#if it does wind up being nonsense lmk :)

[monstermoviedean]

let's talk about the bridge.

[spnwiki links known filming locations when available. in all three episodes, this is listed as the spur 4 bridge, lower seymour conservation reserve. it may appear in more episodes, but i'm not sure.]

the bridge appears in 05x02 (good god, y'all!), 13x18 (bring 'em back alive), and 15x20 (carry on). now. do i think this specific bridge was specially chosen each time to communicate a certain message? with respect to the crew, nah, probably not. do i think you can read a pattern here? ooh, yes. tl;dr: you cannot cross the bridge. merely standing on it means the rules have just changed in a reality-bending, fucked-up-beyond-all-repair sort of way. attempting to complete the crossing is an acceptance of the new rules.

in 05x02, the bridge appears as dean and sam are driving into river pass, colorado, the town controlled by war. the bridge is broken. they drive halfway across the bridge and stop. this is the first sign to sam and dean that something is seriously wrong here. this is no normal demon hunt. this is a problem on a scale larger than they can grasp. there's a literal gap between them and the town! they have to leave the car (/home) parked on the bridge and hike in. they are entering uncharted territory.

when they do, they find people killing each other and seeing demons where there are none. war is altering reality and playing people off each other. jo attacks ellen! rufus attacks sam! the townspeople turn on ellen and dean! you can't trust anyone! but actually...you can. none of them are demons. the danger is real, but it's not what it appears. and no one has ever come across anything like this before.

so what do sam and dean learn? the apocalypse is here. there's no going back. the rules have changed. the tactics they've always used don't work, because they are in a new reality now. and they accept that. while they can't physically walk/drive across the bridge, they do complete the crossing of their own volition. they accept that their world is different now and they will adapt to it.

in 13x18, dean and ketch are in apocalypse world walking near the bridge. they see a group of angels leading a group of shackled, hooded prisoners across the bridge.

two of the prisoners are executed by the angels right there. they do not cross the bridge. they die playing by the same rules they always have. it's the apocalypse, and they'll fight, but the angels are the angels and it's tough to win as a human. when i started writing this post i thought charlie had crossed the bridge, symbolizing her entrance into a new reality. but she doesn't! the angels fly away with her, without any of them ever crossing the bridge (below are back-to-back screencaps. sorry for the lack of visual but trust me on this)

charlie doesn't fully cross the bridge. she gets halfway across and then the angels fly her somewhere else. dean is hoping she finishes crossing. if she does, it's like she's crossing into his world. maybe this charlie will be just like the charlie he knew and lost. maybe he can save her. maybe he can undo it. but she doesn't cross and he so he can't get to her!

when he and ketch eventually catch up with her at the silo and escape, charlie hears about dean's universe and chooses to stay in hers. because it's hers. charlie's reality has been fucked with, certainly, but she chooses to accept the reality she knows and stay in it (for now at least). she's not outright rejecting the new reality of parallel universes, but she's also not letting the new reality dictate her actions. it's her home, it's her fight, and she's staying. she doesn't complete the crossing.

so that brings us to. deep sigh. 15x20. dean drives onto the bridge, ostensibly in heaven. he drives about halfway across. and stops. he does not cross the bridge. he gets out of the car and hesitantly walks around the front of it. i won't show you all the screencaps but he touches the car and stays pretty close to it as he walks.

the last one is about the furthest point he walks across the bridge, give or take. he doesn't go far from the car (which is a good strong symbol of dean's reality and home). you can see there's two vertical posts in the space between him and the car. when the final shot zooms out from him and sam, they are magically further across the bridge, about halfway across, about five vertical posts away.

dean standing on the bridge means the rules have changed. his world is different now. he cannot go back. this especially works with the next scene, which is the one of the cast and crew in our world saying goodbye. now, can you say that dean dying and going to heaven is the change? sure. but he doesn't cross the bridge. he doesn't accept it. could you say that simply means he's in denial about his death and apparent ascension? i guess. "but what about sam?!" shhhh, not right now.

