#but it’s an event that lives rent free in my head

[honey-bee05]

TWST Stranded Alien AU

Okay this may be a bit convoluted, but I’ve had this idea living rent free in my head for a while now and I had to write it down.

So, we know how Twisted Wonderland is a different dimension/ planet from the one Yuu is from, right? I’ve always thought how convenient it was that Yuu is the same as the humans of twst (minus the magic part), spoke the same language, eats the same foods, etc. But what if that wasn’t the case?

What if instead of Twisted Wonderland being just a magical version of Earth, it was well and truly a different planet. Here’s a bit of a brain dump of things that I think would be different:

-Twst humans aren’t biologically the same as Earth humans.

Sure, they look similar, but there are some glaring differences. I like to think that Yuu would give the twst humans sort of an “uncanny valley” feeling, and vice versa. Like maybe the twst humans’ skin is weirdly texturless/ too smooth, or Yuu’s facial expressions are really exaggerated in comparison. I want Yuu to really feel like an alien in comparison. It might also be neat if only humans could easily tell the difference, so Faye and Merpeople and the like may not be able to tell at first.

I also imagine this would extend to things like Yuu having a blood type no one else in twst has (heck, maybe blood types don’t even exist there). Maybe they’re allergic to certain common foods or able to digest things that are poisonous to most twst humans. I could write about this part for days, but I’ll leave it here for now.

-Different Language and Culture

If you were to suddenly find yourself on an entirely different planet, what are the odds that you would speak the same language as the people living there? Pretty much 0, in my opinion. I think an untranslatable language barrier could be a really fun obstacle to play around with, and would add an extra layer of difficulty and frustration to the whole situation. 

I’ve also read a lot of fics where Yuu/ reader tries to navigate cultural differences between them and the non-humans of twst, but what if that were extended to the whole cast? I imagine that because of magic, the evolution of life on Twisted Wonderland happened in an entirely different way than it did on Earth, which would lead to a unique culture for its civilizations.

-The Geography/ Planet Itself is Different

Not sure why, but I’ve always had the headcannon that Twisted Wonderland is significantly smaller than Earth. I know we haven’t seen much of the world map yet, but I imagine what we do have is about ½ to ⅓ the size of the whole planet (Forgive me if I’m wrong, I haven’t finished reading the last chapter or hardly any of the vignettes yet). With that being said, gravity would be much lighter than that of Earth’s which could lead to some funky consequences. 

I also think that the weather would be different, and in my opinion, less extreme. I remember in the masquerade event, when Malleus caused an earthquake after finding out Rollo duped him, the cast was pretty shocked (yes, at the fact Malleus caused it, but it also seemed like they were surprised by an earthquake in general), even though it was quite a light one with little to no real damage done. Natural disasters aren’t really that uncommon in our world, and are often bad enough to take tens to hundreds of lives and cause millions in damages. I mean hell, we even have “tornado/ hurricane season” it's so common. 

-Morality and the Concept of Good vs Evil

Ok this kind of ties in with the culture thing, but I felt it deserved its own category. I think that the difference in how civilization came to be would vastly alter what people think is and isn’t ok. We know that physical/ magical strength is a huge factor in determining class/ hierarchy in twst society, so there might be more of a “survival of the fittest” mentality going on. It’s also interesting to think how having multiple sapient species, as opposed to Earth’s one, would affect things.

These are just some thoughts I’ve had for a while. I love world building so much, I’d be absolutely delighted to write more about this if anyones interested. Also, if you have anything to expand on this, please tell me! I’d love to bounce ideas off one another :D 

Anyways, hope y’all have a great day!

[the-wordsmith-streetscarf]

An Assortment of Thoughts about Daredevil Born Again episode 9

Putting my (mostly positive) thoughts here because I wanted to talk about the episode and figure this is marginally better than just bouncing them around in my head.

First of all, to all my fellow whump lovers, we've finally been given a Major Whump Event, and I am quite pleased.

A couple things of note, that I can't stop thinking about:

Matt lying in a hospital bed calling out Karen's name in his drug induced state continues to live rent free in my head, almost twenty-four hours later. It's so cliché, but I'm so here for it this time.

