#or if i want to be very picky and build a world state and then make pcs around that

[mabaris]

ough fuck i KNOW i wrote up plans for my next warden

[room-surprise]

New Ryoko Kui Interview from Anime Expo 2024 (Summary/Commentary)

This interview is unintentionally hilarious. It's much shorter than the other interview, and every question was met with either a polite non-answer or a flat-out "No." Kui embodied this elf lady she drew for the entire thing:

Kui really wasn't having any of it. Every time the interviewer tried to ask a leading question about things the fandom thinks are extremely central to the manga, Kui basically answered no/I don't care/You're overthinking it/I wasn't suggesting what you're assuming I was suggesting.

My summary/commentary of the interview under the cut.

Please keep in mind these are my opinions, based on my knowledge of Japanese social conventions, and how I personally read the interview!

Q: Dungeon Meshi is about the power of eating in groups/family, do you have any food memories or recipes you can share with us that are important to you? A: No. (In other interviews Kui has stated that she doesn't like eating, other people seeing her eat, or watching others eat, and that she used to eat her meals in the toilet to avoid being around other people during meals. This is a common thing people who are shy, bullied, or socially avoidant do in Japan.)

Q: What meal in DM do you want to eat? A: None of them, I'm a picky eater.

Q: You obviously love TTRPGs. A: Uh...Not really... I've never played one, I just read about them for research purposes. (In other interviews Kui has stated she's never played a TTRPG because she doesn't have friends she can do it with. The fact that so many people in the world do have that many friends they are that close to was very shocking to her. She was amazed that people would actually role-play in front of other people. This, plus other things Kui has said in the past ("I'm not good at human relationships"), suggests that she's not very socially active.)

Q: Your fantasy ecosystem is so complex, how did you build it? A: I though about it, and then I used my imagination. (This is kind of an ice-cold burn. Like a writer saying "I wrote one word, and then another, and then I kept adding words until the book was done.")

Q: Do you love monsters as much as Laios? A: No. But I do like them a lot, and I've loved them since I was a kid.

Q: How'd you design Laios' ultimate monster? A: I used the childhood memory of wanting to design the coolest, strongest monster.

Q: A lot of fans think Laios is autistic, especially because of his fight with Toshiro. A: I wrote him to be a normal guy that anyone can relate to. I don't think he's special or unusual. Both he and Toshiro have problems and they both need to work on communicating better. (Kui saying she didn't write Laios as autistic doesn't mean you should shit on other fans who read him as autistic. All it means is that he's not canonically autistic, and you can't say "Laios being autistic is the foundation of the entire manga." Kui saying that she didn't intentionally write Laios as autistic doesn't invalidate the interpretation, it just means saying Laios is autistic is an interpretation, and not a concrete fact. Also worth noting that labeling Laios as autistic might come across as very rude for a Japanese person. Kui may not want to call Laios autistic due to social stigma.)

Q: Tell us about the Senshi fanservice. A: Calling it "fanservice" feels wrong to me. He's just an older man who doesn't care if people see his underwear, something I've experienced in real life. It might make some people uncomfortable but Senshi's just living his life, I thought that was funny. Laios is a bit uncomfortable seeing people in their underwear. (Holy shit. This answer is the equivalent of Kui firing a shotgun directly in the interviewer's face and screaming "it's not fucking fanservice." She's being VERY direct for a Japanese person, and implying that she doesn't like people calling the Senshi pantyshots fanservice, that she sees them as comedy.)

Q: But Senshi's handsome isn't he? A: All dwarves are handsome :) (This is a complete non-answer, and after that previous answer, it's very likely Kui is trying to brush the interviewer off. This is most likely Kui saying "Please stop this line of questioning/I don't want to talk about this anymore.")

Q: What inspired Marcille's dungeon lord dress? Her friends all make fun of her but I thought it looked nice. A: There's no specific reference. I made it up to look like her mom's dress and added a childish head covering. The dress is totally normal, her friends making fun of Marcille is a joke. They're just not used to seeing Marcille in that kind of clothing, so it seems weird to them. They don't actually think the dress is that strange or uncool.

Q: Did you expect the strong fan reaction to Marcille and Falin's relationship? A: I don't think about how the fans will react when I'm writing. (Another complete non-answer. She doesn't want to discuss the topic of Farcille and avoids it like a landmine. Honestly, good for her. She wants fans to feel free to think what they want and have their own interpretations.)

Q: Will you write a spin-off about Izutsumi getting revenge on the person who made her? A: Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. I think Izutsumi's pretty happy as she is and just wants to live her life.

In short, Kui's reaction to a lot of the fandom opinion questions was:

EDIT: Also, looking at the headline/page summary for the article, it's uh...insanely misleading.

"We sat down with Kui-sensei at Anime Expo 2024 to discuss the community of food, why Senshi is so sexy, seeing neurodivergence in Laios, and more." Kui literally said no in response to all of those questions, this summary of their own interview implies that there was anything discussed, and not just Kui telling them "no" to each question.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Heya! Hope you're doing well <3

So I have a world building question that I've been curious about for a while now, and I hope you're interested in answering; what would Cybertronian literature be like? Would they have fictional stories, or would it mostly be history texts and such?

If they did have fictional stories, I doubt they would have many, if any, romance books since they're obviously not a romantic species like humans. Would superhero stories with outliers be a thing? (Can't remember if outliers are viewed as bad or not). Would fantasy stories with like, Predacons be popular or would they be frowned upon with some mechs because of their history with them? (Looking at you, Kup and Autoway)

Hm, I wonder if stories with organic aliens would be a hit or not...

Considering how well Cybertron was doing before the war, I'd imagine their fiction stories weren't at the level and/or had the amount that are on Earth. Or would it have nothing to do with the state of Cybertron and more with that it was scoffed at?

My brain is just going wild with all the ways that this could turn out, but what I really, really want to know if they have fanfiction. Wait, would Orion write fanfiction??!! Dammit, Orion fangirling over a character has taken root in my brain

That wraps that whirlwind of an ask. Don't forget to not overwork yourself and stay hydrated! ❤️

Lore time?!?! Fantastic. So sorry its been *counts fingers* three to four months??? The writing vibe has been very picky as of late. Doing my best over here to answer asks from months back o(￣┰￣*)ゞ

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

Literature on Cybertron is a curious thing. Culture varies wildly from city to city, but due to governmental influence everywhere, a large portion of the consumable literature on the datanet follows a certain structure. Information is highly controlled, and thus, only literature that supports or otherwise agrees with the government is allowed to exist on any public platform. Things that do not conform with the regulations put down are deleted immediately. Thus the literature that is deemed "safe" is often bland, preachy, or straight up propaganda. While Cybertron's population may have tolerated the Council due to a lack of fighting capability at the time, they also weren't fools. Not a spark enjoyed the aft kissing works produced by those who couldn't be bothered to be original.

Thus the underbelly of literature came into being, a hidden series of trade networks and secret websites created to keep the quality writing safe from the Council. Most of the hidden works consisted of data from all over the planet, the things that the Council kept hidden. Police reports, body cam videos, documents, records, trade reports, incident reports, historical documents struck from the records, information on mecha who "vanished", and so much more. Everything one could ever want information was was down there in the dark parts of the datanet. Such things always came with a price attached.

If one wanted data, it needed to be paid for. Shanix was too easy to track, and so instead information was traded. Data for data, knowledge for knowledge. It was in the darker parts of the datanet that the Archives collected much of their... more confidential information. Alpha Trion never tolerated the loss of critical information and there were whole groups under his control dedicated to collecting what he wanted from those who possessed the knowledge. There were entire wars online when it came to data, some that even resulted in doxing and death. The world was dangerous, and with the Council hunting for any and all information, literature was a prized resource reserved for those with the ability to trade for it. Orion and Soundwave both were very well oriented with the trading performed on the datanet. They were well known under their online tags and both maintained very active information broking circles up until the war began. Even then, both managed to keep weaseling data out of their sources up until Cybertron went dark.

Then of course there was the less professional corners of the darker parts of the datanet. Works of fiction were by no means unusual, but they were only produced by mecha with certain... tastes. Most were not lacking in imagination, but rather the ability to make their visions legible. The ability to properly produce a work of fiction was, more often than not, difficult for the average mech to do. Most works of fiction came from the middle castes or the upper lower castes. Higher caste bots were not allowed to write anything serious for fear of backlash, and the lower castes simply did not have the time more often than not. As such, only the highly biased middle castes had any ability to produce fiction at all.

Sci-fi did not exist as a genre, for quite obvious reasons. More often than not, what fiction came into being tended to fall into several categories which matched the desires of the middle castes. Courtly drama was a world renown and beloved genre. Every mech ran into a work in the genre at least once, and the themes usually revolved around the main character either climbing the social ladder to get into the higher castes or somehow evading their hold to achieve something. It was wish fulfillment at its finest, but the middle castes adored the genre as it satisfied the desires they had. Ratchet wrote one surprisingly well performing novel about climbing the ladder to become CMO. It was based off his own experiences, and while not exactly popular, medics everywhere all universally knew of his novel, although not a spark knew he wrote it.

The second biggest genre was rather specific, and it happened to be the caste change genre. Every bot wished they were something else for the most part. As such, there was a plethora of documents that focused around a mech from one caste either moving up or down the chain and having to adapt to the new way of life. The cultural differences around Cybertron played their part in the caste change genre as mecha from all over the planet learned from and wrote their novels. Many serious misconceptions came from the novels of that type, but it tended to create a sense of tolerance amongst the population more often than not. Even still, there were more than a few crimes committed due to rather ridiculous misunderstandings regarding local culture from individuals who only learned from novels. While not common knowledge, Starscream wrote an incredibly well received novel with completely made up cultural norms for Vos that were so widely accepted that grounders everywhere got arrested en mass until the government stepped in. Starscream has yet to stop finding it amusing.

The third most popular genre was the only one the lower castes could feasibly relate to, and it happened to be about police and murder mystery. The stories had no set formula, unlike the prior two popular genres. However they almost always involved the main character eliminating some scum of the Earth, uncovering a deep dark secret, or putting an end to a horrific criminal underworld. It was pure wish fulfillment from middle caste mecha who knew just enough to want to change things, but didn't have the guts to actually go out and take a stand. Jazz wrote his fair share of novels relating to the subject, one of which became so popular that he ended up changing his identity twice and faked his death once in order to escape any connection to it. He didn't learn until vorns later that his novel, which was based on a real mystery, had actually solved a well covered Council kept secret.

Lastly there was the religiously oriented works of fiction. The genre itself was incredibly niche due to the differing beliefs and delicate nature of faith on Cybertron. But the few who wrote for the subject were masters of their craft. Usually they were artist renditions of old tales, retellings of myth and legend, or even fictional takes on the lives of old Primes. Highly heretical in nature, very few stepped into the genre of Primacy related anything. The Council was always on the lookout for such novels, and thus those who wrote them were far more likely to vanish under mysterious circumstances. What novels were written often didn't last long. The only three novels that made it out alive amidst the harsh censoring happened to be a set of novels written by Orion Pax in collaboration with Senator Shockwave and a novel done by none other than D-16 himself. The three novels all showed urban legends and tales from all three castes and were beloved globally, even if every physical copy was destroyed on sight.

Orion, and later Optimus Prime largely forgot about his written work. Unbeknownst to him, Megatron has kept a copy of his work and the two other novels. He has no clue Optimus and Shockwave wrote them, but he adores them and have lovingly gone into English teacher mode more times than one could count to find the deeper meaning behind everything. Humanity's love for 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Dante's Inferno is the level of adoration Megatron holds for the three novels on his shelf.

There were other stories of course. Fantasy novels set far into Cybertron's distant past made purely off imagination and globally mocked by those who lived long enough to see the early days of Cybertron. A genre akin to Romance that focused on companionship and starcrossed designs put in place by Primus. Strange tales made by those on Colony worlds going into depth on organics and their cultures. Heroic stories focusing around Primus's chosen and champions of the people. Underdog tales with Outliers coming out of hiding or breaking their bonds to be free and express themselves as they saw fit...

The stories were diverse, but all were hidden. Every mech read them, but none spoke of them aloud. Literature was the quiet universal culture of Cybertron prior to the war.

