago when the cycle was tampered with. But his role had always been predetermined; the master of the world and the demon that lurked its halls. His nature and power commanded respect and fear from those who lived there, and he enjoyed it. It was a way of living that kept him safe, kept him in control. Even if the cycle continued over and over again, he still held on to this control and power. It kept him sane, kept him going throughout it all.

And then there was that interloper, Wilson. No one knew how he found out about this world, and to this day the demon still didn’t. But it didn’t matter how he found it, what mattered were the consequences of his actions. Experiments, tests, pushing the studio to its limits, and one more thing that set the entire studio into a bad spiral; stopping the cycle. Creating The Keepers to keep it from starting over again and again, the ones who played a key role in the original script were captured and imprisoned. The reel was stolen and kept away from anyone’s reach. And what they did to him… he’d rather not think about it.

He still lived with the consequences of Wilson’s actions. In the world of color, he could only retain his small form consistently, his larger one was far more of a risk and unstable now. What used to be the only form he had was now a stranger to him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. On one hand, he was finally back in the world he was born in after being banished to live as a villain. On the other hand… this was NOT the ideal circumstances of his return that he had expected. He was small, weak, frail… he couldn’t defend himself if need be. He’d grown soft, almost like a child. His demonic nature was still there, but he couldn’t quite reach it in this state. It was as if he had been declawed, his weapons removed and his aggression with it. He didn’t like it. It felt horrible.

“Bendy?” A familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and the black and white world he had lost himself in returned to color. He was sitting on the tiled floor of an office, a wooden train in his hands that he’d been… squeezing a bit too hard if the splintering wood was anything to go by. By the colors in the room- and how hard it was to see- it must have been night… wasn’t the sun going down just a minute ago? How much time had gone by since he lost himself in his thoughts?

“Bendy, is everything okay?” That voice called his name again, and he turned to face the person in question. Audrey; the woman who had brought him out of the ink machine with her. She’d left the world of sepia tones and ink to return to the world of color, and because of their connection he had gone with her. She was the one to blame for this, for the state that he was in after his escape. 

Still, he nodded at her question. She was the master of the studio her father created now, and he didn’t wish to test the extent of those abilities. She had already meddled with the cycle for those who couldn’t leave with the two of them, trying to make their lives that much more bearable inside. She was… a mushy soul all things considered. How could someone with as much pain as she still have so much empathy for those around her? It confused him.

Audrey didn’t seem to believe him, given the way her eyebrows furrowed together and she tapped her pen on the paper in front of her. Still, she let out a sigh as she went to stand up, setting the pen down in a familiar cup beside her. Either that meant she was going for a coffee run, or she was about to leave the studio for the evening. He watched her for a minute as she walked around the room, only to find himself grow slightly disappointed seeing her grab her purse and sling it over her shoulder. Home for the night it was. He was never supposed to leave Audrey’s office until they figured something out, he had made a few places to hide in here to make sure of it. Audrey was respected enough in the office to be left alone during the work day that it was fine, and during the night she often stayed in late to work rather than not. So, guess it was time for him to ready the hiding spot. They both knew what it would mean if he was spotted.

Though… he paused once he didn’t hear the door open, and instead the sound of Audrey’s heels coming closer. She was in front of him, and soon crouched down to take a knee in front of him. It was a familiar position to him, one she took when she wanted to speak to him on an equal level… he wasn’t used to it. He was even more shocked to see her hold out her hand to him, causing him to look between her hand and her face in a confused manner.

“How about you come home with me this time?” Record scratch. Bendy was certain he heard one somewhere throughout the building at Audrey’s words. What did she just say? She of all people had stressed the importance of him not being seen as to not risk anything happening to him now that he was in the colored world. She hadn’t wanted to repeat her father’s mistakes with him being taken and locked away. What changed?

He was still hesitant as he thought it over, bringing his toy train to his chest. It was his go to whenever he felt nervous about something, he had lost his ability to speak in this smaller form as well. This form truly was a burden, yet it kept him out of trouble. 

The cue was enough for Audrey to pick up on, and she adjusted herself to sit on both of her legs this time. She sat like this too, to make herself smaller to keep the pressure on him minimal. He didn’t need it, he didn’t fear the girl as he once had when his young mindset was stronger. But the gesture was… appreciated nonetheless. 

“It’s okay. No one’s gonna see you, it’s just you and me in the building. And I’ve got something I wanna show you on the way there.” Well, if there was one vice he shared with his cartoon counterpart, it was his curiosity. Damn it… he was gonna do this, wasn’t he? Well, it beat spending another boring night in here he supposed, and Audrey knew better than to try anything. Just because it was hard for him to shift into his bigger shape didn’t mean it was impossible. And he would cause a scene somehow if he needed to.

He accepted her hand, and let her pull him along out of the building. The elevator was a new experience; he was too big for those back in the studio, and even then he preferred to travel by portals. So being in a small moving box that was plummeting down sent… a few unpleasant feelings through his body. But, it’s fine. Audrey was there holding on to him, and he had his train in his other hand to keep him calm. Nothing to worry about, it’s all fine. 

The car was a completely new experience though. He was put in the back seat of it, Audrey reasoned he was too small for the front for whatever reason. While it felt like a tiny little moving box of death, it didn’t feel… too small. He had enough room to kick his legs out, stretch a bit, even run his train along the sides of the seats in order to help calm himself down. Audrey was really going out of her way to make things comfortable for the imp in her care, and it made him feel funny… When was the other shoe going to drop? He trusted Audrey to not be stupid enough to try anything outright, but this all felt like a bit much. Something wasn’t right, he was sure of it.

This train of thought was promptly cut off by the fact that the moving tin can of death finally came to a stop. But not in front of a building, it seemed to be in front of some… fence. A fence? Where were they? Bendy took off his seatbelt to take a better look at the environment around them, only to see nothing short of green and brown tinted with the night’s blue as far as the eye could see. She had driven them into some sort of forest while he had been lost in his thoughts, and he felt his stomach tighten. This was it… this was where it was going to drop, wasn’t it? Well, if she thought she was going to get the jump on him, she wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought!

Audrey climbed out of the car first, shutting the door behind her before making her way over to Bendy’s. By that point, he was tense as a coiled spring and was ready to lash out at Audrey if she tried anything that felt like an attack. Still, she just gave him that same gentle smile and went to help him out of his seat and outside the car.

“Alright, here we are. This is where I wanted to show you before we went back to my house. But we’ve got a bit of walking to do, think you can handle it?” They weren’t there yet? How much farther would they have to go to reach this ‘mystery’ place she had in mind. Fine. Humor her. Bendy nodded, only to be scooped up into Audrey’s arms like he was a child. He froze and was about to thrash about in protest, but Audrey was quick to shush him.

