#just chucking thoughts into the void at this point

[t-lostinworlds]

e.g. a tom fic into a bucky/peter/steve fic. bc i revisited something in my WIPs that's been sitting in there for years and it actually has some potential. but...the main character/love interest just isn't doing it for me lately lol so maybe changing it would push me to finish it. hopefully bc finishing WIPs? Who's that?

[laufire]

it really is a pity that, between what little I've seen, and what I already know of steph/tim going forward (in both continuities), it's... not gonna be my cup of tea. because I have to say, their first meeting? REALLY works for me lmao.

[bootfoliage]

I re-watched that live action Grinch adaptation by Ron Howard earlier tonight, and as deep as my nostalgia is for that movie, I can't deny how much I hate it. Watching it got me thinking about the other adaptations of Dr Seuss' books that I've seen in my lifetime -the Cat in the Hat movie with Michael Meyers, the Illumination Lorax and Blue Sky's Horton Hears a Who- and I realized that I associate the man's name more with these crappy films than I do with the actual books he created. I read a bunch of them as a kid and still vividly remember some, but I don't think of the books until after I've had a negative thought about the movies first, and that's really unfortunate. It reminded me of how Bill Watterson refused to make any animated Calvin and Hobbes stuff specifically because he wanted to keep the strip pure, and it worked; he made something really special, and everyone gets to remember the best possible iteration of it. I'm not even the biggest Dr Seuss fan, but I really wish his work got to have the same respect that Watterson's did.

[disneyprincemuke]

midnights, 2 * mv1

you were in the middle of eating dinner alone when you got the feeling of getting punched in the gut

pairings: max verstappen x fem!reader

warnings: i specialise in angst and heartbreak so B)

notes: man i shouldve just written this when my breakup was fresh, because when i tell you my heart was BROKE… (i love oversharing)

(prev) // (next)

your eyes are glued to your phone in your hand, as the other works the chopsticks to grab yourself some noodles. the tv is switched on in the background for some background noise.

the deafening silence in your apartment has haunted you for the past weeks since the breakup. to battle it, the tv is always turned on in your presence to keep you grounded.

you’ve been on instagram scrolling for about 5 minutes when a strange sensation hits you in your stomach. your throat feels weird, and your arms slowly start to feel numb.

you put the chopsticks down onto the plate that sat peacefully on your coffee table. you take a deep breath and lay your phone down on the carpet, looking around the emptiness of your apartment.

it’s the sudden realisation that you almost didn’t have a place to stay after the breakup. you had sublet the apartment your sister when you moved into max’s, and since she got engaged to her boyfriend and bought their own place, you’ve thought about putting it back on the market.

good thing you hadn’t.

it’s the weird void you felt in your chest sitting here all by yourself. being alone has never felt so definite until now.

the silence that creeps up on you every waking moment you’re in here miserably haunts you. you miss the sounds of clicking from max’s driving simulator, or the random clangs of things when the cats were in a mood, and the mews that conveyed dissatisfaction from the food bowl being empty.

your apartment is barely a shell of the home you’ve gotten used to.

you come home to nothing every day. no cats with their affectionate head rubs against your feet, and absolutely no loving boyfriend at the door whose hands cup your cheeks while he greets you with a loving kiss to your lips.

“-max verstappen scores at least three points in the sprint on saturday evening in losail, he will be crowned 2023’s champion.”

the mention of the name makes you lift your head to the tv. there’s your ex-boyfriend in all his glory, spraying champagne and having fun.

being this hung up about the breakup feels almost illegal; like you had the least right out of everyone to be so heartbroken, seeing as you did initiate it.

your phone lights up, notifications from alexandra and kika flooding your lock screen. you admire their determination — you haven’t picked up their calls and responded to text messages in almost 4 days.

you sigh and turn your head, eyes landing on the framed picture of you with the cats. you miss them terribly, almost as much as you miss the man himself. but it’s way more complicated than just dropping by into your old home to visit the cats.

victoria has mentioned to you that it’s no problem if you do in the week, since max is away for a race. you just couldn’t handle the thought to even be in that apartment. you’d just miss him way too much, and you would fold immediately.

but the constant fights that occurred towards the end of your relationship keeps reminding you to stay away. it’s unfair to keep holding on when it hurts you both.

your eyes linger on the frame that’s faced down on your entertainment centre. you have the picture in it memorised: you and max in abu dhabi under the fireworks when he won his first championship.

it was when he had first said he loved you.

how did it dwindle down so quickly? you could have sworn max was everything you wanted in a person. how did his little quirks you once loved about him be the same thing that drew you away?

you glance at the tv screen, the reporter moving on to other news. you’re holding your own hands back from chucking the tv remote at it.

“oh, god,” you mutter to yourself. the tv screen blacks out when you press the button on the remote.

you rub your forehead in frustration, feeling a headache creeping up from the back of your head. it’s the result from crying right before dinner.

the doorbell stops you from grabbing the faced down picture frame to hug— a habit you’ve gotten used to when you and max were separated due to work.

you tilt your head, eyebrows furrowing as you scramble to your feet. you push yourself off the floor and basically drag yourself over without asking who it is.

though, there’s a slight hope sparking up in your chest. could it be?

you unlock the door quickly, a small smile still stretching on your face when you realise who it is. it’s alexandra and kika, plastic bags decorating their hands and arms as they smile sadly at you.

“you really didn’t have to,” you frown, stepping aside and gesturing for them to come in.

“we can’t leave you all by yourself,” alexandra smiles, making a sharp turn for the kitchen.

you follow behind the pair, plastic bags laid down on the table slowly. it’s only then you realise the overnight bags on their shoulders, now neatly piled by the couch.

kika pulls out a bottle from a plastic bag, presenting it to you from where she is with a grin. “i am hoping you like red.”

“if you don’t,” alexandra pauses, taking out another bottle from another, “we have white wine.” she puts it down onto the table, slowly taking out bags of chips and tubs of ice cream. “but if you don’t feel like drinking, we have junk food.”

“we can eat our body weight,” kika smiles at you.

you frown, tears welling in your eyes at their thoughtfulness. “thank you,” you manage to huff out as your tears start falling out of your eyes. “this means so much to me.”

asking max for a breakup was never part of the plan that night. you still don’t even know where it came from because you know that you still want to be with him.

but when his silence filled the tiny room, eyes barely being able to meet yours, you knew that you basically had your answer. you didn’t fight for it any more after seeing the lifeless eyes that once used to be so bright.

maybe he had been beating around the bush. maybe he couldn’t bring himself to be the one to ask you for a breakup.

maybe you asking for it brought him relief, freeing him from the shackles of your deteriorating relationship.

in the flight back home, you were afraid that no one could ever love you as much as max did. but here are your friends, coming over unannounced to take care of you, despite the fact that you’ve been ignoring them.

kika and alexandra engulf you in a hug, one hand patting your hair and the other rubbing circles on your back. “we’re always here for you.”

[milliesfishes]

꣑ৎ౨ৎbilly and his stubble꣑ৎ౨ৎ fem reader x billy the kid

Reaching for one of Billy's shirts, you pulled it over your body and fastened one button, crawling into bed where he was waiting patiently with his arms outstretched.

"Y'know, you could sleep in nothin' at all and it'd be just fine, pretty girl," he murmured into your hair, planting kisses wherever he could reach.

