#except for neil poor boy

[leapingthroughworlds]

at first i genuinely thought it was one of those *know your mutuals* sort of things but then i was like oh i do hope any of that ever happened to anyone tho??

[love7poetry]

✮˚. ᵎᵎ I LOVE YOU I'M SORRY 𖦹彡⋆｡˚

⤷ spidey!ellie williams headcanons

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ sophia's letter ! i took a hiatus without meaning to😞 unfortunately this is all i had time for, but it was lowk fun. tbh i think i’ll stick to one shots bc this is basically a few blurbs in one, like this is all over the place idk i don’t like it but i needa post. also, LIAAAM NOOO all payne no liam :((

.ᐟ. . . content warnings. r's race is not specified, characters death, spiders, fighting, unrequited love, r is bi/pan, ellie mistaken for a guy, ellie mistakes r for a straight girl, mental instability, fall from a high building twice, alternative universe, assault attempt, unserious writing style, grammar mistakes probably

{ inspired by @hiiikiko ‘s spider-man!ellie. pls check out their work, it’s so good ! }

do not support naughty dog or zionist neil druckmann

HELP HERE🇵🇸

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie personally i think she's already a peter parker varient, trust me. these goofballs haunted down the killer of their father-figure for christ sake! of course peter had that whole not killing moto but like... oh well!

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie in my mind gets her powers basically the same as in tasm, except she was only in the Anderson Tower (hehe see what i did there) bc one of her professors assigned a thesis on one of their exhibitions. of course she goes the same day you do, the girl she lowkey has a crush on.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is a major LOSER omg. she admires you from afar bc she doesn't have the balls to start a conversation. she doesn't even think you're into girls to begin with so whats the point. leave it to ellie williams to fall for a straight girl smh

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie needs glasses to see or else everything is just a blur. she never takes them off, not even to sleep, yet somehow she doesn't see you until it's too late. now, ellie only ever sees you in class, so in her defense, poor girl wasn't expecting you to just appear in front of her and bump into you. otherwise, she would've turned the other way. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie has an apology problem, at least when she's nervous and boy do you make her nervous with your hair down and pretty face and glossy lips and cute outfits and gosh, she needs to get a grip. you tell her it's fine with a little laugh and ellie feels her face grow warm. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie like canon ellie, is an overthinker, so of course she's thinking abt that awkward interaction. well, it was for her, you didn't even think twice abt it. you're a chill person and it wasn't like ellie shoved you hard. ellie didn't have that kind of strenght... not yet, anyway.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie was just too distracted to notice a colorful spider jump on her back, only feeling a sting after stepping foot out of the mutlibillion dollar company tower. you can imagine her disturbed look when she got to her dorm, feeling around her neck until she plucked off a web string with a dead spider still attached on its end. yuck. to make matters worse, ellie started feeling sick. she passed out and didn't wake up until noon of the next day.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie was an orphan after her mother passed away when she was nine. she was left under the care of her mother's best friend, marlene, since that was the closest thing to family she had left. to ellie, marlene was family, so she'd called her aunt marlene. i think you can guess where this is going...

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie had promised marlene she would help with a charity event called the fireflies, but with ellie's new... condition, ellie just had too much on her mind. trying to balance college, having a lesbian crush on a straight girl, and finding out you can climb walls is a lot for a nineteen year old. and okay, maybe the first two are universial experiences, but definitely not the third. who is she supposed to talk to abt that?

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie was stressing and she never had the best temper when stressed. she had been focusing in creating organic web fluid bc in my au shes not gonna have anything shooting out of her, okay? i mean i still have some questions for tobey's spidey.... moving on! the charity simply slipped out of her mind and when ellie checked her phone after an entire day of testing her new abilities, swinging and even doing a handstand in just her index and middle fingers, she saw abt fifteen missed calls from aunt marlene. ellie decided to stop by to apologies and that’s when all hell broke lose.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie acts like her mother's death doesn't bother her after a decade, but when her name falls out of aunt marlene's lips during her lecture abt ellie's bad puntuality and lack of time managment, it was obvious it's still an open wound. 

'you are a lot like your mother, ellie,' marlene spoke. so far ellie was just nodding along to whatever marlene was saying but that sentence really annoyed the hell out of her. 'you truly are, and that's a good thing.' ellie's jaw tightened, but she didn't say anything. 'but she lived believing that if you can do good things for people, you have an obligation to do those things,' marlene pointed a finger at ellie's direction. 'that's what's at stake here. not choice; responsibility.' ellie scoffed. 'that's nice. yea, that’s all well and good. so where's she?' 'what?' marlene stops.  'where is my mom? don't you think it was her responsibility to tell me this herself?' the words coming out of her mouth taste like venom. there's tears threatening to spill, but ellie refuses to let them fall. marlene exhales, shaking her head. 'how dare you?' ellie raises her voice for the first time that night. "how dare i? how dare you!'

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie never got the chance to apologize for snapping at marlene. she knew deep down that marlene was just looking out for her, yet she was too in her head to see it then. ellie had stormed out right after and marlene went out looking for her. and it was the same thief that ellie did nothing to stop as she witness him rob a deli and even handed her a drink which she took without a second thought who killed marlene that night. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie will never forgive herself for that, for not stopping the thief and letting him kill the one person she had left. since then, ellie uses her powers to help others. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie also has a joel in this universe and he's finally being introduced, yippe! im mixing andrew's and tom's peters so i couldn't make him the uncle ben ik y'all thought he was gonna be. he's more like mcu's aunt may and tony. now bare with me pls

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie made herself a suit out of old clothes and a handmade mask. she'd been going around the neighborhood for a few weeks doing small things: returning stolen bikes, bringing cats down from trees, helping senior citizens cross the street, etc. there were no headlines on her yet, but she was growing popular on reddit. it wasn't until one day ellie felt this weird chill down her spine. everything happened so fast, ellie just remembers the after math, the adrenaline rush of catching a 3000 pounds car going at 40 miles with her bare hands to stop it from crashing into a school bus. that was the first time ellie saved a live, multiple at that, and she knew this is what she wanted- no, needed to do.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie had kept a low profile as her alter ego until then. never would she imagine that the video of her stopping a moving vehicle would get in the hands of the joel miller, ceo of miller industries. he's known of the expirements jerry had been doing with all sorts of animals and he didn't like it. joel never thought jerry had it in him to actually modify the human dna, but here he stood with a wall-crawling college student. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie didn't fangirl like mcu peter did when he met tony for the first time (i miss them). in fact she had the opposite reaction. she wasn't a fan of joel just like you and i aren't a fan of elon musk, but she respected him bc he has a flying suit. in this universe, joel was iron man and like tony, he told the entire world. when one of his enemies' killed sarah, he stopped wearing the suit. there's also no avengers bc that's too much writing for me 😇

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie agrees to work with joel only bc he promised to make her a super cool suit with lots of new tech. he said her homemade suit looked like an onesie and the only insult ellie could come up with was that his face looked like an onesie... oh how did joel wished the one to get bit would've been a grown adult smh

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie learns to be more in tune with her new abilities as time goes by. that chill down her spine, yea remember that? obviously we know they're spidey senses, but ellie doesn't know that, not until now. she kinda put two and two together, how she would get the feeling every time something bad was gonna happen. what pissed her off was that she had a you sense too. her stupid enhanced senses told her when you were near, but it only happened with you. like, what the fuck seriously

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is still a loser even after the bite so of course she has yet to talk to you. you now acknowledge her after the incident at the anderson tower, but it's just smiles if you two make eye contact. god, ellie feels so pathetic abt this clearly unrequited crush. until one day she overhears - not that she did it on surpose, it just happens a lot with her enhanced hearing - you talking about her! well... her alter ego, but it's still her.... yea, abt that actually....you and everyone else seem to think she’s a he?????

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is part of the tiny tittie committie as we know, so when she puts on joel's new and upgraded suit, she looks flat chested. she wasn't insecure of her size or anything, but ever since publicly teaming up with joel and gaining more publicity, people have mistaken her for a man, giving her the title of spider-man. it made her bust out laughing tbh

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie started seeing her masked self almost everywhere, especially in classes. that's when she heard you and your friend talk abt her, or well him. 

'i need him,' ellie almost choked on air hearing you speak. you were watching a video compilation on tiktok of spider-man saving people with chloe, a friend you made during the beginning of the semester.  'ew, he could be like your dad's age.' chloe laughed.  ellie frowned, sitting a few rows back. she is definitely not old enough to be a college student's dad. as a matter of fact, she can't even be a dad so. you smiled at chloe and shrugged. 'that wouldn't matter, because what matters is what's on the inside.' it was clear that you were joking, but as ellie looked up to where you were sitting she wondered how you would react if you found out it was a girl you were talking about. would it matter? would you still like her then?  or would you be disappointed?

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie tries to get over this crush by focusing on spider-boy, or wtv his name is. ever since becoming the city's hero, it's like everything has been dial up to eleven. crime fighting is far more intense but ellie likes the challenges. she's gotten a little cocky too, always joking and teasing the criminals she fights. her suit has a voice changer and she has a blast using it. 

'my grandma punches better than you,' she'd fake a yawn while grabbing the fist of one of the robbers when he tried to throw a punch. then she'd turn to the other who is already webbed up, 'actually, i never met my grandma.' then she'd punch the first guy just hard enough to kick him out cold. ‘but i bet her punches are still better.’

another instance is when she stopped a pretty big drug deal. about five men were going over what the plan was for the day, none noticed when ellie sneaked in until what seemed to be the leader grunted, 'you guys know what to do, now stay out of my ass.' ellie sighed loudly, 'it's hard to miss it.' 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is just having the time of her life with this new identity that it becomes addicting, it's like her copying mechanism fr. joel starts noticing that ellie has become sloppy and tries to warn her, and although ellie promises she'll do better, she doesn't. she's saving lives, jesus christ. can’t a girl have fun?

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie learns the hard way that not everyone is a fan, especially not the police. and okay yea that humbled her alr. it also annoys her bc she's doing half their job so you'd think they'd be more appreciative but no they named her a criminal and put out a reward for whoever can discover the vigilante's identity. now she has to put in double the work bc everyone she fights tries to pin her down to take off her mask. ellie really dislikes your mother for that, the police captian of the boston police department - bc im messy hehehe. you're like in love with spider-man tho, and are quite vocal abt it too 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie loves to hear you fangirl over her. like okay you're unaware of a lot of minor details - like the fact that it's actually spider-woman - but that’s okay, it's fineeee! baby steps right? well ellie takes a huge big girl step one night when she saves you from a gross man trying to assault you.

her spidey senses were going off, and she let them take her to a dark alley. she heard the voice of a girl struggling to push someone off as she crawled on the wall. ellie froze when she realized it was you, her heart beat picking up. this is the first time someone she knows is in trouble, and it made her feel uneasy.  'buddy, is this anyway to treat a lady?' ellie jumped down, voice changer on, making both you and the sick drunk to look over at her. 'i don't think so,' she grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him to the ground, off of you.  'go.' she spoke, a little desperate to get you out of here. you stood in shock until you looked up at your savior and then booked it out of there. you run further into the alley until you made it to the other end, turning back behind you once you’re under a lamppost. you frowned when you couldn't see anyone.  where did they go? ellie held onto a web while she came down upside down. feeling movement, you turned and came face to face with masked eyes looking back at you. 'you saved me.' it was her job, of course she would save you, but no words came out. all ellie did was nod. there was a moment of silence as you two stared at each other, both out of breath. you from prior events, and ellie because she's never been this close to you.  you slowly brought your hands up to ellie's neck where the mask began. ellie quickly grabbed one of your wrists to stop you, but you reassured her. 'i won't take it off,' you whispered. ellie let go of your hand and felt you pull her mask up to her nose so only half of her face showed. you held onto the sides of her face as you lean in to kiss her lips.  ellie knew it was wrong, that in a way she was abusing her power. but when your lips connected with hers, all she could think about was how soft you felt. there was no way she would get over you now. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie swang you home that night and ever since she visits you almost everyday, im talking five days out of the week. girl has it BAD after that kiss #freemygirl frfr😞 the visits start innocent and it wasn't like ellie was expecting anything, but somehow you two end up making out and who is ellie to stop it ok? she is just a girl. i mean she does feel bad at the beginning bc you STILL believe she's a male - in your defense, ellie still keeps her mask half way on even in a make out session as well the voice changer. you understand that "he" just wants to keep "his" identity a secret, especially after your mom's manhunt, so you don't question it. and that makes ellie feel even worse.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie was planning on telling you, i swear, but then joel found out ellie was seeing a girl and he warn her not to tell you anything. she was abt to cuss him out until he told her she was alr putting you in danger by being associated with a crime fighting hero, you knowing who is under the mask would just make you a bigger target. not to mention your own mother still hates her guts, and is putting you in multiple uncomfortable situations. 

'can i at least tell her i'm a girl?' ellie questioned, already fed up by this conversation. she rubbed the bridge of her nose before looking up at joel, who she had grown to look up to as a mentor. although they still bicker. joel sighed, 'we talked about this, kiddo. if people keep thinking there's a spider-man, the changes of finding out your identity are low.'  'she won't tell anyone.' ellie trusts you. in the time that you've been together, you haven't told any of your friends that you're up in your room with none other than boston's masked vigilante. you kept this part of your life like an oath, and ellie appreciates you for it.  however, joel doesn't know you like she does. 'have you forgotten who her mother is? this could be a set up, and you're falling for it.' ellie shakes her head. 'she's not like that.'  'look, if it had been any other girl, i would've said go for it. but she's the daughter of the woman who wants to turn you in, dead or alive.' ellie looks away from joel, but he continues. 'we gotta be smart about this.' ellie sighs, nodding. 'okay.'