[tiresomeimagination]

The Demons in the Details (707 x Reader)

Word Count: 1.2k

Author's note: This is an entry for @mysticmessengerenglish's fanfic contest. The theme was weddings and I had an idea to try playing with. Hope you enjoy! ^^

You paused in your inspection of the current venue and glanced back over at Saeyoung to gauge his reaction. He looked deep in thought as he scanned the building. You wished you could hear his thoughts… He looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

~~~~~

Wedding preparations are always tiring. They become even more so when expectations or standards are a bit too particular. Saeyoung was by no means a very picky person. In fact, you often had to nag him about keeping his preferences quiet for the sake of others. So it was a bit out of the ordinary to find that Saeyoung was so critical of every venue you visited. There was always something. It was too public of a spot, it was too closed off, it didn’t have enough exits, and the list went on. Nothing was quite right. You got the feeling that if it were solely up to him, he would just have the whole thing in his bunker.

His mind was racing with every possible worst-case scenario. He had to. After all, he had finally gotten everything he ever wanted. He was reunited with his brother. He had found a new family in the RFA members. He had even found the love of his life. He had…everything to lose. With his father and the agency still out there looking for him, he had far too many enemies to take any chances.

Finally, Saeyoung seemed to reach a decision. “Hm…yeah…this place is nice and all, but I just don’t think it’s us, y’know? I mean… we can definitely do better,” he said with a slight chuckle, attempting to keep his voice light and casual.

You couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. “This is the fifth place we’ve seen today. We’re kind of running out of options…” You tried to point out as gently as possible.

Saeyoung let out a small sigh of his own as he ran a hand anxiously through his hair. “You’re right, you’re right. How about we just…sleep on it for now? I have some more research to do anyway.”

You knew this ‘research’ probably involved running background checks on all the venue’s staff that would even breathe in the general vicinity of the event.

“...Okay. Yeah… It’s getting late anyway. We might as well go back,” you relented. You wanted to try your best to be accommodating. You knew that he had to do whatever he could do to feel safe.

Spirits were low as the two of you returned to the bunker. There was a certain unspoken tension that neither you nor Saeyoung wished to address. You both made light small talk about the day as you had dinner with him and Saeran as usual, but you could tell Saeyoung was still worried. As much as you wanted to try and talk through things, you didn’t want to push him before he was ready…. And so, even as you retired to the guest room for bed, the topic was avoided entirely for the night.

You awoke a few hours later. After a quick glance at your phone to confirm that it was indeed the middle of the night, you decided to get up and check in on Saeyoung. Experience told you that there was a good chance he got caught up in something and would need to be talked into actually going to bed. However, rather than a chance for playful teasing between you two, what you found when you peeked in was much more concerning.

Saeyoung sat on the edge of his bed, hunched forward with his head in his hands. Without thinking, you entered and quickly crossed the room towards him. 

The sound of your footsteps jolted him out of whatever state he had been in and his head whipped up to lock eyes with you. “…Y/N…?” He asked quietly as if your presence had surprised him.

“Saeyoung! What’s wrong?? Did something happen?” You asked worriedly as you came to a stop by his side.

He took a moment to register your words, still lost in his thoughts. “...Um…yeah…I-I mean no.” He stammered out, pausing to rub tiredly at his face and try to recollect his jumbled thoughts. “Everything’s fine. I just…had a weird dream, hah…” He breathed out quietly.

You frowned deeply and sat down beside him, placing a light touch on his arm. “Do you want to talk about it…?” You asked softly.

He didn’t answer, so you continued. “Whatever it is…you can talk to me. We promised to handle things together, remember? You don’t have to talk about it right now, but I can tell you’ve been worried about something and it’s more than just whether we get married someplace with or without windows, so-”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Saeyoung suddenly interrupted your ramble. 

“...What…?” You replied, caught off guard by his words.

Saeyoung took a deep breath in and let it out before he looked over at you. “Things aren’t going to be easy, you know. Living with me…won’t be easy.” He paused, glancing down at the engagement ring you wore on your hand. A sign of your connection to one another.

“...What? What are you talking about?”

He sighed again and gently took your hand in his. “I still have a lot of enemies. You could get caught in the crossfire of any one of them.”

“Saeyoung…”

“Every time I close my eyes… I see everything that could go wrong. And every time I open them again I think about how I’m not ready. If I fail to account for even one possible threat, you could get hurt…or worse…"

"Saeyoung." You called out a little louder, hoping to get his attention off of his spiraling anxious thoughts and back onto you. When he looked back up at you, you continued. "You don't have to bear everything alone anymore. Everyone in RFA has your back. Saeran and I too. We're all in this together. And if dealing with Mint Eye has taught us anything…it's that we're stronger together." You said with a soft smile, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

You brought your other hand up to gently touch his shoulder. "And to answer your question…yes. This is what I want. You are what I want, and nothing will change that."

The both of you were moments away from tears. Saeyoung quickly pulled you into a tight hug, burying his face into your shoulder and sniffling softly.

"I love you so much, Y/N." He murmured, his voice muffled by your shirt. 

The second half went unspoken but you could hear it loud and clear. He was afraid of losing you. No amount of mere words could quell those fears entirely. They lived so deeply in his heart and you couldn’t chase them all out no matter how much you wanted to. All you could do was try to support him.

You let out a sigh as you hugged him back and let your own tears fall as well. "I love you too.”

Your happily ever after wouldn't be as easy as the fairy tales made them out to be…but you two would be okay so long as you stood together. You weren’t about to let go, and by the looks of his grip right now, neither was he.

[stalkedbytrains]

Beneath the Electric Sky

Chain One: Preload

Sequence One: Specialization

The city's atmospheric regulators were working overtime, venting steam from deep underground. The entire city was bathed in steam and fog as the city tried to deal with the never-ending climate crisis and the still active half-life fallout.

It made the building the sniper was surveilling hard to pick out, but it also hid her from view. Not that she needed a lot of help to remain undetected.

Synthia was having a hard time with the building and that was even before the winds started blowing across the Pacific strongly enough to bring in some of the radiation from overseas.

The targets she had been sent after were based in a building that was harder to get into than The Collection she was a part of. They had a small army of personnel that all had advanced combat training, what appeared to be some kind of complicated employee tracking system that hunted and killed anyone that was in the building without permission.

Then there was the suspicion of extremely illegal technology and gene splicing.

The assassin that Synthia was after was employed by these people so getting at the organization itself and whatever bullshit they did to make their assassin borderline uncatchable was in there, and it was Synthia's job to get it. She also had a score to settle with the assassin.

Synthia had tracked him down, got ahead of him, and instead of having a halfway civilized conversation he shot Synthia three times with Teflon coated rounds which would have killed her pretty quickly (but painfully) if she had been totally human.

The real problem with this stupid building and this stupid company and their stupid assassin was that they were protected by an EM field. The powerful electromagnets would fry anything with a circuit that got in without proper protection or authorization. Which meant that Synthia would die. Her systems would shutdown and she'd basically suffocate as her heart slowly gave up. She'd die trapped within her body, no matter how state-of-the-art it was.

She could attempt to drop in from above but there were no nearby buildings in which to do it quietly. Unless she dropped in from the air, and while it had been a very long time since her last HALO jump, she could probably manage it. But she couldn't rule out the chance that there was an EM field on top of the building, which could be a problem. However, such a field would only be a problem if she could hit the target of a single building from 30,000 feet up. Synthia was good, she was even extremely good, but she wasn't that good.

Of course she could just storm the building. Blow up the EM generators with a couple of smart rockets or even just break out the magnetic accelerator rifle that she is only allowed under special circumstances, but that would give her away instantly and take away any chance of recovering information or the assassin intact or mostly intact.

This was going to require an inside man, and this goddamn cult was extremely picky about who they let into their premises. That was a skill set that Synthia did not have.

Stealth, insertion, infiltration, sniping? All of those she was one of the best in the world at. But those skills wouldn't get her in there without getting noticed immediately.

She was going to have to call in a ringer.

Hopefully the bosses would let her choose the ringer, because she knew the perfect guy for the job. And he was local.

[000]

At the tiny two room headquarters that Synthia had in the city, she had spent the better part of ten minutes laying out the assault on the building and why it was such a difficult pain.

"What about a HALO jump? Get in over their defenses?" Seth asked.

Seth was nominally her partner but he acted more like a boss.

"I can't tell if there is any defenses on the roof, the weather has been absolute shit the last few days and there's no sign of it getting any better in the next few days, and I don't want to give them anymore lead time since they know we're coming. Besides HALO jumps are fine, but we're talking about hitting the courtyard of a building, which is not necessarily the easiest thing to hit when falling at terminal velocity."

Seth rubbed his beard. "Yeah, and there's no good way in?"

"Not unless you can see something. And I can't lie my way in, since they know what we look like since the fucking debacle with the cops."

He gave Synthia a hard look.

"You can't even remotely blame that fucking bullshit on me," Synthia snapped. "We have strict orders to bring in the assassin if we can and the cops came in guns blazing absolutely burning that bridge as evidenced by him shooting me three times!"

"So what do you suggest? A tactical nuke?"

Synthia didn't even feign a laugh at the jab. "We need an inside man, but, again this cult is paranoid so their members are scrutinized within an inch of their lives. We need someone else to get inside and turn off the EM field long enough for me to get inside."

"What do you suggest? There's no other Collection agents on this coast. You want to get some outside help? You?"

"I have friends."

"That you haven't gotten killed or killed yourself?"

"Io has known me for a very long time. He's a great con man, he's in this city right now, and he has the added benefit of being almost completely human. If he does get caught in the EM field, he's not gonna just die like I will. Like you would."

Seth frowned. "Fine. We don't have many other options and we need this wrapped up quickly. But if this goes sideways even a little bit, I'm torching this friend of yours."

Synthia sneered at Seth in response.

"You know where to find him?"

"I have a pretty good idea."

[010]

There was a black tie party happening at the penthouse of the extremely wealthy socialite and minor celebrity Mason Filmont. The man had a penchant for buying rare and expensive per-singularity technology, and he was both stupid and an asshole, which was Io's favorite target.

Sneaking into the party was extremely easy. It was a party, there was a certain expectation of people coming and going.

Io could have made his way into the party as just a guest, but that wouldn't have got him nearly as close to some of the tech he wanted to steal as he would have liked. So he spent the last few weeks charming his way into the inner circle of Mason.

It was tiring to be sure, and the sex wasn't good either which was a criminal crime, but it was all about to pay off.

"You know I'm worried about all of these gang killings."

A snippet of party conversation caught Io totally off guard. He couldn't quite place it, but there was a familiarity with the voice that spoke. He whipped around and saw a tall but almost tragically slim redheaded woman in an ill fitting black dress.

She saw him turned and raised her glass of champagne at him.

There was something so familiar about the stance, about the hungry and tired look that told him that this woman hadn't slept properly in a long time but the sharp blue eyes told him that he was being hunted by an apex predator.

Io stopped in his tracks and turned to face the woman and the person she was talking to.

"Hey there River," Io said, slipping his hand across the waist of the person he was actively scamming. "Who are you talking to?"

The woman smiled a smile, that put Io very ill at ease. That smile said that she had pulled on over on him.

"Name's Synthia," she said as she held out a hand to shake Io's.

The grip was almost crushing, but it didn't seem to be a deliberate power move, and was instead something that came from her unnatural strength.

"Synthia, pleasure. I'm-"

"Io. I know. We've met before."

"Oh, you two know each other?" River said with a bemused look.

"Oh yes," Synthia said. "But I'd be surprised if Io remembers me. We haven't seen each other in years."

Io's stomach dropped out as she said that. It was the voice, the hair, and the eyes that did it. Nothing else was the same.

"Synthia. Yeah. I haven't seen you in a real long time. Last time I saw you was when you were looking for a particular gun."

Synthia rolled her eyes. "I mean, yes, but we've communicated since then. You helped me find some people. Shame what happened to them."

"You-" Io started but Synthia shook her head just a little bit, a fraction of a movement. "Yes. You're right, how silly of me to forget. How have you been?"

"Lots of changes," she said, indicating to herself. "Lots. But I'm doing well. Some aspects could be better. The job is something of a pain."

"You still in the military?" Io asked.

River had gotten bored by this point and kissed Io. "I'm going to go back to the party, you two have fun."

Once he was gone, Io dropped the smile.

"What the fuck?" he whispered.

"New job," she explained. "Like top secret shit, so careful what you say and what you ask. They're listening."

"And so you thought you'd just drop in on your old friend Io for shits and giggles?"

"I mean, I've been keeping tabs. You seem to be doing good."

"I'm alive," he said. "I thought you were dead, or gone, spirited away to some black site prison."

"You're not half wrong there."

"Fucking hell," Io said, cutting himself off from saying the name he remembered Synthia using. "What's up? Why are you coming back to me now? Am I fucked? Am I being black-bagged?"

"No," Synthia said. "I'm just in a severe problem right now and need a favor."

"Of course, why didn't that occur to me sooner. I'm on a job, a very delicate one, and I'm really close to closing it."

"You're going to what? Steal Mason's cybertruck? That ugly fucking thing?"

"Yes, but that's not the goal. I was going to use it as a getaway vehicle for a bit. I mean it's a legendarily bad truck, and Mason has a fully restored 2025 model. I want to drive it so bad. But I was going to steal some stuff, a couple of art pieces to sell, and some old videogame stuff for myself. Then drive out in the truck."

Synthia nodded. "I'm impressed. A step up from the shit you pulled back in the day."

"You're being weirdly coy."

"They don't know a lot about me before I joined the military, and I aim to keep it that way."

"Then you contacting me is..."

"Very serious."

"What's up?"

"You know those murders everyone is concerned with?" Synthia asked.

"Yeah, some dude is killing gang leaders."

"And about a hundred other people. Ranging from war criminals to CEO's and randomly some random dude in an apartment complex."

Io took a deep breath. "That's a lot of dead people. You know I'm not a fan of that."

"Well the problem is that it is one dude."

"Hasn't this only been going on for like a week? He's killed more than a hundred people in less than a week?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck. How do you think I can possibly help you?"

"This guy has some illegal tech I'm going to rip out of him. And he shot me three times and tried to kill me."

Io hung his head, resting it on the metal railing of the nearby stairs. He knew what that meant. Synthia, whatever she was calling herself now, would never let that stand.

"The thing is I know where his headquarters is, and the cult that is supporting him."

"There's a cult too?" Io whined.

"Yeah."

"Motherfucker."

"It's more religious fanaticism and shit and not like the people sacrificing kind."

"I'm really dreading when you get to the point where you ask me to do something."

"I just need you to open the door."

Io looked at Synthia incredulously. She really was almost entirely different. The person that Io knew from twenty odd years back was still in there, and this conversation, brief as it had been, they really were the same person.

"The entire area is surrounded by EM fields and guards and turrets and extreme paranoia of the religious fanatics. They know me because their assassin failed to kill me, so I can't get in. I can't even get close or I'm gonna die."

