#boy you are barely 500 years old

[starlitwishes]

“Hmph… don’t make promises you won’t keep.”

But Lumine continued, and Wrenn only huffed—what naive sentiments she was giving him… so he swatted away her hand, and crossed his arms.

“I’ve seen enough of this world, thank you.” He averted his gaze. “And don’t misunderstand me. Eternal life is a curse, not a blessing. I think I’ve been alive long enough, that’s all.”

"..."

She shook her head in response, placing one hand on his shoulder.

"I won't kill you." The tone of her voice was stern. "Instead of looking for someone who can end your life, why not search for reasons to live instead? Along the way, you may discover that this World is much more beautiful than you originally thought."

[brandileigh2003]

Wolfstar "Hidden gems" underrated fics

~~~please give these authors love, fandom engagement with writers is down and it means more than you know. ~~~

I saw a post about lesser known fics yesterday and decided to try to boost some of my faves. They are under 500 kudos and deserve so much more. (I know that kudos and hits don't mean much at the end of the day, but...)

Feel free to comment or reblog your own fics or your favorites that fit!

-love finds a way by@littleoldrache Jurassic Park au ft disability and trans remus (you really can't go wrong with any of Rachel's fics though, they're amazing)

-The Standard Book Of Spells by Imparfait no voldy hogwarts au

-Tender is the touch (of someone that you love too much) by @purplefiction-ao3 (wip) multiple pov journey of remus waiting for heart transplant

--Engaged for 43 years by @halfravenhalfclaw sirius proposes at first sight at 11, follows til the afterlife (divergent)

--This Is the Way the World Ends by @blitheringmcgonagall sad but beautiful MCD

-Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations by TheQueerTailor Sixth year has just started and Remus is barely keeping up. He's just sixteen but it feels like his body is falling apart.

-Tertiary Colors by krabapple mpreg 1st war divergent, potters live (check out other fics too!)

-Black's Anatomy by @grasslesss greys anatomy fic, remus has lupus

-Give Me A Sign by @theresthesnitch soulmate fic, remus is deaf. (Wip)

-Sweets and Books by Writer_INFJ_2w1: bookshop au, chronic pain

-Babysitting For Dummies by Middleofamoment (37k) au raising teddy get together (theres a sequel and 3rd to come)

-Rarer Than One in a Million by Sp00nhater wolfstar is so soft and sweet, meet in hospital

-Tic Tic Boom by @fictionboysarebetter : Hogwarts fic, remus has tourettes (wip)

-The Ups and Downs of Inevitability by depressed_and_nauseous (check tags deals with heavy topics) remus is in Poppy's care for his safety (wip)

-Small Bones of Courage by Anonymous mcd, please read tags, sensitive topics. Later in life lycanthropy is terminal for remus.

-Flight of Destiny by @lucigoo sapphic wolfstar meet on plane (Luci also has lots of beautiful fics)

-Birthday Blues by YouBlitheringIdiot @blitheringmcgonagall :Sirius is turning sixty and he is appalled...

-Give Quarter to Old Men - @krethes series with older wolfstar

-lazing on a sunday afternoon by peachyybabe domestic slice of life

-I choose you to love for the rest of my life by Writer_INFJ_2w1 sapphic wolfstar wedding

-Puppy Magic by @demonbanisher thefifthmarauder17 magical divergent

-Consider the Lotus by busaikko: Sirius goes with remus to register at the ministry after the prank to show realities of lycanthropy

-Grow As We Go sapphicselene: post 1st war divergent, wolfstar in therapy

-From the Patient Files of Remus J Lupin, 1971 by TheQueerTailor

-While I breathe, I hope by MarigoldWritesThings by @marigold-hills divergent where remus left school after prank

-Without You by daffodilsonaprettystring Titanic mcd (wip)

-Blinded Fate by FatedEcho- Star wars meets wolfstar (wip)

-catch me on the way down by raggedypond

--To die, as lovers may by @moggetbright vampire Sirius and Hunter Remus

-The First Train Home by @houndsinheaven look into 76 and 95

-The Streak by @greyfavorite Remus dressed as a cowboy

-Francesca Syndrome by @coralsunset and diplobeanz: pining Remus

-You Drive Me Crazy by @klilyr based on you drive me crazy

-lights over harvest moon by @shoopsthereitis get together

-maybe time running out is a gift by messrsrarchives @roblogging mcd sickfic

-Love at First Bloom by viwrites @just--vi flower shop au with pining and chronically ill Remus

-cosmic entanglement by @maladaptivewriting wolfstar in every universe!!!!

-Meet Me In The Exosphere by @euripidestrousers top gun au

-Remus lupins guide on how to (not) become a quidditch seeker by Girl_rotting

-we grew up in spite of it by peachyybabe wip, remus has a twin, mcd

-beautiful boy by peachyybabe wip, mcd, based on beautiful boy

This is technically over "kudos cap" but i really don't see it rec'd enough:

-Wishes on Stars by Quietlemonhush, TherestheSnitch fairy tale: remus wishes for a friend

**this post was made in Nov 2024, so hopefully some of these numbers have changed and you've made some authors' day 💙💙

New additions:

-just being neighborly by atropos-aeneas sirius and Remus meet in Azkaban (6k)

~~~lovely reddit post about fics under 1k~~~

[ladykailitha]

Baby's First Christmas

Hello and welcome to my Christmas AUvent Calendar! Every day from now until the 24th I will be posting a ficlet that is 500-1500 from an AU I've done over the years.

All stories will be marked with the tag #12 aus of christmas so you can follow along as I will only be tagging my permanent list for this (it would get too confusing otherwise).

The next one on our list is: omegaverse! You can read the first story here and its sequel here. All links will be to the first chapter, but the chapter itself will have links to the rest of the story.

Steve is fretting about making Winnie's first Christmas special and oh boy does he deliver!

First fic here.

~

Steve was fussing. Eddie knew his spouse and mate was fussing but after the third time Steve snapped at him, Eddie raised the white flag of surrender and nicely backed off.

Steve was bound and determined to make sure little Winnie had the best first Christmas possible. Never mind the wee lad was only six months old and wouldn’t remember it or the next two for that matter.

But Steve kept saying it wasn’t what he could remember, it was that Steve made it magical for him. Which was why Eddie had wisely decided to stay out of it. He knew Steve was only doing this because his own Christmases as a kid were white and sterile and boring. Something he did not want for Winnie.

Plus Eddie was not going to turn down the chance to spoil his babies. So he let Steve do whatever he wanted and Eddie tailed behind with the credit card. Yes, yes. Technically Steve’s card could max out his and still have a lot left over, but it was the principle of it all and after talking to Steve about how he wanted to spoil his family, Steve relented too.

Right now in the center of their entryway was a giant fifteen foot Noble fir tree decorated in red and white with presents already piled up under the tree.

Everyone was going to be there, even Chrissy who had requested the week off and got it. She was Starcourt’s brightest jewel now, especially after Roxie took her under their wing.

And Steve couldn’t be happier for her.

It was nearly time for their guests to arrive and Eddie had to admit, Steve knew how to throw a great party.

There was food laid out and drinks of all kinds. Eggnog both alcoholic and not, same with the cider. Hot chocolate and of course a wide range of Christmas cocktails all doled out by people Steve had hired.

Steve laughed as Winnie was handed off to another of the people who loved him. First it was to Grandpa Wayne, then to Robin. When it time for a diaper change, Jeff grabbed the little one and had him in a new diaper within minutes.

Eddie came over with a couple of mugs of eggnog and handed Steve one, then slid his newly freed hand around his waist. “You did good, Stevie. There isn’t a person out there that isn’t having a good time. Your son especially.”

Steve blushed. “Thanks, babe. I love seeing everyone so happy. I never thought I’d have a family like this. I thought it was going to be me and Robin against the world for the rest of our lives. But looking at our family I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

The night wore on and everyone left, leaving the small and happy family to rest from a great night.

The next morning after opening all the presents and fantastic breakfast made by Steve, they all curled up on the sofa watching the lit tree.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” Eddie cooed once Winnie had dropped off for his mid-morning nap. “You barely touched your breakfast.”

“I have another Christmas present for you,” Steve murmured and pulled out a white tube from his robe pocket.

Eddie cocked his head to the side. “What more could you give me, Stevie?”

Steve handed him the tube and Eddie took it gingerly. He looked down and saw he was holding a pregnancy test. A pregnancy test with two pink lines.

His eyes went wide. “Is this for real? I’m not dreaming?”

Steve giggled and then pinched his sided, causing Eddie to squirm. “It’s real, you dork. Winnie’s going to have a brother or sister next year.”

Eddie scooped Steve up and hauled him up on his lap. “You beautiful creature, you! Another baby!”

“I kind suspected I might be last week when my heat was so mild,” Steve murmured into Eddie’s neck, “but it really hit home when I threw up the eggnog from last night this morning.”

“I’m sorry I slept through that,” Eddie said, “but I love the surprise. Best Christmas present ever.”

Steve could only agree. The lights glimmered and softly music played somewhere in the distance.

“If it’s a girl can we name her Elizabeth Robin?” he asked softly, his own eyes starting to droop.

“Yeah, baby,” Eddie said with a fond smile. “We can name her after my mom and your best friend. I think Wayne would love that too.”

“Mmmk,” Steve mumbled as he too fell asleep.

Eddie looked down at his mate and just boundless joy erupted from him. Steve had absolutely succeeded in giving them all the best Christmas anyone could ask for.

~

Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12

Tag list: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

Bucky isn't a fan of children roaming the streets in costumes and asking for candy. But it only takes one little boy to change his mind.