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie wants to go up to you in person as herself whenever she sees you in class, but knows she can't. like what do you mean her tongue was exploring your mouth just the night before but now you two are back to strangers????? it's driving her crazyyy and she feels so stupid and so guilty. it doesn't matter how many people she saves, ellie feels like she's going to hell for doing this to you. yet she can’t stop, not now, she’s addicted to your taste and when she sees you as her masked self later that day, she smacks her lips against yours for all the times she felt the argue to kiss you as ellie but couldn't. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is still bitter towards joel for not letting her confess her secret to you but they've grown close and he is helping her find out why jerry anderson would create radioactive spiders. they don't find much until the top of the anderson tower bursts into flames. boston for sure thought they were going to be the next 9/11 but thanfully ellie got everyone out safetly. it was afterwork hours so not a lot of people were there, but when ellie went back to make sure she didn't miss anyone, a sinister laugh echoed. ellie's body went cold and her spidey senses were going crazy. if you couldn't tell jerry is the green goblin in this au but i still picture willem dafoe bc he's just TEW good as the green goblin so im recasting him as jerry 😁

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie definitely has a whole panic attack after being thrown against multiple walls by this not so kind dr anderson. she was just so overstimulated and physically hurt that it was all too much at once. this is ellie's first big villian and the old man can punch alr 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie has friends - dina and jessy ofc, but they’re unaware of her double life. ik i said she's a loser and i haven't mention them, but in my au her and abby were childhood friends until abby was sent to boarding school. they're literally peter and harry, you get me? so like norman, jerry was also neglectful and wouldn't pay attention to abby's friends, especially ones from so long ago, but ellie remembers him - also bc who wouldn't know the jerry anderson - and she knows that whatever she fought that night wasn't jerry, not entirely. he had this crazy look in his eyes and creepy smile, flying around in a hoverboard, accusing her of stealing his powers. yikes, awkward... 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie continues to fight him for some time, trying to figure out what the hell happened to him and how to help him. along with discoverying about anderson's sickness, ellie also finds out her mom used to work with jerry and she's the one who created the formula to cross-species genetics. yup, that really sent her spiraling - also im so uncreative and unoriginal im stealing from tasm bc ellie's mom also sabotaged the formula and added her dna into the equation, which is why ellie got her powers while jerry went nuts. okay he also gained some abilities but at what cost?

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie goes to your place after finding all of this shit out without telling you any of it, but just being near you helps her calm down. at this point, she knows so much abt you and you so little abt her, but you don't seem to mind. you tell her that you've been fighting a lot with your mom recently, and ellie listens. it's nice to talk abt other things to get her mind off of wtv is happening in her messed up life. you ask her if her parents know what she does, and for some reason, ellie opens up. she tells you the few memories she has of her mother, something she's never done with anyone apart from marlene but even then those moments were rare, more so now that's she gone too.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie is letting her guard down around you more and more, that she doesn't realize she's being followed. in her mind, your apartment is a safe place so why would she need to be on alert? well ima tell you why: her spidey senses woke her up in the middle of the night, but she dismisses them since she's been anxious for the past few days. it isn’t until later when she goes to class, the one with you in it, that her senses go off again, stonger this time after not seeing you enter through the doors at all. you've been late before, but never absent since attendance is mandatory in this class. she rushes to your apartment after class thinking maybe you're sick - which she knows isn't the case bc she saw you last night and you were perfectly fine. when she gets there, there's a green note sitting eerly on your bed waiting for her. 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, SPIDER-GIRL'

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie feels like she's going to throw up. jerry knows and he has you. ellie spends all day trying to locate you with joel's help. they were able to track jerry's/green goblin's last location to be in an abandoned clock tower on the outskirts of boston. without wasting anymore time, ellie rushes there. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie gets to the clock tower as the last bits of sunlight set in the horizon. she climbs up and peaks through one of the broken windows. there, she sees you tied up to a pull with your arms above you kinda like mary jane in the spider-man 2. ellie couldn't see jerry anywhere but her focus was to get your out of here so very quietly she went in. you tried to warn her but by the time she removed the ropes on your wrists, a little pumpkin bomb landed next to her, exploding and making both you fall. i won't write the entire scene but i'll tease something - fyi when i say clock tower, think tasm2 gwen's death scene

jerry - or the green goblin - held you in his arms as his board hovered over ellie. he grabbed your jaw harshly, forcing you to keep your teary eyes on ellie. her gaze remained low after taken off her mask. she was following the goblin's instructions, too terrified of something happening to you. yet, she couldn't bring herself to meet the look of betrayal in your eyes. 'no, that can't be,' goblin mocked, and ellie never wanted to punch someone as much as she does right now. 'where is spider-man? i could've sworn there was a man under the mask. i thought so, did you, pretty face?' his neck turned to look at you, question ringing with faux surprise.  ellie clenched her fists, finally looking up at the goblin. 'you got what you wanted, now let her go!' goblin broke into a crazy smile. 'i want you dead, spidey! i need your blood!' 'you have me. just, let her go and we can talk about this.' ellie took a few careful steps forward. the goblin chuckled before nodding, 'okay.' then he pushed you off his board.  'no!' ellie tried to jump after you, but the goblin took a hold of her and threw her against a wall across the platform she was standing. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie starts seeing joel as a father figure that night after he shows up in the suit. nobody had seen joel as iron man in years, but he couldn't let the girl he had grown to care for as a daughter fight alone. he got you to the ground safely before going back to help ellie fight the goblin. unfortunately he managed to escape but they were able to get a sample of his blood to start working on a cure.

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie puts her mask back on before going up to you. she's holding onto her side, for sure with a few broken ribs that will heal in a week thanks to her fast self healing, and a limp on her walk. you're still shaken up from everything, from being kidnap and finding spidey's identity. you look at her with this unreadable expression and ellie starts trying to explain herself. joel flies down, interrupting the conversation to tell you it was his idea not to tell you anything, but before you can speak, sirens are heard outside the tower. 

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie watches as you run to your mom, hugging her as she asks you if you're hurt. ellie stands to the side doing that thing where her foot fidgets with the dirt and she starts playing with her hands, lowk feeling lonely. that’s when joel will come in with a hand on her shoulder, telling her she did good and that almost makes her break down. dw guys, i promise they won’t end up like mcu peter & tony or game ellie & joel🥹

✮⋆˙ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ˙⋆ ✮ spidey!ellie doesn't see you in class after that, not for a week. she also doesn't go to your place to respect the fact that you most definitely need space. you're kinda mad at ellie, but you're feelings are still there. if only she had been honest from the beginning. obviously you recognized her from class, so after a week you go up to her. annndddd this is where im ending this bc i have an exam to study for but yea yea you end up forgiving her and all that lovey-dovey stuff, hope y’all liked this chaotic headcanon

˚ ༘ 🦕𖦹⋆｡˚

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

Andrew and Neil are mirrors when it comes to Crime and Exy

Andrew's gifted at Exy and is a rookie with potential at Crime

Neil's gifted at Crime and is a rookie with potential at Exy

And as I've said in another post before, let's look at Colombia as an example

It was a weird plan to start with, first of all cracker dust isn't truth serum it's just something to make Neil feel buzzed.

So maybe Andrew's plan is to interrogate Neil while high so it's easier to catch him in a lie, which is a decent plan except he fumbles the plan so hard when he leaves Neil alone with Aaron and Nicky.

According to the EC Andrew got so hot and bothered by Neils new outfit that he needed to blow off steam with Roland for a minute. But he really should have been focused cause Aaron and Nicky have dusted and drank, they are both more high and intoxicated than even Neil is, not the best people to put in charge at that moment and the instructions Andrew gives them are not clear.

Aaron clearly doesn't care about this plan. Nickys behavior was extremely reprehensible for sure. But I do wonder, was Nicky expected to give Neil more dust, and if so, how? Either Nicky acted on his own with giving Neil more or Andrew expected him to dose Neil with more drugs but it's totally up to Nicky how that happens (and Nickys choice of mouth to mouth was NOT OK, the EC confirms that Andrew never knew that Nicky kissed Neil).

Like Andrew, my dude, so far, this is poor delegation and supervision. Aaron wasn't gonna let this plan ruin his weekend 🤣

Doing this at a crowded club even one where he knows the staff might have seemed like a good idea in Andrew's mind but clearly that belief betrayed him too cause Neil was able to bribe a busboy to knock him out and Neil could have asked one of the patrons to do it if the busboy hadn't. And it's not as if the situation couldn't have taken a worse turn if any of the patrons turned out to be dangerous and happy to take advantage of a drugged, unsupervised teenager. Andrew did not have full control of the territory here. there were too many unpredictable variables.

Then, instead of being there in the morning when Neil wakes up and is groggy and prime for another attempt at interrogation, ANDREW LEAVES HIM WITH AARON AND NICKY AGAIN. And even with both of them now cold sober Nickys feeling remorseful, Aaron is still largely indifferent, and Neil clocks this and bails, knowing that they won't bother checking in on him anytime soon and are as per usual fine letting him out of their sight.

This gives Neil a NICE LONG WINDOW to come up with a plausible lie.

Meanwhile, Andrew is now on everyone's shit list and (assuming Neil was a Moriyama mole) made Neil a sweet bullied baby boy the whole team wants to protect from the mean boys. IF Neil was a mole, Andrew could not have made things easier for him cause any suspicion will be deemed Andrew being a bully and Wymack made it very clear that he is done with anymore of this, he didn't even want to leave Andrew alone with Neil.

My question is, why didn't Andrew use the binder? Remember when Neil leaves his room while Matt was out picking up the girls from the airport and while Neil went to get the safe, Andrew broke in to his room and looked through his stuff and found the binder. Then he put it back, folded Neil's clothes in a way that would alert him to someone riflling through his things. Nora answered a fan question on tumblr that the way Andrew folded the tags was to let himself be caught on purpose and gauge how paranoid Neil really was. To what end, I dont know.

Why give Neil that advantage? He could have questioned him without letting Neil know he went through his stuff. So Neil could be blindsided and be less likely to come up with a good lie?

Also

Why didn't he take the binder?

First he could use it to ensure Neil's good behavior, he could threaten to burn it if Neil doesn't talk and given that Neil needed time to come up with his cover story, this would have forced him to be more truthful as he would have had to lie on the spot which is easier to catch.

Given the illegal shit in that binder it's not like Neil could have told anyone that Andrew took it or go to any authorities about it.

He can't run away without it either. He would have been completely at Andrew's mercy.

And if Andrew needed to justify his actions, he only needed to show the team and Wymack Neil's stalker journal to make them all suspicious of Neil and get them on side with his actions.

But he didn't do that.

And I'd like to think that Neil lectured Andrew about this and about him being too trusting of other people when pulling crimes, picking more reliable allies and locations, not losing track of the goal cause you're horny, and being more ruthless.

The same way Andrew gave Neil that amazing insight about the way he plays Exy.

Just sharing knowledge and expertise with each other.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

The Babysitter Chronicles - Mayfield pt 1

Steve POV 5+1 (immediately follows s2) || wc: 1.9k || cws: check tags || full fic ao3

