#referencing a recent event with a friend

[cornchka]

"hurting a nice jewish girl like me?"

"that's gotta be against a mitzvah"

[weirdmageddon]

the shift in lore literacy in homestuck’s fandom

i was thinking about how the people who got into homestuck after it ended—whose interactions with the comic are in a static, archived state, not an ongoing thing—missed out on information that was more common knowledge in the fandom at that time. i don’t know if this is true since i’m not on tiktok, but i wouldn’t be surprised if it was. the fandom certainly isn’t the same as it was before.

ive found that many people reading homestuck now simply do not understand things in homestuck that were common knowledge back in the day, with calls for “homestuck literacy classes to become mandatory” in response to baffling takes because so many people just now seem to have glazed over the comic without absorbing important plot points, and i think i know why this may be. i ended up writing a post reflecting on my time with the comic, my perspective and how ive seen this change. i still think and write about homestuck because it still fascinates me. earlier i quote retweeted that call in my thread talking about the temporal relativity of dave and rose’s god tier ascension in the green sun, saying “my homestuck literacy is 100% so guess im doing my part as a teacher by pointing out whatever i think is really cool about it”. this post im writing now started out as a reply to this tweet i got in response.

i joined the fandom in 2013. i was 11. i had been aware of it since at least late 2011, early 2012 when my friend ryan in fifth grade told me to read it but i couldn’t get past the first few pages. i remember writing a journal on deviantart around this time (late 2011-early 2012) that was mocking people who typed like gamzee, which ironically was very karkat of me. and i remember someone on flipnote hatena i was following was making flipnotes with the alpha kids.

i dont know what caused me to flip the switch into reading it but 2013. i got into it somewhere between april (i think closer to april—i remember it being quite a span of time between the last update before HOMOSUCK dropped.) this was the most recent page the comic, meaning there was no > [S] ACT 6 ACT 6 at the bottom.

i got into it during a pause in updates, which looking into it, was the year 4 megapause. i wasn’t sure of the month until seeing the news post detailing the reason for the hiatus and the status report of the comic’s development at that time. pretty cool i could narrow it down by referencing the dates of those updates and the news post to correspond with the pause!

according to readmspa, the year 4 megapause was a 59 day hiatus from Apr 14, 2013 ==> (EOA6A5) running to 12 Jun 2013, [S] ACT 6 ACT 6. then for a few months there were the first updates that i was apart of the fandom for.

and what an exciting time during the story get into the webcomic! when the updates resumed in june, part 4 of homestuck had begun. here was a glimpse of the updates in that span of time before the next hiatus began in october.

that hiatus was none other than the gigapause, the longest hiatus in the comic, which started october 2013 and lasted for a YEAR, and i already posted about what happened on the date of return.

but here were the main events happening in the story at the time i first actually got interested in it. i wasn’t aware of the full context of them then like i am now, but i was looking at the most recent updates anyway with interest:

the alpha kids just emerged as god tiers from their slabs in derse and prospit, blown up by the condesce and caliborn / lil cal-possessed b2 jack noir.

the journey to the new session started 24 hours after jack called an early reckoning in descend—for context that was about when dave entered around midnight central time and before jade even entered. it’s pretty easy to forget that side 1 of homestuck basically happens within the span of a single day—and at this point in the story, the 3 year journey (which was also 3 real life years) had just ended. john and jade emerged from the other side of the yellow yard through the fenestrated plane on LOMAX. john’s real body was asleep upon arrival in the new session, while his dreaming projection out in the dream bubbles came across vriska’s ghost ship to learn lord english lore with vriska and aranea, and go on the treasure hunt where they found the ultimate weapon at the X mark out in in the furthest ring. in the dream john stuck his hand in the juju, started warping all over canon which removed his real body from the ship on LOMAX. he zapped around for a while but eventually zapped back to LOMAX, now awake, completely out of the loop of what everyone else is up to, and bored as fuck. what was everyone else getting up to while john was asleep?

jade was now once again within the domain of the green sun. im pretty sure her space god doggy essence comes with the power to sense what was anywhere within the domain of the session since her face looks like she arrived at that spot with intent (and she literally has jack noir’s exact powers from bec’s prototyping. also this panel). she immediately dispatched b2 jack to the edge of the incinisphere, defending the newly god-tiered jane and jake. i think even if they weren’t in any danger, she would have warped to them instantly anyway because she COULD now, and i can imagine she wouldve been sooooo eager to meet everyone. even davesprite comments about her rapid departure.

the pre-scratch refugees arrived during the only time serious shit ever went down in the nobles’ months-long inert void session. the condesce used her freak psychic bronze-cerulean powers to commune with jade’s bestial side and mind controlled her, which is super dangerous as someone with the powers of a first guardian. she then used jade’s powers to corrupt jane with the tiaratop. no funtime meetup allowed!

the trolls’ meteor with rose, dave, and the remaining trolls was pulling up into the new session with no way to slow it down. grimbark jade warped there once it was in the incinisphere and took active control. she warped everyone off the trolls’ meteor and sent them to LOMAX.

as john was losing his mind on LOMAX waiting for everyone, the meteor crew warped in. after 3 years he finally reunited with rose and dave, and at least saw the trolls in person. close curtains, end of A6A5. this was the newest [S] flash page at the time, one of my first impressions of this comic, and still one of my favorite flashes. knowing the context of the flash in the story only enhances the retrospective joy i have at getting into the comic at the time i did because it’s such an anticipated moment in the story for everyone, while for someone with no context of the story it was still enjoyable.

so that’s what was going on plotwise when i joined the fandom.

from this time, through those few months of updates and through the gigapause, i was familarizing myself with the characters in the story and overseeing the state of fanbase, getting myself acquainted with the story and wrapping my head around everything.

at that time i found that a new-ish group called colab HQ who were producing a let’s read homestuck series on youtube. hearing the voices and the pacing of it like that really, really eased me into it (maybe it was my adhd that gave me trouble actually starting it?). i caught up to a certain point using lets read homestuck and from that point was able to continue with the comic on my own, and by the time the gigapause came to a close i was fully caught up. i remember the rebranding of colab hq into voxus about a year and a half after i discovered them.

but.. back to the main point of my post. even these posts from hussie’s tumblr exist in archived states. how many new fans know about hussie’s old tumblr? i don’t know, unless theyre a new fan that must scour the internet for more deep more dives on homestuck and its fandom as a whole. but since hussie deleted his tumblr (it exists archived now on homestuck.net which, alongside from the unofficial homestuck collection, has nearly singlehandedly kept the most important relics of the fandom and lore archived), that page is not an active part of the fandom now, because it’s gone. it’s a pile of bones. it’s not living and breathing. it’s in an archived state. the whole thing is already there. homestuck and its fandom history is something you now binge instead of slowly consume and meld with as it comes out. it’s now this rapid information intake that you might forget about if you read it now instead of engaged alongside it. you’re not surrounded by people actively talking and theorizing about developments anymore. the ability to have those sorts of conversations during the ongoing development of the story reinforced concepts, ideas, and lore over and over as we tried to make sense of it.

being in a fandom when the author is still delivering the story is like nothing else. it allows you grow alongside the characters and engage meaningfully with the media and people in the fandom space around you. it feels like you’re participating IN the media itself, especially if you’re interfacing with the creator. it’s in always having something to theorize or talk about and speculate. and people become very aware of these sorts of forgotten story facts because they were applying the logic of the newest official post from hussie into making their sburb ocs or something and share resources and discussion posts about “what just happened in this update?? recap????” it was this cultural osmosis thing. i think this is why homestuck literacy is now at an all time low, at least from what i can see on twitter.

reading homestuck then vs now is like the difference between serialized shows with spaces between episodes to discuss stuff and time to reflect and learn and become attached to the story, narrative, worldbuilding and its characters, vs the netflix model where it’s all dropped all at once and people forget about it after binging.

at this point in time im getting the sense that “homestuck elders” now are no longer just people who were there since 2009-2010, but now also people who were there while it was still updating, probably stretching into 2014-2015. there are many sources of lore that were common knowledge in the fandom at the time that, since becoming susceptible to the deletion of content and link rot, and with the thanosing of mspaforums, are no longer accessible at the source. and a lot of people moved on after it ended, especially following the epilogues, the kate drama, and the whatpumpkin-sarah z drama, leaving a void of information behind if not for archivists and people such as me who continue to keep old facts relevant in discussions. my friend has called me a fandom scholar before and seeing this post i think i get what they mean.

EDIT: there is a series of video essays ive watched multiple times (because theyre that good) and they are exactly what modern fans need to see more of. they really help contextualize the comic and the themes present in it help you appreciate the basic fabric of homestuck a hell of a lot more. i highly recommend them and encourage any fan of homestuck to watch them, or someone considering getting into homestuck to watch the first one.

i think this is arguably as close to the “mandatory literacy class for homestuck” that person was talking about as you can get, especially the first video.

additionally, there is also the website https://rafe.name/homestuck which is essentially a sparknotes for homestuck and can help you follow developments in the comic itself.

[blurredcolour]

I. "Do You Trust Me?"

"Trust" Series Masterlist

John "Bucky" Egan x WAC!Female Reader

A slight against one of your dearest friends causes you to act wildly out of character, and Bucky finds himself stepping up to save you as he realizes just what you mean to him after months of seemingly innocuous encounters.

Warnings: Language, Period Typical Sexism, References to Cheating, Reader Knees a Man in the Groin, Perceived Threats of Violence, Plenty of Kissing, Inevitable Historical and Military Inaccuracies, Rating - T.

Author’s Note: Well here we are, watching me write for this show before it's fully aired. Blame/credit to @precious-little-scoundrel and her anon for infecting my brain. Reader has an unnamed brother for sake of plot, no descriptions or y/n used. Events of this fic take place a few days before the horrific Regensburg mission. Also I recognize that WACs did not arrive in the ETO until July of 1943, this fact does not seem to have influenced Hanks/Spielberg so I shan't let it influence me either. This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal by the actors in the Apple TV+ series. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within.

Word Count: 4217

-------------------------

The pub was crowded, as usual, and Bucky leaned back in his chair as Curt regaled their table with another one of his stories from Walla Walla. The press of uniform clad bodies, damp from the summer rain outside, created a humid atmosphere. But as he tipped the last few drops of Scotch whisky from his glass into his mouth, he was certain there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

Buck had decided to sit this one out, wanting to catch up on his latest letter to Marge. His mouth ticked up at the corners as he reflected once again on how different he and his friend were from one another. Glancing at the bar while he contemplated fetching the next round, Bucky’s eyes widened as they fell on the last person he would ever expect to see in a pub. It took him a moment to recognize you in such an unusual environment, hair perfectly styled. He noted that you were even wearing makeup as your teeth sank into your brightly painted lower lip, wending your way through the crowd, clearly on a mission.

“Bucky are you even listening?” Curt chided with a sharp jab of his elbow into his upper arm.

“Yeah absolutely,” He nodded firmly, unable to take his eyes off you, “every word.” He tacked on as his gaze followed you across the room on your approach to the notorious flirt from 349th squadron, Arthur “Red” Jameson.

He was vaguely aware of the doubtful scoff his reply had earned as his eyes narrowed. Wasn’t your friend Mary rather serious about Red? Not that Red bothered limiting himself to any one woman, local or American – there were few limits that smug redhead put on his relations with the fairer sex. Perhaps that was why Bucky was feeling particularly annoyed with how close you had come to stand next to him at the bar. With the way you were smiling at him. You hardly ever smiled, had to be one of the most serious, reserved women he had ever encountered here in England or back home.

It was when you ducked your head to peer up at Red through your lashes that the realization hit him – you were fucking flirting with him. His fingers clenched tightly on his empty glass, fingertips blanched white as the strength of his grip drove the blood from the flesh there. A slow, knowing smile unfurled across Red’s face as he leaned in, his hand landing on your shoulder making Bucky’s teeth grind together almost painfully as he was flooded with proprietary rage.

The intensity of it startled him, made him take a sharp breath and relax his grip on the glass. Where in the hell had that come from?! The pair of you had spoken no more than a handful of times, simple interactions in the Operations Room of the Control Tower back when he was Air Exec, around the base, or most recently, that afternoon when you had lent him a copy of one of his favorite books, but it wasn’t like you were close. You were quiet, overshadowed by your boisterous friends Mary, Ruth, and that brunette whose name escaped him just then. They were always outgoing at dances while you did an excellent job of decorating the wall. It certainly was not like you were anything more than colleagues. Objectively that was the truth, however, as Bucky sat there watching you grin at that man…

The final straw came as your lips nearly brushed against Red’s ear, making that bastard’s eyes shoot wide, sending Bucky surging to his feet. He narrowly missed one of the low beams overhead as he glared across the crowded room at the cozy pair you and Red presented at the bar.

“Jesus Christ Bucky, did something jump up and bite your ass?!” Curt barked in surprise, the rest of the table laughing loudly in response.

Bucky barely heard them as his new vantage point allowed him a clear view of your knee colliding painfully with the apex of Red’s thighs, causing him to crumple against the bar as you bolted out the back door. Bucky stared after you, just as bewildered as Red’s friends, before they charged out the door in your wake.

