#the chronological order thing it’s important lol

[narumi-gens]

Triptych | "Fate put us on the same path."

Chisaki Kai x f!Reader

summary: Your life is nothing more than a triptych, a work of art in three parts with each panel depicting a distinct period — a beginning, a middle, an end. And in the triptych that is your life, the central figure has always been Chisaki Kai.

chapter warnings: 18+ minors/ageless/blank blogs dni, yandere, possessive behavior, emotional manipulation, complicated family dynamics, codependency, daddy issues, abandonment issues, reader says "faults" but should really be saying "red flags" lol

notes: this is from a non-chronological series so the parts can be read (mostly) on their own or in any order. someone left the nicest comment on this fic on ao3 and I felt like I needed to update this fic, so this is your regular psa on the importance of leaving comments!

words: 2.2k

SERIES MASTERLIST

minors, blank, and ageless blogs do not like, comment, or reblog

The Middle

You’re having trouble breathing. You’re having literal trouble breathing. 

The shiromuku is so heavy and tied so tightly that it feels like each breath you take requires a monumental effort. There’s an ache forming in your shoulders from the pure weight of it all. You’ve spent so much of your life in kimono that you can put one on blindfolded. But this? This wedding kimono is another beast entirely. 

“It’s a bit tight,” you wince, causing the two women currently in the process of tying the obi around your middle in an extravagant knot to softly titter. 

“I know. It’s all a bit cumbersome,” the older woman in front of you commiserates before smiling at you so kindly that it alleviates your discomfort for a brief moment. “But it’s worth it. You look beautiful, just as every bride should. Your husband is a lucky man.”

You let out a noncommittal hum, which is cut short by a soft grunt when the woman behind you gives your obi a particularly harsh yank. 

“How did the two of you meet?” she asks, trying to distract you from how uncomfortable you feel as they continue to tie you up in beautiful silk. 

“We grew up together,” you reply, deciding the simplest answer is the easiest. 

“Ah, so fate put you both on the same path,” she observes with a soft smile and her words have you suddenly feeling breathless for a reason entirely unrelated to the thick layers of fabric wrapped around you.

“I guess so,” you murmur, but before you can lose yourself in your thoughts, you wince when your obi is given one final tug.

“There we go,” the older attendant behind you declares proudly as she adjusts the obi knot. As difficult as it physically is to do so, you sigh with relief knowing that the fussing is almost over. It’s been over an hour by this point. “All that’s left is the uchikake.”

One of the women lifts up the final and thickest layer that will be worn over your kimono. You reach out to gently trace the beautiful designs embroidered on the white silk. As your finger follows the outline of a crane’s beak, you can’t help the frown that forms on your lips.

“Can we take a break?” you ask and there’s a pause at your unexpected request. 

“O-of course,” the attendant in front of you says as she carefully places the uchikake back in its box before she and the other woman leave the room. 

When you hear the door close behind you, your posture droops as much as it can in such a restrictive kimono. Instinctively, you tug at the collar to try and loosen it slightly at the neck only to immediately worry that you’ve ruined the women’s hard work. 

You turn towards the room’s floor-length mirror and feel a rush of relief when you see that the collar appears untouched. Your eyes then drift to take in your full reflection for the first time and your lips part slightly in surprise.

So much of your life has been dictated by tradition — from the way you were raised to the clothing you had been made to wear to the marriage that your father tried to arrange for you — that the last thing you wanted was a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony. However, as you see how beautiful the shiromuku is, and how elegant you look in it, you’re in awe. 

But the longer you look at yourself, the more reality begins to set back in until the small frown on your face is reflected at you in the mirror. Without the distraction of the two women dressing you in such an elaborate garment, all you’re left with is the image of someone you don’t recognize — or rather the image of a future that you never envisioned for yourself. 

Eventually, the reflection becomes too much and you turn away from it to look out the window into the shrine’s gardens. When you see how dreary the weather is as it continues to rain like it’s been doing all morning, you sigh and rest your forehead against the glass. Your fingertip follows the path of a raindrop as it runs down the window’s surface and you absently wonder if the weather is a poor omen for your marriage. 

Not that an omen would matter now, considering you and Kai have already filed your paperwork and have been legally married for weeks. This ceremony is just that — ceremonial. So you’re not what it is that has you feeling so out of sorts.

Maybe it’s the chaos of the last months. Your mind has been a mess as you’ve tried to navigate your grief for your father, your guilt over not having returned home sooner, your indecisiveness about what you were going to do next, and your conflicting feelings toward marrying Kai.

You hear the door open behind you and brace yourself for the gentle scolding that you’re about to receive from one of the attendants for wrinkling your kimono with your slouched posture. You drop your hand to your side with a soft sigh.

“Can I have just another minute or two?” you ask, not quite ready to bear the weight of the thick uchikake that they’ve come to drape you in. 

But when you look over your shoulder, it’s not the attendants who have entered — it’s Kai. 

Your eyes widen at the sight of him in his montsuki haori hakama. While you of course knew what a groom wore during a Shinto ceremony, seeing Kai in the outfit stuns you. With the black haori, matching kimono, and striped hakama, he looks every bit the part of the Hassaikai’s wakagashira. 

He’s always looked good in the suits he wears, but there’s something about seeing him dressed so traditionally that makes your cheeks feel warm. When your gaze finally returns to his face, you’re relieved that he’s chosen to wear a simple black face mask like you’re accustomed to seeing him in rather than the beak-like one that you detest.

As your eyes meet his, you give him a weak smile and turn back to the window. His steps are soft against the tatami as he moves to join you.

“It’s raining,” you needlessly point out with a small frown. 

“Rain washes things clean,” he replies and somehow, the simple statement manages to put you slightly at ease. Silence settles over you both and the longer that it stretches on, the louder you hear the attendant’s words echoing in your head.

“One of the women said something when she was dressing me,” you eventually blurt out. When you hesitate, he gives you a hum to continue. “She said fate put us on the same path.”

Even without looking at him, you can tell that the sentiment pleases him. 

“She’s right. This is where you belong.” It’s such an expected response that you would feel annoyed if your mind wasn’t already so preoccupied.

“With the Hassaikai?” you gently scoff.

“With me,” he’s quick to answer, his firm tone giving you pause. 

You glance at him to find that his attention is already focused on you rather than the view of the garden. The weight of his gaze feels almost as heavy as your shiromuku and when you can no longer meet it, you look back out the window.

“How…” you begin before trailing off. You hesitantly bite your lip as you consider your words. “How do you think Dad will react when he finds out we’re married?”

You try not to linger on how your question is predicated on the optimistic assumption that your father will wake from his coma. When Kai doesn’t immediately answer you, you sigh.

“He’ll probably be happy,” you say dryly. “All that work he did to force me into marrying a yakuza and he got what he wanted in the end.”

An unexpected wave of exhaustion overwhelms you, and you bring a tired hand to your forehead. You’re certain that right now, you’re the antithesis of a blushing bride. 

“I told the old man I would marry you.”

Your hand drops at the sudden admission and when you turn to him with wide eyes, you find that he’s now looking out the window. 

“When he tried to marry you off, marry you away, I told him that you should marry me.” His frown is hidden beneath his mask, but you can see the tension lining his eyes. “But he said no.”

The questions come to you in a flurry. Why did your father turn him down? Why didn’t Kai tell you? How long has he been planning this? Has he been waiting years to marry you? How different would your life be if you had married him? Does any of it really matter now that you are married?

But with all of the questions that your mind is racing with, there’s one that comes to the surface. Is he in love with you? 

You feel stupid for thinking it. It’s a dumb thing for a wife to wonder about her husband, even if the labels are still new. But mostly, the idea of love is something that you’ve never considered of Kai. 

You’re not so naive as to think that his intentions toward you have only ever been chaste or innocent. In fact, innocent is a word you would never use to describe him. He’s spent enough nights in your bed over the years for you to know that he’s attracted to you on at least a physical level. 

Likewise, you’re not blind to his faults. He’s a dangerous man who does violent work. He’s obstinate to a frustrating degree. And his nature has always been possessive — of the Shie Hassakai’s power and reputation, of the territory that he perceives as rightfully theirs, and of you. 

Maybe for him, that is love.

And he’s always watched over you. He’s protected you. He never abandoned you. He kept you from harm. That’s more important than something as ephemeral as love could ever be. 

