#this scene was pretty harrowing to write

[whirlybirbs]

i am on my hands and knees begging for a shred of keigo takami baby bird kfc angel content from you, if you write hawks i will finally know true peace

— MEET & GREET ; 1 / 2 ; HAWKS ; 啓悟

summary: you manage to snag two VIP meet & greet tickets for your nephew's birthday. he insists you join him. part one of two. pairing: keigo takami ; hawks / f!reader word count: 3.1k tags: humor, meet-cute, pro hero culture, birbs ignores all relevant timelines yet again, fluff, phone-flirting, hawks is great with kids, t+, relatable pre-hook up hesitation, they will fuck next time a/n: hawks is the chappell roan of the mha universe. stop touching him. this man actually changed my brain chemistry in early 2023 but we don't need to talk about that. anways, this poll was on the ropes all day and i made the executive choice to feed the hawks birblets.

You feel like your face has been set in a semi-permanent cringe all morning. 

In your right hand, you're clutching your half-finished iced coffee for dear life. In your other, you're clinging to your nephew as he drags you through the convention center — one of the bright red wings of his beloved, homemade cosplay has started to go lopsided, and the six-year-old excitedly tugs it back in place as he tries to yank you forward.

"C'mon! We're gonna be late!" 

This really wasn't your scene.

Fan conventions had a way of making your skin itch. The amount of sexy All Mights you've seen this morning alone has to be some sort of milestone indicator for the environment. Whether nature is healing or dying, though, you have no idea. 

If you had it your way, you'd spend the rest of the day mingling through the artist stalls — but, to your nephew Hayami's point, the two of you had somewhere to be.

Your VIP meet-and-greet badge swings as you trip up and laugh. "Okay! Okay, slow down! You're about to yank my arm off!"

It was the best birthday gift imaginable for Hayami. You officially cemented your title as The Coolest Aunt Ever when you managed to snag the two VIP convention meet-and-greet tickets (complete with a professional photo and two signed copies of the convention's annual poster) after a harrowing seven hours in an online Ticketmaster line. There were only a hundred of them sold — and sure, you coulda thrown that pretty hunk of cash into a college fund for Hayami, but he was deeply in his hero phase. 

Originally you expected that Hayami's father, your brother-in-law, would want to go.

But, no, Hayami himself insisted you come with him.

After all, you helped me with my costume, he begged, I wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

That you did. Many a hot glue gun burn was suffered at the hands of those damn red feathers. If you squint from far away, the cosplay isn't half bad considering the thrift and dollar-store materials. It wasn't one of those inch-to-inch replicas, but it worked. 

He's like a cute, bouncing mini Hawks. Complete with goggles and wings.

And Hayami is happy. And that's all that matters to you. 

The line is already pretty long, and Hayami runs his gloved hands along the line barriers as he races to his spot, audibly wooshing the whole way — just like Hawks does, probably. His badge jingles, and he hops to a stop as you come up behind him and pat his head. The six-year-old stands up on his tippy-toes, trying to see around the Miss Midnight fan in front of them. 

"Can you see him?" he chatters excitedly, "Ti, can you?"

He's called you Ti ever since he could speak. Auntie was too long, and the shortened version has stuck. 

You hop up onto your tippy-toes, mimicking him — and you swear you catch a glimpse of a crimson feather plumage over the gathered heads of the other meet-and-greet fans. It might be another cosplayer.

"I dunno," you whisper, your eyes darting to your phone's lock screen, "It's supposed to start any minute—"

The telltale roar of fanfare lets you know exactly who has just arrived. 

Hayami's excitement is palpable. Without a word, you're hauling him up and perching him on your shoulders. His hands land in your hair, and you can feel his smile from down here. 

"Ti! It's him!"

The line starts moving not long after, and you finish your iced coffee while Hayami stays perched on your shoulders, utterly starstruck. You weave through the barriers, moving up a few feet every minute, until you're only four or five people away from where Hawks sits behind a long table. 

You have to admit, the guy is pretty cute. 

Cuter than the fan-cams make him out to be, even. 

Sandy blonde hair, sharp gold eyes, and big wings. There's no doubt in your mind he's showboating, but as people approach the table, you notice this hesitant twitch ripple through the red feathers every time someone gets a little too close. 

That cringe from earlier washes over your face again as a girl reaches over the table to roughly run her fingers across one of his flight feathers. 

It's Keigo's least favorite part of all this. 

I mean, there's a part of him that gets it. He's the #2 Hero in all of Japan. He's a big deal. He's top of the popularity polls, he's the people's bird, y'know? He's a marketed commodity that sells out each and every time. 

But, that doesn't mean he likes being touched.

Especially the wings. Hands off the wings.

"Hey, Hayami?" you ask, tilting your head up as you both step forward.

You can feel the sudden nervousness creeping up on Hayami as he nods and looks down at you. "Y-Yea?"

"Make sure you ask for permission if you touch his wings, okay?" you say gently, muscling him down from your shoulders and doing a once over on his mini-Hawks cosplay, "And remember to tell him your name!"

Hayami nods, his nerves palpable as he realizes the two of you are next. 

On instinct, his hand shoots out and grips yours for dear life. 

And then, one of the marketers waves the two of you forward.

The first word that comes to Keigo's mind is MILF. You're cute. Real cute. Definitely not the usual sort he meets at conventions, and definitely not the usual sort that buys a ticket to his meet-and-greets. The kid clinging to your arm is arguably even cuter, and Hawks can't hide the blooming grin on his face when the pair of you step forward.

"Woa-ho!" he yaps from behind the patterned table, "Dude! Nice outfit!"

Hayami is panicking. You can tell from his shocked silence as the two of you step forward. You bend at the knees, squatting to your nephew's height, then encourage him to go ahead, go on. His big, brown eyes bob from you to Hawks. 

"Go ahead, Hayami," you encourage softly, "Say hi."

Oh, shit. You're really cute. Is this your kid? Nah, no way. You're way too young to be his mom. Unless—

You've seriously got him weighing the pros and cons of step-fatherhood and he doesn't even know your name. 

He could do stepdad shit at twenty-six. Right?

"Hi, Mr. Hawks," comes the shy voice of the mini Hawks before him; the sandy blonde's chest clenches. 

This is too fuckin' cute.

"Heh, hey kid," he chirps back, leaning forward on the table as his mouth curves into a friendly grin; Hawks' eyes are trained on the kid's growing smile, "What's your name?"

"H-Hayami."

"It's cool t' meetcha, Hayami," Hawks parrots as your own proud smile grows. There's relief flooding your shoulders. Thank god, Hayami didn't choke the clutch moment, "I like your wings, lil' dude!"

Hayami gives a little turn, wiggling his prized, handmade possession. His confidence is building; the compliment lights the kid's cheeks up. 

"My aunt helped me make them!" Hayami chatters, his eyes brightening from behind the flight goggles strapped to his head, "She says I need to ask for your permission to touch your feathers!"

Keigo's gold eyes slip to your face. You give him an apologetic grimace, your eyes flicking to the girl beyond the VIP area still screaming about how she touched him, she touched Hawks, oh my god. You mouth out a silent apology.

Hawks' finds himself a little speechless. Doesn't happen often. 

He's not used to having some say in how he's objectified and consumed.

A sandy brow quirks as he pushes his yellow-tinted visor up, and into his hair. He seems shocked. It's not an expression you've seen on the #2 before — and in the last few weeks, you've seen plenty of Hawks content during Hayami's cosplaying journey. The reference material is pretty expansive.

"That's real considerate, chickadee — I appreciate that," his voice is soft; his smile is a little looser, "C'mere, Hayami, you wanna hold a feather while I sign your poster?"

This is, like, the best day of Hayami's life. 

Hawks brings his visor back down. 

You stand to full height, wringing your purse's strap, watching Hayami hold both hands out as one of the delicate pieces of plumage floats into his hands on command. He cradles it like treasure, his big brown eyes glimmering with new-found amazement. 

You step forward, and place a hand on Hayami's shoulder as he gently ushers his hands toward your face. "Ti, look, isn't this, like, the coolest thing ever — it's one of Hawks' feathers!"

Hawks' eyes flick up to the two of you as his pen darts across the two VIP package posters. There's a smirk on his face as he pays half attention to the task of signing. 

And scribbling his number on the back of one.

"I see that," you chuckle, leaning in to inspect the beautiful, crimson feather, "Make sure you say th—"

Before you finish your sentence, the very feather in question darts up to tickle the tip of your nose. Your immediate reaction is to scrunch your nose and grin. It's not so much ticklish as it is gentle. For good measure, Hawks gives Hayami a little brush on the cheek, too. The boy descends into delighted laughter, allowing the feather to zip back through the air and into its designated place in his wings. 

Hawks is smirking.

"Alright you two," comes the level voice of the marketer; the camera in her hands is bulky, and a signifier that their time meeting #2 is nearly up, "Let's get in nice and close for a photo!"

The table proves to be a bit of a pain, but you bend down to Hayami's height as Hawks leans over the table and gives you both bunny ears. The camera flash burns bright in your eyes as Hayami's hand darts into yours again. 

"Here you two go," Hawks rumbles easily; he's standing now, and you find yourself yet again struck by how handsome he is. He smells like summer air and some expensive cologne you'll probably never know the name of. Definitely one of his sponsors. 

You take both posters, as Hayami's excitement seems to overflow and he's nearly buzzing with excitement to know he has Hawks' autograph. The boy bounces at your heels as he clutches his signed copy of the annual convention poster. His big, brown eyes are wide with pure joy. 

"Thank you!" Hayami chatters, "You're the best, Hawks!"

"Thank you," you smile, taking your own poster as Hayami's hand rockets back into yours.

"Nah, it's nothin', chickadee. Thanks for the manners," he calls after you with a touch of good humor, "You're real sweet."

"No problem!" you stutter out, thrown entirely by the compliment, as one of the other marketers guides you towards the exit with a hand on your back. 

"Oh, hey! One last thing!"

You flick your eyes back over your shoulder as you're shuffled out of the meet-and-greet.

You watch Hawks mouth 'check the poster', and with a hand held up to the side of his face. Then, 'call me'. 

"You're kidding me."

Hayami is finally asleep — and your sister is closing the door to his darkened bedroom as she hisses the words out. You're leaning against the hallway wall, arms crossed and looking entirely exasperated.

"I can't just call him," you say softly as you kick off the wall and follow her into the kitchen, "This isn't, like, the hot waiter who leaves his number on the receipt—"

"No, it's even better," she chatters, moving towards the unfinished glass of wine that sits on the dinner table, "I swear to god if you don't pick up that phone and call him right now—"

It's your brother-in-law who speaks up from the couch. "What's stopping you?"

"I don't know, being chronically single?" you cry as you throw your hands, "I haven't gotten a wax in months—"

"You seriously think #2 cares?" comes your sister's flat reply.

Your brother-in-law mimics her affectation. He throws a finger in the air. "Real heroes don't care."

The two of them high-five. 

...They're probably right.

You suck your teeth as you cross your arms again and weigh your options.

I mean — it's only eight o'clock. It's early. And it's a Friday. 

It could go two ways — you break your year-long dry spell with the #2 pro-hero in the country, or it's a total bust and he turns out to be a massive weirdo. Both are frankly pretty entertaining. 

You chew your lip.

Then, you decide.

You kick off the wall and move towards your phone in the kitchen. It's sitting beside the poster. 

"Oh my god, are you doing it?" your sister calls from the couch, her hand gripping her husband's arm tightly.

"I'm doing it," you say, ignoring the bite of nervousness in your hands as you type in the cell number that was scrawledhastily on the back of the poster. 

"Ohmygod."

It's ringing.

Suddenly, you have an audience. Your sister and brother-in-law are crowding you, their faces wide and expectant as it continues to ring. You pull your thumb to your mouth, pushing your bottom lip between your teeth. You let it ring, and ring, and just when you settle that you're being sent to voicemail, there's a click and a voice.

"'Ello?"

Your sister slams her hand into her husband's back, the two of them scrambling in a sudden flash of limbs and excitement. You drag your thumb across your throat — gesturing for them to cut it out. 

"Uh, hi," you fumble, "Is this... Hawks?"

Suddenly, there's a bark of laughter on the other line. "The one and only. Who's this?"

A slow smirk tugs at your cheeks. "I checked the back of the poster — a bold move, y'know."

"Convention Cutie!" he practically cheers, "Hold on, hold on — gimme two seconds, lemme just land."

Your lips part and you blink. The mental image is a hell of a thing. You swallow down a bought of amusement. "Sure, sure, take your time."

Keigo was starting to doubt you'd actually call him. The convention wrapped up hours ago, and he already made himself busy by exploring the southern city. It's nice here. A little bit like his hometown. Not too much crime, which has made for a pretty uneventful evening.

Until now.

His boots touch down on the nearby rooftop and he settles into an easy squat. His wings tuck themselves tightly against his back. 

You can hear a bit of wind bristle against his end of the receiver. 

"Alright, alright, sorry," he rumbles out, "Now you've got my full, undivided attention—"

You tug on your bottom lip. Your sister and brother-in-law are entirely hooked on the little bits they're overhearing from their spot across the counter. Your sister takes a long drink of her wine.

"Am I... being a bit of a distraction?" you ask, "If now isn't a good time—"

"You've been a distraction all day," comes the smooooooth reply; even Keigo's proud of himself for that one, "I'm just out for a fly. Nothin' too serious. I am glad you called, though."

Oh, fuck. Your knees feel like jello. You white-knuckle grip the counter as your sister gnashes her teeth and mimics biting her fist in silent mimery.

"Yea?" you pry, fanning yourself as you lean farther against the counter. 

"Yea, definitely," Hawks grins as he tips his head back and checks out the stars, "You busy tomorrow night? I'd love to take you out to dinner."

There's a commotion across the kitchen. The two of them are smacking one another's arms, their genuine excitement is palpable as they try to stay quiet. They're failing.

"I'd love that, Hawks."

This is new for him.

Technically speaking, you're not a fan. Your nephew is. So, this doesn't technically qualify as one of those unspoken hero faux pas. Don't date fans. Then again, what does it matter? He can do whatever he wants. 

And you're cute. And nice. And kind. And maybe he's being a sap, but seeing you with your nephew made something in his heart tighten. He didn't even notice he was making a nest of scrapped trash from the posters around his seat until the afternoon was over. 

God, sometimes the evolutionarily deep, bird DNA thing is weird.

Hawks lets out a tight breath he didn't realize he was holding. 

"Cool. Okay. Uh, you... you chill with, like, 7pm?" he fiddles with his visor, "I'm... I'm free whenever so..."

He sounds nervous. Your grin is so bright it could outburn the sun. 

