#i posted a teaser for this one in particular MONTHS ago

[qoldenskies]

[this is 7.6k words. i had a very productive day.]

[hobis-hope95]

Blessed by the Gods

fancast!Benjicot Blackwood x Bracken!fem!reader

Summary: You, the only daughter of Amos Bracken, had just been offered away in marriage to a man much older than you, and in the hopes of having some peace and quiet for you to express your anguish towards the Gods that allowed this, you go to a place you found a couple months ago - a beautiful clearing with flowers scattered around and a weirwood tree in the middle. You knew it was risky, as you'd seen him there before, but in a moment of distraction Benjicot Blackwood found you and now you must suffer the consequences.

Warnings: 18+, enemies to lovers, a little fluf (veeery little), kinda dom x sub, swearing, hunting (it's basicaly it but I don't know if there's another term for it, when you read you'll know), smut, porn with (very) little plot, fingering, p in v, unprotected sex, rough sex, breeding kink, praising kink.

Authors note: Heyy, so this is my very first time posting something I wrote (I do write a lot but mostly I get stuck and end up not finishing it) because I'm OBCESSED with Kieran Burton since I saw him in the goddamn teaser, plus I've been reading plenty of fanfics of him and two of them particularly inspired me for this (I'm sorry, I don't remember the names or the authors to tag them). Last but not least, English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes.

You should hate him. You should’ve never been in that place, for you knew it was Blackwood territory, and should’ve heard him getting closer before. But you didn’t. You knew he went there frequently and if he saw you in the golden dress you wore in that particular place, he would definitely tell you to go back to your lands, but not without some provocation first. But that weirwood tree was so beautiful even if hidden in the middle of the woods, the flowers that bloom around it were so unique that you had to go there and admire them in a way to flee from the confinements of Stone Hedge. Or you told yourself that this was the reason you went there.

You found it the first time by accident. You had got lost in the woods, no track of a clearing nearby for you to situate yourself, when you saw the red leaves and decided to get near, for you knew that the weirwood roots extended long through the floor – making itself exclusive for a few yards in its radium – and you would be able to see the sky without the treetops being on your way. When you got there, though, the place was so gorgeous you could not leave right away.

After that, you tried to memorize as much of the path you could and return to that same place for moments of peace. That was until one day you heard footsteps – of one person it seemed – and you hushed to hide away. Moments later, hidden behind some bushes, you saw when no other than Benjicot Blackwood appeared through another end of the clearing where, you didn’t notice before, had a small trail that probably led straight to Raventree Hall.

Bloody Ben. Lord Blackwood. Lord of the house you were supposed to hate, and yet you found him so extremely gorgeous. You’d saw him only a few times. On Riverrun where your families sometimes were called by their Paramount Lord or near the stream that divided their lands, often arguing with your cousin in the company of a few others of his House and a few times you ended up being the victim, getting back home after slapping him across his face with his obscene remarks or just leaving after outsmarting the man – for the second you took much pride in.

On some of the times you’d been on the clearing you ended up having to hide when hearing his footsteps and waiting for him to leave before you could move. He’d mostly sit in one of the roots of the old tree and do whatever he felt like doing at the moment. You’d seen him reading, cleaning his sword, crafting some arrows and doing nothing at all, but he always stayed for about two hours before finally leaving.

Today however, probably because you were stressed with the news of your arranged marriage, you didn’t hear him getting close. When he saw your dress, the colour of your house shining through the rays of sunshine, a smirk crept in his face with the ideas he had in mind.

He knew it was wrong, hideous, the idea of wanting anything that came with the red stallion in a golden shield, your House’s coat of arms. He knew that from any woman he could want, you should not be a possibility. But with your hair that finished around your hips and a face that looked like a gift from the Gods, allied with your wits and challenging manner, he could not lie to himself that more than once he woke up in the middle of the night hot and bothered after a much-detailed dream about you – and eventually would handle his hardness with the thought of defiling you and making you his.

What he didn’t know, and you tried to deny it as much as you could, was that you also had conflicting thoughts about him. Since the first time you’d saw him in Riverrun, his face showing a mischievous glow with a smirk on his lips as your family entered the room, you fought with your own body as your heart raced and your cheeks burned in his presence. You hated the way he mocked your cousin and told you the lousiest of things, his lascivious expression making you hot and bothered as well, and you hated that every time you saw him, you knew that at the end of the day you would toss and turn for hours trying to erase his face from your mind.

You told yourself it was just because he was the only one who didn't walk on eggshells when talking to you – or anyone for that matter – and because you liked the challenge, but deep down you knew that your feelings for him were far from hatred, and the idea of trying to find out the true meaning of them scared you.

“Gods, have I done anything to anger you so that I’m faded to marry Forrester Frey? I would do anything, please!” You asked to the faced weirwood tree, knowing you’d have no answer but desperate enough to look like a crazy woman who talks to a tree by yourself. What you did not know was that someone did hear you.

Benjicot took his blade from his waist, taking extra care to not be heard, and when he got close enough to you, he acted quickly, one arm holding your body – your arms entrapped – and the one with the blade stopping on your neck.

“My, my, look what we have in here, a lost Bracken broodmare, far away from home” Her breath got caught up on her throat with the feeling of the cold blade on her skin and her heart jumped on her chest with his body pressed against her back and his voice so close to her ear “Good thing that I found you before any other predator did, huh?”

“Let me go, please!!” You pleaded, pure panic spilling from your voice, and Benji almost moaned – he had no idea that having you pressed against his body in panic would arouse him that much “Oh no, my darling, I could not do such a thing. You just committed a crime, you see, for you are far away from your father’s lands and what fair lord would I be if I do not punish criminals like you?”

“Please, I’ll vanish from your sight in less than a minute and no one will know about this, okay? Just please, let me go!!” Your eyes were burning with unshed tears with the thought of the possible punishment he had in mind, and you didn’t stay still, moving your body in an attempt to free yourself from him even if useless, as he was taller and way stronger.

“No, no, no, my darling, I could not possibly do that, your Bracken lord can play blind on your actions, but I am a serious ruler and punish all criminals as their crimes demand” He tightened his grip on your body, his fingers pressing harder against the clothed skin of your waist, and as he continually pressed on you, a warm feeling cursed through you until it reached in between your thighs “But what punishment would be enough? Thieves, who take things that don't belong to them, have their hands cut off. Murderers, who take lives that do not belong to them, pay with their own lives. Now you, who committed invasion of lands that don’t belong to you, what could I possibly do to punish you correctly?”

Once again you pleaded, ‘please’ sounding like a repeated prayer on your lips as he inhaled the sweet smell of your hair “I could not invade your father’s lands, or I would be committing a crime of my own” He stated as if he did not listen to your pleads and when he spoke again, his voice was huskier and low like a whisper “But I could invade your territory myself”

You hated yourself for how your body reacted to his words, your thighs squeezing together when you felt the heat on your lower belly grow, and hated even more that a side of you wanted him to go ahead with his threat full of mischievous intentions. Him, on the other hand, was more than pleased to hold you that way, his front fully in contact against your behind and his groin pressed against your back.

“Please, Benjicot, lord Blackwood, please” You repeated and started struggling even more when you felt his hard cock pressed against your back, trying to move away “Please, please! What, my lady, do you want me to do?” He mocked, repeating what you said in a higher pitch, as his hand with the knife left your throat and went to your hip “You want me to be gentle?”

Another wave of heat made you close your eyes for a second, a hard sigh leaving your lips and you didn’t answer. He laughed when he heard you “This is supposed to be a punishment, but I’ll make an exception if you behave” He said, his breath hot against your ear as the hand on your hip went further down and grabbed the skirt of your dress, pulling it up.

Your neck now free from the threat of his blade, an idea came to your mind. You were not sure if it would work, but it was your only hope, so you took it. Bending your head forward to gain some impulse, you took a deep breath – bracing yourself for the upcoming pain – and shook your head back with all your strength, hitting his head on the side.

Benjicot, surprised with what had just happened and with his head pulsating, faltered his grip on you long enough for you to get rid of his arm around you and start running, your head spinning and your vision still blurry from the blow. You felt and heard when the skirt of your dress ripped, before the other man’s hand lost its grip on the fabric, but you didn’t turn around to check the damage.

With your vision still recovering and the pulsing pain in your head, you headed to the woods, still not sure if you followed the right path, only caring about getting as far of him as possible. Benjicot, on the other hand, quickly recovered from the dizziness, the pain easily subsiding, and he growled before following you, euphoric and feeling his blood rush through his body straight to his cock with the expectation of hunting you down.

You ran as fast as you could, your breathing burning in your lungs and your legs aching, and tried to dodge the trees and bushes in your way. Even with all your efforts, you heard his steps and breathing not that far away, and fear crept inside you, being the one thing that prevented you from collapsing in that moment.

He knew those woods like his own chambers – losing track of how many times he went there to hunt, explore, have a moment of peace or take out his anger on the trees – and he had the advantage of being taller than you, his muscles trained for endurance in the battlefields, so even if you ran with all your strength, it would still be easy enough for him to reach you.

“Bracken!! Do not think you can run away from your punishment, you’re still on my lands” Your step became unsteady when his voice seemed closer than you imagined and after tripping over a tree root, you couldn't keep your balance, ending up falling with your body and arms protecting you from ending face first into the grass.

As you were turning to place your hands on the ground and help you stand, you heard a twig cracking right behind you and soon enough his voice made you turn your head “Poor mare, doesn’t know her way home, but don’t worry, I’ll show you when I finish your punishment if you want”

You tried to turn yourself so you could stand back up, but before you could do anything, he caught your ankle and pulled you closer, turning you to face him “No, no my darling, you’re not escaping me again, now come here, the quicker it starts, the quicker it finishes, if you want... or you could just enjoy it”

“No, no, no!!” You repeated like a prayer and when he positioned himself between your legs, you started to punch and scratch at his chest, face and arms “Calm down, I think I was mistaken, for you are not a mare but a kitten, but no need to show your claws. I know I said that I would be gentle if you behaved and you didn’t, but I do have a soft spot for beautiful girls like you”

Quickly enough, as if your efforts meant nothing, Benjicot grabbed both your wrists and held them above your head, leaning his body closer to yours – his groin pressing against the middle of your thighs and his mouth just a few inches away, his breath hitting your face.

“You know what surprised me about your behaviour just now?” He asked, looking at your eyes, before he kissed your jaw and a hand went to your ankle “Because every time I see you, be in the Tully’s assize or the boundary, you are always looking at me so needy that makes me want to fuck you right there”

He left open-mouthed kisses through your neck as you felt the hairs on your nape stand and his hand began to move up your leg through the fabric of your dress “So why now are you pretending you do not want this?” He moved his hips forward, his hardness pressing against your clothed folds, and you didn’t have the strength to hold a moan.

“Be-because I don’t! You Blackwoods are just so ugly that I’m surprised to see something like that in the middle of a crowd” You spat, trying to regain some of your pride, but he chuckled, lifting his head with a smirk.

“Act all you can, kitten, but that moan just annulled everything you said, you know” His hand now was in your inner thigh and as he stopped talking, his calloused fingers went straight to your folds. You bit the inside of your cheeks to hold your voice and furrowed your brows, but he still looked almost amused at your efforts.

“Fuck you” You twisted in his grip but could not move enough to escape his touch and he took the chance to move his index finger through your folds, watching as you closed your eyes and your hips grounded into his touch “Oh, my lady, deny it as much as you want, but your body will remain true to its desires”

His smirk grew wider, his tongue sliding through his teeth, as his thumb found your clit and he watched in pleasure as you clenched your jaw and your legs opened wider for him. He circled your bundle of nerves with his thumb while his middle finger slid down your folds, reaching your entrance, and didn’t waste the opportunity to shove his finger inside you to the point where only his last knuckle was visible outside.

You moaned loudly, having been caught off guard, and your walls tightened around his finger “Fuck, you’re so tight, it’ll feel delicious around my cock” Benjicot started moving his finger, almost completely withdrawing before plunging it back inside, while still rubbing his thumb through your clit, and soon enough you were a mess, your thoughts fogged with the pleasure his hand was giving you.

You didn’t even notice when his hand let go of your wrists, too caught up on the feeling of his finger inside you and his pace growing faster by the second, as you fought against the undeniable pleasure you were feeling, and when he curled up his digit inside you, the thin string of pride you hung yourself by collapsed, giving in to the urge of your feelings and enjoy as he claimed you.

“M-more, please” You whispered, completely giving in to the ache of your heart. That was why you could not stray your eyes from him at every assize, that was why you would walk too close to the boundary and why you would come all the way from Stone Hedge to that specific clearing with that specific weirwood tree.

Your heart wanted him and there was no denying it, not anymore, not when his middle finger curled inside you so deliciously that made you see stars through your eyelids and not when you caught a glimpse of him and he looked at you like a starved man “Say again, kitten? I didn’t hear you” He teased, thinking you had yet again tried to deny your wishes.

“More, please, Benjicot” You said before you moaned again, your eyes fully opening now with your brows furrowed in pleasure, and for a second he wished he had a portrait painted of you like this. He pushed another finger inside, his pace now relentless with his cock throbbing through his breeches, and with his free hand he grasped the front of your dress, tearing the fabric to expose your full breasts.

“Stopped putting up a fight now, kitten? But this is not a treat, this is a punishment” He said as he curled both his fingers inside you once again before completely withdrawing from your wet cunt. He lifted the fingers that were on you seconds ago and looked at them, making a disapproving sound with his tongue “Just look at that, look at the mess you made on my fingers, huh?”

He tapped at your lower lip with his wet fingers, the smell of yourself arousing you even more “Now be a good girl and open up” And you did as he said. You closed your lips around his fingers as you felt them press at your tongue and moaned as you tasted yourself “Clean them”

You ignored the smug smirk on his lips, knowing he was enjoying bossing you around more than anything, and hollowed your cheeks sucking on his calloused digits. Now it was his turn to let out a pleased groan and when you looked at his eyes his pupils were blown, his irises darker, what almost made you moan on his fingers again.

“I’ve heard you back there by the weirwood tree, your cunt of a father wants to sell you to that old Frey?” Benjicot retreated his fingers from your mouth and ran them down your chin, your saliva running through your skin as he slowly traced a way through your neck and collarbones until he reached one of your breasts, both his digits circling your already pointy nipple as he watched your velvety skin under his touch, his smirk had gone away from his face “That old dog deserves not even a piece of you”

You felt your heart skip a beat with his words, trying not to conclude anything for he had not confirmed yet “But soon enough he won’t be a problem, don’t worry kitten” He twisted your nipple between his index and thumb, trying to calm down his anger with the thought of Forrester Frey being anywhere near you, before you asked “How?”

