#the hyperfixation has made its point please leave

[lemons-and-pie]

He looks like Kermit to me,,, I recently remembered Kermit also plays the banjo so now I have this drawing

[starhvney]

Hello, Star! This is my first time requesting a fic from anyone! I absolutely adore your writing 💖 It's been especially lovely since my Aphmau Hyperfixation came back full force this year(as I'm sure it did for everyone else 😂) I'd like to place an order for Zane, Garroth, and Lawrence, please, from Mys😊 A tea, with cream, and cinnamon rolls on the side 🥰 I hope you have a wonderful night ✨

𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟒: 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫!!

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: romantic tension, fluff, snowy storm

𝐚/𝐧: thank you so much, i’m honored to fulfill your first request!!! i hope you have a wonderful day/night, too!

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐙𝐀𝐍𝐄

The smack of snow against Zane’s chest interrupts the peaceful moment between the two of you, pulling a groan of annoyance to leave his lips. His face whips up at your scorningly, though not slightly intimidating to you.

“Hey!”

Your laughter erupts across the backyard as you watch Zane swipe away the snow from his coat, his nose wrinkling and eye narrowing at you. The reflection of the white snow against his face made his irises practically glow, both beautiful against his dark hair and almost startling when he’d glare at you.

“What the hell was that?” he huffs, pointing at you accusingly.

You calm yourself down enough to quiet giggles, clasping your hands together. “A snowball!”

“You’re lucky I actually enjoy your company. Or you’d be dead for that,” he warns, the “anger” in his voice lack of any real backing. “You’re lucky I even came out here while it was about to storm to build a snowman with you! I’m freezing!”

“Oh come on, Zane. I didn’t even throw it hard,” you rebuttal, holding your arms out. “You can get a free shot.”

He seems to consider it, before shaking his head, turning away. “Whatever…”

You snort, returning to continue building up the base of your snowman. You don’t get one roll in before a ball of snow smashes into your shoulder, knocking you over onto your side with a yelp. Boisterous laughter erupts, this time with you on the receiving end of the evil satisfaction.

“Ugh… that was dirty,” you groan, wiping off the snow that hit your face as more falls on your head from the sky.

Crunched footsteps approach you, a shadow covering your hunched form. He continues to snicker as he looks down at you, his already tall figure seeming like a looming giant.

“Oh come on, I didn’t even throw it that hard,” he says in a mocking tone, tilting his head with a raise of his brows.

“Yeah well I didn’t knock you over!” you argue, before relenting with a sigh. “Fine… lesson learned.”

He seems appeased enough with your mumbles, hands grasping onto your shoulders and lifting you back up to your feet. His hands brush the remaining snow from your hair and jacket, shrugging his shoulders.

“Good. Know to never challenge me, or I-“

“Oh shush.” Your hand lightly shoves his shoulder back. “Are we gonna make this snowman or what?”

𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇

The power has been out for thirty minutes by now. Wind whistles against the side of the house, whipping the snow over the yard and covering the lights that lined the sidewalk. Seeing them fight to glow even as the white blanket covered them was mesmerizing, so much so that you hadn’t noticed Garroth leaving your side until he came back.

“Staying warm?” His voice carries across the living room, his footsteps padding over to your side.

You turn to look up at him, glancing over at the space heater that was trying its hardest to pump some hot air into the rapidly cooling house.

“Mhm,” you hum, despite how the chill was starting to get to you. Your fingers and toes felt like ice cubes.

Regardless of your answer, a thick blue sweater gets tossed onto your face, the familiar scent of his detergent surrounding you.

“Well… there’s a sweater so you can stay warm. I think the battery in that thing lasts long but I still don’t want you to be cold if it turns off,” he says sweetly, eyes darting away as he moves something else behind his back.

“Oh, thanks,” you murmur, eagerly taking hold of the thick material and pulling it over you. “Uh, what’s that?”

He offers you a straight-toothed smile. “You said you were bored. Soo-“ His hand reveals a portable bluetooth speaker. “I thought of something we can do.”

You raise your brow, a small chuckle leaving your lips. “Which would be…?”

He doesn’t respond at first, setting the speaker down on the window sill and pressing play. A romantic, festive song starts to play as he holds both hands out to you—bowing like a gentleman as he waits for you to take them.

“A dance?”

A disbelieved huff leaves your lips, though you can’t help the growing smile spreading across your face. A warm large hand lands on your waist when you’re on your feet, bringing you close to him as he guides you around the dim living room.

He begins to hum, not quite on tune with the music—exaggerating his voice as he dips you. It successfully gains him a sweet giggle from your lips; which he returns with a satisfied chuckle.

“You are so corny,” you lightheartedly tease as you’re scooped back up to your feet.

“Maybe. But you’re smiling,” he spins you, expression soft when he pulls you back in. “So my goal was achieved.”

𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

“I want to open a restaurant someday.”

The warm fire crackling next to the both of you reflects off Laurance’s face, the orange glow flickering across his handsome features as he looks off with a dream distant in his eyes. His hair was messy, not bothered to be styled as the snow storm billows against the windows, trapping you both inside.

“Restaurants are a lot of work, but I think you can do that. You’d be amazing,” you assure him, resting your arms on your knees as you shift on the floor. You two were so close to each other now, too close for any normal friendship.

He smiles softly at you, eyes shifting to yours again as he leans forward. “Oh, you think so? That I’m amazing?”

A flush rushes over your cheeks. “I said you would be. But you are amazing now, yeah…”

He looks smug, but doesn’t comment on your clear embarrassment, instead tilting his head. “Mm… and what do you want? In the future?”

You swallow, looking away from his intent gaze as you try to gather yourself. “A few different things. I guess one of them is to travel.”

“I’ll take you there.”

Your heart stutters in its already uneven pace. This man would be the end of you. He said that so assuredly, so full of confidence. He knew what he was doing every time he’d “accidentally” brush his hand over yours or stare at you like he was all yours to have.

“…What?”

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go. We can travel together someday.” He holds out his pinky finger, batting his eyelashes at you in expectation. “Promise?”

You resist the small urge to roll your eyes at his smug, flirtatious behavior. He’d never let up on it for as long as you’ve known him, and at the rate he’d been doubling down on it recently you doubt he would ever stop.

His pinky links with yours as you meet him in the middle, sealing the deal with the childish gesture. An excited grin threatens to burst on his lips, but before you could comment he twists your hand into his bringing it up to his mouth to softly breathe against them.

“Your hands are too cold,” he explains, raising an eyebrow at you when you only gape your mouth open in response.

“You know… there’s a few other things I want in the future, too…” he murmurs, pressing the palm of your hand against his cheek. “Wanna hear it?”

©starhvney 2024. do not plagiarize, feed to any AI, or repost my works to any sites.

taglist: @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @valentique @arienic @dazedbydeath @theaquaticplant @starsbrightly @kalegrinch @izzybella1807 @marst4rz

[tonystark604]

Phineas and Ferb - A fanfiction idea

I have been contemplating if I should post this for a while now, but I feel like even if no one reacts, I am at least posting that for me now.

There is this Idea I had/have for quite some time now. I recently have gone back into my obsession of Phineas and Ferb and I am really hyped about the newest season coming up soon.

And I kind of see a lot of people loving on Ferb (which is totally fine, don't get me wrong). Often when I read fanfiction about their teenage life's, it's Ferb who is the more darker version, the one who drinks and would try out drugs and stuff and it makes me wonder sometimes about a certain what if scenario.

And this what if scenario has developed in a full blown hyperfixation of me right now, so I am kinda developing a whole plot for it, just for funsies for myself right now and even drew some fanart (as a non-artist so please don't judge) and I thought I might share, just in case someone else might be interested in it.

The Plot Idea:

What if, in an alternative Universe Phineas was kidnapped as a child from his family. He is still a baby when he is kidnapped and in this universe the kidnapping would also be where Phineas' real Dad would die during, because he would try to protect Phineas, but he is obviously not strong enough. (I have not settled on a reason as to why they specifically chose Phineas).

Phineas grows up away from his family, without even knowing they exist. He gets raised in a laboratory where scientists experiment on him and other children (again, not really sure yet how they picked out those children).

It's a secret organization who's goal is to cross-engineer animal traits into the children and train them as weapons for special operations that should replace humans (as half animals/half human they would not be considered humans anymore and therefore would be worth less). This organization is funded by high ranking people in the military and the government, but it is all kept highly secretive as it is of course illegal.

A lot of children don't survive this as it is a very stressful and painful process.

Phineas does survive it though. He is being cross-engineered with a Fox, because I think it fits his character.

Baby Phineas in a tank on the left and Baby Phineas being carried back into his cage on the right, he already has fox ears there. (sorry for the bad art, its just some sketches I made)

He doesn't understand what these people want from him, but I feel like, even though they hurt him, Phineas would still have his innocence from the TV Show to some extend and would try to give his best and make them like him. Because I feel like Phineas' innocence in the show is a character trait that is just purely Phineas. He is referred to as Subject 578 and truly believes that is his name in the beginning.

On the left is Phineas seeing what the scientist had done to him and on the right is Phineas being led to another testing room from his cell, they are walking through rows of other cages with other children.

With the completion of the cross-engineering Phineas training would start. At this point he does understand that some things are wrong, but he doesn't know what exactly. He knows that some children leave their cages and never come back, but he isn't sure why. He is still convinced that this is normal, but he starts to be wary of the scientists.

This is Phineas sleeping in his cage. The only thing he has is the thin blanket. Sometimes he would wave to the other children around him, but contact is limited.

The scientists would be very intrigued by Phineas. Not only because of his high level intelligence but also his resilience and his talent. At first Phineas thought that was good and would lead to them not hurting him anymore. But soon he found out that it didn't really matter what he did, he was just an Object for them.

Phineas after a few training sessions, surrounded by scientists who give him another experimental drug to make him stronger.

When Phineas training session start, that's when he would start to understand that the scientist's are bad. They hurt them and degrade them and they don't really care about them. Phineas sees a lot of the other children die. They don't survive the harsh training and environment and that's when Phineas starts loosing some of his innocence. During the training he tries to aid the other children as much as he can, often taking the blame or guiding them/encouraging them. He behaves and does what the scientist's tell him to their excitement, all in a ploy to make them trust him and get careless.

During his time there, Phineas would gather all the information he could get. He gets sent to missions with his team, mastering them successfully. He develops into the perfect specimen the Scientist's want, until one day, when he had gathered enough information and finally manages to flee. In his escape, he destroy's the laboratory and saves those that had been held there just like him. But even though he destroyed this laboratory, he knows its not over.

In his time there he found out that this organization is an organization operating world wide, funded by multiple countries that do not know of each other (with countries I mean that there are only a few people that know of it in the government and support it, the vast majority doesn't know). The children are taken from their families at a very young age, experimented on and trained as weapons, being sold to the highest bidder for special operations deemed too risky for normal humans. Phineas was one of their greatest subjects, and the organization wants him back.

However, Phineas just wants to go and find his own family, but he knows he would bring danger to them, if he would return home like this. So he makes it his mission to hunt them down, destroy the organization one by one and show the public what was happening right underneath their noses. He would travel the world to find them and dismantle them and Phineas being Phineas would still try to make the best out of every day and have fun despite the horrors he had endured. Simultaneously he would be on the run himself as well, because the organization wants him back desperately.

Phineas would be twelve, when he would be sent to his first mission. He would be fourteen, when he would escape and he would be sixteen when he would have nearly dismantled them all. The information he would gather, he would send to a Reporter he met. He doesn't trust her, but he knows that she wants the truth for the sake of her story and carrier, which is why he trusts her enough with the information he gathers. There would only be a small piece of them left and then he could go to his family, but of course his family had other ideas and the Reporter he found wasn't as selfish as he thought.

Linda had never stopped searching for Phineas even though the police had already said it was futile. She would have still met Lawrence in this universe and married him. Ferb, who never had Phineas and therefore no one who would understand him on this deep level, would be forced to speak like every one else. Candace would be super overprotective of Ferb, as she had lost one brother once already. Ferb's inventions would never be as big as they were on the show, but he would still do some, only that they would be more helpful gadgets. He would still be friends with Isabella, Buford and Baljeet and he would still have Perry. Linda would have told Lawrence about Phineas and Lawrence would have gone on in supporting her in the search for Phineas. Linda and Lawrence would also be open about it to their children, but would be careful to not put their trauma on them. Ferb would have the same bedroom as he has on the show, but he would often imagine how it would have been growing up with a brother. Candace and Ferb would also have a very deep bond and often talk about Phineas late in the night, when the parents where already asleep. Even though Perry never knew Phineas and it wasn't his fault, since he came into the family later on, he would still feel guilty about having failed the family and use OOCA sources in secret to try and find Phineas. Even Ferb would use his brain to try and find Phineas, the brother he never met, even though they all knew how unlikely it would be to ever find him again. All of this would lead to the Flynn-Fletcher Family connecting to the Reporter, who had also tried to hunt down Phineas' family as well as alerted other law enforcements she trusts to help the child that didn't deserve all of this.

I am not sure yet how exactly they would all meet up again, but the family would get in contact with the Reporter through all of this and that would be how they would find out about Phineas. That he still lives. What he has been up to and so on and so forth. They would of course want to connect to him and help him.

Ultimately the organization would be destroyed and the Flynn-Fletcher Family would be united again, though Phineas would be different from his canon persona in that he lived through a lot of trauma. A healing journey would start, where Phineas would learn what it means to have a family and live a 'normal' life. Of course during all of this the focus would mostly be on the most important bond of the whole show, which would be the one between Phineas and Ferb. Slight hints to Phinbella would happen as well.

Obviously a lot of things are not planned in detail yet, but this would be the gist of it.

I have some more fanart I drew for this that I will post here regardless if people like it or not and I will maybe also write out a few scenes until I loose interest lol.

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

[steddiebang]

(You got me) in the palm of your hand

Author: @just-my-latest-hyperfixation l Artist: @jul2ja l Artist: @peachypurr Posting on Wednesday, October 4

"Fortunes told, futures unfold." The sign at the local ren faire looks tempting. After all, Steve is one year out of high school and has no idea where his life is going. Sometimes he wishes someone could just gaze into the future and figure it out for him. In the fortune teller’s tent, Steve has a run-in with his past. And if he doesn’t turn on his heel and leave, it has absolutely nothing to do with how pretty Eddie Munson looks in his costume, all gleaming jewelry and dark tendrils of hair spilling out from under a patterned headscarf. He lets Eddie read his palm, because why the hell not? It’s all bogus anyway! Except, as the summer goes on, Steve finds that Eddie’s cryptic predictions somehow, inexplicably keep coming true. As they keep running into each other, almost as if orchestrated by an invisible force, Steve can’t help but be intrigued with the other boy. He also can’t seem to forget how pretty Eddie’s eyes look in black liner, or the way his fingers feel on his skin, but that is an entirely different problem.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

Eddie gasps in mock-offense and clutches a hand to his chest. His bracelets jingle with the movement. 

"So he's a non-believer, our king. Nevermind, I shall convince you of my skills yet." That smile turns just a little sly. He leans forward slowly, eyes shining with mirth. His rings gleam in the light of the lanterns as he lays his hands out on the table, palms up. “Give me your hands.” 

Steve can practically feel himself blush. 

“I, erm .. what?” he sputters. 

Eddie quirks an elegant eyebrow at him and the corner of his mouth curls up into a toothy grin. 

“Don’t fret, my liege, no uncouth intentions here. I’m merely going to introduce you to the ancient art of palmistry.” 

"Palmi- what now?" 

The question has made its way past his lips before he can think better of it. Steve gulps down the embarrassed lump that threatens to clog his throat and steels himself for the inevitable eye roll, maybe an exasperated explanation. 