"That works for me," you say as you fiddle with your lip, "As far as dress code goes... Do I, like, need a flight suit?"

His laugh is warm. 

"No, no, I — I was gonna get us an Uber," his voice lilts into something more mischievous, "Unless..."

"Maybe after dinner," you remark easily, swaying side to side, "You can show me what those wings do?"

Oh, smooth. Real smooth. Keigo's face is warm. His wings in question twitch eagerly at the invitation. 

"You gonna ask before you touch?" he teases back into the receiver, his brow raised.

It's your turn to laugh. "Hey, it's called being polite."

"I appreciate it," he rumbles out, about earlier at the convention, "Seriously. People are grabby — these things are sensitive..."

"Making a mental note of that, and filing it away," you flirt openly as your sister cheers silently, "For after dinner, maybe."

Keigo's brain stutter-steps. His laugh is surprised. He's about to comment on how you might just be the girl of his dreams when suddenly the wail of sirens perks up his attention. It's two blocks over. Three fire engines. The wind is carrying the smell of acrid smoke. 

"Hey, chickadee, I, uh... I gotta go," he says, standing and allowing his attention to drift to the scene playing out in front of him; it's a house fire — must be — on the southern side of town, "I'll text you the spot for tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Of course, don't let me keep you," you hush, "I'll... text you?"

"I'm countin' on it."

"Bye, Hawks."

"See ya, chickadee."

You didn't even realize you were sweating until you put the phone down.

Your sister and her husband are there, eyes wide. "So?"

"So," you croon as you laugh and pridefully sway your hips, "I have plans tomorrow night."

Their screaming wakes up Hayami.

As you help the kid back to sleep, you keep it secret that he's a better wingman than you could have ever anticipated. 

[rootedinrevisions]

Top Gun: Maverick Masterlist

Welcome to the chaos! 💫

This masterlist is where you’ll find all my writing for Top Gun: Maverick all in one spot.

So grab a drink and snacks, get comfy, and dive in. Happy reading! 💕

✈️ Jake “Hangman” Seresin

Drabbles (Under 1,000 words)

Such a Tease

Jake is stuck at base for a mind numbing training session while you’re home enjoying a much needed day off. Bored and missing him, you decide to have a little fun by slipping into his favorite lacy lingerie and sending him a few teasing photos.

Pretty On Your Knees

Jake had always been confident, the calm in any storm, but lately, the weight of an upcoming mission had cast a shadow over him. No matter what you tried, his mind remained distant, locked on the challenges ahead. Desperate to help him unwind, you took a bold step, sinking to your knees before him, offering a moment of release from the pressures weighing him down. As his eyes finally met yours, dark with both surprise and need, you knew you had his full attention. In that moment, the tension between you shattered, and what followed was a much-needed escape for both of you.

Five More Minutes

You and Jake are headed to The Hard Deck to meet the daggers, but a few things risk making you late. 

One-Shots

Old Flames, New Wounds

Years after a bitter breakup, you find yourself face-to-face with Jake “Hangman” Seresin at The Hard Deck, reigniting all the anger and unresolved feelings you'd buried.

The First Time

Jake Seresin has been trying to take you home from The Hard Deck for awhile. However there’s always been something holding you back. A secret that you can’t stand the thought of revealing to him. But when he finally gets you to tell him your secret, his reaction is anything but what you expect.

Keep My Hands Off You

You head a Navy bar to meet your Tinder date Jake. What you aren’t expecting is to see him in his uniform khakis.

Beg For It

Jake’s jealousy comes out during a night out at the bar.

Everything to Me

Another pilot says something that bothers you and shakes your confidence. Jake takes it upon himself to make sure you know that you are everything to him. 

Rough Side of Hangman’s Girl

You’ve always been the quiet one. The kind of girl who prefers soft laughter to loud crowds, and gentle touches over wild passions. But Jake has a way of drawing out the side of you no one else gets to see. 

Since Forever

After a harrowing near death experience in the sky when a routine training exercise goes wrong, you and Jake are forced to confront the unspoken tension that’s always simmered between you. With a crash landing and a moment that changes everything, the line between squadmates and something more begins to blur.

Tall, Hot in a Stetson

When a night of playful banter and teasing turns into something far more intimate, you find yourself crossing every line you swore you wouldn’t with Jake Seresin. Between stolen kisses, soft confessions, and moments that blur the line between lust and something deeper, it becomes clear that this isn’t just a one time thing.

Series

Rooster’s Shadow

When Carly Bradshaw starts college near her brother’s Top Gun base, she’s excited for a fresh start. A surprise night out with with her brother introduces her to Jake Seresin, the charming but cocky Navy pilot known as Hangman. As Carly catches Jake’s attention, their undeniable chemistry leads to a series of flirtatious encounters that challenge Carly’s feelings and Bradley’s protective instincts.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Cop Car

Inspired by Keith Urban’s song “Cop Car”. You and Jake enter a restricted area to watch the planes take off. It’s all fun and games until the two of you end up in cuffed in the backseat of a car. Things only get worse when your dad Pete “Maverick” Mitchell arrives on scene.

Part 1 Part 2

Unplanned Journey

You’ve been feeling off. When the realization hits you that you could be pregnant, your world shifts. As you struggle with the weight of the situation, and avoid Jake, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Friends (With Benefits) Don’t

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Juice Boxes & Bedtime Stories

When a last minute babysitter cancellation forces you to leave your little girl in the hands of Jake Seresin, you return home expecting chaos. Instead you find warmth, laughter, and a glimpse of a future you never thought possible.

Part 1

✈️ Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Drabbles (Under 1,000 words)

I’m Not Sure I Should Answer That Sir

Bradley gets caught sneaking around with Mav’s daughter.

Just Look So Good in My Shirt

Waking up to the warmth of Bradley Bradshaw between your legs is hardly how you imagined starting your morning—but when your Navy aviator boyfriend decides he can’t resist the sight of you in nothing but his shirt, all bets are off. As desire and playful teasing blend, Bradley shows just how much control he has over your body, bringing your dream to life in the most tantalizing way.

Make It Up to You

After a fight with Bradley, he wants to make sure you know how sorry he is.

Want This More Than Anything

After seeing you interacting with babies at a shower Bradley unlocks a kink he didn’t know he had. 

One-Shots

Washed in You

Bradley returns home from a tough mission which leads to some intimate time together in the shower.

What You Do to Me

Bradley returns home from a deployment and you have a little present in the form of a boudoir shoot you did while he was gone, waiting for him when he gets home.

The Night We Fell

After a night out with friends you find yourself a little too tipsy and in need of a ride home. When Natasha calls Bradley to pick you up, what starts as a simple favor turns into an unforgettable evening.

Rooster Comes Home to His Girls

Bradley returns from a deployment to his wife and baby girl.

To the Sky and Back

After a falling out with Bradley, reader tries to piece her life together, avoiding every place and routine that reminds her of him. But when Bradley faces a high risk mission, a visit from Natasha shatters her fragile peace forcing her to confront the depth of her feelings. 

Let’s Find Out Together

After a breakup, you turn to Bradley, your longtime friend for support. But as he steps in to help you heal, he reveals that he’s been harboring feelings for you all along. What starts as a comforting distraction quickly turns into an intense connection that blurs the lines between friendship and something more.

A Countdown to Us

As the clock ticks toward midnight on New Year’s Eve, the air is charged with more than just the promise of a new year. With every stolen glance, and every lingering touch that could change everything in your friendship. In the midst of the fireworks and celebration, will you take a leap and let the sparks between you ignite? 

Yours, Finally

Bradley and you were never just friends, but you were never more than that either. Caught somewhere between nights together and unspoken feelings, you both built something complicated that neither of you were ready to define. You and Bradley are both left shattered after you breakup, if that’s what you can even call it. When given one last chance by you, Bradley is determined to show you that he can be the man you want him to be.

✈️ Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader x Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Between Us Three

What begins as lighthearted teasing at The Hard Deck quickly ignites into a night of new experiences as you and your boyfriend, Bradley, invite Jake into an unforgettable night of passion, play, and vulnerability.

No Nut November…Or Not

When a harmless conversation turns into a bet about who can last the longest during No Nut November, the stakes are set. They both assume they can outlast the other without breaking a sweat. What they don’t anticipate is you - their mischievous partner - who takes it as a personal challenge to make the month impossible.

✈️ Robert "Bob" Floyd

Everything to Me

You and Bob make the most of your time together after her returns home.

[miwiheroes]

Hi welcome to miwiheroes <3

MY BYLER ESSAY

*australian accent* 'Ello this is Eli, president of miwiheroes club and I realised I never made an intro post, also this is a little masterpost where you can find all the analysis/ byler rambling posts without having to scrolls through my account :D

I'm 19 years old

At university for psychology

he/him

I may look like an aggressively straight man but no one knows i'm actually hyperfixated on shipping two queer guys from a sci-fi netflix show

I'm a capricorn, infp, bisexual and trans ftm

my hyperfixations right now include byler, the elder scrolls (oblivion), link click, aot, the magnus archives and dan & phil <3

i'm from england

my spotify is 'figflower' and: Here are my byler playlists!!

i never used to write analysis on film but thx byler tumblr because i've been missing out

if you were wondering, my favourite characters from stranger things are (in this order): will, mike, hopper and el <3 okay see ya

MY ANALYSES:

(i will update these as i make them. my more massive analyses are highlighted in blue)

ANALYSES I'M MOST PROUD OF:

El's arc of her desire for a normal childhood - "Pretty"

Mike displaces his anger at himself onto others

A little ST5 theory

This theoretical model of relationships + ST couples

Mike and Will and El cannot be replaced by a different gender - they are tied to a queer narrative

All my Airport Scene Analyses

Blue and Yellow theory is completely canon

Will is not getting a new love interest in S5

Season 3 ending scene full analysis

Mike and the theme of promises

OTHER:

Will's arc in S5 is not going to culminate in him getting over Mike

We have been heterobaited far more than queerbaited

Insane Loverslakegate proof

Mike's treatment of El's powers vs. Will's powers

The difference between Byler's interruption trope and Mileven's

Common Romantic Tropes used with Byler

The D&D Substitute scene is Mike questioning his sexuality

Byler + Reciprocal Looks of Love

The existence of a Love Triangle proves Byler endgame

The Painting Lie is Chekhov's Gun

'The Will Voice' isn't a thing Bylers made up

The original S3 ending script reveals inner thoughts

Mike's lack of attraction to women other than El

Purposeful blocking analysis

Purposeful music choices and music titles

Will's understanding of Mike makes the audience root for Byler

Mike has to be wrong about needing to love El

Elmike breakup vs Byler fight contrast

Phonegate canon or not canon? analysis

Mike's bedroom detailed analysis

How Mike treats El's letters vs. Will's art

Mike's conversation with El in the grocery store is queer coded

Byler parallels with other canon ships

Answering a mileven ask part 2: electric boogaloo

Answering a mileven ask part 1

Mike's self-sabotaging avoidance to incriminate himself

Silly queer coding jokes

The M&M Scene

Will's 'I'm not gonna fall in love' is a bigger proof than you think

Confirmation that Mike jumping into the quarry was about Will

Milkvan's conflict, Byler, and the concept of understanding

Byler and the insane amount of Closet Imagery

Season 1 Mike is extremely queer-coded

What if Mike's gay from the beginning of S5 like Will in S4?

You're not delusional: What I noticed when I wasn't a byler

Thinking about the monologue…

Mike is clearly thinking about Will in the Snow Ball scene

Light is symbolic for truth = byler endgame

MY FICS:

My AO3 Account: miwiheroes

vibrant days (caution to the breeze) - 15,204 words

Mike and Will's relationship has been secret for 2 months. Neither of them want to bring it up, but things build and build until it becomes more of a burden than just a little mutual understanding. Will's growing up (and getting drunk) and it's impossible for Mike to stay in the same place forever, with words always on the tip of his tongue.

aka mike and will are hiding their relationship and avoid talking about hard subjects

is my timing that flawed? - 14,621 words

In the aftermath of a harrowing escape from the Upside Down, Mike and Will grapple with physical and emotional wounds. Faced with Will's new plan and doubt of what's real and what's not, Mike must confront reality and something that he had never been able to truly control.

aka wound cleaning fic + a devastating cliffhanger + Will not knowing what's real and what's not

it's rotten work (not to me. not if it's you) - 15,919 words

Ten years after everything, and Will hasn't been able to shake a debilitating fear of anything medical-related. So when the only option and smart thing to do is get a blood test from the hospital, Mike is sure to take the time to be there for him.

aka will needs a blood test but has a phobia of needles and mike takes time off work to support him

what you really want - 46,456 words

aka a s5 speculatory mike wheeler-centric fic about his internalised homophobia and a lot of moments where he's not so clever about his feelings with will

our hearts were singing - 13,724 words (dnf)

aka karen invites mike and will over for christmas, but mike still hasn't told his whole family about his relationship, even after a year of them definitely not-so-platonically living together. maybe it's time.

you can't help but become the sun - 16,267 words

aka mike offers to be will's reference, they talk about mike's self-esteem issues, and more shenanigans with paint ensue

stay with me a while - 9,515 words

aka mike confessed to will to save the world, but will wasn't conscious enough to say it back. when he wakes the next morning, they have a lot to talk about.

life used to be so hard - 5,697 words (incomplete)

A collection of drabbles and short one-shots that tell a non-chronological story about Mike and Will's life after the UD. Stay tuned to put the pieces together and figure out a full story <3 Further explanation is in the notes of the first instalment.

the boy with the thorn in his side - 53,566 words

aka mike figures out his sexuality in the worst way possible, but as always, will is there to help. in more ways than one.

how could i be blind to it? - 16,082 words

aka holly's missing, and her friends are determined to find her and bring her home. one person in her friend group in particular is more passionate than the others about finding her, and soon mike finds out why that is. and why he felt so different about will to his other friends when he was a kid.

answers you seek will never be found at home - 39,754 words (incomplete)

aka mike begs will to escape their small town after too many run-ins with homophobic small-town bs. he knows will's meant to find himself elsewhere, but he never expects to find an answer to the age-old question of his own fate. prom, gay bars, sleazy hotels, train stations, two lesbians and their not-so-legal marriage - they aren't the traditional sources of wisdom, but he can't complain.

MY BYLER EDIT COMP ON YOUTUBE

Have fun! And if you don't ship byler ur allowed to interact but if you want to hate on it, please don't interact! I'll just delete any hate because I personally think there is no space for homophobia or negativity on my page.

You'll also find 0 byler doubt here. I don't want to worry people. So ily <3

[sheepalmighty]

Spoilers for Deltarune Chapter 4.