"It's so cozy in your clothes though," you protested, cuddling close.

"Mm, y' see me wearin' anything?" When you looked down you realized he, indeed, was void of any clothes whatsoever.

Laughing, you buried your face in his chest. "Oh, Billy."

Mock frowning at you, he pressed a teasing kiss to the crook of your neck. "Don't see how me bein' naked is any laughin' matter, darlin'."

Shaking your head and still laughing, you reached a hand up to his jaw, stroking the prickly growth. It was a point of comfort for you to touch his stubble because of how much you liked the feel. You lazily commented, "Your cheeks used to be so smooth."

He chuckled, smoothing your hair. "Yeah," he teased. "Then I met this sweet girl who had a thing for scruffy cowboys. Next thing I know I'm not allowed to shave."

You smiled, leaning up and rubbing your face against his jaw, feeling it prickle against your skin. He cupped your cheek in his hand, noticing a little redness from your motions, his scruff leaving a mark on your sensitive skin. "Careful, baby, you'll rub your pretty face all raw."

With hazy eyes, you repeated, "You had such smooth cheeks before."

"Missin' my baby face, huh?" Billy rested his chin on your head. "Ain't I as pretty anymore?"

Your eyes widened as you tried to remedy it. "Nonono-"

Laughing, he tightened his arms around you. "Nonono what, darlin'?"

"You're very pretty." You kissed his neck once to accentuate it. Then your fingers found his jaw again. "Rough."

He smirked. "A bit, yeah." As your fingers continued to rove over it, he shook his head, dipping down to kiss your cheek. "You're fixating on it, sweetheart."

"Do you only keep it for me?" you questioned suddenly, halting the motions of your fingers.

Billy scratched his cheek idly, looking down at you. "Well...I'd be lyin' if I said it wasn't a big part of it," he started, speaking slowly. "You really do love it. I can tell by the way you touch it, 'n react to it." Then he thought to himself for a moment. "But there's other reasons too."

"Like what?" You propped yourself up on his chest to listen.

He smiled softly, chucking you under the chin. "Makes me look like less of a boy. More weathered, maybe. A bit more experienced." Billy got a serious look in his eye. "I ain't a kid anymore, darlin'. I'm a grown man. Don't wanna look like a kid."

Hearing the slightly hardened tone in his voice, you fell silent. As long as you'd known him, Billy had been running from the title forced on him by those supposedly above him. Kid Antrim, Billy the Kid. It was all the same. It forced him into an inferior position even though he'd been fending for himself almost his whole life.

This resistance crept into his actions, his words, and now you knew, his appearance. Billy was well into his twenties now, not a child by any means. He didn't look it either, not to you, anyways.

Reaching up, you fingered his stubble again, a soft look in your eyes. "I think you should shave, if you want to."

One of his eyebrows arched, and he looked confused. "You...want me to shave?" he asked incredulously. "But you love this scruff, baby. You know I grow it for you."

You nodded fondly, leaning in to peck his lips softly. "You...if you want to shave it you should."

Truthfully, you were on the opposite side of his mindset. With his face on every wanted poster in the state, you feared for his life every time he left the house. And the older he got, the more evident that ending became.

His scruff did make him look older, as he'd said. But you didn't want him to be.

Billy traced a hand over your cheek, bringing you back to earth. "Where's all this comin' from, sweet thing?"

You looked up at him, sadness behind your eyes. "I don't want you to look any closer to death."

Immediately, understanding dawned in his eyes. He exhaled slowly, seeming to realize everything you were thinking. "Oh, baby..." Reaching up gently, he took your hand, pulling it away from his face, his calloused fingers wrapping around yours. Billy brought you close so you were right up against him, bundled in his arms.

When you looked up at him, you saw your own pain reflected in his eyes. He leaned down and kissed your forehead. "I understand, baby. I do, I promise."

You fell asleep like that, him half folded over you like a blanket, the comforting weight of him soothing you enough to close your eyes.

Awaking the next morning, you stretched out an arm for him, only to find empty bedspace next to you. When you wandered out into the hallway, you could see him in the washroom through the slightly ajar door. He was shaving.

Pushing the door the rest of the way open, you watched him for a moment before he caught sight of you. Soap was half smeared across his face as he carefully moved the blade against his skin, one side already bare.

Billy noticed you in the mirror and stopped immediately, looking wide eyed at you. There was a long beat of silence as you just stared at him, lips slightly parted.

Pure emotion ran through your body. Everything he'd told you last night about what having his facial hair meant to him ran through your mind. His grief with the name and the image forced upon him, the way it made him feel. And yet here he was. Choosing you over his past.

In a single motion, you moved forward, wrapping your arms around his middle and burying your face in his chest. He exhaled softly, setting the blade down with a clatter and mirroring your actions, his arms holding you safely to him. "Hey, baby," he murmured.

Resting his chin on your head, he got soap in your hair, and you giggled at the feel. He lifted a hand to move the substance to his finger. "Sorry, sweetie."

"It's okay," you smiled, leaning back into him. You nodded at the blade. "Keep going."

He looked down at you so lovingly you could have melted. Billy kissed your hair, getting more soap on it, and lifted the blade once more, making quick work of it since you were wrapped around him.

Sitting on the counter afterward with him standing between your legs, you had your hands on his face, feeling his smooth cheeks. He did look younger, but contrary to his fears, not at all like a boy. No, your Billy was all man through and through.

You leaned forward, nuzzling your cheek against his, and he smiled, nose in your neck. "D'ya like it?"

"You look handsome," you said softly, and he pulled back, kissing your brow. Pressing your lips to his nose, you mumbled, "Do you like it?"

Billy's lips turned up. "Yeah. I do. But most importantly-" he squeezed your hips gently. "I like that you like it."

With your hands on his cheeks, you smiled softly, entranced by the domesticity of it all. Billy kissed both your cheeks, making a point to rub his newly smoothed skin against yours. "'S long as my girl likes it." He slid his arms fully around your waist. "Hope ya like soft kisses."

"I like all your kisses," you giggled, and he started trailed his lips all over your face. "Smooth or scratchy."

[estellardreams]

Not Quite The Expected Outcome

(for @emthimofnight's sibling AU)

"I still don't get why we're going out like this." Void mumbled.

"Oh, come on! Can't we just have a fun day out?" Stellar said.

"I suppose..."

"I'm with her on this one. But I'm also confused because this is sorta out of the blue, honestly." Andromeda commented.

"I just thought... Maybe we could have some fun?"

"... You don't have a plan, do you?" Void said bluntly.

"Eh, haha. Nope!"

"Of course..."

"Come on! Try to have some faith in her, she's trying her best!" Polarity piped up.

"Maybe I would if she wasn't such a liability."

"Hey! It's only on the battlefield it goes that way!" Stellar said, immediately running back up to Void the moment he began to walk away.

And yet, no one seemed to notice that they were being watched...

"We all obviously know that I'm the most competent in my abilities, right?"

"Please don't start boasting now, it's not going to help matters at all." Andromeda said.

"But it's true. Also I'm the strongest by a long shot."

Stellar face palmed. "Void. Please don't bring down others to hype yourself up. Can't we all just be friends?"

"Just because we can, doesn't mean we will. The world isn't a perfect paradise, Stellar."

