#follow me now lr else

[angelzyu]

megooomi wip 。。 not sure how im feeling abt it LMFAOO (ist supposed to be a lolipop btw !!)

[konigbabe]

'plagiarism' issue

Not one for drama, yet I want to bring attention to this. I won’t elaborate on this issue more.

So it happened.

A while ago but it remains slowly nipping at my brain. For that case, I have decided to write it all down and collect my thoughts using this post.

My work like real people do (and the whole thought/idea behind it) has been taken, rewritten, tweaked and published as someone else's idea (that they apparently had since spring). I asked them to take it down privately. They did add my @ and for some time, I was content until they started creating the whole "universe" around it and taking praise for it even tho it's not their original idea.

The dark side of fanfiction is that there is not much I can do but at least I can make awareness about the issue.

Starting this with some definitions and clearance:

plagiarism: "Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own...by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgment.[1]"

I love this by Wattpad themself:

What if they give credit?

"It is still plagiarism even if you give credit. Even when someone uses an artist's base or picture they are expected to change it up to become something new, rather than just running it through a filter, or tweaking it with a few minor edits. There is a major difference between copying another person's storyline and making edits and actually writing a story.[2]"

Now to the point:

For LRPD, I have created a very specific premise that I haven't read/seen before:

Leon is a single dad of a young girl (didn't specify age but definitely a preteen, around fourth grade).

He is absent from his daughter's life, especially from her school activities. He becomes this "enigma" for the teachers.

The daughter doesn't have a mother. 

Teacher!reader is concerned for the daughter's wellbeing so one day, when Leon picks her up, she requires to have a talk with him.

During the talk, he offers her a dinner instead of having to participate in school activities.

Teacher!reader and Leon sleep together during the first off-school meeting. 

Teacher!reader wakes up before Leon and looks at his exposed [muscular] back.

Teacher!reader searches for the bathroom, notices Leon’s poorly decorated apartment except for his daughter’s stuff. 

Teacher!reader is reffered to as "Miss teacher" in this universe.

They copied almost THE WHOLE premise. It'd be okay to write your own version of single dad Leon and his kid's teacher - I don't own the trope - but following the SAME ORIGINAL STORYLINE is not okay [with me]...

The parts after "Keep reading" consists of photo 'evidence' of the similarities (some are less obvious but I'll mention them regardless). It is LONG because I have a lot to say.

LRPD was published May 2, 2023, their story was published August 14, 2023.

Fun fact: Few days ago, I created a separate masterlist for the series and few days later, they did the same thing.

: ̗̀➛ Example 1 - Leon sits on the chair

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 2 - Could've been a...

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 3 - Leon's absent from his daughter's life, especially from her school activities, and teacher!reader saying that he should be more present...

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 4 - Leon snaps because the kid's mother is mentioned (also mention of him having his arms folded during the meeting which the other person mentioned earlier in their work)...

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 5 - Leon invites you to dinner instead of attenting the school event…

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 6 - Aunt Claire makes an appereance (mentioned only)

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 7 (NSFW) - Teacher!reader worried where is Leon's kid during heavy make-out session that leads to s*x (they did wrote a full original smut scene, which I skipped so idk if there are any familiarities; I have decided that a full smut scene doesn't do it for me in this story)

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 8 - Morning after

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 9 - Leon's apartment description (they basically just simplified my abstact, "show, don't tell" description)

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 10 - Aunt Claire calls to tell Leon to pick his daughter in the morning after

My story (LRPD):

Theirs:

: ̗̀➛ Example 11 - AND Miss Teacher's significant petname has an alternative but also makes an appereance (in the same formating on top of that)

My story (LRPD):

Theirs - NSFW (alternative + miss teacher):

They were smart by rewritting it in their own words but it still lays heavy on my chest that a story I have crafted for WEEKS has been taken from me like that. It's more glaring if you read both stories instead of me splitting it into excerpts (and I didn't insert all of them as there is a limit to pictures per post).

Taking inspiration or straight-up rewritting someone's detailed idea is a difference.

Sources:

[1] https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism

[2] https://www.wattpad.com/128409012-how-to-write-fanfiction-plagiarism-vs-inspiration

[magadauthan]

Ep 25: Live Through

@trigun98watchparty My time has come.

I watched "Live Through" in Japanese and English for this recap. For science. It's not because this is my favorite episode, no. That has nothing to do with anything.

--How did Milly and Meryl get Vash away from LR? Does 1 ile = 1 mile? Did they swipe Legato's Cinderella coach?

--that floppy hair *swoon*

--Some have criticized Meryl for ducking outside as soon as Vash begins to talk. Perhaps that is merited, and she does carry a good measure of guilt for following him, but it felt to me more like she wanted to give him space and / or privacy. Having loud emotions all over the place is frowned on in Japanese culture, and Meryl is very, very polite. Maybe she just doesn't know what to do and panics (Vash has not always been encouraging in terms of having her around, in general). Either way, it tears her up inside to hear him wailing in despair.

--Obviously Meryl has been home tending to Vash while Milly works. It's nice to see Meryl recognize that Milly is busting her butt, but she doesn't know how to address Milly's feelings, either.

--Vash should not be up and about - he's weak and feverish and not a little delirious. Good thing Milly can carry him.

--Get in there, big sis, and tell Meryl it's okay that she loves him. She's absolutely right in that Legato would have found a way to make Vash shoot him whether or not the two of them were involved. Never hold back in matters of the heart.

--My favorite scene. Meryl, alone in the light of the fifth moon, diligently mending Vash's coat. She wants to put him back together and make him whole again, even if she gets hurt in the process. She's desperately in love with him, and she holds the kind person he is close to her heart... but he was the one who put the hole in the moon. How can she reconcile that?

--Vash does look happier.

--He tries to pet the kitty, and Kuroneko gives him a swat, which some interpret as the Trigun Goddess telling Vash to get it in gear. This is incorrect. Cats are just assholes.

--It didn't stop with Legato, now, did it. Knives is pressing harder.

--"Sound Life" must be a song they teach in NML kindergarten. Many people seem to know it, including Kaite and Meryl. (the lyrics really need to scan better, it's so awkwardly phrased)

--This scene is such a tough one. It's lovely - two lovers out under the stars, right? And Meryl is so happy that Vash is considering staying with them. But it's also plain to see that he might have given up. It would be easy, wouldn't it? Let the girls take care of him while he hides. Don't do anything, and wait for an answer.

--What were you doing up so late, Meryl? (we had some ideas)

--There's no way that the townspeople could have captured someone like Vash if he hadn't let them do it. He's so broken that he won't fight back. He's a sinner now, like Knives, like Legato, beyond redemption.

Except...

...Knives assumes that Vash would sacrifice himself for everyone else. Someone else sacrificing herself for him had never been part of the equation.

--So many have stopped believing in Vash, or he thinks they have. They turn their backs on him and he accepts it as the normal course of things. Jessica's crush was childish (I was gonna marry Luke Skywalker when I was four, just saying) but even she ran away after what happened to the ship. That's why it's so important that Meryl loves him. She has made her decision, and she's steadfast in it.

--Maybe Vash doesn't realize how much she loves him until she puts herself between him and the gun, and he hears Rem's words from Meryl's mouth and sees Rem one more time. If Meryl still loves him, then Rem can still love him too. Mistakes happen but you can learn from them, and if you have the right people in your life, they will love you through your mistakes and help you to make it better.

--And finally, Vash realizes that Rem's words apply to him, too, and that he is no less deserving of a second chance and a future than any of the others he's impressed those words on. Does that make Meryl the analogue to Alex? I think it does.

--Awww, such a sweet snuggle. And then Vash has to go doof it up like normal and Meryl has to freak out like normal. It's their love language. (TBH I'd punch my husband too if he rubbed his stubbly face on me like that.)

--What happened after that? (we have some ideas)

--Vash gets ready to go. Seeing him wash up and shave is oddly pleasing, a reminder that despite his Plant-ness, he's a regular dude who has to wash his face and brush his teeth and get haircuts and have breakfast and do all that human stuff.

--Meryl wants to say something to Vash, but she's gotten wiser too. She recognizes that even though there might be a lot that she wants to tell him (and, I think, he might want to tell her too), stating her feelings in the open would be a distraction (or even a burden) he doesn't need right then. Milly is right. There will be time when he gets back.

It doesn't come through in English, but he's so gentle with her in Japanese. He knows what she wants to say. In his own way, at that time, he's saying I love you too.

--Vash takes WW with him, with Milly's love and blessing. May you go with God's protection.

[pooplyface1423]

Tsudere /sub Jax that pretends to hate the reader but does things to secretly be with them x a fem happy but smart Uzadere that loves being in the circus.She loves adventures,animals,cute things,fighting,food ect! lots of energy too but can be pretty insensitive and a little selfish with a little crush on jax. I feel like at first jax would completely reject liking her then he would be extra mean,then Maybe subconsciously know he likes her amd hates the feeling lol. cus he copes by trying to not have feelings and tries to act "tough". its pretty obvious that the reader is in love with him but his dumb ass cant catch on . She gives lots of compliments which makes him flustered and mad ( he is mad bc he thinks nobody likes him that much, he is mean to her to make her go away but it doesn't work ) but he pretends not to care. the reader would definitely confesses first tho. Sorry for such a long request its just that not many people write jax in this sorta way so i had to be detailed lol. also if you don't wanna use female pronouns you can make it non gender ofc 😅tysm for even reading such a long thing! and you don't have to do this at all lr you can switch it up. Anything is VERY appreciated tho😊

DUDE this question was long but its a very good one so lemme write it.:]

Warning: Kissing (just like one but still) CRINGEEE and that it.

also Y/N is female just so ya'll know but not a lot is said about her gender here so could be non binary.

Lil backstory : When You first got here it was around 7 months before pomni gets into the circus. your reactions to seeing all the supposed people was terrifying u were laughing your brains of since u thought it was all just a big prank but once u realized it was real u were just stunned. I mean u were still amazed like wow i'm in a virtual reality type of reaction. And about what u look like idk that up to yourself but lets say Ur like a type of animal could be a cat or something else. U were always ecstatic to be in the circus and everybody even Caine were surprised. Like it not everyday in this virtual reality u see a person who is more than happy to be there. (also i'm not really gonna add Kaufmo since their is little to no info bout him)

Okay now to the good stuff

So really your weren't stupid to not notice how Jax would occasionally "look ur way to see something else" nor to notice how differently he treated u compared to the others. Either he would go out of his way to be nice or mean to you.

You were chatting bout random nonsense with zooble when she said

"Hey Y/n do you see how much of a dumb### Jax's looks like just looking at you"Looking at you then at Jax then at you.

"no lemme check"You turned around to see jax looking away from you to above you? yea he was doing the "look ur way to see something else" crap again.

"ugh it starting to annoy me" Says Zooble wanting to stand up and start to beat the crap out of Jax but thankfully u stopped her then said

"hey its okay he may be weird and all but we got to be used to this anyway where stuck here"

"but he does like you Y/n we can all see it in his eyes" Says Ragatha entering the conversation

"yea ragatha is right how bout we make a plan to you know um- make him confess he like you" says zooble looking at you waiting for an answer.

Then u spoke up

"Sure i guess but knowing him he would never confess"

"Ugh lets head to my room to discuss the plan" says ragatha getting up

You three walk all he way to the room corridors and enter Ragatha's Room and discus how you would get Jax to confess his feelings to you.

"Okay so how should we do this" says Ragatha with some confusion in her face

"Well we know that Jax is a very Um- how should I say this es stupid and lets just say hes like a little puppy who follows you around" Says zooble before you with shook face say

"WAIT what is that supposed to mean I never see him trailing behind me"

"He does he always trails behind you buts ur either dumb or blind since u never see him literary behind u. ALL THE TIME" Says Zooble

"Well um- we should get started with the plan and stop taking bout how Jax is a little twerp" Says Ragatha with a bit of an annoyed face splatted in her face

"Okay okay well first of all since we know Jax is like a little dog with nothing else to do than follow Y/n we should..........."Says Zooble spilling out what the plan would be about.

Well basically the plan is make Jax follow u around Y/n complements Jax every time he does something for her even the smallest of things like letting u have the first of anything picking up flowers for u,him pranking u and much more.

Everything was going according to the plan Jax being Jax follows you around and sneaks up on you with a centepied (which ur scared of) and lands it right besides u trying to get a scared yelp from u but instead u just threw it away and said

"Jax u little bad bunny don't do that again" while pinching his cheek just slightly

"~wait you aren't mad?" Says Jax while becoming a blushing mess

"no of course not bunny boy come on lets go outside"

you two go outside and jax keeps trying to make your way there horrible by trying to trip ur feet over and over again but failing miserably.

Once you both are by the lake you start to look around and see Zooble and Ragatha watching impatiently.

"So what are we doing here again?" says Jax

"nothing much just .. Taking in some fresh air i guess"

"Y/n there is no fresh air here u know that right?" says Jax with a serious face

"Oh um i meant like ..... space apart of everyone"

"ok i guess then what should we do?" says Jax with a sly smile appearing in his face

"how about we go on the tea cups?"

"whatever you want toots" says Jax

Both spend 2 hours trying all the rides over and over, Jax never saying crap

As the day ends in the digital realm first comes the digital dinner the classic chicken and veggies.

After that, Caine suggested that you all play a quick game, and with no other option, everybody agrees.