Susie is so good. If you didn't have enough money for the diner scene you would get different lines in a few parts in the Dark Sanctuary from Susie, which is what happened for my first playthrough. They're also sweet, of course, like her telling Gerson he forgot to add himself to the doodle of the gang he did, and there's the Kris prophecy panel that she says should be some cool depiction of Kris that I can't remember off the top of my head. I don't remember what she says in the tea with Gerson segment too but it's probably an equally cool thing Kris does.

What I want to point out, though, is that each of these is replaced by pretty much the same line each time relating back to her doodle of Kris saying 'Susie Rules(/z?)' if you do do the diner scene (like in my next playthrough using a different save which already had 5 bucks for a reason unrelated to the drawer in Kris' room).

In particular, what I adore about this is how often she cheerily brings it up. It's so clear how near and dear this event was to her, bringing it up every organic chance she gets. In a way, there's this feeling of excitement to have had such a genuine and warm experience with a friend (best friend even?), definitely something she was denied throughout her childhood and early adolescence. It being in the middle of a lot of harrowing events probably helps enhance the significance of that moment further for her. Thinking about all of this makes me so happy for her.

This is some great character writing that uses the rule of three (unless there were more I forgot) for emphasis, with a bit of comparison through showing her previous diner memory with Toriel which helps to evoke a certain, more poignant interpretation of the present diner scene. You love to see it.

[rat-studio]

Soooooo... I read semi-charmed kinda life again... in the span of like four days. Absolutely recommend this fic to everyone, it is so gorgeous and well written and it is such a pleasure to read, absolute props to @griddlebait for understanding griddlehark so well and writing them so wonderfully. (also I love nona so so so much in the fic please know that) (and pyrrha!! and pal in his shawl!! i love these girls!!)

Is my attempt at a comic kinda jank? Yeah. Do I adore this scene and did I spend 12 hours on trying to draw it? Yeah. So BE NICE I WILL CRY.

I will be back with something that is probably much better sometime soon— I have an unexplained amount of creative energy right now and if I don’t ride this wave I fear it will drown me

Less jank doodles and (1) timelapse under cut!

I am shamelessly playing around with my style-- might do a full actual good drawing of harrow and corona because I am obsessed with their dysfunctional relationship (edit: i drew it i drew it i drew it)

GOD PLEASE CLICK FOR QUALITY-- I really enjoy this one :), it was fun to play around with colors and shit

Please notice Gideon's time period accurate weezer shirt, and the green day shirt in the comic that is represented by blobs of color because I didn't feel like actually drawing it

tumblr hellsite will only let me do one video, if anyone wants the other ones I'll post the others separately-- but im pretty sure no one actually watches them. This one is just the most satisfying to watch!

[raayllum]

co-creator interview transcription

Listen along here / full transcription is provided down below for anyone who needs and/or prefers it to audio. at 50 minutes it's decently long

R: Alright, welcome back to the WordswithDragons podcast. Today I am joined again by Dragon Prince co-creator Aaron Ehasz, as well as for the first time his fellow co-creator Justin Richmond. It’s lovely to have you both, thank you being here.

A: Thank you for having us. I just waved—we’re not on video—

R: I do that all the time.

A: We’re recording this—

J: Oh yeah. It’s audio, we’re an audio meeting.

A: Okay, cool. I just waved [Justin laughs]. Hello. [R laughs]

J: Hi. 

R: Alright, so I guess I thought — cause I feel like we’re going to be looking back at some of the stuff season seven did, but also arc 2 in general, as the previous leg of the show. So season seven has a lot of pay off, was there anything that you guys were really excited to write this season, like “finally! We get to do this” for scenes, characters, plotlines?

A: Justin? 

J: You want me to go? Okay. Let’s see. Uh, a lot of it [laughs] guessing, we’d been building towards you know, season seven for a long time, so it felt — finally getting to put all the stuff down, y’know, put all the stuff in the show we’d been planning for was pretty cool. We sort of knew a long time ago what was gonna happen with Aaravos and dragons and all that kind of stuff, so it was pretty cool to actually go in and get it into the show, and also just — I’m trying to think of any specific moments, but — no, it was a culmination of working on the show for so long, so getting it put in and done and down and rendered was was like, was really cool to finally get to a place where it was like, “Oh my God! Season seven! Here we go!” So yeah.

R: Yeah. I thought you were going to say the bird for sure. [Wheezes]

J: [Laughs] Oh, the bird payoff. Spoilers: if you have not watched the show, there’s some bird shenanigans that you might be able to guess. I guess statue of limitations, right? Like we can spoil stuff.

R: Oh, it’s been months, you guys can spoil away.

J: Yeah. So yeah, we’re — it’s fun to pay off some of the stuff like that. There’s more of those kinds of things coming, hopefully. But that was one of the good ones. 

R: I thought it was also just really cool seeing more of like, um, Aaravos and Claudia’s dynamic, or like Rayla going home, the Ruthari reunion. All that stuff.

J: Oh yeah. The — that’s a good specific one. I know Devon had been on us for like four years [R chuckles] about the Ethari reunion. [Laughs] So getting to finally do that was fun. 

R: Yeah. 

A: How come no one ever asks if Pip is dead? 

R: I’m kinda writing a fic about it, so don’t worry. [Laughs] 

A: Okay. Just curious.

J: Yeah. Where’s the love for bird sentience? [Laughs]

R: I learned not to count my chickens — my eggs before they hatch, because I was like “Lain and Tiadrin, all of the parents are totally getting out of the coins,” and they didn’t, so until Harrow’s out of that bird, I’m not fully gonna be like, “Whoo!” but... [J laughs] But exciting, exciting either way.

R: Um, I think it was like an interview a while ago or maybe on Twitter, where I think Aaron mentioned there was a fan-favourite character whose fate got changed, they were gonna get killed off and then they were revived and somebody else died. 

A: Yes.

R: Do you want to reveal who that is?

A: Sure. Well, there’s at least two instances. There was one universe where Viren died after season 5 and then he didn’t wake up. That was that, and — Claudia didn’t do the spell, he didn’t do the spell, he went to bed going “Aaravos lied to me” and then that was it. But there was something kind of like, not [clutches chest for ‘not right’] — anyway, we worked out obviously finding a different path. But yeah: Lujanne.

R: Okay. I-I thought.

A: Lujanne was gonna — we were gonna lose Lujanne and Akiyu, all these great, you know, elven mages, and uh — I can’t remember who pushed back or how it got [laughs] how she got saved. But someone was like, “No, Lujanne, we gotta keep Lujanne around, for Allen’s sake,” so...

R: Yeah.

A: That is who we were thinking of, right?

J: Yeah. That was that specific Twitter thought for sure.

R: Okay. I thought it might be her, and then I almost wondered if she got saved — this kind of goes into my next question, of — cause I realized on my like third rewatch of the season, I was like, “Hey, what happened to like, the Moon Nexus? Is it still inverted, is it fixed? Did she fix it?” 

J: It’s a nightclub now. [J and A laugh]

R: With a disco ball.

A: Dance the night away. 

J: Yeah.

A: Is it still inverted? I’m going to assume they had to go figure out some magic, and I don’t know if they had to go on some kind of quest and find something to fix it up, or — I dunno. Like — there’s some period of time where immediately after the season probably where there are some loose ends where the gang will have to tie up before the third arc really escalates in a significant way, so. But yeah, that’s a good question. What do you think?

R: Um...

A: How do you revert a Moon Nexus?

R: I don’t know. I think that’s for the theories. People are trying — we know more about primal stones.

A: [Overlapping] Yeah.

J: [Overlapping] You right click on it and you say revert file. 

R: Yes.

J: That’s a stupid video game joke, so I... [R and J laugh]

R: I mean, I thought it was good, so. 

J: [Laughs] Well thank you.

R: Okay, the next question is a bit of a geeky one, but I’ve always loved the poem “Ozymandias,” King of Kings, and it seems that’s where Zym’s name came from. Was that conscious, was that like a — oh, you guys were like “Oh, we want to invoke that poem?” at all, because it’s about power...

J: It’s definitely informed by it, and then it seemed fitting, but then it was like, “Well, it shouldn’t be exactly that,” and what would be the — I don’t remember how it got to Avizandum, Aaron, do you remember?

A: How it got to Azymondias?

J: How it got to Azymondias, I mean, sorry yeah. 

A: We knew we wanted something that had like a cute nickname, but also a longer name—

J: Yeah.

A: And I don’t remember when we landed on Azymondias Ozymandias, but we did agree upon like yes, let’s do this, let’s make him Azymondias.

J: Yeah, at some point it was informed by, I just can’t remember exactly how we ended up with Zym / Azymondias. 

A: Somewhere, we probably have a document of pitched names that we went through, like twenty different ideas.

J: Nate. Steven. 

A: Pete.

R: Yeah. [Laughs] I mean it kind of sounds like Avizandum, you know, and Zubeia, so they all fit.

J: Yeah, it definitely has a familial ring to it, which is nice also, for sure.

A: Was Avizandum, was that a bookstore in Scotland, is that where that name — was it Avizandum books—? I feel like it might’ve been, but I don’t know for sure now. Anyway.

J:  We have a Scottish writer Iain Hendry. You know, yeah you’re right, Avizandum Law Bookshop in Edinburgh, yeah. 

R: Yeah. Cause I read the poem and did it in undergrad, and I remember reading it after season 3 and thinking “Huh, interesting,” and then I reread it after season seven, I feel like I got so much more out of applying it to the show with everything about power and permanence, or lack thereof, so it felt...

J: It’s funny, “Uncharted 3” also had not direct references to that poem, but we read — that was one of the poems that informed some of the stuff cause they’re similar — similar thematic stuff going on there. It’s interesting. 

A: Yeah, and I like the idea that Zym is a little—

R: Oh no. We lost Aaron. 

J: We lost ‘im. [R laughs] Hold on, I’m gonna message him on slack. He may have lost power.

R: Oh no.

J: Oh he’s back, okay. 

R: Okay.

A: I clicked the wrong thing! I like that Zym is a little bit of a twist, right, it’s not Ozymandias, it’s Azymondias, and there’s more of a sense of optimism and creation than destruction and dismantling, right, so.

R: Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so for my next question, uh, what was it like getting to explore new sides to characters like Terry and Ezran? Cause I feel like they were big standouts to me in season seven.

J: You wanna go, Aaron, or do you want me to go?

A: Um. I always go to the performers on some of these things, which is to say like, you know, Ben and Sasha are amazing actors with a huge amount of heart and range and depth, and that as a writer, you find that well that’s an opportunity, right, to like — we can push these characters, we can do something more nuanced, we can — we can stretch their arcs and play with it more, and you know that the actors will be excited about that, right? So in particular, yes, seeing Ben — Ben has been incredible since the minute we started working with him and we were, we felt like he came into our universe like a whole being who was just like a main character on day one.

R: Oh yeah. 

A: We didn’t have to ask. He’s just really — his Terry had been phenomenal and funny and emotional and wonderful. And Sasha’s someone who is so precocious and wonderful, which is perfect for Ezran, you know when we started, but we’ve seen her mature as a performer and her capabilities grow, and so we just felt that opportunity growing. And so we knew we had a chance to push both of those characters. 

A: You know, Terry, we’ve also always kind of known there was a ticking bomb in his relationship with Claudia, which is like — and I often think of like Iroh and Zuko, and Terry and Claudia, as having a similar thing of which is that you have someone who has a really stronger moral core in some ways, a clearer compass pointed towards moral north, if that’s a thing, who fully unconditionally love this other person and is hoping to — to bring them toward that path, but knows you can’t force someone, you have to be by their side, you have to support them, you have to do what you can. The difference here became Terry seeing himself be used in the relationship, and having the strength and I think wisdom to say you know, like, “I can’t say in this in this way, and I love you” — I think he loves her and will always love her, but she kind of broke the core of a romantic relationship together, right? So I dunno, that’s kind of what I saw as where Terry needed to find the strength to move forward. 

A: And then Ezran, I mean Ezran honestly like we’re just seeing... You know, season four, was meant to show like he’s this very idealistic king, which is wonderful. He’s challenging these notions that the world says you have to act a certain way and lead with power, not with love, and those sorts of things. He’s very idealistic and young people are very idealistic, and they get tested, right? And he’s being tested, and in season four there’s that speech he gives where he was gonna give that speech, and then it changes because of the vandalism that’s happened, and he’s starting to understand that there’s pain and flaws and things like that. He’s figuring out how to incorporate that into his optimism and idealism, right, but at the same time, it’s not getting easier, right? The challenges to the world, to his kingdom, to everything is getting harder. So he has this balance where he’s both growing his ability to create hope and optimism and idealism, but also incorporating more realism and a sense of jeopardy and reality into who he is. You know, you can look at a smaller version of this in the scene where he’s being asked to forgive Runaan, right? An easier Ezran would be like “Great, it’s done,” where he gets to is “I don’t know how I’m going to forgive you, but I’m gonna have to try”. It’s complicated, it’s still a little complicated. You know, he’s starting — he helps to found Evrkynd, right, this great city with hope and a future, but also I mean like, the thing you probably don’t see is that he’s sleeping next to the Nova Blade now, you know?

R: Yeah.

A: He’s — there’s seeds of an obsession that are planted for what’s coming next. Anyway, I’ve gone off quite a bit—

R: No, that was awesome.

A: I love those characters, I love those performers, and uh, there’s more, there’s more for both of them. 

R: That was — it felt like in arc 2, you could see Terry and Ezran kind of doing a lot of damage control in their relationships or their choices and trying to fix things, and then realizing “Oh, I can’t actually fix this stuff” and season seven is then the fallout. And I was also always hoping that he’d get the Nova Blade, so I was thrilled... Okay, I asked the Moon Nexus question, okay, this was kind of a clarification one just cause I thought it was interesting, so early in the season Janai says to Karim to be pardoned he’d have to relinquish his name, and he’s like “oh I’ve already given up all my titles and stuff like that,” so I was just curious as to what would’ve meant to relinquish his name? If you can answer. Cause maybe it’s a spoiler.

A: I-I think she’s cutting off his heirs. 

R: Okay.

A: I think she’s—

J: Cutting him out of the family is what we sort of talked about. It’s a little bit of the Prince Harry thing on a bigger scale. [Laughs] Like Prince Harry chose to leave obviously, but I think it’s a similar thing where he’s totally out of the royal line of succession and all of that stuff. 

R: Yeah.

A: I mean, I think she’s anticipating challenge in the future to the path that she’s trying to create from his potential family, right, I think. I-I can’t remember now, I think she asks for that, she already knows—?

R: She knows that Miyana’s pregnant, and then he figures out she is because of the request.

A: That’s right.