"I know that! I'm just trying to stay optimistic!"

"Your optimistic is grating."

"Oh ho ho! Who do we have here, hm? My fellow creations!" Eggman gloated, suddenly appearing from the shadows in his eggmobile.

"What do you want? You're interrupting our time here." Andromeda said.

"Yes yes, that's exactly the point."

"Go away or we'll force you." Void threatened.

"Ooh no! I'm so scared!" Eggman mocked before breaking out into laughter. He slammed on his eggmobile, a giant canon coming out from the inside, pointed directly at the kids.

"Badniks, attack! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed, letting the canon shoot out badniks that unraveled and began to attack.

"Wanna try a combo attack to get rid of that canon?" Polarity offered.

"Ha! It's like you read my mind!" Stellar smiled.

Polarity grabbed her, spun her around before chucking her into the air. Stellar spun as her shoes activated their blades, slamming down on the canon and cleanly searing it off. She landed swiftly on the ground, dusting herself off.

"Heh. How's that for a combo attack?"

"That. Was. AMAZING! Our first time, too!" Polarity pulled her into an excited hug.

"Okay, I get you two are having fun but can we PLEASE focus here?! We're getting swarmed!" Andromeda yelled.

"And you're not helping!" Void said.

"I just got my quills groomed! I'm not ruining them!"

"YOU CAN FIX THEM LATER, JUST HELP."

"Right. Right... On it."

"Oh no you DON'T!" Eggman suddenly fired a blast at the two, forcing them to dodge out of the way.

Stellar and Polarity immediately got out of the way too as they were being blasted at.

Polarity zoomed all over the place, weaving between the buildings and trees before coming up from behind Eggman, grabbing onto the Eggmobile and pulling himself up on it.

"Hello, rat!" the doctor sneered before blasting him with the new canon.

"POLARITY!"

Polarity hit the ground, strange white glowing ropes tied around his body.

"H-Hold on, lemme help you- AH!" Stellar was suddenly struck as well, skidding a bit as she hit the ground, now tied up as well.

"LET MY FAMILY GO RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Andromeda screamed.

Eggman cracked a smile, whistling a little like he didn't hear her before blasting the two remaining hedgehogs again. The two kept trying to dodge as he kept blasting them.

Stellar forced herself to crawl over to Polarity, making sure he was okay. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any injuries.

"How do we get out of these... Things?" he whispered.

"I'm not sure, but... They're strangely tiring?" Stellar whispered back.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. You don't think they're...-"

"AHA!"

The two's attention was drawn over to Andromeda, who got caught by the ropes as well. Eggman let one of his gadgets levitate her up before throwing her with Stellar and Polarity off to the side.

"Void, get dad and papa! Right now!" Stellar urged.

"No! I can handle this myself!" Void summoned more of his power, chucking his blasts towards the Eggmobile, which blasted right back at him.

"That's... Not gonna work, is it?" Polarity mumbled.

Andromeda groaned a little. "It comes down to Void and Robotnik... Who's gonna win- Oh look."

Eggman finally managed to catch Void as well. He pulled all four siblings to the front of his eggmobile, levitating them up using his gadget. He stared down at the four of them gleefully.

"Alright, let's cut to the chase. What do you want from us?" Void asked bluntly.

"Oh, that's easy: Your demise."

Polarity seemed to freeze up while Andromeda huffed.

"Of course it is..."

Suddenly, a huge canon was pointed in the faces of the four.

"Do you think our dad's have realized we've been gone for too long...? They might be worried..." Polarity whispered, leaning over to Stellar a little.

"Possibly..."

"Then, uh... Try stalling for time."

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious plan!" Andromeda said sarcastically.

"What?! It's a good plan!" Polarity shot back.

Stellar cleared her throat. "So, if you are gonna destroy us. How exactly? Because this doesn't seem very fitting for your standards."

"So glad you asked! You see, this is my chaos exterminator! It's made to eradicate chaos energy of whomever it blasts! It's also the reason it can generate those ropes keeping you four tied up and in my grasp. Chaos energy surpression is quite powerful, after all."

"Oh goddammit." Void wanted to face palm, but his hands were tied so he couldn't. But that explained so much as to how, the more blasts were near his location, the weaker his powers began to feel.

"And your standards?" Stellar raised an eye.

"If I can't have my prized weapons, no one can. Not even my nemesis can!" Eggman declared.

"Okay, cool.

You do know it's against the law to abandon a child like that, right? And that whoever takes in that child is the legal guardian as such you are no longer a certified parent?" Andromeda remarked.

"Ooh! She got you there!" Polarity said.

"Shut it! All of you! Say your goodbyes..." he began to charge up the canon.

"HEY!"

Everyone's attention suddenly turned to... Sonic and Shadow, who had just arrived and looked... Very pissed off.

"Eggman! Stop trying this charade already and let our kids go!"

"And you better do it nicely. So put that canon down, or I'll show you how bad a canon to the face feels."

"Tch, as if you two can do any damage!" Eggman pointed his other canon towards them, hitting the launch button.

Nothing came out.

He frowned, checking it before groaning. "Did I seriously waste ALL of the power stored in here just to catch you?!"

"Tch, I would've been so close too..." Void grumbled.

"Well, no matter. Say your goodbyes, kiddos!" Eggman forced the larger canon to prepare fire in 3...

Sonic and Shadow immediately ran towards the eggmobile.

2...

The two curled up and spindashed into it.

1...

The two hedgehogs aimed for the canon next.

"Brace for it...!" Stellar said.

The canon fired, hitting the four and sending them crashing to the ground. Sonic and Shadow finally broke the canon off and sent Eggman flying out of the city.

They immediately landed and rushed towards the billow of smoke, waving it out of the way.

"Are you kids okay? Please be okay..."

The smoke finally cleared, revealing them to be just fine, albeit in a state of shock.

"Oh thank goodness!" Sonic breathed a sigh of relief.

Shadow knelt down to the four. "Are you four okay? Are you injured anywhere? We need to get you home right now."

The four stared. They blinked, stared down at themselves, then at each other.

... Whoops.

And that's the end! Yep, it's a body swap plot I came up with on a whim. For anyone wondering who's swapped with who:

Void -> Polarity Polarity -> Stellar Stellar -> Andromeda Andromeda -> Void

Or if a visual presentation is more helpful, here:

Anyway, thanks for reading! (so sorry if the characters are OOC though. That wasn't intentional and I just tried my best.)

[connorsnothereeither]

So, Brink is canon to Fable… but how, exactly?

Well we sure talked about it on @venear-tmblr ‘s stream and here are my thoughts. None of them are canon, but none of them aren’t canon either. Pick one. Or pick none of them, this was just me being goofy :D

The Brink books in Fable-canon aren’t exactly like the Brink fics that exist irl. In a way similar to the fictional “The Princess Bride” book within William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. They exist, but different to the story we know about. The books in Fable are the real story, and the fics we have are a retelling of them, recontextualised to be more in line with Fable SMP. Maybe they have a similar story, but characters names are slightly different, or certain characters don’t exist. Certain things happen in different ways, and to the people reading it, it’s similar enough to their lives to be an odd coincidence, but not similar enough to be unsettling.