“Because after I finish with your punishment, no man will take you as their wife” He pinched your nipple and you moaned again, the threat mixed with his ministrations and the dark expression in his face being almost too much.

The Blackwood lord moved his other hand to the laces of his breeches, undoing them while still stimulating your breast, and your breath hitched on your throat as you looked down, fixed on his slender fingers dealing with the strings, seeing as it became loose around his hips before he had to let go of your breast to get rid of the fabric that covered his lower part.

As he took off his breeches he came back to his position between your legs, your thighs on top of his, and his smirk placed itself back on his face as he watched your eyes widen with the sight of his bare hard cock.

“You’re- this is-, you are so big” You let out, shock and want on your face as he pushed your dress up, revealing your glistening cunt to him “I know, kitten, but do not worry, it will fit” You lifted your gaze from his hips to his eyes, finding him already staring back at you, and all you could think was that you wanted him more than anything in the world.

He placed both hands on your hips, bringing you closer, and grabbed him in his hand to slide through your folds, collecting as much of your juices as he could. He wanted you, desperately, he wanted to completely fill you with his length and fuck you mercilessly until all he heard was your screams of pleasure, he wanted to ruin you to any other man and to have only you for the rest of his fucking life.

And so, with the promise of punishing you in his head, he shoved his cock all the way inside you in one thrust, leaving you gasping, your mouth opened and your eyes closed, the stretch and pain of your first time almost bringing you to tears. He had never experienced something like this before – as his previous experiences had been with whores – and didn’t even dare to move, your cunt gripping him so tightly he thought that if he moved at that moment he would cum on the spot.

As he noticed your eyes closed, he pinched your nipple “Open your eyes, kitten, I want to look at your beautiful eyes” You sighed before opening them and when you did, he noticed the tears you tried not to spill. That made something snap inside him, breaking all the will he had to hurt and punish you, and he bended down to meet your face, his breath on your face and his eyes on your lips.

“As soon as I saw you there, next to the weirwood tree, all I wanted to do was to hurt you, make you regret stepping on Blackwood territory on that golden dress of yours, but it’s rather difficult to focus with that pretty face” One of his forearms was keeping him steady as his free hand came to your breasts, the feeling of your soft skin on his calloused fingers almost making him moan “Go on, tell me how you hate me, fight me, tell me how you are disgusted by me, so I can focus on punishing you”

A moan. You opened your mouth to say something, anything, but all you could do was moan and it went straight to his cock, throbbing inside your warm and tight walls, still not moving. As he glanced up, he met your teary eyes and opened mouth in an erotic portrait, he growled as he let go of the rest of his resistance and crashed his lips against yours in a desperate kiss. As your mouth was already agape when he did it, his tongue easily slipped inside and found yours, and you reached for the back of his head, your fingers curling on his black hair.

As he kissed you hungrily, he started moving, his cock almost leaving you entirely before pushing himself back inside, and the sensation of being full of him was so good that you could not control your moans. As he felt the vibrations coming from your mouth, Benjicot squeezed your breast hard and you were sure that would leave a mark – but you couldn’t care less.

As his pace grew a little faster, the pure pleasure replacing the pain of the stretch each time his hips met yours, he let go of your lips, glaring at your face with the squirms and sighs you let out. Even if his dreams were vivid, nothing would compare to having you like this – a mess of fabric, hair and red bruised lips – at the moment, the feeling of your walls always so tight around him and your soft skin on his hand made him grunt.

Your eyes went to his on that exact moment and you could swear that your walls squeezed around him at the sound. He placed his face on the crook of your neck as he started biting and placing kisses to the skin as a way to mark you, and started going down through your collarbone to the front of your chest before placing his lips to the nipple that wasn’t being stimulated.

The wet noises of skin slapping against skin and the feeling of both your nipples being teased made your eyes roll back in pleasure and now you didn’t even try to muffle your sounds anymore “Such a noisy kitten, taking me so well” He praised, lifting his head from your chest, and held your hips with both his hands, so strong that you now worried that you’d get bruises all over your body “You should be mine and not that Frey cunt”

With his firm grip on your hips, he pressed deeper into you, your back arching from the ground and trying to keep up with his movements “Please... Benji” Two of the only three words that you could pronounce at the moment – the third one being more – too caught up with pleasure to form a coherent phrase, and Benji laughed at that, full of pride for making the so beautiful and correct daughter of Amos Bracken look like a common whore “Do you want to be mine, kitten? Mine to fuck and use as I please?”

His words aroused you even more, his hoarse voice sending waves of heat straight to your cunt, and you tried to nod your head in affirmation, because that seemed like the only thing you could do at the moment “Use your words, kitten, I know you can do it” He moved one of his hands so he could brush past your clit and that made you gasp.

“Y-yes please, I want you, I want you Benji” As she nearly screamed, the man felt satisfied, his hunger for you only getting bigger with the way you moved your hips in time with his, your face making the most erotic expressions as your moans and repeated words sounded like an exclusive prayer for him.

“I’m going to fuck a baby in you, fill you with my seed so much you’ll be leaking for days, so your bloody father won’t have an excuse but to marry you to me” He grunted in between his words, moving faster and deeper as he assaulted your clit, and you started feeling a knot form inside of you, the pleasure becoming almost too much “Please, please” You didn’t even know what you were begging for, but only wanting this to never end.

“Yeah? Do you want to be my wife? To have your Bracken womb filled with Blackwood children? Your cunt to be used by a Blackwood cock? Is that what you want?” He leaned in, one of his hand still giving you pleasure, his head once again going to the crook of your neck as he grasped at your thigh, squeezing the flesh as he moved you so you could wrap your leg around his waist, and he heard you when you weakly repeated “Yesyesyes”

“So I’ll make sure you get until the last drop of my seed to, soon enough, you be swelling with my babe” He whispered into your ear as he pressed further to your clit and his pace soon enough was so fast you thought he would break you. Your moans got louder as you wrapped both your legs around his waist, the knot on your lower abdomen about to snap, and he looked at you before whispering “Go on, cum for me, kitten”

And that’s when it happened. The knot snapped within you as you flooded with pleasure, your whole body spasming as your walls grew impossibly tighter around him, milking him, and with just a few more thrusts he shoved himself as deep as he could inside you before he shot his load straight to your core, coating your womb. As he started coming down from his high, he captured your lips in a sloppy kiss and let most of his weight on top of you, which you didn’t care as his warmth and his skin on yours was all you wanted at the moment.

You let out a dissatisfied grunt as he removed his softening cock from your cunt, some of his seed spilling from you, and lied to your side, pulling you to his embrace “Did you really mean it? Marrying me?”

“Yes” You said, the warmth spreading across your face “Well, you filled me with your seed and the possibility of me getting pregnant is almost certain now. Marrying you is the right thing to do” You tried to be cautious with your words, but for the love of the Gods, he had just fucked you in the middle of the woods, caution was one thing you had abandoned long ago “Okay, I admit that since I first saw you in the assize I haven’t been able to remove you from my thoughts and I dreaded the day that the news of your possible engagement would come.”

You took a breath before finishing “We have nothing to do with each other, our families fucking hate one another, but every time I got inside Riverrun fortress, I hoped you’d be there” You said, absently moving your fingers through the skin of his chest, but did not dare to meet his gaze, for you were now as embarrassed as you could be.

“I am glad to hear that, for I have almost the exact same feelings as you. I ached for being able to get closer to you at the assize and to kiss you when I saw you standing next to the boundary. I almost went to Kermit Tully to ask him to propose a betrothal between us” He answered, his hand on the back of your head caressing through your hair. You lifted your head from his chest, his words making your heart flutter, and he leaned his head to capture your lips in a soft kiss, both your and his feelings pouring down into each other.

“But I must stop you from going straight to my father, for he would kill you before you would be able to ask to see him” One of your hands went to his cheek as you parted to breathe, only now noticing you left nail marks there, and stroke his skin.

“Oh, I do know that, for I would never take you back to Stone Hedge with your dress like this” He laughed when he saw your eyes widen at his words, remembering now of the tore skirt and bust of your dress, and quickly added “I’ll give you my cloak and we’ll go to Raventree Hall for you to change, after that we’ll go straight to Riverrun and ask Lord Tully to bless our union, for your father would never go against an order of his Lord Paramount”

“That sounds like a solid plan, not that bad for a Blackwood” You teased and he smirked “And you were not that bad for a Bracken” You gasped in false shock at his words, lightly slapping his shoulder, and he laughed “It will surely be good to have you as my wife, a good way to keep things interesting”

“I hope so, you Blackwoods are not usually that fun though” You bit your lower lip as you’d seen him arch his brows “Well, it depends on what fun you’re talking about, because at least in one kind of ‘fun’ I exceed expectations and you just proved it right”

"Shut up!" You exclaimed and he turned you again before kissing you.

“Don’t need to ask twice, my lady” He said and you kissed him again.

It could have not been the way you expected it to go, but one thing you could say: the Gods did grant you a way to free yourself from a marriage with someone twice your age, still uniting two people together, in hopes of a prosperous – and maybe more peaceful – future ahead.

So that's it! As I wrote it mainly for the smut part (oh god, what a good first impression) the plot part may be a little off, I'm sorry. Please, feel free to leave a note if you guys liked it and maybe soon I post another, a series this time.

[directdogman]

ANOTHER quick thank you and an update on Dialtown in early 2024!!!

Hey, so, since I already made a very sappy thank you post very recently (foolishly not anticipating I'd have reason to write another so soon HHHHH), I'll largely try to stick to the topic of what's to come for this one, essential thank yous aside.

So, the two newest dialtown merch campaigns ended last night and the GITD randy plush hit 1038 sales & the pins hit 590. Wow.

To say that I didn't expect to sell 1628 units of Dialtown merch in the last 30 days is putting it mildly. DT game sales have also been really good during this Steam Winter Sale, selling over 100 copies per day consistently for the last few days. I'm absolutely FLOORED by the output of support this community has given DT (and me) as of late and for that, I must say thanks again.

Admittedly, I feel a lil bad that I'm not much further along in developing the Roger route DLC, as I teased it so long ago. This year has been somewhat privately turbulent and I did not anticipate I'd need to move places TWICE during the year, back when I confidently stated that Roger's route would drop by the end of 2023.

But, I'm committed to bringing you guys the content that you wanna see most in 2024 & will be making a big push in early 2024 to get the DLC ready, with at least another teaser in the early new year before the next campaign starts. I will get things back on schedule. As amazing as all this high quality DT merch is, I haven't forgotten that I'm a developer first and foremost, and new DT content, I shall bring in the new year - now that I have a reliable space to work in again.

To those who bought, posted about, drew fanart of and otherwise promoted the new DT merch releases... Thank you SO, so much. It helps keep the lights on, believe me. I'll be very busy this coming month, as DT's 2 year anniversary is just a month and a half away, and with it, the launch of a Phonegingi plush and more pins (you guys are free to speculate who'll be depicted in the next set :))

I'm mentioning these now so the dual-releases don't annihilate your unsuspecting wallets, heh heh (as two dual launches in a row without warning could be a tad cruel, otherwise.)

So, to circle back, thank you all again. And ofc, in particular, to my dear friend and valued collaborator, @uvfozz, who designs the DT plushies/pins and to the eternally supportive and diligent minds over at Makeship who are always a pleasure to collaborate with (and to whom I will send my direct thanks once everyone's back from Christmas break in the new year!)

2024 is gonna be a really busy year for DT with a lot on the horizon. I'll keep you guys posted in all things I do, but again, thanks. For everything. I'm very excited to see what 2024'll bring for Dialtown. Thanks, everyone! :)

[emoisthenewemu]

And I Love Her! - Megumi Fushiguro x F!OC

Snippet from a future work!

THIS IS A TEASER FOR AN UPCOMING FIC I AM WORKING ON! title comes from the kurt cobain song highly suggest you listen to it to get a feel of the vibes i am working off of. also would like to make a point of saying this snippet comes from later on in the fic. it WILL start when megumi and raya are not together and there will be lots of buildup, also! they are going to come off as much different people in the beginning because they have not grown (and gone through the trauma) they will later go through. this comes from a point in time when they are very established and comfortable in their relationship with one another, having known each other for years. i choose to post this particular part because it is when she meets yuuji and nobara which sort of sets up the second arc of the story, i just LOVE it bc this is Raya to her core. She is wayy more shy and less intuitive in the beginning-she thanks Tsumiki for bringing her out of her shell. also megumi is very obsessed w raya, she has become his safe space so if he seems a bit ooc just understand theres LORE behind this. ANYWAYS I CAN GO ON FOREVER, enjoy!!

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"What are you wearing?" Nanami questions the second Raya rounds the corner. His sleeves are rolled up, arms crossed as he displays the kind of stern glare only he is capable of. He left work for this, in the midst of a big project just so he can go scold Yaga for letting his precious (adopted) daughter fall victim to the Higher Ups. He should have known they would not just give her a slap on the wrist. No-there was an entire investigation that took place, forcing the girl to spend almost two months locked away in her room, prohibited from engaging in sorcery of any kind. Long story short, this meeting is important and Raya does not seem to get that.

"What?" She cocks her head to the side, a hand on her hip as she clutches her purse tight. "We need to go Nanamin we're gonna be late!"

"Yeah cause' you spent two whole hours getting ready!" Ino rolls his eyes, slipping out of the kitchen he just stole an afternoon snack from. His voice is slightly muffled by the crackers he is munching on.

"Go change" The man orders and she scoffs.

"What? Why?! He wants to suspend me? Fine! I'm certainly not showing up in my uniform-probably not even allowed" She scoffs again.

"You could at least be in dress code!" Nanami scolds.

"Fuck the dress code!"

"Raya Nanami watch your language!" He raises his voice slightly and she visibly cowers-she hates when he yells at her. "At least put a sweater on!"

She looks down at the cute little lace cropped cardigan that is paired over her even cuter white tank top-one that does not cover much. "I do have a sweater on"

Takuma laughs but the smile is wiped off his face when Kento glares at him. "You can see right through it, that's an accessory!" Her adoptive father continues.

"A cute one!" She smiles sweetly, hoping that will work on him. But he looks even more pissed than he did when she stepped out of her room. "Ugh I'm sorryyy! I'm just so mad at all of them! Why the hell should I follow their stupid rules?"

"So you're making a statement?" He cocks an eyebrow.

"Exactly! And you always said I should not conform to society's rules and make my own right?! Become a strong woman that leads others, not follows" She is attempting to use his own words against him, albeit not very effectively.

That is not exactly what he said, it sounded a lot smarter than the jumbled recollection of the speech he gave her a long time ago-about being a woman and importance of knowing her worth. It makes his head hurt, he pinches the sides of his forehead and sighs deeply. There is absolutely nothing in this world that could have prepared him to raise a teenage girl. Maybe he should have taken a parenting class before agreeing to all of this.