i think it works much better as dean recognizing there is a new and unknown reality on the other side of that bridge, and instinctively knowing that there is something wrong. that he doesn't want to accept that reality. that if he finishes the crossing, he will be accepting it and will be unable to go back. and sam just appearing out of nowhere, seemingly materializing onto the middle of the bridge without actually taking steps to cross it? somehow moving dean with him so they're both further across the bridge? well maybe that's not real. maybe that's a trick to try to get dean to cross. maybe his acceptance of the new reality will sever his connection to his actual reality - war destroying the bridge in 05x02 certainly did that for the townspeople.

i know others have talked about dean crossing the bridge as an acceptance or an ascension, i'm nowhere near the first person to come up with that. but i do want to call attention to the previous iterations of the bridge. a broken bridge sam and dean cross, only to find war beyond it, an enemy the likes of which they have never seen. a bridge charlie is nearly forced to cross, but which she's taken away from before she can complete it (which would be more likely to lead her to jump realities). and a bridge dean starts to cross, but doesn't. a bridge that appears first in dean's reality, then in apocalypse world, then in dean's heaven, and then in our world, with jensen dressed as dean saying goodbye. and nobody ever crosses that bridge. it's a false promise. you can't do it. all you can do is stand on it and hope you'll be okay, even though you can't go back.

[dragondart]

Fuck it. How the boys would text except none of these are good and I’m making fun of all of them:

Sky: He doesn’t respond to anything in group chats unless he is directly asked to, instead he just reacts to everything with the heart emoji. That being said he’s the king of DMing you to talk about drama in the group chat well it’s happening. Responds to things with gifs.

Four: You’re either getting a single emote response or an essay, nothing in between. Also sends 100 texts every time he talks because he presses send whenever he’s done with a sentence. You have to mute him for your own sanity.

Time: Texts in complete “teenage internet lingo” from the 2000s. Think things like ROFL and LMK like he’s still using a flip phone and trying to save on letters. He’s also likes using one letter words and mixing numbers in (C U 2nite).

Wind: Texts just like Time but bump the timeline up to the 2010s. Just look up the Danny Gonzales video “The Tea”, that’s what he sounds like. He does ironically to make fun of Time but he’s not sure it’s working.

Warriors: Types like he’s writing a professional email all the time. It’s extremely off putting. Likes really old school memes and doesn’t get why Legend keeps telling him to stop sharing them.

Twilight: Types mostly normal but has early 2010s tumblr-isms peppered in. Stuff like pupper and smol bean. He also unironically uses the OwO emotes.

Wild: Like Wind his texting style was meant to be a joke but unlike Wind he can’t actually stop it anymore. He now unironically says poggers and cap. He also keeps saying nonsensical shit in hopes that it becomes some sort of inside joke or meme.

Legend: *read at 2:30am.* *Sends a meme to the group chat and says nothing else.* He also has a horrid habit of calling people to talk unprompted and he will hit you with the “I know you’re online answer me” text if you ignore him.

Hyrule: Types like a tiktoker. Also is a tiktoker. If he’s not doing that he’s playing Pictionary with the sheer amount of emojis he’s using. Keysmashes.

[shinebrightlikeanarwhal]

"Feel free to drop any particular requests!!" Do you have any w/ the miscommunication trope? Everyone hates it but I love the hurt/comfort in it

Ahaha

I always always have a miscommunication trope (since most of the main ships suffer from it-)

LMK:

Sun WuKong and Macaque have the most disgusting miscommunication.

Sun Wukong goes off to meet people and gets trapped. Dragged onto a journey and goes radio silent to his closest friends and Allies. Macaque is worried and they are constantly defending their home from demons and hunters.

Sun WuKong is having a not so bad time with the pilgrims. Exploring and fighting. He doesn’t think to check or even request a check up on his home and friends. He just assumes everything is fine.

Macaque cant get in contact with WuKong. He’s probably worried sick and thinks he’s suffering. Demon monkeys have been treated lowly, what if they’re hurting him??

Macaque didn’t know Sun Wukong wasn’t being hurt. Sun Wukong never knew the severity of what Macaque suffered. Even when he returned to find their home destroyed but slowly being built back up.