Io shuddered. "You really went down that route?"

Synthia shrugged. "Yeah, it gave me the body I always wanted. Cost me a lot in other ways. But still worth it."

"I love tech, just having it be inside me grosses me out."

"The other reason I'm here. You won't instantly die if you screw up like I will."

"How badly does this need to be done tonight?" Io asked as he looked longingly at the rich person's very easily stolen things.

"Badly. We've got a very small window to strike before they realize we're on to them and move and if they move we're never getting to the assassin."

"Why not?" Io complained, even know Synthia knew he was coming with her.

"I'm fairly certain the assassin can teleport. So this is our one and only opportunity."

"Fuck me," Io said. "Let's go, but I hope you can at least pay me for this."

"The company has deep pockets."

"Goddamnit," Io moaned as they went to leave the party. "Don't tell me I'm actually doing work for The Company Company."

"The CIA? Those fucks? Oh hell no."

Io heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank fuck. They are really the worst."

"Yeah and they've put out hits on me like three times," Synthia said as she led Io to the car she had waiting out front.

As they climbed into the car Io turned to Synthia and said, "So I have two questions for you."

"Shoot."

"Pronouns?"

"She and her," Synthia replied instantly.

"Good, good," Io said. "Honestly I've never cared much for the whole pronoun game so whatever works for you works for me. But it might just save time to use he and him for me."

Synthia pulled away from the party with dangerous speed. "Sounds just like you. What's the other question?"

"Lorelei know you're alive?"

Synthia swore. "No."

buy me a kofi

[mochithealchemist]

Thing i'm making about an anarchist dog

Oats was a borzoi dog. Borzoi are abnormally skinny and large with long luxurious hair. Their unique appearance makes them look either dignified or silly. Oats was the latter. It was an undeniable fact that all beings within Oats world were animals. From hulking elephants to tiny kittens they all had jobs, played games, and paid their taxes (sometimes). Only fish and aquatic crustaceans were not gifted with intelligence. If you asked any denizen of this world what a human was they would look at you confused. Humans were long gone. 

None of this bothered Oats. He was tall for his age with a poofy white coat speckled with silver. At the moment it was covered in grease and soot. His new deep green vest was not spared from the grime.

If there was one thing Oats was good at, it was running. Although his speed wasn't something he often got to use he could not have been more thankful for it. As he galloped down stone brick roads and slipped in and out of dingy alley ways he started to regret ever leaving home that day. Why did he have to sneak out and get into all this trouble?

His mind raced, producing thoughts as if he had just drank for his fathers pot of morning coffee.

“Oh dear oh dear oh dear”

 He thought to himself frantically. His brain snapped into focus as he narrowly skidded under a couple of movers carrying a wardrobe. They yelped as he scampered away slowing his pursuers down. 

Oats was very green in town and he was not having a pleasant first impression with many of his new neighbors. He wondered what his father would think of his actions. He imagined Barley's lecture. 

“How could you bring shame to this family? My son, a hooligan”

He would have said as if it was unpleasantly novel to him. The thought of his dad’s anger was scarier than the two ruffians that were chasing him. 

This morning started off normally enough. Oats sat, awkwardly staring at his name sake. The cereal clumped grossly in his bowl with some soggy blueberries. The berries were well past the point of being ripe but Oats wasn't brave enough to tell his father. Oh what a lecture he would have started. He would have scolded Oats for being two soft, that pickiness was unbecoming for a hound such as himself. So he kept quiet, hopelessly waiting for his father to free him from his prison of berries and oats. 

He had just moved into a house in the big city from a small homestead in the east. His tall grass and open spaces were now replaced with fancy Victorian towers with red brick roads. He found it very intimidating. The house was crowded with boxes of furniture and personal belongings that had yet to be unpacked. Just this morning he had tripped 3 times on boxes containing his dads old war swords. 

Oats dad Barley, was a serious dog. He was a veteran from the great south war and presented himself as such. He never left the house without his special medal. It was a brass lapel pin that he wore on his left coat pocket. It depicted the head of a doberman hound with an ornate dagger logged in its snout. The pin was the only war story that Oat’s father wouldn't tell him, which he was quietly grateful for. However, every other sword, ribbon and spoil of war within the house was fair game. 

Barley scowled at Oat’s breakfast. 

“Oat Carnegie Cain if you don't finish your breakfast I will not be giving you supper!”

Oats knew he wasn't bluffing, his father never bluffed. He reluctantly started to eat the unpleasant slop till a lonely grain sat at the bottom of the bowl. 

“Now I'm going to discuss something with the contractors. I'll be back by the end of the day. When I get back I want you to have introduced yourself to our neighbors”. 

Barley picked up his bag and exited the house. As he left he grumbled something about the condition of the windows. Oats had noted when he first saw the house that it was in a state of disrepair. Apparently the house was sometype of historic building. It was incredibly spacious when it wasn't full of boxes, with five total bedrooms. Oats was not sure why they needed this many bedrooms; it was only the two of them. The house had pretty floral patterned wall paper that seemed to offend his father. It was a large Victorian structure painted a colorful green on the outside. Oats thought that it was pleasing to look at but even he couldn't deny it needed repairs. The most glaring issue was the windows. They were tinted yellow and cracked from age. 

Oats was jolted from his chair by the distinct sound of glass shattering. He scuttled under the table holding his breath. Was he about to be robbed! Good god was he scared. As he lay shivering a harsh whisper emanated from the window.

“Hey, are you ok?”

Oats turned behind him to see a floor of broken glass. Tucked on the window sill was a small gray kitten wearing an itchy looking sweater with color patches scattered across it. Siting within the glass was a leather ball around the size of Oats paw. The cat looked guilty at her handiwork. 

“Sorry, I was just playing and I got a bit too excited and I-I uhhhhh”

She squinted at Oats cowering under the table. Oats did not understand why this cat was sizing him up and he did not want to know why. 

“My name is Cran. How would you like a job?”.

[rangerdoubt]

doing a retri run and thinking about miguel.

brisk but polite but largely (purposely) inconspicuous externally. the guy who comes by once a year but always tips well and orders something a little strange. always dresses nondescriptly.

then kind of a grouchy picky shit underneath. ur micromanager coworker with too much to say about the state of shit (he's not wrong though. you wish you could change it too, by god, but you fucking can't?? why does he make it sound like it's your fault??)

then even deeper down. really pretty sad and soft and yk. u go through the motions of Having Friends but u kind of worry that there's something smashed up and weird now and ur just not as good at this as you used to be, and maybe that's on you??? maybe something broke. or maybe you did too good of a job of pretending.

and then at the very bottom is the ???. i don't think i've seen this side. i don't think he has either. i don't think he'd be pleased to know it exists, but it does. he's probably capable of being far more cruel and cold-blooded than he actually puts into action, but that way lies madness. easier to be--shallow. gossipy. snippy.

don't plumb the depths. don't ask questions you don't want the answer to. build your own world, your own limits bc then you'll never have to ask what lies beyond.

[blueempty]

There was some kind of weird mist curtain or something happening today that magnified the sun so hard I had to take the first pic completely blind. But it was only like that in the direction of the sun somehow

These might be kinda hard to keep daily for a few reasons. First of which is that positivity is not my natural state entirely. Even though my mantra every second of every day is "it's fine", its more in a "none of dis matters" kind of way. But additionally, furthermore, I dont get to do a whole lot. I tend to see the sky around 4pm, and then I work in a building with no windows, and around midnight or 1am I get to see the night sky. So I may tag some of these 'slow day' and just post a pic with something short about whatever I'm playing

Today I was mostly just coasting off good vibes from sunday. There's a fine line between not saying enough and saying too much, and idk what that line looks like. But basically I don't make a lot of new friends, and I'm not in contact with many old friends regularly enough, so I've been making an effort to be more social. At the same time I like to be helpful to people. Lately I end up in these situations where I feel very useless and powerless because I have to rely on my partner financially more than I should. But I set out to help a friend recently and it seems like I'm helping, and that feels nice. It's weird how reclusive I am while also needing to make people happy. It's like I'm a people person I'm just extremely picky lol

I guess the idea behind my specific brand of nihilism is that yeah a lot of stuff in life is pointless or hopeless, but we might as well make it better for eachother, because we can. And sorta why I wanted to start this is because it's easy to never look up, and to forget that the world is bigger than your route to work. But it is bigger

Peace and Long Life

[empirelead]

SHIPPING INFO

Answer the following for your muses so people know how shipping works on your blog.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)?

Baavira! I know a lot of people do not like this ship because they believe there is no chemistry between them and they don't share scenes where they act like a couple, but I honestly disagree with them. It seems like they've already been together for a long time so they're no longer in the honeymoon stage, and they don't look like the type of couple that would constantly be all over each other.

I know people don't like this ship for another reason, that reason being the fact Kuvira shot the warehouse without hesitation and they all believe that is proof she never cared for him. Again, I disagree with that. Kuvira was in the middle of trying to achieve her goal, that goal being a promise she made to her people, so of course she wasn't going to emotionally breakdown or go back on her promise for her own selfish desire; if she did, the people would lose faith in her. Remember, she gain a big following because she sees things through. And if people actually paid attention, Kuvira did had to hold everything in before she steeled herself to continue on after she made the difficult decision to sacrifice the man she loves.

She was also originally suppose to cry in the scene, but that idea was thrown away since Bryke believed the impact in the Spirit World scene wouldn't be as emotional. AND the comics did confirm Kuvira still has feelings for him.

Oof, this turned into a rant. Haha. I apologize, I am very defensive over this ship.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?

I do headcanon Kuvira to be twenty-five years old until stated otherwise, so I don't think she would want to date anyone that isn't even old enough to drink or still has the maturity level of a peanut; I say anyone under the age of twenty is a big no. The oldest she'll go for is someone in their fifties. As for immortal characters, they just have to look like an adult.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW?

When it goes beyond kissing, like touching and clothes starts to come off. Any moments like this would be placed under "read more", discord, or fade-to-black. Though, I don't do much smut content these days because I'm not that interested in writing them, but that doesn't mean I hate it. It could still happen as long as the ship is well established.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?

Yes, like, Kuvira isn't exactly an easy person to be ship with due to her past trauma of being abandoned by her biological parents and Suyin as well, she's not going to trust anyone that comes to her way easily and will make her distrust known. There is also the fact that she can be difficult in general, she cannot be please so easily. So if you are trying to win her heart, you're gonna have to do more than giving flowers or showing off fancy tricks.

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH?

Korra! That Spirit World scene is just so divine.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?

It all depends if you're brave enough to poke the bear, like I said Kuvira isn't easy to be with so I am picky with who I'm going to ship her with. Though, sometime, it just happens and I have that occurrences where it all work out, but it is better to ask than to assume. You may feel the chemistry, but the same cannot be said for the other person. That doesn't mean I am oppose to the idea of shipping our characters together, there's a high-chance I will give it a shot.

Chemistry isn't always instant, we can always try to build it up just by discussing it together.

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?

I'm more in the middle. I do like shipping because it's fun to see what kind of dynamic Kuvira will have with other characters, but I'm not going to ship Kuvira with every character that comes to her way.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?

I'll respond it with my other muse: Kai'sa, from League of Legends! My favorite ship with her is with Akali! Though, I also do like her with Ahri and Evelynn as well.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?

Just ask or read my rules, it also helps if we interact together a lot and talk behind the scene. And I also do wanna add that I do like oc and crossover shipping as well.

Tagged by: @nameaprice (thanks~) Tagging: anyone! if you're reading this...or skimmed through it, considered yourself tagged~

[liugeaux]

Linkin Park’s Papercuts: A Track-by-Track Breakdown

A week ago Linkin Park dropped their first "Greatest Hits" collection, or as it's branded "Singles Collection 2000–2023". I have much to say about it and I need to put my feelings out into the world. Let's go!

First things first, LP is one of my favorite artists so there was really no way to screw this up. The criticisms I'll throw out during this piece are more preferential issues I have with the collection. As a whole, this is a hugely welcomed release that puts most of the songs you want to hear all in one place. We needed this 5 years ago.

With that said, if I were in charge, there would be some changes I would have suggested before sending this to manufacturing.

I'm going to break this down track by track, critiquing placement, inclusion, omissions, etc. If I were grading this entire package I'd probably give it a 8 out of 10 and that score is coming from a VERY nit-picky place.

LP chose to go with a custom track listing, rather than the popular chronological order. The latter is a convenient choice that leaves bands not needing to make a decision on what songs should be grouped together. Chronologically also presents the collection as a biography or story, telling the history of the band in a logical order.

If a band chooses to curate a tracklisting for their Greatest Hits they really need to "get it right" for the package to be more compelling than a standard chronological release and I don't know if they do. There's an art to constructing a tracklist just like there's an art to building a live setlist.

That's enough preamble, let's get to the nitty-gritty.

Tracks

1. "Crawling" from Hybrid Theory

"Crawling" has never been a favorite of mine. It's one of the weakest tracks on Hybrid Theory and is a bad song to kick off this collection. The track should definitely be included, but the back half would have been a much better home for it.

2. "Faint" from Meteora

A perfect song in the perfect position, "Faint" batting second gets the blood flowing as the biggest hits should be rolling in. No editorial notes on this one.

3. "Numb/Encore" from (mashup with Jay-Z) Collision Course

The whole Collision Course project was a cool gimmick in 2004, but "Numb/Encore" hasn't aged well, and including a Jay-Z collab this early in the tracklisting is a misfire. If they must include it, the back half is the right place. If we're going with novelty tracks I'd prefer "Pts.OF.Athrty" from Reanimation and even it shouldn't be in the #3 slot. #3 should be an iconic hit. Also, two versions of "Numb" in one collection is tacky, imo.

4. "Papercut" from Hybrid Theory

THIS is your track #1! It kicked off the Hybrid Theory album, is the namesake of this very collection, and would've set the proper tone for what is to follow. Just swapping the track placement of "Crawling" and "Papercut" would make a HUGE difference in the overall package.

5. "Breaking the Habit" from Meteora

At this point, we're 5 tracks into this thing and we've got nothing from Minutes to Midnight, ew. "Breaking the Habit" is a fantastic song and a fan favorite, but it is both a later track on Metora and a later released single from the album. I would have put this one in the final cluster of songs. If you swap its placement with "Leave Out All the Rest" you solve two problems.

6. "In the End" from Hybrid Theory

As one of LP's biggest hits, the #6 slot seems a bit dubious. I'd rather see it at or around #3, but I guess it's fine here.

7. "Bleed It Out" from Minutes to Midnight

As previously stated, there should have been some Minutes to Midnight representation before now. I like "Bleed It Out", I'd rather this include "Shadow of the Day" or "Given Up", but I understand "Bleed" is the bigger hit and more representative of the album as a whole. Ultimately I think "What I've Done" should have been here.

8. "Somewhere I Belong" from Meteora

Perfect placement for this song, but if I were to vote a Meteora song out to be replaced by something from say ... The Hunting Party ... this one would be on the chopping block.

