#that bit about the met is in fact plot relevant later :^)

[rantaroamamifuturegf]

can i get a fuckin uhhh kokichi x f!reader where most people think reader is so sweet and quiet but she's one of those people who is secretly a menace when you get to know them? pls and thankies

A/N: Took a while to get out but here, sorry if he might seem a bit OOC I’m still trying to get used to writing to for him. And of course spelling errors

Plot: Kokichi crushing n dating a menace but sweet in public reader

!!Female reader!!

Character(s) being used: Kokichi Ouma

Crushing n finding out you is a menace

Honestly when bro first met you he thought you were boring as hell, like you’re just some regular quiet sweetheart who everyone likes

He also thought you were definitely hiding something because no way someone is this genuinely nice unless they got something to cover up

He tried to not make it obvious he was following you but it was pretty obvious, bro was literally or was already in every location you were in 😭

People just told him to stop being creepy and leave you alone as he just told them they were getting the wrong idea, he didn’t actually took what they said to him that seriously but did get a bit annoyed but acted it off

He had a feeling you weren’t actually hiding anything and got even more annoyed and felt like he just totally wasted his time on someone as boring as you and went to go bother someone else

That was until he stumbled upon setting you setting up a prank on Miu, tbh bro was surprised he purposely exaggerated over it though

Even since that day he wouldn’t leave you alone and kept tell you how you should join D.I.C.E. even if you decline it, he’ll keep the option opened for you

Would definitely help with your pranks and would make them purposely backfire on you and would tell you it was an accident the 5th accident in a row

Would ask why don’t you just show everyone how you’re the one behind all the pranks and shenanigans as you would tell him it’s to keep your innocent look

He didn’t buy it for shit and tried to tell everyone how you were behind it all, they all either ignored him or even annoyed at the fact he would even blame it on you some of them even said he was the one behind the pranks and was just trying to frame you

Honestly he was quite impressed how you really had everyone fooled won't tell ya tho and now every time you both talk he does mention about D.I.C.E. and how you should join it

Even if he knows it’s annoying you he gotta tell ya. He never been so invested into knowing someone since he been here

Literally follows you everywhere and everyone is confused and concerned on why he keeps bothering you

Doesn’t take him long to realize that he’s gaining feelings for you but at the time would push those feelings away, it’s not just because he knows you won’t feel the same but it’s because he doesn’t want to seem vulnerable with anyone

Not to mention he hasn’t even seen your vulnerable side either

Sooner or later you ended up confessing your feelings, bro fr thought you were bullshitting him but no you actually felt something for him of course he teased you about it but then told you he felt the same way

Dating you n loving your menace ass

It’s like you were the angel and he was the devil, so many people were confused on how and why and when did you both got together

Every time they asked Kokichi, he’ll just tell them a bunch of lies and would even add stuff that isn’t even relevant to the topic

If they asked you, you would just tell them you loved him in a certain way some people wouldn’t understand. They all lowkey thought he didn’t deserve you if only they knew the truth

Doing pranks together oml, the amount of times you both laid pranks on the others is just humorous and the only person they'll blame is him since you’re a walking sweetheart

If you finally gave in a joined D.I.C.E. no words would be able to describe how happy this man is but would play it off cool

The most people you both pranked were Miu and Kaito, seeing their stupid reactions and how they would run around looking for Kokichi to yell at him was just funny

He does gets sometimes annoyed by you acting all innocent and letting him take the blame on every prank or shenanigans you both did together and would fake pout and acts annoyed while you just brushed it off

He once tried to mimic your actions by acting all sweet and stuff but everyone was either weirded out or just ignored him and he just realized it was pointless since they all already know what he's like

He would sometimes try to pull pranks on you but it's either you already know and completely dodge his prank or he actually got you

it's like a 50/50 for both, but regardless he loved you won't tell you that often but you tease you about it, but you know he does love you and honestly every time he feels like flirting it's just him teasing but hey y'all cute so lol

Hoped you enjoyed - Manji

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 5, Match 3: The Fix vs. Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla

Submitted kids:

The Fix: Conrad Schintz, and then he adopted like, an whole orphanage, named Madam Loathings home for wayward interests

Kanan and Hera: Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios, Chopper

Propaganda under the cut!

The Fix:

1. “Ok ok so. Spoilers for mentopolis: First some context that mentopolis is a show that takes place inside one guys brain, all the characters represent something in the brain, and the guy whos brain they are in, named Elias Hodge, is so so very sad.

Ok so, The Fix, the personification of hyper fixation, is like is someone who has spent most of his life working for people, where his job was to 'eliminate distractions' (He kills people, basically). Then one day he is told to eliminate a child. His name is Conrad Schintz (Or the Conscience, due to an accident that happened to the guys who's brain they are in when he was a child- Conrad stopped thing he was useful, aka Elias stopped using his conscience, so his conscience has not grown since the incident, leaving him a small child)

The Fix has never had to hurt a kid before, and he doesn't want to do that, so he instead goes into protecting Conrad. Conrad kind of hates himself though and also kind of thinks he deserves to die so that's not good.

The Fix gave this like, beautiful speech to Conrad once about how hes important, I wont give the whole thing but something along the lines of "There is a butterfly who has a tail that is there for if a bird was to grab on to the tail, it would break off and the butterfly would escape. I don't think you are the tail of the butterfly, I think you are the butterfly." (its better in the actual show). I cry. There is another speech about eagles he gives Conrad when Conrad offers himself, to basically die, but i don't remember it that well.

Other then Conrad though! So There is this orphanage, called Madama Loathings home for wayward interests. Basically its a bunch of kids that represent past interests of Elias. Its run by this women called Madam Loathing (represents Elias' self Loathing)(she is very mean to the kids). The Fix donates a lot of money to this place, and visits a lot, the kids there love him and think he is so so cool. There is this one kid named Ronnie Reptile. He loves reptiles, and The fix gives him reptile facts, its cute. In the first episode, The Fix tells Madam Loathing how any of those kids/interests could be rediscovered by Elias at any time, and madam loathing sort of taunts The Fix, sort of saying how "Oh I'm sure I can tell the kids they will call be adopted by The Fix soon, but that would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it?" Implying that that won't happen. (cause, The Fix is hyper fixation, and hyper fixation adopting an interest would be good, you know.).

Note that Conrad used to live at madam loathing's, because he was mis identified as just a simple interest and not Elias' whole sense of conscience, but Corad ran away with his best friend, a dog named Justin. He lived on the streets after that.*

So a bit later on in the series The Fix and Conrad have to go to to madam loathing's together (and another character is with them but he isnt relevant for this). When they get there Madam Loathing asks The fix if he is here to drop of Conrad here, and The immediately is like "Absolutely not, shut the fuck up." (I think that's the direct quote). I just really like that scene.

At the end, end of the series. Some plot stuff happens. The Fix met a women named Pasha N (She represents Passon), and they are in love, The fix proposes to her, its sweet, but then madam Loathing, who got some like, character growth I won't really go into here, and she says to The Fix how, she needs to go on a trip to find herself, and then she offers the entire orphanage to The Fix and Pasha, which is accepted. So in the end of the show, The Fix has basically adopted, that entire orphanage, so thats a lot of kids, along with Pasha, but she isn't in the show as much so I wont submit them as a pair. I didnt mention it before but The Fix is known for knowing a lot of facts and saying "Did you know." before saying a fact, which a lot of the time, it is a fact that is truly terrifying but thats a lot, and The narration at the end of the shows, says how The Fix and Pasha spend their lives with kids around them, constantly saying "Did you know? Did you know?" and it is very sweet. Conrad sort of had his own ending away from The Fix, but I still head cannon that The Fix adopted him too and Conrad comes to the orphanage sometimes.”

2. “listen. i don't know if this really counts as propaganda but just saying, mr. the fix thinks you're not the tail of a swallowtail butterfly. you are the butterfly.”

Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla:

“The parents ever. Healthiest family dynamics in the galaxy. Families that kill fascists together stay together. Kanan managed to keep an extremely traumatized child on the light side of the force, Hera kept a volatile Mandalorian from blowing herself up (and Chopper from murdering everyone). So good at adopting, they taught Ezra to adopt uncles with increasingly homicidal tendencies. So good at adopting, they successfully competed with the aforementioned crime uncles and kept Ezra. So good at adopting, they managed to adopt a grown ass man 10 years older than them.”

[xjulixred45x]

WISH: the power of Wishes (RE-IMAGINATION)

okay, I know that many people have already done this, but I want to make my own version of this and above all do my bit for Magnífico Stands (the only salvageable character in the entire movie) and instead of just using the original concepts of the work (which is great) i wanted to mix both the concepts that i liked from the final work and the discarded concepts. we'll see.

First of all, Magnifico would not be the villain, nor would Queen Amaya. Is it simply too much to ask for a king/queen who truly cares about their people in a sincere way and does not want to harm them? although there would be a fixed villain. But I'll leave it for later. Asha and her family remain the same, except that Asha never really considered the stories her father told her about the stars as something real and thought it was another way of referring to the Magnificent King's wishes. which encouraged more fanaticism for him. I think Asha would be more studious, not exactly a book eater, but someone who has many hyper fixations and wants to know absolutely everything about those topics that she is passionate about. which causes some distance between her and boys her age. I mean, his clumsiness is a little more justified (maybe he's even neuro divergent? but I'll leave it ambiguous). Thanks to this and her somewhat more theatrical personality (which we see at the beginning of the movie), Asha participates in various activities to help the inhabitants of Rosas. In this way we would be introduced to the utopian way of life of the kingdom and perhaps even to Asha's few friends. I think that of his group of friends the only relevant ones would be Daliah and MAYBE Simon. Daliah would have a disability that makes her use a crutch (as in one of the old concepts) and she is like a book worm, she and Asha probably met because they had many hyperfixations in common. Simon dreams of being a knight of the kingdom, so he and Asha bond by having similar goals and helping each other achieve them. (Asha and Daliah even help Simón train and encourage him 😭Simon helps Asha get jobs). In general they are a fairly united group. then the main plot of the movie begins, Asha wanting to be Magnífico's apprentice, BUT not because of her Grandpa! But she genuinely wants to use magic to make her family's life easier by being just her and her mother (they're not going to put a 90-year-old man to work) and take better care of them. message about family in your face. The entire At All Costs sequence occurs but with a different context, not only does Magnífico open up to Asha but she also opens up and tells the above, that since her father died she feels that she has to do something to improve the life of her family, take care of them as best you can. generating not only empathy on our part but also on Magnifico. thus becoming his official apprentice. (no, here there is no problem with returning the wishes or anything else, because probably having removed the filling it could be explained in more detail why several dangerous wishes should not be fulfilled.