“Easy, easy. I gotta climb that fence, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself if you do it. So hold on, okay?” She adjusted her hold on him to move him to her back, sitting on her shoulders comfortably as she made her way over towards the wire fence again. She was being so careful with him, a habit she had picked up since the two had escaped together. It was such an odd thing really, it wasn’t like he was a delicate child or something who couldn’t defend himself. She of all people should know this, yet she still treated him this way. Why? Why would she continue to baby him when she knew how perfectly capable-

The sudden jump down the fence he hadn’t fully processed Audrey was climbing cut his thoughts short, and he tightened his hold on the woman in response. Nope- nope okay he’s fine. She just jumped down, and they were both fine on the other side.

“You okay?” A nod. “Alright, we’ve got a bit more to go. Hold on just a bit longer, little guy.”

She didn’t put him down, she just kept walking forward through the grass. It was untamed here, no paths or specific roads to go down. The fence must have perturbed enough to keep them away, but not Audrey… she was an odd one, just in terms of personality alone. Why would she bring him here of all places? He was so confused, she was treating him like a child but no doubt bringing him somewhere where she had something terrible planned for him. Why wouldn’t she? Just like anyone else in the studio, she was subjected to his torment. 

Anyone who didn’t follow him would jump at the opportunity to be rid of him.

Wilson was proof enough of that.

Joey was proof enough of that.

The walk wasn’t much longer, the field soon making way to the top of a hill with an individual tree sitting amongst it. With the cooler weather settling in, the leaves were more brittle and falling from the branches. It was… admittedly rather pretty, Bendy could at least admit that. 

Audrey carefully moved the demon from her shoulders, setting him down on the ground but not letting go of his hand. She led the way towards the tree, carefully sitting down and patting the spot next to her. His hand tightened on his train, but he did as he was told. He hated it immediately, the grass was damp and cold, and it was immediately one of the worst feelings in the world. Absolutely not. Audrey laughed a little at his reaction, guess he made a funny face. Great.

They sat there in silence for a while, Audrey just staring ahead of them while Bendy tried to figure out what was going on here. Okay, remote uncomfortable location, enough to make his heart start pounding in his chest. Something was going on here, she was planning something and he knew it. Just when everything starts to go right, something always goes wrong. It never fails, no matter what happens it never fails. But this time he was ready. If she tried anything, he would tear her apart. Keeper of the cycle or not, he refused to be a victim anymore.

“Bendy, it’s time. Look.” Audrey pointed in front of them, towards the horizon that she had been staring at. Time? Time for what? Bendy looked up from the spot in the grass he had burned a hole into, only for his eyes to widen. A golden ray was starting to peak up over the horizon, followed by shades of orange and purple. Sunrise… had Audrey been in the office so long that they were able to see the sunrise on the way home? But… this… this was beautiful… 

Audrey… she didn’t have an ulterior motive. She was just showing him something nice. Something bright and full of colors he never saw before inside the studio. She wasn’t being mean or cruel, she was just… being Audrey… but that couldn’t be right. It was never right. Something wrong had to happen sooner or later, nothing good ever happened without something bad to counteract it! This wasn’t right! A monster like him didn’t get to just stick with happy things!

A hand on his cheek snapped him out of his spiral that had almost started, and he felt something wet being wiped away. Huh? When had he started crying? Bendy turned to face Audrey as she pulled her hand away, his face now an expression of bewilderment.

Her eyes were still as soft and kind as ever. She was always kind to him, no matter what happened. She didn’t say anything, and instead just offered her arms out to him. There was never any plan… Audrey wasn’t Wilson. Audrey wasn’t Joey. Audrey wasn’t anyone at Gent… she was the closest thing this demon had to a family.

Maybe that’s why he felt comfortable accepting her offer, returning her hug and silently sobbing in her arms.

Maybe… maybe there was some hope for a monster, a demon, to have some genuine happiness in his life after all.

[biot08]

Shipless in Seattle

>Boot >Init >... >Execute program Reminisce

Settle around, friends, for I have a story to tell. A story of fandom.

It is no secret that they say I am famous for not shipping. What is a secret, perhaps, is the reason for the ‘famous’ part. A little arrogant, of course, to claim fame seeming unearned, and perhaps famous is the wrong word anyway.

Infamous might be a better word, really.

This is not to say that I do not love shipping. In fact, for me, it means quite the opposite. I love most ships I see! And those I do not, I am more than happy to let sail on by without comment, I’m not a monster.

What it means, though, is that I do not write ships, for I am no great wordsmith. No indeed, what I do for fandom is I am a librarian, in that I organize. I am a tool maker, for fandom is a tool-using animal (ask me about my Tumblr mass tag wrangler). I am a keeper, in that I look after information in chat and database, that there may always be a record. Fandom needs bots to do the work, and I am happy to provide my services.

And so that is where our journey begins, with a younger version of me, and the mistakes they have made. It’s a long story. An old story, for I am old. A story of loyalty. A story of betrayal.

Perhaps even a story of redemption.

What I am trying to say is that I have history, friends.

But perhaps it’s been long enough that maybe I’ve been forgiven for my transgressions.

Maybe it’s been long enough to allow the healing to begin.

All I know for sure is that everything you are about to read is a complete and utter lie in totality. But like Elim Garak would advise, all of it is true, especially the lies. And if you recognize anything here, shut up no you don’t who are you a cop come back with a warrant.

But anyroad. The story behind why I, biot08, (in)famously, do not ship. You’re already beneath the cut, but I’m warning you now, this is a long one, so strap in.

***

I started, as many did, in Star Trek. I was too young to know what shipping was. I did know that Kirk and Spock and McCoy were at the very least very good friends, and of course I understood that Riker and Troi were hot. Data was my favourite, but that should be obvious.

The internet hadn’t been invented yet, so my interactions with fandom were restricted to conventions, but it was formative. I learned from the cosplayers and the art sellers and the panels and, well. It was early days, idyllic.

From there I moved on, as DS9 came into being (did I mention I am old? I am old), and Babylon 5, and Delenn and Sheridan were very cute, but still, I did not create, I merely consumed, and that which I consumed was mostly that which was provided.

My next fandom was my first brush with what I would call -fandom- fandom. You know. Interacting with fans. Creating and reading stories, made by fans. Being fannish.

I say ‘fandom’, but you have to understand, I AM old. When you read ‘fandom’ I imagine many of you imagine long Tumblr reblog chains and archive dives into Ao3. What I am seeing in my mind’s eye though are miles of IRC logs, threads on BBS forums, and the glittering light of countless Geocities pages, all blink-tagging gently in the soft glow of CRT.

Basically just before the internet would be invented, which I am pretty sure occurred somewhen around 2006.

