#this show was at its best when it was a silly monster of the week thing don't @ at me you know i'm right

[thesmokinpossum]

You know, I initially thought that this season of wwdits was gonna be good enough to bring me back into it but the more gifsets i see from it the more i realize that i'm truly over it smh

[tswwwit]

Cipher's Personal Portable Portal

'How they meet' won the poll!

So just to make things fully contextualized, as far as they're gonna be - here's the full first chunk of this stupidly long fic I'm writing.

I hope you enjoy!

Standing in the wreckage of the burnt-out building, Dipper wishes he didn’t know who did it.

Anyone else would have left some trace sign. A scrape of blood, a hint of burnt hair. A friggin’ decent eyewitness report, even.

But here, like last time, and the time before that, and the time before that - there's absolutely zero traces. No video footage, nobody around at the time of the crime. Not even footprints.

Dipper kicks one of the remaining supports, sending a puff of charcoal up from the impact. 

If he knew the bastard’s name, he’d curse it all to hell.

With a sigh of exhaustion, Dipper sits on a chunk of scorched foundation. He pulls his shoe off to tip the ashes out of it; there’s enough that the resulting cloud leaves him coughing. 

Around him, the scoured west wing of the museum is silent, still, and empty. A grey-black skeleton of its former self, filled with dust and charcoal.

This arson is yet another one in a very, very long line of crimes. They’re not just ‘unrelated incidents’, or ‘bizarre coincidences’. Dipper’s not ‘being paranoid’ or ‘coming up with some pretty weird conspiracy theories’. 

There’s only one person who could manage this. The same guy who turned a bank upside down - literally -  and the same one who impaled a mob boss on an oversized silly straw and gave tails to half of a household last week.

It’s all connected.

Each crime is marked with the same style, mostly by how remarkably weird they are. Along with a thread of magic, distinct in its composition. One so distinctive that it's almost a flavor. Though admittedly, without certain magical analysis, it’s pretty hard to detect. 

And if other freelance magicians would take the time and look at Dipper’s notes, maybe one of them would help find this asshole.

Dipper stalks through the burned building, fists balled in his pockets. He stumbles over a fallen support column, and nearly trips before he makes a hopping retreat back. 

Though the culprit has been at his game - whatever ‘game’ that is - for a good half a year now, this is the most destructive ‘incident’ so far. Nobody was hurt, since it happened in the middle of the night. The one relief from a terrible crime, that only objects were obliterated in the process - 

But the ashes speak for themselves.

Here, there’s nothing left.

He breathes in slowly. Then regrets the attempt at calming himself as he coughs again.

Whatever the culprit’s initial motive was, it hasn’t lasted. He’s grown not only in ambition, but also in his abilities. Things are escalating at a rate Dipper doesn’t like to think about.

Someone has to get to the bottom of this. Before it’s too late. Dipper’s got his number, metaphorically speaking, so. Well, might as well be him. 

And when he proves that all of this chaos was created by the same person - 

Well. A little boost to his meager reputation couldn’t hurt. Maybe a few medals and accolades. There isn’t a trophy for best monster hunter, but he can imagine standing on a podium and -

Dipper waves that thought off, swearing under his breath. Stupid. He has better things to focus on.

He’s the only freelancer on the case. Definitely the only one taking this seriously, the only one who thinks it’s the same person to begin with -  and even he’s starting to have some doubts about ever finding the bastard. 

Six months of tracking this guy down, and what does he have to show for it? A ramshackle compilation of incidents, a vague feeling of magic, and a description that could fit any bottle-blond actor with bad fashion sense. Scraps. He might as well pin them up and connect them with red string for all the good it does him.

Another kick sends Dipper hopping back, clutching his foot with a swear. He winces at the hole in the tip, he nearly punctured his foot on a nail.

Just his luck. Wrong place, wrong time, always just barely avoiding disaster. Dipper shows up whenever there’s an event, he’s got the means to follow the guy - but he’s always just a little too late.

Even worse, lately the guy’s been picking places… not at random, exactly. More like he causes trouble wherever it’d be the most annoying to follow.

The culprit must know someone is on his trail. But he’s not making it impossible to keep up, or even majorly difficult for a determined pursuer. Just really, really irritating, like making moves at three in the morning, or pausing just long enough for someone to catch up, then heading right back where he came from. At one point Dipper had to trudge through a literal swamp, only to find that bastard had sauntered in by baking himself a neat little trail right through the damn thing. There wasn’t even footprints to follow.

It’s a repeated point in Dipper’s notes. Whoever this is, they’re a total, absolute dick.

With a sigh, Dipper runs his fingers through the ash on the museum’s floor. Not a single thing is left beyond the shattered glass of some display cases, and the charred remains of the building. Even the enchanted metal tools have been melted into slag. 

The day before yesterday, he could tell something was up. Building energy, something that felt like it was made by the culprit. Something with the twinge of a powerful curse, coiled and being wound up like a spring. 

Dipper spent that evening convincing - okay, maybe also bribing, thank you Stan for the idea - the museum to let him borrow materials. The day after that, he spent all night, morning, and most of the afternoon running around slapping up anti-curse emblems. The entire south of the city warded, in a fine careful net of spellcraft. The work was exhausting. Both in running around, and in the amount of magic he’d needed to use.

But it was worth it. That evening, in the quiet and very uncursed city, all the emblems activated. Dipper would have sworn he sensed someone in the distance, cursing his own name. That night he went to bed with a smug sense of satisfaction, floating on a cloud of triumph.

Which is probably why the bastard burned down the museum next.

With another sigh, Dipper tucks his notebook back into his knapsack. He’s gleaned all he’s going to for today; in the fading evening light, searching more is pointless.

So much for all the magical artifacts. Most of those had come in really useful in messing with the guy. 

…How the hell did the culprit know where they came from, though? He’d need a near encyclopedic knowledge of artifacts to know which ones Dipper used, then track them back to their origin. 

Or maybe he just searched on the internet. It’s hard to tell.

Dipper just wishes there were more clues. But just like every other incident, the guy up and freakin’ vanished.

No human can disappear like that without some very irresponsible use of power. That hope is one Dipper’s hanging his hat on. After six months? He has to be reaching his limits. He’ll burn himself out before he can manage too many more incidents. Maybe Dipper will find him by stumbling on his withered, dissolving corpse.

Whoever this is is pretty strong, but no power is infinite. He can’t hide forever.

It can’t be too much longer. Won’t be. Dipper has a plan, he’s gotten really close, and - He’s good at his job, damn it. He knows he is. 

Taking a deep, slow breath, Dipper lets it out. Patience is the name of the game here. He’s just gotta keep moving.

One day, he’s going to catch up with that bastard. He’ll see the guy in the flesh. Then he’ll grab that stupid dick before he can escape, again, and wipe that presumably smug look off his probably ugly face.

Turning around one last time, Dipper surveys the destruction, stuffs his hands in his pockets - and pauses. 

A speck of light glints in the pile of ash. The last bit of evening sun, shining off a metallic surface.

Alert with surprise, Dipper scrambles over to the pile. Kneeling down, he brushes the dust carefully aside, careful not to disturb anything fragile that might shatter if handled wrong. 

One thing did survive. Thank fuck, it’s not an absolute total loss. Just, uh… Ninety-nine percent of it.

He scuffles through the still-warm ashes, cupping his palms underneath the lump and lifting it from its bed. The motion sends white puff rising up as ash slips away from the artifact.

A small black, squarish thing rests on the pile, a bit larger than both his palms put together. The material is faintly warm from residual heat, insulated by the ash it laid in - and there’s not a mark on it. Not even a scratch. 

Dipper turns the artifact over in his hands with a frown. The shining black surface reveals no obvious buttons or secrets. Just a kind of phone-ish shape, though more square and squat. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say a guest dropped it on the rush to escape. 

The fact that it’s still intact though. Nearly glowing with magic, a tremulous feeling under his palms - this is not dropped by some clumsy tourist. Not even Ford could put this together.

 Wiping at the object with his sleeve, Dipper manages to clean off most of the smooth surface. On one of the sides, dust clings to the thinnest of engravings. The very faint outline of an equilateral triangle. No runes or other magical scribing, just… a shape.

Dipper thinks back but - no, he doesn’t remember seeing this in the collection. A quick check online reveals…

Basically nothing. There are - were - a bunch of stone and metal slabs in the archives, all described so poorly as to be useless. Some are even bunched up in groups. ‘Magical slab 1-24’ and ‘Metal artifact 1-78’, no description involved.

Not surprising. Probably dug up in some mass excavation site, transported here, then never really looked at again. The bulk nature of the shipment means it was overlooked, its magical properties never discovered.

After today, he’s just glad that even one item escaped this onslaught. 

The other artifacts must not have had much to them. But some magical property in this artifact’s making must have saved it from the blaze. Fireproofing, perhaps? Against weird fire? That’s unusual. Maybe even unique.

As the only survivor, it really needs investigating. 

Dipper glances over his shoulder, then around. With everyone evacuated, it’s quiet in the rubble. Nobody here would notice if, say… a clue wandered off.

The artifact slips easily into his pocket. The shape conveniently looks just like a phone, even if the shape’s a bit off. Not something that would attract any attention.

Whistling nonchalantly, ducking out of the way of local law enforcement and any onlookers - Dipper makes his escape. 

Another day of pursuit. Another scene of disaster, the culprit there and gone in the blink of an eye. 

He’ll be up to something new, next. Never the same thing twice, never in the same place. 

Dipper will follow in his evil tracks, of course. But for tonight - his fate is another crappy hotel room. 

He ditches his backpack by the door, slumping against the wall and its chipped paint. He could start going through his notes, and the pictures of the arson. Put in more work, find further connections - 

But it’s been a long day, and he’s tired. He might be magical, but he’s only got so much to work with. A reasonable night’s sleep, if he can manage, will make the task loom less horribly over his tired brain.

With a sigh, he drops back on the mattress. There’s some bounce to it, springs squeaking like they’re full of mice. Hell, maybe they are. The type of room he can afford isn’t exactly decadent.

That, though, should be temporary. Dipper’s career is only just starting; freelancers in the ‘solving magical problems’ scene don’t get great rates. Especially as a beginner. Definitely without a partner; it makes him look super young. Like he’s just starting out, fresh-faced and not having any inroads.

Because this field is really stupid, and doesn’t pay attention to results. Dipper’s been fine on his own for years, and he’s done really cool things without that ‘networking’ crap. 

All by himself. Totally cool with that, because Dipper’s a cool guy, sometimes. If Mabel hypes him up enough on one of their phone calls, he almost believes it too.

Though it would be nice to have some backup, it’s hard to find someone who really gets the job. Or does it in the way that Dipper goes about it. The number of people who are willing to take long treks in hyper-magical territory to search for an obscure clue, or set up really complicated traps for  dangerous monsters, or talk over high-level magical theory while sitting in the rain all night just to get one body-snatcher are…

Well, besides Ford, who recently retired, there aren’t any. Only Dipper himself.

One day, things are going to change for him. All his effort will pay off. If he keeps solving mysteries, and fighting monsters, he’ll forge a reputation as someone who always gets the job done. No matter how hard it is, he can handle it. The work is picking up, too. The last six months have shown the biggest series of magical incidents in decades. 

And he’s gonna be the one to get to the bottom of it.

Dipper Pines, the guy who proved it’s all connected. He’ll have it laid out in facts and math, all the evidence. They’re all gonna see that he was totally right.

Once he finally gets this guy, everything’s going to start looking up. 

The sheets rustle as Dipper settles back, holding the artifact up over himself. He stares into the black surface, and a slightly distorted reflection narrows its eyes back at him. 

A good mystery always intrigues him. This one should take his mind off the other, irritating one for a while.

The only remaining object from the fire is clean and smooth. A mysterious creation, of unknown purpose. Clearly riddled with magic, too; Dipper feels it running just under the surface like a rapid current. It gives the artifact a weight that has nothing to do with mass. 

Power.

Did the criminal see this artifact, still intact after all the other magical objects were gone? Did he try to destroy it too, and fail? Or simply not notice he’d missed one out of thousands?

Whatever it is, it’s got a lot more going on than meets the eye.

Dipper casts a quick identifier, which comes back with nothing. He’s not surprised. That’s the first thing anyone would try. If it was that simple, he’d already have the full description off the site. 

With a shrug, he traces another set of runes, his own version, adding a little more oomph behind it - 

And the magic leaps back instantly, with the bizarre sensation of a bouncy ball hitting concrete.

“Huh,” Dipper says, thoughtfully. He sits up, hunching over the slab in his hands. “Now that’s new.”

A more subtle approach, then. Tracing the lines of energy with the barest brush of magic upon magic reveals something deeply complex. Thin layers twist together deep under the surface, building an entire circulatory system. Dipper has to put it down for a moment, suddenly worried that it is organic. 

When a cautious prod doesn’t get a response, he relaxes. Not fleshy, just complicated. Which also proves he was right earlier - the artifact’s just as powerful as he’d thought. The spellcraft is unlike anything he’s ever seen. 

Dipper rubs his hands together, starting to smile. 

Even if he doesn’t find the guy he’s after, figuring this out could be a heck of a win.

Several attempts later, he’s beginning to get why this bastard brick got tossed in with all the other junk. 

Nothing here is working. It simply deflects. Standard spells poing off of it like rubber, while giving his magical senses an odd, back-of-the brain afterimage of a circle with a slash through it; a firm ‘nah’. 

Dipper nearly chucks the thing across the room in frustration, before shutting his eyes and taking several, calming breaths. 

Okay, weird thing, weird enchantment. The ordinary stuff won’t work. The magical logic is… twisted in a way that leaves it incompatible with most everything. He’ll have to find a different approach. 

“What are you?” Dipper says, low and frustrated. He gives the artifact a shake, as if he can knock the secrets out like a rock from a shoe. “What secrets are you hiding in there?” 

No response, not that he expected one. With a wry smile, he taps the sleek surface with a finger, twice. “C’mon, man. Talk to me.” 

Huge yellow letters flash onto the black surface. 

HEY

Dipper throws the artifact, a bit awkwardly since he’s lying on his back. It sails in the air in a high thin arc, landing with a thump between his legs. He scoots rapidly backward, sheets pulling up behind him. 

