#but when i found out that he made both i immediately noticed two parallels: both shows try to keep up with and comment on trends

[sonechkaandthedynamos]

nobody cares, but i am actually willing to defend and just like that for the following reasons:

it's one of few reboots that i actually find justifiable, since the original series followed the lives of four women within the context of modern relationship dynamics (the fact that Samantha isn't in the reboot is a big fail, but Kim Cattrall has her reasons not to participate and I respect that)

the scenes that read like wikihow listicles on how to be woke (for instance the saree scene) actually aren't a new addition to the canon, since the original satc was also a how to guide to life in the city (which was also stated explicitly at one point), and a lot of it is about figuring out the rules of relationships and modern life

people just now noticing that they're all very wealthy women is insane to me. maybe their wealth as single women 25 years ago is easier to romanticise, but they were rich women from the beginning

che diaz is a good choice (fight me). they behave extremely shittily towards miranda, which does infuriate me, but what made the original series so special is that the characters weren't morally black or white, they are very human. and i was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they weren't portrayed as a perfect angel and the posterchild of their identity like many lgbtq characters have to be in media. so i hate them but i will defend them

on that note: miranda's changing sexuality and her mid-life crisis aren't that shocking, and she is the perfect character through which the show can explore sex- and loveless marriages, alcoholism, the feeling of dissatisfaction with one's own life, and many other things. the reboot doesn't show these women's happy perfect lives, because that would be boring, and, suprise suprise, life is still complicated after you get married and have kids.

charlotte's kids are spoiled upper class brats? yeah no shit

when people complain about the reboot not having the same vibe as the original series, i think that they're missing the point. it can't have the same snappy wit as the first three seasons (which is both easier to turn into a meme/iconic moment (btw i love those scenes to death, i'm not criticising them)) because their lives are different, but also satc had already evolved past that; the later seasons did explore longer story lines, and we watched the women grow and tap into their emotions and build relationships over longer periods of time;

That being said, I will always remember the original much more fondly and will continue to rewatch it and revisit it, whereas I doubt that I will form the same kind of connection to the reboot.

[hawkinsmafia]

𝔼𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖 𝕄𝕦𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕟: 𝔽𝕝𝕦𝕗𝕗 𝔸𝕝𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕥

day 04 : Eddie

featuring Eddie Munson x reader (no assumed gender)

rating: general

cw: two minor, non-graphic mentions of sex; one brief mention of recreational marijuana use

wc: 1.6k

an: this is my first time doing one of these, and I was reminded of filling out those massively long surveys your friends would all email around in the 90s. I miss those. this was written for @corrodedcoffinfest!

𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤 :: How does Eddie spend free time with his partner?

⟢ Eddie is the king of parallel play. Just being in the same room is enough to please him, even if you’re both absorbed in different activities. You’re lounging on the couch with a book while Eddie is noodling around with his guitar, or he’s at the table working on his campaign notes while you’re writing up a grocery list.

𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕪 :: What does Eddie admire about his partner?

⟢ I won’t lie, one of his criteria in a partner is how well you fit into his rockstar aesthetic. If you look like you’re ready to pose beside him on the cover of Rolling Stone, that’s a huge boon.

ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 :: How does Eddie help his partner when they’re struggling?

⟢ Eddie’s love language is acts of service, so when you’re having a rough time, he’s insisting you take the night off and let him make dinner—and it’s probably just boxed macaroni and cheese and maybe a can of green beans if he thinks about it, but he makes it with so much love. Then afterward, if you’re amenable, he’d break out his private stash and pack a bowl for you.

𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖 :: What is Eddie’s first date with his partner like?

⟢ A disaster. He had big ideas of impressing you, but it was one of those nights where nothing went as he planned. He wanted to take you to an open mic night and wow you with his musical prowess, but the performance list was already full when you arrived. At a loss for a last-minute substitution, you wound up going to the Hawkins High carnival, where he was harassed by the popular crowd, he couldn’t manage to win a single game to get you a prize, and he nearly choked to death on his corn dog (then coughed so hard he almost puked). To top it all off, he was pulled over by a cop while driving you home, and the familiarity the cop had with Eddie clearly announced that he had regular run-ins with them. And to this day, Eddie has absolutely no idea why you invited him inside when he finally got you home, or asked to see him again tomorrow for a do-over.

𝔼𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕝 :: Is Eddie more dominant or submissive in his relationship?

⟢ Eddie is a very easy switch. He can and will take either role depending on his mood and yours, and can switch from one to the other with a moment’s notice.

𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 :: What is it like when Eddie and his partner argue?

⟢ Honestly, Eddie doesn’t argue with you very often. He struggles with feelings of inadequacy and fears the day you’ll wake up and realize he’s a worthless, white trash loser, and he’s afraid of driving you to that realization early. Much more common between you are the more playful, low stakes disagreements, like which dresser drawer to put socks and underwear in (the top one, obviously) or whether peanut butter belongs in the fridge or not (no). These ‘arguments’ are usually settled with a dice roll.

𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕖 :: Does Eddie acknowledge how much his partner does for him?

⟢ Oh god, yes. See above for those feelings of inadequacy, he is grateful as hell that you gave a freak a chance and somehow found him worthwhile, at least for now.

ℍ𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪 :: Does Eddie keep secrets from his partner or does he share everything?

⟢ Eddie couldn’t keep anything from you to save his life. He tells you everything, and everyone knows that if they tell Eddie something, they’re really telling the both of you because he’ll tell you immediately.

𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 :: Has Eddie’s partner inspired him to grow or change in any way?

⟢ Your presence in his life has made him more focused and given him more drive. His rockstar dreams were just a farfetched fantasy that he toyed with before, daydreams of a better life, but now with you in the picture, he craves that success to be more than make-believe.

𝕁𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕪 :: How does Eddie handle jealousy in his relationship?

⟢ Eddie doesn’t fall victim to jealousy all that often. Those occasions when he does feel it flare up, though, it’s because he saw someone else flirting with you, and his response is to go over there and slip an arm around you, maybe give you a slightly-too-deep kiss, and remind the other person that you’re already spoken for.

𝕂𝕚𝕤𝕤 :: Is Eddie a good kisser?

⟢ He’s not too bad! He doesn’t have a whole lot of experience when you first get together—there haven’t been many people in Hawkins willing to take a chance on a Munson—but he does have some natural talent, and he’s a quick learner with practice.

𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 :: How does Eddie confess his love to his partner?

⟢ In song. He stresses out for a while over how to get to the next level with you, and he finally decides that since music is his forte, he’ll write you a song and perform it for you.

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕘𝕖 :: Would Eddie want to marry his partner?

⟢ Eddie would be one of those guys who proposes to his partner and then stalls in the engaged phase for years, putting off the actual marriage. It’s not that he doesn’t want to marry you (he does!), but he’s worried (perhaps subconsciously) about tying himself to you and becoming a weight that holds you back, ruining your life by making you a Munson.

ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 :: What does Eddie call his partner?

⟢ Princess, sweetheart, baby, babe. If he’s in a goofy mood, he’ll call you ‘my liege’ (often with a deep bow and a thick accent).

𝕆𝕟 ℂ𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕕 ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖 :: What is Eddie like when he’s in love?

⟢ Oh god, I hate to say this, but I think he’s that guy who kind of slowly starts drifting away from his friends in favor of spending time with his partner instead, at least for a while, and it causes tension between you and them. When he starts cancelling Hellfire at the last minute and not showing up to band rehearsal, the others start getting angry with him.

ℙ𝔻𝔸 :: Does Eddie openly share affection with his partner, or is he more private?

⟢ This man would fuck you in the hallway at school if you asked him to. Once you’ve made it clear that you aren’t afraid of everyone knowing you’re with him, he can be downright obnoxious with his affection. You’re the couple making out in the hall during class change, causing a traffic jam. You’re the couple who gets caught in closets and bathrooms at every party. More than once, Wayne has had to clear his throat rather loudly to remind Eddie that he’s still in the room.

ℚ𝕦𝕚𝕣𝕜 :: What’s a random action Eddie performs for his partner?

⟢ He learns your routine and makes a point to ask if you want a ride to work today before you even say anything, or he’s already waiting for you outside your classes so he can walk with you to your next one.

ℝ𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 :: How romantic is Eddie?

⟢ Very romantic. He’s making you new mix tapes weekly. Whenever he stops for gas, he always comes back to the van with your favorite snack without being asked. (He may have taken the five-finger discount, but it’s the thought that counts!) He holds doors open for you with a sweeping bow. He makes a big production of giving you a pin off his battle vest or one of his rings.

𝕊𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 :: How does Eddie help his partner achieve their goals?

⟢ You have never heard a pep talk until Eddie gives you one. He is a stalwart and unwavering pillar of support, and no one believes in you as much as Eddie believes in you.

𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕝 :: Does Eddie like to experiment and try new things, or does he prefer familiarity?

⟢ Eddie is always down to try something new, especially if it’s something you’re interested in. Whether it’s a new movie in a genre he doesn’t gravitate toward, or heading into the city to try a new restaurant cuisine that’s caught your attention, or a new bedroom activity, Eddie’s down for it.

𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 :: How well does Eddie know his partner?

⟢ Pretty damn well. Sometimes you might think he’s not listening while you’re talking, but even when he looks distracted, he never misses a word. He knows your favorite color, the foods you hate, your class or work schedule, the kind of future you daydream about. If you have a menstrual cycle, he doesn’t have it memorized but he can always tell immediately when your uterus is making problems.

𝕍𝕒𝕝𝕦𝕖 :: How important is Eddie’s relationship to him?

⟢ It’s literally the single most important thing in Eddie’s life. It’s the greatest thing he’s ever had, and he knows he doesn’t deserve anything this good. He loves you more than his guitar, which speaks volumes on its own.

𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕕 ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕕 :: A random fluffy headcanon.

⟢ The first year you were together, Eddie very nearly forgot your birthday. It wasn’t until a quarter to midnight that he remembered, and he tore out of the trailer like a man on fire to get over to your place before midnight, nothing but apologies and affection and promises to make it up to you this weekend. Since then, he goes out of his way to make a big deal of your birthday every year.

𝕏𝕆𝕏𝕆 :: Does Eddie like to be affectionate with his partner?

⟢ Oh yes. Given a choice, Eddie would be attached to your hip 24/7. He loves to hold your hand, put an arm around you, give you little kisses, cuddle up to you. If acts of service is his primary love language, physical touch is a close second.

𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 :: How does Eddie cope when he’s missing his partner?

⟢ If at all possible, the quickest cure is to just go see you. Eddie’s liable to show up at your place at any hour of the day or night, looking a little lost and forlorn, just wanting to see you. If you’re unreachable like that, oh, how this boy pines for you. He’s a mopey, moody, melancholy mess. Wayne has to tell him to go outside and get some sunlight before he makes the mold in the trailer flourish with that storm cloud over his head.

ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝 :: To what lengths would Eddie go for his relationship?

⟢ Eddie would brave the Upside Down alone to preserve your relationship. He would bitch and moan the entire way, but he would do it if it meant keeping you.