When they finally get the chance to talk it out, LBD has already been dealt with. Wukong has to corner Macaque into opening up. Their at a stalemate until a disgruntled MK and Mei yell out their respective insecurities. (SWKs: Need for affection and LEMs: Abandonment issues)

The initial conversation is extremely painful. So much that could have been avoided put out in the open. They can hardly look at one another at first. Macaque glaring at his feet while Wukong has found his tail rather interesting. The first sorry Macaque ever gets is so soft he thought he imagined it. Until he turns to see SWK staring at him. Genuine and heavy regret settled on his face. He meant it.

This fuckers getting teased by MK and Mei later.

SVSSS

Shen Jiu is a walking trope.

He never tells his feelings fully and just shuts down his irritants. People assumed he was a noble son. Arrogant and pompous. His skills were greatly affected by his scarred core and no one ever knew. The ones that did know never asked, knowing Shen Jiu wouldn’t open up about it.

Yue Qi assumed everything was okay, despite Shen Jiu almost killing him and having to kill his master for Yue Qi to live. He never addresses the Main issue between them. He gives a half assed apology that does nothing but upset Shen Jiu. Causing more of a rift between Shen Jiu and other disciples. They think he’s being rude to Yue Qi when that boy did nothing but corner and bother Shen Jiu without giving him a proper conversation.

It takes years for them to recognize that Shen Jiu was never the assumptions they had for him. It takes a near death experience and a distraught little girl to wrench the peak lords out of their own ass.

Ning Yingying wasn’t the only small child he had cared for. There was a child born from one of his old brothel friends. A kind young woman that was murdered by a jealous wife, sneaking in a demon. Her daughter had been hidden for safety, no one cared who the father was, they just wanted to keep her little flower safe. This baby had grown to be an exceptional child. She had been aspiring to join her uncle in his peak when she caught wind that the Peak lords were responsible for him being comatose after a botched mission.

The distraught cries of what they presumed was his daughter spurring on more nonsensical rumors that she quickly shut down.

“Baba is not my father you incompetent fools! He raised me after your lack luster protection KILLED my mother! Instead of gossiping like a gaggle of husbandless old crones do your JOBS! Baba has held in so much because of you repulsive quacks I’m amazed these peaks can even run properly!”

The little one airing them out was astounding to the disciples. Unsure whether to admire or admonish her. It wasn’t until Yue Qingyuan knelt down and bowed to her as an apology that the peak lords knew this was a serious offense.

“Don’t tell me your sorry apologies when you don’t even know what you did wrong. Baba loved you and stayed in this disgusting place for you, to make sure you were happy… I despise you for abusing my baba’s kindness. You and that muscle brained barbarian that harassed my mother when Baba came down to play music! You are all sick! You don’t deserve your titles! You don’t deserve my Baba!”

They would 100% only listen to the tears of a third party before they understand that Shen Jiu was never their enemy, until they made him one.

Sally Face:

Travis.

Lmao jk, he and Larry have probably the worst miscommunication. He genuinely can’t seem to understand Larry’s mind. Some jokes Larry makes have Travis in tears because he thinks it’s true.

Larry is a faithful man, but Travis thinks he’s not good enough and Larry has found someone else. Larry just thinks Travis is trying to impress him by acting more and more like the people he hangs out with. He doesn’t notice Travis breaking apart because this isn’t him. He’s not some edgy, punk rock person. He’s soft and still emotionally fragile.

Travis keeps trying until Sal physically separated them and pries the answer out of Travis. Earning a pained cry as Travis just begs Sal not to tell Larry. He just wants to keep his boyfriend. He doesn’t want to be abandoned because he isn’t good enough. Larry neglecting to talk with Travis lead up to this. Sal made sure Larry heard the entire conversation.

Larry would wast no time in consoling and correcting Travis. Explaining himself and even addressing his problem with communication. They were just two broken boys with a lot to work through.