Eddie merely smiles, a hint of that sweet, genuine thing from before, and fucking winks at him. 

"Our fate is written in the lines of our hands," he claims. "It is but an open book to those who know how to read it. If my king would ever-so-graciously allow me to demonstrate?" 

On the table, his fingers wiggle invitingly. 

A strange feeling flutters in Steve’s chest. He's tempted to say it's fondness, but that would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? He hardly knows the guy. He undeniable is weirdly charming though, with his theatrical mannerisms and big brown eyes framed in black liner. Before he can think better of it, Steve finds his own hands reaching out to meet Eddie’s. 

The other boy makes a small pleased sound and gently turns Steve’s hands so that the palms are facing up, Eddie's hands cupping his from beneath, fingers lightly brushing his wrists. And fuck, even his hands are nice. Smaller than Steve’s, but lean and slightly calloused, with long, nimble fingers. Steve wonders fleetingly if it's from all the guitar playing. His rings are not cold as he thought they would be, but warm from his body heat. 

"Now …" Eddie’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts. "Which one would be your sword hand?" 

"I, um…" says Steve. One hand tries to twitch up to run through his hair awkwardly, but Eddie holds it in place with gentle pressure. "I'm right-handed, if that's what …" 

Eddie nods and lifts Steve’s right lightly, lets go of his left so that he can point out what he is looking at. 

"See, your dominant hand tells me all about your character," he explains. "This, for example, would be your life line." 

The pad of a slender index finger runs a barely there touch along one of the lines close to Steve’s thumb. He jolts reflexively and snorts a laugh at the ticklish sensation. Eddie glances up at him and tuts in mock-admonishment. 

"From what I garner here," he then says, focusing back on Steve’s hand, and Steve catches himself leaning forward curiously, so that their foreheads almost touch. "You are very energetic. Strong of body, quite obviously, but also of head and heart. There's not much one can do to deter you from a decision once made. Some may call you stubborn, obstinate even. Others will say you are exceptionally determined, and loyal to those you hold dear."

Steve scoffs and glances up to give him a look, flinches back just slightly when he realizes how close they suddenly are. 

"Uh-huh, impressive. And you read all of that from my palm, of course." 

Another toothy grin. 

"Of course," Eddie says seriously. "Just like your heart line - that's the one over here - tells me that you tend to fall in love quickly, but deeply. You're no stranger to heartbreak, are you?" 

Steve rolls his eyes. Sure. Just about every single student at Hawkins High must know this much about him, especially after the absolute car wreck that was his break-up with Nancy.

"Whatever," he mutters and tries to conceal his embarrassment behind a careless shrug. "I already know all that. What about my future, then?" 

"Now this," says Eddie and takes a hold of Steve’s left with a soft sound of his bracelets, "is where we turn to your other hand, Your Grace. Let me see what I can divine from here." 

He regards Steve’s palm for a while and in the meantime, Steve watches his face. How his brow wrinkles in thought. How a few tendrils of dark hair slip out from under the headscarf to curl around his shoulders. How his bottom lip juts out in concentration. How the tip of a pink tongue comes poking out to lick it, leaves a shining trail of moisture. 

"Interesting," Eddie concludes at length. "Very interesting indeed. You have quite the exciting summer ahead of you." 

"Y- yeah?" Steve blinks out of his trance, forgets to sound cocky for a second. 

Eddie nods. "Certainly. I see conflict here. A former friend may step back into your life, but they will have turned against you, so watch your steps." 

"Huh," says Steve. "Sounds like a fun time. Lucky me, I guess." 

Eddie glances up at him and smiles coyly before turning back to his hand. 

"Speaking of lucky … I do see adventure, too. You will get to know someone. Someone who intrigues and excites you. You may even make a conquest, if you play your cards right. And then … I see something more profound, even. A new love."

Read more on October 4!

[juneknight]

Good Fences // 1

June finish a WIP challenge…but eh, I go where the hyperfixation leads.

You had escaped your mother’s abuse years ago when you moved out from her flat, but the woman’s failing health and an injury have brought you back into her clutches as you are guilted into caring for her.

The neighbor in the flat next door though—he is a welcome distraction.

About this: fem!reader/MK system. Features ableism, references to childhood abuse, current abuse both mental and physical from a parental figure. More acute warnings will be included with later drabbles.

Immersivity: reader is an unnamed, undescribed cis woman. Her mother is also described minimally, though descriptions about the frailty that comes with aging are used. If you see any other details which hinder your immersive experience, please feel free to point them out to me.

*

*

You come home on a Sunday. It is a bright day for the typical gloomy London, but you imagine that it is only because all of the gloom has packed its way inside you, inside the little apartment building downtown, inside the hallway on the top floor where you stand outside your mother’s flat, the flat where she had raised you. The sight of the door alone gives you nausea. You know that she is in there, that she is injured, that the only reason the hospital let her leave when they did was because she told them you were coming home, that you would be caring for her day and night. She needs you.

You wish that her fall had broken her neck instead of her leg. You wish that it had killed her. But Billy Joel said that only the good died young, so your mother’s mortal persistence makes universal sense.

Down the hallway, the elevator doors open. You turn, pressing your back against the wall, heart pounding. Somehow, you are convinced that it will be her, that she is trying to creep up on you. It makes no sense—not when you know that she is basically bedridden—but the fear persists. Suddenly, you are a child again, pressing your back against the wall as she approaches, hoping to slip through a crack in the plaster and disappear before her wrath can reach you—

But all you see is a tired, handsome man who is struggling to put his key is his lock. Your mother’s neighbor in the apartment next door. He seems flustered, perhaps feeling your eyes on him—definitely feeling your eyes on him, as you see him shoot you a cautious, curious glance. When he sees you looking at him, he drops his keys and has to stoop to pick them up, his smile bashful.

“Hullo,” he says mildly.

Your mouth opens to return the greeting, but then the door behind you opens and you feel her. She has a presence like that: one you feel before you see, one that you can feel sometimes in the dead of night even after moving across the country to get away from her.

“There you are,” she says. “Plan to stay out there forever, do you?”

“No ma’am,” you mutter. You take her in for the first time in years: there is a frailty about her, one which belies the strength you know she must still possess. Her mouth is made for frowning, lined deeply, eyes bloodshot and hateful. You have her eyes. You know you do. On her foot is a boot, helping to support her fractured ankle as it heels. It makes a sound as she hobbles out of the apartment just a foot, neck craning to see what has you so interested.

Her eyes alight on the neighbor and then positively burn with hatred that makes the hairs on the back of your neck rise.

“You,” she says through her teeth.

“Good morning, ma’am,” the man says mildly, though his politeness is obviously forced.

“Don’t speak to me, you devil! Don’t speak to my daughter either,” your mother says, reaching out to grip your shoulder and jerk you towards the open door of the apartment. She says to you, none-too-quietly: “Stay away from that man. He’s a madman—he’s got that split personality disorder, like you see on the telly.”

You glance to him, looking for him to refute this accusation, but all he does is make a long-suffering expression, like he is much used to your mother.

“They don’t call it that anymore, ma’am, remember?” he says, thrusting his key into the door with perhaps a little more force than necessary. “I know your brain is soft like an old, over-ripe fruit, but—”

“Bastard,” she shouts. “I’m going to the building manager first thing in the morning to have you thrown out of here for good, do you hear me? For good!”

“Best of luck,” he says cheerfully. His gaze drifts from the hateful old woman to you, and you have the feeling that he is talking to you as much as he is snarking at her. When he smiles to you, it is soft and genuine, his fingers lifting to his temple in soft salute. You know right then that you don’t care if he is a madman in your mother’s eyes. There is kindness in him, a quality which means more to you than any other.

Then your mother has managed to pull you inside and shut the door on the last bit of light left in your day.

[i-write-hurt-not-comfort]

To all the DL fanfish readers, I get you, all of us gathered here want new chapters, new attention-grabbing stories, or even in general some new content or some other DL-themed post. Unfortunately, however, this fandom, like it or not, is dying a little less, fighting for survival absolutely every day. So we should be truly grateful to people, blogs and writers for continuing to "fight" and keep the fandom alive to this day. Thanks to them, to the fact that they give part of their free time, even part of their life, to make us happy is a real gift in itself.

So please respect those who do all this for us and give them as much time as they need, don't push and be patient and most of all grateful for everything so far. Yes, I want new chapters too, I check almost every week for an update, if there is any sign that one is coming soon, yes, I'm dying but I'll keep waiting, no matter how hard it is. The writer has his own life , is currently in its heyday, but despite this, it is not giving up on us. She has been writing for DL ​​for years now, it's normal for the attraction to wane and go at some point. And recently she even admitted to us that there is already another series that has occupied a place in her mind, but despite that she still writes about DL, yes things are happening at a slow pace, but I know that the story will have an end for sure. Think about it, the more you insist, the more you pressure her and force her to write just to please us, which in turn will lead to significantly shorter chapters with a more rushed plot, which will reduce the quality of the story , and the most interesting part is just beginning. If a writer writes because he is driven by force, without passion or emotion, this will result in significantly worse material. Remember patience pays off sweetest!

P.S. I apologize for all the nonsense I just scribbled. If you consider this to be rude or unnecessary you are free NOT to post it. I just wanted to support you, just you reading this is enough for me.

good afternoon anon, i'm going to assume this ask was prompted by this post. don't worry, you aren't rude to me or anything!

when i received the original ask, i was trying not to say anything cuz i'm sure it had good intentions, but uh, yeah, i was kinda thinking something along the same lines. i know there's people really into that fic and it's been almost 3 months since i updated the basketball diaries, but there's a reason for that.

like you said, firstly, if i'm forcing myself to write for something i'm not insanely hyperfixated on, it's not gonna be as good. i'll always deeply love diabolik lovers and i 100% intend to finish the basketball diaries. but i did notice a pattern where the series i write insanely for seems to go in 2 year cycles. of course a part of me is sad i'm not writing as much for DL considering i earned myself a following, but i had the same for pandora hearts and then vanitas no carte when i started writing more for DL in 2022. and i'll always love the series deeply and keep my friends i made through it.

on top of that, part of the reason i put the basketball diaries on hiatus was because i was writing for the fengqing gotcha for gaza, which is a charity event. people donated to the people of palestine who needed humanitarian support and submitted prompts, and i ended up writing a total of 17 fics in 2 months, a total of 70,978 words. so naturally i prioritised that, and i'm genuinely proud of my contribution to that.

so yeah, i did leave the basketball diaries on hiatus, but it was for a good cause, yknow? hence people asking when i'm going to update it, and i got multiple comments on the fic asking me this as well, it left a bit of a bad taste. repeatedly being asked when i'm going to update it without saying anything else makes me not wanna update it, because it makes me feel like my readers are forgetting that i'm a person too and that i have other obligations.

i started my full time job 2 weeks ago too, so i've got at MOST 2 hours of spare time during the week, but i posted my final fengqing gotcha fic today, so yes, i am going to start the basketball diaries chapter 12 next.

having said that, i generally write 2 long fics at the same time to keep myself occupied, so i'm Begging people not to ask me to update it between chapters. of course i'm grateful for my readers and i know what it's like to desperately want a fic to update, but sometimes it's best to hold back and be patient for the writer's sake as well.

so thank you for your ask, you said everything i'd wanted to say but didn't know how asksjfkdf.

[libra-arts]

A Meeting In The Stars - Avatar oc short story

Author’s Note: So, this is a little short story I write about my newest OCs. They’re from the James Cameron Avatar movie and I am so in love with these characters. I had watched the movie not too long ago and my brain just latched onto that hyperfixation so quick. So naturally I drew up a self-insert-esk character but then it grew from that into the two OCs I have now. Their names are Professor Amias Song (a human thats a part of the avatar program) and Näpu Te ‘Aiey Noihi’itan (Na’vi native of the Omaticaya clan). This story if of how they first met! Also the gif is obviously Neytiri but the scene kinda mirrors what happens at one point in the story.

Synopsis/Blurb: Amias likes to sketch and paint the forest in his downtime but it seem like that got him into a bit of trouble this time around. Good thing a certain Na’vi hunter was close by to save the day. And possibly make a new friend while at it.

Possible TW(the only ones I can think of): Canon typical violence, descriptions of pain

It was surprisingly quiet in the Pandora forest as I sat on the ledge of a river rock. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the weather was calm, a perfect day to sit outside and draw. My tasks from Grace were completed for the week so now I get to do as I please for the time being until I’m given a new assignment. So what else is there to do on a stunning planet like Pandora than sit outside with my Avatar body as I sketch the landscape of the river in front of me. But all was not calm apparently.

I was so engrossed in my work that I had failed to notice the low growling coming from behind me, until it was too late anyway. I heard the crack of a branch and whipped my head behind myself to look and there it was, hunkered low to the ground snarling at me was a viperwolf. Until now I had been very careful with keeping my distance from these animals by staying away from the places I knew that they usually traveled or congregated. We were even sure to survey the area before my placement here to make sure it was clear of any hostile animals. But to my luck it seemed like one had made it through unnoticed.

In an instant the animal jumped at me and I quickly rolled out of the way, wrapping my arms to my body tightly as I held my sketchbook. As the viperwolf recovered from landing in the waters of the river I jumped up and began to book it away from the rocky river and towards the direction of my mobile link. The nice thing about being out here by myself is that the building has a connected structure that allows a space for my Avatar body to rest when not in use next to the site. It is also built with reinforced metals that make it the perfect safe house for instances like this. But I guess that also the downside to being so far out here all by myself, I barely know how to fight and there is no one here to help with that. At least with this body I’m more agile and faster than as a human. But yet, I'm still just as clumsy. 

As I was focused on pushing away the giant leaves and spindly branches from my view I tripped on a root from a nearby large tree. When I hit the ground the wind got completely knocked out of me and my sketchbook went flying forward hitting a tree and landing on the ground. I tried to get up onto my knees but as I started to raise up a heavy weight landed on me and I was pushed down onto the ground. The viperwolf growled above me as I winced at its claws sinking into my flesh. It burned like hell, I couldn't move, the air from my lungs was gone and I didn't know what to do. As the animal's claws dug deeper into my skin all I could do was hiss at the pain. I was afraid, I thought I was a goner and this body that took years to create was going to become fertilizer for the plant life around me and dinner for the animal digging into my back. But, just as I thought my luck had finally run out, the sounds of an arrow cutting through the air and piercing the skin of the viperwolf hit my ears. The animal toppled over and off of my back scurrying back. 

I gasped at the relief and turned my head towards the direction the arrow came from. My eyes widen at the sight of a Na’vi standing several feet from me with a bow in hand. He readied his bow and shot another arrow, at this I flinched and closed my eyes. Again I was sure of my death, sure that arrow was meant for me but instead of feeling the stabbing of the arrow in me I heard the faint cry of the viperwolf. I opened my eyes and looked to see the creature now laying down on its side with both arrows in its body, its breath was shallow and it barely moved. The Na’vi hunter slowly made his way around me and to the animal. He crouched down and began to speak, I couldn't understand him. I could only pick out a few of his words as I tried to sit myself up off the forest floor. “Brother”, “spirit”, “Eywa” and “body” were all I was able to make out. Maybe if I had paid more attention to Grace’s language lessons I would have been able to tell what he said. 

I’m able to get myself onto my knees, but as I begin to stand, however, pain shoots up my back and I let out a hiss in pain, falling back onto my knees and curling myself forward. I hug myself and shut my eyes as the pain spreads through my body, my head almost touching the ground and my eyes beginning to brim with tears. I wasn’t ever good with pain, even in this body. The crunching of leaves can be heard as the Na’vi man makes his way towards me. He crouches down next to me. A tear falls from my eye as I breath sharply through my teeth. I can feel his hand as it gently touches my wounds. I couldn't help but snap at him when he does, hissing at him. The touch, although light, burnt like a branding iron on my skin. We both widen our eyes at this. He draws back his hand and holds both of his hands up.