R: Which that also makes sense, cause I had it in my head of maybe it’s a magical Xadian thing of almost like erasing Aaravos’ name, maybe you know, overthinking it. But that makes sense.

A: Yup.

R: Okay, cool. Okay, then kind of moving into a little bit of the setup in this season, in season seven, um, Kpp’Ar and Laurelion stood out to me in like every time I learn something about them, they just get more interesting and setting up interesting stuff for the future. Is there anything you can comment there or another character that we hear about, like I think it’s Shiruakh? 

J: I don’t know, should we — I’m trying to think if there’s anything we can say that’s not — I don’t know. [Laughs]

A: Well this had not occurred to me, but it’s interesting that Shiruakh’s scale is the armour that — is the magical armour that Claudia has, and and Shiruakh’s tooth is the freaking Nova Blade. 

R: Yeah.

A: Right? There’s something interesting about the defense — I mean, I just hadn’t...

R: Mmhm. Like a matched set almost. 

A: That’s interesting.

J: Take all my stuff! Make some things out of it. [R and J laugh] I’ll give you a tooth, a scale, and a pair of my boots. 

A: Um, we will — there is more to know about what Kpp’Ar was doing, which was self-eating, and there will be some followup to that, which is a dark magic path to immortality, basically, or some version of immortality, so we’ll have some followup on that. Um. Can — can I hint about something, Justin, or no?

J: I don’t think we should. 

A: No? Okay.

J: [Quietly] Should just leave it—

A: Let me just say [R laughs] he’s not the first self-eater, right? Which is a horrible term when you think about it, but like the idea that there’s dark magic where you can self-cannibalize and extend your life, you know. We may meet someone out there who’s been doing that, who’s quite ancient and strange. 

R: Awesome. Um... So, what was the thought process behind giving Callum a white streak? Cause obviously that’s a big change to his character design. 

J: I mean it, you know, obviously what he did [laughs]. Right? But I think it’s a reminder that every time he looks in the mirror, like “Oh my God, this is how far I went to do a thing, and to protect my family and to protect the people that I love, and I—” it’s a very slippery slope, and so I think it’s helpful for him to keep that. It’s a hint that like, you know, we saw what happened with Claudia, right? It got bigger and worse, so I think it’s interesting for him to be contemplating that anytime he — anytime he literally looks at himself, he’ll be reminded of what happened and what he did, and to not go down that path again, y’know? It’s dangerous, it’s — dark magic is easier and faster, right?

R: Yeah.

J: And so — but also just, it looks cool as hell. [Laughs]

R: It does! It — even the little wave.

J: Yeah! [Overlapping] Rule of cool a little bit.

R: [Overlapping] Cause he has the streak.

J: But no, it’s definitely — he did a big ass dark magic spell, right?

A: Well, did he? I mean he did.

J: Yes, he did. So. 

A: Which, it’s also a signal of his vulnerability, right? I mean, he accepted some measure of significant vulnerability moving forward.

J & R: Yes. 

R: Cause I was like, he has the streak, he has the Staff [of Ziard]. I’m intrigued for his arc in arc three. Especially cause Kosmo had said “Oh, if you ever do dark magic again, you’d be completely corrupted,” and it doesn’t seem like that happened, but maybe, you know, there’s multiple meanings or another way to look at it.

J: Also, it’s a little bit hyperbolic. 

R: Yes.

A: Callum’s going to get more and more powerful, by significant measures. 

R: Which is great, cause then it puts him in a place of like, okay you have this power, kind of like Ezran with the Nova Blade or any of them, what do you do with it, you know? You’re not kids anymore. The white streak also made me think about him and Claudia being like almost inverted, character design wise, and she has quite the arc this season. What was it like getting to write her in season seven as she continues with her choices? 

J: You want me to go, or you wanna go?

A: You go.

J: Oh alright. Uh, it was awesome. [Laughs]

R: Yeah.

J: No, I super — she’s a super fun character to write and like Aaron was talking about before, Racquel is so good that she always brings something even more interesting than we put on the page, and so — so yeah, it was awesome to finally get the chance to put down all the things we had been talking about in the writer’s room and at coffees and breakfast and all that stuff, her vulnerability and especially the end when she’s like, “I’m nice,” that’s sort of a very strong ending statement by Claudia given what we’ve seen happen and what she’s done, of course, and so getting that done. And Claudia’s not done yet, there’s still a lot of really interesting stuff coming for Claudia. She’s a fascinating character and so like the more we kind of get to play with her and put her and push her to the limit, the more interesting she becomes, I think, given her family circumstances and what happened and you know, her brother’s still out there and on the other side of this, and now that Viren is gone, it’s interesting. There’s a lot I’m trying not to step on for the future, but there’s a lot of really cool developments coming for Claudia that you’ll see.

R: Even...

A: Do you think she’s already exceeded Viren’s power? 

R: For me or Justin? [Chuckles] 

A: You.

J: I know. [Laughs] 

R: [Laughs] Uh, I would say yeah, I think you see even aspects of that even in season one, when it’s like she thinks of the soul switching plan, and she doesn’t understand Harrow’s reservation about it, but Viren can kind of be like “Oh yeah I can see that he won’t—”

A: That’s true.

R: “—really like it,” so it feels like she’s always steadily surpassed him, even in season four when she was taking on more animalistic forms, I was like “Huh, interesting.”

A: Yeah.

R: And then season seven she’s basically a human dragon at this point.

A: Yeah.

R: And that’s just so rich for her in terms of how much she hates dragons, and how dragons are so much of a villain in Dragon Prince with like Sol Regem, and the Archdragons’ decisions, but also like saviours, so I dunno, really interesting stuff with in particular. I always look forward to her.

A: Yeah. And not only with character, but in terms of power level, she’s got a lot more room to grow and she will, so yeah. There’s exciting stuff for Claudia. 

R: So I loved getting to see more of Aanya in season six season seven, especially season seven of her being again good and bad influence on Ezran in some ways—

A: Right. 

R: So she gets to be more complicated. Um, will we ever see the new kings and queens of the Pentarchy potentially again? Or figures like King Ahling, or I think years ago it was tossed out that Kasef has a younger sibling...? 

J: Will we see them again?

R: Yeah. I guess more like Pentarchy leaders or politics in hypothetical — well not hypothetical, but in arc 3. 

A: Yeah. I-I think so, and I think one of the curious questions is where does Evrkynd stand in respect to all of the kind of older order, right? Does it upset that order, does it just kind of live independently, like the Vatican, you know?

R: Who’s actually in charge? 

J: Yeah! Yeah, I mean, like the whole order’s been flipped over, right? So it’ll be interesting to see the fallout of that for sure.

A: Has it been — what do you mean the whole order has been flipped around?

J: Oh just like the world has changed significantly in the sense that Aaravos came back and killed a bunch of stuff, and a lot of horrible bad thing magic happened, and so it’s just a lot of open questions about — all of the structures still exist, but what do they mean in a world is coming, and all of those things.

R: Who fills the power vacuums? Like I was even thinking of what is a Xadia without Archdragons? Other than Zym, like what does that mean, and what’s that going to do to everyone there, and—?

J: Yeah.

A: I mean, do you think humans want to move east? To Xadia?

R: Maybe!

A: What does that mean? I mean like, I would assume they’re allowed but what does that mean? Well they have, they’re in the [Sunfire camp], but like — I dunno, what does that mean? Humans are weird, right? 

R: Humans are so weird. 

A: That’s our high level theme, ultimately. What this boils down to is humans are weird. 

J: Humans are weird, bro. [Laughs]

A: That’s The Dragon Prince.

R: Well I remember, I was trying to develop a theory for something, and then I was counting the fingers in the flashbacks, like oh, humans made the Nova Blade. And I was like, why are they making the Nova Blade, so humans are weird absolutely is a theme. [Chuckles] Okay, that also kind of follows into my next question, with Zubeia gone, obviously Zym is young and now voiced by Dante Basco—

A: Right. [Laughs]

R: Is he the future Dragon King? Kind of being like an almost child ruler?

A: Makes sense to me. I dunno, like... let me think. Can I say there is another? There may be another? Can I say that?

J: Yeah.

A: Okay. 

R: Potential succession crisis? 

A: Er, I dunno about that, but uh — it’s certainly... There’s some, there’s some other — we have mentioned it. Some of these things, you’ll know more before the end of the year about some of this stuff. Nothing is just from Comic Con stuff, we’re — I’m not announcing any releases. Just like we’re gonna talk about more of this stuff at Comic Con in July. That’s all.

R: Okay, cool. Awesome.

A: Sorry. Little too [R laughs]...

R: No, no, you’re good. That’s, I was even gonna — one of my questions is if there are any graphic novels you can tease for the future, so I was even thinking maybe it’s gonna be [in there] or the book three, the fabled book three novelization.

J: We definitely want to do more OGNs for sure. We don’t have anything to announce, but we definitely have plans for more of those, for sure.

R: Okay, awesome. Cause all the graphic novels have been so good and it’s very fun to like peel back like “oh, how’s this going to apply?” or you know, different stuff. 

J: Yeah, and just getting to work with all the people on those things is awesome, like Peter, and Nicole, and Felia, and all those people are awesome.

R: Um, so — I did have some backup questions as well — so I thought Runaan’s speech to Ezran in the end about violence, and the belief in necessary violence, and like if there even can be such a thing? Was really interesting. What sort of things were you hoping to explore about those concepts or in that discussion? Like for them as characters, obviously Ezran kind of becomes a little bit of an assassin by the end, of wanting to kill Aaravos as well, but even just looking back at arc 2 or other characters as well.

A: Would you ask the question a little more pointedly, maybe?

R: What was it like getting to explore the idea of quote unquote “necessary” violence?

A: Right. So first of all, we don’t purport to know an answer, like [chuckles] but we understand that people do make those justifications and ideas that like, you know, and certainly Runaan would have. Like this was surgical, this is saving lives, ultimately by going and being assassins we’re going to save lives. He believes he is good, or part of some machinery that leans toward the good. But the thing we all know is like violence isn’t just the violence that’s done, it’s also the trauma and the seeds of pain and future violence that get planted, and how what happens with that. And one thing that I believe, I saw a wonderful speech by the Dalai Lama years ago. The whole speech was wonderful, but for some reason the thing that stayed with me is he was talking about — I don’t remember if he was saying karma, but he was saying like, it’s good to do good and when you do good and put positive energy into the world in some way, there’s an instant karma. It comes back to you. It’s like the psychics of when you throw a ball on a boat, equal and opposite, that energy comes back to you immediately, that’s instant karma. But there’s one magical thing — I don’t remember him saying magical — which is a kindness to a child plants a tree of kindness. Right? It grows a thousandfold, that energy. 

A: And so that was a very positive way of saying it, the same idea, but I’ve always thought about that. I’ve always thought about the energy and ideas and positivity; if you can give it to, so... The — the reverse of that here is, you know, the potential for greater pain and furtherance of those cycles of violence that are created when Runaan engages in his, you know, surgical violence, is only stopped because Ezran is such a strong character and is able to kind of internalize and carry it and process it and can still lead with hope and kindness and those things. So, um, so that’s kind of what we thought about. Again, I don’t know — there wasn’t intended to be an answer, just an understanding of who Runaan was and why, but for him to also have a deeper understanding of why it’s not just as simple as “I killed one person to save many,” like... He understands there’s a more complicated long term impact of his violence as well, and that he understands it now. I dunno if that helps or answers the question a little bit.

R: No, it does. Justin, is there anything you want to add?

J: No. [Laughs]

R: You’re like ditto. 

J: No, that was pretty good. 

R: Yeah, I thought — I thought season seven was a really great illustration of how the cycle is so much about collateral damage and how even if Ezran is thinking, “Oh I can have Runaan be shot,” it’s like well that’s gonna hurt Rayla, and that’s going to maybe physically hurt Callum who’s now using himself as a shield, there is no way to just hurt the singular person who hurt you and not hurt anybody else, because everybody has people who love them, right? Or even you know, Claudia and Aaravos, if Aaravos died and he did, what does that do to Claudia now? And there’s no like one definitive answer, but I think the show has continued to do a great job at exploring the ins and outs of all the nuances, so.

A: Yeah. And it’s interesting, I think about characters trying to process the complications of their lives and you know, the injustices or evils that have been done to them, and maybe the things they’ve done as well, and I think about Ezran carrying so much and processing it, and figuring out how to process it. I think about, you know, Viren where he comes out as well, right, and like which is to say his point of revelation when he wakes up in the beginning of season six, which is a little like, “I can’t make up for the things I’ve done all the way, but I can be on a different path. I can stop creating whatever negative energy I’m creating,” and so we have — he has this distinction of what he can do and what he deserves, and it’s not necessarily the same, and he... You know, his goodbye to Claudia and he knows he’s causing her pain, but he loves her, he tells her he loves her, but he has to leave. And then in the end, his identification as a servant, right, which obviously reflects back on his conversations with Harrow but also about his whole life’s ego journey, which is to exceed that, to somehow aspire to be a leader or a king or high mage, right? Those things that he aspired to, and in the end, he really dies, I think content to have been a servant, to be a servant, and to me there’s something really interesting about his path and where he lands and how he’s processed everything to get to that point. Anyway, just went off on a side note. 

R: No, well it’s funny, cause watching season seven obviously Viren’s not there for the first time, and it’s both very strange and I was well Aaravos is here so we’re acclimating, but I could like feel him haunting the narrative.

A: Mmhm.

R: Because I felt like so much of what [A chuckles] the main trio were wrestling with were their Viren-esque choices, you know? Of Ezran being like we have to be strong enough so they’ll never attack us like ohh, that’s so Viren; or Rayla having to again do the homecoming and be judged, and she can’t maybe make amends for everything that was like the fallout of her actions; or Callum with his dark magic, so I was like [Viren] still felt very present to me in a way that I thought was really fun and interesting, even if I do miss him, so. Um... So this is the last of my official questions. Obviously the fandom was very saddened when “Xadia” was pulled suddenly, are there any hopes or plans of finding the game a new home?

J: Never say never [chuckles] is what I will say. We don’t have anything, like we don’t have anything immediately, but we do still control it and control the rights, and all of those things, so hopefully someday fingers crossed. But there’s nothing like in the immediate future.

R: Yeah. Yeah, okay, that’s — I mean, that was my fingers crossed answer, I was like “they probably still own the IP, so maybe—?”

J: We do! So we own all the stuff [laughs] and we’re really proud of the game and so there might — God willing the video game industry recovers a little bit [laughs] comes back to what it was before someone, and there’s more spaces for it. But yeah, at some point we’d love to get it out there. Also, you know, who knows in the future maybe we’ll do other games or other experiences set in-universe, so.