The artifact lies where it landed, an unmoving brick.  There’s magic in the air now, but no sense of any spell building, ready to unleash power to blow his face off. The latent spellcraft of the artifact has just been activated.

More text displays on the surface, bare except for the glowing letters. 

To the jerk that’s swiped my private stuff: You got some nerve! I expect this back by interdimensional mail in a week, or trust me - there will be consequences.

Dipper waits a full minute before he lets go of the headboard. Tentatively, he kneels near the…

 Is this a phone? 

Clearly it’s a communication device of some sort, with the freaking text messages. A phone is the obvious equivalent, only - he thought it looked far older than that, something way before mobile phones. Possible ancient. Is that a coincidence, maybe, or is it secretly modern?

Dipper taps the ‘screen’, just below the glowing words. To his surprise, there’s actually a keyboard, what the hell. This thing keeps getting weirder.

Since it hasn’t already thrown a horrible curse at him, or burst into flames - it’s reasonably safe to assume that it’s simply ‘on’. Not ‘explosive’. 

With hands that are definitely not shaking, he picks it up, and types,

Who is this? 

His own text pops up in blue. A strange contrast to the yellow, but he’s guessing it’s for convenience - there’s no bubbles to tell who’s said what otherwise.

A few seconds of nervous waiting later, there’s a response. 

Oh hey, you answered! Well, human - You’re talking to the one and only Bill Cipher, Dream Demon, all-powerful master of the Mindscape! I’d say it’s nice to meet ya but you’re not supposed to have a direct line to me!

Dipper raises an eyebrow. 

Now that’s one hell of an introduction. It might even have been interesting, if it didn’t smell of complete bullshit. 

Complicated spellwork, sure. Incomprehensible architecture? Maybe. Dipper can admit it; he’s never seen anything with a web of spells on it this complex, in such small of a package.

But the idea that Dipper just stumbled onto a demonic artifact of all things. One that wasn’t instantly detected, recorded, then ritually destroyed is…

Someone’s fucking with him. 

Dipper rolls his eyes as he types back,

Really? Demon? You can’t expect me to believe that. 

What, you calling me a liar? ‘Cause I am, but not about this! I got better things to mislead mortals about. This is my property, not something for your grubby mortal mitts.

Dipper snorts. Guess this person’s sticking with the bit. Obviously whoever created this would want it back - but too bad. Whether they’re delusional, stupid, or just a flat-out liar, they’re really good at enchanting. It’d be a waste not to study their work. 

He lies back on the bed as he replies.

Sure, have fun roleplaying, or whatever, it doesn’t make a difference. Finders keepers, losers weepers.

ARE YOU CALLING ME A LOSER. MORTAL.

Hmm, I’m detecting a certain amount of ‘crying about it’, so. Yeah. Suck it, loser.

Smirking, Dipper settles back - then his half-smile drops, as he holds the ‘phone’ a little further away from himself. 

Though the blue fire building up in the screen looks like a bad sticker effect, the artifact’s also getting a alarmingly warm. It vibrates in his hands - then suddenly stops, cooling down. 

Ha! Alright, alright, I admit - you got some balls.

Maybe you’ll change your tune once you REALLY know what you’re dealing with! Might wanna check the connection, if you’re even capable of it! Mortal magic doesn’t reach across dimensions!

With a grimace, Dipper taps his fingers on the phone. It’s slightly cooler now, but still worryingly reactive to… whatever happened on the other end. 

Damn. Whoever this is, they’re not only really really good at enchanting, they’re also pretty confident that tracking them down won’t spoil their game. The confidence exuding from this ‘Bill’s’ words feels genuine.

Honestly, though, the suggestion is a good one. Dipper should have tried to trace the call the second he knew someone else was on the line. 

Maybe ‘Bill’ thinks he won’t manage to find him. Joke’s on him, though; Dipper’s amazing at finding stuff. He’s the best tracker of magical anything in years. Maybe decades. With a solid, stable connection right in front of him? Hell, he could do this one in his sleep. 

Time to call the bluff.

He casts the tracing spell, though it takes longer than usual. A few gestures and muttered ritual aren’t gonna cut it; he has to improvise around the strange construction of the enchantment. Even trailing along the magic seems harder than usual, like it resists mixing with his own, and it takes him a few attempts to match the signal. 

Once he finds the right way to tune it… the lead snaps along the already-existing connection, and zips away to find its source.

The line extends out from the shabby hotel room, a plucked string in Dipper’s senses. It twists around the phone, rising slowly. Invisibly passing through the walls and the - 

Ceiling? Dipper looks up on instinct, even though nothing is visible.

From there it swirls around in the air like a silly straw on steroids, and then - out, very far, in a way that isn’t up or down or left or right, just  

Away.

Dipper has to cut off the tracing spell before vertigo has him reeling. The swirling sense of standing on top of a skyscraper is followed by a flip in his stomach. That he’s using a device he barely understands that reaches out into something even more incomprehensible.

He drops the phone-artifact, trying to clear his head by shaking it rapidly. 

That’s not nearby. Not on this planet. Possibly, genuinely, not even in this dimension. 

Shit. Bill wasn’t bluffing.

Dipper wipes sweating palms on the sheets. To pick up the phone again takes an effort, willing himself to grasp it in unsteady hands.

A demon. 

All the monsters he’s fought, curses he’s broken, years of work tucked into his belt, and he’s never seen one of those. 

Demons are dangerous, evil, and very, very powerful. Consorting with them is by all accounts a terrible idea. He should never have picked this up. He should hang up, and throw the damn artifact out the window, hoping that nobody else makes as dumb a mistake as he just did. 

On the screen, there’s a long long scroll of yellow letters, filling the entire surface. ‘HA HA HA HA’ over and over and over again. 

Before he can think better of it, Dipper starts a response. He’s halfway through a sentence - what the fuck, that’s not funny- before he pauses.

Terrible evil monster. Stupid powerful. Probably Bill sensed the tracing of the connection, like he did with Dipper’s other testing. Bill wanted the result startle him. Because he thinks it’s funny.

Dipper grits his teeth, and glares at the screen. 

Actually, screw this guy. Dipper’s keeping the stupid phone. If for no other reason than spite. This ‘Bill’ guy seems pretty full of himself, like he’s totally above some human. He’s in for a bad time, then, because Dipper’s not going to let one little surprise scare him off.

Besides.  The average guy would get into horrible, even deadly trouble, whereas Dipper… sort of knows what he’s doing.  No, he is good at his job. Finding secrets, solving mysteries, thwarting evil jerks who think they’re oh-so-hilarious, the whole shebang. He does it all.

Taking another breath, hissing through clenched teeth - Dipper lets it out. Losing his temper isn’t going to help deal with an extradimensional being. He has to be careful.

He thinks for a long moment before he responds. 

Okay. Let’s say I believe you. Maybe. Then you should know I didn’t steal your… whatever this is. I found it lying around, and I just. Got kind of curious. 

HA HA HA! Of course you were! Careful with that impulse, kid, it kills more than just cats!

A jerk who definitely thinks he’s hilarious. Dipper rolls his eyes, then, rather pettily, decides to ignore that statement. 

More pressing questions take the lead. Like what the fuck he’s holding right now, and if there are any other nasty tricks in store. A little bit of him, bubbling under the surface, wonders what being a demon is like. What they get up to, common habits. Ways they could be tracked down and, y’know, defeated, maybe. 

Theoretically, he’s got a line to a bunch of innocent, totally not-thwarting-related information that could be super useful to someone trying to, maybe, be a super cool monster-fighter.

Dipper backspaces a bunch over some poorly thought out questions. First things first. Like what the hell he’s holding right now.

So. What is this?

Good question! The gadget you’re poking at with your sweaty meat-paws is paired to the one I have here at my place. A little one-on-one communication assistant, if you will. Once you started groping around with your magic, it wasn’t hard to tell someone had picked it up!

Dipper raises an eyebrow. Though he already has an idea… a little confirmation never hurts. 

Like, you got a notification? Or literally felt?

The latter! Kinda like smell, but by touching things with your eyeballs. And with all your prodding around you might as well have been stinking up the place! Your spells aren’t real subtle!

Hey, they’re subtle! Having weird extra senses is just cheating.

Sucks to be human, then! In that you suck at everything! What’s a LOSER like you gonna do about it?

Dipper nearly throws the stupid artifact again - but he holds back, gripping it tight. Instead he sits up, leaning down and hauling his backpack up from the side of the bed. 

Maybe Bill thinks he can’t do anything. That he’s some ignorant nobody, who doesn’t have any real skills or talent or doesn’t have any friends - but he’s got that wrong. Dipper’s not a loser. Bill’s not getting away with that bullshit.

One quick unzip and a bit of rifling around later, he finds what he was looking for. Carefully, Dipper bounces the heft of a flashlight battery in his hand. Shutting his eyes, he focuses on crafting a quick working.

Magic is all about energy, and its direction. Focusing power, conveying it from one place to another. Pushing anything across dimensions would take impossible amounts of energy, stuff Dipper doesn’t have. If it weren’t for a very convenient connection, already in his hand.

Dipper has nothing on hand to actually exorcise the guy - he’s not sure that’s even possible when Bill’s where he should be - but retribution is in order.

More text lines appear on the artifact. He ignores them. Changing this up to work with the demon device is a challenge, but after figuring out how to alter the tracking spell changing this one up isn’t hard. He adjusts the flow of magic this way, into the tangle of not-veins in the device that way, finishes the chant-

Then touches his tongue to the battery.

The jolt passes through him painlessly, following the spell. It zips along his nerves, down into his hand and from there - into the artifact itself. 

Where it should, theoretically end up right at that bastard.

Dipper tosses the battery back into his backpack. Picking up the ‘phone’, hunching over to stare at the screen. 

That worked. He felt the energy move… unless he got the math wrong. Or a detail of his spell. Or maybe demons are immune to electricity, and he just did something totally pointless. 

God. It might even prove Bill right, and wouldn’t that be the worst - 

The next line of text comes in. 

What the hell? A joy buzzer? That’s some real petty prank stuff! You seriously pulled that bullshit? And across dimensions?

A tense pause. Dipper taps the phone, checking for it heating up again - but another line pops up after a few seconds.

Y’know what, kid? I think I might actually like you! You’re FEISTY.

Dipper nearly does a double-take. 

But no, that - what? Aren’t demons supposed to be vengeful? He was half-sure he’d have to chuck the phone out the window before it exploded in his hands. 

In fact, you’re in luck! ‘Cause I’m pretty bored, and I can totally show you how to improve that jinx of yours! If you can keep up with a little theory, that is.

Because that’s not suspicious or anything. Conversation with a demon can only lead to ruin and disaster. He should absolutely, definitely stop this right in its tracks.

Still, Dipper shrugs, and types, 

Try me.

[trashmouth-richie]

your touch

eddie x female reader

summary: eddie survives the “earthquake” but has a hard time adjusting to changes, thankfully you are there

“This thing… fucking itches.”

He stood in the mirror. Harsh glow of sickly green fluorescent lights accentuating his mauled torso. Scrutinizing himself, hating what looked back at him.

“It’s only temporary,” you try to reassure him, speaking with a calm voice gently stroking soft hands over his hips, “just for a few—”

“Years babe!” He says hotly, irritation bubbling beneath his temples as he stares back at your eyes in the mirror, “a few years—you say it as if it’s not a big deal, like it’ll be over tomorrow.”

‘86 wasn’t Eddie’s year.

What was supposed to be filled with celebrating graduation and possibly a trip to LA to find a recording studio who would take him and the band seriously, ended in a week's time over Spring Break.

A week that brought new turmoil, hatred, fear and devastation to Hawkins— starting with a dead cheerleader, ending with a come-to-life DnD monster wreaking havoc across the small sheltered town.

Many people died. And if you asked any living member of Hawkins besides a select few; Eddie and yourself were also considered dead.

You stroke the back of his neck—small circles scratching lightly against bare skin, stubborn stubble peeking through showing itself off.

“Honey,” you purr with lips to his back, looking at him in the same mirror he hated more and more everyday that he had been here. “You know what the other option was.”

The town wanted Eddie dead and Owens agreed that having him be just that on paper would be the safest option. A little hush government money, a silly new name— Eddie was cool with that, almost excited.

“I know, I know..” he groans, fingers raking through the thick brown beard on his chin, defeated. “But this—” he says tugging harshly, “itches and.. and fuck—”

His appearance had to change.

Hawkins wasn’t satisfied with the claims that he was dead from the earthquake, they wanted to see a body, churchgoers going medieval, calling for his head on a stake in the middle of town.

Not wearing his rings made him feel like he was naked. He hated the feeling of it at first. But what really put the nail in the coffin was when he had to cut his hair, and “possibly grow a beard if he was able to” per Owen’s requests.

You work your fingers through the tufts of his beard, gently untangling the coarse hair and massaging his chin. “You’re still handsome.”

When Eddie got down on himself he stayed there in the wallowing depths, barely above water for weeks. Finding no joy in things he used to, some days even refusing to eat.

“I’m scarred up…don’t even look like my— I can’t fucking do this.” His frustration gets the best of him, letting a fist fly into the mirror—shattering it into pieces that clank loud in the sink, some tinkering down the drain and across the tiled floor.

He curses loud as blood flows angry and crimson from his knuckles, pit pattering onto the ceramic sink. He watches it slide down into a collecting path, pooling into a mass before it deepens, staining the floor entirely.

Minutes pass, and you haven’t said a word, giving him the space he needs. Eddie cleans himself up, bandaging his hand carelessly as he scrambles trying to piece the mirror back together, maybe if he had some tape he could fix it for you.

“I’m sorry baby,” he mutters around a fresh flock of tears, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.. I’m so fucking sorry, please don’t leave me.”

He feels your hands wrap around his waist again. Cold as silk, stinging like a frostbite, comforting him the only way you could.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Eddie hears, feeling your icy hands trace around his heart, “I’m always here.”

Sanity left him long ago, the barred enclosure taking its toll on his mind, his body. The others couldn’t understand—maybe didn’t want to understand why.

Why the inmate talked to his mirror.

a follow up to this story, the raven told me of you, is linked here

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Top 3 Are HEATING UP

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Honestly, 3 are neck & necking for top position! They are all so good in different ways. But The Sign had me hooting with laughter this week, so it scooped #1.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 4 of 10 - This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, paranormal, fated mates, mystery, suspense, slasher, and horror. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. I have no idea what I’m watching but I’m ON this ride. Is it a roller coaster? Is it a haunted house? Is it a twirl & hurl? Is there candy floss? Am I even tall enough? Who tf cares. All through the second scene, I was laughing. It was legit funny. Billy has great comedic timing. Guess he’s not just a pretty face.