This is my Halloween contribution to the fandom and a shoutout to @jessybarnes, congrats on reaching 500 followers!

Word count: just over 1k

He had just gotten home. Bloodied and bruised. There hadn't been any time for him to change. In fact, he had barely stepped through his front door when his phone pinged with a notification from you.

Went to the store to grab more candy!

Bucky scowled. Halloween. He didn't have time to think about such mundane things as your favorite pagan holiday. Naturally, you felt otherwise and had taken the liberty of decorating his home for him.

It was lucky he lived in an apartment building. What was the likelihood that any kids would-

"Trick or Treat!" A chorus of voices accompanied a knock on the door.

His shoulders drooped in disappointment. Maybe he could ignore it?

"TRICK OR TREAT!" There was only one voice this time but louder than before.

Bucky was a patient man who knew multitudes of silence and stillness. He would be patient.

"Come on, Mister! I saw you go inside!" The voice of a little boy who was far less patient than he was.

A sigh escaped Bucky's lips. He was exhausted and didn't particularly want to deal with the emotional baggage that came with the way he expected a child would react to his appearance. He knew people still saw him as a monster, despite his pardon. He had no desire to see fear reflected in the eyes of innocence. But the pounding didn't stop.

He looked around wildly for something to give the expectant youth. His eyes finally landed on a bowl beside the door. There was one candy bar left inside.

Well, it was better than nothing. Bucky grabbed the bowl and wrenched open the door. An audible gasp stopped him in his tracks. He looked down to see an eight year old boy dressed as Captain America standing before him, mouth agape.

"Here kid, this is all I've got," he held out the candy bar to the frozen child.

Both Bucky and the boy stood facing each other for what felt like an eternity to Bucky. Neither of them moved and Bucky wondered if the boy's jaw could drop any further. His silence was making Bucky very uncomfortable.

"Look kid, just take this and go," he dropped the bar into the kid's pumpkin basket. As an afterthought he added, "you don't have to be scared."

"Are you an Avenger?" The boy whispered.

"Not exactly, kid."

"But you're friends with Captain America?"

Bucky was loath to answer this question, but he couldn't exactly deny that he and Sam were friends.

"I guess you can call us friends."

"Do you have superpowers?"

Bucky shrugged. He thought of superpowers belonging to heroes. He would never describe himself as one.

The kid smiled and continued talking despite Bucky’s nonverbal state. “My dad lives in Washington DC now.” 

“That’s nice?” Bucky felt the need to respond to the wide eyes which hadn’t left his face since he opened the door.

“I went to visit him over the summer. He doesn’t live with me and my mom anymore.”

Bucky didn’t miss the glaze of sadness which washed over his face, and he didn’t like how it made him feel.

“Did you like it there?” he asked the boy.

“Yeah! He took me to the Smithsonian.”

Bucky finally understood what the boy was telling him.

“I read about you.”

“Oh.” Bucky’s face fell. The kid had read about the Winter Soldier and his past. “Look, I’m not-”

“You’re my favorite!” The kid was positively beaming up at him.

“F-favorite?” Bucky stuttered, utterly baffled by the response he was receiving. “Favorite what?”

“Howling Commando!” He bobbed up and down with excitement. “You’re Steve Roger’s best friend!”

“Yeah,” Bucky’s face softened and he replied softly, saddened by the thought of his oldest friend. He missed Steve. He looked down at the child before him, his bright eyes and blonde hair. “What’s your name, kid?”

"Steve," he smiled. "My mom named me after Captain America because he saved her life when she was pregnant with me. Dad tells me what happened as a bedtime story on my birthday." The light behind his eyes dimmed with his last words. "He missed it this year."

"I'm sorry, pal."

"Next time I see him, I'm going to tell him I met an Avenger!"

"I bet he will be real impressed!" Bucky smiled, choosing not to correct little Steve.

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like you!"

"I don't think you want that," Bucky answered wistfully.

"You don't think I can be a hero?" Little Steve's face fell.

"Of course you can!" Bucky inwardly cursed his use of language. He knelt down in front of the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "But you know my friend, Sam Wilson? Captain America?"

Little Steve nodded solemnly.

"He's the guy you want to grow up to be. Got that?"

"Yes sir, Mr Bucky."

"But if you ever tell him I said that, you'll never get candy here again. Understood?" Bucky said sternly, dropping his last candy bar into the kid's pumpkin basket.

"I'd better get going or I'll miss out on the good candy. No offense, but you gotta get something better than this."

"Working on it, pal," Bucky smiled as you turned the corner, arms laden with several bags. He unburdened you and emptied the contents of one bag into Little Steve's small hands.

He delighted in the sight of the boy's bright eyes and toothy grin. "Thanks!" he cried, backing away with his sugary horde.

"Don't eat it all at once!" Bucky called after him. 

You stood to the side watching the way Bucky had spoken to the little boy, giving him a smug smile.

"What?" Bucky frowned.

"What was that about?" You pointed between Bucky and the spot where Little Steve had stood.

"Kids these days, no respect. We didn't have the luxury of being given this much sugar when I was a kid."

"Is that why you gave him half of what I just brought back?"

Bucky shrugged.

"Come on, let's go inside. The kids may think that blood is fake, but I know better!" You steered Bucky into the apartment. "And if you're good, you'll get a treat too!"

“Did I mention that dress looks incredible on you?" Bucky smirked, eyeing your rockabilly cap sleeve dress with its sweetheart neck and flared skirt. True to the Halloween spirit, it was covered in a pumpkin and ghost design.

You put your arms around his neck. “There will definitely be treats tonight,” you purred into his ear.

[gunnrblze]

Thinking about how all the other Ghosts reacted to and coped with the insanity of sand viper, especially with Captain Gabriel “I’m actually fine, thanks” Rorke, who’s XP apparently only doubled upon experiencing the trauma.

I imagine they all had various degrees of post traumatic stress from the event, specifically Keegan, Ajax, and Merrick, who were all under the age of 20 at the time (I stillll cannot believe that’s realistic in any way, but canon age is canon age lmfao). But I wonder just how much they were all affected and how it all played out.

An almost 30 year old Lieutenant Walker, around the age we see Hesh in the game, who had two little boys (and maybe a wife still) at home. Do you think he thought about them after he fought for the civilians in that hospital? How did he feel being second in command during such an unprecedented, transformative event not only for his career, but for the world, really. Who wouldn’t idolize Rorke to the highest degree after leading such a team to victory?

How did a 19 year old navy seal Merrick cope with what was probably one of the first more major combat missions of his career? He’d only been a seal for two years up until this point. Did he imagine his father and grandfather, if they’d be proud of him for getting through unscathed? Both men were killed in their own military careers, but Merrick made it through, with this new team. He wasn’t even old enough to buy a drink yet, but he could help take on 500 enemy soldiers.

Keegan and Ajax were 16 and 17, literal children, who couldn’t have had any fucking clue what they were really doing. Until they did. They had to. Did they ever imagine themselves in a classroom instead? Hanging out with their friends instead of hiding under their deceased bloodied bodies in the desert sand? Did anybody ever tell them they deserved that life instead of this one?

If we knew more of Kick, Neptune, Torch and Grim, more could be said of how they might’ve handled it. But how does one really handle fighting until their gun runs out of ammo, until their knife blade dulls against enemy skin, until they’re left to fight with just their bare hands? How do you look at yourself in the mirror after becoming part of a force “so menacing and unbeatable, it can only be described as supernatural” over the course of just three days?

So how, pray tell, do you cope when your Captain only acts more level headed after the matter? All of the remaining soldiers were put under psychological evaluation, and Rorke went unaffected by it all.

How did they feel watching Rorke slip through the cracks and come out the other side more calm? Three days and nights of hell, and their commanding officer just goes “well…anyways” I’d personally go even more insane from that alone I think.

And additionally, what carbon fiber steel nervous system does Rorke have anyways? To not be outrightly traumatized by such an event in the first place is one thing, but to become better because of it? Sharper and clearer and focused, while his comrades were no doubt riddled with anxiety and nightmares at the least? It’s giving robot!

[fallatyourfeet]

Swanky Suits (Arthur x Female Reader)

One Shot

Credit to Gif creator- sorry I don't know who you are

Summary: Arthur is taken completely by surprise after being sent by Ada to get a new suit

Word count: 1322

Warnings: Awkward adorable Arthur. He gets a bit nervous and anxious.

Author's Note: This was only supposed to be around 500-700 words. Big fail. Also, can't believe I've posted two fics in a week. What the hell is happening to me.

Please feel free to send me a message/comment/ask, I would love to know what you think.

If you like this, please feel free to visit my blog and take a look around! You can find my masterlist in my bio.

This place seemed far too swanky for Arthur, he felt completely out of place, but Ada had insisted he come. “Trust me Arthur, they’re the best tailors in London… you won’t be disappointed.” Looking at himself in the mirror out front of the change room, he had to agree. The pants and shirt were the nicest things he had ever worn, and he hadn’t even tried on the jacket yet. But still, no matter how much money he had lining his pockets, this place just felt a little too fancy for a boy from Small Heath. Maybe Tommy could get away with it, but him? Not a chance.

Walking up behind him, jacket in hand, came the attendant who helped him with his fittings last week, his posh London accent and manner doing nothing to ease Arthur’s inner monologue. Walking in a circle around him, he looked him up and down and nodded, quite pleased with himself, “The shirt and pants are a perfect fit, they won’t need any alterations at all.”