“God dammit.” He muttered under his breath before climbing over his friends to make a dash for the front entrance of the pub, his cap clutched in his hand.

------------

Your Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp unit had arrived at Thorpe Abbots in late May, part of the first battalion of WAACs sent overseas. Assigned to the Eight Air Force, you had spent roughly a week with your British counterparts of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force observing missions on other bases before it had come time to establish the base for the 100th.

Fast, accurate typing skills and a calm, quiet temperament had seen you promptly assigned as a clerk in the Operations Room, one of the tensest and most chaotic places on the entire base. Upon your arrival at training camp in Fort Des Moines, you had been adopted by a trio of far more outgoing women – Mary from Miami, a sun-kissed blonde who managed to look that way no matter what the weather; Ruth from Pittsburgh, a black-haired beauty who was manufactured from the steel her hometown was known for; and Violet from Savannah, a brunette who elongated every vowel like the southern belle she was.

Why they chose to waste any of their precious time on you was as much as mystery to you in England as it had been in Iowa, and yet any time you tried to convince them you would be perfectly happy sitting out a dance in your barracks with a book instead, they were adamant you attend. Bodily removed you from your cot to join them – not that you were one for dancing, even with the most handsome of airmen. And that title would most certainly have to be bestowed upon Major John Egan. Perhaps a bit of a rogue and more-often-than-not a little too deep into his cups, there was something undeniably charming about him. A magnetism that drew every woman on the base, and from across all of East Anglia, to him. The handsome devil knew it, too. Of course he did, that was, alas, also part of his charm.

Your trio of outgoing friends had gravitated toward him immediately, traded their fair share of coy looks and dances with him while you looked on quietly from the sidelines. He never really seemed to form that deep a connection with any of them, with any woman for that matter, but that did not deter the female population from trying to be the one to catch his eye for a bit of fun. It was during the long hours of the 100th’s first mission, while he was still serving as Air Exec, that you’d had your first occasion to speak to the man directly.

In the middle of one of the tense periods of waiting for news, he had poked his head into the office to see if anything had come across the teletype or wireless and you had looked up, meeting his eye. He was wearing his sheepskin coat, a striking combination of ivory and cognac colored leather that would have honestly looked absurd on anyone else, yet on him just seemed to belong over his dress uniform.

“Can I help you, Major Egan?” You had asked, fingers poised above your typewriter as you paused your progress in typing up a report for Colonel Huglin.

He had looked at you, startled a moment. “I was convinced you might actually be unable to speak. Glad to know I was wrong. It’s Bucky by the way. Just checking if there were any updates?”

“We’ll be sure to get them to you as soon as we have them, sir.” You had replied professionally, trying to ignore the warmth unfurling beneath your breastbone at having his attention directly solely upon you.

“That’s all I can ask then, thank you.” He had winked before slipping out of the room and heading back towards the plotting map.

It had not taken long for a series of updates to arrive, both by radio and over the teletype and being the highest-ranking clerk in the office, third officer, it was your duty to run them out to him. Grabbing both sheets of paper, you had quickly made your way across the room, startled to find him striding towards you, meeting you halfway. “Here you are Major Egan.”

“Touchdown.” He had grinned and taken them over to review with the others as you had hurried back to your office, gnawing on the inside of your cheek to hide your smile.

You had been admittedly saddened when he had been demoted to squadron commander of the 418th after Colonel Harding assumed command of 100th. For selfish reasons, certainly – your interactions had become increasingly limited after this point – but also because it meant he was more frequently put into harm’s way. Every time he went up in a fort, you found focusing on the job at hand more and more difficult. Unlike the ground crews or the brass, it was not looked upon kindly for the WACs to go running outside to see which forts had come back. Which airmen were injured. Sometimes it would take hours for you to confirm that he was all right, and only then by way of hearsay.

You had still run into Major Egan from time to time, while walking with your group of friends to the WAC mess for dinner – by mid-July you were now serving in the Women’s Army Corp as a 2nd Lieutenant, or after meetings in the Operations Room when he was not flying missions. But the longest conversation you ever had was during one of your breaks earlier that very afternoon. It was an uncharacteristically sunny day, and with no mission in progress you had decided to take your coffee break outside, behind the control tower, sitting on one of the benches the ground crew had built out of scrap wood.

Before you had enlisted, your brother had bought you a copy of his favorite book, one he had never let you read before because you were ‘just a kid’ but now that you were old enough to sign up for the service yourself, he had decided you could have your own copy. With just two pages left, it seemed the perfect way to break up the morbid tallies you had been typing up in the grim office upstairs, and you had just finished the final sentence when a shadow fell over you.

“Now how did you get a copy of my favorite book?”

You had lifted your eyes quickly, squinting slightly into the bright sun that shone from behind him, to see Major Egan standing there.

“Major Egan. You like Guys and Dolls, sir?” You had asked, startled.

“How many times do I gotta tell you it’s Bucky.” He had stepped out of the sunlight to sit beside you carefully. “I love everything by Damon Runyon. Which story did you like the best?” He had leaned in curiously.

Pursing your lips to think over the collection of stories you had just finished, you smiled briefly as the answer came to you. “’Madame La Gimp.’ Where they pass off the bag lady –”

“As a society matron! Yes!” Major Egan chimed in, laughing as he nodded in agreement.

“What…about yours?” You had swallowed, unable to stop yourself.

“God, I haven’t read this book in forever…” he had reached out for it, and you had set it in his hands easily.

He had sucked his teeth in thought as he turned it over in his broad hands. “It’s gotta be a tie between ‘Blood Pressure’ and ‘Hold ‘Em Yale’…ah but ‘Lemon Drop Kid’ is excellent, too.” As he had spoken, he had begun to gesture with the book to emphasize his words, making you press your lips together fondly.

“You can borrow it if you’d like.” You had blurted out before you could stop yourself. “Give me a definitive answer once you’ve read it again.”

Major Egan had looked to you quickly. “Really? But what if…how will I know to get it back to you?” He had raised an eyebrow.

“My name’s on the front page.” You had nodded reassuringly but swallowed tightly as he opened the cover as if to confirm it for himself.

“‘Hey Sis,’” He had begun to read the inscription he found there, bringing your brother’s words to life, “‘lighten up, would you? You don’t have to be so damned serious all the time. See you on the other side.’” He had paused a moment before his eyes had met yours, caught you watching him, before you quickly looked down at the grass at your feet. “Where is he?” he had asked quietly.

“On a ship in the Pacific, somewhere.” You had replied softly, finding each blade of grass infinitely fascinating.

“Are you sure–” He had begun to ask before the sound of your name being called by your very impatient Captain, a woman even Major Egan knew not to waylay, interrupted the peaceful afternoon.

You had leapt to your feet. “You’ll get it back to me.” You had nodded and rushed back inside, believing every word of it.

You had seriously contemplated sharing your encounter with at least Ruth, the more level-headed of your friends, knowing she was the least likely to conflate the exchange with a marriage proposal. But as you returned to your barracks that night, you frowned deeply to find Mary in tears on her cot. After much soothing and rocking in your arms, she finally managed to open up, sharing what had gotten her so upset.

“It’s Red…I caught him out back necking with one of those doughnut truck girls…” She hiccupped and dabbed at her nose with her hanky.

“Oh Mary, I’m so sorry.” You frowned, smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

“Oh god, I can’t believe I let that creep talk me into sleeping with him!” She wailed, fresh tears boiling over onto her cheeks as she sagged onto your shoulder, sobbing anew.

Every muscle in your body tensed as her outburst sunk in, the depth of his betrayal fully registering as Vi and Ruth returned from the end of their shifts in the weather office and Mary launched herself into their arms to fill them in as well. The level of pure fury that seized your body was utterly foreign to you and, unlike the descriptions you had encountered in literature to date, felt utterly icy in your veins. As your friends gently coaxed Mary to the latrines to get herself cleaned up, you hung back, a plan formulating quickly in your mind. Your life without these women would have been lonely, all but intolerable, and this transgression against one of them could not go unanswered. You could not look at yourself in the mirror if you did nothing.

Digging quickly through Mary’s belongings, you found her most alluring shade of lipstick, carefully but efficiently applying it to your lips before unpinning and redoing your hair into a more fashionable shape rather than the more utilitarian style you normally wore. Lastly you added a flick of mascara to your eyelashes and rouge to your cheeks. All this was accomplished using the tiny mirror Vi had set up on the shelf beside her bed. Nodding once in satisfaction, for it was truly the best you could do in a solo effort, you darted out the door, lipstick tube in your pocket for reapplications, if necessary. The cad would never see it coming from you, you just needed to figure out a way to get close enough.

Fortunately, the years you had spent on the sidelines watching the three masters of feminine wiles at work had afforded you quite the education. It was only a matter of finding the perpetrator to enact your revenge. You located him in the second pub you visited, taking a slow breath as your eyes sought him out in the crowded, humid space. The rain had thankfully stopped before your foray out into the night, though the streets remained wet, and you had taken the time to refresh your lipstick and tidy your hair before stepping inside. Your heart began to race as your veins flooded with adrenaline.

‘Easy now. Slow and smooth like Mary, give him that flirty smile she’s famous for.’ You thought to yourself.

As his eyes met yours it was all you could do not to wince back in disgust – you were going to need to hide your dislike better.

‘Pretend he’s someone else. Who would you like him to be?’

You gulped shyly, teeth sinking into your lip at the thought of applying these skills to Major Egan, noting that Red seemed immediately more receptive as you slid up beside him where he stood at the bar.

“Evening, Red.” You smiled at him broadly, swallowing nervously as he echoed the expression warmly.

“Well good evening to you too. You escaped the base.” Red teased you.

You faked a giggle and tilted your head down before flicking your eyes to look up at him through your lashes, something Vi had weaponised to great effect on many an occasion. You tried not to shout in triumph as Red’s hand came to rest on your shoulder, leaning in closer.

“Can I buy you a drink, sugar?”

“Actually…” You smiled coyly before leaning in close to his ear, taking a slow breath before dropping all pretense from your tone. “Mess around with one of my friends again and I’ll cut it off.” You snarled into his ear before driving your knee into his groin as sharply as the straight lines of your uniform skirt would allow, slipping out of his grip as he slouched over the bar with a cry of pain.

You longed to bask in his suffering, in your triumph, but you also recognized you had to get out of there before the consequences of your actions found you. Spying a door propped open to a back alley over Red’s crumpled torso, you made a dash through the stunned corner of the pub and out into the night, pausing a moment before turning to the left, hoping it was the correct direction. You certainly wished you knew your way around town a little better.

Your heart was pounding so hard you were worried it might burst through the front of your WAC jacket as you neared the main street but there was an increasing ruckus behind you – surely Red’s friends in hot pursuit. Suddenly Major Egan appeared in front of you, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed your arm, pulling you around a corner and down a smaller alleyway.

“Do you trust me?” He asked quickly, glancing back towards the approaching sound of voices as he shuffled you backward, closer to the brick wall of the building behind you.

You nodded at him, speechless, breathing heavily from your flight. Your uniform cap felt precarious where it was perched on your rapidly falling hairstyle. Major Egan’s aftershave was flooding your senses due to his sheer proximity.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” He whispered as his eyes met yours, his own cap at a dangerous angle atop his dark curls, defying gravity.

He shifted forward to crowd your space, your eyes shooting wide as his forearms lifted to press against the wall on either side of your face, body shielding you from view. He bowed his head to press his lips against yours softly, making your eyelids flutter closed, doing nothing to slow the erratic beating of your heart. He tasted a little bit like whiskey, which had reminded you of gasoline the few times you’d had the misfortune of sipping it, but on his plush lips, it was not so bad.

Your hands balled into fists in the olive drab fabric of your skirt, heat painting its way across your cheeks and down your neck as the coarse hair that decorated his upper lip brushed against your skin. It was all too tempting to lose yourself in the feeling of him surrounding you, protecting you, kissing you. Reality reared its ugly head, making you inhale sharply through your nose as you heard the crowd of men stampede right past you muttering angrily.

“That damn cold fish from operations…”

“Who the fuck does she think she is?!”

“No wonder she ain’t got nobody.”

Pulling back from his lips, you frowned down at your brown uniform shoes, still hidden within the cage of his arms.

“Hey…” He murmured, bowing his head to nudge your nose with his, drawing your gaze back up as you swallowed shyly at the tender gesture. “Don’t listen to ‘em.” He urged you, his blue eyes so very dazzling and disarming at this range, even in the dim light of black-out conditions.

“I…It’s ok,” you breathed as you shook your head. “I know I’ll never be…” you furrowed your brow, not even sure what word you were searching for.

“Anything other than perfect, doll?” His lopsided grin was devastating, made it hard to breathe, though that may have also been his continued proximity. He leaned in for another kiss, but you lifted a shaky hand to press against his shoulder.

“Th…they’re gone you don’t have to pretend…” You murmured sadly, shifting to stand, but he did not move an inch, his breath brushing against your cheeks.

“I’m going to kiss you now because I want to, doll.” He murmured, eyes tracing over your face while giving you a moment to respond.

