#it wasnt necessarily a love letter

[kissingarthurclaus]

Heem, last night I had a dream that I was my lazytown insert and I had this diary I didn't really enjoy writing in but I did anyway to get my feelings out, and Sportacus found it somehow when it got left somewhere and he left a letter inside talking about how much he values me as a person and likes me 😭😭

[coriphallus]

The Dark Urge thoughts (and prayers)

anyone whos been following me knows im absolutely not normal about durge and i wanna share some tidbits that are implied, but not necessarily canonised, from their story;

I already made a post about it but it seems like bhaal has a degree of control over whether they live or die. he can deny them death, if they fail the duel with orin.

bhaal can command the slayer. he forces orin to transform if you talk to her about sarevok and the scene makes it clear that its against her will.

bhaal manipulates his kin in a subtler way. in the colony you can find a letter from old durge thats apologising to his father for 'liking' gortash. you can interpret their relationship as something deeper but even if it wasnt, this reads to me as terrified and desperate.

the reason being, if you have a LI in act 2 you get the famous bondage scene. coupled up with the letter above makes me think this is a pattern. bhaal can use their feelings against them. he did it with sarevok and orin's mother, orin's mother and orin, etc... it's not as straightforward as 'if you disobey ill kill the one you love'. you will. durge will.

bhaal is testing them in act 2, he revels in chaos, sure, but in the grand scheme of things he doesn't care about isobel. even if you tell scel that you'll kill her you're told that youre too late, you ignored your urges. from durge, bhaal doesn't expect calm calculated murder, he expects blind obedience. failing to receive that his first punishment is to take away something they cherish. there are no half measures, theres no bargaining with a god.

we get so many snippets of information that this has happened before, their foster family being their first victims. theyre made to kill their support system with their own hands, with no one to blame but themselves. they are actually apologising to their father for being fond of gortash because (in my humble opinion) theyre genuinely afraid.

how many times could this have happened, how many nights durge couldve woken up covered in the blood of someone they love until they gave in, became daddys obedient puppet?

durge is groomed for murder. scel says 'you always failed to conduct yourself without me' and given who he is i dont think hes talking about table manners when he says 'conduct'. durge needs 24/7 oversight to set themselves right lest they get tempted by softer things. lest they dare to step away from bhaals grand plan.

durge do have a choice. just as shadowheart had a choice, just as wyll or astarion had a choice. its a choice only in name.

theres no ending besides refusing bhaal that their friends and LI wont die by their hands. the entire lore of bhaalspawn is that theyre meant to conquer the world in his name and slit their own throat a top the mountain of corpses. as cazador aptly put, 'theyre made to be consumed.'

you can pray to bhaal and the narrator says he won't accept [any offering] but the entire world.

durge (and bhaalspawn) do get some sort of euphoria from murder. they crave it like an addict, but bhaalspawn (on prev games) don't constantly have to grapple with these urges as durge does.

now durge is a slightly special case but not in a good way. its implied that theyre not like a regular bhaalspawn, that theyre made by bhaal directly -so to speak-. which is to say, if youre playing a drow, they are bhaals closest approximation of a drow rather than a drow flesh and blood.

thats why theyre fighting tooth and nail against these urges every step of the way, they are literally bhaal himself(in essence). the personality they develop, the person who calls themselves 'tainted' and 'wretched', the character thats making choices throughout the game, theyre the tumour.

theirs is the story of cycle of abuse cranked up to 1000 and it is in parallel to all other origin companions.

[chainkeepustogetherr]

FLUFF ALPHABET, JEFF BUCKLEY

( A ) AFFECTION - how affectionate are they?

oh do not even get me started… he is genuinely the pure definition of affectionate/an affectionate person. no matter what time it is, what vibe it is, where you guys currently are or what you both are currently doing, he certainly will show an unadulterated & unconditional amount of affection towards you. wether that be verbally or physically, it don’t matter one bit! he absolutely loves showering you with love at all times <3

( B ) BEAUTY - what do they admire most about you? what do they think is your most beautiful feature/attribute?

he loves your eyes, he finds solace & peace in lovingly gazing into your eyes. he often finds himself writing poetry in his mind of a million different ways to eccentrically describe them. same thing with your smile, there isn’t a lot more he loves then seeing you smile! especially when its caused by him <33

( C ) CUDDLES - do they like to cuddle? and if so, how?

YES. YES AND YES. it genuinely soothes him like no other. after a long, meticulously stressful day, his only remedy is eloping himself into your arms, or you into his.

& he is most definitely the skin to skin, chest to forehead type cuddler as opposed to spooning or any of the other “techniques”. it makes him feel as close to you as possible.

( D ) DREAMS - how do they picture their future with you?

i feel like, jeff’s not prone to thinking about the future, although. he is certain that a life without you in it would be bleak & miserable, & that he wants to spend the rest of his days as your lover

( E ) EQUAL - are they the dominant one in the relationship or passive?

i think he would definitely share both characteristics, not necessarily confined to one.

( F ) FIGHTING - what are they like during a fight? how quickly would they able to forgive/be forgiven?

id say jeff would be the kind to use words as weapons in an argument, though he would never ever raise his voice at you, or yell in any form. the second he sees tears forming within your eyes, or noticed your lack of verbal communication, he instantly rushes to your side, exclaiming how sorry he is, & how what was said wasnt meant, & that he loves you dearly

( G ) GENTLE - how gentle are they?

EXTREMELY. gentle. so so so gentle to the point where sometimes you feel as if he sees you as fragile, in the most wholesome way possible. his touch is the most delicate & gentle, alongside the way in which he tells you he loves you.

( H ) HONESTY - do they have any secrets from you? or do they share every little detail?

oh, every little detail is 1000% shared. he tells you everything, from birth to current day, mundane & classified as “boring” to moments that shaped him, its almost as if you know him just as much as he knows himself.

( I ) I LOVE YOU - how long does it take for them to say the L word? how do they say it?

he says it practically the second he feels it, most likely through a letter/poem he wrote you, or as he’s admiring you, seemingly dozing off due to his fascination with you

( J ) JEALOUSY - do they get jealous? if so, how?

yes, he tends to get slightly jealous at times. it truly depends on the person & situation. its more so a jealousy in the sense of, “thats MY lover, not yours” as opposed to an insecurity or controlling based jealousy. when jealous, he often becomes slightly smug, boasting that you are very much his, & he has the gift of being able to love you, & vice versa

( K ) KISSES - what are their kissing habits? are they a good kisser?

soft, slow & sensual would be 3 words to describe the way he kisses you. its hardly ever rushed, only ever filled with love & admiration, even in more sexual settings. & lets be real… 10/10 kisser.

( L ) LOVE CONFESSION - how do they confess their love?

1000% through a (not so) discreet love letter, pouring out every ounce of emotion he has felt for you from current day, to the moment he first laid eyes on you.

( M ) MORNINGS - how are mornings spent with them?

mornings are sooo incredibly soft w/ jeff. 9/10 you wake up entangled within each others arms, legs knotted up together, hair a total mess. he often mutters a “g’d morning my love”, before pressing a lil kiss to your temple, inching himself closer to you than before. though, morning sex is almost always guaranteed as well

( N ) NIGHTS - how are nights spent with them?

nights are often really, really calm. theyre usually spent cuddled up together on the couch, watching a stupid tv show/movie, or dancin’ around the apartment with some zeppelin playing on vinyl

( O ) ON CLOUD NINE - what are they like when they are in love? is it obvious for others? how do they express their feelings?

oh, its so stupidly obvious to practically everyone. the way in which he looks at you with soft eyes, always protective over what youre doin’, constantly asking for you to come to shows, always boasting about you, spending his afternoon’s writing poems about you, the list goes on.

he expresses them through “jokes”, or sarcasm hidden as the truth. example being, you boasting about a kind favour jeff did for you, & one of his bandmates/friends exclaiming it to be “him being totally head over heels for you”, jeff often “sarcastically” nods along saying “what can i say? its true, im totally in love with you”. “sarcastically”

( P ) PDA - are they upfront about their relationship? do they brag with their s/o in front of others? or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

i feel like, jeff would often times keep his relationship details private, feeling as though he wants to keep it between you & him, as his own, but he 10000% brags about you at any given chance. wether that be to others, or privately in his journal. though he will show you affection in public whenever he deems necessary. by no means will he stop simply because people are around

( Q ) QUIZZES - how much do they remember about you?

oh. this man remembers everything. you mentioned months ago how youd love an amethyst pendant? 4 months later he hands you one in a velvet bag. you mentioned years ago you loved glitter pens when you were a child? the ink recently ran out on your favourite pen? guess what kind of pen jeff mysteriously gives you? a glitter pen. he remembers your order to every food store, he notices & remembers the things that calm you down, the way you react to specific things, everything,

( R ) ROMANCE - how romantic are they?

i dont even need to go there.

this man, will write you novels upon novels of poems about his undying love for you, without any form of reasoning. he would do anything for you, anything to make you happy, & anything to show you that he cares

( S ) SECURITY - how protective are they of you?

extremely protective. again, he would do anything to make sure you were happy, healthy & safe. even if it meant risking something of his own.

( T ) TRY - how much effort do they put into dates/special occasions?

so so so so so so so so much effort. he’ll plan it for weeks upon weeks, remembering every little thing youve told him you loved or wanted, & placing it into one (multiple) special days.