He stays that way for a while, Takuma looks at Raya with wide eyes as they go back and forth from looking at the man-to each other. Pulling awkward faces as they always do whenever they push Nanami's buttons a little too hard. "Let's go"

⠄⠄⠂☆

"What do you mean my title as a special grade is temporarily revoked?! Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

"That is no way to speak to your principal!" Yaga scolds but if Raya is one thing-she is determined.

She gets it from her uncle Gojo. "Don't you do that to me! After all I have done for you?! The years I spent proving myself? Sacrificing my health and well-being for this?! Are you KIDDING me?!"

Yaga sighs. "I know this is unfair and I apologize, truly but you are not naive enough to know this is out of my control. I hold no power when it comes to them, if they see you as a threat to the sanctity of sorcery they will waste no time kicking you out. Especially after-"

"After Geto Suguru! Yes, I know! You think I'm the same as the lunatic who killed his parents?"

"I don't" Masamichi reassures. He completely understands why she is upset, Raya has been one of his greatest assets over the years. Out of all his students, he has never seen someone's power practically double in such time. Her skill is impressive and he has used it to his advantage multiple times. "But they are not as understanding, considering your past and the fact that you did not grow up here-they are only being cautious"

"You mean because I'm brown?"

Nanami has to hold in his laughter, he is thankful Gojo is not present for the exchange. He would not be able to take this seriously at all if that were the case.

"You are half japanese" Yaga shakes his head. "You know that's not what I was getting at"

"Do I?! Does that also mean if I weren't japanese it would be a problem? Because what else would it be? What have I ever done to them?!"

Instead of answering her question, Yaga moves on. He does not have time to be arguing with a student right now, he has an exchange event to worry about. "It is also not helpful for your case that you were named by a fellow student associated with the discrepancy"

"BECAUSE THEY HATE ME HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?!" Raya is growing even angrier, her hands are shaking and balling up into fists. All of her hard work and this is what she gets?

When the day comes that she runs into Kirara Hoshi, she will have their head on a fucking stick. That is the only thing Raya is certain of in this moment.

" And why would they hate you?" Yaga continues to ask the stupidest question Raya has ever heard in her life. It infuriates her how he can just play stupid right in her face. He knows very well where their issues arise.

"Because they think I want their dumb stupid ugly loser boyfriend!"

"Perhaps it is your bad attitude they hate" The Principal's words make her go silent, eyes narrowing as she gets ready to just about kill him. And before she can lunge forward and actually get herself expelled Nanami stops her, extending out an arm to block her body.

"Raya, go wish your friends luck on the event. Send them my best wishes too. I'd like to have a word with Masamichi in private" By the tone of his voice, Nanami means business so she is confident that someone will actually defend her side of the story.

Which is that she did nothing wrong and her only fault was getting stuck with two weirdos in her year.

⠄⠄⠂☆

Catching up with Ino they look for the First and Second Years-for Megumi whom she has not seen in over a month now due to her stupid suspension. Megumi was strictly prohibited by Yaga from seeing (or speaking to) a student who was 'under investigation for being a threat to the institution'. That does not mean they listened of course, they called every day and did see one another a few times. But it was hard as Megumi finally began his first real year of schooling.

Raya grabs the watermelon ice flavored vape sticking out of Ino's pocket, hitting it and letting a large cloud dissipate behind her.

"Hey!" Her dear friend snatches it back. "Nanamin would kill me if he knew I let you hit that shit!"

"But it's my coping mechanism!" Raya pouts, yeah one of one thousand. "And he found my last one and threw it away!"

But before the conversation can continue she feels him-the only person who can make her feel better in this very moment.

Megumi has been anxiously turning his neck around the corner for the past fifteen minutes, tapping his foot as he waits. He does not even listen as his peers discuss the game plan for the event, even mumbling an uninterested 'yeah, I don't care' whenever they asked him something. He looks down at his phone, waiting for Raya to answer the text she opened thirty minutes ago-one detailing the fact that Yuuji was still alive and Gojo somehow thought it would be a good idea to unveil the boy they were actively mourning as a present.

"Fushiguro, what do you keep looking at?" Itadori questions, joining in on the peeking as he looks out to wherever Megumi is staring.

"He's waiting for his girlfriend" Maki teases, having got a text from Raya earlier stating that she would be on campus. She checks her phone to find a new message from the girl. It makes her smile.

Raya ew i just passed by ur sister called her a bitch LMAO she tried to act like she didn't hear me she swears shes so tough too

"Woahh Raya's back? We got this in the bag!" Panda exclaims excitedly. But it is soon shut down.

"Probably not...I don't think the meeting went well or else she would have joined us already" Megumi refreshes his phone for a new text and nothing. It makes him sigh disappointedly.

"That's bullshit!" Panda shakes his head, Raya practically led them to greatness last year. He knows how bad his friend wants the win, how it's tearing her up inside that she cannot be of use to anyone. "Feel so bad for her"

"Yeah...it's not the same without her" Maki looks down in thought, taking a moment of silence for her friend.

"Salmon" Inumaki shakes his head sadly.

"Wait, your girlfriend's real?" Yuuji asks incredulously.

Megumi scowls. "Of course she is, what the hell?!"

"Like actually?" Kugisaki joins in and Megumi rolls his eyes.

"You followed her on instagram! She told me she liked one of your stories!"

"Yeah but I dunno" She cocks her head to the side. "Could be photoshop"

"I hate you" Megumi seethes and when he feels a sudden shift in his body, an all familiar presence creeping up on him he rushes out of the door.

Yuuji and Nobara are going to follow but Maki stops them. "Don't! Unless you want your eyes permanently scarred"

But they peer their heads out anyways to find Megumi speed walking towards a beautiful girl that certainly looks like the one from his lockscreen. Her long dark hair reaches past her waist, a slight dangling noise from all of her jewelry as she walks. Rows of bracelets and rings with a waist chain made from different crystals she strung together-yes, she was extra like that. Low rise, flared jeans which cover the top of her sandals. A piercing which dangles from her belly button, one that matches not only her nose ring but her earrings as-well. She was definitely making a statement with what she wore today.

Her makeup is gold and sparkly, opting for a pink eyebrow piercing and glittery pink lipgloss for the day. She practically glows, maybe it is because the sun is directly behind her due to the angle of the walkway, but she looks like a heavenly being that snuck onto Earth. At least Megumi thinks so, he missed her so bad it hurt.

Her face lights up at the sight of him, squealing and pushing Ino so hard she almost knocks him over. "Megumiii!" She claps her hands excitedly before taking off into a full sprint, the clack!clack!clack! of her little heels against the pavement of the stairs as she holds onto the rail.

He meets her halfway, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up off of the ground, her knees bending as he spins her around. It is a bit dramatic and unexpected from her usually very laid back boyfriend. But she does not mind it at all. "Woah!" She exclaims as he holds onto her for dear life, pressing his face into the nape of her neck and inhaling deeply. "Someone missed me" She giggles.

"It's been forty two days" He mumbles into her skin and she laughs again.

"Aw I knowww baby it was terrible. Stupid Yaga! He didn't even try to defend me! Now I have to miss the exchange event!" She pouts.

But he is quick to jump to her comfort. "It's okay. I promise we'll win for you" He brushes some hair behind her ear, pressing a quick kiss to her lips "I just missed you"

"I missed you too handsome" And they are about to lock lips again when Ino groans.

"You two are disgusting" He tries to look away as he sneaks past them, desperate to get away before they start eating each other's faces off. Because they will, especially in front of someone they are as close to as Ino. They have no shame.

Megumi puts up a hand to cover the side of their faces, as if anyone with eyes could not tell what they were doing. But it comforts him, makes him feel as if he is not making a spectacle of it. He's not of course, he's just too obsessed with his girlfriend to care what anyone else thinks. Yuuji and Nobara duck their heads back inside.

"Ew! What the hell" The boy is shielding his eyes still even though they are out of view.

And Nobara is even worse off. "I never took him for a PDA kind of guy"

"You'd be surprised what happens when someone gets too comfortable" Maki grumbles, crossing her arms in thought of the many times they just completely forgot their friends were there.

"He swears he's not" Panda adds on, looking off into the distance-a hint of trauma in his eyes. "But dude's down bad" He shudders.

"I guess it's kinda sweet" Yuuji mumbles, scratching the back of his head until they are all interrupted by the door opening.

Raya and Megumi enter, hand-in-hand and for the first time since meeting the other first years-it looks like Fushiguro is smiling. "This is my girlfriend, Raya" He introduces but she is ready to start a conversation of her own.

"Kugisakii ohmygosh so nice to finally meet you!" She immediately brings the girl into a rather tight hug, one that makes it hard to breathe. And Nobara is taken aback, she was expecting someone more intimidating. More stoic and reserved like Megumi. But this girl seems to be the complete opposite, even hearing the stories about her did no justice. Every story about Raya painted the picture of a scary girl who took shit from nobody. So why does she just seem like the sweetest thing they have ever come across? "I am so excited for us to hang out more! I just know we're gonna be really good friends! And wow, your hair is even more beautiful in person"

Nobara blushes, lightly giggling at the compliment from arguably one of the prettiest girls she has ever seen. Every single detail about Raya had been meticulously planned, from the color of her nails to the kind of jewelry she wore (Raya would never clash metals, never). She smells like candy and fresh air, her hair smelled even better. Her cursed energy feels different than others, it feels lighter yet more present. It is a feeling Nobara could never explain. "Oh thanks! You're so sweet, wow!" She looks over to Maki who's face says it all; 'I told you so'.

"Yuuji Itadori!" Raya points, a finger settling itself right in the middle of his abdomen, touching his solar plexus chakra, touching the place where part of Sukuna's soul resides. "Sukuna" Her eyes narrow as she attempts to call out to him, a zap makes Yuuji jump back in shock.

"Ow! What was that?!" He covers his body with his arms, afraid it may happen again.

"Sorry! I touched your soul! Or Sukuna's... kind of hard to tell" She furrows her eyebrows in thought, looking up at the taller boy who seems uncomfortably stiff. "I've been waiting for you"

"For me?!" Yuuji asks incredulously, eyes widening in shock as he looks over to Megumi-who is just standing there.

"Well for Sukuna! But you too, I guess. You are Sukuna's vessel" She shrugs, touching him on his heart chakra next, she smiles. "You're all out of wack except here. Your heart is in the right place Itadori, good to know"

"How do you know all of this? And why are you waiting for Sukuna?!"

"He's going to help me find my higher power, become even stronger than I am now. I saw it in a dream! Saw you in it too!" She laughs, leaving Itadori absolutely perplexed by the girl in front of him. "I'm sort of a clairvoyant, my intuition is very strong. I find myself aware of certain things before they even happen. It pays to be in touch with the universe, you know? I think all sorcerers could benefit from a little self actualization"

"Whatever that means" Yuuji is greatly confused. He is also intrigued but mostly lost. "But it's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too Yuuji, we're gonna be good friends too! And if you're interested in learning more about how to get your chakras in check, please stop by my dorm some time. I'd also like to speak to Sukuna soon if that's okay with you!"

"Oh yeah that's fine! He doesn't talk much though!" The boy shakes his head, neglecting the disgusting voice in his head saying things which should never be repeated. "And when he speaks all he does is threaten people"

"I'll bet you hear his voice all the time" For a moment, a look of pity washes over the girls eyes. She pouts slightly. "Must be hard"

And before Yuuji can agree, thank her for vocalizing a thing he figured was just better left unsaid they are interrupted by the door opening. "Yo! Nanamin says hurry up or else we'll be late for our reservation!" Ino calls out and Raya rolls her eyes. He's so loud sometimes.

"Oh hey guys!" Takuma smiles and waves to the rest of the students. "Good luck on the Exchange Event! Kick some ass!" He leaves it at that, the wooden door slamming shut behind him.

"Before I go, I have something for the two of you" Raya smiles and the teens wait expectantly, practically kicking their feet in excitement at the thought of what this glamorous girl may have in store for them.

They stick their hands out eagerly, fingers wiggling as Raya digs through her purse. Yuuji is expecting some candy, mouth watering at the thought of a sweet little treat. Nobara is picturing some cute jewelry-a nice, expensive bracelet or something. And both of their faces fall when a small, smooth stone is placed in either of their palms. Megumi watches with crossed arms, almost daring them to say something bad about it. But they are nice to the girl who has been nothing short of sweet since her arrival.

"Ohh a stone! Cool!" Yuuji says enthusiastically, looking closer to find etching on the flat rock.

"Yeahhh...what's it do?" Nobara fakes a smile.

"Aww you guys are sweet thanks for trying not to hurt my feelings" Raya laughs. "That thing is ancient! Older than this school probably. I put a protection spell on it, it'll help keep you guys safe as long as it's on you. I give them to all my friends! Also, if anything bad did happen to any of you-or it gets destroyed I would feel it, might even be able to tell where it happened too"

Kugisaki and Itadori share a knowing look, clutching the relic close to their chests. "Thank you! That's very kind of you" Nobara is the first to speak.

"Yeah, I'll guard it with my life" Yuuji adds.

"You should!" Raya gasps excitedly as Megumi begins to usher her out, she can go on and talk forever, and he knows if she makes Nanami late to their dinner reservation it will somehow fall back on him. Nanami always blames Megumi for everything. "Inumaki already lost his!"

"Bonito flakes!"

"If you don't know where it is, that means you lost it!" And Megumi has her almost completely out of the door until she has to turn back and say one more thing."You guys better put that stupid Kyoto school to shame! I wanna see broken bones or else I won't be satisfied! Do it for me!"

"Yes ma'am!" Panda salutes, catching sight of her thumbs up before the door closes.

Megumi walks his girlfriend up the stairs, silently as he clutches onto her hand. He looks....disappointed. Even as their arms swing back and forth between their bodies all he can think about is the fact that she has to leave him again. "What's wrong baby?" Of course she would notice. He does not need to say a single word for her to know what he is thinking. But she will ask anyways.

He sighs, looking down as they reach their destination. He waves to Nanami and Takuma who are waiting by the car. Takuma is the only one who waves back. "I just missed you" He groans, shoulders slumped. He looks so sad that it hurts her heart, how badly she wishes she could stay.

"Aww my Megumi, I'm sorryyy" She throws her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. "It'll all be over soon, kay? Then we can go back to being sick of seeing each other's faces all the time"

He cracks a smile, finally nodding. "Yeah. Shouldn't take too long before you get tired of me"

Raya gasps, a hand goes up to her chest in offense. "Before you get tired of me! I would never!"