Moving behind him, he held open the jacket so Arthur could put his arms in and slipped it up over his shoulders. Then walking back around, he adjusted the lapels and buttoned it up, before stepping back, looking slightly disappointed, “The jacket is going to need some tweaking.” Placing a finger to his chin, the attendant sighed with thought. “It doesn’t need much… I might get our seamstress to have a look, she’s out the back. Otherwise, our tailor’s back tomorrow if you want to wait.” Unsure how to gauge Arthur’s expression, he added, “She’s very good… you won’t be disappointed.”

Arthur sniffed, visibly rolling his eyes as he adjusted the jacket, had this guy been talking to Ada? Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, “Yeah, alright, let her ‘ave a look.”

The attendant disappeared out back, leaving him in front of the mirror, and he couldn’t help but admire the cut and feel of the fabric. Arthur knew he was hardly posh and refined like ninety nine percent of the shops cliental, but he knew a bloody good suit when he saw one. And this was one of the best.

Moving to the edge of the store counter, he was flicking through a collection of swatches, taken completely off guard when to the side of him, someone spoke, “Arthur? ….. Arthur Shelby?”

An oddly familiar voice which Arthur couldn’t quite place, spoke his name. A voice from his childhood, only much more mature than he remembered. The edges to the Birmingham accent were a little softer, the volume somehow fuller, richer. A voice smoother than honey. ‘Hmmm’, he thought quite innocently, ‘a man could get used to a sound like that.’

Turning towards the voice, he almost jumped when he saw you. Dropping the swatches to the ground his cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink, standing straight as an arrow like a naughty child being caught in an act of mischief. He recognised you straight away. Even if he were an eighty-year-old man that hadn’t seen you in sixty years, he’d still know exactly who you were. His childhood crush. The girl who made his heart fly whenever she was near. The girl to which no other could compare. The girl he wanted to grow up and marry… And the girl who up and moved to London with her family when he was barely fifteen. Moved before he even found the courage to ask her out.

Arthur spoke your name, “YN?” It was almost a whisper. ‘Fuckin hell,’ he thought, you were even more beautiful than he remembered.

You smiled in response, and if his cheeks were pink before, they must be bright scarlet by now. Not sure what to do or say, he fumbled over his words, before blurting out, “You… you’re the seamstress?”

Lifting your hands, you laughed a little, waving the measuring tape and pin cushion they held, “I am… and these are the weapons of my trade.” Moving towards him, you placed them down on the counter, taking in every inch of his face, turning his poor scarlet cheeks crimson. “It’s good to see you, Arthur. My goodness, it must be what…? Twenty years?”

You moved even closer. Slipping your hands inside his jacket you went about your work, pinning together the alterations when your hand brushed against his side. It almost made him freeze, and he thanked God that it wasn’t his pants that needed altering, your close proximity making it hard for him to think. But somehow, he managed, “Uh, yeah. It’s been exactly twenty years.”

Looking up at him, you smiled the sweetest smile, your eyes looking strangely humbled that he knew exactly how long it had been since he saw you last. And it did nothing to ease the building flutters in his chest. He was a grown man, and a few minutes in your presence had him acting like an awkward teenager again. Arthur’s thoughts were a mess, scrambling to find something else to say, “So, ah, how long you been workin’ here?”

Biting your lip, you looked at the ring on your finger, before answering, sadness gathering in your eyes and voice, “Since my husband left for France.”

Arthur wanted to kick himself for asking, needing no more explanation to realise your husband did not return. And his heart broke for you. The thought of you hurting, in any shape or form, made him uneasy, made him want to reach out and comfort you. Placing a hand to your arm, he gave it a gentle squeeze. No words needed to be exchanged, you knew what he was trying to say.

With a small nod, you smiled softly, distracting yourself by getting back to the task at hand, making a few quick adjustments with your pins and measuring tape. Seemingly satisfied, you took a step back to make a full inspection, announcing quietly, “That should do it.”

Slipping the jacket from his shoulders, you placed it over your arm before fixing the collar of his shirt, your fingertips creating a trail of goosebumps when they brushed along his neck, and that was when he knew he was in trouble. Just one touch against his bare neck and all those buried teenage feelings came rushing back, hitting him like a tonne of bricks. Never to be suppressed again. And he knew himself well enough to realise that if he didn’t act on those feelings today, he was going to end up with a whole god damned wardrobe full of swanky suits. When what he really wanted was you.

Breaking through his trainwreck of thoughts, you touched his elbow, your eyes searching for something in his, “Arthur, this will only take me ten minutes… will you wait? Or” You paused, your expression changing the slightest bit, “Or did you want to come back tomorrow?”

With a deep breath, Arthur cleared his throat, putting his hands in his pockets to hide the fact they were trembling. “Ah, yeah, I can wait.” Feeling sick to the stomach, he shuffled on his feet, taking his hands out to run them through his hair, before returning them to his pockets, “Um, when do you knock off from here?” Clearing his throat again, Arthur worked hard to keep eye contact, fuck you were the loveliest thing he had ever seen. “I mean, if you want to, we could catch up… I could take you out for dinner or… or somethin.”

You answered with a smile. It was so sweet and warm, and genuine. And he dared to hope that just maybe you weren’t going to turn him down. With his heart beating in his throat, he waited for your reply. It was just a few fleeting moments, a few short moments that felt like an eternity. But your answer came, and he could barely believe his ears. “Yes, Arthur. Thank you. Dinner or somethin’ would be lovely.”

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars) vs. Alya Cesaire (Miraculous Ladybug)

Y'all Hate Kids: Screwed By The Writers

Propaganda below the cut

(cw racism)

-

Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)

So poorly written for such an insane fandom that the actual child actor, Jake Lloyd, received enough hate mail to make him quit acting.

Alya Cesaire (Miraculous Ladybug)

"The amount of hatred Alya gets in the fandom is absolutely insane. There are over 800 fics tagged with ""Alya Cesaire Bashing"", and that's just the ones that actually TAG it - many of them either use a a non-canonical tag or just take their demonization of her as canon. It's not just that a lot of fics bash her either, but that the fics that bash her are disproportionately popular. If you go through the ""Miraculous Ladybug"" tag on AO3 and sort by kudos, I'd say around a third of the top 500 most popular fics use this gross caricature of her in order to justify inflicting some sort of insane punishment on her, or at least replacing her with ""better"" friends and leaving her to wail in despair.

Basically, Alya is the best friend of the main character, Marinette. She's really into superheroes and aims to be a reporter someday, to the point that the first time a supervillain cropped up in the series, she immediately got out her bike and cycled after him so that she could be there when a superhero showed up to fight him (Lois Lane would be proud). She runs a blog called the ""Ladyblog"" which reports on what the superheroes are doing, and sometimes makes some fun videos, like about the most impressive feats of one of the superheroes. 

More relevantly though, she acts as Marinette's support a lot of the time, often being the one to push her to confess her feelings to Adrien, to help her with plans she comes up with, to talk things out with if she's having trouble processing something, and trying to act as the voice of reason if Marinette's gotten to into her own head. It can sometimes head into Black Best Friend territory of having her mostly stick around to support her bestie, but she DOES get a decent amount of screentime and focus at least.

Then the first episode of season 3 aired, and the fandom went BALLISTIC.

This character, Lila, debuted back at the end of season 1 as being this attention-seeking liar who pretended that she knew a lot more famous people than she actually did, including being best friends with Ladybug. Alya, being a naive 14-year-old, believed her and put Lila's interview on her blog. Since Marinette IS Ladybug, she knew this was not true, though she was initially more freaked out about the possibility that Adrien (the boy she has a crush on) would find her supposedly amazing life to be entrancing and that Lila would steal Adrien away from her, to the point that she actively wanted to stop Lila and Adrien from spending time together to prevent Adrien from falling for her.

Fast-forward to Chameleon, the first episode of season 3, and Lila's back and lying some more, this time about having Tinnitus (which would mean that she needs to sit at the front of class, next to Adrien). The class has a whole seating rearrangement in order to accommodate the move, and because some of them just wanted to change seats. Since Marinette was late that day, she didn't get to give input, so she wound up sitting alone at the back of the class, instead of next to Alya like she usually did. She's upset by this, but can't prove that Lila doesn't actually have the disability (she doesn't even have evidence that Lila doesn't have hearing problems, it's just that her story of how she supposedly got the disability is suspect), so she puts up with it for the class period.

Then lunch time rolls around and Marinette tells Alya and Alya's boyfriend, Nino, that Lila's a lying liar who lies. Alya asks why Marinette hates her so much, since she barely knows Lila (this isn't the first time that Marinette's nitpicked at Lila's stories, but she's never actually managed to prove that Lila's lying, Lila's good at coming up with explanations for any hole Marinette exposes in her tales). Marinette tells her how, after Lila first arrived at school, she followed her and Adrien, eavesdropped on them, and then saw Ladybug show up and tear into Lila for not knowing her. (Presumably that's what she says, the episode skipped past her actual recounting of what she saw). Alya and Nino are more concerned with the fact that she stalked Lila and Adrien, with Alya also being skeptical that what she heard might have been out-of-context, given how common out-of-context eavesdropping is in fiction for causing issues, with Alya saying, ""A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove she doesn't actually know Ladybug?""

Since Marinette can't actually prove anything without revealing that she's Ladybug, she decides that the sane and reasonable thing to do is to throw a wadded up napkin at Lila while she's eating lunch, and when she catches it (Lila's pretending to have a sprained wrist), to loudly declare that she obviously doesn't have a sprained wrist. Lila quickly pretends that catching it did actually hurt, the classmates Lila was sitting with scold Marinette for hurting her, and then Marinette goes off to seethe in a bathroom, where Lila finds her and threatens to turn her friends against her if she continues trying to expose her lies. 