HIDE & SEEK

"yay i guess" says zooble clearly annoyed they have to do this activity even tho it is fun she wants her alone

After the game which took around 30 min like damn these dudes have great hiding spots ,Caine gave everybody the green light to finally have there alone time/sleep

"UGH finally" Zooble before walking up to you

"Hey Y/n did Jax say anything to you?" Says Zooble quickly before she forgets about it

"No ... what should we do?"

"Hey idk bout you but i would of totally just make the first move at this point"Says Ragatha walking up to you both of you

"Well she has a point" "bout what?" "bout how you should def make the first move now since his dumb##s won't do S#it"

"okay I'll try but do i have to do it in front of u all or do i wait for everybody to leave?"

"Um okay new plan......." Says zooble making the new plan

Basically make gangle distract Jax long enough for everybody to leave to there rooms then gangle runs away, Then y/n will sneak up on Jax and spill the beans herself.

Everything went accordingly as planed gangle ran away just as she noticed everybody gone. Then Jax shrugs it of and slowly walks up to his room until...

"Hey Jax" "what do you want?" "not much just wanna talk to you...bout something"

"bout what dollfac-"

He says before being interrupted by a kiss

"does that answer ur question?"

"UM what was that?"... bb-but i guess it does"

"that's great! its official were dating"

"Wait WHAT!?" says Jax surprised as hell

"Goodnight Jax!" Says y/n as she gives one last kiss on his cheek

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Hello finally finished hope u enjoyed.:]

@fuckyalllkl

[just-antithings]

Re: refrainbow (creator of the Boyfriends webtoon) saying the n-word. (Note, I'll be switching between he and they pronouns for refrainbow, since he uses both, I hope it doesn't end up confusing. Also, the bold is to help with reading (at least, it helps with my ADHD, but there's also a td;lr at the bottom as well))

I don't have screenshots or links, but it's been noted that refrainbow has admitted to having said it when he was younger and still learning English (mostly from the internet). They are Indonesian and did not know the history behind the slur. I'm not sure they even knew it was a slur until getting called out for it; from what I've seen, refrainbow thought it was English slang calling someone stupid or bad, due to learning it through I think gaming, where the n-word and other slurs were often thrown around liberally.

People ofc are valid being wary around refrainbow or anyone who's used the n-word or other slurs as general insults (or just saying them in general). No one is entitled to anyone's forgiveness.

One thing I've seen thought up, though, is people saying that refrainbow should have known anyway that the word was off-limits. One anti art-commentary youtuber said, "I knew as a little kid that it was a BAD word, that you just DO NOT say." And yes, as an American kid, I'm sure they were observant enough to realize that it was a horrible word, even if they did not automatically know the history of that word.

Refrainbow is NOT American. He was learning English mainly through the internet, iirc, and even if he was also taking formal English classes, there usually isn't a section on slurs in said language. Now, in my French class, part of the lesson plan was learning about racism north African and Middle Eastern people faced in France (a very compressed lesson; I barely remember what the teacher told us in that lecture). We were not told slurs and told "Do not, under any circumstances, say these words." If I'd been in an online gaming community with a bunch of French kids back then, there is every possibility I could have repeated slurs in French, not knowing they were slurs, if everyone around me were using them like general insults. I would have assumed it was slang first, not slurs.

As for why antis add refrainbow saying the n-word at the very end of a rant/call-out, this is a pretty common tactic that I've seen in call-out-type posts I end up coming across. Lots of buzzwords are used, many with the barest amount of "evidence" (if there is any, or if there is, it's usually worst-faith takes of some post or passage from a fic). Usually it's full of rhetoric meant to stoke people's anger or disgust, and then at the very end is a claim not mentioned in the bulk of the call-out/rant and usually a shorter sentence. It's usually something worse than what else has been stated and may or may not come with actual proof, and this last part might be actually true or true if you hide context around it.

I think there are two main reasons for this. One is that depending on how long the call-out/rant is, most people are more likely to pay attention to just the beginning and end parts, skimming over the rest. Placing "the worse/worst thing" at the end then makes sure people actually read it. Another reason (tied to the first reason) is that this last point is more likely to stick in people's memories this way, so if people only skimmed the rest, they're more likely to believe the other points are true, too, especially if that last point has evidence attached or is easily searched.

There's been a few call-outs in my fandom recently (some were technically responses to earlier call-outs, showing proof that the original people making their call-out posts were lying/twisting the truth), so whenever I find myself getting disgusted or upset, I make sure to go back and read it more closely (if the call-out is about someone I follow/a mutual; I don't have energy to read rants about people I've never heard of before).

td;lr: refrainbow did say the n-word before, he's apologized, explaining that he was still learning English at the time and didn't know how bad the word was, and using points like this at the bottom of a call-out post seems to be deliberate, so that people remember The Bad Thing about the person more clearly.

.

[guardian-of-frihet]

ISAT AU OC (#2) + theory

---------------------------------------

Okay, second character which is a roughly done drawing since I was low on coloring stuff.

Now presenting!

Shade!

Shade first appeared at the KING's floor after the 130th loop.

He/Him.

• Shade tends to just wander around the room when the party is not at the KING's floor yet or just sleeps through the fight.

• when the party isn't in the house He will take on bullying the KING as a hobby just to see what faces or expressions (not the deity's from Odile's home) the King would make in response (as shown in this photo)

• the name Shade chose was not random, He just felt a connection to the word Shade and chose it as a name.

• whenever the party defeated the KING, Shade would follow The Royal and try to understand why He felt a connection to Them.

• Shade does NOT, meet LR or Loop at the end of the game, something else happens during ACT 6 that forces Shade to make a choice.

• Shade does not remember the former person that He was, only that He remembered feeling a massive crushing force, the feeling of His very soul being torn out of His heart, and waking up in the KING's floor with a three pointed scar on His stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now then, now that we finished Shade's info part of the post let's get on into the theory I had.

Let's start off with everyone's favorite resident angsty Traveler, Siffrin.

What do we know about him in terms of childhood and past? Absolutely nothing, but there are moments in the game where his last suddenly made an appearance.

For example, the letter in that secret passageway on the third floor where you would get the chain for that bell pendant or the book that talked about croissants, we don't need a mention the croissants just yet but the letter in the room where you got the jackpot items of tonics, book about horror stories with young men and monsters here's that Mirabel mentions and Isabeau comments on it, and the small little symbol or banner I think for the change belief.

What exactly do we find on the table that is next to said banner or object for the change belief? Three pages (I think) regarding someone running away from home and comforting their mother that they were alright.

There's a small snippet there with Bonnie mentioning that they and their sister Nille ran away in one of the loops but we won't get to that just yet cause this theory is about Siffrin and the King, but still relating to the notes or the letters Siffrin mentions they ran away once as seen in gameplay.

(I will be using pictures that I took during my playthrough of the game) I myself have gotten this dialogue 8 or 12 loops into the gate but still the thought counts, regardless since the other just ask Siffrin what they mean by this followed by Siffrin explaining that they just didn't want to eat their veggies, ran to the docks with their family boat, row a bit from shore... and then he forgets.. now now we know that moment in time would be probably where the country was then removed from everyone's mind or memory, but where would the king had been when this was happening?

My guess is that while this was happening the king was somewhere in Vaugarde or was traveling to other countries, but then something hit me, Siffrin and the letters only mentioned the mother, no father could have been or ever was mentioned which was really confusing because Siffrin really cared about their parents, I may have forgotten about a father might have been mentioned or maybe it was only parents as in a mother and a stepfather, but I refuse to believe that Siffrin would not have had a father ever mentioned or present in any other forgetting memories of their childhood.

Which makes me believe the father was out on business or traveling so that Siffrin could have something to learn about the other countries with, The father might have been traveling from Ka-Bue to Vaugarde right as the country that Siffrin was from suddenly got erased from everyone's memories, either the father was traveling from Ka-Bue to Vaugarde by boat or they were using another means.

Let's pause on Siffrin for a moment and go straight to the KING, what do we know about him? well not much the same as before we don't know much about the KING or Siffrin but what we do know about the king is that he washed up on Vaugarde, was treated with hospitality and kindness by the Vaugardians, stopped by Corbeaux during his travels, and then saw something that triggered the want to wish for a way to make Vaugarde perfect.

My guess on what triggered the king could have been in a piece of Vaugarde suddenly becoming a wreck- and what I mean by that is not like "oh it's suddenly disappeared" no I think what triggered it was the fact that after the country disappeared so did colors.

And no, I'm not saying that colors could have disappeared at the same time as the country I'm suggesting that someone made a wish to remove the vivid image of something, a singular visceral color, from the minds of everyone that was present to have witnessed it.

A wish to remove the memories of blood the very color of blood from anyone that was there to see it, My guess is that a kid accidentally made that wish like maybe the blood had really frightened them and they wanted to not see blood anymore and went to the Favor tree nearby in the town but that backfired, The wish somehow broke and led it to erase of colors being present in the game.

Now I know what you're thinking, I'm getting off track but listen, listen please I'm getting to that part 😅, Don't leave this post yet.

Anyway back to the king after that moment I would have guessed that the king, irritated about what was happening and wanted to save as much of Vaugarde as possible, goes to the strongest favorite tree in all of the country, the one in Dormont.

Obviously with no memory of this country that he came from he decides to just go with what he remembers off of what was built into his mind, Wishcraft was a very common thing I'm guessing that in the country that Siffrin and the king both originate from It's their life core so he goes back on that from what he remembers from a built-in memory of it, He wishes for a way to save Vaugarde or not to save Vaugarde- I'm getting my AUs mixed up 😂 to make Vaugarde a perfect.

And unexpectedly to his surprise the wish comes true, He gains the ability to use timecraft to his demand and starts to freeze all of Vaugarde, what this new power of his He storms the House of Dormont or better yet the house of change, freezes everyone in it including Euphrasie, and just wait for knowing that's the curse would not be reversed unless he was defeated.

Now onto the connection between Siffrin and the king, That's what we know they're connected cause of being from the same country, but what if they were related?

That would put a total shift to Siffrin's perspective, and the fact they don't know or remember where they came from in terms of family or backstory would make it even more heart-wrenching cuz they'd be fighting a relative, they'd be fighting family.

And then there's the book in the room with the ornery (at least I think that's the name of it, the object of the center of that room), it explains that the owner of the book had tried using Wishcraft to make someone to talk to, that person most likely being either Siffrin or another kid that was probably feeling the same loneliness as Them but regardless it was no doubt having to be Siffrin.

If you think about it, if Siffrin had ran away again but from the house of change this time it would explain why it's a book referencing Wishcraft, and I know that it's just from Siffrin being in the time loop for nearly who knows how long but imagine if it was not only that imagine him that's what if Siffrin had remembered something regarding their family, I'm not saying others have to go with what I'm saying It's just a very you can have your own opinion but regardless if Siffrin had remembered something about his family or something about the king it would make sense, for me at least.

For example The book series Mirabelle likes, "The cursing of chateau Castle" could be a reference to the king's story or slight beginning, The main character in the story, Lord Josephándre was thought by everyone else in it to be a noble or royal descent but no, he was just a guy. so what if the king that the group has to deal with was also just a guy? It wouldn't make sense of the king was actually of royal descent and cuz he wouldn't have remembered it, what if he was just a normal guy taking alchemy lessons for a hobby?

It would make sense with what Odile says during the first part of the entire game first act if you will.

From what Odile says here Siffrin could have been taking alchemy and wanted to try and do it again which I'm guessing led to an explosion, Siffrin got hurt, and then scolded by everyone- it would have been funny regardless but besides the point both Siffrin and the KING could have taken up alchemy as a hobby but then again it could have been that the country were a group of alchemists too as well as astrologists on account for the stars, planets, space, the universe, etc.

At one point during the Kings fight the king recognizes the cloak and hat that Siffrin has, sure someone could say that it might have been just a common clothing idea for country or anyone that lived in that country but I got to shut that down Not that I think it's not right or correct it could be but the kings armor does not scream "oh a cloak and hat that is definitely our country's common clothing" no, no it doesn't, not to me anyway which is where I believe the next part of my theory comes in-

(Siffrin got crushed by a rock)

God damn it Siffrin I wasn't finished explaining the theory!

*cue the rest of the family panicking over Siffrin getting crushed by the rock*

Ugh, oh well, give it a moment and the Loop will catch up, anyway continuing from that sudden death.

*time loops back to where Siffrin was in the meadow*

When you go to find the angry key in the third floor of the house you would find a closet that shows a bunch of clothes not really straightforward but that's where the Isabeau part of this comes in, Isabeau mansions that Siffrin's cloak after examining it a little closer is sewn with craft and a backstitch if I'm remembering it correctly.

He then asks if Siffrin knows who this was given to him by or not and of course Siffrin does not remember, but if the king recognized it, and the king wearing armor would know a lot about cloaks, wouldn't it make sense if he gave the cloak to Siffrin when he was a kid? My theory on this is that the cloaks that are made from Siffrin's country are made by the parents and given to their kids as a kind of Rite of passage to prove you're entering the next stage of your life?.

I don't know, this is just a theory that I'm still trying to gut and write this out for the AU to make sense before I start it off, anyway to continue on this thought that every parent makes their kid a cloak and Siffrin's country the cloak that's different has could have been the last gift from his father and he didn't remember it because the country was erased from time from everyone's memories.