Henderson || Mayfield pt 1 / Mayfield pt 2 || Sinclair || Wheeler || Byers || +1 Hopper

~~~

Steve can’t believe he’s willingly knocking on the Hargroves’ door. As if his own anxiety wasn’t problem enough, the shrill sounds of two people arguing over the thrashing volume of metal music sets his teeth on edge. After a few seconds of waiting, he knocks harder. The arguing stops abruptly, and he hears a woman’s voice call out to wait a moment. 

He hopes the woman opens the door, assuming it’s Max’s mom. He doesn’t know her stepdad, but if the man is anything like his son, Steve wants to avoid him at all costs. Since Billy’s Camaro is missing from the driveway, hopefully he can avoid both of them.

To his relief, a woman with bright, copper hair and freckled skin opens the door. Her yellow cleaning gloves are almost dry, but there are still wet spots scattered on her pink t-shirt and jeans, as well as a few bleach stains. Large, blue circles halo her green, bloodshot eyes. Steve pretends not to notice the dried tear tracks striping her splotchy red cheeks.

“What can I help you with?”

“Hi, Mrs. Hargrove, I’m here to talk to you about–”

“Oh no, hun,” she interrupts him, “I’m sorry but we aren’t interested.” 

Steve looks down at himself, wearing a normal blue windbreaker and jeans, and wonders what she thinks he’s selling. Before she can shut the door, Steve catches the edge to hold it open. He sees her flinch at the force of his grip, the flash of fear behind her eyes reminding him of Max’s two weeks ago. He lets go, taking a step back to give her some space.

“No, ma’am, my name’s Steve Harrington and–”

“Susan,” the man screams from inside the house, loud and angry and too similar to the sound of his own father’s voice after a few drinks. They both flinch, Mrs. Hargrove faster to recover. Even though she’s standing straight, seemingly filled with confidence, Steve can still spot anxiety in the thin line of her mouth. “Who the hell is it?”

“It’s no one, Neil, just some boy selling magazine subscriptions,” she shouts, moving back inside. 

Steve turns to leave, hopes dashed, when he feels a hand wrap around his wrist.

She leans close, lowering her voice. “You’re Steve?” He nods. Mrs. Hargrove chances a glance over her shoulder, then looks back to him again, absentmindedly chewing on her bottom lip. “Wait around the side of the house, I shouldn’t be too long, ok?”

The door shuts in his face, almost grazing his nose. Steve wonders if he shouldn’t just leave, if she’s the kind of person to set him up and send Billy or Neil out to greet him instead. Except she seemed genuine, and this might be his only chance to win her approval. 

He waits for almost twenty minutes before she finds him leaned up against the siding underneath what he assumes is Max’s window, since he’s pretty sure Billy isn’t reading last month’s issue of Tiger Beat. She pulls out a pack of smokes from the pocket of her sweater, and he frowns when she doesn’t offer him one.

“So,” she says after a long exhale, “you’re the boy Billy and Max won’t stop talking about?” She ashes her cigarette, giving him enough time to school his stunned expression. “Can’t seem to shut up about you, surprised you’ve never been around before. Smart that you haven’t, though. Don’t blame you at all.”

“What do you mean?” Steve prods.

“Well Billy’s been bitching about you all year, practically. Saying you’re the reason he ain’t captain of the basketball team. Neil didn’t care too much for the excuses, though. Hasn’t let the poor boy forget it.” She takes a step closer to him and he watches as she looks over his split lip, the stitches, and his black eye. “Figured there was more to it than that.”

“He’s got the spot now,” he lets out a self-deprecating scoff, “can’t exactly play with a concussion.”

Her l brow creases as she frowns at him, tilting her head to the side. “You know, Max never really told me what happened that night two weeks ago. She got home almost an hour before Billy did, dropped off by God knows who–”

“The Sinclair’s, ma’am,” Steve interrupts. He second guesses whether or not he should bring up Lucas at all, realizing too late the problems that could cause, when Mrs. Hargrove smiles.

“Is that the young boy she’s been hanging around lately– him and his friends?” She ashes again. There’s a light in her eyes that’s been missing since he first met her, and she shines with it. 

“Yes, ma’am. Lucas Sinclair.”

Genuine concern laces her question when she asks “is he sweet to her?”. But her small smile tells him maybe she already knows the answer, just looking for confirmation.

Images of the worst day of Steve’s life flash through his mind, and in them he can spot the soft moments. Max and Lucas comforting each other, always searching the other out across a crowded room. Lucas’ poorly concealed admiration and Max’s fondness masked under a layer of sarcasm as thin as tissue paper.

“Yeah, he’s sweet to her,” Steve replies, answering her smile with his own. “Lucas is a great kid, Mrs. Hargrove. One of the best.”

Her eyes water and she smiles again, but it’s strained this time, as she looks towards the house where screaming music filters through the walls. Steve sees the weight on her shoulders, the burden of living with someone like Neil Hargrove. He feels sympathy on the fringes of his conscience when he thinks of being married to a man like that, or being raised by one. How that kind of anger could turn a kid into someone like Billy, or scare someone enough to stay in a bad situation.

The sympathy fades into a bitter aftertaste when he thinks of Max. He knows all too well what it’s like to live in a home with a scared mother and an angry father. How it feels to have a mother who will rock you in her arms and say everything’s ok, only to stand behind her husband when the belt comes off. 

He looks at Mrs. Hargrove and notices small bruises lining the inside of her right arm. The noise permeating from the house forces its way into Steve’s pores. All he can smell are stale cigarettes and motor oil. There’s empty beer cans sticking out underneath the bushes along the house and he kicks at one, harder than he should. He can’t help picture matching bruises on Max’s small, frail arms, and suddenly it’s all too much.

“Mrs. Hargrove, I came here to tell you I want to be Max’s babysitter.”

She frowns, clearly taken aback by the abrupt change of subject. “Oh, well it’s usually Billy’s job to–”

“Billy is the one who did this, ma’am.” He gestures to his face and attempts to reel in his frustration. “To be frank with you, Billy almost killed me and one of the kids I was with that night. He’s dangerous, especially to her. And you know that. You have to know that. Right?” 

Mrs. Hargrove sighs, dropping her cigarette into the grass to wipe the tears at the corners of her eyes. She pulls down the sleeves of her sweater, crossing her arms over her chest as she folds in on herself. Makes herself smaller.

She hesitates before saying, “Neil will be upset if Billy isn’t the one bringing her places. Says it gives him responsibility. Accountability.”

“Good thing Billy won’t have time now that he’s captain of the basketball team. And isn’t that what his dad wants?” Steve will counter every argument she has if he has to. He refuses to let another kid grow up in an angry home, scared and alone, even though Max’s is so much louder than his own. Somehow he thinks that might be worse than his own, empty, quiet home.

“We can’t pay you.”

“I’m not asking for any money. I’ll do it for free.”

She shakes her head, frustrated and out of objections. “You think you can keep her safe from them when I can’t, is that it?” Her voice cracks, and it cuts through him.

Steve tries to relax, opening up his stance and softening his voice. Hoping that she just hears him out. “I know you don’t know me, and that you and your family are new around here, but the Harrington’s are a big name in this town. My parents are well connected to lawyers and local politicians. I’m close with Jim Hopper, the police chief–”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” She snaps. He notices she’s shaking and he raises his open hands up higher.

“No, ma’am. It’s not a threat.” Steve looks her in the eyes, tries to convey everything he’s so bad at saying and everything he’s probably missed along the way. “It’s a promise that she’ll be safe with me, no matter what, and I’d do anything to keep that promise. Please, Mrs. Hargrove.”

He thinks it’s the please that gets her. Steve can see the moment she caves, heaves another great, heavy sigh as she wipes her sleeve across her eyes a final time before tucking it back under her arms. The quiet eventually settles between them. She pulls the pack of smokes out again, holding one out to him in offering. He takes it.

“She needs rides to and from school,” she starts, staring at him as she speaks. Steve doesn’t know what she’s hoping to see, but he feels himself light up inside, excitement beaming out through his wide smile and crinkled eyes. “Neil gets home first, usually around five. I work shifts, so sometimes the latest I get home is after nine.”

“Max can stay at my house as long as she wants,” Steve says, not bothering to keep the enthusiasm from his voice. “Even if it has to be overnight, I’ve got a spare bedroom that we never use. I’m also more than happy to bring her home after nine when you work late, so you don’t have to drive across town when you’re done.”

Steve knows his implications are obvious. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep Max out of the house when her mom isn’t home. He can’t help how desperate he feels at the idea of her being alone here anymore than she already has been, and how he’s so close to making sure that it never happens again. 

He can already picture Max’s muddy shoes in the entryway on a Friday afternoon, and hear her bitching about his cereal choices on a Sunday morning. She’ll wrestle with Dustin over the remote for Saturday morning cartoons. Steve’ll even learn how to cook for three, standing in the kitchen over a hot stove while the two kids do homework at the counter, posted up on the barstools that’ve never been used before.

He’s practically choking on the idea that he’s not just giving these kids a place to hang out, but that they’ll be hanging out with him. In his own house. For the first time in almost four years, Steve’s house will have people in it. People who like him and actually want him around. Kids for him to watch out for, and take care of when they need it.

“Alright,” Mrs. Hargrove sighs, “let me go grab a pen and paper, I’ll give you my schedule for the month.”

[nadiajustbe]

Quick question because I don't remember castle in the sky: is it specified that Lettie gave birth to the kid? Or it could be very well some crazy kinda plot in which this random kid appears in the lives of the three (justiman and Lettie) and now they have to navigate raising a kid while defeating all society expectancies of non biological child/Lettie and Ben are not really together/Justin and Ben are so gay/Lettie wants to be an independent witch/ what the hell is going on? Because god I'd read a magic comedy with this plot I love people who are not on love and who were not supposed to be devoting parents suddenly having to raise a child without getting together in the end (+ Justin of course the poor boy)

Thanks for the question, you're always welcome!!

Unfortunately, it was specified, even a bit too much to describe, that Lettie gave birth to a child. In fact, when we first see her and Ben in chapter fifteen, she's pregnant. Wich actually a bit concerning because CITA happened exactly one year after the first book (as Morgan, Howl and Sophie's son, is born somewhere in the middle of CITA and he's known to be two in HoMW, time difference between wich and HMC is stated to be three years) and Lettie was seventeen in HMC as she's stated to be one year younger that Sophie who is most likely eighteen there. And that is... not the best math possible, actually.

(also that's probably my personal preference but this scene is so "not it" to be lmao, like that's probably because of the smallest amount of development their pairing had, but it's just feels unrealistic or staged for unknown reason, for me at least)

This moment is stated in the end of the book and is just...there. The only fun joke it leads to is Sophie saying "she knew she was bound to be an aunt" wich is, she is.

(Although with Martha wanting ten kinds and Neil and Mari being technically a part of her family it's strangely hilarious she thought she WASN'T bound to be an aunt?)

The child doesn't even have a name, just being called "a girl with no ill effects at all" and, unlike Morgan, born about the same time, doesn't have any other mentions in the series, at all. The reason for her existence is a mystery for me. There's no plot/practical reason except for "they had a child, cool!"/nonneg

AND THE CONCEPT YOU OFFERED IS SO MUCH BETTER!!

This is something really DWJ-like in this absolutely random group of people having to raise a child no one planned would exist. And probably the only way I'd imagine Lettie being a mother or a wife (I should make a separate post about Lettie honestly I love her so much). She didn't want to be there, but that's what happens when you randomly decided to marry a Royal Wizard for a "why not' reason.

And, according to Ukrainian translation of HMC that described Ben and Justin as "inseparable" (in original it just said "great buddies" wich is also funny but not that much😔) you kinda you get Justin complete with Ben. Just like Sophie and Howl, two-in-one exclusive offer!

As I said that's all Hatter sisters do — defeating social expectations.

(Justin and Ben are really gay I guess If you're not random Ingarian citizen you can clearly see it lol)

Also this lines up with my little concept of Justing running from married life (yes he got married in CITA. Don't ask me how, that was... rather odd, especially because he run from the same marriage canonically a couple of weeks before it happened) and just having to stay with Ben because the Kind would have just destroyed him If he'd returned to the palace. And so they have to just... live together even though Lettie is not the part of the club, she just wants to learn witchcraft in peace.

And now there's a child absolutely announced. And no one can explain how. Or why.

Yeah, I would pay to read that. Probably even write myself.

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Naegami Fluff and/or Shenanigans 8

Sometimes, the two just have those classic movie nights. Not anything super fancy or romantic. Just the two of them chilling while watching a flick. It started off as Makoto's one-off idea before it blossomed. The two aren't even that big into movies but it's something they do together. However, one day, after finding a shit movie neither of them have heard of, the movie night spiraled into something bigger. Basically, the gist of their new and improved movie nights is:

This definitely became something the two never would have guessed to become so chaotic. Cus, every few moments in movies, Byakuya just HAS to pause it and go on a rant on everything wrong with the scene or dialogue while Makoto desperately tries not to laugh too hard. He fails though. Every. Single. Time. I mean, how can he NOT laugh when his boyfriend is absolutely ROASTING and MURDERING the poor movie with expert precision! Like, Byakuya's just stabbing the ever loving shit outta every plot hole imaginable and there is nothing that Makoto can do about it. Not that he'd WANT to... Makoto genuinely loves hearing his boyfriend rant about stuff in general, so this is no exception. Hell. The fact that Byakuya isn't even that big of a movie fan makes it better. Also, the ways that Byakuya explains the movie plots to him also doesn't help due to Byakuya's general sass the whole time. Gets Makoto every damn time.

The initially just watched bad live-action movies like The Room, Sharknado, all Neil Breen movies like Fateful Findings and Twisted Pair. However, after digging around for more bad shit for them to find, they decided to bite the bad and strange animated movies which Byakuya has his own new type of rants for. AKA "Stupid Children's Movie Humor that Moronic American Executives Force to Add into the Movies is Dumb and Stupid" rant. Also, there's also the obvious rant about the animation or animation errors. And that is where they made their best/worst decision ever. Yeah. Makoto nearly died when they watched The Bee Movie because of the unhinged rants Byakuya went on. Tldr; Byakuya absolutely DESPISES Jerry Seinfeld and made that VERY clear. Meanwhile, Makoto barely knows who the fuck Seinfeld is, though that doesn't matter because the boy is literally curled up on his side, on the couch, clutching it for dear life while freaking snort-laughing to death as Byakuya just won't let up. Makoto also leans on Byakuya a bit for SOME semblance of support but it barely helps and the heir's movements just make him laugh and giggle even harder. The whole time, Byakuya's just smirking at him while being amused at Makoto's response. And, gosh. The day after was almost as bad when Byakuya pulled at the cork board to explain even MORE about his hatred of Seinfeld. Makoto shed many tears those days from how hard he was just dying from the whole thing. Also didn't help when Makoto tried to engage himself with the discourse by asking questions. The key word is TRIED. He could only get a few legible words out at that point which Byakuya absolutely teased him for. Like: "Ah, Makoto. This is no laughing matter! I am talking about the heinous deeds of an unfunny comedian! This man is DESPICABLE!" he says, also struggling a bit not to laugh himself. Cus, Makoto has the gift of having a bit of a contagious laugh. Specifically in the sense that hearing it is cute and, if one ever laughed along with him, zero shits would be given about one sounded cus they're too busy trying and failing to keep it together. Also, it's just easy to kinda have fun laughing with the little guy like that. 'Tis hard attempting to not be charmed by he eggy ways though some are obviously immune. Byakuya is not. AHEM