Then at the end of the episode, Adrien goes to sit with Marinette at the back of the class to keep her company, the teacher thinks that Marinette ALSO has hearing issues so she's brought back to the front (and away from Adrien again), Lila pretends that her hearing has been fixed so she can sit at the back with Adrien, and Alya spots that Marinette looks miserable about sitting alone at the front, so she chooses to sit next to Marinette to keep her company and everyone ends up going back to their old places, except that Lila's sitting at the back of the class now.

And that's it. That is, for the most part, what kicked off the entire Alya hatred and demonization onslaught. While there ARE more things that happening in following episodes, they have a pretty small effect on the demonization Alya's put through, almost all of it is derived from Chameleon and hasn't changed much since then.

So for starters, in fanfics Alya is often made to ditch Marinette constantly to hang out with Lila instead. This never happens. She's often exasperated when Marinette starts talking about how Lila is awful and points out that she doesn't have proof of that, but she doesn't avoid Marinette, and the closest she ever comes to hanging out with Lila outside of class events is when she called Lila over to babysit hers and Nino's younger siblings when Marinette canceled at the last minute.

But most Alya-bashing fics don't just leave it there. Oh no. If you look through a bunch of the most popular Miraculous fics, you'll see Alya made out to be some sort of ringleader for the class in bullying Marinette, hitting her, pinching her, poisoning her, destroying her things, saying nasty, heinous things to her, the works, and inciting the rest of the class to do the same, sometimes to the point that even LILA is shocked at her cruelty. Usually in these cases, Chloe, who is canonically the class bully (and Marinette's bully in particular) is inexplicably Marinette's primary protector against the eeeeeevil Alya, becoming Marinette's best friend and support and basically taking on Alya's canon role and some of her personality traits, despite the fact that canonically, Chloe's as susceptible to Lila's lies as anyone else, and that in season 5 Chloe actually became Lila's partner in crime in trying to hurt Marinette in particular. (I don't like how Chloe's treated in canon, but that's a different story).

I've never even seen any justification given for why Alya's so frequently made to be outright violent or cruel towards Marinette, it's just widely accepted in fiction now, even with nothing pointing to her ever being malicious like that. There ARE other things Alya canonically does that I see her taken to task over though, but that fall apart when you examine them.

One of the biggest offenders is criticism towards Alya over how she handles babysitting. In Christmaster, Alya and Nino pick up Nino's little brother after Marinette babysits him for them while they're on a date, in Timetagger, Marinette's slated to babysit for them while they're on a date but cancels at the last minute, so they call Lila over instead, and then in Simple Man, Marinette books herself to babysit Alya's and Nino's younger siblings and the daughter of one's of her mom's friends, a little girl named Manon, all at the same time.

Alya receives heavy criticism for not paying Marinette for her babysitting, for having Marinette babysit for her secretly behind her parents' back without their knowledge, and for pressuring Marinette to babysit for her even though Marinette's so busy.

A few problems with this.

1. We see babysitting happen several times, sometimes with Alya helping Marinette with babysitting Manon and sometimes with Marinette just babysitting Manon without anyone else's involvement. At no point is payment brought up, and yet the absence of such a discussion is only ever used to demonize Alya.

2. There is no evidence that the babysitting Marinette does for Alya's sake is done behind her parents' back, the only thing pointing to that is a lack of Alya ever flat-out saying that she has her parents' permission to have Marinette babysit for her, but there's no evidence of sneaking around. MARINETTE, however, DOES canonically ditch her babysitting duties by having Alya babysit for her without the parent's knowledge. In Prime Queen, Marinette accidentally double books herself to do an interview as Ladybug at the same time that she's supposed to be babysitting Manon, so she calls Alya over to watch the interview with her, lies to her that she's just gonna go downstairs for a few minutes to talk with her parents and for Alya to please watch over Manon while she does that, and then leaves to do the interview while Alya watches over Manon the whole time. Nadja definitely didn't know that this happened, because she was surprised and worried when Alya and Manon called in during the interview with Marinette nowhere to be seen. In addition to this, in Simpleman, Marinette foists off all the children she's babysitting onto her grandpa against his will so that she can run off and help with Adrien's photoshoot after he calls her. The people demonizing Alya for supposedly having Marinette babysit for her secretly are not upset about the examples of Marinette canonically doing these things.

3. Of the three times that Marinette has, to date, been scheduled to babysit for Alya's sake (Christmaster, Timetagger, and Simpleman), for Christmaster she spent the next several hours after finishing with babysitting making Adrien's 50th birthday present (he's currently 14 years old), so I wouldn't say she was pressed for time, for Timetagger, she literally called Alya at the last minute to say she was too busy to babysit and Alya said it was no biggie and made other arrangements, and for Simpleman, Alya offered to cancel her date and take care of her younger siblings herself the instant she saw that Marinette was already babysitting Manon, and Marinette told her to go ahead and go on her date and that she'd look after her siblings.

So clearly, the people clutching their pearls about how horribly irresponsibly Alya is handling babysitting and how she's wronging Marinette in the process don't actually care about babysitting ethics here, because otherwise, Marinette would be getting the brunt of the hatred, not Alya. Despite this, I've seen a fair number of posts in the past tearing into Alya's babysitting for the reasons I already gave, and a bunch of fics that make it so that Alya pressures and guilt-trips Marinette into babysitting for her when she's struggling to keep up with all her work, only to have her parents find out and be horrified by how Alya's lied to them about who's been doing the babysitting and that Alya's been getting an increased allowance because of that, so they pay Marinette out of Alya's allowance and ground her, take away privileges, just have this be used as an excuse to punish Alya for supposedly wronging Marinette.

And then there's the subcategory of Alya demonization towards her for putting up Lila's interview on her blog without verifying that Lila was telling the truth. Admittedly, this was foolish, but she's 14. Retractions exist for a reason. And yet, fics frequently have her reputation be completely destroyed because she put up one interview that had a false statement by the interviewee in it, and sometimes even to be completely blacklisted from ever being a journalist in the future, things that are completely insane and would have even the most storied and well-respected of reporters be unable to ever get a job. 

She also frequently gets demonized and bashed for ""believing Lila over Marinette"". My major issue with this: what she's specifically believing Lila over Marinette for is on the topic of ""is Lila an awful person"". I don't think it's unreasonable to have a higher standard of proof for believing that someone is an awful person than for believing that your friend might just have some biased interpretations. Alya thinks that Marinette doesn't like Lila mostly because Lila has hit on Adrien, Marinette's crush, before. This isn't unreasonable considering that Marinette's first reaction to Lila is to freak out about her stealing Adrien away, and that when this other girl, Kagami, started hanging out with Adrien, she freaked out about that too. Specifically, she called a meeting of all her female friends to try and stop Kagami and Adrien from going away together to London for the weekend in Backwarder, helped Chloe in trying to get Kagami covered in food at a fancy red carpet movie opening in order to drive her away and steal her seat next to Adrien for the movie, and when she and Kagami were paired up for a ""friend-making game"" where the goal was to locate where Adrien was in Paris and the prize was to spend time with him, she pretended to genuinely want to be Kagami's friend so she could sabotage both of them and prevent Kagami from spending time with Adrien. So it's not like the belief that Marinette might be unfairly biased against Lila because she's made moves on Adrien is an unfair assumption.

In addition to that, on the occasions when Lila HAS tried to frame Marinette for something, Alya hasn't believed it, or hasn't been shown to believe it at least. In Ladybug Lila tries to frame Marinette for cheating on a test, for stealing a necklace from her, and for knocking her down the stairs. Despite the evidence Lila planted, Alya doesn't believe it and investigates to try and find out what really happened. She doesn't uncover any solid proof, but she still believes in Marinette. She doesn't believe that Marinette's assumption that Lila's behind this is necessarily correct, since Marinette's leaping to that without presenting proof, but she doesn't believe that Marinette's the culprit either. And in the two following cases when Marinette's framed, Alya never actually gets a chance to say what she believes after the accusation is made against Marinette.

Just... the amount of demonization towards Alya TO THIS DAY, often for things she NEVER EVEN FREAKING DID, is absolutely insane. Even over 5 years since Chameleon aired, fics with Alya being made into this malicious, awful bully so that Marinette can get some new friends to publicly denounce her, get her arrested, or otherwise be punished are frequently on the front page of the most recently updated fics on AO3, and are often some of the most popular ones. If you go to ""Fandom-Specific plot"" on Tvtropes, saltfics like these have multiple files going through all the common salt tropes. When looking through fics, I frequently search for Alya's name because she's often the first person to be unfairly demonized, so if she's safe, then everyone likely is. 

I suspect that racism plays a major factor in this. It doesn't make sense that Alya's often painted as being a violent, malicious bully and leader in getting the rest of the class to physically hurt and terrorize Marinette, I haven't even seen analysis arguing that she'd do that... but it tracks with the ""Black Brute"" archetype. This becomes even more obvious with Chloe, who's white and canonically DOES do some of this stuff, taking on Alya's canon role and some of her personality traits in these sorts of stories.

Then there's the standard Alya's held to for how she handles her blog. It's way higher than anyone would hold real-world reporters to, much less 14-year-olds. But it makes sense if you factor racial bias into account, and how Alya, being Black, is going to be held to a higher standard than anyone else, and be punished more for failing to meet that standard.

For things like the babysitting double standard, it makes no sense if you're actually looking at the stated criticism, given that the same criticism isn't leveled at Marinette... but it makes perfect sense if you're going off the assumption that Alya, as Marinette's Black Best Friend, is supposed to solely function as her support and that she's simply fulfilling her duties by always being there for her when needed, including for babysitting, but that if Marinette ever attempts to repay in kind, then Alya's being unfair towards her because Alya's obligated to always support Marinette, but that relationship is supposed to be a one-way street. Alya is supposed to function as Marinette's support, never the other way around.