It's still there however, The country is still there waiting for the day that someone would come back to it, waiting for the day that Siffrin or the king themselves would come back to try to restore it, try to bring it back to the world, but that's not going to happen on its own and hypothetically or not, the universe knows this, the deity or plane of existence this country researches about knows that will never come to pass, no one no one outside of the country remembers the name, no one can see the country past Vaugarde anymore because something keeps keeping that from happening.

I'd say it's either a very dense fog, or the fact that there's a storm around the country that won't let people outside it see it anymore.

Regardless the country is forever gone until something pushes it to be remembered again and that's where act 4 comes in The moment we're different and the king trying to remember the name of the country is what triggers the visceral color shade of red to make them have a headache- splitting headache to where they both die but pausing on the country remembering name thing.

What does the King do when He and Siffrin try to remember the name, He reaches out to Siffrin with hidden concern (if you would), he says "bright one" and that's where he dies but I don't know if you guys saw this too it could've just been a chance thing and I got it but The king, said Siffrin's, name and Siffrin quickly died a moment after but that was enough, that was enough to trigger it.

Two are people from the same country not strangers but secretly forgotten relatives could trigger the start for the search of the country, the start for the storm or fog to deviate from the country just enough to let the country start to be visible, but that never comes to pass and no I don't mean that trying to remember the country's name didn't cause it to start being visible no I meant sure it did start the country to be visible from the fog or storm but the journey to find the country is not going to happenz cuz Siffrin still in the loop..

And funnily enough, The King's almost aware of the loops by the time Siffrin goes to fight him alone in act 5, this was way after he kills Bonnie and after Euphrasie, The Head Housemaiden, says to Siffrin that the wish was breaking.

The King catches on to this too, He comes to see or notice the in his words "the overpowering cloying scent of cane sugar" and then he asks or better yet says in certainty to Siffrin after seeing he went up the house alone "bright one, this is not the first time you have faced me isn't it?" and that's where it kicks in for him, that's where it kicks in that Siffrin has been looping in time.

And then the fight starts before they even start fighting and you know how the king basically says at the end of his sentence "against someone like you I shouldn't hold back" I don't know this is just me but it sounded like he was a bit proud how strong Siffrin was (and during the end of act 4 when he kills Bonnie he sounds disappointed and angry towards Siffrin).

They're small parts in the fight where the king doesn't hold back but after he uses that one attack to make people see a vision of the future and immediately notices this was not the first time Siffrin has withstood this attack.

It is here the king and notices a realizes He cannot win this it's cuz if this keeps going he's going to be defeated by Siffrin and Siffrin alone and part of him doesn't want to defeat Siffrin, sure it's cuz they're from the same country but but in terms of my AU the KING could have remembered something from his past and he could have remembered something like a memory of a family member, more specifically.. a child, and not just A child cuz that would be weird, why would he remember a random child from his country if he doesn't remember said country? no, the memory was about his child.

And remember how in the book series the cursing I should tell Castle I mentioned Lord Josephándre was just a normal guy, just a guy this relates to the king in ways of comeuppance how he came to Dormont or to Vaugarde, I believe one of the books mentioned that Lord Josephándre had a family- not just parents, but a child of his own I could be wrong That's just my AU and theory.

Add that to the king remembering the cloak and hat that Siffrin has, wouldn't that mean that the KING in reference to Lord Josephándre from the cursing of chateau Castle, is Siffrin's father, and it does not stop there.

The king could have chosen to defeat, eliminate, kill Siffrin, but no he chose to freeze Siffrin in time instead and I know that it's the thought he had where he thought Siffrin was a threat to his victory but he did it to keep Siffrin at bay from his victory and to keep him from self destructing, only to not realize this type of action would not have made Siffrin Loop back in time, he would have been victorious either way but he felt merciful enough pitiful enough in a mocking way to put Siffrin in a frozen, sleeping, state.

And in a twisted way that led to a transition to start and saffron that would lead to him becoming a sadness instead of just being frozen in time and with the same repeating pain or misery or dream, I don't know if the king knew he was actually causing a transition in Siffrin to become a sadness but if Siffrin's friends came way later then when they usually did in the game I'm pretty sure the KING would have been, not just horrified but regretful that he caused such a transition to occur.

If this happened he would have caused Siffrin, the most overpowered guy to have been stuck in a time loop, to become a sadness.. the very bane of terror for all of the country for all of Vaugarde, but it didn't and instead the transition was stopped just in time by Mirabelle and straight after that the group of friends is protected Siffrin and sealed the king away in his own time in his own power and ironically enough the king was okay with it in his mind he almost caused a sadness to occur that he wouldn't have been able to control or stop himself and I don't think he would've been against being frozen in time..

..cause he remembered the country, He remembered his home and he was happy with that.. He remembered the lightless sands of the country, the trees swaying with the wind and their leaves falling to the ground, it was at that moment the king was at peace and not only that but the moment he remembered his country he remembered his family, and better yet in irony or punishment he remembered Siffrin too.

Do remember that Siffrin was a kid when the country disappeared so it would not have made sense if they knew each other as co-workers or friends but instead they could have been family, a family that was torn apart because the country was forgotten, a family who was separated, cast away from each other, place on separate areas of the world until eventually they saw each other again in the final battle to save Vaugarde, and it was against each other.

But hey maybe in another time they could have been family again this is just a theory after all but it's a really good theory regardless and another life they could have had a chance to be family again but maybe instead of another life, maybe in another wish cost chance they could reunite with memory They could have a chance to forgive each other and possibly be family again and maybe that could be going for loop as well because as we all know Loop was another version of Siffrin, their could be a chance for these three to have a family reunion.

That is all for this theory I hope you enjoyed this-.

[kafkaoftherubble]

[2/2]

Part 1

Bruh. The rambling. The rambling does not stop. What the hell.

---

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

(1) Emily: Her first gig and debut as Project Gu's success was to protect the president of ___ [insert country name] from a terrorist group's assassination attempt, but the terrorists were also aiming to hurt every other member of the cabinet, civilians, janitors, and cats/dogs/birds/animals nearby. Not only that, this attempt was the first time the common folks realized there have been private and unsanctioned attempts to replicate Project Gu, instead of just "speculations." World leaders were just shocked that these attempts had gone far enough.

Despite the challenge, Emily managed to save the president and everyone else, defeating the terrorists in the process. Sure, she killed them all and left no survivors for intel. But for someone's first gig, being this successful right off the bat is the biggest boost of dopamine Emily has ever gotten. It's her happy place.

(2) Ada: Ada will probably think her time dating the Blind Boy was the best, though that memory, unfortunately, turned sour because, well, he slipped on a banana peel and passed away (see Part 1). The Others mock and laugh about this, and that kinda sours the memory a little more. One of them even claimed that she was more in love with the idealized Blind Boy than the genuine article, and so this was less of her "best" memory and more of her best fantasy.

In the story proper, one of her best memories will be this day shortly after meeting F by "happenstance" (it wasn't really a chance meeting). She has been following F since they escaped Emily's pursuit, and F notes how noisy her head is and wonders how she managed to grow up like this. She told him about how alone she's always been and that the Others, unkind as they may be, are the only few companions she has.

In response, F calmed the Others through his powers and decided to fill in as the friend she always wanted for a day. It starts out pretty awkward because neither really knows how to actually be someone's friend, but they gradually find their way through it. It's the best; Ada has never felt so accepted and wanted before. And the world has never been quieter.

(3) F: One of his best memories is the same as Ada's, as seen above. But there is another one that he values a lot. Shortly after he runs away but before meeting Ada, F encounters a village or a town or a settlement similar to it. Despite his strange appearance or unknown origin, upon knowing he's hungry and thirsty, folks there generously feed him and give him shelter with no questions asked. Sure, they are also wary of him and tell their kids not to associate with him, but F agrees with their attitude because he knows what he is, even if they don't.

He takes up a temporary abode in a hut under a tree, a few distances away from the settlement, over those few days. Nobody bothers him or even seems to notice him. Being away from other people's chattering minds allows him to calm down in ways he has never been able to do before. It doesn't last long, because plot, but from then on he has been chasing that state of mind however he can as though it is his only salve.

In other words: one of F's best memories is his first meditation. BWAHHAHAHHAA! What do you expect from a psychic? Or ya know, me?

----

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The day when Emily is given the mission to retrieve F. She had never heard of another Ghoul surviving—and now suddenly there's another one whose status and importance exceed hers, especially from LR's perspective. That pisses her off to no end; it is a betrayal of her identity. Then after that, she finds a Ghoul and mistakes her for F, only to realize it was another one who was supposed to be dead. To make matters worse, Ada is mentally awry, useless, and literally without powers. Emily is given the directive to either kill or consume her (she picks the former), and yet she somehow loses Ada and fails her mission on this front, too—something that rarely happens.

LR is visibly livid when she gets back, and she gets a harsh lecture. She can't even remember being scolded by anyone before this.

It is a whole string of shitty events to her.

----------

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Well, some of F's characteristics and personalities are based on a dear friend of mine whom I really admire. I also deliberately fashion in some of the Buddha's life story, such as "running away from home despite his cushy-ass life in search for liberation from suffering," though F's concern is simply his own suffering.

But that's probably not the thing I like most about F!

See, F is the least human of the 3 Ghouls. He's a human-looking monster—even more so than Emily—from the beginning of his creation.

Ada won the Gudu gauntlet by staying away from the conflict when the embryos were fighting each other before being forced to haphazardly absorb them erratically into herself, including the last one standing, to preserve her life. Emily won by immediately killing every other embryo. F, though, won by forcing the other embryos via mind control to willingly disintegrate themselves into basic organic building blocks to bolster him. F would have heard the voices of these dead embryos just like Ada (since they both resorted to some sort of absorption-based means), but he crushed all of them through his psychic power while incubated, effectively murdering them twice.

And that's not counting how potent of a weapon he is, since unlike Emily who has a strong individualistic streak, he defers to LR and others like a good weapon should. He has killed fewer people than Emily has, but that's because he subjugates most of them via mental manipulation, performing feats like forceful amnesia, rewiring someone's brain into undergoing psychoses, and the like.

He's the most perfect Ghoul in that he really is just that. A fucking monster.

And yet his own powers make him the most empathetic of the three. It makes him the least judgemental. It enables him to understand people as people and ironically humanize them, therefore making him most capable of compassion despite being a weapon. He has the least sense of self because he's constantly bombarded by other people's sense of self, and yet that opens up ways for him to be the least egocentric of all three.

I like characters like F because it allows exploration of how someone, created to be an inhuman monster, nonetheless possesses traits and qualities that can allow them to be more than that. It's a Buddhist outlook (the same one that undergirds the idea of one achieving Nibbana) that can be played around, challenged, and explored through F, who has shades of selfishness and delusions hidden beneath his seemingly "noble" qualities.

A non-human striving to become human—it's one of the perennial themes that I love.

-----

I hope you had the fucking time of your life, "mysterious stranger."

THE END.

[edalynn]

honestly yeah! this is the same show who had the lumity confession outrighting stating that the two wanted to date and luz coming out to camila having her directly state that she's bi! with the flag!

if it were to be 100% canon, handholding, causal physical affection and words of affirmation (i think that's what it was) all things that could done with friends isn't how id want a confession to be done

YEAH EXACTLY!! toh is always very explicit with its romances to show they are, in fact, canon because of how big of a step the relationships are for cartoons. A wlw and a nblw relationship should be the main focus, and with the following hl has I feel like them canonizing it would totally overshadow both raeda and lumity because hls are fucking insane. You’re also right that there would be blatant affection showing the fact that they’re in a relationship. Toh has always been big on showing platonic affection of its own accord, between the original Hextrio and Gus and Willow especially, and my extension after LR Hunter. What all of it reads as to me in that scene is that Hunter is finally over his “crush” on Willow and can stop acting like a little weirdo and be properly affection (platonically speaking) back- which was something aside from potential crushes that was already extremely difficult for Hunter to get used to. It shows how comfortable he is now both giving and receiving physical affection. It shows he’s far, far away from his life as the GG & that he’s no longer an outsider, because let’s face it- Hunter always acted and seemed slightly distant from the main group even in the human realm. He was hiding the fact that he was a grimwalker, that he had all these secrets, and now that Belos is dead he’s free to let himself be welcome into the fold just like anyone else. So yeah, if it was intended to be romantic there’d be a lot more blatant couple-y shit and not just them physically interacting as friends that know each other.

[mar-the-magician]

Studying For Entry Exams With A Sweet Fae Friend

I’m alive, I swear I’m alive!!!!! It has been… like, two months since I posted a chapter of Layered Realms. Apologies for that— life decided to kick my ass in every possible way around mid July and things are only just recently settling into place more. But!!!!!!! Now I can actually guarantee at least somewhat regular uploads, because I have a chapter’s worth of buffer! And yes, heheheheh, that does mean I am sitting on an entire chapter that none of you have seen yet 😏

Also, I’m aware that I gained about thirty-odd followers during the period of time that I didn’t post anything about LR, so if you’re reading this thinking “What the fuck is Layered Realms?” Then here’s your explanation! It’s an original story of mine, and here’s where you can get more info about it!

Cw/Tw: Character is depicted kind of spiraling, not really having a panic attack but something along those lines. Other than that, I think we’re good!

Now that all of that is out of the way, I’ll stop talking your ear off and let you get reading! Chapter six, part six of Layered Realms, part five of A Traveler’s Tale.