"I would never" Megumi rolls his eyes, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Now hurry up before you piss Nanami off. Go have fun" He pats her shoulder and places a kiss to the crown of her head. "And don't talk to any guys"

The girl sputters out a laugh, she could be going to an all girls school and he would still warn her not to talk to any guys. It's just become a part of saying goodbye. "Okayy I won't. Be careful and take it home for me kay? Who knows, I might be able to join everyone for the solo evaluations at least"

"I hope so" She pecks him on the lips before walking off, looking back once more to wave. "Love you Megumi! Good luck!"

"Love you too!" He waves back, a heavy feeling in his chest. The last thing he wants to do is go fight those stupid Kyoto students after seeing his girlfriend for the first time in over a month. He should be with her, no distractions. But duty calls so he is forced to walk back alone, without his good luck charm.

Poor me, he thinks. At least Raya is getting sushi, he has to go work. He goes back to his silent self as he rejoins the group, agreeing with whatever game plan they come up with. He does not really care how they do it, he just wants to win. He also wishes Raya could be there to watch him-how much his power has grown.

When they all head off to the event they do a cheer, everyone with the same goal in mind.

"For Maki and Raya!"

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DAYS LATER

"Hey Fushiguro! Must be pretty cool having a girlfriend that knows everything!" Yuuji muses in between bites of food, voice slightly muffled by the mouthful. "Wish I had psychic powers"

"Yeah..." Megumi sits with crossed arms, eyes stuck on his girlfriend who yaps away with Nobara. "Gets old pretty fast"

"I heard you!" Raya scolds, turning back and pointing a finger before returning back to the conversation. "So rude!"

Megumi laughs, a genuine smile on his face. He looks at her in adoration. He loves the way he gets under her skin, it's just second nature at this point-from a time long before the two of them were ever together. From days when all they would do was make fun of each other and never acknowledge the feelings which lie beneath it. When his sister would beg them to just 'stop being so mean to each other all the time!'. "But you're right, life's good"

For the time being, that sentiment stays true. Megumi will look back on these days in fondness-for things are about to get worse than anyone ever could have expected.

[laufire]

author ask tag

I was tagged a few days ago by @goldfinchwrites (ty!)

I've chosen to answer this based on "Underground Elysium", the novella I'm currently working on.

A visionary vampiress, belonging to a matriarchal society of vampires with praying mantis-like habits, saw the apocalypse as an opportunity to subjugate humanity and elevate her species in a new world order, after the outside world became inhospitable to humans. Between the choice of risking falling prey to the walking, rotting corpses that roam the exterior, and a life of servitude under the civilised blood-sucking monsters underneath, many submitted to the second option. Nonetheless, there’s those even among her own that don’t appreciates living under Lucretia’s iron fist; around every corner a conspiracy against her brews, right as election season approaches.

(here's a teaser)

What is the main lesson of your story? Why did you choose it?

I don't set out to do that when I write. I certainly use stories to comment on things and Elysium is no exception, but whether there's a lesson in it or what it is, I'll leave that for others to decide.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

Although this one isn't a secondary-world story (with the exceptions of two of my larger 'verses, I've tried to move away from that), it's so so removed in setting and form to ours that I could do a lot of pick-and-choose with it. Two main influences have been Ancient Rome, Medieval politics, and insect biology LOL, for the vampiress society.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

Lucretia's goal is to hold onto her hard-earned power, no matter what. My goal with her is to flesh out a driven, ambitious politician who genuinely managed (and continues to manage) to pull something incredible, miraculous, the kinds of blind spots that threaten to lead to a downfall, and the steps she'd take to handle it.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

It's a small cast, with Lucretia and Dana, the antagonist, at the center. Raina, Dana's daughter, who she's groomed to take power, would play the next most important part.

After that, the other relevant players are, in no particular order:

Constanza, Lucretia's busybody mother.

Graciela, Lucretia's human maid and personal entertainer (she's a violin player, Lucretia picks her first maids for their artistic talent).

Rivka, Head of Lucretia's Sentinels. Kind of a twisted queen and lionheart dynamic.

Zosia, the High Abbess/religious authority, often at odds with Lucretia.

Imogen, Dictator of the Magistrate, the highest judicial authority.

Anouk. The Token Male Vampirito Who Made it To Politics.

I've thought about adding a second male character lol. It'd defeat the purpose of a Token but I started thinking about how pissed Anouk would get if a more revolutionary vampirito was trying to get into politics now that he Broke The Glass Ceiling adsñlfajsf.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

This one is original content, though I still mostly write fanfiction these days. I don't have immediate plans to post it. Due to some IRL complications it'll take me a bit longer to finish it that I'd want (I wanted it to be at the end of March but it's looking to be a month longer), but by that point, first I'd ask some trusted mutual writers for feedback, and then I'd go from there.

When did you start writing?

The idea first started building around... three years ago? Thanks to a silly tumblr prompt where someone commented about vampires in a zombie apocalypse. I replied with the idea of a vampiric protection racket and it grew from there, much like Lucretia's empire lol.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

I'm not good at encouragement LOL. One thing I'd say is to never take Writing Advice And Wisdom as absolutes, because a lot of them simply won't fit your writing. And as always, read a lot. From the genres and styles you want to write in, to see what works and what doesn't, and from others, that might help you hone in your craft.

I follow quite a few writers and I'm sure I'll forget more... feel free to take this as being tagged in for this game (and if someone tagged you already, this is just a shoutout :P)

@erensattacktitancock @pinespittinink @missbrunettebarbie @varpusvaras @hellispeacefullandempty @cypresssunns @blairwaldcrf @bombshellsandbluebells @asablehart

[mcsquared789]

Update at End of May

Right, it’s been a while since I gave you guys an update. So I figure I will outline what the schedule looks like for the next slate of projects! On an essential level, things are looking really promising for wrapping up Phase 1 way before the end of the year... but we'll see. It all depends on whether I can be prepared with a good backlog of chapters.

So, here’s the rub:

Widowmaker: This was finished well over a week or so ago, and now it’s probably my biggest fic so far other than Iron Man and Hulk??? Not surprising, since sequels require a lot of context and this is... actually a really good entry point into the series. To that end, I am super happy with it — and will definitely be making more of these novella-length fics that focus on original/interim stories. I think they will balance the other fics with more stakes and more complicated plots, and the one-shots as well.

Thor: That leads me to my current project, Thor! I am in the swing of this, and having a blast — writing Jane, Erik and Darcy has been lots of fun. And I am also writing chapters from Loki's POV which have been really interesting, to say the least... hopefully, it's a nice, appropriately tortured perspective. (Can't wait for you Loki lovers to read them. 😉)

Starting in June, I plan to upload chapters regularly every three or four days — and aim to have this fic completed by the end of the month, or somewhere halfway through July. Act I is fully completed out of a planned five, and has seven chapters. As a teaser of what to expect: Act II will have six chapters, Act III will have five, Act IV will have seven and Act V will have eight. (A little uncertain on that last one, but again — we shall see.)

I am really looking forward to you guys seeing where this will go! It will be familiar, I admit. But hopefully, fresh and exciting at the same time, as there will be lots of little changes that might sprout out into big changes... but you will see how it all shapes together when I get back to it in June.

Which leads me to the next project — and the last big one before The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger. Yep, I'm finally getting around to it — and considering how popular Captain America is in particular, I suspect this will find a lot of people. It will be a little dark and gritty, but also with a hint of science fiction that has made this subseries in particular so interesting... but I won't say anymore until it starts getting posted. I'm hoping that will be in the second half of June once I've written enough chapters, and then be completed after July. From then on... we'll see about where Steve Rogers goes next.

As well, I also will be working on two one-shots after both these projects... and one of them will lead directly into Avengers. But I'll talk more about that later. 😁

Alright, I think that's everything! Thank you all for being followers and catching up with what I'm doing. It's not really summer where I am, but I hope there will be enough here to create an exciting summer for you. See you soon!

— (M)

[becauseimanicequeen]

Hi Queen! Loved your theories on 4Minutes. The part about the water/blue/emotions stod out to me because I could see a connection to that and the emotional balance of Tyme and Great's relationship. They might be breaking apart when it rains in that one scene where Tyme is banging the door. Then it might be more peaceful between them when they're lying in that boat together.

I also have theories for days. It's so much fun when we get shows like this isn't it. Tosay I'm excited about the 26th is a grave understatement!

Hi, Anon.

Yes, I also love shows like this.

And I'm glad you liked my theories. I'm sure I'm wrong about most of them and just as sure that I'll come up with new ones as we get each episode. I've been like that with each Sammon show I've watched. (It was also the whole reason I started this tumblr 5-ish months ago when I wanted to write about my delulu DFF theories.)

Now, to get to your comment...

As I wrote in my 4 Minutes theories post, I can see a connection between the water, blue, and emotions. Water is often depicted/described as blue or blue-green (turquoise) and they both connect to emotions as well (calm water = serenity, rain = sadness, the deep blue sea = depression, etc.).

As you mentioned, it can definitely connect to the emotional state of Great and Tyme's relationship. Perhaps, as you said, that rainy scene stands in contrast with that scene of them lying in the boat, showing the contrast between emotional turmoil and being at peace.

However, I have a slightly different view of the combination of the water, blue, and emotions. So, let's expand on this...

Water is also, as I mentioned in my theories post, reflective. And I think we can all agree that things are going on beneath the surface from what we've seen in the trailer and teaser so far.

Added to this, the unconscious mind is symbolized by (among other things) water (I think Carl Jung has written about it, but don't quote me on that). The unconscious mind is where our memories are stored. There are many things hidden in that place of our psyche (much like there are things hidden in the depths of the oceans).

With that said, and together with my theory that Great sees particular moments 4 minutes ahead of time (moments that might help him redeem himself from a past mistake/transgression), his unconscious mind might be at play here in connection to the water.

The water in the series might actually reflect Great's mind rather than the emotional state between Great and Tyme (even though it can be both). And I'm basing that, especially, on this flash:

Being followed by this flash of water (which looks like it's a big and deep body of water):

And this moment where Great is in an environment that increasingly turns red (anxiety):

Which is followed by a shallower and more tranquil moving water and Tyme saying that it's beautiful here, which Great agrees with:

Then we have this scene (which you mentioned), where Tyme is banging a door and calling out Great's name while it looks like it rains, which might indicate that Great is overcome by sadness:

(Btw, this scene is feeding my "dream world" theory.)

Before we get to the other scene you mentioned, where they both seem very peaceful:

I still think the water connects Great and Tyme in some way. Perhaps not reflecting the emotional state of their relationship, but it might be that Tyme supports Great and helps him get through his psychological struggles (his visions, nightmares, anxiety, etc.).

Additionally, I still believe that the blue connects Great and Fasai (the water that's connected to Great and the blue on Fasai's poster, which also looks like a reflective surface of some water). Since my theory is that Fasai is the other character with a similar ability as Great's, and the other character that seems to have a connection to blue (according to her poster), I'm leaning more towards the water/blue reflecting Great's state of mind than anything else at this point.

But I can be wrong. And I'm excited to see how wrong I am.

(Is it the 26th, yet?)

Thank you for your ask.

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Thank you guys for 1.7k 🥺💜

I’m so surprised at how fast my blog has grown and I couldn’t thank you guys enough for supporting me and my stories 🫶🏼

I started out on Wattpad, getting hardly any reads and like 30 followers so going from that to this has blown my mind!

I just hit my one year anniversary on the first fic I posted on here (Feral) almost two weeks ago and wow! The amount of love I've gotten for my stories this past year has been so incredible and I really can't thank you all enough!

I'd love to thank one story in particular that was my first "viral" story on here Do It For Him

That story was based off of an ask (thank you @coralmusicblaze 🥰) and to be honest it didn't really get all that popular until like a month after I posted it.

I don't think you guys could imagine the surprise I felt when I saw over 40 asks in my inbox one morning when I woke up like I was flabbergasted lmao

That story is about to hit it's one year anniversary in November so who knows maybe I'll write a little something to celebrate that...maybe finally show you guys how their secret came out and how their happy little family went up in flames?

(Hopefully it'll live up to the hype since quite a few of you asked 😅)

But yeah anyways I'm curious to hear...

Bottom line is thank you so much and I hope you guys will continue to enjoy your time here 🫶🏼

Feel free to join my community if you'd like to get teasers and sneak peeks of future uploads 🤭

K love you byeeee 💜

[koocycle]

oh my god, OVER WINEEEESJHDHSJAJBSHDHSHWJWLALALAOWIWDYIDE !!!!!!!!!!ive been in a fanfic reading slump all these months and your fic got me going 😭 ive seen the teaser for this long ago and i remember feeling so excited for it to come out. i was so THRILLED to see part 1 finally posted!!

also can i just say that i would d word for miss y/n and I WILL STAND BY HER SIDE AND I HOPE SHE DOESNT GO WITH HIM ON THAT TRIP AND I PERSONALLY HOPE U MAKE JUNGKOOK SUFFER BCAUSE GOD WAS HE JUST A MANIPULATIVE ASSHOLE THE ENTIRE THING (the whole time i was just thinking GOD HES SUCH AN ASS CAN SHESERVE THEIR DIVORCE PAPERS) i really felt for yn bcs i could imagine being known as just the "wife of" must be so miserable. i was so happy for her when she did that shoot with Tae, u could really tell she loves modelling and i truly hope she pursues it in this fic 🥲🥲 oh goshhh i love her so much. i didn't like jungkook AT ALL in this part but im sure he would get like a character arc or something on the later parts bcs even tho atp i want them to divorce lol i still think their issues could be sorted out. (i actually kind of teared up a little bit on the first s*x scene on the table when jk asked her "are u gonna miss me" and then she thought "i miss you everyday" but didn't say anything instead it was so emotional for some reason. miss ma'am just wants her husband to come back to her but idiot prick over here thinks everything can be solved thru his money. oh god i hope he realizes that him being an overly workaholic is not doing any good in their relationship)

anyway YOU DID SO WELL!!! i love your writing I ATE THAT 35K-ISH WORDS UP IN ONE GO thank you for sharing your work with us!! hope you're having a great day ♥️

respect for you reading 37k in one go because i literally texted @latetaektalk nobody was gonna read this long ass dready fic but!! you did eat that up!! thank you bb 🤍

imagine nobody seeing you as anyone other than the wife of, and apparently being seen like that by your husband as well. especially when you look at the way he’s trying to show her off left and right. i get it was a very stressful chapter because they both just did and said things that made you want to slap some sense into them!! let’s just hope for the best and pray for the sake of their relationship that they’ll be working on themselves in the following chapters… also! that dialogue in that particular sex scene is one of my favorites!!! god that was so much fun to write and soso angsty

[cagedchoices]

REHOBOAM'S NARRATIVE

A long time ago I made a post about this that was sort of. Half of a coherent point but also half gibberish looking back so I'd like to try to revisit the thought as thoroughly as I can.

Rehoboam is an omniscient Artificially Intelligent Quantum Computer designed to produce mathematical strategies that are capable of predicting future outcomes for the world. It was created by two brothers, inventors by the name of Jean-Mi and Engerraund Serac.