Heather's reaction in the hospital was so interesting to me. Initially I only read it as her being hurt over Matt calling out for Karen, and then annoyed that he didn't want to rest. Which of course is Classic Matt -- a bullet hole in his body? No time for rest, he has work to do. But upon re-watch, the way she steps away from him, body stiff… and the way she points out that the Fisks were the ones being shot at… as though that makes them innocent of any potential wrongdoings... she's annoyed that Matt is trying to villainize the Fisks. Even before she joins the mayor's team, she's firmly on their side. She either somehow doesn't know about Fisk's criminal history, or she's so anti-vigilante that she doesn't care. Almost like her fascination about vigilantes was never about trying to understand them, but rather trying to justify the point of view she already had on them. And by the end, Matt has Fisk in his pocket, further illustrating the growing wedge between Heather and Matt regarding what they believe in and why they can't work as a couple.

Vanessa's cough. That had to be intentional, right? Early in the season, I had a theory that part of the reason she was distant from Fisk at the beginning of the season is because while he was away, she was diagnosed with something, and now that he's back, she doesn't know how to reconcile the two. Of course, the only reason I was thinking this was because I'm still convinced that Foggy is alive and in witness protection thanks to Vanessa, and if the show follows the comics, Vanessa being sick is a part of that. I had forgotten about that theory until that suspicious cough… the one in which Wilson responded with, "I know."

Buck with the Get Well bag giving Ranskahov brothers with the flowers vibes.

Now, just about everything that took place in Matt's apartment…

We were blessed with another classic "Matt Injured and Sprawled On The Sofa" moment.

The back and forth that comes so easily with the two of them. Frank doesn't bother to ask if Matt's okay, just admonishes him for not having any way to make coffee during a power outage. How he asks "did you clock that?" about the van. Matt flipping him off. I don't ship Fratt, but their love language is snark.

Also can't help thinking about how Frank met Matt at his home, not at the hospital. So did he go to the hospital first, realize he wasn't there, and then beat him back to the apartment? Or did he just already assume he'd find him there?

And then there's Frank asking Matt why he'd take a bullet for Fisk, and Matt answering with "that's a good question." I don't have anything more to say about this one yet, but I want to think about it some more.

Now, I've seen some criticism of the choreography, which yeah, I think it could have been better. (Less slow-mo, please). But I saw someone compare it to a specific fight from the OG show that took place in a large open space, rather than inside a confined and crowded space like Matt's tiny apartment. It's gonna be different. It has to be. I think the chaos was intentional and necessary. But the second Matt dropped down from the skylight, I was locked in. I felt like I was watching the OG show for much of it. The chaos… Matt trying to knock out as many people as possible before Frank just kills them, but not trying very hard to actively stop Frank because the stakes are too high in that moment. Matt fighting injured. Matt still adhering to his code, knowing that killing Cole won't change anything, just like "killing" Dex didn't change anything with Foggy. (I'm not entirely convinced Cole killed Hector though. He never actually admitted it. Unless I missed something). Matt and Frank arguing and Frank's continued casual murder "how about him, is he worth it?" * bang * as he tries to push Matt.

On that note, it did throw me at first, how much Frank was pushing Matt, especially when in season 2 of the OG, he said "just this once? you cross that line you can't come back." But…. Matt did cross that line. Sure, Dex survived, but Matt still pushed him. I don't see how Frank would see that as anything else.

Something else to think about: While Matt and Frank are arguing, Matt says he's "always a liability." In the heat of their argument, Matt says "shut up" and Frank does -- immediately. When he tells Frank to run, he does. Neither of them hesitate leaping off the balcony, at least five stories up, as Matt throws an arm around Frank and slows their fall with his grapple. I don't know about the rest of you, but all this screams to me that they've worked together more than once in the years since the original show. Frank knows that when Matt says to shut up it's because he hears something important. Frank knows that Matt is reliable with his grappling hook. Love that way of world building. The show doesn't have to explicitly tell us, we're shown it in how they interact with each other. And my goodness… the fic possibilities this produces.

Though I'm very curious if or how Cole North survived. I think he's supposed to be in season 2?

The og DD theme played when Karen pulled up in the car. Beautiful in more ways than one.

Karen… I've missed her so much. "Will you be my eyes?" "Anytime."

"Do you remember I once asked you what it was like living in the darkness? Remember what you said?" "It's not dark, it's like a thousand suns." (That last one in particular is a scene I want, maybe need, even if only in fanfiction).