Studying For Entry Exams With A Sweet Fae Friend 

I shoved the books, pamphlets, and articles farther away from me on the table and collapsed my head into my arms. None of this was sticking in my head, and it didn’t make any sense. I was exhausted, my brain was foggy, and I’d been working at this for hours now. These materials all seemed custom-made for people who had grown up knowing about magic, and all they really needed was a light refresher on the basics and to then delve deeper into the more obscure things that would be on the entry exams. I needed much more than a refresher on the basics, I needed an entire mastercourse. There was no way I was going to pass those tests. And then what would happen? I might not get to see Eris or Amir or Hedera ever again, and I would just have this knowledge and these books and materials that I spent way too much money on and time on, and it would all be—

I heard clomping nearby. It sounded like it was right outside my kitchen door. 

“What the…” I approached the door and peeked out.

“Eris?!” I swung open the door immediately. Unlike when I’d last seen him in the forest, he had that illusion spell or whatever it was over his legs. Granted, not as bad as a kid with goat or deer or whatever legs standing right out in broad daylight, but they still looked wonky. 

“Eris, what are you doing here?” I hissed, dragging him inside. He flashed a silly grin at me.

“I heard Amir and Hedera talking and Hedera was asking him to send you something, but he said you’d probably be stressed with studying so he’d wait. I didn’t want you to be stressed! So I came to find you!”

“How did you even—“ I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Never mind. Does anyone even know where you are??” His face fell.

“Ooh… I should have thought of that, shouldn’t I…” ‘Oh no you made the child sad, you made the child sad you idiot—‘

“I hope I didn’t worry anybody, I don’t want them to be scared for me—“

“It’s okay, buddy, I can text Amir, remember? And he can tell Hedera and anyone else who needs to know. It’s gonna be fine.” I reassured him, ruffling his curls. I walked back into my main living room, motioning him to follow. His eyes widened at the pile of printed materials on my table and I laughed a little.

“Amir was right about that, I am stressed.” I snatched my phone from on top of a book about how commanders influenced history without being found out as magic users (one of the only ones that had made some semblance of sense), went to messages, and scrolled.

‘Just in case no one knows, Eris is with me. he came to cheer me up lol’

‘Ah, excellent. Thank you for telling me Traveler— I had a pretty good guess, but it’s good to know for sure. Now Hedera won’t bite my head off. 😂’

‘😂

does he need to be back by a certain time?’

‘Just don’t keep him too long. I’ll let you know if Hedera says otherwise, though. I can come pick him up and just teleport home with him when you’re done.’

‘sounds like a plan!’

I turned back to Eris.

“Amir knows where you are now, and he says you can stay for a little bit!”

“Yay!” He scrunched up his cheeks till they nearly closed his eyes, and pulled his shoulders right up next to his ears. 

“Amir’ll come get you when it’s time to go. Until then, what do you want to do? I can put off studying for a few hours to destress, I suppose…”

Eris widened his eyes almost comically.

“Oh no Traveler! You still gotta study! You have exams in a couple days! I was just hoping I could make the studying itself less stressful…” I sighed.

“Okay then, buddy. How do you plan on doing that?” I sat back down and patted the seat next to me. He scrambled over to be next to me and had a quick look over the books. 

“The way Hedera always tells it to me is like this: when you have an overwhelming project or problem, the first thing you gotta do is break it down to ‘manageable chunks.’ Then you just take the chunks one at a time, and you’re done before you know it! It’s like cutting up your food before you eat it!”

“I guess that makes sense…” I sighed. Eris smiled at me.

“And… this is my wisdom, so don’t take it quite as seriously, but if I can make it pretty and fun, I think it makes it feel better even when you’re doing hard things.”

“How would you suggest we do that?”

“First off, Traveler, you should drink water and get yourself a lil’ snack.” He commanded firmly. “Amir always says he can’t focus with an empty stomach.” I rolled my eyes and barely contained a sigh. ‘Does Eris even know what Amir eats?’

“Okay, little man.” He followed me around the kitchen as I assembled a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, ate it, and filled a canteen with ice and water.

“Yay!” He said as we settled back in at the table.

“Now. Do you have cute stickers and writing pads?” He asked with big, shiny eyes.

“Mm— somewhere…” I remembered one of my friends had given me a bunch of cute office and study supplies back when we thought I was actually going to have enough money to go college right away.

“Hang on.” I got up and began rummaging in one of my drawers. Somewhere in here, maybe at the very bottom—

“Here we go!”  I tossed the pack of notecards and stickers onto the table in front of us.

“Yay!” Eris clapped his hands and and eagerly attacked the plastic shrink-wrap. 

“These are cute! Okay, now try breaking this problem into chunks?” He looked over the whole stack of materials and singled out the example problems sheets.

“This seems like it’d be important. Is it actually the way that the tests are gonna be?”

“As far as I can tell.” I shrugged. He nodded.

“Okay. Maybe make a list of what’s asked in these questions?” My eyes widened.

“Oh my word, how did I not think of that?” He giggled.

“Sometimes a fresh mind and a fresh pair of eyes are all you need!”

“I’ll say!” I grabbed a gel pen and a lined notepad with rainbow bubbles on it to start making that list. Eris laid a gentle hand on my arm.

“I… I think you should read through all the problems first, then go back to the beginning and start writing things down.” I gave him a grateful smile.

“You’re a lifesaver, in more ways than one.”

“It’s no problem, really! I like to help!” He smiled so big that his eyes closed.

The problems were just as confusing before, but I carefully read through every word, taking note of repeated concepts. I made it to about problem seven before I started breathing heavier, thinking once again of just how out of my depth I was, and how hard it would be to pass those exams, and there might be intimidating people there, and I only had a few days left to prepare and—

Eris gently head-butted me, nuzzling into my shoulder.

“Take a drink of water?” His words were muffled in my sleeve. I stared down at him.

“Why?”

“You’re getting all caught up in your fears. Amir says water distracts you from your thoughts and makes you focus on the action of drinking. Maybe it’ll pull you out of your head. Take a drink of water. For me?” My hand shook a little as I reached for the canteen and brought it up to my mouth. I focused on the cold water moving across my tongue, then into my throat, and how the muscles in my neck and throat felt while I swallowed. It was so cold that I could feel as it went down my esophagus and into my stomach. I slowly set the canteen back down. As soon as I did, Eris locked his arms around my opposite shoulder, going under one arm and over the other. 

“You can do it,” he whispered. I felt my heart squeeze.

“Thank you, kiddo.”

I managed to make it to problem nineteen before Eris butted me again and motioned toward the canteen. I huffed at my own sensitivity. 

“Don’t feel bad about it! I don’t even understand half of these words! It’s definitely hard, and that makes sense. I’m just tryna help with that.”

“I know, but I wish could just— deal with my problems like a normal person.” Eris turned his head up to me with upturned eyebrows and wide eyes. They were hazel at this angle. 

“I don’t think there’s any… normal people. Hedera always tells me there’s no wrong way to deal with your problems as long as you’re not hurting anyone.” I made a helpless face.

“I guess— ugh, I guess you’re right.” He just held me tighter.

“You got this.” 

Every so many problems, Eris had to remind me to drink or take some breaths. By the fifth correction, I was getting used to it, and the next time I felt overwhelmed, I did it without him asking me. He smiled and nuzzled further into my shoulder. 

“How many are there?”

“Forty-five.” I said, a miserable undertone in my voice.

“Hey, you’re gonna be good! Don’t worry! I’m here to be your friend, and you can start on the list as soon you get there. You just wanna read it twice so that you makes sure you don’t miss anything important.”

“I know, little guy. Thank you.” It took us a while, but we finally, finally made it to question forty-five. I already had about five themes and concepts that had stuck out to me because of how often they were repeated, so I put those first at the top of the list.

“1. All human magic users are classified as one race, “commanders”, regardless of  affiliation.

2. Humans without natural command who practice manufactured command are called “practitioners” (and that’s what I am)

3. Since I’m gunning for the practitioners’ classes, I’ll mainly need to know about their methods. The main methods are; specific, complex hand movements; drawing diagrams, sigils, transmutation circles, glyphs, and runes; combining reagents as components, sort of like a potion; and the spoken word.

4. All the other types of visual magic are made up of runes, which originate from the demon and fae written languages, as well as drawing from draconic, aquatic (which is apparently mermaid language), and the ‘evocative languages’ of other magical races. The spoken word magic also draws on these resources.

5. Commanders, fae, demons, and other beings with a natural command over a magical force, all draw magic from their own realm. No matter where they currently are, their energy is intertwined with the magic of their own realm, and they channel it through themselves by directing their energy. Practitioners use outside methods of channeling the energy around them. That means whatever realm they’re in, that is what they are drawing magic from.”

I looked down at my handiwork with at least some measure of satisfaction.

“I’d say that covers the most important bits. Now I can try to work on some nuances…” Eris shook his head vigorously.

“You should find where these facts are talked about in your books and articles and stuff and go back over those parts. Highlight them with something pretty! Copy them off onto your notes! Make sure you know all those parts really well! Then you can try to work on some— smaller thingies.” I sighed.

“I guess so…”

“Take a drink of water now— in fact, maybe you should have some sweet drink to celebrate!” I smiled.

“That sounds nice.” He grinned big and pretty at me. 

“Hang on, I can make you some tea! Meantimes, maybe work on your five facts. You could give yourself a sticker you like for each one you feel like you really learn!”

“Will do, captain!” I flashed him a grin. The hopeless, emotionally dead feeling in my chest and the pit of my stomach was conspicuously lacking. 

“Just don’t burn the kitchen down,” I remembered to caution as I turned back to the books.

“I’m not gonna!” He protested. 

“I know how to make tea, Hedera and I pretty much live off it.”

“But do you know how to work a stove?” He fumbled for a second.

“We-ell, no, n-not exactly… but Amir has told me how they work before!”

“I do not trust you not to hurt yourself, my friend—“ I got up and dragged the book I was working on with me to the kitchen, supervising Eris as he very exaggeratedly and slowly, to prove that he knew exactly what he was doing, set my little heat-proof glass kettle on the stove, filled it with water, and started it. Then he pulled from his brown leather satchel at his waist, which I hadn’t even noticed he still had on him, a little pouch of dried leaves.

“Hedera and I grow these as magic practice, so some of them are a little funny sometimes, but these are the nice ones.” He informed me as he got down two mugs for us. He swiveled his head around the kitchen and then asked

“Do you have any cloths that you don’t mind getting a lil’ bit stained?”

“Sure,” I motioned to the cupboard where I kept my rags. “Just pick the most beat-up looking ones.”

He lined the mugs with two raggedy cloths and crushed the leaves into the bottoms of them. 

“There we go! Now we can drain the tea leaves out when they’re done steeping.”

“Mmm.” I smiled at him.

“Thank you.” He grinned, silly and sideways. 

“You don’t have to thank me, Traveler! I wanted to do it!”

“I know but—“ the water for the tea started boiling. Eris placed a finger over my lips, effectively shutting me up.

“Shhh! Okay, now I gotta take care of this.”

Careful not to touch the hot parts, he took the kettle by the handle and poured the hot water into the mugs. 

Once the tea leaf fragments were drained, Eris had somehow managed to turn the bitter leaf water into something delectable with sweetener and cream, and we sat at the table sipping our little “health potions” as I began thinking of them. (Though to be honest, I thought it might actually be a health potion at first— it made me feel that much better.) After he finished his warm drink, Eris got even more cuddly than before, squishing his cheek against me and closing his eyes. Soon enough, I heard his breathing grow more and more slow and even until he was almost snoring softly. He’d fallen asleep with his arms locked around me. I looked down at his calm, peaceful face and smiled, pressing a small kiss to the top of his head. It helped to have him close, breathing a slow, calming rhythm against my side, his warmth almost like a constant reminder to slow down and take it a little easier. Take a breath and a step back if need be. For the first time that day, I actually got into the zone. Time didn’t seem real as I lost myself in the materials, taking pages after pages of notes, marking down and tabling for later the things that didn’t make sense at first so as not to lose my rhythm. 

It was quite the shock when I finally set down my pen and looked at the time. And looking out the window I saw that it was already getting dark. Careful not to wake Eris, I reached over half the table with my ink-covered dominant hand and grabbed my phone. 

‘Eris is asleep— think it’s about time to come get him?’ 

It took a few minutes to get a response. As I waited I gently stroked Eris’ hair and stared pensively out the window, and then a notification with Amir’s nickname popped up on my locked screen again.

‘I think so

Hedera would probably prefer him back before the sun goes down completely’ 

‘Seems reasonable’

‘I’ll just teleport to you, if that’s alright— address?’

I sent him my address.

I gently shook Eris’ shoulder to wake him.

“Amir’s gonna be here soon to take you home, buddy…” he blinked hazily and continued clinging to my arm as I stood up.

“Mm, okay…” I grabbed my phone and half-led, half-dragged Eris through my kitchen.  Whipping out the phone, I texted

‘I’ll just come out to the front with him’ to Amir and opened the door to find him standing there. Despite the recent less-than-autumnal weather, he was wearing a pair of black leggings and a warm maroon sweater that had glittery strands woven into the rest of the fabric, a heart cutout, and sleeves that billowed out before being sharply cut off by a wrist cuff of fabric. He tapped his ankle-length boot.

“Well, aren’t you going to come out to the front?” I rolled my eyes.

“Front, I’m gay.” I said in a monotone. He golf-clapped at me. Smug bastard.

“Very good, very good.” He held out his arms for the still half-asleep Eris, and his whole snarky demeanor changed. He leaned down and cocked his head.