As an extra fact: I like to think that desires can also disappear on their own when they are fulfilled without the need for Magnifico, simply to give it a little more weight)

Asha and her acquaintances are obviously very happy, and proceed to have certain interactions with Queen Amaya, perhaps just giving more lore about her and Magnifico (God knows we needed it) and even about the founding of Rosas itself and the Magic sistem.

I like to thing wish Sistem of Magic is a mix between The Owl House and Harry Potter.

This would be where the villain would be mentioned for the first time (mention, not appearance), who would be the one who destroyed the Old Village of Magnífico. For now I'll just call him Morgan (like, Morgan Le fay). and then there is the matter of the star. It seems to me that both Magnifico and Asha would be interested in this type of magic to prove ancient myths about stars, so they spend several weeks working on ways to "bring" a star to Magnifico's laboratory. First they study in depth Astronomy, alchemy, traditional magic and then they go to the attempts. **funny sequence of all the failed attempts to lower the star from the sky** I think there would come a time where Asha would even stay the night in the castle to be able to investigate Magnífico's books because her attempts failed and they are both super sleepless. There may even be a cute moment where Asha falls asleep in the castle so Amaya and Magnifico give her a blanket and pillow to make her comfortable (these two are so cute, I can't----) and Magnifico, searching for more books, ends up coming across the forbidden book. the book he took from his old town... that belonged to Morgan. Now, I imagined a whole Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde-like sequence with this(this was so long i'm sorry) Magnífico tempted to use the book, but as soon as he remembers everything that that same book provoked, what that book TOOK FROM him, it goes away, but he starts to reflect, if it is really good to keep that reminder, that constant nightmare, if he does well. and then (perhaps due to lack of sleep or a materialization of the book) Morgan appears. mocking him, laughing at him, like do you really think you will ever be free from what HE did? from all the damage he caused? He will NEVER be free of it. and Magnifico obviously denies this! Morgan should be dead now, this is just a bad dream. but "Morgan" lets him know that as long as he lives he will always be "there." Magnifico only sees it as all the damage he caused, he lets him know, that when he can completely get rid of his book, there will be no trace of it. That he'll be forgotten. Morgan makes it clear that he will never leave him, THAT HE WILL STAY no matter what he says while he struggles with Magnifico for the book.

AND WHEN MAGNIFICO HAS THE BOOK IN HIS HANDS HE SEE IN HIS REFLECTION THAT HE HAS GREEN EYES WHILE MORGAN SAYS THAT HE WILL BLOOM LONG AFTER HE IS GONE IF HE DECIDES TO FOLLOW HIS PATH (use dangerous magic, the star)... Magnificent knows Morgan well, he needs him to survive, he is a PARASITE, he may not be able to control him, but he will definitely rejoice when he knows that Morgan took his last breath. TRAUMA TIME, "Morgan" showing Magnífico a hallucination of how he destroys 1- the kingdom of roses 2- its inhabitants and 3- AMAYA. f for Magnifico. Magnificent, he's had enough of this, he just curses Morgan one last time, sending him to hell and throwing his book into the fire, which rises above his castle with a green flame... MEANWHILE Asha, still half asleep, settles in as she thinks about her failure with the star again, as she looks out the window at the northern stars, and JUST out of habit, she wishes she wished she could have one of those, so she could help people. and ZASSS! Before she realizes it, a great light appears in the room that almost blinds her and when she regains her composure she is a small creature! What a magic dust! A funny moment that my sister came up with for the inclusion of Star Boy is that Asha gave the star a simple nickname "little guy" and the star decided to change shape back into His kind of human boy😅 In any case, Magnífico hears the confusion and, with his adrenaline high, runs to see Asha and discovers a fucking star boy in his palace. He's shocked, obviously, but now he's much more cautious than before (lack of sleep + ptsd). I think it would take a moment with Amaya to calm down a little, remind him that he is not Morgan and that he would never use magic to hurt its habitants, and to get some sleep (another Amaya moment x Magnifico YEY!) Anyway, Asha, Amaya and Magnifico trying to teach Star boy the basics of human culture while figuring out how exactly it works without being too invasive.

But Star Boy dosen't make it easy, being kind of a knew-it-all(a little arrogant?), messing up some of the tries of Magnífico and Asha of get test material. Things like that.

I don't Even think he knows how frágile humans are at the Start, so it would take a little...incident to make him realize that. But definitely flying dust would be something fun 😝 I think Asha would have several moments with Star Boy showing her the kingdom of Rosas, just trying to use his magic for good and teach him human things.

But at the same time is hard with Someone who's never been with humans before, so when he tries to do something that Asha thinks is "good for the people" Star Boy misunderstand and end up doing something wrong, like grouwing too much the tries to the point the people can't reach them to get fruit, turn the water in ice for fun, etc. Her friends join in! but at the same time I think that some (especially Dalilah) would feel half done by having a new new person in the group (who is literally from another world).

Daliah Even Starts ti believe that Star Boy could be kind of dangerous, specially if she ever sees him mad, he literally is making a disaster without intention, what would happen if he DOES have intention?

But Asha tries to ressur her that Star Boy is not malicous, but just naive, and unexpefienced, and he's trying to learn! Trying to be better.

It would be Even better if Someone endup hurt or Asha almost gets hurt so Star Boy Star to realize, well, MORTALITY, and tries to make up what he did wrong And control better His own Magic. With the proper support ofc. which causes Daliah to distance herself a little while Asha and Star boy have their well-deserved romance (at all cost reprise? at all cost reprise) and Simon continues training hard to be a knight.

Daliah feels insecure around Star Boy, even if he is more careful and empathetic now, she definitely got the impression that his magic is dangerous, but does she feel guilty for distrusting Asha like that, for feeling jealous? so he is going to reflect alone.. That's when he runs into Morgan, probably while on the outskirts of Rosas. and in a certain way when they meet they have some worrying interactions. Morgan gets Daliah to tell him that she feels insecure about her friendship with someone and the whole thing, that she feels like someone is dangerous but they don't believe her, etc. Morgan, with a master's degree in Manipulation, tells her something personal to gain her trust, how he used to be seen as similar to where he came from, how he took refuge and distanced himself from everyone because he didn't fit in, how he had to find his own way of standing out, like her. It sounds like a very Evil Like me moment to me. I mean, Morgan manipulating Dalilah in an emotional moment by being passive aggressive and at the same time being "empathetic." You may even not only try to convince him to see his friends differently, but also his desires. Doesn't that seem archaic to you? Don't you think that having someone who fulfills your desires is something horribly selfish? Like? Are people going to learn if there is no pain involved? (a philosophy...valid, but taken to the extreme) Thanks to this, Daliah begins to hang out with her friends less, but with Star Boy around, they don't realize it at first. Star Boy and Asha do some experiments with their magic for Rosas' benefit, with good results, Magnifico is even being friendlier with him and not as tense. everything seems to be going well... but then Magnifico notices that some wishes have... disappeared. and in the distance, you can see a light on the outskirts of Rosas... a green light... oh no, no no no no- it has to be a mistake- a coincidence- The scene is made where help is sought from the town to find the traitor who stole the wishes, the people are worried, and they are attentive. Asha and Star Boy are confused: why would someone steal the wishes if only Magnifico can fulfill them? There is no way to know who it was? How could he get into the palace? Daliah seems especially distressed, it almost seems like she wants to approach Queen Amaya to tell her something. but at the last moment he decides not to and runs away. Asha and Star Boy get worried and go after her, following her through Rosas until they reach the outskirts of the kingdom. and that's when they see it. Morgan. He has his mirror scepter, Daliah is in front of him, tired from running.

Morgan has several orbs around him, stained and withered, it takes Asha a second to realize they are WISHES. THE LOST WISHES, HE WAS INFECTING THEM..

Now, two possible ways this could end. one attached to the film, another more of my own interpretation. The one attached to the movie is that, Morgan uses his powers augmented by wishes and manages to temporarily absorb Star Boy, and with his powers he manages to keep the entire kingdom of Rosas under his thumb. even Mangifico (maybe controlling it and only true love's kiss can break it?). but Asha, using what Magnifico taught her, manages to make a collective spell to summon the star and thus weaken Morgan, allowing the wishes to leave him and Star Boy using his powers/Magnifico to lock him in the mirror of his scepter. My own interpretation would be that Morgan would rather use people's fears, using their Wishes as a base, infecting them and in a certain way controlling them (and taking away vitality from the people of Rosas). that is the source of the power of evil, fear and ignorance. Then the people of Rosas, seeing that they are all weakened and that the wishes make Morgan stronger, decide to give the remaining wishes to Magnifico and Asha, so that they can recover and be able to face Morgan. Just saying that not only do they not need the physical desire for it to be fulfilled, but they will work to make it happen all together, now the COLLECTIVE desire is to defeat the villain. and thus they manage to give a Power Up to both Asha and Magnifico to fight with Morgan and thus free Star Boy, who similarly ends up locking Morgan in the mirror forever. In the end there is almost no wish left intact, Rosas is a mess, but now they have a new aura of optimism, of desire to try, to work to improve, the people decide to help with their own hands instead of just using magic. There could be a time skip for when Rosas is completely rebuilt, there could be more equity in magical and non-magical users, people no longer depend so much on their desires and work as a team with the few sorcerers there are to make everything better. Asha is Magnifico's official successor, so she is crowned princess of Rosas. while Amaya and Mangifico teach new, younger magic users. Simon is a guard, Dahlia found a way to feel complete in her own way (maybe working with Asha's mom) Star Boy and Asha together, as well as Amaya and Magnifico. In general the message would be that there are dreams that are selfish and that can lead to destruction, that should not be pursued. While there are dreams that are sincere but you have to work for them, everything you can, even if you need help to fulfill them, it is up to YOU to make it happen. and like that, this story is over. END

Shares, reglogs and comments are very welcome!