“What were you going to do? If I ended up married to some other yakuza?” you finally ask. When Kai turns to face you, you’re unsurprised by the dark look in his eyes.

“I would have killed him.” His response is a threat, but there’s no heat or anger in his tone. He tells you his plan to free you from a forced marriage with the same sort of indifference he would if he were telling you the sky is blue. 

You should probably be horrified that he’s talking so easily about murdering someone. But the tears that you can feel beginning to form aren’t from fear. You take a step toward him and close the gap between you before dropping your forehead to his chest. A gloved hand immediately comes up to rest on the back of your neck and keep you close.

“Always looking out for me, huh?” you murmur with a wet laugh, a faint smile tugging at your lips. He gives your neck a reassuring squeeze. 

Ever since you first brought Kai to your father all those years ago, he’d treated him like the son he never had. You had seen him look past Kai’s flaws as easily as you always have. But if his adopted son had openly gone against him to kill the man he intended for you to marry, you don’t know what he would have done. 

He was willing to risk it all to keep you safe. If that isn’t love, then you’re not sure what is — you don’t care what it is. To you, it’s everything. 

You clutch the fabric on his haori in a pitiful attempt to tug him closer. Despite your best efforts, you can feel a tear escape and roll down your cheek. You quickly brush it away with another sniffle.

Once you no longer feel like you’re about to shed any further tears, you lift your head, although his hand on your nape doesn’t let you go far. Slowly, your hand releases its grip on him and you run your palm over the material to smooth over any wrinkles you may have caused.

Your gaze settles on the symbol embroidered over his chest — the Shie Hassaikai’s emblem in place of where a family crest would traditionally be. You carefully trace the white thread.

“You know, it suits you,” you tell him with a soft smile. You glance up at him and nod meaningfully to his haori, the one in the style of the Shie Hassaikai’s kumicho. With an affectionate touch, you then straighten the front of his kimono, although it’s a needless gesture. You then give him a gentle push. “Get out of here. I have to finish getting ready.”

[juniperhillpatient]

had to make a separate playlist from the project playlist specifically for songs about Everett, Emma & Chase… (in somewhat chronological order!)

[bataranqs]

5 Happy Things

June 2, 2024

made baozi with my family today and my older sister said mines looked pretty <3

got to meet a new kid AND an (unrelated) new a adult at church today!! also got a lovely and thoughtful gift from someone at church which was just really. ough. humans caring for each other hi

listened to the entirety of epic the musical sagas and :((( it's so good :(((

finally got to watch more of joy of life 2 and episode 12 was so masterfully done i can't believe the entire 40 minutes was just one Really Awkward Afternoon. also the insane choices in parallels and the score... hiii it's so masterful

sweatpants

[cadaveerie]

DRAGON AGE info spreadsheet

i've made THIS SPREADSHEET that has different information about Dragon Age media, such as:

· the canon ages of DA important characters · known info about the DATV companions · where you can find the DATV devs on social media · a tab with relevant links to archived lost media, interesting dragon age posts, official content, and other useful things like this sheet

everything with sources :)

(these images are previews. i strongly advice you to check the sheet itself and not these images for updated info in case there were mistakes, i added new stuff, for links and for better quality.)

some of the things i'll be adding to the sheet next are (probably):

· a sheet with all dragon age media in chronological order (+ relevant links) · visual references (official clear images of the companions mostly, + other things) · more characters in the "character ages" sheet (if there's an interest, let me know if that's the case) · and characters' nationalities (in-game and irl approximations)

keep in mind that there are spoilers all over it, for all games (even datv, who hasn't yet come out at the time of posting this) and for other dragon age media (books, comics, etc.) i did my best to add warnings though!

reach out to me (mostly here or twitter) if there are any mistakes, or if you have any sort of feedback regarding the contents, formatting or accessibility! i'd appreciate it a lot! and talk to me to if you'd be willing to collaborate with me for the upcoming information! i could use the help.

and if the link is broken:

if got it from a reblog, look at the original post and check if it works there (in case i changed it for whatever reason)

if not, just reach out to me (op)

there's more information on the sheet itself. make sure to scroll all the way down and to the right to see all of the sheet :]

i hope this is useful for someone. i did this because most people don't take the time to source their information, and i also find it more comfortable to have most stuff in one place. it took (and continues to take) a loooong time to do this lol it was exhausting. thanks for your attention!

[ask-the-rag-dolly]

♪ ~ a little rag dolly , wishing your worries away ~ ♪

please read the faq ! ( updated as of 7/27/2024 )

a part ask-blog , part comic where ragatha is infected with a sentient virus that can talk to her - and somehow that's the least concerning part in all of this ?

there's no right or wrong choices here but these all definitely look like wrong ones

[ while this is mostly not intended to be a horror comic , please be warned that this will contain content that can be seen as disturbing such as depictions of mental illness and breakdowns , vomiting , self-harm , suicidal and intrusive thoughts , scopophobia , medical trauma - and possibly more i haven't listed ! if these things get too distressing it's okay to click away , your mental wellbeing matters more ^^

also disclaimer that a lot of the things here were written Before episode 2 so if there's some inconsistencies then you know ! ]

READ IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER , COOL !!

somehow doesn't work in mobile , please don't ask me i don't know how to fix it , blame tumblr idk lol

phase 1

phase 2

TAGS

[ asks ] / [ ask2 ] - main posts

[ ooc ] - misc. posts

[ INTERMISSION ] - surprise !

[ non-canon ] - non-canon asks

[ ESSAY WARNING ] - mod rambles

[ doodles ] - art from yours truly !

[ THE INFLUENCER ] - old t.i tag ! design was by @/raggedabstraction

tadc influence au - green ?????????

[ you just opened : pandora's box ! ] - an achievement i give to a select amount of asks that completely ran the plot into a tree and exploded it <3

[ animations ] - ... animations !

[ office lore ] - backstory that i don't think is pretty important to this story but people are somehow invested in it so here you go

toybox - just me going crazy over my brotp ( zooble & ragatha )

[ more will be added ! ... if i figure it out ... ]

GUIDELINES AND BOUNDARIES

nooo inappropriate asks, please ! i will not hesitate to block you if you send one

my art is free to use ! use it for your icon , an edit , or even repost it ! my only condition really is to credit me (:

the only ship i'll lean towards is jesterdoll (pomni x ragatha) ! even then , it's not the main focus ( i prefer exploring more platonic dynamics honestly ! )

please be patient and do not take it personally if your ask doesn't get in , i am just one artist running this blog , not planning to get another mod , and i get a shitton of asks whenever i open the inbox . there is no 100% guarantee that your ask will get in

please do not dm me . i am not open for small talk . just take any questions or inquiries to the ask box if it's open . sorry but i will be ignoring any messages from this point on . it's nothing personal i am just severely mentally ill

magic anons are fine ! though note i will be very picky towards them and most likely won't accept any that exceeds 10 asks .

you can call me mod bee . for the sake of this blog , i go by she/her ^^ ( please don't bring up my main if you recognize my art style shfgsf )

[ guidelines are subject to change ~ ]

[howmanyepsofmlseason6areleft]

Do we know if chronological order matters for Season 6 like it did in seasons 4 and 5?

We actually got a…. “response” to this today !

Now…. here’s the thing.

TBH, I don’t really trust much that comes out of Astruc’s mouth a lot of the time, since I fear he’s been wrong before and sometimes isn’t as much of a reliable source as you would think. For instance, if he’s comparing this to seasons 2 and 3, those seasons, in my opinion, DID have an important chronological order to them, especially season 3. ITS THE REASON I STARTED THIS BLOG WHEN SEASON 3 WAS AIRING!!!! Plus, I’m sure we all remember when Chat Blanc aired out of order and that caused a bit of confusion and displeasure in the fandom, amongst other episodes. Even if major plot threads being out of order weren’t as consequential as in seasons 4 and 5, emotional beats and character actions definitely WERE.

So yeah- I get what he’s saying in that episodes can still stand alone (they arguably could back then too), but I don’t know- I sincerely doubt they could just be… watched totally out of order until the last two. Unless he’s saying NONE of the story is going to build on itself like it’s done the past two seasons, and like it’s already been DOING with the ominous end of episode 2 IMO, then this is pretty dumb lol.