[r3dcarat]

Chapter One : The Prologue

everything is raw and not proofread! i’m too lazy to do so lol.

The minute the Drakes’ baby was born, two lives were changed: the parents. It was common knowledge that as expecting first time parents, Jack and Janet would experience a huge change in their already made lives.

But this change to the expecting parents was colossal compared to their previous changes in life. For Janet, this change was the most memorable. Chest to chest. Eyes to Eyes. Body warmth traveling through both making the skin hike as a torched area.

Janet was tired to say the least but that did not stop her from looking at her baby with such adoration. Her finger and eyes peeked through the white blanket that the nurses adorned the newborn with. As a result, the babe opened her small eyes to peek at her mother’s curious eyes. The shine of the babe’s cornflower blue orbs reflected upon Janet’s hazel honey orbs. As both irises paralleled as fit, Janet then realized to what extent this change will bring.

Janet is a mother now. Her body was able to give her a child, but not just any child but her own. Her baby girl. But that’s where the slight issue came in. Her baby girl was not a baby boy as she and Jack thought her to be.

As the issue slowly sinked in, Janet remembered how badly Jack wanted a baby boy. A baby boy to be an heir for him. Fit to be an heir in both life and business aspects for him. Janet found it both annoying and endearing when he was rambling on about how he couldn’t wait for their baby to be a boy a few weeks after finding out they were expecting.

Yes they were just a few weeks into their pregnancy journey but they couldn’t help but immediately expect for a boy. It just felt right for their new addition to be a boy. But more so for Jack. He always exclaimed how he would treat his boy as a champ. Teach him all the pathways there are to be a boy and especially grow a man.

“Jan, I could finally have a little helper when I work on my cars!”

“Oh how adorable would he be dressed up at events!”

“I could already see it so vividly, Timothy Jackson Drake!” Jack would gasp in utter delight.

“I am prepared for our champ to greet us both.”

It was a tender side of her husband that she recognized from way back to the beginning of their complicated marriage. Back when they were stupid in love and stuck so horrendously in the honeymoon phase. Back when they loved with no limit. Something that is such a rarity in the present. So to keep that warm manner of her husband running on, Janet encouraged Jack’s advanced prediction of their baby’s gender.

A selfish deed she felt she deserved so desperately to make her pregnancy the easiest between both expecting parents. So, as a result both Drakes never asked for the baby’s gender when visiting the doctor's office.

Even when the doctors recommended both to know, so it would give them more preparation for the baby’s welcome. They declined. Every single time.

Flashforward to now, Janet regrets it. She should’ve known that her selfishness would bite her back. It always does. And now the new mother sits with her new baby girl. Rapid thoughts flowing like a rainforest current, with no capability of stopping. So many thoughts on what’s next.

Janet loves her child no matter the gender. But Jack? He wanted a baby boy, never expressing for a girl. Now what? Will he be mad? Will he be disappointed? Will he hate Janet?

..Will he hate his daughter?

Is he capable of it? Is she capable of allowing it? So many thoughts on what’s next but she knows that no matter what.

No matter what. Janet will love her child. Janet will love her baby girl, no matter what. And as Janet was drowning in thoughts she didn’t notice how her child began to subconsciously reach her finger with the chub of her own. The infant was successful in touching Janet’s finger, which seemed to bring Janet back to reality.

As her eyes began to zone in on her newborn, she realized that it didn't matter. None of what she thought or spiraled at mattered. Janet knew that Jack’s reaction to her meant nothing. Whether or not he takes well to the baby’s gender does not concern her. Because in the end, Janet will fight for her daughter. And almost in cue came Jack.

Janet supposed that the nurses let him in to see his newborn. But, even knowing such a reasonable explanation to Jack being in the room, she couldn’t help but inch her body inward to hide the baby.

Janet’s “little” action was caught by everyone. Most reacted in confusion but only Jack reacted with delicacy. He went to Janet’s side and slowly held his shaking hands out. Jack’s face was shaped in awe, with his mouth pried open, but eyes in disbelief.

After seconds of silence, Jack begged with a raspy tone, “Jannie, can I see our baby?”

[aemiron-main]

The Cave of Horrors: TFS Henry’s Cave vs Hopper In The S3 Funhouse

So, I was watching S3 today and noticed this line- and immediately thought about the cave in Nevada that TFS Henry ended up in:

And now, I’m staring at the funhouse being man made vs the idea that the “cave” that TFS Henry ended up in was actually a bunker like the NINA bunker/NINA missile silo.

And there’s also a bunch of other TFS connections during this whole scene- we have this “don’t be scared” line vs TFS Henry saying “don’t be scared,” to Prancer and S4 vision Brenner saying “nothing to be afraid of,” to Nancy:

And then there’s also this “I see you eyeing the maze,” line that plays right before the cave line and the “don’t be scared” line versus a.) the interview talking about how the Creel house was intentionally maze-like but also b.) the maze vibes with NINA HNL & the NINA “cave”/bunker in S4 and idea that TFS Henry’s cave ended up getting him NINA’d:

And “don’t show your fear in the presence of the tiger,” versus TFS Henry telling Patty to “try not to let it know you’re afraid”:

And then there’s also this “you may never escape this cave alive,” line vs this post and the idea of a dead Henry in the cave/an extra body IN the cave vs the scientist being found OUTSIDE of the cave and this post about TFS vs The Descent and the idea that TFS Henry may have never made it out of the cave:

Especially with this post re: Will in the S1 library “cave” with the slug in his mouth vs TFS Henry’s ballgag scene paralleling that/Henry’s end of TFS scene being mysteriously paralleled to a cave scene is now even MORE suspicious to me with this new “you may never escape this cave alive” line:

And we also have Hopper hitting this guy on the head with one of the weird noodle punching bag things vs TFS Henry’s head injury in the cave:

And Grigori chasing Hopper with a gun vs Walter asking TFS Henry if he got shot re: TFS Henry’s hand scar:

(And then in the funhouse, there’s a bunch of mirrors where Grigori and Hopper see their reflections, which has me staring at the multiple 001s during NINA and the fact that there's verisons of him that ONLY show up in the mirror and are different from the version of him that's outside of the mirror.)

And we also have Grigori shooting Hopper’s reflection rather than the REAL Hopper vs Henry-Edward stuff & the idea of the “not real Henry” getting shot/getting the hand scar, especially with how none of the Henwards we see in S4 have the hand scar:

And we have this shot Hopper shooting Grigori through the mirror vs massacre Henward getting thrown through the mirror:

And something that’s EXTRA interesting to me re: 1979 NINA massacre scene parallels is the fact that we also get this shot of Grigori laying on the ground after getting thrown through the mirror:

Which, this is super interesting to me for two key reasons:

A.) It parallels Henward during the massacre after he gets thrown at the mirror the first time and it doesn’t break- which, it’s interesting that they paralleled Grigori to both Henward going through the mirror AND Henward hitting the mirror the first time but not going through it but then did the parallel in reverse order (ie, Henward hits the mirror and doesn’t go through it & has that shot on the ground and THEN gets thrown through it whereas Grigori gets thrown through the mirror and THEN has that shot on the ground)

And B.) That shot of Grigori and the shot of massacre Henward also parallel the other Russian guy from earlier that I mentioned who gets hit over the head by Hopper and who is paralleled to TFS Henry getting the head injury in the cave:

And so, these parallels have me staring DIRECTLY at this post and what I’ve talked about re: the idea of one of the Henwards having hit his head and gotten entirely knocked out when he got thrown against the mirror for the first time- which now would be reinforced by Henward getting paralleled to the Russian guy who got knocked out and stayed down.

And the parallels between this S3 scene vs TFS vs NINA/the 1979 massacre has me staring So Much not only at the idea of TFS being some sort of simulation, but also the idea that TFS Henry may have never left the “cave,” and instead put into a NINA-esque simulation (hence the parallels between this S3 cave stuff vs the 1979 NINA massacre scenes, this S3 cave stuff is connected to both the TFS cave stuff AND the 1979 NINA massacre scenes for a Reason).

And also, as an interesting little sidenote, Alexei’s pose after he dies is eerily similar to one of the dead guards from the 1979 massacre, which is interesting considering that Alexei was outside of the funhouse versus all of the massacre parallels that happen within the funhouse and the idea of the funhouse being paralleled to the Nevada cave vs both the funhouse and the Nevada cave also being paralleled to the NINA bunker/missile silo and Alexei's death happening outside of the funhouse vs the idea that the guard's death may have happened outside of NINA (and so possibly outside of the simulation, which is also interesting considering that this guard also died outside of the rainbow room), which is then EXTRA interesting considering that TFS Brenner specifies that the scientist that escaped the lab was found dead OUTSIDE of the cave in Nevada.

Anyway! Lots to think about!

[swluminekin]

Bringing Our Own Hope (We are Warriors of Light/Darkness)

With everything that is going on in the United States right now post election, I've been taking time to reflect and think about things. And what I've noticed a lot currently - and I kind of blame a TikTok I watched for this - is there are parallels to the Shadowbringers expansion of Final Fantasy XIV. I've probably lost y'all, but just... give me some time and I'll explain. It'll make sense.

For those who haven't played but want to, I will be HEAVILY going into spoiler territory. Back out now if you don't want to be spoiled for the expansion.

Everyone gone who wants to be spoiler free? Okay, here we go.

Anyway, for a TL;DR of the game so far before we head into Shadowbringers, the player (as the Warrior of Light) along with your friends - the Scions of the Seventh Dawn - has at this point:

Rejoined the main three city-states of Eorzea

Stopped a group of "counter" heroes from making a mockery of you and your group

Caused for a fourth city-state to join in the alliance

Got blamed for and stopped a coup while at the same time ending a 1000-year man-vs-dragon war

And brought independence to two nations who would become allies to Eorzea

Towards the end of the last part, most members of our group fell unconscious, leaving us as the last. During all of it, we found that we were being called and eventually we did find our way from the Source to the First.

Anyway, while we're on the First, among the chaos that we see in realizing that we have a reflection to save, we see the difference between two leaders.

On the one side, we have the ExArch of the Crystarium. He helped people for nearly a century after The Flood of Light fiasco to just try and survive. We learn later on how he had gotten to the First - it had been a disaster where he was from, but he'd been a point of... hope.

The ExArch was an unwitting leader of the people, gave people a beacon. He cared for the people, helped them to create a life in the world that seemed to want them gone. The people wanted him as king, but he only wanted to be seen as one of them, because he considered himself one of them. They wanted him as a leader so they created his role - the ExArch. He helped with supplying, storing and rebuilding a community; a community of lost souls. When the Scions arrive, he tells and shows them the world of the First. He wants them to understand and see what has happened with everything and everyone. He worked to keep the remaining people of the world safe.

But that led to where one of the Scions was made to go: a place called Kholusia and the city-state of Eulmore. It's a place that looks amazing from a distance but on the outer edge and below, it's slums. And there, is a leader of this place - a leader who lives in opulence and who believes in the separation of those who are lower in status to those who are rich.

