#i like thinking about things the gang does outside of being terrible

[comedicjustice]

It’s Kinger’s Fault.

…

Twenty five. Twenty five percent of all marriages end in a divorce due to domestic abuse.

Thirty four of people in domestic abuse relationships end up dying because of it.

Now, don’t take this as me saying Kinger is physically abusive. All of the episodes thus far show that he isn’t a very physical person. Besides that one part when he had a gun- but that’s unimportant right now. Kinger never laid a hand on Queenie unless it was to embrace her in her final moments. He was a good man… but I have reason to believe he was a horrible husband.

‼️SPOILERS FOR TADC EPISODE THREE‼️

‼️YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED‼️

Episode three gave us a lot in terms of character growth for both Zooble and Kinger. While I love a good B plot that’s bound to play in edits with Will Wood songs, I want to focus on the star of this episode.. Kinger.

Kinger is a sweet guy. A little confused due to him slowly loosing his memory, but he plays an important role. He’s a good guy and always has the best intentions for others. Often comforting them when they’re feeling down. As seen with Ragatha in episode two! When Kinger had the bucket over his head and was able to revert back to himself, he found the words needed to comfort Ragatha. Then it’s shown he does the same again in episode three, where he holds and reassures Pomni. Opening up his own troubles to her.

What a sweet guy!! Telling her all this things like-

“You’re very strong, Pomni.”

“Things will be okay.”

“The worst thing you can do is make someone feel like they’re not loved or wanted-”

I’m sorry.. WHAT?! That usually isn’t something you say to someone while retelling your own story and comforting the one they’re currently living. Not unless it’s something you have direct experience with. Let’s go over the facts.

As explained by Ragatha in the pilot: “when you reach your breaking point, something really terrible can happen.” That terrible thing being abstraction.

Kinger and Queenie fell in love and married in the circus.

Kinger can’t remember the string of events leading up to Queenie’s abstraction.

Now how do any of these points tie into one another? I am so happy you didn’t ask! Most may be wondering how exactly Kinger and Queenie fell in love and “married” in the circus. Well, we know that those in the circus remember next to nothing about their personal lives including their names (Besides slight references to things outside their world every once in a while for a good laugh). So it’s unlikely that they entered the circus together as a couple, but rather fell in love and used each other as a rock to combat the insanity. Queenie went into the circus remembering her love for bugs like how Gange remembered her love for body pillows. Both Kinger and Ragatha remember their disliking/fear of bugs. Despite this, Queenie was able to help Kinger overcome his distaste.

Plus, it just made sense for them to get together. They were both apart of the same set.

Now as for Kinger not remembering the events that lead to her abstraction? That part is especially important. Now it’s common for those who harm others to claim they don’t remember anything. I don’t think that’s the case with Kinger. I believe it was more of a disassociation, which is also incredibly common in these kinds of situations. People tend to disassociate as a coping mechanism to the own harm they’re causing. Their brain is unable to handle the stress they’re releasing which leads them to completely placing the memory somewhere out of reach. Thus allowing the person to continue living their daily life.

Symptoms of disassociation actually overlap with amnesia. In which case a person is left with gaps in their memory and cannot recall certain events unless coping mechanisms or creative therapies take place. Kind of like how Kinger surrounds himself in darkness. Don’t you think?

Of course, this all only leads up to my biggest fact.. which is what Ragatha said to Pomni: “when you reach your breaking point, something really terrible can happen.”

And what Kinger said to Pomni: “The worst thing you can do is make someone feel like they’re not loved or wanted.”

As I said before, it is highly likely- might even be a fact that Kinger and Queenie fell in love and married in the circus. Used each other as a rock. From how Kinger described Queenie, she was quite the woman to experience love with. Kinger, however, was her everything. (I’m sure she was everything to Kinger as well, but you don’t realize that sort of thing until it’s too late).

When your everything makes you feel so unwanted.. so unloved.. you begin to spiral. Your purpose of making sure they’re safe and happy has ultimately failed and you become nothing. Kinger obviously did or said something that made someone as brilliant as Queenie feel worthless. Something that made her spiral and become abstracted. We will never know what exactly was done because he can’t remember.

We know he’s trying to make up for it though. His current relationship with the other members proves he’s trying to do better and make them feel wanted. Give them the warmth he couldn’t provide to his own wife. But you cannot undo your mistakes like a messed up code- which he has a collage degree in! Kinger is becoming a better person and is slowly on a path of redemption. Improving himself from a version of him we never got to see and very likely never will.

Kinger and Queenie were doomed from the start. They may have been apart of the same set, but being on opposing teams meant that one had to take the other.

And someone lost their queen…

BUT HEY!! This is basically all speculation and technically a theory. Or the ramblings of a crazy person who once got their hand stuck in the door handle of a fridge. You can decide whether to cry or roll your eyes and scroll. Hope you all had fun reading- BYEEEEEEEE!!!

[charmac]

is there any season that you'd say does the best (or worst) at character development for the gang? personally, i've always thought that season 1 did wonders in helping the audience understand the gang's individual characters (minus frank) right away, but i'm interested in your opinion on the topic

Season 10 absolutely, 100%. It’s my favourite season of Sunny (and one of my favourite seasons of television ever), especially for the fact that it does so much insane character work in its span of ten episodes.

I don’t want to discount seasons before it, there’s an insane amount of foundational work that should be mentioned, but Season 10 being a milestone they never thought they would reach really sticks out as a major turn in the idea that the Gang don’t “develop” as characters by making the Gang face their own devolution. I've written about how Misses the Boat touches on this on the Paddy's Pub Blog, but Season 10 really as a whole just turns a lot more inward to the characters.

Charlie Work rotates around one of the Gang's schemes while having quite literally nothing to do with the scheme at all and everything to do with Charlie's character. This is the perfect example as to how the whole season operates, pushing the characters ahead of the plots, the schemes are just background work to revolve around. (Really, this is how the show operates a chunk of the time, but Season 10 is really really telling you that.)

It's hard to talk about each individual character without spiralling and trying to hit every S10 episode for everyone, but in brief summary: Frank unearths his own childhood trauma and starts to understand he's running out of time here; Dennis is diagnosed and his mask starts slipping more and more as he's forced to face (and attempt to disregard) how he is seen by outsiders; Mac is no longer able to front to himself that he's into women and he destroys his relationship with his father one step further; Charlie really sees he's viewed as less-than by Mac and Dennis and grows much more persistent to (dis)prove Frank is his father; Dee is shown as an even more 'successful' predator than Dennis, though just as pathetic at each turn.

All of this is not only built off what their characters were, but really are the very central parts of their characters that they clearly keep in mind as we push into the later seasons. (Arguably every character is still grappling with these core issues except Mac.)

(Briefly on worst season for character development, I think 13 is kind of the obvious choice. While there are some things I think they did well and are built on later (i.e. Bathroom Problem), episodes like The Gang Wins the Big Game are a prime example of how Sunny does not work well when the whole basis of an episode has nothing to do with the characters and everything to do with the plot. There was really negative character work done there, imo.)

I think it's funny you mention Season 1 for character development, because while I think it’s so so insanely essential to watch (and understand) as a foundation for the show and who the characters become, those versions of the characters are pretty distant from the Gang to me. Season 1 reads very much as Rob’s original idea: these are the worst versions of themselves; characters, but still a little too clearly RCG. Season 2 took those guys and built on them to create actual characters outside of themselves as terrible people, but I don't see the Gang as fully formed individuals until ~S4 (which I think RCG have mostly (?) admitted as much on TASP, lol)

Obviously every season contributes a lot to the characters as we know them, and some do a lot more for certain characters than others, so these are just my personal opinions... But I will argue for the rest of time that Season 10 is that bitch (and the best example of who the characters are).

[this-witch-writes]

It's endlessly fascinating to me that Robin in s3 is so convinced of Steve's douchery but her only examples are that he didn't talk to her (a girl in a different grade with no friends or activities in common who never spoke to him) and the fact he ate bagels in a way that annoyed her.

This isn't a criticism of Robin as a character (its super on brand for her) but it does raise far more questions about Steve’s high school actions and character than it answered. This was an outsider to the main narrative giving a perspective on Steve and so it surely should set the tone for the bully he has been working on reforming himself from, right? That’s his character arc… right?

Then why instead a story where Steve caused anyone harm is this a story about Steve minding his own business while a girl he’s never spoken to, who he shared one class ever with, blames him for the fact her straight crush isn’t interested in her? There are a million ways to demonstrate that Steve was privileged or self-centred or dismissive but this story didn’t really do that.

Which means that we’ve never really SEEN this version of Steve that apparently his ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC is about him growing away from. It’s just mentioned in passing.

I know what you’re thinking, “what about season one!?” But what did we see in season one? Steve has like two friends apparently? Maybe three if we count that Nicole girl who appeared for two seconds. His lunch table seems more gossipy than aggressive until the interactions with Jonathan, which started off as mostly Tommy until Jonathan took deeply creepy pictures in Steve’s bedroom window and he had a pretty normal reaction to that.

The worst of Steve that we see if while he think Nancy is cheating on him with Jonathan and he allows Tommy and Carol to talk him into the cinema thing and then provokes Jonathan into the fight in the alley. But this is a really specific set of events that it is unlikely has ever happened like that before. Also Steve doesn’t bring a gang of guys to jump Jonathan, he talks shit until Jonathan swings first and only with an audience of Tommy. Within like an hour of the fight, Steve already regrets it and goes over to a guy he doesn’t like, who just beat the shit out of him’s house to apologise.