Yeah. Byakuya was SOOO having a fucking blast tearing apart both the movie and Seinfeld both cus he likes ranting but also because, at this point, he knows he just genuinely likes seeing Makoto happy. Makoto's the same way which is why, even during the times he was absolutely crying at that point from how hard he was laughing his ass off, he only sometimes told Byakuya to quit it, which was mostly in a playful and kinda whinny way cus Makoto was still losing it BAAAAD. That is not an understatement. Can also see Byakuya being a bit of a dick here by ruffling Makoto's hair or something which just makes the guy both flustered and even more giggly than before. Having said all of this though, I have a feeling Makoto finds a way the break the bastard back though. I mean, Makoto's been doing a lot of laughing! Might as well get some payback! Also payback for Byakuya freaking poking him, rubbing it in that Makoto sounds like a total loser. Nothing too lethal though. Not that Makoto could BE lethal. Just the boy trying and failing to maybe crack a joke or something but he's bad at it, regardless if he's laughing hysterically or not. The attempt is short lived though as Makoto kinda just tries to get everything back on track regarding the actual PLOT of The Bee Movie. Cus, Byakuya's actual a bit out of breath from all that Seinfeld ranting. It backfires though. They both end up in a weird conversation on how the fuck Vanessa is plowing that bee. AKA, the strangest talk they've had about anything ever up until this point... Like, it starts off as a genuine question before it just devolves into Makoto trying to end it all while covering his face, laughing hysterically while Byakuya's no better. He just keeps trying and failing to actually psycho-analyze the logistics here. Meanwhile, Makoto is lowkey squealing for him to finally quit the bit while Byakuya just keeps going. He may be out of breath from the Seinfeld rant but he is just on a roll today and nothing is stopping him. And, when everything FINALLY starts to calm down a bit, the two reflect a bit on what the fuck just happened. Oddly enough though, they're content about it. Like, the two had fun. Makoto nearly died. All is good in the world. And maybe they just cuddle after. Idk! T-T

[moodyfoxes]

AFTG Fanfic Recs! # 9

August 2023

Our body Series by ConventionalExy [Ongoing]

Typically soulmates don't feel the other person's pain. They can tell they are in pain, yes, but if they're not in a war zone or getting constantly traumatized, the bond won't 'Level up'.

Trauma is the key, and some people are lucky enough to not have much of it. Andrew and Neil are not included in that category.

I just recently discovered that this had turned into a series (which is still ongoing! yay!) after rereading the first fic and you bet that I read through those so fast. Love this premise! It also goes very in-depth about the trauma behind the ‘soulmates feeling each others pain’ trope, especially relevant for our poor boyos.

fragile by likearecord [Completed]

A new guy starts working at the radio station.

He's fragile.

Better keep Andrew away from him.

Pretty fluffy if you ask me. A little on the shorter side but such a nice trope, for some reason radio show host fics always feel really comfy to me!

The problem with Soulmates. by pandaseek [Ongoing]

Every hair on his new body stood on end as he quickly patted himself down, finding a wallet in his back pocket but nothing else until his shoe caught on the strap of a duffle bag, half buried in the sand under his bench. He yanked the bag up beside him, giving it a quick shake to loosen the sand clinging to the canvas fabric, before turning his attention to stripping the wallet bare.

He decided quite quickly that his other half was an asshole.

There was plenty of loose cash in his wallet, but not a single personal item of any manner. No ID. No bank card. No pictures of girlfriends or family. Not even an old receipt stuffed in the bottom.

At the very least, life hadn’t disappointed him with how shitty things could get.

They switch bodies! They’re soulmates! It’s by pandaseek (who at this point probably gets a mention in these lists at least once every time)! I really enjoy the different flavours of soulmate fic in this fandom, our boys are just so versatile!

sing of the moon by mostly_maudlin [Completed]

Andrew first notices that he isn’t alone on a Tuesday night in July. He’s sitting cross-legged on the edge of the long dock stretching out into the small cove, looking down into the dark, churning water. Wind whips at his cheeks, and he has to keep a palm around his cigarette to keep it lit. The waves push at the wooden posts of the dock like a threat. All of this is fine. Andrew doesn’t come here for peace.

Merperson Neil Josten AU. This ones short and.....kind of sweet? Slight angst perhaps but nothing overly angsty!

White Hands by doodlingstuff [Completed]

Neil's life isn't exactly a life except for Stuart, trying to cheer him up, and his paintings, whenever he's inspired.

Andrew's life isn't exactly a life except for his family and his volunteering work, keeping him afloat as the time goes by.

When Andrew stumbles into Neil's life unwillingly, both will learn one day at a time that they still have reasons to fight and dreams to fulfill.

This one deals in angsty disabled Neil and I loved every second of it! Give my boy his bodily autonomy back!

All my recs can be found in my bookmarks on AO3

[aledethanlast]

I like to think that one day, Neil is unable to make a meeting with Ichirou because he’s got a bad cold or something and Jean or Kevin instead must come to Ichirou to assure him that they’re all doing their duty as athletic money makers for his empire. They are freaking terrified, understandably, and as a result, don’t deliver the most eloquent of reports. Ichirou leaves this meeting resolved to never actually get his reports from either of them again, Kevin and/or Jean leave resolved to never be in his presence again, and Neil is informed that he must never get sick again or to simply reschedule the meeting with Ichirou. Neil still has his cold and tries to glare at Kevin or Jean, but poor boy can barely see straight and this intimidation is undercut by the pile of blankets he’s wrapped in (Andrew, heating up a bowl of soup for Neil because Neil fell flat on his face earlier upon trying to get up, finds this conversation ridiculously entertaining. Only Neil can get a mob boss to actually prefer his company and be so efficient that everyone else involved agrees that he’s the only person who can get things done in the preferred manner) (also, Neil did not want to wrap himself in the blankets and would’ve tried to insist he’s fine. Andrew just got tired of hearing his teeth chattering)

Kevin: oh. Hey Neil. So funny you called. Feeling better?

Neil: somewhat. Anything is better than the fever dreams I was having all of yesterday and during the night. I dreamt we were back in college except but the entire team was Nicky.

Kevin: yeesh.

Neil: yep. And then I dreamed that I got traded to the fucking Dolphins. With Freeman in the goal.

Kevin: well dont go putting that image in my head

Neil: yeah sorry. And then, ya know, out of nowhere, I dreamt that Ichirou called me today that he never wants to see your idiot face or hear your idiot voice ever again.

Kevin: ...

Neil: unless there's something you'd like to tell me.

Kevin: I highly doubt he said idiot

Neil: I'M SAYING IDIOT

[thecourtscorkboard]

Rise From the Ashes (1-5: Part One)

2005 was a landmark year. North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons, the Xbox 360 was released, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was given a new case—Rise from the Ashes.

Rise From the Ashes (1-5) is the grand finale to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: a mystery that revolves around a grand conspiracy, a culture of unabashed corruption, and a climax two years in the making. Phoenix is called to defend Lana Skye, a chief prosecutor arrested for a murder that she has confessed to!

Interestingly, Rise From the Ashes was not in the original Japanese releases of the game. It came out alongside the English translations. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney closes on one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever written, no joke. Let's jump right into it!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Four trials in and already proven to be an incredibly gifted lawyer, Phoenix's sudden hiatus after Maya's departure is finally broken.

Ema Skye: A high school student with a vested interest in forensic investigation, Ema takes Maya's place as Phoenix's assistant and co-counsel. (she's also my favorite character in the series :3)

Miles Edgeworth: 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 make up a trilogy of incredibly important character growth for Miles, and he's at his best here: his cold veneer is broken, with his need for the truth finally at the forefront, but two paths equally parallel laid before him.

Dick Gumshoe: Dick once again returns as our resident gumshoe, serving as one of the detectives on this case and a vital ally.

THE MAIN CAST:

Lana Skye: The case's defendant and a chief prosecutor. Notably not the Chief Prosecutor and notably cold and callous towards anyone... including her own sister.

Damon Gant: Chief of Police. Veteran detective. Swimming enthusiast. A key character in this case, Damon Gant is the police's poster boy for efficient investigation and operations as well as Gumshoe's boss's boss.

Jake Marshall: A patrolman who has taken control of the investigation through raw Texan power. Has the best theme song in the entire game and a penchant for thinking he's in 1901.

Angel Starr: A key witness with an uncertain connection to Lana. A food truck owner and operator who specializes in boxed lunches and polyamorous relationships.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Mike Meekins: A police officer who later proves to be an important figure in discovering the truth. Annoying as all Hell, but it's hard not to smile at his passion.

Bruce Goodman: A detective and the victim of this case, found stabbed to death in the trunk of a car in the Prosecutor's Office parking lot. A great detective and a good man.

Neil Marshall: A former prosecutor who was killed at the hands of Joe Darke in the SL-9 Incident. The elder brother of Jake Marshall.

Joe Darke: A spree killer and former businessman executed for the murders of 5 people, including Prosecutor Neil Marshall, in 2014.

A BRIEF RECAP

A thunderclap. The skyline of Los Angeles rushes past the camera, rain falling down in sheets. A person raises a knife and brings it down: and suddenly the camera shifts! Two people are stabbing two other people at two separate locations at the same time? What's going on here?!

Perhaps one of the coolest opening cinematics in the entire series.

Investigation, Day One

It's been two months since 1-4. In those two months, Phoenix hasn't taken a single case: Maya's leaving has affected him that much, it seems. Poor guy. He's still returning to the office every day, and today's no exception. Except... there's somebody here before us!

...and somebody who's getting her news a year late, apparently.

Meet the myth, the legend, the wonderfully AuDHD (SHE JUST LIKE ME FR), Ema Skye! Oh, Ema, my beloved! She'll be our main assistant for this case, but right now, she's just requesting our services. Phoenix moves to say "no" as always, but when Ema brings up her sister, he can't help but think of Maya. Reluctantly, Phoenix agrees to hear her out. Talking with Ema, we get to learn the basics of the case: her sister has been arrested for murder. We also learn that she's a scientific investigator! Or, er, will be. In three years. Right now, she's just a junior. (We also get some 2-4 foreshadowing; if you investigate the window, Phoenix says that the Gatewater Hotel is planning to open up a new branch outside Los Angeles!)

Ema tells us that her sister was seen by a witness stabbing somebody with a knife. Greeeeeat. Welp. Remember 1-4? We've worked with less. We also get to learn Ema's backstory: her parents died in a car accident when she was still young, with Lana being the only family she still has. Agreeing to go to the detention center to talk to her sister, we go there and meet this case's defendant.

Lana Skye, chief prosecutor. No, not Chief Prosecutor, silly; that's Blaise Debe- er... Excelsius Winner. There's chief prosecutors and the Chief Prosecutor. Get it? Got it? Good.* Anyways, Lana has told Ema not to come nor to get her a lawyer: was she planning to take the state-assigned one? Maybe she really did do it.

*My headcanoned explanation for this is that Lana is the chief prosecutor of the district while Excelsius/Blaise is the Chief Prosecutor for the entire State of California.

She's rather adamant about her guilt...

It took place yesterday at 5:15. The witness saw her stabbing the victim very clearly, and it took place in the underground parking lot of the Prosecutor's Office: in the trunk of a subordinate's car, no less. The victim was a detective, stabbed once in the stomach. The victim being a detective... it will be considered a matter of pride for the police department to convict her. They'll go to any lengths... oh, man.

As a chief prosecutor, she oversees every single trial handled in the district. No wonder she's heard of Phoenix! Raising her hand to her chest, Ema notices a bandage: Lana says that she cut her hand open when she stabbed the victim. Greaaaaaaat. So not only is there a witness, there's evidence on her fuckin' body. Moving onto Lana's relationship with Mia, which Ema brought up earlier, Lana gives us a rather frank overview of their relationship.

"Intellectually attracted" my ass.

Lana tells us the facts: she is admitting her guilt. There's no way we can take this case, right? Ema lashes out at Lana, saying that she's being selfish; she's adamant that Lana isn't the killer, lamenting that without Lana she'd be left alone and going as far to say that she hates her sister. Lana turns around, telling us to leave, but not without telling us that it's in our hands now. We're officially on the case! Something definitely doesn't fit, and we're gonna figure out what that something is.

Ema tells us that Lana's changed over the years: she used to be far kinder. What's going on, exactly? In any case, we move on to the underground parking lot. Yep. This is the scene of a murder. White tape and all! We also get to meet our third character of the case: Officer Jake Marshall!

Cue Gunsmoke!

Gah, I love this guy. Officer Marshall seems to be in charge of the investigation; he tells us to leave, but we take a look around. The first thing that pops out is a wallet on the ground. Ema tells us to put it in our pocket. We do, and we take a closer look at it: in this case's first gimmick, 3D investigation! We open up the wallet and see who it belongs to. Sergeant Bruce Goodman, a detective with the police department. Could he be our victim? Trying to investigate the scene a bit closer, we get stopped by Marshall. We get to ask him a question, though. Who owns that car (apparently a Mustang)? Well, he tells us. The car belongs to somebody in the Prosecutor's Office: whoever is in Room 1202. Marshall tells us to stay away, so we do just that, but not before being stopped by... a lunchlady. Huh. A lunchlady calling herself the "Cough-Up Queen", no less. And she has clearance? Apparently she's connected to the case. The images are burned into her eyes; oh, she's the witness! Welp, that's Angel Starr for you.

Angel tells us that yesterday a prosecutor was awarded a "King of Prosecutors" trophy. She has a massive grudge against prosecutors, it seems: just our luck that our client is a prosecutor. Apparently, whoever they awarded the trophy to is the owner of the car; the most "evil prosecutor of all". But von Karma's in prison. No...

Angel tells us what she witnessed: Lana Skye undeniably had a knife and stabbed the victim and Angel saw it happen firsthand. Apparently she even has a personal connection to Lana! Hmm. Something is going on here... asking about Angel, she comes here every day to serve boxed lunches. Her boyfriend works as the security guard, apparently. Her vendetta against prosecutors is pretty deep; wonder if she got into trouble. Anyways, we've expended our talking options, so we head up to Room 1202. Wonder who it belongs to-

Oh!

Apparently Ema knows who Edgeworth is; and has a bit of a crush on him. Don't blame her. The body was indeed found in, in Ema's words, a "nasty bright red sports car"... that happens to be Edgeworth's. Can I just say that I love how much fun Edgeworth is having in this scene? He's very clearly having a blast teasing Ema with her constant slip-ups and I love that for him. In the "that would be my car" line I like to imagine he's trying really hard not to laugh. We get to talking with Edgeworth about the case: he's the prosecutor for this case, and he has to prove her guilt! Edgeworth says that he's surprised he's still in the Prosecutor's Office. After all, rumors have surrounded him for years. Phony evidence, false confessions... the Demon Prosecutor, even though DL-6 is over, still lives. Edgeworth is innocent of both murders; but what about this murder?

Edgeworth was given the King of Prosecutors trophy yesterday, it seems. Edgeworth and Lana apparently worked on a case two years ago: his first big one. It looks like they don't have a good relationship, though. After all... the victim was stabbed in his car with his knife. Man. This winter has been harsh for Edgeworth, huh? The King of Prosecutors trophy is sent to the best prosecutor every year: it doesn't seem like he's a big fan of it, though. I wonder why- actually, nevermind. We know why.