Everyone should be watching this. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 -  Yech. August may be one of GMMTV’s least likable characters ever (and that is saying something). Meanwhile, MOAR language play! They spoiling me!

Mhok letting Day go then walking away at the party hurt so bad.

Argh this show is great!

Ep 6 so that kiss was right on schedule. I’m looking forward to the boyfriend eps before doom & pain in the new year. Carry on GMMTV. 

Speaking of...

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Oh they’re great. It’s great. It’s paced oddly, moving quickly through most of the key scenes of the original JBL in these first 2 eps. I think it’s intending to encompass more of the manga series than that one did. Which is good, cause that will get us all the way to The Library Kiss (TM). It's the best kiss in the manga. I also like the sides in this show (better than the JBL version). 

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 8fin - What a lovely slightly unhinged little show. Tew, can we talk? Un-ironic suspenders, that takes courage. Also, the revolver was a crazy gun choice. 

Final thoughts:

This show is just as ridiculous as its title. About a gaymer who falls in love with one of his in-game teammates, who just happens to be a IRL gangster. A real gangster, the kind that actually kills people regularly. The lead pair is doing their best with a ridiculous story and shoddy script, but I enjoyed it. Although I was grateful it wasn’t very long, what we got was oddly satisfying if, frankly, a little bit silly. Recommended. 8/10 

That said, what's important about this BL is not the show, but the production and style. Let me explain... no, too much, let me sum up.

This is a chimera BL. Regarding characters: it has Japan's style otaku + Korea's style gangster + Thailand's style friendship group. It used Thai talent + Korean money (Kakao) & IP (adapted from a manwha) but aired on a Chinese channel globally (iQIYI). I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production and truly doubt that any other genre but BL could ever produce like this. It's like diplomat's BL and it's the great wonder of our age that it happened at all. This BL deserves its place in the history books on production alone, even if that place is only in the footnotes. A remarkable little monster.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - The sides are… messy. Using the same actor for the old bf is… odd. But in the end, this show leaves me smiling. Which means, I like it despite myself. 

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - It's decent. It’s basically what I wanted Antique Bakery to be when I first watched that way back when (not to mention Bite Me). But there’s been so much BL since then that, for some reason, this is falling flat. I think it’s moving too fast for a Thai series. Although, say what you like, Ohm has to be one of the best soft kissers in the industry. He's just good at mouth tenderness.

Ugh, that doesn't sound right. But you know what I mean.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 7 of 10 - I love how First is so upset when Sprite starts chatting and being nice to Koh. Sprite is just a sweet easy-going likable boy. I enjoy Sprite as a main character, he’s a bubbly little communicator. And they had a cute kiss.  

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 14 - Because there was more Alan and Jeff and they were more key to the plot I was more into this ep. I do compare it to green smoothie down the pants in the Trash Watch.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 3 of 12 - Look OffGun are truly great. But I’m just not sure we need them in BL anymore. That said, it’s nice to see Off as "the one with the crush" for a change. Also, this show is only good when OffGun are on screen together, otherwise it kinda, well, sucks.

Night Dream (Sat YT) ep 1 of 6 - Cafe setting featuring a cook and a writer. *Seems awfully familiar.* Except these two are exes and this is a reunion romance. It’s stiff and very pulp but not bad (no crap sound effects) and I am a sucker for a reunion romance. That said, Rookie Thailand is not to be trusted, proceed with caution.

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 12fin - I'm grateful this is over. It was tense but for the wrong reasons - sadness and confusion. This final episode was fine, but that’s because it was mostly them being together + flashbacks. Plus all the familiar actor faces of the grown-up friends (hi, Karn my lovely, still stunning I see). But 2 of 12 episodes is not enough for the 10 of suffering and confusion that came before.

In conclusion:

A man is killed on his 10th anniversary resulting in a time paradox, for which the only solution is him never meeting his childhood sweetheart until later in life. Both lovers cycle back to the past at different ages, so that they each become their own 1st & 2nd great loves, but every time it ends in pain, until each also endures 10 years of separation. Finally it gets fixed, but leaves them with multiple memories of time's failures like temporal PTSD, and everyone around them has chronic deja vu. Me? I got both. This is one of those BLs that is high-quality with great acting but poor story. If you like your BL dwelling, maudlin, and tense due to angst and suffering, then you might enjoy this. But I just regret it, 6/10. Recommended only if you like confusing time travel emo pain.

In which case, just watch Tokyo in April is... instead. Give over Thailand, Japan does it better.

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 6 of 8 - While our main couple isn’t working for me... the side couple isn’t working for me either. I really wanted to give LeoTai a chance, this is the 3rd show I’ve seen them in, and still nope. I like Jade a lot more when he’s sad. He’s a much more pleasant screen experience depressed. I would like him to stay hurt for a couple of eps, just so I can enjoy this show a tiny bit more. But then he just goes unhinged again. Argh. I just don’t like it. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Pisces of Me ep 17 of 24 - Codependent boyfriends in middle school planning for high school dealing with stuff. Including other boys being into them. 

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 5 of 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. DNF 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - It’s cute but I don’t think BL in this short format is Taiwan’s strength these days. And this is quite slow and dull. Perhaps they should have whacked it down to 6 eps, not 10.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - This is one of those JBLs that I should like on paper but is failing me. The drag bit was ridiculous but handled gently. The kiss was… well… something wasn’t it? It’s all very odd. I like the photographer cutie character. 

It's Airing But...

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if it's safe.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until after it completes its run next week.

Dear Kitakyushu (Thai/Japan movie) in theaters in country only, I know nothing about distribution.

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) this is a historical I was interested in, but I've been told they kill the gay so I'm OUT.

Next Week Looks Like This

Still coming:

12/23 Dead Friend Forever (Thai horror) iQIYI

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

He so pretty.

I forgot how likable TayNew are, and frankly I think New is a better version of this role for me, personally. I like him a lot. He's a conscientious sweetheart. And a good egg. (Cherry Magic)

Ah the rooftop my old friend. (Last Twilight)

I would like to point out that it's no accident the naga's sex dream happened in the shower, he's a water creature after all. (The Sign)

(Last week)

[aloneinthehellfire]

The Introduction

A (possible) brand new series featuring Robin Buckley x Reader set in ST4

Summary: When Vecna comes to town, Robin and her friends need all the help they can get in the final battle. The gang searches for an old friend she's never met before. But what Robin didn't know, was that the help would catch her attention in more ways than one.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: canon deaths (mentions of vecna killings), reader appears at the end it is mostly a set up for the series, nothing really to report here tbh

[A/N: well hello there. I have *finally* storyboarded a new series that would be an episode by episode ST4 fic where Reader and Robin are endgame. It's something new and something I've been dying to create for a while now so I wanted to test the waters and see if anyone would be interested in reading this? I will literally take one person's yes and go with it, I am very persuadable]

The Introduction

Since when was it too much to ask for a normal spring break?

Robin had enough of the excitement in Hawkins last summer when she ended up in a secret Russian lab, tortured and shot full of some serum she was sure was unsanctioned.

The horrors of that day were flushed down that bathroom toilet along with those drugs, some kind of wave of reality hitting her hard when she realised she didn’t want to be alone anymore. She confided in her new friend, her closest friend, and hoped that it would end a horrible day with a weight off her shoulders.

And then she was crashing a car into a possessed guy and hurling fireworks at some freaky flesh monster. So, nothing good lasts forever.

But after that, it all had been pretty quiet. Robin worked Family Video every other evening and weekends, had Steve drive her to school for the first couple of weeks before it became a habit, secured her place in band and forgot that anything ever really happened. She didn’t want to remember. She wanted to graduate, to have that silly little crush on her bandmate, to save enough money to get out of Hawkins for good.

Then the first day of spring break hit. The first day. And she was stood there staring up at that TV, feeling nauseas in her uniform, knowing that the brutal death of a high school student wouldn’t be as simple as murder.

“So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news.” Dustin says awkwardly and Robin’s lips tighten, looking at where Eddie sat munching through Honeycomb cereal like it was his first meal in days. “How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie responds with his mouth full.

Robin shifts on her feet. It would be dishonest to say that Dustin and Max dragged her into this. All they had done really was show up demanding their computers and a name. She didn’t have to help, or find the address, or go with them anywhere.

The urge to be a part of something always had been a habit of hers. The only reason she joined the marching band was because she figured she’d be safe there. The Russian radio communication was only of interest because she craved involvement. And now she had Steve, her best friend. Where he went, she followed. Which is why she was stood here now, contemplating her decisions.

She was scared, afraid that last year would have only been the baby of all problems she would have to face in Hawkins. And it was understandable, she wasn’t built for pressure situations. If anyone could take a look inside her brain, they’d be questioning why she was even here in the first place.

She has this theory where her mind and her body act completely differently. She’ll rethink everything until she’s overthinking it, but her body will never not react immediately. Whether its her mouth rambling or her legs running, her mind and body haven’t been in sync for a while now.

“Alright, bad news.” Dustin shifts in his seat and Robin exchanges a wary look with Steve. “We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you.”

Eddie’s face falls and Robin hates seeing the way the light in his eyes dim even darker.

“Also, they’re, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.”

“Like, 100% kind of convinced.” Max chimes in.

“And the good news?” Eddie looks for Dustin’s answer but Robin spoke first.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet.” She says, resting her arm against a shelf. She really felt for him. He didn’t deserve this. “But if we found out about you, it’s a matter of time before others do, too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.”

“Hunt the freak, right?” Eddie spits and Robin feels that little stab in her chest. Hunt the freak.

“Exactly.” She says and Eddie curses under his breath.

“So, before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” Dustin tries to bring a positive note, Eddie’s face remaining unswayed.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?”

“Yeah, no, that’s pretty much it.” He concludes, the older boy looking very unconvinced. Robin can’t help but think that Dustin almost was as bad as she was in these situations.

“Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have... a -a few times, and- and I have… once.” Robin adds, hoping that somewhere in her ramble there was a coherent message that he shouldn’t be afraid. “Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this.”

“Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers.” Steve follows her direction and Robin nods, “But, uh, those went bye-bye, so…”

Everyone’s faces start to scrunch in realisation.

Robin searches for words. “So, we’re technically in- in more of the…”

“Kinda…”

“Brainstorming phase.” Max decides and they all hum in agreement.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snaps his fingers.

“There… there’s nothing to worry about.” Dustin splutters and Steve nods along with him.

If Eddie had been following on at all before, he was completely lost now, looking at them like they were maniacs. They tried their best, Robin thought just as a high-pitched noise started approaching in the distance. Sirens.

“Tarp.” Robin immediately says, pointing to Eddie. “Tarp. Tarp.”

Everyone starts scrambling to their feet and rushing to the windows, Robin’s heart rate unusually high. She hadn’t even experienced what she would assume to be the worst of it yet and she was already hating every second.

Her eyes follow the police cars and the ambulances drive directly past the boathouse, further down the road. Towards the trailer park.

“Trailer park.” Steve mutters, on the same page as her.

“They might have found something new.” Max suggests, looking at her friends in worry.

“Or someone new.” Robin grimaces and they all frown. “The ambulance.”

“Shit, okay, we need to-” Steve turns around, “Hey, Eddie.”

The tarp comes flying off once again, his hair looking a little dishevelled as he still tightly hugged the cereal box.

“You gonna be alright here?” He asks, and the boy simply shrugs.

“We’ll be back when we find out more.” Dustin promises, nodding. “With food.”

Either he didn’t mind or was too freaked out to argue, but Eddie remained impartial on their decision. It was a matter of time before they’re all clambering into Steve’s car, following the same route the police had taken earlier.

“What if the place is completely cornered off and we can’t see anything?” Robin voices her worry, Dustin’s eyes flickering to hers in the rear view mirror.

“It’s too early for that. Plus Max lives there, we can just say we’re dropping her off.”

The girl in question nods her head, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth.

“Doesn’t look like we need to worry about that.” Steve says and everyone’s heads turn to look ahead, focusing on a familiar girl stood among the cops, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Once the car stops, their doors are opened and they all stand, patiently waiting. Even from a distance, Robin could see Nancy’s face light up with gratitude that she wasn’t alone.

Just as Nancy makes an excuse to walk over, Robin’s eyes are already scanning the place, actively ignoring the sheet covering something on the ground. There was this pit in her stomach, an unsettling mix of regret and panic. Whatever they were dealing with this time, she knew it was going to take more than an array of fireworks.

They were alone now, any help shipped away to California, and she was still barely caught up with their previous battles.

Robin really didn’t remember life before sitting around a picnic bench discussing freaky incidents that always seemed to link back to the Upside Down. Maybe that day in the lab had ruined her brain chemistry in a way that reduced her life before as meaningless. Or maybe her life before just wasn’t any better. Either way, a police report of a dead student wasn’t normally followed by a theory of some weird mind wizard from an alternate dimension. Then again, anything was possible in Hawkins.

“So you’re saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it’s from the Upside Down?” Nancy asks, but it wasn’t the same scepticism Eddie had.

“If the shoe fits.” Steve raises his brow with a sigh.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell, or... a curse.” Dustin says, “Now, whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don’t know.”

“All we know is this is something different.” Max frowns. “Something new.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Nancy mutters beside her, looking down.

“It’s only a theory.” Dustin defends but Nancy shakes her head.

“No, Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. I mean… why them?”

Dustin shrugs. “Maybe they were just in the wrong place? They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.” Max cuts in.

“We’re at the trailer park.” Steve comments, looking around. “Uh… should we maybe not be here?”

A shiver rolls down Robin’s neck as she peers around, the wind picking up at the worst moment. It was eerie here, even without the knowledge of two murdered kids.

“There is something about this place.” Nancy shares, “Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

Robin’s heart jumps. “Acting weird as in…?”

“Scared, on edge, upset.” Nancy explains, her brows permanently scrunched together.

“Max said Chrissy was upset too.” Dustin looks at her.

“Yeah, but not here.” She frowns. “She was crying in the bathroom at school.”