The brothers were childhood victims and survivors of a thermonuclear incident that occurred in Paris, France on October 9th, 2025 and completely decimated their hometown. About their situation, Engerraund said that God had abandoned them, to which Jean-Mi rebutted that God had never existed in the first place.

As they grew up, the Seracs began to look into inventing a way to safeguard the world against future attacks of the same magnitude as the one on France. They determined that the world needed a god-like figure to save humanity from self-destruction and extinction, and developed the first ancestor to what would eventually become Rehoboam.

Technically speaking, showrunner Jonathan Nolan once mentioned that despite the naming conventions of Rehoboam and its previous iterations aligning with the Israelite Line of Kings in the Old Testament, they had little to do with the implied religious themes. The names were inspired by a 1968 sci-fi dystopian novel called Stand on Zanzibar, written by John Brunner.

From what I could find about Stand on Zanzibar, an AI called Shalmaneser, owned by a company called General Technics, rules over a shiny happy hive mind society where humans are compartmentalized, placed on psychedelic drugs to pacify or correct and punish them, as well as genetically edited to achieve complete conformity. Similar themes that Westworld explores during the course of Season 3.

In our real world history, Shalmaneser V was an ancient king of Assyria and Babylon and succeeded in subjugating Israel under his rule.

To build their machine, the Brothers Serac needed a wealth of data to feed the algorithm. To gain access to the particular data load required by their system, they partnered with Liam Dempsey, Sr. Dempsey was a rich tech mogul and founder of a company called Incite, and before various privacy laws went into effect around the world, Incite ended up in possession of billions of users’ private data, making Dempsey potentially the richest man in the world if he could find a way to profit off of this information.

DEMPSEY, SR: It’s not. Fucking. Working. I paid a king’s ransom for this thing, fed you yottabytes of Incite’s data, and for what? You’ve iterated half a dozen versions, Saul, David, and now this one. What the fuck’s its name again?

ENGERRAUND: Solomon.

DEMPSEY, SR: Well, I’m not sinking another dollar into this giant steel ballsack while it’s spitting out false predictions.

JEAN-MI: Not false. It rendered the last few decades accurately, predicting past events with certainty.

DEMPSEY, SR: You built a machine to predict the fucking past? Well, let me try. Eighteen months ago, I made the worst business decision of my career by trusting you idiots. Keep staring at that thing, Liam, your brain’s gonna turn to mush like these two. What about strategizing the future? That’s what you promised. Societal trends, the stock market, a fucking oracle!

JEAN-MI: (TO ENGERRAUND, SPEAKING FRENCH) We should kill him. He’ll simply get in the way.

DEMPSEY, SR: No, I’m sorry. I’m pulling the plug.

SERAC, V/O: What Dempsey didn’t understand was that it was working. My brother had done it. He created a god. But such is the case with all great minds. He was uniquely brilliant, but also, uniquely troubled.

In the original date announcement teasers for Westworld Season 3, Solomon’s creation was alluded to as:

04.17.39 SYSTEM INITIATED

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

‘Solomon’ Build 0.06

As that correlates to a legitimate date within our standard Gregorian calendar, it looks like this event occurred on April 17th, 2039. Eighteen months, or 1.5 years prior to that, would mean that Dempsey began investing in this project in mid 2037, when a civil war was first instigated in Moscow.

With the world sitting on the verge of all-out World War III at that moment as Russia retaliated against the attack by invading Ukraine, it’s no surprise the Brothers were so eager to design their own vision of a god. They believed it was the only thing that could stand against humanity destroying itself.

This version of Rehoboam is seen later during 3.07 - Passed Pawn, having been moved from the lighthouse years before the events of season 3. .

A little bit off-topic yet, but a fun detail is the lighthouse with Solomon gets revisited briefly in Season 4. It's the same lighthouse interior where Caleb and Maeve destroy the last remaining copy of Rehoboam to bring an end to the revolution they helped start.

SERAC V/O: My brother and I built a system that worked. But Dempsey wanted to see proof. So we started with something simple, purely mathematical. The stock market. We showed him all the major indices, 15 minutes in the future…and where it could close that night.

DEMPSEY, SR: Which number is it? Low or high?

ENGERRAUND: Which one do you want?

SERAC V/O: We put some money into a hedge fund…let the system trade with it. Something to drive the market towards our outcomes.

DEMPSEY, SR: Whose funds?

JEAN-MI: Yours.

DEMPSEY, SR: A hundred million dollars? What, you stole…100 million dollars from corporate accounts?

ENGERRAUND: No. We stole five million. Last week.

The stock market demonstration ends up being a rousing success, and Dempsey quickly realizes he is going to make a fortune with this thing. His greed consumes him and he uses the machine to benefit himself by becoming the richest man in the world.

Engerraund and Jean-Mi react by restricting his access and locking him out of the system entirely. They strike up a new agreement that they will continue to pay him a fair share of the system's earnings, but he’s not allowed to continue using the machine to increase his profits.

Analyzing projections centuries into the future, Jean-Mi and Engerraund make a concerning discovery — in every scenario Solomon predicts could happen, the world comes unglued and humanity collapses into ruin. It’s inevitable.

Engerraund traces the source of the problem to a subgroup of human citizens he calls outliers, people Solomon/Rehoboam can't predict or control to the same effect as the rest of the world, because they operate outside of the limits of societally acceptable behavioral patterns.

To me, these people are mostly neurodivergent. They experience mental health disorders or personality disorders. Depression, anxiety, ADHD, ASPD, PTSD, all manner in which a brain can function that would tend to make a machine without an understanding of human emotion question why they act the way they do.

To the Seracs, these people are mainly "criminals, deviants, psychopaths/sociopaths" and "flies in the ointment" but Engerraund eventually realizes that his brother Jean-Mi is, also, one of them. He sets up a mental reconditioning facility in Sonora, Mexico to begin trying to reprogram the outliers, including his own brother.

SERAC V/O: I knew that you and I had built a fragile peace, that one day, it would all come crashing down…if I failed to act. For ten years, Dempsey was happy to cash the checks, take credit for making the world a better place, even though he had no idea what we, or the system, were doing. But I knew one day, his curiosity would get the better of him.

DEMPSEY, SR: What is this place?

ENGERRAUND: After our exposure, we were both put on anti-radiation medications to halt our genetic breakdown. That’s when I understood. It’s possible to edit people. But the truth is…his personality was always like this. I’ve been trying to help him.

DEMPSEY, SR: What, you’re experimenting on your own goddamn brother?

ENGERRAUND: He’s impulsive, chaotic…I thought it was manageable. Then…I caught him using the system. Trying out certain scenarios. There are the times you need to leave things behind. (CHUCKLES) He taught me that. My brother is part of a population of outliers, and as long as they are a part of us, there is no future for us. Rehoboam sends this group to high risk sectors like, uh, war, a woodchipper to eat them up and spit them out, dead or useless. Isn’t helping them better than killing them off?

DEMPSEY, SR: You’re not helping them. You’re changing them.

ENGERRAUND: We adapt…or we die. We all die. The scenarios I found him exploring with Rehoboam…he was planning to murder you.

Serac mentions Rehoboam directs outliers into settings and jobs with high-risk, high-mortality applications, with our most notable example of the system in play being Caleb. He enlists in the army at the end of 2042, 6 months after graduating from high school. He would have been fully trained for combat during the first several months of 2043.

Some time during this period, Caleb's unit is sent to train for combat using a Delos-owned Westworld derivative park that has been specifically designed for military contractors to expose their soldier prospects to real-world equivalent training exercises ahead of deployment. Delos records everything on their military guests the same way as their regulars and stores the data on a vast server known as the Forge. They have a complete picture of who Caleb really is, even though Rehoboam doesn’t. And even if they didn't, Dolores gets a pretty good idea of what Caleb is really capable of when he chooses to protect her on more than one occasion.

While he's in the military, Caleb and the rest of his unit are outfitted with standard-issue limbic implant systems and prescribed specialized tabs that suppress the autonomic nervous system, similar to painkillers or anti-anxiety medications that dull reactivity in the body. The tabs suggest that most of the soldiers are aware, on some level, that what they're doing crosses a moral line. If they weren't required to take the tabs, they would feel guilt and remorse for taking the lives they've taken. I’m almost sure Caleb and Francis would feel that way, at least.

Caleb serves until 2048, when his unit is attacked and killed by kinetic bombing. He and Francis are the sole survivors, with Caleb experiencing a skull fracture and PTSD, both of which render him unfit to return to duty and make him basically useless to the military.

He along with Francis are referred to Serac's treatment facility under the impression that they’re going to be treated for their PTSD, and they are, but they are also administered some form of brainwashing that makes it easier to control them and makes it possible to edit their memories as needed in conjunction with the limbic implants/tabs.

After successful treatment, Caleb and Francis were both put to work operating as outlier hunters, although this was disguised as committing criminal activity through their use of the RICO app, which was Rehoboam's way of regulating and incorporating crime into its projections. They could safely be sent home now that they weren’t considered a danger to anyone important. Because they thought they were just taking out other criminals who committed worse crimes than they were doing, they didn't question it too much, for a time.

In episode 3.07 - Passed Pawn, William reveals to Bernard and Stubbs that he sold Engerraund Serac some of the high-grade biometric data that Delos had collected on its guests. My guess is that one of the particular data packages William sold, contained Caleb’s guest profile from Park 5, and this might explain how Serac’s facility was able to treat Caleb and declare his reconditioning therapy a success when the program itself only has a 1 in 10 efficacy rate.

In contrast, Rehoboam likely didn’t have access to William’s full guest profile from Westworld, so his reconditioning therapy, which began in 3.06 - Decoherence, was deemed a failure and he was falsely declared deceased. If the people hadn’t revolted and rioted in response to Dolores’s data leak of Incite’s private profiles at this time, then William probably would’ve been cryogenically frozen and stored away with the other failed trials until Serac could obtain the complete archive of DELOS guest data stored in The Forge. With access to that information, he’d effectively “fix” everyone in the world, including William.

If the system was initiated in 2039, and Dempsey Sr. cashed in on it for 10 years, then 2049 is when he discovered Serac’s facility.

2049 is also the same year that Caleb is manipulated into murdering Francis after the two of them kidnap and ransom Mr. Whitman, a pharmaceutical company representative who — just like Dempsey Sr. — got a little too curious about the morals and ethics (or lack thereof...) involved in securing humanity’s preservation. Whitman asked too many questions and discovered information that could make him a threat to Rehoboam, so the system organized a way to eliminate him from the equation.

WHITMAN: I was wondering when you guys were coming for me.

CALEB: It's just a gig. Nothing personal.

WHITMAN: Rather personal for me, no? How much are they paying you? 100k, 150k? Less? You guys should really get a union.

FRANCIS: Relax. Bigwig like you got K&R insurance. You'll be back home fucking your mistress before sundown.

WHITMAN: Kidnap and ransom, is that what you think you do? You don't even have any idea who you're working for.

FRANCIS: Don't know, don't care.

WHITMAN: No, of course not. Neither did I the first ten years.

CALEB: What do you mean?

WHITMAN: Because I represent the pharmaceutical company that manufactures that little…piece of shit and bliss your buddy just ingested. Military-grade, platinum six-seven. All because I asked one too many questions. You ever ask yourself any questions, like how you wound up with the same job you had working for Uncle Sam? By midnight, I’ll be landfill, or headed down for a long cold nap in Sonora? Same place they re-educated you? Not that you’d remember.

During his second round of re-education, Caleb realizes what was done to him previously is what is being done again. He tries to fight it, but he can’t. He is successfully reconditioned a second time, this time being made to believe that Francis died in the war and (all the RICO jobs they'd taken were other military operations instead.)

He eventually discovers this was his fate in 3.07 and it serves as his primary motivation to carry out the final strategy. If taking down Rehoboam means that nobody else ever has to go through the level of torture he was put through, then Caleb is all for it. Although, as I once mentioned in my analysis of Caleb and Dolores’s relationship, he does start to doubt and call into question what her motivations are. but then they move on from that pretty quickly because this is about doing the right thing and the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and all that.

Caleb as our main case study of Rehoboam’s control is interesting, because the system both tries to absolve him of guilt and mistakes by forcing him to forget what happened, but by doing so, it holds him, in true Westworld fashion, in a prison of his own sins. He's not allowed to remember he killed Francis, so chances are high that if he had been put in a similar situation before his season 3 arc started, he might have made that same mistake. So what can Rehoboam do apart from restrict Caleb's social habits so he doesn't really have any close friends? But humans aren't meant to be alone. We're social creatures, and this level of isolation is damaging to Caleb. It would be damaging to virtually anyone.

In another example, Caleb is given a role to fulfill as a caretaker in that he pays his mom's medical expenses for her, but there's a catch. In order to fit within what is expected, he can only provide for her if he involves himself in criminal activity. Being a criminal is commonly used as an allegory, particularly in visual media, for toxic masculinity, in that being complicit in violent and aggressive acts = Being A Man (adhering to traditional gender roles in western society).

Caleb doesn't completely mind being a criminal, but it's not a job he wants to be resigned to doing for the rest of his life. He can be violent and aggressive if he Wants to be, but the thing is; He Doesn't Want to be, unless it's absolutely unavoidable by necessity. And as evidenced by season 4, when given freedom not to have to be a criminal anymore, he doesn't keep being one.

DEMPSEY, SR: You can’t change our fate. You can’t…geld humankind.

ENGERRAUND: Somewhere in this group is an agitator who will destroy the world. I can’t let that happen.

DEMPSEY, SR: No, you’ve gone too far. I can’t be a party to this.

ENGERRAUND: You’d be content to let history continue to play out, just as it has done for centuries, the same fucking misery repeated over and again when we have a chance to stop it?

DEMPSEY, SR: What the fuck’s that? I’m gonna tell everyone what Rehoboam saw. What you’ve done.

ENGERRAUND: The trouble is, Rehoboam ran millions of projections. Every scenario in which you inform the public about my trials ends in human extinction. This is why my brother wanted to kill you.

DEMPSEY, SR: I looked, too. And I know you let me walk away from here.

ENGERRAUND: I would tend to agree with the system, but, see, there are little white spaces, rare moments when randomness interacts with your life, that create a truly free space where you can make a choice. A bubble of…agency.

SERAC V/O: And that is how you came to be, mon ami. My brother and I brought you into this world, and now I’ve ensured that you will outlive us both, that the strategy will succeed.

ENGERRAUND: I left my brother behind. Do you think I would really let you undo everything he built?

DEMPSEY, SR: That’s my jet.

SERAC V/O: Forgive us our sins. What we did, we did to save the world.

ENGERRAUND: I’m sorry. You didn’t make it.