Talking a bit more about the King of Prosecutor's Trophy, Edgeworth tells us he had to go all the way to the Police Department to receive it. He received it yesterday, so we talk about yesterday; it was "cleaning day", when evidence for solved cases is sorted and filed to make room for new cases. He got back at 5:12, only three minutes before the murder. After talking to Edgeworth, we're interrupted by a police officer. He's here at the request of the "Chief", apparently, to give Edgeworth a report. Edgeworth turns him away after learning there's no evidence against Lana in the report, taking his name: Officer Mike Meekins. Edgeworth tells us to leave, so we do.

The Police Department has some weird... thing in front of it. Right: the "Blue Badger", the new mascot of the police force. Ema seems to know about the Blue Badger. Someone's dancing next to it. Running up to us, it's... Gumshoe! Talking to him, we get a little bit more information on the case: he tells us not to defend Lana. Well, about that. At the very least, we do get confirmation that the victim is the card's owner, Bruce Goodman. That's not important, though. Gumshoe's been kicked out of Criminal Affairs! Only the highest-rank people are allowed in the Police Department: the lowest-ranking member is the Chief of Detectives, and the Chief of Police is directing the investigation itself! Is it just me, or does something smell besides the Butz?

Apparently, Goodman wasn't at the police department yesterday. He was assigned to evidence transferal... for a case two years ago. That's rather familiar, isn't it? Apparently, Lana called him out to the parking lot. That's the theory, at least. All the rumors about Edgeworth really kicked up after the murder of Robert Hammond. People are, naturally, suspicious of a nearly-perfect prosecutor. There's a rumor that he's taking the prosecution solely to take Lana's position for himself! Before we leave, Gumshoe tells us something. Officer Marshall was assigned to this case by the Chief of Police himself. Aw, man. Gumshoe gives us a letter of introduction, letting us investigate the crime scene! We give it to Marshall and he lets us investigate! Yay!

We're given the autopsy report: Bruce Goodman was stabbed with a knife once, dying within an hour and a half of 4 PM (so anywhere between 4:00 to 5:30). Yep, that lines up. Sliding on over to the scene of the crime, we find a phone on the ground. Turns out...

This places her at the scene of the crime when the victim was murdered... great.

She tried to call someone. Our phone rang when we pressed re-dial... did Lana try to call us? Nope. Turns out it was just a wrong number. Prrrrrobably. Hopefully. Checking out Edgeworth's trunk, we find a piece of paper: "6-7S 12/2", on Goodman's own stationery. Huh. Weird. As we're leaving, we press the re-dial button on Lana's phone. The Steel Samurai theme starts playing. It was Ema's phone, not ours! The last person Lana called was Ema; why did she hide this from us? Lana hung up right after calling Ema at 5:18. Well... what a way to end our first day of investigation.

Trial, Day Two

We meet Lana in the Defendant's Lobby. She tells us the exact opposite of what Mia told us: to never believe in our clients. We tell Lana that she reminds us of Mia. Edgeworth calls Angel Starr to the stand, running a food truck for her job. We're told that, until two years ago, Ms. Starr was actually a detective! Two years ago... again? What happened two years ago?

Angel tells us that the parking lot is divided into two blocks: A Block, for prosecutors and staff, and B Block, for visitors. She gives her first testimony, stating that she saw Lana stab Goodman in the chest with her right hand. Pressing Angel a bit further, she says that she felt it in the air; apparently her bias against prosecutors comes from her being fired as a detective! Well, doesn't that mean she's biased against the defendant, who's the chief prosecutor? Not with the photo she took of the crime scene!

You, uh... have a stain.

Now, now. Isn't that interesting? After all, I can't see a knife anywhere in this photo. Edgeworth responds with a very simple "Objection." The photo was taken after the stabbing. Starr said that she took the picture the moment she saw the crime, though: but this contradiction isn't much. She just misremembered! Adamant and spiteful, Angel claims that the murder was premediated due to Lana's wearing gloves. Presenting the knife, the courtroom starts murmuring once we reinforce that it is Edgeworth's. Speaking of that knife: if the murder was premeditated, why would she not bring her own knife? "When you plan a murder, you don't forget the weapon!"

Edgeworth is pretty quick to counter, though. After all, it's not his theory. It's solely Angel's. She's very adamant about it being planned, though! Why does she care so much? Angel says that Lana stabbed Goodman over and over, even though the autopsy report only says that he was stabbed once. Wait, Edgeworth takes over our objection! Asshole. Starr says that she just mistook something else for blood, thinking that was from Lana stabbing Goodman; her red muffler.

But she's not wearing a muffler in that picture, is she? Edgeworth takes over our objection. Angel Starr is apparently convinced that there was something red: she's forced to testify about when she apprehended Lana. Lana mentioned the muffler when she was arrested. That's where her confusion came from? Really?

There are a few issues with this testimony. Why would Lana run to the partition? What did she say about the muffler, actually? Well, we don't know exactly, but Angel does tell us that she was on her phone: the phone on the wall doesn't work, remember? And there's our next contradiction. How did Angel know that Lana tried to use the phone? You can't see the phone from B Block: it's behind that partition! She's been lying about her testimony this entire time? But why? Because... she wasn't in B Block at all, was she?! She was in A Block: specifically, the security room overlooking it. Remember that she brought a lunch to her boyfriend, the security guard?

Angel concedes: she was lying! But why? Why would she risk perjury over this kind of detail? Well... the Security Room is inside the building. Remember: what she saw isn't the problem. It's where she saw it! Angel concedes: this is, indeed, where she saw it from. She had to run down the stairs, but the door to Block A was locked. She had to run all the way across to B Block and then run over the chain-link fence separating A Block and B Block. It took her five minutes?! That's a long time for something like this! What in the world would Lana be doing in those five minutes? Why didn't she run away? Angel's testimony seems to be over for the day: alongside court.

Knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Angel brings up Detective Goodman's shoe. Two types of blood were found on it: Goodman's and Lana's. Remember when she said she cut her hand open? Edgeworth says he can't accept the shoe as evidence, claiming it's against evidence law! Rule One: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the police department! Edgeworth says that her evidence is illegal on that basis!

Angel counters. It was approved by the police apartment today! Aww, man. Edgeworth goes from pretty happy to utterly defeated. Cross-examining Angel, we ask for more information on the shoe. We have a problem with the shoe, though. Not just a problem, actually: a full-fledged contradiction! After all, there's blood on the sole! Why is this a problem? Well, in the crime scene photo, there's no bloody footprints on the ground! Edgeworth reminds us that Angel testified earlier that Lana kicked over an oil drum: those oil drums are filled with water! Trial nearly comes to an end, but Angel pulls out yet another piece of evidence! A photo of the crime scene; complete with Goodman's body, complete with water on the ground! Darn! This really puts us in a tight spot.

There's just one thing we can do; point out a piece of... something in the muffler. Wait! The muffler...? The car muffler! Remember what Angel said earlier, about hearing Lana say something about the muffler? That's a vital piece of evidence we need to review! His Honor agrees; trial is suspended for a thirty-minute recess.

Howdy, pardner!

During the recess, we're greeted by Jake Marshall! Marshall tells us that he's stopped by to watch the proceedings, telling us that Lana absolutely had her muffler on that day; she always did, and she had it on at the awards ceremony. So then what, exactly, is going on?

Court is back in session and Edgeworth. Is. Pissed. He is absolutely livid at something. During the recess, His Honor charged Edgeworth with investigating something; Edgeworth shouts out that whatever his investigation led to was "unacceptable": and somebody interrupts the proceedings...

Remember when people thought he was Apollo's dad?

Everybody, meet the second best character to come out of this case (after Ema, of course): Damon Gant, the Chief of Police! This must be why Edgeworth was freaking out. Gant hasn't visited the courtroom in two years (again...?), and he's dropped by because of Edgeworth. He's bringing in Lana's muffler: it was stuffed in that exhaust pipe! Furthermore, inside of the muffler is a switchblade! Edgeworth remains livid, pissed at Gant: he's blaming his investigators for missing such a vital piece of evidence. He tells Edgeworth to wait, which Edgeworth doesn't do, and then he tells Edgeworth to wait. After all, Edgeworth was in charge of the investigation. He's silent: Gant knows how to shut people up.

We open up the knife (but not before looking at the knife's tag; "SL-9 2"? Hmmm.). The tip is broken and the broken part is bloody; and it was found wrapped in Lana's muffler...? Gant is asked to testify about the knife, and he happily does, saying that the knife has nothing to do with the tape. Unless there's evidence that would connect the knife with Goodman, he can't give us anything. He does say that another detective was killed at the police department at 5:15. Scary coincidence, eh? After all, 5:15 was the exact same time that Goodman was killed! Two murders at once? What's going on?! We decide to exercise our right to cross-examine Gant. Well, what we need to find is a connection between the knife in the muffler (henceforth the SL-9 Knife) and the case at hand. Well... remember that scrap of paper we found? "6-7S"? What if it's upside down? It's not "6-7S 12/2", it's "SL-9 2/21": and SL-9 is on the knife's tag! Where did we find that note? In Edgeworth's car; the crime scene!

Gant is impressed. These two cases were connected: we get a new piece of testimony. The knife was evidence in this "SL-9 case" and stolen from the Police Department's Evidence Room. Well, that's where the detective was killed, right? Not the Evidence Room, but the Police Department itself. A suspect was arrested in the Police Department murder (let's call it Murder 2), but there's still a lot of questions that haven't been answered. We ask for a quid-pro-quo: we'll help out Gant in his case, answering some of his questions, and he'll help us out in ours, giving us information on his own. Accepting our offer, we get to ask Gant one thing and one thing only. We ask him where the victim was found. The... Evidence Room. The Evidence Room?! Wait, that's where the SL-9 Knife came from!

Quid-pro-quos, blank checks... why does this feel like a political thriller?

Phoenix argues that the two cases have a proven connection! In an understatedly cool section Gant points out that it took Edgeworth and Phoenix maybe 20 minutes tops to figure it out when it took the police two days. Edgeworth requests that Gant releases the victim's information: he can't, however, because the crime isn't public. We can get some information, though, under the table. We can't get the victim's name. That's his red line. Well, we can get the victim's ID number, right? The victim's ID number, Gant tells us, is 5842189.

...Wait.

That's Bruce Goodman's ID number! The victim in Murder 1 and Murder 2 were the same person?! What the Hell is going on?! Edgeworth is blows his lid again ('emotionally stable' does not apply to Edgeworth in this case, it seems), absolutely incensed about not being told about this! Gant tells him to wait. After all, the oversight in this case... it's not Gant's fault. It's Edgeworth's. Meekins dropped by to give him the report, after all. Edgeworth tries to argue that Gant could've submitted the report this morning as evidence, but Gant says "no". After all, that'd break evidence law! As the Chief of Police he can personally approve evidence, sure, but there's a second part to that law. Evidence submitted without prior approval must be relevant to the case at hand. And since this file wasn't on the list of evidence provided to the court before trial... there was no way it couldn't have been submitted. There wasn't a connection until Wright pointed out Goodman was killed in two places at once.

With Edgeworth's position on the line and questions raised, trial comes to a close for the day. Edgeworth is given an extra day to investigate (which means that we are, too!) and answer a whole host of questions. How was Goodman killed in two places at once? What was the SL-9 case and how does it relate to this case? What's Gant's angle? If it wasn't Goodman... then who died in the Prosecutor's Office Parking Lot?

With those questions still in the air... court is adjourned.

Investigation, Day Two

Enjoy this silly frame of Ema I paused on.

Ema asks a good question: "what's going on?" Well, Ema, I don't really know myself. Bruce Goodman apparently died in two places at once, even though the two crime scenes are thirty minutes away. We immediately go down to the crime scene to do a bit more digging: and Ema gives us a secret tool! Luminol! This is a magic little chemical that can detect blood stains. Donning Ema's bright pink glasses (that are... apparently red), we find a few stains on the ground where Goodman was stabbed. Isn't this kind of weird, though? Why isn't there more blood? Think of how much blood is on Goodman's shoe: it's more like he stepped in a puddle of the stuff. As Ema's talking about the stuff, we get interrupted by Angel Starr: she's surprisingly cordial with us, explaining that she lied because it "wouldn't sound convincing enough". In any case, Angel still saw what she saw: Lana stabbing a man. We talk with Angel a bit more, and we learn why she was fired: a case called the "SL-9 Incident".

Apparently, SL-9's evidence was due for transference on the day Goodman was killed. After talking about the knife and the crime photo Angel tell us about it: it was apparently this incident that convinced her prosecutors view detectives as disposable tools. Two years ago, something happened: it was a big case, and the police was desperate for evidence. Despite the criminal being caught, convicted, and executed, the police didn't have any truly decisive evidence. Angel has a suspicion that it was forged. Well... who else worked on a big case two years ago? There's Jake Marshall, who Angel is trying to lead us in the direction of (by giving us a Salisbury steak to give to him), but maybe we should also talk with Edgeworth about this.

Angel Starr: detective, lunchlady, webspinner.

Jake and Angel worked together on SL-9, and Ema asks if he and Angel have become an item. Angel denies this, but Ema seems worried: does she have some connection to Jake outside of Lana working on SL-9? If you talk to her a bit more we get to learn that these "boyfriends" of hers are allies: people who still trust her, respect her, and are helping her and Jake in their secret investigation of SL-9.

Now that we've talked to Angel, there's really only one place to go: the Police Department, both to see Jake and see if we can investigate the murder that happened here. The second murder of Bruce Goodman! Gumshoe is in front of the Police Department, wailing about his lack of lunch and running off. He tells us that "he" is having a good cry at the Detention Center now that he's out of questioning: perhaps our suspect in the Evidence Room murder. When we head up to the guard station, Jake Marshall isn't there: guess we're going to the Detention Center! Who's the suspect in the Evidence Room murder? Why, it's...

Poor guy.

Officer Mike Meekins? He's their suspect? Meekins tell us that he went to the Evidence Room: the guard station (Jake's!) was empty. There was a suspicious person in the Evidence Room, and Meekins blacked out; when he woke up, he was in the detention center. Meekins has a bandaged hand, just like Lana. What's up with that? One more similarity between the two murders. Meekins tells us that the detective in the Evidence Room pointed a knife at him before he went unconscious. When he came to, he was alone; Detective Goodman was gone after he cut his hand open! The victim's body apparently disappeared: Meekins insists that he's not the perpetrator, though. So who was...? He tells us that he didn't know Goodman: Meekins works in a small department, devoid of life and other creature comforts. He doesn't know any detectives at all!

Something really weird is going on, but what exactly is it? If it was Goodman in the Evidence Room, then would his ID card trigger Meekin's memory? Meekins says this is "it". When he approached Goodman, he asked for his ID card. Goodman then cut his hand open with a knife and the two started fighting! Well... there's something there. Ema points it out: Meekins didn't see the man's ID card. The body disappeared, as well! There's not just no proof that the man was Goodman. There's no proof that there was a murder in the Evidence Room at all! Apparently, the police are pretty sure that it was Goodman. After all, it's on video. There goes Ema's theory.