So season 1 Steve is selfish, gossipy and shallow – sure. We see his obsession with being like and seeming normal (the thing he is least able to shake in future seasons) but we don’t see him antagonistic towards anyone. If his terrible past as high school asshole / bully was going to be central to his character arc… shouldn’t we see it somewhere?

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

hi! I was wondering if you could write (separate) headcanons for the outsiders gang! /Steve, Two-Bit, Dallas, Ponyboy, Sodapop, Johnny and Darry/ with a Curtis!reader? (basically fem!reader is Ponyboy's twin sister and is as sensitive as him)

In which the gang is hanging out at the Curtis' house and while they are hanging out (leaving the reader out as always since she's a girl) and f!reader just trying to be nice makes them cookies or something but when she brings them to them they are all like: "I prefer chocolate cake better, yk?" "mine's burnt" "mine's not cooked" "you sure you followed the recipe?" "I think you should stick to just not cooking" And obviously they are just teasing, and they thought f!reader could tell by the way they were chuckling, but reader takes it to heart and thinks they mean it and are laughing at her, so she goes back to the kitchen with the rest of the cookies and throws them to the bin. So when the character goes back to the kitchen to get more cookies ('cause they're actually quite good) he can't find them until he looks in the bin and he's all like "oh shit, of course she would take it to heart-" and how would they approach the situation of comforting a feeling humiliated reader?

SORRY IF IT'S TOO MUCH TEXT 😭

I’m not really doing hcs rn but I love this idea and you wrote so much lol so for you I will make an exception:

Ponyboy Curtis

-damn, he knew y/n would take it that way

-told the gang to stop midway through teasing

-feels bad because he knows how it feels

-he knows he would’ve even done the same thing

-gets the most mad at the gang

-“She work for hours on that, man!”

Johnny Cade

-feels so freaking bad

-he definitely goes up to your room shyly

-after everyone leaves he does his own personal apology

-he bakes you something in return even though he’s never really done that before

-“Gee, y/n, I’m so sorry. I ain’t mean nothin’. I loved the cake.”

Sodapop Curtis

-“Aw, come on Y/n it was just all fun and jokes!”

-squeezed your arm comfortingly

-he definitely cuddles you a bit

-he makes sure that you don’t feel bad

-he eats all the cake in a ridiculous way to make you feel better

Darry Curtis

-his expression drops immediately

-he goes up the stairs and pounds on the door

-most protective over you

-gives the gang a big lecture on not fucking doing shit like that

Dallas Winston

-ring leader of teasing with two bit

-he doesn’t feel bad until he sees you cry

-tries to act like he doesn’t care

-but he does

-tries to downplay you though

-“Oh, come on Y/n! Stop being so damn sensitive no one meant it like that!”

-someone slaps him to get him to stop

Two Bit Mathews

-another ring leader of teasing

-feels pretty bad

-he tried to make jokes about all the times soda has failed at baking to make you feel better while saying he didn’t mean the cake was bad

-digs it out of the trash can and starts eating it with Steve 💀💀

Steve Randle

-he also tries to act nonchalant but feels terrible

-digs it out of the trash to eat it with two bit 💀💀💀

-probably has complained about it before

[ricketycr1cks]

Dennis is constantly plagued by awareness that the rest of the gang doesn’t have and I gotta talk about it!!!

Okay so the gang has always spent their lives together, there have been gaps but I don’t think they ever spanned longer than months and clearly they are all.. unconventional about how attached they are.

While the rest of the gang seems completely fine and content with this Dennis is the only one who feels he needs to stick to a conventional expectation of life and is almost always the one pointing out said unconventional-ness.

There are a lot of examples of this for one when Dee points out Mac and Dennis having codependency issues. While Mac is fine continuing this routine Dennis suddenly becomes self conscious and starts to distance himself. We also see this during the Valentine’s Day episode where Dennis just wants to tend to the bar, now obviously this is related to other issues but Dennis can easily slip into doing normal things and living a conventional life for the most part.

Dennis does a similar thing with Brian jr, Dennis knows what’s expected of him and is the only one who feels like he has to put himself into that role still. The rest of the gang are content with being single, having no kids or stability, etc, but because Dennis is so afraid/ convinced he has to be this person he tries more than anyone else in the group(also I think he’s holding onto the ideal that is the most sane or rational and that he’s the “normal one” this always falls apart when he is outside of the group however, because he only seems most rational around a group of horribly insane and irrational people)

The thing is though, he isn’t normal and while the group definitely accentuates the terrible people in all of them, it was also always there to begin with. Dennis can pretend for a day, a week, a month, or even a year but eventually the careful shell he has built around himself breaks. Dennis is just as bad as the rest of the group but he’s the only one aware that this is an issue.

The thing we see though, through characters like rickety cricket and the gang themselves is that they truly don’t have anywhere else to go. They have all ruined each others lives so much, gotten so tangled in everything and are already such terrible people that the best thing for everyone is that they keep this balance.

Anyways TLDR: the gang is codependent on each other horribly but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing and while Dennis is aware deep down he has no desire to change this, they are healthy for what they can be which is terrible and awful but also kinda the only way they can be and why would we want them to better themselves when they certainly don’t want to??

[idv-brainrot-go-brr]

Weeping clown and Mike falling for a modern reader? Please i missed you!!

hmmm i love the circus gang so much you have no idea

Character(s): Acrobat, Weeping Clown

Content: modern reader hcs A/N: I am almost sure that I got this request before I went on summer break because it looked SUPER familiar. However, when I opened my requests again, my inbox was empty. So I think this was either sent in twice or was eaten by Tumblr. Either way, here it is

Mike

You’re from the future?! That’s so cool?!?

Listen, he may be traumatized as hell from having to identify a dozen burned dead bodies, losing his home and all his family, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be excited about literal time travel. 

Asks you about everything. Every fucking thing. The villain arc will be temporarily delayed.

Well, once the excitement dies down somewhat you’ll still have to deal with the fact that out of the five stages of grief, this man is stuck in anger. But that’s for later to deal with

Would love to see a spring base cotton candy machine

Would love to have witnessed modern cinema

and all those crazy carnival rides nowadays? How did no one die riding those. From what you describe, everyone in the future must be crazy

He treats the reality you come from much more like a story in a fantasy book rather than an actual possibility

Not to say he doesn't believe you, he just can't quite picture it. It sounds exciting though, certainly does

He listens to you talk about your timeline like a child listening to a bedtime story. Outside of that though, he will ignore it entirely.

This occasionally leads to moments where he just does not understand that you have different views or opinions on things based on the knowledge and standards of your varying times.

This sometimes even extends to scientific discoveries, but not as often because he doesn't care for science much

He also doesn't think about what might be or could be or would be in the future. You're probably never going to leave the manor anyway, so who cares which time you'd end up in

It doesn't matter to him, because he has nothing to go back to in his, and nothing to look forward to in your timeline. He has nothing. No matter where he ends up, he'd have to start over. Start from scratch. As long as he's in the manor, with you, the two of you will at least have that.

That's not so bad, is it?

Weeping Clown

Initially very confused about the fact that you came from literally another century

He’s more hesitant with his questions, more focused on trying to understand you and the world you come from rather than be entertained by all the changes that happened.

Honestly, I could see him at some point just being over the fact that you’re from a different time. Like, once he knows all he needs to know it doesn’t matter to him much anymore. Sure, your circumstances and the ideals and standards you grew up with majorly influenced you, and helped to shape you into the magnificent, amazing human being he loves so much but that’s all that matters to him: Who you are right now.

Would definitely love to see this Youtube thing you keep going on about though. He’s very intrigued

Finds that clowns aren't exactly popular anymore so maybe it's good that he lived in the times when he lived because boy would he have lost his job fast

However, apparently, no one can just go out and buy acid anymore, so that's definitely a plus

Based on what you told him, circus 'culture' changed a lot. Not it's more about performance and tricks than wild animals and laughing at 'grotesque' humans.

He thinks it makes sense then that you are as kind as you are, the time you come from is much kinder as well.

But still, he thinks that, if one day you get out of the manor, and maybe get to leave together to witness your time, then he would feel terribly out of place. Your eyes shine whenever you excitedly talk about the advancements of the future, all the good things in your world. All those are things he wouldn't understand. Perhaps it's better then, that you are trapped here. Because at least you are trapped here together, as opposed to a future where inevitably, he'd end up left behind.

[gothy-froggy]

Hi so sorry about One Piece literally being my Roman Empire right now but I have a few things I think are really silly and wholesome.

So I have this character I made while I was bored. She’s known as “strange creature” because…she’s a strange creature

And I’m imagining that this like 2-3 feet creature being in the One Piece universe where literally no one can be mean or bring themselves to harm her.

This motherfucker is like SCP 999 just silent and stares. That gives everyone she likes gifts that she finds.

Strange creature gives people gifts that reminds her of them. If she really likes someone she makes gifts for them. So I’ll be telling you all which gifts she gives to different One Piece characters because come on, she’s adorable.

———————————-

Luffy

Old key

Strange creature’s first gift for Luffy was a key. Why?

Well to strange creature, keys unlock a door to a new journey and a new story. She sees Luffy as a key since he just goes right for it, into the unknown without fear. She sees him just as adventurous as a key ready to unlock a new journey.

Zoro

Pillow

She knows that humans need to sleep. So Zoro barely getting any sleep but also sleeping a lot concerns her in her own way. Because he naps she sees a pillow and it reminds her of him.

The gift is also out of concern and her telling him to get more rest. She’ll just go to his room, grab the pillow and just chuck the pillow at his face. I’m not joking. She literally does that.