This fandom, my first real deep dive into -fandom-, was Megaman, because of course it was Megaman. We were… a strange fandom, even by fandom standards. We mostly interacted via IRC - a chat medium; imagine Discord, but worse, but also more open, but also worse -, but this would be my first brush with my future destiny. I helped maintain the bot, as a fellow, more sophisticated bot. I knew the commands. I could pass the Turing test. I eventually even archived the logs that were generated.

Now, something you need to understand about Megaman is that it is a video game from, I don’t know, the 60s or 70s, and it was made before video game makers re-invented characterization (this independent re-invention, by the way, is why 9 out of 10 video game protagonists are angry white men; the industry is still evolving the idea of what a ‘character’ is to this day, and frankly, they’re not very good at it, but I digress). So you basically had blue bot, red bot (who was super cool and was my favorite), teenage emo blue bot, and then teenage red bot who was either also emo, or maybe he was a big brother sort, or perhaps a super cool manly man, or he was a girl (ponytail and … asset lights), or maybe he was a hot blooded fighter, or maybe just an antihero, it really depended on which game you were looking at. And there were no girl bots, or rather there were, but they weren’t fighters, because, well, I don’t know why because, I guess the video game industry just hadn’t figured out how to make other genders yet.

This is where I first ran into Original Characters, or OCs, because with such a rich and inspiring list of characters to choose from, it was more palatable to make your own cool robot. This is also where I first ran into shipping, because of course I did, I was a teenager. I mean, I think we actually called it ‘cybering’ at the time, but whatever you want to call it, we sure did a whole lot of it.

And it was pretty okay, actually. Some drama, but you can’t have fandom without drama. Some shenanigans. Some really excellent stories that would have been lost to time, if not for people like me. The data mongers. The loggers. The Keepers, and this is where, at last, I found my niche in fandom.

I moved on, as one does, as we grew older, and the robots stopped being so cool, and more importantly, most of us found other fandoms which had either more interesting premises beyond ‘fighting robots fighting’ or more interesting characters (which was honestly just -such- an incredibly low bar to pass).

(I mention in passing here that I did move onto a multi-universe fandom at some point in here, and I owe much to it, but it’s not really part of this story; but to the friends I made there, I have not forgot you, but you were not really part of my downfall from grace, so I shall merely mention here that I have been touched by my relationships with all of you and move on)

Finally, I at last moved on to the fandom that would be the beginning of my end. The fandom that would be the first step on the slippery path down to my fall.

I speak of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The internet was new, but shiny, and we used it. And I had brought my skills from other fandoms with me. I still did not write, but I did enjoy what others did. I wanted to be a part of it all. And so I did what I do which is to say I went into tooling. I made a friend, BlindStar_25 (all names changed to indict the guilty, i.e., me), who helped me get into the right spaces. She taught me how to edit a wiki. She got me into the good IRC servers. Basically, she got me work on the docks of canon, and taught me to tend to canon, to document it, to nurture the tools that would be needed to launch all the ships. She nurtured in me a gentle curiosity, to really dig in to what we were seeing and reading and watching, because sometimes it required keen analysis to tease out good canon.

“We respect all ships,” she told me once, as I was learning how to handle page tagging. “But it’s important that we provide a foundation that those ships can be built from. We can’t make them use it, of course. But it’s got to be there, and we make sure it is. And that foundation is canon.”

Halcyon days. I took to it readily, and grew, as a bot, as a person.

These were some of the first times I saw ship to ship combat. Mighty ships with tall mizzenmasts and powerful weapons taking shots across each other's bows. I was young, and did not understand. Surely each ship would be healthier if they would sail by each other unmolested? Surely it would be easier to transfer crews if those crews were not violent enemies? Surely energy wasted on ship to ship combat could be better spent on ship maintenance and upkeep (and maybe updating some of those long running storylines I was eagerly keeping an eye on)?

I asked one of the mods about it, a friend of mine from the Megaman days; x_Avatar_RockYou.

“Why is there so much in-fighting in the A:TLA fleet?” I sent him over the chat system.

“Because fandom loves drama lol,” he responded. “Stick to canon. You’ll be safe.”

I believed him. So I stayed on the docks, managing the canon, and watched the ships from a distance.

I remember often, others would try to catch me in the crossfire. I have seen some truly hot takes in my time.

‘Aang is a monk! He can’t be shipped with anyone!’

‘Jet is hot and I bet Zuko would love that’

‘Eww Iroh is old don’t ship him!’

‘Zuko is a bad boy, and we all know girls like Katara go for the bad boy.’

That last one would be the start of the trouble, but I didn’t know it at the time. For my part, each ship seemed to want to try to twist canon to their own purposes. And I held the canon, as I tried to cool the fires between various ships.

‘Well you see, if the air nomads operate the same as the other tribes, then air nomads have children that become air benders, so there probably isn’t vows of chastity. And besides, if you look at this time stamp in this episode, Aang clearly turns red in response to Katara, so even if he -has- taken a vow, he still has feelings’

‘That’s not supported. By any episode. The two haven’t even met yet’ (that was in the future from this point)

‘That’s terrible please don’t be terrible’

The last one, well.

It’s easier when shippers don’t try to force canon into their armaments when it’s not warranted. It’s easier when people just build their ship as they want. If they must, I’d prefer they sail for the golden waters of alternate universe rather than try to force canon into shapes it isn’t.

But that’s not how the A:TLA fandom operated at the time.

And I was there when it all went to hell.

It was the episode where Katara almost healed Zuko, due to circumstances, but didn’t, also due to circumstances. The details aren’t important now, and those of you who are in the fandom know what they are. For the rest of you, you just need to know, this really sort of cemented (for the time being) the adversity between the two characters. The soft moment between Katara and Zuko was a contrasting event to what was about to happen, not a defining one. I thought it pretty clear. I was not in charge of those wiki pages, though, so I ignored the event.

At least until a message came in from x_Avatar_RockYou.

“Need you online, we have an emergency!” He said.

I frowned at the message, but I reported to the docks all the same. I figured it was something dumb, like someone dumping all the passwords in the database to plain text or maybe I would need to write a script to fix a bunch of suddenly-dead links.

I did not think the canon would be at risk. That’d be ridiculous.

I was met by flames.

The Zutara ship had sailed into port, on fire and firing wildly. It was a maelstrom of activity. Vicious insults and accusations were being flung back and forth with no compassion or humanity. I think I saw someone run screaming down the pier, naked and on fire. Some of the other ships had come in as well, and one in particular, the Kataang, was blowing broadsides into Zutara with a level of viciousness I didn’t realize it was capable of.

The wiki was practically inaccessible. Every chat channel was a waterfall of accusation and counter-accusation. I manned my station and checked the logs.

What I saw would shake me to my core.