We go back to the Police Department, planning to walk into the Evidence Room to check it out. There's somebody already there, though...

So... what's up with his tie? Is it like a bowtie mixed with a necktie, or...

Gant is consulting with the Chief of Detectives, talking about looking through "his" belongings. Probably Meekins. We take the time to talk with Gant. Apparently, Edgeworth's subject to an official inquiry. His reputation's already down the drain... and his own mentor was not only found guilty of the murder of Gregory Edgeworth, but also forging evidence (presumably concealing the DL-6 bullet and destroying the DL-6 evidence). Depending on what the committee decides Edgeworth's career could be in jeopardy. Man.

We also talk with Gant about the murder in the evidence room. "Goodman was stabbed in two locations at the same time": that's what the evidence is saying, according to Gant. It turns out, according to the Chief of Detectives, they were checking out Goodman's belongings: the only thing he left was a half-written lost item report, written the day of murder. Apparently, it can only be submitted to the Chief himself.

Speaking of the Chief, we ask him if we can at least investigate the evidence room. He's a very generous man: hell, he'd give us $50 if we asked! He lets us into the evidence room, giving us a special ID card for guests. We try to go in, but the card reader is turned off. It ain't workin'! Jake comes back to his post. He lets us into the crime scene now that we have a card. Well, now that he's here... we might as well give him his lunch.

We talk with Jake a bit more after he's done eating. We talk about Meekins's not seeing him: Jake says that he's lost his passion for police work after his demotion in the aftermath of SL-9. He doesn't see much need to be a guard; the security cameras do a good enough job for him. Ema asks him about SL-9, but Jake tells her that some things are better off not knowing. Hm. It almost sounds like he's being protective.

Jake doesn't really know what the machines in this room actually do, but he knows about the security cameras. Every six hours, if nothing happens on them, the data is wiped. You need an ID card to enter the evidence room, as well, and that leaves a record. As luck has it, he's got us a list. "5842189", i.e. Detective Goodman, entered the room at 5:14...

...alongside "4989596", presumably Meekins.

Jake says he can't tell us anything else. We show him Goodman's card, though, and Jake tells us that there's only one copy of each ID card in the world! He agrees to give us the ID Card Record as evidence. We go into the Evidence Room and run into a ghost! Nope, it's just Gumshoe. Turns out that he's been put in charge of the investigation for the day! He gives us the floor plans to the evidence room and tells us that they're gonna use the evidence from yesterday to prepare for Meekins's trial: turns out that Gumshoe's just been kicked out of the investigation. He also tells us that only detectives can open their own lockers and that each one is locked behind a detective's own fingerprint. Neat! Some people don't even know they exist, apparently.

Well, since Gumshoe's here, we might as well talk about his boss. Edgeworth is still with the inquiry committee, and Gumshoe tells us that SL-9 was "the beginning of the end" for him. Hmm. Taking a look around, we see the metal detector and fishing pole from 1-4! Neat! We also see a bug detector; remember this one! We also see a bloody handprint on one of the lockers. Wait, that was Gumshoe's locker! Huh... there might be more bloodstains around the room! Before we look around more, though, there's another evidence locker that's been opened. Some ceramic shards are on the floor: they're SL-9 evidence, apparently. Putting the shards back together, it turns out to be a broken jar; but one of the pieces is missing. Weird. There's also another piece of SL-9 evidence hanging on police tape: a glove.

Well! Time to see if there's any more blood. We look around and find a handprint: or a partial one, anyways. It's from the first locker—the one with a piece of cloth hanging out of it. It can't be the murderer's handprint, since they wouldn't be facing this way if they were running out the room. So... what's going on?

Curiouser and curiouser...

Going over to the other side, there's a lot of blood on the floor at the crime scene. Somebody was definitely killed here. The handprint we find on Gumshoe's locker is also somebody's right hand, not their left. Speaking of the Evidence Room murder, we show Gumshoe the ID list. The second number freaks him out: it's Edgeworth's?! Edgeworth came into the evidence room at 4:40 PM and the victim died within an hour and a half of 4 PM... how strange.

In any case, we present some of the SL-9 evidence to Gumshoe and he agrees to tell us about it. Edgeworth was the prosecutor on his face. That was his "big case"! Gumshoe thinks there might be some loose ends. SL-9 was an incredibly bloody case: a serial killing. Edgeworth built his case around a mistake the killer made. This case both shot Edgeworth into stardom and started the rumors around him. It was the last job Goodman ever did. He was in charge of SL-9... so does this mean he took the knife out himself? Gumshoe runs off. Edgeworth's inquiry committee is letting out soon. Maybe we should also go see him.

When we get there, the bellboy from 1-2 appears out of nowhere. Guess he works here now. Edgeworth is in: he's staring out the window, very very peeved, and says our name without seeing us. Either he's good at recognizing voices or he did that five times and got everybody's name wrong. He got Gumshoe's memo but apparently neglected to flip it over. He's not alright, is he?

Edgeworth's inquiry committee went... not bad. He didn't conceal evidence, they said, there was just a communication error. An official warning was given: "you got lucky... again." Man. Edgeworth is still showing up for trial tomorrow, but control over the investigation was given over to the police department. Any more investigation will be directed by Gant himself. Speaking of the Chief, Edgeworth was told by him to go into the evidence room the day of the murder to transfer evidence from a case solved half a year ago. (A blue screwdriver... half a year ago... I wonder if that screwdriver is from 1-2?) Wonder what that's about: if the evidence was already filed, then why would Gant want it? Weird.

If you spray around Edgeworth's room with luminol, you can find some blood on the floor. Looks like somebody had a bloody nose. Anyways, we talk about SL-9 a bit more with him: Goodman was in charge, but the overall head of the investigation was the Deputy Chief of Police, Damon Gant.

I call ageism, Phoenix!

Phoenix asks a good question: why was the Deputy Chief of Police on an investigation? Edgeworth admits that the methods he used were extreme: he believed that if the murderer was let go, the blood would be on his hands. He denies forging evidence, though. Edgeworth says that he has a code that he follows faithfully: does this mean he didn't forge the autopsy report in 1-2? Anyways, as we're about to leave, Edgeworth asks Ema if she's still studying forensic science. He gives her some aluminum powder for fingerprints! Woot woot! Thanks, Edgeworth. (between you and me, fingerprinting in real life is a lot of fun: take a forensics class!)

We go back to the locker room to look at those handprints. Maybe there's some fingerprints we could lift there? We go, but the fingerprint we lift from Gumshoe's locker is completely blacked out. Whoever left this handprint was wearing gloves! Drat. Looks like there's another fingerprint on the locker besides the bloody hand, though. To nobody's surprise... it's Gumshoe's. Welp, how about we check out that other fingerprint? It's probably just Meekins's, remember he cut his hand open-

Jake Marshall?!

Now why would Marshall's bloody fingerprints be here? Did he commit this murder? That's a question we'll have to answer tomorrow: investigation comes to an end on a very juicy cliffhanger!

Trial, Day Three

So. The victim was murdered in two places at the same time and two people were arrested for the same crime. Lana in the parking lot and Meekins in the evidence room... she tells us that the police are absolutely clueless. Lana tells us that she's struck a plea bargain: if she tells them the truth, they won't seek the death penalty. Fortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. We tell Lana about Jake's fingerprints in the evidence room. The signs are pointing to Mr. Marshall being Bruce Goodman's murderer...

Edgeworth starts off pretty strong. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Prosecutor's Office to the Police Department by car and vice versa, yet Goodman was killed at the same time in both places? Impossible. Edgeworth's case for today is going to be around the Evidence Room murder. Edgeworth calls his first witness: the suspect of the Evidence Room murder, Mike Meekins!

Meekins testifies that he was supposed to guard the evidence room that day. He spotted a suspicious man and the two of them fought, with Meekins saying that he "did it". After that, he fainted. A very vague testimony, huh? Pressing Meekins, his job was not just protecting the security office but also protecting the Blue Badger during the transferal process. He had to relocate it to the evidence room. We keep pressing him, and the court comes to a conclusion: it's pretty hard to say if the victim in the Evidence Room was Goodman at all. At least, it would be if Meekins didn't have a video tape!

Apparently, Meekins was given it by the Chief himself. Edgeworth says that he was told that no such tape existed! We take a look at the tape...

Five Nights at Court

Well... someone's in the way. We do see Goodman walking past and opening his locker, with something falling out. Meekins is sneaking up behind him, and we see Goodman cut his hand open and the two of them get in a fight: from the video, though, it looks more like Goodman killed Meekins and then disappeared! What the Hell happened? Edgeworth wants to ignore the footage. It clearly doesn't show much.

Meekins testifies again, saying that there's no question in his mind that it was Goodman. After all, he opened up Goodman's locker, which requires his fingerprints. This is a strong point: each locker can only be opened by the detective it is assigned to. But what if the locker was already opened? The indicator light is open above Detective Goodman's locker! The locker was already open!

The lock wasn't engaged on the locker. This is weird: Edgeworth tells us that the lock is automatically engaged once the door shuts. Ema has a neat idea, though. What if something jammed the sensor? This something would have to be an insulator, since the sensor is electronic. Well... the glove we found earlier is made of rubber, and if you look at the tape you can clearly see something fall out of Goodman's locker!

There's only one conclusion. The person in the tape opened Goodman's locker without any fingerprints. We never see his face. He attacked Meekins when he was asked for his ID card: this man wasn't Detective Goodman! Edgeworth objects. The only thing we have raised the possibility that this man wasn't Bruce Goodman. Edgeworth asks Meekins to testify once more.

Well, here's the thing, Meekins says. Bruce Goodman had to use his ID card to get in. There's only one ID card given to each member of the force, and we know for a fact we know he used his card because of the record. His Honor has a good question: hundreds of pieces of evidence were due for transferal on the 21st. So why was this room so empty? Edgeworth clarifies that this room was used to store evidence from "special cases": extremely violent ones involving members of law enforcement. I guess that means SL-9 falls under that umbrella: which makes sense, given that Gant himself was involved in leading the investigation.

Well, there's already a pretty significant issue. Goodman issued a lost item report, remember? On said item report, he couldn't remember his ID number. What if Goodman lost his ID card and was writing out his report, misremembering his own number? This raises a very key possibility: somebody else stole Goodman's ID card and walked into the evidence room masquerading as him. That would explain the clothes as well!

Somebody's confident...

Edgeworth summarizes are argument. On 5:15, a man disguised as Bruce Goodman was approached by Mike Meekins. This is because the locker in the evidence room was open and Bruce Goodman lost his ID card. There's only one conclusion to be drawn: there was no murder in the evidence room. Make sense so far?

...Wait.

That means the murder that Angel Starr saw in the parking lot was the real one! Lana stabbed Bruce Goodman! We've just argued for our own client's guilt! "Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake," and all that. Oh, but only if it were that simple! Remember when we were checking out the Evidence Room and found that pool of blood? A murder did happen at the Evidence Room: the video tape just didn't show it. Edgeworth is out of options. He considered the Evidence Room murder unrelated. We finally have the upper hand! We know exactly who this "Goodman" was, and we call him to the stand! No rhyme intended.

Edgeworth agrees to our request. We keep the true reason for calling him secret, though. The court agrees for a 30 minute recess for Jake to be subpoena'd.

Here's hoping he can answer some of our questions.

During the recess, Lana says that we've figured "everything" out: even though we haven't really figured out anything. Ema asks Lana why she's not telling us everything. Lana says nothing, though. Gumshoe bursts in and leaves in embarrassment before we call him back. Apparently, he was called here by Lana using our name. He's brought files on the SL-9 Incident of all things! Apparently Lana was a witness in SL-9. There's one more thing, though. Why is Ema's name in here? The rest of the world called SL-9 the "Joe Darke Killings": a distraught Ema storms out of the room. Jake Marshall, Angel Starr, Damon Gant, Miles Edgeworth, Lana Skye, Ema Skye... everybody in this case was involved in SL-9.

Trial reconvenes. It's just us and Edgeworth: we're all alone here. We take the time to go over the SL-9 files.

The perpetrator's name, rather fittingly, was Joe Darke. He was sentenced to death for the serial murders of 6 people; Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, Jeb Bates, and Neil... Marshall. The lead prosecutor was Miles Edgeworth and the witnesses were Lana and Ema Skye. The executive investigators on the case were Damon Gant and Lana Skye; the head investigator was Bruce Goodman; and the secondary investigators were Jake Marshall and Angel Starr. That's all the file tells us.

Anyways, Marshall comes to the stand. He's here to testify about the security room; he says that he was across the street when the "murder" in the Evidence Room happened. We know that's impossible, though. After all, his bloody fingerprints were found inside! Marshall argues that the murderer just touched a place where his fingerprints were: the murderer was wearing gloves, after all.

Pressing his new testimony, Marshall eventually strengthens his argument. We can't see who the person in the tape is. We're openly claiming that it was him now, though, and we have proof inside of the tape itself. There's a white cloth in the leftmost locker that suddenly appears: and he said earlier that was his locker. The locker wasn't already opened, and it only opens with his fingerprints! Marshall didn't know about the fingerprint sensor. That was his mistake! He was in the evidence room during the crime. He was "Bruce Goodman"!

Our first breakdown of the case!

Meekins saw his face, yes, but Meekins did not know who Bruce Goodman was! That's why Marshall attacked him: if he showed Meekins his ID card, then he'd be caught instantly! Marshall stills calls our evidence circumstantial. There's no proof that he dressed up as Bruce Goodman. Ah, but we graduated from the school of Mia Fey with a degree in Thinking Crazy! We don't need proof that he was disguised. We need proof that only exists because he was disguised!

The answer is rather simple. He didn't plan to open his locker; he had to. Why? Because Meekins's blood got on his disguise! That's what the 'cloth' is: it's his jacket! Marshall gives up; we've beaten him.

Marshall confesses everything in one last testimony. He had to do it on that day because of the evidence transferal: he was, and is, still trying to solve SL-9 with Angel. He stole Goodman's ID and a spare set of his clothes, knocking out Meekins and escaping the room by hiding in the camera's blind spots. There wasn't a murder in the evidence room at 5:15. Jake went into the evidence room to steal the SL-9 evidence and investigate it on his own terms; but the evidence was already gone when he looked for it and is still missing. After pressing his testimony more, he says he can't forget about SL-9 for a rather simple reason: the death of Neil Marshall.

It's all starting to fall into place...

...and the killer comes to light.

Neil Marshall was a prosecutor. He was assigned to SL-9 before his death, at which case it transferred into Edgeworth's hands. Neil was ostensibly killed by Darke, but Jake doesn't believe it: nobody could beat Neil in a fight. It was the first time Darke left behind evidence: it was all the court needed, apparently, and the court found him guilty based on Neil Marshall's murder.

His entire personal war against the system was to avenge his brother: he blames not just the police department but also Edgeworth. The Evidence Room murder is solved; there was no murder there, just theft and assault. This, of course, means that Lana had to have murdered Goodman in the parking lot. There's no way that this is a coincidence, though! Lana is in an incredibly tight spot: the only reason she wasn't convicted yesterday was the "murder" at the Police Department. Is it finally over...?