I just really like the scenes we got with Karen and Matt. It really feels like they had found a good place with each other in the time between the shows, where they've found a way to be much more open and honest with each other, allowing them to really understand each other. Chaos and mercy and everything in between. Which also just might further explain why Karen left when Matt's grief closed him off to her. The way she talked about Foggy too? Like… ugh, why did they have to break up our avocados!? I know why, but yeah.

Speaking of, AVOCADOS AT LAW!!!! I don't care if it's fan service. I'm a fan. I'm being served.

I appreciate the detail of showing the stars in the sky because the blackout means no light pollution, even if it probably wouldn't look like that. And I can't tell you how much I love the moment where Matt sat listening to the chaos of the city while he was at Red Hook.

I miss Brett, but I don't think the man's mental health could take this. It's a good thing he most likely retired to Florida with his mom.

And at the end, we have The Fisks being comically evil and I'm here for it. They aren't afraid of anything. They're leaning fully into themselves.

Admittedly, I'm disappointed that the end credits scene wasn't a Foggy reveal, in the same vein as the stinger at the end of that one Brubaker comic. (Imagine Foggy reading a headline about Matt Murdock taking a bullet for Fisk, then going missing, and wondering what he's up to, while being told he has to get away from the windows because he has to stay out of sight?) But I'm also somehow not surprised. If he's alive, (which I still 100% believe he is… I think Vanessa intended to kill him, but he was revived in the ambulance and lived, so she tucked him away. Especially after re-watching the last episode and noticed that she was watching Matt when he arrived, and then she told Matt "you need to relax" as he accused her of putting the hit out on Foggy, and of course… the cough) then I wouldn't be surprised if they drag out the reveal until later. But I was half expecting, the way they kept showing Frank look to the side, that they'd pan out and show Foggy in another cage. Glad he wasn't though. That'd be some shitty witness protection. (But I mean, I guess, they are storing rich people in a dungeon.)

But what we did get was Frank's escape. My first thought was: Frank sitting in that cage like "I've been through worse." And sure enough, that cage couldn't hold him. I so love the way he just managed to use his personality to get himself halfway there. All of this Frank stuff has me really looking forward to the Punisher special that we're getting.

A couple more things of note:

I'm so curious what they're going to do with Dex. Not just because we know he'll be in season 2, but because he looked so sad at the end. (And the beginning of the episode). He's been so lost, and now that he's out, he's still lost. And I think Matt saving Fisk really messed with him.

And are we to assume that Josie knows now that Matt is Daredevil? Not that I think everyone in the bar knows, but they did make a point of Josie noticing Matt leave without using his cane. And also those season 2 leaks of DD interacting with Josie may mean something.

And they showed a shot of Kirsten holding onto Foggy's paperwork at the end… I'm guessing she's going to take the reigns on that while Matt and Karen are in hiding, but I can't help but wonder if she knows something more.

Hopefully there's some others out there as excited as I am with what we got and what's to come. It's a weird feeling watching this show in real time when I watched the original years after it ended and the fandom was existing basically on life support. Now there's other people actively posting about it, making gifs. Much of it buried under hate and disdain.

It's not the original show. It was never going to be the original show. And I feel like I keep coming across others who are holding that against DDBA. Does it have its flaws? Yes. Especially when compared directly to the original show. I would have liked less licensed music, slower scenes, and less instances of two scenes cutting back and forth between each other, four more episodes, better fight choreography, I think Muse was underutilized, and I wish we got more out of the side characters like Kirsten, Cherry, and Heather.

But I can't stress how much good we got in this show. More than I'm willing to list because I think the majority of the show is good. Bendis and Waid are wildly different from each other, and I love them both. DD and DDBA are different, and I feel the same. There's an excellent story being told here. A story that takes place seven years after the original, where things are naturally going to have changed from where we left off.

I don't know, I know not everyone has to like it. That's fair. But I guess I'm just tired of being made to feel like I'm dumb or wrong for enjoying or at all liking DDBA. But personally, the finale felt like the closest we've gotten to the original show. And if the last two episodes are any indication, I think the next season is going to be even better. Better than the worst episodes of DDBA season 1, and better even than the best episodes of DDBA season 1.