(A/N;)

a blurb & other lil proper works are comin’ soon !! currently in the making<3

FOR NOW, enjoy this !

[wienertit]

SUPER LONG ITAPAN RAMBLE INCOMING!!!!

OKAY. OKAY. its been a while since ive rambled on this account so today im going to clear up how i see itapan so that no one gets confused when i say “i dont think they would ever date” and then proceed to draw them making out or whatever.

when you hear “one sided itapan” you might think italy has the stronger feelings (because he’s the one approaching and hugging and kissing japan or whatever) but i feel that it’s actually japan with the stronger feelings.

when italy’s affectionate towards japan, its not because he’s necessarily attracted to him, but that’s just how he behaves. i think that he’s kind of trying to lead him on so japan is nicer to him. italy has been coddled his entire life like he’s been taken care of by austria and hungary and spain and france and germany and literally everyone loves him. and he KNOWS that everyone loves him so he purposefully babies himself to others so he can get even more special treatment. hes an annoying little asshole who uses his good looks and weakness to get out of trouble and i love it!!!

throughout the series (both in anime, manga, and a little in hetamyu), japan actually grows a bit of a soft spot for italy because of how weak and pathetic he makes himself seem. at first he’s polite and awkward because he idolized italy to be strong and capable, but once his expectations are SHATTERED he gradually begins to want to take care of him in a way. he doesn’t get mad at him as often and sometimes even defends him when germany is upset or lecturing him (like in hetalia fantasia). he tucks him in bed and lets him sleep on his chest and share a bed and bathe together and do the gayest shit ever. i probably would’ve thought “well thats because he’s too polite to refuse” but he ACTIVELY wants to do this stuff with him. he puts a hand on his back to keep him in place when he rests on his chest. he visits italy often and loves to cook with/for him. he wants to learn how to hug and kiss him back even after italy says its fine. he writes him letters and a SONG where he asks italy to visit him and gives him a pressed flower bookmark. japan goes out of his way to return italy’s affection and spend time with him while italy just does it because he’s italy.

i dont really think it’s a “sad” one-sided crush because in the end they’re still friends! they still both care about each other and confide in one another and hang out. italy isnt just affectionate to japan because he wants to lead him on and get more special treatment, but because they’re friends and he does still like him platonically! they can act like a couple without actually BEING one and thats insane!!! i love that shit!!!!!

ive mentioned how itager/gerita was my first hetalia ship and it still stands as one of my favorites. the problem is that im PICKY with it because i dont like a lot of the fandoms’ interpretations of them. i guess i wasnt as picky with itapan and liked it simultaneously with (although much more than) itager. but when i rewatched all of hetalia over the spring i realized how much MORE i liked itapan in the context of itager, which kind of blew my mind. like i remember mentioning to some itapan friends how i think they would never date and i still stand with that today. like italy and germany are too busy trying to win eachother over and they would just get together instead. japan actually likes his friends though and wants them to be happy so he would just go “ok” and move on while still doing all that gay shit with them. i guess jt makes itapan more of a brotp but it doesnt make it any less enjoyable for me. i LIKE to see them hanging out and being friends and dont really mind fanart where they’re dating or whatever because i can just pretend that they’re not!

anyways sorry for being a little insane i hate itapan but i actually love itapan okay i love them okay yahoo!

[castlebyersafterdark]

I don't understand the hate about this outfit like he looks goofy but he was cute in this!!!

omg it's my time to shine hahah i love talking costumes! firstly, mike's shirt is described as orange here by the costume designer so its not part of the blue and yellow theory really, sorry y'all! but we dont need that as byler evidence cos theyre clearly in love anyway. will was definitely judging his ensemble and my fav part is the way it says 'SURF' splashed across the back in huge pastel letters. it's an all-round cringe shirt for mike wheeler whose personality does NOT suit surfer boy style let alone fake, ill-fitting surfer boy knock off style haha. so really what the costume designers were doing is not trying to make mike look objectively bad in terms of out of context outfit, but rather its so awkward for his character and delivers the awkward vibes in as little time as possible in order to set the tone of the scene. so we can add into this...

the camera angle showing him cluelessly looking around for them

the way he's wearing sunglasses indoors, a feat only julian casablancas can pull off. mike wasnt on the concourse, he was never exposed to sunlight since he got on the plane in indianapolis and perhaps not even then lmao, no need for shades!

his goofy wave and squeaky, performative voice 'oh! oh hi will! fancy seeing you here!'

and the biggest culprit of all: THAT HAT

I mean, what is that hat? its the way its sat on his head making his hair look like a wig. major worzel gummidge vibes tbh. that hat cannot be worn with hair down, it should be with a high ponytail which makes me think is this even a man's hat? subtle costume design.

and lastly, the clothes are ill-fitting (just like his hellfire shirt which hangs off him and washes him out, making him look pallid and weary in episode 1). the orange washes him out, making his skin look extra pale (compare to the warmth of the van scene and how golden his skin looks there). the purple shirt does the same, and the vest is far too big for him. finn described the whole outfit, but mainly the flip flops as 'gross' lol, but its made worse by the sheer contrast of mike to will and el and everyone. he's so not cool here, in every way. perfect costume design storytelling!

so yeah, these details are subjective really, but then again you could say all of art is subjective. they try to create a mood and make you feel certain things when watching, and some people just won't get it. thats not a bad thing, but i think recognising when your taste butts heads with the artistic intention is very interesting! i always found mike to be a babe but i cringed so hard when he rocked up in this ensemble lmao. and i think the duffers wanted me to! compare it to how much his brown hair and pale skin suits the forest greens of season 1 and 2. mike is an autumnal colour complexion, not spring/summer pastels :)

THANK YOU for this! I love costume and wardrobes but I don't really feel like my knowledge base is adequate to deep dive beyond surface level vibes and this was a cool read.

Also yes! to the minimizing 'color theory' a little - it's a nice element for these two but I think too much stock is placed in what's a minor detail when so much more is important about these characters. And agree, Will was totally judging - even if he's into Mike, it's so clear that he's doing something out of character and awkward and trying to put on a different image for his girlfriend. I don't necessarily think the outfit is ugly - simply not Mike. That's what I'm saying but oh man, so right on every point. It's a very good storytelling tool. Yes, it's ill-fitting and the coloring makes him look off, like everything about how he's presenting himself is wrong. Overcompensation. Desaturation. I find the mistaken effort endearing, which I think is the point as well. The cringe along with the oh, Mike. He tried so hard and it turned out so wrong. You feel for him!!

(Hides though 🫣 as I'd absolutely wear the hat, I love an ugly hat. Then again - I go out of my way to wear ugly fashion on purpose sometimes because it's fun and amuses me, but that's a pointed choice haha. Mike probably thought it all was cool. I am not trying to be cool ever.)

He is an autumn boy! Fall colors and fall in general! Loved your take, very good insights. Agree agree, there's a lot of meaningful layers here and reasons for what we saw in that scene.

[nicegaai]

having nor/ice thoughtssssssssssssss sad sad whiny kitty cat noises. wahhhh. im thinking about them wahhhhhhhh. WAHHH

what if i took all my small canonverse ideas and compiled them into ONESHOTSSSSS........................................ and what if they were CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED ..... and showed RELATIONSHIP PROGRESSION over the course of 1000 years ...... and it wasnt that deep but i pretended it was and called it something like "i was meant to keep you warm" because i love to steal fox/i/ng lyrics. maybe even id find a way to make this a 5 times + 1 time format.

if i can wrestle my way into figuring out what goes on in nors head i could do it. ive figured that i want ice to never ever see him as a brother. my vision is that nor is iceladns hot babysitter fantasy and first crush that never goes away. he wants to marry him when he grows up but then his feelings stay that way and it never ever ever ever ever goes away and only gets worse. u understand? do u see it

and UNFORTUNATELY nor knows ic/eland likes him from the beginning. he can tell from like ice's adolescence onwards and is like yeah idk about all that...... but the attention is flattering and he loves this little guy so much and thinks its sweet. he doesnt get to visit often but ice writes him a lot because hes in love with him ykwim and nor loves him so much too (platonic) and always writes back.