Still do as you wish, obviously (I for sure know I’m watching these out of order anyway lol, I’m used to this rodeo), and yeah he may be right that you can probably fill in gaps as you go, but I would not take that tweet at face value tbh unless you’re already used to watching it out of order.

[jjcattt]

okay I have. sooooo many thoughts about the new severance episode. here they are in roughly chronological order:

what's up with the breathing tube (?) in cobel's car?

mr milchick did NOT look happy about those paintings. with this and the screensaver I'm wondering if his dissatisfaction with lumon higherups will be a big plot point this season. I hope he gets a redemption arc his ass is too fat to be evil

what the fuck is up with the goats???? with the introduction of all those new characters it seems like they'll be important later. I also noticed a goat statue in Devon's house. what does it meannnnnn

we didn't see much helly in this episode but I'm still very firm on my position that helly is NOT helena.

irvingggggggg...... he drew burt EVERY SINGLE DAY..... irving was the only thing that burt was scared of...... if they don't see each other again this season I'll cry

note that irv seems to have a photographic memory though. I wonder if that'll come into play later.

serious props to Natalie's actor. she's so perfectly terrifying this episode.

interesting to see them trying to rework the you you are. I'm willing to bet good money that they'll manage to turn it into some crazy pro-lumon propaganda with those "slight changes".

the thing with the light is so insanely smart. bet you it was Devon's idea lol

mark's reaction to the confirmation that Gemma's alive... god I hope the brain death theory isn't real I can't stand seeing him so distraught like that.

THEY DID IT. HE REINTEGRATED.

that ending in general was just. so fucking good. as a big Tech Guy i loved all the little sciencey stuff. the oscilloscope? the resonant frequency sand thing? all the little switches? fucking awesome

the cuts were much quicker and less disorienting than petey's were, so I hope that means it actually worked and he's not going to lose it like petey did. please?

AND THE CREDITS. THEY'RE WHITE ON BLACK. NOT BLACK ON WHITE. THERE'S BEEN A HUGE SHIFT AND I'M SO READY FOR IT.

I think this is my favourite episode of season 2 so far. I know that's not saying much because we're only 3 episodes in but I loved this episode so so much. can't believe we have to wait another week for episode 4...

[pixelxgore]

hers a billfold wip as a treat i changed his face bc i have free will

The art is to encourage you to read my silly little insanity (you should totally do it btw)

I'm dyslexic so sorry if anything is spelled grotesquely wrong lol autocorrect sometimes has no idea what i’m trying to spell

Starting with my head cannon because every thing will make more sense with it (or it wont that's entirely up to you) Imma try my best to make this enjoyable

So I head cannon both bill and ford as aspec this is important for the rest trust (I'm Aroace myself so some of my words are based of of experience ) being aroace doesn't mean you can't have a toxic one-sided relationship with a triangle

(most of this is pretty vanilla but I still wanna talk about it)

I believe it started of as a one-sided relationship on fords part (wow shocker) but it wasn't really love because he's ace it was more of infatuation (this stems from the fact he is a science boy and like ooo demon triangle thing) mistaken for love (I'm pretty sure this is common among aroace people or I just had an original experience) and maybe bill had just a little bit of the same feeling but instead of infatuation it was just pure obsession and when they had there little “tragic break up” and bill finally came to realize his obsession and it consumed him (idk i think that how abusive obsession is) and he realized he can’t live with out ford (i man he can but unhealthy obsession) and thus bills one sided relationship with ford where he just tries to get his puppet back but can’t figure out why he needs him so bad so he comes to the (subconscious) cuncultion there in love (because of course that’s the reasonable decision) and then you all know what comes after

I think bill has major will wood music vibes so I have nominated three songs of his for bill ford (cuz I'm genuinely going insane over them)

This is for fun and based off my head cannons

All of my discussions are made purely of the vibes the song gives me and how cool than animation in my head looks so take everything you know about these will wood songs and throw it out the window cuz none of that is relevant :3

i saw someone say “Will Wood songs can really be interpreted in different ways, and most of them seem like wisps of similar thought rather than a concrete narrative, so you're always a little bit right and wrong when you take a guess.” and i think you should keep that in mined

(I'm gonna embarrass myself so hard (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) )

I'm not gonna elaborate much but just trust me ok I put it kind of in chronological order

fords one sided relationship with bill: ...well, better than the alternative

Ok so this one is the least perfect out of all of them cuz it only half what I want (obviously this song is a stretch but hear me out) It's mostly for the like the last half of the song (remember what I said about throwing out the meaning for get that i lied) this song about the struggle ls of growing up and is a heartfelt plea to be understood and accepted for who we are (which obviously ford was a wired kid) and this kinda ties into the one-sided infatuation because it also is about the romanticism of nostalgic love, and the pressure of society telling you to find someone and "settle down" as we get older (witch yk aroace can’t really do that) so he’s grasping at the fact that he is enamored with this demon he just summoned (because science) so he can come up with this narrative in his head of how he is in love and can finally fit at least one of the societal boxes (idk it sounds like something to me probly ooc but I'm having fun)

bills one sided relationship with ford: ¡Aikido!

obsession with someone and how people often use coping mechanisms such as drugs to help with their feelings of uncertainty and helplessness. (yes this is copied not fully of a site this is tumblr not an english assignment) it also explores the idea that love and obsession can often manifest in neurotic and even pathological behavior.(oooo oooo look i’m so smart like staring the apocalyps) i’m not this cool this whole thing started with the first like whit h is “I apologize for playing with your eyes But I’m obsessed with you” witch reminded me of how bill used for as a puppet and then yk fords whole world came crashing down (this one explained its self more i have to do less mental gymnastics) and he’s like im sooo sorry i can’t live with out you

there whole relationship from the deal to the end of bill: Misanthrapologist ("In case I make it,"

Outtake)

ok this one is the one that mostly made of vibes because the song is about an unhappy codependent relationship through metaphors of christianity, nihilism, outer space, and mozart (witch only really encompasses a portion of the relationship) the song stars with “I wanna meet your make Shake him by his ensanguined damask lapel Holler "Look what you've done Gave this planet a sun And made a man to wonder if he's more than the sum of his cells"” which makes me personally think of obviously the deal fore made with bill and how bill stroked his ego all the way through there partnership um you can see where i goes from here just go listen to the song

ok this one’s off topic and only for my imaginary animation but the line “So how could I stand a chance, let alone dance With the way you sweep me off these two left feet?” just like imagine this with me it’s bill (human probably cuz i don’t work with the triangle) and young ford in the minedskape thing and its bill dipping ford and when it goes down it switches to bill and fort in bills pyramid thing with ford chained up do you see the vision ok I’m done now (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

[thelunarsystemwrites]

🕸!MuffeteerTale Masterpost!🕸

Where all your MuffeteerTale content can be found in one place! TL:DR of the AU—Muffet takes control of Sans's soul, and essentially makes him a puppet during a no mercy route.

COMICS:

(These are organized based off release date, not chronological order!)

Muffteertale. (First comic made.)

Prequel comic. (Needs to be redrawn lol)

Battles.

What's mine is mine.

Left in the dust.

A fight. (Flashbacks!)

ASKS: (note—only asks with art/are important are here!)

Why did Muffet take Sans's soul?

Rules of the fighting rings?

GKSZGIXGCK COMPLIMENT ANON!!

Happy Sans 👍

Can we ask muffet and Sans questions? (Yup!)

Sans's opinion on muffet?

Has muffet tried taking a human soul?

puppeted.

Muffet's services!

Sans VS other... Sans?

Any benefits to working for Muffet?

Sans's spider outfit.

(Tw: slavery/shaming) Do you know how lucky you are?

Does muffet allow Sans to keep any friends?

Sighhhh muffeteer sans is so cool (thanks moot!)

What's his opinion on the human, and, hobbies?

Always alone?

Can I draw Muffeteer sans? (Yup!)

Marshmallows?

ART:

Muffeteer! (Muffet!)

Doodle!

Control. (Lore important!)

Deals a deal. (Lore important!)

Art practice/Teaser.

Muffintin!

Breaks over lol (doodle)

The Card.

Spider Dance.

Happy muffeteer Sans! :3

Picture this...

NOTE: Asks keep AUs alive! Reblogs keep AUs alive! Likes help, but PLEASE consider reblogging my posts, or sending an ask!