[brainicusrotticus]

the crucial event that tied doc!sol and vace together:

they set off for the subaqueous swamp. sol drives the transport vehicle, and brings a bag for storing samples. he practically forced a second bag on vace, but that’s alright because vace forced sol to carry a plaspistol, in addition to bringing his own plasrifle, stun gloves, and a hunting knife.

they get to the swamp, and go about doing their thing. vace gets a bit twitchy a few times, but sol gives him the stern “don’t shoot at shit unless we’re about to die” look, and it’s enough to settle him down.

they’re there for hours. sol darting from plant to plant, vace just following and keeping an eye out.

it gets within about two hours of sundown, which means they’re going to need to leave soon. there’s also a heavy looking storm moving in, so sol is trying to get some last readings from another new species of plant that seems to have solid healing properties.

vace seems on edge. he’s usually been quietly pacing about, always looking out for shit. but sol takes a quick breather from this plant, and realizes vace is standing very nearby, and very still.

something feels off, but vace can’t tell what it is. and that’s not good.

sol takes him seriously, because that’s what vace is there for. he unholsters his plaspistol (for show, because it’s not like he actually know how to use the thing), goes for a sample of this last plant, and then they’ll get moving back to the transport.

first rule of vertumna: it’s never just a plant.

this plant turns out to be the hook for a creature fairly reminiscent of a snapbladder. and the second sol touches it, the trap springs.

it gets a decent clamp on sol. across his left shoulder and chest. it’s clearly not sized for human prey, but it’s bite is strong enough. it’ll bruise, and its teeth break the skin, but it’s not all that worrying.

it lets go when vace fires some non-lethal shots into it, and scurried away. vace goes to check on the doc, who assures him that it’s all fine.

but they haven’t been unnoticed. all day, noctilucent has been keeping tabs on them. waiting for a good opportunity to strike. and what better opening than worried distraction?

but he’s mean. he aims for the hard hits.

he drops a tree on them.

vace manages to swing the doc out of the way, and takes the full force of a falling tree on himself. not that solane being present would’ve changed that, then they’d just both take the full force of a falling tree. and it would end much worse for one of them.

it’ll leave some bruises on him. might’ve even left a few small cracks in the bones. but this is vace. he’ll be fine.

there’s only one major problem.

his legs are pinned under it. and he’s strong, but not super strong, and it’s hard to get proper leverage when you’re face down on the ground. sol is managed to catch his breath after being thrown to the ground (really just failing to catch himself), and is about to get up and go to vace…

but noctilucent emerges from the bushes. still dripping, like he’d crawled right out of the swamp water.

(he did)

sol hasn’t met noct before, but he knows about gardeners from sym

particularly that there are a number of gardeners who want the whole colony gone. and who think “dead” is good enough.

and in this particular scenario? he doesn’t really get the feeling this is going to be a friendly chat. he wonders if noct was the one responsible for the looming stormclouds.

noct knows how to threat assess. also, he’s been watching them all day. he knows that one of these individuals knows how to use a gun, and the other is a goddamn nerd. so vace presently being stuck under a tree? means that problem can be dealt with immediately.

so noct goes to him.

and stomps on vace’s head with those ugly ass hooves of his.

but, it’s vace. he’s built different. it’ll leave a bump, and left a little split in the skin that bleeds a bit, but it’s probably not even enough for a concussion.

(sol definitely has that brief moment of “i just witnessed a murder” before he remembered vace’s augment)

but noct keeps going. he gets another 3-4 in before sol throws himself on vace, literally wrapping around noctilucent’s leg like an octopus. screaming for him to stop.

and noct backs up a step. mostly because he’s surprised by the sheer audacity sol is showing.

and sol covers vace’s body with his own.

he doesn’t know how to fight. his plaspistol isn’t in reach, he can’t see vace’s plasrifle, the only thing he has is the knowledge that gardeners don’t die when their body is killed. he isn’t a soldier.

but he has to be.

vace is out of it. he seems to be wavering on consciousness, but his legs are still stuck and he definitely has at least a concussion now.

sol is the only one who can help them right now.

he’s shaking and sobbing, pressed overtop of vace. he can see something like amusement in noct’s eyes, and it pushes him that much further.

noct leans down. he wants to meet this human eye to eye, to mock sol for this before he kills them both. he’s absolutely focused on the full-faced misery of sol.

it’s classic, really. a common trick used by magicians in old holovids.

misdirection.

noct doesn’t see sol work vace’s knife free of the belt. he isn’t as guarded with sol. this human has only ventured beyond the colony a handful of times, and has never shown any prowess for combat.