Robin’s mind began flittering around with theories, nonsensical ones for the most part until she pulled out something that felt comprehensible to their case.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?” Robin begins, forcing herself to reduce the speed of her words to ensure they were properly heard. “So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman.”

“Vecna.” Dustin corrects and she represses the urge to roll her eyes.

“I dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” Steve expresses.

“Maybe they did.” Max theorises, “I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelley’s office. If you saw a monster, you… you wouldn’t go to the police. They’d never believe you. But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.” Robin finishes and the younger girl nods. “They keep files, right? Maybe something in Chrissy’s file will point us in the right direction of who, uh… Vecna is.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Max says and Dustin nods.

“But how are we meant to get it?” Steve frowns, “It’s the counsellor's office, wouldn’t they be locking that thing up tight? The whole school, even.”

“I can get the key.” Max says with confidence, “Ms Kelley said I could come to her house out of hours if I need it, maybe I can find where she keeps her keys and sneak out before she realises.”

Rather than question her alibi, it seemed like everyone was in agreement. They were off that bench in a second flat and following Steve to his car. Robin was trying to push away that fear of the unknown, the anxiety that they would find an answer they wouldn’t like.

She always loved puzzles, brain teasers, classic crosswords. Solving that Russian broadcast was a riddle she enjoyed, assuming it would be nothing but a small summer project to cure her boredom of the ice cream slinging world. But beyond games and word scrambles, she felt completely useless.

“Woah, woah, Nance.”

Robin snaps out of her haze to turn back around, her hand still steady on the passenger door.

“Nance!” Steve calls out and Nancy guiltily turns around from where she was straying from the group. “Nance, where you going?”

“Oh, there’s just something I wanna check on first.” She dismisses, her footsteps still leading her back to her own car. She looked like a woman on a mission.

“Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?” Dustin says and Nancy scrunches her face.

“I don’t wanna waste your time, it’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind?” Steve expresses and Robin’s eyebrow raises. “Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it’s too dangerous. You need… you need someone to…”

There’s a pause and Robin’s mind is already drifting when keys are suddenly being hurled at her, only catching them in the last second.

“Here. I’ll stick with Nance, alright? You guys take the car, check out the shrink.” Steve says and she blinks at the metal in her palm.

“I don’t think you want me driving your car.” She points at it.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.”

“Why don’t you have a license?”

“I’m poor.”

“I can drive.” Max suggests and Steve is quick to protest.

“No, no, never again. Please. Anybody but you, no.” His eyes drift to Dustin’s smile. “No chance.”

“Look, if it helps, I’m not gonna be alone for very long, okay?” Nancy interjects with a smile. “I… I need to call in a favour.”

“Call in a favour?” Steve frowns, “Who?”

Nancy purses her lips and looks down, shrugging. Robin notices Steve’s stance shifting into one she had labelled ‘the annoyed babysitter’; hands on hips, a slight furrow in the brows and a pouty lip. She had to refrain from pointing it out as she had done many times before, usually resulting in a random object thrown at her head.

“Y/n.” Nancy eventually says and Steve groans.

“No, come on. Literally anyone else.” He protests, shoulders dropping in defeat.

“What’s wrong with Y/n?” Dustin frowns, shaking his head.

“She’s just…” Steve sighs, not bothering to finish the sentence. Robin mouths your name, no familiar face ringing a bell.

“Whatever she is, she’s saved our asses on multiple occasions.” Max spoke up, Dustin nodding in agreement.

“It’s…” Steve starts, shaking his head. “She’s not even in town, is she?”

“She’s visiting her grandparents.” Nancy shrugs. “Look, we don’t have time to argue about it, I’m heading to the library.”

“And what if you don’t make it there, huh?” Steve objects, “What if Y/n is busy? Do we really want to drag another person into this?”

“We need all the help we can get.” Nancy says.

“Do we really want to drag Y/n into this?” He rephrases and Robin watches Nancy’s eyes dart away. Whoever you were, you were a sore subject it seemed. But they didn’t have time to be arguing about this.

“All right, okay. This is stupid.” Robin finally breaks, snagging the exposed radio from Dustin’s backpack and thrusting Steve’s keys back at him. “Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us.”

Steve pulls a face at her and she laughs, already walking away.

“Be careful!” He shouts after her and she throws up a peace sign.

In all honesty, she was relieved to be heading to a library instead of sitting around in a silent car with her own thoughts. Anything but that.

“So, um… who’s Y/n?” Robin queries as Nancy starts up the car.

“An old friend.” She explains briefly, waiting until the others had driven off before following them out.

“She wasn’t at Starcourt, right?” Robin frowns, repeating your name in her head over and over.

“Uh, no. I don’t think you would’ve met her. She was with me and Jonathan, at the hospital, and…” Her voice trailed off, lips tightening.

“And?” Robin prompts but Nancy simply shakes her head with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter.”

As she looked over, she could just read a hint of guilt on her expression, a hard stare on the road ahead as she turns towards the public library. Robin wasn’t always the greatest at reading social cues, only when she was rambling and paying more attention on getting her thoughts out than how people were receiving them. There was something different about the way they were talking about you, however, like there was something unspoken.

The first thing Nancy did was find a phone.

Robin could just make out Nancy’s expressions in the payphone as she stood waiting by the car, her brows scrunched and mouth constantly moving. When she finally hung up, she wrapped her arms around herself and headed back to the Robin, nodding.

“She’s meeting us in a few minutes.” She explained, and Robin figured she didn’t want to talk about it any further. So, as she made a turn to the library, Robin decided on a different bugging query.

“Okay so, help me get this straight.” She starts as they climb the steps, the bell tolling above the building. She was recalling Nancy’s brief summary on the drive over. “Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he’s the one running around Hawkins committing all these murders?”

“Pretty much.” Nancy responds with a tight-lipped smile. Robin wasn’t finished.

“But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the ‘50s.” Robin frowns and Nancy pulls open the door.

“Well, ‘59.” She says.

“So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?” She continued as they walk up to the librarian’s desk.

“Yeah.” Nancy responds bluntly.

“Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old.”

“Yep.” She reaches out and dings the bell.

“So…” Robin keeps talking, occupying her brain with this theory so she didn’t have to worry about anything else. “He’s a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air.”

Nancy takes a breath. “It doesn’t make sense. I know. That’s why I said it was a shot in the dark.”

She rings the bell again and, once again, Robin doesn’t catch the hint Nancy’s throwing her way.

“I know. I just thought that by ‘shot in the dark’ you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later.”

Nancy rings the bell twice this time but Robin barely registers it.

“But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who’ve been spun around 50 times.”

She starts ringing the bell rapidly and Robin looks down at it with a frown, finally realising she’s yet again talked too much.

“Coming!” The librarian calls out, carrying a stack of books.

“Hi, sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush.” Nancy smiles apologetically at her, “Could we get the keys to the basement archives?”

“Of course. Give me one sec.” The woman nods, turning away.

Robin stares down at her hands before the anxiety takes over.

“Did I come off mean or condescending or something?” She blurts and Nancy hesitates.

“No.”

“Right.” Robin sighs, still staring at her, “Sorry. It’s just, you seem annoyed. You don’t know me very well. I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues.”

“Okay.” Nancy whispers.

“So if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it’s a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily.”

Nancy nods quickly, pretending to be interested. “Got it.”

“Alright, ladies.” The librarian returns with a smile, holding out a set of keys. “Here you go. Have fun.”

“Yep.” Nancy accepts them, forcing a smile. “We’ll… try.”

She starts walking away while Robin remains there frozen, earning a grin from the woman opposite. Robin simply shrugs and begrudgingly follows Nancy.

The archive room was… dusty. A little too dusty to Robin’s liking. Everything was old and smelt weird. Nancy starting looking over some books, inspecting the covers before spotting the Microfilm Readers.

“We should probably get a start while we wait for Y/n.” Nancy says, sitting at the machine and Robin hesitantly leans against it, pursing her lips. Nancy notices and looks up at her, already anticipating another ramble. “Yes?”

“So… Y/n?” Robin holds out her hands, “I don’t want to keep being nosy but, uh… how does she fit into all of this?”

Nancy reluctantly turns towards her with a smile. “She’s been a part of our, uh, group for a while now. Since Will was possessed.”

Robin blinks. “Right.”

“She was the one who figured out heat was their weakness – the things that live in the Upside Down. I’ve known her since we were kids and she’s always been amazing at…” Nancy searches for a term, “Detective stuff.”

“Detective stuff, right.” Robin nods and Nancy slowly turns back to what she was doing. “So, like…”

Nancy sighs and Robin shuts her mouth.

“Sorry, I’ll shut up.” She raises her hands in surrender and Nancy scrunches her face.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… I haven’t seen her in a while so I… I’m not trying to be rude, there’s just a lot going on.” She explains apologetically, surrendering her attempt at scrolling through the machine. “I can’t believe I’m dragging her into this.”

“Why are you?” Robin asks genuinely and Nancy tilts her head in contemplation.

“She did a project a few years back on the Creels.” Nancy begins, resting her chin on her hand. “She was researching into small town murders. Y/n was obsessed with the unexplained ones. She likes uncovering truths, solving the mystery. I don’t remember how far she got with this but she’ll have more than enough information to get us started.”

“Right, right.” Robin slowly nods, thinking it all over. You weren’t the new addition she assumed you would be. In fact, she was the only one here who was really new to everything.“Should I be here?”

“Sorry?” Nancy frowns.

“I mean, it sounds like you two are pretty close. And I- I don’t want to ruin the reunion or whatever, I don’t even know how to- I suck at meeting new people, basically.” Robin stresses, holding up her hand when Nancy tries to protest, “I already know. Everyone I meet pretty much hates me from the get go. I’m already ruining it with you and we’ve literally met before. Briefly. But still, I- I don’t know this Y/n and I don’t want to annoy her out of helping you-”

“Robin.” Nancy laughs, “It’s fine. Y/n isn’t like that. To be honest… you’ll probably get along.”

“What does that-”

Her words are cut off by the sound of the door opening and slamming shut, the wooden steps creaking beneath the weight of descending footsteps. They both whip their heads to the noise to see someone stood there with a folder in their hands.

“Got here as fast as I could.” You say, letting out a breath and smiling Nancy. You quickly notice the girl standing beside her with a startled look on her face. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, you- we were, just- I’m Robin.” She stuttered, her face flushing with embarrassment before she turns away from you. Calm down, she begs herself.

Nancy looks at her in confusion, “Are you-”

“I’m good.” She insists and Nancy shakes her head, getting up from her seat.

“Hi, Y/n.” She smiles, walking over to you. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course.” You say, but your heart didn’t really feel in it. “I brought the project you wanted. It’s got the newspaper reports from the original killings. If that’s of any help.”

“It is, thank you so much.” Nancy takes it from your hands and starts flipping through, carefully reading each of your headings and findings.

You shift on your feet before glancing at Robin, her eyes widening slightly when you look at her.

“I’m Y/n.” You offer and she nods quickly.

“Yeah, I, uh, I know.” She laughs awkwardly, “Nice to put a face to the name.”

An incredibly gorgeous face, Robin screams inside. Of all the problems she was facing today, this shouldn’t be one of them. Monsters, Russians, that was pretty much up her alley right now. Sudden introductions of pretty girls that literally took her breath away? Not on her bingo card.

Robin noticed the tension in the air between you and Nancy, that same unspoken theory recycling in her mind. What happened last year? Why weren’t you there at Starcourt? Why were you back?

She didn’t really know if she would regret knowing the answers. All she knew was that you had been here all of two minutes and Robin already felt like you were going to change her life.

Because, you were. In more ways than one.

Update: The Pariahs That Saved The World

[if you want there to be more chapters, pls comment below or leave it in my asks to be added to a taglist, i don't want to post something no one wants to read <3]

[episodeoftv]

Prelims, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The top 3 episodes will move on to the main bracket

propaganda and summaries are under the cut (May include spoilers)

2.21 & 2.22 Becoming, Parts 1 & 2

Angel plots to revive an ancient demon bent on sweeping everything on earth into hell itself. / Spike strikes an unlikely alliance with Buffy to keep Angel from destroying the world.

4.10 Hush

When everyone in Sunnydale loses their voice, the Scooby Gang must silently solve the mystery of the monsters who stole their ability to speak.

4.16 Who Are You?

Having switched bodies with Buffy, Faith enjoys freedom. Meanwhile, Buffy finds herself at the mercy of the Watcher's Council.

5.16 The Body

Buffy, Dawn, and their friends deal with the aftermath of Joyce's death.

The purposeful removal of music for the whole episode, the grief portrayed, the portrayals of people with varying amounts of interaction with death. It hits so hard.

This episode killed me. I have never watched anything that has fully emcompassed the feeling of loss and what it's like to experience death close to you than The Body. It is an absolute gut punch in the best way. I actually had to take a week off of watching Buffy to recover because I was so destroyed. 12/10 I don't think I will ever be able to watch this episode of TV ever again

One of the greatest depictions of grief and bereavement of all time. Both formally inventive and unique in its cinematography, sound design, editing etc. while also being an incredible personally affecting emotional experience.

There’s another buffy episode that probably deserves the title more, but I did have to give this one some recognition. For a whacky silly show about vampires, this episode is maybe the realest portrayal of death and grief I’ve ever seen. It’s not just a sad episode that makes audiences cry - I mean it is that - but it’s also this incredible examination of what it’s like to lose someone, and how the world shifts on its axis when that happens. The lack of any non diegetic music is an amazing touch to give this episode a sense of distance from all others. It’s real in a way that’s hard to watch but also unforgettable. Certain scenes and lines will always stay with me and will forever shape my feelings on life and loss.

6.07 Once More, With Feeling

In this musical extravaganza, Sunnydale residents find themselves bursting into song, and flame, when a demon attempts to make Dawn his bride.

The greatest musical episode of all time! Pretty much all of the songs are unironically bangers, it's better choreographed and shot than frankly a lot of the bad movie musicals that have been inflicted on us in the past few years, and despite the goofy concept it still manages to tell an incredibly affecting story about the protagonist's struggle with depression. Pulls off an absolutely monumental tonal shift from comedic musical theatre homage to devastating emotional gut punch that manages to never feel tonally dissonant

Best musical episode ever (character development, lots of bops, and spontaneous combustion)

It is the best musical episode of any TV series. It is whimsical, but also far from filler and major plot beats happen while the characters sing jaunty little toons about them. Willow and Tara have sex. Spike gets and angsty alt rock song about his unrequited buffy crush. Buffy admits that when her friends resurrected her she was violently ripped out of heaven and doesn't wanna be on earth anymore. Spike and Buffy kiss. Its the best. / Invented musical episodes and is also one of the only good ones ever to have been made. Changed the game. Insane that it’s as good as it is.