This was by long shot the LARGEST work i Ever done, but i hope You guys like it.

[collidedscope]

After watching Good Omens 2, I have a bit of an out-of-the-box theory as to a plot twist that might be coming in s3: Crowley used to be Lucifer and had his pre-fall memory removed.

My evidence:

Crowley was the one who tempted Eve to eat the apple. According to the Bible, this was Lucifer's doing.

I'm pretty sure Crowley is the only entity who we know is able to stop time.

Adam is described as being "human incarnate"… But he was SUPPOSED to be Hell incarnate… what changed? Crowley. Crowley "went native" and so did his son.

[The more compelling pieces of info are from s2 and they are under the "keep reading". I spent a LOT of time on this so please give it a chance.]

Both Saraqael (the new archangel) and Furfur (the demon who made the Nazis zombies) immediately recognized Crowley, but he had no memory of either of them. It seems odd to include both of these instances within 6eps, especially considering the fact that other lines were removed for not being plot-relevant.

The convo with Saraqael: Throughout the conversation, Crowley has his smiling facade, but looks clueless (even surprised she knows him by name), and Muriel looks smug. "Hello Crowley. I didn't expect to ever see each other again." "Do we know each other?" "When you were an angel. We worked together on the Horsehead Nebula." "I meet a lot of people..." She then smirks and immediately changes the topic.

The convo with Furfur: "We have [met], haven't we?" "Have we?" Furfur looks incredulous that Crowley didn't recognize him on sight. "What do you mean 'have we'- you know we have. We were in the same legion... just before the fall...? Doing dubious battle on the plains of Heaven...? Remember?!?" "... Well, I remember going into battle, I don't remember being there with you- sorry." "Wha-? I was right next to you!!! We did loads together!!! You used to jump on my back like a monkey in a waistcoat!!!"

Crowley did not remember a very high-ranking person he collaborated with (on a project he was very passionate about). He also did not recognize someone he was very chummy with, even when he was reminded of specific events, even though Furfur had immediately recognized Crowley by name all these years later.

Crowley was able to open the confidential file on Gabriel. And when he did it, he looked like he was trying to open them... no sarcastic remark beforehand, no bragging about his previous position... just Crowley trying to open it. (As if he doesn't remember his rank.)

Crowley tells Aziraphale "I am NOT the angel you met"... I believe he meant this in the sense that he's truly not the same entity... he's not operating on the same memories that angel!Crowley was, and he isn't going to remember his experiences he had with Aziraphale as an angel,

The miracle that Aziraphale and Crowley did together (masking Gabriel) was described as an archangel-level miracle, enough to raise someone from the dead 25 times over. Now, maybe this was because A&C were working together.... however, they were under the assumption that this would make them less conspicuous.

In the instance of Gabriel being removed from the position of supreme-archangel, his memory was erased. He assumed he would be sent to Hell, and seemed to already have a plan for his memory to be erased- he immediately requested a box, Beelzebub had already gifted him the perfect place to hide his memory, and Gabriel had quickly carried everything out before anyone else was even suspicious. Almost like this had happened before and he knew what to expect. (And according to the Metatron, there was only ever one other "Prince of Heaven" who was removed and cast down to Hell.)

Now, the the Metatron was going to erase Gabriel's memory "as a kindness"... So what was the reasoning for erasing Lucifer's memory? Control. My guess is that Lucifer somehow messed up God's original plan... Just like how Crowley was the reason Armageddon failed (I acknowledge there were many reasons why Armageddon failed, but Crowley was the instigator and Crowley was the one who stopped time to prepare Adam.)

It makes sense that if someone upended your system, it would seem like a safe bet to erase their memories and stick them in a fairly low-level position, where they are barely able to interact with any powerful entities.

Who would now be in charge of Hell and why? My guess is that there's some demonic equivalent of the Metatron, and they are given power over Hell in exchange for pretending like there's still a Satan.

Then what was the Satanic monstrosity in s1e6?? idk man, i just go here. Maybe a paid actor or something. But Adam defeated it by saying "YOU'RE NOT MY DAD! You never were." and then it just... vanished??? into smoke???? That never made sense to me... like did fucking Satan just... die??? (Do not ask me what really happened or how Crowley didn't know he had a son.)

Okay now the big question: WHY????

We all know that Aziraphale still has a lot of unlearning to do when it comes to his ideology of "Heaven/angels= good, Hell/demons= bad". Because, SURE, there's been exceptions to this rule, and Aziraphale has come to understand that human morality is somewhat nuanced.

And sure, there's some "bad apple" angels like Gabriel, who just don't understand God's will. but he still believes that God is unequivocally good and Heaven will be too, as long as it's under good management.

Right now, Aziraphale views Crowley as some kind of exception, an anomaly. In Aziraphale's mind, Crowley should be an angel- there really must've been some mistake that he's supposed to be a demon.

And Aziraphale has believed this for MILLIONS OF YEARS. Since the beginning of existence, Aziraphale has been brainwashed. And I think the only thing that will break it is being presented with irrefutable proof that Crowley is Lucifer and having to figure out which one is false:

Crowley is not evil.

Lucifer is evil.

Crowley is Lucifer.

I think first, Aziraphale will disbelieve #3. He will refuse to believe Crowley is Lucifer until it's undeniably true.

Then, I think he will instinctually disbelieve #1. He will believe Crowley was lying, tempting him, tricking him all along.... until he is confronted by every undeniably nice thing that Crowley has ever done for him.

Then... #2 is the only one left. It must be wrong. Hell must not be inherently evil. Which means Heaven must not be inherently good. Which means everything has been a lie. It means Heaven and Hell are 2 sides of the same coin. It means a full dismantling of the system.

It means a full episode will be dedicated to a 50minute "I was wrong, you were right" dance.

I certainly believe this all lines up with Neil's description of s3 to be "Bigger, Louder, Final."

[hallucinateonpaperspines]

are breakdown and KO a couple already or are they getting there ?

Breakdown and KO are not a current couple in Of Timelines and Trolleys at this time.

*BOOOOOOO*

Yes, yes, I hear y'all, but let me explain. I am aware these are some of the gayest bots present and are very obviously (and confirmed in a comic) to be Conjux Enduras/married.

They still have the hots for each other, are clearly connected, and are still partners, but they are not bonded in my fic currently for a few reasons.

Bonding is risky.

In OT&T, I do employ spark bonds and subsequently, the phenomena of spark connections. This may or may not be relevant to the main plot. Connections that can share emotions, memories, energy, and Conjux Endura's are included in the bond types that have that sharing effect. 'Caus you're literally bonding your souls. So, in wartime, just as the production of sparklings would be frowned upon (and later impossible due to the Allspark issue) creating that type of bond would also be looked down on. Don't want half your soldiers dying of sparkbreak, sergeant! It's a two-for-one hit!

Consequently, even as the war has dragged on for millennia, they are still at war with the same directives. Considering KO and Breakdown met as Decepticons during the conflict, they've never had a chance to become an exception via holding a predating bond.

2. Cultural effects of the war

So, yes, they aren't bonded but that doesn't mean they couldn't be a couple right? Just perpetually dating until the war ends, and they can make it official right? Yes! Kinda!

So, since the war has been so long-standing, to the point where Bumblebee and Smokescreen's generation don't remember a pre-conflict Cybertron and most other bots (as Airachnid's derision of Starscream's boasting he was a "Supreme Air Commander" before the war implies) see Golden Age Cybertron as a far off era. War protocol has become their culture to a very large extent. This means that to most except ye oldies, the concept of spark bonding also seems relatively archaic. But on top of that, the concept of bonds at all (specifically for a dog-eat-dog command like the Decepticons) is basically unheard of. Literal or emotional. Death is constant, loss is constant, and individual is expected to pick themselves up and keep going if someone they know is terminated. Sure, vengeance on behalf of that individual is acceptable, but it's not the standard. Even in the original show, Knockout had to wait until Cylas was no longer useful to Megatron before he could get his saw in there, and even then it was under the guise of "research" for the cause. Was it an act of vengeance? Yes. Did it have to be justified for the cause? Also yes. Dreadwing also had to deal with this but without the capacity of properly being able to give a reason for his actions beyond "He Killed My Twin." Murdering OP and Bee was okay, because they were already the enemy, murdering Starscream was not because Screamer was offering something to Megatron.

I think the Autobots in general are a bit better about this, but there's still a decent bit of emotional constipation; it's a war front, you keep fighting and surviving, or you join them in their grave. Arcee has to do this with the death of her partner, Wheeljack does this with the death of Seaspray, and later at Bulk's injury. There's time to grieve, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that missions still need to be completed, or that someone else is ready to kill you should your guard be low.