“Hey buddy… you ready to go home? Did you have a nice time with our Traveler?” Eris nodded drowsily.

“They did so good… I think I helped a lil’ bit…”

“You helped bunches, kiddo.” I reassured him, awkwardly snaking my arm out from his grip and allowing Amir to wrap his arms around him and hold him close. He looked so peaceful, cheek squished and hands nestled against Amir’s side. 

“You’re a lifesaver.” I whispered to him.

“Get much done?” Amir smiled at us both. I laughed softly.

“I think I absorbed more actual knowledge in the time he was here than I did in the whole day and half I tried to study before.” 

“He took a looooong nap, huh?” He said, looking at how out-of-it Eris was. I nodded, smiling at him.

“Almost three hours.”

“He’s really taken a liking to you,” he slid an arm under Eris’ legs, which looked significantly less human than they had when he arrived. I waved.

“Bye, little friend!” 

“Eris, oh Eris… your glamour could use some work,” he clicked his tongue. 

“So that’s what his illusion spell is called!” 

“Mhm,” Amir nodded, seeming distracted. He drew a circle in the ground with his toe, like he was planning something out— then he nodded and a low, nasal hum emanated from him. It felt like a solid something passed through me, and I cocked my head at Amir.

“What was that?” Amir winked at me.

“Demons are oft purported to be uncannily good at warding. I just warded this whole area— after all, if you’re going to be learning magic, you may have a mishap or two, and it would be awful if a neighbor were to hear of it or see it.”

“I haven’t even gotten in yet…” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Oh, but you will~!” He and Eris disappeared, the dim light revealing a small spark left in their wake. I watched as it dissipated with the last of the day’s sun. The sunsets were coming earlier and earlier these days. Finally, I went back inside and closed my door. I still had work to do.

…Apologies for the lore dump… anyway…

I’m not gonna lie, I had some trouble with this one! Big shoutout to BFF for helping me figure out what felt so wrong about the writing at first and thus leading me to fix it! Also she wants me to remind all of you that she has laid a claim on all of the LR characters and they are all hers! 😂

Thank you very much for reading! Next upload will be exactly one week from now! And I can actually guarantee that this time! 😅

[the-realms-master]

Studying For Entry Exams With A Sweet Fae Friend

I’m alive, I swear I’m alive!!!!! It has been… like, two months since I posted a chapter of Layered Realms. Apologies for that— life decided to kick my ass in every possible way around mid July and things are only just recently settling into place more. But!!!!!!! Now I can actually guarantee at least somewhat regular uploads, because I have a chapter’s worth of buffer! And yes, heheheheh, that does mean I am sitting on an entire chapter that none of you have seen yet 😏

Also, I’m aware that I gained about thirty-odd followers during the period of time that I didn’t post anything about LR, so if you’re reading this thinking “What the fuck is Layered Realms?” Then here’s your explanation! It’s an original story of mine, and here’s where you can get more info about it!

My Original Story— What’s Going On?!

Hi, I’m Mar! Nice to meet you all! If you’re reading this, it’s probably because of my recent Layered Realms post. You’re here for an explan

TUMBLR

Cw/Tw: Character is depicted kind of spiraling, not really having a panic attack but something along those lines. Other than that, I think we’re good!

Now that all of that is out of the way, I’ll stop talking your ear off and let you get reading! Chapter six, part six of Layered Realms, part five of A Traveler’s Tale.

Studying For Entry Exams With A Sweet Fae Friend 

I shoved the books, pamphlets, and articles farther away from me on the table and collapsed my head into my arms. None of this was sticking in my head, and it didn’t make any sense. I was exhausted, my brain was foggy, and I’d been working at this for hours now. These materials all seemed custom-made for people who had grown up knowing about magic, and all they really needed was a light refresher on the basics and to then delve deeper into the more obscure things that would be on the entry exams. I needed much more than a refresher on the basics, I needed an entire mastercourse. There was no way I was going to pass those tests. And then what would happen? I might not get to see Eris or Amir or Hedera ever again, and I would just have this knowledge and these books and materials that I spent way too much money on and time on, and it would all be—

I heard clomping nearby. It sounded like it was right outside my kitchen door. 

“What the…” I approached the door and peeked out.

“Eris?!” I swung open the door immediately. Unlike when I’d last seen him in the forest, he had that illusion spell or whatever it was over his legs. Granted, not as bad as a kid with goat or deer or whatever legs standing right out in broad daylight, but they still looked wonky. 

“Eris, what are you doing here?” I hissed, dragging him inside. He flashed a silly grin at me.

“I heard Amir and Hedera talking and Hedera was asking him to send you something, but he said you’d probably be stressed with studying so he’d wait. I didn’t want you to be stressed! So I came to find you!”

“How did you even—“ I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Never mind. Does anyone even know where you are??” His face fell.

“Ooh… I should have thought of that, shouldn’t I…” ‘Oh no you made the child sad, you made the child sad you idiot—‘

“I hope I didn’t worry anybody, I don’t want them to be scared for me—“

“It’s okay, buddy, I can text Amir, remember? And he can tell Hedera and anyone else who needs to know. It’s gonna be fine.” I reassured him, ruffling his curls. I walked back into my main living room, motioning him to follow. His eyes widened at the pile of printed materials on my table and I laughed a little.

“Amir was right about that, I am stressed.” I snatched my phone from on top of a book about how commanders influenced history without being found out as magic users (one of the only ones that had made some semblance of sense), went to messages, and scrolled.

‘Just in case no one knows, Eris is with me. he came to cheer me up lol’

‘Ah, excellent. Thank you for telling me Traveler— I had a pretty good guess, but it’s good to know for sure. Now Hedera won’t bite my head off. 😂’

‘😂

does he need to be back by a certain time?’

‘Just don’t keep him too long. I’ll let you know if Hedera says otherwise, though. I can come pick him up and just teleport home with him when you’re done.’

‘sounds like a plan!’

I turned back to Eris.

“Amir knows where you are now, and he says you can stay for a little bit!”

“Yay!” He scrunched up his cheeks till they nearly closed his eyes, and pulled his shoulders right up next to his ears. 

“Amir’ll come get you when it’s time to go. Until then, what do you want to do? I can put off studying for a few hours to destress, I suppose…”

Eris widened his eyes almost comically.

“Oh no Traveler! You still gotta study! You have exams in a couple days! I was just hoping I could make the studying itself less stressful…” I sighed.

“Okay then, buddy. How do you plan on doing that?” I sat back down and patted the seat next to me. He scrambled over to be next to me and had a quick look over the books. 

“The way Hedera always tells it to me is like this: when you have an overwhelming project or problem, the first thing you gotta do is break it down to ‘manageable chunks.’ Then you just take the chunks one at a time, and you’re done before you know it! It’s like cutting up your food before you eat it!”

“I guess that makes sense…” I sighed. Eris smiled at me.

“And… this is my wisdom, so don’t take it quite as seriously, but if I can make it pretty and fun, I think it makes it feel better even when you’re doing hard things.”

“How would you suggest we do that?”

“First off, Traveler, you should drink water and get yourself a lil’ snack.” He commanded firmly. “Amir always says he can’t focus with an empty stomach.” I rolled my eyes and barely contained a sigh. ‘Does Eris even know what Amir eats?’

“Okay, little man.” He followed me around the kitchen as I assembled a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, ate it, and filled a canteen with ice and water.

“Yay!” He said as we settled back in at the table.

“Now. Do you have cute stickers and writing pads?” He asked with big, shiny eyes.

“Mm— somewhere…” I remembered one of my friends had given me a bunch of cute office and study supplies back when we thought I was actually going to have enough money to go college right away.

“Hang on.” I got up and began rummaging in one of my drawers. Somewhere in here, maybe at the very bottom—

“Here we go!”  I tossed the pack of notecards and stickers onto the table in front of us.

“Yay!” Eris clapped his hands and and eagerly attacked the plastic shrink-wrap. 

“These are cute! Okay, now try breaking this problem into chunks?” He looked over the whole stack of materials and singled out the example problems sheets.

“This seems like it’d be important. Is it actually the way that the tests are gonna be?”

“As far as I can tell.” I shrugged. He nodded.

“Okay. Maybe make a list of what’s asked in these questions?” My eyes widened.

“Oh my word, how did I not think of that?” He giggled.

“Sometimes a fresh mind and a fresh pair of eyes are all you need!”

“I’ll say!” I grabbed a gel pen and a lined notepad with rainbow bubbles on it to start making that list. Eris laid a gentle hand on my arm.

“I… I think you should read through all the problems first, then go back to the beginning and start writing things down.” I gave him a grateful smile.

“You’re a lifesaver, in more ways than one.”

“It’s no problem, really! I like to help!” He smiled so big that his eyes closed.

The problems were just as confusing before, but I carefully read through every word, taking note of repeated concepts. I made it to about problem seven before I started breathing heavier, thinking once again of just how out of my depth I was, and how hard it would be to pass those exams, and there might be intimidating people there, and I only had a few days left to prepare and—

Eris gently head-butted me, nuzzling into my shoulder.

“Take a drink of water?” His words were muffled in my sleeve. I stared down at him.

“Why?”

“You’re getting all caught up in your fears. Amir says water distracts you from your thoughts and makes you focus on the action of drinking. Maybe it’ll pull you out of your head. Take a drink of water. For me?” My hand shook a little as I reached for the canteen and brought it up to my mouth. I focused on the cold water moving across my tongue, then into my throat, and how the muscles in my neck and throat felt while I swallowed. It was so cold that I could feel as it went down my esophagus and into my stomach. I slowly set the canteen back down. As soon as I did, Eris locked his arms around my opposite shoulder, going under one arm and over the other. 

“You can do it,” he whispered. I felt my heart squeeze.

“Thank you, kiddo.”

I managed to make it to problem nineteen before Eris butted me again and motioned toward the canteen. I huffed at my own sensitivity. 

“Don’t feel bad about it! I don’t even understand half of these words! It’s definitely hard, and that makes sense. I’m just tryna help with that.”

“I know, but I wish could just— deal with my problems like a normal person.” Eris turned his head up to me with upturned eyebrows and wide eyes. They were hazel at this angle. 

“I don’t think there’s any… normal people. Hedera always tells me there’s no wrong way to deal with your problems as long as you’re not hurting anyone.” I made a helpless face.

“I guess— ugh, I guess you’re right.” He just held me tighter.

“You got this.” 

Every so many problems, Eris had to remind me to drink or take some breaths. By the fifth correction, I was getting used to it, and the next time I felt overwhelmed, I did it without him asking me. He smiled and nuzzled further into my shoulder. 

“How many are there?”

“Forty-five.” I said, a miserable undertone in my voice.

“Hey, you’re gonna be good! Don’t worry! I’m here to be your friend, and you can start on the list as soon you get there. You just wanna read it twice so that you makes sure you don’t miss anything important.”

“I know, little guy. Thank you.” It took us a while, but we finally, finally made it to question forty-five. I already had about five themes and concepts that had stuck out to me because of how often they were repeated, so I put those first at the top of the list.

“1. All human magic users are classified as one race, “commanders”, regardless of  affiliation.

2. Humans without natural command who practice manufactured command are called “practitioners” (and that’s what I am)

3. Since I’m gunning for the practitioners’ classes, I’ll mainly need to know about their methods. The main methods are; specific, complex hand movements; drawing diagrams, sigils, transmutation circles, glyphs, and runes; combining reagents as components, sort of like a potion; and the spoken word.

4. All the other types of visual magic are made up of runes, which originate from the demon and fae written languages, as well as drawing from draconic, aquatic (which is apparently mermaid language), and the ‘evocative languages’ of other magical races. The spoken word magic also draws on these resources.

5. Commanders, fae, demons, and other beings with a natural command over a magical force, all draw magic from their own realm. No matter where they currently are, their energy is intertwined with the magic of their own realm, and they channel it through themselves by directing their energy. Practitioners use outside methods of channeling the energy around them. That means whatever realm they’re in, that is what they are drawing magic from.”

I looked down at my handiwork with at least some measure of satisfaction.

“I’d say that covers the most important bits. Now I can try to work on some nuances…” Eris shook his head vigorously.

“You should find where these facts are talked about in your books and articles and stuff and go back over those parts. Highlight them with something pretty! Copy them off onto your notes! Make sure you know all those parts really well! Then you can try to work on some— smaller thingies.” I sighed.

“I guess so…”

“Take a drink of water now— in fact, maybe you should have some sweet drink to celebrate!” I smiled.

“That sounds nice.” He grinned big and pretty at me. 

“Hang on, I can make you some tea! Meantimes, maybe work on your five facts. You could give yourself a sticker you like for each one you feel like you really learn!”

“Will do, captain!” I flashed him a grin. The hopeless, emotionally dead feeling in my chest and the pit of my stomach was conspicuously lacking. 

“Just don’t burn the kitchen down,” I remembered to caution as I turned back to the books.

“I’m not gonna!” He protested. 

“I know how to make tea, Hedera and I pretty much live off it.”

“But do you know how to work a stove?” He fumbled for a second.

“We-ell, no, n-not exactly… but Amir has told me how they work before!”

“I do not trust you not to hurt yourself, my friend—“ I got up and dragged the book I was working on with me to the kitchen, supervising Eris as he very exaggeratedly and slowly, to prove that he knew exactly what he was doing, set my little heat-proof glass kettle on the stove, filled it with water, and started it. Then he pulled from his brown leather satchel at his waist, which I hadn’t even noticed he still had on him, a little pouch of dried leaves.