You were, however, frozen, staring at him again and so he pressed his lips firmly to yours, making your fingers curl slightly around the lapel of his uniform jacket. He hummed softly in response, pressing you back against the wall as he slanted his mouth tighter to yours, his hands moving to cup your cheeks. Shivering at the heat of his palms against your skin, you slowly lifted your other hand from your skirt, stretching it towards him, letting it hover between you tentatively.

He dropped his right hand from your cheek to guide your arm around his waist before sliding his own hand to splay against your lower back, drawing a whimper from your throat as you arched slightly.

He pulled back from your lips, chest heaving. “Christ, doll, you have no idea what you do to me.”

“Bucky?” You whispered, confused by his statement, finding it difficult to think clearly.

Bucky groaned and kissed you fiercely, licking at the seam of your lips, sliding his tongue to yours the instant you parted your lips for him. Toes curling in your shoes, you found yourself mewling into his mouth wantonly until he wrenched back suddenly, hand cupping the back of your head as he hugged you tightly into his chest. The sound of voices eventually registered in your addled brain – Red’s friends returning from their failed attempt to find you.

“If I had known all I had to do was kiss you senseless to get you to use my name…” Bucky teased once the coast was clear, panting into your hair.

You giggled against his throat, your own chest heaving as he loosened his hold on you. Your cap tumbled to the ground, fully dislodged by his attentions.

“It’s a burden I’m willing to bear.” He smirked, pressing his lips to your exposed forehead. “Let’s get you back to your barracks. What are you doing out here all dolled up kneeing idiots like Red in the goods anyway?” He asked as he bent to retrieve your cap, dusting it off and placing it in your outstretched hand before turning to slide his arm around your shoulders, leading you toward the main road.

You huffed with a frown as you walked with him, putting your cover back into place snuggly, crushing your once-stylish hair. “I didn’t appreciate the way he treated Mary.”

Bucky smirked at you “Your brother is right you know, you really do need to lighten up…you can just call him a good-for-nothing and be done with it. No need to write a formal treatise on his behavior.”

His lips stretched into a grin as that pulled another laugh from you. You turned to look at him properly and gasped.

“Bucky you have lipstick all over –”

“Perfect” He nodded proudly, cocky grin on his lips, and made no move to clean up his face, while you quickly wiped at yours, knowing you would have to face your barrack-mates. “Next time you go on an attack mission you let me know, alright, doll? I’ll fly on your wing anytime.” He winked at you, and you bit your lip shyly.

“Thank you, Bucky.” You swallowed and stopped walking, leaning in to press your lips to his cheek softly.

As you pulled back, Bucky flexed the arm he still had slung about your shoulders, hauling you in for another heart-stopping kiss, your hands coming to rest against his chest. You had a feeling that the rather lengthy walk back to base was only going to become exponentially longer and found you really did not mind at all.

-------------------------

Read Part Two - "Just Had To Trust You."

"Trust" Series Masterlist

[sadplaguedoctor]

god loves you, but not enough to save you.

⤷ curly & gn!reader

summary: you didn’t talk much anymore— definitely not to him at least. you refused to work with anyone when he handed out tasks and always asked for the longest ones. even daisuke had come to him in private to ask about you, claiming to be too nervous to reach out directly in fear of upsetting you. your talks with swansea had dimmed as well. you avoided everyone.

but one in particular seemed to get the worst reactions from you. one he couldn’t even stomach admitting.

tags: crossposted on ao3, you take the place of anya, referenced/implied rape, angst, hurt no comfort, unresolved trauma, responsibility

ao3 version

Another restless night of tossing and turning led Curly out of his bed and into the lounge, thinking maybe a drink would do him some good. His stress levels had skyrocketed ever since he stepped foot on this ship— yet he had to keep composure. No one wanted a man so inadequate as a Captain.

Upon reaching his destination, he was met with you instead— sitting alone on the couch, staring at the huge projection of a starry night sky. He stopped in his tracks for a moment and pressed his tongue to the front of his teeth, debating on whether he should leave you be or reach out. That was until he thought back on your recent developments.

You didn’t talk much anymore— definitely not to him at least. You refused to work with anyone when he handed out tasks and always asked for the longest ones. Even Daisuke had come to him in private to ask about you, claiming to be too nervous to reach out directly in fear of upsetting you. Your talks with Swansea had dimmed as well. You avoided everyone.

But one in particular seemed to get the worst reactions from you. One he couldn’t even stomach admitting.

Curly approached the lounge area, stepping down the stairs quietly so as to not startle you— quietly calling your name to direct your attention to him for a moment, letting you know he was there.

The way your shoulders jumped was almost unnoticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking for the movement— but Curly saw it clear as day. It made his heart clench in his chest and he resisted the urge to curse under his breath at himself, regretting bothering you at all and wanting to turn back around and take his sorry ass back to bed.

But, the need to be there for you was stronger than the need to flee. For once.

“Sorry,” he muttered, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

His words earned a much needed nod of assurance from you, a long, quiet sigh exiting his lungs. The sight of you was enough to make a grown man’s chest ache. You had abandoned your work enforced jumpsuit for a woolen gray sweater and black sweatpants that hung off your skin— bunching up at the ankles from the way you had your legs bent at the knee and nestled up against your chest.

A month ago, he would’ve sat right down next to you and smiled like he always did. His arm would find purchase around your shoulder as he nudged you during the aftermath of one of his absolutely horrid jokes.

But now, he couldn’t remember the warmth of your body next to him— let alone the thought of touching you. Last time he did that you looked at him like he was getting ready to strike you. That was the first real indication, he thought. Silent confirmation that something had happened to you under his protection.

“It’s okay, Captain.”

Ah. Captain.

He had drilled into your head the moment you had joined them that he really didn’t care for titles, and to call him by his name. And for a while, you listened. He had become Curly to you, just as you had become a friend to him.

But after this unspoken event. The way his title rolled off your tongue made him feel sick. It was foreign and familiar at the same time.

“You know you can call me Curly,” he spoke with a kind smile, trying to lightly tease you to get you to at least crack him a smile— tell you you were okay and he had nothing to worry about. But when met with your silence, he suppressed a sigh of disappointment.

He stood there for a few beats, waiting for something, anything to happen. When it didn’t, he took a step forward and sat himself down on the couch— next to you, but not too close. He knew he should keep his distance no matter how much it jabbed at his heart. This wasn’t about him.

“Couldn’t sleep? I couldn’t either.”

You didn’t have time to respond to his question before he answered it himself. He had a habit of doing this— no matter how many times Jimmy would dog on him in the past for interrupting or asking him things just to take away his right to answer them. It was all in good fun then, but with you, he couldn’t help but inwardly curse at himself.

“You.. haven’t been sleeping lately. I keep seeing you up here more frequently and uh.. it’s worrying me,” he confessed to you, keeping his voice down. He didn’t have a reason to. No one would hear him if he talked normally anyway, but he figured you would appreciate it.

Your silence was deafening and it made his leg bounce at the knee. He wasn’t good at this. He didn’t know how to confront these emotions when he felt them personally, so how was he expected to help anyone else?

Curly allowed the silence for a little longer before he tried to start another conversation. For some reason, he couldn’t give up. He felt a sort of entitlement to get a response out of you. It’s what a captain does, right? They help their crew when they need it— and you.. you need it.

“Please talk to me.. I want to help you so badly, but I can’t if I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours,” again— and like always, he used humor to cover his slowly growing discomfort. He hated not knowing. Whether it was something simple or as serious as he assumed this was. He hated it.

“I wish I was one of them.”

Your meek voice echoed in his ears like it was spoken through a megaphone, his head immediately turning to look towards you to watch for any indication of what you may be feeling. Of course, there was nothing. No trace of anything at all. No sadness, no anger— just nothing. It made Curly’s throat feel dry and he forced a swallow before speaking.

“The stars?” He asked, looking in the direction of your blank stare which was staring intently at the fake projection.

“Yes.”

“Can I ask why?”

A small part of him almost didn’t want to know despite trying so hard to find out. He had always been afraid of confronting a problem head on— constantly trying to find ways to avoid them altogether or ignore them until they didn’t affect him any longer. This wasn’t his realm and he didn’t feel welcome in it.

“They don’t have to think or feel like we do,” you began, your words already tugging on his heart, “They don’t regret. They don’t cry or complain. Yet they burst under the slightest indication that something has gone wrong.”

“They remind me of myself at times,” with the final words of your confession, went your contact— eyes drifting away from the pixelated stars and over to Curly. His eyes locked with yours and he felt a chill run down his spine when you spoke again.

“You too.”

What did you mean by that, he thought— having a hard time deciphering your rather bold statement. He didn’t know how to react. Your words ran through his head over and over and he tried to pinpoint where he related to them. But, of course, in his flawed mind— he had no idea.

“How so?”

He didn’t expect the smile that graced your face at his words. He wanted so desperately to see it earlier, but he didn’t want it now. Your eyes looked over his body before returning to the blue luminance of the projection— causing his gaze to stutter and flick between you and the supposedly calming sight in front of them.

“With all do respect.. you aren’t made to be a leader. You’re too reserved and too.. protective of your convictions— and when someone goes against that, you play the mediator. A very flawed mediator.”

He stayed silent, looking down at his hands and now still leg. He fought the urge to defend himself and tell you how hard he tries to be good for the crew, but he knew this was not the time. His most closed off crew member was finally opening up to him after so much pleading, so he listened. He did what he should’ve done from the very start, and listened.

“You tell everyone they can talk to you and that you’re there for them.. but, are you really?”

He felt different. He had never had his whole self picked apart and put into words for him to hear. Something deep down told him that he needed too. He was living in purposeful ignorant bliss and it was time to smell the roses. If only they weren’t wilted and rotten.

“I’m..” he started, cutting himself off with another thick swallow, shaking his head slightly to clear his mind and try to figure out what to say. His teeth pinched the sensitive skin of the inside of his bottom lip and gnawed at it— finding solace in the momentary sting before he was forced to face reality. His own reality.

“I’m so sorry,” vulnerability was clear in his voice, “I really am.”

He opened his mouth to say more, but when he looked over to see you shaking your head and adjusting your seat— legs stretched out and planted on the floor underneath them instead of tucked up to your body.

“I don’t want your apologies, Curly. I want you to take responsibility for what you’ve done.”

Curly’s eyes grew dry and he found he couldn’t blink anymore. His eyelids stopped responding to his brain and his body stiffened. He couldn’t move, couldn’t see— his skin was burning.

Once his brain cleared and the clouds were gone, all he could see was the projection of the night sky— this time much smaller and directly in front of his face. Unshed tears pooled around what was left of his bottom eyelids. He should’ve done more. He could’ve helped you— helped them all.

If only sorry was enough.

i wanted to post some of my ao3 fics here as well, so why not start with curly? i’m going to keep jimmy there and not bring them here though just because i feel more comfortable that way. if you are from ao3, expect the enji one soon! and if you’re not from ao3.. expect the same <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

honestly looking at the designs for Vil's hometown event, the colors are giving Gucci. They're pretty close to gucci's brand colors.

[Referencing the new upcoming JP hometown event!]

Oooh, that’s so true!!

Vil aside, the outfits of the other boys do have very similar colors to Gucci’s signature ones, which are a terracotta red, a deep green, and a faded gold. Black and/or beige are also common in Gucci designs:

And well, what do ya know?? 😂 Jamil, Azul, AND Ace have beige suits with deep green undershirts, reddish-brown ties, and golden clasps/accessories. (I think Jamil wears a red-brown undershirt and has green lapels; it’s hard to tell from his pose.) They all also seem to have very dark liner, which, realistically, is probably meant to help their faces stand out in photos if they’re on a red carpet, but also fits into the Gucci color scheme.

I believe Yana references luxury fashion sometimes for her designs, so maybe that was the intention here?? The color scheme also calls back to the Evil Queen's huntsman, so it creates a cool double meaning that fits the theme of a red carpet event starring Vil!

A friend recently proposed the theory to me that while Vil is the Evil Queen (and therefore is dressed most differently from the other event boys), Azul, Jamil, and Ace are dressed like the Huntsman to represent different aspects of him. For example, Ace is a card solider of hearts—so he’s the box that the Huntsman is meant to bring Snow White’s heart in. Azul could represent the deal the Huntsman made to spare Snow White’s life, or, alternatively, his kindness/mercy in letting her go. Finally, Jamil represents the profession itself and the Huntsman’s servile role to the queen.

I love seeing multifaceted fashion like this 🫶

UPDATE: Yes, it’s formally confirmed in the event that Vil’s guests are dressed up like the Huntsmen while his own outfit is inspired by the Beautiful Queen. The former are going to be his entourage and bodyguards as he walks down the red carpet!

[atrueneutral]

Bath, Bed & Beyond - Raphael x Tav

After weeks of constant battles and near-death-experiences, it was a slap in the face that the Crown of Karsus ended up in the Chionthar.

It could have fallen anywhere else but in the river.

It could have been easy.

Had it landed on the docks, Tav would have plucked it from the ground like any other item she pilfered. She’d have put it in her pack and would have promptly gone off to deliver the all-powerful Netherese artifact to Raphael - satisfying the terms of her contract.