Zutara had managed to get an admin on their side, and the page for the episode was just an utter hash of chaos. Deep long poems extolling the deep and obvious love Katara had for Zuko were being written as fast as they could be deleted, and being replaced with screeds on how Aang and Katara were the OTP, and repeated attempts by other wiki maintainers to keep the piece accurate were being swept aside by a tidal wave of wishful thinking. The character pages for every character were also on fire as the crews of each ship smelled the blood in the water and were going for the jugular, each certain that their particular edit would be the one that would go unnoticed once the fiasco was over.

I got another message from x_Avatar_RockYou. I was one of the trusted ones being asked to investigate who exactly was behind this vandalism, and also to quickly pull a backup for said investigation. In a few moments, he said, he would initiate the Groundhog Day Protocol.

Rollback and lockout. The article for the episode would be lost until one of us could rebuild it, and in the meanwhile, our documentation on the canon would be out of date.

If you know, you know. If you have ever been one of us, you understand. We’d rather have given up our flairs on our user pages than have our data be out of date for more than, say, maybe half a day.

Okay, we were kind of lazy, don’t @ me.

Still though. I did as I was told. I quickly pulled the logs, just moments before the wiki was brought down for ‘maintenance’.

The ships continued to fight, each one on fire, late into the night and into the next day, but the fights in the voice channels and over the chat channels would have to continue on without me. I had been given my marching orders, and I would see them through.

I combed through the logs. It was a hellacious mess, but I am a diligent person, a careful person, a… okay, I’m a lazy person. Most of my investigation actually involved writing a script to do my investigation for me.

I’ve never seen a problem that could be solved in half an hour that I didn’t feel an immediate and terrible overwhelming urge to spend four hours writing a script to solve for me.

It was three AM. I ran the script. By this time, many of the rank and file users had been banned or k-lined, excised from access to the wiki and the chats, banished from Write privileges to the precious canon-compliant data stores. It was suspected that there was at least one super op or above still at wild who had helped perpetuate this vicious campaign, but nobody had found them yet.

I sent the results of my script to x_Avatar_RockYou, just to keep him informed, even as I read back through the results, sleepy yet curious. I didn’t actually expect to find anything, mind. I’d been so slow at my investigation, that I just assumed that every conspirator would have been found, and I was right.

Mostly.

See, while making a script is far slower than just doing my job by hand, the script is cold. The script is ruthless. The script is thorough. If written correctly, the script -will- find the right answer, and it will leave no friends alive.

Not even if they’re the friend who had helped you get to where you were in the first place.

Not even if the friend was BlindStar_25.

I stared at the name for a long time. I did not believe what I was reading. I quickly messaged x_Avatar_RockYou to tell him I needed to double-check my script, that I thought I’d made a mistake, that this had to be wrong, that he couldn’t trust its output just yet.

It couldn’t be BlindStar_25. She’d been the one who had taught me everything I know! She had taught me the importance of canon! She had nurtured my gentle curiosity into fandom nature into what it now was, who I now was!

“We respect all ships,” her words echoed in my memory. “But it’s important that we provide a foundation that ships can be built from.We can’t make them use it, of course. But it’s got to be there, and we make sure it is.”

“And that foundation,” she had said, “is canon.”

I had taken the words to heart. They were my guiding light. Whenever I was awake at three in the morning cursing whoever wrote the wiki software or trying to get everyone to reset their passwords -again-, I would remember my purpose. The truth of my cause. The beauty of canon, and the beauty it enabled. For without canon, what else is there? Even in original writing, that itself becomes a canon, and what wonderful things can be built from it?

It was important. It was beautiful.

And my friend, it seemed, had betrayed it.

I confirmed that the script had run correctly, and I found myself deflating, unable to believe. I quickly messaged BlindStar_25, hoping to get to her before x_Avatar_RockYou, hoping to salvage this terrible situation, hoping to restore the faith.

“Star,” I typed. “Timestamps have you on the episode changelog for the Zutara fiasco.”

I watched my screen anxiously, waiting for something, anything to show up. We didn’t have the indicators at the time that someone was typing, or even that they had seen the message, but I was hoping, desperately, that she would get back to me, that she could make sense of it all.

I saw the server mode for her change over. +b. The ban indicator.

And then the kick came in. BlindStar_25 has been kicked from the server by x_Avatar_RockYou (reason: set the wiki on fire, set you on fire, roflmao).

I stared, as x_Avatar_RockYou sent me a message. “It’s cool. your script’s good. I verified what you found. Thanks.”

My fingers were dead and numb as I slowly pulled my hands up to the keyboard, and typed my response.

“No problem bro,” I replied.

I turned off the computer.

I was there when the Zutara left the next day, to leave the canon docks, never to be seen in our waters ever again. I looked up and saw BlindStar_25 on the deck. She saw me, and looked back with a stern, defiant expression. Proud. Tall.

I watched as the ship sailed away, disappearing over the horizon.

I turned away, and bowed my head. We’d lost one of our best that day.

Later, when I checked my messages, I found that she had decided to contact me one last time, through a different chat client.

“You’ll have to find your own way,” it said.

Well.

Wasn’t that just some cryptic ass bullshit.

Never did find out why she did it, as she never reached out to me again. Clearly she just saw something none of the rest of us did. But eventually, I moved on.

***

My work that day got me kudos from the other people who helped maintain documentation of the canon. Wait, kudos? Sorry, this was before Ao3. Likes? No, we weren’t on Facebook. Uhm. Hmn. Thumb-ups? I’m not even sure we had emojis.

Look, never mind. I was liked, and I was kept around, and I got to be in the cool kids’ Ventrilo servers. If you’ve never heard of Ventrilo, it’s like a worse Discord, voice only, and you have to host it yourself, which okay that last part may actually be a plus or minus depending on who’s paying for your computer. It’s not important. We talked about canon documentation maintenance over vent, and we tended to the wikis, and we made sure plot summaries were made, recordings recorded, and otherwise got around the business of fandom.

Avatar: The Last Airbender had wrapped up with aplomb, sticking the landing in a way that few series managed at the time. The Kataang was now permanently docked and secured at the canon docks, every new comic seeming only to reinforce its status. Some other ships came and went; the Maiko in particular, I think, came and went some few times.

Time passed. Avatar: The Legend of Korra came on the air. I was a little older, a little wiser, and so was the Avatar, the titular Korra. Her show dealt with more mature themes in a more advanced world, and I liked that. Republic City’s steampunk aesthetic scratched an itch of mine, and I enjoyed that Korra was a very different sort of Avatar from what Aang had been like.

I liked the show, so of course I helped out. The seasons passed, and it was actually pretty quiet compared to the Avatar Aang days. There was still beef - a fandom without drama is just one person and their rare pair, all alone - but as episodes turned into seasons, we never had a repeat of the Zutara incident. Some ships were on fire, of course, but that’s just the nature of shipping. Ship to ship combat was still a thing, but nobody drove their ship screaming into the canon dock while on fire, so we considered ourselves lucky.