They actually are a weird, prophetic series of books in universe. Think like the “Supernatural” book series written by Chuck in the show Supernatural. Someone in the world of Fable, at some point in history, is/was getting these horrible visions and premonitions, and they treated them as inspiration for their novels, not knowing those people actually existed when the books were published. Maybe they intentionally added the Lovecraftian twist, or maybe that’s how they perceived the visions.

They’re literally the fics from AO3, leaking into the Fable universe from our universe via ✨multiverse shenanigans✨ We know thanks to Sherbert that our streamer reality exists in that multiverse. Maybe Ocie’s blood ritual, or Rae and Centross accessing the void, caused them to slip through the cracks. Or maybe Quixis is wacking them in, intentionally or unintentionally, trying to get Icarus’ attention. We know that once a book exists in Fable, it can show anywhere, any time, so they could have been hurtled through time and space enough to become an established book in-universe. Books are appearing, memories and timelines are crossing, it’s just one of those elements of the multiverse that’s a little bit unstable.

Elizabeth has secretly been writing RPF novels about the people he meets/secretly watches from a distance this entire time. He publishes them under a pseudonym, and has a cult following of readers, who eagerly await the next chapter to arrive by mail. It’s only recently anyone has actually started connecting the dots…

OR if anyone has their own little theories (goofy or serious) as to how/why the Brink books exist in canon, I would absolutely love to hear them /Gen

[lunar-solarsystem]

Favors For Favors - Lose Clarity AU

[ Point in time - Ruin’s been chucked into a dead dimension… again. Left with his thoughts and depleting battery power… again. Incidents with Moon Nexus have already occured. Molten had found Ruin again, his programming still unfixed. He threw Ruin back where he had been before in the same dead dimension. ] ——————————

…Silence. That’s all there was. That is, unless Ruin sung a song to himself again. Nothing to do, nothing to see, nowhere to go. Ruin was stuck. Again. In the same dead dimension for that matter…..

One of the worse parts, he knew he wouldn’t be able to tell Puzzle anything. Explaining things last time was bad enough - having to explain why he was gone for weeks and left Puzzle alone. He, of course, had told Puzzle about his plan for ‘The Collapse’ and needing to get rid of the Creator Council; and the side effect in which Solar had to die. He told Puzzle not to say anything, which they did wonderfully. Being of Ruin’s code, it was easy to understand them and easy for them to learn things. They were already a decent actor and liar when needing to be; Ruin was still the main problem for things and would be encountered with more often. Puzzle was never really in the need to act or lie, but they would if needed. They knew how to hide, too; stay hidden if unwanted guests found where they and Ruin hid. Puzzle understood the extent in which Ruin had to go for ‘The Collapse’ to happen, however they were a bit gloomy for a few days afterwards - specifically from the outcomes, feeling as if they could’ve done something that didn’t have to be so drastic; Ruin still knew there wasn’t any other option. Puzzle would come to visit Ruin every so often when he was stuck stationary in Parts & Service, careful to not be seen by anyone else aside from their father figure. As much as he loathed asking the favor, he asked Eclipse to watch over Puzzle one day just as Eclipse was about to leave, right after walking in and yelling at Ruin and whatnot. Eclipse seemed as if he didn’t care at the time, yet Ruin saw them getting closer once he came back after returning from this dead dimension the FIRST time. Eclipse still denied it, just as he does with Earth, but Ruin believed Eclipse grew a soft spot for Puzzle. Yet of course, Eclipse being Eclipse, would never and will never admit so.

All Ruin could really think about now, as his battery slowly draining, was about the time variation between this dead dimension and the other dimension - Was he gone for weeks already? Months? Hell, a year?? He had no idea. He didn’t bother to TRY and keep track of time. At this point, he only hoped Eclipse stayed again. Sure, he and Ruin hated each other; that is something that’d never change. But Ruin could only hope Eclipse would stay with and watch over the one thing Ruin couldn’t bare to lose. The one he saw as his own, the one he cared for..

Ruin didn’t notice a sound near him, nor faint footsteps. No; not until someone spoke.

-

“Hello again, Ruin.”

Ruin looked up from the ‘floor’ of the vast void, meeting Dark Sun’s gaze. 

“…Dark..Sun?.. Wait, why are you here exactly? I thought you did not need me anymore, as you said it the last time.”

Dark Sun hummed. 

“Hm… Well, it appears I do in fact need you again. My.. ‘business partner’ wants something from you. He asked me to come and get it if you were not already dead, as he finds himself.. ‘busy’, I guess would be the word.”

“And what exactly is this thing you need from me..?”

“That would be your virus. Or its code. Whichever it is.”

Ruin looked taken back for a moment.

“M-…. My virus..? Why would your partne-“

“I’d rather not explain. He didn’t exactly explain everything to me, anyway. He claimed his curiosity still revolves around your code and wanted me to do him a favor.”

Ruin scoffed a bit. 

“It won’t do you any good. It’s never worked on me.”

“I know you’re lying, Ruin. You should know I have my ways of knowing things, and that’s one thing I know is a lie. It’s been acting as a killcode like most Moon’s would have… Now hasn’t it?”

Ruin fell silent. What was he supposed to say? He knew it was true. The cure never worked properly on him - Puzzle had been constructed instead. His virus… It was still working.. since he left his dimension. He knew it too. He’d snapped a few times, at least twice in front of, or at, Eclipse; and others as well. Thankfully, he never snapped around Puzzle. Not fully, anyway. There’s been times he’s been close...

“Hm. I thought so.”

“What do you even want with it..? I’m afraid it may not, or won’t, do you any good.”

“I said my new colleague wanted it. I’m only doing him a favor.”

There was a silent moment between the two before Dark Sun sighed low, taking a small step forward and speaking once more.

“Why not this then, Ruin? A favor for a favor.”

Ruin turned his head slightly towards Dark Sun, reserved with his words as he listened to Dark Sun’s proposal.

“Now; you allow me to take your virus, and I’ll help you get back home. And perhaps get you fixed up as well.”

Ruin stayed mute for moments at a time… Long moments, actually. Looking down at his own hands, they slowly broke away. Disintegrating and disappearing gradually, in some strange way. Hell, his entire body was doing that. He thought himself lucky his important systems hadn’t started doing that yet. He thought for a moment…. he supposed this deal wouldn’t be too bad if he took it… right?

Dark Sun heard Ruin sigh, watching as he made himself stand. Grunting now and then from pain picked up by his pain receptors, Ruin turned to face Dark Sun.

“Alright… I’ll agree to this.. ‘favor’ you need me for. As long as you don’t need me again.”

He seemed irritable, which could be the virus affecting his mentality again. Dark Sun didn’t question it, opening a portal.

“Hm. Believe me Ruin, I plan to stay far away from your dimension after this. It doesn’t have much use to me, the dimension itself nor the people living in it. I can nearly guarantee this is the last time you and I meet. Come on, now.”

Both of them stepped through the portal Dark Sun made then and there, the opening disappearing behind them. Ruin, now leaving the dead dimension behind once again, hoping it’d be the last time he’d do so - and hoping it’d be the last time he’d leave unintentionally. He hoped…

yet it won’t be the last.

.

.

Later…

Dark Sun returned to his and Moon’s Nexus’s place in the pocket dimension after assisting Ruin and taking his virus code. Before Ruin departed, he thanked Dark Sun. It seemed unusual, but it was fine…. Dark Sun supposed, anyway. Yet “Dark Sun”… Heh, he still hated that little ‘nickname’.