No! It can't be. Ema runs into the courtroom right before His Honor is about to give his verdict: she ran to the Evidence Room to look at the crime scene, but unfortunately didn't find anything. Ema's putting our full faith in us: there has to be one last contradiction here somewhere! Only one question remains. Is there any reasonable doubt? A bloody handprint was discovered at the crime scene. Is there a problem with this?

Well... there's one. Something is missing from the floor plan. The biggest part of the security footage, hiding in plain sight. Where's the Blue Badger? If the Blue Badger was there during Jake's break-in... then how could he leave a handprint there?! After all, it was right in front of the locker! He would've left a bloody handprint on the Blue Badger!

But what does this mean? The only reasonable conclusion is that the blood mark had to have been left before Jake's attack. After all, after that, the Blue Badger was there all day. That means...

...That... means...

Boom.

Goodman wasn't stabbed at 5:15! He was stabbed earlier: remember that giant pool of blood we found? A murder did happen. It happened before Jake, or even Meekins with the Blue Badger, came in! We get an awesome back and forth between Phoenix and Edgeworth here: objection-objection-objection. There's one undeniable fact. Goodman's murder had to have happened before 5:15. After all, it happened in the Evidence Room, and the ID card record proves that nobody came in after Meekins was assaulted!

Edgeworth is suspected for a second by His Honor and Jake, but he quickly shoots down that hypothesis. The killer has to have been whoever owns the "777777" number: but we don't know who it belongs to. It belongs to somebody with a clearance level Captain or higher. The only way to know for sure is if we launch an official investigation against this "executive officer". That means... well, I think we might know who our murderer is. Goodman walked in with 7777777!

Marshall asks Lana a question. He's not about to ask about her ID number. He's asking her about SL-9: in the trial, did she use legitimate evidence?! Edgeworth asks her himself, given that he was in charge of the investigation. Lana skirts around the question, but eventually gets to the point. In the SL-9 trial, two years ago... she fabricated evidence to get Joe Darke convicted.

A nightmare come true...

Edgeworth is distraught. The courtroom is in chaos. The courtroom simply will not calm down. Trial is forced to be adjourned with so many questions still in the air! What will happen to Edgeworth now? How and why exactly did Lana forge evidence? Who owns 7777777: and why did they kill Bruce Goodman?

This day comes to an incredibly bittersweet close. We now have a lead on who the true killer is, but at the cost of jeopardizing Edgeworth and Lana's careers...

Investigation, Day Three

Ema tells us what she had to do with the SL-9 Incident. On the night that Neil was murdered, Darke tried to kill Ema. Neil saved Ema's life, but Darke killed him: a terrible storm came through that night, and Ema saw Darke raise his knife Neil when the lightning lit up the room. This must be why Lana forged the evidence: Ema being attacked sent her over the edge. The question remains. Did Edgeworth know that the evidence was faulty? The answer is probably—hopefully—not. After SL-9, Lana became cold and distant: it affected her that much.

Ema fell unconscious after seeing Darke attack Neil: when she woke up Lana was holding her in he arms. Darke had been taken in for questioning when Ema was attacked: he tried to run away during the interview, running into Lana's office after getting into the elevator. After all, the elevator was right in front of the detective's office. Before Lana was a chief prosecutor, she was a detective! We go to visit her at the Detention Center.

Part Two can be found here.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Neil Gaiman's intentionality and possible literary connections with the sign, "DON'T PAY THE GUY IN THE BLUE GLASSES HE DOESN'T WORK HERE" (East Lynne?)

Most people think the sign on Mrs. Sandwich's door is a reference to Crowley, and maybe it is, although he doesn't have BLUE glasses (yet).

So I woke up thinking about the theory that Mrs Sandwich is actually God, plus all the signs at the bottom of her stairs. The God theory could account for most of them, except for (possibly) the one about blue glasses. Neil has said the inspiration for that sign came from historic signs around Soho, but that doesn't mean there's not another layer of meaning. (If there's one thing he's taught me with season two of Good Omens, it's definitely to dig deeper!)

Good Omens is full of references (direct and indirect) to other stories, so I searched around online and found two interesting books:

The first is Boy in the Big Blue Glasses, by Susanne Gervay and illustrated by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall. It's a contemporary children's book about a kid, Sam, who gets blue glasses and feels like no one recognizes him anymore, except for his best friend. He goes on adventures to rediscover himself, his sense of humor, and his confidence - all while overcoming his fear of not being accepted and working to embody his true self (who he sees as a super hero, among other things).

Ok, there are parallels there with both Aziraphale and Crowley and the quest to be seen, understood, and accepted for who they truly are, but it doesn't feel like a strong connection.

More digging brings me to a Victorian novel called East Lynne, by Ellen Wood. Already, I feel more hopeful - this fits more neatly with other GO book references, like Pride and Prejudice.

In East Lynne, the main character is Isabel, and she is seen as being very emotional/passionate, very emotionally perceptive, and having extremely expressive, distinctive, and beautiful eyes.

She marries Carlyle, who is very kind but not nearly so able to read body language or understand emotions, and is able to "circumvent his emotions" and "separate business from feeling".

Because of his poor emotional perception, Carlyle contributes to a breakup with Isabel. Also contributing? Someone named Levison, who wants to use Isabel and tricks her into thinking the worst of her husband and running away with Levison instead.

Eventually, after a good bit of trauma, Isabel dons a disguise which includes blue glasses (which are seen as the primary part of her disguise, as her eyes are so distinctive) and returns home as a governess to take care of her children.

So … That sounds familiar, hmmm? We've already seen Crowley as a governess, and he DOES have beautiful, distinctive eyes and is more emotional and impulsive than Aziraphale. And we could argue that Aziraphale's willingness to "separate business from feeling" was a strong driving force in their separation at the end of s2. Factor in The Metatron as a possible Levison, complete with lies and manipulations to break them up so he can use Isabel/Aziraphale, and I think there's definitely a connection.

Here's a really long but interesting analysis:

If East Lynne is the right Clue, perhaps this foreshadows Crowley wearing another disguise (complete with blue glasses?) and back in heaven in season 3. East Lynne doesn't end the way we hope Good Omens will, although Isabel does finally tell Carlyle everything, and he forgives her. We can hope Aziraphale and Crowley will likewise find the value of better honesty and transparency with one another!

(Disclaimer: I added East Lynne to my reading list, but I *just* had this idea and wanted to share, so the plot and character summaries are only from reading descriptions and analysis online, not from directly reading the book. Yet.)

I'm adding this Clue to my collection of Clues / meta of metas!

[jtl-fics]

"...but even matt had told him his better bet was probably just to yell "WOW WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE?!"

DNJDJSJ that was so funny i love nickys pov (I WOULD DIE FOR MORE NICKY POVS) bc he knows sm about ff and adds on so many hilarious details about the poor guy that he doesn't have in his own narrative and just nicky describing ff will never not be funny to me. also hearing nicky calling ff smithy always puts a smile on my face omg its so cute

nicky going on a rollarcoaster of emotions when andreil are describing what happened is a mood but he handled it well tho?? i cant wait til nicky finds out ff has made the discovery that andrew wants to actually be his friend instead of wanting to kill him

and andrew hitting nicky at the end with the whats ff's first name is so FUNNY LMAO POOR NICKY guy just wants to get over his raging hangover in peace hdjdkshsk

ALSO SO HYPED FOR GRANDMA SMITH OMG AND UR TAGS AHHCKVDVDBJDJDKS

Thank you! I giggled writing Nicky trying to process the idea of FF being able to competently fight someone because NICKY KNOWS. He is the one person that is IN ON EVERYTHING (Except the speakeasy). Like he is fully so bewildered by it that he misses most of Neil's descriptions and is just flashing back to FF trying to watch self-defense videos and going to Nicky "But what if I hurt Andrew? I don't want to hurt him, I just don't want him to stab me :("

Also I mentioned it at some point before but Matt has a slightly more informed view on FF but that's probably going to change when Andrew and Neil come back and are like "FF took out one FBI's most wanted on his own and was instrumental in the takedown of a second FBI most wanted." It's just Matt coming up after to FF and gingerly patting him on the back like "Hey man, I'm sorry I didn't believe in you." and FF looking up and going "It's fine, I just needed to remember what I already knew in my heart (Gracie Hart)."

Grandma Smith is on her way and having a delightful conversation with that nice Polish boy sat next to her. What a treat! Oh how lovely he's promised to help her with her bag.

[i-promise-i-am-not-on-drugs]

Allllllll right, 08×02 rewatch rambling, let's go!!

This episode is going to make me emotional, I know that all ready.

1) Hopper and the scientists (+the demodogs ig)

Hopper: You sure 'bout that glass?

Bro was so real for that--

2) Mike and Bob

My boy's so smart :3

3) Demogorgons (+dead scientists ig)

Yay, death! :D (/j)

4) Mike, Will, Joyce, and Bob

I already said that and I'll say it again: Mike's so smart, I love my son.

And here is the famous "Ur Mom!" scene lol-- (sorry)

Alright, more seriously, seeing Will like must have been mildly traumatizing for Mike and Joyce don't you think? :(

Also, that one shoot of Mike slapping his hands on his ears to not ear Will... Poor boy must have felt so guilty, even if he knew it was the best thing to do. :((

5) the camera room (or something)

Holy cow.

Alright, I'm going to talk about my boy!! :D

Because there's never enough opportunities to talk about Mike's traumas <33

Imagine being Mike Wheeler, a 12 year old boy who's best friend is being possessed by some supernatural monster that is trying to murder everyone and everything around it. And now, you're locked in a room with lots of adults that you know very little to nothing about (except Joyce), and you're seeing in live people being killed and devoured by some other supernatural creatures that are also trying to murder and eat everything and everyone around them. AND, on top of that, all lights just went off for no apparent reasons. Also, you're feeling extremely guilty of all this because you think you could've prevent all of it from happened, if only you asked your best friend to have a sleepover with you a year before that. And how easy would've that been? It's not like you couldn't have done it, you just "weren't in the mood" that night, so of course it's your fault Michael!!--

Anyway. You got me. :)

6) the Mayfield house

Ew, Neil.

I still dislike Billy, but even this guy doesn't deserve to be treated like that. :(

(He was looking pretty good too! I like his eyes.)

7) Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Steve

I love Dustin and Lucas's fight honestly, it really shows how important the rules and honestly are for the party. (Also shows how different their's and byler's fight was--)

Also,

Max: No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound??

No because she's so real for that honestly, they were pretty dumb here ToT

8) the Lab

The way Mike's nerdy brain most likely know some BASIC and Hopper doesn't even know what it is lol--

Also, I'm like 80% sure that Dr.Owens know BASIC (at least enough to do what they were talking about) and just didn't want to go on a suicide mission. ._.

Anyway, I already feel sad for Bob help me :((

9) Stoncy, Lumax, and Dustin

Jonathan and Nancy were flabbergasted to see Steve here lol--

Also, Max must be so confused like "...Who are these people again?"

9) Bob

Poor man would've been traumatized as hell if he was still alive. :(

10) Stoncy and the kids

Why are you so agressive Dustin? Poor Jonathan was doing the same thing as you did! ToT

11) Bob (+others)

He's so smart he's so smart I'm so sad AAAAAHHHH!! :(((

NOOOOO, don't forget the guuunnn!!! ༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽

(Also, Dustin's "I did it! :D" was so cute lol)

12) Hopper, Mike, Will, and Joyce

They way they were so fucking lucky to get out without seeing any Demogorgons ToT

13) Bob and Owens

JSJISIZKKSMMCXLZRQZRWDTXLFJVUVGUCGDJWSURWWURXFIUGCPUVUPGFCYSWEAQRZSIFYPVUIBPIPHIYCXDTUSRWZUOCYBIPPNNINUHLCFTWZZAAYEXTCGUVVUPUOGXTESRZXETEOCUBBPGCRTWZWRZVUP!!!!!! This scene is so nerve wracking it's killing me!! And I already know how it ends!!!! ToT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGJHHLJDTLUTDDRULLXUULHFLUTDOYRSOGYOGOYGIYLUXTIDYFDIYDYI I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THIS STUPID HANDLE IS THE ONLY REASON WHY BOB DIED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽༼⁠;⁠´⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠༎ຶ⁠༽

(and also because he's a slow runner, but let's not ruin the mood.)

14) Joyce, Hopper, Mike, Will, and Jancy

(⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠)

The way Mike runs to hug Joyce and push her to the car (⁠╥O╥⁠)

15) Everyone

BE FAST Y'ALL

16) "Bob"

I did NOT need to see that by the way. The 3D model thing is making me a bit uncomfortable.

17) Everyone

Hopper: I AM THE POLICE--

Lmao.

Joyce :(((

Mike trying to lift the other's mood while still being in shock of seeing so many people (INCLUDING BOB) dying in front of him :((((

The kids are so intelligent I love them <33

MIIIIKKKKKKEEEEEE BABY YOU'RE SO SMAAAARRRRTTTTTTT!!!

And you're also going to HATE your own idea in approximately 15mins. Yahoo.

Stancy... Yeah no. Break up already please.

Lucas and Dustin's talk ToT

Honestly I feel like Mike's trying to push Max away because he's scared that if he lets her actually be in the party, it would mean that he takes responsibility on her (because he's the paladin yk), and he doesn't want that because he feels like he's already failing everyone on that part. He doesn't want to feel responsible for someone else's life turning even more shitty.

Also, he's probably trying to not "remplace" El. (Survivor's guilt, yk?)

Jonathan and Joyce... I guess they're never escaping this realistic VS optimistic thing. :(

(I'm going to call this patched up place "interrogation room'' because yes.)

18) Byers house (Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Lucas, and Max)

Max: Yeah but.. But if he finds us?

Lucas:... Judgement day.

I mean, you can say it like that.

19) Interrogation room (Will, Joyce, Jonathan, Hopper, and Mike)

Mike bitting his nails off and hiding his hands under his armpits to try to comfort himself.. :((

Also, the light are flittering!! Will's powers??

MIKE'S EEEYYYYESSSS AAAAAAHHHH (⁠༎ຶ⁠ ⁠෴⁠ ⁠༎ຶ⁠)

Joyce's monologue is just making me so happy... Imagine a little 8 years old Will, drawing his huge rainbow ship with this new(!!) 120(!!!) crayon set. He must have been so happy. :')

Jonathan's monologue toooo... My babies. :(

I really want to see them make castle byers honestly.

(alright, time for the big deal™)

THE WAY MIKE WAS ALREADY CRYING WHEN WE SEE HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HOW WILL'S EYES START WATERING TOO I CAN'T APKXKDJSIDOZJJZODKFJBFKZOZIJ TOT

Also, can we talk about how Joyce and Jonathan had shoots of other people's faces during their monologue, and Mike absolutely didn't? It's just him and Will. MikeandWill, WillandMike, always.

Also, the way Hopper was just standing there like "🧍" LMAO--

He say the morse code though!! Good job Hopper!!! (IT'S THE HAND THAT MIKE WAS HOLDING AAAJKDKSPODJLDKEKZODJNDKQOSJDBJSODKFJJSODKDJZJKAK)

20) Everyone (-Will)

Steve: What's that?

All the kids: Morse code.

Lmao--

21) Interrogation room

(vibbing with "should I stay or should I go")

All of those little monologues are so sweet ToT💕

I especially love the truck one, Will is literally the kindest, sweet, most adorable little boy in the world, and I love him so much.

22) Byers house

Holy hell, phone murder.

23) interrogation room

Yep, they're cooked! Baked as bread!! Fried as chicken!!! :'D

24) Everyone

(MIKE HOLDING A CANDLE HOLDER LIKE A SWORD LMAO---)

Max: Is it dead?

Well I mean, I hope so--

ELEVEN BABY YOU'RE BAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!! I love you my girl.

Bro the long mileven eyes contact is making me almost uncomfortable, the both look high help ToT

Annnd, here comes the end of this episode!!! I'll probably do the last one tomorrow.

It was nice to write everything down like this, tho I don't think I'll be doing it while rewatching ST3 and ST4 because it's very time consuming. (This episode is 48 minutes long and I've been here for literally two hours help me out ppl)

I really like this episode, but I do think that if the last one was very plain, then this one was extremely crowded. Still loved it tho!! :)

Alright, thank you for reading my rant lol, have a nice day/night/whatever!