Fantastic artists who drew Muffeteer Sans!

"FREEE MY MANN." Featuring Witch Lust, owned by ant1quarian! and Muffeeteertale Sans! (Art by @ant1quarian!)

"Fanart!" (Art by @skullbonezz!)

An art request @maxxmakes did for me, thank you!

Rules below!

When sending an ask, you may ask Muffet, Sans, or me a question directly!

You may ask questions about other characters, story, generally anything!

This AU will cover mature topics. Such as toxic relationships, drug abuse, abuse, mental illness, etc. I highly recommend you be aware of that! (Trigger tags will be added!)

PLEASE do not long-term RP with these characters! You may give them things to a extent, but don't try to add your OC into the story please! (Sidenote: you can send asks AS your OC, but no guarantee it'll be addressed in story)

FANART IS ABSOLUTELY WELCOME!! Do tag me if you make art of them!! ^^ (however, no NSFW... hopefully that was obviously lol.)

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  @hairstevington! With 38 Stranger Things works, they've published 25 in the Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson tag and counting!!

@marvel-ous-m recommends the following works by @hairstevington:

Deaf Steve AU

call me when you get this

i wanna cut to the feeling

They’re such a fantastic author!!! I love their fics so so much. They bring such joy and realism into their writing, and have a fantastic sense of humor. Sending so much love to @hairstevington for being such an inspiration, cheerleader, and for breaking my heart just to put it back together again whenever I read their writing. <3 -- @marvel-ous-m

Below the cut, @hairstevington answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

I got into Steddie completely by accident. I hadn’t written fanfiction prior to Stranger Things Volume 2, and I basically fast-tracked the learning curve lol. I think it just took a couple posts on Tumblr for me to see the vision, and then the brainrot just did its thing for 2+ years and counting. I like their dynamic, their banter, how they’re both idiots. Chef’s kiss!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I’m such a sucker for slow-burn romance, enemies to lovers, and fake-dating. 

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

I write what I like to read, mostly! But I tend to do a lot of “firsts.” First time falling in love, first kiss, etc. 

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

That I’ve written? Oh, gosh. “Freaky Friday (Steddie’s Version)” or “i can’t tune you out.” I think those two inspired me the most while writing, so I have a soft spot for them. OF COURSE I also love and adore the Deaf Steve AU. Hard to choose! If it’s one I’ve read?? Oh man, too many to list. There are so many amazing writers out there <3

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Not really a trope, but maybe podfic?? It’s an interesting avenue I haven’t explored yet!

What is your writing process like?

I take a lot of notes on my phone throughout the day about what I want to add to my stories when I get home. For the Deaf Steve series I’ve got a playlist I listen to a LOT and that keeps me in the universe. I also map out the general plot. My current season 4 rewrite has the most extensive outline I’ve ever done (character and group arc breakdowns, motivations, etc). But most of the time, I just sit at my computer and go!

Do you have any writing quirks?

I HAVE to write in chronological order. If I write a future scene, I’ll fall in love with it, and by the time I get there it won’t fit anymore. Tragic!

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I don’t have a schedule. I would love to have one, because I like routine and it gives people something concrete to follow, but at this point I can’t commit to a schedule since I’m so busy. 

Which fic are you most proud of?

It has to be Deaf Steve, right??? Both parts of that have taken a LOT of brain power. Learning how to incorporate sign language into my writing was a huge challenge. It was interesting though to write Steve’s POV, because he often is left out of the conversation, which was frustrating for me to write and frustrating for him as a character. 

How did you get the idea for songs that voices never share?

Oh!! That was ENTIRELY a fluke. I am in the Stranger Things Writers Guild, and every day we have a “daily drabble.” One day, the prompt was “quiet.” For whatever reason, I wrote about a hundred or so words of Steve having gone deaf, then being introduced to Eddie, who knows ASL. A lot of people requested more, so I fleshed it out and made it a full fic!

When writing songs that voices never share, what was something you didn’t expect?

I didn’t expect so many people to resonate with it!! The amount of comments I got about how important the representation was motivated me to keep going, even when the project went above and beyond its roots. It started as a drabble, then was planned as a 7 chapter fic, which turned into a multi-part series. Wild!

What inspired call me when you get this?

That was another one from the Stranger Things Writers Guild! I wanted a writing exercise, and someone suggested a story through voicemails, and I thought that was so cool I ran with it. 

What was your favorite part to write from we can be heroes?

Oh, man!! I had never written suspense/horror before, so that was new territory for me. I wanted to capture the energy of season 1, and I tried to do that by diverting from canon and subverting expectations. I also loved being able to change all the things from canon I didn’t like lol. And, for the record - the part I’ve been MOST excited to write since the fic started hasn’t happened yet, so more good stuff to come!

How do/did you feel writing i wanna cut to the feeling?

Aww, this fic <3 I started writing it while I was sick with Covid the week of Christmas, 2022. It was my first long-form Steddie fic, and I had a blast, but it’s interesting now to look back and see how I’ve evolved as a writer. You can even see my writing skill develop over the course of the fic! Very cool. I also had so much audience engagement for that one. The Trish Takedown™ was extraordinary - I have NEVER had so many readers band together to hate a single character lol.

What was the most difficult part of writing i wanna cut to the feeling?

At the time, it was the most popular thing I’d ever written, and I felt a lot of pressure to get it right. I had a WHOLE inner conflict about whether I “needed” to include smut. I was so worried people would drop off if I didn’t include it, but ultimately decided to do what I was most comfortable with. I don’t think a single person complained, and now I don’t feel the pressure!

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

One that I have always adored is from i can’t tune you out. (That’s the one where Eddie and Steve are rivaling musicians who are fake-dating as a PR stunt to promote their new albums). Eddie listens to one of Steve’s new songs and goes on a whole rant about how all music nowadays is formulaic, soulless, and predictable with no fire in it. And he says, “but this? I felt it.” And Steve asks, “the fire?” and Eddie says, “No. You.” It’s a huge turning point in their relationship and things keep growing from there!  Oh, also, the entirety of Chapter 13 of songs that voices never share!

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I am currently writing a fic that is a modern day AU where Eddie, Steve, El, Max, Chrissy, and Argyle are in group therapy, led by Bob (it’s called “the hardest part is who we are”). If you like the thought of the characters processing their trauma together and Eddie and Steve falling in love with each other in the meantime, go check it out! It’s full of feels and at times heavy but also soft at the same time?? I’ve loved writing it so far. 

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

TO WHOEVER NOMINATED ME - thank you!!! I am genuinely so honored. These questions were awesome, this account is awesome, and so much of the joy and inspiration I feel while writing comes from the people reading who resonate with it. It makes me feel so connected to you all, and so seen. So, thank you’s all around, my friends! 

Thank you to our author, @hairstevington, and our nominator, @marvel-ous-m! See more of @hairstevington works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[la-principessa-nuova]

Hi i just got dropout and was wondering what to start out with, any nice tips? :>

Depends what specifically you’re into. I watch everything on there now, and I would categorize Dropout’s content into a few categories, so I’ll break it down by category.

Game Changer and Spinoffs

I started with Game Changer, and I think that is a very good first Dropout show because it introduces you to a lot of the recurring cast members, and since the game changes every show, you can either join in on the latest season or start at the beginning to get all the recurring jokes.

Make Some Noise I enjoyed more once I’d become familiar with the people doing it from other shows (plus it’s a spinoff of Game Changer, so chronologically it would come some time after the Game Changer episode it’s based on).

As a former theater kid, I very much enjoy Play It By Ear. It’s improv musicals, so i feel like you either hear that and absolutely must see it or you heard that and know you absolutely don’t want to see it, lol.

The D20 section

If you’re into D&D or think you could be, Dimension 20 is my favorite thing on there, and you could definitely start with that if you’re up for the long episodes. I’d recommend starting at the beginning with Fantasy High. Personally I really liked going through all the seasons in order so I didn’t need to figure out which ones were sequels and spinoffs of other ones.

If you’re going to watch Dimension 20 definitely use the “The Complete Experience” versions that have the adventuring parties (talkback) in between the regular episodes.