I sigh and turn away from him, again curling into myself and say, “I’m sorry. I don't know what came over me. It really really burns when you touch it. I’m sorry.” I looked up to him, not knowing if he would understand me or not. There was a lot of me that hoped he did.

In response he pointed to a small pouch on his hip and slowly began to take out its contents. It looked to be a small jar with a semi transparent blue gel inside it and what looked to be some type of gauze. We watched each other, he slowly opened the jar and glanced at me to gauge my reaction while I watched his every move, not entirely sure if I trusted him quite yet. He was slow, taking a bit of the gel onto his fingers and slowly hovered his hand above the wounds on my back. He gave me a look, almost asking permission. I slowly nodded, letting him apply the gel. Honesty, he was probably my best bet in getting patched up and back to base in one piece after what I just went through. He steadily applied the gel to my wounds. It burned for only a second but then it became cooling. 

I let out a breath, not realizing I was holding it in and relaxed under his touch. My grip on myself loosened as he finished and grabbed the gauze. I looked at him with a questioning look. He smirked slightly as he motioned for me to sit up straight. I did so and he shifted himself behind me. I felt as he touched my arms that were at my side and raised them up. I held up my arm for him as he began to wrap my torso and chest with the material making sure to cover the wounds on my back. When he was done I turned around to face him, already feeling better by the mysterious healing gel he used.

“Thank you.” I said with a smile.

He nodded and opened his mouth to begin to speak but before he did something caught both of our eyes. A small floating white jellyfish looking creature floated its way down towards us. He looked at this creature with such intensity, I on the other hand couldn't help but smile in astonishment. I had seen pictures and read about these things but had never encountered them. As it made its way down between us I raised both of my hands up creating a cup shape. It landed in my hands and my smile grew bigger. I looked up to the man across from me and our eyes met.

“I can’t believe it! I’ve only ever seen pictures of these! I never thought I’d get to see one in person! Isn't this cool?!”

He looked at me confused for a second, and then I realized that he probably still couldn't understand me. But before either of us could react again the creature began to float up and away. I let my hands follow it up and into the air above us. One arm falls to my side as the other stays up while I watch it float away. The Na’vi takes a hold of the wrist on my outstretched arm and brings it in front of him. He seems to be inspecting my hand?

“Wha-”, and before I could ask what he was doing he cut me off.

“What are you?”

His voice was rough, and in shock my eyes widened. He spoke english. I froze for a minute before I snapped out of it with his grip tightening. I begin to stutter out a response to his question.

“I-I… W-Well in this body I’m what is considered an Avatar of sorts but I’m pretty sure your people call us dreamwalkers.” At this his grip loosens but he still holds my wrist. “You speak english?” He looks directly into my eyes with the same intensity he was looking at the floating jellyfish with and it takes me back a little. 

“Yes, little. I learned from others in my clan.”

“You must be from the Omaticaya clan then, right? Grace was teaching some of them english.”

“Yes..” He lowers his hand and releases my wrist. “But you are far from the skypeople’s base. Why are you here this far?”

“I have my own base out here. We thought that it was clear from any dangerous animals so I was allowed my own remote place to work. Seems I was wrong about that though.” I said as I mentioned towards the viperwolfs body still laying a few feet away. 

He begins to ask, “Where is-”

But I cut him off as realization hit me, “Oh! My sketchbook!” I quickly stood up and rushed over to the abandoned book behind me. I picked it up and inspected it, checking it to make sure it hadn't gotten ruined. The outside looked fine so I opened it and began to flip through to pages and check over my sketches and watercolor piece. I landed last on the piece I was working on just a few minutes ago. Thankfully the only thing that got messed up were a few sporadic pencil markings from when I had to roll out of the way. I released a breath and smiled.

“Oh thank the gods it's okay. I was so worried that- AAAAA!” I turned my head to the side and met the man face mere inches from mine. I jumped back and snapped shut the book I was holding. I held my hand to my chest to steady my rapidly beating heart. “Jeez man, you scared the shit out of me.”

He pointed to the book in my hand and with a raised eyebrow said, “You created those? Art of our world? Why?”

“Oh, well..” I relaxed and stepped closer to him, opening the book and showing him from the beginning the pieces I've created. As I spoke I slowly flipped through the pages, “I have this passion for plants and animals, but more specifically plants. It's why I became a botanist, to study and get to know the intricacies of these plants better. This planet’s fauna is some of the most beautiful and down right gorgeous I have ever seen. The artist in me can’t help but draw it for myself sometimes.” He watches intently as I flip the pages but stops me on one watercolor piece. He touches the paper lightly, tracing the shapes of the giant tree on the page. 

“Kelutral…” he says in Na’vi.

“Hometree right? I actually got this picture when they first moved my base out here. It’s also one of my favorites I’ve created during my time here.” He lowers his hand and looks at me. And again, our eyes meet, his piercing golden yellow eyes scanning my face. It's almost as if he’s looking for something, maybe some kind of dishonesty in my expression so he had a reason to not trust me. It seems as though he didn't find whatever it was as he spoke up.

“Your base, are you alone?”

I hesitate to answer, but my reasoning has me answer him truthfully, he has helped me after all so he deserves my honesty, “Yes, it's just me.”

He places his hand on my shoulder, with a worried tone he speaks, “You do not fight, you have no protection. You should not be here alone.”

“Well, I’m usually pretty well off. It was my mistake for not noticing that viperwolf earlier and for not paying attention to my surroundings and tripping on a root. This is the only time something like this has happened.” I take a step back and his hand falls. “Why would you worry about someone like me anyway? I thought the Na’vi don't like outsiders, especially ones like me.”

He stands frozen at this. I can almost see the gears turning in his brain as he thinks of how to respond. It took him a minute before he spoke again. “You are different. Eywa gave a sign.”

“Eywa? What makes you think that your god has anything to do with me?”

“The seed of the sacred tree, it chose you. A pure spirit, it was attracted to you.”

I raised my eyebrow, “The floating jellyfish thing?”

He gets closer to me again, getting really close to my face and looking me over, “Yes the.. jellyfish… thing. You are not like them… but how?” At that he tilted his head. So, that's what those things are? I understand his curiosity. I wonder what that could mean for me? I wasn't sure what to do at that moment so I did the only thing I could think of, to make my way back to the base.

“Okay, well thanks for helping me with my wounds but I should really start heading back now” I pushed aside one of his arms and made my way around him and began to walk away.

“H-Hey!” He yelled to me and at this I attempted to walk father but he was easily able to catch up to me. He grabbed my arm and turned me back around to face him, “Night falls soon, you should not travel alone. Let me come with you. I can protect you.”

“Oh no, that's alright. I’ll be fine on my own.” I try to pull away from him but he doesn’t let go. “Dude, again thank you for helping me but I really need to get back.”

I could tell he didn't want to let go, and at my hesitation he blurred out, “I have an offer for you.”

I stop for a moment, “An… offer?”

“Yes, let me protect you here. This is where I hunt most days. I can help you this way. And I will teach you about the plants. Yes?” 

“You’ll come here and protect me from the animals and in turn will teach me about the plant life on this planet?”

“Yes, if you will let me.”

What this man was offering was information I will probably never be able to learn without the aid of a Na’vi native. This was an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to learn about this land in a more in-depth and practical way rather than scientific. But he is also a stranger, someone I barely even knew. Plus, I don't even know this man's name.

I shake my head, “I don’t even know your name.”

He smiles and releases his hand from me and places it on his chest, “I am Näpu Te ‘Aiey Noihi’itan.”

“Oh.. well, Näpu. The name’s Amais Song.” A smile creeps onto my face, “I accept your offer but on one condition.”

“That is?”

I step towards him and swing my arm on his shoulder, and start my way towards the base and say, “I also get to teach you skypeople culture, like music and arts and so on. How about that?”

He stumbles at first but then begins to walk in line with me, “Yes, and can teach you ours as well.”

“An exchange of information for our mutual benefit! Perfect!” I look at him and smile. He looks at me confused for a second, not understanding my words, but smiles when he notices mine. With that we make our way to my base. 

And that was how I met Napu and I am more than lucky to have met him that day. Not only to save my life, but to open my eyes. I couldn't be more thankful to Eywa for that. 

End of video log.

[venfx]

magnus fic roundup

as tma comes to a close, i thought i'd post some of my favorite fics to come out of this fandom. most of these are classics, listed in no particular order.

A Weather In The Flesh by @cuttoothed​ | 3K | S1-S4 | Jon/Martin | Complete

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

↳ this is such a well-done exploration of jon’s character and his relationship with touch, and i’ve re-read it at least five times. sweet and sad and phenomenally well-written.

in the chillest land and on the strangest sea by imperfectcircle, singlecrow | 20K | Safehouse, S1-S4 | Jon & Daisy, Jon/Martin | Complete

Jon remembers a statement he read years ago given by a Jesuit priest, who said that the shortest prayer he knew was, just, fuck it, as in fuck it; it's in God's hands. He takes Daisy's hand and trails on after her.

or; hope is a thing with feathers.

↳ hey, you wanna fuckin..... feel things? read this.

The Magnus Institute vs the 21st Century: a series of emails and IMs by shinyopals | 26K | Series | S3 | Pre-Jon/Martin | Complete

The Magnus Institute hires a Data Protection Officer. He sets about diligently booking in meetings, writing policy documents, and training all the staff in the importance of confidentiality. Now if only he could get hold of the Head Archivist, who seems to have vanished again...

(Jon is only trying to save the world, but apparently some people think he should still be doing his day job.)

↳ i’d be surprised to find people who haven’t read this series, but it’s the definition of “the magnus archives is a workplace comedy”. also, alasdair stuart has actually read some clips of this on Twitch, so that’s a fun bonus.

Bell, Book, and Candle by yellow_caballero | 102K | Series | S3 into S4 | Jon/Martin | Complete 

In accordance with the Ride or Die Pact of 2009, Jonathan Sims can call upon Georgie Barker at any time for aid with no strings attached. Despite their rocky history, their childhood friendship, and Jon’s barely recovered alcoholism, this pact is sacred and must be upheld.

Georgie Barker may regret this. She may regret it when she discovers that the world is full of monsters and eldritch gods and dickhead managers. She may regret it when a punk rocker who should be dead collapses on their doorstep, a teenager again who needs their help. She may regret it when her stupid ex-boyfriend starts selling his soul for knowledge and the ability to keep his new family safe.

But she probably won’t. Georgie isn’t scared of anything - not a Clown’s apocalypse, not the apocalypse that Jon is destined to begin, and not Jon’s own loss of humanity.

Maybe she should be.

↳ if you’re looking for an everyone-lives-no-one-dies-happy-ending fic that also happens to be massively chaotic, look no further. 

The Reverb in These Holy Halls by @wolftraps​ | 98K | AU, S1-S4 | Jon/Martin | Complete

Undoing the apocalypse would have been enough for Jon, if all his people survived. Without them, Jon's only recourse is making it so it never happened in the first place. He's going to do better this time.

↳ quintessential time travel AUs. plot-wise, i feel like these can be difficult to write, but op does a fantastic job of tying things together in a way that makes sense. plus, it’s just fun to read.

jon sims v the nhs by @thoughtsbubble​ | 12K | Series | S3 | Complete

Joan Bright has a new patient. He's carrying an old tape recorder and is covered head to toe in scars. Jonathan Sims looks dangerous, but Dr Bright has dealt with all sorts of atypical individuals. She has no reason to be nervous.

Right?

↳ if you’ve ever thought “hey, jon should probably go to therapy”, then 1) you’re absolutely right and 2) this is... probably what would’ve happened. prior knowledge of The Bright Sessions is not required. also, apparently, this fic is written by the showrunner of The Underwood Collection? wild.

Family, Found by Dribbledscribbles | 9K | S4 | Complete

It’s Basira who catches onto it.

The collective shift that seems to come over them when heading in or out of the Institute. Not just the oppressive sensation of being observed, their every move catalogued for the voyeuristic cravings of some unseen Eye(s). That feeling remained with them even when they left the Institute these days, but it was always stronger inside its walls. That wasn’t the change. Nor was it the point.

The point was: making life worse for Jonathan Sims.

↳ i think being part of the avengers fandom circa 2012 has given me permanent found-family-trope brainrot, but you know what. jonathan sims can have a little happiness, as a treat. 

Road to Damascus by @titanfalling​ | 107K | Series | S4 | Jon & Tim | Complete

n. an important moment of insight, typically one that leads to a dramatic transformation of attitude or belief

Or, in which Tim becomes an avatar for the end of all things.

↳ tim dies and then he doesn’t. there is catharsis and world building. just....read it.

Come, Change Your Ring With Me by @backofthebookshelf​ | 29K | S3 | Peter/Jon, Jon/Martin, Peter/Elias | Complete

The Lukases demand the Archivist marry into the family, and the Institute relies on them too much to say no. Peter is smug. Elias is fuming. Martin is suffering. Jon thinks this might be tolerable if only Peter would hurry up and leave him alone already.

OR, the soap opera we call an Archives revolves around Peter Lukas this time.

↳ superb evil-bastards-in-love content, feat. martin pining, tim being obnoxious, and jon being... well, tired, mostly. i will literally never get tired of how op writes peter. 

creatures that i briefly move along by @dotsayers​ | 16K | Series | AU, Post-S4 | background Jon/Martin 

Mr Sims was so weird, was the thing. Miss Grant always said calling people weird was rude, and Anna sort of agreed, but she didn’t know what other word to use to describe Mr Sims.

He’d only been in with the class for a few days, really, and half of that he just sat at the back listening, but that didn’t stop her from making a swift judgement. 5BG had had student teachers before, back when they were 3ST, and they’d been uniformly normal.

Mr Sims was… actually, Anna had a better adjective. He was interesting.

↳ i just.... love teacher!jon fics. this series delivers. 

Once Bitten by @apatheticbutterflies | 1K | S4 | Jon & Daisy | Complete

Jon Sims has always been a jumpy kind of guy. Nervous. Twitchy. Daisy used to think it meant he was guilty. Turns out he was. Just not of what she’d thought.

Daisy learns how to peel an orange.

↳ daisy and jon’s relationship is an example of an instance where i’m happy to say “fuck what you wrote mr. jonny ‘chocolate torte of tragedy’ sims, i want them to be friends”.

pins and needles by mutterandmumble | 13K | S1-S4 | Complete

He’s got a reputation to uphold anyways; an uptight, rigid reputation that dictates the way that he interacts and functions and is such an integral part of him that he can’t let go of it anytime soon. He likes his safety nets. He likes his contingencies. He likes his privacy, and everything around this place right down to the walls seems to have ears, so he’ll stay tight-lipped up to and beyond the threat of death.

He’s good at that.

In which Jon takes up embroidery and bumbles through life the best that he can.

↳ out of all the introspective jon pieces i’ve read (and there are many), this one stands out. maybe it’s the symbolism or the characterisation, or maybe it’s the fact that i have an embroidery kit lurking in the back of my closet along with a hundred other half-pursued hyperfixations. whatever. this is excellent.

sleeping in by @ivelostmyspectacles | 5K | S2 | Jon/Tim | Complete

“Who are you trying to convince?”

Jon gives up, letting his head sag against Tim’s shoulder. “I don’t know.”

aka Elias gets tired of Jon and Tim's bickering, sends them away for a "team-building" weekend trip, and is sure to book them a room with only one bed

↳ this has everything you’d need from a “oh no there’s only one bed” fic. someone please get these men therapy.

if you try, sometimes (you get what you knead) by @ajcrawly​ | 3.5K | S1-S4 | Jon/Martin, Tim/Sasha | Complete

It starts with an abundance of boeuf bourguignon and ends up as a team tradition.