But no! Nothing was ever as easy as it could have been; it wasn’t easy convincing Rolan to spend time on the docks casting spells on her and supplying her with potions; it wasn’t easy deep diving into the murky river waters for days on end; and it certainly wasn’t easy finding the godsdamn Crown of Karsus!

Bloody thing was a pain in her ass…

She should have listened to her friends, and she shouldn’t have made a deal with a devil…

Much to Rolan’s chagrin, Raphael had shown a number of times over the course of her search. He, apparently, “wanted to see how she was faring”, and, according to the wizard, seemed to find amusement in her desperation of trying to find the object that would see him rule the Hells.

One night, after failing to find her missing treasure, Tav wondered out loud why Raphael didn’t help her; it didn’t make sense that he’d prolong his ambitions after all of the salivating he did whenever he spoke of the Crown. 

Rolan suggested maybe there was a secret time limit buried in the nooks and crannies of her contract. Maybe Raphael wanted her to fail because he wanted her soul.

“He’s waited this long, I’m sure he can afford to wait a bit longer to ensure he gets both you and the Crown of Karsus. He’s a devil - are you really so surprised that he’d desire to keep you as well?”

To that, she called Rolan crazy, but Tav searched harder in the days that followed (out of fear that she was racing an invisible clock), and she eventually found what she was looking for.

—

Tav entered the Devil’s Den without knocking. She cared not that it was rude. She cared little about anything outside of fulfilling her contract, taking a bath, and sleeping for a very, very long time. Fatigue wreaked havoc on her body after recent events and days of stressful swimming, and the too long of a walk that brought her to Rivington drained her to the brink of wanting to fall over.

She ambled into the suite, and Raphael’s mortal visage made a face at her appearance - namely her water-logged countenance of damp hair and damp clothes that reeked of river water.

She hoped her exhaustion came off as apathy.

“Your message stated you had something specific for me?” he asked.

He was referencing the message she sent with a Scroll of Sending roughly an hour and a half ago. With it, she said: “I have your stupid Crown. Where should I meet you? Are you coming to the docks? Please come to the docks.”

Panting had, unfortunately, been included in-between some of her words.

Tav blinked, and her eyes went from staring longingly at the steaming bath littered with flower petals to the cambion who appraised her with a raised brow.

“I do,” she answered, and Tav reached into her pack for the Crown. She crossed over to him, revealed the artifact, and Raphael’s mask of composure cracked. 

Ambition bled from the fissures - his dreams would not remain dreams much longer…

With the current most important dream realized, a shaky breath left Raphael as he accepted and held the Crown in his hand. Tav rummaged around for the Netherstones, and she placed them on a nearby desk when it became clear that Raphael was having a moment between himself and his new shiny and dangerous toy.

She glanced down to see if he had an erection, and sure enough, a bulge was forming from inside his pants.

“Raphael?” she prompted.

“Hm?”

The Crown and fantasies of grandeur had successfully enthralled him.

“Is my contract fulfilled?”

“Yes.”

When he did not procure said contract, Tav sighed.

“Can I trust that you’ll see to completing my contract… when you’re done?”

“Mm, yes.”

Rolan was wrong; he did not want her or her soul. Raphael’s interest in his little mouse was purely in being a delivery tool for his precious artifact, and Tav found herself feeling oddly crestfallen at the verdict. It was nothing more than devilish amusement (or a form of punishment) that kept him from helping her fetch the Crown from the Chionthar.

“Great, thank you. Goodbye, Raphael.”

She turned and took a step for the door.

“Leaving so soon, Little Mouse?”

The rich purr of his voice stilled her.

“The delivery has been made, and you are preoccupied,” she answered, facing him again.

“Pardon my momentary lapse - I assure you it won’t happen again.” As if to make a point, he went to where the Netherstones were gathered and placed the Crown beside them. He leaned against the desk, blocking the artifact’s view from him and her. “Thank you for bringing me the Crown. I knew you wouldn’t fail - just as you knew failure wasn’t an option. You must regale me what the depths of the Chionthar look like sometime over dinner. The smell of the river, however, I could do without.”

Understanding his insinuation that she smelled, she gave him a thin lipped smile. “Then I shall be on my way...”

“You misunderstand, my dear!” Raphael gestured theatrically for the bath, and his features became predatory. “Stay awhile, won’t you? I will fulfill your contract before your very eyes, and you will sleep soundly tonight knowing you made the right choice in bargaining with a devil.”

The bath did look inviting…

“If you’d like, you have my permission to rest your weary head in this room,” he continued. “The bed is quite cozy - not nearly as comfortable as the bed in my House of Hope, but you know that already, don’t you?”

Tav’s blood went cold at his mention of her uninvited visit.

“Sorry about that…” she offered sheepishly, meaning it. Haarlep’s use of her body had become a nuisance, yet it often aroused her to think it was Raphael who benefitted and used the unintentional gift she left behind.

Based on the look in his eyes, he did.

Snap!

A contract materialized from within a plume of smoke and embers, and the infernal words etched into the parchment glowed. At Raphael’s behest and a wave of his hand, a new emblem-like symbol was magically inscribed before the parchment went up in flames.

“It’s been an Absolute pleasure doing business with you, Little Mouse.”

Oh no - his stare was making her feel warm in places.

Maybe Rolan was right in some regard.

Maybe Raphael did want her.

“Likewise,” Tav responded. “And I appreciate you loaning me the room.”

She waited for him to leave.

She expected him to leave.

Oh no.

He wasn’t leaving.

“Aren’t you leaving?” she questioned, intending on taking advantage of his offer to stay and use the room’s bath and bed.

“Leave? And miss the sight of you bathing? I think not.”

She flushed. 

“Ah.” Tav peered at the bath, then back at Raphael. “You’re not planning on joining me are you?”

He smiled devilishly. “Would you like me to?”

Yes.

“No, that’s alright.” Tav went to the bath and began to shed her pack and gear. When it came time to remove her boots, she decided to test the waters by turning the act of undressing into a show. She sat upon the bath’s edge and, with deliberate slowness, gracefully peeled away her footwear. “Are the flower petals your idea or are they an added flourish from the staff?”

“Do you like them?”

“I do.”

“They are my personal touch - just for you.”

The expression she threw at him while she undressed was filled with skepticism.

“You can stop trying to charm me, Raphael. The contract is done, you got what you wanted, and I’m in the middle of taking my clothes off.” Somewhere along the way her voice became decidedly more… seductive. “I wouldn’t normally allow you to watch the latter, but it’s conjecture to think that you’ve already seen me naked.”

It was thrilling to see that she enthralled him just as much as the Crown of Karsus. He was silent, his eyes blazing as he watched her stand and push her breeches down. Tav’s thumbs next hooked into the top of her panties and she slowly, teasingly, shimmied the undergarment past her thighs. They pooled at her feet, and she stepped out of them and her breeches, pushing both aside to be with the rest of her stripped attire.

He could not yet see her sex, as it was hidden by her tunic, but the shirt was soon gracefully pulled over her head and thrown onto the pile.

Raphael visibly swallowed.

Tav reached around to undo the fastenings of her brasserie. The undergarment went slack, and she quickly held the front to her with a hand before it could fall away.

She turned to face the bathwater and discarded the top with a flick of the wrist. 

The cambion let out a low hum. Whether in approval of seeing her bare backside or in disapproval or not seeing her nude state in its entirety, she couldn’t tell.

“Was this your plan?” Tav asked innocently as she bravely stepped into the steaming water. It was hot - excessively hot, but after waging and winning a war against a Netherbrain, after spending too long in the cold Chionthar, and after completing a deal with a devil…

It was heaven.

“What plan are you speaking of, my dear? I have many.”

Tav waded to the center of the bath, water rippling up to her thighs. She glanced at the cambion from over her shoulder with a smirk, and then rotated to give him a full-frontal view.

A deep-rooted hunger befell Raphael, and Tav mentally marked a point under her name: where the Crown failed in fully arousing him, she succeeded.

“When I sent my message to you, you sounded insistent on meeting here and advised that I shouldn’t tarry. You could have come to the docks, which, by the sound of things, you were fond of doing.” Tav lowered into the water while wincing and biting her lip at the temperature. “I was going to accuse you of wanting me smelly and exhausted so you could easily persuade me to take a bath as you watched, but, now that I’m thinking about it, I do recall there being a full bath and a smattering of flower petals when I initially met you here and signed the contract. Who was the bath for then? Voss? My companions and I?”

“I was merely setting the scene for my most important client of the day! I would never go to such efforts for Voss, nor your companions - nor for any other mortal whose name is but a tiny drop in the ocean of souls I’ve collected. It was all for you, Little Mouse.” Raphael crept towards the bath - a predator moving in on his prey. “Today I wished again to set the scene - with a reward. Now that you are without your troublesome friends and an even more troublesome tadpole, you can relax and enjoy without impediment! Soak, my dear! Soak and be content in your hard-earned and well-deserved bath, then off to bed with you…”

Tav reached for a fresh bar of soap that smelled distinctly like cherries and she ran it across her chest after wetting it. She batted eyelashes that suddenly felt heavy due to the talk of bed.

“Are you going to tuck me in, Raphael?”

His chuckle was downright sinful.

“Yes, I’ll even read you a bedtime story.”

“Oh?” Tav languidly rubbed aromatic suds into her skin. “What’s the story about?”

His eyes followed her hands.

“A fox who secured all that he wanted.”

Tav smiled and she briefly submerged herself.

“Did the fox secure the woods?” she asked after breaking through the water’s surface.

“He did, and the neighboring woods.”

She placed the bar of soap back onto the edge, and Tav scratched at her scalp and combed fingers through her hair.

“I presume he secured the animals inside of the woods as well?”

“Every single one.”

She made a point to stare into brown, dilated eyes.

“Including the mouse?”

“You’re going to spoil the story for yourself…”

It was at that moment that a yawn formed in her throat. She did her best to ignore the symptom of drowsiness (things were becoming interesting), but the yawn was persistent enough to force an escape. Tav covered what she could, but it was the kind of yawn that made her eyes water. When she blearily looked at the cambion, the desire on his face had been replaced with warm humor.

“I was wondering how long you would be able to keep your guise up,” he remarked.

Another smaller and shorter yawn broke through.

“Finish up,” Raphael ordered, and he walked away - disappearing to the other half of the room.

Tav complied. She rinsed out her hair, finished scrubbing in all the necessary places, and by the time she was done, Raphael had returned. He held out a plush red towel for her to take when she moseyed to the bath’s edge and climbed out.

“Thanks,” Tav said, fighting back what could possibly be an endless string of yawns. The towel was soft and thick, smelled like Raphael, and she made a note to steal it in the morning as she wrung out her hair and dried herself off.

“I won’t miss it,” Raphael said knowingly.

“How - I don’t steal everything, you know,” she scoffed.

“I am aware.”

Tav made a new mental note - to not steal the towel in the morning.

Sufficiently dried, she cheekily dropped the towel to the floor and peered at a bed that had been prepped for sleeping.

The urge to sprint and throw herself into the covers was extinguished when she was unexpectedly scooped up by arms and swept off her feet.

“This is becoming ridiculous,” Tav muttered. Despite her tone, and against her better judgment, she foolishly liked the feeling of being held by the cambion - the feeling of his hands on her...

“Did you not ask to be tucked in?” Raphael retorted, carrying her naked body up the couple steps that led to the bedroom portion of the suite.

She was too tired to think of a witty comeback, so Tav stayed silent while Raphael transferred her over to the bed.

“What do you normally sleep in, Little Mouse?”

Usually just her smallclothes.

Tav glanced up at him. “I sleep naked, of course.”

His eyes flared, and she could read that he wanted to do far more than simply tuck her in.

He gently laid her upon the satin bedding. A fluffy pillow was beneath her head, and the sheets were smooth against her skin. Raphael reached over to draw the top sheet and comforter over her, and Tav was enveloped by heavenly, toasty warmth.

“Would it be possible to have the room for the next day or two?” she murmured, making herself snug under the covers.

Her eyes closed as the fox smiled brightly.

“Oh, my Little Mouse, stay as long as you’d-”

And she was out.

[2af-afterdark]

Who does Solomon/MC actually have pacts with?

Original posting date: June 1, 2024

Most recent edit: October 20, 2024

I just realized something. Excuse my lack of screenshots in places but... I am not in the mood to go searching for everything at the moment. You're just going to have to trust me in some places.

Based on the order of events being established in the events, it's getting really questionable which devils Solomon made pacts with (and therefore which ones MC has to break and reforge).

Facts we know/Timeline:

Tartaros is established as a kingdom (it is confirmed to be the oldest of the seven kingdoms). How long ago this occured is unknown.

Leviathan escapes from Heaven.

Metatron starts a coup, kills Papa!Mammon, and imprisons Child!Mammon. Serveral years later, Mammon is an adult and breaks free to reclaim his kingdom. At this time, he also manages to imprison Metatron.

Satan tries to establish Gehenna. During this time, he managed to find Sitri and sent him off to train in Hades (meaning Hades must already be an established kingdom).

Solomon met Satan and hijinks ensued.

While in Hell, Solomon made pacts with the noble devils and kings. He also become friends with God.

God played favorites and gave Solomon (and his descendants by proxy) the right to touch or have anything.