R: That sounds awesome. Is there anything from the season or from arc 2 in general that we haven’t talked about already that you guys would really want to talk about? Of “nobody ever asks about this”, or?

J: Oh man, that’s a good question.

A: Probably, I’m just trying to think through, um...

R: There’s a lot that happened in arc 2, so [laughs]. 

A: I mean, there’s the — we meet the Crowlord finally at the end of the season for just a glimpse, an instant. [Overlapping] You know what, we had written a speech for the Crowlord.

J: Yes!

A: But we had to cut it for time. He had a speech in Evrkynd like, “Hello everyone!” We were trying to get — we were trying to cast Conan O’Brien as the Crowlord.

J: Yeah. Yes.

A: Which was like ridiculous, there’s no way, but we were like what if it was Conan, that would be great.

J: Aaron had run into Conan on an airplane—

A: It’s true. He’s a very nice man.

J: Very nice man.

A: Incredibly nice man.

J: But yeah, there was like a whole run of Crowlord’s been on vacation [laughs]. “What did I miss?” 

A: What? I can’t—

J: The end of the day.

A: Oh he’s retiring!

J: He’s retiring.

A: He was going to retire, he’s announcing his retirement.

R: He’s like my job here is done and I didn’t do anything.

A: Anyway, I can’t remember but uh, that was fun. What else? Um... What else happened during the — the arc that we didn’t talk about? I don’t know.

R: We got Ezran’s nukes, for lack of a better term with Project Sunfire Ruby, um, Kim’Dael, Finnegrin, um, I thought all of Janai’s stuff with her brother was fantastic as well as like the betrayal — brother betrayal parallels.

A: Yeah.

J: I — oh sorry, go ahead.

A: You go, I was going to shout out Michal a little bit on...

J: No go for it, I’ll go after that.

A: Just a quick shout out to Michal Schick, one of our writers, who like on the arc for Karim, we were all getting to the end and were like “Does he redeem himself? How is his redemption?” and Michal was like “No! Have you listened to this guy? He’s not going to redeem himself! He’s gonna screw everyone in the end and hopefully get what he deserves!” And we were just like yeah, you’re right. He can’t do it. He just can’t bring himself to do it. Anyway: Michal’s great, Karim’s arc ended as it should’ve [laughs] I guess? I don’t wanna laugh, but kind of...

R: I loved — Karim’s actually one of my favourite characters in the whole show, precisely because he sucks so much, um, and I thought he was a great — you know Aaravos hates arrogance, and I feel like Karim was very Cosmic Order-esque of like, you know — and again, just not — in a show where like almost everyone’s a murderer, there’s not a lot that’s like irredeemable in Dragon Prince.

A: Yeah. Right.

R: But Karim forsaking his family, and not being able to come back from that, and that he’s the one who just doesn’t get anything, I was like yeah, that’s deserved. Cause even Viren is pulled back from that point, right, and then is able to grow and change, so I thought that was a really good, interesting facet of — of the themes and arcs.

J: I was going to tag onto that, what I was going to say was that Karim is one of my favourite characters in “Xadia” the game, and we built him pretty early because he’s a fire mage and he’s very cool, and then by the time we got to when the game was coming out, like “Oh no, he’s an asshole [laughs] are people going to want to play him as him?” They did, but it was funny, it was like — it was definitely a funny moment where it was like oh this guy’s awesome to play as but he’s kind of a jerk, which was fun.

A: Um. We see Miyana with the twins in the end.

R: Yeah. Very intrigued.

A: We’ll meet them, someday. We — we had versions where Miyana didn’t — died during childbirth, and the twins got adopted by their aunt. But then we had Miyana there at the end, so I dunno. Writing is funny. Like you have all these parallel universes where you made a different decision and you followed through a certain way, so I dunno. We try to do what’s right.

R: That’s why — I think that’s what’s fun about fandom is you can explore all the various ins and outs in as many different ways as you want, and then canon is the one that the writers picked, and it’s—

A: Right.

R: And it’s very good, but you can also get to explore all the other stuff, so I think that leaves us a lot of fun stuff to play with, I think.

A: Soren, we haven’t talked much about Soren.

R: Yeah. I thought he had a great arc. It was really interesting watching him in season three find this like certainty, and then over the course of arc 2 he just loses all of that [chuckles]. 

A: Yeah, we really did enjoy in season six him and Viren’s kind of crossing paths and what that meant, and what that felt like, and where they were able to get to. Funny that the flashback episode where Viren is writing the letter was not in our original plan. What happened, Justin, how did we end up having room to do that? Oh, I know how we had room! Because there was a universe where we were doing six and seven all in season six.

J: Yeah. That’s right.

A: And season seven was going to be the third arc. And then part way, for different reasons, we were like we didn’t have enough real estate in that seventh season to properly tell the third arc, and also some of the writers were advocating we didn’t have real estate in six to finish the second arc, that there was stuff we needed to do. And so there were things that were happening in the last episodes in season six that ended up becoming in the end of season seven, we had to move them forward. Then there was an episode, I can’t remember if it was split in two, it sort of grew, that was the — but one of the things that we ended up adding was the episode where Viren writes the letter with the story of... We thought this would be — would give some greater depth to. ‘Cause if you look at it, you could look at the episode right prior to that and go that’s some measure of closure on Viren and Soren. Done. Check. But it was nice that we were able to go one even deeper, so — but yeah. Process is funny, you know, and I know that fandom has reacted to some of that as well, like... At different times, we thought our ability to tell the arcs over different sets of episodes was — were different, and it’s evolved, we’ve let it evolve and we’ve tried to make the best choices we could to be able to tell the story right, but, you know, I know some people feel like “Why didn’t I get my like ending-ending? I thought I was banking on that,” and so hopefully that will be — that’s yet to come, and we’ll be satisfying when it does come.

R: I will say, after season six cause I’ve, uh, I’ve lost sleep the cube of Aaravos, the Key of Aaravos [A laughs] trying to figure it all out, and so I remember it was after season seven you guys released an interview of being like “Oh yeah, it’s a huge part of arc 3,” and I was just like “Of course it is [A laughs] of course it is!” I wasn’t gonna get it yet [laughing] but that’s okay. But I did have it in my head of I dunno, that’s so attached to Callum, that’s so attached to Aaravos, I was like I feel like that’s kind of a finale arc, you know? So I feel like it was a good way of like, arc 2, especially when we knew that oh no there is a planned arc 3 with season six and season seven, you can kind of think “Okay, as the second part of the story, this makes a lot of sense,” and I think season seven had to walk that balance of growing the characters, also have not quite like regression but things were getting more complicated, and you’re both resolving and leaving things for the future, which is not an easy line to walk whatsoever.

A: Yeah.

R: But I thought to your point on Viren’s letter episode, I thought that set up even Terry’s arc in season seven so well of you, you used me, you know? Of like “I would’ve helped you, but I got scared, or whatever, and then you treated me like a thing” you know, and so Lissa walks away, and Terry walks away, and I think Claudia even says the same line about both of them of “Well they had to leave for themselves” and I just thought that was so well done from a thematic standpoint of dehumanization and, yeah. Are there any — I think that’s everything, yeah, um — was, is there anything you want the fandom to ponder?

J: Uh, San Diego. Ponder San Diego. We’re going to be there, it’s going to be exciting, there is information coming, we can’t talk about it directly, but San Diego will be fun.

R: Okay. Okay, very cool.

A: Will you be there at any of these coming conventions? What’s your plan in the future?

R: Me? 

A: Yeah. I know they’re expensive.

R: I’d like to go. I’d like to go eventually, just not — it’s not in the cards for me this year, but hopefully in the future I’d love to go. Maybe if we have an official arc 3 panel, I’ll be like “Okay, I got like two years of hiatus to save up and prepare and [laughs] I can be there.” So I think that’s everything, thank you so much for being—

A: Great!

J: Yeah.

R: For joining me, this was awesome. 

J: It was nice to meet you in person. Or in video I guess.

R: Yeah.

A: I just wanna say like, first of all, you — I’ve said this before, you’re one of our — we love all the fans, you’re one of my favourite fans. [R gasps] You dig so deep, and you push so hard, and you — that’s, we want the writing and the story to be worth that, you know? So we work really hard to make sure that it has some depth and whatever, but I also want to add that even just in our conversation, you ask such great questions, that I feel like — it actually comes back and it’s going to affect the writing in arc 3 [R gasps louder].

R: [Softly, in disbelief] Oh my gosh.

A: That’s not to say you’re changing it, but there are questions that have occurred to me during our conversation that hadn’t occurred to me before this conversation that are worth exploring and diving into, so I think it’s so valuable talking with you, and I’m really grateful for our relationship with you as an uber-fan — a super fan, I guess not an uber-fan cause somehow uber versus lyft [R laughs] now that word is ruined, but anyway, just wanna say we’re grateful.

R: Oh! Thank you, that’s — that’s incredibly kind. I was even thinking about how grateful I was for our first interview, because there were parts of season seven I was watching where you guys had talked about sacrifice and all that stuff, and it was really coming back to mind in season seven, so I feel like it also makes the show — the show is so worth the deep dive, sometimes I feel like I’m still barely scratching the surface, um, so thank you guys so much for creating something that — you and everyone at Wonderstorm for making something that brings people together, and is such a source of joy and contemplation, I think for a lot of people so thank you, and yeah, I guess we can —

A: Amazing.

R: I guess we can sign off. 

J: Thank you so much.

A: Thank you. And thank you for shouting out all of Wonderstorm cause yes, this is a—

J: A team effort.

A: The greatness of this show has been the creative effort of such an amazing team.

R: Oh yeah. Alright. Uh — bye everyone!

J: Bye, 

A: Bye!

J: Thank you so much! Have a good one!

[ms-basketcase]

I love, love, LOVE The Last of Us in pretty much all facets, and I adore having seperate-enough stories via nature of TV that can help enhance the game's world - just to preface - and I AM more or less enjoying S2...

...But SOMETHING is missing from Season 2's take of this story so far. A layer is gone. Bella Ramsey slays as Ellie, this isn't her fault, but her writing is just...off.

Ellie at this point (in the game) was pretty fucking depressed and fully HOOKED on the drug of vengeance, digging further and further into a bleak hole of despair while she cast aside everything she had around her. And who could blame her??

Missing the pregnancy argument and then (lowkey shoehorning) that subsequent sex-scene (which NEITHER washed their hands before might I add) before waking up all la-di-da ((WITH FRESH AF, SMOOTH HAIR)) just felt...eh. SO MUCH heavy lifting could have been garnered from seeing Ellie actually be disagreeable and so struck by grief bcs tbh that is missing entirely right now.

Show Ellie rn is just...lowkey chilling a bit too hard? Yeah we had ONE menacing look in Ep4 when Dina said "and what do we do if we encounter Wolves that weren't with Abby" but aside from that the tone is just a bit flat where the game was already ripe with rich, harrowing complexity.

These next 3 episodes have a LOT to establish and Part 2's story is so complicated that I really fear, and question, the ideas and results stemming from a 7-episode PART ONE of this large overall tale where pacing is also SO vital...

[griddlebait]

I love how you’ve had some of these scenes planned out for ages! Everything’s been so calculated since the start. It’s been so fun watching the story develop, thank u for sharing it with us :0)

If it’s not too spoilery, is there a specific scene you thought of that made you want to write sckl?

at this point my memory is a bit hazy and all mushed together, but i’m pretty sure the first scene i ever wrote was the night where gideon found harrow on the bridge. i didn’t actually plan to write a full fic but in my head i knew i wanted that night to lead to them living in NYC together. i couldn’t stop thinking about it so i just wrote a bunch of little vignettes set in that world with no real structure or timeline just for myself to read. at some point something must have made me decide to finally sit down and plan it all out but i can’t remember what exactly that was

the idea for the fic itself & specifically the 90s setting came from getting astronomically high on edibles and listening to mazzy star and the cure alone in my room in the dark lmao. for obvious reasons i can’t remember that night super clearly but in hindsight im almost certain look on down from the bridge by mazzy star in particular was a major inspiration

[grimesapologist]

queer was pretty bad, like i like seeing daniel craig giving blowjobs as much as the next person but the tone was way off, it whitewashes the book,tries to construct a version of burroughs as not a paedophile, which is an absurd proposition in the first place, considering how many young boys william burroughs writes about fucking, instead we get a 19 year old american, maybe with history in the army, maybe straight and fucking burroughs out of what, pity? character whosepurpose exclusively is to fuck our protagonist and sulk about it afterwards, there is some contrived thing about the intimacy that burroughs needs and this guy doesn't always want to give, but it's not moving, the soundtrack is odd, strange choices were made with the songs to put in the film, and the atmosphere felt way off, when they reached the end of their yage quest it felt like jumanji or something, what was for me a pretty harrowing read but saturated in something real, turned into a stilted and austere, even goofy at times tale of going to a cafe a bunch of times,meeting a boy who doesnt really want you, fucking, then going into the jungle with said disinterested white boy and finding a quirky old white lady to get ayahuasca from. that scene was really quite pretty but still meant like nothing, it was an serious yet unserious movie, i fucking hate that there were parts where daniel craig read passages from burroughs texts to people as though that is the way a writer behaves, but the 5 min scene of him shooting heroin and staring into space got me so geeked icl

[vintagemulti]

shards and splinters

parings: marc spector x reader , steven grant x reader

desc: apparently what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. now you’ve died and returned alive, perhaps it’s time to test that theory; or risk losing your life once and for all.

warnings: blood, angst, swearing, fighting, guns and gun violence, death descriptions, long as fuck, sex mentions i guess(? if you squint), hurt/comfort, gory i guess (jake🤷🏻‍♀️) writers note: idk how accurate these are bc i’ve been writing this on and off for years but cover all bases i guess xx

a/n: psa to pls reblog anyway she’s BAAAAAACKKK did you miss me ?? i missed youse … if there’s even a moonknight fandom anymore 🫣 i’m so sorry for the 2 years gone from the face of tumblr, i’ve quite honestly had two years from hell and insane writers block so. can anyone even remember this series?? idk maybe you should all reread the first parts 👀👀 anyways. there’ll be one more part to this (will it come this year? next? 2026? who knows…) bc i HATED my original ending and just had to change it. also sorry if this feels rushed or like it jumps around a lot, it’s been written over YEARS, but i’ve tried my best for continuity. also, i know there’s a lot missing in like fight scenes but they are BORING and i hate writing em so i’m not doing it. tried, got half way thru then didn’t touch this for 7 months so.. it’s no fight scene or no part at all. but my last part is pretty much done so hopefully it’ll be posted soon! ill let youse savour this for a while tho lol. on a real note thank you all SO much for all the love, even two years later. it means the world. all my love, all the time x

series masterlist

masterlist

the air felt different now. it was funny; you and marc had been apart hundreds, if not thousands of times, but he had never felt your absence. not like this. no, never like this. it was different now because he knew he could look for you everywhere and you would still be in that room, not breathing, not living.

he could see it all so clearly now. all of what? all of it. everything; life, your life, his life, where everything went wrong, what he should have done, should have said, how he could have saved you.

there was nothing you could have done, marc.