Food and love in uncertain times.

↳ more found family fic, this time with a diverse og!archival staff and food as a metaphor for love. hurt in all the right ways. made me hungry in the process.

[blueberryfruitbat]

Watch out followers. I'm about to go ranting.

So I've been busy irl and my response to this situation has been delayed, so im gonna say it now.

It's long, but if you care about devs blatantly ignoring problems in their games when they can very well fix them, as well as profiting off of their users without proper game support. Please read in full.

Before I became a Kirby artist, my previous hyperfixation was TF2 (Team Fortress 2), and it was my hyperfixation for 3 years. That's a pretty long time! I know my current following is likely not participating in this community or are aware of the state of the game, but if you've been on the internet, you know of TF2. It's quite literally baked into the culture of the internet. So let's break the situation down for you guys.

Tf2 has gone without a major update for 5 years. That's fine. Most older games start dropping off in updates as they age, and TF2 is 17 years old now! Thats super old for an online game! What isn't fine is that this lack of updates has left the game unplayable as the anticheat has been outdated for half a decade. Making it open for abuse by bot hosters that ruin the experience of gameplay for real players. I will not be going into the ACTUAL CRIMES these bot hosters have committed. It's a heavy topic, and you should look into it if you are curious and can handle serious subjects like doxxing and the endangerment of people's lives.

2 years ago, the community spoke up and tried to voice their dissatisfaction with the state of the game, Valve, the company that owns the game (Yes, THAT Valve, owner of the biggest game launchers for PC, Steam, having an infinite money printer Valve.) acknowledged that they knew what was happening, did a bandaid fix that worked for maybe 2 days and then just stopped caring again.

Now the game is STILL getting 2 seasonal updates a year (3 counting their Halloween event). FULL of microtransactions and loot boxes for cosmetics, almost ALL of the content being made by people submitting it on the game's workshop. Basically, it makes the community nearly free labor for the company (nearly because creators do get a small cut of key sales) that will NOT maintain the game it's for. You can see the problem here.

As my followers will be more knowledgeable of Nintendo properties, I will use splatoon as an example:

Imagine Splatoon had a horrible wave of malicious cheaters flood the turf wars game mode, all with perfect aim and all with the E-Liter, able to one shot you instantly across the map making the game unwinnable, basically unplayable. Then Nintendo comes out and adds someone's fan made campaign to the game as a paid DLC and ignores all the players in the main game mode, leaving them to the cheaters.

Thats the kind of garbage TF2 players are going through right now, despite the game and player base being still very alive and wanting to play.

If any of this rings slightly with you as a problem that needs to be addressed, please sign the petition to get Valve's attention! Its blatant abuse of a player base at this point for them to profit off it's users like this without keeping the game PLAYABLE.

Valve makes money off TF2, a game plagued by bots, through lootboxes, MvM tickets and any sale/purchase on the community narketplace.

Until such a time that they fix the game, do not buy anything out of the shop or the community market.

If Valve decides to release the Summer Update without even addressing the ongoing bot problem, do not buy keys to open any loot boxes no matter how badly you want a cosmetic. Don't give them a penny until they fix the game and not a moment sooner.

Do not let a corporation think they can get away with selling you a broken product.

[ruby-whistler]

Your c!dream post came on my dash and while I can definitely agree with the main point (torture is wrong no matter who it happens to) some of the contents of that post were a bit bothering to me.

the fact that you implied that your concerned for people who really hate c!dream and therefore see the torture as payback is really crossing a line. I really hope I misinterpreted that because it sounds like your implying that you think those people would dehumanize people in real life. That is a big assumption to make my friend, not something you can just throw around because you see someone talking bad about a character you emphasize with.

And like I said, I’m saying that while agreeing with your main point. I can say that your right about that being something we shouldn’t do while also knowing that this is about a Minecraft roleplay revolving around a character who canonically abused a 17 year old. The accusation your making is not something you should throw around. Just like people shouldn’t accuse Dream apologists who say bad stuff about c!tommy of being real life abuse apologists. There’s a huge difference about being attached to a character and saying something dumb and doing these things irl.

Also I thought we were past referring to lmanburg as colonization? I’m not sure if that’s what you were doing but That’s a real thing that effects people and not something you can just pin on a couple of white streamer men roleplaying. Someone more equipped then me can explain why they are very much not comparable at all, and why it’s bad to compare it, ill probably butcher it. I saw a good post about it somewhere.

And then onto the stuff that’s more story based and doesn’t matter as much:

- dream very much did plan to keep tommy in the prison cell for life, like I’m pretty sure he flat out said it or at least very heavily implied it during the confrontation, someone probably has a clip.

- I can agree that Sam wasn’t manipulated by dream, but he does have trauma from him, in fact it’s a big part of his arc. Dream would brag about what he did to tommy in exile, laughed in his face after killing tommy, and often screamed at him threatening to kill him as well. It affected sam greatly and is what started his spiral.

- There are other things in your post that I disagree with to some extent but honestly debating lore things isn’t what I’m here for. So we can agree to disagree. I’m not really to concerned about the lore stuff.

just like you were talking about being careful about what you are saying about c!dream because it can hurt people, I will also say to be careful in what you say about c!dream in his favor because it can also hurt people. Please do not forget he very canonically abused, murdered, and threatened to murder teenagers. That’s a touchy subject, especially because it was displayed in such a raw manner. Is he deserveing of abuse because of it? Of course not. Is he unworthy of growth or change? Of course not. Does that mean people have to forgive him or like him or sympathize with him? No. No one is morally required to sympathize with a character, as long as your not saying gross things about them. ( like claiming that they deserve torture! )

Someone saying something in the heat of the moment about a character who reminds them of their abuser does not justify calling them real life dehumanizers, or claiming they are prone to it. It’s not cool. And, I and feel like In liking c!dream (or any character who has done something really morally wrong) you have to make sure to be respectful towards people who have been in those situations. You can like a character without excusing their actions. Not saying your doing that, just a blanket statement.

Also, please take care of yourself. If seeing people criticize or say bad things about a character you like is causing you genuine distress, please take a break. I tend to hyperfixate and project and I know that sometimes it can be a really harmful thing. It helps a lot to take a deep breathe and step away for a few minutes. This is a reminder to everyone else as well to always tag crit. And to clarify, I’m not trying to like drag you through the mud for anything I disagree with in your post. Like trust me I get heat of the moment reactions and not completely thinking through everything you write down. And just blatantly not knowing that something isn’t cool to say. I just want to make sure it’s known that hey, maybe people shouldn’t say _.

If there’s anything in my post that’s wrong I apologize, I’m open to respectful criticism. And also just to finish this off, I know getting critical asks can be upsetting, so if you are genuinely made upset, angry, or anxious by this ask, please just leave it be. Don’t respond, or take a breather before you do. I’m saying this because like I said I just came across this post, I don’t know you or how you tend to react to things so I don’t want to start a huge thing. Just giving my thoughts and crit.

And also because having people yell/be really rude at me makes me very genuinely anxious! Even if it’s anon. Please keep that in mind if you respond (you don’t have to, it’s up to you) You can respond and disagree however much you like, just please don’t be a jerk about it cause I’ll probably cry lol (seriously tho like I said I’m sensitive)

Alright, so first as a quick disclaimer, I’m going to out a summary of the original post’s points, just to ensure that we’re on the same page;

The post does say:

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because it continuously hurts people who relate to and/or sympathize with him, also dehumanization in general is an inherently wrong mindset

- don’t attack people who sympathize with him because he’s a victim of abuse besides other things

The post never says:

- you cannot hate c!Dream and not sympathizing with him is wrong

- the things c!Dream has done are to any degree excused

- don’t dehumanize c!Dream because he’s a good person

- people who dehumanize c!Dream are real life abuse apologists

If you read the post and didn’t get these points from it, i advise you to reread it as I made pretty much all of these abundantly clear.

I absolutely never said anything about real life abuse apologism. I continuously put (fictional) in front of things to make that point. I don’t know how you got that from the post.

Dehumanization is wrong. Dehumanization of fictional characters on a large scale to the point where people will excuse his abuse is wrong and it hurts people and I will speak out about it. It doesn’t mean people will dehumanize people irl or that they are prone to it, but it’s still wrong.

I never said L’manberg was colonization. I said some people who have had their country colonized relate to him because he had his home torn apart and is desperate to return it back to its original state. This is a completely valid reason to relate to him as it is a pretty big part of the character.

He said he would “put him in the prison”. I don’t remember him saying it would be forever, but he could’ve said that, however I’d like a clip first. He never said he would be stored in the inhumane, main cell, and it makes a lot more sense that he wouldn’t be in there 1) because Dream said it was only a security measure 2) the prisoner was supposed to be able to move around the prison.

I don’t care that the abuser was “traumatized” by the abuse victim telling him of his actions. If I was being tortured mentally and mistreated and neglected physically by a person who hates my guts for weeks I too would probably threaten him. It didn’t start his spiral. His spiral was caused by corruption and possibly hatred, not being “hurt” by c!Dream. c!Dream didn’t cause himself to be abused, that was fully c!Sam’s decision, and saying otherwise is victim blaming (not saying you did that, just putting this point out here).

I do not forget the bad things he’s done. I was there. I saw it. I hated him for it. I still sympathize with him. I still believe he deserves better. I still believe he deserves to get better. I 100% agree with the point that it’s wrong to say someone is required to feel sympathy, as long as they don’t dehumanize him and harass people who do. That was the literal point of the post.

I am one of the many c!Dream fans who get constantly triggered because of how overwhelming the dehumanization is in the community. It’s not being hypersensitive, and I really hope you’re not implying that. It’s a very real issue that should be solved so that people don’t have to “take breaks” because of it.

I don’t care if people hate him or criticize him. I genuinely couldn’t care less. He did disgusting things. I’m used to it. But it is normalized in the community to say stuff about the character that is genuinely triggering, and would be to anyone if people were saying it on a large scale about their favorite character.

Hope this didn’t come off as too aggressive, I have anxiety and I didn’t want to let my feelings bleed into this because that wouldn’t be good for me. Wish you a nice day.

[omegawolverine]

Wanna infodunp bout sumthin? Plz do (respind whenever you wanna dont even worrg bout time here)

this has been sitting in my ask box for like a week now and im so sorry about that but also the last time i posted an info dump (which, for me, means bitching my ever loving heart out about the subject, because i genuinely find it incredibly difficult to speak fondly of things i enjoy without just going "yeah i think its neat!" essentially and then forgetting all the reasons why i like it) somebody came into my replies to break the dni i made in that post, invalidate my trauma and then say i was gaslighting them for stating my own opinion so um. yeah ive been a bit hesitant to say the least, considering hot takes are basically how i show my love for things :)

but, i have now decided to just post my least inflammatory take on one of my hyperfixations in response to this and then just. leave bc i dont wanna get into drama over my dumb little opinions again.

anyways, quick dni: dont even fucking touch this post if you're going to be aggressive with me, you don't use tone tags when making corrections or criticisms or you wanna just trash my opinion. ultimately people can do whatever they want, im just expressing my own annoyances as someone who has been in the IT fandom for awhile and has some complaints as a result (as im sure most other fans do lol)

moving on...rant time:

stan uris and richie tozier are canonically best friends in IT and the erasure of their friendship in favor of appealing to reddie fans is fucking gross and weird, especially bc stan is then chalked up to just some mean jewish kid who likes birds and is annoyed by richie 25/8 instead of having an actual fucking personality in every reddie fic just bc fans want so badly to make reddie best friends to lovers and its just?? yall can make reddie best friends to lovers WITHOUT erasing stan's canonical personality. yall can make them best friends to lovers while still acknowledging that stan and richie are canonically best friends and that stan canonically was an incredibly important person to richie.

this also goes for bill and eddie btw!! its just significantly worse with stan which reads Very Wrong when you take into consideration that fic writers always write bill denbrough as a sweet little white boy who everyone's at least a little bit in love with but then write stan as this rude jewish boy who's always mean and critical of richie for just being himself (and a lot of those "annoying" traits i see people make stan give richie shit about are adhd traits, which also rubs me wrong?? like why are so many NT fic writers so comfortable with calling my ND traits annoying) which isnt even canon?? like. canonically they poke fun at each other, they call each other names and say stupid shit but not to the extent of actually hurting each other because they are best friends and they know each other to the point where they know what boundaries the other has, they arent just making passive aggressive comments at the other and then going "it's a joke bro!" when/if the other gets upset.

also?? the trend of making "fix it" fics for IT chapter 2 where eddie is revived/doesn't die but stan does and is then only brought up in passing? not fucking cute. dont call it a "fix it fic" if the only "fix it" is you reviving a character for your fucking ship, especially when the other dead character is the BEST FRIEND of 1/2 of the ship? like. what. do yall just think richie getting married would somehow fix the fact that he lost the person that he was closest to? because, news flash, the person he was closest to was not eddie. they were very close friends, richie fucking loved the dude /p and /r, but stan was canonically his best friend and was canonically the person richie was closest to like?? what is not clicking omgggg

stanley uris is an incredibly fucking important character in IT and he is especially fucking important to richie goddamn tozier. you dont just get to ignore richie's best friend and write him into this mean jewish man box because his actual personality doesnt serve your ship like for the love of fucking god stan does not need to be there to create angst for your fics, he doesnt need to be there to make your hurt/comfort piece where you make stan borderline abelist just so richie can run and cry into eddie's scrawny little arms like im begging you to just write something where the hurt/comfort doesnt come from stan being a douchebag because canonically he was not one. he was a good fucking friend, he fucking loved richie and they got each others weird asses like nobody else did.

like. idk. ultimately yall can do what you want with ur fics i guess but also it's just fucking weird if you ask me?? and maybe that's just because im a dumbass richie kinnie who absolutely adores stan, but as somebody who loves reddie and reads reddie fics regularly, it is so goddamn annoying to only see my other favorite character written in to be mean, create angst or just be fucking dead time and time again when eddie is revived and then not even written accurately half the time bc he's not a fucking fragile dude who needs help all the time either, he's a shouty little cunt who know's he can be fucking dangerous if he wants to be and he doesn't hesitate to dish out some nasty ass comments if given the chance. just please for the love of god stop writing these characters ooc its killing me fr-

(btw i know most of this shit is just done by accident and its mostly done by movie stans who havent read the book, it's just still annoying to me, ya know? and this whole post is /nm, i just talk like this bc it's what comes naturally to me!! this is how i complain about literally everything, regardless of how big the issue is so dont take this too seriously pls)

[zirkkun]

Like everyone else, i must thank you for this amazing game. It is, without a doubt, one of the best undertale fan games. Somethings:

1. It is my headcannon that the True Passion Route Is The Official Undertale Ending. It just feels like an ideal Ending for undertale, and it feels like undertale. It is a undertale love letter meets the official undertale.

2. Passion, The Major Theme Of Your Game, Is Just Perfect For Undertale Fangame.

2.1/3. The Theme Of Passion Was Very Special To Me. You see, I am on the autism spectrum, and my specific interest is undertale. So, I have a healthy but Strong Passion For Undertale. Seeing a Game Like This Is Very Fullfiling.

3. I already said that I love your art in previous Asks, but you surpassed yourself in this game. From the background, atmosphere, to The characters.

4. The writing is superb, just beautiful and heartfelt.

5. I must ask, If you don't want this ask public, it's okay. But if it is because i mentioned my autism, I must say that, unless you feel uncomfortable, it's okay to post. I am proud to boast my autism.