The order of the seasons has occasionally been flipped around in a way that puts one of the spin offs before the season it spun off from, so here is the order of the seasons so far, with some symbols I’ll explain after:

Fantasy High [I, F]

Escape From the Bloodkeep

The Unsleeping City [I, U]

Fantasy High: Sophomore Year [I, F]

Tiny Heist

A Crown of Candy [I, C]

Pirates of Leviathan [F]

The Unsleeping City - Chapter II [I, U]

Mice & Murder

Misfits and Magic

The Seven [F]

Shriek Week

A Starstruck Odyssey [I]

Coffin Run

A Court of Fey & Flowers

Neverafter [I]

The Ravening War [C]

Dungeons and Drag Queens

Mentopolis

Burrow’s End

Fantasy High - Junior Year [I, F]

The letters in brackets mean:

I - Intrepid Heroes season (the players are the main cast of players from the first season)

F - Fantasy High (this season is in the Fantasy High universe)

U - The Unsleeping City (this season is in the Unsleeping City universe)

C - A Crown of Candy (this season is in the A Crown of Candy universe)

I believe adventuring party starts during A Crown of Candy, so there is no talkback for the previous seasons. In general, you can watch the seasons that don’t have an F, C, or U in any order, but there are callbacks to previous jokes, especially in Adventuring Party, so I would say to watch any season with any letter above in order at least, and the rest it doesn’t really matter the order.

I watched them all in order except I gave up on Shriek Week because I wasn’t enjoying it and then came back to it when I was out of seasons to watch, and I saved Dungeons and Drag Queens until I was in the mood for a beginner adventure (plus Mentopolis started just after I finished The Ravening War).

Other TV-style shows

The first season of Very Important People just wrapped up, which is Vic Michaelis interviewing Dropout cast members who are improvising characters based on a costume they were put into without knowing what it was ahead of time. Like many other shows on Dropout, I got more into it the more episodes I saw. It could be watched first, but you’ll get more out of it from knowing who the person is that’s being put in costume to be shocked how different they look.

Dirty Laundry, which is a panel show where they share a secret/embarassing/weird fact about someone and then the panel members guess who it was, could be watched first, but the episodes with Dropout cast members as guests are more enjoyable if you know who they are.

Smartypants is a new show that just started. The show is them doing presentations, and I’m realizing I’m not going to be able to describe it in a way that doesn’t sound awful, but it’s good. This is a good one to watch earlier, I think. At least so far it hasn’t been highly dependent on inside jokes.

Um, Actually is very fun to play along with trying to find the mistake in statements about nerdy media. That you can watch whenever.

One of the first shows they did, Total Forgiveness, I would highly recommend. It’s only one season, but you might want to be familiar with Ally Beardsley and Grant O’Brien first.

I also liked Where in the Eff is Sarah Cincinnati

YouTube-Style Videos

Since Dropout got its start from CollegeHumor’s YouTube videos, there are some things that feel more like a YouTube video than a TV show (in the sense of less polish, shorter length, and/or the concept just being more like what you’d expect from YouTube)

The only ongoing one that I would describe that way (I think) is Breaking News, which is where they act like newscasters but they’ve never seen the words on the teleprompter and they have to try not to laugh as they say all the ridiculous things on there. Some episodes are funnier with more context on the cast, but most of them can be watched whenever, and there isn’t really any continuity to it, so any season can be watched in any order. I’ve only watched some of the past seasons and picked and chose the episodes to watch.

They also have all the old College Humor skits and stuff, and some of them have not aged well, but the Hardly Working series has a lot of good stuff in there, especially in the later seasons, that explains some of the running jokes across the platform.

Also all of Brennan’s A Message from the CEO skits are very funny (I think they’re all still on YouTube too, but they’re also on Dropout).

Early Dropout Content

The last category in my opinion is some of the stuff they tried to do early in Dropout where they were trying to grow out of the YouTube videos but didn’t yet pivot into what Dropout is now.

I already mentioned Total Forgiveness, which is from this era, but the only other thing I’ll mention is that they did some video podcasts during this time, and personally I really enjoyed Tales from the Closet.

There’s also just a LOT from this time and I’ve only seen some of it. They really tried some different things.

Summary

There is a lot of good content on Dropout, and it is the sort of thing where whatever you watch first you’re probably missing some inside jokes that you’ll then get next time they come up.

Having just thought about it all to write this, I’d say the best places to start are either Game Changer or Dimension 20: Fantasy High depending on what you’re looking for.

And then poke around at some of the shorter videos when you don’t feel like watching something long.

[biceratops7]

… let’s talk about “Arrival”

So I was fully intending on making a more general but thorough peruse through the new Good Omens title sequence, because my FUCK aren’t those always a gold mine. But then I thought to myself, “hey wait a minute, I can be even more unhinged and on brand.”

Something I’ve seen nobody talk about yet is that the movie that the procession is marching into is The Arrival, which is a 90’s movie that draws a pretty straightforward parallel. But I think if it doubles as a reference to 2016’s Arrival, THAT has some much more interesting implications. Either way this reference is doing some heavy lifting.

For those who haven’t seen the movie (or that one philosophy tube video about it lol), the basic plot is that a group of aliens later named heptopods arrive on earth scattered across the world, and just kind of invite humanity to check them out. Each country hires a team of linguists who are all tasked with figuring out what the visitors are here for. But the thing is, it’s only about aliens on the surface level. This is really about communicating, cooperation, and how language holds the power to alter your very fabric of reality.

Spoilers for the movie:

Two major revelations occur towards the end of the movie. The first is that an element of fluid time is revealed. Throughout the movie, the main American linguist has been having flashbacks to a daughter that passed away of an illness. But since the heptopod language has no regard for chronological order, we learn that these are actually flash-forwards when she becomes nearly fluent. In other words, learning heptopod, having a genuine curiosity and even compassion for these vastly different beings. has given her the ability to perceive reality in ways thought previously impossible.

Even before noticing the Arrival reference, I’ve been side eyeing these “flashbacks”, but this and the image above confirmed it for me. Any instance of the word “becoming” when talking about the past indicates some sort of fluid time nonsense. The past is fixed unless something ✨happens✨. I don’t think these are simply memories, I think something rather cosmic instead is afoot.

But it’s more than just “there’s probably time travel in this” though. Simply having Aziraphale as a companion has changed Crowley. It’s given him an ability that he’s not meant to be capable of as a demon. He already had it in him to be good and have mutual relationships based in trust and kindness, I’m sure all demons can if given the right nurture… but Crowley is experiencing love. In the show, something tangible to the senses and distinctly angelic. I’m very much hoping that that whole element of things is going to somehow be a driving factor in what’s occurring over all, and possibly involved in time going screwy.

The other element of Arrival’s ending that’s of import, is the heavy emphasis on the importance of cooperation. First of all, we learn at some point that not every country has the same message to decipher, they each have one piece of a whole. Some of the countries begin using games to communicate with their heptopods, and this poses a problem because it causes messages to be more easily interpreted as hostile. For example, the phrase “we brought a tool” can be easily misconstrued as “we have a weapon.” Eventually, the world gets impatient and scared, and a war is imminent. What finally leads to everyone putting down arms and cooperating, is the American linguist sending a message to the Chinese linguist saying “in war, there are no victors, only widows.”

Something noteworthy about this particular march is that the procession never splits like it does at the end of the first season’s. Not only are both angelic and demonic figures marching into the light atop a mountain as a United front, but this actually seems to be a theme this season. Heaven and Hell aren’t working together as far as we know, but they are at least working towards the same goal, which for some reason is getting Gabriel’s ass. There is also a heavy emphasis on mending broken relationships, with Crowley and Azirphale trying to fix a (probably) lesbian couple literally being the B plot.

Now this is where we bring in what’s actually on the movie screen, which is that damn box. So at this point we know basically nothing about it accept for it probably being a Mcguffin. But we DO have the imagery of three feathers, a black one, a white one, and a bluish grey one, falling into it… and it sure as fuck looks like a moving box. So back to arrival, what actually was the message? The heptopods told the linguist that they’re here to help humanity (via giving them a tool or new tech I think?) because in 3,000 years, they will need humanity’s help. So with this and the world eventually being inspired to stand down and share their pieces of the message, it’s this over arching theme of setting aside fear of the other and cooperating indefinitely for the benefit of the whole. The black feather, the white feather… and then something that is somehow both yet entirely unique.