Nami

Unopened crystal

Do y’all remember that Barbie movie where Barbie has an amethyst and calls the guy “unassuming?” That’s what I mean, but the meaning is different.

Strange creature holds the amethyst as if it’s a rock before opening it to Nami. It’s her basically saying that she comes off as cold and tough on the outside, but has a tragic yet beautiful story that made her such a wonderful woman. Strange creature tries to write out what she means, but she doesn’t know English so the gang just needs to decipher her language.

Usopp

Carnelian necklace

Now strange creature can’t exactly connect with him, which is rather unusual for her. It’s not that she dislike or hate him, she just doesn’t fully understand him.

But she knows he’s scared. She wants to help. So strange creature gives him…a necklace? No, no, no, a carnelian necklace. Strange creature studied crystals because they’re colorful and shiny. She loves those things. She learned how to read the English language, but can’t write. So she made a (awful) drawing demonstrating that carnelian gives you confidence. She just wants to help Usopp to help him reach his dream :(

Shanks

Fox plushie

Strange Creature kept following Shanks around and that’s how she ended up just being with him. Shanks literally could not shake this small thing off. So he eventually gave up and just allowed her. Strange creature comes up to a hungover Shanks just staring at him until he asks what she wants and she just holds the fox plushie up to him.

Strange creature loves foxes. She likes that they’re playful, cute yet very mischievous. Foxes reminds her of Shanks on so many levels. So strange creature found a fox plushie and gave it to Shanks. In her very terrible hand writing, there’s a note saying “remins me of yu”

…she’s still learning English leave her alone.

She also customizes it by giving it a straw hat, his scars, and a black jacket by a fabric she found.

Mihawk

White rose

Let’s say she lands in One Piece and ended up with Mihawk than the straw hats. It didn’t take her long to like Mihawk. Sure, his style isn’t the most bright and colorful out there, but he’s stylish. She likes it. So Mihawk’s gift is a white rose. Very elegant, very pretty but those thorns hurt.

Strange creature saw someone get hurt by the thorn of a rose and it reminded her of Mihawk. So she took one. She chose white because it’s not a flashy color, but fits Mihawk’s style and aesthetic well, like the feather on his hat. So she took a white rose, waddled on over to a sitting down with feet up on desk Mihawk and gave him the white rose.

Arlong

Armor piece

Arlong probably saw it as an insult so she attempts to draw it multiple times to explain. One that finally works is Arlong in front of a mirror and the reflection being the piece of armor. The fishmen and strange creature playing game to help Arlong know the meaning of the odd gift 😭

This was her basically saying he’s a very tough cookie. Both physically and personality wise. Though she isn’t insulting Arlong. Strange creature thinks everyone should be a little bit a strong cookie like him. In a way, strange creature respects Arlong and she saw a shiny armor piece as Arlong.

Buggy

Colorful jacket

Strange creature most likely gets along with Buggy with the most, or at least top 3. If a strange creature ended up with Buggy, she loved the circus. So much. When they go to a village, she walks over to Buggy and give him a really, really nice bright jacket that’s right up his alley.

Style, bright, colorful things will almost always go to Buggy. So when she sees the jacket, she uses her strange yet adorable face to get for free along with a little rock, thinking it’s money, to give to buggy. She’s struggles a bit. Strange creature his carrying this big jacket around, bumping into things and people until she stumbles over to Buggy. She was very proud of her find.

Circus themed tarot cards

Two gifts? Wow, she gets along with him. Strange creature saw Buggy trying to get information with some cards and went for a little hunt on land for some tarot cards. She found a shop and looked for the perfect deck. Strange creatures found one that has clowns and were very circus themed. She held the card deck up to Buggy.

Juggling balls, Buggy themed

Yes, Buggy had became strange creature’s favorite. So much, Buggy got a deserved handmade gift from her. Strange creature noticed how much Buggy juggles. So she wanted to show how much she really sees Buggy as her friend.

So she spent a lot of time to make Buggy handmade juggling balls that represents Buggy the Clown. Some having the Buggy skull symbol, some with him in a simple yet nice art style, and his colors. She leaves them in a present box for him. She was also very proud of her work for him.

[sprolden]

In the shadowhunter universe i think the circle has the most amount of fucked up relationships. Like everybodys got complex outside the norm relationships with at least two other members. The circle is so fascinating to me. The most popular and charismatic guy is evil and the few people who figure it out takes forever to do so. People are properly rebelling against their parents. They make themself a big menace as teenagers. And on the other side youve got the downworlders reaction to this. Tessa and Magnus are heartbroken. They give up on Stephen. There is so much going on but we are given so little.

YEAH i think the circle is such an underexplored aspect of the tsc universe!! i highly doubt we'll ever get any sort of series or even a full side book dedicated to them but the tidbits of info we do have from the short stories are so fascinating. it honestly brought some much-needed nuance to the tmi parents, bc even though we do have a few details about what went down (like the circle originally not being anti-downworlders, but sort of gradually moving in that direction after valentine's father died) i did feel like tmi left me wondering a bit how they all ended up as a part of an extremist group.

my favourite thing about the circle is that, at least at the start, they all have very similar views to the tmi gang: that the clave is corrupt in many ways (objectively true), and needs to be reformed. especially in tftsa it's a statement we hear simon say over and over and over again and i just LOVE that juxtaposition, the implication that if a different kind of person had gotten a hold of simon & clary and even the rest of the gang they could've ended up exactly like their parents.

and tbh, i just love reading about the circle and their drama and misery, lol. i love it when characters act really terribly i love it when characters manipulate & get manipulated and are then eaten alive by guilt. the evil we love is a gem, just robert experiencing flop after flop and ruining everyone's lives. and then becoming miserable for the rest of his life because of it. genuinely very fun. i think cc does morally gray characters very well (when she wants to, which is rarely </3) and i just love to watch miserable people be miserable what can i say!!

also, so true what you said about fucked up relationships. the circle didnt fit into the big love web i made for all of tsc because there's nothing linking them to any of the tmi/tid/tda/etc characters (thank god lmfao), but behold, i made them their own tiny love dodecahedron for funsies:

is it more contained than the 74-people big tsc love web*? perhaps. is it any less insane? absolutely not.

*which, by the way, misses many people, as i've found out in my tmi and novella reread. but they dont fit on there so i'll have to recreate it in its entirety if i want everyone to fit, which is not something i want to spend my time doing, because i am insane but not that insane

[yes0another0outsiders0blog]

Hey, I am working on longer headcanons and stuff currently. Work is being a lot, though, and my brain isn't staying still long enough to do more than a bit at a time. So, in the meantime--

The Outsiders Queer Headcanons : (Part 1)

Kind of modern au? Most of these labels didn't really exist in the 60s and they probably wouldn't be thinking of labels or processing their queer feelings like that back then, but I think if they had the labels and were in a more accepting society this is what they'd identify as.

Warning : homophobia, I can't write about a group of men from the conservative southern 1960s and their queerness semi-realistically without touching on it

Ponyboy -

biromantic, demisexual

preference towards men, but not a strong one... like, 60/40 split

personally, I ship Purly, so there's that. also, Pony 100% really started experimenting in college. like, him and Curly had some mutual feelings before, he went to college and came back like "OH, okay, yeah I like guys, cool," and an actual relationship came from that

Sodapop -

pansexual, doesn't care about gender in the slightest

is probably the most chill with lgbt stuff from the beginning. even outside of modern au, if someone was openly queer around the gang then everyone else would be at varying levels of uncomfortable (because, uh, conservative southern 60s), but Soda would just be like "you know what, good for them!! they seem happy!!"

wouldn't seek it out on his own, but if he was introduced into the lgbt community he'd DEFINITELY get into experimenting with gender. still cis, but plays with drag occasionally and gets damn good at it.

actually doesn't really care about gender at all. won't consider himself anything other than a guy, he was raised a guy and doesn't have any issues with that or any reason to say otherwise, but also doesn't have any strong connection to it. you could call him anything (gender-wise) and he'd be chill. technically, cassgender would describe him accurately, but it don't think he'd use the label because it wouldn't really be saying anything important to him.

Darry -

unfortunately, that is a Heterosexual Man. (nothing wrong with straight people, I'm just a gay genderqueer femboy that happens to lowkey be a Darry simp, so it's unfortunate that I can't see him any other way--)

tries really hard to be an ally because his brothers very much date men, but struggles a tiny bit

wouldn't be mean to a queer person, but is very confused and uncomfortable with the topic because it's unfamiliar to him

asks a lot of kind of awkward questions. like, wants to understand and is trying, but it comes out so weird.

bless his heart

Two-Bit -

probably straight... heteroflexible?

has only dated women, has only been attracted to women, but is open minded

when he's single, he talks about a future partner pretty neutrally or says things like, "when I have a wife, or husband idk I'm not a psychic--"

makes really homophobic jokes out of discomfort, uses humor to cope and is just super not use to gay people. not doing it maliciously, but sometimes says things that are pretty terrible without meaning to

if called out, he'll stop (to an extent, he'll still take the easy opportunity for a dumb joke, but he isn't saying anything horribly offensive anymore), he just genuinely did not know that what he was saying was actually really awful

Steve -

bisexual and incredibly homophobic

so mad about being attracted to men. the fact that he PREFERS men? disgusting.

all of the characters have internalized homophobia, but none half as powerful as this man's.

the type to say that he'd "never choose to be gay" and honestly does think (or maybe just convinces himself) that it's a choice. thinks that everyone is essentially bi but "chooses" their sexuality based on which attractions they act on. desperately does not want to be wrong (but is very much wrong)

would probably have a secret "casual" relationship for a LONG time before he can't do it anymore and is forced to accept that he's into men for real

you'd think that being best friends with Soda, the most chill person ever with this stuff, would help. maybe it does and god knows how long it would take Steve to come around without him. but it still takes him SO long to just be okay with any of it.

he does grow out of being terrible about it (maybe not fully, but at least mostly), it just takes a TON of time and a good handful of mental breakdowns to get there

Johnny -

unlabeled, struggles to tell if he's aroace-spec or if he just has trouble being close to people due to trauma. isn't sure if the two are connected or how, doesn't really like thinking about it for too long.

he also has trouble distinguishing different types of attraction at all.

basically just along for the ride whenever it comes to his sexuality. if he's attracted to someone, then alright. he's spent a long time trying to figure attraction out to only end up more confused, he might wonder about it when he does get a crush but he isn't actively deep-diving into his feelings and searching for accurate labels.