6. You actually made me empathize with Flowey. He Actually Acts Like Us, And With The Reason of not feeling Alone and wanting to connect with this world, and not wanting to leave this world.

7. I was going to choose Asgore as Final Call, But Azzy Stole The Spot.

8. Love and Admire All Your Works. No Pressure though, Just sending positive vibes in this paragraph.

Again, thank you for everything, And Stay Safe :)

Aaaaaa this is all so nice??? fdbhsafj I can’t come up with a singular paragraph response cause I just wanna say so much, so I’m going to respond to each of these ;w;

1 & 2 - I’m really glad you think so!! I really wanted to try and capture all of the passion I felt playing the game with that route’s ending -- and the game as a whole. It’s funny you call it a love letter, because in my head, Act to Flirt has always been an apology letter for how horrifically I thought of and treated this game when it came out purely due to how much it was shoved down my throat. But after getting a chance to play it, I honestly feel nothing but silly for putting it down so much.

But, with the whole theme of “Determination” being what guides you in Undertale, I always interpretted that to be like, how the reason you do something in video games isn’t because you’re necessarily acting as you would irl. It’s because, since you have no risk of hurting yourself or anyone else actually, it’s an open space, letting you act however you want with no real-life consequence. But when the game takes this for a spin and makes you step back to really bring the game to life and put it in a perspective... it really makes you wonder a lot about your choices more so than you would in any other game.

So, this being a “sequel,” based on timeline events; to Undertale, “Passion” is supposed to encapsule the care and feelings the player still has after they played the game. My main thought process when coming up with this was to sort of “market” the game at the beginning similarly to how Determination was merely shown as a power to you -- it’s just a silly, fun game where you can do whatever you please, directed at those who still feel very close to Undertale and its characters and are constantly looking for new content about it. It’s impossible to cover the bases for every player, and yet the majority of the game is designed around a specific type of player. It’s... risky from a game design standpoint, for sure lol. I genuinely wasn’t sure if anyone would play the game at all. But I’m really glad to see it’s resonated with you so well ;w;

3 & 4 - I’m so glad you think so 😭 this really means a lot aaaa thank you so much;;

I always worry I get a bit too repetitive or weirdly paced sometimes with my writing, since I write almost purely stream-of-consciousness while putting myself directly into the emotions the character I’m writing would be feeling. I struggle writing any other way, aha;;

5 (and 2 1/3 lol) - While I don’t have autism, I do have ADHD and have also always been between various hyperfixations my whole life. I’ve actually been measuring time based on them since I was a kid, and if I didn’t have one at the time of an event, I don’t remember it at all 😅 Fictional characters have always been a very important thing for me to lean on in life -- since, at many points, I didn’t have anybody else to go to. I’ve always wanted to make something with characters that have relatable problems to those learning about them so people can have a something to lean on with a problem they might otherwise feel alone on. And, well, one “problem” that I don’t think I’ve ever really had the chance to write about before is being significantly connected to fictional characters that you can’t meet in real life. With Undertale having the whole concept of “resets” being acknowledged in one form or another by a lot of the characters, and the cast being so wonderfully designed and written already; it made UT an obvious choice for being able to discuss that. It definitely made Sans’s route really fun to write... and I actually started crying a little writing his ending fdbshafjb i’m a mess LMAO

6 & 7 - I’m really glad, honestly!!! I didn’t like Flowey when I first played Undertale (and actually killed him my first playthrough... then again I killed a lot my first playthrough cause I didn’t realize it was optional 😅😅), but after learning more about him, Asriel, and Chara, I really grew to like him! He’s one of my favorite characters now, actually. The moment Asriel was able to start talking about his struggles, I understood him almost instantaneously just because I relate to a lot that he deals with. Asriel’s ending is actually tied for Papyrus’s as my favorite (of the ones I wrote! @alch3mic wrote Undyne’s, Toriel’s, Asgore’s, and Alphys’s ^^), too. So I’m really glad how I wrote him made you like him more as a character ;w;♥

annnnnnnd for 8....... you’re too nice, thank you so much fbdshafb I’m glad you like my works so much!! I really do my best to make things that can really resonate with people, so I’m always both astounded and happy to hear when someone’s been impacted by what I’ve made ;w;/

[bellamyblakru]

Haha, Ashley.......get tissues. That's all. This ask I'm gonna go all out.

Somedays I'm in awe of the fact of how lucky I am to have u in my life, especially when I remember that I originally didn't like u....I originally didn't like anyone lol, but the point is despite that you have become such an important fixture in my life that even if your only offline for like three to two days, I immediately feel down because talking to you is the highlight of my day. Your just a hilarious, witty, chaotic,smart, genius caring, loving and comforting presence in my life. You know how you said I made u believe that you could be the person you wanted to be? Well you did the same for me, because of u I feel like I really am strong and a good person because God knows u remind me of that so much. And each time I want to tell you, that I don't deserve them more than you. I really don't. You just deserve so much, my friend. You deserve everything and more and your an incredible, astounding, amazing, beautiful, awesome, great, terrific, extraordinary person inside and outside. Have I ever told u that I grin like a lunatic whenever u refer to me as sister. That your birthday present and speech made me want to cry with happiness and I was smiling so hard the whole time and I copied it to my own server just so I could read it over and over again. Honestly when u first called u sister, I was sure you were going to be angry or laugh 💀 but...the fact that you feel the same way... hopefully.....well let's just say that was the best surprise of mu life. And currently? One of my biggest fear is losing you, so I really really hope that never happens, because everytime I feel like it has i feel panicked and ready to cry all day and if that doesn't show how important you are to me and how much I love u and can't deal with losing you then I don't know what does. Because you are so so so important to me and I love you so much and don't think I can cope with losing you.

I know I don't know everything about you and I will keep telling you that whatever u tell me, I'm not going anywhere. I'm always gonna be here, because I love you so so much. Like seriously man your my most important person. You are perfect and you are going to change the world. And if u don't want to and just let the world rot I'll support you in that endeavour too 😌😌. Your brilliant and I"m grateful for the fact that you exist and I met you everyday. It's the thing I'm most grateful for, especially because I don't think I could survive life again without you, so please promise to never leave🥺🥺( btw feel free to leave if u ever really need to lol). I love you more than I can ever put into words.

trav why you gotta do this to me on a thursday evening??!!!! im sobbing. like literal tears are falling violently down my face. you see me so much better than i see myself, dude. i love you so much my beautiful and talented sister. im not going anywhere, little one, you must know that by now.

i tell you all the time that you are the bravest person i know—and i mean it. i have never meant so one so young and mature and loving and kind. you have been through some rough shit, and probably will in the future too unfortunately, and if i could, i would take it all. you are brilliant, and you deserve the world. being considered your sister is one of the greatest honors of my life, and ill cherish it for as long as i live🥺❤️

we’ll change the world together then, yeah? no letting it rot on our accord. you, me, my wife @its-hyperfixation, @kandi-pendragon, and @typicalsynopsis. we are like the avengers but with mental illness and self esteem problems. LOL

love u🥺stop making me cry😠

[manabombs]

doing this meme for mr captain jack rackham because I think i’m finally ready to try to articulate my feelings, even if no one asked (i’m sorry this post is so long)

Why I like them:  So... here’s the thing... 

I’m kind of known for dressing like a fancy gay pirate. I’ve made a lot of cosplays over the years, but my pirate outfits are what I’m most infamous for. I met my partner over a decade ago while dressed like a fancy gay pirate. Many of my friends have seen me in pirate outfits more often then they’ve seen me in normal person clothing. Once upon a time I went to art school to study fashion design and I said “yes this is the aesthetic I’m going to cultivate” and now here we are. 

When I first heard that they were making a big budget period drama that was a prequel to Treasure Island, I knew that it was going to be My Next Hyperfixation, long before I had any notion of how much queer representation there would be or even how well-written the show would be. But it took me a couple years to finally feel like I was Emotionally Ready to delve into the series (Sometimes I’m bummed that I missed out on participating in the fandom while the show was actively airing, but I’m also glad that I was able to binge it all in its entirely, because the time waiting between seasons would have made me too crazy). 

And within those first two or three episodes, I saw that greasy rat man with his mullet and his avant garde facial hair choices and whatever the hell was going on with his wardrobe

and I said to myself “wait... Calico Jack... as in, the pirate known for his fashion sense...”

and I had one of those moments where I realized that this character was so much My Type that I was mad at myself for being so predictable. and I questioned some of the life choices that I made that led me to the point that this greasy rat man the sort of character that I immediately knew that I was going to fall in love with.

But that was only the beginning, because as I watched more of the series, I related to him more and more-- I think it was mannerisms at first, and things like “having to explain the vocabulary you just used to your coworkers” and “I would also like Anne Bonny to be my wife”, but gradually I began to relate to him for increasingly personal reasons. I first watched Black Sails after I had gone through a particularly rough couple years, and the catharsis of watching Jack go from “they pissed on me” to being the character who is ultimately victorious over the series’ main antagonist was an emotionally intense experience. I was already projecting on him by the time that he delivered the “great art has felled empires” monologue, which was the moment I knew that I was deeply invested in this character, and he hadn’t even started showing off his best looks yet. There are, of course, moments where his actions are... morally dubious, but even those instances just managed to make me more attached to him, because I respect the hell out of how well the writers succeeded in making him such a well-developed character. 

By the end of the series I realized that I related to this character on an intensely personal level, in a way that I haven’t connected with a fictional character in years, except it felt more profound than the times I’ve connected with fictional characters in the past because this time I was an Adult with a deeper understanding of the Self. I don’t want to sound like a soulbonder or a kinnie or whatever the kids are calling it these days but it really felt like this:

tl;dr I came for the wardrobe and stayed for the waxing about art philosophy and historiography

Why I don’t: ... undermining the revolution wasn’t great...

Favorite episode: I’m a big fan of 2.06 because... you know...

but also because we had to wait 14 episodes to see this pirate on a fuckin boat

Favorite season: Season three features so many of my favorite tropes it feels unreal... Jack and Charles as co-captains sharing authority and declaring their undying loyalty to each other... the way he goes full dandy the moment he has money to burn... Jack has to gain the approval of his judgmental father-in-law... his homoerotic rivalry with Rogers... getting arrested and then rescued by his significant others in the most dramatic way possible... I choose to believe that there was a brief, shining moment right before the beginning of season 3 where Jack was able to just chill and be optimistic about the future and bask in Charles Vane’s approval amidst his pile of gold and new wardrobe while Anne and Max were off doing lesbian stuff...

Favorite line: “It’s the art that leaves the mark, but to leave it, it must transcend, it must speak for itself, it must be true,” I mutter to myself as I draw vampire pirates at 1am

Favorite outfit: oof what a question...

This look is probably my overall favorite and there’s a good reason why it’s the outfit he’s wearing for the final climactic battle. He has so many amazing coats, but the details on this one make it my favorite, and I also love that gradient scarf and the pink embroidered shirt. The color and pattern mixing here is impeccable. It makes me appreciate his hot mess of a wardrobe in the first season more, seeing how his first outfit just looks like plain boring muslin and then more color & patterns gradually get introduced.

This is my runner-up just because I love the shade of blue and the prince charming vibes that are happening here, so I’m sad that we only saw this look for like 3 seconds.

OTP: I can’t remember the last time I cared about a ship as much as I care about VaneRackham.... sometimes I get mad that they succeeded in making me have these Feelings about fictional characters... I watched a show with multiple canon gay relationships and ended up fixating on the queerbait white man ship where one of the characters dies, because I have questionable taste and I love making myself suffer. 😩

Brotp: Jack and Max’s relationship means so much to me 💕

Head Canon: This might be me projecting, but because of his background in textiles I headcanon that Jack was more competent at sewing than anyone else on the Ranger and that skill came in incredibly useful on more than one occasion. The fancy coats that we see him wearing in seasons 3 & 4 most likely would have been custom tailored specifically for him, but I imagine that all of his earlier ones were acquired secondhand (one way or another) and he sometimes did patching/adjustments on them himself.

Unpopular opinion: I respect the artistic liberties that were taken with his character design, but he should have been allowed to wear some silk stockings and show off his calves at least once tbh

A wish: Obviously my #1 wish is that Jack and Charles had been permitted to kiss, but I also wish that we had been able to see them on a ship together clearly I have no choice but to assume that whenever they were on a ship together there was lots of kissing going on An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: man it would sure suck if Jack was executed for piracy within like three years of the series finale 5 words to best describe them: this adam ant looking motherfucker

My nickname for them: my guy/my dude

[moon-in-daylight]

Save you (Part 1) / Dhawan!Master x reader

Summary: Traveling with The Doctor had shown you incredible things: The existence of extraterrestrial live, the possibility of time travel and the most beautiful and remote places you could have ever imagine... But being with her had also made you develop some strong values. To be kind and always help those in need. But would you be up to help The Master now that he is the one who needs to be saved?

Words: 9112

Warnings: Blood, near death situations, smut (in future chapters).

Note: Since I’m isolated at home with an hyperfixation on Dhawan!Master, I decided to write my first fanfiction in like 4 or 5 years. I thought I might share it in case someone is in the same situation as I am and has nothing better to do than reading it (please, stay at home). It’s the first time I write in awhile and English is not my first lenguage, so sorry if this sucks.

What’s written in italics are the reader’s memories.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Gallifrey wasn’t how you had imagined it would be. At least, its current state wasn’t.

When The Doctor talked about her home planet –not that she really had lately, but she had told you about it sometime, especially when you had asked her about the Time War–, she always talked about the golden skies and the two suns shining above. It had always made you curious, to visit the place that had watched your friend grow up. But looking around you, you realized why she hadn’t brought you and the fam to visit what was left of it.

You were rushing through the ruins of what had been one of the most powerful civilizations in the universe, followed closely behind by Ko Sharmus, who had a rough time keeping up with your speed. The others had tried to stop you both from getting out of the TARDIS that The Doctor had prepared to take you home, but nothing they could say or do could have made you stay. You couldn’t leave that planet knowing that The Doctor was sacrificing herself and that you would never be able to see her again. You would never be able to forgive yourself if you did nothing about it, if you just stood aside. That wasn’t you.

“You may have made me but I have destroyed you…” As you got closer to the Matrix, you could hear The Master’s voice getting louder. You tried to follow that sound “Become death, become…” Breathless, you stood in the room, every ‘Cybermaster’ pointing their weapons at you while The Master focused his attention on your being before finishing what he was saying. “Me…”

Interlocking your stare with his sent a shiver down your spine. You hadn’t seen him in a few months, you never thought you would again after your last encounter, when the Kaasavin took him away. But there he was, right in front of you in the planet he had threated to pieces. Looking at him now, it was almost impossible to believe that he was the same person that had introduced himself as O so long ago.

The Doctor, seeing her childhood friend’s reaction, turned to see you. “Y/N! You shouldn’t be here!” She reprimanded as you looked behind you in search for Ko Sharmus, who you supposed must had gotten lost. “You can’t still be here I set the controls!”

“I followed you outside, I couldn’t let you do this on your own!” You quickly responded as you watched The Master approaching you, a slight smirk forming on his face. You didn’t have to be genius to judge by his reaction that he was scheming something.

“I believe we agreed on no party crashers.” Grabbing you by your arm and dragging you to the center of the room with him, he laughed. “But this might be interesting.” His eyes looked at you and then at The Doctor as he tightened his grip on you. “Will you be able to sacrifice your loyal, little pet, Doctor?”

The Doctor’s eyes looked at you in despair. One thing was sacrificing herself and the apocalyptic remains of her planet for the well–being of the universe, but you being in the middle of it made things infinitely harder.