“that’s easy for you to say.” he mumbled, looking down at his hands. “you’re not the one who was halfway through a fucking argument when harrow took her. and if you can remember, harrow took her because of me.”

steven sighed, and went quiet.

“i should’ve died on that fucking alter.”

marc said it over and over, like a prayer, to go back in time and pull the trigger. he was fuck knows where, it looked like the middle of the desert but marc didn’t care enough to question it.

he had walked out of that pyramid and kept on walking - for hours. the hot egyptian sun had began to set, casting a rosy hue on everything. the humidity make marc’s head ache.

steven had gone silent - a small hum of anger in the back of marc’s head. it usually would have surprised marc, for steven to be the angry one. but he wasn’t sure he would never feel surprised again.

are you going to wallow here forever?

marc looked up, low sun glinting in his eyes, making him squint. but he could tell exactly who it was - crescent staff in his peripheral.

“fuck off.”

khonshu laughed. that’s one way to talk to a god.

“fuck off.” he repeated.

and why should i, mortal? why should i listen to you?

“you did this.” it was stiff, cold, a definite statement. “you did this to us.”

khonshu groaned, moving to block the sun from marc’s eyes so he could see him properly. aren’t you going to question how i am here?

“no.”

perhaps you should.

marc could never cope with khonshu’s riddles. they had always infuriated him - never getting a straight answer. but this one, he could tolerate.

“fuck does that mean?” he was looking directly into khonshu’s eyes now - something he had readily avoided for years. “and don’t give me any of your goddamn riddles.”

if you must be so blunt, it would seem like osiris has taken a liking to your poor lady wife. hathor isn’t half fond of her, either. maybe you ought to go back to the pyramid, something tells me your needed.

and he was gone. disappeared with a gust of wind, leaving marc alone in the saharan sunset, shaking and still covered in his wife’s blood.

she’s alive?

“i-” marc looked around. “i don’t-”

his eyes slipped into the back of his head.

steven took a deep breath, swallowing hard. he set off in a run - towards the pyramid.

-

“this feels so fucking weird.”

you were pressed flat against the wall, peeking around every few seconds to make sure one of harrow’s followers wasn’t coming your way.

i must admit, it’s been a while since i’ve had an avatar.

you let out a breathy laugh. was that your first ever laugh since being revived? you supposed it must be. oh, you wished it was one of steven’s jokes you were laughing at instead.

you didn’t think you’d ever find one of his jokes unfunny again.

“where is he?”

it’s hard to tell. i can’t check, unless i’d like ammit to spot me.

humming, you looked around the corner once again, breath hitching when you saw a shadow come closer.

what made your breath stop completely, however, was the slow, melodic tapping of a cane, following every footstep the person took.

harrow was less than two feet away from you.

swallowing hard, you pushed yourself against the wall even harder, back cold against the concrete. you hoped - prayed with your newfound faith in osiris and his mercy - that harrow would turn back the other way, not hearing your thumping heart.

but your luck had ran out for this lifetime.

the tapping of the cane became louder, until you could see the tip of it in your peripheral, crunching glass finally becoming audible. he was about to come around the corner, and see you. you would be impossible to miss, even the bright red of your new outfit making you stand out.

it seemed like it was impossible to escape harrow, and the tapping of his cane. he had killed you once, what would stop him from doing it again?

apparently, a guardian angel. someone spoke, making harrow turn to look behind him.

this was your chance - to slip away and turn the opposite corner, escape harrow in your new life as you couldn’t in your last.

his voice made you flinch. cool, charming, low. like a snake - exactly like a snake, now you thought about it. the way he slid through life, from the bar all those years ago, to now, awakening a centuries old god, aiming to destroy the world.

you could slither away too, though.

still holding your breath, you sidestepped along the wall, making sure to watch your step over any lose stones, until the wall fell away behind you and led you into another corridor.

as soon as the light from the hall had faded, you let out your breath, hands coming to your forehead and rubbing your eyes.

we have to keep moving. ammit is almost ready to begin.

nodding - although it felt like your brain was rattling around your skull - you looked back up and saw hathor, still looking as beautiful as ever.

this hallway was much dimmer than the last. colder, too. it was like all the light had been blocked, the only thing keeping your vision was the small, fading candles lining the walls every meter or so.

perhaps it was your natural instinct, or a new given sense as an avatar, but you could tell - something wasn’t right. something in the air had shifted, on top of the hot, sticky, egyptian heat, there was something sinister.

your years as a mercenary had taught you to recognise something - blood in the air. and there was certainly blood in the air around you.

“what is harrow’s plan?”

he wants to judge people. through ammit, he believes he can rid the world of everyone bad, even if they aren’t already bad.

“so he’s playing god?” the corridor seemed to go on forever.

he would never admit it, but yes. and ammit is the perfect enabler for him, she’ll know exactly what he’s up to, but because he can give her her power back, she’ll play along.

you scoffed lightly. “harrow isn’t stupid either. he’ll know what she thinks.”

hathor shrugged, a few paces in front of you. only time will tell, my dear.

for a few minutes, the walk along the corridor was silent. the tap of your shoes echoed down the hall, breeze from your passing flickering the candles on the wall.

why did you marry him?

it stopped you in your tracks, hathor stopping too.

“what?”

marc. why did you marry him?

you stuttered for a moment, looking around as if someone would come and help you.

i don’t mean it in a rude way. i’m the goddess of love, it’s natural for me to want to know.

“well,” you paused for a moment and began walking again, slower this time. “we were young when we met, i was coming up for 18 and he was 19.”

and?

“and i knew what i had done to him.” you swallowed. “i felt fucking awful, i thought, maybe if i get to know the guy, and he’s not as much of an ass as everyone makes him out to be, it’ll make it easier for me to forgive myself.”

the corridor kept on, as if it were never ending.

“as you can tell, it didn’t work.”

he wasn’t as much of an asshole as everyone thought?

“no, he was,” you gave a dry smile. “it just so happened that assholes are my type, and i think he worked it out pretty quickly. so after only about two months of knowing each other, he asked me on a date. a real date. it was my first ever date too, god knows anton never took me out. but god, he was such a gentleman.

he picked me up, gave me flowers, wore a fucking tie. and he payed for everything, too. dinner at a four star restaurant, a movie, then out to a bar for drinks.

i knew i had fucked up when he kissed me that night.”

you regret it?

“not for a day. and that’s my mistake- i mean, i was supposed to hate him. i told myself i would hate him. so i wouldn’t feel bad about telling someone to kill him. i didn’t even know how he got out alive- he didn’t tell me about the khonshu shit until after we got married.

oh, our wedding,” you smiled again, a real one. “it was perfect. i was twenty one, marc was twenty three. we were so young. it was a small wedding, just some friends, neither of us invited our family. it was the best night of my life.

it was the night i met steven, too. i think the stress of the day must have triggered it. and that was it- there was marc, and there was steven.”

didn’t it take a while to get used to?

the corridor began to open up, getting slightly wider by the meter. still - there was no end to it in sight.

“it did and it didn’t. i knew for a while there was something happening to him, he would disappear, look confused all the time. i knew it was a matter of time until something changed. and then came steven, perfect steven.

he changed so much- it was like dating all over again. he was even more perfect than marc, stupid english accent included. but, naturally, abuthing that’s perfect must come to an end.”

hathor sighed. and it gave you the impression, just for a moment, that she already knew the whole story. that she was humouring you by letting you tell it. her sigh, sad and resigned, almost confirmed that she knew what was coming.

“the-” you stopped. your voice had broken, and your feet no longer moved. hathor continued for a few paces before looking back at you.

i understand, but if there’s any time you need to tell this, it’s now.

“you know?” you voiced your suspicions.

take into account which god i am, my dear. there is no one else i could chose, but you.

you swallowed. “what’s the point of talking about it if you already know?”

you have been born again. revived. would you like to carry this, this horrible vendetta against someone who has done nothing but love you, for the rest of your new life?

“no.”

then voice it. i can take this pain from you, if you only ask me too. i can help you.

you bit your tongue, looking down at your feet and kicking around a few of the loose rocks. hathor waited.

“the baby was supposed to be born just after my twenty-third birthday.”

a beat. hathor didn’t reply.

“but he didn’t live past twelve weeks.”

you looked back up at hathor, anxious for a reply. she didn’t give you one, only nodding.

“i don’t- i don’t know what i did. i was waiting until i could get a scan, tell marc, have it done properly, you know? but when i went to my appointment, i knew. she didn’t say anything, she just looked. then she left, got the doctor to come in.

he said that the baby had died, that they weren’t sure of the cause, but it was a boy. that my baby boy had died.”

tears threatened your eyes. never - never - had you spoken about this before. not even with marc.

“i went home, with a hatred in my heart. the next few days were the worst. i was grieving a child no one knew i even had. the blood was horrible, it hurt so badly. i told marc i was on my period. fuck, for all he knew i was.

and then my baby was gone. and i hated marc.”

why did you hate him?

you shrugged. “i have no idea. i needed someone to blame and marc was the easiest. that’s when it all went downhill, you know? i wanted him to be there for me, for something he didn’t even know happened. and when he wasn’t, i blew up at him. and he blew up at me.

and that was it, for three years. this horrible hatred towards each other, me hating marc for something he knew nothing about, and marc hating me for every other reason.

he hated me the most for making him stay a mercenary. he wanted out, he wanted a normal life in the suburbs with a dog and a big house and maybe, one day, a child.

but i can’t have that. i don’t want that kind of normal - not when i was so close to it and lost it. so i pushed him into this world. i made him take jobs and work himself to death, even when i found out about khonshu. i made him do it.

and that’s why we’re here. because i told him to follow khonshu here. and now look what i’ve done.”

hathor took two, wide steps towards you, and cradled your face in her hands.

you have done nothing that makes you inhumane. none of this mess is you fault. khonshu would have gotten marc here one way or another. anyone in your shoes would be the same.

her hands were warm. you felt a tear fall, running underneath her fingers. “but i’ve been so horrible. i’m a monster - if not for this, for everything else.”

hathor shook her head. you are a human being.

there was silence as you cried and hathor wiped your tears. at least two minutes passed - but it didn’t matter to you. harrow could come running around the corner and you wouldn’t bat an eyelash.

hathor took a deep breath, looking to her left along the corridor. she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, another figure appeared.

is now a bad time, human?

you flinched at the rough edge in khonshu’s voice. “what do you want?”

what do i want? there’s a long list.

even through your tears, your patience thinned. “seriously?”

hathor took her hands from your face, turning to look at khonshu. enough of your riddles. just tell her.

the unmistakable sound of footsteps, running, drew your attention. they were getting closer.

i don’t think i have to say a word, actually.

just as khonshu had finished, a figure appeared, coming around the twists and turns of the corridor.

your heart stopped.

marc looked around in a daze, eyes falling first on khonshu, then on hathor, then…

“y/n!”

just as he had stopped running, he started again, coming towards you like a lion out of his cage, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you off of your feet.

“oh baby,” he mumbled into your neck.

you had just reached - wrapping your arms around him in equal tightness, hands flying into his hair. oh, god. his hair - his curls, his skin - you’d never take it for granted again.

he pulled back, hands on your cheeks in a mirror image to hathor. his eyes locked into yours, brown irises melting into his pupils, filling with tears.

marc stuttered, trying to get several sentences out at once, before you hushed him.

“please, marc, we don’t have much time. harrow is gonna-”

“i know,” he nodded, eyes still not breaking from yours. “i know- baby, i know. please- please, just give me a minute. i never- i thought i’d never- oh, baby.”

he leaned in, moving his hands out of the way to rest his forehead against yours. he was hot - sticky with sweat and dirt and, although you didnt want to think about it, your blood.

“i know,” you whispered, closing your eyes. “marc, i know.”

barely having finished your sentence, he leaned in and kissed you.

it was like the first kiss all over again, and you supposed it was. hot, needy, passionate, desperate. you could live in this moment.

but the unmistakable sound of khonshu clearing his throat broke your kiss.

if you wouldn’t mind, harrow is about to release ammit. i’m sure your couples catch-up can wait another hour.

“yeah,” you nodded, breaking away, but marc was far more hesitant to let go.

“i can’t-” he looked around, paranoid. “i can’t do this, y/n. i just lost you, i can’t run the risk of losing you again, i’ve never- y/n, i can’t let you go, you’re everything to me, and if harrow- oh god, what did harrow do to you? i swear to god, the minute i see him, i’m gonna-”

he blinked. a beat.

“paranoid git never did know when to be quiet, did he?”

“oh, steven,” you threw your arms around him again. “fucking hell.”

steven, unlike marc, seemed far more willing to let you go. “love, i know, but if we don’t go now, we’re all gonna end up dead. please, we can do this all after, yeah?”

he took your hands in his, stilling your shaking fingers. he was so warm - always so warm.

“okay,” you nodded, looking between him and the gods beside you. “okay.”

-

you had severely underestimated how far harrow was willing to go. it had been what felt like hours, an unrelenting fight. you weren’t even sure when layla showed up, hoping to help you in any way she could.

but her attempts were futile; ammit was huge. really - huge, bigger than the pyramid behind her. khonshu had, as usual, gotten involved too, so that meant he was the same size, almost trampling you with every step he took.

you had tried. really, you had. you’d tried to use your new found avatar abilities to at least land something on harrow, but truth be told, you were failing. he’d hit you far more times that you’d even aimed for him, you were covered in cuts and rapidly forming bruises, you were sure your shoulder was dislocated.

but worst of all? your head wasn’t right. you weren’t sure what was wrong with it - it seemed fine every time you focused on identifying the issue, but every time you weren’t paying attention, it was there again. dizzy, a ringing in your eyes, everything a second or two behind; your vision lagging and cloudy. but just as you’d notice it, it was gone.

it was getting worse, too. you could see marc out of the corner of your eye; he was one to one with harrow. it would have made you anxious if you could properly focus on what was going on. but you couldn’t - your thought were scattered, a ringing back tenfold in your ears, the world had gone distant and hazy.

the doctors told you it was a concussion the next morning. layla had actually came in very handy, able to translate the man’s arabic into english for you.

he had told you that you’d sustained a massive head injury - you figured it would have been investigated, if you hadn’t been one of the people there last night.