His name is Vauthry. When we meet him, we immediately know he's corrupt. He is the (heavily overweight, infantile-like) son of the past leader of Eulmore - a man that the ExArch had been friends with. He surrounds himself with the well-off and makes beggars of those not so much. He basically does a sort of performative charity in the slum areas to show that he's a great guy and deserves to lead the people. And if you didn't do as you were asked/required to do? Well... needless to say, he prided himself on fear as well. He also believed he was a sort of god among men and threw tantrums if things didn't go his way. But there was more as well (I'll get to that in a minute).

The ExArch tried to get along with Vauthry, but they didn't agree on what should be done and how. They both wanted to save the people of the First. However, their methods differed by leaps and bounds. Vauthry only wanted the well to do to be saved. They had money and because of that nothing else mattered and they could buy their way into the lives of the poor. The ExArch, on the other hand, found a way to lead the people in a way that the people became self-sufficient. He led with compassion and kindness, believing that everyone deserved a chance to live.

Going through this election cycle brought forward a lot of things and watching it was strange because I hadn't realized it yet. It wasn't until a TikTok video pointed out that "America really voted in a Vauthry" that I understood what I was seeing. The comparisons between Trump and Vauthry are insanely staggering.

Vauthry/Trump are extremely rich

Vauthry/Trump prefer the rich over the poor and tax/hurt those with less money in order to widen the gap

Vauthry/Trump do performative charities to their own benefit

Vauthry/Trump have shadow organizations running the show in the background

Oh... You saw that last one?

Much like Trump has several people from the National Heritage Foundation (a Christian Nationalist Conservative "think tank") in place for when he takes office (including his Vice Presidential pick, J.D. Vance), Vauthry was supported by his own shadow group.

Taking a step back to what I said about Vauthry believing himself a god among men (which, let's be honest, Trump pretty much blatantly infers this of himself on the daily), he actually wasn't wrong... to a degree. You see, while he is able to solve certain problems, he is also the cause of them. This being because when he was conceived/born, he was given a power by a group we know want the destruction of our home because they wanted things to go back to the way they were. Sound familiar? It should. The Ascians wanted to return the Source and its reflections back to how it was during their time. They thought of the current man as less than a person ("I do not consider you truly alive. Ergo, I will not be guilty of m*rder if I k*ll you." -Emet-Selch). Once again, sound familiar?

So as we go through the First, we meet the various peoples - many familiar in appearance, while others have changed in some way. In this world that is covered in never ending light, we change our moniker from Warrior of Light to Warrior of Darkness. That being said, we never fully change our position, we're just going under a different name since the last WoL wasn't exactly looked highly upon in their end. (Remember that group who were trying to make a mockery of us? Needless to say, they'd been misguided and brought to the source under false pretenses.) As we make our way through the world and defeat the enemy leaders, we become a beacon of hope ourselves as we bring the night back to the world. Not only that, but even the ExArch believes in us more and finds a way to help with getting the people of Eulmore to break themselves free of the corruption of Vauthry - we and our fellow Scion already having planted a seed of change within the people there during our earlier visits.

That said, as we go through the story, we do see the ExArch faulter. We see him question himself. We see him doubt if he'd done things right. But as he does, he looks to his people and sees their work and their hope. He watches us and the Scions as we go through our trials, our battles. He watches as each enemy leader falls at our hand as we fight corruption and knows what he must do. He's always known, but he didn't really know the how or when until we arrived and did what we could. He led as he followed and followed as he led. He knew what we represented and who we were.

For as much as the ExArch was a leader of the people, he was also someone who believed in the people as well. He believed in us and our team. The people of the Crystarium. Honestly, he believed in the people of the First. For even in the more dire of times, he knew what could be done and who could do it. Because the ExArch believed in the people as much as they believed in him. He was able to give hope and peace of mind rather than doubt and fear.

That's why, in all truth and honesty, I believe that the Crystal ExArch's role could be filled by Kamala.

So, why the title? Because when it comes down to it, we as voters? Are the player. We as voters are the Warrior of Light (or in the case of the First, Warrior of Darkness). We are the ones who can make the change. But now that the votes have been cast and our world's Vauthry and Ascians have (at least temporarily) won, it's time to take up the banners and ready ourselves for the next set of battles.

They won't be easy - anyone who's played as a WoL in Final Fantasy XIV knows that the grind is difficult. But let me remind you of a question:

When has fighting for peace, hope, and survival ever been easy? To quote the ExArch himself:

"To take action is to hope. To believe - to choose to believe - is to take the first step for towards a brighter future." ... "For in times of hardship, when you fear you cannot go on... The joy you have known, the pain you have felt, the prayers that you've whispered and answered - they shall ever be your strength and comfort."

We are Warriors of Light/Darkness. It's time to step up and make the world better.

[bromcommie]

🤡 ✅ for the writer asks!

Hi hii, thanks for the ask! :) ✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Hm. I feel like I haven't posted enough writing for this to be nearly as relevant as it should lol, but: dream sequences, for sure. Humor, sometimes, even if I’m writing something heavy. And I feel like I tend to come back to mythology a lot. Or maybe not mythology specifically so much as storytelling done within the confines of the story in general? Like as thinly veiled parallels for the characters and what they're going through, sure, but also maybe even more so I find interesting just how different characters might tell, or interpret, different stories. Or what the stories they choose to tell or pay attention to are and why - about their own life or those that stick with them. The stories they tell themselves vs. others. It's also kind of an exposition crutch sometimes, so I've been trying to tone it down or reshape it in certain instances, but yeah.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

This is an unfinished scene that really doesn’t contain any kind of serious characterization nor historical accuracy. But consider: it's funny to me personally. So who cares. Absolute crack below the cut if you’re interested:

“I am going,” Barnes is hollering from somewhere when Gabe jolts back into consciousness with his face a mere foot from the crackling fire, sweaty and confused, “to kick the shit out of you, Rogers! I’m gonna—“ the rest of the threat gets abruptly cut off when he hits the ground with a heavy thud, all the air knocked out of him. Gabe blinks.

There's gotta be a nicer word for the way Rogers grins with his knees locked around Barnes’ torso, he thinks, other than feral.

“Yeah? Lemme see you follow it through, motherfucker. Lemme see you try.”

Gabe scans their little circle: all of them still battered or bored or battling a variety of illness, and all of them distinctly disinterested in the chaos happening not fifteen feet away.

Whatever the ruckus is, an emergency it ain’t. He stretches with a soul-deep yawn, cocking his head in the direction of the noise. “What’s all that for?”

“Maman et papa se disputent,” Dernier points out flatly from his place across from him, frowning down at the stack of cards precariously towering by Morita’s knee. With a flick of a wrist he throws a card out from his noticeably smaller deck and tuts when Morita immediately trumps it and swipes both cards off the damp log-turned-table. “Ah, putain.”

“Yeah no shit, I can see that. What about?”

Dernier shrugs. “Who se fuck knows. Se mistress?”

Morita lets out an undignified giggle. Gabe squints at the sweaty back of his neck, then down at the conspicuously unlabeled, conspicuously empty bottle by his feet.

“Are y’all drunk?” He glances at the blurry mess of limbs tumbling in the dark. “Are they drunk?”

“Who can tell at this point.”

Gabe watches the two indiscernible shapes in the flickering light that reaches further into the grassy field. There also has to be a better phrase for the mud-covered state they’re both in other than pigs in a pen, but it’s escaping him at the moment.

“What happened to them?”

“Sarge went out to check that house we saw on the way and get firewood. Steve went after him,” Dugan elaborates with a resigned expression, his words running together a little. “Came back looking like two prissy cats the flood just spat out. Something about a mudslide and whose fault it was.” He reaches behind him to pull out a miraculously still only half-empty bottle and tip it his way. “Rogers found us some French brandy, though. It’s shit, of course, but that was awfully nice of him.”

Gabe sits up to accept the bottle, plucking a stray twig out of his hair with a grimace along the way. “Where’d he get that?”

Dugan shrugs. “From a Frenchman, I imagine.”

“All very lovely, except then I believe there was a, uh—” Falsworth jumps in from where he’s propped up on what's left of a nearby fence, nursing his half-empty pipe and an even emptier expression. “Disagreement, if you will, over—“

“Gorizia," Dugan and Morita chorus in unison. Dugan trails off into a mumbled sing-song that Gabe’s pretty sure doesn’t contain any actual words, nor much mention of Gorizia itself.

"Gorizia, yes, and the bullshit with the—“

Gabe groans. "The goddamn barn? Still?"

"Yep. Cap's not letting that one go anytime soon.”

“Oh, and Rogers being a wiseass to Philips when he wanted to bench him last week, don’t forget that," Morita croaks, voice rusted over with the cold but otherwise relaxed. Dernier curses under his breath when his last card lands and digs into his pocket with an expression of a man at his utmost limit. "Or getting his fool ass shot in the first place. One of those."

“—Rogers’ fool arse, yes yes, that too,” Falsworth continues, “which, as you can imagine, didn’t take too kindly to the, uh, constructive criticism. Then Barnes called him an unreasonable fuck so he,” he points with the pipe at where Rogers has Barnes in a headlock, “naturally, brought up something from oh, ten years ago? Ten years ago. That’s about when Barnes tried to tackle him, by the way. And then they started shouting about someone called John — Jimmy—“ He turns to Morita with a series of sluggish finger snaps.

"Jackie Van Wijk," Morita provides helpfully, plucking the stubby cigarette out of Dernier's grudging hand with little sympathy and sticking it behind his ear. "How are you so bad at this? You ran a gambling hall."

"Yes, for poker." Dernier downs the bottom of his cup and grimaces with distaste. "Chemin de fer. Not — children games."

"Jackie Van Wijk, that's right," Falsworth finishes. "And somebody else’s sister who might or might not have been a prostitute, that part’s unclear. I think that about brings us up to now.”

"Are you—" Gabe tries, and fails. "I can't tell if you're fucking with me. How long was I asleep?"

“Oh, about 45 minutes. And you forgot the thing with the coppers,” Dugan mutters over his cup, checking his watch like he's bored out of his skull and has somewhere, anywhere else to be. “And the three dollars.”

“Ah, yes. Sarge owes Rogers three dollars.” Falsworth observes them quizzically for a moment, chewing on the pipe. “Or the other way around, I can’t be too sure.”

“She was a hooker, idiot!” Bucky’s voice carries over again as he uselessly tries to pry Rogers’ hand away from where it’s digging into the side of his face. Gabe can’t tell if he’s laughing or if he’s choked on enough mud by now that it’s permanently affected his speech. “What were you gonna —“

“So what, huh? It was Sands Street, so fucking what, everyone’s a hooker on Sands — I had two more drinks, I coulda been a hooker myself —“

“Are you hearing yourself? Do you ever — stay still, you fuckin’ — do you ever hear the words that come out of your mouth?”

"Y'know," Dugan muses, "if I'd wanted to hear alley cats going at each other all hours of the night, I woulda just stayed in Boston."