“Just do it, Doc.” You tried to encourage her as she held the bomb in her hands, pointing it to the Master. “It’s okay, I chose to stand by you.” Looking at you in the eye, The Doctor lowered her arm, putting her finger away from the detonator of the weapon that would end all organic life on her home planet.

“For just a moment there I thought maybe…” The Master looked away from his oldest enemy, frustrated at the turn of events. He sighed loudly before speaking again, now talking to you. “She’s weak.” He informed you, leaning over to your ear. “And the universe and you both are going to suffer for her weakness. I can promise you that.”

You gave an apologetic look at your friend, still hoping that she found the courage enough to press the button and end this madness once and for all.

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” Ko Sharmus finally intervened, getting in the room as well and walking towards The Doctor.

“Excuse me, are there going to be any more surprises?” The Master asked rhetorically into your ear, his heavy breathing hitting the skin on your neck and making you feel quite unsettled.

“Why won’t anyone listen to me?!” The Doctor questioned in frustration. “I told you all to leave!”

“I wanted to make sure these things are gone. And now I can be.”

“No!” The old man tried to grab the device that The Doctor still had in between her hands, even though he tried to persuade him out of his intentions.

“You didn’t start this, I did!” Ko Sharmus began to explain to The Doctor how he was part of the team that had tried to get rid of the Cyberium by sending it back though time, getting the calculus wrong and not sending it far enough. You swallowed the lump in your throat when you realized he wanted to take The Doctor’s place. “This is my penance. Mine to finish…”

You unconsciously sighed in relief as you watched The Doctor give the bomb back to his owner, glad to know that, at least, she got the chance to get out of there. You, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be that lucky. The Master was still holding you close to him, with no intention of letting you go.

“It isn’t going to be that easy, Doctor.” The Master intervened, rage filling his tone once again. “I still have her, and she’s not going anywhere. I die and she dies with me.” He stated, as serious as you had ever heard him. He had nothing left to lose.

“You can have me.” The Doctor was quick to say, trying to find a way for you to get out of this one. “This is between you and me, let her go and I’ll take her place.”

“Tempting, but I think I’ll pass. You can still stay and die by her side if you want to.” He laughed again. You took a deep breathe, trying to find the right words to say.

“Just go, Doctor.” You told her, no trace of hesitation in your voice. “This was my choice. I was the one who ran away from the TARDIS when you told me not to. Don’t blame yourself, it’s my fault.”

“Look at that, isn’t it moving?” The Master mocked you both. “She’s dying because of you and she doesn’t even blame you for it, Doctor. I don’t know if that’s sad or pathetic.”

“Don’t listen to him! Just run!” You tried to convince her to do as you said. “Yaz, Graham and Ryan still need you! The universe still needs you!” Tears began to form in your friend’s eyes

“I’m so, so sorry, Y/N.” She told you sincerely before running off.

“Doctor!” The Master shouted in frustration, his grip around you getting even tighter than before, making you squirm a little.

“Still feeling confident?” Ko Sharmus asked the remaining Time Lord in the room, getting ready to push the button and end it all.

The Master looked at the human in front of him defiantly, furious because his plan had been turned apart once again. You took a deep breath as you did your best to accept your final destiny.

There are always risks when travelling with The Doctor, you weren’t the first one to face the consequences. And you weren’t oblivious to them when you first stood a foot in the TARDIS. Death is always imminent when you live that kind of life, it had been several times that you had found yourself in deathly situations. Luckily, you had escaped from them all except for, of course, this one. Yet, you were copping surprisingly good with it. There wasn’t much left for you on earth anyway, you thought, and you had live a deeply intense and remarkable life. The things you had seen, the places you had been… You wished you had time to achieve more things, but maybe it was time. Maybe this was how it was meant to be.

“Kill him.” The sound of The Master giving the order to his army got you out of your own thoughts.

“Kill you first.” The old man threatened as dozens of lasers were shot against him.

Watching your ally struggle to keep himself from falling to the ground and taking advantage of The Master’s distraction, you set yourself free from his grip. You needed to be quick to grab the bomb from Ko Sharmus's hands as he fell dead to the floor. He had failed to complete the task again, and you couldn’t let the Time Lord and his monstrous creation get out of the planet. It would be the first, and most certainly last time that you kill someone, but you owed it to The Doctor. One final sacrifice to save your beloved universe. It needed to be done, even though you didn’t want to.

Just when you were about to grab the device from the old man’s apparently dead body, you realized your mistake. Ko Sharmus was still alive and his finger was barely a second away from making disappear all life from Gallifrey. In what you thought were your last moments, you turned to see The Master’s reaction, seeing him manipulating a watch–like device that was on his wrist. Just in time before the bomb detonated, he grabbed your arm, teleporting you both away from that room.

Out of nowhere, you found yourself inside of O’s house. Well, it wasn't really a house, and O didn't exist. You already knew that it was in fact The Master's TARDIS, but it was still hard to process. It took a moment for you to realize that you were in fact alive while the Master ran to the console and began to introduce some coordinates.

“We’re still on Gallifrey.” He clarified as he rushed himself to get his ship out of there. You weren’t really sure if he was talking to you or to himself. “There’s only a few seconds left before the expansive wave gets here.”

You watched him in confusion, still trying to figure out what had just happened. You were supposed to be dead. Not that you weren’t glad not to be. But out of all people, The Master was the last one you imagined would get you out of that situation. He was the one to put you in danger in the first place. What sense did it made?

Standing there, you watched in shock as he successfully got his ship into the time vortex. Once you were certain that you were out of danger, you decided to open your mouth again. “Why did you do that?” You asked him, a deep feeling of confusion taking over you.

“Do what?” The Master asked you back as he tried to decide when and where to go.

“You saved me.” Your voice was low as you did your best for both of you to remain calmed. The last thing you needed after escaping a certain death was to get yourself killed by an angry alien psychopath.

“I didn’t save you.” He was quick to correct you in his usual, cynic tone. “I saved myself and you just happened to be there. Do I look like a dog walker or something? I don’t take care of other people’s pets.”

You stayed silent as he worked. He wasn’t exactly easy to talk to, and you didn’t want to push him with noisy questions. Instead, you decided to celebrate the fact that you were alive by sitting on a chair and taking the deep breath that you had been holding for the last several hours. You weren’t completely out of danger, you were still in The Master’s ship. But for some reason he had decided you were more valuable alive than dead, you only hoped he wouldn’t suddenly change his mind.

Still trying to process everything that had happened in the last minutes, you realized The Doctor didn’t have a clue that you were still alive. You needed to get back to her, but that seemed a bit difficult at the moment. Eyeing The Master and seeing that he was busy controlling his ship, you reached for your phone only to find that the screen was shattered and that it didn’t even turn on. It must had had broke when you fell while running from the Cybermen earlier. Now it was useless. Wasn’t that just perfect?

There was no way to reach any of your friends and inform them of your situation, so you supposed you should focus on getting out of there as soon as possible and find your way back to them. The only problem was that you had no idea of where or when The Master was taking you.

“Why am I still inside your TARDIS?” Deep in thought, you asked in a low tone. Unluckily, not low enough so that he could’t hear you.

“You can throw yourself into the time vortex for all I care” He replied bitterly. Well, even more bitterly than usual. “Just make sure to close the door behind you.”

You weren’t really sure of how travelling in time worked, but you were pretty sure that wouldn’t survive if you just jumped out of the ship now, so you supposed you were stuck there. After a few silent minutes in which you tried to figure the situation out, you decided to dig a bit more into his intentions. He had had several opportunities to kill you, so if you were still alive was because for some reason he intended on keeping in that way.

Your eyes were glued to him as he read the screen in front of him. “Why did you take me out of Gallifrey?” You finally inquired again, your voice more confident than before.

“Would you have rather staying there?” The Master took a few seconds before answering your question, doing his best to keep himself calmed.

“I’m just trying to understand why I’m still alive. That’s all.”

The Master turned to you, his eyes furious as he quickly walked towards you and grabbed you by the throat. You gasped for air as he got you up from the chair, his face a few inches away from yours. “If that causes you any problem…” He stopped before he could finish the sentence, his eyes closing as he let out a groan from pain. As you observed him closely, you realized that his skin was extremely pale and that there was some cold sweat forming on his forehead. His grip on you was also weaker than you had expected it would be. “…I can fix that.”

His gaze was upon you for a few more seconds before letting you go. You coughed a few times as you tried to regain your composure. Don’t mess around with the sociopath alien, lesson learned. The Master walked back to the console and tried to get back to work, but you could see how tired he was.

“Are you feeling okay?” The Master could sense the worried tone in your voice. He didn’t even look back at you, ignoring you completely as he pulled a lever.

In a matter of seconds the ship had successfully landed, even though you had barely noticed it. The Master was a better pilot, his manoeuvres way smoother than The Doctor’s. You had to admit him that.

“Where are we?” You asked in fear of whatever you could find at the other side of the door. Probably it was best not to know, just by picturing all the kind of sick, doomed places his twisted mind could have chosen to take you to.

Almost as if you weren’t there, he kept messing around with the controls of the TARDIS. “Why don’t you go out there and figure it out instead of making stupid questions?” He spat, once again giving you the less possible amount of attention.

That wasn’t really encouraging, to say the least. But you had to admit curiosity was too much to bear. You had tons of questions and an answer waiting for you at the other side of the TARDIS’s doors. Was it worth to take risk? You took risks every day just by travelling with The Doctor, but you could feel the chances of getting into trouble multiply just by having the company of The Master instead. Taking a deep breath, you carefully walked to the front door. Your hand rested on it for a few seconds before you finally open it up to reveal your surroundings.

Surprise took over you when you recognized the place where the ship had landed. You had been there before, some time ago. The Master had landed in Australia, where he was when you first had met him as he was pretending to be O, an agent from MI6.

The Doctor’s voice could be heard even from outside of her console room as she rambled about something you didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t unusual to find her talking to herself, so you weren’t bothered by it until you entered into the room and heard another voice replying to her.

You hesitated for a few seconds before getting closer to where she was standing, realizing she was on a video call with someone.

“Y/N, hey!” She greeted you when she noticed your presence, turning to you with a wide smile spread on her face. “Come here, I want to introduce you to someone.”

“I thought you were rambling on your own again.” You laughed as you walked towards your friend, placing yourself next to her in front of the screen. “Who are you talking to?”

“Y/N, this is my friend from MI6, O” The Doctor introduced you as you gave the man a polite smile and a little wave.

“Nice finally meeting you.” He waved back as you observed him. He was a fairly good looking man with big dark eyes. “The Doctor talks so much about you.”

“Does she now?” You laughed, trying to hide your embarrassment. “I’m not really interesting, especially comparing myself to her. Hope she doesn’t bore you much.”

“No, I have a great time hearing about your adventures.” O smiled as he gave you a reassuring look. “According to what The Doctor says you have saved her more than once.”

You grinned nervously as you placed a piece of hair behind your ear. “Well, I should leave you two to keep catching up. Didn’t mean to interrupt you.” You shrugged, feeling bad for crashing their conversation.

“Oh, don’t worry.” The agent told you. “We were already saying goodbye.”

“Yeah, O is working on a case at the moment.” The Doctor clarified. “See you around!” She happily put an end to the call. It was only you and her in the TARDIS now.

“So…” You sighed, thinking of the best way to ask what was on your mind without looking suspicious. You had liked him, but first you wanted to know if there was anything going on between the two of them. “What is the deal with this O? How did you two meet?”

“We met some years back.” Your alien friend explained as she wandered around the console room. “He really is into studying every alien thing that crosses his path.”

“Why isn’t he travelling with us then?” The Doctor turned to you as you asked. You had never heard her talking about O before, so maybe there was a reason why she didn’t want him in the TARDIS. “He seems like a nice guy, he would enjoy this kind of life.”

“He does an extremely important job on earth.” She clarified. Both Torchwood and Unit were now gone, so knowing that there was still O left working for MI6 made her feel more secure. If any alien being attacked Earth while she was away, he would still be there to try and stop them. “Maybe some day we can take him on an adventure. Now, how about we go get the rest of the fam and go somewhere?”

You smiled at her while you nodded your head, still thinking about O. There was no denying you had taking a like on him, even though the Doctor was too much of a dork to notice. It wasn’t nothing serious, just a dumb crush, but you were hoping on seeing him again sometime. Preferably in person next time.

“Have you ever been to Barcelona?” The Doctor got you out of your thoughts. “Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. Do you fancy a trip there?”

The sun was setting just now. If you started walking, you would get to the closest population in a couple of hours. Luckily, you could get into a plane in the morning and be back to London by the end of the next day. You were free to go home, to go back to your fam. But since The Master was the one that had taken you back to Earth, you supposed things weren’t as simple as they seemed. There had to be a trick. There’s always a trick with him. He wouldn’t make it that easy, would he?

After taking a moment to admire the beauty of your own planet, you decided to head back inside of the TARDIS. Probably The Master would dismiss every single one of your questions, just like he had been doing, but you couldn’t leave without trying one last time. You would always be wondering why he had helped you if you left now. Curiosity was going to be the death of you.

Confusion stricken you again when you didn’t see The Master around the console. You were beginning to think that he was setting you a trap when you spotted him lying on the floor, passed out.

“Master!” You kneeled beside him, shaking his body slightly in an attempt to wake him up.

Nothing you did made him move a muscle. Worried, you placed a hand on his forehead just to find that his skin was practically burning. His breathing and heartbeats were also way slower compared to what you supposed was normal. If he did in fact had two hearts his pulse should be way more intense, or so you supposed.

Being as careful as you possibly could, you dragged The Master to the closest piece of furniture. Not without some complications, you laid him on the couch and observed him, in hopes for him to make any kind of reaction. There was always the possibility that he was messing with you. That this was a part of some bigger scheme and that you were falling straight for it. But you knew that, if by any remote chance this was real and you walked away, leaving him there on his own, you would never be able to forgive yourself. Sure, he most likely wouldn’t do the same for you, but you weren't the type to run away when help was needed.

Besides, he had indeed saved you from Gallifrey, even if you didn’t know the real reason behind it. In a way, you felt like you owed him.

The only thing was, you didn’t exactly have a medical degree. You knew the basic things to keep yourself alive, and that was practically it. Also, you weren’t even sure if that knowledge could be applied to the Time Lord’s biology. Were they even able to get the flu? Is that what it was? A flu? It seemed kind of dumb to think that a race like the Time Lords, one of the most powerful ones in the universe, could pass out because of a simple cold. Yet, the symptoms were cold–like. High fever, cold sweat…

But you had never seen The Doctor getting ill. Until that moment, you had thought it was impossible for them to get a minor illness. If only she was there with you, maybe she could do something to help him get better. Or, at least, diagnose him. You, on the other hand, had no idea on what you should do.

Looking around, you laid your eyes on the console. It wasn’t a exact copy of the Doctor’s console, the decoration was extremely different, but you could still see that some of the controls were practically the same as hers. You remembered that there was a telephone somewhere in there. She used it sometimes to call the fam. Maybe you could use it to reach her, to let her know that you were okay and inform her of the situation you had in hands.

Maybe she wouldn’t want to help The Master, and you couldn’t blame her if that was the case. Their relationship wasn’t exactly at its peak right now, but it was worth the try.

You were about to get up and walk to the console when you found a blanket lying in the back of a chair. After putting it carefully over The Master, you finally made your way to the console. Sadly, the TARDIS wasn’t exactly human user friendly and the more you looked at the confusing buttons and levers, the more you wished for a ‘How to fly a TARDIS for dummies’ book to exist. As soon as you could be reunited with The Doctor you were going to ask her to teach how to use the damn thing.

Just when you were making your fourth or fifth walk around the console, you found a phone hidden right under it. You took it out of its shelf and dusted it off. Good, you had found a way to reach to her, now the problem was that you didn’t know her number by heart. You closed your eyes as you tried to remember the damn number. You had no luck with it, but you did remember something equally useful.