Everything around ‘Sun’ was silent, aside from his steps while he walked towards Nexus’s laboratory. He listened as the sounds of Nexus rummaging around his lab and testing his developing newfound power on different objects became louder the more ‘Sun’ got closer. He walked in, standing in the doorway and watching Nexus. Nexus didn’t notice ‘Sun’ immediately, being distracted by his own means. It took a moment to notice.

“Tch. Stupid- Ugh, okay whatever. I’ll jus- ..! Oh, you’re back already. Hm. Did you get what I asked?.”

“Yes; I did, as a matter of fact. I don’t really know what you expect to get out of it, but whatever. Not really much of my business nor do I care too much. Here.”

‘Sun’ gave Nexus what he collected before heading back towards the door. Nexus appeared pleased.

“I’m going to tend to my own matters. Do whatever you wish, Moon. Just don’t destroy the pocket dimension, if you can manage that.”

“NEXUS.”

“…Right. Nexus…”

He left without much care for referring to Nexus by his previous incorrect name, leaving Nexus in his lab once again. Nexus smirked, turning to a small containment unit he made previously and placed the small trinket containing Ruin’s virus code inside. Scanning it, he gathered its data. He could see history on it as well. Not its literal history, however enough to understand where it’s been. Although barely used, it had… potential. Corruptive potential. Unusual, but strangely attention grabbing to Nexus. Hm… 

Studying this should be interesting.

[thought-42]

A moment at the beginning of Thrawn and Ezra's space adventures

500 word chunklet that doesn't fit anywhere in my 'Ezra Bridger in theChiss Ascendancy' au, yote out into the void so it leaves my gdoc.

Ezra doesn’t remember as much as he should about the immediate post-Purrgil aftermath. He remembers too much time passing in only a few minutes. Colour he can’t describe in words.

Humans are not made to be that close to hyperspace.

He remembers feeling a lot of people dying. It wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.

He remembers his arm hanging loose off his shoulder like an empty sleeve, remembers thinking very clearly ‘a lightsaber will cauterise an amputation’.

He remembers staring up at a purple sky and hearing someone (Thrawn, he knows in retrospect) throwing up somewhere off to his left. He remembers thinking he was gonna start throwing up in sympathetic reaction. He doesn’t remember if he actually did.

He remembers the hiss of rain on hot metal. He remembers stumbling, grimly determined, towards the shade of trees, feeling like he was breathing water, with his hand held over Thrawn’s eyes. He remembers realizing what moisture and bacteria and scavengers do to dead bodies.

He’s pretty sure Thrawn bit him.

He’s pretty sure he tried to drown himself in a swamp just to get a break from the constant mental replay of bodies that no longer looked like people. His brain has helpfully blurred out a lot of the details, which he appreciates in the interests of remaining a functional person. Thrawn must have dragged him out of the swamp. Or the swamp was a metaphor the whole time, or a fantasy he created to self-soothe.

The first temporally plottable memory he has is watching Thrawn rinse blood out of his hair in the river and realizing:

“Oh hey. Your eyeliner game was really good, I definitely thought that was just. Your eyes.”

Thrawn had rolled said eyes so hard Ezra had started laughing and hadn’t been able to stop for a good five minutes.

Years later, when they’re no longer the only two sentients on the whole planet but long before they’ve made it to somewhere safe, Ezra will say “I’m amazed you didn’t just chuck me in the river right then and there.” “At the time it felt entirely appropriate,” Thrawn will say, flatly. “I tried to strangle a child with my bare hands in front of my own officers after choosing to bomb a civilian target even as I was fully aware my life was likely forfeit as soon as I returned to the capital. It was not, you might say, a high point in my career. To be mocked for my one venture into fashion while I was still actively concussed and alone felt just right.”

“I wasn’t a child,” Ezra says, and then nothing else because the rest of what he is thinking is exceedingly unkind, starting with ‘there’s no way that was your first time attacking civilians’ and going all the way to ‘tell me you were passively suicidal without telling me you were passively suicidal, if our positions were reversed I’d have gone for your throat long before we got to that point.’ Some people grew up with parents and a safe home and it shows.

[coffinsister]

Hi there!

I just wanted to let you know that I'd never heard of Saya no Uta until I saw you talking about it on my dash and I was like hey I'll look into that!! I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and it was definitely an experience. I've only played the route of choosing Saya and choosing to call Ryoko, so I still have to make the other choices to view all of the game's content, but I just wanted to come say thank you for giving me the second controversial piece of media I've been able to consume without my ocd throwing a bitchfit, because the whole story is fascinating from a psychological standpoint and that definitely drew me in.

I just wish the story was a little more 3D, I guess? Like the writing is overly descriptive of things it doesn't need to be descriptive of and underwhelming with the actual voiced dialogue. It's an extremely bizarre contrast. And from what little Japanese I've learn over the years out of SpInterest there are some translation points that aren't entirely accurate.

A big one is the fact that Saya speaks in third person which is a common cutesy mannerism for small children in Japanese media. In fact, she speaks super similarly to Maria Ushiromiya from Umineko ( complete with using 'uu!' for emphasis too ) which caused me to attach quickly to her for it. While it's true that this doesn't translate well into English, it does lose in translation just how young Saya really sounds while speaking. Because in Japanese she's saying things like 'Saya did this for Fuminori because Saya wants to be with Fuminori forever!' and it's getting translated as like 'I did this to make you happy. So you'll stay with me forever, right, Fuminori?' and those are two completely different tones. In fact, it's so overlooked from the English translation that this trope of hers isn't even mentioned on the The Song of Saya tvtropes page and that's wild to me.

Sorry, I didn't meant to turn this into a rant in your inbox asjklhd. Thank you for bringing this intriguing piece of media to my attention. 💖

Hiii, I'm so sorry for taking so long to reply to this ask but it was lovely getting it, so please don't apologize! We love getting long asks, and talking about our interests <3 And I'm really happy me basically screaming into the void about it, got you into it! That's great, that's exactly why I post about the things I like.

This was very interesting to read so thank you for sending it.

Side Thought: TV Troupes actually really really sucks for this kinda thing, it is widely innacurate with big media, and incredibly lacking for small media. So personally, I would not chuck TV Tropes lacking this as much to the (very bad, like super bad) official translation, as much as I would to the site just kinda sucking.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, the website is fun, like any other wiki is, I just have personal beef against it, do not mind me, old man yells at cloud.

The first route I finished was also the one with Ryouko, and tbh, in my opinion that's the best one, but obviously seeing the other endings gives a lot of extra information, and character depth, so I hope you play through them and enjoy them too.

And yeah, I feel you, I wish it was more 3D and that I could have cared more about the characters, the writing definetly feels too much like purple prose, and way too descriptive about meaningless things sometimes, while also compeltley glazing over others.

Also big big same about the translation, I already posted my long rant about it, but it's really such a shame, because Nitro+ is actually so good at conveying character through dialogue, like actually reading some of the VNs in Japanese is a whole new experience on its own

And exactly as you said, it would have been far easier to understand Saya is a literally preubecent child if the translation had shown how childishly she actually speaks, or another big one, we would have gotten to see more of just how badly Fuminori wants to show off in front of Saya and Yoh, if the translation had actually shown him avoiding being fully honest with Saya.