The Decepticons, at least in the version I'm writing, have none of that. They cannot afford to appear weak or have a weakness, or they could be killed/used by their own side. Starscream is the scrapping SIC and is technically Megatron's successor and he is a walking reminder that no one is immune to this pecking order. It's a cycle of abuse that is continually reinforced. So for that reason, Knockout and Breakdown's genuine friendship is almost unheard of in these later stages of the war. Once, it might have been normal, now they're the exception to the merciless rule. A romantic bond, something beyond quiet acts of kindness and subtle flirts is risky for both of them, especially in Knockout's temporary dabbling in politics.

It's a very sad Romeo and Juliet scenario, isn't it? Angsty, that unrequited love ending in tragedy and loss that can't even be acknowledged unless KO would want more than the occasional insults tossed at the memory of Breakdown. No wonder he was so sadistic with Cylas.

So no, they're not a couple... but I wonder what might happen if tracks are switched and there are some ripples in the timeline...

Of Timelines and Trolleys is a cracky and angsty tale of a chaotic in-denial oc, but it's also a story of making choices and living with the consequences of how they impact others; the trolley problem if you will. And those decisions are not limited to Ashlyn Moore.

[soda-gremlin]

The Newer Thea Sisters Books Aren’t as Good as the Older Ones, and Here’s Why

Yes yes, I know I am beating a dead horse here, but I have noticed quite a few patterns when it comes to the newer books, specifically why I don’t like them. So here is my comprehensive list of traits that make the newer books so lackluster.

1. No Continuity

And no, I am not simply referring to small details, like the name of a celebrity that has already been established. What I am referring to, is both the lack of reference to previous books even when relevant, and the complete absence of background knowledge. Let me explain.

So, y’all have read Mystery on the Orient Express, right? If you haven’t, major spoilers ahead. The villains turn out to be a set of identical twins, Dimitri and Leon. But first, before discovering that fact, the Thea Sisters had to tangle with the conundrum of Dimitri’s hand, and why the burn kept disappearing and reappearing. It took them quite a bit of time to work that out because, well, they’d never seen that before. And they’re still new to mystery-solving.

However, in a later book, (spoilers for Phantom of the Orchestra) they are confused by a character named John’s seemingly contradictory behavior, like greeting them like old friends one minute, and acting like they never met the next minute. But here’s the thing. They’ve seen this before, in Mystery of the Orient Express. That shouldn’t have been a huge twist. They shouldn’t have taken that long to figure that out, because they’ve seen it before.

Need another example? So, a common trope in the newer books is that one of the side characters aiding them mysteriously goes missing. Then it turns out, they were kidnapped/led away. It happens almost every single time. Riddle of the Ruins, Niagara Splash, you get the idea. But every single time, the girls dick around like, “Oh no, I wonder where John Doe could have POSSIBLY went” GIRLIEPOPS. THIS AINT YOUR FIRST RODEO. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS.

I get it, they want the series to be episodic and all that, but when it’s actively hurting the story’s writing, and when quite a few readers have read previous books, it ends up detrimental instead of convenient.

2. The Forgettable Side Characters

Have any of you read the Mouseford series, or the graphic novels? If you have, you’re probably familiar with Vanilla (Ruby), Vic (Ryder), Shen, Craig, Tanya (Tanja), and Dina (Elly). All pretty well-established side characters, some even making an appearance in the beginning of the original series’ books.

Clearly, they have a very diverse cast of side characters in their roster. Shen being a sweet, bookish nerd, Craig being a himbo jock, Vic being a chaotic neutral rich boy, Vanilla being your average spoiled rich girl, you get the idea.

So I bet they bring one along on the girls’ adventures to spice up the story, right? Bringing in a fresh new perspective on the story’s events and a refreshing deviation in recurring character dynamics, while also expanding on the side characters themselves. Right?

WRONG

Instead, they make up a character to use as a plot device. I hesitate to even call them characters, because they have no personality. They’re all the same cookie cutter cardboard cutouts again and again. Especially the new male characters.

Can you tell me a SINGLE unique trait about Didier, Ioannis, Mateo, or Akhun?

Can you even tell me which books they’re from?

Of course you can’t! You probably don’t even remember they existed! (Unless they’re your blorbo, in that case, you have my sympathies…)

So instead of using the more interesting and established side characters from Mouseford, they just stick in a plot device of a character and call it a day.

In the older books, the new characters were memorable. Take Ashvin for example, aka, the only character’s name in this category I didn’t have to look up. He had an actual character. He was impulsive, reckless, but had a strong moral code. Contrast that to the new books’ Forgettable Twink #12.

3. Less Emphasis on Culture

This section will be shorter, due to me not really being any of these cultures, and being American, but I still think it’s worth covering.

The idea of the Thea Sisters exploring new countries and cultures is not new. I’d wager that’s the very purpose of the books, to expand the worldviews of impressionable children.

However, in the newer books, it feels a lot more shallow. As in, “a leaflet you got at an airport” shallow. They just barely scrape the surface, and call it a day. Only covering well known foods and internationally known traditions/practices. It’s like if Cherry Blossom Adventure only had the Thea Sisters eating sushi and learning about ninjas or origami. It does that country a massive disservice, especially if you’re native, or even if you’ve just lived there.

This is due to the newer books having the girls see the country through the eyes of a tourist rather than getting immersed in the life of a local.

Take Mountain of Fire for example, they are thrust headfirst into Nicky’s home country. They’re not put up in a hotel in the touristy part of the country, they’re in Nicky’s ranch, experiencing the wildlife, as well as what it’s like to live so far from the city. They see the natural wonders of Australia, as well as learning from the Aboriginal peoples living around the area, including Nicky’s family.

4. Boring Conflict

This one is pretty straightforward. The conflicts in the newer books feel so boring, almost sanitized in a way. There are no real stakes. In the older books, there were many consequences laid out if the villain succeeded. An important link to a dying art would have been lost, the livelihood of Pam’s family business would have been compromised, and not to mention, PEOPLE COULD HAVE DIED.

But now it’s like, “Oh nooo, a single piece from a model is missing, and it’s gonna lose the contest, whatever shall we do 🥺🥺 It’s not like we can recreate it or anything”

There is nothing compelling about the conflicts or its villains. We have no reason to be at the edge of our seats like with Mystery of the Orient Express, where Pam and Nicky LITERALLY CLIMB ON TOP OF A TRAIN TO CATCH THE THIEF BEFORE HE CAN GET AWAY

But now it just feels like a fetch quest of clues, and a wild goose chase for good measure. And just lot of fapping about in general.

I also have to bring up villains. They’re having the same issue as the side characters. They’re all the same greedy, shifty characters that are so obviously up to something.

Final Thoughts

I think all of these flaws can basically boil down to the fact that every book feels like the same story, over and over again, just with different names. (There are some exceptions, but my point still stands)

And just one more note I have is that, I wish the Thea Sisters got more personality to them. Like, I wish they acted like an actual friend group, not like how kids shows love portraying friend groups. Which is a group of girls all nice to each other all the damn time. There’s no depth, there’s no added dynamics that make the friend group feel real. The dialogue is all so flat. I need banter, I need inside jokes, I need playful jabs at one another, I need each sister having a different relationship with one another. We don’t want perfect, we want interesting. (But this isn’t exclusively a newer book issue, so I didn’t put it in the main list)

Aaaannndddd that’s about all I’ve got for you today! Hope you enjoyed this little rant/analysis!!

[riddlerosehearts]

all right so, some more thoughts on act 2 of baldur's gate 3 now that i finally replaced my hard drive and have been able to play again! this is basically all about like the very end of act 2 because i enjoyed it but just didn't really write things down for most of it.

so first of all i actually kind of love ketheric thorm and the tragedy of his character. i love villains who are willing to destroy themselves and the world for the sake of their family 💖

however i wish that if you talked to him about his wife and passed the checks to try persuading him to repent you could actually change the outcome of things. like what if you could save him and recruit him.... i honestly really think my tav would've felt a bit of empathy toward his situation and wanted to save him if they could, and also personally i just find him more interesting than halsin or even jaheira asdkjfghsdf

i'm sure jaheira is a lot cooler to people who know her from previous baldur's gate games but having 2 druids feels a bit redundant when there are so many other classes and she and halsin both become recruitable a little too late imo, especially given that halsin kind of has nothing to do after he finally joins you. ketheric would be an even later addition but sorry i just think he's so cool and that making one of the villains redeemable + recruitable would've been neat!

ANYWAY i also love the fact that even though i was spoiled on a lot of random bits and pieces about the different companions' personal stories before i started, i was not really spoiled at all on the actual main plot of this game lol. it just makes it that much more exciting getting to see how it all unfolds.

i also wasn't spoiled on the details of wyll's pact and now that he's finally talked about it, i love his character even more!! he's literally like if a disney prince loved his home and its people so much that he sold his soul to save them. i wish we could've had a full flashback when he agreed to show us what happened like the ones we get when we see into shadowheart's past.

i also wish he got more appreciation from fans and had a more complete romance but we all know why he doesn't 😔

i think this is literally the first "stereotypical horny bard" dialogue i've come across omg 😭 didn't actually pick this because it would've been ooc for elenion to say but i will say i think it would've been really funny if there was like. romance-specific dialogue here because you have such insane first meetings with every companion. i'm just imagining elenion going "love at first sight? i suppose so, although for me it was more like love at first hand" and leaving isobel wondering wtf that's supposed to mean

all of this confusion and going back and forth about whether to trust the dream guardian... and they were a mind flayer the whole time!! tbh that actually does not make elenion automatically stop trusting them because we've met omeluum and he didn't seem bad, but what does kind of make them lose trust in the emperor is the whole "encouraging you to turn into a mind flayer" thing... yeah, not doing that.

actually though i found out a while ago that something was up with the dream guardian but like. i was expecting them to turn out to just be fully evil and wanting to try and manipulate us more directly after the reveal, not for them to be acting like a nice friendly heroic mind flayer, so that does come as a surprise!

i wish i had thought to take lae'zel with me to the astral plane in case she would've had anything to say about orpheus while we were there... but oh well, i didn't really have her on my team during act 2 and she wasn't relevant to basically any of its story so i missed her a lot and i am so proud of her now for how she told off vlaakith.