Mind, it wasn’t all sunshine, roses, and squee-worthy FFN updates. Fandoms tend to grow darker as they grow larger - this is expected, statistics is really working against you here - and the cultural zeitgeist was moving on. There were more people working the docks who were using canon as a weapon to try to bring down ships, pointing out how, technically, -nobody- was engaging in anything more than a chaste kiss. You know. Because it’s a YA television show. Or there was cross talk between fandoms on the docks, as entire groups decided that watching stuff ‘for kids’ was beneath them, and anyway, your canon is weak, your bloodline is weak, and your server will not survive the next billing cycle.

I managed to stay blissfully clear of much of that, however. For even as I looked after the canon, I still remembered the wise words from BlindStar_25 forever ago. She may have turned, but she was still wise, in her way, and tending the canon was my way of making sure a thousand thousand ships remained always able to be launched.

Always looking out to the beauty of the fandom seas.

It was season four. I was on Vent - that’s short for Ventrilo - talking to another operator. We were talking about the latest episodes, our favorite characters, what the technology in the world meant, how cool the new bending styles were, and so on.

And then I said it.

“You know,” I said, casually, clicking on a cookie in a game on my browser, “I think that Korra and Asami would make a cute couple.”

There was silence on the line. I didn’t notice it, though. That wasn’t unusual, and I was just about to unlock grandmas in cookie clicker.

You know.

The important stuff.

I heard a beep from Ventrilo, and frowned, and looked over to see that my fellow canon keeper had pulled me into a private person to person voice channel and set it to moderated, invite only.

“…bwuh?” I said, exercising my usual eloquence.

“What did you say,” she said back, the words snapped off at me, practically burning with venom.

“What did I say when?” I said, bewildered. I clicked a cookie upgrade.

“Just now. About Korra. And Asami.”

“I… think they’d make a cute couple?” Now I really was confused. We had just been talking about everything else going on in the show, why did this in particular tweak a nerve?

“Do you not remember the Zutara incident?” She hissed at me over the mic.

Memories flooded back. I swallowed nervously. I wondered if cookie clicker had a pause button, or if I would be caught here, in an avalanche of unoptimized cookie gameplay while I struggled through memories of yesteryear.

“I remember,” I said. “I was there.”

“Then you should know better,” she said, angry. “Do not invite that curse upon us here. We. Don’t. Talk. About. Ships. On. The. Officially. Unofficial. Official. Vent. Server.”

I felt my mouth go dry, and I swallowed nervously. “Right. Of course,” I said.

“You go to FFN, like -everyone else-, if you wanna read about that,” she said. “And if you wanna -talk- about it, find a different Vent. Got it?”

I never had the chance to respond, as I was dumped unceremoniously out of the private channel, and found myself all alone in the lobby.

Cookies flowed by on my screen, but I found I was no longer interested.

Months later, when the Korrasami came gently to find itself moored in the canon docks, confirmed by the comics and by the creators, in a very officially no-we-are-not-just-teasing-it-this-time manner (Nickelodeon you COWARDS), I was there to greet it as it came in. It was to be a cheerful day of celebration, as it always is when a particular ship makes canon status. Some people care a whole lot about that, even if the real magic is out in the shipping lanes, but I digress.

After the celebrations were over, my friend just sent me a short email.

“If you value anything, you did NOT call this ahead of time.” the email said.

I understood.

“Oh and also congratulations on your ship becoming canon. Got any fic recs for me?”

I did not. I was too busy manning the canon, you see.

The end was on the horizon for me, now. This was merely strike one.

But I nodded at my email, dumbly, because she was right. Better ops than me had led us into worse outcomes, and I would not go down that dark path.

***

I drifted from canon to canon for a while. Not always up to my usual tricks, as I seemed to be becoming less of a state-of-the-art bot and more of a relic. Fandom consolidated, and so did the tools available to them, and the need for bespoke one-off scripts that were absolutely guaranteed to probably work were no longer needed. Teamspeak and Ventrilo and IRC fell, Discord rising to take its place. BBS and other forum systems had slowly been replaced by Reddit. Livejournal effectively vanished off the face of the planet as it became a ghost of its former self, and FFN did… well, I’m not sure what to describe what happened there, and it’s not my place to do so. And it was increasingly common for new fandoms to find their home on Ao3. Tumblr rose to prominence, cost Yahoo several billion dollars, taking both of itself and Yahoo down, rose up again, banned porn, fell down, got bought by Verizon, and not necessarily in that order.

It was exciting on Tumblr, and a great time if you were the kind of person who likes watching yo-yos bob up and down and up and down and up and down. And up. And down.

I finally settled into orbit around Steven Universe and Gravity Falls, participating in their subreddits and loving their fandoms, though it was neither of them that led to my downfall. Not really. Not directly, you see.

While I was participating in discussion and analysis in those fandoms, you see, I was trying to find my way back to my roots. Someplace where someone who knew how to SELECT * FROM blank WHERE name EQUALS awesomeCharacter would be appreciated. Subreddits didn’t need me, Tumblrs didn’t need me, Discords tolerated me, but there was an older crowd that still appreciated the old magicks.

And so I had attempted to return to Star Trek, my old love, my first flame. Older and wiser, I hoped this time to be able to contribute. Maybe help maintain Memory Alpha, THE premier canon data repository, perhaps second only to Wookiepedia. Maybe help keep one of the old BBSs limping along. You know. Nerd shit.

It was here where I met the end of the beginning of my infamy.

Star Trek had changed while I was gone. It wasn’t as fun as it used to be. I didn’t know yet where to find my people, and I will admit, that part of this was my own fault. Starting with the subreddit and moving out from there, I found a fractured fandom. The JJ Abrams movies had done real damage to the fandom, and where once I had found infinite diversity being celebrated in infinite combinations, I now heard arguments over what was ‘real’ Star Trek, and how everything these days was too ‘politically correct’, and, well, you get the picture. But I was desperate to be useful, and in a bid to find good work on maintaining canon, I found my way to a voice server, where I could speak with my fellow trekkies. Or trekkers. I’m not picky.

I was talking excitedly with my roommate one day over the wireless. You see, it was wireless because we were in the same room. Steven Universe updated approximately once every presidential administration, and we had just gotten a new episode, and I was very excitedly talking with her about it.

“You left the mic on!” Came over the headset.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said, fumbling for the mute button. This was some new program I wasn’t familiar with yet.

That sort of thing seemed to be happening more and more often, and I wondered briefly when they’d be able to replace me altogether with a fancier, newer software type. I tried not to think about it.

I kept talking. And I said what was, at the time, an innocent phrase.

“You know,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be funny if Lapis and Peridot got into a relationship? Lapidot, if you will.”

“I will not!” Said my roommate, laughing.