9. "Waiting for the End" from A Thousand Suns

This is one of my favorites and as the lone representative from A Thousand Suns, Track 9 feels right. No notes.

10. "Castle of Glass" from Living Things

Living Things, as an album, is kind of a mess, and I've never loved "Castle of Glass". This should have been omitted in favor of "Guilty All the Same" or one of the missing Minutes to Midnight songs. On a 20-song collection, this being in the 10 spot is a misrepresentation of the collection itself.

11. "One More Light" from One More Light

This song holds a precious spot in my heart and while it 1000% belongs in this collection, I can't even begin to say where in the tracklist it should go. One More Light is such a weird and exciting album it's almost a shame the title track is the only one that ever gets attention, with the obvious reason for that being devastatingly sad.

12. "Burn It Down" from Living Things

This should be the only Living Things track on here and #12 seems to be low enough. No further notes.

13. "What I've Done" from Minutes to Midnight

Track 13? Really? This might be the biggest WTF placement on here. Outside of "Numb" and "In the End", "What I've Done" is THE LP anthem. It's the song that should play during the trailer of the LP biopic. It's a great uniter of a track. 13 is whack. It should be in the first 5, without a doubt.

14. "QWERTY" from LP Underground 6.0

"QWERTY" isn't necessary here. It doesn't fit the theme of the overall package, and it was never a "hit" song. It IS, however, a fan-favorite that's never found its way to official streaming platforms, so while it may be the black sheep, it's welcome to steal a slot. For you fans that might have never heard it before, enjoy!

15. "One Step Closer" from Hybrid Theory

I guess you've got to save at least one big hit for the end of the compilation, and I guess "One Step Closer" is a fine one to fill that role, but this really feels like the slot "Crawling" should be occupying.

16. "New Divide" from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Finally, "New Divide" is on an official LP release and a singles collection is the perfect place for it. It may be a bit too low on the tracklist, but it works here just fine.

17. "Leave Out All the Rest" from Minutes to Midnight

As one of LP's best songs, leaving out "Leave Out All the Rest" would have been a cardinal sin, but since its popularity is nowhere near the bigger hits, number 17 is a fine pace for it.

18. "Lost" from Meteora20

It's good to see even the recent success of "Lost" is being highlighted. No notes.

19. "Numb" from Meteora

It's simple, "Numb" should be last. I get "Friendly Fire" is new and the new stuff on releases like this is usually either first or last, but "Numb" should be the exception. It should be last.

20. "Friendly Fire" from Previously Unreleased

"Friendly Fire" is a great track and its tone lines up nicely with the One More Light album (for which it was originally written). My only note is informed by my love for that album. This track should have been held for an anniversary or special edition of One More Light. I know it's presumptuous to assume anyone wants a deluxe edition of one of their least popular albums, but any extra attention we can throw its way would make me happy.

Total length: 67:57

I'm sure by now someone is jumping into the comments to argue with me and honestly don't care about your opinions. No energy will be wasted fighting over stuff this dumb. What I WILL address though is logistics. With the re-emergence of vinyl as a dominant distribution platform, tracklistings can't be as freeform as they were 20 years ago on Compact Disc.

Your basic CD holds about 80 minutes of music. This collection fits on one disc and easily slots into the few remaining CD shelves at your local Walmarts and Targets. If CD was still the dominant platform, LP and Warner might have shoved 3 more tracks on it to better represent the catalog.

Vinyl is not as forgiving. Sure, since each sind of a 12" record is holds about 20 minutes, a full 80 minutes is still in play, but since their are 3 forced record-flip moments, song length is a huge factor in the final tracklisting.

I've seen weirdness on vinyl releases that specifically address this problem. Like, I've seen the vinyl versions of albums have different track orders to accommodate the 20-minute sides, I've seen mostly empty sides on records, but most egregiously, when blink-182 re-released their 2003 self-titled album on vinyl, Side D was completely blank.

This next section is me trying to build a tracklist that meets my needs as a picky fan-boy, but still fits on the 4 - 20 min sides of 2 vinyl records. Here we go.

Side A - 17:03

"Papercut" 3:05

"Faint" 2:42

"In the End" 3:36

"What I've Done" 3:25

"One More Light" 4:15

Side B - 17:15

"One Step Closer" 2:37

"Bleed It Out" 2:44

"Somewhere I Belong" 3:34

"Waiting for the End" 3:51

"New Divide" 4:29

Side C - 17:42

"Leave Out All the Rest" 3:29

"Burn It Down" 3:50

"Crawling" 3:29

"Pts.OF.Athrty" 3:38

"Breaking the Habit" 3:16

Side D - 17:00

"Shadow of the Day" 4:16

"QWERTY" 3:22

"Lost" 3:19

"Friendly Fire" 2:56

"Numb" 3:07

Well, I thought that would be harder. With most LP tracks being 3-4 minutes in length, the re-arraignment was super modular. All four sides of the records have room to spare. If I really wanted to be a jerk I'd load one or two sides up with short songs to allow the addition of a couple more tracks. Instead, I decided 20 is a nice round number and 5 tracks per side looks good on packaging.

I swapped out "Castle of Glass" and "Numb/Encore" with "Shadow of the Day" and "Pts.OF.Athrty" and it makes the whole thing feel better. I wanted to include something from The Hunting Party, but the best track "All or Nothing" wasn't a single, and the best single "Guilty All the Same" is almost 6 minutes long. Also, after listening to it again, The Hunting Party is not a great representation of the band's best work. I feel comfortable leaving it out completely.

The newer/non-single tracks are bunched up towards the end because that's how it should be and as stated above "Numb" is now last. THIS is a 10/10 collection. I could go deeper and put together a Digital Deluxe collection, or I could throw out all industry standards and rebuild both records with the maximum physical limitation of 25 minutes per side, but that would be overkill (he says after typing 1900 words). Imagine the songs I could put on this baby if given an additional 20 minutes to work with.

Last note, the name of the release is Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000–2023), a fine name, but why include the years? Doing so suggests more is to come. Also, technically, "Friendly Fire" was a single this year so shouldn't it be 2000-2024? Jay Gordon of the band Orgy recently let slip that Linkin Park has a new female singer, but this news has not been corroborated. Is Papercuts simply the end of the Chester era? Is the band working on new music or a tour with a new singer? Is the reason this collection's name stops at 2023 because they plan on releasing more music later this year? Why am I able to come up with so many seemingly justifiable questions from what should be a straightforward Greatest Hits package?

Let me wrap this nonsense up, I'm starting to sound unhinged.

Go listen to Papercuts!

Cheers!

[elithilanor]

😭🥰😭🥰😭🥰

As a recovering rper as well, I certainly understand the love for OCs! I’m a little picky, though (hence the no y/n and reader insert) so I’m honored you like her as much as you do! I actually have a pretty good idea of who she is, but I’m leaving her nameless so readers can enjoy the reader insert.

Yes, one of my favorite genres is whump and hurt/comfort soooo. Poor Haldir.

THANK YOU FOR THE MINUTE DETAILS RECOGNITION. Yes, I’m essentially creating a Marchwarden system in my head for Lórien due to these fics and I am doing completely unnecessary research about it. I don’t have OCD, though! Just a raging hyper fixation due to my adhd and other neurodivergencies and a background in history that makes me need Correct Facts (for the purposes I’m using them for anyway). Actually, I gathered the developing Warden system in Lórien from another wip, but since it’s super steamy and therefore prob not your cup of tea: Lord Celeborn is the top and Lord Marchwarden followed by 4 Chief Marchwardens under him based on the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west). After that I’m toying with Head Wardens, etc. The top structure is what I’ve figured out the most. As stated, Haldir is the Chief Marchwarden of the North, which is the forests above the major cities and spans from the Mines of Moria to the west. He’s also kind of the unofficial favorite of Lord and Lady Celeborn because he’s so capable.

The spider venom idea does not come from me! I’ve read it in a ton of Mirkwood world-building fics because I’m a slut for them! Esp Barduil fics following the Hobbit movies. Sorry not sorry 😂🤷‍♀️. I think this is one of the fics that talks about it as an example and also I really like some of the familial relationships between Thranduil and Legolas here on ao3.

So like here’s the thing, babe (affectionately). These are your requests and you have Haldir hcs based on your fics. While I certainly can’t fully erase my own Haldir hcs (and quite honestly, we don’t disagree on much and I’ve adopted/solidified a few of your hcs into my own such as Haldir’s poetry and writing), I’m writing this for you. So I’m trying my best to stay within the bounds of your world as well because my Haldir and his relationships are a bit different, honestly. These are your requests, for you. So it genuinely is a collaboration since I’m using as much as you’ve provided me as I can as long as it doesn’t super disagree with my Haldir. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 So I’m glad you like it 😈😈😈😈 And while this is an exception series, I also love them so I think we’re stuck with them lololol

Her mother is from the Greenwood! I have Ideas about her family. WIP on that, though, so no information to give out yet.

Thank you! I’m trying to make her a good healer based on my just overall knowledge of how a helpful and good healer should be. While I’ve got a very rudimentary knowledge of herbs, I have no knowledge of medical procedures because I’m incredibly squeamish so I hope you don’t mind missing out on anything there.

I’m asexual, specifically demisexual! So I’ll never write something in which character A finds character B immediately attractive because I literally cannot understand that and therefore cannot write it. I’ll also (probably) never write something in which two or more characters have a sexual experience with each other unless they have at least a perceived, previous relationship with each other even if that fic itself isn’t written. Aces for the slow burn romance, I guess? 😂

Anyway, I just want you to know that I appreciate you and your commentary and kindness and willingness to send me lots of fics. I prefer having at least some prompts because it helps me focus on something concrete rather than going in like a million directions. So please send more (Sotwk, but also others!)

A Healer’s Touch, An Herbalist’s Kindness P1

Concept: See above

Request for: @sotwk​ This one is a bit more from Haldir’s perspective than OFC and honestly I found it a little more difficult to write, so I hope this is to your liking! I decided to split this up into sections just because a) it was getting long and b) really different vibes were going on between the initial meetings and the later visits/excuses to see each other. So here’s the initial meeting! This one’s a little angsty, but it’s mostly up from here, promise!

We’re probably looking at another 3-5 parts depending on flow. So strap in for the ride lol. Yes, there’s also definitely a writing shift because I was testing new styles, but decided it has its time and place. Hope you don’t mind!

Tags: way pre-relationship Haldir x OFC (healer/herbalist and future wife); emotional hurt/comfort; emotional whump! Haldir poor guy, he’s really going through it it’s been a rough season for the wardens out there!; angst

TWs: injury and light blood descriptions; anxiety and panic attacks; some situational self-loathing

____________________________________________________________________

“Círan, you cannot be serious!” Haldir exclaims as he struggles against the other elf’s hold preventing him from marching back into surgery.

“You would leave my brother in the hands of an apprentice with this?” His voice is tight in outrage.

“Chief Marchwarden!” Círan snaps. “She may be recent to us here in The Golden Wood, but not to her skills. Chief Marchwarden,” their voice then softens, “Haldir, please. Rúmil is in good hands with her. She recognized the symptoms as soon as the rider came and has been preparing the whole hours since. Please, let us work.”

Haldir bites his tongue as he watches the unknown elleth briskly cut open the dressing he’d wrapped himself around the jagged wound on his brother’s chest and side and begin flushing it with an alternating mix of clean water and a pungent brew of dark herbs, only some of which he recognized. He can just see her tilt his brother’s head back and produce a vial before the doors swing shut, cutting off his field of vision. 

Haldir takes a shaky breath then reluctantly nods before forcing himself to step back and off to the side. He clenches his jaw and sits in the chair provided by Círan before the healer goes back to assisting with the work ahead.

Haldir, The Lady’s voice sounds clear in his head, startling him from his worry. Celeborn tells me the patrols have destroyed the orc holdout responsible and are bringing in the poisoned blades to the healers for inspection. Expect them within the hour. I have already let Nestál know, as well. How is Rúmil fairing?

Haldir closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before responding, willing away some of the adrenaline and underlying panic in his system.

No worse than before we set off, my Lady. The new healer apparently has seen something similar before and she’s taken the lead in his healing. He says, a touch sardonically.

Ah, slight amusement and warmth filters through their óswanë link. Yes, I imagine she has. She pauses before adding.

Haldir, rest. Let the healers take care of Rúmil. Orophin is on his way in from the Northwest outpost, as well. You take care of our people well, let them help you. Take this time to be with your brothers, we’ll hold steady until your return.

Haldir flounders for what to say and his hands clutch at his own over cloak now torn in three separate places and soaked through with his brother’s blood. He wants to argue but knows he can’t. There is nothing for him to argue against.

Of course, my Lady. Thank you.

Be at peace, Chief Marchwarden. Today has been a dark day, but all will be well. She soothes before withdrawing from his mind.

Haldir sighs and begins to compile a list of all the reports he’d need to complete and patrol routes they’d need to revise. He rubs his temples and settles in the chair for the long vigil he knew he’d have ahead of him.

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

“Marchwarden?” A soft voice breaks into his thoughts over which paths they could secret into the mountain sides above Moria. 

Haldir jolts back into awareness as the elleth caring for Rúmil steps into his line of sight, worry flooding his system. He goes to stand but she waves her hand at at him.

“Is he-?”

She smiles softly, her eyes tired. “As long as your brother makes it through the night - and there’s every indication that he will, just a precaution - then he’ll be fine. It will be a delayed healing process due to the venom, but we all are certain he’ll make a full recovery.”

The relief Haldir feels makes him weak in the knees and in hindsight, he’s incredibly glad that she let him stay seated. He now feels guilty in more ways than one, too. He clears his throat.

“Círan says you’ve encountered this before?”

“Ah, yes.” She looks grim. “Spider venom.”

Haldir blinks in shock, wondering if the new but not-new-to-them apprentice realized how ridiculous she sounded. “You must be mistaken. The Children of Ungoliant are not here in such a way; they’re regional to Mirkwood.”

“Yes, Marchwarden, I’m aware.” She bites out then releases a breath, running a hand through her tresses, messing the already loose braid down her back. “I did my herbalism and first aid training in Imladris, but my mother is from the Greenwood.” Haldir raises an eyebrow at the emphasis feeling as if he would smirk at her if he had the energy left in him.

“I’ve spent much of my life there assisting their healers with the reactions to venom. Its fortunate I’ve learned to always carry vials of antivenin on me or else we’d have to dispatch riders to Lord Thranduil for supply and it likely would be too late for your brother.”

Haldir feels a shiver run up his spine, wiping away his slight amusement.

“You must understand that just because you have no spiders means little. Orcs join forces with them and can coat their blades in the poison; it’s very common in the Greenwood and surrounding areas such as Dale. I’m just surprised. I’ve never heard of the practice extending past the forest’s borders. Nonetheless, Nestal is informing Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel while Círan and I monitor Rúmil. I’ve already made contact with Lord Thranduil to inform him and request additional antivenin be sourced and sent here to Lórien and to Imladris lest they head that way, as well. Orc sightings have been also steadily increasing along the road paths, as I’m sure we’re all aware.”

“Sauron.” Haldir curses. “It seems everyday his range increases and the grief he brings to all lands intermingles with the love already there to be found.”

A smile touches her lips briefly, “Yes, the bastard.” Haldir startles at her bluntness and stares at her.

“Ah, apologies. We have a tendency to be more informal in the healing halls.” The ellyth clears her throat and gestures towards the recovery wing. “I’ve set up a cot near Rúmil for you along with a stand and a couple other things you may need for the evening. Given the availability at the moment, I’ve also set up another space for hm. I believe Lady Galadriel said you had another brother?” She questioned and moved closer to the door, indicating him to follow her.

“Yes, our younger brother Orophin.” Haldir responds, gathering his things.

“Will he be needing medical treatment, as well? I can alert Círan and Nestál.”