sol isn’t a threat.

and as the doctor, lightning quick, wraps a hand around the back of noctilucent’s neck and slices so deep he leaves a cut across his own palm, he wonders if noct will remember this. feel some primal unease the next time he sees solane. or if, like his recent memories, all sense of threat melts away with his body.

the sprinkling rain is starting to grow heavier. sol uses a thick branch to leverage the tree off of vace, and wishes desperately that he had the time to fully exam the damage.

but he doesn’t. utopia will probably realize something is wrong soon—probably sent a message to the transport when stratos picked up on the storm moving in, and is waiting for a response that indicates they’re heading back to the colony.

when it doesn’t come, she’ll report them as missing. normal protocol is a search and rescue party.

but the storm would make for hostile conditions. if it raises the water too much, there are parts of the road that’ll flood, and they might not even be able to get a squad to the swamp. unless the storm blows over in minutes (which is possible, if not likely), it’ll be nightfall or later by the time anyone can make it.

and nighttime isn’t a good time for a rescue squad. it just puts more people at risk. in most cases, they’d wait until day. rhett wouldn’t get any sleep over the worry and guilt, but he’d make the choice anyway.

except, maybe, for sol.

he’s a doctor. the only one who knows what to do besides instance. he has more old-school knowledge than instance, and a xenobotanist background. he’s valuable, and he hates knowing that. that someone might consider it worthwhile to risk other lives to save his own.

but others can be trained. medbeds can handle just about any problem, as long as they stay functional. rhett knows that, as much as he knows sol wouldn’t want others to risk themselves unnecessarily for him.

the doctor honestly doesn’t know what choice rhett will make, and doesn’t envy him having to make it.

(he’ll buy something nice for the security chief, if he gets out of this.)

(when. it has to be when.)

vace is conscious enough to move, a little. support his own weight, hopefully. but that’s about it.

sol gets him up, supports his weight on one side. vace has about eight inches and ninety pounds on sol, which is a fucking problem.

sol puts on his best rhett voice, and barks orders at vace. “time to push it, soldier! if you don’t, we’re both dead!”

he can’t honestly tell if it helped. he knows vace can’t do much. he knows he was mostly saying it for himself.

because if sol can’t manage this, they’re both dead.

they might get lucky. rhett might send a squad after all. nem might defy orders to come after them herself. dys might come for sol’s sake, with her or own his own. he might even get word to sym.

but sol can’t act like help is coming. can’t let himself do anything less than as much as he fucking can.

the sun has set by the time he gets them back to the transport, drenched and muddy and shaking. he barely manages to open the sliding door with one hand, and then has to lay vace on the floor from outside, get in, and drag him the rest of the way. he pulls wads of fabric from between his own teeth, put there to keep his teeth from cracking when he clenched it shut.

he can barely get the scraps out, with how tightly wound the muscles are. that’ll hurt in the morning.

(he’ll just add it to the list.)

he locks them inside the transport, and takes a chance to examine vace. he’s semi-conscious, definitely has a concussion. he can talk, a little, and vaguely understand context.

(he swears, mostly. given the context, yeah. sounds about right.)

the bleeding has stopped. there are some cracks in his skull, but nothing that feels imminently dangerous. already bruises and a hell of a black eye, and sol is pretty sure there’s a fracture along his left orbital bone. but those are all things a medbed can handle just fine. as long as he makes it to one.

sol straps vace into one of the bench seats, and gets the transport started. as expected, there’s several messages from utopia, and one from rhett. the storm interferes too much with comms for much to get through, but sol does what he can. a distress signal, canceled after three seconds. three seconds of silence, and then the signal sent again, canceled after three seconds. deliberate enough for them to know it’s a message.

he starts the transport home.

about ten minutes of slow travel down the road, it’s flooded. sol isn’t going to risk it, not after what he just went through. he parks them.

he unbuckles vace so he can lay the soldier down on the seats, and try to get some sleep. sol takes the floor, and sleeps in fits.

eventually, he jolts awake to the sound of a quiet drizzle.

he straps vace back in. he’s relieved to hear the mumbled complaints about ruining his sleep.

the floods come fast in the swamp, but they leave that way, too.

it takes another hour and a half, but eventually he sees the lights of the colony.

utopia and rhett are already at the outer post, pacing and watching the road. they see the approaching transport before the lookouts do, but not before dys and nem.

both of whom are sequestered right next to the security chief, and looking rather dour.

sol can see how much self restraint it takes to wait for the transport to roll in, and not just run to it.

as soon as it’s parked, someone starts trying to yank the door open.