??? halsin just tried to confess his love to elenion and said he thinks they feel the same way and i mean... at least he was very kind and understanding when they rejected him but i am baffled because i haven't really had him in the party at all and. like. when he asked them to tell him a secret they even said they didn't feel like there was anything to tell because they didn't wanna open up to him too deeply (well, and also because for some reason the only other option is to say you're afraid of krakens), but now he thinks they're in love with him? 😭 i've heard that it used to be extremely easy to accidentally romance gale but i do not understand how this happened with halsin. oh well.

oh yeah also i got this dialogue from wyll and i wish there was an option to say that you're anxious about being back or something. because elenion has been sort of avoiding visiting home and only going back very infrequently for a very long time and he and wyll are close so i imagine that wyll knows why that is. but i ended up just picking the first option and imagining that wyll is too polite to question it.

anyway, i've stepped into rivington and am ready to start exploring it but i'm going to end this post here for now!

[heyclickadee]

Thoughts on “Faster”

1. THAT’S MY BOY!! THAT’S MY BOY!! MY BEAUTIFUL NERDY BOY!!! 2. I love that Echo and Hunter were out delivering space door dash. I joked about that with my sister once; I didn’t think it would actually be canon. 

3. Even though I missed seeing Hunter and Echo (and Crosshair), I don’t think this episode would have worked with them in it. I’m not sure Hunter would have agreed to going with Cid in the first place, and even if he had, there’s no way he would have let Tech on that race track. They would absolutely shut down the shenanigans. I’d pay cash money to see his face when they all get back. 

4. I know a lot of people are calling this one filler, and while I don’t agree seeing as how there was plot development or at least set up for plot development as well as some lovely character development for Tech, I’m glad this one was a bit more lighthearted than the first three. You can only delve so far into the angst before the audience becomes numb to it. You need to let them (and the characters) breathe a little before going any farther with it. I’m genuinely glad they just got to have a good (albeit dangerous) time. 

5. Tech, seeing riot racing for the first time: It would appear that anything goes out there.

Tech internally: If I do not get out on that track within one standard hour I will perish.  6. I LOVE how, in contrast to the first season, which highlighted the batch as a team and what their roles on the team were, this season is focusing more on the batch as individuals. It’s less about what the team will do and more about what each member of the team might want. For Tech, that seems to mean opening his eyes to the possibility of life outside of war and combat, not just for himself but to the idea that there’s so much of the galaxy that existed before and outside of the war that he’s never thought about, as well as presenting him with the idea that he’s good for something besides fighting. And given the conflict between Hunter and Echo (who ultimately want the same thing but are looking to get there in different ways), I’d say that’s going to be really important later on down the line. 

7. Along those same lines, I’m adoring the throughline between Crosshair’s desperation to stay relevant using the only skills he thinks he has, Echo’s determination to fight back using the only skillset (being a soldier) he thinks he has, and Tech’s frustration with Cid wasting their skills on things like space door dash. They were designed to do one specific thing, and the republic they were designed to do it for no longer exists. They’re all floundering and struggling to find their own sense of purpose, the same way Hunter seemed to find his back in season one. 

8. TAY-0 was. Oh boy. 

9. Obnoxious. Eminently punchable. The irony of casting Sonic the Hedgehog as the blue racing robot was not lost on me, but besides the “Gotta go fast,” aspect of that, casting Ben Schwartz as an egotistical, aggressively dramatic theater kid always works. He always plays that part well. 

10. You could feel Tech was exactly 0.35 seconds from punching TAY-0 in his stupid metal face from pretty much the moment they met. That deadpan glare when TAY-0 told Tech to stop fixing him the wrong way? I felt that in my bones. The way Tech sighed and shook his head when TAY-0 said that Tech didn’t have strategy or skill? Dude was pissed and it’s almost like he’s had to mask his whole life. The, “Don’t try me right now, I’m done and I’m doing what I want,” look when Tech said he was going to be the one to race? Yes. Good. 

11. The way that Tech clearly didn’t know how to respond to the crowd chanting his name because he’s not used to that kind of recognition, so he gave that little awkward half salute is going to live rent free in my head for a while. As is the fact that Tech did listen to everyone giving him advice but ultimately trusted his own judgement. 

12. “Tech, you have to be in front to win!” “I know what I’m doing. It’s called strategy.” “No, it’s called losing!” I’m dying. I’m literally dead. 

13. So...Tech doesn’t trust Cid. Which, he shouldn’t, of course. Besides Millegi’s warning at the end, the way Cid was acting all the way through this episode makes me think she’s definitely got something shady in store for the boys. And the thing is, I don’t think it’s something she’s planning on doing--I think it’s something she’s already done. I suspect she actually sold them out to some extent way back, maybe back in season one, in a way that’s going to get them in big trouble this season, and that she’s maybe starting to regret it because a part of her actually likes them. 

14. Wrecker and Omega playing chess at the beginning of the episode! Omega putting things on the line to help Cid! Wrecker and Omega being so happy when Tech won! Tech with his hand on Omega’s shoulder and Wrecker doing that affectionate shoulder punch! I love them!

15. The poor guy who got shot at during the race at the beginning of the episode. I know this was a much lighter episode than the last few, but dang. That’s...kinda dark. 

16. I cracked up when the announcer lampshaded how odd clone names are in-universe, especially when they don’t have the “they’re a clone” context. 

[fireopal-tash]

This is probably the most controversial ask on this but do you hate how Connie was handled in future and something about her speech to the cgs's immaturity made her a bit hypocritical because she somehow contributed to Steven's meltdown? As well one of the reasons why you ship Steven with spinel and connverse shippers attacking you?

Again a very controversial loaded question, it's something I was wondering about because people not liking Connie and connverse shippers supposedly being toxic

Ok, this is going to be long!

(I'm unsure if it's really controversial, some people just take this stuff too seriously and too personally 😅)

-> Let's start with: I like Connverse. However, I liked it more before SUFuture or maybe way before, around the 3rd, 4th season? Those two acted closer to a puppy love (cute) rather than an actual romantic relationship, which makes sense since they were kids and experiencing all of that for the first time (I think)

I didn't take it very seriously as I was more interested on the story being told than the ships

-> Now, I don't hate Connie

(although she's not even close to my favourites, she's still cool as a character)

but yes, I do hate how she was handled in SUFuture. I can understand that the others were crying and saying how it was their fault and so not helping at the present moment,

(which, btw, it shows that they at least take responsibility for what they did, that they feel guilt and remorse, unlike some...)

but Connie's reaction... It left a very bitter taste and strong disgust. The shouting helps even less than crying. If she did that with me I wouldn't have been very happy with it, that's for sure.

And she's not even that different from the gems! She hurt Steven multiple times, especially on the emotional aspect of things - from the very first time they met to later on -

(example: giving him the silent treatment. I understand she was hurt, but he was hurt too. That was... not a kind thing to do, and they should just have talked it out, even if it takes many times. Communication is key, right? Also, what's up with Lion? I never understood why would Lion prefer to take Connie's side... It just doesn't make any sense)

She was young, so it is understandable that she would let her emotions get the best of her. But that doesn't excuse the fact that she didn't take responsibility for what she did to Steven (nor apologise or explain anything)

+ she lied to her own parents, again

(she lied many times, even after telling her parents about her training on how to use swords, example: Steven asking to marry her)

What she did was yell at the others and proceeded to do as you said: To be hypocritical

She literally didn't see what was in front of her: Steven falling apart (Steven made it pretty clear, actually!) so it's hard to understand how she didn't see it... Even worse, the fact that she had to act as if she knew better that everyone else when she's the youngest and with less experience. She has traumas of her own but the crew made her as if nothing ever happened to her. Honestly... Even a stranger could have noticed something weird going on with Steven!

I'm not saying that bc we are viewers, but because Steven was more obvious in certain scenes, and with Connie even more so

She didn't explain herself, didn't apologise, she just left him there, alone. She's smart, she should have seen it, shouldn't she? Well... If she's so smart, so brave, so strong, so skilled and so mature, why didn't she?

Unsurprisingly, her faults only appear when it becomes relevant to the plot and never to paint her as the one to be blamed, but Steven or others. But that's it. She was perfect for the rest of the show. No traumas, no problems, mature, bla bla bla

It's, frankly, very annoying and not at all relatable

It made me dislike her during Future. I would have preferred if the crew left Connie the way she was before... I hurts to see so much potential wasted or wrongly used

-> SUFuture has many odd things with the way the characters were behaving tbh (I can't blame it solely on the crew; they weren't given much to begin with, but still)

example: Spinel with her traumas, she's not just a clown or a toy. It doesn't makes sense for her to be suddenly sooo happy and normal and "fixed". Maybe the idea was that she was faking it... Idk, but it didn't feel right. Plus, she can understand Steven better than anyone, so why not use her?

Or Greg. Again, I understand he wasn't perfect. No one is. But like... He was actually a good father: He cared about Steven, he provided for him even if that meant not spending as much time with his son. And even if the crystal gems didn't know how to properly take care of a human kid, they aren't the only ones. We, as humans, can be worse than them at something we are supposed to be good at

+ Steven had opportunities to ask to go to school or the hospital, but he never did. Greg once told him he could go to School but Steven's response was: I'm with the crystal gems all the time. With Connie (and other people in Beach City) Steven probably learned a lot about what was normal for a human kid, like going to the hospital. He never said anything either. When he got hurt he never said anything to anyone, so how was Greg suppose to take him to the hospital? Or anyone else for that matter

Let's not forget the fact that gems are not citizens, so Steven technically doesn't exist. Plus, how much do humans actually know about gems? Even Beach City, as close as it is to gems, doesn't seem to understand or know anything about them

-> Personally, I don't know why Connverse (or even not Connverse) shippers attack Stevinel shippers, that's something that I will never understand despite all the... words used against us. And I do not care. Really, it's very immature of them, so why should I?