Solomon disappeared at some point, leaving all of his pacts in tact and limiting the devils' powers.

God disappeared shortly after Solomon did

Lilith also disappeared around this time, meaning no devils could have been born since.

The (at the time) 5 kings of Hell got sucked into another space due to Metatron's machinations, seemingly leaving much of Hell defenseless. At this time, this event has not been fully explained and where it fits on the timeline is unknown other than it occurred before Lucifer's fall.

After God disappeared, Lucifer ripped out his own wings and fell to Hell where he met the dragon Gamigin.

Two Hell years after Lucifer ripped out his wings, he would officially fall and become a devil, taking his place as king of Paradise Lost.

Some nebulous amount of time after that, Belphegor wakes up in Niflheim and starts his campaign to become king.

Three years and one terrifying, world-destroying transformation later, Belphegor is officially the king of Niflheim.

Some time after that, MC is targeted by Gabriel and is saved by Satan. Thus begins their journey through Hell.

Given that timeline, there are some devils with questionable pacts status. I have broken this list into four sections: those whose pacts have been confirmed either through MC reforging them or the in-game dialogue referencing them, those who have not been confirmed by the game but most likely have a pact due to knowing Solomon when he was in Hell, those who (due to the timeline or other reasons) may or may not have made a pact with Solomon, and those who literally cannot have made a pact with Solomon.

Confirmed: Satan, Sitri, Leraye, Paimon, Zagan, Belial, Mammon, Bimet, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Marbas

Likely: Astaroth, Eligos, Valephor, Barbatos, Foras, Glassyalabolas, Orias, Asmodeus, Phenix, Dantalian, Ronove, Morax, Buer, Bael, Amon, Naberius, Gusion, Bathin, Andrealphus,

Questionable: Gamigin, Belphegor, Beleth, Vassago, Agares

Impossible: Lucifer

I will now explain the Questionable and Impossible status characters.

Lucifer cannot have a pact with Solomon given the current timeline because he did not fall until after Solomon was already missing and didn't officially become a devil until 2 years after his fall. This means he and Solomon, though they could have possibly met when Lucifer was still an angel, could not have formed a pact. Unless Solomon formed a pact with an angel somehow?

Gamigin has a questionable pact status because the Gamigin we know is a technically a dragon, but he inherited everything from the devil Gamigin. If the devil Gamigin had a pact with Solomon, the dragon Gamigin may have inherited that too.

Belphegor was technically around when Solomon was, but he was asleep for a very long time. We know that Belphegor is acquaintances with Satan, but we do not know when this happened (either in the three years he was awake to establish Niflheim or before that). It is unclear if Belphegor and Solomon met. EDIT (7/19/24): Belphegor (Selfie) confirms that Belphegor and Solomon have indeed met.

Beleth is, like Lucifer, a fallen angel. However, we do not know when he fell. He may or may not have met Solomon when he was already a devil depending on when he fell. Even if he was a devil already, he may not have formed a pact for reasons that will be refrenced in the next section.

Vassago and Agares are technically members of the 72 but the place they live was not a kingdom at the time Solomon was in Hell. If Solomon was able to journey to the trash kingdom and form pacts with the devils that lived there at the time is unclear. If Vassago and Agares would have even formed a pact is also questionable given they seem to have a lot of resentment for those who have power but were not there to protect their home during this unknown calamity. If this even happened before, during, or after Solomon vanished, we do not know.

Realistically, this is just me trying to think through how the timeline works and who MC even needs to reforge pacts with since I noticed some weird events on the timeline.

So, uhhhhh, yeah.... If I missed something or you have information that moves a character from one group to another, just let me know.

[notfernintheslighest]

This has probably been said before, but House doesn’t really believe that Stacey, Wilson or the doctors are at fault for his leg. House blames himself, it’s pretty much directly stated in the episode “Three Stories” when he says “everybody lies” when referencing his choice to claim it wasn’t his dog who bit him. House’s mantra, the mantra of a man who believes lying to the doctors is the most idiotic thing to do, comes from when he lied to a doctor, and was left permanently disabled. Wilson would have known him for 10-15ish years at this point. Wilson and House’s continued relationship despite the fact that Wilson definitely should have stopped caring makes a lot more sense when how much of a personality shift House must have gone through after the event with his leg.

Obviously, House didn’t do a complete one-eighty, things like his stubbornness are mentioned to be previous traits, but he is a lot more jaded. He went from being a man who would give up his life for a dog, to someone who pretends to not care about anything. Wilson no longer sees House as just his eccentric, smart friend, he also starts seeing House in the way he sees his wives and his patients, as a charity case, something to fix. This is at the root of so many of their conflicts and I don’t think it’s talked about enough. I genuinely think the reason they are dating in the show is because Wilson probably only started acting “romantic” towards House five years before the series. Bonnie says that part of reason for their divorce is Wilson always being there for House, but not for her and they broke up somewhat recently to the beginning of the series. It is extremely likely that him doing that was a recent development, after House’s leg. Wilson knew House when him and Bonnie began dating, so she probably wouldn’t have married him in the first place or stayed with him for over a decade if this had always been the case. Which brings me to my final point, House and Wilson aren’t dating for the same reason he claimed he didn’t want to date Cameron for, they both want to care for and rehabilitate him instead of a mutually beneficial relationship, like the one he has with Cuddy and formerly Stacey. This is also why they definitely got together in the time Wilson had cancer since it would be them helping each other.

Ok, I’m done, have a great day, bye!

[hypermoyashi]

Hello, Trigun fandom! Recently, we ran a server exchange event on the Pen Pals discord server, where everyone made something for everyone who signed up! I wanted to promo all the works that were created for this event, as everyone really went above and beyond to create something amazing for it.

I want to thank everyone who contributed, and for making it a wonderful event to run.

Please check out the works created by our wonderfully talented members! And be sure to check to ao3 itself for any additional warnings and tags that may be relevant.

to new heights by @beesinspades for @nexadarling: 2k | G | Livio & Razlo

Razlo stiffens, fighting the urge to rip his hand away. Only reason he’s not shaking her off is because she’s holding on so tightly he might snap her little wrist. Don’t wanna deal with angry parents and bills Livio will insist on paying with the money he just earned. That, and it turns out when one does honest work, hurting clients doesn't bring more jobs. (They won’t be welcome in Voldoor for a while.) (Bastard deserved it, though.)

The Phantom Pain by legendofthesevenstars for @fish-ears: 3k | G | Livio & Wolfwood, Razlo & Wolfwood

Livio and Razlo deal with an unexpected haunting at the orphanage.

Oh, let the suns beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream by @spectre-writes for @hypermoyashi: 10k | T | Tesla & Vash, Luida & Tesla, Brad & Tesla | CWs: Mild Body Horror, Disability, Trauma

Tesla dreams that she dies. It must be a dream, because it doesn’t last.

Frosted Snow Trees by Plumerias_of_BlueMaroon for @spectre-writes: 10k | G | Meryl & Vash & Wolfwood & Milly | CWs: Chronic Pain

Weather fluctuations were common on No Man's Land, tending mostly towards heat, and less towards anywhere close to cool during the daytime where two suns bore down on the planet's heat-reflecting sands. However, on occasion, there were times where cold could descend unpredicted by anyone. That is to say, anyone human. Among the many items of Lost Technology that the crashed colonies had lost, so was the knowledge that plants, of all things, tended to be incompatible with the cold, and actually fell into a sort of stasis that resembled, faintly, the concept of hibernation. But who would ever think to remember that on a desert planet? Even Vash hadn't known, not to this extent.

blossoming by @markcampbells for Plumerias_of_BlueMaroon: 5k | T | Milly/Vash, Milly & Vash | CWs: Referenced Transphobia

"Can I ask where you're taking me?" she asks softly. "I know I found the place for the mochi ice cream, but you said it wouldn't be just that…" "Well, of course not. Just dessert wouldn't be a proper night out. I wanted tonight to have all the trimmings." He puts on a goofy smile, just for her. "We're almost at the restaurant, so I'll let that speak for itself, but after—it'll be a light meal beforehand, so I thought maybe you wouldn't mind—would you like to go dancing with me?" Following their getting to know each other better, Vash and Milly go on their promised night out for mochi and many other things besides. A followup to lend a friend a hand.

We Get Through by @nexadarling for legendofthesevenstars: 2k | T | Meryl & Milly & Vash & Wolfwood, Milly & Wolfwood, Vash & Wolfwood

“I had it under control,” Vash yells, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “You didn’t have to–” “Like hell you did!” Wolfwood interrupts. “You even had the girls involved, and I was supposed to, what, just let it–” Vash pokes a finger hard into the center of Wolfwood’s chest. “I wouldn’t have let anything–” “You know, and a ‘thank you’ would be nice every now and–” Wolfwood’s mouth clicks shut as a gunshot rings out in the clearing. Wolfwood watches over Vash’s shoulder as Milly’s shoulder jerks back, as she falls with a scream, hand curled around her arm. Milly gets shot. She also takes it better than pretty much anyone else.

A Good Feeling by @hypermoyashi for @bendycxmet: 5k | T | Vash/Wolfwood, Vash & Meryl, Meryl/Milly | CWs: Misogyny, Heteronormativity, Amatonormativity

Vash, as the princess's personal guard, is meant to ward Meryl from physical threats during the ball; too bad most of the threats aren't physical ones, with Meryl forced to deal with the expectations of high society and Vash not able to say a word. Thankfully, a chipper princess comes to her rescue.

Deck the Malls by @bendycxmet for @markcampbells: 6k | T | Vash/Wolfwood, Meryl/Milly

Especially with the hustle and bustle the holidays bring, Vash and Wolfwood were two much-needed seasonal hires for the fashion shop. And who was Wolfwood kidding, he also thought of this job as an excuse to hang around Vash more often, to see his boyfriend and sneak kisses in the stockroom throughout the day, breaking apart when they would hear the incoming echoes of Knives’ loafers or Elendira’s heels on the tile floor.

And then finally!! @tea-n-shade did some wonderful artwork for @beesinspades based on their fic for the event!! Please go take a look at the artwork, as well!

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

hi! love love love all of your haikaveh analyses! they're so wonderfully done and itch my brain so right. i was wondering if you had any thoughts on the recent quest featuring them ('an odd textual mystery')? hope you have a wonderful day!

hiya! firstly, thank you so much for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my haikaveh analyses!?? they truly live in our heads <333 secondly i am so sorry this reply is coming late!! i wasn't able to play during the first half of the event, and then i've had technical difficulties, so i've only recently finished the quest! that being said, here is part one of two of my thoughts!

firstly, i love how this event feels like a reference to kaveh’s hangout, in which alhaitham says that kaveh’s annotations, according to the ex grand conservator, are too long and hard to read, and that as a student, kaveh had the habit of scribbling in all sorts of books, which won him the nickname “the urchin of Kshahrewar” ???

we're starting off strong with kaveh canonically hiding behind a ladder out of sheer embarrassment after trying to find the book on which he inadvertently founded a conspiracy. things will just never go his way huh :(

i thought it was interesting (and very deliberate) that when we go to where we would find kaveh, it's The House, and when the traveller and paimon believe they've heard kaveh-

it's this guy... homosexual jumpscare next time.... and then he says this phrase (before leaving in his typical manner, which parallels his 'see ya' in his character quest, plsss he's so !?!?!?)

after waiting again, the traveller and paimon believe theyve heard kaveh, and this time it IS kaveh... you mean they couldnt be told apart...?? really leaning into alhaitham and kaveh being innately bound by the mirror motif i think.!!

paimon then impersonates alhaitham, to which kaveh recognises, saying that paimon doesn't sound herself - which could parallel how the kaveh comments that the traveller sounds like alhaitham in one dialogue option within his hangout, a cute detail <3

also, kaveh clinging onto the narrative that no one knows he lives with alhaitham, and then listing a scroll of names, being all of his and alhaitham's close friends... ironically very intimate

also it being confirmed that kaveh has low stamina, i didn't know i needed this until i was given it

kaveh drunkenly circling a spelling error in permanent ink, thinking nothing about it but that the book is terrible, returning it, and then creating a city-wide mystery, believing it to have happened AFTER he returned the book, and frantically trying to piece together what happened is so kaveh coded, ofc it WOULD happen to him

tighnari checking the book out when kaveh complained about it him because he thought it sounded FUNNY!! i love hibm..,m,,,

also kaveh using red ink and alhaitham using green ink... oh so the contrasting outfits aren't enough, you're also canonically using complementary colours... oh so.. huh...

tighnari immediately clocking that alhaitham joined in by adding a circle, calling it a 'game', so he knows that alhaitham is having fun doing this...? dare i say... f-flirting,,,

tighnari saying flirting.!! HE DESERVEDLY CALLEDHAIKAVEH OUT!!! they are too much in their intricate (homoerotic) rituals.

tighnari using a leaf in the forest metaphor... very interesting

cutting to cyno and sethos, cyno being bitter that sethos makes excuses to not play TCG, referencing their voice lines about the other, this is such a nice detail

absolutely no thoughts here just pure homoerotic brainrot of knowing what style of ink and the penmanship of your life partner, along with an unnecessary specific memory of the two taking breaks from their schedules to spend time together in their secret spot in the tree in cyno's second story quest... ive not had one coherent thought since this, the writing for cynonari is so so great and lovely and everything, they deserve the best

"back to the book" BRO GOT DISTRACTED!!! FR THERE WAS NO NEED TO TELL THAT STORY ABOUT HIM WATCHING TIGHNARI DO HIS HOMEWORK IN THEIR SECRET PLACE HELPPPPPP

also, cyno wanting to solve the mystery of the book for tighnari's sake and protection. oh. (if this weren't haikaveh's fault/event then cynonari would own it... tighnari, i, too, am so tired of them.)

and cyno canonically calling sethos bro!! another reason as to why its a crime this mini quest wasn't VOICED????

this is part one! part two is here and focusses on the final scene with alhaitham and kaveh, my bane...