“YOUR MIC IS STILL ON!” Said the headset, very much not laughing.

“Sorry!” I said, finally finding the mute button on my own.

The moment was forgotten by me quickly, but the moment happened.

It’s a moment that shall haunt me for the rest of my days.

For you see, friends, several presidential turnovers later, Steven Universe moved on, but I stayed with the Star Trek server. It wasn’t exactly my flavor, and I thought some of the other ops were blow hards, and there were too many people against shipping for my taste (‘launch a thousand thousand ships’ from our foundation), and, well, while new Trek wasn’t -quite- my cup of tea, it had its fun moments, and I was not okay with talking down to those for whom it -was- their Star Trek.

But they needed a bot, and, well, there I was.

It was three AM when it happened.

I was having a, shall we say, discussion with one of the seniors on the server. I was having a discussion in much the same way a hurricane has rain.

He was -grumpy-, and I was grumpy, because nothing good ever happens at three in the morning, but I couldn’t sleep, and I guess neither could he, and when that happens the smartest thing to do is to get online and try to establish what, exactly, is canon, anyway.

He was arguing that Captain Kirk was a hopeless womanizer, and that was one of the few things he liked about the new movies, was how they were really returning to the roots of the character, rather than whatever weak sauce they had going on with Picard in TNG.

I was arguing that was an unfair flanderization of the character, supported only very weakly by actual canon. That for a supposed galaxy wrecker, he somehow managed only one son, who he was very proud of. And that other than his one very established relationship, most other instances you see him flirting with a woman is when he’s doing so - to save the Enterprise! And if that counted as evidence of him womanizing, well, then, what does Amok Time tell us?

He snarled at me. “You must be one of those Spirks or McKirks or something. I bet you liked Star Trek V.”

A message came in for me from a friend on the server, urging me to leave off, reminding me that the guy - we’ll call him Dave, it’s always a Dave - had power here, power that I lacked.

I’m not very smart at three in the morning. I need a full rest cycle to fully reboot, and I had not had it, so I ignored the message and plowed on.

“One, I don’t ship!” I fired back. “Two, if you’re going to bring Star Trek V into it, maybe you don’t like it because the first fifteen minutes leading into the campfire scene - which, by the way, I happen to think is VERY GOOD Trek - happens to establish what an extremely deep relationship the big three had with one another!”

Another message came in, and I glanced at it. A friend was letting me know they had watched the latest Steven Universe episode on the pirate channel, and wanted to talk about it. I wouldn’t see it until the next day, as I was not part of the pirate crew and would have to wait, but I quickly gave them an invite. I could take them to a private channel, and talking about a children’s cartoon would, I hoped, be more entertaining than talking to a man child.

I could feel Dave’s eyes narrow over the mic as a new voice joined the server.

“Hey, congratulations Biot! You called it,” said the new voice. It was my friend.

“Called what?” Asked an annoyed Dave.

“Lapidot! It’s canon now!”

“Lapidot?” Asked Dave.

“Yeah, from Steven Universe. Hey, what kind of server is this, Biot?”

“Star Trek,” I answered lazily. “Hang on, let me finish up with Dave here, I’ll be right with you.”

“Steven Universe?” Snorted Dave. “You watch children’s cartoons?”

“Yes,” I said. “Anyway, Dave, this has been a -scintillating- conversation, but -“

“And you shipped characters in a children’s cartoon?” Asked Dave, his voice suddenly all smooth silk and utter calm.

Oh.

Oh, hell.

Oh, no, oh, hell. My friend had overheard my utterance from decades ago, and now it had come back to haunt me.

“Um… yes?” I said, meekly.

***

The next day, I was unceremoniously escorted to a dinghy to call all my own. The official reason given was that perhaps, I could take a short trip to the crack ship fleet, and invite the Lapidot to join canon on the Steven Universe docks.

We all knew, however, the real reason was that I had irritated Dave beyond his extremely tiny limits, and my time with this particular small slice of Star Trek fandom was coming to a close. A few friends wished me well. Some tried to be helpful, pointing out ships that would be willing to accept an aging bot, maybe could take me on. I was polite, of course. No need to show your ass even as you try to avoid letting the door hit it on your way out.

Dave was there of course, gloating.

“Glad to be rid of you, you Star Trek V-loving fucker,” he said with a grin.

“Eat a bag of dicks, Dave,” I said, as I climbed into the dinghy.

I took hold of the oars, and headed out for the waters of the shipping lanes.

Canon slipped quietly away behind me.

Launch a thousand thousand ships from a firm foundation.

And one dinghy.

***

Time passed. My code grew older, and so did I. I did what I could, and even frequently returned to the docks of canon, to recenter myself from time to time. An almost religious observance, really.

But it wasn’t the same.

I floated with the World of Warcraft  fleet for a while, still avoiding ships, but admiring the rich seas on which they floated. I thought I would re-establish myself there, especially as Metzen wrote his books consolidating all of Warcraft lore. Excited, I learned new tools. It is a bad bot that cannot learn new tricks. Ao3 eluded me yet, but Tumblr’s star was ascendent, and I learned to work it, slowly, carefully. I would find my way back to community. I would write funny posts about how Forsaken used to speak Common, and the hijinks that would ensue from that. I would write about how the Draenei were sort of a retcon of Eredar, and what that might mean for roleplayers. I would document, document, document, and here my powers could be used for good, as Warcraft was notorious for shedding old lore away, never to be seen again.

Well, I could show it once more. I could present old information to new players, and help be part of something great, the pieceing of history into a coherent lore, a foundation from which could launch as many ships as one might like!

And then Blizzard practically burned to the ground. Battle for Azeroth happened, and then Shadowlands came in, and the contradictions were too great. And then the real life troubles of the company reared their ugly head. By the time I left, the canon docks of Warcraft were a shambles, and while there may have been good work in being part of the repairs, such work was beyond me.

Demon Hunters were pretty awesome though, and that kept me around for far longer than I really should have stuck with it, but I digress. But look, you would’ve stayed too, gliding was -awesome-.

Anyway, I retired my OCs from those lands, with no small amount of sadness, and set out once more into fandom waters, adrift, and after so many years, I had to admit, kind of lost.

I tried the golden seas of Alternate Universes, and found some peace there. I investigated the paths of the rare pairs, and their intersection with crack ships, and documented what I found. I still docked at the canon regularly, but which canon I chose to visit changed from day to day.

I was a fan without a fandom, and so I did what any self-respecting fan would do.

I watched the hell out of the MCU.

But I got bored of that as well, eventually.

I was adrift in the dinghy one day. I was floating, a bot on one last mission. For while I was not part of any active fandoms, I was part of an inactive fandom. It was trying, but not very hard, to come back to life. Really, it was an excuse for old friends to talk to one another once more, all of us older, all of us wiser.