[varibean]

Try Turning It Off And On Again

This was my piece for the tangled dreams zine that can be found here! I wanted to try writing a bit of Team Awesome/Dadgene so I hope y’all enjoy and lmk what you think! 

Read On AO3

It was no small exaggeration to say that, on paper, Varian was living a near perfect life. It was hard to imagine the boy-or as his father so often called him, ‘young man’-wanting for anything and for the most part he didn’t. After the battle with Zhan Tiri and the terrifying day of the eclipse, all of his dreams had been practically handed to him on a silver platter. Royal Engineer, renowned alchemist, best friend to several important people; with all that under his belt it was hard to imagine him not being in a constant state of euphoria over how well his life was playing out. Especially after his rocky start.

However if someone was to catch him in the early hours of the morning, they would be led to think that nothing had ever gone right in the history of his entire life.

It wasn’t a fact of Varian not being a morning person that was the issue but rather the sheer number of things he had to do once he got up. Early on in his career as royal engineer, Rapunzel thought it to be a great idea that he live in the palace with them. He’d been excited about the prospect at first; getting to live close with his greatest friends? Spending his days working on machines? Winding down at night in the grand ballroom for dinner? Absolutely perfect.

What he hadn’t considered was the fact that, by living in the palace, he was essentially on the clock twenty-four seven. Every morning when he woke up he skipped his usual routine of combing his hair or brushing his teeth in favor of opening up his bedroom door. That action was always greeted with a pile of neatly placed but still numerous scrolls, all left behind by the morning castle page. Each one was either a task, request, or order form filed by any and all who needed his service. It was only after he picked them all up and read through them that he continued his other morning tasks.

Life at the castle was more boring than he’d ever considered life in a castle could be. The whole place worked like clockwork and not the fun kind. The only thing that broke up the monotony of the place was Rapunzel, with her always chipper nature, and Eugene, who often tagged along with her despite his own duties as Captain of the Guard. But even that small burst of excitement was becoming less and less as time went on. Less Rapunzel, less Eugene, more work.

When Varian first arrived, everything had been wonderful and new. The scrolls at his doorstep were exciting projects, not boring chores. He had time for his own inventions and endeavors no matter how small they were, and most importantly, he got to spend time with his friends. All of those things were slowly fading, dwindling in time and importance as his daily tasks grew and grew. When writing his father about it, the older man simply replied that it was all part of growing up. Varian hated that. Still, the days dragged on, the ever steady pace of the castle completely uncaring to his internal plight of drudgery.

____

It was on a day of heavy rain and wind when Varian got the notice that something was wrong with the boilers. Nothing major enough to cause an entire village to explode, he’d been sure to put that safety precaution in place, but enough to warrant a knock on his door as he was preparing for lunch. No ham sandwich break for him today.

Apparently some rainwater had managed to seep through the shallow earth and gotten into the underground reservoir used to fill the tankers, in turn causing them to overflow. It wasn’t the overflow that was causing any structural issues, the machines wouldn’t rust overnight after all, but it was causing an imbalance in the chemical reaction. Too much water meant there was more liquid than the chemicals could properly heat, leaving everyone with lukewarm water. Tragic.

Duty called though and lunch would have to wait.

“Lukewarm water. Oh”, Varian said sarcastically to Ruddiger as he prepared to go down and find the leaky bit of earth that was causing the problem, “The horror of it all.”

The people of Corona could survive a day or two without hot water, but why should they when they had a Royal Engineer at their disposal? Nevermind the fact that he was a person too, who was currently missing out on his meal so that everyone else could wash their hands in comfort.

He bit back the desire to spout out another sarcastic comment to his furry companion, knowing that he was just being unreasonably bitter because he was hungry. Food would still be there when he got done; the longer he ignored the problem the worse it would get. In all fairness, it took priority. Besides, something like sealing up a bit of loose earth and diverting the dripping water from the tankers would be an easy fix. He could do it in his sleep.

____

Varian had been correct in assuming that the boiler problem would be an easy fix, maybe slightly tedious at best. What he hadn’t accounted for was how difficult it would be to simply get down to the reservoirs in the first place.