[indianamgc11]

“makes me want to wreck you.” from the prompt list woth ethan landry 😇

eyes on you

a/n: hello! i wrote this with the intent of making a pt. 2, so lmk if you would be interested in that :)

warnings: cursing, mentions of weed and alcohol, touching, mentions of blood and the tiniest bit of violence, fighting, implications of sex, talking of body parts, ethan x f!reader (lmk if i missed any)

word count: 2,665

summary: reader and the group attend the frat party, but ethan and reader have their eyes, and minds, set on something else.

You never have really been a fan of parties, let alone frat college parties. But Chad had convinced you to go along anyways, saying you needed to “get out more.”

“C’mon! It’ll be fun! Maybe you could find a piece of eye candy to snack on.”

He laughs at his own comment and flexed his muscles in the air, jokingly referencing to himself, earning a playful eye roll and a sigh from you.

“Fine, I’ll go, just don’t try to find somebody for me, that didn’t go too well last time.”

You remember back to the last party you went to with the friend group, where Chad attempted to hook you up with a guy who ended up being some 30-year old freak who passed by the party scene, thinking he could get away with a girl or two. Chad ended up getting into a fist fight with the creep, leaving himself with bloodied knuckles and a red slap mark on his face, and the guy with a broken nose and a black eye. That was the last party you had gone too.

But you wanted to try again, seeing that you wanted to join this sorority with Tara for a bit, and figured that a party would be a good start (hopefully).

It was later in the day and you were getting ready with Tara in her room. Her, Sam, and Quinn were your roommates, and Sam wasn’t too fond of the “social gathering” that Chad had been talking about. She’s been very paranoid about letting Tara go out alone, or to any crowded event, since the recent Ghostface killings in your hometown of Woodsboro, California the previous year. Even with Chad saying him and the remaining friend group would be going, Sam still turned the idea down. Nevertheless, you and Tara still planned to go to the OKB party, you currently adding lavender body glitter to yourself while Tara was finishing pulling her hair up.

Tara is dressed as a pirate, while you were dressed as a fairy, sort of. Having a shimmery cropped top with feathers around the edge of the upper half, and a glittery skirt to go with it. It wasn’t a kiddy costume, but wasn’t an attempt to pick up any guys, they’d all be drunk or high anyways.

Quinn was, occupied, in her room with some guy you both didn’t know, so she definitely wasn’t going with you two. Instead she was going to cover for you both if Sam questioned your absences when she got home.

You both turn your lights off and shut your bedroom doors before leaving (so Sam might think you were sleeping), then shut the front door and started heading downstairs. Neither of you spoke a word, the only sounds to be heard were from your shoes hitting the floor and the air conditioning in the building. You did this just in case you ran into Sam, which was unlikely, but just for good measure. You make it out of the apartment building and join your group of friends, walking down the busy streets of New York. The sidewalks of the roads, and now the campus, are quite crowded, seeing various costumes on many bodies, including many Ghostfaces. You’re bumped out of your observations, literally, when you see a familiar face.

“Hey, Jason!” Tara says, glad to see her friend.

“Are you and Greg coming to the OKB party?” You ask him as you and Tara both stop to talk with him briefly, pointing behind you.

“Yeah, if he ever finishes his Spanish project.” Jason responds.

He continues to talk with Tara rather than you and asks if Sam would be there, seeming to take an interest to her. They finish conversing and you catch up with your group. You make it to the house, lit up with flashing lights, tables holding many plastic red cups and bottles of beer with lots of people around. You walk inside and are immediately hit with the smell of alcohol and many lit joints, which isn’t very surprising. You lose the friend group you arrived with, being left with Tara. It’s hard to hear nearly anything except for the loud bass of the music, and clips of conversations from everywhere you go. A course someone is taking, how Subway messed up their sandwich, or just plain horny college students at a poor attempt to start something up. But seriously, get a room.

“I’m gonna go find Chad”

You say to Tara, but end up nearly yelling for her to hear you, needing to repeat yourself. She gives you a thumbs up before you both wander off. You eventually see Mindy and her girlfriend, Anika, on a couch on the opposite side of the room. Anika has a pumpkin cropped shirt on with some blue flared jeans and a bucket hat, her legs over Mindy, who was dressed simply, but you could tell she was going for a simple costume look. You just couldn’t squint your eyes enough to see the same on the corner of her shirt. Your eyes lead you to Chad, who was without a shirt, but had a large cowboy hat, jeans, boots, and an obnoxious cowboy belt. Next to him stood his roommate, Ethan Landry.

Ethan was newer to the group, not always around but still present. You’ve known him for about 6 months, and within those 6 months slight came feelings for him. He was cute, really cute, having fluffy, curly black hair, plump lips, and eyes that could break your soul. You’ve always wondered how he doesn’t have any girls going after him. I mean, why wouldn’t they? He was also a typical nerdy guy. Being cute and a little dorky you thought was the perfect combination.

You walk over to the pair and see them both take a shot, but Ethan spit his back out into his shot glass. The guy wasn’t a fan of drinking, either.

“Hey cool kids”

You say to them sarcastically referring to their costumes, specifically Ethan. He smiles at you.

“Hey, y/n/n, you did come! I’ll bet you’re glad you did, huh?”

Chad says, nudging you with his elbow. You shrug your shoulders at the scene, looking around to the same wildness you saw before.

“Eh. It’s more of your scene definitely.” You shouted.

You look back to Ethan and scan him up and down, eyebrows knitting together, forming a guess in your head as to what he’s dressed as.

“I’m a knight from Murder Party.”

He says lightly to you, having that no one has been correct when seeing his cardboard costume. You nod your head and make an “ah” shape with your mouth. He then leans in so he can hear you better, and vise versa.

“A fairy? That’s not really what I thought you would go for,” He says closer to you.

“It’s what I got on short notice. Better than that stupid attempt at a sexy nurse or something. Also surprised that you got that.” You shrug.

Chad disagrees with the statement, but you nudge him in the side. You notice Ethan’s eyes linger on you every moment or so. Not to say you didn’t either. You never really noticed it, but the guy had muscles. He was wearing a plain long sleeve blue shirt underneath the cardboard, and even in the dark, his arms were defined.

It was hot. He was hot.

But that’s not something you would ever admit. Nobody had a clue, not even Tara, that you had a developing crush for Ethan. But you couldn’t help it. You were around him a lot of the time, and your eyes could just never seem to look somewhere else. Like at another guy.

You’re pulled from your thoughts when Anika approaches you three.

“Big guy. You’re needed.”

Chad glanced at you with quick worry along with Ethan, as you three follow Anika to the scene of some older looking guy dragging Tara up the stairs, mumbling something to her. You and Ethan make your way through the people gathering around to see what’s going on. Chad approaches the guy with a fake smile on.

“Hey pal. No private tours for this one, mkay?”

“Sorry bro, didn’t catch that.” The guy, Frankie, says, clearly drunk. His eyes were slightly glossy and his speech was slurred together, his eyelids drooping a little as well.

“Yeah, bro, you did. Tara’s good down here.” Chad says irritated.

Tara chimes in saying she wants to, followed by Frankie drunkenly agreeing with her and began dragging her by the arm upstairs, Tara’s expression turning from happy to discomfort, a tinge of fear evident. Chad grabs Frankie by his shirt and yanks him to ground level. Ethan quickly put his hand around your arm and pulled you back a little. You’re a bit surprised at his action but don’t try to pull away, leaning back to him. His fingertips were warm on your arm and his hands were soft. And you never realized how large his hands were. Pushing you once again from your thoughts, before Chad can show the guy, Sam comes in out of nowhere.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, I’m just gonna taze you in the balls real quick.”

She then electrified Frankie and he fell to the floor screaming at Sam.

“Fucking bitch!” Frankie screams while groaning in agony.

Tara immediately storms through the crowd and out the door, mortified and angry. You glance behind at Ethan, then to Chad, seeing his face confused as to what all just happened, then you all follow suite to Tara and Sam.

You catch up, yet keeping your distance to the sisters as you hear them arguing, Tara fuming and unpleased. You all stop behind the two and witness the argument, eyes going back and forth from one girl to the other.

“That guy was an asshole and he was gonna take advantage of you-“ Sam starts but Tara cuts her off.

“So? If I wanna hook up with an asshole that my decision. My decision! You’re out of my life for five years and now you can’t leave me alone for five minutes!” Tara’s voice gets higher as she gets more agitated just talking about Sam’s actions recently.

“See why I don’t live with them? I love them, but the drama.” Mindy whispers to you, Ethan, and Anika. You purse your lips and look at Mindy.

“Sorry” Mindy whispers back, averting her eyes and stepping back to Anika.

Ethan leans down to your ear,

“Is it this bad all the time?” He questioned in a curious tone.

“Sometimes yes, sometimes no.”

Sam and Tara bicker quite often. Quinn has never been to bothered by it, usually doing other things, but you on the other hand, are always around to hear them. Occasionally you’ll go over to Mindy and Anika’s, but if they’re busy then you’ll go stay with Chad and Ethan. They normally know what it is when one of them opens the door to see you standing there with a pillow in your hand. Not that it’s a big deal, sometimes you just do it to spend more time with Ethan.

Usually you and Ethan would end up playing cards, study, or even watch a movie until you both fell asleep. You also used to just sleep on the couch, but Ethan has recently let you sleep in his bed while he either takes the couch or the floor. You refused at first, saying it wasn’t necessary, by the boy wouldn’t take no for an answer.

In the mornings it was Ethan who was up first, stretching and checking the time on his watch set on the nightstand. He was careful not to wake you, seeing as you were still sound asleep with the blankets all about. One leg would be over the covers while the other was under, you turned on your side and face against the pillow. One thing that Ethan noticed as well, was how you still looked perfect to him even after turning around all night. Your tank top accentuating your curves well, also being enough to where your cleavage would show a little. But Ethan wasn’t uncomfortable, in fact he got a little aroused by the simple sight of you a few times. But you also chose to wear that to bed, so maybe Ethan’s eyes might linger a little longer. Exactly how you intended.

What wakes you up is the closing of his bedroom door, leaving you alone to sleep for a bit. You sit up and stretch, feeling the warm sunlight through the cracks of the shut blinds. You swing your legs over to the floor and walk towards the door to the kitchen. You see Ethan, who is currently sipping a cup of coffee while reading his Econ textbook. His hair is quite fluffy and his eyes are intently focused on the schoolbook in front of him. When the cup moved away from his lips, they move against each other to savor the taste of the caffeine. He doesn’t even notice you standing there until you say something.

“Econ? Really?” You express as you walk over to sit with him.

He sets his mug down, giving a slight laugh and smile at your comment.

“I have an exam in two days, I can’t risk anything.”

You smile and shake your head, still loving the smart boy in front of you, even if he willingly reads from a textbook in his weekend free time.

You don’t notice it at first, but your eyes don’t leave him. He looks up at you before you can look away. He raises an eyebrow at you and smiles with the left of his mouth.

It stays silent for a while as you hold your coffee and take a sip, the steam still visibly coming from the caffeinated drink. Not many sounds are heard except the flipping of the textbook pages and the honks of cars from NY traffic.

You eventually finish your coffee and get up to refill it, knowing you have many lectures that day. You walk over to the machine and start to pour the liquid in the mug. You place the pot back in its place and then around, only to be met with Ethan’s tall frame facing you. You nearly shriek from the startle.

“Ethan! Why would you scare me like that?”

You say as you exhale and hold a hand over your chest, the other leaning against the countertop behind you.

Ethan doesn’t say a single word. He just continues to watch you, his eyes scanning over your figure.

“Eth? You alright?” You hesitated.

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine,” he nods and bits his lip a bit.

You then feel his hand snaking on your waist, slowly pulling you towards his.

“Last night, at the party..” He begins slowly.

“I couldn’t keep my eyes off you, you know.”

His voice is deep. He sounds like a sexy villain in a movie, almost. Why is he acting like this?

You can feel his breath on you.

“How could I not? Even going for a simple costume, I couldn’t look away..” He trails off.

You were now flush against him. Your mouth felt dry and you needed to clear your throat but didn’t want to ruin the silence. You felt your heartbeat quicken, your stomach whirl.

It felt good.