[the-prsc]

Day 3: 

Previously in PRSC... 

The boys in Genesis, Rush and King Crimson continue to progress and gain a tiny bit more comfort in their… difficult conditions.  

Tensions within the Yes and ELP camps reach an all-time high. Steve Howe does a runner and reaches ‘The Court of The Crimson King’ by midnight. (Keyboard wizard) Rick Wakeman and (Fish) Chris Squire plan their well-needed escapes... 

Death count: 0 

In The Court of The Crimson King...  Steve reached the camp late last night and has since been welcomed by all members of it (except Broof, who tries to ignore him following his awkward exit from Yes). He is put to work with John and David in doing various dull, laborious tasks overseen by Fripps right-hand-percussion-men, Bill and Jamie Muir who are ‘keeping them in check’. Although Steve feels tired, he also finds the structure, safety and sense of community that he felt was lacking with Yes. We cannot say the same for John and David.

Meanwhile in ‘Epping Forest’...

This is the supper of the mighty one! Genesis eat well tonight as (during a particularly long prance around the woods) Peter found nice, ripe fruit on the forest floor (little does the band know that Jon dropped it earlier that day, made clumsy by his consumption of the mushrooms). Tony is spending hours a day perfecting each detail of the entrancing face of his Etch-a-Sketch recreation of the Mona Lisa.  Phil, Steve and Mike have managed to make primitive fishing rods out of the spare guitar strings that Steve forgot he brought (also forgetting to bring his guitar). Good one guys!

Rushing over to another camp…

Their fishing may be less effective (standing in the river and lashing out at any passing fish. In the event that one is caught, the band all stress out as to how to kill the thing) but, the three companionable Canadians of Rush continue their hygienic progress. The band have exhausted their camping supply of bottled drinking water and sadly, in the wilderness the band cannot dine on honeydew or drink the milk of paradise. Luckily Neil remembered a 7th grade science lesson he had where he was taught that boiling water kills all dangerous microorganisms and disinfects it. He removes the camping stove and small pot from his bag, fills the pot with water from the cleanest part of the river he could find and begins to boil…

Close to the Edge, Down By the River…

Near the ‘pretty view’ of the river Jon selected, Yes are crumbling to some extent. Steve asked Jon if he could go over to The Court yesterday and Jon reluctantly agreed and let him go. Steve didn’t mean it personally but I think Jon took it that way (poor guy). Meanwhile, Rick is getting fed up with waiting around for Jon and Alan to get vegetarian food when he could eat as much meat as he likes (though in reality, he is far too lazy to do so). Chris isn’t a fan of Jon’s leadership style. Its a sort of strange hotchpotch between Hippy and autocratic that he doesn’t like. All the while, it doesn’t help that Jon has found some magic mushrooms and spends quite a lot of his time in ‘dreamland’. He and Rick have planned to leave the camp to find ELP next time Jon and Chris go out gathering together.

In the ELP camp... 

The last few hours have been somewhat monotonous at the ELP camp. The band’s relationship is fractured (particularly Keith and Greg’s). Morale is dipping sub-zero, and Carl still hasn’t figured out the drum part for Karn-Evil 9 so instead of making useful progress to prolong their lives, the half-starved threesome chose to discuss new project ideas for ‘when all this forest crap is out of the way’. One could call this a useful conversation to keep up hope and distract them. They could also call it valuable time and energy wasted that will eventually lead to their doom. Either way, in their hungry, delirious state discussion is getting heated quickly. Carl leaves early to actually try and help them survive, and is also hurt by the two of them calling him a ‘shit Buddy Rich knockoff’. 

The issue on the table currently is Greg’s suggestion, ‘Love Beach 2 (Electric Boogaloo)’. This thought seems to be sending Keith into something of a violent frenzy. 

I will spare the details of the real-time commentary for the next few minutes. This passage is written in retrospect: Keith and Greg got into a physical confrontation which included a lot of punches from Keith and in the process, Greg hit his head on a large protruding rock in the wood’s undergrowth and by the time Carl returned from his mission of trying to keep them alive, and managed to pry Keith away from his friend, it was too late. 

The two of them aren’t talking as they submerge the body into the dark, cold river water. What he has done is beginning to dawn on Keith and he has been battling with his tears since they left to the water. All Carl can think about is that his friend and bandmate is a ‘fucking murderer’. He must negotiate a way away from this knife-wielding maniac. Luckily, upon return to the camp, he recognises two new, trustworthy silhouettes, CHRIS AND RICK!!! He is currently having a private discussion with the two of them featuring sentences like, ‘Guys please get me out of here. He’s a crazy madman with a knife. I’m gonna die’. Chris sensibly responds in a hushed voice, ‘We could always give those Canadian kids a go?’. And that is the plan for the three of them... 

That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for... 

The Prog Rock Survival Competition!

[saemi-the-writer]

Would you ever write 1) Kristoph in a ship other than krisnix or kriswrightworth (and if so, what ship) 2) a Disney crossover ship (and what ship) 3) sex pollen (and if so what pairing/fandom)?

Not sure, but more yes than no!

Honestly? It's hard to tell because I am so invested in Krisnix that I have a hard time imagining them with other characters, and my mind has Kristoph clinging to Phoenix that it doesn't help me at all XD And while I'd love to find some art or read some fics of other pairings (not KrisDahlia, it's too easy and obvious and many I've read aren't written in a way that satisfy me) I cannot say if I would write one myself!

Kristoph is especially tricky for, I think I'd need to play AA5-6 and maybe I'd have more options for him and be inspired! The only character I've really shipped him with, Phoenix asides, was Neil Marshall AND IT IS SO RANDOM LMAO!! I think it's because I had found some very cute and touching art of them on DeviantArt once (years ago) and it just sticked in me. I still kinda see Neil as one of Kristoph's first crush (maybe true gay awakening?) or rival/crush since Neil was a prosecutor but we all know what happened to the poor Cow-Boy then... =( It has a lot of potential for tragedy: either star-crossed lovers, one-sided pining... So I might write a one-shot for them or mention it in one of my Krisnix stories!

2. Very likely!

I have a guilty pleasure ship that is Anna/Pitch (Frozen and Rise of the Guardians) and I'd love to try my hand at it!! I just need to find the time and THE IDEA that would push me!

Also, I have (yet another) project that was inspired by "Ever After High" that I've started working on and brainstorming, so since many characters of Disney will have a role in it, there are many possibilities! Nothing is set in stones yet though, except the main pairing, but here are some options that I like and that would work in the story:

Quasimodo/Cinderella

Wendy/Alice

Charlotte LaBouffe/Elsa

3. Unlikely

I am not a huge fan of the sex pollen trope, so that itself is a big reason why I am not planning on doing so any time soon. I might as a challenge/gift/request, or for some specific fandoms like Hazbin Hotel or Miraculous Ladybug (only for adult characters or aged-up protags though!) because the context offers a logical possibility and there are some pairings I could see falling into it and still have fun writing it.

[casualtydept]

experiencing a particular sense of derangement today so how about an annotated walkthrough of my zeroskull playlist

there's a sort of progression to this that i intended to span their relationship as i portray it so keep that in mind. i hope you like 80s music.

this charming man - the smiths

this man said "it's gruesome, that someone so handsome should care"

my very first zeroskull fic has zero call him handsome and i shamelessly stole the idea from here. oh the romanticism of somehow finding yourself involved with an older english man who knows so much about these things...

2. unloveable - the smiths

i don't have much in my life, but take it - it's yours

sorry for all the morrissey it's not my fault he's also depressed and sexually complicated. i haven't written late 50s skull face in a while and this makes me miss him. oh you poor messed up thing.

3. love my way - the psychedelic furs

a kiss in not enough in love my way, it's a new road i follow where my mind goes

would you look at that another song about being gay. a comfy dreamy sort of feeling of falling for that older man that encourages him just to give in to all these terribly complicated feelings

4. later tonight - pet shop boys

and you wait 'til later, 'til later tonight 'cause tonight always comes

"the most gay song we've ever written" says neil tennant. i'll leave it at that

5. jack the ripper - morrissey

your face is as mean as your life has been crash into my arms, i want you you don't agree, but you don't refuse i know you

oh fuck he's back. anyway haha hope you enjoyed the sweet stuff here's one in which i compare zero to a serial killer. the "nobody knows me" lyric at the end fills my head with many thoughts. it's not zero if it isn't at least a little bit fucked up and morally questionable.

6. shake the disease - depeche mode

here is a plea from my heart to you nobody knows me as well as you do

hope you like this band as much as me or you'll be sick of them by the end of this. oh the desperation. ow oof the mortifying ordeal of being known.

7. in your room - depeche mode

i'm hanging on your words living on your breath feeling with your skin will i always be here?

be thankful i only quoted the chorus here. zero is a powerful man.

8. vampires - pet shop boys

say what you like i'll do what you want me to do you're a vampire, i'm a vampire too

the inherent romanticism of becoming strange and offputtingly wicked men who operate largely at night together

9. master and servant - depeche mode

domination's the name of the game in bed or in life, they're both just the same except in one you're fulfilled at the end of the day

i could have just quoted the whole song here. it's a lot like life!

10. stories of old - depeche mode

but we won't sacrifice anything at all to love

tfw you're totally in love but not enough to make you stop caring about controlling the global population/destroying the english language [delete as appropriate]

11. lovesong - the cure

whenever i'm alone with you you make me feel like i am whole again

i love pain and suffering.

12. love will tear us apart - joy division

love, love will tear us apart again

from the mgsv soundtrack itself. oh the misery.

13. wicked game - chris isaak

the world was on fire and no one could save me but you

[chanting] DIVORCE ERA DIVORCE ERA DIVORCE ERA. the bitterness... the longing.... the knowledge that the guy you essentially spent the last decade or more giving your life to is obsessed with some other guy and has ambitions that directly conflict with yours/make you want to murder him

14. diamonds and rust - joan baez

it's all come back too clearly yes, i loved you dearly and if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

[skull face voice] oh joan baez we're really in it now. music to drink heavily to after making a certain phone call, thumb running over the scratched metal of an authentic pin badge...

15. no children - the mountain goats

i am drowning there is no sign of land you are coming down with me hand in unlovable hand and i hope you die i hope we both die

oh you know i had to.

anyway hope you enjoyed this glimpse at what drives my insanity, i might do this for my (multiple) skull face playlists sometime but one is full of edgy bullshit + hungarian metalcore and half of my other one is just ennio morricone's dollars trilogy soundtracks lol.

[thenightling]

Dead Boy Detectives issue 1

I just read The Dead Boy Detectives issue 1 under The Sandman Universe banner.   It’s sad to see that banner struggle to stay in existence.  When it first started in 2018 we had The Dreaming (reboot), Books of Magic (Soft reboot), Lucifer (reboot), and the new original title, House of Whispers. Then came John Constantine: Hellraiser, The Dreaming: Waking Hours (twelve issue mini-series) and The Locke & Key Crossover from IDW.  After that was the short lived The Corinthian: Nightmare Country, and now The Dead Boy Detectives (soft reboot) and soon there will be Nightmare Country: Glass House (Coming this spring). This version of Dead Boy Detectives is written in such a way that you can just ignore the previous Dead Boy Detectives comics. This is deliberate to make it easy for new readers (as the original version has been out of print for some time) and to also serve as a marketing tie-in for the up-coming HBO Max Dead Boy Detectives TV series, spun off from Doom Patrol (but with different actors).

It’s interesting to note that in Doom Patrol one of The Dead Boy Detectives was played by Ty Tennant (Son of David Tennant) and David Tennant has worked with Neil Gaiman repeatedly for The Sandman audio drama (where he’s Loki), The Sandman Netflix series (He was in Dream of a thousand cats) and in Good Omens where he plays Crowley.  He was also the tenth actor to play The Doctor on Doctor Who and his wife played The Doctor’s daughter, and his father-in-law played a previous doctor. HIs wife, Georgia Tennant, also had a brief appearance in The Sandman Netflix series episode Dream of a Thousand Cats.  

Another interesting thing to note is The Dead Boy Detectives (though the show will be a spin-off of Doom Patrol) actually originated from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: Volume 4: Season of Mists.   The boys are two ghosts introduced in issue 25 of The Sandman comics (I forget what chapter number in the audio drama but I know it’s in The Sandman: Act 2 of the audio drama, I just can’t recall what chapter).   

The two ghost protagonists are Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland, two ghost children who read far too many Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew style young adult fiction and now think they have the knowledge required to function as detectives. But the real supernatural world and crime worlds intermingle into something far dark than the two ghost boys are prepared for.

The boys were roughly twelve or so years old when they died in the original version of the story but are bumped up to be in their late teens for Doom Patrol where Edwin was revealed to be gay and attracted to Charles, who seems quite oblivious.  Honestly, I never thought of them as having romantic interests in anyone because I always saw the characters as children.  The new TV version makes them older to accommodate for romantic storylines.

Anyway, I read the first issue of the soft reboot and it gives you a brief recap of how each of the boys died without going into too much detail about what was going on in The Sandman to cause the two children ghosts to initially meet.   Poor Edwin was killed by some wanna-be Satanists in the school attic.  And Charles was killed in the late twentieth century by the very same bullies who murdered Edwin, because they had been released from Hell when Lucifer quit to live on Earth and take up piano. (the main plot of The Sandman: Season of Mists and the TV series Lucifer). What I never liked about The Sandman comics was the idea of an innocent going to Hell and Death incarnate (who is portrayed as a kind woman) allowing that to happen. Because poor Edwin had also been trapped in Hell and he had no reason to be there except that he died thinking that’s where he’d go and for some reason Death, (who again is supposed to be kind) did not intercede even though we see her use her brother, Morpheus to rescue another soul from eternal torment later in The Sandman (See the Prez Rickards story in The Sandman: Words’ End).   I kind of hope poor Edwin’s origin is changed for the new HBO Max series and The Sandman Netflix series since it never quite sat right for me that an innocent child was in Hell, whether “Clerical error” or not. 

Most of the first issue is pretty generic and just tells you the basics about Edwin and Charles while a few grizzly things are going on.   It turns out the three-thousand-year-old witch, Thessaly, is being held prisoner by someone and is being forced to use her powers for them.    

I was never a big fan of the character Thessaly in The Sandman comics.  I’m not sure why the new Sandman Universe titles are trying to use her so heavily.  First she appeared in The Corinthian: Nightmare Country and now here. I suspect the plots are linked.   

As I said, I was never a big fan of Thessaly. For starters, she was very much a TERF in her original comic depiction in The Sandman: A Game of you.  Yes, her TERFyness was downplayed for The Sandman audio drama but that doesn’t undo the original depiction, not really.

Also she was not a very sympathetic character to begin with. She was cold and sort of reflected what Morpheus was before his character growth.  She was also homicidal and selfish.  She sold Morpheus out to The Kindly Ones just to extend her already very long life and so they would look the other way for her own misdeeds.       

Still, she was the most interesting part of the new Dead Boy Detectives soft reboot.  Seeing her in captivity was deliberately reminiscent of Morpheus’s captivity from the first issue / chapter of The Sandman.  And it makes me curious about how she’ll get her revenge- not if- but when she gets her revenge.