The problems started the second he stepped out of his room and into the main hallways of the castle. Ruddiger trotted beside him happily, the fat animal knowing that his only job was companionship and nothing more. Given the time of day and the raininess outside the place was busier than it normally was. Gardeners muttered over their tools, maids rushed to clean up dirt and grime that had been tracked in, and all the other servants began to hustle and bustle around in order to make sure that everyone was safe and well attended to.

It shouldn’t have been a long trek, just a few turns before getting to the downstairs, but the trip was elongated by everyone constantly bumping into him and pushing him aside.

Despite being a respected member of the staff, he was still just a boy in many of their eyes. He glared at the people who brushed past him, knowing that he’d helped each one of them with at least half a dozen things at some point or another. They’d been perfectly kind to him then but now he was nothing more than another body blocking their way. It was easy to be nice to someone while they were doing something for you and even easier to ignore them when the time was over.

Half way through the crowd to his destination he felt a hand grip at his arm and turning around he was met with the stern face of a maid, face flushed with frustration.

“Excuse me young man, you’re the Royal Engineer correct?”

Her voice was twice as haughty as she looked, speaking as if she couldn’t believe that she had to stoop to the level of talking to him in the first place.

“Varian. Just Varian.” He didn’t have time to deal with whatever nonsense the woman needed him for even though he had a sneaking suspicion that he was about to be given no choice.

He was quickly proven right as the woman gave a soft huff and pulled him alongside her to whatever issue she needed fixed. For a moment he considered squirming out of her grasp or maybe telling her that he was busy but as nice as those both seemed he knew that it would only come back to bite him in one form or another. If he didn’t fix whatever problem she had now then he would have to do it later. He was already missing lunch, might as well make the most of things.

She all but shoved him into one of main rooms, where he was met with several maids and servants covered in dust and circled around one of his many machines.

Ah , he thought, That explains a lot.

“Your blasted machine blew up. How are we supposed to clean up dust when the device that you made to help does nothing but blow it back in our faces?” The woman huffed as she crossed her arms.

Varian would have rather been scolded by old lady Crowley than whoever this woman was. At least Crowley didn’t balk like a fish when she was angry.

“Have you tried turning it on and off again?” Varian tried to joke to lighten the mood, but was met with only a cold shoulder and a stifled chitter from Ruddiger.

Eugene or Rapunzel would’ve found it funny.

He signed while leaning down to the device and fixing it up with one very simple step: Flipping the switch from ‘blow’ to ‘suck’.

“Let me know if you have any actual problems with it ma’am. Sadly, even I can’t fix operator errors.”

He skittered out of the room before anyone could berate him for his mouth. He smirked to himself, thinking how funny one of his friends would find that line. That was only the beginning of his troubles though.

It seemed that every step he took towards the boilers, someone needed his assistance.

Nigel’s mechanical pen needed the ink chamber fixed, Hope needed the automatic laundry cart’s wheel to be tightened, one of the chefs needed more preservation chemicals to keep the food fresh until next week.

By the time he actually got to the door to the boiler room it was well past his lunch break, time slowly and steadily creeping towards dinner. Hours of helping crowds of people with their problems and all that just so he could get to the actual problem of the day.

But yet again, right when he was about to turn the knob on the door and enter the stairwell for the boilers at long last, another hand grasped at his arm.

“Hey there buddy-”

“For the sun’s sake I just need to fix one stupid problem!” Varian shouted, turning around to face the stranger who’d grabbed him only to find that it wasn’t a stranger at all.

Instead he was met with Eugene’s surprised and amused face looking down at him, red uniform dampened slightly from the outside rain and hair slicked back in an admittedly stylish fashion.

“Well hello to you too short stack.” Eugene’s response was met with a groan as Varain pushed in the door and began to descend into the underground area. “Rough day?”

“Not more than any other day here.”

“So I’ll take that as a yes. What’re you doing going to the boilers so late, it’s almost chow time kiddo. You know how your dad will chew us out if we don’t get you your three squares a day.”