and yeah they go through periods of living together for various reasons. sickness unions famines etc etc. not ever for long and nothing ever happens. if adolescent iceland pushed boundaries, nor would humor him a little with like...a kiss, bc he spoils him, but ultimately he hard-shuts it down. and ice would be traumatized forever and block the memory out / be eternally tormented at night by the time he did such and such so is the worst person alive etc

and ice begins teen life with the whole he will never love me and i am a tormented soul shtick. now he writes to him less, tries to put more distance between them... so it hurts less and all that. hes not GOOD at pretending he hates nor or whatever but its easy to lose connection when messages are rare and visits are rarer

he spends much more time at denmarks than with no.rway. he sees den.mark as a proper older brother / uncle / fatherly figure. hes closer emotionally to him and lives with him more and all that. his tutors are danish and he goes to boarding school in cop.enhagen in the 1800s. idk how this ties into the romance necessarily but its timeline relevant. whether or not denmark picks up on the crush , i dont know. i could go either way lol. also, den + nors relationship is strictly brotherly btw. ironically. because theres not enough fics where theyre platonic and i really do enjoy them that way too

nor and ice remain distant for several hundred years. its once ice gets into his pushing for independence mixed with modern technology for better communication ..... somewhere between say, the invention of the airplane and landline phones, nor and ice repair their relationship. iceland is coming into adulthood (independence) for real, and is SO mature about his international relationships. he can be so mature and normal about norway. he can sit down with him and have lunch and discuss business and norway wont talk down at him for being young at all (lie) and he'll be so chill about that and not yell at him (he only does it once) (he only has to do it once)

all this isnt to say n.orway himself didnt attempt to stay close over the years, but ic.eland wasnt reciprocating, and even if they saw each other every year at christmas (doubt) that doesnt make them really CLOSE. but i think iceland was always particularly special to him bc of how close they were as kids. and they WERE both kids back then. little icela.nd sent him letters while nor was like 14 at best. i believe in teen mom norway and his eldest sondaughter icey. at least from nors perspective. even tho hes so absent so much of the time. when he comes around he showers him in gifts as a love language even way back when

anyway, ice.land still has an obvious crush on nor and nor finds it SO cute. like he could just pinch his cheeks and coo at him for it. ice tries to keep a lid on his emotions but can only do so much. nor doesnt SAY anything to point sus behavior out. but as soon as he notices,,,, its like there was no time apart, to nor. ice is so closed off and stiff and weird around him and nor wishes he would relax so they can connect properly and he honestly CANT

the solution is to drink otgether i think. at some point. maybe not immediately but they'll get to it.

icela.nd isnt like oohg im too young to drink, i think hes just lived long enough that hes a bit Over It / doesnt want to act like an idiot / really doesnt want to act like an idiot in front of nor. but nor could peer pressure him into anything if he really tried so they finally get tipsy together and i think that goes a long way to repair their relationship.

they do this many times and as long as ice is careful to not drink a lot he'll be fine. hes gotta keep his wits about him and still be able to feel shame. one time he indulges a little hard and i think ice trauma dumps on him and they kiss to make up for the time nor pushed him away and nor didnt realize he was still hurting so much about that. nor is tipsy enough to do it (not even drunk) and afterwards he goes ohh wait i kind of enjoyed that. and do it a few more times then make out for a while and it doesnt go anywhere, they fall asleep

the next day they completely remember kissing and know the other remembers it and just mutually dont talk about it.

icelan.d is VISIBLY struggling even harder around him for at least a few days until he gets a handle on his emotions. and nor has a lot to think about. in general.

i dont know where the dna stuff comes in. im falling asleep while typeing this

but icelan.d obvioiusly is like wtf? we arent related. thats impossible. i cant even fathom this. and nor.way is like you are the closest i will ever have to family and i am your biological father and icel.and is like what the fuck ew you can say brother as much as you want but never say father again im begging you and nor is like Bet.

and then they test and they're first degree related. father or brother would be appropriate. and nor is like yeah obviously (already believed this when he kissed him) and ic.eland is like (max harlow voice) SUICIDE !! SUICIDE !!

icelan.d sits with that information for a while but his crush still doesnt go away. nor gives him space and also sits with the information. he never thought he'd end up here but he decides that hes into it. its kinda hot. I Do believe in slutty n.orway supremacy i thnk hes slept with most of europe and doesnt have a strong internal sense of familial boundaries considering he is a landmass and is like yeah id do that again we're both adults hes cute whatever

next time they see each other nor comes onto him. and ice is squeemish about it but this is also everything hes ever wanted. whats he gonna do, say no?

at this point i fell asleep but im awake again uhhhh

ic.eland gets to cope with being a creep a weirdo and getting what he wanted in the worst way possible and nor gets to torment him with the brother thing not as a kink but bcz it makes him uncomfortable and he thinks its funny.

i forgot to talk about the actual oneshot ideas that inspired this in the first place didnt i. oh well

aaaaaaaaaaaaand post

[tonydaddingham]

I kind of think the reason why the Book of Life is referred to as 'extreme' sanctions and why they haven't used it yet is because it's intended to be an absolute last resort, due to how badly it may mess up the timeline. Butterfly effect and all that. And they'd be looking at potentially undoing/rewriting 6000+ years of history. Who knows what life would be like for anyone if humans never left Eden. I mean. No death and no suffering, obviously, but no free will or knowledge, either. But it WOULD accomplish the basic plan everyone knows God has laid out- create humans that live eternally in paradise. I'd imagine using the Book of Life is very risky and they can't account for the full extent of the effects, but I don't think that would stop the Metatron from using it as a means to make Aziraphale go along with the Second Coming. If anything, the chaos of that potential timeline might be even more of a motivator for Aziraphale to follow orders in this one.

that's a very good point!!!✨ definitely would fit the bill of 'extreme', but then again - if it is only used in extreme circumstances, as i said here and @aq-uatic reminded me in a separate ask, you'd think that the stopping of armageddon would be worthy of threatening the BOL, and yet it wasnt? or the fall of humanity, or even the fall itself... but somehow, hiding gabriel is bad enough to warrant erasure from existence...?

this does however only take into account how michael is threatening to use it (i.e. the extreme sanctions are not, in fact, officially sanctioned; metatron confirms this in ep6). michael takes the supreme archangel position, and presumably considers this to be adequate authorisation to wield the BOL as a weapon - something we don't see gabriel do in s1.

i would love to know what michael's rationale behind this was; jumping straight to erasure of existence for a fairly insignificant transgression. it might say more about michael's character than 'the true nature' of the BOL, but still find it interesting that for a reasonably cunning character, this threat is so... little thought-out.

and maybe that's just it; that the BOL does exactly what it says on the tin, and it's just michael getting gung-ho on their assumed new power and station. maybe gabriel never intended to ever wield this weapon because of the catastrophic implications it has (though this would bring into question what the point of the BOL is to begin with, if not to be used).

i honestly don't have much of anything to negate this from within the narrative itself, other than crowley saying that it was only a rumour (which i do think has some basis). but from a storytelling perspective, i do think it very odd that this new concept, this huge-ass weapon that heaven seems to have had in its back pocket all along, would be so blatantly explained and handed to the audience in s2. the whole thing, imo, just feels a little off.

biblically speaking, too, i feel that the BOL in the context GO poses is somewhat off too; revelation shows that the book belongs to jesus christ, and (heavily paraphrasing multiple references here but this is my understanding of the christian scripture on BOL) was for humanity to repent and enter the kingdom of heaven, or face erasure and be cast instead into a lake of fire in everlasting punishment.

now, of course, GO does not necessarily follow the word of scripture by the letter; but regardless, the whole notion seems odd in relation to angels. they... are of heaven; would erasing them from the book lose them their existence, or would it cast them out of heaven? by the same logic, does erasing humans from the BOL during the last judgement also mean those humans will cease to exist? the lake of fire is described as being "a second death" (20:14), but is that the same thing?

basically, anon - i don't know. idk if the BOL is what we're led to believe it is, but something in my gut (and by god has it been wrong before) is telling me not to take it as read!!!✨

[bookinit02]

just read the episode seven script. HOLY FUCKING SHIT DUDW

there is . so much. SO MUCH i want to say about it. so many great moments. oh my god. final girl karen wheeler my QUEEN. and the camp scene at the end, witg all the reunions- mr. clark!!! lucas and his parents!!! KALI!!! god im SO EXCITED to see what you do with kali man, i loved that part of season 2 and kind of hated how she was just...never mentioned again... and seeing her in your season 5 makes me so happy!!!!

and now to scream about byler.

*deep breath* .. ASJFBFKFNWIJDKDBFJFBIDBDJD DHHDJDVDJDBDJDHD HEHVDJDBDKDHDIDBJDBDJDBEJEHDJ

HOLY SHIT!!!! THE LETTERS. TYE FCUKGIN LETTERSSSSSZSSS. THAT. THE. MIKE. READING THE LETTER TO WILL. "i dont know how to love people without hurting them" DEAR GOD. AND THEY FINALLY KISSED!!!!!!! IN THE RUINS OF CASTLE BYERS!!!!! AND IT LITERALLY FUCKINNG RESTORES THE UPSIDE DOWN!!!!!! LIKE FUCKING MLP TWILIGHT SPARKLE MAGIC POWER STYLE!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!

also on that note . i loveloveLOVE how you did the hive mind flashback to before henry showed up, i LOVE the notion that the upside down wasnt always creepy and evil and thats all henry's doing, i LOVE the demodogs and demogorgons being real, sympathetic creatures rather than these mindless drones for the Good Guys to kill. doggie!!!! theyre just doggies!!!! im!!!!!!!!!

clears throat. anyways

YES final girl karen wheeler!! i am so glad everyone is starting to care about her as much as i do bc i have had this plotline in my head for over a year now🥹

actually. confession! karen’s plot was like 80% of the reason i decided to do a script at all, bc i had such a solid s5 vision in my head for her but i couldn’t figure out how to work it into a byler-pov fic. i was thinking about doing separate related ficlets originally, but then i got even more ideas, and the scripts were born!

and yeah, i’m super excited about all the reunions!! i was going to wait for the finale until some of them, like mr. clark, but i figured i’d just get them all done in one big reunion extravaganza. the plan was always to include kali somehow—i want to make sure i close out the arcs of all characters in the show, like terry and the police, etc! and el needs her sister back💗

i’m glad you liked the letter scene :) it’s one of my favorites, and i’m very happy with how it turned out.

thank you so so so much for the comment about the hive mind (and for your notes on the fic as well)! i know that understandably this chapter got overshadowed very much by byler, but the restoration/decolonization of the upside down is a really important theme to me, and i’m looking forward to writing it out. especially because (and i could be wrong about this) it’s not a route that i necessarily see the duffers taking, and i wanted to be able to do it justice.

thank you for the comment!!!! sorry for the long reply, i just woke up from a nap and apparently i had a lot to say😭

[byleraddict14]

Its been awhile since I've been on here but with season 5 starting i have a lot churning in my mind.