(it’s locked and dead bolted, because sol wasn’t taking any chances.)

he unlocks it, and rhett yanks it open before sol can. all the doctor manages to say is vace’s name, before he’s being unbuckled and carried out in rhett’s arms.

held like a princess, limp and soaked in a way that makes his clothes and hair cling to him, vace looks like the kid he is. barely sixteen, too young to be dealing with this shit.

(they both are. hell, all of them are.)

sol doesn’t need help to move. he knows he looks like shit, but his adrenaline has been running so high for so long that he sprints ahead to prepare a medbed.

instance is waiting, but she knows someone who needs work when she sees it. she’ll be the one who cleans and cares for sol’s own wounds later, in the quiet silence of an active medbed. tang will uncurl from the corner where she’d been watching owlishly, to play the part of nursing assistant.

vace will be under for three days. it’ll heal all the worrying injuries, but sol knows the soldier can’t stand to spend forever in a medbed, even if he doesn’t remember it.

(and he doesn’t remember the medbed. but he does remember a surprising amount of that day. remembers the dissonance of hearing sol sobbing while also feeling deft fingers work his knife loose. knows noct died, and he couldn’t have been the one to do it. gets flashes of the slog back, of sol carrying him when he could only feel frustration at his weak, sluggish legs slipping in the mud.)

they’re different, after that. sol never acts like vace owes him anything, and starts taking self-defense lessons. neither one of them actually suggested it. they just made eye contact across the cafeteria one morning a week after the event, and walked to the garrison together to start.

vace trusts sol to do what’s necessary, and to know what that is. it’s hard not to, when you know the empathetic, xeno-loving doctor willingly killed a gardener. his trust grows from there.

and sol trusts vace to have subtlety, and sympathy. he never says more about that day than what sol himself admits, even after he tells sol he remembers it. he seems to pick up on the days when it’s really bothering the doctor, and finds a way to hover nearby. whether it makes sol feel safe, or reminds him that he saved someone, vace doesn’t know.

seeing the most trusted kids from each ship suddenly get along has a deep impact on not just their peers, but the adults too.

(lum hates it. he never managed to scare them, but he could usually get them to cooperate. now they do nothing less than exactly what they think is right, and the few times he’s tried to control them, they both just fixed him with a stare that said he was a problem they could solve the moment they decided to.)

it’s the start of a new era for stratos-helios relations.

the violent soldier who toughened the kind doctor, and let himself be soothed in return.

(nothing changed in them. not really.)

(they just learned how to balance.)

(and everyone else followed suit.)

[sinistersinita]

Soooo I applied for an event but didn't get the table. Might as well post my promotional cutout I drew for submission here lmao

[sharksfrommars]

Art I did in October of the Baudelaire children. I was rewatching asoue back then. It’s meant to emulate the kind of risograph print style, cus I’m lowkey obsessed with it.

[steviesbicrisis]

Steve’s best relationship wasn’t even a relationship. He could barely call it a fling, a flirt. They never even went on a date. They never kissed.

Steve still thinks of it as the best whatever-it-is he has ever had with someone.

At the beginning it was mostly infuriating, how quickly Eddie managed to win the kids over, compared to Steve’s months of work as babysitter/nailbat swinger/monster fighter. Steve had to literally bleed multiple times to get an ounce of respect, Eddie only had to run a nerdy club about fictional bleeding and monster-fighting.

Then somehow, and Steve still has trouble pinpointing when and how it happened, everything changed.

Taking the kids back home from hellfire became something he impatiently waited for.

He and Eddie would barely talk for a few minutes and he would find himself replaying the conversation in his head for days. Anything he could say to get a reaction out of Eddie became fundamental, and if he started by picking subjects to piss him off, he ended learning about Eddie’s favorites, because few minutes after hellfire were never enough and Steve needed Eddie to talk as much as possible, until the kids were begging to drop it and go home.

Steve never questioned the change, most likely out of fear. He doesn’t think he ever was clueless, just really scared about what would potentially mean to be staring at another dude’s eyelashes as he goes on a rant about why Ozzy Osbourne is the best artist of his generation. Or blush whenever said dude would call him “baby”, or “sweetheart”.