Even with Eugene’s joking nature Varian could hear a bit of sincerity in his words. He couldn’t bear the thought of confessing that he hadn’t gotten a chance to eat lunch. Instead he just kept walking downwards, the other man following close behind with Ruddiger.

“The rain cracked through one of the underground tunnel walls, which has been causing the small reservoir down there to flow faster. It’s overfilling the machines which means the formula for heating them isn’t working and that means a bunch of people upset at me until I can fix it.”

“Well of course, can’t imagine what a tragedy it must be to go a full day with only lukewarm water.” Eugene’s tone was sarcastic, mimicking Varian’s earlier sentiments on the matter.

Despite the day he had, the alchemist laughed. Of course Eugene of all people would share his same sense of humor at the situation.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if people would just let me get down here in the first place.”

“Nah, they can’t make it too easy on you kiddo, that’ll just make you go soft.”

Another chuckle rang out against the walls. It was more than Varian had laughed in probably an entire week. Suddenly the task of fixing a leak didn’t seem so bad; having company helped and though he loved Ruddiger to pieces, there was only so much conversation that a single raccoon could have.

“So what do we have to do to fix it?” Eugene asked after the laughter had settled and the two made it to the bottom of the steps, leading to the underground tunnels.

“I’m just going to put some of my newest solution on the crack and up the Flynnolium for a few hours. That’ll give everything time to reset by morning and then I’ll adjust the Flynnolium solution release back down to four percent per tanker. And it’ll also give everyone else ample time to find something new to yell at me about.”

Though he spoke with a joking tone he could see the flash of concern that drifted over Eugene’s face, making him instantly regret saying anything at all. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful to the older man; he really did love his job even with the few pitfalls that came with it. His snark was nothing more than the result of a little stress. That’s what he told himself at least.

The rest of the walk was short and comfortably chatty, Eugene going on about his latest guard duties while Varian laughed and ribbed him on his work ethic. It was nice to finally get some time to talk to his friend again, Team Awesome. He almost didn’t want his work day to be finished but the fixes he needed to implement were easy; it had just taken him forever to get down to do them. Just as soon as the two (plus Ruddgier) had made it to the caves, they were back to the top of the staircase.

“Well kid,” Eugene started, “now that we’ve got that all done let’s go get some grub. Don’t want to keep everyone else waiting.”

Eugene began to walk in the direction of the dining hall but Varian stayed put. He was hungry, that much was for sure, but he’d spent all day around people. Being around them, fixing their problems, having them bump into him and squawk at him. It was nice to spend some time with just Eugene but an entire room full of more people...now that was something different entirely.

“Actually I still have some leftovers from lunch in my room.” By which, of course, he meant his entire lunch. “I’m not that hungry anyways so I think I’m going to pass tonight, tell everyone I said hi.”

“Are you sure? Heard there was going to be cookies tonight-”

“Yeah, don’t-don’t worry about me it’s just been...been a really long day.”

Varian mustered up his best smile and gave a thumbs up as he walked away before Eugene could say anything else.

It had been a nice reprieve from his regular day to day drudgery, but it was time to go to bed and start the whole process over again tomorrow.

____

When Varian woke up the next morning he wasn’t tired which was his first clue that something was wrong. He stretched and yawned, squinting as the sun shone brightly through his window which was the second clue.

The third, and by far the most obvious clue, came when he cleared his nose and sniffed a few times and was met with the scent of fresh ham and eggs. Turning to his night stand he saw a brilliantly decorated tray of toast, butter, and scrambled eggs with ham and tomato slices mixed in.

“What in the-oh shit!” Next to the delicious smelling breakfast was his alarm clock which had apparently not gone off despite having wound it up the night before, seeing how the time displayed on it read 11:12. He was late, beyond late. It was nearly noon, he would never hear the end of it. Not only that, but there was a bigger issue at hand.

“The Flynnolium!” He darted up out of bed, not even bothering to put on his work clothes or brush his hair.

He nearly tripped over his own feet trying to reach the door. When he opened it, however, he ran face first into a solid body, sending him reeling back from the impact.