I think… somehow, someway, this season may culminate in Heaven and Hell reconciling. Whether it be against a common enemy, for a shared goal, or in love, there seems to be many clues both symbolic and literal that show them learning to be one again. Learning to understand eachother’s language and see new ways of being neither before could fathom.

[blixabargelds]

The superstar prompt was so sweet and special, really enjoyed it, you are such a talented writing.

I’m so curious about bucky and buck in this world, like how’d they meet or what their relationship dynamic is like or how it changes with time. Very excited for anything that you write.

thank you so so much i’m sooo overwhelmed that ppl seem to be liking it (elo too, i’ve been feeding all this back to them!) especially considering we’ve not posted any fic yet jgkgk we must have about 20k+ written but it’s all out of order bc we’ve extensively planned the whole thing and just keep writing bits we want to most instead of chronologically 😭 we really kept joking that it would have like 5 readers max when we finally start posting it but seeing that that’s not true we are working on being more organised lmaoo

they meet at a gig. john (vocals), rosie (guitar), and curt (drums) are punk band the b17s that need a new bassist. it’s kind of love at first listen for gale, and he ends up joining and leaving wyoming with them (he cannot play bass. rosie teaches him. he’s a very dedicated student and gradually becomes an animal on stage).

john n gale are head over heels. throughout the whole thing even though things get pretty bad and they probably should split about 70 times they never do and their love is really the whole thing that guides them through everything to the (eventual, very eventual) happy, not perfect but god happy, ending.

their dynamic changes many times, especially when gale gets into drugs with john (he was squeaky clean and sober when they meet). it changes depending on the drugs they’re doing too (gale on coke- euphoric until the months long comedown. john on coke- tense. john on heroin- distant. gale and john on heroin- inseparable, invincible, sharing one soul. gale on heroin- living on completely separate planets).

a lot of bad shit happens as you’d imagine. three (four?) overdoses, lying, arguing, one attempted murder (not between them lol). one actual murder (also not between them lmfao). two rock bottoms as low as you can go.

it’s also filthy. they fuck like insane people. in bathrooms, in bedrooms, in their makeshift studio, in their van, in clubs, at gigs.

and there’s so much love. they are so so in love despite it all. and they get off drugs in the end.

it’s not fluffy. the whole thing is for the sickos for sure. but it isn’t brutal all the way through. there’s a lot of genuine sweetness. it’s also really funny in parts. i’m really so touched that people are interested we did not expect that. it’s become wildly important to both of us. we are both addicts, and we love addicts so so deeply it’s a kinship like nothing else i’ve known to be able to write candidly about things a lot of people turn away from in discomfort and to turn to each other and say ‘writing that was rough’ or ‘writing that was so fun’ or ‘writing that made me horny’ or ‘writing that really made me want to do x again’ and your collaborator saying ‘well don’t, do it to john and gale instead’ and saying ‘yeah, that would feel a lot better’. and so far it has.

[tsukimefuku]

these silly little memories ❖ nanami kento

summary: you reminisce about the past while chatting with ijichi and yuuji.

tags: jujutsu kaisen, f!reader, soft/implied nanami x reader, fluff, poking fun at nanami's teenage bangs.

wc: 900

notes, etc: i wrote this to the sound of sunny (yorushika). this is a short little silly story that i had in my mind for a while before finally deciding on writing it, lol.

❖ collection of stories: "jujutsu partners au" → masterlist for fics listed in chronological order of events

You, Ijichi and Yuuji were seated silently on a table. All three were waiting for Nanami to meet up just so everybody could take a single car ride — he and Yuuji were going on a mission together, and you were going home after assisting Shoko on her duties for the day.

You could pay for a cab, but then again, why would you do that if you could slack off some more benefits from Jujutsu High?

"So, Ijichi..." You began, half-minded at this point. It had barely been a week since you arrived at Jujutsu High.

He quickly propped up, ready to answer absolutely any question you could have as a new sorcerer (and somebody else to order him around, it seemed).

Since you were new to Jujutsu High, had not been on a mission with Nanami up until this point, and Gojo was the one to bring you in, Ijichi figured you'd still have questions about the way things worked around there.

"Y-yes?"

"What is Nanami like here?" You questioned, out of the blue.

That caught both him and Yuuji by surprise, as both of them answered with a resounding eh?

You sighed.

"I mean, he was a very stern, serious teenager when I met him years ago. He looks a lot different, but is he?"

"Oh, you knew Nanamin?!" Yuuji asked, eager to pry some insight into his newly found mentor. 

You looked at him and smiled.

"Oh, yeah, I sure did. We met at Odate when he and Gojo saved me."

Ijichi's mind started to flash some things to him until he finally realized.

"Wait. That was you?!"

You blinked, confused.

"What do you mean, 'that was me?'"

"I-I..." Ijichi stuttered. "I was the one helping him in research during that mission."

"Oh... Oh! Ijichi, of course!" You exclaimed, much to his surprise, while you remembered decade-old bits and pieces. "It's good to finally be meeting you in person" you said, tapping his shoulder.

He smiled, slightly embarrassed for not having recognized your name when you introduced yourself a few days ago.

"So you knew him as a teenager too! Is he any different now?" You inquired, staring at Ijichi until he became a little uncomfortable.

"I-I think not. He was always the most responsible and m-mature one of us" Ijichi finally answered, and you smiled, reclining back on your chair. 

"Nanamin is very serious," Yuuji began, "and he usually lectures us when we have a blunder or are in the middle of a mission — or maybe it's just me that he lectures so much."

"No, it's every one..." Ijichi answered, involuntarily sighing.

"Oh, he still does that? The lecturing thing?" You asked. "I mean, maturity minus the bangs, right?" You chirped, chuckling softly. Ijichi covered his mouth, but you could see a faint smile forming.

Yuuji was at a loss.

"Bangs?" The boy asked earnestly.

"Oh, you're gonna love this!" You said, as you fished your wallet out of your pocket. From it, you took an old Polaroid picture that featured you, your best friend, your brother, Nanami and Gojo when they were on their mission in Odate. Then, you proceeded to hand the picture to Yuuji, and his eyes beamed, like he had discovered some very important piece of information instead of complete shenanigans.

"Those bangs were something. Once, when I had to patch his face up, his hair kept falling all over the bruises, it looked like someone had punched a blonde Gerard Way" you let out, scratching your head with a grin. Yuuji let out a laugh, and Ijichi seemed to scoff in an attempt to keep himself from laughing.

You noticed that.

"Oh, come on, Ijichi. You know it was funny and somewhat true. You can totally laugh about it with me, I won't tell if you don't, promise" you said, extending a pinkie finger in his direction.

He looked at your hand uncertain, but began lifting his own pinkie extended towards yours.

"What is the fun? I heard laughter" the already familiar voice resounded from behind the three of you.

Ijichi was paralyzed in stone, and you turned your face grinning mischievously at Nanami. Yuuji quickly tried hiding the picture, fumbling around and letting it fall to the ground.

"Hm?" Nanami got down to pick up the picture, and took a good look at it. "It seems that you have this ancient piece of history still in your possession."

"Of course. How else would I have a picture of 'bangs Nanami?'" You retorted, reaching for the picture while still seated.

He took a step back, pulling it away from you. 

"If I remember correctly, that morning you ate tamagoyaki inside miso soup, with salmon, also inside miso soup, all mashed up, and choked yourself," he said, lifting his gaze towards you, one brow up.

"Eh? T-that... did not h-happen at all!" It did.

"Wait, so you... Put your tamagoyaki inside your miso soup? Why?" Ijichi asked, slightly incredulous.

"And with mashed salmon too?!" Yuuji chimed in, also kind of aghast.

"Oh, shut up, the both of you!"

You crossed your arms over your chest.

"I just don't really care how I eat my food!"

"Clearly" Nanami noted. "She also mixes anything she has available to eat into a desecrated version of the original food. It's unsightly" he complemented, before handing the picture back to you.

You sighed, amusedly defeated, saying, "well, you have changed. Now you poke me back when I poke fun at you."

"I'm unaware of such a thing," Nanami replied, pushing his glasses into position with one hand, using the opportunity to cover up a discreet smile with his hand over his face.

[lonelywolfinthemiddleofnowhere]

Reading TLH again #2

Okay, I finished the second Jason chapter and I have more thoughts.