Firstly while I can understand peoples love for a friendship between El and Mike theres alot about it that just annoys me. People keep saying that Mike and El arent fit for each other and Mike is holding El back but I dont necessarily agree. Mike knows El's favorite song, food, and generally what she feels however El knows next to nothing about Mike. What little Mika actually likes aboit himself she tears down and makes fun of like his singing. Anyone else notice he doesn't sing again after that. El's letter is also all about hows things are going for her but she necer asks how Mike is, in reality the only people who really ask how he is would be Will and his mom. I find it very interesting that it was never specified whose idea it was to lie about curfew during the summer. Setting aside the fact that El moat likely knows something is up between him and Will, I get the feeling she leans more towards Will liking Mike than seeing Mike's feelings. They would make good friends if they could ever get around to just being themselves together. Mike does have a tendecy to push her concerning her powers when Wills concerned but when he blurted out he loved her i bet he was thinking more about what they palnned to do. El intended to spy on the shadow monster she was doing what Will had done eight months prior. What mosy people forget is Mike was the only kid who was really in the lab when the dogs attacked. Will was knocked unconscious and the rest were adults. To make it worse Mike literally saw people get ripped apart by the dogs on the cameras. Lucas, Dustin, El, Max, Steve, even Jonathan and Nancy didnt actually see people get ripped apart. Im syre somewhere Will has memories of it but Mike saw it in real time, he stepped over the bodies I'm sure that messed him up real bad and here they were planning to do the same thing using El's powers. Mike didnt even looked very surprised when the monster came after them, he probably expected it. No one even asks Mike why he refused they just keep saying he's trying to control El. I would have been more surpirised if Mike didnt snap and yell something to get their attention. He most likely meant he loved her just wasnt in love with her. He lost her once he knew how it felt.

Jonathan's hostility towards Mike was also a bit uncalled for. While I understand his need to protect Will the only thing Mike did that Jonathan knows about is his awkward hello at the airport. Other than that even after Mike and Will make up Jonathan still glares at him. With how close Mike and Will are theres no way Jonathan doesn't know Mike very well. Lets be honest Jonathan was the one to respond with Will's with Mike when others looked for him. Jonathan also knew to use Will's wakey to get ahold of Mike when they were running from the lab guys. Out of all people I believe Jonathan is one of the only people to figure out Mike's feelings for Will along with Max.

When watching the 4th season I noticed Mike was the only one Max didn't fight with or be sarcastic she even chose to stand next to him at the assembly. I also find it highly interesting Max knew where paper and crayons were in the Wheeler household. Lets be honest as many drawings as she made she was most likely up before Ted or Karen, I don't Molly told her and Nancy defentely didnt know considering she freaked out when Max disappeared. I noticed when she handed the letters to Lucas she said Mike's name first not El, she also keeps Mike instead of Michael when saying she wouldnt stay in the basement. Hell she didnt even have to say Mike at all she could have said the Wheelers basement but she specifies Mike. Honestly out of anyone who would understand her feelings and self hatred Mike takes the cake. I'm not saying that their the same person different verse just that their very similar. Max suprisingly enough defended Mike against Lucas over the summer and didnt automatically blame Mike when the curfew incident happened she stated they had been that way all summer.

To be perfectly honest Mike was the only one she went out of her way to be friends with even after he buffed her several times. When Lucas wouldnt tell her the whole truth she got mad and stopped talking to him, when Dustin was mean to her she brushed him off, Will never really had a problem, El completely ignored her and was mean when they first met but she didnt chase her instead El came to her later. Mike was the only one who was completely hostile and she never let up, she wanted to know why he didnt like her and kept trying to talk to him again and again. One of her favorite memories that made her happy when fighting off Vecna was that day in the gym when she got Mike to laugh. Mike chose not to ask her to play DND most likely knowing she wouldn't want to. He doesn't pester her about how she's feeling or whats wrong. He even sat next to her in class and the look on his face when her nose started bleeding. I personally think they grew closer but their natural sarcasm and attitude towards each other makes them seem far more distant than they are. Despite Mikes blatant dislike for Max in the beginning not even he could stop from sming when he saw her note in the trash. I especially love when their a sassy duo.

I love that Dustin and Mike stayed together in highschool even though he had Eddie and Steve while Lucas had basketball but its sad that Dustin completely missed Mike's feelings for Will. Dustin once accussed Mime of being unobservant in the first season but lets be honest he's the most observant not least. Mike didnt even yell at him for what Dart did to his cat while Lucas chewed him out. Mike of all people had the right to be mad at both Lucas and Dustin for breaking the rules but he doesn't yell at either of them he just focuses on Will and losing Bob. Dustin also doesnt ask Mike what he's thinking or hows he's doing he just kinda blames him in his own way but still sides with him.

The fact that both Lucas and Dustin condeem him for being nice to El when he was just showing basic human decency. He also knew she was connected to Will and that was more than enough for him to play nice. I know that Mike drew first blood and many think it was his fault and Lucas had a point but honestly I think Lucas deserved it. Now dont get me wrong I love Lucas but he could be very self obsssed and a genuine jerk sometimes. When El and Mike broke up Mike didnt ask for Lucas's help in fixing his relationship but Lucas volunteered without actually Mike how he felt. Granted Mike was lying about why he lied but he had a tendency to give into what other people tell him. Everyone told him his feelings for El were more than friendship simply because he was nice to her not actually taking his denial into consideration just more proof. Mike and Lucas spent most of their time talking to each other over walkeys because they lived so close thats why he got so jealous over his friendship with El but they never actually just talk. Mike may get grumpy about Max in the beginning but he did listen to Lucas when he talked about her. Mike tries to be understanding for the most part.

I dont even want to start with Nancy mind you she's amazing, strong, smart and for the most part a good person but her relationship with Mike is very strained. You'd think having another person who understood what it felt like to lose their bestfriend in the same house would have lead to more talks and closeness but it didnt even accur to Nancy that Will would be with Mike where he generally is. While i get Nancy is older and has her own ambitions its like shes just leaving Mike to fend for himself. She needed Jonathans comforting when she saw the Demagorgan eating the deer but after the lab and the sheer number of people Mike watched die vetween it and El there was no comforting. Proof of that was when she got out of the car and hugged him because she was worried. Mike wad genuinely perplexed because it wasnt their usual relationship.I'm sure they've gotten better and maybe a little closer since Mike considered asking Nancy to play DND and she gave him a ride to school plus their blantant annoyance with their inability to get ahold of the Byers but theres still distance.

Mike relationship with Will would take a completely different tyraid. What I find concerning is Mime has a perpetual tendency to be sassy both to his friends and family but even more so to the people around him. He was never afraid to be himself in the beginning no matter how that turned out for him but he began digging even deeper into his self after Will's possesion. Eddie even pointed out he had to draw Mike out which probably had to do with Will not being there but he tends not to give into bullying for the most part in the beginning. While in season five we see Will being more open with who he is, El struggling without her powers and her identity, Jonathan not wanting to leave his family, Nancy's distance issues with Jonathan and her determination in helping, Robin and Steve have become very close with Steves uncomfortableness of losing Dustin to Eddie. Dustin has managed to spend time with Mike, have a girlfriend, bounce between Steve and Eddie all while keeping his head on straight. Lucas is desperate to get Max to open up to him and get through the day with horrible bullies. Max is drowning in grief and guilt and then theres Mike who for the most part looks after everyone else and keeps everything about himself hidden away. Man for the most part is the defenition of self sacrificing. He stepped off a cliff ledge not knowong El would save him for crying out loud. Tended to shield both Jonathan and Will during the shooting at the house, was willing to head off a Demagorgan to protecr El and everyone else. Very rarely does he save himself simply for himself its usually to protect someone else.

[the-silent-hashira]

SPIDER WEB, for the ask game?

SPIDER WEB - How intertwined would you say you and your partners lives are?

that depends! i know some of them are far more attached than others.

Cross? Cross could go weeks without talking to me and then send me a 10 page letter about everything hes been doing and seeing, maybe a few little pictures here and there. he probably wouldnt talk about me much, and i dont care about what he does out there because i know that he loves me. we do work for the same organization, but our relationship isnt something many know about.

Clef probably could go a few days, he would talk about me occasionally but if you pointed out how much he did it he would make an effort to not talk about me as much. he likes being private, unless hes actually with me. again, work together, but some people very much notice his attachment to me.

GHB... he talks about me a lot, he likes getting my advice on things, and often will make the excuse of 'lemme ask my matesprit- he says no.' without messaging me at all. he values my opinions and wants me involved in the things hes doing. cant really go without working for the Highblood when youre a purple, and he is obvious, so everyone knows. (i like fucking with people though by making it a jumpscare)

Lucifer couldn't go a few hours without feeling sad that im not there. he will probably skip or cut meetings short if he misses me too much, he'll ask me for advice on many things and will often beg me to join him for things. if you didnt know i was married to him, you are either under a rock, new here, or just an idiot.