“Well good morning there sleepy head. Man, you really must’ve been worn out to sleep that long huh? Any sweet dreams?” The voice was calm and teasing with just a hint of sincerity playing against the tone of a smile.

“Eugene!” Varian steadied himself and once again tried to get by him. “I can’t talk right now, I have to go. I overslept somehow and-and the Flynnolium has been set on high for too long, I need to get down there and-”

“Set it back to four percent per tanker? Already taken care of buddy. Now come on, I worked all morning on that breakfast and you haven’t even touched it. Well, the royal chef worked all morning on it but I was in the room so i’m pretty sure that counts for something. Supervising, you know, is a very important part of the process.”

“Wha…”

Varian couldn’t even finish his sentence as Eugene guided him back to his bed and sat him down, moving the breakfast tray onto his lap.

“Well don’t sit there wasting all that hard work, dig in.”

“But I don’t...I don’t understand how-what the hell is going on?”

“Language.” Eugene chidded jokingly before sitting down beside the other, “I noticed you seemed a little stressed yesterday. So, I took it upon myself to give you the day off. Woke up this morning and turned the Flynnolium down. Bribed Ruddiger with a few apples to get him to turn your clock off and let you sleep in.”

Varian looked down at the food in his lap, speechless. He hadn’t been that tired, had he?

“Why though?” He asked, quizzically picking up a slice of toast and slowly biting it.

“I just told you, you’re stressed. We’re Team Awesome and Team Awesome looks out for each other.”

Varian continued to crunch slowly and Eugene let out a soft sigh before putting his hand on the other’s back.

“I know the people here demand a lot from you. It would be a big adjustment for anyone just to exist around this place, let alone be the Royal Engineer. Doing projects every day, people only giving you the time of day when they need you, running around like Pascal chasing after a fly. And I know I...probably haven’t helped much in that regard either. You’re the Royal Engineer because Rapunzel and I know you can handle it. But just because you can handle it on your own doesn’t mean you should have to.”

The more Eugene spoke the more Varian relaxed, shoveling more food into his mouth as he got more comfortable.

“Fankfs.” He said, his cheeks full like chipmunks, causing Eugene to laugh.

“No problem buddy. Anyways, like I was saying, I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much-”

“That’s not your fault.”

“No, but it is my fault for not trying harder. And for not realizing how tough things have been on you. So, here’s the plan, once a week from now on you’re getting a full twenty-four hours of off time. Maybe after a few of those and we’ll finally have you back on a decent sleeping schedule. Anyone who interrupts it gets thrown in the dungeon, my royal decree as Captain.”

“I don’t think Captains can make royal decrees.” Varian stated flatly, suppressing a smirk.

“Ok smart mouth, well they can now. You have the rest of the day off.”

There was a comfortable silence for a moment as Varian finished eating, setting aside the tray and closing his eyes. He leaned against Eugene’s shoulder, content and full and happy.

“Thanks Eugene.”

“Anytime kiddo. Team Awesome?”

Eugene extended his fist and Varian happily, if not a bit tiredly, pounded it with his own.

“Team Awesome. Now, since I have the rest of the day off…” In a split second Varian was falling back against his bed, rolling himself up in the blankets pillows, “I’m going back to sleep.”

Eugene laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder.

“Lazy bones. Well, have sweet dreams. Sugar plum fairies and all that.”

“Nah, I’m going to be dreaming of cute blonds who look like Flynn Rider and take me on daring adventures.”

That caused Eugene to laugh even louder.

“Wow, you really are such a teenager aren’t you? Well tell dream hotshot that if he wants your fantasy hand in marriage he’s going to have to get through me first.”

“And my dad.” Varian joked bluntly.

“Personally I think I’m the more important one to impress but, yeah, that guy too-” Suddenly a pillow hit Eugene’s face, muffling his chuckles, “Ok ok I get the message, I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”

“Eugene?”

“Yes sleeping beauty?”

“Thanks, I needed this.”

“Any time kiddo. Love ya.”

As Eugene closed the door, Varian closed his eyes, sinking down into his mattress and into a day of blissful sleep.

“Love you too.”