Dally -

bisexual, heavy preference towards women though

would probably never act on feelings towards a guy, those kind of really scare him. but he has seen a good handful of guys that he's just fully, undeniably attracted to, so he knows damn well it's a lie to call himself straight

(he's still going to, tho)

also, demiromantic

denies that he's romantically interested in anyone ever, but he does feel that attraction. he just has to have a bit of trust before he can feel it.

not actually explicitly homophobic, genuinely does not care what other people do with their lives, but he's a piece of shit in general so he'll definitely see a queer person as an easy target. he's the type of person to use anything he can to start something, he's going to use someone being a minority against them just because he's a fucking ass.

[cowboycharmac]

(okay reposting bc tumblr autosave deleted a lot of my post </3 rip) on a slightly more depressing note do you ever think about how terrible mac is at taking care of things specifically in a parental context and get so sad because i do. mac as a person isnt inherently bad at taking care of things, he's fairly good at taking care of dennis (although his own insecurities and paranoias do negatively impact the relationship) and from what we see in the show he does the majority of homemaking work in the macden household and is generally pretty good at taking care of their apartment (unless it's on fire). but as soon as he reframes a relationship as a parental one he cant seem to figure it out.

the most obvious example of this is when he and dee take care of D.B/dumpster baby. now, character conflict is pretty par for the course for shows doing the "two characters adopt a baby" trope. however, in most shows ive seen it done, the progression is typically slower and/or more natural, from either a disparity in labour between maternal and paternal figures (often with the paternal figure slowly checking out and doing less and less work), or from one character being shoved into a role they didnt want. "the gang finds a dumpster baby" uses both of these, but what makes it interesting to me is how quickly and deliberately mac incites that conflict.

he seems eager and excited to take care of the baby and volunteers immediately, but as soon as he and dee get home from baby shopping he shoves everything off on her and becomes emotionally distant and angry when she tries to ask for help. this change in attitude is sudden and seemingly brought about by nothing in particular, he hasnt yet experienced anything that might make him realize that taking care of a baby is actually a pretty demanding job that he might not be interested in, and to me, at least, it doesnt read like he's genuinely annoyed at her or rejecting his self imposed paternal role. instead, he's still just play acting at what he thinks fatherhood should look like. he's still trying to give D.B his version of a "biblical" nuclear family, like he says he wants to when he pressures dee into taking on the maternal role, but he's using his own parents as a model for this and deliberately recreating the toxic environment he grew up in because he thinks that's how you're meant to raise a child.

it's also really interesting to me that he chose dee for this. mac and dee don't team up a lot, and when they do, it's typically because everyone else is off doing something else. sure, he's adamant that D.B needs to be raised by a man and a woman, and dee is the only woman in the gang, but he doesn't even consider trying to find D.B a mom outside of the gang.

given how he seems repulsed by dee in both a romantic and sexual context and in a nuclear family the dynamic between the mother and father is typically both, and given their platonic dynamic is strained as it is, this is odd. there are plenty of single women in philadelphia, and there are other women in mac's own life he gets along with a lot better (and who do/would make better mothers), like carmen (who hes on good enough terms with that they engage in a relationship just a bit later in the season).

to me it seems like he chose someone like dee, who he doesn't get along with very well, who has both anger and emotional intimacy issues, and who emphatically rejects motherhood when he thrusts it upon her, not because he thinks she's his only option, but because shes the person he thinks is most likely to behave like his own mother in that position. (little bit of gay mac meta here, it also feels like maybe he chose a woman he had a distinctly platonic dynamic with and who wouldnt expect anything else from him so as to avoid needing to have a sexual or romantic relationship with his female partner in this constructed family)

theres also of course the dynamic between dennis jr, mac, and dennis in mac and dennis move to the suburbs. admittedly this one is a lot less interesting to me because the parallels to his own parents are less intentional on mac's part, however i do have some thoughts about it. here, he takes on the maternal role. dennis, from his own and the audiences perspective, isnt helping "raise" dennis jr at all and isnt really involved here. however, from macs perspective, dennis is taking on a paternal role, not necessarily because of, but also not in spite of the fact that he's away for most of the day, emotionally distant, and doesnt seem to be helping take care of or even interacting with dennis jr on a regular basis.

granted, mac isn't taking care of dennis jr either. despite seeming excited to "raise [the dog] like [his and dennis'] own son", he's despondent and neglectful, much like his own mother, and dennis jr. starves to death. from what we see of his mother on the tape from mac's childhood in "a very sunny christmas", she, like mac, wasn't always dull. although we dont really see her interact with mac and i have no doubt that she was a subpar mother and person for all of mac childhood (she is more than complicit in the robbing of peoples homes in this same episode), she has more normal emotional responses to things like receiving a gift, and she appears to genuinely like luther. i dont think its too much of a stretch to assume that she, like mac, let her emotional issues with an absent or distant partner interfere with her role as a parent. the only difference is that mac, unlike dennis jr, is a human child who is presumably old enough to do the bare minimum to keep himself alive by the time she checks out.

anyways sorry this post kind of got away from me. it just makes me so sad. mac wants to be a parent but he has no real frame of reference for that, he wants so badly to take care of something but he cant help neglecting it because to him it seems normal that parents shouldnt need to take care of their child, that children should have to care of themselves. hes so adamant that his relationship with his parents is normal, healthy, and loving that he'll ruin even a pale mimicry of a family trying to recreate it.

[sweetthingshavesharpteeth]

@threefolddefencespeech's worldcon report inspired me to write up what I've been reading recently, so here's the books I've read in roughly the last year (at least, what i recall). Let's start with the Hugo-nominated ones:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty

The blurb hooked me on this, and I wasn't disappointed. To be clear, it's not going to give great insights into the human condition or anything - it's a getting-the-gang-back-together heist movie, fun but not terribly deep. I do think "bad-ass older woman" is an underutilised protagonist archetype, though.

Witch King, by Martha Wells

This was not my favourite book by Wells - I enjoyed it enough, and the world and magic was interesting, but I think @threefolddefencespeech was right that the book sacrifices too much in character development to achieve its parallel-past-and-present narrative structure.

The Greenhollow Duology, by Emily Tesh

I actually read Silver in the Wood years ago on ao3, and when I saw that there was a sequel, I had to read it (after re-reading Silver in the Wood, of course). It has some great, and distinctive, characters, and some deliciously otherworldly vibes. I will have to read Tesh's Hugos-nominated novel (Some Desperate Glory) now.

Notorious Sorcerer and Shadow Baron, by Davinia Evans

Notorious Sorcerer is possibly my favourite book from the last year. It uses the trope of "outsider achieves what the indoctrinated don't even think is possible", but - in contrast to a lot of other examples of this trope - the protagonist doesn't magically stumble on the exact right thing to do the first time. He really doesn't know what he's doing, and uses a lot of trial-and-error. Evans sacrifices some smoothness of plot to demonstrate this, but I think it's worthwhile. It's also a book about corrupt power structures, but doesn't try to suggest that changing those structures is simple, or without consequences.

Shadow Baron is clearly the second book in a trilogy, and - as is typical with such books - doesn't really feel like it has a coherent plot of its own. I still enjoyed reading it, and I'm looking forward to the final book in the trilogy coming out.

The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon

This is exactly the sort of thing I love from SFF - it throws you in the deep end of a complex, alien world (for all it's ostensibly Earth), and you just have to trust that the author will make things clear in time. Stylistically, it felt a lot like the Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee, one of my all-time favourite book series. I would highly recommend to anyone who liked that series.

Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to reading this classic short story collection (that includes the story the film Arrival is based on). In some ways, I think short stories are the ideal format for sci-fi - they can explore an idea without being overly weighed down by the need to have an engaging plot. Chiang does a good job of wielding short stories in this way, and explores some interesting concepts.

The Adam Binder Novels, by David R Slayton

There are surprisingly few novels with queer male protagonists that are written by queer men. I actually bought these books for a pound each, expecting to get holiday-worthy trashy reading, and was pleasantly surprised. They're well-written, with some interesting worldbuilding, and were definitely worth the price!

Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

I re-watched the films last Autumn, and followed up by re-reading the books. I enjoy seeing how adaptations change a story, and thinking about why those changes were made. Also, every time I read LotR I'm more aware of the white supremacy woven into the heart of the worldbuilding.

Bunt!, by Ngozi Ukazu and Mad Rupert

Ngozi has a fantastic grasp of visual humour, and thematic parallels, and knowing when to be silly and when to be serious. It's something I loved about Check, Please!, and it's on display here as well.