Let's go by chronological order. But before anything I want to share this lil Jason & Leo moment:

When I say they have cute moments like this throughout the whole book, I mean it. Very small snippets but it gives such a good relationship foundation for them. I love Jason and Leo friendship 😊

Now, let's dive into it:

Interesting observation #1: Coach Hedge's a fascinating character even tho he is treated like a joke

I find Coach a very good new character. At this point in the book he seems pretty unidimensional at surface but he has more to him than meets the eye.

For example: Coach is a unusual satyr.

His species are known to be strictly pacifiers and nature lovers, and even if we are not new to the concept of brave satyrs, Coach is a different kind of brave than Grover is.

He is much more bold and his presence is definitely louder. He is also bound to violence, which is a uncommon fact on itself

He is also very protective towards this trio, especially Leo and Piper (the ones he knows from before), but his protection extends to Jason too sometimes.

Leo and Piper are, unquestionably, his favorites tho. Including all the seven 🤭

Also, everyone forgot (I think Rick forgot too) about the magical bat Coach had in the beginning, it changed forms

More magical bat: it chases targets

Coach Hedge is supposed to be retired. I guess this is not actual important info, but I think about this taunt as a way of informing the readers he didn't actually want to retire, and we don't know why they dismissed him.

I just love Coach. I really like his character, he is a refreshing air and I think Rick made the right choice in putting him as the chaperone of the Seven. He is a comedic, action bound and brave character that deserves more love!

Interesting observation #2: Gaia treats Jason as a special case from the very beginning

I remember she has this annoying habit of having favorites, as in favorites to become her "sacrifice". If I remember correctly, her faves are: Jason, Percy and Annabeth. We can see her playing with Jason's value for her plan from this very chapter, already treating him like a "reward"

Interesting observation #3: Piper surprises everyone with her courage

In this chapter, Piper demonstrates her bravery during the confront with the venti. She has surprising good scenes, and even if she isn't very helpful in terms of combat, she thinks quickly and is very agile.

Most important fact is that, even if she doesn't understand what is happening, she doesn't seems afraid. The girl can act under pressure, we have to give her that.

In this scene, she takes command and tries her best to be supportive to the other students, acting like a in-control guide in the middle of a hurricane.

Than we have her acting as a sidekick to Jason during an actual fight. She is determined to help him defeat these strange creatures she doesn't even know.

Bonus observation of Jason being attracted to her violent tendencies lol

Finally, she tackles a monster to protect Jason. Head-on TACKLES it.

Piper have guts in this chapter. I like it. She is much more reckless than Leo and Jason, very "act first, think later" style.

Interesting observation #4: Jason's inhuman durability

Jason gets caught in some lightning from the Venti, who states is powerful enough to vaporize "twenty men"

He shows a super high durability during this hit.

Even tho I would like to observe that he can get hurt by lightning! It doesn't have the healing effects water has on Percy. Just an observation. I have a theory, but that is for a later post.

Interesting observation #5: Jason has aura

One thing I observed during this whole affair at the Grand Canyon is that the enemies (in this case, the Venti things) are a little wary of battling against Jason. It gets explicit in 2 (+1/2?) occasions:

Aura Moment #1: The subordinates Venti are not happy to fight him after seeing what he can do and survive

Aura Moment #2.5: When he slashes them, they don't reform right away. Jason's aura is that powerful or was it consequence of his super classy Imperial Gold blade?

Aura Moment #2: Finally, even their leader, Dylan, gets afraid of Jason after a while

Boy has that energy oozing off of him. Badass aura points +

Interesting observation #6: Even if he has good intuition, Jason is reluctant to save Piper when she slips from the platform.

COACH has to tell him to save her TWICE before he moves. I also find this funny lol.

When she falls, his first action is to not dive after her. In his defense a normal person wouldn't too, especially for a girl they don't actually know. Coach has to tell him what to do, but he still does nothing.

Coach tells him to save her, AGAIN.

AND he still hesitates for a few seconds before letting his guts do the job.

In this scene we can clearly see how Jason narrative has an air of the Logic vs. Instincts theme.

I would like to point out that this is, again, another of these moments where Piper and Jason aren't really clicking. His hesitance has to do with his way of thinking but also with the fact he doesn't know her.

Interesting observation #7: Jason is a VERY selfless character

We already defined he doesn't know anyone here, so logic dictates Jason doesn't own these people anything.

BUT

My boy was READY to DIE with Piper at the Grand Canyon! And he wasn't even phased by his imminent death.

Pause for an observation: Jason isn't afraid of heights. If Thalia was here and not him, Piper would be history by now.

Boy was prepared to die with Piper here. Impressive. Also, very nonchalant about the fact they were dying.

Following chronologically, right after these scenes we have the very first ACTUAL cute scene of Jason/Piper:

Nothing to say here. It wasn't very detailed, didn't made me feel anything at all. We just know Piper's heartbeat went crazy but we don't really know if is because of Jason or because she was free falling the Grand Canyon. I am assuming it was cause she was dying, but maybe that is just me lol.

Interesting observation #8: his powers are similar to Percy's in the beginning, more like the element attending their wishes than actual control

It makes me wonder the actual laws of their abilities, if the elements of their heritage bends to their command forcibly because it doesn't have a choice like it happens to the gods or if the elements of their domain just bends to their will because it listens to their wishes and decides to comply, like Jason describes here, with words like "wished" and "imagined".

Jason doesn't actually fly like superman would, he uses air as a supporting platform, more like buzz lightyear falling with style

Following we have a sequence of mini facts:

1 ) Jason finds easier going down than up (probably because of the effects gravity has on his control)

2) His first thoughts are for Coach and than Leo

3) Piper being brave moment #4

Interesting observation #9: More of Jason's amazing instincts kicks moments

I already stated in the previous post that Jason has amazing instincts, but I would like to keep highlighting these super cool moments where his body takes control and muscle memory is stronger than his brains, because he sometimes gets flabbergasted when it happens and I find it funny

Amazing Jason Intuition Moment #1: He is very used to his weapon of choice, even if he doesn't remember where it came from (which is a super classy, I love this coin thing)

Amazing Jason Intuition Moment #2: When he dives 1.200 meters down after Piper. This one was already quoted previously, but it is worthy mentioning again

Amazing Jason Intuition Moment #3: When he half-heartedly tries to convince himself and the others he didn't know how to fly, even if he is already dismissing his rational thinking and slowly believing more in his internal pointers

Amazing Jason Intuition Moment #4: Another muscle memory moment with his super dope weapon

The part 2 of this post is here, where I will talk a bit more of Leo's poor situation during this fight (that is also very funny) and FINALLY will talk a bit about Annabeth, since she apperas at the very end of the chapter

Other posts:

JASON I

JASON II - Part 2

[thedevilsoftruth]

Hey!, I just finished rewatching moon knight and now scrolling through the moon knight tags when I came across a post about how Mr knight is actually Marc Spector and Steven Grant is a playboy billionaire in the comics and I was shook. Then I came across your post of you ranting about the differences from the show to the comics, which blew my mind!, and now I’m so intrigued and curious about the true lore of moon knight, every time I try to search about it on google I just get references from the shows (so frustrating) I can’t afford to buy the comics, so if you can/want could you please tell me all the important and interesting facts/lore that’s in the moon knight comics?

Sorry for the long message, just came across your page and pressed follow, love your content!. ❤️

AAAAAAGGGGHHHH HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. GIIGLING AND KICKING MY FEET IN THE AIR. HEY, LOOK MA, I MADE IT!! I GET TO EXPLAIN THE MOON KNIGHT COMICS LORE TO SOME GUY ON THE INTERNET!!

in all seriousness, this made my day. I'm so glad you enjoy my content, and I will happily explain to you the MK lore!

I completely get you on the not wanting to but the comics thing. Comics are expensive. Honey, imma be real with you, readcomiconline.li is where it's at. It's where I read all of the comics I didn't have.

So before I go on a tangent and explain things, and this goes for anyone wanting to start reading the comics, heres a little list of all the comics I've read so far in what I understand to be chronological order.

It's a little bit cheesy and a VERY long run, but Marc Spector: Moon Knight from 1989-94 is maaayybbeee where you want to start off, but maybe not. I didn't start off with this run, but even as bad as the old comics are, they're a bit important.