By the time Varian got the drowsy words out, Eugene was already gone, but it didn’t matter. He already knew.

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 12: Monty/Raven, Computer

Monty/Raven (well, more Monty & Raven really), Modern/College AU, ~700 words

The prompt was connected to the fic originally--mostly in that, when I wrote it in my head before going to sleep a few nights ago, it was primarily a conversation between them about a computer game Monty was coding. But from what little I remember of those sleep-addled thoughts, it was mostly nonsense, so, here’s this instead.

My tag list: @ciewill @dealingdreams @shadowheron2013 @julyrubyrose @wonderland-promises @hanav @rycewritestrash @thelittlefanpire @musicnote902 @stonybnatural @earthgay2052   @fabianapvec @bellarkehastakenovermylife , @bellarkewriting @failing-at-being-an-angel (lmk if you would like to be added to or deleted from this list)

*

Raven doesn't know him but she's seen him around: at lunch in the cafeteria, walking across the quad, once or twice in the hallways of the squat Computer Science building, mostly basement, on the far south side of campus. But mostly she recognizes him from the library, because his favorite study spot is at the same large table on the second floor, between the stacks, next to the windows, that she has long staked out as her own. He's there almost every time she shows up, but it's fine. The table is more than big enough for two.

The boy is at his usual spot today: the corner seat, closest to the strip of carpet that winds its way down the hall. He has his laptop open, a stack of closed books at his elbow. He doesn't look up when she approaches, and she doesn't offer a greeting, which is not unusual: they've been studying together all semester and have never spoken to each other once. She pulls out the chair across from and diagonally to the left of his and starts unpacking her bag.

Today, unlike most days, the one bit of unusual color to the fast-fading late-autumn afternoon, the boy is wearing glasses. She's never seen him wear glasses before. There's something odd and not quite right about them.

She suspects the glasses don't actually contain any glass.

As she powers up her laptop and starts arranging her notebooks and highlighters around her, the boy reaches up to scratch the side of his nose, and as he does, he pokes his finger right through where the lens of his glasses should be. Raven, despite herself, stifles a laugh, hiding a sudden grin behind her hand.

She's sure the boy doesn't hear her, but perhaps he senses her eyes on him, because he looks up and meets her gaze, steady and surprisingly humorless. Then he raises his eyebrows until they disappear into his hair.

Raven gestures, a vague twitch of her fingers. "Think you forgot something?" She's still smiling, and trying not to smile, her hand still blocking her mouth.

The boy hesitates, considers, and then says, as if this idea were equal parts obvious and bright, "Yes! To clean my glasses!" He takes them off and moves to wipe the lenses down with his shirt, then stops, and frowns. "Ah—forgot the lenses too."

At that, his expression breaks, and he smiles, a genuine smile, and Raven feels safe enough to drop her arms down to the table, where she crosses them on top of themselves and then leans in. "Why are you wearing those stupid things?"

The boy folds the glasses closed and sets them next to his books. "I don't know," he shrugs. "My roommate gave them to me. He said they were to make me look smarter. I told him I already look smart and not to insult me."

"And then you wore them anyway," Raven finishes.

He shrugs again. "They're a conversation starter."

"True. You have officially started a conversation." She nods once, decisive, then tilts her head and adds, "I'm Raven."

"Monty. I've seen you around."

"Yeah, because you stole my study table."

He rolls his eyes. "I've been studying here since the first day of class."

"Me too. The first day of class last year."

He must be a freshman, she thinks, as he gives an exaggerated sigh, a reluctant concession. A weird freshman with a weird roommate. Probably taking CompSci 101. On the back of his laptop, a campaign sticker from a local race; a cluster of trees that say ADK beneath them; a cartoon spaceship; the name of a band Raven has never heard of. Or she thinks, probably, it is a band.

Not much to go on. But a start. 

"So, what, are you going to challenge me to a duel for the table?" Monty asks. "Because I think it's a bit late for that."

"There is no time limit on duels," Raven answers, quick and matter-of-fact, and with as serious an expression as she can manage. "But I don't mind you sticking around, for now."