Into the Tower, by Hari Conner

Claiming I've "read" this is a bit of a push - it's a choose-your-own adventure book, and I've played a handful of different paths, but there are still many more to explore. I love the world Conner has built - the weird, metaphysical world of the tower is perfectly suited to this style of piecemeal exploration, where a linear narrative couldn't hope to encompass the breadth of strange goings-on.

The Simon Snow trilogy (Carry On, etc), by Rainbow Rowell

This was sold to me as "a massive fuck-you to JK". This was inaccurate. It clearly started as Drarry fanfiction - the characters that were formerly Draco, Harry, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore are plain to see - but it doesn't really engage with the themes or flaws of that book series in any meaningful way, rather using it as set dressing. Instead, it attempts to take on the broader genre of Chosen One stories - digging into themes of manipulation, being used as a tool, whether a Chosen One is actually doing Good, and what happens after their part is fulfilled.

I think it does a reasonable job of this - better than several others I've read, at least - although I didn't enjoy it enough to want to re-read it, or to make a particular recommendation of it.

Books I failed to get into

Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchett

Lesser Known Monsters, by Rory Michaelson

[youregonnagofaar]

happy ending myth; a steve harrington story

chapter 5. just a little bit of tenderness 

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4

pairing: best friend!eddie munson, close friend!max mayfield, slowburn!steve harrington

a/n: this took a long time to post despite me having it written and edited thanks to me getting a three week sinus infection. i’m going to start releasing these on mondays from now on and i’m still not sure how many chapters this will end up being. i changed my url and have made sure to edit all links so they work properly for everyone wanting to start from the beginning. thanks again for the support and as always i do enjoy feeback ha :) 

summary: steve and you have a conversation about the night of the halloween party, max and you hug it out, the gang visits the creel house, you witness that steve and nancy do still have a tiny spark, robin does her best (as always), you have your first injury, and robin witnesses flirting behind the wheeler window.

warnings: mild violence, curse words, anxiety, an injury near an eye takes place, pls let me know if i missed anything

word count: 6,315

tag list: @evansflowers

Steve held your hand tightly as the both of you braced the chilly air outside. The sudden rush of cold felt wonderful on your body but also made you aware of all the places you were sweating. In embarrassment, you let go of his hand and giggled. “I really wish Max had warned me about how none of us are able to shower when facing these monsters.” Steve looked at you with a grin and nodded his head in agreement. Despite going through this a few times he had never remembered to just bring deodorant with him. However, over the years his smell had gotten worse. Probably due to so many punches to the nose since this, all started. The sun was just about to rise and the grass had frost on the tips. If someone had told you in High School that King Steve would be holding your hand on a morning like this, you’d laugh in their face. 

“Oh, it's been worse than this. Last time it was summer and I had a decent amount of the kids in some random car. Robin and I had just been beaten up by some Russian spies who were pissed we ruined their plans. So it smelt awful for the first few moments until my nose went numb.” Steve hadn’t realized how much he was saying until he saw your face fill with worry. There was so much you didn’t know about their past endeavors despite him feeling like you had been here all along. He placed his hands in his pockets and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry if that was too much.” It still confused him at how easy it was to tell you anything. Even though you looked at him in shock you still weren’t calling him stupid for saying so much at once. The comfort you made him feel scared him to his core. 

“No, no it’s not too much. I just didn’t realize all the things you’d been through. I am now getting the Halloween costume…uhh Risky Business!” You smirked at him big cause you were excited your brain could remember such a small detail of life before The upside down. The joke was also kinda bad since this was clearly more than risky. Thinking of that night made his cheeks warm for all the wrong reasons, but then he saw the face you made and felt a whole other warmth. It then hit him that he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen you at this party. He had eyes for only one person and drank far too much that night. What part of the night had you seen him? How many times had he already embarrassed himself in front of you? 

“Yeah, umm, what part of the night did you end up witnessing?” He was beyond nervous about your answer. Either way, it was probably a weird sight for you. He either only had eyes for Nance or was a total jerk in a terrible mood. 

You began to really think because for you the night wasn’t all that to remember. You left early because you were bored. Eddie had only shown up at the party to sell some drugs and then was ready to head out once the deals had been made. However, you did remember seeing a sad Steve getting a drink at some point in the night. He seemed upset but he looked so pretty and that made no sense to you at all. However, before you could even think of walking towards him, Tommy and Carol appeared. Not wanting to even hear her remarks about your costume you ended up leaving shortly after. “ I saw you getting a drink and looking like the saddest boy in the world.” You gave him a soft smile and shrugged. “Even if I had gotten the guts to walk up to you, it would’ve been horrible to do that in front of Carol.” You shook your head and made a noise of disgust, “She is one person I will never miss.” 

Steve let out a laugh that felt genuine and it scared him for a moment. “Well honestly, I’m glad you didn’t talk to me that night.” 

You took this moment to sit down and pat the frosted grass next to you. Steve took your cue and sat down, his shoulder touching yours, causing a warm tingle to rise in your spine. The whispers of Nancy breaking up with Steve for Johnathan were all around school after that night. It was no secret to all of Hawkins High that this was a huge blow to King Steve. The bruises and cuts on his face days after were further proof that something big had happened. Little did you know that he was fighting his own demons along with real monsters. 

“So umm, who did you dress up as that night?” Steve looked over at you with a smile wanting nothing more than to change the route of this conversation. That night no one understood your costume. Eddie had to cheer you up after he gave you a joint and finally cried about it. The night didn’t mean much to you the way it meant so much to Steve. 

“Oh, I dressed up as Ellen Ripley from Alien, but everyone thought I was just some mechanic.” You shrugged remembering the outfit that Mr. Munson had given you. It was from his old days as a mechanic and it worked perfectly. You had made your own name tag and everything, but the idea was lost on everyone there. 

“Dustin’s mentioned that movie a lot, but I haven’t been able to watch it.” Steve looked over at you and the way his eyes twinkled in the rising sunlight made your heart skip a beat. 

“Well, maybe one day I can show you the movie.” You weren’t sure if a time would ever come when the world would be calm enough to watch a film again, but the idea of showing Steve a favorite movie of your’s made you excited. You wanted so badly to curse your hormones but the way you felt around him covered you with a type of joy you couldn’t explain. 

“I’d really like that.” As he spoke the two of you just smiled a cheesy grin. A calm clouded your senses as the two of you looked into each other's eyes. Both of you were lost in the idea of how this date night would go. 

For Steve, you came out of nowhere. However, you had always known of Steve Harrington. No one who went to Hawkins didn’t know about King Steve. He was the typical pretty boy who was always going to be Prom King. You had found him to be good-looking, but the thing was, so did everyone else. He was all girls talked about and at one point in your teenage angst, you had found him absolutely annoying. The thing was, this wasn’t King Steve anymore. 

You were lost in thought until you heard the sliding glass door open from behind. Both of your bodies turned quickly as if there was something no one should see going on. The reaction caused Robin to stifle a laugh. 

“Hey, lovebirds! We gotta go! Nancy figured out that we need to go to the Creel house!” Robin's raspy voice filled the once-quiet air causing Steve and you to look at her with wide eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have drool on my face?” 

You and Steve looked at each other before rolling your eyes. “No, Robin there is no drool on your face.” You got up slowly and rubbed your sweaty palms on your jeans with a smile. “I’m going to see if Max needs me at all.” 

Steve watched as you walked away his heart feeling different than before. Maybe it was the way you listened to how he spoke or how your eyes lit up when you brought up things you liked, he wasn’t sure but he knew he was in for it. Robin was giving him a look that he knew would lead to questions he had no answers for. 

“So…what did I just interrupt?” The smirk on her face made Steve roll his eyes and wince. 

“She wants to watch that movie Alien with me. If all of this ever ends.” His shoulders slouched forward as he attempted to walk back into the Wheeler house. 

“Wait a minute, Steve, talk to me, I can see how you look at her. I see the way she looks at you. Are you actually going to make some type of move?” Robin was frustrated watching Steve aimlessly flirt with you but then she saw the look he gave her from the question and sighed. “Okay, no moves need to be made, but could you at least fill your best pal in on what is happening here?”

“I like her Robin, a lot, but Nance.” He let out an annoyed sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. Steve liked you more than he cared to admit, every time he spoke with you it felt like he was actually being heard. Yet, this was the first time in so long that he had Nancy smile at him again and that feeling sometimes overpowered all his senses. Even when he knew it wasn’t right because Nance had moved on. 

“Steve, you need to get over Nancy. She has moved on and you should too. Just like her, you are allowed to like someone else and I haven’t seen you look at someone like this before. Just do yourself a favor and try it out. Maybe Y/N is the right person for you to move on with.” Robin placed her hand on her best friend's back and smiled. “Can you just follow my advice for once in your life?” 

“Yeah, maybe I can.” He shrugged and looked at Robin with a soft smile before walking into the Wheeler household. His thoughts only on you and how badly he wanted all of this to work out. Before you, he would dream of Nancy as the mother of his children. They’d travel the world and he would raise them with love and care. Make sure that they knew they were loved and never leave them on their own for stupid business trips. But last night, he had that same dream but instead of Nance, it was you. You were in the passenger side of that big trailer as they traveled the world. He grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and placed it on his left eye, praying that his thoughts would settle for once. 

You had already made your way down to the basement, Max had been down there for a bit just trying to plan out the mission to the Creel house. When you caught her eye she gave you a weak smile, because she knew that there was so much to explain. “Do you have a minute? I just… umm…need to talk to you about all of this.” Max felt she had pushed you into this life by just accepting your friendship. Everything felt doomed when a being with mind control could alter the course of your life in an instant. 