However, that is not the reason why I ship Steven and Spinel

Connverse and Stevinel are not opposites. Liking one doesn't automatically elimine the other

Ship wars are stupid, immature, and negative. Unwelcome. It shouldn't have ever existed. Many use ships as an excuse to hurt others without any regard, being anonymous making them 'brave' and uncaring about who's behind a screen, while also using the excuse of 'saving kids' - which they aren't-

I don't want any excuses, kids from real life were hurt, and it's not okay

-> Steven and Spinel have many similarities:

- they both felt abandoned (in their own way, at least)

- both have Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz in common. Although, Steven had his father and the crystal gems but he was not completely alone like Spinel was

(not in a family type of way, that's not how gems work unless they call themselves as such: siblings, parents, etc. Family in gems exists only since Steven was born, and only related to him. Literally. It was said by the crew. The Rose Quartzs from the zoo are a good example of that! The Diamonds can be and/or act like a family, but they really weren't, it's mainly fans who saw them as a dysfunctional family, and a good example of that, too)

- Both behave/react in similar ways

(Positive, happy and kind when 'younger', reaching to others, saying NO in that same way when someone they care about was leaving, their pain turning into anger against others and danger to themselves... Even changing their forms to assimilate/show the way they feel!)

- Both are pink, too xD

- They both are my favourite characters and are also the easiest ones to draw for me 🤔 😊 xD

-> Anyway, what I mean is that there's many reasons why people ship who they ship, whether bc of the aesthetic, their chemistry, their interactions...

I felt like they had potential. Potential to help each other, to understand each other, etcetera

Another thing. Spinel is a sign of growing up and leaving behind your childhood, forgetting too, and Steven was growing up. They both were a sign for the viewsers who were growing up, together, while watching the show

No more puppy love. Connie and Steven have a good friendship, but I don't see any romantic chemistry. To me it feels forced for them to be together in that way. It also makes me feel as if all childhood friends have to end up as romantic relationships just because they had a crush, or the fact that they were close. It feels like all shows do that, lately. It's tiring

[gothicthundra]

What would you have changed about the Kim Possible live action?

I would have made the school years and age relevance.

 Kim didn't know who some of her villains were until she was in high school. Specifically Drakken and Shego. 

 So to have them have a previous thing before she's even in high school I didn't like that. But I let it slide. 

 Also the fact that Drakken wasn't blue bothered me. I think it bothered a lot of people in the Phantom to be honest. I also didn't like how they recycled the plot line from later things in the series and even for the shorts making like the aliens be randomly in the series when it was actually supposed to be a very important big bad. 

So to me it was like they were trying to shove it all in the movie that didn't have a lot of advertising to it because they had no intentions of making another movie it was just a one-time thing because if they had actually wanted to make a movie or a viable series they would have spent a little bit more time in making it more accurate and having a plot that was easier at the beginning like an example if she had just met them and started off the issues that started in that villainy era that would have made more sense to me rather than recycling what would have been plots from the end of the entire series .

But mostly it was the blue thing

[valofficial]

I guess I should do an intro thing.

Hey y’all, I’m Val. Some guy that just no-clipped into the Backrooms and got caught up in this whole plot to destroy the place. Thank god I didn’t do that, or more specifically thank myself since I guess I am a god now. More specifically, I’m an Avatar of Kuri’mas, one of the pillars of the pantheon over here in the Backrooms. (Or at least that’s what all of the other pantheon members I’ve met have told me, still looking into what exactly I’m supposed to be doing here tbh.) I’ve been trying to meet Kuri for a hot minute but it’s been an annoying process, mostly because I think they’re kinda pissed at me for rebelling against whatever they were cooking because I didn’t want to destroy the Backrooms. In the meantime I’ve talked to Olivia, Puzzle Maker, and Blanche quite a bit. I should probably introduce myself properly here as well, despite the fact you can find most of that on my article in the database (we’re having site trouble but I’ll put the link here as soon as my article is fixed and you can read it again.) I use they/them pronouns and I’m Autistic. I currently reside in level 304 of the Backrooms (you can read about it here: http://backrooms-wiki.wikidot.com/level-304) and I’ve been trying to reform the level into a safe haven ever since I figured out I can do god stuff. I can shape-shift (which I used to help me with my gender transition.) and I also have control over fire. The fire might be relevant for some creation process but don’t quote me on that in any way, I just use it to fight stuff. I’ve also developed a handful of hobbies, namely video games, making music, writing, and cooking (which has become a lot easier since I have pyrokinesis stuff going on.) As far as my special interests goes, I really like the Monstercat Music Label and Owls (the later you can easily figure out by some of the appearances I might take and the former you’ll be able to tell if I ever tried to tell you about my playlist.) and that’s about it for the basics, I’ve been trough a lot recently so I’m just going to sit here on tumblr for a bit and relax while I’m taking care of Level 304. (Also I’m going to be uploading stuff from my journal that came from a while back.)

Link to my playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5IUvRTuGLRJWQUuwDduqcJ?si=jYVRwJS5S1qlHINGAP9bNw

This is a portrait of me done by Evie (trailmixncocoa on Instagram.) I know I used it as my first post, but it’s really the best visual depiction of me at my core, and let’s face it, that post is going to get buried.

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 3, Match 10: Jean Valjean vs. The Fix

Submitted kids:

Jean Valjean: Cosette; Marius; Enjolras; Gavroche

The Fix: Conrad Schintz, and then he adopted like, an whole orphanage, named Madam Loathings home for wayward interests

Propaganda under the cut! (Spoilers ahead!)

Jean Valjean:

“Cosette is a given, but let’s be real, as Valjean became wrapped up with the revolutionaries, he became all of their dad”

The Fix:

“Ok ok so. Spoilers for mentopolis: First some context that mentopolis is a show that takes place inside one guys brain, all the characters represent something in the brain, and the guy whos brain they are in, named Elias Hodge, is so so very sad.

Ok so, The Fix, the personification of hyper fixation, is like is someone who has spent most of his life working for people, where his job was to 'eliminate distractions' (He kills people, basically). Then one day he is told to eliminate a child. His name is Conrad Schintz (Or the Conscience, due to an accident that happened to the guys who's brain they are in when he was a child- Conrad stopped thing he was useful, aka Elias stopped using his conscience, so his conscience has not grown since the incident, leaving him a small child)

The Fix has never had to hurt a kid before, and he doesn't want to do that, so he instead goes into protecting Conrad. Conrad kind of hates himself though and also kind of thinks he deserves to die so that's not good.

The Fix gave this like, beautiful speech to Conrad once about how hes important, I wont give the whole thing but something along the lines of "There is a butterfly who has a tail that is there for if a bird was to grab on to the tail, it would break off and the butterfly would escape. I don't think you are the tail of the butterfly, I think you are the butterfly." (its better in the actual show). I cry. There is another speech about eagles he gives Conrad when Conrad offers himself, to basically die, but i don't remember it that well.

Other then Conrad though! So There is this orphanage, called Madama Loathings home for wayward interests. Basically its a bunch of kids that represent past interests of Elias. Its run by this women called Madam Loathing (represents Elias' self Loathing)(she is very mean to the kids). The Fix donates a lot of money to this place, and visits a lot, the kids there love him and think he is so so cool. There is this one kid named Ronnie Reptile. He loves reptiles, and The fix gives him reptile facts, its cute. In the first episode, The Fix tells Madam Loathing how any of those kids/interests could be rediscovered by Elias at any time, and madam loathing sort of taunts The Fix, sort of saying how ""Oh I'm sure I can tell the kids they will call be adopted by The Fix soon, but that would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it?"" Implying that that won't happen. (cause, The Fix is hyper fixation, and hyper fixation adopting an interest would be good, you know.).

Note that Conrad used to live at madam loathing's, because he was mis identified as just a simple interest and not Elias' whole sense of conscience, but Corad ran away with his best friend, a dog named Justin. He lived on the streets after that.*

So a bit later on in the series The Fix and Conrad have to go to to madam loathing's together (and another character is with them but he isnt relevant for this). When they get there Madam Loathing asks The fix if he is here to drop of Conrad here, and The immediately is like "Absolutely not, shut the fuck up." (I think that's the direct quote). I just really like that scene.

At the end, end of the series. Some plot stuff happens. The Fix met a women named Pasha N (She represents Passon), and they are in love, The fix proposes to her, its sweet, but then madam Loathing, who got some like, character growth I won't really go into here, and she says to The Fix how, she needs to go on a trip to find herself, and then she offers the entire orphanage to The Fix and Pasha, which is accepted. So in the end of the show, The Fix has basically adopted, that entire orphanage, so thats a lot of kids, along with Pasha, but she isn't in the show as much so I wont submit them as a pair. I didnt mention it before but The Fix is known for knowing a lot of facts and saying "Did you know." before saying a fact, which a lot of the time, it is a fact that is truly terrifying but thats a lot, and The narration at the end of the shows, says how The Fix and Pasha spend their lives with kids around them, constantly saying "Did you know? Did you know?" and it is very sweet. Conrad sort of had his own ending away from The Fix, but I still head cannon that The Fix adopted him too and Conrad comes to the orphanage sometimes.”