Ethan’s eyes were still on yours, burning with something. A passion. Something you couldn’t quite pinpoint, but so badly wanted to. His fingertips slightly squeezed your hip, his other hand to your side on the countertop. His arms were tanned, flexing from his hand slightly moving. His nostrils flared a bit with every breath out, his lips pursed a little bit.

He leaned closer to your ear, your eyes following him until they couldn’t anymore. Barely above a whisper, he muttered a phrase that made your heart beat everywhere, your palms sweaty.

“Really makes me want to wreck you.”

[dbacklot99]

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About The Crow Road, But Couldn't Get Through it To Find Out

Co-written by dbacklot and cheeseplants

WARNING: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!

Overall Premise: Books are clearly important to Good Omens and Neil & team have left us Clues. In S2E2, the xray trivia highlights a list of books they would like the audience to read. But even more specifically, there are names of certain books on the back of the chairs in the theater in the opening credits. Those books are: The Tale of Two Cities, Pride & Prejudice, and The Crow Road - twice!

What might this mean? One theory is that the chairs represent the seasons. The body swap in S1 is similar to how Carton, in Tale of Two Cities, takes his doppleganger's place in jail, sacrificing his life so Darnay could go free and be with his family. Pride & Prejudice is clearly referenced in S2, with Crowley's proposal as a sort of mirror to Darcy's first proposal. (There's probably a whole lot more to unpack there - and if you like Austen, here are some thoughts about Aziraphale's favorite book, Persuasion, and how it may relate to the characters.)

BACK to The Crow Road. The title is shown on two chairs in the opening sequence, suggesting that it is related to both S2 and S3. Furthermore, we see the book multiple times in the show and it's the book Muriel reads at the end. As an aside, Neil Gaiman and Iain Banks were very good friends. Iain Banks died over a decade ago, so it is also likely a bit of a tribute to his friend.

So let's dig in and see why perhaps Neil keeps holding this book up and shouting Clue!

Side note: The book is long and most of the action happens in the final third, which can make it a hard read for folks. There's also a lot of characters and it can be tricky to remember how they are all related. There is a family tree BUT it has spoilers.

The Name: The Crow Road is a phrase used by the grandmother to indicate someone has died, ie - he's gone the crow road.

The Plot: This is the story of Prentice growing up with his immediate and extended family in Scotland. His Uncle Rory disappears in his early childhood. Some family members choose to believe Rory is still alive. After a hook-up with his Uncle Rory's former girlfriend as a young adult, Prentice starts gathering journals and writings from his missing Uncle Rory, who was (for a few years) a successful writer and traveler. Prentice eventually learns that 1) another Uncle, Fergus, had murdered his own wife and covered it up as a car accident and 2) Rory had figured this out and confronted him. Fergus then murdered Rory, hid all the evidence, and hired an acquaintance (who also traveled) to send matchboxes from bars across the world to Prentice's father, Kenneth. Kenneth, believed - as Fergus intended - that these were messages from Rory, indicating he was still alive. 

Stylistically, Prentice's childhood memories and fragments from Rory's journals are interspersed throughout the book, much like the minisodes are in S2. It can take the reader a while to figure out who is telling the story or where this information is coming from. It is also unclear how reliable Rory is as narrator - perhaps this also plays into S2.

What it Might Mean: 

Fergus could represent the Metatron. He is very powerful, rich, and conservative; he lives in a castle (Heaven?) and wants authority. Fergus also murders two relatives and hides those murders; the murder of his wife may have been inspired by jealousy over her sleeping with another man, an event which may or may not have happened.

Fergus also sets up fake messages!! The matchbooks are red herrings to make it look like Rory is still alive. As the Metatron relays messages from God, I can't get over the possibilities here. We have seen God speaking directly as recently as Job, but are the other messages real?

I can't help but wonder if the matchbooks and their use as messages inspired Neil to use the matchbook in S2. The matchbook in S2, incidentally, connects to all three minisodes - the quote from Job, 41:19 (reversed 1941), and the matchbox is from the Resurrectionists pub. So the matchbook contains not only Gabriel’s memories but refers to Azi’s as well?

Much of the book is about this missing uncle. Is a character (or their memory) missing in S3? I have theories, but its too soon to tell.

There's also an interesting theme of Prentice collecting his Uncle Rory's writings and records, including sending some corrupted computer discs to an expert in America to try to restore them. Given the emphasis on records ("It contains information in a tuneful way") and journals in S2, not to mention this trivia nugget ​​ - my brain is itching that there's a connection there.

Faith & Beliefs: The book talks about Faith a lot. Prentice believes in God and his father Kenneth doesn’t. And Kenneth doesn’t just reject religion, he wants his children to reject religion too. Prentice on the other hand desperately wants something to believe in - especially after a friend's death in an accident. This leads to a huge fall out - they end up not talking over it.

"'I mean, what's the big argument? Can't you just agree to disagree?' 'No; we disagree about that,' I shook my head. 'Seriously; it doesnt' work that way; neither of us can leave it alone. There's almost nothing either of us can say that can't be taken the wrong way, with a bit of imagination. It's like being married.'" (Ch 7)

Kennth seemingly taunts God - he climbs a church during a lightning storm and is struck dead. His uncle Hamish (one of Kenneth’s brothers) also represents the extreme version of Faith and ends up running a sort of cult, at least until Kenneth’s death.

What it Might Mean: The thread they pull through a lot is about meaning, and whether you can have meaning in life without God. Prentice gains Faith because his friend died senselessly; he wonders how can you have a world be so cruel. There must be a reason for it (this is sort of Az coded), and he turns to God to create the meaning for him. 

BUT Kenneth’s argument is that you don’t need Faith for the world to have meaning (or at least that is my reading). It is wonderful because it is inherently meaningless (this is very existentialist, but I do think that’s the point). That Faith doesn’t do that, and just means you are looking outwards without looking at what is right in front of you. Which again, could be a Crowley way of looking at it, or at least where he is headed. Life is good as life, and doesn’t need God to make it so. 

Hamish represents someone putting so much meaning into Faith that they lose all sense of Joy, he becomes distant.  (One of my favorite scenes is Hamish doing a jigsaw puzzle with the pieces upside down - and cutting the pieces with scissors if they don’t fit right!)

The Romantic Relationships: Prentice is infatuated with a cousin (second cousin?), Verity. She is described as beautiful, in white/light colors, pure, lives with Uncle Fergus in the castle. There are legends around her birth -  she was conceived under a tree during a storm. She is unattainable and eventually ends up with Prentice's older brother.

Ash, on the other hand, is almost literally the girl next door and Prentice’s long-term best friend. Her family is poorer and maybe has some domestic violence issues. She's always there for Prentice - literally a shoulder to cry on, sharing a bottle of whiskey, helping him sober up after said whiskey. There's obvious romantic tension from Ash’s side but she never pushes him and instead guides him along. And the book ends with a romantic resolution that feels very much like the final fifteen - except with a happier ending.

“- and I still didn’t feel I could tell her how I felt about her because she was going away now, and how could I suddenly say I love you when I’d never said it to anybody in my life before? How could I say it now especially, the night before she was due to leave? It would look like I was trying to make her stay, or just get her into bed. It would probably wreck this one precious evening that we did have, and upset her, confuse her, even hurt her, and I didn’t want to do any of that.” (Ch 13)

They finally kiss and spend the night together, both confessing their love. Ash has to leave the next morning to pursue a career opportunity in New York; Prentice is sad that she goes but re-dedicating himself to his studies and working towards a relationship together. 

What it Might Mean: To me, Verity is very Heaven-coded and Ash is very Hell-coded. A big part of Prentice's arc (Prentice may represent Azi here) is getting over his blind infatuation with Verity and realizing the value and love he has with Ash. However, they also need to be apart and grow a bit before they can be together.

Other thoughts? Connections? Would love to hear your theories!!

@cheeseplants

[morbidology]

Charles Bishop, a high school student with a keen interest in aviation, attended East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Despite his young age, he had begun taking flying lessons at the National Aviation Academy at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. On the 5th of January, 2002, Bishop arrived at the academy for a scheduled flight lesson. However, instead of waiting for his instructor, he boarded a Cessna 172, started the engine, and took off without authorization.

Flying alone, Bishop headed towards downtown Tampa. His unauthorized flight drew immediate attention from aviation authorities and the military. Two military jets were scrambled to intercept the plane, but before they could reach it, Bishop crashed the aircraft into the 28th floor of the Bank of America Tower. The impact caused significant damage to the building, but fortunately, no one inside was injured. Bishop was killed instantly.

The crash prompted a swift investigation by the FBI and other authorities. Initial fears of a terrorist attack were quickly dismissed as investigators delved into Bishop's background and motives. They discovered a note in the wreckage, written by Bishop, expressing admiration for Osama bin Laden and referencing the September 11 attacks. However, it became apparent that Bishop had acted alone and had no connections to any terrorist organizations.

Further investigation revealed that Bishop had a history of depression and other psychological issues. Friends and family described him as a quiet, intelligent teenager who had recently become more withdrawn. The note he left behind suggested a troubled mindset, influenced by the events of September 11 and his own personal struggles.

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 7

I know, I know. I put out a chapter recently for this one. But it was the closest to being done after my elbow started feeling better so it got to go first.

In case anyone was curious, this is the song that the title is based on. It's from the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel and it's about the lead, Sir Percival Blankney trying to get his friends to help rescue nobles in France during the French Revolution.

Steve is going to have a very rough go of it for the next couple of chapters. but we're nearing the third season so that should be fun (it might get glossed over a bit for the sake of this story's plot, as it's more about Eddie and Steve then the events of the show).

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

****

Steve was taking a break from doing homework to work on his next comic. This one was a little bit more dangerous to put to paper in the sense that even the dumbest agent would immediately know what he was referencing. Well maybe not immediately, but definitely by the end.

But to the people who didn’t know that underneath their feet was this massive alternate dimension filled with murderous monsters? It was the easiest to hide. Giant wolves in a junkyard? The spunky new character who had more sass in her pinkie than the entire rest of the Party combined and considering Dustin was in this one, that was saying something.

He was lettering his favorite exchange between Max and Dustin. Her calling Steve insane and Dustin saying that he was awesome.

He could be both.

Really, all he needed to do was finish up the lettering and he would done. Then he could actually give it to Eddie and not chicken out this time.

Last time, he had brought it over to show Eddie, but had gotten cold feet at the last minute. Not that it had mattered, the ever loving idiot that he was had left it at the trailer anyway.

He already had his note to Eddie explaining the real events behind the comic on the back. Again with the instruction to do away with that page after he had read it.

He really, really didn’t want either of them in trouble with the Feds.

Steve looked up at the clock and sighed. If he wanted to get his homework done, he’d have to get back to it. He knew he really didn’t have to work that hard, having graduation in the bag, but he couldn’t help try anyway.

Plus at least two of his teachers had threatened to prevent any student who slacked off in class from walking in graduation. And he didn’t doubt that a least two others would do it, too, they just hadn’t said the quiet part out loud.

He put aside his comic and pulled his history book closer to him. He sighed again when he saw that he had barely done two questions. He dug the palms of his hands into his eyes and rubbed them.

He could do this.

****

Steve had been invited to a couple of graduation parties, one from a couple drama geek friends and another from Lyle on the swim team. Was even hosting one of his own.

Thankfully none of the were on the same night and he could do all three. Eddie wasn’t going to any of the ones he’d been invited to. Including Steve’s.

And as much as that hurt, Steve understood. He didn’t think that he could stand there with people graduating, knowing that he wasn’t going to be on that stage with them.

****

Marty, Janice, and Steve were all standing in the corner at the drama club party, drinks in hand and wishing to be anywhere but there.

“I’m just saying,” Steve muttered for the tenth time since he got there, “that we pick up Eddie and some real booze, drive out to the quarry and get proper shitfaced.”

Marty rolled his eyes. “So you keep saying. But I can’t if my parents find out I’ve ditched the party, I’ll be grounded until I go to college.”

He took a sip of his punch and winced. It wasn’t even alcoholic. It was Sprite and Kool-aid. Lime Kool-aid, no less. With lemon/lime soda? At least use it to spike cherry or some shit.

Janice suddenly ducked behind Steve and hid her face into his back. “Shit, it’s Tammy Thompson.”

Tammy walked up to Steve and Marty.

“Hey, guys,” she said cheerfully. “Glad you two could make. I heard Janice was going to come, have either of you two fine fellas seen her? I wanted to talked to her about where’s she going to college, just to see about what her prospects were.”

Marty and Steve shared a glance and then Steve frowned.

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, “she did stop to chat with us briefly, but then she moved on.”

Tammy pouted. “Well thank you anyway.”

She wandered off and Janice hissed, “So you could degrade them and make sure not to apply there, because they were beneath you, you hell beast.”

Marty snorted.

Steve just shook his head. He dumped his almost full plastic cup into a nearby garbage. “You guys can stay here if you want, but I’m out of here. I’ve been to some pretty lame parties, but this one takes the cake.”

“I’m with you there,” Janice agreed. “How about you Mart? You coming?”

Marty winced again and looked around. The music wasn’t loud enough to be heard and they were standing pretty close to the speakers. The food was just chips and store bought cookies. The drink was nasty as hell.

“Come on,” Steve said gently tapping Marty’s elbow. “At least let me give you a ride home.”