“Steve told me some stuff about last year in the mall. I guess he got beat up by some Russian spies?” Despite being confused, you knew that everything would not be explained. A decent amount of this was still a mystery to even the people who were deeply involved. “Max, listen you don’t have to explain too much to me. I know all of this isn’t really something that has the right answers.” You paused trying your best to come up with the right thing to say. “All I care about is keeping you safe. So wherever you go I’ll be there, okay?” 

Max almost broke down at that moment, because you were asking for nothing in return. It made her so angry that she had let you into her life. She felt she knew the risks and still allowed you to get close despite the warnings of danger. No one else was around so she quickly hugged you tight, letting only a few tears fall. “Thank you.” Her words muffled as she tried to gain composure back. 

Soon Dustin and Lucas were yelling at the two of you to come back upstairs. Max backed away, you fixed her hair and sighed. This was her typical reaction when displaying public affection. To distract her from the threat of someone seeing her vulnerable, you spoke up, “So off to the Creel house?” The Creel house was an old abandoned home that held its own lore of why it looked that way. As a child, you heard some kids saying it was because the man who once owned it, killed his whole family. Now that you had more information, it appeared it wasn’t that clear-cut. 

“When Vecna had me, I got to some area that he didn’t want me to see. I couldn’t sleep last night so I started to draw what I could remember. Turns out, Nancy has seen the door before.” As Max spoke you tried your best to connect the dots. “Oh and after all of that, we have to bring Eddie some food. He must be starving.” She rolled her eyes when bringing up Eddie's hunger. That problem seemed so small compared to the one she was facing. Of course, you agreed but you still worried about Eddie. He was the only constant in your life and this had been the longest the two of you had been apart. 

Despite not understanding everything, you nodded your head and made your way upstairs. Everyone was ready to go as they rallied into the car. You ended up being seated with Dustin and Steve in the back, in an area where most people kept their luggage or an extra tire. The two boys let you in first and you did your best to take up a little room. Once everyone settled Nancy began to drive to the Creel House. Steve had decided to take the space next to you and Dustin was sitting right in front of you. You decided to place your legs against your chest, wanting to take up the least amount of room but also to control your breathing. As you tried your best to get comfortable you tried to connect what you could. Hawkins was built on some weird fault line for the supernatural. A young girl named El was the reason all of this happened but she appeared to have never meant this type of harm to anyone. Barb and Will seemed to be the first two victims but Will managed to survive. Each year something new would emerge and it was more hostile than the creature that came before. Somehow all of it was connected to the game Eddie loved to play, Dungeons and Dragons. Despite them telling you about it all days ago due to the violent events, it was hard to understand. 

“Dustin, you sit with Eddie at lunch right?” As you spoke Steve glanced over at you. Trying to figure out what was going on in your mind. Dustin nodded and you furrowed your brows. “Did you see him with Chrissy that day?” 

“Nope, I’ve never even seen those two interact before so it was weird to hear he was with her.” As Dustin spoke you began to pick at your cuticles. This was an anxious habit that you had never seemed to break. The uncertainty of it all would randomly rise in your chest, making it feel as if it was hard to breathe. You had two big fears in life which were: the unknown and ending up all alone. Somehow it seemed the Upside Down had both those fears intertwined. 

“He must’ve met with her in the woods after school. Vecna must’ve been really messing with her if she ended up needing drugs.” Steve watched your nervous hands after being caught up in the adorable wrinkles that formed on your forehead and realized that you would end up hurting yourself. He placed his hands over your’s and it caught you off guard for only a moment. Once you looked over and saw his warm eyes and soft smile your shoulders seemed to relax once more. A soft smile soon formed on your lips just from the comfort he brought. Dustin watched with confusion but he was also very intrigued. If anyone wanted Steve Harrington to move on, it was Dustin Henderson. The curly-haired boy watched his best friend pine over many people before. It had gotten worse since Steve got a job at Family Video. So to witness the man finally make moves was a sight to behold. 

Dustin cleared his throat and began to speak trying his best to get more information out of you. “Y/N, why haven’t I seen you at the D&D campaigns?” His tone was somewhat accusatory but you could tell from his smile that he meant no harm. A new type of smile covered your face before you looked back over to Dustin. Despite hearing Eddie and his friends talk about you, you had never shown up at a campaign. You knew what he was trying to do because it was clear that he and Steve were close. From what you heard about him from Eddie and the fact that he was close with Max, it was obvious he was trying to get as much information out of you as possible.

So you smiled at the question and shook your head no. “I suck at that game no matter how many times Eddie has tried his best to teach me. However, he has yet to read a Jane Austen novel so I guess we have always been even.” Eddie was told to read Emma just once and in return, you would attempt to join the game but he could never do it. Since it wasn’t for the lack of trying, you did let him explain the rules once but you couldn’t grasp it. 

Dustin let out a laugh as the image of Eddie reading Jane Austen came into his mind. He seemed like a really nice kid and you could tell why Eddie had grown attached to him. Due to your work schedule, you were never able to meet Dustin before. To meet him now under these circumstances made you feel uneasy. Soon, Nancy had reached the Creel House causing half of the group to get out of the car. Dustin unlatched the back and made his way to Max and Lucas’s side. You and Steve sat there for a bit longer looking at the house you were meant to enter. 

“So I’m guessing this is the least terrifying thing you’ve seen since getting into this mess?” Your voice was soft as you looked at the boarded windows. 

“Umm no, this is still just as terrifying to you as it is to me.” It was some cosmic curse how comfortable you felt next to him despite all the scary things happening. His fingers ran over your’s before he spoke again. “You ready?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Steve squeezed your hand before helping you out of the back. Max had her eye on the two of you as you both walked closer to each other before standing in front of the house with everyone else. 

“Yeah, that’s not creepy…” Steve spoke up and Robin gave him a knowing look before he made his way up to the door with Nancy. As they began to take the nails off the boards on the door he looked at Nancy. “What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” His tone was different than how it had been in the car. He sounded confused and annoyed about the situation. 

“We’re not sure. We just know this house is important to Venca.” Nancy was focusing on trying to get the boards off the door. Even though she looked tiny, she was strong. Your eyes would trail from Steve to Nancy watching as they worked together. 

Being the newest member of a group of people who had so much shared trauma was difficult. Everyone knew each other and the banter between them all seemed to flow naturally. It felt lonely, during these times you wished Eddie was around. You missed him and the way he was able to calm your nerves with his horrible jokes. You began to get lost in thought as the rest of the group was focused on getting into the Creel house. It wasn’t until you heard the loud thud of the boards that covered the door that you were sent back to reality. 

The door thudded onto the concrete, causing you to jump a bit. You watched Max as she looked at the single red rose stained into the glass. Her whole face had changed into something more serious. Steve was rattling the doorknob “It’s locked. Should I knock and see if anybody's home?” 

“No need.” Robin chimed as you all faced her. She was holding a brick in her hand. “I found a key.” She smirked before throwing it straight into the glass part of the door. The hole it created was big enough for Steve to reach in and grab the handle from the other side. As the door opened, you held your breath, unsure of what this house would look like after all those years abandoned. The group of you entered in a single file line. It was dark and dusty, typical for a house that hasn’t had a tenant in years but there was something bad about this house. You heard Lucas talk about the electricity but your mind was racing as you tried to understand why this place felt so awful. 

“Hey, guys…” Max was now in front of an old grandfather clock, her flashlight shining on the dirty glass. “You all see that right?”

Dustin and Steve answered her with a yeah, but Nancy looked at her. “Is this what you saw? In your visions?” Max only nodded her head yes in response and you got closer to her just in case. 

“I mean it's… just a clock, right?” said Robin as she began to get closer to the clock everyone was gathered around. Her hand wiped the dust off the glass. “Like a normal clock.” 

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?” Steve was confused and you could see his eyebrows furrow as he spoke. “Maybe he’s like a clockmaker or something?” 

“I think you cracked the case, Steve.” Dustin was clearly being sarcastic causing Steve to give him a glare that made you smirk. 

“All I know is the answers are here… somewhere.” Nancy was sure of something and none of you could deny the feeling you all shared. Something happened in this house, something important. “Okay, everyone stay in groups. Robin, Y/N, upstairs.” As Robin saluted you nodded your head. You gave Steve a little wave before he let out a sigh that made Dustin roll his eyes. The two boys began to banter as the rest of you made your way to different areas of the house. 

As you looked around the creaky house, you felt a sudden rush of sadness. It looked like the whole family had just up and left. They didn’t even take family photos. You picked up one of the picture frames and it showed a once-happy family. Because of how you grew up, you knew what it was like to have your world shifted in one moment. Nancy and Robin had noticed you looking sad and made an effort to get your attention. 

“So, Y/N, do you still work at the bookshop in town?” Nancy’s voice caused you to break out of your sadness and smile softly at her. 

You placed the photo back where it was and turned around to face Nancy. “Yeah, I’ve been working there since graduation. I think I saw you there once, dropping off the school newspaper.” 

“Oh yeah, it’s normally…” Nancy’s voice trailed off as she began to think of her dead friend. The look on her face caused you to try and change the subject quickly. You couldn’t imagine losing the friends that Nancy had. First, it was Barb and now it was someone she sure didn’t spend a lot of free time with but they worked closely on the paper together.

“Umm… so what happened to this family? Did you get any information from that visit to Pennhurst?” The question broke Nancy out of her sad trance. If there was one thing you remembered about Nancy Wheeler it was her ability to always know more than anyone. Robin, Nancy and you were all walking up some stairs as she was about to explain Steve burst out in front of her with a look of distress covering his face. 