And as for the way Alya's demonized for asking for evidence before believing that Lila's lying, well... again, Alya's expected to act as Marinette's support, and her ""failing"" that in any way, even if it makes sense from her point of view, is viewed as a betrayal. She's supposed to be loyal to Marinette, and only to Marinette, not to think for herself or to have multiple other friends or values that she needs to weigh. And anything that she does to go against that ""justifies"" Marinette intentionally trying to hurt and punish her for failing to live up to her role.

In conclusion, the way Alya's treated by the salt side of the fandom is grossly unfair, often has little connection with anything she canonically did, and has some gross racist implications, and is likely at least partially spurred on by racism, especially with how common and popular it still is to this day."

"(Note: This is an addendum to my earlier essay about the fandom's mistreatment of Alya. Here, I'm focusing more on how the writers' treatment of her helped to exacerbate that, since I saw that this version of the tournament had more of a focus on that. Please add this on at the end of my previous essay).

While Alya is primarily screwed over by the fanbase, there are some aspects of the writing that exacerbate her ill treatment. In season 4, Marinette confesses her secret identity to Alya, letting her know that she is Ladybug. Despite now knowing why Marinette was so convinced that Lila wasn't friends with Ladybug, and that Lila's interview stating that she's best friends with Ladybug is a lie, the subject just... never comes up, even when Lila starts being important again. It's not that Alya's ignoring what Lila lying on those subjects means, it's more like the writers just completely forgot that Lila told those particular lies, since Marinette doesn't bring them up either. This creates an inconsistency with the fanbase, who really, really, REALLY haven't forgotten those lies. 

There ARE ways to explain this - Lila lying about being friends with Ladybug in order to try to boost her reputation, especially when she's the new girl, isn't really all that heinous. Marinette lies a lot as well, even if you don't count lies told to protect her secret identity or other ""necessary"" lies, sometimes out of embarrassment, sometimes to to try and prevent someone's feelings from getting hurt, and sometimes because she thinks it's the fastest, easiest, or most certain way to get the outcome she wants. And yet, even though Marinette lies a lot, she's not ostracized for that since it's usually not for malicious reasons - foolish reasons at times, but rarely malicious. It would make sense that Lila too, wouldn't be thought too badly of for merely lying in an attempt to make friends.

None of that actually comes up though. Alya later, in Confrontation, states that, ""Marinette, you know we'll always believe you. But every time you've accused Lila, there's been no evidence. And at worst, it was just a misunderstanding."" Marinette doesn't say anything about the previous times Lila has been proven to lie, so it seems like either it was decided offscreen that the more understandable lies she's told don't matter, or that the writers just plain forgot about them.

There were other opportunities created by Alya knowing Marinette's identity that were ignored. Alya concludes that Adrien backing up Marinette's statement that Lila's bad news was just due to him wanting to defend his girlfriend. This is also a bit of a writing flaw, while wanting to back up his girlfriend's stance IS a decent reason for Adrien to be biased against Lila, this is Adrien we're talking about here. He's nice and understanding to a fault, and is known for giving people the benefit of the doubt and second chances. It makes far less sense to believe that he'd believe the worst of Lila, even if Marinette does, than it does for Marinette to be biased against Lila. That being said, Adrien wouldn't have been present for Lila's more indisputable threats and statements directed against Marinette, so he can't actually verify for sure whether or not there could've been some misunderstanding.

There WAS, however, someone who was always with Marinette, and who could actually back up Marinette's statements more definitively. 

Tikki. She was present for every threat Lila made, for everything she ever claimed. While it's possible that both Tikki and Marinette may have misunderstood Lila in the same way, it's far less likely, especially since Tikki would have had different biases from Marinette. Tikki could be an important witness. Yet that never comes up, is never proposed, because that would end the plotline too quickly. 

Alya was also screwed over in the immediate aftermath of Lila being exposed, though not by the writers per se? There was a short scene planned after Lila's exposed where Alya apologizes for not believing Marinette about Lila being a liar and generally an awful person, we've even got leaked footage of it, but it appears that it was cut somewhere between being written and voice acted, and the episode being aired. 

All of this only really affects detailed arguments about how well (or poorly) Alya's story arc with Lila was handled, its affect on the actual fanfiction produced about Chameleon salt was minimal, I saw no change in its frequency, severity, or general handling of the characters with any season after season 3. I highly doubt that even the changes I suggested here would have done much to persuade the saltdom against Ron the Death Eatering Alya, especially since a lot of the hatred against her has so little to do with the show.

There IS some hatred thrown at Alya for non-Lila related reasons - well, reasons that aren't DIRECTLY Lila related, most of that hatred still stems from people hating her for Chameleon stuff and then retroactively justifying it by looking back at other things she did that irked them. The most common one (that actually has some sort of argument to it, not the ""Alya's a horrible babysitter and is abusing her friendship with Marinette"" nonsense I listed in the main essay) is that Alya's pushy about getting Marinette together with Adrien. 

This is more a product of Alya's usual role in the story than anything. I mentioned in the main essay how Alya sometimes falls into ""Black Best Friend"" territory, and this is one of the biggest examples. One of her most common roles throughout the series is as the person who pushes Marinette to actually confess to Adrien, to hang out with him, to pursue her romantic desires even with her anxiety holding her back, and to be honest with herself during the times when she's trying to deny her feelings for him. She's Marinette's sounding board whenever she's having an anxiety spiral about... actually, just about anything, and acts as the voice of reason when Marinette gets in her own head too much.

Thus, Alya sets Marinette and Adrien to end up somewhere alone together, or tries to push her to talk to him, or to be honest during the times when she tries to ""move on"" from Adrien by denying that she still has feelings for him (which is blatantly untrue). She IS okay with Marinette dating someone else though, if she honestly seems to want to do that. She had no problem with her dating Luka, for instance. She DID protest Marinette's seemingly sudden interest in Chat Noir, but that was mostly because Marinette seemed to be grabbing at her new attraction as an attempt to run away from her feelings for Adrien, something that Tikki ALSO noted.

That's another thing - Alya's the character who's most frequently thrown into this role, but she's not the only one, nor even the most extreme one. A new character that was introduced for the Miraculous New York Special, Jess, observed how Adrien and Marinette acted around each other, and decided to try to get them to confess their love by faking a supervillain attack on them, with the supervillain kidnapping anyone that no one loves in order to compel Marinette to FINALLY confess to Adrien. (Alya thought it was stupid, but agreed to help since it might actually work). When Marinette, Adrien, Luka, and Kagami went out to the wax museum together, Luka intentionally locked Adrien and Marinette in a room together so that Marinette would stop running away and would be forced to talk to Adrien. Marinette is written in such a way that other characters are compelled to meddle in her lovelife, because otherwise she'll continue making her own extreme plans and pining away, but never actually confess her feelings. 

So while Alya could be said to be ""pushy"" to an extent, it's mostly for Marinette's benefit. I would like if this was a less frequent role for Alya - I think it does her a disservice, since it locks her firmly into Marinette's orbit rather than emphasizing who Alya is as her own character. Most of the hatred towards Alya for this is tied up in ""Die For Our Ship"" being directed at Adrien though, with Adrien bashers hating that Alya's trying to set Marinette up with what they see as an inferior option. Ironically enough, while Alya's role in this situation is one of the primary examples in the show of her being treated by the writers as a ""Black Best Friend"" who exists to serve Marinette's character, it's actually one of the cases where I think racism is a pretty minor part of the hatred by the fanbase over it, since I think that's mostly motivated by hatred towards the Lovesquare.

In conclusion (again), there is an issue with the writers bending Alya's character in order to tell a particular story, particularly a Marinette-centered story, while ignoring how little sense that makes with what happened earlier on in the plotline, or how it centralizes Alya's role and character around Marinette in ways that exacerbate already existing writing patterns in media.

[atlasblue85]

ok i haven't made a person post in 5000 years but im losing my mind thinking about this and i can't contain it and i haven't seen anyone else talking about it

in the most recent episode when Armand and Louis are talking in Louis's apartment and Louis gets frustrated about only being able to make fire when he's angry, Armand tells him "I try and find the vulnerability within the object" and like that's just it, isn't it? that's his whole fucking character right there in one kind of throw away line.

And if you take that and apply it to his observation from earlier in the season, "that boy we met in San Francisco, he's still in there and we can find him" like!!!!! it's the same fucking picture your honor

All Armand does is look for the vulnerability and exploit it. He's had the thoughts of changing the coven but he could never say them himself so he lets Lestat come in and do it. "You brought him there so he could destroy it." Armand never gets his hands dirty, he just finds the vulnerability and exploits it by letting something else do the dirty work for him whether it be Lestat or Louis or fire. When the coven goes on the hunt he finds this party full of wealthy people living in luxury while the majority of the country is in post war poverty and he uses that to justify them being killed but also exploits the sentiments of the coven, knowing they'll do the work for him. He doesn't even go inside, barely even glances as they destroy the place.

But ALSO in this scene, he and Louis smoke their cigarettes outside and they both use lighters to light them. Armand isn't showing his full hand yet, he's drawn to Louis but doesn't fully trust him. He doesn't show him that until later, when he's more sure Louis feels the same about him. I think there's another scene then when Louis uses a lighter but Armand doesn't.

Then later we see that scene with Louis struggling with the candle and he says the thing about only being able to do it when he's angry, and then we only see him do it when he's angry. There he's angry because Lestat is invading again, but also angry that he's still being pressured about the coven. When he sets his pictures on fire he's angry about the rejection from the art dealer and then angry at Claudia.