Like there's so so many moments in Japanese of him just going, Well, about that, you know... to Saya when she's asking him about their plans together, and he's very reluctant to ask her for help, even when he really needs it, until she blatantly offers it, and he takes it.

In the Official English version he literally just goes "Well, the thing, Saya is that I failed to kill Koji, any ideas about that?"

So much character missed there, I feel like also missing the honorifics isn't helpful or good, like Yoh calling Oumi, Oumi-chan makes them feel way way closer, than just college friends who hang out between classes. And it gives you a better sense that they care for each other.

My hot take about translations is that they shouldn't just accomodate to what's most familiar to the target audience, in this case USA people, it should just make the media more accesible. It isn't a failure of art if it is a bit of a struggle to engage with it, it's good to make an effort to try to understand foreign art, even when the way the text is presented, isn't super familiar or relatable to you.

This is basically what everybody who isn't from an English speaking country already does lol

[mrsunder]

Been a while since I posted about the Zombie!Ghost AU so I thought I’d chuck out some tiny morsels into the yard for everyone.

- The only reason Ghost wasn't locked away in a deep dark hole as a lab experiment for the rest of his life was because of a disabled American military vet that got screwed over after serving.

The doctor that saw Ghost after he was brought in managed to check his heart and notice it wasn't beating. He cleared the room Ghost was kept in with the excuse of him needing to calm down after unknown trauma. No one wanted to argue because he had nearly ripped someone's arm off as they tried to bring him to the hospital. After Ghost "calmed down" the doctor found his heartbeat and signs of obvious physical trauma that should have killed him.

He called his buddy, a vet that told him stories about some of the more classified things he saw when he was serving and how he was fucked over after he was let go with a black void on his x-rays and even more black in his medical files. Without the proper clearance, his doctors "couldn't prove he had a reason to be ill the way he was" so he was treated like shit by the VA that was supposed to help him to the point that it took him years to even get pain relief. When his friend called about Ghost he didn't even hesitate to throw every favor, friendship, and classified blackmail he had around to make sure another soldier didn't get fucked for serving his country.

Price was at the hospital with Ghost within the week.

- Ghost has his own team of specialists.

As part of the deals in place that keep him free, Ghost has to take missions that are very likely to end with him “dead”. In return he has a number of people that take care of his medical and psychological care.

Surgeons with trauma specialties to repair the wounds that cause his death. A cosmetic surgeon to hide fatal wounds in visible areas (like the head and neck)  or scars he wouldn't be able to explain to people. A therapist that helps him deal with the trauma of dying over and over and the fact that "he's a monster". There's also a doctor dedicated to studying his behavior when dead to make sure he doesn't become a threat to those around him.

- Ghost hunted down every zombie movie he could find as a way to hurt himself mentally. He convinced himself he was a monster and used zombie films to reinforce it.

Eventually he discovered the movie "Fido" (which you can watch on youtube!) and it put a little voice in the back of his head that maybe he didn’t have to be a monster. It took months before he went searching for more movies with zombies that weren't just brain hungry ghouls, but when he did it helped him start to wrap his head around the thought that maybe he wasn't just a threat to those around him that needed put down. - Zombie!Ghost is influenced heavily by smell. He's especially comforted by the scent of the rest of the 141. When he's in medical getting fixed up whoever is closest will be asked to stay in the room while the doctors fix Ghost up, but if they’re unable to stay for whatever reason they’re asked for their current shirt, which they wrap around a heating pad to help keep Ghost calm while they work on his body. He can't stand any "hospital" smells and will scratch at his skin (or the skin of someone that spent enough time in medical) until the smell is gone. - After being fixed up one of the 141 will stay with him in his room until he comes back to himself. It used to be just Price that stayed with him, but after finding out Soap is the one that spends the most time with him and even Gaz has started keeping an eye on him. Price spends most of his time doing paperwork, but sometimes he'll catch up on any sleep he's missed while Ghost curls up in bed next to him. Gaz will borrow a laptop and watch movies (normally cartoons or romcoms to keep from spooking Ghost with things like gunshots, explosions, or people being violently killed) while Ghost leans against him to watch. Gaz isn't sure if he can follow the movies or not, but he seems to enjoy them well enough. Soap spends most of his time sleeping or idlily running a hand through Ghost's hair while filling the silence with whatever topic he can think of because Ghost will force him onto the bed and lay on top of him. Zombie!Ghost likes when his bed is warm and smells like Soap (and when Soap smells like him)

[iwriteasfotini]

The Rules I Broke: a Rant and a Warning

Our Love is Written in the Stars is a Marauders era series which depicts my head canon as it applies to the original seven Harry Potter books, it might not be your head canon. That's just the way it goes.

I’m new to the current fanfiction space which can be a benefit or a drawback. I’ve read some popular fics, blended inspiration from them with my pre-existing head canon, and created a pretty solid mental characterization of these lovely people. The drawback is I didn’t and still don’t know or understand the rules and divides which exist in the fandom. Over ships, over characterizations, over plot, over canon compliance, etc. Side note, because of this I will NOT label my series as canon compliant, even though in my mind it is. 

Thus I found myself frequently thinking “am I allowed to do this?” The last time I was in the fanfic space there were fierce debates over certain topics (often very frivolous things mind), so when I started writing there was a little voice in my head telling me what I was writing might be wrong. I brought this up with my partner, and he said, “whose rules are you talking about?” I had no answer. So I finally chucked the supposed rulebook out the window. I know it is going to create some drama. My ships, my characterizations, my plot, it isn’t going to jive with everyone. I never expected it to. So please, before you dive into this epic but fantastic series, know that I broke rules. I did so intentionally because I found the rules to be silly, limiting, and honestly not founded in anything valid (to me). I have read the original series A LOT, I have read books written about the original seven books. I can get deep into canon and into the world. But my own story is meant to be fun. It is meant to be entertaining. Not analyzed for literary merit or if my characterization matches with your head canon (or heaven forbid JKR’s intent) one hundred percent. 

I can guarantee this story will disappoint you at some point. Because I have read some great fanfiction and every single piece disappoints me in some way. I have a mental model of the characters which the author skews just slightly, or I have a problem with a tiny piece of plot, or how a scene was written. There is always going to be something, and because it’s fanfiction, there is always room to wish the author had written it slightly differently. How many people read published fiction and think, if only they had characterized so and so better, that would have really made the story. Instead we read published fiction and think either Amazing!, Good, Ok, Meh, or I don’t like this book. You can’t reach out to the author directly and tell them exactly how and why what they wrote was annoying to you. I’m not saying a broad appreciation of an entire work can’t happen with fanfiction, but I have been there, reading something people rave about and thinking it’s so good except… (I always choose to keep those thoughts to myself, BTW.)

There will be that in this story. Because I am me, and you are you, and this whole story is my except, this story is my I wish there was more or I wish it was done differently… and we will not agree. 

So yes, I bridged the void between Severus and the Marauders. Yes, I have Regulus and Severus and Lily in a mutual friendship dynamic. Yes, I have endgame Jegulus in a canon event compliant story. Yes, my James is Indian, and my Severus is a Spaniard. And Yes, I did create some ships I have personally never encountered before, though I would venture a guess I am NOT the first person to go there. 