‘there’ was all people could talk about. first the sky had gone backwards (you’d missed that part, thanks to being dead), then, out of nowhere, two ancient egyptian gods had appeared, destroying all the buildings in their wake, pyramids too.

it wasn’t that you couldn’t remember it. you could - it was clear in every aspect. it just didn’t feel like you’d been there at all. even the build up to it, every moment from when you’d stepped out of that pyramid, hand in hand with steven, hot air hitting your face;

it wasn’t you.

well, obviously it was you. but it wasn’t the same you. everything felt different, you didn’t have the same emotions you did before. the same key ones, yes, like how you felt about marc, and steven, and who you are as a person, but basic thing, like fear, and compassion? it was gone.

you’d have voiced this to a doctor if you could put ‘i died and got brought back to like by an ancient god, but not the same one who destroyed half of your city last night, sorry about that, by the way’ into layman’s terms.

trauma induced dissociation was enough of a label for you. it fit - everything just felt a little hazy, was all. not that you’d asked your doctor, a google search (excluding the resurrection part) had taken you to pages and pages about dissociation and how it’s normal to feel it after a traumatic event. you were pretty sure dying was a traumatic event.

and yes, you could bring it up to your doctor, he was payed to help you, after all. but there was a strange gnawing in the back of your head: that if you voiced this feeling, it would only get worse, and the happy ending you and your husband currently had would be shred in two because you couldn’t feel properly.

so instead, you listened to his professional diagnosis; a severe concussion, fractured rib, dislocated shoulder, several cosmetic wounds, and mental trauma that would be discovered at a later point, if you ever got around to voicing it to a doctor.

what a lovely shopping list, you thought.

-

it was three days before they let you out, and marc wasn’t getting out for another two after that. you’d had to beg him to even go to the hospital in the first place, but now he was getting the medical attention he’d needed for years, he seemed content in his hospital bed. not that he’d ever admit it.

with two days to yourself (not nights, you’d go back to the hospital and stay with marc), you decided to have the egyptian holiday you had come for.

the first stop was obvious; buy clothes. all of the ones you had were either covered in blood or halfway shredded. once you’d achieved this, in a new white linen sundress (cut below the knees to hide the still raw scars), you felt just slightly lost.

of course, you weren’t lost, you were always quick to get your bearings in new places - mercenary years had left you with a few skills, after all - and you kept yourself in a fairly small area, close to the hospital in case you got an emergency call.

no - the feeling of being lost came from deep down. ever since you’d come back to life it was the same, a strange longing for something you couldn’t quite put your finger on. something you felt you just had to have, maybe not right now, but in the near future. the hazy feeling had already begun to pass, you were sure google had served you well. but it left behind this in its wake, a new, even stranger feeling.

a breeze blew your hair lightly as you looked down the street in front of you. it was picturesque, all kinds of small shops and cafes as far as you could see. you could hear kids playing somewhere, a baby crying in the distance.

the lost-longing feeling piqued at this.

“oh.” you breathed. “oh.”

beside you, hathor, dressed in a golden, floor length dress and looking beautiful as ever, laughed.

oh, indeed. did you forget which god i am?

[rogue-reverie]

If you don't mind sharing, as you stated in your comment that MCU!MK shares similar tidbits from Comics!MK, what details have you notice from the comics corresponding well with the series? For each Marc, Steven and Jake? Granted we only got 6 minutes of Jake but I'm interested to see what you think about that too, since MCU!MK fans tend to be more freeform with Jake's characterization for the screentime he had.

Hey! So I'm actually really glad you asked this because it's something I've wanted to dive into in-depth since I decided to watch the MK series!

So let's start with Steven. In the comics, we see Steven Grant as a suave millionaire investor and entrepreneur. As part of the Moon Knight system, it's Steven’s job to make money to fund Moon Knight's activities, and to utilize Steven’s high society connections to gain information to aid in Moon Knight's quest for justice and vengeance that can only be gleaned in those circles. He's charming, intelligent, smooth-talking, and well-connected, described repeatedly as a philanthropic playboy who cares for others and is generous with his money. Khonshu describes him in the Bemis run: “Steven Grant is a good man. Though narcissistic and decadent, he manipulates the system to benefit the disenfranchised.”

Pretty different from what we see in the TV series, right?

Well, this is where we have to delve a little deeper into what we see of comic!Steven on the surface in order to understand where TV!Steven comes from. First, we get glimpses of comic!Steven being nerdy: one of my personal favorite moments in that vein is when he jokes with his long-time comic-verse love interest, Marlene, about using their alone time at the mansion to get freaky and dress up in their Star Trek costumes. Temperament-wise, like TV!Steven, comic!Steven dislikes violence, doesn't like to get his hands dirty, and is very obviously out of his element when it comes to the crazy situations Marc deals with on the regular.

The way I see it, these traits align with, or are at the very least congruous with how Steven is portrayed in the series: as a thoughtful, sweet, and intelligent guy who enjoys gathering information on the things he's passionate about – Egyptology, unsurprisingly, being among them. As for why Steven is in London, living as a timid man working at a museum where his co-workers treat him like shit instead of living in luxury off at some estate somewhere? My personal theory is that the story we see in the TV series cuts in somewhere after some serious shit went down surrounding the circumstances of Marc obtaining the scarab, which fractured Marc's relationship with his alters and induced some sort of amnesia. If you squint, I believe something similar is alluded to in the series when – I think it was Marc – said something about there once being a wall between the alters, but now whoever is fronting is stronger (I wish the writing had been clearer here because I still can't make sense of it). As for the narcissism and decadence described in the comics, those traits are noticeably missing, but all in all, I can absolutely see comic!Steven ending up in TV!Steven's situation under the right, albeit unfortunate, circumstances.

Next, we have Jake. Described in the comics as an “affable dirtbag” and “avuncular scoundrel,” I think Jake's characterization in the TV series is severely lacking. Aside from his scene with Harrow, we only get one or two (I've only done one watch-through of the series which is why I'm a bit fuzzy on the details) scenes where we see Jake fronting – or rather, the results of it: cut-scenes where we go from Marc or Steven's POV to some people ending up dead, and both Marc and Steven deny responsibility for it. And in the scene where Jake is finally fronting in the flesh, Jake shoots Harrow without hesitation in the backseat of his car after Marc's refusal to kill him.

Naturally, this leads to a lot of people characterizing Jake based only on the one-dimensional portrayal of him in the TV series: as an cold-blooded killer who is willing to take violence to debatably evil extremes to accomplish what needs to get done. However, this clashes with the characterization of Jake preferred by many people familiar with him from the comics: as a kind, loving, gentle, down-to-earth guy – the polar opposite of the ruthless, “evil” killer we see in the series. And, as could be expected, this has led to a fair bit of fandom controversy surrounding the character.

But when you really dig deep into Jake's characterization in the comics, one thing becomes abundantly clear: that both of these characterizations are true. Both of them coalesce in equal measure within the man we know as Jake Lockley.

Comic!Jake is a multi-faceted, nuanced character containing both the best and worst parts of Marc Spector as a system. As a New York cabbie, Jake is a man of the working class, making friends and connections all throughout the darkest, grimiest parts of the city. Describing himself as "friendly" and “mild-mannered,” one of Jake's trademarks is that every time he sees his friend Gena when he visits her diner, a frequent haunt of his, he asks how her kids are doing. The little ways of showing he cares matter to him: details to which we don't see Marc or Steven paying any mind.

But this aspect of Jake juxtaposes sharply against the other side of him: the guy who deals in the “grimy leftovers,” as Jake describes himself. In the Moon Knight system, when things get truly ugly, the buck stops with Jake: he's the guy who gets the job done when it involves the things Marc and Steven can't do: killing those who Marc won't kill, and dealing in circles of society and dishing out violence that Steven Grant simply isn't capable of. Sometimes that involves doing evil things, but Jake himself (mostly) isn't an evil man: rather, he's a man shaped by trauma, who has an intrinsic understanding of the way the world works, and what is sadly sometimes necessary to survive in it.

Now, why did I say Jake “mostly” isn't evil just now? This is where we touch on one of the central themes of the Moon Knight character, and the life and past of Marc Spector. This is a theme that the comics circle back to time and again: Marc's innate lust for violence, and the self-hatred he suffers from as a result of it. Marc and his alters, in their heart of hearts, are good men. They believe in justice, in kindness, in doing right by others. But Marc always enjoyed violence. Raised by a peace-loving rabbi, Marc's relationship with his father was fractured by everything from his enjoyment of war games with his brother as a child to his getting into school yard fights, taking up boxing and joining the Marines as an adolescent and young man. He laments that violence is the only thing he's ever been good at, and he hates that about himself.

Circling back to Jake, it seems fair to me to deduce that Jake is the alter that helps Marc's brain compartmentalize the worst of the worst of himself: the extreme violence he engages in, and the pleasure he feels dishing it out. And, almost as if Marc couldn't bear to have those parts of him exist in one personality by themselves, we find the best of him within Jake, too: the kindness, the caring, the deep love and genuine good-will towards others. Regardless, at the end of the day, Jake is a deeply complex character and deserves to be seen for everything he is, including all of the seeming contradictions that make him whole.

Now, lastly, we come to Marc. Marc's characterization in the TV series compared to the comics is, in my opinion, pretty dead-on. From his New York accent to his weariness, obstinance and grief at being put through the ringer once again thanks to his obligation to Khonshu, we see Marc in the TV series as every bit of the man he is in the comics: the tormented product of a career in professional violence, honed in the depths of the international criminal underworld. A man who has loved deeply and cares for others, but who has been burned for it by his own actions and his own nature: his violence, his selfishness, his tendency to overlook things in his personal life and take others for granted. And if he couldn't escape that nature in his youth, he's now bound to it by the bargain he made with Khonshu: to save his life in exchange for devoting the remainder of it to him in servitude, doing what Marc is best at – the very same thing he hates about himself the most.

Finally, I want to give props to Oscar Isaac for giving all three of these men life in the series, and in spectacular fashion. I was skeptical going into the series, but Oscar absolutely blew my mind with how skillfully he pulled these roles off. He was literally playing three different men, and I came away from the series with a new respect for the art of acting thanks to him.

And that's all I've got for now! I really enjoyed writing this up and I love talking all things Moon Knight, so for anyone who enjoyed this and wants to get into the TV series and comics some more, just drop an ask!

[shoegazingmonad]

Tavvy, Rage and Lord English

There have been a good handful of references to Lord English via Tavvy so far, his outfit is terribly similar to Caliborn's / Doc scratch's, he was raised by Gamzee, he sweats a lot, - his first word was honk, so was LE's. Enough comparisons between the two to rouse suspicion.

And so, I (and quite a few other people) think Tavvy is, or has been, set up in a way that he's going to be a successor to Caliborn or Lord English, and I think it's something Gamzee's being perpetuating since he was born.

Tavvy's character is centered around repression. He's been trapped living in close quarters with a murderer who's shown to leave people fuming in a few seconds, left unable to question why or show his explicit upset with the situation due to fear of punishment, and isn't given any proper emotional support by family members because they either don't care or are too inebriated to help in any way that matters. Tavvy is literally 'home' stuck (lol), and as we see here, he's clearly bottled-up whatever bullshit he's been put through for the first 15 years of his life. It's his Chekhov's gun, because we all know that at some point all of those feelings are going to burst out of him like a parasite bursting out of its host.

Firstly, I think it's important to understand why Gamzee would want to do this in the first place. As this wonderfully detailed post describes: Gamzee hates the Author for making him the butt-of-the-joke, hates them because it means every miserable aspect of his life was not simply coincidence but a carefully plotted shitshow, and he hates the audience too for if it weren't for us, he wouldn't have been given such a joke of an existence in the first place. Ruining and perverting everything he can just so he can spite the Author and disgust the Audience has been his whole shtick since Act 5.

This motivation continues to drive him throughout his life in the epilogues, which feels like a particularly disgusting stain on an already harrowing story as we see him ruin Dirk's funeral, assert himself as a priest whose forgiveness comes in the form of sprinkling breastmilk on people before forcing them to make out, and enter a kismesissitude with Jane, putting even more strain on her as she tries to maneuver an entire planet into her power. In short, he's trying, and succeeding to make a pretty fucked situation into an immensely fucked up situation, and there are no bounds to what he'll do to achieve this.

Now, we know he's had a heavy hand in Tavvy's life, and that there's a method to his madness, but we don't know the exacts of what he's been planning for him. Little has come to fruition so far, and Tavvy almost seems so unaffected that you'd think that maybe his reign of terror really had come to an end with his death, but you'd be wrong. Because, ironically, in the same scene that Tavvy supposedly removes his uncle's influence on him, he just reveals that there are plenty of unseen layers to this. Layers that he can't even recognize due to his unawareness of the bigger picture here.

The thing about continuing Homestuck is that - at the end of the day - you are literally just creating English again. That's what writing is, after all. And who better to kickstart the rebirth of Homestuck's antagonist than y'know, the guy who raised him in the first place?

Anyway, what I'm saying is that Gamzee has been setting up Tavvy to be the next Caliborn / Doc Scratch / Lord English since his birth. And we've seen some of the ways he's been 'training' Tavvy for this, forcing Jake to cure his allergy by forcefully exposing him to them under the guise of pity for him being unable to eat PB&J. An allergy, which seems to function as an allergy to the character's existence within Homestuck itself, as though he's trying to cure Tavvy of his inability to confront their metanarrative reality, and perhaps goading him into a grudge against it in the process. Look at that knowing smile and smug gaze and tell me he doesn't know what he's doing.

As of now, there isn't much to suggest Tavvy has any sort of hatred towards the nature of his existence. But the issue there is that for the most part he isn't aware of why Candy is the way it is, or that there could be anyone purposefully manipulating the timeline into the way it was. Candy's creator is a vague subject; but it's one with an answer within the text.

In Meat 36 Roxy tells Terezi that ever since Jade got possessed Calliope has been painting 'lotsa nasty purple blood' 'nudity' and 'various combos of them all getting married', and in Candy 40, Alt Calliope says 'the sky looks like something painted by a crazy person'. So, if the nature of Candy didn't give it's author away already; yeah, it's Calliope. This actually helps my case quite a bit, because not only is it well known that Lord English fucking hates Calliope, Tavvy's also got a reason to dislike her besides her role in its making, as it's Calliope who decides Gamzee deserves 'redemption' in the first place.

It's not like he'd need to have a direct grudge towards the Author anyway, just his feelings. He's had a whole 15 years of life to experience infuriating bullshit that others didn't after all, I mean why did his mother have him in the first place if she was only going to regret it and neglect him because of it? Why couldn't she have chosen someone who wanted to have a child with her, and how is he supposed to blame his father for anything when he never wanted him - or this - to begin with?