I feel like nobody would know Ozma even has a partner, full separation from his public life and i respect that as long as he still cares about me.

Bob is like Lucifer, hes a lost puppy and since i share him with my girlfriend if one of us wasnt around he could deal, but he starts getting sad after a while. plus, without me hes basically stuck in the house or he might genuinely get arrested and/or kill someone and get caught. nobody would really know about us and Bob, but thats because we do that on purpose. he is a wanted murderer after all.

Wally would love to involve me in anything, but i honestly like it when he pays more attention to my girlfriend since we share him too. everyone knows, its very clear.

Ozzie and Fizz are up. my. ass. if they get the chance it is puppy dog eyes. please pay me attentions. would talk about me if given the chance and will sometimes make situations where they can. kinda funny that most of my Hazbin/Helluva f/os are just straight up dependent on me most of the time lmao.

recently started shipping with Valentino, who would probably never involve me with work but likes being seen with me. its good for publicity, and he kinda values my opinions because i dont take his shit and can throw back just as much as he gives me. could be mistaken for coworkers or just fwb.

Diavolo and Satan... Diavolo would talk about me pretty frequently im sure, he gets excited when people ask him about any relationships he might have, and likes asking me what i think and being seen with me.

Satan and i like doing things together, and admittedly i really like doing silly things like going to plays and pretending to be in a mystery novel sometimes.

with Diavolo they would probably know because he would just say 'did you know my girlfriend, Uriel, says-' and Satan doesnt really talk about me but thats because he wants me to himself(and begrudgingly shares with Diavolo)

and recently i decided id say something about it, but i also ship with Eda, Lilith, and Belos/Philip from The Owl House. of which im not sure yet, but i know that none of them would necessarily talk about me much since my s/i with them is a fucking recluse that also hates being talked about in general so thats more a boundary on my side. my Belos/Philip is also way different from canon so 😅

wow this became long but this question interested me and i hadnt really thought about my impact on some of their lives honestly.

[mikasuxxx]

Random MW2 Headcanons

TW: Heavy angst, mentions of abuse, mentions of insecurities possibly?

This was very long but it was worth it!!!

Soap

If and whever he does settle down and gets married, he's definitely wearing a kilt at his wedding. And he's probably gonna have the wedding in the countryside of Scotland

He has a BIG family. Like half the people in his hometown are related to him

He got baby fever from being around his baby nieces and nephews, and his friends' kids too

His mother is the absolute sweetest, his father is kinda grumpy (he just needs to warm up to you

Neither of them speak english, they speak with a heavy scot accent. But they genuinely care about you as their son's spouse

He's terrible at playing the bagpipe

He's a heavy sleeper. Like he hibernates and sometimes rolls over on top of you crushing you with his weight. Which would be fine in winter but in the summer? good luck cause he aint moving for another 4 hours

It gets worse when he becomes a dad. he suddenly snores in his sleep and sneezes loud asf

he loves orange cake and angel food. idk he just seems like he'd like it

He likes metal music, esp bands like System of a Down

In the very early 2000s, when Soap was in college, there were students walking around campus with a camera interviewing students about what they want to do after college for a class project. Around the middle beginning of the video you can see young Soap, pre-mohawk, being interviewed and speaking in fluent scottish.

He said something along the lines of wanting to become a famous soccer player and winning the world cup, and his backup plan would be culinary school

The video is still out there somewhere, low quality, and was originally posted on the college website. However, the college he used to go to shut down, the website, along with the video were also gone with it.

But the website was up for a good amount of years before the school shut down, and a few people recall seeing the video before ìt shut down. Meaning there was a window of time where it could have been archived.

Nobody knows where though. People tried to look for it, for reasons not related to soap, creating a very niche community of people looking for a lost interview video tape that is decades old

Meaning that the video of young college student soap being interviewed is considered lost media. And will remain that way until someone can find it somehow

Anyways, he has long forgotten about the video, so he's very oblivious to the fact that there are people out there looking for a video ages old that includes him

He later ended up dropping out of college and joining the military after realizing he has more brawn than brain

He's still sad that his dreams never came to fruition. Dont get him wrong, he loves his co-workers and he prefers his current job over an office job any day, but he wishes he went through with his dreams

He felt like he wasnt smart enough for anything that involved school

his grades in high school really werent the best, just barely enough to get him to graduate

His sibilings were (according to him) more accomplished, one of them being an accountant, another one being a successful lawyer, the other becoming a short story writer.

He eventually learned to accept it within himself, and he knows that the abilities he was born with are normal things to have and are still very useful, and not being booksmart doesnt necessarily make him of any less value

He's still a very important part of the 142 task force, and his co-workers are very grateful to have him on the team. (even Ghost himself said it)

Ghost

He canonically has a nephew and a sister in law, both of which hes never met

He just left his home behind and went to join the military to escape the torment and abuse of his father and brother

The only reason he even know about the existence of his SIL and nephew is through letters that his mother used to send him after he left.

His mother was the only one who ever really cared for him

In fact, he felt so guilty for leaving her behind to deal with the abuse of his dad and his brother. She would always state in her letters how happy she is that he got out

Whenever his dad would go into one of his raging fits she would always try to stop him, but to no avail

Simon was still grateful for her effort. He knew it wasnt her fault

She would mention how his nephew looks so much like him, especially when he was baby.

It made him think about what could've been. Would the kid even want to meet him, let alone want someone like himself as an uncle?

No. is what he always said to himself whenever that question came up in his mind.

Eventually his brother would move away and completely cut contact with his mom, preventing her from seeing her grandson.

She never saw them again after that

One day, he would receive a letter from his mother informing him that his dad finally passed away.

He remembers it vividly, how in that moment he felt nothing but rage. How time suddenly seemed to stop in its tracks, how he wanted nothing but to beat something or someone into a pulp.

He's not angry because he died

The fucker died in his sleep

Way too peaceful for a piece of shit like him. He's angry because the man who made him and his mother suffer for years got to go out the easy way when he should have been suffering in his final moments

it was just unfair

His mom would also send cards on holidays or his birthday

But the letters along with the cards would be sent less and less often, until eventually they stop completely

He finds out later that his mother had died due to some terminal illness.

He should have seen it coming. in the last letter she had sent, she kept stating how much she loves him and how much she wants to see him.

It was her saying goodbye, and he didnt even realize it

She never mentioned it in any of the letters because she didnt want him to worry about her

He was so lost and devastated. No tears would come out when he tried to cry

He'd become more violent and aggressive during combat on missions as a form of release

People around him were concerned, but none bothered to talk to him. He was too intimidating. Even if he wasnt he wouldn't open up to anyone about such a sensitive topic

He still misses his mom dearly every day. He mourns her every year on mother's day and her birthday

As a (much healtheir) way to cope, he'd write his feelings down and details about his day in the form of letters to his mom. Letters that will never be sent

He ended up tracking down where her gravesite was, and went to visit her.

He stayed there for a while. Just...standing at her gravestone, unable to say anything

He contemplated tracking down his brother and beating the living shit out of him since hes much stronger now. He decided it wasnt worth it and went back to base

He'd visit his mom's grave and leave flowers, sometimes He'd clean her gravestone if he finds that its dirty

At some point he just started talking to her. He found it relaxing

Alejandro

He has a little sister who is in college studying biomedical science!

His other sister is studying oncology, shes hoping to be able to discover and research more about rare cancers

His younger brother swears up and down he's gonna be a famous athlete one day

This man absolutely loves his mother and would die for her, same thing with his sibilings

He vists them as often as he can, bringing his sibilings their favorite snacks and a gift for his mom, every single time

He has vivid memories of his childhood with his sibilings

He clearly remembers walking to the store when he was little, holding his mom's hand the whole time while looking around

At the time it used to be a routine that she would buy him his favorite candy on the way out when she's done buying groceries, and she would do the same for his sibilings

Him and his younger sister (the 2nd oldest, the one who's studying oncology. Their other younger sister was always excluded because she was too young they didnt wanna babysit while they were out with their friends lol) were trouble makers

During the summers they would somehow convince their mom (after a lot of begging, ofc) to let them go out to the small convenience store by themselves to buy snacks

They would go on their bikes, which should take less time to get to there since its right new their house, but they just kept goofing around

Alejandro always ends up buying everything other than snacks

His sister is always like "Okay but if you get hungry dont expect me to share my snacks with you"

He steals them from her anways lmaooo

At the store Alejandro would buy more useless but weird toys from the front register, like sticky hands, those yo-yos with the roll of gum in em, tiny toy soldiers, and most importantly, firecrackers

Alejandro as a kid had a very weird obsession with firecrackers

Whenever he played with the neighborhood kids he'd bring the box of firecrackers with him, in the front pocket of his shorts (he will never again make the mistake of leaving them in his back pocket or the basket on his bike as they were always missing when it was time to go back home)

He'd try to get his friends to come out of their house to go play outside by throwing firecrackers outside their house

big mistake because one of them had a big ass dog chained near the backyard and he started barking loud as hell and almost jumped him.