[megaboy335]

Soaring Sky Precure and All Stars F Thoughts

The end of January is always a bittersweet time to be a Precure fan as the currently airing series comes to a close and the next series begins the following week at the first of February. I have been watching Precure on a weekly basis for 6 years ever since Hugtto in 2018 and I watched the entire backlog of episodes over roughly 2 years. I wanted to write a post about why All Stars F and Soaring Sky Precure were the perfect anniversary projects. The staple of any Precure milestone year is a new All Stars movie. They used to be yearly until there were simply too many characters to sustain the purpose of the format so now its saved for special occasions. I'll start by saying All Stars F was phenomenal! The action has never looked better and unlike Memories, it was almost completely in 2D. It's hard to miss when they distill the franchise into its purest form of magical girls beating monsters. The main point I want to focus on is the film's antagonist Cure Supreme.

(note the fake logo, Supreme is merely going through the motions) They are an unworldly existence who completely destroyed all the cures. Kind of like an end of series boss character. Yet on a whim Supreme wanted to learn more about where a Precure's strength comes from such as why did they try so hard. Supreme recreated earth, gave themselves a mascot, a ton of monsters to defeat including a boss figure, all to essentially live as the main character of a Precure series. It's a very cynical way of looking at the franchise with its repeatable formula. She sees all the parts as simply something they have. In the climax of the film Supreme is faced with Precure being more than the sum of its parts. They see the hardships, trials, moments of happiness, and the moments of sadness that have occurred in the history of the franchise. A Precure is someone who puts their best foot forward and looks to make a better tomorrow regardless of any obstacles. By splitting part of their power into a mascot and trying to imitate being a cure, Supreme has already taken the first step of their redemption story. In the end, All Stars F uses Supreme to show the audience why Precure is such a long lasting franchise. It might be a repeatable formula, it might appear silly, but ultimately what defines a Precure is someone giving it all their to improve themselves. That is something that can resonate and inspires an audience of all ages which even Supreme is not immune from. The film concludes with Supreme and they're mascot Puka realizing that perhaps together there is more to life when they share experiences.

(Manatsu grinning with happiness as her first encounter with Laura replays before their eyes. You can feel how proud she is of having a friend like Laura. It completely changed the trajectory of her life for the better) If All Stars F is a refresher of Precure's overarching themes, then Soaring Sky Precure is a throwback to the duo dynamic of the early days with a theme of Heroes. We have the central duo of Sora and Mashiro. Sora is an outsider and the team lead. She befriends Mashiro, the human character, who is a kind person who doesn't always have the best self confidence. Together they teach other how to exert themselves more. Both Mashiro and Sora come to learn how acts of kindness come in many forms. Similarly, Tsubasa (first male cure, aspiring knight) and Ageha (adult, nursery school teacher) form a secondary duo. They're mostly stuck in supporting roles for most of the series, but both show anyone can embody the qualities of a Precure in their life. Super heroes don't always wear fleshly capes after all. Elle is a somewhat of a throwback to Luminous as a supernatural entity in the group. She's mostly the insert character for Precure's young target demographic. By becoming Cure Noble it adds to the idea of people in supporting roles being heroes in their own right. Even if they are fallen nobility. Precure's don't let their past define them. This brings us to the main antagonist Kaiserin. If Sora finds positivity from those around her, then Kaiserin is her foil as someone who has a pure heart but became tainted by negative surrounding circumstances. Kaiserin had been told over and over that strength is everything. These ideals were forced upon her through fabricated events. At the climax with Kaiserin wavering, the dark power went into Sky because surely a hero with strong convictions would desire the ultimate power at all costs to save a friend. But turns out Sora's bond with Mashiro is even stronger than that. Power for powers sake can only go so far and Mashiro never stopped believing in Sora. They both push each other to new heights that senseless strength could never obtain. Kasarin sees this and rejects the power. Giving in to those desires has only stunted her ability to cultivate relationships. She can now get a second chance with her loyal followers now seeking to redeem themselves as well.

The franchise began as "Futari wa Precure" (We are Precure) for a reason. It's about how people can connect and push each other. Whether its someone from another world and a human on earth, an alien being destructive powers, or.... a dog and her pet owner? Sometimes the larger group dynamic and gimmick is more important in modern precures, but going back to those roots from Futari wa Precure every once in awhile is a good reminder of how it runs through every installment to this day. Tldr - I'm thinking way to hard about a children's television series whose main goal is selling toys. We're lucky it consistently has such strong character writing. I really like when the lead can shout their dream at every turn and grows to embody that ideal. We got spoiled by having a full 50 episode series this year. The power of 4 cour is amazing. Late night anime could only dream of having that much time.

[novafire-is-thinking]

A Future in the Stars

First and foremost, Orion was motivated by his internal vision of what he wanted the future to look like/how he thought it should look—both for himself and the rest of Cybertronian kind.

To me, the following passage from The Covenant gives the clearest snapshot of who Optimus was at spark and what he valued most at the beginning:

“He’d tried hard to concentrate on his duties in the archive for the entire week before the bridges were due to be opened, but he couldn’t. Every few cycles his mind would quietly detach itself from considering the records of events on Cybertron and how to index them for future reference, and would sneak off into little reveries about what might be found at the other end of the bridge. Given that the Quintessons had already proved there was other life, albeit dangerous life, he couldn’t help his imagination running riot and seeing endless vistas opening, one after another, into all kinds of strange, new worlds filled with peculiar, wonderful creatures, all waiting right now to be discovered.... And it would be this week! This week they would see, they would hear, they would know things about these other worlds and nothing would ever be the same again.

He woke up suddenly from a dream of a place made entirely of colored mineral rocks glittering like frost, in which beautiful winged things like insecticons, but much more delicate, floated and clinked, singing to one another-and found himself face-to-face with Alpha Trion, the chief archivist and councilor, and his boss.

“... I said,” Alpha Trion was apparently repeating. “I received your notice requesting the day off to see the bridge opening.”

“Yes!” Orion Pax said quickly. “I know it can be seen from here, but I wanted to be able to get closer than that. I mean, it’s a historic moment and ...”

“You may go,” Alpha Trion said, in the tones of a conditional reprieve, “if you promise to stop logging Sharkticon footage under ‘Scary Monsters’ and stop listing entries about Shockwave as Soundwave. I know they are similar, but Soundwave is a councilor, and Shockwave is, at best, a rogue with some very disreputable decisions in his past, who lives outside the law. We file for accuracy, not by ear.”

Orion Pax nodded, feeling alarmed that his daydreaming had caused such silly errors. He apologized and didn’t notice Alpha Trion’s smile.

“Do you wish you were going?”

The question caught him unawares, though he wondered if the answer showed on his face. “Yes, I would. To be the first to set foot on alien ground! It would be amazing....” He remembered the long years of struggle, surviving under the terror of the Predacons, before there was anything resembling civilization. He remembered the effort to stay useful, to stay occupied with interesting activities, as all around him fights broke out over territories, powers, and rivalries. He had kept his head down all this while, small and insignificant and attempting nothing more glamorous than merely living. It was as if all that had been leading to this time, when someone like him could dream dreams that were actually possible, when his notions of all that could be would be, and it wasn’t just to pass the time before some other bot came and spoiled things with their rage and their violence, forcing him to move on and leave whatever small organization and peace he had behind him.

“You see a future in the stars?” Alpha Trion asked him quietly.

Orion Pax thought, feeling self-conscious, because he wasn’t used to such attention. Although Alpha Trion didn’t overwhelm him, he felt a certain strange reverence for him, partly for his scholarship and his command over the Covenant, that odd book that he kept, with its peculiar properties, and partly because Alpha Trion was the oldest bot he knew, and whenever you asked him a question about something, he nearly always had the answer or a view or an angle on it that you’d never have thought of before.

“The stars look endless to me,” he said eventually. “Out there, you could just go and go, and there’d be enough space for everyone, and things to do and see that go on forever.” He risked a look at Alpha Trion’s face and was surprised to see quiet thoughtfulness there. “You must think I’m naive. Everyone says I’m a dreamer.” He waited for the other to agree.

But Alpha Trion shook his head. “Dreamers are in too-short supply on this world,” he said. “And so far there wasn’t so much to dream about, but the times are coming when we will need more visionaries, of one kind or another. Do I think it is naive to feel idealistic about the unknown? No. If we didn’t feel that way we’d be nothing more than Predacon fodder, and rightly so. Instead we’ve taken their place at the top of things, and now we’re adventuring abroad. There’ll be time enough for reality later.”

Orion was calmed by Alpha Trion’s acceptance, and elevated. For the first time, he considered himself as something potentially worthwhile, a bot who had something to offer the world instead of one who awkwardly negotiated with it. The idea scared him a little, but he held on to it, experimentally, and for the rest of that day, at least, managed to correct his mistakes and apply himself without creating many more.”

The Stars Remember

This is where it all began for Optimus. Not when he first heard Megatron’s words over Cybertron’s Communications Grid. Not when he decided to step away from his post and meet Megatron for the first time. Not even when he gave his impromptu speech before the Council.

But here, at his humble workstation in the Hall of Records.

Reading this part of CoP and then looking at Optimus in TFP…does things to me. It’s not hard to guess what happened to The Dreamer. Where young Orion Pax had seen hope of life and potential for discovery, Optimus came face-to-face with death and loss and grief. I can only guess how much Optimus had to lay to rest within himself in order to survive the pain of millions of years of war. The same heavens he had looked upon so fondly as Orion became the grave of many of those under his command. Not just literally, but figuratively as well.

But I don’t think The Dreamer ever died completely. How else would Optimus have kept going?

✧ ✧ ✧

series master post

[razzle-zazzle]

can you tell us more about branch villainous parent idea you have?

Had to put this one under a cut bc it got long sorry.

tl;dr ancient troll sorceress who kinda made herself immortal but then spent centuries trapped underground adopts one (1) small gray trolling when she escapes in the hopes of using him as an agent in her big revenge plan

Okay okay so. I was listening to "The Monster Under Your Bed" by Madame Macabre (among some other songs) and somehow ended up creating a silly little AU where Branch is adopted and raised by something a little bit eldritch and a lot bit unsuited to taking care of a child. So meet Lola (<- placeholder name)!

Lola's a Pop Troll... or at the very least, she used to be. Her backstory starts a good few centuries before the Bergens even show up, but just long enough after the splitting of the genres that most Pop Trolls at the time only had a vague idea about the existence of other genres. Lola was just like any other Pop Troll, really—in fact, she was even quite a catch! A love of singing and dancing, a clear voice and pretty face; she had quite a few admirers.

But, well, her story's not as well known, in the days of Trollstice, but for those who do know it, it's a cautionary tale. Because Lola, like any Troll, was able to use her song to affect the world around her. And she pushed the limits of this power, often in... well, it was more carelessness, at first. A descent into destruction that started slow and snowballed, until she was pretty much a step away from Evil Sorceress. At the end of her tale, in an effort to put a stop to her, a small band of heroes used the Pop String to defeat her, sealing her body underground in the roots of one of the many Troll Trees of the time. Thought dead, Lola became a cautionary tale about the dangers of using one's song to destructive and selfish ends.

Except she didn't die. She was already beyond death, at that point. So for centuries, she remained trapped, unable to pierce the barrier sealing her in her tomb. And in those centuries, the Bergens came, discovered the Trolls, and Bergentown formed. In those centuries, the number of Troll Trees diminished down to one, caged in the center of a dreary town.

Enter Branch. From stage top, falling from the tree after being pushed out of the way by Rosiepuff. Branch, who's small and scared and curls up in the crook of two roots, where a small patch of either-lobelia-or-rhododendrons-I-haven't-quite-decided-which-flower-works-best-yet are growing. The barrier containing Lola has eroded slightly, over the centuries, and the slow genocide of the Pop Trolls by the Bergens has only sped up the process. She's still trapped, but now there's a small hole that light can sometimes get through.

When Branch first falls into Lola's tomb, he almost doesn't make it out alive. Why does she stay her hand, though? Is it because she could see a kindred spirit in the Trolling that had lost all hope? Because she saw in him an opportunity to escape her tomb and finally enact revenge? Because centuries buried underground can tire a person out immensely, and the thought of expending energy to kill one little Trolling was too much for her that day? Whatever the reason, Branch manages to climb back out. But he comes back, again and again, just to... talk. The scary lady trapped underground understands grief, after all, and Branch feels safe underground where the Bergens can't reach. No matter how much the shadows move and hiss and cry. But going in and out stretches the already weak barrier to its limits...

There's only a week or so between Rosiepuff's death and the Great Escape, in my headcanons (something something Chef randomly going in and eating Trolls outside of Trollstice in flagrant violation of rules or tradition purely because she can), so only a week or so after their first meeting a Bergen's shovel both clears a path and snaps what little remains of the barrier, loosing Lola upon the world.

When she "adopts" Branch, it's with a clear goal in her mind: raise this little gray Trolling to be an instrument of destruction, groom him for the eventual role he'll play in her revenge scheme. There's just one problem:

She gets attached.

[axonn1999]

I wrote a silly little bionicle fanfic I wanted to post here

Quick info on some headcanon I integrated. The Agori and glatorian are not as old in here and are descendants of the ones that fought the core war, rather than participants.

There isn’t really action in here and basically my first attempt at writing

Anyways. I wanted to call this little project "Tales of Spherus Magna"

Chapter 1

Vakama

“We do not wish for any sort of conflict.” Vakama, the wise Turaga of fire declared. His voice, despite being as calm as could be, shows hints of exhaustion. Exhaustion, that is more apparent in the eyes peeking from behind his Huna, the mask of concealment.

The past weeks weighed on the Turaga. After all that was happening to his people, the loss of their home, the silence of the great spirit they were so faithfully serving and the integration on a world which even he and the rest of the Turaga know nothing about, he could not stop working to lead the Matoran, that have put their trust in him, into a peaceful tomorrow.