Steve convinced himself that the thing he and Eddie were having was as good as it was going to get, nothing more.

Then Chrissy Cunningham died, Eddie ran, and Steve realized that the thing will never be enough for him.

He couldn’t not have Eddie. Not watch him as he entertains a bunch of freshmen, as he stomps with his worn out sneakers on top of forniture, as he puts his terrible music on to push away anyone who doesn’t care enough about him to stay.

Steve needed to see Eddie being alive, doing what his heart desires, and he needed to be next to him when he does.

Obviously, this realization came at the worst possible time.

Steve tried to tell him so many times: when they found him at the boathouse, when he was hiding at refer Rick’s house, when they were taking a stroll in the upside down, and even when they were driving a stolen trailer to a gunshop.

But, it seemed, Eddie had come to a realization just as important and he tried his best to avoid Steve at every given chance.

Steve tried to initiate the conversation as Eddie did his best to run away from it. And he ran until Steve had no chances left to tell him how he actually felt.

———

Steve doesn’t know if he’s allowed to say he lost something he never had. To mourn a relationship he never began. A partner that, technically, never became a partner.

After Eddie dies, Steve has no one to be next to but he can’t say he ever did.

Steve just exists waiting. He can’t tell if he’s waiting for the pain to go away or for Eddie to jump out of a bush and yell “ah! I got you sucker!! By the way, I’m in love with you too.”

For obvious reasons, that never happens.

What does happen, is a call.

It’s a normal Tuesday, as normal as you could define it after Hawkins almost collapsed into the upside down. Steve got into a routine, between checking on the ones at the hospital, helping out at the shelter, allowing Robin to check on him to see if he’s still alive.

The call happens while Robin is doing her kitchen check up - aka making sure he has food and that he’s eating it-, so she picks the phone like she did a million times before.

“Harrington residence, this is Robin” she says, cheerfully.

Steve doesn’t pay much attention to it as he’s folding his dad’s old clothes that intends to donate to the shelter, until he hears Robin’s loud gasp.

“What is it? Is it the hospital? Is it Max?” He rushes to the other room where Robin is.

She doesn’t answer but she gives him a look as she passes him the receiver.

Steve goes quiet, a million thoughts going through his head as he takes the phone from Robin.

He’s still unprepared when he hears that unmistakable voice “Baby”.

Steve gasps for breath “Eddie?”

Is that really you? What happened? Are you hurt? Isn’t this impossible? Is what goes on in Steve’s head, but he ends up just asking “are you okay?”

He can hear a chuckle, Eddie’s wicked chuckle, a further confirmation that it is him, “I’m- hanging in there… are you okay?”

Steve finds the question absurd. He isn’t the one who got left in the upside down, the one that got eaten by demonic bats, the one who died before Steve had the chance to tell him how he felt.

He answers truthfully nonetheless, “I’m… I’m not okay.”

“I’ll be there soon, I promise.”

“Please Eddie, come quick.”

“I’ll break the sound barrier for you.”

[cinnamelle]

If you see a butterfly, that's me coming back to see you all

[echosong971]

The Petrification Disease is a nasty thing...

[fivveweeks]

gatcha main character and their assigned waifu

[im-a-little-kit]

i feel like the majority of the ppl here think dnp wont ever hardlaunch (for understandable reasons, e.g. accepting that they basically already have or seeing it as smth they wont ever explicitly confirm bc they either dont want to for whatever reason or dont feel the need to). but i live in a reality where the chance of them one day being like "oh btw we're a thing" in whatever way you might (no but seriously) imagine, all the way from a random tiny offhand comment to like. idk a whole ass video, is not zero which is a combination of epic and slightly terrifying

[kane-turu]

Mentally I'm still here. Marcus was trapped in self doubt, overthinking her position in this world and the countless better choices she could make. But then she realized there's someone willing to help her 'read' this beautiful complex world without worrying too much abt details

Now she needs to read this world alone again. No matter how's the ending, I think Marcus and Hofmann will never regret meeting each other

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Hi Dove!

I love love LOVE the theme of your event here - it's so cozy! Your mind is simply brilliant.

For this, may I request Rook with the prompt "Discovering old secrets" and the emojis 🎵 and 🖼 ?

If that has already been filled in some way, could I instead request Trey with the prompt "Warm mornings" and the emojis 🪴 and 🧇 ?