"Shut the fuck up, like we don't all know you got the draft."

“Gossip," Dugan protests. “Downright slander.” He whacks Morita's shoulder with probably more force than is strictly necessary. "Hey. Gimme a puff."

"Blow me, Aloysius." It comes out in four parts, vowels dragged out kicking and screaming: Ay-low-see-yus.

Absently, Gabe wonders how much of it is the actual brandy and how much might be a concussion from this morning.

"Sure I will, if you gimme a puff."

Somewhere in the distance, Rogers swears loudly. Barnes cackles.

Gabe stares at them. It really is like being back home, in a way: two of his younger brothers making an awful ruckus first thing in the morning and waking the whole house up over the grand total of jack shit, seemingly hellbent on inflicting as much damage to each other and the surrounding landscape without anyone actually ending up in the hospital. Usually, Gabe’d be the designated first responder in breaking it up, more often than not because he was the only one actually willing to risk getting between them physically. It’d earned him a bump on the head and the grousing nickname “St. Gabriel” more than once.

Jesus, he’s homesick.

He looks back to Falsworth. “So, what, it got so bad they fighting over a girl now?”

“No,” Morita sighs with all the gravity of the long-suffering, voice raising in volume and cracking a little as he turns to look at them over his shoulder. “They’re fighting because they’re two five-year-old fucking morons who are gonna land us in so much shit we’ll be wishing for goddamn latrine duty. Hey,” he shouts over the noise when they both completely ignore him, “Hey! Abbott and Costello — with all due respect, sirs, shut the fuck up.”

“Should we…do something?”

“Hey, you hear that? War’s over! We all take turns pissing on Hitler’s ball-less corpse and then they ship us back!” It falls on deaf ears. Morita throws his hands up. “See? Be my fucking guest.”

“How long before they tire themselves out, d’you think?” Falsworth muses.

“I dunno,” Dugan says with resignation. “Cap is still pretty keyed up from today and I think Barnes runs on pure spite alone at this point, so. An hour? Two?”

They watch the graceless grappling slow for a hopeful moment before Rogers mutters something unflattering about Barnes’ mother and Barnes snorts like an enraged bull, throwing him off.

Morita laughs, the sound quickly derailing into a rattling cough. “That man got a congressional medal last month. Stroke of tactical genius, they said.”

“Yes well apparently out of the two of them, Barnes used to be the voice of reason. See how much that tells you,” Falsworth comments. Dugan’s eyes bug a little.

“Reasonable? Barnes? Sergeant I’m gonna mouth off to the guy with the big stick until he decides to crack a rib or two Barnes? That one?”

“I never said it was a good assessment,” Falsworth replies sedately as the man in question finally gets the upper hand and sends Rogers toppling headfirst into the muck. “It is quite possible, of course, that they have both just lost their damn minds.”

A sage nod ripples through the rest of them. In all honesty, it has been that kind of week. Gabe would be buzzing hard himself if he weren’t so goddamn tired he could feel every single one of his bones rattling around in his body like dice in a tin cup.

“That’s great,” Morita drawls around his smoke. “That’s just dandy. I die dropping into Holland next week, I want my affairs dealt with well, you hear me? I want my tombstone to read: I died for my fellow man, and because my fellow man and CO lost their — Dugan, I swear to Christ, you try to take it one more time I’m putting it out in your ear — lost their marbles at the worst possible time. Over Jackie Van fucking Whoever, no less.” He nods grimly at the clearing. “And then I want those two assholes to pay for the arrangements.”

“We will do our best, mon ami,” Dernier says, passing him the reshuffled deck with a sympathetic hand like an olive branch. “But we will probably also be dead.”

[amelikos]

It seems like they started building a connection between Dot and Spinel's characters in the recent episodes. I wonder if we'll just see it in this arc, or if it will be a recurring thing.

Beyond their similarities such as them both mostly operating from their rooms and barely leaving them or changing hairstyles depending on their modes (Dot changing hairstyle before making videos as Gurumin, and Spinel tying his hair when he goes outside and wants to blend in), they are also tech savvy and seem reclusive.

Dot is the one who noticed that the communications seemed cut off in HZ012 which led to Friede finding out that Spinel's Rarecoil was jamming the signal. This week's episode (HZ015) also had Dot and Spinel fighting on the tech front. In order to find Liko, Dot looked for info online and found reports of sightings of Liko and Nyahoja. Except the info was fake and made up by Spinel so he could distract the Rising Volt Tacklers and buy time. Dot eventually realized it and tries to think of a way to find real info, so she gets the idea of making a collab with Nanjamo to find Liko, which eventually makes her confirm that Liko is in Hakkou City. So she is thwarting Spinel on this front.

At the end of the episode, Roy and Dot find Liko and Dot as Gurumin seems to send a specific message to Spinel, as she says that they all won't lose to anyone as long as they work together. Nanjamo even points it out, as she wonders who Gurumin thinks she is fighting against.

Spinel was watching the collab between Gurumin and Nanjamo and he actually acknowledges Dot. That seems significant to me (as Spinel doesn't hand out acknowledgment just like that).

Compared to the way he considered Friede in the previous episode ("so that's all you're capable of"), this is the first time Spinel directly acknowledges someone from the crew, and it's Dot since this whole collab thing was her idea in the first place.

In the first place, Dot rarely leaves her room and it's Spinel's actions that were the incentive for it. Dot had a personal resentment against Spinel in the episode as she says she can't forgive someone tricking her and her friends (she openly calls the Rising Volt Tacklers her friends, and I think it's the first time she does in the series).

Dot also seemed to try to think from Spinel's perspective as to why he didn't flee immediately after getting the pendant when Friede brought it up, so she came to the conclusion that he was probably stalling for time.

She also seemed to have a much more personal reaction to the reveal that Spinel used Orbem to alter Liko's memories to steal the pendant.

Taking all of this into account, and the fact that Dot's first onscreen battle will apparently be against Spinel's Pokemon given the preview for next week's episode, I feel like it could be interesting if these two characters impacted each other throughout the story.

Dot is very knowledgeable about Pokemon (since she makes a lot of videos about them as Gurumin), and Friede said in HZ007 that she can be strict on trainers, so I wonder if she has some experience battling? Either way, I think her wits will come in handy against Spinel. And given the way running away is a valid alternative in HZ, she doesn't exactly have to win against him in their battle, she could just break the communication devices Spinel uses to battle remotely which would end the battle this way or force Spinel to come out.

Either way, I just think it's interesting. Narratively speaking, Spinel's introduction and acting as an antagonist coincides with Dot's arc of opening up and meeting Liko and Roy. It also seems like next episode will be an important step for Dot and Kuwassu (officially becoming partners if they aren't yet and having their potential first battle together?), so all these character moments are happening in parallel to Spinel's character being properly introduced.

It makes me wonder if they are setting up Explorers members to be opposed to the kids. So far, we have Liko and Amethio. Now, we have Dot and Spinel. Perhaps eventually, we'll get someone opposed to Roy? I wonder if this will be the Precure kind of thing where characters of the main cast can have specific villains that challenge them and that they are facing and opposing during the story.

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Massacre Chapter 14

Keiichi was holding his head high thinking Oyashiro-sama's curse was broken only for Rika to remind him about Oryou. And the mood immediately fell.

I've been looking at how the characters use honorifics and I was primarily looking for things like someone changing the honorifics they give someone to show a change in respect. But what I found instead is Rika isn't using any honorifics for Oryou at all. She and Keiichi both tend to not use honorifics, but Keiichi is opting to use Oryou-san.

It's Friday June 17th now. We're only told Keiichi's group made another appeal but nothing of it is shown. Keiichi later remarks that the Center thought the village council dealt with him so at this point, the Center has likely refused to hear any more appeals.

It's been nearly a year since Shion was forced to pay retribution and she and Mion are still traumatized because of it. It's probably taking every ounce of courage to stand by Keiichi in this.

It's worth noting that neither of them take charge during the discussion. Keiichi was willing to throw insults at Oryou, Rena called out how Oryou's actions have hurt Satoko, and Kimiyoshi pointed out how Satoko has endured everything.

Mion and Shion could only plea to Oryou and were always quickly cowed into submission.

I had a bit of fun comparing the layout of the floormats in the room to see if they're consistent. For the most part they appear to be so, but I did find some inconsistency with where the characters are sitting in relation to them.

In this first image, let's define horizontal to be parallel to the open door and row 1 to be the set of floorboards closest to the door. So the width of a row would be the width of the floorboard as well. Notice how Kimiyoshi is sitting on a floorboard in row 3. And the whole group are sitting where two floorboards are touching each other.

In most subsequent room shots, Kimiyoshi is instead sitting on a board in row 2 and everyone is sitting within single floorboards rather than on their borders. In fact, Keiichi's whole group seems to have shifted place somewhat. Kimiyoshi was the one directly in front of Oryou in the first shot, but subsequent shots have Keiichi and Rika directly in front of her instead.

This is the first official introduction to Mion and Shion's parents. We've seen Akane in Eye Opening chapters 6 and 7, but she was never referred to by name. She is also shown and named in Beyond Midnight chapter 11.

I do wonder what was going through Oryou's head during this conversation. She is someone with great authority and influence. I would say she's opening by trying to be reasonable. If Satoko is not in immediate danger, then Oryou shouldn't mobilize over this and Satoko should be handled by the Center instead.

I'm kind of intrigued by how Akane is the one to bring up the Sonozaki/Hojo feud. Everyone agrees that is the reason Oryou isn't willing to help but she isn't outright saying it, probably to not appear petty. And every time the conversation gets sidetracked, Akane brings it back to how the feud can be resolved while letting everyone save face.

It seems counter-productive to insult Oryou at every opportunity, but Keiichi is making it clear that he will not be intimidated by her. At this point, the village is on his side. He needs to stand his ground against her. And if Oryou actually retaliates against Keiichi for any of his threats or insults, she loses because she's going to reveal herself to be the petty old bat Keiichi says she is.

Still, that was wildly bold of him to say he'll kill her if necessary. And he did not apologize for that. He put down his terms from the start: "Help us or get out of our way."

And when Oryou called Keiichi an outsider, that was her attempting to discredit him in front of everyone. But Keiichi quickly made it clear that he is very much a member of the village and to call him otherwise is a grave insult.

When the matter of restitution came up, Rena took command and demanded that restitution go both ways. Oryou is willing to accept if Satoko apologizes for what her parents did, but she's not nearly as thrilled at the idea of apologizing for what she has done.

Keiichi really struck a nerve when he said he's fighting Oryou to protect his friends. Mion said she doesn't hate Satoko but is just keeping up appearances. Oryou's probably taken a liking to him at that moment.

And at this point, everyone in the room agrees with Keiichi. Oryou is the only holdout. So with Keiichi having made his point and every one else in the Sonozaki group agreeing with him, Keiichi humbly asks Oryou to provide her support in helping Satoko.

And the petty old bat refuses.