“No,” Haldir replies as he stands and moves towards her. “He’s been at post in Nanduhirion.”

She nods at his answer, but looks as if she was parsing out a riddle in her mind’s eye.

“Near the Doors of Moria in the Northwest. Rúmil and I were attacked near the main borders above Cerin Amroth closer to the Northeast.” Haldir says, a touch impatiently, as they move into the next room.

She mutters something from behind him, but Haldir doesn’t hear her as clearly as his training should have him. Instead, he stares at his brother’s form lying prone in a healer’s bed, chest rewound in fresh bandages and a thick, acrid poultice the color of decaying moss and leaves laid over-top every inch. Rúmil was paler than perhaps his first several months out of their mother’s womb and despite his sleeping state for the last several hours, his eyes were sunken in his face and ringed in darkness. Almost as if Rúmil had already met the Death the healers had been trying to prevent.

“-warden. Haldir!” A voice gets louder in his ringing ears and a hand tightens on his arm. He looks down at the short ellyth standing concernedly at his side. He towers over her, he realizes. She’s on the shorter side for an elf. He wonders if she has any Mannish blood in her line.

“Haldir.” She says again. He’s unsure if he hears her as much as sees her lips form his name. She smiles a little as she catches his eye, but the crease between her eyebrows gives her worry away. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”

It takes him a moment but he nods.

“Your brother is doing very well given the situation and with no complications, should pull through just fine. He just needs rest and treatment every few hours. Nod again if you understand me.” He nods. Despite his initial annoyance with her presence, her voice is incredibly soothing to listen to. Something about her is soothing to him. Perhaps her healer’s training.

“Haldir, breathe. In. Out. Can you do that for me?” He forces a stuttering and shallow breath into his lungs.

“Good,” she soothes, “again.” He feels warm at the nape of his neck and repeats the action at her guidance. His sight clears at the edges, bringing him back into awareness with his body. He hadn’t realized how out of focus he was or how close he was to loosing consciousness.

He hadn’t realized a lot of things today. Some Marchwarden he was. Some brother he was, Haldir thought bitterly, tightness rising in his chest again. 

He feels a slight pressure and absentmindedly looks down at the hand on his arm pulling him towards his brother. The ellyth gently guides him to sit on the made cot next to Rúmil‘s and sets his things down on a stool nearby before pouring an already steeped, hot cup of tisane from a full-brewed pot.

She presses the mug of tisane into his hands and Haldir clutches it as if were a lifeline she had thrown out into his drowning hand in the fast-moving waters of the Celebrant instead.

“Drink, Marchwarden. It will help, I promise.” She says gently and he’s suddenly reminded of what she said earlier: I’ve set up a cot near Rúmil for you along with a stand and a couple other things you may need for the evening.

He looks around the space as he sips on the tea provided, scalding his tongue in the process. Tea; mugs; a heated water pitcher, basin, and rags; his bag; pillows and a cot with warm linens made for the cool nights; a reading candle and his brother’s condition report nearby if he wishes to update himself on Rúmil’s progress; and a small platter of fruits, cheeses, bread, and a jar of honey.

A couple of other things, Haldir thinks incredulously. This ellyth had gone far beyond any duties in providing for a family member of an injured patient, Chief Marchwarden or not. Especially one who had been treating her and her healing skills as callously as he had been thus far.

“Marchwarden?” She asks, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Chief Marchwarden of the Northern Boundary.” Haldir can’t help but snap back out of instinct. He immediately regrets his words and goes to apologize, but finds his ability with words too, have finally escaped him.

It’s been a gruesome day and a longer month and an even more grueling several years. He’s not sure he could say the words he wants to express even if he could think of them in the first place.

“Well, then, Chief Marchwarden of the Northern Boundary.” The ellyth states sharply, then pauses and eventually sighs.

Somehow, she still sounds kind when she begins again, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours to check on your brother’s progress and change his bandages. Círan will do hourly rounds until then. In the meantime, I suggest you get some rest. It will be a long night.”

She’s quiet for a moment before she shakes her head slightly and smiles tightly at him then speaks as she runs her eyes over Rúmil. “Please alert us if there’s any serious changes with your brother. Goodnight.”

The ellyth briskly walks out the back set of doors in the room, deeper into the healing halls.

Haldir sighs and sets his empty mug down, rubbing his hands harshly over his face before laying down and staring at the panels in the ceiling.

Just another tally against himself today, Haldir thinks. He can’t even gather himself to be civil with the elf tasked with more than adequately saving his brother’s life after he couldn’t do it himself.

He’s tired, he realizes. A deep, bone-aching tired that lends itself to tides pulling him out to sea.

In the morning, he’ll see what he can do to mend his transgressions from today, he thinks, brain slower to map out possible plans of action than normally.

His yawn cracks his jaw and his eyelids begin to droop of their own accord.

The tisane, he belatedly registers. Made of valerian root, lavender, and rose hips.

Haldir snorts and grins as he begins to drift to sleep. Clever minx.

[luimagines]

Lustrous Anon here, how do you do? Hopefully you're doing well today and once more, thank you for the wonderful scenarios and imagines, you have no idea how much I smiled at the Magical Girl Au Sky one and how amused I was by the Dragon Reader one (although the ending makes me concerned for them, all the best to them), which I really needed after a hard day so thank you, I'm sure I'll adore the part three to Twilight's (aka Arguably Best Boy, just saying, ties right in with First and Time- ahem, nope, going to keep my bias in check before I ramble because I Have Thoughts) Soulmate Au and so I'll thank you in advance for it, writers work hard and so I must thank you accordingly ^^, uh, though apologies if I kind of broke you with information overload? The train of thought kind of derailed midway and it got away from me even if I'm glad I was through and helped you learn a lot, I apologize for that one and take as much time as you need to process because honestly that was my bad, probably no Lustrous Reader shenanigans today as a result xD though I'd add to the other anon here for clarification though they did an excellent job explaining as well. Pardon me if anything is off though, sleep deprivation is not recommended when writing but it is information vital to share. Though I have no idea how you feel about possible spoilers even if they're just world building ones, so I'll probably skirt around those depending on it to be safe, kind of like how Lustrous Reader already does to something they seem "not vital information" when it's actually pretty concerning from the perspective of someone not a Lustrous.

(Warning, possible long ask)

Inclusions are basically microscopic beings that live in the gems bodies, in a sense they're like cells, they need sunlight to keep gems up and moving though, they energize them by absorbing light and allow them to move. Due to this mechanism, Gems need sunlight to survive, forcing them to sleep at night and hibernate in winter (though some gems can bypass that and certain specific circumstances clearly show it's not really a main necessity for the most part). They can indeed be very picky, hence why you need to find compatible material when fixing a Lustrous and take account several factors like family and hardness because it makes it easier for their body to accept them and less risk of them losing memories in the process, else it's basically dead weight and won't respond, the inclusions need to adapt and accept the new piece or else they won't be able to move that new piece at all, though it's on a Lustrous to Lustrous basis since some inclusions are more adaptable than others (see the protagonist for an example), it's harder using parts already from other Lustrous because they already have their own inclusions and they can clash, though it is possible. Just needs a fairly specific set of circumstances to actually work and hope that the inclusions collaborate rather than clash, plus most Lustrous wouldn't want to give parts of themselves away unless under duress or if they really can afford to spare it, those are memories they're talking about, one could say that doing so is a big act of care or trust to them (like a Lustrous chopping off their hair to help fix another Gem because they're similar enough the chances are higher, so it's not really a big deal for them to loose a bit of hair), how inclusions work on gold, silver and mercury is a bit different, if the Lustrous inclusions are compatible, then it's all a matter of will and their emotional state, not to mention weight and flexibility (ex: a Lustrous with gold and silver will be stronger and able to put themselves together faster and be harder to permanently shatter, but they'll not be as fast as a regular gem or some of the fastest Lustrous around because they'll be heavier, and a gem with mercury won't be able to touch other gems because it kills the inclusions within them permanently, they'll be very efficient against Lunarians at the cost of not being able to touch their own without either a good handle on their emotions, a solid buffer, or both, it's a bit of a trade off though mercury likely wouldn't harm humans, since they don't have inclusions and in gemstones it's actually pretty harmless for us, fun fact, it's only concentrated that we really have to worry, another layer of angst is if Lustrous Reader is super reluctant about touching the Chain if they have mercury, and then practically breaking down because they can actually touch someone safely, hardness and that factor aside).

So yeah, hope that helped clarify it, my personal headcanon is that along with being one of the oldest gems and probably one of the more efficient ones in spite of hardness (which I'll likely try dwelling into in another ask, kind of sleep deprived) is that they have very adaptable inclusions due to Farore transporting them, they were already adaptable but after Farore put them back together and sent them off they are even more so because that way they'll be able to survive and function as normal in The Quest and be able to utilize material from Hyrule in case they break, which would also fully explain why Cia's spells wouldn't work, their inclusions are just very good at processing and they convert the light and energy from the spells into energy, probably wouldn't work well against something like say, a Guardian (though I doubt the Chain would even agree with letting one of their own near one easily to test, specially not Wild, they helped him get a durable sword AND know how difficult it's like not to remember anything after so many years and have their memories come at random, he's seen them disassociate after they break much like how he does with memories, I doubt he'd want to put them in a situation where their memories wouldn't come back at all), but it's over all a pretty neat skill to have anyway, kind of like a downgrade of the Mirror Shield. Also the main reason why Lustrous Reader has long hair in the first place would probably be interesting, because usually longer hair is usually most found in stronger gems higher in the ranking (ex: Adamant, who's their teacher and caretaker is way up there like how a Zelda is in the chain of command for the Hyrulean army, Bort, the strongest gem after him and an industrial diamond would probably be equal to general, with regular Diamond right behind them and after them usually Padparascha when they're actually active last I checked), but I feel like when Padparascha isn't active the one who takes their place in that chain may be Lustrous Reader because of their hair length and possible experiences, plus they're a historian, to do that AND not get taken by the Lunarians for so long is basically a feat when for a while they've been working solo before retiring, and I personally think it's hilarious if everyone finds out that, even though there's not many of them they're technically talking to someone pretty high up in that chain of command much like how they figured out Jedi Reader was a general and Lustrous Reader just, doesn't see what the big deal is if anyone tries pointing it out. Like "What do you MEAN I'm technically representing my people here I was retired! I was a historian and only picked up a weapon for my sibling, it's literally not a big deal-"

As for Little Lucky/Amber/Citrine Lucky (going back and forth between the two because I feel like both gems would fit him in a sense, still torn on that one), he's proooooobably fine? There's like, four to five possibilities running around in my head about how he's doing but if it's possibility one then he's alright and going to be that way for a while, just missing his sibling a lot and probably grieving them (maybe hugging his own version of Little Zelda on his free time, or the Houseki no Kuni protagonist, I feel like they'd get along with all of the Links like a house on fire if given the chance, so they probably wouldn't want to see Little Lucky so down in the dumps and do their best to cheer him up), also going to be on the front lines more to see if he can get any pieces of them back to remake them (although as we know it probably won't be any dice, since they're in Hyrule), I have no idea how they could get in contact but maybe the mailman in Twilight's time would be useful? That or Lustrous Reader after getting closer to Ravio asks to briefly borrow Sherrow, because that little guy literally crosses dimensions to get items back in LBTW, who's to say he can't do the same for letters? Though that'd probably be a last resort for Lustrous Reader, they wouldn't want him to get hurt doing that even if the possibility is low since gems either adore or are fairly indifferent towards animals unless attacked first. If they can find a slightly safer way then they'll definitely pick it over anything else (they probably won't ask Lana for a bit because they KNOW that if they go back to Warrior's time, they'll probably throw hands with Cia again so they'll keep that option as a last-last resort, and now I just see that shaking hands meme between Lustrous Reader and Evil Reader and it's just 'Being Protective of Warrior's When Cia is Nearby')

Also I just had a thought, probably the last one for now cause I wouldn't want to overload ya or anyone again and I'm kind of sleep deprived. But uh, there's something that happens in the manga, where one of the Lustrous is shattered and then buried all around the island for being considered too volatile and not able to be reasoned with, and they were concious for that entire period of time (220 years, to be exact and aware of every ticking second), and I was just 'how did y'all even know they'd be fully out of commission then?' and then I was like 'What if Lustrous Reader is the why?', like maybe they reacted badly to their partner being gone (maybe they're the Lustrous Link incarnation before Little Lucky, who maybe lost their own partner, maybe the Zelda before possible Little Zelda, too, and was partnered with Lustrous Reader and if they have a mismatched arm it's because they both agreed to let Lustrous Reader have their parts if any of them got recovered and they needed it because they were close), and if they have their eye and an arm not theirs and see it's their partner's and their friend's (and that it was put on them without as much a bit of their opinion because they were downed, probably had their head shot off or something similar) they don't react well for a while, maybe get more reckless or keep trying to get them out because "They'll need it once we get them back, this is NOT mine it shouldn't be mine-" or snap at the gem doctor (which honestly fair in a way), and thus they're shattered by their own when Adamant isn't awake and then buried for a long, long time before they're let out (time period is up to interpretation, though I feel like 500 years would explain a lot, and again they have a sense of time that's probably akin to Time's, so they probably knew exactly how much time has passed), refuse to take a sword again unless it's in self defense or Adamant calls for them and then go full historian before meeting Little Lucky who basically changes everything because they're like a sibling to them?

I don't know, maybe it comes up after someone notices Lustrous Reader being very reluctant/spaced out on tight or underground spaces, maybe they flinch when seeing the Shrine of Resurrection or when near sand and at first they don't wanna talk about why they're literally cracking, but after someone asks (main suspects being Twi, Sky, First or Time, although really who wouldn't cave after any of the boys asked them gently and worriedly what's wrong? Couldn't be me) they cave and tell them, maybe trying not to make a big deal out of it or very disconnected like they're talking about the weather?

I honestly have no idea how the Chain would react to that happening to someone who's basically their own now and the fact they were concious, awake and aware of every single second of it, though I can see it hitting some sore spots for First and Wild at least. Maybe Warriors, Sky and Time too or even the Fierce Deity.

Anyway, that's all for now, I hope you're having a wonderful day and will have many wonderful ones ahead and well, until whenever the conductor of the train of thought lets me in or I have the time, thank you once more for everything!

-Just an Anon on A Stroll

Anon!!!! No time for strolls when you're sleepy!!! DX

Poor little Link. They might be dead but they're not, they're just in another world entirely.

And them having bits of their partner on them- desperate to keep it safe and intact for when they come back 🥺🥺

The Chain is going to lose their minds

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISNT YOUR ARM!?!?

[vethbrenatto]