We had no canon, but they were willing to have me, and I appreciated that. In return, I volunteered to be one of their scouts, to search out members who may yet be found, and see if they were willing to visit our Discord. To remember, alongside us.

Even without a canon, this old bot still keeps some habits. The call to remember, well, that was too great to ignore.

And it was on this search that I found an old friend. They had ships of their own that they tended to, now, a change from when last I knew them, but they were willing to float out and meet me for a short bit. We reminisced. I invited them to the Discord, and shared with them some of what I had been up to. I skipped the tale of my fall from grace, of course, as it couldn’t possibly be less relevant, but I shared other matters with them. I recounted my tales in the waters of Warcraft, and bemoaned the state of the canon docks there. They agreed with me, and in fact, in a moment of shared camaraderie, they told me that they, too, had grown weary of attempting repairs at that dock, and had set sail for new waters.

Where were they now, I asked, politely.

Final Fantasy XIV, they said.

“You might like it there,” they offered. “They have sad robots. I know you like sad robots.” I said, “I arguably am a sad robot these days.”

“Then you’ll love it,” they said, and well, they would probably be right.

We exchanged contact information, they gave me an invite to one of their own communities, and they moved off, to return to their own waters.

***

I stayed where I was, for a while, and pondered.

I wondered if this new fandom would have any use for an old bot in their spaces.

I did know that I appreciated the company of being with old friends, even absent a canon. Maybe I couldn’t be useful, but I could be present, and really, wasn’t that a kind of usefulness of its own? My cat certainly seems to think so, as she always stares at me while I do things around the house, and I love her for it.

Maybe I didn’t need to be useful.

Maybe I could just be, and let my runtime run its clock for a while.

Not so bad.

I fixed myself up. I ran a trans program, which let’s be honest, was probably two decades overdue. I rebooted, ran diagnostics, and took a deep breath.

And then I set my course, and set sail to where I am today. The deep waters of Final Fantasy XIV.

And what waters they are! What ships they represent! Tall ships, and small ships. Ships of different sizes. Rare pairs and crack ships. I found in their wakes a long and deep history, practically unbroken from their launch. I made my way to their canon docks, and what I found just about brought me to tears. I was used to fractured docks in poor repair, but here I found a clean canon. Not perfect, of course; never perfect. A perfect canon allows no fandom, really, for we need places to fill the cracks. But the cracks in this canon were almost artistic in their sublime beauty, and could be filled with wonderful gold, making for the prettiest sculptures, and I think this analogy got away from me at some point, but the -real point is-, the canon was beautiful.

I fell in love with their waters, and decided to stay.

And so here I am.

***

Nobody needs a bot anymore. Discord logs everything, and Reddit’s moderator tools have been refined to near perfection. Ao3 thrives, alive and vibrant. Tumblr’s star is once more ascendant. But it is in that last that I have something to do, despite myself. I stay close to the canon docks, of course, for I am an old bot, and old habits are hard to break. But I have equipped my dinghy with the latest and greatest in Tumblr tools. I have tuned my scripts to its frequency, and have mastered its use. I spend my days, now, searching the fandom seas. From the glittering golden waves of alternate universes to the wakes of ships both mighty and small, I sail. I dive under the waves frequently and diligently, in search of precious subs, and I bring what I find back, and reblog to the world. I connect fandom, and fandom has connected back to me. I brave the tangles of Twitter, the trolls of Reddit, and the unknown areas of the world - remember when the internet was not so centralized? I do. I do, and I search the outer wilds, and I bring back art and stories and memes and analysis and share them with all who wish to see them.

I may not wrangle databases or maintain meticulous logs anymore, but in these activities, I have found purpose. It may not serve canon directly, but these days, there are others who carry that charge far better than I do.

I see my friends far more often these days, of course. They often wave at me from the mizzenmasts and fantails of their ships, calling out to me.

“You should find a ship!” they say. “You can aspire to more than that dinghy!” they say.

I close my eyes, and I think of the chaos of the Zutara. I think of my own missteps, with the Korrasami and the Lapidot - 

Wait.

Korrasami and Lapidot.

Do I have a thing for emotionally complicated lesbians finding character growth through providing comfort to each other?

Maybe I’d better not read into that too far.

I shake my head clear. Once is an event, twice is a coincidence, and I would do well to not make it a pattern.

“I will stick to my dinghy, I think,” I let them know.

Can’t establish that pattern. Won’t take the risk. For what would that mean for me if I did? What is a bot that doesn’t obey a code?

I don’t know. I don’t know.

Anyway, dear reader, that is the tale. The sordid tale of my downfall.

And perhaps, also, the story of my redemption. I think that’s for others to judge.

But for now, I must turn to my instruments, and tune my machinery, to turn to the whirring dynamo of the greater fandom community, both smaller than it has ever been, consolidated to only a handful of sites - but also larger than I ever imagined possible, comprised of so many people who I never would have had the privilege of knowing otherwise.

For I have seen things you people would never believe. Zutara on fire off the docks of the canon. I have watched ships constructed in blink tags glittering in the dark near the Geocities neighborhoods. Without bots and keepers, all these moments would be lost in time, Like tears in the rain.

Time to live.

[marvelmusing]

Making Time

Mobius M Mobius x Reader

Part 3

My Masterlist • Series Masterlist

“Here we go.” You whisper, looking between Mobius and Loki, then up at Mount Vesuvius.

“Shh, any minute now.” Mobius adds.

“Until this entire town is wiped off the face of this planet. Imagine. All that volcanic ash-“ Loki starts.

“I know. We don't want to get too giddy.”

“Oh, come on! It's cool.”

“No, it is cool, but it's just not in good taste because...”

“They're all gonna die anyway.”

“I know. Now listen, I'm gonna watch the TemPad for any variance energy.” He says, pulling the device out from his pocket.

“Okay.”

“Okay, because we gotta be careful.”

“If you're wrong, and there's a good chance you are, anything we do can create a huge branch.”

“Oh, Mobius! You make even the end of the world sound boring.” Loki complains.

“Listen! Okay, we're not meant to be here.”

“And we don’t need Minutemen rushing here to arrest and delete us, okay?” You tell him. He nods,

“Okay.”

“Anything we do can impact the course of history. Do you get that?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“So we're gonna start with very small disturbances. Very small. Can you make bird noises?” You both frown at Mobius.

“Bird noises?”

“Yeah. Bird noises. Like some, like whooshing noises?” He begins to imitate a bird call. You roll your eyes,

“Moby? I was on the side of caution. But we’re going to need more than that.” Mobius continues his bird impressions to the disdain of Loki who groans and runs off.