As I've said, the Teppei scenario is the most evil scenario. Tragedy is not driven by misunderstandings or paranoia. It is driven by love, friendship, and the desire to protect the people they care about. Keiichi said at the start of negotiations that he would kill Oryou if she refused to cooperate and he's planning to make good on that promise with no regard for the fact that Kasai is pulling out a gun in response.

Oryou is the very last obstacle in the way of saving Satoko, and depending on what happens next, this could end in Keiichi's death.

back

[cass1x1]

💋 (wyn/julian)

send  “💋”  for four times my muse thought about kissing yours, and the one time they actually did. 

one

It should have come as no surprise to Wynter when she found her eyes flicking to Julian's lips. She had, after all, been slowly building to this. Noticing how tall he was. Observing his face, its symmetry. Lingering on him when he wasn't looking at her. Wynter may be bad at talking about her feelings, but she knew a crush when she was starting to feel one.

It wasn't a terribly inopportune time to be staring at his lips. Julian was so focused on his textbook--he must be the only person Wynter knew who actually read the assigned textbook reading instead of skimming it--that she could've stripped naked and begun doing backflips on the table, and he only would've noticed if it actually moved the table itself. He was very intent.

Unfortunately for Wyn, his intensity made him rather attractive. She didn't like thinking of him this way, but there was no way she could not. Not when he had his lips pursed just so, and she knew that if she leaned in--

Wyn closed her book a little more harshly than perhaps she should've, and to her surprise, Julian's eyes flicked up and met hers. She looked away immediately, mumbled something about being bored, and left.

two

It was a little cramped in the kitchen. Wyn still hadn't acclimated to a cooking experience that involved more than just herself. Her mom was so rarely home during dinner prep, and though she enjoyed and resented Julian's help in equal measure, she had to admit part of the problem was simply that she was not used to anyone else.

So when she crashed into him as often as she did, she knew it was at least that it was partially her fault. Partially his, but partially hers. This time, she saw it coming, so she could stop up short, rather than literally collide with him.

"Whoa," they both said at the same time, which was its own sort of embarrassing. And for a moment, they froze like that. Julian, she suspected, because he was embarrassed, and sometimes it seemed to her like he was ashamed of his feelings.

Wyn froze because he was so close. It wasn't just that she knew she could reach out and touch him. She could smell him, feel the warmth from his body. Hear him breathing. She looked up at him, and it was like for a second she could see a parallel timeline. One in which they were so slightly different from how they were, and she could just push herself onto her toes, and he would bend his head down to meet her, and their lips would brush casually as they passed each other in the kitchen.

Julian stepped back first, and his movement shocked Wyn into mirroring it. "Sorry," he muttered. She nodded, and slid passed him trying to shake off the feeling that that image had given her.

three

Adrenaline had this way of sharpening Julian's features, or perhaps Wynter's awareness of them. She resented him so much in that moment. His stupid dark eyes and the way that they lit up when he was animated. His broad shoulders, and the way they moved up and down when his breathing was faster. The way she noticed his eyes and his breathing when she was mad at him in the first place.

He'd called her irrational, which she didn't like either, but she had to admit, the urge she had to just corner him and kiss him until either she had her wits back, or he lost his. It was as aggravating as it was tempting to think about. She wasn't going to do it--of course--but she didn't thing there was anything wrong with wanting to.

"You're infuriating," he groaned, turning away from her, offering some relief from the workings of her imagination.

"I could say the same to you." She put her hands on her head, as if she could give herself enough pressure to squeeze the feelings out of her.

four

It was the kind of late that made Wynter feel liminal. As though nothing was real and nothing counted. It left her with only a warm comfort, knowing that nothing she did at this hour really meant anything. Like being on vacation in another city, or borrowing books from the library. She could enjoy the feeling and know it didn't affect the "real" her, the person she was when it was a normal hour.

Julian sighed and pressed his lips together. He was tired too; she could tell. She'd been watching him closer for the last few weeks, marking little details about him, trying to notice some secret something about him that she couldn't name. "You ok?" she asked, because she didn't see whatever she'd expected to find.

He stared at her for a moment, like maybe he was searching for the same thing she was, and Wyn's heart jumped. After a moment, he looked away, so she did too. "Yeah," he said, so softly she almost didn't hear it. "Yeah, it's nothing."

Wynter almost asked. When they talked like this, it was almost like Julian could be a normal person, a person who could actually have a conversation. But she knew if she did, he might ask her what had been on her mind, and she couldn't answer that. What had been on her mind, the moment he was staring at her, was that she could kiss him. She wanted to kiss him. God help her, she liked him, awake and sleepy, and even if nothing felt like it counted at this hour, she didn't feel like she could do something so big until she had an answer to the question her brain hadn't fully formed. So instead she dropped it, all of it. "Okay," she whispered, leaning against his shoulder.

plus one

When she woke, it wasn't yet truly morning. Wynter could tell the sun would rise soon, from the light just beginning to peek through the window, but it wasn't quite light yet. The only reasonable thing for her to do would be to go back to sleep, and she felt soft enough that it wouldn't even be hard.

Julian had, in his own sleep, pulled her arms tight around his waist. Or perhaps she had wrapped herself tight around him. It felt nice, his cool skin against her warmth. She hoped it felt nice for him too. His shirt was soft against her cheek, the way cotton gets when it's well loved. She took a deep breath in through her nose, and the soap and detergent he used settled into her memory. A wave of affection followed it, and though she did intend to go back to sleep, she felt it coil in her belly, like she wouldn't be able to settle until she did something with it.

Easy enough. Wynter pressed her forehead between his shoulder blades, comfortable there for a moment, before she tilted her head up. She pressed the barest kiss to his back, through his shirt, and cuddled herself closer to him. Hopefully, at least, he felt a little warmer with her there.

[bitchface24-7]

hey, your works are amazing!! your fics inspired me to start an x reader with jayvik (the works are speaking to me lmao)

i kindly request an x reader where the reader is musically inclined as they work? like the boys catch them singing or humming words as they work? i was listening to interdimensional by cosmo sheldrake and the ideal popped in my head. thank you sm for the fics, you’re single-handedly one of my favorite authors on here!!🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

THEIR LITTLE SONG BIRD - JAYVIK X READER

synopsis: Jayce and Viktor have typically worked in silence, an odd conversation here and there, a small sigh, a quiet swear. They get so absorbed into their work that they essentially do parallel play. Your humming and light singing has changed that. Now, they need that to work in peace; you've become their white noise.

warnings: honestly I can't even think of any. It's pure fluff as V + J just admire you as you work and sing. Grammarly as my beta

genre: m/m/f or m/m/m

p.s. I tend to hum or speak aloud to myself as I work. Sometimes I sing lightly when I'm at home. This was so cute, thanks for requesting! Also, my work inspired you?!?! Babe 🥺🥺 YOU WRITE THAT JAYVIK X READER FIC!

Jayce and Viktor have been so accustomed to their routine that when they realized a change, it almost made them get whiplash.

They've gotten used to working in relative silence. A conversation here and there, ribbing and jokes, a small sigh, and a quiet swear when their work doesn't go the way they want it to. They're intense about their work.

They get super absorbed, nothing can break their attention. They're essentially doing parallel play. Viktor's doing equations, Jayce is using a microscope, they're both fiddling with their prototypes.

And there you are, welding and soldering a prototype. Sparks fly as you work, a protective shield on your face, welders gloves on your hands, and a stained pair of overalls with black steel-toed boots adorn your figure. There's a small peak of a basic white top at your sides.

You eventually take the shield off, your face hot and sweaty as you push a strand of hair off your forehead. You turn off the necessary machines and observe your work, you mentally note where you need to sand down and buff out.

Then the change occurs.

As you sand and buff your prototype, you hum a small tune. Viktor and Jayce don't notice until the lyrics spill from your lips.

"I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus When her body was found (Hey, yeah) I'd be the choiceless hope in grief That drove him underground (Hey, yeah) I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee That made him turn around (Hey, yeah)

And I'd be the immediate forgiveness In Eurydice Imagine being loved by me."

The two men whip around and swear they got whiplash. You're lightly singing, the notes sweet and crooning. They almost feel like they're getting hypnotized, the lyrics make them curious. It sounds like it's mentioning the well known Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice, and comparing your love to theirs. They've never heard this song before, but they want to hear more.

The two of them stop working, turning to look at you with a wistful look in their eyes.

You're so... beautiful. They way your face is completely focused on your task. Your eyes narrowed, your lips pursed, your eyebrows lightly furrowed. The singing as you work gives you a natural grace, an ethereal glow.

Viktor leans his head on his hand as he watches you in admiration, and Jayce sighs in wonder. At that sound, you stop singing and look up at the two men, your buffing halted.

The two men flounder and try to look like they weren't admiring you. They fail. Horrendously.

"What?" You ask, a light giggle in your tone.

Jayce just flusters and rubs the back of his neck, swiveling around to not look at you. You raise a brow in suspicion and turn to look at Viktor. If Jayce won't answer you, Viktor will.

"We didn't realize you sing as you work, until now." Viktor states, he quirks his head to the side as he analyzes you, "You have a very nice voice. I could imagine the upper echelon of Piltover paying lots of money to hear you."

You feel your face heat up lightly, and you can't blame it on your face shield, "I-- yeah. I always hum when I work. I'm surprised you just noticed it now."

"You hum." Jayce states, finally joining the conversation, "That's different. You were actually singing this time. We weren't expecting it, but you did sound very lovely."

You smile at your two partners and go back to working, they do too eventually. A smile lights up both their faces when they hear you continue the song.

"I won't deny I've got in My mind now (Hey, yeah) All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear That you find out (Hey, yeah) How I'm imaginin' you."

Now each time they hear you hum, or lightly sing a tune; their hearts beat erratically and they can't stop the smile spreading across their face.

Their Little Song Bird.

🥺🥺🥺 I love them, your honour. This was so rdjfigjydugh, thank you for requesting! Hope y'all enjoyed this, love ya! ❤️ (i love Hozier, oh to have a song about me written by him, I'd feel like a goddess)

[ultramarine-spirit]

About your post about Athy's name in other languages ​​(which I loved) it reminded me that when I started reading the manhwa I always confused the name of Athanasia with Anastasia to the point that I went to find out if they were the same and found that both they have the same meaning and that they come from Greece but I did not find any page that will confirm that it is the same but different variants. I also couldn't help but notice how Athanasia's name resembles Anastacious (which is technically the male version of Anastasia) and yes, the fact that both names have the same meaning may be why these two names sound so similar but Aeternitas also means Immortality and it doesn't look alike beyond the fact that it starts with A.

I found it interesting how Athy's name and Anas are similar and it made me wonder if at some point Claude must have had a deja vu hearing Athy's name (not only does she look like the woman he loved but also her name sounds similar to of the brother who killed lol)

I also mixed up "Athanasia" with "Anastasia" the first time I read WMMAP, but now I do the opposite. I have to remind myself all the time that no, it's not Athanasia Nikolaevna-

Funny thing about Aety's name is that it's the name of a goddess, and it doesn't really have a male form. I guess finding so many different greek names that mean immortality was hard for Plutus(?