And then Engerraund Serac kills Liam Dempsey, Sr. Violently. Without conscience.

Liam Dempsey, Jr. takes over his father’s position under the supervision of Martin Connells, a fixer specifically hired by Engerraund Serac who also acts as Liam’s keeper and executive assistant at times. While Incite is controlled entirely by Rehoboam behind the scenes, Liam is allowed to take credit and keeps the public image intact just as his father did.

He doesn’t seem to know exactly what happened to his father, but he at least suspects that he was murdered by Serac for discovering something he shouldn’t have, which encourages Liam to toe the line and not try to cross Serac until Dolores nearly has him convinced to disobey.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

The First THOR

I was rewatching sections of THOR today, the fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released all the way back in 2011. Seems like it was only yesterday. I was barely a year into college, for starters.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, his only MCU venture, I actually always liked the first THOR a great deal. When THOR: RAGNAROK came out some 6 years later, I remember a lot of people online were very, very quick to throw this film and the much-maligned sequel - 2013's THOR: THE DARK WORLD - out of the way in their praise for Taika Waititi's more kooky-kozmik spin on the character. But then after some time - and a few AVENGERS movie appearances, Thor made one more solo return. Waititi went and directed one more Thor movie, THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. It came out this past summer, for those of you who may be living under a rock. Unlike RAGNAROK, LOVE AND THUNDER wasn't... So well-liked...

And apparently the first two Thor movies were much better now, because they were "more serious" or whatever. Felt more like fantasy movies. There are those who still like the two Taika movies and have little to no love for the first two Thor tales...

And then there's me... I actually legit really like the first THOR, there are things I quite like about THOR: THE DARK WORLD, a good half of THOR: RAGNAROK was quite awesome to me, and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER has its moments but feels like a generic MCU movie and not the colorful galactic high fantasy adventure it could've been. It could've been a combination of general MCU fatigue post-AVENGERS: ENDGAME and the apparent lack of time spent on these movies these days. That Kevin Feige and company just had to churn-churn-churn them out to meet the 3-to-4 a year quota in addition to what seems like a gazillion Disney+ Marvel shows...

It's no surprise that following Bob Chapek's ouster from the Disney CEO position this past November (same time as BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER's opening) that there are talks of whittling down Marvel's overall slate. Both movies and TV shows. That's good, especially now that Chapek's aggressive pivot to streaming during and after COVID-19's worst months (see also, how the animated features from Disney Feature and Pixar were handled) is waning. Returning CEO Bob Iger is seemingly laser-focused on theaters again, and surprisingly, less quantity when it comes to the ever-expanding MCU. Not quality over quantity per se, because it's all subjective, but at least not a glut of stuff and more time for the crews to work on these things. Delaying THE MARVELS to this coming November, judging by some shots in that recently-released teaser, seem to indicate that they may be getting back on the right track. Leaks of VFX artists not being treated well and being crunched also help illuminate what's been going on, and now a lot of the world knows... It's not a good look!

The first THOR was made and released during Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which of course capped off with THE AVENGERS in May of 2012, which changed the series' whole game and trajectory almost entirely... You could say a particular "house style" came to engulf all the following films, post-AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.

But THOR was made before that, and as such, there's now some newfound admiration for the Phase One movies. They may be a little rough around the edges in their construction and setting up of larger events down the road, but another look reveals films that actually kind of look like *films* (when I rewatched sections of IRON MAN 2 not too long ago, I was struck by how less flat it looked in comparison to something like BLACK WIDOW or SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME) and some even bare the distinctive stamps of their respective directors. They show why we all got into this whole series in the first place.

Branagh brings a big, epic Shakespearean scope to his very golden Asgard, with plenty of Dutch angles to spare. His film, written by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne, actually quite embraces the space-fantasy stuff nicely. It doesn't write the weirder things off with that later-era glibness that the series is now known for, it saves the "this is kinda weird!" silliness for the fish-out-of-water sequences set on Earth, where that kind of thing is supposed to work. Even then, the film is quite funny and witty with that, it does not overdo it to the point where you're taken out of this fantasy world meets real world mesh. Told as a classic humility tale with Mjinor written as an Excalibur-type test of worthiness and true strength, there's still an emotional core to Thor and Loki's dynamic, their family, and the world of Asgard around them. I also always dug Thor and Jane Porter's chemistry too, and Thor's relationship with the other major human players.

While THOR doesn't go as far-out with the fantasy/cosmic stuff as it probably should've, it still functions fine as a movie that holds your hand a little bit and carefully steps you into this side of the MCU, after the fairly normal and grounded likes of the two IRON MAN movies and THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Technology and science are largely those films' game, and THOR goes into magic and otherworldly creatures and realms. I usually dislike using this word in any context regarding superhero movies, but there's a "grounded"-ness to THOR that works in its favor. Not in the dull post-DARK KNIGHT sense where everything superhero-y and comic book-y is entirely stripped from the picture, but in a human sense. That even the comically heightened realities of even older superhero films had, ironically. You feel like you're with these humans and are part of this world, more so than many later cosmic MCU movies, where they quickly filmed the things and then quickly CG'ed in all of the stuff that's supposed to be spectacular and wonderful - and served it up with that aforementioned sense of humor that tends to undercut what should be cool and out-there and captivating... While also following this template of sorts that I like to call a hybrid of Joss Whedon's quippy AVENGERS movie stuff and the workmanlike beats of the Russo Brothers' movies. Perhaps the 2016 release CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, often criticized for its rather blah color scheme and cinematography, solidified all of this going forward. Even films like the BLACK PANTHER standalone adventures and ETERNALS, which feel more director-driven than usual for this franchise, still kind of struggle to get out of this sticky trap.

But something like THOR? Not so much! And it's a refreshing revisit, even in sections. On its own, it's a fine fantasy character in the real world adventure.

[lacunafiction]

Progress Update: 15 May 2022

I hope you’re doing well and staying safe! Hello to new and old readers.

The masterpost with the demo link is: HERE. Reblogs are always appreciated.

> Here is a more specific update regarding what I have been doing:

- I have been primarily focusing on making edits or revisions to what I’ve written so far…

- …That^ probably doesn’t sound like the most exciting bit of news to share, haha. (I think most people prefer writing to editing? I do enjoy going back and re-discovering scenes I wrote a while ago.) The good thing is that those edits are coming to an end with each day I spend hours going over the scene files. I won’t suggest a tentative date for when they will be over, but I’m optimistic about it being soon! 😊

- One positive about this part of the process is being able to re-visit choices that I wrote many months ago with a fresh set of eyes. Adding choices/options allows me to mix the editing part with some new writing along the way. There is this one scene in particular with B that I’m so excited for you all to read. It lets you learn a bit more about the road trip that led to your arrival in Fernweh; there’s some humor to it… Well, depending on what you pick and your MC’s mood at the moment.

Below is a very tiny teaser without much context, though I will say that the change in season around where I live has made the greenery quite photogenic. I could see B snapping pics around Fernweh too:

“No more twine.”

B pouts a little at your comment. “It was the world’s largest ball of it, not just twine…”

“It was a glorified heap of string,” you weakly retort, attempting to shake off your somber thoughts, even if your remark indirectly relates to them. This town is a tangled web that you can’t get caught up in. “Let’s focus on scenery related sights first, okay? Photo-worthy things.”

- In my last update, I also mentioned stat balancing. I am relatively set on how the pluses/minuses and tailored text are triggered after going over them repeatedly. I will likely be testing it once more in some playthroughs.🧐

- I’ve also been tinkering with new chapters, though the editing is taking priority and focusing my writing on certain sections of the story that I have written. I’m psyched to get back into mainly writing!

- - -

> Here is what I plan to work on:

- I will be continuing to edit, though that will change when I move to playthroughs of the unreleased material. I’m about to hop back into Chapter 12 after I post this on here and queue the post on Tumblr.

-  I think seeing the chapters in the DashingDon format helps me notice things since I’m familiar with the colors/layout of the coding editor I use…? Hopefully that makes sense. I used to be the same way when typing in documents versus putting those same words in powerpoints for my classes and catching stuff or seeing places where a sentence could be changed a little. A change of scenery, maybe?

Thank you all for your patience and support! 💚 I’m diligently working on Book 1 even though I’m a little quiet on social media while working on it rn. (I tend to fixate on things.) Best wishes to each of you!💐

[fineosaur]

first line game 

thank you for the tags @littlerockerao3 and @salty-wench, i haven’t done one of these in a while and this one was super fun to compile (fair warning this IS quite long)

rules: list the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). see if there are any patterns. choose your favourite opening line. then tag 10 of your favourite authors.

pieces of you stuck on me (but i’m careless and i’m wicked) -- a rickon x lyanna fwb multichap

He’d woken up alone, something he was often used to, but in the last months, he had grown more accustomed to waking up beside just one particular person. More or less a year if he was being honest with himself. But he wasn’t completely alone either, he was just alone in her bed.

we both coincide (when the world’s wasting time) -- a rickon x lyanna story that shows their relationship spanning over a few years

The moon is already out when he still finds himself at her side. She’s solid and warm in his embrace, swaying lazily with him to the strumming harp and the melodic voice that sing the words that seem to weave their way in his head, taking root as he tries to focus on just being there with her.

in the highlands of our dreams -- a single dad!rickon x lyanna fic that’s a lot on the softer side than my usual work

Most of his life had felt like there was an errant thumb on the fast forward button. At times he knew it had much to do with the way his thoughts often ran too fast, and even with long enough legs to chase them, they just kept their brisk pace. Other times, he wasn’t so much to blame. 

watch me wary -- a rickon x lyanna fic where rickon goes off the grid for a few years and has to come back to face his family (aka rickon’s apology tour)

“You’re late again, kid.”

He rolled his eyes despite the verity in the statement. Pulling off his helmet, he held a hand out to shake the shorter man’s hand. 

watch me wary (prequel) [title in progress] -- set in the stormlands 2 years after rickon leaves home and involves him falling in love with steffon seaworth

There was a feeling between relief and guilt that followed leaving home. Often times thought of as ‘running away’ or ‘disappearing’, at least ‘leaving home’ sounded so much more tempered. 

an empire for two -- a canon-divergent robb x theon & rickon x lyanna fic which involves established throbb and an arranged marriage for lyckon

It was warmer inside the castle. It always was; with the hot water from the springs running through its walls, the castle lived and breathed through each change of season, chilling winters and weeping summers, not buckling for any. 

where the stars do not take sides -- a oneshot set in a canon-divergent setting where rickon x lyanna spend a few last hours of peace together before they return to war

The snow falls around them rather gracefully. There’s often peace in the Godswood, and the distant howls of the wolves do nothing to deter from that. Though nightfall has come and its chill alike, they stand stiffly facing one another. 

be with you -- a rickon x steffon oneshot that shows their relationship as well as how they fell in love

The floor manages to feel warm despite the hour. If he thinks hard enough, he guesses that they’re one of the only two left there. 

His father’s office is littered in papers, stacks of words that blur into one with his boredom. Really what keeps him going is the way the man in front of him continues to push his mop of brown hair back, no matter how many times it falls back into his face as he leans over the glass desk. 

sight for sore eyes -- mixed pov which has tommen pining for rickon who is pining for lyanna — true heather style

There’s a moment of reprieve that comes once the moon has passed its apex. Its scattered light plays amongst the stars that pepper the sky and the hazy streetlights that guide them through the night. 

to feel like gold -- a lyanna x myrcella oneshot where myrcella chooses to indulge in a little rebellion with the girl that’s been on her mind for months

The room is almost too bright for her liking. It hardly fits her resentment. The brisk night air streaming through her windows suits her well enough, rippling over her arms in goosebumps as she feels the frown between her eyebrows deepen.

forest fires -- an arya x gendry oneshot set with a lunar eclipse and a brief moment of repose for the couple

The night’s brisk breeze doesn’t unsettle him like it used to.

It’s still cold though. The wind makes the hair on his arms stand up and he wonders why he hadn’t thought to wear a jumper over his thin cotton t-shirt.

help! -- a stark family -smutty crack fic- that involves ned and cat accidentally stumbling into each one of their kids in precarious situations with their partners

It almost felt like nothing had changed like her children were all still children.  Like they’d never flown the coup. But as she stood there, holding a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice, she knew that a lot had changed, that every one of her kids had grown up, fallen in love and were seemingly happy. It flooded her with such relief to know so, though the still gentle tug at her heart was there, telling her that her babies would no longer run to her begging to be held after a nightmare.  

it’s all hope -- canon compliant robb x theon oneshot that involves a love confession before theon sets off to pyke

Much like the fire within the hearth that beckoned him with its flickering warmth, he felt disquiet within himself.

The air felt thick, far more humid than that of the North’s. He could easily make out the Red Fork by where he stood, pulling at the laces of his tunic. It unsettled him, the rushing water, so fresh, unlike the brine of his home.

take one last look back-- a jon x satin drabble where the couple has a little spat in the car

The wind becomes distracting. With the way it whistles through his ears, blowing at those perfect curls of his, it even makes it abundantly clear how much his eyes sting.

When he leans back in his seat, his eyes meet the rearview mirror, where he can see his grey eyes, dark and stormy, the perfect juxtaposition to the gleaming sun that threatens a headache.

second nature -- a rickon x lyanna drabble that has a drunk rickon confessing his affections for his best friend, lyanna

She’s sitting in her car with one leg crossed when she sees him take a minute to check each side of the road before crossing. It’s 4 am, her car is really the only one on the road.

Her car is flanked on the side of the road and it’s completely unsurprising that his first instinct is to lower himself to her opened window and flash his stupidly white grin at her.

a troubled mind -- a robb x theon oneshot, after his parents’ deaths, robb overloads himself with responsibility and on the verge of falling apart he seeks comfort in the one person who’s always been there for him

He’s never gotten the opportunity to let it all get to him. There’s never been time for it. Not when there’s always been at least one other person that needs the safety his arms provide.

It’s part of being the oldest son, he tells himself far too often.

calmest wave -- an arya x gendry drabble, a post-show canon fix it where the couple are parents in the stormlands

The shattering waves could still be heard, breaking onto the rocky coast of Shipbreaker’s Bay, even from where they walked, with withered leaves crumbling underfoot.

There was tranquillity within the godswood, interspersed by the humidity carried across the Summer Sea and yet he still felt a breeze pick up, cooling him down as he gently held the small hand in his palm.

you were just dancing on your own -- an arya x gendry drabble where arya seeks comfort with gendry after a bad night

It’s still dark when Arya wakes up in her car; windshield covered in a think layer sleet. Her teeth chatter as she pulls her jumper tighter around herself, yellow haze in her eyes from the streetlights.