“Be that as it may…” one of the six beings opposite to him begins. A figure, clad in red armor very similar to the Ta-Matoran of his tribe, yet unlike how his people were intertwined with their protodermis shell like bark to a tree, this being was merely covering up his vulnerable body, consisting entirely of the ‘living matter’.

Something ached in Vakama‘s heart light when gazing upon this being. Their first contact was a strange experience for both sides. At first they have thought of them as a strange evolutionary branch, but the more he learned, the more a horrible thought took its grotesque roots in his mind.

“We are merely mockeries of life. Imitations that only simulate what it is to be real people”

This intrusive thought makes it hard for Vakama to not avert his gaze in shame from the being, this Agori, but he mustn’t.

The Agori continues: “It is your kind that has brought all of these… all of these monsters to our world! It was this Mata Nui who might have returned Bara Magna to what it was, but is it really better with your creatures around?” He crosses his arms as he leans back into his chair. Vakama wanted to protest, but Nokama, the Turaga of water who was sitting next to him, placed her gentle hand on his shoulder and began to speak in a calm tone. “Please understand It was beyond our control, o wise leader of the fire tribe. We, the people of the Matoran universe, will do our very best to assure a secure unification of our two civilizations and help with any invasive species that may cause trouble” She nodded to Vakama, who nodded back with a glimmer of joy in his eyes, knowing that she and Whenua to his other side where there for him.

“Unification? What is there to ‘unite’?” A cold voice asked slowly. It was the Agori next to the leader of the fire tribe. One who’s snow white armor perfectly reflects the tone of her voice. “For all that we know, these… things were made by the great beings to serve our ancestors. So by proxy, they should now serve us.”

She continued, her cruel words instantly draining any positivity out of Vakama‘s spirit.

“You can’t be serious, Mivera.” Someone else protested. Very similar to a Toa of fire in appearance, he was one of the three beings in the hut known as Glatorian. “Mata Nui is my friend. We helped him save his people and you want to enslave them? Raanu, you can't possibly consider that?“ he turned to the fire tribe leader who was shaking his head. “He might have helped us, Ackar, but Mata Nui never told us that his people are… are Robots!”

Tahu, Toa of fire, who was standing behind his Turaga the whole time, was losing patience and urged to give them a piece of his mind, but surprisingly enough and before Gali and Onua, his Toa siblings, could intervene, a younger voice came from the side of the Agori and Glatorian.

“This is how you want to thank Mata Nui?! I can’t believe you’re considering it for even a second! They’re not just robots! Can’t you see that, Raanu?”

Annoyed at the Glatorian in green armor, Raanu shook his head. “Who of you decided to bring along this brat?” He asked dismissively upon which the last of the three Glatorian responded. “Well, unlike you and the Iconox witch, Gresh has a heart!”

“Tsk watch your mouth, Kiina!” Mivera hisses at the blue armored Glatorian.

In all of this, Berix, an Agori in blue armor and from the same tribe as the Glatorian Kiina, who sat between the two arguing parties, hastily wrote all of it down in his notebook. Mata Nui made him what is called a ‘chronicler’ and he tries to honor that title to the best of his abilities. Next to him sat another white armored figure. One of those Matoran, the Turaga claim to be the leaders of. Unlike Berix, who could barely sit still, this Matoran calmly noted everything down on a slab of stone strangely enough. Berix couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would write down on stone of all things. The symbols the matoran writes on the Tablet are strange but not entirely unfamiliar. He shakes his head. He can’t allow himself to be distracted like that while he has a job to do. “Ugh, why me? This guy is way more competent than I am..” he thought to himself defeated.

The table they were all sitting at was round. A beautiful, silver shield that once belonged to a great protector of Metru Nui was serving the Turaga as a conference table in many discussions.

Vakama places his hands on its smooth surface and closes his eyes for a moment. They may be pale imitations, but they were still people. Living, breathing organisms. To be compared to the likes of the Vahki, who mercilessly and mindlessly follow their programs filled even him with anger. He inhaled, still feeling Nokama‘s comforting hand on his shoulder and now even Whenua, who has been listening in silence, reaches for his old comrade. “We have our history, Vakama. The culture we build in all these many centuries is proof that we’re alive and real people”

As if the Ruru, the mask of night vision, that Whenua wore was able to see right through Vakama‘s darkest thoughts, his friend said exactly what Vakama needed to hear.

He exhales. “We wish for there to be no conflict. But I have a duty to protect the Matoran. If one sees them as nothing more than mindless machines, I see this as an insult not just to us, but the great spirit, Mata Nui. If you truly wish to force your wills upon us… we will defend ourselves.” He stated stouthearted, the oath he once gave Lhikan never leaving his mind.

Raanu looked down in thoughts, leaning forward and tapping his fingers on the silver table. He can not afford conflict. Especially with beings as powerful as those behind these Turaga. But he knew of the great beings. How they brought this planet to ruins. And now he is supposed to trust their creations to not do it again?

“Raanu!” The three Glatorian shout at him at the same time, all of them appalled by the fact that the leader of the fire tribe ponders this, for them a very easily solved predicament.

“We-” the leader of the ice tribe attempted to gain control of the discussion but quickly fell silent as the third Agori leader raised his voice. On Raanu‘s left, the oldest of the leaders, the leader of the twin villages of Tesara spoke up. His tone, strained and withered and his green, rusty armor creaks as he moves in his chair.

“It has… been a dream of mine… in these many many ages that I spent surviving… to see the lush forests of the old world as described in the very few remaining texts of my village… and to see it now, I can say with confidence that the patch of green we had in Tesara, our beautiful home… pales in comparison. And it is all thanks to your great spirit.” He lifted his shaking arm towards the Turaga in a gesture of gratitude. “I would be… overjoyed to live together with them.” He then declares, talking to Gresh who took a knee right next to the old Agori leader’s chair. Gresh smiled. “Yes, wise Dekku.” He pets the young Glatorian he always viewed as a grandson, on the shoulder. He exhales, exhausted from merely speaking these few words. If it was not for his insistent request, he wouldn’t even sit at this very table, yet his words definitely seem to soften the thoughts of the others. Except for one… the leader of the ice tribe moves closer to Raanu and starts speaking to him in a more hushed tone. “Raanu, can’t you see the danger these machines pretending to have free will possess? If they refuse to serve their proper masters, they-” again she was cut off. The fire tribe leader moves his hand between their faces. “Enough, Mivera. Turaga Vakama, we have decided” As he stands up, he looks directly at the six former Metru Nui inhabitants.

“I see a possible future of us living together, but… for now I believe we should minimize unnecessary contact until we have fully regrouped as tribes.“

The Turaga looked at his peers and they all nodded at each other. “Very well. This is perhaps the best possible outcome we could have hoped for. I wish you farewell.”

They shook hands, which was a new experience to the Turaga, who at first was not sure what to do with the hand offered. Berix awkwardly attempted to converse with the other Chronicler, but more than his name he could not get out of the quiet matoran called Kopeke.

After the Agori and Glatorian left the hut and a last icy glare of the Iconox leader, Vakama let out a big sigh, his head falling into his hand in exhaustion.

“Tsk… who does she think she is?” Tahu snarled, remembering the disgusting words of one of the Agori.

“Does that really matter now? It’s over, Tahu. No need to get worked up over nothing” Gali said, putting her hand on his shoulder in a similar fashion to the Turaga.

Onua, who is one of the most composed Toa, is in thoughts. Perhaps the great beings did create them to serve the Agori in the end. Very much like Tahu, this bothered him, yet he decided to not make his complaints known.

“I wish the others were here…” Nokama states in a saddened voice. She knows fully well that Onewa and Nuju were against living together with the Agori. Even Turaga Dume, who most saw as the de facto leader of the Turaga council, spoke up against it.

She knows that Matau would have supported her wholeheartedly, but he felt as tho he would not have been a good negotiator. An excuse, since he surely thought of this ordeal as boring.

The Toa and Turaga stepped outside, Vakama not feeling any of the burdens leaving his shoulders.

“You let these pathetic creatures walk off after saying all this?”

The voice sent a shiver down Vakama‘s and the other Turaga‘s back.

At the side of the Hut leans a Toa of water against its wall. The red, glowing eyes glare at the Turaga of fire from behind her scratched and chipped mask.

“If I was in charge, I would have-”

“You are not in charge, Tuyet.“ Vakama cut her off, not caring that he was talking to this murderous renegade, looking her in the eyes with the same intensity, occasionally looking at the stump where her right arm was supposed to be. The Toa, despite knowing the Turaga‘s bravery, were surprised by his sharp tone.

“You better watch your mouth, Turaga. I might have been injured, but I could still destroy all of you with ease.” Tahu steps in front of his Turaga, grabbing his magma swords. “We will see about that, traitor”

“Do me a favor and put this Ussal brain on a leash”

Tuyet said mockingly, enraging Tahu, who had to be held back by his siblings before another fight in the village could break out.

“Surely you did not come here just to lecture and insult us with your foul mouth, exile. What is it that you seek?“ Whenua deduces.

“Where. Is. He?”

Done playing around, Tuyet demanded an answer, the Nui stone fused with her armor glowing menacingly.

“He went north,” Vakama replied. He knew what she wanted and gave her a quick answer. “We can not give you a better direction.” He added.

“It’s enough… for now” she said, turning away from them and heading north without another word uttered. “I swear, today is the gathering of unpleasant people…” Onua claims, trying to lighten the mood a little, but Vakama looks defeated at the horizon.

“Do we also count as such?” A Voice all too familiar came from behind Vakama, who was turning around as quickly as his frame allowed him. “Onewa… Nuju and Matau…”

“We worry-feared if you could manage the negotiation-talk without us, brother. So we decided to quick-travel here as fast as our feet allowed us.”

Vakama‘s expression softened once more. So is Nokama‘s. Meanwhile Whenua crosses his arms. “You left him to fend for himself and now you’re late.” Clicks and whistles that sounded like a protest came from Turaga Nuju as he pointed at Matau. “Hey it is not my fault we took so long-time. It was the stone head that needed convince-talk”

Onewa shook his head but did not defend himself, meaning it was true and he hated to admit it.

“Vakama… perhaps you were right to try and establish contact as soon as you did. Perhaps we have been idle too many times and I have become used to it…” to hear these words from Onewa, the most unbudging, unapologetic Turaga of them all, shocked Vakama and the others. He continues “We are Brothers still. Our strength is in our unity.“ Nokama takes Vakama‘s hand and leads him towards the others together with Whenua. “And United we will face this new world. You are not bearing this responsibility alone, brother. We will always be there for you”

Moved by this, Vakama could not bring out a word. The storyteller has lost his voice to sentimentalities and failed to reclaim it, instead accepting the embrace of his fellow Turaga.

“I wish Pohatu, Lewa and Kopaka were here…” Onua said, touched by this display. Tahu wraps his arm around his neck and smiles, raising his fist to bump with Onua‘s and afterwards with Gali‘s.

[yeehanfrf]

Week 11 Recs: He's a Magic Man

The Week 11 theme was "He's a Magic Man," or recs featuring the mystical, the magical, the fantastical, and a lot of werewolves, apparently! (If you missed your chance, monsterhuggers, don't worry: we'll have a monster-centric theme when spooky season rolls around!)

Behind the cut, you'll find the recs gathered from the Yeehan community, organized by rating and then alphabetically by title!

Not Rated

What Lies Undone by AsheRhyder [8,117 words]

There are rules to this sort of thing. Not the common sort, made to be broken and bent and outright ignored, but the old kind, made for dealing with dangerous things.

And they are all dangerous things, in Overwatch.

McCree survives by knowing which rules to break and which to obey and when to do the opposite of what he usually does. Dangerous things stay dangerous because they can change - he knows this all too well.

General Audiences

And Time Passed by Tevokkia [4,108 words] Reccer comment: "Sweet and innocent; will make you cry in a good way. Vimeddiee did art for it too"

A small cowboy in a large hat wandered out of the mist one day, and asked a lonely young dragon to be his friend. Such requests hold great weight out on the edge of reality, where the dragon kept his cave. The dragon and the little boy shared secrets and adventures.

And time passed ...

... until the little boy grew up.

Teen and Up

Fool's Gold by leoandlancer [193,940 words] Reccer comment: "I REMEMBERED ANOTHER MONSTERS, DRAMA, & EERIE THINGS BEYOND OUR MORTAL COMPREHENSION"

A vast and powerful dragon hires a surprisingly lethal monster hunter in order to kill an upsettingly big bug. It's not ideal, but they work on it. (Hanzo is pretty sure McCree can kill anything and both of them are trying not to be quite so in love with someone who can and probably will, kill them. Dragon and Monster Hunter AU)

Heartless by AsheRhyder [6,504 words]

Once upon a time, a wicked sorcerer cut out his heart and sealed it away. He hid it in a needle, put the needle in an egg, put the egg in a duck, put the duck inside a rabbit, and put the rabbit in a box on an island at the end of the world. So long as his heart was safe, nothing could kill him. Or so the legends say, anyway. Nowadays, people know what a silly story that was. Nobody bothers with rabbits anymore.

Cole Cassidy has no heart.

Sideshow by Kestrel_sama [5,414 words]

Hanzo manages to steal a night for himself at an American circus. What he finds there is no ordinary freak show.

So Nice to Meet You by fishpoets [9,142 words]

There it was again, something pale that shifted in the shadows - a mass of pure, white fur. Jesse stared. The wolf – for that's what it was, a huge, white wolf, sprawled out in front of the kitchen doors – raised its head, and stared right back.

(Five times Jesse interacts with Hanzo's daemon, plus one)

The Looking Glass by firefly_quill [9,509 words]

Hanzo lives a quiet life in his small magical antiquities shop, just far enough off the beaten-path. Quiet, at least, until Ana arrives with a magic mirror and a request. Modern fantasy AU.

Written for the McHanzo Reverse Bang 2018.

Turn Around, Lie Down (Come Home) by AsheRhyder [17,455 words] Reccer comment: "i loved this werewolf au fic"

In the dark, snow-filled night, a wolf howled.

Run with me. Eat with me. Sleep beside me. Be pack.

Mature

Cast No Shadow by PersonalSpin [46,029 words] Reccer comment: "a HDM-esque daemon AU"

Jesse McCree knows better than to trust a man without a soul. A His Dark Materials AU about things said and unsaid, and those you stay and those who leave.