[peregrineggsandham]

...I met a friend once, at what I'll just describe as nerd summer camp. This friend talked excitedly to me about Portal 2 for hours, was the only other person I knew who knew Tom Lehrer's Elements song by heart, and introduced me to Team Fortress 2. This friend and I played TF2 together for hours.

This friend introduced me to the game Psychonauts, which became a favorite of mine. (This will become plot-relevant later.)

A bit later, it happened that this friend's prom was coming up. I happened to be visiting my grandmother around then, in the same area (I did not live in the states, the coincidence of me being in the same country let alone region as this friend was ridiculous and fantastic).

We went to prom together. It was... a little awkward. I liked this friend, but as a friend (I cherished the night before prom in which we talked for four hours about the evolution of the borg), and completely did not pick up on this friend's Crush Indicators™ towards me. This culminated in a somewhat awkward slow dance at this prom (alongside a similarly awkward prom photo, in which the photographer took great joy in posing us like dolls and neither of us were smiling convincingly).

My mother and grandmother had taken this even as an opportunity to dress up the (grand)daughter. My dress was TARDIS blue and I had a corsage of celery; I and this friend were both Doctor Who fans. I was Inexplicably Uncomfortable the whole time for reasons that had very little to do with my friend and much more to do with Being A Girl At A Prom™. (Couldn't put my finger on why. Wouldn't, for about four years.)

The event itself was a lot of fun, though! I enjoyed spending time with this friend, and dancing, and was only a little betrayed upon realizing that what I'd thought were mozzarella sticks were in fact breaded zucchini. (Who does that???) All in all, it was a positive experience!

A few months later I was off to college, and we kept in touch for a while. Then my mental health crashed, and I forgot to reply. Then months passed. A year. Three years. Five. It reached the point, rather quickly, when reaching out felt too awkward - it had been too long.

And by then I was a very different person than I'd been at 16.

But now and then I'd play a little TF2 for nostalgia's sake, and be reminded of this friend. We were still friends on Steam! They kind of haunted me from my friends list; I felt so bad about having vanished, left our conversations unfinished, even though I've since come to forgive myself for most of that (was definitely Going Through Some Shit). But still, that friend haunted me.

...And then Psychonauts 2 came out.

Psychonauts 2 is the perfect sequel. It is a fantastic game and a love-letter to fans of the first so many years later. So after playing it, I figured, well, there's the ice breaker. No "hey. it's been eight years. sup". No "so I stopped being a functional person for about half a decade, how've you been". Just, "Hey! I don't know how much you remember me, it's been a while, but Psychonauts 2 came out and I thought of you."

Psychonauts 2. A barrier, ready-made, to avoid being too friendly after too long. A bridge, ready-built, between the me of 16 and the me of my mid-20s.

I was a little scared. I was a very different person than I'd been at 16. I'd already tried to reconnect with one other friend from my preteens who, well, lets just say I decided not to come out to her. But I could not in good conscience avoid coming out to this person. I had no idea when or where that conversation would happen, but the "yeah so it turns out I'm actually kind of a dude" was probably inevitable.

But, well, as far as I knew, this friend was a straight man; we'd been friends and there'd been a one-sided crush and I'd dropped out of existence before we really moved through that. I had absolutely no idea how they'd take this development. Hell, when we first met, I hadn't ever met a trans person (that I knew of) - I had no way of knowing how they'd feel about that now, if it'd be an impediment to rekindling a friendship.

Our friendship before had always been sincere but inexplicably awkward in a way I couldn't articulate. But I wanted to reach out. So I did. On Steam, the only place I knew how to contact them.

This friend's Steam profile was sparse.

"Katherine", was all it read.

(........No, I thought. What were the chances, I thought.)

Psychonauts 2 sat in my Steam library, 100% completion, the dulcet tones of Jack Black singing in-character as a gay psychic viking-themed musician ringing through my heart and soul. I reached out.

It's been a long time. (How have you been? I've been really busy being dead.) I am so sorry I vanished off the face of the earth eight years ago. My mental health plummeted and by then I felt awkward about trying to reconnect, but I wanted to reach out and say hi.

.........

........

......

...So anyway, Katherine and I video call a few times a month now to talk about life and TTRPGs. She's came to visit in-person, got me into Magic: The Gathering, and we've been working our way through seasons of Taskmaster together.

Turns out a lot of that awkwardness was greatly solved by us just... growing up. Becoming adults. Understanding ourselves better.

Also swapping genders. That probably helped.

"It's easy to lose touch with friends, especially when you live far apart. And sometimes the longer you've gone without speaking to someone, the harder it feels to pick up where you left off. However, a new study suggests that reaching out to pals—especially ones that you have not talked to in a while—is even more appreciated than initially thought.

“People are fundamentally social beings and enjoy connecting with others. Yet, despite the importance and enjoyment of social connection, do people accurately understand how much other people value being reached out to by someone in their social circle?” the study asks. To answer this question, the authors gathered 5,900 participants and put them through a series of experiments.

In one scenario, half of the participants were asked to remember the last time they contacted a friend they had fallen out of touch with, then estimate on a seven-point scale how appreciative the person was (with one being the lowest score, and seven being the highest). Then, the other half of the participants were prompted to recall a time when someone had reached out to them and assign a number to how grateful they were. When these two groups were compared, the researchers found that people greatly underestimated the value of reaching out to someone.

“Across a series of preregistered experiments, we document a robust underestimation of how much other people appreciate being reached out to,” the authors continue. “We find evidence compatible with an account wherein one reason this underestimation of appreciation occurs is because responders (vs. initiators) are more focused on their feelings of surprise at being reached out to. A focus on feelings of surprise in turn predicts greater appreciation.”

In another experiment, participants were told to send a note and small gift to a friend they had not interacted with for a long period of time. They were then asked to estimate on a numerical scale how thankful the person would be because of the contact. Additionally, the receivers of the gifts were asked to rank their feelings upon accepting the gift on the same seven-number scale. Once again, the gift-givers greatly underestimated how much their gesture meant to the other person.

The study concluded that reaching out to people—particularly those that you've lost contact with—is almost always appreciated. It can seem challenging to maintain healthy social interactions, especially due to an increased amount of people working from home and a lack of opportunities. But clearly, the evidence suggests that a little extra effort is worth it.

“For those treading back into the social milieu with caution and trepidation,” the study adds, “feeling woefully out of practice and unsure, our work provides robust evidence and an encouraging green light to go ahead and surprise someone by reaching out.”"

-via My Modern Met, 7/31/22

[katrinafaire]

The Forgotten Book 1: The Cure - Introducing Our Main Characters

While there is a fairly large cast of characters mentioned in The Cure even by it's half point, and even a fair amount who play roles of importance, the story is in fact centered on only three, and I would love to introduce them to you as best I can and still avoid plot spoilers.

The first character you meet goes by Bria (Ambria Hearth) and she is about to graduate as a medical chemist after six years of study (eight, counting two years of prerequisite study before gaining entry to the academy) when the events of the book go down. She's in her early thirties, 5'5" (165cm) with brown eyes and somewhat curly brown hair just past her shoulders, with light, cool toned skin. She's in decent shape because she walks or bikes everywhere. She doesn't wear much makeup out of a habit from working in a lab environment

I have semi-accurate fan casts for all three of them, should anyone want to know, and they might show up in mood/inspo boards later. If I do get commissions though, I'll absolutely show them off.

She is intelligent, intuitive - and impatient. While not overly nosy in general, if she feels something has any relevance to her or those she's close to, she wants to know and will carefully but persistently pursue that knowledge until she's actually given a 'no' by someone she respects. She's very well trained as a medical chemist, at the top of her class in academics, but doesn't actually have a lot of experience outside the classroom because she just hasn't had the opportunity yet.

Bria is upbeat and positive, ruthlessly optimistic until faced with situations that shake her resolve. Even then, she is quick to recover. She cherishes her loved ones even when they frustrate and irritate her and in general fills the archetype super trope "The Idealist" with the subtrope "Plucky Girl" - she's braver than she knows, pushed on by her determination to 'just do the right thing' regardless of how dangerous it ends up being. For her songs I think I'd have to choose I Lived by OneRepublic and Fight Song by Rachel Platten.

She's fun to write, and more nuanced than people in the book necessarily give her credit for. She goes through a lot during the course of the book (some of which isn't set in ink yet) but even when she's worn down, even if you stripped her down to her core, you will find the sunshine is shining through unbreakable diamond.

(For the sake of not dropping an even longer post on the dash, the other two characters are under the cut. Depending on your extensions, of course, this may have cut off sooner.)

Luca (Joel Luca) is the next character briefly introduced, though what little is shown is very telling. Luca is a man whose poker face is a blinding smile. He's a whirlwind of energy and full to bursting with emotions. He is both friend and mentor figure to Bria, and sometimes a bit of a big brother presence as well despite being over a decade older (mid forties).

Luca is 5'11" (180.3cm) with light blue eyes, short auburn hair, and darker skin. He's in excellent shape, given he prefers to deal with emotional upheaval with exercise and he is very, very prone to strong emotion. Granted he has a (initially unexplained) "gift/curse" of uncanny intuition that definitely effects that, but he's also just a man who feels and feels passionately.

Luca's never met a stranger (though sometimes I think he wishes he had) - he can strike up a conversation with anyone and his bright smiles and smooth tones nearly guarantee your average Joe isn't going to realize when it's fake. Of course, that means if he's visibly upset or angry he wants you to know about it - or, in some instances, he's just too worked up to smile.

While Luca's intuition is easily one of the more memorable aspects of his character, especially the times it's highly plot relevant, I would be remiss not to mention how warm he is. How he tries to be kind, even when he's hurting or upset. These are traits he grew into, though; he still has to fight not to give into impulsive action and rash emotional responses, a fight he doesn't always win. He's working on it.