That's an interesting thought! Athy and Ana's names are really close, so indeed I think she must have reminded Claude of his brother. There's also the fact that only the current emperor can give an immortal name to their heir, which draws an immediate parallel between them. As a side note, Diana was very daring naming Athy, as Claude himself notes, not only because of the name itself but also because Athy is a girl. His wording implied women aren't usually rulers in Obelia ("and a girl at that"). This is curious to me, since Obelia's first monarch, back when it was a kingdom and not an empire, was queen Ambrose. But I digress.

Athy speculates that Claude must have some sort of complex over the immortal names. Since he wasn't the empress' son he could only take the throne by force, but "he would never be granted the name of an emperor", unlike Anastasius and Athy. And well, there's also the fact that Claude means "the one who limps", "limping" or "crippled" (from the Latin “claudus”). Which makes one wonder if Aevum hated Claude that much to name him as an insult or what. Note that this is just one of Claude's meanings, but it's explicitly the one that Plutus used, as Athy refers to this plot point in the novel. Myself and others have theorized that Plutus based Ana and Claude's characters on real Roman emperors, and emperor Claudius indeed suffered from a limp and deafness, being ostracized by his family as a child. WMMAP Claude wasn't sickly as far as we know, but the ostracized thing definitely rings a bell.

Now, as far as I remember, it was never confirmed that Claude indeed felt inferior because of his name compared to Ana's (and Athy's), but I can definitely see how he could have felt like that, at least in his youth when Ana was the crown prince and Claude was treated so badly.

One thing I find rather sweet is that Claude remembered the bond he used to have with Ana when he spent time with Athy. It's because Athy melted Claude's heart and gave him something dear to him again that he started to remember Ana and to question their turbulent relationship. I adore how Athy's love and kindness had that effect on him (even though it wasn't enough for Claude to not want to execute Ana but shhh he still saved his ass because Athy asked him to. Small steps, you know?).

[nicnacsnonsense]

Going off what I said a few days ago about the Izzy & Ed/Mary & Stede parallels regarding miscommunication, I want to look at what that implies about Stede and Ed’s relationship.

In that meta Ed & Stede were both identified as having a defense mechanism that essentially boils down to “engage with me right away, or I will simply shut down/shut you out,” which becomes a problem when Izzy & Mary are walking into most every conversation with an attitude of “oh god, what now?” But when instead we put Ed & Stede in a conversation with each other and they are met with someone who treats their idiosyncrasies with “did you say engage right now and immediately escalate to 100% all in, aka my favorite thing to do?” suddenly those conversations go a lot smoother and those defense mechanisms aren’t necessary. That’s part of why the two of them make such good friends and partners; they’re a couple of weirdos who finally found another weirdo who will “yes and” all their weirdness.

The key difference is that Stede has his “talk it through as a crew” philosophy, and Ed… doesn’t really. That means that Stede is not just engaging immediately on all the weirdness and positive stuff, but is also constantly on the lookout to engage with Ed with regards to times when Ed is hurting. We see him throughout the season coming to Ed like, “That does sound hard; have you considered retirement?” and “Seems like that racist captain got under your skin; are you doing okay?” and “Oh those elitist jerks at the party made you feel bad? Let’s burn their ship down,” and “Couldn’t help but notice we may have accidentally triggered your PTSD pretty badly back there with the kraken bit; did you want to talk about it?” Pretty much the only time I can think of when Ed is in emotional pain and Stede isn’t actively trying to talk with him about it is during the Calico Jack episode where we have the dual extenuating circumstances of Stede also hurting and Jack working to keep the two of them talking.

Meanwhile, Ed doesn’t ever really try to engage Stede when Stede expresses he’s hurting, frequently because he doesn’t seem to notice it. And to be fair, Stede’s expressions of such do average out to be quieter than Ed’s, but they are very much present. Just in episode 4 we see Ed missing Stede’s agreement about having felt like he was waiting to drown and Stede having a full on break down when Ed was showing him what it was like to be Blackbeard and Stede’s morose comment about how he should have been a lighthouse for his family. And yes, you can give reasons for why Ed might have failed to notice what was going on in each of those situations, but at a certain point it does start to become a pattern.

The point being that neither Stede nor Ed are actually naturally more or less open and honest with regards to hurt/trauma. They both have the same not always helpful defense mechanism that they both should probably do some work on. The difference is that Stede is naturally adept at working his way around Ed’s defenses, whereas Ed is not so good at avoiding Stede’s.

[demon-witch-cat]

I'm not sure why my brain keeps going back to MyStreet/Minecraft diaries every year, but it does, and here's the first product of it!

It's Garroth from an old AU of mine!

Description and Explanation under cut!

OK! So this is from an old AU that I made originally back in 2018, then revisted and revised in 2020 during quarantine. The basic premise is that when Lucinda was teleporting herself, Kim(though in this i replaced her with Vlad for no reasonother than i liked Vlad more than Kim), and Garroth in that one episode of When Angel's Fall(when they all get found and they have to split up) she accidentally(somehow) teleports Garroth to the MCD universe!

There he wanders around, becoming a guard and trying to find a way back.

He's on his own for the first year, becoming a traveling guard and wandering from village to village going by the name Griffin(b/c he learned the hard way that this was an alternate universe and that Okasis is after his counter part). He ends up hearing about how a town named Phoenix Drop needs more guards temporarily until an issue with a shadow knight is resolved(when Laurence randomly appeared then disappeared). From there on, he's a 'main' character in the mcd season one story!

He doesn't tell anyone he's a werewolf right away though, instead choosing to keep the hood of his guard outfit up(parallels to mcd!garroth that definitely doesn't go unrealized by Griffin). The reason for this is slightly shown in my other two sketches.

In this sketch, Griffin is running from a village/mob(group of people) after they discover he's a werewolf. See, during his first year in mcd, he experienced a lot of discrimination for being a werewolf(b/c werewolf discrimination was way worse in mcd). The whole reason hes a "traveling" guard(besides the fact that hes looking for a way back home) is because he keeps getting run out of villages or someone gets close to learningthe truth and he gets scared and runs away before anything happens. He tries to hide the fact that he was a werewolf, but it was hard since there wasn't any real time between him becoming a werewolf and him being transported to the mcd universe for Aaron and Melissa to properly teach him to hide his ears and tail to blend in with humans(hence the hood).

This sketch is when he gets his second scar(both are from his time traveling in the mcd universe). A fellow guard saw his ears and tail and immediately attacked, causing a big enough scene that the villagers around them noticed too, and started yelling.

As I'm sure you can guess, hes got a lot of his self confidence issues from mystreet s1 back(this includes his stutter). Despite everything though, he's still the same big hearted goofy he is in Mystreet. Just a bit more cautious.

Anyways! If you made it this far, good job! You deserve a cookie for reading my rambling about an au for an old minecraft rp!

[wheelsup]

okay but can you imagine spencer washing your hair for you?

like, i never (ever) let anyone (at all) touch my hair, but i feel like he'd be really gentle about it, and there is just something so soft and tender to me about the idea of washing someone's hair for them 🥺

that’s my dream <3 ik you didnt specifically ask for a blurb but i think about this very often. i wrote two versions of this, but this one (with two bickering best friends who are v much in love) won my heart. 

wc: 1.6k   contains: friends (to crushes, maybe ;) ), injured reader. gn!reader

-

“Spence, I promise you that I can do it by myself,” you huffed, attempting to yank off your tank top as you walked toward the hotel bathroom, using only one arm while trying to keep the other as still as possible.

“I’d be more inclined to believe you if you didn’t sound like you were going to cry,” he snickered, following hot on your trail as you tried to escape his hovering. 

“You’re being dramatic.” 

“Oh really? Lift your arm up, then.” He leaned his hip against the marble counter, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for you to do it. One obnoxiously smug eyebrow arched on his forehead.

Sometime during the case, you’d gotten into a brief tousle with a suspect, who just had to run away when approached. If Morgan had been there, you wouldn’t have even batted a lash, but he wasn’t. So not only had you detained him by yourself, you also wound up with a minor pulled muscle in your shoulder. 

You shot him a sarcastic smile, toothless and irritated, and raised your right arm into the air. He let out an airy scoff. 

“Other one, smart ass.”

Your arm dropped down to your side, your smile falling with it as you turned sharply towards the shower. 

“Look, I’m disgusting right now. So either I suck it up and shower, or you’re going to smell me until the day we solve this case.”

Spencer’s nose crinkled at the gross truth. He wasn’t ungentlemanly enough to tell you, but sharing a bed with a coworker was quite a quick way to discover if they were in need of a shower or not. Your shoulder might be out of service, but both of you could agree that hygiene was a bigger priority. 

“You can’t even move. Just… just let me help you.”

You snorted. “Nice try, Reid. I’m not letting you shower with me.”

He rolled his eyes at your use of his last name. You only called him that when you were annoyed with him. He pushed off the counter and turned to the wall, hitting the light switch and earning a shriek from you as the room suddenly went dark. 

“I won’t look,” he shrugged, amusing no one but himself. 

“You’re a clown, you know that?” you muttered under your breath, drawing back the shower curtain and fumbling around, searching for the knobs in pitch black. “Absolutely fucking theatrical.” 

You found them moments later and ran the water, testing the temperature on the back of your hand. By the time it went from cold to warm, you noticed that he still hadn’t moved. From the sliver of light peeking under the door, you could make out just his silhouette in the corner, perched on the vanity. 

He was being stubborn about this. That, and the comforting fact that you couldn’t see a single thing –– thankfully, not even his face –– wore you down.

“Close your eyes,” you murmured. 

“It’s already pitch black in here ––”

“Close your eyes, Reid.”

Sighing through his nose, he did just that. To make sure you knew it, and also maybe just to be annoying, he made a show of getting off the counter and turning himself around to face the wall. You peeled out of your clothes as quickly as you could. In the process, you caught the long shower curtain under the heel of your foot and, as you stumbled over it, accidentally dragged it along, sending the metal curtain hooks screeching as they slid along the bar.  

The second you found your ground, you immediately shot daggers into the back of Spencer’s head, waiting for him to make a joke. As if he could feel them, he bit back his quip. Not without letting a barely contained cackle slip under his breath. 

“Okay,” you warned, stepping into the shower. Grabbing the end of the shower curtain, you pulled it tightly over your body to cover yourself as you poked your chin out to talk to him. “I’m in.”

Spencer turned and approached the shower, eyes still shut with his hands out in front of him, feeling the walls for guidance. He was still mocking you for making him close his eyes. You raised your brows; he must’ve thought he was quite funny. 

“You look like Velma when she loses her glasses.”

That knocked the funny bone right out of him. His hands dropped to his sides.

“Just get your hair wet and hand me the shampoo.” 

You drew the curtain shut again as you dipped your head under the shower stream, coming back moments later with sopping wet hair and a little bottle of complimentary hotel shampoo. 