She’s in the passenger seat of her car, seat pushed back the most it can go. Her heater doesn’t work, no matter how much she bruises her knuckles against the vents.

high, high love -- an arya x gendry oneshot - set in the pieces of you stuck on me universe. after a few years away, arya returns to the man who she’s always loved

She had been back in Winterfell barely two weeks, in a way, things fell into place, though it was in the most disjointed way possible.

Arya found her footing, day by day, acclimating to the changes she had missed, she had to anyway; this was her family, and no matter how much they had changed, how many things she had missed, they made her feel like home, and she  was  back home now, for good.

stubborn-hearted blue -- an arya x gendry oneshot where arya moves into the same building as a man she had a fwb arrangement during her college days

She was still adjusting to life in the new city.

Arya hadn’t been in the Riverlands since university, and at this point, it felt like a lifetime ago, a distant memory, more like a dream. But now she had been back for almost a month and boxes still littered her living room, still waiting to be unpacked. between her new job and just trying not to pass out as soon as she was back home, there wasn’t much room for unpacking.

okay WOW i cant believe that managed to date back to over a year. this is pretty much a whole year of my writing summarised in opening lines. 

if it isnt obvious, about half of these have yet to be posted, but this was still fun to give a little teaser for those ones. 

i’ll be tagging @yanak324, @evax3, @selkiedams, @livhatesolives, @lightninginabottle0613, @watersandwolves, @estrangedandwayward, @jeynepoole, @sneetchstar, @treaddelicately, @bobafettsslut, @nalgenewhore

also, hi! enjoy! 

ps, i hope everyone is taking care of themselves and keeping safe x

[acc3ssdenied]

an update | indefinite hiatus

Hi, it's been a very long time since I've posted content - possibly since August when I released a teaser (that I have since not worked on) so 10 months approximately.

First of all, I want to apologise to my followers and readers. I don't want to overestimate myself and my importance, I have a fairly small following but one I've become incredibly proud of and I appreciate it so much. I regret how inactive I am and as someone who consumes content within the community, I can understand the frustration in work continually being unfinished and not updated for long periods of time. Unfortunately, writing and producing creative content is something that depends a lot on my mental state. The energy required to regularly sit down and finish drafts for long-term projects I began is not something I've found myself having.

Second of all, this is not me announcing I will recommence posting my writing on Tumblr. Over the past year, I have stopped reading the content on Tumblr and the writing style I have been posting in. This has made it especially hard for me to regain motivation for the works I post here. I've moved platforms several times over the past 4 years, I began posting on Tumblr almost 2 years ago and juggling separate platforms is something I struggled with. I can't see myself continuing to write the unfinished series I have posted or posting drafts I have saved for the foreseeable future. This is not me saying I will never post content on Tumblr again, I will not rule that out whatsoever. Additionally, I would like to be more active on this account - whether that be just random posts or anything. This leads on to something else.

As much as I am not yet lifting my hiatus here, I have some minor plans to begin posting on AO3. I understand this could be frustrating, if I can post somewhere else am I not just abandoning the works I have posted here? I do wish it were that simple. The motivation I have for posting the genre and style of work I usually do on Tumblr is just not there and I'm sorry. I am only mentioning that I will potentially begin posting on AO3 because I will be cross-posting links here so if any of my audience is interested they can easily access them.

For a more personal update, I dropped out of school this year! How fun! On a serious note, I think it's safe to say that my mental health had been the worst it's ever been over the past 8 months. But, small things are good and I'm hoping that starting writing (on whatever platform that may be) will be a step in the right direction in keeping myself busy.

Finally, I want to thank any of you who read my work. It's insane to me that so many people have continued to like and comment on my posts throughout my inactivity. 'Bruised' in particular blows my mind - it was the second work I posted and the attention it received was beyond my imagination.

No one may see this post and honestly, that's fine. I just wanted to post this here to manage the expectations of my long-term readers or any new people who stumble upon my work. I want to reiterate that this is a hiatus - I am not saying that I will never post content on Tumblr again.

Thank you to anyone who reads this or any of my work - I appreciate you all more than you know!

<3

[dogcopter]

Jane is Lore 2020

Ok, here’s the round up of the ghost part of the situation with @keepbeachcitysafe​ and @keepbeachcityweird​.

Theory: Ronaldo’s girlfriend Jane is the key to figuring out Rose Quartz is not gone, largely via a constellation of background clues. If that sounds ridiculous, I understand. I’m Ronaldo. Actually I’m not Ronaldo, but hopefully I’ll have a post about him too soon. I hope we can all have fun together tho

This post is very, very long and involves a lot of images. It will be confusing at first, but please entertain the thought and keep reading, and I hope it clicks into place. I may need to update it later. 

Three sections for supporting evidence:

1. Restaurant Wars, Jane, KBCW/KBCS blogs’ interaction & contents

2. Astral projection/ghosts/fusions

3. Dogcopter secrets

Restaurant Wars Saga & Jane’s appearances

So Ronaldo has a blog at @keepbeachcityweird​ - he also published a book based on his blog called Keep Beach City Weird: You Can’t Hide the Truth!!!, which is available for purchase.

On April 23, 2014, Lion 2: The Movie airs. Jane appears for the first time working the ticket booth at the movie theater and sees Lion and the kids fight a killer robot. Dogcopter 3 is playing at the theater.

April 23, 2014, Ronaldo at Keep Beach City Weird also posts about seeing Dogcopter 3 at the movie theater, where the parking lot is a mess, presumably from Steven, Connie and Lion’s robot training fight.

He mentions “First of all, it’s a huge mistake to turn the last Dogcopter book into THREE movies.”, but that’s less relevant to this particular post. The important thing is that he, like Connie, follows Dogcopter, who’s also associated with Jane. (We’ll get to Dogcopter’s appearances in SU in the last part of this once the context is established) 

Ronaldo’s posts in general document specific events and details in his home Beach City, but that’s another post entirely.

Exactly a year later, Ronaldo on April 23, 2015 posted about receiving a mysterious letter, which might be from Jane because (beneath a great deal of smudging) it appears to call Ronaldo the CUTEST GUY EVER! (This isn’t crucial or anything, just noting it as one of our first Jane points).

I GOT A LETTER TODAY!!!  But for some reason it was all wet and I can’t even tell what it says.  Is it a love letter?  Is it a death threat?  Please tell me!  I need to know if I should lock my doors or open my heart!

Jane also appears in Beach City Drift. After Beach City Drift, keepbeachcitysafe posts an episode reaction blog, on July 22 2016, and takes special notice of Jane.

Hey did you guys notice that girl that keeps appear. We saw her when Steven took Connie to the movies and now she’s here. I wonder if she’s involved in something. Hmmmm. So Stevonnie raced Kevin down the hill in his Himitsu X12, that’s secret in Japanese.

(Kevin’s Himitsu X12 is his car, in the middle there. We’ll come back to this and what KBCS means in a second.)

July 25 2016, Restaurant Wars airs, the third of Jane’s four appearances in SU. In this ep, Jane comes a long way to return Ronaldo’s Koala Princess DVDs, and catches Ronaldo with Kiki and is upset. 

KBCS posts another episode reaction blog, pays attention to Jane again, and says they plan to message Ronaldo.

Ronaldo says he can’t do it because of his girlfriend. Ooo, he has a girlfriend, that’s pretty cool, you just know whats gonna happen next.

Ok so, Ronaldo’s, GIRLFRIEND, (imagine me saying that in slow motion) showed up at the worst possible moment.

Everything was back to normal. Except poor Ronaldo, I should sent him a letter to cheer him up. Seen ya next week.

Almost immediately the KBCS and KBCW blogs play out a little interaction online:

Ronaldo goes through some stuff.

No post today.  If anyone needs me I’ll be at Brooding Hill… where I’ll be CRYING. I usually cry at Crying Canyon, but it’s closed right because of some flash flood warnings.  

Then Ronaldo posts KBCS’s letter.

Note how KBCW caps this message so the name is clearly visible? It’s referring to Ronaldo’s bio:

It’s not very cheering...but things work out shortly thereafter. Jane likes one of Ronaldo’s posts and all seems well.

I think it’s going to work out you guys.  Thanks for all your support.

After this, Ronaldo doesn’t post again until Rocknaldo several months later, and one last time after publishing his book. 

That’s April 18 2017. The KBCW tumblr is never updated again. KBCS’s final post is not long after, Jul 4, 2017.

Finally, Jane makes a cameo alongside Ronaldo in the very last scene of Steven Universe Future, “The Future.”

Koala Princess, Astral Projection and Psychic Ghosts

So some interesting patterns come up when you connect the two blogs, the clues associated with Jane, and some understanding of Steven’s powers. Let’s revisit Keep Beach City Weird, a Ronaldo’s primary blog, and Keep Beach City Safe, which contains mysteries too big for this simple Dogcopter/Jane-hime lore post.

Keep Beach City Weird - Ran from September 2013 to April 2017, with a lot of posts made in October 2015 and July 2016.

Keep Beach City Safe - Ran from June 2015 to July 2017, with most posts in 2016 of course.

Let’s look at a timeline of posts. I’m going to call out things that we’ll connect to the Jane lore at the end.

Keep Beach City Weird: Ronaldo’s blog

Nov 1, 2013, days before Steven Universe first airs: KBCW’s first post is all about Astral Projection.

Astral Projection!  The ability to travel outside your physical body and into other planes of existence!

I began to feel lightheaded and before I knew it, I was floating above my body.  Amazing!  I walked out onto the boardwalk in my new ASTRAL FORM, and you know what the weird thing was?  Nobody even said hello to me.  I was COMPLETELY INVISIBLE!  I mean, usually nobody really notices me, but this was a different kind of not being noticed.  This was not being noticed on another plane of existence - so I didn’t feel bad about it.Anyway, after being ignored in the arcade and Fish Stew Pizza, I got bored and I went back to the fry shop to re-merge with my body. 

Astral projection is a power Steven demonstrates a number of times, and you’ll see among these posts that certain powers of Steven involving this stuff are called out by the blog. 

Connie: What? Where are you? How are you...? Steven: I’m not sure, but I think it’s a classic psychic ghost type situation. Connie: Ah, of course! So, what’s the plan?

from Reunited

Steven: Oh man. I fell asleep and had this weird dream. I opened the door and Lapis was there, and- Pearl: Well, that doesn’t make any sense. Lapis is fused with Jasper at the bottom of the ocean. Steven: You’ve never had a dream before, huh? Pearl: Uh, I don’t think so.

from Chille Tid

August 28, 2014, Joking Victim, Ronaldo posts about ghosts. And an arsonist from about 150 years ago.

September 04 2014, Steven and the Stevens, Ronaldo posts about "cross dimensional travelers”

And all the cross dimensional time travelers I know don’t want to go on the record about their experiences.  

Not mentioning posts that don’t mention ghosts/astral projection/dimensions in some capacity, but in realtime Ronaldo liveblogs in response to episode events.

Ronaldo also answers some fan asks. On October 31 2014 after Keep Beach City Weird he answers this question about floaters with “BACTERIAL GHOSTS” in all caps, this one about his first encounter with the supernatural (the events shown in Horror Club, which aired February 12, 2015)

Nov 2014, Ronaldo posts twice about Watermelon Stevens and a review of the anime Soul Blaster, “Like every anime, Soul Blaster is about a high school student.  Our hero is a cool dude, with even cooler hair named Kyosuke.  He battles rogue spirits with the help of his Soul Blaster - which happens to be powered by the spirit of his deceased younger brother, Kettaro. “

On December 4, 2014 Ronaldo posts about Koala Princess, who will become important in this post when we get back to Dogcopter and Jane. Koala Princess is repeatedly used as a stand-in for talking about Steven’s journey. In this post Ronaldo says:

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ok, so I just finished the final episode of Koala Princess and I don’t want to get too emotional on you guys but I CAN’T STOP CRYING!  Koala Princess goes on a walkabout and enters dreamtime and finally MEETS HER KOALA MOTHER FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! SLKDJFSDJ:FS

I’ve got so many feels!  These feels are the real deals!  On wheels!  WHAT AM I SAYING?! I’M GOING CRAZY!!!

Lion 3: Straight to Video aired on the same day as Ronaldo’s post. In this episode Steven meets Dogcopter in a dream, and then sees his mother Rose Quartz for the first time - she speaks to him via a VHS tape.

After Alone Together, Ronaldo posts about Stevonnie, who is a fusion. He also gets stuck under a fridge for a bit after Future Vision in January 2015.

And I want TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THIS FRIDGE!

He posts like five times about it in the same day because he’s freaking out.

And also I want my body to be shot into space with a print version of my blog so an alien civilization can find me reconstruct my body and worship me.

On February 19 2015 after Winter Forecast, he posts about using time travel to fix bad decisions:

Sometimes I think about all the bad decisions I’ve made and how they’ve affected my life, and I wish I could go back in time and change them.  But unless I can find a way to break into the Pentagon and steal a time bike, I’m just stuck with having regrets.  

After Political Power Ronaldo claims glowsticks are filled with ghost blood.

Anyway, then stuff happens. 

January 4 2016, after The Answer, Ronaldo posts about seeing Dogcopter 4 and shares the poster for it.

One interesting thing about the poster is that if you invert it and mess with the contrast a bit, a strange diagram appears on the left. A true mystery.

And after months of avoiding and spoilers or teasers or trailers, I was in line for Dogcopter 4, and then some dummy walking out of the theater TOTALLY SPOILED EVERYTHING and was like, “I can’t believe that Dogcopter’s parents are actually cats.”  

Coming back to Dogcopter in a minute, but these are relevant details.

Dogcopter dies defending the planet but then he comes back to life because he’s actually part cat and cats have 9 lives.

On Jan 5, Steven’s Birthday, Ronaldo posts about celebrating his birthday on a different date every year.

Every year, I celebrate my birthday on a completely different day.  Why?  To keep my birthdate a SECRET so that no clandestine government agencies can steal my identity!

July 2016, the saga with Jane and KBCS above happens. When he’s sad about Jane breaking up with him, the same day Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service comes out (in which Steven astral projects into Kiki’s dream), he listens to sad music.

Ugh, I wish I had some sad music to listen to at work.  All I have is a playlist of video game soundtracks and some EVP recordings of ghost hauntings.  I guess ghosts are sad.  I’ll just listen to those.

But if you’re feeling happy, I do suggest listening to the “Go-Go Gorilla Go-Go Kart Racing” soundtrack.  Some solid 16-bit J-reggae.

This post may partly be a reference to the Sadie Killer song G-G-G-Ghost, which is performed in The Big Show and wouldn’t air for a bit, but is also astral projection related.

Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? I think I might be A g-g-g-ghost. Can't you see that I exist? And I don't need an exorcist To let me out Look at me and I'll appear Why can't you see that I'm right here? That I'm right here? Why can't you see me? Why can't you see me? I think I might be A g-g-g-ghost. I'm calling you from the other side

Once Ronaldo has gone through grief and anger, he resorts to begging her to come back. This post is from July 28, the day Alone at Sea aired in which Jasper begs Lapis to return.