One summer, during a dry heat, Alejandro and his sister were hanging about outside, and he was throwing firecrackers at random directions out of boredom. One of them landed on someone's dry lawn and it popped, started smoking, and eventually started a fire on their lawn

Alejandro and his sister never booked it home so fast in their lives. their legs were cramping from going so fast on their bikes

As a little kid, he was put in church choir, maybe also music lessons?

At their house, theres a framed picture of little Alejandro, around 5 or 6 years old, standing in the living room dressed up in a suit that was slightly too big for him with a big ass bowtie, as he was about to go and sing in church

Also near that photo, is an ofrenda for their father, with candles put around it which were lit occasionally by their mother

Every Dia de los Muertos they will put their late father's favorite foods on it, along with sugar skulls, tamales, pan de muerto, and some flowers.

All food that is put on his ofrenda is made by their mother from scratch with the help of the kids, every single year year.

Even to this day, even when they're adults, they all chip in to help out their mom make the food. It brings them closer together as a family

When Alejandro was a teen, he saved up some money to go buy a cassette player (im really not sure how old he is nor do i know what else besides cassette players and ipods they used to play music so bare with me for a sec) and his mom made him share it with his sibilings since they didnt have enough money to buy one for everyone

he was pretty stingy about sharing it. was absolutely pissed when his youngest sister ended up losing it

he always loved exploring random abandoned places, like abandoned asylums and whatnot, especially with his friends

He ended up seeing some spooky shit that terrified him from going back for a while

eventually his mom found out, and her absolutely HATING anything to do with spirits and ghosts, she forbid him from exploring abandoneded places. Also because shes obviously concerned for his safety

Gaz

He had a pretty good childhood on the opposite side of England that ghost used to live in

He was very out going in primary school, had lots of friends

he lost a lot of them by the time he entered middle school and high school though

He has a younger brother whom he always used to destroy at video games. like every single time he'd beat his ass in a 1v1

He'd sometimes eat his leftovers just cause

They rough house and wrestle a lot, especially when they were younger. when they got older they eventually evolved to just doing basic arm wrestling lmaoo

When Kyle was younger, when his mom was away at work his dad used to take him out to the coffee shop and he'd always, always get a juice or chocolate milk drink

Sometimes they'd go to the park and he'd take his soccer ball with him, and they'd just play soccer in the grass

Or sometimes they'd go get ice cream

When his brother was born, they did the same thing, but him also being pretty young at the time, was jealous thinking that his dad's attention was being stolen from him by a baby

Little kyle ended up absolutely loving his baby brother and would adamantly refuse to go anywhere without him

"I told you they'd get along, it was just a matter of time" Said his mom one day to his dad, while they were in the car, driving home from a restaurant. him and his younger brother were in the back, sitting their booster seats fast asleep.

"I guess you were right then. How do you do that?" replied the dad with a smile, looking over at his wife sitting next to him. "i know them like the back of my hand" she said, smiling back, looking at her sons through the rear view mirror sleeping soundly in the back

Kyle and his little brother used to be best friends, like there was a time where they became inseparable

As they grew older, as kyle became a young adult and his brother became a teen, they started growing apart

Eventually Kyle went into the military, despite protests from his parents, who were deathly afraid of something happening to him during service

He still kept in touch with them, he would occasionally set up a skype video call and they'd all talk for hours about everything

Him and his brother would play online multiplayer games together from time to time.

Their relationship isnt what it used to be, but its still there. Neither of them seems to want to address it

At some point in high school, Kyle had his first love

He loved her more than anything, she made him feel so happy and loved, and it felt like his heart was about to explode with hoe much love he harbored for her

But, he would also end up experiencing his first hearbreak, and him having no prior experience with relationships, it broke him

He spiraled into a deep depression. He thought he had done everything he could to please her and make her happy, and in the end it still wasnt enough

He wasted so many hours and days of his life wondering why, what he could have done wrong to make her leave him

He eventually learned it was a waste of time trying to find the reason why, and just accepted it as a part of life, and moved on

He still hopes that deep down that she would come back and they could have a second chance at a relationship, but in the meanwhile he's trying to focus on himself

His relationship with his family, his co-workers, working on himself, whether it was physically or mentally.

He hopes one day he will find the right person for him, someone who sees him and efforts as enough. Someone who can appreciate him and whom he can appreciate back

On another note, he always wanted to go to college to study astronomy or astrophysics, or something along those lines. He always had an avid love and fascination for space

Unfortunately, he's more english and history smart, rather than math and science smart

He's good at english and history, but he finds those subjects boring and wishes he was really good at math and science.

[volfoss]

If you're still doing headcanons uhhh how about some for Ghiacco and Risotto? Btw hope you're having a good morning/day!

hi! ik i already apologized in dms but sorry for not getting to this yesterday! under the cut bc long

Ghiaccio:

I feel like he draws a lot but its mostly doodles!

Listens to audiobooks while driving because it's easier on the go

Picks up new languages rather easily

Writes exclusively with red pens (I feel also prefers gel pens?) and has kinda small cramped handwriting

I feel like he knows a lot of constellations

Keeps his home pretty clean but has a bit of carefully placed clutter

Favorite colors are red and grey

Sings along to the radio when he's alone

Really loves soup (not just bc the haha wow cold stand thing, but i think just because its easy to use the ingredients that LS has around the base and make smth filling)

I feel he plays a lot of games, both video games and things like DnD and board games that take a while

Risotto:

Sends really formal emails/messages in their groupchat, like not to the point that it sounds like a 18th century letter but moreso just kind of stilted but its very clear what hes trying to say

Is a man of few words not bc hes like super soft and anxious but because he thinks a lot ahead of time what he needs to say and can concisely get his thoughts out a lot better that way

I think his keychain would have a lot of keys on it (not sure why i just feel it could be used as a weapon if he wanted it to be)

When hes working on his pc, the only light thats there normally is one of those gooseneck magnifying desk lamps because it helps him see his keyboard more and the overhead light makes it too bright (is projecting)

If he plays any games, I feel like he would enjoy isometric rpgs, like Diablo or the first two fallout games! (ik isometric is just the term for the camera angle however i feel he would enjoy that angle idk if that makes sense)

Despite being so large, he can be really good at walking silently due to doing it a lot as a kid

His handwriting is really neat and not like necessarily blocky? but its very uniform

Would have a few pictures/paintings on his walls if LS wasnt paid so poorly, idk why i feel he really would enjoy more abstract paintings

Takes a ton of the burden of leading LS, so is ALWAYS busy and just doesnt have a lot of time to relax when hes actually home

I dont see him lighting a ton of candles but if he did, it would be relatively neutral scents, idk why i am thinking very distinctly of the Beach Wood candle by yankee candle however i am

[wickedpact]

your regularly scheduled ttt Thots

first main thought: sad. sad sad sad. poor achilles

second main thought: i was thinking abt this as i went to sleep but the difference in 'what an author wants to communicate with a piece of media' and 'what an audience wishes to take from a piece of media' are two different things that ive never thought of much before.

i mean when i read ttt issues, what i want is Lore. i want to learn about the characters, i want to see what makes them tick, i want to learn about their relationships with each other and see how they grow over the years. but thats not necessarily what the authors want to explore with their stories-- like, the nicky story tells you actually very little about nicky as a person or nicky and joe's relationship (at least it doesnt tell you anything we dont already know), and thats not really seemingly the point of the story itself.

but anyways.

ACHILLLESSSSSS

i was honestly expecting smth very different from this one, primarily bc the blurb mentioned andy 'returning' after leaving achilles and i thought that meant her returning to the squad. and bc booker became immortal around the time andy was with achilles, i thought this story would be about them meeting and the obvious clash they would have over andy mourning her relationship (that ended due to her immortality, that she had to let go of due to her immortality) and booker refusing to end his relationships bc he doesnt have the experience there that andy had.

but 'returning' meant returning to her and achilles' house and her finding out how she died, which. rip. i just kind of assumed he died of old age.

AND IT SUCKS bc she left specifically so he wouldnt get hurt, and all she ended up rlly doing is leaving him to die violently alone

i was kind of upset we didnt rlly learned much abt their relationship (what did andy love abt achilles? what did he love abt her? what did they spend their days doing after they retired?) i did love the little bits showing how the two were different, especially in regards to how his life as a runaway slave affected him (and didnt affect andy)

something something andy's immortality granted her the confidence to set aside her weapons so thoroughly for so long, while achilles' past as a slave and respective mortality didnt allow him to be so hasty

but anyways the fact that andy wanted peace so bad-- i mean, like ive said before, we kind of see some of the worst of andy (well, maybe not the worst worst of her) even within the movie. but regardless of how much andy is tired of humanity's shit and how much she likes to swing her axe, she's still a person who wants peace and quiet and safety at the end of the day like anyone else.

its one of a million things i like abt andy. she can be a vengeful god and a doting mother and a thousands-year-long mourning daughter and a tired mercenary & on top of all of those Layers(TM) she can be Just A Person Who Wants Peace. her multitudes are wild to think abt sometimes, how many lives she's led

'but the older she gets the harder she finds conjuring their love in her memory when she comes here. all thats left is the hate and rage that destroyed this place. and that will last forever' 😭

tbh this issue is kind of a monument to how much the immortals lose to bigotry & hatred

and speaking of, the nicky one was alright. like i said you dont really... . learn much abt nicky or joeandnicky. i mean

1. nicky misses joe when hes gone. shocker

2. nicky kills violent racists. double shocker

3. all the violence and hatred nicky witnesses over this period bothers him. huge shocker!

i mean nothing it goes over is a surprise and (unpopular opinion here) im not usually a fan of shmoopy romantic stuff. joe's speech is a huge exception to me and i think its bc the speech is Romance With A Point. that speech isnt just a bunch of flowery sentiments, but it actually tells the viewer quite a bit about joe and nicky's relationship.