He let you sit on the floor of the bathtub, just slightly removed from the spray of the water. Your back was to him, as he kneeled down on the tile floor, just outside of the bathtub so he didn’t have to get wet. You bent your knees to your chest, resting your chin on them.

Spencer first pushed up the sleeves of his sweater as far as he could before deciding to remove it altogether for the sake of protecting the wool against stray water. The cuffs of his work shirt were unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows as he got to work.

Taking a healthy quarter-sized amount of shampoo into his palm, he lathered it between his hands before running soapy fingers through your scalp. The pads of his fingertips softly dug in as he carefully massaged the shampoo in.

When he started working his fingers in patterns, putting pressure near your temples and increasing it as he dragged them up the curve of your scalp, you let your eyes close. He was getting rid of a headache you didn’t even realize you had. 

The tension you’d been carrying in your shoulders eased a little, and it made him think about how much you probably needed this. One of his hands came down to massage the muscle between your neck and your good shoulder, knowing it was best to just let the hot water do its magic on the bad one. 

When the shampoo had been sufficiently lathered, he stood up and detached the shower head, bringing it down to you so you didn’t have to move. You leaned your head back for him as he carefully rinsed the soap out.

You weren’t going to ask, but thank God Spencer told you to hand him the conditioner next. This, he slathered all over the ends of your hair, making sure all of it was sufficiently covered in conditioner before loosely twisting it into a low, makeshift pony for you. 

“Mm. I was about to ask how you’re so good at haircare,” you chuckled lowly to yourself, in a half-sleepy voice with your forehead resting on your knees. Dangerously close to falling asleep. “Then I remembered what you used to look like.”

You had a lazy smile on your face just thinking about the days where Spencer’s hair used to be down to his shoulders. He looked so pretty like that (not that he didn’t look pretty now, too), you always wondered why he got rid of it. 

“Remember when I got shot in the knee?” he hummed, returning to work your shoulder. He adorned a tiny smile of his own as he started to reminisce. “You came by my house at least once a week. Brought me meals, watched movies with me. Helped distract me from the pain. Even drove me to my physical therapy appointments.” 

You mm-hmm’d that you remembered.

“You pretty much did everything shy of helping me bathe. Though, I feel like you would’ve helped with that, too, if I asked.”

You both laughed at that. You hadn’t really noticed the parallels of your situation, being injured and needing his help for once. He was happy to repay the favor. 

“I’ll, uh. Let you wash your body yourself,” he said, coming out of his daydream for a moment. He rinsed his hands off and got up, patting down his wet hands on his trousers. With one nod from you to confirm that you’d be able to do it, he quickly exited the bathroom to give you privacy. 

You emerged seventeen minutes later, clad in pajamas with towel-dried hair. Spencer was still awake as you crawled onto the bed beside him, more than ready for bed after that. He looked to the side to ask you how the rest of your shower was, and before he could get it out, you shuffled up next to him, winding one arm around his and resting your head on his chest.

“I take it you had a good shower?�� he laughed. This was one of his “I told you so” moments, and for once, you didn’t mind it. 

“Mhm,” you smiled, chuckling behind it as you shut your eyes. You were falling asleep fast. “Spence, the scalp massage…” 

“Was good, right?” he boasted, inflating his own ego a bit. 

You nodded against his shoulder, not caring if you helped blow up his ego another two sizes. Burrowing deeper into the covers, nestling tighter against Spencer, you got one more quip in before falling asleep. “S’good that I think I have a crush on you now.” 

Joke or not, he pulled the blanket higher until it reached your chin, holding you with both arms and kissing the top of your head before falling asleep himself.

*

*

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[aemiron-main-backup]

//POST BACKUP//

creelarke and the tunnel scene

So, I’m working on more analysis posts about these two, but this parallel caught my eye today:

They put Scott and Henry in the same place on screen right during their respective lab tunnel scenes- scott and henry are both on screen left when looking at the scene from outside the tunnel, and both are on the same part of screen right when looking at the scene from inside the tunnel.

Scott was also the one who found the piece of hospital gown near the tunnel:

They could’ve chosen any character for this scene- but they chose Scott. Scott, who canonically went to school at the same time as Henry, who happens to have a convenient knowledge of parallel dimensions.

And speaking of the lab- why the hell are there multiple lab-associated extras who look eerily similar to Scott?

There’s also just. Something gnawing at me about the way that Scott stares towards the lab in this shot:

I know part of it is likely due to him possibly having suspicions of Will being in the lab/going through the tunnel, but it’s interesting that they chose to focus on Scott for this shot rather than Hopper in that regard. Almost like it’s about more than Will. Almost like he’s remembering something- or someone.

And also, going back to the fact that Scott and Henry would’ve gone to school together, take a look at this conversation between Scott and Hopper during the search party scene:

They’re talking about shared classes/teachers, (even though hopper and scott didn't go to school in the same years, they seem to have went to the same school And henry and scott Did go to school in the same yars) and also talking about a dead child (Sara)- Henry and Scott would’ve had shared classes, hell, Henry likely had Ms Ratliff specifically, AND, Henry was pronounced dead on site to the public after the Creel murders, even though Victor was somehow made aware of Henry’s coma and that Henry “died,” a week later, when you look at the newspaper articles, it’s said that Henry’s body was found at the Creel house with his eyes gouged out and that Victor was immediately charged with three murders. The public believed that Henry was killed the night of the Creel murders, but what about Scott? What did Scott believe? If him and Henry were friends, did he ever try and visit Victor in prison? Did he think Victor killed Henry? Did he somehow hear about the coma thing the same way that Victor did?

And speaking of bad teachers, not only do we have confirmation that Scott had a bad teacher, but we have the same for Henry, with a teacher calling him "broken".

And also, during that scene, Hopper has his “mummies never die,” line- just like how Henry isn’t dead and likely CAN’T die because of his regenerative healing.

And also “I never needed to look elsewhere.”

“I just didn’t look hard enough.”

Like. The fact that Max frames it as if she disappeared, even though she WAS still physically there, just emotionally distant from Lucas- it’s giving me “Henry disappearing” vibes with the Creel murders, especially considering the Will-Henry parallels and how Mike notices that Will didn’t show up to school on the day that he vanished. I wonder if Scott noticed something similar with Henry.

I wonder if part of why Scott’s helping search for Will is because he had suspicions that Henry wasn’t dead, but never followed through on those suspicions enough/didn’t look hard enough for Henry. Much like how Hopper felt like he didn’t need to look elsewhere. Maybe Scott was so focused on the Creel houses and the weirdness going on there and investigating THAT (after all, it looks like quite a few objects have been moved around in the Creel house since we last saw its interior in 1959) that he didn't even think about the lab/didn't think to look elsewhere.

And then we also have this scene of Scott finding out that Sara was actually dead- the opposite of Henry. Scott was led to believe that Sara was alive but then found out that she was dead, whereas Scott would’ve been led to believe that Henry was dead, but may have somehow figured out that he’s alive/may figure it out in S5.

That last shot where it focuses on Scott is especially interesting to me, because why focus on Scott? Scott and Hopper aren't particularly close, it's not a particularly huge revelation that someone (Hopper) might lie to someone he doesn't know very well (scott, they don't know eachother well, scott introduces himself initially and says he doesn't think they've met before) about his traumatic past/loss of his daughter, so why focus on Scott and his reaction? Why not focus on Hopper and the grief he's feeling in that moment? I think it might be because there's subtext here regarding Sara's death vs Henry's death and Scott having known Henry- and Scott may have been in denial of Henry's death initially because he noticed that things were odd about the Creel murders (the newspapers all have conflicting details, for example), but didn't look hard to resolve it/find Henry, much like how Hopper is in denial of Sara's death, and is now motivated to search for Will (we see Sara mentioned by Joyce in the context of trying to get Hopper to search more for Wiil).

Either way, I just think it’s interesting that we get a scene of Scott and Hopper talking about shared classes and dead children (especially lies about dead children) before a scene of Scott and Henry paralleling eachother. Especially considering the parallels between Will and Henry but also Sara and Henry and Sara's cancer and how Henry's regenerative healing seems to work like cancer. Much to think about. Creelarke real, I can feel it in my bones.

creelarke and the tunnel scene

So, I’m working on more analysis posts about these two, but this parallel caught my eye today:

They put Scott and Henry in the same place on screen right during their respective lab tunnel scenes- scott and henry are both on screen left when looking at the scene from outside the tunnel, and both are on the same part of screen right when looking at the scene from inside the tunnel.

Scott was also the one who found the piece of hospital gown near the tunnel:

They could’ve chosen any character for this scene- but they chose Scott. Scott, who canonically went to school at the same time as Henry, who happens to have a convenient knowledge of parallel dimensions.

And speaking of the lab- why the hell are there multiple lab-associated extras who look eerily similar to Scott?

There’s also just. Something gnawing at me about the way that Scott stares towards the lab in this shot:

I know part of it is likely due to him possibly having suspicions of Will being in the lab/going through the tunnel, but it’s interesting that they chose to focus on Scott for this shot rather than Hopper in that regard. Almost like it’s about more than Will. Almost like he’s remembering something- or someone.

And also, going back to the fact that Scott and Henry would’ve gone to school together, take a look at this conversation between Scott and Hopper during the search party scene:

They’re talking about shared classes/teachers, (even though hopper and scott didn't go to school in the same years, they seem to have went to the same school And henry and scott Did go to school in the same yars) and also talking about a dead child (Sara)- Henry and Scott would’ve had shared classes, hell, Henry likely had Ms Ratliff specifically, AND, Henry was pronounced dead on site to the public after the Creel murders, even though Victor was somehow made aware of Henry’s coma and that Henry “died,” a week later, when you look at the newspaper articles, it’s said that Henry’s body was found at the Creel house with his eyes gouged out and that Victor was immediately charged with three murders. The public believed that Henry was killed the night of the Creel murders, but what about Scott? What did Scott believe? If him and Henry were friends, did he ever try and visit Victor in prison? Did he think Victor killed Henry? Did he somehow hear about the coma thing the same way that Victor did?

And speaking of bad teachers, not only do we have confirmation that Scott had a bad teacher, but we have the same for Henry, with a teacher calling him "broken".

And also, during that scene, Hopper has his “mummies never die,” line- just like how Henry isn’t dead and likely CAN’T die because of his regenerative healing.

And also “I never needed to look elsewhere.”

“I just didn’t look hard enough.”

Like. The fact that Max frames it as if she disappeared, even though she WAS still physically there, just emotionally distant from Lucas- it’s giving me “Henry disappearing” vibes with the Creel murders, especially considering the Will-Henry parallels and how Mike notices that Will didn’t show up to school on the day that he vanished. I wonder if Scott noticed something similar with Henry.

I wonder if part of why Scott’s helping search for Will is because he had suspicions that Henry wasn’t dead, but never followed through on those suspicions enough/didn’t look hard enough for Henry. Much like how Hopper felt like he didn’t need to look elsewhere. Maybe Scott was so focused on the Creel houses and the weirdness going on there and investigating THAT (after all, it looks like quite a few objects have been moved around in the Creel house since we last saw its interior in 1959) that he didn't even think about the lab/didn't think to look elsewhere.