“Hedera and I grow these as magic practice, so some of them are a little funny sometimes, but these are the nice ones.” He informed me as he got down two mugs for us. He swiveled his head around the kitchen and then asked

“Do you have any cloths that you don’t mind getting a lil’ bit stained?”

“Sure,” I motioned to the cupboard where I kept my rags. “Just pick the most beat-up looking ones.”

He lined the mugs with two raggedy cloths and crushed the leaves into the bottoms of them. 

“There we go! Now we can drain the tea leaves out when they’re done steeping.”

“Mmm.” I smiled at him.

“Thank you.” He grinned, silly and sideways. 

“You don’t have to thank me, Traveler! I wanted to do it!”

“I know but—“ the water for the tea started boiling. Eris placed a finger over my lips, effectively shutting me up.

“Shhh! Okay, now I gotta take care of this.”

Careful not to touch the hot parts, he took the kettle by the handle and poured the hot water into the mugs. 

Once the tea leaf fragments were drained, Eris had somehow managed to turn the bitter leaf water into something delectable with sweetener and cream, and we sat at the table sipping our little “health potions” as I began thinking of them. (Though to be honest, I thought it might actually be a health potion at first— it made me feel that much better.) After he finished his warm drink, Eris got even more cuddly than before, squishing his cheek against me and closing his eyes. Soon enough, I heard his breathing grow more and more slow and even until he was almost snoring softly. He’d fallen asleep with his arms locked around me. I looked down at his calm, peaceful face and smiled, pressing a small kiss to the top of his head. It helped to have him close, breathing a slow, calming rhythm against my side, his warmth almost like a constant reminder to slow down and take it a little easier. Take a breath and a step back if need be. For the first time that day, I actually got into the zone. Time didn’t seem real as I lost myself in the materials, taking pages after pages of notes, marking down and tabling for later the things that didn’t make sense at first so as not to lose my rhythm. 

It was quite the shock when I finally set down my pen and looked at the time. And looking out the window I saw that it was already getting dark. Careful not to wake Eris, I reached over half the table with my ink-covered dominant hand and grabbed my phone. 

‘Eris is asleep— think it’s about time to come get him?’ 

It took a few minutes to get a response. As I waited I gently stroked Eris’ hair and stared pensively out the window, and then a notification with Amir’s nickname popped up on my locked screen again.

‘I think so

Hedera would probably prefer him back before the sun goes down completely’ 

‘Seems reasonable’

‘I’ll just teleport to you, if that’s alright— address?’

I sent him my address.

I gently shook Eris’ shoulder to wake him.

“Amir’s gonna be here soon to take you home, buddy…” he blinked hazily and continued clinging to my arm as I stood up.

“Mm, okay…” I grabbed my phone and half-led, half-dragged Eris through my kitchen.  Whipping out the phone, I texted

‘I’ll just come out to the front with him’ to Amir and opened the door to find him standing there. Despite the recent less-than-autumnal weather, he was wearing a pair of black leggings and a warm maroon sweater that had glittery strands woven into the rest of the fabric, a heart cutout, and sleeves that billowed out before being sharply cut off by a wrist cuff of fabric. He tapped his ankle-length boot.

“Well, aren’t you going to come out to the front?” I rolled my eyes.

“Front, I’m gay.” I said in a monotone. He golf-clapped at me. Smug bastard.

“Very good, very good.” He held out his arms for the still half-asleep Eris, and his whole snarky demeanor changed. He leaned down and cocked his head.

“Hey buddy… you ready to go home? Did you have a nice time with our Traveler?” Eris nodded drowsily.

“They did so good… I think I helped a lil’ bit…”

“You helped bunches, kiddo.” I reassured him, awkwardly snaking my arm out from his grip and allowing Amir to wrap his arms around him and hold him close. He looked so peaceful, cheek squished and hands nestled against Amir’s side. 

“You’re a lifesaver.” I whispered to him.

“Get much done?” Amir smiled at us both. I laughed softly.

“I think I absorbed more actual knowledge in the time he was here than I did in the whole day and half I tried to study before.” 

“He took a looooong nap, huh?” He said, looking at how out-of-it Eris was. I nodded, smiling at him.

“Almost three hours.”

“He’s really taken a liking to you,” he slid an arm under Eris’ legs, which looked significantly less human than they had when he arrived. I waved.

“Bye, little friend!” 

“Eris, oh Eris… your glamour could use some work,” he clicked his tongue. 

“So that’s what his illusion spell is called!” 

“Mhm,” Amir nodded, seeming distracted. He drew a circle in the ground with his toe, like he was planning something out— then he nodded and a low, nasal hum emanated from him. It felt like a solid something passed through me, and I cocked my head at Amir.

“What was that?” Amir winked at me.

“Demons are oft purported to be uncannily good at warding. I just warded this whole area— after all, if you’re going to be learning magic, you may have a mishap or two, and it would be awful if a neighbor were to hear of it or see it.”

“I haven’t even gotten in yet…” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Oh, but you will~!” He and Eris disappeared, the dim light revealing a small spark left in their wake. I watched as it dissipated with the last of the day’s sun. The sunsets were coming earlier and earlier these days. Finally, I went back inside and closed my door. I still had work to do.

…Apologies for the lore dump… anyway…

I’m not gonna lie, I had some trouble with this one! Big shoutout to BFF for helping me figure out what felt so wrong about the writing at first and thus leading me to fix it! Also she wants me to remind all of you that she has laid a claim on all of the LR characters and they are all hers! 😂

Thank you very much for reading! Next upload will be exactly one week from now! And I can actually guarantee that this time! 😅

[oonajaeadira]

For the Love of Fic: June 20

Had me a long week of drowning at work, starting up a new show, and then a long weekend of continuous obligations. TBH, I’m surprised I got this much read. But how could I stay away? I want to show you what I loved this week!

PERO TOVAR

All’s Faire - chapter one and chapter two by @thewayofthemandalorian  Okay, first of all, can we all agree that this is a fantastic title for a modern Pero story about putting on a medieval faire? And that unspoken “in love and war” lingers in this enemies to lovers setup, giving me the tingles in the same way these first chapters did. Pulling up a chair now. I am ready for this. Yas. Bring it.

We Can Climb So High by @writeforfandoms  A year ago in her Born to be Wild universe, Jen brought Pero through time to land in a Ren faire. And now that he’s learned to much about the modern world, reader takes him back there. And they get the best souvenir ever. I love her modern!Pero so much. No exceptions here.

The SFW Alphabet of Little Red’s Shadow by @littlemisspascal​ I love the LRS universe and will always want more content on it. Knowing how much Pero loves his Red, just sends me. I love a gruff man who cannot find the words but feels love pull him with every fiber of his being. Devotion and protection in spades here, which is just how I like my grump.

.

MULTI

How Did You Love 6 by @writeforfandoms  In this chapter, Frankie comes to the fore with his gentleness and melancholy, a comfortable friend. I’m eager to learn more about what this process is all about. If dreams were always part of the schedule, then what’s next on the agenda?

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DIETER BRAVO 

That’s Not Your Name: Part 9: Facing the Music  and Epilogue: Legal Names (again) by @blueeyesatnight Now that is a satisfying ending. Watching Dieter finally learn the hard lesson and still win? Getting the people he loves the most because he finally spoke up and stopped being so damn scared of love or messing someone else up? Dieter! That’s what love is! The chance that everything will end in disaster! But it’s worth the risk and I’m glad he took it. I really needed this little fam to fam up so hard.

Funny Girl - Saturday by @radiowallet  Live from New York, it’s MY HEART IN A VICE. Saturday is here and the feels are at a twisting high. The sex is desperate and hot and full of wants and I have now cast off all earthy possessions to follow Cat around the world and plant flowers in the shadows of her footfalls. 

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THE THIEF

Materials of a Thief - Tweed (Part 3.5) by @honestly-shite I love sugar daddy Thief. He just wants to treat someone wonderfully and wants to be treated well in return and that agreement makes him so warm, so comforting to be around. A night out at the theater sounds like a dream even it his suit is a scratchy tweed. But even if his suit is a scratchy tweed, of course he stuns in it, just as he does in every one of these stories.

.

EZRA

Seven Tears part 5 and At Sea by @grogusmum  Finally, these two are getting some time alone with the help of those who know how good they are for each other and away from all the folks that wish to keep them apart. Oh to have a little cottage by the sea for a selkie!Ezra and me... And then to have him feral sex me in the waters? STOP I AM DED.

.

[qvid-pro-qvo]

downpour

so i've wanted to pound something out for a while, and decided as an exercise to write something as silly and cheesy and dramatic as sensational and possible while i’m sure barely making sense. settled for a kiss in the rain, and this is what happened. aaron hotchner x gender neutral reader.

word count: 1424

rating: e for everyone, because everyone needs a little melodrama (mentions of gun violence and wounds, but only mentioned; hurt/comfort).

-

There’s no end in sight. Everywhere you look, in every direction, clouds heavy with rain stretch across the sky. At this point all you can do is wait for the breaking point, thunder echoing throughout the valley.

The door to the precinct opens. There’s a brief pause, and then another person joins you on the sidewalk.

Aaron.

You can barely look at him. He doesn’t say anything, but you know it’s only a matter of time. After all, he’s the one who took the hit that was meant for you, and you’re the one who’s pissed about it.

He won’t apologize, you know that much. Just as sure as the rain will come, Aaron Hotchner will refuse to apologize for something he deems necessary. Never mind the fact that the shot wouldn’t have killed you, a bullet in the vest minor compared to the shot in the arm he took instead. Never the fact that the last thing you want to give him is another scar. Aaron Hotchner decided it was worth the risk, so fuck everyone and everything else.

He’s the unit chief. What he says goes.

It didn’t used to be like this either. When you started dating, you both refused to let it alter the field, the job, or the BAU.

Another crack. The storm inches closer. You see a flash of lightning. Any second now.

“Is this how it’s going to be the whole way home?” he asks. You feel the undercurrent of sarcasm. “Barely able to look at each other?”

“Guess that’s my business,” you shoot back. “I just follow orders.”

“Don’t.” Aaron’s voice is tight, and it makes you turn your head. His eyes are still on the horizon, but you see the tick of his jaw. “Don’t pretend like it doesn’t matter.”

Your eyes just roll. “Is that what you think? It doesn’t matter to me what happens to you?” Your laugh is hollow, and you turn back towards the precinct, shaking your head and taking a step away. “Thought you were a better profiler than that. A better boyfriend than that.”

A hand grabs your arm. The grip is tight, and immediately fury runs through you. You whip to face him, eyes wide, brow furrowed, and you’re met with… shining eyes.

“Please don’t walk away. From this. From me.”

“Let go of my arm, Hotchner.” You’re shaking with anger. When he doesn’t move, your voice hardens to steel. “Let go.”

He does. You yank your shoulder away from him, but it doesn’t faze him. “Talk to me. Please, just say what you’re thinking.”

“When we’re out in the field, I have to follow your orders. And I trust you enough to do that, Aaron,” you snap. Your hand lifts to poke a finger in his direction, inches from hitting his chest, his heart. “But right here, right now, you don’t get to tell me how to feel. Do you understand me? I reserve the right to be fucking pissed off when you do something stupid and self-sacrificial, you asshole.”

There’s a crack in the sky. A flash. For a moment, you see every feature on his pale face.

“You’re worried about me?” It’s a simple response, and yet, your hands are thrown to the sky, right as you feel the first drops fall.

“Of course I’m worried!” you yell, the pitter-patter of early sprinkles hitting your face. “How the hell am I supposed to feel comfortable going into the field when I know at any moment it’s your life for mine?”

“I will not stand by when I can do something to protect you!” Aaron shouts back, over another clap of thunder. “It’s not trading lives, it’s being there for you in the field.”

“I’m a fucking supervisory special agent, the same as you!” You feel your hair start to stick to your forehead, watch as his gel starts to melt away as the rain picks up power. “There was no reason to take that shot for me, I know the risks!”

There it is. The root of what frustrates you. You’re an agent, the same as him, and yet he can’t trust you enough to believe you know what you got yourself into.

The chill settles in almost immediately - no warm rain, gentle against your forehead. It’s a torrent, pounding against your body. Your shirt is soaked through, you can see his bandages through his shirt.

“I know the risks… of this - this job. But I need you to trust me, or else I can’t do that job. And I want to do this job. With you.”

It bears repeating. Because you’re looking at the way his lashes are sticking together, at the way his pain is etched into every line on his face. You’re still so angry, still so scared, but. You can’t pull away from him. Can’t break his gaze.

“I do trust you,” Aaron says. His voice almost inaudible over the downpour. His head shakes. “I never stopped trusting you. You’re a good agent, a great profiler.”

It shoots through you. Warms your chest, despite the way you’ve started to shiver because of the rain. “But?”

“But I realized love you, too.”

Silence. You can’t speak. Can barely think. Of course you’d suspected, the push and pull between you palpable. But it’s different hearing it. The words spoken aloud. When you try, you’re stuck closing your mouth again, just blinking as he pushes on. “I lost someone I loved,” Aaron tells you. “I won’t do that again. I can’t do that again. And when I saw that gun aimed at you - I didn’t think. I couldn’t think. I saw you, and I saw a life without you, and… and it scared me.”

“But you thought me losing you would be better,” you interpret. Gazing up at him. Eyes narrowing. “That’s the solution?”