Then there's the final scene on the bench in the rain. He's just allowed Lestat to disappear as Armand approaches, after telling Lestat he's going to break things off with Armand. Maybe it's a lie just for Lestat but I think there's at least some truth to it, some part of him that's going to, but then Armand starts confiding in him, and he realizes he has him completely.

"I used to be real good at running things" followed immediately by "I'm a little wet" he doesn't even ask Armand to put up the umbrella Armand just does it because he told Louis about his past and now Louis has found his vulnerable point and knows how to use it. So then he hands Armand a cigarette and Armand tells him he wants him and Louis calls him Arun and Armans calls him Maitre. He knows it's over now, he's not angry he's in complete and total control so he lights Armand's cigarette first and then his own, and then throws his lighter away.

THAT is the moment so far, to me, where Louis comes into his own as a vampire. Here's this 500 year old master manipulator and Louis has him wrapped around his finger. Find the vulnerability within the fucking object. God.

[thefollow-spot]

They Call To Be Heard, They Curse My Return

|| Hunith & Merlin ● G ● WC: 500 ● Warning: MCD ||

Summary: After Arthur's death, Merlin returns to Ealdor to help with the harvest. // Written for @merlinmicrofic 2024, for the prompt 'Home'.

---

“I’m scared I shouldn’t be here,” Merlin says.

Hunith, mending a shirt by the evening fire, looks across the cottage: a bowl of light for the hearth. He’s in bed, speaking to the pillow, gaze still glazed over like he’s got everything at a distance.

“Merlin?” she says. He sounds hoarse:

“I’m putting you at risk.” His face pinches, feeling an old wound. Hunith doesn’t understand.

It’s early summer now; hot afternoons surrender to damp nights smeared with blue. The river is yet swollen. In the long days, youth have grown to till, sow, and harvest wheat. And Hunith’s son returns from Camelot.

“You’re not,” she says, leaving her work over the stool. She goes to him and kneels by his face. His cheekbones protrude; heavy lines hang under his eyes. “Why would you say that?”

This bed—she afforded it on his money. He was rich in Camelot: the King’s dear friend. Always with gold to spare, sending it home wrapped in good leather. Her boy became a man, writing her about beasts, quests, and friends.  

“Something’ll happen,” Merlin says. “Something always happens.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think I’m being… punished.” He sounds puzzled, like the nonsense of the statement confuses even him. “And… and maybe, if I forget that I am, something will happen. To you.”

There was a war, and his king died.

Hunith barely knows what else—tries to read it in Merlin’s face. Whatever he bears, he’s hidden it too far down. Now it eats him alive.

Gaius sent for her, begging her to make the trip:

Merlin is in dreadful need, he wrote. He should see his mother.

So she arrived, and the Queen received her: dressed thunderously in black against the white courtyard stone. She took her up to the physician’s tower where Merlin was shut in his room, staring out the window. He didn’t flinch when the door opened, didn’t turn when she spoke.

“My boy,” she hushes, and touches his brow, smooths back his hair. His skin is cool. “What are you talking about, punished?”

Pain flickers across his face: cavernous, wet.

“I don’t know,” he whispers, embarrassed. His cheeks flush; Hunith barely sees in the bronze dim, but he’s pale, and the colour shows. He turns away to stare at the wall; she strokes his tangled hair.

I’d like you to come home, she said. You know we always need help with the harvest this time of year. He’s always been smart—she’s sure he saw through her.

Gwen needs me. But he gave in when she kissed his forehead and said,

Please, Merlin.

I’ll just come for the harvest.

“You should be here,” Hunith says. Nowhere else, while you’re in such a bad way. “Whether for a season or a year. I’m going to look after you.”

But she’s struck something wrong because he tenses, and trembles, and curls inward. The sun has gone down. Merlin breathes like someone heavy is laying on his chest, and begins to weep.

[aylish91]

Hi again! Hope you are well? Thank for answered my questions for Sea of hope. So i'm back with questions, hope you don't mind.

Q1: How old is every Skeletons + Y/N

Q2: What timeline does the story takes place, how many years has past since the Banthos fell down

Q3: Does Y/N have the same magic as the other skeletons or does she have something different

Q4: How could you write something so good 🥰🤩☺️

Well that all.....for now. Oh and the requested I ask, i'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I hoping Pov for Blue, Red, Crooks and maybe Rus for when they first find about Y/N and maybe also when axe tell about how he found Y/N. I'm sorry if i write this wrong, English not my first language.

Hello Friend!!! Thank you so much for the asks! I hope you enjoy!!!