And then we also have this scene of Scott finding out that Sara was actually dead- the opposite of Henry. Scott was led to believe that Sara was alive but then found out that she was dead, whereas Scott would’ve been led to believe that Henry was dead, but may have somehow figured out that he’s alive/may figure it out in S5.

That last shot where it focuses on Scott is especially interesting to me, because why focus on Scott? Scott and Hopper aren't particularly close, it's not a particularly huge revelation that someone (Hopper) might lie to someone he doesn't know very well (scott, they don't know eachother well, scott introduces himself initially and says he doesn't think they've met before) about his traumatic past/loss of his daughter, so why focus on Scott and his reaction? Why not focus on Hopper and the grief he's feeling in that moment? I think it might be because there's subtext here regarding Sara's death vs Henry's death and Scott having known Henry- and Scott may have been in denial of Henry's death initially because he noticed that things were odd about the Creel murders (the newspapers all have conflicting details, for example), but didn't look hard to resolve it/find Henry, much like how Hopper is in denial of Sara's death, and is now motivated to search for Will (we see Sara mentioned by Joyce in the context of trying to get Hopper to search more for Wiil).

Either way, I just think it’s interesting that we get a scene of Scott and Hopper talking about shared classes and dead children (especially lies about dead children) before a scene of Scott and Henry paralleling eachother. Especially considering the parallels between Will and Henry but also Sara and Henry and Sara's cancer and how Henry's regenerative healing seems to work like cancer. Much to think about. Creelarke real, I can feel it in my bones.

[bekaroth-reads]

Silco x Reader 6

[Listen, when I said that there wouldn’t be as much time between the last chapter and this one, I wasn’t expecting to just sit there and hammer it out in like a day, but guess what happened? No need to delay posting it if it’s already done, so here you go.]

By the time the two of you had gotten back to the Last Drop, Silco could see just how fragile you were right now. You were still keeping yourself upright, but just barely, your legs buckling more and more the longer you walked. He was surprised when you actually made it back into the club and up the stairs. For the time being, he took you to his room. Silco had no plans on keeping you there, but it was the only place here where he could take stock of your person with minimal interruptions. His shoulders were tensing in complaint by the time he had dragged you to his bed. You managed to stay propped up long enough to get his coat from around you; brand new and if he couldn’t get the smell of char and grime out of it then you’ll have ruined this one as well.

Patching you up wasn’t something that Silco was keen on doing himself, but he would be damned if he asked someone else to do it; he wouldn’t want anyone to think that he was going soft or worse apologizing to you by getting you an actual doctor. Besides, from the looks of things there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t handle, so why pay for the process? Retrieving things from his bathroom, many of which were given for him to use on himself, Silco planned out his itinerary for getting you livable and out of his personal space in the shortest time feasible. The first thing was that he needed to get some clean clothes for you. Aside from the immediate need of cleaning all injuries and keeping them from further contamination from the things you were currently wearing, he was also insistent that if you would be stuck here while you were regaining your strength, he would not have someone, no matter how doomed they were, be associated with him or his property and look filthy. He would have to get you something of your own tomorrow, but for the evening he would have to lend you something of his.

You were still conscious enough to move certain ways when he needed you to, but dazed enough to not cause too much of a fuss about things which was ideal as things were awkward enough without you both being aware of how intimate this was for unfriendly acquaintances. Silco did his best to be unattached to his actions, though he did find some pleasure in how you would squirm and whimper when he would disinfect the scapes and gashes around your body. Eventually, you were patched up and in one of his shirts which didn’t fit you quite right, but it covered enough and would have to do for now. Silco caught sight of your busted and bruised eye, and couldn’t help but look it over again. It didn’t seem like there would be any permanent damage to it, certainly nothing like his. Yet, the parallels seemed to call to him in some way, almost lure him. He reached up and with a gentler hand than he had ever shown you, ran his fingers along the damage on your sleeping face.

Then his door busted open.

There was only one person that entered this room so brazenly. And, now that Silco realized how odd this whole thing truly was raced to think of an explanation for his daughter. “Hey! Silco! I- oh, wait! I forgot to knock!” Jinx scolded herself before leaving the room. It didn’t seem like she saw you, and Silco planned on telling her to wait a bit before she came back in so he could figure out where to dump your unconscious body that didn’t bring more questions than he was up for answering at the moment. Unfortunately for him, Jinx only remembered half of her manners and came right back in after knocking. “So, I was wondering…” she trailed off when she notice you on the bed and it took a moment to process who it was with how bruised you were.

“You found them!” Jinx exclaimed as she rushed over to you. Silco noted that you really must have outdone yourself with all that running earlier as you didn’t even budge at how loud the girl had just yelled. “That's what I was going to ask you about. They didn’t just leave like you thought! I knew they wouldn’t leave me! But…” she trailed off again when she noticed how hurt you were. “What happened? Are they alright?” Silco hated the sound of distress in Jinx’s voice when she asked that. “I’m certain they will be fine.” He assured her, “As for what happened, I…couldn’t say.”

This didn’t seem to quell all her questions like he hoped it would. “Oh, okay. But, where have they been? And, how did they get here? And, why like, here here? I mean why did they pop up in your room out of the whole-“ Jinx’s whole demeanor suddenly shifted as she cast a suspecting squint to Silco, then to you, then back at Silco. He heaved a bothered sigh as he knew that she was onto him. Jinx could be a bit spacey at times but was by no means a stupid kid. She must be piecing together the facts and realizing that Silco must have been responsible for the injuries. An angry Jinx wasn’t something that he couldn’t handle; he simply didn’t have the energy to want to at the moment. “Is this like what we talked about a few months ago?” She asked almost cautiously as she was still feeling out the situation. This confused Silco as all of this with him and you started about one month ago and not two. Either Jinx’s time comprehension was very off or they were thinking of two different talks entirely.

“Are you having one of those, ‘adult sleepovers?’”

Slico’s face started to turn as red as his shirt. There wasn’t much that could fluster him, but the blunt accusations of an eleven-year-old seemed to do it. “Of we aren’t!” He hissed, but she wasn’t buying it. “Yeah-huh! Because when I saw that lady leaving Sevika’s room that one day and I asked you why you were so upset, you said it was because sometimes adults have sleepovers to sleep in the same bed!” She accused as she pointed to where you were. “Jinx, there’s been a misunderstanding-“

“And Sevika was keeping it a secret from you. And, you were trying to keep this a secret from me, so that’s the same thing!” Jinx kept adding to her evidence. “Listen to me. That is absolutely not what was happening here.” Silco went to explain with something, anything to change the narrative she had made only to be interrupted again. “It is too! And, I can prove it!” Jinx was more than confident in her sleuthing skills and had the ultimate bit of information to back her claims up. “Jinx, there is nothing to prove here,” Silco argued. “Yes, there is! When the lady left the sleepover with Sevika she was wearing one of her shirts. And, they’re wearing one of yours right now. So, that’s totally what’s happening!”

“Jinx- just-“ Silco cut himself off with a growl before regaining his composure enough to finish a thought, “That…thing that I told you about is more complicated than what I explained to you back then and completely and utterly different from what has happened between them and me. There’s much more happening in the first scenario then them simply being asleep here.” He tried to smooth things over as best he could and solidified that feeling to himself by smoothing down his hair. ��More stuff? Like what?” Jinx asked genuinely curious and distracted from her accusations. Silco pinched the bridge of his nose as the rest of his face grimaced, eyes screwing shut in an attempt to block out some of the mental clutter. “We are not having that talk for a long while.” The night had already taken a turn for the miserable, and he wasn’t going to be adding one of the most awkward conversations in all of parenthood on top of that.

Jinx still didn’t seem like she was totally buying this, but went along with Silco anyway, though not without question. “Okay, then what are they doing here then?” She asked. He gave another exasperated sigh mixed with a relieved one as he went to give an actual yet still partial answer. “I found them coming from the storeroom. It looked like they hadn’t had much luck after their store burned down and sneaked in here for some reason or another. I caught them as they were leaving; in quite the hurry I might add.” This seemed to confuse Jinx even more. “Why would they break in the back just to leave?”

Now that Silco thought about it, that didn’t make any sense. You hadn’t taken anything; gods know that he would have found it when he was cleaning you up. There was also something odd about the way that you were exactly as you were the last time that he saw you. Even if all of the things you currently owned were burned, there would have been some way for you to at least get different clothes by this point. Thinking back to that night, Silco could remember only bits and pieces after his panic attack. But, the only thing he could remember in regards to you was Sevika saying that she would keep an eye on you so that you could be easily gotten to when he was ready to meet again. Other than that he didn’t say anything else as he didn’t want to confirm his moment of weakness to her by admitting that he was in mental and emotional distress. Regardless of that fact, if there was someone that should know what was going on it would be Sevika, and Silco planned on getting all she knew before this night was over.

Like she could tell he was thinking about her, there was a firm knock at his door. When he beckoned the new arrival to come in, it was indeed Sevika, a very nervous-looking Sevika. “Boss, I’m sorry to bother you here, but there’s a pretty big problem.” She was hesitant to continue but didn’t have to as she saw you passed out on the bed. “It seems that I have discovered it and taken means to rectify it long before you told me. Isn’t that right?” He nodded to you and noticed her throat tense with a gulp. “Y-yeah. You see-“

“Spare me the finer details until later. But, I will expect to hear them.” Silco scolded sternly. While he wanted to know what was going on, he didn’t want to risk Jinx finding out about his involvement by discussing it with her in the room. “For now, take this one to one of the empty rooms. Doesn’t matter which as long as it’s far enough away from the office. Make sure that the conditions are livable but not elaborate. We don’t need anyone getting too attached.” There was a sideways glance at Jinx with the last part. She didn’t notice the disdainful undertone of it as she was too excited to have you staying here in any capacity.

Sevika nodded and picked you up. A bouncy Jinx followed close behind her and almost sang, “Oh, boy! It will be like an actual sleepover now!” A confused Sevika questioned, “An actual one? Instead of what?” Silco quickly leaned his head out of the door and chided, “Jinx! Absolutely not!” The girl knew what he was implying and gave a deflated, “Doesn’t matter,” before the two of them turned a corner to head towards the few empty rooms on the upper floor.

As for Silco, he shambled his way to his bathroom to dig around in his medicine cabinet. This place was becoming a circus and he had a terrible headache because of it. Once he had taken some pain medicine, he made sure the main door was closed and practically fell onto his bed. While he was lying there trying to will himself to sleep, he couldn’t help but look over to the place where you had been. It felt strangely more empty since he had seen someone there; a feeling that he had never thought of the space before. It was almost as if he could still picture you there now- like he could sense you next to him from just the ruffled blanket and dented pillow alone. He would have to remember to get his bedding laundered tomorrow to be rid of the horrid sensation.