(Not that kind of demon, this kind of dæmon.)

Death's Best Man by deliciously_devient [Series; WIP; 16,901 words] Reccer comment: "The Death's Best Man series by deliciously_devient is a must. It's one of the first I read when I got into the fandom"

Jesse is fifteen years old when he earns a favor from Death.

Kelp(ie) by Wulpia [5,734 words] Reccer comment: "Achingly poetic"

When biologist Hanzo goes on a trip to a remote reservoir in Scotland to study the flora of a lake there, he finds something far more interesting, ancient, and potentially deadly.

Not Another Moment by Author of Kheios [30,431 words] Reccer 1 comment: "a harry potter au, a small nsfw scene, is a long oneshot and cole is a single dad, mutual pining. Not Another Moment by author of kheois"

Reccer 2 comment: "The OW-HP crossover fic none of knew we needed"

Years ago, Cole retired as the Defense Against Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts to raise a little girl. Now, she's old enough to get accepted, but she dislikes the professor who took his place, and he has to intervene.

Hanzo has heard so many stories about the the man, the myth - nay, the legend - whose post he took at Hogwarts, yet not in a single one of them did anyone say anything about how attractive the Deadeye Cowboy is. But even if the man's daughter didn't hate him for no apparent reason, Hanzo can't afford to fall for someone who would kill him on the spot if he ever found out Hanzo's true nature. So of course, he falls head over heels.

Explicit

All That We Were, Are, and Will Come to Be by Dracoduceus [Series; WIP; 30,894 words]

His instructions were deceptively simple: visit the planet Hanamura and bring back two of the sons of the famous Shimada Clan.

McCree, captain of the Santa Fe and an independent contractor that worked with the Overwatch space station, should have known better than to think that anything about this would go according to plan.

Away by Vimeddiee [29,154 words] Reccer comment: "Light on the magic lore, strong on the feelings"

Hanzo awakens to the feel of grit in his eyes and the crunch of sand between his teeth. This in itself doesn’t rudely force him into consciousness, but the insistent flicking against his nose that he groggily attempts to bat away, does.

“High tide’s coming, you better nap someplace else.”

AKA I wanted to write Cassidy as a slappy boy so I DID.

Call of the Wild by deliciously_devient [Series; 4,712 words] Reccer comment: "Pretty sure the Call of the Wild series is the actual, literal first OW fanfic I read"

The moon is full, and the air is full of....promise.

Clipped Wings by Vashoth [14,631 words] Reccer comment: "possibly the first magic AU I read in this fandom, and the intrigue of it has stuck with me ever since"

Any hunter worth his salt knows that you should take all possible precautions to avoid messing with the Fair Folk. Most of the Fair Folk, however, don't really give a rats ass what precautions are taken and delight in messing with anything unlucky enough to get within arms reach.

Or: Hanzo is in way over his head and Jesse is loving it.

Dangerous Phases by Vrunka [13,593 words]

There are eight phases in a moon cycle. Eight phases in thirty days. And then it repeats. Over and over. Hanzo Shimada never really saw a reason to care. The moon comes, the moon goes. Hanzo Shimada also never really saw himself getting into an explicit sexual relationship with a werewolf. But well...these things do happen.

The Epic and Wondrous Tale of the Librarian and the Demon Hunter by annella [47,403 words] Reccer comment: "Hands-down one of the best AUs I've ever read, and I want desperately for the author to turn it into a series of books"

Jesse's got a pretty good job as the librarian in a magical library. He spends his days cataloguing, tracking down rare titles, fixing up the occasional spell gone awry, and dealing with the smoke monster in the basement.

Then Hanzo Shimada, Demon Hunter, shows up to turn his world upside down.

Freedom's a Funny Thing by robocryptid [4,940 words] Reccer comment: "a deliciously unnerving trickster Cassidy with a side of sex magic"

Once a year, magician Hanzo must perform a ritual to bind the dragon spirits to himself. This year, something about the ritual doesn't quite go right, and he summons a trickster along with the dragons. Now he's stuck with the stowaway until he can figure out how to dismiss him. Luckily Cassidy seems mostly benign, if irritating and predisposed to dressing as a cowboy.

—

Originally for the Myth//Legend zine, but now with a couple bonus scenes. Consider this the director’s cut.

Ghost Stories on Route 66 by Nagaina [210,058 words] Reccer comment: "Monsters, drama, & eerie things beyond our mortal comprehension."

Hanzo Shimada is an expatriate student of the Fine Arts, attending college in what he assumes to be a reasonably sedate corner of the American southwest. Jesse McCree is an occasionally leather-clad NPS ranger whose duties extend somewhat further than shooing lost tourists back onto the clearly marked hiking trails. Something weird is going on in the desert south of Santa Fe and their lives unexpectedly come together in the middle of it.

In the Woods Somewhere by CorvidFightClub [WIP; 3,946 words]

Hanzo has spent years of his life a captive werewolf, fighting in underground dogfights for a master that values his ability to kill and nothing else. One night he's stolen from the back of a transport van and wakes somewhere new.

A small farm in the woods somewhere.

[The Big Long E-Rated Version of the fic of the same title I wrote for the Rising Moon Fanzine.]

Licensed to Slaughter by ChillieBean [16,910 words] Reccer comment: "ChillieBean's "Licensed To Slaughter" (explicit, 16K words) features vampire Hanzo and werewolf Cassidy caught in the midst of a small-town murder mystery. It has a great plot and is excellently written. 10000000/10!"

Hanzo, an author who is struggling with his murder mystery draft, decides to move across the United States, trading the bustling city for quiet mountain life for inspiration.

Little does he know that he lands right in the middle of a real-life murder mystery and is suspect number one.

Never Saw it Coming by Kestrel_sama [WIP; 12,794 words] Reccer comment: "a cute modern-with-magic AU"

Fortune-telling was just supposed to be a way to make some money for Genji's business. It was easy enough with the dragons whispering secrets in his ears, and the outfit certainly helped bring in customers. But it was a skeptic named Jesse McCree who turned everything on it's head.

Possess by sciencefictioness [3,978 words] Reccer comment: "This week's theme covers half my bookmarks, but this is the first story that came to mind."

Jesse closes his eyes and he is not at home anymore.

He is not alone.

Jesse is in a large, open room with a high ceiling full of exposed wooden beams and what looks like straw mats spread out on the floor.  Some of the walls are solid, others are made of paper.  Words come to Jesse to unbidden like memories that aren’t his own.  Dojo.  Tatami.  Shoji.  The characters on the pillars are kanji.    

Jesse is in Japan.  Parts of him, anyway.

There are people lingering along the edges of the room.  There are two figures in the center, one of them older with his eyes flashing eerie red, black hair greying at his temples.  In front of him is a boy about Jesse’s age— seventeen.  Eighteen, maybe.  He’s kneeling with his eyes downcast, long hair pulled up into a messy bun, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.  His clothes are hanging down off his left shoulder to expose an intricate tattoo, dragons and storm clouds and lightning in blue and grey and gold.  

He’s beautiful like nothing Jesse has ever seen, a tangle of contradictions.  He looks delicate.

He looks powerful.

He’s breathtaking and he’s afraid and oh, fuck.

He’s Jesse’s. 

Resonant by sciencefictioness [6,473 words] Reccer comment: "Resonant by sciencefictioness is pretty sexy"

The table seems endless stretched between them; polished wood, incense filling the room with smoke, ceremonial cups of sake. Jesse stares across the length of it, his gaze locked on Hanzo with an intensity usually reserved for the hunt, except he’s never been interested in any prey the way he is now; voraciously.

Savagely.

Teeth curve long out of his jaw, and his body rolls into the half-shift all on its own. Ears pricked, tail sprouting from the base of his spine, eyes lit up red. Hanzo is doing no better.

His eyes are black, pupils blown wide, nothing but a thin ring of gold set in an impossibly dark sclera. Jesse watches Hanzo’s horns lengthen, watches his claws extend. Watches his cheeks turn red, even more pronounced against the blue of his skin.

Everything goes sideways, as Jesse always expected it would.

It just doesn’t go sideways the way he expected.

Jesse had been ready for a fight.

Survival Instinct by mataglap [36,482 words] Reccer 1 comment: "OH, ha, also monsters, drama, & eerie things beyond our mortal comprehension"

Reccer 2 comment: "Survival Instinct, by mataglap, is one I've read multiple times"

Cassidy takes a new monster hunting contract. It's pretty decent as contracts go: the pay is good, the perks even better, and he's got two competent companions to fight at his side when the monsters come.

Then a third companion arrives and ruins everything.

Watcher in the Woods by Kalikuks [84,072 words] Reccer 1 comment: "Kali does a lot of monster and magic/fantasy fics, but if I can only choose one, this is it"

Reccer 2 comment: ""Watcher in the Woods" by Kalikuks 🥰 (explicit, old name for Cass) Blind Hanzo and eldrich being Cassidy. Buckle up cause is a long one with sequels!❤️"

Hanzo gets the uncanny feeling that he’s being towered over and instinctually tips his head up, even if he sees nothing.

“You can’t see me,” a deep honeyed voice rumbles from above, a good few feet above, Hanzo guesses.

“I—“

Hanzo’s reply is drowned out when the hunting party crashes through the foliage behind him and the screaming begins.

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

AU Where Hanzo is Blind and Jesse is an eldritch being of sorts that drives men mad when they look upon him. They fall in love.

---

And that's it for the Week 11 recs! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a recommendation.

If you happen to find a fic you love using this rec list, be sure to leave the author kudos and a comment! Even "I found this fic because someone recced it" is a lovely thing to say.

Come back next time for Week 12: "Simple Pleasures," or all the smutty PWPs your heart desires.

In the meantime, you can also check out the Week 10 recs here, or check the full list of past and future themes here.

[spacecadet-ticklesinspace]

Sentence starter i thought of! Its kinda short, but i hope you like it!

"Hey three, can i ask you something?"

And the idea i had with it...was Peter 1 works up the courage to ask for tickles from Peter 3. Because he's been a little upset and just wants to laugh! And no one can make him laugh like Peter 3! Three is obviously like "of course 1, come here"! And Peter 1 is very proud of himself for asking! His upset mood becomes happy! Lee!peter1 ler!peter3

(This was an absolutely adorable idea Anon ❤️ I love the asking for tickles because you need to decompress and just laugh away the stress ❤️ Thank you Anon and I hope you enjoy :))

"Hey Three, can I ask you something?"

The older brother looked up from his show. "Sure Bug. What's up?"

One fiddled with his fingers. "Well . . . Um . . . Could---could you . . ."

"Hey, its okay." Peter 3 leaned forward. "Whatever it is, I'm not going to judge you."

"W-well . . ."

Peter 3 gave his brother a reassuring smile.

One took a breath then let it out. "Could you---tickle me?"

The older Peter's eyes widened. "You want me to tickle you? Really?"

As One nodded, his face flamed. "Y-yes p-please? It's been a stressful week and I---I just need t-to laugh and---and . . ."

"Of course One." Peter 3 cooed and opened his arms. "Come here."

One practically lept into his older brother's arms without any further prompting. Three was always the best at making him laugh.

The older Peter chuckled as he let his baby brother settle. "I'm proud of you for asking. It takes a lot to do that."

One blushed darkly. "Th-thank you."

"You're welcome Uno." Three kissed his temple. "You're the best baby brother around."

"Mmmmnohot aha babyhy."

Peter 3 wrapped him in a hug and pulled him close. "Yes youw awre! Youwr always going to be my baby!"

Peter 1 playfully squirmed. "Noho! Help, Ihim beheing smothered!"

"Muahahaha!" Three readjusted his hold. "You shall never escape!"

"Nohoho!"

The older Peter rubbed his nose into One's neck. The movement produced the most adorable giggles and squirms.

"Aww! Look at squirming Bambino." Peter 3 moved up to Eskimo kissed his ear. "The little nugget."

"Eep! Nohoho!"

"Can I just get a 12 piece count of you from Mickey D's? Course, you're so small, I might only get a 4 piece."

That comment turned One's entire face red. "Sh-shuhush! I'm nohot thahat little!"

Three paused his Eskimo kisses. "You're roughly the size of aha kihid's sized frosty from Wendy's."

Peter 1 pouted.

"Awww. Look at that pout." Three leaned closer to his brother. "Are you mad that I stopped?"

It was getting hard for One to hold back his smile. This was exactly what he needed. "Yohou're mehean!"

Peter 3 smirked. "You're right Peanut."

"Huh?"

The older Peter tipped the youngest back. "Ihi shohouldnt play with my food."

The next sound to fill the room was squeaky laughter as Three attacked his baby brother's neck with kisses. The older Peter was glad he had decided not to shave this morning. He loved making his kisses extra tickly.

Peter 1 snorted and squirmed as the facial hair brushed across his neck. He gently pushed against his brother's head when he reached that one spot on the front of his neck.

Peter 3 chuckled and paused his kiss attack. "What's wrohong? Too tihicklyhy?"

"Yohou knhohow it ihis!"

"I know." Three touched their foreheads together. "That's whyhy ihits your favorite."

The youngest Peter stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Hey, you asked for it."

One's tongue disappeared back into his mouth with a squeak.

Peter 3 grinned and moved to rub their noses together. "Nosy, nosy, nosy!"

The youngest broke into bubbly giggles at the affection. "Yohoure soho weird!"

"That's what makes me the best tickie monstewr."

"Yehes!"

Three gasped. "I knew it!"

One scrunched up his nose. "Sihilly tihickle monsteher."

"How dare!"

One's eyebrows knitted together. "Huh?"

"You said the tickle monster is silly looking." Peter 3 growled. "Now you're gonna get it!"

A squeal left the youngest's mouth as his neck was attacked by nuzzles and his sides were attacked by squeezes. To make the situation better, the older Peter had him wrapped in a bear hug so he couldn't really squirm away from the affection.

Not that he really wanted too . . .

A hand slid to his upper ribs and started spidering downward. "I'm a little tummy bug, tummy bug, tummy bug."

"Eep!"

"I'm a little tummy bug and I love . . . Tummies!"

The same hand spidered into his tummy as the song reached it's close. The youngest broke into bright laughter as his squirming picked up even more.

The grins on both brothers' faces brightened at the interaction. Three from the cuteness of his brother and One from the playful interaction.

Peter 3 peppered the youngest's face in kisses. "Why are you so cute?"