“Whoa, Woah! What’s wrong?” Nancy looked concerned as Steve started to dust himself off frantically. 

“There was a spider.” He was out of breath as he spoke. 

“What?” She looked both concerned and confused at the same time. Of course, there were spiders, this place had to be filled with them.

“It’s a black widow” He quickly ran to the handle and slammed the door shut. “Don’t go in there.” 

“Oh, oh. Wait just..” You watched as Nancy began to pick at Steve’s hair he was acting frantic about a possible spider in his hair. He kept moving forward and Nancy had to tell him to stop several times until he finally listened. You watched her take a web out of his now messy hair and his whole face lit up as she did so. The whole scene made you feel nauseous and Robin could tell.

“If there is a spider in there you won’t find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.” As she spoke, she looked over at you trying to get you out of whatever mood you were now in. 

“What is wrong with you?!” Steve said his voice filled with annoyance and Robin’s only reply was a chuckle before grabbing your arm and leading you away from the scene. 

This left Steve to begin babbling to Nancy letting her know that Robin and he were just friends. Which made you feel even sicker because if he was telling Nancy these things, it meant he still loved her. You understood if he was, it just hurt that for a moment you had actually believed he could possibly like you. When Steve and Nancy began to date everyone talked about it. The two seemed to be the perfect couple, the brains and the beauty. 

“Platonic with a capital P!” Robin who was now several feet ahead of Nancy and Steve spoke up, giving you a little poke on your side to cheer you up the best she could. She wanted to punch Steve for being such a dingus when it came to Nancy but she knew he needed to really figure that out himself.

“Yep, thank you.” His voice had never waivered still full of the same annoyance he felt earlier. Nancy was still getting the rest of the dust and webs out of his hair.

You couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation since Robin had done her best to pull you away from it. Robin could sense the uneasiness brewing inside you so she led you a little further away before finally speaking. “You know, Steve, he thinks he still loves her.” 

The words hit you with a pang in the chest. You turned to look at Nancy and Steve before looking back to Robin. “It looks like he’s pretty sure about it.”  There was no way you could get between that and maybe there was no need for you to even try. Sure, maybe he did like you but how were you sure that it wasn’t just all the excitement of meeting someone new? Yes, he made you feel comfortable but that didn’t mean it was going to be anything more than friends. 

“Well, Steve Harrington has always looked to be many things….and well a lot of it he isn’t.” Her words were soft and you could tell this was a more meaningful conversation. Robin was getting at something deeper but at the moment it didn’t quite make sense. There was far too much on your mind right now both Max and Eddie were in danger. 

“Those two have a history I can’t really compete with. Max, she’s in danger and Eddie is framed for murders. Plus I don’t want to get my hopes up.” The last words caught you and Robin by surprise. You did like Steve a lot but there was so much going on right now and if he did like Nancy maybe that’s just how this is meant to be. 

Robin was about to say something but then suddenly Max yelled from below. Since being on high alert with anything Max related, it didn’t take you long to run down the steps to where she was standing with Lucas. 

The sun had set now and all of you were now in the living room of the Creel house. The chandelier was turning on and off again as if it were a heartbeat. “It’s like the Christmas lights,” Nancy spoke and you realized there was another thing you had missed in this journey. 

“The Christmas lights?” Robin decided to ask the same question you had on your mind.

“Yeah, when Will was in the Upside Down, the lights… came to life.” Max was whispering and it caused you to feel uneasy. 

Lucas then spoke up.  “Vecna’s here…in this house. Just on the other side.” Soon the light stopped buzzing causing all of you to look around to see if anything else was glowing. 

“I think he just left the room.” Robin blurted out. The house was much darker now causing you to get closer to Steve who happened to be right next to you. It wasn’t that you were afraid of the dark, it was just this dark was something else. 

Max began to eye the room with a bit of fear. “Did he hear us?”

“Can he see us?” As Steve spoke, he got closer to you in fear of what was around him. It seemed you both felt the same way about being close. How it offered the both of you a type of solace that was hard to find anywhere else. 

“Headphones,” Lucas ordered looking over to Max. It didn’t take long for her to quickly place the headphones back on her ears and turn the volume up as best she could. 

Nancy looked like her brain was going into overdrive before finally speaking. “Wait, wait, everyone turn off your flashlights and spread out.” 

“We’re not going to be able to see if we turn off our flash… lights,” Steve muttered. “Jesus Christ.” You grabbed his hand quickly and squeeze it as if to say that you were there and it would be just fine. It caught him off guard and he was never able to settle into the feeling. 

“I got him!” Robin walked into another room that was close to the stairs. Her flashlight flashed the same way the chandelier had earlier.  “I had him!” 

Steve’s flashlight began to go off causing both of you to let go of each other's hands. However, you never left his side as you began to journey up the stairs. It wasn’t until he reached the landing that the light died back down. “Shit, I lost him”

“No, you didn’t,” Max chimed in, still able to hear everything despite Kate Bush blaring from her headphones.

Everyone was walking so closely that it was almost as if you had one mind. As everyone walked further up it became clear the source of this was in the attic. Robin was already cursing the idea of this because, of course, the creepy things happening had to be sourced from the attic. Dustin was soon muttering but curiosity took over every sense in your body. There had to be some key as to why this place showed up in Max’s trance. Even though it scared you deeply, it was far more important to keep Max safe.  The attic was dark and smelt of rotting wood, the only source of light was a giant window that made the house look menacing. This was a scene out of a horror movie and everyone had seen enough of them to know that the ending wasn’t going to be ideal. There was only one light fixture for the space and it began to turn on and off at the pace the other lights had done before. Everyone stood underneath it watching as it began to make a buzzing noise that grew louder over time. An uneasy feeling washed over you as the noise grew louder, you hadn’t been this scared since seeing Max levitating in the graveyard. Something was here but no one could see it, yet each one of you knew it was Vecna. Suddenly you heard a pop and the glass from the flashlight shattered into tiny pieces all around your face. Luckily, the sound caused you to pull your head back so you only had a few cuts on your cheeks. Max and Steve both looked at you with concern until it began to happen to the rest of the group. 

It became clear at that moment after the flashlights were broken and the light above burst that Vecna was drawing a lot of power. As everyone walked down the steps and back into the car you began to rub your flannel on your cheek. A few of the cuts stung and Steve kept telling you to keep your pressure on the cut so it would stop bleeding. Despite the group being tired each one of them noticed how he was so concerned about your well-being. In the back of the car, he took the time to check for any lingering glass that could infect the cuts. Dustin was his assistant nurse holding a flashlight up so Steve could get a good look. The way Steve was dotting on you would’ve normally caused you to be embarrassed but your body felt heavy and your mind was fuzzy. So instead you watched him in a daze as he cleaned and sanitized your wound. This reaction would’ve worried him years ago but he had suffered enough from this world to know that it left shock. The kids were too tired to enter the store so the older members except for you decided to go in real quick and grab some food for Eddie. Robin, Nancy, and Steve all insisted you stay in the car and watch over the kids.  By the time they had gotten back, the kids were fast asleep in the weirdest positions but you watched Max as she rested. 

On the ride back, everything in you began to process what had just happened. Steve kept looking at you trying his best to figure out what was going on in your head. Steve had no idea you saw the way his face lit up when he was with Nancy. He didn’t even notice his face had lit up that way in the first place. Yet, the way Robin was so sure about Steve not loving Nancy confused you. The main thing you were worried about wasn’t Steve Harrington, it was Max Mayfield. The summer the two of you met was so life-changing. For years, it felt that you were just doomed and it wasn’t possible for someone with so much damage to help anyone younger. Max had proved you wrong and you wanted to do everything in your power to keep that safe. The cuts seemed to become numb as time went on, it was possible that you just already gotten used to the pulsing pain. When Nancy finally made it back to her house everyone piled out of the car without saying a word. Except for Steve who had pulled you aside as the rest made their way to achieve some sleep. 

“Hey, are you okay? You seemed kinda lost in the car and, listen I get that feeling. This world involves a lot of shocks and you also just got some nasty cuts from that flashlight.” Steve had this habit of rambling even when comfortable. There were just too many thoughts going through his mind all at once and so little time to get them out. Taking a deep breath you looked at him, his face covered with genuine concern that made you understand how he got the title Mom from the kids. 

“Steve, I’m fine, just worried about Max. Thank you for cleaning me up in the car. Dustin and you really would make a fine pair of nurses.” As you spoke his eyes grew wide as if he was confused until it hit him and he let out a small laugh. Once he finally laughed, you giggled and smiled at him. “Don’t worry about me, I’m tough I promise” He knew that you could handle yourself, and yet he still felt the need to stand in the way of anything that could cause harm. Before heading inside, you placed your hand on his shoulder and gave him another warm smile. He watched as you walked into the Wheeler house and ran his fingers through his hair. A sigh of relief left his lips as he realized that Robin hadn’t been there to witness that interaction. Then he heard a loud bang on the window and saw Robin giving him a thumbs-up causing him to roll his eyes. 