(i remember in one of luca's interviews he mentioned that, while reading the tog script, he wondered what a 900 year long relationship would be like, but the answer to his question was pretty much all in the van speech.)

also i think ive mentioned this before, but i tend not to like joenicky fics where joe or nicky have a Big Speech for the other bc pretty much all other romantic sentiment pales in comparison to the van speech for me. and nicky's letter in this story is the same way for me. you can read the whole thing here if you want (the rest of the dialogue within this story is mostly just confederates being racist and nicky being like 'thats nice' before he kills them lmao)

i dunno the whole thing is like. im so sad and lonely. and im killing a bunch of people and that sucks. and im so lonely. and sad. did i mention i was killing people. the sun is mocking me. these clouds symbolize the storm in my heart. im so lonely. and also sad.

i dunno, it didnt unzip me. tho i like how the wine was spiked with that sweet 'joe as the sun' symbolism, love that for us

its also kind of ironically Another TTT Story dealing with 'nicky is killing a bunch of people and hes having a crisis over it'. ive said before, im not a big fan of nicky angst personally + the fact that there isnt much here to actually learn abt nicky + the fact i wasnt huge for nicky's Poetic Liberties + the lack of a solo joe to match this solo nicky kind of made me 'eh' abt it. it wasnt poorly written or anything! i just wasnt ham for it

like with the other ones (moon landing one for instance) even when there was stuff i wasnt huge for, there was other stuff i liked, like most of us didnt care for the depiction of joe and nicky's argument in that story, but the stuff with andy and joe arguing about the moon was cute, and the stuff with nicky and Booker's Relationship Advice was cute. but for this one it was mostly just the letter. and i wasnt huge for the letter, haha

also. mutton chop man

god did this to me bc i bitched too much abut the goatee. he saw my weakness and punished me for it

BUT HOLY FUCK DID YALL SEE THE SHAKESPEARE SONNET QUOTE IN THERE???? ? SONNET 43 BABEY EVERY DAY WE GROW CLOSER TO GODS LIGHT

[muhgie]

tw sexual assault

I get so much anxiety about if other people think that i’m too weird. I overanalyze my social interactions so much and its odd because i rarely used to get social anxiety. Generalized anxiety was more of a constant, like i was pretty much always in fight or flight mode. Nowadays i’ll go over something i’ve said and pick out all of the ways that i could have communicated better, wondering how the other person interpreted me, worrying that i was misinterpreted or that they were secretly judging me. I have a hard time trusting people and that makes me closed off to others….which is fine i guess because unless i want a relationship with someone, then i don’t necessarily care about what they think of me. So its like whyyy am i getting anxious about being misinterpreted?

I know that I tend to assume that people are acting in bad faith a lot. I put defenses up before knowing what a person’s intentions are because its easier to protect myself that way. If I’m always on guard, then the risk of being tricked or manipulated is lower, right? And it makes me feel like I’m victimizing myself by acting like i know that everyone is out to get me. But it’s very hard because i’ve had people take advantage of my trust. I wish that i could just say “fuck them” and move on but the wounds are just so deep. There is so much that I still haven’t processed yet, so i don’t even know how to heal. My therapist told me to write unsent letters to people that have hurt me. I wrote a couple and they helped. But when I went in to write one of them in particular, I had so much ready to go but once i got there i could barely think of anything to write down. All i could do is sit there and cry. I could barely even describe what happened to my therapist. I still haven’t really. I’ve only ever told Marc and my best friend about it and it wasn’t very detailed because, again, haven’t even touched the surface of that stuff myself. The pain is so heavy, but its like I’m unable to process any of it. I think about it every fucking day :( its like i never even left it. I just want to belt it out so bad. “I loved you i loved you and you didnt even care. You laughed at me when i told you and you kept me around for your own gain.” and here i am, feeling a crushing amount of guilt for hurting them. it follows me everywhere. worrying myself sick that i looked like the bad guy for putting my mental health first. i could have handled it better. i know. but i needed to help myself. I ask myself “Did I do the right thing?” and i say yes but quietly, and my voice trembles as say it

It gets so bad sometimes. I dread socializing with most people nowadays because i can’t see how they would accept me. And I want to screammmmm because I know that I’m worthy of love and acceptance!!!! I have so many people in my life that genuinely care about me!!!! Like!!!! Not everyone is going to hurt me!!! I don’t matter to most people and thats good!!! And yet I still place myself at second-best for everyone. Its so frustrating. l deserve to be my most authentic self god dammit

I think about how shitty Hayley was to me when we were friends and sometimes i legit sit there and say, “well maybe I misinterpreted what happened and she wasn’t actually being shitty. maybe i incorrectly thought that what she did to me was abusive.” THAT BITCH PUNCHED ME UNTIL I GOT BRUISES!!! SHE PULLED MY SHIRT UP IN FRONT OF PEOPLE WHEN I WASNT EXPECTING IT!!!! THAT SHIT ISNT OKAY. Hayley made me to fucking uncomfortable soooo often, she really had no regard for how others felt around her. At least not for me lol. And yeah she was traumatized too or whatever but fuck you bro you mentally tortured me throughout our entire “friendship.” And then she tries to crawl back into my life in the saddest ways possible. Following me around at the gym. Calling my mom to try and contact me. Getting her ex boyfriend who worked with me to try and get me to message her. Sorry i don’t exist to make you feel better about yourself. fuck herrr

i really need to be nicer to myself. i’ve felt empowered to speak my truth to my mom about my stepdad’s abuse, and if i can do that i know that i can get through whatever im going through right now. i craved my moms validation and i spoke my truth about my abuse and got it. The difference is that i don’t want validation from these other people, I’m just…really angry at them. A “How dare you take advantage of me?” type of a thing. God am I just going through the same cycle of denial, anger, then whatever comes after? I know that I have to allow myself to feel my emotions or whatever, but anger is the most difficult one for me to feel…. Why cant it be easier lol

[abthepoet]

An Open Letter to Taylor Swift

Hi Taylor Swift,

I never really expected to be writing an open letter to you via Tumblr, but here we are. By the way, I'm a professional musician and music teacher of over twenty years. That'll be relevant in a minute.

You know, when you first came onto the scene in the country genre, I didn't pay too much mind. When I wrote for the online music blog Nevermind The Posers, I remember you were nominated for a Grammy and I wrote,

"Taylor Swift is another name worth talking about.  I’m not necessarily a country music fan or a Taylor Swift fan, but the girl is definitely a rising star.  I think what I love most about her is just how genuine she is about all her recent fame.  Maybe it’s because she’s just so young or the country background, but she maintains a graciousness and sense of reality often lacking in many young success stories.  Her acceptance speech in which she says she’s accepting an impossible dream was brief, but eloquently stated.  I’m not about to buy a ticket to her show or even her album, but I can’t deny that the girl is actually talented.  Not to mention her performance along side Stevie Nicks was fantastic.  Go Taylor Swift.  I think she deserves her success and I hope she achieves great things in her career."

Here we are 12 years later and I think its safe to say I wasn't wrong about you achieving great things in your career. and turning the music industry on its side a bit while we're at it.

Anyway, when I wrote that, I Wasnt really a fan. I was pretty indifferent. The first time I took notice of you was when "You Belong with me" came out and I was living with someone who I felt belonged with me. But then I started dating someone who was a huge T. Swift fan. Another Sagittarius like you, who was also born in the same week as you just a few days prior. So of course, I wanted to be supportive. One of the first things I ever bought them was a Speak Now concert DVD. Naturally, they played it non stop and I had no choice but to be exposed to your music. I was educated on Fearless and Speak Now. Then Red Came out and we drove all summer long bumping "22" like crazy because, that year, they were turning 22. when 1989 came out, I made sure to hit up Target for those deluxe editions. By the time Reputation was ready to be released, I was eagerly anticipating it. Together we squealed in excitement at the new tracks- and by then I was absolutely getting down to "I did Something bad" and "getaway car." Together we combed over the lyric sheets and did a deep dive into cryptic messages, and secret information meant only for the truest of fans. We even secretly hoped that you were in fact dating Carlie Kloss because it would've made for amazing alphabet mafia representation. . . . . and ya'll do make a good looking couple. but that is neither here nor there. The point was, your music brought us together in a lot of different ways.

Fast forward to May of 2021 and after 10 years of being together, our relationship ends. These things are bad enough as is, but it was compounded by the pandemic. I don't know if you've ever had to continue to live with someone who doesnt want to be with you anymore, but it hurts to say the least. A lot. Needless to say, the events that followed were nothing less than absolutely heartbreaking. It still hurts some days, I still get angry, and it all makes my head spin.