Much like Koala Princess’ vision in the Eucalyptus Jungle in Season 5, Episode 13 what you saw on the Boardwalk the other day was not what it seemed. I was only pretending to date Kiki to defend my family’s honor, just as the Kanga-ronin did in Season 1, Episode 3!

Here is another Koala Princess reference. There are a couple SU references in the episode numbers in this post.

The events of Season 5, Episode 13 of KP was not what it seemed: for Steven Universe, this is Your Mother and Mine, in which Garnet tells a story told to her by Rose Quartz. It later turns out to be a false origin story to cover the truth that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond.

Kanga-ronin pretended at something to defend family honor in Season 1, Episode 3, which in SU is Cheeseburger Backpack - where Steven buys a novelty backpack so he can carry things on missions to be useful for the gems, fails his first mission and pretends he’s fine. The events of this ep are later referenced in The Test.

Finally, Koala Princess’ vision in the Eucalyptus Jungle is a reference to Stevonnie’s vision in Jungle Moon, which is Stevonnie’s first interaction with Pink Diamond via a memory dream. In this dream, all was not as it seemed either.

Then the KBCW blog doesn’t post until Feb 2017, after Rocknaldo. A couple ghost and dream-y quotes from here:

In my searches for THE TRUTH, I’ve done a lot of listening.  I’ve listened to haunted houses to hear ghosts from other dimensions.  I’ve listened to radio signals from the cosmos for signs of alien life.

I’ve also learned that HUMANS NEED TO SLEEP.  I didn’t sleep for 48 hours and I PASSED OUT FOR DAYS.

Ronaldo’s final post is an ad for his book, which comes out during a hiatus, and he references Koala Princess again: 

I did have a little help from some fellow truth-stigators I met on a Koala Princess forum, Ben Levin and Matt Burnett, but most of the work was definitely done by ME!  

Now let’s look at Keep Beach City Safe.

Keep Beach City Safe: [???]’s blog

For KBCS, I’m only going to skim to address ghost/astral projection related content that comes back to the business with Jane, Dogcopter, Koala Princess and Rose. The rest of this blog is a little too big for right now. 

It’s interesting that KBCS seems to have mostly flown under the radar, but between the Jane arc and a couple other things I believe it to be legit. Suffice to say I’m treating it as real and you will see why in a minute.

For KBCS I’ll mostly mention which episode a post is associated with, but not the date like with Ronaldo’s.

KBCS’s reaction blog to Nightmare Hospital includes a couple relevant lines:

Where was the Gem M.? I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around! It was mom!

Don’t tell me It’s on the other side of the hall corner. That would mean it saw mo- Connie’s mom!

KBCS posts a blog between Too Far and The Answer, in which they review a number of events. (They post another blog about fusions in which they describe Garnet and Stevonnie’s components as well)

During the movie the TV just shut down and they were being chased around by a “ghost”. It was actually a gem stuck inside the house, making the house seem like it was possessed.

They also get pretty excited about Steven’s birthday.

Only a few more minutes until Steven’s Birthday!

Eeeeh! Only a few mins left until midnight. We finally get to learn about Garnet’s past! Are guys happy, I know I am. I can’t even express how happy I feel, but I’ll try. And I will not act crazy while doing it, Imma keep it cool. So it’s like Peace and Love had a son, and his name was Steven! Then Steven fused with Connie, who was the daughter of Happiness. And they formed Stevonnie, who was made of everything right within the universe!

On Steven’s Birthday they also post about the Dogcopter 4 movie.

I’m gonna be a Smart Spoiler and drop hints in my post for you guess. Only those who have watched it will notice the clues. Yep, watching it 9 times.

This clearly references Ronaldo’s post about Dogcopter having nine lives, but KBCS is a little more considerate about spoilers.

In KBCS’s “It Could’ve Been Great” post, they’re still talking about Steven’s birthday. There’s a promo image attached as well.

To start things off I just wanted to say: I did see Steven turn into a baby? And I would also like to say: DID YOU SEE STEVEN TURN INTO A BABY!?!?

So, by now your probably wondering what the second image is aren’t you? We clearly it’s a pic of Rose holding a cupcake candle.

We, here at Keep Beach City Safe, thought that Steven would’ve liked to have his mom at his birthday party. Happy Birthday from all of us at KBCS. Hope you like it.

Future Vision reference. (Some of this is less relevant to the Jane thing but I’m pulling quotes that are related to fusion and stuff in the hopes it gets clearer)

This reminds me of the time that Garnet gave Stevens her future vision. I don’t know what happens exactly, but I think you see what’s going to happen in the future hence the name future vision. Being able to see into the future would be awesome, yet terrified at same time.

There’s a great post about Pie Day - in fact, KBCS posts about Pie Day a few times. They call out Pearl, too, which reminds me of a certain prolific fandom video editor’s handle.

You know who else knows about Pi. Pearl, but also Peridot.

Pearl Doesn’t Like Pie. Happy Pie Day!

This is not a good photo of Pear let’s see if we can find a better one. Now that’s better.

Sorry for the tangent. Let’s talk koalas now.

KBCS posts about The New Lars. They have thoughts about Steven’s ability to hop into other bodies, namely the question of whether Rose could do this as well.

Steven is worried that Lars isn’t being truthful about his feelings. So through his dreams, Steven jumps into Lar’s body, and trys to make his life better. But he only makes things worse.

Steven somehow possessed Lars’s body through his dreams. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again, we have a word for it now: Dream Possession. But he can also enter dreams.

He did it with Lapis, the Watermelon Stevens, and now Lars. That’s one gem, one sentient plant, and one human. Well with lapis he was merely communicating with her. This, new power, is seems to activates itself whenever Steven wants to help someone, but can’t because something getting in the way. Could this be a power passed down from Rose, or is this a power he himself posses?

#koala vs sloth

in The New Lars, koalas come up twice. Koalas in SU are associated with Steven’s astral projection powers. Remember how Koala Princess met her mother in the dreamscape? 

Steven: For your consideration...The koala, a marsupial from the forests of Australia, and the sloth, hailing from the forests of South America. Who should be crowned the king of the "Hanging Around Doing Nothing" mammals!?

Steven in Lars’ body: Whatcha doing? Hanging out? Buck: Yeah. Steven: That's cool. Would you say you hang out more like koalas or sloths? Uh, I'm asking for Steven.

Steven: Um... I'm really, really sorry about yesterday. I got you a card, it's got a koala and a sloth.

From The New Lars. Steven references koalas three times.

KBCS gets to Beach City Drift. They take notice of Jane and of Kevin’s car.

Hey did you guys notice that girl that keeps appear. We saw her when Steven took Connie to the movies and now she’s here. I wonder if she’s involved in something. Hmmmm.

So Stevonnie raced Kevin down the hill in his Himitsu X12, that’s secret in Japanese.

So while we’re back on the subject of Jane, here’s something interesting about Dogcopter and the Himitsu X12. They both show up in advertisements together in the background of Empire City.

Mr Greg

Same Old World

This is what KBCS is talking about - Dogcopter has a secret.

For Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service, KBCS has more to say about dreams.

She has a nightmare and Steven, coincidentally, falls asleep after eating and enters Kiki’s dream. Now Steven The Dream Warrior, must help Kiki battle her dream, and finally end this nightmare once and for all.

Steven, who for some reason keeps going into people’s dreams, goes into Kiki’s dream.

Steven fought for about week, and he’s was tired by day four. And we know from experience that a sleepless Steven, is a cranky Steven.

This is the same power Steven used in Chille Tid. and look who showed up again?

After Monster Reunion airs, KBCS posts a liveblog and includes a far-fetched accusation that Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond.

Think about it! A Diamond should have access to all gem controlled tech, right. And if Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond, which she is, then she should be able to too, right. And Steven has Rose’s gem. So now Steven can access gem tech. And one more thing to prove this theory once and for all.

But there’s one thing that doesn’t add up. Rose Quartz… is a Quartz. How could she be a Diamond?????? Maybe I’m wrong, she could have been just working along side Pink Diamond. Maybe this just a crackpot theory about the impossible. I don’t think gems can turn into different gems? who knows, I guess we’ll find out sooner or later. 

When KBCS gets to Crack the Whip, they take note of Lion and tag him thrice:

Crack the Whip! Is it just me or is that foreshadowing?

Oh, did I mention that Lion was there. He was just there, when Connie opened the door, he walked up and just started hanging. It was so cool! It was like, Just Lion Things 2! So the snack break, that takes the whole day, ends at the beach, where the idea originally began.

Amethyst faces off Jasper, gem to gem, while Steven and Connie, and don’t forget Lion, fight the corrupted gem.

Lion was keeping the Gem Monster busy while all of this was happening. I was so stunned when Steven and Connie fused, without doing a fusion dance! How well they worked, together, they rode on Lion, and defeated Jasper, and poofed the Gem Monster all at the same time!!!

#just lion things 2 #lion fights #lion still fights

There’s also a weird Google Slides slideshow connected to the KBCS account, which includes this image featuring Lion, Tiny Floating Whale, (and Connie and Greg) and the word TRUE with Steven’s affirmative!

More Koala Princess

Two more Koala Princess references - although only one is immediately relevant - 

In Gemcation, Ronaldo keeps texting Steven about Koala Princess. Steven’s lockscreen is a selfie with him and Lion.

Also, as a sidenote, Koala Princess is implicated in sneople trolls on anime message boards.

Dogcopter

These are just the Dogcopter appearances (Thanks to SU wiki as well as my brain) Dogcopter fights robots in at least one timeline, and the book is allegedly really long. Bold Dogcopters are the pink dogcopter, everything else is an ad or grey.

Lars and the Cool Kids - Poster

Lion 2 - The movie they all go see.

Lion 3 - Gives Steven advice.

Chille Tid  - Shows Steven how to find Lapis. Meows. (Dogcopter’s parents are cats.)

Same Old World & Mr. Greg - Advertisement

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service - flies Steven away.

In Dreams and Growing Pains (Note this is grey Dogcopter) - Flies away in Stefan’s nightmare, proposes to Drew the driver (or at least offers them something) in the Dogcopter 6 Till Death Do Us Bark I Now Pronounce You Man and Woof trailer.

Snow Day - Pupcopter, a spinoff for babies.

And for Steven’s Birthday - Connie points out a Dogcopter constellation.

Astral Projection

Another quick summary. I’ve written a lot on this psychic ghost stuff so check my blog if you want the tags, idrc. Summary of astral projection powers Steven has shown:

Leaving his body (Reunited, Escapism)

Possessing other bodies (New Lars, Escapism, SWI)

Traveling to others’ dreams (Kiki’s Pizza, Chille Tid)

Interacting with fusion components within the fusion’s mind (Chille Tid, Mindful)

Regarding KBCS’s question of whether Rose could have done this, it doesn’t seem impossible - and as of Fragments and Homeworld Bound, we know that Gems don’t die when they are killed. (Lol.) That is, the personality/soul can appear in the same gem if it’s shattered and repaired. And Steven’s mom’s gem is perfectly intact, inside him. 

Literally what is the point of all this

So after KBCS and KBCW spent so long talking about astral projection, ghosts, dreams, fusions, etc etc. they never actually got to the point - just pointed us in the direction of a bunch of clues that 

Rose Quartz isn’t gone.

Obviously. She’s in his gem in him, like Lapis and the mirror, or the lighthouse gem. She uses astral projection to help Steven in his dreams as well as see him in Rose’s room, like other fusions speak in the mindscape. (There’s a lot more to this but this is enough to ask anyone to wrap their head around atm) 

She also interacts with him through other bodies, the same way Steven takes over Lars’ body, or the Watermelon Stevens. 

Remember this?

We, here at Keep Beach City Safe, thought that Steven would’ve liked to have his mom at his birthday party.

Who came to Steven’s birthday in which Connie points out that Dogcopter constellation?

Who gave Steven advice when he wished he could talk to his mom?

Who showed Steven where to find the tape?

Who else could have asked Steven, “What do you want” in Susan Egan’s voice? 

(Why did they choose to hire Susan Egan to voice a cameo in Under the Knife in the first few seconds of Fusion Cuisine, where she says “It’s my son!” while Lion is onscreen)

Or reassured him that Rose’s tape was telling him the truth?

Who first brought him to Pink Diamond’s moon base?

Who knew where Rose’s armory was and how to train with it? (Note the giant penny)

Who showed Steven the location of Pink’s fallen palanquin?

Who found Rose’s lost scabbard?

and knew where Pearl would run to when she’s upset?

Who (reluctantly) brought Steven to the landfill and Pink Diamond’s ship?

Who showed him how to find Malachite?

Twice?

Who showed him how Pink Diamond tried to stop the Earth’s colonization, and who to ask for the truth?

Who tried to entertain him on Mask Island when he was trapped on Homeworld?

And then rescued him from the open sea?

Who showed Stevonnie the password to Yellow Diamond’s moon base?

Much like Koala Princess’ vision in the Eucalyptus Jungle in Season 5, Episode 13 what you saw on the Boardwalk the other day was not what it seemed. 

So yeah Rose is Lion 2020. Thanks for reading this extremely long nonsense.

Also thanks to @babybeetlebongos​ for both mindscape lore and fixing Ronaldo’s cheek in the banner image, lol. I made a Twitter thread about this as well (and the more in depth Lion and astral projection theory threads are quoted at the top, if you need them. the #mindscape deeplore 2020 tag/tags on this post have stuff too.)

[hansolmates]

two months ago i just made a milestone post but here i am again making another one! lucky sevens, so im giving you seven ways you all can celebrate my milestone with me. thank you to all my moots, nets, readers and sweethearts for always being so loving and supportive through my writing journey, i appreciate every step of the way🥰🥰🥰🥰💜✨

send me: 

ask my muse—if you wanna chat with the couples (hctb!jin: “you can ask the side characters too, im still here!”) and ask how they’re doing, why they did a certain thing, or how their relationship’s going, here’s your chance! 

cami’s writing tips—ask about my process!

cami’s commentary—ever wondered why i wrote a certain scene a certain way or chose a particular trope/au? feel free to ask! 

cami’s teasers—dig into my wips and I’ll give you a lil preview! 

drabble babbles—feel free to send me a mini au (can be from an already posted fic or something entirely new!) and i’ll try to write a lil drabble. please do not send me incest/non-con/mafia/yandere/crime/hybrid 

i wish you would write a fic—do you think i’d do your dream fic justice? let me know and i may be inspired

party party yeah—i’m treating this like a long ass weekend slumber party LOL feel free to chat with me and ask me questions about myself or share anything you’d like me to know about you!