Why did ANY of the adults around him think it was okay to let a MURDERER take care of a child? Why do his friends / close same-age family members (because he doesn't really have any friends) get to have at least one decent parent whilst he gets none? Why did nobody intervene when Jane stopped John from taking him away from there? Why did Jane even punish him for that? John came to him with the idea, he was only going along with it! Gamzee's been putting him through comically stupid '''training''' under the excuse of teaching him about 'combat, philosophy, life, and love' since he was a toddler, and, according to quite a handful of people utterly unaware and inconsiderate of how awful his life is, all and every bit of this is fine and dandy because he's RICH??? BUDDY, YOU'RE ALL RICH?????????

...And now that Gamzee and (presumably) Jane are dead, his dad trying to make his best of what's left of their frayed relationship after nearly two decades of spousal abuse, who is he supposed to blame but the people who have allowed it to get this bad in the first place?

So, if he is sure to burst at some point, when? I think it helps to look at Gamzee's meltdown; the reason he was aware enough to put the pieces together when it came to watching ICP's Miracles was because he hadn't eaten any sopor recently, something akin to a pacifier for him that he later says 'RUSTS YOUR MOTHERFUCKIN THINK PAN'. Gamzee himself is Tavvy's 'sopor', his pacifier in the way Gamzee suppresses other's anger, so following his death we're left to assume Tavvy will slowly, but surely become less inhibited as his influence lessens. It's something we've been seeing steadily unfold for a while now.

I imagine he'll 'snap' whenever he learns the full scope of what's been going on behind the scenes, though that's assuming his change in character will be immediate, and not a slow trickle like we've seen of him so far. I've got my bets on a breakdown though, we know damn well the little cry he has after seeing Gamzee's corpse is nowhere near the full thing, they were in a rush after all, and he thinks so himself.

Though there's other ways it could go down. Maybe it'll be the classic 'mind control but it isn't really mind control so much as it is an excuse to express thoughts and feelings you already had' like we've seen before with two of his guardians. Maybe he'll get exposed to an overload of upsetting information all at once, overwhelming him and causing some grim affliction in the process? Or perhaps he'll accidentally get entangled in the situation regarding John's (likely) Lord English possessed corpse? What about something new and completely unpredictable? The possibilities are endless...

[amber-waves-at-me]

so i’m writing this the morning after watching the twin peaks s2 finale and then pretty much immediately going to see fwwm. i think i’ll try to put together some thoughts but i’m not entirely sure i can.

first off the finale was great it felt perfect for the series. the whole show is just perfectly bleak and weird yet there are moments of hope. the characters were honestly some of the most well written interesting people i’ve come across in tv and the soundtrack is fucking magical. truly a great show start to finish.

on to fire walk with me, which the first thing i’ll say is i am so very very glad that the first time i was able to watch this movie was in a theater. (also silly detail i saw it at the alamo and their walls are red curtains) for those two hours i was completely immersed in the world of twin peaks and what a world indeed. this movie made me feel so much. from the very first time laura palmer appeared on that screen there was sense of dread that really stuck with me. the opportunity to actually understand laura was a significantly more harrowing concept that i had originally thought. watching her grieve herself and experience such hopelessness will forever sit with me in a way i’m unsure i can describe. the ending in particular really affected me, the angel floating there as she cried. a movie has never made me feel so gutted and raw. i cried at the final scene, through the credits, then took a few minutes to properly cry in a bathroom stall after it was over, i kept crying off and on on the way home, and practically cried myself to sleep. (no this is not an exaggeration)

additionally i must say each performance was incredible and the craftsmanship on the movie as a whole was unmatched. its so perfectly david lynch. surreal, horrifying, and visceral. it is undoubtedly the best movie i have seen in a long time.

[uniquethingtastemaker]

Thought I’d give people an update on what’s in the works.

Currently working on the Rook x Observant Reader. That one has been fun to write. It goes into chapter 6 and there’s a good amount of fight scene low key. I have 3 planned out so far. I’ve written Vil’s overblot scene which is fantastic. I like how Reader calls Vil out and calls him a villain during Chapter 5. Then, at the end of Chapter 6 when they’re going home, Reader turns to Vil and says that he’s a hero now and he’s become the protagonist of his own story and they’re proud of him. Rook really appreciates the sentiment because he loves and cares about Vil.

The Overblot Slap — Vil x Reader is kinda on hold/back burner for now. This fanfic I’m pretty picky about, so unfortunately it’s taking awhile. I’m stuck on Vil getting low key frustrated and mad at himself for not picking up the whole emotional processing and changing the way he communicates as fast as he wants to. So, that’s going to be something to work through. I’m excited for the rest.

Got an idea for Rollo. This is in the baby stages, but I thought I’d mention them. It’ll take place during the Glorious Masquerade event. Classic for me. I want Reader to show Rollo that he’s wrong to forcefully take something that isnt his away from the owner by demonstrating it. I want Reader to be wherever Rollo is when he starts the whole flower thing and the NRC students have to retreat to the waterways. Then, they steal Rollo’s handkerchief from him. Reader keeps it out of reach, but like “how does this feel?” I want to tie the handkerchief more to his brother so it has a bigger impact. After that, they throw it into the fire. Rollo kinda loses it. He either tries to save it from the fire and Reader holds him back or he gets into the Reader’s face. Either way, Reader reveals they switched the handkerchief with a fake they bought earlier (“I knew you were up to something when you didn’t want me to meet up with Grim.” “Why didn’t you tell Trein or go to a teacher?” “I’ve learned to handle myself. You’re not gonna win either. Me and the NRC students have e been in more harrowing situations than this. Besides, isn’t it better to keep your enemies close? I wanted to help you anyway.”) So they get him to kinda stand down.

I want to write something for Cater but idk what. I need to do more research on him. Tell me what parts you think highlight him as a character or if anyone has analysis on his personality low key.

I have a surprisingly lot of Azul x Reader fanfics in the bag low key. I look at it and go, “how did all of this stuff get in here??” It’s probably because Octavinelle is so chaotic that it’s easier to write for. I have the Reader become a octomer and having to get Azul to help them, and the subsequent meeting all of his family + the leech parents. They all want to get Azul and Reader together. Reader is oblivious but they’re absolutely ragging on Azul and he’s dying inside.

Spoiler for people’s dreams in Chapter 7:

The second Azul x Reader fanfic I have is absolute comedy gold. Everyone knows that Azul’s dream is probably the most embarrassing one out of the lot. Like yes, Epel’s was painful and horrifying. It was cursed, but it was short. Rook’s was also disturbing. I hated that Neige and Vil were friends, but the emotional ending was great. I love Rook, so while it was painful, it… fit. However, Azul’s? That got me. Jock Azul? Mean jock Azul??? Bro, he’s never gonna live that down. I loved the twin’s reactions though. I feel like all of Octavinelle’s dream was insane, which I love but also crazy. It fits lol.

Nonetheless, Azul is one of the most cringe. I was thinking that he would be your significant other in the dream and ohhhh boy. Bro, confident, brash Azul? He’d fully kiss and make out with you while the other sporty team members cheered him on. If that’s not the most embarrassing thing ever, I don’t know what is. Horrified. And the idea of like “I’ve seen the worst sides of you and still love u and want to be in a relationship with you.” The dedication, but you’re helping destroy his mom’s restaurant. You can’t keep that embarrassment in. It gotta somewhere and Reader chooses violence, which is absolutely fair. I would too, so that’s what they’re going to do lol. Looking forward to writing that amazing disaster. I’m think I’ll turn this into a series. The potential is out of this world, especially for me. I love writing in canon, so this is a perfect series for my taste.

I wanna see Idia being mortified to know his mom looked at his search history and found out his crush. He’s not just taking down Malleus, he’s gonna kill him. Then, the whole fanfic is Ortho trying to set them up, which is really cute. The potential is so potent.

Riddle’s is also really good. I think I’d do more of a commentary of like Riddle’s bad points. Then whenever everyone wakes up, Riddle says that he never wants to do that to the Reader. In his dream, I can totally see Riddle being too overbearing and controlling. It’s something he’s comfortable with, so it would come out in the dreams. However, once he’s awake, he’d straighten everything out and work to prove himself. It’s very sweet. Side note: he would also makeout with you, no hesitation. Bro, the more I think about it, the more I’m onboard. I can totally see him doing a little more than just making out with you in public which is wild but also amazing fanfic material. Also, he would absolutely leave lipstick on you. I’m just saying. If you like my ideas, please comment to motivate me lol.

Vil’s dream would probably include the public accept Reader as his significant other.

Leona’s would probably be like… he’s not even together with them because he doesn’t think he would succeed or whatever. Sad. I’d have to do some more research on him, but he’s hilarious.

Idk for Jamil’s yet. Also have to rewatch and do some research.

As for Trey, I’d like to do a serious fanfic for him. His reactions during Riddle’s dream were intense and I kinda loved it in a way that’s like “oh, it’s bad if Trey is terrified.” I want to have Reader be there for Trey kind of thing. It might be nice. Trey isn’t my favorite, but he’s great. I don’t really read Trey fanfics specifically, but I haven’t seen one that’s really serious or intense. Like Trey’s under pressure kind of thing. That’s interesting to me.

[silkoodles]

Please tell us more about ur transfem bradley headcanons 😭🙏

I tried to keep these transfem-bradley focused but I just devolved into giving you the plot to the maxley fic in my head involving her. maybe if I just tell you about the fic in my head i won't have to write it lol. long list ahoy

a lot of the pre-transition bradley characterization headcanons i have come from that one fic by @maxstgel that inspired the first sketches. so a lot of these are inspired by that and you could even consider this a fan fic of what happens after that (once it finishes i mean, it's all up in the air since its just 2 chapters rn)

She has not chilled in the least since being taken down a peg, she is still pretty narcissistic, but less pressured to be perfect

She started dressing hyper feminine at first but later got a more balanced wardrobe

likes golf, has taken up mini golf since she can't go to a real golf course easily anymore

She has taken up gardening as a hobby

She finished college as Bradley and transitioned after, once she was more able to cut ties from her family

She works as a retail pharmacist and part time as the jammer in a roller derby team with her friends.

She decided to not pursue residency after graduating because she wanted to get away from her dad more than anything, and residency would have probably taken another 4 years on top of the 8 she spent at college.

She met her current friends trying out for the roller derby team to stay in shape and keep skating. i have come up with designs for all 4 of these girls and i need help

She has a biological little sister who's an adult by now, out of the two, Janice looks more like their mother now. And that kind of freaks her out

Her name's now Janice, after her late grandmother. It's old fashioned but she had a good relationship with her before she passed. I also chose that name cause of the "Sure, Jan." meme, i thought it was funny.

Later her grandfather (Uppercrust the first) finds her, not knowing why his son would cut ties.

He sends Tank to find her, because as far as he knows, Tank was the last person/friend with Bradly iii. Which technically was true, but Tank needed money and didn't have the heart to tell og B.Uppercrust that he hadn't talked to Bradley since graduation.

Queue the most harrowing college reunion for Janice ever because she thinks he's still mad. Tank is more shocked than anything. I actually wanna write this scene

Grandpa's surprisingly cool with Janice (the name and new person) he just wants her to come back to the family because it'd be a waste of a good education and resources.

Max Goof just happens to spot her out in the wild and after realizing who it is, he loses his mind and practically begs her to let him take her out because he needs to know her.

Somehow it works, because Janice likes being sucked up to.

eventually she makes up with Tank and the other Gammas too, I gave them all names and fucking everything. I actually wrote this scene

One of them doesn't realize who she is and starts shamelessly flirting with her.

This guy:

his name is Tony.

[makedonsgriva]

Random, what are your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Oh this is a pretty cool ask!

I will list five here!

1. We Should Just Kiss (Like Real People Do)

I’m actually pretty proud of this fic because it’s the first one I wrote after a pretty long hiatus and I was very nervous about it because a) it was my first fic for a new fandom b) it has explicit sexual content and I wasn’t sure if could pull it off nicely c) writing calamity xie lian and wu ming was a task alright like this fic took me almost a month i guess?? and d) since it was something I’d written after so long I was nervous my writing would be crappy

But people liked it and even I was very satisfied and pleased with how it turned out in the end! I’m pretty proud of it. Idk how I was inspired to write this fic because I started on a draft of it in the notes app of my phone while I was commuting back to home after my internship (harrowing experience fr)

(Maybe the fic made me channel out all my frustrations caused by the internship via xie lian)

2. I Really Like Your Company

I love this fic because it’s the first multi chapter fic I completed and posted. Also because it was my lifeline fr while I was grappling with many things. I’d started it as a gift for one of my dear friends and then it just became so much more. It’s so warm and comforting.

I was throwing in tropes and all cute stuff I could imagine in it and it made me happy. Writing that fic, getting comments on it made me very happy. I love that fic.

3. Once More We Try

Okay I’m actually still working on this fic and as a matter of fact I was working on its latest chapter before this and I truly think this fic has quickly become one of my favourites because I love writing all the characters in it so much. There’s so much to explore and so much to write and it’s a challenge but such a good challenge!

Idk how I got the inspiration for the fic I was just scrolling through tumblr one day and I randomly got this thought that huh what if SY had died instead of throwing Binghe in the abyss? And then I posted that idea and.

IT BLEW UP?

so I thought whoa why wait for someone else to write it when I can write it so I got down to business and here we are! It’s super fun. I love this fic so much. It’s also my first fic for scum villain fandom and I’m so glad it’s been so well received ❤️

4. Song of The River City

Another TGCF fanfic! I’ve put it on hold for now as I’m planning to complete OMWT before I get back to it. I’m actually very proud of this AU where we have ghost king! Xie Lian who had died during the hundred sword scene and cultivator! Hua Cheng (who had dispersed his soul as Wu Ming and was re incarcerated as the cultivator). I’m planning to do great things with this AU and I also love writing a darker XL.

The inspiration for this fic was that I was just thinking about the hundred sword scene and I thought, huh what if that guy died here? So I got down to work.

I love this fic and writing all the characters in it and plotting out the backstories is very fun! Especially the latest chapter where I’d posted the fengqing backstory is one of my favourites. I’m proud of it.

5. I Remember It

So this is just 100 words long and I love this fic because I feel like I managed to break mine and all its readers hearts in so few words. I love writing drabbles because they are always a good challenge for me and this one is a particular favorite of mine. The inspiration for it was actually a fic idea that I later scrapped away. The fic was supposed to be from the pov of snowbaz’s kid and her experience with them as she got older and they aged too and yeah.. somehow it turned into that.

Thank you so much for the ask!