As a result, my relationship to your music has changed significantly these days. Instead of listening to your albums and singing them out loud with the person I loved, I learned how to sing and play "All Too Well" on the piano while trying not to cry. I relate to the lyrics more than I ever thought I would. I'm going through your catalog and finding the stories you tell more poignant than ever. I'm no stranger to heart break, but this one hits different and now so too does your music. But I have to say, something about belting "All Too Well" is really cathartic. So thank you for that.

Remember how I said I'm a professional musician and music teacher? These days, I use your music as a teaching tool. Even beginners are able to follow along and play tunes like "You Belong with me" be it on Ukulele, piano, or guitar, it doesnt matter. I'm a primary bassist of over 20 years, but I teach multiple instruments- I can always find a version of your songs that are beginner friendly across instruments.

This is the part of the letter where I want to thank you from musician to musician. While your songs aren't terribly complicated musically, they make for perfect confidence builders for young musicians that are also your fans. They feel like they can play a real song that they love, and it inadvertently starts to teach the skill of singing and playing at the same time. But more importantly, I use your music to illustrate that music doesn't have to be complicated with tons of solos and intricate theory techniques to be good. I like to tell my students that a powerful melody and a great lyrical story are just as important to crafting a great song. Your music inspires my music students to keep learning, and for that I am grateful.

I don't know. I'm not even entirely sure why I wrote this. Mostly because I know you're on Tumblr and there is a shred of a chance you might see this. I'm sure artists figure that their work is out there influencing people beyond their scope of perception, but this is one very specific story of such an occurrence that I wanted to share. It's strange how your art went from being in the background of my life to being the full blown soundtrack of the last ten years.

Life is strange like that.

And hey, if you ever need a bassist on tour, hit me up. I'm exceptionally good at what I do.

[kanohivolitakk]

Have you done Krekka for the ask game? I know you're a huge Nidhiki fan, curious if you have any thoughts on his partner?

I haven't gotten Krekka yet actually. So far I only done Toa Ignika and Axonn for the Bionicle ask game (which Im still accepting). That being said great choice. Krekka isn't necessarily a big favorite of mine (partially because I'm not that fond of the "dumb brute" archetype barring a few exceptions), but I have to admit I do have a soft spot for the big guy. Krekka is a relatively simple character when it comes to characterization/backstory/role in the story (especially when compared to Nidhiki), but that doesn't mean I don't have any "deeper" thoughts regarding him or that there isnt stuff worth discussing.

Anyways some thoughts/headcanons/general musings:

This is a weird thing to start with but... Krekka is kinda adorable for me. I think its kinda this ...overgrown puppy (bulldog??) vibe due to his loyalty and dumbness. I admit BOADH is a big reason for me feeling this way since it gave him a few moments that made me go "AWWW he's so cute". Just..love his loyalty so much.

His undying loyalty makes him stand out for me across the other dark hunters. While many dark hunters we ha e are opportunistic and schemy, Krekka is just...very loyal. Maybe too much so. But I love that he is loyal. Feels refreshing tbh.

And now I cant help but feel that TSO is just "guys stupid but at least he wont double cross me and is easy to keep in check" when it comes to him.

Not to go woobifying villains but I genuinely dont think the guys that bad. Hes just really stupid, overly loyal and doing his job. Its kinda like w Lariska being a decent person despite being a knife happy murder girl although to a much lesser extent since guys a literalminded fool and also just smashy boy.

I do like his backstory of being a former guard who lost his job and started wreck havoc until one day a dark hunter found and hired him. It isnt anything too complex but it works well for his character and explains why he is so loyal to Dark Hunters. It also helps bringing a bit more light to his homeland and I love when we get more info of places through character backstories, makes the world feel more real that way.

Also can Gorast please stop hurting charaxters I like. This is the reason shes my least favorite character in the 2001-2008 storyline that isnt just a glorified extra or a plot device.

When it comes to Krekka, one scene I always think of when I think of him is in BOADH where he temporarily forgot to fly and Nidhiki was just "WAIT A MOMENT LARISKA TOLD ME YOU CAN FLY????" and Krekka just goes "whoops I forgot". That was adorable honestly. You dumb idiot, forgot you could fly.

Also, I know he's kinda "the idiot character", and while I am NOT saying he isn't, I do think its worth pointing out that he's basically literal minded. In BOADH (again) when Nidhiki tried to do that training scenario Krekka basically was like "wait I’m here, there’s nothing there why should I move there". This is

Another thing I really like about Krekka is that how, despite being an absolute idiot and tool, he still is willing to sometimes not take Nidhikis bullshit, see preventing him from getting the Zamor launchers (geez BOADH did a lot for this guys characterization lmao)

I sometimes call him truck boy because his name is one letter off my languages word for truck.

Also unless canon/word of Greg says otherwise I don't think every member of his species is as stupid as him. Like possibly on similar level but still.

It is made pretty clear that Nidhiki couldn't stand Krekka at all, but I do genuinely wonder how Krekka feels about Nidhiki. Based on the little we have I'd say he liked him to some extent or at the very least, didn't hate him to the same degree. I also have to wonder how aware he was about Nidhikis haterd towards him.

I also love the idea that when Nidhiki was mutated, Krekka just...wasnt afraid of him at slightest, no fear in this dumb boy. (I also like the idea he didnt recognize him at first and Nidhiki just, had to explain to his thick skull who he was. It took a while but eventually he got it.)

On a related note, I find it interesting how the LOMN website describes him working with Nidhiki because guy knows where to get the good jobs or something rather than being his goverment (read TSO) assigned partner The way the twos relationship were described makes it feel that by this point the staff hadnt figured out what they wanted to do with Dark Hunters , or if it even was an organization or just these two tools.

Its really interesting for me how Krekkas characterization not only varies between the books/comics (where hes more intimidating and him being a simpleton isnt as pronounced) and the movie (where hes more of a dumbass) but also how his characterization evolved. Like, his loyalty wasn't that pronounced trait but now I feel its just as important part of him as him being a dumbass (which is to say, very interesting)

I remember how the aftoermentoined Metru Nui movie website described that Krekka hated toa to the point wouldve hunted them for free if Nidhiki didnt make sure the two would get paid. I feel this is somewhat early installment weirdness as it isnt mentioned anywhere else but at the same time Krekka being willing to fight without payment sounds 1000% in character if you ask me

Something I have been confused over: when exactly was Krekka recruited to the dark hunters??? The timeline is very vague about this and I wish we knew.

It's been AGES since I watched my home countrys dub of LOMN but what I recall I really liked Krekka's voice in that dub. He sounded more badass and I loved it, the VA had a pretty unique sound. Sadly dont think there is any clips of the LOMN dub, which is a shame. UPDATE: I rewatched the dub and I love the voice itself but felt the voice direction made him sound kinda inconsistent

This is more a "Nidhiki and Krekka related thought" rather than just Krekka related but one thing I really like about Krekka and Nidhiki is that how they are like a more serious and competent take of "those two evil henchmen with contrasting personalities" trope. Often these types of villains are rather goofy, but these two could be rather dangerous as well and I really like that. I also like their dynamic of just doing Nidhiki being done with Krekkas bullshit. One of the main reasons I wish LOMN was a miniseries rather than a movie is because I really wanted more screentime with the two.

On a related note can I JUST SAY I LOVE the way the two compliment/pararell each other. From design (Krekka being bulky mostly blue colored, Nidhiki being slender and monstrous, mostly green colored) to personality (Krekka being foolish and simpleminded but loyal Nidhiki being cunning and ambitious but treacherous) to powersets (Krekka being strong physical attacker, Nidhiki being weaker(??) but faster and more special attacker).Heck, even their backstories have similarities as they both lost their orginal purpose in one way or another and didnt have anywhere to go but Dark Hunters (the main difference being that Nidhiki inflicted his fate upon himself by betraying the toa while Krekka didnt really do anything iirc)

Now for something crossovery, Krekkas and Nidhikis dynamic reminds me a lot of Kronk and Yzma from Emperors New Groove. Yes I have drawn a parody of the "pull the lever kronk" meme, yes I intend to make more screencap redraws. They also remind me a lot of Mummymon and Archenemon from Digimon 02, partially due to the dynamic (smug spider that tries to be cunning and intimidating but gets outclassed by most other villains in that + loyal blue dumb boy) partially due to their ultimate fate being rather similar.

I don't know how familiar you are with the franchise, but Krekka reminds me a fair bit of Gamel, one of the four villain generals in Kamen Rider OOOs, mainly because "the dumb brute major villain that's kinda cuteish and loyal a f while everyone else is an asshole".

I remember reading a p good oneshot fic that was just him accidentally killing a civilian when all he wanted was a hug and...honestly that is p much what I imagine him being like. Guy may be strong, reckless and a fool but like I said I dont think hes all that bad and just a puppy. An overgrown, moronic puppy but a puppy nontheless

For AUs, I remember I have thought once of "What if Krekka survived but Nidhiki died" and just ...guy wouldve been very lost and confused and unsure what to do tbh. He would most likely returned to Dark Hunters but Mata Nui knows how say TSO wouldve felt about that. Its not too complex au yet but I am thinking of developing it further one day.

Thank you for asking.

Sorry this took longer than expected. I had too many thoughts and half of them were deleted so. I hope its worth the wait tho. I do have a lot of Krekka thoughts and tbh wasnt sure if I was even able to get them all here.

(I am still doing the ask game so if anyone wants to send me a bonkle I will try to give thoughts, meta and headcanons on them)