"Hehey!" Peter 1 squeaked.

"Ihi love yohou soho much." Three paused his attack. "You're the cutest littlehel brohother there ever wahas."

One blushed bright red as his giggles died down. "Yohoure tohoo nice toho mehe."

"What do you mean munchkin?"

One's shoulders drooped while his eyes dropped. "Yohou knohow what Ihi mehean."

Three gently pushed One's head up so he could look him in the eye. "Hey, I don't care what has happened in your past, I don't care what other people have said. You deserve all the love we can give. And I've got a whole group of people who would agree with me."

"R-really?" Peter 1's voice dropped to a whisper. "I . . . I doho?"

"Peter, of course you do." Three pulled his baby brother into a hug. "Don't let anything that happened in the past make you think otherwise."

Peter 1 sniffed. "It's just hard not to doubt . . . ya know? People who end up around me have the-the worst luck."

"Yeah, I've been on that thought process before." Three ruffled his hair. "That's why I gotta remind you how much you're worth."

One blushed. "Th-thank you."

Three kisses One's temple. "You're welcome nugget. Now, do you want to keep going? Or do you want to snuggle?"

The youngest thought over what his brother asked. "Mmm . . . Snuggles and tickles?"

Peter 3 grinned as he tipped his baby brother back into a cradle hold. "That can be arranged."

A moment later, the living room was filled with the sound of One's bubbly laughter as Peter 3 showered him in tickles and love.

[grimmmviewing]

S1E20: “Happily Ever Aftermath”—A/B+ (Watched 7/10/24)

This is a very solid episode of Grimm, in terms of meeting my admittedly subjective wants for the show: It’s dark, but not excessively so; it makes good use of the adaptational premise to twist a recognizable fairytale story in a solid-enough way that balances genuine creativity with a bit of goofiness or campiness or cringe; while it doesn’t outright avoid the serialized narrative (focusing on the thread of Nick’s parents’ deaths again), it feels like those elements exist more in the background/vaguely “in between” the other stuff, making the priority the Cinderella adaptation. Assuming true “monster of the week” episodes are not an option, this might be the best alternative. The ongoing story advances marginally, taking up comparatively little of the runtime.

Speaking very (very) generally, the initial premise of this adaptation isn’t exactly novel—We’re seeing what comes after the “happily ever after,” which is probably the most obvious starting point for a subversive take on one of these stories. The particulars are a bit more interesting, though, like how we open with a “Bernard Aidikoff” being outed as a Bernie Madoff-style crook. I had a note questioning if this depiction was in bad taste given the recency (at the time of airing) of the real-world scandal, but it’s not a thread I’m too interested in since this is just Grimm doing what comic books and other series like Law and Order have done plenty of times before: giving a real person a close-enough fake name in a way that’s kind of cute, as they try to “rip” material from “the headlines.”

The Aidikoff/Madoff thing more or less sets the tone for the handling of the Cinderella material as well—Arthur (our prince character, who lost a disastrous amount of money through Aidikoff) says at one point, “I can’t go to [my wife’s] stepmother.” It’s such a perfect line and reading of that line, because of the obviousness. It’s very awkward, but so is the way that his wife is named Lu-cinda or how she has a god-father. Seeing the pieces fall into place this way is a lot of fun. Later in the episode, when Arthur, Lucinda, and the godfather, Spencer, are being interrogated by Nick and Hank about their possible involvement in the stepmother’s murder, Arthur also delivers a succinct summary of the adapted version of the Cinderella ball and choosing her (equivalent) over the stepsisters. It’s very cute, and while Hank asking Arthur if he had any kind of sexual relationship with the stepsisters dirties it up, that’s just another kind of adorable. It’s Grimm doing its Thing. It walks a thin line between being unwatchably silly and just clever enough, and that’s probably a harder tone to write for than it might seem.

How the show’s Wesen focus fits into the original fairytale is both a strength and a notable weakness: Spencer, Lucinda, and (presumably) Lucinda’s late father and mother are all Wesen; however, the stepmother and sisters are not. This particular Wesen is another of the evil-coded ones as well, and it turns out that Lucinda is actually a proper spoiled monster with “no conscience,” to quote Spencer, while he’s always watched over her to keep her from acting on her worst impulses. We find out relatively early that Spencer is a Wesen, but the show waits to reveal Lucinda is one as well, building tension and uncertainty about exactly how the story is going to go. Even then, it’s still uncertain for a time precisely how the blame falls—which one murdered the stepmother and how in cahoots they might or might not be.

(Side note: I usually find Grimm’s horror elements pretty fleeting and weak, but the scene in the stepmother’s bedroom where she hears something and then looks under the bed and gets jump-scared by a bat creature did startle me. Something about the lighting actually felt a bit oppressive this time. Similarly, much later, the reveal of Lucinda already inside her remaining stepsister’s house similarly Got me. This might just be luck, in part, but my sense of the first of these two instances was still that it felt a bit more deliberately scary in a way that the show usually isn’t.)

In terms of the twist’s weakness, I think part of that feeling comes from the fact that “just” flipping the script (to say that, “Actually, Cinderella was the mean one”) doesn’t feel wildly original—more like the obvious route for subversion. I thought the idea of Spencer alone being a Wesen and choosing to attach himself to a human girl as a magical protector, while closer to just the “original” story, could have been an interesting angle for Grimm specifically to explore in its world. His friendship with Lucinda’s father is the reason given in the episode, though the fact that they were both Wesen makes it less interesting and less “unnatural.” Similarly, I think the idea of a mixed Wesen-human household is also very intriguing and might have been explored more. We get some vague allusions to how Lucinda tormented her stepsisters, but the concept is one that could have been further plumbed. Like, what was it like for the sisters to grow up in the same house with an evil Wesen? We can fill in the gaps, but it feels like there’s pathos being left on the table.

With Spencer and Lucinda, the show is once again poking at the question of what is and isn’t immutable about Wesen breeding, even if it isn’t acknowledged like it was in “Leave it to Beavers.” Lucinda seems to be more or less exactly what you’d expect from a Murciélago, while Spencer clearly isn’t. Him dying along with Lucinda is very convenient since it means that the show doesn’t have to reckon with how he revealed his true nature, verbally, to Hank and then used his supernatural screeching to shatter the window of his interrogation room and escape the station to go after Lucinda. I did absolutely love how his confession to the murder of the stepmother and one stepsister just casually reveals to Hank things that Nick has been keeping from him all season. This ends up being a ploy to get Hank out of the room, but when Spencer launched into it, to Nick’s obvious discomfort, I had to smile.

I found a similar joy in the Grimm tool Nick uses in this episode—a goofy little crank-powered sound gun with a stand. It’s nice to have a more obviously fantastical prop like this, and it ends up being very useful for maintaining secrecy in the end as well since Nick gives it up to the cops as (supposedly) the weapon used to achieve the otherwise unexplainable murders. Yes, the story technically, truly ends with the new dangling thread of another man involved in the killing of the elder Burkhardts, but there’s still a pleasant overall sense of tidiness.

[sketching-shark]

Forgive me for saying this here, but I'm so mad at how mid LMK is like I might have liked it better if it was a worst because some times a bad show is more interesting them a meh one. I've put it off because of how almost everybody keeps desperately trying to sell this show like "we need this show right now" or "that you gotta watch this show its so chaotic" so I caved and I felt crazy like it's just like a normal super hero show it wouldn't feel out of place with other shows I grew up with(Ex:The Life and Times of juniper Lee, Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja and like Xiaolin Showdown).

Never saw any of the shows you mentioned anon so I couldn't comment on that, but haha yeah it's a pretty frustrating thing to be told how amazing something is and then just find it meh at best. Though tbh in my particular case I really did like Monkie Kid & even found it a breath of fresh air when it was a silly monster-of-the-week show that was self-aware enough to poke fun at itself, had a genuinely kind & goofy protagonist who got into all sorts of JTTW-based shenanigans with delightfully hammy villains, and did have plot lines that managed to wrap themselves up in a satisfying manner in the 10 minutes of each episode. Personally I do feel like it started to go downhill when it began to do what like every other cartoon is doing these days & turned more and more into an angst and grimdark fest. Like can we PLEASE have another season without MK getting horrifically traumatized yet again and without someone yelling about how Sun Wukong sucks entire (X_X).

[animehouse-moe]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 2 (or 5?) - Phantoms of The Dead

Well, it's only the second week of the series, but I feel like the statement "it's Frieren" pretty well encapsulates the quality of the episode. Essentially an identical match for output compared to the special, we dip our toes into the weekly experience with this series, getting a feel for the pacing and settling into a rhythm to best enjoy this show. Really? Not a whole lot for me to talk about, but just a few things I want to share.

Firstly, the complaints. When you've only got so much time in a week and you're putting both the opening and ending in the episode, you need to be careful about how slow you go. Not that the pacing is impossibly slow, but that there's quite a few parts that nearly grind to a halt.

Unsurprisingly, it's the flashbacks. I think Fern's memory of Heiter is fine as it's more of a dream, but the not one but two instances of Eisen in the episode felt a little much. Considering the fact that they just happened in terms of the timeline, it feels silly to leave them out when they could have placed a really solid cap on the special in providing the direction of "finding Stark". It's just frustrating because sequences like these are still very pretty, but in terms of narrative structure and purpose, they're totally out of place and only serve to provide convenient details to a problem that faces Frieren.

Similarly, the point to Frieren visually recalling something as trivial as a pile of moving stones is effectively none. It does more for the characterization of the deceased heroes than it does for the importance of Frieren. Especially in this example, it does nothing because Frieren says nothing nor does she directly interact with the heroes to provide some important point about the golem. It's just fun, almost frustratingly fun (way better than the manga). It's a really enjoyable, but entirely unnecessary scene that weighs down the flow of the conversation at that point in time.

Anyways, let's talk positives. I love the use of space in this episode, and that we get a little peek at Saitou's faceless characters. Even better than that though, is that they use the space to comfortably offset the proximity of many of the other cuts. It's a solid balance of showcasing environment and the greater scope of the world and allowing character acting to sell parts of the conversation as well. Having one without the other would make it feel too odd, and it's something I've talked at length about with series like Heavenly Delusion. Rather than the more voyeuristic direction taken with Heavenly Delusion though, Frieren is first and foremost about Frieren's journey so the cuts are far more involved.

A more unique trick specific to this episode is how they separate Frieren and Fern. Some of it exists in the manga, but the anime does a lot on its own to provide further separation in some of the scenes. Using posts or characters, or even just space itself it wedges a gap between the two. It's not that the episode means anything by it, well, nothing more than picking up on the space that exists between the two girls. Rather, it's more about how they exist in a three dimensional space, and making sure viewers are aware of that fact.

And then there's the dragon. I was really impressed with this. Massive 2D monsters like this can be a huge challenge, but it seems Madhouse and Saitou met it head on. They don't get hung up on it being crazy detailed or always on model and instead focus a great deal on the feeling. When it's up close it's very detailed and sharp, and though it loses detail at a distance it still remains a very strong design. And then there's when it's in movement. Overall, it's one of the best looking dragons we've seen in an anime in a very long time.

At the end of it, the only things I can complain about are the things I take issue with in the manga. As an adaptation, it's right up at the top, if not better than Heavenly Delusion and Bocchi The Rock. However, the key difference as I mentioned before is the boldness of Frieren's adaptation. Yes, it can go the extra mile with things like the character acting for the flashbacks, but there's not the insanely expressive and unique visual of Bocchi, nor is the dedication and desire to present the perfect version of the story like there is with Heavenly Delusion.

It's as perfect as perfect can be, in the sense that it's doing all it can to stay faithful. And truthfully, there's nothing wrong with that approach and it shouldn't be faulted for it. It's just that from my perspective on what I would have wanted to see, Saitou and Madhouse stop short of truly achieving perfection.

[subbyfoxelf]

[tv review] tos 2x08-2x14 (1967)

no dessert until you eat your play-doh.

2x08 “i, mudd”

this is absolutely a much better mudd episode than “mudd’s women,” but mudd episodes are just… not great episodes? i’m glad that they was so much better in discovery, and i’m sure his episodes will be great in strange new worlds if he ever shows up there as well. which is funny because i actually like the way he’s portrayed in tos a lot better than the way he’s portrayed in discovery? like, conniving con man who gets under the captain’s skin is way more star trekky to me than just… “straight-up a murderer.” but the episodes around him in tos are just… ugh.

i loved all the silly stuff kirk & co did to try to confuse the androids, though. definitely the highlight of either of tos’s mudd episodes. c-rank

2x09 “metamorphosis”

i don’t have a lot to say about this one? it’s just… kinda boring and lonely. cool that they introduced zefram cochrane for later shows (even enterprise) to do a much better job with, i guess. d-rank

2x10 “journey to babel”

this would be a landmark episode if only for introducing spock’s parents and two founding members of the federation (the andorians and tellerites). but it’s also got some of the most plentiful and in-your-face play-doh food of the series, an absolutely bonkers star trek fight, a murder investigation, dr. mccoy doing bullshit star trek medicine, a space battle… there’s kind of a lot going on in this episode! it really is one i always look forward to. i really think this kind of stuff is tos at its best. a-rank

2x11 “friday’s child”

… and this is tos at its worst. seriously, this is so boring. it’s just 45 minutes of nothing! and oh yeah, my abusive ex “ironically” loved mccoy slapping that one lady across the face and then her following him around all doe-eyed for the rest of the episode. so, you know. not exactly an association it’s easy to get out of my head, and not a pleasant one in the first place.

i’m not just docking it because of that, though. it was already extremely bad all on its own. d-rank

2x12 “the deadly years”

the best part of this episode is when they reuse footage from “balance of terror” to make it look like the enterprise is under attack by the romulans. c-rank

2x13 “obsession”

hey. hey. what if we did “the man trap” again, but like, kinda worse? like, not bad bad, but just kinda… ever so slightly worse? and added a whole thing where the monster of the week was just super in captain kirk’s head. and he takes it out on some poor hapless security guy. wouldn’t that be fun!!

… would it not? where are you going? c-rank

2x14 “wolf in the fold”

yeah, okay, it’s bad, but it’s still a star trek murder mystery, so it’s at least watchable!! seriously, though, jack the ripper is a disembodied psychic force of evil? and he sounds like that? go fuck yourself lmao. c-rank