okay im not usually picky about d&d mechanics because truly i am here for the narrative and the goofs with all my actual play shows i listen to or watch, but i gotta comment on this one.

in ep 27 of eldermourne, zirk is down with 2 death saves after rolling a natural one, henry is grappled, and it’s moxora’s turn. moxora seemingly holds her turn (not explicitly stated) to talk to henry while henry tries to barter for zirk, but using his deception, henry fails multiple deception checks AND fails to get out of his grapple. fia is far, far away and not really fully aware of the situation- murph allows for bukvar to be used to cast healing word with a successful arcana check even though it’s technically rule bending, which ultimately brings zirk back up.

it just felt kind of... stake-dropping i guess? like the team was just gonna get as many chances as it took to bring zirk back up until it worked. i have no problem with the actual rulebending, using bukvar and casting healing word, but the way moxora held when i feel like it would’ve made full sense with the way of the rolls for her to kill zirk in that moment. just a little :/

i think i’m ultimately probably just a little bit salty about it because i think zirk’s death here could’ve been really narratively impactful. we had just had a hugely zirk-centric episode where he finally stood up to his mother- how tragic would it have been to see stella react to losing her son after they had parted on that note of zirk throwing his top hat to the ground in defiance of her? 

i also think it wouldn’t have been hard to fit a resurrection ritual in there- a chance to bring zirk back (unless... and maybe this is where the real logic for murph’s ruling comes in, eldermourne resurrection doesn’t exist? it’s been a long time since i listened to ep0 and the eldermourne world building so maybe resurrection doesn’t exist or is very difficult in this world) after that hugely narratively impactful death. it kinda just felt like they didn’t want to get sidetracked from the “main quest” with irina and so therefore, zirk couldn’t die, they couldn’t get pulled down a different route, etc etc. 

anyway, i’ll shut up now, just wanted to word vomit all that

[edwardelricsrightarm]

"A lesson without pain is meaningless. For you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return, but once you have overcome it and made it your own...you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart." - Edward Elric

In honor of disability month and the FMA 20 year anniversary I wanted to address some Thoughts™️ about the series.

It's not often you see a disabled protagonist in media where their disability is integral to the story without taking up their entire character, even more so with anime. Yet, Fullmetal Alchemist has not just one disabled Protagonist, but two. The Elric Brothers are an exemplary representation of disability in media that I find myself reflecting on often as a disabled person myself. If you haven't completed the manga or Brotherhood, skip this as it will be brimming with spoilers.

(Mangahood will be my point of reference because while 03 is good on its own merits it's not as fresh within my immediate memory, and I am far less familiar with it. Keep this in mind, I've watched FMAB 10 and a half times whereas I've finished 03 only once years ago.)

The story highlights their disabilities immediately, Edward being a double amputee and Alphonse being without his ENTIRE body, only having the senses of proprioception, sight, and hearing left. Yet, despite this being key to the story and an integral part of their characterization, it is only one facet of their motivations and doesn't take center in the narrative, which is refreshing. It's not inherently negative to make a narrative centered on the characters' disabilities, but often this model of a story goes very wrong very fast and starts to feel hollow (no pun intended). FMA avoids this by making their disabilities a clear part of the plot and their motivations without allowing it to consume the entire story, so the Elric Brothers don't suffer the "my disability is all of my character" problem that many disabled characters are relegated to in a vast portion of media, all while being strong and competent.

Recap:

The brothers wished to revive their mother, but their good intentions cannot change the atrocity of their mistake, Truth makes this abundantly clear from the start. Edward loses his leg first, a punishment for "stepping" into God's shoes and transgressing the place of humans in their world. Alphonse loses his entire body, unable to feel any warmth or simple comforts like food and rest, when all he wanted was to feel the warmth and comfort of his mother's embrace again. At first, Alphonse's entire being is consumed by the gate, but Edward acts immediately, refusing to lose his little brother and refusing to allow his arrogance in this plan to cause his brother's death for only following his lead. Edward gives his right arm to have the gate give back Alphonse's soul, and stated clearly in his panic that he'd give his entire self to save Alphonse if that's what it would take, but Truth took his dominant arm only, showing something akin to mercy, although the character of Truth is capriciously strict and hard to describe as "merciful".

Through giving up his right arm, Edward regains his Right Hand Man, his little brother and best friend. His only remaining family, who he feels responsible for protecting in the absence of their parents. He felt immediately that he'd made a grave mistake, instantly full of regret as he realized the gate had taken his brother. In that moment he was willing to give anything to take it back and undo the suffering his arrogance caused his brother, yet Alphonse was still to suffer more to come. Ed tied Alphonse's disembodied soul to one of Hohenheim's collected suits of armor, managing to at least keep his brother alive in some way. One could say that Alphonse's punishment functioned as a secondary punishment for Edward, showing him how easily his hubris could have cost him what he has left in his obsession with regaining what they'd lost, their mother. A very clear symbolic reminder of the weight of his actions and how he'd misled his brother in his own naive ignorance. Even in giving another limb away to drag his brother's soul back out of the gate, he couldn't offer enough to bring him back intact. Thus is the law of equivalent exchange.

Now that we've reviewed some of that basic symbolism and the motifs the story draws upon with limbs and body parts in relation to characters, let's move on to each individual brother and break it down, shall we?

Edward Elric is a very realistic protagonist, this is one thing a majority of us familiar with this series can agree upon. He feels like a believable teen boy, with layers of complexity to his character while also showing arrogance and immaturity that is unsurprising at his age. He expresses unwillingness to kill and avoidance of unjust violence from the beginning, and has a strong moral code after the ordeal of committing the taboo.

In some characters his cocky personality would typically become grating, yet the story explains in itself why he is this way, then builds upon this to develop him into an incredibly mature character who is willing to admit when he's absolutely wrong and adapts to new information and context for the crisis unfolding around him as it comes, even if he remains crass. This arrogance is shown from the start to be a manifestation of insecurity, self loathing, and repressed guilt. Edward is a logic driven person, he has a very unique thought process, which is where my interpretation of him as autistic comes in. Edward's awkward social demeanor, somewhat abrasive and cold approach to some, and his trouble coping with nonsensical societal structures all stand out in this way. Furthermore he clearly shows hyperfixation, hyperactivity, special interest, and infodumping behaviors that are all too familiar. He's picky with food (*cough* the milk thing), has very little filter and speaks his mind bluntly even if this can warrant conflicting responses, yet at the same time struggles with vulnerable emotions, and he is frustrated when his own routine or itinerary are interrupted by forces beyond his control. All of these things Scream autism with comorbid ADHD. Many traits are shared between the brothers, and I'm quite certain they're both on the autism spectrum based on behavioral patterns. Neurodivergence aside, Edward's physical disabilities are undeniable.

Despite his bratty persona, Edward is fundamentally kind and uncharacteristically gentle and soft around the edges for a shonen protagonist in many ways. He cries openly on many occasions even if he struggles talking about his trauma and burdens in words at times, he feels pain, grief, and compassion so intensely it throws him into action on a regular basis in the narrative. In this way he's also a fantastic example of non-toxic masculinity (though in other ways he has displayed more toxic traits, he's just a kid). He acts on his heart, even if he's led by his mind and logic in most things. His humanity, value for life, and care for others will always win over his logic, and he shows a sense of personal responsibility for doing the right thing even if it harms him in the process. Ed is clearly shown having ghost pains in his lost limbs which is honestly an interesting detail to include, I don't think I've ever seen that aspect of amputation shown in media aside from FMA. It's also shown that when Ed's automail arm breaks this is a HUGE problem for him, but he's also shown to be very good at working around this in difficult circumstances. He doesn't become completely helpless, even if majorly weakened.

Alphonse is an extremely lovable and compassionate boy, brimming with altruism and care for others. Even in his noncorporeal state he pursues a better future and he's not helpless by any stretch. Edward clearly states Alphonse is the superior fighter for example, and it's not just because of his armor body being so large. He's *talented*, that's a fact. Al is every bit as clever and capable as Ed, moreso in some ways, and I love that about his character *because* he's so clearly disabled. He has no sense of pain, he is completely incapable of sleeping, he can't eat, can't relax or find comfort, he can only exist and think. This causes him to overthink in all his time alone, this is debilitating. He clearly is absolutely sick of the loneliness this causes, and he often feels helpless though he's not. He has doubts and fears that consume him in relation to his armor body, he questions his own personhood, even. Yet, Edward is stubborn and staunch in affirming that no matter what he's dealing with, he is fundamentally still a human being that is loved and irreplaceable. Alphonse is powerful and his body gives him some advantages, but it also sets him back, and the brothers know this even when others claim Alphonse's state is somehow a good thing. I have hEDS, a disability that comes with advantages as well as the major downsides, so I can understand and relate to Alphonse here. I too am told my disability is a boon because of flexibility and because I'm less likely to fracture bones, but I'm twice as likely to injure my ligaments and joints, which people ignore.

The brothers are both disabled, both flawed, both show weaknesses, but they are competent, determined, and strong in their own right. They are rounded characters that exist for more than to be pitied or condescended to by able bodied characters around them. They put their entire being in everything that they do no matter what that is, and they don't know the meaning of giving up. These traits that they're made of truly make them a shining example of disability in protagonists for others to look to for reference when writing their own disabled characters.

Even though by the end Edward has regained one limb and Al has regained his body, this also doesn't just deus ex machina reverse their disability or make it go away. It's clear that Alphonse's body is weak and has to be rehabilitated upon recovery, and Edward is still missing his leg and bears the scars and pieces of the port from his automail arm. They weren't suddenly made able bodied upon recovering these things, they reclaimed what was lost through struggle and grit, but the narrative didn't give the impression that their disability in itself was something to be fixed, which is important. They wanted to recover their bodies, but this doesn't erase the effects of their disability.

It was about Edward atoning for leading Alphonse into their mistake and saving his brother from suffering further, it was about them proving they can keep moving forward no matter what, not about getting rid of their disability in itself or putting themselves down because of the disabilities. This, to me, as a mentally and physically disabled viewer, is so important. They achieve their goal, but this doesn't in any way erase or undo the effects of their initial losses, they find ways to adapt and move on but they're still affected and still disabled. They always will be. That can be so important to see in comfort characters, and as a disabled individual who's had both brothers as comfort characters since I was a child, their impact on my own journey is surprisingly tangible for fiction.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Out Of Time ~ 134

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 2,685ish

Summary: A few surprises are in store. (Read the note at the end of the chapter.)

They had had many more nights of passion and love after that one, slowly healing them together. And the two hadn’t been so caring about protection. Five weeks after that first night, Y/N was sleeping, cuddled up to Tony. Suddenly, she popped up having the sudden urge to puke. She rushed to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time. She was still letting out her guts when Tony came into the bathroom, worried.

“Oh, honey,” he knelt by her, rubbing her back. “Dinner not sitting well with you?”

“No—“ She cut herself off, throwing up more into the toilet. “Tony… I think we’re in trouble.”

“Trouble? Why would be be in trouble?”

Wiping off her mouth with her sleeve, Y/N leaned against the wall, facing a still too skinny Tony. “We haven’t exactly been the most safe with our recent sexual escapades.”

“Sexual escapades?” Tony repeated, wiggling his brows and smirking. “I like the sound of that.”

“Tony, I’m serious… I think I need a pregnancy test.”

Tony’s eyes bulged. “Are—are you sure?”

“I don’t know… that’s why I want to check.”

“I’ll run out to the store and grab a test.” Tony scrabbled to his feet. “I’ll be right back.” He was out the door before Y/N could stop him.

Y/N sat there, thinking about how they could have let this happen? How could they have been so reckless? But the more she thought about it, the less she could excuse. But how where they going to be parents, when she felt that they had failed their child the last time? And what if something more was wrong with her? What if she couldn’t protect this one either? 

When Tony came back, he found Y/N on the same spot on the floor.

“I didn’t know which test worked the best so I grabbed them all,” Tony told her, kneeling in front of her and showing her the bag of tests. “I also grabbed different snacks and such, but I left those in the kitchen because I didn’t know how you’d react to them. So, which test do you want to try first? And do you want be in for them or waiting outside the door?”

Y/N inhaled shakily. “Can you just wait outside?”

“Of course.” Tony nodded, quickly pecking her lips before standing up. 

“Don’t shut the door,” Y/N practically begged. 

“Okay,” Tony nodded. “I’ll be right here. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Tony left the door open enough so that Y/N could see him leaning against the wall beside it. His hand was wrapped around the molding, as if to tell her he was still there. Taking a deep breath, Y/N began the tests. Once done with one test, she lined it agains the wall and grabbed another. After all 11 tests were finished, Y/N walked out and washed her hands.

“Can you put on a timer for ten minutes?” She asked quietly, her voice slightly filled with nerves.

“I got it,” Tony responded, and with a few touches to his watch a ten minute timer appeared on the mirror. He could tell Y/N was nervous so he came over and wrapped his arms around her and brought her back into her chest. Their eyes met in the mirror.“Everything will work out the way it’s suppose to,” he whispered. “And, whatever you want to do, I’ll stand by you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was the longest ten minutes either of them had ever experienced. They held each other, watching the mirror’s timer count down. Once it went off, they were frozen in their spot. Eventually, Tony turned Y/N around to face him.

“Together?” He questioned softly.

“Together,” she gave a little nod, pressing her lips to his for a quick kiss.

Holding hands, the two went to where the tests were. Y/N squeezed Tony’s hand as she closed her eyes and face her head down. While willing herself to open her eyes, she heard Tony let out a breathy, yet happy, chuckle. Opening her eyes, she finally saw the tests.

“You’re pregnant,” Tony grinned, kissing the side of her head. “You’re pregnant!” He grabbed Y/N and spun her around. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“We’re going to have a baby,” she repeated quietly, clearly in a state of shock. “I’m… pregnant… Tony…” She looked up at Tony’s large, excited brown eyes. “What if… what if I screw it up again?” Her eyes become watery. “What if I lose this one too?”

He ran his hand down her arms until they attached to her hands. “Listen to me, very carefully, I love you. And I already love the life you have growing inside of you. I will do absolutely anything in my power to make sure that you both are healthy and safe. I will get the best doctors and get the house finished faster and eliminate all the stress I can. You will not lose this baby. And it was never, or either will be, your fault for losing AJ. At least not yours alone.”

“I’m scared. This world… this—“

“This world, yes, is scary. But so was the world before half the population turned to ash. We will protect and teach our child to the best of our ability. We will work with what we have, imperfections and all.”

“You’re too good for me.”

“Oh, honey, it’s always been the other way around.” He pulled her hands up and kissed her knuckles. “I love you. Always and forever.”

“I love you too.” They met for a kiss. “We’re going to have a baby,” she smiled, the excitement finally getting to her.

“We’re going to have a baby,” Tony smiled back.