When did he step closer to you? You’re almost chest to chest, and you can see the way the rain catches on the bridge of his nose, his Cupid’s bow. “I don’t know what the solution is. But that’s how I feel. That’s why I did what I did.”

You don’t know what to say. So you decide against saying anything at all. There’s a pounding of thunder, a snap of lightning, and then you’re grabbing Aaron’s lapels.

“You can’t be selfish.” It’s urgent, when you say it. “You can’t do that. It’s not a trade, your life for mine, or the other way around. Because I love you, too, and if I lost you on a stupid case -” Your voice falters, cracks, and then you’re yanking him forward, lips against his.

A kiss in the rain. Like the movies, high melodrama. But it’s what you need, in this moment, to remind yourself that he’s still here. You feel him push a breath through his nose, and then his uninjured arm is lifting to cup your cheek, your jaw, pushing forward to kiss you back, firm and fierce.

You taste the rain.

You taste him.

When you pull back, your arms are covered in goosebumps, your breath is coming in short, sharp gasps, and the rain against your skin feels like ice. But you can’t move inside, not when it’d take you away from him. You laugh, a little hysterical, and you see his smile, too, like the sun peeking through the clouds.

“The solution is that we do what we’ve always done,” you tell him. “We trust each other. Even now, especially now. Trust that we know what we have to do in this job. You have to trust that I will do the job in a way that’s effective and safe, and I have to trust that you’ll do the same and let your team do what needs to be done. Because I trust my unit chief, I trust my boyfriend, I trust you. And I love you.”

His hand doesn’t leave your face, simply moves to cup your chin so he can kiss you once more, gentle and sweet.

“I trust you,” he murmurs against your lips. “And I love you. So much.”

“Now can we please, please go to the hotel? If I’m in the rain anymore, I’m pretty positive I’ll freeze.”

It’s his turn to laugh, nod, pulling you against him, and you breathe him in as best you can through his waterlogged clothes before moving towards the SUV. “Okay. But I’m driving.”

“With one arm?” You smile up at him. Have to say it again. “I love you, Aaron Hotchner. But not a chance.”

-

taglist: @duchesschameleon // @altsvu // @winterscaptain // @tamarastevie // @ssaic-jareau // @megans-txmblr // @mijop // @1234-angelika // @kelstark // @nuvoleincielo // @wanniiieeee // @arianmock13-blog // @averyhotchner // @barbasbodaciousbeard // @xxlovingfandomsxx // @mad-girl-without-a-box // @itsgrishamagic // @joanofarkansass // @aayaissaa // @prettypyschoinpink // @andreasworlsboring101 // @zheezs14 // @hurricanejjareau // @teamhappyme

want to be tagged when i post works? here’s my taglist form.

[1eos]

I knew it was her! because seriously that’s her whole twt. she thinks she’s somebody since she has one of the big followings of starlights on twt and has liked vixx since 2013. not her trying to tell them that the “fold him like origami” is a joke and they should accept it as one. Oh, she’s got this I guess obsession with the actor who is playing the ceo who’s also 10yr younger (she thinks hes hot that is very subjective) and his love interest costar in the bl, she’s always mentioning his height and thinks they’re gonna me kissing each other like it’s that well know popular bl and if it happens she’s gonna combust. she even tweeted the taeknyangi cushion with a large knife up to it and said give me the drama updates or he dies.. I’m just like ..okay 😶 making jokes is fine but when you make these types of jokes your whole personality it’s weird. btw she’s a wontaek supporter shipper whatever you wanna call it ….byeee. sorry for dumping this all on you but I’m so glad you see how weird she is because I feel like no one else does and I’m like how can you not seeeee itttt

~🔮

pls don't apologize. i absolutely hate most international starlights on twitter so any justification is truly a gift. but yeahhhhh i wasnt fucking w her beyond translations bc atp i can sniff fetishism from a mile away. and ik its fetishism bc they all have the same MO. i just knew she was an lr shipper bc she calls leo a tiny baby twink which means even tho leo was, and might still be bigger than [redacted] that's his top 🙄and when i was looking for her fan call again i saw that she got called out for babying people before and said its normal (not the way you do it bitch) AND i saw she had the nerve to call out ppl who treat hakyeon as the 'woman' in their ships nd its like girl you are literally doing the same exact thing to leo. you are quite literally erasing aspects of reality to make him the bottom bitch to whatever man is convenient at the moment.

and its like yeah ppl call their faves cringe nicknames to play around. and yeah people get excited about projects. and yeah some ppl joke abt x and y fucking around bc theyre acting too friendly but others have every right not to like it. EXPECIALLY when you have nothing to say except for some infantilizing yet sexual???? shit ppl are gonna be weirded out. as a hater im so glad exols got on that ass bc bitch you're WEIRD. gun to her head you ask anything abt leo you not gone get nothing but 'he's a baby' 😭😭😭😭😭 'whats your fave song' 'he's a baby' cmon now

[rigelmejo]

fyi if anyone besides me IS trying out the Listening Reading Method - I have some tips you can read if you want (or feel free to ignore):

you should see significant progress within 30 hours. If you started as an absolute beginner, did what the guide suggests beforehand (learned some common words like a few hundred, looked at a pronunciation guide, looked at a basic grammar summary), then you should see SOME progress. If after 30 hours you don’t see any - you might be doing it wrong (or its not a method that works for you in which case don’t feel u need to waste ur time on it when other stuff might help you more). (http://users.bestweb.net/~siom/martian_mountain/!%20L-R%20the%20most%20important%20passages.htm)

Someone did L R Method as an absolute beginner in Italian (they already knew french, english). They took tests - were A1 when they started L R Method. They did about 30 hours of L R Method. They took a test again and scored B1. So 30 hours should see SIGNIFICANT progress for a language reasonably close to yours, and SOME clear progress I’d imagine even if it’s a less common language (even some gains from absolute beginner to A1-A2 would be solid and noticeable). (https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1721&p=99415#p99415)

Someone tried to L R Method mandarin as a proof of concept. So they only did several hours, and used The Little Prince (which is much simpler writing/language than the L R Method article recommends using). This is their results: “I tried Mandarin LR as a proof of concept a while ago. I used "The Little Prince", and did a few hours. The first couple of hours were exhausting and I was usually lost; by the end, I was associating quite a few characters with their sounds, occasionally understanding sentences in real time as I read along (knowing what parts corresponded) of up to 7 characters or so, etc. Again, this was a small handful of hours, as an effectively zero-beginner; I know some Kanji, but my active Mandarin vocabulary was probably in the single digits... I think this was after I'd studied tones/Mandarin phonology relatively intensively, but I don't recall for certain.” So - within a handful of hours, someone saw language improvement in Mandarin as a total beginner (http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38593)

I personally have been trying L R Method as a beginner-intermediate ish learner. What I noticed: without a parallel text (so just using english text for step 3) I improved listening comprehension of words I already partly knew (through reading) FIRST. I also picked up some new words, but listening comprehension of words I knew improved most noticeably the first 10ish hours I did L R Method. Using Pleco’s dictation tool for step 3 (so instead of english text, I use chinese text where the english definition auto-pops up as the audio reads each word), or using a parallel text (so chinese and english visible at same time), both VASTLY improved how many new words I pick up per session. For me at least, seeing the chinese text to keep my place in the audio, and seeing easier what audio matches to what english definition, lets me learn new words faster. Since I waste much less effort trying to just keep the text/audio matched up. 

So if the effort of matching up text is draining to you (like it is to me), I recommend: getting an audiobook and chinese text that match as closely as possible. And getting either a parallel text, or using Pleco’s dictation tool in the Reader, or something similar (Pleco’s dictation tool is a lot like using a word by word chinese/english translated text). 

Step 2 seems very useful for: giving you context prior to step 3, practicing reading comprehension and reading speed, listening practice with the chinese(target language) spelling visible, and reinforcing what’s learned in prior step 3′s. 

Step 3 does seem useful the more you repeat it (I’m just lazy).

Test yourself by trying to LISTEN ONLY every once in a while. You should be noticing some improvements in your listening comprehension - the audiobook chapters you should follow more parts, a show without subtitles you might recognize more dialogue, etc. If your listening comprehension itself is not improving to some noticeable degree after 10+ hours of L R Method you may either be doing L R Method wrong, or its just not useful for you.

To see considerable progress in language abilities, it may take 50-100 hours. Or even 100-300. The article linked above, the person who does L R Method (aYa) would usually do at least 30 hours, then 50-100 for a language - eventually also doing step 4 shadowing, step 5 translating back and forth. For less-closely related languages, people mention having done it for a few hundred hours. So do NOT expect total beginner to Fluent in 30 hours. I simply mean, you should expect noticeable progress after some X milestones. After a dozen or so hours you should be able to start recognizing word boundaries with ease, some short phrases. If you’re not a total-beginner, but beginner-intermediate like me, then you should start notice much BETTER listening comprehension of words you already half-knew from reading within a few dozen hours. Then after 30-50, maybe some dialogue understanding, some common words regularly understood, etc. Again - test yourself with Listening-Only every once in a while to see if you’re actually making any progress. Also to see if you wanna ‘alter’ the L R Method to suit your needs better. Maybe you’ll find a way to do it that works better for you.

For ABSOLUTE beginners, especially in languages very different from their own, at the beginning stages simply using sentences with audio may be easier. To perhaps learn a few hundred to thousand common words first - and/or using translations that are word BY word translation right under the target language word. To help with getting used to the grammar, all the new common words, the sounds etc. So materials like Assimil probably do this - Spoonfed Chinese anki deck with its audio/text does this, Nukemarine’s LLJ audio/text deck does this, Japanese Core 2k with its audio/text does this, etc. Clozemaster app might even be a nice beginner transition tool...

For the L R Method steps - really READ them and understand what they mean. Step 3 is NOT watching a target language audio movie with english subs. It is trying to comprehend all of the audio, glancing at the translation JUST to fill in the gaps for parts you can’t manage to comprehend (so for looking up words here and there). While you’re supposed to ‘follow along’ with the translation text, you do NOT tune out the audio. The audio should be your main focus, keeping in line with the translation text is so you can REFERENCE it when you hear a word/phrase/sentence you don’t fully comprehend. And I am guessing step 3 is suggested to be done multiple times so that each time you need the translation less.

 L R Method works best with very vocabulary rich, long texts. If you use a simple text, or a short one (3 hours of audio for example), there’s only so much you’ll be able to learn from it. For example The Little Prince only has a vocabulary of 2000-3000 unique words, 1200ish hanzi in it - so even if you learned it entirely, repeating it over and over, that’s not a lot of info. Particularly if you don’t plan to repeat things, it’s probably going to serve your time better to pick rich vocabulary long texts (so you can pick up tons of words just through one pass through the book, and if you choose to repeat the book, pick up tons more words, before you start running into the rarely used words which will be harder to pick up). 

I am mentioning all this, because I saw someone who did L R method for mandarin for hundreds of hours, and does not have natural listening yet - so cannot follow a new audiobook listening-only, cannot follow a show listening-only. Considering that people have demonstrated they made some progress in 5-10 hours for Mandarin, and 30 hours for Italian, then 300 hours in Mandarin might be able to make more progress. I’ve done maybe 20-30 hours of L R Method so far, and already find I can now listen to at Least the audiobook of the book I’m L R Method-ing now without the text, and follow the main scenes fine. With simpler audio, if I have a visual cue (like acting scenes, or pictures) I find I can follow the main idea much easier than I could before. So I just think... if you are seeing very little noticeable progress after 30-50 hours, the method may not be giving you benefits as quickly as you might want a study method to show improvements. I think if something isn’t giving you some improvement after X effort, you don’t need to stick with it if something else helps you more.

Other factors that may affect this: 

I had some reading basis before I started L R Method. This might have helped me as far as how fast a rate L R Method is helping my progress. For an example: when I simply do step 2 ON ITS OWN I see improvements - because it helps me read through a chapter as fast as the audio, matches audio to the spelling I might already know, and I already can understand enough when reading at that speed to follow the general plot (so step 2 gives me context and increased plot understanding). Therefore, when I do step 3, I can really primarily put my attention on learning to recognize the SOUND of what I already understood - and on learning a few new keywords I already JUST saw and realized I didn’t know. Basically I can use L R Method to quickly pinpoint areas I’m weaker in, while practicing what I can already do. A total beginner won’t have the ‘practice what they already know’ benefit. (Genuinely though step 2 is helping my reading SO much and I know that’s in part due to my current reading comprehension level).

Also I have seen an example of someone who did L R Method while already B2 in Italian - he was aiming for C1. He noticed less drastic improvement after 40 hours - he did still notice some, like easier listening comprehension for shows and conversations. But he did not reach C1 listening/reading skills. So from this we see: L R Method might help you improve faster if you start off with more you still need to learn (which makes sense, since as the words you need to learn get rarer you will run into them less frequently in L R Method). Also, the gap from B2-C1 may be bigger than the gap from A1-B1? Also what I took from his example, is repeating step 3 multiple times becomes MORE important as you’re more intermediate-advanced. I would guess because you probably have less frequently occurring words/grammar to learn, so repeating content WITH those things in it is a way to get more exposure (whereas just going over it once then moving on is Not going to expose you to it much). Also step 3, if you really look away from the transcript for most of it, allows you to really practice listening comprehension. Also shadowing/translating, steps 4 and 5, may be of more benefit to an intermediate-advanced learner. Since shadowing may be doable for them now, and translation may be doable (and hone in on skills more). So... I would guess either the gap you have to bridge as an intermediate-advanced learner is bigger, and/or you just need to do more challenging aspects of L R Method to get similar frequency of benefits you would’ve saw at the beginning stages. 