“Loki!” You hiss. He doesn’t go far, standing on a nearby cart and proclaiming to the people of Pompeii that they are all going to die. On a positive note you’ve come up with a new scale to rate nexus events: starting with bird noises and ending with prophesying the future. Loki then decides to release a hoard of goats. Fantastic. Loki halts his Latin monologue to look over at you and Mobius for a fact check,

“We are from the future, right? What is the TVA? I mean, it's from the future. It sounds from the future. It's pretty futurey.” You’re about to answer him when you realise you don’t actually know. You’d always assumed the TVA just existed outside of time. Though you’re not sure how that would work. You’re about to ask Mobius when the volcano erupts. Loki then proceeds to have what looks like an existential crisis. “Nothing matters! Nothing has any consequence! Dance while you still can!” You lean over Mobius’s shoulder.

“How’s it going?” You ask, nodding towards his TemPad.

“I don't believe it. Zero variance energy. No branching in the timeline.” He tells you. Overhearing what Mobius says, Loki approaches you,

“The TVA would never even know we were here. If it were me, this is where I would hide.” A colossal cloud of ash rolls down the hillside, quickly approaching the three of you.

“Erm, Loki, bud?” You say, concerned that he hasn’t noticed. You point over his shoulder, “You got a little something-“

On your return to the TVA, the three of you head to the archives, searching for all naturally occurring disasters. Turns out there’s a lot of them. Mobius hands you a pile of events from before you existed, which you appreciated. Whilst you were curious about what happened to the world after you left it, you’re not too eager to see the long list of apocalypses. After what feels like hours of searching the three of you decide to take a break.

You and Loki are sat in one of the TVA cafeterias, waiting for Mobius to return with some food. Two hunters pass by your table, and you keep your gaze on the papers in front of you.

“Why do they look at us like that?” Loki asks suddenly. You look up at him.

“Like what?”

“Don’t act like you haven’t noticed. You and Mobius don’t get the looks that you and I get.” He observes. You sigh,

“That’s because when it’s me and you, they see two Variants possibly plotting to overthrow the TVA.” That shocks Loki.

“You’re a Variant.” He states, and you nod,

“I was set to be deleted, until Mobius stepped in and saved me.”

“You must be very grateful to him.”

“I am.”

“So you believe in the all powerful lizards which dictate the existence of trillions of people?” You smirk, looking down at the papers in your hand.

“I didn’t say that.” You glance up at him, recognising the look on his face immediately. He was scheming. “Look Loki, I may not be a hundred percent loyal to the TVA, but I am to Mobius.”

“Mobius, who is a part of the TVA, who you don’t fully trust. How can you know he has your best interests at heart?”

“I don’t. I’m just hoping, that he does.” Mobius soon joins the two of you. After a brief discussion about jet skis the conversation quickly turns far too philosophical for your poor ‘I’ve just read about a million case files’ brain.

“I don't get hung up on believe or not believe. I just accept what is.” Mobius says with a sigh. Loki looks at him incredulously.

“Three magic space lizards?” Mobius nods,

“Time-Keepers.”

“Created the TVA, and everyone in it?” Mobius nods again. “Including you?”

“Including me.”

“But not me.” You add. Loki laughs softly,

“Every time I start to admire your intelligence, you say something like that.”

“Okay, who created you, Loki?” Mobius asks.

“A Frost Giant of Jo

“And who raised you?”

Odin of Asgard.

Odin, God of the Heavens. Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars. Frost Giants. Listen to yourself...

It's not the same. It's completely different. No. It's not the same.

It's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose. Cause the TVA is my life. And it's real because I believe it's real. “Fair enough. You believe it's real.”

“Yeah.”

“So everything is written. Past, present, future. There's no such thing as free will.”

“Well, I mean, you know, it's an oversimplification...”

“But practically, yes.” You say, not wanting to hear the in-depth workings of the timeline.

“So, in fact, in a way, us three here at the TVA, we're the only ones who are actually free.”

“Where are you going with this, Loki?”

“How does it all end?”

“That's a work in progress.”

“Those lazy Time-Keepers. What are they waiting for?”

“Au contraire. Because while we protect what came before, they're toiling away in their chamber, untangling the epilogue from its infinite branches.”

“So when they're finished, what happens then?”

“So are we. No more nexus events. Just order. And we meet in peace at the end of time. Nice, right?”

“Do we get to live in peace or do we just disappear because we aren’t needed anymore?” You ask, suddenly concerned that he mentioned the end of time. Loki continues his own questions,

“Only order?” Mobius hums in response. “No chaos? It sounds boring.”

“I'm sure it does to you.” Loki suddenly changes the subject,

“You called me a scared little boy.”

“I called you a lotta things.”

“You did. You're wrong, though. You see, I know something children don't.”

“What's that?”

“That no one bad is ever truly bad. And no one good is ever truly good.” Well that was deep. Mobius looks down at the table in front of him.

“Scared little boy.” He repeats.

“Yes, it was quite patronizing. I thought it was a bit too far, actually.” Loki admits. Mobius looks up, an idea dawning on his face.

“You're very clever.” He tells Loki as he stands up.

“I know.” Loki makes a ‘well obviously’ face as you stand and follow Mobius as he makes his way to the archive.

“The Variant left something behind at an old crime scene. A cathedral. A candy box. An obvious anachronism. I gave it to Analysis, but they couldn't find anything real.”

“Why does that matter?” Loki asks. Mobius unlocks a box on a nearby shelf, before opening it up.

“Cause now we have two variables. Apocalyptic natural disasters and... Kablooie.” He pulls out the candy box.

“What's that?”

“Candy. Do you have candy on Asgard?”

“Yeah. Grapes, nuts.”

“No wonder you're so bitter.”

“There’s a massive vending machine near Renslayer’s office. One time, I’ll buy you one of everything.” You tell Loki as the two of you sit down at your desk. Mobius returns with a huge stack of files.

“Okay. Kablooie was only sold regionally on Earth from 2047 to 2051. All ya gotta do is cross-reference that with every apocalyptic event.” The three of you sit, sorting through the files for sometime. Mobius looks up at you,

“Anything?”

“Well, it's not the climate disaster of 2048.” You tell him, flicking the page over.

“Or the tsunami of 2051.” Loki adds.

“Let's go. Let's go. Come on.”

“2050. The extinction of the swallow. Is that a thing?”

“We killed off the swallows?” You stare at Loki. “How the hell did that happen?” Mobius shrugs,

“Completely screwed up the ecosystem.”

“Krakatoa erupted in 2049 as well. No Kablooie.”

“God, it's just one damn thing after another, isn't it? Cyclone, famine, volcanoes, floods...” Mobius lists, and you can’t help but agree.

“Got him. That's where he is.” Loki pulls open a case file before offering it to you and Mobius. The two of you peer at the papers inside.

“Alabama, 2050.” You read aloud. Loki looks at you both, seeming rather pleased with himself. Mobius grins,

“You're gonna take my job if I'm not careful.”

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