And for me it works. For me it not only works but it is fantastic. Because I don’t want to have to choose. Unless it is between Jily and Jegulus in which case I chose Jegulus every time. Wolfstar is untouchable canon. Sev and Lily are WAY more than they were ever given in canon. Regulus! My beloved is so amazing. And I know the debates go long and hot over who can be characterized a certain way and why, who can ship with who, according to you and to your interpretation of canon, or even just your personal opinion. Who cares! 

I am not trying to debate or make any lasting points. I want people to be entertained, to laugh, to experience more fantastical magic (isn’t this what drew everyone to the series in the first place, it wasn’t the ships, that’s for sure). If you find you aren’t enjoying the story, please for the love of everyone STOP reading. And if you try to discredit my imagination I’m going to kindly remind you that we don’t have to agree on everything. And do not get me started on the Death Eaters. Yes they did awful things, Dumbledore is a piece of work himself. James can be an insensitive arse hole. So can Sirius. And there are ALWAYS two sides to a story. So let’s have fun! Let’s return to Hogwarts with first years and watch them mature into adults. Let’s feel what it is like to play a game of quidditch from someone who works their arse off (James) and from someone who is naturally a phenom (Regulus). And if anyone throws a ‘well Sirius said’ or ‘well Snape said’ comment at me, I’m going to shrug and reply with, Harry is an extremely biased narrator, Sirius is a trauma survivor who spent twelve years in isolation in a dementor infested prison, and Snape is one of the smartest and most deceptive characters in the series. You think any of them ever painted the whole truth, I think not. 

If you want to hop aboard this train, I welcome you with open arms. If you plan to board just to throw rotten veg at the other passengers, I’m going to politely ask you to please disembark. 

The glorious madness begins in fifteen days. I hope you are ready. I hope you are excited. Because we are going back to Hogwarts!

>>><<<

This is one of my Author Notes for the series Our Love is Written in the Stars which will begin daily posting on Ao3 on October 31.

[victoriouscabaret]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers ♡♡♡

1. My best friend in life - I met him at a music festival in a canola field twelve years ago, and last year I got to marry him. Now I get to listen to him tell fabulous stories and make me laugh my ass off for the rest of our lives together. He’s so patient and looks at me like I’m the second coming of Christ especially when I’m of the mind that I’m an unlovable mess. He didn’t have to clean up the mess someone else made, but he sure embraced the challenge.

2. I’m happy to have a job that strikes a good balance between being engaging and challenging work, and giving me the space and time to enjoy my free time. After the burnout I had from my previous career and the mess that was my mental health afterwards, I needed something like this. In hindsight I think I jumped on that career because helping people through their own trauma was a great way to avoid addressing mine. Don’t do that. It’s unhelpful.

3. Any excuse ever to listen to or talk about music. It’s very much a stimming/coping mechanism thing, but I am forever grateful for the fact that I can pretty much chuck on tunes whenever I want and just get lost for a little while.

4. Tying into music - dancing. Once upon a time someone who I thought had my best interests at heart convinced me that the things in life that brought me joy were secondary to their own happiness, so I let them go and have chased a void ever since. Now I’m taking them all back, and dance is one of them.

5. The fact that I’m still here and fucking HAPPY. I’ve been through some shit, and it hasn’t been a cute, pretty cakewalk of illuminating therapy sessions and scented bubble baths. When the person who was supposed to love me and treat me with care and respect decided to fucking destroy me 8 years ago, I made a point of exacting the most appropriate revenge I could think of: happiness. I was going to make it my business to be so defiantly, petulantly happy because I would be damned if they were going to take that from me too. And it’s worked out quite well, because as my dad has told me many times, I am nothing if not stubborn.

[sharkiethedork]

Hi so I finished reading A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green the other day and I really enjoyed it! I do have a couple rambley nitpicks on how I thought the story was gonna go but I don't know anyone else who's read these books yet so I'm gonna throw it out here into the void. so spoilers below! (I do highly recommend these two books though so if you do read them we can talk about them hehe)

Okay I was SURE that the text that Miranda got from Maya about the the dresses was actually from Carl's Brother/One dgsdfgs like! I was reading that part and right when Miranda starts speculating on what Maya meant by that, I had a really incredible moment of dread when I remembered that, oh shit, April chucked Maya's phone out of the car earlier! I thought One got ahold of the phone or signal or whatever and sent that text to make Miranda feel bad and start doubting her friends so she would get mixed up in Altus easier! I believe Carl gives Maya her phone back in the next chapter and I was kind of waiting for that reveal to be made for a good chunk of the book, but then Maya said that she did send that text when she rescues Miranda from the Altus space. (And for a moment, that also made me wonder if that was actually a fake out too! But that wouldn't make much sense for One to do since Miranda didn't know they'd be coming to get her then anyway)

Which, isn't a problem and I know the whole book wasn't always strictly chronological so that's fine. Maybe I'm just a sucker for when the villain completely plays the protagonists (which, to be fair, was the case when it came to the Thread so I did get what I wanted in that way lol) but I was very slightly disappointed that my foreshadowing senses were slightly off there haha

And secondly. I was positive Robin was gonna die at some point lol. He's the only member of the gang who didn't have any chapters in the book, and Andy said something to the affect of "I never learned more about why Robin has issues with dating" after their heart-to-heat scene (Which was a scene I really adored btw). It just turns out that Robin just kinda...stopped showing up about 3/4th the way though.

While I definitely get that it probably wasn't feasible to have a SIXTH narrator in the book, and as an aspirational writer with a few minor projects under my belt I'm very aware that sometimes you just end up having a character that just kinda doesn't have anything to do later on and falls to the wayside, Robin's absence did kind of feel like a missed opportunity. Robin's reveal that he knew April's agent whos name escapes me soz was also working for Petrawiki was the partial catalyst that led to April "dying" in the first book, and he makes it clear to Andy that he's wracked with guilt about it. If I recall, the only interaction we get between him and April is that she hugs him when he shows up at the penthouse, and I'm pretty sure that scene ends up being his last appearance or at least his last major one. I think it would have been great if some time was spent in an April chapter where they make up. It's fine if April has forgiven him since then, but having some closure between them on the page would have been really great. Oh well.

At the very least when it comes to him not being a narrator, I can easily imagine them asking Robin to help write the book but he's just like "Hey it was your guys' job to do all the work on the ground, my job is to be your agent and get it out there, let me do that well."

Other than those two frankly minor nitpicks I thought ABFE was really good! I wish I had read them sooner but they came out while I was in the middle of my like five years where I didn't read shit, and also I hadn't been paying much attention to Nerdfighteria so I was only vaguely aware of the books for a while. I think I slightly prefer An Absolutely Remarkable Thing although I'm not super sure why I do, but you can't just stop at the first one!

[knowtheskybeyond]

Whumptober 2023 October 9, 2023 Polaroid | Mistaken Identity | “You're a liar.” Chuck Mambo/Jackson Flint

Chuck didn't even know why he still had the small box of Polaroid photos from the summer vacation that he and Jackson had taken all those years ago. They had gone on a week-long trip with Chuck 's sister Eloise. They rented out a small beachfront property just big enough for the three of them and spent the week relaxing on the Welsh coastline without a care in the world. The photos had come from the instant Polaroid camera that Eloise had bought for the trip. She had always been the type that enjoyed the vintage aesthetic. Chuck had kept a small cigarette box under his bed with all the photos from that trip tucked neatly inside it. At least he had thrown the photos in that box a few days after Jackson had left him without so much as a word to say goodbye.