His archetype tropes would definitely start with "The Kirk" and also teeters on the edge of "The Ignored Expert" at times. I do actually have two songs for him, The Change by Garth Brooks (link goes to a cover), and You've Got To Stand For Something by Aaron Tippin.

I have a blast writing Luca though it's a hard balance between his hard earned wisdom / experience and his potent emotions. I like to think I've struck a good balance.

Last but definitely not least is the Sage, Grimoire (additional naming revealed late in the book). To understand Grimoire is to first understand the Sages. Essentially, the Sages are living repositories of specialized knowledge from the modern era of the book back to theoretically the first documentations of their craft. They all conveniently have photographic memories that span across their senses. Grimoire is the active Sage of Medical Chemistry. Now in his late thirties, he's been training / in conditioning since he was four. No one seems to see the problem here.

Physically, Grimoire can at times be imposing. Though built lean, he stands at 6'3" (190.5cm) and has a broad frame, primarily in the shoulders with a swimmers build. His black hair is straight, coming down to brush his shoulders, and his brown eyes echo the warm tones of his light skin. He's been wearing glasses since he was in his early twenties, his voracious reading in questionable lighting as a boy catching up to him.

Grimoire is all about fact and truth, and feels physically ill when put in a situation where he has to lie - he'll do it, if he has to, but he won't like it. Like most Sages, Grimoire is happiest when pursuing new knowledge, which has led to him becoming educated in adjacent medical fields as well as random assortments of other things he simply ran into and asked about.

He's aware that straight honesty is not always the best response regardless of it being easier, and has gone to the school of Obi-Wan with appeasing his professional self with the thought that something may well still be true - from a certain point of view. Generally, however, he prefers to be honest.

Grimoire grew up childhood friends with both Luca and Bria, and at the start of the book he and Bria are dancing around their feelings for each other. While romance isn't the focus of the book, that will still be explored and resolved.

Archetypes for Grimoire would definitely be "The Conscience", "Seeker" and "The Spock" - obviously a running theme there. Off the top of my head, I'd choose Courage by Clay Finnesand and Invincible by David Archuleta for his songs.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of insight into the trio that run the show in The Cure. I'll be putting more out over time about them, and about important side characters as well as more lore in general.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions at all, hit up my askbox and I'll get a reply out! Anon is enabled, I believe, if you're anxious or shy. If I can't answer your question for whatever reasons, I will at least share a cool fact from my worldbuilding. That's all for now, take care!

[archivyrep]

The erasure of records, digitization, and 1990s Hollywood films [Part 2]

Continued from part 1

There's one other film that has similar themes: Hackers, which features Angelina Jolie in a starring role. It focuses on a group of teen hackers who work to take down a villain who wants to sink a few oil tankers while getting wealthy in the process. In this "cult classic" film, as some places call it, there are computers running on dial-up (like in The Net), huge portable phones, people in some of the nerdiest clothes ever, and moving of information around on...floppy disks! In fact, the virus itself is on a floppy disk.

Note: This article is reprinted from my History Hermann blog, with this post published there on May 19, 2019. I published it on my Wading Through the Archival Stacks WordPress blog on Aug. 28, 2020 with some revisions because I thought it was relevant to archives, at least when it comes to films.

The altering of records is a key part of this film as well, as the villain alters the criminal records of the male protagonist and his mother to list them as criminals, blackmailing him to give up the floppy disk. In the end, this group of hackers, all men except Angelina Jolie's character, and all White, except one kid with dreadlocks, set out to take down the servers of the villain's mega-corporation, succeeding thanks to help from two Japanese hackers and their subsequent "electronic army" of hackers. Somehow, they basically get off from their prison sentence thanks to a television broadcast from one of the hackers, which seems strange as he could be utterly lying. As with most movies of this nature, the plot doesn't always completely add up.

Finally, there is a bit of an outlier: the 1996 film, My Fellow Americans. This is perhaps the hokiest film of all, although archives is a main part of this film. Ex-Presidents, played by James Garner and Jack Lemmon, discover a scandal in the current administration. Lemmon discovers that conspirators have altered his official records, at his presidential library archival vault, in order to "erase traces of a meeting." At another time, Mark Lowethal's character goes to the National Archives, finding that the presidential appointment log does not show this meeting. [2] It turns out the culprit behind these changes is the current sitting present, the former vice-president, with his chief of staff being the one who "doctored the Archives log and the log in Kramer's library."

In this case, the film does not involve the changing of a digital record but only the changing of a paper record. Still, this has a similar theme to the other three movies in that records can be doctored, manipulated, and changed to the benefit of certain individuals. Although, this can be, at times, easier to do with digital records than with paper records. I would also say the theme that records can be changed, erased, or rewritten follows through the Halt and Catch Fire series, along with shows like Mr. Robot, going into its last season this coming fall.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[2] This reminds me of a major plot point in Thrill Seekers, a 1999 TV movie, where the protagonist finds out that there are people who travel in time (from the future) to disasters and serve as tourists, disgustingly watching people die. In the process, the researcher on staff at a local newspaper, a bit like a records clerk, has databases of newspapers on her computer, which he searches to find information, which she lets him use even though she just met him (not good records management). She says that she will go to the National Archives to find the original images, proving that he was not lying about the time travelers. Later, the protagonist goes back and time and saves her. But I thought I'd just mention this, as the fact she is a bit of a records clerk brings in line with the records clerks in Erin Brocovitch (2000) and Chinatown (1974). The former has a clerk who flirts with a law firm filing clerk (Erin Brockovich) who uncovers wrongdoings of a water utility company on her three visits to the records office of the Regional Water Board, letting her into "a records storage area, piled high with files, papers and binders, where she proceeds to copy water records," allowing her to complete her work. The latter has a sullen young man who does not like his job, grudgingly providing assistance, with Jack Nicholson's character "tearing out part of a page from a record book by covering the noise with a cough" after he is told he cannot check out the volume. This clerk, as one reviewer puts it, has "a well crafted scene presenting a stereotypical records keeper" with the clerk/archivist as "an impatient, unhelpful civil servant guarding over his records domain who treats the public as trespassers" while the "records are in long aisles in bound volumes." Some have compared Erin Brocovitch to another film with records as central, specifically A Civil Action (1998).

[wingfics]

💚🛩🌌💍

steeb? steeb! my self insert for the mcu is ariadne, which is Very Close to the name for my tf2 s/i, so i'm not gonna abbreviate that o7

💚: Who gets jealous? 

ariadne gets jealous but rarely insecure. they're aware they're hot shit, but they have standards for how much attention they should get and if they feel they're being shortchanged, they Will be plain about it. they don't like dicking around with steve, so they don't flirt with other people very often. steve used to get jealous because ariadne's overtly friendly with the avengers, but ariadne, who is Not a fan of jealous anger, talked it through with him. nowadays, steve can see through their over-comfortable facade and "cool without trying" schtick. ariadne still makes sure to frequently reassure him that he's their north star- the fixed point ariadne will always gravitate towards.

🛩: Where would the two of you go on your honeymoon?

see, neither of them can agree on this. ariadne's always a sucker for a mediterranean grand tour and steve's usually fine with this, but they both feel like they need to go somewhere new. they're both city people, but the nature of being a superhero for a living means that cities = work of some sort. steve floated the idea of a honeymoon that involves some sort of physical activity, like backpacking in the alps or a cycling tour of continental europe, and ariadne immediately shot it down ("i am not going to spend every day of my honeymoon pointlessly achey and sweating, dearest"). something they both agreed might be fun was a skills retreat or conservation project, so we'll see how that goes.

🌌: What was your first date like?

oh GOD the mortifying secondhand embarrassment of everyone watching these two flit around each other... unparalleled. ariadne is an über-powerful sorcerer who can go toe to toe with wanda ((scarlet witch is the most powerful canonical avenger don't @ me)) and steve is so far removed from being a normal man that he forgets to breathe for like Minutes at a time. and they just sort of awkwardly hovered in that "we're clearly more than friends, but neither of us is willing to jinx this by talking about it" phase for months. but ANYWAY, once they got over that, they went to the met! stevie's been there a handful of times before, but ariadne has only ever been a single time and didn't get to see a lot of the stuff they wanted to. so as a favour (and an "early wedding gift! i'd better be your best man!") tony shut the place down for the day and steve and ariadne wandered around for hours. they took turns rambling about the art and time periods they knew best until the sun set, then took the subway back home.

💍: What’s your dream wedding?

funny you should ask. despite wanting to get married, they don't really have plans to have a wedding. they're a lot of stress to plan, even with help, and if push comes to shove, they're both okay with going down to the city courthouse, signing some papers, and walking out married. ceremonies can be done later. ariadne not-so-secretly wants an Event™ wedding, but knows that it probably isn't feasible due to how busy they are and the sizeable security risk it would probably pose to be that high-profile about it. steve's a relative traditionalist about the whole thing. "typical white people wedding shit", as ariadne describes it. (it's good that the kind of wedding they want is also fairly "white people wedding shit".) it's likely that ariadne would design their own dress, with help from steve. he's content to wear a standard tux, but it's going to be one he's never worn before and will never wear again afterwards. the venue's going to end up being a compromise point; ariadne likes old money european style architecture (think stained glass domes, spiral staircases, and old stonework) and steve prefers less... imposing spaces. exposed beam rafters, enough room for maybe 50 people, full of light. he's not got the same dramatic streak ariadne does. ariadne wants a disney princess wedding and steve wants to be able to point at them from across the room and say, "that's my wife!" they'll work it out.

i love talking about this so much

ty jason!!! these were a lot of fun, thanks for bearing with as i went through a routine of constantly thinking about my answers to this ask, then forgetting it existed as soon as i got my hands on a computer or phone again. yeethaw 🤠

also turn your fuckin asks on for sideblog