I forsee some absolutely beautiful pieces coming out of this event, and I hope you enjoy yourself! (Just don't work yourself too hard, okay? :) )

Discovering Old Secrets; Rook Hunt

Content; Gender-neutral reader, mutual pining but make it a strategy game

Word Count; 650+

Author's Note; You don't actually find what the old secret actually means, but that's a part of the fun. I hope you enjoy this playful Rook drabble!

As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

You didn’t really know what to expect from Rook when he proposed going on a ‘vacances à la mer’. There was something other than teasing in his eyes; vulnerability. This wasn’t any run-of-the-mill cottage by the sea, no. It was less of a cottage and more of a villa… one of his family’s villas.  

This was a huge leap in your relationship status, as the two of you were having this game of sorts to see who would actually confess first. And so far, no one has yet come out to be the victor. Sure, it was silly and trivial, as you both liked each other, but it was more fun — on Rook’s end — and you were curious as to how long this could play out. It was a game of 4D chess, and the two of you were skirting around the other with no clear sign of when a checkmate would happen.

Perhaps you were finally getting closer to achieving this, after all, Rook is very cryptic when it comes to revealing any deeper information on him, or his background.

“Your head seems to be in the clouds, Trickster,” he chuckled, sending you a teasing wink. “Would you be kind enough to share?”

Well, he sent you a wink, not that you could really see it, as you were busy putting away some of the sparse belongings you had. “Not really,” you shot back, looking at him through the corner of your eye.

Rook was leaning slightly on the doorframe, hair pulled back into a low ponytail, and wearing beige linen pants and a white linen shirt. This was the most relaxed and casual you had seen him… it wasn’t a bad look. “You wound me,” he sighed, shaking his head, “my heart cannot take it!”

“Are you going to help me or just stand there?” What are you playing at, Rook?

Rook chuckled but slowly sauntered over, and started putting things away how you liked them. At first, it did creep you out that he knew how you liked to store your belongings, but he’s Rook and that’s just a Rook thing. And right now it was nice having an extra pair of hands; many hands make light work.

You bumped something off the shelf by accident, which Rook caught like it was nothing. Reflexes sharp as a knife… or one of his arrows you suppose.

“I haven’t seen this in years,” he mused quietly, turning over the painting that you had nearly sent crashing to the ground. Rook turned his gaze to you, a soft smile making the corners crinkle slightly. “This painting, mon chou, holds a secret…” and I believe you can unlock it. Rook gently handed the painting to you, his calloused hands brushing against yours. 

You inspected the painting; it was of this very villa. The detail was beautiful, including the hand-carved driftwood frame. Running your fingers over the groves you found something small, round, and metal. You pressed it.

Gentle piano music emanated from the painting, and the scene was changing. Rook had his head resting on your shoulder as the scene played out; two figures were now in the painting, skirting around each other as if dancing. And then the one figure, who looked an awful lot like Rook, took the other’s hand as the music faded out, setting the painting in place.

You wiggled your shoulder, prompting Rook to get his head off of you. “What was that? It was beautiful, but what does it mean?”

Rook just gave you a cheery smile and winked, “That’s for you to discover in your own time, Trickster.” He patted you on the shoulder and went back into the main living room, leaving you alone to ponder over what that painting was really about. But Rook knew.

So I will lose this chase? He looked back over his shoulder as you straightened the painting with care. He watched as the painting shifted back to its original state. Hmm, not that I mind… as long as they are happy with cornering their quarry. Funny, no? Le chasseur d’amour has become the helpless prey… not that I mind.

~~~~~~~

*vacances à la mer; vacation by the sea

*mon chou; the literal translation is 'my cabbage' but it means 'my darling' in this context

~~~~~~~

Tags: @eynnwwyjth, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

The Hunt Family Villa (fan art by the lovely Krenenbaker!)

[buttercupshands]

I need to see those three in the same room

[goatjam]

holding hands, how scandalous!

oh boi ffxiv art! ft my Viera Zero and @rakunoko's elezen Valtin

these two losers live rent free in my head

[princelancey]

sometimes when I need a good laugh I think about someone asking Lance to do some of the sponsor events and promotions that I see other drivings doing cause omg the facial expression would be *chef's kiss*

[darkgamer-900]

POV: MHA characters being goofy dumbasses for no reason