Marty deflated and tossed his cup in after Steve’s. “You’ve got me there, man. Yeah. Let’s go.”

Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

He led the way out to his bimmer and went to go dig out his keys out of his pocket when he was spun around roughly.

“Hey!” Janice cried.

Steve gulped. He was looking into the very furious and drunk face of Kyle Carver.

The asshole who had tried to sabotage Steve’s performance as Thomson in the school play by dumping water all over him.

He had been expelled and no doubt blamed Steve for that.

“It should have been me!” Kyle screamed in his face. “You ruined my life Harrington! You’ll pay! I’ll see to that!”

Then he took a swing at Steve. Steve managed to move to the side enough to have Kyle miss, but it was a near thing. He pushed Kyle’s chest.

“Back off, man!” he growled. “You ruined your own fucking life. You cheated on the audition, you tried to dump water all over me because you couldn’t get over the fact that I’m just better than you.”

He turned around to get into the car, but Kyle slammed his head into roof of the car. Marty and Janice screamed, hurrying to get over on the other side of the car.

Steve turned around and touched his forehead. His finger came away with blood. “You’re going to regret that, Carver.”

Kyle scoffed. “Billy told the team what an absolute pussy you are, Harrington. You couldn’t fight your way out a paper bag now that you don’t have that freak Munson around as your guard dog.”

Before Marty or Janice could stop him, Steve swung with everything he had.

CRACK!

Kyle stiffened like a board and went down.

Marty and Janice skidded to a stop to look down at the now unconscious Kyle Carver.

“What the fuck did you just do?” Marty asked in awe.

Steve wiped the blood off his forehead and spat on Carver. “What I should have done from the beginning. Take those assholes out. I was just afraid of what my dad would if I was caught fighting again after the incident with Byers.”

He gestured to Marty. “Come on, help me get this idiot off the side of the road.”

Steve lifted under his arms, while Marty and Janice moved him off onto the grass.

A passing sophomore saw them and made to open his mouth to scream.

“Hey, hey,” Steve said softly. “He’s just had a little too much to drink and hit his head. So why don’t you keep an eye on him for us.”

The sophomore nodded and the three of them slipped into Steve’s car, Janice at the wheel.

****

Eddie opened his trailer door and looked down at the trio of them getting out of Steve’s car.

“And just what did you two do to my boyfriend?”

Janice laughed and waved her hand at Steve’s smeared with blood forehead with a grin. “This? Oh this is nothing. You should see the other guy.”

Eddie sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “What other guy?”

“Kyle Carver tried to get in Steve’s face and smashed his head onto the roof of the bimmer. So Steve here, just turns around and lays him out flat. It’s a good thing I could tell he was breathing, because holy shit, did Kyle go down hard.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow at Steve.

Steve shrugged. “It’s the reason I don’t get into fights. I don’t know my own strength.”

The other three looked at him in a mixture of shock and awe.

“Get your ass in here,” Eddie huffed. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Steve, Marty, and Janice made it up the steps and Eddie held open the door for them to all file through.

Steve sat down on a kitchen chair so Eddie could have a look at him.

“Let’s get you cleaned up first, sweetheart,” he murmured on his way to the bathroom.

He came out moments later with a large first aid kit and a damp wash cloth.

“Wow,” Steve said as Eddie set the kit on the counter. “You’re med kit is almost as impressive as mine.”

Wayne, who had been sitting on his recliner this whole time, snickered. “Eddie was very accident prone when he first hit puberty. All limbs and no idea where to put them. Plus, the bullying. I got the best I could afford just to keep up on it all.”

Eddie blushed a deep red as he wiped off Steve’s forehead. “The cut isn’t that bad, head wounds just bleed a lot. You’ll get more of a bruise than anything else.”

Steve nodded.

“I get why Eddie has an extensive med kit,” Marty huffed. “But why do you have an extensive med kit, Steve?”

Steve threw back his head and laughed. “I babysit six barely teenagers. One plays basketball and another skateboards. Plus, there’s Dustin who is just a walking disaster because he always has to be right and has absolutely no fucks to give to his general surroundings.”

Eddie snorted, rolling his eyes. That was a really good description of Dustin if he was honest. He liked the kid. He did. But low wisdom and high intelligence made for quite the disaster.

Janice nodded. “Yeah. I could see that. My little brother rollerskates and he is a menace on wheels I swear to god.”

Eddie finished putting on the band-aid and then kissed Steve forehead better.

“I’m sorry Carver was an ass,” he said packing away the first aid kit. “But I’m glad you won.”

“Steve told some kid to watch Carver because he was drunk and passed out,” Janice said gleefully. “So even if he does remember the encounter he knows he can’t say shit because then he’d have to admit to assaulting Steve first.”

Eddie kissed Steve again, this time on the cheek. “My super clever boyfriend.”

Wayne grunted as he got to his feet. “Come on, Marty and Janice,” he muttered. “I’ll take you home. I don’t trust this idiot to drive.”

“Hey!” Steve and Eddie protested together.

Wayne just shook his head as if they proved his point.

Janice and Marty said their goodbyes and followed Wayne out.

“Let’s get you some aspirin and into bed, darlin’,” Eddie cooed.

Steve nodded and followed Eddie into the bedroom.

He stripped down to his underwear and climbed under the covers. As he drifted off, he smiled softly to himself. It was nice to be taken care of for a change.

Just before he fell into a deep sleep, he felt a warm hand card through his hair and a soft kiss on his hair.

“Sleep well, Stevie.”

****

Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

In case you guys don't remember, Kyle is the one that got suspended when he tried sabotage Steve's performance as Sec. Thomson in the musical 1776.

Tag List: @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie

@chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @danili666

@goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

@justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

@cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

@useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911

@birbsauce @acingthecounts @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @kultiras

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So... twst anime—

I feel I should be much more excited than I actually am. Don't get me wrong- I am excited ( for Leona animated content ) to see how they'll handle some things- but apart from the worries you listed, I just... I know this sounds a little gatekeepy but an anime will mean more ppl will know and talk about the story and I fear that they won't go into the game/other content and thus have a limited opinion on characters/events and misunderstand them. Basically I fear that characters will be even more mischaracterized than they already ( sometimes ) are by the current fandom 😭 ( specially Leona- gunshots )

[Referencing this post!]

I feel like there's for sure been mixed reactions to the recent anime news. The general consensus is excitement, but occasionally I've also seen skepticism or worries that the anime won't be as good as the long period since the initial announcement would have had us believe. That's to be expected; we won't know the quality of the anime until we watch it ourselves.

Mmm, there's that age-old sentiment again 😅 The thought of, "More people will be exposed to Twst because of this; I'm worried they will misunderstand the story/characters." It always seems to make a comeback whenever a new major piece of Twst media is announced... It happened when the official EN localization was announced too. People were jumping to conclusions and worrying that the influx of "EN-only" folks and/or a sub-par localization would lead to newer fans not seeing the story and characters the same way as the JP side did. I'll repeat what I said back then (as I think the same logic applies), along with a few additional points/expansions, as are relevant:

As you've said, mischaracterization happens, even now. This is normal in fandom, and it doesn't necessarily make fandom a "bad" space. Variation in thought is a normal human thing in general and I don't think it should be discouraged. If everyone thought the exact same way, life would be boring and we would have a limited number of ideas circulating.

This thinking sort of presupposes that the Twst fandom is currently without issues (or has few of them) and that it is the growth of the fandom that will cause problems. From experience, I can tell you that fandoms always have their toxic pockets. Fandoms growing larger just exposes more of those pockets because, statistically speaking, with more bodies present, there's a higher chance something will come to light, be it a personal squabble, a cultural difference, actually serious allegations, etc. It's a natural part of a fandom's lifecycle.

How other people interpret the story/characters should have limited or no bearing whatsoever on your own enjoyment. It does not erase your own views on the story/characters either. If you find that your concerns about others are becoming overwhelming, I'd encourage you to take a step back and think about what in this fandom makes you happy.

I feel that the mentality I mentioned earlier stems from an "us versus them" mindset. We're viewing current Twsties as the "in" group and everyone else as the "out" group... when, really, I think it might be healthier to perceive the "out" group as potential Twsties. Like... instead of fearing them as strangers coming in to "taint" the fandom, let's try to think of them as "friends we haven't met yet". After all, these anime-first or anime-only Twsties could end up being your next buddy, someone cool you meet at an event, a Twst content creator you enjoy, etc. Try to reframe your thinking!

Lastly!! We have no idea how the anime will go. They might not make it solely the main story just because it’s a manga adaptation. The team might have weaved in vignettes/event stories or bonus content exclusive to the anime which helps flesh out the characters.

I think that about wraps up my thoughts. I hope that helps alleviate some of your concerns. Hang tight, keep an open mind, and pray that the L*ona content in the anime is good 🤡

[bloopitynoot]

3 Shadowgast fics that made me ugly cry

Okay so I read a LOT of shadowgast fanfics and I wanted to share some of the ones that made me absolutely weep. (I was going to wait until tomorrow but I got too excited to share).

All of these have some intense emotional distress, but I promise you all they may be angsty but they absolutely have happy endings.

They are all set in very different AU's, are hefty completed fics, and have similar feels!

1. the breathe before the phrase

(171513 words) by @kmackatie Chapters: 20/20 Rating: Explicit Summary: The ringing note of a concert A is played by the oboe, echoing on its own in the space. It’s picked up by the wind section, followed rapidly by the brass, and the familiar feeling of an orchestra calibrating takes over Caleb. The tonal adjustments as each person brings their instrument into alignment sinks into him and something inside Caleb shifts in recognition as Essek leads the strings into their own tuning. It’s like something is waking up, like something unfurling and firing across long-unused paths of memory. His hands shake slightly, as he raises his bow and joins them, fingers fumbling against the pegs and fine tuners that give him control over his instrument. ---- Essek Thelyss is a leading violinist, his spot as Shadowhand of the Rosohna Philharmonic Orchestra has been uncontested for over a decade. Caleb Widogast is a recent arrival to the city, convinced by his friends to audition for one of the vacant violinist positions. After starting off on the wrong foot, Caleb and Essek get to slowly know each other, discover what brings them joy, create while defying expectations, and find out that what they can produce together may just be better than anything they can do separately.

Why I cried: The amount of pressure put on Essek made my heart absolutely shatter. That plus the pinning between Caleb and Essek had me weeping. The hurt/comfort energy. The bad parent Dierta and of course past Caleb Ickythong trauma healing. Other than the story itself Katie has put so much energy into explaining the music, the playlist is stunning, and the inspiration for the played pieces in the fic are grounded in actual compositions. No spoilers, but the ending is gorgeous <3

2.Till Human Voices Wake us

(66080 words) by @ariadne-mouse Chapters: 23/23 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Merman!Caleb, no Mighty Nein but otherwise canon setting/events, Neutral evil Essek, Essek-typical anxiety and fatalism, Loneliness, Hurt/Comfort, spooky gothic vibes, some horror and disturbing imagery, the ocean as a threat/love language, Illustrations, drowning themes Summary: Essek Thelyss, lonely and ambitious prodigy, comes to Nicodranas to make a risky gamble with the Assembly. At the water’s edge, he finds himself swept up in another dangerous entanglement he can't seem to escape — and as time goes on, he's less and less sure he wants to. Will his treasonous alliance or the sea itself devour him first? (Or, the one where Caleb is a merman.)

Why I cried: okay so look, this story was so fucking sad I can't even begin to describe it. The love and longing between the two, the tragic backstory for Caleb. Treason = death for Essek (it's a happy ending though so do not worry, but I definitely worried so you don't have to LOL). It also has some stunning art in it!!!

3. what luminous worlds await

what luminous worlds await (178674 words) by @essektheylyss Rating: Mature Additional Tags: Champion of the Luxon AU, Alternate Universe - Future, Space Opera, Religious Conflict, religious trauma, Violence, Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Dreams vs. Reality, Demisexual Essek Thelyss, Past Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Fictional Religion & Theology, Implied/Referenced Sex, Mention of Using Sex as Self-Harm, several immortals grapple with loss while trying to save the world, so so many liberties taken with consecution, this wouldn't be a problem if you'd EXPLAIN matthew mercer, and/or if a certain drow would give literally any straight answers, (I mean he can't give straight answers when he's not straight), Background Fjorester (Past), Post-Canon, …very post-canon Summary: “You seek my nature. It is a lonely endeavor. Would you like to join me on this path?” “Yes.” — After a thousand years, a divine champion awakes in a lightless cave above Port Damali with little memory to speak of and a beacon in his hands. Even as he struggles to piece the past together and process what he has lost while he slept, the future demands he answer for the crimes of his elders. It offers little in return, but perhaps there are fragments of possibility awaiting him.

Why I cried: Omg oh boy, this one made me BIG cry- honestly one of my favourite fics I have read so far. A true space opera, a story of love, in many forms, over time, space, and multiple lives. I sobbed from chapter one literally until the end. Though I think you will need an A03 account to read this one, but it is worth the wait to set one up. My partner watched me cry so much while I read this. I totally did download and save this fic to send to pals so they can cry with me. It is worth the agony for this happy ending. I might still be crying LOL