[mikemoon-archive]

       oh heavens, is that MICHAEL MOON aka MIKE from SYCAMORE WAY i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -QUIET & -GRUMPY. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool CONCESSIONS ASSOCIATE AT DRIVE-IN MOVIE THREATER and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +OUTGOING & +ADVENTUROUS. i hope i see them around again! 『 tally. 25. gmt+4. she/her. 』@mapleviewstarters​

tw // mentions of depression

michael moon, born myungjun moon –– choi yeonjun fc

birthday: september 9, 1999 - 21 yrs old ; virgo

cis male, he/him, bisexual

born and raised in philadelphia

mike grew up being an only child, and always around the company of his mother in their house. his father was always traveling back and forth from korea to the states for work.

his parents have met at work on one of his father’s trips to the states, and they fell in love. his mother being american-born, she couldn’t really leave philadelphia. she loved it there. so they decided to keep it a long distance relationship. 

sometime during those fleeting meetings, she had gotten pregnant with michael. and of course, his father spoiled them both, giving them everything they wanted. he never left them to fend for themselves.

when the boy was born, his father named him myungjun, and his mother decided to name him michael for his english name. the nicknames jun, mike, and sometimes junnie were often heard whenever his parents or childhood friends called him. 

up until mike was five years old in 2005, he’s lived with his mother, with his father leaving and coming back for a week or two. but that year, he’s finally moved to the states and stayed with them for longer nights. he even finally married michael’s mother. of course, he still disappeared for a few days or weeks on end for work. 

but that was also the year michael’s mother found out that his father was with another woman. michael has never seen his mother break down like that before. sadly, the young boy was peering into the room when the fight happened and witnessed everything. his mother made her partner choose between the two women, and he eventually told her that he was going to divorce his first wife for her, and appeared to have gone through with his promise. because after that incident, he’s been around more often. 

michael has grown up as a cheerful and energetic child. his friends at school would tell you how much of a great friend he is, how trustworthy and caring he is. it was so easy for him to make friends anywhere. he was the type of friend how would smile at you and listen to you talk on and on about whatever you liked, and the type who would cheer you on with anything you want to achieve. he wanted everyone to feel included and loved. 

little did his friends and family know that internally he was a depressed mess. of course, no one is completely happy as they grow up. his family was a mess, even if it appeared as fine to everyone else. mike sometimes could disappear for a few days in his room, and it was always during some of his bad spells. 

what made it worse was the day he found out the truth. 

it was 2017 when michael walked into his father’s office in their house, looking for him to ask him about something. and instead of finding the man, he found a stack of papers poking from underneath his father’s laptop. upon closer look, they appeared to be divorce papers. michael’s heart sunk, thinking his parents were breaking it off. 

michael is a curious kid, he couldn’t help but close the door and read the papers. but what he saw wasn’t his mother’s name, it was another woman. his heart raced, as he put things back where they were and immediately left the room. michael had found out one of his father’s many secrets. he never divorced his first wife all those years ago. he lied and stayed with both women. 

michael couldn’t help his curiosity. he came back to the room later that night and snapped as many pictures as he could of evidence he could find. he even found his father’s phone (which was easy to figure out the password of) and found a plethora of pictures of the man with a different family, different kids and a different partner. he airdropped the pictures to himself to avoid leaving any traces behind and quickly left again. 

a quick search on facebook, and he managed to find the first wife. it was easy with the name and pictures he had. if anything, michael prided himself on being a good internet detective... or stalker. he spent everyday trying to find the rest of the family on the internet. he found the woman’s young daughter on instagram and twitter, along with her older son’s ( @daniclmoon​ ) accounts as well. 

it was a constant “now what?” for michael. he’s found them. what was he going to do now? he couldn’t just message them and tell them everything. and he couldn’t break his mother’s heart by letting her know. 

except he had to let her know. he could never live with the fact that he knew his father was betraying her this entire time. and so michael told her everything, and after comforting her all night when she broke down yet again, she immediately ended things and asked for a divorce. now it was just michael and his mother, all alone. and for once, having to get by on their own. 

thankfully they were safe, with his mother’s amazing money management skills, and a new, better job, they managed to live their regular lives despite the heavy feeling of a broken family looming around them. the two just wanted to be happy again. 

michael spent the next few years trying to lead a normal life. his mental health had gotten worse after everything he’s found out. he went to college, and he continued trying to do well in school. he really wasn’t the best when it came to grades, but he was trying his best.

and truthfully, he couldn’t help but make a few spare accounts on some social medias to follow his father’s other family. 

by early 2020, he found out that they moved to mapleview, with the older brother daniel following behind in late july. michael didn’t know why, but his impulsivity made him look up the town and eventually secure himself a place to live there in a few months time. of course, his mother was confused on why he decided to move out suddenly, and michael claimed that he wanted to go to a university near town for computer science. of course, his mother wanted to support him and let him go. although she couldn’t handle her son’s move, having gotten using to living with him all of those years. 

michael simply wanted to meet this other side of the family, he wanted to get to know them. he’s always wanted siblings for his entire life, and to know that he had an older brother and sister and a younger sister was something so fascinating to him. 

little did he know, he was going to make the mistake of pretending he wasn’t related to them. 

TD;LR

michael grew up around his mother with his father traveling a lot for work. when mike was 7, his mother found out his father was cheating and they almost broke up. he lied and said he would divorce his first wife to stay with her. years passed and in 2017, michael stumbled upon divorce papers on his father’s desk that he thought were for his parents. turns out, it for his father and another woman who he claimed he already divorced many years ago. michael ended up gathering information from his father’s office and internet stalking the family until he found out a lot about them. he didn’t have any malicious intent, since they appeared to not know about him. in 2020, he found out they moved to mapleview and ended up moving there too telling his mother that he was going to north carolina to study. he wanted to meet his father’s other family, but didn’t know that he would end up lying to them and pretending he wasn’t related to them. 

WC

michael’s childhood friends; could’ve gone to the same school or university back in philadelphia.

michael’s ex; he is bisexual, so gender doesn’t matter. they could’ve ended on a bad note, or even on a good one and ended up being friends. im really up for plotting anything. 

michael’s best friend; PLEASE i love wholesome best friend plots. it doesn’t matter if they met in mapleview or philly

michael’s neighbor; he moved here like a month ago, so they could get to know each other

michael’s co-workers/regular customers; he worked at the drive-in threater

literally anything, throw your ideas at me! 

[laerrynseelie]

TAD death/chronic illness theory

buckle up motherfuckers and blame the discord for this because this is about to get into some real fucking sad shit and it’s gonna be a very long post my apologies in advance (tw death! chronic illness! mentioning respiratory issues + tumour + hospital! please take care of yourselves)

for me, this all begins in Not Yet/Love Run, just from the words “not yet”. it’s all about someone (Mads) who is dying of a chronic illness, and the phrase “not yet” of don’t go yet, keep going, just a little longer. “it’s time to fight”, “keep running it’s up to you now”. and so through the song, they go on adventures in their head using their imagination and songs because that can’t do that irl, with 

sing me awake with a song about pirates

I’ll point you steer and we’ll rip up the map by the seams

or since you’re stuck inside, perhaps on bed rest or in a hospital “sip the sunlight from your eyes”, experience what I can’t, I’ll live vicariously through you, “sing me awake with all the things we’ll do today but instead we’ll build a den out of pillows and get drunk again” because we can’t do anything else. “run until your lungs are numb” is it a respiratory illness? “run from all you know that’s coming” is the end, connecting to this “run from all you know that’s coming”, “oh let the world come at you love”, “it’s not from what we run that drums / but what’s to come, what’s to come”. and “it’s nought that rum won’t solve / though some would harm you, none - not one - no none / will raise to you a hand nor thumb” nothing else can hurt you, or when you’re gone all this pain and suffering and hurt will end.

some more straightforward NY/LR things connecting to this is “but I held your hand as you shook in the middle of the night” “seems to me that you can’t sleep” “where is god ma” “I cannot find the words to keep you” “for all the things we wished we’d done”

let’s connect this to Pruning Shears! because why not destroy myself with my fav songs from this album first. “my entire life it’s running away too fast” is sung by Joey, and underneath Mads sings “my whole life”. her whole life is going, she’s about to die, but she’s his entire life and she’s about to go. and he’s listening to all these people talk about being rich and all this stuff that doesn’t fucking matter compared to the fact that she’s dying. “the best laid plans had it all planned” “we do each other’s laundry in our hearts sometimes” they were going to have this long, happy, domestic life, and it’s all gone straight out the window. “my fall makes no sound here”. “we don’t have time to fuck around”. “come back”. “doesn’t matter mate”. “forget the girl that she once was” “my whole life it won’t last”

this is gonna be a stretch, also with PS, but clothing from the “lost and found” because you didn’t have time to prepare? or don’t own clothing for a formal event? could it perhaps be... a funeral? and since she’s dead “yes I know you got your shoes from Oxfam” is like kinda omnipotent. “whatever you do don’t turn round” don’t watch me slowly die, or that voice you hear in your head that you think is mine isn’t, I’m gone. move on, “merry make me love forget the past”. “watching everyone I’ve ever loved walk past” she’s watching her own funeral.

“put up one hell of a fight against all my sins and the candlelight”, fighting against the illness, the “light” is death

alright so I really only made this theory for PS and NY/LR, but then I went through the other songs of Love Run and hoo boy buckle up because I am making myself sad with my own bullshit

king is preparing him for her death. she’s trying to make sure he’s okay after she’s gone “when you are gone away” “I’ll keep him safe from the dark things that wait” “rips into the bark of my bones”. is she buried at “the house at the top of the rock”?

I’ll smile as I climb the stairs (to the light) To the light that you keep burning there (all hell) And our muscles that are waltzing and our shadows that are bold sing Come rip up the flesh of my fears

is he dying to be with her? more evidence:

I know your fingernails are the colour of rust (come back) And your veins are empty of dust (but our voices)

and finally

all hell and its fire waits for us

Elsa’s Song? more funeral stuffs. 

I can hear the cannons calling As though across a dream And I can smell the smoke of hell In every stitch and seam And like flowers, the bodies tumble Around this muddied lot I cannot hear them scream ‘Forget me not.’

Because love does not exist here In this garden there’s no feeling

And in years to come you’ll wander To the place up on our hill And then you’ll cry to our painted sky ‘I loved him then, I love him still’ And you’ll strew some sage and lilies And roses where I rot Of all the flowers you picked I knew you would forget Forget-me-nots

want me to make Shower Day even sadder? I can do that! “its just a sitting down in the shower day” is already a v sad, energyless idea, could be from exhaustion, illness. but something I thought of is how people hide their tears in the shower. and he’s trying to keep himself strong for her, making sure she doesn’t see him sad. same with the other lines of the chorus

You’re the one who asked me if I’m feeling ok I said I’m fine

as well as “walk around all nonchalant”. along the same lines of her preparing him for her death:

Know you should love him but its such a pain Would have stayed if you’d had asked But instead you just walk away

You’re the one who told me to never look back Well I’m looking back and looking back And looking back and looking back at you

Pray, death, sin, yeah it all fits together real nicely. exhibit a:

Pray for me, I’ll run until I begin to understand What holy men really mean when they speak of sin 

I’m what’s left when children go to war Run from you, I’ll run until I begin to understand What holy men really mean when they speak of sand and sons and seams and symphonies and sweat and sex and sin

“when children go to war” I take as when battling a disease. also “the hearts I’ve broken” from dying when there are people who love me. very tfios, I know. staying with someone, “I’ll haunt the very wrinkles of your skin”. and finally, “my eyes are made of winter and these hands I hold are skin and bone” for eyes made of winter could be blue eyes, could be eyes drained of life, as winter seems sometimes. 

I don’t want to go into Little Miss Why So too much because it’s already so sad for me but here have some prominent lyrics

You’re going too fast You’ll burn up soon

Just to distract you 

I don’t know how to reach you when you get like this I’ve been waiting for you to come home

Full of people just pretending to be brave

You don’t see daylight anymore Something’s sucking out your core and it’s so boring

Why so sad I’m here and I’m alive Stop making up death wishes just take my life line

If I am good will you come back

it’s a lot, I know. okay, New York Torch Song! tumour. yes. 

It starts off like a pin prick A trick of the light oil slick Then grows to the size of your hand Turns you outside in Cigar burns and scar skin Ripping bone and nail and gland

connecting to this being a huge thing for both of them and trying to support the other through it but also not yet

From within this gaping wound of ours 

Can’t we just talk about this Tomorrow

I cannot find the words to keep you

and now death

But your blood does not bleed red no more

Are you god or devil

Two Minutes, another devastating song. for me it’s similar to Shower Day, of trying to be strong and not showing her how hurt he is. “give me two damn minutes and I’ll be fine”. and the “him” in the following lyrics is the illness:

If there was one place I could be right now I’d be standing there between you and him And I’ll fight you both, fight you both for the rest of my life long days

and death. again. and the bar thing I’m thinking of it sounds far away. the other dead children are calling for me to go to them.

These hands are growing cold They’re running out of things to hold

I can hear the children calling as though across the bar

and some repeats like “if you’re good will you come back” 

okay, that’s it for this theory in Love Run. I’m gonna go be sad now. goodnight.