The TARDIS was a living being herself. She was able to communicate with their occupants as well as just change her interiors at her will.

“Please, help me find The Doctor.” You muttered, looking at the center of her console, begging. “I know she can help The Master. Do it for him. Please.”

A few seconds passed before the TARDIS hummed at you. You supposed it was a friendly interaction, since the phone immediately started to dial. Sighing in relieve, you waited for her to pick up at the other side. The seconds passed. Nothing. No answer.

“Can you please try again?” You politely asked once more.

“What are you still doing here?” His voice sounded weak, yet menacing, when he woke up and found you on his ship. You turned to him and observed him carefully. He clearly wasn’t going through his best moment.

“You passed out.” You clarified.

“That’s not what I asked.” He tried to get up, but he only got enough strength to sit on the couch. He was doing his best to try and keep his balance, but his headache wasn’t helping at all. “I brought you back to Earth, why haven’t you left yet?”

“It looks like you need some help, so I thought I would try–“

As soon as The Master saw you holding his phone, he cut you off. “What are you doing with that?”

“I was trying to call The Doctor, I thought maybe she could help.” You tried to justify yourself, but he didn’t seem very pleased with your answer.

“Don’t you even think of getting her here.” The Master angrily hissed, grabbing onto his side in pain.

You let go of the phone that was still in your hands, worried about his state. You should have imagined that he would have rather die than let The Doctor help him.

“Ok, I won’t call her.” You assured him, noticing that his skin was even paler than before. You had never thought you would see him in that state. So weakened, so defenseless. You almost felt pity for him. “But please, let me help you.”

“Help me?” He mocked you with a quiet laugh. Not even in the state he was he could stop being his cynical self. “You are just a pitiful human. You can’t help me.”

“Let me try.” You insisted. Most people would have given up on him by now, plus you knew your efforts wouldn’t have a reward. He wasn’t the grateful type, that was for sure, but you weren’t planning on letting him die on his own. No one deserved that. Not even him. “What is happening to you?” You asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Are we playing doctors now?” As The Master talked, he could feel the strength leaving his body. It was obvious that his sarcastic answer hadn’t pleased you, judging by the look you gave him. He was doomed anyway, so he decided he might as well keep himself entertained by watching you fail over and over in the attempt of finding a cure for him. “It’s the Cyberium.” He told you.

“What?” You asked in confusion. “What do you mean the Cyberium?”

“As you already know, its last host had gotten a bit… Indisposed.” He let out with a proud smirk, referring to how he had turned the half–converted Cyberman into a tiny doll. “So I kindly offered myself as its new host.”

“That thing almost kills Shelley.” You thought out loud, remembering one of your most recent adventures with The Doctor.

“Because you humans are weak.” He really didn’t pass on a chance to remind you that, did he? “It holds too much information for you to handle. No wonder his mind was melting.”

“To be fair, it looks like you’re also having a rough time handling it.” His eyes gave you one of the coldest stares you had ever received when you stated that.

“It’s not the same.” He assured, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. You supposed that was a good sign, one that showed that he was feeling slightly better. “I am more than capable of holding all its knowledge within me. And believe me, it does have some really interesting ideas.”

“Then why is it making you ill?” You questioned, already trying to think of something that could help him. So far, he wasn’t exactly making things easy for you. “Can’t you just regenerate and heal yourself?”

“I believe the Cyberium is quite disappointed that you and your beloved Doctor have blown our plans.” The Master explained, getting up from where he was sitting and walking to you. His moves were slow and clumsy as he dragged himself to the console. Once he reached his destination, he took a deep breathe to try and regain composure before answering your other question. “It is inside me and it doesn’t have the intention to leave until I’m dead. It wouldn’t let me regenerate. It’s trying to punish me for losing our whole army to that little bomb you and your friends exploded.”

“There’s got to be a way to get it out,” The Master laughed at your words as he placed himself in front of the screen of the console, reading something you couldn’t understand because it was written in Gallifreyan. “a way to get rid of it.”

“That’s exactly what I thought about you, yet here we are.” He sassily responded, not even looking back at you.

“At least I’m trying to think of something.” His attitude was beginning to irritate you. You couldn’t hold back a sigh.

The way he turned to you with eyes full of rage caused you to intuitively jump back. “Well, you shouldn’t force yourself that hard. We don’t want you burning out the one brain cell you have left.”

You crossed your arms in frustration, ready to put up a fight. But when you were just about to ramble back against him, you realized what he was doing, what he always did. He was trying to push you away. It was the oldest trick in the book. Maybe he thought he was better off dealing with this situation alone, or maybe he really thought you were in fact useless. Either way, you had already invested yourself in finding a cure for him. And even if he didn’t want your help, you still knew you could be useful. You were totally on board now.

“I know what you’re doing.” He ignored you when you finally talked again. “You can try all you want, but I’m not leaving. You’re going to have to put up with me.”

The Master watched you as you left the console room and got deeper into the TARDIS, looking for the library so you could make some research on the Cyberium. He was right about you being a complete pain in the ass, but maybe he had underestimated you.

By the time one of your adventures finally had you involved with the MI6, you had completely forgotten about O’s existence. You hadn’t heard a word about him since that time he was video calling The Doctor. But it was normal. The Doctor wasn’t much of an open book, she didn’t usually talk about her past or about her other friendships, and you had learned not to ask. It was no surprise that she didn’t talk you about him.

Besides, you were too busy visiting other planets on a daily basis, you didn’t exactly have time to think about the handsome stranger you had talked to once through a screen. You hadn’t even met him in person.

It wasn’t until The Doctor mentioned him to another agent called C that he popped back into your head.

Apparently, O had had a fall out with the rest of MI6 and was working from an unknown location. Well, unknown to his fellow agents. The Doctor just sent him a voice message and in a few seconds she got back a picture… Of a fish? As weird as it was you had to admit you had seen way weirder things with her.

Agent C was giving you more information on the case he was assigning you when he suddenly got shot by a sniper.

You and the rest of your friends were quick to run to the TARDIS, being as fast as you could on your escape. If someone had murdered one of the leaders of MI6 just like that, you sure were an easy target. When you all got inside of the safety of The Doctor’s ship, she started to process that picture of a fish she had showed you earlier. As it turned out, the picture was in fact a coded message. Some coordinates, actually.

But there was another concern hunting you and your friends right know. An antropomorphic figure made of light was trying to get into the TARDIS, and not even The Doctor knew what it was. Luckily, she did know how to get temporally rid of it. After doing so, she started to organize you all, sending Yaz and Ryan to investigate Daniel Barton, CEO of VOR and taking you and Graham with her to meet O.

Well, this day was getting more and more interesting.

In just a few seconds after dropping your friends in San Francisco, you were in Australia. Following right behind The Doctor, you just looked around you, seeing that you were in the middle of the desert. And right in front of you was O, with two other agents. He was shorter than you had imagined him, but still quite attractive.

“I see you decoded the fish.” He greeted your friend with a smile, which she returned. “Fancy a cuppa?”

“Very much.” The Doctor gladly accepted his proposal. “Hello! This is my friend Graham, and I believe you already know Y/N.”

“O.” He introduced himself to Graham while politely shaking his hand.

“Sorry, you’re…?”

“O.” The agent repeated several times until Graham figured out that ‘O’ was in fact his name. “It was… A joke, by the others at MI6.” He began to explain. “Whenever I came into the room to meet C, he’d go ‘Oh God…’” You laughed at his anecdote while shaking his hand. “It sort of stuck and now I’ve owned it.” He smiled at you as he finished telling his story.

He then proceeded to introduce the two agents from the Australian secret service that were with him, but The Doctor didn’t seem really interested in them. “Can I take a nose around your gaff?” She asked and took off without even giving O time to answer. Graham followed her closely.

“Is she always that spontaneous?” He asked you.

“You get used to it.” You assured him in response as you watched your friend get inside of the house. Both you and O started to make your way inside too. “It’s nice finally meeting you in person.”

“You too.” O dedicated you a warm smile.

“I wish we met under better circumstances though.” You added, nervously putting some hair behind your ear. “You know, one in which aliens weren’t threatening to end the world as we know it.”

“Well, you’ve got to admit there’s some thrill about this whole situation.” He said, looking in your direction.

“That’s true.” Your smile grew bigger. “But there always is when you travel with The Doctor.”

“How so?” He raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Things tend to get chaotic real quick.”

“And is that a bad thing?” You saw him smiling at you and looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Not necessarily.” You shrugged. “I kind of like chaotic.”

“It must be really interesting travelling with The Doctor.” O pointed out with the biggest smile on his face. “Maybe you could tell me about your adventures with her sometime.”

“Sure, as long as you tell me a few stories about your work on MI6.” As you both reached the door of his house, he opened it, letting you go first.”

“Oh, I mainly worked as an analyst.” He clarified. “But if you’re still interested I can show you some of my work.” You gave him a kind smile as you nodded, truly interested about his work. “Would you also like a cup of tea?”

As crazy as it seemed, The Masters’ TARDIS liked you. Well, you supposed she did. Maybe she just wanted you to figure out a way to cure The Master, your weren’t really sure. The point was that she was being very helpful, in opposition to the Time Lord.

While she helped you find The Master’s library and even created a room for you to rest in, The Master spent every waken second trying to push you over the limit, to make you give up. He didn’t have the slightest hope that you could find a way to help him. Mainly because not even he could find a cure for himself, so he knew there was no way you could come up with a realistic, practical solution.

If he couldn’t think of anything to get out of that situation, no one could. No stupid human pet of The Doctor’s could be able to outsmart him. He would rather die than to see that happen. And it was most likely to end that way.

Yet, nothing he could do or say seemed to persuade you to drop everything and leave. And it was not because he wasn’t trying. With the little strength he still had, he tried to torment you time and time again. Maybe if he had been in a better state, he could have gotten you to leave, but he barely could stand on his feet for more than a few minutes and you didn’t seemed to be bother at all by him.

Soon, The Master had fallen asleep again. The Cyberium could end him instantly, but it had chosen to torture him, to give him a slow and painful death. You thanked the quietness that his nearly coma state brought as you finally put yourself to study. You needed to know what the Cyberium was exactly, how it had been created, and most importantly, how to kill it without hurting its host.

Unluckily for you, the history of the Cybermen was surprisingly wide and the Cyberium was described more like an urban legend than something real. According to the only paragraph that talked about it, the Cyberium was the essence of all the cyberknowledge personified and the Cyberman that hosted it would be the one that lead its race to the total control of the universe.

“You must be the most irritating human to ever exist.” You heard The Master’s voice as he did his best to keep himself awake, the Cyberium attacking every cell of his body. You kept reading, ignoring him completely as you waited for him to fall asleep again. You had learned that that was the best way to deal with him. “No wonder The Doctor left you to die on Gallifrey.”

Those words hit closer than they should have.

“I told her to.” Without looking away from the book in your hands, you reminded him.

“It’s true.” He admitted, turning his head to you. “But she didn’t put much of a resistance, did she? You just told her to leave and she did.” The Master sadistically laughed. “If you ask me, she was taking an enormous weight off of her shoulders. And she was well aware of it.”

You could feel tears forming in your eyes as he spoke, but you did your best not to give him the reaction he was looking for. The Master was playing tricks with you and you couldn’t let yourself fall for them.

“I mean, she didn’t hesitate to leave you not only to die, but to die with me,” He continued, pushing harder. “knowing what I am capable of.”

“Are you capable of shutting up?” Your voice came out showing you more vulnerable than you would have wanted to sound.

“You don’t know The Doctor like I do.” He laughed again, even though it made every muscle on his body ache. “Not even she knows herself like I do. You were a burden. You had been for a long time, but she didn’t know how to get rid of you. Guess I made her a favor.” The Master observed you closely, waiting for you to finally melt down. “I know you felt it too. You were dispensable. The weakest link. That’s why it was so easy for me to approach to you as O.” You instantly stood up, closing the book with a loud noise and wiping away the few tears that were running down your face. “I didn’t have to do anything, and you were at my feet. You would have done anything I would have asked you to, wouldn’t you?”

“Shut up.” You demanded, taking your things and making your way to the interior of the TARDIS.

“Where are you going?” The Master asked when he saw you taking the book with you. He was hoping he had finally pushed you hard enough for you to leave, but apparently not.

“Somewhere where I can work in silence.” You held the book close to your chest, The Master sighing at your relentless attitude.

“Why won’t you give up?” He asked, his voice making you stop instantly in the place you were standing. “What do I have to do for you to leave me alone?”

“I don’t give up.” You simply said after swallowing the lump in your throat. “There’s only two things you can do to get rid of me, you either get better or you die. Whatever happens first.”

“I should have left you on Gallifrey.” His eyes were full of hate as he watched you clean your tears away. Human emotions were absolutely pathetic.

“Well, maybe you should have.”

“You know if I were in your position and you were the one dying, I would kill you myself.” His breathing was heavy, getting more upset by moments.

“I’m not you.” You reminded him. “The Doctor taught me to never give up and to help those in need, no matter what. Even if it’s you the one that needs help.” Your fingers dug on the book’s cover as you tried to relieve some tension. “I’m not doing this for you, and not even for her. I’m doing this for me, because these are my values.” You were about to leave the console room when you stopped again and looked The Master in the eye. “By the way, you have had several opportunities to kill me today and if I recall it correctly, all you did was get me out of the dying ruins of your home planet and bring me back to mine safe and sound. If you really mean to kill me, you’re doing a terrible job at it.”

The Master smiled as he watched you finally leave the control room. He didn’t know you had that in you.

The sun was rising outside and you had barely had a few hours of sleep.

It had been a crazy night, and not the good kind of crazy. It wasn’t every night that you were attacked by creatures made of light, you got to trap one to study them and then Yaz switched places with it. The Doctor was still trying to understand what they were and what they wanted, or how had they brought Yaz all the way from San Francisco to Australia in the blink of an eye. It had been a long night that had created more questions and given you no answers.

You had been talking to Yaz for a while, trying to be there for her as she told you about the place those creatures had taken her to. She seemed quite unsettled and, sadly, you couldn’t do much to calm her down. After a little chat with her on the front porch of O’s house, you decided to leave her some space and get back inside.

“Good morning.” You heard O’s voice coming from his little kitchen as he made some tea. “Want some?”

“Morning, and yes please.” You sat close to him, rubbing your eyes as a yawn escaped your lips. “I could really use one cup of tea now.”

“Did you get any sleep at all?” He asked in a worried tone as he poured some water to boil.

“Like an hour or two.” You held your head between your hands, elbows on the wooden table, as you did your best to stay awake. You raised your look to him, worried about him. O wasn’t used to all this craziness, so you couldn’t imagined what that night had been like for him. “How about you?”

“About the same.” O sat across from you while he waited for the water to start boiling. “Is your friend okay?”

“She will be.” You assured. “She’s one of the strongest people I know.”

“And how are you?” That question caught you by surprise.

“I’m holding up.” He looked at you with sympathetic eyes as he heard your answer. “I have seen a lot of things, but never something like these creatures.”

“That makes two of us, if it’s any consolation.” O said with a kind smile. “Apart from The Doctor, this is the first time that I see extraterrestrial live right in front of my own eyes.”

“It’s a bit crazy, isn’t it? Everyone denying the possibility of life on other planets when there’s actually so many species you can’t even know them all.” You sighed, immersed in your own thoughts. “For all we know, human race could have come from out of space too.”

“I’ve been gathering alien evidence half of my life.” He told you, looking at you in the eye. “And everyone treated me like I was crazy.”