~~~

Morning sickness was the worst, especially cause it was the biggest lie. It didn’t just happen in the morning. It lasted all day and all night. Thankfully, Tony was always there with a damp rag and a comforting hand on Y/N’s back. Then there was the fatigue, breast tenderness, and the mood swings. On second Y/N would be laughing, the next crying, and the next yelling. But Tony took it all like a champ.

When the cravings began the next week, Tony had already stocked the whole kitchen and storage closet, ready for any possibility. What concerned Tony the most though, was that, even with the cravings, nothing was sitting well with Y/N’s stomach. He had hired the doctor to come in and do the check ups, worried that anything could be too stressful for Y/N and the baby.

“She’s not keeping anything down, doc,” Tony worried, as the doctor squeezed cool, blue gel onto Y/N’s stomach. “Is that normal?”

“Normal, no,” the doctor responded, getting the ultrasound machine ready. “Uncommon, also no. The baby just might be really picky. But I can prescribe something to help with the morning sickness.”

“That would be wonderful,” Y/N sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“Now, let’s take a first look at the little trouble maker, shall we?”

Moving the ultrasound probe around her stomach, the doctor carefully observed the ultrasound screen. Nervous, Y/N tightened her grip on Tony’s hand as they both also stared at the screen. Neither of them knew how to read an ultrasound, but they were sure trying. Suddenly, the doctor froze the machine’s screen.

“There it is,” the doctor smiled softly, pointing to the screen. “Looks like it’s even a good size.”

“Oh… my…. Gosh…” Y/N muttered, unable to take her eyes off the screen.

“That’s our baby,” Tony grinned, trying to keep from tearing up. “Can we know the gender yet?”

“I don’t like the check until 18 weeks. You’re at 6 now, almost 7, so you have a little while longer.” The doctor pressed a button, causing a few small photos of the ultrasound to print out. The doctor tore the photos from the machine and tried to hand them to Y/N. “Here you go.” But Y/N was frozen, staring at the screen.

“I can take them,” Tony said, reaching over. “Honey? Are you okay?”

“I… I never got to see AJ…” She responded quietly, still staring.

“AJ?” The doctor questioned, looking at Tony. 

“Our son,” Tony responded. “Miscarriage.”

“Oh. Well, knowing that I need you to rest. No stress or strain. Understood?”

“I’ll make sure she follows orders.”

“Very good.” The doctor began to clean off Y/N’s belly. “Feel free to reach out with any questions and we can make an appointment for 4 weeks from now.”

“Thank you doc. How about I show you out?”

“Very well.” The doctor turned off the screen and pushed the equipment over into the corner. “I will see you soon Miss Rogers.”

All Y/N could do was nod in response, she was still so lost in her own mind. As Tony left with the doctor, Y/N reached over and carefully picked up the picture of her baby. 

“Hello,” she whispered, rubbing a hand against her stomach. “I can’t believe you’re in there… I promise I’ll protect you and love you. And I’ll teach you how to stand your ground and fight. Your father will teach you how to build things and he… he’s going to be the best father and he will love and protect you too. I can already tell that you’re going to have him wrapped around your finger.”

“Just like their mother is,” Tony said, coming into the room. “You talking to the little bean?” He came up and sat on the side of the bed.

“Yes… Tony, there’s a baby in there.”

“There is.” He smiled.

“We never got to be excited about AJ… I’m sorry that we didn’t get that.”