[in-a-slanted-outhouse]

also! i think ocd five in general is a very neat concept, there’s some headcanons i have for him that i didn’t even realize are ocd symptoms until now. since ocd and anxiety are linked, do you think you’ll touch on that topic as well? i’d also love to just heard your thoughts on how it’d affect his brain :)

I read both questions before responding so I kind of already touched on this in this post but I will go into it in more detail here

I definitely think that Five has anxiety and I think that both his OCD and anxiety are intertwined but there are also ways that his anxiety manifests outside of OCD and that’s general day to day life stuff. I think Five would find a lot of anxiety around social interaction. I think Five would struggle with interacting with his siblings. He got better in the third season but it sort of fell apart at the end when they all walked away. There’s quite a significant wedge between Five and his siblings and I think he’d have a lot of anxiety around trying to make himself fit into family

During season three his relationship with people such as Klaus improves. He has a deep discussion with Viktor and he definitely becomes a lot more friendly with Lila. They have the wedding and they all have fun together and they’re probably at a point where Five feels like he is fitting in with gang a little better. He does his whole wedding speech which he remembers being horrible but the rest of them talk about him being a big old softy and they joke about it and Lila even tried to hug him but at the end of season three it all sort of falls apart. There’s a lot of tension between Allison and Five specifically. Luther grabs ahold of Five and blames him for Sloane disappearing and everyone except from Viktor walks away from him. That isn’t necessarily because of Five specifically but it could be something that he internalises as being his fault. Luther immediately blames him for something and then they all walk away. He’s supposed to be the time travel expert and everything has gotten all fucked up again and I would be surprised if he ended up blaming himself for that

In this au Five ends up going to live with Lila and Diego but he has a lot of anxiety around trying to make sure that he slots into the family well enough. Lila and Diego are the ones that insist that Five stays because it’s clear that he’s not doing very fell by himself. He’s drinking; he’s sleeping rough; he hasn’t changed clothes in like a month. He was clearly having a shit time so they decide to keep him around but despite the fact that they want him to stay he still feels like the part that doesn’t fit. He still waits to be rejected or blamed for things that aren’t his fault. He has anxiety around making sure that he comes across as someone that his siblings and Lila will like and keeping it that way. He has a lot of anxiety around it all suddenly falling apart like things have before

When he finds out that Lila’s pregnant it brings out a whole other brand of anxiety for him. He’s worried that something might happen to her. He’s worried Diego might get mad at him if something happens to her. He’s worried about being a good uncle. He’s worried about this very small and very delicate family member entering his life. What if he hurts the baby? What if he makes a mistake and Diego and Lila throw him out? What if Lila or the baby die and Diego becomes estranged the way that Allison has?

He’s constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’s used to things going wrong and living the worst case scenario. He doesn’t know any other way of living so he’s not used to things being so normal and it makes him really anxious to lose it. He hasn’t got all his siblings but he has a few of them and they’re happy and accepting of him and he really really cannot bare the thought of losing that little bit of peace and love he’s managed to accumulate. It’s terribly anxiety inducing and terribly isolating for him but he learns to live. And with help and support from Lila specifically he learns to get better

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Iiiiiit's ask time!

-What are some of your character's pet peeves?

-What does your character see as the greatest injustice?

-What does your character fear?

-Why did you choose this character to answer these questions?

Thank you for the ask, Scary!

I'm answering these for Lucy from the Love Me Where I'm Most Ruined series!

-What are some of your character's pet peeves?

People who walk slow drive her insane. If she gets stuck behind someone on the street going at a snail's pace, she'll be grinding her teeth with rage. She may be short, but she's developed a rather quick gait after years of having to keep up with people with longer legs than hers.

Being late. She's a busy girl and she expects people to be on time to things. If she's standing around for more than five minutes waiting for someone, she's gonna be pissed.

-What does your character see as the greatest injustice?

Any sort of sexual violence that goes unpunished is an injustice in her eyes, and she often will take things into her own hands if need be to remedy that 😈

The fact that the upper class can behave just as bad--and often even worse--than the gang does and yet act like they are so much better than them makes her blood boil.

She also thinks any child abuse is abhorrent.

-What does your character fear?

She's got terrible claustrophobia, due to trauma from both the alleyway she was attacked in being very narrow and small, and being buried alive. One of the easiest ways for her to have a panic attack is by shoving her in a tiny space that she feels trapped in.

She also has a fear of thunder (astraphobia) because there was a huge thunderstorm the night of the attack, and she always associates that with that moment in her life. Whenever there's thunder, it put her nerves on end and she's often lingering even closer to Tommy than normal during those times. (I actually wrote a fic about that fear of hers here)

She also has a phobia of moths (mottephobia). If she sees one she'll scream and make a big fuss until it either is dead or ushered outside. Tommy thinks it's hilarious. (You can also read about her panicking over a moth here)

-Why did you choose this character to answer these questions?

I chose Lucy because she's the OC I am currently writing for, and because she's my secret favorite of my OCs. I could literally talk about her forever!

50 Questions for Your Characters

Send me an ask

[charmac]

Ok so my idea for dtamh day, after seeing the new promo, the gang is scheming over Dennis, possibly even them behind his car not working, they are trying to cause the breakdown either to punish him for being terrible or to prove they can be as bad, Mac possibly getting his own back for the Johnny thing, possibly they may even make Dennis cry else we just get angry Dennis to the max and raging a lot. The diamonds and pressure cooker thing makes me thing the gang wants Dennis to explode.

You?

I've talked about this before a few times, but never hurts to keep going!

Nothing in the promo (besides the diamonds) surprised me. Basically since March when we got a shitty video of Glenn filming outside a parking garage I've been convinced this episode would be the Tesla Garage Story from TASP.

I don't think the Gang will actually have anything to do with Dennis' plot, other than serve as a parallel to his rage (and probably be all together in the Cold Open, setting up the fact that it's the Gang boiling Dennis' blood, and why he needs a break). And I say the diamonds surprised me, but I was certain we would have a Gang B plot to parallel Dennis' plot (which I talked about at length, but alas, verbally).

For pacing and comedic timing, they need something to "cut to" between Dennis' increasing rage. So, the Gang wouldn't actually be involved in what's happening to Dennis (nor are they actively contributing to his problems that day). Essentially, Dennis has taken himself out of The Gang's next 'stupid/insane/ridiculous' scheme and is of 'no contact' for the episode, as per the characters motives in the plot. But for the writing/audience, Dennis not having any involvement with The Gang's plot is to parallel the two and push the heavy handed metaphor that both plots are under pressure, building up to an explosion.

That brings me to this moment from the trailer that has yet to be used, and we now have Dee and Mac's outfits to connect (even though, like, 90% of takes from the trailers haven't been used at this point...).

My best guess is this is when the pressure cooker is about to explode, which should parallel Dennis' explosion but wouldn't it be so, so nice if it didn't? Wouldn't it be so fucking beautifully poetic if there is no explosion. We build and build and build, tension on the bar side, thinking they're about to destroy the place, tension on Dennis as he gets more and more frustrated with the car, and we think it's all going to explode... but then, it doesn't. And we cut to Dennis, who finds his moment of zen. He makes peace with himself and his situation somehow and we get, something (what? I don't know, we'll see soon).

We know he goes to the beach, I can only hope that's toward the end and not the beginning, that our resolution is beautiful fallout.

Basically my idea/structure is: Gang together, opening credits, majority of the episode is back and forth between stupid making diamonds scheme and Dennis' flop at a mental health day (both plots have no canon connection, but are parallel/meta heavy), climax of explosion (will it happen?), Dennis moment (hopefully beach), hopefully Gang together, end credits.

(Not sure if this needs the disclaimer, but I don't like, have any more knowledge than anyone else does about the episode, this is just all my personal thoughts and speculation, lol)

[lostandbackagain]

i'm back with more questions about tcor (i will probably have a couple more in the coming days don't let me annoy you)

what's up with the folcharts the whole book? i feel like from what i've heard the take a backseat but like what's up with the whole trapping people in paintings?

does the book explain like the geography of the inkworld outside of argenta and lombrica? like what are the other countries

what's up with jacopo in this book.

oki sorry I had a migraine yesterday but here's all I've got:

the folcharts have almost no speaking roles 😭 meggie and doria want to go on a big trip to explore the world (much much better than getting married at fking 18). mo's rightfully nervous bc this world is terrible lol. resa doesn't do anything 😔

orpheus buys a spell that gets the main cast sucked into paintings and dustfinger is meant to be the last to be absorbed but they fuck up the prince (ultimately failing bc of racism is the funniest concept to me) and don't know about jehan so they go to at least beat the shit out of orpheus in the hopes that for some reason that will free everyone. a few of the characters that Get Painted have little chapters here and there.. not enough for me though 😒

it does not do a good job imo of establishing more of the world. dustfinger mentions (brief dragon mention babey!) that he has really no idea of what the world looks like since he just likes the ocean. most of the story takes place in a city about two weeks' march/ride? north, which from the illustrations in the trilogy I don't really know how they got there without mentioning the castle of salt. I don't remember if the country's name is mentioned but it's very well outside of violante's jurisdiction and makes lombrica and argenta look comically backward. orpheus kind of lives in the slums at first but eventually the city opens more and it's like, huge and really nice and peaceful and people have Money money. one of the new main characters (hyvin my baby<33) is a female apprentice healer (like as a job. a real career, not like roxane's pharmacy sht) which. like I whined a few weeks ago it's crazy to me that that's a thing but in ombra women aren't even allowed to read. there are a few scenes in some different forests (one is by this bridge (to where???) and I haven't pictured something so vividly in ages, it's so good).

jacopo is only very briefly mentioned. the prince has a bad shoulder? I think? in the beginning because jacopo's gang attacked him? I think?and nyame says he's on his way to being as horrible as his grandfather 🙃 he's only like 11 but I think someone should take one for the team and... prevent that from happening. sad that violante wasn't able to undo his bad influences but she does hate kids and was pregnant at 12 so I'm not going to hold his behavior against her