He hadn't looked at those photos in years. It was far too painful for him. That week had been the happiest that he thought they had ever been in their entire relationship, and he couldn't look back on those happy times without bringing himself to wonder what had gone wrong. What had he done to push away a man that he loved so deeply? Jack knew that he could be a little too much sometimes. He could be a little too hyper for the taste of most men, his smoking habit could be a little too much for some. Both things had been points of contention in his relationship with Spike Trivet at one time or another after Jackson had left. He had always been a man of high energy, some even suspected the Welshmen had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but he always found the smoking to be the one thing that would calm him down.

He'd given up cigarettes a long time ago, sometime shortly after he had been kicked out of do not resuscitate. Marijuana, however, was a different story. He found after Jackson's abandonment that he was smoking more than he ever had before. Even to the point that her sister was bringing it to his attention. It was the only thing that calmed his racing thoughts, his racing heart. It was the only thing that made him not want to scream into the very waves that had taken his Jackson away from him.

He didn't visit the coast as much anymore. He still enjoyed the beach as much as he always had but he tried to find places that weren't the ones that he and his sailor used to frequent. New bars, new beaches, new friends to play volleyball with. None of them filled the void, however. None of them could stop the aching in his chest. None of them could replace the warmth that he felt when he heard Jackson laugh.

He had tried with Spike for a while, and in the beginning, things had been fine, but Spike’s propensity for the finer things in life and Chuck 's desire to get out on a dingy sailboat and cut and cook a fish right there on the shoreline didn't mix very well. Spike was often too concerned about getting sand on his designer suits to really enjoy the more spontaneous time on the beach that they had together. Their happier moments were always in opulent hotels, or in Spike’s extravagant manor. Truck had loved the Englishman with all his heart, but they were very different people. That had become easy to see toward the end of their Escape the Midcard days.

It had been years now since those photos had been taken, years even since Chuck had laid eyes on them. As he lay in bed in the small two-room flat he was sharing with Eloise now a bottle of coconut rum sat open on his bedside table, a small joint sat burning out in the ashtray as he stared up at the ceiling taking in the joint between his fingers. Nothing he had tried to do to fill the void was working. No one in this world had made him feel as alive as Jackson Flint had had once made him feel. Even on the tag team run of his life with TK at his side, Chuck felt empty. He put on a smile for the crowds in the ballroom, for the crowds in Brighton, and sometimes for his sister; but Chuck couldn't remember the last time that he truly felt anything.

Well, that wasn't completely true. There was one night that he did remember feeling something: absolute terror.

It had been about a year or so ago give or take, Chuck wasn't exactly sure on time these days. He remembered sitting bolt upright in bed, and screaming until Eloise came to his side. The only thing he could tell her was he felt as though Jackson was gone. That didn't make any sense however, because he knew just by turning on his television that his Jackson was perfectly fine. Alive and well and living his life without him, his Jackson didn't need him anymore. Chuck wished he could learn how to not need Jackson anymore as well, but it seemed utterly impossible. Everything about Chuck Mambo was so intrinsically linked to Jackson Flint that he barely knew how to breathe without the other at his side. That's why he had felt so immeasurably empty in the last few years.

He stood up from the bed and knelt beside it pulling the cigarette box from beneath it and setting it atop a small blue pillow on the left side of the bed. He settled cross legged on the bed, took a long swig of the coconut rum and opened the box. He wasn't sure if it was something within his emptiness, the weed, or the rum but something made him pick his phone up from the bedside stand and send one simple text message to a number he had never been able to forget.

I miss you.

[roseofhybrids]

With episode 6 on the horizon, thought I'd jot down some random Murder Drones thoughts I've had over the last few months. Mostly just get them out of my head by chucking them into the void.

So back in episode 3 Doll gets shot and survives with no long term damage that we can see. Just telekinesises the bullet out and her visor heals. Yeva also got shot in head by V, but Yeva was very much NOT fine after. So what happened for the solver to keep Doll alive after getting shot but not her mom? Current theories: 1. The solver was weaker in the older drones in some way. 2. At some point, the solver was turned off. 3. The solver isn't duplicated when passed down, but rather gets removed from the parent

Also, from episode 3. The missing drone posters show the murdered prom queen candidates and lists their ages. Of the 5 girls, 1 is 18, 2 are 19, and 2 are 20. Now, sometimes a school will have one prom instead of separate Junior and Senior proms, which can explain the 3-year age range. But also implies that the drones graduate at 20 instead of 18. Current theories: 1. These drones got held back 1-2 years for whatever reason. 2. Drones starts school later, or are in school longer than humans typically are. 3(mostly an addition to 2). College level schooling is compulsory for drones and the prom includes college level students.

With Khan calling Uzi's banishment a self grounding and Thad saying he didn't think the colony was serious about the "whole banishment thing." My first assumption was that the colony doesn't actually banish people, but that Uzi just kind of assumed that's what they'd do and so tried to beat them to it. This is a head canon I hold on to purely for its comedic value.

Uzi listens to an MCR ripoff/parody band. Now, the human MCR's initial run went from 2001-2013 and the show takes place 3071 or 1060 years after the 2010's. To put this in perspective, this is the same amount of time between the 2010's and 950's, smack dab in the Middle Ages. All of this to say, that time wise, Uzi listens to the future equivalent of bardcore

We see J refer to Tessa as boss and her parents as corporate in episode 5, which makes me wonder. In the pilot when she says that corporate wouldn't let her kill N (without a good reason) is she referring to JCJenson or to Tessa?

Speaking of J, while N and V now have Uzi as their admin, J should still have CYN as hers. A fact that I'm sure won't come back to bite them later

Depending on how you look at it, N, V, and assumedly J, have, in a way, died and come back twice now (thrice for J after getting blowup with the rail gun). The first time after the failed deactivation when they came back as zombie drones. The second time, when CYN decapitated them in the basement and presumably turned them into disassembly drones. It's hard to say how much of episode 5 is literal, since Uzi and CYN are both messing with stuff. But N's severed head does have the fatal error message, which implies the drones kinda died before being turned into robot vampires. Which is pretty in line for both zombies and vampires, so.

So we've seen CYN make holograms, mimic voices, and create the parts used to construct disassembly drones. We've also seen J get revived in a form identical to how she was before Uzi shot her. And CYN claimed to have back-ups of N when Tessa was worried about him being destroyed. That could just be referring to her resetting his memories inside of the "dream", but in the real world, she did have access to said memories and the ability to edit/delete them. Now, I'm not saying CYN's gonna make some evil clones, I'm just saying she may have the means to do so and has already proved she can and will mimic loved ones to trick people.

We know Uzi pirates anime, and possible some other Earth/human media? But how much can we say the drones (especially the younger ones) really know about Earth? Do the older drones bother teaching them about it in school? Maybe some of the main stuff, but there are a lot of small things that wouldn't mean much to a robot on a different planet. As such, I'd like to believe a lot Uzi's assumptions about what Earth is like are based on cartoons and anime.