But, I HIGHLY suggest you start out with the Lemire and Smallwood run from 2016. It was the first run I completed, and it's an amazing run and VERY important to read. Many people say it's the best run. It's certainly a run, I'll tell you that. ( Also I didn't read that one online, I received it last year as a Christmas gift. Also readcomic doesn't have all of the issues, so be warned on that. )

Next I read From The Dead. And I moved on to Vengeance of The Moon Knight from 2009. And after I'd suggest reading Age of Khonshu, Devils Reign and then The Midnight Mission. You can read all of these for free on readcomiconline.li ( don't type in comics plural because it will direct you to the wrong site ) be warned though because there are a lot of ads and you will get jumpscared by anime boobies.

~~

Now moving onto what you asked me for. The important stuff, right.

I'm new to this whole comic reading stuff as well, and for anyone else reading this who knows more than I do, please add additional information I missed down in the reply section. It would mean a lot. So now I'm going to give a you a quick run down on Marc's origin story. ( And for a quick disclaimer, I will come off as not taking myself seriously in some parts of this post because I don't take myself seriously lol. )

Marc Spector was born on March 9th, 1987 in Chicago Illinois into a Jewish family. His father was Elias Spector and his mother was Wendy Spector ( his younger brother being Randall Spector )Elias was a rabbi who manged to escape Nazi prosecution during the days of Hitler and all that jazz. Because Elias was a rabbi, Randall would get picked on at school a lot, and Marc would be there to stand up for him. Even at a young age Marc was exposed to a lot of violence. That could come from growing up yk... Kinda poor and having to stand up for your lil bro.

Marc's violent nature was really born when a close family friend of his, Yitz Perlmen was discovered to be a secret serial killer who targeted Jews. From what I understand, Perlmen tried to Kill Marc ( mind you Marc was like 11 or 12 ) but Marc had escaped but his traumatic experiences led him to form D.I.D

As seen in the Lemire run, the first time Marc had encountered Khonshu was when he was 12 and was getting diagnosed for his D.I.D Marc wasn't told to his face from the doctor about his disorder and was told to step outside the office. Marc tried to evesdrop on the conversation, and from outside of the doctor's office, he meets Khonshu. Khonshu tells him, " That man in there is not your true father. I am. " Mind you, Marc is 12!!! 12!!!! Khonshu began manipulating Marc since he was twelve because he was, obviously really fucking young, and traumatized. Khonshus tactics were to strip Marc away from his religion and culture and make him submit to him.

So anyways, Marc was sent to Putnam Psychiatric Hospital and would stay there until he was 18 when his father funeral came along and he was let go for a week to go visit his family. This is where we learn Marc's relationship with his father was complex. Marc tells his mother, Wendy, that his father must have been happy to send him away because he was embarrassed by him. Wendy and Marc have an argument, which ends in Marc saying he's going to the bathroom, when he actually leaves to his childhood bedroom and escapes out the window when he hears Khonshus voice.

Marc later enlisted into the U.S marines Corps and served as a private for a couple years. But on Marc's second tour to Iraq, superiors started to report his odd behavior and they found out that Marc had lied about his disorder, leaving him to be discharged. Marc joined the CIA and served with his brother Randall. Randall was jealous of Marcs talents and killed Marc's girlfriend, Lisa, because she was going to expose a gun scheme. Marc then like... Threw bombs at Randall and shit and then assumed he was dead...but he wasn't.

Marc left the CIA after that and started doing illegal boxing, where he met his soon to be best friend, Jean-Paul Duchamp ( usually refered to as Frenchie ) and they became mercenaries together and started killing a bunch of people, in Marc's case, for mooonnneeyyy!!! Get that bag, girlie. And then Marc got put on trial for war crimes!! His crime being yk...assistanting the president of this south African country called Bosqueverde as one does.

And then he started to do missions under this group call the Karnak Cowboys and fell in love with one of his groupmates, Layla El-faouly, as seen in later issues of The Midnight Mission. Then she fucking died when an escape went wrong.

So anyways Marc meets this funny lil guy named Raoul Bushman ( he is not funny lil guy, he's killed hundred of people, probably) So Marc works for him with Frenchie and they, together, set to north Sudan to raid a dig site. ( This should start to sound familiar, as it was briefly touched on in the show when Arthur's guys captured Steven and put cuffs on him and slammed him in the back of their car ) Looks like raid shadow legends went down again, and things started to get not so epic when Raoul killed the lead Archeologist of the dig site, Peter Alraune in front of his daughter Marlene. This pissed the ever loving shit out of Marc because even though Marc likes violence, he doesn't enjoy violence against innocent people, and so he punches the fucker but uh oh! The Raoul Bushman Strikes Back, and he fucking KILLS MARC IN RETURN AND EVERYONE ELSE EXPECT FOR FRENCHIE AND MARLENE AND THIS ONE MF WHO TOLD HIM HE WOULD TELL HIM WHERE THE DIG SITE WAS. ( really Raoul left Marc mortally wounded, but he was on the brick of death, basically)

Marc was able to regain conscious and drag himself halfway to Khonshus tomb ( which is what Raoul was looking for ) Marlene and a bunch of other citizens find Marc and they carry him to Khonshus tomb. Marc hears Khonshus voice for yet another time, and Marc is revived and becomes the Moon Knight we all know and love. Then he basically killed Raoul's guys and then fell in love with Marlene.

So that's his origin story. Now onto the stuff I know as fact but it won't be explained in chronological order because I haven't read a ton of comics to explain it in chronological order.

He used Steven as a a way to handle money and build wealth so they could have recourses like vehicles, weapons and a ton of other random bullshit ( go!! ) that they don't need. Jake was used as a new York taxi driver so that he had his eye in the streets and knew when shit was goin down. They're both kind of horny. Jake literally spends some of his free time in a strip clubs drinking rum. ( As seen in the midnight mission and implied on in the Lemire run. )

His relationship with Marlene was long, but didn't last because, if I'm recalling correctly, Marc had a mental breakdown and decided to basically stop working for Khonshu so he could be with Marlene. But soon after he started hearing Khonshus voice again and Marlene couldn't take anymore of it, so she left him.

And then there's that bullshit with The Midnight Man. All I know is that he passed away from cancer and had a son named Jeff Wilde. Jeff aspired to Marc and wanted to be his sidekick, kind of like Robin and Batman in the Lego Batman movie with a little less adoption, but Marc kept on refusing as a way to protect Jeff. The Jeff had this whole thing where he turned evil or some shit idk and I guess Marc killed him? I'm not sure. Please, moon knight gang, let me know what happened in the reply section because I'm ignorant.

Marc had his independence from Khonshu after banishing Khonshu to Asgardian Prison ( seen in Age of Khonshu and discussed in The Midnight Mission) and decided " fuck you, I don't need need you anymore. Imma do my own thing and you can't do nothing about it " and then he became Mr. Knight. Mr. Knight is kind of a detective and he consults with policemen ( as seen in From The Dead ) Moon Knight is the one who does all the fighting.

From where Marc's development is at right now, Marc was running a thing called the Midnight Mission, which was a place where citizens would go to to report strange things happening in the city.

Additional, fun information:

Marc has a daughter named Diatrice. He only knows about it because Jake had a secret relationship with Marlene on the side after Marc and Marlene broke up.

He sleeps all day in the tomb of Khonshu and fights crime at night. He's like a bat!!

His ringtone ( as seen in the midnight mission) is The Killing Moon by Echo and The Bunnymen. ( Y'all should listen to it, if you haven't. it's really good. ).

He drives a red convertible car ( as seen in the Brain Micheal Bendis run, don't read it it's REALLY bad and insufficient. ) and also a motorcycle ( as see in Vengeance of The Moon Knight)

He was originally supposed to fight mainly just werewolf's and um... Writers at Marvel had different ideas.

His favorite drink is an ice cold vodka ( as seen in the Midnight Mission)

He had a mansion and then his money went bye bye and now he lives in a haunted house ( as seen, once again, in the Midnight Mission)

Frenchie is also gay! Hes married to a man named Rob! ( And this is only from what I've heard, by he apparently had a secret crush on Marc at some point.)

And yeah. That's all I have for ya today. Thank you if you made it this far, and I hope I was able to satisfy your curiosity a little bit!

Goodknight everyone!!!