“3 years ago I would have probably treated you like that too.” You admitted, remembering your life before meeting The Doctor. You had always been kind of skeptical, but your life had changed for the better when you found out about everything that was really out there. “But joke’s completely on all of us now.”

O laughed slightly as he got up to the sound of boiling water. He poured the hot liquid into two cups, handing you one. You thanked him with a kind smile.

“Why did you move to Australia?” You asked him as you stirred the sugar in your tea with a spoon. “Couldn’t you work from London or anywhere else in the UK?”

“I never really liked the city.” He confessed, taking a sip of his own cup. “Too many noise. I work better from here, in the middle of the desert.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely?” You asked without thinking about it. When you realized how your question might be perceived, you looked down at your cup and took a sip, trying to hide your embarrassment.

“Sometimes.” He replied, his smile not leaving his face. “But it’s for the best.”

The light was starting to come through the windows as you both had breakfast in silence. If it had been any other person, you would have felt awkward being in silence for so long. You would had probably forced yourself into some small talk to try and fill the silence. But for some reason you felt comfortable there with him. Just having breakfast without saying a word.

“How long have you known The Doctor, Y/N?” He asked you when you had both finished your cup of tea.

“It’s hard to tell.” You sighed, trying to calculate how long had passed in your own personal time line. “Things don’t happen in a straight line inside the TARDIS. Time loses all of its meaning.” O looked at you with questioning eyes. Maybe The Doctor hadn’t told him about time travel, you thought. “How much do you know about all of that?”

“A bit.” He shrugged. “Our paths crossed very briefly once when she was a man.”

“What do you mean ‘when she was a man’?” Disbelieve took over you as you tried to understand what was going on.

“Oh.” The smile left momentarily his face. “She never mentioned that?”

“I didn’t know she meant that for real.” The both of you laughed. “With her, you never really know when she’s being serious.”

“Her species has this ability, a way to escape death.” O began to explain you. “When their life is in danger, they change every cell of their body, giving them a random new face. They call it ‘regeneration’” Amazed, you opened your eyes as he spoke. “I’ve been trying to gather information about her too.”

“I kind of want to know what she looked like as a man.” You bit your lip as curiosity aroused in you.

“I was able to get some photos of some of her previous regenerations.” He stood up and walked to a shelf in which he had a bunch of papers piled up. “This whole shelf is full with all the information I could gather of her. There are a lot of inconsistencies, but it’s still really, really interesting” You looked at the documents almost like if you were starving and they were a delicious buffet placed in front of you. “Do you wanna have a look?” You energetically nodded as he offered you a way to satisfy your curiosity.

O took the folders and brought them to you, letting them on the table and taking the empty cups to the sink. You grabbed one of them and opened it to find the photo of a man in a brown suit next to a young blonde woman.

“Wow.” You couldn’t hold back the exclamation as you eyed the page in front of you. “Is this what she looked like when you met her?” You asked O as you pointed the man in the picture.

“Not exactly.” The agent shook his head. “She has had many faces. That is just one of them.”

You kept reading the papers in front of you, finding out more about The Doctor’s past. There was a lot of facts about The Doctor that you could have never imagined, so many names, so many organizations related to your friend. You were half through the first page when you stopped reading and put the paper away.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be reading this.” You sighed, feeling guilty. “Isn’t this like a violation of her privacy?”

“No.” He was quick to respond. “In fact, it’s not that you should, you must know all you possibly can about her. You travel with her, you risk your life every day for her. How can you let your life in hands of someone who hides her past from you?” Your gaze switched between the papers in front of you and O’s eyes, thinking about his words. “Do you know where she’s from?”

“She’s from…” You hesitated, not being able to remember the name at first. “Gallifrey. She has mentioned it sometime.”

“What do you know about Gallifrey? Have you ever been?” He asked you, his tone more inquisitive than it usually was.

“Not much. Just what The Doctor said about it.” You recalled the few conversations with your friend. “I believe she mentioned there are two suns instead of just one… But The Doctor never took us there.”

“I think I might know why.” O handed you another file about your friend’s home planet. You eyed it. “It was placed in the constellation of Kasterborous and it was home to the Time Lords, The Doctor’s species.”

“Was?” You asked when you realized that he was using the past tense.

“Something terrible happened to Gallifrey.” He pointed the picture of an enormous dome in an orange sky. “There was a war and–“

“Come on, you two. Everyone out front. Lots to chat up on.” The Doctor surprised you by coming out of the TARDIS. You quickly dropped the sheet in your hands and hid it in its folder. “I made ice tea. Possibly.”

Holding the large glass in her hands, she made her way out of the house as you and O rushed to clean up the mess of documents on the table. You helped him put the folders back to the shelf where they were before.

You were making your way outside when O stopped you by grabbing your wrist. He leant over your ear, careful not to be overheard by anyone.

“I’ll tell you the rest when we get a chance of being alone.”

[msindrad]

an insanely long crazy-ass post about the dollars trilogy, I’m so sorry y’all

I FOUND THIS POST. I DID IT. I FOUND IT. JESUS. I spent the entirety of my yesterday searching for it.

I’m going to tag everybody who participated in this discussion and whose posts I‘ve found while searching for this discussion on the off-chance that they still might be interested in, yeah, discussing these films.

@clinteastwood-blog @geekboots-blog @istadris @sybilius @bleak-nomads @thenotsobad-thebad-andtheugly @bloncos @mcicioni-blog @unrealthings @stephantom @colonelmortimer

Also, please feel free to ignore me and my analytical outburst if you don’t feel like talking about the films or talking about them with my crazy hyperfixated ass specifically, lol. I didn’t mean to be rude by calling you out of nowhere, it’s just that sometimes people get excited when there is an enthusiastic newbie in the fandom and gladly return to their beloved canons.

Anyway. The dollars trilogy.

I’ll start with The Good, the Band and the Ugly (and will probably make myself instantly unlikable by nitpicking things, (sigh)).

As stupid as it might sound – the film being an absolute masterpiece, a cultural milestone that is timeless, epic, work of genius, love it, will write and draw about it with pleasure etc. – I’m kind of inclined to find the GBU the weakest film in the trilogy storywise. Don’t get me wrong: the plot is interesting and strong, every scene is entertaining, smart, and instantly quotable… But.

There are a few things that make the story, taken holistically, weak to a degree, especially in contrast to the other two films. Now, let me explain my bold-ass claim.

The first reason I couldn’t even pinpoint for myself until my best friend asked me: yeah, it’s all cool and fun, but what has really changed at the end of the film? They stopped the battle/blew up the bridge (kudos for the pacifist message), they killed a few folks on the way including Angel Eyes, but what did the story amount to in the end? Was their relationship changed? Have they themselves learned something about life, universe and everything? Tuco is still on the rope, Blondie still shoots the rope. They both got their money, split it 50/50. Sure, now it’s an insane amount of money but will it make them reconsider their ways of life? I don’t know, and I don’t necessarily think so. They’re really back to square one. If you consider the graphic novel The Man With No Name canon, then (spoiler) Blondie gives his money away to help rebuild the monastery of Tuco’s brother, and Tuco himself doesn’t really invest his share in anything other than booze, and sex, and troubles, so. Then, Angel Eyes got killed off, but he had even less backstory/character arc than, for instance, Captain Clinton, not to mention that his image, as memorable as it was, kind of lacked certain complexity, so, does it really matter storywise (although he is a great, stylish character, but I hope that you get what I mean)? (Note: Angel Eyes should have been the film’s ultimate personification of the war (inhumanely ruthless, only interested in money, extremely goal-oriented etc.), which, the war, kind of is the main antagonist of the film if you think about it; but the way he was used in the plot, the way he acted, and was generally presented, communicated it only in a limited way, imo).

Everything about the adventure was fun, smart, entertaining, one of the best films ever made, I agree 100%, and I rewatched it with pleasure many times. But I believe that stories have to bring about some palpable change in their world in order for them to be successful and finished. The GBU, in my opinion, doesn’t do it because it doesn’t want to be a story-story, and it’s fine with just letting its characters exist in a magic Western/a cowboy fantasy/a fairy tale. And I guess it’s also one of the reasons why the story didn’t go anywhere from the GBU – there is nothing to add to a basis like that. And I can’t help noting that it’s super ironic that the only film in the trilogy that truly seems to be all about money-money-money has no “dollars” in its title.

Another thing that I think is super important: there is almost no female energy or presence in the film. And it’s not even a matter of representation that bugs me, although I think it’s very important. It just feels like there is a deficit of something vital that renders everything even sort of unrealistic. In AFOD we have Marisol and we have Consuelo Baxter, and they’re relevant for the plot, and they have goals, motivations… lines. In FAFDM we have Mary, who has only a few brief moments, but she’s memorable, endearing, and she has a small story/motivation of her own, and we also have Mortimer’s sister, who is EXTREMELY important, and who also isn’t just symbolic, she herself makes a plot-relevant decision on screen, although a really horrible one from my personal moral standpoint. In the GBU we have what? A prostitute that’s beaten up by Angel Eyes (I never watch this scene), another woman at the hotel where Blondie stays in that is shut up and called an old hag or something like it, and another woman that makes a comment about Tuco’s hanging. None of them are memorable or have motivations on their own, and to me it makes the film lacking some really important counterpoint in terms of dynamics etc.

And nobody needs me to describe all the things that the film is awesome at because everybody knows that the film is one of the best films ever made, so painfully gorgeous that it’s difficult to praise it. So, I’ll move on to the other two films but will briefly talk about Tuco and Eli Wallach.

Eli Wallach is considered one of the best actors ever to appear on film for reason, so, I’ll just say about my personal impressions from his performance: he really made me emphasize with Tuco. His acting is incredibly rich, nuanced, concentrated, and, imo, just leaves you no choice but to think of Tuco as a real complex human being, not a film character. And Tuco is a superb character. Over the course of the story he gets to be loathsome, humane, funny, silly, terrifying, and cunning, - often all those at the same time. That’s one hell of a captivating character who’s just very, very interesting to watch and to analyze, regardless whether you like him or not.

Then, we have A Fistful of Dollars. I’m a huge fan of classic adventure stories that are gen, plot-driven, and have smart main characters figuring out a way to get what they want without being destroyed by other characters for wanting or trying to get it in the first place. I think it’s very difficult and very rewarding to write a good story in this genre. AFOD is exactly this kind of story, and this kind of stories is only as good as their protagonists’ maneuvers are. And Joe is, like, a tactical genius (the barrel! the fire!). And it’s much better to rewatch the film to remind yourself of how smart he is than have me talking about it, so.

But apart from that he is also humanized by his deeply personal motivations that appear completely irrational especially in contrast to his clever manipulations of the Baxters and the Rojos. And he doesn’t do it egotistically, to “get the girl,” which wouldn’t make him particularly sympathetic one way or another. Sure, he makes a good buck at the end, but his primary motivation still is justice for Marisol and her family (and then protection of his friend). Additionally, Joe gets his fair share of punishment for providing said justice, which further humanizes him and kind of makes you worry about him. And Silvanito with his scolding, humor, and skepticism helps with it a lot, too.

And then, there is the fact that the film wants the audience to either want to be Joe or want to be with him, sometimes both at the same time. Everybody on screen is a single Joe’s wink away from swooning because how he practically oozes charisma (only Silvanito is immune to his charms). I can’t blame them, though.

And I also want to point out the last lines of the film: Joe says that he doesn’t want to get involved into politics because that would be too much for him, and I think that it’s very fitting. The film just showed how cool he is, but he knows his limits, and he knows that he operates on a different plane.

So, all in all, it’s a masterfully done story.

Finally, we have For a Few Dollars more. I love all three films, but FAFDM is my favorite, there’s no doubt about that. I’ll start with the fact that it’s perfectly structured and perfectly balanced. We have three big players, Mortimer, Manco, and Indio, and the film shows how dangerous and how smart each of them is, so that the conflict between them ends up being very, very suspenseful. Not to mention the fact that it takes Manco and Mortimer almost 40 minutes, I think, to finally properly meet – by that time we are already speculating who will be the winner in the end, how will they react to each other, how will they interact, how will they work together etc. We get to know them quite well first, and then their relationship allows us to explore their characters even deeper through their interactions, their differences, and their similarities. For some time, storywise they become a single unit. While the story of Indio’s assault on Mortimer’s sister is revealed parallel to the plot.  

Indio himself is terrifying as hell without being cartoonish. He is a really dangerous, broken man that is also methodical, smart, and ruthless. He is so bad that he kills the opponent’s family just to make him bitter enough to draw on him. And he is so bad that he is okay with killing off his own gang.  

Speaking of which, Indio’s gang is colorful. He has interesting interactions with them at the beginning, in that church. And Klaus Kinski made his Wild stand out to me. I swear, the moment he almost cries in that saloon when Mortimer takes away his cigar, I feel bad for him every single time. And when he recognized Mortimer, it was tense. He even had a cool witty one-liner after Mortimer said that he should come to him in ten minutes to help him light that match and smoke: “In ten minutes, you’ll be smoking in hell!”

By the way, Indio’s tendency to get unnecessarily physical with his gang looks even more unnerving when he touches Manco to check his wound/shares a smoke him with some clearly visible eroticized subtext, which gets even creepier when you realize that he is a rapist. I swear, I was worried about Mortimer when I saw the film for the second time – that is even though I knew the plot – because Manco brought up that family resemblance between Mortimer and his sister, and we all know what Indio did to her.

What else? I could bring up all sorts of things, the action, the final duel, the small smart details that allow the plot to happen the way it happens (e.g. how Manco manages to hide the bag with all the money on that tree before Indio’s gang capture him and Mortimer – only to re-collect that bag at the end of the film), the humor, the street kids and all the other cool-cool secondary characters (Joseph Egger’s informer probably is my favorite), the opening sequence and the title card (oops, already rambled about this one) really, anything and everything including the perfect chemistry between Manco and Mortimer.

But I’ll just say that the music in this film is special to me. Every single composition by Ennio Morricone is special, unique, memorable, and intriguing, it’s true, and so it feels redundant and banal to say something like this. The Ecstasy of Gold is almost extraterrestrial, the main theme of Two Mules For Sister Sara imitates actual mule sounds, how genius is that, etc., and you must be dead to not be enticed and mesmerized beyond words by the main theme of the GBU, which is a hymn of all spaghetti Westerns now, a universal call for adventure (I feel like a bad person saying this, but I’ve always wanted to joke that Ennio put sexy back into the “waah-waah”… no, I regret nothing).

BUT. To me personally, the music in FAFDM is as personal as the film itself, and dare I say even more important to the story than in the GBU, despite the theme of the GBU being a kind of Greek choir throughout the film. The personalized sounds for Manco and Mortimer accentuate their personalities to the point where they almost create a reflex in you. The pocket watch chime is literally part of the story and plays a huge, crucial role in the plot! And it’s decidedly one of the saddest musical scores I’ve ever heard. It’s minimalist, mournful, and yet also nostalgically bittersweet. It feels like a reminder that there’s no going back whatever that might mean in the actuality. And the famous moment where Manco asks Mortimer whether his question was indiscreet and Mortimer says that the answer could be… I feel personally touched whenever I watch the scene. For me, it doesn’t feel like just an amazing scene, it triggers some deep emotion that is hard to express and almost gives me the urge to cry. Something along the lines of respectful and compassionate “I’m sorry that it happened to you,” “I’m sorry that I can’t help you.” The feeling of personal tragedy is conveyed infinitely better than a three-volume backstory ever could.

And then, there is this huge potential for all the stories about Manco, and Mortimer, and Blondie, and Tuco, and Angel Eyes, and even Joe to explore... Well, I better stop here.

So, yeah. It turned out to be a crazy long post, and I‘m grateful to anybody who reads it till the end. And if you haven’t watched these movies please do. Cheers.