Grand master post

Blue's POV~

~~~

Q1: How old is every Skeletons + Y/N

Their ages from oldest to youngest:

Axe 566

Crooks 535

Sans and Red 527

Black 525

Blue 515

Rus 500

Edge and Papyrus 496

Stretch 490

Q2: What timeline does the story takes place, how many years has past since the Banthos fell down?

The story takes place in Sans’ universe approximately 635-645ish years after the curse had been placed and 527 years after Sans was born. The boys were quick to get into piracy during the golden age, which was between 1650-1720.

Q3: Does Y/N have the same magic as the other skeletons or does she have something different?

Y/N is a very special case.

In general, within this world, all magic is the same. Mages and Monsters have the same overall magic. What make this complicated, is the construct that holds it.

Monster’s souls are not as strong as their human counterparts. They can’t hold as much even though their bodies are made of it. Humans, on the other hand, have very strong souls. They are able to store and hold a greater and denser quantity even though their bodies are flesh.

Mages are powerful because they can use more magic at one time, for a longer period of time. At a price. It is significantly harder for those gifted with magic to learn to control their power.

Monsters greatly outclass humans in their mastery of magic, but it is also greatly limited to how much they possess. A boss monster, for example, will have the advantage in most scenarios, baring the presence of a superior or master mage.

Y/N has the body/capabilities of a Monster, but the soul of human…

[spideyanakin]

elijah mikealson falling in love with a southern belle before the civil war

elijah masterlist

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warnings - very much gone with the wind au ish, but no slavery in this parallel universe, mentions of death, mention of the civil war

➾ Elijah and his family were in New Orleans when the war was brewing. Klaus wanted to find a home for them, and Elijah was thinking about getting his own estate, invest in the brewing business outside of the city.

➾ that's how he met you. he was invited to yet another one of those boring barbecues he only went to keep appearances. Because that's what he had to do if he wanted to somehow fit in. Mingle with the crowd.

➾ he remembered this one was particularly brewing with the anticipation of war, and Klaus who had accompanied him just out of sheer entertainment and curiosity kept convincing Elijah it would be fine. But he knew very very well, that if the war started, this was bad, very bad for them if they wanted to settle here and make a home.

➾ the first time Elijah heard you speak, you were angry, very anrgy. You had sneaked into a study with a man whose name he barely remembered, some childhood friend of yours. You were professing your most undying love to him, right when the boy was just about to announce his engagement to someone else that same evening.

➾ he remembered the ambition in your voice, how strong-willed your words were, and how sincere your love felt. Something about it lit a spark in Elijah that he hadn't felt in years. He couldn't decipher what it was, but it was like a force pulling him to you.

➾ when the boy had left, you were angry, frustrated and in tears. In a rash of anger, you threw the first porcelain item you found--but Elijah, who had heard the whole conversation and had decided to make his presence known, was almost, hit on the head by it.

➾ he remembered the look of sheer horror in your eyes when you saw him. The muttered apology and the smile that bloomed on his lips. He hadn't smiled like this in ages.

➾ to this day, he still laughs at the threats you threw his way in fear he would snitch on your love profession to a man soon to be married.

➾ and that day he made himself a promise; that he would do what ever it takes for you to speak those same passionate words to him: 'I love you'

➾ but barely an hour after he met you, you were engaged to the bride to be’s brother in poor attempt to make your childhood love jealous, and Elijah found himself back to square one.

➾ that same afternoon, the war had been declared and soldiers were called to register. Klaus and Rebekah left for europe in the morning with crushed dreams about a life in Louisiana, but he stayed.

➾ and even if klaus had been very clear to his brother that it would be safer to leave, that they would come back and make yet another fortune in this city once the war was over; he stayed for you.

➾ he really didn't know how he came to be so in love with you, but something just kept pulling him to you.

➾ the next time he could properly speak with you was at a charity gala, and as the rich old folks pretended to care for the young and hungry soldiers on the front lines--Elijah had one goal in mind, dance with you.

➾ he had kept a close eye on you, and was glad to learn that your husband had passed away on the front lines.

➾ you were a widow, you weren't supposed to be dancing. You were supposed to stay behind the charity deposit counter as a volunteer, but he didn’t need read minds to know that you were hating every single bit of it.

➾ he knew you didn't want this life. He knew you weren't mourning your husband one single bit and wanted to be out there, dancing in a pretty colored dress.

➾ and when the host of the gala asked the gentlemen to place bids on a girl if they wanted to dance with them all night, Elijah didn't think twice before offering 500$ to keep you at his arm.

➾ you had let out the most beautiful laugh when the sum of money had left Elijah's lips, and he thought he could die right there.

➾ people squirmed at the idea of a widowed woman out on the dance floor, but neither of you cared one bit

➾ So you danced, danced, and danced all night, and that was enough to make you fall head over heels and forget your little childhood infatuation.

➾ you were married the same week.

➾ Elijah already knew the Yankees were going to win, and he was dying to get you to safety, but he knew you wouldn't let go of your family. So he did everything he could to make sure you were safe.

➾ even if it meant making deals with the local vampires to protect your property from theives and keep you safe.

➾ He knew that if he wanted to stay here, make good appearances he needed to go fight.

➾ and even though you begged him not to go, he knew it was the only way he could keep this life he was so keen on having.

➾ he told you what he was the night before his departure. He knew you wouldn't survive if you didn't know that he was safe. Safe from any harm.

➾ so he offered his services, coming back a captain and a war hero.

➾ he remembered the panic rising in his chest when he came back to the estate. Despite having made high-end deals with his supposed vampire allies, your family home was almost torn to pieces, almost everything gone and pillaged by the enemy. He made a mental note to rip their hearts out the first chance he got.

➾ when he didn’t see you in the gardens or on the front porch--helping your sister with the wounded soldiers who had found refused here, his feet danced as fast as he could without using his vampire speed.

➾ he barely greeted the few soldiers who were eating on the steps, something your sister had surely provided.

➾ When she greeted him with a grim look, he gulped, and he thought he would going to collapse right there—doomed to blame himself for eternity.

➾ She pointed upstairs, barely muttering words but he caught on the fact that you were alive. Sick but alive.

➾ you had been shot in the shoulder when an enemy had entered the house in search for the last few treasures he could scrape out of the estate.

➾ And later on Elijah learned that the man didn’t make it much further, you had shot back and did not miss as bluntly as him.

➾ But the wound had infected, and you had been stuck in bed with a fever, labeled as dying by a neighboring doctor.

➾ Needless to say that was your last day as human

➾ once the war was truly over, the mikealson siblings came back, very much present to rebuild New Orleans from the crumbs of war.

➾ klaus was especially happy knowing he’d finally be able to be king of a city.

➾ you lived the best years of your life there. right until Mikeal had found them, and now you had to run away again

➾ but Elijah wasn’t so scared this time around. Because as the family parted ways to survive, he wasn’t alone.

➾ he had you to keep him company for the rest of eternity

[read-watch-sleep]

what are some of your favorite wammy boy headcanons?

Oh, Hello! This is a very exciting ask, so thank you! I have many of these so I’ll try to work off of ones I haven’t seen as much of before rather than just ones I like (this is also because I like them all.) 

Near: This is the most important and self-indulgent ‘headcanon’ I have but I’m a firm believer in citing the films/drama, and so: Near is Thai. He was born in Thailand and speaks/reads Thai as his first language. He was an orphan that was adopted after assisting in an international case in Bangnum, probably at a younger age than most of the Wammy’s kids, per L: Change the WorLd. 

The incidence rate for albinism rises to 1 in 500 in some areas in South Pacific (as opposed to closer to 1 in 10,000 elsewhere),  so it’s not even that much of a stretch to keep his original Manga appearance. This adds significantly to how much he stands out to everyone, because he’s too pale to looks like most other Southeast Asians, but has distinct facial features, and a generally smaller stature, which make him stand out amongst most of the European Wammy’s students.

Mello: Despite taking the most drastic measures out of most of the successors, I think Mello actually has the strongest moral compass out of the Wammy’s kids (including L). His attachment to catholic imagery, emphasis on how hard he works, and the circumstances leading up to his death suggest to me that he has a strong ethical viewpoint, probably established by organised religion, that Wammy’s was never able to teach out of him. Note how he allows Takada modesty, and does not mistreat the people he kidnaps, whereas L… did not grant Misa the same mercy in his custody. 

This doesn't make him a good person, however. Mello is more than willing to kill to get what he wants. It just means he has a stronger sense of righteous ‘good’ than most of his peers. 

Matt: I mention this in one of my fics, but Matt’s first crush was 100% Riku from Kingdom Hearts. I have never played a KH game in my life, but I’m absolutely certain of this. The highly competitive rival who pushes himself too far in order to stay relevant, only to recover to the ‘good’ side with the power of his heart? Cool and collected but with a jealous streak? Plus, have you seen what he looks like? That’s just Near and Mello wrapped into one pixelated Gameboy package. Matt’s first wet dream.

Beyond: I think Beyond, despite not really being able to attach to anyone, harbours a protective fondness over the other successors, especially those close to the top. I imagine he was able to figure out they were next early on, if they ever met, as Near was barely 10 years old when Beyond was arrested. He probably has their lifespans memorized. Wammy’s staff probably saw a lot of Beyond’s behaviour in Mello, as well– I think he was brash, impulsive, manipulative, and violently insecure. 

Unlike Mello, however, he wouldn’t care much about the opinions of other children, not even his rival for first place. 

A: I don’t have a lot of concrete thoughts about them, although I’ve seen many headcannons that I like. Generally, since A is largely a ‘fridged’ character, I change them to suit what would best work for a fic they might be mentioned in. 

I do think, however, that they were the most like Light, rather than L, than any of the other successors. Popular, handsome, talented, and with a complete disdain for the human race. 

Linda (honorary Wammy’s boy): Linda was given ‘artistry’ as a talent which has always felt a little sexist to me. While I think she is an accomplished artist, she’s actually much better with applied mathematics than any of the boys– Near things largely in terms of statistics, but Linda follows more complex modelling systems as well. Given that she was able to recreate Near and Mello’s faces almost perfectly, I attribute much of her success at Wammy’s, and also talents with maths, to an eidetic memory. Because her recall is so strong, she has an incredible knack for patterns, rivalled only by Near’s autistic tendency to process things by patterned details. Their shared talents with numbers and probably made them rather close, although I don’t think Near was all that interested in her. 

L: I don’t want to say that L is textbook Manic/Depressive, but I always figured that L had intermittent episodes of manic physical energy/activity that would contrast his usual “sitting in a weird position for 17 hours straight.” Basically, I think L, especially when he was younger, got the zoomies. Wammy’s probably tried to redirect the energy with sparring and sports, which is why he’s so good with tennis (although tennis is largely an intellectual sport) and martial arts. They probably found L on rooftops and such quite a lot– I can imagine him running up 11 flights of stairs at 2 in the morning. 

I also have thoughts about K and F from the films/drama, but I figure you weren't asking about those.

[puckpocketed]

bonjour, i'm from vancouver but i have the worst sleep schedule ever so with onhockey dot tv by my side i'm abt to get into the aihl. who should i root for

BONSOIR!!! rip sleep schedule . I am a devout CBR Brave blog so, there’s only one answer here <3 some propaganda for you

i have personally met our starting goaltender Aleksi Toivonen and he’s a big sweetie . it was during this year’s off-season in uhhh february? and he was hanging out at our rink getting his reps in. i barely knew about the team back then so when he said he played for them i was like !!! and he let me take a very blurry photo 🫶

we’ve always been kinda good in a way that makes people a bit mad LMAO!!! won our first Goodall Cup 2018? so if you wanna root for the team where everyone’s praying for your downfall… get in here <3

on the topic of always being good; we’re so stacked that when IIHF Worlds is on, our roster gets STRIPPED because we have a lot of Australia’s best players! this year it happened and resulted in . um. a 9 game loss streak? <3 we were DEAD last in the league for a while. but the boys came back and we clawed our way to 2nd place in our conference pretty neatly