“Me too.” Tony set his hand over Y/N’s that was resting on her belly. “But we’ll make it up with this one.”

~~~

Week 7 was full of the same symptoms as the previous weeks, though the nausea hadn’t been too bad since the doctor proscribed some meds. This week added on frequent urination. Y/N was either in the bathroom throwing up or peeing. Though, Tony wasn’t all that worried because he was currently doing all the research he could on pregnancy and birth.

Week 8 all the pregnancy symptoms were in full force, making Y/N feel bad for Tony. The two had contacted Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper, and told them the good news. The three were so excited, yet promised not to say anything to anyone after Tony swore them to secrecy. Rhodey asked Tony about them telling Steve, but was quickly shut down. Neither of them were ready to talk about or to Y/N’s brother just yet.

It was the first day of week 9 and Tony was up way before Y/N was. It had multiple surprises for her today and he wanted to make sure she was all rested up before he surprised her. Happy was helping as Tony packed up somethings. The cabin was finished and one of Tony’s surprises was going to be moving into the cabin.

“I’ll make sure that this all gets to the cabin and it’s all ready, Tony,” Happy said as the last thing was taken to the elevator. 

“Thanks, Happy,” Tony said. “We’ll see you then. I got to wake her and get her to get ready without making anything look suspicious.”

“Good luck, you’re gonna need it.”

Tony was facing Happy as he walked away. “Hey! At least she can’t read minds anymore.”

Tony headed to the bedroom to find Y/N sleeping soundly. He almost didn’t want to wake her, she was looking so peaceful. But he was just so excited for the day, he knew he couldn’t wait. Carefully, Tony crawled onto the bed and knelt over Y/N. He slowly began placing kisses anywhere that she had exposed skin.

“Tony,” she moaned.

“Yes?” He questioned with a smirk, still kissing her body.

“What are you doing?”

“Waking you up.”

“What for? I was actually getting some good sleep.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I have a few things planned for today.”

Opening one eye, she looked at Tony. “A few things?”

“Yes.” He kissed her lips quickly. “Now, your clothes are all laid out in the bathroom, so go shower and then we’ll head.” He gave her one more kiss before moving to stand beside the bed.

“What do you have up your sleeve, Tony?”

He took her hands and began to pull her up. “You’ll just have to wait and see.

~~~

Tony wouldn’t saw a word about where he was taking Y/N after they got in the car. Before she knew it the city was gone and the suburbs were slowly disappearing as well. 

“Seriously, Tony, where are you taking me?” Y/N asked.

“We’re almost there,” he responded. 

“Almost where?”

Tony chuckled. “You’re cute, you know that?” 

Y/N scoffed, folding her arms over her chest and pouting. “And you’re mean.”

“Love you too, honey.”

Tony turned and the car began to make its way up a windy dirt road. Y/N focused on looking out the window, for any clues. Eventually, a lake appeared, with a pier extending into it. They rounded a bend and Y/N saw a cabin.

“Oh,” she gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Is that—“

“Yes, honey,” Tony smiled. “Welcome home.”

“It’s… it’s better than I could have imagined it.”

“I’m glad.”

Tony stopped the car and ran around to help Y/N out. Tony helped her up, keeping a hold of her hand once she was standing. Y/N was looking around, in awe.

“When did it get finished?” Y/N wondered.

“A few days ago,” Tony answered. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“It’s wonderful. I love it.” She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I love you.” She gave him a loving kiss. 

“Love you too. What do you want to see first?”

“Honestly, I kinda need to pee. So maybe we could head inside first?”

Tony laughed. “Okay, sweetheart.”

With an arm slung around Y/N’s waist, the two headed inside. As they walked further in, Y/N froze. The living room was lit with candles and there was rose petals scattered around.

“Tony,” Y/N said softly, leaving his side to further examine the room. “What is this?” She turned around and gasped. Tony was down on one knee, holding a ring up in his fingers. “Tony…”

“Just, please, let me get through this,” Tony pled, clearly nervous. “The past eight years that we’ve known each other, has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. But, I feel like that’s only made us stronger. We’ve both done our share of stupid shit, but we’ve always somehow ended up back together, trying to make it work… for me, this has been a long time coming. Happy has literally been caring this ring around for years, waiting for me to finally propose to you. And now, I’m going to because, honey, there is no one else in the world that I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you so much and I already love our baby so much. So, Y/N Rogers, will you marry me?”

Biting her lip nervously, she nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

“Yes!” Tony celebrated while slipping on the ring. “I was honestly so scared.” He stood up and brought Y/N into his chest. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” They began kissing, only for Y/n to quickly push away. “I’m so sorry, but I kinda just peed a little.” Tony threw his head back, laughing. Y/N playfully smacked his chest. “Don’t laugh! That’s mean!”

“I’m sorry, honey.” He kissed her cheek. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up and we can celebrate later?”

“I don’t know if you’ll be celebrating anything after that laugh,” Y/N grumbled, walking away. 

next chapter >

I have thought this through and changed my mind many times, but I swear that this time it’s for real. I have decided to do two endings: Tony’s Ending and Bucky’s Ending. I know that Team Bucky may be a little confused about how their ending is going to work after this chapter, but I promise it will. I will be taking a break soon, so the chapters/endings won’t be out too fast. (I will most likely just be posting on weekends for a little while.) But I just don’t want to disappoint either team with whatever I was originally going to choose as the one ending. I hope that everyone will be okay with two endings. I’m going to try to figure out the best way to post the endings so that all my readers will still be willing to read it.

Thank you all for the support! And please be patient with me and the story.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[ilkkawhat]

"How long have you had this planned?" "Since the moment I fell in love with you."

(For MacDalton)

[two things: one, this is like the first time I've written them in over three months so I apologize if I'm a bit rusty and two: I just straight up invented a new music venue for the sake of plot. I hope you enjoy Nade!!!]

If there’s one thing Jack’s learned in all of his years of knowing Angus Macgyver, it’s that for certain anniversaries; be it birthdays, deathdays, randomly constituted holidays mostly created on Jack’s behalf such as Bruce Willis’ birthday or the day Die Hard premiered in theaters, it’s that Mac is very...picky when it comes to his sentiments.

He loves a good party, sure, but doesn’t necessarily enjoy birthdays—at least his own, because he still always puts forth effort for others’ to ensure they have a good time.

He believes in Santa Claus, with what he thinks is irrefutable scientific proof, but doesn't believe in the other innocent childish entities such as the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, agreeing with Jack that the Tooth Fairy is nothing more than a unwanted home invader in the form of a lying parent and the Easter Bunny is just downright made to terrify children with mall photos.

Hell, he at times even downplays the importance of Cairo Day, willing to work instead of lazing around the deck with a six pack and bags of takeout delivered by Jack himself—and while there really was an emergency this time around that left both of them bruised and battered and shaken with the sight of a gutshot Bozer, it ended up being the perfectly bided time for something he’s had planned for, well...for a long while, now.

That, and he’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone, embarking on a road trip to find a long lost father that he already knew Jack would join him on before he even said a single word, and in turn take Jack on a trip he never quite expected to have. One without any hiccups, not even an improvisation. Perfectly planned and tailored to the man he both owes his life to, and wants to devote his life to.

He asks Jack to take a pit stop on their cross-country road trip—immediately dispelling Jack’s insistence of hitting up the casinos in Vegas with teasing argument that he’d lose all of their money for food and gas no matter how many times Jack explains that he knows the “system,” but once their banter fades back into the comfortable silence, he directs Jack past the state of Nevada and into the southerner’s own home state—the Lonestar state.

“Texas? You really think Daddy Mac might be hiding in a hole in Texas?”

Mac shrugs coyly and Jack grins.

“Don’t matter anyhow, been wantin’ to take you back down here anyway. Mama’s missed having a scrawny kid to cook for,” Jack teases with a wink.

“Well good, cause we gotta swing by your casa and pick somethin’ up real quick,” Mac puts on a faithful imitation of the Texan’s accent, and Jack beams.

“Going native, huh, hoss? What do we gotta pick up?”

“Your guitar.”

“My guitar?” Jack’s eyes narrow behind the large yellow lens of his aviators and gives up trying to ask why because Mac keeps his lips sealed.

They just keep driving instead, down a long country road with the appropriate tunes to accompany this feeling; Mac’s hair flowing in the wind, Jack casually driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on Mac’s knee, a wide grin on both of their faces as they watch the sun set and the beautiful unseen stars in the sky rise out to greet them.

And a robot in the backseat, but he’s smart enough to know when to stay quiet and just enjoy the moment.

They make it to Jack’s home, an intended short visit turns into almost an entire day and while Mac is never the one to make excuses to leave, he tries to come up with as many as he can to make it to their destination on time.

Fortunately, he also got Mama Dalton and Jack’s sister in on it too, which does make it just a little easier and Mac promises that they’ll come back on the way home after nearly having to drag Jack out of the beloved ranch home.

He won’t be so grumpy once he sees what I got planned, Mac has to remind himself, because his light layer of deception does hurt him as much as it hurts Jack.

Another reason he wasn’t a fan of the “surprise” element of having a birthday. There’s an almost malicious level of teasing to making sure the birthday boy or girl doesn’t suspect a thing.

But he knows Jack, and knows he has to be suspecting something, evident by his sudden bitterness in their usually laid back banter.

“You’re just getting tired of driving is all,” Mac tries to reason with him.

“Me? I ain’t tired. You’re the one who’s tired, want me to tuck you in the back?” Jack sneers.

“How am I supposed to give you directions then?”

“I got Spanky back there—”

“Sparky.”

“Whatever. And where is it that we’re going anyway, Mac?”

“Up there,” Mac smiles when he sees the building in the distance, the GPS on his phone indicating they’re only mere minutes away.

“Wuh—No. No!” Jack gapes and Mac burst out in glee. “What are we doing at the Armadillo II?”

The Armadillo II, being a freshly renovated bar and music hall was built as an homage to the Amradillo World Headquarters, which Jack often talked about having gone to as a young kid, wishing it had lasted longer before being turned into an office building—something he often compared to the transition of childhood to adulthood itself.

“Beer and music, what else would you do?”

“Yeah, but I mean, how does this relate to…”

“It doesn’t. It’s just for you. For us,” Mac grips Jack’s hand and gently kisses him on the cheek. “Making up for Cairo Day.”

“Aw, gee, Mac,” Jack’s eyes are glistening, his teeth shining under the bright moonlight in the brightest smile. “You shouldn’t have!”

They’re greeted by a bouncer who holds up a hand to Jack’s chest as he was ready to strut his way in.

“Tickets,” the bouncer grunts.

“Ah, damn, don’t have ‘em on me, but I know the owner—” Jack starts to ramble, ready to sneak their way in but surprisingly, Mac has two ticket stubs.

“Where’d you get those?”

“From my pocket,” Mac says simply and pushes Jack into the building.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the concert will begin in fifteen minutes, please fill you drinks and take your seats!”

“Concert, what concert?” Jack shouts as he takes in the room, taking the chair closest to the door at the table that Mac directs them to.

“See that banner?” Mac nods up to the stage.

Willie Nelson.

Jack knew of course, that Willie Nelson would occasionally come out for a concert or two, usually to fundraise for his acts of activism—and even if he couldn’t attend he’d always try to send some money for the cause, but never, and he really means never in his right mind did he ever think this would happen.

“I love you, Mac,” Jack breathes, and the concert begins.

A few songs in, Willie slows down to a gentle strum on his guitar, and the lights dim to match an intimate, romantic atmosphere.

“Now, this next song is called ‘A Song for You,’ although, it is my honor to make a slight alteration to the title for one of our country’s greatest unsung heroes. A guy with a name that sounds like it’d be on the menu at Carl’s Junior came up to me on the street the other day—”

The crowd laughs at the name joke, and so does Mac but Jack’s jaw is hung open, no sound coming out which makes Mac laugh even harder because he knows it’s all coming together.

“He told me his story, their story and well, now it’s my turn to tell y’all that story too. This here is a song for you, Jack Dalton.”

“No. Fucking. Way!” Jack breathlessly gasps, his fingers shaking, his eyes watery and red. Mac puts his hand on Jack’s knee, and Jack sandwiches it with his own. It’s not until the song is over that he’s able to speak again, wiping the tears from his eyes as the crowd applauds.

“When the hell didja manage to talk to Willie Nelson?”

“On my way back from Siberia. Made a pit stop.”

“And now, it’s my greatest pleasure to welcome onto the stage, the man himself—”

“Mac…” Jack starts slapping, clawing at Mac is if to bring him back to life because this sure as hell feels like he’s died and gone to heaven—though he knows, and Mac knows, that will never happen.

Jack Dalton will never die.

And even if he did, he’d never go into that light without Mac by his side, and because of that, because they’re alive, they both feel unstoppable, almost youthfully immortal in that sense—if they were going to die, they would have kicked the bucket by now, surely.

“Come on up here, Jack!” Willie calls and Jack just cannot believe it, especially not when that same bouncer comes up behind him holding his own guitar that he had stashed away in the back of his GTO.

“How long have you been planning this?” Jack asks wildly as he rises from his seat.

“Since the moment I fell in love with you,” Mac replies, and rises with him, sending him to the stage after a good luck kiss. “Which was basically when you played Willie Nelson every day in the Sandbox.”