despite being so good, our rink is SHIT. i’m so serious. as a local, i’ve been to it and skated on it. god. soft, bewretched, small ice. there’s a fucking TRENCH between the boards and the ice too… like you could lose a small earring down that gap 😭 AND during intermission our zamboni does her best but often we have issues with flooding. smallest ice surface and smallest barn in the AIHL i do believe! this is because there’s been a decades-long power struggle between the owners and the government. (the streets are saying it has also historically been a pretty unfriendly place to the hockey players because the owner’s wife was a figure skater so her and her people always got preferential treatment LMAO) ANYWAY the propaganda part is . we play and practice on this ice and in this shitty old barn and we are still TORCHING the league <3 in a way i feel like we are the scrappy underdogs (we are not. but. we are to ME!!) anyway imagine what we could do with real facilities jskdjshsklff

canberra’s a small world so this team is just a bunch of brothers playing hockey together,, i’m SO serious. we got FOUR kubara brothers !! TWO miettinen brothers. and 2 Yorks !!! GONGEOUS NEPOBABIES..!!!

we just signed Austin Cangelosi and he’s boybestfriends with our guy Jake Ratcliffe and i love seeing them gossip on the ice like two girls at a slumber party. Cangelosi is 5’7 and got 🤏 this close to the NHL during a time where size was absolutely everything. i have the scouting notes from his draft year, and his overage draft years — i think if he’d come up in this era somebody would’ve taken a shot at him in like the 5th-7th round?? but alas. smash cut to now: he’s a small, fast, skilled player and has a relentless motor. if he stays with us next year he probably contends for most points in the league. he’s very good and fun and i louve heem…

i was talking shit about the Brave Cave but i love her so bad. we have new management who i deeply despise on a moral level because they’re a property development/building company, but aside from that they’ve put staff in place to make the vibes of pre/post games SO good. we’re hoping with this acquisition we will finally get the new rink we were promised in uhhhhh 2017. but who CARE!!! right now the capacity in the Cave is about 500, but it is apparently THEE most miserable place to play in as a travelling team. we’re a very rowdy crowd. we don’t boo our guys. we are deeply intimidating down to the last small child in CBR Brave facepaint.

on the topic of vibes: there are a few personalities at the rink who are pretty much fixtures. 1) the Cow Bell Guy; which is what it says on the tin. he brings a cow bell to every game and clangs it whenever something cool happens. when i say every game i mean like. i’ve seen him on monday nights when our beer league teams play godbless. (chatted to him a few times, his kid is a hockey fanatic and an ipad baby LMAO). 2) the Screamer; also what it says on the tin. Legend has it about 15 years ago she discovered hockey in an Autism Way and now she attends every home game and stands in the exact same corner. she heckles the SHIT out of the opposing team and honestly it would be kinda offputting if it was my team she was yelling at but she’s on MY side and so she’s a hero to me <3 i initially thought she was an overenthusiastic WAG or something but. no. she’s just on the hockey freak juice.

anyway. root for MY team. CBR BRAVE BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME EVER EVER EVER AND WE GOING TO THE CUP!!!!!

jokes aside please choose whatever team u like and have fun <3

[arsenic-catnep]

A Fly on the Wall

>500 words

The Idea: Dean is tasked with waking Sammy up, but can't bring himself to do it.

TW: incest, 17 year old Dean, 13 year old Sammy. Nothing explicit, just Dean having a perverted mind

A/N: I wrote this in 15 as a warmup, not proofread. Also posted to my AO3

The clock on the wall ticks away as Dean stares down at Sam. The light creeping in from the curtains caresses his baby brother's body, holding his spindly limbs like a vice. The sound of the trunk slamming shut causes Dean to jump a bit.

He was supposed to come in and wake Sammy up, tell him that he and dad were going to be gone for a few days. Dean couldn't bring himself to disturb Sam, not when he looks so peaceful.

Knobby knees curled up to his chest, as he slept on his side; like a fetus. Dean's baby. His Sammy.

How was Dean supposed to leave him like this? Sure Sam has already started experiencing puberty but he's still so little. Still innocent. Well, as innocent as you can be while having John Winchester as a father.

The motel door creaked open, and their father stepped into the room. “Dean, I told you to wake him up.” John scolded and tugged the blanket off of Sammy's sleeping form.

The cold air hit his body and startled the boy awake. He let out a small whine, one that made Dean's heart clench. Goosebumps rippled on Sammy's skin and he sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“Me and your brother are heading out on a job. You know the drill. Don't answer the phone or the door, and do not leave this room. If we call or come back early you know the signals that it's us.” John rattled off the usual bit that he'd always told the boys.

Sam nodded as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. The movement caused his oversized t-shirt to fall off his shoulder, exposing the supple skin beneath. Dean's mind spun around as he registered it was his shirt that Sammy put on last night. His eyes drug down further and watched Sam's bare legs rub against one another.

As the boy stretched, the shirt rode up his hips and exposed the briefs he was wearing. Just plain black fabric, Sammy was getting too old for cartoon patterns much to Dean's dismay. At least the fabric still hugs Sammy's little cock the same.

John had finished talking to Sam, and Dean almost didn't register their dad telling him to go get in the car. He took a deep breath in and finally turned to leave despite every nerve in him begging to stay.

They've left Sam alone a few times before already and Dean will still never be okay with it. He does as his father tells him, but he doesn't like it.

Dean always wonders what Sam does when they're gone, his mind usually wanders to inappropriate thoughts. Ranging from Sam just lounging around the motel room completely nude, all the way up to Sam humping a pillow and whining as he spurts cum all over the bedsheets.

Oh to be a fly on the motel room wall. Instead Dean has to go be the hunter John wants him to be.

[alpaca-clouds]

How To Improve Historical Literacy

As I have already established: If my life had gone according to my plan, I would have studied history at university, not IT/economics. Because history is to me one of the most interesting areas of study. BY FAR.

But being a history nerd also brings me one thing: I... kinda notice how little most people know about history. And I am not talking about the kinda stuff I love even - you know, pre-colonial Americas and stuff. No, I am talking like European history.

I recently allowed myself the kinda joke and ask around with friends and with colleagues of work for them to just generally date me certain historical events, that are definitely taught in German schools. The events were: Christianization of Rome, the Fall of Rome, the Crusades, the witch hunts, the revolutions, the industrial revolution, and the fall of Weimar.

What can I say? In some cases people were off by 500 years.

And sure, I hear you say, but history is not about remembering dates.

I agree with that. History is about understanding how and why things happened. But if you do not even get the general series of events right and how much time roughly passed between those events... you do not understand how and why things happened. Because you have no way of knowing this.

I also quizzed three people a bit about the history of Islam as it interacted with European history and... Yeah. Most I got in response to that were blank stares and the question of: "How am I suppsed to know that?"

We talk a lot about media literacy. What we do not talk a lot about is historical literacy. And I think... that is a big issue.

I talked with a friend about this recently. A retired history teacher. (Mind you, he is not that old, he just could not do teaching anymore because of health issues.) And we talked about how the curriculum in history very much is still following the Great Man narrative - and also repeats a lot of historical propaganda unquestioned.

Sure, at least over here in Germany we do very much interact with the Nazi propaganda in a critical way. But at the same time we absolutely unquestioningly learn stuff as "true" that came from colonial propaganda - or from the Victorian era propaganda about the middle ages.

We generally do fairly little in history over here when it comes to anything happening before 1600. Sure, we roughly skim over it. If you pick Latin class you get a bit more of Rome and Greece. But without Latin class you will barely know anything about those times in history.

And the problem that comes from that is, that most folks never actually LEARN how to even read historical sources. Be it primary sources - or just historical research. Which then leads to people taking words as gospel from some idiots who want to turn the past into their personal fantasy (Shadiversity for example).

And really... I will decry curricula in so many different classes. But none as much as history. Because in history, well... the folks do not even learn the basics.

You absolutely cannot teach history without teaching about how history interacted. You cannot just do German history. Technically the people know that. It is why we learned about the French Revolution, and about the Industrial Revolution in the UK. But that is just not enough.

Kids need to learn how the world works - and how certain things came to be. And something that Germany barely talks about is colonialism. Or the crusades. And both things are so inherently important if you want to understand the state the world is in right now.

More than that, however... Kids really need to be taught how to find historical research and sources to inform themselves.

And I mean that bitterly.

Years ago I did an analysis of certain kids books that had historical themes (like those non-fiction books for kids) and... Oh boy. It was not good. There was so much bullshit in those, that came from research that was at times more than 80 years old and had long been disproven. But those fairly new books had not updated that kinda stuff. And how are kids supposed to recognize those issues? And how are they supposed to develop a bullshit detector, when they are taught bullshit as kids?

And really... Media literacy is bad, btu I think more than anything we should talk about historical literacy.

Might also help with the conspiracy theorists.

[quitealotofsodapop]

You was minding the island/monkeys in "SWK is MK's stone egg dad au"?

Ask 1: Wukong would only trust someone he knew would be able to protect the island if he wasn't available. Originally his idea was for that to be Macaque but well... that didn't turn out so good.

Guanyin would try to kill him herself if she knew Wukong was trying to create a Stone Egg on purpose.

Princess Iron Fan is similarly discounted, cus for all her joy surrounding having a child, she knows it's stupid to try and make one when the eventual result is death of the parent. She'd tattle on SWK to Guanyin.

Erlang would remember to unbury Wukong, but him and the Plum Hill boys dont gots a good reputation with the island's monkeys or monkey demons in general. Also the dog might try and dig up Wukong before he can even start the Egg-making process.

That leaves the people he 1: Is good friends with and/or 2: Owes him a favor.

DBK and Nezha ultimately are the two entrusted with the knowledge of what Wukong's doing.

DBK worries because of the risks involved, but understands why Wukong is so adamant on becoming a parent. DBK was willing to bow to the bodhisattva if it meant his little firefly could be born safely.

Nezha is told a little different version of the story since Wukong still sees him as a kid who will panic. Wukong just tells him that he's "Trying out a new mediatation technique", and to check in on him in a few centuries. Nezha is suspicious, but assumes Wukong is planning to isolate himself for the sake of the Rings of Samadhi. Can't tell anyone where his Ring is if he's entombed after all. Nezha makes sure to check in on the island every other year or so just out of duty, but also because he's a little attached to the island's monkeys.

The Pilgrims aren't told of what SWK's gonna do in case they try to stop him. But Wukong grants them and their reincarnations/decendants special access to the island in case his original plan fails. He knows if something on the outside went *really wrong*, they'd be able to eventually find him.

Which leads to...

I was thinking perhaps DBK was a good candiate to protect the island + wake Wukong.

Until something happened in their lives (a shared tragedy), that caused DBK to go nuts trying to stop Wukong from doing something that could have taken his little sworn brother away from him forever.

The death of a fellow sworn brother/Wukong's own best friend and mate; Macaque.

Wukong and DBK had agreed to only reveal the news to Macaque when Wukong's body had already started the process. Far along enough that even if Macaque dragged SWK up out of the ground in anger; a Stone Egg would still continue developing with the parent "awake".

Macaque died not knowing what Wukong had planned.

And DBK lost it.

He couldn't bare to lose his last Sworn Brother on top of losing his brother-in-law. It made no sense for Wukong to create the Stone Egg if his own family would never be able to greet it!

Wukong is forced to seal DBK away once the Bull began deliberately causing Havoc to draw him out of his cave. Enough trouble that there was talk in Heaven of feeding the Bull to the Furnace.

Wukong hates to admit it. He too didn't want to lose his brother.

So he's forced to seal DBK in stasis in the Underworld for the amount of time SWK planned to stay buried.

500 years would be enough for Wukong's body to produce a full-term egg without needing to leech life energy/dao from another source. So hopefully by the time he's ready to birth, Nezha will atleast be able to wake him up. And once his Egg and baby arrives, he will be able to release his sworn brother without the risk of getting stomped on in anger. His child would be old enough to protect themselves, and his in-laws no longer mad at him. Win win!

Unless something say... a curious, clumsy reincarnation of his former master stumbled upon his burial spot inside Water-Curtain Cave and dug him up thinking he was a pot and woke him up prematurely, forcing Wukong to carry the Egg to term for about a year while he spirtually drained others. But that defintely wont happen!

Right?